Yetzer HaTov, Yetzer HaRa

An excerpt from: Romans 6-8: The “law of the Spirit” and Spiritual maturity (Part 2)

The “Two inclinations”

The Hebrew text of Genesis 2:7 contains an apparent misspelling. This is both intriguing and catastrophic since a true error in Holy scripture can only represent a monumental threat to the doctrine of its infallibility. Therefore, when textual variances appear, the approach employed by the sages has been to assume that all apparent inconsistencies are instead deliberate, allowed by God’s providence in order to communicate important insights. Record of discussion regarding Genesis 2:7 is preserved in the Jewish compilation of tradition, known as the Talmud:

Nahman b. R. Hisda expounded: What is meant by the text, Then the Lord God formed [va-yetzer] man? [The word va-yetzer] (Gen. 2:7) is written with two yods, to show that God created two inclinations, one good (tov) and the other evil (ra). – Talmud, Ber. 61a

The Hebrew word for “formed” (Yetzer) is usually spelled with one Yod. However, in this specific passage, the word is equipped with one extra Yod. According to the tradition as received by Rabbi Nahman, the two Yods signified the formation of two inclinations within man, one good (In Hebrew, “Yetzer Tov”) and the other evil (in Hebrew, “Yetzer Ra”).

This obscure term “Yetzer” meaning “formation” appears again in Genesis 6:5. The way it is applied in the verse only substantiates its association with the spiritual predisposition of man:

“The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination [Yetzer] of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.” – Genesis 6:5

The word is used the same way in Genesis 8, to express the dismal condition of the human heart:

“The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination [Yetzer] of the human heart is evil from his youth. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.” – Genesis 8:21

According to tradition, man’s condition is actually more severe than what the scripture indicates on the surface level of the text:

“He replied: “for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Gen 8:21) R. Yadan adds that the words “from his youth” mean: from the day of his birth.” – Jerusalem Talmud, Barakhot 3:5

Yet still, over time, the tradition evolved. As found in one of the “minor tractates” written after the compilation of the Talmud, the Yetzer Ra is said to begin to emerge within a baby while still in the mother’s womb:

“The yetzer hara is 13 years older than the yetzer hatov. While still in the mother’s womb, the yetzer hara begins to develop in a person. If he begins to violate the Sabbath, nothing stops him. If he commits murder, nothing stops him. If he goes off to another sin, nothing stops him.” – Avot d’Rabbi Natan 16:12

The somber declaration made by King David now makes sense in light of the Old Testament and ancient Jewish belief:

“Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” – Psalm 51:5

The narrative of the “Apocryphal” book of 2 Esdras (found in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Catholic canon) claims authorship by Ezra. However, Scholarly consensus places its origin to around 70 to 218 AD. The text elucidates that the evil inclination (Yetzer Ra) originated at the moment of Adam’s transgression. The sin is said to have resulted in a permanent spiritual defect, a “wicked heart” that we all inherit when we are born:

And yet tookest thou not away from them a wicked heart, that thy law might bring forth fruit in them. For the first Adam bearing a wicked heart transgressed, and was overcome; and so be all they that are born of him. Thus infirmity was made permanent; and the law (also) in the heart of the people with the malignity of the root; so that the good departed away, and the evil abode still. So the times passed away, and the years were brought to an end: then didst thou raise thee up a servant, called David: Whom thou commandedst to build a city unto thy name, and to offer incense and oblations unto thee therein. When this was done many years, then they that inhabited the city forsook thee, And in all things did even as Adam and all his generations had done: for they also had a wicked heart. – (2Esdras 3:20-26)

Similar to the passage in 2 Esdras, the Talmud also intimates that a spiritual “pollution” was introduced after the fall. However, rather than assigning blame to Adam, the pollution is said to have been introduced to humanity through Eve:

“When… [the serpent deceived] Eve, he imposed pollution in her.” – Talmud, Shabbat 146a.

If you’re noticing that the steady presentation of Jewish sources seems to inch closer and closer to the Christian territory of “original sin”, you are correct. For this reason, the topic has historically served as a theological battleground for fierce debates between religious Jews and Christian missionaries. Despite the mounting evidence for a Jewish origin of the doctrine of original sin, Jewish opponents in “polemic” works were relentless against it. According to Daniel Lasker, in his book “Jewish Philosophical Polemics Against Christianity in the Middle Ages” the arguments found in the medieval polemic works against original sin should not be considered trustworthy, but instead, represent less than honest accounts of official Jewish doctrine:

“Polemical compositions were intended as polemics, a genre for which objective truth is one of the first casualties…if one wants to know a particular author’s view on a subject, a polemical treatise is the last place one would look to determine it. When this literature is analyzed without due recognition of “polemic license,” the research runs the risk of reading too much into the texts…”

In light of this, ordained Rabbi, director of education for NCSY and instructor at Yeshiva University David Bashevkin writes:

“Given this warning, it is not surprising that the vehemence with which the doctrine of original sin was opposed within polemic literature may not actually reflect its patent rejection within Jewish sources. In fact, as pointed out by Lasker, the doctrine of original sin “was not entirely foreign to Judaism” as some polemics would otherwise suggest.” – Sin and failure in Jewish thought, page 23.

Interestingly, the more mystically inclined students of Lurianic Kabbalah demonstrated a more favorable disposition to the subject, and even expanded on themes that closely aligned with the Christian position:

“Certain Kabbalists taught a doctrine of original sin, in that Adam’s transgression gave evil an active existence in the world. The entire creation became flawed by this first sin.” – Lasker, Jewish Philosophical Polemics, 226n19.

A Jewish parable (known as a Midrash) presents Israel as petitioning God, tired and broken from repeated failure and defeat before the Yetzer Ra. God provides a brief answer to quell their turmoil. One day they will indeed enjoy a time of liberation:

Israel complained: “If a potter leaves a pebble in the clay, and the jar leaks, is the potter not responsible? You have left the Evil Inclination in us. Remove it, and we will do Your will!” God replied,”This I will do in the time to come. [in the Messianic era]” – [Exodus Rabbah 46.4]

12th-century rabbi, Moses Ben Nachman, also known as “Ramban” writes:

“This following subject is very apparent from Scripture: Since the time of Creation, man has had the power to do as he pleased, to be righteous or wicked…But in the days of the Messiah, the choice of their [genuine] good will be natural; the heart will not desire the improper and it will have no craving whatever for it…Man will return at that time to what he was before the sin of Adam, when by his nature he did what should properly be done, and there were no conflicting desires in his will…” – Ramban, Deut 29.

Zechariah 12 is considered one of the most significant Messianic prophecies, paramount for building a biblical case for proving Christ. The prophecy of Zechariah 12 builds until it reaches its zenith, “And they shall look on me because they have thrust him through, and they shall mourn for him as one mourns for his only son.” Surprisingly, religious Jews also share the same interpretation of this event. The prophecy is an account of the Jewish people beholding the visage of the Messiah, risen back to life from death due to the lethal event of being “thrust” through:

“What was the reason for the mourning [to which reference is made in Zechariah’s statement]?…One said, “It is on account of the Messiah, the son of Joseph, who was killed.” – Babylonian Talmud, Sukkah 52a.

This account continues:

“And the other said, ‘It is on account of the evil inclination, which was killed.’”

If this is so, Why should this event bring the Jewish people to weep?

“In the time to come, the Holy one, blessed be he, will bring the evil inclination and slay it before the righteous and before the wicked. To the righteous the evil inclination will look like a high hill, and to the wicked it will appear like a hair-thin thread. These will weep [the righteous] and those will weep [the wicked]. The righteous will weep, saying ‘How could we ever have overcome a hill so high as this one!’ The wicked will weep, saying, ‘How could we not have overcome a hair-thin thread like this one!’ And so too the Holy One, blessed be he, will share their amazement, as it is said, ‘Thus says the Lord of Hosts. If it be marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, it shall also be marvelous in my eyes.’ (Zechariah 8:6).” – ibid

Which is it? Is the prophecy an account of the people weeping because of the appearance of the resurrected Messiah, or are they weeping because of the death of the evil inclination slain before them? The two should not be considered separate or opposing. In fact, they are two ways of viewing the same event. The arrival of the Messiah also brings about the end of the evil inclination.

Found within the book of Isaiah, is an intriguing prophecy similar in its description to the account of the Messiah seizing the Yetzer Ra from within man, and presenting it before the nations, brutally beaten and weakened before them:

But you will be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit. Those who see you will stare; they will ponder your fate: “Is this the man who shook the earth and made the kingdoms tremble, who turned the world into a desert and destroyed its cities, who refused to let the captives return to their homes?” – Isaiah 14:15-17

This lines up perfectly with New Testament prophecy in the book of Revelation. At the advent of the millennial reign of Christ, the devil (the spiritual origin of the evil inclination) will be seized and bound for a thousand years:

“And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. 3 He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended.” – Revelation 20:1-3

This study is nowhere near a comprehensive and complete presentation of the Jewish concepts of the Yetzer Ra, and the Yetzer Tov. I do believe, that enough material has been shown to justify, at the very least, directing some consideration to the association I’m wanting to make between Paul’s writings and Jewish tradition, and pursuing it further.