One who loves discipline loves knowledge. Discipline differs from rebuke. Rebuke reasons with a person through rational proofs and shows him good and evil; discipline compels acceptance through punishment—whether he fears the disciplinarian’s punishment, anger, and command like a child before an adult, or is told of Hashem’s punishments for disobedience. One who loves rebuke certainly loves knowledge because rebuke rests upon reason and knowledge. Here it adds that one who loves discipline loves knowledge, because discipline’s foundations likewise rest upon fear of Hashem and knowledge of His providence, reward, and punishment, which are clarified through knowledge. Knowledge is largely founded upon sensory attainment and matters made clear by sensory evidence, both famous and received: what occurred to the Flood generation, the generation of dispersion, Sodom, Egypt, and Korah’s assembly. Thus he loves knowledge. One who hates discipline is certainly brutish—unprepared to receive knowledge—for even children fear punishment and accept discipline. One might think that one who hates rebuke, which is founded on rational argument, is not brutish. It teaches that he too is brutish and considered an animal, for anyone worthy of being called a rational human being is naturally prepared to receive rebuke, or at least not to hate rebuke that opens his intellectual eyes.

A good man obtains favor from Hashem, but He condemns a man of schemes. The verb “scheme” denotes deep thought concerning how to accomplish something. In wisdom it means profound reflections upon wisdom; when directed against another, it generally means evil, as in, “one who plans to do evil is called a master of schemes,” for he deeply considers how to harm and ensnare his neighbor. When “condemn” is causative and intransitive, it indicates that his wickedness has grown so great that it goes outward to harm others. Wickedness includes offenses both against God and man; one who condemns acts wickedly toward another. The good man does not devise deep schemes but obtains favor from Hashem, striving that Hashem desire his deed, as in “commit your way to Hashem and your thoughts will be established.” Hashem then directs his simple thoughts toward an end pleasing to Him. Desire differs from favor: favor means wanting something because it is proper, upright, and good. The favor obtained from Hashem is His approval of the person as worthy. The good man arranges his thoughts so that Hashem finds favor in him; he neither devises schemes nor acts wickedly. But a man of schemes, who does not rely on Hashem but devises profound plots, performs deeds that condemn him.

A person is not established through wickedness, but the root of the righteous will not be moved. A base differs from a root. A base supports a detached object, as “a copper laver and its copper base,” while a root belongs to something growing and is united with its branches. The wicked have no root. A person’s root is above, in purity: man resembles an inverted tree whose root is above—the mind, planted in the intellectual world from which he receives influence. The righteous cleaves to this upper root. The wicked, cut off from it, stands only through his body upon the material world, like a detached object upon a base. Even that base will collapse, because his wealth was gathered through wickedness. The righteous possess a root: man resembles a tree whose root stands in purity while its branches incline toward impurity. Though a branch sometimes bends aside, the root does not move; it remains in purity and in the enduring spiritual world, and eventually the branch follows the root.

A woman of valor is her husband’s crown, but one who brings shame is like rot in his bones. A crown is clothing external to the body, placed upon the head as a sign of distinction and honor. A woman of valor not only strengthens his bones but crowns his head; through her he is praised before many peoples, as in “her husband is known at the gates.” A shameful woman is lazy in her deeds. Not only does she bring him no honor; he hides her, and she is like rot in his bones. A wife is bone of his bones, so it is as though part of him has decayed: the other half of his body, his wife, develops rot and causes his own portion to decay.

The thoughts of the righteous are judgment; the strategies of the wicked are deceit. Thought, counsel, and strategy differ. One who thinks has not yet formed counsel, but raises possibilities in his mind—whether and how to act. Once he reaches a clear conclusion, it is called counsel. One who devises multiple counsels, as in war, preparing different plans against an enemy’s unknown plans, forms a strategy—a linked set of counsels. Even the righteous person’s simple thought is judgment: he follows justice and righteousness without deviation. Even the wicked person’s strategies—the whole chain of plans—serve deceit, enabling him to defraud, oppress, and rob his neighbors. The righteous therefore need no strategies; the simple thought of performing justice suffices, because the straight road requires no plotting. The wicked, who must depart from justice and ensnare others through deceit, require intricate strategies joining many evil plans to trap the oppressed.

The words of the wicked are an ambush for blood. “Words” denotes extended, arranged speech. The wicked prolong their speech to carry out plans that lie in wait for blood, speaking slander and tale-bearing to destroy their neighbors. The upright have the laws of uprightness naturally implanted in their hearts and go beyond the letter of the law, the opposite of an ambush for blood; their mouth saves them. Above (11:6) it says, “the righteousness of the upright saves them, while traitors are trapped by calamities.” There their righteousness saves them from natural and providential evils. Here it concerns chosen human evils: their mouth, speaking according to wisdom’s laws and uprightness, saves them by teaching how to escape the wicked person’s ambush.

Overturn the wicked, and they are no more. Although the wicked appear firmly rooted, when the time for punishment arrives and their measure is full, the Holy One overturns them. Overturning reverses something in quality, quantity, or position: a tree’s roots are placed above and branches below, or a person’s head below and feet above, as in “He overturns cities from their root.” Then they cease to exist, as in, “I saw a powerful wicked man spreading like a luxuriant native tree; he passed away, and behold, he was gone.” This is measure for measure. The wicked person lives inverted: man resembles a tree whose root—his head—is above and whose branches cling to earth, but the wicked man’s head, mind, and thoughts cling to earth. Hashem’s punishment is to overturn him completely, annihilating him. But the house of the righteous stands. When the righteous sins, he is punished promptly; “seven times the righteous falls and rises.” His root is not uprooted, only his property or body is afflicted. Not only he, but even his house stands. Above (10:25) it says, “When the storm passes, the wicked is gone, but the righteous is the foundation of the world,” concerning natural evils; here it concerns providential punishments. Midrash Noah applies both verses to the Flood generation and Noah.

A man is praised according to his intelligence. Intelligence is a special human faculty governing matters beyond understanding’s reach, such as grasping wisdom’s laws in their truth. Linguists note that expressions of understanding are not joined directly to wisdom—Scripture says “intelligent in every wisdom,” not “understand wisdom”—because this exceeds ordinary human understanding. Intelligence likewise grasps exalted conceptions such as Hashem’s glory, which cannot be reached through deductions beginning with sensory facts or first principles. Intelligence mentioned in Scripture is ordinarily good, but the inclination of the heart and immersion in desire can mislead it. The heart is the soul’s ruling power and needs the counsel of understanding and intelligence; when evil images and desires dominate it, it draws even these counselors into serving the inclination. Then intelligence assists evil. If his heart, the ruling power, is perverse and departs from uprightness and wisdom, his intelligence is despised, serving desire and inclination like a slave. Thus, a man is praised according to his intelligence: with great intelligence he grasps wisdom’s laws and the truth of Hashem’s ways and earns praise and glory—but only when his heart is upright and rules according to wisdom and understanding rather than listening to wandering inclinations. When he is perverse of heart, intelligence becomes contemptible; the greater it is, the more it assists him in evil.

Better one lightly esteemed who serves himself than one who honors himself and lacks bread. Conventional signs of honor include not performing manual labor oneself, because such labor is considered disgraceful. Yet choosing this supposed honor and refusing work may leave one without bread. The verse teaches that this is not wisdom. He merely “honors himself”—appears honored without truly being so—and lacks bread, a real disgrace, since he has no servant to work for him. One who appears lightly esteemed because he works for himself actually possesses honor: he has a servant, namely himself, and is satisfied with bread. Allegorically, one who honors himself and is ashamed to study lacks the bread of Torah, while the humble person serves himself—that is, his soul.

The righteous knows the soul of his animal, but the mercies of the wicked are cruel. The righteous follows justice’s laws not only toward people but even toward his animal. He understands its nature, feeds it at the right time and measure, and does not burden it beyond its capacity. This too belongs to wisdom and justice, as in “I will give grass in your field for your animal,” followed by “you shall eat and be satisfied,” and the Torah’s prohibition against animal suffering. He learns this from the supreme Righteous One, Hashem. The Sages said that the Holy One knew the dog’s food is scarce and therefore kept its food in its intestines for three days—part of universal justice. The wicked person rejects justice’s laws; even apparent mercy from him springs from concealed cruelty. He may spare a captive not to kill him, but to enslave him; he may feed his animal more only to impose heavier labor. His mercy is rooted in self-interest. Allegorically, man has two parts: the body is his animal and the soul is the human being. The righteous gives each its proper portion. When desire entices him for his animal’s sake, he knows the soul of his animal—the spiritual soul animating the body. That soul desires the opposite of the animal’s desire, so he kills the animal’s desire to preserve its soul. The wicked mercifully indulge their animal with every desire but destroy its soul—great cruelty toward their own being and spiritual soul.

(11–12) One who works his land will be satisfied with bread; the wicked desires the snare of evil men. Although human nature inclines toward rest while soil requires labor—the worker being subjected to hard service day and night—a person must consider the result: through work he will be satisfied with bread. Better to bear labor’s yoke than hunger’s pain. This judgment comes from the soul’s ruling power called the heart. But one who pursues empty things, seeking livelihood through idleness without working his land, lacks a heart; he lacks the ruling power that rebukes laziness by anticipating its consequence.

This teaching is repeated below (28:19): One who works his land will be satisfied with bread, but one who pursues empty things will be satisfied with poverty; a faithful man has abundant blessings, but one who hastens to become rich will not be innocent. There it concerns another matter, for pursuing empty things takes two forms:

• One may seek livelihood without ordinary labor through commerce, voyages across seas and deserts, finding treasures, and the like. These are empty pursuits because profit is uncertain. This is the subject there, as indicated by “a faithful man has abundant blessings”: one who trusts Hashem and sows his land—faith being associated with the Order of Seeds because he trusts Hashem and sows—receives abundant blessings from heaven’s dew and the deep below. Through faith and trust, one who works his land will be satisfied with bread. But one who pursues empty things, hastening to become rich and seeking schemes for instant wealth because he lacks faith and trust, will instead be satisfied with poverty.

• Here it concerns pursuing empty things to become rich through robbery and violence, as the conclusion proves: the wicked desires the snare of evil men. The wicked person refuses labor and seeks to live by hunting others, trapping people and taking their money through deceit and wicked schemes. He lacks a heart, for his heart does not rule him according to wisdom’s laws. But one who works his land and conducts himself justly, neither oppressing nor trapping others but sowing grain rooted in the earth—the root of the righteous, which they planted in their soil, provides bread to the eater.

These two ideas also possess metaphor and allegory, for the cultivated soil has a metaphor within a metaphor. Here the soul is compared by the sages to a field potentially prepared to produce fruit. Just as land requires labor to remove thorns, plant seed, water, and cultivate it, so evil images must be removed from the soul, wisdom and discipline sown within it, and it watered with intelligence and knowledge until it produces holy fruit of praise. One who cultivates his soil is ultimately satisfied with bread—the nourishment of wisdom and discipline, the soul’s bread. One who pursues empty things is the wicked person who did not cultivate his soil and desires the snare of evil men: images of desire that cast great nets around the small city and trap its spiritual powers. He lacks a heart and does not govern the soul according to wisdom’s laws. But one who cultivates his soil, clears its thorns, and plants divine seeds—the root of the righteous—produces wisdom.

In the transgression of the lips is an evil snare. The lips signify outward speech. Sometimes one speaks only with the lips, not with mouth and tongue—that is, without first considering what to say. His lips move without understanding or intelligence and may transgress against him and prepare a snare. For example, before a king he may carelessly utter something improper and be trapped by his words; in court one careless statement may ensnare him. The righteous person, who conducts everything justly, has trained his lips not to utter anything improper, as in “the lips of the righteous shepherd many” and “the lips of the righteous know favor.” Even after entering distress, he escapes it through lips trained to speak according to practical knowledge, as explained in those passages.

From the fruit of a man’s mouth he is satisfied with good. It pictures man as a tree of the field, whether barren or fruit-bearing. A fruit tree’s essence is the fruit by which it is valued; man’s fruit is in his mouth. Just as a tree’s finest power is its fruit, which reveals its nature and goodness, so speech and intellect revealed through a person’s mouth are the fruit of this human tree. In this book, “mouth” generally signifies wisdom. When he speaks wisdom, he produces fruit and its clusters ripen; he is not a barren tree like one who lacks wisdom and does not open his mouth at the gate. Unlike an ordinary tree, however, whose owner is not necessarily satisfied by its fruit while others eat it, a person himself is satisfied by his fruit: wisdom’s fruit satisfies its owner’s soul with brightness and brings his powers to perfection. A person ascends toward perfection by two ladders, contemplation and action. Wisdom satisfies him personally; charitable and kind deeds performed by his hands are fruit that satisfies others who receive his good, while Hashem returns his recompense. Thus, the recompense of a man’s hands He returns to him. Reward differs from recompense: recompense follows the emotion aroused in the soul during the deed by its implanted traits—for example, charity arising from compassion or from love of one’s neighbor. According to this human emotional quality, Hashem repays him in accordance with his soul’s character. “Returning” differs from reward and recompense: one returns the thing itself, while reward gives something else in exchange. Hashem returns to him the very righteousness he gave others, so his soul loses nothing. In sum, he directly eats wisdom’s fruit, while the fruit of good deeds returns from Hashem as reward and recompense.

The fool’s way is upright in his eyes, but one who heeds counsel is wise. It says elsewhere that a way may appear upright to a man while its end is the ways of death. One path looks straight at first but leads to death and destruction; another initially seems full of thorns and pits but leads to paradise. Drawing one’s flesh with wine and pursuing bodily pleasures initially seems good and straight, but ends in death because the body decays and the self-indulgent person dies prematurely. The spiritual way—rejecting pleasures, withdrawing from this world, and following the soul—begins with thorns but leads to eternal paradise. The fool doubts and disbelieves wisdom’s laws; he will not heed counsel warning that the road appearing straight is the way of death. Only what seems temporarily good is upright in his eyes. He therefore strays from intelligence’s path and rests among the shades (21:16). But one who heeds counsel is wise. The sage, who has gathered wisdom’s laws into his soul and follows them, does not choose the way upright in his own eyes; he heeds wisdom’s counsel, which reveals its thorn-filled end, and chooses the path that seems initially difficult but leads to life and happiness.

A fool’s anger is known that very day, but a shrewd man conceals disgrace. Wisdom, understanding, and intelligence require patience and not displaying anger immediately. Even when anger exists within, it should not be revealed outwardly, for anger itself is an ugly trait and should be hidden as a disgrace demonstrating a corrupt disposition, as in “a man’s intelligence makes him slow to anger” and “one slow to anger possesses great understanding.” The fool, who has not implanted wisdom’s laws in his soul, is unaccustomed to restraining his spirit and delaying anger, as in “one short-tempered performs folly.” Therefore, on the very day he becomes angry it is known to everyone, because he expresses it in action. Wisdom and understanding command patience and prohibit vengeance: taking revenge or harming one who sinned against him violates wisdom’s laws. Even one who has not learned wisdom may act this way from shrewdness, knowing that if he rages his companion will insult him and observers will despise him. Thus the shrewd man conceals disgrace: to avoid humiliation he cunningly hides anger in his heart until he can take revenge without disgrace. This comes from shrewdness, not wisdom; wisdom commands him to conceal and eliminate the anger itself, preventing it from secretly ruling his spirit. The fool not only fails to suppress anger within his soul but announces it to others, bringing disgrace upon himself.

(17–19) One who breathes truth, etc.; there is one who speaks rashly, etc.; the lip of truth, etc. It pictures a man appearing before a judge against his companion and making a truthful claim, while the other brings a false witness. A wise judge distinguishes truth from falsehood through examination. The first sign is that one speaking truth speaks calmly and quietly because truth is with him; the liar speaks noisily, formally testifies, swears, and makes declarations to strengthen his words, multiplying deceit and schemes. Thus, one who breathes truth—even if he merely exhales it with the lightest movement of his lips—declares righteousness; this slight statement suffices to explain and establish justice, because his trustworthy report deserves belief. But a false witness, although formally testifying, declares deceit; deceit is readily recognizable in his words. Even if one speaks rashly through vows and oaths to strengthen his claim, like sword-thrusts that stab the litigant by condemning him unjustly, the tongue of the wise brings healing. “Tongue” denotes analytical speech: sages following wisdom’s laws investigate through understanding and its proofs, derive one matter from another, recognize the deceit, and heal the wounded party. It then explains the lip of truth. Lips are light, external speech; the tongue is elevated, logical, reflective discourse. Truth needs neither rhetoric nor clever deductions, for it stands eternally by itself without proofs. Thus even the lip of truth is established forever. But a tongue of falsehood, although presenting lies through logical arguments and evidence, lasts only for a moment, because the forgery and deceit are quickly recognized; a little truth dispels much falsehood.

Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but counselors of peace have joy. It contrasts devisers of evil with counselors of peace, as in “He makes peace and creates evil.” Peace sustains existence, while evil destroys it. Counselors of peace desire existence’s preservation; peace includes every good—domestic and civic peace. They seek the public’s welfare and counsel the preservation of goodness, uprightness, and justice. They are called counselors because they deliberate according to wisdom and truth; counsel normally aims at good and is given openly. Those who devise evil seek to destroy existence, demolish the world’s pillars, end civilization, and destroy truth and justice—false witnesses, evildoers, and destroyers of the public and individual. They plot secretly so no one knows; therefore their hearts are filled with deceit, for they must conceal their evil lest the community recognize and guard against them. They are always sad and anxious lest their evil and deceit become known. But counselors of peace are filled with joy: good rejoices in its deeds, while evil is continually saddened; deceit cannot dwell with joy because it is full of fear and trembling.

No iniquity will be caused to the righteous. The verb denotes preparing a cause for an outcome, as in “God caused it to come to his hand.” One transgression causes another: the Sages said that one who killed is providentially given an opportunity to kill again so that he will be exiled. But the righteous person who holds to justice’s ways has no cause that will bring him to perform any unjust iniquity; he will not commit it even unintentionally. On the contrary, one commandment draws another. For the wicked, one sin draws another until they are filled with evil, as one evil produces another until their measure is full.

Editing

Lying lips are an abomination to Hashem, but those who practice faithfulness are His delight. Abomination and delight are opposites, as are lying lips and practitioners of faithfulness. One who promises to perform something—whether a commandment, kindness, or good for another—speaks faithfully and proves trustworthy if he fulfills it; if he does not, he spoke falsely. One habitually promising without performing has lying lips and is an abomination to Hashem, because speech and action do not agree. Even if his words were only external lip-service, it is an abomination. One who practices faithfulness makes deed agree with word—speaking faithfully and performing—and is Hashem’s delight.

A shrewd man conceals knowledge, but the heart of fools proclaims folly. The fool driven by desire is not the doubting fool. The latter doubts everything, including wisdom’s laws, because he does not understand them. The former knows wisdom’s laws, but desire overpowers and defeats him, so he does not follow them; as in “fulfilled desire is sweet to the soul, but turning from evil is an abomination to fools.” Though he knows it is evil, desire makes departure from evil abhorrent. He therefore seeks excuses and casts doubt upon wisdom’s laws. Knowledge is clear certainty; folly is doubt, its opposite. The fool does not desire knowledge and prefers doubt as a mask for following his heart’s desire, as in “depart from a foolish man, for you will not know lips of knowledge”; “the tongue of the wise improves knowledge, but the mouth of fools pours out folly”; “the lips of the wise scatter knowledge, but the heart of fools is not so”; and “the heart of the discerning seeks knowledge, but the mouth of fools feeds upon folly.” Because his heart—the ruling power—drives him toward desire while he fears punishment, he calls upon folly and doubt for security, questioning Hashem’s punishments and wisdom’s laws governing the world; thus “one who trusts his own heart is a fool.” The shrewd man is not necessarily a sage who received all wisdom’s detailed laws, yet shrewdness prevents him from acting where doubt exists. He continually weighs his path and does not enter a doubtful road in darkness before understanding it, as in “the shrewd man’s wisdom is to understand his way, but the folly of fools is deceit.” Their folly and doubts deceive their own souls, for they truly know their folly is baseless. Therefore, “the simple inherit folly, but the shrewd crown themselves with knowledge,” and “every shrewd man acts with knowledge, but a fool spreads folly.”

Here it further explains the difference in their conduct:

• The shrewd man conceals knowledge. Even what he knows, he hides and reveals to no one. This distinguishes the shrewd from the wise, for (Proverbs 10:14), the wise store away knowledge but do not conceal it completely. They know through received wisdom’s laws and teach it to the many, whereas the shrewd man knows through his own investigation and guards it for himself rather than others.

• But the heart of fools, because their ruling power has been defeated by desire, necessarily calls upon folly for protection. They claim to depart from wisdom’s laws because they doubt them; they proclaim and publicize folly as a mask.

The hand of the diligent will rule. The diligent person is the opposite of both the lazy and the deceitful. He works without laziness, diligently and honestly rather than through deceit, and does not hasten to become rich without labor, as in “the thoughts of the diligent lead only to abundance … one who hastens leads only to want” (21:5). Through diligence he becomes rich; the lazy and deceitful become poor and downtrodden. It pictures the diligent as the wealthy people of the country, whose power grows until they rule the land, while deceit, impoverished and humbled, becomes tributary like slaves paying tribute to their masters.

Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down. Every trait lies hidden in the human soul until the spirit raises an image of it upon the heart. A person can raise or lower this image. He may awaken a good or evil image from his traits, and the spirit reveals and raises it to the heart to rule there—pride or humility, jealousy, desire, and the like. Anxiety, concern for the future, is also among the soul’s powers. When its image rules the heart, it consumes soul and flesh. Even a wealthy, tranquil person may continually grieve that his house will be destroyed, his wealth vanish, his children die, or enemies rule him. When anxiety rises upon the heart, the wise man gives two remedies: first, lower the image into the soul’s depths, where darkness covers it, by diverting attention from such thoughts; second, raise good images opposed to anxiety—picture a good future, a stable house filled with Hashem’s blessing, and hope for the end. Thus, when anxiety is in a man’s heart and rules it, either let him lower it, or a good word will gladden it, for a good image opposing the saddening evil image brings joy. The Sages likewise offered both interpretations: one said, “remove it from his mind,” and another, “discuss it with others.” Both are true and rest on the verse’s two parts. “Lower it” means remove it from thought; “a good word will gladden it” means divert it to other, good and joyful thoughts.

The righteous searches out his companion. The righteous person does not rely upon his own way, fearing that he may err. He is not necessarily a sage who learned wisdom’s laws from teachers; rather, through practical experience, observing righteous people and their conduct, he habitually acts wisely. He therefore examines and studies his companion—or adds to and improves his own deeds through his righteous companion. The wicked, however, trusts the road upright in his own eyes and learns from no one; the way of the wicked leads them astray.

(Proverbs 12:27) The deceitful man will not roast his game. The deceitful man is the opposite of the diligent. He gains profit through fraud, like a hunter who catches birds by deceit, as in (Jeremiah 5:27), like a cage full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit. He does not labor diligently to acquire wealth, but gains it through robbery and deceit. He must hide his game so that no one sees it and cannot display it to anyone. But a person’s precious wealth is the wealth of diligence: wealth gathered through diligent effort is precious wealth. “Diligent” describes the wealth, as above (Proverbs 12:24), the hand of the diligent will rule.

On the path of righteousness is life, and the way of its trail is toward no death. Way, path, and trail differ. A way is the great public road from city to city; a path branches from it toward villages; a trail is for individuals. Righteousness—the commandments between man and God—travels on a path, not a universal way but one particular to the people of the faith whom He sanctified. On this path is life, both in this world and the World to Come, as in “which a person shall perform and live through them.” Righteousness also has a trail followed by individuals such as Moses and Elijah, who sanctified themselves like ministering angels and performed Hashem’s righteousness. Their righteousness resembled that of the heavenly beings who are not mortal and over whom death held no power: Elijah entered alive among the heavenly beings, and Moses died by the Divine kiss. Although after shedding physicality and walking among the heavenly beings they entered the public way fixed for the heavenly world, while still clothed in matter their course was called a trail, because such exalted individuals are few. One who travels from that individual trail onto the way, gaining passage among the eternal beings, reaches no death; death is not found there at all.