Chasidut for Proverbs 2:6

Behold, there came up out of the Nile seven cows, healthy and good (Gen. 41:2). For man and beast you save, O LORD (Psalm 36:7), “These are people who are mentally crafty but consider themselves as animals” (Hullin 5b). For a person, of his own account, has nothing; and the fact that he does have some good thing or quality comes from God, since the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth [come knowledge and understanding] (Proverbs 2:6). Now, the seven characteristics are: (1) Love [Hesed], to love God; (2) Awe [associated with the Kabbalistic sefirah of Gevurah (Strength)], to be in awe of [God]; (3) Beauty [Tiferet], to glorify God; (4) Victory [Netzah], to triumph over the Evil Inclination – “A person should always incite his Good Inclination against his Evil Inclination” (Berakhot 5a); (5) Splendor [Hode], to praise God; (6) Foundation [Yesod], so he will be connected to all these attributes; (7) And Majesty [Malkhut], to give dominion and power to God and to declare [God] King over all the world. Therefore the characteristics are called cows, because a person must consider himself as an animal. And they fed in the reed grass (Gen. 41:2), which is translated as “in fellowship;” for to the extent that a person hates his fellow, it is on account of arrogance, and it appears to him that he deserves the honor and the greatness and envies his fellow. But one who considers himself as an animal, then he loves all the world and he bears no hatred against his fellow.