Yirmiyahu chapter 52. Tzidkiyahu was twenty one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem, and his mother's name was Chamutal the daughter of Yirmiyahu of Livnah. This chapter is essentially the chapter dealing with the destruction. And this chapter parallels the end of Sefer Melachim II. That is, what we saw there regarding the matter of the destruction comes here, in certain respects, sometimes even in greater detail. And he did what was evil in the eyes of Hashem, exactly as Yehoyakim had done. For because of the anger of Hashem it came about in Jerusalem and Yehudah, until He cast them out from before Him, and Tzidkiyahu rebelled against the king of Bavel.
That is to say, what caused Tzidkiyahu to rebel against the king of Bavel? As it were, from Heaven there was some catalyst that brought him to rebel against the king of Bavel, since this city was already under the anger of Hashem. This city aroused the fury of Hashem's wrath, and because of this the Holy One, Blessed be He, brought Tzidkiyahu to the point where he rebelled against the king of Bavel. Now, so we do not misunderstand, it is not that Tzidkiyahu had no free choice, for if he had no free choice then he would not be punished for it. And we see that he transgressed the command of the prophet, for indeed the prophet warned Tzidkiyahu not to rebel against the king of Bavel, since Hashem had made him king. And in this Tzidkiyahu did not listen to the voice of Hashem.
Tzidkiyahu, as we mentioned, was a righteous king, but his people were wicked, his generation was wicked. And what is written, and he did what was evil in the eyes of Hashem exactly as Yehoyakim had done, does not refer to him himself, for as we said Tzidkiyahu was a righteous king, so why is he called one who did evil? Because he did not listen to the command of the prophet, and the command of the prophet was not to rebel against the king of Bavel, and he rebelled. He did not keep the oath that Nevuchadnetzar had made him swear, for Nevuchadnetzar ate a live rabbit and made him swear not to reveal it, and he went and revealed it. These two things define him as one who did evil in the eyes of Hashem, and this brought about the point that He cast them out from before Him, and Tzidkiyahu rebelled against the king of Bavel.
And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, that Nevuchadretzar king of Bavel came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and they camped against it and built a siege wall around it. In the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, what is the tenth month? Tevet. On the tenth of the month, this is the tenth of Tevet. What happened on the tenth of Tevet? The siege. Here, this is the pasuk. And they camped against it and built a siege wall around it. What is "and built a siege wall around it"? A wall. That is, they made a sort of embankment around it so that from it one could see into the city. This they always did before conquering a city.
And the city came under siege, meaning none went out and none came in, until the eleventh year of King Tzidkiyahu. Three years of famine, siege and distress. In the fourth month, on the ninth of the month, the famine grew severe in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land. They reached such a state that the siege and the famine were so severe that the people no longer had anything to eat. And the city was breached, and all the men of war fled, and they went out of the city by night by way of the gate between the two walls, which is by the king's garden, while the Kasdim were around the city, and they went by way of the Aravah.
So in the fourth month on the ninth of the month, what month is the fourth month? Tammuz. In the fourth month, in the month of Tammuz, the situation reached the point where it became truly a shameful famine. The city is breached and the men of war go out of the city. By where do they go out? Chazal say, Tzidkiyahu had a special tunnel, an escape tunnel. A tunnel through which Tzidkiyahu went out of the city without having to pass through the Kasdim who had laid the siege. Rather a tunnel that brought him to where? To Yericho. All the way to Yericho.
And the army of the Kasdim pursued the king, and they overtook Tzidkiyahu in the plains of Yericho, and all his army was scattered from him. The army of the Kasdim pursued the king. How did the army of the Kasdim know where the king was? And how did they know to pursue him? Chazal say, the Holy One, Blessed be He, trapped him. How did the Holy One, Blessed be He, trap him? The Holy One, Blessed be He, arranged for the Kasdim that there be a certain deer, and this deer would flee and they would pursue it. They went in order, thank you, in order to get themselves lunch. They ran after the deer to catch it. And they run and run until suddenly they arrive at a certain place, and they see people coming out of the ground toward them. Ah, Tzidkiyahu. He fell into their hands like ripe fruit. The Holy One, Blessed be He, spread a net for his feet. So Chazal say.
And they seized the king and brought him up to the king of Bavel at Rivlah in the land of Chamat, and he passed judgment upon him. They seize the king, bring him up to the king of Bavel at Rivlah, and he passed judgment upon him. What does this mean? Surely any person who speaks words is simply speaking judgments. He judged him. Judgment. He judged him in a trial. For what did he need to judge him in a trial? For the fact that you rebelled against me, and I made you swear not to rebel against me. And I also made you swear not to reveal that I ate a live rabbit. It was a disgrace to him in this matter, and he went and revealed it.
And the king of Bavel slaughtered the sons of Tzidkiyahu before his eyes, and he also slaughtered all the officers of Yehudah at Rivlah. The king of Bavel slaughtered the sons of Tzidkiyahu before his eyes, this is a terrible and dreadful punishment. And he also slaughtered all the officers of Yehudah at Rivlah. Who are these officers of Yehudah? Chazal say, these are the Sanhedrin. And why? Because the Sanhedrin are the ones who released him from his oath. He summoned them to judgment, he asked them, a person who takes an oath, is there release for him? They said to him yes. He said to them, and if he swore to another person, is there release for him not in the presence of that person? They said to him no. He said to them, then how did you release it? How did you release Tzidkiyahu from the oath? Their faces turned like the bottom of a pot. Says the Gemara, and then he took them and put them to death. These are all the officers of Yehudah.
And he blinded the eyes of Tzidkiyahu, and bound him in bronze fetters, and the king of Bavel brought him to Bavel, and placed him in the house of confinement until the day of his death. He blinded the eyes of Tzidkiyahu, bound him in bronze fetters, brought him to Bavel. And this is in full accordance with what the prophet told him, you will come to Bavel, and he told him you will not see it. He said how can this be? If he brings me to Bavel, how can it be that I will not see? What a contradiction. Now here it became clear to him, here, I have arrived at Bavel and I do not see it. And he placed him in the house of confinement. What is the house of confinement? A place where a person is confined. This is what today is called a prison. It is called the house of confinement.
And in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month, which was the nineteenth year of King Nevuchadretzar king of Bavel, Nevuzaradan the chief executioner, who stood before the king of Bavel, came to Jerusalem. In the fifth month, which is the month of Av. On the tenth of the month, the tenth of Av. The nineteenth year of King Nevuchadnetzar, then Nevuzaradan the chief executioner arrived. Chief executioner: he was not an expert in cooking. The chief executioner was a slaughterer of human beings. A butcher, yes, but of human beings. He stood before the king of Bavel in Jerusalem. In Sefer Melachim it is written there that he came on the seventh of the month. There is an opinion among Chazal, there was a mixing of accounts. That is, they did not know exactly, since no one kept track in the tumult and confusion and chaos that existed then, and therefore sometimes it is written the seventh, sometimes it is written the tenth.
But the Malbim says that the seventh was the time when Nevuzaradan came to Jerusalem, and on the tenth he then commanded him to burn everything. Chazal say, seemingly, if so, why do we make the fast day on the ninth of Av? Chazal say because the beginning of the burning of the House of our God was on the ninth of Av. He arrived on the seventh, they entered the Beit HaMikdash and desecrated it on the seventh, eighth and ninth, and toward evening of the ninth he set fire to the Heichal, and the Beit HaMikdash burned on the ninth and tenth. And therefore it is written not to observe customs of joy on the tenth of Av. At least until midday, some say the entire day. Why? Rabbi Yochanan says if I had been there I would have set the day of mourning, the ninth of Av I would have set it on the tenth of Av. Says the Gemara, so why in any case did they set it on the ninth? Because they saw in the beginning of the calamity the severity of the matter. More severe in their eyes was the first moment of the beginning of the burning of the Beit HaMikdash, the beginning of the calamity, according to which they set the ninth of Av. And especially since the ninth of Av, as we all know, is a day that from time immemorial has been ruined on this ruined day. The spies were decreed upon, yes, death, Israel did not enter the land, and so on. So therefore he mentioned everything according to the ninth of Av.
And he burned the House of Hashem, and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great house he burned with fire. He burned the House of Hashem, this is the Beit HaMikdash; the king's house, this is Tzidkiyahu's palace; all the houses of Jerusalem, these are the houses in general; and every great house. What is the great house? A dispute among Chazal. Some say synagogues in which prayer is magnified. Some say study halls in which Torah is magnified. And these and these are the words of the living God. Every great house he burned with fire. And all the walls of Jerusalem around, all the army of the Kasdim who were with the chief executioner tore down. All the walls of Jerusalem were torn down by all the army of the Kasdim who were with, the meaning is with, who were with the chief executioner, those who were with him.
And of the poorest of the people, and the rest of the people who remained in the city, and the deserters who had fallen away to the king of Bavel, and the rest of the multitude, Nevuzaradan the chief executioner exiled. The poorest of the people are those who remained, for we saw that the craftsmen and the smiths had already been exiled, when? In the exile of Yehoyachin, correct? Already then we saw that the craftsmen and the smiths were exiled. Who remained here? Whom did Nevuchadretzar leave here? The poorest of the people, he left them as vinedressers and farmers, correct? So now when he exiles, he exiles even the poorest of the people. And the rest of the people who remained in the city, and the deserters who had fallen away to the king of Bavel. Note, those who were left as vinedressers and farmers he still does not exile, yes? Rather the poorest of the people apart from them. And the rest of the multitude. First of all, what are the deserters who had fallen away to the king of Bavel? There were people who, out of fear that perhaps the king of Bavel would enter and kill all those in the city, came and surrendered before him. They went out to the king of Bavel in a further surrender, they said to him we are ready to accept your authority. And this is indeed what Yirmiyahu the prophet said. He said to them surrender before the king of Bavel, accept his authority, he rules and governs by Hashem. These are those who fell away, the deserters who had fallen away to the king of Bavel.
And the rest of the multitude, by the way, if you recall, Tzidkiyahu was afraid of them. When the prophet said to him go and fall before the king of Bavel, go and make peace with him, accept his authority over you, he said to him I am afraid that he will hand me over to the Jews who have already fallen away to him. That is, and they will say to me, ah, you did not come until now, I will give you over to those who came until now, they will deal with you. And they, God forbid, these people would supposedly torment him. For they supposedly opposed him, Tzidkiyahu. So therefore for this reason Tzidkiyahu was not willing to come and accept upon himself the authority of Nevuchadnetzar.
And the rest of the multitude, let us note, it is written "amon" but the meaning is "hamon," the multitude. And the rest of the multitude Nevuzaradan the chief executioner exiled. Whom did he leave? And of the poorest of the land Nevuzaradan the chief executioner left as vinedressers and farmers. The poorest of the land, from those who were the poorest of the poor, that is, not those who would try to rebel against him, from these he left as vinedressers and farmers. What are vinedressers? Those who deal with the vines. And why are they called "kormim"? Because they gather and heap up the piles of grapes. "Likrom" means to gather, like "la'arom." And "yogvim," what are yogvim? The meaning is those who dig pits in the ground. This is like wine presses, for a wine press too is a pit in the ground. Our Rabbis said these were catchers of the chilazon. People who were experts in catching the chilazon, from which they extracted the techelet.
And the bronze pillars that belonged to the House of Hashem, and the stands, and the bronze sea that was in the House of Hashem, the Kasdim broke, and carried all their bronze to Bavel. The bronze pillars that belonged to the House of Hashem, there were large bronze pillars as he will mention shortly. And the stands, what stands are being discussed? Were there stands in the Beit HaMikdash? Good. We learned that the basins, we saw that there were ten basins that Shlomo made, and why were they called stands? Because the basins stood on a stand, and these basins had wheels, so that these basins were mobile. They were called the stands. And the bronze sea, what is the bronze sea? This is the sea that Shlomo made. The sea that Shlomo made had a diameter of ten amot, and its circumference was thirty amot. Yes, its diameter of ten amot means five meters was the diameter. Do you understand what a sea of such a diameter is? It was made of bronze, cast bronze, and it served, whoever knows what it served for? The sanctification of the hands and feet. There were oxen, twelve oxen upon which the sea stood, and they would draw water from it and sanctify with these waters the hands and feet. The Kohanim before their service were obligated to sanctify their hands and feet. And to sanctify their hands and feet they would place the right hand on the right foot and take them together. After that the left hand on the left foot and take them together. This was their manner.
And the pots, and the shovels, by the way let us note, another thing, the previous pasuk: and the bronze sea that was in the House of Hashem they broke. Because it was so large it could not be removed, and such a huge thing could not be transported, and they also had no need for such a thing. Therefore they took it, broke it into pieces, for their need was for its bronze. So as raw material it was good, but the sea itself, this entire large basin, they had no need for it. And the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the sprinkling bowls, and the ladles, and all the bronze vessels with which they served, they took. They took the pots and the shovels, the pots and all these things are vessels that were used within the Beit HaMikdash to offer the sacrifices, to turn the pieces over on the fire, to throw the blood on the altar. The snuffers, these are musical instruments, yes. The sprinkling bowls, these are vessels in which they would place the blood and throw it on the altar, this is called a mizrak. The ladles and bronze vessels, this is what they would put the frankincense in. And everything they would take and serve with, all this they took, they took for themselves.
And the basins, and the fire pans, and the sprinkling bowls, and the pots, and the menorahs, and the ladles, and the bowls, whatever was of gold as gold and whatever was of silver as silver, the chief executioner took. Here he now describes what the chief executioner took, what the army of the Kasdim took. What we said earlier the army of the Kasdim took. And what is written here, the basins and the fire pans, the basins, Rashi says I do not know whether it is among the types of musical instruments. And Rashi wants to explain that these are like basins to receive the blood, as it is written "in the blood that is in the basin." And some interpret that it is from the language of front, yes. So Rashi says this is more reasonable. And the fire pans, with these they would rake the coals. And the sprinkling bowls and the pots and the menorahs and the ladles and the bowls, what are the bowls? These were the golden branches that they would place on the table, like sticks upon which they would place the lechem hapanim. The lechem hapanim they would not place directly on a surface, for from its heat, it had constant heat, so that it would not become moldy they would place it so that air could enter from below, so they would place it on a sort of reed. This is called the bowls. And the bowls, whatever was of gold as gold and whatever was of silver as silver, all this the chief executioner took. That is, this he took for the king's treasury.
The two pillars, this is what we mentioned earlier. What were they called? Yachin and Boaz. These were the names of the two pillars. The one sea, and the twelve bronze oxen that were under the stands, that King Shlomo made for the House of Hashem, the bronze of all these vessels was beyond weight. And here indeed there is a difficulty in the pasuk. Rashi says, and the sea, it is written here "and the twelve bronze oxen that were under the stands." Were the oxen under the stands? The oxen were under the sea. Under the large vat in which the water was. How does he suddenly connect the oxen that were under the stands? Rashi says I do not know how, for they were under the sea. And it seems to me that this is only like "by the stands." When it is written "under the stands" it does not mean it was literally beneath them, but beside them, since the stands were beside the sea that Shlomo made. The stands are the basins as we explained.
And the pillars, eighteen amot was the height of the one pillar, and a line of twelve amot encircled it, and its thickness was four fingers, hollow. The pillars, he describes to you how they were built. Eighteen amot was the height of the one pillar. How much is eighteen amot in height, in meters? Nine meters. According to the measure of the Chazon Ish it is even more. Nine meters was the height of the pillars. Do you understand what a tremendous height we are talking about? The height of three stories. And a line of twelve amot encircled it. Its circumference, that is, its circumference was twelve amot. That is to say its diameter was approximately four amot. No, the diameter is approximately a third of the circumference. So if the diameter is a third of the circumference it was four amot. Which means the diameter was two meters. Do you understand what size of pillar this is? A pillar of two meters, that is only its diameter. Its height is nine meters. And its thickness, how much is written its thickness? And its thickness was four fingers, hollow. That is, do not think two meters was a casting of bronze, that is a tremendous quantity. Rather, it was four fingers thick and in the middle it was hollow. Understood? It was hollow. How much are four fingers, Rav? What is it? Four fingers, a little less than a tefach. A finger is the thumb, the thumb is called two centimeters. Five fingers is a tefach, yes.
And a capital of bronze was upon it, and the height of the one capital was five amot, and a lattice and pomegranates were on the capital round about, all of bronze, and the same for the second pillar with pomegranates. Now he describes to us, these are essentially descriptions we already saw with El when Shlomo built the House. He describes to us that upon it was a capital. That is, when the pillar was built, if you noticed, whoever goes to where the Cardo is in Jerusalem, in the Old City, in the Jewish Quarter, he will see that there are pillars built and they have ornaments on top. This was the Herodian building style and the earlier building style, to make a pillar and above it a capital. This capital was part of the pillar's splendor, and also to support the ceiling, so they would make on top some casting that would be stronger. So he tells you, the height of the one capital was five amot. Just the capital was two and a half meters. Nine meters the height of the pillar, and just the capital itself, the capital almost the height of a house, yes? This itself was just the capital. How was it made? And a lattice. A lattice means it was a sort of net-work. And pomegranates, as ornaments are sometimes made, so you see sort of protruding pomegranates, ornaments and the like, so it was there with pomegranates. On the capital round about all of bronze, and the same for the second pillar with pomegranates, the same. And there were pomegranates, how many pomegranates encircled it? Ninety six to each direction, all the pomegranates a hundred upon the lattice round about. Yes? That is, per direction. Ninety six to each direction, meaning per direction, to each direction. All the pomegranates a hundred upon the lattice round about.
And the chief executioner took Serayah the chief Kohen, and Tzefanyah the deputy Kohen, and the three keepers of the threshold. Nevuzaradan the chief executioner now takes and searches for all the important ones. And therefore he searches for the Kohen Gadol, the chief Kohen, his name was Serayah. And Tzefanyah, this is the deputy of the Kohanim, Tzefanyah the deputy Kohen. And the three keepers of the threshold, they are the treasurers, Chazal say, those to whom the keys of the Azarah were entrusted. The directors, yes? The three treasurers. What is a treasurer? The saying of everything rests upon him. He says everything, he determines everything, this is called a treasurer. Yes, a director, yes. They are called treasurers.
And from the city he took one officer who was in charge of the men of war, and seven men of those who saw the king's face who were found in the city, and the scribe of the army commander who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land who were found within the city. All these people he took with him, as we said that these people were more important people. And what did he do with them? And Nevuzaradan the chief executioner took them and brought them to the king of Bavel at Rivlah. He brings them before Nevuchadnetzar. And the king of Bavel struck them and put them to death at Rivlah in the land of Chamat, and Yehudah was exiled from its land. The king of Bavel kills them, Nevuchadnetzar was exceedingly wicked, Chazal say that in his days he cast terrible and dreadful fear upon everyone. He kills and murders them and exiles Yehudah from its land.
This is the people whom Nevuchadretzar exiled: in the seventh year, three thousand and twenty three Jews. In the eighteenth year of Nevuchadretzar, eight hundred thirty two souls from Jerusalem. In the twenty third year of Nevuchadretzar, Nevuzaradan the chief executioner exiled seven hundred forty five Jewish souls; all the souls totaling four thousand six hundred. Let us explain. Chazal say, we will now learn the chronology, how the order was. Chazal say when Nevuchadnetzar was made king, in the first year Chazal say he went and conquered Ninveh. In the second year he went up and conquered Yehoyakim. In the year, that is, he actually took power here, seized the place here. In the eighth year of Nevuchadnetzar's reign, which is essentially the seventh year of his conquest of Yehoyakim, for a year after he became king he conquered. So the eighth year of his reign is the seventh year of Yehoyakim, then he exiles Yechonyah. Yechonyah is also called Yehoyachin, yes, it is the same thing. So he exiles the exile of Yechonyah. In the nineteenth year of his reign, which is essentially the eighteenth year of Yehoyakim, he exiles Tzidkiyahu. In the twenty third year of Nevuchadnetzar, which is essentially the twenty fourth year of the conquest of Yehoyakim, which is, yes, a year later, then the chief executioner exiles seven hundred forty five Jewish souls, that is, all those who remained here after the exile of Tzidkiyahu, still remained here, and he does a general cleanup. Chazal say then Tyre was besieged by his hand, and he swept away the Yehudah that was around Amon and Moav, 745. So it appears in Seder Olam, that then he essentially cleaned out and left nothing here. Only a few people? Correct, the earlier exiles had already exiled the majority. The exile of Yehoyachin was the main exile, and afterward those who were exiled were a minority. There are, in truth, other accounts, and in Sefer Melachim there are different numbers, and the contradictions between them are reconciled, but it is not our way to enter into all sorts of reconciliations between books, since this is a more mathematical topic, yes? We explain the general description of what happened.
And it came to pass in the thirty seventh year, pasuk 31, in the thirty seventh year of the exile of Yehoyachin king of Yehudah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty fifth of the month, Evil Merodach king of Bavel, in the year he became king, raised the head of Yehoyachin king of Yehudah, and brought him out of the prison house. In the thirty seventh year of the exile of Yehoyachin, that is thirty eight years, thirty, this comes out to forty six years from when Nevuchadnetzar began to reign, yes? In the twelfth month on the twenty fifth of the month, Evil Merodach raised. Who was Evil Merodach? The son of Nevuchadnetzar. And as you recall, actually you will recall tomorrow, we have not yet learned this, we will learn it with the help of Hashem in Daniel, Nevuchadnetzar was cast out for seven years and was like a beast of the field. During those seven years who reigned in his place? Evil Merodach. And this Evil Merodach did a foolish act, he arose to reign without taking the risk that your father would return. And his father indeed returned after seven years, took back the place here, and received the kingship, and sent his son Evil Merodach to prison. Afterward when Nevuchadnetzar died, again Evil Merodach his son arose to reign, but then he was afraid. He said who says my father is dead? Perhaps he will return again? So it is written that after they buried Nevuchadnetzar he commanded to take out his bones from the grave, "and now you are cast out like a contemptible branch." So they promised Nevuchadnetzar that part of the good promises he would have was that they would cast him out of the grave in disgrace. This is part of what was said to him. So here his son did this to him. Why? He said I want to be sure that my father does not return anymore. Once was enough for me, I want to see, until I do not see his bones thus crumbled, scattered, no, I do not believe it. Yes, and then he brought him out of the prison house. He brought him out of the prison house, and then he took him out of the grave. What was the size of Nevuchadnetzar, does anyone know? Some say an amah, some say a tefach. A small measure. A tefach. This was his size. What? Yes. Here it is written that he was an amah, yes. You see, he was very concentrated. Cruelty that was very concentrated. In truth, it is not necessary that this is discussed according to the plain meaning. It is not necessary. It is possible, no, no, it is possible, no, many times when Chazal speak of measures, they are not speaking of physical size, for that does not interest them. "And Avraham made a great feast." What do I care? 3,000 invited, there were 10,000, what does it interest me how many were invited? Rather what is a great feast? Chazal say that the great ones of the world were at it. That is a great feast. The greatness that Chazal examine is not the physical part, that is not, that is not an important thing. So the importance, exactly. So for example it is written about Shimshon that he was capable, the Gemara says that between Shimshon's shoulders was thirty amot. So the Gemara says. So what, will a person come and say ah, this, this is not a person, this is Gulliver. What, he had fifteen meters of shoulder width? Rather no, when Chazal said this, from where did they learn it? From where did Chazal know he had thirty amot? The gates of Yericho, the gates of Aza, excuse me, they are no less than thirty amot. So how did he manage to lift them on his shoulders? Necessarily his shoulders were thirty amot. So the Gemara says. So indeed there too, would it enter the mind that his shoulders were truly thirty amot? Rather they tell you, you want to know what power was concentrated in Shimshon's shoulders? He had power concentrated as a person has, imagine a person with shoulders of thirty amot, fifteen meters of shoulders, this is the power that was concentrated in Shimshon in one person. So again, when they spoke they did not speak of quantity, they spoke of quality. Regarding Og too it is thus, Rav? No, regarding Og it is written explicitly that he was a giant. No, there it is written explicitly that he was a giant. So if so, here too, it is quite possible that what is written about Nevuchadnetzar that he was small does not mean his natural size, but his personality. That in terms of his personality he was a small man. Yes? That is, there is a person who arises to reign and you say listen, this person is a king. You see it in him, in his conduct, in his personality he is a king, and the role suits him. But there is a person who arises to reign, and you say he is not a king, he is a slave. In his conduct, in his personality, you see it in him, he is a lowly man among the lowly. He is a small man. This, by the way, only shows the reality, how bad the reality is if a small man arises to reign. This I told you once, when small people cast a large shadow, it is a sign that the sun is setting. Understand? This is a deep matter. When small people cast a large shadow, then only at sunset can such a thing happen. A sign that we are in a state of decline. If you see all sorts of people capable, this one becomes prime minister, this one becomes president, this one becomes this, and these are small people as we know, it tells you, we are truly in decline. Let us continue.
And he spoke kindly with him, and set his throne above the thrones of the kings who were with him in Bavel. Evil Merodach brings him out of the prison house and changes his situation. And he spoke kindly with him, he does not treat him harshly, but in a gentle and pleasant manner. And he set his throne above the thrones of the kings, that is, above the thrones of the kings. The kings had certain thrones where they would sit according to their importance. He elevated his throne and set for him a throne that would be more important than all of them. That is, we see that Evil Merodach truly esteemed Tzidkiyahu. And he changed his prison garments, and he ate bread before him continually all the days of his life. And he changed his prison garments. Says the Malbim, we saw regarding Yosef it is written "and he changed his garments." And here it is written "and he changed his prison garments." What is the difference? Says the Malbim, "and he changed his garments" means he had other garments, say prisoner's garments, pajamas, yes, and they exchanged them for royal garments. This is "and he changed his garments," they exchanged, they gave in their place other garments. In contrast, "to change," he says the meaning is not I brought him another garment, but I left him the same garment and only changed it. Is the difference clear? Exactly. If I say I made a change in the house, so what, did I exchange the house? I renovated the house. If I say I exchanged the house, then I moved to another house. So he says regarding Yosef it is written "and he changed his garments," other garments. In contrast, here it is written "and he changed his prison garments." Says the Malbim, he left him the same garments, only in prison too there he says he did not have soiled or dirty or damaged or degrading garments, he had dignified garments, only there was on them some sign or symbol, some patch, something that proves you are a prisoner. Prison service. He had something, there was some patch on it, and this is "and he changed his prison garments." The meaning is he removed that mark of disgrace, and through this he changed his garments so that his garments would be finer garments. But these are the same garments, do not think he exchanged them. And his provision, a continual provision was given to him from the king of Bavel, a daily portion every day, until the day of his death, all the days of his life. A continual provision was given to him from the king of Bavel, that is, he would send him lunch every day. He took care of him, yes, a regular catering, there was food from the king's house. This concludes Sefer Yirmiyahu.