"Pay homage in good faith, lest He be angered, and your way be doomed".
The homage allowed by the sages is to flatter one's wife – because of domestic peace, one's master – so that he teach him Torah, and one's students – that they may learn from him. This much is clear. What is written here, "Do homage in purity, lest He be angry, and ye perish in the way", may also be read with the following meaning: Kiss the hand of the son, flatter the son [bar] - this would mean the student. The letters, in reverse, spell rab [master]; kiss and flatter the rabbi so that he may teach you Torah. 'Bar' also means bread and food, and it could mean the woman, bread - in the sense of being nurtured. This also offers a meaning to the words: 'lest He be angered, and your way be doomed' – that is, concerning women, as in 'the way of a man with a young woman' and, concerning a rabbi and his student – the path of Torah and concerning the way: 'the way where they must walk'.