1If a person on his deathbed says: So-and-so shall benefit from my property, what is the halakha ? Is he saying that all of the property shall be a gift? Or perhaps he is saying that the recipient shall derive some benefit from the property. If he says: So-and-so shall be seen in my property, what is the halakha ? If he says: So-and-so shall stand in my property, what is the halakha ? If he says: So-and-so shall rely on my property, what is the halakha ? The Gemara concludes: All these dilemmas shall stand unresolved.
2A dilemma was raised before the Sages: If a person on his deathbed sold all of his property, what is the halakha ? Rav Yehuda says that Rav says: If he recovers, he cannot retract the sale. And at times, Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: If he recovers, he can retract the sale. And these statements do not disagree. This statement, that he can retract the sale, applies in a case where the dinars he received as payment are still extant, i.e., in his possession. That statement, that he cannot retract the sale, applies in a case where he paid his debt with those dinars.
3§ A dilemma was raised before the Sages: In the case of a person on his deathbed who admitted that he owed money to a certain person, where it was possible that he did not actually owe him money, what is the halakha ? Does his admission qualify as the gift of a person on his deathbed? The Gemara answers: Come and hear a proof, as Issur the convert had twelve thousand dinars deposited in the house of Rava. Rav Mari, Issur’s son, whose conception was not in the sanctity of the Jewish people, i.e., he was conceived before his father converted, but his birth was in the sanctity of the Jewish people, i.e., he was born after his father converted, was in a study hall elsewhere when his father was on his deathbed.
4Rava reasoned that he would acquire possession of the deposit for himself, as he said: How can Rav Mari acquire these dinars? If he attempts to acquire the money as inheritance, he is not fit to inherit from Issur. Since he was conceived before his father converted, he is therefore not halakhically considered his son. If he attempts to acquire it as a gift, the Sages equated the halakhic status of the gift of a person on his deathbed with that of inheritance. Therefore, anywhere that the property can be acquired as inheritance, it can also be acquired as a gift, and anywhere that the property cannot be acquired as inheritance, it cannot be acquired as a gift.
5If he attempts to acquire the dinars by pulling them, which is a formal act of acquisition, he will not be able to do this, as the dinars are not with him. If he attempts to acquire them by means of symbolic exchange, a pro forma act of acquisition effecting the transfer of ownership of an article, money cannot be acquired by means of symbolic exchange. If he attempts to acquire them by means of the acquisition of land, Issur does not have any land. If he attempts to acquire them by means of verbal instruction made by his father in the presence of all three parties, i.e., the giver, the recipient, and the bailee, if he sends for me, the bailee, I shall not go, as without the presence of the bailee he cannot transfer ownership of the money.
6Rav Ika, son of Rav Ami, objected to this: Why is Rav Mari unable to acquire the money? But why not let Issur admit that these dinars are owned by Rav Mari, and he shall transfer ownership of them to Rav Mari by means of a document of admission? In the meantime, a document of admission stating that the dinars belonged to Rav Mari emerged from Issur’s house. Rava became angry, and said: They are teaching people legal claims and causing me loss. In any event, this incident proves that the admission of a person on his deathbed is a valid means of transferring ownership.