Bava Metzia 62b

בבא מציעא ס״ב ע״ב

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Topic

רב ספרא's rule on which interest our courts return, and three explanations of the משנה about wheat owed as wine

Overview

The גמרא finishes defending רב ספרא's rule that our courts return interest exactly where non-Jewish courts would collect it. רב אשי explains that non-Jewish courts treat a lender's field as a sale, not a loan. The גמרא then explains the rule's two halves. רבית קצוצה is collected by their courts and returned by ours, as רבי אלעזר holds. רבית מוקדמת and רבית מאוחרת are collected by neither and not returned. Next the גמרא turns to the משנה about wheat bought at a דינר זהב per כור and later owed as wine, and asks why it matters that the seller has no wine. רבה says it is a case of turning a debt into a purchase, but אביי objects that this would apply even if the seller had wine. אביי instead reads the משנה through רב ספרא's ברייתא about loans disguised as wheat sales. רבא challenges אביי's reading with several wording problems, and the last one, the market-price language, cannot be fixed. רבא then begins his own explanation, which continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (22)

1. ChallengeEnd of the challenge: our law does not return this interest
2. ResolutionThey see it as a sale, not a loan
3. QuestionThen what does רב ספרא's rule teach?
4. ResponseFixed interest must be given back
5. ResponseInterest before or after the loan is not given back
6. StatementThe משנה's case: wheat bought for a gold דינר per כור
7. QuestionWhy does it matter that he has no wine?
8. ChallengeA ברייתא says having the produce does not matter
9. Resolutionרבה: the משנה is about turning a debt into a purchase
10. ProofSupport from a ברייתא about a creditor taking future wheat
11. Challengeאביי: then even a seller who has wine should be forbidden
12. Resolutionאביי's new approach: read the משנה like רב ספרא's teaching
13. ProofThe ברייתא of רב ספרא about deals that dodge interest
14. Resolutionאביי applies the ברייתא to the משנה
15. Challengeרבא: the משנה should have said 'the value of my wheat'
16. ResolutionRead it as 'the value of my wheat'
17. Challengeרבא: it should have said 'which I sold you'
18. ResolutionRead it as 'which I sold you'
19. Challengeרבא: the thirty-דינר price was already set at the start
20. ResolutionHe means: wine for the value you set at thirty
21. Challengeרבא: the משנה stresses the market price
22. Resolutionרבא begins his own explanation