Commentary for Bava Batra 60:9

וה"מ דאכלה שבע דקדים חזקה דהאי לשטרא דהך

A certain man said to his neighbour, 'What right have you on this land?' He replied, 'I bought it from so-and-so and have had the use of it for the period of <i>hazakah</i>.'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Meaning thereby presumably 'three years'. ');">⁸</span> Said the other, 'But I have a title deed to prove that I bought it from him four years ago.' Said the other; 'Do you think that when I say the period of <i>hazakah</i> I mean only three years? I mean a lot of years.'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And the reason why I said merely 'period of hazakah' was because I did not know you had a deed going back further than three years. ');">⁹</span> Said Raba: It is not unusual to refer to a long period of years as 'the period of hazakah'. This [maxim] would apply [to the present case] only if the occupier has had the use of the land for seven years, so that his presumptive right came before the deed;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Since he had already had the use of the land for three years after his alleged purchase of it, and his title was therefore unassailable. ');">¹⁰</span>

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