גַּ֤ם אֱוִ֣יל מַ֭חֲרִישׁ חָכָ֣ם יֵחָשֵׁ֑ב אֹטֵ֖ם שְׂפָתָ֣יו נָבֽוֹן׃
Kahit ang mangmang, kapag siya ay nananahimik, ay itinuturing na marunong; ang nagtitikom ng kanyang mga labi ay itinuturing na may pang-unawa.
Minchat Ani
The Jerusalem Talmud states, "Bar Kapara taught: 'Silence is fitting for the wise; how much more so for the foolish. “Solomon taught: 'Even a fool, if he keeps silent is deemed wise; intelligent, if he seals his lips.' (Prov. 17:28) (J. Pesachim 9:4) Further the Talmud states: Rabbi Hiya taught: the Torah speaks of four types of people, one is wise, one is wicked, etc…" (J. Pesachim 10:4)
At first glance these statements are problematic since they say that it is good for the wise to keep silent. Yet the wise child asks the longest question of the four children. This contradicts the previous statements.
This, however, is not a contradiction since King Solomon also said: "The mind of a wise person makes his speech effective and increases the wisdom of his lips." (Prov. 16:23) From this verse we learn that that a wise person need not remain silent at all times. Rather he should use his lips wisely, knowing when to speak and when to remain silent.
Why does the author of the Haggadah preface the questions of the four sons with the word echad (echad chacham, one wise, echad rasha, one wicked…), and why does he answer the wise son by saying "We do not eat anything after the Afikomen…" (In the Jerusalem Talmud this answer is presented to the foolish/simple son.44Actually Rabbi Ettlinger says that this is the answer given to the wicked son in his commentary.)
Furthermore, why does the Haggadah answer the wicked child with the verse, "It is because of what the Lord did for me when I went forth from Egypt?” The Torah has a different answer for the wicked child: "And when your children ask you, 'What mean you by this rite,' you shall say, 'It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, because He passed ove’” (Ex. 12:26-27)
To the simple child the Torah states, "And it shall be when your son asks you on the morrow saying, “What is this?” You shall say to him, “With a strong hand, the Lord took us out of Egypt …” (Ex. 13:14), and to the one who doesn’t know how to ask, the Torah says "You shall tell your son on that day saying, “It is because of what the Lord did for me when I left Egypt. (Ex. 13:8) ” (The answers to these two sons are the same in the Haggadah and in the Torah) Why are the answers found in the Haggadah different from the ones found in the Torah (for the other two children?)
Why does the Haggadah change the order in which they are found in the Torah: The wicked (Ex. 12:26-27), the one who doesn’t know how to ask (Ex. 13:8), the simple (Ex. 13:14) and the wise son (Deut. 6:20-21)?
Finally, why does the wise child say "Which the Lord our God has commanded you?" This would seem to be superfluous since we have another passage in the Torah that makes this statement, "And you shall tell your son on that day saying, “It is because of this, that the Lord did for me when I left Egypt.” (Ex. 13:8)
To answer these questions, we must begin with the following from Proverbs, "Do not rebuke the scoffer for he will hate you; reprove the wise person and he will love you." (Prov. 9:8) Alshikh explains that one should be gentle when criticizing the scoffer and not too harsh. If one finds oneself in the presence of a scoffer who rejects the Torah and a wise person, it is better to criticize the wise person rather than the scoffer, as the verse says, "Do not rebuke the scoffer … reprove the wise person."45That is why the Haggadah reverses the order of the four children and puts the wise one first and the wicked one last - we criticize the wise before the wicked. The author now goes on to explain their order in the Torah. Rabbi Ettlinger also does not appear to explicitly answer all of his own questions.
Based on this verse we can understand why the father who is sitting with his four sons addresses them in the order suggested by the Torah. First the father addresses the wicked son. When the wicked son asks about the Seder, the father explains the meaning of the Passover offering. He explains that this is not avodah, work, ("what is this avodah to you?") by telling him that the Pesach offering is a reminder of the miracles, through which God saved us.46“It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, because He passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but saved our houses." This is a fitting answer in the spirit of Proverbs for the wicked child who is a scoffer. The answer in the Torah is gentle and not confrontational – but when the father turns to the child who cannot ask, the second child in the Torah, his comments have an implied criticism not for this child but for his older and wicked brother.
He then explains the reason for the bitter herbs to the one who doesn’t know how to ask by telling him that the Egyptians embittered our ancestors’ lives. Despite the bitterness, our ancestors continued to trust God and because of this God took us out of Egypt.47“It is because of this that the Lord did for me when I left Egypt. By answering the silent child in this way, the father also alludes to the answer that he would give to the wicked son: God would take me out of Egypt but not you.
The simple child (the third child mentioned in the Torah) has heard his father explain the Passover offering and the bitter herbs so he now asks about the meaning of the matzah, "What is this (zot) – the matzah?"48The word zot, this, is feminine, as is the word matzah, so when the simple child says "What is this - this is a direct reference to the unleavened bread. The father now answers him in the exact words of the Torah, telling him that the matzah is a symbol that, “With a strong hand, the Lord took us out of Egypt …” When we left Egypt there was no time to allow the dough to become leavened.
The wise child has heard all that his father has said including the reasons for the Pesach, maror, and matzah, and he has remained silent until now. When he hears the implied criticism that the father offers the wicked child, "God took me and not him out of Egypt," he begins to think, "Maybe I am not worthy of being redeemed49Why would the wise child have such a thought? Possibly because he also says “Which the Lord commanded you.” This implies that like the wicked child he has removed himself from the community. ." So he immediately says, "What commandments made the Israelites worthy of redemption, and I will perform them."50"What are the testimonies, statuyes, and laws which the Lord our God commanded YOU?" The father then went on at length explaining all the commandments until the very last one, "One may not eat anything after the Afikomen," so that the taste of the Afikomen would remain in his mouth.
We see, that the Torah's ordering of the four children and their answers teaches us that silence is befitting for the wise, as Solomon said. In the Torah, the wise son comes last so that he can listen to the answers offered to the other three sons, and so he can hear the rebuke which is given to the wicked son. But in the Haggadah, the wise son comes first in fulfillment of the verse, "Do not rebuke the scoffer … reprove the wise person."
We see in the Torah, on the other hand, that the father does not directly rebuke the wicked son but merely hints at his rebuke. In the Torah there are hints of his criticism of the wicked child in his answer to the son who does not know how to ask (God took me out of Egypt but he would not have taken you out). In this way, he fulfills the teaching, "Don’t rebuke the scoffer lest he hate you."51Rabbi Ettlinger does not appear to explain why a different order appears in the Haggadah – only why the Torah has the order it does and how the answers relate to one another. It could be that the four children in the Haggadah reflect the amount of knowledge each child has.
At first glance these statements are problematic since they say that it is good for the wise to keep silent. Yet the wise child asks the longest question of the four children. This contradicts the previous statements.
This, however, is not a contradiction since King Solomon also said: "The mind of a wise person makes his speech effective and increases the wisdom of his lips." (Prov. 16:23) From this verse we learn that that a wise person need not remain silent at all times. Rather he should use his lips wisely, knowing when to speak and when to remain silent.
Why does the author of the Haggadah preface the questions of the four sons with the word echad (echad chacham, one wise, echad rasha, one wicked…), and why does he answer the wise son by saying "We do not eat anything after the Afikomen…" (In the Jerusalem Talmud this answer is presented to the foolish/simple son.44Actually Rabbi Ettlinger says that this is the answer given to the wicked son in his commentary.)
Furthermore, why does the Haggadah answer the wicked child with the verse, "It is because of what the Lord did for me when I went forth from Egypt?” The Torah has a different answer for the wicked child: "And when your children ask you, 'What mean you by this rite,' you shall say, 'It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, because He passed ove’” (Ex. 12:26-27)
To the simple child the Torah states, "And it shall be when your son asks you on the morrow saying, “What is this?” You shall say to him, “With a strong hand, the Lord took us out of Egypt …” (Ex. 13:14), and to the one who doesn’t know how to ask, the Torah says "You shall tell your son on that day saying, “It is because of what the Lord did for me when I left Egypt. (Ex. 13:8) ” (The answers to these two sons are the same in the Haggadah and in the Torah) Why are the answers found in the Haggadah different from the ones found in the Torah (for the other two children?)
Why does the Haggadah change the order in which they are found in the Torah: The wicked (Ex. 12:26-27), the one who doesn’t know how to ask (Ex. 13:8), the simple (Ex. 13:14) and the wise son (Deut. 6:20-21)?
Finally, why does the wise child say "Which the Lord our God has commanded you?" This would seem to be superfluous since we have another passage in the Torah that makes this statement, "And you shall tell your son on that day saying, “It is because of this, that the Lord did for me when I left Egypt.” (Ex. 13:8)
To answer these questions, we must begin with the following from Proverbs, "Do not rebuke the scoffer for he will hate you; reprove the wise person and he will love you." (Prov. 9:8) Alshikh explains that one should be gentle when criticizing the scoffer and not too harsh. If one finds oneself in the presence of a scoffer who rejects the Torah and a wise person, it is better to criticize the wise person rather than the scoffer, as the verse says, "Do not rebuke the scoffer … reprove the wise person."45That is why the Haggadah reverses the order of the four children and puts the wise one first and the wicked one last - we criticize the wise before the wicked. The author now goes on to explain their order in the Torah. Rabbi Ettlinger also does not appear to explicitly answer all of his own questions.
Based on this verse we can understand why the father who is sitting with his four sons addresses them in the order suggested by the Torah. First the father addresses the wicked son. When the wicked son asks about the Seder, the father explains the meaning of the Passover offering. He explains that this is not avodah, work, ("what is this avodah to you?") by telling him that the Pesach offering is a reminder of the miracles, through which God saved us.46“It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, because He passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but saved our houses." This is a fitting answer in the spirit of Proverbs for the wicked child who is a scoffer. The answer in the Torah is gentle and not confrontational – but when the father turns to the child who cannot ask, the second child in the Torah, his comments have an implied criticism not for this child but for his older and wicked brother.
He then explains the reason for the bitter herbs to the one who doesn’t know how to ask by telling him that the Egyptians embittered our ancestors’ lives. Despite the bitterness, our ancestors continued to trust God and because of this God took us out of Egypt.47“It is because of this that the Lord did for me when I left Egypt. By answering the silent child in this way, the father also alludes to the answer that he would give to the wicked son: God would take me out of Egypt but not you.
The simple child (the third child mentioned in the Torah) has heard his father explain the Passover offering and the bitter herbs so he now asks about the meaning of the matzah, "What is this (zot) – the matzah?"48The word zot, this, is feminine, as is the word matzah, so when the simple child says "What is this - this is a direct reference to the unleavened bread. The father now answers him in the exact words of the Torah, telling him that the matzah is a symbol that, “With a strong hand, the Lord took us out of Egypt …” When we left Egypt there was no time to allow the dough to become leavened.
The wise child has heard all that his father has said including the reasons for the Pesach, maror, and matzah, and he has remained silent until now. When he hears the implied criticism that the father offers the wicked child, "God took me and not him out of Egypt," he begins to think, "Maybe I am not worthy of being redeemed49Why would the wise child have such a thought? Possibly because he also says “Which the Lord commanded you.” This implies that like the wicked child he has removed himself from the community. ." So he immediately says, "What commandments made the Israelites worthy of redemption, and I will perform them."50"What are the testimonies, statuyes, and laws which the Lord our God commanded YOU?" The father then went on at length explaining all the commandments until the very last one, "One may not eat anything after the Afikomen," so that the taste of the Afikomen would remain in his mouth.
We see, that the Torah's ordering of the four children and their answers teaches us that silence is befitting for the wise, as Solomon said. In the Torah, the wise son comes last so that he can listen to the answers offered to the other three sons, and so he can hear the rebuke which is given to the wicked son. But in the Haggadah, the wise son comes first in fulfillment of the verse, "Do not rebuke the scoffer … reprove the wise person."
We see in the Torah, on the other hand, that the father does not directly rebuke the wicked son but merely hints at his rebuke. In the Torah there are hints of his criticism of the wicked child in his answer to the son who does not know how to ask (God took me out of Egypt but he would not have taken you out). In this way, he fulfills the teaching, "Don’t rebuke the scoffer lest he hate you."51Rabbi Ettlinger does not appear to explain why a different order appears in the Haggadah – only why the Torah has the order it does and how the answers relate to one another. It could be that the four children in the Haggadah reflect the amount of knowledge each child has.
Bartenura
"A safeguarding fence around wisdom is silence": What do we establish [these words] to be referring to? If it is about silence from words of Torah, behold, it is already written (Joshua 1:8), "and you shall reason it, etc."; if it is about silence from talebearing, evil speech and curses, they are [prohibited] from the Torah. Hence it is only speaking about optional words between a man and his fellow, in which a person should minimize his speech as much as possible. And about them Shlomo said (Proverbs 17:28), "A fool who is silenced is also considered a wise man."
Tosafot Yom Tov
SILENCE. Rav: refraining from saying permissible115I.e., neither forbidden things, like gossip, nor things one ought to and must say, like words of Torah. things. Concerning them Solmon said, “even a fool, if he stays silent, will be thought a wise man” (Mishlei 17:28). Since even a fool, should he stay silent, will be thought a wise man, we can infer that anyone who stays silent is wise.116It would be tempting to say that this is a printer's error, as the verse says that even fools who stay silent are considered wise. Not all those who are silent, then, are actually wise! But if we reverse the sentence to read “we can infer that anyone who is wise stays silent,” we are still left with a conclusion that in no way follows from the verse. There is no error here, and Tosafot Yom Tov understands the verse in Proverbs as Meiri does in his commentary there. It is not that a fool will mistakenly be considered a wise man if he remains silent. Rather, though he is a fool, in this respect he will be considered wise: he stays silent when he has nothing substantive to say. So also Ibn Yachya there. Now there is proof that it is a wise thing to remain silent, for then one will not end up offering opinions out of ignorance and looking foolish. Moreover, the verse before this one says “a discerning man spares his words, an understanding one is reticent” (Proverbs 17:27); commenting on this first verse, Proverbs continues “even a fool, etc.” Since the words in the mishna are “a fence for wisdom,” Rav wished to quote a verse that mentions a wise man.