Ahab and Zedekiah, the False Prophets Who Ran to Sin

Rav Isaac bar Samuel bar Martha said: There were two roads before him, one long and one short. The short one was full of pebbles, and the long one had no pebble in it. He left the long one and went by the short one on the Sabbath. Concerning him it is said, "And one who hastens with his feet is a sinner" (Proverbs 19:2). Our Rabbis taught: One commandment draws another commandment after it, and one transgression draws another transgression after it. A person should not be distressed over a transgression he committed unwittingly, but rather that an opening has been made for him to sin, even unwittingly, even deliberately. And a person should not rejoice over a commandment that has come to his hand, but rather that many commandments are destined to come to him. Therefore, if he sinned unwittingly, this is not a good sign; if he sinned deliberately, how much the more so. Concerning him it is said, "And one who hastens with his feet is a sinner." And likewise it says, "These six things does the LORD hate, etc.: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, etc., feet swift in running to evil" (Proverbs 6:16-18). This is Ahab ben Kolaiah and Zedekiah ben Maaseiah, who were sinning in Jerusalem. And this was not enough for them, but when they were exiled to Babylon they added sin. And what did they do in Jerusalem? They were false prophets, and they did not abandon their craft in Babylon; and they would procure for one another. Ahab would enter to one of the great ones of the kingdom and say to him, "I am so-and-so, a prophet; the Holy One, blessed be He, has sent me to say a thing to your wife." And he would say to him, "Here she is before you, enter." And he would seclude himself with her and say to her, "The Holy One, blessed be He, wishes to raise up prophets from you; only go and lie with Zedekiah and bear prophets from him." And he would come and lie with her. And likewise Zedekiah would procure for Ahab. And this was their craft for several years. Come and see how wicked they were. They made themselves a name in Babylon that they were great prophets. There was a certain woman who was pregnant, and she would see one of them and say to him, "Prophet, what is in my womb, a male or a female?" He would say, "A male." And he would go to her neighbors and say, "So-and-so will bear a female." If she bore a male, she would say, "So-and-so the prophet told me." If it was a female, the neighbors would say, "Thus did so-and-so the prophet tell us, but he did not want to distress you." And they kept doing thus until it reached the chamber of Nebuchadnezzar's wife. Zedekiah entered and said to her, "Thus says the LORD: Make Ahab listen," etc. What caused these wicked ones to be burned? Because they ran with their feet after the transgressions. Therefore it is said, "And one who hastens with his feet is a sinner." And nevertheless, "Also, a soul without knowledge is not good" (Proverbs 19:2). Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: Say to Israel, "A soul, when it sins unwittingly" (Leviticus 4:2).