Introduction
In this section of Chapter 13, Yirmiyahu continues his rebuke, moving from parables (the belt and the wine jar) to explicit declarations: an appeal to the king and the queen mother to humble themselves and accept the yoke of Nevuchadnezzar, a description of the shuttered cities and the approaching exile, and the Holy One, Blessed be He's great grievance: 'Why have these things befallen me?' - you call this mere coincidence, but I say to you that this is measure for measure. The chapter concludes with the cry: 'Woe to you, O Jerusalem! Will you not be cleansed?' We will proceed through the pesukim following Rashi, Radak, and especially the Malbim.
"Say to the King and to the Queen Mother" - Who Are They and What Was Said to Them
אֱמֹר לַמֶּלֶךְ וְלַגְּבִירָה הַשְׁפִּילוּ שֵׁבוּ כִּי יָרַד מַרְאֲשׁוֹתֵיכֶם עֲטֶרֶת תִּפְאַרְתְּכֶם׃ - "Say to the king and to the queen mother: Humble yourselves, sit low, for your head-covering has come down, your glorious crown."
Who are the king and the queen mother? Rashi, as well as the Radak, explain that these are Yehoyachin and his mother. They were exiled first, along with the warriors, the craftsmen, and the smiths, and therefore these words are addressed to them. The Radak adds a keen insight: the prophet is not telling a specific person 'go and tell them,' but rather speaking, as it were, to all who are present - convey this message to the king and the queen mother.
What is the meaning of "humble yourselves, sit low" (hashpilu shevu)? Seemingly the meaning is simple: sit down low. However, "hashpilu" is in the causative form (hif'il), as though an action is being performed upon something or someone else. Therefore, there are two explanations: either the intent is humble yourselves, or, as the Radak writes, it is a transitive verb directed at something else - lower your thrones and sit upon the ground.
"For your head-covering has come down" (ki yarad mar'ashoteichem) - according to the Radak, "mar'ashoteichem" is like your sovereignty (mamlechoteichem): the leadership and greatness you possessed have descended and been brought low. Moreover, even in exile they were not treated royally. Sometimes when an exiled king is deposed, he is granted certain privileges, but here they were told: "yarad mar'ashoteichem" - even in exile you will be brought low, for your authority, derived from the word "rosh" (head), will be humbled. And so it was: Yehoyachin was put in prison like an ordinary commoner. From here we see that their greatness plunged to the depths.
The Malbim continues along the line he began earlier: the Holy One, Blessed be He, commands the king and the queen mother here to humble themselves before Nevuchadnezzar and accept his rule, since Heaven itself crowned him. "Sit low" means: do not fight. And why? "For your head-support has come down." The Malbim interprets "mar'ashoteichem" like "and placed them at his head" (vayasem mera'ashotav) - the thing placed around the head, what we would call a pillow today, the headrest upon which one leans. That is to say: the territory upon which you leaned in the land has already fallen, been destroyed, and surrendered into the hands of the nations. Normally, a king leans on the remaining provinces in his grasp; if they too have been handed over to the nations, on what can he lean? "Your glorious crown" - these are the nobles and dignitaries, the craftsmen and smiths, and they too have gone down. Thus, nothing remains of you, so humble yourselves before Nevuchadnezzar.
"The Cities of the South Are Shut Up" - The Exile of Judah
עָרֵי הַנֶּגֶב סֻגְּרוּ וְאֵין פֹּתֵחַ הׇגְלָת יְהוּדָה כֻּלָּהּ הׇגְלָת שְׁלוֹמִים׃ - "The cities of the south are shut up, and no one opens; Judah is exiled, all of it, carried into complete exile."
According to the straightforward interpretation: the cities of the south are bolted shut against those advancing upon them from the north, due to the dread of Nevuchadnezzar approaching from the north. "And no one opens" - no one will open the gates to the arriving enemy. "Judah is exiled, all of it, carried into an exile of shlomim" - Rashi explains: Yehoyachin will not fight, but will go out peacefully, and through this Nevuchadnezzar will exile him. Another interpretation: "shlomim" is from the language of payment (tashlum) for their iniquities, as Targum Yonatan renders, "they received the repayment for their sins" - they were exiled and their sin was paid for in full, meaning they paid the full price for their sins.
The Radak explains that "the cities of the south" are the cities of Judah, as the portion of Judah lay in the south of the Land of Israel, and the verse refers to their exile. But if they were already exiled, what is the meaning of "they are shut up" (suggaru)? The Radak explains: "suggaru" means they were desolated - no one comes and no one goes, none shuts and none opens, not a single person can enter there, for the land is laid waste. And so you find in Yeshayahu: "Every house is shut up, that no one may enter" (sugar kol bayit mi-bvo). Desolation is a form of closing, for the place is no longer fit for settlement or habitation. And what is meant by "Judah is exiled, all of it," when in fact not all of it went into exile until Tzidkiyahu? The Radak explains: the king, after all, was exiled, and if the king was exiled it is as though all of it was exiled, since the rest of the exile is merely a matter of time. Once the king was exiled, it was already known that a complete exile was underway, and it could rightly be defined as "Judah is exiled."
The Malbim explains that the reference here is to Jerusalem, which was situated in the north of the land of Judah, and Nebuchadnezzar arrived from there, from the north. However, the prophet is alluding here to what took place during the siege: Pharaoh's army set out to assist Judah, and the Chaldeans lifted the siege of Jerusalem and marched out to confront Pharaoh's army, as we will see later in chapter 37. Pharaoh came from Egypt, which is in the south. Regarding this it is said, "The cities of the south are shut up" - closed by the enemy who captured them; "Judah is carried away captive all of it" - he captured all the fortified cities; "carried away completely captive (shelomim)" - the covenant of peace (shalom) you had with Nebuchadnezzar has also been exiled from you. For if you went to recruit Pharaoh to fight against Nebuchadnezzar, you no longer accept his sovereignty but are initiating an attack against him. The covenant under which Nebuchadnezzar was willing to leave you in your place had you bowed your neck under the yoke of his reign was annulled by your calling upon Pharaoh to come to your aid.
"Lift up your eyes and see those coming from the north" - Dousing the Enthusiasm
שְׂאוּ עֵינֵיכֶם וּרְאוּ הַבָּאִים מִצָּפוֹן אַיֵּה הָעֵדֶר נִתַּן־לָךְ צֹאן תִּפְאַרְתֵּךְ׃ - Lift up your eyes and see those who come from the north; where is the flock that was given to you, your beautiful sheep?
Nebuchadnezzar marched out to confront Pharaoh, and Zedekiah thought that at last they were rid of him forever: Pharaoh will likely strike Nebuchadnezzar down, and he will never return. The prophet comes and douses this enthusiasm: Lift up your eyes and see that they are coming once again from the north. Nebuchadnezzar's army is returning to you. Do not think that Pharaoh's army from the south has decided the battle, and do not think that the war against Nebuchadnezzar is over.
"Where is the flock that was given to you, your beautiful sheep?" - Nebuchadnezzar will settle accounts with you and ask: Where is the remnant that I left in your hands after I exiled Jehoiakim and made you king over them? He will demand an accounting of them to see if you obeyed his command. You think to yourself that Nebuchadnezzar is gone, that Pharaoh will defeat him, and that we are free of his yoke; says the prophet: your celebration is premature. Look at Nebuchadnezzar returning, and then the difficult questions will be asked.
"What will you say when he punishes you?"
מַה־תֹּאמְרִי כִּי־יִפְקֹד עָלַיִךְ וְאַתְּ לִמַּדְתְּ אֹתָם עָלַיִךְ אַלֻּפִים לְרֹאשׁ הֲלוֹא חֲבָלִים יֹאחֱזוּךְ כְּמוֹ אֵשֶׁת לֵדָה׃ - What will you say when he visits upon you? For you have trained them to be captains and chief over you; will not pangs seize you like a woman in childbirth?
According to the Malbim, "when he visits upon you" refers to Nebuchadnezzar, continuing the previous verse: What will you say when Nebuchadnezzar comes and asks, "Where is the flock that was given to you?" Why did you rebel against me and take the entire flock that I entrusted to you to guard until my return? What will you say? For it is written, "and he gave judgment upon him" - bringing formal charges against him. "For you have trained them to be captains and chief over you" - after all, you swore to him that you would not rebel against him; Zedekiah took an oath to Nebuchadnezzar and accepted his kingship over you. What will you say when he brings you to judgment? "Will not pangs seize you like a woman in childbirth?" - a dreadful fear will seize you, like birth pangs, like a woman upon the birthstool.
Rashi interprets differently: "when He visits upon you" refers to the Holy One, blessed be He. What will you say, the Congregation of Israel, when the Holy One, blessed be He, calls you to account and demands the fulfillment of the Torah and mitzvot: did you perform His will? "For you have trained them to be captains and chief over you" - you sent messengers to the Chaldeans to bring idols from there to worship, as it is written, "She doted upon them as soon as her eyes saw them, and sent messengers to them into Chaldea." You brought the idols here from Chaldea and believed in them, and now you complain that the Chaldeans are coming to conquer you and have become your masters? You accustomed them to rule over you as your head; you appointed them as princes over you - "you are a prince over my head" - and now you are surprised that the Chaldeans march against you?
Another explanation: these words refer to Hezekiah. We have studied this matter in detail: following the miracle when the Holy One, blessed be He, turned the sun ten degrees backward, Merodach-baladan the son of Baladan came to see who this person was for whom God had turned back the sun. Hezekiah showed him his entire treasure house, and his wife poured drinks for them - severe rebukes were stated there. God then told him that he would be punished for this, and that the punishment would be that they would come, carry off plunder, and conquer him - not in his own lifetime, but later. We explained there based on the Malbim that there is a natural dynamic at play here: since you brought him here and displayed all your wealth, you whetted his appetite; therefore, at the very first opportunity the Chaldeans have to come and conquer all of this, they will come. This is the meaning of "for you have trained them to be captains and chief over you": you sent and showed Merodach-baladan your entire treasure house, effectively setting him up as a master over you and teaching him the way here. Why, then, are you surprised that Nebuchadnezzar comes and conquers the Land of Israel?
The Radak explains: "What will you say when he visits upon you?" - when the enemy comes to exile Israel, what will you say then? The Radak infers this from the continuation of the verse, "for you have trained them to be captains and chief over you" - you yourself taught them to be chief over you. When was this? Ahaz sent to the king of Assyria saying, "I am your servant and your son; come up and save me out of the hand of the king of Aram and out of the hand of the king of Israel, who rise up against me." This, then, is the third explanation: the first is that they went and took idols from there; the second is Hezekiah showing his treasures to Merodach-baladan; and the third is Ahaz. The prophet says to him: you caused them to exile you and destroy you, for you brought them upon yourself. Assyria was far from your land, and now they already know the way, for you called upon them once before. What will you say when they come to destroy you? "Will not pangs seize you like a woman in childbirth?" - pangs and terror will seize you, like a woman about to give birth.
"Why have these things befallen me?" - Your Skirts Are Uncovered
וְכִי תֹאמְרִי בִּלְבָבֵךְ מַדּוּעַ קְרָאֻנִי אֵלֶּה בְּרֹב עֲוֺנֵךְ נִגְלוּ שׁוּלַיִךְ נֶחְמְסוּ עֲקֵבָיִךְ׃ - And if you say in your heart, "Why have these things happened to me?" For the greatness of your iniquity your skirts are uncovered, and your heels are violated.
"And if you say in your heart, 'Why have these things happened to me?'" - why was this decree issued against me? The answer is: "For the greatness of your iniquity your skirts are uncovered, and your heels are violated." What are "your skirts" (shulayich) and what are "your heels" (akevayich)? The hem or skirts of a garment refer to its inner lining; when a garment is turned inside out, the inner seams are visible, which is the unsightly, unrefined part of the clothing. Thus we find that a talmid chacham must be careful not to wear his cloak inside out, because the inside of the garment is unseemly and shameful.
Radak explains that this is a parable for the Congregation of Israel: Until now, you took shelter under the Holy One, Blessed be He; you were sheltered beneath the wings of God, and you enjoyed honor in your land. But now, "your skirts are uncovered" - as if a woman stands and her dress is lifted, exposing her in disgrace: both the underside of the dress is revealed and she herself is exposed. This is the degradation. He says to them: Until now you had honor and were sheltered beneath the Master of the World, but now that you went and adopted other gods, you are exposed, and any enemy comes along, violates you, and carries you away. Wouldn't it have been far better for you to take shelter in the shadow of Hashem?
"Your heels are violated" - Rashi explains: your paths were cut off. "Violated" (nechmasu) is related to "and He stripped (vayachmos) His booth like a garden," and "your heels" (akevayich) denotes footsteps, meaning that wayfarers have ceased. Where heels once walked, footsteps were stripped away, and now there are no travelers on the roads.
The Malbim notes the precision in the word kera'uni ("have befallen me"), which shares a root with mikreh (chance or happenstance). They attribute everything to random events occurring in the world, asking: "How did such a coincidence happen to me? Why do bad things happen to me without Hashem saving me?" They do not view it as a punishment from God, but rather as mere chance. Therefore, He explains to them from the outset what has happened and why: "For the greatness of your iniquity your skirts are uncovered," and he depicts the sin lurking within her.
According to the Malbim, the imagery refers to the impurity of niddah blood: what was within her seeps outward, and "her impurity is in her skirts" - the blood drips and adheres to the hem of the garments, and when the skirts of the garment are exposed, the blood of her impurity is revealed. This is the meaning of "your skirts are uncovered." In the case of a zavah (a woman with an irregular discharge), the blood issues from her flesh, drips down to her heels, and falls to the ground, leaving behind the bloody imprints of her footsteps wherever she walks. This is the lesson: your sin of lacking trust in God and going to seek help from Egypt has left tracks. The impurity here symbolizes your corruption. You said: "We will continue to sin and someone will surely help us." The Holy One, Blessed be He, says to them: Behold, the tracks of your going to seek help from Egypt instead of turning to Hashem and mending your ways have been exposed. Sins that were previously hidden inside, like the blood of a niddah that is internal, have now burst outward, and your wickedness is laid bare.
"Can an Ethiopian Change His Skin?" - Evil that Has Become Second Nature
הֲיַהֲפֹךְ כּוּשִׁי עוֹרוֹ וְנָמֵר חֲבַרְבֻּרֹתָיו גַּם־אַתֶּם תּוּכְלוּ לְהֵיטִיב לִמֻּדֵי הָרֵעַ׃ - Can an Ethiopian change his skin, or a leopard its spots? Then may you also do good, who are accustomed to doing evil.
Radak explains: Dark skin in an Ethiopian is a natural characteristic, not an accidental occurrence, and it will never depart from him. Likewise with the leopard: the spots and markings upon it will never disappear. Thus He says to them: Can you possibly change? You are so accustomed to doing evil, like an Ethiopian whose skin color does not change, and like a leopard whose spots do not change. You have become so habituated to doing evil that it has become second nature to you, just as an Ethiopian's skin color is his nature.
The Malbim asks: Why the repetition? "Can an Ethiopian change his skin?" and "or a leopard its spots?" seem to convey the exact same idea, so why are two parables needed? One might argue regarding the Ethiopian: he does not change his skin because he continues to live in Africa, where the sun beats down fiercely; but if he were to relocate and live for several hundred years in Europe, perhaps his skin would lighten. If so, his dark skin would be due to external factors. Therefore, the verse adds: What can you say about the leopard? Its spots are not the result of where it lives - it does not look one way in Africa and another elsewhere - but rather it is pure nature, pigmentation inherent to its very essence, which will never change with a change of climate. So it is with you: even if one might imagine an Ethiopian changing his skin, a leopard will never change its spots - and it is impossible that you could do good, because you are "accustomed to doing evil"; evil has become second nature to you.
"I Will Scatter Them Like Stubble that Passes Away" - This Is No Accident
וַאֲפִיצֵם כְּקַשׁ־עוֹבֵר לְרוּחַ מִדְבָּר׃ - Therefore will I scatter them like stubble that passes away by the wind of the wilderness.
Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, says: I will scatter you quickly and easily, like stubble that passes and is scattered before the desert wind. Radak explains: "I will scatter you through the desert" - He brought them out of the cities to a remote place like a desert, and there is indeed a desert between Jerusalem and Babylon, so that the desert is precise in the lesson as well.
Malbim adds: You said, "Why have these things befallen me?" using the language of mere coincidence (mikreh). The Holy One, blessed be He, tells them: You are mistaken. Everything that has happened to you is specifically because you are like a Cushite changing his skin and a leopard its spots. "And I will scatter them" - this is not something that merely "befell" you; it comes directly from Me. I have scattered you, I will disperse you, and through this you will recognize that this is no coincidence, but from Hashem.
"This Is Your Lot, the Portion of Your Measures" - Measure for Measure
זֶה גוֹרָלֵךְ מְנָת־מִדַּיִךְ מֵאִתִּי נְאֻם־יְהֹוָה אֲשֶׁר שָׁכַחַתְּ אוֹתִי וַתִּבְטְחִי בַּשָּׁקֶר׃ - "This is your lot, the portion of your measures from Me, says Hashem, because you have forgotten Me and trusted in falsehood."
Radak explains: "The portion of your measures" (menat madayich) is like your measures (middotayich) - with the measure you meted out, I have meted out to you. You forgot Me, you forgot the Master of the Universe, and so the Holy One, blessed be He, says: I, too, have forgotten you. You trusted in falsehood and did not rely on the Holy One, blessed be He; you turned your back to Me and not your face, so I too hid My face from you, and you were left to be consumed, as it is written: "and many troubles and evils shall befall him."
In other words, everything you receive is measure for measure. What a person cooks is what he eats. This is not an evil that I brought upon you; rather, you brought it upon yourselves by turning your faces away. When a person turns his face away, he walks in darkness, and when a person walks in darkness, he falls - and he cannot lodge a complaint against the Master of the Universe.
This is also Malbim's explanation: The Holy One, blessed be He, is responding here to their claim, "Why have these things befallen me?" He tells them: This comes from Me, not by chance. And if you wish to know that it comes from Me - the proof that something is a punishment from God is always measure for measure. When you see measure for measure, that is the proof that it is a punishment from Hashem. Here He tells them: See that it is measure for measure.
An astonishing insight was once pointed out, demonstrating to what extent the entire Holocaust unfolded measure for measure. Regarding those who took it upon themselves to establish a new Shulchan Aruch - Geiger in his day formulated an alleged Shulchan Aruch to counter the Torah's Shulchan Aruch - the Maggid of Kelm warned them thirty years before the Holocaust, during a discourse at the rabbinical seminary of Maharam Shapira: The gentile will come and create a new Shulchan Aruch for you, and I will tell you what will be written in it. In this Shulchan Aruch there will be only one halachah: "Kill the best among the Jews." They answered him: You do not know what Germany is; you do not know its enlightenment, its gentility, its derech eretz, and its cultured ways. You came from Poland and think this is Eastern Europe, but here is Western Europe; it is not what you are accustomed to thinking. Tragically, we know how fully those words came to pass, in the most painful manner.
And precisely to those who viewed Germany as the pinnacle of culture and the peak of progress, the Holy One, blessed be He, said measure for measure: There is no culture, and there is no progress. You abandoned the Torah and chose the Enlightenment representing "progress" - see how much murderous cruelty lies in that progress, what beasts of men dwell there. Rav Pincus delivered an entire discourse on this, as previously discussed: to what extent everything that occurred during the Holocaust in Germany was measure for measure in the Divine conduct toward those who broke Hashem's covenant and went and chose new gods, and in every single detail the Holy One, blessed be He, exacted retribution measure for measure. May Hashem protect us, and may affliction not rise up a second time. The principle of measure for measure is always a sign and proof of Divine punishment. He tells them: You say, "these things have befallen me"? Come and see - "This is your lot, the portion of your measures from Me"; it is entirely measure for measure.
"Because you have forgotten Me and trusted in falsehood" - just as the prophet told them: "Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help... and trust in chariots, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel."
וְגַם־אֲנִי חָשַׂפְתִּי שׁוּלַיִךְ עַל־פָּנָיִךְ וְנִרְאָה קְלוֹנֵךְ׃ - "And I, too, have stripped off your skirts over your face, and your shame was seen."
Since you trusted in falsehood, says the Holy One, blessed be He, I too have exposed the defilement that was within you. The skirts - the edges of the garments that were concealed - I stripped over your face, and your shame was seen by all.
The Malbim analyzes the two terms in the verse: "Madayich" (your measures) refers to measure for measure, precisely what a person deserves; whereas "goralech" (your lot) can sometimes be more than what a person deserves. Either way, in any case this comes to express that it is measured, as fitting - just as you deserved, so you received.
"Woe to you, O Jerusalem! You will not be cleansed"
נִאֻפַיִךְ וּמִצְהֲלוֹתַיִךְ זִמַּת זְנוּתֵךְ עַל־גְּבָעוֹת בַּשָּׂדֶה רָאִיתִי שִׁקּוּצָיִךְ אוֹי לָךְ יְרוּשָׁלַ͏ִם לֹא תִטְהֲרִי אַחֲרֵי מָתַי עֹד׃ - Your adulteries and your neighings, the lewdness of your harlotry on the hills in the field: I have seen your detestable acts! Woe to you, O Jerusalem! You will not be cleansed; after how much longer will it be?
The Malbim explains: "Ni'ufayich" (your adulteries) refers to the adulterous act itself, the deed. "Mitzhalotayich" (your neighings) refers to the joyful excitement leading up to the adultery, meaning the public display; it was not enough to commit adultery, but they did so openly, adding transgression upon sin. "Zimat zenutech" (the lewdness of your harlotry) - the word zimah always denotes premeditation, indicating that you harbored calculated, deep thoughts concerning harlotry. Thus, we have here action, thought, and public brazenness - the three elements that turn this into a tremendous and immense sin.
"On the hills in the field, I have seen your detestable acts" - even after you were driven out of the city into exile, when you were already in the open field, you still did not abandon your abominations, and there too it was done in broad daylight. It is written that in Egypt they would burn incense to Molech: already in exile, already out in the field, upon the hills - and even there they offered incense to Molech.
"Woe to you, O Jerusalem! You will not be cleansed; after how much longer will it be?" - even after the destruction you will not be cleansed, and if after all of this you will not become pure, when then will you be cleansed? Even after everything you have endured, all the exile and all the afflictions you are undergoing, you will not be cleansed - so when else is there any chance that you will be purified?
The Radak explains that the adultery mentioned here, as is generally the case throughout the scriptures, is an expression and metaphor for idolatry. We find this many times - "your harlotry and your adulteries" and the like. Furthermore, we have previously explained in greater depth the words of the Vilna Gaon, that their practice was to establish a house of harlotry wherever there was a temple of idolatry, in order to entice people to be drawn after the idol worship. For this reason, the terminology of harlotry frequently appears in connection with idolatry, as in, "and you went astray after the Ba'alim."
Even aside from this, however, one must realize that the imagery of harlotry is not arbitrary, for the bond between us and the Holy One, blessed be He, is that of a husband and wife - *Kenesset Yisrael* and the Holy One, blessed be He, the Beloved and the bride. When a wife corrupts her ways and goes after strangers, that is harlotry. And when we do not serve Hashem but instead turn to idolatry and false gods, that is a form of harlotry, for harlotry means deviating from the upright path, which is an aspect of adultery. Therefore, the prophet tells them: "Your adulteries and your neighings, the lewdness of your harlotry."
In summary:
In this section of the chapter, the king and the queen mother were told to humble themselves and sit down low, because their greatness had fallen, the support upon which they leaned was destroyed, and their crown of glory - the ministers and the nobles - had been exiled. The cities of the south were shut up and laid waste, and the peace covenant with Nebuchadnezzar was shattered once they called upon Pharaoh for aid. The prophet therefore warns: Do not rejoice prematurely; lift up your eyes and see those coming from the north. Then the reckoning will come: "What will you say when He visits upon you?" - whether it is Nebuchadnezzar demanding his deposit, whether it is the Holy One, blessed be He, demanding observance of the Torah, or whether it is the enemy whom you yourselves trained to rule over you. And to the claim, "Why have these things befallen me?" - implying mere happenstance - the Holy One, blessed be He, responds: This is no accident, but comes directly from Me, and the proof lies in measure for measure: "This is your lot, the portion of your measures from Me." Evil has become second nature to you, like a Cushite and his skin or a leopard and its spots, and therefore, "I will scatter them like chaff that passes away." The chapter concludes with the painful cry: "Woe to you, O Jerusalem! You will not be cleansed; after how much longer will it be?"