Commentary for Bava Metzia 7:2
וְאֵלּוּ אוֹכְלִין מִן הַתּוֹרָה. הָעוֹשֶׂה בִמְחֻבָּר לַקַּרְקַע, בִּשְׁעַת גְּמַר מְלָאכָה, וּבְתָלוּשׁ מִן הַקַּרְקַע, עַד שֶׁלֹּא נִגְמְרָה מְלַאכְתּוֹ, בְּדָבָר שֶׁגִּדּוּלוֹ מִן הָאָרֶץ. וְאֵלּוּ שֶׁאֵין אוֹכְלִין. הָעוֹשֶׂה בִמְחֻבָּר לַקַּרְקַע בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁאֵין גְּמַר מְלָאכָה, וּבְתָלוּשׁ מִן הַקַּרְקַע מֵאַחַר שֶׁנִּגְמְרָה מְלַאכְתּוֹ, וּבְדָבָר שֶׁאֵין גִּדּוּלוֹ מִן הָאָרֶץ:
And these [workers] eat [from what they are occupied with] by Torah law: one who is occupied with what is rooted in the ground, at the end of their work [i.e., when they tear it out, viz. Deuteronomy 23:25): "But into your vessel, you shall not place them" — When you are placing them into the owner's vessels you may eat; that is, when they are being torn out.], and [one who is occupied] with what is torn from the ground [may eat that thing] until its labor is completed [for tithing, if it is subject to tithing, or until its labor is completed for challah, if it is subject to challah], (this,) with a thing that grows in the ground. And these do not eat: one who works in what is rooted to the ground, not at the end of the work, and (one who works) in what is torn from the ground after its work has been completed (for tithing or challah), and (one who works) in what does not grow in the ground. [viz. (Deuteronomy 25:4): "You shall not muzzle an ox in its threshing. Its not being written: "You shall not thresh with muzzling" implies that the muzzler is to be likened to the muzzled, and the muzzled to the muzzler, viz.: Just as the muzzled, the ox, eats what is "torn" (from the ground, i.e., the "threshing"), when it works, so the muzzler, the man, eats of what is "torn" when he is working in it; and just as the muzzler, etc. And just as "threshing" is characterized as something which grows in the ground and whose labor is not completed for tithing, and at the end of the work the laborer may eat of it — so, all things which grow in the ground and whose labor has not been completed for tithing may be eaten by the laborer at the end of the work: to exclude a laborer engaged in milking, whipping (milk), or processing cheese, which (products) do not grow in the ground; to exclude a laborer engaged in the separation of dates and figs which are stuck together, their labor having been completed for tithing; and to exclude a laborer engaged in "weeding" garlic and onions, removing the small ones, which will never mature, from the others, to provide more growing space for the large ones, this not being the end of the work. A laborer does not eat all of these and their like.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Metzia
English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Metzia
These are they that may not eat; one that works on what is still growing while the work is still unfinished; and one that works on what is already detached from the ground after the work is finished, and [one may not eat] of what does not grow from the soil.
In Deuteronomy 23:25-26 we learn that a person who is in another’s field or vineyard has a right to eat directly from the fruit of the field. However, he may not harvest the grapes or grain and put them in his basket in order to bring them back into his home. According to the Rabbis these verses deal with workers doing work in the field and not with normal people passing through another’s fields. A person just passing through another’s field does not have a right to eat anything from the field for that would be considered stealing.
Mishnayoth 2-8 deal with these verses and clarify in what situations a worker may eat and in what situations he may not.
This mishnah discusses when may a worker eat directly from the foodstuff with which he is laboring and when he may not. Note, this mishnah does not directly discuss an employer’s obligation to feed his employee which was a topic discussed in the previous mishnah.
1) One who is working with food that has not yet been harvested may eat of it at the time when it is harvested. However, he may not eat of the food while it is still attached to the ground.
2) One who works with produce that has already been harvested may eat of the produce until it has become completely processed, i.e. grapes turned into wine, olives into oil or grain into flour. After that point he may no longer eat of the produce.
3) Finally, a person who works with food that does not grow from the land, such as meat or dairy products may not eat directly from them.
All of these laws are learned exegetically from the verses in Deuteronomy mentioned above. Since the verses deal with fields and not with other types of food, the Rabbis deduced that a worker who worked with someone else’s meat or dairy products was never allowed to eat from them. Furthermore Deuteronomy 25:4 states, “Do not muzzle an ox while he is threshing.” The Rabbis compared an ox to other workers and decided that while one was not allowed to prevent an ox from eating while working, under certain conditions one was allowed to prevent a working person from eating from that with which he is working.