הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, לֹא עָלֶיךָ הַמְּלָאכָה לִגְמֹר, וְלֹא אַתָּה בֶן חוֹרִין לִבָּטֵל מִמֶּנָּה. אִם לָמַדְתָּ תוֹרָה הַרְבֵּה, נוֹתְנִים לְךָ שָׂכָר הַרְבֵּה. וְנֶאֱמָן הוּא בַעַל מְלַאכְתְּךָ שֶׁיְּשַׁלֵּם לְךָ שְׂכַר פְּעֻלָּתֶךָ. וְדַע מַתַּן שְׂכָרָן שֶׁל צַדִּיקִים לֶעָתִיד לָבֹא:
He [Rabbi Tarfon] used to say: It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you at liberty to neglect it; If you have studied much Torah, you shall be given much reward. Faithful is your employer to pay you the reward of your labor; And know that the grant of reward unto the righteous is in the age to come.
ולא אתה בן חורין להבטל ממנה. שלא תאמר הואיל ואיני חייב לגמור את המלאכה לא אעצר את עצמי אלא אלמוד בכל יום שעה אחת. ולא כן הדבר. כי עבד קנוי אתה עליה להגות בה יומם ולילה ואז תצליח את דרכיך ואז תשכיל:
but neither are you free to desist from it: That you not say, "Since I am not obligated to finish the work, I will not pain myself, but rather I will study one hour each day." The matter is not like this, as you are an acquired slave to [the work] to 'meditate over it day and night' 'and then you will make your paths successful and then you will be enlightened.'
He [Rabbi Tarfon] used to say: It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you at liberty to neglect it; If you have studied much Torah, you shall be given much reward. Faithful is your employer to pay you the reward of your labor; And know that the grant of reward unto the righteous is in the age to come. It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you at liberty to neglect it: although Rabbi Tarfon has already stated that the work is great and the day is short, this is not a cause for despair. It is not our duty to “finish” the study of Torah, but only to push ourselves to continue in this endeavor. A person must engage in study to the best of his abilities. There is a parable made about a king who hires workers to fill in a gigantic hole. The foolish worker takes a look at the hole and says, “How can I ever finish this?” The intelligent worker says to himself, “I was only hired for a day, at least I have found work.” Thus God says to his people, “You are all only hired for your day. Do your day’s work and do not worry about the rest”. The end of the mishnah repeats a message that we have heard many times, that the study of Torah will bring reward and that God is faithful to pay this reward. However, the end of the statement reminds us that rewards are not received in this world. A person who fulfills the commandments and studies Torah as he is commanded to do and yet does not receive a reward should not despair and lose faith in God, for the reward is not received in this lifetime. We should probably remind ourselves of Antigonus’s statement in chapter one, mishnah three. Although the rabbis emphasize the reward for learning Torah, we are warned not to serve God in order to receive this reward. Note that there are different explanations for “the world to come” and it is obviously not a concept that human beings can truly grasp, for no human can ever achieve true knowledge of the “world to come”. All of the statements made by Rabbis about the world to come are only meant to be understood as allegories and parables and not taken literally.