Translation:Shulchan Aruch/Choshen Mishpat/300

Paragraph 1- If two individuals deposited with one, and one gave 100 and the other gave 200, and each of them says he deposited the 200 and the watchman says he is unsure, each one would swear he gave 200 and the watchman would give 200 to both, and lose 100 out of pocket, because he was negligent by not writing down the name of each one on their wallet. If neither of them made a certain claim against them and the watchman wants to fulfill his heavenly duty, he would be liable, but he would not be liable under the human courts. Thus, if two people brought him 300 together in one wrapping and each one came and claimed the 200 was his, he would give 100 to each and the rest will remain by him- there are those who say it should be placed in court- forever until one confesses because the watchman tells them because he saw they were not concerned about the other and brought them in one wrapping, he did not make the effort to know and always remember who owns the 100 and who owns the 200. He would even be exempt from fulfilling his heavenly duty. There are those who say that if they made a claim on him he would be liable to fulfill his heavenly duty even in this case.

Paragraph 2- Similarly, if two vessels were deposited with him, and one was large and one was small, and each one say he owns the large, they would both swear and the large would be given to one of them and the value of the large to the second, and the watchman would keep the small. If they brought it together in one wrapping, he would give the small to one, the value of the small to the second, and the remainder would be left until one confesses to the other or forever.

Paragraph 3- Similarly, if two people made a claim against the watchman and each said he owns the deposit and the watchman says he knows it is one of them but doesn’t know which one, he must pay both of them. If neither make a claim against him, he would even be exempt if he wanted to fulfill his heavenly duty. If the watchman says one of your father’s deposited with me and I don’t know who it is, however, he would be liable if he wants to fulfill his heavenly duty.

Paragraph 4- Similarly, if two people deposited two animals with a shepherd and one died and the shepherd doesn’t know who it belongs to, he must pay both. If they deposited the animals in his flock without his knowledge, the watchman may leave the animal to both of them and remove himself. The animal will remain until one confesses to the other or they both agree to divide.