איוב, פרק ט״ו, פסוק י״ד

Human nature inherently prevents any person from achieving absolute perfection or standing completely faultless before the Creator. It is a fundamental mistake for anyone to believe they are so pure in their actions that they can accuse God of distorting justice or inflicting baseless punishment [מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ].

Human beings are defined by their frailty and limitations. A person simply lacks the power to win in a judgment against God or to prove their own righteousness in a divine trial [רש״י, אלשיך]. Furthermore, humanity suffers from a profound lack of understanding regarding God's ways. Because of this limited perspective, a person cannot even truly know what God requires of them to be found innocent in His presence [תקות אנוש].

While some commentators view humanity's natural birth as a simple repetition emphasizing this basic frailty [מצודת דוד], others find a deeper statement about the human existential condition. A person's physical origin ties them directly to the material world. By the very nature of human birth, an individual is bound to physical matter, drawn toward desires, and inevitably touched by sin. As a result, no one can ever be entirely free from wrongdoing. In this light, the suffering a person experiences is actually intended to cleanse them of these unavoidable flaws [מלבי״ם, אלשיך].

This physical reality creates a barrier on two distinct levels: internal purity and external justification. True innocence refers to a person's objective, internal merit within themselves, while being justified relates to how one is viewed externally by others or by a judge. Because individuals are born into a physical existence with natural weaknesses, they can never achieve true internal innocence, nor can they successfully present themselves as completely righteous in the eyes of anyone judging them [מלבי״ם].