In this section of the chapter, King Solomon turns to a series of practical warnings regarding interpersonal conduct: a warning against harming the vulnerable - the impoverished (dal) and the destitute (ani) - and a warning against associating with people of corrupt character traits, chief among them anger. We will examine the teachings of the Vilna Gaon, Rabbeinu Yonah, and the Malbim, and learn the immense gravity of offenses that people tend to treat lightly.
אַל תִּגְזָל דָּל כִּי דַל הוּא וְאַל תְּדַכֵּא עָנִי בַשָּׁעַר׃ - "Rob not the impoverished, for he is impoverished; and crush not the destitute in the gate."
The Vilna Gaon explains - and this is an explanation we have also seen in the Malbim - the distinction between a "dal" and an "ani": A dal is someone who was once wealthy and lost his fortune. The root of "dal" is related to "nidaldal" (depleted, dwindled) - he had money, it dwindled away, and he reached a state of impoverishment. Yet he is not utterly destitute and lacking everything.
And what does the verse tell us? Know that this person who was once wealthy and lost his fortune, even though he is not completely destitute - do not rob him, even though he is impoverished and has no friends. As it is written, "and the impoverished is separated from his friend" - and as we have already explained, this refers to someone whose wealth dwindled, and suddenly, "Look to the right and see, and there is no one who recognizes me; refuge has fled from me; no one cares for my soul." He had always been accustomed to friends and companions; phone calls flooded his line. He lost his wealth - and not a single soul is in sight. He calls, and "the number you have reached is not available" - he is already blocked. You no longer matter; you have fallen, and no one needs you. Why? Because you have become impoverished. This is the reality: "the impoverished is separated from his friend" - people part ways with the impoverished man, whereas before they eagerly sought his friendship and company. There is no one to stand up for him, he has no companions to rescue him from your hand, he has no friends. Even so - and perhaps precisely because of this - do not permit yourself to rob him.
We mentioned that the dal still retains something. Most impoverished people, whose wealth dwindled, still have something left: a few million stored away in Switzerland, something kept for a rainy day, something no eye has seen and no one included in his debt settlement. Yet in any event, his wealth has dwindled. The destitute person (ani), by contrast, has nothing at all. There is nothing to take from him, which is why the verse does not say, "Rob not the destitute" - what is there to rob from him? Rather, it says, "crush not the destitute." While you have nothing material to rob from him, you can certainly crush him: speaking to him with arrogance and insolence, humiliating him. His dignity you can rob - and that, you must not take from him. "Crush not the destitute in the gate" - there, where the wealthy of the nation and the elders of the land sit, do not humiliate the destitute.
The Malbim explains: "Rob not the impoverished, for he is impoverished." Granted, one is warned not to rob the wealthy either, but robbing the wealthy falls under the prohibition of "you shall not rob" - a general prohibition forbidding the robbery of any person, whether poor or rich. In robbing the impoverished, however, beyond the overarching prohibition of "you shall not rob," there is a unique warning stemming from the fact that he is impoverished: his plight is so dire that your action is far more severe. As we saw regarding King David's reaction to the parable of the poor man's ewe: "He shall restore the lamb fourfold," and also, "The man deserves to die" - yet where do we find such a halachic ruling anywhere? The answer is: when you rob from a poor person, it is far more severe. When you rob an ordinary person, you have transgressed "you shall not rob"; when you rob an impoverished person, it is incomparably worse, "for he is impoverished."
The Malbim explains that the "gate" refers to the court of law (Beit Din), and we find this in many places: "his brother's wife shall go up to the gate" - to the judges; Boaz went to the gate - to the gathering place of the Sages, so they could establish the Halachah regarding Ruth, whether she was permitted to enter the congregation or fell under the prohibition of a female Moabite and Ammonite; "and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom" - which teaches that on that very day they appointed him as a judge over them. The gate was the place of judgment. This does not mean the judges sat right in the doorway; anyone who has seen the ancient walls of Jerusalem understands - the walls were thick, and inside the gatehouse chambers sat the courts. This is the meaning of "sitting in the gate."
According to this, Scripture states: Do not crush the poor in the gate - that is, when you know that none of the judges will listen to him. A person of stature has influence; the judge might still expect some favor from him. But from this pauper, the judge has nothing to expect - he certainly will not see any benefit from him. Who knows, perhaps the judge has a son looking for employment, and he hopes for assistance from the influential party. Therefore: do not crush the pauper at the gate of justice when you think that the poor person has no leverage in court, suing him or demanding from him something that, according to true justice, is unjustified.
כִּי יְהֹוָה יָרִיב רִיבָם וְקָבַע אֶת קֹבְעֵיהֶם נָפֶשׁ׃ - "For Hashem will plead their cause, and strip of life those who rob them."
Because they lack the power to save themselves from the hand of those who oppress and rob them, do not think that they are left defenseless to be plundered and trampled, so that any scoundrel may come and do with them as he pleases. No! Hashem will champion their cause. Indeed, the Holy One, blessed be He, "rescues the poor from one stronger than he, the needy and destitute from his despoiler." There is One who hears the cry of the poor - "The cry of the destitute You hear; You listen and save." Do not think: he is destitute, he is poor, no one will do anything to me. No - you have tangled with the Master of the Universe Himself.
"And strip of life those who rob them" - if you rob an ordinary person, you incur a monetary obligation; but if you rob a poor person, the Holy One, blessed be He, will strip the robber of his very life. "Kava" (קבע) denotes robbery, as in "Yet you rob Me, this whole nation" - regarding tithes and terumah, where they robbed God by withholding tithes and offerings. Similarly, in the Gemara, "kav'an pelanya" means so-and-so robbed me, which is robbery in Aramaic. When someone robs a poor person, the Holy One, blessed be He, will rob him of his life. Do not think: I robbed, and at worst, the court will extract money from me. That is not so - if you rob him, your life will be taken from you.
Rabbeinu Yonah asks: Even though any other person who robs is punished only financially, where have we ever heard of a person forfeiting his life for a monetary theft? The answer is: because robbing a poor person is like taking his very life.
When a person of means suffers a financial loss - well, after a day or two, he moves on and forgets about it. Consider, however, a case of someone whose brother lived from hand to mouth, in genuine poverty. He owned a car that was vital for his basic travel - and the car was stolen. A full year later, that man was still staring at every Subaru that drove past - for those who remember the old boxy Subarus - wondering if perhaps it was his. Of course, he had no insurance. An ordinary person realizes within a week that within two hours of the theft, his car parts were already on shelves in Gaza, and he lets it go. But when something is stolen from someone who has nothing, the pain lingers for the rest of his life; it simmers inside him. If he still had that car, he would not have to walk everywhere on foot; he is forced to walk because he has no other choice. Why? Because he has nothing. So when you rob someone who has nothing, it is not merely money - it is his life; you have taken his soul. Therefore, measure for measure, the Holy One, blessed be He, will strip the robber of his life: since you robbed him of his life, your life will be taken in return.
Rabbeinu Yonah adds another insight: this individual has cast off the fear of Heaven, as in "The scoundrel says in his heart: there is no God." What is he actually thinking? "This man is destitute; no one will come to his aid." No one will help him? Does the Master of the Universe not factor into your equation at all? Does the Holy One, blessed be He, not see what you are doing? It is regarding this that Chazal taught that the iniquity of a secret thief (ganav) is greater than that of an open robber (gazlan), because the thief treats the Eye Above as though it does not see: the thief comes by night - why at night? So people will not see. And as for the Holy One, blessed be He - "I can manage with Him; that is not a concern." The thief is worse because he lacks faith. The same applies here: this person has discarded the fear of Heaven, which is why he permits himself to act this way, and therefore he deserves that Hashem "strip of life those who rob them." This is not an ordinary theft, but one that reveals a far deeper internal decay - that you do not see the Master of the Universe at all and do not take Him into account whatsoever.
Rabbeinu Yonah further explains: someone who robs a pauper knows that the pauper has nowhere else to turn. And when a person has nowhere to turn, he turns directly to the Master of the Universe. Now, if you know in advance that no matter what you do to him, he will run straight to his Father in Heaven, and yet you showed no fear, essentially telling his Father, "I do not care," and went ahead and robbed him anyway - then this wicked person truly deserves to have his life taken. You were fully aware that only the Master of the Universe would defend him, and you acted deliberately. Therefore, this is the fitting judgment for him.
According to what we have explained thus far, which is the standard explanation, the Holy One, blessed be He, robs the robbers of the poor of their soul: Reuven robbed Shimon - and the Holy One, blessed be He, will rob Reuven of his soul. Rabbeinu Yonah brings an additional explanation: one should read "ve-kava" separately - "ve-kava, et koveihem nafesh," meaning the Holy One, blessed be He, will punish and rob Reuven for having robbed Shimon's soul. The "soul" refers to Shimon, not to Reuven: what did Reuven do? "Koveihem nafesh" - he robbed him of his soul. And according to this, the Holy One, blessed be He, will rob you measure for measure for having robbed his soul. This accords with what Chazal say, that whoever robs the poor is as if he takes his soul from him. And why is he punished with such a severe penalty? Because you robbed a soul; you are not an ordinary robber, you are "koveihem nafesh" - you robbed their soul.
The Gra explains: "Hashem will plead their cause" - this refers to robbing the poor, over which the Holy One, blessed be He, will contend with the person. And for one who strikes the poor bodily - which is what we saw above, "nor crush the poor at the gate" - corresponding to this is "and rob the soul of those who rob them." And "koveihem," according to the Gra, is related to "the dregs [kuba'at] of the cup of fury," meaning that the Holy One, blessed be He, will despoil them of their soul, since they despoiled the poor.
The Malbim says: regarding robbing a wealthy person and perverting his judgment, you are dealing with a monetary matter. If you robbed a rich man, you stole money; it is a financial issue, and the Holy One, blessed be He, will demand your money from you. And as is well known, money acquired through robbery, money that is neither honest nor kosher, is ultimately lost. A person does not become rich through theft and deception, and if you nevertheless see that he has wealth, it is a sign that he was destined to receive it permissibly, and this fool went and stole it instead.
An analogy was once given: a man saw a mail carrier walking by with letters, and his eye caught an envelope that appeared to be stuffed with cash. He waited for an opportune moment, ran up, snatched it from his hand, and fled. Nowadays, all of a person's deeds are recorded in a book, or at least captured on camera; in short, they identified him from the surveillance footage and put him on trial. It turned out that the envelope really did contain fifty thousand shekels, but something else came to light as well: the addressee was the thief himself! So this man not only served time in prison, but in the end he said to himself: what a fool you were; had you waited at home, it would have been delivered right to your door! Why did you go and steal it? That is how a person acts when he thinks that through theft he will obtain what was decreed for him. Fool - if it was decreed for you, you will receive it; if it was not decreed for you, you will not receive it. In this world, you might still wonder, "Will the police catch me or not?" but the Holy One, blessed be He, has caught you in any case. If something came to you unlawfully, the Holy One, blessed be He, says: I will take it from you. And if it remains with you, then you were merely a fool who went and stole something that was going to reach you anyway. And this person, who committed an act of robbery, will be punished in Heaven as a robber, and they will say to him: Fool, if you had only waited a little, you had a job from which it was supposed to come, you were meant to receive that money. In the end, one does not profit from theft. But what is this still dealing with? With money; money will be taken from him.
This is not so with the impoverished person, says the Malbim: the poor man has no one to champion his cause, and therefore Hashem will plead his cause - and then it is no longer a monetary matter, but a capital matter, a matter of life and death, as we explained according to the other commentators.
אַל תִּתְרַע אֶת בַּעַל אָף וְאֶת אִיש חֵמוֹת לֹא תָבוֹא׃ - Do not befriend an angry man, and with a wrathful person do not associate.
One could have suggested homiletically that a "ba'al af" is an arrogant person, someone with an "upturned nose." But none of the commentators explain it this way, so let us see what the commentators do say. "Tit'ra" is from the root of "rei'a" (friend/companion), as in "and gave her to his companion," and just as "al tit'av le-mat'amotav" is a form expressing desire; that is, do not socialize and do not associate with a wrathful person. If someone is quick-tempered, do not make him your friend; stay away from an angry person.
Rabbeinu Yonah says: a person must choose the company of someone who is patient. And the masters of Mussar said: when you wish to befriend someone, anger him; if he concedes to the truth while angry, associate with him, and if not, leave him. Do you want to know whether to take him as a friend? Try to upset him; if, when he gets upset, he is still willing to admit the truth, take him as a friend, and if not, leave him. By these standards, we might all have to remain completely alone without any friends! But one who is able to find such a friend - who admits the truth even when you provoke him - that is the one to hold onto.
Incidentally, another insight can be derived from here. There is a well-known dispute among the Acharonim as to whether the prohibition of "lifnei iveir" (placing a stumbling block before the blind) applies to character traits. Some maintain that one should not show someone excessive honor, lest he fall into arrogance, thereby causing him to stumble in the prohibition of pride. Rabbi Yisrael Salanter, however, disagrees and maintains that there is no concept of "lifnei iveir" regarding character traits at all; on the contrary, you must accord him all due respect, and he himself must overcome his pride - there is no "lifnei iveir" in character traits, and one must simply fulfill his own duty. This matter is subject to debate. And according to Rabbeinu Yonah here, we see support for the view of Rabbi Yisrael Salanter: for Rabbeinu Yonah states that if you wish to befriend someone, go and anger him! Yet causing someone to become angry is surely forbidden. The answer must be that there is no "lifnei iveir" regarding character traits; if he becomes angry, you have not violated any prohibition by provoking him - "do not place a stumbling block before the blind" does not apply to character traits. This would appear to serve as proof for the position of Rabbi Yisrael Salanter.
What is the difference? The verse already mentioned af (anger); what then is an ish cheimot (a wrathful person)? Rabbeinu Yonah explains: Cheimah (wrath) is fiercer than af. Af is anger, whereas cheimah is anger at high temperatures. And why is cheimah so intense? Because cheimah is related to chimum (heat), which is also the source of the expression vayichar apo (his anger flared) - charon denotes heating up, as in charvu hanaharot (the rivers dried up from heat) or nichar groni (my throat is parched), meaning heated up. This is why we always find the ascending sequence: "In anger (af), in wrath (cheimah), and in great fury (ketzef)" - an ever-increasing progression. There is a person whose anger is mild, an easy temper that does not reach high temperatures; and there is a person with intense, heavy wrath, such that when he becomes enraged, you had better brace for impact and take cover, because you cannot know how it will end. This is the distinction: "Make no friendship with a person of anger (ba'al af)" - do not enter into friendship with an angry person; "and with a wrathful person (ish cheimot)" - one in whom the heat and fury burn intensely - "do not go," similar to "a traveler will not tread by foot," meaning do not even walk along the road with him. You never know when he will blow a fuse and how badly it could end. His capacity for harm is so great that not only should you not be his friend, but you should not even accompany him temporarily on the road.
Just as the Gemara recounts concerning a sage who was walking along the road with two men, and one of them grew angry with his companion, drew a knife, and slaughtered him. The killer asked the sage: "Did I do well?" The sage replied: "Sever the area of the slaughter thoroughly" - meaning, "Excellent, you should cut it open properly." Afterward, the sage came before the Sages and asked: "Perhaps, Heaven forbid, I fell into the category of flattering and encouraging transgressors - a man slaughters someone and I tell him, 'Very good'?" They answered him: "No, this was a matter of life and death (pikuach nefesh). For had he heard you say, 'Woe is you, how could you murder a person!', he would have thought: 'This man will inform on me, and tomorrow they will put me on trial.' Therefore, it was proper to speak to him that way in order to escape him." From this we see that merely walking along the road with a wrathful person is dangerous; you never know when he will erupt and who will get hurt. In contrast, with an angry person (ba'al af) - one must not become his friend, but walking with him on the road is tolerable.
The Gra notes another textual nuance: Why does the verse say ba'al af rather than ish af, and ish cheimot rather than ba'al cheimot? The Gra explains: Ish denotes an eminent and prominent person, whereas ba'al denotes an ordinary individual, like an ordinary householder (ba'al bayit). "Make no friendship with a ba'al af" - even if this person is not an eminent leader but merely an ordinary individual, and even though it is only af, an anger that is not severe, since you know he possesses this trait, do not become his friend. "And with an ish cheimot do not go" - if a person is both eminent and influential, and also consumed with burning wrath, a far greater anger, do not go with him at all; do not engage with him even temporarily.
The Malbim explains that the distinction between af and cheimot follows the same principle - that af is lesser and cheimah is greater - with the specific difference being that cheimah is internal while af is external. This resonates deeply with reason. As discussed regarding Achashveirosh, where it is written, "The king became very enraged (vayiktzof), and his wrath burned within him (vachamato ba'arah vo)": Ketzef (rage) is external, like foam (ketzef) on the surface of water; and similarly, af is external, as it says, "For a fire is kindled in My nostril (be'api)" - the fire and heat emerging from the nostrils are visible. When a person becomes angry, one sees his nose turn red and his face heat up - this is external. In contrast, cheimah is an internal burning, which is why it says, "and his wrath burned within him" - inside, not outside. There it was explained why there was an additional internal wrath that the king could not express outwardly: everyone thought he was merely angry, but in reality there was far more to it, and partly he could not reveal to them that he harbored such terrifying anger, as that would expose the secrets of his heart. We will not delve into that here; whoever wishes may study that in the lesson on Megillat Esther.
What do we learn from this? That cheimah is internal anger, whereas af is external anger. The ba'al af takes revenge openly - one who becomes angry on the spot retaliates on the spot and harms whoever angered him. The verse tells you: although the ba'al af avenges himself openly, do not associate with him. But the ba'al cheimot, who harbors wrath in his heart, is far worse: for with one who takes revenge openly, you can take precautions; but with one who harbors it inside, you never know when he will strike back. Therefore, "do not go" - do not come near him at all.
Against someone who retaliates openly, one can still take precautions; one takes it into account and stays guarded. The terrible thing is when two months pass, and suddenly a blow strikes out of nowhere. One has no idea that it is the very person to whom a remark was made two months ago, who waited around the corner and delivered the blow. That is far worse: Where did this come from? Who did this? Why would someone do this to me? Suddenly a person walks outside and finds his car torched, with no clue who did it, why, or where. Some people might say, "I can give you thirty reasons," while another says, "I have no idea, I didn't upset anyone, I don't know who it could be" - until he remembers: two months ago you said a word to him, and "the creditor found a place to collect his debt." We all understand that an ish cheimot is far worse; one who bears a grudge in his heart and lies in wait around the corner is far worse than someone who gets provoked and delivers an immediate slap. Give a slap and finish the matter, but do not lie in wait around the corner! Therefore: "Make no friendship with a person of anger" - although he possesses only af, immediate anger, do not be his friend; "and with a wrathful person" - whose wrath is internal, who holds grudges and waits to strike - do not even "go"; not only must you not be his friend, do not even approach him or forge even an incidental, temporary connection with him, for that interaction can only end up causing you harm.
פֶּן תֶּאֱלַף אֹרְחֹתָו וְלָקַחְתָּ מוֹקֵשׁ לְנַפְשֶׁךָ׃ - Lest you learn his ways, and take a snare for your soul.
This verse is the continuation of the preceding one: "Make no friendship with a person of anger, and with a wrathful person do not go" - and the continuation: "Lest you learn (te'elaf) his ways" - lest you adopt his habits. Rabbeinu Yonah explains: If you are a patient person and you associate with an angry person, he will provoke you to anger, for nothing angers a person quite like an angry person. And this is truly the most exasperating thing - it is exceedingly difficult to live with an irritable person; everything angers him, and that in turn infuriates you: his agitation, his restlessness, his boiling over at every little thing.
Rabbeinu Yonah explains the second danger: when you constantly see him angry, do you really think you are not learning from it? That you are not internalizing it? That you will not act like him? "Lest you learn his ways" - telef comes from the language of training and learning, as in "I will teach you (a'alefcha) wisdom"; you will learn his ways, you too will become an angry person, and suddenly you will notice that you react just like him. Thus, associating with him is a great danger to you.
And the third danger, says Rabbeinu Yonah, is that the trait of anger will no longer be repulsive in your eyes, because you have grown accustomed to someone who is always angry. When you are used to such people, anger no longer seems negative to you. This is human nature: the more a person associates with people among whom a certain behavior is common, the more comfortable he feels with them, and slowly that behavior becomes legitimate in his eyes - whereas previously he viewed it as something negative and vile.
"And take a snare for your soul" - what will this cause? You will acquire a trait that serves as a snare for you. Mokesh (a snare) in the sense of something a person stumbles against (nokesh), meaning he trips over it and falls into it.
The Gra explains that "lest you learn his ways" refers back to "a man of wrath": when dealing with a quick-tempered, angry person, you observe his behavior and learn from his ways, as we explained. And "and take a snare for your soul" is the continuation of "and do not go with a man of fury": by being with a man of fury, you will bring a snare upon your soul. Why? Because this person is full of rage. "But he is fine with me" - yes, he is fine with you, until he gets furious at you too. It turns out that associating with a man of fury will inevitably lead him to direct his fury at you, losing his patience with you as well.
The Gra adds another explanation: when you hear him get angry at someone for no reason, or even punish someone without cause simply because he lost his temper and flew into a rage, what do you do? "He is my friend; I do not want to rebuke him." And what happens then? "And take a snare for your soul." When you witness someone committing an injustice that you have the power to prevent, yet you remain silent, you bring guilt upon yourself. Thus, by associating with a man of fury, you will see him do things that should never be done and you will remain silent, and that sin will be counted against you as well.
The Malbim offers an explanation similar to that of the Gra: "Lest you learn his ways" - you will learn from his conduct, "and take a snare for your soul" - and through this it will become a snare for you.
In these verses, we have learned two major warnings. The first: harming the weak - robbing the impoverished and crushing the poor in the court of law - is not merely an ordinary monetary offense, but a transgression for which the Holy One, Blessed is He, Himself takes up the cause: "and He will rob the soul of those who rob them." For one who robs the poor is considered as though taking his very life, and whoever relies on the fact that the poor person has no one to defend him has cast aside the fear of Heaven and ignored the One Who truly hears the cry of the destitute. The second warning concerns anger: "Do not befriend a man of wrath" - do not become the companion of an easily angered person; "and do not go with a man of fury" - from one whose fury simmers internally, who harbors resentment and waits around the corner, distance yourself completely, avoiding even temporary accompaniment. And the reason: "Lest you learn his ways and take a snare for your soul" - he will provoke you, you will learn from him, anger will cease to be repulsive in your eyes, and you will remain silent in the face of his injustices; ultimately, you will acquire a snare upon which you are bound to stumble.