If he sold him the field and he gave him part of the money, and he (the seller) said to him: "When you wish, bring the (rest of the) money and take what is yours," this is forbidden. [As when the seller said to the buyer: "When you bring the rest of the money, acquire it from now." It is forbidden to do this, for if the seller eats fruits (of the field) in the interim, when the other brings the money, the field is found to have been acquired by him from the day of the sale, and the seller (is found) to have eaten fruits as payment for waiting. And if the buyer eats fruits from now, perhaps he will not bring the rest of the money and the seller will return what he had received from him, so that the field will be found not to have been sold to him (the seller having said: "When you bring the rest of the money, acquire it from now," and he did not bring it), and the first payment would be (found to have been) a loan in general to the buyer, and the seller would be found to have eaten fruits in payment (for having granted a loan)]. If he gave him a loan for his field, and he (the lender) said to him: "If you do not repay me from now until three years, it is mine," it is his. [As when he (the borrower) said to him: "Acquire it from now if I do not repay you from now until three years.," For this is not an asmachta (a mere "understanding"), but a bona fide kinyan (act of acquisition), the lender taking possession of it now for this money (that he gave the borrower), and it (the field) becomes cheaper in his (the lender's) possession. And the fruits are deposited with a third person. If the borrower repays the loan within three years, the fruits are given to him. And if not, they are given to the borrower, the field having been acquired by him from the time of the loan, and that loan having been payment for the field.] And Baitos b. Zonin did so (i.e., He borrowed upon his field) by the counsel of the sages.
Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Metzia
הבא מעות וטול את שלך אסור – He who brings excess monies that are upon you [to bring] and take your field, it is forbidden to do this. As in such a case where the seller said to the purchase: Go bring me excess monies and you purchase it from now, therefore, it is forbidden to do this, for if the seller were to consume the produce during this period, when he (i.e., the purchaser) brings the money, it is found that this field was sold to him from the day of the sale, but this one (i.e., the seller) ate the produce as the reward while waiting for the monies. But if the purchaser would consume the produce from now, for perhaps he would not bring the excess monies and would return to him (i.e., the seller) what he had received and it would be that the field had not been sold to hm, for when he would bring it (i.e., the monies), it would be sold to him from now he told him, but he didn’t bring it, and the first monies are like a mere loan in regard to the seller, and he ate the produce with his payment.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Metzia
If a man sold a field, and the buyer gave him part of the price and he said to the buyer, “Pay me the rest of the price whenever you wish and then take what is yours”, this is forbidden. The scenario described in this case is forbidden because the seller gets the use and benefit from the field in return for allowing a delayed payment from the buyer. In other words the buyer in essence loans the seller the field in return for waiting until he can gather the remainder of the money to complete the sale. This is usury.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Metzia
הרי היא שלו – in such a case as when he (i.e., the purchaser) said to him, buy it from now – if I don’t bring to you [the monies] from now until three years, it is not an Asmakhta (i.e., a collateral security with the condition of forfeiture beyond the amount to be secured – see Bava Batra 168a), but a complete purchase, for on the condition that he sold it completely, he would hold it from now with these monies and he would lower the price and sell (some of the movable goods in order to raise the money – see Bava Metzia 77a), and he who received it, if he would return him his monies within three years, would receive them, and the produce would be left in the hand of a third-party, and if the borrower returned his monies to the lender within the three years, he would release the produce to the borrower, and if not, he would give the produce to the lender, for the field was sold to him at the time of the loan, and that loan was the cost of the field.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Metzia
If a man lent another money on the security of his field and said to him, “If you do not pay me within three years it will be mine”, then it becomes his. This is what Boethus the son of Zunin used to do with the consent of the Sages. A person may loan another person money and use the other person’s field as collateral. Even though this may look as if the borrower is selling him his field in return for the loan, the Sages did not consider this to be usury.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Metzia
Questions for Further Thought: Mishnah three, section one: Would it be forbidden for Reuven to sell a field to Shimon and for Reuven to continue to use the field until Shimon brought him the money?
