We are introduced to the assertion that a field that is vowed ownerless must be declared ownerless in the presence of three people. Why not just two people? Our notes share some of the thoughts of our rabbis, including the idea that three people allow the person who declares ownerlessness to be in the presence of two others; in this way there is no possibility of misunderstanding one's vow as in fact being a gift given to the other person present.
The rabbis are concerned that a person might be making such a vow to avoid tithing. It seems that their stringency is related to concerns about people who might intentionally use halachot on vows to benefit themselves.
Perek V begins with just the start of a new Mishna. It teaches us about partners who vow not to benefit from one another. First, we learn that they may not enter a courtyard that they share. Next, Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov teaches that each person is permitted to enter their own area of the courtyard. This may be because of Bereira. Bereira is a principle about 'retroactive classification'. Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov would use bereira: each step that a person takes in the courtyard is retroactively understood as a step within his own property. The rabbis agreed, either because of this reasoning or because they believed that a prohibitory vow cannot forbid a right that is routinely waived, such as exclusive passage through a courtyard.
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