Chapter 30 of Mishlei is a unique chapter: "The words of Agur ben Yakeh," words spoken to Ithiel and Ucal, containing a description of corrupt generations and the daughters of the leech that cry "Give, give!" and are never satisfied. In this section, we examine two verses: the completion of the enumeration of the things that never say "Enough!" and the punishment of one who mocks his father and mother. Following the path of the Malbim, Ibn Ezra, Rashi, and the Vilna Gaon, we will see how each generation received its punishment measure for measure.
שְׁאוֹל וְעֹצֶר רָחַם, אֶרֶץ לֹא שָׂבְעָה מַּיִם, וְאֵשׁ לֹא אָמְרָה הוֹן. (טז) - Sheol, and the barren womb, the earth that is not sated with water, and fire that never says, 'Enough!' (16)
The Malbim explains according to the peshat: "Sheol and the barren womb" - they were punished through the Sheol of the rule of the womb. What is the rule of the womb? The regime of the king's wives spread like Sheol, which swallows everything. The king's wives were intensely wicked; they said, "Give, give!" and found no satisfaction, consuming everything, destroying everything, and corrupting the people. They continually demanded the people's wealth and caused immense, widespread damage - but against whom? Against those corrupt generations, against that populace that was "a generation, oh how lofty are their eyes," "a generation whose teeth are swords," everything we saw earlier. Those women oppressed them, plundered their money, and treated them precisely as they deserved.
The Malbim further notes: know that these women also faced punishments, providential retribution from Hashem. This is what is meant by "the earth that is not sated with water" - Hashem punished them by holding back the rains. In the natural order, water satisfies the earth, but here, because they acted with wickedness, their land remained without rain - "not sated with water." Likewise, "and fire that never says, 'Enough!'" - the fire did not say enough, but went on consuming across their cities. Thus, in practice, those who conducted themselves in that corrupt manner received their punishment from Heaven.
Ibn Ezra explains differently: Agur ben Yakeh is asking what ought to be done with that generation. "Sheol" - that generation of which we spoke, the generation that curses its father, "a generation, oh how lofty are their eyes," they should be cast into Sheol before their time. As it is written, "He who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death" - one does not wait for him until one hundred and twenty, but puts him to death immediately.
"And the barren womb" - "rechem" refers to the opening of the womb, meaning that the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, brings about a condition where they cannot bear children. One who degraded his parents will have no continuity, and the Holy One, blessed be He, restrains and closes every womb so that they do not give birth. Why? Because this generation "is not washed from its filth" - it is not cleansed of the impurity of illicit relations. If they have children and offspring, they will be destructive children, illegitimate children (mamzerim). Therefore, it is far better that there be restraint in the womb and that they do not bear children, rather than giving birth to children who would be corrupt and illegitimate.
"And the earth that is not sated with water" - when there is no rain, through which the proud and haughty will be humbled by famine. "And fire that never says, 'Enough!'" - fire descending from Heaven will consume the generation that devours the poor and oppresses the needy, like the fire that came down in the days of Eliyahu, and as it is written, "And fire came forth from before Hashem." It turns out, therefore, that according to Ibn Ezra, each of the generations we discussed received its own specific punishment: one who cursed his father and mother - Sheol; one who is not cleansed of the impurity of illicit relations - the barren womb, having no children; "the earth that is not sated with water" - corresponding to the proud and haughty, "a generation, oh how lofty are their eyes"; and the fire descending from Heaven - corresponding to those who devour the poor and oppress the needy. Ibn Ezra also brings another possibility: that this does not refer to actual fire descending from Heaven, but to heat that parches like fire - meaning that no rain falls and intense heat covers the land.
עַיִן תִּלְעַג לְאָב וְתָבֻז לִיקְּהַת אֵם, יִקְּרוּהָ עֹרְבֵי נַחַל וְיֹאכְלוּהָ בְנֵי נָשֶׁר. (יז) - The eye that mocks a father and despises obedience to a mother, the ravens of the valley shall peck it out, and the young eagles shall eat it. (17)
Some vocalize the letter kuf with a sheva na - "lik-hat." What is clear, as noted by the Minchat Shai, is that the yud is quiescent, and therefore one does not read it "le-yikhat em" but rather "likhat em."
Rashi explains "the wrinkles [yikhat] of a mother" as referring to the gathered and accumulated wrinkles on his mother's face. According to Rashi, "the gathering [yikhath] of nations" means an assembly of peoples; that is, yikhah is an expression of gathering. Thus, yikhat does not literally mean a wrinkle, but rather multiplicity and gathering - the multitude of folds and wrinkles gathered upon his mother's face, similar to "the gathering of nations." Rashi adds that the letter yud here is part of the root, just as one says yif'at (splendor) in the sense of radiating grace, where the yud is an inherent part of the root. That is, it is not a prefix indicating future action, as in yikkach (he will take), ya'aseh (he will do), yasim (he will place), or yitein (he will give), where the yud is added; rather, here the yud is part of the four-letter root: yud, kuf, heh, tav.
This eye, which mocks a father and despises the old age of his mother - "the ravens of the valley shall peck it out." Rashi says that yikruha (shall peck it out) is related to nikrat hatzur (a cleft in the rock), a hollowed-out cavity in the stone, like a bird pecking a hole. In other words, the ravens of the valley will peck out this eye. The raven is cruel toward its young, and therefore it will only peck it out without deriving enjoyment from it. In contrast, "and young eagles shall eat it" - the eagle is merciful toward its young, and therefore the verse says "shall eat it," an expression of eating that involves pleasure. The cruel raven pecks without enjoyment, while the merciful eagle consumes it with pleasure.
And how do we know that the raven is cruel? Rashi notes that it is written, "to the young ravens that cry" - the young ravens cry out because the parent raven abandons them. The eagle, on the other hand, is merciful, as it is written of it: "He carries them on his pinions." He bears his eaglets upon his wings, and when a hunter shoots an arrow at him, the eagle says, "Better that it strike me than strike my children." From this we see that the eagle is merciful and the raven is cruel.
The Vilna Gaon follows Rashi's approach: one who mocks his father and despises the old age of his mother will have his eyes pecked out by the cruel ravens of the valley. However, he adds the teaching of the Yerushalmi: "An eye that mocks a father" refers to honoring one's father, and "despises the wrinkles of a mother" refers to the mitzvah of "you shall not take the mother with the young." In other words, the verse speaks of a person who despises these two mitzvot: honoring parents and sending away the mother bird (shiluach hakein). And what is his punishment? The ravens of the valley, who are cruel, shall peck it out, and the young eagles, who are merciful, shall eat it.
What is the inner meaning of this? The Vilna Gaon explains: The Holy One, blessed be He, gave us two mitzvot, honoring parents and sending away the mother bird, and regarding both of them it is said: "so that it will be good for you and you will prolong your days." The mitzvah of honoring parents, if we were to characterize it on a superficial level, seems to stem from great mercy: pity your father and mother; they raised you and toiled for you, and now he is struggling, unable to support himself, and needs help - there is great kindness in having compassion on one's father and mother. The mitzvah of sending away the mother bird, on the other hand, appears to be an act of great cruelty. As the Zohar states, when you send away the mother bird and take the chicks, the bird cries out bitterly and casts herself into the sea. And it is written that this mirrors the Holy Shechinah, who is also exiled from Her nest, and through this, heavenly mercy is awakened toward us.
This is precisely what the Gemara means regarding one who says in his prayer, "May Your mercy extend to the bird's nest" - he is silenced because he treats the attributes of the Holy One, blessed be He, as mercy, when in fact they are divine decrees (gezeirot). The Vilna Gaon clarifies: this does not mean that Hashem's attributes are mere arbitrary decrees, Heaven forbid, for Hashem is entirely merciful. Rather, know that this mitzvah commanded to you does not stem from human sentiments of mercy; it is a divine decree. Therefore, one who mocks honoring parents, saying it is nothing more than human pity for one's father, and one who mocks sending away the mother bird, exclaiming, "What cruelty! How can this be?" - that person will be struck by both the cruel and the merciful. "The ravens of the valley," who are cruel, shall peck it out, as a punishment for mocking shiluach hakein and labeling it cruel; and "the young eagles," who are merciful, shall eat it, as a punishment for mocking the honor of parents and reducing it to mere compassion. Hashem established neither this out of human mercy nor that out of cruelty; rather, in instituting His conduct of the world, it is a divine decree.
In simple terms, a person often looks at a process or a machine and interprets it according to his own limited, humble intellect. A story is told about Rav Chaim Kanievsky traveling in an old-style manual car. Seeing the driver constantly shifting gears with the stick, Rav Chaim said to him, "You focus on driving, and I will stir the fuel for you." This is told to his praise, illustrating how completely detached he was from worldly matters. Yet sometimes a person looks at a reality and thinks he has grasped it, that he understands what is happening and how it works - until someone knowledgeable comes along and says: you have not even begun to understand; it is not in that direction at all and nothing like what you imagine. When one delves deeper into things, one realizes that he has barely scratched the surface of their inner reality.
So too in our case. An outside observer might say: honoring parents is about pitying them, while sending away the mother bird is cruelty. We answer him: it is neither mere mercy nor cruelty; it is all a divine decree. If you understood these matters at their spiritual root - what you accomplish through honoring parents and what cosmic effects you bring about through sending away the mother bird - you would realize that it lies completely beyond your frame of reference. Therefore, a person should not view what he sees or the laws of the Torah as mere reflections of human emotional traits; rather, everything flows from "My thoughts are not your thoughts." Anything you attempt to devise as rationalizations or explanations are merely the musings of human limitation, not the true inner workings of the mitzvot.
Therefore, whenever we speak of ta'amei hamitzvot (the reasons for the mitzvot), these are not the ultimate, absolute reasons, but are given merely to satisfy the human ear. What does it mean to give a ta'am (taste/reason) to a mitzvah? It means that when you perform the mitzvah, you do so with "flavor" and appreciation. A person might eat food and say, "It is tasteless, completely bland." The reasons for the mitzvot are what provide a bit of flavor to the mitzvah, allowing you to experience it meaningfully. But does anyone truly believe that tefillin exist solely so that we remember the Exodus from Egypt? Just for that? If so, one could place a carrot or a piece of matzah on one's arm! And why are tefillin written with such exacting precision, where the lack of the tip of a yud invalidates them, and why must they contain four distinct compartments? Surely there is a vast and profound inner reality here - and what does it mean that the Holy One, blessed be He, dons tefillin? At that point, you realize that you simply do not understand.
The same applies to korbanos (sacrifices). What is a korban? People say: a person sinned, so we take an animal, a life for a life. That is an understanding on the most superficial level. For if so, what is the meaning of a shelamim offering (peace offering)? And what about vowed offerings and freewill offerings (nedarim and nedavos)? And what about an olah (burnt offering)? I did not sin and nothing happened; I merely made a vow or a donation - why is a life for a life necessary? And why is it that for this one he places two applications that are four, while for that one he places four applications on the four corners? And why must these be slaughtered in the north while those are not? And why is the blood of this one applied above the red line (chut hasikra) and that one below the red line? Anyone who begins to study the inner depths even a little realizes that he truly does not understand, but rather there are lofty, sublime internal matters here, and your eyes grow dim when you gaze upon them. Therefore, you can raise an objection and say, "I don't understand" - as if until now you did understand! In truth, we understand nothing; all that we speak of is merely the outermost layer of externality. With the Holy One, Blessed is He, these are not matters of human character traits, but rather divine conduct and actions that leave an imprint upon the upper worlds and rectifications accomplished through them. Consequently, one who behaves in such a manner and mocks deserves punishment through the ravens of the valley and the young of the eagle.
The matter of honoring father and mother serves as a wonderful example. People who try to find reasons say: honoring father and mother is about hakaras hatov (gratitude). Your father exerted himself for you and raised you, your mother lost nights of sleep because of you - and perhaps still does today - and therefore you must honor them. But this is not the reason. For if, the moment you were born, your father and mother found the nearest trash bin and threw you inside, knowing full well that within minutes you would reach the heavenly realms, and by Hashem's kindness someone heard cries coming from the bin and took you out - you would still be obligated to honor your parents as though they had raised you for seventy years. And how did they raise you? This person brought you into the world by mistake, then attempted to murder you, and does not acknowledge you - yet one must honor him? Yes, sir: if you curse him, you are liable to the death penalty and are sentenced to execution. Whereas if you curse the one who raised you for seventy years, your adoptive father, you are not liable to the death penalty. It is certainly unfitting, as a person should not be ungrateful, but at any rate, if he curses, he is executed for cursing his biological father who did not lift a finger for him and even attempted to murder him, and not for the man who exerted himself so much on his behalf.
Thus, honoring parents is not based on their exertion; it is a divine decree (gezeras Hashem). Therefore, relating to this mitzvah through human reasoning of "fairness" - "he helped you, so you must help him" - misses the point entirely. Consequently, coming and arguing, "What did my father ever give me? What did I get from them? I only suffered!" - what does that have to do with anything? You are commanded to honor father and mother by virtue of Hashem's commandment, even if you suffered from them your entire life. It is written that even if one's mother takes his wallet and wants to throw it into the sea, he must not humiliate her. He is permitted to take it and snatch it away from her - he is not obligated to watch his mother throw his wallet into the sea - but to humiliate her, scold her, or strike her is completely out of the question. We have learned, therefore, that the entire concept of honoring parents is a decree from Hashem, and not a commandment contingent upon human logic.
The Malbim explains according to the plain sense (peshat), continuing the chapter's overarching theme: that king we discussed, the wicked and corrupt monarch, and his wives who were no less corrupt - the daughters of the leech crying "Give, give" - the fate of this king will be that the very eye which mocks a father and despises the mother's guidance will be punished. For this was a king who rose up and rebelled against his father, who killed his parents in order to seize the throne, and disgraced his father and his mother. His punishment will be that "the ravens of the brook shall peck it out," measure for measure: just as the ravens do not recognize their mothers, so will be done to him. "And the young of the eagle shall eat it" - for the nature of the eagle's young is the opposite of the raven's nature, as they do recognize their parents, whereas you did not recognize your parents, and rose up and murdered your father and mother in order to reign. Therefore, his punishment is measure for measure.
All this, according to the Malbim's explanation, serves as an answer to the question posed by Itiel and Uchal: Is it proper to reveal to the king that people want to rebel against him? And the answer is: No. After all this wickedness and these injustices they committed, on the contrary - it is right that they be toppled from their kingdom and that measure for measure be meted out to them, which is why "Do not slander a servant to his master."
In the verse "Sheol, and a barren womb," we saw two approaches: The Malbim explains that the rule of the king's wives spread like Sheol and swallowed up the corrupted people, and they themselves were punished with the withholding of rain and with fire that consumed their cities; and the Ibn Ezra allocates a punishment to each distinct generation - Sheol for the one who curses his father, a closed womb for those defiled by immorality, lack of rain for the arrogant, and fire for those who oppress the poor. And in the verse "An eye that mocks a father," we learned from Rashi its literal meaning - the cruel raven pecks, and the compassionate eagle eats with enjoyment; from the Vilna Gaon we learned the profound principle that the attributes of the Holy One, Blessed is He, are divine decrees, and honoring parents is not merely compassion just as sending away the nest is not cruelty, and one who mocks both is punished by the cruel and the compassionate alike; and consequently, we learned that a person cannot even begin to grasp the inner essence of the mitzvos, and all the reasons given for the mitzvos are merely to make them comprehensible to the ear and to give flavor to their observance. And the Malbim completed the picture: the end of the king who rebelled against his father and murdered his parents is measure for measure, by the ravens of the valley and the young of the eagle.