Commentary for Bava Metzia 145:12

אמר להו אתון קא עבדיתון שלא כדין ארעא לאריס משתעבד אי אתון מסלקיתו להו בניסן מפסידתו להו בכמה אנא נטרנא להו עד אייר ומרווחנא להו בכמה

Raba advised those who keep watch over the cornfields: Go out and find some occupation<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'turn over.' ');">²¹</span> in the barn, that your wages may not be payable until then;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., until you have finished those self-imposed tasks. ');">²²</span> since wages are not payable until the end [of one's task], and it is only then that they make you the gift.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'remit in your favour' (what they pay you over and above the stipulated wage). These watchers were not paid until the corn was winnowed, though wages were due to them immediately after harvesting; but in consideration thereof they were given something above their due. Now this has the appearance of interest, therefore Raba advised them to find some small tasks in the barn, so that their wages should not be legally payable until they actually received them, in which case the 'tip' would be a gift, not interest. [So according to some texts; cur. edd.: 'They reduce the price in your favour. According to this reading the watchers received payment in kind at a cheaper rate in compensation for waiting for their wages; hence Raba's advice.] ');">²³</span> The Rabbis protested to Raba: You enjoy usury. For everyone [who leases a farm] accepts four [<i>kor</i> as annual rent] and dismisses the tenant in Nisan;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The first month of the Jewish Year. They insist that he shall reap then and quit the field. [This haste in harvesting the corn before it was quite ripe was due to the unsettled state of the country during the Persian — Roman wars. Funk, S., Die Juden in Babylonian, II, p. 85.] ');">²⁴</span> whilst you wait until Iyar<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The second month. ');">²⁵</span> and receive six.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The protest was based on the assumption that the additional two was payment for waiting the extra month. ');">²⁶</span> He retorted: It is you who act contrary to the law; the land is in bond to the tenant;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., he has a title thereto until the crops are fully ripe. ');">²⁷</span> if you make him quit in Nisan [before the crops are ripened], you cause him much loss. Whereas I wait until Iyar, thus greatly enhancing his profits.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Hence I am entitled to a greater rental in return for the greater value they receive [Raba's prominence assured his property of government protections and he could safely 'allow his crops to remain in the field until they ripened fully. Funk, loc. cit.] ');">²⁸</span>

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