בבא מציעא דף קי

ימכרו לעצים, וילקח בהן קרקע, והוא אוכל פירות. אימא: והזקינו.

such trees are sold as wood and land is acquired with them, and her husband consumes the produce, while the land itself belongs to the wife. The Gemara answers that the text should be emended to say: And they grew old, meaning that the trees were not old when she inherited them but they aged with the passage of time.

ואיבעית אימא: לאו מי אוקימנא לההיא כגון שנפלו לה בשדה אחרת, דקא כליא קרנא.

And if you wish, say: Did we not already establish that mishna as referring to a case where the vines or olive trees were bequeathed to her in a different field that did not belong to her? Since in that case she inherited only the trees but not the land itself, they are considered the principal. Consequently, the husband taking all of it would consume the principal entirely. Therefore, they must be sold as wood, with the proceeds used for the purchase of land.

ההוא שטרא דהוה כתיב ביה שנין סתמא. מלוה אמר: שלש. לוה אמר: שתים. קדים מלוה ואכלינהו לפירי. מי נאמן? רב יהודה אמר: קרקע בחזקת בעליה קיימא.

§ The Gemara relates: There was a certain mortgage document in which it was written that the land was granted to the creditor for an unspecified number of years. The creditor said it was for three years, whereas the debtor said it was for two years. While the issue was being adjudicated, the creditor arose and consumed the produce of the field in the third year. Which of them is deemed credible and accepted? Rav Yehuda said: The halakha is that land remains in its owner’s possession. Therefore, the debtor has the presumptive right to the land, while the creditor, who owns the document, must provide proof for his claim. Rav Kahana said: The produce remains in the possession of the one who consumed it, and therefore the creditor’s claim is accepted.

רב כהנא אמר: פירות בחזקת אוכליהן קיימי.

והלכתא כוותיה דרב כהנא, דאמר: פירות בחזקת אוכליהן קיימי. והא קיימא לן דהלכתא כוותיה דרב נחמן, דאמר: קרקע בחזקת בעליה עומדת!

The Gemara states: And the halakha is in accordance with the opinion of Rav Kahana, who said that the produce remains in the possession of the one who consumed it. The Gemara asks: But don’t we maintain that the halakha is in accordance with the opinion of Rav Naḥman, who said with regard to uncertainty concerning a rental during the extra month of a leap year that land remains in its owner’s possession, and he has the rights to that month? These two rulings appear to contradict each other.

התם – מילתא דלא עבידא לאיגלויי היא. הכא – מילתא דעבידא לאיגלויי היא, ואטרוחי בי דינא תרי זמני לא מטרחינן.

The Gemara answers: There it is a matter that will not be revealed because it is impossible to clarify the uncertainty concerning whether the extra month is included. By contrast, here it is a matter that will be revealed, as the witnesses who signed the document may eventually reveal what it stated, and we do not trouble the court to convene twice. Therefore, the produce should remain in the possession of the one who consumed it until the matter is resolved.

מלוה אומר חמש, לוה אומר שלש. אמר ליה: אייתי לי שטרך! אמר ליה: שטרא אירכס לי. אמר רב יהודה: מלוה נאמן, מגו דאי בעי אמר לקוחה היא בידי.

The Gemara analyzes another case involving mortgaged land. The creditor says the mortgage was for five years while the debtor who owned the land says it was for three. The debtor said to the creditor: Give me your document so that we can see what is written there. The creditor said to him: I lost the document. Rav Yehuda said: The creditor is deemed credible and accepted in this case since he could have made a more advantageous claim [miggo]. As the mortgage document is missing and even according to the claim of the debtor he could be in control of the land for the three years required for presumptive ownership, if he wants to lie he could say: The land was purchased by me. Since he did not submit this superior claim, his claim should be accepted.

אמר ליה רב פפא לרב אשי: רב זביד ורב עוירא לא סבירא להו הא דרב יהודה. מאי טעמא: האי שטרא כיון דלגוביינא קאי – מיזהר זהיר ביה,

Rav Pappa said to Rav Ashi: Rav Zevid and Rav Avira do not hold of this opinion of Rav Yehuda. What is the reason for this? Since this document stands ready for collecting the debt, the creditor would certainly have been careful with regard to it. Since he wants to ensure his money is returned it is unlikely he actually lost it. Rather, he is merely hiding his document, as he thinks: I will consume the produce of the field for two extra years.

ומיכבש הוא דכבשיה לשטריה, סבר: אוכלה תרתין שנין יתירתא.

אמר ליה רבינא לרב אשי: אלא מעתה, האי משכנתא דסורא דכתבי הכי: ״במישלם שניא אלין תיפוק ארעא דא בלא כסף״. היכא דכבשיה לשטר משכנתא ואמר: לקוחה היא בידי,

The Gemara analyzes Rav Yehuda’s opinion. Ravina said to Rav Ashi: If that is so, that Rav Yehuda is correct, then with regard to this mortgage according to the custom practiced in Sura, a city in Babylonia, in which they write this: Upon the completion of these years of the mortgage this land shall leave the creditor’s possession and return to its owner without the debtor paying any money (see 67b), in a case where the creditor hid the mortgage document and said that the land was purchased by me, so too is it possible that he is deemed credible? Would the Sages institute a matter that might cause a loss? Rav Ashi said to him: There, in the mortgage of Sura, the Sages instituted for the landowner, i.e., the debtor, that the landowner, i.e., the debtor, pays the land taxes and digs the trenches for the irrigation of the field. In this manner, his ownership is preserved and established.

הכי נמי דמהימן? וכי מתקני רבנן מילתא דאתי בה [לידי] פסידא? אמר ליה: התם תקינו ליה רבנן דמרי ארעא יהיב טסקא וכרי כריא.

ארעא דלית לה כריא ולא יהיב טסקא, מאי? אמר ליה: איבעי ליה למחויי! לא (אימחא) [מחי], מאי? איהו הוא דאפסיד אנפשיה.

Ravina asks further: With regard to land that has no need for trenches and for which he does not pay taxes, what could he have done? Rav Ashi said to him: He should have protested before the three years needed for presumptive status had passed by announcing that the land was his. Ravina again inquires: If he did not protest, what is the halakha? Rav Ashi replied: In that case, he caused his own loss by failing to take the necessary precautions.

אריס אומר: למחצה ירדתי, ובעל הבית אומר: לשליש הורדתיו, מי נאמן? רב יהודה אמר: בעל הבית נאמן. רב נחמן אמר: הכל כמנהג המדינה.

§ The Gemara discusses another case. If a sharecropper says: I descended to the field for half the produce, as this was the agreement that we made, and the homeowner says: I sent him down for only one-third of the produce, who is deemed credible and his claim consequently accepted? Rav Yehuda says: The homeowner is deemed credible and his claim is consequently accepted, while Rav Naḥman says: All matters are in accordance with the regional custom. As the terms of their agreement are unknown, this sharecropper should have the same status as other sharecroppers in that location.

סבור מינה לא פליגי: הא באתרא דשקיל אריסא פלגא, הא באתרא דשקיל אריסא תילתא.

They understood from the above discussion that these two Sages do not disagree, but were referring to different cases: This one, Rav Naḥman, stated his ruling with regard to a location where the sharecropper takes half, in which case the sharecropper is believed, while that one, Rav Yehuda, stated his ruling with regard to a location where the sharecropper takes one-third, in which case the homeowner is believed.

אמר להו רב מרי ברה דבת שמואל: הכי אמר אביי: אפילו באתרא דשקיל אריסא פלגא פליגי, רב יהודה אמר: בעל הבית נאמן, דאי בעי אמר: שכירי ולקיטי הוא.

Rav Mari, son of the daughter of Shmuel, said to them: This is what Abaye said: They even disagree with regard to a location where the sharecropper usually takes half. In that case, Rav Yehuda said that here too the homeowner is deemed credible and his claim is consequently accepted, as if he wants to lie he could say: The other is not a sharecropper at all but merely my hired worker, who received a stipulated wage, or my gleaner, who performs occasional work for me but has no prearranged share of the crop at all.

יתומים אומרים: אנו השבחנו, ובעל חוב אומר: אביכם השביח, על מי להביא ראיה?

The Gemara addresses another issue: If a field was on lien for a loan and the debtor died, and the orphans who inherited the field say: We enhanced the land after we inherited it, and therefore the creditor does not have a right to the value of that enhancement, and the creditor says: Your father enhanced it, and I am entitled to the land as it is, upon whom does the burden to bring proof fall?

סבר רבי חנינא למימר: ארעא בחזקת יתמי קיימא, ועל בעל חוב להביא ראיה. אמר להו ההוא סבא, הכי אמר רבי יוחנן: על היתומים להביא ראיה. מאי טעמא? ארעא,

Rabbi Ḥanina thought to say that the land remains in the orphans’ possession, as they are currently in control of it, and therefore the responsibility falls upon the creditor to bring proof. A certain elder said to them: This is what Rabbi Yoḥanan says: The responsibility falls upon the orphans to bring proof. What is the reason for this? Since this land stands ready for collection, it is considered as though it has already been collected and is in the creditor’s possession. Consequently, the responsibility falls upon the orphans to bring proof.

כיון דלגוביינא קיימא – כמאן דגביא דמיא, ועל היתומין להביא ראיה.

אמר אביי, אף אנן נמי תנינא: ספק זה קדם וספק זה קדם – קוצץ ואינו נותן דמים.

Abaye said: We learn a similar halakha in the mishna (Bava Batra 24b) as well, with regard to a tree planted adjacent to a city. Such a tree must be chopped down in any event, regardless of what preceded what. If the city preceded the tree, the owner is not entitled to compensation, but if the tree was there first, he receives payment for the tree. If it is uncertain whether this one was first or that one was first, the owner of the tree cuts it down and the people of the city do not give money to the owner.

אלמא כיון דלמיקץ קיימא, אמרינן ליה: אייתי ראיה ושקול. הכי נמי, האי שטרא כיון דלגוביינא קיימא – כמאן דגביא דמיא, ועל היתומים להביא ראיה.

Apparently, since this tree is standing to be chopped down, as it is chopped down regardless of whether it or the town was there first, we say to the owner of the tree: You must bring proof to support your claim that the tree was there before the town and only then you may take its value, although the tree is currently in his possession and has not yet been cut down. So too, with regard to this document recording the lien on the land, since it is ready for collection, it is considered as though it has been collected and the responsibility falls upon the orphans to bring proof.

אייתו יתמי ראיה דאינהו אשבחו, סבר רבי חנינא למימר: כי מסלקינן להו – בארעא מסלקינן להו.

In the case where the orphans brought proof that they indeed enhanced the land, Rabbi Ḥanina thought to say: When we remove them, we remove them by giving them part of the land equivalent to the value of their enhancement.

ולא היא, בדמי מסלקינן להו, מדרב נחמן. דאמר רב נחמן אמר שמואל: שלשה שמין להם את השבח, ומעלין אותן בדמים, ואלו הן: בכור לפשוט,

The Gemara comments: But that is not so, as we remove them by paying them with money, as derived from a statement of Rav Naḥman. As Rav Naḥman says that Shmuel says: In three cases the court appraises the enhanced value for the parties involved in enhancing a field, and they are paid in money rather than by being given a portion of the property. And these are they: The first is a firstborn son who makes payment to an ordinary, i.e., non-firstborn, son. This is a case where two sons, one firstborn and the other not, inherit a field from their father. Before it is divided, they both work and enhance the field. When the time comes to divide the field, the firstborn son, who receives a double portion, must pay his brother for the enhancement that the latter contributed to the former’s portion. This payment is given in money rather than land.

ובעל חוב וכתובת אשה ליתומים, ובעל חוב ללקוחות.

And the second case is that of payment taken by a creditor or the payment of a marriage contract by someone who is obligated to reimburse orphans, i.e., a creditor or widow who collects land from the orphans of the deceased debtor or husband, respectively. He or she must pay the orphans for any enhancements they made after their father’s death. This payment is also given in money rather than land. And the third case is that of a creditor who is obligated to purchasers, i.e., a creditor who collects the debt from lands that were sold by the debtor. He pays money to the purchaser for the enhancements generated by the purchaser but does not pay him in land.

אמר ליה רבינא לרב אשי: למימרא דסבר שמואל בעל חוב ללקוחות? ומאי אית ליה שבחא ללוקח? והאמר שמואל בעל חוב גובה את השבח! וכי תימא, לא קשיא:

Ravina said to Rav Ashi: Is this to say that Shmuel maintains that a creditor must pay the value of the enhancement to the buyers? And what type of enhancement is there that is given to a buyer according to Shmuel? But doesn’t Shmuel say: A creditor collects even the enhancement, not only the land itself? And if you would say that this is not difficult, as here it is referring to enhancement that is so great that it reaches the shoulders, meaning it is large enough to be carried away on porters’ shoulders, whereas there it is referring to enhancement that does not reach the shoulders, that is still difficult. But aren’t there incidents every day where Shmuel would collect everything on behalf of a creditor, even enhancement that reaches the shoulders?

כאן – בשבח המגיע לכתפים, כאן – בשבח שאין מגיע לכתפים. והא מעשים בכל יום, וקא מגבי שמואל אפילו בשבח המגיע לכתפים!

לא קשיא: הא דמסיק ביה כשיעור ארעא ושבחא, הא דלא מסיק ביה שיעור ארעא ושבחא.

The Gemara responds: It is not difficult; this is referring to a case where the debtor owed him the amount of the value of the land and the enhancement combined, and therefore the creditor does not leave the buyers with anything, whereas that involves a case where he did not owe him the amount of the value of the land and the enhancement. Since he has taken more than the sum to which he is entitled, he pays the buyers for the improvement.

וכי לא מסיק שיעור ארעא ושבחא, דיהיב ליה זוזי ללוקח ומסלק ליה, הניחא למאן דאמר: אי אית ליה זוזי ללוקח לא מצי מסלק ליה לבעל חוב – שפיר.

The Gemara asks: And if he did not owe him the amount of the value of the land and the enhancement, it was stated that the creditor gives the buyer money and removes him. This works out well according to the one who says that even if the buyer has money he cannot remove the creditor by paying him his debt in cash, as the creditor has the right to claim land. According to this opinion, it works well. But according to the one who says that if the buyer has money he may remove the creditor by paying him cash and keep the land for himself, let him say to him as follows: If I had money prepared I would remove you from the entire land; now that I do not have money equal to the value of the entire land, since you must repay me for the enhancement, at least give me a plot of earth in my land corresponding to the amount of the value of my enhancement.

אלא למאן דאמר: אית ליה זוזי ללוקח מצי מסלק ליה לבעל חוב, ונימא ליה: אי הוו לי זוזי – הוה מסליקנא לך מכולא ארעא,

השתא דלית לי זוזי – הב לי גריוא דארעא בארעאי שיעור שבחאי!

הכא במאי עסקינן – כגון דשויא ניהליה אפותיקי, דאמר ליה: לא יהא לך פרעון אלא מזו.

The Gemara responds: Here we are dealing with a case where the debtor set aside this land as designated repayment [apoteiki] for the creditor, as he said to him: You shall be able to collect from only this land, but no other. Consequently, the creditor wants to take the entire land, as his lien applies only to this field, and if it turns out that he has other claims he will be unable to collect them from elsewhere.

מתני׳ המקבל שדה מחבירו לשבוע אחד בשבע מאות זוז, השביעית מן המנין. קבלה הימנו שבע שנים בשבע מאות זוז – אין השביעית מן המנין.

MISHNA: In the case of one who receives a field from another to cultivate for one Sabbatical cycle of seven years culminating with the Sabbatical Year for seven hundred dinars, the Sabbatical Year is included in the tally, despite the fact that he is unable to work the land during that year. If he received it from him to cultivate for seven years for seven hundred dinars, the Sabbatical Year is not included in the number, and he may keep the field for an additional year to take the place of the Sabbatical Year, during which he could not work the land.

שכיר יום – גובה כל הלילה. שכיר לילה – גובה כל היום. שכיר שעות – גובה כל הלילה וכל היום. שכיר שבת, שכיר חדש, שכיר שנה, שכיר שבוע,

The tanna addresses a different issue, the halakha of the payment of workers. A day laborer collects his wages from his employer all night following his work shift. A night laborer collects his wages all the following day, while an hourly laborer collects his wages all night and all day. With regard to a weekly laborer, a monthly laborer, a yearly laborer, or a laborer for a Sabbatical cycle of seven years, if he left upon the completion of his work in the day, he collects his wages all day; if he left at night, he collects his wages all night and all day.

יצא ביום – גובה כל היום, יצא בלילה – גובה כל הלילה וכל היום.

גמ׳ תנו רבנן: מנין לשכיר יום שגובה כל הלילה? תלמוד לומר: ״לא תלין פעלת שכיר אתך עד בקר״. ומנין לשכיר לילה שגובה כל היום – שנאמר:

GEMARA: The Sages taught: From where is it derived concerning a day laborer that he collects his wages all night? The verse states: “The wages of a hired laborer shall not remain with you all night until the morning” (Leviticus 19:13). This indicates that he must pay him by the morning, and he has therefore not transgressed the prohibition of delaying the payment of wages until that time. And from where is it derived concerning a night laborer that he collects his wages all day? As it is stated: “On the same day you shall give him his wages” (Deuteronomy 24:15).

״ביומו תתן שכרו״.

ואימא איפכא! שכירות אינה משתלמת אלא בסוף.

The Gemara asks: But why not say the opposite, i.e., that a night laborer may be paid all night, while a day laborer receives his wages all day? The Gemara responds: The obligation to pay a person’s wage is incurred only at the end of the period for which he was hired.

תנו רבנן: ממשמע שנאמר ״לא תלין פעלת שכיר אתך״, איני יודע ש״עד בקר״? מה תלמוד לומר ״עד בקר״ – מלמד שאינו עובר אלא עד בקר ראשון בלבד.

The Sages taught: From the indication of that which is stated in the verse: “The wages of a hired laborer shall not remain with you all night [lo talin],” do I not know that this means: “Until the morning,” as this is the meaning of: “Remain with you all night [talin]”? Why must the verse state: “Until the morning”? It teaches that he transgresses the prohibition of withholding payment only until the first morning alone, but does not transgress this prohibition another time for any further delay.

מכאן ואילך, מאי? אמר רב: עובר משום ״בל תשהא״. אמר רב יוסף: מאי קראה – ״אל תאמר לרעך לך ושוב ומחר אתן ויש אתך״.

The Gemara asks: From that point forward, what is the halakha? Rav said: Although one no longer transgresses the prohibition of delaying payment of wages, one violates the prohibition of: Do not delay, by delaying his wages. Rav Yosef said: What is the verse from which it is derived? “Do not say to your neighbor: Go and come again, and tomorrow I will give, when you have it with you” (Proverbs 3:28).

תנו רבנן: האומר לחבירו צא שכור לי פועלים – שניהן אין עוברין משום ״בל תלין״. זה, לפי שלא שכרן,

The Sages taught: Concerning one who says to another: Go out and hire workers for me, both of them do not violate the prohibition of delaying payment of wages if they fail to pay immediately. This one, the employer, is exempt because he did not hire them himself, and strictly speaking they are not his hired workers.