Sheviis 1:6 — Ten saplings — plowing until Rosh Hashana

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Mesechta Sheviis
Mishnah 6 of 89
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ZeraimSederסדרזְרָעִים
SheviisMesechtaמסכתשביעית
1Perekפרקא׳
6Mishnahמשנהו׳
נושא · Topicעֶשֶׂר נְטִיעוֹת בְּתוֹךְ בֵּית סְאָהTen saplings — plowing until Rosh Hashana
This Mishnah is:a casewhat does that mean?
Mishnah שביעית א׳:ו׳ · Sheviis 1:6
עֶשֶׂר נְטִיעוֹת מְפֻזָּרוֹת בְּתוֹךְ בֵּית סְאָה,
חוֹרְשִׁין כָּל בֵּית סְאָה בִּשְׁבִילָן, עַד רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה.
הָיוּ עֲשׂוּיוֹת שׁוּרָה וּמֻקָּפוֹת עֲטָרָה,
אֵין חוֹרְשִׁין לָהֶם אֶלָּא לְצָרְכָּן:
Ten saplings scattered within a beis se'ah -
one may plow the whole beis se'ah for their sake, until Rosh Hashana.
If they were set in a row and encircled by a crown [border],
one may plow for them only according to their need:
A reading aid, not an exact translation.

This English is a clause-by-clause rendering to help you follow the Hebrew. It is not word-for-word literal, and it is not a transcript of the recorded shiur — the audio carries explanation and context the translation deliberately leaves out.

case/objectrestrictive rulingpermissive rulingcondition
Structure
The Mishnah's Structure▾
The same year, a later line
For saplings the deadline slides past Atzeres to the edge of the year.
עֶשֶׂר נְטִיעוֹת מְפֻזָּרוֹת בְּתוֹךְ בֵּית סְאָה
Ten saplings, scattered through the beis se'ah — not three mature trees, and not clustered.
עֶרֶב שְׁבִיעִיתthe sixth yearהָעֲצֶרֶתthe line for mature trees — does not bind hereעַד רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָהחוֹרְשִׁין כָּל בֵּית סְאָה בִּשְׁבִילָן — the whole area, to the edge of the year
Summary Chart
Ten saplings — plowing until Rosh Hashana▾
CaseRulingReason
Do saplings get the same Shavuos cutoff as mature trees?No — ten scattered in a beis se'ah: the whole space is plowed, until Rosh Hashana—
And if the ten are planted in a row, or ringed with mounds?Only their needs—
Transcript
A machine transcript of the recorded shiur.

This is the shiur as spoken, transcribed automatically and left unedited — the wording is Ephraim's, and occasional transcription errors remain. It follows the audio word by word.

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Mishnah Insights
An amalgam of commentaries, including original insights.

These insights draw on the commentaries to this Mishnah and on the recorded shiur. Those commentaries often rest on earlier sources — the Gemara, the Yerushalmi, the Rishonim, and one another — without always saying so; where they do, we generally cite the one we read. Every commentary consulted is kept, verbatim, with this card.

Ten now, three later: why saplings are counted differently▾
עוֹלָמוֹ שֶׁל הַמִּשְׁנָה
עֶשֶׂר נְטִיעוֹת — ten saplings

Mature trees make an orchard at three to a beis seah; saplings take ten. Rashbam explains that these are the same orchard at two ages: saplings are planted many together, ten to the area, and once grown they are spread out and thinned to three, as is done with vegetables. Rash MiShantz gives the reason saplings may be plowed for later than mature trees, that the Torah had regard for a man's money and saplings that are not plowed for will dry out. Mishnat Eretz Yisrael adds that their roots are still shallow, so summer plowing holds the moisture in the upper soil.

מְפֻזָּרוֹת — scattered

The ten saplings have to be scattered through the beis seah; set in a row or ringed, one plows only what they need. Bartenura and Rash MiShantz explain the difference by how the work looks. Saplings scattered across the whole area mean that plowing all of it is plowing for the trees. Saplings gathered into one part of the field leave the rest untouched by them, so plowing the rest looks like a man preparing his ground for Sheviis.

מֻקָּפוֹת עֲטָרָה — encircled by a crown

Bartenura and Rash MiShantz read atarah as a fence set around the saplings. Rambam reads it as the saplings themselves planted along an arc, like a bow. R' Yehosef Ashkenazi, quoted in Melechet Shlomo, reads them planted in a full circle, like a crown. Others understand it as mound planting, earth heaped in a ring around each young tree to hold it and protect it, which fits what saplings need.

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