הוי ממעט בעסק ועסוק בתורה. פשיטא מאי קמ"ל ויש לפרש דאתי למימר שיהא מעוט העסק בשביל עסק התורה ולא בשביל הטורח או העצלה. דרך חיים. וגרסת הר"ב עסק בלא בי"ת וכן הוגה באבות שמארץ ישראל: DO LESS BUSINESS [Heb. be`esek] AND BUSY YOURSELF WITH TORAH. This seems obvious. Perhaps the mishna means to say that one should spend less time on business not because it is too difficult or because on is lazy, but specifically in order to study Torah—Maharal in Derech Chaim.
Rav has `esek without a bet,162Which would make the phrase “do little business”. and the text of the Mishna I have from the land of Israel was thus emended.
בפני כל אדם. פי' הר"ב ללמוד וכו' וזה מסכים לגרסת מד"ש במשנה ד' הוי שפל רוח בפני כל אדם דהתם לענין הגאוה והכא לענין הלמוד אבל הרמב"ם מפרש הכא נמי לענין הגאוה וזה מסכים לגרסת הספרים דל"ג הכי לעיל: BEFORE EVERY MAN. Rav: and learn even from one who is below you in wisdom. This agrees with the version of mishna 4 quoted by Midrash Shmuel: “be lowly of spirit before every man”—that mishna is in terms of arrogance, while our mishna is in terms of learning.
But Rambam explains our mishna in terms of arrogance. This agrees with the text of mishna 4 in our editions, which does not have the words “before every man”.163The difference between mishna 4 and our mishna would then be one of degree. Indeed, Rambam explains that our mishna emphasizes that one must be lowly of spirit not just in the presence of great men (as one might have concluded from mishna 4), but “before every man”.
ואם עמלת בתורה. ויגעת וטרחת בה יש שכר הרבה וכו' כי השכר לפי רבוי העמל והטורח לא לפי רבוי הלמוד. ולכן לא אמר ואם למדת אלא ואם עמלת כי הכל תלוי בעמל אחד המרבה ואחד הממעיט. סיוע לזה מתני' (דסוף פרק ה') דקתני לפום צערא אגרא. מד"ש בשם הר"י לירמא ועיין סוף פרק ב': IF YOU HAVE LABORED MUCH IN TORAH. And exerted yourself and expended great effort on it, “there is much reward, etc.”, because the reward is commensurate with the effort and exertion and not with the learning. This is why the mishna says “if you have labored,” not “if you have learned”; everything depends on the labor, whether one has learned much or little. The mishna in 5:23, “the reward is commensurate with the suffering,” is a proof to this—Midrash Shmuel in the name of R. Yehuda Lerma. See my comments on 2:16, s.v. if you have learned.