Bava Metzia - Daf 111
- No בל תלין where an agent hires the employee
In a Baraisa it was taught that if one tells an agent, “Go hire employees for me,” שניהן אין עוברין משום בל תלין – neither of them transgresses the prohibition not to hold a workers’ wages overnight if they are not paid on time. זה לפי שלא שכרן – [The employer], because he did not hire them himself, וזה לפי שאין פעולתו אצלו – and [the agent], because the wages are not with him, since he is not the one who owes them payment. The Gemara clarifies that the agent told the workers, שכרכם על בעל הבית – “Your wages are incumbent upon the employer,” because if he said, “Your wages are incumbent upon me,” he would owe them, and be subject to בל תלין. Yehudah bar Mereimar told his servant, “Go hire workers for me, and tell them, ‘Your wages are incumbent upon the employer.’” Similarly, Mereimar and Mar Zutra would hire workers for one another, to avoid being subject to the בל תלין prohibition.
- The collection time for one hired for part of the night
The Mishnah on the previous Daf taught that one hired to work for the whole day collects his wages all night, and the employer must pay before the next day. One hired to work all night collects all day and must be paid before nightfall. Regarding one hired for part of a day, Rav said: שכיר שעות דיום גובה כל היום – one hired for several hours of the day collects all day after completing his work and must be paid before nightfall. שכיר שעות דלילה גובה כל הלילה – One hired for hours of the night collects all night. Shmuel agrees that one hired for several hours of the day collects all day but says that one hired for several hours of the night collects all night and all the next day. Rashi explains that since, in halachah, the date begins at night, the following day is the same date that the wages were required to be paid.
Rav is challenged from our Mishnah, which teaches about someone hired for a week, a month, or more, that if his work ended at night, he collects his wages all night and all the next day!? The Gemara concludes that this question is the subject of a machlokes Tannaim.
- Machlokes about בל תלין for the hire of an animal, utensils, and גר תושב
The next Mishnah states: אחד שכר אדם ואחד שכר בהמה ואחד שכר כלים – Whether it is the hire of a man, an animal, or utensils (i.e., rentals of the above), their payment is subject to "ביומו תתן שכרו" – on his day you shall pay his hire (for nighttime hiring), and בל תלין (for daytime hiring). The Mishnah concludes that regarding the wages of a גר תושב, which Rashi defines as a gentile who committed not to serve idols, they are subject to "ביומו תתן שכרו", but not בל תלין, which the Gemara will explain. A Baraisa is quoted with two opinions of Tannaim on these cases, neither of which agrees fully with our Mishnah. The Tanna Kamma holds that all prohibitions apply to the hire of an animal, utensils, and a גר תושב, whereas our Mishnah holds a גר תושב’s hire is only subject to בל תלין. Rebbe Yose bar Rebbe Yehudah, who agrees with our Mishnah about גר תושב, holds that no prohibition applies to the hire of animals or utensils. Rava explains that the Mishnah is a third opinion, the Tanna of Rebbe Yishmael’s academy, which he proceeds to quote. The Gemara explains the sources for each opinion at length.
