משנה: בֵּית כּוֹר עָפָר אֲנִי מוֹכֵר לָךְ מִדָּה בַחֶבֶל. פָּחַת כָּל־שֶׁהוּא יְנַכֶּה. הוֹתִיר כָּל־שֶׁהוּא יַחֲזִיר. אִם אָמַר הֵן חָסֵר הֵן יֶתֶר אֲפִילוּ פָחַת רוֹבַע לַסְּאָה אוֹ הוֹתִיר רוֹבַע לַסְּאָה הִגִּיעוֹ. יוֹתֵר מִכֵּן יַעֲשֶׂה חֶשְׁבּוֹן. וּמָהוּ מַחֲזִיר לוֹ מָעוֹת וְאִם רָצָה מַחֲזִיר לוֹ קַרקַע. וְלָמָּה אָֽמְרוּ מַחֲזִיר לוֹ מָעוֹת לְייַפּוֹת כּוֹחוֹ שֶׁל מוֹכֵר שֶׁאִם שִׁייֵר בַּשָּׂדֶה בֵּית תִשְׁעַת קַבִּין וּבַגִּינָּה בֵּית חֲצִי קַב. וּכְדִבְרֵי רִבִּי עֲקִיבָה בֵּית רוֹבַע. מַחֲזִיר לוֹ אֶת הַקַּרְקַע וְלֹא אֶת הָרוֹבַע בִּלְבַד הוּא מַחֲזִיר לוֹ אֶלָּא כָּל־הַמּוֹתָר. MISHNAH: “I am selling you a bet kor130 bet se’ah or 75’000 square cubits. of dust measured by the surveyor’s measuring tape,” if a little bit be missing, he deducts, if it be a little more, he has to refund18The buyer pays exactly for the square cubits he received in land based on the fixed purchase price per bet kor.. If he said “more or less,” even if it was deficient by a quarter [qab] per se’ah or redundant by a quarter [qab] per se’ah, he received it19A sale “more or less” allows a margin of ±4.1667%.. For more than that one makes a computation20The sale price is proportional to the agreed price for 75’000 square cubits..
What does he return23The buyer who received more than 25/24 of the area agreed to for the stated purchase price.? Money. But if he24The seller. agreed, he returns land to him. Then why did they say, he returns money to him? To empower the seller25To protect the seller; to avoid his becoming the owner of a parcel too small for agricultural use which practically would be worthless., for if this one24The seller. retained for himself a space for nine qab26If the seller retained at least 3750 square cubits of land for extensive agriculture or 208 1/3 square cubits of land for intensive agriculture, the seller automatically has a legal claim to receive the excess amount in land, rather than money., or in a vegetable garden the space for half a qab (or following Rebbi Aqiba a bet rova‘) he returns land to him. Not only the quarter [qab] he has to return but all the excess.
הלכה: בֵּית כּוֹר עָפָר אֲנִי מוֹכֵר לָךְ כול׳. הָכָא אַתָּ מַר. הִגִּיעוֹ. וְהָכָא אַתָּ מַר. לֹא אֶת הָרוֹבַע בִּלְבַד מַחֲזִיר לוֹ אֶלָּא כָּל־הַמּוֹתָר. אָֽמְרֵי. מִכֵּיוָן שֶׁאַתְּ מוֹצִיאוֹ לִפְחוֹת מֵחֶבֶל מַחֲזִירוֹ אַתּ לְמִידָּה בַחֶבֶל. HALAKHAH: “I am selling you a bet kor of dust,” etc. Here, you say that “he has received it.” But there, you say that “not only the quarter [qab] he has to return but all the excess”21In Mishnah 2 it is stated that if the deviation of the delivered real estate from the contracted amount be less than 1/24, the contract was validly satisfied. But in Mishnah 3 it is stated that if the difference was more than 1/24, the entire excess beyond the contracted amount must be restituted, not only the excess beyond 104.167% over the contracted amount.? They said, since you exclude him from the rule of “less22Short for “more or less than ..”. than measured by the surveyor’s measuring tape” you return him to the rules of “by the surveyor’s measuring tape.”