"Cry out and wail, son of man, for it is against My people; it is against all the princes of Israel. Fears of the sword have come upon My people. Therefore strike upon your thigh." Hashem says to the prophet, cry out and wail, son of man. The Holy One commands him to cry out over the sharpened sword that comes to slaughter, and to wail over the polished sword. As we explained, the meaning is that the side that was seemingly smoothed, which seemingly came to show peace, was in fact the means of grasping the sword. And what was the means of grasping? By their fighting within and killing one another. This is the sword of Israel, in which they themselves killed one another. About this He says, for it is against My people. The essence of the sword was against My people. It was not Nevuchadnetzar; you want to know where the downfall came from? It was against My people. The sword lay in their killing one another. In the internal hatred among them, baseless hatred, killing, and the sword of a man against his fellow. He continues and says, it is against all the princes of Israel. This sword was also between the king, the officers, and the people. He explains and says, fears of the sword have come upon My people. The princes and officers of the people were the terror and the fear of the sword. Meaning, they killed many among the people, and the fear of the internal sword among them was greater than the fear of the external sword. So My people's fear was of the sword of the officers, of the sword of the king, of the sword that was within. It is written about Menashe that he filled Yerushalayim with blood from end to end. That is to say, Nevuchadnetzar is not needed. There is an internal sword among all the princes of Israel, those who were the kings and those who were the officers and the prominent ones, who destroyed and killed by the power of the sword.
Therefore He says to him, strike upon your thigh. What does strike upon your thigh mean? In the simple understanding, striking upon the thigh is an expression of mourning. A person who sits and, oy, it pains him, oy, he strikes his thigh like this as a sign of grief. But the Malbim has an original interpretation here. The Malbim says, what does strike upon your thigh mean? The sword was placed upon the thigh. Gird your sword upon your thigh. That is to say, they would gird the sword on the thigh. And when He wants to tell him, you want to know the cause? You want to know what brought the downfall? Then strike upon your thigh. Strike upon the thigh. What will you find there? Your sword. He says your sword, that is what brought the troubles. That is what brought the war, that is what brought Nevuchadnetzar's conquest. Strike upon your thigh, touch the thigh and there you will find the sword, as in gird your sword upon your thigh, O mighty one, this is the sword of Israel themselves, hanging upon their thigh, and it is what destroyed them. About it He says, cry out and wail, son of man. Over this you must clap your hands and wail, clap your hands and grieve over this sword, for truly it is far more painful over the sword of a man against his fellow than over the sword of the enemy. From the enemy we have no expectations. From the enemy we know to guard ourselves. I know that he is an enemy. But when there is the sword of a man against his fellow, it is far more painful that a person is harmed and threatened by his brother, this is the hardest thing of all.
"For it is a test, and what if even the rejecting scepter shall be no more, says the Lord Hashem." Hashem says to him, why do I command you to strike upon your thigh? For it is a test. In this there will be a test. That you will examine and try to strike upon your thigh, and then through this you will see what you discover there. What will you find there, as we said? The sword that is the destroyer. And you will discern that upon their thigh is found the destroyer. It did not begin with Nevuchadnetzar's sword. The trouble is that the destroying sword is found among us. And not only that, what if even the rejecting scepter shall be no more. He says, what will they gain if the scepter of Nevuchadnetzar shall be no more? As we saw regarding Nevuchadnetzar there is a scepter that rejects every wood. We explained that his sword does not accept a wooden handle, it must come from us. So He says, what will it help you if Nevuchadnetzar goes away? For with your self-destruction mechanism you do it to yourselves. For you kill a man against his fellow. As they would tell you today, that there is no need to go and fight against Syria. There is no need to send an army to bomb or to... no need. How many would you... you would... would you alone reach 300,000? No. So then let it be, leave it to Assad, he will do the work. And if that is not enough, he will organize a coalition. That is to say, all those who oppressed Israel throughout history, slowly we see how they get what is coming to them. O daughter of Bavel who is to be plundered, happy is the one who repays you, after he seizes and dashes your infants against the rock. There is no need for us to do it. Today they do it to themselves. Every day or two some car bomb explodes there, fifty people are killed, this one at the exit from the mosque, that one in the market, these here, those there. There is payment, there is a price paid when one oppresses Israel. So it is paid over the years. There are those who want it immediately, and there are those who see it after years. When there was a civil war in Spain, in which, some say, over a million citizens died, some say half a million, there are no exact numbers. It began in the time of the Chafetz Chaim. The Chafetz Chaim says, do you think the Holy One forgot what they did to Israel four hundred years ago? Do you think the Holy One forgot it? The Chafetz Chaim said to them, the Holy One remembers. Only, the Holy One has a different timetable than yours. And if so we will understand, that what you see happening, know, the internal killing is harder. Fighting within is far harder than when there is war with someone external. This is what He says here, know the sword, what if even the rejecting scepter shall be no more, even if we do not have the sword that rejects the handle, which we said is Nevuchadnetzar's sword, still their own sword upon their thigh consumes them, they destroy themselves. Whether in practice through bloodshed, or through their sins, for among them were idolatry, forbidden relations, and bloodshed. So even without actual bloodshed, still the sins bring destruction and annihilation upon themselves.
"And you, son of man, prophesy, and strike hand upon hand. And let the sword be doubled a third time, the sword of the slain it is, the sword of the great slain that pierces into them." And you, son of man, prophesy and strike hand upon hand. He says to him, prophesy and strike hand upon hand, and this is a sign of grief. When trouble strikes, they would strike hand upon hand to show the magnitude of the grief, the suffering, and the pain. And let the sword be doubled a third time, the sword of the slain, and so forth. The Malbim says, what is the sword a third time? Nevuchadnetzar's sword, if we wish to divide how much it consumed among the people, it was a third of the people. A third of the people the sword of Nevuchadnetzar consumed. It is called the sword a third time. But two portions of the people, which means twice a third, this is and let the sword be doubled a third time, meaning double this third, this is another two thirds, they were destroyed by the internal sword. By the sword that was within the city. And we saw this in Yechezkel chapter five, where the Holy One commands him to shave the hair of his head and his beard, and told him to divide it into three parts. About this He said to him, a third of the people will die in the city from plague and famine in the days of the siege. A third will fall by the sword through Nevuchadnetzar, and a third I will scatter to every wind and I will draw a sword after them. What do you see? How many died through Nevuchadnetzar? Only a third. But two thirds died in other ways. It emerges then that two thirds fell of their own accord, whether from famine or plague or whatever it may be in the days of the siege, and afterward when Gedalyah ben Achikam was killed and they went down to Egypt, against Hashem's command that warned them through a prophet not to go to Egypt, and there they were utterly consumed by the horrors, in the language of the Malbim. And through this they died there too. If so He says, that the sword a third time, Nevuchadnetzar's sword which will kill only a third, will be doubled. The meaning is that upon it will come another double, another two thirds, who are still ready to fall. And from whom? The sword of the slain it is. Through the sword of the slain themselves. The slain themselves by their own sword, through this they will kill themselves as we explained, this was the internal sword by which they struck one man against his fellow. The sword of the slain will destroy double the third that Nevuchadnetzar destroyed. Likewise the sword of the great slain, the sword of the king who is destined to be slain, he too made slain ones among the people. About this He says to them, the sword of the great slain that pierces into them. What does that pierces into them mean? It is chamber within chamber, it is found within you, it is in the chambers within you, it will destroy two thirds. It emerges then that your destruction is greater than the destruction of Nevuchadnetzar. This is what He said earlier, and what if even the rejecting scepter shall be no more, even if there is not the rejecting scepter which is Nevuchadnetzar's sword, two thirds of your sword will still destroy you. So then understand that the essence of the demand and the claim must be against yourselves, to strengthen yourselves, both in matters between man and his fellow and to nullify all internal quarrels and divisions, and both in matters between man and God, which as we said is what brought the trouble upon them, the idolatry and the forbidden relations, for these are the spiritual causes, the sins that destroyed the city.
"So that the heart may melt, and the stumbling blocks may be multiplied at all their gates, I have set the flashing sword. Ah, it is made to gleam, wrapped for slaughter." So that the heart may melt, what I set, the flashing of Nevuchadnetzar's sword, the fear of it upon them, this was to melt the heart, to frighten them. The expression melting of heart means a fearful person. The purpose was so that the heart may melt, to frighten them, and the purpose so that the stumbling blocks would multiply, and the stumbling blocks may be multiplied at all their gates. The meaning is, the sword of Nevuchadnetzar spread throughout all the gates of the country, meaning throughout the surroundings of Yerushalayim, and the purpose was, I have set the flashing sword. The flashing of the sword means the power of Nevuchadnetzar's sword. The Malbim explains that avchat has several interpretations. There is one interpretation, avchat like ave'at. And he brings, this is an interpretation that Rashi also brings, that it is from the language of terror, panic. Avchat cherev means a terrifying sword, a sword that terrifies, this is one interpretation. Another interpretation that the early ones also bring, that avchat is like tivchat. Since the aleph and the tet interchange. So avchat cherev is like a slaughtering sword. In a type of script called at-bach, aleph interchanges with tet, bet interchanges with chet, gimel interchanges with zayin, and so on. So it emerges, instead of avchat, tivchat cherev, that the sword slaughters. So then, I brought this sword of Nevuchadnetzar, not that it should do the main slaughter. For as we explained, the main slaughter would not be through it, since the essence of the slaughter, we said, two thirds would die within.
About this He says, ah, it is made to gleam, wrapped for slaughter. What is the meaning of this? Ah is from the language of joy, like aha. He tells you, this sword is made to gleam. To gleam means the sword shines, we saw that it creates panic, it terrifies. Ah, it is made to gleam, the joy that the sword is made only to terrify. As we said, only to frighten. Nevuchadnetzar's sword, the essence of the slaughter will not be through it. Wrapped for slaughter. The meaning is, a minority of the slaughter will be through this sword. As we said that only a third of the slaughter would be through Nevuchadnetzar's sword. So there is reason to rejoice that it is made only to terrify, only so that the heart may melt, meaning only to bring them to have dread, and perhaps through this they will repent, perhaps through this they will correct their deeds. But we see that this did not help. Both the very fact that the sword came to frighten and that through it there would be only the minority of the slaughter did not help, since in the end they destroyed themselves within, as we said, the slaughter doubled itself, and they did not repent.
The Malbim explained wrapped for slaughter to mean that the slaughter would be small through it. But if we pay attention, the tet here has a dagesh. Therefore the Radak brings in the name of his father, who explains me'utah like covered. Like one wrapped in a coat. From the language of covering. What is the meaning? Wrapped for slaughter, the meaning is, the sword that until now was wrapped, meaning covered, veiled, like veiled in a garment, now it is for slaughter. It now comes out and slaughters the people of Yerushalayim. So the wrapping, according to his interpretation, is from the language of enveloping, of being covered.
"Gather yourself to the right, set yourself to the left, wherever your face is directed." Now He will describe how this sword comes upon Yerushalayim. We already mentioned this above, that when the king of Bavel set out toward Yerushalayim, he stood at the parting of the way and was uncertain where to go. Whether to go right, meaning to Yerushalayim, or to go left, to Rabbat of the children of Ammon, as we will see in verse twenty-six. And then he, as it were, says to the sword, you decide. You choose in which direction I will go now. Therefore he speaks as it were, gather yourself to the right, set yourself to the left. The meaning is, you decide in which direction to go. Whether gather yourself to the right, whether you will gather all the camps to go to the right side to Yerushalayim, or set yourself to the left, or you will set your way to the left, to Rabbat of the children of Ammon. Wherever your face is directed? For you are now uncertain and do not know, O sword, which way to turn your face, where your face is directed. Directed is from the language of designated, yes, from the language of appointed time. He set for it an appointed time, meaning he set for it a time. So where is your face designated to arrive?
"And I too will strike My hand upon My hand, and I will let My fury rest. I, Hashem, have spoken." What is and I too will strike My hand upon My hand? As we saw in verse nineteen, and you, son of man, prophesy and strike hand upon hand. The Radak says, the Holy One says to him, I too, like you, I too will strike My hand upon My hand. As it were, I too will have grief and I will clap hand upon hand over the matter of the destruction of Yerushalayim, over Nevuchadnetzar who now comes upon Yerushalayim. And I will let My fury rest, I, Hashem, have spoken. With this My fury will rest. And why? As we explained several times, that when there is, as it were, anger, and a person acts out the anger, strikes and the like, through this his anger subsides. After Achashverosh killed Vashti, the king's fury subsided. So likewise here Hashem says, with this My fury will rest. After I bring upon the people of Yerushalayim, who anger Me, the sword of Nevuchadnetzar, through this I will let My fury rest, I, Hashem, have spoken. I, Hashem, have spoken, what does this mean? It is I, and it is in My power to fulfill it. When someone else speaks, perhaps he spoke. Who says he can? Who says he wants to? Who says that if he wants it very much he will ultimately succeed? But when Hashem says, I, Hashem, have spoken, if I, Hashem, have spoken, this matter will surely be fulfilled.
The Malbim explains that what is written here, and I too will strike My hand upon My hand, the Holy One says, I too will then decree that he go to Yerushalayim, and I will strike hand upon hand over the matter of the verdict. As if, as it were, Hashem says, I, Hashem, have spoken and decreed. As it were, Nevuchadnetzar performed divination, as we will soon see. Divination means he cast a lot. And it seems as if the lot is blind. Hashem says, no, do not make a mistake. I clapped over Yerushalayim hand upon hand, and I, Hashem, have spoken that he will come upon Yerushalayim. So do not think that this matter came only through a lot, as it were, without a directing intention.
"And the word of Hashem came to me, saying. And you, son of man, set for yourself two roads for the sword of the king of Bavel to come; from one land both of them shall come forth, and prepare a signpost, prepare it at the head of the road to a city." And the word of Hashem came to me, saying. After Hashem, as it were, sees that regarding Nevuchadnetzar there is uncertainty, that the sword is uncertain where to go, the Holy One comes and shows the prophet how Nevuchadnetzar will cast a lot, and by Hashem's decree as we said, the lot falls on Yerushalayim. The Holy One says to him, make for yourself, as it were, an illustration of the matter. He says to him, set for yourself two roads. Draw for yourself, as it were, two separated roads, so that by these two roads Nevuchadnetzar can arrive. By the right road or the left road. And draw the two roads coming forth from one land. For the sword of Bavel to come, from one land both of them shall come forth. As it were, in the drawing make these two roads come forth from Bavel, and they split and, as it were, arrive, and prepare a signpost at the head of the road to a city. The meaning is, at the end of each road draw, as it were, a cleared place. What is the meaning of a cleared place? It comes to hint that Nevuchadnetzar, when he arrives, will clear the place. The meaning is that when Nevuchadnetzar reached a place he had to station his forces. So, as it were, he would destroy that whole city and give the place to his forces. This is the expression bara. Like to cut off, like to clear, yes? This is the expression bara. So He says, draw these two places like this, cleared of the people of their place, and they will be for the needs of Nevuchadnetzar's forces.
"Set a road for the sword to come to Rabbat of the children of Ammon, and to Yehudah in fortified Yerushalayim." Set a road, set one road for the sword to come to Rabbat of the children of Ammon. As He told him, draw like two lines coming forth from Bavel, one arriving at Rabbat of the children of Ammon, and the second road draw, as it were, coming to Yehudah in Yerushalayim. What is and to Yehudah in fortified Yerushalayim? One could understand that fortified means Yerushalayim which is fortified. But in contrast the Malbim does not explain it this way. The Malbim explains that what is written, and to Yehudah in fortified Yerushalayim, the Malbim says that the servile bet, the servile bet meaning like when I say in the table, in the door, in the window, in the city, the bet is a servile bet, it is not part of the root. If I say betzurah, it is as if it is part of the root. As if I say fortress. Its root is bet-tzade-resh. But in contrast if I say the servile bet, then it is as if it is written be-tzurah. The word is tzurah and the bet only serves it, like to the form, in the form, the form. What is the meaning then of what is written here, betzurah? He says to him, draw at the end of the road the city of Rabbat of the children of Ammon, and at the end of the second road draw the form of the city of Yerushalayim. And how will you draw them? Draw them as if they were engraved, as we explained, that the king of Bavel would arrive, and he would engrave, would clear the cities. As He said to him earlier, and prepare a signpost, prepare it at the head of the road to a city. As it were, clearing the place so that there his men and forces would come. So draw Yerushalayim like this in the form which you will draw.
"For the king of Bavel stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two roads, to perform divination; he shook the arrows, consulted the teraphim, examined the liver." Why these forms? What does Hashem want from the prophet when He tells him to draw this? He says to him, these drawings will hint at the fact that the king of Bavel stood at the parting of the way, and was as if uncertain where to go. Whether to the right to Yerushalayim or to the left to Ammon. And then he performed divination. We have already explained several times in the past, that their way was, when uncertain, to cast a lot. To perform divinations. As we saw, he shot an arrow, in whatever direction the arrow shot, he went to Yerushalayim. And further, they would perform all kinds of trials to see whether they would succeed in their deeds or not. And here He says, this divination was in three matters. First, that he shook the arrows. The meaning is, he shot the arrows to see toward which side the arrow would fall. We will soon explain from what language kilkel comes. The second thing, he consulted the teraphim. That is, the teraphim, which were a type of skull over which they stretched skin and dried it, usually the skull of a firstborn, and they did this at a very particular hour of the month or year, and if they knew how to align it properly, through this they would know future events. Since the teraphim also had some impurity placed in its mouth, and these teraphim would speak and tell hidden matters. This was the reason Rachel stole the teraphim of Lavan. Since she knew that the moment Lavan has teraphim, then he has a GPS, he has Waze, he will find us. So she took the teraphim. Since the teraphim revealed hidden things. So certainly the teraphim spoke falsehood, certainly much, since these are forces of impurity, and forces of impurity always have their words mixed with lies. But in any case, there is a risk that he would succeed in coming and pursuing us, therefore she stole the teraphim. These were the teraphim through which they received answers. And the third way is he examined the liver. What is examined the liver? The Malbim says, a type of divination among them. The matters are more detailed in the Radak. The Radak says, all this that is mentioned here of the act of divination. What is written here he shook the arrows, the Radak explains means that they would sharpen and polish the iron surface of the arrow until it became shining, and then they would look into it, into its glow, into its gleam, and by this they would see all kinds of shapes and figures to know answers to their questions. As there are today those who read coffee grounds. He looks at the shapes that come out there in the coffee and by this knows, as it were, what the future says. In their time there were also those who would look at the thumbnail. Since with the thumb too, by looking at the nail, they would see all kinds of figures through the power of imagination, and by this they would determine what was to be. Or they would look at a reed, for the reed too is bright and has reflection. Likewise in a mirror. They would also look in a mirror, and through looking in the mirror they would gaze, as it were, to see distant places, to see hidden matters. The same the Radak says, they would look in the liver. Since the liver has brightness, and the liver too gleams, the liver of an animal, they would also look in the liver. And they would also look in the teraphim, which are a type of images with which they saw future events. And then in fact he checked by these ways, whether it was worthwhile to go against Yerushalayim or perhaps worthwhile to go against the land of the children of Ammon. And soon we will see what the results were. Another explanation of what kilkel is: the Malbim says it is from the language of casting.
Arrows lightly... for he shook the arrows... meaning that he cast the arrows lightly... shot the arrows to see toward which direction the arrow would fall... in order to know by this where to go... And the additional explanation is from the language of burnished bronze... this is what we explained earlier, that through the gleam of the arrow they would see, as they would see in a mirror or in all kinds of ways to know future events, or a crystal ball or all kinds of things of this type... shining things in which they would look and gaze, and by this they would imagine the future...
"In his right hand was the divination for Yerushalayim, to set battering rams, to open the mouth with slaughter, to raise the voice with the war cry, to set battering rams against the gates, to pour out a siege ramp, to build a siege wall." In his right hand was the divination for Yerushalayim. Every time he performed the divination, the result came out to the right, to go against Yerushalayim.
The Malbim says, the divination was over seven things. First, Yerushalayim, that he should go to Yerushalayim and not go to Rabbat of the children of Ammon. The second thing, to set battering rams. Karim means iron rams with which they would batter the wall. The Radak explains that karim are lambs, like with the fat of lambs and rams, and this is like when you say iron rams, this is a ram, so they had karim, like lambs, we will define it as a borrowed expression for those iron rams with which they battered the wall. And we already explained once that the iron ram was constructed like a kind of long electric pole, and all the fighters would grasp it and run with it and strike it against the wall. And thus in this way they would push the stones of the wall inward and through this the wall would collapse. Those who were more sophisticated would build for themselves an iron ram in the form of, they would make like legs, like the letter heh, and the iron ram they would tie with chains in the middle, so it would swing, and then they would pull it back and forth, making like a swing back and forth, and with it they would batter the wall. This was called an iron ram and therefore it is called karim, from the language, as I said, from the language of lambs and rams.
So to set battering rams so that with these rams they would fight in order to bring down the wall. By the way, there are more interpretations of karim, we saw this also for ayil, that one interpretation Rashi brings in the name of Targum Yonatan, ifrorin, meaning villages. Wherever they arrived they would make villages for the forces. A place that would be some concentration where the forces would gather, this is karim, this is from the language of villages. Another explanation we saw in the Radak, that karim is like leaders, officers of the forces, to set upon them karim, meaning appointed ones, like chieftains who would be responsible over the forces.
The third thing, the Malbim says, the purpose in this divination was to open the mouth with slaughter. That is, he received a kind of instruction, like, for example, we now say, this is what came out for him in the divination, what are the instructions he receives now from the lot he performed. And the instruction is to open the mouth with slaughter, that he should not open with words of peace, but that he should immediately come with a threat of slaughter, open immediately with killing. The fourth thing, to raise the voice with the war cry. The meaning is, the war cry was always a sign of victory. When they were victorious they would sound the war cry, the victorious force would sound it, this is the cry of victory. The fifth thing, to set battering rams against the gates. Afterward he will set the battering rams to the side, meaning the karim as we explained are the iron rams with which they battered, to set them at the side where the gates are in order to break the gate.
The sixth thing was to pour out a siege ramp. To pour out a siege ramp, a siege ramp is the earthen mound they would make as an elevation in order to see from it into the city. For as long as I am lower than the wall, how will I see into the city? So if you shoot a shell, then it is not so bad, even if the shell is ballistic and it rises up and afterward comes down, it makes an explosion. But if I shoot an arrow, the whole striking force of the arrow is in its momentum, in the force with which it is shot. So if I shoot an arrow from below, what have I accomplished? I must reach a high place and then from a high place I can see into the city. And then I can truly subdue or kill with the shot of the arrow. This was called pouring out a siege ramp. They would pour out an earthen mound with which they would elevate themselves to see into the city, or sometimes the ramp was also intended in order to enter into the city. Since the wall is high, they would make a ramp that would in fact form a kind of slope from the ground to the height of the wall, and upon the ramp they would climb onto the city wall and thus enter. Only this was very dangerous, because usually those inside the city had the advantage of height, for above the wall they would pour boiling oil on them, they would throw catapult stones at them, they had the advantage of height, and therefore it was not simple to build that ramp. And the seventh thing is to build a siege wall, which He mentions here. What is to build a siege wall? They would build a wall around the city wall, so that those who would try to flee from the siege, the surrounding wall of the enemy would catch them.
The Malbim says, note, according to what we explained above in verse four, the order is the siege wall, after that the ramp, and after that they set the battering rams. This is the way of conquering a city. First he builds around some small wall so that those coming out will not flee, after that he builds a ramp from which he shoots inward, and afterward he sets battering rams in order to draw closer to the wall and begin to breach it. Here it seems the divination begins the reverse. The divination says first to set battering rams, afterward to pour out a ramp and at the end to build a siege wall. And why? The divination comes and says, as it were, you will set battering rams, why do you first, perhaps let us begin in reverse, why do we first make a ramp? Because if you do not make a ramp you cannot draw near to the wall in order to breach it. As we said, they have control above at the top of the wall, they throw catapult stones, they pour water or boiling oil on them, they push you away. So the need is first to build some high place from which I shoot at them, push them away, and then I can draw near to the wall in order to breach it. This is when you truly have a people that, what is called today, puts up a fight from the other side, wages battle, fights. But here the divination wants to tell him, understand that you are going here to a people that will not fight against you at all, so you have no problem, from the outset set battering rams. Bring the iron rams, batter the wall directly. You do not need first to weaken them by building a ramp and shooting arrows inward. And you do not need to precede with the siege wall in order to close in the people of the city, they are so weak that you do not need all this.
"And it was to them like a false divination in their eyes, they who had sworn oaths to them; but he brings to remembrance iniquity, that they may be seized." The Malbim explains, here he passes to speak about the people of Yerushalayim. When the people of Yerushalayim heard about all the divinations that Nevuchadnetzar performed, it was in their eyes like a false divination with no substance. They did not relate to it at all. As if, ah, let him perform divinations, let him cast lots, nothing will come of it for him. They who had sworn oaths to them. Even though the divination came over seven things, as the Malbim enumerated them for us, over Yerushalayim, to set battering rams, to open the mouth with slaughter, to raise the voice with the war cry, to set battering rams against the gates, to pour out a ramp, to build a siege wall. Seven matters mentioned in the previous verse. The divination directed him over all these seven things, over all these he cast a lot seven times. And the Malbim says that their way was in matters they performed, to do them seven times, in all matters of divination and the like, to do them seven times. We know that this actually comes from a holy source, for among us too we see over several matters it says to say seven times, create for me a pure heart, O God, and all kinds of things we see written to say seven times. The matter of seven is founded and rooted in the roots of Judaism, and we once explained that it is based on the seven lower sefirot that guide the world. In any case, they too had some knowledge, and by this knowledge they knew that matters they wish to give force they do seven times. So the number of sevens caused him to cast the lot seven times. And though this divination came intentionally, note, seven times seven, he did not suffice with seven, he did forty-nine, the counting of the Omer he did to them. Forty-nine. Why? In order to guarantee, seven times seven, that I will succeed in the conquest of Yerushalayim.
And this matter brings to remembrance iniquity, that they may be seized. This matter of the seven brought to remembrance their iniquities so they would be seized in his hand. Which iniquity? Why did Yerushalayim fall? Why in the end were they exiled from the land? Then the land will pay its Sabbaths. Since Israel, the Sages say, Yerushalayim was not exiled until they desecrated Sabbaths in it. And in Yerushalayim they trod winepresses. And likewise, Yerushalayim was destroyed only because they annulled the sabbatical year in it. And then the land will pay its Sabbaths. It emerges then that the seven times seven became a reminder of iniquity. Ah, he did it seven times, and you do not keep your seven. And because of this we were indeed also obligated in an exile of seventy years. Again we see the matter of the seven, then the land will pay its Sabbaths. So the divination became a reminder of iniquity. The divination that was performed seven times brought to remembrance their iniquity, that they may be seized. The iniquity by which they are seized, which is the iniquity in that they did not keep their sevens, neither the Sabbaths nor the sabbatical years.
He further explains, the Malbim says an additional explanation, based on what we will see in the next chapter, and behold I have struck My hand over your ill-gotten gain and over your blood. That is to say, we see that the striking of the hand mentioned by us, where the Holy One says I will strike My hand, the striking of the hand which is the completion of the decree, the Holy One says is because of two matters, your ill-gotten gain and your blood. What is your ill-gotten gain? Betza is robbery. To take spoil, men of gain. Your gain is the iniquity of robbery. And the second thing is your blood, bloodshed. These two things were in Yerushalayim. There was robbery and there was bloodshed. So then the Malbim says, what we saw above, and I too will strike My hand upon My hand and I will let My fury rest, which is the completion of the decree, how? Through the divination that he will perform over Yerushalayim and come in order to destroy Yerushalayim. He tells us in the next chapter, know, this is for the iniquity of robbery and bloodshed. When you count, you will see that among the sins He mentions afterward in the abominations of Yerushalayim, there are seven things of the type of robbery and bloodshed. And the Malbim enumerates them. He enumerates what is written afterward, already in the next chapter. First, the princes of Israel, in order to shed blood, in verse six. Oppressing the stranger, in verse seven, again robbery. Wronging the orphan and the widow, in that same verse, also with the meaning of robbery. The fourth thing, slanderous men were in you in order to shed blood, matters of bloodshed, in verse nine. They took a bribe in you in order to shed blood, again bloodshed, in verse twelve. Interest and increase appear in that same verse, this too is a matter of robbery. And you gained from your fellows through oppression, this is the seventh thing that appears there in that same verse. Therefore he says, see that among them were seven, it mentions seven, seven times the matters of robbery and bloodshed. And he tells you, look also at the curses in Torat Kohanim, they too are arranged seven by seven, corresponding to this matter. Seven for your sins. For we have now counted seven sins of the type of robbery and bloodshed. Corresponding to this Hashem says, you will have seven for your sins. The Malbim says, there I explained how the arrangements are seven times seven, corresponding to seven iniquities that were among them. To this, the Malbim says, I can give an additional explanation, that this is what is written here, they who had sworn oaths to them. What is shevu'ei shevu'ot to them? The seven that he performed seven times in his divination, this is corresponding to those seven sins we just mentioned of oppression and bloodshed, seven corresponding to seven. And this brings to remembrance iniquity, that they may be seized. His seven brings to remembrance your iniquities of robbery and bloodshed by which you are seized. So according to the first interpretation, it brings to remembrance the iniquity of the sabbatical year and the Sabbath that we did not keep. According to the second interpretation, it brings to remembrance the iniquity of bloodshed and robbery mentioned seven times.
The Radak, in contrast, explains the shevu'ei shevu'ot not in the concept and sense of seven, but explains it in the concept and sense of an oath. Not shevu'ot in the sense of seven, but shevu'ot in the sense of swearing. The Radak says, as if, as it were, the Chaldeans had sworn oaths to them. As if they swore many oaths to Israel, we will not come upon you. Israel is, as it were, calm. Why are they calm? They who had sworn oaths to them, the Chaldeans swore to us many oaths that they would not come upon us. He says, but they do not know that he brings to remembrance iniquity, that they may be seized. This matter brought to remembrance for them an iniquity for which specifically they would be seized. And why? For you failed in an oath. For when Nevuchadnetzar made Tzidkiyahu the king swear that he would not reveal the matter of the hare and so forth, he made him swear, that he took a hare and dismembered it and ate it alive, so he made him swear over this. And Tzidkiyahu the king did not keep the oath. As it is written, and he also rebelled against King Nevuchadnetzar who made him swear by God. He also made him swear that he would not rebel against him, and he rebelled against him. So how do you think the Chaldeans will keep their oath to you? You did not keep your oath to them, and they will keep their oath to you? Even if they swore to them by Me, the Holy One says, they do not keep their oath. As it is written, therefore the land mourns and so forth, murder and adultery, swearing falsely. They do not keep their oath. So you do not keep your oath, and you think the Chaldeans will keep their oath to you and they will not come here against you?
"Therefore thus says the Lord Hashem, because you have brought your iniquity to remembrance, in that your transgressions are revealed, so that your sins appear in all your deeds; because you are brought to remembrance, you shall be seized in the hand." Therefore Hashem says, because you have brought your iniquity to remembrance. Since you are not like one who confesses and forsakes. Whether the iniquities, for iniquity is something connected to heresy, a person who denies the existence of the Creator, which are the hidden iniquities in the heart, and you do not hide them, in your bringing to remembrance, in your bringing your iniquity to remembrance. The things hidden in the heart, you have no problem spreading and revealing them, mentioning your iniquities. And likewise your transgressions in being revealed. The transgressions are the rebellions, what a person rebels against Hashem, you rebel against Him in public. Likewise so that your sins appear. The sins, which are usually more from the cause of desire, they are seen, these are the actions that come out through moral character traits, they appear in all your deeds. The deed is the action that has already come out into practice, in contrast to the sin which is within, the deed is already what comes out externally. He says your traits, which are the root of all these deeds, all is evil, all is in sin. Therefore He says to them, because you have brought to remembrance, because you are brought to remembrance you shall be seized in the hand. The first is hazkarchem, the second is hizacherchem. Because you are brought to remembrance, just as you mention your iniquities, therefore you are remembered for ill in the act of Nevuchadnetzar's divination. As we saw above, that Nevuchadnetzar's divination brings to remembrance our iniquities. That we did not keep the sabbatical year, that we did not keep the Sabbath. So here He returns and emphasizes this matter, that you will be seized in Nevuchadnetzar's divination, since it brings to remembrance the transgressions, sins, and iniquities that you committed.
"And you, O slain wicked one, prince of Israel, whose day has come at the time of the final iniquity." And you, O slain wicked one, now he prophesies about Tzidkiyahu. He calls him slain, since in the end Tzidkiyahu would fall slain. As it is written, the sword of the great slain. Whose day has come at the time of the end. The meaning is his day has come at the time of the final iniquity, that the last iniquity with which the measure is filled, this will be the time of the end of his kingdom. Through this his day has come to receive the punishment.
"Thus says the Lord Hashem, remove the turban and lift off the crown; this shall not be this; raise the low and lower the high." This verse is quite obscure, we will explain it first, Rashi says according to its Targum, so we will read its Targum. Thus says the Lord Hashem, remove the turban from serving as high priest. Remove the turban from the high priest serving. He wants to tell what will now be at the time of the destruction. And annul the crown from Tzidkiyahu the king. And the crown will also be annulled from Tzidkiyahu the king. He said, this one and that one will not remain in their place, they shall surely be exiled. This one and that one will not remain in their place, since they will be exiled. What is raise the low and lower the high? Gedalyah ben Achikam, to whom it did not belong, will take it. Gedalyah ben Achikam, to whom it was not, it was not his, he will take the kingship. And Tzidkiyahu, to whom it belongs, it will be removed from him. In contrast Tzidkiyahu, to whom the kingship belongs, it will be taken from him. This is what he says, raise the low, which is Gedalyah ben Achikam, He will raise him up to be king. And the high, which is Tzidkiyahu, Hashem will lower him, that the crown will be removed from him.
The Radak explains raise the low, the Radak says the low is Yehoyachin, who was already exiled and was now lowly in his exile, him I will raise. How? Zerubbavel his descendant was governor when they returned from the exile of Bavel. And he himself too in exile, it is brought that Evil-Merodach elevated him, and set his throne high above all the officers. It emerges then that we see that the one who was low, which is Yehoyachin, according to the Radak's interpretation, this does not refer to Gedalyah ben Achikam but to Yehoyachin who was low, he will rise, both through the fact that Zerubbavel his descendant came from him who will redeem Israel, and through the fact that he himself, Evil-Merodach, will lift him and elevate him. And lower the high, this is Tzidkiyahu, who was high, became haughty and rebelled against the king of Bavel who made him swear by God that he would not rebel against him, Hashem says, him I will lower, that there will no longer be a king from his seed. As we saw that the sons of Tzidkiyahu were slaughtered by the king of Bavel before his eyes, and the kingship in the end stood from Yehoyachin.
The Malbim explains, that when the kings of Israel were righteous, then at that time they would elevate the Temple. The Temple was precious and important in their eyes. The honor of the high priest was precious and important in their eyes. And then they would also entrust the high priesthood to a worthy person, to a fitting person, to a righteous man. And the honor of the high priest was like the honor of the king. And this is said regarding what is written about the king, that they elevate and lift and magnify him above his brothers, they make him wealthy. But when they were wicked, then on the contrary, they would lower the honor of the Temple, they would lower the honor of the priesthood, of the service of Hashem. But truly this is a complete error on their part, since the honor of the kingship, the Malbim says, was dependent on the honor of the priesthood. If you honored the kingship properly, that is, the service of Hashem, through this you honor, if you magnify, you honor the priesthood as required, you will also magnify the honor of the kingship. But when you lower the honor of the priesthood, through this the honor of your kingship will also be lowered. The portion of Hashem, which is the House of Hashem, the place of the priests who serve Hashem, whom you lower, consequently the honor of your kingship will also be lowered. The Malbim says, and this is what is written, those who despise Me will be lightly esteemed. When you despise Hashem, this brings yourself to disgrace, and the Holy One will lower the crown that the king wore. Now, the king wears a crown, this is a keter. The high priest, in contrast, had a turban, which shows the crown of the high priesthood. About this He says, when the turban was of importance on the head of the high priest, then the crown was also of importance on the head of the king. You honor the high priesthood properly, you also have a fitting crown. But here He says to him in a manner of wonder, and you, O slain wicked one, prince of Israel, whose day has come, thus says the Lord Hashem, remove the turban and lift off the crown? Do you think in your mind to remove the turban from the high priest, to lower the honor of the priesthood, to take, as it were, to remove his turban, and to elevate through this the crown of the king? Remove the turban and through this lift the crown? That is, to elevate your crown at the expense of the honor of Hashem and His House and the honor of the priests? Hashem says, this shall not be this. Do you want this to be and that not to be? The meaning is this, the kingship will succeed, and not this, and the priesthood will not succeed, which you lower? Shall the crown of the kingship endure and not the turban of the priesthood endure? How is such a thing possible? For as we said, the honor of the kingship is drawn from the honor of the priesthood. Raise the low? He says to him, do you think to raise the crown, which crown is low in its rank compared to the priest? And to lower the turban, which turban is truly high, since the turban is the priest, it is the honor of Hashem? That you want to lower?
The Malbim says, my explanation is a more acceptable explanation according to the grammar of the holy tongue than what the commentators explained. Since according to Targum Yonatan, thus says Hashem, remove the turban and lift off the crown, means remove the turban from the high priest serving and annul the crown from Tzidkiyahu the king. The Malbim says, we never saw harem in the expression of removal. We never found that harem means to distance and remove the thing. The Malbim says, and he lifted up the fire pans, this is from the language of lifting. Also terumah, they lift the sacred from the profane, this is from the language of elevation. Therefore the Malbim says, it is more reasonable as I explained, that you are interested in removing the turban from the high priest and lifting and elevating your crown. In contrast, according to the other interpretations, to remove the turban from the high priest and to elevate and remove the crown from the king, this is not reasonable, where have we seen harem from the language of removal? Rather harem means to elevate, you will remove the turban from the high priest and elevate the crown of the king?
"A ruin, a ruin, a ruin I will make it; this too shall not be, until he comes to whom the judgment belongs, and I will give it to him." This is familiar from the confession we recite on the Days of Awe, yes? Avah, avah, avah. This is from the language of distortion. The Holy One says, therefore I will make the crown a ruin. Three times, avah with a vav, three times Nevuchadnetzar distorted the crown. When did we see this, the Malbim says? From Yehoyakim, from Yehoyachin, and from Tzidkiyahu. Three times he distorted and removed the crown from the head of the king. Until in the end, this too shall not be. This too shall not be, the crown too will no longer be, but the kingship will cease entirely. Until when, asher, until he comes to whom the judgment belongs. Until in the end of days there comes the one to whom belongs the judgment, the judgment of kingship. Who has the judgment of kingship? This is the King Mashiach. To him the crown is fitting, he will merit it. And I will give it to him, I will give him the crown back, that he will wear it as is fitting, for he is truly worthy of it. From what language is avah? Rashi explains, one interpretation is from the language of the ruins of the field. Avah in the sense of destruction, there will be destruction, ruins. And Rashi explains, about whom is it said that it was taken? Why three times? He says, it was taken from Yehoyachin and given to Tzidkiyahu, and from Tzidkiyahu it will be given to Gedalyah. And there too, this too shall not be, even for Gedalyah it will not endure, until Yishmael ben Netanyah comes and murders Gedalyah. And to whom the judgment belongs, Rashi says, what is to whom the judgment belongs? He is not speaking about the King Mashiach, but he means Yishmael ben Netanyah, whom I appointed to exact retribution, and he in fact, he is the vengeance, and he will carry out the judgment. I set him to exact My vengeance and My judgment. And simply one can say to whom the judgment belongs, that retribution will also be exacted from Yishmael ben Netanyah, so it appears further on. So this is to whom the judgment belongs, to whom the judgment belongs, that in the end retribution will also be exacted from him. The Radak explains, who are these three that were distorted here? This is Asir, Shealtiel, and Pedayah. And only in Zerubbavel, he is the one to whom the crown belongs. So there are three interpretations here, who are those who were removed, and to whom the crown will be given.
"And you, son of man, prophesy and say, thus says the Lord Hashem concerning the children of Ammon and concerning their taunt, and say, a sword, a sword drawn for slaughter, polished to consume, so that it may gleam." Now Hashem turns to the prophet and says to him, prophesy about the children of Ammon. The children of Ammon, when they saw that Nevuchadnetzar cast a lot, and the lot as we said was in the direction of Yerushalayim, then they rejoiced and were glad. They rejoiced and taunted Israel, as it is written, I have heard the taunt of Moav and the revilings of the children of Ammon. They were glad at our downfall, and no less also glad that Nevuchadnetzar's sword turned away from them. And besides this it is written that Baalis king of the children of Ammon sent Yishmael ben Netanyah in order to kill Gedalyah ben Achikam, so that no remnant would remain here. So they were also partners in extinguishing the remnant of the ember that remained here in Yerushalayim. And this itself caused Nevuchadnetzar afterward to arrive and avenge their vengeance and destroy the children of Ammon. About this He says to him, and say, a sword, a sword drawn. Do not think that Nevuchadnetzar's sword will not come upon you, for behold you see he performed a lot and it goes to Yerushalayim, it goes to the right, so it will leave the left. He says, know, the sword has already come out of its sheath. The sword is drawn, the sword will no longer return to its sheath. And this sword is polished for slaughter. Even though it is now polished, and we saw that according to the Malbim's interpretation above, polished means that they smoothed the sword in the place where they grasp the sheath, so that the sword would not cut the hand. And if so you say behold it is polished, this sword does not cut, behold they removed the sharpness from it. He says correct, this is only temporary, for now he will not come upon you. But he nonetheless polished the sword, as we explained, removed its edge on one side, so that it would be ready afterward for slaughter, when he conquers Yerushalayim, this sword will return upon you. And this is what he says, and it is polished to consume, so that it may gleam. This is like the two reasons above that we said he polished the sword. First, to consume, so that through this he would have a handle for the sword. For we said that if the whole sword is sharp, it is impossible to grasp it. How will he grasp it? The moment he grasps the sword, then through this it will cut, it is like taking a slaughtering knife without a handle. The moment I want to grasp it, it cuts the hand. So the one purpose that he polished the sword and removed its edge from one side, so that he would have a handle by which he could consume and hold the sword. As it is written, and He gave it to be polished, to grasp it in the palm, as we saw above, so that he could grasp it in his hand. And another matter, so that it may gleam. Through the sword being polished and burnished, it has a gleam. And we saw that a shining sword already terrifies the enemies. They see a sword from afar, they see the reflection of the sun upon it, this casts terror and fear. What did he actually want to tell us here? That through his now withdrawing from the children of Ammon, he will have, as it were, afterward the strength to grasp the sword after he conquers Yerushalayim. And why? For if he had come first upon Ammon and Israel, he would not have had the strength to fight against two at the same time. And therefore what did he do? First he went against Israel, and then through this he has, as it were, now the strength and might to turn to Ammon to deal with them separately. So it emerges then that this sword which now underwent that smoothing so that its edge would be removed, do not rejoice that this means it will not come upon you. This is only preparation toward what will be with you. And another matter he says, there is a further benefit in this, through this his terror fell upon all the neighbors of the land of Israel. He conquered them with greater ease, for after he conquered us it was already easy to conquer the others, for they saw what he did here, his terror falls upon them. So consequently he says to them, understand that what you see, that the sword is polished, this is only meant to frighten you more, and not to calm you. To consume, according to the Malbim's interpretation, means to hold it, like I am weary of holding, like it will hold it, to bear the thing, to hold it. But the Radak brings another interpretation in the name of his father, that to consume is like to feed. Yes? Like I will give ear, I will listen. So to consume like to feed. Why? Since the sword eats. And when he grasps the sword and kills with it, then he feeds the sword. This is the meaning of to consume, its meaning is the sword, he goes and feeds the sword.
"While they envision falsehood for you, while they divine a lie for you, to place you upon the necks of the slain wicked ones, whose day has come at the time of the final iniquity." But, the Malbim says, Hashem says to him, from what you sent your sword to kill Gedalyah, as we saw that Baalis sent the sword so that Yishmael ben Netanyah would kill Gedalyah ben Achikam, and this came to you through the diviners envisioning falsehood for you. To place you upon the necks of the slain wicked ones, they told you that your sword would kill the remnant of the survivors, and they are already slain and they are wicked and death is fitting for them, so the diviners told you, their day has already come, their measure is filled, you will come and conquer them even without any war. "Return it to its sheath; in the place where you were created, in the land of your origin, I will judge you." I tell you that this is a false vision, return the sword back to its sheath. The Targum says, return the sword to its sheath. He says here, know, Yishmael and his men in the end, after they kill Gedalyah ben Achikam, they will return back to Rabbat of the children of Ammon, and there He says to him, I will judge you also for this murder. And why? For because of this Nevuchadnetzar will come to your land, which is the land, the place where you were created, meaning the place where you feel secure, in the place where you were created, in the land of your origin, there he will kill the children of Ammon, there the sword was also created, and there too Yishmael and his men, which is the land of their origin, the land where he dwells, there I will judge you. "And I will pour out My wrath upon you, with the fire of My anger I will blow upon you, and I will give you into the hand of brutish men, craftsmen of destruction." There I will pour out upon you the wrath of punishment upon the sinners, I will blow upon you with the fire of My anger in order to destroy all of them. And I will give you, and he describes, as it were, He will deliver the sword into the hand of brutish men, as it were, that when the sword is in such a state like a fire that one merely blows upon, blows into it and it immediately burns, as it were, men who are experts and craftsmen at destroying and ruining. "You shall be fuel for the fire, your blood shall be in the midst of the land, you shall not be remembered, for I, Hashem, have spoken." You shall be fuel for the fire, the fire will consume you, so he says to the children of Ammon, and your blood, the blood you shed in the midst of the land, there in your land they will avenge you for this blood. And He will pour out your blood, and they will not exile you into exile in a manner where some remembrance of you would still remain, no, but He will kill you and you shall not be remembered, there will be no remembrance of you at all, but your destruction will be a complete destruction.