Tafsiran yang Mengutip untuk Amsal 12:28

“Jacob lived” [47:28]. King Solomon said: “the road of righteousness leads to life” [Proverbs, 12:28]. Whoever gives charity lives long and is knowledgeable that life depends on the disposition of stars, on stars in heaven. When one has a good constellation [mazal], he lives long. When he has an evil mazal, he has a short life. However, charity is greater than the constellations. Concerning this, our sages said that charity is very important; it reaches to the Throne of Glory. That is, charity is higher than the constellations. When the constellation decrees that a person should die, charity comes and causes him to live long. We also find this in the Torah portion that Joseph sustained Jacob with food for seventeen years. Jacob was worthy of this because he had sustained Joseph for seventeen years. Measure for measure. Joseph was seventeen years old when he was separated from his father. Therefore, the verse says, “Jacob lived seventeen years in the land of Egypt” [47:28]. That is to say, he lived in Egypt for seventeen years, that Joseph sustained him. His life was one hundred and forty-seven years.¹Bahya, Genesis, Vayehi Introduction.

ואל תשא להם According to some—the ת being the sign for the second person, and referring to God—and thou forgive them not. I am, however, of opinion that the passage has the following meaning: Not one of them dares to lift up his head or soul, because the context requires a phrase similar to And the man humbles himself ; or that the word ארץ ‘ the earth ’ is to be supplied: And the earth is not able to bear them¹⁶They are so vile that the earth cannot bear them any longer—that they do not deserve to live any longer upon the surface of the earth. (comp. Gen. 13:6). The Grammarian,¹⁷The Grammarian is the title by which Ibn Ezra calls R. Judah Hayug. who asserts that אַל is only found with a command, is mistaken; comp. אל־מות, where there is no death (Prov. 12:28)

וחרה אפי, “and My anger shall blaze forth.” This is the same attribute of Justice which smote the Egyptians because they maltreated you taking advantage of the fact that you were strangers. The words והרגתי אתכם בחרב are aimed at those guilty of abusing the stranger whereas the words והיו נשיכם אלמנות are the warning to the people taking advantage of widows. The words ובניכם יתומים, are aimed at people abusing orphans. Each offense will be punished by the מדה כנגד מדה principle, punishment fitting the crime. All the time you are careful not to offend the sensibilities of any of the three groups of naturally sensitive people, any part of the attribute of Justice which would be turned against you (for other sins) will be reversed and will express itself instead as an arm of the attribute of Mercy (Sotah 16). This will enable you to enjoy many years on the land, both you and your children in the presence of your G’d. Practice of righteousness saves from death as we know from Proverbs 10,2. We also have a promise in chapter 12,28 of Proverbs: “there is life in the path of righteousness, there is no death on its path.” Practicing charity is considered a greater ethical/moral achievement than offering of sacrificial animals to G’d as we read in Proverbs: 21,3 “G’d prefers the performance of righteousness to the presentation of sacrificial offerings.”