Bava Metzia 112b

בבא מציעא קי״ב ע״ב

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Topic

Why a שכיר swears and collects his wages: the רבנן's תקנה, the 'busy employer' reason, and its limits

Overview

The משנה says a שכיר who asks for his pay on time swears and collects. The גמרא asks why the רבנן made this unusual rule, since normally the defendant swears and goes free. First the wording of שמואל's statement is corrected from 'great הלכות' to 'great תקנות' and finally to 'fixed תקנות'. The reason given is that the oath really belonged to the בעל הבית, but the רבנן moved it to the worker because he needs his wages to live. The גמרא tries to defend this by asking who benefits economically, but that argument ends in a stalemate. So it gives a new reason: the employer is busy with many workers and may have forgotten that he did not pay. The oath is kept only to put the employer's mind at ease. Witnesses and advance payment are not practical fixes. The 'forgetting' worry does not apply to the agreed wage, which people remember. It also does not apply after the payment time, when we presume the employer did not violate בל תלין. The amud ends as the גמרא begins to explain why the employer's busyness matters only before the payment deadline, and this continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (26)

1. StatementQuoting the משנה about the hired worker
2. QuestionWhy does the worker get to swear and collect?
3. Responseשמואל: these are great הלכות
4. ChallengeThese aren't הלכות, they're תקנות
5. ResolutionCorrected version: great תקנות
6. ChallengeDoes 'great' mean some תקנות are small?
7. Resolutionרב נחמן's version: fixed תקנות
8. ResponseThe oath was moved from the employer to the worker
9. ChallengeWhy should the employer lose out?
10. ResolutionThe employer benefits too
11. ChallengeFlip it: the worker would gain from the opposite rule
12. ResolutionThe employer has to hire no matter what
13. ChallengeThe worker also has to work no matter what
14. ResolutionNew reason: the employer is busy with many workers
15. ChallengeThen why does the worker need an oath at all?
16. ResolutionThe oath puts the employer's mind at ease
17. ChallengeWhy not pay in front of witnesses?
18. ResolutionWitnesses are too much trouble
19. ChallengeWhy not pay in advance?
20. ResolutionBoth sides prefer payment afterward
21. ChallengeThen the worker should also swear about the agreed amount
22. ResolutionPeople remember the wage they agreed on
23. ChallengeThen the worker should also swear after his time has passed
24. ResolutionEmployers are presumed not to delay wages
25. ChallengeBut the employer is busy and might forget
26. ResolutionBusyness matters only before the payment deadline