Commentary for Shabbat 159:1

תנא שתי אותיות בדיו (ושתי) אותיות בקולמוס שתי אותיות בקלמרין בעי רבא אות אחת בדיו אות אחת בקולמוס אות אחת בקלמרין מהו תיקו

It was taught: Two letters in ink, two letters on a pen, or two letters in an inkstand [involve culpability].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ink, Heb. dyo, is the solid pigment which was dissolved before use (cf. supra 17b and note a.l.). The Baraitha teaches that whether one carries out dry pigment in his hand or the liquid on a pen or in an inkstand, in each case sufficient for writing two letters, he is culpable. ');">¹</span> Raba asked: What [if one carries out sufficient for] one letter [in the form of] dry ink, one letter on the pen, and one letter in an inkstand?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Do they combine to involve liability or not? The pen and inkstand do not cause culpability, since they are subsidiary to their contents, which in themselves do not separately cause liability; v. infra 93b. ');">²</span>

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