잠언 6:2의 탈무드
נוֹקַ֥שְׁתָּ בְאִמְרֵי־פִ֑יךָ נִ֝לְכַּ֗דְתָּ בְּאִמְרֵי־פִֽיךָ׃
네 입의 말로 네가 얽혔으며 네 입의 말로 인하여 잡히게 되었느니라
Tractate Kallah Rabbati
‘If you have done a little evil’, etc. This has already been taught in a previous Baraitha!90Cf. Baraitha 12, ‘If men have done you much evil, let it be little in your eyes’. The questioner erroneously assumed that the two Baraithoth speak of the same person. Here it refers to [doing evil to] one’s neighbour, but there [to others having done evil] to him. Know [that this is so because of the words in the previous Baraitha], ‘I have merited more’.
BARAITHA. Let your fellow-man be your mirror; and in money matters too let your fellow-man’s money be as dear to you as your own.91Aboth II, 17 (Sonc. ed., II, 12, p. 22). And with regard to honour let your fellow-man’s honour be as dear to you as your own.92ibid. 15 (Sonc. ed., 10, p. 20). Honour all men; love him who reproves you and hate him who honours you.
GEMARA. ‘Let your fellow-man be your mirror’—what does he [mean] to say? This is what he says: Whenever you speak of your fellow let his image be before you.93Imagine that he is present, and you will never speak ill of him.
BARAITHA. Do not say, ‘I will flatter this man that he may give me to eat; I will flatter this man that he may give me to drink; I will flatter this man that he may clothe me’.
GEMARA. What is the reason? For such is the conduct of false prophets. They say to one man, ‘There is no one like you and who can be compared to you?’ The Holy One, blessed be He, said, ‘For the sake of food you honour them, [as it is written,] That cry: “Peace”, when their teeth have anything to bite.94Micah 3, 5, spoken of the false prophets. Behold, I will feed them with wormwood.95Jer. 23, 15, which also relates to the false prophets. They flatter them but forsake Me, [as it is written,] For from the prophets of Jerusalem is ungodliness gone forth into all the land’.96ibid.
BARAITHA. Let not your lips put you to shame; let not your mouth despise you; let not your tongue curse you; let not your teeth disgrace you. Do not insinuate yourself with your fellow-man.
GEMARA. As it is written, Thou art snared by the words of thy mouth.97Prov. 6, 2.
BARAITHA.98The translation follows the Baraitha as reconstructed by H (p. 266 in his edition). Love the Torah, love righteous deeds, rebukes and upright actions; and know the difference between what is yours and what is not yours, for what is yours is [in reality] not yours.
GEMARA. ‘Love the Torah’—but this has already been taught!99Cf. III, 17. There it speaks of loving [the study of the Torah] even without companions,100i.e. he has companions but they are not interested in the study of the Torah; in spite of them he should love the Torah and study it by himself. and here when one has no companions he tells you, ‘Let this not101Reading לא for לך. cause you [to abandon the study of the Torah]’. And do not say that this [advice] applies to Torah alone and not to the performance of righteous deeds; and do not say, ‘I have done all these102Recommendations in the Baraitha. and yet [my fellow-man] reproves me!’ because every man looks good in his own eyes.103A person rarely sees his own faults.
[Come and hear: ‘[Love] rebukes’:]104Inserted by H. Do not say, ‘Where you are reproved because of secular affairs [you need not listen to a rebuke]’.105In the mistaken belief that the duty of listening to reproof is confined to religious matters. Come and hear: ‘[Love] upright actions’:106Correcting the text in agreement with the Baraitha. Know [that one has to listen to reproof on secular matters] because the Baraitha teaches, ‘What is yours and what is not yours’. Everything belongs to the Holy One, blessed be He, and [material things] are given only to test human beings so that the Garden of Eden should take its portion of them and Gehinnom its portion.
BARAITHA. Be submissive and beloved; be like a split bottle.
GEMARA. ‘Be submissive’—we have already learnt this in another chapter!107III, 3. There it refers towards all one’s friends, and here towards the members of one’s family. ‘Be like a split bottle’—what need is there to teach this here?108Since it occurs in III, 5. It is necessary because you might think that there it refers only to Torah and religious precepts and not to things that perish.109i.e. matters of passing value. Hence it teaches [that it does also apply to such matters].
BARAITHA. Let your fellow-man be your mirror; and in money matters too let your fellow-man’s money be as dear to you as your own.91Aboth II, 17 (Sonc. ed., II, 12, p. 22). And with regard to honour let your fellow-man’s honour be as dear to you as your own.92ibid. 15 (Sonc. ed., 10, p. 20). Honour all men; love him who reproves you and hate him who honours you.
GEMARA. ‘Let your fellow-man be your mirror’—what does he [mean] to say? This is what he says: Whenever you speak of your fellow let his image be before you.93Imagine that he is present, and you will never speak ill of him.
BARAITHA. Do not say, ‘I will flatter this man that he may give me to eat; I will flatter this man that he may give me to drink; I will flatter this man that he may clothe me’.
GEMARA. What is the reason? For such is the conduct of false prophets. They say to one man, ‘There is no one like you and who can be compared to you?’ The Holy One, blessed be He, said, ‘For the sake of food you honour them, [as it is written,] That cry: “Peace”, when their teeth have anything to bite.94Micah 3, 5, spoken of the false prophets. Behold, I will feed them with wormwood.95Jer. 23, 15, which also relates to the false prophets. They flatter them but forsake Me, [as it is written,] For from the prophets of Jerusalem is ungodliness gone forth into all the land’.96ibid.
BARAITHA. Let not your lips put you to shame; let not your mouth despise you; let not your tongue curse you; let not your teeth disgrace you. Do not insinuate yourself with your fellow-man.
GEMARA. As it is written, Thou art snared by the words of thy mouth.97Prov. 6, 2.
BARAITHA.98The translation follows the Baraitha as reconstructed by H (p. 266 in his edition). Love the Torah, love righteous deeds, rebukes and upright actions; and know the difference between what is yours and what is not yours, for what is yours is [in reality] not yours.
GEMARA. ‘Love the Torah’—but this has already been taught!99Cf. III, 17. There it speaks of loving [the study of the Torah] even without companions,100i.e. he has companions but they are not interested in the study of the Torah; in spite of them he should love the Torah and study it by himself. and here when one has no companions he tells you, ‘Let this not101Reading לא for לך. cause you [to abandon the study of the Torah]’. And do not say that this [advice] applies to Torah alone and not to the performance of righteous deeds; and do not say, ‘I have done all these102Recommendations in the Baraitha. and yet [my fellow-man] reproves me!’ because every man looks good in his own eyes.103A person rarely sees his own faults.
[Come and hear: ‘[Love] rebukes’:]104Inserted by H. Do not say, ‘Where you are reproved because of secular affairs [you need not listen to a rebuke]’.105In the mistaken belief that the duty of listening to reproof is confined to religious matters. Come and hear: ‘[Love] upright actions’:106Correcting the text in agreement with the Baraitha. Know [that one has to listen to reproof on secular matters] because the Baraitha teaches, ‘What is yours and what is not yours’. Everything belongs to the Holy One, blessed be He, and [material things] are given only to test human beings so that the Garden of Eden should take its portion of them and Gehinnom its portion.
BARAITHA. Be submissive and beloved; be like a split bottle.
GEMARA. ‘Be submissive’—we have already learnt this in another chapter!107III, 3. There it refers towards all one’s friends, and here towards the members of one’s family. ‘Be like a split bottle’—what need is there to teach this here?108Since it occurs in III, 5. It is necessary because you might think that there it refers only to Torah and religious precepts and not to things that perish.109i.e. matters of passing value. Hence it teaches [that it does also apply to such matters].
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