Slander Kills Three - The Tongue of Death and Life in Metzora

[This shall be the law of the leper (Lev. 14:2).] This is what Scripture says (Prov. 18:21): "Death and life are in the power of the tongue." Everything depends on the tongue. If one is worthy, he merits life; if one is not worthy, he is condemned to death. If a person occupies himself with Torah by his tongue, he merits life, for the Torah [is called life, as it is said:] "It is a tree of life to those who hold fast to it" (Prov. 3:18). And it is his remedy against the evil tongue, as it is said: "A healing tongue is a tree of life" (Prov. 15:4). But if he occupies himself with the evil tongue, his soul becomes liable to death, for the evil tongue is more severe than the shedding of blood. For everyone who kills, kills only a single soul, but the one who speaks the evil tongue kills three: the one who says it, the one who receives it, and the one of whom it is said. Doeg spoke the evil tongue against Ahimelech, and he was killed, [as it is said:] "And [the king] said: You shall surely die, Ahimelech" (I Sam. 22:16). And Saul was killed, [as it is said:] "For the treachery which he committed against the LORD" (I Chron. 10:13). And likewise Saul said: "Stand, I pray you, over me and slay me, for the death-throes (shabatz) have seized me" (II Sam. 1:9) — the accusation of Nob, the city of priests. And "shabatz" denotes nothing but the priestly garments, as it is said: "And you shall make settings (mishbetzot) of gold" (Ex. 28:13). And Doeg was uprooted from the life of this world and from all the life of the world to come, as it is said: "God shall likewise tear you down forever; He shall snatch you up and uproot you from your tent, and root you (sheresh) out of the land of the living, Selah" (Ps. 52:7) — from the life of the world to come. Who is more severe, the one who smites with a sword or the one who smites with an arrow? [You must say: the one who smites with an arrow.] The one who smites with a sword cannot kill his fellow unless he draws near to him and touches him; but the one who smites with an arrow is not so — rather he casts the arrow and strikes him in any place where he sees him. Therefore the speaker of the evil tongue is likened to an arrow, as it is said: "Their tongue is a slaughtering arrow, it speaks deceit" (Jer. 9:7). And it says: "The sons of men whose teeth are spears and arrows, [and their tongue a sharp sword]" (Ps. 57:5). See how severe the evil tongue is, for it is more severe than incest, than the shedding of blood, and than idolatry. Than incest, as it is written: "And how can I do this great evil and sin against God?" (Gen. 39:9). Than the shedding of blood, as it is written: "And Cain said to the LORD: My iniquity is greater than I can bear" (Gen. 4:13). Than idolatry, as it is written: "Alas, this people has sinned a great sin" (Ex. 32:31). But when it mentions the evil tongue, it does not say "great" (masculine) nor "great" (feminine singular), but "great things" (plural), as it is said: "May the LORD cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that speaks great things" (Ps. 12:4). Therefore it is said: "Death and life are in the power of the tongue" (Prov. 18:21).