The rabbinic laws of personal injury differ markedly from those in the Torah. They are, however, substantially similar to the laws of personal injury that guided Roman courts in Palestine in the second century CE. Reading m. Bava Kamma 8 alongside Roman law codes reveals the influence that Roman law had on rabbinic law and the rejection of a strict “eye for an eye” law, the calculation of נזק by valuing the victim as a slave, and the idea that an assailant could be liable for payments for בושת. 

Examining the Talmud’s commitment to earlier rabbinic sources by exploring a b. Bava Kamma sugya about what constitutes change in stolen objects.

Tractate Bava Kamma deals primarily with tort law – determining liability and fault for damages caused to people or property. Despite the numerous perspectives presented, it is possible to trace a chronological development of how the tannaim and amoraim dealt with these issues. This evolution conforms to theoretical models described by contemporary legalists and may fit its Sasanian Persian context.