Chronological timeline of texts tagged with The Two Yetzers
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The concept of the two inclinations, the “yetzer ha-tov” (the good inclination) and the “yetzer ha-ra” (the evil inclination), is most fully developed in Rabbinic theology, where it plays a central role in understanding the internal moral struggle. These ideas also appear in earlier Jewish literature from the intertestamental period, such as the Dead Sea Scrolls and Sirach, and are also referred to in the New Testament, where similar internal tensions are discussed.
Note: Dates shown in this timeline are approximate and based on scholarly estimates.
Back to Tag5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
Genesis 2:7
Hebrew Bible
6 Springs would well up from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground. 7 The Lord God formed the man from the soil of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. 8 The Lord God planted an orchard in the east, in Eden; and there he placed the man he had formed.
5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
Genesis 4:7
Hebrew Bible
6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why is your expression downcast? 7 Is it not true that if you do what is right, you will be fine? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. It desires to dominate you, but you must subdue it.” 8 Cain spoke to his brother Abel.21 While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
195-175 B.C.E.
Sirach 15:14
Deuterocanon
11 Do not say, "It was the Lord's doing that I fell away"; for he does not do what he hates. 12 Do not say, "It was he who led me astray"; for he has no need of the sinful. 13 The Lord hates all abominations; such things are not loved by those who fear him. 14 It was he who created humankind in the beginning, and he left them in the power of their own free choice. 15 If you choose, you can keep the commandments, and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice. 16 He has placed before you fire and water; stretch out your hand for whichever you choose.
54-55 C.E.
Galatians 5:9
New Testament
5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we wait expectantly for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision carries any weight—the only thing that matters is faith working through love. 7 You were running well; who prevented you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion does not come from the one who calls you! 9 A little yeast makes the whole batch of dough rise! 10 I am confident in the Lord that you will accept no other view. But the one who is confusing you will pay the penalty, whoever he may be. 11 Now, brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed.
55-58 C.E.
Romans 7:1
New Testament
1 Or do you not know, brothers and sisters (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law is lord over a person as long as he lives? 2 For a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of the marriage. 3 So then, if she is joined to another man while her husband is alive, she will be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she is joined to another man, she is not an adulteress. 4 So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you could be joined to another, to the one who was raised from the dead, to bear fruit to God. 5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful desires, aroused by the law, were active in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we have been released from the law, because we have died to what controlled us, so that we may serve in the new life of the Spirit and not under the old written code.
55-58 C.E.
Romans 7:5
New Testament
4 So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you could be joined to another, to the one who was raised from the dead, to bear fruit to God. 5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful desires, aroused by the law, were active in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we have been released from the law, because we have died to what controlled us, so that we may serve in the new life of the Spirit and not under the old written code. 7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! Certainly, I would not have known sin except through the law. For indeed I would not have known what it means to desire something belonging to someone else if the law had not said, “Do not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of wrong desires. For apart from the law, sin is dead.
55-58 C.E.
Romans 7:7
New Testament
5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful desires, aroused by the law, were active in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we have been released from the law, because we have died to what controlled us, so that we may serve in the new life of the Spirit and not under the old written code. 7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! Certainly, I would not have known sin except through the law. For indeed I would not have known what it means to desire something belonging to someone else if the law had not said, “Do not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of wrong desires. For apart from the law, sin is dead. 9 And I was once alive apart from the law, but with the coming of the commandment, sin became alive 10 and I died. So I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life brought death! 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it I died.
55-58 C.E.
Romans 7:8
New Testament
7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! Certainly, I would not have known sin except through the law. For indeed I would not have known what it means to desire something belonging to someone else if the law had not said, “Do not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of wrong desires. For apart from the law, sin is dead. 9 And I was once alive apart from the law, but with the coming of the commandment, sin became alive 10 and I died. So I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life brought death! 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it I died. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good.
55-58 C.E.
Romans 7:10
New Testament
7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! Certainly, I would not have known sin except through the law. For indeed I would not have known what it means to desire something belonging to someone else if the law had not said, “Do not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of wrong desires. For apart from the law, sin is dead. 9 And I was once alive apart from the law, but with the coming of the commandment, sin became alive 10 and I died. So I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life brought death! 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it I died. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good.
55-58 C.E.
Romans 7:11
New Testament
7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! Certainly, I would not have known sin except through the law. For indeed I would not have known what it means to desire something belonging to someone else if the law had not said, “Do not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of wrong desires. For apart from the law, sin is dead. 9 And I was once alive apart from the law, but with the coming of the commandment, sin became alive 10 and I died. So I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life brought death! 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it I died. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good.
55-57 C.E.
1 Corinthians 5:6
New Testament
1 It is actually reported that sexual immorality exists among you, the kind of immorality that is not permitted even among the Gentiles, so that someone is cohabiting with his father’s wife. 2 And you are proud! Shouldn’t you have been deeply sorrowful instead and removed the one who did this from among you? 3 For even though I am absent physically, I am present in spirit. And I have already judged the one who did this, just as though I were present. 4 When you gather together in the name of our Lord Jesus, and I am with you in spirit, along with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5 hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. 6 Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast affects the whole batch of dough? 7 Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch of dough—you are, in fact, without yeast. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 So then, let us celebrate the festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of vice and evil, but with the bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.
70-90 C.E.
Matthew 6:13
New Testament
9 So pray this way: “Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored, 10 may your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors. 13 And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. 14 “For if you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive you your sins.
80-90 C.E.
James 1:14
New Testament
13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each one is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires. 15 Then when desire conceives, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is full grown, it gives birth to death. 16 Do not be led astray, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 All generous giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change. 18 By his sovereign plan he gave us birth through the message of truth, that we would be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
90-110 C.E.
John 8:34
New Testament
33 “We are descendants of Abraham,” they replied, “and have never been anyone’s slaves! How can you say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “I tell you the solemn truth, everyone who practices sin is a slave of sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the family forever, but the son remains forever. 36 So if the son sets you free, you will be really free.
300-1200 C.E.
Pseudo Jonathan Genesis 2:7
Targum
6 But a cloud of glory came down from beneath the throne of glory, and was filled with water from the ocean, went up again from the earth, and sent rain down and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 The Lord God created Adam with two inclinations. And He took dust from the site of the sanctuary and from the four winds of the world, and a mixture of all the waters of the world, and created him red, black, and white. And He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the breath became in the body of Adam a spirit capable of speech, to give light to the eyes and to give hearing to the ears. 8 Before the creation of the world, a garden had been planted by the Memra of the Lord God from Eden for the righteous, and He made Adam dwell there when He created him.
300-600 C.E.
Neofiti Genesis 4:7
Targum
6 And the Lord said to Cain: “Why, I pray, are you displeased and why has your countenance changed? 7 Surely, if you make your work in this world to be good, you will be remitted and pardoned in the world to come; but if you do not make your work in this world to be good, your sin will be kept for the day of great judgment; and at the door of your heart your sin crouches. Into your hands, however, I have given the control over the evil inclination and you shall rule it, whether to remain just or to sin.” 8 And Cain said to Abel his brother: “Come! Let the two of us go out into the open field.” And when the two of them had gone out into the open field, Cain answered and said to Abel: “I perceive that the world was not created by mercy and that it is not being conducted according to the fruits of good words, and that there is favoritism in judgment. Why was your offering received favorably and my offering was not received favorably from me?” Abel answered and said to Cain: “I perceive that the world was created by mercy and that it is being conducted according to the fruits of good words. And because my works were better than yours, my offering was received from me favorably and yours was not received favorably from you.” Cain answered and said to Abel: “There is no judgment, and there is no judge and there is no other world. There is no giving of good reward to the just nor is vengeance exacted of the wicked.” Abel answered and said to Cain: “There is judgment, and there is a judge, and there is another world. And there is giving of good reward to the just and vengeance is exacted of the wicked in the world to come.” Concerning this matter the two of them were disputing in the open field. And Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.
375-425 C.E.
Jerusalem Yoma 6.4
Rabbinic
“At each hut one tells him, here is food, here is water.” In order to strengthen him. Why? For the evil inclination desires only what is forbidden to him. As the following: Rebbi Mana went to visit Rebbi Haggai who was weak On the Day of Atonement. He told him, I am thirsty; he answered him, drink. R. Haggai was very old at this moment, having been a student of R. Zeˋira, the teacher of R. Jeremiah, the teacher of R. Jonah, father and teacher of R. Mana. He left him and went away. After an hour he visited him and asked him, how is your thirst? He told him, the moment you permitted me it went away. Rebbi Ḥiyya bar Abba told the following case: A man was walking in public On the Day of Atonement. with his daughter. His daughter said to him, my father, I am thirsty. He said to her, wait a little bit. She said to him, my father, I am thirsty. He said to her, wait a little bit, and she died. When Rebbi Aḥa finished the musaf prayer88On the Day of Atonement. he said before them His congregants., our brothers, he who has small children should leave because of them91To feed them and give them to drink. Since little children are not required to fast, permitting them to drink would not quell their thirst; they actually have to be given to drink.
450-550 C.E.
Berakhot 60b
Rabbinic
The Gemara proceeds to cite additional blessings recited as part of one’s daily routine. One who enters to sleep on his bed recites Shema in his bed from Shema Yisrael to VeHaya Im Shamoa. Then he recites: Blessed…Who makes the bands of sleep fall upon my eyes and slumber upon my eyelids, and illuminates the pupil of the eye. May it be Your will, O Lord my God, that You make me lie down in peace and give me my portion in Your Torah, accustom me to mitzvot and do not accustom me to transgression, lead me not into error, nor into iniquity, nor into temptation nor into disgrace. May the good inclination have dominion over me and may the evil inclination not have dominion over me. Save me from an evil mishap and evil diseases. Let neither bad dreams nor troubling thoughts disturb me. May my bed be flawless before You, that my progeny should not be flawed. Enlighten my eyes in the morning lest I sleep the sleep of death, never to awaken. Blessed are You, O Lord, Who gives light to the whole world in His glory.
450-550 C.E.
Berakhot 17a
Rabbinic
After his prayer, Rabbi Alexandri said the following: May it be Your will, Lord our God, that You station us in a lighted corner and not in a darkened corner, and do not let our hearts become faint nor our eyes dim. Some say that this was the prayer that Rav Hamnuna would recite, and that after Rabbi Alexandri prayed, he would say the following: Master of the Universe, it is revealed and known before You that our will is to perform Your will, and what prevents us? On the one hand, the yeast in the dough, the evil inclination that is within every person; and the subjugation to the kingdoms on the other. May it be Your will that You will deliver us from their hands, of both the evil inclination and the foreign kingdoms, so that we may return to perform the edicts of Your will with a perfect heart.
450-550 C.E.
Shabbat 30a
Rabbinic
The Gemara relates: This question was asked before Rabbi Tanḥum from the village of Nevi: What is the ruling with regard to extinguishing a burning lamp before a sick person on Shabbat? The Gemara relates that Rabbi Tanḥum delivered an entire homily touching upon both aggadic and halakhic materials surrounding this question. He began and said: You, King Solomon, where is your wisdom, where is your understanding? Not only do your statements contradict the statements of your father David, but your statements even contradict each other. Your father David said: “The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence” (Psalms 115:17); and you said: “And I praised the dead that are already dead more than the living that are yet alive” (Ecclesiastes 4:2). And then again you said: “For a living dog is better than a dead lion” (Ecclesiastes 9:4). These are different assessments of life and death. He resolved the contradictions in the following manner: This is not difficult. That which David said: “The dead praise not the Lord,” this is what he is saying: A person should always engage in Torah and mitzvot before he dies, as once he is dead he is idle from Torah and mitzvot and there is no praise for the Holy One, Blessed be He, from him. And that is what Rabbi Yoḥanan said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “Set free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom You remember no more” (Psalms 88:6)? When a person dies he then becomes free of Torah and mitzvot.
450-550 C.E.
Yoma 72b
Rabbinic
Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “And this is the Torah which Moses put [sam] before the children of Israel” (Deuteronomy 4:44)? The word sam is written with the letter sin and means put; it is phonetically similar to the word sam written with the letter samekh, meaning a drug. This use of this word therefore alludes to the following: If one is deserving, the Torah becomes a potion [sam] of life for him. If one is not deserving, the Torah becomes a potion of death for him. And this idea is what Rava said: For one who is skillful in his study of Torah and immerses himself in it with love, it is a potion of life; but for one who is not skillful in his studies, it is a potion of death.
450-550 C.E.
Sukkah 52b
Rabbinic
Rava said: Initially, the verse called the evil inclination a traveler coming from afar. Subsequently, the verse calls it a guest, as one welcomes it. Ultimately, the verse calls it man, indicating significance, as it became the homeowner. As it is stated in the parable of the poor man’s lamb that Nathan the prophet said to David: “And there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was reluctant to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to prepare for the guest” (II Samuel 12:4). And it is written in the same verse: “And he took the poor man’s lamb, and prepared it for the man that was come to him.” In other words, the evil inclination that began as a traveler gradually rose in prominence.
450-550 C.E.
Chagigah 16a
Rabbinic
Apropos this Sage, the Gemara cites another statement of his: Rabbi Yehuda, son of Rabbi Naḥmani, the disseminator of Reish Lakish, interpreted a verse homiletically: What is the meaning of that which is written: “Trust not in a companion, do not put your confidence in an intimate friend” (Micah 7:5)? If the evil inclination says to you: Sin, and the Holy One, Blessed be He, will forgive, do not trust it, since it is stated: “Trust not in a companion [rei’a].” And rei’a is referring to none other than the evil [ra] inclination, as it is stated: “For the inclination of the heart of man is evil [ra]” (Genesis 8:21).
500 C.E.
Genesis Rabbah 22
Rabbinic
Another interpretation: if you do good I forgive all your sins, and if not, the sin of that same man is heaped to excess. Rabbi Berachia in the name of Rabbi Shime'on the son of Ami said: Of David, a maskil, happy is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is pardoned.' (Ps. 22:1) - Happy is the person who is higher/greater from his sin, and whose sin is not higher/greater than him, as it says 'sin crouches at the door.' It is not written here 'she crouches' [chatat is feminine] but 'he crouches' - in the beginning the sin is weak like a lady, and after it strengthens as a male. Said Rabbi Akiva: in the beginning it looks like a thread of a spider, and at the end it becomes like the rope of a boat, since it is written: 'Oy to those who draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and as the ropes of a cart, sin' (Isaiah 5:18). Said Rabbi Itzchak: at first it makes itself a guest, and later becomes the master of the house, since it is written: '[And there came a traveler to the rich man] and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man' - here is the guest - 'that had come to him, but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that had come to him.' (II Sam. 12:4) - this is the master of the house.
500 C.E.
Genesis Rabbah 9:7
Rabbinic
Rabbi Nahman said in Rabbi Samuel's name: ‘Behold, it was good’ refers to the Good Desire; ‘And behold, it was very good’ refers to the Evil Desire. (It only says ‘very good’ after man was created with both the good and bad inclinations, in all other cases it only says ‘and God saw that it was good.’) Can then the Evil Desire be very good? That would be extraordinary! But without the Evil Desire, however, no man would build a house, take a wife, and beget children; and thus said Solomon: ‘Again, I considered all labour and all excelling in work, that it is a man's rivalry with his neighbor.’
500 C.E.
Genesis Rabbah 14:4
Rabbinic
... Said the Holy One: If I create him from the upper ones [alone] he lives and won’t die [in this world]; from the lower ones, he dies [in this world] and won’t live [in the coming world]. Wayyiyzer: two formations, the good and the evil. For if an animal possessed two [such] formations, it would die of fright on seeing a man holding a knife to kill it. But surely a man does possess these two faculties! Said R. Hanina b. Idi: He bound up the spirit of man within him (Zechariah 12:1); for if that were not so, whenever a trouble came upon him he would remove and cast it from him.
700-950 C.E.
Ruth Rabbah 3
Rabbinic
This is what the scripture says: 'Small and great alike are there, and the slave is free of his master'. Rabbi Simon said: 'this is one of four verses which are like to one another. 'Small and great alike are there': this is the world, who is small is able to be made great and who is great is able to be made small, but in the one that is going to come, who is small will not be able to be made great and who is great will not be able to be made small. 'And the slave is free of his master': this is the one who does the will of his creator (yotzer) but displeases his yetzer (inclination); death becomes his freedom, as it is said 'And the slave is free of his master'. Rabbi Meyasha son of Bereh of Rabbi Joshua was insensate for three days because he was sick, and after the three days his sense revived itself, and his father said to him 'where were you?'.
1050-1100 C.E.
Siddur Ashkenaz
Rabbinic
Blessed are You, Adonoy our God, King of the Universe, Who removes sleep from my eyes and slumber from my eyelids. And may it be Your will Adonoy, our God And God of our fathers, to make us study Torah regularly, and hold fast to Your commandments. Do not bring us into the grasp of sin, nor into the grasp of transgression or iniquity. Do not cause us to be tested, or brought to disgrace. Let us not be ruled over by the Evil Inclination. Keep us far from an evil person, and from an evil companion. Make us hold fast to the Good Inclination, and to good deeds, and compel our Evil Inclination to be subservient to You. Grant us this day and every day favor, kindness, and compassion9 in Your eyes and in the eyes of all who see us, and bestow bountiful kindness upon us, Blessed are You, Adonoy, Who bestows bountiful kindness upon His people Israel.
1200 C.E.
Exodus Rabbah 5
Rabbinic
'And God said to Aharon, 'Go to meet Moshe in the wilderness'': This is that which is written (Job 37:5), 'God thunders wonders with His voice' - what is it that he thunders? When the Holy One, blessed be He, gave the Torah at Sinai, He showed wonders of wonders to Israel. How is it? The Holy One, blessed be He would speak and the voice would go out and travel the whole world: Israel would hear the voice coming to them from the South and they would run to the South to meet the voice; and from the South, it would switch for them to the North, and they would all run to the North; and from the North, it would switch to the East, and they would run to the East; and from the East, it would switch to the West, and they would run to the West; and from the West, it would switch [to be] from the heavens, and they would suspend their eyes [to the heavens], and it would switch [to be] in the earth, and they would stare at the earth, as it is stated (Deuteronomy 4:36), 'From the Heavens did He make you hear His voice, to discipline you.' And Israel would say one to the other, 'And wisdom, from where can it be found' (Job 28:12). And Israel would say, from where is the Holy One, blessed be He, coming, from the East or from the South? As it is stated (Deuteronomy 33:2), 'The Lord came from Sinai, and shone from Seir (in the East) to them'; and it is written (Habakuk 3:3), 'And God will come from Teiman (in the South).' And it is stated (Exodus 20:15), 'And all the people saw the sounds (literally, voices)' - it is not written, 'sound,' here, but rather, 'sounds.' Rabbi Yochanan said, 'The voice would go out and divide into seventy voices for the seventy languages, so that all the nations would hear. And each and every nation would hear in the language of the nation and their souls would depart. But Israel would hear and they were not injured.' How did the voice go out? Rabbi Tanchuma said, 'It would come go with two faces; [one] would kill the idolaters who did not accept it, and [one] would give life to Israel that did accept it.'