“Jacob came from the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him and said: You will consort with me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes. He lay with her that night” (Genesis 30:16). “God listened to Leah and she became pregnant and gave birth to Jacob, a fifth son” (Genesis 30:17). “Jacob came from the field in the evening” – there we learned: One who hires laborers and stipulates with them to rise early and to continue late, in a place where they are accustomed not to rise early or to continue late, he is not permitted to compel them.
Rabbi Muna said: In a place where there is no custom, it is a stipulation of the High Court that going out will be at the expense of the employer,5The laborer is not required to go to work until sunrise. and coming in will be at the expense of the laborer.6The laborer is required to work until dark. Going out is at the expense of the employer, from where is it derived? “When the sun rises, they will gather” (Psalms 104:22).
From then on: “A person goes out to his work” (Psalms 104:23). Coming in will be at the expense of the laborer, from where is it derived? “And to his labor until evening [adei erev]” (Psalms 104:23) – “ad erev” is not stated, but rather, “adei erev,” meaning until dark, just as it says: “until complete darkness [adei neshef]” (Job 7:4).7Erev can mean until sunset, and it can mean until it is dark.
Neshef means when it is dark. A verbal analogy is being used to teach that the worker returns home when it is dark, and does not return home by sunset. Rabbi Ami said in the name of Reish Lakish: They imposed upon the employer that if it was the day before Shabbat, the coming in would be at his expense. To what extent?
It is so each and every one would fill a barrel of water for himself and roast a fish for himself while it is still day, in deference to Shabbat, and to kindle a lamp, as it is stated: “Jacob came from the field in the evening.” That is what is written: “And to his labor until evening.”