The Righteous Eat to Satisfy the Soul While the Wicked Stay Empty

"The righteous eats to the satisfaction of his soul" (Proverbs 13:25) — this is Eliezer, the servant of our father Abraham, who said, "Let me sip a little water from your jar" (Genesis 24:17), one swallow. "But the belly of the wicked shall want" (Proverbs 13:25) — this is the wicked Esau, who said to our father Jacob, "Let me gulp down some of that red, red stuff, for I am weary" (Genesis 25:30). Rabbi Yitzchak son of Rabbi Ze'ira said: that wicked one opened his mouth like a camel and said, I will open my mouth and you keep pouring in, as we learned: one does not feed the camel by measure but stuffs it. Another interpretation: "the righteous eats to the satisfaction of his soul" — this is Ruth the Moabite, of whom it is written, "and she ate and was satisfied and had some left over" (Ruth 2:14). Rabbi Yitzchak said: you learn two things from this. Either a blessing rested in the hand of the righteous one [Boaz], or a blessing rested in the innards of the righteous woman. From what is written, "and she ate and was satisfied and had some left over," it appears the blessing rested in the innards of the righteous woman. "But the belly of the wicked shall want" — these are the nations. Rabbi Meir said: Dostai of Kokhava asked me, what is "the belly of the wicked shall want"? I told him: a certain gentile in our town made a feast for all the elders of the town and invited me with them, and he set before us everything the Holy One, blessed be He, created in the six days of creation, and his table lacked nothing but soft-shelled nuts. What did he do? He took the tray from before us, worth six talents of silver, and broke it. I said to him, why did you do this? He said to me, Rabbi, you say this world is ours and the world to come is yours; if we do not eat now, when shall we eat? And he applied to himself, "the belly of the wicked shall want." Another interpretation: "the righteous eats to the satisfaction of his soul" — this is Hezekiah king of Judah. They said of Hezekiah king of Judah that two bunches of vegetables and one litra of meat were brought before him each day, and Israel grumbled after him and said, this is a king? "And rejoices in Rezin and the son of Remaliah" (Isaiah 8:6), his kingship is fit for Rezin and the son of Remaliah. "Because this people has refused the waters of Shiloah that flow gently [le'at]" (Isaiah 8:6). What is "le'at"? Bar Kappara said: we searched all of Scripture and found no place named Le'at, rather this is Hezekiah king of Judah, who would purify Israel in a ritual bath of forty se'ah; what is the source for "le'at"? The Holy One said to them: you grumble; therefore, "behold, the LORD brings up against them the waters of the River" (Isaiah 8:7). "But the belly of the wicked shall want" — this is Mesha, "and Mesha king of Moab was a sheep-breeder [noked]" (2 Kings 3:4). What is "noked"? A shepherd, "and he rendered to the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs and a hundred thousand wool rams" (2 Kings 3:4). Another interpretation: "the righteous eats to the satisfaction of his soul" — this is the Holy One, blessed be He. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel: My children, of all the offerings you bring before Me, do I benefit from you in anything except the aroma? "My pleasing aroma you shall keep to offer to Me in its appointed time" (Numbers 28:2).