In Judaism, yetzer hara (Hebrew: יֵצֶר הַרַע, for the definite “the Evil Inclination”), or yetzer ra (Hebrew: יֵצֶר רַע, for the indefinite “an evil inclination”) refers to the congenital inclination to do evil, by violating the will of God. The term is drawn from the phrase “the imagination of the heart of man [is] evil” (Hebrew: יֵצֶר לֵב הָאָדָם רַע , yetzer lev-ha-adam ra), which occurs twice in the Hebrew Bible, at Genesis 6:5 and 8:21. The Sages of the Talmud (Berakhot 32a) have spoken about the “Evil Inclination” in poignant terms, making a comparison to what it is like: “To what is it like, the Evil Inclination in man? It is like a father who takes his small son, bathes him, douses him with perfume, combs his hair, dresses him up in his finest accoutrements, feeds him, gives him drink, places a bag of money around his neck, and then goes off and puts his son at the front door of a brothel. What can the boy do that he not sin?”
The Evil Inclination in man, or what is often called man’s natural inclination, is well-defined in rabbinic literature. The yetzer hara is not a demonic force, but rather man’s internal urge to misuse things the physical body needs to survive. Thus, the need for food becomes gluttony due to the yetzer hara. The need for procreation becomes sexual abuse, and so on. The idea that humans are born with a yetzer ra (physical needs that can become “evil”), but that humans don’t acquire a yetzer tov (“a good inclination”) until an age of maturity—12 for girls and 13 for boys—has its source in Chapter 16 of the Talmudic tractate Avot de-Rabbi Natan.
The underlying principle in Jewish thought states that every man is born with both a good inclination and an evil inclination. This, in itself, is not bad, nor is it an abnormality. The problem, however, arises when one makes a willful choice to “cross over the line,” and seeks to gratify his “evil inclination,” based on the prototypical models of right and wrong in the Hebrew Bible.
To continue reading this Bible article, click here.
Author: Wikipedia
Keywords: Devil, Satan, Evil inclination, Yetzer hara, Yetzer ha Ra, Yetzer ha Rah, Diabolos, Satanas, yetser hara, Yetser ha ra, Yetzer, Yetser, Temptation, Evil urge, Evil desire, Jesus temptation, Jesus tempted, Tempted by the devil, Tempted by Satan, Jesus tempted by Satan, Jesus tempted by the devil, Christ tempted, Christ tempted by Satan, Christ tempted by the devil, Internal temptation, Wiles of the devil, Fallen angel, Lucifer, Rebel angel
Bible reference(s): 1 Corinthians 5:5, 1 Corinthians 7:5, 1 John 2:13-14, 1 John 3:10, 1 John 3:12, 1 John 3:8, 1 John 5:18-19, 1 Thessalonians 2:18, 1 Thessalonians 3:5, 1 Timothy 1:20, 1 Timothy 3:6-7, 1 Timothy 5:14-15, 2 Corinthians 11:14, 2 Corinthians 12:7, 2 Corinthians 2:11, 2 Corinthians 6:15, 2 Thessalonians 2:9, 2 Timothy 2:26, Acts 13:10, Acts 26:18, Acts 5:3, Deuteronomy 10:16, Ephesians 4:27, Ephesians 6:11, Ephesians 6:16, Ezekiel 36:26, Galatians 1:4, Genesis 1:31, Genesis 2:7, Genesis 6:1-4, Genesis 8:21, Hebrews 2:14, Isaiah 57:14, Isaiah 5:18, Jam 1:14, James 4:7, Job 1:12, Job 1:6-9, Job 2:1-4, Job 2:6-7, Joel 2:20, John 13:2, John 13:27, John 17:15, John 6:70, John 8:44, Jude 1:9, Luke 11:4, Luke 13:16, Luke 22:3, Luke 22:31, Luke 4:2-13, Luke 8:12, Mark 1:13, Mark 4:15, Matthew 13:19, Matthew 13:38, Matthew 16:23, Matthew 25:41, Matthew 4:1-11, Matthew 5:37, Matthew 6:13, Proverbs 25:21, Psalm 109:6, Psalms 51:10, Revelation 12:12, Revelation 12:9, Revelation 20:10, Revelation 20:2, Revelation 20:7, Revelation 2:13, Revelation 2:24, Revelation 2:9-10, Revelation 3:9, Romans 16:20, Zechariah 3:1-2
Source: This article uses material from the Wikipedia article “Yetzer hara,” which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.
Page indexed by: inWORD Bible Software.