DEUT349 Why might God bestow favor upon a wicked man? As to God's favor bestowed on a wicked man-- this sometimes happens on account of a previous good deed, for which God rewards him in this world , as it says: “He repays His enemies to their face to destroy them” (Devarim 7:10), which the Early Ones rendered in the Targum as follows: “He repays His enemies during their lifetime [for] the good that they have done before Him, [so as ultimately] to destroy them.” Sometimes wealth is placed in his charge like a deposit, until God, May He be exalted, gives him a righteous son who is worthy of it, as it says: “He prepares it, but the righteous man will wear it ” (Iyov 27:17); “But to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and amassing, to hand over to one who was good before God” (Koheles 2:26). His wealth may also prove to be the primary cause of his death or undoing, as it says: “There is an evil affliction that I have observed under the sun: wealth reserved for its owner, for his misfortune” (ibid. 5:12). It may be that the Creator, May He be exalted, patiently bears with him until he repents and becomes worthy of his good fortune, as was the case with Menashe. Sometimes it is on account of the past piety of his father, in return for which it was proper to bestow benefits on the son, as was said to Yahu, son of Nimshi: “Four generations of your descendants will sit on the throne of Israel” (Melachim II, 10:30); and it says: “He who walks in integrity is a saint; blessed are his children after him!” (Mishlei 20:7); “I have been young and now am grown old, but I have never seen a righteous man forsaken, or his children begging bread” (Tehillim 37:25). Sometimes it is in order to try those who are deceptively and inwardly evil, who, when they observe [the prosperity of the wicked], hurry to turn away from the service of God and hasten to win the favor of the wicked and to learn from their actions. So too, the man who is pure toward God is identified and the man loyal in his service is recognized through his forbearance at a time when the wicked rule over him and humiliate him. For this he will receive reward from the Creator, May He be exalted, as you know from the account of Eliyahu and Izevel, and the account of Yirmeyahu and the kings of his time.