Introduction
We continue in chapter 12 of Mishlei, with the group of verses dealing with the power of speech: the destructive power of the tongue and its constructive power, truth and falsehood, good counsel and bad counsel. We will examine the verses in order, bringing the explanations of Rabbeinu Yonah, the Vilna Gaon, and the Malbim, and through them we will also arrive at the great principle that "no harm shall befall the righteous."
"There is one who speaks rashly like piercing sword-thrusts" - Hurtful Speech
יֵשׁ בּוֹטֶה כְּמַדְקְרוֹת חָרֶב וּלְשׁוֹן חֲכָמִים מַרְפֵּא׃ (יח) - "There is one who speaks rashly like piercing sword-thrusts, but the tongue of the wise heals." (18)
Boteh comes from the language of utterance (bitui) with the lips. In modern Hebrew as well, when describing someone who speaks harshly, he is called a blunt or coarse person (tipus boteh), one who expresses himself abrasively. There are people whose words are harsh, hurtful, insulting, and breed contention - their speech is like piercing sword-thrusts; they stab people with their words. In contrast, "the tongue of the wise heals": the wise, through the power of their speech, heal what that person has pierced. That person caused wounds, bruises, quarrels, and division, and the wise come and heal them.
Rabbeinu Yonah: Even Without Intent, You Have Pierced
Rabbeinu Yonah explains: there are people who speak harsh words without intending to do any harm at all. That is simply their style; that is how they talk. Rabbeinu Yonah says: know that this does not absolve you. "There is one who speaks rashly like piercing sword-thrusts" - even if you did not intend to, you pierced. If a person walks down the street with a sword and does not intend harm, but ends up stabbing people - does his lack of intent absolve him? Certainly not. You stabbed, you wounded, you injured. Your words are like sword-thrusts, and even without intent, you caused damage.
And what is "the tongue of the wise heals" according to Rabbeinu Yonah? The wise repair the damage wrought by lashon hara (evil speech). How? When the wise man hears that someone disgraced his fellow, he approaches the victim and says: "Nonsense! What he said about you is completely baseless; it is not true at all." In doing so, he restores the victim's dignity, and color begins to return to his cheeks. Who healed him from the sword that the other thrust into him? The wise person, who nullified the lashon hara and minimized the slanderous words spoken against him. The wise, through the power of speech, undo what those reckless speakers inflicted.
The Gra: Rectifying Speech Blemishes Through Torah Study
The Vilna Gaon follows a similar direction, that this refers to lashon hara and derogatory speech spoken against one's fellow, but he explains the end of the verse differently. It is not merely a repair of the damage inflicted on the victim, but a rectification of the sin itself: what is the remedy for someone who stumbled into lashon hara? Let him engage in Torah study. Evil speech originates in the mouth, in the "speaking spirit" (ruach memalela), and therefore its rectification lies in the study of Torah, which is likewise a speaking spirit - "God has made one corresponding to the other." This is the meaning of "and the tongue of the wise heals": as a remedy for lashon hara, the healing of the tongue is the study of the language of the Sages and words of Torah, in the sense of a "healing tongue" being a "tree of life."
The Gra: Two Types of Rebukers
The Gra brings another explanation. There are two types of rebukers - those who stand and deliver words of mussar to the people about their negative deeds. One stands up and tells them: "You are this, that, and the other" - throwing the raw truth directly in their face, completely unvarnished. "You will get Gehenna, this is an extremely grave sin, you will suffer for this, you will regret this." But what should be done now? Throw me a rope! How do I climb out of this pit, out of this mire? That, he does not say. In contrast, there is a rebuker who also shows a path of rectification: "Even though you did such-and-such, there is hope; if you do this, exert yourself like that, and make an effort, with God's help you will emerge from this situation. Moreover, you will be beloved and delightful both below and above, cherished and favored before Hashem, blessed be He."
The first is "there is one who speaks rashly like piercing swords" - he articulates with his lips all the sinner's sins, and what has he done to him? It is as if he pierced him with a sword, for in effect he told him: It is over, sir; you do such deeds, it is finished, you have no cure. But the tongue of the wise - the wise man rebukes only in a matter where there is constructive purpose, only when he has counsel and a solution to pull the person out of his predicament. "The tongue of the wise brings healing" - they say only what is necessary for healing, a rebuke through which one can rectify himself. For if there is no remedy or counsel in hand, what value is there in coming and enumerating all your misdeeds before you?
"The Lip of Truth Shall Be Established Forever" - The Endurance of Truth
שְׂפַת אֱמֶת תִּכּוֹן לָעַד וְעַד אַרְגִּיעָה לְשׁוֹן שָׁקֶר׃ (יט) - The lip of truth shall be established forever, but a lying tongue is only for a moment. (19)
Rabbeinu Yonah explains: A person who guards his speech against falsehood and takes care to speak only the truth - his words are accepted, people believe him, and they want to listen to him. This is the meaning of "tikon" (shall be established), a term denoting standing firmly on its base, as in "neither you nor your kingdom will be established [tikone]" - it will stand properly and endure forever. In contrast, a liar is quickly caught in his words; contradictions suddenly surface, discrepancies emerge, and he is trapped by his own tongue. "A lying tongue is only for a moment" - he succeeds for only a brief instant, but just wait and see how the lie comes to light and his disgrace is made public.
Rabbeinu Yonah adds: Once people become accustomed to knowing that someone is a habitual liar, no one believes him anymore. Like the boy who cried wolf - people no longer listen. As the saying goes: You can fool me once, maybe twice, but after that I know you and your lies, and it no longer works on me. From this one can understand why swindlers always need new customers: a crook reopens a business every two years in a completely different field, because he burned all his clients in the previous one. First food products, then auto spare parts, and when everyone realizes he is a fraud selling used and defective goods - a new business, children's bedroom furniture. Another two years of peddling nonsense - and yet another new business. "They should always be like new in his eyes"; every time he needs something new, because falsehood cannot endure. It lasts a short while and then collapses.
And what follows from this? When a business can tell you, "We have been around for fifty years," it possesses a reputation and a good name; people buy there and return to buy, knowing there is someone to trust, that the owner is decent and honest, and that there is someone to turn to if something goes wrong. So it is with a person who embodies "the lip of truth," a decent and upright person - "shall be established forever," he will endure over time. But with the liar, his falsehoods will inevitably be uncovered, and ultimately this is the punishment of a habitual liar: even when he tells the truth, no one believes him.
"Shekara Lo Ka'ei" - Falsehood Cannot Stand
This is what Chazal meant when they said, "Falsehood cannot stand" - a lie has no staying power, it cannot endure; it holds up for a short while and then collapses. Take Communism as an example. Who would have believed it - people died and gave their lives for its ideals. When it first emerged, it seemed like the most wonderful vision imaginable: a society where everyone is equal, there are no social classes, everyone has a job, everyone receives a steady wage, and there are neither rich nor poor. Yet in the end, it collapsed.
The Torah's Approach to Social and Economic Policy
This is a topic worth exploring: how the Torah's guidance represents the wisest approach to governance and policy - how to guide a nation and run a state. There is the Communist view, and on the opposite extreme, the Capitalist view, which asserts: if you work, you have; if you do not work, you have nothing. Every system has its advantages and disadvantages, but the Jewish outlook provides the true path, balancing and integrating the two.
In brief: according to the Jewish outlook, there cannot be a situation where one person rises exceedingly high while the poor man remains at the very bottom, as in America, where a person might have to scavenge for cardboard to sleep in a subway station. First, there are safety nets for the vulnerable: countless mitzvos obligating you to provide for their food. If you own a field, you are obligated in leket (gleanings), shikchah (forgotten sheaves), pe'ah (field corners), ma'aser rishon (first tithe), and ma'aser ani (poor tithe). You are commanded to care for the needy - "you shall surely give him" - there is the mitzvah of lending, and the mitzvah to assist anyone in distress. All of this prevents a person from being reduced to begging for a crust of bread or dying of cold because he has nowhere to lay his head. The Torah declares that under no circumstances do we discard the margins of society into the trash.
Beyond that: what was a person's primary asset in biblical times? A house, land, an ancestral estate. "Far be it from me before Hashem that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you," Navos said to Achav - the ancestral land was fundamental. To this day among Arabs, the most severe curse is "may his house be destroyed," reflecting their attachment to real estate, what Chazal call nichsei d'lo naydei (immovable property). Nowadays people deal in intangible ventures: someone is a millionaire, but where is the money? It is a "luftgesheft" - on a screen, flashing green numbers on the stock exchange. And why is it business built on air? Because tomorrow the stock market could crash, and suddenly he discovers he has lost everything and is left with nothing. In antiquity, such things did not exist: what did a person buy? Land, sheep, and cattle. Sheep and cattle - tomorrow a plague could strike and wipe them out; but land is something a person can truly rely upon.
When they entered the Land, the Torah divided the land equally, and it was forbidden to transfer land from one tribe to another - "an inheritance shall not make rounds"; the land had to remain within the same tribe. And what happened when a person sold his land? According to the Torah, there is no absolute sale; rather, "according to the number of years of crops he shall sell to you." Once every fifty years, during the Yovel (Jubilee), the lands return to their original owners. Once every fifty years, a "reset" takes place. Even if someone became extremely wealthy and half the country's lands were registered under his name in the land registry, while everyone else became completely destitute - they tell him: Sir, this is only until the Yovel, and at the Yovel we start over, and everyone receives their land back. Therefore, a situation of a third and fourth generation of poverty with nothing to their name never developed; rather, once every fifty years, the land always returned. And from this one can also understand: what did someone who sold land actually sell? Forty years of cultivation, since the land is ultimately destined to return to him.
Through this, such enormous disparities did not develop, where ten families of tycoons hold half the country while everyone else fights over the crumbs. True, a person could buy gold bars and hoard them to remain wealthier than everyone else, certainly so; but in that a person had no real security, for gold bars can be stolen. Their true security and bedrock lay in real estate, in land, and the Torah essentially ensured that they would not reach a state of such massive class divides.
"Deceit is in the heart of those who plot evil" - Malicious Counsel
מִרְמָה בְּלֶב חֹרְשֵׁי רָע וּלְיֹעֲצֵי שָׁלוֹם שִׂמְחָה׃ (כ) - Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but for counselors of peace there is joy. (20)
Rabbeinu Yonah explains: If your friend comes and advises you to harm another person, to take revenge on him, and to cause him distress - "Listen, did you see what he did to you? I would never let something like that slide! Why are you letting him off? Go and let him have it!" - do not believe what he tells you, for "deceit is in the heart of those who plot evil." The one who plots and advises evil to harm another has deceit in his heart. Know that he does not truly care for you; if he genuinely loved you, he would not make such suggestions, which are certainly detrimental to you. And why does he do this? Because he cannot stand that other person. He has a score to settle with him, but he does not want to do it himself - out of fear or for any other reason - and what could be easier than siccing the "bulldog" on him? In other words, to him you are merely an instrument; he is not looking out for your honor, but rather seeking that person's downfall, using you to achieve his own ends.
And if you should say: "I know him, he is a true friend of mine! How can you say there is deceit in his heart?" Rabbeinu Yonah tells you: If he were a true friend of yours, he would not advise you to do harm and escalate hatred with your fellow. Why? Because Chazal taught, "There is no man who does not have his hour." Today you are riding high, you are in the saddle, and you can show him who is boss - but there are plenty of dark corners where he will be waiting for you. Have you spared yourself trouble or solved the problem? No; you have magnified it and made it far worse, and from now on you enter a state of "brace for impact": Where is he waiting for me? Where will I take the hit from him? It is utterly clear that this is poor and destructive advice.
Regarding this, the Mussar works taught, and Rabbeinu Yonah cites a beautiful adage: Let not a single enemy seem insignificant in your eyes, and let not a thousand friends seem too many. Do not say, "It is nothing, I only have one enemy" - sir, that single enemy can drive you out of this world; do not let that one seem insignificant to you. On the other hand, let not even a thousand friends seem like too many; do not say, "I have plenty," but rather keep adding more. That is to say, when it comes to enemies, even one is a massive threat; and when it comes to friends, even a thousand are few.
In contrast to this, "but for counselors of peace there is joy": a person who gives advice of peace between one man and his fellow - know that he possesses genuine love for you. Such a person increases love and joy among people, and thereby brings joy to their hearts.
The Vilna Gaon: The Deceiver Is Always Anxious
The Vilna Gaon explains: people who speak deceitfully are called "those who plot [lit. plow] evil" - the schemers, the manipulators, the tricksters, those who "in their midst lay an ambush," whose hearts are deceitful above all else, constantly devising schemes to do this to one person and that to another. And why is this called "plowing" (charishah), a term borrowed from agricultural work? Because one who plows the soil intends for the earth to produce its crops; similarly, this person gives advice designed to produce destructive results, to cultivate bitter fruit.
Consequently, this schemer, this malicious advisor, is constantly terrified that his advice will be exposed and people will realize the hidden motives behind it. Is he ever at peace? Never. He is perpetually filled with anxieties and fears: Where will they catch on to me? Where will someone decipher my true interest? Where will they realize that I actually desire that person's downfall far more than I care about your welfare? Such a person has no joy. But "for counselors of peace there is joy" - one who offers peaceful counsel, free of deceit and manipulation, is always joyful. Why? He has nothing to hide, he conceals nothing; his intention is genuinely for there to be peace between you.
This is comparable to someone who hears a siren outside. Who gets nervous? The criminal. You hear a police car pull up downstairs, and what do you care? There is a police car, so what? But a fugitive who hears a police car - his heart begins to race: "They are onto me, someone turned me in!" and he frantically looks for an open window to escape through. In the same way, the schemer lives in perpetual fear of being found out, and therefore is constantly filled with worry; whereas one who always walks in uprightness is neither agitated nor anxious, and is always filled with joy.
The Malbim: Peace Sustains, Evil Destroys
The Malbim draws a parallel here: "those who devise evil" versus "counselors of peace", corresponding to what is written, "Makes peace and creates evil." Peace sustains existence - through peace the world endures; evil is the destruction of existence. We already saw in Parashat Noach how completely evil ruins reality, even bringing about the total destruction of the world: doing what is evil in Hashem's eyes leads to utter ruin and annihilation.
"Counselors of peace" are people who desire the preservation of existence, for peace is what sustains the world. This can be understood through the human body: when does the body function? When it is in harmony. The heart pumps blood to all the organs, the brain provides sensation and processes data for all the organs, and so on; every limb and organ acts for the sake of all the others. Even the mouth, when it eats, does not eat for the sake of the teeth and gums, but to provide nourishment for the entire body. That is harmony, and it is truly wondrous. And when do problems begin? When one part decides to go on strike: the pancreas stops breaking down sugars, and a person becomes bedridden, dependent on injections and constant medical monitoring; and if the heart takes a break - cardiac arrest, Heaven forbid, a terrible catastrophe. Thus, man's very existence depends on peace within the body, harmony among his organs. The world is the same way: its survival depends on peace. But when there is hatred and war - in Stalin's era, fifty million people were killed - the world cannot endure; the world itself ceases to exist.
And peace encompasses all forms of peace: domestic peace within a country, peace with neighboring nations, peace for a person within his own home and with his relatives. These people, who love peace, always offer good counsel - honest, upright advice - all because they love to see peace and tranquility. They are called "counselors", says the Malbim, because whenever the word "counsel" appears, it implies something good; counsel is always for the good, and therefore "for counselors of peace there is joy."
In contrast to the counselor, whose advice is given openly - for he has nothing to hide, and his entire intent is to give good guidance - stands the "deviser of evil." A person who wants to do evil, which is the negation of existence and causes harm and destruction to the world, does not counsel openly. He "devises" (חורש, literally plows or schemes secretly) - doing it quietly, without anyone knowing, so people will not realize he stirred the pot, but will think it happened on its own. This is the definition of a deviser of evil: someone who wishes to cause harm must do it quietly, covertly, in secret, without anyone hearing or knowing. Therefore, "Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil" - someone who hatches such plots has deceit in his heart. As the Vilna Gaon explains, and the Malbim cites as well, they have no joy in their hearts, because there is always the fear: perhaps someone will find the fingerprints, perhaps they will realize I stirred the pot, perhaps they will know that everything that happened here is because of me. He constantly worries that it remain hidden, and therefore lives in perpetual fear, never knowing true joy. But the good counselor always has joy in his heart, walking calm and at ease: I hid nothing from anyone, I run from no one, I harmed no one. He is at peace, living without fear or anxiety, and his heart is filled with joy.
"No Iniquity Shall Befall the Righteous"
לֹא יְאֻנֶּה לַצַּדִּיק כָּל אָוֶן וּרְשָׁעִים מָלְאוּ רָע׃ (כא) - No iniquity shall befall the righteous, but the wicked are filled with evil. (21)
Rabbeinu Yonah explains: Hashem, blessed be He, guards the righteous person from errors and helps him overcome his evil inclination, as Chazal taught: when a person guards himself from sin the first and second time, from then on the Holy One, blessed be He, protects him, as it says, "He guards the feet of His pious ones." In contrast, "the wicked are filled with evil": the wicked are filled with countless sins and transgressions, for the wicked person does not guard himself against sin, and one sin leads to another. Once a person commits a sin and repeats it, it becomes permitted to him in his mind. Consequently, there is no threshold where he says, "This far and no further"; rather, they "are filled with evil" - his evil steadily accumulates and increases.
The Vilna Gaon explains: Aven refers to both speech and thought. In speech, as in "and spoke iniquity" (vayedaber aven); in thought, as in "He devises iniquity upon his bed." This is what the verse means: no iniquity will befall the righteous - neither a stumbling block in evil speech nor in evil thought. All the more so, if he is guarded against evil speech and evil thought, an evil deed will certainly not come to his hand. By contrast, "the wicked are filled with evil" - consistently, not merely by chance, and not only with aven, but with actual ra (evil): the wicked person does not stop at iniquitous thoughts, but proceeds to actual, concrete evil.
The Malbim explains that the verb 'innah (יאונה) signifies the orchestration of cause and effect, as in "and God brought it about to his hand" (ve-ha'Elokim innah leyado) - one event causing another to happen. When a person commits a sin, the sin itself becomes the cause for the next sin; it prepares the ground for the next transgression, which is the meaning of "one sin drags another sin in its wake." Chazal give a striking example of this: if someone killed inadvertently and was not judged by a Beit Din - no one saw, no one knew, no one heard - what does the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He orchestrates circumstances so that he kills inadvertently once again. Here we see clearly how the first offense causes and brings about the second. But for the righteous person, who always walks in all his ways with justice and righteousness, there is no underlying cause to bring him to iniquity or sin. Even inadvertently, the Malbim notes: aven includes even unintentional error (shegagah), unlike the phrase "no harm shall befall you" (lo te'uneh eilecha ra'ah); to the righteous person, no iniquity shall be brought about, even inadvertently. But the wicked "are filled with evil" - with them, sin drags another sin, evil brings more evil, until their measure is full.
The Holy One, Blessed Be He, Does Not Bring a Stumbling Block Through the Righteous
From here we see the principle that the Holy One, blessed be He, does not bring a stumbling block through the righteous. The Gemara in Masechet Chagigah (16b) states: Rabbi Yehudah ben Tabbai said, "May I not see consolation if I did not execute a conspiring witness (ed zomem), to remove from the hearts of the Sadducees, who used to say that conspiring witnesses are not executed until the accused has been executed."
The Torah states, "Then you shall do to him as he conspired to do to his brother" - as he conspired, but not as he actually did. If, based on the lying witnesses, the person was already executed, they are not executed; but if the court merely sentenced him to death and had not yet executed him, and in the meantime their deceit was exposed - they are executed. This is a scriptural decree: as he conspired, and not as he did. Various explanations are offered by the commentators on this, but we will not delve into them here. The Sadducees interpreted it in reverse: if he succeeded in having the person executed, they execute him; but if he only plotted and it was not yet carried out, they do not execute him. This is the exact opposite of the interpretation taught by the Sages of Israel.
Therefore, Rabbi Yehudah ben Tabbai said, "May I [not] see consolation" - an expression by which a person effectively places a curse upon himself, as if saying: "May I receive condolence over my children, Heaven forbid," meaning, "I swear to you that it is so" - "if I did not execute a conspiring witness (*eid zomem*)!" He executed him in order to eradicate the view of the Sadducees, who maintained that a witness who merely conspired is not executed, and he wished to demonstrate that he is indeed executed. Shimon ben Shetach said to him using that very same expression: "May I [not] see consolation if you have not shed innocent blood - I swear that you have killed an innocent man! For the Sages stated: Conspiring witnesses are not put to death until both of them are refuted (*hazamah*), nor do they receive lashes until both are refuted, nor do they pay monetary restitution until both are refuted. Yet you executed a single conspiring witness, and according to Halachah he is not subject to death; you have thus killed an innocent man."
Immediately, Yehudah ben Tabbai resolved never to issue a halachic ruling except in the presence of Shimon ben Shetach. Any ruling he gave, he would ask his master - Rabbi Shimon ben Shetach - what the law is in this matter, and whether he had ruled properly or not. And for the rest of his days, he would prostrate himself upon the grave of that executed man whom he had unlawfully put to death, and his voice could be heard. The people assumed it was the voice of the deceased - they heard a voice from that cave and were certain it was the cry of the executed man. He said to them: "It is my voice, not the voice of the executed man. You can know this because tomorrow he [referring to himself] will die and his voice will no longer be heard" - meaning, when I pass away from this world and no longer come to this cave to beg forgiveness from the deceased, you will see that the voice will cease. And so it was.
The Difficulty Raised by Tosafot and Its Resolution
Tosafot raises a difficulty: "'If I did not execute a conspiring witness' - this is astonishing! Why do we not challenge this here: Now, if the Holy One, blessed be He, does not bring about a pitfall through the animals of the righteous, how much more so through the righteous themselves! - as the Gemara challenges in Gittin and Chullin." That is to say: we find instances in the Gemara where a tzaddik ostensibly ate a forbidden food, and the Gemara asked how this could be possible, seeing that Hashem does not bring about a mishap through the animals of the righteous - the donkey of Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair would not eat un-tithed grain, so would a tzaddik himself eat a forbidden item? And the Gemara answered that it was not an actual prohibition. If so, Tosafot asks: How could the Holy One, blessed be He, bring about such a grievous mishap through Yehudah ben Tabbai, causing him to execute an innocent man?
Tosafot answers with a profound distinction: One may say that this question applies only to matters of food, for it is a disgrace for a tzaddik to consume something forbidden; but regarding permissible food eaten at a forbidden time, this challenge is not raised. That is why the Gemara does not raise this difficulty in Rosh Hashanah, where it mentions, "How sweet is the cooked food of the Babylonians on the great fast day of the West [Eretz Yisrael]," or in Pesachim regarding Rabbi Yirmeyah bar Abba, who forgot and tasted food before Havdalah - even though it is said that one who does so dies of croup (*askara*) - because eating permitted food at a forbidden time is not considered so disgraceful.
In other words: what Chazal said, "No iniquity shall befall the righteous," and that the Holy One, blessed be He, does not cause the righteous or even their animals to stumble, refers specifically to dietary prohibitions. There is no blanket guarantee that a tzaddik will be spared every transgression in the world; rather, Heaven guards him specifically against forbidden foods. And what makes forbidden foods unique? Are there not other transgressions that are far more severe? The answer is that one who eats forbidden food - creeping creatures and non-kosher species - his very body becomes defiled; the substance enters his bloodstream and becomes part of him, and it is a profound disgrace for the body of a tzaddik to absorb such matter. In contrast, any other sin remains external to him; it does not enter his blood or become part of his physical being.
Furthermore, Tosafot explains: this does not even apply to all dietary prohibitions, but specifically to something that is forbidden intrinsically. When time is the prohibiting factor, however, a tzaddik may indeed stumble. Tosafot brings proof: there was an incident where people erred regarding the calculation of Yom Kippur, observing it as an ordinary weekday or Shabbat and observing Yom Kippur on a different day. The sage there remarked cynically: "How pleasant is the aroma of the Babylonians' cooking on the great fast day of Eretz Yisrael!" - here they were fasting, while there they were cooking. Thus, great individuals inadvertently stumbled and ate, and this was indeed a prohibition of eating, since eating is forbidden on Yom Kippur. However, this is not an intrinsic dietary prohibition: the food itself is kosher, and it lacks the disgrace and defilement of a forbidden substance entering one's blood. It is not carrion (*neveilah*), torn meat (*treifah*), or pork, but strictly kosher lamb; it was merely consumed at the wrong time. Similarly, regarding one who tasted food before Havdalah - even though it is said that his punishment is death by croup - there too, the food itself is permissible; the tzaddik simply erred by eating it at a forbidden time.
A Fitting Allusion in the Verse
All of this background serves to illuminate our verse. "No iniquity shall befall the righteous" - on the surface, this would seem to imply any iniquity and any pitfall, even an unwitting error. Where do we see that it refers specifically to eating? By the grace of Hashem, it may be noted that this is alluded to here in the rashei teivot (acrostic initials): The word Lo ("לא") is followed by Ye'uneh, la-tzaddik, kol, aven - the letters yud, lamed, kaf, alef - which spell ye'achel ("יאכל"), yielding: "Lo ye'achel - It shall not be eaten." "No iniquity shall befall the righteous" - in what area? In matters of food. Forbidden food shall not be eaten; but with regard to other transgressions, there is no guarantee that Hashem will shield the tzaddik from stumbling.
In Summary:
In these verses, we have explored the two sides of speech: "There is one who speaks rashly, like the piercings of a sword" - hurtful speech stabs even without malice, and a lack of intent does not absolve the speaker; and in contrast, "the tongue of the wise brings healing" - the wise man restores the dignity of the victim, nullifies malicious words, and rectifies flaws of speech through Torah study, while true rebuke is offered only where it offers a path of constructive healing. "The lip of truth will be established forever" - truth endures over time, whereas falsehood lasts only "for a fleeting moment," for a lie has no legs to stand on, forcing the liar to continually seek new victims and new arenas. "Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil" - one who advises you to harm another does not love you, but is merely using you, living in constant fear of exposure; whereas counselors of peace, who desire the sustained wellbeing of the world and have nothing to hide, have joy in their hearts. Finally, "no iniquity shall befall the righteous" - the tzaddik is protected, for one sin invites another, and among the wicked, evil begets evil until their measure is full; and as Tosafot explained, alluded to in the acrostic "it shall not be eaten" (lo ye'achel), the primary promise applies to dietary prohibitions, for it is an utter disgrace that the body of a tzaddik should become defiled.