It is a fact of life, psychologically and religiously, that the human psyche is in constant conflict and turmoil. Our Gemara quotes a verse that describes a quarrel between two men, an injured female bystanders and her fetuses. Toldos Yaakov Yosef reads into these verses a insightful allegory of the eternal struggle between the good inclination and the evil inclination.
The verses are as follows (Shemos 21:22-24):
וְכִֽי־יִנָּצ֣וּ אֲנָשִׁ֗ים וְנָ֨גְפ֜וּ אִשָּׁ֤ה הָרָה֙ וְיָצְא֣וּ יְלָדֶ֔יהָ וְלֹ֥א יִהְיֶ֖ה אָס֑וֹן עָנ֣וֹשׁ יֵעָנֵ֗שׁ כַּֽאֲשֶׁ֨ר יָשִׁ֤ית עָלָיו֙ בַּ֣עַל הָֽאִשָּׁ֔ה וְנָתַ֖ן בִּפְלִלִֽים׃
When [two or more] parties fight, and one of them pushes a pregnant woman and a miscarriage results (her fetuses are miscarried), but no other damage ensues, the one responsible shall be fined according as the woman’s husband may exact, the payment to be based on reckoning.
וְאִם־אָס֖וֹן יִהְיֶ֑ה וְנָתַתָּ֥ה נֶ֖פֶשׁ תַּ֥חַת נָֽפֶשׁ׃
But if a tragic damage ensues (that is someone is murdered with murderous intent), the penalty shall be life for life.
Toldos Yaakov Yosef quotes the Gemara (Berachos 61b) and applies it to this metaphor:
תַּנְיָא רַבִּי יוֹסֵי הַגְּלִילִי אוֹמֵר: צַדִּיקִים יֵצֶר טוֹב שׁוֹפְטָן, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וְלִבִּי חָלַל בְּקִרְבִּי״. רְשָׁעִים יֵצֶר רַע שׁוֹפְטָן, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״נְאֻם פֶּשַׁע לָרָשָׁע בְּקֶרֶב לִבִּי אֵין פַּחַד אֱלֹהִים לְנֶגֶד עֵינָיו״. בֵּינוֹנִים — זֶה וָזֶה שׁוֹפְטָן, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״יַעֲמֹד לִימִין אֶבְיוֹן לְהוֹשִׁיעַ מִשֹּׁפְטֵי נַפְשׁוֹ״.
With regard to one’s inclinations, it was taught in a baraisa that Rabbi Yosei HaGelili says: The good inclination judges the righteous, as it is stated: “And my heart is dead within me” (Psalms 109:22); the evil inclination has been completely banished from his heart. The evil inclination judges the wicked, as it is stated: “Transgression speaks to the wicked, there is no fear of God before his eyes” (Psalms 36:2). Middling people are judged by both the good and evil inclinations, as it is stated: “Because He stands at the right hand of the needy, to save him from them that rule his soul”
The two people in the struggle depicted by the verse represent the evil inclination and the good inclination. The “Benoni” is the person who is, so to speak and as we shall define, neither righteous nor evil. Thus, he hangs in the balance, and he can be drawn toward either direction.
Toldos Yaakov Yosef defines the Benoni according the Rambam’s criteria in Laws of Teshuva (3:5). It is a person who has 50% merits, and 50% demerits, plus as a kindness, God allows two additional sins to be held in abeyance. Thus, the Benoni is actually 50% plus two sins on the demerit side.
Toldos Yaakov Yosef also quotes a teaching from the Arizal, that when a person does mitzvos casually, the power of good it gives him can easily be channeled and subverted to evil, the Sitera Achra. (Presumably this is from his lack of commitment and connection to the goodness within the Mitzvah.) The fetuses (the verse actually uses the plural form) represent the deeds of a person, which are the product of his thoughts that turn into actions. (For more on this, see Psychology of the Daf, Kesuvos 31.) As this person is in the throes of indecision to sin or not, (the two people quarreling) the last two potential actions (the fetuses) will make the difference between him being judged as righteous or evil. If he chooses to sin then the tragic damage in the verse is the miscarriage, and the sins emerge full blown. If he chooses to do a mitzvah, then those two thoughts emerge as actions and also continue to be good.
There are times when the connection between mystical thought and psychological thought is clear. These mystical ideas about struggles and internal conflict are easily translated into psychological terms. In addition, the Arizal’s idea about how mitzvos performed casually can be subverted into evil also makes sense intuitively. It is similar to the adage that a little knowledge is dangerous. Think of the righteous fool who is filled with zeal but not enough wisdom. Or even the intellectual whose intellect exceeds his practical wisdom (Avos 3:17).
It is easy to understand how good intentions and a degree of merit can be subverted into evil. We must use keen judgment and piercing self-honesty to transcend our endless capacity at self-deception.
Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation 
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