| פרק ד משנה ד | |
| עבד שנשבה | A slave who was captured |
| ופדאוהו | and redeemed [by someone other than his original master], |
| אם לשום עבד | if [he was redeemed] for the purposes of being a slave |
| ישתעבד | he is enslaved [to the one who redeemed him], |
| אם לשום בן חורין | and if [he was redeemed] for the purposed of being a free man, |
| לא ישתעבד | is not enslaved (not even to his original master). |
| רבן שמעון בן גמליאל אומר | Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says, |
| בין כך ובין כך ישתעבד | either way he is enslaved [to his original master] (as we fear slaves would allow themselves to be captured in order to escape their masters). |
| עבד שעשאו רבו | A slave whose master made him |
| אפותיקי לאחרים | the sole security for a debt [that the master owed] to others |
| ושיחררו | and then freed him (thus freeing the master from the debt, as the creditors cannot collect from any other assets), |
| שורת הדין | going strictly by the letter of the of law |
| אין העבד חיב כלום | the slave is not liable for anything (and not subject to any claims by his former master's creditors) |
| אלא מפני תקון העולם |
but for the good of the public (to prevent the slave from being accused by the creditors of still being a slave) |
| כופין את רבו | we force his master (i.e. the creditor whose claim against his former master were secured by the slave) |
| ועושה אותו בן חורין | and he makes him a free man (by giving him a bill of emancipation) |
| וכותב שטר על דמיו | and [the slave] writes him a note for his worth (up to the value of the debt). |
| רבן שמעון בן גמליאל אומר | Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says |
| אינו כותב אלא משחרר | [the slave] does not write anything, he is only freed. |
| פרק ד משנה ה | |
| מי שחציו עבד | One who is half slave |
| וחציו בן חורין | and half a free man |
| עובד את רבו יום אחד | works for his master one day |
| ואת עצמו יום אחד | and for himself one day; |
| דברי בית הלל | this is the opinion of Beis Hillel |
| אמרו להם בית שמאי | Beis Shammai said to them: |
| תקנתם את רבו | you have created a solution for his master |
| ואת עצמו לא תיקנתם | but you have not created a solution for him, |
| לישא שפחה אי אפשר | he cannot marry a slave |
| שכבר חציו בן חורין | as he is yet half a free man, |
| בת חורין אי אפשר | he cannot [marry] a free woman |
| שכבר חציו עבד | as he is yet a half slave. |
| יבטל | Should he remain idle? |
| והלא לא נברא העולם | Was not the world created |
| אלא לפריה ורביה | but for the commandment to be fruitful and multiply, |
| שנאמר | as it is written |
| לא תהו בראה לשבת יצרה | "He did not create it for waste, He created it to be inhabited ." |
|
(ישעיהו מה:יח) |
|
| אלא מפני תקון העולם | Only for the publiuc good |
| כופין את רבו | we force his master |
| ועושה אותו בן חורין | to make him a free man |
| וכותב שטר על חצי דמיו | and he writes a note to [his master] for half his worth. |
| וחזרו בית הלל | And Beis Hillel retracted |
| להורות כדברי בית שמאי | to rule according to the opinion of Beis Shammai. |
NOTES
משנה ד
אינו כותב אלא משחרר - But, according to רשב"ג, the original master is obligated to pay the creditors for their loss.