Study Bava Metzia folio 106A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
מאי? זרע אחר, מאי? חיטי לגבי (שעורים) [שערי] כזרע אחר דמי, או לא? כל העולם כולו בשדפון, ושלו בירקון, אי נמי: כל העולם כולו בירקון, ושלו בשדפון, מאי? תיקו.
what is the halakha? If the surrounding fields were planted with a different type of seed, what is the halakha? Likewise, is wheat, in relation to barley, considered like a different type of seed or not? Furthermore, if the entire world, i.e., all the surrounding fields, were blighted by windblasts and his was affected by mildew; or alternatively, if the fields of the entire world were struck by mildew, and his were blighted with windblasts, what is the halakha? The Talmud responds: No resolution is found to any of these dilemmas, and the dilemmas should stand unresolved.
אמר ליה: זרעה חיטי, ואזל הוא וזרעה שערי, ואשתדוף רובא דבאגא, ואשתדוף נמי הנך שערי דיליה, מאי? מי אמרינן דאמר ליה: אילו זרעתה חיטי הוה נמי משתדפא, או דלמא מצי אמר ליה: אילו זרעתה חיטי הוה מקיים בי ״ותגזר אמר ויקם לך״?
The Talmud poses another question: If the owner said to the tenant farmer: Plant the field with wheat, and he went and planted it with barley, and most of the valley was wind blasted, and these fields with barley of his were also wind blasted, what is the halakha? Do we say that the tenant farmer can say to him: Even if I had planted it with wheat it would likewise have been wind blasted, as all the surrounding fields suffered the same fate, or perhaps the owner can say to him: Had you planted it with wheat, the following verse would have been fulfilled for me: “And you should decree a matter and it will be established for you, and the light should shine upon your ways” (Job 22:28), since you might have merited greater success by following my wishes.
מסתברא דאמר ליה: אי זרעתה חיטי הוה מקיים בי ״ותגזר אמר ויקם לך ועל דרכיך נגה אור״.
The Talmud responds: It stands to reason that the owner can say to him: Had you planted it with wheat it would have fulfilled for me: “And you should decree a matter and it will be established for you, and the light should shine upon your ways.”