Bava Batra 176: Ketubot and Contracts of Sale; The Guarantor

In this final daf of Masechet Bava Batra, the rabbis first conclude their conversation regarding the validity of a borrower's handwriting on a document that is without witnesses.  The rabbis compare a incomplete get with this contract.  With a get, when a husband wrote it himself but it had no witnesses, when it was missing a date, and when one witness signed, the woman can remarry and her children will not be considered mamzerim.  Further, the ketubah could then be collected from sold property.  The rabbis then distinguish a get from a document of sale in practical terms.

In the larger picture, it is important to continue to distinguish ketubot from other documents.  Is the agreement to marry a person simply like any other transfer of property?  The details of the documents are different - ketubot walk through their value should the marriage dissolve. But in the end, documents are documents.  And in the case of a ketubah, that particular contract demonstrates the transfer of a person from her father's care to her husband's care.  Is that more similar to a document of sale, or a contact of obligation?

Our last Mishna asserts a lender collects from different places if the guarantor signs below or above the signatures of witnesses.  It makes a difference if the guarantor is named specifically in the contract.  The rabbis continue to discuss how the situation of a case might change the guidelines around how to repay a lender.

Our masechet ends with a discussion about whether or not a kinyan, a statement of obligation between two parties, is necessary when a guarantor is appointed to a beit din.  The rabbis decide that a guarantor does not require a minyan, for he is trusted and has decided to obligate himself without an external contract.