Baba Basra 7:3-4

Baba Basra 7:3

If someone sells land saying, “as measured with a rope, more or less,” the part about “more or less” cancels out the part about “measured with a rope.” If he says he is selling it “more or less, as measured with a rope,” the part about “measured with a rope” cancels out the part about “more or less”; this is the opinion of Ben Nannus (i.e., that the last part of the statement is what counts). If he says that he is selling land with certain markers and boundaries, if the land is up to one-sixth smaller than estimated, the sale is valid; if it is more than one-sixth smaller, the buyer may reduce the price.

Baba Basra 7:4

Let’s say that one person tells another that he is selling him half a field (and the two halves are not of equal quality). In such a case, we appraise the cost of the entire field and the buyer takes land worth half the total. If the seller specified that he was selling him the southern half of the field, we appraise the cost of the entire field and the buyer takes land worth half the total on the south side. The buyer agrees to forgo the place occupied by the fence, a trench and a ditch. A trench is six handbreadths wide (about 18”) and a ditch is three handbreadths wide (about 9”).