Mishnah 11 in chapter 5 is the final Mishnah in the chapter - a particularly difficult chapter, and there may be a certain sense of relief as we reach its conclusion. However, the Mishnah before us is not difficult at all. Its purpose is to enumerate up to six negative commandments that a person transgresses with an interest-bearing loan, and it is not only the lender who transgresses many prohibitions, but also the borrower and the people assisting with the loan.
The text of the Mishnah: "V'eillu ovrin b'val ta'aseh: hamalveh, v'haloveh, v'ha'arev, v'ha'edim" - all of these transgress at least one negative commandment from the Torah by participating in an interest-bearing loan:
Hamalveh - the lender - transgresses six different prohibitions.
Haloveh - the borrower - transgresses at least one.
Ha'arev - the guarantor - who provides a guarantee for the loan.
Ha'edim - the witnesses - who make it possible to enforce the loan. Both the guarantor and the witnesses also transgress one or two prohibitions, as will be explained below.
"V'chachamim omrim: af hasofer" - the Sages add a fifth person, the scribe. In their opinion, he effectively functions as a witness as well, and therefore transgresses the same sins that the witnesses transgress.
The six negative commandments:
"Es kaspcha lo siten lo b'neshech" - the prohibition against giving money with interest.
"U'v'marbis lo siten ochlecha" - the prohibition against giving food in exchange for interest. Two mentions of giving are stated in this verse, and from here there are two separate negative commandments for collecting interest. As was explained at the beginning of the chapter, neshech focuses on the loss caused to the borrower, and marbis on the profit coming to the lender, and both are two sides of the same coin.
"Al tikach mei'ito neshech v'tarbis" (and in the language of the Mishnah: "bal tikach") - the prohibition against taking interest from the borrower, and this too applies only to the lender, since he is the one taking. This verse is stated in the Book of Exodus, and chronologically it would have been appropriate to place it earlier, and nevertheless it was brought second: the first negative commandment, "Es kaspcha lo siten lo b'neshech", is transgressed by the very giving of the loan and stipulating the interest, at that exact moment, whether the interest will ultimately be collected or not; whereas the third negative commandment is transgressed only at the time of actually taking the interest, and it is a separate negative commandment that the lender also transgresses.
"Lo siheyeh lo k'nosheh" - the prohibition against pressuring the borrower in the repayment of the debt. If the lender presses the borrower to pay the interest, he transgresses this additional negative commandment. It is worth noting that this negative commandment does not apply only to interest-bearing loans: even in a loan without interest, if the lender presses the borrower to return the principal at a time when he does not have the money, and the latter feels pressure and distress, this constitutes "Lo siheyeh lo k'nosheh".
"Lo sesimun alav neshech" - the prohibition against imposing an interest obligation on the borrower. Until now, the negative commandments applied only to the lender, whereas this negative commandment applies to the rest of the participants as well: the lender certainly transgresses it, but also the people who bring this about - the witnesses and the guarantors - are partners in imposing the obligation of interest, and they too transgress it.
"V'lifnei iver lo siten michshol v'yareisa mei'Elokecha ani Hashem" - in the first five negative commandments, the borrower does not transgress at all, but he does transgress this negative commandment. The simple meaning of the verse is not to place a stumbling block before a blind person, and the intention here is a blindness to the consequences of the sin. The borrower, by the very act of taking the loan with interest, drags the lender into transgressing these prohibitions.
Lifnei iver versus assisting in a transgression:
These two concepts appear close to one another and can be confusing. "Lifnei iver lo siten michshol" is a prohibition from the Torah, whereas assisting in a transgression - enabling, helping, or encouraging a person to commit a sin - is a Rabbinic prohibition. The difference between them is: if the sin would not have occurred without the help and assistance of this person, and he is absolutely essential to its execution, he transgresses the Torah prohibition of lifnei iver.
Therefore, in the case of the borrower: the lender would not have transgressed the prohibition of a loan with interest if not for a borrower taking the loan from him. The borrower is essential, and without him there is no sin here at all, and therefore he transgresses lifnei iver.
However, regarding the guarantor and the witnesses, the matter depends:
If the lender would have given the loan in any case, even without the guarantor, and he only requests the guarantor as additional protection - the guarantor is not essential to the sin, and therefore he only transgresses the Rabbinic prohibition of assisting in a transgression.
But if the lender said: "I will not give this loan unless I have witnesses and a guarantor", and a person came and volunteered to serve as a guarantor or a witness - they then transgress lifnei iver, since they are the ones causing the matter, and without them it would not have occurred.
It is found, then, that all six negative commandments apply to the lender; one of them applies to the borrower; and upon the assistants applies "lo sesimun alav neshech" for certain, and it is possible that "lifnei iver" will also apply to them if they were essential to the sin.
Two Additional Prohibitions Imposed on the Borrower:
When the borrower pays the interest, he violates two additional verses on his part. The Mishnah did not mention them, because it focuses on the transgressions committed by the lender. These are: "Lo sashich l'achicha" (Devarim 23:20) and "U'l'achicha lo sashich" (Devarim 23:21) - two different verses conveying the same fundamental idea. Both are stated in the hifil form, an expression of causation, and therefore "sashich" does not refer to collecting interest, but rather to causing another to take interest. Thus, when the borrower pays back the money, he transgresses "lo sashich" twice.
With this, with Hashem's help, we have concluded the fifth chapter, "Eizehu Neshech," and will now move on to additional topics in monetary law in the sixth chapter.