Maaser Sheni 1:7 - 2:1

אין לוקחין עבדים וקרקעות – because they are not food, and the All-Merciful said: (Deuteronomy 14:26): “…cattle, sheep…[or anything you may desire]. And you shall feast there…”

יאכל כנגדן – corresponding to the Second Tithe monies that he expended on these things, he should spend from his own [funds] and purchase something that he eats and consume it in the holiness of [Second] Tithe in Jerusalem. And here we are speaking about when the seller fled and because of this, , [the Mishnah] did not teach that he should return the monies to their place. Alternatively, our Mishnah is speaking of someone who did this on purpose/willfully, but if he had done so inadvertently, he should return the monies to their place.

קיני זבים וקיני זבות – two doves or two pigeons that the men and/or women afflicted with a flux/gonorrhea are obligated to bring, and we establish/hold that anything that is obligatory should not come from other than the non-sacred, for a person does not repay his liability with Second Tithe monies.

מעשר שני לאכילה ולשתיה – As it is written (Deuteronomy 14:26): “[And spend the money on anything you want] – cattle, sheep, wine, or other intoxicant,[or anything else you may desire]. And you shall feast there…” And drinking is included with eating and anointing is like drinking, as it is written (Psalms 109:18): “[May he be clothed in a curse like a garment,] may it enter his body like water, his bones like oil.”

לאכול דבר שדרכו לאכול – for if he purchase bread with the monies of [Second] Tithe and it grew moldy, wine and it became sour, a [cooked] dish and it began to smell badly, we do not require him to eat something that he ordinarily would not eat in order not to waste monies of the Second Tithe. Alternatively, if he requested to eat a species of living, moist beets or a cup of living wheat, we do not listen to him, since it is not our manner to eat them as such.

אין מפטמין את השמן – to put within it roots and the heads of spices, because they absorb the oil and go to ruin as the roots are not eaten.

אין לוקחין בדמי מעשר שני שמן מפוטם – because since we require something that is of equal value for every person, and this is not other than for the delicately reared and those who are indulged.

אבל מפטם הוא את היין – to make it wine mixed with honey and things similar to them.

נפל – honey or spices [fell] into the wine of Second Tithe when it is outside of Jerusalem, improving them (i.e., they grew in value), they divide the improvement according to its sum; for example, if the wine is worth two Sela, and the honey and/or spices are worth a Sela, and they increased in value, and stood at four Sela, he redeems the wine for two Selaim and two-thirds of a Sela.

קפלוטות – leek-green stuff; PURSH in the foreign tongue.

השבח לשני – and he redeems the bread at its equivalent value, and we do not divide the increase [in value] to the non-sacred trees, but rather, all of the improvement goes to the Second Tithe since the improvement in trees is not that well recognized in sustenance.

כל ששבחו ניכר – that the improvement in the non-sacred [produce] is recognized in Second Tithe when they added the non-sacred [produce] on the [Second] Tithe by measure and/or by weight, but if they did not add other than in taste, even though its value raised in price on account of the taste, this improvement is not recognized.