The Book of Hoshea, Chapter 6: "Come, let us return to Hashem, for He has torn and He will heal us; He has struck down and He will bind us up." "Come, let us return to Hashem" is a continuation of what we saw in the previous chapter: "I will go and return to My place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face; in their distress they will seek Me early." Hashem says - the Shechinah says - "I will return to My place until they seek My face," until the Jewish people repent, and then, when they face troubles, they will seek Me. Regarding this, the verse here says that when they are in distress they will seek Me. What will they seek? In what manner? What will they say? And what will Hashem answer them when they come to seek Him? What will they say? They will say to one another, "Come, let us return to Hashem." This is the meaning of "Come, let us return" - each person turns to his fellow and says, "Come, let us return to Hashem, for He has torn and He will heal us."
The meaning of this is that our afflictions are not natural, but rather under full Divine Providence from Hashem: "He has torn." Therefore, one should not look for physical remedies; rather, He Who tore, He Who struck, is the One Who will also provide the healing. Since "He has torn," then "He will heal us." We saw earlier that the prophet spoke of two kinds of illness: an internal illness and an external injury. An internal illness requires healing, whereas an external wound, as we said, requires bandaging and dressing. Corresponding to the internal illness that requires healing, they say, "He has torn and He will heal us." Toraf ("torn" or "preyed upon") refers to venom that a predatory animal injects into its prey when it claws or mauls it. What does this mean? Rav Dessler explains that this does not mean actual snake venom, but rather that predatory animals have claws, and when they prey on animals they scratch them, leaving behind rotting pieces of meat on their claws. This meat rots, putrefies, and breeds infection. Therefore, when the predator subsequently scratches another animal, it is considered venom - that is, the infection itself can be fatal. This is the "venom" that comes from predatory mauling. Since "He has torn," "He will heal us" - now an internal healing is required.
And corresponding to the external blow, where the fracture needs to be bandaged, they say: "He has struck down and He will bind us up." Yach refers to an external strike; about this they say that Hashem is the One Who struck the external blow, and therefore He will bind us up. Salvation depends entirely upon Him. "He will revive us after two days; on the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live before Him." "He will revive us after two days, and on the third day He will raise us up" - to what does this refer? There are several explanations.
Rashi explains that "two days" alludes to the two Batei HaMikdash that were destroyed. This is "He will revive us after two days" - that is, two Batei HaMikdash were destroyed, and then "on the third day He will raise us up" refers to the Third Beis HaMikdash, which will endure forever; this is the third day on which He will raise us up. And specifically on the third day, because, as the Ibn Ezra notes, we find that "on the third day, when they were in pain," the third day is usually the peak of an illness; but when Hashem is the Healer, "on the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live before Him." When Hashem is the Healer, the natural order is reversed: in nature, the third day is the height of sickness, but with Hashem, the healing specifically comes on the third day. The Radak brings another explanation: What is "He will revive us after two days"? It is an allegory for two exiles: the Egyptian exile and the Babylonian exile; these are the two days, the two exiles into which we were exiled. And "on the third day He will raise us up" refers to the third exile, this current exile, after which He will raise us up and we shall live before Him; there will be no further state of exile. This is the final exile, and then there will be enduring spiritual life before Hashem, blessed be He.
The Malbim, on the other hand, offers an explanation of his own. He does not explain this as referring to the two Batei HaMikdash or the two exiles. Rather, the Malbim explains that it refers to the exiles of the Ten Tribes and the exile of Binyamin and Yehudah. As is well known, the Ten Tribes were exiled by Sennacherib in three stages - that is, in three waves. Similarly, the exile of Yehudah also occurred in three stages, but at the hands of Nevuchadnezzar. Therefore, the prophet now asks, "He will revive us from those two days" - which are the days of visitation - and "on the third day" - what is the third day? The third exile - "He will raise us up, and we shall live before Him." The first two exiles occurred, and the third exile was like the final seal - both the exile that sealed Yehudah and the exile that sealed the Kingdom of Yisrael and the Kingdom of Binyamin. Therefore, they ask that on the third day - meaning, after the third exile when there was an absolute fall and they were completely exiled from the land - "He will raise us up" from this downfall, "and we shall live before Him."
And then: "Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of Hashem; His going forth is as certain as the morning dawn, and He will come to us like the rain, like the late rain that waters the earth." And then we will know to pursue the knowledge of Hashem. The Malbim explains: We will strive to attain the true comprehension of Hashem, to understand the ways of His Providence, His loving-kindness, and His goodness, until our comprehension is as clear as the dawn whose emergence is certain. What does this mean? In the ways of attaining wisdom, the deeper a person delves, the more he understands, contemplates, and attains. This resembles the dawn. For the dawn does not illuminate all at once; rather, it rolls away light before darkness. It is a gradual unveiling until dawn slowly breaks. The same occurs at sunset. Regarding this, the verse says: "His going forth is as certain as the morning dawn" - that is, slowly and steadily, the light of the knowledge of Hashem, the light of Hashem's salvation, and the light of His divine flow will shine upon us. This influence will dawn gradually, like the morning light breaking slowly.
"And He will come to us like the rain." The Malbim explains that rain forms when moist vapors rise from the earth, and when the clouds are filled with vapor, the cold aloft causes condensation - just like what happens in an air conditioner - causing droplets to form, and rain begins to fall. So it is with our reality. Just like rain begins from below - there is no ordinary rain that does not rise from below. (In fact, there is an exception; one cannot say it does not exist, for there is a concept of "upper waters." There is rain that comes from the upper waters, as water also exists outside the atmosphere. As is known, there are giant ice meteorites that occasionally enter, and there are rains of this type; Chazal describe that there is rain that comes from the clouds and rain that comes from the upper waters, and for centuries people thought these were mere fantasies, but whoever consults Rabbi Zamir Cohen's book will see that science recognizes this today. In any case, this was just an incidental remark.) At all events, how does ordinary rain arrive? Through an awakening from below (an isarusa d'lesata). There is evaporation, it reaches the heavens, condenses, and falls as rain. This means that every awakening from Above (isarusa d'le'eila) must be initiated by an awakening from below. There is no awakening from Above on its own. There must be an awakening from below: we ask, we pray, we yearn, and then divine bounty is bestowed upon us. But if we do not act on our part, bounty will not descend from Above. About this the verse states, "And He will come to us like the rain." Just as rain comes through an awakening from below via vapors, so too our deeds are the awakening from below that will bring down upon us a rain of benevolence. And the rain spoken of here is an expression for divine abundance, and the abundance discussed here is the abundance of "let us pursue the knowledge of Hashem" - the knowledge and apprehension of Hashem. And even if this does not arrive in its immediate time, it will at least come in the End of Days. This is what it means: "like the late rain that waters the earth." Just as the late rain falls upon the earth and causes the land to bear and sprout, so it turns out that even if we do not merit this now - which corresponds to the early rains - it will at least come like the late rain, which is the final rain. This alludes to the fact that comprehension will reach us at the end, as it is written: "For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Hashem, as the waters cover the sea." This is the aspect of the late rain, for here it is already speaking of the era of the arrival of Mashiach.
The Malbim asks: It is written here, "Let us know, let us pursue knowing" (Venēde'ah nirdefah lada'as). Why not simply say, "And let us know Hashem"? What is the meaning of "Let us know, let us pursue knowing"? The Malbim explains that knowing Hashem to the ultimate degree is impossible. As is well known and established, we cannot apprehend Him to His ultimate essence because our intellect is finite and our comprehension is meager; to claim that one knows Hashem would be absurd (lo yehei de'ative heitive). We cannot grasp or know Hashem. And as the famous adage cited by the Malbim states: "The ultimate purpose of knowledge is to realize that we do not know." "The ultimate purpose of knowledge" means that when you reach the end, the bottom line, you arrive at the conclusion that we cannot know. That is, we have no comprehension of Divinity; "no thought can grasp Him at all" (leit machashava tefisa beh kelal); we have no grasp of the Holy One, blessed be He. This is the pinnacle of knowledge. The more a person attains, the more he is driven to pursue further knowledge. Therefore it is written, "Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of Hashem." When a person's knowledge is meager, he is convinced that he knows. In reality he knows nothing, but he is certain he knows. Does he continue searching? No, he is satisfied with his meager knowledge. Who can truly be said to have begun to know? One whose knowledge drives him to pursue and thirst to know more. Then I can truly say that he is beginning to comprehend something, for see how he seeks, desires, and yearns for more! This is "Let us know" - the desire to know brings you to "let us pursue knowing Hashem," to be one who pursues in order to attain fuller and deeper comprehension. This is what we have explained many times: when we refer to the Holy One, blessed be He, as Ein Sof (Infinite, literally "without end") - anyone who wishes can listen to this discussed at length in our series on Nefesh HaChaim - one might ask: why say "without end"? Why not say "without beginning"? After all, something that has no end also has no beginning! Why then define the Holy One, blessed be He, as Ein Sof? Call Him Ein Techilah ("without beginning")! And we explained that the term Ein Sof does not describe the essence of the Holy One, blessed be He, at all, for in truth we have no comprehension of Him whatsoever, and no thought can grasp Him at all. When we say the Holy One, blessed be He, is in the aspect of Ein Sof, "endless" refers to our comprehension. Our comprehension is endless. What does this mean? We have a certain beginning of apprehension in Divinity, according to what Hashem has revealed to us - what He has taught us about the Sefiros, the chain of spiritual worlds (hishtalshelus), His blessed Name, the flows descending from Him, His blessed will, and the Torah He gave us. So we do have a beginning. But an end - to say that I have reached the ultimate and complete comprehension - who could ever achieve or reach such a thing? Therefore, when we speak of Ein Sof, it refers not to Him, but to my comprehension: in my comprehension, I am infinitely far from the end; there is no end (ein sof). But what is there? There is a beginning; we have some beginning in comprehending Divinity. Thus, the pinnacle of knowledge is to know that we do not know; to comprehend Him fully is certainly beyond our grasp. But what do we have? If we begin to comprehend, there is an endless aspiration to continue learning more; there is a pursuit to know Hashem.
"What shall I do to you, Ephraim? What shall I do to you, Yehudah? For your loving-kindness is like a morning cloud, and like dew that vanishes early." Mashkim is spelled with a chaf and not a kuf. "What shall I do to you, Ephraim?" - the Radak explains: How can I heal you? How can I bind up your wound, as we saw earlier: "He will heal us; He has struck down and He will bind us up"? How can I do this when your repentance is incomplete? For even when the kings of Yisrael did what was right in the eyes of Hashem, it was only temporary, only for a period. Afterward, they returned to doing evil. Like Yehu, whom we saw was a righteous king for a certain period, and then it passed. And so too with the kings of Yehudah: we saw that in the days of Yoshiyahu they did what was right in the eyes of Hashem, but afterward, in the days of his son and grandson, they reverted to wickedness. Thus, "your loving-kindness is like a morning cloud." Just like a morning cloud or dew that vanishes as soon as the day begins to warm, so too your loving-kindness, your upright conduct, is fleeting and short-lived. "And like dew that vanishes early" (vechitlal mashkim holech) - like dew that disappears in the early morning.
The Malbim explains that this verse - "What shall I do to you, Ephraim? What shall I do to you, Yehudah? For your loving-kindness is like a morning cloud" - is Hashem's response. In the first part, when we saw, "Come, let us return to Hashem... He will revive us after two days, on the third day... let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of Hashem" - all of this was spoken by the people. This is essentially what we saw at the end of the previous chapter, as mentioned at the beginning of this chapter: "Until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face; in their distress they will seek Me early." How will they seek Me? They will say: "He has torn and He will heal us; come, let us return to Hashem." And now the prophet tells them what Hashem will answer them. What will Hashem reply? "What shall I do to you, Ephraim? What shall I do to you, Yehudah? For your loving-kindness is like a morning cloud." "What does Hashem your God require of you but to do justice and to love kindness?" The main thing is for a person to perform kindness with his fellow creatures, and within kindness, says the Malbim, the service of Hashem and the mitzvos are also included. For chesed encompasses both duties between man and his fellow and duties between man and God. A person who conducts himself with piety acts with loving-kindness toward Me, toward Hashem, blessed be He. This is called "the Torah of kindness is upon her tongue" - Torah study itself is an aspect of kindness. Rav Dessler explains why it is considered an aspect of kindness and the opposite of taking; we will not delve into that here, but anyone interested can listen to our classes on Michtav Me-Eliyahu, where we elaborate on this at length, that this is the aspect of studying Torah for its own sake (lishmah). In any case, He says: your kindness, your righteousness, is like a morning cloud. Just like a cloud that disperses without watering the earth, how can you ask, "He will come to us like the rain"? To bring rain, you must send up sufficient vapor. If you do not raise enough vapor, rain does not fall. In short, what vapors did you send up? You sent up vapors that might form a morning cloud, and that cloud vanishes the moment the sun shines. We need an awakening from below (isarusa d'lesata). An awakening from below means genuine spiritual investment here from below, which then influences Above, and then "He will come to us like the rain." But when there is no genuine awakening from below, the most you produced from all your vapor is some morning cloud, some morning dew that disappears when the sun comes out. So too with you: as long as you persist in your corrupt ways, your kindness dissipates. In simple terms: you perform acts of kindness, but the acts of kindness you do are neither strong enough nor enduring enough; they are fleeting deeds that vanish, and such kindness cannot bring down upon you a rain of benevolence from Hashem.
"Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth, and your judgments shall go forth as the light. For I desired loving-kindness and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt-offerings." "Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets" - Rashi explains that "I have hewn them by the prophets" means I carved out My words through the prophets, and "I have slain them" refers to the people: since I rebuked them through the prophets and they did not listen, "I have slain them by the words of My mouth." Consequently, the people paid a heavy price, paying with their lives - "I have slain them by the words of My mouth" because of the words of My mouth, since they did not listen to My words. Targum Yonasan translates similarly. And then, "and your judgments shall go forth as the light" - how can I show you favor? The attribute of justice demands that you be judged according to the severity of your actions.
The Malbim explains a comprehensive approach that runs through this entire chapter, the essence of which he explains here. The Malbim reads: "Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets, whom I have slain by the words of My mouth, for I desired loving-kindness and not sacrifice." And "and your judgments shall go forth as the light," the Malbim explains, is parenthetical. Let us explain. The Holy One, blessed be He, sent the prophets to rebuke the people. The people were convinced that the more sacrifices one offered, the more Hashem would be appeased, allowing them to remain in the land while continuing to commit all forms of wickedness - idolatry, illicit relations, and bloodshed during the First Beis HaMikdash, and baseless hatred during the Second Beis HaMikdash. They thought they could carry on, as long as they offered sacrifices in the Temple of Hashem. This is what the people said: "The Temple of Hashem, the Temple of Hashem, the Temple of Hashem are these." They said: there is the Temple of Hashem, and for every sin the Temple of Hashem atones; we will bring another sacrifice and solve the problem. In truth, this was complete foolishness. Can one bribe the Master of the Universe? You violate His will and say, "Here, Master of the Universe, I am bringing You another sacrifice"? Can one bribe the Master of the Universe? "Do I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?" Does the Holy One, blessed be He, need the fats you offer? This is what is written: "Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely... and come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My Name, and say, 'We are delivered'?" Do you see what an easy solution that was? Commit every wickedness, then come to the Beis HaMikdash and say, "I am saved!" The prophets told them: know that the Holy One, blessed be He, does not desire sacrifices - "For I desired loving-kindness and not sacrifice." Hashem wants kindness and the knowledge of God more than burnt-offerings: "and the knowledge of God more than burnt-offerings." This is what Hashem desires more than your burnt-offerings. The people did not welcome these words. Consequently, they rose up and murdered the prophets; they rose up and killed Hashem's messengers. Thus, says the Malbim, the fact that the Holy One, blessed be He, sent the prophets to rebuke them with this prophecy, which caused their deaths, was as if Hashem Himself had slain the prophets - because I sent them on a mission in which they died. And they gave their lives for this message. In order to proclaim the word of Hashem, the prophets were willing to sacrifice their lives; even when it led to martyrdom, they were prepared. The Malbim explains: this statement - "For I desired loving-kindness and not sacrifice" - remained carved with an iron pen upon rock. This is what is written: "Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets." What is "I have hewn them by the prophets"? Figuratively, says the Malbim, it is as though the corpses of the prophets were like stone, upon which was carved and engraved: "For I desired loving-kindness and not sacrifice." That is, the death of the prophets occurred over this very pronouncement, making this statement an immortal, eternal truth that stands forever. "I have hewn them by the prophets" - it is carved in stone: "For I desired loving-kindness and not sacrifice" - I desire only that you perform kindness, not that you offer sacrifices before Me thinking that this solves the problem. And this is what is meant by "Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets": because your kindness is like a morning cloud, and as we saw earlier, you do not practice kindness nor do you know God, therefore I have hewn them by the prophets whom I have slain by the words of My mouth, and upon them I wrote with an iron pen that I desire kindness and not sacrifice. For as for your peace-offerings and sacrifices, your whole motive in bringing them was to permit the evil deeds you commit. Their true purpose, says the Malbim, was to feed their meat to the poor in sanctity; I desire kindness! "And the knowledge of God more than burnt-offerings": the burnt-offering (olah) is consumed entirely to the Most High. And what is the essence of the burnt-offering? To draw close to Hashem. No one receives anything from the burnt-offering, not even the Kohen; "an olah shall be entirely burnt." Thus the purpose of the olah is to draw near to Hashem. It is fitting that man offer himself upon Hashem's altar, says the Malbim. What does it mean to offer himself? His desires - that a person sacrifice his desires. Sacrificing one's desires means that if a person has an urge for something contrary to Hashem's will, he sacrifices it upon the altar of Hashem. That is, he relinquishes his own will, and then that is a sacrifice accepted with favor before Him, blessed be He. Giving up your will is giving your nefesh (soul). What is taken from the sacrifice? The nefesh. And when a person sacrifices his desire, what does he sacrifice? His nefesh. As the verse says: "If it be your mind (nafshechem)" - what is nafshechem? Your will. So when a person sacrifices his will, what has he essentially offered? His very soul, for desire is the aspect of the soul. Thus the Holy One, blessed be He, says: I do not desire burnt-offerings where you merely bring an animal and slaughter it on the altar. That is very nice, but it is like someone facing a terrible crisis who brings a rooster and slaughters it, saying, "We've done kapparos!" A fine atonement - but what did you do for it? The rooster did nothing! What did you change? Did you start keeping Shabbos? Did you begin putting on tefillin? Did you start attending Torah classes? What did you do? The rooster did nothing; why did you slaughter it? That was precisely their mistaken perception back then. A person would offer a burnt-offering, forgetting that what Hashem primarily demands is that you sacrifice your soul, your desires - that they offer themselves completely upon His altar with favor. The essence is the knowledge of God. That is what He tells them: I desire the knowledge of God more than burnt-offerings brought before Hashem. This is what remains engraved and hewn into the corpses of the slain prophets. And as for "and your judgments shall go forth as the light," He says to them: if so, seeing the evil deeds you commit, how can your judgment come forth favorably into the light? How can you expect to be vindicated in judgment, that the Holy One, blessed be He, should spare and pity you, after you murdered My messengers over the words of My mouth through your deeds? How can you expect your judgment to come forth as the light? Could such a thing be imagined? "For I desired loving-kindness and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt-offerings."
The Radak explains that this verse, "For I desired loving-kindness and not sacrifice," describes the situation as noted earlier: even when there were righteous kings, it was only temporary. Even though Yehu among the kings of Yisrael eradicated the worshippers of Baal, it was short-lived; you did not hold onto it for long, but it was like a morning cloud that lasts for a brief moment and is gone. So too here, says the Malbim: "For I desired loving-kindness and not sacrifice" - even though they returned to serve Hashem in the Beis HaMikdash in the time of Hoshea ben Elah. We already saw earlier that Hoshea ben Elah possessed a great virtue: he abolished the guards (parsedayos) that Yarovam had stationed along the borders - for Yarovam had posted guards to prevent people from making the festival pilgrimage - and Hoshea ben Elah abolished those guards. Nevertheless, you see that this did not revoke the decree of exile. They were exiled, and why? Because kindness and the knowledge of God were not within them. True, they went up to the Beis HaMikdash, and true, they brought sacrifices - some say they did not go up, but in any case, even among those who did, though they offered sacrifices, Hashem says: you persisted in your corrupt deeds, and consequently kindness and the knowledge of God were missing. "For I desired loving-kindness and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God" is preferred, says Hashem, "more than burnt-offerings." So too in Yehudah, who served Him in the time of Yoshiyahu, when Yoshiyahu destroyed the high places and the altars, and they offered sacrifices in the Beis HaMikdash; Hashem says: I desire the knowledge of God more than your offering burnt-offerings and sacrifices before Me. "But they, like Adam, have transgressed the covenant; there have they dealt treacherously against Me. Gilead is a city of workers of iniquity, tracked with blood." Rashi explains: "But they, like Adam, have transgressed the covenant" - like Adam HaRishon. They transgressed the covenant, for I placed Adam HaRishon in Gan Eden and he transgressed My commandment; he breached the covenant. Some explain that "they transgressed the covenant" means Adam HaRishon drew his foreskin to appear uncircumcised. "There have they dealt treacherously against Me" - they betrayed Me there, just as Adam HaRishon betrayed Me when I placed him in Gan Eden and he violated My commandment.
The Malbim now explains these matters in a somewhat deeper manner, so let us follow the progression. The Malbim says that the prophet is now going to describe how and in what manner the prophets were killed in those times. As we explained, the people disliked hearing the words of prophecy and rebuke, and consequently rose up against the prophets and murdered them. This is what is meant by "I have slain them by the words of My mouth" - as though the Holy One, blessed be He, had slain them, since Hashem sent them on the mission at the end of which they were killed. The Malbim explains that the prophet now describes the manner in which those prophets were slain, depicting this in a sublime and lofty poetic metaphor (melitzah). We will soon explain why the Malbim opens with this poetic expression. The Malbim explains: The prophets of Israel were killed by the kings of Israel on two occasions. Once, we find in the Book of Melachim that all the prophets of Hashem were killed in the days of Achav by Izevel: "And I alone am left as a prophet." All were killed by Izevel, except for those prophets whom Ovadyah hid in a cave. Apart from them, all were killed. All the prophets at that time, says the Malbim, were disciples of Eliyahu. As is written of Eliyahu, he was "of the inhabitants of Gilead." Chazal say in the Midrash that Eliyahu was from the tribe of Binyamin. For we saw that the men of Binyamin took wives from Yavesh-Gilead. As will be recalled, following the incident of the concubine in Givah (Pilegesh b'Givah), all the tribes went out to wage war against the tribe of Binyamin. They demanded the handover of the perpetrators, but Binyamin refused to let the other tribes judge them, wanting to judge them within their own tribe, whereas all Israel demanded that all Israel judge the wrongdoers of Binyamin who committed that horrific deed against the concubine - after which her husband took her body, cut it into pieces, sent them throughout the twelve tribes of Israel, and called on them to take action over this terrible state of affairs. Because Binyamin was unwilling to hand over the sinners, Israel went to war against them. The first two times they fell in battle, but on the third time the Children of Israel defeated the tribe of Binyamin and nearly eradicated them entirely. They had also sworn an oath that none of them would give his daughter in marriage to Binyamin, which essentially ensured that the tribe of Binyamin would become completely extinct, for without wives there could be no continuation. In the end, they checked who had not assembled for the war, since anyone who did not assemble had been placed under a ban. They found that the inhabitants of Yavesh-Gilead had not come to the battle. Consequently, the women of Yavesh-Gilead were permitted to marry the survivors of Binyamin. But they had men, and the men were culpable for violating the communal decree; therefore, they went and killed the men of Yavesh-Gilead and gave their women to the men of Binyamin, and thus the tribe of Binyamin was preserved and not wiped out from Israel. (This was the incident of Pilegesh b'Givah; anyone who wishes can listen to our series on the Book of Shoftim, where we relate the entire episode in detail.) Eliyahu was from the descendants of Binyamin, one of their grandsons, and he remained living in Yavesh-Gilead - that is, the men of Binyamin settled in Yavesh-Gilead, where they had taken their wives. Eliyahu was thus their descendant, which is why he is called "Eliyahu HaGiladi, of the inhabitants of Gilead." From this, says the Malbim, we know that the disciples of the prophets were from the academy of Eliyahu, and when they were killed, their slaughter took place in Gilead. Additionally, prophets were killed in Shechem during the time of Yarovam. When Yarovam reigned, he chose the city of Shechem - which was a Levite city of refuge - as his royal city. Certainly, says the Malbim, prophets were present there who prophesied and rebuked Yarovam concerning the golden calves. And when a prophet came to rebuke Yarovam, we all remember what Yarovam did: he stretched out his hand and said, "Seize him!" and his hand withered. The Malbim states that Yarovam undoubtedly killed the prophets of Hashem. Thus, the prophet connects past history with what was happening in his time. He connects history with the present, describing the murders committed in Gilead and Shechem: in Gilead, all the prophets killed by Izevel; and in Shechem, the prophets killed by Yarovam when he made the calves and they rebuked him. He describes the killing of the prophets of Gilead and Shechem by linking it to killings that occurred in the distant past over an entirely different matter: the matter of illicit relations (zenus). In both Gilead and Shechem, killings had taken place that were connected to immorality. In Shechem, we all remember the incident of Dinah. In the wake of the incident of Dinah, Shimon and Levi went and killed all the men of Shechem. The holy books record that there were 24,000 residents in Shechem, and all were killed over that act of immorality, in their zeal for Hashem. So too in Gilead: over the immorality in Givah (Pilegesh b'Givah), there was also a massacre connected to Yavesh-Gilead. Thus we see that in both Gilead and Shechem, they had acted with zeal for Hashem over acts of licentiousness, resulting in bloodshed in both places. In those very locations, the prophet now speaks of the second slaughter: the killing of the prophets of Hashem. Years later, Hashem's prophets were murdered in both Gilead and Shechem - in Shechem by Yarovam, and in Gilead by Izevel. The prophet connects this to the earlier killings over immorality, as we shall now explain. The Malbim explains: Those men who came to murder the prophets of Hashem imagined that they were acting with zeal for the Baalim, with zeal for idolatry and the golden calves. They thought: "How dare you prophets disparage them?" For to them, the idols were deities, and woe to anyone who desecrated this god! Thus it seemed to the priests of Baal, to those who murdered the prophets whose words displeased them, that they were displaying zeal for Baal and for the calves. Therefore they rose up against the prophets and killed them. This is why the verse says: "And they" - the prophets - appeared to them "like Adam, who transgressed the covenant." Just as in the past they killed in Gilead those who transgressed the covenant - the covenant made to go out and fight against the wrongdoers of Binyamin, which the inhabitants of Yavesh-Gilead breached by not coming - so too now the priests of Baal considered the prophets of Hashem as covenant-breakers, and went and slaughtered them in that very place, in Gilead. And in Gilead, as I mentioned, all the prophets were killed by Izevel. "Gilead is a city of workers of iniquity, tracked with blood" (akubah mi-dam). Rashi explains that "akubah mi-dam" means full of murderous ambushes. What is "akubah"? Like "and he held his heel (akev)" or "he supplanted me (vaya'akveini)". The Radak explains that "akubah mi-dam" is like "the heart is deceitful (akov)"; and Yehu acted "with subtlety (be'okbah)" - meaning deceit and trickery. This is the meaning of "tracked with blood": Chazal say they would stalk and lie in wait to take lives, doing so deceptively so as not to be caught. That is why it was said to Yaakov, "Your name shall no longer be called Yaakov" - which, as Rashi explains, implied taking the blessings through deceit and stealth - "but Yisrael," for having acquired them through noble mastery, as they rightfully belonged to him. Another explanation is that "akubah mi-dam" means stained with blood, as in the Yerushalmi: "if it has a wine stain (akivas yayin) it is forbidden," meaning a stain.
"And as bands of robbers wait for a man, so the company of priests murder in the way to Shechem, for they commit deliberate crime." What is "vechachakei ish gedudim"? What is this word chakei (ח-כ-י)? Rashi explains: "like a man gathering fish with a hook (chakah)." Thus the bands of their priests unite to go together along the road to murder with one shoulder (shechem echad); "they murder toward Shechem" means with one united shoulder, all going together to murder. According to Rashi, this describes how they gather to commit evil deeds. "For they commit deliberate crime" (ki zimah asu) - according to Rashi, zimah here does not mean immorality (as in licentiousness), but comes from zomemim (schemers): they carried out their wicked scheme. They assembled to murder and plunder. Another explanation brings chakei from the language of joining together, which Rashi notes is more fitting in his view: they joined together to murder.
The Malbim explains: "And as a man waits" (vechachakei ish). The Malbim says: along the same line we explained earlier, so too was the murder of the prophets carried out in Shechem. We explained earlier the connection to the event in Gilead - namely, those who did not come to fight were seen as covenant-breakers, and the priests of Baal similarly viewed Hashem's prophets as covenant-breakers and went and murdered them. That was in Gilead. Now let us understand what took place in Shechem. The Malbim explains that the prophet now turns to what happened in Shechem, depicting it as though the prophets had committed licentiousness and immorality. For consider: why were the ancient people of Shechem killed? Over licentiousness and immorality! The sons of Yaakov killed the inhabitants of Shechem over the immoral act of defiling their sister Dinah. This is what is meant by "And as a man waits for troops" - chakei, says the Malbim, is not from chakah (a fishing hook), but from lechakos, to wait and anticipate. "And as a man waits" - just as a person waits and watches, seeing troops of priests going along the road to murder toward Shechem, taking lives there: certainly, says the Malbim, anyone observing these priests marching to kill people in Shechem would assume it is "because they committed licentiousness." Why are the people of Shechem being killed? Because those people committed an act of licentiousness, and therefore deserve death! And without doubt the ancient inhabitants of Shechem deserved death, because they sheltered Chamor and his son Shechem; they harbored him when they should have handed him over, so they deserved death. (Yaakov's rebuke to his sons was only because it endangered them: "they will gather against me and slay me"; but according to strict justice, they deserved death.) Thus, anyone seeing those priests going to slaughter people in Shechem would naturally conclude: "they committed licentiousness" - these victims deserve death because they acted immorally, and the priests are acting with zeal against immorality, just as the sons of Yaakov acted with zeal over the licentiousness committed in Shechem in ancient times! So too did it appear in the eyes of the calf-worshipping priests: when they went to murder the prophets of Hashem, they framed it as though the prophets had committed licentiousness, pursuing them just as the sons of Yaakov pursued the men of Shechem! But the verse declares: they did not commit licentiousness; the prophets did nothing evil or licentious! For the next verse states: "In the house of Yisrael I have seen a horrible thing; there is harlotry in Ephraim, Yisrael is defiled." You claim that the prophets must be killed because "they committed licentiousness," like the ancient licentiousness in Shechem? Hashem says: Was it they who committed licentiousness? Is that why you murdered the prophets? In truth, it is you who committed licentiousness: "there is harlotry in Ephraim!" He tells them: "In the house of Yisrael I have seen a horrible thing" (sha'aruriyyah). Sha'aruriyyah means something appalling or corrupt; Rashi explains it as an astonishment and horror, the Ibn Ezra explains it as something abhorrent like vile figs (te'enim sho'arim), and the Radak likewise explains it as ugliness and filth. He says: I have seen filth, ugliness, and horror in the house of Yisrael, for "there is harlotry in Ephraim." Ephraim committed harlotry - they went astray after idolatry, and through them Yisrael was defiled, since Ephraim held the monarchy at that time and the rest of Israel followed after them. The other tribes were thereby defiled; the harlotry was found in them, not in the prophets! You went and killed the prophets claiming they were guilty of licentiousness, but it was you who committed licentiousness! This aligns with what we quoted from the Vilna Gaon: adjacent to every house of idol worship there was also a house of prostitution. Why? Because that was the bait used to draw people to idolatry, for idolatry is utterly permissive; it allows everything. If you cling to Hashem, "the God of these people hates licentiousness." But if you cling to idolatry - as Chazal say, Israel only served idols in order to permit illicit relations in public, for idolatry permitted everything.
"Also, Yehudah, a harvest is appointed for you, when I restore the captivity of My people." The Malbim explains that this refers back to what was said above: "What shall I do to you, Ephraim? What shall I do to you, Yehudah? For your loving-kindness is like a morning cloud." There we saw that the prophet addressed both Ephraim and Yehudah. At first, he dealt with the sin of Ephraim: we saw that they murdered the prophets both in Gilead and in Shechem. Now he returns to Yehudah. He says: Even Yehudah, who did not become as wicked as Ephraim, still "your loving-kindness is like a morning cloud." "A harvest is appointed for you" - he says that "a harvest is appointed for you" means that when I restore the captivity of My people, the kindness you perform will return like a harvest, as it is written: "Sow for yourselves in righteousness, reap in accordance with loving-kindness." You will reap the fruit of kindness when I restore the captivity of My people. This occurred in the time of King Chizkiyahu, when Hashem restored their captivity and they were saved; then, as it were, the kindness you performed bore its fruit. It was then possible to reap the fruits of righteous deeds, as it is written: "And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Yehudah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward." The acts of kindness you performed will indeed have an effect and yield their fruit. Thus, although we said that this kindness was insufficient - like a morning cloud - which is true, it was not enough to bring a complete redemption or to remove distress permanently, and Yehudah was also exiled in the end; nevertheless, to generate a positive impact it was indeed sufficient. Therefore, there was a positive effect at least during the era of King Chizkiyahu, when there was respite, for Hashem saved them from the hand of Sennacherib who had besieged them, and all who besieged Jerusalem died as corpses. Thus: "Also, Yehudah, a harvest is appointed for you" - the kindness you performed, you will at least reap its fruits "when I restore the captivity of My people," when Hashem, as we explained, restores His people. It refers to bringing them back to Him, though it was not a complete return, for afterward they reverted to corruption and were ultimately exiled.