פְּרוֹזְבּוּל, אֵינוֹ מְשַׁמֵּט. זֶה אֶחָד מִן הַדְּבָרִים שֶׁהִתְקִין הִלֵּל הַזָּקֵן, כְּשֶׁרָאָה שֶׁנִּמְנְעוּ הָעָם מִלְּהַלְווֹת זֶה אֶת זֶה וְעוֹבְרִין עַל מַה שֶּׁכָּתוּב בַּתּוֹרָה (דברים טו) הִשָּׁמֶר לְךָ פֶּן יִהְיֶה דָבָר עִם לְבָבְךָ בְּלִיַּעַל וְגוֹ', הִתְקִין הִלֵּל לַפְּרוֹזְבּוּל:
[A loan secured by] a prozbul is not cancelled. This was one of the things enacted by Hillel the elder; for when he observed people refraining from lending to one another, and thus transgressing what is written in the Torah, “Beware, lest you harbor the base thought, [‘The seventh year, the year of remission, is approaching,’ so that you are mean to your needy kinsman and give him nothing.” Hillel enacted the prozbul.
זֶהוּ גוּפוֹ שֶׁל פְּרוֹזְבּוּל. מוֹסֵר אֲנִי לָכֶם אִישׁ פְּלוֹנִי וּפְלוֹנִי הַדַּיָּנִים שֶׁבְּמָקוֹם פְּלוֹנִי, שֶׁכָּל חוֹב שֶׁיֶּשׁ לִי, שֶׁאֶגְבֶּנּוּ כָּל זְמַן שֶׁאֶרְצֶה. וְהַדַּיָּנִים חוֹתְמִין לְמַטָּה, אוֹ הָעֵדִים:
This is the formula of the prozbul: “I turn over to you, so-and-so, judges of such and such a place, that any debt that I may have outstanding, I shall collect it whenever I desire.” And the judges sign below, or the witnesses.
אֵין כּוֹתְבִין פְּרוֹזְבּוּל אֶלָּא עַל הַקַּרְקַע. אִם אֵין לוֹ, מְזַכֶּה הוּא בְּתוֹךְ שָׂדֵהוּ כָּל שֶׁהוּא. הָיְתָה לוֹ שָׂדֶה מְמֻשְׁכֶּנֶת בָּעִיר, כּוֹתְבִין עָלֶיהָ פְּרוֹזְבּוּל. רַבִּי חֻצְפִּית אוֹמֵר, כּוֹתְבִין לָאִישׁ עַל נִכְסֵי אִשְׁתּוֹ, וְלַיְתוֹמִים עַל נִכְסֵי אַפּוֹטְרוֹפִּין:
A prozbul is written only for [a debt secured by] land. But if [the debtor] has none, then [the creditor] can give him title to a share, however small, of his own field. If he had land in pledge in a city, a prozbul can be written on it. Rabbi Hutzpit says: a prozbul may be written for a man on the security of his wife's property, or for an orphan on the security of property belonging to his guardian.