00:00 Sefer Hoshea, chapter 10. "Israel is a plundered vine; he produces fruit like himself. According to the multitude of his fruit, he has increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land, they have made goodly monuments." The Malbim explains: having mentioned the decree that they would be exiled, the prophet now explains what brought about such a decree, what the root cause of the exile was.
He tells us that the Holy One, blessed be He, stirred up turmoil and rebellion among them, where the nation essentially rebelled against the king - as we saw in the previous chapter - and this was the cause of the exile. We saw this in chapters 7 and 8 and earlier: they killed Shallum ben Yavesh, and later they rebelled against Hoshea ben Elah as well, informing on him to the king of Assyria. They informed on him because he had sent emissaries to So, king of Egypt, effectively rebelling against Assyria by seeking other patrons.
What was the reason for this? The Malbim explains there that the people were displeased that these kings did not cling to the sins of Yerovam. That is, they charted a new path and did not worship the calves, and many people resented this change. Notice that even though these kings themselves were not righteous men - neither Shallum ben Yavesh nor Hoshea ben Elah - they nevertheless put an end to calf worship. There were many people there who resented this, and they rose up in rebellion against them.
This is what the prophet now relates: how this rebellion ultimately brought about the exile. This is what prompted the king of Assyria to march up - first in the days of Menachem ben Gadi and ultimately in the days of Hoshea ben Elah, when he exiled them all - and this is what will be described in our chapter. This is the explanation according to the Malbim. As we begin our explanation, we will also see the commentary of the Radak, who explains this chapter along more conventional lines, without connecting it to the rebellion against these two kings.
The Malbim explains: "Israel is a plundered vine" - the Jewish people are compared to a vine, as we saw in the verse, "My beloved had a vineyard on a fruitful hill" (Yeshayahu 5:1). The Holy One, blessed be He, planted this vine and expected it to produce choice grapes, yet "it produced wild grapes." Instead, this vine yielded spoiled fruit, as we learned in Yeshayahu chapter 5. There it says: "He hoped for justice, but behold, injustice; for righteousness, but behold, a cry." That is, Hashem expected this vine to produce good fruit, meaning justice and righteousness, but instead the people of Israel became a plundered vine - a vine that empties and sheds its fruit, failing to produce proper fruit. That is why it says, "Israel is a plundered vine." Israel is a vine; we expected "fruit equal to it," we expected exceptional fruit worthy of its stature.
What is the meaning of "fruit equal to it" (peri yeshaveh lo)? The Malbim explains that there is a difference between placing (lasim) and matching or equating (lehashvot). When one speaks of merely placing something upon another, there is no inherent relation between what was placed and what it was placed upon. By contrast, when Scripture speaks of "You confer majesty and splendor upon him" (teshaveh alav, Tehillim 21:6) and similar expressions where the root implies placing, the Malbim explains that the term teshaveh also denotes value (shovi). That is, there is a commensurate relationship between the two; it is equal in value. When one places something upon another that matches its worth, the term teshaveh is used. But when there is no correspondence in value, the simple verb lasim is used.
Thus, Hashem expected this vine to produce "fruit equal to it" - fruit fitting and commensurate with its potential, producing fruit according to its true capabilities. Instead, "Israel is a plundered (bokek) vine." Bokek means emptying and shedding; this vine did not yield worthy fruit. Why? "According to the multitude of his fruit, he has increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land, they have made goodly monuments." All the goodness Hashem bestowed upon them and the blessing He showered on them was intended to inspire them to use those strengths for good. Yet look at what happened: as their fruit multiplied and their land prospered, they used that very bounty to "make goodly monuments" - building monuments and structures dedicated to idolatry (avodah zarah).
The Malbim explains that these monuments (matzevot) were meant to glorify pagan temples, idol shrines, or the kingdom itself. The Malbim describes them as "pyramids and obelisks." An obelisk was a tall, narrow stone monument tapering to a pyramid-like point at the top. Even today in many places one can see these towering pillars, usually four-sided, crowned with a pointed pyramidion. In antiquity they were carved from a single block of stone - a massive monolith - rather than built out of masonry. They would erect them in the land to glorify idolatry or to display the majesty of their idols. In Hebrew, these are sometimes called "needle monuments." All of this was designed to magnify their power and their idols. So we see: this vine was expected to produce good fruit, yet it channeled all its vitality into idolatry.
"Their heart is divided, now they will be found guilty; He will break the necks of their altars, He will spoil their monuments." Rashi explains "their heart is divided" (chalak libam) as: their heart was divided from Me - meaning they dissented from Hashem and turned to worship idols. "Now they will be found guilty" - this will bring guilt upon them and cause their altars to be decapitated (yaarof), broken down just as one breaks a neck. Rashi also cites the well-known Midrash: Chazal teach that peace is so great that even when the people of Israel worship idols, if there is peace among them, the Satan cannot prosecute them. As it says: "Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone" (Hoshea 4:17). We saw this earlier in chapter 4: when Ephraim is united, even if they worship idols (atzabim), "let him alone" - the Holy One does not punish them. But once "their heart is divided" - meaning they become fractured amongst themselves - "now they will be found guilty." Notice that Rashi brings the Midrashic exposition alongside the literal meaning: the literal sense is that their heart was divided from Hashem, whereas Chazal interpret it as their hearts being divided from one another. They became factional and quarrelsome, divided amongst themselves, and "now they will be found guilty." So hated is division that the moment they became fractured, the Satan found an opening to prosecute them.
The Malbim explains that because they made calves and desired to worship idols, Hashem divided their hearts. That is, the Holy One, blessed be He, brought about internal discord among them. According to this, "He divided their heart" - Hashem divided their heart. Through this, "now they will be found guilty" - they would receive their punishment: "He will break down their altars, He will spoil their monuments." The meaning is that this internal rift caused their altars to be destroyed and their monuments shattered. The king tore down the altars and broke the monuments, directly opposing the people's desires. As we have seen, Shallum ben Yavesh and Hoshea ben Elah did not condone their idol worship; they rejected the calves of Yerovam. Consequently, the king broke down their altars and destroyed their monuments, creating a deep schism among the people.
"For now they will say: We have no king, for we did not fear Hashem; and as for the king, what can he do for us?" The Malbim explains: through this discord, they rebelled against the king, wanting to depose him. Because the king acted contrary to their wishes and abolished Yerovam's calf worship, they refused to accept his rule. They said: "We have no king - why did he come and abolish the worship of the calf? Why is he replacing the calves with the worship of Hashem? We do not fear Hashem!" Such service did not suit them; they had no interest in it. "And as for the king, what can he do for us? Why should the king force us to serve Hashem and fear Him?" This was the meaning behind their divided hearts. It led them to rise up and rebel against the king, simply because he abolished the calves and they resisted that change. This is what the verse means: "Their heart is divided, now they will be found guilty." This division led them to betray their king and inform on him to the king of Assyria. The king of Assyria then invaded, smashed the calves, seized everything, and exiled the populace. Thus, they brought about their own downfall. There was already a king here who abolished the calves, yet they went and informed on him and rebelled against him, paving the way for a foreign conqueror to exile them all. They brought catastrophe upon themselves.
The Malbim offers another explanation for "their heart is divided, now they will be found guilty": Until now, the kings had coerced them into idolatry. Yerovam built the calves and declared, "These are your gods, O Israel," barring them from ascending to the Beis HaMikdash. Over time, people adopted calf worship. Consequently, it had not originated with the people's own initiative; the guilt lay with the kings, which gave the populace a degree of justification. Now, however, when Hoshea ben Elah and Shallum ben Yavesh abolished calf worship, the demand to continue worshipping the calves arose from below - from the people themselves. This brought immense guilt upon them. It proved that they genuinely desired the calves. They could no longer shift the blame to their monarchs, claiming, "The king forced us, he commanded us, what could we do?" Hashem could say: "I gave you kings who opposed calf worship, yet you demanded the idols." The Malbim explains that this is why it says "now they will be found guilty." Through their division from the king, they demonstrated that the desire to worship calves was entirely their own.
The Radak explains that "For now they will say" refers to the time after they were exiled from the land. Once in exile, they speak these words - and according to the Radak, this is an expression of repentance (teshuvah). In exile they say: "We have no king - it is as though we have no king at all, for he lacks the power to save us from the hands of our enemies. We requested a king so that he would fight our battles and deliver us from our foes. Yet now we are exiled! Where is our king? Where is the one who was supposed to fight for us? 'For we did not fear Hashem' - we erred, for we should have feared Hashem, and then we would not have needed a mortal king. Had we remained fearful of Hashem, no trouble would have befallen us. All our misfortune came about because we did not fear Hashem and sought a king instead. Had we feared Hashem, He would have delivered us from our enemies whenever we fulfilled His will. 'And as for the king, what can he do for us?' What can this king we asked for do for us now? How can he help us? Wouldn't it have been far better to remain fearful of Hashem? Look how the one we trusted in cannot save us." Thus, according to the Radak, this entire verse is an expression of remorse and teshuvah by the nation in exile.
"They speak words, swearing falsely, making covenants; and judgment springs up like hemlock in the furrows of the field." Continuing with the Radak: "They speak words" means that Yerovam and his counselors plotted how to retain the monarchy, devising schemes to prevent the people from going up to Yerushalayim. "Swearing falsely, making covenants" - to this end, they swore oaths and entered into deceitful alliances to abandon the Torah and its commandments and embrace idolatry. "And judgment springs up like hemlock (rosh)" - this explains why Hashem's judgment and punishment sprout like rosh, poisonous gall and wormwood ("a root bearing gall and wormwood"), springing up in the furrows of the field. What sprouts in their furrows will be bitter poison. You must reap what you sowed: you cultivated poison by fostering idolatry, corruption, and abandonment of Hashem's service. That is what grew in the furrows of your fields, so do not wonder why judgment blooms like hemlock to punish you for your transgressions, resulting in your exile.
The Malbim explains that this verse describes the situation prior to the exile, portraying the rebellion against Shallum ben Yavesh and Hoshea ben Elah who had abolished idolatry. The Malbim notes that they constantly plotted among themselves with "empty oaths" (alot shav). Through this, they violated their oath of allegiance to the king. When a king was crowned, the people would swear allegiance to him; otherwise, in what sense did they accept his rule? Yet their oath proved to be false, for when the king ordered the abolition of the calves, they refused to comply. Thus, their oath was in vain. "Making covenants" - they formed a conspiracy among themselves to kill Shallum ben Yavesh and to betray Hoshea ben Elah into the hands of the king of Assyria to destroy him. This treacherous pact brought about that "judgment springs up like hemlock in the furrows of the field" - their punishment blossomed swiftly. The seed of rebellion they planted secretly in the furrows of the field sprouted, blossomed, and yielded bitter clusters, as the Malbim describes, and the judgment of their punishment overtook them immediately, as we will see.
"For the calves of Beth-aven the inhabitant of Samaria shall fear; for its people shall mourn over it, and its priests shall tremble for it, for its glory, because it has departed from it." The Malbim explains that the prophet is describing the root cause of the rebellion and how retribution struck immediately: "For the calves of Beth-aven." The entire conflict arose because their calves were taken and their idolatrous cult was abolished. The calves in Beth-el and Dan sparked the discord between the people and the king. Because of this, "the inhabitant of Samaria gathered" (yaguru, here meaning gathered or sojourned) to rebel against the king for suppressing their worship. "For its people shall mourn over it, and its priests shall tremble for it" - the people mourned that calf worship was abolished, and the pagan priests who previously officiated were distraught "over its glory, because it has departed from it." They were brokenhearted that the prestige of the calves was gone. The prophet is showing what triggered the whole debacle: the king had abolished calf worship, and much of the populace refused to accept it.
Let us now explain this according to the approach of Rashi and the Radak. First, regarding "the calves of Beth-aven": What is Beth-aven? The calves that Yerovam made were male bulls or calves, yet Scripture refers to them here in the feminine, agalot, as a derogatory term. Why does it call the place Beth-aven? Beth-aven refers to Beth-el. Because aven implies iniquity and falsehood, Scripture substitutes it as a derogatory name. As the Gemara teaches, idolatrous places and objects should be referred to with pejorative terms - such as changing Beis Galya to Beis Karya, and similar examples - to express our revulsion for idolatry. Beth-el, having become a place of aven (wickedness and deceit), is termed Beth-aven.
"For the calves of Beth-aven the inhabitant of Samaria shall fear (yaguru)." The Radak explains yaguru not as gathering (as the Malbim explains, gathering against the king), but from the root of fear (magor). The inhabitants of Samaria (Shomron) are gripped with dread. Why mention Samaria, given that the calves were not in Samaria? While true, Samaria was the capital of the kingdom, and its residents were the leaders of the calf worship. When Beth-el was laid waste and the calves failed to save it, the people of Samaria began to tremble for themselves: "If the calf upon which I relied cannot even save itself, who will protect me?" When they see the fate of the calves of Beth-aven, the dwellers of Samaria will dread that disaster is headed their way - for the rest of the Land of Israel fell before Samaria, which Assyria besieged for three years. "For its people shall mourn over it" - they grieved for the calf of Beth-el because its glory had departed, realizing that calamity was at their doorstep.
"It too shall be carried to Assyria as a tribute to King Yareiv; Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel." "It too shall be carried to Assyria" refers to the calves. Rashi explains that this occurred in the twelfth year of King Achaz: Hashem stirred up the spirit of Pul, king of Assyria, who exiled Reuven and Gad (as recorded in Divrei HaYamim), taking the golden calf of Beth-el with him - fulfilling "It too shall be carried to Assyria." What was carried away? The idol of Beth-aven was seized and hauled off as a gift to "King Yareiv." Who is King Yareiv? Some identify him as Sancheriv; others suggest Yareiv was a proper name or an epithet for a king who was constantly contentious (rav) with nations. The Malbim explains that pagans worshipped a god of strife and warfare, and the king appointed under this deity was called Melech Yareiv, the champion of war. One might also note that the name Sancheriv ends with the letters riv, which share the root of yareiv - describing a king who contends in battle, to whom the calves were offered as tribute.
The Malbim elaborates on "and judgment springs up like hemlock," showing how swiftly their punishment arrived. When the king of Assyria captured Hoshea, he imprisoned him because informants revealed that Hoshea had contacted So, king of Egypt, bypassing Assyria to seek protection. The people, resentful that Hoshea had suppressed the calves, betrayed him to Assyria. Yet see how their treachery boomeranged: the king of Assyria marched in, furious over the alliance with Egypt, deposed Hoshea, imprisoned him - and carried off the calves as well! They had hoped Assyria would punish the king and leave the calves intact. Instead, "it too shall be carried to Assyria" - not only was Hoshea taken, but the golden calf was hauled away as tribute for King Yareiv. "Ephraim shall receive shame (boshnah)" - Assyria took Ephraim's shameful idol. "And Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel" - only then did the people realize their foolishness: "What a fool I was to plot Hoshea's downfall by informing on him to Assyria! The king of Assyria came and seized my calves as well!" They realized they had shot themselves in the foot; their own scheme had backfired disastrously.
"Samaria is cut off with her king, like foam upon the face of the water." The word nidmeh receives several interpretations. The first is Targum Yonatan: "Samaria is ashamed of her king." Behitat means shame; Samaria was disappointed and humiliated by its king, who proved to be like foam upon water - a metaphor for something insubstantial that dissolves into nothing. We thought the king would save us, but his strength vanished like foam on water, which dissipates in an instant. Rashi explains nidmeh from the root of silence (domi): the king of Samaria was silenced and reduced to nothing, like foam upon water. The Radak explains nidmeh as being cut off (karet), as in "My people are cut off" (nidmu ami); the king of Samaria was cut off after withstanding a siege for three years, unable to save himself, and was ultimately exiled. What is ketzef? The Radak offers an intriguing explanation: unlike Targum Yonatan, who translates it as bubbles or foam on the surface of water (derotcha), and Rashi, who glosses it in Old French as escume (foam, as mentioned in the Talmud regarding not drinking the foam atop a beverage), the Radak suggests ketzef means tree bark, as in "and my fig tree into bark" (liktzaphah, Yoel 1:7) - like a chip of bark tossing helplessly upon the surface of the water.
The Malbim explains that this describes how "Israel will be ashamed of his counsel" - how the very scheme to depose Hoshea by inviting the king of Assyria brought ruin upon themselves. According to the Malbim, nidmeh stems from similarity and allegory (dimyon, comparison): to what were they compared? "Samaria is likened, her king, to foam upon the face of the water." When water boils or churns, foam forms; but as the water moves and flows, the foam subsides and vanishes, leaving the surface smooth once more. The agitation of the water creates foam that eventually disappears. So it was here: the actions of the king stirred up fury (ketzef) among the populace, sparking rebellion. They conspired with Hoshea ben Elah against Pekach ben Remalyahu, slew him, and crowned Hoshea in his stead. Yet this turmoil was carried away into exile through their own treachery in betraying Hoshea to Assyria. Just as moving water washes away foam, this upheaval swept them off to Assyria, shattering their plans to restore calf worship, as they were all exiled. Thus, nidmeh can denote shame, silencing, destruction, or parabolic comparison.