Pensamiento judío sobre I Samuel 17:50

From the above it is dear that when man abuses this power of speech, he denies his superiority over the beasts and calls into question the value of his whole existence. It is like a king who presented his servant with a fancy garment, only to have the servant drape it over his donkey. The sages of Israel are complimented when the Talmud Sukkah 28, states that they never indulged in idle talk. Maimonides divides speech into five categories. 1) Obligatory speech, i.e. teaching Torah. 2) Speech which must be avoided; false testimony, slander etc. 3) Disgraceful speech; i.e. what we call idle talk. 4) Desirable speech, i.e. words of mussar, moral instruction, sermons etc. 5) Permissible speech, i.e. speech needed in the pursuit of earning one's livelihood. In view of the above, we can understand Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel who said that he found silence to be the essence of all wisdom, the best remedy for maintaining one's body's good health. (Avot 1,17) By moving in the company of sages, he learned that more even than the words of wisdom he learned, he learned to appreciate the importance of minimising talk. Silence is the seyag, the protective fence built around wisdom. It ensures that the latter remains untainted. Even a fool may be considered wise, as long as he keeps his mouth shut. We are taught in Pessachim 3, that one should employ few words when teaching one's students. The Mishnah in Avot tells us that "not the exposition is of crucial importance, but the execution, the deed." An alternate meaning of Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel's statement might be this: "I have not found that sitting silently, without asking for clarification, contributes to the essence, namely the learning process. However, excessive talk is harmful."

(1) The remnants of the antedeluvian giants were found only in the land of the Philistines. Goliath, in the cities of Gat and Ashdod, and the legendary Og in what is today Jordan. Had the Israelites continued on the path that the expulsion by the Egyptians had indicated, they would have sustained losses in the encounter with such kings. They would not have had the faith building experience of crossing the sea on dry land etc. Their lack of self confidence would have been understandable, and the prediction of the Egyptian astrologers that the Jews were marching towards their doom would have been fulfilled. For this reason, G-d made them detour in order that these miracles could be experienced and for the surrounding nations to be duly impressed and frightened by the G-d of the Hebrews. We know from the testimony of Rachav of Jericho forty years later, that there was fear in the hearts of the Canaanites ever since the crossing by the Jews of the sea of reeds and the drowning of the flower of the Egyptian army in those same waters. Even the forty year trek through the desert by the Jewish people, had not diminished that impression. When the Emorite Sichon made war subsequently, G-d had to infuse his heart with obstinacy as well as the hearts of the other kings of Canaan who defended their country against invasion by the Israelites. These had not been natural reactions, but Divinely inspired defensive wars, to enable the Israelites to carry out the conquest of the land, and to enable G-d to fulfil His promise to Abraham and to them.