1If the rocks are scattered throughout the greater part of the field but are arranged like a ring, what is the halakha ? If the rocks stand in a row, what is the halakha ? If the rocks form an angle, what is the halakha ? If they are arranged in the shape of a crooked path, what is the halakha ? The Gemara states: All these dilemmas shall stand unresolved.
2A Sage taught in a baraita : If there is a solitary rock on the outskirts of the field, even if it is of a minimal size, it is not measured together with the rest of the field. And further, if that rock is adjacent to the field’s border, even if it is of a minimal size, it is not measured together with the rest of the field.
3Rav Pappa raises a dilemma: If earth intervenes between the rock and the border of the field, so that the rock does not actually touch the border, what is the halakha ? The Gemara states: This dilemma as well shall stand unresolved. Rav Ashi raises another dilemma: If there was a layer of earth below and rock above, or earth above and rock below, what is the halakha ? The Gemara states: This dilemma as well shall stand unresolved.
4MISHNA: If one says to another: I am selling you a plot of earth the size of a beit kor , measured precisely with a rope, and he gave him even the slightest amount less than what was stipulated, the seller must deduct the difference from the purchase price of the field and return money to the buyer. If he gave him even the slightest amount more than what was stipulated, the buyer must return the difference to the seller. And 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’a less than what was stipulated, or he gave him a quarter -kav per se’a more that what was stipulated, i.e., he gave him one twenty-fourth more or less than what was required, it is his. The sale is valid, since the seller told the buyer in advance that he was not committing himself to precise measurements. If the difference is greater than that amount, he must make a calculation, and the party that suffered a loss must be compensated.
5If the buyer received too much land, so that he must now compensate the seller, what does he return to him? He returns money, i.e., he pays the seller for the surplus land. And if the seller so wishes, the buyer returns the surplus land to him. Why then did the Sages say that he returns money to him? They said this in order to enhance the power of the seller, and enable him to demand payment for the surplus land, rather than accept its return. As, if the surplus in the field was an area required for sowing nine kav of seed, and in a garden an area required for sowing a half- kav of seed, or, according to the statement of Rabbi Akiva, an area required for sowing a quarter - kav of seed (see 11a), the buyer must return the land itself to the seller, and the seller cannot demand payment in money. And if the surplus is greater than a quarter- kav per se’a , it is not only the quarter - kav that he returns; rather, he returns all of the surplus. Since he is already required to make a refund, the refund must be made in the precise amount.
6GEMARA: The mishna considers two cases of selling a beit kor of land: First, where the seller said that he is selling a beit kor measured precisely with a rope, in which case a refund must be made no matter how small the deviation; and second, where the seller said that he is selling a beit kor more or less, in which case the sale is valid as long as the deviation is no more than a quarter- kav per se’a . In connection with these cases, a dilemma was raised before the Sages: If one says he is selling a beit kor of land, and he said this without any further specification, what is the halakha ? The Gemara suggests: Come and hear a solution from what was taught in the mishna: If one says to another: I am selling you a plot of earth the size of a beit kor , measured precisely with a rope,