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Bible Encyclopedias
Lust
The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia
or Evil inclination or impulse, popularly identified with the lusts of the flesh. The idea is derived from Genesis 8:21: "the imagination of the heart of man is evil from his youth." Yet from the use of the two "yods" in Genesis 2:7, the Rabbis deduced that there are in man two Yeáºarim: the good (Yeáºer Ṭob) and the evil (Ber. 61a). Cain defended himself before God for having slain Abel by arguing that God had implanted in him the Yeáºer ha-Ra'(Tan., Bereshit, 25 [ed. Buber, p. 10]). "It lies at the door of the heart like a fly" (Ber. 61a; comp. Beelzebub). Yet in a way the Yeáºer ha-Ra', like all things which God made (Genesis 1:31), is good. Without it, for example, a man would never marry, beget, build a house, or trade (Gen. R. 9:9). Therefore, man is enjoined to love God with both the Yeáºarim implied in "with all thy heart" of the Shema' (Sifre, Deut. 32 [ed. Friedmann, p. 73a]). It would appear that the Yeáºer Ṭob comes with reflection, and at the age of bar miáºwah or confirmation, because it is said to be thirteen years younger than the Yeáºer ha-Ra', which is an inborn impulse (Eccl. R. 9:14). The Yeáºer Ṭob delivers the citadel of the body from the Yeáºer ha-Ra' by means of temperance and good works (Ned. 32b). The "little city" of Ecclesiastes 9:14,15 is interpreted by the Targum and Eccl. R. (ad loc.) as the kingdom of the heart, and the "great king" who comes against it as the Yeáºer ha-Ra'.
According to the Rabbis, the Yeáºer ha-Ra' has seven different epithets in the Bible: evil (Genesis 8:21); uncircumcised (Deuteronomy 10:16); unclean (Psalms 51:12); the enemy (Proverbs 25:21); stumbling-block (Isaiah 57:14); stone (Ezekiel 36:26); and hidden (Joel 2:20).
The greater the man the greater his Yeáºer ha-Ra'; and it is among the four things which God regretted to have created (Suk. 52a, b). It is identified with Satan and with the angel of death (B. B. 16a; comp. Maimonides, "Moreh," 2:12, 3:22). Against the Yeáºer ha-Ra' the Torah is the great antidote (Suk. 52b; Ḳid. 30b; Ab. R. N. 16). The Yeáºer ha-Ra' grows with a man, as is deduced from the parable in 2 Samuel 12:4. At first it is a mere traveler; then it becomes a guest; and at last it is the man himself (Suk. 52b). Yet the heart of man contains both the Yeáºer ha-Ra' and the Yeáºer Ṭob, as is deduced by Midrash Tehillim from Psalms 9
Characteristics.
"Yeáºer ha-Ra'" does not refer exclusively to the body; this can be inferred from its close association with the Yeáºer Ṭob. It undoubtedly leads to sensual sins with great power; hence both Akiba and Meïr were saved from its influence only by heavenly intercession (Ḳid. 81a). It was to avoid the temptations of the Yeáºer ha-Ra' that women were ordered to take separate seats in the galleries of synagogues (Suk. 51b). Revenge and avarice are also given as the outcome of the Yeáºer ha-Ra' (Sifre, Deut. 33 [ed. Friedmann, p. 74a]); and anger is another of its manifestations. Psalms 81:10 (A. V. 9) is interpreted as referring to the Yeáºer to whose influence one should not yield (Shab. 105b), submission being, therefore, compared to idolatry (Yer. Ned. 41b). It is with reference to anger that he is called mighty who overcomes his Yeáºer ha-Ra' (Ab. 4:2). Vanity is still another form in which the Yeáºer ha-Ra' displays itself. When the Yeáºer sees a conceited man it says: "He is mine" (Gen. R. 22:13). The Yeáºer ha-Ra' belongs only to this world, and does not exist in angels or other higher beings (Lev. R. ). It is for this reason that there is no eating or drinking, procreation or barter, envy or hatred, in the world to come (Ber. 17a; comp. Mark 12:25, and synoptic parallels).
In a discussion between Rabbi and the emperor Antoninus, the latter contends that the Yeáºer ha-Ra' comes to man at birth, and not before, and Rabbi agrees (Sanh. 91b). All the sportive deviltry of young children is attributed to the Yeáºer ha-Ra' (Eccl. R. 4:13). The Yeáºer ha-Ra' was not due to man, but to God as the Creator of all; but man is responsible for yielding to its influence, since he, as has been seen above, is able to put it to a good use. Hence the Yeáºer ha-Ra' is placed on a level with the woman and the child: the left hand should reject it, while the right hand draws it near (Soá¹ah 47a; Sanh. 107b). Under the Second Temple the Yeáºer ha-Ra' continued to exist because needed in the world. The Rabbis interpret Nehemiah 9:4 as referring to the call of the people: "Wo, wo, it is the Yeáºer ha-Ra'. He destroyed the sanctuary, killed the righteous, drove the Israelites out of their land, and still dances among us. Why was he given unto us? Only that we may receive reward for conquering him." The Israelites are then reported to have got rid of the Yeáºer of idolatry and of the grosser forms of unchastity, but found it necessary to preserve the Yeáºer ha-Ra' lest the world should come to an end (Yoma 69b; comp. Sanh. 64a). It has been conjectured by Taylor that the clause in the Lord's Prayer, "Deliver us from evil," is probably "Deliver us from the evil Yeáºer" ("Sayings of the Jewish Fathers," pp. 128-130, 186-192).
Personification.
There is a tendency to give personality and separate activity to the Yeáºer, as in the case of the angel of death and of Satan, with each of whom, indeed, it is identified (B. B. 16a). Objections to the Law which in Sifra 86a are attributed to the Yeáºer are in Yoma 67b attributed to Satan. According to R. Jonathan, the Yeáºer, like Satan, misleads man in this world, and testifies against him in the world to come (Suk. 52b). Hence in the prayers one asks to be delivered "from evil man and from evil act, from evil Yeáºer, from evil companion, from evil neighbor, and from Satan" (Ber. 16b). Here, however, the Yeáºer is clearly distinguished from Satan. On other occasions it is made exactly parallel to sin. Thus, in Gen. R. 22:11 the parable of 2 Samuel 12:4 is applied to sin, though elsewhere it is applied to the Yeáºer (see above). Similarly, Akiba interprets Isaiah 5:18 asapplying to sin, while Rab Ashi applies it to the Yeáºer (Suk. 52a). "At the beginning they are like the thread of the spinning web, at the end like a cart rope." The connection of the Yeáºer with habit is exactly parallel to the growth of sin through habit. Man's Yeáºer overpowers him every day (Ḳid. 30b). At first it befools him; then it dwells in him (comp. Hosea 4:12, 5:4). So too Psalms 36:2, "sin speaks to the wicked," is applied to the Yeáºer ha-Ra' (Ab. R. N. 32). In the same passage all men are divided into three classes: the righteous, under the rule of the Yeáºer Ṭob; the wicked, under the rule of the Yeáºer ha-Ra'; and the middle class, ruled now by one, now by the other. According to others, there are only two classes: the righteous with the good Yeáºer; and the wicked, who submit to the evil Yeáºer (Eccl. R. 4:15,16). The first part of Ecclesiastes 11:9 is said to relate to the joy of youth derived from the Yeáºer ha-Ra'; the latter part indicates that God will bring all transgressors under judgment to the Yeáºer Ṭob (Shab. 63a).
The Law the Antidote.
Just as iron can be made into all sorts of vessels if cast into the fire, so one can make the Yeáºer ha-Ra' useful by words of the Law; for it is learned from Proverbs 25:21 that "if thine enemy be hungry [that is, "when the Yeáºer ha-Ra' prompts thee"] give him bread to eat" (e., bread of the Law; Pesiḳ., ed. Buber, 80b). Both Yeáºarim are to be utilized; similarly a man having two oxen, one meant for plowing and the other not, puts the yoke upon both. The promise of Genesis 4:7 is applied to the Yeáºer ha-Ra'(Ḳid. 30b). There is a contrast of strength between the two Yeáºarim; hence, "Blessed is he that considereth the poor" (Psalms 41:2) is applied to him who makes the poor and weak Yeáºer Ṭob rule over the Yeáºer ha-Ra' (Lev. R. ). Though the latter is seemingly so powerful, resistance easily overcomes it, as Abraham found after it had brought about the Flood and the dispersion of the nations (Genesis 22:12). If a man find that the Yeáºer ha-Ra' is too strong for him, he should go to a place where he is not known, and not profane the name of heaven openly (Ḥag. 16a). The Law is like a plaster to the wound made by the Yeáºer ha-Ra'; if the plaster is taken away, an evil ulcer will come forth (Ḳid. 30b). Or, again, the Law will wear away the Yeáºer as water wears away stone (Suk. 52b). As the Law is called a stone (Exodus 24:12), and the Yeáºer ha-Ra' also is called a stone (ib. 36:26), let one stone guard the other stone (Cant. R. 6:11). The stone of Genesis 29:2 is also compared to the Yeáºer ha-Ra': as the stone is rolled away from the mouth of the well, so the Yeáºer ha-Ra' departs when men go into the synagogue to drink of the Law (Gen. R. 70:8); hence, the night prayer said in connection with the "Shema'" includes the clause "let not the Yeáºer ha-Ra' rule in me" (Ber. 60b).
God will finally destroy the Yeáºer ha-Ra', as is promised in Ezekiel 36:26. Yet to the righteous who have struggled against it, it will appear like a high mountain; but to the wicked, like a hair (Suk. 52a). It is because the Yeáºer ha-Ra' anticipates this final punishment that it brings man to destruction (Ab. R. N. 16). Meanwhile, like a stone (see above), it gradually crumbles away until it no longer forms a stumbling-block.
Rise of the Idea.
While the expression "yeáºer" is used both in Deuteronomy 31:21 and in Isaiah 26:3 for the disposition or mind, "heart" or "evil heart" usually takes its place in Biblical theology as the seat and power of temptation and sin in man. The first definitive passage in which the term occurs is in the lately recovered Hebrew text of Ecclus. (Sirach) 15:14: "God created man from the beginning . . . and gave him into the hand of his Yeáºer." And in 6:22 (Heb.) man is compared to the fruit of a tree, while his thoughts are according to his Yeáºer. So, too, the "wicked heart" referred to in Ezra 4:18 is analogous to the Yeáºer ha-Ra' in being offset by the Law and in not having power to overcome the Law, and also because God will ultimately remove it. This is an approach to the dualism of Paul (Romans 7:7-24), but the contrast between the flesh and the spirit nowhere exists in Jewish theology, and is probably derived from Plato.
- F. C. Porter, The Yeçer Hara, in Yale Biblical and Semitic Studies, pp. 91-156, New York, 1901;
- Taylor, Sayings of the Jewish Fathers, 2d ed., pp. 37, 63 et seq., 70, 77, 82, 98, 128-130, 140, 147-152, 186-192;
- Lazarus, Ethics of Judaism, § 238.
These files are public domain.
Singer, Isidore, Ph.D, Projector and Managing Editor. Entry for 'Lust'. 1901 The Jewish Encyclopedia. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tje/l/lust.html. 1901.
