In this part of the chapter, King Solomon shifts from the discussion of chance and fortune to the praise of wisdom. Until now he stated, "bread is not to the wise" - do not expect wisdom alone to provide your sustenance and grant you all good fortune; and from here on, he comes to show that wisdom possesses tremendous power, a power that surpasses physical might, weapons, and armies. These verses are brief, yet Chazal, the Rishonim, and the commentators found an entire world within them: from the salvation of Noach and Egypt, to each individual's personal battle against his yetzer hara.
גַּם־זֹה רָאִיתִי חׇכְמָה תַּחַת הַשָּׁמֶשׁ וּגְדוֹלָה הִיא אֵלָי׃ - This too I have seen as wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me.
One homiletic teaching of Chazal interprets this verse in a negative light. Rav Shmuel bar Imi said: This refers to the calculations of swindlers in their deceit - such as one who mixes water into wine, or makes the beam of a scale longer on one side and shorter on the other. That is, there are people who scheme under the sun, and their "wisdom" is purely cunning. Diluting wine with water is not a modern invention; it has been around forever: you add water, and immediately you have a larger quantity of wine. Fortunately, with gasoline it does not mix well and immediately ruins the engine, otherwise we would experience the very same schemes there too.
A second scheme involves the arms of a balance scale, where one arm is slightly longer than the other. When placing the merchandise on the longer arm, the counterweight on the shorter arm must be heavier to balance it - so the customer always pays more. The swindler does not make the difference noticeable, so that people will not catch on. The Gemara even describes a far more ingenious trick: the balance beam was hollow, containing an iron ball inside, with a notch in the middle of the tube where the ball would rest. When weighing, he would tilt the scale so the ball rolled to one side, and then place the weight on the other side - and if the ball weighed a hundred grams, he profited a hundred grams on every kilo. Afterward, he would level the scale, the ball would return to the notch, and everything remained hidden inside. Regarding such practices, the Gemara remarks: Woe to me if I speak, woe to me if I do not speak. If I speak, swindlers might learn a new trick; if I do not speak, people will be cheated without even realizing it. At least now they can be on guard.
The Ibn Ezra explains the verse positively: since he had previously said, "bread is not to the wise," which might imply that one should not expect much from wisdom, he now comes to praise the wise person - showing that there is great benefit in human wisdom, as will be explained in the following verses through the story of the wise man who saved the city.
The Sforno adds: sometimes wisdom can triumph over the natural order and chance, especially when events do not unfold abruptly. A person who acts with wisdom can overcome even what was decreed upon him by the planetary alignment - the celestial order through which divine influence descends into the world. Thus we find regarding Chanah, who through her wisdom to pray in a specific manner and with heartfelt supplication succeeded in overcoming the natural order. And "it seemed great to me" - the Metzudat David explains: this wisdom is esteemed in my eyes, for it has the power to effect change.
The Imrei Shefer notes that from this point forward, Solomon returns to speaking in short proverbs of wisdom, dwelling on the virtue of wisdom which he discussed in earlier chapters. "This too I have seen as wisdom under the sun" - beyond all the virtues mentioned, I have observed another very distinguished quality in wisdom, and it is great and esteemed in my eyes. And what is it?
עִיר קְטַנָּה וַאֲנָשִׁים בָּהּ מְעָט וּבָא־אֵלֶיהָ מֶלֶךְ גָּדוֹל וְסָבַב אֹתָהּ וּבָנָה עָלֶיהָ מְצוֹדִים גְּדֹלִים׃ - There was a small city with few men in it, and a great king came against it, surrounded it, and built large siege works against it.
וּמָצָא בָהּ אִישׁ מִסְכֵּן חָכָם וּמִלַּט־הוּא אֶת־הָעִיר בְּחׇכְמָתוֹ וְאָדָם לֹא זָכַר אֶת־הָאִישׁ הַמִּסְכֵּן הַהוּא׃ - And there was found in it a poor wise man, and he saved the city by his wisdom; yet no one remembered that same poor man.
וְאָמַרְתִּי אָנִי טוֹבָה חׇכְמָה מִגְּבוּרָה וְחׇכְמַת הַמִּסְכֵּן בְּזוּיָה וּדְבָרָיו אֵינָם נִשְׁמָעִים׃ - Then I said: Wisdom is better than strength, yet the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heeded.
These three verses form a single continuous narrative: a small city with few people in it; a great king came and built siegeworks against it - meaning, he placed it under siege; and in the end, there was a poor, wise man in the city who delivered the city through his wisdom against that great king; and yet, no one remembered him. What is this referring to? Our Sages expounded this parable in several different ways.
The first interpretation: "A small city" - this is the world. "And few men within it" - this is the generation of Enosh and the generation of the Flood. "And a great king came against it and surrounded it" - this is the Holy One, blessed be He. "And built great bulwarks around it" - for He prepared it for the Flood. "And there was found in it a poor wise man" - this is Noach. "And he saved the city by his wisdom" - for he would say to them: "Senseless people, tomorrow the flood is coming, repent!" But it did not help; "yet no man remembered that poor man" - they paid no attention to his words. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: "You did not remember him, but I will remember him," as it is stated: "And God remembered Noach."
Another interpretation: "A small city" is Egypt; "and few men within it" are the Egyptians; "and a great king came against it and surrounded it" is the wicked Pharaoh; "and built great bulwarks around it." "And there was found in it a poor wise man" - this is Yosef; "and he saved the city by his wisdom" - for he told Pharaoh, "Let Pharaoh appoint overseers"; were it not for him, all of Egypt would have perished in the famine. "Yet no man remembered that poor man" - "Now there arose a new king over Egypt who did not know Yosef." The Holy One, blessed be He, said: "You did not remember him" - and in the plain sense, the Midrash means that you are destined to forget him - "and I will remember him," as it is stated: "And Yosef was the ruler over the land"; I am destined to remember him and grant him great success.
Another interpretation: "A small city" is Egypt; "and few men within it" are the brothers of Yosef; "and a great king came against it and surrounded it" is Yosef, who was already king; "and built great bulwarks around it" - these are the three decrees he issued to ensure that the brothers would come to him: that no slave may enter Egypt, that no man may enter with two donkeys, and that no man may enter without writing down his name, his father's name, and his grandfather's name. "And there was found in it a poor wise man" - this is Yehudah; "and he saved the city by his wisdom" - for he said, "I will guarantee him." "Yet no man remembered" - you did not remember him, but I will remember him, as it is stated: "And he sent Yehudah before him... to direct before him unto Goshen."
Another interpretation: "A small city" is Egypt; "and few men within it" is the people of Israel, as it is stated: "With seventy souls your fathers went down to Egypt." "And a great king came against it" is Pharaoh; "and surrounded it and built great bulwarks around it" - for he decreed harsh decrees against Israel. "And there was found in it a poor wise man" - this is Moshe, as it is stated: "Thus said Hashem: Around midnight..."; "and he saved the city by his wisdom" - as it is stated: "And they shall take of the blood," and through this, Israel was saved when the Destroyer passed through. "Yet no man remembered that poor man" - after they entered the Land and followed after idolatry, forgetting what Moshe had done for them when he brought them out of Egypt; the Holy One, blessed be He, said: "You did not remember him, but I will remember him," as it is stated: "Then he remembered the days of old, of Moshe and his people."
Another interpretation: "A small city" is Sinai; "and few men within it" are Israel; "and a great king came against it" is the Holy One, blessed be He; "and surrounded it and built great bulwarks around it" - these are the 248 positive mitzvot and the 365 negative mitzvot. "And there was found in it a poor wise man" - this is Moshe, as it is stated: "A wise man scales a city of warriors," for he ascended on High. "And he saved the city by his wisdom" - as it is stated: "No hand shall touch it," for he warned them not to approach the mountain. "Yet no man remembered" - the Holy One, blessed be He, said: "You did not remember him, but I will remember him," as it is written: "Remember the Torah of Moshe My servant."
And the final interpretation in this collection: "A small city" is Sinai; "and few men within it" are Israel; "and a great king came against it" is the Evil Inclination; "and built great bulwarks around it" - as it is stated: "These are your gods, O Israel." "And there was found in it a poor wise man" - this is Moshe, as it is stated: "Why, Hashem, should Your wrath burn against Your people?"; for in the wake of the Golden Calf, they deserved destruction, and Moshe was the poor wise man who saved them through his wisdom - standing and praying before the Omnipresent. "Yet no man remembered that poor man" - the Holy One, blessed be He, said: "You did not remember him, but I will remember him," as it is stated: "Therefore He said that He would destroy them, had not Moshe, His chosen one, stood in the breach."
On the words "and he saved the city by his wisdom," Rav Saadia Gaon comments: this comes to teach you that wisdom saves what armies cannot, and protects where physical might fails. After previously discussing the swift, the mighty, and the race, he comes to teach that wisdom is superior to all - and even though it is degraded, as will be explained later, its loftiness surpasses strength and might, holding precedence and superiority over them.
As is known, the Malbim did not write a commentary on Kohelet, but in his commentary on Mishlei on the verse "A wise man scales a city of mighty men," he explains our verse as well. He notes that this was already allegorized in the book of Kohelet: "A small city with few people within it" refers to the war man wages against worldly desire. The soul is depicted as dwelling in a city - the body is called a city - and the city is small with few inhabitants, meaning the spiritual forces are few. By contrast, the bodily forces, desires, and material impulses are numerous; moreover, nature and the senses actively assist them. For one cannot see Gan Eden, but can only believe in it; yet to see immediate gratification from physical indulgence - that one sees directly. If one steals, one profits immediately, and likewise in all matters of desire, a person receives gratification right here and now. Thus, all the bodily forces oppose the soul's forces, aided by physical nature and the senses pulling toward bodily desires. And who can overcome them? "A poor, wise man delivered the city by his wisdom" - this is the wisdom that rescues the soul, ensuring that the "old and foolish king," namely the Yetzer Hara (the evil inclination), does not overpower it. And as the Imrei Shefer explains, Chazal interpreted this passage as referring to the body and the Yetzer Hara, but it can also be understood according to its literal meaning.
The Imrei Shefer explains: It is well known that there are people who labor tirelessly over many things yet achieve no results; while on the other hand, there is a wise man who holds no power, is not famous, and has no connections in high places, yet he succeeds precisely where everyone else fails, capable where no one else is. However, if this man is poor and unknown, the memory of his wisdom vanishes from the earth, and no one remembers him.
An example of this: historians today claim that the true inventor of the telephone was not Alexander Graham Bell, but someone who preceded him, who simply lacked publicity and fanfare. The same is said of the invention of the electric light bulb: Edison was well-connected and highly publicized, and while he indeed conducted many experiments, it is said that the first person to invent the bulb was someone else about two years earlier, who even published research on it - yet no one remembers his name. This is the meaning of "yet no man remembered that same poor man."
And despite all this, "Then said I: Wisdom is better than strength." Sometimes a war is raging, and a wise man steps forward with a plan to win it, yet no one remembers him. He has no public relations; generals and prominent figures enjoy far greater acclaim. He is not famous, and so "the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard." But the truth is that the power of a wise man exceeds all manner of physical might. A mighty warrior possesses strength, but if he does not know how to wield it intelligently, a wise man can devise a clever tactic and bring him down - just as David came with a small stone and brought down Goliath the giant. The mighty warrior does not necessarily emerge victorious, which is why "wisdom is better than strength": a wise man can invent a single thing that decides the entire war.
And why look far? Consider a brilliant mind who discovered something - not to suggest that this invention is an ideal for the world - Einstein, from whose theories atomic energy emerged. With all the armies of Europe and America, the war could not be decisively ended; the Blitz on London did not decide it, nor did tons of bombs dropped over Germany. The turning point came through a single bomb - nicknamed "Little Boy" - a small man delivering the city by his wisdom. A wise man sits and conceives a formula, achieving what all the generals and military commanders could not: Hiroshima, Nagasaki, the battle ended, and surrender was declared. This is not cited in praise. Our pride as Jews does not lie in inventing bombs, and weaponry is not our craft. Whoever looks at Greek, Italian, or other pantheons finds swords and weapons of war; only in the Jewish heritage will one find nothing of the sort - one finds an ancient menorah, tefillin from two thousand years ago, a shofar. Nor was Einstein himself an observant servant of Hashem, though he was a believer: he remarked that only a fool could believe the Holy One, blessed be He, played dice when creating the universe, meaning that the world came into being by chance and randomness. It was clear to him that everything was designed, and whoever sees how purposeful the world is recognizes there is a Creator - yet he did not reach the level of observing mitzvot. This is brought merely as an analogy to illustrate how a single person, through his wisdom, can decide what tons of bombs could not. This is the principle stated by the Imrei Shefer: sometimes a little wisdom is superior to much might. And as for that small, wise man - in this specific case he was well remembered, but in many cases, no one remembers that the battle was decided by his hand alone.
Rabbi Shalom Schwadron, whose inspiring discourses were delivered to yeshivah students in Chevron, dedicated an entire lecture to these verses. He raises four perplexing questions.
The first question: "There was a small city with few men in it, and there came a great king against it." Who can understand such a thing? The United States does not dispatch its entire army to capture a tiny outpost; they send a company or a division. An entire army is deployed when fighting multiple armies. If the city was small and the men in it few, why did a "great king" come, and moreover, "built great siege works against it," arriving with massive armaments? Send a small squad, and in short order the city will fall!
The second question: After the great king arrived to conquer it, he did not enter inside. "And besieged it, and built great siege works against it" - barricades all around, a siege, letting no one in or out. But you came to conquer! Breach the wall and march in! You are a great king and the city is small - why do you need to surround it and construct siege works instead of entering directly and destroying its defenders?
The third question, which is even more difficult: Subsequently, a poor, wise man arrived, without weapons, without even a stone and a pouch like King David, and delivered the city through his wisdom. Of what use is wisdom against a barrage of artillery, against a great king who surrounds the city and erects siege towers against it? The verse does not even tell us what this wisdom was or how he operated.
The fourth question: "Yet no man remembered that same poor man." He vanquished the king - how could no one remember him? Did no one erect a monument for him, award him a citation of valor, or praise him? Moreover, the meaning of "did not remember" is that the next time they needed him, no one remembered him: when the king returned, no one thought to say, "Wait, there was a poor, wise man here who saved us last time, does anyone have his contact information?" Not only that, but the king himself returns - having been defeated once, why does he seek defeat again? And once more everyone is terrified as before. As Chazal teach: at the time when the Yetzer Hara holds sway, no one remembers the Yetzer Tov (the good inclination) - when the evil inclination prevails, not only is there no struggle, but one does not even remember that a good inclination exists; a person is like a captive clinging to his desire, not even mindful that a good inclination is there.
Reb Shalom Schwadron prefaced the answer to all four questions with a parable. He was once in England to strengthen people and deliver shiurim, and his hosts said to him: "There is a wax museum here, something very interesting, magnificent, grand, and tremendous." "What do I have to do with a wax museum?" he asked. They told him: "One can learn mussar from everything." He said: "Fine, I will go; perhaps we will learn something from it" - and indeed, an entire shmuess emerged from that museum. He was reminded of Rabbi Akiva Eiger, of whom it is told that he once arrived in a prominent city, and they wanted to take him to luxurious gardens to relax a bit. They brought him, sat him down facing all the greenery and beautiful sights, and he turned to them, shaking himself from his thoughts, and asked: "Where is the baby?" He was certain they had brought him to a brit milah where he was to be the sandak, since they had brought him to such magnificent gardens, and he was sitting and waiting: when does the brit begin? Such a concept as sightseeing never even crossed his mind. And do not wonder at this: even the Chida, when he was in England, visited the zoo in order to recite the blessing said over a monkey and an elephant, as he recounts in Ma'agal Tov, where he described his travels.
In the museum, Reb Shalom related, one sees figures of kings from all eras, from the beginnings of England and America, all the kings of the world - about one hundred and fifty kings, from the first Pharaoh to George V. Each one sits on his royal throne, bearing a sword, looking heroic and mighty, his cheeks ruddy; you see him seemingly alive, healthy, and breathing. And when he entered, he saw two police officers at the entrance, guarding and directing those entering and leaving. He approached them to ask where to go, and they just stared blankly - until it became clear that they, too, were made of wax. That was the initial shock: you are certain these are human beings, and it turns out they are not. And when you look closely at figures that look completely identical to a living person, you realize that there is no spirit in them, no vitality at all. True, it looks real, and perhaps in photographs people would not notice - but in reality, there is no substance to it. Said Reb Shalom: "When I saw that, Baruch Hashem, an answer to all the questions occurred to me."
Along comes the Yetzer Hara with siege-works and nets, with tanks and airplanes. You asked: If he possesses such weapons and such an arsenal, let him enter the city! And the answer is: it is all made of wax. Cardboard airplanes, cardboard missiles, like Saddam Hussein had - none of it is real. And what is the entire power of the Yetzer Hara? To terrify a person. That is how he prevails: he strikes fear, puts into one's head: "Woe, what shall we do? This is a difficult test, how can we cope with this?" But had you known in advance that these are not real tanks, but merely noise, you would not have been alarmed.
Today, this is called psychological warfare. In Vietnam, a harsh and bloody war from which America bled for many years, they would set up loudspeakers in the jungles and announce in their language: "You are surrounded, surrender." And why look so far? In the Yom Kippur War, the Egyptians broadcast in Hebrew - today people recall how comical it sounded: "We are already in Tel Aviv and will soon destroy everyone," with broken grammar - but broadcasting news to the enemy's ears is psychological warfare. And they did not invent it: the Yetzer Hara invented psychological warfare, making noise and terrifying as if who knows what. And what is it really, after all? Shofars and clay pitchers. That too was psychological warfare - noise and blaring booms, with nothing behind it.
And who knows this truth? Only the wise man. Everyone else panics; everyone is already sitting and drafting surrender documents: "This is dangerous, it is terrifying, soon he will kill us all." But the wise man knows that all one needs to do is expose the bluff, that there is nothing here at all - and with that, "he saved the city." Notice: it does not say, "and he killed the king." There is no need to kill the king, because there is no king and there is nothing - merely an illusion, only an appearance and an intimidation tactic.
Rav Chasman gave a parable for this: A villager scraped penny to penny because he heard there was a silent movie theater - in the era before sound cinema, when there was no sound, only moving pictures, and people paid good money to enter and watch the pictures flickering on the wall. The villager entered and was in shock: he saw people on the wall, trains, moving carriages, and he was astonished. But feeling he could not see well, he took a flashlight and turned it on to illuminate - and everyone shouted at him: "Turn off the light!" And everything vanished. It turned out that everything was an illusion: flickering pictures, and when you shed a little light, you realize there is nothing there. So too, says Reb Shalom Schwadron, the Yetzer Hara is an illusion: he creates hesitation and fear of confronting him, because you are convinced it will be hard and complicated - but it is all imagination.
And why does the king stand outside and not enter? Because in truth, he has no strength. The entire power of the Yetzer Hara comes only from what you open for him. And this is what the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Cain: "Sin crouches at the entrance" - the Yetzer crouches outside, waiting for the first opening. And what is that opening? Doubt. Dilemma. The "maybe." Even if one does not decide to commit the sin, but it is already perceived as an option - that is it; that is enough for the Yetzer. He already has a foot in the door, you will no longer be able to close the doors, and from then on he conquers. But on his own, he cannot enter; if there is no opening, and if you did not open it first, he has no power.
This is what the wise man discerned, and he saved the city - he said to everyone: "Gentlemen, no illusions; there is no king here and there is nothing here, he is only intimidating." And the question arises: and the wise man himself, how did he know? After all, everyone saw real things; they saw a king encircling the city, a terrifying sight. How was everyone mistaken while he alone understood that it was an illusion? Especially since he is neither a miracle worker nor a prophet - Shlomo calls him "poor" (misken).
Says Reb Shalom Schwadron: He is not a miracle-working sage, nor is he a prophet, but he contemplates. He thinks to himself: This is a small city, so why did the great king come with bulwarks and siege-works and with his entire arsenal? If he truly has power, why does he need all this? And we have already discussed that one who makes a lot of noise usually has no real substance. Still waters run deep; but one who must make noise knows that without the noise he will make no impression - which means it is all mere impression and there is no real substance there. One who has real power does not need to make sounds; he accomplishes his objective in a single moment. Therefore, when the king arrives with threats - "Be aware that I am coming, and beware of me!" - and with all these weapons, against a city that is small, like a little village, where he could just bring ten soldiers and an elite unit and finish it off; from the fact that he brings his entire army and builds siege-works, the wise man reaches the inescapable conclusion: it is a sign that he has no real power. One who has power does not need to threaten and make noise; he simply acts.
Incidentally, this is how Pharaoh's stubbornness was explained previously. Pharaoh was no fool; Egypt was a land of wise men, and when Scripture wishes to praise Solomon, it says, "And Solomon's wisdom excelled... all the wisdom of Egypt." In his wisdom, Pharaoh argued: If the Holy One, blessed be He, can take them - let Him take them! Why does He not simply take them? It must be a sign that He lacks the power. And why, in truth, did Hashem not take them immediately? Precisely so that Pharaoh would fall into this misconception. This is the meaning of "that I have made sport of the Egyptians" - giving Pharaoh room to err and think that Hashem is weak, the proof being: He asks of me, He pleads with me, He comes again and again and implores; if He were truly all-powerful, let Him just take them and leave! This is what led Pharaoh to remain stubborn and absorb plague after plague, in order that he would pay the full price.
This is what Ulla said, citing the popular proverb: Isteira balagena kish kish karya - a single coin in a jug makes a loud rattling noise, precisely because there is only one coin inside. An isteira is a coin, a lagin is a jug: a small coin makes a lot of noise because it is really worth very little. David also knew this when he went out against Goliath: If Goliath is so mighty, why does he not simply advance and strike? Rather, Goliath was a physical giant but lacked true inner courage of heart, as the Malbim explains there. David therefore knew he could defeat him, for he was all bluster and talk. When a person constantly needs to sell himself and boast, it is a sign that there is no substance to him. David waited until Goliath tripped over his own words, and then he knew: I can overcome him. And this was the conclusion of the wise man in our city: If the king is making so much noise, spreading so much propaganda and issuing endless threats, it is a sign that he is worth very little, a sign that he is entirely a fraud - and with this realization, he saved the city.
How does this apply to our lives? As discussed, the strategy of the Yetzer is that when a person wishes to undertake something, it does not tell him directly, "Do not do it." Rather, it frightens him about the future. You want to start Daf Yomi? Sure, big deal, Masechet Berachot is easy. But let us see you later in Shabbat! And what about Eruvin? Forget it, it is a waste of time; just take one tractate and study it slowly over time. And will he actually study it? No. The main goal is simply to make him abandon the project. What did the Yetzer do? It frightened him away.
A person wants to take upon himself not to carry on Shabbat. He read that the matter of the city eruv is not simple, and especially according to Maran Beit Yosef one cannot easily rely upon it, so he decides to adopt the stringency. Just before he does, the Yetzer arrives: Do you know what you are getting yourself into? What kind of ordeal you are entering? Soon you will get married and won't be able to go out with a stroller; in the winter you get a runny nose and won't be able to carry a tissue in your pocket; and sometimes you will see an interesting bulletin in shul and won't be able to take it home! It constructs unreal problems for a person, because they are purely hypothetical future worries rather than present realities - "and built great siegeworks against it." But the wise man delivers the city through his wisdom: he tells the Yetzer, "Leave me alone, do not try to terrify me. Right now, you admit it isn't hard - can I begin Masechet Berachot? I will begin. What will happen later? We will cross that bridge when we come to it; whatever we cannot do, we cannot do, but right now I am able. Will I have children and find it too hard to be cautious? When that happens, we will see what to do, but right now that I can - I will do it." When a person recognizes in advance that these are mere scare tactics and intimidation, he does not panic.
Similarly, when someone considers taking a job, the Yetzer tells him: A bus driver? Could I really be a bus driver? Do you want me to sell my Olam Haba for a livelihood? And I am not talking about a bus driver inside Meah Shearim... is such a thing possible? And on the other hand: You do not know what the future holds, you have a mortgage, you will not be able to repay it, they will evict you from your apartment! A whole arsenal of threats and heavy artillery begins. But the wise man delivers the city, for he says: My livelihood is from Heaven, and I am not intimidated; the Yetzer Hara is merely scare tactics, and the Holy One, blessed be He, will help me. But one who listens and becomes frightened falls defeated before the Yetzer has fired a single shot, before it has proven it has any power at all. For the Yetzer Hara is made of wax; the Yetzer Hara is intimidation, the Yetzer Hara is an illusion, devoid of true substance.
Now, when a person overcomes and succeeds - what does that mean for the next battle? Nothing at all. In the next war, the Yetzer will arrive as usual with siegeworks and nets, threatening the city and sounding boastful words, and the person will be alarmed all over again - "yet no one remembered that poor man." Have you forgotten the Yetzer Tov? Have you forgotten the previous time, when it also frightened you so severely, and in the end it turned out to be an empty alarm, that it was all mere intimidation? Such is the way of the Yetzer: each and every time, the struggle is renewed, and there is no situation where one wins once and for all - like a fly that never stops returning.
The Yetzer Hara is falsehood, and its way is falsehood. And it is written: He is the Satan, he is the Angel of Death, he is the Yetzer Hara. And what do we do? We blow the shofar on Rosh Hashanah to frighten him - we say to him: Mashiach has arrived, and a great shofar is sounded, and the Satan becomes terrified and confused, until his accusations are silenced and blocked. But one may ask: Has he not seen year after year that the shofar is sounded and Mashiach does not come? He knows this is not the shofar of Mashiach, so how does he become frightened anew each year? Rather, the function of the Yetzer toward man is to make him forget and to deceive him; and since its very essence is falsehood, it can easily be deceived, and since its essence is forgetfulness, it easily forgets itself. Year after year, it panics anew, terrified that Mashiach has come. Through the very way it operates against us and deceives us, we can turn the tables on it - wresting the spear from the Egyptian's hand.
This is the way of the world, and this is how the Holy One, blessed be He, structured reality, so that through it man might achieve the service of Hashem, overcome challenges, and engage in the struggle. If there were a single knockout blow and that was it, what would remain for man to accomplish in his world? No struggles: you won, and it is over. But the battles recur because "no one remembered": at the time of the Yetzer Hara, no one remembers the Yetzer Tov, and man fails to remember that the entire Yetzer Hara is nothing but an illusion. Truly wondrous is the explanation of Rabbi Shalom Schwadron, of blessed memory.
These verses open with cunning craftiness - the shrewdness of swindlers who dilute wine with water and tilt the scales - and proceed to the praise of genuine wisdom: "Wisdom is better than strength." In the parable of the small city surrounded by a great king, delivered by a poor wise man through his wisdom whom no one remembered, Chazal expounded allusions to Noah, Joseph, Judah, Moses, the giving of the Torah, and man's battle against his Yetzer. Rav Saadia Gaon taught that wisdom rescues where armies cannot; the Malbim taught that the city is the body, its few men are the faculties of the soul, and wisdom is what delivers them from the grasp of the Yetzer. And Rabbi Shalom Schwadron answered all the perplexities: the great king stands outside with siegeworks and nets and does not enter, because his entire strength lies in intimidation and psychological warfare, wax kings and flickering projections; he has no power except what man grants him by opening the door - "sin crouches at the entrance." The wise man observes and deduces: whoever makes a great deal of noise clearly possesses no real substance, and unmasking the deception is enough to save the city. And since "no one remembered," the battle is renewed each time - which is itself the Creator's will, that man should confront the struggle, recognize that the Yetzer is an illusion, and never be intimidated by its arrogant bluster.