And the earth was destroyed in front of Hashem and the earth was filled with theft.
The Ohr Hachaim asks multiple questions on this possuk.
1. The possuk in the previous parsha gives us a vivid detailed picture of the aveiros that the generation of the Mabul did. They would kidnap women to marry them against their will and the world was filled with injustice. The Torah already said (Bereishis 6:5) וַיַּרְ א ה' כִי רַבָׁה רָׁעַת הָׁאָׁדָׁם בָׁאָׁרֶּץ וְכָׁל יֵצֶּר מַחְשְׁבֹת לִבוֹ רַק רַע כָׁל הַיּוֹם – and Hashem saw that the evil of the humans was great in the earth, and all of the motivations for the thoughts of his heart were only evil all day. Why did the Torah have to repeat the aveiros that the world did? Of course, this parsha gives us another detail, where they were punished for the theft that they committed, something not mentioned in the previous parsha. But that just begs the question, why did the Torah separate the aveiros? Why not just mention the aveira of theft in the previous parsha and not mention anything here? What was the purpose of bringing the entire story back to life, with the addition of the aveira of theft.
2. The Ohr Hachaim also asks, why does the Torah in last week’s Parsha, when mentioning the aveiros that they committed, use the name הוי"ה, which is His name of compassion? In this week’s Parsha the Torah uses the name אלוקים, which is His name of judgment. Is our Parsha’s name not more appropriate?
3. The Ohr Hachaim asks a third question. Why does the next possuk say וַיַּרְ א א לוקים אֶּת הָׁאָׁרֶּץ וְהִנֵה נִשְׁחָׁתָׁה כִי הִשְׁחִית כָׁל בָׁשָׁר אֶּת דַרְ כוֹ עַל הָׁאָׁרֶּץ – And Hashem saw the earth and it was destroyed, because all flesh had destroyed its path on the earth? Does Hashem not know everything? What is the purpose of telling us that He knew this?
The Mishna (Avos 4:11) says רַבִי א לִיעֶּזֶּר בֶּן יַעֲקֹב אוֹמֵר, הָׁעוֹשֶּה מִצִוָׁה אַ חַת, קוֹנֶּה לוֹ פְרַקְלִיט אֶּחָׁד. וְהָׁעוֹבֵר עֲבֵרָׁה אַחַת, קוֹנֶּה לוֹ קַטֵיגוֹר אֶּחָׁד. תְ שׁוּבָׁה – Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov said, someone who does one mitzva has acquired a defending counsel for himself, and someone who transgresses one aveira has acquired an accusing counsel for himself. When a person does an aveira, an accusatory force is created, that can come and punish the person for his acitons. However, Hashem prevents this force from acting until He has judged the person. One of Hashem’s middos of compassion is נֹשֵא עָׁוֹן – He carries the aveira. This means that until the decision has been made to punish the person for his aveira, Hashem is the One who ‘carries’ and supports the accusing angel. When Hashem decides to punish a person, it is that force that goes and demands its support and life from the one who created it, and the person suffers until he has performed teshuva and removed the force from existence. The Ohr Hachaim often quotes the words of the Navi (Yirmiya 2:19) תְיַסְרֵךְ רָׁעָׁתֵךְ – may your evil rebuke you. The evil itself is the rebuking force, as a creation of the person who has sinned.
Even though Hashem prevents this force from action, not allowing it to damage the person who has created it, there are occasions when its complaints and claims are too great to ignore. Even if the person has not undergone judgment, the aveira is so obvious, great, and terrible, that there is no way for it not to act.
This is the meaning of the possuk וַתִשָׁ חֵת הָׁאָׁרֶּץ לִפְנֵי הָׁא לוֹקים – and the earth was destroyed before (meaning prior to) E-lohim – the Divine trait of justice. Before their judgment could be decided and the decree handed down, the world was in such a state of destruction thanks to their aveira, until even the earth itself was degraded and destroyed through the ruthless force of the aveiros being done.
In truth, the Torah should first have told us about the theft and corruption that took place, and only afterwards about the destruction of the earth. This possuk writes it the other way around – first, וַתִשָׁ חֵת הָׁאָׁרֶּץ לִפְנֵי הָׁא לוקים and then, וַתִמָׁלֵא הָׁאָׁרֶּץ חָׁמָׁס. The Ohr Hachaim explains that this corruption that filled the world was a product of the destruction of the beginning of the possuk. Even though no judgment had been issued, the world became so terrible that it filled with corruption. The Medrash (Bereishis Rabbah 31:6) explains that the word חָּמָּס includes theft, adultery, and murder. Hashem ‘carried’ their aveira, until it became too heavy to carry. The aveira itself demanded its due, and there was no time to wait any more.
Last week’s parsha tells us that they did aveiros and that Hashem was upset. But He was willing to carry the world for longer. Although Hashem had decided in last week’s Parsha to destroy humanity, He could have overturned His decree and ameliorated it with compassion. However, because the world had degraded so far that it did not allow Him to carry it any more, a new decree had to be issued, and the world had to be destroyed.
(In the later pessukim, the Ohr Hachaim explains how Hashem prevented Noach from persuading the world to do teshuva. He did not wish to ameliorate this decree, because the world had degraded too far for that.)
