Midrash sa Mga Kawikaan 7:3: Midrash Tanchuma, Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Shemot Rabbah & Sifrei Devarim

R. Hiyya the son of Abba concluded from the verse Say unto wisdom: “Thou art my sister” (Prov. 7:4) that if the verdict is as clear to you as the fact that your sister is forbidden to you, announce it; but if it is not, do not announce it. R. Joshua the son of Levi said: If ten men sit in judgment, responsibility for the verdict rests upon the neck of each of them. And judge righteously (Deut. 1:16). R. Joshua the son of Levi interprets this verse to mean: One must confirm the justice of the decision before announcing it.

We are taught in a Baraitha (Deut. 30, 20) To love the Lord, thy God, to hearken to His voice, and to cleave unto Him. This means that a man should not say, "I will study the Scripture so that I may be called a wise man; I will study the Misnah that I may become a senior scholar occupying a seat in the college:" [This is not the proper way.] But one should study because of the love of literature and honor will come in due time, as it is said (Pr. 7, 3) Bind them round thy fingers, write them upon the table of thy heart; and it is also written (Ib., 6, 21) Bind them upon thy heart continually, tie them about thy throat; and again (Ib., 3, 17) Her way is a way of pleasantness, etc. And again, A tree of life is she to those that lay hold on her, and everyone that firmly graspeth her will be made happy. Elazar b. Zadok says: "Do things in the name of their Maker and converse in it (the Torah) for their own sake. Do not make them as a crown with which to exalt, neither shalt thou make them a spade to dig with." This can be inferred by applying a fortiori reasoning. If Belsazzar, who only made use of the sacred vessels (of the Temple) that afterwards became secular and was nevertheless punished by being uprooted from the world, how much more so will it occur with one who makes use of the crown of the Torah! Raba said: "It is permissible for a man to introduce himself with his title in a place where he is unknown, as it is said (I Kings 18, 12) But I thy servant have feared the Lord from my mouth." If so, then how will you explain the incident of R. Tarphon? [Why did he feel sorry for having informed him that he was a scholar?] It was because he was a very rich man and he should have appeased him with something.

Another matter, “these are the ordinances,” the punishment that is prepared for the wicked is plentiful. What is written in their regard: “He will rain burning coal upon the wicked…” (Psalms 11:6). Because they violate the mitzvot and the laws of the Torah that were given only after the commandments, their punishment is more severe than that of one who nullifies the commandments.⁸²One who sins in his relations with other people is punished more harshly than one who sins only toward God. The midrash states this regarding the verse “these are the ordinances” because the laws introduced in this passage pertain to interpersonal relations. How so? Israel nullified: “You shall not have [other gods before Me]” (Exodus 20:3), and He forgave them, as idol worship has no substance but only arouses zealotry, as it is stated: “They would arouse His zealotry with strangers” (Deuteronomy 32:16). Likewise, it is written: “They exchanged their Glory for the molded image of a bull” (Psalms 106:20). But when Israel sinned at Shitim with licentiousness, twenty-four thousand of them fell.⁸³See Numbers 25:1–9. This is analogous to a princess who flirted with a eunuch. The king became angry at her. They said to him: ‘But did she not flirt with a eunuch?’⁸⁴The eunuch is incapable of sexual relations. He said: ‘I became angry only because she accustomed herself to flirting and licentiousness.’ Likewise, the Rabbis taught: Lightheartedness and frivolity accustom a person to licentiousness. When she engaged in licentiousness, they told her father that she received twenty-four severe lashes, and he was silent. So too, what benefit did Israel receive from the worship of idols, which do not see, do not hear, and do not speak, as it is stated: “May their makers be like them” (Psalms 115:8)?⁸⁵The preceding verses say: “Their idols are silver and gold, the work of the hand of man. They have mouths but do not speak; they have eyes but do not see; they have ears but do not hear; they have noses but do not smell; they have hands but do not feel; legs, but they do not walk; they do not speak with their throats” (Psalms 115:4–7). However, for licentiousness, which is a matter of substance, they were punished. They were forgiven for idol worship, but regarding these laws and mitzvot, the Holy One blessed be He cautioned them, as it is stated: “Observe mitzvot and live” (Proverbs 7:2) and likewise, “Inscribe them on the tablet of your heart.” (Proverbs 7:3).