אַשְׁרֵ֣י אָ֭דָם עֽוֹז־ל֥וֹ בָ֑ךְ מְ֝סִלּ֗וֹת בִּלְבָבָֽם׃
주께 힘을 얻고 그 마음에 시온의 대로가 있는 자는 복이 있나이다
Rabbeinu Bahya
In this verse Solomon commands a Jewish person to be of “soft” heart and to be constantly concerned about the purpose and outcome of all his activities. He warns us not to he hard-hearted in order to avoid being punished for obstinacy.
The word אשרי, “happy is,” is applied here to an individual who excels in a single virtue rather than in a variety of virtues. This is the only instance instance where David or Solomon uses this word as applicable to the possession by a person of a single virtue. The reason that generally we do not find this word applied to individuals excelling in only one particular virtue alone is that the word presupposes the possession of a string of good characteristics in order for such people to be accorded this compliment.
Let us look at Psalms 65,5: “Happy is the man You choose and bring near to dwell in Your courts;” the person chosen by G’d is not chosen by Him on account of his excelling in a solitary virtue; surely it is presumed that he is virtuous in a number of ways. The same is undoubtedly true of Psalms 84,6: “happy is the man who finds refuge in You, whose mind is on the (pilgrim) highways.” The expression מסלות, “highways,” proves by its being in the plural that the author speaks of the heart commanding a number of different virtues, such as reverence for G’d, faith in the Lord, etc., etc. The same is true of verse 13 in the same Psalm: “O Lord of hosts, happy is the man who trusts in You.” The virtue of trusting in the Lord itself comprises a number of positive traits and a number of praiseworthy virtues. In Psalm 1,1 where David describes as “happy” the person “who has not followed the counsel of the wicked,” the psalmist himself subdivides this virtue into neither having “sat with them, walked with them, or even having stood near them.” Just as in that instance more than one virtue or the ramifications of such virtue in all its aspects is required, so here too Solomon in describing a person as “happy” because he is constantly concerned or even “afraid,” refers to something more than meets the eye at first glance. He refers to people who weigh each one of their actions carefully, considering possible harmful effects and if the beneficial effects of their actions outweigh any possible harm they could cause. All this they do prior to deciding on a course of action. There can be no question that people who display this kind of sense of responsibility are possessed of a whole string of virtues.
Seeing that the person who is described by Solomon as “happy” is motivated by his שכל, by his intellect, and cannot perform the virtues involved unless he employs his intellect he is called אדם rather than איש (as for instance in Psalms 1,1). The term אדם derives from אדמה, earth, soil. It is as if Solomon had said: “happy he who is cut off from the earth;” prior to cutting himself off from earth he was linked to material matters. Now, by employing the virtues mentioned by Solomon and employing his שכל, a disembodied phenomenon, he will remain conscious of the responsibilities he enters into with every one of his actions. Seeing that he worries about the result and wider impact of his actions, this alone will protect him against committing a sin.
When a person eats and drinks in order to indulge his appetite he thereby makes himself a partner to the animals. If however, he uses such an activity only in order to better perform service to the Lord, by maintaining his physical health at maximum level, then he has elevated the act of eating and drinking to an entirely new and spiritual level. The considerations which are valid for the manner and purpose of our food and drink intake apply in equal measure to the marital relations between husband and wife. Anyone who while indulging in sexual intercourse even with his wife is concerned simply with satisfying his biological urges and the gratification of his libido, is thereby making himself a partner to the animals. His main purpose when engaging in sexual activity must be to fulfill the commandment to be fruitful and to multiply and to raise children who will be G’d-fearing and, if possible, Torah scholars. Any other considerations are a desecration of the sex act. Similar considerations must guide people engaged in trade and commerce. Naturally, they must avoid being devious, and refrain from lies and cheating. If they were to use their business to cheat people they would lose their standing both in this world and in the world to come. But, even when they merely do not cheat or deceive, they have not yet performed these activities in a worthwhile manner. Unless their purpose is not the amassing of material wealth but to have the opportunity to acquire virtues such as to give liberally to charity, to endow brides who have no dowry, etc., etc., they have not performed what Solomon speaks of in our verse. The very money which is acquired by means of extortion, etc., becomes the instrument of the extortionist’s death sentence in the world to come. The desire to own money of this kind for the brief duration of life on earth is in itself a capital crime. It is comparable to the story of the bird which was so anxious to feed on the grain within the net that it found itself trapped within the net without hope of escape. Concerning this Solomon said (Proverbs 1,17-19) “in the eyes of every winged creature the outspread net means nothing. But they lie in wait for their own blood, they lie in wait for their own lives. So are the ways of all those who are greedy for gain; it takes the life of its owners.”
Solomon applied this parable to the people who are overly fond of money and are intent on amassing it. He said concerning such people (Proverbs 20,17) ”bread gained by deceit may taste sweet; but later his mouth will be filled with gravel.” The principles which must guide us in the examples listed apply to all of man’s activities. One must be worried constantly not to do something which runs counter to the teachings of the Torah and its outlook on life. Solomon views a person who is hard-hearted as the opposite of the one whom he describes as “constantly afraid.” The latter person obviously never considers the fact that he faces G’d every step of his life. The hard-hearted person does not think of what he does in terms of eventual reward of punishment. He who is constantly afraid does not have to worry about disaster facing him in the future as his lifestyle was his guarantee that no such disaster lurks in his future. He who is hard-hearted is always surprised when disaster strikes him and he is unprepared to cope with it. The reverse is true of the מפחד תמיד, the person who is constantly worried. His very worries are the reason that he will be spiritually uplifted. This is why Solomon applies to him the attribute אשרי, “happy.” Seeing that the proud and hard-hearted person elevated himself above others, Solomon chose the correct adjective when he described the result of such a person’s future as “he will fall into misfortune” We have a parallel verse in Proverbs 24,16: “for the righteous will rise even if he falls seven times; the wicked will be snared by evil.” Even a single stroke of misfortune will hit the hard-hearted so that he cannot recover from it. This is also the meaning of Psalms 34,22: “one misfortune is the deathblow of the wicked.” When Solomon wrote in Proverbs 16,4: “G’d has made everything for His purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil,” he meant that the evil which will strike the wicked has been prepared for him by G’d a long time in advance of it actually happening. It is part of what G’d does to enhance His Name, to be sanctified amongst those who observe His justice at work.
What happened to Pharaoh in our portion and previously had long been planned by G’d. Seeing that he had hardened his heart he was bound to experience the down side to his behavior. He had hardened his heart without G’d’s intervention already in 9,34. What applied to him also applied to most of his servants. In the end G’d hardened his heart even further in order to demonstrate His power to the world.
The word אשרי, “happy is,” is applied here to an individual who excels in a single virtue rather than in a variety of virtues. This is the only instance instance where David or Solomon uses this word as applicable to the possession by a person of a single virtue. The reason that generally we do not find this word applied to individuals excelling in only one particular virtue alone is that the word presupposes the possession of a string of good characteristics in order for such people to be accorded this compliment.
Let us look at Psalms 65,5: “Happy is the man You choose and bring near to dwell in Your courts;” the person chosen by G’d is not chosen by Him on account of his excelling in a solitary virtue; surely it is presumed that he is virtuous in a number of ways. The same is undoubtedly true of Psalms 84,6: “happy is the man who finds refuge in You, whose mind is on the (pilgrim) highways.” The expression מסלות, “highways,” proves by its being in the plural that the author speaks of the heart commanding a number of different virtues, such as reverence for G’d, faith in the Lord, etc., etc. The same is true of verse 13 in the same Psalm: “O Lord of hosts, happy is the man who trusts in You.” The virtue of trusting in the Lord itself comprises a number of positive traits and a number of praiseworthy virtues. In Psalm 1,1 where David describes as “happy” the person “who has not followed the counsel of the wicked,” the psalmist himself subdivides this virtue into neither having “sat with them, walked with them, or even having stood near them.” Just as in that instance more than one virtue or the ramifications of such virtue in all its aspects is required, so here too Solomon in describing a person as “happy” because he is constantly concerned or even “afraid,” refers to something more than meets the eye at first glance. He refers to people who weigh each one of their actions carefully, considering possible harmful effects and if the beneficial effects of their actions outweigh any possible harm they could cause. All this they do prior to deciding on a course of action. There can be no question that people who display this kind of sense of responsibility are possessed of a whole string of virtues.
Seeing that the person who is described by Solomon as “happy” is motivated by his שכל, by his intellect, and cannot perform the virtues involved unless he employs his intellect he is called אדם rather than איש (as for instance in Psalms 1,1). The term אדם derives from אדמה, earth, soil. It is as if Solomon had said: “happy he who is cut off from the earth;” prior to cutting himself off from earth he was linked to material matters. Now, by employing the virtues mentioned by Solomon and employing his שכל, a disembodied phenomenon, he will remain conscious of the responsibilities he enters into with every one of his actions. Seeing that he worries about the result and wider impact of his actions, this alone will protect him against committing a sin.
When a person eats and drinks in order to indulge his appetite he thereby makes himself a partner to the animals. If however, he uses such an activity only in order to better perform service to the Lord, by maintaining his physical health at maximum level, then he has elevated the act of eating and drinking to an entirely new and spiritual level. The considerations which are valid for the manner and purpose of our food and drink intake apply in equal measure to the marital relations between husband and wife. Anyone who while indulging in sexual intercourse even with his wife is concerned simply with satisfying his biological urges and the gratification of his libido, is thereby making himself a partner to the animals. His main purpose when engaging in sexual activity must be to fulfill the commandment to be fruitful and to multiply and to raise children who will be G’d-fearing and, if possible, Torah scholars. Any other considerations are a desecration of the sex act. Similar considerations must guide people engaged in trade and commerce. Naturally, they must avoid being devious, and refrain from lies and cheating. If they were to use their business to cheat people they would lose their standing both in this world and in the world to come. But, even when they merely do not cheat or deceive, they have not yet performed these activities in a worthwhile manner. Unless their purpose is not the amassing of material wealth but to have the opportunity to acquire virtues such as to give liberally to charity, to endow brides who have no dowry, etc., etc., they have not performed what Solomon speaks of in our verse. The very money which is acquired by means of extortion, etc., becomes the instrument of the extortionist’s death sentence in the world to come. The desire to own money of this kind for the brief duration of life on earth is in itself a capital crime. It is comparable to the story of the bird which was so anxious to feed on the grain within the net that it found itself trapped within the net without hope of escape. Concerning this Solomon said (Proverbs 1,17-19) “in the eyes of every winged creature the outspread net means nothing. But they lie in wait for their own blood, they lie in wait for their own lives. So are the ways of all those who are greedy for gain; it takes the life of its owners.”
Solomon applied this parable to the people who are overly fond of money and are intent on amassing it. He said concerning such people (Proverbs 20,17) ”bread gained by deceit may taste sweet; but later his mouth will be filled with gravel.” The principles which must guide us in the examples listed apply to all of man’s activities. One must be worried constantly not to do something which runs counter to the teachings of the Torah and its outlook on life. Solomon views a person who is hard-hearted as the opposite of the one whom he describes as “constantly afraid.” The latter person obviously never considers the fact that he faces G’d every step of his life. The hard-hearted person does not think of what he does in terms of eventual reward of punishment. He who is constantly afraid does not have to worry about disaster facing him in the future as his lifestyle was his guarantee that no such disaster lurks in his future. He who is hard-hearted is always surprised when disaster strikes him and he is unprepared to cope with it. The reverse is true of the מפחד תמיד, the person who is constantly worried. His very worries are the reason that he will be spiritually uplifted. This is why Solomon applies to him the attribute אשרי, “happy.” Seeing that the proud and hard-hearted person elevated himself above others, Solomon chose the correct adjective when he described the result of such a person’s future as “he will fall into misfortune” We have a parallel verse in Proverbs 24,16: “for the righteous will rise even if he falls seven times; the wicked will be snared by evil.” Even a single stroke of misfortune will hit the hard-hearted so that he cannot recover from it. This is also the meaning of Psalms 34,22: “one misfortune is the deathblow of the wicked.” When Solomon wrote in Proverbs 16,4: “G’d has made everything for His purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil,” he meant that the evil which will strike the wicked has been prepared for him by G’d a long time in advance of it actually happening. It is part of what G’d does to enhance His Name, to be sanctified amongst those who observe His justice at work.
What happened to Pharaoh in our portion and previously had long been planned by G’d. Seeing that he had hardened his heart he was bound to experience the down side to his behavior. He had hardened his heart without G’d’s intervention already in 9,34. What applied to him also applied to most of his servants. In the end G’d hardened his heart even further in order to demonstrate His power to the world.
Rabbeinu Yonah
Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya--happy is the one who gave birth to him!: The undifferentiated expression, 'happy' is a category that includes all of the virtues through which a person is happy. And when it mentions the trait [with it], it is [referring only to] a particular [trait]. And we have found it stated about fear as in "Happy is the man who fears the Lord" (Psalms 112:1). And also about the designation of a fixed place for Torah [study], as it is written (Proverbs 8:34), "Happy is the man who listens to me, coming early to my gates each day, waiting outside my doors," and it states (Psalms 84:5), "Happy are those who dwell in Your house; they will still forever praise You." And about devotion, as it is stated (Psalms 65:5), "Happy is the man You choose and bring near to dwell in Your courts." And about faith (Psalms 84:6), "Happy is the man who has refuge in You." It is also stated about one who prevents himself from [involvement with] evildoers (Psalms 1:1), "Happy is the man who has not followed the counsel of the evildoers, or taken the path of sinners, or joined the company of the scorners." It is also stated about those that keep the Shabbat (Isaiah 56:2), "Happy is the man who does this." It is also stated about those that walk in the Torah of the Lord (Psalms 119:1), "Happy are those whose way is blameless, who follow the Torah of the Lord." It is also stated about those that keep the commandments (Psalms 119:2), "Happy are those who observe His decrees, who turn to Him wholeheartedly." It is also stated about one who benefits from his toil (Psalms 128:2), "You shall enjoy the fruit of your labors; you shall be happy and it shall be good for you." It is also stated about those that keep the law and do justice (Psalms 106:3), "Happy are those who act lawfully, who do justice at all times." It is also stated about trust [in God] (Proverbs 16:20), "he who trusts in the Lord is happy." It is also stated about wisdom (Proverbs 3:13), "Happy is the man who finds wisdom," and it is also written (Proverbs 14:21), "he who shows pity for the lowly is happy." And about this is it said, "happy is the one who gave birth to him" undifferentiated; meaning to say he is happy with all of the happy traits - great in his wisdom and refined by his traits and in all of his affairs.