레위기 25:14의 주석

‎'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)