Bava qama (mixed natractic)
Bava qama / בבא קמא ( Eng . "The first gate") is the first treatise of the Mishnah in the order Nesiqin סֵדֶר נְזִיקִין (injuries) . He has a Tosefta and a Gemara in both Talmudim .
The three Bavot
The name Bava qama comes from Aramaic and literally means first gate or first gate. In a figurative sense, Bava also refers to a section of a literary work. The name refers to the fact that Bava qama together with Bava metzia (dt. "The middle gate") and Bava batra (dt. "The rear gate") once formed a treatise together. The subdivision into three sections was purely schematic and probably for practical reasons: All three Bavot each contain 10 chapters, so in total they are quite extensive. This subdivision probably comes from the Babylonian text tradition alone, it is not found in the Eretz-Jisra'elic tradition and the entire treatise still bears the name of the Seder : Nesiqin . This name, in German "Damage", also reflects the main content, the internal Jewish civil law.
content
The first chapter is a kind of opening to the entire treatise and names the basic legal categories, which are explained in more detail in the following chapters. Mishnah 1 negotiates four categories of damage ( Hebrew אבות נזיקין). T. Exodus 21f. are taken from: Ochse / שור (Ex 21,28-32), Grube / בור (Ex 21,33f.), Abweiden / מבעה, Brand / הבער (Ex 22,4f.). The category “ox” is referred to in the course of the treatise with “horn”, the category “grazing” with “tooth and foot”. The Mishnah also explains the differences and similarities between these four categories:
"What they have in common is that it is their way of harm, and that you are responsible for guarding them."
Mishnah 4 makes a further distinction between “innocent” (תם) and “warned” (מועד, actually “testified”). “Cautioned” refers to animals or people whose species it is (under certain circumstances) to cause harm. Wolf, lion, bear, tiger, panther and snake are regarded as "warned", but according to Rabbi Elasar - with the exception of the snake - as innocent if they are tamed. The second chapter essentially consists of the interpretation of the first chapter and ends with the statement that people are always considered to be "warned".
The Mishnayot 3,1-7 regulate various cases of damage in public areas. From 3.8 to 5.4, cases of damage caused by oxen are regulated. In the following the rabbis discuss pits, heaps and the like. From 6.4 onwards, the topic of “fire” is negotiated.
The seventh chapter contains the provisions on theft. For reimbursement, a distinction is made between double repayment (cf. Ex 22.3ff.) And four or fivefold repayment (cf. Ex 21.37). The latter only occurs when the stolen property is alive. Questions on witnessing in theft processes are also dealt with.
The eighth chapter is devoted to regulations in the event of bodily harm. The last two chapters are devoted to questions related to robbery, how to deal with stolen property, etc. Interestingly, dealing with customs officers is also regulated in this context.
An important distinction with regard to persons is not made separately in the treatise, but is used in numerous individual regulations: a deaf, a dumb and a minor (Hebrew חרשׁ שׁוטה וקטן, often abbreviated with the first letter חש"ו) have only limited legal capacity, However, this also means that they are only liable to a limited extent. There are also certain restrictions on both aspects for women and slaves.
See also
literature
- Michael Krupp (ed.): The Mishnah: Baba Kama (First Porte). Jerusalem 2006. ISBN 965-7221-37-4
- Walter Windfuhr: Baba qamma (“First Porte” of civil law). Giessen 1913.
Web links
- Hebrew text of the treatise
- Bava qama , translation by Lazarus Goldschmidt , Berlin, 1897.
Remarks
- ↑ קמא is the usual shortened form of the original קדמא in Judeo-Babylonian-Aramaic .
- ↑ A partial exception to this is the Cambridge manuscript, which numbered the chapter numbers consecutively, but before chapter 11 ( באבא תינינא) and 21 (באבא בתרא) Inserts subheadings.