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DEUTERONOMY | 6:18 right — DEUT306 The medieval Torah commentator Ramban (Na...

DEUT306 The medieval Torah commentator Ramban (Nachmanides, 1194-1270) notes that the broad but vaguely worded commandment "And you shall do that which is right and good in the eyes of God" [This verse] was necessary because the Torah could not issue ordinances that would cover every contingency ("It is impossible to mention in the Torah all aspects of man's conduct with his neighbors and friends"), and so included this general admonition to act ethically to cover cases where there is no specific law. According to the Talmud, this verse mandates that we sometimes even ignore a law if adherence to it will lead to injustice. For example, if a debtor does not pay a debt on time, the creditor may seize his land in payment. If the debtor later comes up with the money owed, the creditor may say to him, "Too late, I prefer to keep the land." Basing itself, however, on the verse "And you shall do that which is right in good in the eyes of God," the Talmud rules that the land must be returned, even if the money was paid after it was due (Bava Mezia 16b). [In his eleventh-century Torah commentary, Rashi notes that this verse is intended to teach people in a dispute to compromise, and not to insist on the letter of the law.] Another talmudic passage sees this verse as so fundamental that it claims that the entire Book of Deuteronomy became known, as the "Book of the Right" [i.e., the Upright] simply because it contains the verse, "And you shall do that which is right and good in the eyes of God" (Avodah Zarah 25a).

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Verse6:18
Keyword(s)right
Source Page(s)14
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