Introduction: From Kindness to Yehudah to the Exposure of Ephraim's Iniquity
Chapter 7 of Hoshea is a direct continuation of the close of the previous chapter. There it was stated: "Also, O Yehudah, a harvest is appointed for you, when I return the captivity of My people." The Malbim explains: When will Yehudah reap the harvest of kindness? When I return the captivity of My people. This was fulfilled in the days of Chizkiyahu, when they were saved by the hand of Hashem, and then "kindness produced a harvest" - that is, kindness bore fruit, as it is written: "And the surviving remnant of the house of Yehudah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward." Now the prophet comes and says: By contrast, for the northern tribes of Israel - as opposed to Yehudah and Binyamin - kindness will not yield a harvest. When I seek to heal them and restore their captivity, not only will I be unable to treat them with lovingkindness, but the iniquity that was previously hidden will be uncovered and exposed.
כְּרָפְאִי לְיִשְׂרָאֵל וְנִגְלָה עֲוֺן אֶפְרַיִם וְרָעוֹת שֹׁמְרוֹן כִּי פָעֲלוּ שָׁקֶר וְגַנָּב יָבוֹא פָּשַׁט גְּדוּד בַּחוּץ׃ - When I would heal Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim is revealed, and the wickedness of Shomron; for they deal falsely, and the thief enters, a band of robbers raids in the open.
In the case of Yehudah, Hashem did good for them and it redounded to their benefit, in the days of Chizkiyahu. Hashem says: I wished to do good for Israel as well, but with them, kindness did not lead to goodness, but rather to rebellion. Where do we see this? In the days of Yarov'am ben Yoash, about whom it is written that Hashem restored the border of Israel "from the entrance of Chamat to the Sea of the Aravah." And what did this prosperity cause? Until then, their sin had been hidden, but from then on, sin was committed out in the open. Thus, when I seek to restore their captivity, instead of reasons multiplying to have mercy on them - on the contrary, "the iniquity of Ephraim is revealed," the iniquity comes to light and is exposed.
The Malbim explains: "Iniquity" (avon) derives from distortion (ivut), meaning a distortion in matters of faith; "the wickedness of Shomron" refers to interpersonal transgressions. The verse elaborates on both of these. Corresponding to "the iniquity of Ephraim" - matters of faith - it says, "for they deal falsely": they act falsely regarding faith in Hashem, making idols for themselves and following false beliefs and vanity. Corresponding to "the wickedness of Shomron" - interpersonal matters - it says, "and the thief enters, a band of robbers raids in the open": initially there was an individual thief who stole in secret, unseen; now a troop raids outside - they have become thieves in public, in large numbers, in organized bands, no longer in secret but "outside," out in the open. In summary: while I wanted to have mercy on the house of Ephraim just as I had mercy on the house of Yehudah, they leave Me no room to do so, because when I show them mercy, they exploit it to do evil and do not mend their ways.
Falsehood and Deceit - The Difference Between Them
In connection with the words "for they deal falsely" (sheker), the Malbim distinguishes between sheker (falsehood) and kazav (deceit or disappointment). Kazav describes something that began well but ultimately disappointed, as in the phrase "a deceptive stream" (nachal achzav). One does not say "a false stream" (nachal sheker), because a false stream would mean there was never any water in it at all; but a nachal achzav once had water flowing through it, and then its waters dried up and failed - as if it made a promise it could not keep. Sheker, on the other hand, is something that never possessed even an ounce of truth, something evident immediately without any disguise, not cloaking itself in the guise of truth. Kazav, by contrast, initially cloaks itself in the guise of truth, and only later is its deception revealed.
By way of analogy: the Soviet newspaper that was falsehood personified was called Pravda - which means "truth." One who wants to lie goes to great lengths, to the point of calling the lie itself "truth." A story is told of a man walking with his friend, telling him that there was a terrible famine in Leningrad and people were dropping like flies. He did not notice that an undercover police officer was lurking nearby, who promptly arrested him: "How dare you speak like that? Where are you inventing such fabrications from?" The man answered: "I was there just last night." The officer said to him: "Sir, stop wandering the streets and start reading the newspapers - read the paper and you will see that everything is fine, everything is wonderful!" That is a lie that swells to such proportions that the very name of the lie is "truth."
"And They Do Not Say to Their Heart" - When Goodness Is Perceived as Forgetfulness
וּבַל יֹאמְרוּ לִלְבָבָם כָּל רָעָתָם זָכָרְתִּי עַתָּה סְבָבוּם מַעַלְלֵיהֶם נֶגֶד פָּנַי הָיוּ׃ - And they do not consider in their heart that I remember all their wickedness; now their misdeeds encompass them, they are before My face.
The Malbim explains: When times were bad for them, they would think in their hearts that I remembered their wickedness and was punishing them. But when I came to heal them and expanded their borders - doing good for Ephraim in the hope that this showing of favor might change their ways - they did not repent as a result. On the contrary: "And they do not consider in their heart that I remember all their wickedness." They do not say to themselves that I remember their evil deeds; instead, they assume I have forgotten them. Instead of understanding that I was trying a different approach with them, treating them well so that they would recognize the hand of Hashem, they said: "Look, He has abandoned us; He no longer holds our sins against us. There are no prophets and no harsh words; now He has begun to do good for us." Consequently, they were no longer afraid of punishment, and this led them to commit sins openly, unlike before when they sinned in secret - as we mentioned, dealing falsely and stealing systematically, not merely as individuals, but as "a band of robbers raids in the open."
Regarding this, the verse continues: "Now their misdeeds encompass them, they are before My face." Hashem says: Why should I search out and remember their past wickedness, holding old accounts against them? I have no need to dig into history. After all, right now their evil deeds in the present surround them, and they are before My face. If so, there is no need at all to invoke old sins. And yet you persist in your negative path and say, "Hashem has forgotten our sins"? Hashem says to them: Even if I were to forget all the sins you have committed until now - right before My face you are sinning at this very moment, and that alone is enough to bring retribution upon you for what you are doing now, even without taking all your past sins into account.
"They make a king glad with their wickedness"
בְּרָעָתָם יְשַׂמְּחוּ מֶלֶךְ וּבְכַחֲשֵׁיהֶם שָׂרִים׃ - They make a king glad with their wickedness, and princes with their lies.
Radak explains that the verse speaks of the time when they joined with Yerovam regarding the golden calves. Yerovam was the one who set up the calves, and when they came and celebrated around them, they gladdened him. "And with their lies" - that they lied and said, "These are your gods, O Israel" - through this they also gladdened the princes. The word "make glad" (yesamchu) carries over to the second clause as well, as though it were written, "and with their lies they make princes glad." The princes were in full agreement and united with Yerovam in that scheme, and each day the people gladdened them by acting wickedly, just like the king and the princes. Radak adds: the wickedness refers to extortion and robbery, in which the princes were also complicit; and the lies refer to denying the truth and lying to one another, thereby gladdening the corrupt princes who supported them.
The Malbim, on the other hand, explains that this verse introduces the description of the downfall that would befall them at the hands of Assyria. Assyria was destined to exile them from their land, and here the prophet turns to discuss the punishment, first demonstrating the cause of it all. The primary cause was that they rebelled against their kings and assassinated them.
The Chain of Assassinations in the Kingdom of Israel
Shallum ben Yavesh assassinated Zechariah ben Yerovam, "and struck him down before the people." Afterwards, Menachem ben Gadi attacked Shallum ben Yavesh, killed him, and reigned in his place. Following this, Pul king of Assyria invaded the land, and Menachem ben Gadi gave him a thousand talents of silver to help him retain the kingdom and maintain his rule. Later, Pekach ben Remalyahu conspired against Pekachyah ben Menachem, killed him, and reigned in his place; against him came Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria and exiled the tribes of Zevulun and Naphtali, in the days of Achaz. Then Hoshea ben Elah assassinated Pekach and reigned in his place. Thus, we find an unbroken chain of assassinations, each king murdering his predecessor. Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against him, and Hoshea ben Elah became his vassal; finally, the king of Assyria discovered that Hoshea was conspiring against him and sending emissaries to So king of Egypt, so the king of Assyria arrested him, confined him in prison, besieged Samaria, and exiled Israel to Assyria.
What does the Malbim deduce from this? That the king of Assyria uncovering Hoshea's conspiracy was also the result of internal strife. Just as we have seen that each leader assassinated his fellow, so too here: people from within rebelled against Hoshea, plotted to bring him down, and went and tipped off the king of Assyria that Hoshea was planning to rebel, telling him: look, he has gone to forge an alliance with Egypt.
"Your destroyers and wreckers shall go forth from you"
Unfortunately, the Jewish people have a trait unmatched among the nations: "Your destroyers and wreckers shall go forth from you." The plain meaning of the verse is a positive prophecy - that the destroyers and wreckers will leave us, and we hope that Mashiach will soon come and this will be fulfilled. But in the meantime, the other interpretation plays out among us: that the destroyers and wreckers come from within our own ranks. The nations do not even need to make an effort; someone is doing the work for them. The saboteurs within, the Hellenizers among us, cause more harm than any outside enemy. Most astounding of all is that these very destroyers are funded by our own pockets: we all pay taxes, and academia funds lecturers who call on universities around the world to impose an academic boycott on Israel. An academic demanding an academic boycott of the State of Israel - shooting himself in both the foot and the head.
This is nothing new. Ever since Moshe Rabbeinu accepted the Erev Rav (the mixed multitude), they have accompanied us. As the Vilna Gaon cites from the Tikkunei Zohar, leading up to the coming of Mashiach, "the heads of the people and the rulers in Israel" will stem from the Erev Rav - the nation's leaders and officials will be of the Erev Rav. Those who informed on Hoshea ben Elah were from within; and those who brought about the final downfall of Jewish sovereignty in the land were from within - Yishmael ben Netanyah murdered Gedalyah ben Achikam, extinguishing the remaining ember of Israel. Until the coming of the Redeemer, the Erev Rav will continue to cause us distress, and for this reason we pray, "Restore our judges as at first and our counselors as at the beginning," that He may bring an eternal redemption. Then it will become clear who is truly of Israel and stems from a holy source, and who belongs to the Erev Rav, whose end will be like that of the nations.
Regarding these matters, says the Malbim, the prophet prophesies from here until the end of the book. With this in mind, let us return to the explanation of the verse. So far, the Malbim has outlined the overarching sequence of events, and now he addresses their beginning. Our verse deals with the stage when they were still loyal to the king: "They make a king glad with their wickedness" - they performed evil deeds, thereby pleasing the king, who was himself wicked and drew them toward evil. "And princes with their lies" - they gladdened the hearts of the princes through their falsehoods: denying Hashem and clinging to idolatry, for the king desired that they worship idols and not ascend to Yerushalayim. All of this took place before the rebellion.
"They are all adulterers, like an oven" - The Parable of the Oven and the Baker
כֻּלָּם מְנָאֲפִים כְּמוֹ תַנּוּר בֹּעֵרָה מֵאֹפֶה יִשְׁבּוֹת מֵעִיר מִלּוּשׁ בָּצֵק עַד חֻמְצָתוֹ׃ - They are all adulterers, like an oven heated by a baker, who ceases stoking from the kneading of the dough until it is leavened.
Let us begin with the derash found in Targum Yonatan, regarding which Rashi already remarked that he was unable to reconcile it with the plain meaning of the verse (peshuto shel mikra). Targum Yonatan translates: "They all lust to commit adultery with the wives of their fellows" - everyone lusts to commit adultery with the wives of their neighbors; "burning like an oven fired by a baker" - blazing like an oven that the baker kindles; "therefore they will be quickly exiled" - and therefore they will go into exile swiftly, just as they rush to carry out their wicked thoughts; "and because they did not remember the miracles and mighty deeds performed for them on the day they came up from Egypt, from the time of kneading the dough until it became bread" - because they failed to remember the miracles and wonders wrought for them on the day they departed from Egypt, from the time they kneaded the dough until before it could leaven. In other words, "from the kneading of the dough until its leavening" is an indictment: Why did you not remember the miracles performed for you when you ate matzot during the Exodus from Egypt, when the dough did not have time to leaven?
Now to the Malbim's explanation. "They are all adulterers, like an oven heated by a baker" - they all engage in adultery like an oven fueled by a baker. The Malbim compares the inclination for immorality to a fiery flame, and indeed we find in several places in Chazal that the yetzer hara for illicit relations is described as fire, such as the story of Rav Amram Chasida, from whom a pillar of fire emerged. Just as a flame fuels the oven and heats it up, so burns the fire of passion for adultery.
The baker who fueled the oven would stoke it all through the night: first they heat it and kindle the fire, and if the baker fell asleep, there was someone who would awaken him so he would not let the oven cool down, constantly adding wood so that it would be properly stoked. And when does the baker have a moment to rest? When he has set aside the dough, which is the rising period - until he kneads a new batch of dough and waits for the mixture to leaven and become ready for baking. This is the meaning of "he ceases stoking [me'ir - from waking]" - the one who wakes the baker refrains from awakening him, "from the kneading of the dough until its leavening," from the moment he kneads the dough until it leavens. The nimshal (parable's meaning) is that the lustful drive never rests for a moment, like an oven that is constantly stoked; and when does it pause? Only for a brief moment - from the time of committing adultery until the lust renews its strength and a new desire takes hold. In doing so, they fulfill the will of the king and the ministers, for all of them are adulterers, and this is what the king desires: that everyone act wickedly.
"The Day of Our King" - The Drunken Feast
יוֹם מַלְכֵּנוּ הֶחֱלוּ שָׂרִים חֲמַת מִיָּיִן מָשַׁךְ יָדוֹ אֶת לֹצְצִים׃ - On the day of our king, the princes made themselves sick with the heat of wine; he stretched out his hand with scorners.
Most of the commentators - Targum Yonatan, Rashi, Ibn Ezra, and Radak - follow a single approach: "The day of our king" is the coronation day, when they crowned the king. On such a day, it would have been fitting to discuss with the king how to defeat enemies, how to establish justice, and how to govern the realm - outlining the conditions and what lies ahead. And what did they actually occupy themselves with? "The princes made themselves sick with the heat of wine" - they engaged in eating and drinking until the ministers became ill from excessive wine drinking. According to Radak, "chamat" is related to chemet - a skin flask, like a skin of water (chamat mayim); each person would arrive with his flask and skin of wine, passing it to one another until becoming ill from the vast amount of wine.
As an aside: regarding Esau, the verse states that Yaakov gave him bread and lentil stew, "and he ate and drank" - yet seemingly it does not say that he gave him anything to drink, so how did he drink? It is explained that Esau did not need Yaakov to provide him with a drink; Esau, like a typical gentile, walked around with a flask in his pocket, constantly refueling. He had his own drinks with him.
"He stretched out his hand with scorners" - due to excessive drinking, the king would jest and scoff with them. Note the precise nuance in the language: initially the verse calls them "princes" (sarim) - before the drunkenness, "the princes made themselves sick"; but after becoming intoxicated, they are referred to as "scorners" (lotzetzim). As Radak's father precisely noted: before they became drunk, it called them princes, but once intoxicated - a drunken person loses his senses, and one cannot call him a "prince" (sar), a term denoting authority and prominence; rather, he is merely a scorner. Thus they would come and get drunk with him, leading the king into words of foolishness and vanity so that he would fail to understand what lay ahead and what his royal duty demanded of him.
The Malbim explains this differently. In his view, "the day of our king" cannot mean the coronation day, because an unqualified "day of..." in construct form usually refers to the day of reckoning or visitation - such as "the day of Jerusalem," the day Hashem will reckon with Jerusalem, or "for your day has come," the time of your visitation; we do not find such an expression used for a king's coronation. Therefore, "the day of our king" refers to the day of reckoning for our king, the day of his downfall, the day of rebellion. We previously outlined the progression: initially they were on good terms with the king, but then they rose up against him, killed him, and another ruled in his stead - and here the prophet describes what took place on that fateful day.
On the day they sought to overthrow the king, on the preceding night they did not engage in adultery, for the conspirators gathered together to plot how to topple him. As they convened, they drank wine all night with the ministers, until the ministers became ill from "the heat of wine" (chamat miyayin). Notice the difference: Radak interpreted chamat as a wineskin, whereas the Malbim interprets it as warmth or heat - from the great heat of the wine, since alcohol heats the body, the ministers became sick. And "he stretched out his hand with scorners" - the wine itself, as an abstract entity, overcomes and stretches out its hand with all its hosts, pulling the ministers into becoming frivolous scoffers so that they would not notice what was happening around them.
"For they have made ready their heart like an oven, while they lie in wait"
כִּי קֵרְבוּ כַתַּנּוּר לִבָּם בְּאָרְבָּם כָּל הַלַּיְלָה יָשֵׁן אֹפֵהֶם בֹּקֶר הוּא בֹעֵר כְּאֵשׁ לֶהָבָה׃ - For they have prepared their heart like an oven in their ambush; all night their baker sleeps; in the morning it burns like a flaming fire.
Rashi explains: They invited and prepared their heart in their act of ambush like an oven, for an oven is heated for baking, and similarly they heated and prepared their heart for the ambush. "All night their baker sleeps" - their baker, the craftsman who heats the oven; after preparing their heart and devising how to carry out the evil - which constitutes the preparation of the heart - they sleep until morning, and by morning they burn like fire until they overpower and complete the wickedness they planned. According to Rashi, this does not refer to the overthrow of the king as the Malbim explains, but is rather a continuation of the description of the generation's depravity. The other commentators likewise explain this chapter as describing how vile the generation's deeds were, and do not interpret this as plots to overthrow the king; that approach is the Malbim's unique perspective.
Radak also explains: The heart, which burned like an oven, was directed toward the evil deed, constantly devising ways to do harm, which is the meaning of "in their ambush" (be-orvam), like someone lying in wait, as in the verse, "He is to me like a bear lying in wait" (dov orev hu li). The heart is the vessel of thought, and the active power within it is, as it were, the baker of the parable. Just as the baker heats the oven throughout the night, and in the morning, when he sees the oven is thoroughly heated, bakes the bread in it, so too the faculty of thought sleeps at night when it has no activity - for when a person sleeps his thoughts do not wander and he rests - until the thought reaches fruition in action, which occurs in the morning: "in the morning it burns like a flaming fire", like an oven that warms throughout the night and by morning is ready for baking.
The Malbim describes here their plots to assemble and unite against the king. On that night, "they brought their heart close like an oven" - just like an oven about to be heated by those flames of fire, so they bring their hearts close to one another, each revealing his innermost secrets to his fellow, and each seeking out another partner with whom to plan how and by what counsel to ambush and assassinate the king. Concerning this it says, "all night their baker sleeps" - on that night they did not awaken the baker. And according to what we saw earlier, that the baker represents the drive of lust and immorality, on this night they do not pursue immorality; rather, they let it sleep and rest, occupying themselves solely with the rebellion, the murder, and the plot to kill the king.
"In the morning it burns like a flaming fire" - after they assassinated the king, the oven, which is their heart and inner being, was kindled, but not with the fire that heats an oven to bake bread, but with a blazing flame. The nature of a flame, notes the Malbim, is to consume and devour anything that approaches it, even from a distance. For when one wants to heat an oven, one does not make a tall fire, because a tall fire scorches; baking is done over coals and not over an open flame, which would only burn the bread. Here, instead of heating the oven to bake bread, they ignited in it a blazing flame that burns and consumes everything. That is, the power awakened and kindled then was not the drive of lust, but the force of fury and wrath, to murder, slaughter, and destroy. Thus the Malbim gives us two expressions for the oven's function: one of lust and immorality, and the other of murderous violence and bloodshed.
"And They Devoured Their Judges" - The Destruction of the Sanhedrin
כֻּלָּם יֵחַמּוּ כַּתַּנּוּר וְאָכְלוּ אֶת שֹׁפְטֵיהֶם כָּל מַלְכֵיהֶם נָפָלוּ אֵין קֹרֵא בָהֶם אֵלָי׃ - They are all heated like an oven, and have devoured their judges; all their kings have fallen; none among them calls to Me.
When they came heated like an oven in the morning, they said: The Sanhedrin stands here as a stumbling block - let us destroy them. This is "and they devoured their judges." And what happened in the end: "all their kings have fallen; none among them calls to Me."
On the verse "he drew his hand with scoffers," the Yerushalmi expounds: "When there was a worthy man, he would seat two scoffers beside him" - whenever he saw an upright person, he would place two scoffers next to him, for someone was needed to unsettle this upright man's mind. They would ask him: Which generation was the most beloved of all generations? He would reply: The generation of the wilderness - the most beloved generation, which was privileged to have Hashem lead them hand in hand, with manna falling from heaven and the well accompanying them. They said to him: "And did they not worship idols?" Did not the generation of the wilderness engage in idolatry? You yourself admit that the generation of the wilderness was the most beloved, yet they worshiped idols! He answered them: "Because they were beloved, they were not punished" - on the contrary, precisely because they were beloved they were spared punishment, but you must realize that idolatry is a severe sin and iniquity. They said to him: "Chashot, the king wishes to do so!" - chashot means silence, for the king wishes to act this way. In other words: do not speak out against the king; the king desires idolatry, so do not stand as a stumbling block in his way. And for anyone to whom this was not clear, they showed him what had been done to the Sanhedrin: if you stand as a stumbling block, this is how you too will be eliminated.
The Malbim explains: "They are all heated like an oven" - here the baker does not even need to heat the oven; rather, they themselves were like an oven, and they themselves were heated by the flame, which, as explained, is the flame of rebellion. This is not merely the warmth of an oven that bakes, but a consuming flame, and with this flame "they devoured their judges." By this force, "all their kings have fallen" - they assassinated all their kings through conspiracy and rebellion, as we have seen: Zechariah son of Jeroboam, Shallum son of Jabesh, Pekahiah son of Menahem, and Pekah son of Remaliah; and likewise Hoshea went into captivity because of the siege brought upon him through informers, stemming from rebellion. And why all of this? "None among them calls to Me" - the kings were wicked idolaters, and not one of them turned to Hashem.
In summary: The chapter opens with Hashem seeking to heal Israel and bestow goodness upon them, but instead of that goodness leading to repentance, their iniquity was exposed and their sin committed in public, both in matters of faith ("for they practice falsehood") and in matters between man and his fellow ("a raiding band strips outside"), for they thought Hashem had forgotten their wickedness. From there, according to the Malbim's approach, the prophet traces their downfall: a wicked king and princes rejoicing in evil and deception, the oven of lust burning ceaselessly, the night of plotting during which the lustful impulse rests to make room for the murderous impulse, and a blazing flame that does not bake but scorches. Ultimately, that very oven which the leadership permitted the people to heat for immorality and idolatry, finding it politically convenient, turned into a blazing fire that consumed their judges and brought down all their kings - "none among them calls to Me."