Rashi on TanakhProverbs 20

Fear of a king is like a lion’s roar; he who provokes him Who angers him.

It is honor for a man to refrain from quarreling To rest from quarrel.

and every fool who does not refrain from quarreling—his disgrace will be exposed.

Because of the winter, a lazy man does not plow Because of the cold, a lazy man sits and does no work, neither does he engage in Torah.

Counsel in man’s heart is like deep water A halachah in a wise man’s heart is sealed.

but a man of understanding will draw it out An understanding pupil comes and draws it out of his innards.

Many people call upon the man who promises them kindness There are many people who rely on their friends who promise them kindness, and they call them at the time of their straits.

but who can find a trustworthy man? who promises and keeps his promise.

who promises them kindness Heb. איש חסדו, lit. a man of his kindness, who promises him to do kindness.

A king sits upon a throne of judgment This may be explained as referring to the Holy One, blessed be He, or it may be explained as referring to the true judges.

The hearing ear and the seeing eye, etc. They are His handiwork, and He desires an ear that hears reproof and an eye that sees what will develop.

lest you become poor Heb. תורש you become poor (רש).

“It is bad, it is bad,” says the buyer If one acquires Torah through poverty and the pains of hunger, he says, “Woe is to me for this evil and for this trouble,” but when he goes away full of wisdom... then he boasts about the pain he suffered.

but when he goes away Heb. ואזל, but when he goes away.

Bread of falsehood is sweet to a man Adultery with a married woman.

but afterwards his mouth will be filled with gravel Heb. חצץ, fine pebbles. Similarly, (Lam. 3:16): “And He has made my teeth grind on gravel (בחצץ).”

Plans with counsel will be established, and with strategies wage war If you come to wage war against Satan, come with strategies of repentance, prayer and fasting.

with one who divulges secrets, one who gossips, or with one who entices with his lips who speaks smoothly to seduce you and entice you.

If one curses...his lamp will flicker in the blackest darkness When the darkness becomes blacker and blacker—when evil befalls him.

An inheritance may be acquired hastily in the beginning Which one hastened to take hurriedly, e.g. the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben, who hastened to take their share on the other side of the Jordan, and they spoke hastily, as it is said (Num. 32:16): “We want to build sheepfolds for our cattle here and cities for our children.” They made the main thing of secondary import, for they placed their flocks before their children.

but its end will not be blessed For they were exiled many years before the rest of the tribes, as is explained in Seder Olam (ch. 22), and in the Midrash of Rabbi Tanhuma (see Mattoth 7): “In the second year of Ahaz, the Lord aroused the desire of the king of Assyria, etc. (I Chron. 5:26),” but the rest of the tribes were exiled in the sixth year of Hezekiah, which is the ninth year of Hoshea the son of Elah.

When a man is trapped, he impairs his sanctity Heb. ילע. When a man stumbles and is trapped in sins, he impairs his sanctity, as in (Obadiah verse 16) “and they shall drink and be stunned (ולעו).”

and he must seek vows Man must seek sacrifices to vow and to bring and to beg for his life.

scatters the wicked Pharaoh and his host.

The Wise King The Holy One, blessed be He.

and turns the wheel over them The wheel of their traits He turned over them. “And drove it heavily (Ex. 14:25),” corresponding to (ibid. 8: 11) “and he made his heart heavy.”

Man’s soul is the Lord’s lamp The soul in his midst testifies concerning him in judgment.

The glory of young men is their strength Just as the glory of young men is their strength, so is the beauty of elders their hoary head.

Contusions and wounds come for outpouring in evil Our Sages expounded: Whoever “pours himself” out into sinful things, will ultimately come to wounds and contusions.

and plagues in the innermost parts This is dropsy.