Introduction
Chapter 28 in Mishlei focuses on contrasting two character types: the wicked and the righteous, the perverse and the wholesome, the deceiver and the one who cannot be deceived. In this lesson, we will focus on a single verse - verse 10 - and discover within it an entire world: what is the fate of one who causes others to stumble, who acquires the good that slips from his grasp, and what is the fundamental difference between an upright person and a wholesome person?
מַשְׁגֶּה יְשָׁרִים בְּדֶרֶךְ רָע בִּשְׁחוּתוֹ הוּא יִפּוֹל וּתְמִימִים יִנְחֲלוּ טוֹב׃ - He who misleads the upright onto an evil path will fall into his own pit, but the wholesome shall inherit good.
The Ralbag's Explanation: What One Devises for Another Comes Upon Himself
"He who misleads the upright onto an evil path" - Ralbag explains: A person who deceives the upright, turning them toward a harmful path, digs a pit and ditch for them so that they will stumble into it. The Holy One, blessed be He, repays him measure for measure: "will fall into his own pit" - into the very pit that he dug himself, there he falls. "But the wholesome shall inherit good" - the exact opposite of what the wicked one intended to lead them toward, the wholesome will receive good.
Ralbag adds another explanation: The wholesome are the exact opposite of those who mislead the upright. The misleader deceives people, whereas the wholesome - people of integrity and completeness - on the contrary, guide people along the straight and good path. Therefore, one who guides toward good will inherit good, while one who misleads the upright will inherit evil and fall into the pit he dug himself. This is the overarching rule emerging from the verse: whatever one intends to bring upon another, whether good or evil, that same fate will befall him.
The Vilna Gaon: Who Receives the Good that Slips from the Misleader's Hands?
The Vilna Gaon notes a precision in the verse: "He who misleads the upright onto an evil path will fall into his own pit" - he himself will plunge into that very pit. "But the wholesome" - those whom he failed to deceive and mislead - "shall inherit good," and the good they inherit is the very good that was destined for the one who misled the upright. In other words, the misleader falls into the pit and loses his portion, and the good that was meant for him is transferred to the wholesome person.
An example of this is Haman. Haman sought to mislead the upright onto an evil path, and into the pit he dug - upon the gallows he prepared - he himself fell and was hanged. Meanwhile Mordechai, the wholesome one, who did not fall into Haman's scheme nor stumble by it, inherited the good: he ultimately received the house of Haman. This illustrates the rationale behind the verse.
Upright vs. Wholesome - What is the Difference?
The verse uses two terms: "the upright" (yesharim) and "the wholesome" (temimim). The Vilna Gaon asks: What is the difference between them? He explains: An upright person is one who acts honestly according to his intellect. Every question and matter placed before him, he investigates with his reason, delving deep to reach an upright conclusion. Yet precisely here lies his vulnerability: he can be misled. One can present him with "signs and wonders" to make things appear correct, withhold certain facts, or distort them; he will then make a flawed intellectual analysis and conclude that it is good - and that very misjudgment will be his downfall. The upright person can stumble.
But the wholesome person cannot be misled. The wholesome person walks in simplicity and sincerity, doing what is written in the Torah. If someone comes and attempts to prove to him with signs and wonders that he should act differently, he replies: You may be right, but my father did this, and my grandfather did this, and I continue in the way of my fathers. The wholesome cannot be led astray.
The Testimony of the Ya'avetz from the Inquisition
This calls to mind what the Ya'avetz noted: during the Inquisition, those who held fast were the simple, wholehearted people of pure, simple faith (temimut). Those who stumbled and became Anusim (crypto-Jews), falling into various compromises until almost nothing remained of their descendants, were the philosophers. These were people who believed and served Hashem, but their faith relied on philosophy, rational investigation, and intellectual proof. Because they made intellect their foundation, it was possible to persuade them through intellect that perhaps in this instance it was better to act otherwise, perhaps it was prudent to compromise.
The tam (wholehearted person), by contrast, says: Anything is possible, but I know no clever calculations. I only know what my father did and what my grandfather did, and right here I surrender my life for Kiddush Hashem. And if someone approaches him with calculated reasoning - 'Save your life, put on an outward show while keeping the mitzvot in secret' - he answers: 'These are all rationalizations, and I do not know them; I only know that they are demanding that I convert, and I must give up my life.' The wholehearted were the ones who endured in their faith, even as they gave their lives al Kiddush Hashem; whereas the reality of the philosophers was that they ultimately deteriorated.
This is what the verse means: "One who leads the upright astray onto an evil path" - the upright person (yashar), who is guided by intellect, can be misled. "While the wholehearted will inherit good" - the wholehearted (temimim), who walk in simple, unadulterated faith, cannot be misled or led astray, and they inherit the good from the upright, as the Ralbag explains.
The Example of the Spies
The Vilna Gaon cites another example: the Spies. Whom did they mislead? The nation, the upright. And who inherited their portion in the Land? Yehoshua and Calev. Thus we see that one who leads the upright astray, "will fall into his own pit" - they themselves fell there and died an unnatural death, while the wholehearted inherited their good, as Scripture states that they survived from among those men.
"Bishchuto" - Related to "Pit" and "Corruption"
The Vilna Gaon notes a precision: "He will fall into his own pit (bishchuto)" - we understand this as deriving from shachat (a pit), yet the Gra explains that it is also related to hashchatah (corruption or destruction), as in "corrupt children" (banim mashchitim), "who corrupted Israel", and the like. Therefore, the punishment corresponds measure for measure: you sought to corrupt his soul - so you will fall into the pit (shachat), and the pit is Gehinnom.
The Disciples of Avraham Avinu and the Disciples of Bil'am HaRasha
This aligns with what is taught in Masechet Avot: What is the difference between the disciples of Avraham Avinu and the disciples of Bil'am HaRasha? Regarding the disciples of Avraham Avinu, it is said that they eat in this world and inherit in the World to Come; whereas the disciples of Bil'am HaRasha inherit Gehinnom and descend to the pit of destruction (be'er shachat), as it is said: "And You, O God, will bring them down to the pit of destruction; men of bloodshed and deceit will not live out half their days, but I will trust in You."
The Vilna Gaon poses two questions. First, why does the Mishnah omit "they eat in this world" regarding the disciples of Bil'am HaRasha? After all, they too have life in this world. And second, why are they assigned a double punishment - "they inherit Gehinnom" and also "descend to the pit of destruction"? What is the meaning of this duplication?
The Wicked Have No Fruit
The Vilna Gaon explains: The righteous have fruits, as it is written: "Tell the righteous that it shall be well with him, for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds" - the actual reward for mitzvos awaits them in the World to Come, while the fruits are eaten in this world. But the wicked have no fruit at all, and in this world they have nothing of substance; therefore, the verse made no mention of this world regarding them. And should you ask: Do we not see that the wicked have it good in this world? This is not fruit; rather, all their reward for the World to Come is paid out to them here, as it is written: "And repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them" - nothing remains for them there; they have received everything here. But for the righteous person - his reward remains complete for the World to Come, and here he eats only the fruit, while the tree itself is preserved for him in the World to Come.
"Show Me Your World to Come"
A story is told of someone who met one of the great Chasidic Rebbes and told him that he had left yeshivah, abandoned religious observance, and how wonderful his life was. The Rebbe asked him: "And what do you have from that?" He replied: "What is the Rebbe talking about? I have a three-story villa!" The Rebbe asked him: "And what do you have from that?" He replied: "I have a swimming pool, and I even have a private jet." The Rebbe asked him again: "And what do you have from that?" The man said: "What is the Rebbe saying? Is all of this not enough?" The Rebbe said to him: "Show me your World to Come. And what about your this-world? Everything you have shown me so far - they simply transferred it to you from there and paid you off here, what is known as placating you with pennies. Everything they gave you here in this world - that is your World to Come. But where is your this-world?" When a righteous person receives goodness here, that is his this-world, and there in the World to Come all his reward is preserved in full. Therefore, says the Vilna Gaon, the wicked have no fruits, and it is not said of them that "they eat their fruits in this world"; rather, only their punishment in the World to Come is mentioned.
Why the Righteous Pass Through Gehennom
And what is the meaning of the double phrasing: "They inherit Gehennom and descend to the pit of destruction"? The Vilna Gaon explains: One cannot say of the righteous that they do not inherit Gehennom at all, for it is written that when the righteous depart from this world, they pass through Gehennom, as it is written: "Passing through the valley of weeping, they make it a spring; the early rain also covers it with blessings."
And why do the righteous pass through Gehennom? One explanation found in the holy books is that the tzaddik draws with him all the souls whose time has arrived to leave Gehennom, and he extracts them from there. Based on this, it has been explained why the wicked do not repent even at the entrance of Gehennom. How is that possible? You are being led to Gehennom and you do not repent? He answers: "What are you talking about? I am a tzaddik! I came to draw souls out of Gehennom and rectify them." All his life he was busy with "rectifications" - rectifying his bank account, upgrading his villa, everything was "rectifications" - and now he is certain that he is merely one of those "passing through the valley of weeping." And why does he fail to repent only at the entrance? Because once he steps inside, he realizes that this is indeed for him, and they brought him there to stay.
The Ben Ish Chai: Punishment in Thought for a Sin of Thought
The Ben Ish Chai asks: Why did the Holy One, blessed be He, create a reality where the righteous person must pass through Gehennom, seeing as this is great anguish for him? He answers: "For there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins," and the sin of a tzaddik, at most, is in thought - he considered committing a transgression, but in the end refrained and did not do it. By having wanted to commit a transgression, he, as it were, alarmed the Master of the Universe, or in modern parlance: gave Him a fright. He was on the verge of sinning, pondered how to do it, and at the last moment, thank God, held back.
What punishment should he be given? Gehennom for this? He does not deserve that, for in practice he did not commit the sin and held back. Yet there was a thought here. Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, says: I will give him a punishment in thought. He is led toward Gehennom, and the tzaddik's knees shake - what, they are taking me to Gehennom? Woe is me! In his mind, he is plunged into great anguish: Here I am about to be in Gehennom! And in the end, they merely pass him through and take him out, and in the process he draws the souls out with him. Thus, he received what was due to him: you sinned in thought - you were punished in thought, thinking you were about to suffer. The punishment corresponds to the sin.
Sheol and the Pit of Destruction - Two Compartments
The Vilna Gaon explains: Indeed, all the righteous must pass through Gehennom, but they enter only the first compartment; there is no need to lead them through all the compartments. And why? Because that is where the souls of the wicked who are right on the verge of rectification are found - not those in the lower compartments - but those who have already managed to ascend, and the tzaddik helps them complete their rectification.
And this is what is written: "For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor will You allow Your pious one to see the pit." What is "Sheol"? The Vilna Gaon explains: This is the first compartment of Gehennom, and the "pit of destruction" is the second compartment. And what does David request? Notice how wonderful this is: He does not ask, "Do not bring my soul to Sheol," for all the righteous reach Sheol, which is the first compartment, and pass through there. Rather, he asks: Do not leave me there; let me only pass through and emerge - "You will not abandon my soul to Sheol," that my soul should not remain lying there, and You will not leave me there.
However, regarding the shachat (the pit), which is the lower compartment, it says "to see the pit" - not even to see it. In Sheol, one cannot ask, "Do not let me see it," for all tzaddikim pass through there; therefore, the plea is not to be abandoned there. But regarding the pit - do not even let me catch sight of it.
The Wicked Suffers Doubly
Now the double expression regarding the disciples of Bilam the Wicked becomes clear: "They inherit Gehinnom" - when they pass through there, they remain there; it is an inheritance that stays with them forever. And lest one think this refers only to Gehinnom, to Sheol, to the upper compartment - it also states: "and descend into the pit of destruction (be'er shachat)," to the lower compartments, to which the tzaddik never goes at all. In both respects, the wicked person suffers doubly: in the first parameter, Gehinnom, the tzaddik enters as well - but he enters and exits, whereas the wicked person inherits it and remains; and in addition, they descend into the pit of destruction, as it is written: "And You, O God, shall bring them down to the pit of destruction; men of blood and deceit shall not live out half their days."
And this is what is written here: "Into his own pit he shall fall." The person who misleads the upright onto an evil path - into the very pit (shachat) he sought to prepare for them, he himself will fall; and not merely into Gehinnom, but even into the pit, which is the lower realm of Gehinnom.
The Commentary of the Malbim
The Malbim explains just as we have said: a person who sees upright people and misleads them onto an evil path - he himself will fall into his own pit. But the wholehearted, who mislead no one and deceive no one, will inherit good.
In Summary:
This verse teaches a fundamental rule in Hashem's providence: whatever a person intends for his fellow - will come back upon him. One who misleads the upright falls into the pit he dug, and the good that slips from his hands passes to the wholehearted who did not fall into his trap - like Mordechai versus Haman, and Yehoshua and Calev versus the Spies. We also learned the distinction between a yashar (upright person) and a tamim (wholehearted person): the yashar follows his intellect and can therefore be misled, whereas the tamim walks in the path of his forefathers with simple faith and cannot be led astray - and as attested by the Yaavetz, it was specifically the wholehearted who withstood the test of the Inquisition. Finally, we learned the depth of reward and punishment: the wicked have no fruit in this world, whereas the tzaddik eats only the fruits here and his full reward is reserved for the World to Come; the tzaddik passes through the first compartment, enters and exits and draws souls out with him, while the wicked inherits Gehinnom and descends to the pit of destruction.