Bava Metzia 120

משום דקא מרווח לתרעא:

Because he eases the market.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Competition is healthy, and prevents a 'hold up.' ');">¹</span>

ולא יבור את הגריסין דברי אבא שאול וחכמים מתירין וכו': מאן חכמים רבי אחא דתניא רבי אחא מתיר בדבר הנראה:

ONE MUST NOT SIFT POUNDED BEANS: THIS IS THE VIEW OF ABBA SAUL. BUT THE SAGES PERMIT IT, etc. Who are the Sages? — R. Aha. For it has been taught: R. Aha permitted it in a commodity that may be seen.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The purchaser sees what he buys, and therefore there is no fraud. ');">²</span>

אין מפרכסין לא את האדם וכו' ולא את הכלים: ת"ר אין משרבטין את הבהמה ואין נופחין בקרביים ואין. שורין את הבשר במים מאי אין משרבטין הכא תרגמו מיא דחיזרא זעירי אמר רב כהנא מזקפתא

MEN, CATTLE, AND UTENSILS MAY NOT BE PAINTED. Our Rabbis taught: An animal may not be given an appearance of stiffness, entrails may not be inflated,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' In a shop, where they are displayed for sale, to make them look larger. ');">³</span>

שמואל שרא למרמא תומי לסרבלא רב יהודה שרא לכסכוסי קרמי רבה שרא למידק צרדי רבא שרא לצלומי גירי רב פפא בר שמואל שרא לצלומי דיקולי והא אנן תנן אין מפרכסין לא את האדם ולא את הבהמה ולא את הכלים לא קשיא הא בחדתי הא בעתיקי

nor may meat be soaked in water.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' To make it look fat. ');">⁴</span>

פירכוס דאדם מאי היא כי הא דההוא עבדא סבא דאזל צבעיה לרישיה ולדיקניה אתא לקמיה דרבא אמר ליה זיבנן אמר ליה יהיו עניים בני ביתך

What is meant by 'one may not give an appearance of stiffness'? — Here [in Babylon] it is explained as referring to branbroth.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Which bloats the animal fed on it. ');">⁵</span>

אתא לקמיה דרב פפא בר שמואל זבניה יומא חד א"ל אשקיין מיא אזל חווריה לרישיה ולדיקניה א"ל חזי דאנא קשיש מאבוך קרי אנפשיה (משלי יא, ח) צדיק מצרה נחלץ ויבא אחר תחתיו:

Ze'iri said in R. Kahana's name: Brushing up [an animal's hair].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' For the same purpose. ');">⁶</span>

<br><br><big><strong>הדרן עלך הזהב</strong></big><br><br>

Samuel permitted fringes to be put on a cloak.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' To make it look more valuable. ');">⁷</span>

מתני׳ <big><strong>איזהו</strong></big> נשך ואיזהו תרבית

Rab Judah permitted a gloss to be put on fine cloths.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' By rubbing it with a certain substance. ');">⁸</span>

איזהו נשך המלוה סלע בה' דינרין סאתים חטין בשלש אסור מפני שהוא נושך

Rabbah permitted hemp-cloths to be beaten.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' To make it appear thinner and of finer texture. ');">⁹</span>

ואיזהו תרבית המרבה בפירות כיצד לקח הימנו חטין בדינר זהב הכור וכן השער עמדו חטין בל' דינרין

Raba permitted arrows to be painted. R. Pappa b. Samuel allowed baskets to be painted. But did we not learn, MEN, CATTLE, AND UTENSILS MAY NOT BE PAINTED? — There is no difficulty; one refers to new, the other to old.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Old utensils may not be painted, as the purpose is to deceive and make them look new. But new ones may be painted to improve their appearance. ');">¹⁰</span>

אמר לו תן לי חטיי שאני רוצה למוכרן וליקח בהן יין אמר לו הרי חטיך עשויות עלי בשלשים והרי לך אצלי בהן יין ויין אין לו:

What is the purpose of painting men? — As in the case of a certain aged slave who went and had his head and beard dyed,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Black, making him look a young man. ');">¹¹</span>

<big><strong>גמ׳</strong></big> מדשביק לריבית דאורייתא וקא מפרש דרבנן מכלל דאורייתא דנשך ותרבית חדא מלתא היא והא קראי כתיבי נשך כסף וריבית אוכל

and came before Raba, saying to him, 'Buy me.' 'Let the poor be the children of <i>thy</i> house,'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' This is a Mishnah in Aboth I, 5. Raba, by emphasizing the 'thy', gave it the meaning — 'I had rather give my hospitality to the poor of my own people.' ');">¹²</span>

ותיסברא דאיכא נשך בלא תרבית ותרבית בלא נשך נשך בלא תרבית היכי דמי

he replied. So he went to R. Papa b. Samuel, who bought him. One day he said to him, 'Give me some water to drink.' Thereupon he went, washed his head and beard white again, and said to him, 'See, I am older than your father.'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And it is not meet that you should impose menial tasks upon me. — It is noteworthy that the slave knew that he could rely upon the decency of the Jew to respect his age, though a slave, and one, moreover, who had practised deceit. This is in marked contrast to the treatment meted out to slaves amongst other people, both in ancient and in comparatively recent times. ');">¹³</span>

אי דאוזפיה מאה במאה ועשרים מעיקרא קיימי מאה בדנקא ולבסוף קיימי מאה ועשרים בדנקא נשך איכא דקא נכית ליה דקא שקיל מיניה מידי דלא יהיב ותרבית ליכא דלית ליה רווחא דדנקא אוזפיה ודנקא קא. שקיל מיניה

At that he applied to himself the verse, '<i>The righteous is delivered out of trouble, and another cometh in his stead</i>.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Prov. XI, 8; the verse actually reads, 'and the wicked etc.' 'Another' was probably substituted by R. Papa intentionally: 'Raba — the righteous — was delivered from trouble, but I had the misfortune to buy you. ');">¹⁴</span>

סוף סוף אי בתר מעיקרא אזלת הרי נשך והרי תרבית אי בתר בסוף אזלת לא נשך איכא ולא תרבית איכא

<b><i>MISHNAH</i></b>. WHAT IS <i>NESHEK</i> AND WHAT IS <i>TARBITH</i>?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Neshek, from [H] 'to bite', denotes usury, 'bitten out', as it were, from the debtor, something received for nothing given. Tarbith, marbith, and ribbith from [H], 'to increase', denotes increase, profits. The question of the Mishnah is posited on Lev. XXV, 36: Take thou no neshek from him, nor tarbith. ');">¹⁵</span>

ותו תרבית בלא נשך היכי דמי אי דאוזיף מאה במאה מעיקרא קיימי מאה בדנקא ולבסוף מאה בחומשא

WHAT IS <i>NESHEK</i>? ONE WHO LENDS A <i>SELA'</i> [FOUR <i>DENARII</i>] FOR FIVE <i>DENARII</i>, OR TWO SE'AHS<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Se'ah = six kabs, or 13,184.44 cu. cm. J.E. XII, 488. ');">¹⁶</span>

אי בתר מעיקרא אזלת לא נשך איכא ולא תרבית איכא אי בתר סוף אזלת הרי נשך והרי תרבית

OF WHEAT FOR THREE; THAT IS FORBIDDEN,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [Rightly omitted in most texts.] ');">¹⁷</span>

אלא אמר רבא אי אתה מוצא לא נשך בלא תרבית ולא תרבית בלא נשך ולא חלקן הכתוב אלא לעבור עליו בשני לאוין

BECAUSE HE [THEREBY] 'BITES' [THE DEBTOR]. AND WHAT IS <i>TARBITH</i>? THE TAKING OF INTEREST ON PRODUCE, E. G., IF A MAN PURCHASED WHEAT AT A GOLD <i>DENAR</i> [TWENTY-FIVE SILVER <i>DENARII</i>] PER <i>KOR</i>,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Kor is a measure of capacity, equal to thirty se'ahs. B.B. 86b, 105a. ');">¹⁸</span>

ת"ר (ויקרא כה, לז) את כספך לא תתן לו בנשך ובמרבית לא תתן אכלך אין לי אלא נשך בכסף וריבית באוכל נשך באוכל מנין ת"ל (דברים כג, כ) נשך אוכל ריבית בכסף מנין תלמוד לומר נשך כסף

WHICH WAS THE CURRENT PRICE,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' One may purchase 'futures' in wheat at the current price, paying for it at the time of purchase and receiving it later, even if the price advances, without infringing the prohibition of usury. ');">¹⁹</span> AND [SUBSEQUENTLY] WHEAT APPRECIATED TO THIRTY <i>DENARII</i> PER <i>KOR</i>. THEN [THE PURCHASER] SAID TO HIM, 'GIVE ME MY WHEAT, AS I WISH TO SELL IT AND BUY WINE WITH THE PROCEEDS;' TO WHICH [THE VENDOR] REPLIED, 'LET THE WHEAT BE CHARGED TO ME AS A DEBT OF THIRTY <i>DENARII</i> [PER <i>KOR</i>]. AND YOU HAVE A CLAIM OF WINE UPON ME FOR ITS VALUE;'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Pricing the wine too at current rates. ');">²⁰</span> BUT HE ACTUALLY HAS NO WINE [AT THE TIME]. <b><i>GEMARA</i></b>. Now, since he [the Tanna] disregards<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' In his explanation of marbith. ');">²¹</span> the Biblical [meaning of] interest<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Which is usury on a loan transaction. ');">²²</span> and defines its Rabbinical [connotation]<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [The illustration of marbith by way of purchase in the Mishnah being a Rabbinical extension of the law.] ');">²³</span> it follows that Biblically speaking <i>neshek</i> and <i>tarbith</i> are Synonymous: whereas [in fact] there are Scriptural expressions, <i>neshek</i> of money, and <i>ribbith</i> of food!<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Thou shalt not give him any money upon neshek, nor lend him thy victuals for marbith. Lev. XXV, 37. ');">²⁴</span> — Do you think then that there can be <i>neshek</i> [loss to the debtor] without <i>tarbith</i> [profits to the creditor], or <i>tarbith</i> without <i>neshek</i>? How might there be <i>neshek</i> without <i>tarbith</i>? If he lent him a hundred [perutahs] for one hundred and twenty [perutahs], at first [when the loan is made] a <i>danka</i><span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Pers. dankh; [G], a small Persian coin, the sixth of a denar, in general, one-sixth. ');">²⁵</span> being valued at a hundred [perutahs], and subsequently [when the loan was repaid] at a hundred and twenty,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' So Rashi. Tosaf., however, points out that the current value of a sixth of a denar was 32 perutahs, and it is inconceivable that the perutah should depreciate to such an extent. Tosaf, therefore renders: a hundred ma'ahs (ma'ah = a sixth of the denar = a danka) for a sixth of a maneh (maneh = 100 common shekels or zuz); or 100 issars (issar = 8 perutahs) for a sixth of a gold denar. ');">²⁶</span> there is <i>neshek</i>, for he 'bites' him [the debtor] by taking from him something which he [the creditor] did not give; yet there is no <i>tarbith</i> [to the creditor], for there is no profit, since he lent him a <i>danka</i> and received back a <i>danka</i>! But, after all, if the original rate is the determining factor,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'if you go according to the beginning'. ');">²⁷</span> there is both <i>neshek</i> and <i>tarbith</i>; if the subsequent rate, there is neither <i>neshek</i> nor <i>tarbith</i>? Furthermore, how is <i>tarbith</i> [profit to the creditor] conceivable without <i>neshek</i> [loss to the debtor]? If he lent him a hundred [perutahs] for a hundred, the hundred being worth a <i>danka</i> at first, and now a fifth:<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Of a denar, or, as stated above in n. 3. ');">²⁸</span> if you regard the first rate, there is neither <i>neshek</i> nor <i>tarbith</i>; if the final rate, there is both <i>neshek</i> and <i>tarbith</i>! — But, said Raba, you can find neither <i>neshek</i> without <i>tarbith</i> nor <i>tarbith</i> without <i>neshek</i>, and the only purpose of Scripture in stating them separately<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. Lev. XXV, 37, quoted in n. 1. ');">²⁹</span> is [to teach] that one transgresses two prohibitions [by taking interest].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Each involving the penalty of lashes. ');">³⁰</span> Our Rabbis taught: [<i>Thou shalt not give him thy money upon <i>neshek</i> [usury], nor lend him thy victuals for <i>marbith</i> [interest]</i>;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lev. XXV, 37. ');">³¹</span> [from this] I only know that the prohibition of <i>neshek</i> applies to money, and that of <i>ribbith</i> to provisions:<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., that in lending money on interest, the prohibition of neshek, and in lending provisions on interest, the prohibitions of ribbith, are violated. ');">³²</span> whence do we know that [the prohibition] <i>neshek</i> applies to provisions [too]? From the verse, [Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother <i>neshek</i> of money], <i>neshek</i> of victuals.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Deut. XXIII, 20. ');">³³</span> Whence do we know that the prohibition of <i>ribbith</i> applies to money? From the verse, <i>neshek</i> of money: