תהלים, פרק י״ז, פסוק י׳

Powerful and wealthy individuals, deeply immersed in worldly pleasures and material abundance, often develop an internal numbness that ultimately leads to arrogant speech. The primary approach among commentators is that physical fatness represents this vast wealth, indulgence, and luxurious lifestyle. However, this very abundance soon becomes a barrier that traps them.

This blockage is understood in two complementary ways. The first focuses on spiritual and emotional blindness. The sheer weight of their wealth closes their hearts and eyes, preventing them from recognizing God's work in the world and stripping them of any fear of Heaven [רש״י, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. This overload of pleasure wraps around their inner thoughts, leaving them entirely self-absorbed and focused only on their own indulgence [אלשיך]. In their excessive comfort, they forget that they were merely appointed as guardians over the wealth given to them by God. Instead, they mistakenly believe this fortune belongs entirely to them, which drives them to demand honor they have not earned [חומת אנך].

The second perspective views this blockage in a more physical sense, directly tied to how they communicate. Swollen by their prosperity, these individuals are described as closing themselves off, yet speaking out of a deep sense of superiority and pride [רד״ק, מצודת דוד, מאירי]. Wrapped entirely within their own layers of luxury, their arrogant words emerge from the very core of their indulgence [אבן עזרא]. A uniquely vivid picture of this condition suggests that the mouths of the wicked are so stuffed and blocked by their own excess that their speech does not even seem to come from their lips. Rather, it is as if the thick layers of wealth surrounding them have taken on a life of their own, independently speaking words of arrogance [מלבי״ם].