Question: What happens if a person has exactly half merit and half liability?

R. Yosi ben Chaninah: Hash-m "bears sin'' i.e. lifts the side of liability (thereby tipping the scales toward merit).

Question (R. Abahu): If so, the pasuk should have said, "he bear sins'' - why does it say "bears sin''? To teach that He grabs away one of his sins, thereby tipping the scales to the side of merit.

Question (R. Elazar): The pasuk states (Tehilim 62, 13), "And To You, Hash-m, is kindness, as you pay a man according to his deeds''. (Why is that referred to as kindness?)

Answer: If the person does not have merit, You give him of Your own.

And this is the opinion of R. Elazar who said that "He is great of kindness'' teaches that Hash-m tips the scales to the side of kindness.

Question (R. Yirmiyah/ R. Shmuel bar Rav Yitzchak): The pasuk states (Mishlei 13, 6), "Charity will guard one who is upright in his way, and evil will corrupt the sinner.'' (ibid, pasuk 21), "Evil pursues the sinners and the righteous will be rewarded with good''. (Shmuel 1, 2, 9), "He guards the steps of his pious ones and the evil are silenced in the darkness etc.'' (Mishlei 3, 34-35), "If (drawn) to the scoffers, he shall scoff, and if (drawn) to the humble, he will find favor. The wise inherit honor and the fools bring about disgrace.'' Where there is already a fence, they add more. Where there is a breach, the breach grows. This is learned from the following....

R. Yirmiyah citing R. Shmuel bar Rav Yitzchak: If a person guards himself from a sin once, twice and a third time, Hash-m will then guard him from the transgression. (The understanding of the earlier statement is that when a person made fences for himself, Hash-m will come and add an additional fence.)

Question: What is the source for this?

Answer: The pasuk states (Iyov 33, 29), "Behold, Hash-m does these things with a man, two or three times.'' i.e. after a person guards himself two or three times, Hash-m guards him.

R. Zeira: This is only true when the person does not return to his bad ways, as the pasuk states (Koheles 4, 12), "...and a three-ply thread is not easily snapped''. The pasuk did not say "cannot be snapped'' - this teaches that if a person repeatedly sins, the 'thread' (of protection from sin) can snap.

R. Chuna citing R. Abahu: Hash-m does not forget but in regards to Yisrael, it is as if He does forget.

Question: Where do we find this?

Answer: The pasuk states (Michah 7, 18), "Who is a G-d like you, who bears iniquity and overlooks transgression'' - the pasuk writes the word "noseh'' without the letter "vav'' and is understood as if it said "nasha'', which means to forget.

This is also found in the pasuk about King David (Tehilim 85, 3), "You bore the iniquity of Your people, You have covered all of their sin, Selah!''. The word "Nasasah'' is understood as "Nashasah'', meaning that you have 'forgotten' one sin, thereby allowing the scales to tip to the side of merit.