Midrash su Malachia 3:5

When he came to the following verse, R. Jochanan wept (Mal. 3, 5) And I will come near unto you to hold judgment, and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against those that swear falsely, and against those that with hold the wages of the hired laborer, and fear Me not, said the Lord of hosts." He saids "For a slave whose master brings suit against him with good witness is then there any hope for aquittal for him?" R. Jochanan said: "Woe unto us, for the passage makes our slight sins equal to our grave sins."4 Resh Lakish said: "Whoever perverts the judgment of a stranger is considered as if he perverted the Judgment of heaven, as this is included in the above passage." R. Chanina b. Papa said: "When a man commits a sin and soon repents of it, he is forgiven immediately, as it is said (ib.) And fear Me not, saith the Lord of hosts. This means that if he does fear and asks for forgiveness, he is pardoned."

(Numb. 5:12:) “If anyone has his wife go astray (tisteh).” Our masters have taught, “The adulterers do not commit adultery, until a spirit of madness (shetut)³¹In the unpointed Hebrew text, shetut and tisteh appear to have the same root. enters them. Thus it is stated (ibid.), ‘If anyone has his wife go astray.’” [Here] we have learned about the woman. Where is it shown about the man? Where it is stated (in Prov. 6:32), “The one who commits adultery with a woman is has no sense (literally, is lacking heart).”³²Cf. Numb. 9:6. Another interpretation (of Numb. 5:12), “If anyone has his wife go astray.” This text is related (to Jer. 23:24), “If someone hides in secret places, [shall I not see him?]” See, is it not already written (Psalms 16:3), “The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, observing the bad and the good.”³³Numb. R. 9:9. And so too is it written (in Zech. 4:10; cf. II Chron. 16:9), “the eyes of the Lord; they roam around all the earth.” [So] what do we learn to say (in Jer. 23:24), “Shall I not see Him (ar'ennu)?” [Interpret these words³⁴In the Hebrew text this question and the one which follows each consists of the one word, ar’ennu. as follows:] Shall I not show him (ar'ennu) to the people and publish his works? (Jer. 23:24, cont.), “’Do I not fill the heavens and the earth,’ says the Lord.” I fill the realms above and the realms below, as stated (Is. 66:1), “The heavens are My throne and the earth is My footstool.” Another interpretation of (Jer. 23:24), “[If someone hides in secret places], shall I not see him? It is comparable to an architect³⁵Gk.: architekton; cf. Lat.: architectus. The parable appears in Numb. R. 9:1; Gen. R. 24:1. [who] went out as a katarikos (tax official) over a certain province. The inhabitants of the province began hiding their silver and gold within the very caves [that he had built]. The architect said to them, ‘I built the province, and I made the hidden treasuries. Will you hide [anything] from me?” Similarly, the Holy One, blessed be He, has said to adulterers, “Will you hide yourselves from me?” [It is as in (Jer. 23:24),] “If someone hides in secret places, I have created you and made your every cavity (mehilim mehilim).” [It is so stated (in Deut. 32:18),] “but you forgot the God who generated you (meholelekha).” Nothing will be useful to you, wherever you hide yourselves, because (according to Jer. 17:10:) “I the Lord search the heart, probe the kidneys, to render to each according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” I am the one who brings (rt.: qrb) you to judgment, as stated (in Mal. 3:5), “Then I will draw near (rt.: qrb) unto you in judgment; and I will be a swift witness against sorcerers, against adulterers […].” Therefore, you shall not go astray after the evil drive, so that none of you have his wife go astray, according to what is stated (in Numb. 5:12), “If anyone has his wife go astray.” Another interpretation (of Numb. 5:12), “If anyone (literally, if a man a man) [has his wife go astray].” [These words are] to teach you that she is going astray and being false with two, with the “Man of war” (as in Exod 15:3) above and with her man (husband) below.³⁶Numb. R. 9:2. The Holy One, blessed be He, says to her, “You lie to your husband, can you perhaps lie to Me? A parable: To what is the matter comparable?³⁷Numb. R. 9:9. To someone who was imprisoned within two houses, one inside the other. Now two guards were there, one on the inside and one on the outside. [The prisoner] opened [the door of] the inner [house] and left, and the guard did not notice him. When he came to leave the outer one, [the guard] did notice him. He seized him and said to him, “At that [guard] on the inside you laughed, but at me you cannot laugh.” Similarly the Holy One, blessed be He, has said to the adulterous woman, “At your husband you laugh, but at me you cannot laugh. Rather I sit and laugh at My creatures.” It is so stated (in Ps. 2:4), “The One sitting in the heavens shall laugh […].

(Numb. 5:13, cont.:) “And it is hidden from her husband's eyes,” [is to] exclude one who is blind.³⁹Sifre, Numb. 5:13 (7); Sot. 27a. Cf. Numb. R. 9:10, which explains the exception as referring to a husband just pretending to be blind to his wife’s adultery, so that he can use the rite of the bitter water for killing his wife. Another interpretation (of Numb. 5:13, cont.), “and it is hidden from her husband's eyes.” [These words mean to exclude the case in which] her husband saw [her transgression] and overlooked [it]. (Ibid., cont.:) “So that she is secluded.” We have not yet heard of a specific length of time for her to be in seclusion (with her lover) [in order to cause defilement]. R. Eleazer says, “[The time needed] for a palm tree to sway back.”⁴⁰See TSot. 1:2; Sot. 4a; Sifre, Numb. 5:13 (7). R. Joshua says, “For mixing the cup.” Ben 'Azzay says, “For drinking it.” R. Aqiva says, “For roasting an egg.” R. Judah says, “For eating three eggs one after the other.” R. Eleazar ben Pinhas says, “For a weaver⁴¹Gk.: gerdios. to knot the thread.”⁴²Gk.: nema. R. Hanin says, “For her to put her finger in her mouth.” Pelimo says, “For his (sic) hand⁴³Cf. the parallel in Numb. R. 9:10, which reads, “her hand.” to reach over the basket and take a loaf of bread. And even though there is no evidence for [this understanding], there is a hint [that it is correct], where it is stated (in Prov. 6:26), ‘For on behalf of a woman playing the harlot [one will be reduced] to a loaf of bread.’” (Numb. 5:13, cont.:) “And there is no witness against her.” Although she has no [witness against her] now, she will have one at another time.⁴⁴In addition to Numb. R. 9:10, see Gen. R. 38:14; PRK 18:3; PR 32:2. In a similar usage⁴⁵Kayyotse badavar. This repetitive use of kayyotse b… indicates that the sixth of the seven exegetical rules (middot) attributed to Hillel is being used here. you say (in Gen. 11:30), “Now Sarai was barren; she had no child.” Although [Sarai] had no [child] then, she would have one at another time, as stated (in Gen. 21:1), “Then the Lord visited Sarah […].” In a similar usage you say (in Esth. 2:10), “Esther had not disclosed her people [and her native land].” Although she had not disclosed them to him then, she did disclose them to him at another time, as stated (in Esth. 8:1), “then Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had disclosed what relationship he had to her.” And here also (in Numb. 5:13), “and there is no witness against her.” Although she has no [witness against her] now, she will have one at another time, as stated (in Mal. 3:5), “and I will be a swift witness [against sorcerers, against adulterers].” Our masters have said, “When a woman is alone with her husband and he is having sexual intercourse with her, if she sets her eyes on another at the time of [their] sexual intercourse, there is no greater adultery for her than this.⁴⁶Numb. R. 9:34. Thus it is stated (in Ezek. 16:32), “The adulterous woman [receives strangers] instead of her husband (literally: under her husband).” Is there a woman who commits adultery [while] under her husband?⁴⁷Cf. Numb. 5:19. It is simply that this is [the kind of woman] who encounters a certain man and sets her eyes on him. Then she has sexual intercourse with her husband while her heart is on him. [There is] a story about the king of the Arabs, who asked R. Aqiva, “I am black and my wife is black, but she has borne me a white son. Shall I kill her because she has played the harlot while under me?” He said to him, “Are the images within your house white or black?” He said to him, “White.” He said to him, “When you were busy with her, she set her eyes on the images and bore [a child] like them. Now if you are surprised over this matter, learn from the Jacob's flock. They were conceived from the sticks, as stated (in Gen. 30:39), ‘Since the flock conceived by the sticks, [the flock bore streaked, speckled, and spotted young].’” Then the king of the Arabs thanked R. Aqiva. Thus, when any woman is alone with her husband in holiness, in the end he produces righteous children from her. Thus we find it so in the case of Hannah, who was alone with her husband in holiness, and [so] the Holy One, blessed be He, did not deprive her of her reward. Rather he gave her a righteous son like Moses, as stated (in Jer. 15:1), “Even if Moses and Samuel stood before Me.” It also says (in Ps. 99:6), “Moses and Aaron were among His priests, and Samuel was among those who call upon His name.” So also did Hannah say (in I Sam. 1:27), “For this child did I pray, [and the Lord has granted me my petition].” Why? Because he was sown in holiness. The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “In this world I abhor all those peoples, because they are from unclean seed; but I have chosen you, because you are from true seed, as stated (in Jer. 2:21), ‘And I planted you as a choice vine, all of it from true seed.’ It is also written (in Deut. 7:6), ‘and the Lord your God has chosen you […].’ And also in the future to come I am choosing only you, because you are a holy seed, as stated (in Is. 65:23), ‘They shall not labor in vain, nor bear children in terror, because they are a seed blessed of the Lord, [and their offspring along with them].’”