Bava Batra 108

ושאינה מסויימת במצריה עד כמה אמר רב פפא כדאזיל תיירא דשורי והדר

And if it is not bounded all round, how much does he acquire [by one stroke of the spade]?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' This is the explanation of Tosaf. According to Rashb. the translation should be: 'If it is not bounded all round, how much must he dig up?' In either case we must supply the words 'according to Rab'. ');">¹</span> R. Papa said: The length of a furrow made by a pair of oxen, there and back.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' According to Tosaf. this was a fixed measure of length. ');">²</span>

אמר רב יהודה אמר שמואל נכסי עובד כוכבים הרי הן כמדבר כל המחזיק בהן זכה בהן מאי טעמא עובד כוכבים מכי מטו זוזי לידיה אסתלק ליה ישראל לא קני עד דמטי שטרא לידיה הלכך הרי הן כמדבר וכל המחזיק בהן זכה בהן

&nbsp; &nbsp; <font>Rab Judah said in the name of Samuel: The property of a heathen<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The reference, as appears from what follows, is to property sold by a heathen to an Israelite who has paid the money but not yet received the deed of sale. ');">³</span></font> is on the same footing as desert land; whoever first occupies it acquires ownership. The reason is that as soon as the heathen receives the money he ceases to be the owner, whereas the Jew does not become the owner till he obtains the deed of sale.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The rule was that if a Jew bought land from a Jew, it remained in the ownership of the seller until the purchaser had received the title-deed, and either could retract until that time. But if a heathen sold land to a Jew, neither could retract so soon as the money had been paid, though in this case too the Jew did not become owner till he had received the title-deed. ');">⁴</span>

א"ל אביי לרב יוסף מי אמר שמואל הכי והאמר שמואל דינא דמלכותא דינא ומלכא אמר לא ליקני ארעא אלא באיגרתא אמר ליה אנא לא ידענא עובדא הוה בדורא דרעותא בישראל דזבן ארעא מעובד כוכבי' ואתא ישראל אחרינא רפיק בה פורתא אתא לקמיה דרב יהודה אוקמה בידא דשני

Hence [in the interval] the land is like desert land and the first occupier becomes the owner.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' He must, however, reimburse the purchaser (v. Rashb. and R. Gersh.). ');">⁵</span> Said Abaye to R. Joseph: Did Samuel really say this? Has not Samuel laid down that the law of the Government is law,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [On the scope of this dictum, v. Abrahams, I., Pharisaism and the Gospels, I, 62ff.] ');">⁶</span>

אמר ליה דורא דרעותא קאמרת התם באגי מטמרי הוו דאינהו גופייהו לא הוו יהבי טסקא למלכא ומלכא אמר מאן דיהיב טסקא ליכול ארעא

and the king has ordained that land is not to be acquired save by means of a deed? R. Joseph replied: I know nothing of that.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' As much as to say that he did not believe the king had ordained this. ');">⁷</span> [I only know that] a case arose in Dura di-ra'awatha<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The name of a village. According to others, 'a village of shepherds'. [Obermeyer, op. cit., p. 142, identifies it with Dur on the Tigris, north of Bagdad.] ');">⁸</span>

רב הונא זבן ארעא מעובד כוכבים אתא ישראל אחר רפיק בה פורתא אתא לקמיה דרב נחמן אוקמה בידיה אמר ליה מאי דעתיך דאמר שמואל נכסי עובד כוכבים הרי הן כמדבר וכל המחזיק בהם זכה

in which a Jew bought land from a heathen and another Jew came and dug up a little of it, and when the case came before Rab Judah he assigned the land to the latter. Abaye replied: You speak of Dura di-ra'awatha? There the fields belonged to people who hid themselves and did not pay the tax to the king, and the king had ordered that whoever paid the tax<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' In that case the Jew who came and did the digging. ');">⁹</span> should have the usufruct of the field.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Hence we cannot infer from this that land bought from a heathen is not like desert land. ');">¹⁰</span> R. Huna bought a field from a heathen, and a Jew came and dug up some of it. He then presented himself before R. Nahman, who confirmed his title to it. R. Huna said to him: You decide thus [do you not], because Samuel said that the property of a heathen is on the same footing as desert land and the first occupier becomes owner?