Masechet Shevuot, Perek Heh, Mishnah Aleph. This perek (chapter) will talk about the Shevuat HaPikadon, the swear about the deposit. This is a situation where somebody handed a deposit over to another person. He gave him something to watch over, and when the owner came back to retrieve his item, the person denied having it and then swore that he had never taken it or that he did not have it. When he later admitted that he had lied, the Torah says that he not only has to give back what he owed, but also has to add an additional fifth, a Chomesh, as a penalty, and bring a Korban Asham, a guilt offering, to serve as Kapara (atonement) for his false oath.
This does not only apply when there was a Pikadon (deposit), when somebody gave an item to somebody else to care for; it also applies whenever money is owed and a person swears falsely that he does not owe it. For example, let’s say someone borrowed money from somebody, and when the lender went to get his money back, the borrower swore, “I never borrowed money from you.” When it eventually became clear that he had lied, we say that he violated the Shevuat HaPikadon, and he has to make those payments that we discussed and bring the Korbanot (offerings) as well.
This Mishnah will fill in some details about the violation of the Shevuat HaPikadon. First, as we have done with other Shevuot (oaths), we’ll give the context of who it applies to. We’re doing this here, and we’ll basically say that it applies even to woman relatives and people who are unfit to testify. It basically applies to anyone who could owe money. It doesn’t matter who they are or what their status is. If they owe money, they’re bound by the Shevuat HaPikadon. The Mishnah says that the law of the swear about the deposit applies to both men and women; people who are not relatives of the person making the claim as well as people who are relatives of the person making the claim; people who are fit to serve as witnesses and those who are unfit to serve as witnesses; and people who are gamblers or thieves, for example.
Now we’ll talk about where the person denied that he owed anything and how that oath was made. The penalty for the Shevuat HaPikadon applies whether the person made the oath in court or out of court, as long as he swore on his own—as long as he said it. He said, “I swear that I do not owe you anything,” or he said, “Amen” (so be it).
The oath could also be put on him by the person claiming the money, who claimed that the other person was watching the item. The owner comes to retrieve his item and makes the person swear: “I make you swear that you don’t have my item.” The person says, “Amen,” and therefore he violated the Shevuat HaPikadon. But if this person did not make the oath himself, and the claimant tried to put an oath on him—someone said, “I’m putting an oath on you regarding your statement that you don’t have my deposit”—and he said, “I don’t have anything,” he never said, “Amen.” He wouldn’t be obligated unless he denied it like that in court.
So this is the... This is the opinion of... To sum up his opinion, he distinguishes between when you’re in front of Bet Din (court) and when you’re not. When a person is not in front of Bet Din, he actually has to say that he’s swearing, or he has to say Amen in response to an oath denying that he has the item. If he’s in front of Bet Din, he would be obligated even if he simply denies it. He says, “I don’t have anything of yours,” without an oath or without saying Amen. That would be enough, if he was in front of Bet Din, to obligate him in this Korban and the Knas penalty of a one-fifth payment.
Chachamim (the Sages) omrim (say), “bein mipi atzmo, bein mipi acherim, keivan shekafar bo, chayav.” Whether the oath came from his own mouth or was put on him by somebody else, once he denies the claim, even if he’s not in court, he is obligated to bring a Korban. So according to the opinion of Chachamim, he doesn’t have to swear or say Amen. If he simply denies it—if he denies that he has it—once somebody else has asked him about it, that is enough to obligate him in the Korban and in the Knas.
We’re now saying in the next part of the Mishnah that he has to have some sort of intention: he understands that what he’s doing in the oath is wrong. He’s obligated to bring a Korban for intentionally violating the Isur—the prohibition—of making a false oath. So he knows that he’s lying, and he knows the penalty he would get for lying. Number one, he’s also guilty and would have to bring the Korban for unintentionally violating the prohibition of making the oath while intentionally denying the deposit. What do we mean by that? He knows that he’s swearing falsely. He knows that he’s lying about the Pikadon. He knows that it’s by him. But he doesn’t know what the penalty for that lie would have been.
But he’s not obligated to bring a Korban for completely unintentionally violating this prohibition of making a false oath. That would be if he mistakenly believed that he did not have or owe anything to the person making the claim, and later remembered that he did owe him. So in the interim he swore, “I don’t have anything,” and he really believed that. But later on he remembered that he did have or owe something to that person. In that case, we would not obligate him to bring a Korban. What is the obligation of a person who intentionally violated this prohibition of making a false oath when it comes to the Shevuat HaPikadon? Asham b'kesef shekalim. He has to bring an Asham offering that costs at least two silver shekalim.