Talmud zu Schemot 21:2

¹¹This paragraph is quoted from Mishnah Ḳid. I, 2 (Sonc. ed., p. 59). A Hebrew slave is acquired by money purchase or by document, and he acquires his freedom by years of service,¹²Cf. Ex. 21, 2; Deut. 15, 12. through the advent of the Jubilee¹³Cf. Lev. 25, 40f. and by deduction of money.¹⁴i.e. by repaying his master his purchase price less the value of the service he has completed. The Hebrew handmaid has an advantage over him in that she acquires her freedom by the signs [of puberty]. The nirẓa‘ is acquired by the boring [of his ear] and acquires his freedom through [the advent of] the Jubilee or through the death of his master.

It is written: “Six years he shall work¹⁸⁵Ex. 21:2..” How much does he work? I could think that he leaves at the end of six [years]. The verse says, “and in the seventh he shall leave¹⁸⁵Ex. 21:2..” I could think that he leave at the end of seven [years]¹⁸⁶In Mekhilta dR.Šim‘on b.Jochai(ed. Epstein-Melamed) p. 160 the argument is made that the slave should leave only at the end of the year since debts are remitted only at the end of the Sabbatical. A similar argument is presupposed here.. The verse says, “six years he shall work.” How is that? He works the entire six and leaves at the start of the seventh. “And in the seventh he shall leave.” The seventh from the sale and not the Seventh of the world¹⁸⁷The Sabbatical year. Mekhilta dR.Ismael (ed. Horovitz-Rabin p. 249).. Do you say, the seventh from the sale and not the Seventh of the world? Since it says, “six years he shall work,” this spells out six years. How can I confirm “and in the seventh he shall leave?” The seventh from the sale and not the Seventh of the world. Say it is the opposite. Rebbi Ze‘ira said in the name of Rav Huna: It is written: “and in the seventh,” “and in the seventh¹⁸⁸It seems that the correct interpretation is the one given by Qorban Ha‘edah: One has to read the word וּבַשְּׁבִעִית as if it were written twice with two different meanings. “Six years he shall work, including the Sabbatical; but in the seventh he shall leave.””. Rebbi Ḥuna said, if you say, in the Seventh of the world, what would the Jubilee free¹⁸⁹Since the 49th year of a cycle is a Sabbatical, if the slaves left then, nobody would be freed in the 50th, the Jubilee.? Rebbi Joḥanan bar Marius said, this follows him who said that the Jubilee does not become part of a Sabbatical period¹⁹⁰The Sabbatical period following the first Jubilee starts only in year 51; there is a Jubilee in every year which is a multiple of 50 in the Jubilee calendar; Babli Nedarim 61a. This is the calendar also underlying the Saducee Jubilee.. But following him who said that the Jubilee becomes part of a Sabbatical period, sometimes it falls in the middle of a Sabbatical period¹⁹¹Since year 49 was a Sabbatical, the next Sabbatical is in year 55, and the next Jubilee in year 100 is in year 2 of the Sabbatical cycle. The Jubilee in year n∙50 falls on year n (mod 7) of a Sabbatical cycle, it will eventually fall on any of the years of the cycle.. The rabbis of Caesarea say, even following him who said that the Jubilee becomes part of a Sabbatical period, we could deduce from here that the Sabbatical year frees the slaves and the Jubilee the pierced ones¹⁹²The preceding argument cannot be used to prove that the “seventh’ mentioned in the verse is not the Sabbatical; the argument at the start of the paragraph is the only valid one. (The emendation of this sentence by the classical commentaries has to be rejected since the text is confirmed by A.).

From where even if he fell ill¹⁹³He could not work the entire six years. Nevertheless, he leaves on time. The same argument in the Babli, 17a. In Mekhilta dR.Šim‘on b.Jochai, p. 161, the word “gratis” is interpreted to mean that the master has no regress on the slave for his medical costs.? The verse says¹⁸⁵Ex. 21:2., “in the seventh year he shall leave into freedom gratis.” I could think, even if he fled; the verse says¹⁸⁵Ex. 21:2., “six years he shall work.¹⁹⁴Babli 16b; Massekhet ‘Avadim 1.” What did you see to include this and to exclude that? After the verse included, it excluded. I am including the one who remains in his power and am exluding the one who is not in his power. Rebbi Abun bar Ḥiyya said that Rav Hoshaia asked: I understand that if he fell ill and fled afterwards, he has to make up [the time lost]. If he fled and then fell ill? Rebbi Ḥiyya bar Ada said, let us hear from the following: “If a woman rebels against her husband, one writes him a bill of rebellion on her ketubah.”¹⁹⁵A rewording of Mishnah Ketubot 5:9, Notes 199–100. The wife refuses marital relations with her husband; the court deducts from her future claim of ketubah. And Rebbi Ḥiyya stated: One writes a bill of rebellion on the ketubah of a menstruating woman or a sick one, a preliminarily married one and one waiting for her levir¹⁹⁶Ketubot 5:10, Babli Ketubot 63b.. Where do we hold? If she rebelled against him while she was menstruating, the Torah instructed her to rebel¹⁹⁷Since sexual relations with menstruating women are forbidden.. But we must hold that she rebelled when she was not menstruating and then started menstruating. Here she is unable to rebel, nevertheless you say, one writes¹⁹⁸Once she refused marital relations, one fines her by reducing the sum due from her ketubah the entire time she had no relations, irrespective of the cause. By analogy, the runaway slave has to make up the time lost, including the time he was ill and could not have worked while in his master’s house.. Here also, if he rebelled and then fell ill he has to make up. For he can say to him, if you had stayed with me, you would not have become sick. Rebbi Ḥinena said, that argument even works in the first case. If he fell ill and fled afterwards¹⁹⁹If he was ill when he fled, he has to make up even the times of his sickness., he has to make up, since he can say to him, if you had stayed with me, you would have recuperated sooner.