Ein Mann kann seinen Pächtern Weizen für Weizen zur Aussaat leihen, aber nicht zum Essen. [Es ist erlaubt, einem Pächter nur Sa'ah-für-Sa'ah zu leihen, wenn er es säen möchte. Das Grundprinzip: An einem Ort, an dem der Pächter das Saatgut liefert, wird der Eigentümer ihn wegschicken, wenn er kein Saatgut für die Aussaat des Feldes hat. Und wenn der Pächter vom Eigentümer Kredite aufnimmt und ihm (ein Sa'ah) Weizen sät und zurückgibt, wenn der Weizenpreis gestiegen ist, ist dies kein (Return on) Darlehen, sondern es ist, als ob er (der) Pächter-Landwirt) geht jetzt auf (Arbeit) ein, unter der Voraussetzung, dass der Eigentümer aus dem Samen zuerst den Anteil entnimmt, der an den Pächter-Landwirt zurückkehrt, und der Pächter-Landwirt das nimmt, was als Lohn für seine Arbeit übrig bleibt beauftragt, es an diesem Verständnis zu arbeiten—dass er weniger als andere Pächter je nach Menge des Saatguts nimmt, und es gibt hier keinen Ribith.] Denn R. Gamliel würde seinen Pächtern Weizen für Weizen zur Aussaat leihen. Ob es (Weizen) teuer war (als er es verlieh) und es billig war (wenn es zurückgegeben wurde) oder es billig war (wenn es verliehen wurde) und teuer war (wenn es zurückgegeben wurde), er würde es ihnen nach dem günstigeren Preis abnehmen. Nicht weil dies die Halacha ist, sondern weil er streng mit sich selbst sein wollte. [Das heißt, es war notwendig, diese Mischna vorzutragen, weil R. Gamliel streng war und (den Weizen) gemäß dem günstigeren Preis zurücknahm, wenn der Preis fiel. Die Mischna bestätigt uns, dass dies nicht die Halacha ist, sondern dass R. Gamliel streng mit sich selbst sein wollte.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Metzia
חטין בחטין לזרע – It is permissible to lend to a tenant farmer (who tills the owner’s ground for a certain share in the produce, as opposed to a certain rent in kind/חכיר, irrespective of the yield of the crops) a Seah for a Seah (even though this is normally forbidden) specifically when he wants to sow with them, and the reason for this is that in the place where the tenant farmer is, when he gives the seed, if he didn’t have seed to sow the field, the owner would remove him, and when the tenant farmer borrows from the owner, and he sows [the field], when the wheat go up in price, he gives back wheat, this is not a loan, but rather for the tenant farmer, it is like he goes down into it (i.e., the field) from this moment, on the condition that the owner will take the seed first from the part that will arrive to the tenant farmer, and the tenant farmer will take the rest as the payment for his trouble, and on this condition, he will take less that the other tenant farmers according the measure of the seed, and there is no interest here.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Metzia
Introduction
Mishnayoth eight and nine deal with a person who lends produce in order to receive produce in return. As we have learned previously, if after the loan the value of the type of produce rises, for instance at the time of the loan wheat was 1 dollar a pound and afterwards it was 2 dollars a pound, the borrower will end up returning more value to the lender, which is a form of interest.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Metzia
שהיה רבן גמלאל – that is to say, for this purposes, it was necessary to teach this Mishnah, for Rabbi Gamaliel was more stringent, for if thing became cheaper, he would take according the cheaper set price, and our Mishnah comes to teach us not the Halakha is as such, but rather that he wished to be more stringent upon himself.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Metzia
[A landowner] may lend his tenants wheat to be repaid in wheat, if it is for planting but not if it is for food. For Rabban Gamaliel used to lend his tenants wheat to be repaid in wheat when it was for planting. And if he lent it when the price was high and it afterward fell, or when it was low and it afterward rose, he used to take wheat back at the lower rate, not because such was the rule but because he wanted to be strict upon himself. A person may not lend another person a seah of wheat on the condition that the other person pay back a seah of wheat. The reason is that if the wheat rises in price after the loan the lender will receive in return more than he gave, and that is considered to be a form of interest. Rather he would have to state an amount, such as 100 dollars worth of wheat and when he gets the loan back he will receive 100 dollars worth of wheat at whatever the rate is at the time of repayment. Our mishnah teaches that although one cannot loan wheat in order to be repaid in wheat when the wheat was intended for eating, one may do so when it is for planting and there is no concern that this be considered interest. The simplest way of understanding this is that it is as if the owner is giving him a better field to work, which he is allowed to do. The second half of the mishnah teaches a stringency that Rabban Gamaliel took upon himself. Although it is permitted to lend wheat for wheat if the wheat is for planting, Rabban Gamaliel would always collect upon the lower rate. In this way there was no potential that he would receive back a higher value than he gave in the beginning and thereby loan with interest.
