Study Bava Metzia folio 62B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
ובדינינו אין מחזירין ממלוה ללוה. אמר ליה: אינהו, בתורת זביני אתא לידייהו.
And yet, by our laws one does not return the interest from the lender to the borrower. Since the interest was not fixed from the outset, and there is also no certainty that he will consume any produce, this is merely a case of a hint of interest. Rav Ashi said to him: The non-Jews do not consider that transaction a loan; rather, they see this as a case where the field came into his possession by means of a transaction in the form of a sale. The field was temporarily sold to the lender, who sells it back to the borrower when the debt is paid.
אלא כל שאילו בדיניהן, דקאמר רב ספרא: מאי אתא לאשמועינן! הכי אתא לאשמועינן: כל שאילו בדיניהן מוציאין מלוה למלוה, בדינינו מחזירין ממלוה ללוה, ומאי ניהו – ברבית קצוצה, וכדרבי אלעזר.
The Talmud asks: But if one is a case of deposit and the other is a case of sale, the principle that begins with: Any case where by their laws, that Rav Safra is saying, what is he coming to teach us? The Talmud answers that this is what he is coming to teach us: In any case where by their laws one removes the interest from the possession of the borrower to give to the lender, by our laws one returns the interest from the lender to the borrower. And what is that case? It is a case of fixed interest, and it is in accordance with the opinion of R' Elazar.
כל שאילו בדיניהם אין מוציאין, בדינינו אין מחזירין – רבית מוקדמת, רבית מאוחרת.
And as for the statement that in any case where by their laws one does not remove the interest from the possession of the borrower to give to the lender, by our laws one does not return the interest from the lender to the borrower, this is referring to a case of prior interest, i.e., interest paid prior to the granting of a loan in order to induce the lender to grant the loan, and subsequent interest, i.e., a gift given after a loan has been repaid to show thanks to the lender for lending the money. Although paying these types of interest is prohibited, as they are not actually part of the agreement, by our laws one does not compel the lender to return those payments.