אַל־יֵ֣שְׂטְ אֶל־דְּרָכֶ֣יהָ לִבֶּ֑ךָ אַל־תֵּ֝תַע בִּנְתִיבוֹתֶֽיהָ׃
Niechaj nie zboczy ku drogom jej serce twoje, nie tułaj się po ścieżkach jej.
Minchat Ani
This is the answer to these questions. People transgress due to four causes: slovenliness, heresy, desire, taking liberties,75The Hebrew expression here is “love of freedom.” I believe the point of the cause of sin is that the person is of the opinion that he can do whatever he wants. as it says: “They say, ‘by our tongues we shall travail; with lips such as ours who shall be our master?” (Ps. 12:5) God causes adversity because of these spiritual illnesses in order to cause them to turn in repentance so that they can be saved.
• Slovenliness: A person who sinks into a deep slumber causing him to forget the Lord. For such a person the travail is to face the dangers of the sea, as the sailors said to Jonah: “How can you be sleeping so soundlessly? Get up and call to your God!” (Jonah 1:6)
• Heresy: Someone who leaves the path of truth, as Solomon said in his parable: “Let your mind not wander down her76The passage is speaking of the person who goes in search of wanton women. Ettlinger interprets this as a reference to heresy. ways; do not stray unto her paths.” (Prov. 7:25) The travails for such a person is to wander in the wilderness, off the king’s path, so that he is far from his path and is both spiritually hungry and thirsty.
• Desire: Of this person the Psalmist says “All food was loathsome to them; they reached the gates of death.” Their punishment is that they are unable to enjoy any of the simple pleasures because of illness.
• Taking liberties: The punishment for such a person is that he is imprisoned in a jail, a place of darkness.
• Slovenliness: A person who sinks into a deep slumber causing him to forget the Lord. For such a person the travail is to face the dangers of the sea, as the sailors said to Jonah: “How can you be sleeping so soundlessly? Get up and call to your God!” (Jonah 1:6)
• Heresy: Someone who leaves the path of truth, as Solomon said in his parable: “Let your mind not wander down her76The passage is speaking of the person who goes in search of wanton women. Ettlinger interprets this as a reference to heresy. ways; do not stray unto her paths.” (Prov. 7:25) The travails for such a person is to wander in the wilderness, off the king’s path, so that he is far from his path and is both spiritually hungry and thirsty.
• Desire: Of this person the Psalmist says “All food was loathsome to them; they reached the gates of death.” Their punishment is that they are unable to enjoy any of the simple pleasures because of illness.
• Taking liberties: The punishment for such a person is that he is imprisoned in a jail, a place of darkness.
Rashi
כי תשטה — Our Rabbis have taught (Midrash Tanchuma, Nasso 5): “Adulterers do never sin until a spirit of madness enters into them”, as it written, of her כי תשטה “if she becomes mad” (taking תִשְׂטֶה in the sense of תִשְׂטֶה, i.e. to become a שׁוֹטֶה, and so, too, of him Scripture writes, (Proverbs 6:32) “Whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding”. — But the plain sense of the verse is that כי תשטה means: if she deviates from the path of modesty and thereby becomes suspect in his eyes. The word is similar to, (Proverbs 4:15) “turn away (שְׂטֵה) from it, and pass by”; (Proverbs 7:25) “Let not your heart turn (יַשְׂטְ) to her ways”.