401. RabbiYehuda opened the discussion with the verse: "Or if his sin, wherein he has sinned, comes to his knowledge (lit. 'cause him to know his sin')" (Vayikra 4:23). HE ASKS, "cause him" from which side, WHO SHOULD CAUSE HIM TO KNOW? It should have said, 'or if he knew his sin,' why "cause him to know?" HE ANSWERS, The Holy One, blessed be He, ordered the Congregation of Yisrael to inform a man of the sin he committed. With what does she inform him? With her punishment, as written, "The heaven shall reveal his iniquity; and the earth shall rise up against him" (Iyov 20:27). THE MEANING OF "cause him to know" is like that of someone ordering another TO INFORM HIM, AS IT IS WRITTEN IN THE IMPERATIVE; NAMELY, HE ORDERS MALCHUT TO INFORM HIM.
402. We learned that when a man sins before the Holy One, blessed be He, yet does not care for his sin to repent about it before the Holy One, blessed be He, but throws it behind his shoulder, his very soul rises and testifies before the Holy One, blessed be He. The King commands the Congregation of Yisrael, saying, "cause him to know his sin, wherein he has sinned" NAMELY send him punishments and let him know his sin, as in the verse: "Cause Jerusalem to know her abominations" (Yechezkel 16:2). IN WHICH 'CAUSE TO KNOW' IS IN THE IMPERATIVE.
403. When Judgment reaches him, his spirit awakes to do penance before his Master. He is humbled and brings an offering, for he of a proud heart sins and forgets his sin and does not mind it. The Holy One, blessed be He, therefore is ready for him and orders to cause him to know his sin, so that he shall not forget it.
404. Rabbi Yosi said, Assuredly this is so. We have seen in David that after he did the deed by Bathseba, he did not pay attention to it. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: You have forgotten it, I shall remind you of it. Straight away, it is written, "You are the man. Thus, says Hashem the El of Yisrael" (II Shmuel 12:7). You are the man who did not remember the sin, you are the man who forgot it. With what did he inform him? Using Judgment.
405. The Holy One, blessed be He, also said, "Cause him to know his sin, wherein he has sinned" (Vayikra 4:23). These words are true and it is so, for it is not written, 'Or if it be known to him,' as in "or if it be known that the ox has long been in the habit of goring" (Shemot 21:36). Whoever rises up at night to study the Torah, the Torah informs him of his sin. It is not harsh punishment, but as a mother who tells her child with soothing words. And he does not forget but repents before his Master.
406. You may say that David used to rise at midnight. Why did they come on him? TO LET HIM KNOW HIS SIN through punishment? HE ANSWERS, David is different because he sinned against that to which he was attached, NAMELY MALCHUT, and which required punishment. So he was judged according to his sin. For he sinned against the holy Malchut TO WHICH HE WAS ATTACHED, BEING HER CHARIOT, and holy Jerusalem, WHICH CORRESPONDS TO MALCHUT. He was therefore expelled from Jerusalem and his kingdom was taken from him, until he made amends AND properly REPENTED.
407. Rabbi Yehuda said, Why did the Holy One, blessed be He, punish David through his son, as written, "Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house" (II Shmuel 12:11)? Rabbi Yosi said, We explained that the reason for this is when another man will rise against him, he will take no pity on him. He said to him: But Absalom wished to kill his father with evil counsels more than any other man. He said to him: I have not heard this.
408. He said to him: I heard that David sinned with a Bathseba, THE SECRET OF MALCHUT. The Holy One, blessed be He, said, Let a son of a daughter of a foreign El come and take revenge. Who is this? It is Absalom, who was the son of a good-looking woman taken prisoner during the war. From this, we learned that whoever takes such a woman at war and covets her, a disloyal and defiant child issues from her in the end. Why? Because the filth has not yet been stopped from him, as we have already explained.