Bava Batra 153

אמר אמימר הלכתא אותיות נקנות במסירה כרבי אמר ליה רב אשי לאמימר גמרא או סברא אמר ליה גמרא אמר רב אשי סברא נמי הוא דאותיות מילי נינהו ומילי במילי לא מיקנין

Amemar said: The law is [according to Rabbi] that letters are acquired by <i>mesirah</i>.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And there is no need to write, in addition, a bill of sale (v. Glos.). ');">¹</span> R. Ashi said to Amemar: '[Is this] a tradition or a logical deduction?' He replied unto him: '[It is] a tradition.' R. Ashi said: This<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' That a bond is acquired by mesirah only. and not by a bill of sale. ');">²</span> may also be deduced logically, because letters<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., a bond. ');">³</span>

ולא והאמר רבה בר יצחק אמר רב שני שטרות הם זכו בשדה לפלוני וכתבו לו את השטר חוזר בשטר ואינו חוזר בשדה

are words, and words cannot be acquired by means of [other] words.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., a deed of sale. ');">⁴</span> And [can they] not? Surely Raba b. Isaac said in the name of Rab: There are two [kinds] of deeds. [If a person says],<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., to witnesses. ');">⁵</span> 'take possession<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Possession of the field on behalf of a donee is obtained by the handing over of an object (e.g. a scarf) by the donor to witnesses. The transfer of the object symbolises the transfer of the gift. ');">⁶</span>

ע"מ שתכתבו לו את השטר חוזר בין בשטר בין בשדה

of the field on behalf of X, and write for him the deed',<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Confirming the donation. ');">⁷</span> he may withdraw the deed<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' If the donor, after having given the instructions to the witnesses, desires to have no written confirmation of the gift. he may recall the deed at any time before it reaches the donee. ');">⁸</span> but not the field.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Because the field had already passed into the legal ownership of the donee, from the moment the donor had handed over the 'symbolic' object to the witnesses. ');">⁹</span>

ורב חייא בר אבין אמר רב הונא שלשה שטרות הן תרי הא דאמרן אידך אם קדם מוכר וכתב את השטר

[If, however, he says, 'take possession of the field] on condition that you write for him the deed', he may withdraw<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Because in this case he intimated his desire that the field shall become the property of the donee only after he had received the deed; and since the deed has not been delivered, both the field and the deed may be withdrawn at the discretion of the donor. ');">¹⁰</span> both the deed and the field. But R. Hiyya b. Abin says in the name of R. Huna: There are three kinds of deeds. Two have just been described. [And the] third<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'another'. ');">¹¹</span> is one which the seller writes before [the sale],<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Being anxious to sell, and in order to expedite the transaction on obtaining the consent of the buyer, he requests a scribe to prepare the deed before he knows whether the person to whom he wishes to sell would consent to buy. ');">¹²</span>