God's Trait of Judgement and Trait of Mercy

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יהוה saw how great was human wickedness on earth—how every plan devised by the human mind was nothing but evil all the time.

Genesis 6:5

Let nothing that has been doomed stick to your hand, in order that יהוה may turn from a blazing anger and show you compassion, and in compassion increase you as promised on oath to your fathers—

Deuteronomy 13:18

When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures, all flesh that is on earth.

Genesis 9:16

“My rainbow I have set in the cloud, and it shall be as a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth” (Genesis 9:13).
“My rainbow [kashti] I have set” – My likeness [kishuti]; something that is likened to Me. Is that possible? It is, rather, like the straw [kashin] of the grain.
“It will be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, and the rainbow will be seen in the cloud” (Genesis 9:14).
“It will be, when I bring a cloud over the earth” – Rabbi Yudan in the name of Rabbi Yudan bar Simon: This is analogous to someone who had a hot metal tool in…

Bereshit Rabbah 35:3

Those who ask this question do not really display much wisdom. The very quality that enabled Isaac to be judged by the attribute of Justice is what secures Israel's eventual lofty status, its joining the ranks of בני עליון, superior beings. First we must examine the meaning of the מדרשים, Bereshit Rabbah 12,15 et al., which report G–d as having wanted to create a universe that would be administered solely by the attribute of Justice. These Midrashim report that when G–d realized that such a universe could not endure for long, He co-opted the attribute of Mercy…

Shenei Luchot HaBerit, Torah Shebikhtav, Vayera, Torah Ohr 43

When G'd observed that man's wickedness kept increasing, He realised that the fact that man was based on the lowest of the four elements was one of the causes. Also, his habitat was on earth which consists largely of the element of dust. This is the meaning of G'd saying that He saw that man's wickedness on earth had increased greatly. This is why G'd "regretted" not having made man primarily of a more refined element. The Torah prefaced G'd's "regret" by stating that man's thoughts were only concerned with evil all day long…

Or HaChaim on Genesis 6:5:3

The Torah adds once more ורחמך "and He will be merciful," to warn you that G'd will help us practice mercy only if we ourselves have endeavoured to develop this character trait within ourselves.

Or HaChaim on Deuteronomy 13:18:2

THIS IS THE SIGN OF THE COVENANT WHICH I MAKE. It would appear from this sign that the rainbow in the cloud was not part of creation and that now G-d created a new thing by making a rainbow in the heavens on a cloudy day. Now commentators have said concerning the meaning of this sign that He has not made the rainbow with its feet bent upward because it might have appeared that arrows were being shot from heaven, as in the verse, And He sent out his arrows and scattered them on the earth. Instead He made it the opposite of this — [with the feet bent downward] — in order to show that they…

Ramban on Genesis 9:12:1

“The priest shall administer to the woman the oath of the curse, and the priest shall say to the woman: May the Lord render you as a curse and as an oath among your people, in the Lord causing your thigh to fall and your belly to distend” (Numbers 5:21).
“The priest shall administer to the woman the oath of the curse” – Rabbi Zeira said in the name of Rav: Why are two oaths stated regarding the sota? One is before the scroll is erased and one after the scroll is erased, because there is no absolute chronological order in the Torah…

Bamidbar Rabbah 9:18

החזקה [THY] STRONG [HAND] — I speak of it as Thy strong hand, because by showing mercy Thou forcibly (בחזקה) subduest the attribute of strict justice (Sifrei Bamidbar 134:5).

Rashi on Deuteronomy 3:24:5

ה' ילחם לכם, “Hashem will fight on your behalf!” It is known in kabbalistic circles that the attribute of Justice fights wars and dries out the sea. Why then did Moses mention the attribute Hashem in this verse? It was to teach that even in the execution of this great miracle the attribute of Hashem was also involved. At first glance it appears as if the attribute of Justice was stretched out over the Egyptians from one end of the sky to the other (figuratively speaking) and was bent on their total destruction as we know from verse 28 that “not one of them survived…

Rabbeinu Bahya, Shemot 14:14:1

ה׳ איש מלחמה, "The Lord is a man of war," etc. This means that even when G'd operates with the attribute of Mercy He is still "a man of war." The fact that He conducts war does not imply that He abandons the attribute of Mercy. His name remains י־ה־ו־ה and all that this implies just as we find in Maleachi 3,6: כי אני ה׳ לא שניתי, "for I the merciful G'd have not changed, etc." G'd has made this plain also at the beginning of פרשת וארא where He told Moses אני…

Or HaChaim on Exodus 15:3:1

When the Torah speaks here of G’d’s “greatness, גדלו,” followed by His “strong hand, ידו החזקה,” and “His outstretched arm וזרועו הנטויה,” this is similar to what we read in 5,21. הן הראנו ה' אלו-הינו את כבודו ואת גדלו ואת ידו החזקה וזרועו הנטויה describes “His strong hand and outstretched arm, The word כבדו describes the “weak” manifestation of the attribute of Justice, a manifestation containing also part of the attribute of Mercy. This fact is underscored by use of the tetragramצשאםמ for G’d in that verse. It is as if the Torah had written 'כי בי-ה ה' a combination of Justice, i.e…

Rabbeinu Bahya, Devarim 11:2:5

A kabbalistic approach to this expression: the verse is a reference to the attribute of חסד, “loving kindness.” Seeing that attribute had failed to find within Sodom any deserving individuals who would enable it to become active on behalf of the town they lived in, this attribute now returned to its former place and left the field to the attribute of Justice. This is the mystical aspect of the words ויבאו שני המלאכים סדומה, “the two messengers (angels) arrived at Sodom (19,1).” Shortly afterwards (19,29), the Torah writes: ויהי בשחת אלוקים את ערי הככר, וג'…

Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 18:33:3

ה' איש מלחמה, ה' שמו, even though He at times appears as the איש מלחמה, the “Man” of war who destroys His foes by invoking the attribute of Justice, He is yet predominantly Hashem, the G’d Who practices mercy. It is this attribute of His which is responsible for the continued existence of all His creatures. When He destroys His foes, He is in effect removing weeds from the garden in order to enable the useful plants to survive and develop. The wicked are like the thorns and thistles in a vineyard.

Sforno on Exodus 15:3:1

מי כמכה באלים ה' מי כמכה נאדר בקדש, “Who is like You amongst the heavenly powers, who is like You majestic in holiness!” The additional letter ה both times at the end of the word כמך is an allusion to the attribute of Justice; the first one refers to the “weaker” attribute of Justice, this is why the letter כ at the beginning is weak,” i.e. without dagesh. This attribute is merely a conduit having received its input from the “strong” attribute of Justice. This is why the second word כמכה is spelled with the dagesh in the first letter as it describes the original attribute of Justice…

Rabbeinu Bahya, Shemot 15:11:1

A kabbalistic approach: We can gain a clearer picture of the sin of these sons of Aaron when noting that the Torah wrote: וישימו עליה, instead of writing וישימו עליהם, “they placed on it” instead of: “they placed on them.” [There had been two censers, each brother having entered with his own censer. Ed.] When you compare what the Torah writes in connection with the 250 men who offered incense (Numbers 16,18) you will find that the fire and incense is described with the words “they placed it on them, (the censers, plural)…

Rabbeinu Bahya, Vayikra 10:1:3

The story of Cain and Abel also makes clear that God’s providence is pervaded by the quality of mercy, and that He opens to the wicked the ways of repentance, as He opened them to Cain, when He said, If thou doest well, shall it not be lifted up? This is more than strict justice. For this reason the name God is not used in this story at all.

Sefer HaIkkarim, Maamar 1 11:12

ויגש אברהם ויאמר האף תספה, “Avraham approached and said: ‘Are you really going to destroy, etc.?” If you will take an analytical look at this paragraph you will observe that Avraham was under the impression that G’d wanted to destroy everybody and everything in these towns by employing the attribute of Justice. This is why he phrased his question as “are You really going to destroy the just together with the wicked, will You indeed destroy and not forgive the place?” The word תספה is not to be understood as in the second person i.e…

Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 18:23:1

AND ABRAHAM DREW NEAR AND SAID, WILT THOU ALSO SWEEP AWAY THE RIGHTEOUS WITH THE WICKED? The anger of the Holy One, blessed be He, is His attribute of justice. Now Abraham thought that this would sweep away the righteous with the wicked, not knowing of G-d’s thoughts in which He thought of them with His mercies, as I have explained. Therefore, Abraham said that it is proper and good that He should forgive the entire place because of the fifty righteous inhabitants, but it is inconceivable even according to the Divine attribute of Justice to slay the righteous with the wicked…

Ramban on Genesis 18:23:1

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