Commentary for Bava Metzia 157:16

היכי דמי אילימא בספינה זו ויין סתם אם נתן אמאי לא יטול נימא ליה הב לי ספינתא דאנא מייתינא חמרא אלא בספינה סתם ויין זה אם לא נתן אמאי לא יתן

But after all, on the expiration of the sixty years the land returns to its [first] owner, and thus [the debtor's] principal is destroyed! — But here the reference is to the time when the law of Jubilee is not in force. Reason too supports this. For should you assume that it refers to the time when the law of Jubilee is in force, and that we destroy the principal, let him [the creditor] cut up the wood and take it!<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' For the years of usufruct still due to him. Why then trouble to buy a field? ');">¹⁵</span> — As for that, it is no difficulty: the period of mortgage might expire before the Jubilee, or he [the debtor] might obtain money and redeem it four or five years before the Jubilee.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' So that, even if Jubilee is in force and the principal may be destroyed, it is still preferable to buy a field. ');">¹⁶</span> Our Rabbis taught: If one hires a ship, and it sinks in mid-journey; R. Nathan said: If he has paid [the hire], he cannot take [it back]; but if not, he need not pay it [now]. How so? Shall we say [that the agreement was for] this particular ship and an unspecified [cargo of] wine [as freight],<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., the shipowner engaged to provide this particular ship to carry any cargo of wine a certain distance. ');">¹⁷</span> then [even] if he has already paid, why cannot he claim it back? Let him say, 'Provide me with that ship, and I will bring the wine.'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Since you undertook to carry any cargo of wine in this particular ship, I can bring another, the first having sunk, but you must furnish the same ship for the entire journey: as you cannot, you must return the hire. ');">¹⁸</span> But if it refers to an unspecified ship and a particular cargo of wine, even if he has not yet paid, why must he not pay now?

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