Bava Metzia 146

רב מרי בר רחל משכן ליה ההוא נכרי ביתא הדר זבנה לרבא נטר תריסר ירחי שתא שקל אגר ביתא אמטי ליה לרבא אמר ליה האי דלא אמטאי למר אגר ביתא עד האידנא דסתם משכנתא שתא אי בעי נכרי לסלקי לא הוה מצי מסלק לי השתא לשקול מר אגר ביתא

A certain heathen gave a house in pledge<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. supra 67b. ');">¹</span> to R. Mari b. Rachel,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' He was the son of a Jewess and a proselyte, conceived before conversion and born after, and was therefore called by his mother's name. ');">²</span>

א"ל אי הוה ידענא דהוה ממושכן ליה למר לא הוה זביננא ליה השתא כדיניהם עבדינן לך כל אימת דלא מסלקי בזוזי לא שקיל אגר ביתא אנא נמי לא שקילנא מינך אגר ביתא עד דמסלקנא לך בזוזי

and then sold it to Raba. Thereupon he [R. Mari] waited a full year, took the rent, and offered it to Raba.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' For the coming year, but not for the past. ');">³</span> Said he to him: 'The reason that I have not offered you rent before this is that an unspecified pledge is a year. Had the heathen wished to make me quit [within the year], he would have been unable;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Therefore I was entitled to live rent-free in the house. V. supra 67b. ');">⁴</span>

אמר ליה רבא מברניש לרב אשי חזי מר רבנן דקא אכלי רביתא דיהבי זוזי אחמרא בתשרי ומבחרי לה בטבת

but now you must take rent for the house'. He replied: 'Had I known that it was pledged to you, I should not have bought it. Now I will treat you according to their laws; for until they redeem the pledge<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'make (the creditor) quit. ');">⁵</span> they receive no rent; so I will take no rent from you until you are paid out'.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'until I cause you to quit by (payment of) money,' i.e., until I compel the heathen to repay you. This was not forbidden as usury, since not Raba but the heathen owed him money (Rashi). ');">⁶</span>

אמר ליה אינהו נמי אחמרא קא יהבי אחלא לא קא יהבי מעיקרא דחמרא חמרא דחלא חלא ההיא שעתא הוא דקמבחרי

Raba of Barnesh<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [Near Matha Mahasia, a suburb of Sura, Obermeyer, op. cit. p. 297.] ');">⁷</span> said to R. Ashi: See, Sir, the Rabbis enjoy<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'devour'. ');">⁸</span>

רבינא הוה יהיב זוזי לבני אקרא דשנוותא ושפכי ליה טפי כופיתא אתא לקמיה דרב אשי אמר ליה מי שרי אמר ליה אין אחולי הוא דקא מחלי גבך

usury. For they advance money for wine in Tishri, and receive choice quality in Tebeth!<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Whereas had they taken it in Tishri, it might have turned sour by Tebeth. Thus in return for their advancing the money before the receipt of the goods the vendor takes the risk of deterioration, which is usury. Now, though it was stated, supra 72b, that one may buy wheat ahead if the buyer has stock when the money is paid, Raba of Barnesh thought that wine is different, because it is liable to turn sour. (Rashi). ');">⁹</span> He replied: They too pay their money for wine, not vinegar, and from the very beginning, wine is wine, and vinegar, vinegar;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., good wine remains good; if it turns now, it was poor from the very beginning, already containing the germs of deterioration, as it were, but its faultiness was not then discernible. ');">¹⁰</span>

אמר ליה הא ארעא לאו דידהו היא אמר ליה ארעא לטסקא משעבדא ומלכא אמר מאן דיהיב טסקא ליכול ארעא

it is then [when they pay] that they select choice wine.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And they insist on receiving it, because only if it is sound now was it sound then. ');">¹¹</span> Rabina gave money [for wine] to the residents of Akra dishanwatha,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [Fort of Shanutha, 4 parasangs west of Bagdad, and identical with Be-Kufai; v. B.B. (Sonc. ed.) p. 120, n. 8, the former being the Arabic, the latter the Aramaic name of the Fort, Obermeyer, op. cit., p. 268.] ');">¹²</span>

אמר ליה רב פפא לרבא חזי מר הני רבנן דיהבי זוזי אכרגא דאינשי ומשעבדי בהו טפי אמר ליה השתא איכו שכיבא לא אמרי לכו הא מילתא הכי אמר רב ששת מוהרקייהו דהני בטפסא דמלכא מנח ומלכא אמר מאן דלא יהיב כרגא לשתעביד למאן דיהיב כרגא

and they supplied<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'they poured'. ');">¹³</span> a liberal addition.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [So Jast. Others: an additional jug, measure.] ');">¹⁴</span>

רב סעורם אחוה דרבא הוה תקיף אינשי דלא מעלו ומעייל להו בגוהרקא דרבא אמר ליה רבא שפיר קא עבדת דתנינא ראית שאינו נוהג כשורה מנין שאתה רשאי להשתעבד בו תלמוד לומר (ויקרא כה, מו) לעולם בהם תעבודו ובאחיכם יכול אפילו נוהג כשורה ת"ל (ויקרא כה, מו) ובאחיכם בני ישראל איש באחיו וגו'

So he went to R. Ashi and asked him: Is it permitted?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Or is it usury for having paid the money in advance? ');">¹⁵</span> Yes, he replied; they but forego [their rights] in your favour.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The right of giving you exactly the stipulated quantity. ');">¹⁶</span>

אמר רב חמא האי מאן דיהיב זוזי לחבריה למיזבן ליה חמרא ופשע ולא זבין ליה משלם ליה כדקא אזיל אפרוותא דזולשפט

But, said he, the land is not theirs!<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' By paying the land tax on behalf of the original owners, who, being unable to pay it, had fled, they had become possessed thereof, and it is questionable whether they have the right to dispose of the wine. ');">¹⁷</span> — The land is pledged for the land tax, he replied, and the king has decreed: He who pays the land tax is entitled to the usufruct.

אמר אמימר אמריתא לשמעתא קמיה דרב זביד מנהרדעא אמר כי קאמר רב חמא הני מילי ביין סתם אבל ביין זה לא מי יימר דמזבני ליה ניהליה

R. Papa said to Raba: See, there are some scholars who advance money for people's poll tax and then put them to much service! — He replied: I might have died, without telling you this thing. Thus said R. Shesheth: The surety<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' So Jast. Rashi: the service-warrant. ');">¹⁸</span> of these people lies in the king's archives, and the king has decreed that he who does not pay his poll tax is made the servant of him who pays it [on his behalf].

רב אשי אמר אפי' יין סתם נמי לא מאי טעמא אסמכתא היא ואסמכתא לא קניא

R. Se'oram, Raba's brother, used to seize people of disrepute and make them draw Raba's litter. Said Raba 'to him: You have done well. For it has been taught:<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [So according to some texts; cur. edd.: 'we learnt'. The quotation however is not from a Mishnah.] ');">¹⁹</span> If you see a man who does not behave in a seemly fashion, whence do we know that you may make him your servant? From the verse, They [sc. Canaanite slaves] shall be your bondmen for ever and your brethren the children of Israel [likewise].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lev. XXV, 46. ');">²⁰</span>

ולרב אשי מאי שנא מהא דתנן אם אוביר ולא אעביד אשלם במיטבא התם בידו

I might think that this is so even of one who behaves in a seemly fashion; therefore it is taught, but over your brethren, the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigour.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. The verse, of course, is not actually thus interpreted, but merely cited in support of his practice, with the caveat that men of good standing must not be molested. ');">²¹</span> R. Hama said: If a man gives his neighbour money to buy wine for him, and he negligently fails to do so, he must compensate him as it is sold in the market of Belshafat.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Walshafat, v. B.B. (Sonc. ed.) p. 409, n. 6. Having neglected to buy a vintage, when wine is cheap, so that it must now be bought at ordinary market prices, he must duly compensate him. [Obermeyer, op. cit. p. 185, renders: he pays him (the agent) only in accordance with the (low) price current in the wine market of Balash-Abad.] ');">²²</span> Amemar said: I repeated this ruling before R. Zebid of Nehardea, whereupon he observed: R. Hama's dictum applies only to unspecified wine, but not to a particular wine, [for] who knows that he could have obtained it for him?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Even had he not been negligent, he might have failed to obtain the particular wine ordered. ');">²³</span> R. Ashi said: Even for unspecified wine it is also not [correct]. Why? Because it is an <i>asmakta</i>, and an <i>asmakta</i> establishes no legal claim.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. Glos. Even if the agent undertook to forfeit the loss, should he not buy the wine, his pledge is invalid, not having been meant seriously. ');">²⁴</span> But in R. Ashi's view, how does this differ from what we learnt: [If the tenant-farmer declares], 'If I let it lie waste without cultivating it, I will pay with the best [of produce,'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. infra 104a. ');">²⁵</span> he is bound to do so]? — There it is in his power [to cultivate it];<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Therefore his undertaking is not an asmakta, but seriously meant. ');">²⁶</span>