Translation:Mishnah/Seder Nezikin/Tractate Bava Metzia/Chapter 9/12

Introduction

This Mishnah continues from the previous Mishnah interpreting the commands of Leviticus 19:13: “The wages of a hired servant shall not stay with you all night until the morning,” and Deuteronomy 24:14–15: “You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is of your brethren, or a stranger in your land within your gates. In the same day you shall give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it; for he is poor, and sets his heart on it: lest he cry against you to the Lord and it be a sin in you.”

Hebrew Text

אחד שכר אדם, ואחד שכר בהמה, ואחד שכר כלים,
יש בו משום "ביומו תתן שכרו,"
ויש בו משום "לא תלין פעלת שכיר אתך עד בקר."
אימתי?
בזמן שתבעו;
לא תבעו, אינו עובר עליו.
המחהו אצל חנוני או אצל שלחני, אינו עובר עליו.

שכיר, בזמנו נשבע ונוטל,
עבר זמנו אינו נשבע ונוטל.
אם יש עדים שתבעו בזמנו, הרי זה נשבע ונוטל.

גר תושב יש בו משום "ביומו תתן שכרו,"
ואין בו משום "לא תלין פעלת שכיר אתך עד בקר."

English Translation

Whether it be the hire of person, the hire of a beast, or the hire of utensils,
it is subject to [the commandment], “In the same day you shall give him his hire” [Deuteronomy 24:15],
and it is subject to [the commandment], “The wages of a hired servant shall not stay with you all night until the morning.” [Leviticus 19:13.]
When is that?
When [the worker] claimed [the wages];
[But if] he did not claim [the wages], [the employer] does not violate [the commandment].
If [the employer] gave [the worker] a draft on a shopkeeper or a moneychanger, [the employer] does not violate [the commandment].

A hired worker, within the set time, swears [that he has not yet been paid] and is paid.
But if the set time passed, [the worker] cannot swear and receive payment;
Yet if there are witnesses that [the worker] claimed payment [within the set time], [the worker] can [still] swear and receive [payment].

A resident alien is subject to [the commandment], “In the same day you shall give him his hire,”
But not to [the commandment], “The wages of a hired servant shall not stay with you all night until the morning.”

Explanation

In the Babylonian Talmud, the discussion of Mishnah 9:12 begins on Bava Metzia 111a.