Introduction: The Vision of the Fall of Babylon
From here onward, the Malbim explains, the prophet begins to show us the vision of Babylon's downfall. While we saw that regarding the appointed time he was told, "there is yet a vision for the appointed time" - meaning that a separate prophecy will be given regarding the time of the redemption - He does inform him of the manner in which events will unfold. Even though He does not reveal when, He does reveal how.
These matters refer to what occurred in the third year of Belshazzar. It is written there, "made a great feast" and "drank wine before the thousand" - he made a grand banquet, and at that wine feast he ordered the Temple vessels to be brought before him, and they drank from them, and he gave them to his concubines to drink from as well, thereby praising their idols and pagan gods. They then spoke against the Master of the Universe, claiming that He was no longer capable of redeeming His people - that His hand was shortened. We calculated, they thought: seventy years were foretold, and seventy years have already passed while the Jewish people remain under our rule. In reality, he miscalculated the time from the earlier exiles, and was mistaken.
Then the Holy One, blessed be He, sent a hand that wrote on his palace wall: "Mene, Mene, Tekel, u-Farsin." Daniel interpreted it for him: because you desecrated the sanctity of Hashem, because you ascribed to yourself divinity and power and claimed that your idolatry assisted you - because of this, your kingdom is "broken up" (nifresat). And what does nifresat mean? Not only divided, but given over to Persia (Paras). And that division itself is called nifresat, for until now Babylon possessed a single unified empire, and now the kingdom was divided between Media and Persia, split into two. "In that very night Belshazzar was killed" - on that very night of the revelry he hosted and the hand that wrote on the palace wall, he was slain by his servants, and with that came the end of the Babylonian Empire.
And after the prophet established the matter earlier - "Then his spirit swept through, and he passed on and became guilty, attributing this power to his god," which described for us his might, his wickedness, and his attribution of strength to his god - he paused to address the dispute: how Chavakuk turned to the Holy One, blessed be He, saying, Master of the Universe, why do You look on as the wicked swallows one more righteous than he? Why do You grant success to the wicked and downfall and decline to the righteous? Now this vision arrives and details the matter for him.
"How Much More So, Wine is Treacherous" - The Insatiable Sheol
וְאַף כִּי־הַיַּיִן בֹּגֵד גֶּבֶר יָהִיר וְלֹא יִנְוֶה אֲשֶׁר הִרְחִיב כִּשְׁאוֹל נַפְשׁוֹ וְהוּא כַמָּוֶת וְלֹא יִשְׂבָּע וַיֶּאֱסֹף אֵלָיו כָּל־הַגּוֹיִם וַיִּקְבֹּץ אֵלָיו כָּל־הָעַמִּים׃ - How much more so, wine is treacherous, a haughty man will not abide; he who broadens his desire like Sheol, and he is like death and cannot be satisfied, but gathers to himself all the nations and collects to himself all the peoples.
The prophet tells him: Know that aside from the spirit of arrogance that overcame him, wine also betrayed that haughty man. The wine he drank drove him mad, leading him to go and desecrate the vessels of the Beis HaMikdash. Therefore, "he will not abide" - he will no longer remain in his dwelling, for he was immediately cast out from his palace.
"He who broadens his desire like Sheol" - he broadened the appetite of his craving. The word nefesh constantly serves as an expression of desire: "if it is your desire" - your will and longing; "let my life (nafshi) be given me at my petition" - to fulfill his desire, to grant his wish. He widened his craving like Sheol, which is never satisfied, as it is written, "Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied," as the Radak explains.
"And he is like death and cannot be satisfied" - the Malbim explains that in this figurative language, the prophet portrays death as the emissary of Sheol. Sheol is Gehennom, which expands its appetite to receive the wicked of the world; and Sheol and Abaddon, which continually cry "Give, give!", have, as it were, a subcontractor who ensures their clients are brought to them - namely death, which goes about bringing the deceased into Sheol and Abaddon to enter within. So it was with Nevuchadnezzar: the longing of his appetite to eat, drink, and amass wealth and pleasures was like Sheol, and he dispatched himself like death to kill many souls and cut down many nations. His craving was endless, his desire to dominate and rule never ceased, and he was never sated with putting people to death. Through this, "he gathers to himself all the nations" - gathering all those he conquered in his wars. He was just like death, the messenger of Sheol, bringing there all the nations he fought and conquered, without ever being satisfied.
Goyim and Ammim, Gathering and Collecting
Notice the dual phrasing: "he gathers to himself all the nations (goyim) and collects to himself all the peoples (ammim)." What is the difference between gathering (aseifah) and collecting (kibbutz), and between goyim and ammim, and why did the verse express the matter in two ways? The Malbim explains, as he has already clarified in several places: goyim generally refers to nations that have no king, the lower nations lacking an organized monarchy. Ammim, by contrast, denotes an orderly nation that possesses a king and a kingdom. The distinction is like that between tribal factions in Africa and kingdoms in Europe: in European kingdoms there is a monarch, a government, and everything is administered, whereas there they are tribal militias. Structured states, established upon laws, are called ammim.
Similarly, there is a difference between gathering in (le'esof) and assembling (lekabetz): one who assembles (mekabetz) gathers scattered things and brings them together into one place. One who gathers in (osef) does not deal with scattered things, but with something located outside that he takes inward. For example, Scripture states, "and he gathered up his feet into the bed" (vaye'esof raglav el hamitah), and does not say vayekabetz, for his feet were not scattered about outside requiring him to collect them. Lekabetz applies to scattered items; le'esof means taking something from the outside and bringing it into one's own domain.
Therefore: the nations (goyim), who are lesser and possess no sovereignty of their own, gather to him on their own, and he merely gathers them into his domain and annexes them to himself. But the prominent peoples (amim), who have their own sovereignty and power, Nebuchadnezzar must assemble by force, going out and gathering them one by one to amass them to himself. Therefore, regarding the amim, the text uses the term of assembling (kibbutz), whereas regarding the goyim, it uses the term of gathering in (asifah).
"Woe to Him Who Increases What Is Not His" - The Parable and the Metaphor
הֲלוֹא־אֵלֶּה כֻלָּם עָלָיו מָשָׁל יִשָּׂאוּ וּמְלִיצָה חִידוֹת לוֹ וְיֹאמַר הוֹי הַמַּרְבֶּה לֹּא־לוֹ עַד־מָתַי וּמַכְבִּיד עָלָיו עַבְטִיט׃ - "Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and an allegorical riddle against him, and say: 'Woe to him who increases what is not his! Until when? And who burdens himself with heavy pledges!'"
"Shall not all these" - all the nations he conquered will take up a parable against him. And what is "an allegorical riddle against him" (melitzah chidot lo)? The Malbim explains that the melitzah is the explanation of the parable, related to the expression "he advocated for him" (heilitz ba'ado) - the melitzah elucidates and gives meaning to the parable. Thus, the parable has a melitzah, which is the solution to the parable; and the solution to the parable is likewise stated as a riddle, not openly but in a concealed manner, as we will see further on.
Let us begin with the parable. "Woe to him who increases what is not his" - a parable of a person who constantly borrowed from others at interest. "Increases" (hamarbeh) is related to interest (neshech ve-tarbit), as in "Do not take from him interest or increase" (al tikach me'ito neshech ve-tarbit). And note carefully: these loans are "not his" - he is not taking them for his own needs. Not only that, but "until when?" - he has no time limit; he borrows and never pays back. Some loans are for thirty days, some for a year, but with him it is "net plus sixty years"; he has no due date and never speaks of a target date. "And burdens himself with heavy pledges" (u-machbid alav avtit) - he takes upon himself the pledge (avot) and the debt, committing to pay and giving a pledge to the lender so that he will be assured of recovering his funds, as in the language of the Torah. This is according to the Malbim.
There are additional interpretations here along a different path. Rashi explains that "he who increases what is not his" is already the interpretation itself: you, Nebuchadnezzar or Belshazzar, continually amass for yourself - yet in the end it is "not his," for the nations will come and conquer him, namely Media and Persia, so it turns out that this abundance is not yours. According to Rashi, "increases" (hamarbeh) does not refer to interest, but to the amassing of possessions: you went and amassed possessions, wealth, and sovereignty, and soon someone will come and plunder it all. "Until when" will you go on amassing, when you are doing nothing other than burdening yourself with a load like a "thick mass of clay" (av tit) - av meaning a beam, as in "the ribs of the house and the beams (ha-ubim)" and "thick boughs (avot etz)" - that is, a heavy beam of clay with which you burden yourself through all the wealth you collect, which will ultimately turn out not to be for you.
Similarly, Ibn Ezra cites in the name of the Nagid that the meaning is that he continually builds houses and dwellings for himself, and avtit here means that he adds more beams and houses for himself - yet it is not yours, for in the end they will come and plunder everything from you. Ibn Ezra also cites in the name of Yefet that avtit is like a madman who throws mud and clay upon himself and the clay weighs him down; so too in your behavior, you are like a person out of his mind, pouring heavy clay upon himself that weighs him down, and in the end they will come and take everything from him. The Radak cites an explanation in the name of his father: he does not realize that his end is the grave, and thus you are burdening yourself with avtit - bringing thick mud upon your grave to bury you. In simple terms: everything you collect will ultimately bury you.
"Shall Not Your Biting Creditors Arise Suddenly"
הֲלוֹא פֶתַע יָקוּמוּ נֹשְׁכֶיךָ וְיִקְצוּ מְזַעְזְעֶיךָ וְהָיִיתָ לִמְשִׁסּוֹת לָמוֹ׃ - "Shall not your biting creditors rise up suddenly, and those who shake you violently awake, and you will become booty for them?"
According to the Malbim, who explained "he who increases" (hamarbeh) in the sense of interest - that he takes enormous loans with interest and pledges with no means to repay - the parable continues here: "Shall not your biting creditors arise suddenly" (halo feta yakumu noshechecha) - those to whom you owe the interest (neshech, which literally means biting) will come and demand the interest payments you undertook. "And those who shake you violently awake" (ve-yiktsu meza'aze'echa) - the creditors will awaken from their sleep and shake you violently to pay the principal as well; earlier it spoke of interest, and now they will demand the principal from you too. And when you have nothing with which to pay - "and you will become booty for them." Thus far the parable, and from here he explains the melitzah, which is the solution to the parable. (The Malbim writes there, "this is the nimshal," but straightforwardly his meaning is that this is the parable, and there is apparently a scribal error.)
The Radak explains differently: you act arrogantly and assume that after your death you will rest in peace on your bed, that when your days come to an end you will pass away and be buried at a good old age - yet the prophet tells him: know that even there in the grave, "suddenly your biters will arise and those who shake you will awaken." The worms will arise and bite you, awakening as it were from their sleep to shake and agitate your flesh, cutting it into pieces, "and you will become booty for them" - they will tear your flesh apart. This is what he cites in the name of his father. He further explains that "your biters and those who shake you" was said concerning Belshazzar: when he derived illicit benefit from the vessels of the Beit HaMikdash and drank wine from them, a hand emerged and wrote Mene, Mene, Tekel u-Farsin; "those who shake you will awaken" - on that very night the army of Media and Persia came and killed him, and they are the ones who shake you violently, and they will destroy Babylon.
A third explanation is brought by the Radak, and this explanation fits very well with what is known to us: It is recounted concerning Nevuchadnezzar that when he disappeared and lived as a beast of the field for a full year, his son Evil-merodach arose to reign. When Nevuchadnezzar returned, he was displeased that someone had already arisen to replace him and take over the realm, and he had him cast into prison. Later, when Nevuchadnezzar died, Evil-merodach took no chances; he dragged his body out of the grave so as to make absolutely certain he was dead - so that it would be clear to all that the man was gone and the matter was finished, lest they think he was still alive and, just as he had vanished and returned, he might return again. According to this, what is written here fits remarkably well: they will arise and drag you from the grave, shake you, and jolt your corpse, "and you shall be for booty to them"; they will take you and toss you about. This is what is written, "And you were cast out of your grave like an abhorred branch" - the very casting out that Nevuchadnezzar suffered from his grave.
"Because you have despoiled many nations" - The Resolution of the Parable
כִּי־אַתָּה שַׁלּוֹתָ גּוֹיִם רַבִּים יְשָׁלּוּךָ כָּל־יֶתֶר עַמִּים מִדְּמֵי אָדָם וַחֲמַס־אֶרֶץ קִרְיָה וְכָל־יֹשְׁבֵי בָהּ׃ - Because you have plundered many nations, all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder you, because of the blood of men and the violence done to the land, to the city and all who dwell in it.
"Shallosa" - you plundered, or dispossessed, as Rashi explains. The Malbim explains: you plundered many nations, and the plunder you took from them was akin to a loan. Now the prophet returns to explain what that loan mentioned in the parable was, moving to the nimshal. You went and stripped nations of their wealth - did you really think you would not have to repay it? In the end, you will be called upon to settle all those "loans," for what you took will be taken from you, and with interest. If so, what is this if not a loan with interest? And that is the meaning of "he who amasses what is not his" - because in truth, this is not for you; Media and Persia will receive it. They are the ones who will take all the spoil you gathered, and you will have to pay, for you have taken upon yourself the pledge.
"All the remnant of the peoples shall plunder you" - this corresponds to "Will not your biters rise up suddenly": all those who remain from the nations you slaughtered will come and plunder you. "Because of the blood of men and the violence done to the land" - in repayment of the vast debt you must pay for the human blood you spilled and the violence and robbery you committed against the land, all the remaining nations will come and plunder from you "the city and all who dwell in it" - Babylon, the royal city. Your possessions will serve as repayment for the principal debt and the interest of human blood and violence to the land, for the people you killed and the lands you stole; you will have to pay for everything, and they will come and take from you everything you took.
Rashi, on the other hand, explains that "because of the blood of men and the violence done to the land" refers to vengeance for what you did to the Jewish people: "The blood of men [adam]" - this refers to the people of Israel, as Yechezkel states in chapter 34, "You are men [adam]" - you are called adam, whereas the nations of the world are not called adam; "and the violence done to the land" - this is Eretz Yisrael; "the city and all who dwell in it" - this is Jerusalem. In other words, all the retribution will be for what you did to the people of Israel, the Land of Israel, and Jerusalem. According to the Malbim, however, this refers to the other nations who will come and plunder him, for he did not abuse only us - Nevuchadnezzar ruled over the entire known world.
"Woe to him who covets evil gain for his house"
הוֹי בֹּצֵעַ בֶּצַע רָע לְבֵיתוֹ לָשׂוּם בַּמָּרוֹם קִנּוֹ לְהִנָּצֵל מִכַּף־רָע׃ - Woe to him who covets evil gain for his house, setting his nest on high, to be delivered from the power of evil.
The Radak explains that this cry of woe is addressed to Nevuchadnezzar, who greedily amassed evil plunder and robbed the nations, all for the sake of his house - to construct his house into a magnificent, fortified palace and to build up his city. The objective was "setting his nest on high": he built himself a high, fortified tower in order to be saved there from any enemy and from any hand of evil; he erected great citadels and imagined that when attackers came he would be saved, having fortified cities within which he would be exalted beyond the reach of his enemies.
And indeed he boasted in this manner, as the Radak cites from the Book of Daniel: "At the end of twelve months, he was walking upon the royal palace of Babylon" - he was walking about his royal palace in Babylon; "the king spoke up and said: Is this not great Babylon, which I have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?" - is this not the great Babylon that I built as a royal house through my immense might, by my power, and to enhance my glory?
These words came following what Daniel had told him regarding the dream he had seen - that he was destined to become like a beast of the field and seven periods of time would pass over him: "Break your sins through charity" - give charity to the poor, and this will remove the decree from you. From there, incidentally, there is proof from Scripture that charity saves from a bad dream, as discussed in Mishnat HaChalomot: as long as Nevuchadnezzar gave charity, the bad dream did not harm him. Only when "at the end of twelve months" he went up to his royal palace - Chazal relate that he heard a commotion outside; he asked what it was, and they told him that it was the soup kitchen he had opened for all the poor who came, which was the charity he had performed. And they asked: Why did Daniel give him such advice to endure, given that he was wicked? Rather, Daniel saw the distress and poverty of the Jewish people in that generation, and he saw to it that Nevuchadnezzar would establish a soup kitchen for their benefit. Then one day he grew tired of all these paupers and said: I am Babylon, I built it with all my wealth, so why should I support these poor people? "In that very hour the word was fulfilled upon Nevuchadnezzar" - at that moment, everything foretold in the dream came to pass; he was cast out of his palace and lived as a beast of the field. Anyone who wishes can hear the full account in the recorded series on Daniel.
Thus the prophet says to him: You coveted evil gain for your house in order to "set his nest on high," to boast in your house as you declared, "Is this not great Babylon, which I have built," and all this to demonstrate your might and be delivered from the power of evil - so that the nations would not march against you, thinking you possess fortified cities in which you will be secure.
The Malbim explains: the unjust gain you have gotten is the very gain that harms and ruins your own house, for it will ultimately cause the destruction of his house and his kingdom. What he gained from the nations will provoke them to rise up against him and reclaim everything he took from them. And because he sought "to set his nest on high" - to fortify the Babylonian Empire and elevate it above all kingdoms of the earth - and because he sought to be rescued from the grip of evil, so that no man could rule over him or seize the throne from his hand, the next verse follows.
יָעַצְתָּ בֹּשֶׁת לְבֵיתֶךָ קְצוֹת־עַמִּים רַבִּים וְחוֹטֵא נַפְשֶׁךָ׃ - You have devised shame for your house by cutting off many peoples, and forfeiting your own soul.
To achieve this goal, you devised counsel that brings shame upon your house. And what was this counsel? "By cutting off (*ketzot*) many peoples" - *liktzot* means to sever or cut down, like *liktzotz*; you plotted to cut down and destroy many nations. "And forfeit (*vechotei*) your own soul" - you also planned to cut down a certain sinner along with them, and who is that sinner you cut down in the process? Your own soul. In simple terms: you did not realize that you were sawing off the very branch on which you sit. You are confident - look, there are many nations on this branch, and I have cut down many peoples here! But you are told: yes, many nations and one more - and who is that? You, your own soul. Thus, you have cut yourself down as well. Throughout everything you inflicted upon the nations, you failed to grasp that you were actually bringing harm upon yourself. This is the meaning of "one who covets unjust gain" yet it is "evil for his house": you plundered and looted, but ultimately they will come and demand payment from you; you have harmed yourself. And this is the theme to which the prophet returns again and again.
Rashi explains "and forfeiting (*vechotei*) your soul" in the sense of "provokes anger and forfeits (*vechotei*) his soul" (Mishlei 20:2), meaning sinning so as to destroy your soul - through your actions, you destroyed your own soul. What is the root meaning of this word? The word *chet* denotes a lack or deficiency, as in "then I and my son Solomon shall be considered lacking (*chata'im*)" (I Kings 1:21). When someone misses a target, we say in Hebrew that he *hechti* the target, meaning he fell short of it. The same applies to every expression of sin: a person who has sin has a lack. Thus, "and forfeiting your soul" means you diminished your soul; you destroyed yourself through everything you did.
The Stone and the Beam - Parallel Clauses
כִּי־אֶבֶן מִקִּיר תִּזְעָק וְכָפִיס מֵעֵץ יַעֲנֶנָּה׃ הוֹי בֹּנֶה עִיר בְּדָמִים וְכוֹנֵן קִרְיָה בְּעַוְלָה׃ - For a stone shall cry out from the wall, and a beam from the woodwork shall answer it: Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed, and establishes a town with injustice!
The Malbim explains that here the clauses of the verses parallel one another: there are four clauses, where the first connects to the third and the second connects to the fourth. "For a stone shall cry out from the wall" - every single stone you laid into the wall of Babylon's construction will cry out to you, saying: "Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed!" You built Babylon with the blood you shed, murdering thousands and millions to build yourself a city. "And a beam from the woodwork shall answer it" - and what is a *kafis*? As Targum Yonatan translates, "*veshipa migo marisha*": a *marisha* is a major beam, and *shipa* is like a splinter or peg, a small piece of wood. That small piece of wood from within the beam will answer it and say: "Woe to him who establishes a town with injustice!"
Why does the stone cry out over bloodshed, while the wooden beam cries out over injustice? The Malbim explains: at the beginning of construction, a building is constructed from stones; therefore, the stones cry out over the blood you shed. Afterward, when the building is already standing, they place the wooden beams, and these cry out over the injustice and robbery you perpetrated to establish the city. Furthermore, "to build" (*livnot*) always denotes the beginning of construction, while "to establish" (*lekonen*) denotes its completion - as in "May the city of Zion be built and established," and as we recite in prayer, "Gladden us in its building" and then "Show us its perfection" - perfection and completion being the finish. And what is the completion of a building? The roof. Roofs were made from wood; today roofs are made of concrete, but in their time they lacked the technology to produce a stone ceiling unless they built vaulted structures - and indeed, ancient buildings were often dome-shaped, which was the only way to build a stone ceiling that would not collapse. Otherwise, they roofed with timber, the only material providing long beams suitable for spanning a ceiling. Therefore "town" (*kiryah*), says the Malbim, is related to *keirui* (roofing) - the wooden ceiling of the structure. Thus the wooden piece, the peg from the timber used for roofing, answers and says: "Woe to him who establishes a town with injustice!" Even the completion of the building was wrought through injustice. By that stage, he had finished conquering, slaughtering, and pillaging the nations - while the killing had ended, the robbery and extortion had not, and the injustice remained. Thus the stone, representing the foundation and beginning of construction, was built through the bloodshed of murdered human beings, while the roofing, representing its completion, was established through injustice - through the wealth, robbery, and plunder seized from all those conquered nations.
"Peoples Tire Themselves for the Fire" - Peoples and Nations
הֲלוֹא הִנֵּה מֵאֵת יְהֹוָה צְבָאוֹת וְיִיגְעוּ עַמִּים בְּדֵי־אֵשׁ וּלְאֻמִּים בְּדֵי־רִיק יִעָפוּ׃ - Behold, is it not from the Lord of Hosts that peoples tire themselves for the fire, and nations weary themselves for naught?
The Malbim explains: the wooden piece proclaims that this decree has issued from Hashem, to repay one who harmed others according to his wickedness. "Peoples tire themselves for the fire" - the fire that will ultimately consume his city proceeds from Hashem, and it takes hold of the city's timbered roofs, those very woods installed through injustice, as seen in the preceding verse. All the peoples will exhaust themselves trying to extinguish the flames, yet they will not succeed, for it is from Hashem that this fire has gone forth. Corresponding to this, the stone cries out from the wall: "and nations weary themselves for naught." Afterward, the stone walls will be demolished, and the nations will exhaust themselves trying to save the structure - *ye'afu* signifies weariness and strenuous exertion - but all their efforts will be in vain and bear no fruit. Jeremiah says the very same thing: "The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly demolished, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and peoples shall labor for vanity" - to save the stone wall - "and nations for the fire" - to save the wooden roofs and gates - "and they shall be weary" (Jeremiah 51:58). They will wear themselves out, and that is all they will gain; aside from utter exhaustion, they will achieve nothing.
What is the distinction between *amim* (peoples) and *le'umim* (nations)? The Malbim explains: *le'om* always describes a nation defined by a distinct religion, whereas *am* refers to a generic populace, even without a shared religion. Here, the prophet comes to describe how all will acknowledge the glory of Hashem - "Behold, is it not from the Lord of Hosts?" All will recognize that what unfolded here was orchestrated by the hand of Hashem, because Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the Beis HaMikdash and oppressed the nations, and the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Hashem.
And what is the distinction between yige'u ("labor") and ye'afu ("grow weary")? Yegi'ah (toil) comes from having invested effort; weariness (ayeifut), on the other hand, can be felt on its own. Ask someone: Did you exert yourself? "No, I didn't exert myself; I just feel weary." Yegi'ah always comes from having toiled, exerted oneself, and failed, whereas weariness is an internal state. Now understand how marvelous this is: the le'umim are the people of faith, nations that believe in Hashem, and therefore they ye'afu - they refrain from doing anything from the outset, because they know that it is bedei rik ("for vanity"), that there is no point in toiling and fighting against Hashem, for Hashem brought this about and they believe in Him. But the amim (the common peoples), who lack faith and do not acknowledge Hashem, will indeed fight against the Divine decree in which the fire has spread. Therefore, it is said of them, "and the peoples labor (yige'u) for fire" - they will actively exert themselves. Here there will be actual toil, not prior weariness; they will toil to extinguish it and will not succeed. The Malbim takes this opportunity to also explain the verse in Yirmiyahu where the terms appear in reverse order, but we will not dwell on that here.
"For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Hashem"
כִּי תִּמָּלֵא הָאָרֶץ לָדַעַת אֶת־כְּבוֹד יְהֹוָה כַּמַּיִם יְכַסּוּ עַל־יָם׃ - For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Hashem, as the waters cover the sea.
This came about through the desecration of the vessels of the Mikdash and through the writing that the angel inscribed on the wall. When Belshazzar brought out the vessels of the Mikdash and drank wine from them, because he was confident that there would be no redemption, a hand emerged and wrote upon the wall of his palace before everyone's eyes: Mene, Mene, Tekel, Ufarsin. He did not know how to interpret the writing, and asked Daniel to interpret it for him. Daniel told him that the Holy One, Blessed be He, was enraged at him for desecrating the vessels of the Mikdash, and for going and praising his gods, the gods of silver and gold, as though they had granted him success and it was through their power that he attained his stature. "Mene" - Hashem has numbered your kingdom; "Tekel" - and weighed it; "Ufarsin" - and divided it, for your kingdom has been divided and given to Persia. "Beleilya ketil Belshatzar" - that very night he was killed. Through this, the glory of Hashem and His Divine providence became known to all nations, seeing how He exacts retribution from one who derives illicit benefit from the vessels of the Mikdash - and that very night, he paid the price.
Radak adds that these words also allude to the banishment of Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar's grandfather, who was driven from his palace and turned into a beast of the field because of his arrogance, when he thought that everything was for him alone, and this was punishment for destroying the Beit HaMikdash. When people see how Hashem exacted retribution from Belshazzar and from Nebuchadnezzar, "the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Hashem, as the waters cover the sea." This became known to the kings of Media and Persia, who were then besieging Babylon, and through them the glory of Hashem was publicized: Come and see what happens to one who degrades the honor of Heaven.
"Woe to him who gives his neighbor drink" - Belshazzar's Feast
הוֹי מַשְׁקֵה רֵעֵהוּ מְסַפֵּחַ חֲמָתְךָ וְאַף שַׁכֵּר לְמַעַן הַבִּיט עַל־מְעוֹרֵיהֶם׃ - Woe to him who gives his neighbor drink, pouring out your wrath, and also making him drunk, in order to gaze upon their nakedness.
This is a difficult verse to understand, so let us explain it. The Malbim describes here how the punishment came upon Belshazzar for drinking from the vessels of the Beit HaMikdash and throwing a feast, confident that the Jewish people would never be redeemed, having miscalculated the years and feeling secure that he could relax. Regarding this it is said, "Woe to him who gives his neighbor drink" - Belshazzar gave drink to his companions, his nobles; he made a feast and served them all from the vessels of the Mikdash.
"Pouring out your wrath (mesapei'ach chamatcha), and also making them drunk" - the Malbim explains this based on the verse in Yirmiyahu (chapter 51): "With their heat I will prepare their feast, and I will make them drunk, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep." When they began drinking from the vessels of the Beit HaMikdash, they became heated, experiencing great heat - for it is a physical reality that when a person drinks alcohol, his body heat naturally rises. Afterward, they became drunk, and the drunkenness led them to sleep a perpetual sleep: because they became intoxicated and fell asleep, the Persians and Medes entered and slaughtered them. The sleep they fell into was a sleep from which they never awoke; they did not hear that Belshazzar was killed, they did not hear that the Persian and Median army had entered, and that army slew them while they slept, never to awaken again.
And this is what the prophet says to him: by serving your nobles wine in the vessels of the Beit HaMikdash, through this they were "attached" (nispechu - joined, as in "and they shall join themselves [venispechu] with the house of Jacob") to your rage and your heat (chamatcha and chumcha). For wine is always described in terms of heat, as in "with their heat (bechumam) I will prepare their feast," "for fury (cheimah)," "their heat," "grows hot" - all of these are terms of heat, and wine is constantly associated with heat. They joined in your heat, and through this the heat of the banquet intensified and swelled, and they also became deeply intoxicated. "In order to gaze upon their nakedness (me'oreihem)" - until ultimately they vomited up their wine from intense drunkenness, and everyone saw the vomit; figuratively speaking, this brought them great disgrace. And what is the meaning of me'oreihem? The Malbim explains that it is related to "be drunken and uncover yourself (vehi'ari)": a person who becomes drunk often vomits, pouring outward (me'areh) and expelling what he drank, like someone emptying a pitcher. This is "in order to gaze upon their nakedness (me'oreihem)" - that what they drank was emptied out, and through this they suffered profound disgrace in full public view.
Rashi cites the words of Chazal in the Gemara in Masechet Shabbat, explaining that "gives his neighbor drink, pouring out your wrath, and also making him drunk" was done out of anger: he was furious with the kings whom Nebuchadnezzar had conquered, and in his wrath he would give them drink, intoxicating them, and sodomizing them. This is "in order to gaze upon their nakedness" - in his wrath he would make them drunk and then subject them to that shameful act, all to demean and humiliate them and expose their disgrace, so that all would witness their degradation. Monarchs had an interest in doing this: when they conquered a king, they would humiliate him, which also caused the conquered subjects to witness their king's degradation, leaving them with no spirit left to rebel against the conqueror. Just as we have seen that there were kings who would toss bones under the table to captive kings and make them eat like dogs, and the like - where the goal was utter humiliation. So too was the case here.
"You are filled with shame rather than glory"
שָׂבַעְתָּ קָלוֹן מִכָּבוֹד שְׁתֵה גַם־אַתָּה וְהֵעָרֵל תִּסּוֹב עָלֶיךָ כּוֹס יְמִין יְהֹוָה וְקִיקָלוֹן עַל־כְּבוֹדֶךָ׃ - You are filled with disgrace rather than honor; drink you too, and be exposed! The cup of Hashem's right hand will turn against you, and utter disgrace will cover your glory.
He says to him: You, Belshazzar, have sated yourself with a despicable thing derived from something honorable. For from what did he drink wine? From the vessels of the Beit HaMikdash, which are deeply honorable, and from that honor you were sated with disgrace. "You are sated" (*sava'ta*) is an expression that often appears in the context of drinking, as in "to drink water and not be satisfied" (*lishtot mayim velo yisba'u*), and as Chazal taught: "'And you shall eat' - this refers to eating; 'and be satisfied' - this refers to drinking." And why is it called disgrace? The Malbim explains that the very purpose of drinking wine from those sacred vessels was to debase them. Had they drunk water, there would have been no disgrace in it; but drinking wine carries disgrace, as in "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is riotous" - for wine brings levity, mockery, and jesting, and to engage in such conduct using the sanctified vessels of the Beit HaMikdash is an utter disgrace.
Therefore, the punishment: "Drink you too, and *vehe'arel*" - according to the Malbim, this is read like *vehera'el*, from the expression of a cup of poison (*ra'al*). That is: drink, and this drinking will turn into a cup of poison for you. And how? "The cup of Hashem's right hand will turn against you" - the cup of poison that Hashem will turn against you will come from Hashem's right hand. For how was the writing inscribed on the wall of Belshazzar's palace? A right hand emerged and wrote *Mene, Mene, Tekel, u-Farsin*. In retribution for what you did, the cup of Hashem's right hand will turn against you - and "cup" is always a scriptural metaphor for retribution and calamity, as in a cup of poison. "And utter disgrace (*ve-kikalon*) will cover your glory" - because you drank disgrace, going and drinking wine, an expression of disgrace, while mocking the honor of Hashem by using vessels dedicated to His glory, now *ki* (vomit) and *kalon* (disgrace) will come upon your glory. The word *ki* denotes repulsive degradation, as in "tables are full of vomit and filth." You will be humiliated for what you did, and this was the profound degradation he suffered there.
Rashi, on the other hand, interprets *vehe'arel* as an imperative in the *hitpa'el* form, similar to *he'aseif el amecha* ("be gathered to your people"), signifying uncircumcision of the heart - as in "uncircumcised of heart," "their ear is uncircumcised," "uncircumcised in flesh" - denoting a complete spiritual numbness and stupor. In other words, you will be utterly paralyzed, a man trapped in devastation and bewilderment over what is befalling him, entirely oblivious to what is happening around him. Furthermore, Rashi cites Targum Yonatan that *vehe'arel* is related to *vehit'artel*, an expression of nakedness and exposure, which was likewise part of his public humiliation.
"For the violence of Lebanon will cover you"
כִּי חֲמַס לְבָנוֹן יְכַסֶּךָּ וְשֹׁד בְּהֵמוֹת יְחִיתַן מִדְּמֵי אָדָם וַחֲמַס־אֶרֶץ קִרְיָה וְכָל־יֹשְׁבֵי בָהּ׃ - For the violence done to Lebanon will cover you, and the destruction of the beasts will shatter them, because of human bloodshed and the violence done to the land, to the city and to all who dwell in it.
"For the violence of Lebanon will cover you" - the violence that you perpetrated against Lebanon. And who is Lebanon? We have already seen several times that the Beit HaMikdash is called Lebanon, both because the cedars of Lebanon were used to build it, and because it whitens (*malbin*) the sins of Israel, hence its name *Levanon*, from the word *lavan* (white). Thus, the violence you committed against Lebanon - destroying the Beit HaMikdash and desecrating its sacred vessels - is what will cover you with disgrace. "And the destruction of beasts will shatter them (*yechitan*)" - *yechitan* means it will break and dismay them, from the same root as "do not fear and do not be dismayed (*ve'al techat*)," which means do not be broken.
The Malbim explains the verse as if it read: And the destruction of beasts will shatter the city and all who dwell in it, because of human bloodshed and violence to the land. He now depicts this through a vivid allegory: Since the Beit HaMikdash is called Lebanon, and Lebanon is a forest of cedars, it is as though the forest of Lebanon sends forth wild beasts to exact retribution from Babylon and its inhabitants. We find a similar imagery in Yirmiyahu: "Behold, like a lion he shall come up from the pride of the Jordan against the strong habitation" - comparing the armies of Persia and Media to lions coming from the Land of Israel, from the pride of the Jordan, to avenge the Land of Israel and punish Babylon, while Babylon is likened to sheep: "surely the youngest of the flock shall drag them away." So too here: from Lebanon will come the "destruction of beasts," for the wild beasts will come to prey upon the sheep of Babylon for having laid waste to Lebanon, the Beit HaMikdash. Lebanon is like a forest from which wild predators emerge; in that same way, on account of Lebanon - the Beit HaMikdash - the nations of Media and Persia will now come and exact retribution from you. And what was the catalyst? Lebanon, for you destroyed the Beit HaMikdash and took its vessels and degraded them.
The Malbim further explains that there is a metaphorical reference here to the "beasts of Lebanon": and what beasts belong to Lebanon? These are the animal sacrifices offered in the Beit HaMikdash. For those very sacrifices, the kohanim used the sacred vessels that you have now desecrated - you took the sprinkling basin (*mizrak*), a golden vessel of ministry into which the blood is gathered and dashed against the Altar. You took the vessels used for those beasts sacrificed upon the Altar, and as it were, those beasts will be aroused to bring destruction upon the city and all who dwell in it. "Because of human bloodshed and violence to the land" - because you murdered human beings and despoiled the land; "the city and all who dwell in it" - this refers to Jerusalem and all its inhabitants.
"What does a carved idol avail" - The utter futility of idolatry
מָה־הוֹעִיל פֶּסֶל כִּי פְסָלוֹ יֹצְרוֹ מַסֵּכָה וּמוֹרֶה שָּׁקֶר כִּי בָטַח יֹצֵר יִצְרוֹ עָלָיו לַעֲשׂוֹת אֱלִילִים אִלְּמִים׃ - What does a carved idol avail, that its maker has carved it, or a molten image, a teacher of lies, that the maker of his creation trusts in it, to make mute idols?
Now the prophet contends with them over the fact that Belshazzar went and praised his deities, gods of silver and gold. As Daniel rebuked him: "And you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven, and they have brought the vessels of His House before you" - you grew haughty against the Creator of the world, and the vessels of His House were brought before you so you could drink from them; "and you have praised the gods of silver and gold, copper and iron, which neither see, nor hear, nor know" - you gave praise to idols of silver, gold, copper, and iron, which cannot see, cannot hear, and know nothing at all; "yet the God in Whose hand is your very soul, you did not glorify" - the God Who holds your life in His hand, you refused to honor.
The prophet says to them: Come and see what benefit this idol that you praised has brought you. Did it conquer God? Here we drink from the vessels of the Beit HaMikdash, claiming my god is stronger than the God of Israel - did it save you from God's hand? Come and see that this idol is repulsive from whichever angle you view it. From the standpoint of the cause (the maker) - "for its maker has carved it," who made the idol? A mortal man. You have a god that a human being manufactured; the one who carved it is its creator - can that be a god? From the standpoint of the material - "a molten image (maseikhah)," which is cast metal, as the Targum renders. And why is it called maseikhah? From the term lenaseikh, to pour: one melts the metal, pours it, and casts it into a mold, crafting whatever he desires. Thus, it is not a spiritual deity, but mere metallic matter. And from the standpoint of its form, that is, its inner essence - it is "a teacher of falsehood"; set aside the external appearance, is it anything in and of itself? It is nothingness, a teacher of falsehood, possessing no actual power at all.
And from the standpoint of its purpose - "that the maker of his creation trusts in it to make mute idols," a phrase that appears difficult to understand, which the Malbim explains. (In the text of the Malbim the word tzarich appears there, which is clearly a misprint out of place, and in its stead one should read yitzro, as is evident from his word analysis.) The meaning of the matter is: whatever trust the created places in the creator is equal to the trust the creator can place in the created. The created idol - what can it rely upon regarding the one who made it? What did you make me into? I am a piece of gold, a block of gold, with nothing in me; I am mute, devoid of power and substance, that is all you made of me. And exactly so, the prophet tells you, the creator trusts in his creation: you have nothing whatsoever to rely on in the idol. Just as the idol says to you, "What did you produce in me? You gave me no breath of life, no speech, nothing at all; I am nothing and void, a block I was and a block I remain, having merely changed shape" - exactly so man says to the idol: What have you given me? I too, like you, have become like an inanimate block, for soon he will be dead. You brought me no salvation; rather, just as you are a lifeless corpse, so I, who made you, will become like you, a lifeless corpse; thus he lies as silent as stone, like the very idol he made. You trusted in it - and lo, just as it had nothing to trust in you for, having received nothing from you, so you have nothing to trust in it for, as you will receive nothing from it, and you will become exactly like it.
"Woe to Him Who Says to Wood: Awake!"
הוֹי אֹמֵר לָעֵץ הָקִיצָה עוּרִי לְאֶבֶן דּוּמָם הוּא יוֹרֶה הִנֵּה־הוּא תָּפוּשׂ זָהָב וָכֶסֶף וְכָל־רוּחַ אֵין בְּקִרְבּוֹ׃ - Woe to him who says to wood, "Awake!" to a silent stone, "Rouse yourself!" Can it teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, yet there is no breath at all inside it.
Now the prophet depicts, as it were, the corpse of the slain Belshazzar: he lies as a mute carcass, devoid of any breath of life - just as stated in the previous verse, "to make mute idols," meaning that you crafted a mute idol, and this caused you to become like it, inanimate and mute. Furthermore, he is dressed in garments of gold and silver, "behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver," precisely in the manner of his idol, for they used to fashion vestments of gold and silver for idols. But see: he too is a mute corpse, adorned with gold and silver, with no breath of life within him. Just as you treated the image, so have you become - a mute corpse, resembling it, clothed in gold and silver without any breath of life.
Therefore it says, "Woe": you say to the wood, "Awake!" Belshazzar, when worshipping the image, would cry out for it to answer him: Rouse yourself, awaken from your sleep, I pray to you, save me! "Can it teach (hu yoreh)?" - Belshazzar himself teaches and instructs us that what we have said is true: whatever the maker attains from the idol is what the idol attained from its maker. What did the idol receive from its creator? Nothing; it received no breath of life, nothing at all. And likewise the maker, Belshazzar, received nothing from the idol: the idol is silent - you too will be silent; and just as it is overlaid with gold and silver, you too remain enveloped in gold and silver, yet there is no breath at all inside him. And what proves this? "He teaches" - Belshazzar himself serves as proof of this, for he went and fashioned an idol devoid of breath, and what did the idol grant him? That he himself would become lifeless, turning into a mute idol like it, with no breath at all inside him.
The Malbim adds that there is a distinction between hakitzah (awaken fully) and uri (rouse). The idol is compared to wood and stone, and he cries out to it in prayer: to the wood - hakitzah, and to the stone - uri. Why? Because he'arah (stirring or rousing) is lighter than yekitzah (full awakening), as we say, ha'irah vehakitzah ("stir and awake") - first stirring, which is still half-asleep, and then awakening, which is full awakening; rousing is always lesser than full awakening. When stated in the negative, it begins in reverse: "they shall not awake (lo yakitzu) nor be roused (velo ye'oru) from their sleep" in Iyov 14 - certainly they will not awake fully, nor will they even stir, which is a minimal rousing. Now, which of the two has more vitality, wood or stone? Certainly wood, which possesses vegetative life and grows, having more vitality than silent stone. Therefore, to the wood he says hakitzah, a complete awakening - you are capable, for you are wood and possess a vital force; whereas to the silent stone, which has no vitality of soul and no power of growth, he says uri - at least stir with a slight rousing, for even that is something.
The Unlearned Judge
This verse is well known from the Gemara in Masechet Sanhedrin 7b, and we also studied it in Ein Yaakov. The Gemara relates: "The house of the Nasi appointed a judge who was not learned (de-lo havei gamir)" - in the house of the Nasi, the leader of the Jewish community in Babylonia, they were not always Torah scholars, and often they would appoint cronies or assign posts based on payment, appointing whoever paid handsomely. That was the case here: they installed an unqualified judge who had never studied. Rabbi Yehuda bar Nachmani, the interpreter (meturgeman) of Reish Lakish, was told: "Stand before him as an amora." That is, the sage would whisper his discourse and the amora would project it aloud, as the sage's voice was soft, so someone with a powerful voice stood by to announce the teachings. They said to him: Go stand as his amora, listen to what he expounds, and deliver it to the public.
"He stood, bent down over him, but he said nothing at all to him." He stood and bent down to hear him, but the man remained completely silent. Why silent? Because he was an utter ignoramus (am ha'aretz) who had merely bought his position. Did the money turn him into a Torah scholar? It gave him a title, but it did not make him a talmid chacham, so he had nothing to say. "He opened and said" - when he saw that the judge appointed with money had nothing to say, he himself expounded. And what did he expound? "Woe to him who says to wood, 'Awake!' to a silent stone, 'Rouse yourself!'" He dubbed that judge wood and stone, someone with whom there is nothing to talk about; they say to him: Awake, stir, say something, let us hear a word of Torah from you! "Can he teach?" - in a tone of astonishment: Can he possibly teach? Is he capable of issuing rulings? "Behold, he is overlaid with gold and silver" - how did he arrive here? He came with plenty of gold and silver and secured the appointment. "Yet there is no breath at all inside him" - and from such a person do you expect instruction?
"And Hashem Is in His Holy Temple"
וַיהֹוָה בְּהֵיכַל קָדְשׁוֹ הַס מִפָּנָיו כָּל־הָאָרֶץ׃ - But Hashem is in His Holy Temple; let all the earth be silent before Him.
And with this we conclude the chapter. The prophet tells you: know that Hashem is not so. The Radak explains: the Holy One, blessed be He, is the One Who gives a spirit to all flesh, and even though Hashem is in His holy Sanctuary in heaven, still, "silence before Him, all the earth" - all the inhabitants of the earth stand in awe of Him, because He oversees them and sees all their deeds. And even though He sits in His holy Sanctuary in heaven and has no armies stationed here, the fear of Hashem prevents any person from brazenly committing such an act.
In summary:
The chapter lays before us the vision of Babylon's downfall: the wine that betrayed the arrogant man, the appetite that expanded like Sheol and was never satisfied, and the parable of the borrower on interest who does not repay - who is Nevuchadnezzar, plundering many nations, whom all the remaining peoples are destined to plunder in turn for the shedding of human blood and the violence done to the land. The stone from the wall cries out over the bloodshed and the beam from the woodwork answers for the injustice; the fire and destruction come from Hashem, Master of Legions, and the nations will toil for naught, while the believing peoples know in advance that there is no use in fighting a Heavenly decree. Belshazzar's feast using the vessels of the Mikdash turned into the cup of Hashem's right hand and disgrace upon his honor, and the violence against the Levanon - the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash - is what brought upon him the destruction of the beasts. And from here emerges the overarching message: an idol fashioned by man offers him no benefit whatsoever; just as its maker breathed no spirit of life into it, so too its maker will receive nothing from it, and it will remain encased in gold and silver with no spirit within it. And in contrast to all this - "Hashem is in His holy Sanctuary; silence before Him, all the earth."