Tafsiran yang Mengutip untuk Pengkhotbah 5:5

ושמעה קול אלה, “by having heard an oath demanding him to testify, and having ignored it;” all the other paragraphs distinguish between inadvertently committed sins and those committed deliberately except the one involving an oath, known as שבועת בטוי, “a futile oath,” which is automatically considered as the one who uttered it doing so while aware of its implications. Solomon confirmed this in Kohelet 5,5 when he said: אל תתן את פיך לחטיא את בשרך ואל תאמר לפני המלאך כי שגגה היא, למה יקצוף האלוקים על קולך וחבל את מעשה ידיך, “do not let your mouth bring you in disfavour; and do not plead before the messenger (angel) that it was only an error; but fear the Lord else He may be angered by your talk and destroy your possessions.” When G–d will sit in judgment of all of His creatures, He will place such people next to the sorcerers and adulterers, as we know from the prophet Malachi (Malachi 3,5) והייתי עד ממהר במשפים ובמנאפים ובנשבעים (בשמי) לשקר, “I will act as relentless accuser against those that have no fear of Me, who practice sorcery, commit adultery and who swear falsely (using My name).”

זאת תהיה תורת המצורע, “This shall be the law of the person afflicted with the skin diseases discussed in the previous chapters, etc.” the very word מצורע contains a hint that describes why, in most instances, such a person has been afflicted with this disease. It is because he bad-mouthed fellow Jews. The word is a combination of מוציא שם רע, “he called someone by a bad name.” Compare Talmud tractate Erchin folio 16. We also find that the Talmud attributes the demise of four people who had been guilty of this sin as losing their claim to an afterlife; they are: Bileam, Doag, Achitofel, and Geychazi, the disciple of the prophet Elisha. (Compare details in the Talmud tractate Sanhedrin folio 106. [That chapter deals with people who have or will forfeit their claim to an afterlife. Ed.]Solomon in Kohelet,5,5, also deals with this subject when he wrote: אל תתן את פיך לחטיא את בשרך, “let not your mouth bring guilt on your flesh;” which sin did he had in mind? The sin of badmouthing fellow Jews. Solomon referred to the same sin in Proverbs 18,21, when he said: מות וחיים ביד לשון, “death and life are within the power of the tongue.” Death is liable to follow abuse of the power of speech, whereas life is at the disposal of people who meticulously observe the Torah and study it. The Torah is the remedy with which the sin of evil gossip can be atoned for. It is known as the עץ חיים, “the tree of life.” We know this also from Solomon, who said in Proverbs 15,4: מרפא לשון עץ חיים, “the tree of life can heal (the harm caused) by abusing one’s power of speech.” Intensive Torah study prevents a person from becoming guilty of using his power of speech. The guilt of לשון הרע, evil gossip, is considered as greater that that of being guilty of shedding innocent blood. When one is guilty of the latter, one had only killed one life, whereas when one is guilty of evil gossip, one is guilty of killing at least three people, the one who engages in it, the one who listens to it, and the one about whom this evil gossip has been spread. We find an illustration of this in Samuel I 22, where King Sha-ul killed all the priests resident in the city of Nov because he had listened to the false accusations spread against them by Doag. Sha-ul was killed on account of that sin as we know from Samuel Il 1,9: עמוד נא ומותתני כי אחזני השבץ, “stand over me and finish me off, for | am in agony and barely alive;” whenever we encounter the expression שבץ, it refers to the priestly garments, as we know from Exodus 28,39: ושבצת הכתונת שש, “make the fringed tunic out of fine linen.” Concerning Doag, the slanderer, in this story we have it on the authority of Psalms 52,7 that he was killed in this world and deprived of the after life, i.e. גם אל יתצך לנצח יחתך וגו', “also G–d will tear you down for good, and root you out, etc.” The Talmud in tractate Erchin, folio 15, states that the sin of tale-bearing is greater than murder, incest or idolatry.

זאת תהיה תורת המצורע ביום טהרתו והובא אל הכהן, “this shall be the law of the person afflicted with tzoraat; on the day he regains purity he is to be brought to the priest.” The sages in Tanchuma Metzora 1 have explained that this affliction is a retribution for the evil tongue as we know from Kohelet 5,5: “let not your mouth bring guilt on your flesh.” Solomon means to not give permission to your mouth to express words which will harm the rest of your body. Do not subsequently say to the angel who is in charge of you (remainder of the verse in Kohelet) that it was an unintentional aberration. Every word a person utters is recorded in a book, be it something appropriate or inappropriate, be it intentional or unintentional. “Why should G’d have reason to be angry at what you have said? Why should He have to thwart the work of your hands?” The “work of your hands” which Solomon refers to in that verse are the hand and feet of your body which will become afflicted with skin disorders.
Another explanation pertaining to the above verse in Kohelet: the words אל תתן את פיך, “do not let your mouth, etc.;” these words are an example of the Torah using inoffensive language for a serious admonition. In this instance it means “do not allow your mouth to become guilty, etc.;” if your wife told you that she started to menstruate do not bring sin upon her body by ignoring her state of impurity and cohabiting with her. The words following, i.e. ואל תאמר לפני המלאך “and do not say to the angel” (who is in charge of determining the appearance and physical health of the unborn fetus) that you committed that sin inadvertently, that you were unaware of your wife’s ritual impurity at the time she conceived the fetus; the words למה יקצוף אלו-הים וחבל מעשיך, “why should G’d become angry and frustrate your actions” (the semen which was meant to produce a health child?) mean that Solomon attributes physical blemishes in children as caused by the sins committed by the parent (or parents) when having marital relations.
Yet another approach to the verse in Kohelet: Solomon means “why should you incriminate yourself and your flesh by ignoring the laws of G’d so that you will need an angel (priests are referred to as angels of the Lord by the prophet Maleachi 2,7) who would have to preside over your becoming healed ultimately?” You would only be deceiving yourself, why make G’d angry? The words מעשה ידיך, “the work of your hands,” refer to the fetus which you helped to produce and who will be struck with the tzoraat disease as a result of your sin.