Arrogance/Humility in Sotah

From where is the warning of the arrogant? Rava says that Ze’eiri says: “Hear, you, and give ear, be not proud” (Jeremiah 13:15). Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said from here: “Then your heart be lifted up, and you forget”, and it is written “Beware lest you forget the Lord your God”. And in accordance with Rabbi Avin that Rabbi Il’a says, as Rabbi Avin says that Rabbi Il’a says: Wherever it is stated “beware,” “lest,” or “not,” this is nothing other than a prohibition.

Rav Avira interpreted homiletically: sometimes he said this in the name of Rav Asi and sometimes he said it in the name of Rav Ami: Any person who has arrogance within him will ultimately be diminished as it is stated: “They are exalted for a little while.”

And lest you say that even if he is diminished "he will still exist" in this world and live a full life, the verse states: “And they are gone,” indicating that they die before their time. But if he repents from his arrogance, he is gathered in death at his proper time like Avraham, as it is stated: “Yes, they are brought low, they are gathered in as all [kakkol] others” (Job 24:24), like Avraham, Yitzhak, and Yaakov, as it is written about them that they were blessed with the term “all”.

And if one does not repent, “And wither like the tops of the husk.”

"I revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones” (Isaiah 57:15). Rav Huna and Rav Ḥisda offered differing interpretations of this verse. One says that the verse means: Together with Me is the person who is contrite and humble. In other words, God elevates the humble. Or I am with him.

The Gemara comments on this: And it stands to reason that the meaning of the verse is like the one who says: I am with the contrite person, as the Holy One, Blessed be He, disregarded all of the mountains and hills, and rested His Divine Presence on the lowly Mount Sinai, and He did not choose to raise Mount Sinai up toward Him. God chose to give the Torah on Mount Sinai, as it was a symbol of humility due to its lack of height, and He lowered His Divine Presence, as it were, to the mountain.

Rav Yosef says: A person should always learn proper behavior from the wisdom of his Creator, as the Holy One, Blessed be He, disregarded all of the mountains and hills and rested His Divine Presence on the lowly Mount Sinai. And similarly, when appearing to Moses, He disregarded all of the beautiful trees and rested His Divine Presence on the bush (Exodus 3:2).

Rabbi Elazar says: Concerning any person who has arrogance within him, it is fitting to hew him down, as a tree designated for idolatry [asheira] is hewn down, as it is written here with regard to the arrogant: “And the high ones of stature shall be hewn down [gedu’im]” (Isaiah 10:33), and it is written there with regard to trees designated for idolatry: “And hew down [teggade’un] their trees worshipped as part of idolatrous rites [asheireihem]”.

And Rabbi Elazar also says: Concerning any person who has arrogance within him, his dust, i.e., his remains in his grave, will not stir at the time of the resurrection of the dead, as it is stated: “Awake and sing for joy, you who dwell in the dust” (Isaiah 26:19). It is not stated: You who lie in the dust, which would indicate that all the dead will be awakened in the future, but rather: “You who dwell in the dust,” indicating that only one who became a neighbor to the dust in his lifetime by living with extreme humility will stir at the time of the resurrection.

And Rabbi Elazar says: Concerning any person who has arrogance within him, the Divine Presence wails over him. As it is stated: “For though the Lord is high, yet regards He the lowly, and from the haughty He is pained from afar” (Psalms 138:6).

Rav Avira interpreted a verse homiletically, and some say that Rabbi Elazar interpreted as follows: Come and see that the attribute of the Holy One, Blessed be He, is not like the attribute of flesh and blood. The attribute of flesh and blood is that the elevated sees the elevated, but the elevated does not see the lowly. But the attribute of the Holy One, Blessed be He, is not like that. He is elevated but sees specifically the lowly, as it is stated: “For though the Lord is high, yet regards He the lowly” (Psalms 138:6).

Rav Ḥisda says, and some say that Mar Ukva says: Concerning any person who has arrogance within him, the Holy One, Blessed be He, said: He and I cannot dwell together in the world, as it is stated: “He who slanders his neighbor in secret, him will I destroy; he who is haughty of eye and proud of heart, him will I not suffer [oto lo ukhal]” (Psalms 101:5–6). These verses should be understood as follows: Do not read the verse as: “Oto lo ukhal”; rather, read it as: Itto lo ukhal, meaning, with him, I cannot bear to dwell. There are those who teach that this was stated with regard to those who speak slander because the beginning of the verse states: “He who slanders his neighbor in secret, him will I destroy.”

Rabbi Alexandri says: Concerning any person who has arrogance within him, even a slight wind disturbs him, as it is stated: “But the wicked are like the troubled sea, for it cannot rest” (Isaiah 57:20). And if with regard to the sea, which contains many quantities of quarters of a log of water, yet a slight wind disturbs it, certainly with regard to a person, who has in his body only one quarter-log of essential lifeblood, all the more so will a slight wind disturb him.

Rav Ḥiyya bar Ashi says that Rav says: Despite the opprobrium assigned to one who exhibits the trait of arrogance, a Torah scholar must have one-eighth of one-eighth of arrogance. Rav Huna, son of Rav Yehoshua, said: And this minute measure of arrogance crowns him as the awn of bristle-like growth on the top of the husk.

Rava said: A Torah scholar who has arrogance should be excommunicated, and one who does not have arrogance at all should be excommunicated as well. As such, he must have only a minute measure of arrogance.

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: Even a Torah scholar should not have any arrogance or any part of arrogance, i.e., not even one-eighth of one-eighth. He explains why arrogance should be avoided entirely by asking: Is it a small matter that it is written with regard to arrogance: “Everyone that is proud of heart is an abomination to the Lord” (Proverbs 16:5)?

Ḥizkiyya says: The prayers of a person are heard only if he casts his heart to be like flesh, by being free of arrogance. As it is stated: “And it shall come to pass, that from one New Moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, says the Lord” (Isaiah 66:23).

Rabbi Zeira said: Concerning leprosy of the flesh, it is written in the verse with regard to it: “And when the flesh has in the skin thereof a boil, and it is healed” (Leviticus 13:18), but concerning the leprosy of a person, it is not written in the verse with regard to it: And it is healed. Both verses discussing leprosy of a person make no mention of healing (Leviticus 13:2, 13:9). This indicates that one who sees himself as flesh will be cured, but one who holds himself in high regard will not be cured.

Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The Hebrew word for person, adam, written: Alef, dalet, mem, is an acronym for efer, dust; dam, blood; and mara, bile, alluding to man’s insignificance. Similarly, the Hebrew word for flesh, basar, written: Beit, sin, reish, is an acronym for busha, shame; seruḥa, putrid; and rimma, worm, also alluding to his insignificance. There are those who say that the letter sin of the word basar actually is referring to a different word, sheol, the netherworld, as it is written with the Hebrew letter shin. The letter sin is phonetically similar to the letter samekh, the first letter of the word seruḥa, but is orthographically similar to the letter shin, the first letter of the word sheol. The dispute is whether the acronym should be based upon the pronunciation or upon the way it is written.

Rav Ashi says: Any person who has arrogance within him will ultimately be diminished in stature, as it is stated with regard to different types of leprosy: