A mishnah on yesterday’s daf looks at the ways someone might measure a plot of land that is “more or less” a beit kor — meaning it is approximately the right size to sow a kor of seeds. We might be surprised, after so many pages discussing the importance of exact weights and measures, to see that “more or less” is even a possibility. But in truth, a beit kor is itself an approximate measure — between four and six acres — since not everyone sows at the same density and measuring land, even with a rope (which is the method the mishnah describes), can be inexact due to impediments on the land itself: a culvert, a rocky outcrop, a grove of trees, etc. Perhaps for all these reasons, the mishnah allows for an approximate measurement, stating:
If the seller said to the buyer that he is selling him a beit kor of land more or less, then even if he gave him a quarter-kav per se’ah less than what was stipulated, or he gave him a quarter–kav per se’ah more than what was stipulated, it is his. If the difference is greater than this amount, he must make a calculation (and the party that suffered a loss must be compensated).
The mishnah notes that “more or less,” while approximate, still has limits. There are six kavs per se’ah, so the allowable margin of error is 1/24th, or about four percent. If the amount of land sold falls outside this margin of error then, according to the Gemara, the shorted party is compensated with money. This creates another concern:
Is it correct that we say that the seller’s power should be enhanced, and that we do not say that the buyer’s power should be enhanced?
If the measurement is off by more than the allowable margin, the buyer pays the seller for the excess. But, as the Gemara notes, this practice benefits the seller, forcing the buyer to pay the overage rather than just returning the extra acreage. Is this fair? The Gemara continues:
But isn’t it taught otherwise in a beraita: If the seller gave the buyer seven and a half kav per kor (1/24th) less than stipulated, or he gave him seven and a half kav per kor more than what was stipulated, it is his and the sale is valid. If the difference is greater than that amount, the court compels the seller to sell and the buyer to buy the difference.
In other words, the buyer’s power is also enhanced, since if the buyer wishes, the seller must sell the extra land and accept payment for it.
After bringing several more examples of a land sale that might require compensation to either the buyer or the seller, the Gemara concludes by noting:
The mishnah teaches that if the surplus is greater than a quarter-kav per se’ah, it is not only the quarter-kav that the buyer returns; rather, he returns all of the surplus. But isn’t it the opposite? (Isn’t the buyer required to return the surplus even when the quarter kav remains in his possession?) Ravin bar Rav Nahman taught the mishnah as follows: Not only must the buyer return the extra land, but he must also return to him every one of the extra quarter-kav areas of land that he received beyond the stated area of a beit kor.
If the measurement is so far off that several areas within the parcel exceed the margin of one quarter kav per se’ah, the buyer must return everything that is beyond what was paid for, and not keep even a small margin of a quarter-qav. In this way, the Gemara mitigates the flexibility of “more or less” to ensure that measurements are still as accurate as possible, thus guaranteeing that even with a margin of error, the buyer and seller adhere to the Torah’s mandate to maintain just weights and measures.
Read all of Bava Batra 104 on Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on October 7, 2024. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
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