Introduction
In this section of Chapter 28, Shlomo HaMelech examines the nature of rulers and governors: what a wicked ruler over an impoverished people looks like, the foolishness of a leader devoid of understanding who oppresses the citizens of his country, and the fate of one who oppresses another person's soul. These three verses together paint a single picture: governance that is not built on wisdom and the fear of Heaven is destined to bring ruin upon both itself and its subjects.
A Growling Lion and a Craving Bear - The Character of a Wicked Ruler
אֲרִי נֹהֵם וְדֹב שׁוֹקֵק מוֹשֵׁל רָשָׁע עַל עַם דָּל׃ (טו) - Like a growling lion and a craving bear is a wicked ruler over an impoverished people. (15)
The plain meaning of the verse: a wicked ruler governing an impoverished people is compared to a growling lion and a craving bear. Rashi explains that growling (nehimah) and craving (shekikah) both denote an outcry, raising one's voice.
The Vilna Gaon (the Gra) pinpoints the distinction between these two animals. The lion is the beast that all other animals fear, and it is regarded as ruler over them all: the moment the lion roars, the animal before it freezes in fear. The bear, by contrast, is not inherently feared in that manner, but it is predatory and consumes flesh, constantly craving meat - and this is the meaning of a "craving bear" (dov shokek), from the root of yearning (mishtokek). Ibn Ezra explains shokek as related to shok (leg), meaning trampling, but the Gra maintains that it simply means yearning. The Gra further adds that the bear lacks intellect, and it is indeed perceived that way - as an animal devoid of wisdom.
This, then, is the analogy: the wicked ruler resembles a lion in that he insults and slanders his people verbally, speaking harshly to them, for nohem denotes vocal expression and growling, just as a lion roars and growls. And he resembles a bear in that, even though it does not growl often, it is always hunting for prey - so too, this ruler is constantly scheming to extract more money from the people, more taxes, more profits, and more revenue, like a bear perpetually craving prey to devour.
A Roaring Lion and a Growling Lion - The Malbim's Insight
The Malbim asks: Scripture speaks of a "roaring lion" (ari sho'eg) and also of a "growling lion" (ari nohem) - what is the difference between them? He explains: when a lion has prey, it roars (sho'eg), and as the Gra noted, the moment it roars, the prey freezes in terror before it. But when it has no prey, it growls (nohem) - pacing and growling to express its restlessness and hunger out of distress. It is like a hungry dog whose whine turns into a cry. And precisely at that moment, when it lacks prey, the lion is extraordinarily dangerous: it will devour whatever it encounters to satisfy its hunger, even if it is not the meal it would typically seek. As for the bear, the Malbim explains that a "craving bear" is bloodthirsty, constantly seeking to devour and shed blood.
With this, the verse is illuminated beautifully. A wicked ruler governing wealthy citizens has people from whom to extort and assets to seize; he is like a roaring lion that possesses prey, and therefore he is not quite as dangerous. But a wicked ruler over an impoverished people has nothing to consume; he is like a growling lion, a starving beast pacing and hunting. This is precisely the wording of the verse: "a growling lion" - for his hunger is immense, and therefore he growls and yearns for flesh like a bear, striking ruthlessly at anyone who crosses his path.
A Leader Devoid of Understanding
נָגִיד חֲסַר תְּבוּנוֹת וְרַב מַעֲשַׁקּוֹת שֹׂנֵא בֶצַע יַאֲרִיךְ יָמִים׃ (טז) - A prince devoid of understanding is great in oppression; one who hates ill-gotten gain will prolong his days. (16)
Nagid means a ruler. Rashi explains: because he lacks understanding, he multiplies oppressions - for had he paid attention to his life, he would not have engaged in so much extortion. For through oppression, you shorten your own life, whereas one who "hates unjust gain," who is not constantly looking to take money, especially ill-gotten gains, will prolong his days. Thus, the definition of this ruler is truly "lacking in understanding."
The Gra notes the shift in terminology: in the previous verse, the text spoke of a moshel (a ruler), whereas here it speaks of a nagid (a prince or leader). The prince devoid of understanding does not truly govern over them, yet he is full of extortion, resembling a predatory bear that snatches souls, of which it is written in Daniel, "Devour much flesh" - consuming vast amounts of meat. And this is the complete opposite of what human beings ultimately aspire to in this world.
Wealth and Honor - And the Two Opposites
A person's aspiration in this world, says the Gra, is wealth and honor. And if one attains one of them, he will not rest until he attains the second as well. One who possesses wealth is not satisfied with it alone; if he has not also acquired honor alongside it, he remains restless. Therefore, he will constantly search for ways to publicize his wealth and generate public relations for himself in order to gain honor as well. Likewise, one who has honor knows within himself that his prestige is not worth much if he is not also very wealthy, and so he, too, aspires to wealth. The two go hand in hand.
Now, says the Gra, ruling by brute force is the very opposite of honor. True honor means that people submit to you willingly. But if you hold a gun to someone's head and he submits, is that honor? Quite the contrary, it is a disgrace! Whenever a person is forced to impose his will by sheer force, it is proof of a lack of respect and a sign of weakness: if you possessed genuine inner strength, your words would be accepted out of respect for you and out of the authority from which they stem. It is a terrible thing when a person's words are accepted only because he forced them, when people comply solely because they are coerced - this is not out of honor, but out of his aggression. And aggression does not necessarily mean physical blows: a person can be aggressive in his own home without ever raising a hand, through constant domineering, shouting, dictating terms, and perpetual discontent with everything. People did not obey you because they respected you, but because they feared you. And "full of extortion," continues the Gra, is the opposite of wealth, for he impoverishes his people by plundering them. Therefore, the verse says: know that one who hates unjust gain will prolong his days.
"Days, Not Years" - The Secret of Longevity
A question is raised by Chazal: "He will prolong days" - days and not years? Will one who hates unjust gain prolong only his days, but not his years? The Gra explains that "prolonging days" alludes to happiness and stature in this world, which are referred to as "long days." When things are bad and painful for a person, in the morning he says, "Would that it were evening!" and in the evening he says, "Would that it were morning!" As it says, "All the days of the afflicted are evil"; out of his sheer misery, during the day he longs for the evening, and in the evening he longs for the morning. Consequently, all his days are cut short, because he is constantly waiting for the day to just end already. By contrast, one who experiences goodness enjoys every moment, and therefore wishes the day would continue and stretch on so he could go on enjoying it. The days of the wealthy are long, because he finds pleasure in every single moment.
According to this, "he who hates unjust gain will prolong his days" promises him long days rather than long years. Long days represent the promise of goodness in this world, whereas long years refer to the goodness of the World to Come, to eternity. This also resolves the difficulty in the phrase itself: "length of years" is understandable - instead of living to one hundred, you will live to one hundred and twenty. But "length of days" - will the day stretch and become longer than twenty-four hours? They tell the story of a cheder teacher whose principal asked him to work another two hours. The teacher replied, "What are you talking about? All twenty-four hours of my day are fully occupied!" The principal answered, "Then wake up two hours earlier!" - but what good does that do? You cannot stretch the hours of the day. Rather, when things are good for you, you want the day to feel long and you savor every moment, and when things are bad, you just want it to be over quickly. This is the Torah's promise to the one who hates unjust gain: it will be good for you here in this world, and you will relish every single day.
The Malbim's Explanation: The Folly of Plundering Everything
The Malbim explains the verse through the lens of political strategy. Under a leader who does not multiply extortions, people can make a living and thrive in his country, because the ruler allows them to live with dignity. And even with a leader who is full of extortion, if he possesses understanding, the state can still endure, because he knows whom to extort and whom to leave alone. The merchants who generate profit - that is, who bring in money - he allows to operate in peace. The word betza here has the connotation of profit, as in the phrase "What profit is there if we slay our brother?" which the Targum renders as: "What monetary benefit will we derive?" - what money will we make from this?
And such is the way of the world. Someone once quipped that income tax is like a bris milah: the little ones get cut, and the big ones eat cake. A person who runs a massive conglomerate gets a thirty-year tax exemption, debt write-offs, and every perk imaginable. But the little guy? They squeeze the life out of him down to the last penny. Granted, one cannot dismiss this entirely, as there is a certain logic to it: one major factory employs four thousand workers and supports the entire economy, whereas a single individual having one more or one fewer small business does not make a substantial difference to the state. We are not entering into questions of social justice here. The point is that when a ruler is a man of understanding, he knows whom not to mess with and whom to accommodate, and consequently the major merchants reward him with gifts - one hand washes the other, and we all know how projects like the Holyland towers were built. When you know which side your bread is buttered on, you are set.
However, a leader who is both full of extortion and devoid of understanding plunders a person the moment he sees him earning a bit of money. This is sheer folly: you have cut off your own profit! After all, it is in your best interest to have wealthy people in your realm, for they are the ones who line your pockets, yet you instantly rob every wealthy person who emerges. A person of understanding thinks about the future; he knows that even if he fleeces this magnate or that oligarch right now, expenses are heavy and the money will quickly vanish, whereas had he allowed the titans of industry to continue flourishing, he would have had revenue for days to come.
And this is the meaning of "he who hates ill-gotten gain will prolong his days": in such a country, only someone who gains no profit and makes no money appears in the ruler's eyes as someone not worth extorting, and only he will prolong his days. For anyone who pursues even a bit of gain, who conducts business and possesses wealth - the ruler immediately seizes his money. Who, then, will prolong his days under your reign? Only those who hate gain, people who have no money. Is this truly what you want - to be a ruler over the impoverished, over destitute people? This is a complete lack of understanding. If you possessed understanding, first of all, you would not be a man of extortions at all, which is the best path; and even if you were an extortionist, you would at least leave the wealthy intact to cushion you. But when you are both an extortionist and devoid of understanding - you will end up ruling over an impoverished nation, a realm nobody desires.
A Man Burdened with the Blood of a Soul
אָדָם עָשֻׁק בְּדַם נָפֶשׁ עַד בּוֹר יָנוּס אַל יִתְמְכוּ בוֹ׃ (יז) - A man oppressed with the blood of a soul will flee until the pit; let none support him.
What is meant by "oppressed with the blood of a soul"? Rashi explains: this refers to one who causes his fellow to sin, whereby his fellow's soul is lost through him. One who causes his fellow to sin has extorted and robbed his fellow's soul. "Will flee until the pit" - until the day of his death he will flee and seek help to atone for having caused his fellow to sin. "Let none support him" - they will not support him from Heaven; that is, they will not assist him in managing to repent, so that it will not turn out that he is in Gan Eden while the fellow he corrupted is in Gehinnom. For that disciple would say: How can this be, the one who caused me to sin is in Gan Eden while I am in Gehinnom? And then, Heaven forbid, he is removed from Gan Eden and brought into Gehinnom.
From here we see that a person must flee from causing another to sin as if from fire. All sins between man and God, even the most severe - have teshuva, and if he repents he will be atoned. But one who caused another person to sin - how can he atone for it? How can he rectify it?
And in our generation, the opportunities to bring merit to the public (zikui harabbim) are vast, and the opportunities to cause the public to sin are vast and sevenfold more dreadful. Once, in order to cause the public to sin, an immodestly dressed woman would walk down the street from one end to the other, causing a thousand men who looked at her to stumble, Rachmana litzlan (Heaven spare us). Today that is already "old-fashioned": she uploads a video online, and within three days it has three hundred thousand views - she has caused three hundred thousand people to sin. How many times would she have had to leave her house to achieve that? And if it goes viral, spreading like a virus, it can reach fifteen million views, Heaven spare us. Who can say how one atones for this, and how one rectifies this? Therefore: never become a stumbling block to another person. Do not speak lashon hara that someone might hear and thereby cause him to sin, do not cause someone to miss prayer or to speak in the synagogue or to commit any transgression. What you did on your own you can atone for; what you caused your fellow to commit - is dreadful and terrible beyond measure.
The Vilna Gaon (Gra) interprets this differently: "A man oppressed with the blood of a soul" - one who killed a soul in a previous incarnation (gilgul), "will flee until the pit" - they will not help him from Heaven and he will have no Heavenly assistance (siyata di-Shemaya) until the grave. And this is what is said, "And I saw the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter": since that victim is already dead, and these are the tears of the oppressed, there is no longer any comforter for the one who killed and committed this act.
Metzudat David explains "an oppressed man" - that his own soul is oppressed by the iniquity of bloodshed. Some say that "an oppressed man" (ashuk) is like "an oppressing man" (oshek), which fits very well with Rashi's approach, that he oppressed the soul of his fellow; but Metzudat David explains that his own soul is oppressed, because a great sin rests upon him. "Until he dies and is buried he will flee from the fear of pursuers," and he will find no one to support him, because his sin is great and he has acted with great wickedness. According to this, it is the plain meaning of the verse: if you have murdered a person - no one will want to help you. In a lesser matter, even if others do not view it as legitimate, they will still say: well, a person stumbled, we must help him. But murder is illegitimate by every parameter, and therefore "he will flee until the pit; let none support him" - no one will be found to support him, because his iniquity is so great.
In summary:
The three verses teach us about the essence of governance. A wicked ruler over an impoverished people is like a roaring lion in its hunger and a bear yearning for prey - and precisely because he has nothing to plunder from them, his harm is devastating. A leader devoid of understanding and great in extortion destroys himself with his own hands, for he impoverishes his subjects until none remain under him except those who hate ill-gotten gain, the poor, and his government becomes a reign over the destitute; whereas one who hates gain is assured that he will prolong his days - days in which he enjoys every moment, according to the measure of goodness in this world. And above all, we learned the severity of "a man oppressed with the blood of a soul": whether one who oppressed his fellow's soul and caused him to sin, or one who actually shed blood - for both the sin of causing the public to sin and the sin of bloodshed, there is no support and no assistance, and therefore a person must flee from them as if from fire.