Study Kiddushin folio 52B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
והא מתניתין, דגזל דידה, וקאמר רב: אינה מקודשת! לא קשיא: הא – דשדיך, הא – דלא שדיך.
The Talmud questions this analysis: But doesn’t the Mishnah deal with a case where the stolen item is hers, and yet Rav says she is not betrothed. The Talmud answers: This is not difficult; this case, in the baraita, is referring to a situation where he had arranged to betroth her beforehand, which indicates that she has released him from his obligation to return it, but that case, in the Mishnah, is referring to a situation where he had not arranged his marriage with her, so it is stolen property and she is not betrothed.
The Talmud relates: There was a certain woman who was washing her feet in a vessel of water. A certain man came along, grabbed a few dinars from another person, and threw them to her, and said to her: You are betrothed to me. That man subsequently came before Rava, to inquire as to the status of the woman. Rava said: There is not anyone who is concerned for this opinion of R' Shimon, who said: In an ordinary case of robbery the owner has despaired of recovering the stolen item, and it belongs to the robber. Rather, the assumption is that the owner has not despaired of recovering the stolen item. In this case, since the stolen dinars do not belong to the man, his betrothal is of no effect.
ההוא אריסא דקדיש במוזא דשמכי, אתא לקמיה דרבא. אמר ליה: מאן אחלך? והני מילי במוזא, אבל כישא, מצי אמר ליה: אנא שקלי כישא, שקיל את כישא, כישא כי כישא.
The Talmud relates another incident: The was a certain sharecropper who betrothed a woman with a handful [bemoza] of onions [deshamkhei] taken from the field where he worked. He came before Rava to ask about the status of the woman. Rava said to him: Who relinquished these onions to you? Since the owner did not allow you to take them, they are stolen property, and the woman is not betrothed. The Talmud comments: And this matter applies only to a handful, but if he took a bundle of onions and betrothed a woman with them, the sharecropper can say to the owner: I took a bundle, you take a bundle; one bundle for another bundle. Since in any case they divide the crop between them, it is not considered theft.