Study Bava Metzia folio 55B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
לרבות פחות משוה פרוטה להישבון. לקדש – אין, אבל להדיוט – לא.
This serves to include misuse of consecrated property less than the value of one peruta in the halakha of restitution to the Temple treasury. The Talmud infers: To the Temple treasury, yes, one must return that which he took; but to an ordinary person [hedyot], no, one need not pay restitution for theft of less than one peruta.
אלא, אי אתמר הכי אתמר: אמר רב קטינא, אם הוזקקו בית דין לשוה פרוטה – גומרין, אפילו לפחות משוה פרוטה. תחילת הדין בעינן פרוטה, גמר הדין לא בעינן פרוטה.
Rather, if Rav Ketina’s ruling was stated, this is how it was stated: Rav Ketina says: If the court attends to a monetary claim of the value of one peruta, the judges conclude adjudicating and issue a ruling even if the item in question depreciated to less than the value of one peruta. For the beginning of the legal proceedings, we require a claim worth one peruta, whereas for the verdict, we do not require a claim worth one peruta.
מתני׳ חמשה חומשין הן, אלו הן: האוכל תרומה, ותרומת מעשר, ותרומת מעשר של דמאי, והחלה, והבכורים – מוסיף חומש. והפודה נטע רבעי ומעשר שני שלו – מוסיף חומש. הפודה את הקדשו – מוסיף חומש. הנהנה שוה פרוטה מן ההקדש – מוסיף חומש. והגוזל את חבירו שוה פרוטה ונשבע לו – מוסיף חומש.
Mishnah: In this Mishnah, as in the previous one, the tanna enumerates several halakhot that share a common element. There are 5 halakhic situations where 1/5th is added to the value of the principal, and these are they: A non-priest who eats either teruma, or teruma of the tithe, which the Levite separates from the first tithe and gives to a priest, or teruma of the tithe of demai, or ḥalla, or first fruits; in each of these cases, he adds 1/5th when paying restitution to the priest who owned the produce. And one who redeems his own fruit of a 4th-year sapling or second-tithe produce adds 1/5th. One who redeems his own consecrated property adds 1/5th. One who derives benefit worth one peruta from consecrated property adds 1/5th. And one who robs the value of one peruta from another and takes a false oath in response to his claim adds 1/5th when paying restitution.
Text data via Sefaria: William Davidson Edition - English and William Davidson Edition - Vocalized Aramaic, CC-BY-NC; edition provenance: Koren. Display terminology has been modernized for readability.