Introduction: From the Topic of Sacrifices to the Topic of Foreign Wives
Until now, the prophet rebuked the Kohanim regarding the offerings and their contempt for the service of the altar. From here onward, the prophet turns to a completely different subject, rebuking the people for marrying foreign wives. As is well known, when they ascended from Babylon to Eretz Yisrael, they married foreign women. Our Sages said that Malachi is Ezra - and indeed, we see that Ezra also rebuked the people over this very same issue.
The Alshich cites a teaching of Chazal and explains what brought this about: the guilt of some of the people who grew disgusted with their wives and betrayed them because their appearance had suffered - the sun had darkened their skin on the journey from Babylon to Jerusalem. The scorching path took its toll, and when the women arrived dark and sun-tanned, they were no longer pleasing in their husbands' eyes. What did they do? They either divorced them or took co-wives alongside them - some of whom were foreign women. A man whose wife "no longer suits him" goes and seeks another woman, younger, and sometimes even a gentile, Heaven forbid, bringing her into his home alongside his first wife.
Verse 10: A Double Harm - To Family Unity and to Unity of Faith
הֲלוֹא אָב אֶחָד לְכֻלָּנוּ הֲלוֹא אֵל אֶחָד בְּרָאָנוּ מַדּוּעַ נִבְגַּד אִישׁ בְּאָחִיו לְחַלֵּל בְּרִית אֲבֹתֵינוּ׃ - Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us? Why do we deal treacherously, a man against his brother, to profane the covenant of our fathers?
The Malbim explains that there were two evils here. The first evil was marrying the daughter of a foreign god. The second evil was that the foreign wives acted as mistresses of the household, while the Jewish wife, the original wife, became like a maidservant in her own home: subservient both to him and to the foreign woman. This was a double disgrace. It was bad enough bringing in a second wife alongside your wife, which would be distressing even if she were Jewish - how much more so when she is a gentile; and beyond that, making your first wife subservient to that foreign woman.
The Malbim notes: Had they taken wives from the daughters of their own people, it would have been a fitting union. First, in terms of family kinship - "Have we not all one Father," as we are all descendants of Avraham Avinu. Second, in terms of shared faith - "Did not one God create us," both believing in one God. This stands in stark contrast to marrying an Ammonite woman who worships the gods of Ammon, or an Ashdodite woman who worships the gods of Ashdod. Fine grapes with fine grapes - that would have been wonderful. Then they would unite and become one flesh, raising godly offspring like themselves, and the union would succeed beautifully.
But when they marry the daughter of a foreign god, they damage both things at once: they undermine family unity - regarding which it is said, "Why do we deal treacherously, a man against his brother"; and they undermine unity of faith - regarding which it is said, "to profane the covenant of our fathers," for they all entered into a covenant with the one God. This is not the case with idolaters, who believe in multiple deities.
Verse 11: Betrayal and Abomination
בָּגְדָה יְהוּדָה וְתוֹעֵבָה נֶעֶשְׂתָה בְיִשְׂרָאֵל וּבִירוּשָׁלָ͏ִם כִּי חִלֵּל יְהוּדָה קֹדֶשׁ יְהֹוָה אֲשֶׁר אָהֵב וּבָעַל בַּת־אֵל נֵכָר׃ - Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord which He loved, and has married the daughter of a foreign god.
Here the prophet mentions both matters: "Judah has dealt treacherously" - corresponding to the betrayal of family; "and an abomination has been committed in Israel" - corresponding to marrying a woman whose gods are not his God, idolatrous women, where beyond the betrayal there is also an abominable act. And this occurred both throughout Israel and in Jerusalem, for even those who came to Jerusalem took foreign wives. This is what the verse explains: "for Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord which He loved" - this is the betrayal of what He loved; "and has married the daughter of a foreign god" - this relates to faith, marrying one outside your faith. Thus we have both elements: the violation of the family, which is the dignity of the wife, and taking a gentile woman who worships a foreign god.
Rashi explains "and has married the daughter of a foreign god" - that they married foreign women. Radak explains: a daughter who worships a foreign god, which is the exact opposite of "Did not one God create us," for she comes, as it were, from another god. And Chazal say: Whoever cohabits with a gentile woman is considered as though he intermarried with idolatry itself - as if he took the idol itself and married it. And so they expounded: "'And has married the daughter of a foreign god' - does a foreign god have a daughter? Rather, this refers to one who cohabits with an idolater."
One must know that one of the gravest transgressions in the Torah is having an intimate bond with a gentile woman. As previously noted, this sin is not explicitly detailed in the Torah precisely because of its severity - for the Torah does not detail matters that have no rectification, and this matter has almost no rectification. The Torah mentions that which has a remedy. Regarding this, Chazal state that she is bound to him like a dog, and even afterward, when his soul ascends Above, she remains bound to him like a dog - wherever he goes, that abomination remains tied to him in the World of Truth. It is a dreadful disgrace and a blight from which one cannot be freed.
The Homily of Chazal Regarding Yehudah the Son of Yaakov
The Alshich cites that Chazal expound this verse as referring directly to Yehudah the son of Yaakov, who took the daughter of Shua, a Canaanite man, which led to the death of his two sons, Er and Onan. However, according to this explanation, a difficulty arises: "an abomination was committed in Israel and in Jerusalem" - what does Jerusalem have to do with the days of Yehudah? Furthermore: "for Yehudah has profaned the sanctuary of Hashem" - why mention Yehudah's sin here at all? If there is a grievance against the people, rebuke them directly; why delve into historical comparisons? After all, "Debate your grievance with your fellow, but do not reveal the secret of another" (Mishlei 25:9) - let him dispute the case of the contemporary Israelites who sinned, without disclosing the hidden shame of Yehudah!
The Alshich explains: The people themselves argued against the prophet: "What do you want from us? Was Yehudah any better than we are? He too married the daughter of a foreign god; he too took the daughter of Shua, a Canaanite man!" The prophet replied to them: Indeed, "Yehudah has dealt treacherously," and for that reason his sons died. But unlike you, he did not commit an abomination, whereas you have committed an abomination. This is the meaning of: "Yehudah has dealt treacherously" - while in your case, "an abomination was committed in Israel and in Jerusalem." Why? Because in Yehudah's day the Torah had not yet been given, and any caution in the matter was merely self-imposed restraint, a fence they set for themselves, but the Torah had not yet forbidden it. With you, however, the Torah has already been given and explicitly forbade it, so for you it is not merely treachery, but an outright abomination.
Furthermore, this abomination is twofold: both because you commit an act that the Torah abominates, and even more severely, because you commit it in Jerusalem. A sin committed in a holy place is far graver than a sin committed anywhere else, just as a sin in Eretz Yisrael is graver than a sin in the Diaspora - for Eretz Yisrael is called the King's palace, and one who fouls the King's royal palace cannot be compared to one who fouls merely the King's outer courtyard.
Verse 12: "Er Ve'oneh"
יַכְרֵת יְהֹוָה לָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשֶׂנָּה עֵר וְעֹנֶה מֵאׇהֳלֵי יַעֲקֹב וּמַגִּישׁ מִנְחָה לַיהֹוָה צְבָאוֹת׃ - May Hashem cut off, for the man who does this, any awake or answering one from the tents of Yaakov, and him who brings an offering to Hashem of Hosts.
Whoever commits such an act and marries a foreign woman, Hashem will cut off from him "er ve'oneh" (the awake and the answering). What is *er ve'oneh*? The Malbim explains according to the literal meaning (*peshat*): *Er* is someone who is fully awake from his sleep; *oneh* is someone who is not fully awake but is dozing - when called, he responds, yet his mind is not entirely clear. This is precisely as Chazal define a dozing person: *nim velo nim, teir velo teir, dekaro lei ve'ani* - neither fully asleep nor fully awake; if you call him, he answers, but if you ask him something that requires thought, he cannot articulate a reasoned reply. According to this, the reference is to the sleep of death: there will remain in his household neither one who is awake nor even one who is dozing, but rather all will die, sleep being an expression for death.
Another possibility, as Chazal expound, is that this refers to a slumber of the intellect: even if he remains alive, his mind will be dulled. Thus they expounded: He will have neither an "awakened one" among the sages nor a "responder" among the disciples. A person of keen, sharp intellect is termed "awake" - his mind is alert, razor-sharp, noticing everything instantly. The student, by contrast, is in the category of "one who answers": he is not fully awake, but rather drowsy, yet if awakened, he rouses himself. Therefore, the sage is needed to awaken the student and stimulate his mind so that it functions properly. The prophet says: he will have neither an alert thinker among the sages nor even a responsive student among the disciples.
And if he is a kohen, there will be no one in his house "who brings an offering to Hashem of Hosts." Why? Because the children will follow their foreign mothers, having no share in Torah, in the Temple service, or in anything pertaining to the service of Hashem. As we know regarding the rebellious son (*ben sorer umoreh*), who comes as a consequence of the captive woman of beautiful appearance (*yefat to'ar*) brought home from war: even though the father performed everything prescribed and brought her through a conversion process, nevertheless, her roots are not holy and pure from the seed of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, but stem from the shells of impurity (*kelipot*); why then be surprised that from her emerges a rebellious son who strays from the path and corrupts his deeds? So too here: after such a blemish in the family lineage, the offspring will emerge shaped in the form and mold of the gentile mother.
Verse 13: Tears on the Altar
וְזֹאת שֵׁנִית תַּעֲשׂוּ כַּסּוֹת דִּמְעָה אֶת־מִזְבַּח יְהֹוָה בְּכִי וַאֲנָקָה מֵאֵין עוֹד פְּנוֹת אֶל־הַמִּנְחָה וְלָקַחַת רָצוֹן מִיֶּדְכֶם׃ - And this second thing you do: covering the altar of Hashem with tears, with weeping and groaning, because He no longer regards the meal-offering or accepts it with favor from your hand.
Rashi explains: The first sin I rebuked you for was severe - the very act of marrying a foreign woman, which is evil even when the man is single and unmarried. "And this you do second" - a man who was already married to a Jewish woman went and took a foreign woman in addition to her. This is a far greater evil: the Jewish wife became despised in his eyes, and he would keep her confined in his home like a living widow, while the foreign woman became the mistress of the house. Then these women would come to the altar to weep before Him and say: What did we do wrong? What fault did our husbands find in us? Here we are, ready to fall before the altar to be tested as sotahs - for a sotah is tested near the altar - to see if we have strayed. Later we will see that the husbands would fabricate false accusations against them, claiming they had acted immodestly, in order to justify abandoning them, whereas the truth was simply that the gentile woman found favor in his eyes, and therefore he left his wife neglected and confined at home.
The holy Alshich explains the opposite: Until now, the prophet spoke of marrying foreign women, which is the severe iniquity, and now he speaks of a lesser matter, which is why he called it "second" - like a secondary degree of impurity. The first degree of impurity is marrying a gentile woman, and the second is those who did not take a gentile woman over their wife, but rather divorced the wives of their youth simply to marry women who were more beautiful.
The Malbim explains: "And this you do second" - an additional sin, for the Jewish women were mistreated in favor of the foreign women. One sin was bringing a foreign woman into your home alongside your wife; the second sin was that you made the foreign woman the mistress, while turning your original wife into her handmaid. The Jewish women would cover the altar with tears, weeping, and groaning - anaka is a cry of pain - to the point that when the Holy One, blessed be He, wishes to accept the offering, He cannot, as the altar upon which the offering is brought is covered with the tears and cries of the women whom you abused and treated disgracefully. They would place their judgment against you in the hands of Heaven: Master of the Universe, judge between us and our husbands who have done such a thing to us!
Invoking Heavenly Judgment
This is just as King Solomon said in his prayer at the dedication of the Beit HaMikdash: "If a man sins against his neighbor and an oath is laid upon him to curse him, and the oath comes before Your altar in this House" - when a person sins against his fellow and the victim curses him, the curse comes to the House of Hashem and rests upon the altar. "Then hear in heaven, and act, and judge Your servants, condemning the wicked by bringing his way upon his own head, and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness" - when a person leaves his judgment to Heaven, the Holy One, blessed be He, exacts retribution on his behalf.
However, there is an important principle here: one is forbidden to invoke Heavenly judgment unless there is no human court available on earth. When earthly justice is possible, it is forbidden. Invoking Heavenly judgment means saying: Master of the Universe, You judge him; You saw what he did to me, You punish him! That is, Heaven forbid, as though a person is using the Holy One, blessed be He, as someone he can unleash against his fellow. Are you so certain you are completely righteous that you have the right to place judgment in Heaven's hands? If you have a claim, go to a beit din; go to someone who can judge. Only in a situation where nothing else can be done is one permitted to leave his judgment to Heaven, like King David who invoked Heavenly judgment concerning Saul, who was pursuing him without cause. By contrast, Sarah was punished for saying, "My grievance is upon you... may Hashem judge between me and you." Do not involve the Holy One, blessed be He, whenever you are angry at someone. Many stumble in this: "May you spend that money on medicine," or "Hashem will take revenge on you!" Why are you bringing the Holy One, blessed be He, into it? Does He do your bidding and await your instructions? And if something happened to you, by Heavenly decree it was destined for you, and it is upon you to repent between yourself and your Creator to understand what you need to correct.
Verse 14: Hashem Is a Witness Between You and the Wife of Your Youth
וַאֲמַרְתֶּם עַל־מָה עַל כִּי־יְהֹוָה הֵעִיד בֵּינְךָ וּבֵין אֵשֶׁת נְעוּרֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה בָּגַדְתָּה בָּהּ וְהִיא חֲבֶרְתְּךָ וְאֵשֶׁת בְּרִיתֶךָ׃ - And you say, "For what reason?" Because Hashem has witnessed between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion and the wife of your covenant.
"And you say, 'For what reason?'" - why is this sin considered so grave? As the Metzudat David explains: You claim, "For what reason? We found some unseemly matter in her and therefore distanced her" - and this was a lie, as we mentioned. To this he replies: "Because Hashem has witnessed between you and the wife of your youth." Hashem is the witness between you: when you married her under the chuppah with kiddushin, it was before Him; there are witnesses, and the Holy One, blessed be He, is a witness to the marriage, as if it took place directly in His presence. He also warns you never to do such a thing - yet you betrayed her and violated the covenant to which you were bound.
And she did not betray you. "Though she is your companion" - she kept you company and did not quarrel with you; "and the wife of your covenant" - she maintained a faithful covenant with you, neither acting improperly nor betraying that covenant. If so, why have you done such a thing?
Verse 15: "Did He Not Make One, with a Remnant of the Spirit?"
וְלֹא־אֶחָד עָשָׂה וּשְׁאָר רוּחַ לוֹ וּמָה הָאֶחָד מְבַקֵּשׁ זֶרַע אֱלֹהִים וְנִשְׁמַרְתֶּם בְּרוּחֲכֶם וּבְאֵשֶׁת נְעוּרֶיךָ אַל־יִבְגֹּד׃ - And did He not make one, with a remnant of the spirit? And what does the one seek? A godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.
This verse is quite obscure. Let us begin with the Malbim's explanation, and then see how Chazal expound it. The Malbim explains that the prophet brings proof of their sin from the very creation of man: Consider, when Hashem created man, He did not create him like the other animals. The other animals were created male alone and female alone, whereas regarding man, "male and female He created them" - Chazal say they were created attached and joined to each other as a dual-faced being (du-partzufim), a face on this side and a face on that side. Only afterward was the separation (nesirah) performed, when the Holy One, blessed be He, separated the side and distanced it, thereby making the woman an independent entity.
And this is what the verse means by: "Did He not make one, and a remnant [she'ar]" - did not Hashem make Adam the first man as one with his kin of flesh (she'ar besaro), which is Chava who was joined to him? He made man one body with his wife, both joined together. Furthermore, "of the spirit was his" - He placed in them one spirit, so that they are considered one in spirit as well. Thus, they are one spirit and one flesh. That is why it is said that a wife is half of a person's body - she is half of him, half of his spirit, one spirit and one flesh that were divided. This is not like other animals, which each have a separate spirit, a separate soul, and a separate body.
Why did Hashem do this? To teach that a person must have harmony with his spouse, that she unite with him and join with him. Since they came from a single root - both physically and spiritually - it will be easier for them to reconnect. This is like the angel who teaches the fetus the Torah in its mother's womb and then strikes it and causes it to forget it. People wonder: if you cause him to forget it, why teach him in the first place? Rather, whenever there is prior preparation, it is far easier to recover it later. So too here: you have prior preparation with your wife, in that you were both formed as one body and one spirit, which brings about a much deeper union.
If so, why are you alienating your wives, marrying foreign women, and even making them mistresses of the house? After all, you share a bond both physically - "Have we not all one father?" - and spiritually - "Has not one God created us?", possessing one faith and one religion. What reason, then, could there be for you to deviate completely from the original intention of the Holy One, blessed be He?
To this he answers: "And what does the one seek? A godly seed." Why did Hashem create this unity, and what was His aspiration for it? So that from this union, godly offspring would be born. Not a mixed, forbidden breed, not corrupt children, not flawed and tainted offspring, but a godly seed that preserves lineage and sanctity, where the parents are united with one another. When they beget children in sanctity, the offspring are also holy, like the seed of Adam the first man, who fathered in his likeness and in the image of God.
Therefore: "Therefore take heed to your spirit" - guard your spirit, for the spirit yearns after physical desires and earthly lusts; restrain it. "And let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth" - let your spirit not betray the wife of your youth by hating her and loving another in her place. For the very purpose of creation was that you should unite; therefore, ensure that no division arises between you, but rather love and goodwill.
Additional Explanations: The Verse Referring to Avraham Avinu
Radak explains that the verse speaks of Avraham Avinu: Avraham was singular ("one"), a father to all who followed him in his faith. "Did not one do so" - he did not act as you do; he did not chase after physical lusts, and even with his wife he did not act to gratify his desire, for he did not even look at his wife, as Chazal noted. Rather, "what does the one seek? A godly seed": even his intimacy with his wife was solely to bring forth a godly seed and to father God-fearing children, since Hashem commanded, "Be fruitful and multiply." "Yet had he the residue of the spirit" - he possessed an elevated spirit (she'ar ruach), in the sense of spiritual nobility, meaning he was a spiritual man who did not pursue lusts, and everything he did was solely for the sake of fulfilling the mitzvah.
Radak brings another explanation in the name of his father, and interestingly, Rashi cites it in the name of an Aggadah - evidently Radak's father was familiar with the same Aggadah known to Rashi, which served as his source. According to this interpretation, the words "Did not one do so, who had a residue of spirit?" are the people's argument against the prophet. They had already argued against him from the case of Yehudah, and now they reach even further back into history, saying: Look at Avraham Avinu, who was singular - did he not do as we are doing? After all, he set Sarah aside and took Hagar, who was from Egypt. He possessed greatness of spirit, yet he did so - why do you complain against us?
The prophet answers them: "And what did that one seek? A godly seed." When Avraham took Hagar, he took her only to seek offspring, for he had no children with his wife Sarah, and the entire matter was that he was "seeking a godly seed." Furthermore, he did not betray his wife Sarah at all, for he did so with her permission and at her request: "Go in, please, to my maidservant." She was the one who brought her maidservant into the household as a co-wife so that she might be remembered through her. But you do not act this way; rather, each man betrays his wife, each betrays the wife of his youth.
In summary:
In this section, the prophet transitions from rebuking the kohanim over the sacrifices to rebuking the people for marrying foreign women and betraying the wives of their youth. Two iniquities are present here: harm to the unity of the family - "Have we not all one father?" - and harm to the unity of faith - "Has not one God created us?" These matters are all the more severe because the Torah had already been given and because they were committed even in Jerusalem, the King's palace. The punishment is the cutting off of "master and scholar" - neither teacher nor student, nor one who presents an offering, for the children will follow their foreign mothers. Moreover, the tears of the wronged wives cover the altar until the Holy One, blessed be He, no longer regards the offering. From here comes the great lesson of the creation of man: Adam and Chava were created as one flesh and one spirit so that they might unite and raise a godly seed - "Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth."