נָסוּ וְאֵין־רֹדֵף רָשָׁע וְצַדִּיקִים כִּכְפִיר יִבְטָח

The wicked flee without a pursuer. Ultimately, the wicked will be afraid even when no one is chasing them; but the righteous will all be as secure in their dwelling places as a young lion, which does not fear other animals (see 30:30).

בְּפֶשַׁע אֶרֶץ רַבִּים שָׂרֶיהָ ובְאָדָם מֵבִין יֹדֵעַ כֵּן יַאֲרִיךְ

Through the transgression of a land, when the inhabitants of a country do not act properly, its princes are many, because a small government cannot restrain the people. Alternatively, the verse means that when numerous people hold governmental or quasi-governmental posts, thereby weakening the central government, it is a sign of widespread corruption in the land. But with an understanding and knowledgeable person, so he will endure. His status will be established, and the matters that are under his jurisdiction will not be dispersed among all those officers.

גֶּבֶר רָשׁ וְעֹשֵׁק דַּלִּים מָטָר סֹחֵף וְאֵין לָחֶם

A man who is poor and oppresses the impoverished is like a torrential rain that leaves no food. One who tyrannizes the poor without even gaining anything is utterly evil. Persecuting others when one does not stand to benefit is comparable to torrential rain that is unpleasant and causes harm, without even providing the compensatory benefit of sprouting food crops.

עֹזְבֵי תוֹרָה יְהַלְלוּ רָשָׁע וְשֹׁמְרֵי תוֹרָה יִתְגָּרוּ בָם

Those who forsake the Torah praise the wicked; they rejoice in them and glorify in their success; and keepers of the Torah will refuse to accept the wicked and even provoke and struggle against them. Beyond the question of how people themselves behave, they are tested by their attitude toward others. Those who abandon the Torah and have no moral compass are likely to praise the wicked, whereas those who observe the Torah will express their objections to such people.

אַנְשֵׁי־רָע לֹא־יָבִינוּ מִשְׁפָּט וּמְבַקְשֵׁי ה'יָבִינוּ כֹל

Men of evil will not understand justice. They are even incapable of understanding the principles of fairness and justice, as they block themselves off from such matters. But seekers of the Lord will truly understand everything. They are willing to listen, and wish to comprehend even opinions that do not accord with their state of mind.

טוֹב־רָשׁ הוֹלֵךְ בְּתֻמּוֹ מֵעִקֵּשׁ דְּרָכַיִם וְהוּא עָשִׁיר

Better a poor man walking honestly than one of crooked ways who is rich. The unusual form of the plural “ways [derakhayim],” literally, “two ways,” indicates that this is referring to one who has at least two paths open before him, and on each occasion he chooses a different one, whichever he feels is convenient at the time. Even if such a person is rich, he is worse off than a simple man who follows a single path in an upright and consistent manner.

נוֹצֵר תּוֹרָה בֵּן מֵבִין וְרֹעֶה זוֹלְלִים יַכְלִים אָבִיו

He who safeguards the Torah is an understanding son, and a companion of gluttons humiliates his father.

מַרְבֶּה הוֹנוֹ בְּנֶשֶׁךְ וְתַרְבִּית לְחוֹנֵן דַּלִּים יִקְבְּצֶנּוּ

He who increases his wealth through accrual and interest, which are both unethical and forbidden by Torah law, will ultimately see that he amasses it for the sake of he who cares for the poor, one who follows the opposite path and gives his own money to the poor. This money earned through interest will eventually find its way to a philanthropist. The difference between accrual [neshekh] and interest [tarbit] is that accrual is collected through a loan that bites [noshekh], so to speak, as the borrower’s debt grows exponentially with time, whereas in a case of interest, a fixed sum, albeit larger than the original loan, must be repaid by a specific date.

מֵסִיר אָזְנוֹ מִשְׁמֹעַ תּוֹרָה גַּם־תְּפִלָּתוֹ תּוֹעֵבָה

He who removes his ear from hearing Torah, even his prayer is an abomination. Some people are uninterested in learning and obeying God’s Torah, and yet they still have demands from God. Since they do not heed the instruction of God as expressed in His Torah, He too does not wish to hear their prayers.

מַשְׁגֶּה יְשָׁרִים בְּדֶרֶךְ רָע בִּשְׁחוּתוֹ הוּא־יִפּוֹל וּתְמִימִים יִנְחֲלוּ־טוֹב

He who misleads the upright on a harmful way, he will fall into his own pit, a pit he himself dug; and the honest, despite their naïveté, will inherit goodness and will avoid that pit.

חָכָם בְּעֵינָיו אִישׁ עָשִׁיר וְדַל מֵבִין יַחְקְרֶנּוּ

A rich man is wise in his own eyes; he considers himself clever, with an authoritative opinion on all matters; and the impoverished one who understands will examine him. He analyzes the rich man’s statements carefully and discovers what he really knows and what he does not.

בַּעֲלֹץ צַדִּיקִים רַבָּה תִפְאָרֶת וּבְקוּם רְשָׁעִים יְחֻפַּשׂ אָדָם

With the exultation of the righteous the splendor is great. A society in which the righteous are joyful is a glorious one, as it provides benefit to many, and with the rise of the wicked to rule, an honest person will have to be sought out and yet will not be found, as upright people hide themselves at such times.

מְכַסֶּה פְשָׁעָיו לֹא יַצְלִיחַ ומוֹדֶה וְעֹזֵב יְרֻחָם

He who conceals his transgressions, who refuses to admit his sins, his repentance is incomplete, and therefore he will not succeed, and people will not forgive him even when they are uncertain that he has wronged them; and he who confesses his sins and also forsakes them will ultimately find mercy, as people are likely to have compassion upon him and forgive him.

אַשְׁרֵי אָדָם מְפַחֵד תָּמִיד וּמַקְשֶׁה לִבּוֹ יִפּוֹל בְּרָעָה

Happy is a person who is always afraid, who is cautious, afraid of making mistakes, and prepares himself for all kinds of eventualities; but he who inures his heart, who is overly confident in himself and is never afraid, will fall into unanticipated harm.

אֲרִי־נֹהֵם וְדֹב שׁוֹקֵק מוֹשֵׁל רָשָׁע עַל עַם־דָּל

A wicked governor who lords over an impoverished people is like a roaring lion and a growling bear. There is no escaping a ruler of this type, just as one cannot evade a vicious beast that seeks its prey.

נָגִיד חֲסַר תְּבוּנוֹת וְרַב מַעֲשַׁקּוֹת שֹׂנֵא בֶצַע יַאֲרִיךְ יָמִים

A ruler, a powerful man of exalted status, may lack sagacity and engage in much exploitation, as he steals much in order to amass a fortune and is thereby likely to shorten his life. Conversely, haters of ill-gotten gain will extend their days.

אָדָם עָשֻׁק בּדַם־נָפֶשׁ עַד־בּוֹר יָנוּס אַל־יִתְמְכוּ־בוֹ

A man blamed for the blood of a person, accused of murder and wanted by the authorities, even if he flees to a pit, no one will support him. He has lost everything, and all his good deeds will be of no avail.

הוֹלֵךְ תָּמִים יִוָּשֵׁעַ וְנֶעְקַשׁ דְּרָכַיִם יִפּוֹל בְּאֶחָת

He who walks honestly will be saved from adversity, and he who is crooked in his ways, who attempts to employ different tricks and shortcuts each time, will fall all at once.

עֹבֵד אַדְמָתוֹ יִשְׂבַּע־לָחֶם וּמְרַדֵּף רֵיקִים יִשְׂבַּע־רִישׁ

He who works his land will be sated with bread through his toil, and he who pursues vanities instead of working will be sated with poverty. He will be left with nothing.

אִישׁ אֱמוּנוֹת רַב־בְּרָכוֹת וְאָץ לְהַעֲשִׁיר לֹא יִנָּקֶה

A man of good faith will abound with blessings, and he who hastens to become rich without caring whom he crushes on his way and what wrongdoings he performs in his quest will not be absolved of punishment, neither in this world nor in the World to Come.

הַכֵּר־פָּנִים לֹא־טוֹב וְעַל־פַּת־לֶחֶם יִפְשַׁע־גָּבֶר

Showing partiality by granting someone preferential treatment unjustly is no good. This is referring particularly to a judge, but it applies to others as well, if they are partial to someone who they know does not act properly. However, alongside the obligation to treat people in accordance with the requirements of law and justice rather than personal motives, one must take into account that some errors are more forgivable than others, and a man will transgress for a portion of bread. Sometimes people commit crimes due to hunger, and the sinner’s situation at the time should be taken into consideration.

נִבֳהָל לַהוֹן אִישׁ רַע עָיִן וְלֹא־יֵדַע כִּי חֶסֶר יְבֹאֶנּוּ

A miserly man rushes after wealth, as he is always chasing after more possessions, and he does not know that ultimately lack will come upon him. His incessant pursuit of money will eventually cause him losses rather than increase his wealth.

מוֹכִיחַ אָדָם אַחֲרַי חֵן יִמְצָא מִמַּחֲלִיק לָשׁוֹן

He who rebukes a person will later [ah·arai] find more favor with the recipient of the rebuke than one with a slippery tongue. Although people instinctively like those who flatter them, ultimately they stop believing them and relinquish their support. Some interpret aḥarai as: After Me, a reference to one who rebukes a man, admonishing him to follow God.

גּוֹזֵל אָבִיו וְאִמּוֹ וְאֹמֵר אֵין פָּשַׁע חָבֵר הוּא לְאִישׁ מַשְׁחִית

He who robs his father and his mother and says: There is no transgression, as they are always making efforts on my behalf and giving me things, and anyway I will eventually inherit their property, he is a companion to a man of destruction. He too is a robber, as the property is currently not his, and he is therefore performing a prohibited act.

רְחַב־נֶפֶשׁ יְגָרֶה מָדוֹן בֹטֵחַ עַל־ה' יְדֻשָּׁן

A greedy, lustful, soul provokes strife, both because people will not agree to his extravagant demands and because a dissatisfied individual is frequently angry and often involved in fights; and he who trusts in the Lord and is satisfied with little will luxuriate, as he will merit both goodness and pleasure.

בּוֹטֵחַ בְּלִבּוֹ הוּא כְסִיל וְהוֹלֵךְ בְּחָכְמָה הוּא יִמָּלֵט

One who trusts in his own heart, imagining that he knows everything, he is a fool; and one who walks with wisdom, he will escape troubles, because he takes potential problems, obstacles, and misgivings into account and does not suffer from over-confidence.

נוֹתֵן לָרָשׁ אֵין מַחְסוֹר ומַעְלִים עֵינָיו רַב־מְאֵרוֹת

He who gives charity to the poor has no lack, but he who averts his eyes from the suffering of others will have many curses fall upon him.

בְּקוּם רְשָׁעִים יִסָּתֵר אָדָם וּבְאָבְדָם יִרְבּוּ צַדִּיקִים

With the rise of the wicked, when they attain elevated status, an upright person should hide and try not to stand out; and with their, the wicked people’s, eradication, the righteous increase, as they allow themselves to be seen, at which point it becomes apparent that there are more righteous people than one might have thought.