Bava Metzia 30A

בתורי דנפיש פסידייהו.

that this applies to laborers who work with oxen, whose potential for causing damage is great if they are not supervised, as they will trample the crops.

שוטחה לצורכה אבל לא לכבודו וכו׳. איבעיא להו: לצורכו ולצורכה, מאי?

§ The Mishnah teaches that one who found a lost garment spreads it for its sake to ventilate it, but may not use it as a decoration for his own prestige. A dilemma was raised before the rabbis: If one spreads it both for his sake and for its sake, what is the halakha?

תא שמע: ״שוטחה לצורכה״, לצורכה ⁠– אין. הא לצורכו ולצורכה לא! אימא סיפא: ״אבל לא לכבודו״, לכבודו הוא דלא, הא לצורכה ולצורכו ⁠– שפיר דמי. אלא מהא ליכא למשמע מינה.

The Talmud suggests: Come and hear proof from the Mishnah: He spreads it for its sake. The Talmud infers: For its sake, yes, he spreads it, but both for his sake and for its sake, he may not do so. The Talmud rejects the proof: Say the latter clause of the Mishnah: But not for his own prestige. The Talmud infers: It is for his prestige alone that he may not spread it, but for its sake and for his sake, one may well do so. Rather, no inference is to be learned from this Mishnah, as there are conflicting inferences from the first clause and the latter clause.

תא שמע: לא ישטחנה לא על גבי מטה ולא על גבי מגוד לצרכו, אבל ישטחנה על גבי מטה ועל גבי מגוד לצרכה. נזדמנו לו אורחים ⁠– לא ישטחנה לא על גבי מטה ולא על גבי מגוד, בין לצורכו בין לצורכה!

The Talmud suggests: Come and hear a proof from a baraita: If one finds a lost garment, he may not spread it on a bed or on a hanger for his sake, but he may spread it on a bed or on a hanger for its sake. If guests happened to visit, he may not spread it, neither on a bed nor on a hanger and neither for his sake nor for its sake. Apparently, it is prohibited to spread it for both his sake, to enhance his prestige before his guests, and for its sake.