Another matter, “these are the ordinances.” David said: “Fear of the Lord is pure, it endures forever” (Psalms 19:10). How is this so? You find that a person may study midrash, halakhot, and agadot, but if he does not have fear of sin, he has nothing.
This is analogous to a person who says to another: ‘I have one thousand measures of grain and one thousand of wine.’ The other said to him: ‘Do you have storehouses in which to place them? If you have that, you have everything. If not, you have nothing.’
So it is with a person who studies everything. It is said to him: ‘If you have fear of sin, you have everything,’ as it is stated: “The faithfulness of your times [will be the strength of salvation, wisdom and knowledge]; fear of the Lord, that is His treasure” (Isaiah 33:6).57There is an allusion to the six orders of the Mishna in the first part of the verse (see Shabbat 31a), but it concludes with the fear of God characterized as His treasure.
The word used here for treasure [otzar] may also be translated as storehouse. That is why it is stated: “Fear of the Lord is pure.” And the prophet screams: “Zion will be redeemed with justice and its returnees with righteousness” (Isaiah 1:27).58Some suggest that this sentence does not belong here in the text; see Rabbi David Luria; Etz Yosef.