ציטירנדיקער פּירוש אויף תהילים 37:21

וחנון, “and gracious;” this attribute is also applied to the wealthy, as we know from Psalms 37,21: וצדיק תוע ונותן, “the righteous is generous and keeps giving.” The same expression in the same meaning also occurs in Genesis 43,29: אלקים יחנך בני, “may G-d grant you grace my son (Joseph to Binyamin).” Compare also Numbers 6,25 on the word ויחנך in the priestly blessing, which is understood by commentators as a blessing in which the priest promises the recipient the G-d in whose name he recites the blessing is the One Who provides all living creatures with their daily needs. (B’chor Shor)

A good eye: Sufficing with what a person has and this is from the virtues of character. And a bad eye is its opposite - meaning to say, the belittling of the things [that he has] and eagerness for increase. And his saying here, "who sees the future," the matter of which is that he studies what will be in the future from what is found now, is not from the wisdoms that it should be an intellectual virtue, and that its understanding is that he study that which is hidden from that which is revealed. Rather, what he wants with it here is the analysis about the matters of a man from his affairs through which his existence will continue, that he should investigate the end of his affairs. And he brought a metaphor corresponding to this, and that is his saying, one who borrows but does not repay, that he will not lend him another thing - and that is of the traits of vice. "But the righteous one gives graciously" (Psalms 37:21) - that is the Righteous One of the world, and He is God, may He be blessed, as it is stated (Deuteronomy 32:4), "righteous and straight is He"; and (Nehemiah 9:33), "You are righteous about all that comes upon us." The explanation is that He is generous to the man that lends to his fellow and he doesn't repay, [for] the Holy One, blessed be He, pays him in exchange for his service that he bestowed kindness to another to lend him until his hand could acquire his lacking. And when the hand [of the borrower] found it and did not pay back his lender, God, may He be blessed, paid him [instead]. And the matter of "seeing his words" is to choose and to distinguish - from the matter of "The Lord did not see" (Lamentations 3:36), the intention of which is He did not choose. And he distinguished that everything was included in his words [when] he said "a bad heart." And we have already explained in the second chapter of our introduction to the commentary on this tractate (Eight Chapters 2:2) that all of the character virtues are only found in the appetitive section of the soul. And in it are also found all of the character vices. And we have elucidated in the fourth chapter (Eight Chapters 4) that the actions that are good are the moderate actions which come from the virtues of character. And so [too] is it known among the philosophers and physicians that the appetitive soul is in the heart and [that] its chamber and its instruments are attributed to the heart. And even though all of the capabilities are diffused from the heart and it is its beginning according to the true opinion, the appetitive capability does not spread from it to another organ, in the way that the nutritive capability - I mean to say the vegetative capability that we discussed in the first chapter (Eight Chapters 1:7) - spreads from the heart to the liver. And understand that from everything we have elucidated that what he wanted with a good heart are the good action and they are the moderate actions and they are the virtues of character. And it includes contentment and the love of the good and others of the virtues besides this. And that is what he said, "For your words are included in his."

He [Rabban Yohanan] said unto them: go forth and observe which is the evil way which a man should shun? Rabbi Eliezer said, an evil eye; Rabbi Joshua said, an evil companion; Rabbi Yose said, an evil neighbor; Rabbi Shimon said, one who borrows and does not repay for he that borrows from man is as one who borrows from God, blessed be He, as it is said, “the wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous deal graciously and give” (Psalms 37:21). Rabbi Elazar said, an evil heart. He [Rabban Yohanan] said to them: I prefer the words of Elazar ben Arach, for in his words your words are included. Most of this section is merely the opposite to the first part of the previous section. I will comment only on Rabbi Shimon. The worst evil according to Rabbi Shimon is a debtor who does not pay back his debts. In some ways this negative quality is the opposite of the positive quality he mentioned in section one, foresight. A person who does not pay back his debts does not realize that in the future no one will trust him. Rabbi Shimon does not say that the “evil way” is “one who lacks foresight” because the lack of foresight in and of itself is not evil. One might lack foresight and still strive to do the right thing. There is a midrash added to Rabbi Shimon’s statement here. Not paying back one’s debts is not only a sin against one’s fellow man, but it is a sin against God as well.