In this part of Chapter 17, Yirmiyahu continues the discussion regarding trust in Hashem. After contrasting the two sides - "Cursed is the man who trusts in man" versus "Blessed is the man who trusts in Hashem" - the prophet comes to address the obvious difficulty: we have seen people who seemingly trusted in Hashem and yet did not prosper. From here, the chapter moves to the prophet's personal prayer concerning his own distress in the face of his mockers, concluding with the great prophecy of Shabbat, which serves as a sort of final "rescue plan" for Jerusalem.
עָקֹב הַלֵּב מִכֹּל וְאָנֻשׁ הוּא מִי יֵדָעֶנּוּ׃ - The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can know it?
The Malbim explains that here the prophet comes to answer a question one might raise: We have seen people who trust in Hashem and yet did not prosper, so how can you say, "Blessed is the man who trusts in Hashem," and compare him to a tree planted by water? There have been people who trusted and yet resembled a lonely juniper in the desert! To this, the prophet offers two answers. The first answer: realize that you cannot know what is in the hearts of men.
This is a point seen at length in the debates between Iyov and his companions: determining who is truly a tzaddik is beyond us. Determining who is wicked, on the other hand, is usually visible. If one sees someone smoking on his balcony on Shabbat, one would never say, "It only looks that way to you; in his heart, he is truly a tzaddik." We would never say such a thing. But the reverse is certainly true: a person may appear outwardly as a great tzaddik, yet of him it is said, "Inwardly he lays his ambush" - it is all a disguise, and he is not truly righteous. Thus, a presumed tzaddik is not necessarily genuine, whereas an evil person is generally just as wicked as he appears.
True bitachon, the Malbim explains, exists only when trust is wholehearted and without deceit. But the heart is crooked above all else: corrupt mental impressions - namely evil imaginations and character traits - lie in ambush around the heart. The heart is the seat of governance within a person, and when these negative images and fantasies slip inside - for whenever a person wishes to commit a sin, it always begins in the imagination - they become the voice of sin itself. The heart is convoluted and crooked.
A story is told of a gathering with Rabbi Shalom Schwadron, where he recounted traveling on the road to Jerusalem and noticing the thick tangle of roadside vegetation, so dense and intricate. At that moment, this verse came to mind: "The heart is deceitful above all things." See the greatness of elevated souls: whatever they see, they do not observe merely from a molecular perspective or simply appreciate the beauty of creation - wonderful as that is - but rather ask what moral lesson can be derived from it. And the lesson is this: such is the human heart, a web of complex entanglements. If a person does not untangle and examine this thicket, he may remain with it, entirely convinced that he is a tzaddik, a servant of God, and God-fearing, with everything in his life appearing completely in order.
"And it is anush" - here there are two explanations. The Malbim explains anush as related to "human" (enosh): a physical object like a table, a stone, or a piece of wood does not fluctuate or change, but the human heart is stirred by experiences and influenced by external factors. Because the heart is human and impressionable, any external occurrence leaves an imprint on it, agitating it and causing the person to change his mind. Thus, a person might have possessed bitachon yesterday, yet today his trust has faltered. Rashi, on the other hand, interprets anush in the sense of a critically ill person (choleh anush), "an expression of illness, and this is its illness": when I told you the heart is deceitful above all, do not assume this is its healthy, natural state, but rather the heart's malady. It is a form of illness, for a person is meant to possess a simple, upright heart dedicated to the service of Hashem.
"Who can know it?" - If you judge according to the outward appearance that he is God-fearing, realize that you cannot know his innermost thoughts.
אֲנִי יְהוָה חֹקֵר לֵב בֹּחֵן כְּלָיוֹת וְלָתֵת לְאִישׁ כִּדְרָכָיו כִּפְרִי מַעֲלָלָיו׃ - I, Hashem, search the heart, test the reins, to give to each man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.
You might think that this person trusts in Hashem; but the Holy One, blessed be He, says: You do not know the inward reality, but "I, Hashem, search the heart" - searching his heart, as we explained, "The heart is deceitful above all things." "Test the reins" - for the kidneys provide counsel. "To give to each man according to his ways" - the Malbim explains, both according to the inner paths of the soul and according to the fruit of outward deeds. You look only at the fruit of deeds; the Holy One, blessed be He, says: I also examine his ways, the depths of his soul, the extent to which there is a whole heart and a willing soul.
קֹרֵא דָגַר וְלֹא יָלָד עֹשֶׂה עֹשֶׁר וְלֹא בְמִשְׁפָּט בַּחֲצִי יָמָיו יַעַזְבֶנּוּ וּבְאַחֲרִיתוֹ יִהְיֶה נָבָל׃ - Like a partridge that broods over eggs it did not lay, so is one who amasses wealth unjustly; in the midst of his days it will leave him, and in the end he will be a scoundrel.
The first answer was that one cannot know whether a person truly trusts in Hashem deep within. Now the Malbim adds a second condition for bitachon: his actions must not contradict his trust. If someone says, "I trust in Hashem," yet you see him toiling day and night obsessively amassing money - if you truly trust, rely upon Him; He will provide you with what you are destined to receive. This is especially true of one who gathers money through bloodshed, injustice, and dishonest means, showing that his trust in Hashem is incomplete, and therefore his wealth will not endure.
A story is told of Rav Shteinman, that in his youth the yeshivah where he taught was in dire financial straits, and salaries were not paid for six months. After six months, a donor was found who covered the debts, and all the Ramim were paid their full back pay retroactively. They paid Rav Shteinman as well - and he returned the money. When asked why, he told them: "I need money to live, and during these six months, by Hashem's kindness, I lived. Had I incurred debts, I would need to repay them, but I took on no debts. The Holy One, blessed be He, provided for me; I had food to eat and I survived. Why, then, do I need the money now? Return it to the yeshivah."
And how did he live? A man who had known him from abroad once related that he came to visit him when the Rav lived in Ramat HaSharon. It was a scorching day, and he saw the Rav sitting outside on a chair with a sefer in hand, learning, because it was too hot inside the house and there was a breeze outside. "When I arrived," the visitor recounted, "the Rav stood up from the chair and offered it to me to sit down. I refused adamantly - how could I sit on the Rav's chair? He insisted repeatedly, but I would not agree. Meanwhile, the Rebbetzin came out and invited us to come in for a drink, and only then did I realize why he had offered me his chair: it was the only chair in the house. The rest of the family sat on upturned orange crates." From this one can understand how he managed during those six months and said, "Baruch Hashem, I made a living." Anyone who saw his home knows that not much changed over the years; his home remained as it was in the 1950s, unpainted and bare - a person who lived with the utmost simplicity and took nothing from this world.
This is the parable in the pasuk: Hashem instilled a nature in a bird called the koreh (partridge). It "broods over what it did not bear" - it sits on eggs it did not lay; it spots eggs, sits on them, and the chicks are not its own. Afterward, it feeds and nurtures them, but when they grow up, they recognize that it is not their parent and abandon it. It seeks to sustain itself from the toil of others: whatever another laid, it goes and broods upon without exerting itself. So too, one who amasses wealth unjustly - in the midst of his days, the wealth will abandon him. And in his end, it is even worse: "he will be a scoundrel [naval]." A naval is someone whose nature has become corrupted by extortion, theft, and villainy, and out of habit he will remain trapped in this wicked nature even after his fortune is lost.
According to the Malbim, dagar denotes gathering - a bird gathering its chicks - rather than the modern Hebrew usage of incubating eggs. Rashi likewise interprets dagar in the sense of gathering behind it, though in his view the partridge gathers the fledglings of others from the outset, not brooding on eggs at all, and dagar refers to "the chirping call the bird makes to attract chicks." Thus, according to the Malbim, dagar is the act of gathering itself, whereas according to Rashi, it refers to the method of gathering, and both explanations fit the pasuk.
It is related that a wealthy man once came to the Chafetz Chaim and asked: "Rebbe, how can Chazal say that someone who acquires wealth and property dishonestly will lose it? I have assets all over the world - investments in China, diamond mines in Africa, silver deposits in Russia, oil ventures in America; if one falls, there is another, and if not, there is real estate. How could it possibly be that 'in the midst of his days it will leave him'?" The Chafetz Chaim replied to him: "The pasuk says ya'azvenu ('it will leave him'), but it does not specify who leaves whom. It is not necessarily the wealth that leaves you; the Holy One, blessed be He, can take you, causing you to leave the wealth." The wealthy man was terrified and pleaded: "Chas ve-shalom! Let this not be an inadvertent error proceeding from a ruler; a covenant is made with the lips..." Indeed, one must realize: if Hashem has mercy on him, his wealth leaves him; but if not, he leaves his wealth, which is seven times worse.
כִּסֵּא כָבוֹד מָרוֹם מֵרִאשׁוֹן מְקוֹם מִקְדָּשֵׁנוּ׃ - A throne of glory, exalted from the beginning, is the place of our Sanctuary.
After explaining that cursed is the person who removes his trust from Hashem, the prophet states: Know that the place of our Sanctuary is the Throne of Glory of Him Who is "exalted above the first." And what does "exalted above the first" mean? We cannot simply describe the Holy One, blessed be He, as "first," because "first" is always relative to what comes after it, and the Holy One, blessed be He, has no common measure with His creations. One cannot say, "First was Hashem, and then..." - there are not two comparable entities that can be juxtaposed in a sequence of before and after. Therefore, the Malbim explains, this title is wondrous: Hashem is marom me-rishon, elevated and transcendent above the very first thing created in the world. "Marom" implies exaltation, supremacy, and supreme significance. And the place of the Beit HaMikdash is His Throne of Glory, where He causes His Shechinah to dwell, and from which He directs the entire world.
And this is the very same concept found in the title "Exalted above the exalted" (Ram al Ramim): one does not merely say that the Holy One, blessed be He, is exalted, for "exalted" is relative to another, but rather exalted above the exalted. The holy books, the Malbim notes, call the first force created in the universe "Adam Kadmon" (A"K). This is not, of course, the prehistoric man of popular illustrations, but a Kabbalistic concept, the primal creation brought forth by the Holy One, blessed be He. Some say there were earlier worlds, hidden realms not discussed even in Kabbalah, which the holy Ari did not speak of. In any case, this is called the "first effect" (ha-alul ha-rishon), from which emanated the lights of the ears, nose, mouth, and so on, as explained in Kabbalistic works, and from them the Sefirot were formed. Others define this as Keter Elyon or the Supreme Intellect. Thus, when Scripture says "exalted from the first" (marom me-rishon), it means that above that which was created first, the Holy One, blessed be He, is exalted, elevated above all.
מִקְוֵה יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה כָּל עֹזְבֶיךָ יֵבֹשׁוּ וְסוּרַי בָּאָרֶץ יִכָּתֵבוּ כִּי עָזְבוּ מְקוֹר מַיִם חַיִּים אֶת יְהוָה׃ - Hashem, the hope of Israel, all who abandon You will be ashamed; and those who turn away from Me shall be inscribed in the earth, for they have forsaken the fountain of living waters, Hashem.
We saw earlier that they abandoned the fountain of living waters; now the prophet reveals who that fountain is: "Hashem, the hope of Israel." It is He whose Throne of Glory resides in the Temple. Some explain mikveh as a pool of water, that You, Hashem, are as it were a purifying mikveh for Israel. But Ibn Ezra and the Radak explain that the primary meaning is correct: mikveh stems from tikvah (hope) - You, Hashem, are the hope of Israel. In whom do we place our hope? In the Holy One, blessed be He.
"All who abandon You will be ashamed" - those who abandoned Hashem, who is exalted from the first and watches over from the Beit HaMikdash, and went instead to seek the help of flesh and blood, failing to rely on the Master of the Universe or turn to Him. "And those who turn away from Me" - those who depart from Hashem. "Shall be inscribed in the earth" - the Malbim explains: as though it were recorded in a book throughout the land to publicize their disgrace and shame for forsaking Hashem, the fountain of living waters, in order to hew for themselves broken cisterns. And Rashi explains: those who do not heed My mission "shall be inscribed in the graves of the depths of the earth" - they will descend to Sheol, and it will be recorded of them that they sank into the earth, for the soul of the wicked descends downward into the earth, while the soul of the righteous ascends to its place in the celestial worlds.
רְפָאֵנִי יְהוָה וְאֵרָפֵא הוֹשִׁיעֵנִי וְאִוָּשֵׁעָה כִּי תְהִלָּתִי אָתָּה׃ - Heal me, Hashem, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for You are my praise.
The Malbim explains that this connects back to what he said earlier, "Why was my pain perpetual?", where we saw that he refers to the prophecy of wrath with which the Holy One, blessed be He, filled him as "pain" and "illness." Here he asks that the Holy One, blessed be He, heal him from that incurable wound - that is, from those prophecies of wrath called "pain" - so that he need no longer prophesy messages of calamity. "For You are my praise" - Rashi explains: in You I glory and praise myself, declaring that You are my Savior.
הִנֵּה הֵמָּה אֹמְרִים אֵלָי אַיֵּה דְבַר יְהוָה יָבוֹא נָא׃ - Behold, they say to me: "Where is the word of Hashem? Let it come now!"
You, Hashem, say that the land will be destroyed, and I testify to this, spreading the word and making it known to the people; but the people say to me: We do not believe it; "Where is the word of Hashem? Let it come now!" - where is what the Holy One, blessed be He, decreed that the land will be destroyed? We want to see it happen already! Metzudat David explains: they think I am fabricating these things from my own heart out of hatred. And because of this, the Malbim explains, they seek to brand me a false prophet - and a false prophet is liable to death, as we have seen that the men of Anatot repeatedly attempted to assassinate Yirmiyahu.
וַאֲנִי לֹא אַצְתִּי מֵרֹעֶה אַחֲרֶיךָ וְיוֹם אָנוּשׁ לֹא הִתְאַוֵּיתִי אַתָּה יָדָעְתָּ מוֹצָא שְׂפָתַי נֹכַח פָּנֶיךָ הָיָה׃ - As for me, I did not hasten from being a shepherd after You, nor did I desire the fateful day; You know that the utterance of my lips was before Your face.
The Malbim explains: not only do I not fabricate calamities from my own heart, but even when You chose me to be a shepherd and leader, I did not hasten after You. There are people of ill will who, when presented with an opportunity to say harsh things, pounce upon it like finding great spoil. As is well known, a good person bears good tidings and a malicious person bears bad tidings: one who is naturally good is glad to announce good news, and when there is bad news, he says, "Send someone else"; whereas one of malicious heart finds joy and satisfaction in delivering bad news. The prophet says: Master of the Universe, when You commanded me to be a prophet and I knew it entailed harsh prophecies and destruction, I did not rush after You, nor did I wish to be a prophet, as we saw: "Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am a youth" - Yirmiyahu tried to evade the mission.
"Nor have I desired the fatal day" - even after You sent me to prophesy prophecies of doom, I did not yearn for a day of disaster to arrive; I did not desire the prophecy to be fulfilled just to vindicate my words and show that I am a true prophet. "You know" - You Yourself know that I did not desire this in my heart. "What came out of my lips was before Your face" - I prayed before You to turn away Your wrath from them; even though You commanded me not to pray, I nonetheless prayed before You on their behalf.
According to our explanation, "atzti" means to press forward and hurry, as in "one who hastens with his feet sins" (atz beraglayim choteh). However, there is an interesting point brought by Rashi based on the Targum: "And I did not delay from Your word from prophesying concerning them" - according to this, atzti means delay, meaning I did not hold back from being a shepherd after You. Nevertheless, the straightforward and standard understanding is that atz denotes swift haste, as in "one who hastens with his feet sins."
אַל תִּהְיֵה לִי לִמְחִתָּה מַחֲסִי אַתָּה בְּיוֹם רָעָה׃ - Do not be a ruin to me; You are my refuge in the day of evil.
Mechitah means ruin or brokenness: do not let my prophecy become my ruin, so that through the prophecy I am brought to harm. "You are my refuge in the day of evil" - on the day they plot evil against me, You shield me and guard me from falling before them, as You promised me. The Malbim explains the depth of this plea: Master of the Universe, I requested that the catastrophe be delayed, and now this delay works to my detriment, for they say, "Where is the word of Hashem? Let it come!" It turns out that the plea I made has boomeranged back against me: I do not want the calamity to come immediately, and so they call me a false prophet since nothing has happened. Therefore: let my prayer to delay the calamity not become my ruin and brokenness, leading them to brand me a false prophet, for You are my refuge in the day of evil.
יֵבֹשׁוּ רֹדְפַי וְאַל אֵבֹשָׁה אָנִי יֵחַתּוּ הֵמָּה וְאַל אֵחַתָּה אָנִי הָבִיא עֲלֵיהֶם יוֹם רָעָה וּמִשְׁנֶה שִׁבָּרוֹן שָׁבְרֵם׃ - Let my persecutors be shamed, but let not me be shamed; let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed; bring upon them the day of evil, and shatter them with a double destruction.
"My persecutors," as Rashi explains, refers specifically to the men of Anatot, and Heaven forbid it should be a request for harm upon the whole of Klal Yisrael. It is better that my persecutors be shamed and that I not be shamed, for otherwise they say to me: Behold, you prophesied and nothing happened; where is the word of Hashem? Let it come! "Let them be dismayed" - let them be broken, "and let not me be dismayed" - let me not be broken by the claim that I am a false prophet. Therefore, "bring upon them the day of evil" - that very day of evil about which I prophesied, so that this prophecy of doom may be fulfilled against them.
"And shatter them with a double destruction" - a two-fold fracture: when ruin strikes the community at large, they will be included, and in addition, they will suffer an early, individual ruin before everyone else. Then everyone will see that the prophecy I spoke is a true prophecy. This parallels what we saw earlier: "Prepare them like sheep for the slaughter," which he asked concerning the men of Anatot. These were wicked men whose entire goal was to nullify his prophecy, and in doing so, they harmed the public and brought death upon the entire community. If they lead people to disregard his words and remain unmoved by them, they are drilling a hole in the ship of Klal Yisrael, causing everyone to perish. For the men of Anatot were Kohanim, prominent by virtue of their priesthood, and also Jeremiah's fellow townsmen; if they dismiss his words, why would the nation accept them? Therefore he pleads: Master of the Universe, make a special reckoning for them; let them suffer fracture and ruin and die before everyone else, and through this, there is a chance that the rest will accept the prophecies and genuinely turn away from evil.
כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה אֵלַי הָלֹךְ וְעָמַדְתָּ בְּשַׁעַר בְּנֵי הָעָם אֲשֶׁר יָבֹאוּ בוֹ מַלְכֵי יְהוּדָה וַאֲשֶׁר יֵצְאוּ בוֹ וּבְכֹל שַׁעֲרֵי יְרוּשָׁלָ͏ִם׃ - Thus said Hashem to me: Go and stand in the Gate of the Children of the People, through which the kings of Judah enter and through which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem.
"The Gate of the Children of the People" was a gate through which the populace would pass, and through which the kings of Judah would also pass. The Malbim explains the background: after the Holy One, blessed be He, had decreed and finalized His judgment, the attribute of mercy was reawakened toward them, and here we have a kind of contingency plan to save Klal Yisrael from the devastating destruction, from death, and from the sword. And what is the plan? Chazal taught: Whoever observes Shabbat according to its laws, even if he served idolatry like the generation of Enosh, he is forgiven, as it says, "Ashrei enosh ya'aseh zot" (Happy is the person who does this). It follows that if they now observe Shabbat, even though they bear the sin of idolatry, they will have a chance of attaining salvation despite their dire situation.
This is especially so since the essence of idolatry is abandoning the Holy One, blessed be He, and adopting an idol as a god, and fundamentally: denying that the Creator of the Universe created His world in six days. This is why one who desecrates Shabbat is legally treated like an idolater, for this is precisely what he signifies - he does not believe that the Holy One, blessed be He, created His world in six days, and therefore he desecrated Shabbat. Today we take a certain leniency in this regard, since many desecrate it out of personal desire or ignorance rather than outright heresy. But strictly speaking, one who desecrates Shabbat publicly is subject to unique halachot not found elsewhere: an animal slaughtered by him is considered neveilah even if slaughtered in full compliance with halachic precision, and his touch renders wine into yayin nesech - showing that he is treated as a complete heretic, like an idolater. In contrast, Shabbat observance is the exact opposite of idolatry: through idolatry one rejects the creation of the world in six days and His divine sovereignty, whereas through Shabbat observance one bears witness to His divinity. Furthermore, Chazal said that if Israel were to observe two Shabbatot properly, they would be redeemed immediately; all the more so would this merit suffice to ensure that Jerusalem not be destroyed.
And why was he commanded to stand specifically at the gate? For two reasons: the gate is a central hub, and by standing there, his words would be heard by everyone coming and going; and furthermore, the transgression itself was taking place at the gate. The Gemara explains that Jerusalem's doors were locked at night, and consequently it did not have the status of a reshut harabim (public domain) but rather a reshut hayachid (private domain), permitting carrying within it, much like an eiruv functions today. The prohibition being addressed here was bringing burdens in from the outside into Jerusalem and carrying them out from Jerusalem beyond the walls; however, carrying four cubits within the city or carrying from one's house into the streets inside was permitted, since its gates were locked at night and the city was considered a reshut hayachid.
Why does the Malbim emphasize "through which the kings of Judah enter"? Because one must first issue a warning to the leaders. The well-known folk saying observes that a fish rots from the head, and when a problem arises, one must examine what is happening with the leaders. And "and through which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem" - to warn them repeatedly, both upon their entry and their exit, and to reiterate the matter not merely at a single gate, but throughout all the gates of Jerusalem. And what is the meaning of "the kings of Judah" in the plural, when there is only one reigning king? This can be understood historically, referring to the kings of Judah throughout the generations who pass through this gate, but the Radak explains that it refers to the king and his sons who are destined to reign after him, for the heir to the throne is also referred to as a king.
וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵיהֶם שִׁמְעוּ דְבַר יְהוָה מַלְכֵי יְהוּדָה וְכָל יְהוּדָה וְכֹל יֹשְׁבֵי יְרוּשָׁלָ͏ִם הַבָּאִים בַּשְּׁעָרִים הָאֵלֶּה׃ - And you shall say to them: Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem who enter through these gates.
כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה הִשָּׁמְרוּ בְּנַפְשׁוֹתֵיכֶם וְאַל תִּשְׂאוּ מַשָּׂא בְּיוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת וַהֲבֵאתֶם בְּשַׁעֲרֵי יְרוּשָׁלָ͏ִם׃ - Thus says the Lord: Take heed for the sake of your souls, and do not carry a burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it through the gates of Jerusalem.
"Do not carry a burden on the Sabbath day" - do not transport items or carry them from the outside in. "Take heed for the sake of your souls" - the Malbim explains that whoever does so incurs death and karet; you are violating a prohibition upon which your very souls depend.
And why does Scripture speak specifically about bringing items in rather than carrying them out? Because Jerusalem was a major metropolis, and in a great city, the Radak notes, those bringing goods in far outnumber those taking them out. A large city requires extensive provisions from the outside, especially since Jerusalem itself, within the walled area, was not a place of fields and vineyards; the entire population of the city had to be sustained by merchandise brought in from outside. The prophet could have warned against carrying out as well, but Scripture speaks of what was commonplace. We find an example of this in the Book of Nehemiah, where he rebuked them for "and bringing them into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day": people would go out on market day and bring merchandise into Jerusalem on Shabbat, and even go shopping on Shabbat itself. Nehemiah then commanded that the gates be closed and not opened until after Shabbat: "and some of my servants I stationed at the gates, so that no burden should be brought in on the Sabbath day." Thus, the entire primary warning focused on bringing goods in, which was common, rather than taking them out, which was uncommon.
וְלֹא תוֹצִיאוּ מַשָּׂא מִבָּתֵּיכֶם בְּיוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת וְכָל מְלָאכָה לֹא תַעֲשׂוּ וְקִדַּשְׁתֶּם אֶת יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוִּיתִי אֶת אֲבוֹתֵיכֶם׃ - Nor shall you carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day, nor do any work, but sanctify the Sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers.
Now, we explained earlier that within Jerusalem it was permitted to carry out of the house, so what is the meaning of "Nor shall you carry a burden out of your houses"? The Radak explains that this refers to carrying items out beyond the city gates, for although the primary issue was bringing goods in, there were also situations where people left Jerusalem carrying burdens. The Malbim, however, explains that it can be understood literally - within Jerusalem itself. Even though its gates were locked at night, the rabbinic status of a karmelit applied, and King Solomon had enacted the decrees concerning eruvin. Consequently, even in their day there was a prohibition against carrying in an area categorized as a karmelit, not merely in a full biblical public domain (reshut harabbim). Therefore, the verse adds, "nor do any work" - to include rabbinically prohibited labor as well as carrying within a karmelit.
Regarding the phrase "to do no work therein," the Radak comments on the written text (ketiv) and the vocalization (keri), noting that one should not wonder whether it is phrased in the feminine ("bah") or the masculine ("bo"). We similarly see this in our liturgy: at times we recite "they shall rest in it" in the feminine (yanuchu vah), and at times in the masculine (yanuchu vo). A comprehensive discourse was once dedicated to this topic: "bah" represents the aspect of the recipient, the feminine (*nukva*), while "bo" represents the masculine (*dekhura*), which is always the source of influence. Is Shabbat a receiver or an influencer? On the one hand, it constantly receives: a person honors Shabbat, purchases for Shabbat, prepares for Shabbat, while the day itself does nothing active and one simply rests. On the other hand, from where are all six working days blessed? From the Shabbat day. Thus, it also embodies the masculine aspect of conferring blessing: it receives, and through that very power it bestows, incorporating both feminine and masculine dimensions. Therefore, we refer to "Shabbat" in the feminine, yet Scripture also states, "He who guards the Sabbath from profaning it [mechallelo]" - which some find puzzling, but the meaning is "from desecrating it," guarding the Shabbat against desecrating it; it does not say mechallelah (feminine) but mechallelo (masculine). This demonstrates that Shabbat also possesses a masculine aspect, and both expressions are entirely precise.
The Radak asks: Why do we see the prophet warning them about the observance of Shabbat at a time when they were guilty of the most severe transgressions - idolatry, illicit relations, and bloodshed during the First Temple period? It would seem like applying cupping glasses to a corpse; what purpose could it serve to merely tell them to observe Shabbat? The Radak explains along lines similar to the Malbim: because the observance of Shabbat is a paramount foundation of faith in God, in the creation of the world ex nihilo, in signs and wonders, and in the fulfillment of the entire Torah. Whoever observes Shabbat with sincere faith will not easily stumble into other sins. In other words, had you observed Shabbat properly, that observance alone would have protected you from committing the other transgressions. Furthermore, whoever observes Shabbat according to its laws, even if he served idols like the generation of Enosh, is forgiven. Moreover, the first mitzvah commanded before the giving of the Torah was the observance of Shabbat. As Chazal stated: Jerusalem was destroyed only because they desecrated the Sabbath within it, as it is said, "And I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall consume the palaces of Jerusalem"; and our Sages remarked that fire is prevalent only in a place where there is desecration of Shabbat. Similarly, we find in Nehemiah: "In those days I saw people treading winepresses on the Sabbath" - showing that there was an exceedingly severe reckoning against them regarding the observance of Shabbat in Jerusalem.
וְהָיָה אִם שָׁמֹעַ תִּשְׁמְעוּן אֵלַי נְאֻם יְהוָה לְבִלְתִּי הָבִיא מַשָּׂא בְּשַׁעֲרֵי הָעִיר הַזֹּאת בְּיוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת וּלְקַדֵּשׁ אֶת יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת לְבִלְתִּי עֲשׂוֹת בָּהּ כָּל מְלָאכָה׃ - And it shall come to pass, if you diligently heed Me, says the Lord, to bring no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but to sanctify the Sabbath day, to do no work therein;
וּבָאוּ בְשַׁעֲרֵי הָעִיר הַזֹּאת מְלָכִים וְשָׂרִים יֹשְׁבִים עַל כִּסֵּא דָוִד רֹכְבִים בָּרֶכֶב וּבַסּוּסִים הֵמָּה וְשָׂרֵיהֶם אִישׁ יְהוּדָה וְיֹשְׁבֵי יְרוּשָׁלָ͏ִם וְיָשְׁבָה הָעִיר הַזֹּאת לְעוֹלָם׃ - Then kings and princes sitting on the throne of David shall enter through the gates of this city, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city shall remain forever.
Here he sets before them the package of blessings: if you observe Shabbat, four promises lie before you. The first promise - that the dynasty of the House of David will not be discontinued and a ruler will not be lacking from the House of Judah: "kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David." And the princes "riding in chariots and on horses," for riding on horses was always an expression of authority and high rank.
Note well: it never appears in Chazal that the Sages of Israel rode on horses; it is always donkeys. Rashbi, the donkey of Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa, the donkey of Mashiach, and so on. The holy Forefathers rode on a donkey, Moshe on a donkey. First, because this expresses mastery over the material world - riding upon a donkey (chamor), dominating physical matter (chomer), and similarly with respect to Mashiach. Second, riding on a horse expresses pride and pomp, and ministers and dignitaries would ride on horses, which is why the Sages of Israel shunned it. It is like saying that the Gadol HaDor will not drive a Ferrari; even if a donor is found, and there is no shortage of such people, it is a disgrace, like someone looking for a sports car to show off. In that same vein - could Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai ride on a horse? Therefore the ministers, who were entitled to official state horses from the government, rode on horses, and the kings of the House of David sat upon the throne of David.
The second promise - that foreigners will not rule over them: "they and their princes, the men of Judah," meaning that all the princes will be men of Judah, and there will be no appointed governor on behalf of Nebuchadnezzar's high commissioner or another nation; rather, those who govern us will be from our own people. The third promise - that the city will not be destroyed: "and this city shall remain forever."
וּבָאוּ מֵעָרֵי יְהוּדָה וּמִסְּבִיבוֹת יְרוּשָׁלַ͏ִם וּמֵאֶרֶץ בִּנְיָמִן וּמִן הַשְּׁפֵלָה וּמִן הָהָר וּמִן הַנֶּגֶב מְבִאִים עוֹלָה וְזֶבַח וּמִנְחָה וּלְבוֹנָה וּמְבִאֵי תוֹדָה בֵּית יְהוָה׃ - And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the environs of Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the lowland, and from the hill country, and from the south, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and meal offerings, and frankincense, and bringing thanksgiving offerings to the House of the Lord.
The fourth promise - that the Temple service will not cease: everyone will come and bring offerings: burnt offerings, sacrifices, meal offerings, and frankincense. "And bringing thanksgiving offerings" - thanks to Hashem for the miracles, for at present they are threatened, but when they observe Shabbat, they will be saved from all their enemies and will bring a thanksgiving offering, just like a person who was in distress, emerged from it, and brings a thanksgiving offering.
וְאִם לֹא תִשְׁמְעוּ אֵלַי לְקַדֵּשׁ אֶת יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת וּלְבִלְתִּי שְׂאֵת מַשָּׂא וּבֹא בְּשַׁעֲרֵי יְרוּשָׁלַ͏ִם בְּיוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת וְהִצַּתִּי אֵשׁ בִּשְׁעָרֶיהָ וְאָכְלָה אַרְמְנוֹת יְרוּשָׁלַ͏ִם וְלֹא תִכְבֶּה׃ - But if you will not listen to Me to sanctify the Sabbath day, and not to bear a burden and enter the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall consume the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be extinguished.
If you do not listen to what I commanded to sanctify the Shabbat, namely not to carry a burden and not to bring it into the gates of Jerusalem, then God forbid, a fire will burn in the gates of Jerusalem and there will be no one to extinguish it. "And it shall not be extinguished" - Chazal say that there are no people available to extinguish it; for a blaze is found only in a home where there is desecration of Shabbat, and since the fire occurs on Shabbat, there are no people available to come and extinguish it, measure for measure. According to the plain meaning of the text, the intent is that the fire will spread and destroy everything, and they will not manage to extinguish it in time before the fire will have consumed all the gates of Jerusalem.
The prophet teaches that true trust in Hashem depends on two conditions: that the heart be whole without deceit - for "the heart is deceitful above all things, and incurably sick," and no person knows the inner thoughts of his fellow, and only "I, the Lord, search the heart, test the innermost thoughts" - and that one's actions not contradict this trust, like the parable of the partridge that broods over eggs it did not lay, whose end is "in the midst of his days it will leave him, and at his end he will be a scoundrel." From here the prophet ascends to the source of trust: "A throne of glory, on high from the beginning," and "the hope of Israel, the Lord," and prays for himself that he not be disgraced before the mockers who say, "Where is the word of the Lord? Let it come now!" Finally, even when the decree has already been sealed, the attribute of mercy is aroused and grants the people one last chance: Shabbat observance, which is a testimony to the creation of the world ex nihilo and the antithesis of idolatry. If they observe it - the dynasty of the House of David will endure, foreigners will not rule over them, the city will not be destroyed, and the Temple service will not cease. And if not - "I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall consume the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be extinguished."