Commentaire de citation sur Les Proverbes 25:16

They did not fear them, etc. The description “awed by them” would be like “My children are gone forth of me” (Yirmeyah 10:20), which means “they came out from me” or “lest you be filled with it” (Mishlei 25:16) which means “filled from it.” Similarly here, “awed by them” means in awe of them.

A rational approach to our verses: When writing the verse: “better a little with the fear of G’d,” Solomon wanted to warn man that he should reflect on matters involving philosophy only to the extent that his intellectual capacity was capable of dealing with the concepts involved. He should not delve into matters which were beyond his understanding. This is why he also counselled us in Kohelet 7,16: “do not act the wise man to excess.” He used the parable to explain that he who tries to digest more than his stomach can handle will inevitably bring up and vomit all he has eaten. The same is true with intellectual pursuits. He who engages in them beyond his capacity to understand will ultimately be revolted by all intellectual pursuits. He will reject the idea of a life beyond death and become a heretic. Solomon illustrated this further when speaking about the consumption of honey. A little honey is sweet and pleasant; too much of it is revolting (Proverbs 25,16). When one has eaten more honey than one should, one will even vomit the initial amout which would have been good for one.
Our sages in Sanhedrin 106 illustrated these thoughts also when they discussed that Bileam detoured to Midian in order to collect the reward for having been the cause of the death of 24,000 Israelites. Instead of reaping his reward, the Israelites who had mounted a punitive expedition against Midian caught up with him there and killed him. Had he gone back to his hometown he would not have suffered such a fate (Joshua 13,22). The reason he was killed was because he tried to amass something he was not entitled to.
Our sages also comment on the subject of wisdom comparing it to honey when they interpreted the verse (Proverbs 25,16) “if you found some honey, eat only as much as you need,” as applying to Rabbi Akiva. The second half of that same verse, i.e. “lest you overeat and vomit all of it,” they applied to ben Zoma. [Both scholars had tried to delve into esoterical mysteries, Rabbi Akiva returned from his mental excursion with new insights, whereas Ben Zoma who had overestimated his intellectual capacity became mentally deranged (Chagigah 14)].

“Therefore, the children of Israel shall not eat the sciatic nerve/tendon [gid], etc.” Our Sages found that deep matters whose comprehension is difficult are compared to tendons [giddin], as Rashi explained in Parshat Yitro on the verse and tell [v’tagged] the children of Israel (Exodus 19:3). Comprehension is referred to in the language of eating, as we find regarding the four who entered the Pardes (Chagigah 14b), where concerning hidden investigation beyond mortal understanding, the verse If you have found honey, eat only what you need (Proverbs 25:16) is cited. This commandment hints for generations to prevent Israel from investigating hidden matters, as stated (Chagigah 13a) “You have no business with hidden things,” because there is concern that they might damage their intellect and come to heresy, as not many will be wise enough to understand all the secrets in their proper context, due to their intellect passing through a murky valley, for the vanities of this world and its desires confuse human understanding. The prohibition of eating the tendon hints for generations, to be a reminder before their eyes that God withheld from them the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, that they should not feed their intellect matters as hard as tendons. For it touched Jacob’s hip socket, and if this stumbling occurred temporarily to the perfect Jacob when he deviated slightly from the balanced path, what shall the common people do, whose main pursuits are in worldly vanities and desires? Therefore, they should not engage in hidden matters except for the unique individuals of the generation like Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and those similar to him, who rejected and despised worldly vanities like Jacob. For if this happened to Jacob only temporarily, when he remained alone by himself for his jug, undoubtedly after the wrestling incident with Samael occurred, he recognized his error and turned from that path. Proof of this is that it says Jacob arrived whole/complete, which our Sages interpreted (Shabbat 33a) as “complete in his Torah.” This explanation is precious in value, and the wise will listen and increase in learning.