The last, short chapters of Tractate Shevuot complete the Talmud's treatment of different types of oaths that can be imposed by a court. Specifically, these sections deal with the oaths that must be taken in the case of a dispute over property, when a plaintiff claims that a defendant owes him money. In such cases, when there is no conclusive evidence to settle the claim, the defendant must take an oath denying the debt. The basic principle, expressed in Shevuot 44b, is that “all those who take an oath that is legislated by the Torah take an oath and do not pay.”
This makes it sound like taking an oath is an all-or-nothing proposition: either the defendant admits to the claim or he denies it. But Chapter Six explains that an oath can also be taken with regard to just part of a claim. Say that Reuven claims that Simeon owes him 100 dinars, and Simeon says that he owes only 50 dinars. The suspicion naturally arises that Simeon is minimizing the amount of the debt because he can't pay the full amount. To substantiate his statement, then, Simeon can take an oath before a judge that 50 dinars is all he owes.
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