Tafsiran yang Mengutip untuk Yehezkiel 22:9

Similar to this explanation did Abarbanel explain, and I am adding to his words to explain all the details and events: The first accusation of you are spies was to rectify the sin of them considering Joseph a spy and gossiper who came to see their impropriety. For when he came to them at Dothan, it is written before he came close to them because they thought his intention was to get close to them and spy on what his brothers were doing in order to return and bring some negative reports about them to their father. And every gossiper causes bloodshed, as it is written There were men of gossip among you for the sake of shedding blood (Ezekiel 22:9). Therefore, before he would come close to them to kill them, they plotted to kill him, for they thought that if someone comes to kill you, rise early to kill him before he approaches you. This is why it says he remembered the dreams before he said to them you are spies. Because he remembered that he had dreamed and behold, your sheaves surrounded, and it didn’t specify what kind of surrounding, but surely their end would be to be accused as spies, for every spy goes around and surrounds the entire city to see from where it is easiest to conquer. And proof of this is that they entered through 10 gates of the city, going around and around, and through this circling they would bow to Joseph’s sheaf, as they would come under the accusation of you are spies who have come to see the nakedness of the land. Through this, the sin was rectified — the sin of considering Joseph a spy who came to see their improper actions. And corresponding to their throwing Joseph into the pit, he gathered them into custody — Rashi explains this as a prison, meaning a pit, as it says regarding Joseph and they put him in the prison, and Joseph said for they placed me in the pit. Rashi was compelled to explain it this way because if the custody was in some room, it would not have been measure for measure. Therefore, he took Simeon from them because he was the one who threw him into the pit.

Now the Torah addresses the judges who are charged with dispensing fair judgment. לא תעשו עול במשפט, a warning not to relate sternly to one litigant while being lenient towards his opponent. Do not allow one litigant to sit down while his opponent is required to remain standing upright. This is followed by admonitions applicable to different levels of leadership in the people and the spirit of jealousy which often prevails between competing layers of the bureaucracy. Examples are: Doeg badmouthing David so as to gain favour with the king. (Samuel I 22,9) From such admonitions it is only a small step to warn against badmouthing people generally, especially when it even involves slander. The sin of slandering is considered so serious by the prophet Ezekiel that he describes it as being equal to bloodshed (Ezekiel 22,9)

לא תלך רכיל, “do not walk around as a talebearer;” do not tell people who have been found guilty at court that if you had been the only judge in that litigation you would have declared the party found guilty as innocent. Seeing that you were in the minority, you regret that your voice was not heard. (Sifra) An alternate interpretation: [according to the interpretation that follows the absence of the letter ו before the word לא is of decisive significance. Ed.] Talebearing and standing by idly while your fellow Jew’s blood is being shed are part of the same sin. The Torah warns against talebearing as the next step would result in standing by idly while another Jew’s innocent blood is being shed. What started out as being “only” words, is liable to wind up as complicity in murder. The prophet Ezekiel 22,9 writing: אנשי רכיל היו בך, “there were talebearers amongst you, continues that verse by writing: “for the sake of bloodshed.” In other words: talebearing is no better that bloodshed. Still another interpretation of our verse: ordinarily the rule of not to go around and bear tales applies. However, if you became privy to a plot being hatched to kill an innocent person you must not plead this law as an excuse not to have warned the endangered party, or have reported it to the police.