Comentários de Citação sobre Provérbios 15:26

The Hebrew word ḥ-m-d has two different meanings. One meaning is robbery, oppression, taking from others through force or compulsion (as in, “no man will attack your land” [Exodus 34: 24] — for if the verb denotes jealousy, then a verse intending to extol the land instead deprecates it!). The other meaning is jealousy, that does not express itself in overt action. “You shall not be jealous of your fellow-man’s house” [Exodus 20: 14] is the Ninth Commandment, and “you shall not be jealous of your fellow-man’s wife” [Exodus 20: 14] is the Tenth Commandment. Either “your fellow-man’s house” is part of the same Commandment as “your fellow-man’s wife”, or it is a separate principle in its own right. Here there is evidence for the latter: Moshe, explaining the Torah, in this book has replaced one instance of “you shall not be jealous” with “you shall not desire”. Many people have said that there is no sin in thinking something, and that thoughts carry neither reward nor punishment. I shall not go into the many proofs to the contrary at great length. Suffice to point out “The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to God ” [Proverbs 15: 26], “You did well, insofar as it was your intention” [I Kings 8: 18], and “to those who are upright in their hearts” [Psalms 125: 4]. Moshe himself summed it all up when he said “to do it with your mouth and with your heart” [30: 14]. The core of all the commandments is the improvement of character — and the majority of them are essentially reminders [see comment on Leviticus 19: 19]. Moreover, the existence of a distinction between an intentional sin and an accidental sin is definitive proof.