## Bava Batra Daf 167a

###### Bava Batra 167a:1
[Bava Batra 167a:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Bava%20Batra/r/167a:1)

וּמְשַׁוֵּי לְהוּ זוּזִי; מַאי אָמְרַתְּ – שֵׁית מְאָה אִיסְתֵּירֵי וְזוּזָא, שֵׁית מְאָה זוּזֵי וְחַד זוּזָא? יַד בַּעַל הַשְּׁטָר עַל הַתַּחְתּוֹנָה.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**and change them** into a smaller number of **dinars.** Therefore, **what can you say?** The highest and lowest remaining possibilities are: **Six hundred *istira* and a dinar,** and **six hundred dinars and one** more **dinar.** The guiding principle is that **the holder of the document** is **at a disadvantage,** and the lesser of these two values is assumed.


###### Bava Batra 167a:2
[Bava Batra 167a:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Bava%20Batra/r/167a:2)

אָמַר אַבָּיֵי: הַאי מַאן דְּבָעֵי לְמַחְוֵי חֲתִימוּת יְדֵיהּ בְּבֵי דִינָא, לָא לַחְוֵי בְּסוֹף מְגִילְּתָא; דִּלְמָא מַשְׁכַּח לַהּ אַחֵר וְכָתֵיב דְּמַסֵּיק בֵּיהּ זוּזִי, וּתְנַן: הוֹצִיא עָלָיו כְּתַב יָדוֹ שֶׁהוּא חַיָּיב לוֹ – גּוֹבֶה מִנְּכָסִים בְּנֵי חוֹרִין.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
§ **Abaye said:** With regard to **this one who needs to show his signature in court** for the purpose of corroborating his signature on a document, he **should not show** it by writing it **at the end of the parchment, lest another,** unscrupulous, person **find** the parchment **and write** above the signature **that** the signatory **owes him money. And** such a document would be valid, as **we learned** in a mishna (175b): If one **presents to** a debtor a document in the **handwriting of** the debtor stating **that he owes** money **to him,** but without witnesses signed on the document, the creditor **can collect** only **from unsold property,** i.e., property that is currently in the possession of the debtor.


###### Bava Batra 167a:3
[Bava Batra 167a:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Bava%20Batra/r/167a:3)

הָהוּא בַּזְבָּינָא דַּאֲתָא לְקַמֵּיהּ דְּאַבָּיֵי, אֲמַר לֵיהּ: נַיחְזֵי לִי מָר חֲתִימוּת יְדֵיהּ, דְּכִי אָתוּ רַבָּנַן מַחְווּ לִי, מְעַבַּרְנָא לְהוּ בְּלָא מִכְסָא. אַחְוִי לֵיהּ בְּרֵישׁ מְגִילְּתָא. הֲוָה קָא נָגֵיד בֵּיהּ, אֲמַר לֵיהּ: כְּבָר קַדְמוּךָ רַבָּנַן.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
The Gemara relates: There was **a certain** Jewish **tax collector who came before Abaye** and **said to him: Let the Master show me his signature** on a piece of paper to keep in my records, **as when rabbis come** to me and **show me** a note with your signature on it, attesting to the fact that they are Torah scholars, **I let them pass without** paying the **tax. Abaye showed him** his signature **at the top of the parchment,** though the unscrupulous tax collector kept **pulling** the parchment away from Abaye so that the signature would be at the bottom. Abaye noticed this and **said to him: The Sages** have **already anticipated** people such as **you** and advised that one should never write his signature at the bottom of a paper.


###### Bava Batra 167a:4
[Bava Batra 167a:4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Bava%20Batra/r/167a:4)

אָמַר אַבָּיֵי: מִתְּלָת וְעַד עֲשַׂר – לָא לִכְתּוֹב בְּסוֹף שִׁיטָה, דִּלְמָא מְזַיֵּיף וְכָתֵב. וְאִי אִיתְרְמִי לֵיהּ, נַיהְדְּרֵיהּ לְדִבּוּרֵיהּ תְּרֵין תְּלָתָא זִימְנֵי, אִי אֶפְשָׁר דְּלָא מִיתְרְמֵי לֵיהּ בְּאֶמְצַע שִׁיטָה.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
§ **Abaye said:** When writing a promissory note, one **should not write** any number **from three until ten at the end of a line, lest** someone **commit forgery and write** an extension to the number, since it is at the end of the line. In Hebrew and Aramaic, the words for the numbers three through nine can be changed to thirty through ninety, respectively, by appending to them the suffix *in*, written with the letters *yod* and *nun*. Ten can be changed to twenty in a similar manner. **And if** by chance **it occurs for him** that these numbers fall out at the end of a line, **he should repeat his words two** or **three times,** stating and restating the agreement in question, as **it is impossible that** the number will **not** eventually **occur for him in the middle of a line.** When there is a contradiction, it is the final mention of the amount that is authoritative, as the mishna teaches.


###### Bava Batra 167a:5
[Bava Batra 167a:5](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Bava%20Batra/r/167a:5)

הָהוּא דַּהֲוָה כְּתִיב בֵּיהּ: ״תִּילְתָּא בְּפַרְדֵּיסָא״. אֲזַל מַחְקֵיהּ לְגַגֵּיהּ דְּבֵית וְכַרְעֵיהּ, וְשַׁוְּיֵהּ ״וּפַרְדֵּיסָא״, אֲתָא לְקַמֵּיהּ דְּאַבָּיֵי, אֲמַר לֵיהּ: מַאי טַעְמָא רְוִיחַ לֵיהּ עָלְמָא לְהַאי וָיו? כַּפְתֵיהּ וְאוֹדִי.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
The Gemara relates: There was **a certain** bill of sale **in which it was written** that the item sold was: In my garden, **one-third of the orchard.** The purchaser **went** and **erased the roof and the foot of the *beit*** of the term: Of the orchard [*befardeisa*], **and** thereby **changed** the prefix *beit* into a *vav*, yielding: In my garden one-third, **and the orchard [*ufardeisa*],** indicating that the sale included one-third of the garden in addition to all of the orchard. The document **came before Abaye,** who **said to** the purchaser: **What is the reason** that there is **so much space around this *vav*?** Since the letter *vav* is narrower than the letter *beit*, a larger space between letters emerged as compared to the spacing of letters in the rest of the document. Abaye **bound** the purchaser, i.e., he subjected him to physical coercion, **and he admitted** to the forgery.


###### Bava Batra 167a:6
[Bava Batra 167a:6](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Bava%20Batra/r/167a:6)

הָהוּא דַּהֲוָה כְּתִב בֵּיהּ: ״מְנָת רְאוּבֵן וְשִׁמְעוֹן אַחֵי״. הֲוָה לְהוּ אַחָא דִּשְׁמֵיהּ ״אַחַי״, אֲזַל כְּתַב בֵּיהּ וָיו, וְשַׁוְּיֵהּ ״וְאַחַי״. אֲתָא לְקַמֵּיהּ דְּאַבָּיֵי, אֲמַר לֵיהּ: מַאי טַעְמָא דְּחִיק לֵיהּ עָלְמָא לְהַאי וָיו כּוּלֵּי הַאי? כַּפְתֵיהּ וְאוֹדִי.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
The Gemara relates: There was **a certain** bill of sale **in which it was written** that the item being sold was: **The portions of Reuven and Shimon, brothers [*aḥei*].** Reuven and Shimon happened to **have a brother whose name** was **Aḥai,** which, when writing without vowels, is spelled identically to *aḥei*. The purchaser **went** and **wrote** a conjunctive ***vav* in** the document before the word *aḥei*, **and changed** the wording into: The portions of Reuven and Shimon **and Aḥai.** The document **came before Abaye,** who **said to** the purchaser: **What is the reason** that it is **so crowded around this *vav*?** By inserting the extra *vav*, a smaller space between letters emerged as compared to the spacing of letters in the rest of the document. Abaye **bound** the purchaser, i.e., he subjected him to physical coercion, **and he admitted** the forgery.


###### Bava Batra 167a:7
[Bava Batra 167a:7](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Bava%20Batra/r/167a:7)

הָהוּא שְׁטָרָא דַּהֲוָה חֲתִים עֲלֵיהּ רָבָא וְרַב אַחָא בַּר אַדָּא. אֲתָא לְקַמֵּיהּ דְּרָבָא, אֲמַר לֵיהּ: דֵּין חֲתִימוּת יְדָא דִּידִי הִיא, מִיהוּ קַמֵּיהּ דְּרַב אַחָא בַּר אַדָּא לָא חֲתִימִי לִי מֵעוֹלָם! כַּפְתֵיהּ וְאוֹדִי. אֲמַר לֵיהּ: בִּשְׁלָמָא דִּידִי – זַיֵּיפְתְּ, אֶלָּא דְּרַב אַחָא בַּר אַדָּא, דְּרָתֵית יְדֵיהּ – הֵיכִי עֲבַדְתְּ? אָמַר: אַנַּחִי יְדַאי אַמִּצְרָא. וְאָמְרִי לַהּ: קָם אַזַּרְנוּקָא וּכְתַב.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
The Gemara relates: There was **a certain document upon which** the signatures of **Rava and Rav Aḥa bar Adda were signed.** The one holding the document **came before Rava,** who **said to him: This is my signature, but I never signed** any document **before Rav Aḥa bar Adda.** Rava **bound** the holder of the document, i.e., he subjected him to physical coercion, **and he admitted** the forgery. Rava **said to him: Granted, you** were able to **forge my** signature, **but how did you perform** a forgery of **Rav Aḥa bar Adda’s** signature, **since his hands shake** and as a result his signature is distinctive? The man **said: I placed my hands on** the rope of **a narrow footbridge [*amitzra*],** and was thereby able to duplicate Rav Aḥa’s signature. **And some say** that the forgery was accomplished when the forger **stood upon a** wobbly **water skin [*azarnuka*] and wrote** the signature.


###### Bava Batra 167a:8
[Bava Batra 167a:8](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Bava%20Batra/r/167a:8)

**מַתְנִי׳** כּוֹתְבִין גֵּט לָאִישׁ – אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁאֵין אִשְׁתּוֹ עִמּוֹ, וְהַשּׁוֹבָר לָאִשָּׁה – אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁאֵין בַּעְלָהּ עִמָּהּ; וּבִלְבַד שֶׁיְּהֵא מַכִּירָן. וְהַבַּעַל נוֹתֵן שָׂכָר.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**MISHNA:** A scribe may **write a bill of divorce for a man** who requests one, **even if his wife is not with him** to give her consent when he presents his request, as there is no possibility that he will misuse the document. **And** a scribe may write **a receipt for a woman** upon her request, attesting to the payment of her marriage contract, **even if her husband is not with her** to give his consent. This is true **provided that** the scribe **recognizes** the parties requesting the document, to prevent misrepresentation. **And** for both documents, **the husband gives** the scribe his **wages.**