Celui qui achète «deux arbres» [sans réserve] au milieu du champ de son voisin n'acquiert [aucune] terre [autour d'eux]. R. Meir dit: Il acquiert des terres. S'ils ont grandi, il [le propriétaire de la terre] ne peut pas les couper, [même si leur ombre nuit à sa terre. Car puisque le propriétaire des arbres n'a pas de terre, (il est entendu que) le propriétaire du champ lui a "lié" sa terre pour tous leurs besoins tant qu'ils sont là.] Et ce qui pousse du tronc [ c'est-à-dire que tout ce qui est au-dessus du sol, "voir" le soleil] est à lui [le propriétaire de l'arbre. Non pas qu'il devrait la laisser pousser là-bas; car nous craignons que le sol ne monte jusqu'à ce qu'une partie de l'arbre poussant hors du tronc en soit recouvert, de sorte que l'on donne l'impression de trois arbres et que l'acheteur puisse lui dire: "Vous m'avez vendu trois arbres et je possède ( leur terre." (voir ci-dessous) Mais il doit le couper et le brûler.] Et (ce qui pousse) à partir des racines [c'est-à-dire, tout ce qui se trouve sous le sol] appartient au propriétaire de la terre. Et s'ils meurent [c'est-à-dire, si les arbres se dessèchent], il (le propriétaire de l'arbre) n'a pas de terre [sur laquelle planter d'autres à leur place.] S'il a acheté trois (arbres), il acquiert la terre, [cela étant considéré comme un «champ d'arbres», et il acquiert la terre entre l'arbre et l'arbre, et sous eux, et sur le côté, le plein (espace) d'un cueilleur de fruits et de son panier, afin qu'il puisse se tenir là avec son panier et choisir. Ceci, quand il n'y a pas moins entre arbre et arbre que quatre coudées et pas plus de seize. Ce n'est qu'alors qu'il acquiert le terrain comme indiqué. Mais s'il y a moins entre l'arbre et l'arbre que quatre coudées ou plus de seize, il n'acquiert pas le terrain.] S'ils poussent, il (le propriétaire du champ) peut les couper. Et ce qui pousse du tronc et des racines est le sien (le propriétaire de l'arbre). Et s'ils meurent, il (le propriétaire de l'arbre) a une terre (sur laquelle les replanter).
Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra
הקונה שני אילנות – undefined, he did not purchase the land surrounding it at all.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Batra
Introduction
Mishnah four deals with the a person who buys trees in another person’s field and whether or not the buyer has acquired the land on which the trees grow.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra
הגדילו – the boughs became wider.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Batra
Our mishnah begins with a dispute between Rabbi Meir and the Sages. According to the Sages when a person buys two trees he has not bought the ground they are on, and according to Rabbi Meir he has bought the ground. The remainder of section one goes according to the Sages. Section 1b states that if the trees grow branches the seller, who still owns the land, may not trim them. Although these branches now cover land that he did not sell, and when he sold the tree these branches were not there, by selling the tree he tacitly gives permission to the buyer to let the branches grow. Section 1c states that anything that grows from the tree above ground belongs to the buyer and anything below ground still belongs to the seller/landowner. Finally, if the trees die, the buyer may not plant there new trees. Since he didn’t buy the land, when the trees die he has totally lost his acquisition.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra
לא ישפה – the owner of the land should not cut them, even though their shade is destroying his land, for since the owner of the trees has no land, the owner of the land mortgaged to him (i.e., the owner of the trees) for all their needs all the while that they are existing.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Batra
If he bought three trees, he has bought the ground [between them]. When they grow he may trim them, And what comes up whether from the stem or from the roots belongs to him (the. And if they die the ground is his. In section two we learn that the laws are different when one acquires three trees. In that case the person has acquired the land. If the trees should grown branches that overhang into the seller’s property he may trim them. Anything that grows from the tree, even below the ground, belongs to the buyer. Furthermore, if the trees die he may plant there new trees.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra
גזע – whatever is above the ground and sees the face of the sun.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Batra
Questions for Further Thought: • Why may the seller trim the trees if he sold three to the buyer but not if he sold two?
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra
שרשין – whatever is below the ground [level].
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra
שלו – of the owner of the tree, and he should leave it there and let it grow, for we suspect lest the ground rise until it covers the tree coming out of the stump, part of which is in the ground, and they will see something like three trees and the purchase will say: “You sold me three trees and I have land” but he should cut it and burn it.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra
ואם מתו – the tree dried up.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra
אין לו קרקע – where he is able to plant another [tree] in its place.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra
קנה קרקע – for they are considered to be an orchard and he bought the land that is between one tree and another tree. But under them and outside of them is the fulness of fig collector and his basket, in order that he can stand, he can harvest his fruits with his basket. And these words [apply] when there is between one tree and another tree no less than four cubits, but no more than sixteen cubits. Then, he purchased the land between each tree and what is under them. And outside of it, as we have stated, but if there is less than four cubits between each tree, or more than sixteen cubits, he did not purchase the land.
