In this part of the chapter, the prophet depicts Israel as base metal cast into a smelting crucible. He then specifies and identifies the four types of dross mentioned (copper, tin, iron, and lead) with four classes that corrupted the land: the false prophets, the kohanim, the princes, and the common people. Finally, we reach that chilling verse: "And I sought among them for a man who would build up a wall... but I found none."
(17) וַיְהִי דְבַר־יְהֹוָה אֵלַי לֵאמֹר׃ (18) בֶּן־אָדָם הָיוּ־לִי בֵית־יִשְׂרָאֵל לְסִיג כֻּלָּם נְחֹשֶׁת וּבְדִיל וּבַרְזֶל וְעוֹפֶרֶת בְּתוֹךְ כּוּר סִגִים כֶּסֶף הָיוּ׃ - (17) And the word of Hashem came to me, saying: (18) Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me; they are all copper, tin, iron, and lead inside a crucible; they have become the dross of silver.
The Malbim directs us to what we have already seen in Yeshayahu chapter 48: "Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction." A refiner who removes dross does so in a crucible. When refining silver, nothing of the waste is left behind: all the dross is discarded, leaving only refined, purified silver. But there is also refining in a "furnace of affliction" (a furnace of poverty) - that is, in a crucible where there is no actual silver at all, but only dross (in contrast to a rich crucible that contains silver). In such a crucible, one cannot discard all the dross, for if he did, what would remain? Therefore, he separates the worst dross and retains the dross that is relatively positive: he extracts the harsher waste and leaves behind the less severe waste.
This is the parable: When the Holy One, Blessed be He, refines a generation that contains both righteous and wicked people, that is a furnace of silver. There is silver present (the righteous), and therefore He destroys the wicked and preserves the righteous, keeping the silver and entirely discarding the dross so that the silver emerges completely refined and purified. But what happens when none are righteous, when the entire generation is a furnace of affliction? Then the Holy One, Blessed be He, winnows out those who are relatively righteous: those who are dross, yet less severe, He sifts and preserves, separating the harsher dross from them. For relative to the severe waste, the lighter dross is considered like silver.
This is the meaning of the verse: "The house of Israel has become dross to Me" - all of them are dross, there is no silver here at all. Yet within the dross itself there are different kinds: there is copper, tin, iron, and lead, some harsher and some less harsh. "Inside a crucible, dross has become silver" - by placing them into the crucible to refine them, what was merely dross is now regarded, comparatively, as silver.
The prophet hints here at the first refining and winnowing that took place during the exile of Yechanyah. When Yechanyah was exiled, the finest among them went into exile - this was the exile of the charash and masger. Our Sages explain that these were the Torah scholars, the greatest sages, and they were exiled first to Babylon (for several reasons discussed previously), serving as the "silver" in contrast to the dross that remained in Jerusalem.
And what is the meaning of charash and masger? Our Sages teach that these were the great scholars: when they spoke, all became as deaf mutes (cheresh) - no one could open his mouth, having nothing left to say after they spoke. And when one would shut (soger), none could open. If such a sage ruled on a matter, it was settled; no one could come and say, "I have proof to the contrary." Once he established the Halachah, one could not say, "It seems otherwise to me." And so it is for all generations: once the sages of the Talmud, Abaye, Rava, and Rav Ashi, ruled on Halachah, the scholars of subsequent generations cannot come and say, "Although Rav Ashi said this, we have now discovered new things, and a new Torah will emerge, so the Halachah appears differently to us." All the powers in the world cannot change a single letter of the Talmud. What was decided for us in the Talmud is the Halachah, and that is what we practice without any change. This was the silver, and these were the ones who went into exile first.
(19) לָכֵן כֹּה אָמַר אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה יַעַן הֱיוֹת כֻּלְּכֶם לְסִגִים לָכֵן הִנְנִי קֹבֵץ אֶתְכֶם אֶל־תּוֹךְ יְרוּשָׁלָ͏ִם׃ - Therefore, thus says the Lord Hashem: Because you have all become dross, therefore behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.
"Because you have all become dross" - those who remained here are considered dross, and therefore I am gathering you to send you into exile. Through this, I will select from among them the relatively good ones - those who, compared to those remaining here, are deemed good - so that they will have a remnant and survivors in exile. This is similar to what Hashem showed Yirmeyahu (Chapter 24) concerning the two baskets of figs: the exile of Yechanyah was like the good figs, which He sends to Babylonia to preserve them. In the merit of the Sages going down to Babylonia, Torah flourished there, providing the Jewish people with a place where they remained cleaving to Hashem, blessed be He. And He separates them from the bad figs - the poorest and lowest of the people who remained here in the Land.
(20) קְבֻצַת כֶּסֶף וּנְחֹשֶׁת וּבַרְזֶל וְעוֹפֶרֶת וּבְדִיל אֶל־תּוֹךְ כּוּר לָפַחַת־עָלָיו אֵשׁ לְהַנְתִּיךְ כֵּן אֶקְבֹּץ בְּאַפִּי וּבַחֲמָתִי וְהִנַּחְתִּי וְהִתַּכְתִּי אֶתְכֶם׃ - As silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin are gathered into the midst of a furnace, to blow fire upon it to melt it, so will I gather you in My anger and in My wrath, and I will place you and melt you.
"As silver is gathered" - seemingly, has not the silver already departed, leaving behind only dross? Rather, as we explained, when all have become dross, Hashem treats the least severe dross as silver, for it is silver relatively compared to the harsher dross.
"To blow fire upon it to melt it" - lafachat means to blow. The refiner would use bellows to fan the fire and intensify it, all in order to melt and separate the dross from the silver. And how does the refiner smelt? It is known that each metal melts at a different temperature; when heated to a certain temperature, one part melts and drains away, and at another temperature, another part melts, and so on in stages until it is completely refined and purified. So says Hashem: I will gather you, and although this will be "in My anger and in My wrath," a fire that consumes the dross, nevertheless, everything will be under Divine providence. "And I will place you and melt you" - the melting and the separation of the silver alone will all occur through Hashem's providence. Everything that will be done, says the Holy One, blessed be He, is in order to separate the waste from you and to grant you a name and a remnant.
(21) וְכִנַּסְתִּי אֶתְכֶם וְנָפַחְתִּי עֲלֵיכֶם בְּאֵשׁ עֶבְרָתִי וְנִתַּכְתֶּם בְּתוֹכָהּ׃ - And I will confine you, and blow upon you with the fire of My fury, and you shall be melted in its midst.
The Malbim distinguishes between three expressions: mekabbetz (gatherer) gathers things that are scattered; osef (collector) gathers specifically into one place, as he explained in Yeshayahu; and kones (confiner) gathers into a secure, enclosed place from which they will not exit, as in "gathering sheep into a fold" and "He gathers the waters of the sea as a mound," keeping them confined in one place so they do not go out. Here, "And I will confine you" [vechinasti etkhem] - after I separate the silver, which is the exile of Yechanyah that I will remove from Jerusalem, I will bring you into a place where you will remain, meaning the rest of the people will remain confined inside the crucible - Jerusalem being the crucible in the parable. They do not go out to Babylonia; those who went out to Babylonia were the superior ones, the aspect of silver, while those who remained are the baser dross.
The Malbim likewise explains the difference between af (anger), cheimah (wrath), and evrah (fury). Af is external: "A fire is kindled in My nostrils [appi]" - fire is something visible, kindled in the nose, recognizable and evident to the eye. Cheimah is internal: "and his wrath [chamato] burned within him," burning inside. Both come as a result of sin. But evrah stems from the concept of ma'avar (crossing over, overflowing): when, through anger and wrath, the indignation spills over even onto one who did not deserve to be the object of anger, this is the aspect of evrah - like the destruction of the righteous and the wicked together, where the fury crosses beyond what was deserved. Therefore, it says here, "and you shall be melted" in a passive voice that is not directly attributed to Hashem, as though you will melt of yourselves - for once permission is granted to the Destroyer, he does not distinguish between the righteous and the wicked. "And I will blow upon you with the fire of My fury" - an all-encompassing wrath that spreads over both the good and the not good, a general destruction rather than merely anger and wrath directed solely against the sinners. This serves as an allegory for the devastation that occurred at the time of Tzidkiyahu's exile.
(22) כְּהִתּוּךְ כֶּסֶף בְּתוֹךְ כּוּר כֵּן תֻּתְּכוּ בְתוֹכָהּ וִידַעְתֶּם כִּי־אֲנִי יְהֹוָה שָׁפַכְתִּי חֲמָתִי עֲלֵיכֶם׃ - As silver is melted in the midst of a furnace, so shall you be melted in its midst; and you shall know that I, Hashem, have poured out My wrath upon you.
You will be melted within it completely, like silver melted inside a furnace. A difficulty arises here: was not the silver already exiled to Babylonia, while those who remained in Jerusalem are the waste - the lead, the tin, and the base metals - so how can He refer to them as "as silver is melted"? Rather, this is the prefix of comparison (the kaf ha-dimyon): silver is a soft metal and melts more easily and quickly than iron, and such will be your melting. Furthermore, there is an allusion here that you will be refined like the purification of silver. For this, too, is intended to refine them and bring them back to the good: "and you shall know that I am Hashem" - that I am the One Who punishes and the One Who oversees providential care. Through the power of this realization, you will be aroused to repentance and can attain praiseworthiness, becoming like silver.
(23) וַיְהִי דְבַר־יְהֹוָה אֵלַי לֵאמֹר׃ (24) בֶּן־אָדָם אֱמָר־לָהּ אַתְּ אֶרֶץ לֹא מְטֹהָרָה הִיא לֹא גֻשְׁמָהּ בְּיוֹם זָעַם׃ - (23) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: (24) Son of man, say to her: You are a land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon on the day of indignation.
Now the prophet explains who the four types of dross mentioned above are. First: regarding what was stated that the House of Israel has become dross to Me, that means "You are a land that is not cleansed" - that you are not pure. The prophet portrays the corruption wrought in the land as parallel to the corruption during the Generation of the Flood, who also corrupted their way. However, during the Generation of the Flood there was nevertheless a purification, for rain fell and cleansed the earth, and all the defilement and loathsomeness upon the land were purified.
As has been explained several times, and as noted by the Kli Yakar and others, what occurred during the Generation of the Flood was akin to hag'alah (scalding immersion for purification). After all, if one were to seek an easier way to bring destruction, it would be far simpler to disperse a poisonous gas and all the people would die; why destroy the entire earth, bring a flood over the face of the whole land, and wash it until the mountains were covered with water? That is a far more complex undertaking. And if the goal had been to spare the animals, there are types of poisons harmful to humans but not to animals, and surely the hand of the Lord is not too short to do so. True, regarding animals our Sages said, "all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth," meaning man's corruption affected the animals as well, necessitating their destruction, but this still does not explain why specifically a flood was needed.
The explanation is that the earth itself was defiled. "All flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth" - and when a person corrupts his ways, he corrupts the world along with him, as the Mesillat Yesharim explains. Thus, impurity took hold everywhere, and in order to cleanse the earth, it had to be immersed or purged through hag'alah. Notice that this followed the exact procedure of hag'alah: first boiling water, and then cold water. So it was with the Flood - boiling waters rose from the deep of the earth, followed by cold waters from heaven. And since complete purification was required, and if any part remains outside a mikveh it remains ritually impure, the waters had to cover the mountain peaks so that the immersion would be absolute. Furthermore, since they corrupted the land itself, the topsoil was dissolved to a depth of three tefachim, the depth of a plow. All this was so there would be complete purification, wiping away all the defilement and loathsomeness from the face of the earth, like one who washes a filthy vessel in water to purify it from its filth and excretion.
Here, however, the prophet says: "You are a land that is not cleansed" - you were not purified after the destruction. And why? "Nor rained upon on the day of indignation" - on the day the Lord's wrath was poured upon you, no rain fell to purify the land, for the destruction was through fire and not through water, and no cleansing rain fell afterward. From this verse our Sages derived that the Flood did not descend upon the Land of Israel, for it is "a land not rained upon on the day of indignation." The question is asked: If so, why was Noah's Ark needed? Noah could simply have entered the Land of Israel with all the animals and been saved! It is explained that although the Flood did not rain down upon the Land of Israel, waters entered it from the surrounding lands. Thus, rain did not fall here and the fountains of the great deep did not burst forth here, but water surged in from other lands. This is the meaning of "not rained upon on the day of indignation" - rain did not fall upon it, but floodwaters still entered.
(25) קֶשֶׁר נְבִיאֶיהָ בְּתוֹכָהּ כַּאֲרִי שׁוֹאֵג טֹרֵף טָרֶף נֶפֶשׁ אָכָלוּ חֹסֶן וִיקָר יִקָּחוּ אַלְמְנוֹתֶיהָ הִרְבּוּ בְתוֹכָהּ׃ - (25) There is a conspiracy of her prophets within her, like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured souls, they have taken wealth and precious things, they have multiplied her widows within her.
Copper represents the false prophets, who engaged in divination (nichush, etymologically linked to nechoshet) and sorcery. They are compared to a roaring lion tearing prey: when a lion roars, it is a sign that it has prey, as the verse says: "Will a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey?" So too, when they prophesied, they roared and tore prey. But whereas a lion tears flesh and body, they "have devoured souls" - it was not bodies they preyed upon, but souls; they devoured the spiritual soul by leading the people into sin at the cost of their souls. The false prophets seduced them with their smooth speech, telling them what was pleasing to hear, and thereby devoured their souls. "They have taken wealth and precious things" - they took their strength and resources, their precious possessions and their honor. "They have multiplied her widows within her" - lulled by the soothing words of the false prophets, the people did not repent, leading the enemies to strike the land and leave women widowed. Who ultimately multiplied the widows? You, the false prophets.
(26) כֹּהֲנֶיהָ חָמְסוּ תוֹרָתִי וַיְחַלְּלוּ קָדָשַׁי בֵּין־קֹדֶשׁ לְחֹל לֹא הִבְדִּילוּ וּבֵין־הַטָּמֵא לְטָהוֹר לֹא הוֹדִיעוּ וּמִשַּׁבְּתוֹתַי הֶעְלִימוּ עֵינֵיהֶם וָאֵחַל בְּתוֹכָם׃ - (26) Her priests have done violence to My Torah and have profaned My holy things; they have put no difference between the holy and the profane, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
The Kohanim are tin (bedil). Why? The Malbim explains: because God set them apart (hivdil) from the congregation of Israel, as it says, "And Aaron was set apart (vayibadel) to sanctify him as most holy." Therefore, they correspond to tin (bedil), which is separated out. Their role was to teach Torah to Israel, as stated: "For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth," yet they "have done violence to My Torah," as we saw earlier, by failing to teach it. Their second role was to safeguard the Temple and its sacred items, yet "they have profaned My holy things." "They have put no difference between the holy and the profane," neglecting ritual purity and defilement. "And have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths" - they did not warn against desecrating Shabbat, a sin that equals the violation of the entire Torah. Radak explains that they saw people carrying burdens on the Sabbath, as described in Jeremiah, and the Kohanim, who are the bearers of the Torah, should have protested, yet they did not protest; rather, they turned a blind eye, as if not seeing.
(27) שָׂרֶיהָ בְקִרְבָּהּ כִּזְאֵבִים טֹרְפֵי טָרֶף לִשְׁפָּךְ־דָּם לְאַבֵּד נְפָשׁוֹת לְמַעַן בְּצֹעַ בָּצַע׃ - Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing prey, to shed blood, to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.
Here the verse speaks of the aspect of iron, for iron is the strong metal used to slay people. The princes who were in her midst were like wolves. The Malbim distinguishes between a lion and a wolf: a lion tears prey only when he is hungry, but a wolf tears prey even when he is not hungry. Therefore it says, "like wolves tearing prey, to shed blood" - like wolves that tear prey not out of hunger, but with the aim of shedding blood. "To destroy souls, to get dishonest gain" - in order to seize the murdered victim's money, they would go and murder people. The Malbim also cites Rabbeinu Yonah, that in Arabic chamas means to displace something from its rightful place, which explains "her priests have done violence to My Torah" [chamsu torati] seen above.
(28) וּנְבִיאֶיהָ טָחוּ לָהֶם תָּפֵל חֹזִים שָׁוְא וְקֹסְמִים לָהֶם כָּזָב אֹמְרִים כֹּה אָמַר אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה וַיהֹוָה לֹא דִבֵּר׃ - And her prophets have daubed untempered mortar for them, seeing vain visions and divining lies for them, saying: 'So says the Lord God,' when the Lord has not spoken.
Not only did the prophets fail to rebuke the priests and the princes, they even aided them by prophesying falsely in Hashem's Name. As for "daubed untempered mortar [tifel]" - Rashi explains that they are like someone who coats a building with plaster, the purpose of plaster being to protect the building from the rains; but if there is no straw in the plaster, it melts and crumbles when the rains come. That is "daubed untempered mortar": they coated the building with useless plaster that the first rain washes away. Rashi explains that anything lacking proper preparation is called tafel, as in the phrase, "Can that which is unsavory [tafel] be eaten without salt?" (Iyov 6:6). It turns out that the prophets seemingly reinforced the building with something utterly useless.
"Seeing vain visions and divining lies for them" - they envisioned false visions for them, claiming how wonderful everything is and how good it will be, that the vessels of the Beit HaMikdash are destined to return, and that Hashem will bring back the exiles. As has been noted more than once, they would tell the people: The true prophets are only terrifying you, while we tell you good things. It is always far more pleasant and comfortable to hear how wonderful we are than to hear how much we need to rectify. This is just like modern media: "daubed untempered mortar for them" - we have a wonderful nation, we are successful, we have fantastic youth, they even know how to light candles; in short, everything is fine and good. And if there is a problem? We will just lower the bar and everything will be fine. Just like with the Kinneret: the red line was lowered, so the Kinneret is still "fine." That is the method for dealing with all problems - do not make a fuss, everything is wonderful, everything is excellent. "Saying: 'So says the Lord God,' when the Lord has not spoken" - Hashem said nothing of the kind, yet they uttered all their lies in Hashem's Name.
(29) עַם הָאָרֶץ עָשְׁקוּ עֹשֶׁק וְגָזְלוּ גָּזֵל וְעָנִי וְאֶבְיוֹן הוֹנוּ וְאֶת־הַגֵּר עָשְׁקוּ בְּלֹא מִשְׁפָּט׃ - The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery; they have wronged the poor and needy, and extorted the stranger without justice.
Lead is the basest of all the metals, corresponding to the common people [am ha'aretz]. They extorted and also robbed, wronged the poor and needy, and all this was "without justice": since there was no justice in the land, each man did whatever seemed right in his own eyes, and the common people did whatever entered their minds. The difference between extortion [oshek] and robbery [gezel], as the Malbim explains in several places, is that extortion refers to withholding a hired worker's wages, which is relatively lighter than robbery. The way of Scripture when describing something wicked is to start with the lighter offense and escalate. Therefore it says, "practiced extortion" - they extorted hired workers and withheld their wages, "and committed robbery" - beyond that, they also committed outright robbery, which is far more severe.
(30) וָאֲבַקֵּשׁ מֵהֶם אִישׁ גֹּדֵר־גָּדֵר וְעֹמֵד בַּפֶּרֶץ לְפָנַי בְּעַד הָאָרֶץ לְבִלְתִּי שַׁחֲתָהּ וְלֹא מָצָאתִי׃ - And I sought a man among them to build a fence and stand in the breach before Me on behalf of the land, so that I should not destroy it, but I found none.
Hashem says: I sought, as it were, silver amidst all the dross. As we have seen until now, lead, tin, and iron - all are dross. I searched for silver; I sought a man who would build up a wall, who would repair the breaches and rectify the generation; or who would at least be "standing in the breach before Me on behalf of the land, so that it should not be destroyed," whose merits would shield the generation so that Hashem would not destroy it and the destroyer would not strike. "And I found none."
(31) וָאֶשְׁפֹּךְ עֲלֵיהֶם זַעְמִי בְּאֵשׁ עֶבְרָתִי כִּלִּיתִים דַּרְכָּם בְּרֹאשָׁם נָתַתִּי נְאֻם אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה׃ - "So I poured out My indignation upon them; I consumed them with the fire of My wrath; their way I have brought upon their own heads, says the Lord Hashem."
"So I poured out My indignation upon them" - this is the punishment, and it takes two forms. The first: "with the fire of My wrath I consumed them" - and wrath (*evrah*), as we have noted, refers to retribution meted out without distinguishing between good and bad, punishment that overflows beyond what is strictly deserved. The second: "their way I have brought upon their own heads" - punishment through complete Divine Providence, each person according to his deeds. Thus, both dimensions were present: each person paid the price for what he had incurred, and beyond that, there was also a collective punishment that overflowed beyond what was individually deserved, for when the destroyer is given license to strike, it does not distinguish between righteous and wicked.
In this section of the chapter, the prophet portrays Israel as metal remaining in the crucible: since all had become dross, Hashem refined them in the furnace of affliction - separating the relatively righteous in the exile of Yechanyah, the exile of the craftsmen and the smiths who correspond to the silver, and leaving the concentrated dross in Jerusalem for the exile of Tzidkiyahu. And although the land had become corrupted like the Generation of the Flood, it was not cleansed by water, but rather consigned to fire - "she was not rained upon in the day of indignation." The four types of dross correspond to the four corrupt factions: the false prophets (copper), who devoured souls and multiplied widows; the Kohanim (tin), who violated the Torah and did not distinguish between the holy and the profane; the princes (iron), who were like wolves shedding blood for unjust gain; and the common people (lead), who oppressed and plundered. Through all this, the Holy One, Blessed is He, sought a man to build a wall and stand in the breach, and found none - leading to the twofold retribution: an all-consuming fire of overflowing wrath on the one hand, and their way brought upon their own heads with exact Divine Providence on the other.