A paid watchman claims an animal was attacked by two wolves. What is his legal obligation?
Two wolves constitute an unavoidable loss (oness). The paid watchman takes an oath that it occurred through forces beyond his control and is then exempt from payment.
Question 2
Two porters carry a barrel together on a pole. It breaks in a place with no witnesses. What do they owe?
Since the load is heavy for one but easy for two, the Sages treated this as intermediate between force majeure and negligence. They pay half the damages. In a place with no witnesses, they first take an oath of non-negligence.
Question 3
A shepherd provokes bandits by boasting about his weapons, and they attack and take his flock. Is he liable?
The Rambam equates provoking bandits with leading animals into dangerous territory. By his taunting, the shepherd brought the thieves to the flock — making it equivalent to negligence.
Question 4
An unpaid watchman could have saved the flock by calling other shepherds. He didn't. Is he liable?
Even an unpaid watchman must use freely available means (other shepherds, staves at no cost) to prevent loss. Failure to do so when possible constitutes negligence, not force majeure.
Question 5
A watchman negligently let an animal wander to a swamp, where it was stolen and died naturally at the thief's home. Is the watchman liable?
The animal died naturally, which would normally exempt the watchman. But because the initial negligence (letting it reach the swamp) directly caused it to be stolen, and even without the death the animal was lost to the owner in the thief's hands, the watchman bears full liability.