[109a - 47 lines; 109b - 39 lines]
1)[line 2]פשתןPISHTAN- flax
2)[line 2]בקורות שקמהKOROS SHIKMAH- the branches of a sycomore tree (Egyptian fig; even though it produces fruit, the fruit is inferior and thus the tree is considered an Ilan Serak, as the Mishnah says in Kela'im 6:4; see TOSFOS YOM TOV there)
3)[line 5]בשבח שקמהSHEVACH SHIKMAH- the value of the improvement made to the sycomore tree
4a)[line 9]ירקאYARKA- vegetables
b)[line 10]וסילקאSILKA- beets
5)[line 12]שביעיתSHEVI'IS
See Background to Bava Metzia 106:6.
6)[line 12]שביעית מי קא מפקעא ארעא?!SHEVI'IS MI KA MAFKE'A AR'A?!- Does the arrival of the Shevi'is year remove land from one's possession [and return it to the original owner]?!
7)[line 14]יובלYOVEL
(a)The year after 7 Shemitah cycles of 7 years each is called the Yovel year. There is an argument among the Tana'im as to whether the 50th year is not counted as one of the years of Shemitah, or whether it is part of the count and is itself both the Yovel and the 1st year of the next Shemitah cycle.
(b)The Halachos of the Shemitah year apply in the Yovel year with regard to not working the land and maintaining the sanctity of the fruits that grow (See Background to Bava Metzia 106:6). In addition, at the start of the Yovel year, all Jewish slaves (Eved Ivri, see Background to Bava Metzia 71:16) are set free and all properties that were sold since the previous Yovel year are returned to their original owners (see Background to Bava Metzia 30:36). On Yom ha'Kipurim of the Yovel Year, Beis Din blows a Shofar to denote that the time has come to set free all of the slaves, as the Torah states in Vayikra 25:9.
(c)There is an argument among the Tana'im as to what is considered the beginning of the Yovel year. According to the Chachamim, Yovel starts with the Shofar blast of Yom ha'Kipurim. According to Rebbi Yochanan ben Berokah, it begins at Rosh ha'Shanah, and the Shofar blast only denotes the completion of the process of freeing the slaves (Rosh Hashanah 8b).
8)[line 14]יובל מי מפקעא קבלנות?!YOVEL MI KA MAFKE'A KABLANUS?!- Does the arrival of the Yovel year remove a lease from land?!
9)[line 15]"לצמיתות" אמר רחמנא"LI'TZMISUS" AMAR RACHMANA- the Torah says [that Yovel removes the land from one's possession only when it would otherwise remain in his possession] "forever"
10)[line 20]"וְיָצָא מִמְכַּר בַּיִת""V'YATZA MIMKAR BAYIS"- "And the house that was sold shall be released" (Vayikra 25:33)
11a)[line 22]אפקעתאAFKATA- cancellation of obligations; exceptional legislation
b)[line 22]אפקעתא דמלכאAFKATA D'MALKA- a special royal dispensation
12)[line 23]לאספסתאASPASTA- any plant especially adapted for use as animal fodder; grass
13)[line 24]קדחו בה תאליKADCHU BA TA'ALEI- small date-palm trees grew in it
14)[line 25]דיקלא ואליםDIKLA V'ALIM- [if one leased] a tree [from its owner in order to harvest its fruits], and it became stronger
15)[line 28]ידא דאספסתאYADA D'ASPASTA- the [small] area on which you could have grown Aspasta
16)[line 29]כורכמא רישקא רבאיKURKEMA RISHKA RAVA'I- I would have grown there saffron or garden safflower (which is very valuable)
17)[line 31]ואהדר ליה משוניתאAHADAR LEI MESHUNISA- it (the field) became surrounded by a protective rock [along its boundary]
18)[line 31]קדחו ביה זרדתאKADCHU BEI ZARDESA- (O.F. cormier) sorb trees grew in it
19a)[line 32]משום דאתיתו ממולאיMISHUM D'ASISU MI'MULA'EI- (a) since you come from a family with a permanent, incurable blemish (RASHI to Kesuvos 85a); (b) i. since you come from a severed (short-lived) family (the House of Eli, whose male members were cursed to die young - see Shmuel I 2:27-35) (RASHI here and to Yevamos 76a); ii. since you come from the town of Memula, the residence of the House of Eli (TOSFOS to Yevamos ibid., RASHBAM to Bava Basra 137b); (c) since you are a great person (ARUCH)
b)[line 33]אמריתו מילי מולייתאAMRISU MILEI MULYASA- (a) you say blemished words (RASHI here); (b) you say severed words (that have no foundation) (RASHI to Eruvin 25b); (c) you say great (impossible) words (ARUCH)
20)[line 34]שתלאSHASLA- a sharecropper (hired for long-term, or permanently) who plants vineyards for a percentage of the yield
21)[line 34]שכיבSHACHIV- he died
22)[line 34]ושבק חמשה חתנוותאSHAVAK CHAMISHAH CHASNEVASA- he left five sons-in-law (who would all take his position and work the field)
23)[line 39]ולאו מילתא היאV'LAV MILSA HI- [however,] it is not a proper ruling
24)[line 40]אפסידAFSID- he caused a loss (to part of the improvements that he had made to the field - RASHI)
25)[line 42]ואסמכתא לא קניאASMACHTA LO KANYA
(a)Asmachta refers to "reliance" upon a particular eventuality or a conditional [monetary] obligation which the party or parties involved undertake without full commitment. The reason that the party involved does not commit himself fully is because his obligation is contingent upon the fulfillment of a condition that he anticipates will not be fulfilled. (An example of this is when gamblers place wagers, where neither of them expects to lose the wager.)
(b)The Tana'im (Bava Basra 168a) argue as to whether such a commitment is binding or not.
26)[line 43]אם אוביר ולא אעביד אשלם במיטבאIM OVIR V'LO A'AVID, ASHALEM B'MEITVA- "If I let the land lie fallow and I do not work it, I will pay you with my highest quality property." The sharecropper is obligated to pay the field owner a certain percentage of the field's produce. In this case, in the sharecropping agreement the sharecropper stipulates that if he does not work the field, he will compensate the field owner for his share of the produce that the field would have produced, and if he does not pay cash as compensation, he will let the field owner take the best of his fields as compensation.
27)[line 44]מאי דאפסיד משלםMAI D'AFSID MESHALEM- [there,] he is compensating for that which he caused to be lost
28)[line 44]מנכינן ליהMENAKINAN LEI- [here,] we deduct for him [the loss that he caused, and he receives the remainder of the value of the improvements]
29a)[last line]מקרי דרדקיMAKREI DARDEKEI- a teacher of young boys (who teaches them to read verses)
b)[last line]טבחאTABACHA- a ritual slaughterer
c)[last line]ואומנאV'UMNA- (a) a blood-letter (RASHI to Bava Metzia 97a); (b) a Mohel (MAHARSHAL there); see Insights here
109b----------------------------------------109b
d)[line 1]וספר מתאV'SAPAR MASA- (a) the town barber (RASHI, NIMUKEI YOSEF); (b) the town scribe (NIMUKEI YOSEF)
30)[line 11]דנקאDANKA- one-sixth [i.e. the 1/4th of the improvements that Rav Papa bar Shemuel referred to is 1/4th of the landowner's share (2/3rds of the total improvements, since the landowner will have to give 1/3rd to the new sharecropper). This equals 1/6th of the total improvements (before the 1/3rd is deducted for the new sharecropper). For example, if the total improvement was worth 6, the new sharecropper receives 2, and of the remaining 4, the old sharecropper receives 1.]
31)[line 28]קופא סבאKUPA SABA- an old grapevine
32)[line 29]ההוא גברא דמשכין פרדיסא לחבריה לעשר שניןHA'HU GAVRA D'MASHKIN PARDEISA L'CHAVREI L'ESER SHENIN - a certain person who gave his orchard as a security for a loan to the lender for ten years (MASHKANTA D'SURA / NACHYASA)
(a)"The Mashkon of Sura" refers to when the two parties (the lender and borrower) specifically stipulate that when the years of the Mashkon terminate, the field will go back to the debtor and the debt will be settled (its produce, or rental value, for each year being deducted from the amount owed for the loan).
(b)A "Nachyasa" refers to collateralized land with diminution. This refers to a case in which the borrower gave land to the lender as collateral, and the lender eats the fruit of the land with an arrangement to deduct the value of the fruit (or a symbolic value) from the amount the borrower owes him.
33)[line 30]וקש לחמש שניןV'KASH L'CHAMESH SHENIN- and it became old [and stopped bearing fruit] after five years (when it was expected to stop bearing fruit)
34a)[line 31]פירא הויPEIRA HEVEI- they (the old trees) are considered like the produce of the land (which the lender may keep as repayment for his loan)
b)[line 31]קרנא הויKARNA HEVEI- they (the old trees) are considered like the principle (i.e. they are considered like the land itself, which the lender may not keep but which he sells and uses the proceeds to buy new land, and he may keep the produce of that new land, and he must return the land itself to the borrower at the end of the term of the Mashkon)
35)[line 32]יבש האילן או נקצץYAVESH HA'ILAN O NIKTZATZ- if the tree (on the field serving as the Mashkon) dried out or was cut down, in the case of a "Mashkon of Sura," i.e. when the two parties specifically stipulate that when the years of the Mashkon terminate, the field will go back to the debtor and the debt is settled [giving the appearance that the produce has been sold - see also TOSFOS to Bava Metzia 67b DH 'be'Mishlam'].
36)[line 34]והוא אוכל פירותV'HU OCHEL PEIROS- and the Malveh (the creditor) eats the produce
37)[last line]נפלו לה גפנים וזיתים זקניםNAFLU LAH GEFANIM V'ZEISIM ZEKENIM- old grapevines or olive trees fell to her (to a married woman) as an inheritance