Commentary for Bava Kamma 216:1

הא נשבע אע"פ ששילם למי משלם לבעל הפקדון

but where he did take an oath, even though he subsequently paid, the thief would surely have to pay the owner of the deposit; but Raba deduces his ruling from the concluding clause where it was stated: 'But if the bailee took an oath [to defend himself] rather than pay&nbsp;…', this is so only where he was not willing to pay, but where he did pay even though he first denied the claim on oath, the thief would of course have to pay him with whom the deposit was in charge. Does not the implication of the concluding clause contradict the view of Abaye? — Abaye would say to you: What it means to say is this: 'If the bailee swore rather than pay before having taken the oath, though he did so after he took the oath, to whom will the thief pay? To the owner of the deposit.' But does not the implication of the commencing clause contradict the view of Raba? — Raba could say to you that the meaning is this: 'If the bailee paid, as he was not willing to take his stand upon his oath and consequently paid, to whom should the thief pay? To him with whom the deposit was in charge. Suppose the owner had claimed [his deposit] from the bailee, and the latter denied upon oath, and the actual thief was then identified and the bailee demanded payment from him and he confessed the theft, but when the owner [of the deposit] demanded payment from him he denied it and witnesses were brought, did the thief become exempt<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' From paying the fine. ');">¹</span>

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