Introduction: The Question of the Wicked's Tranquility
We continue in the psalm of Asaph, in which he lays out the profound difficulty that tested his faith: seeing the tranquility of the wicked contrasted with the suffering of the righteous. In the verses before us, he details exactly what he observed regarding those wicked people - how they seem exempt from all three natural tribulations of man, and the resulting effect on their conduct. We will proceed verse by verse, guided by the commentaries of Rashi, Radak, the Midrashim, and Malbim.
"For There Are No Pangs in Their Death" - Dying Without Agony
כִּי אֵין חַרְצֻבּוֹת לְמוֹתָם וּבָרִיא אוּלָם׃ - For there are no pangs in their death, and their strength is firm.
Rashi explains that chartzubot is an expression of bondage or fetters, as in "loose the fetters of wickedness" (patte'ach chartzubot resha). That is to say, there are no bonds binding them painfully to death. Often, a person dies through agonizing suffering, yet Asaph sees them - even when their time comes, dying peacefully in their beds without torment. They suffer no pangs leading up to their death; rather, they pass away while they are bari ulam, healthy and robust, not broken vessels.
Chazal interpret the word as a notarikon (an acronym): chartzubot stands for chared ve'atzev (anxious and grieved). They are neither anxious nor grieved over their death; the wicked person is untroubled and unconcerned about the day of death. Furthermore, they interpret chartzubot as me'acher tzevyonot (delaying desires). Tzevayon means will or desire, as in "and desires according to His will"; tzvi denotes desire and aspiration. That is, the Holy One, blessed be He, does not delay fulfilling their desires: whatever they want, He gives them immediately.
Radak likewise explains that chartzubot denotes binding and restraint, explaining that they enjoy goodness all their days until the day of death, and even at the moment of death they pass away peacefully and without pain. The Gemara compared death by croup (askara), the harshest of deaths, to pulling a bundle of wool out of thorny brambles - the wool is caught and bound in the thorns, and pulling it free tears it apart. Such is the departure of the soul in askara. In contrast, the gentlest of deaths, the kiss of death (mitat neshikah), is "like drawing a hair out of milk" - smoothly and effortlessly. Radak explains that this is the meaning here: their soul is not tied to their body with agonizing knots requiring violent tearing; rather, it departs in an instant, with ease and repose. This does not mean they die prematurely; on the contrary, they live long lives, and even when death arrives, they do not die in degradation and agony, but quietly in bed.
"And their strength is firm" (u-vari ulam) - Radak brings two explanations. First, ulam comes from the root of strength, similar to "it is in the power of my hand" (yesh le-el yadi, where el signifies power, and Elokim is the Master of all power and might). That is, throughout their lives their strength remains hearty and robust, and at death they depart peacefully. The second interpretation is that ulam means a palace or hall, with the comparative letter kaf omitted - meaning they are healthy like a palace, sturdy and sound as a fortress.
The Doctor's Parable: Who Is Allowed to Eat Anything
Radak cites the Midrash Shocher Tov quoted by Rashi: chartzubot means me'acher tzevyonot - the Holy One, blessed be He, does not delay the desires of the wicked. The Midrash illustrates this with a parable of a doctor who came to visit a patient. Taking the patient's hand, he told the family: "Give him whatever he asks to eat, for he is dying." So too, the Holy One, blessed be He, "repays His enemies to their face, to destroy them."
Elsewhere, the Midrash expands on this, making the concept even clearer: The doctor makes his morning rounds among the patients. He examines one patient thoroughly and instructs: "This one must not eat this, do not give him that, and of this only in such-and-such an amount" - a strict list of restrictions. He approaches another patient, whose condition is far graver, examines him, and the family asks, "What is the prescription?" The doctor replies, "Let him eat whatever he wants." "What, even rich steaks, fattened fowl, burgers and fries?" "Everything." They ask, "But his condition is far worse!" He answers, "There is no point in tormenting him. He does not have two or three weeks left; let him enjoy whatever he likes. The first patient still has a long life ahead, there is hope for recovery, there is something to work with - which is why I place restrictions on him."
This is precisely the meaning of the Midrash: Hashem does not delay the desires of the wicked; whatever they ask for is granted to them. The wicked are "dying" in the sense that they have no eternal existence; therefore, let them enjoy this world. "He repays His enemies to their face, to destroy them" - the repayment is given here, in this world, in order to sever them from life in the World to Come. For the righteous, however, the Holy One, blessed be He, preserves their reward for the World to Come. Here, then, lies the answer to the question of the suffering of the righteous versus the prosperity of the wicked: the very prosperity the wicked enjoy is itself their forfeiture of eternal life.
"For That Single Shema"
And if you ask: Why does the wicked person deserve this world at all? It is told that someone once came to a Rebbe with difficult questions regarding why the righteous suffer while the wicked prosper. He described how wicked he himself was: "I have committed every transgression in the Torah, and yet things are so good for me!" and went on to describe the great abundance he enjoyed. He said, "Doesn't the Torah say that if you turn away from Hashem's path, 'you will perish quickly from upon the good land' and the earth will not yield its produce? Yet everything with me is purely good!" The Rebbe answered him: "From the fact that you raise a difficulty based on the Shema, I understand that at least once in your life you must have recited the Shema." He replied, "That is true." Said the Rebbe: "For that single time you recited the Shema, what you have right now is still too little - it is just a small taste."
And so it is with every wicked person: Did he never honor his father? Did he never do a single good deed, never see a poor man on the street and hand him a coin out of social pressure? He performed a good deed at least once - and for that, he is due a reward, so the Holy One, blessed be He, pays him here. Notice carefully: it does not say that the Holy One, blessed be He, gives him this goodness for free; rather, it is payment - "He pays His enemies" - but "to his face," here in this world, and this is intended to destroy him from the life of the World to Come.
The Malbim's Explanation: "Chor Tzav" - A Hidden Cavity
The Malbim explains: Nothing in their physical constitution or bodily temperament conceals within its hidden recesses any weakness leading them toward death. According to his approach, chartzubot is related to chor tzav - a covered and hidden hole, similar to eglot tzav, covered wagons, named after the tortoise that always walks covered under its shell. Therefore, "there are no pangs (chartzubot) leading to their death" - there is no hidden weakness within their inner recesses that leads them to death, "and their strength is sound (vari ulam)" - their vitality is robust and very strong.
This corresponds to the first of three evils to which man is naturally prone, as the Malbim explained earlier: the first evil is the frailty of the body. Deprive the body of food for a single day, and it collapses. Yet these people have no flaw or weakness in their bodies bringing them to death.
"They Are Not in the Labor of Man" - Exempt from the Toil of Livelihood and the Afflictions of Time
בַּעֲמַל אֱנוֹשׁ אֵינֵמוֹ וְעִם אָדָם לֹא יְנֻגָּעוּ׃ - They are not in the toil of man, nor are they plagued like other people.
The second evil: all human beings endure distress, toil, and sorrow over their sustenance and livelihood. What is a person running after? Why does he get up in the morning? To work, so that there will be food on the table. Think about it: if man did not need food at all - say, if he had an electrical plug that connected to the wall to recharge - he would hardly need to exert himself: some clothing, an apartment, and that is it, with the rest of his time spent resting. Asaf says: I see that these people are not included in the curse of "by the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread," the constant pursuit of a livelihood. "They are not in the labor of man" - they do not have to toil to make a living, but earn their livelihood effortlessly; he has some startup company, and from there he can already become prime minister, without ever having to strain himself again.
The third evil: the afflictions that occur in the world - seasonal changes, climate systems, and locales. In modern terms: a pandemic like Covid, wars, the general troubles that strike the world. Every era has its troubles, every era has its problems. Regarding this, the verse says, "nor are they plagued like other people" - even from general afflictions, the periodic troubles that affect humanity as a whole, they do not suffer. Thus, none of the three types of human troubles affect these wicked people.
And why does the verse contrast amal enosh ("the toil of man") with im adam ("with mankind")? The Malbim explains: adam depicts the human species, referring to afflictions unique to humankind, as our Sages expounded on "the plagues of human beings." Toil, by contrast, is termed enosh (from the root of weakness), stemming not from being human as such, but from frailty: our need to exert ourselves arises from our weakness, for had we been stronger, we would not have required so much toil and effort.
"Therefore Pride Adorns Them as a Necklace" - Pride as an Ornament
לָכֵן עֲנָקַתְמוֹ גַאֲוָה יַעֲטָף שִׁית חָמָס לָמוֹ׃ - Therefore pride adorns their neck as a chain; violence envelops them as a garment.
Rashi explains: Since suffering does not befall them, pride has adorned them as a necklace - they become arrogant and feel superior to all, that they have no need to fear anyone, that they have no troubles and all is well with them, lifting haughtiness onto their necks. Radak explains: Anakatmo - pride serves as a necklace around their neck. An anak is a piece of jewelry worn on the neck, as in "and chains (*va'anakim*) around your neck." They carry this pride like a piece of jewelry.
As previously explained regarding why the giants (*anakim*) were called by this name: "for they crown the sun with their height" (*shema'anikim chamah bekomasan*). A person stands beside one like a dwarf and looks up at him - like some Empire State Building - and he blocks out the sun; the sun is behind his neck, and when one looks, it appears like a glowing yellow necklace around his neck. Thus an anak is a chain on the neck, and this is "pride adorns their neck as a chain" (*anakatmo ga'avah*) - pride wraps around their neck like a necklace on their throat.
"Violence envelops them as a garment" (*ya'atof shit chamas lamo*) - Rashi explains: Shit denotes clothing, as in "the attire of a harlot" (*shit zonah*); they wrap themselves in a garment of violence. Robbery and violence are to them like attire in which they wrap themselves - they are not ashamed of it and do not practice it in secret, but out in the open. Radak similarly explains: Violence is to them like a shit, like a garment that constantly wraps around them. Just as a person's clothing envelops him at all times, so violence envelops them at all times; they boast of their violence, robbing and oppressing and doing evil in public, and taking pride in it.
Some explain ya'atof shit chamas lamo in another way: The violence they commit fattens them, enveloping their posteriors and buttocks in a thickness of fat and flesh. Agvoteihem refers to their buttocks, and shototeihem to their backside or private parts; it may also derive from tashtit, foundation (and that bodily area is also called yesod). This is an allegory: from the immense self-satisfaction they feel with themselves, they swell with pride, covered in thick fat.
The Malbim's Explanation: Pride Conceals the Violence
The Malbim understands that the beginning of the verse is connected to its continuation: around their neck is a necklace and chain of pride, and this chain envelops, covers, and conceals the shit of violence that they possess. That is: although they possess a shit - nakedness and shame, like any naked person who feels embarrassment, and indeed it would be proper for them to be ashamed of the violence they commit - the naked shame of that violence is enveloped and hidden by the necklace of pride upon them. When a person possesses high standing - and not even genuine virtue, but merely wealth and prestige - all his sins are diminished and overlooked.
One need not look far for proof. It is enough for a person to hold the "correct" agenda, to align himself with the line favored by the media, and he has neither sins nor iniquities: the state attorney's office does not acknowledge them, and the police know nothing of them. One could go through them case by case: the one funded by and funding organizations hostile to Israel - "no public interest." The one regarding whom an investigation was also requested concerning meetings with journalists, where pages were found missing from his calendar - and no one investigated whether this constituted obstruction of justice. Another, who was once the neighborhood bully, whose eighteen-year-old daughter mysteriously possessed millions of unknown origin, and who holds meetings with figures around the world of unclear identity and nature - yet there is no interest from the media and no public interest, because he already toes the correct line and has secured the proper standing.
One journalist even admitted that before the elections he possessed explosive recordings concerning a certain candidate, and had he released them the foundations would have shaken, but he withheld them lest that candidate fall and his rival rise. Such is journalistic integrity, and such is their fairness. Whoever consumes their media should know what he is getting into. We saw a prime minister treated like an etrog (safeguarded and shielded), not investigated at all as long as he worked toward the expulsion from Gush Katif: "A person must be allowed to work in peace," and there were no investigations, nothing at all. Likewise, the official who launched the investigations against the prime minister, and later turned out to have also advised protesters on how to demonstrate without clashing with the police - he is the one opening investigations, he is the witness, he is the executioner, and he is organizing demonstrations; yet the media is unfazed, for this is supposedly "holy work." Meanwhile, regarding a demonstration outside the prime minister's residence, suddenly "the neighbors deserve quiet"; yet outside the private home of the Attorney General, neighbors were not allowed to sleep for months.
The reality is that everything depends on what is convenient: if it is directed against our opponents, protest as fiercely as you wish, everything is kosher; but if it is directed against our own people, by no means - a person deserves privacy, the neighbors deserve privacy. This is the alma deshikra (the world of falsehood). The holy Zohar states that toward the coming of Mashiach, the rulers of authority will be from the Erev Rav (mixed multitude): the police, the prosecution, the courts, the media - what are they if not the rulers of authority? Therefore we pray every day, "and save us... from the judgment of Gehinnom," and yearn for Mashiach to come, that the world may be perfected under the sovereignty of the Almighty and all wickedness dissipate like smoke.
And this is precisely what the Malbim is saying: the shit of violence - the shameful nakedness exposed by the terrible violence they commit - is completely obscured by their pride and prominence. They are not condemned for violence; one is a minister, another holds high office, another holds authority, and "you are one of us and follow our line," so everything is kosher, everything is in order, and there are no investigations. "Pride adorns their neck as a chain" - pride is like a necklace around their neck, and it envelops and covers all the violence and all their evil deeds.
A Beautiful Allusion: Egel
The sefer Zeh HaSha'ar brings a beautiful allusion. Chazal said: whoever possesses arrogance is considered as if he worshiped idols. And here scripture speaks of arrogance - "לָכָן עֲנָקַתְמוֹ גַאֲוָה" (Lakhen anakatmo ga'avah), the initial letters of which form עג"ל (Egel - calf). This teaches you that one whose neck is adorned with pride is like an idolater, as if he sacrificed to the Golden Calf.
"Their eyes bulge from fatness" - Excess and Surpassed Expectations
יָצָא מֵחֵלֶב עֵינֵמוֹ עָבְרוּ מַשְׂכִּיּוֹת לֵבָב׃ - Their eyes bulge from fatness; the imaginations of their heart overflow.
Rashi explains: whenever a person is emaciated, his eyes are sunken. Anyone who has seen photos of people from the Holocaust or from places of famine knows that the most striking feature is the eyes sunken deep in their sockets. When things go well for a person and he is well-fed, his eyes begin to stand out and protrude outward. This is "their eyes bulge from fatness" - their eyes seem to pop out from an abundance of fat.
"The imaginations of their heart overflow" - their desire comes to them far beyond what their heart yearns for and expects. A person expects to earn one hundred, and he receives five hundred. Maskiyyot is related to looking and gazing, as in sokhah - Sarah was called Yiskah because she gazed through the Holy Spirit, that is, she envisioned and foresaw. Whatever their heart foresees and expects, they receive far beyond it, fourfold and fivefold. This very reality intensifies the difficult question: had he received exactly what he expected, it would still fall within the bounds of nature; but when he receives multiple times over - "the imaginations of their heart overflow" - that becomes a true conundrum: why do these wicked people deserve this? Similarly, sekiyot hachemdah comes from the idea of things people covet and gaze upon, like one who sees an exquisite piece of jewelry and delights in looking at it.
Radak interprets the opposite of Rashi: "their eyes bulge [protrude] from fatness" - from so much fat, it seems as if they have no eyes at all. Like anyone who has seen that short ruler from East Asia whose eyes can barely be seen - not only because of his ancestry, but because of obesity: when a person's face becomes extremely fat, the fat from the sides presses against and hides the eyes, so that they retreat inward.
Radak quotes a Midrash on "the imaginations of their heart overflow": You gave them vastly more than they requested. There is one who would have been content - that is, expected, in the sense of sokheh - to be a pruner, a simple vinedresser, and You made him a duke; and there is one who expected to be a local governor, and You made him a commander of the army. Beyond everything they expected, You showered upon them. And because of this, "they speak loftily," which is the next verse: this is why they become so arrogant.
The Malbim's Explanation: The Eye That Surpasses the Heart
The Malbim connects this verse as well to the one preceding it. Even though the necklace of pride wraps around and conceals their garment of violence, the garment and nakedness of violence nonetheless push through and burst out into the open - from the fatness of their eyes, which surpassed the imaginations of their heart. He explains as follows: the eyes of these wicked people differ from the eyes of anyone else. For an ordinary person, the imaginations of the heart surpass the eyes - the heart envisions and covets more than the eyes actually see. When a person sees something, he immediately desires far beyond it; a person sees a small business he is about to purchase, and his mind is already envisioning the nationwide chain he will build from it. The eyes see something initial, while the thoughts race ahead. This is what Chazal meant when they said: "One who has a hundred desires two hundred."
Yet here, the reverse happens: their eyes attain more than their heart even covets. His heart coveted one hundred, and he received three hundred. Thus, the eyes, as it were, see beyond the heart, and this is "their eyes bulge from fatness": there is fatness and abundance before their eyes greater than anything they could have ever anticipated acquiring.
"You Shall Make a Guardrail for Your Roof"
The Ben Ish Chai homiletically interprets "You shall make a guardrail for your roof" as a reminder that a person must not let his thoughts run too far ahead, for when they run excessively, sometimes "the faller might fall from it." The roof represents the brain - make a guardrail for it, so that your thoughts do not run too far ahead.
This is like a person whose hen laid an egg, and he began calculating: 'Here I have an egg; if I let the hen brood on it, a chick will hatch, and from the chicks I will have a flock, and then a whole coop, and I will be the chief supplier to Tnuva, and I will become famous, and even the king will know me.' He then imagines how he takes a basket full of eggs and brings it as a gift to the king, placing the basket on his head as he walks. Right at that moment, he actually placed the basket of eggs on his head, and when he reached the king in his imagination - he bowed and prostrated himself, and all the eggs and all his dreams dissolved into a puddle of shakshuka. "Make a parapet for your roof": do not overindulge in fantasies; do not run too fast, too high, and too far - it can only bring you harm.
It turns out that, by nature, the imagination always develops far beyond what a person actually sees, and the heart gazes and covets more than what the eyes behold. But with these wicked people, their eyes attain even more than their heart's desire. Therefore, even though the necklace of pride covers the shameful garment of robbery, and due to their greatness no one addresses their negative deeds at all - nevertheless, their robbery emerges and becomes visible to all from the fatness of their eyes, which have exceeded the fantasies of the heart. What came out? That very robbery that had been concealed - now emerged and was exposed, because whatever they see with their eyes, even if they had not yet coveted it in their heart, they rob and extort. This itself publicizes their evil deeds: until now they were hidden, but from now on they become known.
In summary:
In these verses, Asaph details what he saw concerning the wicked: they are exempt from the three natural afflictions of man - physical frailty ("There are no fetters to their death, and their body is robust"), the toil of livelihood ("They are not in the toil of mortals"), and the afflictions of circumstance ("neither are they plagued like other men"). Because of this, "pride envelops them as a necklace" - pride becomes a necklace around their neck, which itself conceals and obscures the garment of their robbery, and no one condemns them for their deeds. Ultimately, however, the robbery breaks out and emerges on its own: because their eyes attain far beyond the desire of their heart and they plunder whatever they see - their evil deeds become public. The answer to the question of their tranquility was already hinted at in the Midrash's parable of the physician: whatever they ask for is granted to them immediately, as a reward for the meager good they have done, "and He repays His enemies to their face to destroy them" - rewarding them here in this world so as to destroy them from the life of the World to Come, whereas the reward of the righteous is reserved for them in the world that is entirely good.