הלכה אויף ירמיהו 41:9

A man should always pray that no offense come because of him.¹Berakoth 28b. For instance the king Asa dug a pit²Jeremiah 41:9. in Ramah; Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, filled it with the slain.³Ibid., 41. Because he (Asa) sinned in relying upon Ben Hadad, the king of Aram, ⁴I Kings 15:18. this affair came about because of him,⁵Niddah 61a. (for the sages said) “good things are brought about through the agency of good men and evil through the wicked.”⁶Shabbath 32a. Go and learn from David, even though Scripture states, “He who comes to kill you, arise to kill first,”⁷Berakoth 62b. he did not want to kill Saul when he found him asleep in the encampment. He said, “If I kill him for my own benefit it will be a snare unto all Israel, for the nations will assemble and do battle with them (Israel). Better therefore that I be killed, and no stumbling come through me.” And so we find with Mordecai, “And Mordecai stood not up nor moved for him” (Esther 5:9). He said, “If I stand up before him, the others will prostrate themselves to idolatry, better that they slay me and no offense come because of me.”⁸Yalkut Shimoni, ed. Horeb, Esther, par. 1054, p. 1057.