Pensée juive sur Les Proverbes 20:11

If one considers, as the Rambam does, for instance, that man is a microcosm compared to the universe, the macrocosm, and that the six days of creation symbolize the six thousand years of human existence on earth followed by one thousand years of transformation pending the advent of the messianic age, one may also see some significance in the seventy years allotted to man on this earth. If the first two thousand years of mankind's history are considered tohu, chaos, a period in which man was subject to juvenile errors, mistakes etc. and that this was why there was a need for a deluge after about sixteen hundred years, then in the life of individuals also, the juvenile years are the underlying cause of sinfulness. G-d’s resolve not to bring another deluge was due to recognition of this factor. Immaturity as a cause of sin is prevalent both in the species and in the individuals. If our sages describe the yetzer hara, evil urge as appearing in seven different guises, they refer to manifestations of the evil urge in seven different forms during seven different decades of man's life. Since with advancing age the evil urge within us weakens, his name changes also. The name ra refers to the way it manifests itself during the first ten years of our lives. At that time, we do not possess within us a force that compensates for the evil urge, something all of us have been born with. A youth's activities are largely dictated by the very immaturity of the victim of this "evil." Moses called the evil urge arel, the uncircumcised one; David referred to ist as tamey, impure. Solomon called it the soneh, the "hater." Isaiah called it michshol, hindrance, obstruction. Ezekiel called it tzefoni, the viper. If one were to subscribe to the theory that life has existed since time immemorial, that the universe existed prior to G-d, we would face the problem of how to account for the sudden depravity of man after millions of years of uninterrupted forward development. According to the theory of Solomon in Kohelet, the concept of kadmut ha-olam, the universe preceding G-d, pyramidical development of the human race is impossible; all there could be would be a never ending repetitious cycle of happenings. Clearly, according to such thinking, the very term "development" would be a misnomer. This is what Solomon means when he keeps talking about "what has been is what will be."