Sefer HaIkkarim, Maamar 4

We have now explained that according to justice the punishments inflicted by God should be eternal, and that reward is either eternal, through divine grace, or not eternal, as strict justice demands. But there is a very important difficulty in the matter of punishment, as follows:

Since “there is not a righteous man upon earth, that doeth good and sinneth not,” it follows that all men should be punished eternally for any sin they have committed or for disobedience of God’s command of which they are guilty, though the nature of the punishment be different. How then can any one escape eternal punishment according to this mode of determination, and how can a mortal merit spiritual reward, whether temporary or eternal? A still greater difficulty arises from the statement of the Rabbis that the punishment of the wicked in gehenna lasts twelve months, indicating that punishment is not eternal. And, on the other hand, they say that reward is eternal, inferring it from the words: “They shall inherit the land forever.”

It seems to me that the difficulty may be solved by saying that just as reward is made eternal by divine grace, though according to strict justice it should be temporary, so punishment is made temporary by divine grace, though according to strict justice it should be eternal. The Bible indicates this very thing: “God hath spoken once, twice have I heard this: that strength belongeth unto God; also unto Thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy; for Thou renderest to every man according to his work.” The meaning is that the statement in the Torah that God does not hold the wicked guiltless but punishes them for their iniquities, contains two statements in it. One is that strength belongeth unto God to do justice to the wicked and to pay to every man according to his ways, as the Bible says: “The strength also of the king who loveth justice.” But in this very justice which He does to the wicked we also find that God has mercy, “Also unto Thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy, for Thou renderest to every man according to his work,” i. e. in the fact that Thou punishest the wicked in a temporary way, in accordance with the sin he committed, which is temporary, we can see that Thou conductest Thyself mercifully toward man in this regard, for according to strict justice, a person should receive eternal punishment for his sins in accordance with the infinity of God against whom he rebelled, as we explained above. The Psalmist says, therefore, that in the punishment which comes upon the wicked man in this world for the transgressions of which he is guilty, we see two things, viz. that God has power to do justice to those who transgress His will, and that He conducts Himself mercifully in this very justice, in that He inflicts temporary punishment, in accordance with the act of transgression, which is temporary. God does this in order that the person in question should be saved from eternal punishment in the world to come.

Some say that the words: “Also unto Thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy,” refer to the spiritual reward which God bestows by grace. For man does not deserve any reward, as the Bible says: “If thou be righteous, what givest thou Him?” and granting that he does deserve reward, it should be temporary, as his good deeds are temporary, but not eternal, except by divine grace, as we said before. This statement, taken by itself, is true and in agreement with what we said, that temporary reward is made eternal by God’s mercy. But it bears no relation to the contents of the passage and has no connection with the words: “God hath spoken once, twice have I heard this.” Moreover, the words: “For Thou renderest (teshallem) to every man according to his work,” show that he is speaking of punishment, like the words: “And recompensest (meshallem) the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them,” and: “Yea, I will requite (veshillamti) into their bosom.”

It should be noted that this mercy of which we are speaking, by virtue of which the punishment which should be eternal, in accordance with the eternity of the Being to whom service is due, is made temporary by way of accommodation to the person owing the service, is shown only to those who love God and keep His commandments, as the Torah says: “For I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; and showing mercy unto the thousandth generation of them that love Me and keep My commandments.” The meaning of this passage is that in the case of those that hate Him, He visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation, so that they may be destroyed thoroughly and forever, as justice demands, but to those that love Him and keep His commandments He shows mercy, not visiting their iniquity upon them all at once, but distributing it over a thousand generations, so that they should not be completely destroyed, but that they may get a little punishment during a long time, in order that they may exist forever.

The Rabbis say in this connection: If a man has a thousand zuz owing to him and the debtor is his enemy, he collects the whole debt at once. But if he is his friend, he collects it little by little. Since, however, not every one can attain to the degree of perfect love, of which we spoke before, the Bible says that Israelites generally, who keep God’s commandments, receive this mercy. Hence the Bible adds: “And keep My commandments.” From this we infer that those who hate the Lord and do not keep His commandments will receive eternal punishment. Hence the Rabbis say that the Minim, the unbelievers (Apikorosim), those who deny the Torah and the resurrection, and the others that the Rabbis enumerate in the Mishnah and the Baraita, persons who deny the fundamental principles or some of them or the secondary principles derived from the former, being excluded from the community of Israel and the seed of those who love God and keep His commandments, are treated in accord with strict justice and suffer eternal punishment. These are the men of whom the Rabbis say that they go down to gehenna and are judged there for ever and ever. Those, however, who believe in the principles of the Torah but are guilty of some transgressions, deserve to enjoy the mercy which is shown to those who keep the divine covenant, and to the seed of those who love Him. For just as reward is made eternal through the divine mercy that was shown to Abraham, as we explained before, so punishment is made temporary through divine mercy, as we said before.

Micah explains this when he says: “Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth the iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He retaineth not His anger forever, because He delighteth in mercy.” The meaning is that God does not punish man according to his sins, but He pardoneth the iniquity and passeth by the transgression by way of mercy, but not for every man, only for the remnant of His heritage. The words: “He retaineth not His anger forever,” indicate that according to strict justice, He ought to retain His anger forever. For it is clear that we do not say to a person: “The judge showed you mercy in not sentencing you to death,” unless he deserved death. Hence if the prophet says: “He retaineth not His anger forever,” it follows that strict justice demands that He should retain His anger forever, if not for His mercy. Hence he concludes: “Because He delighteth in mercy,” and adds: “He will again have compassion upon us; He will subdue our iniquities, … Thou wilt show faithfulness to Jacob, mercy to Abraham …” The meaning is: Even if He should subdue our iniquities and hide them, or if eternal punishment should be made temporary, we would still be in need of mercy, in order that temporary reward should be made eternal. This is the mercy shown to Abraham when he was told: “Thy reward shall be exceeding great,” as we explained above. Hence the prophet says: “Thou wilt show faithfulness to Jacob, mercy to Abraham,” i. e. wilt show and make permanent; and the mercy which Thou didst show to Abraham in making his reward eternal will become true for Jacob, just as eternal punishment is made temporary by God’s mercy, as we explained before.

The Psalmist also explains this, namely that eternal punishment is made temporary and temporary reward is made eternal through grace. In reference to punishment he says: “He will not always contend; neither will He keep His anger forever,” as should be the case, but, “He hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor requited us according to our iniquities.” He explains then that this is due to God’s mercy: “For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him.” For to give eternal reward for a temporary act shows great mercy, as great as the heavens are high above the earth. The word height signifies worth, as in the verse, “But the Lord of hosts is exalted (made high) through justice,” because the heavens are eternal, as David said: “He hath also established them for ever and ever,” while the earth is temporary and destined to destruction. God’s mercy in giving eternal reward for a temporary act is similar. But in order that a person may deserve this reward, it is necessary to remove our transgressions from us far away, as far as the east is from the west, and to inflict temporary punishment upon the righteous in this world in order that they may merit eternal reward in the world to come. For if He should inflict eternal punishment, as justice demands, no person would merit eternal reward. Hence he says: “Like as a father hath compassion upon His children, so hath the Lord compassion upon them that fear Him,” to show that it is an act of compassion on the part of God to inflict temporary punishment upon the righteous in this world for the few transgressions of which they are guilty, in order that they may merit eternal reward in the world to come, as a father chastises and punishes his son by way of compassion so as to lead him to a good end and enable him to attain a high degree for his own ultimate good.

Then he explains the reason of this mercy: “For He knoweth our inclination; He remembereth that we are dust.” That is, since He knows that by reason of our inclination we are destined to sin, “For the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth,” if He should not show us this mercy in punishing a man temporarily instead of eternally, no man would escape the judgment of gehenna, and what would the righteous then do, who can not but commit some sin in this world? In the same way if God did not convert temporary reward into eternal through mercy, no man would attain eternal happiness, for man is a temporary being: “As for man, his days are as grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth, for the wind passeth over it, and it is gone …” What, then, would Moses and Abraham and the other righteous men do in order to merit eternal reward, since they are temporary beings, and can only do temporary acts, unless they merit this reward through God’s mercy? Hence he concludes: “But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him …,” i. e. even though man’s days are like grass and his acts are temporary, for he can only do a temporary act, his reward is eternal through God’s mercy, which is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him.

In the beginning of the Psalm he also refers to these two kinds of mercy. “Who forgiveth all thine iniquity,” refers to the mercy which converts eternal punishment into temporary. “Who healeth all thy diseases,” refers to the mercy which converts temporary reward into eternal. Then he explains the matter further and says: “Who redeemeth thy life from the pit,” which surely refers to redemption from the eternal punishment of gehenna, for no one is redeemed from the natural death of the body. Then he says: “Who encompasseth thee with loving-kindness and tender mercies,” to indicate that by making eternal punishment temporary, it becomes possible to attain eternal spiritual reward, which is a crown of beauty to the soul and a diadem of glory on the head of every righteous man. The attainment of this reward is designated as mercy and compassion.

At the end of the Psalm he explains that these two kinds of mercy extend only to those who love God and observe His commandments: “But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him … To such as keep His covenant, and to those that remember His precepts to do them.” All this is due to the fact that the divine providence extends over all existing things above and below: “The Lord hath established His throne in the heavens; and His kingdom ruleth over all.” This much we have desired to explain concerning reward and punishment.