(Mishnah): A person should not say to his friend, "Lend me a kur of wheat and I will give you from the threshing floor'' (as the price of wheat might go up). Rather, (if he already has wheat to replace it,) he could say, "...until my son will come'' or "until I will find the key''. Hillel prohibits this.

Hillel: A woman should not lend her friend a loaf to be owed as a debt, because if the price of wheat rises, they will come to the prohibition of ribis.

(Gemara) - Beraisa: A person should not say to his friend, "Lend me a kur of wheat and I will give you from the threshing floor''. However, if the loan will only be for 2 or 3 weeks, it is permitted. Hillel prohibits this.

Shmuel: The Halachah follows Hillel.

(Mishnah): A person may say to his friend, "Weed with me and I will weed with you'' or "Hoe with me and I will hoe with you''. He should not say, "Hoe with me (now) and I will weed with you (later)'' or vice-versa.

All of the days of the dry season are the same (in terms of performing the same tasks on different days. There is no concern that the second day might require harder work than the first day thereby raising issues of 'paying ribis' on the work he had received.) All of the expected rainfall days are the same.

He should not say, "Plough with me in the dry season and I will plough with you in the rainy season (which is harder)''.

Rabban Gamliel: There is early (pre-loan) ribis and there is late (post loan) ribis...

How is this? If Reuven wanted to borrow from Shimon, he may not send him a gift to encourage him to lend - this is called early ribis. If Reuven borrowed money from Shimon and Reuven repaid it, he may not give a gift to Shimon saying that 'it's for allowing me to have the money with me' - this is called late ribis.

R. Shimon: There is a prohibition against verbal ribis - the borrower should not tell the lender, "You should know that a certain person is coming from a certain place''.

The following people transgress a Torah prohibition when ribis is charged - the lender, the borrower, the guarantor and the witnesses.

Chachamim: Even the scribe transgresses.

They transgress the following Torah prohibitions - (Vayikra 25, 37), "Do not give him (your money for interest)''; (ibid, 36), "Do not take from him (interest)''; (Shemos 22, 24), "Do not act to him like a creditor''; (ibid), "...do not lay interest on him'' and (Vayikra 19, 14), "Do not put a stumbling block before a blind man, you shall fear your G-d, I am Hashem''.

(Gemara) - R. Yasa: Come and see the blindness of those who charge interest. If Reuven called Shimon an idolater, an adulterer or a murderer, Shimon would become so upset with him that he would want to even kill him. But this person (who charges ribis) actually voluntarily hires witnesses and a scribe and tells them, "Come and testify that I am a heretic!'' (as it is heretical to charge ribis).

R. Shimon ben Elazar: These (people that lend for ribis) are more heretical than a heretic, as they make the Torah look false (and written merely for monetary gain) and they make Moshe Rabbeinu look foolish, as they say, "If Moshe would have known that this is the way we can make money, he would not have written it!''

R. Akiva: Ribis is very difficult, as the borrower cannot even do a favor for the lender. If the lender asked the borrower to buy something for him from the market, even if he gave him money to buy it, it is a prohibition of ribis.

R. Shimon: Ribis is very difficult, as even if the borrower greets the lender, it is considered ribis - if he had never before greeted him and only did so because the lender loaned him the money, this is ribis.

R. Shimon ben Elazar: Whoever has money and does not lend it for ribis, it is about him that the pasuk says (Tehillim 15, 5), "He does not give his money for neshech...(if he did this, he will never stumble)''...

R. Shmuel bar Imi: We would not have known what this ("yimot'') - 'stumbling' is, until (King) Shlomo came and explained (in Mishlei 24, 11), "If you refrain from saving those people being put to death (and "matin lihareg'' - those who are about to be murdered...)'' - meaning that this person who does not charge ribis will be saved from dying an unusual death (such as being murdered).