"And these three men were in its midst, Noach, Daniel and Iyov. They, by their righteousness, would save their own souls, says the Lord God." I will read a few more pesukim. "If I cause an evil beast to pass through the land and it bereaves it, and it becomes a desolation with none passing through because of the beast, and these three men were in its midst, as I live, says the Lord God, they would save neither sons nor daughters. They alone would be saved, and the land would be a desolation. Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and I say, let a sword pass through the land, and I cut off from it man and beast, and these three men were in its midst, as I live, says the Lord God, they would not save sons and daughters, for they alone would be saved. Or if I send a plague into that land, and I pour out My wrath upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast, and Noach, Daniel and Iyov were in its midst, as I live, says the Lord God, they would save neither son nor daughter. They, by their righteousness, would save their own souls. For thus says the Lord God, how much more so when I send My four evil judgments, sword and famine and evil beast and plague, against Jerusalem, to cut off from it man and beast, and behold there is left in it a remnant," and so on.
Here all the commentators set out to find a path for themselves, trying to understand what the Navi intends by mentioning these three tzaddikim, whom he mentions again and again. For he is essentially saying that even if there were three tzaddikim in the city, Noach, Daniel and Iyov, they, with all their righteousness, could at most save their own souls, meaning save themselves. They would not be able to save others, not even their own family members, and certainly could not save the city. Why does he specifically choose these three examples? After all, there were many tzaddikim throughout the generations whom he does not choose as an example, and specifically these three. We will see several explanations here, and we will begin with the explanation of Rashi.
Rashi explains that these three tzaddikim saw three worlds. Let us begin with Noach. Noach saw the world built, saw the world destroyed afterward following the Flood, and once again saw the world built after the Flood. Daniel saw the Beit HaMikdash, or another possibility, he also saw himself. He saw the Beit HaMikdash in its standing, and saw himself in his greatness, ruling over all the ministers. Afterward the Beit HaMikdash was destroyed, and if we speak of him himself, he was cast into the lions' den. And afterward the Beit HaMikdash was rebuilt, and speaking of Daniel himself, Daniel returned to his greatness after the lions did not harm him. The same is true when we speak of Iyov. Iyov saw himself in wealth, with sons, with possessions, he had all good things. Afterward it was destroyed, all the troubles that came upon him. And afterward we find at the end of Sefer Iyov that the Holy One, blessed be He, returned to him double.
And so he brings these examples as an example for the generation of Yechonyah, because in the generation of Yechonyah too they saw the House in its building, and they saw the House in its destruction, and also the Second House. So he says to them, behold, you see that your situation resembles the situation of these three tzaddikim. The Holy One, blessed be He, says to them, I have extra affection for you, that I am showing you, you Yechonyah and his exile, that if one of the lands of the nations sins to Me, I decree upon it harsh judgments, and nothing is left of it. Either famine, or evil beast, or sword, or plague, as they appear here one after another. And even if these three tzaddikim were among them, they would save no one. And with all this, come and see that for you it is much harsher, because for you I do not bring either this or that, rather I bring all four. All four troubles I brought upon Jerusalem. That is one thing. And the second thing, He says, come and see that you do not have these three tzaddikim among you, and even so you will be saved. "Saved" means that you will have a remnant and survival.
So then two things are stated here. First, come and see that if there were one of the lands with three such tzaddikim in it, and only one of the four troubles came upon it, they would not be saved. And come and see that among you, you have all the troubles, all four troubles, both sword and famine and plague and so on, and even so, though you do not have these three tzaddikim among you, you will nonetheless be saved. So it emerges that these words contain consolation for them, and this consolation we will see he expresses at the end of the chapter, he expresses these things so that there will be encouragement for that generation destined to be exiled.
Another matter Rashi brings: another explanation. These three men, the Holy One, blessed be He, saved them from all these judgments mentioned here. Behold, come and see, Noach was saved from an evil beast. Where do we see that Noach was saved from an evil beast? It is written that when he entered the ark, the beasts also wanted to enter, and there "HaShem shut him in" (vayisgor). "Shutting" refers only to the beasts, says the Midrash, as it is written "and He shut the mouth of the lions and they did not harm me," so says Daniel. So we see that "shutting" means shutting the lion's mouth. He shut the mouths of the lions and they did not harm me. A lion came to enter and its teeth were blunted, a bear came to enter and its legs buckled, as it appears in Bereishit Rabbah. So Noach escaped and was saved from the evil beast. Noach escaped and was saved from the famine. It is written "from the ground which HaShem cursed," says Bereishit Rabbah, in the place where it counts ten famines that came down to the world, one of them in the days of Noach. You see that in the time of Noach there was also famine, not only sword, not only evil beast. Another matter, there was also sword. What sword? This was in the time of the generation of the Flood, when he wanted to enter the ark, they said, we will not let him enter. We will kill him. They came with swords, they came to dismantle and break the ark. The Holy One, blessed be He, says, I will not let him enter except at midday. "And whoever has something to say, let him speak." Meaning, as it were, let us see who is truly able to stop Noach from entering the ark when I have instructed him to enter. And so it is written "on that very day Noach came," in the middle of the day. Behold, this is Noach, you see that he was saved from an evil beast, from famine, from sword.
The same was also with Daniel. When Nevuchadnetzar entered the Heichal in the days of Yehoyakim, it is written that he killed Yehoyakim and exiled Daniel, and after this he exiled him, seeing that he was full of a spirit of wisdom. What have you learned? That he was saved from the sword of Nevuchadnetzar. From famine, it is written that until Jerusalem was conquered in the time of Yehoyakim, there was a siege of three years, Daniel was there, and the famine was severe, and he was saved from the famine. From the beasts, it is written "and He shut the mouth of the lions and they did not harm me," as we saw that he was cast into the lions' den and Daniel was saved. The same you also find with Iyov, says Rashi, that he too escaped from these three matters. From famine, for there are those who say Iyov was in the time of Yaakov, it is written "and there was a famine in the land." From the beast, it is written "and his cattle broke forth in the land," the Sages say he broke through the fence of the world, so that beasts would not harm his cattle. He had insurance. He broke through the fence of the world, so he was saved from an evil beast. From the sword, it is written "He cleaves my kidneys and does not spare." As it were, he feels like a sword cutting his kidneys and God, as it were, does not spare, and you saw that in the end he was saved.
The Radak explains, why does he mention all three of these tzaddikim? He says, come and see that these tzaddikim saved only themselves. Examine Noach: he was a tzaddik in his generation together with his sons, he saved none of all the people of his generation except themselves, Noach and his family. Daniel saved only himself. If you ask, did he save? He was exiled. When they arose from Jerusalem, everyone was exiled, so Daniel too was exiled. How can you say he saved? Says the Radak, what you should understand is that regarding the exile he did not save, because he could not have saved himself, for what would it mean to save himself? That he would stay here? He and the righteous companions Yechezkel, Chananyah, Mishael and Azaryah, how could they possibly stay here in the land when it is destroyed, desolate, with no one to assist them? Certainly four or five people cannot settle the land alone. And on the contrary, he says, it was for their good that they were exiled, so that they would not witness the destruction of the city and the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash. So at any rate, we saw that he himself was saved, he was a minister, he was a minister in the palace of Nevuchadnetzar. So we see that Daniel too was saved.
And although he asks, ostensibly there were other chassidim who could have been saved, for "in Your flesh, Your chassidim to the beasts of the land," so what do you say, that they were few? Would only five people remain? There were other chassidim in the city, so let them remain. Why did HaShem not save them? Says the Radak, it is quite possible that that chassid was an individual among many. And when it concerns several, then there truly is reason to save. But when it concerns an individual, one needs very, very special merits for the Holy One, blessed be He, to save him. But Chananyah, Mishael, Azaryah, Daniel, they were indeed worthy of rescue, and even so HaShem did not save them by leaving them in the land, rather He saved them and saved them there, meaning in Bavel, and to remain here in the land He gave them nothing.
Iyov, he says, come and see that he too saved only himself from death, and did not save his sons and daughters. It is written there, "if your sons sinned against Him and He sent them away by the hand of their transgression." Thus Iyov's friends said to him. Meaning, what you see, that your sons died, is because they sinned against Him. What do you see again? Iyov did not succeed in saving his sons. So then the common ground for all these tzaddikim is that each of them saved only himself. Thus the Sages say, and none can save from My hand, Avraham does not save Yishmael, and Yitzchak does not save Eisav. And Iyov, ostensibly if you ask, he did not save even himself, for he had suffering, harsh suffering. So ostensibly why did he not save himself from the suffering? Regarding this the Radak says, it was for his good, to cleanse somewhat the sins that were in him. Even though he himself did not know them. What are those sins? In fact the Radak does not mention, but we brought in the teaching of gilgulim that Iyov was a gilgul of Terach. And being so, he needed to rectify and cleanse from all that idolatry which he manufactured in the previous incarnation, and so he needed to return in a gilgul. And we already spoke of this, that it is hinted in the words "and Terach died in Charan, and HaShem said to Avram, go forth." Whoever takes the first letters, "beCharan, vayomer," Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh, "el," take the first letters, this spells Iyov in reverse. "And Terach died beCharan" - bet, "vayomer" - vav, "HaShem" is yud - Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh, "el" - alef, "Avram, go forth from your land." As Terach died, it is hinted here in the Torah that he returns and is reincarnated, therefore it is in reverse, from left to right. He returns and is reincarnated in Iyov. Yes? Iyov was the gilgul of Terach and he was his rectification. We elaborated on this in the teaching of gilgulim, we brought many more parallels and additional explanations, but at any rate, behold you see that what Iyov ultimately suffered here was for his good, since through it he had cleansing and rectification.
Another common ground that these three tzaddikim have, brings the Radak, is that these three stood firm in their righteousness in trial and were saved. Behold see Noach, HaShem says to him, make yourself an ark of gopher wood, he does this before the eyes of all the people of his generation, he is in great danger that they will kill him, and even so he did not fear and stands firm in the trial. Daniel, he had a great trial, the king cast him into the lions' den, and just a moment before he could have retracted or said that he also believes in the divinity of Nevuchadnetzar and so on, and he did not do so, and was cast into the lions' den. The same too with Iyov, that Iyov too stood firm in his righteousness, the Satan struck him with a severe boil from the sole of his foot to his crown, and he did not sin with his lips, and did not speak improper things against God, even so he did not sin with his lips. So we see that all three stood firm in harsh trials, that these trials were very, very not simple trials compared to the other tzaddikim. Now ostensibly, if this is the reason, then there is room to ask, there was also Yosef. Why did he not mention Yosef as well? For Yosef too had an enormous trial that many others did not have. So ostensibly he should have mentioned him too. But at any rate, the common ground according to this explanation of the Radak is that all three stood firm in harsh trials, and even so, though they had such great trials and stood firm in them, to save the generation they did not save. And from this he says you should also conclude, that these tzaddikim, as we will soon see, even if they were in the city, they would not save the people of the place by their righteousness.
The Malbim connects this matter of the three tzaddikim, he says, come and see that these tzaddikim too were struck by those same four judgments that he mentioned earlier. The Flood is a heavenly evil, as we saw that the category of plague and the like is a heavenly evil. Iyov was punished through the elements of wind and fire, which are also a heavenly evil. It is written that fire came down from heaven, it is written that a storm wind came in the afflictions of Iyov. And this too is a heavenly matter. Daniel was saved from sword and from evil beast, as we saw that he was saved from the sword here in Jerusalem, he was not killed in the Mikdash like Yechonyah, and he was also saved from an evil beast, this is from the lions. He tells you, come and see, "they, by their righteousness, would save their own souls." He says, see that even though they in fact had the harshest reproof here, their righteousness will help them save their souls. And no more than that, and certainly not their sons. And this is what he continues and says, "if I cause an evil beast to pass through the land and it bereaves it, and it becomes a desolation with none passing through because of the beast." Even if I bring an evil beast, which an evil beast is lighter than famine, and it comes even before famine, for as we said, the famine is at the end, because at the end it is the harshest blow. He says, and I would say that perhaps here their righteousness would indeed help, because it is not such a harsh blow, it is an evil beast, so perhaps the righteousness would help, their righteousness would help. In any case it does not help. What is "if" (lu) an evil beast? So Rashi, and likewise the Malbim, explain "lu" as "if," like "had you kept them alive," meaning if you had kept them alive. And he says, even so it is also possible to explain "lu" in the sense of "if only," from the expression "halevai." Meaning, "if only an evil beast I would cause to pass through the land," if only it would be only an evil beast, since there were harsher blows, that there was also sword and there was also famine, so if only it were only an evil beast. And behold there is an evil beast in the land, these three men in its midst, but in that same place where there is the evil beast, there are three righteous men, as I live says the Lord God, they would save neither sons nor daughters. They alone would be saved, and the land would be a desolation. Even though it is only an evil beast, there would be no power in the hands of these tzaddikim to protect the people of their place.
Now he moves to the next blow. "Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and I say, let a sword pass through the land, and I cut off from it man and beast." He says that a sword may pass through the land, and even so I will strike down, and it will strike down and kill beast and animal, I cut off beast and animal. The sword, note, is heavier, sorry, the evil beast is lighter than the sword. Because regarding an evil beast it is written "a lion will not attack two." When two walk together, the lion is more afraid to deal with them. When one walks, then the lion feels more confident. But when two walk together, the lion is more afraid to deal with them. Apparently that was once, when the lion had less confidence and people had more. Today it seems that the ratio has changed somewhat, yes? And today the lion deals even with four and five, and in any case it is very dangerous. But in the time of the Gemara we see "a lion will not attack two." A lion, unless apparently it is a situation where it is very hungry or an unusual situation, but in an ordinary situation a lion does not attack two. So he says, even though here there would be sons and daughters, and sons and daughters are many, it is much easier to be saved from the evil, regarding this he says three men in its midst. Even though they are three, and three men together have power, and even though there are sons and daughters here and this is a plural expression, and sons and daughters ostensibly have more strength to withstand an evil beast, for as we said a lion will not attack two, in any case he tells you that the ones who will be saved are only the three tzaddikim. Whereas the rest would not be saved by the power and righteousness of these three. Afterward he continues, "or if I bring a sword upon that land, and I say, let a sword pass through the land, and I cut off from it man and beast, and these three men were in its midst, as I live says the Lord God, they would not save sons and daughters, for they alone would be saved." Meaning they would not save by their righteousness from the sword. And the next matter, "or if I send a plague into that land, and I pour out My wrath upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast," this is a pestilence, this is already something harsher, this is a heavenly evil. "And Noach, Daniel and Iyov were in its midst, as I live says the Lord God, they would save neither son nor daughter, they, by their righteousness, would save their own souls."
HaShem says, as I live, that they would not succeed in saving even a son or a daughter. Here note, the Malbim points out that it is written "neither son nor daughter" in the singular. Regarding the beast we saw "they would not save sons and daughters." Here he says even one son they would not save. And why? Because plague clings more when there are many people together. It is known that when there are many people, then the plague spreads more. There is more harm. And if so, then there is a novelty here, that ostensibly regarding plague when they are few, there is more chance to be saved, because when they are many, on the contrary this spreads. When they are few there is more chance to be saved. And he tells you, even so, come and see, "son or daughter they would save," even individuals would not be saved, they by their righteousness would save their own souls. With all their righteousness they would only save their own souls, but to save even a single son or a single daughter they would not be able. And behold see, when permission is given to the destroyer, it does not distinguish between righteous and wicked, and even so he says, see, it is written "they, by their righteousness, would save their own souls." What is the emphasis of "they, by their righteousness, would save their own souls"? For regarding these he did not say this. He said, "if sons and daughters they would save, they alone would be saved." "They would not save sons and daughters, for they alone would be saved." The third time he says "they, by their righteousness, would save their own souls." Here he speaks of their special righteousness. Why? He says because here it concerns plague, plague is an all-encompassing blow. Once it concerns an all-encompassing blow, here permission is given to the destroyer and it does not distinguish between righteous and wicked, as we saw in the plague of the firstborn. And on the contrary, here a special distinction is needed in order to save the tzaddik. And so he says, here a special regard was needed, that the Holy One, blessed be He, would look upon their righteousness, and then through this they would save their souls. But if not, even their righteousness, as it were, would not help. Why? Because here there is a blow that is a blow sweeping over everyone. Therefore here it needed to be "they, by their righteousness," specifically regard for their special righteousness, this is what causes their souls to be saved.
"For thus says the Lord God, how much more so when I send My four evil judgments, sword and famine and evil beast and plague, against Jerusalem, to cut off from it man and beast." The Radak: what is written here "thus says HaShem, how much more so My four judgments," what is this "how much more so" written here? "How much more so My four judgments" means "all the more so." That is the "how much more so." For all the examples we saw regarding the beast, we spoke of a situation in which the Holy One, blessed be He, sends one of the judgments upon the nations, and if there were three of these tzaddikim in it, they would not protect it. They would not protect that nation. He says, then all the more so when I bring all four judgments upon one nation. He says, "how much more so," says HaShem, "how much more so My four evil judgments, sword and famine and evil beast and plague, I sent against Jerusalem." Behold see, I sent all this against Jerusalem, so all the more so it would be fitting that Jerusalem, God forbid, be destroyed. And he says, with all this I did not make an end of them, as HaShem promised, "and you I will not make an end of." And behold, "and I sent to Jerusalem to cut off from it man and beast," meaning it was fitting that man and beast be cut off by My judgments, and even so come and see that they were not cut off. The Malbim points out that here the order is sword, famine, evil beast and plague. Ostensibly we said that the famine should be at the end because it is the most severe. So why does he here count them in the order of sword, famine, evil beast and after this plague? Says the Malbim, because he counted them according to the order in which they came to Jerusalem. Through the sword a famine came about in the city, and it laid a siege and there was famine. Afterward the evil beast came, because there are slain, so it comes to the corpses. And afterward it killed the slain who were outside. And afterward there was plague inside, which was a pestilence within the city. So therefore he counted them in their order.
"And behold there is left in it a remnant, those brought out, sons and daughters, behold they are coming out to you, and you will see their way and their deeds, and you will be consoled over the evil which I brought upon Jerusalem, all that I brought upon it." And behold there is left in it a remnant, there remained in it a remnant, this is sons and daughters, those who are brought out to the exile. Come and see that with you, as I said, I did not make an end. There is a remnant here, those who go out to the exile. And why did the Holy One, blessed be He, leave these? He tells you, this matter was by providence. First, in order to justify the heavenly judgment. So that the people of Bavel would not complain, why did the Holy One, blessed be He, pour out His wrath upon them so harshly. The Holy One, blessed be He, says, I will bring over to you, I will turn toward you those who have now been exiled from Jerusalem, and then you will be consoled over the evil that I brought, you will see that it was in justice and judgment, for they will tell you of the abominations that they did there in Jerusalem. They will tell you of the evil deeds that they did, as we saw with Yechezkel himself, that he describes the tour that the Holy One, blessed be He, gave him in the Beit HaMikdash, and HaShem showed him there all the abominations, going with him from room to room, the abominations they did there in the Beit HaMikdash. And if so, through this you will not have questions about why HaShem did thus. They will tell you the abominations they did, and thereby you will accept the heavenly judgment. Another matter, the children of the exile of Yechonyah were distressed that HaShem exiled them before the other exiles. And behold now He says to them, "and they will console you when you see their way and their deeds, and you will know that not for nothing did I do all that I did in it, says the Lord God." You will see their way and then you will know it was not for nothing that I did it. There was a great benefit for you in that you were exiled first. For if you had been exiled later, then all these troubles that we now counted, all four these afflictions, you too would have been struck. And now when you see that you were exiled earlier, then what did you have? Only exile. But not sword, and not pestilence, and not famine, all these troubles you did not suffer. So through this you will understand that you got off cheaply. And this generation that was more wicked paid the full price. As the Sages say, that it was for the good, that HaShem brought out the exile of Yehoyachin, the craftsmen and the smiths, brought it out earlier, because the generation of Tzidkiyahu, his generation, were wicked, as we spoke several times, that they had idolatry behind the door, and when they would close the door, the idolatry stood there erect within, and they would not see it from outside, so that that generation were a generation of wicked people. And then through this you will know that not for nothing did I do it, you will know that everything is by the decree of HaShem. So first, you will justify the heavenly judgment, and second, you will thank HaShem that you were exiled first and did not have to receive what those who came after you received.