וְהִנֵּה֙ הִכֵּ֣יתִי כַפִּ֔י אֶל־בִּצְעֵ֖ךְ אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָשִׂ֑ית וְעַ֨ל־דָּמֵ֔ךְ אֲשֶׁ֥ר הָי֖וּ בְּתוֹכֵֽךְ׃
너의 불의를 행하여 이를 얻은 일과 네 가운데 피 흘린 일을 인하여 내가 손뼉을 쳤나니
Rabbeinu Bahya
When G’d spoke about “pounding His hand” in Ezekiel 22,13 this occurred only after He had mentioned the sin of robbery, seeing that this is such a grievous sin. In the following verse G’d says: ”can your courage endure or your hand be strong in the days when I shall deal with you?” Although the commandment not to rob is the type of commandment which is linked to the positive commandment of making restitution, i.e. it can be atoned for relatively easily, the sin is very grievous as one cannot always locate the injured party when one is finally ready to make restitution and as a result the sin remains unatoned. Even if the victimised party is located but does not want to forgive the robber, he has no way of rehabilitating himself. Alternatively, the robber may have become a poor beggar and as such is simply unable to make amends. For all the above-mentioned reasons the sin of robbery is very serious although tied to the positive command- ment of making restitution.
Material wealth has a way of disappearing as we know from Solomon (Proverbs 23,5) “riches grow wings, fly away heavenward like an eagle.” Even a wealthy robber may not have much time to make restitution then. Another problem with robbery is that the robber may often not even know whom he has robbed, such as when he robbed money belonging to a group of people. How can he make restitution when he does not even know to whom he owes how much? Concerning this latter eventuality the Torah wrote: “he has to bring his guilt-offering to the Lord” (verse 25), so that after he has made restitution he can at least be clear vis-a-vis Hashem. Having made restitution he is then in a position to bring the guilt-offering as spelled out in verse 26, i.e. that the Priest will provide him with atonement.
There cannot be effective repentance based on words and on an offering unless it has been preceded by action, i.e. restitution. This is what the prophet Isaiah 1,16 meant when he said: “wash yourselves clean, put your evil deeds away from My sight.” He also said (verse 17) “learn to do good!” Furthermore, it is written in verse 18 of the same chapter: “if your sins be as crimson they can turn snow-white.” Job’s friends (Job 11,14) said to him “if there is iniquity with you, remove it; do not let injustice reside in your tent.” In this verse they warned Job not to be guilty of the sin of robbery either in public or in private. The first half of the verse addresses the sin of robbery which is plain for all to see, the second half mentioning his tent, speaks of concealed acts of robbery. His friends ask Job to examine if he had been guilty of that sin (which could account for the afflictions he was suffering). His friends continue by promising him relief if he found he had been guilty of this sin and had taken steps to make restitution. This is the meaning of “life will be brighter than noon, etc.” (verse 17). They add: “you will be secure, for there is hope, and entrenched you will rest secure; you will lie down undisturbed.” His friends promise him that he will be secure both in public and in private. Even when you find yourself in difficulty you will not have cause to be afraid.
David echoes similar sentiments when he says in Psalms 51,6: “I have only sinned against You (G’d).” David implies that he is free of such sins against his fellow man as robbery or sins related to it. We find that David offered a similar prayer on another occasion (Psalms 19,13) “who can be aware of errors? Clear me of unperceived guilt.” David did not pray to be protected against sins he was aware of. He wanted relief only from sins committed unwittingly in circumstances where no one had seen him commit them and which he did not remember having committed. He implied that he had been careful not to become guilty of deliberate sins. It is a well known fact that he who is careful to avoid sinning will have his reward stored up by G’d; this is what Isaiah 40,10 referred to when he said: “see his reward is with Him, his recompense before Him.” The same sentiment is echoed by the words (Psalms 19,12) “Your servant pays them heed; in obeying them there is much reward.”
Material wealth has a way of disappearing as we know from Solomon (Proverbs 23,5) “riches grow wings, fly away heavenward like an eagle.” Even a wealthy robber may not have much time to make restitution then. Another problem with robbery is that the robber may often not even know whom he has robbed, such as when he robbed money belonging to a group of people. How can he make restitution when he does not even know to whom he owes how much? Concerning this latter eventuality the Torah wrote: “he has to bring his guilt-offering to the Lord” (verse 25), so that after he has made restitution he can at least be clear vis-a-vis Hashem. Having made restitution he is then in a position to bring the guilt-offering as spelled out in verse 26, i.e. that the Priest will provide him with atonement.
There cannot be effective repentance based on words and on an offering unless it has been preceded by action, i.e. restitution. This is what the prophet Isaiah 1,16 meant when he said: “wash yourselves clean, put your evil deeds away from My sight.” He also said (verse 17) “learn to do good!” Furthermore, it is written in verse 18 of the same chapter: “if your sins be as crimson they can turn snow-white.” Job’s friends (Job 11,14) said to him “if there is iniquity with you, remove it; do not let injustice reside in your tent.” In this verse they warned Job not to be guilty of the sin of robbery either in public or in private. The first half of the verse addresses the sin of robbery which is plain for all to see, the second half mentioning his tent, speaks of concealed acts of robbery. His friends ask Job to examine if he had been guilty of that sin (which could account for the afflictions he was suffering). His friends continue by promising him relief if he found he had been guilty of this sin and had taken steps to make restitution. This is the meaning of “life will be brighter than noon, etc.” (verse 17). They add: “you will be secure, for there is hope, and entrenched you will rest secure; you will lie down undisturbed.” His friends promise him that he will be secure both in public and in private. Even when you find yourself in difficulty you will not have cause to be afraid.
David echoes similar sentiments when he says in Psalms 51,6: “I have only sinned against You (G’d).” David implies that he is free of such sins against his fellow man as robbery or sins related to it. We find that David offered a similar prayer on another occasion (Psalms 19,13) “who can be aware of errors? Clear me of unperceived guilt.” David did not pray to be protected against sins he was aware of. He wanted relief only from sins committed unwittingly in circumstances where no one had seen him commit them and which he did not remember having committed. He implied that he had been careful not to become guilty of deliberate sins. It is a well known fact that he who is careful to avoid sinning will have his reward stored up by G’d; this is what Isaiah 40,10 referred to when he said: “see his reward is with Him, his recompense before Him.” The same sentiment is echoed by the words (Psalms 19,12) “Your servant pays them heed; in obeying them there is much reward.”