Chapter 13 of Zechariah continues the prophecies of the End of Days: the opening of a spring of water for the House of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the eradication of idolatry and false prophets from the land, and finally the prophecy of the sword, the refining and the purging that the world will undergo until the tested, purified third remains. We will proceed through the verses in order, primarily following the Malbim, alongside the Radak, Rashi, Ibn Ezra, the Metzudos, and Targum Yonatan.
בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יִהְיֶה מָקוֹר נִפְתָּח לְבֵית דָּוִיד וּלְיֹשְׁבֵי יְרוּשָׁלָ͏ִם לְחַטַּאת וּלְנִדָּה׃ - On that day a fountain shall be opened for the House of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for purification and for sprinkling.
The Radak notes that this verse can be understood according to its plain meaning. Our Sages likewise juxtaposed this verse with the statement, "Living waters shall go out from Jerusalem": Could it be that other springs will mix with them? The verse teaches, "a fountain shall be opened for the House of David" - it is a single source, for purification and for sprinkling. Our Sages also said that once the water reaches the entrance to the House of David, it becomes a mighty river, as it is stated, "On that day a fountain shall be opened for the House of David." According to the simple reading of the text, then, this refers to a flowing stream of water that will emerge from Jerusalem.
The Malbim explains according to the plain sense: At present, there are no spring waters in Jerusalem, but here Scripture promises that a special, designated source of living water will open for the House of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem - "for purification" (lechatas), meaning to purify oneself with it, and also for "the water of niddah." What is "the water of niddah"? The Malbim rejects the interpretation cited by the Radak that this refers to a zavah who requires living water, because a zavah does not require living water and can immerse in an ordinary mikveh; only a zav requires living water. Rather, "water of niddah" refers to the water mixed with the ashes of the Red Heifer (Parah Adumah), which is sprinkled upon the ritually impure.
Many mistakenly assume that the term "mei niddah" relates to the state of a niddah, but that is not the case at all. "Niddah" here is derived from the root for throwing and hurling, as in "they cast (vayadu) a stone at me," and as Scripture states, "the water of sprinkling (mei niddah) was not dashed upon him, he shall be unclean" - water that is cast and sprinkled. Thus, "mei niddah" here refers specifically to the water containing the ashes of the Red Heifer.
The Malbim adds: Yechezkel already prophesied about this matter, describing a great stream emerging from the Holy of Holies, which spreads all the way to the eastern and western seas. Zechariah himself will prophesy in the next chapter, "And it shall be on that day that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea." However, that will occur only after the final war of Gog and Magog, when an immense abundance will swell that stream. But after the first war of Gog and Magog, which our verse addresses, the water will not yet spread outward; rather, it will be reserved for the House of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem alone. Gog will come three times, and on the final occasion, the waters will multiply and reach both the eastern and western seas. This is the plain meaning of the text according to the Radak and the Malbim.
Targum Yonatan interprets these matters in a spiritual dimension: "At that time, the teaching of the Torah will be revealed like a flowing spring of water to the House of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and I will pardon their sins as they are purified with sprinkling-water and the ashes of the sin-offering heifer." In other words, at that time, Torah study will be open and flowing like a spring of water for the House of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and I will set aside their iniquities - forgiving them - just as one is purified with the water of sprinkling and the ashes of the Red Heifer.
The Malbim adopts this approach and expands upon it. He already explained in the Book of Yechezkel, where the spring and the great stream issuing from the Holy of Holies are mentioned, that this is an allegory and metaphor for the spread of the waters of divine knowledge, and the river of Torah and faith, which are compared to water. After the first war, this will begin spreading only from the House of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. This river is an expression of cleansing, refinement, and washing away: removing the sin of alien philosophies, and purifying the defilement of foolishness, folly, flawed beliefs, and any trace of idolatry. Proof of this comes from the adjacent verse: "And it shall come to pass on that day that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land" - demonstrating that these waters, the waters of knowledge, are what cleanse distorted viewpoints and empty beliefs.
After the final war of Gog and Magog, the river will spread outward, reaching the eastern and western seas. At that time, the earth will be filled with the knowledge of Hashem as the waters cover the sea, and of this it is said, "On that day living waters shall go out from Jerusalem... and Hashem will be King over all the earth." There, the water is already spreading, and the waters of knowledge are no longer the exclusive domain of the House of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. On the third occasion, the ultimate victory will take place, and then there will be an ever-expanding river - meaning that knowledge will abound throughout the entire world.
וְהָיָה בַיּוֹם הַהוּא נְאֻם ה' צְבָאוֹת אַכְרִית אֶת־שְׁמוֹת הָעֲצַבִּים מִן־הָאָרֶץ וְלֹא יִזָּכְרוּ עוֹד וְגַם אֶת־הַנְּבִיאִים וְאֶת־רוּחַ הַטֻּמְאָה אַעֲבִיר מִן־הָאָרֶץ׃ - "And it shall come to pass on that day, says Hashem of Hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they shall no longer be remembered; and I will also remove the prophets and the spirit of impurity from the land."
"The idols" (atzabbim) refers to idolatry. But seemingly, if Hashem cuts off their names, why is it necessary to add "and they shall no longer be remembered"? The Malbim explains: the intention is that even after they cease to exist, people will not remember them. For today, a person can remember that there was once a particular kind of idolatry or another, and regarding this the verse says that in the future, even this memory will be completely erased.
"And also the prophets" - the prophets of the Baal. The Malbim explains that this refers to those prophets who are still found in India, China, and Japan, where they still worship idols. Furthermore, the Malbim adds, it refers to those who prophesy, meaning the preachers who speak with eloquent rhetoric to draw people after vain beliefs. And he cites the Abarbanel, who writes that there are still in Eretz Yisrael prophets of the Quran, who fall to the ground like epileptics and speak words of prophecy in the name of their false prophet through the spirit of impurity that rests upon them; and when Hashem reveals Himself, He will remove this spirit of falsehood as well.
Baruch Hashem, this spirit of falsehood has long since passed, and today there are no Muslims who prophesy and speak nonsense as he describes. But five hundred years ago, this was the reality - people who acted like Muhammad. For this was Muhammad's own way: historians say that he suffered from epilepsy, and he would fall to the ground with his whole body trembling. To explain what was happening to him, they claimed he was receiving prophecies and recounted supposedly divine words spoken to him, according to his delusions and fantasies. Those who followed in his footsteps imitated him, behaving like a madman - which is how the Rambam refers to him.
The Metzudat Tzion explains: idolatry is called this because they bring sorrow (me'atzvin) to the hearts of their worshipers. They sadden the worshiper's heart, for people cry out to them and receive no answer, which brings deep anguish and frustration to the one crying out. In modern terms, one might say: it gets on the nerves of whoever cries out to it. At a certain point, a person gets fed up, kicks it, and walks away. He shouts and shouts and sees there is no reception; he discovers there are network issues and "the subscriber you have dialed is currently unavailable," and ultimately he loses his temper at it. Thus, in our terms as well, it is called atzabbim.
וְהָיָה כִּי־יִנָּבֵא אִישׁ עוֹד וְאָמְרוּ אֵלָיו אָבִיו וְאִמּוֹ יֹלְדָיו לֹא תִחְיֶה כִּי שֶׁקֶר דִּבַּרְתָּ בְּשֵׁם ה' וּדְקָרֻהוּ אָבִיהוּ וְאִמּוֹ יֹלְדָיו בְּהִנָּבְאוֹ׃ - "And it shall come to pass, if anyone prophesies anymore, that his father and his mother who bore him will say to him, 'You shall not live, for you have spoken lies in the name of Hashem'; and his father and his mother who bore him will pierce him through when he prophesies."
The Malbim explains: people will no longer prophesy for two reasons. First, no one will be found to believe them, and therefore false prophets will cease to exist. Second, even his own parents will pierce him through for his prophecy, since they know it is a false prophecy.
And why does the verse specify "his father and his mother who bore him"? The Malbim explains: foster parents, such as a nursemaid or adoptive parents, are also referred to as a father and mother by extension. Therefore, Scripture often adds "who bore him" - specifically those who brought him into the world, and not adoptive parents. Similarly, we find "your mother who bore you," for otherwise one might have thought it refers to an adoptive mother.
וְהָיָה בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יֵבֹשׁוּ הַנְּבִיאִים אִישׁ מֵחֶזְיֹנוֹ בְּהִנָּבְאֹתוֹ וְלֹא יִלְבְּשׁוּ אַדֶּרֶת שֵׂעָר לְמַעַן כַּחֵשׁ׃ - "And it shall come to pass on that day that the prophets will be ashamed, every one of his vision when he prophesies, and they will not wear a hairy cloak in order to deceive."
On that day, each of them will be ashamed of his vision: he will realize that what he envisioned was a false vision, merely a product of the imagination, and consequently he will be ashamed to prophesy. Not only that, but "they shall not wear a hairy mantle." The hairy mantle was a unique garment worn by prophets and nazirites, and whoever wished to resemble them and appear as a prophet would put on a hairy mantle - adopting a costume. The prophet says that they will no longer do such a thing; on the contrary, by not wearing it, he will be able to claim: "I am no prophet; after all, I do not possess a hairy mantle." This is the meaning of "in order to deceive" (lema'an kachesh) according to the Malbim - so that he can deny and claim that he is not a prophet.
The Malbim offers an additional explanation: the hairy mantle is like sackcloth, and sackcloth emaciates the flesh, distressing and weakening the body, as in the verse, "and my flesh is emaciated from lack of fatness" (kchash mishamen). According to this, lema'an kachesh is not from the language of denial or deception, but rather from the emaciation of the body, for the afflictions they took upon themselves were thought to be effective in bringing down upon them a spirit of impurity.
Rashi explains something that seems as though it were written in our own time: such is the way of instigators and seducers - they wrap themselves in their talis as if they were righteous people, in order that their deceptions will be accepted. In short, Rashi was familiar with the "babbas." Various charlatans who don a robe found in the attic of some grandfather from Morocco, claiming it belonged to this or that holy sage; they wrap themselves in a talis, and some even walk around wearing tefillin while committing all their abominations, so that anyone seeing them imagines standing before an exalted saint. All this is "in order that their deceptions will be accepted," so that people believe this is a genuine holy man, rather than Ali Baba and the forty thieves.
And usually this goes hand in hand, for all these "Ali Babas" maintain a lucrative cash box and very steady revenues. A person was once sent to one of them, being told that the "rabbi" could perform a tikkun: a standard tikkun for 600 shekels, and an "extra" tikkun - where the "rabbi" personally opens the Holy Ark - for 1,200 shekels. That was some twenty years ago, when 1,200 shekels equaled an entire month's kollel stipend. When he remarked that this was a great deal of money, the attendant replied: "No need to worry; we accept standing orders, credit cards, we have an office - all payment options are at your disposal, as long as you pay." This is "wearing a hairy mantle in order to deceive": a person puts on a mantle and becomes a "babba," and soon enough it is Ali Baba and the forty thieves. This is the kind of fraud and deception that is all too common today. For those interested, a comprehensive lecture on the subject of these self-styled "babbas," exposing their deceitful methods and citing the warnings of the Gedolei Yisrael to stay far away from them, is available on the website.
וְאָמַר לֹא נָבִיא אָנֹכִי אִישׁ־עֹבֵד אֲדָמָה אָנֹכִי כִּי אָדָם הִקְנַנִי מִנְּעוּרָי׃ - And he shall say: "I am no prophet, I am a tiller of the soil, for a man acquired me from my youth."
The Metzudas David explains: He will deny it and say, "I am no prophet at all; I am a tiller of the soil." And if you ask why he isolates himself in the field, as was the custom of the prophets who would meditate alone in the fields, he will answer that this was not to receive prophecy, but rather his labor in the field - to plow and to sow. As for "for a man acquired me from my youth," there is an innovative interpretation here: even what I prophesied from my youth - for we are speaking of people with a past of prophesying - was not spoken by the word of Hashem; rather, a seducer like myself instilled in me the acquisition of prophecy to prophesy falsely, tempting and misleading me. In other words: "What you saw me prophesy in the past was a deception; an instigator instilled in me the ways of false prophecy from my youth, and I thought it was true." Now he will try to divest himself of this by any means possible, for he will understand the shame and disgrace of what he did.
There are several approaches to the meaning of hiknani ("acquired me"). One is as mentioned above, that a seducing man instilled in him the false prophecy. Rashi cites Menachem that hiknani is related to mikneh (livestock): that is, "I do not deal in prophecies; they appointed me from my youth to guard livestock - I was placed in charge of the herds." And the Malbim explains that "a man acquired me from my youth" means that someone purchased him from his youth as a laborer to work his field. From here, says the Malbim, you learn that it will be a greater honor for a person to say he is a laborer of the earth, or even to say he is an enslaved servant bought with money for manual labor, than to say "I am a prophet." So terrible will be the disgrace for false prophets to admit to their prophecy that one would rather say he is a simple peasant, rather claim he has been a man's slave from a young age - just so he is not accused of prophecy.
וְאָמַר אֵלָיו מָה הַמַּכּוֹת הָאֵלֶּה בֵּין יָדֶיךָ וְאָמַר אֲשֶׁר הֻכֵּיתִי בֵּית מְאַהֲבָי׃ - And one shall say to him: "What are these wounds between your hands?" And he will say: "Those with which I was struck in the house of those who love me."
Yet they will not let him off so easily; rather, they will confront him with difficult questions. The Malbim explains: when false prophets would prophesy, they would gash themselves with swords and lances and beat one another so that the spirit would rest upon them, shedding blood, as it says, "and they gashed themselves according to their custom with swords and lances until the blood gushed out upon them." And when he denies it and insists he is no prophet, they will ask him: "If you are not a prophet, what are these scars between your hands, between your arm joints - on your elbows? After all, the blemishes and bruises prove that you were a false prophet, for such was their practice."
And he will deny this as well, saying: No, these are not the ritual wounds of false prophets, but rather wounds I received in the house of my lovers - because I did not walk on the straight path, they beat me. Here again we see to what lengths a person will go to deny that he is a prophet: he would rather say that he was beaten for improper behavior, as long as they do not accuse him of prophecy. For whoever is accused of false prophecy suffers great disgrace and everlasting shame, in the words of the Malbim.
חֶרֶב עוּרִי עַל־רֹעִי וְעַל־גֶּבֶר עֲמִיתִי נְאֻם ה' צְבָאוֹת הַךְ אֶת־הָרֹעֶה וּתְפוּצֶיןָ הַצֹּאן וַהֲשִׁבֹתִי יָדִי עַל־הַצֹּעֲרִים׃ - "Awake, O sword, against My shepherd, and against the man who is My associate, says the Lord of Hosts: Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will scatter, and I will turn My hand back upon the young ones."
Rashi explains that the sword will fall upon Esav, whom the Holy One, blessed be He, placed in charge of the sheep of His exile. Esav is like a shepherd into whose hands Hashem entrusted the Jewish people, but instead of guarding the flock, he distressed them, tormented them, persecuted them, and killed among them. Therefore, "Awake, O sword" - let the sword awaken against the one whom I appointed over the sheep of My exile.
It should be noted: In our standard printed editions, Rashi reads "against the one whom I appointed over the sheep of My exile," without mentioning Esav, and likewise further on, "Strike the shepherd - the king of wicked Moav." But the censor's hand intervened in Rashi, and wherever Esav or Rome appeared, they altered and erased it. The Radak, living earlier, quotes Rashi in the original reading: "against Esav, whom I appointed over the sheep of My exile," and "Strike the shepherd - the king of wicked Rome." For Rome and Esav are Edom, which displeased the censors, so they replaced "Rome" with "Moav" - since Moav was an extinct nation and posed no problem, as long as Rome was not mentioned.
And who is "the man who is My associate"? Rashi explains: one whom I joined to Myself to watch over My flock as I do, like an associate to Hashem - as if an equal in this matter, for I guard My flock and he is like My colleague, to whom I said, "Come and watch My flock." Then the sword will awaken and say, "Strike the shepherd" - strike Esav, the king of wicked Rome, because instead of guarding them, he struck them and harmed them, and Hashem will cut off those shepherds.
The Radak also brings an explanation in the name of the Ibn Ezra, that this prophecy reflects the many wars that will occur with the coming of Mashiach ben Yosef. "My shepherd" refers to any gentile king whom the Holy One, blessed be He, gave dominion over the earth, who walks about with the feeling that he is a god - just as we saw with Nevuchadnetzar, Hiram king of Tzor, and others, who viewed themselves as deities. Therefore, Scripture calls him "the man who is My associate." According to this, it does not mean, as Rashi explained, that He joined him to Himself to guard His flock; rather, "My associate" reflects what is in that king's own mind: I appointed him to shepherd Israel, and in his own mind he is already My peer, in his mind he is already a deity - this is the fantasy the king imagines for himself. And then, "Strike the shepherd" - Hashem will strike down the shepherd and cut off those among the nations who presume to lead the Jewish people.
"And the sheep will scatter" - the sheep too will be dispersed, meaning they will leave the exile. And who are "the young ones" (hatzo'arim)? The Malbim explains: the subordinates, the priests who follow him, who afflict themselves in his honor to practice asceticism, as is known. Here too, the Malbim speaks veiledly, referring to monks - those ascetics who practice celibacy and do not marry and the like - and concerning them too, the Holy One, blessed be He, says, "and I will turn My hand back."
וְהָיָה בְכָל־הָאָרֶץ נְאֻם־ה' פִּי־שְׁנַיִם בָּהּ יִכָּרְתוּ יִגְוָעוּ וְהַשְּׁלִשִׁית יִוָּתֶר בָּהּ׃ - "And it shall come to pass in all the land, says the Lord, that two parts in it shall be cut off and perish, but the third shall be left in it."
The Malbim explains: The sword of each man against his fellow will awaken, and two-thirds will be cut off, leaving only one-third - and these are the adherents of the true faith, which will remain along with its believers. Notice that here as well, the Malbim does not write "Judaism" explicitly, but rather "the adherents of the true faith," and in order not to incite conflict with the Christians, he did not state that the Christians will be destroyed. But we know that there are three major faiths, and if one-third remains who are the believers of the true faith, that means that two - the adherents of Islam and the adherents of Christianity - will perish, and the third is the one that will endure.
The Radak, on the other hand, cites two interpretations here: some explain that one-third of the inhabitants of the Land will remain, while others explain that one-third of the inhabitants of the world will remain, meaning that two-thirds of the world's population will perish. And the Radak states that even among the nations of the world, only the good will remain, those who will serve God, blessed be He; and "two parts" - two portions of them - will be cut off: some by the sword, as we saw in the previous verse, "Awake, O sword," and some will "perish," namely through pestilence and plague. The third that is left will remain in the land of the living. And Rashi says: the third that remains will convert and live, meaning that there will no longer be gentiles, but those who remain will have the status of righteous converts.
וְהֵבֵאתִי אֶת־הַשְּׁלִשִׁית בָּאֵשׁ וּצְרַפְתִּים כִּצְרֹף אֶת־הַכֶּסֶף וּבְחַנְתִּים כִּבְחֹן אֶת־הַזָּהָב הוּא יִקְרָא בִשְׁמִי וַאֲנִי אֶעֱנֶה אֹתוֹ אָמַרְתִּי עַמִּי הוּא וְהוּא יֹאמַר ה' אֱלֹהָי׃ - And I will bring the third part through the fire, and refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested; he will call upon My name and I will answer him; I will say, 'He is My people,' and he will say, 'Hashem is my God.'
Rashi, consistent with his approach, explains that this refers to converts: that third of the nations that remains and converts will suffer and bear the birth pangs of the Messianic era and the wars of Gog and Magog along with the Jewish people. Why? Because this will be their test, examining whether they truly joined the Jewish people with the full intention of sharing their destiny, or whether they will revert to their old ways. Rashi notes that many of them will initially regress and align themselves with Gog. Thus, this will be a genuine test, which is why the verse states, "And I will bring the third part through the fire and refine them" - there will be a process of refinement and clarification to reveal who truly converted and who converted merely to seek shelter with the Jewish people. And then, "he will call upon My name and I will answer him," meaning that when he prays, he will pray to Hashem and proclaim, "Hashem is my God," rather than turning back to his former gods. Thus far Rashi's explanation.
The Malbim, on the other hand, explains that "And I will bring the third part through the fire" refers to the third of the Jewish people who will remain: I will bring them through the fire of suffering to refine them of dross, like a silversmith who passes metal through the flame. "And test them" - this is an additional stage, where after removing the dross, a further test is conducted to see whether they were properly refined, just as gold is tested by being smelted and refined even more rigorously than silver. In the end, only the completely righteous will remain.
And who are these completely righteous individuals? "He will call upon My name and I will answer him" - such a righteous person that when he prays to Me, his prayer is immediately answered. "I will say, 'He is My people,' and he will say, 'Hashem is my God'" - a person who attains true closeness to God, who accepts the sovereignty of the Creator in full, with only "Hashem is my God," without any other deities, alien beliefs, or false ideologies. This will be the refinement and testing of the future era.
The Gedolei Yisrael have already pointed out that these are the very trials of our own generation. We are living in a generation of refinement, clarification, and purification - an era in which Heaven is testing whether we belong to Hashem, or whether a person clings to all the nonsense and vanity, believing in the Holy One, blessed be He, but also in a thousand other distractions. Does a person follow the Gedolei Yisrael, or does he follow his smartphone? Where does he truly stand? This is how a person will be tested, and in the World to Come, he will have no justification to explain why he held onto a non-kosher phone.
This is the great challenge of our generation: a person feels that he simply must have it and cannot manage without it. Yet a decade ago, you managed just fine without it; you lived and survived, Baruch Hashem. Even today, there are people who do not carry a phone at all, not even a kosher one. Rav Yitzchak Yosef said that holding a phone distracts him, so he goes without a phone entirely. While we may not be on that high level, and a kosher device has been arranged for us, that is all the more reason why there is no excuse to engage with things that are not kosher. This is a generation of refinement, clarification, and purification, and in this generation, every person determines which side he belongs to: are we among the servants of Hashem, or, Heaven forbid, the opposite?
The chapter opens with the spring of water opened for the House of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem - on the literal level, a spring of living waters for purification and the water of the ashes of the Parah Adumah (Red Heifer), and metaphorically, the waters of divine knowledge and the river of Torah and faith that cleanse from the impurity of foolishness and false beliefs, spreading initially only in Jerusalem and ultimately across the entire land. The prophet then describes the elimination of idols and false prophets, to the point where the prophet himself will be ashamed of his false visions and will prefer to be called a farmer or a bondsman rather than be called a prophet. Finally, the prophecy speaks of the sword striking the shepherd, the destruction of two-thirds, and the preservation of the remaining third, who will pass through the refining fire and the testing of gold until only the completely righteous remain - those who will call upon the name of Hashem and be answered immediately. This is also the test of our generation: a generation of refinement, clarification, and purification. May Hashem grant us the merit to serve Him with a whole heart, Amen and Amen.