Sefer Yechezkel, chapter 28. "And the word of Hashem came to me, saying: Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre, thus says Hashem Elokim: Because your heart is haughty and you have said, I am a god, I sit in the seat of gods in the heart of the seas, whereas you are a man and not a god, and you set your heart like the heart of a god."
"Say to the ruler of Tyre." The Malbim brings here what the Abarbanel wrote, that the "ruler" (nagid) of Tyre is not the king of Tyre, for further on we will see a prophecy that refers to the king of Tyre, while here he uses the term "ruler of Tyre." In light of this, he explains that the ruler is really an official who was appointed over the affairs of the state, whereas king is a different matter, since he is actually the sovereign ruler. The Malbim says, my own interpretation I will give you later on, for further on we will see how the Malbim wishes to arrange these matters.
He then turns to the ruler of Tyre and says to him, "Because your heart is haughty." What is "your heart is haughty"? The Malbim explains that haughtiness of heart is always when a person values himself more than he actually is. That is the meaning of "his heart is haughty." And this thing is an abomination, for "an abomination to Hashem is everyone haughty of heart." Therefore He said to him that the punishment that will come upon him is a consequence of his haughtiness of heart. And in consequence of the fact that, as regards the place of his dwelling, he went and settled in the heart of the seas, like a god as it were, like a deity that is separated from other creatures, so too you went and separated yourself from other people and went and settled in the heart of the seas, at a time when you are a man and not a god.
What is the meaning of "you are a man and not a god"? Could it enter one's mind that he was a god? This is a subject we have already discussed several times in the past, that they used to attribute divine powers to people. Therefore they would call him a god. They did not mean to say that he was a deity, but rather to say that he had divine powers, supernatural powers. We saw an example of this with Pharaoh, who said, "the Nile is mine and I made myself," hinting that he has supernatural powers. We saw that Nevuchadnetzar wanted to offer incense, we will see this further on here as well, to Daniel. And this was because he saw in him a supreme spiritual power, in that he knew how to interpret his dreams. That is to say, they used to attribute to people who were above the standard, who had spiritual powers, they would attribute to them powers of divinity. About this He says to him, "you are a man and not a god." You are indeed a man and not a god, not like Moshe who was a man of Elokim, or Daniel, of whom it says "the spirit of the gods is in him," but rather you are only a man, there is no power in you that is a power of Elokim. "And you set your heart like the heart of a god," and you present your heart as it were as though it were the heart of a god, at a time when there is in you no abundance of divinity whatsoever.
The Malbim says, note that we mentioned here "the ruler of Tyre." The Malbim says, there is a difference between a ruler (nagid) and the king. Since "nagid" is an inclusive term for anyone who has leadership. Anyone who has leadership is called nagid, such as "the nagid of the House of Elokim," "nagid over the treasuries." Regarding David it is written that he was called nagid. Nagid, says the Malbim, is generally different from a king, for a king is assured of inheriting the kingship. David, even before the inheritance of the kingship was assured to him, was called nagid. Shaul too, "you I made a nagid over My people," "I appointed a nagid over My people," for to Shaul too the kingship was not assured by inheritance. Yerovam too, for this reason he too is called nagid.
Chazal expound these verses here as referring to Chiram, king of Tyre. And Chazal have a very wonderful description in the Yalkut, and it also appears in the Tosefta to the Targum, and I wish to read to you the wording of the Yalkut that describes the haughtiness of heart of that Chiram. "Your heart is haughty and you said, I am a god, I sit in the seat of gods." The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Chiram, do you make yourself a god? "Behold, you are wiser than Daniel" (we will see these verses further on). Nevuchadnetzar wanted to draw near to him, to offer him a sacrifice of pleasing aroma and a meal offering, and he did not want. And you make yourself a god? He wanted to offer a sacrifice to Daniel. Daniel refused, since the Holy One, blessed be He, exacts punishment not only from the worshippers but also from the deities. So Hashem would punish me too, God forbid. Therefore he refused, he did not want to accept. But in any case, there was still some power in him. What is in you that you made yourself a god?
The Midrash says, and what was Chiram's end? "I cast you upon the ground," as we will see further on. The Midrash says, Chiram king of Tyre was proud and exceedingly haughty. What did he do? He entered the sea and made himself forty square iron pillars, long, of equal measure, and set them one opposite the other. And he made seven firmaments. Do you hear? Like a building of seven stories that is based on forty pillars, he made himself seven firmaments. And he covered them, and made lightnings and thunders and flashes. The first firmament he made of glass, five hundred amot by five hundred amot. Do you hear? A firmament of 250 meters by 250 meters. And he set in it a sun and a moon and stars, as it were in the image of sun and moon and stars. The second firmament he made of iron, one thousand amot by one thousand amot. Note, it went on a diagonal, the firmaments going from lower to upper, the lower being narrower and gradually becoming wider. The second firmament he made of iron, one thousand amot by one thousand amot, and a jet of water separated between the first and the second. There was a fountain there, a jet of water that separated between them. The third of iron, fifteen hundred amot by fifteen hundred amot, and a jet of water separated between the second and the third. And he made rolling stones in the iron firmament, which would crack against one another and be heard like thunders. The meaning is that there were stones there, and these stones would rub against one another, so it was heard like thunders. He wanted to create a kind of illustration of the heavens, with sun, with stars, with thunders.
The Midrash continues and says, the fourth firmament he made of lead, two thousand amot by two thousand amot, and a jet of water separated between the third and the fourth. The fifth firmament of copper, and he made it 2,500 amot by 2,500 amot, and a jet of water separated between the fourth and the fifth. The sixth firmament of silver, three thousand amot by three thousand amot, and a jet of water separated between the fifth and the sixth. The seventh firmament of gold, 3,500 amot by 3,500 amot, and he set in it precious stones and pearls, an amah by an amah. That is to say, enormous precious stones. And it gave off light from here and from there, from here lightnings were made and from there sparks were made. And he would shake himself, and those stones would crack against one another and the thunders would be heard.
What did the Holy One, blessed be He... And he went and settled himself on high, yes? On the seventh firmament. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Yechezkel, son of man, say to Chiram king of Tyre, why are you proud? You are born of woman. He said before Him, Master of the world, how am I to go to him when he is suspended in the air? I would need wings of wind. How do I reach up to him? At that moment the Holy One, blessed be He, brought a wind by the lock of his head, meaning He grasped as it were by the lock of Yechezkel's head, and raised him up to Chiram. When Chiram saw Yechezkel, he was startled and shaken. He said to him, who raised you up here? Ah, what a surprise, what are you doing here? How did you get here? The elevator is locked. How do you suddenly appear before me here? He said to him, the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded me thus, go say to him, why are you proud? You are born of woman.
He said to him, am I born of woman? Rather, I live and endure forever. He had certain delusions. You will presently understand that he seemingly had some grounds; he had a reason to err. Just as the Holy One, blessed be He, has His seat in the heart of the seas, so too I have my seat in the heart of the seas. Just as the Holy One, blessed be He, is in seven firmaments, so too am I. Now, where did his error stem from? And not only that, but several kings have died and I remain. And likewise twenty-one kings of the house of David, and twenty-one of the kings of Israel, and fifty prophets, and ten High Priests, I have buried them all in my lifetime, and I live. Surely I am a god. "I sit in the seat of gods in the heart of the seas." If one makes the calculation, from the time of Shlomo, which was Chiram's era, when he took cedars from him for the Beit HaMikdash, until the time of Yechezkel, at least 400 years passed. And if we reckon that in Shlomo's time Chiram was not a one-year-old child, but at least 40 or 50, then we arrive at something on the order of a man of 450 years. Therefore he was certain: if I have lived so long, it means I will never die. I am a god.
Yechezkel said to him, but there stood greater men than you who did not do as you have done. There were people of greater stature than you, and they did not go astray in your delusions. To what was Chiram compared? To a servant who made a garment for his master. Chazal say, and where did this great pride of his come from? Because he felt, I built the Beit HaMikdash. I made a house for Hashem. I gave, I supplied the wood. As long as the garment was on his master, he made the garment for his master. When the garment is on his master, the servant sees it and grows proud, I made this garment for my master. The master said, I will tear the garment, so that the servant will not grow proud over me. I will tear the garment, and through this he will not feel so good about himself. So Chiram grew proud through having sent cedars to the Beit HaMikdash, I made a house for Hashem. The Holy One, blessed be He, said, behold I will destroy My house so that Chiram will not grow proud over Me. As it says, "open your doors, O Lebanon, that fire may devour your cedars." Why specifically Lebanon and cedars? Why does He mention specifically these? Because in this very thing Chiram grew proud, that he brought the cedars from Lebanon.
And what was his end? The Holy One, blessed be He, brought Nevuchadnetzar upon him, and he had relations with his mother before him. What a wondrous thing, for if so, his mother was close to the age of 500. For we are speaking of him being around 400 or 450, so his mother is close to 500. And he brought him down from his throne, and he would cut his flesh two fingers' worth every day, and dip it in vinegar and feed it to him. Do you hear? Every day he cut off two fingers' worth. I do not think it was anything special, the flesh old, 450 years old, but in any case, thus he exacted punishment from him until he died a strange death. That is to say, it is implied from the fact that he was cutting his flesh two fingers' worth that he was still alive, yes? Every day he cut his flesh. And what became of those palaces? Well, and what became of all that immense complex structure upon which he went and settled himself, those firmaments? The Midrash says, the Holy One, blessed be He, split open the ground and hid them away for the righteous in the time to come. They are indeed hidden away for the righteous in the time to come.
Now one must know that we truly see here a dual, ambivalent attitude toward Chiram. On the one hand there are expressions that he merited what many others did not merit, and this is in the merit of the building of the Beit HaMikdash. And on the other hand there are expressions that he was punished with severe punishments and ended in a very bad and harsh way. I will read to you the wording of the Midrash. The Midrash there continues, thirteen are they who did not taste the taste of death. The Midrash says, and these are they: Chanoch, and Eliezer the servant of Avraham, and Metushelach, and Chiram king of Tyre, and Eved-Melech the Cushite, and Batya daughter of Pharaoh, and Serach daughter of Asher, and the three sons of Korach, and Eliyahu of blessed memory, and Mashiach, and Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi. The Midrash says, nine entered the Garden of Eden alive: Chanoch, and Eliyahu, and Mashiach, and Eliezer, and Eved-Melech the Cushite, and Chiram king of Tyre, and Yavetz the grandson of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, and Serach daughter of Asher, and Batya daughter of Pharaoh. And some say, remove Chiram and put in his place Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi. So we see, then, that there is an opinion that says Chiram merited to enter the Garden of Eden in his lifetime in the merit of his partnership in the building of the Beit HaMikdash. And some say no, that Chiram did not attain this great merit, and on the contrary, from here we see, from the Midrash we read earlier and from the verses, we see very great criticism of him for the pride that seized him in consequence of this matter.
Let us continue in the verses. "Behold, you are wiser than Daniel, no secret is hidden (amamucha) from you." What, are you comparable to Daniel, whom Nevuchadnetzar called by a name of divinity because of his wisdom? As it is written of Daniel, "prostration and a meal offering and pleasing aromas he ordered to be poured out to him," he bowed to him, he wanted to pour out to him a meal offering and pleasing aromas, and Daniel did not agree. Are you wiser than Daniel, so that no secret is hidden from you? The meaning is, with Daniel his wisdom was so great that there was nothing vague and hidden to him. Everything was to him clear, bright and luminous. "No secret is hidden from you." The Malbim brings that "amamucha" in one interpretation is from the expression "how has the gold become dim (yuam)," meaning that the light is hidden. So there was nothing whose light was not revealed to Daniel. Daniel had very great wisdom. So are you like him, that no secret is hidden from you? This too is an expression we use, "dimming embers" (gechalim omemot). "Omemot" means that their light is covered, yes? Another interpretation he explains, "amamucha" means "was with you." That is the meaning of "amamucha," to be with you. Are you too like Daniel, that every hidden thing is with you? That every hidden thing is elucidated by you?
"By your wisdom and by your understanding you have made yourself wealth, and you have made gold and silver in your treasuries." The Malbim explains that this is in the form of a rhetorical question. "By your wisdom and by your understanding you made yourself wealth?" The meaning is, and did the riches in which you take pride, did you produce and generate them yourself? By what example? That you knew the craft of alchemy, or hidden virtues and things, so that the base metals lying in your treasuries would turn into gold and silver? In their time they believed that if they would develop the craft of alchemy a little more, meaning the manner of chemical operations, they would succeed in turning iron into gold. So they believed in the Middle Ages. And many made researches and tried and strove and were certain that they were truly but a step away from turning iron into gold. If only they would succeed in finding the appropriate chemical materials, they would succeed in turning iron into gold. So this is what He says to him as it were, did you by your wisdom and your understanding make yourself wealth? Did you develop some chemical invention that turns iron into gold, so that I would say that the gold you have, you made it with your understanding? Or by some hidden wisdom, meaning some spiritual wisdom, by which you knew how to turn iron into gold? Was it through this that you attained your riches and made gold and silver in your treasuries? Surely you did not make your riches in this way.
"By the abundance of your wisdom in your trading you have increased your wealth, and your heart is haughty because of your wealth." So by your wisdom - what wisdom did you have? The wisdom of trade. "Rechulat" means selling and buying. By this you increased your wealth. That is no great wisdom. And especially since your trading was not in justice and honesty, but you conducted yourself in a manner of fraud, forgery and deceit, and through this you drew to yourself the money of others. He says to him, every peddler knows how to do this. So how is your heart haughty because of your wealth? Because through all sorts of schemes you succeeded in becoming wealthy? So through this you feel that there is in you some special wisdom, and there is in you some divine appearance, a supreme spiritual power?
"Therefore thus says Hashem Elokim: Because you have set your heart like the heart of a god." "An abomination to Hashem is everyone haughty of heart." You have made your heart like the heart of a god. "Therefore behold I bring upon you strangers, the fiercest of the nations, and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom, and they shall defile your splendor." According to what we explained above, on the basis of the Yalkut, this has a wonderful meaning. "Behold I bring upon you strangers, the fiercest of the nations," the reference is to Nevuchadnetzar. "And they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom and defile your splendor." They indeed defiled his splendor and his majesty. He was certain that he was already on the seventh firmament. They defiled his splendor and his majesty by killing him, and by his cutting his flesh to pieces as we saw above. One can also say, "they defiled your splendor," what is his splendor? One can say, according to the Midrash as well, that the reference is to his mother. "They defiled your splendor," as we explained above, that Nevuchadnetzar also had relations with his mother.
The Malbim explains, "behold I bring upon you strangers," these strangers will not spare your honor. They will be the fiercest of the nations. The Malbim says, the term "aritz" (fierce) describes a mighty one in a derogatory sense. There is a mighty one in a positive sense, but when one wishes to say a mighty one who does evil things, one says he is an "aritz" (tyrant). Even today we use this expression for a ruler who does not rule in a manner of honesty, does not rule with kindness, they call him a tyrant ruler. So he says, then, I bring upon you strangers, the fiercest of the nations, that is, these will be tyrants, meaning the wicked and corrupt among the nations, whom you will not be able to stand against. And they will draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom, which is your wealth, as the Malbim explained above, that he thought, what great wisdom I have in that I attained wealth. Against the beauty of your wisdom they will draw their swords, they will plunder all your riches. And they will also defile your splendor. The reference of "your splendor" (yifatecha), the Malbim explains, is an expression of appearance (hofa'atecha). You claim that a divine wisdom appeared upon you. They will defile your splendor, they will render it profane. Why? For if there is in you a divine appearance, you are supposed to survive. It would be impossible to harm you. You are supposedly divine. So by harming you and killing you, they will prove thereby that they defiled your splendor. There is in you no divine appearance whatsoever, there is in you no supreme spiritual power that appears upon you. The Malbim says that the matter of "yifah" and "hofa'ah" always comes as an expression of spirituality. Like "the light of our cloud appeared," "He who sits upon the Keruvim appeared," and so on in this manner. The matter of appearance is always an expression of spirituality that pours forth and radiates.
There is another Midrash which Rashi brings, a homiletic Midrash: what is "and they defiled your splendor"? What was the defilement? The Midrash says, homosexual relations, that he was penetrated like women. And the Midrash says, three made themselves a god and were penetrated like women, which is really the greatest disgrace as it were. Yoash son of Achazya, as it says "and against Yoash they executed judgments," and Chiram, and Nevuchadnetzar.
"They shall bring you down to the pit, and you shall die the deaths of the slain in the heart of the seas." "They shall bring you down to the pit," they will kill you. This will be proof that you are not eternal; you were certain you are a god, existing forever. "And you shall die the deaths of the slain in the heart of the seas." "The deaths of the slain" means in disgrace. And this is proof that there is in you no divine appearance. And what is "the deaths of the slain" (mimotei)? What is the meaning of "mimotei" in the plural? He says that this will be through many stabbings. Therefore it will be "the deaths of the slain," these will be many killings. According to what the Midrash explains above, this is very wonderful. Since they cut his flesh and killed him slowly, little by little. Each time he cut two fingers' worth of his flesh, the width of two fingers of his flesh, and this he fed him. So then there are here many deaths. He killed him many times, little by little he drew out his soul.
"Will you indeed say, I am a god, before him who slays you, whereas you are a man and not a god in the hand of him who profanes you?" "Will you indeed say, I am a god, before him who slays you?" For when they come and kill you, will you be able to say, I am a god? If you are a god, then how did they harm you? How is it possible to kill a god? "Will you indeed say, I am a god, before him who slays you?" And through those who profane you, who render you profane through the disgrace with which they will disgrace you, or as we saw above that he was penetrated like a woman, from this there will be proof that you are a man and not a god. This disgrace will prove that there is in you no divine matter, and not even a divine spirit is found in you. You are a man and not any supreme power and spirit that cleaves to it. "The deaths of the uncircumcised you shall die by the hand of strangers, for I have spoken, says Hashem Elokim." "The deaths of the uncircumcised you shall die by the hand of strangers." They will not put you to death as one puts to death a king and a divine man, but as one puts to death the uncircumcised, in disgrace. "The uncircumcised," the Radak says the reference is to the wicked, like "the uncircumcised of heart." For truly they were all there uncircumcised, so what is the meaning of "the deaths of the uncircumcised you shall die"? Rather the reference here is an expression of the wicked. Like "uncircumcised" that means uncircumcised of heart, not foreskin of flesh, for foreskin of flesh all the nations have, they do not see in it any disgrace or deficiency.
"And the word of Hashem came to me, saying: Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, thus says Hashem Elokim: You are the seal of a pattern, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty." This is what the Malbim mentioned above, that the Abarbanel said that the ruler over whom the prophecy was above is the ruler of Tyre. And now the prophecy is with respect to the king of Tyre. And to him these are two different people, since it is not possible that at first He would call him a ruler and afterward call him a king, and He gives here two different prophecies, which implies that these are prophecies to different people. The Malbim says, it appears in the Midrash that Chiram was the beloved friend of Shlomo, and he lived until that period, and was killed by the hand of Nevuchadnetzar. All of this we read above in the Midrash. On the other hand, the Malbim says, it appears in the Midrash that Chiram entered the Garden of Eden alive. And all of this they derived from the verses we saw here. And as we said, these matters are, first, puzzling from the reality within them, that a person lived such very long years. And a further thing, that we seemingly have here no resolution: did he really enter the Garden of Eden alive, or did he die a strange death as we saw above? What exactly is happening here? The matters are not entirely clear.
The Malbim says, according to the plain meaning, Chiram, who in the days of Shlomo attained immense honor from the people of his kingdom because of the special covenant he had with David and with Shlomo, and because he was a help and support in the building of the Beit HaMikdash, there was toward him a divine reverence among his people. His people believed that he merited to sit in the Garden of Eden in the merit of this. That he had the status of the pious of the nations of the world, and that he sits there under ten canopies there in the Garden of Eden. Presently we will see that this matter of the ten canopies will be mentioned here. Therefore the Malbim here details the matters that we will presently see in a more explicit form. After he died, since this leader was considered a supreme leader, then just as with Stalin in his time they did not believe that he was dead and continued to conduct a personality cult around him for many years after his death, so too it was with Chiram. And they believed that he in effect as it were still continues and reigns. They were not willing to accept another king. What then? They were willing to hand over the leadership into the hand of a ruler (nagid). Nagid, if you will, is like, say, a prime minister as opposed to a president. But not as it is with us. With us all the power is in the hand of the prime minister and the president is a puppet. I mean to say when the reality is the reverse. Say, like in Iran, where the president has the last word, and the prime minister is a puppet in his hand, yes? He must carry out his instructions into action. So that is how they related to it. They as it were appointed someone to manage matters in practice. But from their perspective, who was still the king? Who was the figure by whose light they would go? That is Chiram, who was no longer among the living, who according to their view already sits in the Garden of Eden under ten canopies.
Well, but where is this Chiram? So in order to preserve his memory, the Malbim says, they made a likeness of Chiram's image. They depicted him as though he were sitting on his throne, and as though above him were ten canopies of precious stones, as though he were sitting in the Garden of Eden. They made such an image of Chiram. And they also depicted his banner in the form of a Keruv. Why was his banner in the form of a Keruv? What is this, what did it express? Because he was a partner in the building of the Beit HaMikdash, and in the building of the Beit HaMikdash there were Keruvim. Therefore they made an image of the banner that had the image of that mythological Chiram, they made some image of a banner, that this banner would have the form of a Keruv. A Keruv made of oil-wood that shielded over the Aron. For the Keruvim, yes, were as it were made of wood and they were overlaid with gold and they shielded over the Aron. So they made a Keruv of oil-wood. "Oil-wood" means of olive trees. Everything I am now mentioning, we will presently see it, we will presently see it within the verses. And since we know that there were two Keruvim in the Beit HaMikdash, yes, two Keruvim, they understood that as it were the one Keruv alludes to Shlomo, and the second Keruv alludes to the second partner in the building of the Beit HaMikdash, that is Chiram, who supplied the wood for the Beit HaMikdash. And all this they attributed to his figure. Or, the Malbim says, it is quite possible, a further possibility, that they set some man handsome and wise in his place, who would as it were be like a puppet. He would be as it were the representative of Chiram. He is not someone who decides in practice, he does not engage in the leadership of the state, but rather he is like a puppet who represents Chiram who sits in the Garden of Eden, and he is in effect the king of Tyre according to their imagining.
So at first, the Malbim says, the prophecy was about the ruler of Tyre. The ruler of Tyre is the one we said managed the affairs of the government in practice. He engaged in the leadership of the state. And now He prophesies about the king of Tyre, for the king of Tyre is for them a kind of figure of some deity, of someone holy, whom they created for themselves, or about that man, as we explained, who was as it were in his likeness and came to symbolize him, whether in wisdom, whether in beauty. Therefore He says to him, "you are the seal of a pattern, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty."
Thus says Hashem, "you are the seal of a pattern." What is the meaning of "you are the seal of a pattern"? "Chotem" is from the expression of a seal. Not "chotem" as we say, he signs the contract. Rather "chotem" means a seal. "You are the seal of a pattern." The meaning is, even though you yourself, you are not Chiram himself, you are only his seal-impression. What is the meaning of "his seal"? Whether we explain that the reference is to the image they engraved, whether we explain that the reference is that they set a man as it were in his likeness. You are like his seal-impression. "His seal" is a stamp that we imprint. When you imprint a stamp, you receive the same result, you receive the same thing engraved. So He says, you are as it were the engraving and stamp of Chiram king of Tyre. In you was sealed the image of the king of Tyre precisely. That is the meaning of "the seal of a pattern." "Pattern" (tochnit) means according to that same content. That is the meaning of "tochnit." You are a seal, meaning you are a copy of that same content of Chiram. So what is He speaking about here? Either about the image they created for themselves, or about that man, as we explained, who was as it were in his likeness and came to symbolize him, whether in wisdom, whether in beauty. Therefore He says to him, "you are the seal of a pattern, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty."
"In Eden, the garden of Elokim, you were. Every precious stone was your covering, ruby, topaz and diamond, beryl, onyx and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and emerald, and gold. The workmanship of your drums and your holes was in you; on the day you were created they were established." "In Eden, the garden of Elokim, you were." The Targum says, in great goodness and delights you indulge yourself, as though you dwell in Eden, the garden of Hashem. Rashi explains that here He is in fact speaking to Chiram himself. And He says to him, you indulge yourself in an abundance of good, as though you sit in the Garden of Eden. So then, according to his words here, this is a metaphor. According to Midrash Rabbah, "in Eden, the garden of Elokim, you were," the Midrash says that he really was in the Garden of Eden. And he is one of those who entered the Garden of Eden, as we saw in the Midrash above. Only the Midrash says that in the Garden of Eden he grew proud, and in consequence of this he was banished. And then in effect the matters are resolved for us. The contradiction here is in effect resolved. That on the one hand you say he was in the Garden of Eden, entered the Garden of Eden alive, and on the other hand you say that we see he was banished and we see that the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were speaks to him a harsh prophecy and casts him down. This is after he was in the Garden of Eden, grew proud, and from there was banished. And do not be surprised how it can be that he would be in the Garden of Eden and afterward pride and such things still apply to him, for we have already explained in the past that when a person dies he does not fix his traits. Those traits that were in him here continue with him onward. What a person fixed in his lifetime, that will be fixed. What he did not fix continues with him onward until he undergoes purification in Gehinnom. As long as he has not undergone purification in Gehinnom, Gehinnom is a laundering. As long as he has not undergone the laundering, he remains with it. And then, since this spark of pride was in him, arisen in this world, it came to expression in the Garden of Eden as well. He began to think he was a god, since he entered the Garden of Eden in his lifetime. And in consequence of this Hashem banished him from the Garden of Eden.
The Malbim explains, according to the line he explained above, that here as it were, as we said, his people believed that he sits in the Garden of Eden beneath ten canopies. And there, as it were, in order to illustrate this matter, so to the image they created, as we explained, whether we say a puppet, whether we say that they set a man as it were in his likeness, they as it were depicted how he sits in the Garden of Eden and there he takes delight. They covered him with coverings, meaning something that shields over him, of precious stone, and these are in fact, note, nine stones of the rows of the Choshen. The Malbim says, and where are the other stones of the third row? Leshem, shevo and achlamah. Why do they not appear here? The Malbim says, because they are from the aspect of judgment. These stones, leshem, shevo and achlamah, are from the aspect of judgment and evil. And corresponding to them, of the twelve constellations, these are Scorpio, Cancer and Sagittarius. And in their place comes the gold. Instead we see that gold is mentioned, since gold is in their place, for it indicates judgments. And just as these stones, leshem, shevo and achlamah, indicate judgment, therefore they are missing here and in their place is gold, which is in effect the substitute for judgment.
And then He describes and says, "the workmanship of your drums and your holes was in you; on the day you were created they were established." He as it were describes how in the Garden of Eden he takes pleasure there in the delights of song and melody. In musical instruments there are hollows through which the melody comes forth. Almost every musical instrument has hollows so that through them the melody goes out. Whether it is a drum, whether it is a guitar, whether it is a trombone, every instrument has in it a hollow through which the melody goes out. Here He speaks of the kinds of drums, which have in them holes that produce the sound. And here He describes and says as it were, as though his body has in it these kinds of instruments, where he sounds forth sound from the kinds of melodies, the kinds of drums and the kinds of perforated instruments of song. And He as it were says to him, from the day you were created you were as it were established to this reality. From the day you were created the Holy One, blessed be He, formed you in this reality.
"You are the anointed Keruv that covers, and I set you; you were on the holy mountain of Elokim, you walked among stones of fire." "You are the anointed Keruv that covers." There are several interpretations here, but we will go according to the line of the Malbim. The Malbim explains, and by the way, this is the source of "you are the anointed Keruv, the radiance of your light or dwells," which we say in "Bar Yochai." What is "you are the anointed Keruv"? His banner in the form of an anointed Keruv, as we explained. What is "anointed" (mimshach)? "Mimshach" means oil-wood. "Mimshach" is oil, "greatness of oil," yes? This is the oil of greatness with which they used to anoint. So "mimshach" is oil. So they had, you are an anointed Keruv, made of oil-wood, that shielded over the Aron. Upon the Aron we saw two Keruvim that were made of olive-wood. He says to him, you were on the holy mountain of Elokim. You dwelt on the holy mountain designated for Elokim, that is, in the Beit HaMikdash that is on Mount Zion, there you were, you were as it were a partner in the building of the Beit HaMikdash. Afterward, "you walked among stones of fire." The reference is beneath the canopies that are in the Garden of Eden, where there were precious stones, and these precious stones are not physical, these are precious stones that are of fire, not of earthly material like ours. And you merited such a level.
"You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, until iniquity was found in you." At the beginning you were perfect, you were worthy of all this honor, until iniquity was found in you. Until iniquity was found in you, and in consequence of this iniquity you are no longer worthy of it. So according to the Midrash, as we explained, in consequence of the fact that he grew proud, he was banished from the Garden of Eden. But let us continue according to the line of the Malbim.
"By the abundance of your trading, your midst was filled with violence, and you sinned. And I profaned you from the mountain of Elokim, and I destroyed you, O covering Keruv, from among the stones of fire." "By the abundance of your trading, your midst was filled with violence, and you sinned." We saw that they engaged in trade, we saw that they engaged in commerce, in buying and selling. But He says, the manner of your commerce was in falsehood and deceit. "By the abundance of your trading, your midst was filled with violence, and you sinned." There was in you sin in consequence of the violence and falsehood and deceit with which you conducted your trade. And this is what we saw above, you thought that by wisdom as it were you attained the silver and the gold; but it is not so, rather it was through deceit, through falsehoods, through false commerce, through defrauding people in your commerce, through this you attained the silver and the gold. And therefore, by virtue of this, you lost the portion you have below in the Beit HaMikdash. Therefore He says to him, "and I profaned you from the mountain of Elokim." You had a merit that you were as it were sanctified, that you were a partner in the building of My house. The Holy One, blessed be He, says, but since afterward you corrupted your ways and conducted yourself with deceit in your commerce, in consequence of this I profaned you from the mountain of Elokim. You were profaned from this merit that you were a partner in the building of the mountain of Elokim, in the building of the Beit HaMikdash. Consequently through this you also lost your portion in the Garden of Eden. And through this "I destroyed you, O covering Keruv." You lost that covering Keruv from among the stones of fire, as we explained, since what you merited, those stones of fire in the Garden of Eden, was through your being a covering Keruv, through your having been a partner in the Beit HaMikdash. And now you lost all of this.
Rashi brings a homiletic Midrash, that the Sages expound this as referring to Adam HaRishon. And once again, since there is a difficulty here, as I said, that on the one hand we see great praise of Chiram, and on the other hand we see such great disgrace, therefore Chazal expound that all the expressions here that appear as glorious expressions about his reality in the Garden of Eden refer to Adam HaRishon. And this is part of the rebuke that was spoken to Chiram. The prophet says to Chiram, why did you grow proud with your firmaments? Were you perhaps in the Garden of Eden like Adam HaRishon, who had there every precious stone covering over him? For all these canopies I made for Adam HaRishon, and the lowest of them all was of gold, which is the one listed last. And you went and made yourself canopies and made yourself firmaments, as though you sit somewhere on high. Were you comparable to Adam HaRishon, who was truly worthy of all this and merited all this? He says to him, in what are you truly comparable to him? Only in "the workmanship of your drums and your holes was in you; on the day you were created they were established," which is what we explained, that there are holes in you and there is in you as it were a body similar to Adam HaRishon. "You are the anointed Keruv," perhaps you are like that Keruv that was great in the anointing that covers, meaning that the spread of his wings was great from one end of the heavens to the other, as it is written of Adam HaRishon that at first he filled the entire world, until the Holy One, blessed be He, placed His hand upon him and diminished him. Are you on his level? Did you merit what he merited? So then, in what do you take pride? "Your heart is haughty because of your beauty, you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. I cast you upon the ground, I placed you before kings, to gaze upon you." He says to him, afterward you added to sin by your heart growing haughty because of your beauty. Through this you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. The meaning is, this corrupted your wisdom, first, and second, your splendor, as the Malbim explained that your splendor is the divine appearance. The meaning is, you indeed merited some level through your partnership in the building of the Beit HaMikdash. But you corrupted this, what is called, you lost that level you had merited. And therefore you have another punishment in this world. I cast you upon the ground, I placed you before kings so that they would see your disgrace. The Malbim explains, "to gaze upon you" (lera'avah bach). "Ra'avah" is like we today use the expression "display window" (chalon ra'avah), that is a window in which one displays one's merchandise, the merchant displays his merchandise. So here too it is from the root of "seeing" (ra'ah). So like "proud" (gaeh) and "pride" (gaavah), and "to tremble" (zua) and "trembling" (zeva'ah), so too "to see" (ra'ah) and "gazing" (ra'avah), like "da'avah." And he explains that when it is written with a bet, then it is generally in a derogatory sense. "To gaze upon you" (lera'avah bach). "Bach" - the meaning is that this is in a derogatory manner. What will they see in me? The reference is, they will see my shame, they will see my disgrace.
"By the abundance of your iniquities, in the injustice of your trading, you profaned your sanctuaries. And I brought forth fire from your midst; it consumed you, and I made you ashes upon the ground before the eyes of all who see you." After this you added still more to sin, for by the abundance of your iniquities, the reference is, through the injustice with which, as we saw, you conducted yourself in commerce, you further profaned your sanctuaries. The Malbim says that he rejoiced over the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash. And through his rejoicing over the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash, he lost the merit he had in the building of the Beit HaMikdash. That is to say, you considered yourself important, I am a partner, I was part of the building of the Beit HaMikdash. True, you were part of the building of the Beit HaMikdash, but you also rejoiced when it was destroyed. Your rejoicing when it was destroyed is what offsets the merit you had in building it. Through this you lost all the merit you had in its building. And therefore He says to him, through this "I brought forth fire from your midst; it consumed you." Measure for measure, just as you rejoiced over the burning of the Beit HaMikdash, you will now be ashes upon the ground; the Beit HaMikdash was burned, you will now be ashes upon the ground.
"All who know you among the peoples are appalled at you. You have become a terror, and you are no more forever." The disgrace will be so great that all who know you among the peoples are appalled at you. Everyone who knows you among the peoples will stand and be astonished. "Yishom," we have explained several times, means will be astonished. Like "appalled and hissing" (yishom veshoreik). A person would be astonished, he would let out a whistle from his mouth, which is an expression of shock. So all who know you among the peoples are appalled at you, they will see this and be astonished. "You have become a terror." "Balahot," the Malbim explains in several places, is from the expression of a demon and a fiend. It is an expression of terror. We saw in the Radak, I believe, above, that he explained it is like "panic" (behalah). "You have become a terror," like "you have become a panic." Whoever sees you will be panic-stricken at the greatness of your downfall. "You have been and you are no more forever." The meaning is, you will be lost eternally.
"And the word of Hashem came to me, saying: Son of man, set your face toward Sidon, and prophesy against her." "Set your face toward Sidon," since after Tyre, Sidon will be destroyed. "And say, thus says Hashem Elokim: Behold I am against you, O Sidon, and I will be glorified in your midst. And they shall know that I am Hashem, when I execute judgments in her and am sanctified in her." The Metzudat David says, what is "and I will be glorified in your midst"? Through the judgment that I will execute in you, through this I will have honor in your midst. That is the meaning: when the Holy One, blessed be He, takes vengeance on the enemies and exacts punishment from the nations, through this His Name is magnified and sanctified in the world. This is what is written, "and I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself before the eyes of many nations" - when? When the Holy One, blessed be He, exacts punishment from Gog. So we see that when Hashem exacts punishment from the nations, thereby His Name is magnified. "And I will be glorified in your midst." And afterward He says, I will also execute judgments in her, which will be a punishment that everyone will recognize is in a manner of justice. The reference is measure for measure, corresponding to the evil they did. And then they will know that I am Hashem. They will recognize from this that the Holy One, blessed be He, is faithful to pay reward and faithful also to give punishment to whoever deserves it. And then "and I am sanctified in her." So the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He, will be sanctified, which is a higher level than honor. At first He says "and I will be glorified in your midst," through His exacting punishment from them His blessed Name will be honored. Afterward His blessed Name will be sanctified, which is a higher level than the level of the honor of His Name. And also the honor, the Malbim says, that through this they will say that Hashem is the God of gods. And this is connected to the following verse. "And I will send into her pestilence and blood in her streets, and the slain shall fall in her midst by the sword upon her all around, and they shall know that I am Hashem." Corresponding to what He said, "behold I am against you, O Sidon," He says, in what will this come to expression? I will send into her streets pestilence and blood. There will be war between man and his brother, they will shed each man the blood of his brother. Corresponding to what He said, "and they shall know that I am Hashem, when I execute judgments in her," how and in what will this come to expression? "And the slain shall fall in her midst by the sword upon her all around." He will bring upon her the enemies all around. The Malbim says, "venifla" is like "and it is given over to judges (pelilim)." The reference is judgment. A great matter is called "befililim." He will execute judgment here by the sword. And this is what He says, through the slain who will fall in her midst, this will be a punishment according to justice for the murders that took place among them.
The verses we will now learn are the haftarah of Parashat Vaera. "And there shall no longer be for the house of Israel a pricking briar or a painful thorn from all around them, from those who despise them, and they shall know that I am Hashem Elokim." "And there shall no longer be for the house of Israel," Rashi explains, since He prophesied here about Ammon and Moav and the Philistines and Edom and Tyre and Sidon, that all these neighbors of the Land of Israel will all be destroyed. Since they will all perish, we will no longer have around us a pricking briar or a painful thorn. "Sillon" is a kind of thistles and thorns, and "mamir" means causing pain. From all these, "from all around them, from those who despise them," the reference is those who scorn them. They will no longer have disturbance and harm and sorrow from the peoples around them. The Malbim explains that besides this, the purpose of their downfall will be that there shall no longer be for the house of Israel a pricking briar from all around them. That Sidon too, the Malbim says, who were bad neighbors and distressed us, they too will receive their punishment. And then through this they will know that I am Hashem who contends their cause.
"Thus says Hashem Elokim: When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they were scattered, and I am sanctified in them before the eyes of the nations, then they shall dwell on their land which I gave to My servant, to Yaakov." Do not ask, surely now the people of Israel are in exile, they are scattered among the peoples, they are not neighbors to Sidon. He says about this immediately, thus says Hashem, when I gather the house of Israel from the peoples. When will this be? When I gather them. And then they will dwell on their land, when Koresh gives them permission to return to the Land of Israel. And then "and I am sanctified in them before the eyes of the nations, and they shall dwell on their land which I gave to My servant, to Yaakov." Just as an inheritance without boundaries was given to Yaakov, "and you shall spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south," so too I will give to them. "And they shall dwell on it securely, and build houses and plant vineyards, and dwell securely when I execute judgments on all those who despise them from all around them, and they shall know that I am Hashem their God." And then they will merit and dwell on it securely. What is "securely"? For at first, when they returned, they still had oppressors and enemies, as we had the chance to learn in Ezra and Nechemyah. Afterward they will build houses and dwell securely, so their settlement in the Land of Israel will increase. For at first only fewer than 50,000 returned here. And then afterward He will execute judgments on all those who despise them, on all those who oppressed them, and through this they will know that I am Hashem their God, who watches over them with individual providence. Everywhere it is written "Hashem their God," the reference is to the individual providence specially over them.