We continue in Chapter 21 of Mishlei, encountering three themes interwoven with one another: what happens to a society where they "refuse to execute justice," how a person can be blind to his own flaws while seeing only his neighbor's shortcomings, and the damage wrought by a contentious woman inside the home. We will follow the order of the pesukim, examining the explanations of Rashi, Rabbeinu Yonah, Ibn Ezra, the Meiri, the Vilna Gaon, and the Malbim, seeing how each commentary adds another layer of understanding.
שֹׁד־רְשָׁעִים יְגוֹרֵם כִּי מֵאֲנוּ לַעֲשׂוֹת מִשְׁפָּט׃ - The robbery of the wicked shall drag them away, because they refused to execute justice.
These wicked people cast terror upon their surroundings, and consequently they are able to refuse to submit to justice. If this sounds surprising, consider that there are quite a few areas that the police themselves avoid entering. This does not refer only to hostile villages, but to strongholds of crime families. It is well known that anyone who enters there barely escapes with his life, so authorities prefer to deal with small-time offenders rather than the heavyweights. And if the police will not confront them, try suing such a person yourself. Try tangling with him; he is capable of cutting off your head.
Some may recall the incident where police officers in the north were threatened by crime families to the point where the officers themselves planted explosive devices against those families, and later served time in prison. It was a scandal that rocked the country. Why did it happen? Because even the officer was terrified. This is the reality of "they refused to execute justice."
Rabbeinu Yonah adds another explanation. The wicked act according to their own subjective judgment, and Chazal teach that a person does not see his own guilt. Therefore, he refuses to go to court, since in his own eyes he is entirely righteous, so why on earth should he be judged? The result is that the stumbling block remains in their hands: you do not go to court, and you see no need to rectify your ways, being convinced that you are in the right, so they inevitably remain in their corrupted state.
In a third explanation, Rabbeinu Yonah explains that the word yegorem is not from the root of dragging or sawing (meaning destruction), but from the root of dwelling (megurim), as in "evil shall not dwell with You" (lo yegurecha ra). The robbery of the wicked dwells with them. If they possess stolen goods or wrongdoing, they do not banish it from their presence. What you stole remains in your house; the plunder dwells with him in his home, "because they refused to execute justice." However, Rabbeinu Yonah himself notes that according to this reading, there is no major novelty in the verse, as it is self-evident.
The Vilna Gaon explains that when arbiters and judges render corrupt judgments, the wicked and the robbers proliferate as a direct consequence. It is simple: if you do not administer justice and do not eradicate crime, you cause crime to flourish. People realize that it pays to be a criminal; it is lucrative, it is easy money, and no one pursues them.
This is the reality all around us. Years ago, investigators would still come out to dust for fingerprints after a break-in. Today, one is told not to waste his time filing a complaint. If you need paperwork for the insurance company, fine; insurance is the only entity that still demands a police report. Beyond that, it is considered a waste of time and an exercise in frustration; the system is overloaded. They are preoccupied with high-profile investigations involving public figures, and have no time to deal with ordinary citizens' grievances, especially when there are no media ratings or public interest at stake.
Here lies the Vilna Gaon's insight: those very robbers, who multiplied because justice was not carried out, will ultimately pay a visit to your home as well, your honor. You did not bother to eradicate robbery and crime, so be aware that you yourself will suffer from your own negligence. You brought it upon yourself. This is the meaning of "The robbery of the wicked shall drag them away" - whom will it drag away? The judges themselves, "because they refused to execute justice." Had you administered justice, you would not have arrived at a state where criminals multiply and eventually pay a visit to your doorstep as well.
We learned something similar in Sefer Iyov, where this was the complaint leveled against Iyov: When you were exalted and prominent, an important prince and leader, why did you not take care to eradicate the forces of evil, the perpetrators of iniquity, the robbers and extortionists? Do not be surprised that later on they came, plundered you, and stripped you of your possessions. Had you ensured from the outset that there would be no extortionists in the land, you would not have been harmed by them yourself. "Is not your fear your foolishness?" (Iyov 4:6) - you brought this upon yourself by failing to eradicate crime, and in the end, crime struck you.
Rav Yagen, of blessed memory, used to tell a story that became well known some twenty years ago. There was a woman whose son committed murder, may Hashem have mercy. He attempted to rob a woman, the situation escalated, and he murdered her. The mother came to the courtroom to plead for her son and weep before the judge to have mercy on him. When she arrived, she was stunned. It turned out who the murdered woman was: a mikveh attendant who had worked for thirty years in one of the mikvaos.
The mother recounted: Twenty-five years earlier, I needed to go to the mikveh. They closed at ten o'clock, and I arrived at two minutes past ten. The attendant was unwilling to open the door for me. I pleaded with her and told her that my husband was not observant, and that if she did not open the door, she should know she was placing transgressions punishable by kores upon her neck, Heaven spare us. But she would not listen. She hardened her heart and told me, "Lady, arrive on time; I cannot receive you." That night unfolded just as she had feared, and from that pregnancy came the son who ultimately murdered that very mikveh attendant, may Hashem protect us.
This is "The robbery of the wicked shall drag them away" - when they refuse to practice justice, when one fails to act justly, he will suffer from it; he will pay the price. Whatever a person does, he does to himself. It is a sobering thought. When a person causes harm, let him remember the principle: "He who digs a pit shall fall into it" (Koheles 10:8). Did you dig a pit? The next time you pass that way, you will tumble inside. Beware of harming yourself, and therefore, never refuse to do justice.
To summarize the interpretations we have seen: Yegorem as cutting off, like sawing with a saw (megerah); yegorem as dwelling, like "Evil shall not dwell with You" (lo yegurcha ra); and now the Malbim explains a third meaning: yegorem from the root of fear (megorah), as in "The fear of the wicked, it shall befall him" (Mishlei 10:24), "Fear the sword" (Iyov 19:29), "For the thing I feared has come upon me" (Iyov 3:25), and "terror all around" (magor misaviv).
The wicked person is always afraid. First, in a natural sense: a decent citizen walks down the street without fear, but a criminal sees the police from afar and his knees instantly knock; he scrambles to duck into a shop. He lives in constant fear. Second, if he belongs to organized crime syndicates, he wears body armor. These are things witnessed with one's own eyes: someone once went to a tire repair shop and saw a man walking around with an unnaturally rigid posture. The mechanic asked him, "What, did you start wearing a bulletproof vest?" He answered, "Don't ask questions; how much does it cost to fix the flat?" He had driven up in a sleek, low-slung BMW. It was obvious where the money came from, and it was just as clear that no one should envy his wealth. A person can walk without armor, Baruch Hashem - "He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him" (Tehillim 18:31) - which is a far safer shield than chasing easy money, driving in an armored vehicle, and wearing a vest while never knowing which street corner someone is waiting around. The wicked person fears both law enforcement and his rivals who want to stop his robbery because he has intruded on their turf.
The Malbim adds: It is the impending robbery and ruin destined for them that terrifies them, for the heart forebodes it. When something bad is about to happen to a person, he often has intuitive premonitions, and these should not be dismissed, for such feelings stem from the soul. The soul's abode is in the supernal realms, and it casts rays of light down to the body. "And my soul knows it well" (Tehillim 139:14). The soul knows all; it is unconfined and rises above material limitations. This is the meaning of Chazal's statement: "Though he does not see, his mazal sees" (Megillah 3a). What is his mazal? It is the soul at its supernal root, and it is called mazal because it flows down (nozel) and bestows influence, descending and cascading downward to affect him - as Scripture phrases it, "Before the silver cord is severed" (Koheles 12:6), the cord that links the sparks of light below to the essence of the soul above.
Hence, a person often has an inner sense that something bad is about to happen, and the same is true in reverse: he might suddenly feel an unexplainable surge of joy, and later discover that at that very hour his daughter gave birth. Incidentally, this is more common among women, who are more spiritually attuned and possess greater intuition, sensitivity, and dreams that perceive what is yet to come. This is the meaning of "The robbery of the wicked shall terrify them" - the robbery he committed brings fear and dread into his heart, knowing that because he refused to practice justice and chose only to rob, he will yet pay for it. He walks constantly with these fears, knowing in his heart that he acted dishonorably.
הֲפַכְפַּךְ דֶּרֶךְ אִישׁ וָזָר וְזַךְ יָשָׁר פׇּעֳלוֹ׃ - Perverse is the way of a guilty man; but as for the pure, his work is upright.
First of all, some find it novel that the word haphakhpakh (crooked or fickle) already appears in Tanach. It sounds like a modern Hebrew coinage, describing an unpredictable, fickle person, yet here it is in Mishlei. Rashi explains: A man and a stranger (ish vazar) - a person who has become estranged, as in "the wicked are estranged (zoru) from the womb," related to turning aside; a person who has deviated from the mitzvah and become alienated from it. His path is crooked - an uneven, winding road, full of pitfalls.
Rabbeinu Yonah explains that "the way of a man" refers to the natural traits and dispositions ingrained within him. When a person's nature and character traits are "crooked and strange," it means that bad traits appear foreign to him when seen in others. And this is profoundly true: when someone observes a negative trait in his fellow, he finds it repulsive, even if he himself suffers from it twice as much. Look at a stingy person who condemns others for their stinginess, while he himself is a byword and proverb for it. Look at an arrogant man who tells you, "Oh, how arrogant that fellow is!" without sensing that his own speech is entirely "I, I, I," his own greatness, marvels, and wonders. Look at an angry person who, upon seeing someone lose his temper, says, "That man is unbearable, every little thing enrages him!" And what about you?
What causes this? Rabbeinu Yonah says that desire overpowers a person, blinding him to his own faults. He sees flaws in others yet draws no moral lesson for himself. This is deeply damaging, because someone unaware of his shortcomings can never rectify them. If you know you are not perfect, that you still have inner work to do, and that you need to study more mussar, there is a chance you will progress. But if you see faults in others while viewing yourself as a paragon and an exemplar for everyone to emulate, such a person is truly pitiable - others might improve themselves, but he never will.
This is the meaning of "but as for the pure, his work is right" according to this approach: in his own eyes, he always does what is right and proper, while whatever others do is flawed. From this, Rabbeinu Yonah derives the positive lesson: a person must constantly strive to rectify and purify his character traits, and then he will attain refined, elevated virtues. Even though bad traits seem pure to the one who possesses them, he must realize that unless he studies mussar and corrects his deeds, he will never be able to purify his character and conduct.
The Gra connects this verse to the preceding one. Because the judge fails to administer justice, every man's character becomes corrupted, doing whatever is right in his own eyes, becoming "estranged" (zar), until those estranged individuals who pursue desires and greed multiply. And who remains upright? "The pure" (vazakh) - it does not merely say "and his work is upright," but refers specifically to one who is pure-hearted and clean of heart. That is, the moment justice collapses, you cause almost everyone to degenerate, except for rare individuals born with inherently refined character traits. Such people do exist, and they can be found even among those far from mitzvot and among the nations: a person naturally endowed with noble qualities and a desire to help others, who would never harm another human being, and treats everyone with gentleness and derech eretz. Only he will continue to act uprightly. But you, honorable judge, by refusing to administer justice, have caused crookedness, estrangement, robbery, and violence to become the standard way of life for everyone else.
The Gra further explains: "The pure" is someone unlike the one who "acquires treasures by a lying tongue" whom we saw earlier; rather, he executes justice, and he is the one whose work is upright.
Malbim interprets "the way of man" in the exact opposite direction of what we have explained thus far: "the way of man" is man's proper, upright path, as it is said, "God made man upright." Because the wicked have nurtured corrupt traits and flawed conduct within themselves, the true way of man seems crooked and foreign to them. They love violence and robbery, and man's foundational path established at Creation - that the Holy One, blessed be He, created him with innate integrity - is alien to them. They are people of deceitful speech, having no upright deed, and their entire conduct and path consist of fraud and violence, the very antithesis of man's basic nature. This is why they live in dread of destruction, as Malbim explained on the word yegorem, because society cannot tolerate such people. Society cannot tolerate robbers, murderers, and oppressors, and ultimately it will cast them out, whether through the power of law or because others will strike back at them.
But as for the pure person, his work is upright. He is free of illicit lusts, possessing sound intellect in both theoretical and spiritual realms, upright in chokhmah and upright in binah - and Malbim elaborates there on the distinction between the two. The underlying principle is that binah naturally aligns with integrity. You will not find any society in the world that claims people ought to steal or murder, or that society should be founded on rape and forbidden relations. You may find localized pockets of wicked people, and one might hear of this or that nation where theft is the norm - like the tale of the man who walked from country to country with a lantern searching for justice, and upon arriving in a certain country, had to start searching for his lantern. Yet you will never find a law mandating that everyone must rob someone every day. Even they understand that a thief must stand trial; it is simply that their character is corrupt. This indicates that human understanding and natural integrity inherently oppose theft and violence. Thus, in the eyes of the wicked, an honest and upright person seems utterly bizarre, completely foreign because they have grown so accustomed to criminality; whereas for the pure individual, integrity is natural: he understands that a person must conduct himself with honesty and fairness.
טוֹב לָשֶׁבֶת עַל־פִּנַּת־גָּג מֵאֵשֶׁת מִדְיָנִים וּבֵית חָבֶר׃ - It is better to dwell on a corner of a roof than with a contentious woman in a shared house.
Let us begin with Rashi. Eshet midyanim is a quarrelsome woman, one who constantly causes strife and discord. The plain meaning of the verse is that it is better to sit on the exposed corner of a roof than to live with a woman who constantly fights with him. Uveit chaver ("and a shared house") - where he has an associate who constantly enters his home to talk with his wife.
Rashi also cites a Midrash Aggadah explaining that Shlomo prophesied that the Shechinah would ultimately depart from Israel, who act like a contentious woman. In other words, the One saying "It is better to dwell on a corner of a roof" is, as it were, the Holy Shechinah, who prefers to dwell on a corner of the roof rather than remain with Israel who are like a spiteful, quarrelsome woman feuding with her husband - so too, Israel quarrel with the Holy One, blessed be He. And beit chaver ("a house of association") refers to the House where an idol was joined (mechabrim) inside the Heichal alongside the Holy One, blessed be He, referring to the idol set up by Menashe in the Temple. Concerning this it was said, "The bed is too short to stretch out on" - too short for two companions to reign upon it together. There is no room for both the Holy One, blessed be He, and an idol; and when the idol is present, the Shechinah, as it were, departs and withdraws to the corner of a roof.
Based on this verse is a famous and moving kinah (lamentation) that we recite on Tisha B'Av: "The Shechinah cries out with a blast, Return, O children, cease from evil, for the bed is too short to stretch out upon." The kinah describes the departure of the Shechinah in stages, step by step. "When the arrogant brought an idol into My dwelling, the Shechinah went forth from the inner Heichal, and said, I will go and return to My abode, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My presence." "I will go and return to My abode" - to the supernal realm, for here in the Beis HaMikdash they brought an idol into My dwelling.
"And from the Heichal it ascended onto the cherub, and upon the cherub it sat, and saw them prostrating to every constellation and host" - to the host of heaven, the stars and the constellations - "and said, I will go to My place and return, until they say: Come, let us return" - until Israel repents. And from that cherub it hovered over to the second cherub, "and saw their faces turned toward the eastern gate" - and all these expressions appear in the Prophets regarding idolaters - "and said, Who will give Me a lodging in the wilderness, until in their distress they seek Me early," meaning that the Shechinah wishes to depart into the wilderness until troubles befall them, Heaven forbid, and they pray to Hashem.
"It turned from the cherub to the threshold of My platform, and saw their backs to the Heichal of Hashem, and said, I will go and abandon My multitude, until they roam to seek the word of Hashem. It went from the threshold to the courtyard of the Azarah, and saw them putting the branch to their nose" - meaning that they performed despicable acts against the Holy One, blessed be He, and the paytan used a euphemism - "and said, I will hide My face from them, until they say: Why do You sleep? Awaken!"
And the stanza that touches upon our verse: "It ascended from the Azarah to the roof at the last, and saw them making sacrificial cakes" - types of food that were offered to the queen of heaven and their idols - "it left the holy place and repeated: Better to dwell on the corner of a roof than with a contentious woman." This is what Rashi cited in the name of the Midrash Aggadah, that ultimately the Shechinah departs, and it is better for it to dwell on the corner of a roof than to remain with Israel in the Beis HaMikdash when they stir up contention there and bring an idol into the Heichal.
Ibn Ezra asks: Why focus specifically on the corner? It would have been enough to say "better to dwell on the roof." He explains: when a house falls, the corner remains, for it is the strength of the building, and it is better to sit upon it alone and endure the wind than to endure a contentious woman. The corner is the last place that remains in a house even when it is entirely destroyed. We have already noted that a corner always represents what is select and important: "I have cut off nations; their corner towers are desolate," "the corners of the hosts who exalt the Almighty" which refers to the army commanders, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone," "the corners of the people" who are the elite of the nation. Thus, the corner of the roof is the most prominent spot on the roof. It is also logical, for it is the intersection of two walls, and when a house collapses, the walls fall while the angle remains. Even if everything collapses, sitting there on the corner is better than enduring a contentious woman in the house. And regarding "a shared house" (ve'beis chaver) - rather than living in a house with the company of such a woman, it is better to dwell on the roof.
Rabbeinu Yonah explains "a house of company" (beis chaver): even if a man has good companions and loyal friends in his home, the bad wife will make him forget and will ruin all the pleasantness of their companionship. He has good company, but the bad wife obliterates its joy, and he cannot find comfort in them from the quarreling of her tongue and the misery of her presence. The gloom she brings upon him makes him forget the joy of the friends who are with him.
The Vilna Gaon (Gra) explains why the verse specifies the corner of the roof: because the corner of the roof is a dangerous place. In the middle of the roof you are safe, but at the corner you could fall. Nevertheless, it is better to dwell there, in a place from which one might fall, than with a contentious woman with whom one is in constant conflict, and from "a shared house" (beis chaver) - which according to the Gra means having many neighbors. And what is the problem with that? Everything you say, everyone knows. It is like in Bnei Brak, where a Jew recites the blessing of Shehakol in his home and someone from the opposite building answers Amen, because between every building there is another building! Everyone lives right on top of each other, and if someone does something, everyone knows about it. As the saying goes, when you speak, people listen; when you shout, the neighbors listen too. Therefore, one must be cautious with how he speaks at home. You think you are shouting at your child or, Heaven forbid, at your wife and that it remains between you and her, but the neighbors hear as well. Thus the verse means: with a contentious woman, he suffers distress and she constantly quarrels with him; and "a shared house" is even worse, for there are many friends and neighbors, and whatever is said, everyone finds out.
The Gra consistently applies these concepts to Torah study as well. One who studies in order to provoke and spar experiences friction and strife in his Torah study. And "a house of company" (beis chaver) refers to a place where people regularly gather, where he seeks out companions merely to show off his knowledge and provoke them with what he knows. A person must know that his study should be for the sake of Heaven, to bring contentment to the Holy One, blessed be He, and not in order to provoke others and look for people to challenge with difficult questions and refutations. It is better to dwell on the corner of a roof than to conduct oneself in such a manner.
The Meiri offers an innovative explanation: ve'beis chaver comes from the expression chover chaver, an enchanter or sorcerer - that is, witchcraft. It is better to sit on the corner of a roof than with a woman who quarrels with him and also practices sorcery. This also resolves why the Torah says, "You shall not suffer a witch (mechashefah, feminine) to live," rather than a male sorcerer, even though there were male sorcerers as well; the verse spoke of the prevailing reality, as there were many female sorcerers and few male ones. So too here, not only is she a contentious woman with whom he is constantly at odds, but she also casts spells against him.
The Meiri also cites another interpretation: that the word chaver is in the literal sense of a company or assembly, as in "a company of priests" (chever kohanim). In his words, this refers to a hysterical woman whose neighbors constantly gather in her home to quiet her commotion and screaming. Any home filled with yelling and screaming perpetually requires the neighbors to step in and calm things down. Today neighbors do not intervene because we do not live on top of one another, but in the past, who even closed the door? Families lived in clans and were constantly alongside one another. Thus, beis chaver refers to the repeated visits of the neighbors who come to calm down his screaming and raving wife.
The Malbim explains that ordinarily it is good to live in a house of companionship (beis chaver), in a place where there is a group of people and friends, which is far better than living in isolation. However, for one who has a contentious wife, it is not good to live in a shared house with companions, for she will quarrel with his friends as well and stir up disputes with them until they become his enemies; she will incite contention among them or humiliate him in front of them. Therefore, in such a situation, it is better to dwell on the corner of a roof without companions than to be humiliated before friends and end up quarreling with one's companions.
טוֹב שֶׁבֶת בְּאֶרֶץ־מִדְבָּר מֵאֵשֶׁת מִדְיָנִים וָכָעַס׃ - It is better to dwell in a desert land than with a contentious and angry woman.
In verse 19, we find similar phrasing, except that in our verse it sent him to the roof, whereas there it already sends him out to the wilderness. The Malbim explains that we must take note: verse 19 speaks of "a contentious and angry woman" - where she quarrels with him and stirs up strife, and he is a short-tempered person who flares up immediately. For such a person, it is not good to sit on the corner of a roof, because even from the roof he will become infuriated, and that is harmful to his health. It is better for him to go to the desert, where he sees nothing, and then nothing will agitate him. Note also that this verse appears verbatim later on, in chapter 25, verse 24. The commentators have already addressed the question of why Shlomo repeats the exact same verse twice, and the Malbim will explain the matter there.
We have learned three verses and three messages. "The robbery of the wicked shall drag them away" teaches that robbery cuts off the wicked, dwells with them in their home, and fills them with constant dread - all because they refused to execute justice. From here lies a warning as well for anyone who has the power to enact justice and fails to do so: the criminality he tolerated will eventually arrive at his own doorstep, in accordance with the rule that one who digs a pit will fall into it. "Crooked is the way of a guilty man, and strange" teaches how prone a person is to seeing faults in others while his own bad character traits remain alien to him - and one who does not recognize his flaws will never correct them. On the other hand, it teaches that the upright path of man, who was created straight, seems foreign in the eyes of the wicked, whereas for the pure person, uprightness is natural, because understanding naturally aligns with integrity. And "It is better to dwell on the corner of a roof" teaches the sheer magnitude of the damage caused by a contentious spouse, who destroys all pleasant companionship and humiliates her husband before his peers; and on the level of Midrash, it hints at the departure of the Shechinah from Israel in gradual stages, until they abandon evil, repent, and seek the presence of Hashem.