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...In this verse, King Solomon, of blessed memory, teaches the virtue of accepting reproof and criticism. Torah depends on one’s ability to accept reproof. The highest virtue is found in the one who accepts criticism and listens to the one who rebukes him. It is the basis for the fulfillment of the Torah. One who rejects reproof is marked by a repulsive virtue containing the worst evils. To reject criticism causes one to reject the yoke of the commandments. Regarding this, Solomon wrote: "Discipline is worse than the one who abandons God's way; he who hates rebuke will die." (Prov. 15:10) This means that one who rejects reproof is worse than the person who abandons the observance of Torah since such a person is guilty of denying the yoke of commandments. A person who abandons the path of Torah may face punishment but he is not condemned to death. One who rejects reproof is not pardoned through suffering but is sentenced to death. This is what King Solomon meant when he said, "He who hates rebuke will die." It is not enough for him to face painful suffering as a judgment…Conversely, Solomon explains that reproof is like a thing of beauty just as earrings are adornments to the body. When a wise person presents criticism to a person who is receptive to the criticism, the criticism is compared to an earring or an adornment which beautifies the soul of the individual. There are two types of people with regard to reproof: those whom we are obligated to criticize and those whom we should avoid criticizing. There are three types of people whom one is obligated to criticize: the wise, the simple and the youth. There are three types of people to whom one should avoid offering reproof: scoffers, fools and the wicked. Regarding scoffers, we are taught, "Do not rebuke the scoffer for he will hate you." (Prov. 9:8) … Regarding fools, it is written, "Do not speak to the fool for he will disdain your sensible words." (Prov. 23:9) The scoffer hates the person who criticizes him while the fool makes light of the words of reproof and mocks the person who is wiser than they are. Regarding the wicked, it is stated, "…to rebuke the wicked person for his blemish is to call down abuse on oneself." (Prov. 9:7) This means that when one criticizes the wicked and points out his blemish, the wicked responds by casting his own blemish back on the one who rebuked him. The people to whom one should offer reproof include the wise. It is written, "Reprove the wise person and he will love you." (Prov. 9:8) Sometimes a wise person needs to be criticized when he accidently sins or does so by chance. Regarding the simple, it is written, "Endow the simple with shrewdness." (Prov. 1:4) Regarding the young, Scripture states "(He endows) the young with knowledge and foresight." (ibid) The most important type of reproof is the criticism offered to the young since their intellect is not fully developed and they lived under the domination of the evil inclination for the thirteen years when their thoughts and understanding were completely focused on worldly pleasures of the body. While they are still adolescents and their nature is malleable, young people are in need of criticism to rein in their behavior and to help them come under the control of their good inclination. They gain this by listening to the person who reproves them and by paying attention to words of Torah which is entirely reproof. It is written, "The way to life is the rebuke that disciplines." (Prov. 6:23) If a person was allowed to follow his basic nature, whether good or bad, he would not be able to separate himself from his youthful behavior when he reached the full maturity, as it is written, "Train a lad in the way he ought to go; he will not swerve from it even in his old age." (Prov. 22:6) Thus, a person acquires great benefit and merit for himself (by accepting criticism when he is young.) Because of this Solomon advises us to offer reproof to a young person with 'the rod of discipline,' "if folly settles in the heart of a lad, the rod of discipline will remove it." (Prov. 22:15) This means that even if the folly has attached itself to his heart and he has become accustomed to acting in this fashion for many years, do not despair and say, 'There is no way to make him improve,' for as long as he is a lad and the rod of discipline is used, he can remove it. By disciplining him little by little, the reproof will eventually enter his heart. When the word of the disciplinarian is soft so and offered with constancy it will eventually make an impression on the one who is disciplined just as drops of water which are soft and pleasing eventually leave a hole in a rock (upon which the water drips). But if a person despairs and does not try to offer a young person reproof, it is as if he hates him, as it is stated: "He who spares the rod, hates his son; but he who loves him disciplines him early," (Prov. 14:23) The Midrash interprets this verse: "He who spares the rod, hates his son," refers to King David, while "He who loves him, disciplines him early," refers to Jacob, teaching that one who withholds discipline in the end will cause his children to follow evil company. We find this to be the case with Abraham who spoiled Ishmael and eventually he followed evil company…similarly Isaac spoiled Esau so that he left his father to follow evil company… David spoiled Adoniyah and Abshalom causing them to follow evil company… "He who loves him disciplines him early" refers to Abraham in the case of Isaac and Isaac in the case of Jacob. Similarly because Jacob disciplined his sons, there was no unworthy sons among them. Because he was a wise disciplinarian and the sons were attentive to him they became like refined gold made into earrings and they were truly the children of their father's legacy.

A Midrashic approach (based on Tanchuma Acharey 8): The emphasis of the text on the death of “two sons of Aaron dying” [without naming them, Ed.] suggests that actually all four of his sons were guilty of death dating back to Aaron’s share in the sin of the golden calf. Moses prayed on their behalf resulting in two of Aaron’s sons being spared. All of this is based on Moses recalling in Deut. 9,19: “G’d was also angry enough at Aaron ready to wipe him out.” The word השמדה which is the one used by Moses at that time invariably involves the death of someone’s children. Example: Amos 2,9 ואשמיד פריו ממעל ושרשיו מתחת, “I will wipe out his fruit from above and his roots from below.” Seeing that Moses prayed, G’d responded to half of his prayer saying to him: “did I not write in My Torah (Exodus 22,8) ‘concerning every liability, whether an ox a donkey, a sheep, or a garment-regarding any lost item about which he said: ‘this is it!” To the court shall come both their claims. Whomever the court finds guilty shall pay double to his fellow.’” Someone who incurred guilt on account of an ox deserves to be punished. The prophet Ezekiel 23,20 already said that the Israelites exchanged their honour (G’d) for an ox. Anyone incurring guilt “on account of a donkey,” refers to the Egyptians whose flesh has been described by Ezekiel as the flesh of donkeys in that same verse; the ones referred to were the converts whom Moses allowed to convert at the time and who were the initiators in the golden calf being made. When the verse in Exodus continues with “guilt incurred on account of a lamb,” the reference is to the Jewish people who have been referred to as a lamb in Jeremiah 50,17 when the prophet speaks of “Israel the scattered sheep.” This too is a reference to the mixed multitude of converts who had initiated the process resulting in the golden calf and had dragged the Israelites into following their lead and becoming guilty of that sin. Regarding the reference to the garment in the verse in Exodus 22,8 this is a simile for the leaders of the people, the ones wearing the priestly garments. These garments have been referred to as describing their important wearers in Isaiah 3,6 “in whose father’s house there is clothing, come be a chief over us.” The words “concerning every lost object” in the verse in Exodus are a simile for people who have lost their way, and therefore are looking for a leader. The absence or failure of Moses to return when expected triggered the whole episode of the people wanting a replacement for him. The words “of which he says: ‘this is it,’” is a veiled reference to the Israelites saying about the golden calf: ‘this is your G’d O Israel who has taken you out of Egypt.’” The words “concerning which he says “this is he;” this is also a veiled reference to the instigators saying of the absent Moses “for this man Moses, etc.” (Exodus 32,1). The words “to a judge (court) shall come both their claims,” refers to Moses whom G’d had appointed as a judge for Pharaoh (Exodus 7,1). The people were to lay their problems in front of Moses and he would arbitrate them. The words: “whomever the court will find guilty”, refer to Aaron whom Moses had accused (declared guilty) saying to him: what did the people do to you that you brought this guilt upon them?” (Exodus 32,21).The words: “they shall pay twice to his fellow” is a reference to the two sons of Aaron who paid the price for his involvement in the affair of the golden calf. This is why the Torah wrote: ”the two sons of Aaron who died.”
Tanchuma Acharey 1 exploits our verse to explain what Kohelet 9,2 referred to when Solomon wrote: “For the same fate is in store for all; for the righteous, and for the wicked; for the good and pure, and for the impure; for him who sacrifices, and for him who does not sacrifice; for him who is pleasing, and for him who is displeasing; and for him who swears, and for him who shuns oaths.” In that verse Solomon reviews his findings after he had looked at the history of man, had examined the relative fates of the righteous and the wicked. and had found that the righteous and the wicked share similar experiences “under the sun;” this is what Solomon referred to as “the evil which takes place under the sun” (Kohelet 9,3). The righteous of whom Kohelet speaks was Avraham of whom G’d had said in Genesis 18,19 “for I know him well, so that he will command his offspring to observe the path of the Lord to practice charity and justice,” etc. The “wicked” of whom Solomon spoke in Kohelet was Nimrod who instigated a rebellion against G’d throughout the world. Both of them died. This is whom Solomon had in mind when he said that the righteous and the wicked share the same fate. When Solomon added “and to the good,” he meant Moses; the Torah had reported of Moses that his mother “saw that he was good,” as soon as he was born (compare Exodus 2,2). When Solomon spoke about the “pure” in that verse in Kohelet he referred to David of whom it is written in Samuel I 16,12: “so they sent and brought him. He was ruddy-cheeked, bright eyed and handsome.” When speaking about the “impure” in Kohelet, Solomon referred to King Nevuchadnezzar. David laid the foundations of the Holy Temple and ruled for 40 years, whereas Nevuchadnezzar destroyed that Temple and also ruled for 40 years. The repetition of the words “the same fate is common to them all,” refers to the people who offer sacrifices to the Lord, i.e. Solomon, of whom we are told in Kings I 8,63 that he offered 22.000 cattle offerings at the consecration of the Holy Temple, whereas his successor Jerobam did not offer any sacrifices in that Temple. Not only that, Jerobam prevented the Israelites from making their pilgrimages to Jerusalem and the Temple. Solomon had continued in Kohelet that the “good” one i.e. Moses, experienced the same fate as the “sinner.” The good one he referred to was Moses whereas the sinner referred to the spies who had slandered the land of Israel. Both died and did not get to inherit that land. When Solomon added in Kohelet 9,3 that the one who renders an oath is equal to the one who does not, he meant Tzidkiyahu King of Yehudah whom Nevuchadnezzar blinded, (Chronicles II 36,13) as a result of his having dishonoured his oath of allegiance to him, whereas Samson who had not sworn an oath of allegiance to Israel’s enemies was also blinded (by the Philistines Judges 15,12).
An alternative way of explaining Kohelet 9,3: The words that the “good and the sinners” experience the same fate refers to the sons of Aaron being the good, whereas Korach and his rebellious colleagues are referred to as the sinners. The former were burned by heavenly fire (Numbers 16,38), whereas the sons of Aaron were burned by similar fire as reported in Leviticus 10,2.
Concerning such similarities in the fates of the good and the wicked, Tanchuma Acharey 8 understands Elihu saying in Job 37,1: “because of this too, my heart quakes, and leaps from its place.” He wondered how it could be that a dry stick of wood which was deposited in the Sanctuary began to blossom and to bear fruit, (compare Numbers 17,22-23) whereas the sons of Aaron who entered there alive and offered a gift to G’d were burned instead and had to be removed from there as corpses? Rabbi Acha commented that Kohelet 2,2 which has Solomon saying: “I said of laughter ‘it is mad, and of joy what does it accomplish?’ that Solomon referred to the attribute of Justice.”
He himself had violated the three restrictions which the Torah imposes on the lifestyle of a Jewish king; 1) not to have too many wives, 2) not to have too many horses, and 3) not to amass too much gold and silver (Deut. 17,16). Solomon had 700 wives of full wifely status and three hundred concubines (Kings I 11,3); he had 40.000 stables for his horses (Kings I 5,6) and such an amount of silver and gold that they did not bother to keep count of the silver (Kings I 10,27). When Solomon downplayed the value of joy, G’d said to him: ‘in that case what do you need this crown for?’ He suggested that he descend from his throne briefly. In the interval someone resembling the king ascended the throne and claimed to be Solomon. No amount of protest by Solomon helped, he was treated as if insane, beaten as a pretender to the throne, fed inferior food, etc., and became a refugee in his own kingdom. When all this befell him he was moved to exclaim (Kohelet 22,10) “this is my share after all my labors!”
Another explanation of the words in Kohelet 2,2 “I said of laughter it is madness:” This was the laughter by the attribute of Justice when it heard that Elisheva, wife of Aaron, prided herself on the morning of the first of Nissan of that year that she had merited four separate joyful occasions on that day; she had seen her husband appointed High Priest; her brother Nachshon had been elevated to the position of tribal head; her two oldest sons had been appointed as deputy High Priests; As soon as these two sons entered the Sanctuary they were burned to death. Solomon referred to the brief duration of Elisheva’s joy on that occasion and on the futility of enjoying such moments.
The Midrash relates Job 39,27-30 to that event. We read there of G’d saying to Job: “does the eagle soar at your command, building high its nest, dwelling in the rock, lodging upon the fastness of a jutting rock? From there he spies out his food, from afar his eyes see it. His young gulp blood; where the slain are there is he.” In those verses G’d said to Job in effect; “if you were able to command the eagle where and when to build his nest, then you would also be greater than Aaron at whose bidding I allowed My Shechinah to rest on top of the Holy Ark.” The various further similes such as “the fastness jutting out of a rock,” refer to the second Temple. The rock is a reference to the אבן שתיה which was the substitute in the second Temple for the Holy Ark, the kapporet and the cherubim of the first Temple and the Tabernacle. The reason that slab of stone was called אבן שתיה, “the stone of drinking,” was that the entire earth’s food supply is channeled by G’d through the site of where this stone is located. When the High Priest on the Day of Atonement prayed for the economic welfare of the Jewish people, he said: ”may it be Your will O Lord that the coming year will be one of dew and adequate rainfall, a year of plenty, a year of grace before You, a year of blessing, a year of successful business dealings, a year in which the Jewish people should not have to depend on one another for handouts nor for handouts from Gentile nations. May it be a year when the people should not try and impose their will on each other by force. Their eyes should be focused on distant targets,” i.e. they should know what would be at the end of the year.
How would this blessing and the fact that it was granted be evident? If the smoke from the altar’s offerings rose in a southerly direction this would forecast prosperity for the people living in the south of the country. Similarly, if that smoke rose in a westerly direction it would signify prosperity for the Israelites living close to the sea. If it rose straight up, it would indicate that the whole country (or the whole world) would enjoy prosperity during that year. The נשר in that verse in Job is a simile for G’d who is described elsewhere as like an eagle having transported the Children of Israel out of Egypt for the first 120 kilometers on “eagle’s wings.” All of the complimentary comments in those verses in Job apply to Aaron. In spite of this great stature of Aaron, “his young gulp blood,” i.e. his sons died and yet he kept silent, did not question or complain as did Job when disaster struck him. The very presence of the Shechinah did not prevent the disaster. Thus far the Tanchuma.

WHICH G-D IN CREATING HAD MADE. The work which should have been done on the Sabbath, He did in the double work which He executed on the sixth day, as it is explained in Bereshith Rabbah.²⁴⁵11:10. So says Rashi.
Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra, however, explained simply that His work refers to the roots of all species to which He gave the power to make [i.e., to produce] after their own kind. [Thus the verse would translate: which G-d had created in order to make it.]
To me, the explanation appears to be that He rested from all His work which He created out of nothing; to make from it all the works mentioned on the six days. Thus the verse is stating that G-d rested from creating and forming — from the creation He created on the first day, and from the formation He formed on the rest of the days. And it is possible that the word la’asoth (to make) is connected with the expression above in the verse, that in it He rested from all His work which He created from making, [thus making the word la’asoth to be understood as mila’asoth (from making)]. So also are the verses: Until he ceased ‘lispor’²⁴⁶Genesis 41:49. (to count), which means milispor (until he left off counting); And they ceased ‘livnoth’ (to build) the city,²⁴⁷Ibid., 11:8. which means milivnoth; Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount;²⁴⁸Exodus 19:12. Aloth (going up) should be understood as me’aloth (from going up). And they departed not ‘mitzvath’ (the commandment of the king,²⁴⁹II Chronicles 8:15. which should be understood as mimitzvath (from the commandment); and thus in many other cases.
Know that in the word la’asoth (to make, to do) is also included a hint that the six days of creation represent all the days of the world, i.e., that its existence will be six thousand years. For this reason the Rabbis have said:²⁵⁰Bereshith Rabbah 19:14. It is noteworthy here that Ramban’s explanation of the history of the world in terms of the six days of Creation was regarded with approval by many later authors. Bachya ben Asher (see my edition, I, pp. 54-6) and Menachem Ricanti copied it verbatim. Surprisingly it found its way into Egypt, and was wholly incorporated into the Midrash Rabbi David Hanagid, (Book of Exodus, pp. 201-2, ed. by A. Katz), grandson of Maimonides. “A day of the Holy One, blessed be He, is a thousand years.” Thus on the first two days the world was all water, and nothing was perfected during them. They allude to the first two thousand years when there was no one to call on the name of the Eternal. And so the Rabbis said:²⁵¹Avodah Zarah 9a. “The first two thousand years there was desolation.” However, there was the creation of light on the first day corresponding to the thousand years of Adam who was the light of the world²⁵²Yerushalmi Shabbath 2, 6: “The first man was the light [literally: the candle] of the world.” and who recognized his Creator. Perhaps Enosh did not worship idols²⁵³See further, 4:26, Rashi. until the death of the first man.
On the second day G-d said, ‘Let there be a firmament… and let it divide,’²⁵⁴Above, 1:6. for on that “day” [i.e., the second thousand-year period] Noah and his sons — the righteous ones —²⁵⁵See Note 225 above. were separated from the wicked, who were punished in water.
On the third day, the dry land appeared; plants and trees began growing, and fruits ripened. This corresponds to the third thousand-year period which begins when Abraham was forty-eight years old,²⁵⁶In Avodah Zarah 9a it appears that Abraham, at the end of the first 2000 years, was 52 years old. for then he began to call the name of the Eternal. A righteous shoot²⁵⁷Jeremiah 23:5. did then spring forth in the world for he attracted many people to know the Eternal, just as the Rabbis interpreted the verse: And the souls that they had gotten in Haran²⁵⁸Genesis 12:5. “These are the converts which they converted.” (Bereshith Rabbah 39:21.) — and he commanded his household and his children after him, and they shall keep the way of the Eternal, to do righteousness and judgment.²⁵⁹Ibid., 18:19. This course continued until his descendants received the Torah on Sinai and the House of G-d was also built on that “day,” and then all commandments — which are “the fruits” of the world — were affirmed.
Know that from the time twilight falls it is already considered as the following day. Therefore, the subject of every “day” begins somewhat before it, just as Abraham was born at the end of the second thousand years. And you will see similar examples for each and every day.
On the fourth day the luminaries — the large and the small and the stars — were created. Its “day,” in the fourth thousand-year period, began seventy-two years after the First Sanctuary was built and continued until one hundred seventy-two years after the destruction of the Second Sanctuary. Now on this “day,” the children of Israel had light,²⁶⁰Exodus 10:23. for the glory of the Eternal filled the house of the Eternal,²⁶¹I Kings 8:11. and the light of Israel became the fire upon the altar in the Sanctuary, resting there like a lion²⁶²So in Yoma 21b. Maharsha explains there the symbolism of the lion and the dog, that the first Sanctuary was built by King Solomon who was of the tribe of Judah, likened to a lion (see Genesis 49:9), while the second Sanctuary was built by the government of the Persians, symbolized by the dog (see Rosh Hashanah 4 a). consuming the offerings. Afterwards their light diminished and they were exiled to Babylon just as the light of the moon disappears before the birth of the new moon. Then the moon shone for them all the days of the Second Sanctuary, and the fire upon the altar rested on it like a dog.²⁶²So in Yoma 21b. Maharsha explains there the symbolism of the lion and the dog, that the first Sanctuary was built by King Solomon who was of the tribe of Judah, likened to a lion (see Genesis 49:9), while the second Sanctuary was built by the government of the Persians, symbolized by the dog (see Rosh Hashanah 4 a). And then the two luminaries disappeared towards eventide and the Sanctuary was destroyed.
On the fifth day the waters swarmed with living creatures and fowl flying above the earth. This was a reference to the fifth thousand-year period which began one hundred seventy-two years after the destruction of the Second Sanctuary since, during this millennium, the nations will have dominion, and man will be made as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them; they take up all of them with the angle, catch them in their net and gather in their drag,²⁶³Habakkuk 1:14-15. and no one seeks the Eternal.
On the sixth day in the morning, G-d said: ‘Let the earth bring forth the living creature after its kind, cattle and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after its kind.’²⁶⁴Above 1:24. Their creation took place before sunrise, even as it is written, The sun ariseth, they withdraw, and crouch in their dens.²⁶⁵Psalms 104:22. Then man was created in the image of G-d, and this is the time of his dominion, as it is written, Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labor until the evening.²⁶⁶Ibid., Verse 23. All this is an indication of the sixth thousand-year period in the beginning of which the “beasts,” symbolizing the kingdoms that knew not the Eternal,²⁶⁷Judges 2:10. will rule, but after a tenth thereof — in the proportion of the time from the first sparklings of the sun to the beginning of the day²⁶⁸In Pesachim 94a it is so explained that the time from the beginning of the day to the first sparklings of the sun is one tenth of the day. — the redeemer will come, as it is said concerning him, And his throne is as the sun before Me.²⁶⁹Psalms 89:37. This is the son of David, who was formed in the image of G-d, as it is written, And behold, there came with the clouds of heaven, one like unto a son of man, and he came even to the Ancient One of days, and he was brought near before Him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom.²⁷⁰Daniel 7:13-14., This will take place one hundred eighteen years after the completion of five thousand years,²⁷¹This corresponds to the year 1358 C.E. See my biography of Ramban, p. 141, for further discussion of this matter. that the word of the Eternal by the mouth of Daniel might be accomplished:²⁷²See Ezra 1:1. And from the time that the continual burnt-offering shall be taken away, and the detestable thing that causeth appalment set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.²⁷³Daniel 12:11. Yamim here means “years.” Thus 172 years after the destruction of the Second Temple, the fifth millennium began. Add this to the 118 years after the beginning of the sixth millennium, and you have 1290 years, as mentioned in the verse.
It would appear from the change of days — from the swarms of the waters and the fowl created on the fifth day to the beasts of the earth created on the sixth day — that in the beginning of the sixth thousand-year period a new ruling kingdom will arise, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly,²⁷⁴Ibid., 7:7. Ramban refers here to rise of Islam. and approaching the truth more than the preceding ones.
The seventh day which is the Sabbath alludes to the World to Come, “which will be wholly a Sabbath and will bring rest for life everlasting.”²⁷⁵Tamid VII, 4.
And may G-d guard us during all the days and set our portion with His servants, the blameless ones.

for I have gathered in My peace, etc. When their father Abraham performed charity and justice, I gave his children loving-kindness and mercy, as in Deut. 7:12: “And the Lord your God shall keep for you the covenant and the loving-kindness, etc.” Also (Deut. 13:18), “And He shall give you mercy.” They turned “justice into wormwood, and cast righteousness to the ground” (Amos 5:7). I, too, have returned and gathered in to Me My loving-kindness and My mercies.