מדרש אויף קהלת 7:17

“Who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked” (Psalms 1:1). Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi said, “And since he didn’t walk with them, where did he stand [with them]? And since he didn’t stand [with them] where did he sit [with them]? And since he didn’t sit [with them] where did he scoff [as they did]? Rather, [this comes] to teach you that if he walked [with them,] his end will be to stand [with them], and if he stood [with them,] his end will be to scoff, and if he scoffed, Scripture speaks of him [when it says]: “If you are a scoffer, your bear it alone” (Proverbs 9:12) [i.e., you may have scoffed as a result of peer-pressure, but in the end, you have to bear the responsibility on your own.] This comes to teach us that a good deed leads to another good deed, and a transgression [leads to another transgression]. And since he neither walked, nor stood, nor sat [with the wicked], you might [come to think] that he would neither do good nor bad, but [simply] put his hand upon his mouth. [Therefore, the psalm continues] to teach us, “but his delight is in the Torah of God” (Psalms 1:2). Rabbi Berechia said, “What is the verse coming to tell us [when it says], “Don’t be overly wicked” (Ecclesiastes 7:1)? That [it’s perfectly fine if we’re only] a little bit wicked?! Rather, [it means] if you’ve been wicked [already], don’t add to [what you’ve done]. Rabbi Shimon bar Yocahi says, if a person sat and didn’t transgress [any laws,] he is rewarded as if he did a good deed. Rabbi Zeira said, that this [only applies in a case where an opportunity to sin] came to him and he was saved from it [by his own resilience and will-power]. As it is said, “Depart from evil and do good” (Psalms 34:15; 37:27) — depart from evil in order to do good; and similarly, it is said, “they have never fallen into iniquity, in His ways they have walked” (Psalms 119:3) [which implies that, merely by not having fallen into iniquity, they are counted as if they have walked in God’s ways]. A sage of the academy of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Karcha says that the twenty instances of the word אשרי [meaning blessed, or happy] in the book of Psalms correspond to the twenty instances of הוי [which is an expression of dismay] in the book of Isaiah. Rabbi [Yehuda Ha-Nassi] said, “I am perplexed [by this]! How could Rabbi Yehoshua teach us that אשרי is written twenty times? And I say [that it is written] twenty-two times. Why? Corresponding to the twenty-two letters [of the alphabet]. And about them [David] said, “May the words of my mouth [and the prayer of my heart be acceptable to you, Oh Lord, my rock and my redeemer]” (Psalms 19:15). They should be made [relevant] for the generations, and written for the generations, and inscribed for the generations. And those who read them shouldn’t be like those who read [words] in a book. Rather, they should read them and take reward [for reading] them, [like the reward one receives from learning the most difficult tractates of Mishna, such as] Negaim and Oholot. “May the words of my mouth [and the prayer of my heart] be acceptable.” “Oh, that I might dwell in your tent forever, [take refuge under Your protecting wings.]” (Psalms 61:5). [This verse uses a word for “forever” that can also mean “worlds.”] But could it enter your mind that David would have requested to reside in two worlds [in heaven and on earth]? Rather, this is what David said: May they [continue] to recall me [by reading my Psalms] in houses of prayer, and in study halls, [even after I have passed on to the next world, such that it should be] as if I were alive and well in two worlds.

(I Sam. 15, 5) And he (Saul) quarreled in the valley, etc. R. Mani explained this to mean that he (Saul) had a quarrel concerning the valley; i.e., when the Holy One, praised be He! said unto Saul (Ib. ib., 3) Go and smite Amaiek, Saul [began to argue and] said: "If for the sake of one soul [that is murdered] the Torah ordered a heifer to be brought in to a wild valley where its neck should be broken [as atonement for the murder], how much more shall I have to suffer for so many souls [should I murder them]? And again, if man sinned, why are the beasts to blame [that I should destroy them also]? And again, if adults sinned, why are the little ones to blame [that I should destroy them also]?" Immediately thereupon, a Bath-Kol went forth and said unto him (Ecc. 7, 16) Be not righteous over much. Later, when Saul gave Doeg the order (I Sam. 22, 18), Turn thou round, and fall upon the priest and kill both men and women; another BathKol went forth and said unto him (Ecc. 7, 17) "Be not wicked over much."

R. Ulla expounded: "What means the passage (Ecc. 7, 17.) Be not wicked too much? A man should not be too wicked, but he may be a little wicked? [It means rather that] if one has eaten garlic causing him to have a bad odor, shall he eat again and let more bad odor come?" Raba b. R. Ulla expounded: "What is meant by the passage (Ps. 73, 4.) For there are no deadly fetters for them; but their strength is firm? i.e., the Holy One. praised be He! said 'It is not sufficient that the wicked do not fear [for future punishment] nor feel any pangs concerning the day of death, but that their heart within them is becoming as strong as the vestibule hall'; and that also is meant by Rabba, for Rabba said: What means the passage (Ib. 49, 14.) This is their way, their folly, i.e., the wicked know that their (wicked) path leads them to death, and their kidneys are becoming fat [without worrying over it]. Perhaps you will say that this is the cause of their forgetting it; therefore it says (Ib.) And they keep the future with pleasure in their mouth, Selah.'"