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Bava Batra

Babylonian Talmud

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Chapter 84a

the buyer can say to the seller: If you had not exploited me, you would not be able to renege on the sale, and I would receive the profit. Now that you have exploited me, can you renege on the sale and benefit? And similarly, the tanna of the mishna also taught: If the seller sold him wheat while claiming that the wheat was good, and it is found to be bad, the buyer can renege on the sale. This implies that the buyer can renege but not the seller, even in a situation where the seller would want to renege on the sale, e.g., if the item became more expensive. And similarly, Rav Ḥisda says: If he sold him an item that was worth six dinars for five dinars, and its price was reduced and its value now stood at three dinars, who was exploited in this case? The seller; therefore, the seller, but not the buyer, can renege on the sale. The reason is that the seller can say to him: If you had not exploited me, you would not be able to renege on the sale. Now that you have exploited me, can you renege on the sale? And similarly, the tanna of the mishna also taught: If the seller sold him bad wheat and it is found to be good, the seller can renege on the sale, but not the buyer. The Gemara asks: What is Rav Ḥisda teaching us? It is all already taught in the mishna. The Gemara answers: If the halakha were derived from the mishna alone, I would say that perhaps in the cases brought by Rav Ḥisda, both the buyer and the seller are able to renege on the sale. The reason is that this is a case of exploitation, as the item was sold for more than its value, and therefore as long the buyer can renege on the sale, the sale is not complete. Consequently, as the seller lost out as well, he can also renege on the sale. And as for the mishna, it comes to teach us that if the seller said that he is selling good wheat and it is found to be bad, the buyer can renege on the sale, as this is considered a case of exploitation. It is necessary to teach this, as it might enter your mind to say that this is not a case of exploitation because it is written: “It is bad, it is bad, says the buyer; but when he is gone his way, then he boasts” (Proverbs 20:14). In other words, it is the usual manner of sellers to praise their merchandise, while buyers disparage it. Therefore, the mishna teaches that the buyer can renege on the sale if the item was found to be bad, and the seller can change his mind if it was found to be good. § The mishna teaches that if the seller said that he was selling reddish-brown [sheḥamtit] wheat and it is found to be white, both the seller and the buyer can renege on the sale. The Gemara assumes that sheḥamtit means the color of the sun [ḥama]. Therefore, Rav Pappa said: From the fact that the mishna teaches: White, in contrast to sheḥamtit, and there are two types of wheat, one white and the other red, conclude from the mishna that this sun is red, not white. Know that this is the case, as it reddens in the morning and evening. And the reason that we do not see the red color all day is because our eyesight is not strong and we cannot discern the redness of the sun. The Gemara raises an objection to this claim: With regard to a verse that speaks of leprosy: “And, behold, if its appearance is deeper than the skin” (Leviticus 13:30), the Sages explain: This means that it is like the appearance of the sun, which is deeper than the shadow. But there, leprosy is white and yet it is likened to the sun. The Gemara answers: There, it means that it has an appearance like the sun in certain respects, but it is not like the appearance of the sun in all respects. It is like the appearance of the sun in that it is deeper than the shadow, and it is not entirely like the appearance of the sun, as there the leprous spot is white, and here the sun is red. The Gemara asks: And according to that which entered our mind initially, that the sun is white, doesn’t it redden in the morning and evening? The Gemara answers: In the morning it becomes red as it passes over the site of the roses of the Garden of Eden, whose reflections give the light a red hue. In the evening the sun turns red because it passes over the entrance of Gehenna, whose fires redden the light.⁠ And there are those who say the opposite in explaining why the sun is red in the morning and the evening, i.e., in the morning it passes over the entrance of Gehenna, while in the evening it passes over the site of the roses of the Garden of Eden. § The mishna teaches: If the seller sold wine and it is found to be vinegar, both the seller and the buyer can renege on the sale. The Gemara suggests: Shall we say that the mishna is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi and not in accordance with the opinion of the Rabbis? As it is taught in a baraita:

Texts in conversation

Compare 1 Enoch 17:4 and Bava Batra 84a

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Rabbinic

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Summary

1 Enoch 17 describes a journey to the fiery west where the sun sets and living waters flow, mixing images of life and death. Rabbinic tradition in Bava Batra uses this imagery, showing how apocalyptic themes continued in Rabbinic texts.

Passages

1 Enoch 17:4

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
2 And they led me to a place of darkness, and to a mountain whose peak reached to heaven. 3 And I saw the places of the sun and moon and the treasuries of the stars and of the thunder in the utmost depths, where there was a fiery bow and arrows and their quiver, and a fiery sword and all the lightnings. 4 And they took me to the living waters, and to the fire of the west, which receives every setting of the sun. 5 And I came to a river of fire where the fire flows like water and pours into the great sea towards the west. 6 I saw the great rivers and came to the great river and to the great darkness, and went to the place where no flesh walks.
300 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Enoch

Bava Batra 84a

Rabbinic · Babylonian Talmud
The Gemara asks: And according to that which entered our mind initially, that the sun is white, doesn’t it redden in the morning and evening? The Gemara answers: In the morning it becomes red as it passes over the site of the roses of the Garden of Eden, whose reflections give the light a red hue. In the evening the sun turns red because it passes over the entrance of Gehenna, whose fires redden the light. And there are those who say the opposite in explaining why the sun is red in the morning and the evening, i.e., in the morning it passes over the entrance of Gehenna, while in the evening it passes over the site of the roses of the Garden of Eden.
450–550 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Bava Batra

References

"... This paradisiacal scene is frustrated, however, by reference to the fire of the west in the same verse. Does the author intend for us to associate the mysterious waters of life (living waters) with the fire of the west or are we to understand these extraordinary phenomena as located in two different places? If the latter, then one can easily imagine the life-giving waters situated in the vicinity of the northern ‘mountain of God’ (1 Enoch 17:2) which also is reminiscent of paradise; the tour jumps, then, to the fire which receives every setting sun, another distinct site located in the west. If the life-giving waters are associated with the fire, they too are to be found in the west and hence, should be considered as part of a complex of traditions distinct from paradise. The west, as will be recalled, is frequently associated with the realm of the dead ..."
Kelley Coblentz Bautch, A Study of the Geography of 1 Enoch 17–19: "No One Has Seen What I Have Seen", JSJSup 81 (Leiden: Brill, 2003), 71.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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1 Enoch 17:4 and Bava Batra 84a

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