| 1. A wise son [seeks] his father's discipline, but a scorner does not listen to rebuke. |
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א. |
| A wise son… his father’s discipline: This is an elliptical verse: a wise son asks for and loves his father’s discipline. Some say: Because of the father’s discipline, he is wise. |
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| but a scorner does not listen to rebuke: For he does not accept reproof. |
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| 2. From the fruit of a man's mouth he will eat good, but the desire of the treacherous is violence. |
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| From the fruit of man’s mouth he will eat good: From the reward of his Torah, he will eat the good in this world and the principal will exist in the world to come. |
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| but the desire of the treacherous is violence: Heb. ונפש. The desire of the treacherous is violence, as in (Gen. 23:8): “If it is your desire (נפשכם) ” and (Ps. 27:12): “Do not give me for the desire of (בנפש) my adversaries.” |
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| 3. He who watches his mouth guards his soul; for one who opens his lips wide there is ruin. |
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ג. |
| one who opens his lips wide: Heb. פשק, opens his lips to speak constantly all his desire, from (Ezek. 16:25): “And you spread wide (ותפשקי) your legs,” an expression of wideness. |
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| 4. The soul of the lazy man desires but has nothing, but the soul of the diligent shall be sated. |
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ד. |
| The soul of the lazy man desires but has nothing: His soul desires all good, but has nothing. |
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| but the soul of the diligent shall be sated: The upright who eat from the toil of their hands. This is its meaning according to its simple interpretation. According to its allegorical meaning, in the future he will see the glory of the Torah scholar and long for it, but he will not achieve it. |
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| 5. The righteous man hates a false word, but the wicked disgraces and embarrasses. |
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ה. |
| The righteous man hates a false word: The righteous man hates a false word, but the wicked accepts it. |
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| disgraces and embarrasses: the people therewith. |
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| 6. Charity guards him who is steadfast in his way, but wickedness brings ruin upon the sinner. |
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ו. |
| but wickedness brings ruin upon the sinner: Heb. חטאת, lit. sin. Like חטאת, a sinner, but since he is completely wicked, he calls him חטאת, sin. The meaning is that his wickedness will bring ruin upon the sinner and humble him. Every expression of סלוף means ruin and stumbling, like (below 19:3) “A person’s foolishness ruins (תסלף) his way,” and brings evil upon him. |
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| 7. There is one who feigns riches but has nothing; one who feigns poverty but has great wealth. |
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ז. |
| There is one who feigns riches: He shows himself to be rich. Another explanation: There is a man who becomes rich in the end but has nothing in the beginning, and there is one who comes to poverty from great riches. Another explanation: There is one who becomes wealthy by robbing the poor, but in the end he has nothing, and there is one who becomes poor by scattering his money and giving it to the poor, but great wealth is in store for him. |
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| 8. The ransom of a man's soul is his wealth, as long as the poor man has not heard a rebuke. |
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ח. |
| The ransom of a man’s soul is his wealth: A man’s wealth is the ransom of his soul, for he performed charity with it. |
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| as long as the poor man has not heard a rebuke: As long as he does not let the poor man hear a rebuke, i.e., he gives to him and does not embarrass him. Another explanation: |
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| The ransom of a man’s soul is his wealth: His Torah. |
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| but a poor man: in the words of Torah, |
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| did not hear a rebuke: He does not know to turn away from evil, since he is not cautious. The Midrash Aggadah interprets it as speaking of the half-shekel, which Scripture levied on all Israel and made the poor and the rich equal in that respect-so that the poor does not hear a rebuke from the rich, saying to him, “My share is greater than your share in the public sacrifices.” |
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| 9. The light of the righteous will rejoice, but the candle of the wicked will ebb away. |
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ט. |
| will ebb away: Heb. ידעך, an expression of springing, for the flame springs and is cut off. |
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| 10. Only with wickedness does one cause quarrels, but there is wisdom with those who take counsel. |
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י. |
| Only with wickedness does one cause quarrels: Heb. מצה, controversy. |
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| but there is wisdom with those who take counsel: But wisdom lies with those who behave with counsel. |
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| 11. Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished, but he who gathers by hand will increase. |
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יא. |
| Wealth gotten by vanity: One who makes his study in bundles. |
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| shall be diminished: For he will forget it little by little. |
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| 12. Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life. |
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יב. |
| Hope deferred: He relies on his friend and does nothing. |
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| makes the heart sick: Heb. מחלה, brings sickness to the heart. This מחלה is not a noun like (Ex. 23: 25): “And I will remove sickness (מחלה) from your midst,” but like (Lev. 11:6): “bringing up (מעלת) the cud.” |
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| but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life: lit. but a tree of life is a desire fulfilled. This is inverted; i.e., a desire fulfilled is like a tree of life. The hope that the Holy One, blessed be He, had hoped for Israel and looked forward for them to repent-brought them ultimately to heartsickness when they did not repent. And when His desire is fulfilled-that they comply with His will-it is a tree of life to them. |
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| 13. He who despises a thing will be pledged to it, but he who reveres a commandment will be rewarded. |
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יג. |
| He who despises a thing will be pledged to it: Heb. יחבל. He who despises one of the words of the Torah will ultimately be taken for it as a pledge. |
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| but he who reveres a commandment will be rewarded: lit. will be paid. He will receive a reward. Midrash Tehillim expounds: “He who despises a thing will be pledged to it” concerning David, who said before the Holy One, blessed be He, “Of what use are the madmen that You created?” He replied, “By your life, you will ultimately need madness.” When he came before Achish to feign madness, “and he let his saliva run down upon his beard, etc.” (I Sam. 21:14). |
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| 14. The instruction of a wise man is a spring of life, to turn away from the snares of death. |
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יד. |
| The instruction of a wise man is a spring of life: for he teaches him to turn away from the snares of death. |
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| 15. Good sense will grant favor, but the way of the treacherous is harsh. |
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טו. |
| but the way of the treacherous is harsh: It is harsh for him and for others. |
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| 16. Every cunning man acts with forethought, but a fool exposes [his] stupidity. |
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טז. |
| Every cunning man acts with forethought: He performs his deeds with forethought, like David: “Let them seek for my lord, the king, a young girl, a virgin, etc.” (I Kings 1:2). |
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| but a fool exposes [his] stupidity: This is Ahasuerus (Esther 2:3): “Let the king appoint, etc.” They knew that he would not marry them all. Therefore, whoever had a daughter concealed her. |
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| 17. A wicked messenger falls into evil, but a faithful emissary brings healing. |
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יז. |
| A wicked messenger falls into evil: like Balaam, to whom the Holy One, blessed be He, said (Num. 22:35): “Go with the men,” but he dealt wickedly to entice Balak to follow his evil counsel; therefore, he fell by the sword. |
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| but a faithful emissary brings healing: This is Moses, our teacher. |
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| 18. Poverty and disgrace befall him who spurns discipline, but he who keeps reproof will be honored. |
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יח. |
| Poverty and disgrace: Poverty and disgrace come upon him who spurns discipline. |
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| 19. A desire fulfilled pleases the soul, but the abomination of the fools is to turn away from evil. |
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יט. |
| pleases the soul: When a person’s desire comes to him it pleases his soul. Therefore, it is an abomination to a fool to turn away from evil because it pleases him to gratify his desire. |
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| fulfilled: Heb. נהיה, lit. is. Another explanation: |
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| a desire fulfilled: The Holy One, blessed be He, desires that Israel do His will, and when His desire is fulfilled, it pleases Him. And it is the abomination of the wicked that they turn away from their evil to gratify their desire. |
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| 20. He who goes with the wise will become wise, but he who befriends the fools will be broken. |
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כ. |
| He who goes with the wise will become wise, but he who befriends the fools: Who joins fools to be his friends. |
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| will be broken: Heb. ירוע, will be shattered. |
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| 21. Evil will pursue the sinners but the righteous He will pay a good [reward]. |
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כא. |
| Evil will pursue the sinners: As for a wicked man, his wickedness pursues him to his destruction. |
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| 22. A good man will leave an inheritance for his sons' sons, but the wealth of a sinner is laid away for the righteous. |
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כב. |
| A good man will leave an inheritance: of his merit and his property to his sons’ sons, but a sinner does not leave over an inheritance to his sons, for his wealth and his property are laid away for the righteous, as it is written (Esther 8:2): “And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.” |
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| 23. An abundance of food is the result of the plowing of the poor, and some perish because of lack of propriety. |
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כג. |
| An abundance of food is the result of the plowing of the poor: I saw in the great Masorah [on the words רב אכל]: The word רב appears thirty-three times with a “kamatz,” but this one has a short “kamatz,” and it is joined to the word אכל, food, with a “makkaf” (hyphen); and I saw there that אכל is vowelized with a “pattah” (i.e., a “segol” which is a small “pattah”), and it is accented on the first syllable, as in (Gen. 41:35): “all the food (אכל) of the good years.” According to its vowelization, this is its interpretation: Much grain comes to the world through the plowing of the poor people; i.e., much Torah emanates from pupils whose teachers learn from them through their debate concerning the halachah. |
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| and some perish: And many of them perish from the world because [they have] no propriety, for they do not behave properly; and concerning the grain, some grain suffers because of its owner, who does not separate its tithes and its gifts for the poor as is proper. Our Sages explained in tractate Hagigah (4b) “And some perish without justice,” concerning the messenger of the angel of death, who changes one name for another and causes the death of one whose time has not come. But, if it [this explanation] is so, the end of the verse has nothing to do with its beginning. |
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| 24. He who holds back his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him early. |
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כד. |
| He who holds back his rod: His end will be that he will hate his son because he will see him getting into mischief. |
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| disciplines him early: He always chastises him in the morning. |
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| 25. A righteous man eats to sate his appetite, but the stomach of the wicked shall feel want. |
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כה. |
| to sate his appetite: It always seems to him that he is satisfied. ( |
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| shall feel want: It does not seem to them that they are satisfied.) |