Julian Ungar-Sargon

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Daf Ditty

A wide-ranging commentary on the daily page of Talmud.

Bava Metzia 19: διαθήκη

jyungar March 18, 2024

For the source text click/tap here: Bava Metzia 19

To download, click/tap here: PDF

If a person finds a document in the marketplace, must it be returned to its owner? And which owner, the person receiving or the person selling?

Our daf focuses on specific documents that might be lost and then found. These include a get, b a bill of manumission, and a will. The rabbis compare these documents to found promissory notes. They also consider gifts and notes written when a person is healthy or unhealthy.

"the Gemara raises a contradiction to that inference from a baraita that states that if one found wills, or deyaytiki deeds of designated repayment, or deeds of gift, even if both the one who wrote the deed and its intended recipient agree that it is valid, he should return it neither to this person nor to that person."

διαθήκη deyaytiki is a will or a deed of gift given by one on his/her deathbed acquired after the death.

We examine the etymology of this Greek loan word and its use in the Bible, Septuagint and in ancient wills and testaments.

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Julian Ungar-Sargon

This is Julian Ungar-Sargon's personal website. It contains poems, essays, and podcasts for the spiritual seeker and interdisciplinary aficionado.​