Baba Bathra—‘the Last Gate’—the third part of a Tractate which originally contained along with it the two previous ‘Gates’, Baba Kamma and Baba Mezi’a, deals with claims of right to do or possess something, or to prevent another from doing or possessing something.
CHAPTER I deals chiefly with the conditions under which property held in joint ownership is to be divided between the joint owners, if one or both of them so desire. It also lays down some of the obligations of joint owners of various kinds of property to one another, and incidentally defines the rights of the community to levy imposts on its individual members.
CHAPTER II deals with the restrictions laid upon owners of various kinds of property in the use of their property so as to prevent them from causing loss, injury or inconvenience to their immediate neighbors or to the general public. The distances which actual or potential nuisances have to be kept away from the border line are specified, and incidentally the limits of free competition between persons following the same occupation are discussed.
CHAPTER III is concerned chiefly with the subject of hazakah or usucaption—the conditions under which right of ownership is acquired by the mere fact of occupation, without title-deed or other proof.
CHAPTER IV deals with the proper methods of interpreting contracts of sale relating to land and other fixed property, to determine what objects can be regarded as being included without being expressly specified. The same question is also discussed in connection with deeds of gift and consecration.
CHAPTER V. Legal forms of acquisition of property, valuables, debts and commodities are dealt with.
CHAPTER VI defines the extent of a seller’s liability for the value, quality and quantity of his produce or wares; delimits the dimensions of a house, hall, stall, path and street, and lays down the conditions governing the purchase of a family grave, right of passage to a house, garden or a cistern situated within another man’s territory, and public rights of way.
CHAPTER VII determines the nature and extent of rocks and clefts that may be included by a seller in the measurements of a field, and the conditions which entitle a buyer to insist on exact measurements. Laws are laid down in cases of disagreement between assessors, and the law of the overcharge of a sixth of the value is formulated.
CHAPTER VIII. The laws of hereditary succession and the degrees of consanguinity as between descendants, ancestors and other blood relations as well as mutual rights of husband and wife are dealt with.
CHAPTER IX is concerned with the management of an inherited estate and the relative claims of the male and female heirs, and the personal expenses incurred by the manager of such an estate or of one which is in joint ownership; the laws governing betrothal and marriage gifts, shoshbinuth or the gifts of the [Greek]; the privileges of a dying man and the legality of his utterances; the disposal of one’s landed and movable property, and the three modes of legal acquisition of real estate: money payment, deed and undisturbed possession. It also deals with conflicting claims of relatives in cases of uncertainty as to whether lather or son, husband or wife, mother or son died first.
CHAPTER X describes the folded and plain deed, and defines the laws relating to the forms, dates and witnesses in connection with legal documents.
Apart from some Midrashic interpretations of Scriptural texts, the aggadic branch of the Tractate contains a number of rules of conduct and moral principles on the relationship between man and man, members of the same family and the members of a state (which cannot come under the head of jurisprudence), as well as stories, anecdotes, fables and other matter usually associated with the aggadah. [Adapted from the Introduction.]
CHAPTER I deals chiefly with the conditions under which property held in joint ownership is to be divided between the joint owners, if one or both of them so desire. It also lays down some of the obligations of joint owners of various kinds of property to one another, and incidentally defines the rights of the community to levy imposts on its individual members.
CHAPTER II deals with the restrictions laid upon owners of various kinds of property in the use of their property so as to prevent them from causing loss, injury or inconvenience to their immediate neighbors or to the general public. The distances which actual or potential nuisances have to be kept away from the border line are specified, and incidentally the limits of free competition between persons following the same occupation are discussed.
CHAPTER III is concerned chiefly with the subject of hazakah or usucaption—the conditions under which right of ownership is acquired by the mere fact of occupation, without title-deed or other proof.
CHAPTER IV deals with the proper methods of interpreting contracts of sale relating to land and other fixed property, to determine what objects can be regarded as being included without being expressly specified. The same question is also discussed in connection with deeds of gift and consecration.
CHAPTER V. Legal forms of acquisition of property, valuables, debts and commodities are dealt with.
CHAPTER VI defines the extent of a seller’s liability for the value, quality and quantity of his produce or wares; delimits the dimensions of a house, hall, stall, path and street, and lays down the conditions governing the purchase of a family grave, right of passage to a house, garden or a cistern situated within another man’s territory, and public rights of way.
CHAPTER VII determines the nature and extent of rocks and clefts that may be included by a seller in the measurements of a field, and the conditions which entitle a buyer to insist on exact measurements. Laws are laid down in cases of disagreement between assessors, and the law of the overcharge of a sixth of the value is formulated.
CHAPTER VIII. The laws of hereditary succession and the degrees of consanguinity as between descendants, ancestors and other blood relations as well as mutual rights of husband and wife are dealt with.
CHAPTER IX is concerned with the management of an inherited estate and the relative claims of the male and female heirs, and the personal expenses incurred by the manager of such an estate or of one which is in joint ownership; the laws governing betrothal and marriage gifts, shoshbinuth or the gifts of the [Greek]; the privileges of a dying man and the legality of his utterances; the disposal of one’s landed and movable property, and the three modes of legal acquisition of real estate: money payment, deed and undisturbed possession. It also deals with conflicting claims of relatives in cases of uncertainty as to whether lather or son, husband or wife, mother or son died first.
CHAPTER X describes the folded and plain deed, and defines the laws relating to the forms, dates and witnesses in connection with legal documents.
Apart from some Midrashic interpretations of Scriptural texts, the aggadic branch of the Tractate contains a number of rules of conduct and moral principles on the relationship between man and man, members of the same family and the members of a state (which cannot come under the head of jurisprudence), as well as stories, anecdotes, fables and other matter usually associated with the aggadah. [Adapted from the Introduction.]
