Talmud - Ketubot 110a כתובות ק״י א׳

MISHNA: With regard to one who produces a promissory note against another, and this borrower produced a bill of sale dated after the promissory note that states that the lender sold him a field of his, Admon says that the borrower can say: Were I really indebted to you, you should have collected your loan when you sold me the field, and you would not have needed to sell it. And the Rabbis say: This is no proof, as it is possible that this lender was perspicacious, as he sold the borrower the land for a good reason, because now he can take the field as collateral from him in lieu of the outstanding loan.

GEMARA: The Gemara asks: What is the rationale for the opinion of the Rabbis? After all, Admon is saying well. The Gemara explains: In a place where people first give money and only afterward they write the bill of sale, everyone agrees that the borrower can say to the lender: You should have collected your debt when you sold me the field, i.e., when you received money from me you should have said that it is not for the field but is repayment of the debt I owed you.

When they disagree is with regard to a place where people first write out the bill of sale and only afterward they give money. Admon holds that the lender should have put out a preemptive declaration, i.e., he should have earlier told witnesses that he is selling the field only so it can be used as collateral, and this transaction should not be taken as an indication that the buyer is not indebted to him. And the Rabbis hold that the lender may argue: Your friend has a friend and your friend’s friend has a friend, i.e., word of my intention to use the field as collateral would have come back to the borrower and he would not have agreed to the transaction, and that is why I did not issue any declaration.

MISHNA: With regard to two people who each produced a promissory note of a monetary debt against the other, Admon says: The one holding the note with the later date can say to the first: If I owed you money, how is it that you are borrowing from me? You should have sued to collect your debt. This is proof that your document is a forgery. And the Rabbis say: This one collects his promissory note, and that one collects his promissory note.

GEMARA: It was stated that amora’im disputed the case of two people who each produced a promissory note against the other for the same value. Rav Naḥman said: This one collects his debt and that one collects his debt. Rav Sheshet said: Why do I need to shift donkey packs [matrata] from one side to the other? Rather, as each will retain the same sum, let this one stand with his money and let that one stand with his money.

The Gemara analyses this dispute: Everyone agrees that if the field of one of the parties, which served as guarantee for the promissory note, was superior-quality land and the other person also had superior-quality land, or one had intermediate-quality land and the other had intermediate-quality land, or one had inferior-quality land and the other had inferior-quality land, this is certainly considered like shifting donkey packs, i.e., it is an exercise in futility, as there is no reason to exchange their money.

When they disagree is in a case where one has intermediate-quality land and the other one has inferior-quality land. Rav Naḥman holds that this one collects his debt and that one collects his debt, as he holds that one assesses the quality of land on the basis of his own fields, i.e., if the borrower has different types of land, then his best land is classified as superior-quality land, the next best is considered intermediate-quality land, and his worst fields are called inferior-quality land.

Consequently, the owner of inferior-quality land, Reuven, will come and collect his debt from the intermediate-quality land of his debtor, Shimon, in accordance with the halakha that a creditor collects payment from intermediate-quality land. Since Shimon does not have any land that is inferior, Reuven necessarily takes his debt from that land. However, at this stage the land Reuven took from Shimon is considered for him superior-quality land, as all of his other fields are of lower quality than the field he took. And therefore, that other creditor, Shimon, comes to collect his debt from Reuven, and takes from inferior-quality land, as the intermediate-quality land that Reuven took from Shimon is now, relative to Reuven’s other field, classified as superior-quality land. Consequently, each debtor will take different fields from the other, despite the fact that they owe the same sum.

And Rav Sheshet, who said: Why do I need to shift donkey packs, holds that the quality of the land is not assessed differently for each individual borrower. Rather, one assesses the quality of land on the basis of the lands of all people, i.e., there is a standard measure of land quality which applies to everyone. If so, then ultimately, when that second debtor, Shimon, comes to collect from Reuven he will take back his own intermediate-quality land, i.e., the field that Reuven took from him only a short while earlier. Consequently, no purpose is served by going through this process.

The Gemara asks: And according to the opinion of Rav Naḥman, what did you see that led you to establish that the owner of inferior-quality land will come and collect his debt first, as described above? Let the owner of intermediate-quality land come first and collect inferior-quality land from the other party, as that is all he possesses. In this scenario, the intermediate-quality land in the possession of the one who collected his debt will be classified as high quality, while his inferior-quality field will be considered of intermediate quality. And therefore let the other return and collect the same portion of land that he took from him. Once again, this is an apparently unnecessary exchange.

The Gemara answers: No, it is necessary only in a case where the owner of the low-quality land happened to precede the other and claim from him first. The Gemara raises a difficulty: Ultimately, when they come to collect their respective debts, they come together, which means that they will pass the same portion of land back and forth.

Rather, the Gemara provides an alternative explanation: No, this dispute is necessary in a case where one has superior-quality land and intermediate-quality land, and the other one has only inferior-quality land. One Sage, Rav Naḥman, holds that one assesses the quality of land on the basis of his own fields. Consequently, the owner of the low-quality land stands to gain, as he collects intermediate-quality land from the other and pays low-quality land in return, regardless of the order of the claims. And one Sage, Rav Sheshet, holds that the court appraises the quality of land on the basis of the lands of all people, which means that they will be trading the same plot of land back and forth.

We learned in the mishna: And the Rabbis say: This one collects his promissory note and that one collects his promissory note. This ruling apparently contradicts the opinion of Rav Sheshet. Rav Naḥman himself interpreted the mishna in accordance with the opinion of Rav Sheshet: This is referring to a situation, for example, where this one borrowed for a period of ten years and that one borrowed for five years. In this case it makes sense to say that each collects as stated in the promissory note in his possession.

The Gemara asks: What are the circumstances of this case? If we say that the first one borrowed for ten years and the second for five, is this the case in which Admon would say: If I owed you money, how is it that you are borrowing from me? After all, the due date has not yet arrived for the second person to pay his debt. Perhaps the other creditor needs money to sustain himself for the next five years. Rather, the first one borrowed for five years and the second for ten years.

The Gemara continues to inquire: What are the circumstances? If this is referring to a case where the due date of the first promissory note had already arrived when the second loan was issued, what is the rationale for the ruling of the Rabbis? The second person should not have borrowed money from the first, as he should have instead collected payment on the debt owed to him. And if the due date had not yet arrived, the second person clearly cannot demand his money, as the due date had not yet arrived, and perhaps he simply was in need of available money. And if so, what is the rationale for the opinion of Admon?

The Gemara answers: No, it is necessary in a case where he came on exactly that day when the five years of the first loan were completed. The dispute is as follows: One Sage, the Rabbis, holds that a person will take out a loan even for one day, and one Sage, Admon, holds that a person will not take out a loan for one day, and therefore he would have waited one day to receive payment of the debt owed to him.

Rami bar Ḥama stated a different answer: Here we are dealing with orphans, i.e., one of the debtors died without leaving any landed properties, as orphans collect debts owed to their father but others do not collect from them the debts their father owed. Consequently, the statement of the Rabbis that each collects based on the document in his possession has practical ramifications. The Gemara asks: But the mishna teaches that this one collects his promissory note and that one collects his promissory note, whereas according to this interpretation only the orphans collect the debts they are owed. The Gemara answers: The mishna means that this one collects, and that one has the potential to collect but he does not have any land from which he may legally collect his debt.

Rava said: There are two responses to this explanation. One is that the mishna teaches that this one collects his promissory note and that one collects his promissory note, which indicates that each actually collects what is owed to him, not that one is entitled to collect it but may not do so in practice. And furthermore, let him give land to the orphans and return and collect it from them, in accordance with the opinion of Rav Naḥman. As Rav Naḥman said that Rabba bar Avuh said: With regard to orphans who collected land in payment of their father’s debt, a creditor may come back and collect it from them. The Gemara comments: This does pose a difficulty for the explanation of Rami bar Ḥama.

§ The Gemara asks: And let us establish the mishna as referring to a case where the orphans have inferior-quality land, and he himself, the other creditor, has both superior-quality land and intermediate-quality land. In this scenario the orphans go and collect intermediate-quality land from him, while they give him inferior-quality land in payment of the debt owed to him by their father. The reason is that even if the halakha is that one assesses the quality of land on the basis of the lands of all people, and therefore the other creditor should be able to collect intermediate-quality land from the orphans, there is a principle that one collects a debt from the property of orphans only from inferior-quality land.

The Gemara answers: This applies only to a case where the lender has not as yet seized any land from the orphans in payment of his debt. However, where he has seized intermediate-quality land, he has seized that land. Since he is already in possession of a field, it is not taken from him. In these circumstances there is no significance to each party collecting from the other.

MISHNA: Eretz Yisrael is divided into three separate lands with regard to marriage: Judea, Transjordan, and the Galilee. If a man marries a woman in one of these lands he may not remove her from one town to another town in another of these lands or from one city to another city, i.e., he cannot compel her to move to another land. However, in the same land one may remove her from one town to another town or from one city to another city.

Traduction : The William Davidson digital edition of the Koren Noé Talmud, with commentary by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz.

Ketuvot 110a examines conflicting promissory notes and land sale deeds, debating whether a later sale proves a debt was already settled.