Introduction
We continue in chapter 19 of Mishlei. In the verses before us, Shlomo HaMelech deals with the plight of the poor person - both the way the world treats him and what he himself does out of his distress. We will examine the verse through the explanation of Rashi, the Midrash he cites concerning Yosef, the words of Rabbeinu Yonah, a wonderful insight from the Vilna Gaon, and the Malbim's distinction between a dal and a rash. From there, we will move on to verse 8, which presents the other side of the coin: the acquisition of good character traits.
"All the Brothers of a Poor Man Hate Him" - The Plain Meaning
כׇּל־אֲחֵי־רָשׁ שְׂנֵאֻהוּ אַף כִּי מְרֵעֵהוּ רָחֲקוּ מִמֶּנּוּ מְרַדֵּף אֲמָרִים (לא) [לוֹ־]הֵמָּה׃ - All the brothers of a poor man hate him; how much more so do his companions distance themselves from him! He pursues words that are not [or: pursuing words, they are his].
Notice that the word is written (ketiv) with an aleph - "לא" (not) - but read (keri) with a heh - "לו" (to him / his). Rashi explains according to the plain meaning: the relatives of the poor man hate him. And not only that, but all the more so his companions, close friends, and loved ones - they distance themselves from him. If even his brothers hate him, all the more so will his friends distance themselves from him. Thus far the simpler part of the verse.
The more difficult part is the end of the verse: "He pursues words that are not." Rashi explains that this is a continuation of the theme: even after his brothers have hated him and his companions have distanced themselves from him, he still pursues words - chasing after the uttering of empty words. And what are these empty words? "So-and-so is my relative, so-and-so is my friend, this one is close to me." He pursues words that "are not" - things that are not true. That is the reading according to the ketiv with an aleph. It can also be explained according to the keri with a heh: "pursuing words" - he pursues in his speech, constantly saying "they are his" - they belong to him, they are my friends, this one is my pal, this one will help me, this one will give to me. He pursues words and fails to realize that all the brothers of the destitute man hate him, and his friends have distanced themselves from him.
Impoverished in Torah and Good Deeds
Rashi cites another explanation: this verse can be interpreted as referring to someone who is impoverished in Torah and good deeds. For true poverty is poverty of the mind - there is no poor person except one lacking knowledge. And regarding one who is poor in Torah and good deeds, all the brothers of the poor man hate him. Moreover, "he pursues words that are not" - he solicits opportunities to issue halachic rulings, but "they are not" - the halachah is not in his grasp. Since he is impoverished in Torah, having neither learned nor reviewed, when he attempts to rule on halachah and make pronouncements, the matter is not in his hand, and he will not succeed.
The Midrash: The Verse Applied to Yosef
Rashi brings the Midrash that interprets this verse as referring to Yosef. Yosef brought evil reports about his brothers, claiming they were suspected of eating a limb torn from a living animal (eiver min hachai) - he saw them eating, when in fact it was a calf created through Sefer Yetzirah, or a calf that was a ben peku'ah. Therefore, they hated him, and he is called a rash (deficient) because he brought false reports about them. "All the brothers of a rash" - Yosef's brothers - "hated him."
And what does "he pursues words that are not" mean in the case of Yosef? That the very accusations he leveled against them returned to him like a boomerang. Everything he suspected them of was fulfilled in him. How so? He said of them that they ate eiver min hachai, yet Scripture testifies about them that even in the midst of wrongdoing, when they went to stain the tunic with blood, they slaughtered a kid of the goats, as it says, "And they slaughtered a kid of the goats" - they did not decapitate it, but slaughtered it properly. You claimed they do not slaughter properly, yet see that even to obtain blood for the tunic they slaughtered according to the law. He said of them that they degraded the sons of the handmaids - and what was the retribution? He was sold as a slave; you accused them of this, so you shall experience the status of a slave. He said of them that they cast their eyes upon the daughters of the land - the Holy One, Blessed is He, said: By your life, I will incite the bear against you, and the daughters of the land will cast their eyes upon you, and you will face a severe trial with the wife of Potiphar, whose name was Zuleika, as it is said, "And his master's wife cast her eyes upon Yosef." Thus, "he pursues words" - pursuing his brothers to speak words against them that were false, and of this it is said "they are not": in the end, those very matters became his own lot, and he was stricken by those very same things.
Rabbeinu Yonah: A Rebuke to the Sluggard
Rabbeinu Yonah explains that this verse, too, comes to awaken the sluggard. You lie in your bed, idling away, unwilling to move yourself or do anything - know that "many entreat the favor of the generous man," as we saw in the previous verse, for people seek and desire the proximity of the generous. And know that one who does not seek something productive to do with himself will ultimately be reduced to a crust of bread, and will then be driven to bear false witness or utter lies; and it has already been stated, "A false witness shall not go unpunished, and he who breathes lies shall not escape" - he will have to be punished and give an accounting for what he has done. Whereas if you had money, if you had exerted yourself to earn a livelihood - "Wealth adds many friends, but a poor man is separated from his friend." When one is destitute, even his companions part ways with him. And this is what the verse continues here: "All the brothers of a poor man hate him." Wake up, sluggard, lest you reach a state where your own brothers despise you and distance themselves from you because you were lazy and failed to provide for your livelihood.
Why Brothers Hate While Friends Merely Keep Their Distance
"How much more do his friends go far from him!" - If his brothers hated him, all the more so the companions who were close to him before his fortunes fell, who will say to themselves: Why should I associate with him? It is only a disgrace for me. People will see me associating with such individuals and say: This person's situation must also be dire, look how he associates with the poor, the wretched, and the destitute.
And note, says Rabbeinu Yonah, that regarding brothers it says "hate him," whereas regarding companions it says merely "go far from him." What is the difference? The companions do not hate him; rather, they distance themselves from him so that no disgrace should befall them from his poverty. But the brothers truly hate him. Why? Because it is difficult for a brother to detach himself - he is my brother, whether I like it or not, we share the family name, and everyone knows we are brothers. And since disgrace comes upon me from his poverty and his condition, and I cannot distance myself, I hate him. Friends do not need to reach the point of hatred: "Your company no longer suits me, I am parting ways" - he gets up and leaves. But I, as a brother, cannot do that, neither practically nor in terms of reputation - my name is tied to yours, and people identify us as brothers. What is left for me? To seethe inside and hate you for being in this state, and for bringing disgrace upon me.
And of course, there is no justification here for hatred or for friends keeping their distance. Rabbeinu Yonah is merely describing human reality: this is what happens - one who is poor and destitute is hated, and people distance themselves from him. Certainly, those who behave this way are wicked, and certainly, their conduct is entirely wrong.
"He Pursues Words" - Flattery
And what is "he pursues words" according to Rabbeinu Yonah? He speaks untruths before them, diligently employing falsehood and flattery to appease them. He sees that they are distancing themselves from him, so he looks to speak all kinds of pleasant words and flattering phrases, pursuing them with talk. This is very negative, as these words are flattery and deceit. And what kind of words does he speak to them? Words that "are not" - things that are not true: praises and appeasements, anything to flatter them so they will not abandon him. As Scripture states, "With his mouth a flatterer corrupts his fellow" - through flattery, one corrupts the person he flatters. Here too, he pursues words that have no truth to them, because they have distanced themselves from him.
The Vilna Gaon: Wasting Time, and an Allusion to the World to Come
The Vilna Gaon explains: Even brothers and companions despise the poor man, and all the more so do they distance themselves from him. Now, when he has no friends, no companions, and no brothers, how does he fill his free time? He engages in futile matters. "He pursues words that are not" - he chases after all kinds of useless, empty pursuits. In short, he wastes his time.
And what does this come to allude to? As is known, it is the Vilna Gaon's approach that all matters written in Sefer Mishlei come to allude to matters of Torah and fear of Heaven. The Gaon says: "All the brothers of a poor man" - these are the transgressions a person committed in this world. A person imagines to himself: I am a friend of sin; we met often in this world, so surely I will have companions up there! They say to him: Not at all. That very transgression that smiled at you so sweetly here in this world delivers a knockout blow there in the World to Come; it is the very thing that afflicts you - "all the brothers of a poor man hate him." It is written in the holy books that when a person gazes upon an immodest sight, that very sight strikes him; that very image inflicts severe blows and torment upon him in the World of Truth. That which seemed to you like a brother here, where the transgression felt so close to you - up there, they hate him and torment him.
"How much more do his friends go far from him!" - These are the few mitzvot he performed. Not only the sins, but even the mitzvot you performed have distanced themselves from him. And why? As for the sins, one could say: I expected sin to have a friendship with me, and now I see it is waiting for me Above to prosecute me; but the mitzvot I performed, why have they distanced themselves from me? After all, I performed mitzvot! Rather, it is written that a transgression extinguishes a mitzvah, meaning that the light of the mitzvah does not shine, for a person's mitzvot are not revealed to him until his sins have been completely purged.
There Is No Simultaneous Reward and Punishment
When does a person receive reward in the World to Come? Only after completing the purification of Gehinnom. That is, reward and punishment do not take place simultaneously. For example, if someone committed fifty sins and performed fifty mitzvos, and arrives in the Next World before the Heavenly Court, they do not tell him, "You are even, enter Gan Eden." And even if he performed eighty mitzvos and committed twenty sins, they do not tell him, "Enter Gan Eden, the majority of your deeds are mitzvos." That is not how it works at all. The scales and all the common imagery do not operate in that manner. Some say that in the judgment of Rosh Hashanah it does work that way, as the Rambam mentions regarding a majority of sins versus a majority of mitzvos; but when speaking of the Heavenly judgment after death, there a person must account for every single sin, even the lightest - for giving an accounting is the very process of purification. The Creator says: I want to bring you into Gan Eden, but I cannot bring you in while you are soiled. Because one is stained and blemished, he must first undergo a process of purification, and that purification takes place in Gehinnom. One must be cleansed even from minor sins. And after being purified of them, he can enter Gan Eden and receive his full reward.
This is what is meant by "how much more do his companions distance themselves from him!" Notice: the mitzvos do not hate him, nor do they prosecute him; rather, they "distance themselves" - and according to the Vilna Gaon, this is wonderful: they keep their distance, waiting on standby. Finish the cleaning, come out of the laundry, and then we will unite with you. A mitzvah cannot connect to you as long as you are soiled with sins. The mitzvos a person performed in this world are truly his best friends, but for the time being they stay away from him, because he is still burdened with many sins.
"He pursues words, they are not" - and one who pursues idle chatter, even if it is not an outright sin, is judged with Kaf HaKela (the hollow of the sling), cast from place to place while they pursue him. "They are not" - those pursuers we mentioned pursue him. Whom? The one who pursues words; this is what is done to him, that they pursue him himself.
The Malbim: From the Dal to the Rash
The Malbim notes the precise distinction between the verses. In verse 4 it says, "Wealth adds many friends, but the poor man (dal) is separated from his friend," whereas here it is said of the impoverished man (rash) that his brothers hate him and his companions distance themselves from him. What is the difference between a dal and a rash? A rash is in a worse state of poverty than a dal. By the dal, it merely says "is separated from his friend" - one who was his companion departs from him, but it does not say that his brothers hate him. However, "all the brothers of a poor man (rash) hate him": one who is entirely destitute is truly hated by his brothers, who distance themselves from him, and all the more so his companions, who, even if they do not hate him, stay far away. In any event, "he pursues words, they are not," as Rashi explained: he still pursues words, going around boasting and bragging that everyone is his friend and associate and that they are loyal to him - but there is no substance to it at all.
Verse 8: Acquiring Heart
קֹנֶה־לֵּב אֹהֵב נַפְשׁוֹ שֹׁמֵר תְּבוּנָה לִמְצֹא־טוֹב׃ - He who acquires heart loves his soul; he who guards understanding will find good.
Rabbeinu Yonah explains: after the verse mentioned the matter of flattery - that he is "one who pursues words," whose companions and friends have all distanced themselves from him while he chases after them to flatter them so they will continue to look at him and show interest - it now comes to admonish regarding the acquisition of good character traits. Know that one who loves his soul "acquires heart," acquiring good character traits for himself. As it is written, "One who heeds reproof acquires heart," meaning that "heart" refers to good character traits.
Why are character traits called "heart"? Because desires and will reside in the heart, and from there a person can direct his heart toward good and bestow good upon his fellow, or the opposite. The heart is generally the seat of emotion, whereas the intellect and brain are the seat of thought. When we love someone, we say, "I love him with all my heart," not "with all my intellect," because all matters of emotion reside in the heart. Similarly, one "hates him in his heart," and "Do not hate your brother in your heart." All character traits are rooted in the heart, for character traits are emotions, while matters of thought belong to the intellect. Therefore, one who loves his soul - cherishing the stature of his soul, wishing for it to be elevated - acquires good character traits for himself, acquiring "heart."
"He who guards understanding will find good" - when one contemplates an insightful concept, or hears an insightful idea from a peer, a beneficial insight, a novel thought, something that warrants contemplation - he preserves it and makes a diligent effort to remember it. And why? In order to put good character traits and proper conclusions into practice through it, to "find good." For through hearing a novel Torah insight, a principle of proper conduct, one finds the good path. Therefore, a person makes an effort to remember these things: the understanding, the insight learned from a book, the novel idea heard from a friend - he guards them so that through them he will attain the good, reaching refined character traits and proper conduct. "From all my teachers I gained understanding."
In Summary:
The verse "All the brothers of a poor man hate him" captures the tragic condition of the impoverished: his brothers hate him because they cannot sever ties with him, while his companions merely keep their distance so as not to be disgraced by him, and he himself "pursues words" - either boasting of nonexistent friends or flattering them with false words. Rashi also interpreted this regarding one who is poor in Torah, who does not master the halachah, while the Midrash applied it to Yosef, whose words regarding his brothers turned back upon him. Rabbeinu Yonah viewed the verse as a rebuke to the sluggard, and the Vilna Gaon hinted that the brothers of the poor man are the sins that torment a person in the World of Truth, while his companions are the mitzvos keeping their distance until he is purified. Facing all of this, the verse sets forth the proper path: "He who acquires heart loves his soul" - one who loves his soul acquires good character traits, guarding in his heart every insightful concept he has learned and heard, and thus he finds the good.