In this chapter, the prophet depicts the Jewish people's idolatrous deeds in the imagery of a woman committing adultery against her husband. The Holy One, blessed be He, is, as it were, the husband, and the Congregation of Israel is the wife who has deserted her husband's bed to pursue adulterers. In this section of the chapter, we will follow the progression of the pesukim: from the rebuke concerning the sacrifices in the wadis and on the mountains, through the "memorial" placed behind the door and the doorpost, to the reliance upon the kings of Assyria and Egypt and their utter powerlessness to save.
"To them too you poured a libation" - Worshiping the Slaughtered Children
בְּחַלְּקֵי־נַחַל חֶלְקֵךְ הֵם הֵם גּוֹרָלֵךְ גַּם־לָהֶם שָׁפַכְתְּ נֶסֶךְ הֶעֱלִית מִנְחָה הַעַל אֵלֶּה אֶנָּחֵם׃ - "Among the smooth stones of the valley is your portion; they, they are your lot; to them too you poured a libation, you offered up a meal-offering; should I relent concerning these?"
"To them too you poured a libation" - this refers to the children themselves. After slaughtering their children to an idol, they believed that the children themselves had become deities: since they had been slaughtered for the sake of a god, divine power now inhered within them. Consequently, they would pour libations and offer meal-offerings to the slaughtered child himself. Concerning such abominable acts, the Holy One, blessed be He, says: "Should I relent concerning these?" - how could I relent and overlook deeds such as these?
"Upon a lofty and high mountain" - Exertion That Did Not Deter
עַל הַר־גָּבֹהַּ וְנִשָּׂא שַׂמְתְּ מִשְׁכָּבֵךְ גַּם־שָׁם עָלִית לִזְבֹּחַ זָבַח׃ - "Upon a lofty and high mountain you set your bed; there too you went up to offer sacrifice."
The prophet continues to describe the relationship with idolatry in terms of illicit intimacy and promiscuity. "Upon a lofty and high mountain you set your bed" - as it is stated, they used to serve their gods on the high mountains. At its plain level, the disgrace lies in the fact that high places are prominent, honorable locations; as is known, a synagogue is properly constructed on the highest point in the city, "on the heights of the city" - yet it was precisely there that you stationed your idolatrous worship.
Radak adds another dimension: you were not deterred by the exertion. There was no cable car there; you had to climb and strain all the way to the mountaintop to offer a sacrifice, yet it seemed trivial to you because of your great passion for idolatry. Put simply: My service, which is not burdensome, was treated by you as a chore, while the worship of idols, which is immensely difficult, you performed with enthusiasm and ease.
Malbim connects this verse to the preceding one: earlier it was described that they worshiped in the wadis and under the clefts of the rocks, and here on high mountains. They believed in many "demigods" - that there were deities dwelling in the streams and others dwelling on the high mountains, with each deity wielding influence over a specific domain. Therefore, they would offer sacrifices and burn incense to whichever god they sought favor from: one who set sail at sea sacrificed to the sea god, one who set out to mine the earth sacrificed to the earth god, and so on for every endeavor. Thus, both this form of idolatry and that one - you worshiped them all.
"And behind the door and the mezuzah you placed your memorial"
וְאַחַר הַדֶּלֶת וְהַמְּזוּזָה שַׂמְתְּ זִכְרוֹנֵךְ כִּי מֵאִתִּי גִּלִּית וַתַּעֲלִי הִרְחַבְתְּ מִשְׁכָּבֵךְ וַתִּכְרׇת־לָךְ מֵהֶם אָהַבְתְּ מִשְׁכָּבָם יָד חָזִית׃ - "And behind the door and the doorpost you placed your memorial, for away from Me you uncovered yourself and went up; you broadened your bed and made a pact with them; you loved their bed, you gazed upon their hand."
Chazal expound this verse in reference to the generation of Yoshiyahu. We saw at the beginning of the chapter the homiletical teaching on "The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of Hashem" - King Yoshiyahu was a tzaddik, and when he went out to battle against Egypt he fell in combat, prompting the prophet's lament: "The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of Hashem, of whom we said: Under his shadow we shall live." And if he was a tzaddik, why was he punished? Rather, he was trapped by the corruption of his people, unaware that his generation was far from righteous. And what was the sin of his generation? Yoshiyahu would send emissaries to the homes to ensure there was no idolatry and to eradicate it, but the people would mount their idols on the inner face of the door - "as a sign upon your hand and as frontlets between your eyes," so that they would not forget it. The emissaries would arrive and open the door, so that the inner face of the door now pressed against the wall; they would search the entire house, find nothing, exit, and close the door - and the idol was right back in place. The same was done with double doors. Yoshiyahu did not know this, and this is the meaning of "And behind the door and the doorpost you placed your memorial."
Rashi explains this according to the parable of the adulterous woman: she is like a woman whose lovers wait for her in front of the doorway of her home to commit adultery with her, and her heart and thoughts are focused toward the door and the doorpost - that is, toward the lintel - wondering when the door will open so she can go out to them. "For uncovered from Me, you went up" - you were lying with Me, and you uncovered the covering and left your bed, which is the intimate union with the Holy One, Blessed be He, and went up from Me to the adulterers. "You widened your bed" - so that your bed would be wide enough to receive many lovers. "And you made a covenant with them" - you made a covenant with them instead of with the husband of your bosom. "You loved their bed where you saw a place" - you loved their bed when you saw that there was a hand, a place, to show them your love; "yad" is an expression of place, as in "Yoav's plot near my place [el yadi]."
The Radak brings two explanations of "your memorial." The first explanation: you made something for yourself by which you would always remember the idol worship, a symbol of remembrance. This is the exact opposite of "And you shall write them upon the doorposts of your house and upon your gates" - upon the gates you placed a symbol for idolatry. Hashem said to place a reminder of the service of Hashem, and you went and put a reminder of the Baal. I gave you the mitzvah of mezuzah so that you would remember Me upon entering and exiting - as the Rambam writes, that this is the primary purpose of the mezuzah, that one looks at it and remembers that the Holy One, Blessed be He, watches over all - and you removed the mezuzah and put in its place things that would remind you of your idolatry.
The second explanation: "your memorial" comes from the nuance of "its scent is like the wine of Lebanon" [zikhro keyein levanon], and from the nuance of "its memorial portion" [azkaratah] - kinds of incense and spices. That is to say, the incense that you offered to idolatry, you placed behind the door and the doorpost. And why? "For uncovered from Me, you went up" - I commanded My service to take place in a low, humble place: "An altar of earth you shall make for Me," not a tall stone edifice, and I even commanded, "Do not ascend with steps upon My altar," so that there would be no steps - yet you did the opposite, ascending to serve idolatry in an elevated place. "You widened your bed" - I said, "Take heed to yourself lest you offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see," but only in the place that Hashem chooses, yet you found for yourself many places to sacrifice, as Scripture says, "For according to the number of your cities were your gods, O Yehudah."
And one must realize that the Beit HaMikdash, and the Holy of Holies, is called the place of the bed - the place where the Community of Israel and the Holy One, Blessed be He, unite, toward which we direct our prayers, for there is the gate of heaven and the Shechinah. And you, instead of uniting yourself there with the Ein Sof, Blessed be He, widened your bed: first, to commit adultery with idolatry, and second, in every place. What was meant to be confined to a single place, you broadened across many locations. "Where you saw a place" - wherever you saw an opening, you erected a monument, you made an altar for idolatry, contrary to what the Holy One, Blessed be He, forbade.
The Malbim also explains this along the lines of a woman who is unfaithful to her husband, except that he reverses the imagery. He describes a woman slipping out secretly at night from her husband's bed to the paramours waiting for her behind the fence, and the frankincense and perfumes around her neck - which are her "memorial" - she leaves behind the door and the doorpost so that her husband will not notice her. "For uncovered from Me, you went up" - you removed the bedcovering and ascended to the mountain peaks, as it says, "There too you went up to offer sacrifice." "You widened your bed" - not like the previous explanation that you widened it with the lovers, but rather here, with the husband, you had a spacious bed; yet you could not bring the lovers there because the husband was present. Therefore, you abandoned the spacious bed and went to the narrow bed of the lovers behind the fence. "And you separated yourself from them" - this spacious bed was what separated and cut you off from them, and therefore "you loved their bed," the narrow one, more than the spacious bed, "where you saw a place" - alongside the front and the fence.
And the deeper meaning: with the Holy One, Blessed be He, we had a spacious bed - abundance and blessing. Yet we abandoned the fountain of living waters to seek a narrow bed among paramours, with idol worship and false deities; and this bed not only did us no good, but brought us harm. Come and see what a terrible bargain you made: you abandoned a place of abundance and went off to broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
"You Went to the King with Oil" - Three Approaches to the Verse
וַתָּשֻׁרִי לַמֶּלֶךְ בַּשֶּׁמֶן וַתַּרְבִּי רִקֻּחָיִךְ וַתְּשַׁלְּחִי צִרַיִךְ עַד־מֵרָחֹק וַתַּשְׁפִּילִי עַד־שְׁאוֹל׃ - And you went to the king with oil, and you multiplied your perfumes, and you sent your messengers far off, and you debased yourself down to the depths of Sheol.
According to the Targum and Rashi, the verse describes the good era. The Targum explains: when you kept the Torah, you succeeded in your kingdom (the era of Shlomo and the like); when you multiplied good deeds, your armies multiplied; you sent your envoys afar, to distant lands; and you brought down mighty nations to the depths of Sheol. That is, we enjoyed might, abundance, and diplomatic ties with distant nations, and success shone upon us whenever we fulfilled the will of Hashem.
Rashi explains "vatashuri" as an expression of gazing upon someone's face, as in "I see him [ashurennu], but not now." From this also derives the verse, "and there is no gift [teshurah] to bring" - a teshurah is a tribute with which one appears before the face of a king. A wall is also called a "shur," as in "daughters stepped over the wall [shur]," for they would ascend the wall to gaze into the distance. So too in our case: you merited to behold the King's face and bring Him an offering of oil out of the great bounty you possessed; you sent your emissaries far and wide to collect tribute from the nations, and you brought the nations down to Sheol. And all this you abandoned - for what? For idol worship, futile vanity with no substance whatsoever.
The Radak takes an entirely different approach. In his view, "vatashuri" means "and you traveled," from the nuance of "look [tashuri] from the peak of Amanah" and the word caravan [shayerah], meaning travelers going from place to place. According to this, the verse is not a description of a good era, but a continuation of the rebuke for negative deeds: instead of trusting in the Holy One, Blessed be He, and awaiting His salvation, you went to the nations and the kings of the gentiles to seek their help. And why? Because turning to the Holy One, Blessed be He, requires changing one's ways in order to be worthy of salvation; therefore, it is easier to say, "I'll manage on my own" - I have the king of Assyria and the king of Egypt, I will bribe them and forge alliances with them. The prophet had already rebuked them that the king of Egypt is a broken reed of a staff; nevertheless, they preferred to lean on any alternative rather than turn to the Holy One, Blessed be He.
And if it is difficult for us to understand how such a thing is possible, we see it, unfortunately, in our own generation as well: people are willing to rely on America, willing to trust in the IDF, willing to do anything - but to say, "Master of the Universe, grant us salvation," that is taboo, heaven forbid one should mention it. The Holy One, Blessed be He, grants salvation - say thank you to the Master of the Universe! The President of the United States, following the war in Iraq, offered blessing and thanksgiving to the Master of the Universe; yet we Jews are embarrassed to mention the Name of Heaven - praising "the long arm of the IDF," "our strength," "our intelligence"; but where is the gratitude to the Master of the Universe? It has already happened in ages past.
There is also an explanation for this. Our Sages say: if I say thank You to the Master of the World, it obligates me. If there is a Master of the World - I must observe Shabbat, put on tefillin, and change all my ways from morning to night. For a gentile, by contrast, religion obligates almost nothing; why should he care about giving thanks? He continues in everything he does, goes to the priest once in a while, his sins are wiped clean, and he is even given credit for future times. For them it is easy, so he has no problem believing. But deep down, the Jew knows that faith in the Master of the World makes demands of him and requires commitment - and therefore it is harder for him, which is also an argument in his defense.
According to the Radak, "You went to the king with oil" refers to the king of Assyria, who ruled over all the lands. It was not enough that you served other gods; you also went and relied on flesh and blood, concerning which it is said: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart turns away from the Lord." For there were idolaters who worshiped the sun and the moon as ministers of the Holy One, blessed be He - and even that is forbidden, as it is said, "You shall not make with Me gods of silver," even if intended to serve Me - but here you did something far worse: you removed your trust from Hashem completely. It was not as a conduit or a means of serving Him; rather, you erased the Master of the World and made a mortal into a power that would save you. In the end, you fell into his hand, the hand of the king of Assyria upon whom you had relied.
"You went to the king with oil" - you sent him gifts from the Land of Israel, a land of olive oil. "You multiplied your perfumes" - you sent him fragrant, exquisite oils as an offering. "You sent your emissaries far off" - all the way to Assyria, a distant land. "And lowered yourself down to Sheol" - you debased yourself before him to the depths of the grave. And see how these things not only failed to help, but brought harm upon the Jewish people.
The Malbim continues with the parable of the adulterous woman, describing how she went from bad to worse. After leaving her husband's bed, she became a prostitute available for hire - what had begun as an isolated deviation turned into a way of life - until she began scheming how to commit adultery with the king himself. "You went to the king with oil" - you adorned yourself with oil of myrrh and all kinds of oils to make yourself fit for the king; "and sent your emissaries" - you sent messengers to praise you in Pharaoh's house, that is, to extol your beauty before the king so that he would take you. And when you saw that all the investment in the king was of no avail, you began consorting with the nobles, and when that too failed, you ended up as a common harlot available to every passerby - "and lowered yourself down to Sheol."
The lesson: at first they strayed after the great monarchs - the kings of Assyria and the king of Egypt, not the minor ones; but in the end they were so debased that they bowed low even before petty kings, just like that woman. Even if at first you thought there was no disgrace in bowing before someone great, it eventually led you to debase yourself before every lowly outcast, before petty kings to whom you should never have submitted at all. And according to the Malbim, vatashuri also connotes gazing and looking: you set your eyes upon the king, yet those gazes availed nothing, and they paid you no heed.
"Through the Length of Your Way You Wearied Yourself" - The Weariness That Does Not Exhaust
בְּרֹב דַּרְכֵּךְ יָגַעַתְּ לֹא אָמַרְתְּ נוֹאָשׁ חַיַּת יָדֵךְ מָצָאת עַל־כֵּן לֹא חָלִית׃ - Through the length of your way you wearied yourself, yet you did not despair; you found sustenance for your hand, therefore you did not sicken.
Rashi explains: "Through the length of your way you wearied yourself" - you were constantly preoccupied solely with your own needs, satisfying your desires, and increasing your wealth. "You did not say, 'It is hopeless'" - you did not say, "I will abandon this, give it up, and occupy myself with Torah and mitzvot." "You found sustenance for your hand" - you found what your hand needed, feeling successful in your endeavors. Rashi notes that chayat is related to an Arabic word meaning need. "Therefore you did not sicken" - therefore you did not seek the path of Hashem and His service.
This is a parable for a person who pursues futility yet feels he lacks nothing - he is in no hurry to repent. "I lack nothing, thank God I have everything good," just as they said: "We served the queen of heaven and everything was good, but since we ceased offering incense to the queen of heaven, everything has gone badly for us." Therefore, "you did not sicken" - your heart did not grow heartsick with worry over how much you fell short in the service of Hashem and how far you were from Him; you felt content with your situation.
The Radak explains: Had you wished, you could have had salvation and tranquility in your own land, without needing to wander, travel, and send ministers and dignitaries to flatter the king of Assyria and the king of Egypt; the Holy One, blessed be He, would have saved you right here. But "through the length of your way you wearied yourself" - you exhausted yourself traveling the roads to turn to these kings. "You did not say, 'It is hopeless'" - a person who exhausts himself on journeys for a certain purpose sometimes says, "Enough, I give up, I am dropping this"; but you did not say so. All this toil seemed light in your eyes, and all the trouble was sweet to you. "Therefore you did not sicken" - you felt no illness or pain from this trouble; it was not considered an exertion to you.
This is truly the reality we see with someone who distances himself from Torah and mitzvot: all material and physical matters seem light to him and do not weigh him down, but mention a mitzvah or a shiur to him, and he says, "I am exhausted, I have no strength." What was actually asked of him? Yet in material matters he has tremendous strength. Rabbi Jacobson once told of two young men who could not wake up in the morning for prayers; it was an ongoing struggle with them, until eventually they left the yeshiva. They went to rent an apartment, and to rent an apartment one needs a job. They went to work - and what did they do? A tall tower was being built at the time, and drywall boards had to be carried up to the upper floors; there was no crane yet, and the job was urgent, so they brought in laborers to carry the boards up by hand. They would get up at five in the morning and carry drywall up to the thirtieth floor. To wake up at seven for prayer - no strength; to wake up at five to haul drywall to the thirtieth floor - plenty of strength. Such is human nature: "Through the length of your way you wearied yourself... you did not say, 'It is hopeless'... therefore you did not sicken."
The Radak further explains "the life of your hand" [chayat yadech] in the sense of life and strength - this pursuit was as sweet to you as a person's very life and vigor. You did not despair; you went and pursued it, and none of the exertions made you sick or brought you to a breaking point where you would say, "Enough, I will no longer follow idols." Even climbing high mountains was no obstacle for you; yet a slight effort for the honor of Hashem, may He be blessed - that was already too difficult for you, demanding efforts you could not bear.
The Malbim continues with the metaphor of adultery: even though you wearied yourself with the length of your journey seeking paramours and did not attain your desire, nevertheless you did not despair, "because you found the life of your hand" - as long as you felt that your hand still had life. The legs had already grown weary and the body was exhausted, but as long as one hand was still functioning, you still felt alive and capable, and you did not cease your evil deeds. And the analogy: the people of Israel had already reached a state where the land was destroyed and most of the nation was exiled; the entire body had grown sick, yet one hand was still working - a surviving remnant still remained here, and you did not stop seeking the help of idols, still turning to Egypt, Assyria, and the other nations. No matter how battered you were and how many blows you absorbed, it did not break you; and the little vitality that remained was not utilized for teshuvah, but rather to turn to yet another human hand to save you.
"And of whom were you anxious and afraid" - Whom are you deceiving?
וְאֶת־מִי דָּאַגְתְּ וַתִּירְאִי כִּי תְכַזֵּבִי וְאוֹתִי לֹא זָכַרְתְּ לֹא־שַׂמְתְּ עַל־לִבֵּךְ הֲלֹא אֲנִי מַחְשֶׁה וּמֵעֹלָם וְאוֹתִי לֹא תִירָאִי׃ - "And of whom were you anxious and afraid, that you should lie, and not remember Me, nor lay it to your heart? Have I not held My peace for a long time, and you fear Me not?"
Rashi explains: Whom were you afraid of that you should play false, ceasing to serve Me and being treacherous to Me? This is in the sense of "whose waters fail not [lo yechazvu]" and "all men are treacherous [kozev]." And this is the difference between *kezav* (breach of faith) and *sheker* (falsehood): a lie (*sheker*) was never true, whereas *kezav* is something we expected to endure, yet it failed; one who is trusted and disappoints is called *kozev*. "Have I not held My peace" - surely I remained silent over so many transgressions you committed against Me.
The Radak delves deeper: Whom did you fear, that you are afraid now to the point that when I tell you that you did evil deeds, you deny it and say, "I did not do it"? After all, a person denies things out of fear - a child asked "Who touched this?" answers "Not me," because he is afraid of being punished and rebuked. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: Whom did you fear that you needed to lie? Me? After all, "you did not remember Me, nor lay it to your heart" - when you committed those corrupt deeds, you did not remember Me at all, and you did not even consider that I see your deeds. And if so, if you do not dread Me and do not fear Me, why lie? Would it not be better for you to confess and admit, "Indeed, I did it," rather than to lie? "Have I not held My peace for a long time" - surely I remained silent and was patient, not punishing you immediately, and this has always been My way with My creations, not exacting retribution at once. If so, you have nothing to fear in confessing. "And you fear Me not" - if you did not fear Me at the time of the sin, why are you suddenly afraid of Me now at the time of rebuke, denying your actions?
The Malbim continues with the rebuke directed at the unfaithful wife: "And of whom were you anxious" - of whom were you afraid when you did your deeds? You do not fear your husband and you have no dread that he might catch you and take action against you, for "I hold My peace" and do not punish you. Nor do you possess awe of majesty (*yirat haromemut*). For there are two kinds of fear: fear of punishment, and awe of the exaltedness of the one who is feared. A wife's reverence for her husband is not supposed to be fear of punishment, but rather awe of majesty, that she should honor him. And the Holy One, blessed be He, says to her: "And you fear Me not" - all your deeds are done without concern and without fear, and you feel no remorse for the evil you commit.
"I will declare your righteousness"
אֲנִי אַגִּיד צִדְקָתֵךְ וְאֶת־מַעֲשַׂיִךְ וְלֹא יוֹעִילוּךְ׃ - "I will declare your righteousness and your works, and they shall not profit you."
Rashi explains: "I will declare your righteousness" - I always tell you things that, if you do them, will make you righteous, meaning I always give you good counsel and guidance that can help you; "and your works" - but your deeds do not match My words, and you act differently. "And they shall not profit you" - when calamity befalls you, the evil deeds you perform will not help you, and will even harm you.
The Radak explains this verse in an ironic, sarcastic tone. You deny everything and pretend to be righteous - "What is wrong with me? What bad things have I done?" - so the Holy One, blessed be He, says to her: "I will declare your righteousness" - let Me tell you what a 'righteous' woman you are and what 'good' deeds you have done! And these are the very same wicked deeds mentioned earlier, that she went and committed adultery under her husband and the like. These are your "righteous deeds." "And your works" - the deeds that you think will profit you, not only will they not profit you, but they will cause you harm; tell Me yourself, are these deeds of righteousness?
The Malbim explains this in connection with the previous verse: Why are you anxious and what are you afraid of regarding Me? After all, "I declare your righteousness" - I teach you to do good things, so why should you fear Me? Nevertheless, "and they shall not profit you" - everything I teach you is not absorbed. According to Rashi, "they shall not profit you" refers to the evil deeds, which will not help but will instead cause harm; according to the Malbim, it refers back to "I will declare your righteousness": I teach and explain, and I have always done so, but the words fall on deaf ears - like talking to a wall, and you do not learn from what I teach you.
"When you cry, let your gatherings save you"
בְּזַעֲקֵךְ יַצִּילֻךְ קִבּוּצַיִךְ וְאֶת־כֻּלָּם יִשָּׂא־רוּחַ יִקַּח־הָבֶל וְהַחוֹסֶה בִי יִנְחַל־אֶרֶץ וְיִירַשׁ הַר־קׇדְשִׁי׃ - When you cry out, let your gathered idols save you! But a wind shall carry them all away, a breath shall take them; but he who takes refuge in Me shall inherit the land, and possess My holy mountain.
Rashi explains: Those idols that you gathered to worship - please, when you cry out, let them save you; cry out to them to come help you! Yet, "a wind shall carry them all away" - there is no substance to them and no spirit within them, so how could they possibly save you? This was already stated explicitly in the Torah: "Where are their gods, the rock in whom they trusted, who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their libations? Let them arise and help you; let them be a shelter over you!" You offered it fat and libations all along; if so, let it rise up, help you, shelter you, and protect you! Where is the god you relied upon? This is what the prophet is saying here: When you cry out from the depths of troubles, let your gathered idols save you. But they cannot even save themselves: "a wind shall carry them all away, a breath shall take them." "And he who takes refuge in Me shall inherit the land, and possess My holy mountain" - is it not better to take refuge in Me? For the God of gods possesses true reality, and whoever takes refuge in Him will inherit the land and possess My holy mountain.
Radak explains that this also refers specifically to the foreign nations to whom you sent gifts of tribute, not only to idolatry: They placed their reliance on Assyria and sent tribute to the king of Egypt. The Holy One, blessed be He, says to them: That entire defensive umbrella you built around yourself to shield you from enemies - go ahead, cry out to them! Is not Egypt a broken reed of a staff, which only punctures the hand that leans on it? Where is the king of Assyria, whom you paid off to save you? After all, they could not even save themselves: Assyria marched against Jerusalem with a massive army, and what happened in the end? An angel of Hashem struck down 185,000 troop commanders in a single night, leaving nothing of them behind. These are the ones you rely upon: a wind carries them away, a breath sweeps them off, and in a single moment they are gone. "A wind shall carry them all away" - just as a wind easily and swiftly carries off chaff, so they all died in a single moment. And upon these you place your trust? Whoever cannot even save himself - how can he save you?
In summary: In this part of the chapter, the prophet presents the indictment using the imagery of a woman straying unfaithfully from her husband: sacrifices to the idols of the ravines and the idols of the mountains, a "memorial" of idolatry behind the door and the doorpost instead of a mezuzah of faith, abandoning the expansive bed of the Holy One, blessed be He - the ultimate source of abundance and blessing - in favor of the cramped bed of idols and broken cisterns, and leaning on the kings of Assyria and Egypt instead of on Hashem. The immense exertion spent pursuing futility was never deemed a burden, while a slight effort in the service of Hashem was considered an unbearable load; and even after all the blows, repentance did not follow, but rather a relentless search for yet another human hand to bring salvation. To this, the Holy One, blessed be He, says: I hold My peace and exercise patience, I show you paths of righteousness and you do not listen - but in the end, it will become known to all that those gatherings you assembled will not save you, for a wind will carry them away and a breath will take them; "and he who takes refuge in Me shall inherit the land, and possess My holy mountain."