Zohar, Lech Lecha 1

1R. Abba introduced this portion with a discourse on the text: Hearken to me, ye obstinate of heart who are far from righteousness (Is. 46, 12). He said: ‘How obstinate is the heart of sinners who see the paths and ways of the Torah and pay no heed to them, but harden their hearts and do not return in repentance to their Master, wherefore they are called “obstinate of heart”. Also “far from righteousness”, because they keep themselves far from the Torah.

2R. Hizkiah says, that it is because they keep themselves far from God; they refuse to draw near to God and therefore they are far from righteousness. And because they are far from righteousness, therefore they are far from peace, and they have no peace, as it is written. “There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked” (Is. 48, 22). The reason is that they are far from righteousness.

3See now, Abraham sought to draw near to God, and he succeeded. So it is written, “Thou didst love righteousness and hate wickedness” (Ps. 45, 8), and it is further written, “Abraham who loves me” (Is. 41, 8), i.e. Abram is said to have “loved God” because he loved righteousness; this was Abram’s love of God, in which he excelled all his contemporaries, who were obstinate of heart and far from righteousness, as has been said.’