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Bava Metzia 112a

בבא מציעא קי״ב ע״א

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Topic

The meaning of the פסוק ״וְאֵלָיו הוּא נֹשֵׂא אֶת נַפְשׁוֹ״ (דברים 24:15) about paying a שכיר on time, and the מחלוקת between רב הונא and רב חסדא over whose soul is taken when wages are held back.

Overview

The גמרא explains how the other Sage uses the פסוק ״וְאֵלָיו הוּא נֹשֵׂא אֶת נַפְשׁוֹ״: a worker risks his life for his wages, so you must not hold them back. A second reading says withholding wages is like taking a soul. רב הונא and רב חסדא argue whether this means the robber's soul or the victim's soul, and each explains the other's פסוק from משלי. The גמרא then returns to the משנה. The employer violates the prohibition only if the worker asked for his pay, and a ברייתא learns from ״אִתְּךָ״ that he must also have the money and must not have sent the worker to a storekeeper or money changer. רב ששת and רבה argue whether, after such a transfer, the worker can still go back to the employer to collect. Next, רב ששת rules that an employer who hires a contractor does violate בל תלין. This connects to the question of whether a craftsman owns the improvement he adds to an item. A ברייתא about a garment given to a craftsman is offered as support for רב ששת. רב מרי pushes it aside by reading it as the cleaning of a coarse garment. When that is challenged, the גמרא defends him by reading it as a worker paid for each tread, who is a regular hired worker.

Opening lines

וְאִידַּךְ:

And the other one?

הַהוּא מִיבְּעֵי לֵיהּ לְכִדְתַנְיָא:

That verse is needed for what is taught in a ברייתא:

״וְאֵלָיו הוּא נֹשֵׂא אֶת נַפְשׁוֹ״,

"And for it he sets his soul":

מִפְּנֵי מָה עָלָה זֶה בַּכֶּבֶשׁ

for what reason did this one climb up a ramp

The steps (29)

  1. QuestionWhat does the other Sage learn from this verse?
  2. ResponseThe worker risks his life for his wages
  3. StatementWithholding wages is like taking a soul
  4. StatementWhose soul: the robber's or the victim's?
  5. ProofProof that it is the robber's soul
  6. ProofProof that it is the victim's soul
  7. ChallengeChallenge to the robber's-soul view from the victim's verse
  8. Resolution"Its owners" means the current owner, the robber
  9. ChallengeChallenge to the victim's-soul view from the robber's verse
  10. ResolutionThe verse gives the reason: the robbers took a soul
  11. StatementThe prohibition applies only when the worker asks for his pay
  12. StatementA ברייתא learns from ״אִתְּךָ״ that the worker must ask
  13. StatementNo violation if the employer has no money
  14. StatementNo violation if payment was sent through a storekeeper or money changer
  15. StatementThe משנה: a transfer to a storekeeper or money changer exempts him
  16. QuestionCan the worker go back to the employer?
  17. Responseרב ששת and רבה disagree
  18. Proofרבה proves his view from the משנה's wording
  19. Rejectionרב ששת reads "does not transgress" differently
  20. QuestionDoes a contractor's pay fall under the ban on delaying wages?
  21. QuestionThe root of the question: does a craftsman own the improvement he makes?
  22. Responseרב ששת: the employer does violate
  23. ChallengeChallenge: a ברייתא says he does not violate
  24. ResolutionAnswer: the ברייתא is about pay transferred to a storekeeper
  25. ProofA suggested proof from a garment given to a craftsman
  26. ProofFinishing the proof: why would the owner violate if the craftsman owned the improvement?
  27. Rejectionרב מרי: the ברייתא may be about a coarse garment that gains no improvement
  28. ChallengeBut softening the garment is itself an improvement
  29. ResolutionPaid a coin per tread, he is a hired worker