Sunday, June 21, 2009

Bava Metzia 57 - No Oath for Things Not Subject to Price Fraud (Finds)

Rava asked: "If someone planted wheat seeds in the ground and sold them before they took root, are they subject to price fraud?" Are they viewed as if thrown into a container, thus subject to price fraud, or are they treated as land, not subject to price fraud? This remains unresolved.

How do we know that an unpaid custodian doesn't swear about these things? "If a man gives his fellow..." is a generalization, "...money or utensils..." is a specification, "...to watch..." is another generalization – and the overall law can include only things that are similar to the specification, like movables with intrinsic value, but not land or documents.

Art: Farmers Planting Potatoes by Vincent Van Gogh


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