Pirke Avot: Who is Mighty?

(1) Ben Zoma says . . . . Who is the mighty one? He who conquers his impulse, as it says, "slowness to anger is better than a mighty person and the ruler of his spirit than the conqueror of a city." (Proverbs 16:32).

(1) And YHWH said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and set out; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have decided on one of his sons to be king.” (2) Samuel replied, “How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me.” YHWH answered, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to YHWH.’ (3) Invite Jesse to the sacrificial feast, and then I will make known to you what you shall do; you shall anoint for Me the one I point out to you.” (4) Samuel did what YHWH commanded. When he came to Bethlehem, the elders of the city went out in alarm to meet him and said, “Do you come on a peaceful errand?” (5) “Yes,” he replied, “I have come to sacrifice to YHWH. Purify yourselves and join me in the sacrificial feast.” He also instructed Jesse and his sons to purify themselves and invited them to the sacrificial feast. (6) When they arrived and he saw Eliab, he thought: “Surely YHWH’s anointed stands before Him.” (7) But YHWH said to Samuel, “Pay no attention to his appearance or his stature, for I have rejected him. For not as man sees [does YHWH see]; man sees only what is visible, but YHWH sees into the heart.” (8) Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass before Samuel; but he said, “YHWH has not chosen this one either.” (9) Next Jesse presented Shammah; and again he said, “YHWH has not chosen this one either.” (10) Thus Jesse presented seven of his sons before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, “YHWH has not chosen any of these.” (11) Then Samuel asked Jesse, “Are these all the boys you have?” He replied, “There is still the youngest; he is tending the flock.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send someone to bring him, for we will not sit down to eat until he gets here.” (12) So they sent and brought him. He was ruddy-cheeked, bright-eyed, and handsome. And YHWH said, “Rise and anoint him, for this is the one.”

(1) 'וירא ה, seeing that the time G’d had allocated to the people to improve their ways had elapsed, G’d saw that nothing had changed. רק רע כל היום, the words וכל יצר, refer to both man’s urges, the urge to do good, and the urge to do evil. The urge to do good had succumbed to the evil urge, completely. The Torah here calls the planning of wicked deeds based on impulses יצר לב, the urge of the heart.

(5) "His impulse": The evil impulse is called 'the impulse' without differentiation on account of its coming first and governing the body by itself [before being joined by the positive impulse] - Midrash Shmuel. And he also explained that it is his impulse that is particular to him and has become powerful in him more than the positive impulse has become powerful and particular in him; as the nature of man leans more to the evil impulse.

Anyone who is greater than another, his evil inclination is greater than his.

(3) as it says, "slowness to anger is better than a mighty person and the ruler of his spirit than the conqueror of a city." (Proverbs 16:32): Slowness to anger [describes] the one who holds his anger and his will is not to take revenge immediately, but to wait for the time and place of his vengeance. As the angry one that takes revenge immediately, confounds his actions and acts without intelligence. And about this, Shlomo, peace be upon him, stated, "slowness to anger is better than a mighty person." The one who holds his anger - even though he does not forgive during his anger - since he leaves the matter of revenge until later, [shows] more might of the heart than the mighty one in war; as also without intelligence can he be mighty in fighting. But "the ruler of his spirit" - which is more than one who is slow of anger, since he forgives during his anger, as he fears the word of God - is mightier "than the conqueror of a city." [This is] even though [the latter] has two things - might of the heart and wisdom, as it is stated (Proverbs 21:22), "A wise man climbed to a city of warriors, and brought down its mighty stronghold." As it is with might of the heart, wisdom and correct counsel that they conquer cities. And about this it is stated (II Kings 18:20), "counsel and might for war." And the ruler of his spirit is greater and more significant than all of this and he comes out overcoming his impulse from all bad things.

In response to their prayer a note fell to them from the heavens upon which was written: Truth, indicating that God accepted their request. The Gemara makes a parenthetical observation. Rav Ḥanina said: Learn from this that the seal of the Holy One, Blessed be He, is truth. In response to the indication of divine acceptance, they observed a fast for three days and three nights, and He delivered the evil inclination to them. A form of a fiery lion cub came forth from the chamber of the Holy of Holies. Zechariah the prophet said to the Jewish people: This is the evil inclination for idol worship, as it is stated in the verse that refers to this event: “And he said: This is the evil one” (Zechariah 5:8). The use of the word “this” indicates that the evil inclination was perceived in a physical form. When they caught hold of it one of its hairs fell, and it let out a shriek of pain that was heard for four hundred parasangs. They said: What should we do to kill it? Perhaps, Heaven forfend, they will have mercy upon him from Heaven, since it cries out so much. The prophet said to them: Throw it into a container made of lead and seal the opening with lead, since lead absorbs sound. As it is stated: “And he said: This is the evil one. And he cast it down into the midst of the measure, and he cast a stone of lead upon its opening” (Zechariah 5:8). They followed this advice and were freed of the evil inclination for idol worship. When they saw that the evil inclination for idol worship was delivered into their hands as they requested, the Sages said: Since it is an auspicious time, let us pray also concerning the evil inclination for sin in the area of sexual relationships. They prayed, and it was also delivered into their hands. Zechariah the prophet said to them: See and understand that if you kill this evil inclination the world will be destroyed because as a result there will also no longer be any desire to procreate. They followed his warning, and instead of killing the evil inclination they imprisoned it for three days. At that time, people searched for a fresh egg throughout all of Eretz Yisrael and could not find one. Since the inclination to reproduce was quashed, the chickens stopped laying eggs. They said: What should we do? If we kill it, the world will be destroyed. If we pray for half, i.e., that only half its power be annulled, nothing will be achieved because Heaven does not grant half !