"Die Altersbestimmung richtet sich nach dem Gegenstand des Gelübdes" - wie? Wenn ein Kind einen alten Mann bewertet, muss es den Wert eines alten Mannes bezahlen; wenn ein alter Mann ein Kind bewertet, muss es bezahlen der Wert eines Kindes. "Das [Geschlecht für] die Bewertungen richtet sich nach dem Gegenstand der Bewertung" - wie? Wenn ein Mann eine Frau bewertet, muss er den Wert einer Frau bezahlen, aber wenn eine Frau einen Mann bewertet muss sie den Wert eines Mannes bezahlen. "Das [Alter für] Bewertungen [wird] zum Zeitpunkt der Bewertung bestimmt" - wie? Wenn er jemanden evaluierte, der jünger als fünf Jahre war, und [in der Zwischenzeit] älter als fünf Jahre wurde, oder wenn [er einen evaluierte], der jünger als zwanzig Jahre war und zwanzig Jahre alt wurde, er muss [nur] nach dem Alter zum Zeitpunkt der Bewertung zahlen. Der dreißigste Tag gilt als unter diesem Alter. Das fünfte oder zwanzigste Jahr gilt als unter diesem Alter. Denn es heißt: „Und wenn er ab sechzig Jahren alt ist“ (3. Mose 27: 7), so lernen wir in Bezug auf alle anderen aus dem, was über sechzig Jahre gesagt wird: So wie das sechzigste Jahr als darunter angesehen wird Alter, so sind auch das fünfte und zwanzigste Jahr unter diesem Alter. [Aber] ist das so? Nur weil [die Tora] das sechzigste Jahr für dieses Alter hält und dadurch strenger ist, sollen wir das fünfte oder das zwanzigste Jahr für dieses Alter angeben, um nachsichtig zu sein?! Die Schrift sagt: "Jahr", "Jahr" als gezerah shavah [eine Technik der halachischen Interpretation, die eine etablierte Verbindung zwischen identischen oder nahezu identischen Wörtern verwendet]: Genau wie beim sechzigsten Jahr bedeutet das Wort "Jahr", dass es unter diesem Begriff betrachtet wird Alter, so dass das Wort "Jahr" mit dem fünften und mit dem zwanzigsten Jahr unter diesem Alter betrachtet wird, unabhängig davon, ob es nachsichtig oder streng ist. Rabbi Elazar sagt: [diese Regel gilt] bis sie einen Monat und einen Tag jenseits des Jahres liegen.
Bartenura on Mishnah Arakhin
ילד – (who pledged the valuation of an elder) from age twenty until age sixty, for his value is fifty Shekel.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Arakhin
Introduction
Today’s mishnah, the final mishnah of chapter four, explains the sections of mishnah one that have not yet been explained.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Arakhin
נותן כזמן הערך – as it is written (Leviticus 27:17): “[If he consecrates his land as of the jubilee year,] its assessment stands,” he does not give other than according to the time of the valuation.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Arakhin
“And the age is according to the subject of the vow:” How so? If a child evaluates an old man, he must pay the value of an old man. And if an old man evaluates a child he must pay the value of a child. The amount owed is reckoned according to the person whose value was vowed, and not according to the age of the vower.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Arakhin
יום שלשים כלמטה – if he stated that the valuation of so-and-so a minor child is upon me, and that minor was on that day was thirty [days old], it is like it is below that, and he did not say anything, for there is no valuation for less than a month [old], and thus it is written (Leviticus 27:6): “If the age is from one month [to five years, the equivalent for a male is five shekels of silver, and the equivalent for a female is three shekels of silver].”
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English Explanation of Mishnah Arakhin
The evaluation is according to the subject of the evaluation. How so? If a man evaluated a woman, he must pay the value of a woman. And if a woman evaluated a man, she must pay the value of a man. Similarly, the gender is determined by the one whose value is being vowed and not the gender of the vower.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Arakhin
מבן ששים שנה ומעלה – implying that the sixtieth year was completed, and then he is judged like someone sixty [years old], but in the sixtieth year, he is judged as a child.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Arakhin
“And the evaluations [shall be paid according to the rate prescribed] at the time of the evaluation.” How so? If he evaluated one who was less than five years of age, and he became [meantime] older than five years of age, or if [he evaluated one] who was less than twenty years of age and he became twenty years old, he must pay [only] in accord with the age at the time of the valuation. The value of a person is determined partly by age (and partly by gender). When we determine his age we determine it according to his/her age at the time the vow was made, and not at the time that the vow is paid off.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Arakhin
הן אם עשינו – in astonishment. Meaning to say, and if this the case, if we made the sixtieth [year] like it is lower than this to be stringent for a valuation of an adult one should lessen from athe age of sixty for fifty Sela, but for someone older than age sixty, it is not other than fifteen [Sela].
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English Explanation of Mishnah Arakhin
The thirtieth day is considered to be under this age. The fifth year or twentieth year is considered to be under this age. The rest of the mishnah states that the day that someone reaches a certain age, thirty days, five years, twenty years or sixty years, is not yet counted with the older age. Thus a kid who just turns thirty days does not yet have any value (value begins at thirty days). A kid who just turned five, still counts as a kid between the age of thirty days and five years.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Arakhin
כלמטה ממנה להקל – that the valuation is more for someone who is twenty years old, an adult who is a less than twenty years, old, and similarly, with someone who is five [years old]. As it is written in Biblical verses.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Arakhin
For it says: “And if he is from sixty years old and upward” (Leviticus 27:7), thus we can learn thus with regard to all others from what is said about sixty years: just as the sixtieth year is considered to be under this age, so also the fifth and twentieth years are under this age. The mishnah proves that the day of the birthday counts with the lower age by quoting the verse concerning the sixty year old. Since the Torah says that he is above sixty years, the implication is that one who is exactly sixty years still pays the higher amount of a person from 20-60.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Arakhin
רבי אליעזר אומר (the foregoing applies so long as they are a month and a day more than the years [which are prescribed]) - Always the fifth year and the twentieth year and the sixtieth year are like less than that age. That we derive from an analogy comparing from the usage of the word "למעלה" and "למעלה". It is stated here (Leviticus 27:7): “If the age is sixty years or over/מבן-ששים שנה ומעלה, [the equivalent is fifteen shekels in the case of a male and ten shekels for a female],” and it is stated (Numbers 18:16): “Take as their redemption price from the age of one month up/ופדויו מבן חודש ומעלה [the money equivalent of five shekels by the sanctuary weight which is twenty gerahs],” just as there it is it is one month and one day, for a firstling is not redeemed any younger than from one month and one day, so even here, until he adds on to the sixty months and one day. And the fifth year and the twentieth year we derive from an analogy – שנה שנה /a year, a year (see the Mishnah), from the sixtieth year, as the first Tanna/teacher derives above, but the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Eliezer.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Arakhin
Is that so! Just because [the Torah] accounts the sixtieth year to be under this age, thereby being more stringent, shall we make the fifth or the twentieth year be considered under this age, in order to be lenient? The mishnah now critiques its own midrash. Treating a sixty year old as still belonging to the younger category creates a stringency his value is 50 and not 15. But treating a 5 year old or a 20 year in the younger category creates a leniency since the younger ages have lower values. The mishnah says that just because we treat a sixty year old as being in the younger category does not mean that we would necessarily treat 5 and 20 year olds as being in the younger category.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Arakhin
Scripture says, “Years,” “years” as a gezerah shavah: just as with the sixtieth year the word “years” means that it is considered under this age, so the word “years” with the fifth and with the twentieth year are considered under this age, whether this results in being lenient or being stringent. The mishnah now brings another midrash to defend the halakhah that we always treat a person on the day of the birthday as if he still belongs to the previous age category. This is done with a technique called a “gezerah shavah”. What this technique consists of is taking a law from one situation and applying it to another because the Torah uses the same word in both situations. In our case the word is “years” and it is used in connection to one who turns 60 and one who turns 5 and 20. Since it is used in both connections, the same halakhah applies to both.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Arakhin
Rabbi Elazar says: [this rule holds good] until they are a month and a day beyond the year. Rabbi Elazar extends the halakhah even further. A person doesn’t enter the new category until he is one month and one day into that category. For instance, one who is 60 doesn’t go down in value to 15 shekels until he is 60, one month and one day.
