Commentary for Bava Metzia 1:1
שְׁנַיִם אוֹחֲזִין בְּטַלִּית, זֶה אוֹמֵר אֲנִי מְצָאתִיהָ וְזֶה אוֹמֵר אֲנִי מְצָאתִיהָ, זֶה אוֹמֵר כֻּלָּהּ שֶׁלִּי וְזֶה אוֹמֵר כֻּלָּהּ שֶׁלִּי, זֶה יִשָּׁבַע שֶׁאֵין לוֹ בָהּ פָּחוֹת מֵחֶצְיָהּ, וְזֶה יִשָּׁבַע שֶׁאֵין לוֹ בָהּ פָּחוֹת מֵחֶצְיָהּ, וְיַחֲלֹקוּ. זֶה אוֹמֵר כֻּלָּהּ שֶׁלִּי וְזֶה אוֹמֵר חֶצְיָהּ שֶׁלִּי, הָאוֹמֵר כֻּלָּהּ שֶׁלִּי, יִשָּׁבַע שֶׁאֵין לוֹ בָהּ פָּחוֹת מִשְּׁלשָׁה חֲלָקִים, וְהָאוֹמֵר חֶצְיָהּ שֶׁלִּי, יִשָּׁבַע שֶׁאֵין לוֹ בָהּ פָּחוֹת מֵרְבִיעַ. זֶה נוֹטֵל שְׁלשָׁה חֲלָקִים, וְזֶה נוֹטֵל רְבִיעַ:
Two are holding a garment. The first says: "I found it"; the second: "I found it." [The Gemara construes the instance in our Mishnah as one where the first was holding the strands on one side of the garment, and the second, the strands on the other side. But if they were holding onto the garment itself, the first takes as far as his hand reaches, and the second, as far as his hand reaches. And the rest, they divide equally with an oath.] The first says: "It is all mine"; the second: "It is all mine." [i.e., I bought it, and the seller sold it to me and not to you. And the seller sold it to one of them and took the money from both of them; one, by consent, and the other, against his will. And he does not know which is which. For if he did know and he said: "I sold it to this one," one witness would obtain, in which instance a Torah oath would be imposed upon the other to refute the witness. Now that he does not know, both swear this oath specified in our Mishnah. By law, they should divide without an oath; but the sages ordained that neither of them takes anything without an oath, so that a man should not go and take hold of his neighbor's garment and say: "It is mine!" And it was necessary for the tanna to apprise us both of "I found it" — (an instance of) finding a lost object, and: "It is all mine" — (an instance of) buying and selling. For if only the first were taught, I would say that it is only in that case that the Torah imposed an oath, one being apt to rationalize to take a lost object unlawfully, viz.: "My friend will lose nothing. I will go and seize it and divide it with him." But, in the instance of buying and selling, where if he did not need it, he would not pursue the seller to buy it, the one who comes to divide with him and give half the price causes him a loss unlawfully, without a rationalization — so that I might say (unless apprised otherwise) that the rabbis did not impose an oath upon him. And if we were apprised only of buying and selling, I would say that it is only in that instance that the rabbis imposed an oath, for in that instance he might say: "My friend gave money and I, too, gave money. Now, that I need it for myself, I will take it, and let my friend go and buy another one." But in the instance of a lost object, where such (a rationalization) does not obtain, I might say not (i.e., that no oath is imposed.) We are, therefore, apprised otherwise.] The first swears that he has in it no less than a half, and the second swears that he has in it no less than a half, and they divide, [He does not swear that it is all his as per his original claim, for they will not give him all of it. And if he swears that half is his, in accordance with what he is given, he vitiates his original claim of "It is all mine." Therefore, he swears that he has in it no less than a half, which implies: It is all mine, as I said in the beginning; and, according to you, who do not believe me for the whole, I take an oath that I have (possession) in it, and that I have in it no less than a half.] If the first says: "It is all mine"; and the second: "Half of it is mine," the one who says "It is all mine" swears that he has no less than three quarters, and the one who says "Half of it is mine" swears that he has no less than one quarter. The first takes three quarters, and the second, one quarter.
Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Metzia
English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Metzia
The first two mishnayoth of Bava Metzia deal with cases where two people both claim ownership over an object which they are jointly holding.
Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Metzia
English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Metzia
1) If two people are grasping a cloak: One says, “I found it” and the other says, “I found it”, or one says “It’s all mine”, and the other says, “It’s all mine”, they each swear that they don’t own more than half of the cloak and they split the cloak.
2) (If) one says, “It’s all mine” and the other says, “It’s half mine”, the one who says, “It’s all mine” swears that he doesn’t own less than ¾ and the one who says “It’s half mine” swears that he doesn’t own less than ¼, and the former takes ¾ and the latter takes ¼.
Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Metzia
English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Metzia
This Mishnah describes the common situation in which two people claim ownership of an article and neither can prove that it belongs to him. If they were to bring witnesses the judges would rule according to their testimony. In the absence of witnesses the judges must rule based on other assumptions. The means of ensuring that the person was telling the truth was in many cases, including this one, an oath. One should note that oaths were taken extremely seriously by Jews in ancient times and the assumption is that one would not swear falsely. Therefore taking an oath is a strong deterrent to lying.
Mishnah Two
1) If two men were riding on an animal, or one was riding and the other was leading the animal, and one of them said, “The animal is all mine”, and the other said “It is all mine.”, they each swear that they don’t own less than half of the animal and they split it.
2) If after the case is settled, they both admit to the others claim, or if there are witnesses they can split the animal without an oath.
English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Metzia
This mishnah is similar to the previous mishnah and just deals with a different disputed object. In the second clause the mishnah states that if they agree to the other party’s claim or if there are witnesses that the animal is owned by both parties, they split the animal without an oath. The function of the oath is to ensure that the person is telling the truth. When there is no dispute, or when there are witnesses who testify, there is no need for an oath. Since it is preferable to avoid oaths altogether the two may split the animal without an oath.
English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Metzia
• Mishnah one: When a person claims that the entire cloak is his, why does he swear that he doesn’t own less than half? What would happen if each person swore that it was all his?
• Mishnah one: Why in the second clause does the person who swore that it was all his receive ¾ whereas in the first clause he receives only ½?
If two people are grasping a cloak: One says, “I found it” and the other says, “I found it”, or one says “It’s all mine”, and the other says, “It’s all mine”, they each swear that they don’t own more than half of the cloak and they split the cloak.
( one says, “It’s all mine” and the other says, “It’s half mine”, the one who says, “It’s all mine” swears that he doesn’t own less than ¾ and the one who says “It’s half mine” swears that he doesn’t own less than ¼, and the former takes ¾ and the latter takes ¼.
The first two mishnayoth of Bava Metzia deal with cases where two people both claim ownership over an object which they are jointly holding.
This Mishnah describes the common situation in which two people claim ownership of an article and neither can prove that it belongs to him. If they were to bring witnesses the judges would rule according to their testimony. In the absence of witnesses the judges must rule based on other assumptions. The means of ensuring that the person was telling the truth was in many cases, including this one, an oath. One should note that oaths were taken extremely seriously by Jews in ancient times and the assumption is that one would not swear falsely. Therefore taking an oath is a strong deterrent to lying.