Study Bava Metzia folio 112A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
ואידך: ההוא מיבעי ליה לכדתניא: ״ואליו הוא נשא את נפשו״, מפני מה עלה זה בכבש ונתלה באילן ומסר את עצמו למיתה – לא על שכרו?
The Talmud asks: And what does the other Sage, the second tanna, derive from this verse? The Talmud responds: That verse is necessary for that which is taught in a baraita: The expression “for he sets his soul upon it” explains why one must be so precise when paying a laborer his wages: For what reason did this laborer ascend on a tall ramp or suspend himself from a tree and risk death to himself? Was it not for his wages? How, then, can his employer delay his payment?
דבר אחר: ״ואליו הוא נשא את נפשו״, כל הכובש שכר שכיר – כאילו נוטל נפשו ממנו. רב הונא ורב חסדא, חד אמר: נפשו של גזלן, וחד אמר: נפשו של נגזל.
Alternatively, the words “for he sets his soul upon it” teach that concerning one who withholds the wages of a hired laborer, it is as though he takes his soul from him. Rav Huna and Rav Ḥisda disagreed over the meaning of this statement. One says it is referring to the soul of the robber, meaning that one who steals from a hired laborer by delaying payment of his wages causes Heaven to remove his own soul, and one says that he takes the soul of the robbery victim, meaning that one who steals from a hired worker causes the death of the worker.
מאן דאמר נפשו של גזלן, דכתיב: ״אל תגזל דל כי דל הוא ואל תדכא עני בשער״, וכתיב: ״כי ה׳ יריב ריבם וקבע את קבעיהם נפש״. ומאן דאמר נפשו של נגזל, דכתיב: ״כן ארחות כל בוצע בצע את נפש בעליו יקח״.
The Talmud cites proof for these two opinions. The one who says it is referring to the soul of the robber bases his opinion on a verse, as it is written: “Do not rob from the weak because he is weak, nor crush the poor in the gate” (Proverbs 22:22), and it is written immediately afterward: “For YHWH will plead their cause, and spoil the soul of those who spoil them” (Proverbs 22:23). This indicates that God will take the soul of one who steals from a poor person. And the one who says it is referring to the soul of the robbery victim bases his opinion on a verse, as it is written: “So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain; it takes away the life of its owners” (Proverbs 1:19). A robber is considered as if he removed the very soul of his victim.