Bava Metzia 1:8 - 2:1

אגרות שום – that the Jewish court estimated the [value of the] property of the borrower to the creditor in his loan document

ואגרות מזון – that he accepted upon himself to feed the daughter of his wife. Another explanation: that they would sell from the landed property of the husband to support the wife and the daughters.

ומיאונין – that they would write in the document: “In our presence, so-and-so has refused this particular gentleman as her husband.” And this is regarding when a minor whose mother and/or brothers married her off, she does not require a Jewish bill of divorce.

שטרי בירורין – this one chooses one [judge] and the other party chooses one [judge] who will adjudicate for them.

מצא – [he found] documents.

בחפיסה – a small leather bag

ודלוסקמא – a leather utensil/box that the elderly hide their utensils so that they don’t have to search after them.

ותכריך של שטרות – three documents or more which are wrapped up one with the other.

ואגודה – that are lying one on top of the other, the length of this one on the length of that one.

הרי זה יחזיר – since it is something that has a sign; for the utensil is sign when the owners say, “in this particular utensil you found them.”

אחד הלוה משלשה – if there are three [loan] documents of one borrower who borrowed from three [different] people, the finder [of these lost documents] should be returned to the borrower, since they had surely fallen from his hand, for if they had fallen from their hands (i.e., the three lenders), who gathered them to one place? And specifically when the documents were authenticated by the Jewish court. But if they were not authenticated, we suspect that perhaps, in order to authenticate them, the three lenders brought them to the scribe of the judges and they fell from the hand of the scribe. And we should not suspect lest after they had been authenticated, they fell from the hand of the scribe, for a person does not delay their confirmation in the hand of the scribe. And if they (i.e., the loan documents) are from three [different] borrowers, who borrowed from one individual, the finder should return them to the lender for the matter is known that they fell from him. And if all three of them were in the writing of one scribe, we suspect lest they fell from the hand of the scribe and they were not [ever] loaned. And therefore, we do not return them.

מצא שטר בין שטרותיו ואינו יודע מה טיבו – with him – if the borrower deposited it with him or the lender, or lest it was partially paid-off, and they delivered it to him to be the intermediary between them (i.e., the lender and the borrower).

יהא מונח – in his hand, and he should not return it to either this one or the other one.

ואם יש עמהן סמפון – [codicil]. The one who finds it amongst his documents a receipt that was written on one of his documents.

יעשה מה שבסמפון – And the [loan] document was under the presumption of having been paid-off, and even though it would have been appropriate for this receipt to have been placed in the hand of the borrower and not in the hand of the lender/creditor, we say that the borrower trusted the lender and said: “tomorrow give it [the receipt] to me,” and he forgot. And this is the case of when a lender found this document upon which was written the receipt, between his torn documents even though it was not torn.

These are the findings. He [the finder] found scattered fruit. The unspecified case is that the owner had despair, and they are [now] ownerless.

Scattered Money. Since they don't have a noticeable marking, he [the owner] surely already had despair, and they are [now] ownerless. This is the reason for all of them.

Sheaves. Small sheaves.

In the public domain. Everybody threshes on them, and even if they [the sheaves] had a marker, it [the marker] was lost.

Belonging to a baker. They don't have a marker, since all of them [baker's bread] are the same. However, home-baked bread has a marker.

Brought from the country. [This is] to exclude those brought from a professional, as the next mishnah teaches.

Purple wool. Wool that was died purple, and it was combed to look like a tongue.

He found a cake. Of figs.

Merchandise. New items that aren't familiar looking, and the owner hasn't gotten used to how they look. This is because sometimes lost items are returned just from recognizing them, for example to a scholar who doesn't lie. These items that are known that their owner's haven't gotten used to how they look aren't obligated to be announced. The halacha is like Rabbi Shimon son of Elazar. When [is this true]? When you find them one by one. However, if you find them two by two, you are obligated to announce, since their number is a marker. Someone who finds something in the street, or a large plaza in a city that has a non-Jewish majority, even if it [the item] has a marker, there is no obligation to announce. [However], in a city with a Jewish majority, there is an obligation to announce.