“Even in your thought do not curse a king” (Ecclesiastes 10:20) – Rabbi Avin said: Do not curse and blaspheme before Me with the intelligence that I granted you beyond that of the animal, beast, and bird. I created two eyes for you, and they have two eyes; you have two ears, and they have two ears. I made you similar to them, as it is stated: “He is comparable to animals, which perish [nidmu]” (Psalms 49:21).
Nidme6The midrash is defining the meaning of the term nidmu in the verse, which it mentions in a slightly different form, nidme. is nothing other than silence. I silenced them in your honor. How many favors have I performed for you, but you do not understand, as it is stated: “Man, in honor, does not understand” (Psalms 49:21). Another matter: “Even in your thought, do not curse a king” (Ecclesiastes 10:20) who is before you.
“And in your bedrooms do not curse the wealthy” (Ecclesiastes 10:20) that is before you.7Unlike the previous exposition, where the verse was understood as referring to not cursing God, now the verse is understood as referring to not cursing powerful people. Some suggest that this sentence should be understood to mean: Do not curse a king or wealthy individual who came before you, i.e. preceded you (see Maharzu).
“As the birds of the heavens will carry the sound” (Ecclesiastes 10:20) – Rabbi Yirmeya ben Elazar said: This is the raven and the art of bird divination.8It was thought that through the art of bird divination, ravens could tell a person what others had said about them. “And a winged creature will tell the matter” (Ecclesiastes 10:20) – Rabbi Levi said: There are ears on the road and ears to the wall.
Another matter: “Even in your thought do not curse a king” (Ecclesiastes 10:20) who is in your generation. “And in your bedrooms do not curse the wealthy” (Ecclesiastes 10:20) that is in your generation. “As the birds of the heavens will carry the sound” (Ecclesiastes 10:20) – Rabbi Yehuda bar Simon said: The Holy One blessed be He said to David: ‘Should you have said this: “My enemies will be exceedingly ashamed and frightened” (Psalms 6:11)?
Who was your enemy? Was it not Saul? Is it not written: “On the day the Lord saved him from the hands of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul” (Psalms 18:1)?’ At that moment, David said before the Holy One blessed be He: ‘Master of the universe, do not tally it among my intentional sins, but rather among my unwitting sins [shegagot].’
That is what is written: “A meditation [shigayon] by David” (Psalms 7:1). Another matter: “Even in your thought do not curse a king” (Ecclesiastes 10:20) – do not curse the King of the universe. “And in your bedrooms do not curse the wealthy” (Ecclesiastes 10:20) – the Wealthy One of the universe. “As the birds of the heavens will carry the sound” (Ecclesiastes 10:20) – Rabbi Levi said: There is a beneficial sound that emerges and a detrimental sound [that emerges].
A beneficial [sound]: “The Lord heard the sound of your words as you spoke to me, [and the Lord said to me: I heard the sound of the words of this people that they spoke to you; they did well in everything that they spoke]” (Deuteronomy 5:25). What is: “They did well [hetivu] in everything that they spoke”? Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Ada and bar Kappara: One said: It is like the preparation of [hatavat] the lamps, and one said: It is like the preparation of the incense.9Both of these were part of the Temple service.
There is a detrimental sound: “The Lord heard the sound of your words, and He was enraged and took an oath, saying” (Deuteronomy 1:34). Rabbi Taḥlifa said: The Holy One blessed be He said: For them it is rage, but for Me, what rage is there?10Although God’s reaction appears to people as rage, in reality God carries out punishments but is not enraged. “That I took an oath in My wrath” (Psalms 95:11) – I took an oath in My wrath, but changed My mind.
“That they would not come to My resting place” (Psalms 95:11) – they will not come to this resting place,11The Land of Israel but they will come to another resting place.12The World to Come Rabbi Levi said in the name of bar Kappara: This is analogous to a king who grew angry at his son and decreed that he shall not enter the palace with him. What did the king do? He stood and demolished it, rebuilt it, and brought his son into the palace with him.
The result is that he observed his oath and brought in his son. So, the Holy One blessed be He said: “That I took an oath in My wrath that they would not come to My resting place” – they will not come to this resting place, but they will come to another resting place. “And a winged creature will tell the matter” (Ecclesiastes 10:20) – Rabbi Avin said: When a person is asleep, the body tells the soul [what it has done], the soul [tells it] to the spirit, the spirit to the angel, the angel to the cherub, the cherub to the winged creature,13This is a reference to an angelic creature called a seraph (see Kohelet Rabba 10:20). “and a winged creature will tell the matter”; before whom?
Before the One who spoke and the world came into being. Another matter: “Even in your thought do not curse a king” (Ecclesiastes 10:20) – this is Moses, as it is written: “There was a king in Yeshurun” (Deuteronomy 33:5). “And in your bedrooms do not curse the wealthy” (Ecclesiastes 10:20) – this is Moses. From where did Moses become wealthy?
Rabbi Ḥanin said: The Holy One blessed be He created a sapphire mine for him in his tent, and it is from there that he became wealthy. That is what is written: “Carve [pesol] for yourself [two tablets of stone]” (Exodus 34:1) – the waste [pesolet] shall be for you. At that moment, Moses said: The blessing of the Lord, it will make wealthy” (Proverbs 10:22). “As the birds of the heavens” (Ecclesiastes 10:20) – as he flew like a bird and ascended heavenward.
“And a winged creature will tell the matter” (Ecclesiastes 10:20) – as it was told to Moses at Sinai: “Take out the blasphemer” (Leviticus 24:14).