Gittin 37B

המחזיר חוב לחבירו בשביעית ⁠– צריך שיאמר לו: ״משמט אני״; ואם אמר לו: ״אף על פי כן״, יקבל הימנו. שנאמר: ״וזה דבר השמטה״.

In the case of one who repays a debt to his friend during the Sabbatical Year, the creditor must say to him: I abrogate the debt, but if the debtor then said to him: Nevertheless, I want to repay you, he may accept it from him, as it is stated: “And this is the manner [devar] of the abrogation” (Deuteronomy 15:2). From the fact that the verse employed a term, devar, that can also mean: This is the statement of the cancellation, the rabbis derived that the creditor must state that he cancels the debt, but he is allowed to accept the payment if the debtor insists on repaying.

אמר רבה: ותלי ליה עד דאמר הכי. איתיביה אביי: כשהוא נותן לו, אל יאמר לו: ״בחובי אני נותן לך״, אלא יאמר לו: ״שלי הן, ובמתנה אני נותן לך״! אמר ליה: תלי ליה נמי עד דאמר הכי.

Rabba said: And the creditor is permitted to lift up his eyes to him hopefully, demonstrating that he wishes to accept the payment, until the debtor says this, that he nevertheless wishes to repay him. Abaye raised an objection to Rabba’s statement from a baraita: When the debtor gives the creditor payment for a debt that has been canceled he should not say to him: I give this to you in payment of my debt; rather, he should say to him: This is my money and I give it to you as a gift. This indicates that the debt is repaid only by the initiative of the debtor. Rabba said to him: The creditor is permitted to lift up his eyes to him hopefully as well, until the debtor says this, that he gives it as a gift, but the initiative may come from the creditor.