Sukkah 52b
 
R. Hana b. Abba stated: It was said at the schoolhouse, There are four things of which the Holy One, blessed be He, repents that He had created them, and they are the following: Exile, the Chaldeans, the Ishmaelites and Evil Inclination.

‘The Exile’, since it is written, Now, therefore, what do I here, says Hashem, seeing that My people is taken away for naught etc.;23 ‘the Chaldeans’, since it is written, Behold the land of the Chaldeans — this is the people that was not;24 ‘the Ishmaelites’, since it is written, The tents of the robbers25 prosper, and they that provoke G-d are secure since G-d brought them with His hand;26 ‘the Evil Inclination’, since it is written, [And I will gather her that is driven away] and her that I have afflicted.27

23) Yeshayahu 42:5
24) Ibid. 23:13; i.e., it were better if they had never existed.
25) Identified with the Arabs (Ishmaelites) who dwell all their lives in tents.
26) Iyov 12:6 E.V., ‘in whatsoever G-d brings into their hand’.
27) Micha. 4:6; by creating the Evil Inclination.

 

Back