The Lord protects the simple is a phrase from a verse in the Hebrew Bible

Hebrew Bible

The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...

. In Judaism

Judaism

Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

, the phrase has both a plain meaning and another meaning due to rabbinic exegesis

Midrash

The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....

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From Psalms

In Psalm 116, verse six states: "The Lord protects the simple, I was brought low and he saved me." According to the plain meaning of this verse, the Psalmist is expressing confidence and gratitude to the divine. This verse (and Psalm) are recited in the liturgical thanksgiving prayer, the Hallel

Hallel

Hallel is a Jewish prayer—a verbatim recitation from Psalms 113–118, which is used for praise and thanksgiving that is recited by observant Jews on Jewish holidays.-Holy days:...

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Rabbinic tradition

In the rabbinic tradition, this verse takes on an entirely different and quite important meaning. The verse represents a principle of Jewish law (halakha

Halakha

Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...

) that permits people to assume various low-level risks and dangers. Risk may be taken because, as the verse states, the deity protects people who are "simple" . In Jewish ethics

Jewish ethics

Jewish ethics stands at the intersection of Judaism and the Western philosophical tradition of ethics. Like other types of religious ethics, the diverse literature of Jewish ethics primarily aims to answer a broad range of moral questions and, hence, may be classified as a normative ethics...

 and law, the principle of "The Lord protects the simple" has been applied at times to permit cigarette smoking

Jewish law and history on smoking

This article addresses the history of, and Halakha that applies to, tobacco and cigarette smoking by Jews from the early modern period to the present day...

, circumcision

Circumcision

Male circumcision is the surgical removal of some or all of the foreskin from the penis. The word "circumcision" comes from Latin and ....

 at inauspicious moments, bloodletting

Bloodletting

Bloodletting is the withdrawal of often little quantities of blood from a patient to cure or prevent illness and disease. Bloodletting was based on an ancient system of medicine in which blood and other bodily fluid were considered to be "humors" the proper balance of which maintained health...

, unprotected intercourse for women perceived to be at risk, and such superstition

Superstition

Superstition is a belief in supernatural causality: that one event leads to the cause of another without any process in the physical world linking the two events....

s as the marriage of a woman whose previous two husbands had died ("isha katlanit

Isha Katlanit

Isha katlanit is a term used in halakha for a married woman who has become a widow twice. Such a woman, it is said, should not marry again, because marrying her carries the risk that her next husband may also die The origin of this rule is...

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