Study Bava Kamma folio 99B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
רבא אמר: דכולי עלמא ישנה לשכירות מתחילה ועד סוף, ודכולי עלמא המקדש במלוה אינה מקודשת, ודכולי עלמא אין אומן קונה בשבח כלי;
Rava said another interpretation: Everyone agrees that the obligation to pay a wage is incurred continuously from the beginning of the period a craftsman is hired to its end; and everyone agrees that with regard to one who betroths a woman with a loan, she is not betrothed; and everyone agrees that a craftsman does not acquire ownership rights through the enhancement of the vessel.
אלא הכא במאי עסקינן – כגון שהוסיף לה נופך משלו. רבי מאיר סבר: מלוה ופרוטה – דעתה אפרוטה, ורבנן סברי: מלוה ופרוטה – דעתה אמלוה.
But with what are we dealing here? We are dealing with a case where he added a jewel [nofekh] of his own for her. R' Meir holds that if a man betroths a woman with a loan and one peruta, her mind is focused on the peruta. Therefore, in this case the jewel serves as the betrothal money. And the Rabbis hold that if a man betroths a woman with a loan and one peruta her mind is focused on the loan, so the loan serves as the betrothal money, and if one betroths a woman with a loan, she is not betrothed.
ובפלוגתא דהני תנאי, דתניא: ״בשכר שעשיתי עמך״ – אינה מקודשת. ״בשכר שאעשה עמך״ – מקודשת. רבי נתן אומר: ״בשכר שאעשה עמך״ – אינה מקודשת, וכל שכן ״בשכר שעשיתי עמך״.
And R' Meir and the Rabbis disagree in the dispute between these tanna’im. As it is taught in the Tosefta (Kiddushin 3:4): If one says to a woman: Be betrothed to me with the payment for which I have worked for you, she is not betrothed, as the payment is a loan, since she already owes him this money. But if he says: Be betrothed to me with the payment for which I will work for you, she is betrothed, as from the moment he is entitled to the money, he gives it to her for her betrothal. R' Natan says: If he says: Be betrothed to me with the payment for which I will work for you, she is not betrothed, as R' Natan holds that the obligation to pay a wage is incurred continuously from the beginning of the period he was hired to its end, which means that upon the completion of the labor it is a loan, and all the more so if he says: Be betrothed to me with the payment for which I have worked for you.