Midrash su Proverbi 21:8

“It was during the days when the judges judged, there was a famine.” “The path of a man is erratic [hafakhpakh] and strange, [but as for the pure, his conduct is upright]” (Proverbs 21:8) – this is the wicked Esau [Rome] who would erratically [mithapekh] assail Israel with [evil] decrees. ‘Did you steal?’ ‘We did not steal.’ ‘Did you kill?’ ‘We did not kill.’ ‘You did not steal, who stole with you?’ ‘You did not kill, who killed with you?’ They would confiscate from them and impose monetary penalties upon them: Bring your property tax, bring your head tax, bring your state tax. “Man” – this is the wicked Esau, as it is stated: “Esau was a man who knew hunting” (Genesis 25:27). “And strange” – as he made himself estranged from circumcision and estranged from mitzvot. “Pure” – this is the Holy One blessed be He, who treats him in upright ways and gives him his reward in this world, like a laborer who performs labor in good faith with his employer.
Another interpretation: “The path of a man [ish] is erratic [hafakhpakh] and strange” (Proverbs 21:8) – these are the nations of the world who constantly [mehapekhin] assail Israel with [evil] decrees. “A man” – they who descend from Noah, who was called “a man” (Genesis 6:9); “and strange” – as they worship idols. “But as for the pure, his conduct is upright [yashar]” – this is the Holy One blessed be He, who treats them in an upright manner. Rabbi Aḥa said: “The path…is erratic” – this is Israel, as it is stated: “As they are an erratic generation” (Deuteronomy 32:20). “A man [ish]” – “The men [ish] of Israel took an oath” (Judges 21:1).¹²It is difficult to ascertain what is meant by this reference. Perhaps the midrash seeks to connect “the path of a man is erratic” to the tragic events surrounding the concubine of Giva recounted in Judges, chaps. 19–21. “And strange [vazar]” – because they estranged themselves from the Holy One blessed be He, as it is stated: “They betrayed the Lord, as they begot foreign [zarim] children” (Hosea 5:7). “But as for the pure” – that is the Holy One blessed be He, who conducts Himself with uprightness in this world and gives them a complete reward in the future, like a craftsman who performs his labor in good faith with his employer. At that time, the Holy One blessed be He said: My children are recalcitrant; to eliminate them is impossible, to return them to Egypt is impossible, to exchange them with another nation, I am unable. What shall I do to them? I will afflict them with suffering and will refine them with famine during the days when the judges judged. That is what is written: “It was during the days when the judges judged, there was a famine in the land.”