The yetzioth [acts of carrying out from one domain to another] of Shabbath [i.e., stated in respect to Shabbath (Hachnasoth — acts of bringing in — are also called "yetzioth," in that there is taking out from one domain to another). The reason we have "yetzioth" (lit., "goings-out") rather than "hotzaoth" ("carryings-out"), is that the language of Scripture is being followed, viz. (Exodus 16:29): "Let a man not go out of his place," which is expounded as referring to "carrying out," i.e., Let a man not go out of his place with his receptacle in hand to gather the manna.] (The yetzioth of Shabbath) are two, [two that are Torah-interdicted — hotza'ah and hachnasah vis-à-vis the ba'al habayith (the house occupant), who stands inside, in the private domain. And for these two he is liable: for unwitting violation, a sin-offering; for witting violation, kareth ("cutting-off"); and for forewarning, stoning, as with all the other forbidden Sabbath labors.], which are four inside [The rabbis added two as forbidden ab initio when the labor is performed by two, one picking up; the other, putting down. For (by Torah ordinance) two who perform a labor (together) are not liable, it being written (Leviticus 4:27): "…in doing it, one of the mitzvoth of the L rd which may not be done" — in doing all of it, and not part of it. The same applies to all of the Sabbath labors. We say: One who did it is liable; two who did it are exempt.], and which are four outside. [two that are Torah-interdicted — hotza'ah and hachnasah vis-à-vis the mendicant, who stands outside, in the public domain. They are four, the rabbis having added two, to be forbidden ab initio, when one picks up and the other puts down.] How so? The mendicant stands outside and the ba'al habayith, inside. If the mendicant extended his hand [with the basket for the loaves of the ba'al habayith] inside, [("hotza'ah" being depicted by way of rich man and poor man to apprise us, incidentally, that a mitzvah coming through a transgression is forbidden, and that there is liability for it)], and placed it into the hand of the ba'al habayith [in which instance he effects "picking up" (akirah) from the public domain and "putting down" (hanachah) in the private domain], or if he took (the object) from it and brought (it) out [and placed it in the public domain, effecting akirah and hanachah], the mendicant is liable, [having performed a complete labor. These are the two Torah-interdicted labors for the one standing outside. And even though we require akirah from a place which is four by four hand-breadths and hanachah onto a place which is four by four, which does not obtain here, the hand of the mendicant and that of the ba'al habayith not being that large, it is stated in the gemara that a man's hand is considered as four by four in that even very large objects are wont to be placed therein and taken therefrom.], and the ba'al habayith is exempt [exempt, and it is absolutely permitted, for he did nothing]. If the ba'al habayith extended his hand outside and placed it (the object) into the hand of the mendicant, or if he took (the object) from it and brought (it) in, the ba'al habayith is liable and the mendicant is exempt. [These are the two Torah-interdicted labors for the one standing inside.] If the mendicant extended his hand inside [effecting akirah from the public domain] and the ba'al habayith took from it [and put it down inside, effecting hanachah in the private domain]; of if he (the ba'al habayith) placed (the object) into it, [effecting akirah from the private domain] and he [the mendicant] took it out [and placed it in the public domain], they are both exempt, [for neither performed a complete labor. But they are forbidden to do this lest each in himself come to do a complete labor on the Sabbath. These are two rabbinically interdicted labors, one for the mendicant on the outside and one for the ba'al habayith on the inside. (The reason that two acts are not mentioned for each — akirah for the mendicant and akirah for the ba'al habayith; hanachah for the mendicant and hanachah for the ba'al habayith — is that only the akiroth are of significance in this regard, in that they are the beginning of the labor and it is to be feared that he might complete it; but hanachoth, which are the end of the labor, are not reckoned.)] If the ba'al habayith extended his hand outside, and the mendicant took from it, or if he (the mendicant) placed (the object) into it, and he (the ba'al habayith) brought it in, they are both exempt.
Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
יציאות השבת – transferring an object from one domain to [another] domain (i.e., removing taking out of the house – see Talmud Shabbat 2b) that are mentioned concerning the Sabbath and carrying in are also called transferring since one takes out from one domain to another domain. And the fact that [the Mishnah] teaches יציאות /carrying (on the Sabbath) and it does not teach הוצאות /transferring, is because it uses the language of the Bible, as it is written (Exodus 16:29): “Let no one leave his place [on the seventh day],” and from it, we derive transferring, that a person should not leave with a utensil in his hand to collect the Manna.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shabbat
Introduction
Tractate Shabbat begins with a formulaic teaching about the prohibition of carrying. The remainder of the chapter discusses preparations before Shabbat, but it seems that the Mishnah’s editors wanted to begin with a mishnah that contains the formula “two which are four”. This is the same way that tractate Shevuoth began, and it seems that this type of opening was often preferred by the Mishnah. Indeed, Abraham Goldberg (whose Hebrew critical commentary on Shabbat I will use from time to time published by the Jewish Theological Seminary of America) notes that about half of the tractates of the Mishnah begin with numbers or an issue related to numbers. Goldberg also believes that opening the tractate with a mishnah concerning carrying something from one domain to another was intended as a polemic against the Sadducees who did not agree with the Pharisees in all of the details of these laws.
The prohibition of carrying will be further discussed later on in chapter five and will continue to be discussed through chapter eleven.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
שתים שהן ארבע – two from the Torah, transferring an object and carrying [it] in to the house owner who stands inside in the private domain, and on these two, a person is liable for a sin-offering for his inadvertent violation, and divine punishment by premature/sudden death for a willful violation, and stoning for his being warned, like in all the rest of the prohibited labors of Shabbat.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shabbat
The mishnah lists eight slightly different scenarios in which an object is brought from outside in the public domain to inside the house, the private domain. These scenarios can be divided twice. In the first four examples a person has performed a complete action, taking something from one domain and bringing into another and is therefore liable. In two of these cases the object is brought in and in two it is taken out. In the second four cases, the two people share in bringing the object in or taking it out and hence they are both exempt (remember that this does not mean that this is permitted.) These cases can also be divided into two subcategories. The mishnah probably uses the example of a poor person standing outside and a householder inside because this is a realistic situation and it will be easier to remember.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
שהן ארבע – from their words (i.e., the Rabbis), they added two, to prohibit ab initio a case where the work is done by two people – this one uprooting and this place setting it down, for two who did it are exempt, as it states (Leviticus 4:27): “by doing any of the things which by the LORD’s commandments ought not to be done, [and he realizes his guilt].” The one who does all of it, but not the one who does part of it, and similarly, in all the labors of Shabbat we say that an individual who did it is liable; two who did it are exempt.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shabbat
The carryings out of Shabbat are two which are four from the inside, and two which are four from the outside. How is this so? The poor man stands outside and the householder stands inside: If the poor man reaches his hand inside and places [something] into the hand of the householder, The poor man is liable because he took something from the public domain and brought it in.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
שתים שהן ארבע בחוץ – two from the Torah, taking out and carrying in for the poor person who stands outside in the public domain.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shabbat
or if he takes [something] from it and carries it out, the poor man is liable, and the householder is exempt. The poor man is liable because he took something out. In both cases the householder has not done anything and hence he is exempt.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
שהן ארבע – from their words (i.e., the Rabbis), they added two to prohibit ab initio, as this person uproots it and the other person sets it down.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shabbat
If the householder reaches his hand outside and places [an object] in the poor man's hand, The householder has brought something out and is liable.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
פשט העני את ידו – and in it is a box or a basket that he receives in it loaves of bread from the owner of the house, and for this reason, [the Mishnah] took hold of the language of הוצאה /removal in the language of the poor person and the rich person, for it incidentally comes to teach us that a commandment that comes through a transgression is prohibited and they are liable upon it.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shabbat
or takes [something] and carries it in, the master is liable, while the poor man is exempt. The householder brought something in.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
ונתן לתוך ידו של בעל הבית – that he performs uprooting from the public domain and placement in the private domain.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shabbat
If the poor man reaches his hand inside and the master takes [an object] from it, The poor man brought something in, but is not liable because he didn’t put it down in the private domain. Rather the householder took it out of his hands. Both are exempt even though together they have performed a forbidden act of work. We now learn that in order to be liable the person must uproot something from one domain and put it down in another domain. One is not liable for half of an activity.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
או שנטל מתוכה והוציא – the object, and placed it in the public domain, and performed uprooting and placing down.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
העני חייב – as he did complete work, for it is two from the Torah for the person standing outside, and even though we require uprooting from the place where he will be four handbreadths by four handbreadths and setting down in a place where he will be four-by-four [handbreadths] and there isn’t found there [that amount] for the hand of the poor person and the owner of the house, there isn’t there a place where there will be four-by-four [handbreadths] , we say in the Gemara (Talmud Shabbat 5a) that the hand of a person is considered as four-by-four [handbreadths], since it is made to place it down and to take from it objects and even many large ones.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shabbat
or places [an object] in it and he carries it out, both are exempt; The poor man didn’t pick the object up so he’s not liable and the householder didn’t bring it out so he’s not liable. Both are exempt.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shabbat
If the householder stretches his hand outside and the poor man takes [an object] from it, The householder picks up an object and brings his hand out of the house but the poor man takes the object out of his hand. Both have performed half of a forbidden labor and both are exempt.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
ובעל הבית פטור – he (i.e., the owner of the house) is exempt and it is completely permitted, for he had not done anything.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shabbat
or places [an article] in it and he carries it inside, both are exempt. Finally, the poor man puts the object in the householder’s hand and the householder brings it inside, so again both have performed half of a forbidden labor and again both are exempt.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
פשט בעל הבית כו' בעל הבית חייב – for this is two from the Torah for the person who stands inside.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
פשט העני כו' – for the poor person made an uprooting from the public domain.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
ונטל בעל הבית מתוכה – and placed it inside, for the owner of the house did a placing down [of the object] in the private domain.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
והוציא – the poor person [removed it] and placed it down in the public domain.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
שניהם פטורים – for neither of them had done a complete [cycle] of work/labor. But it is prohibited to do this lest everyone come on his own to do a complete [cycle of] work on the Sabbath day. There are two [forms of work] “from their words” (i.e., from the Rabbis), one for the poor person outside and one for the owner of the house inside. But it is not considered two for each one of them, uprooting for the poor person and uprooting for owner of the house, placing down for the poor person and placing down for the owner of the house, because it is not considered other than uprooting [of things] which are the beginning of the work and there is a fear lest he complete it, but placing down, which is the end of the work, is not considered.
