Ona'ah ("Wronging") è quattro [ma'ah di] argento [di sei ma'ah per un dinaro, un sela essendo quattro dinari], di ventiquattro [ma'ah] di argento per un sela, un sesto dell'acquisto. [Se l'acquisto fosse per una sela, ventiquattro ma'ah (d'argento), ona'ah essendo un sesto dell'acquisto, deve restituire l'intera ona'ah, quattro (ma'ah d'argento).] Fino a quando a lui [a chi è stato torto] è stato permesso di ritirarsi? ["permesso" è dichiarato per informarci che anche "Colui che ha richiesto il pagamento, ecc." non si ottiene se l'acquisto è stato ritirato o il sesto è stato restituito.] Fino a quando non può mostrarlo [l'acquisto] a un commerciante oa uno dei suoi parenti. [E se impiegava più tempo, (si ritiene che avesse) rinunciato alla sua ona'ah. E il venditore può sempre ritirarsi. Perché l'acquisto non è nelle sue mani per mostrarlo a un commerciante o ai suoi parenti se fosse stato torto. E se si fosse saputo che gli era venuto in mano un acquisto simile, e sapeva di aver commesso un errore, e se ne stava zitto e non fece alcun reclamo, non poteva tornare indietro e reclamare, avendo perdonato.] R. Tarfon insegnò a Lod : Ona'ah ha otto (ma'ah di) argento per un sela, un terzo dell'acquisto—e i mercanti di Lod si rallegrarono. [Perché erano esperti in articoli e li vendettero caro. L'halachah non è conforme a R. Tarfon.] Disse loro: "È permesso ritrattare tutto il giorno"— in cui dissero: "Lascia che R. Tarfon ci lasci al posto nostro" — e tornarono alle parole dei saggi.
Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Metzia
האונאה ארבעה כסף – four silver MAOT in which there are six MAOT in a denar, and the SELAH is four denarim.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Metzia
Introduction
In Leviticus 25:14 it states (JPS translation): “When you sell property to your neighbor, or buy any from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another.” From here the Rabbis learned that a person is not allowed to overcharge for certain items that had a known value. When an overcharge does occur there are three possible consequences: 1) the sale is nullified; 2) the amount paid over the value must be returned to the buyer; 3) the sale is valid and no amount is returned. The remainder of the chapter will deal with these laws.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Metzia
מעשרים וארבעה כסף לסלע – if the purchase was in SELAH monies which is twenty-four MAOT, for now it would be that overcharging is one-sixth to the purchase, he would be liable to restore to him all of his overcharging [which is] four silver [coins].
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Metzia
According to the anonymous opinion in section one a sale that is one-sixth more than the true value of an item is considered fraud. If a person bought something for one-sixth more than it was worth he could demand a retraction of the sale. According to the first opinion he may retract the sale as long as it would take to show the object to merchant or to a kinsman, in other words someone else who could give a more objective evaluation of the object. After this amount of time has passed the sale can no longer be retracted.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Metzia
עד מתי מותר להחזיר – he who was defrauded, and that the Mishnah used the language of מותר/”permitted” to teach us that it is not possible, for even he who is punished to return the purchase or that he should give him [back] his overcharge.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Metzia
Rabbi Tarfon gave instruction in Lud: “Fraud is an overcharge of 8 pieces of silver to the seller, a third of the purchase price”, and the merchants of Lod celebrated. He said to them: “He may retract any time within a whole day.” They said to him: “Leave us as we were, Rabbi Tarfon”, and they reverted to the teaching of the Sages. In section two we learn of Rabbi Tarfon’s opinion that he gave at an actual event that occurred in Lod (a city in Israel, near where Ben Gurion airport is currently located). Rabbi Tarfon taught in Lod that fraud is one-third of the purchase price (as opposed to the Sages who held that it was one-sixth). This teaching caused the merchants to be happy for they could now overcharge more on their merchandise without being worried about retractions on the part of the buyer. To temper their celebration, Rabbi Tarfon told them that he was allowing a longer time for retractions, even an entire day. At this point the merchants of Lod said they preferred the words of the Sages taught anonymously in section one, who gave a smaller margin for fraud but a shorter time for the buyer to retract.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Metzia
עד כדי שיראה – the purchase to the traveling merchant or to his relatives. And if he delayed further, he renounced on his overcharging and the seller will always retract, for the purchase is not in his hands that he is would be able to show it to the traveling merchant or to his relatives if he had been overcharged. And if it becomes known that a thing came into his hands like that which is similar to his sale and he knows that he erred and was silent and did not make a claim, he cannot retract and make a claim for he has renounced it.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Metzia
Questions for Further Thought: Mishnah three: Why would the merchants prefer a lower margin for fraud (1/6) and a shorter time for retraction as opposed to the opposite?
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Metzia
ושמחו תגרי לוד – who were experts in business and sell at a high price. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Tarfon.
