Study Sanhedrin folio 86A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
תני תנא קמיה דרב ששת. אמר ליה: אני שונה רבי שמעון אומר ״מאחיו״ – עד שיוציאנו מרשות אחיו, ואת אמרת חייב?! תני: פטור.
A tanna who recited mishnayot and baraitot in the study hall recited that baraita, where the tanna holds that one is liable for abducting another and selling him to the abductee’s father, before Rav Sheshet. Rav Sheshet said to him: I teach that R' Shimon says: From the term “of his brothers” it is derived that there is no liability unless he removes the abductee from the domain of his brothers, and you say that one who sells the abductee to his father is liable? Emend the baraita and teach instead: He is exempt.
מאי קושיא? דילמא הא רבי שמעון, הא רבנן.
The Talmud asks: What is the difficulty raised by Rav Sheshet? Perhaps that statement that he cited is the opinion of R' Shimon, while this baraita is the opinion of the Rabbis, who disagree with him.
לא סלקא דעתך, דאמר רבי יוחנן: סתם מתניתין – רבי מאיר, סתם תוספתא – רבי נחמיה, סתם ספרא – רבי יהודה, סתם ספרי – רבי שמעון, וכולהו אליבא דרבי עקיבא.
The Talmud responds: That should not enter your mind, as the unattributed baraita that was cited is a passage from the halakhic midrash on the books of Numbers and Deuteronomy entitled Sifrei, and R' Yoḥanan says: An unattributed Mishnah is in accordance with the opinion of R' Meir; an unattributed baraita in the Tosefta is in accordance with the opinion of R' Neḥemya; an unattributed baraita in the Sifra, the halakhic midrash on the book of Leviticus, is in accordance with the opinion of R' Yehuda; and an unattributed baraita in the Sifrei is in accordance with the opinion of R' Shimon. And all of these are in accordance with the opinion of R' Akiva, as all the rabbis mentioned were his disciples. Therefore, it is unlikely that an unattributed baraita from the Sifrei would run counter to the opinion of R' Shimon.