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GENESIS | 39:9 wickedness — GEN1509 Gratitude should be for everything good t...

GEN1509 Gratitude should be for everything good that came out from the benefit that you received, and not just for the immediate benefit … a giant in Torah is thankful to others for a good turn. Even a seemingly small favor is judged by the total chain of events that follow it.   … At the other end of the spectrum is the perplexing response of some people to repay goodness with bad. The concept is found in Yosef’s explaining his refusal to succumb to the seductions of Potiphar’s wife [this verse] and explicitly in the words of Yosef when he sent Menashe to demand from the brothers Genesis 44:4: Why did you replay evil for good? [When he accused them of stealing his silver goblet].  As unreasonable as it seems, it is quite common. The Torah writes about Pharaoh, “A new king arose over Egypt who did not know of Yosef.” [Exodus 1:8].   Rashi cites the words of Chazal that he was the same king but he acted as if he did not know of Yosef. King David also refers to this trait when he writes Psalms 109:5 “They have imposed upon me evil in place of good …” According to Rashi, he was referring to Edom ad Ishmael, and according to the Radak he was referring to Jews such as Doeg, who had repaid his goodness with evil. King Solomon writes: Proverbs 17:13 “One who responds to goodness with evil, evil will never leave his house.” It stands to reason that he was hinting to the same people that his father, King David, was referring to. Several Torah leaders of the last generation used to jest that the larger the favor, the larger the stones one will likely receive in return for the favor. There is also a common expression in English – “no good deed will go unpunished.” CASTLE 1032-4

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Source KeyCASTLE
Verse39:9
Keyword(s)wickedness
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