Pisqa’ 294¹

1

“You shall not have in your pouch stone-weights,

one heavy stone and one light stone (Dt.25:13).

Is it possible to say that

he should not keep together

a litra-weight,²a half litra-weight and a quarter litra-weight?

The Teaching states:

“Heavy and light” (Dt.25:13)—

[but no more than two different weights].

Moreover, a large [hollow stone-weight]

casts suspicion on the small [dense stone-weight]—

that he might purchase with the heavier weight

or make change with the lighter weight.

 R. Akiva says:

R. Akiva says:

How do I know that

a sel`a should not weigh less than a sheqel,

nor a dinar less than a quinarius?³

The Teaching states:

“You shall not have” (Dt.25:13)—

[two unequal weights].

R. Yose b. R. Judah says:

even if you keep it

[without using it as a weight],

it stands under the rule of

you shall not have.

2

“You shall not have in your house, two measuring cups,

one large and one small” (Dt.25:14).

Is it possible to say that

he should not keep together

a cup measuring a tarqav,⁴one at a tarqav and a half, and one at a tarqav and a quarter?

The Teaching states:

“One large and one small” (Dt.25:14)—

[more than two different measures is permissible].

Moreover, the large [measure]

casts suspicion upon the small [measure]—

that he might purchase with the large measure

and disburse with the lighter measure.

3

R. Eliezer says:

How do I know that

one doesn’t use a four qav-measure to measure in the home?

The Teaching states:

“You shall not have in your house” (Dt.25:14)—

[domestic measures should be by approximation].

How do I know that

where people weigh out with precision,

one may not weigh out by eye;

nor may one weigh out with precision

where people weigh out by eye?

The Teaching states:

“An honest and fair stone-weight shall you have” (Dt.25:15)—

[all in accord with prevailing standards].

Is it possible to say that:

Even if one announced

—in a market where precise measuring is the norm—

Be aware that I measure by eye

in order to offer reduced prices!

[this departure from prevailing standards is permissible];

Or, where measuring by eye is the norm,

[the merchant announced]:

I measure precisely,

in order to give the customer more for his money!

[this is permitted, for the departure from standards benefits the customer]?

The Teaching states:

“An honest and fair measure shall you use” (Dt.25:15)—

[in the market, prevailing standards must apply].

How do I know that

one doesn’t heap up the measure where people level it off,

nor may one level it off where people heap it up?

The Teaching states:

“An honest . . . stone-weight” (Dt.25:15)—

[according to prevailing market standards].

Is it possible to say that

if one announced

—in a market where people heap the measure—

Be aware that I level the measure,

in order to offer reduced prices!

Or, where leveling-off is the norm,[he announced]:

I heap it up, in order to give the customer more for his money—

we pay no attention to him?

The Teaching states:

“Honest and fair” (Dt.25:15)—

[in accord with prevailing standards].

4

“Measures shall you have” (Dt.25:15)—

appoint a market administrator for this purpose.⁵

On this basis they taught:

A wholesaler must wipe off his

measures once every thirty days,

and a householder once every twelve months.

{Rabban Shimon b. Gamliel says:

matters are just the opposite!

The storekeeper must wipe off his

measures twice a week,

and clean his weights once a week.

And he must wipe off his scale pans

after each and every use.}⁶

Elazar b. Hanania b. Hezekiah b. Garon says:

“A measure⁷ for a bull, and a measure for the ram, and a measure for the lamb” (Ezek.46:11)—

now, are the measures of flour

for bulls, rams, and lambs

indeed the same for each animal?

Hasn’t it already been stated:

“Three tenth measures for the bull, and two tenth-measures for the ram,

and one tenth-measure⁸ for the lamb” (Nu.29:3)?

Actually, this teaches that

the large measure and the small measure

are both called “measure.”

1. H:284-286:JN2:260-262.
2. The litra is equivalent to a pound.
3. A half dinar, rendered in Aramaic as tarp`iq (so Jastrow). See M.Kel.12:7, T.BM.3:17 and T.BM. 5:10 for discussions of the exact amount of wear tolerable in commercial weights.
4. Two qavs.
5. =Sifra, qadoshim, per. 8:8.
6. = M. BB.5:10. The bracketed text is omitted from Sifre, appears in Sifra’s parallel, and is restored here on the basis of the Mishnah.
7. Heb: ‘eifah; a dry measure approximating a bushel.
8. Heb: ‘issaron. A dry measure of one-tenth of an ‘eifah. Pl: ‘esronim.