The Men of Hezekiah Who Weighed Judgment With Care

"These also are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out" (Proverbs 25:1). Rabbi Levi said: For what reason did the men of Hezekiah king of Judah merit length of days? Because they were deliberate and settled the law carefully, as it is said: "Apples of gold in settings of silver, [a word fitly spoken]" (Proverbs 25:11). Rabbi Hama bar Hanina said: What does Scripture mean to teach by "these also"? Rather, it teaches that they were deliberate in judgment and settled the law carefully, for whoever is impatient in judgment will in the end forget his words. So we find with Moses our teacher: because he was impatient for a moment, he forgot his words, and Eleazar answered in his place, as it is said: "And Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who came to the battle: This is the statute of the Torah which the LORD commanded Moses" (Numbers 31:21). He commanded Moses our teacher, but me He did not command. "Which the men of Hezekiah copied out" - why is this said? For I might say: Proverbs and Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes were hidden away until they were written down. In Proverbs what does it say? "She is noisy and rebellious; her feet do not stay in her house; now she is in the street, now in the squares, and at every corner she lies in wait" (Proverbs 7:11). In Song of Songs what does it say? "My beloved is to me a bundle of myrrh that lies between my breasts; my beloved is to me a cluster of henna in the vineyards of En-gedi" (Song of Songs 1:13). In Ecclesiastes what does it say? "Rejoice, young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth; walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment" (Ecclesiastes 11:9). Rabbi Yohanan said: They sought to hide away the book of Ecclesiastes, for they found in it matters that incline toward heresy. Moses our teacher said: "You shall not go about after your own heart and after your own eyes, after which you go astray" (Numbers 15:39), and Solomon said: "Walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes" (Ecclesiastes 11:9). Is the restraint loosened? Is there no law and no judge?! But once they found at the end of the verse "but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment," they said, 'Solomon spoke well.' Another interpretation: "which they copied out" - "copied out" means nothing other than "explained," as in the verse "And he moved from there to the mountain" (Genesis 12:8), and there is no need to cite "who removes mountains, and they do not know it" (Job 9:5). Are these not matters of an a fortiori argument? If Moses our teacher, father of the prophets and father of the sages, because he was impatient for a moment forgot his words, how much more so the rest of humankind. Ben Azzai says: You stood by your words - you fulfilled them.