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Shalom

I am a Noahide studying publications concerning the Noahide covenant.

I have noticed that references to the Mishneh Torah by the Rambam always come with two different numbers for the Halacha, like in

Book of Judgments, Laws of Claimant and Respondant 15:4[2]

(The above is supposed to be a Halacha that the Rambam codified using a 500 year old retired Talmud manuscript made of animal skin that he discovered in his time, thereby identifying and rectifying a corrupt tradition that was added into the Babylonian Talmud)

What is the difference between the numbers, and, if I am looking for this Halacha in the English Moznaim, which one is it,2 or 4?

Thanks !

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  • It might help if you tell us precisely where you've come across these references. Or even better, a link
    – Joel K
    Mar 20 at 13:51
  • Bar-Ron, Rabbi Michael Shelomo - Guide for the Noahide - Lightcatcher Books 2010 (2nd Ed) - Preface, p.iv
    – user32507
    Mar 20 at 14:05

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As far as I can tell, the first reference (i.e. 15:4) is following the numbering system used in Yemenite copies of Mishneh Torah (e.g. that used by Mechon Mamre).

The reference in parentheses (so 15:2 in your case) is the conventional system used in most printed copies. And I believe that Moznaim's English edition follows this too.

In any event, I think you may have been having problems here because the reference is incorrect. You don't want Laws of Claimant and Respondant, but rather Laws of Lender and Borrower (hilkhot malveh ve-loveh).

This seems to be the language of Rambam that you're describing:

This is a scribal error. For this reason, the halachic authorities erred because of those texts. I have researched ancient versions of the text and I found that they state that the borrower's word is accepted. In Egypt, a portion of an ancient text of the Talmud written on parchment, as was the custom in the era approximately 500 years before the present era, came to my possession. I found two versions of this law among those parchments.

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  • Fantastic, thank you ! The Rabbi is indeed of Yemenite MinHag (while seemingly American-born).
    – user32507
    Mar 20 at 15:27
  • Did the Rambam ever number subchapter units? I know he marked them as paragraphs, but seemingly all these numbering systems aren't really his.
    – Double AA ♦
    Mar 20 at 17:00

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