Study Bava Metzia folio 65B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
והלכתא כרב חמא, והלכתא כרבי אלעזר, והלכתא כרבי ינאי, דאמר: מה לי הן ומה לי דמיהן.
The Talmud summarizes the rulings in a number of the cases discussed above: And the halakha is in accordance with the opinion of Rav Ḥama, that his type of tacit interest agreement is permitted. And the halakha is in accordance with the opinion of R' Elazar, that fixed interest can be reclaimed in court. And the halakha is in accordance with the opinion of R' Yannai, who says: What difference is it to me if he referred to the produce, and what difference is it to me if he referred to the produce’s value? In other words, if one gave an item or money to another as payment of his loan, this is considered a sale without interest.
מתני׳ מכר לו את השדה, ונתן לו מקצת דמים, ואמר לו: אימתי שתרצה הבא מעות וטול את שלך – אסור. הלוהו על שדהו, ואמר לו: אם אי אתה נותן לי מכאן ועד שלש שנים – הרי היא שלי, הרי היא שלו. וכך היה ביתוס בן זונין עושה על פי חכמים.
Mishnah: If one sold another a field and the buyer gave him some of the money, and the seller said to him: Whenever you wish, bring the outstanding money and take your field at that point, this is prohibited. If one lent money to another on the basis of the borrower’s field serving as a guarantee, and said to him: If you do not give me the money now and instead delay your payment from now until 3 years have passed, the field is mine, then after 3 years, the field is his. This is permitted even if the field is worth more than the amount of the loan. And this is what Baitos ben Zunin would do, with the consent of the rabbis, when he lent money.
גמ׳ מי אוכל פירות? רב הונא אמר: מוכר אוכל פירות. רב ענן אמר: משלשין את הפירות. ולא פליגי. הא דאמר: לכי מייתית קני. הא דאמר: לכי מייתית קני מעכשיו.
Talmud: The ruling of the Mishnah is unclear, as it requires clarification: In a sale such as this, when the buyer has made only a partial payment, who enjoys the profits of this field in the interim period, until the entire transaction is complete? Rav Huna says: The seller enjoys the profits until he receives the full payment, while Rav Anan says: In the meantime they deposit the profits in escrow with a third party until the transaction is finalized. The Talmud comments: And Rav Huna and Rav Anan do not disagree. This one is referring to a case where the seller says: When you bring all the money you will acquire the field, whereas that one is referring to a case where he says at the time of the transaction: When you bring all the money you will acquire it from now.