תּלמוד אויף שמות 21:19

MISHNAH: One who injures another person owes him under five categories: Damages, suffering, medical costs, loss of earnings¹Payment of medical costs and replacement of lost earnings are biblical obligations, Ex. 21:19., and embarrassment. How are damages determined? If he blinded his eye, or cut off his hand, or broke his leg, one considers it as if he were sold as a slave; how much was he worth and how much is he worth now²Since slaves are bought for their working power (Halakhah 7:1), what has to be estimated is the loss of earning power.. Suffering: If he burned him with a spit, or with a nail, even on his fingernails where it does not cause a wound³If no open wound is caused, no damages are due. The payment for pain is independent of the payment for damages., one estimates how much a person in his state would ask to be paid in order to be willing to suffer such pain.

We have stated: “Four main categories of damages.” But Rebbi Ḥiyya stated thirteen¹⁶Tosephta 9:1; Babli 4b in the name of R. Hoshaia. The list contains 9 items; together with the 4 mentioned in the Mishnah there are 13.: Damages, suffering, medical costs, loss of earning power, shame¹⁷These five kinds of payment are due for injuries suffered at the hands of another person, Mishnah 8:1; it is based on Ex. 21:19. “Suffering” means [payment for]bodily pain; “shame” refers to [payment for] mental anguish caused by loss of face.; the unpaid trustee, and the borrower, the paid trustee, and the renter¹⁸These four entries do not refer to kinds of payments for damages but to the obligations of persons who hold other people’s property in case that property is lost, stolen, or damaged, as specified in Mishnah Bava meṣi‘a 7:9 (based on Ex. 22:6–12). The unpaid trustee does not pay if he can swear that he did not use the property; the borrower pays for everything; the paid trustee and the renter have to pay for what was lost or stolen but may swear that it was not their fault if the damage was caused by an act of God or forcible robbery.. Say now, what we stated [refers to] responsibility for damages¹⁹A literal translation would be: “Qualification for damages”. The reference is to Mishnah 2: “Anything which I am obliged to guard, I qualify [myself as responsible] for damages.” [Noted by S. Pinchas, New explanations of some unclear passages in the Yerushalmi, Sinai 133 (2004) 174–180 (Hebrew); but the relation was already noted by Eliahu Fulda.]. All damages payable for actions of one’s animals are really fines for the owner’s negligence in watching his animal.. What Rebbi Ḥiyya stated [refers to] both responsibility for damages and bodily injury²⁰In the Babli, 4b, this explanation is attributed to Samuel.. Rebbi Ḥaggai asked: How can we state “four main categories”? If everything was said about one bull; let us state “three,” if it was said about three bulls, let us state “five”²¹Of the categories of damages indicated in the Mishnah, three refer to actions of cattle: goring, trampling, and feeding. If one classifies the damages according to their origins, there should be three (cattle, humans, fire); if by categories there should be five.! But as it is presented in the verse, thus it is presented in the Mishnah^22,Since foot and tooth are interpretations of one and the same verse, they are counted as one in the Mishnah.²³A similar expression is used in Berakhot 2:4 (Note 192)..

HALAKHAH: “Anything I am obligated to watch I did set up for damage claims,” etc. Rebbi Ḥiyya stated⁸⁸Tosephta 1:1.: This refers to cattle and pit. But he did not state “fire”⁸⁹The same question in the Babli, 9b.. Rebbi Jeremiah said, the fire set up for damage claims⁹⁰If a person is injured by fire, even if the fire was started completely legally, he is treated as being injured by the direct action of the person starting the fire. This responsibility exceeds by far the responsibility of a rancher to watch his herd or of the person digging a pit in the public domain.? Rebbi Yose said, if the fire were [more than] damage claims, should he not accept warning according to this opinion and be whipped⁹¹Injuring another person is a criminal act subject to prosecution. We do not find that a person making a legal fire might be criminally prosecuted.? How is this? The fire in setting up for damage claims he accepts [responsibility] for damages, suffering, medical costs, loss of earning power, shame^17,These five kinds of payment are due for injuries suffered at the hands of another person, Mishnah 8:1; it is based on Ex. 21:19. “Suffering” means [payment for]bodily pain; “shame” refers to [payment for] mental anguish caused by loss of face.⁹²This is the excess liability which puts fire in a category different from cattle and pit..