Introduction
Chapter 19 of Mishlei continues the train of thought from the previous chapters: the standing of the impoverished person in the eyes of people, and the character traits of the giver. We saw earlier, "and the poor man is separated from his friend" - that when a person becomes impoverished and falls into poverty, his friends separate from him. Against this backdrop, King Solomon comes and adds: Let me tell you about yet another of the evils that befall the pauper. In this lesson, we will study two verses: "A false witness shall not go unpunished" (verse 5, and its repetition in verse 9), and "Many will entreat the favor of a generous man" (verse 6), based on Rabbeinu Yonah, the Vilna Gaon, the Metzudos, and the Malbim.
A False Witness - The Evil Brought on by Poverty
עֵד שְׁקָרִים לֹא יִנָּקֶה, וְיָפִיחַ כְּזָבִים לֹא יִמָּלֵט. (משלי יט, ה) - A false witness shall not go unpunished, and one who breathes out lies shall not escape. (Mishlei 19:5)
Rabbeinu Yonah says: After we learned "and the poor man is separated from his friend," Solomon adds and reveals to us more of the evils that befall the pauper - that due to his poverty, he comes to deceit. He owes money to people, an item was entrusted to him and he does not return it. And as King David said: "Lest I become poor and steal" - by becoming impoverished, I am liable to steal. Poverty drives a person out of his mind, until he becomes a false witness and one who breathes out lies. And what is "one who breathes out lies" (yafíach kezavim)? Rabbeinu Yonah explains: A person who blows forth lies with his mouth, with the utterance of his lips - that is one who breathes out lies.
Poverty is also what brings him to become a false witness: they promised him payment in exchange for his testimony, and he agreed. This is one of the tragedies of poverty, that it brings a person to transgress the will of his Creator. And concerning this, the verse states, "shall not escape" - in the end, you will be caught in one of the lies. You will stumble in some deception, and from there they will put you behind lock and key for long years. In one of the thefts, he will be caught. It is impossible for a person who lives constantly in falsehood and deceit to go unpunished and escape - on some occasion, they will catch him.
Why Is It Said of the Witness "Shall Not Go Unpunished" and of the Liar "Shall Not Escape"?
Notice the linguistic distinction: concerning the false witness, it says "shall not go unpunished" (lo yinnakeh), whereas concerning the one who breathes out lies, it says "shall not escape" (lo yimalet). Rabbeinu Yonah explains: The one who breathes out lies is punished more severely. What is a false witness? A person hired to come to court (beis din) and testify falsely against his fellow. How often can that happen? Once a month? Once a year? Especially since if he uses this scheme too often, the courts will catch on very quickly: Wait, this same man witnessed that case and also this case, and in both instances the defendants cried out that it was an outright lie - this man is suspicious in our eyes. A person cannot testify falsely endlessly; he burns his credibility quickly. Furthermore, how much will they really pay him to come and testify?
In contrast, one can breathe out lies all day long. There are habitual liars for whom this is a chronic affliction of the soul: they lie without reason, without purpose, making up fabrications, telling stories, claiming where they have been when they were never there, speaking of what they did when they never did it, merely to boast. Breathing out lies has no limit.
And here, this is similar to what the Chafetz Chaim says about lashon hara (evil speech): With all bodily desires, once you satisfy your desire, your desire is sated. If you eat to the maximum possible, that is it, you rest. In every single physical desire, there is a stage where it is fulfilled. But the tongue never tires. A person speaks and speaks and speaks, and never says, "My tongue hurts, I will rest a little." Speaking is never physically difficult, and therefore harmful speech is endless. The same idea applies here: one who breathes out lies does so morning, noon, and night. Therefore, his situation is far worse than that of the false witness: regarding the false witness, it says "shall not go unpunished" - there is still a possibility that he might escape for a time, for how often does he lie, once every six months? But one who breathes out lies "shall not escape" - he will certainly be caught; people will expose his falsehoods, and everyone will know: This man is a fraud, do not believe a chronic liar, do not believe a word that comes out of his mouth.
The Repetition in Verse 9 - To Awaken the Sluggard from His Slumber
עֵד שְׁקָרִים לֹא יִנָּקֶה, וְיָפִיחַ כְּזָבִים יֹאבֵד. (משלי יט, ט) - A false witness shall not go unpunished, and one who breathes out lies shall perish. (Mishlei 19:9)
Rabbeinu Yonah observes: Come and see that at the end of the subject Shlomo repeats this same idea, and once again we see the greater severity attributed to one who breathes deceit - he will "perish" entirely, whereas the false witness merely "will not go unpunished."
And what is Shlomo's intention in all of this? Rabbeinu Yonah explains: To awaken the sluggard from his slumber. There are people who are poor because it was decreed upon them - like the Ibn Ezra, who composed an entire poem about the extent of his plight: if I were to sell shrouds, people would stop dying; if I were to sell candles, the sun would never set. There are those upon whom poverty was decreed from Above. But that is not always the case. Frequently, a person is poor out of sheer laziness. He is offered a job - "What, am I going to work for six thousand shekels? Let them come back with a serious offer." In the meantime, he does not work, remains idle, wastes his time, neither attending a midrasha nor going to kollel to use his time for Torah. What did you accomplish? You squandered your time and brought poverty upon yourself. "And drowsiness will clothe one in rags" - if you snooze all day, you will not even have clothes to wear.
This is Shlomo's intention: to decry the plight of the pauper who becomes dependent on others, for "a pauper is separated from his companion," and he may be driven to breathe forth falsehoods just to earn a livelihood. Do not seek crooked shortcuts; go and find steady employment, work diligently, support your household with integrity, and you will not, God forbid, reach the state of "lest I become impoverished and steal." Shake off the laziness.
The Vilna Gaon: The Difference Between Sheker and Kazav
The Vilna Gaon prefaces with a distinction that the Malbim also adopts, as do most commentators of the language: What is the difference between sheker (falsehood) and kazav (deceit)? Sheker means that at the very moment he speaks, he has no intention of doing so. The liar promises to bring you something tomorrow, and never for a moment intended to bring you anything, neither tomorrow nor twenty years from now. The kazvan, by contrast, is a person who indeed planned to bring it, but during the night changed his mind: "What, am I a fool? Why do I need to give it to him?" The next day he evades him with an excuse: I didn't have it, I didn't pass by your house, someone was supposed to bring it to me and didn't. That is called kazav.
Kazav is related to the expression nachal achzav - "the brook whose waters fail" - whose flow has ceased. It is also the root of akhzavah, disappointment: disappointment exists only when there was a prior expectation. If there was no expectation from the start, there is no disappointment. With the kazvan, there was a plan, there was an intention to give, but in the end he backed out. That is the difference: in kazav, there was initially a genuine plan to act, but ultimately he stopped.
"We Shall Not Labor in Vain, Nor Bear Children for Terror"
The Vilna Gaon explains: This applies to Torah study as well, in the words of our prayer, "that we may not labor in vain, nor bear children for terror." Sheker refers to one who learns and does not observe, and even while he is learning, he has no intention of practicing what he studies. Why does he learn? To earn a certificate: he was told that to obtain a degree one needs so-and-so many sections of the Shulchan Aruch, so-and-so many folios of Gemara - so he learns. This is "laboring in vain"; his study is rooted in falsehood, as he has no intention from the outset to fulfill any of it. And sometimes it is even worse - he learns merely to provoke and argue.
By contrast, kazav corresponds to "bearing children for terror": one who learned in order to observe, and indeed observed, but did not persevere. He observed for a short period and then abandoned everything and left. This is achzav - he began, but did not continue. "We shall not labor in vain" corresponds to sheker, because studying merely for prestige or a title is entirely empty, possessing no substance. "Nor bear children for terror" - here there are already results, a child has been born: he observed what he learned, and his deed bore fruit. Yet this child is "for terror," having no lasting continuity. You began observing mitzvot and then ceased. One who learned and then abandoned the path is the most tragic of all.
From here, the Vilna Gaon explains the verse: "A false witness (eid shekarim)" - this is the one whose intention from the start is to study for controversy, for a title, or for honor, and not to fulfill the commandments of Hashem. Regarding him it says, "will not go unpunished," which corresponds to "we shall not labor in vain" - such an individual will pay a heavy price. "And he who breathes falsehoods (yafiyach kezavim)" - this is one who studied and observed, but at a certain stage gave up, which corresponds to "nor bear children for terror." Concerning him it says, "will not escape," measure for measure: Initially you had a desire to do good, you learned to fulfill and carry out the Creator's will, you had good intentions, but then your heart reversed course - "I have no strength, leave me alone." So too with his punishment: initially misfortune will not strike him, but when it does come, he will not escape it. With him, matters began well and ended poorly, and likewise retribution begins with mercy and concludes with no possibility of escape.
Metzudat David: Testimony, Hazamah, and Heavenly Justice
The Metzudat David interprets the verse according to its plain meaning: "A false witness" - a witness who comes to give false testimony in court. When the witness is refuted through hazamah, the court carries out the command: "You shall do to him as he conspired to do to his brother," and then he not only does not go unpunished, but receives the very same punishment: if you sought to have him executed, you are executed. But sometimes it is impossible to refute him: they hired a false witness who had a seamless cover story, and no one was able to come forward and say, "You were with us at that very hour in another place." If he was not refuted through hazamah, the court cannot do to him as he conspired, and he appears to have gotten away clean. Concerning this the verse declares: Do not worry, "a false witness will not go unpunished."
Here lies the difference between us and the nations of the world. Among the gentiles, the entity expected to bring the truth to light is the court of law. Therefore, when they see an injustice in court, or when the verdict is not rendered according to their understanding - and they may very well be right - or when a criminal who harmed their child and murdered did not receive what they deem an appropriate punishment, they take to the streets in protest, raise an outcry, and find no rest or peace of mind. Why? Because in their eyes, the court is what dispenses justice, period. And unfortunately, the same is true of those who follow the ways of the nations and are distant from Torah and mitzvos.
In contrast, an observant Jew usually will not even set foot in the courtroom. "Today was the terrorist's trial" - and what difference does that make to me? What do I care what the court says? I know that for that relative killed in the attack, so it was decreed from Above. And what about the perpetrator? I know that there is a frying pan Up Above, and it has already been heating up for a long time. Whenever his time comes - whether in two years or in fifty years, whether in a targeted strike or dying in his bed - Up Above he will get what is coming to him. This is the meaning of "he will not go unpunished": even if the earthly court does not exact retribution for his wickedness, from Heavenly judgment he will not be cleared, and he will receive his rightful punishment. Do not say, "Look, I saw him walk away clean; he came to court and they accepted his claims" - in the end, he will pay in the Heavenly court.
On the other hand, "and he who breathes lies will not escape": since he is accustomed to constantly speaking falsehood, he will ultimately testify falsely in court as well. Eventually, such a person will be caught and proven to be a plotting witness, and then he will not escape punishment, and they will fulfill regarding him the verse, "You shall do to him as he conspired to do," exactly as he plotted to do to others.
Many Will Beseech the Favor of a Generous Person
רַבִּים יְחַלּוּ פְנֵי נָדִיב, וְכָל הָרֵעַ לְאִישׁ מַתָּן. (משלי יט, ו) - "Many will beseech the favor of a generous person, and everyone is a friend to a man who gives gifts." (Mishlei 19:6)
What is a nadiv (generous person)? Rabbeinu Yonah explains: A nadiv is one who volunteers and gives according to his ability and the measure of his generosity, bestows kindness and does good for his fellows through the labor of his soul and the exertion of his body, and seeks the good of all creatures. In simple terms: someone who seeks to do good in every possible way - with money according to his means, with his body by assisting and helping his fellow, and with his soul by reassuring him and speaking words of comfort to his heart. This is the definition of a nadiv.
It is therefore understandable why "many will beseech his favor": such a person is a walking enterprise of lovingkindness, and anyone who encounters him knows that from him they will certainly receive help. Not so with others: you turn to a politician - "Speak to my aide, to the aide of the chief of staff's aide," all just to get rid of you. You approach a wealthy person and tell him about a charitable organization or a holy yeshivah - "Here is the secretary's number, don't pressure me." From such a person you do not expect much. But one who is truly a nadiv, whose entire essence is giving - many will beseech his favor. "Yechallu" (beseech) is like "Vayechal Moshe" (and Moshe pleaded): they will turn to him and seek his help and benefit.
"And all acclaim is for a man of gifts" - According to Rabbeinu Yonah, "hare'a" here is an expression of praise, as in the Hebrew expression "to applaud" (lehari'a) someone who accomplished something great. All praise is due to the man of gifts, a person who bestows generous gifts in his immense nobility; through this he gains a good name, and he is worthy of praise. Rabbeinu Yonah adds that it is possible that "nadiv" and "man of gifts" are one and the same concept, as both refer to people whose entire essence is giving, and the end of the verse explains its beginning. According to this, "hare'a" can also be interpreted from the root of friends (re'im): everyone is a friend to the person who gives and bestows upon others.
Is It Proper to Aspire to Wealth?
What have we learned here from Shlomo? A major question confronts us: Is it right to strive for wealth? The answer is not simple. On the one hand, we see that wealth brings a person to coarseness and arrogance, and this world is merely a corridor - so why pursue lusts and pleasures? King David says, "Lest I be full and deny," and the Torah says, "You grew fat, thick, and gross; then he abandoned..." - wealth drives a person away. On the other hand, we pray for "a life of wealth and honor," and in several prayers matters of wealth are mentioned as a legitimate request incorporated into our liturgy.
Rabbeinu Yonah resolves the issue for us in a single sentence: "And this verse comes to teach the benefit a person can attain from wealth, and the ultimate purpose of its virtue is kindness and giving." There is value in wealth, and its highest virtue is giving - that is why it was given to you. "For it is proper to toil and attain success with this intention": if this is your motivation in aspiring to wealth, it is pure, and this is the proper way to strive for wealth - so that I have the means to give to others, so that I can lead and assist another person. And if a person finds within his soul a yearning for kindness and generosity of heart, it is fitting for him to pursue wealth and toil for it.
An Insight on the Beginning and the End
Yet one must be very careful. One of the Gedolei Yisrael once shared an insight - and heaven forbid that this should be taken as a blanket generalization about anyone, but there may be an element of truth to it: What is the difference between the head of a chesed organization and a rosh kollel or rosh yeshiva? A rosh kollel, he observed, often starts shelo lishmah (not purely for the sake of Heaven) - he wants a position, stature, honor, students, and also a salary; a rosh kollel receives a more respectable stipend than a regular avreich. But over time, it becomes lishmah: he realizes how much hardship is involved, and how many indignities he absorbs from the avreichim, who constantly criticize him - why the stipend was late, why deductions were made for arriving late. He sees how much toil is required and how much blood he sweats until he manages to secure a donation to cover the avreichim's stipends - and he ends up doing it completely lishmah.
With a chesed organization, he said, it often works in reverse. It begins lishmah: a person opens a small gemach in his home, without any income or profit, lending medical equipment to the sick - everything purely for the sake of Heaven. Gradually, the enterprise becomes institutionalized, automatic monthly bank transfers start flowing in, and it turns into a business. He is now driving an SUV instead of walking on foot as before, Baruch Hashem he owns an apartment, and as the head of an organization he draws a proper salary. It starts lishmah and ends up shelo lishmah. To be sure, this is not a sweeping generalization, heaven forbid; there are many individuals who begin lishmah and finish lishmah, and one should not seek to apply this to specific figures - yet such phenomena do exist.
The Vilna Gaon: A Prince of Torah and a Master of Charity
The Vilna Gaon explains on the level of peshat: many seek the favor of an officer or minister (sar), and as for the person who distributes gifts - everyone becomes his friend and beloved companion; he gives, distributes, and bestows, and everyone is his friend. Yet, true to his approach, the Gra interprets everything in the context of Torah. "Many seek the favor of a prince (nadiv)" - many implore the presence of a prince in Torah, as in the expression, "Would that it were like a prince before the king and like a servant before the king." One who is a prince in Torah, a great Torah scholar, has many people courting his favor: first, perhaps he will agree to learn with me, for everyone would be delighted to have a great person as their chavrusa. And corresponding to him, "and every man is a friend to him who gives gifts (ish mattan)" - one who is great in tzedakah, whom everyone wants to befriend in order to benefit from his generosity. There is one who is great in Torah and one who is great in tzedakah: as for the one who is great in Torah - many plead for his favor to learn with them; and as for the man of gifts - everyone seeks his closeness.
The Gra's Second Explanation: In the World to Come
The Vilna Gaon further explains that the verse is not speaking of this world, but of the World to Come - or rather, of both. "Many seek the favor of a nadiv" - regarding the one who is great in Torah, many yearn for his presence both in this world and in the World to Come. In this world, as explained, they wish for him to learn with them. And in the World to Come - the wicked await the arrival of the tzaddik's soul, so that he may extricate them from Gehennom. As it is said, "Passing through the valley of weeping (Emek HaBacha), they make it a spring; the early rain also covers it with blessings." And who are those "passing through the valley of weeping"? There are almost no tzaddikim who do not witness Gehennom; tzaddikim pass through Gehennom in order to redeem souls that share the root of their soul and rectify them. Thus the wicked yearn: When will the generous prince finally arrive? When will this giant of Torah come and rescue our souls from the valley of weeping?
In connection with this, there is the famous Maharsha regarding the statement of Chazal that the wicked do not repent even at the entrance to Gehennom. How is that possible - he sees that he is being taken to Gehennom, and still he does not repent? The Maharsha explains that he is convinced he is such an extraordinary tzaddik that if he is being led there, it must be only to pass through and rescue the souls of the wicked and bring them with him to Gan Eden! Only after they push him inside and tell him, "Sir, this furnace is yours," does he finally realize that this is where he will remain. But at the entrance, he is still certain that he has arrived to gather the souls of the wicked.
And it is not only the wicked who yearn for the tzaddik, but also the righteous in the Heavenly Yeshiva. It is taught that there is joy in the Heavenly Court upon the arrival of a tzaddik's soul - why? Because the yeshiva gains additional strength. When a brilliant student arrives at a rosh yeshiva's door, is the rosh yeshiva not overjoyed? He seeks out such students, pursues them, and is even willing to pay. So too in Heaven: when word spreads that a brilliant student is about to arrive, that the gadol hador has passed away, what immense joy fills the Heavenly retinue! The wicked yearn for him to extricate them, while the tzaddikim yearn for added strength in the Heavenly Yeshiva through the arrival of another holy soul. Furthermore, they anticipate that he will come and deliver novel Torah insights, revealing what was revealed to him. One can also explain that the righteous in this world yearn for the soul of the departed tzaddik, for often a departed tzaddik appears and teaches them Torah - like those who learned with Eliyahu HaNavi and other righteous souls from the Upper World. Thus, "many seek his favor": the wicked, the tzaddikim there, and the tzaddikim here.
"And to a man of gifts" - a person who was meticulous in the mitzvah of tzedakah, who continually opened his hands to the poor, finds that in the World to Come, all are his friends and loved ones. He helped them and supported them, and therefore many friends and admirers await him there. This is the Gra's second explanation, understanding the verse as referring to the World to Come.
The Malbim: The Distinction Between a Nadiv and an Ish Mattan
The Malbim is unique here in establishing a clear distinction between a nadiv (generous benefactor) and an ish mattan (a man of gifts). A nadiv, says the Malbim, is one who gives as is fitting, at the proper time, to the fitting person - such as to a poor person in his hour of distress. A nadiv gives to those in need; he does not pour out money purposelessly. If you are destitute, marrying off a daughter, or facing a crisis - then he gives. That is a nadiv. By contrast, an ish mattan is the quintessential "big spender": dinner is on me, drinks for the whole group are on me. We are not judging this favorably or unfavorably at the moment, but defining it: one who lavishes his money without calculation, giving indiscriminately to rich and poor alike, scattering his wealth - that is an ish mattan. But one who gives specifically to the needy, at the appropriate time, and in the required measure - that is the nadiv.
From here, says the Malbim, note carefully: a nadiv does not have "friends." The wealthy are not his friends, since he gives them nothing. And the poor and needy are likewise not considered his "friends" - does he refer to them as "my buddies"? No, they merely implore his favor. The poor man comes like a beggar knocking at the door, to entreat his favor and plead for his compassion; one cannot call him a "friend." Therefore, the verse does not say, "Many are the friends of a nadiv," but rather, "Many seek the favor of a nadiv." And note the precise wording: "Many" - and not "all" - for the rich know that no gain will come to them from him and that he will give them nothing, so they do not seek his favor at all.
In contrast, regarding the ish matan (the man of gifts), the verse states, "and every friend [is to the man of gifts]" - everyone. The ish matan gives without boundaries and without selectivity, to everyone, and therefore everyone is his companion: poor and rich alike attach themselves to him. And remember what was explained regarding the previous verses: a "companion" (rea) is someone who connects to his fellow out of self-love, out of self-interest - "what will I gain from this friendship with you?" Therefore, everyone wants to be the companion of the man of gifts, for this is a friendship that will yield benefit for them: "I will be his companion, and he will naturally shower me with gifts from his abundant wealth." Thus, every "companion" in the world belongs to the man of gifts.
In summary:
We have learned two fundamental principles. The first is the gravity of falsehood: a false witness "shall not go unpunished," and one who breathes lies "shall not escape" and will even "perish," for deceit knows no bounds, like lashon hara, of which the tongue never tires. Rabbeinu Yonah connects this to poverty, which can drive a person toward dishonesty, and warns the sluggard to shake off his slumber and support his household with integrity. The Vilna Gaon (Gra) finds in this an allusion to "we shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for terror" - one who studies without the intent to fulfill the mitzvos, and one who begins to learn and then abandons it. And the Metzudos teaches that even when an earthly court cannot exact punishment, the judgment of Heaven will not clear him. The second principle is the virtue of giving: the nadiv (the generous person) gives to the worthy recipient at the proper time, whereas the ish matan distributes gifts to everyone; many seek the favor of the generous man, and everyone is a companion to the man of gifts. The ultimate virtue and purpose of wealth is loving-kindness and giving - and with this intention it is proper to toil and prosper, provided one is vigilant that an endeavor begun for the sake of Heaven does not turn into an ending that is not for the sake of Heaven.