Chapter 12 of Mishlei addresses a series of contrasts between the righteous and wise person and the wicked and foolish person. In this section, we will focus on four verses: truth and falsehood in speech, the modesty of the wise person versus the fool publicizing his foolishness, diligence versus deceit, and how to deal with worry in the heart. We will proceed in the order of the verses, with the commentaries of the Vilna Gaon, Rashi, Rabbeinu Yonah, Ralbag, and Malbim.
תּוֹעֲבַת יְהֹוָה שִׂפְתֵי שָׁקֶר וְעֹשֵׂי אֱמוּנָה רְצוֹנוֹ׃ (כב) - Lying lips are an abomination to Hashem, but those who act faithfully are His delight.
The Vilna Gaon explains that there are two types of falsehood: sheker and kazav. What is the difference between them? Sheker is a falsehood from the outset; it never contained any truth at all. Kazav, on the other hand, began as truth and only disappoints in the end. This is like a "nachal achzav" - a deceptive stream that initially flows with water, but ultimately runs dry. Similarly, the Shunammite woman said to Elisha: "Do not lie (techazev) to your maidservant" - I believe your blessing will be fulfilled and that I will have a child, but if the child will not live a long life, I have no desire for that. This is the connotation of kazav: something that began properly, but ultimately disappointed.
Take a practical example from life. Consider someone who invested in an apartment building abroad, say in Italy. In the initial stage, he actually received returns; in the second stage, he was told: that is it, there are no tenants, the property is vacant. And since he was not there, he had no idea what was actually taking place - "May your property be successful and close to town." Go search for an apartment building in Italy and try to investigate what is happening with it. That is kazav: at first it worked, and afterward it disappointed. Sheker, by contrast, is when someone sold an apartment building that never existed at all, neither on paper nor on the ground, not even as an unfinished shell. They sold pure thin air.
Regarding this, the verse says: "Lying lips are an abomination to Hashem." An abomination (to'evah) denotes the worst possible thing, and therefore specifically a lie that is false from its very inception is classified as an abomination. And why does it say "lips" of falsehood (siftei sheker)? Because the mouth and the heart do not align; it is all merely from the lips outward. The deceiver wins people over with smooth speech: "Do you know how many have already invested? Do you know how much they have already received? People bought second and third apartments just from this investment!" These are slick operators capable of selling timeshares at the Western Wall. That is their expertise, and that is an abomination to Hashem.
And on the other hand: "But those who act faithfully are His delight." Note the Vilna Gaon's precise observation: to be called righteous, it is not enough merely to avoid being an abomination. A person who does not rob banks is not yet considered one who does Hashem's will on that account alone. A righteous person is someone who lacks even the slightest trace of sin. Therefore, it says "those who act faithfully are His delight" - someone whose truth permeates his thoughts and innermost heart, as it says, "And You found his heart faithful before You," and "Speaks truth in his heart." He not only refrains from speaking sheker, and not only avoids speaking kazav that ends in disappointment, but even something in his heart that is not one hundred percent precise, he dismisses as well. This is what it means to do His will, blessed be He.
Malbim explains that the verse is constructed around two pairs of opposites: abomination versus delight, and lying lips versus those who act faithfully. Emunah (faithfulness) means truth - as in, "Let your words be verified (ye'amenu)," meaning proven true. When a person promises to do something, whether a mitzvah or an act of kindness for his fellow, if he fulfills what he said, it is speech of faithfulness and he is true to his word; but if he fails to fulfill it, his speech is falsehood. And someone who routinely makes promises without fulfilling them possesses "lying lips" - lying has become habitual on his lips, and he does not bat an eye when he lies; it comes to him naturally. His speech does not match his deeds, and his words are merely from the lips outward - and this is an abomination to Hashem. But "those who act faithfully" are those whose speech and actions are in complete harmony: if you promised to give, you gave. The deed agrees with the speech, and in this lies the will of Hashem, blessed be He.
אָדָם עָרוּם כֹּסֶה דָּעַת וְלֵב כְּסִילִים יִקְרָא אִוֶּלֶת׃ (כג) - A prudent person conceals knowledge, but the heart of fools proclaims folly.
Rashi explains: A prudent person is modest even with his wisdom. He conceals and downplays even matters of wisdom, and all the more so matters of nonsense - he feels no need to repeat every foolish thing he heard and share it with others. By contrast, "the heart of fools proclaims folly": the fool calls out foolishness at the top of his voice. If he hears something nonsensical, he immediately repeats it. Even when dealing with matters where modesty is appropriate, or matters that ought not to be said, the fool immediately takes it upon himself to "benefit the public" and pass it along. The wise, prudent person, however, weighs carefully whether to speak or remain silent, even regarding matters of knowledge.
Rabbeinu Yonah explains that the verse speaks of the trait of humility. The wise person conceals both his righteousness and his good deeds. Although publicizing good deeds may sometimes bring "glory to the one who does them," earning him honor, the guiding principle remains: "And walk humbly with your God." A story was once told of a man who spoke to his rabbi about a "hidden tzaddik" and began recounting all the acts of charity that this hidden tzaddik performed. The rabbi said to him: If he is so hidden, how do you know everything he does? Apparently, he is "hidden," but also makes sure that people know he is hidden, so that he will be honored both for his deeds and for his humility. There are people who remain hidden, yet take care that everyone knows about it. Truly modest people, by contrast, conceal even their good deeds so that no one will ever know about them.
By contrast, the fool (the kesil): not only does he not conceal his knowledge, and not only does he publicize his good deeds to all, but he even broadcasts his folly and his nonsense in public. He has not an ounce of shame - the barrier of shame has already been removed from him, and he proclaims to everyone all the foolish things he has done. Rabbeinu Yonah asks: It would have been more appropriate to say, "and the mouth of fools proclaims folly," since it is with his mouth that he brings it out, so why does it say "heart"? Rather, in an ordinary person there is a stage where the thought passes from the heart to the mouth, but with the fool, he does not even have that stage. As soon as it enters his heart - he immediately blurts it out. At least have some small delay between heart and mouth, where you might think twice! But with him, as it is swallowed, so it is spewed forth.
The Vilna Gaon follows the same approach: The wise man conceals even what he knows and does not flaunt his wisdom, whereas the fool - on first impulse, immediately reveals his folly aloud and broadcasts it to all. Ask someone a riddle, and there will always be those who immediately answer with ten pieces of nonsense; yet you will see one person who thinks and thinks, and only then offers a thoughtful answer - he might not even be right, but you can see that it came from deep thought. Whereas those who answered nonsense, had they reflected for just a moment, they would have realized beforehand that what they said was not even close. This is the kesil: as soon as something enters his mind he blurts it out, without examining whether it is proper or correct. But the wise man "conceals knowledge" - even if a profound thought came to his mind, he examines it seven times over before uttering it.
Ralbag adds along the same lines: When a wise person makes a discovery or arrives at an original insight (chiddush), he does not state it right away; rather, he checks it and verifies that it is accurate. For one can state a brilliant idea, and then someone comes along and says: Very nice, but there is one small problem - it is contradicted by the wording of the verse. The idea sounds wonderful, but the verses say otherwise. Therefore, the wise person sifts his words through seven sieves before speaking them. The fool, however, does not fear embarrassment and humiliation: whatever he thinks he says, and whatever he wants he writes.
There is a story of someone who published a book, and the book was a heap of nonsense. He went to request an approbation (haskamah) from one of the Torah leaders of the generation. The Gadol told him: "Not everything one thinks should be spoken, and not everything spoken should be written." How many filters must a person have! What you think - do not utter with your mouth; and if you already spoke nonsense aloud, must you also put it in a book to be preserved for generations? After words leave your mouth, several more filters are needed to check whether the matter is fit to be written down. From here we also see the great value of writing: when a person sits down to write, he feels a sense of responsibility. Something said orally is imprecise and forgotten tomorrow; but what is written down, someone will pick up the book and call you: "Sir, you have a mistake here, this explanation is incorrect." You bear responsibility for what you write, and you care about how you will appear. Therefore, writing helps clarify the subject. Likewise, when someone studies a Talmudic topic (sugya) and wants to clarify it for himself, there is great benefit in summarizing it in writing. While studying, one might think the Rashba says the exact same thing as the Ritva; but when sitting down to write, one opens the texts, examines each wording closely, and discovers that the Rashba uses a different expression, and it turns out he does not hold that view at all. You didn't realize that during the initial study. Writing demands responsibility, and a person becomes far more careful.
The Malbim, in his characteristic precision, notes: Here it is written that the kesil "proclaims folly (ivvelet)." Yet we have already seen across many verses that the Malbim distinguishes between a kesil and an evil, whereas here he seemingly connects them. However, there is a profound insight here. The kesil is a person who can be highly intelligent and educated, yet does not live according to the ways of wisdom. He could be a professor and a cardiothoracic surgeon, yet you see him sitting with a cup of coffee and a cigarette. You look at lungs all day, you know exactly what happens there! And he answers you: "Don't take an example from me; I am telling you what is good for you - stop smoking. What I do in my private life is my own business; they pay me to advise, not to serve as an example." That is what is called a kesil: someone who knows the truth and acts contrary to it.
The evil, on the other hand, is one who doubts the ways of wisdom - the skeptical mindset. To everything you say, he asks: "Who says? Who says we are here? Who says we are alive? Maybe everything you see is an illusion." The skeptic will always cast doubt and say, "Prove it." In truth, there are things that cannot be proven: there is no proof that the two of us perceive the color red in the exact same way; theoretically, the red in my eyes might be the green in yours, and people simply call that color red, and we will never know unless I can enter your eyes. But why say such a thing? That is a philosophy of vanity; there is no reason to assert it. Rather, skeptics always want to claim "there is no proof." And when you come to speak with him about Torah and mitzvot, he asks: "How do you know that the Holy One, blessed be He, wants this?" Yet everything can be demonstrated. Thus he is called an evil, related to the word ulai ("perhaps") - perhaps it is not so, perhaps this is not what Hashem wants.
Now everything comes together. The kesil knows the ways of wisdom, but his desire overcomes him - he craves the cigarette, he wants it. If he acts according to his knowledge, it will restrict him and demand that he stop many things he has done until now. What, then, is his place of refuge? Folly (ivvelet). When you confront him and say: "Sir, but it is such-and-such," he answers you: "Who says?" Do you see what the kesil did? He is someone for whom the ways of wisdom are clear, and he transgresses them solely out of desire; so in order not to present himself as one who acts contrary to his knowledge, he disguises himself as an evil: "I don't know, there are doubts, it's not certain, there's no proof." All this is to rationalize the forbidden - why do I act this way? Because there's no proof. Yet deep down inside he knows that God exists, and deep down inside he is a complete believer.
Rav Aryeh Lopian related a story about a man who was a major heretic and one of the leaders of the maskilim in Europe. He was about to undergo a surgery from which the doctors told him he might not emerge alive, an extremely risky procedure. Just before the anesthesia, he cried out: "Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, Hashem, God of truth - that's it, begin the surgery!" Everyone around him was stunned: "To us, you were a symbol of heresy and enlightenment, a symbol that there is nothing - and suddenly you cry out such words?!" The kesil will always find reasons to say "Who says?" and "How do you know?" in order to legitimize the forbidden and feel good about himself; but deep within, he knows the truth, and sometimes a moment comes when he has no choice and the truth bursts forth from inside him.
This is the deeper meaning of the verse: The prudent man (arum), the wise person, foresees consequences and does not walk in paths fraught with doubt; rather, he seeks the truth - "a prudent man conceals knowledge" - he will always act in accordance with knowledge and upright conduct. The kesil, however, who knows the upright path but has no desire for it, seeks to raise arguments of folly - "and the heart of fools proclaims folly" - in order to justify his foolish ways.
יַד חָרוּצִים תִּמְשׁוֹל וּרְמִיָּה תִּהְיֶה לָמַס׃ (כד) - The hand of the diligent shall rule, but slackness shall be put to forced labor.
Rabbeinu Yonah explains: "The hand of the diligent shall rule" - one who builds his wealth through righteousness, justice, and integrity will be the one to rule, as it is said, "A rich man rules over the poor." The rich man rules over the poor when his wealth was acquired legitimately. But "deceit shall be put to tribute" - one who possesses a deceitful spirit and amassed his wealth unlawfully will live in fear of others and remain subservient to them. He dreads humiliation, afraid that people will ask where all his money and wealth came from; he fears lawsuits that will expose his dishonesty and prove that everything was obtained through theft. Thus, "put to tribute" (lamas) shares a root with "melting away" (lehitmoseis): he melts in fear before others. One whose wealth came through diligence and honesty fears no one and rules; but as for one whose wealth was gained dishonestly - someone will always remind him of its origins, someone will file a lawsuit against him, and therefore he prefers to keep a low profile and stay submissive toward everyone, hoping no one stirs or awakens suspicion, lest they begin investigating his affairs.
The Malbim explains that the diligent person is the antithesis of two characters: the sluggard and the swindler. The sluggard does not work diligently, and the swindler certainly does not seek diligence, preferring shortcuts and schemes. The diligent person performs his labor without laziness, with integrity, and free of deception, never seeking to get rich overnight. Indeed, take note: honest and upright people understand that wealth does not appear overnight; it does not materialize in an instant. It requires persistent effort, day after day, until one attains financial stability. One who lacks this mindset, by contrast, is constantly searching for a windfall, looking to "make a killing." Such a person is not diligent - he harbors laziness, which gives birth to deceit. Because he is too lazy to build wealth properly, he lacks the patience to save month after month until he can make a purchase, and then save further to upgrade, acquire advanced machinery, and gradually develop an enterprise. He has no patience for any of that; he wants instant riches. If that can be attained through a scheme - even one that is improper, dishonest, and tainted by robbery - he no longer cares. That is the exact opposite of "the hand of the diligent." Therefore: "The hand of the diligent shall rule" - they will become the prosperous members of society, their hand will prevail, and they will lead the land; "and deceit shall be put to tribute" - the swindler will not succeed, and there will be no blessing in his toil; rather, just as servants are placed under tribute to their masters, so will he be subjugated beneath the hand of the wealthy.
דְּאָגָה בְלֶב אִישׁ יַשְׁחֶנָּה וְדָבָר טוֹב יְשַׂמְּחֶנָּה׃ (כה) - Anxiety in the heart of a man depresses it, but a good word makes it glad. (25)
Ralbag explains: when anxiety enters a man's heart, he must suppress and humble it - "yashchena" derives from the concept of walking bowed down (shachoch), bent low. Bend that worry down. Note his words carefully: "For there is no benefit whatsoever in anxiety, only harm, and it is something unfitting for an intelligent person." It is improper for a person of intellect to be consumed by worry, for fretting over the past is madness - why worry that you once had such and such an amount of money and now it is gone? That has already passed. Worrying about the future is equally improper, for a person ought to place his trust in Hashem. What will happen when I retire? How will I marry off my children? What if war breaks out tomorrow? Because of such worries, he loses his present peace of mind. As the saying goes: "The past is gone, the future is not yet here, and the present is like the blink of an eye - whence, then, worry?" What is past has already occurred, and the future has not yet arrived; one who rests secure and confident in Hashem has no reason to worry.
Let us not misunderstand: freedom from worry does not mean a lack of preparation. If one has the opportunity to build a secure room and says, "No, a person must not worry" - that is misguided thinking. If one has the means to save for his children's future weddings and says, "I trust in Hashem and will not save; I live only from what is in front of me" - that too is incorrect, and has nothing to do with avoiding worry. Worry means being agitated and unsettled, robbed of peace by fears of what might be; that is what is wrong. But preparing for the future and doing what normal prudence dictates - a person certainly must do that. As for someone at the highest level of bitachon who says, "I will abandon all worldly efforts and sit and learn, and the Holy One, blessed be He, will provide for my children" - the Chazon Ish himself wrote: who can claim such a stature today? That was the level of King David and his peers, whereas ordinary people are required to make the standard, normal effort (hishtadlus). But plunging into stress, panic, and anxiety over these matters - that is what is inappropriate; a person ought to place his trust in Hashem.
The Malbim explains: all character traits are latent within the human soul, such that whenever a person wishes to contemplate something, he possesses the power to bring that thought to mind, and he equally possesses the power to lower it from his heart and dismiss it from his thoughts. Pride, humility, jealousy, lust - where do they all originate? In the imagination. Where does pride begin? In the imagination: I picture myself as the wisest, the most discerning, the most knowledgeable, the most successful. And how does one overcome it? Through the opposite use of imagination: What are you imagining about yourself? Look, you are incapable of this, you do not understand that, and here is where you stumbled. Jealousy is the same - it stems from imagination: Why does he have while I lack, and may he lose what he owns. All of these are negative traits that arise from imagination and the wandering thoughts of the heart, and a person has the power to dismiss these fantasies and silence these thoughts.
When these fantasies rule the heart, they consume a person from within, destroying both body and soul. Literally so: this is the root cause of many illnesses, ulcers, and heart conditions. As a wise doctor once said: a person does not die from what he eats, but from what eats him. That is what should concern you - what is eating away at you inside. A calm person, who possesses inner joy, is content with his lot, and gives thanks to Hashem for whatever He has granted him - who does not obsess over what his fellow possesses, but says, "May he enjoy it in good health," while focusing on how much Hashem bestows upon him - that is longevity, and that is health. Look at the Torah luminaries: Rav Elyashiv lived past a hundred, the Chafetz Chaim, Rav Ovadia Yosef, Rav Kaduri - individuals who did not concern themselves with petty grievances, whose lives were devoted purely to Hashem. Such a person is calm, serene, and merits length of days.
The Malbim portrays the person ruled by worry: he frets over the future, lest a sword strike his home, lest his wealth vanish, lest his children die, lest his enemies overpower him - and he lives in perpetual grief. What if this happens, and what will become of that? Why be tormented in this manner? For this, King Solomon offers two remedies. The first remedy: remove that thought from yourself. When fearful thoughts begin to arise - divert your mind from them. The second remedy: bring opposing, positive thoughts into your heart. Let a person visualize blessing and success, envisioning his sons growing up, building homes, and marrying, and his daughters marrying fine, upright men. This is positive "guided imagery." That is the meaning of the verse: "Anxiety in the heart of a man depresses it [yashchena]" - the first remedy: humble these thoughts and cast them out of your mind; "and a good word makes it glad [yesamchena]" - the second remedy: introduce joyful thoughts into the heart, thoughts that dispel anxiety and prompt you to envision good outcomes rather than troubles and disasters.
Based on this, the Malbim brilliantly explains the teaching of the Sages. Chazal expounded on "Anxiety in the heart of a man, yashchena": one Sage interpreted it as "yasiachena mida'ato" (let him divert his mind from it), while another interpreted it as "yesichena le'acherim" (let him speak of it to others). Until now, we understood "let him speak of it to others" to mean that he should confide in others so they might advise and guide him - what people today call "talking it through." After all, what do people pay a therapist for? Chiefly for someone to listen. Your wife is not listening, the children are not listening, the boss is not listening - so you pay five hundred shekels for someone to hear you out. This is said with a touch of humor, but there is immense therapeutic value in unburdening oneself before a listening ear. That is also how anxiety and panic are addressed: talk about it. Once you talk about it, half the work is already done. Yet observe how the Malbim explains it according to his own approach: "Yesichena le'acherim" - let him divert his mind toward *other* matters that bring him joy. That is: the first interpretation is to push it out of his mind, and the second is to divert his anxious thoughts toward other thoughts - uplifting thoughts in which he envisions good things. How marvelous: "Anxiety in the heart of a man depresses it" represents the first approach: divert your mind from the worry; "and a good word makes it glad" represents the second: focus on positive matters that lead you to joy.
The Vilna Gaon explains: "and a good word makes it glad" - there is no "good" other than Torah. Whoever accepts upon himself the yoke of Torah has the dread of war, unchaste thoughts, and foolish notions removed from him. You have anxieties and racing thoughts? Learn Torah. "For I have given you a good doctrine" - Torah gladdens the soul, "The orders of Hashem are upright, rejoicing the heart," and by immersing oneself in Torah, one's heart is filled with joy. Yet this requires genuinely engaging in Torah study: if one attends a shiur while his thoughts remain preoccupied with his troubles, he is not engaged in Torah but in his personal worries, having merely carried them into the beit midrash. During the time one studies, he must enter deeply into the learning, and then he will forget all other concerns and cease to be troubled by them at all.
These four verses paint a single cohesive portrait. "Lying lips are an abomination to Hashem" - falsehood that is false from its very inception is an abomination, whereas one who acts faithfully is someone whose truth resides in the inward depths of his heart as well, and whose deeds align with his speech. "A prudent man conceals knowledge" - the wise man sifts his words through seven sieves and conceals even his wisdom and good deeds, while the fool broadcasts his folly publicly, sometimes using foolishness and doubts merely to rationalize what is forbidden, even though deep down he knows the truth. "The hand of the diligent will rule" - diligence and integrity lead to sovereignty and freedom, whereas deceit brings subjugation and decay. "Anxiety in a man's heart weighs it down" - there is no benefit in worry, only harm, and it is within a person's power to banish from his heart the anxieties that consume him, to divert his mind from them, and to bring in their place good and uplifting thoughts - and above all, "there is no good other than Torah," for engaging in it wholeheartedly brings true joy to his soul.