Introduction: Between the Measure of Flesh and Blood and the Measure of the Holy One, Blessed Be He
In this part of the chapter, Yechezkel continues with the theme he opened with: the responsibility of the watchman, and the Holy One, Blessed Be He's attributes of justice and mercy toward both the righteous and the wicked. The core of the section before us is a revolutionary revelation: with the Holy One, Blessed Be He, a person's history does not determine their fate - only their present state matters. Afterward, the prophet turns to the fugitive's report of the destruction of Jerusalem, the claim of those living among the ruins who remained in the Land, and a bitter description of people who come to hear prophecy but fulfill nothing.
The Righteousness of the Righteous and the Wickedness of the Wicked - History Is Erased
וְאַתָּה בֶן־אָדָם אֱמֹר אֶל־בְּנֵי־עַמְּךָ צִדְקַת הַצַּדִּיק לֹא תַצִּילֶנּוּ בְּיוֹם פִּשְׁעוֹ וְרִשְׁעַת הָרָשָׁע לֹא־יִכָּשֶׁל בָּהּ בְּיוֹם שׁוּבוֹ מֵרִשְׁעוֹ וְצַדִּיק לֹא יוּכַל לִחְיוֹת בָּהּ בְּיוֹם חֲטֹאתוֹ׃ (יב) - "And you, son of man, say to the children of your people: The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him on the day of his transgression, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not stumble by it on the day he turns back from his wickedness; nor shall the righteous be able to live by it on the day of his sin." (12)
The Creator of the world wants us to know: when a person repents, the Holy One, Blessed Be He, does not look at his past deeds at all. His history is erased. And this holds true in both directions - for better and for worse: if a righteous person decides to do evil, his past righteousness is not remembered for him; if a wicked person decides to become righteous, his previous wickedness is not remembered against him.
This is completely different from human nature. Human nature is such that if someone has wronged us, we tend to harbor resentment and bear a grudge; even if he comes to ask for forgiveness, we might mutter a half-hearted "I forgive you," yet prefer never to see him again. The inner anger, especially if the offense was severe and painful, will continue to linger with us. The reverse is also true: if someone was very close to us and then did something wrong, we do not say, "I have forgotten all the good deeds he did"; rather, we still remember all the years in which he was deeply loyal. With the Holy One, Blessed Be He, it does not work this way: if one was wicked all his days and became righteous at the end, all his wickedness is forgotten; if one was righteous all his days and turned wicked at the end, all his former righteousness is forgotten.
And in what case does this apply? When one is toheh al harishonot - regrets his former good deeds. The word toheh implies remorse and regret. This is a person who says: "What a shame that I was righteous, what a fool I was; had I not been righteous, I could have enjoyed life - for thirty years I was righteous and I wasted my time." To this, the Creator of the world says: "Indeed, you have wasted your time; none of these mitzvot will be remembered for you." But if, after thirty years of righteousness, he began to sin, and when asked why, he replies, "Because my evil inclination overpowered me" - and he does not regret having been righteous, but rather says, "If only I could have remained righteous all my days, but my evil inclination overcame me" - here, his righteousness will be remembered for him, and he will receive reward for it.
This is what the verse means: the wicked person who turns back from his wickedness will not stumble through his previous evil, because it has already been forgiven and pardoned. "Nor shall the righteous be able to live by it on the day of his sin" - even if the righteous person sinned unintentionally (beshogeg) rather than willfully (befesha), and thinks his level is still higher than that of the wicked person, he is told: No. The wicked person who has repented now stands at a higher level than you, and his standing is better than yours. The moment you sinned and he repented, the righteous person cannot live by his merit in comparison to him.
Trusting in One's Righteousness - The "Surplus in the Bank"
בְּאׇמְרִי לַצַּדִּיק חָיֹה יִחְיֶה וְהוּא־בָטַח עַל־צִדְקָתוֹ וְעָשָׂה עָוֶל כׇּל־צִדְקֹתָיו לֹא תִזָּכַרְנָה וּבְעַוְלוֹ אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂה בּוֹ יָמוּת׃ (יג) - "When I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, and he trusts in his righteousness and commits iniquity, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered; and for his iniquity that he has committed, by it he shall die." (13)
When I said to the righteous person, "He shall surely live," and he saw that life was decreed for him, he said to himself: "If so, I can start enjoying life" - and he committed iniquity. Regarding this it is said that all his righteous deeds will not be remembered. And as Chazal explain, this refers to one who regrets his former good deeds (toheh al harishonot).
Here the Radak raises a difficulty: the wording of the verse seemingly implies that this is not a case of toheh al harishonot at all. "And he trusts in his righteousness and commits iniquity" - if you ask him why he is committing sins, he replies: "Do you know how many mitzvot I have in the bank? Billions of mitzvot! So I am chipping away at them just a little." He does not regret his righteous deeds; on the contrary, he views them as a tremendous asset and calculates precisely: "I have such a large surplus in my account that no matter how much overdraft I incur, the balance will still cover it." This is the exact opposite of toheh al harishonot. There, he says, "What a shame that I fulfilled mitzvot; I wasted my time." But here, he says, "How fortunate that I fulfilled mitzvot; I built up a positive balance in the bank, so now I can afford to sin."
The Radak explains that both notions can coexist. He thinks that the righteous deeds he performed will still benefit him even though he regrets them, because his regret stems from a love of worldly desires and doing whatever his heart craved; he regrets the past time during which he did not indulge his desires. That is to say, if he is asked what he thinks of that period, he replies that had he known then what he knows today, he would have preferred not to fulfill those mitzvot, and would have exploited that time as well for worldly pleasures - this is the definition of "regretting his former deeds" (toheh al harishonot). On the other hand, in retrospect, since he already holds merits, he says: At least I have credit in the bank, so now I can start committing sins.
The Wicked Person's Teshuvah: Justice and Righteousness
וּבְאׇמְרִי לָרָשָׁע מוֹת תָּמוּת וְשָׁב מֵחַטָּאתוֹ וְעָשָׂה מִשְׁפָּט וּצְדָקָה׃ (יד) - "And when I say to the wicked, 'You shall surely die,' and he turns back from his sin and does justice and righteousness." (14)
On the other hand, when I say to the wicked person, "You shall surely die" for the transgressions he committed, and he turns back from his sin - an unintentional transgression - and practices justice and righteousness. "Justice" (mishpat) pertains to relations between man and his fellow, as in the phrase, "And these are the ordinances (mishpatim) that you shall set before them," which deals with civil damages between people. "Righteousness" (tzedakah) pertains to relations between man and God, righteous conduct toward the Creator of the World.
חֲבֹל יָשִׁיב רָשָׁע גְּזֵלָה יְשַׁלֵּם בְּחֻקּוֹת הַחַיִּים הָלַךְ לְבִלְתִּי עֲשׂוֹת עָוֶל חָיוֹ יִחְיֶה לֹא יָמוּת׃ (טו) - "The wicked person restores a pledge, repays robbery, walks in the statutes of life so as not to commit iniquity - he shall surely live, he shall not die." (15)
Corresponding to "justice," which is between man and his fellow, it says, "The wicked person restores a pledge, repays robbery" - he returns whatever pledge he seized, and reimburses the monetary value of whatever he stole. And corresponding to what is between man and God, it says, "walks in the statutes of life" - he walks in the statutes that will bring him to the life of the World to Come, and is careful henceforth not to commit iniquity. To such a person it is said, "he shall surely live"; he will not die for his previous iniquities, but rather life will be decreed upon him.
"He Practiced Justice and Righteousness" - The Sins Themselves Turn into Merits
כׇּל־חַטֹּאתָיו אֲשֶׁר חָטָא לֹא תִזָּכַרְנָה לוֹ מִשְׁפָּט וּצְדָקָה עָשָׂה חָיוֹ יִחְיֶה׃ (טז) - "None of his sins that he committed shall be remembered against him; he has practiced justice and righteousness, he shall surely live." (16)
None of his sins will be remembered against him; what is more, because he practiced justice and righteousness through repentance out of love (teshuvah me-ahavah), all his deliberate transgressions are transformed into merits. Accordingly, the verse can be understood on a deeper level: "None of his sins that he committed shall be remembered against him - he has practiced justice and righteousness." And where did he practice justice and righteousness? In his very sins! Those sins themselves were transformed into the category of justice and righteousness, and therefore "he shall surely live."
Along these lines, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev taught: On Rosh Hashanah, what do we do with our transgressions? Tashlich - "And You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea." We take the transgressions and cast them into the depths of the sea. And on Sukkot? The water libation (nisuch hamayim), "And you shall draw water with joy." That is to say: Go now to that very stream into which you cast all your transgressions, draw them back up, search for them! Why? Because Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are repentance out of fear, born of awe of the judgment, whereas Sukkot is repentance out of love, born of joy. And since you do this with joy and gladness, out of repentance from love, you now go searching for those transgressions - for they are destined to be transformed into merits.
The same concept applies to the sechach: from what is the sukkah made? From the refuse of the threshing floor and wine vat. What was the sin of Adam HaRishon? Some say grapevine and grapes, and others say wheat. Adam HaRishon corrupted the vine itself, the wheat itself. And when the festival of Sukkot arrives, we specifically go looking for the refuse of the threshing floor and the wine vat, because we come to rectify this. For through his sin, Adam caused the tree - which was originally meant to be entirely fruit, "a fruit tree yielding fruit," meaning the wood of the tree itself was fit to be eaten and the world was perfected - to become merely "a tree yielding fruit," where the wood itself cannot be eaten. We take this refuse and make a sukkah from it, as if to say: We have come to rectify what Adam HaRishon did. On the contrary, we now seek out the sin, since we have done teshuvah out of love and the sin is transformed into merit. We search for the refuse in order to derive from it the reward for the transgressions we committed, which themselves are now turned into mitzvot.
The Gemara expounds on the verse, "And you shall take for yourselves on the first day" - why is it called the "first day," when it is actually the fifteenth of the month? Rather, it is the first day for the reckoning of sins. There is a well-known explanation: until now we were preoccupied with building the sukkah, purchasing the four species, and tending to all the festival preparations, so there was no leisure time for sins; now that the festival has arrived, a person has free time, and a new reckoning of sins begins. But according to the line of thought we have explained, there is another explanation: on the first day, since our deliberate transgressions have been transformed into merits, we begin taking an accounting - how many sins did we commit? Let us search for them and count them, for every sin I committed has become a merit, every transgression is transformed into a mitzvah. This is the meaning of "the first day for the reckoning of sins." And for this reason our Sages said: In the place where ba'alei teshuvah stand, even the completely righteous cannot stand - for with ba'alei teshuvah, all those sins have been turned into merits.
This is also why it is said of Elazar ben Dordia that he was called "Rabbi." Rebbi wept and said: There is one who acquires his world in a single hour, and not only that, but he is even called Rabbi - for the Heavenly voice proclaimed, "Rabbi Elazar ben Dordia is invited to the life of the World to Come." Seemingly, was Rebbi distressed over a single minute of the title "Rabbi"? Rather, the meaning is: all of his intentional sins over sixty or seventy years were transformed at that very moment into merits. It turns out that he was a "Rabbi" of sixty years, a "Rabbi" of seventy years - seventy years of accumulating merits, since the intentional sins became merits. And this is the meaning of "None of his sins that he committed will be remembered against him; he has practiced justice and righteousness" - on the contrary, those very sins are considered justice and righteousness, having been converted into merit.
"The Way of the Lord Is Not Just"
וְאָמְרוּ בְּנֵי עַמְּךָ לֹא יִתָּכֵן דֶּרֶךְ אֲדֹנָי וְהֵמָּה דַּרְכָּם לֹא־יִתָּכֵן׃ (יז) - Yet the children of your people say, "The way of the Lord is not just," but it is their way that is not just.
The Holy One, blessed be He, says to Yechezkel: They will say, "The way of the Lord is not just" - they do not comprehend this. And why? Because among human beings, the opposite is true: we remember what occurred most of the time, and what happened at the final moment we do not retain. If someone was good the entire time and finished on a discordant note, we do not focus on the end, but on all the good time; and if someone was bad the entire time and only at the final moment did something good, we do not focus on the good, but on how he was all along. Therefore they say: How can this be? This is not in line with human convention, nor with what we are accustomed to.
The Holy One, blessed be He, answers them: "Yet it is their way that is not just." Once a person repents of his former deeds, the iniquity must be removed and the transgression pardoned. This can be understood in two ways: First, it is your perception that is unacceptable; your understanding is flawed. Second, what I say is entirely logical, for "their way is not just": until today that person was wicked, but is he still wicked? No, he has changed his path. If so, his former path, the path of wickedness, no longer exists or continues, and it is therefore fitting to judge him as righteous. On the contrary, says Hashem, My way is the more just.
"He Shall Die in Them" - Why in the Plural?
בְּשׁוּב־צַדִּיק מִצִּדְקָתוֹ וְעָשָׂה עָוֶל וּמֵת בָּהֶם׃ (יח) - When the righteous person turns away from his righteousness and commits injustice, he shall die in them.
When the righteous person turns away from his righteousness, meaning he regrets his good deeds and now commits bad deeds - "he shall die in them." Seemingly, the verse should have said, "and he shall die in his wickedness"; what is the meaning of "in them" in the plural? Rather, it means both because of the injustices and because of the righteous deeds. Because of the injustices is understandable, but how could he die because of his righteous deeds?
A parable illustrates this: Two youths were brought before a judge. One came from a good family, a home of God-fearing, wholesome people; the other came from a bad background, having grown up in a broken family with drug-addicted parents, a true crime family. Both had committed an offense. To the boy from the good home, the judge gave two years in prison, while to the delinquent youth he gave a stern warning and a five-year suspended sentence, letting him off with community service. The first youth was astonished and said, "Your Honor, I committed a crime once, and you give me such a severe punishment, while to him, who always walks a bad path, you give a light sentence?" The judge replied, "Absolutely. I know your father; he is a righteous man. And I know your family; they are all God-fearing, wholesome people. And you, coming from such a family, went and did this? That is a grave and terrible offense, an unforgivable transgression, and therefore the claim against you is severe. But that other one, poor fellow, given where he grew up, the very fact that he did not turn out even worse is already a virtue."
This is what is written here. A righteous person who goes and commits injustice is judged far more severely than an ordinary person who commits injustice. You possessed spiritual insights, you attained elevated levels, you recognized Godliness; how could you leave all that behind and go commit injustice? The other person knew nothing and recognized nothing, and therefore deteriorated into sin; but you knew and recognized the greatness of the Creator, and therefore the claim against you is far greater. This is the meaning of "When the righteous person turns away from his righteousness and commits injustice, he shall die in them" - even your past righteousness becomes a factor in your death now, for having been such a righteous person in the past should have prevented you from committing this wickedness. It turns out that this very righteousness is one of the causes of the severe punishment you will now receive.
"Because of Them He Shall Live" - The Great Reward of the Penitent
וּבְשׁוּב רָשָׁע מֵרִשְׁעָתוֹ וְעָשָׂה מִשְׁפָּט וּצְדָקָה עֲלֵיהֶם הוּא יִחְיֶה׃ (יט) - And when the wicked person turns away from his wickedness and practices justice and righteousness, because of them he shall live.
The Malbim explains along this same line. Consider a person who was wicked for many years and has now become righteous: for whom is it easier to be righteous - for someone who grew up naturally in a home of righteous people, or for someone who was very far away and became accustomed to evil desires and corrupt ways? Surely for the one raised in good company. The other had corrupt habits, evil desires, and many negative traits, and overcoming such a nature and transforming it is exceedingly difficult.
This is what the verse means: the very fact that you were so deeply wicked to begin with is a compelling reason to grant you a greater reward for the righteousness you now perform, since it proves that it was far harder for you to break your nature. You deserve a far greater reward than someone who was not so intensely wicked. And just as they say to the righteous person: you deserve a harsher punishment, for having been so righteous, how could you turn wicked - so too they say to the wicked person: you deserve a greater reward, for having been so wicked, how did you manage to overcome it and become righteous?
"And practices justice and righteousness" - this wicked person begins conducting himself with honesty and justice toward his fellow man, and straightens his ways toward Hashem as well. And what is meant by "upon them he shall live"? Both upon his past wicked deeds and upon his present righteousness, for regarding his righteousness he will receive a far greater reward because of that earlier wickedness. And according to the plain meaning explained above based on the Radak, this is even more readily understood: since deliberate sins are transformed into merits through repentance out of love, "upon them he shall live" - you will live even on the deliberate sins themselves, for they have turned into merits.
וַאֲמַרְתֶּם לֹא יִתָּכֵן דֶּרֶךְ אֲדֹנָי אִישׁ כִּדְרָכָיו אֶשְׁפּוֹט אֶתְכֶם בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ (כ) - Yet you say: The way of the Lord is not just! I will judge each of you according to his ways, O house of Israel!
And if regarding this as well you say, "The way of the Lord is not just," here is the response: "I will judge each of you according to his ways." I do not look at history, nor at what happened in the past, but at his ways - according to what is taking place with him right now. If I see that he has changed for the better, I judge him for the good; if he has changed for the worse, I judge him for the bad.
The Arrival of the Fugitive and the Opening of the Prophet's Mouth
וַיְהִי בִּשְׁתֵּי עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה בָּעֲשִׂרִי בַּחֲמִשָּׁה לַחֹדֶשׁ לְגָלוּתֵנוּ בָּא־אֵלַי הַפָּלִיט מִירוּשָׁלַיִם לֵאמֹר הֻכְּתָה הָעִיר׃ (כא) - And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth of the month, that a fugitive from Jerusalem came to me, saying: The city has been struck down!
Here the prophet turns to a different matter. "Of our exile" refers to the exile of Yehoyachin, in which Yechezkel himself was exiled. "In the tenth" means the month of Tevet, which is the tenth month, and "on the fifth of the month" means on the fifth day of the month. The fugitive from Jerusalem arrived and informed him: the city has been struck down, the city has been conquered and its people struck down.
Now, Hashem had already told him in prophecy that on the day of the destruction the fugitive would come and deliver the news to him, and from then on he would speak and no longer be mute. Thus it is stated in chapter 24: "And you, son of man, behold, on the day I take from them their stronghold, their glorious joy, the delight of their eyes, and their soul's longing - their sons and their daughters" - "their stronghold, their glorious joy" refers to the Beis HaMikdash, as well as their sons and daughters who would fall by the sword. "On that day a fugitive will come to you with tidings for your ears" - someone who escaped the battle in Jerusalem will come to you in Babylonia and deliver the harsh report to your ears. "On that day your mouth will be opened with the fugitive, and you shall speak and no longer be mute; and you shall be a sign to them, and they will know that I am Hashem." And the emphasis on "tidings for your ears" comes to teach: a prophet ordinarily hears in a different manner, in a spiritual way, whereas here the hearing would be physical, from the mouth of flesh and blood. I will not come to inform you then - I am informing you now, and at that time a fugitive will come and bring you the news.
Hashem had likewise told him: "And I will make your tongue cleave to the roof of your mouth, and you shall be mute, and you shall not be a reprover to them, for they are a rebellious house." There would be a state in which you are as though mute, but when the fugitive arrives your mouth will open and you will begin to deliver prophecies to Israel. The explanation for this is: Yirmiyahu was the prophet of the destruction; it was he who prophesied that Jerusalem would be destroyed and about everything destined to occur, not Yechezkel. Yechezkel was not designated to prophesy about the destruction, and therefore during that era Hashem told him, "I will make your tongue cleave to the roof of your mouth, and you shall be mute, and you shall not be a reprover to them." Even in the exile itself they had instructions from Yirmiyahu, who told them to bear sons and daughters there and build houses, because they were to remain there for seventy years - everything still depended on Yirmiyahu. But once the Beis HaMikdash was destroyed, Yirmiyahu's mission reached its conclusion and Yechezkel's mission began; from then on his mouth opened to prophesy and was never sealed again. Later we will see that he received prophecies of redemption and the vision of the dry bones.
וְיַד־יְהֹוָה הָיְתָה אֵלַי בָּעֶרֶב לִפְנֵי בּוֹא הַפָּלִיט וַיִּפְתַּח אֶת־פִּי עַד־בּוֹא אֵלַי בַּבֹּקֶר וַיִּפָּתַח פִּי וְלֹא נֶאֱלַמְתִּי עוֹד׃ (כב) - Now the hand of Hashem had been upon me in the evening, before the arrival of the fugitive, and He had opened my mouth by the time he came to me in the morning; so my mouth was opened, and I was no longer mute.
The hand of Hashem was upon him in the evening, even before the fugitive arrived - a spirit of prophecy came upon him, and that prophecy opened his mouth. That is to say, by the time the fugitive arrived, prophecy spoke within him and told him that from now on he could open his mouth and prophesy, because from this point on they would be ready to listen to him. And that is indeed what occurred: from that moment on he began to prophesy to them, and the people were ready to receive his prophecies.
The Claim of the Inhabitants of the Ruins
בֶּן־אָדָם יֹשְׁבֵי הֶחֳרָבוֹת הָאֵלֶּה עַל־אַדְמַת יִשְׂרָאֵל אֹמְרִים לֵאמֹר אֶחָד הָיָה אַבְרָהָם וַיִּירַשׁ אֶת־הָאָרֶץ וַאֲנַחְנוּ רַבִּים לָנוּ נִתְּנָה הָאָרֶץ לְמוֹרָשָׁה׃ (כד) - "Son of man, the inhabitants of these ruins on the soil of Israel are speaking, saying: Abraham was but one, and he inherited the land; and we are many, to us the land is given as an inheritance." (24)
After the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash, many people still remained in Jerusalem and Judah, dwelling in the ruins, fields, and caves. They believed that there was still an active settlement in Eretz Yisrael, meaning that the sanctity of the Land was not revoked, and therefore they had reason to remain. But the prophet had told them that the land would become a complete desolation: "from the fowl of the heavens to the beast, they have fled, they have gone" - and we know that for fifty-two years, not even a bird passed through Eretz Yisrael. Moreover, the first sanctification was annulled, as it sanctified the Land for its time but not for the future to come. The inhabitants of the ruins, however, argued that the sanctity was still intact and that Eretz Yisrael remained in its full sanctity.
What was their reasoning? A kal vachomer (an a fortiori argument). Abraham was a single individual who believed in Hashem, and yet his merit brought about the inheritance of the Land, and Hashem promised it to him. If so, we, who are many people believing in Hashem, all the more so are guaranteed the Land! Furthermore, they argued: "and we are many, to us the land is given as an inheritance." Which is easier - to grant something for the very first time, or to retain possession of what was already given? Surely retaining possession is easier. Abraham received the land as a brand-new gift even though he was an individual; whereas we, first of all, are many, and second, we are only required to hold onto the land, not receive it anew. If he was able to acquire the land, all the more so can we retain it! For this reason, they assumed they could continue dwelling in the Holy Land.
The Prophet's Rebuttal: The Three Cardinal Sins
לָכֵן אֱמֹר אֲלֵהֶם כֹּה־אָמַר אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה עַל־הַדָּם תֹּאכֵלוּ וְעֵינֵכֶם תִּשְׂאוּ אֶל־גִּלּוּלֵיכֶם וְדָם תִּשְׁפֹּכוּ וְהָאָרֶץ תִּירָשׁוּ׃ (כה) - "Therefore say to them: Thus said the Lord Hashem: You eat with the blood, lift your eyes toward your idols, and shed blood - shall you then possess the land?" (25)
The prophet confronts them with harsh arguments: The land was given solely on condition that they observe Hashem's commandments and do His blessed will, for "the land is Mine" - yet you do not straighten your ways at all. In this verse, the three cardinal sins are alluded to: "and shed blood" refers to murder, as the Malbim explains; "and lift your eyes toward your idols" is idolatry; and sexual immorality is referenced in the next verse. "You eat with the blood" simply means consuming non-kosher food, but the Radak and the Metzudas David explain that this was actually a form of idolatry: they would offer sacrifices to demons, pour the blood on the ground, eat around the blood, and also eat the meat with the blood.
עֲמַדְתֶּם עַל־חַרְבְּכֶם עֲשִׂיתֶן תּוֹעֵבָה וְאִישׁ אֶת־אֵשֶׁת רֵעֵהוּ טִמֵּאתֶם וְהָאָרֶץ תִּירָשׁוּ׃ (כו) - "You rely upon your sword, you commit abomination, and each of you defiles his neighbor's wife - shall you then possess the land?" (26)
"You rely upon your sword" - you continue to shed innocent blood. And why does the verse use the feminine form, "asiten" (you committed)? The Radak explains that he is addressing the women. Rashi explains that it refers to homosexual relations; and how does he derive this? From the feminine form, "asiten toeivah", meaning you men acted like women. The Malbim explains: "You rely upon your sword, you commit abomination" - by means of the sword you forced these abominations; by force you compelled people to commit abominations. According to the Malbim, it cannot be explained as referring to bloodshed, since bloodshed was already stated in the previous verse: "and shed blood." And with all this, "shall you then possess the land?" Do you truly think that alongside all these sins you will inherit the land?
The Verdict: Sword, Wild Beast, and Pestilence
כֹּה־תֹאמַר אֲלֵהֶם כֹּה־אָמַר אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה חַי־אָנִי אִם־לֹא אֲשֶׁר בֶּחֳרָבוֹת בַּחֶרֶב יִפֹּלוּ וַאֲשֶׁר עַל־פְּנֵי הַשָּׂדֶה לַחַיָּה נְתַתִּיו לְאׇכְלוֹ וַאֲשֶׁר בַּמְּצָדוֹת וּבַמְּעָרוֹת בַּדֶּבֶר יָמוּתוּ׃ (כז) - "Thus shall you say to them: Thus said the Lord Hashem: As I live, surely those who are in the ruins shall fall by the sword, and whoever is in the open field I have given to the wild beast to devour him, and those who are in the strongholds and in the caves shall die of pestilence." (27)
As noted, they hid in ruins and caves. The prophet tells them: Those in the ruins will fall by the sword; whoever hides in the field, where there are no enemy soldiers, will be devoured by wild beasts; and those in the strongholds and caves will die of pestilence, of plague.
וְנָתַתִּי אֶת־הָאָרֶץ שְׁמָמָה וּמְשַׁמָּה וְנִשְׁבַּת גְּאוֹן עֻזָּהּ וְשָׁמְמוּ הָרֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל מֵאֵין עוֹבֵר׃ (כח) - "And I will make the land a desolation and an astonishment, and the pride of her power shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, with none passing through." (28)
"A desolation and an astonishment" - a doubling that indicates intense desolation, an awful state of ruin. "And the pride of her power shall cease" - that which was her pride and strength will be abolished. "And the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, with none passing through" - because the place will be so desolate, people will not even travel through it. For where does a traveler pass through? Through a place that has food and drink, where one can buy provisions, where there is an inn, where there is life. But the land will be such a desolation that even passersby will not be found in it.
וְיָדְעוּ כִּי־אֲנִי יְהֹוָה בְּתִתִּי אֶת־הָאָרֶץ שְׁמָמָה וּמְשַׁמָּה עַל כׇּל־תּוֹעֲבֹתָם אֲשֶׁר עָשׂוּ׃ (כט) - "Then they shall know that I am Hashem, when I have made the land a desolation and an astonishment because of all their abominations which they have committed." (29)
Through this they will recognize that this desolation comes by Divine Providence and is not a coincidence, but planned. For how could a land that was so fertile become desolate to such an extreme? From this they will understand that all of it is because of all their abominations that they committed.
Hearing and Not Doing
וְאַתָּה בֶן־אָדָם בְּנֵי עַמְּךָ הַנִּדְבָּרִים בְּךָ אֵצֶל הַקִּירוֹת וּבְפִתְחֵי הַבָּתִּים וְדִבֶּר־חַד אֶת־אַחַד אִישׁ אֶת־אָחִיו לֵאמֹר בֹּאוּ־נָא וְשִׁמְעוּ מָה הַדָּבָר הַיּוֹצֵא מֵאֵת יְהֹוָה׃ (ל) - "And as for you, son of man, the children of your people talk about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, and speak one to another, every man to his brother, saying: 'Come, please, and hear what is the word that comes forth from Hashem.'" (30)
See how striking this is: even then, human nature was the same; reality has not changed. Hashem told Yechezkel that from now on his mouth would be opened and he would begin to prophesy, but He immediately reveals to him: know that outwardly people accept your words, yet in secret they worship idols. There, by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, they speak disparagingly of you and mock you. "And speak one to another" - when talking to a stranger, one to one, a prominent person among the people; "every man to his brother" - one to his close friend, and they say: 'Come, please, and hear what is the word that comes forth from Hashem.' As if they are yearning to hear what Hashem says, yet at that very same moment, by the walls and in the doorways, they do their deeds in the dark.
וְיָבוֹאוּ אֵלֶיךָ כִּמְבוֹא־עָם וְיֵשְׁבוּ לְפָנֶיךָ עַמִּי וְשָׁמְעוּ אֶת־דְּבָרֶיךָ וְאוֹתָם לֹא יַעֲשׂוּ כִּי־עֲגָבִים בְּפִיהֶם הֵמָּה עֹשִׂים אַחֲרֵי בִצְעָם לִבָּם הֹלֵךְ׃ (לא) - "And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them; for with their mouth they make mockery, and their heart goes after their unjust gain." (31)
"And they come to you as people come" - they gather in the manner that people assemble to hear a sermon or words of mussar that they desire. "And they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them" - yet in terms of fulfillment, they fulfill nothing. And instead of accepting mussar, "for with their mouth they make mockery" - they turn what you say into jest and laughter. Nor is that all; rather, "their heart goes after their unjust gain" - their heart is far from Hashem, and in practice they commit acts of greed, robbery, and injustice. Everything seen on the outside is merely a show; do not be moved by what they do. Thus Hashem reveals to him in prophecy.
וְהִנְּךָ לָהֶם כְּשִׁיר עֲגָבִים יְפֵה קוֹל וּמֵטִב נַגֵּן וְשָׁמְעוּ אֶת־דְּבָרֶיךָ וְעֹשִׂים אֵינָם אוֹתָם׃ (לב) - "And behold, you are to them like a love song of one who has a pleasant voice and plays well on an instrument; and they hear your words, but they do not do them." (32)
They merely come to hear you. The prophet spoke in poetic and highly elevated language - indeed, we require commentaries just to understand what the prophet is saying - and at times they would come simply to enjoy the eloquence and the linguistic richness. To them it is like a concert; they did not come to absorb mussar. "And behold, you are to them like a love song of one who has a pleasant voice and plays well on an instrument" - it sounds pleasant to them, but no one takes to heart the words emerging from your mouth. "And they hear your words, but they do not do them" - they do not fulfill the words; rather, they pay attention only to the sweetness of the rhetoric, the quality of the song, and the beauty of the delivery. They evaluate whether the phrasing is fitting, whether the meter is correct, whether it is rhymed and pleasing - that is what they examine in your words, but the mussar they do not accept.
וּבְבֹאָהּ הִנֵּה בָאָה וְיָדְעוּ כִּי נָבִיא הָיָה בְתוֹכָם׃ (לג) - "And when this comes to pass - behold, it is coming - then they shall know that a prophet has been among them." (33)
And when the calamity strikes - "behold, it comes" - and the matter is already done and beyond repair, it will already be too late. Only then will they realize in retrospect: a prophet was in our midst; we were foolish not to pay attention to his words. But by then it will no longer be possible to make amends. Therefore Hashem tells him: Tell them to accept the rebuke now, before they reach a point where they are forced to endure the calamity and only then understand that it would have been good for them to heed your words - except that this realization will no longer change their plight.
In summary:
The chapter teaches a profound foundation in the service of Hashem: the Holy One, Blessed is He, does not judge a person based on his history, but according to his current path - "I will judge each of you according to his ways." A righteous person who regrets his past good deeds and relies complacently on his righteousness will not have his righteous acts remembered, and they will even compound his judgment. In contrast, when a wicked person repents out of love, not only are his sins erased, but they themselves are transformed into merits and upon them he lives, and his reward is greater than that of someone who was never required to break his nature. Following this comes the fugitive's report of the destruction of Jerusalem, through which Yechezkel's mouth is opened and his public mission begins, following the era of Yirmiyahu. The inhabitants of the ruins, who argued a kal vachomer from Avraham, are answered that the Land was granted only on condition of observing the mitzvos, yet their hands are steeped in idolatry, bloodshed, and forbidden relations - and therefore the Land will become desolate. Finally, the listeners of the prophecy are depicted as people attending a musical performance, enjoying the beauty of the eloquence while putting nothing into practice; only when disaster strikes will they understand that a prophet was among them - but by then, it will already be too late to rectify.