Introduction: The Question of the Wicked Who Prosper
This psalm of Asaph addresses the great question that accompanies the believer: the wicked who prosper and the righteous who suffer. Asaph depicts the wicked in their tranquility, the complaints of the people who witness their success, and his own dilemma - whether one is even permitted to raise such a question. In the passage before us, we follow the description of the wicked, the doubts they stir in the hearts of the people, up to the answer: "Until I came into the sanctuaries of God; then I understood their end."
"They Corrupt and Speak Evil Oppression"
יָמִיקוּ וִידַבְּרוּ בְרָע עֹשֶׁק מִמָּרוֹם יְדַבֵּרוּ׃ - They corrupt and speak wickedly of oppression; they speak loftily from on high.
Rashi explains that this is a continuation of the description of the wicked: what do they do? *Yamiku* - they cause their fellows to rot. Radak explains *yamiku* as related to *yamisu* (they melt) - their words melt away other people, meaning they do evil and bring troubles upon human beings. It is from the root of *hamikoto*, *hamēk besaro* ("their flesh shall consume away"), *venamaku kol tzeva hashamayim* ("and all the host of heaven shall dissolve"), and *ulshonam timak befihem* ("and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth"). And *yidabru vera oshek* ("they speak wickedly of oppression") - they discuss how to oppress the poor. And what is *mimmarom yedaberu* ("they speak loftily from on high")? Rashi says: like Pharaoh, like Sennacherib, like Nebuchadnezzar, who spoke against the High One Himself - "Who is Hashem that I should heed His voice?", "Who among all the gods of these countries...", "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds." Words of pride and arrogance directed toward Heaven.
Radak interprets differently: *Veyidabru vera oshek* - they are not afraid to speak openly about the oppression they commit. They do not hide it; they feel no shame. They tell one another about the very extortion they carry out and boast of their deeds, demonstrating just how great their wickedness has grown. *Mimmarom yedaberu* - to the point where they speak even concerning the One on High, asserting that as it were, even Heaven cannot punish them: no one up there will bring punishment upon us.
The Malbim takes an entirely different direction: *Mimmarom yedaberu* - as it were, a decree issues forth from on high, where they speak and decree judgment against these wicked people. And what is said about them on high? That they deserve to rot (*yamiku*), that they deserve to die, because they commit evil and oppression. Here there is a decree of the heavenly watchers, a decree from on high that they should perish (*yamiku*), because all day long they "speak of evil oppression." Yet the wicked are not in the least afraid of what is spoken about them on high.
They Set Their Mouth in the Heavens
שַׁתּוּ בַשָּׁמַיִם פִּיהֶם וּלְשׁוֹנָם תִּהֲלַךְ בָּאָרֶץ׃ - They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth.
According to the Malbim's approach: the wicked direct their mouths toward heaven to make proclamations that contradict what was decreed in heaven. In heaven it was proclaimed that evil would befall them, yet not only are they unfazed, but they even declare that the exact opposite will happen to them, as though their mouths were more powerful than the heavenly decree. *Ulshonam tihalakh ba'aretz* ("and their tongue struts through the earth") - and on earth, people do not hear the initial heavenly voice decreeing evil upon them; they hear only the voice of the wicked proclaiming: "We are not afraid; we will defy the heavenly decree and succeed." Only their tongue walks about and is heard on earth.
Radak cites in his father's name that *tihalakh* is an intensive form, like *shotēt* (wander about) or *damo shotēt* (his blood flows) - flowing and running swiftly. That is to say, their tongue runs free and pours out across the earth. And what is *shatu vashamayim pihem*? Radak explains: they claim that Hashem does not know what they are doing, that He has no knowledge of what occurs down here. They direct their mouth and tongue, which roam the earth, against the heavens, saying: "You in heaven know nothing of our actions; we have nothing to worry about." Alternatively: they speak both against God in heaven and against the God-fearing on earth - *shatu vashamayim pihem* refers to their speech against God, while *ulshonam tihalakh ba'aretz* refers to their slander against those who serve God. Thus, they lash out against both heaven and earth.
Elevating in Order to Cast Down
Rav Yosef ben David Hayyun, cited in Me'am Lo'ez, offers an intriguing explanation: these people begin speaking about someone with praise, saying great things about him - yet the entire purpose is ultimately to disparage him. They elevate him only to bring him low afterward, which echoes the verse, "They plan only to thrust him down from his high place; they delight in lies; they bless with their mouth..." And what is the logic in building a person up merely to tear him down? The Ohel Yaakov, the Dubno Maggid, explains: this is the tactic of those who speak lashon hara. At first he tells you, "Listen, what an important person, what an elevated individual!" And once he has magnified him so greatly, he continues, "Now tell me, does it befit such a person to do such things?" Thus, the fact that "they set their mouth against the heavens" - raising him to the skies - was only so that "their tongue struts on the earth", bringing him crashing down to the dust. He lifts him up specifically to make his fall greater.
Our Sages expound upon this verse: there is a person who sins against heaven and does not sin on earth, and there is one who sins on earth and does not sin against heaven - but one who speaks lashon hara, says Kohelet Rabbah, sins both in heaven and on earth. His flaw strikes both here below and Above.
The Rambam writes in Hilchot Tumat Tzara'at: "They set their mouth against the heavens" - meaning they spoke against the Holy One, blessed be He, "and their tongue struts on the earth." And what led them to "set their mouth against the heavens"? "Their tongue that struts on the earth." This is a gradual deterioration: at first they engage in idle chatter, then in lashon hara, then in slander against the righteous, then against the prophets, until they reach "they set their mouth against the heavens." The barriers do not collapse all at once, but rather step by step: first idle talk, which leads to slander, until one is ultimately speaking against the Holy One, blessed be He, Himself.
The Me'am Lo'ez brings another interpretation: when they speak lashon hara, they claim, "What I am telling you is for the sake of Heaven" - so that you will know to be cautious of him, in order to set him straight, and similar expressions. This is "they set their mouth in heaven." But in truth, "their tongue struts on the earth" - his actual goal is to bury him down here, while telling you pious stories that it is all for the sake of Heaven.
Therefore His People Return Here
לָכֵן יָשׁוּב עַמּוֹ הֲלֹם וּמֵי מָלֵא יִמָּצוּ לָמוֹ׃ - Therefore His people return here, and waters of a full cup are drained out for them.
Because the people of the Holy One, blessed be He, see the prosperous path of the wicked, they turn away from the way of Hashem to follow the ways of the wicked. Halom means "here," as in "Who brought you here?" (Mi hevi'acha halom) - they return here, to walk in the ways of the wicked.
Rashi cites another interpretation in the name of Menachem: "His people return here [halom]" - the wicked man returns to strike (lahalom) the people of the Holy One, blessed be He. Halom is related to striking, as in beating someone. Rashi learned the first interpretation from the words of Rabbi Meir bar Yitzchak, the shaliach tzibbur, while the second interpretation belongs to Menachem.
"And waters of a full cup are drained out for them" - the waters of an overflowing stream, which represent words of Torah, are considered by them like dregs, like something insignificant. They scoff at the full stream of Torah words.
The Radak notes that the written text (k'tiv) reads yashiv with a yud - Hashem turns back. That is, His people in exile, seeing time and again the serenity of the wicked, repeatedly return here - constantly reiterating the grievance: Why? How can the wicked prosper while the Jewish people are downtrodden and despised? "And waters of a full cup are drained out for them" - the waters of a full cup. For them, the wicked, all is good, whereas we drink a full cup of poison down to the very dregs, as in the expression "and you drained it" (u'matzit). We drink until we reach the very sediment. Consider the analogy of soup: at first you pour out the clear broth on top, and then, as you tilt the bowl further and extract everything soaked into the vegetables, you get the concentrated dregs - that which is squeezed out at the very end. In other words: we have drained the suffering to the very last drop, while look at the wicked, see how fortunate they are.
The Malbim continues according to his approach: The wicked argue, "Even after calamity was decreed upon us on High, see how in the end it never arrived; see how well off we are!" From this they deduce that even Heaven has no dominion over them. "Therefore His people return here" - the hosts of Heaven, the celestial forces, return here to us to heed our counsel. As it were, they no longer obey Hashem but us, acting in accordance with our deeds. "And waters of a full cup are drained out for them" - and through this we attain an outflow of abundant waters; the springs of success pour out upon us. Not only do we drink all the waters of abundance, but even the very dregs - sucking out the essence of success to the ultimate degree. The allegorical thrust is that even though by celestial decree these wicked men ought to have perished, see how they flourish; as it were, Heaven exerts no control over them to confound and destroy them. The hand of the wicked is raised high, and it seems as if Hashem lacks the power to vanquish the wicked - where are His mighty deeds, where are His awesome acts? And all these things create profound crises of faith for those seeking to cleave to Hashem.
How Can God Know?
וְאָמְרוּ אֵיכָה יָדַע אֵל וְיֵשׁ דֵּעָה בְעֶלְיוֹן׃ - And they say, "How does God know? And is there knowledge in the Most High?"
The Malbim explains: Based on this, people make an error and deny divine providence. How could it be that Hashem knows about all this and allows it to continue? From this they seek to prove that, as it were, Hashem necessarily does not know what is taking place here. And what is the repetition between "How does God know?" and "And is there knowledge in the Most High?" The Malbim explains: The expression "yada" (knew) can apply even to an intelligent person who knows one thing but is ignorant of another - a person can be a great professor and deeply knowledgeable, yet lack understanding on a specific point. In contrast, "having no knowledge" means possessing no intellect or awareness whatsoever. Therefore, some say, "How does God know?" - He possesses intellect, but there are certain things He does not know, and He does not know the deeds of the wicked, which is why they continue in their wickedness. Others say, "And is there knowledge in the Most High?" - and this is the view of the heretics, that He has no knowledge at all, that knowledge does not even apply to Him. This is the opinion of the philosopher cited by the Kuzari and in Moreh Nevuchim, that the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, knows nothing of this world. This is what the deniers say in the wake of seeing that no judgment is executed upon the wicked.
Behold, These Are the Wicked, Always at Ease
הִנֵּה־אֵלֶּה רְשָׁעִים וְשַׁלְוֵי עוֹלָם הִשְׂגּוּ־חָיִל׃ - Behold, these are the wicked, and always at ease, they increase their wealth.
What is the difficulty? The Malbim says: "Behold, these are the wicked" - these people are notorious for their wickedness, yet despite all this, you see that they are "always at ease," enjoying worldly tranquility. And not only are they at ease, but they even prosper - "they increase their wealth," meaning they expand their fortune, as Rashi notes: "He makes nations great [mashgi] and destroys them"; "and your latter end shall greatly increase [yisgeh me'od]" - will grow and multiply greatly. Thus, it is not merely that they enjoy tranquility and are free from suffering, but they also thrive - see how many millions they make.
Surely in Vain Have I Cleansed My Heart
אַךְ־רִיק זִכִּיתִי לְבָבִי וָאֶרְחַץ בְּנִקָּיוֹן כַּפָּי׃ - Surely in vain have I cleansed my heart, and washed my hands in innocence.
Those who say, "How does God know?" come and declare: If Hashem does not know, why am I exerting myself? It is in vain and for naught that I purify my heart and observe His mitzvot. Look, things go badly for me all day long, while the wicked prosper all day long; from this I conclude, "How does God know?" And if so, what reason is there for me to purify my heart, and what purpose is served by washing my hands in innocence? My heart is pure and my actions are clean - yet I suffer; their deeds are flawed and corrupted - yet things go well for them. And what is the significance of the repetition? The Malbim explains: "I cleansed my heart" refers to inwardness - that I do not sin even in thought; "and washed my hands in innocence" - that I do not sin in deed either, in what a person takes into his hands, such as robbery and the like. Yet despite all this, it has availed me nothing.
וָאֱהִי נָגוּעַ כׇּל־הַיּוֹם וְתוֹכַחְתִּי לַבְּקָרִים׃ - For all day long I was stricken, and my rebuke came every morning.
Even though I have no sin or iniquity, afflictions still fall upon me - I endure suffering, and for nothing, since I cleansed my heart and washed my hands in innocence. And even so, these afflictions serve as moral rebuke for me: I hold fast to the principle that there is no suffering without sin, and therefore I examine my deeds and fortify myself in the fear of Hashem, treating these afflictions as a rebuke and inspecting my ways. Yet look at these wicked people: they commit so much evil, and not only does no harm befall them, but they do not examine themselves or inspect their deeds at all. Where, then, is the justice? "And my rebuke came every morning" - the rebuke with which Hashem chastises me, my afflictions, are renewed morning after morning, with fresh troubles each day.
If I Said, "I Will Speak Thus"
אִם־אָמַרְתִּי אֲסַפְּרָה כְמוֹ הִנֵּה דוֹר בָּנֶיךָ בָגָדְתִּי׃ - If I had said, "I will recount thus," behold, I would have betrayed the generation of Your children.
Rashi explains: Asaph said, if I had resolved in my heart to recount everything kemo - just as it is, everything that His people say about this matter - behold, "I would have betrayed the generation of Your children," portraying the people of Israel as traitors. He sought to give voice to the people's grievances, but these claims border on heresy: "How does God know?", "Is there knowledge in the Most High?", "Yet I was stricken all day long," and "my rebuke came every morning." Asaph says: I have mentioned only a fraction of their arguments, and if I were to detail all of them - heaven forbid - I would become their mouthpiece and speak exceedingly harsh words on their behalf, thereby casting the generation of Your children as traitors. I do not wish to speak such harsh things in their name; what I have already expressed is enough to convey their struggle and their grievances concerning the apparent lack of justice.
The Malbim explains: After presenting the great dilemma - the wicked prosper ("the wicked, always at ease, have amassed wealth") while the righteous suffer ("in vain have I cleansed my heart and washed my hands in innocence," yet despite this, "I was stricken all day long" and "my rebuke came every morning") - he says: If I recount and set forth the question just as it is, "I would have betrayed the generation of Your children." The generation would turn treacherous against Hashem, blessed be He, and lapse into heresy, and I would be guilty of causing the public to sin. This is the well-known dilemma when addressing questions of faith: "Woe to me if I speak, and woe to me if I do not speak." For if I present the question in its full force, there may be people who initially had no difficulty with it, and now they will say: "Indeed, that is a compelling question; how could Hashem act this way?" I would thus be stirring up doubts within them regarding Hashem's providence. On the other hand, if I choose to remain silent, there may be people walking around harboring this question and nursing disbelief in their hearts, while I never opened the discussion to address it and provide an answer.
And I Pondered to Know This
וָאֲחַשְּׁבָה לָדַעַת זֹאת עָמָל הוּא בְעֵינָי׃ - "When I pondered to understand this, it was toil in my eyes."
The Malbim explains: What if I do not speak out, but merely contemplate it to myself - not raising the question publicly, but meditating upon it and delving into this inquiry of where divine justice and righteousness lie? To this, Asaph says: even this is "toil in my eyes." I consider even this to be toil and iniquity, for I am harboring thoughts that challenge the Omnipresent: Where is justice? Why does Hashem act this way? Why does He not govern His world properly and punish the wicked? Thus, even if I do not voice it to others, the very contemplation is "toil" - an evil deed, iniquity and sin, since it harbors doubts about the fundamentals of faith.
Rashi interprets along a different path: When I think in my heart to understand this and comprehend Hashem's providence and the apparent injustice, "it was toil in my eyes" - and the "toil" refers, as it were, to the action of Hashem: this measure whereby the Holy One, blessed be He, does not punish the wicked and does not grant good reward to the righteous appeared in my eyes as injustice, as toil and wrongdoing, as something devoid of true justice and law. The Radak, however, explains it as "a great labor in my eyes" - the very contemplation of this issue was an immense exertion for me; I searched in my heart with great toil, until my inner thoughts brought me to the sanctuaries of God.
Until I Came to the Sanctuaries of God
עַד־אָבוֹא אֶל־מִקְדְּשֵׁי־אֵל אָבִינָה לְאַחֲרִיתָם׃ - "Until I came into the sanctuaries of God, then I understood their end."
Rashi explains: "Until I came to the sanctuaries of God" refers to the Temple in Jerusalem - and then I saw what befell Sancheirev. How boastfully he spoke, how much evil he perpetrated, how many kingdoms he conquered, how fiercely he threatened, when he, his men, and Ravshakeh came and blasphemed the ranks of the living God, saying: "Who is Hashem?" - He is powerless against me. All this stirred difficult questions within me: How could Hashem remain silent before him? How could He grant him such leeway? But they told me: Wait. I came to the sanctuaries of God, I arrived in Jerusalem - and in a single night, the angel of Hashem struck down one hundred and eighty-five thousand troop commanders, all of them dead corpses. Then I understood that all the good the Holy One, blessed be He, bestows upon the wicked is only: "Truly, You set them on slippery ground; You cast them down to ruin" - He makes their path slick so they will slip and not repent, and afterward He exacts retribution from them.
The Malbim elaborates: When I found myself perplexed by this dilemma - presenting it to others might incite heresy, yet pondering it alone sparked thoughts of disbelief in my own heart - what did I do? Through deep contemplation, I entered the sanctuaries of God; I grasped the realms sanctified to God, where the soul receives its reward and punishment after death. "The sanctuaries of God" refers to the World to Come, to Gan Eden. I realized that this world is fleeting and is not the ultimate, enduring reality. When the soul strips away its material garments at the time of death and enters the sanctuaries of God, there will be eternal life, sweet life, a life far superior to this earthly existence - "then I understood their end." Then I will see where all those wicked people who celebrated here end up, all those who spoke against Hashem and against His anointed and blasphemed the ranks of the living God; then I will comprehend God's judgments and see what their final end truly is.
Truly, You Set Them on Slippery Ground
אַךְ בַּחֲלָקוֹת תָּשִׁית לָמוֹ הִפַּלְתָּם לְמַשּׁוּאוֹת׃ - "Truly, You set them on slippery ground; You cast them down to ruin."
Hashem made the path slick for them, for at its end lies the pit - He smoothed it for them because ultimately "You cast them down to ruin" (matsu'ot). The Ibn Ezra cites those who say that matsu'ot derives from the root of "the serpent deceived me" (hishi'ani), meaning You cast them down through temptation and enticed them to arrive there. The Metzudat Tzion explains matsu'ot as an expression of darkness, as in "gloom, desolation, and ruin" (sho'ah u-mesho'ah) - darkness and gloom, ultimately casting them down into the pit of destruction.
The Malbim notes that he explained this at length in his work Artzot HaShalom: Divine justice demands that the Holy One, blessed be He, does not withhold the reward of any creature. Even a person who acted wickedly all his life, but performed a good mitzvah - honoring his parents on one occasion or the like - deserves to receive a reward for that act. We tend to view people in absolute terms: either a tzaddik or a rasha, labeling them entirely. But with the Holy One, blessed be He, there is much gray in between. A person may be completely wicked, yet have one good deed in a thousand - would Hashem withhold his reward for it? The Holy One, blessed be He, does not even withhold the reward for courteous speech, and therefore it is proper to give even the wicked person the small reward he is due. The reverse is equally true: a righteous person who did good all his days and stumbled in a particular matter does not have that sin erased; he deserves to receive the appropriate punishment for that small transgression.
And what did Hashem, blessed be He, deem fitting? That the eternal spiritual world is exceedingly exalted, and it is unfitting to settle minor accounts there, for reward there is eternal and real, unlike this world where everything is fleeting. Therefore, Hashem settles the small accounts with both tzaddikim and resha'im here: the tzaddik who committed a sin is punished here, while the rasha who performed a mitzvah is rewarded here. The Malbim explains the reason: the success that the wicked person experiences here and the afflictions the righteous person suffers here have no true reality in the intellect, but only in the imagination. The physical world is the world of the senses, dependent on time and space - temporary, fleeting, and bound by geography. In contrast, the eternal spiritual world is bound neither by time - it is for all eternity - nor by space; the earth is measured in kilometers, while the eternal realm cannot be measured. Therefore, the good and bad felt by physical bodies here are not real, tangible goods and evils, but an illusion, because they are not eternal but momentary. And who feels them? The animalistic part of man. Man is composed of an animalistic component and a spiritual component, and it is the animalistic part that feels adversity here - his body is stricken, and that is merely physical reality.
Yet man himself - and who is man himself? No one believes that he is simply the seventy or eighty kilograms of his body; it is clear to all that man himself is the spiritual component, the soul, and it remains Above. And there Above, the wicked person, whose entire essence is wickedness, will settle the account; and the righteous person, whose entire essence is the service of Hashem, will receive his reward. It turns out that the wicked person who walks about here joyous, celebrating, and content is an absolute fool, for through the smooth paths Hashem granted him in this world, "You cast them down to ruin," into eternal perdition. If he possessed any sense, he would flee from this worldly prosperity.
From here stems advice for those scheming how to win the lottery: it is not worthwhile to pursue it; pursue the World to Come instead - it is far more worthwhile. For winning here and becoming a millionaire comes at the expense of something else. What is worth more to you: taking here, or preserving the reward eternally for the World of Truth? Very few merit both tables, like Rebbi, and even he did not derive pleasure from this world even with his small finger. To come and take endlessly from this world ultimately comes at the expense of the World to Come. As we mentioned regarding Rav Shteinman and his asceticism, who once said: everything in this world comes at the expense of the World to Come; the less you take from here, the more you will receive there. This is not to say that every person must live this way - not every mind can bear this, and it is not meant for flesh-and-blood people like us; but on the other hand, endlessly grasping also comes at a cost. It is not worth it, says the Malbim: this world is transient, temporary, and fleeting, whereas Above is eternity.
How they become a desolation in a moment
אֵיךְ הָיוּ לְשַׁמָּה כְרָגַע סָפוּ תַמּוּ מִן־בַּלָּהוֹת׃ - How they become a desolation in an instant, utterly swept away by terrors!
The moment they die, their success vanishes and ceases - "How they become a desolation in an instant." Shammah is an expression of desolation (shemamah), and in a single moment they are "utterly swept away," finished and destroyed, "by terrors." For it is written that after the soul departs from the body, it is terrified by the kelipot, the forces of impurity that it created during its life through its own evil deeds; all those terrors and destructive spirits are what frighten it. The soul will perish when the corpse perishes. If so, what did they gain from a temporary pleasure of seventy years, or by reason of strength eighty years? What came of it? Safu is an expression of destruction, and ballahot, as Metzudat Tzion explains, is equivalent to behalot (terrors) - just as keves and kesev, or simlah and salmah, so too behala and ballaha. In a single moment, they are swept away and consumed by that spiritual reality that will terrify them.
In summary: The wicked speak evil and oppression shamelessly, even declaring against what is decreed for them from on high - "they set their mouth in the heavens." It all begins with idle chatter and escalates to speaking against the Holy One, blessed be He. As a result, distortion arises in the heart of the people: "How does God know?", "Surely in vain have I cleansed my heart." Asaph faces a dilemma: to articulate the question fully and cause the generation to stumble, or to ponder it within himself and falter in his own thoughts. The answer is, "Until I came into the sanctuaries of God, then I understood their end" - a perspective from the eternal world. There it becomes clear that the prosperity of the wicked in this world is merely the advance receipt of his meager reward, "Surely You set them in slippery places," and his ultimate fate is "You cast them down to ruin," "How they become a desolation in an instant." This world is temporary and fleeting, and whatever one takes here comes at the expense of eternity.