Bava Kamma 1

אַרְבָּעָה אֲבוֹת נְזִיקִין, הַשּׁוֹר וְהַבּוֹר וְהַמַּבְעֶה וְהַהֶבְעֵר. לֹא הֲרֵי הַשּׁוֹר כַּהֲרֵי הַמַּבְעֶה, וְלֹא הֲרֵי הַמַּבְעֶה כַּהֲרֵי הַשּׁוֹר. וְלֹא זֶה וָזֶה, שֶׁיֵּשׁ בָּהֶן רוּחַ חַיִּים, כַּהֲרֵי הָאֵשׁ, שֶׁאֵין בּוֹ רוּחַ חַיִּים. וְלֹא זֶה וָזֶה, שֶׁדַּרְכָּן לֵילֵךְ וּלְהַזִּיק, כַּהֲרֵי הַבּוֹר, שֶׁאֵין דַּרְכּוֹ לֵילֵךְ וּלְהַזִּיק. הַצַּד הַשָּׁוֶה שֶׁבָּהֶן, שֶׁדַּרְכָּן לְהַזִּיק וּשְׁמִירָתָן עָלֶיךָ. וּכְשֶׁהִזִּיק, חָב הַמַּזִּיק לְשַׁלֵּם תַּשְׁלוּמֵי נֶזֶק בְּמֵיטַב הָאָרֶץ:

There are four avoth (prototypes) of nezikin (damages) [Because each one of them has toldoth (derivatives), they (the prototypes) are called avoth.]: shor (lit., "ox") [This is regel ("foot"), i.e., what the beast damages with its feet as it walks, viz. (Exodus 22:4): "And he sends his beast," and (Isaiah 32:20): "senders of the foot of the ox and the ass." A toldah of regel is (the beast's) damaging with its body as it walks, or with its hair as it walks (vessels becoming attached to its hair and being dragged and broken), or with the shalif that is upon it (the load in its saddlebag or its pack-bags), or with the bell upon its neck.], bor (pit) [one's opening a pit in the public domain and an ox or an ass falling therein and dying, if the pit is ten tefachim (handbreadths) deep; or being injured, if it is less than ten tefachim, viz. (Exodus 21:33): "If a man open a pit, etc." A toldah of bor is one's phlegm or mucus causing damage after falling in the public domain.], maveh [This is shen ("tooth"), his beast's eating in his neighbor's field, viz. (Ibid. 22:4): "…and it eat in another's field." Shen is called "maveh" because it (the tooth is sometimes hidden, sometimes revealed, viz. (Ovadiah 1:6): "niv'u matzpunav," the targum of which is "itgalyan matmorohi" ("His hidden things are revealed.") And a toldah of shen is (the beast's rubbing itself against a wall for relief (of its itching), as is common with beasts, and breaking the wall in doing so, or sullying fruits in rubbing itself against them for relief.], hever [fire going forth and damaging, viz. (Exodus 22:5): "If fire go out … and there be consumed sheaves, or the standing corn, or the field, etc." A toldah of esh (fire) is one's stone, knife, or burden, which he placed on top of his roof falling in a normal wind and causing damage, like fire, which is driven by the wind. The reason that our tanna does not reckon keren ("horn") among the avoth nezikin is that only the nezikin that are muadim ab initio (i.e., which pay full damages from the beginning) are being discussed not those which are first tamin (paying half damages), and then muadim.] The instance of shor is not like that of maveh, and that of maveh is not like that of shor. And neither the one nor the other, which have a spirit of life, is like esh, which does not have a spirit of life. And neither the one nor the other, whose way it is to go and cause damage, is like bor, whose way it is not to go and cause damage. [That is, if the Torah had written (only) shor, maveh could not be derived from it. For I would say that regel, for which it is common to cause damage, was made liable by the Torah; shen, for which it is not common to cause damage, was not made liable by the Torah. And if the Torah had written (only) shen, I would say that shen, where there is enjoyment in damaging, is liable; regel, where there is no enjoyment in damaging, is not liable. And if the Torah had written shen and regel, and had not written esh, I would say that shen and regel, which have a spirit of life — that is, which come from the force of a living creature — are liable; but esh, which does not have a spirit of life, should not be liable. And if the Torah had written those three and not bor, I would say that those should be liable, for it is their way to go and cause damage; but bor, which does not go and cause damage, should not be liable — for which reason all must be written. The gemara concludes that if bor and one of the others were written, all the others could be derived (with the exception of keren), through their common factor, viz. it being their way to cause damage. All had to be written only because they are distinct in their halachoth, there obtaining with the one what does not obtain with the other: Shen and regel are exempt in the public domain, as opposed to bor and esh. Scripture exempted bor from (liability for) men and vessels, viz. (Exodus 21:33): "…and there fall into it an ox or an ass," which is expounded: "an ox," and not a man; "an ass," and not vessels, as opposed to the other avoth nezikin. Esh is exempt from (liability for) what is hidden; so that if clothing were hidden in a stack (of corn), the starter of the fire is exempt, it being written (Ibid. 22:5): "…or the standing corn" — Just as standing corn is in the open, so (there is liability for) all that is in the open (as opposed to what is hidden). And with the other avoth nezikin, there is no exemption for what is hidden.] What is common to all of them — it is their way to cause damage and it devolves upon you to guard them, [so I shall include all things whose way it is to cause damage and the guarding of which devolves upon you], and if it (one of those things) caused damage, the mazik (the causer of the damage) must pay for the damage with the best of his property, [from the highest quality, if he comes to give land in payment for the damage, it being written (Ibid. 4): "The best of his field and the best of his vineyard shall he pay." But if he wishes to pay metaltelin ("movables"), the ruling is that all things are 'best'"; for if it cannot be sold in this place, it can be sold in another, and he can give whatever he wishes, even bran. This, with damages. But with a debtor, if he has money, he is obliged to give money, and if not, he gives whatever metaltelin he wishes, and if land is claimed, he gives him beinonith (middle-quality). And, with a hired laborer, even if the hirer has no money (of his own), he must give him money as his wage, and he is obliged to sell his property so that he has enough to pay him.]

כָּל שֶׁחַבְתִּי בִשְׁמִירָתוֹ, הִכְשַׁרְתִּי אֶת נִזְקוֹ. הִכְשַׁרְתִּי בְמִקְצָת נִזְקוֹ, חַבְתִּי בְתַשְׁלוּמִין כְּהֶכְשֵׁר כָּל נִזְקוֹ. נְכָסִים שֶׁאֵין בָּהֶם מְעִילָה, נְכָסִים שֶׁל בְּנֵי בְרִית, נְכָסִים הַמְיֻחָדִים, וּבְכָל מָקוֹם חוּץ מֵרְשׁוּת הַמְיֻחֶדֶת לַמַּזִּיק וּרְשׁוּת הַנִּזָּק וְהַמַּזִּיק. וּכְשֶׁהִזִּיק, חָב הַמַּזִּיק לְשַׁלֵּם תַּשְׁלוּמֵי נֶזֶק בְּמֵיטַב הָאָרֶץ:

Everything that I am obliged to guard, I have effected its damage, [i.e., If I did not guard it properly and it caused damage, it is I who effected and "readied" that damage, and I am liable for it. If one, for example, gives his ox to a deaf-mute, an imbecile, or a minor (and it causes damage), he is liable for it, for the guarding of his ox devolved upon him, and he did not guard it properly.] If I effected part of its damage, [even though I did not "ready" the whole], I am liable for payment as if I had effected the whole, [as when one dug a pit nine tefachim (handbreadths) in the public domain and another came and completed it to ten, and an ox or an ass fell therein and died, in which instance the completer is liable. For though he readied only part of the damage, it is as if he had effected the whole, there being no death in nine.] [And for which property am I liable to pay if I damaged it?] Property not subject to me'ilah (desecration), [i.e., non-Temple property. For if I damage hekdesh (Temple property), I am not liable, it being written (Exodus 21:35): "the ox of his neighbor" — and not the ox of hekdesh. The same applies to all other damages.], property of "the children of the covenant" [If one damaged property of a gentile, he is exempt.], distinctive property, [i.e., property which has distinctive owners. If he damaged property of hefker (ownerless property), he is not liable.] [Wherever what belongs to a man damages what belongs to his neighbor, the mazik is liable] except (in) the domain which is exclusively that of the mazik, [so that if the ox of the nizak (the one damaged) entered the domain of the mazik, and the ox of the mazik injured it, the mazik is not liable; for he can say to him: "What is your ox doing in my property!" This, only when his (the mazik's) possessions caused the damage; but if the mazik himself injured his neighbor, though he (the latter) is standing in his (the mazik's) domain, he is liable. For the nizak can say to him: "Granted you have the right to eject me, but you have no right to injure me."], and (except in) the domain [which is distinctively that] of the nizak and the mazik [i.e., In a courtyard belonging to both, if the ox of one of them damaged by shen or regel, he (the owner) is not liable. This, if that courtyard is set aside for oxen too. But if it were set aside for fruits and not for oxen, and it damaged by shen or regel, he is liable. And if it damaged by keren, he is liable in any event.] And if it caused damage, the mazik must pay for the damage with the best of his property.

שׁוּם כֶּסֶף, וְשָׁוֶה כֶסֶף, בִּפְנֵי בֵית דִּין, וְעַל פִּי עֵדִים בְּנֵי חוֹרִין בְּנֵי בְרִית. וְהַנָּשִׁים בִּכְלָל הַנֶּזֶק. וְהַנִּזָּק וְהַמַּזִּיק בַּתַּשְׁלוּמִין:

The estimate [of damage must be made only in] money. [Beth-din estimate the amount of the damage, and that is what he pays him. And if Reuven's cow damaged Shimon's cloak, treading upon it in the domain of the nizak (Shimon) and trampling it, and later the foot of this cow were broken by (being caught in) Shimon's cloak, which is also a bor in the public domain, we do not say that since this (cow) damaged and this (cloak) damaged, the damages cancel each other out, but the two damages are assessed, and whoever damaged his neighbor more (than he was damaged) pays (the difference).] [And when they come to pay damages from the property of orphans, they pay only in land, which is] the equivalent of money [and not in metaltelin, which is money itself. For all movable things are regarded as money. For if they cannot be sold here, they can be sold elsewhere.] [And the assessment and payment of damages must be only] before beth-din, [who are experts, and not before a lay beth-din], and by witnesses who are free-men and "children of the covenant" [to exclude bondsmen and idolators, who are not kasher (acceptable) for testimony concerning damages.] And women are included in (the halachoth of) damages. [Whether she damaged others or they damaged her, the laws of damages are the same for men and for women.] And the nizak and the mazik (share) in payment. [Sometimes the nizak shares with the mazik in the payment of damages. As when the carcass deteriorated in value from the time of death until the time of the judgment, in which instance the loss (through deterioration) of the carcass is incurred by the nizak, whether the (damaging) animal be a tam or a muad. It is found, then, that the mazik does not even pay that half-nezek awarded him by the Torah if the animal were a tam, or the full nezek, if it were a muad — so that the nizak loses, thus "sharing" in payment with the mazik.]

חֲמִשָּׁה תַמִּין וַחֲמִשָּׁה מוּעָדִין, הַבְּהֵמָה אֵינָהּ מוּעֶדֶת לֹא לִגַּח וְלֹא לִגֹּף וְלֹא לִשֹּׁךְ וְלֹא לִרְבֹּץ וְלֹא לִבְעֹט. הַשֵּׁן מוּעֶדֶת לֶאֱכֹל אֶת הָרָאוּי לָהּ, הָרֶגֶל מוּעֶדֶת לְשַׁבֵּר בְּדֶרֶךְ הִלּוּכָהּ, וְשׁוֹר הַמּוּעָד, וְשׁוֹר הַמַּזִּיק בִּרְשׁוּת הַנִּזָּק, וְהָאָדָם. הַזְּאֵב וְהָאֲרִי וְהַדֹּב וְהַנָּמֵר וְהַבַּרְדְּלָס וְהַנָּחָשׁ, הֲרֵי אֵלּוּ מוּעָדִין. רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר, בִּזְמַן שֶׁהֵן בְּנֵי תַרְבּוּת, אֵינָן מוּעָדִין. וְהַנָּחָשׁ מוּעָד לְעוֹלָם. מַה בֵּין תָּם לְמוּעָד. אֶלָּא שֶׁהַתָּם מְשַׁלֵּם חֲצִי נֶזֶק מִגּוּפוֹ, וּמוּעָד מְשַׁלֵּם נֶזֶק שָׁלֵם מִן הָעֲלִיָּה:

There are five tamin, [which are not accustomed to cause damage; and if they damage, they pay a half-nezek.], and five muadin, [which are accustomed to cause damage, and which pay a full nezek.] A beast is not accustomed to butt [with the horn] or to push [with its whole body], or to bite, or to lie down, or to kick. [All of these are a toldah of keren and pay a half-nezek; thus, "five tamin."] The tooth is accustomed to eat what is fit for it. The foot is accustomed to break as it walks. And an ox which is accustomed [three times, to butt, or gore, or lie down, or kick or bite — these are five muadin to pay a full nezek; but in respect to (the enumeration of) "muadin," they are reckoned as one.], and an ox that damages in the domain of the nizak. [Even keren tam is considered a muad (in a private domain) to pay a full nezek. Our Mishnah is in accordance with the view that keren is "different" in the domain of the nizak, paying a full nezek, even if it is a tam. This is not the halachah.], and a man, [too, is a muad from the beginning, and pays a full nezek if he damages.] A wolf, and a lion, and a bear, and a tiger, and a leopard, and a snake — these are muadin [from the beginning. The reason that they are not included with the "five muadin" above, to make eleven muadin, is that they are not found within the settlement.] R. Eliezer says: When they are domesticated, they are not muadin, and a snake is always a muad. [The halachah is not in accordance with R. Eliezer.] What is the difference between a tam and a muad? A tam pays a half-nezek from its body, and a muad pays a full nezek from the best [of his property, even if the goring ox is not worth the amount of the damage. For in respect to a muad it is written (Exodus 21:36): "He shall pay an ox for an ox," and it is not written that payment is to be made from the body of the goring ox.]