Saadia Gaon's Introduction to Mishlei (Part 1)

This is my partial translation of and commentary on Saadia Gaon's introduction to Mishlei, which forms the basis of my entire approach to the sefer. This is the most important part of his intro.

Jul 09, 2014

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Saadia Gaon's Introduction to Mishlei (Part 1)

Here is a picture of my set of Nach Mikraos Gedolos. See if you can figure out which volume has been loved to tatters:

If you guessed Sefer Mishlei (the Book of Proverbs), then you are correct! As you can tell, my volume of Mishlei has accumulated a lot of learning-mileage. It is, without a doubt, my favorite sefer of Nach to learn, my favorite class to teach, and has been the source of my most transformative learning.

I plan on featuring a lot more Mishlei on this substack than I have in the past. I thought it would be best to begin by establishing the foundations of my derech (methodology). My approach to Mishlei evolved from, and in concert with, my rebbi's derech of learning Mishlei, and his derech of learning Mishlei is rooted in Saadia Gaon's introduction to Mishlei. That being said, I figured that this would be a good place to begin.

This article is a walk-through of the first part of Saadia Gaon's Introduction to Mishlei. Saadia Gaon is so clear and explicit in presenting his derech that I won't need to add much. I'll be using my own translation of Rav Qafih's Hebrew translation of Saadia Gaon's commentary, which was originally written in Judeo-Arabic. My translation incorporates two changes:

I have chosen to omit the pesukim cited by Saadia Gaon for the sake of brevity.
Saadia Gaon switches back and forth between 3rd person and 2nd person, in singular and plural. For the sake of consistency and smooth-reading, I decided to take some liberties in this regard.

Without further ado: here is the first part of Saadia Gaon's Introduction to Mishlei!

Saadia Gaon begins by identifying the essential difference between man and other creatures.

Man’s only superiority over the other animals is his rational faculty, just as the only superiority of animals over plants is their ability to move, and just as the only superiority of plants over other entities is their ability to grow.

This hierarchy may seem antiquated to our post-Aristotelian ears, but it still holds valid in the world of Mishlei, as we'll see:

Since man shares a common denominator with the animals in his instinctual nature and behavioral tendencies, but is nobler in his knowledge and discernment, it is therefore necessary for his essential, defining quality to govern the lower element within him. In other words, his intellect should govern his instinctual nature, since his intellect is higher and his instinctual nature is lower. If man acts righteously by causing his intellect to rule over his instinctual nature, then his uniquely human quality will be actualized. But if man acts unjustly by allowing his instincts to rule over his intellect, his behavior will be like that of the animals.

This principle underlined above - namely, that one's intellect should govern one's instinctual nature - is the cornerstone of Mishlei, and embodies the objective of the sefer. Saadia Gaon then goes on to spell out the practical implications of this core tenet:

All of man’s initial impulses (ha’oleh al lev kol bnei adam techilah) originate in his instinctual nature, since it is antecedent in his physical constitution and psychological makeup. Therefore, when something of this nature enters your heart, do not give any thought to practical implementation and [certainly] do not act upon it until after you have presented it before your intellect. If your intellect necessitates the action, then do it; if your intellect necessitates abandoning it, then abandon it.
Likewise, if your intellect necessitates a specific action but your instinctual nature loathes that action and resists it, then it is proper to do the action without paying any attention to your instinctual unwillingness. Similarly, if your intellect cautions you to refrain from a specific action but your instinctual nature inclines toward that action and craves it, it is proper to abandon it without paying any attention to your instinctual desire.
This parallels the conduct of a righteous judge, who strives for that which is in line with the truth, though it may be undesirable to the litigants, and who pushes away that which opposes the truth, though it may be desirable to the litigants.

Therein lies Mishlei's mission: to bring our instinctual nature under the dominion of our intellect, to the point where the latter is the prime-mover of our decision-making. But Mishlei isn't only aimed at modifying our behavior; it is also trying to reach our emotions, as Saadia Gaon continues:

It is correct for man to rejoice in that which is desirable to his intellect even though his instinctual nature abhors it, and it is proper for him to distance himself from that which his intellect rejects even though his instinctual nature desires it.

In other words, the goal isn't to forcefully override our instinctual resistance to acting in accordance with our intellect; rather, we are trying to get to the point where the dictates of our intellect are real to our emotions, to the extent that we rejoice at that which the intellect deems to be good and are naturally repelled by what the intellect deems to be harmful.

Saadia Gaon then presents Mishlei's central theory of psychology, which bears as striking resemblance to Freud's pleasure principle (albeit without factoring in the unconscious):

The foundation upon which all of these concepts are based may be stated as follows: man’s instinctual nature lusts after every immediate pleasure without paying any attention to whether the consequences are harmful, whereas the intellect recoils from immediate gratification if it knows that it this will bring pain in the future; likewise, man’s instinctual nature recoils from immediate pain even though contentment and gratification will follow in its footsteps, whereas the intellect will choose to endure exertion and immediate pain if it clearly knows that something good and beneficial will follow in its footsteps.

On the basis of this psychodynamic theory, Saadia Gaon defines the two basic vices which are responsible for all bad decisions:

The instinctual part of man recoils from everything that causes him immediate exertion and pain; this is due to the vice called atzlus (laziness). [Likewise,] the instinctual part of man lusts and inclines toward everything which brings him immediate enjoyment and pleasure; this is due to the vice called taavah (desire).

He then explains why we are in need of Mishleic guidance:

Therefore, everyone needs the guidance of a chacham (wise man) who will reveal to him the consequences of that which causes the instincts to rejoice but is harmful in the eyes of the intellect, and the consequences of that which is unpleasant to the instincts and beneficial in the eyes of the intellect. Then will he be able to withstand the immediate pain and strive toward that which will yield a good outcome, and he will refrain from that which his desires draw him toward, based upon [his recognition of] its harmful nature.
Due to [man’s] attitude toward this [Mishleic] way of life, if he were left alone to choose whether he would follow it, his instincts would likely lead him astray from it. Therefore, it was necessary for the Wise One (may He be exalted and glorified) to establish a book through the expressions of the chacham, Shlomo ben David (may peace be upon him), in which he reveals the [beneficial] outcomes of that which the instincts loathe and makes known their praise, their value, and their honor, in order that man will strive for them and resist the atzlus within him, and in which he reveals the [harmful] consequences of those things toward which man’s instinctual nature inclines and exposes their bitterness, their evil, and their harm, in order that man will recoil from them and resist the taavah within him.

Thus, according to Saadia Gaon, we can summarize the goal of Mishlei in a single sentence: Sefer Mishlei teaches us how to live our lives based on our intellects, rather than our emotions, by making intelligent decisions which maximize long-term pleasure and minimize long-term pain.

If that sounds like something you want in your life, then Mishlei is the book for you! In addition to the Mishlei-related articles on this substack, be sure to check out the hundreds of Mishlei shiurim available on my YouTube channel and my Mishlei podcast.

Have you learned Mishlei before? I’d love to hear how similar or different your Mishlei experience has been from Saadia Gaon’s approach.

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