18:9 - Passive Destruction

משלי יח:ט

גַּם מִתְרַפֶּה בִמְלַאכְתּוֹ אָח הוּא לְבַעַל מַשְׁחִית:

Mishlei 18:9 – Passive Destruction

Even one who is lax in his work is a brother to the master of destruction.

There are two types of destroyers: the “master of destruction,” who actively and intentionally causes destruction, and the “brother of the master of destruction,” who passively and unintentionally causes destruction. This pasuk highlights the fact that even one who is lax in his work causes destruction, insofar as the quality of his work suffers. The person who is lax in his work is often blind to (or rationalizes) his destructiveness because he can still define himself as “a worker” and convince himself and others that he is “working.” Perhaps, for this reason, the pasuk doesn’t merely identify the consequences of his behavior, but presents these consequences as a label, as if to say, “No – contrary to what you would like to think, you are not a worker, but a destroyer.”