Therefore, behold, days are coming, says Hashem, when I will send to him tippers who will tip him over, and they will empty his vessels and shatter their jugs. Therefore Hashem says: behold, days are coming, and I will send to him tippers, those who will empty him out. If we have compared him to wine that was never emptied and never moved from place to place, now He says that they are destined to be emptied from place to place. "And they will empty his vessels and shatter their jugs" - Rashi explains that "shatter" (yenapetzu) means like "break." The Radak, in contrast, explains in the name of his father that "yenapetzu" means "empty," like "and she emptied her jug," where it is written "and she emptied" (vatenapetz). Or it is used regarding a man who wishes to divorce his wife because she empties into the garbage, yes, there too it is a clean expression for this idea. In any case, the Radak explains that here He is informing them that exilers will come and exile them, as we explained, meaning to empty him out from place to place, as Targum Yonatan says: plunderers will plunder them, meaning those who plunder and will plunder him. Here in fact the metaphor is that the people of Moav are destined to be exiled. Wine, says the Malbim, when it is sealed and closed, sometimes a situation occurs in which fermentation begins. Then if you seal it hermetically, the vessel can explode. Therefore usually when one seals wine, one seals it at the stage of fermentation with cloth. One does not seal it in a hermetic manner, because if it is completely sealed, the fermentation can cause the vessel to explode. So He says, behold, come and see, as it is written in Iyov: behold, my belly is like wine that is not opened, like new wineskins it will burst. Like wine that was not opened, and then the vessel, the wineskins which are a kind of leather bottles, will burst, will burst because of the fermentation inside. According to this the Malbim says, what is written here, "tippers who will tip him over," this is the boiling of the wine. The wine is boiling, the wine rages within its interior, so "tipping" and "quaking" and "raging" and "storming," according to the Malbim it is all really the same idea, meaning it is a storm that storms within its interior. And then, so to speak, He says to them: I will send here an enemy who will create a storm within the vessel, meaning that there will be pressures within the vessel, like those that exist when the wine ferments. This is a metaphor for internal pressures. For if I were speaking of an enemy, I would say that an enemy will come from outside and break the jug, but that is not what He is speaking of; He is speaking of internal fermentation. Internal fermentation means that fermentation will begin within the country, meaning there will be a rebellion, a rebellion within the country. And then through this there will be the sword of a man against his brother. And through this "tip him over," tippers who will tip him over, and through this what happens to the wineskin? It bursts as a result of the fermentation within, the wineskin bursts, and through this they empty the wine that is inside it, and the mountains will be emptied, like the wineskin of wine that will be emptied of the wine within it, the cities of Moav will be emptied, they will be destroyed. And the reason Hashem does this: "and Moav will be ashamed of Kemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Beit El, their trust." So that he will be ashamed of Kemosh, who was the god of Moav, and the great shame for one who serves idolatry is when he sees that his god was not able to save him. He nurtured it, he fed it, he honored it, he offered it sacrifices, sometimes even his children, and behold the time comes, what is called the idolatry did not do the job, did not do the work. And then there is great shame in this: where is your god? Kemosh is lost, as the prophet tells them. So this too He says, "and Moav will be ashamed of Kemosh," Moav will have disgrace that behold Kemosh his god did not succeed in saving him, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Beit El, their trust. Just as the house of Israel was ashamed of Beit El, their trust, the calves that were in Beit El and upon whom they relied, whom they worshiped, they were ashamed when they saw that those very calves were exiled with them.
That is to say, they too were taken away, so behold the idols upon whom you relied did not help, did not help you. So too here as well: therefore the people of Moav will have shame from Kemosh, you trusted in Kemosh and behold this god withered, wilted, you see that nothing came of it. How can you say we are mighty men and men of valor for war? He says to Moav: how can you say that you are mighty men? We are strong enough to go out to war, you are that strong? Where is your might? Where is your power?
The Malbim explains the redundancy of "mighty men" and "men of valor." Says the Malbim: a mighty man (gibor) is one by nature. In contrast, "man of valor" (ish chayil) means a person trained in the tactics of war, that is called a man of valor. So how can you say we are mighty by nature, and behold we are also men of valor, meaning we trained and studied in the most prestigious military academies and we know all the tactics of war, you say we are men of valor for war? How can you say so?
For the plunderer of Moav has come up against her cities, and the choicest of his young men have gone down to the slaughter, says the King, Hashem of Hosts is His name. The plunderer of Moav, behold you see that there is no might in you. "And her cities he has come up against," the Malbim explains, like "and her cities he has come up for slaughter." So to speak, "and her cities he has come up and the choicest of his young men have gone down to slaughter." So "and her cities he has come up for slaughter and the choicest of his young men have gone down to slaughter." The word "for slaughter" is like taking another with him. That is to say, the practice is, and so it is until today when speaking of the doctrine of warfare, the rule is always not to be passive, but in order to succeed in battle you must be active. You cannot go into an absorbing posture and think that this is how you will win. Perhaps you will survive this way, but you will not win. To win one must be active, and therefore the rule is always, when there is a threat, you will hear the expression "press toward contact."
Do not look for some corner and from behind it try to see. No, it does not go that way. The person will continue and kill more people while you look for some good angle. No, one must press toward contact. Meaning you will run toward him, seek out the person in order to put a bullet in his head. Then you can overcome him, but if you look somewhere for some shelter and from there try to see, then there is no chance. So He says: if so, how is the plunderer of Moav come up against her cities? How is it possible that her cities are come up for slaughter? For you, your mighty men, you are supposed to go up onto the enemy's wall in order to fight against him. And here what happened is the opposite. The enemy came and went up onto your walls, that is not how a mighty man behaves. A mighty man does not sit in his place and wait for the enemy; the mighty man goes out and attacks. Yet here "her cities he has come up for slaughter," these cities of Moav, the enemy came up against them in order to slaughter, and the people of the city hid and fled into the cities.
"And the choicest of his young men have gone down to slaughter." That is to say, the mighty men go up onto the wall of the city in order to fight. The people of the city usually go down and hide. And here He says that the people of the cities went up onto the stronghold, and since it was so, they were for slaughter, and the mighty men did not go up at all, but rather the mighty men went down to slaughter. That is to say, even to go up in order to try to do something, even that they did not do, but they went down to slaughter. Says the King, Hashem of Hosts is His name.
The calamity of Moav is near to come, and his misfortune hastens greatly. The calamity of Moav is near to come, what is "calamity" (eid)? Eid is a breakage, for their day of calamity is near. So the breakage of Moav is near. And do not say that it is not so soon, He says "and his misfortune hastens greatly." The Malbim explains what the difference is between "near" and "hastens." "Near" refers to place. You are here, it is near to you, two meters. That is what "near" means. Or I can also say near in time, the time of the redemption is near. Yes? Mashiach our righteous one, all these expressions are expressions of time. In contrast, and by the way this is the opposite of "far." When I say "near" it is the opposite of "far." In contrast, when one speaks of "hastens," hastening is the opposite of delaying. It could be that the time is near for it to come, but when it comes it will come slowly. So I would say the time is near but it will delay. And in contrast, there could be a situation where when it arrives it will take a long time, the time is far. But when it comes it will come with speed. So He says here both things will be. First, the calamity of Moav is near to come in terms of time and place, it is near both in terms of time and near in terms of place, which tells you that this thing will happen; in terms of place the enemy is already beyond the door. And also when it comes it will be with speed. It will not delay. It will come with force and with speed, his misfortune hastens greatly.
Lament for him, all who are around him, and all who know his name, say: how the staff of strength is broken, the rod of glory. The expression "lament" (nudu) is always from the language of shaking the head, from the language of mourning, like "do not lament for him." Says the Metzudat David: it is the way of one who hears of the loss of an important thing to shake his head. He moves his head this way, right and left, correct? This is always an expression of lamenting, in the way of dirge, in the way of mourning. Says the prophet: lament for him, all who are around him. You can already now lament for him. That is to say, you are waiting for the breakage to happen; I already, the prophet indeed sees things as tangible as we said. So He says already now, even before it is broken, lament for him. For I tell you that the breakage of Moav is very near. And say: how the staff of strength is broken, the rod of glory. The staff (mateh), the Malbim explains, always denotes kingship. In contrast the rod (makel), we have already seen several times, denotes lashing, blows. The rod always expresses lashings, expresses striking. When the staff is not a staff of strength but only glory, and he rules by means of a rod of strength and forcefully, says the Malbim, this thing is not a good thing. But in Moav the kingship was strong in itself.
Let me perhaps explain this with a parable so that it will be easy for us to understand. There are times when some ruler arises and this ruler really has no kingdom, but he is some very dangerous commander, extremely violent, who seized the government by force, like Gaddafi and other such things, rulers of this type. So we cannot come and say that he is a staff of strength. A staff is a government. He has no government, he has no strong government, he has no government with power. What then? I can say that he has a rod of strength. He knows how to strike. Whoever tries to chirp something against the ruler, they take off his head. That is to say, if so, he has a rod of strength, this is the lashing, the striking. But the government itself is not a large and important government. In contrast, if you take for example America, then there one speaks of a staff of strength. The government in itself is a strong government, established, so this is a staff of strength. In Moav there was a kingship that was strong in itself. And note, when the kingship is strong, it does not need a rod of strength. Because the rod is only more for glory. For when do you need to behave with violence? Every schoolchild knows this, that the violent teacher is the weak teacher. Why? If you have power, you succeed in keeping quiet in the class without raising a hand against anyone, also without shouting. Because you have power, you have government. When you have no government, you are small, then you shout all the time and you threaten all the time and... That is to say, the very need to constantly use violence shows that the person is small. Governments that are weak must use violence. If not, how would he hold his people? At any slight loosening, the people would cause trouble. So he needs a lot of violence. It turns out then that the correct way is that there is a staff of strength and a rod of glory. And if there is a situation of a staff of glory and a rod of strength, this is very bad. The correct way is a staff, a government, that is a staff of strength, the government is very strong, in itself, established. And then the rod is only for glory. There is no need to strike constantly. Therefore in most well-ordered countries there is no death penalty. When the government is strong, there is no need for a death penalty nor torture nor things of this type. In contrast, in countries where the staff is glory, the government is only glory, it is a puppet government, and truly it has no power, it has no government, but what then? Only through violence. When the staff is glory, then the rod is strength. So there they strike with strength, yes? There for every slight movement they execute. It tells you: come and see, in Moav there was a staff of strength there. A staff is a government, there was one then. And the rod was only for glory. So lament for him, all who are around him and all who know his name. And then you shall say: how is it broken? How is a government broken that was a staff of strength and a rod of glory, which is as we said the correct way of leading a government, how is it possible that Moav with all these virtues was broken?
Come down from glory and sit in thirst, O inhabitant, daughter of Divon. For the plunderer of Moav has come up against you, he has destroyed your fortresses. Come down from glory, from the glory in which you were before, as we said a staff of strength and a rod of glory, come down from this glory. Glory in which you lacked nothing at all. And sit in thirst. "Sit in thirst" means exile. Parched with thirst, for they would go out into exile, so to speak they are far from the sources of their land, from water, from food. So there exile always expresses hunger and thirst. For the plunderer of Moav, meaning the enemy came and plundered all the land of Moav, and also destroyed your fortresses. The fortresses in which you trusted, you could not be saved in them and by their power, and therefore come down. Come down from glory, O inhabitant, daughter of Divon. The Malbim explains that "inhabitant, daughter of Divon" was the next stage, that after the enemy conquered Moav, he continued to the inhabitant, daughter of Divon and destroyed her fortresses.
Stand by the way and watch, O inhabitant of Aroer. Ask him who flees and her who escapes, say: what has happened? Stand by the way. He turns to the inhabitant of Aroer and says to her: stand by the way. The Malbim explains: Aroer sat at the edge of the desert. As we already saw, "like Aroer in the desert," it was a city that sat in the desert. It was far from settlement. Therefore He tells her that she should stand by the side of the road, and through this she will be able to, what is called, update herself with the news online. How? Now there are people who are running and fleeing. Those fleeing and escaping flee by the road, until the desert, you do not know exactly what is happening. Therefore I recommend that you go be on the main road; there you will be able to hear from those fleeing and escaping and running away, to hear from them what happened to them. And then, ask him who flees and her who escapes. "Ask him who flees," that is a man, and the female escapes. Ask what has happened. Since in this upheaval no one from Moav reached there, but rather they had to stop on the road and ask people. And then when you ask, you will know that Moav is ashamed for he is shattered. Wail and cry out, tell it in Arnon that Moav is plundered.
Before we explain the pasuk, let us just note that the Malbim says what the difference is between "flees" (nas) and "escapes" (nimlata). Says the Malbim: the male flees, but the female escapes. What is the meaning of the expression "to escape" (lehimalet)? To escape means to be saved. Because the Gemara says a woman's weapon is upon her. The meaning of this is, a woman's weapon of war is upon her. That is to say, the enemy naturally does not want to kill the woman. Naturally he wants to take the woman as spoil, a womb or two per warrior's head. So the women they would take as maidservants or as concubines. Therefore the woman was more protected. So "she escapes," meaning she is more saved. In contrast "flees," that is running away, because the men they would kill. Therefore "ask him who flees," that is the men, "and her who escapes," that refers to the women. Say: what has happened? And then they will tell you: Moav is ashamed for he is shattered. Moav is ashamed because he is broken. "Shattered" (chatah) is from the language of breakage. And this breakage will cause him shame. Wail and cry out. Through this you shall wail and cry out. And therefore He says to them: tell it in Arnon that Moav is plundered. You shall publicize the matter, announce that Moav is plundered. Arnon was on the border of Moav. That is to say, if Moav is plundered, then there is already a threat now upon Arnon who sit on their border.
And judgment has come upon the land of the plain, upon Cholon and upon Yahtza and upon Meifa'at. After the enemy conquered the fortresses, won the war, then he sat in judgment. Like they held a trial, like they sat to render judgment, that is the meaning. He sat in judgment as to which are the next places that he will destroy. And judgment came upon the land of the plain. Cities that are in the land of the plain, and they are the cities mentioned here: Cholon, Yahtza, Meifa'at. It is interesting that Cholon appears in scripture as a city in the land of Moav. Interesting how it jumped over to us for a visit, yes? Usually the names of cities they would try to call them according to their locations in that region. Telstone for example, they do not agree to call it Telstone, you will see that the sign is Kiryat Ye'arim. Because according to their research, this area was settled in the past, in this region, in its time it was called Kiryat Ye'arim. Beit Shemesh is more or less in the area of biblical Beit Shemesh. And so on, this is the way. So how did Cholon come here? This truly requires study. But in any case, we see that Cholon in scripture is of the lands of Moav. And upon Divon and upon Nevo and upon Beit Divlatayim. All these, He says, judgment has come. Meaning that the enemies held a trial and decided to come upon the land of the plain, upon Cholon, upon Yahtza, Meifa'at, and upon Divon and upon Nevo and upon Beit Divlatayim. And upon Kiryatayim and upon Beit Gamul and upon Beit Me'on. And upon Keriyot and upon Botzra and upon all the cities of the land of Moav, the far and the near. Keriyot is the name of a city. The city was called Keriyot. And upon all the cities of the land of Moav, the far and the near. The far, meaning those that are on the border, and the near, those that are within the land. In contrast, the Metzudat David explains that the far and the near are relative to Arnon. The far from Arnon and the near to Arnon.
The horn of Moav is cut off, and his arm is broken, says Hashem. The horn of Moav is cut off, meaning the kingship of Moav. And why does He call it a "horn" (keren)? Well, this is an expression that appears many times in Tanach. We also mention it in prayer, and one must understand it. And if we understand the principle, it will be clear to us in all the places that this is the plain meaning. The horn is the highest place of the body of the animal, of the limbs of the animal. Therefore the kingship is called a horn, because it is in fact located above. It is the highest and rules over the entire people. Therefore kingship is expressed with the term "horn." "Horn," we also ask "raise our horn." "And He will raise the horn of His anointed," again meaning the kingship of His anointed. An additional explanation: since the horn's function is to gore. So when we want to express a strong kingship that will rule over all the nations, we speak of their horn being raised. "My horn is exalted in Hashem." What is "my horn is exalted"? My horn, I have a horn to gore my enemies. So "horn" comes to express two things: first, height, kingship. Second, also power to gore the enemies. So the horn of Moav is cut off. Their kingship is cut off, their power is cut off. And his arm is broken, says Hashem. "His arm" means the officers, the soldiers; they are indeed the arm of the king, they act by his power. So their arm is broken, says Hashem. Thus said Hashem, this is a command from Hashem, meaning this is the prophecy. Yonatan translated that "their arm" means their dominions are broken. Meaning their dominion is broken. The meaning of this: their officers, their important ones. The Malbim explains that it means their soldiers and their fortresses.
Make him drunk, for he magnified himself against Hashem, and Moav will wallow in his vomit, and he too shall become a laughingstock. Make him drunk, for he magnified himself against Hashem. "Make him drunk" means from the language of drunkenness. "Make him drunk" means give him the cup of poison to drink it to its end. For he magnified himself against Hashem. The Malbim explains that this is like what appears in Tzefanya: I have heard the taunt of Moav. The Radak elaborates further and brings the pasuk where it says: for he magnified himself against Hashem, when they saw the distress of Israel they enlarged their mouths against them and against Hashem. For they said that He could not save them. The Moavites stood aside and rejoiced at our downfall. They said: that is it, we are finished, they are done for, Hashem can no longer save them. It is written that Moav were bad neighbors, that they called the enemies and came and told them: come and strike Israel. And they were fearful, so they told them: you have nothing to worry about, there is idolatry there, they have become wicked, Hashem has abandoned them. Come and strike. So we see that truly Moav is deserving of all that the prophet here prophesies about them. So they too saw the distress of Israel, enlarged their mouths against them and against Hashem, said that Hashem could not save them. "For against the people of Hashem they boasted," so says the Targum. And it is also written that they taunted and magnified themselves against the people of Hashem of Hosts. So we see that Moav distressed us, rejoiced in our distress, wished us to be struck. Therefore He says: make Moav drunk. Meaning give him to drink so that he will be drunk, let him drink to its end the cup of poison, for he magnified himself against Hashem. And Moav will wallow in his vomit. What is "and Moav will wallow (safak) in his vomit"? The Radak explains that this is like the drunkard, who when he has drunk a little too much, rolls about and turns from side to side within the vomit that he himself vomited. So "safak" is like "to clap the hands" (lispok kapayim). "Sipuk" means like sticking to something. Like when you stick hand to hand, that is called clapping hands. So too "safak in his vomit," he is like sticking to his vomit, rolling on it from side to side. The Malbim, in contrast, explains that "safak" is not like clapping hands, but rather "safak" is like doubt (safek). Says the Malbim, that "safak in his vomit" means he is uncertain: wait, what I vomited, is it vomit or wine? And since he is not sure, he tries to taste it. In order to be sure. And then he goes back and drinks. Hashem save us, that which he vomited, like a dog that returns to its vomit. And then everyone laughs at him. Says the Malbim, what is the allusion here? He tells you: just as the drunkard eats what he vomited, drinks what he vomited, so too the people, who will be exiled from their land into exile. After Moav were exiled, there were among them those who began as individuals to return. And the return that they returned caused the enemy to go and exile them a second time. And then, so to speak, something that was swallowed came back, he vomited again. That is "and he will wallow in his vomit." Meaning he went back and drank it and vomited it a second time. Therefore he became a laughingstock. What is that laughter? The laughter is: was it not enough for you to be lashed once, that you returned there in order to be lashed a second time? So over this they laughed at him. Over this they mocked him. So this became a laughingstock.
And was not Israel a laughingstock to you, was he found among thieves, that whenever you spoke of him you would shake yourself? And was not Israel a laughingstock to you? Did not Moav, did you not laugh at Israel? For when Israel went through this reality of exile, then some of them also returned to their land after the exile. And then they returned like a thief, digging into houses in the dark. "If among thieves." Meaning they came in secret, since it is indeed impossible to seal the borders. And then through this they came in secret in order to return back to their land. So this is what He says: "if he was found among thieves." That whenever you spoke of him you would shake yourself. "Whenever you spoke of him," you would speak of him and you would laugh at him. "Shake yourself" (titnodad) means like a person who laughs and so he sways. He sways from much laughter, splitting with laughter. So "whenever you spoke of him you would shake yourself," you laughed at him, behold you saw Israel try to return here as individuals and they were exiled a second time. He says: behold this is the laughter that you laughed at them, so Hashem in the end will laugh at your downfall. So everyone will laugh at what will happen to you. Rashi explains that "titnodad" here is not an expression of shaking with laughter, that is, as we said a person shaking from much laughter, but rather "titnodad" means you would exult over his destruction. This is "whenever you spoke of him," when you would speak of him you would exult and you would rejoice in his downfall. Therefore "whenever you spoke of him you shall shake yourself," therefore you shall be punished that you shall wander. "Titnodad" in the sense of wanderings, of exile. Therefore you shall be exiled.
Abandon the cities and dwell in the rock, O inhabitants of Moav. And be like a dove that nests at the sides of the mouth of the pit. Abandon the cities and dwell in the rock. Abandon your cities, as we said He prophesies about them that they will be exiled. And He tells them: dwell in the rock. A rock is a place where there are crevices in which doves dwell. O inhabitants of Moav. And be like a dove that nests at the sides of the mouth of the pit. What is "like a dove that nests at the sides of the mouth of the pit"? There are several explanations of this. Rashi brings one explanation that he heard, that when there is a river and the river overflows its banks or flows in a torrent, what happens is that the river begins to eat the bank. Now when it eats the bank, note, many times it eats the bank and the banks still remain protruding from above and it eats them from below. That is to say, the river, since its flow is from below, therefore the upper bank remains protruding above the water. Afterward when the waters go down, then a kind of overhang is formed on both sides. The doves there in that place below go and nest. Thus Rashi explains. That this is the meaning of "like a dove that nests at the sides of the mouth of the pit." What is a "pit" (pachat)? The place that was undermined, diminished, the flow of the water below in the river causes what is beneath it to be called "the sides of the mouth of the pit." In this hollow the dove builds its nest. And then when winter comes and the stream again increases, what then happens? It washes away those places where the dove nests. And then it wanders from there. Like a dove that nests at the sides of the mouth of the pit and wanders in the wake of the rising of the waters. Says Rashi: thus I heard. But in contrast, Rashi says that Yonatan did not translate it thus. Yonatan says: like a dove that abandons the mouth of the dovecote and goes and descends and dwells at the bottom of the pit. Thus they nest at the sides of the mouth of the pit. The Radak explains, what is "the sides of the mouth of the pit"? Says the Radak: the dove makes its dwelling at the sides of the mouth of the pits. What is a pit? A pit is a hole, it is a channel, it is a dug-out place, a deep trench. The dove does not want anyone to reach the nest, so it seeks a place that has no access to it. What is the place that has no access to it? A place that has a pit before it. Where there is a pit, there is some hole, a deep trench, the dove goes and nests beyond the mouth of the pit. Beyond the opening of the pit, so that the opening of the pit will make it difficult for whoever wants to take the nest. Beyond this it builds its nest. And then whoever wants to take it must first leap over the hole. He cannot, the hole is deep, the hole is wide. And then it is protected from the enemies. Like "for they dug a trench" or "they dug a pit." So like a dove that makes its nest at the sides of the mouth of the pit, beyond the opening of the pit, so that the opening of the pit will make it difficult for whoever wants to take the nest. The Malbim explains: like a dove that nests at the sides of the mouth of the pit, a place where there are two sides, so that if the enemy comes from one side, then the dove flees to the other side. And when he comes from the other side, it flees to this side. And this is "the sides of the mouth of the pit." Meaning a deep excavation in which the dove can flee in that place from side to side.