The Gemara continues to comment on the Mishna from yesterday's daf, 62, which stated that the principle of a double payment was more broad as it applied to the theft of things alive and not alive. Fourfold and fivefold payments only apply to oxen and sheep. Exodus (21:37) teaches that one who steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters or sells it must pay its owner five oxen for the ox and four sheep for the sheep. Fourfold and fivefold payments do not apply to those who steal items that were already stolen.
The Gemara wonders which animals are included in these rules. The rabbis suggest that if different animals had been written in the Torah as examples, perhaps we would be considering the significance of first-born animals. And are birds also included?
The rabbis consider the fact that this halacha in the Torah included a generalization followed by a detail followed by a generalization. This is also described as an amplification followed by a restriction followed by an amplification. In these cases, the halacha includes the last generalization and the details. Thus this is an inclusive halacha.
The Gemara walks through a number of cases where different halachot apply. Exodus (22:8) teaches us that when a person finds a lost item and the judge convicts, that person is owed twofold the value of the item. A baraita taught that a person whose item was lost and who signs an oath, the bailee pays the value of the lost item plus one-fifth. Another case taken from Exodus (22:6) describes a double payment made by a bailee who lies about a theft.
More complicated cases are shared. The thief might not be found. We might be considering a juxtaposition. And now that the rabbis have established that this halacha applies to the theft of all animals and not just some animals, they have a new question: does this halacha refer only to the theft of animals or does it apply to the theft of all things?
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