Home‎ > ‎Proverbs‎ > ‎Rashi on Proverbs‎ > ‎Chapter 2‎ > ‎Chapter 3‎ > ‎Chapter 4‎ > ‎Chapter 5‎ > ‎

Chapter 6

> ‎Chapter 7‎ > ‎Chapter 8‎ > ‎Chapter 9‎ > ‎Chapter 10‎ > ‎Chapter 11‎ > ‎Chapter 12‎ > ‎Chapter 13‎ > ‎Chapter 14‎ > ‎Chapter 15‎ > ‎Chapter 16‎ > ‎Chapter 17‎ > ‎Chapter 18‎ > ‎Chapter 19‎ > ‎Chapter 20‎ > ‎Chapter 21‎ > ‎Chapter 22‎ > ‎Chapter 23‎ > ‎Chapter 24‎ > ‎Chapter 25‎ > ‎Chapter 26‎ > ‎Chapter 27‎ > ‎Chapter 28‎ > ‎Chapter 29‎ > ‎Chapter 30‎ > ‎Chapter 31‎ >  
 
 
 
1. My son, if you have stood surety for your fellow, have given your hand for a stranger,   א.
My son, if you have stood surety: Our Sages explained this as referring to surety in monetary matters, according to its apparent meaning.   :
2. you have been trapped by the sayings of your mouth; you have been caught by the sayings of your mouth.   ב.
3. Do this then, my son, and be saved for you have come into your fellow's palm; go, humble yourself and give your fellow superiority.   ג.
go, humble yourself: Heb. התרפס [a combination of two words, התר פס], open the palm of your hand for him to pay him his money.   :
and give your fellow superiority: Heb. ורהב. And if he has no money with you, only that you were trapped with the sayings of your mouth by speaking harshly to him, bring many friends to him to beg him to forgive you. Another explanation:   :
[1] My son, if you stood surety for your Friend: After you stood surety for the Holy One, blessed be He, Who is your “friend,” as it is written (Song 5:16): “This is my beloved and this is my friend”; you undertook at Sinai and in the plains of Moab with a curse and with an oath to observe His commandments.   :
have given your hand to a stranger: You have repented and turned from His ways and clung to the disbelievers to go in their ways.   :
[2] you have been trapped by the sayings of your mouth: You have given your hand to cling to strangers.   :
[3] Do this, then, my son, and be saved: Since you have come into the palm of your Friend at Sinai and you have accepted His Godliness over you,   :
go, humble yourself: Heb. התרפס. Humble yourself before Him like a threshold, which is trodden (נרפסת) and stepped on.   :
and increase your friends: Bring many friends who will pray for you before Him. In this manner it is expounded on in Midrash Psalms.   :
4. Give no sleep to your eyes nor slumber to your eyelids.   ד.
5. Save yourself like a deer from the hand and like a bird from the hand of the snare.   ה.
Save yourself like a deer from the hand: Hasten and extricate yourself from there like a deer that extricates itself from a man’s hand.   :
6. Go to the ant, you sluggard; see her ways and become wise,   ו.
Go to the ant, you sluggard… and become wise: Heb. וחכם, and wisen yourself.   :
7. for she has no chief, overseer, or ruler;   ז.
for she has no chief: who would reprove her and alert her and take out of her hand if she steals anything from her companion, nevertheless…   :
8. yet she prepares her bread in the summer; she gathers her food in the harvest.   ח.
yet she prepares her bread in the summer, she gathers her food in the harvest: She gathers her food, each one of them, and does not rob her companion.   :
9. O lazy one, how long will you lie [there]; when will you get up from your sleep?   ט.
10. "A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to lie."   י.
a little folding of the hands: The sleeper folds his hands, embrasser in French (abrasar in Provencal,) umfassen [in German], to embrace. In Rashi ms. plier in French [to fold] in German et was falten, to fold a little.   :
11. And your poverty shall come like a fast walker and your want as an armed man.   יא.
And your poverty shall come like a fast walker: If you do this [keep sleeping], your loss and the thing from which you are impoverished shall come to you immediately, like a man walking fast, and your want will come and fill up like an armed man who comes quickly to protect his master. These verses are mainly an allegory concerning those who are [too] lazy to engage in the Torah.   :
12. An unscrupulous man, a man of violence, walks with a crooked mouth;   יב.
walks with a crooked mouth: He walks with crooked lips.   :
13. he winks with his eyes, shuffles with his feet, points with his fingers.   יג.
he winks with his eyes: winks of deceit.   :
shuffles with his feet: He rubs one on the other.   :
points with his fingers: They are all expressions of hinting: one applies to the eye, one applies to the foot, and one applies to the finger, but the main idea is that it is speaking of the wicked.   :
14. Contrariness is in his heart; he plots evil at all times; he incites quarrels.   יד.
he incites quarrels: between man and his Creator.   :
15. Therefore, calamity shall come suddenly; he shall suddenly be broken beyond repair.   טו.
suddenly, etc. suddenly: Heb. פתע פתאם. This is an expression of immediacy; he will not be aware of the downfall that is ready to descend upon him.   :
16. There are six things that the Lord hates, and the seventh is an abomination of His soul;   טז.
There are six things that the Lord hates, and the seventh is an abomination of His soul: The seventh, too, is [included] with them.   :
17. Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood;   יז.
18. a heart that thinks thoughts of violence; feet that hasten to run to evil;   יח.
19. [one who] speaks lies with false testimony and incites quarrels among brothers.   יט.
[one who] speaks: Heb. יפיח, lit. he blows. This is an expression of speech since all speech is a product of the breath of the mouth.   :
20. My son, keep the commands of your father, and do not forsake the instruction of your mother.   כ.
21. Bind them always upon your heart, tie them upon your neck.   כא.
tie them: Heb. ענדם, an expression of tying, as in (Job 31:36) “I will tie it (אענדנו) as crowns to me.”   :
22. When you walk, it shall lead you; when you lie down, it shall guard you, and when you awaken, it shall speak for you.   כב.
When you walk: in your lifetime.   :
it shall lead you: Heb. תנחה אותך, like תנהיגך.   :
when you lie down: in the grave.   :
and when you awaken: for the resurrection of the dead, to stand in judgment.   :
it shall speak for you: It shall speak on your behalf.   :
23. For a commandment is a candle, and the Torah is light, and disciplining rebukes are the way of life;   כג.
For a commandment is a candle, and the Torah is light: Just as light always illuminates, so does the merit of the Torah stand for a person forever, but the merit of the commandment is only for a limited time, like the light of a candle. Another explanation:   :
For a commandment is a candle, etc.: The command of the father is a candle. Whoever fulfills the command of his father is as though he takes a candle in his hand to light a dark place, and if he loses anything there he finds it by its light; similarly, whoever fulfills his mother’s instruction-it is light to him, and so [Scripture] states (verse 20): “and forsake not the instruction of your mother.” It is certain that this verse speaks of the commands of one’s father and mother, for it is written (20:20): “If one curses his father or mother, his candle will be put out in the blackest darkness.” Now if a person’s candle goes out when he does not fulfill the commandments of his parents, conversely when he fulfills the command, his candle lights up (Rabbi Joseph Kara).   :
and disciplining rebukes are the way of life: Disciplining rebukes incline a person to life. It is found that they are the way of life.   :
24. to guard you from an evil woman, from the smoothness of the alien tongue.   כד.
to guard you from an evil woman: The Torah shall guard you from a woman of evil behavior-perforce, Solomon did not speak of an evil woman, but concerning idolatry, [the prohibition of] which is equal in gravity to all [commandments], for if you say that he meant a real harlot, is that all the reward and the praise of the Torah that it guards one only from a harlot? Rather, perforce this is idolatry, [the prohibition of] which is as stringent as all other [commandments].   :
from the smoothness of the alien tongue: From the sealing of the eyes by an alien tongue.   :
25. Do not covet her beauty in your heart, and do not let her captivate you with her eyelids.   כה.
do not let her captivate you: And let her not take away your wisdom from you with her eyelids that she winks at you.   :
26. Because a man is brought to a loaf of bread for a harlot, and a married woman will hunt a precious soul.   כו.
Because a man is brought to a loaf of bread for a harlot: He is reduced to poverty and the lack of all good things.   :
27. Can a man rake embers with his skirt without burning his clothes?   כז.
Can a man rake: Can a man pick up live coals with the skirt of his garments without burning them? Every expression of חתיה is an expression of raking according to its apparent meaning, that he fills the vessel in the fire.   :
28. Or can a man walk on live coals without scorching his feet?   כח.
29. So is he who goes in to his neighbor's wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished.   כט.
to his neighbor’s wife: According to its apparent meaning, and it can also be expounded upon as referring to the idolatry of the pagans.   :
30. They will not despise a thief if he steals to sate his appetite, for he is hungry.   ל.
They will not despise a thief, etc.:   :
31. And if he is found, he will pay sevenfold; he must give all he owns.   לא.
And if he is found, he will pay sevenfold, etc.:   :
32. One who commits adultery with a woman is devoid of sense; one who would destroy his soul-he will do it.   לב.
One who commits adultery with a woman: The three of them are combined in one statement. If a thief commits a theft, he should not be despised as much as the adulterer. Why? Because he steals in order to sate his hunger, and perhaps he has nothing to eat. And, when he is found, he can rectify his sin with payment; at the most, he will pay sevenfold i.e., many times the double payment and even fifty times for one. Some explain “sevenfold” as referring to one who steals an ox and his trappings and slaughters it, who pays five cattle and double payment of the trappings (totalling seven). [31]   :
he must give all he owns: lit. he must give all the property of his house. And, even if he must sell all he owns because of this, he can nevertheless rectify it, and from the beginning he did it because of hunger. But…   :
One who commits adultery with a woman is devoid of sense: since he does not do it because of hunger.   :
one who would destroy his soul-he will do it: The lewd act.   :
33. He will find wounds and disgrace, and his reproach shall not be erased   לג.
He will find wounds and disgrace: Lesions are sent for idolatry and immorality.   :
34. for jealousy [shall arouse] the husband's wrath, and he will not have pity on the day of vengeance.   לד.
for jealousy: For the jealousy of the Holy One, blessed be He, Who is the Mighty One over all, will be aroused to mete out retribution upon him, and He will not have pity on the day of vengeance.   :
35. He will not have regard for any ransom, neither will he consent though you give him many bribes.   לה.
He will not have regard: for any money to expiate for his denial of Him and his cleaving to idolatry. And our Rabbis expounded (Tosefta Baba Kamma 7:3): They will not despise a thief-This is one who steals away from his friend and goes to the study hall and engages in Torah. If he is found, he will pay sevenfold. [The intention is that] eventually, he will be appointed as a judge, and he will render legal decisions, for “sevenfold” refers only to the Torah, as it is said (Ps. 12:7): “refined sevenfold.”
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Subpages (1): Chapter 7
Comments