The Evil Inclination

"I make peace, and create evil; I am the LORD, that doeth all these things."

" עֹשֶׂה שָׁלוֹם וּבוֹרֵא רָע; אֲנִי יְהוָה, עֹשֶׂה כָל-אֵלֶּה."
Isaiah 45:7

The Evil Inclination, Yetzer hara in Hebrew, is a term in Judaism that refers
to the temptation to do evil and to disobey and ignore God's will.

In Judaism the evil inclination is internal and it has its balance, the good inclination. Every man has a yetzer hara, Evil inclination, and a Yetzer tov, good inclination. In order to be able to freely choose goodness and righteousness, we must have the freedom to choose evil, as well. God has created both good and evil and they are not separate powers.
According to the Talmud, every day the Evil inclination of a person overcomes him and seeks to kill him. The Yezer ha-ra is created in man at birth.

The idea of Yetzer hara can also be found in the Bible. Genesis 8:21-
" וַיָּרַח יְהוָה, אֶת-רֵיחַ הַנִּיחֹחַ, וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל-לִבּוֹ לֹא-אֹסִף לְקַלֵּל עוֹד אֶת-הָאֲדָמָה בַּעֲבוּר הָאָדָם, כִּי יֵצֶר לֵב הָאָדָם רַע מִנְּעֻרָיו; וְלֹא-אֹסִף עוֹד לְהַכּוֹת אֶת-כָּל-חַי, כַּאֲשֶׁר עָשִׂיתִי."

" And the LORD smelled the sweet savour; and the LORD said in His heart: 'I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done."

The Evil Inclination has seven names as follows:
God called it Evil
Moses called it the Uncircumcised
David called it Unclean
King Solomon called it the Enemy
Isaiah called it the Stumbling-Block
Ezekiel called it Stone
Joel called it the Hidden One
As we can see, there is no good without evil and the other way around.
The choice is ours...

Main phrases of the post + transcription + translation

Hebrew     Transcription    Translation
נֶחְבָּא         Nehbā'             The hidden one
אוֹיֵב           'ōyēb               Enemy
עָרֵל           'ārēl                Uncircumcised
יֵצֶר הַטּוֹב    Yētser hattōb   The good inclination
יֵצֶר הָרַע      Yētser hāra'      The evil inclination

Eli@eteachergroup.com