Comentario sobre Levítico 25:14

‎'וכי תמכרו וגו‎‎‎‎ AND IF THOU SELL [OUGHT TO THY FELLOW… YE SHALL NOT OVERREACH ONE ANOTHER] — According to its plain sense the verse intimates what it literally means: (i. e. as translated above). But there is also a Midrashic interpretation: Whence can it be derived that if you sell anything you should sell it to your Israelite fellowman? From what Scripture states: “And if you sell — ,לעמיתך sell it to one associated with you by nationality”. And whence can it be derived that if you intend to buy anything that you should buy it of your Israelite fellow? From what Scripture states “or if thou buy ought — מיד עמיתך, at the hand of one associated with thee, buy it” (Sifra, Behar, Section 3 1).

YE SHALL NOT WRONG ONE ANOTHER. “This refers to overcharging in money matters.” 15. ACCORDING TO THE NUMBER OF YEARS AFTER THE JUBILEE THOU SHALT BUY OF THY NEIGHBOR. “The plain meaning of the verse as indicated by its context is that Scripture is admonishing here against overcharging [as mentioned in the preceding verse, and explains here in detail]: When you sell or buy land, ascertain how many years there are left till the Jubilee, and according to these years the vendor is to sell and the purchaser to buy, for in the end the purchaser must return him [the land] in the year of the Jubilee. Thus if there are but a few years [till the Jubilee] and he sells it at a high price, the purchaser has been wronged, and if there are many years so that the purchaser can eat many crops from it, he must buy it according to the [greater] time [remaining till the Jubilee]. It is referring to this that it is said, according to the number of years of the crops he shall sell unto thee,¹⁶⁸Verse 15. [meaning]: according to the number of years of crops which the land will remain in the hand of the purchaser, you shall sell it to him. Now our Rabbis have derived from here [the law] that one who sells his field has no right to redeem it before two years [after the date of the sale, for the verse states, according to the number of ‘years’ of the crops he shall sell, and the minimum number of the term ‘years’ is two], even if there were three crops in those two years. [However, although this interpretation of the Rabbis indicates that the verse in speaking of shnei means ‘two years’], it does not lose its literal meaning [i.e., ‘years of’], that is to say, he is to sell by the number of ‘years of’ crops, and not by years when the produce is smitten by blast,¹⁶⁹Thus, if during one of the two years after the sale the produce was smitten by blast, the vendor does not have the right to redeem his field until three years have elapsed, so that the purchaser has enjoyed at least two crops. and the minimum number implied in ‘years’ is two.” Thus far is Rashi’s language.
Now this is indeed the correct interpretation of the verse; however, our Rabbis have said that overcharge does not apply in [the sale of] land, for it is said:¹⁷⁰Baba Metzia 56 b. “Or buy of thy neighbor’s ‘hand’,¹⁷¹Verse 14 before us. and this refers to something which is transferred from ‘hand’ to ‘hand’” [i.e., movable goods or chattels]. But this verse according to the Rabbi [Rashi], both in its plain meaning and its [Rabbinical] interpretation, speaks of [overcharging in the sale of] land! We must then perforce turn the verses away from their simple meaning, and say that each one stands independently [of the others].¹⁷²Thus while Rashi interpreted all three verses [14-16] as applying to business transactions, Ramban interprets only Verse 14 in that way, while Verses 15-16 refer only to keeping the laws of the Jubilee, and Verse 17 prohibits all kind of wronging by words. Thus, as Ramban expresses it, “we must perforce turn the verses away from their simple meaning, and say that each one stands independently of the others.” Thus Scripture is stating: And if thou sell aught unto thy neighbor, or buy of thy neighbor’s hand,¹⁷¹Verse 14 before us. that is, something which is transferred from hand to hand, ye shall not wrong one another. Then He states further: “According to the number of years after the Jubilee thou shalt buy¹⁶⁸Verse 15. of him the crops, and according unto the number of years of the crops he shall sell them unto thee. According to the years you shall increase and reduce the price,¹⁷³See Verse 16. for you will have to return it [i.e., the land] to him in the Jubilee.” All this is an admonition regarding the Jubilee, that they should keep it forever [but it is not intended as a law against overcharging in the sale of land, for in such a transaction the law of overcharge does not apply]. Then He said further, And ye shall not wrong one another, [referring to wronging] by words [i.e., offending].
And it further seems to me logical that one who intentionally overcharges his fellowman, definitely transgresses a negative commandment, whether it be [in a sale of] chattels or land, for it is with reference to them that Scripture is saying, Ye shall not wrong one another. According to the number of years after the Jubilee,¹⁷⁴Verses 14-15. admonishing that one must buy and sell according to the years [after the Jubilee], and that no man shall wrong another. But our Rabbis laid down a new law regarding overcharge, namely, that [if the amount overcharged was] one-sixth of the total purchase-price, [the sale is valid and that extra amount] must be paid back, but the sale is totally invalidated if the amount overcharged was more than one-sixth of the purchase-price. It is only from this law that land has been excluded, since [a person] foregoes an overcharge of even more than a sixth [of the purchase-price] in the case of [the sale of land], just as one [is prepared to] forego in the case of chattels an overcharge of less than a sixth [of the purchase-price], although it is forbidden intentionally to overcharge by such [amounts], but people do not usually go back on their purchase on account of such a small overcharging. The Sages interpreted [Scripture to give a basis for this law] because the verse states, And if thou sell aught unto thy neighbor, or buy something which is transferred from hand to hand, ye shall not wrong one another. From this we learn that in the matter of overcharging there is a special law for chattels which does not apply to land, namely, the return of the money, [i.e., the cancellation of the entire sale if the amount overcharged was more than a sixth of the purchase-price], but the negative commandment [forbidding overcharging] applies to all transactions. That is why He said, ‘v’chi thim’kru mimkar’ [“if ‘ye’ sell aught”], which is a plural expression, referring to one who sells land and to one who sells chattels; ‘o kanoh’ (or buys) of thy neighbor’s hand, referring to an individual, who sells chattels from hand to hand, and with reference to all of them He said ye shall not wrong. But since He singled out and specified chattels, [it indicates that] He gave concerning them an additional law regarding overcharging, namely the [right to] return the money [of the purchase-price and thereby cancel the sale]. This is a correct interpretation according to the expositions which our Rabbis have received on the allusions of the Torah.
Perhaps all this is only a Scriptural support [for a Rabbinical enactment], for the negative commandment [ye shall not wrong one another] constitutes an admonition applying to both land and chattels [but does not refer at all to cancellation of the entire purchase], and [the right to return] the money the Rabbis received by tradition as applying to chattels and not to [transactions of] land, just as they have said¹⁷⁵Baba Kamma 14 b. See my Hebrew commentary, p. 177, Note 96. that [land] is a possession that is worth any price. For all these [differing] standards of one-sixth [of the purchase-price, in which case the sale is valid and the amount overcharged must be returned], and more than one-sixth [in which case the entire sale may be cancelled] are based on people’s opinions [and since “land is worth any price” to most people, the Rabbis did not institute these laws of overcharging with respect to land]. And why should the Rabbis not exclude [transactions of] land from this law [of overcharging] just as they excluded from it wares bought from a householder. Thus they said:¹⁷⁶Baba Metzia 51 a. “[The law of overcharging] is taught only if one buys from a merchant, but if one buys from a private householder, the law of overcharging does not apply,” because private people are not in the habit of selling the possessions that they use [and hence if they do sell them, it is considered as if they had made a specific condition that the buyer cannot complain about the price].¹⁷⁷Rashi ibid., in the name of the She’iltoth of Rav Achai Gaon.
It is also possible to say that Scripture is warning that they [sellers and purchasers] should take cognizance of the number of years till the Jubilee, and according to them they should sell and buy, and no one shall wrong another because of them by misleading him about the number [of years], or by deceiving him about the sale, so that he thinks that it is in perpetuity, and thus he leads him astray thereby. Instead, they must both know and inform one another of this number, since the sale is according to the number of years [remaining] until the Jubilee, for even in [transactions of] land the law of overcharging applies as regards size and number,¹⁷⁸In other words, it is only with reference to price that specific laws of overcharging do not apply to land, but not with reference to size or number. even if the misleading referred to was less than one-sixth [of the size or the number], and all the more so in the case of chattels [one must be careful not to overcharge].

וכי תמכרו, in any sale it is forbidden to disadvantage the seller or the purchaser. For instance, the seller must not skim off any dust particles from the top of the drawer to create the impression that the purchaser receives completely refined merchandise none of which turns out to be substandard or useless. (Baba Metzia 60)

וכי תמכרו ממכר לעמיתך, "And if you sell anything to your neighbour, etc." Torat Kohanim on this verse asks: "whence do we know that the legislation concerning overcharging does not apply to transactions involving real estate?" Answer: "this is why the Torah wrote או קנה מיד עמיתך, "or if you will buy from the hand of your neighbour." This means that the commandment not to charge too much applies only to מטלטלין, mobile goods, chattels. The Talmud Baba Metzia 56 queries this ruling pointing to Numbers 21,26 where the word יד is used in connection with land, i.e. "he took his whole land from his hand, as far as the river Arnon." The Talmud concludes by saying that in every other instance the word ידו is to be understood literally, whereas only in this instance (Numbers 21,26) the word means "in his possession." Thus far the Talmud. The question arises why we do not use the verse in Numbers to deduce that the word ידו never needs to be understood literally as "his hand?" We must answer that the meaning of the word ידו is certainly "his hand" in the literal sense of the word. It is not disputed that the meaning of the word ידו may also be "something under one's control," however the literal meaning is the more likely in our context. When I have the choice of how to understand the word I naturally choose the meaning which fits the context in which the word appears. Moreover, if the Torah had not intended that we understand the word ידו literally it should have used a different word to prevent us from misunderstanding its purpose. We need to explore therefore why the sages inisted that the legislation against overcharging in our verse speaks only of the sale of chattels and that the verse does not speak at all of sales involving real estate.

This refers to cheating in monetary matters. I explained this in parshas Kedoshim (above 19:33). (Kitzur Mizrachi) [says] in the name of R. Noson: Although our Sages said that the laws regarding to cheating in monetary matters do not apply to [buying or selling] land, however this only pertains to [not] having to return the money when the cheating was by more than one sixth. Nonetheless, he transgresses a negative commandment [by doing so].

,וכי תמכרו ממכר, “and if you sell something to your neighbour, etc.” this includes the selling of chattels. How do we know that the law concerning overcharging does not apply to real estate transactions?The Torah continues with או קנה מיד עמיתך, אל תונו, “or you buy something from your neighbour’s hand, do not overcharge;” things that are passed from hand to hand are subject to the laws governing overcharging. Real estate which stays put, does not fall into that category.

אל תונו YE SHALL NOT WRONG [ONE ANOTHER] — This refers to wronging in money matters (Sifra, Behar, Section 3 4).

או קנה, when the purchaser is unaware of the true worth of the merchandise, even if by then it had already come into his possession and he had an opportunity to show it to a friend who is more knowledgeable.

It appears that although the exegesis employed by our sages is based on their prior knowledge of these הלכות which had been handed down orally from Mount Sinai, they were interested in linking all these הלכות to the written text of the Torah. The plain meaning of our verse is perfectly compatible with the known הלכות on this subject. We must remember that the Torah had already prohibited the irrevocable sale of real estate in the land of Israel through the institution known as יובל, Jubilee year legislation. That legislation precluded overcharging for the land as the Torah expressly stipulated that the sale price be based on the number of harvests the land in question would produce before the next Jubilee year (verses 16-17). Verse 17 speaks specifically about not overcharging an unsuspecting purchaser who thought that he bought title to that land outright. The seller meanwhile intended to invoke Torah law in the Jubilee year and claim back the land in question without compensating the buyer. In such a situation, i.e. that the seller purports to sell property against which there is no potential lien, the principle of overcharging does apply so that the original sale is invalidated due to the seller having misrepresented what he sold. Seeing that the Torah took care of potential overcharging for land in those verses, it is clear that in verse 14 the Torah speaks only of the sale of chattels and the word ידו is to be applied only in its literal sense. In our case the Torah protected the buyer of land against being overcharged seeing no outsider would protest the sale, only the seller himself who claims to base his protest on Torah law. The Torah therefore saw fit to protect the unsuspecting buyer against this particular claim only by writing that the price had to be based on the number of years till the Jubilee year from the time of the sale. By contrast then, the words אל תונו in verse 14 apply only to the sale of chattels.

אל תונו איש את אחיו ,“do not cheat one another.” How does one “cheat? By selling a piece of land for more than its worth, seeing that it is going to have to be returned to the seller in the Yovel year. If it is a property that is not subject to return to its original owner in the Jubilee year, then the term “overcharging” cannot be applied, as what he had sold was not a fixed amount of harvests expected. This is the meaning of the Rabbis having said that the law of overcharging does not apply to real estate.

אל תונו, even though the sages said that there is no overcharging when land is involved. (Baba Metzia 56), this applies to the price charged for the land itself. When it comes to calculating the remaining number of years before the next Jubilee year one must not mislead the purchaser [such as saying that there are 18 years left before the next Jubilee year, withholding the information that for at least 2 of those years the land may not be worked so that the purchaser should pay only for 16 anticipated harvests instead of 18. Ed.]