בָּתֵּיהֶ֣ם שָׁל֣וֹם מִפָּ֑חַד וְלֹ֤א שֵׁ֖בֶט אֱל֣וֹהַּ עֲלֵיהֶֽם׃
Rumah-rumah mereka aman, tanpa ketakutan, dan tongkat hukuman Allah tidak menimpa mereka.
Kohelet Rabbah
“Of laughter, I said it is confounded; and of joy, what does it accomplish?” (Ecclesiastes 2:2).
“Of laughter, I said it is confounded” – Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: How confounded is the laughter of the nations of the world in their circuses and theaters. “And of joy, what does it accomplish?” Why would a Torah scholar enter these [places]?
Another matter: How confounded is the laughter that the attribute of justice laughed at the generation of the flood; that is what is written: “Their houses are peaceful, without fear…” (Job 21:9). “Their descendants are well placed before them…” (Job 21:8). “His bull breeds and does not fail…” (Job 21:10). “They send out their young like a flock” (Job 21:11). “They sing to the timbrel and harp…” (Job 21:12). “They spend their days in prosperity” (Job 21:13). What is written there? “They said to God: Depart from us” (Job 21:14). Once they said: “What is the Almighty that we should serve Him?” (Job 21:15), the Holy One blessed be He said to them: “And of joy, what does it accomplish?” By your lives, I will obliterate you from the world. That is what is written: “He obliterated all existence” (Genesis 7:23).
Another matter: “Of laughter, I said it is confounded” – how confounded is the laughter that the attribute of justice laughed at the people of Sodom, as it is stated: “A land from which bread emerges…” (Job 28:5); “a place whose stones are sapphires…” (Job 28:6); “a path that birds of prey do not know…” (Job 28:7). When they said: We will do away with the policy of passersby from our midst,5They wanted to ensure that outsiders would not pass through their territory. that is what is written: “He breached a shaft from the residents, forgotten from all passersby” (Job 28:4). The Holy One blessed be He said to them: By your life, I will eliminate your memory from the world, as it is stated: “The Lord rained upon Sodom [and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire]” (Genesis 19:24).
“Of laughter, I said it is confounded” – Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: How confounded is the laughter of the nations of the world in their circuses and theaters. “And of joy, what does it accomplish?” Why would a Torah scholar enter these [places]?
Another matter: How confounded is the laughter that the attribute of justice laughed at the generation of the flood; that is what is written: “Their houses are peaceful, without fear…” (Job 21:9). “Their descendants are well placed before them…” (Job 21:8). “His bull breeds and does not fail…” (Job 21:10). “They send out their young like a flock” (Job 21:11). “They sing to the timbrel and harp…” (Job 21:12). “They spend their days in prosperity” (Job 21:13). What is written there? “They said to God: Depart from us” (Job 21:14). Once they said: “What is the Almighty that we should serve Him?” (Job 21:15), the Holy One blessed be He said to them: “And of joy, what does it accomplish?” By your lives, I will obliterate you from the world. That is what is written: “He obliterated all existence” (Genesis 7:23).
Another matter: “Of laughter, I said it is confounded” – how confounded is the laughter that the attribute of justice laughed at the people of Sodom, as it is stated: “A land from which bread emerges…” (Job 28:5); “a place whose stones are sapphires…” (Job 28:6); “a path that birds of prey do not know…” (Job 28:7). When they said: We will do away with the policy of passersby from our midst,5They wanted to ensure that outsiders would not pass through their territory. that is what is written: “He breached a shaft from the residents, forgotten from all passersby” (Job 28:4). The Holy One blessed be He said to them: By your life, I will eliminate your memory from the world, as it is stated: “The Lord rained upon Sodom [and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire]” (Genesis 19:24).
Kohelet Rabbah
“Anger is better than laughter, as with a cross countenance the heart will be bettered” (Ecclesiastes 7:3).
“Anger is better than laughter.” Solomon said: Had [my] father been a little angry at Adoniya, it would have been better for him than the laughter with which the attribute of justice mocked him. Why? It is because “with a cross countenance the heart will be bettered.” Had he shown him a cross countenance, he would have caused him to better his ways. Instead, “his father had never aggrieved him” (I Kings 1:6).38Ultimately, this lead to Adoniya’s attempt to sieze power, and his eventual death. See I Kings chapters 1–2. Likewise regarding Amnon, had David his father been a little angry with him, it would have been better for him than the laughter which which the attribute of justice mocked him. Why? It is because “with a cross countenance the heart will be bettered.” Instead, “Amnon alone is dead” (II Samuel 13:32).
Another matter, “anger is better than laughter” – had the Holy One blessed be He been angry at the generation of the Flood, it would have been better than the laughter with which the attribute of justice mocked them, as it is stated: “Their offspring are established before them” (Job 21:8).39Had the Holy One blessed be He shown them anger, they would have improved their ways, and died in peace with their offspring surrounding them. Another matter, “anger is better than laughter” – had the Holy One blessed be He been angry at the Sodomites, it would have been better than the laughter with which the attribute of justice mocked them, as it is stated: “Their houses are safe, without fear” (Job 21:9).40That would have been their plight.
“Anger is better than laughter.” Solomon said: Had [my] father been a little angry at Adoniya, it would have been better for him than the laughter with which the attribute of justice mocked him. Why? It is because “with a cross countenance the heart will be bettered.” Had he shown him a cross countenance, he would have caused him to better his ways. Instead, “his father had never aggrieved him” (I Kings 1:6).38Ultimately, this lead to Adoniya’s attempt to sieze power, and his eventual death. See I Kings chapters 1–2. Likewise regarding Amnon, had David his father been a little angry with him, it would have been better for him than the laughter which which the attribute of justice mocked him. Why? It is because “with a cross countenance the heart will be bettered.” Instead, “Amnon alone is dead” (II Samuel 13:32).
Another matter, “anger is better than laughter” – had the Holy One blessed be He been angry at the generation of the Flood, it would have been better than the laughter with which the attribute of justice mocked them, as it is stated: “Their offspring are established before them” (Job 21:8).39Had the Holy One blessed be He shown them anger, they would have improved their ways, and died in peace with their offspring surrounding them. Another matter, “anger is better than laughter” – had the Holy One blessed be He been angry at the Sodomites, it would have been better than the laughter with which the attribute of justice mocked them, as it is stated: “Their houses are safe, without fear” (Job 21:9).40That would have been their plight.
Vayikra Rabbah
“Speak to the children of Israel, saying: When a person will sin unwittingly regarding any of the matters that the Lord commanded not to perform, and he will perform one of them” (Leviticus 4:2).
“When a person will sin unwittingly regarding any of the matters that the Lord commanded [not to perform]” – this is what the verse says: “Moreover, I saw under the sun, in the place of judgment [there is wickedness, and in the place of justice there is wickedness]” (Ecclesiastes 3:16). Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua, Rabbi Eliezer says: “In the place of judgment there is wickedness” – the place where the Great Sanhedrin convenes and decides the rulings of Israel. “There is wickedness,” – there “all the princes of the king of Babylon came and sat in the Middle Gate” (Jeremiah 39:3), which is where they decide the halakha.1The word for Middle Gate [hatavekh] is similar to the term for determine [ḥotekh]. Thus, the enemies of Israel sat where the Sanhedrin used to convene. In the parable it is said: In the place where the master hung his sword, the insolent shepherd hangs his jug. The Divine Spirit cries out and says: “In the place of justice, there is wickedness.” In the place in whose regard it is written: “Justice lodged in it” (Isaiah 1:21), now they commit murders. There they killed Zekharia and Uriya.2Because Israel, in murdering Zekharya and Uriya, committed atrocities in the place that should have been set aside for justice, the members of the Great Sanhedrin were replaced in that location by conquering Babylonian officers.
Rabbi Yehoshua says: “In the place of judgment there is wickedness” – in the place where the attribute of justice was implemented is the act of the calf, as it is written: “Pass to and fro from gate to gate, [let each man kill his brother…]” (Exodus 32:27). “There is wickedness,” there, “the Lord afflicted the people [because they had crafted the calf] (Exodus 32:35). The Divine Spirit cries out and says: “In the place of justice there is wickedness.” In the place where I declared them righteous and called them divine, as it is stated: “I had said: You are divine” (Psalms 82:6), there they were wicked, crafted the calf, and prostrated themselves to it.
Another matter, “In the place of judgment there is wickedness” – this is speaking of the generation of the Flood. “In the place of judgment there is wickedness,” in the place where the attribute of justice was implemented against the generation of the Flood, as we learned in a mishna: “The generation of the Flood has no share in the World to Come and will not stand in judgment,”3Sanhedrin 10:3. Although some wicked people will stand in judgment at the end of days, when God will return their souls to their bodies and judge them, the members of the generation of the Flood will be completely eliminated from the world. “there is wickedness,”; there, “He obliterated all existence” (Genesis 7:23). The Divine Spirit cries out and says: “In the place of justice there is wickedness.” In the place where I declared them righteous, as it is written: “Their houses are peaceful without fear” (Job 21:9), “there is wickedness,” “They say to God: Turn away from us” (Job 21:14).
Another matter, “In the place of judgment, there is wickedness” – this is speaking of the people of Sodom. In the place where the attribute of justice was implemented against the people of Sodom, as we learned in a mishna: “The people of Sodom have no share in the World to Come, but will stand in judgment,”4Sanhedrin 10:3. “there is wickedness,”; there, “He rained upon Sodom…[brimstone and fire]” (Genesis 19:24). The Divine Spirit cries out and says: “In the place of justice, there is wickedness.” In the place where I declared them righteous, and wrote regarding their land: “Earth, from which bread emerges…. Its stones are a source of sapphires, and its dust has gold” (Job 28:5–6), they say that when one of them5People in Sodom. would go to the gardener and say to him: Give me a vegetable worth an isar; when he would give it to him, he would shake it and find gold in its dust, to realize what is stated: “and its dust has gold”; “there is wickedness” there, they said: Let us arise and cause the very idea of travelers in our midst to be forgotten: “It did not support the hand of the poor and the indigent” (Ezekiel 16:49).
Rabbi Yehuda bar Simon interpreted the verse regarding Shitim. “In the place of judgment, there is wickedness” – in the place where the attribute of justice was implemented in Shitim, as it is written: “The Lord said to Moses: Take all the leaders of the people, [and hang them for the Lord]” (Numbers 25:4), “there is wickedness,” there, “Those who died in the plague [were twenty-four thousand]” (Numbers 25:9). The Divine Spirit cries out and says: “In the place of justice, there is wickedness.” In the place where I transformed Bilam’s curse into a blessing, as it is written: “The Lord your God transformed for you the curse into a blessing” (Deuteronomy 23:6), “there is wickedness,” “Israel was residing in Shitim, [and the people began to engage in licentiousness]” (Numbers 25:1).
Rabbi Levi and Rabbi Yitzḥak said: Two matters are in [God’s] right hand and two matters are in [His left] hand. Two matters are in [God’s] right hand: Torah and righteousness. Torah, from where is it derived? “From His right hand, a fiery law to them” (Deuteronomy 33:2). Righteousness, from where is it derived? As it is written: “Your right hand is filled with righteousness” (Psalms 48:11). Two matters are in [His left] hand: the soul and judgment. The soul, as it is written: “In whose hand is the soul of every living being” (Job 12:10). Judgment, as it is written: “My hand grasps judgment” (Deuteronomy 32:41). The soul is situated in the place of judgment, and the soul emerges from the place of judgment and sins? Rabbi Yitzḥak said: The Holy One blessed be He said to the soul [nefesh]: I wrote in your regard: “Only be strong not to eat the blood…” (Deuteronomy 12:23), and you emerge and sin? “When a person [nefesh] will sin unwittingly” (Leviticus 4:2).
“When a person will sin unwittingly regarding any of the matters that the Lord commanded [not to perform]” – this is what the verse says: “Moreover, I saw under the sun, in the place of judgment [there is wickedness, and in the place of justice there is wickedness]” (Ecclesiastes 3:16). Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua, Rabbi Eliezer says: “In the place of judgment there is wickedness” – the place where the Great Sanhedrin convenes and decides the rulings of Israel. “There is wickedness,” – there “all the princes of the king of Babylon came and sat in the Middle Gate” (Jeremiah 39:3), which is where they decide the halakha.1The word for Middle Gate [hatavekh] is similar to the term for determine [ḥotekh]. Thus, the enemies of Israel sat where the Sanhedrin used to convene. In the parable it is said: In the place where the master hung his sword, the insolent shepherd hangs his jug. The Divine Spirit cries out and says: “In the place of justice, there is wickedness.” In the place in whose regard it is written: “Justice lodged in it” (Isaiah 1:21), now they commit murders. There they killed Zekharia and Uriya.2Because Israel, in murdering Zekharya and Uriya, committed atrocities in the place that should have been set aside for justice, the members of the Great Sanhedrin were replaced in that location by conquering Babylonian officers.
Rabbi Yehoshua says: “In the place of judgment there is wickedness” – in the place where the attribute of justice was implemented is the act of the calf, as it is written: “Pass to and fro from gate to gate, [let each man kill his brother…]” (Exodus 32:27). “There is wickedness,” there, “the Lord afflicted the people [because they had crafted the calf] (Exodus 32:35). The Divine Spirit cries out and says: “In the place of justice there is wickedness.” In the place where I declared them righteous and called them divine, as it is stated: “I had said: You are divine” (Psalms 82:6), there they were wicked, crafted the calf, and prostrated themselves to it.
Another matter, “In the place of judgment there is wickedness” – this is speaking of the generation of the Flood. “In the place of judgment there is wickedness,” in the place where the attribute of justice was implemented against the generation of the Flood, as we learned in a mishna: “The generation of the Flood has no share in the World to Come and will not stand in judgment,”3Sanhedrin 10:3. Although some wicked people will stand in judgment at the end of days, when God will return their souls to their bodies and judge them, the members of the generation of the Flood will be completely eliminated from the world. “there is wickedness,”; there, “He obliterated all existence” (Genesis 7:23). The Divine Spirit cries out and says: “In the place of justice there is wickedness.” In the place where I declared them righteous, as it is written: “Their houses are peaceful without fear” (Job 21:9), “there is wickedness,” “They say to God: Turn away from us” (Job 21:14).
Another matter, “In the place of judgment, there is wickedness” – this is speaking of the people of Sodom. In the place where the attribute of justice was implemented against the people of Sodom, as we learned in a mishna: “The people of Sodom have no share in the World to Come, but will stand in judgment,”4Sanhedrin 10:3. “there is wickedness,”; there, “He rained upon Sodom…[brimstone and fire]” (Genesis 19:24). The Divine Spirit cries out and says: “In the place of justice, there is wickedness.” In the place where I declared them righteous, and wrote regarding their land: “Earth, from which bread emerges…. Its stones are a source of sapphires, and its dust has gold” (Job 28:5–6), they say that when one of them5People in Sodom. would go to the gardener and say to him: Give me a vegetable worth an isar; when he would give it to him, he would shake it and find gold in its dust, to realize what is stated: “and its dust has gold”; “there is wickedness” there, they said: Let us arise and cause the very idea of travelers in our midst to be forgotten: “It did not support the hand of the poor and the indigent” (Ezekiel 16:49).
Rabbi Yehuda bar Simon interpreted the verse regarding Shitim. “In the place of judgment, there is wickedness” – in the place where the attribute of justice was implemented in Shitim, as it is written: “The Lord said to Moses: Take all the leaders of the people, [and hang them for the Lord]” (Numbers 25:4), “there is wickedness,” there, “Those who died in the plague [were twenty-four thousand]” (Numbers 25:9). The Divine Spirit cries out and says: “In the place of justice, there is wickedness.” In the place where I transformed Bilam’s curse into a blessing, as it is written: “The Lord your God transformed for you the curse into a blessing” (Deuteronomy 23:6), “there is wickedness,” “Israel was residing in Shitim, [and the people began to engage in licentiousness]” (Numbers 25:1).
Rabbi Levi and Rabbi Yitzḥak said: Two matters are in [God’s] right hand and two matters are in [His left] hand. Two matters are in [God’s] right hand: Torah and righteousness. Torah, from where is it derived? “From His right hand, a fiery law to them” (Deuteronomy 33:2). Righteousness, from where is it derived? As it is written: “Your right hand is filled with righteousness” (Psalms 48:11). Two matters are in [His left] hand: the soul and judgment. The soul, as it is written: “In whose hand is the soul of every living being” (Job 12:10). Judgment, as it is written: “My hand grasps judgment” (Deuteronomy 32:41). The soul is situated in the place of judgment, and the soul emerges from the place of judgment and sins? Rabbi Yitzḥak said: The Holy One blessed be He said to the soul [nefesh]: I wrote in your regard: “Only be strong not to eat the blood…” (Deuteronomy 12:23), and you emerge and sin? “When a person [nefesh] will sin unwittingly” (Leviticus 4:2).