A good name is preferable to great wealth. Possessions of wealth are imagined acquisitions; they do not adhere to a person or become part of him, and suddenly wealth is lost and vanishes through misfortune. But the name he acquires through his good deeds becomes part of his soul and never separates from him. The purpose of wealth beyond one's needs is to attain honor and have one's words obeyed, and a man of good name attains this more effectively. Great wealth also requires guarding and robs its owner of sleep. Not so a good name. Good favor is better than silver and gold. Silver and gold possess no intrinsic superiority; their value is conventional, assigned to them by agreement above other metals. Good favor is analogous: a person finds favor in the eyes of others by their agreement, yet this is better for him than silver and gold, because the favor is found in him personally rather than in something external. Moreover, what he could obtain from a ruler or official by giving silver and gold he can obtain more effectively by finding favor. A name depends upon deeds, while favor depends upon graciousness, as it says, “I know you by name, and you have also found favor in My eyes.” Correspondingly, wealth is his external possession, and a name—which is his own intrinsic acquisition—is preferable to it; favor, which is not a possession but is found in the eyes of another, is better than silver and gold received from others.

The rich and the poor meet; Hashem is the Maker of them all. This gives the reason that a good name is preferable to great wealth, for wealth is not a permanent possession. The rich and the poor meet. It depicts the rich and poor as not remaining in fixed positions, one standing on the side of wealth and the other on the side of poverty so that they never meet. Rather, they constantly ascend and descend a ladder, until the rich and the poor meet one another. At first, when the rich man ascended to the top of the ladder, the poor man descended from it and they met on the way. Later, when the poor man rises, the rich man has reached the top and begins to descend, for fortune is a wheel that turns in the world; the poor man, having reached the bottom, begins to rise, and they meet again. As the Sages said, the Holy One, blessed is He, makes ladders in heaven, impoverishing one and enriching another. Therefore it says, Hashem is the Maker of them all: Hashem continually makes people rich and poor, for so He established the governance of the world. The rich man will therefore ultimately descend and lose his wealth, while a good name, which never ends, is better than wealth.

The shrewd man sees evil and hides. The shrewd person is not necessarily wise in the laws of wisdom, but shrewdness has taught him to understand the path on which he travels and determine whether it contains any loss, as it says, “The wisdom of the shrewd is to understand his way.” He weighs and assesses whether evil may befall him in the future. Thus he sees evil—he perceives impending evil—and also hides, refusing to follow a path whose end is evil, as it says, “There is a way that seems upright before a man...” But the simple, the opposite of the shrewd, not only fail to look ahead and beware of future evil; they even pass through present evil. Therefore they are punished: beyond suffering the evil itself, they receive punishment for failing to take precautions when they should have done so.

The consequence of humility is fear of Hashem, wealth, honor, and life. The root of humility branches from comprehending the greatness of the Creator of the beginning, His immense power, and the existence He created, until a person realizes that he is as nothing before even some of His creatures. Even if he attains kingship, wisdom, might, and every virtue in this world, he knows that he is like a tiny ant before the great king who stands over him, and as nothing before the least of His angels. This thought ultimately brings fear of Hashem into his heart, so that he fears acting against His will. As the Rema writes: “I have set Hashem before me always... A person's conduct when sitting... is not the same... all the more so when he takes to heart that the King of kings, the Holy One, blessed is He, stands over him and sees his deeds...” One who inherits humility will inherit wealth and honor, for Hashem will elevate him measure for measure; and he will inherit life—both eternal life, because he guards against evil, and life in this world through Hashem's Providence. This is the opposite of the arrogant person, who removes fear of Hashem from before him and whose ways are ways of death.

Thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked. The straight path in the soul's conduct is the middle way. A path that deviates from the mean toward either the extreme of excess or the extreme of deficiency is a crooked path, turned away from the straight. He takes a parable from nature: temperate air is balanced and healthy for the body, but air tending to the extreme of heat burns the blood as redness, dryness, and fire prevail; this he calls snares, meaning burning coals. Air tending toward the extreme of deficiency allows cold to prevail and congeal the blood; this he calls thorns, an illness caused by excessive cold. Both kill the body. So too in the soul's conduct: at the extreme of excess a burning fire inflames him, while at the extreme of deficiency cold and weakness freeze him. Therefore one who guards his soul distances himself from the extremes and follows the straight, intermediate path.

Train a child according to his way. The verse commands two things. First, train the child: accustom him from youth to perfection in beliefs, deeds, and character traits. A habit acquired in youth produces a powerful imprint and a lasting impression on the soul that will not depart even in old age. By contrast, education begun in adulthood does not produce a fixed impression on the soul and may leave him in old age. Second, it commands that the training be according to his way, because every person is naturally suited to a different matter. In intellectual matters, some have sharp minds while others have straight but less acute intellects, and each must be taught according to his existing aptitude. In practical matters, some are suited to a particular craft or trait and will acquire it easily. This can be recognized in a child by his desire and by what he independently strives to do. He must be trained according to his way and according to the indications of what he is prepared for; then even when he grows old, he will not depart from it. This is not so if he is trained in something contrary to his nature.

The rich rules over the poor... One who sows injustice... One with a good eye... It is known from the histories of the nations that in ancient times the rich lent money to the poor at interest. The law was that if a borrower could not repay, the lender was entitled to take him, his wife, and his children as slaves and rule him with the rod as he wished. The rich lent to the needy, and through interest the borrowers collapsed completely and became destitute—the rash being worse off than the dal, for the dal has been reduced from his possessions, while the rash has nothing—and then became the lenders' slaves. But this repeatedly provoked rebellion among the borrowing populace; they killed the rich and took terrible vengeance upon them. As a result, rulers were repeatedly forced to enact laws canceling debts or paying them from the state treasury to quiet the revolt. At such times, the wealthy who had not lent at interest but had graciously supported the poor with charity were saved and remained honored and blessed among the people. Thus, the rich rules over the poor because the borrower is servant to the lender. Yet in the end, one who sows injustice by lending at interest to perpetrate wrongdoing will reap iniquity, for then the rod of his wrath will end—the rod with which he rules the poor—because they will rise against him and kill him. Then one with a good eye will be blessed, for he gave of his bread to the poor: not one who lent at interest and reduced the poor man to destitution, but one who gave him bread and assisted him with his money without profit; he will be blessed by the people.

Drive out the scoffer and contention will depart. Contention is the matter or claim over which a person has a legal dispute with his fellow. I have already explained that contention is aroused by several causes: by hatred, as it says, “Hatred arouses contentions,” and by an angry or wrathful man, as it says, “A wrathful man provokes contention,” because without some cause people would not take offense over trivial matters and litigate or quarrel about them. Here it says that a scoffer also arouses contention, for the scoffer mocks everything and through his mockery unleashes strife. It therefore advises every person to drive the scoffer from his home and not associate with him; with him contention will depart. When there is no contention, they will not need to go to court and suffer the humiliation of litigation. Therefore it says, and judgment and disgrace will cease, for judgment comes from the court's examination of the contentious matter.

One who loves purity of heart, whose lips are gracious—the king is his friend. Having commanded that the scoffer, whose way is to unleash contention, be driven away and not befriended, it now describes the opposite: a man who loves everyone, is pure of heart, and has grace upon his lips. This is the opposite extreme from the scoffer, whose heart is full of dross, whose lips are full of quarrel, and who hates everyone. But the faithful friend whose heart and mouth agree and who speaks not mockery but gracious words is worthy that even the king should be his friend and companion.

The eyes of Hashem preserve knowledge. The laws of wisdom have no demonstrative proof but are received by tradition, and fools despise these laws and cast doubts upon them. Understanding and intellect, though they operate through rational investigation, are not exercised by many people; nor can they be exercised without established foundations upon which their investigations rest. Through Hashem's Providence, however, He implanted knowledge in the human heart: the first principles and the inference from effects to causes through the senses, by which man attains clear knowledge. He can then use the power of understanding to derive one thing from another and arrive at truths. This is through Providence: the eyes of Hashem preserve knowledge, and thereby He overturns the words of the traitor who comes to deny the truths.

The lazy man says, “There is a lion outside; I will be murdered in the streets.” There is a difference between “outside” and “street”:

• “Outside” is the area behind the houses, which is not public property and is used only by the residents of the courtyard;

• while a “street” is the marketplace, where the people of the city gather.

The normal situation is that wild animals are found in forests far from habitation, and robbers on the roads. In a city, however—even in its outer courtyards, and certainly in its streets—there are no robbers, much less wild animals.

But because the lazy man is too indolent to leave his house, his imaginative faculty makes it seem to him as though:

• outside, where crowds are not commonly found, there are wild animals;

• and in the street there are murderers, though no wild animals are present there because they fear the multitude. In this way he finds an excuse for his laziness and refuses to move from his house.

This is also a parable for one too lazy to engage in Torah and wisdom:

• If told to study “outside”—to engage in investigation and wisdom outside the Torah—he says that a lion is there, as the next verse explains: The mouth of strange teachings is a deep pit. He fears that he may fall into heresy;

• and if told to go into the “street”—to study matters commonly examined by the many—he fears being “murdered” by people, meaning that he will not understand or attain what he studies.

All of this comes from his laziness.

The mouth of strange teachings is a deep pit; one abhorred by Hashem will fall there. “The mouth of strange teachings” means the paths of the wisdom and philosophy of idolaters—and I have explained that the term “mouth” is used of wisdom. It resembles a deep pit. A pit is an excavation made to trap people, and when it is deep, one who falls into it cannot escape. So too their teachings ensnare souls in heresy and denial, and one can no longer emerge from there into the light of life. Nor can he hope that Hashem will help him emerge from the pit, for one abhorred by Hashem will fall there: whoever falls there is under Hashem's indignation; Hashem's curse and wrath rest upon him, for he has been trapped in heresy and destruction. As the Sages said, one who separates himself from heresy dies immediately, and as it says, “None who enter her return.”

Foolishness is bound to the heart of a child. Foolishness consists of doubts about the ways of wisdom and opposition to them. When foolishness exists in an adult, it takes root in the depths of his heart and cannot be separated from him, as it says, “A fool rejects his father's discipline,” and “Even if you pound the fool...” But in a child's heart foolishness has not yet taken root deep within; it is merely bound to his heart, like one thing tied to another with a cord. If the connecting cord is severed, the bond is removed. So too foolishness is still external to him and merely attached to him; through the rod of discipline one can distance it from him.

One who oppresses the poor in order to increase for him. This refers to one who oppresses a poor man, though his intention is not to rob him but to treat the money as a loan and have the poor man pay interest so that he can later give him a large sum at one time. Even if he does not keep the money himself but gives it to a rich man to hold at interest, it is nevertheless only for loss. Alternatively, it means one who oppresses the poor man by withholding his wages so that a large amount will accumulate for him at one time and thereby raise him from poverty to wealth. He oppresses the poor man and withholds his wages while increasing it for him, investing the money for the poor man's benefit so that it grows, and afterward gives it to a rich man—for when he returns the large accumulated sum, the recipient thereby becomes rich. Although he imagines that he has done him a great favor, it is nevertheless only for loss. He oppressed a poor man and gave to a rich man: though he now gives him the money and makes him rich, at the time of the oppression the victim was poor and suffered the disgrace of hunger and distress. What benefit is there in giving it later when he is rich, and how can that atone for the pressure and hardship the man suffered through him? The philosopher has already explained in his book of ethics that a condition of the discerning person is that, whenever he arranges his actions to bring about a good end, he must intend to reach it by a good and proper path. Otherwise he is like one who derives a true conclusion from a false syllogism whose middle term is false.

Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise, and apply your heart to my knowledge. The words of the wise concerning wisdom are words of tradition, for they received the laws of wisdom from Hashem. Wisdom has no demonstrations and must be received from mouth to ear. Yet King Solomon said in Proverbs that its purpose is “to know wisdom and discipline,” for through his parables he explained the laws of wisdom with analogies until knowledge could be attained from them—“knowledge” meaning clear comprehension of a matter. Therefore you must first incline your ear and hear the words of the wise by tradition. After accepting them through tradition and fixing them in your heart because you trust Hashem, Who gave the laws of wisdom and knows their truth, then apply your heart to my knowledge, according to how I have explained those laws through demonstrations of knowledge. If you do not first accept them by tradition, my knowledge will not help you, because you will deny their foundations.

For it is pleasant if you guard them in your belly; they will be established together upon your lips. After you have accepted the words of the wise, my knowledge is beneficial to you—that is, the way I have used parables and taught you to know wisdom through knowledge—for by this means you can express them with your lips. I have already explained that the lips signify knowledge: a matter that one knows clearly can be spoken and its truth declared with his lips. This is a great advantage. If you guard them in your belly, they are moving and wandering as long as you cannot bring them forth upon your lips—meaning that you do not know them as knowledge—but merely preserve them in your belly through the tradition you received. They move and wander and are not fixed within you like immovable nails. But they will be established together when they are upon your lips. If they emerge from your belly to your lips and are expressed with lips of knowledge, they become established; they no longer move but find a firm base from which they will not depart.

So that your trust may be in Hashem, I have made it known to you today—even to you. This returns to the preceding statement, Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise, which serves so that your trust may be in Hashem. That is, hear the laws of wisdom from the wise men who received them from Hashem, and trust Hashem, Who gave the laws of wisdom and knows their secrets and truth; do not doubt them at all. Afterward, apply your heart to my knowledge, for I have made known to you today the reasons of wisdom and explained them through demonstrations of knowledge, so that even you may know. Beyond trusting Hashem, Who knows their reasons and secrets, even you will know what you are capable of attaining from them.

Have I not written for you threefold matters of counsels and knowledge? As it says, “He spoke three thousand proverbs,” the Book of Proverbs is divided into three sections. Therefore it says, Have I not written for you threefold matters of counsels, all filled with counsel for yourself concerning how to conduct yourself, and knowledge, so that you will possess clear knowledge with which to teach others. Corresponding to “counsels” it says in the next verse, “to make known to you,” and corresponding to “knowledge” it says, “to return words...”

To make known to you the certainty of words of truth, so that you may return words of truth to those who sent you. There is a difference between certainty and truth. A thing is true when it is inherently true even if a person does not know its reason; it is certain when its truth is revealed and clear to everyone. That is, the parables I composed will make known to you the certainty and truth of words of truth, so that you understand the truth in its true nature—the reasons and knowledge underlying the truth you received by tradition. You will also be able to return words of truth to those who sent you, for once you attain them through demonstrations of knowledge and they are established upon your lips, you can answer others and clearly make known the reasons and knowledge of wisdom.

Do not rob the poor because he is poor. Although you are warned not to rob a wealthy person either, there the prohibition is because robbery is forbidden. When robbing a poor person, however, besides being warned against robbery, you are specifically warned not to rob him because he is poor. Likewise, do not crush the afflicted at the gate of judgment, where he has no one among the judges to hear him against you.

For Hashem will plead their cause. When a wealthy person is robbed or his judgment is perverted, he has power of his own, and the matter concerns only monetary law.

This is not so with the poor and afflicted, who have no one to plead on their behalf. Then Hashem will plead their cause, for Hashem pleads the cause of the weak who possess no power.

It is then no longer a matter of monetary law; rather, He will rob the life of those who rob them.

Do not befriend a man of anger. There is a difference between a man of anger and a man of wrath. A man of anger takes revenge openly and does not retain wrath in his heart; concerning him, the verse commands that one not befriend him. A man of wrath keeps anger in his heart and does not take revenge immediately. This is worse, and the verse commands that one not associate with him at all, even outside a relationship of friendship and companionship.

Lest you learn his ways. By becoming accustomed to his ways, you will act likewise, and take a snare for your soul, in which you will later be trapped.

Do not be among those who strike hands. This refers to one who assumes direct liability as a guarantor; it adds that you should not even be among those who guarantee debts without assuming direct liability.

If you have nothing with which to pay, why should he take your bed from beneath you? If the borrower himself has nothing with which to pay, the creditor is forbidden to enter his house to take a pledge. But he may enter a guarantor's house to take collateral, as the Sages expound: “You shall not enter his house”—but you may enter the house of the guarantor. Thus you are in a worse position than the borrower himself.

Do not move an ancient boundary that your fathers established. This warning was already stated in the Torah: You shall not move your fellow's boundary, which the earlier generations established in your inheritance (Deuteronomy 19:14). There it refers to one who encroaches upon his fellow's boundary. Solomon learned from it that one must likewise not remove any boundary established by the earlier generations, such as customs instituted by the ancestors to endure forever; therefore it says, an ancient boundary. The Yalkut likewise states in the name of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai: If you see a custom practiced by our ancestors, do not change it—for example, Abraham instituted the morning prayer—thus it says, which your fathers established. The Sifrei (§188) similarly asks: From where do we know that one may not substitute the words of Rabbi Eliezer for those of Rabbi Yehoshua? From Do not move an ancient boundary. See below (23:10).

Have you seen a man skilled in his work? According to the parable, a man may be such a great craftsman that he stands before kings to perform the work of kings. Although he is quick and skilled in his work and is capable of working for common people as well, he will no longer stand before obscure men. Once chosen for the king's work, he will not lower his stature to perform the labor of obscure men. It also means that he cannot stand before obscure men, because they do not understand refined crafts and wondrous artistry, but only coarse work; his craft is not valued in their eyes. This is a metaphor and moral lesson for man. His work in this world is the work of the great King: to keep His charge, commandments, and teachings, and to comprehend His truth. One who is skilled in his work and fit to stand before the King will no longer lower himself to serve matter and the obscure animal soul or neglect the King's service—especially since the spiritual work he performs for his King will not be accepted or appreciated by these obscure beings, who dwell in the dark gloom of matter.