It’s a powerful thing to consider. The ancient sages certainly thought so.
Our story today comes from Vayikra Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Leviticus. It all starts with a seemingly simple verse from Leviticus 25:1: “The Lord spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai, saying…if you sell a sale item to your counterpart, you shall not wrong one another.” But this isn't just about fair business; it’s about something deeper.
The text immediately pivots, quoting Proverbs 18:21: “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” A stark statement, isn’t it? How are buying and selling, and the power of speech connected? The midrash, the interpretive tradition, teases out that very connection.
Aquila, a translator of the Hebrew Bible into Greek, offered an interesting take on that Proverb. He used the image of a “spoon-knife” – a tool used by soldiers that had a knife on one side and a spoon on the other, according to Rabbi David Luria. Death from one side, life from the other. It’s a vivid metaphor, isn’t it? One side feeds, the other destroys.
Bar Sira continues the theme, saying, “If one has a coal before him, if he blows on it, it burns; if he spits on it, it is extinguished.” With a single breath, you can fuel a fire or put it out. It's all about how you use what you have.
The Rabbis then offer practical examples. Rabbi Yanai speaks of an untithed loaf of bread. In ancient Israel, a portion of the harvest had to be set aside as a tithe. Eating it before giving that offering? Death is in the power of the tongue, he says. But if you tithe it first, then you receive life. Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba makes the same point with a basket of figs. What does this mean? Perhaps it is a metaphor for not taking what is not rightfully yours, or perhaps it is a metaphor for how we approach life in general.
Then comes a story about Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel and his servant, Tavi. Rabbi Shimon asks for a good cut of meat, and Tavi brings him tongue. Then he asks for a bad cut, and Tavi brings him tongue again! Confused, Rabbi Shimon asks for an explanation. Tavi replies, "Good comes from it and bad comes from it. When it is good, there is nothing better than it. When it is bad, there is nothing worse than it.”
Rabbi [Yehuda HaNasi], the compiler of the Mishnah, takes this lesson to heart. He sets out soft and hard tongues at a feast for his disciples, who naturally choose the soft ones. He then gently admonishes them: “Know what you are doing; just as you are selecting the soft and leaving the hard, so your tongues should be soft toward one another.”
So how does this all circle back to our opening verse about selling and not wronging one another? Vayikra Rabbah connects it beautifully. The verse concludes "you shall not wrong one another" and is repeated again later in Leviticus (25:17). The Sages interpreted one verse as prohibiting financial exploitation, and the other as prohibiting verbal abuse (as discussed in Bava Metzia 58b).
It's a powerful reminder that our words have weight. They can create or destroy, heal or wound. We must be mindful of the power we wield with our tongues, choosing to speak with kindness and integrity, especially in our interactions with others. It's not just about fair transactions; it's about building a world where our words bring life, not death.