Bava Batra 254

זה לזה

for one another.' What [is really] your opinion [on the matter]? If [Samuel] holds the same view as the Rabbis,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The dispute between the Rabbis (the Sages) and R. Judah follows, infra. ');">¹</span>

מה נפשך אי כרבנן סבירא ליה לישלח להו כרבנן אי כרבי יהודה סבירא ליה לישלח להו כרבי יהודה

he should have sent [word] to them, according to the Rabbis; if he holds the same view as R. Judah.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The dispute between the Rabbis (the Sages) and R. Judah follows, infra. ');">¹</span>

מספקא ליה אי כרבי יהודה אי כרבנן

he should have sent [word] to them according to R. Judah! — He was in doubt as to whether [the law is] according to R. Judah or according to the Rabbis.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Hence his original message. ');">²</span>

מאי היא דתניא (דברים כא, יז) יכיר יכירנו לאחרים

What is that [dispute]?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Between R. Judah and the Rabbis. ');">³</span>

מכאן א"ר יהודה נאמן אדם לומר זה בני בכור וכשם שנאמן אדם לומר זה בני בכור כך נאמן אדם לומר זה בן גרושה וזה בן חלוצה וחכמים אומרים אינו נאמן

— It was taught: He shall acknowledge<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' 'The firstborn'. Deut. XXI, 27. ');">⁴</span>

א"ל רב נחמן בר יצחק לרבא בשלמא לרבי יהודה היינו דכתיב יכיר אלא לרבנן יכיר למה לי

[implies]. 'he shall [be entitled to] acknowledge him before others'.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [H] may be rendered, 'he shall acknowledge' and also, being a Hiphil. 'he shall make known', viz., 'to others'. ');">⁵</span>

בצריך היכרא

From this R. Judah deduced that a person is believed when he declares, 'This son of mine is firstborn'.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Though another son was hitherto reputed to be the first-born. ');">⁶</span>

למאי הלכתא למיתבא לו פי שנים לא יהא אלא אחר אילו בעי למיתבא ליה במתנה מי לא יהיב ליה

And as a person is believed when he declares 'this son of mine is firstborn', so one is believed when one declares, 'this is the son of a divorced woman', or 'this is the son of a <i>haluzah</i>.'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [H] The term is applied to the wife of a deceased brother (who left no issue) after she had been released from levirate marriage. The ceremony of release, in the course of which the widow takes off the shoe of her dead husband's brother, is called halizah, [H] from root [H] 'to take off'. Cf. Deut. XXV. 9f. ');">⁷</span>

לא צריכא בנכסים שנפלו לו לאחר מכאן

But the Sages say he is not believed.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' If another son was reputed to be the firstborn. ');">⁸</span>

ולר"מ דאמר אדם מקנה דבר שלא בא לעולם יכיר למה לי

R. Nahman b. Isaac said to Raba: According to R. Judah it is correct for Scripture to say, he shall acknowledge,'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Since from this expression it has been inferred that the father's word is the determining factor in deciding the birthright, though another son was generally recognised as firstborn. ');">⁹</span>

בנכסים שנפלו לו כשהוא גוסס:

according to the Rabbis, however, what need is there for<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'wherefore to me'. ');">¹⁰</span>

ת"ר היו מוחזקין בו שהוא בכור ואמר אביו על אחר שהוא בכור נאמן היו מוחזקין בו שאינו בכור ואמר אביו בכור הוא אינו נאמן

[the expression] he shall acknowledge? — When acknowledgment is required.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Where it is not known stall who is the firstborn. ');">¹¹</span>

רישא רבי יהודה וסיפא רבנן

In what legal respect?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'to what law'; under what legal circumstances is it necessary, according to the Rabbis, for a father to declare which of his sons is his firstborn? ');">¹²</span>

א"ר יוחנן אמר בני הוא וחזר ואמר עבדי הוא אינו נאמן עבדי הוא וחזר ואמר בני הוא נאמן דמשמש לי כעבדא קאמר

As regards giving him a double portion? Should he [even] be [regarded as] but a stranger, could he<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' 'The father. ');">¹³</span>

וחילופיה אבית המכס היה עובר על בית המכס ואמר בני הוא וחזר ואמר עבדי הוא נאמן אמר עבדי הוא וחזר ואמר בני הוא אינו נאמן

not give [it]<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The double portion. ');">¹⁴</span>

מיתיבי היה משמשו כבן ובא ואמר בני הוא וחזר ואמר עבדי הוא אינו נאמן היה משמשו כעבד ובא ואמר עבדי הוא וחזר ואמר בני הוא אינו נאמן

to him if he desired to make a gift of it? — This<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The law on the reliability of a father's declaration. ');">¹⁵</span>

אר"נ בר יצחק התם דקארו ליה עבדא מצר מאה מאי מצר מאה מצר עבדא ק' זוזי

is required only [in the case] where property has come into his possession<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'fell to him'. ');">¹⁶</span>

שלח ליה ר' אבא לרב יוסף בר חמא האומר לחבירו עבדי גנבת והוא אומר לא גנבתי מה טיבו אצלך אתה מכרתו לי

afterwards.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' After he made the declaration on the birthright. A person can make a gift of that only which he already has in his possession, but not of that which he may acquire in the future. Consequently the necessity in such a case, for the father's declaration. ');">¹⁷</span> But according to R. Meir Who said, 'a man may give possession of a thing that has not come into existence',<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'to the world'. ');">¹⁸</span> what need is there for, he shall acknowledge?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Surely he could, according to R. Meir, make a gift to the firstborn, of the double portion. in any property that he might acquire in the future. ');">¹⁹</span> — [It is needed for the case] where property came into his possession<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'fell to him'. ');">²⁰</span> while he was dying.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' When he is physically unfit to make any gifts. The law of R. Meir which allows a person to give possession of what he might get in the future, applies only to one who is in a condition to make the gift when it reaches him. A dying man, though legally entitled to obtain possession, is not in a condition to make gifts and to give possession. Hence the necessity for a father's declaration on the birthright. ');">²¹</span> Our Rabbis taught: [Where a son] was held to be a firstborn, and his father declared another [son] to be the firstborn, [the father] is believed. [Where, however, a son] was held not to be a first-born, and his father declared him to be a firstborn, [the father] is not believed. The first [clause harmonises with the view of] R. Judah,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Who places implicit confidence on the testimony of the father. ');">²²</span> and the last [clause harmonises with that of] the Rabbis.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Who rely upon repute more than on a father's word. ');">²³</span> R. Johanan said: [If] a person declared, 'this is my son', and then retracted and declared, 'He is my slave', he is not believed. [If, however, he said], 'He is my slave', and then he retracted and declared, 'He is my son', he is believed, for he [may] mean,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' When cising the term, 'Slave'. ');">²⁴</span> 'who attends upon me as a slave'. [This law,] however, is reversed [when the statements were made] at a custom house. If, when passing the custom house, he declared, 'This is my son', and then he retracted, and said, 'He is my slave', he is to be believed.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' By his first statement he may have desired to avoid the slave tax. ');">²⁵</span> [If, however,] he declared, 'He is my slave', and then he retracted, and said,'He is my son', he is not believed.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' For, if his latter statement were correct, he would not have declared his son upon whom there is no tax) to be his slave for whom a tax is payable. ');">²⁶</span> An objection was raised: [It was taught:] If a man attended upon another as a son<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Performing for him light services. ');">²⁷</span> and the latter came [before the court] and declared, 'He is my son' and, then, he retracted and stated, 'He is my slave', he is not believed. [If, however], he attended upon him as a slave, and [the latter] came [to the court] and declared, 'he is my slave', and then he retracted, and stated, 'He is my son', he is not believed!<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' How, then, could R. Johanan say that a person is believed when he declares one to be his son though he first declared him to be his slave? ');">²⁸</span> — R. Nahman b. Isaac replied: [The case] there<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' In the Baraitha cited. ');">²⁹</span> [refers to one] whom he called, 'a slave of a rope of a hundred'.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Heb. mezar, [H], 'a rope'. A term of contempt for confirmed slaves (Jast.) [Kohut, Aruch, connects it with an Arabic word, denoting 'bag', and renders, 'a slave if a bag of a hundred.'] ');">³⁰</span> What [is meant By] 'a rope of a hundred'? — A rope of a slave [who is worth] a hundred <i>zuz</i>.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [According to Kohut, ibid, a bag, or price of a slave is a hundred zuz.] ');">³¹</span> R. Abba sent to R. Joseph b. Hama: If one says to another, 'You stole my slave', and the other says, 'I did not steal [him]'. [And when the first inquires, 'In] what capacity [is he] with you?' [the latter replies]. 'You sold him to me,