Shelach 15:31 · unit 2 — apikoros and twisting the Torah

Parashas Shelach · Aliyah 6 · Passuk 31

The Complete Passuk

כִּ֤י דְבַר־יְהֹוָה֙ בָּזָ֔ה וְאֶת־מִצְוָת֖וֹ הֵפַ֑ר …

Because he has despised the word of Hashem…

Chabad.org — 15:31

Source Citation

Torah Temimah: Sanhedrin 99a — apikoros; one who reveals faces in the Torah not according to the law.

Sefaria — Sanhedrin 99a

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text
תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: ״כִּי דְבַר ה׳ בָּזָה״ — זֶה אֶפִּיקוֹרוֹס; דָּבָר אַחֵר: ״כִּי דְבַר ה׳ בָּזָה״ — זֶה הַמְּגַלֶּה פָּנִים בַּתּוֹרָה שֶׁלֹּא כַּהֲלָכָה.

English: Our Rabbis taught: “Because he has despised the word of Hashem” — this is an apikoros; alternatively: this is one who reveals faces in the Torah not according to the law.

Type of Learning

Heresy and willful misreading of Torah.

What Is Learned

Contempt for Hashem’s word includes both denial and distorting the Torah against the received law.