Commentaire de citation sur Les Proverbes 12:3

The righteous are described as active, as setting the tone for something. Examples are Isaiah 27,6: “In days to come Yaakov shall strike root.” The psalmist in Psalms 80,10 speaks of “it took deep root and filled the land.” The reason that in this paragraph the Torah wrote: “these are the names of the Israelites who came to Egypt,” is an indication that only that generation was still “master” of its destiny. Later generations became “possessed” by the land instead of actively possessing it. We have numerous instances in the Bible of the wicked not striking root. Examples: Ezekiel 31,3 (speaking about Sancheriv). The prophet extols the height to which his kingdom had risen comparing it to a lofty cedar but carefully omitting mention of any roots. Daniel 4,8 describes Nebuchadnezzar and his rise to power in similar terms. The lesson is that the wicked, though apparently flourishing greatly at one time or another, are devoid of roots and therefore prone to sudden collapse. There is an exception to this in Daniel 4,12 where a root is mentioned in connection with Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (“however its major roots leave in the ground”); the angel mentioned this only to show Nebuchadnezzar that the kingdom would be restored to him. It has no bearing on the fact that the wicked are depicted as devoid of roots. This idea is spelled out in Isaiah 40,24: “their roots will dry out and the storm beats them off like straw.” The righteous by contrast is depicted as having solid roots which will not deteriorate. This is what Solomon alluded to when he said (Proverbs 12,3) “but the root of the righteous cannot be shaken loose.”