Mishlei 18:5
משלי יח:ה) שְׂאֵ֣ת פְּנֵי־רָשָׁ֣ע לֹא־ט֑וֹב לְהַטּ֥וֹת צַ֝דִּ֗יק בַּמִּשְׁפָּֽט׃
Mishlei 18:5) Uplifting the face of the wicked is not good, to distort the righteous in judgement.
Questions:
Q1: What is uplifting the face of the wicked?
Q2: What is not good?
Q3: What is being distorted?
Q4: What is the context, subject, and audience of the verse?
מצודת דוד – שאת – הנושא פני הרשע לזכותו במשפט הנה כפולה חטאתו כי נשא פני הרשע והטה משפט הצדיק אשר שניהם לא טובים ומלת לא טוב חוזר למעלה ולמטה.
Metzudat David
To uplift – One who uplifts the face of the wicked by giving him favor in judgement, behold is a double sin. For he has lifted up the face of the wicked and distorted the judgment of the righteous, both are not good. The phrase “not good” goes on both sections of the verse.
The Metzudot explains the situation and context King Solomon is referencing. We are talking about a court case where favoritism is being shown to the guilty party. He outlines two consequences, it uplifts the wicked and distorts the judgement of the righteous. In a court case where favor is shown to wickedness, there are two negative consequences. The first is that it encourages further wickedness. This may apply to the particular party involved to commit additional evil. It may also apply to society at large. When evil goes unchecked, and is even rewarded, it encourages more evil. Moreover, when the judgment of the righteous is distorted, it misses an opportunity to correct ills in society and uplift the righteous, thus discouraging justice and righteousness.
The upshot of the verse is that whether justice is served in a particular case has a broader impact. The famous episode of King Solomon judging the two harlots is noteworthy. How was it that two harlots, likely not members of the nobility, received an audience with the King? If justice governs only certain echelon’s, it is a distortion. The act of implementing justice at every level of society has a definitive impact and broad reverberations. As the verse states, “And the entire Jewish people heard the judgement which the king had adjudicated, and they feared the king, for they saw that he possessed the wisdom of God to do justice” (Kings I 3:28).
The middle daily Amidah prayer contains 13 distinct blessings, each representing a subject heading for the needs of man as an individual and the group. As the Rambam writes, “The intermediate [blessings] contain requests for all those things that serve as general categories for the desires of each and every person and the needs of the whole community” (Tefila 1:4). One of these is a prayer for the righteous. A student asked me the other week why praying for the righteous is such a central theme? Perhaps it is because how the righteous are treated makes a statement about the state of the society in general. As Rav Hirsch explains, we pray “to preserve and strengthen those elements that constitute the spiritual and moral sustenance of the Jewish national organism” (Commentary on Tefila). How the righteous are treated has repercussions beyond the particular to the broader community and civilization.
משלי יח:ה) שְׂאֵ֣ת פְּנֵי־רָשָׁ֣ע לֹא־ט֑וֹב לְהַטּ֥וֹת צַ֝דִּ֗יק בַּמִּשְׁפָּֽט׃
Mishlei 18:5) Uplifting the face of the wicked is not good, to distort the righteous in judgement.
Maimonides, M., Touger, E., Kaplan, B., Abramson, Z., & Silverstein, S. (2007). Mishneh Torah. New York: Moznaim Pub. Retrieved from: https://rambam.alhatorah.org
Rosenberg, A. (1980). A new English translation of the Hebrew Bible text and Rashi, with a commentary digest. New York: Judaica Press. Retrieved from: https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/
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