We will not talk about the other deductions made for wine and oil. As in the last Mishnah, the situation is that the Shomer (custodian) was given wine or oil, and he mixed it with his own wine or oil, either by mistake or in an assur (forbidden) way. Now he has to return it to the Shomer, and he has eaten from it. He does not know how much he should return to the Shomer, or how much actually belongs to the Shomer, because a certain amount is deducted for natural loss. This Mishnah discusses how much he can deduct before handing it back to the Shomer.
The Mishnah says that, when it comes to wine, the Shomer can deduct one-sixth of the wine he was given, because one-sixth is absorbed into the clay container that holds the wine. But Rabbi Yehuda says no: a fifth is deducted. The Bartenura explains that they are talking about two different types of containers. The clay containers in Rabbi Yehuda’s locale absorbed more than the clay containers in the area of the Tanna Kama. Therefore, Rabbi Yehuda would say that one-fifth is deducted, because more wine is absorbed into the containers, while the Tanna Kama would say that one-sixth is deducted, because a little less is absorbed into the containers.
Now, oil. The Shomer can deduct three log (a liquid measure) of oil for every 100 log, so 3% is deducted. How does he calculate the 3%? One and a half percent is deducted for the sediment that settles in the oil. When the Shomer received the oil, he got freshly squeezed oil that included all the sediment. The sediment was mixed throughout the oil and went all the way to the bottom of the container. Therefore, when he returns the oil, which is pure, he can deduct one and a half log, because he is not giving back the sediment; it is all the way at the bottom of the container. Another one and a half log is deducted because oil is absorbed into the container. So the total deduction here would be three lugin.
But if the oil was pure from the beginning and there was no sediment in it, there is no deduction of that one and a half percent for sediment, because he never received sediment and therefore is not withholding any sediment. He gives him exactly what he got. Similarly, if the oil containers were old, he would not deduct that one and a half lug for absorption, because only newer containers would absorb that much.
We will not talk about the deduction for sediment in oil, not by a Shomer but by a seller of oil. Suppose, for example, somebody bought 100 gallons of oil from an oil salesman, but he does not want all 100 gallons at once; he wants it delivered to him every once in a while. Let’s say he gets a delivery every week. Rabbi Yehuda Omer (Says Rabbi Yehuda). Now let’s say somebody sold his friend oil for the entire year, and they had an agreement that the oil would be delivered to him over the course of that year. The oil he sold him contained sediment at the time of the sale, but since the salesman is holding on to that oil for the entire year, the sediment settles all the way at the bottom, and he ends up giving him pure oil that was not what he purchased at the time. The purchaser bought oil that had sediment in it, but over the course of the year, it all settled at the bottom. So the oil he receives is pure.
We say that the buyer accepts a deduction of one and a half log for every 100 log—one and a half percent for the sediment. So, let’s say that at the time of purchase, he bought 100 log of oil, but that 100 log contained sediment. Throughout the process, it is assumed that only 98.5 log of shemen (oil) without sediment will be given out. Therefore, when the seller gives out that pure oil, the buyer would receive only 98.5 log of it.