daf bit: Shevuot 44

[cellio]

For certain disputes the torah mandates that the defendant takes an oath to avoid paying a debt or damages. The mishna on today's daf then lists some exceptions (which the g'mara will discuss at some length). The following take an oath and receive payment, i.e. the plaintiff swears and collects: the hired laborer, he who has been robbed, he who has been wounded, he whose opponent is suspected of making a false oath, and the shopkeeper with his account book. How does this work? The mishna explains the first case: the laborer says to his employer, "give me my wages that you owe me", the employer says "I have paid you already", and the laborer says "I have not received it" -- the laborer takes an oath and the employer must pay him. R' Yehudah says: there is no oath at all (from either) unless there is partial admission, for example the laborer says you owe me fifty denari and the employer says I have paid you one gold dinar. According to a note in the Soncino edition, the torah would not have required an oath from the defendant if there is no admission, and so we do not impose an oath on the plaintiff in that case. (The g'mara argues about this.) (44b)