Sefer Yeshayahu chapter 57. The righteous one perishes, and no one takes it to heart, and men of kindness are gathered in, with none understanding, for it is because of the coming evil that the righteous one is gathered in. "The righteous one perishes": Rashi understands from the language that this refers to a specific tzaddik, and here it is speaking of Yoshiyahu. "And no one takes it to heart": why has the tzaddik been removed? "With none understanding": who is it that does not understand? Those who remained here do not understand why the Holy One saw fit to remove the tzaddik. And they do not understand that "it is because of the coming evil that the righteous one is gathered in." The intent is the evil that is destined to come upon the generation. That is the reason the Holy One gathered in the tzaddik, so that the tzaddik would not see and not suffer the future evil coming upon them, so that he would not be a partner to that evil. So the Holy One takes the tzaddik even before the evil arrives.
The Radak also explains along this same line. The Radak says, only here the Radak does not explain that it refers to Yoshiyahu; rather he says that here it is speaking of the tzaddikim in general. Righteous ones who passed from that generation. Therefore it says "and men of kindness are gathered in," meaning gathered to their people. The tzaddikim pass away, the men of kindness are gathered to their people. But he says, do not err: it is written here "the righteous one perishes," and you might err to think that the tzaddik, what did his righteousness avail him? The righteous one perishes. He says, no, God forbid. The tzaddik was lost to us in his death, but in himself, certainly he was not lost. Rather he was lost to the generation; we lost the tzaddik. But the tzaddik surely stands and serves there, just as above he stands and serves in the yeshiva on high. It is certainly not fitting to say regarding the tzaddik that he perished. Rather the tzaddik perished from us; we lost the presence of the tzaddik, but his soul lives, a life sweeter and better than the life of the body. Rather he was lost from his generation, for the loss belongs to them.
"And no one takes it to heart." What does "no one takes it to heart" mean? The Radak says, there is no one to rebuke Israel for their evil deeds. Look, there is no one to rebuke Israel for the evil deeds they do. And this is similar to what is written: "and men of kindness are gathered in, with none understanding." What do they not understand? They do not understand that it is because of the coming evil that the tzaddik is gathered in. That is what they do not understand: "with none understanding, for it is because of the evil that the righteous one is gathered in." On the contrary, sometimes they even think that perhaps the tzaddik perished, who knows what wicked man he really was. But he does not understand that "it is because of the evil that the righteous one is gathered in," because of the evil of the people who did evil deeds, the Holy One gathered in the tzaddik so that he would not witness the evil destined to come upon the generation.
And this is what Chulda the prophetess said to Yoshiyahu: Behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes will not see all the evil that I bring. So now you understand why Rashi said this refers back to Yoshiyahu. For with Yoshiyahu we saw an explicit reference where the Holy One told him that you are being gathered in so that you will not see the evil. Therefore Rashi says "the righteous one perishes" is Yoshiyahu, about whom it was said explicitly, you will perish so that you will not see the evil destined to come upon this place. "And no one takes it to heart" to understand that this is why the tzaddik was gathered in.
The Malbim explains: we saw at the end of the previous chapter that the people conducted themselves in a wicked manner, "Come, let me take wine, let us guzzle strong drink, and tomorrow will be like today, greater by far." People continue their pleasures, their lusts, seeking the delights of this world. The Malbim says, they think to themselves, the tzaddik perishes. Look, what are you telling me? No, change your ways, be God-fearing, be Heaven-fearing. Don't the tzaddikim die in the end anyway? Everyone dies, so the tzaddik perishes and the wicked one too, one fate to the righteous and the wicked. Even the tzaddik perishes, so what good is it for me to be righteous? This is part of the argument of those who say "let us take strong drink and guzzle," because in any case the tzaddik perishes. What will it help me to be righteous? One fate to the righteous and the wicked. And if you tell me to do deeds of kindness? That too will not help me, for the men of kindness are gathered in as well. They too are gathered in, they too die "with none understanding." They do not understand why they need to die, for these people were decent. Yet you see they died, and they were tzaddikim. Conclusion: there is no judgment and no Judge. This is the conclusion of those who say "let us take strong drink and guzzle," those who seek the lusts and pleasures of this world.
The Malbim says, pay attention: here there is a "tzaddik" and here there are "men of kindness." And here there is "perishes" and here there is "gathered" or "gathered in." What is the difference? A tzaddik, as we have learned several times, is between man and God. To this people pay no attention at all. "The righteous one perishes, and no one takes it to heart": the intent is that they pay no attention at all that the tzaddik passed away, they do not notice at all that he is gone. In contrast, the men of kindness, to them they do pay attention. Why? Because they did kindness with people. Now that he is not present, I have no one to do kindness for me. So now, help me. Who? The man of kindness. The man of kindness is not here, and I immediately feel his absence. Therefore he says, regarding the men of kindness, "men of kindness are gathered in, with none understanding, for it is because of the evil that the righteous one is gathered in." That is to say, there the people will want to try to reflect on why this happened to him. Therefore it is written "with none understanding": he tries to reflect and tries to notice why he was gathered in. And instead of understanding that "it is because of the evil that the righteous one is gathered in," what do they say? The tzaddik was gathered in because of the harm he did to himself in his lifetime. Notice how the Malbim explains it. What is "it is because of the evil that the righteous one is gathered in"? Sure, his whole life he was fasting, barely ate, did no sports, well, what is even the question? He only ate cholent and kugel, no wonder he was gathered in. "Because of the evil the righteous one is gathered in," he did not live well. Had he lived well, he would have lived a long life. Because of the harm, because of the service of Hashem that kept causing him to be shut up in his room, he never saw the sun, he lacked vitamin D. No, in short, they attribute the entire loss of the tzaddik to the fact that he brought harm upon himself through his righteous conduct. They do not understand why he was gathered in, and they think "because of the evil the righteous one is gathered in." And since this is so, then enjoy life, for in the end everyone arrives at the same place, in the end there is no judgment and no Judge, so bring strong drink and let us guzzle wine, enjoy the world, the righteous and the wicked alike, all perish. And if so, there is no point in exerting oneself, no point in serving Hashem.
There is a further explanation. "The righteous one perishes, and no one takes it to heart, for because of the evil the righteous one is gathered in." What does "because of the evil the righteous one is gathered in" mean? Sometimes when the Holy One needs to bring evil upon the generation, there is no choice, the Holy One takes the tzaddik and the tzaddik is an atonement for the generation. For because of the evil of the generation the tzaddik is gathered in to atone for them. It is told that once the wife of the Chafetz Chaim wept before him, saying, our son was such a tzaddik, a boy of eighteen who passed away before his wedding, and it was said of him that he would be one of the great ones of the next generation, so great was he in character traits and in Torah greatness. There was great pain, great pain. So they asked him why, why did this happen? No, I believe it was, no, it was about the son-in-law of the Chafetz Chaim. The son-in-law of the Chafetz Chaim, the daughter of the Chafetz Chaim asked him, why him specifically? So many people the Holy One has in the world, and specifically such a tzaddik Hashem gathered in? The Chafetz Chaim said to her, and what do you want, that the Holy One take a third of the world? The Chafetz Chaim did not speak in metaphors, he did not, he did not speak in parables, he spoke clearly. The Chafetz Chaim spoke with ruach hakodesh. The Chafetz Chaim said to her, do you want Hashem to take a third of the world? So He took one tzaddik and it spared a third of the world. They asked the Baba Sali before his passing, for the Rav had been promised that he would merit to see Mashiach. The Rav would merit to see the face of Mashiach. He said to them, correct. And they told me in Heaven, if you want Mashiach to come now, a third of Israel will perish. So he says. He stood and said, I am ready to be an atonement for Israel, so that Israel will not perish. And again, we are speaking of great men who know what happens above, they do not speak in flowery phrases. That is to say, there is an aspect that the righteous one perishes because of the evil of the generation, the tzaddik is gathered in, for one tzaddik is an atonement for an entire generation.
We learned this as well in the work of the Ramchal. The Ramchal speaks of this in Derech Hashem. The Ramchal says, and it is good for the tzaddik. For seemingly a person would ask, well, fine, the tzaddik goes as an atonement, but what did he gain from it? He went as an atonement for the nation, but on the whole he only lost. He was both a tzaddik and he has to suffer for them. They commit sins, well, at least I am a tzaddik, things will be good for me. No, no, no, for their sins you go out to your death. He is punished and I suffer? The Ramchal says, and there is no greater satisfaction for the tzaddik than this. And this is the greatest merit that can be, because in the world of truth they judge this tzaddik, they give him reward as one who protected all of Israel. He says there is no reward more immense than this. Do the calculation: one who saves a single Jewish soul is as if he sustained an entire world. And if a person saved a third of the world? Who can imagine what a great merit the tzaddik has. So the tzaddik, by going and thereby protecting the world, there is no reward more immense and abundant than this for that tzaddik. So in fact one should not think that the tzaddik, as it were, lost out. Here he exerted himself and in the end he goes because of their sins. No, rather this is the greatest gift the tzaddik could receive, that Hashem takes him as an atonement for Israel; there is no greater merit than this for the tzaddik in the world of truth. This is a further explanation.
There is a third explanation which wishes to say that the righteous one perishes because of the evil. What is "because of the evil"? "There is no righteous man on earth who does good and does not sin." Every person, even the greatest tzaddik, has sins in him, has transgressions, some tiny something, the finest of the fine. Only in Christianity, I told you, there everyone is holy. Among us, Moshe sinned, Avraham sinned, Sarah our matriarch sinned, David HaMelech sinned. Among us we know that flesh and blood is liable to sin. But what? He must exert himself and must do teshuva. It happens that a person stumbles and needs to do teshuva for it. That is to say, it is very possible that even the tzaddik needs to receive some punishment. Moshe did not enter the Land. For what? For something that requires a magnifying glass to understand what it was. The verses do not reveal to us what Moshe's sin was. We saw that Avraham our father had a shortcoming, that Sarah our matriarch sinned in this, as the Ramban says, and more. So in fact the tzaddik has sins. But what? We do not measure the tzaddik by his sins, rather we measure the sins by the tzaddik. You want to know what the sin was? It is something the finest of the fine, for after all we are speaking of a righteous man. So it is a fine, fine sin, and he is held accountable for something. Well, but a reckoning must be given. So the Holy One says to him, look, I can leave your reckoning for the world of truth, and then he will have anguish and great disgrace, that there in the world of truth they will put him into Gehinnom and purification for some sin. Or I can give you the punishment here, exact it from you here in this world, and you will arrive purified, holy and pure to the world to come. What does the tzaddik prefer? Certainly here in this world. So the righteous one perishes here from this world, and none understand that because of the small and light evil the tzaddik had, because of this he was gathered in. They are certain, well of course he was wicked, if you see he perished he must have been wicked. No, it was something the finest of the fine that, because of that evil, Hashem took him before his time and thereby purified all his sins, and now he is fit to enter the world of truth without any obstacle.
There is yet another explanation. What is "the righteous one perishes, and no one takes it to heart, for because of the evil the righteous one is gathered in"? Hashem wants to bring evil. And why? Because it reaches, God forbid, a state where Israel is degraded and evil is due to them. The Holy One says, I cannot bring the evil. Why? There is a tzaddik here who does not stop praying. There is a tzaddik here who does not stop pleading on their behalf. I want to bring the... I cannot do such a thing while the tzaddik is here and it would grieve him. What does the Holy One do? Because of the evil destined to come, the tzaddik is gathered in. And why is the tzaddik gathered in? According to the explanation we saw until now, so that he will not suffer the evil. But according to the explanation we are now offering, so that he will not nullify the evil. Hashem wants to bring evil; if the tzaddik is here in prayer, he will nullify it. What does the Holy One do? He gathers in the tzaddik. Ah, now there is no one to argue in their defense, no one to pray on their behalf, and now the Holy One brings the evil. What will you say, does the tzaddik above not pray for Israel? You know there are stories about several tzaddikim who made many promises, that before their death they would not relent and would demand Mashiach, and they would not relent, and would speak on behalf of Israel, and so on. And afterward, what became clear? Just as our politicians claim, that things you see from here you don't see from there. When one arrives above, it becomes clear to you that everything is kindnesses. Everything is kindnesses, so for what will you pray? Everything the Holy One gives is Hashem's kindness upon us, and it is all in order to bring the revelation of His light in the world, and all for the good of Israel. So he wants to pray, but for what indeed will you pray? That Hashem stop the kindness? So those who were here, above they no longer pray. Above they no longer ask, so of course they ask, of course they... but not as he used to here. And here on earth it is revealed as a seemingly evil reality, as a break for Israel, as suffering for Israel, so here they storm and breach the heavens. But there in the world of truth things already appear differently. And therefore the Holy One takes the tzaddik so that the tzaddik will not continue to plead on behalf of Israel, and it is because of the evil that Hashem wishes to bring upon them that the tzaddik is gathered in.
He comes in peace, they rest upon their beds, each one who walks in his uprightness. "He comes in peace": so according to the first explanation we gave, that the tzaddik is gathered in so that he will not see the evil, the Holy One says this tzaddik will come to his fathers in peace, that he will not see the evil destined to be. "They rest upon their beds": he will not suffer all the evil, but on the contrary, he will be at rest, he rests upon his bed in peace. Why? "Each one who walks in his uprightness," for in his life he walked in his uprightness, in his life he walked the straight path. In his life he did righteousness, so he does not deserve to suffer. The Radak explains, what is written here, "they rest upon their beds," means that in their death they rest in great repose. And death is called lying down, as it is written "and I will lie with my fathers." So although one might understand that the intent is that the body lies in the grave, hence the expression "lying down," he says it is deeper than that. For to lie down is to rest. Lying down expresses rest. And the tzaddik, now his soul is at rest. "His soul is at rest" means now he is in repose. Like "his heart did not lie down," what does that mean? His heart did not rest. So here too, when it speaks of "they rest upon their beds," the intent is the rest of the soul that the tzaddik will have when he departs from the world.
The Malbim explains: we saw that people claim it is in vain to serve God. Look, they say, the tzaddik perishes too, one fate to the righteous and the wicked. And people, "with none understanding, for because of the evil the righteous one is gathered in," they further claim that this tzaddik harmed himself with all his afflictions, and because of this he died before his time, because he damaged his body, and they do not understand that the Holy One created for him in his life. So do not err to think that the tzaddik perished because he harmed himself, God forbid, but on the contrary, the righteous one perishes because Hashem takes him to the place that is good for him, to the place prepared for him. Now, according to all the explanations we brought, the continuation of this verse, "he comes in peace," will also be understood. According to the explanation we gave, that the death of the tzaddik is for atonement, in order to atone for Israel, according to this you will understand: the tzaddik perishes so that peace will come to us, and we "rest upon our beds." What does "they rest upon their beds" mean? That no sword passes through our land. How does the Torah express this? "And you will lie down and none will make you afraid." The Holy One says, so that you may rest upon your beds, so that you may continue to rest, therefore the tzaddik perishes. This is according to the explanation we gave, that Hashem takes the tzaddik as an atonement for us. So that we may rest upon our beds, "each one who walks in his uprightness," therefore the Holy One takes the tzaddik so that the tzaddik will atone for us.
Against the explanation we gave, that the tzaddik perishes because of some fine sin he has, He tells you why Hashem took the tzaddik: so that he will come in peace. So that above he will not come with sins; he comes in peace, he comes in wholeness, without any blemish. Through this "they rest upon their beds, each one who walks in his uprightness," without them telling him, no, no, wait, take a right here to Gehinnom, that is, a left, take a left here to Gehinnom, you have a few more things to fix. No, no, no, when he departs, in his passing he in fact rectified everything that needs rectifying. And through this he comes in peace above, complete, "they rest upon their beds" in repose, "each one who walks in his uprightness" straight to Gan Eden, without needing to undergo any further purification there above. And according to the additional explanation we gave, that the tzaddik departs so that he will not pray for the generation, what does it tell you? "He comes in peace, they rest upon their beds." Hashem takes the tzaddik so that they may rest upon their beds. When he is here, he shakes heaven and earth. When he is here, he does not give rest in the heavens. He pleads endlessly on behalf of Israel. The Holy One says, no, "he comes in peace, they rest upon their beds," and through this Hashem will bring the decree, "each one who walks in his uprightness." The Holy One, as it were, the way is now clear, "walks in his uprightness," He brings the decree that was decreed upon Israel. Why does the righteous one perish? So that he will not pray. For because of the evil that Hashem wishes to bring upon His people, the tzaddik is gathered in. The tzaddik comes in peace, and then they rest upon their beds, there is, there will be no more prayers, there will be no more pleading on behalf of Israel, and then "each one who walks in his uprightness," the Holy One will carry out the decree in a straight manner as He wished to bring upon them.
And you, draw near here, children of the sorceress, seed of an adulterer and one who commits harlotry. The Radak says, against the wicked ones of his generation, he says, you, now that the tzaddik is not here, draw near for judgment for the evil deeds. And this is in full accord, it is a continuation of what we said. That the righteous one perishes because of the evil the Holy One wishes to bring upon them, so as we explained according to the line that most commentators explained, that the Holy One gathers in the tzaddik so that the tzaddik will not see the evil, after this obstacle was removed, and this fits all the explanations we gave, this obstacle was removed, there is no longer anyone to pray on our behalf. According to the explanation we gave, that the Holy One took the tzaddik as an atonement, then the continuation of the verse does not quite fit. But according to the explanation we gave, that Hashem took him so that he would not pray on our behalf, and according to the further explanation that Hashem took him so that he would not see the evil destined to be here and not suffer together with us, ah, now after the barrier is removed, the Holy One says, now come, come here, come now and pay the full price, you, Israel. And you, draw near here, children of the sorceress, seed of an adulterer and one who commits harlotry. For indeed the judgment is coming to you. You are children of the sorceress. "Sorceress" means those who divine and cast spells. "Sorceress" in the feminine, since sorcery was mostly found among women. Where do we see this in the Torah? "A sorceress you shall not let live." Rashi says, what is "a sorceress"? Is there no male sorcerer? There is a male sorcerer, palm reading exists today too. What, there is no male sorcerer? Why "a sorceress"? He tells you, since the way of sorcery was common among women. But there are male sorcerers too. So here too, since sorcery is mostly found among women, he speaks of "children of the sorceress," the women who divine and cast spells. "Seed of an adulterer," your fathers were adulterers, and your mothers were, "and one who commits harlotry." So how can you be decent? For you came, your root is from an evil root. As Hoshea said in chapter 4, "I will not punish your daughters when they commit harlotry, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery, for they themselves consort with harlots and sacrifice with the temple prostitutes." The intent is that the Holy One holds them accountable, judges them for the severe sins they committed.
The Malbim explains: "And you, draw near here," now the time has come for "draw near," "drawing near" is for judgment, to judge them. "Children of the sorceress": notice, the Malbim explains that they were adulterers and committed harlotry for idolatry. An interesting matter we spoke of in the past, that the Vilna Gaon says that beside every house of idolatry, that is, so we have received by tradition, that beside every house of idolatry there was a house of harlotry. And therefore we always see idolatry mentioned together with your harlotry, it is always mentioned together. Beside every house of idolatry there was a house of harlotry. And Chazal already touched on this point when they said, Israel did not seek to serve idolatry except in order to permit themselves illicit relations in public. For the way of the idolatrous priests to draw them to idolatry was by permitting them harlotry. And through this they would be drawn after their method, for according to their approach it was even a mitzvah, it was another way, perhaps, to serve the Baal, through harlotry. The Malbim says, they were adulterers and committed harlotry for the sake of idolatry. What does this mean? They committed harlotry in the place of idolatry, and the children born from this adultery and harlotry, they would say this one is attributed to such-and-such idol, this one is attributed to such-and-such star. He was born in such-and-such season. This, incidentally, is the expression of "me'onen" (one who divines by seasons). What is "me'onen"? Those who say this season is good for this, this season is good for that. They would do things, notice, many of the sorcerers and all these types tell you, go on such-and-such a day, which falls on such-and-such a date, at a time when the moon is in such-and-such a position. Many sorcerers build their craft on very specific times. And this is called "me'onen," one who knows this season is good for this, that season is good for that. And they would set the season of their birth, he was born under such-and-such fortune and under such-and-such star, and then consequently this son they would call "child of the sorceress." "Children of the sorceress," since his season was fixed from the moment he came into the world's air, as it were, to which star he belongs, to which fortune, from which fortune he emerged. And they are called "seed of an adulterer," since the father was an adulterer, through this afterward as well "and one who commits harlotry," the mother, that is, he was born from a mother and father who were adulterers and harlots.
The Malbim explains, what is the difference between "adulterer" and "one who commits harlotry"? The Malbim says, notice that "one who commits harlotry" generally appears in reference to a female, it almost never appears in reference to a male, harlotry. Unless it is straying after, from behind Hashem. Harlotry means to stray, to commit harlotry means to deviate. And specifically with the woman harlotry is mentioned, while with the man adultery is mentioned. Also with the woman, but with the man harlotry is not mentioned. What is the difference? The Malbim says, because "to commit harlotry" means to turn away from. Regarding the woman, she has one husband. Consequently, the moment she committed harlotry she became forbidden to him. So therefore her adultery is always in the category of harlotry, she is unfaithful to her husband. In contrast, regarding the man, a man can even marry several wives and he does not become forbidden to his wife through his adultery. Certainly he committed a severe sin, and if it is a married woman all the more so, and he will certainly give a reckoning, but one cannot call it harlotry, he did not stray from his wife, for he can marry another woman in addition to his wife. Therefore the expression "harlotry" is more applicable to the woman, and the expression "adultery" more to the man. And here he says, here the expression "harlotry" comes to express a double matter. Both the matter of harlotry, that she was unfaithful to her husband, and also the additional matter of idolatry which we said is often expressed in the language of harlotry, for they would say the sons who were born are children of the idolatry, they committed harlotry in the house of idolatry, something akin to the impure trinity of that man into whom, as it were, ruach hakodesh entered, and so on. These ideas are idolatrous, pagan ideas that came from the nations, who believed that if harlotry is committed in the house of idolatry then something of the soul of the deity, something of the soul of the idol, enters that fetus and then he has in him some sort of higher power, he is in the category of some idol.
Upon whom do you take delight, upon whom do you open wide the mouth, prolong the tongue? Are you not children of transgression, seed of falsehood? "Upon whom do you take delight?" Rashi explains, after you abandoned the way of Hashem, you turned back from following, upon whom do you lean that things are so good for you? That is, in whom do you trust? Upon whom do you take delight? If you do not have the Master of the world, upon whom do you have to lean? Had you trusted in Hashem, then delight in Hashem. But if you do not trust in Hashem, then upon whom do you delight? Upon whom do you lean? What will you say, that things are good for him now? This is like a person who jumps from the fiftieth floor, they ask him, how are you? He says, ah, what air, what a view. Is that good? In a moment you will feel the boom and it is all over, right? So too, upon whom do you take delight? Upon whom do you delight when you know that everything is about to end? "Upon whom do you open wide the mouth?" What is "you open wide the mouth"? When they spoke they would open wide the mouth, mocking the angels of God, mocking His prophets, speaking harsh words, slandering them. So he says, upon whom do you open wide the mouth? Against the prophets of Hashem? About them you speak harsh words?
The Radak explains, the Radak says "upon whom do you take delight," this is a continuation of what we said earlier, the end of the previous passage, "come, let me take wine, let us guzzle strong drink," they were delighting in food, in drink, as if the Titanic were not about to sink. The nobles play music and drink wine. Truly a reality in which they do not see what will happen in another moment. They would open wide the mouth, prolong the tongue against the prophets of Hashem. He tells them, but you should have opened wide the mouth about yourselves. For you are children of transgression, seed of falsehood. That is, before you speak about them, come and see what your source is, what your root is, as we said, from harlotry, from transgression.
The Malbim explains, "upon whom do you take delight," he is speaking here of the children of the sorceress. He says to them, upon whom do you trust that you take delight and say "let me take wine, let us guzzle strong drink," as the Radak explained, and in what indeed do you trust? In the divination, in the prognostication by which you predicted that you were born under good fortune? For as we said, they would examine the seasons and would say, this one was born under the fortune of this idol, that one was born under this fortune. What does he tell them? Ah, you were born under good fortune, go, you will have success. Such-and-such god is with you, he is inside you. This was to divine, this was their conception. He says to them, so upon whom do you take delight? You, the children of the sorceress. And just because you think you did some prognostication that he was born under good fortune, you can take delight, that's it, now everything will be fine for you? "Upon whom do you open wide the mouth?" Here he speaks against the "seed of an adulterer." He says to them, how do you open wide the mouth, mocking, eat and drink for tomorrow we die? And you open wide the mouth, meaning you go on at length in speech, saying there is nothing to worry about, no judgment, no Judge, do whatever you want. But you should have been ashamed of your very own blemish, for you are children of transgression on your mother's side who committed harlotry, and seed of falsehood on your father's side who committed adultery. So in your state it would have been fitting for you to be silent, and not, moreover, to boast in your state and say I have good fortune, I will succeed in all my affairs, we are children of the sorceress, we were born in a good season, we were born under good fortune. For indeed in your state you should not have spoken anything, given the evil of your state.
Who are inflamed among the terebinths under every leafy tree, who slaughter the children in the valleys under the clefts of the rocks. "Who are inflamed among the terebinths": Rashi explains, who warm themselves with an emission of seed under the terebinth and the oak. The intent is people who would commit a transgression under every leafy tree. "Who slaughter the children in the valleys": the intent is that they would offer the children as a sacrifice to idolatry. "And under the clefts of the rocks": the intent is in the crevice of the rock. Incidentally, our text says "shochatei" (who slaughter) the children, but one should know the reading is not agreed upon. In the Ibn Ezra the reading was "sochatei" (who squeeze out) the children. In fact, the Gemara in Tractate Nidda derives that one who emits seed in vain is as if he sheds blood, that it is written "who slaughter the children in the valleys," do not read "shochatei" (slaughter) but "sochatei" (squeeze out). This is an act akin to squeezing. And the Ibn Ezra, in contrast, did not read it that way, for according to the Ibn Ezra it is not a matter of "do not read," but it is written here "sochatei." He read it with a left-dotted shin (sin). For the Ibn Ezra on the verse "and he squeezed them into Pharaoh's cup" says like "sochatei" the children. That is, he understands it is the same word. The same thing in our verse, he writes "sochatei" the children, like "and he squeezed them into Pharaoh's cup." That is to say, according to the Ibn Ezra the reading here is with a left-dotted shin (sin). In contrast, the reading we read, "every leafy tree, shochatei (who slaughter) the children," and this is the reading of nearly all the commentators.
"Who are inflamed among the terebinths." The Radak explains, we see that the prophets frequently liken Israel, when they are idolaters, to a woman who commits harlotry under her husband. That is to say, just as a woman is subject to her husband and she goes and seeks other masters, so too Israel are subject to the rule of the Creator of the world and they seek other masters. And they commit harlotry after the Baalim, "Baal" from the language of ownership and master. They seek other deities to crown over themselves. Therefore we see it in many instances that idolatry is likened to harlotry, and this is apart from the matter we discussed, that the idolaters would make a house of harlotry beside the idolatry in order to encourage people, to draw them to come to them. So about them he says, "who are inflamed among the terebinths under every leafy tree, who slaughter the children in the valleys under the clefts of the rocks." The meaning is: "inflamed" is from the language of "the flocks were in heat." "Inflamed" from the language of warming oneself. It comes to express the matter of the lying together of male and female in the language of heat. So this is "who are inflamed among the terebinths." Who warm themselves among the terebinths. What is "among the terebinths"? What is the intent? He specifies, "under every leafy tree." "Terebinths" is an expression for trees, yes? "Elim" is from the language of trees, like "terebinths and oaks." "Elim" is trees. So at first he says "who are inflamed," the intent is they perform acts of harlotry and heat among the terebinths, among the trees, and he specifies, under every leafy tree they would go to commit harlotry.
And they were called "who slaughter the children." What is "who slaughter the children"? They slaughter their children to idolatry, and he continues with the matter of idolatry, they would sacrifice their sons to it. As Yechezkel says, "and when they slaughter their children to their idols." Where would they do this? In the valleys, in the place where the rocks were.
The Malbim explains, we saw that beforehand he says "are you not children of transgression, seed of falsehood?" The Malbim says about this, you see he defines them as children of transgression. What does "children of transgression" mean? Now he specifies. They would warm themselves to beget children from the terebinths, and according to the Malbim this is not from the language of trees, but from the language of deities. The intent is from the idols. They would set up idols under every leafy tree, and they would perform acts of harlotry under those trees, and would say that she conceived from the god. Since here, as it were, this is the place of these idols, this is their dwelling place, and if they committed harlotry in that place, they would claim that this child, as it were, is a divine child, he came from that god. And they would say that the idols, as it were, desire the daughters of man, as it is written "and the sons of God came to the daughters of man and bore children for them," so they would say that, as it were, the divine forces, that is, the idols they believed in, they, as it were, desire the daughters of man and, as it were, come upon them, and through this they bore children. "Who slaughter the children," what would they say afterward? The child that was born is a child of the god, as it were. And afterward they would say, now the god requests that you sacrifice his son to him. "Who slaughter the children," this was the next stage. The son that was born, they would slaughter him, as it were, to the idols, they would command them to slaughter them, those children who were in the valleys under the clefts of the rocks. And through this they believed that the children would be sanctified to become, as it were, divine as well. As the Malbim says, as was accepted in the worship of the hosts of heaven, from ancient sources and their nonsense, they believed that suddenly this one ascended to heaven and became such a god, and that one fought with that god, and all sorts of other nonsense the ancient nations believed in. And so it appeared as if the idols were "who slaughter the children." That is to say, as it were, the gods are the ones who slaughtered the child, since the gods requested that these children, who are, as it were, their children, be offered before them.
In the smooth stones of the valley is your portion, they, they are your lot, to them too you poured a libation, you offered up a meal offering; shall I relent over these? "In the smooth stones of the valley," like "smooth stones of the brook." These are the stones that are in the valley. Who took smooth stones of the brook? David HaMelech when he killed Golyat. So "in the smooth stones of the valley is your portion," what is the meaning of "your portion"? Rashi explains, those same smooth stones of the valley with which they will stone you. And why? Because those smooth stones of the valley are your lot. The meaning is, you chose them for your lot, and with them they will avenge themselves upon you. The meaning is, they would take the smooth stones and set them up as a monument for idolatry. So you served those smooth stones of the valley, you chose them for your portion, so when they are stoned, they will stone you with them. Why? "To them too you poured a libation." For to these stones you poured a libation, they would pour libations upon the monument. "Shall I relent over these?" Shall I, over these evil deeds you did, relent, meaning regret and not do you harm? For certainly for this you will give a reckoning and I will exact from you. So too Rashi explains, and so too the Radak explains, that when they would find a smooth and beautiful stone among the stones of the valley, they would worship it. As it is written, "he set up a brick and worshiped it and bowed to it." About whom is this said? About that man, who set up a brick and bowed to it. So they would bow to the smooth stones of the valley, and in this is "your portion." The Radak says this is a case of a play on words. They will be, so according to the Radak there is one more difference: according to Rashi "your portion" means you chose them, so they will be your portion, with them they will stone you. But the Radak does not explain the matter of stoning, he says they are your portion like "Hashem is my allotted portion and my lot." As it were, this is what you chose, the smooth stones of the valley, this you chose for yourself as a god. Rashi already speaks also of the punishment, "your portion" meaning what you chose will be your lot, you will be punished with them. And the Radak says why did he write "your portion"? Because it is a play on words. He spoke of smooth stones of the valley (chalukei nachal), so he spoke of "your portion" (chelkech). It is the same language, therefore often they speak in poetic language, they express themselves with the same expression when it has two different meanings.
The Malbim explains according to the same line he explained, that they would commit harlotry in the place of idolatry in order to beget sons, as it were, for the idolatry, and afterward these sons they would slaughter and offer to the idolatry. So "in the smooth stones of the valley is your portion," when the children, you give the valley its portion, as it were, namely what, the sons whom you believed came, as it were, from the idolatry from which these children emerged, you will think, in your foolishness, in your vanity, that "they, they are your lot." You think to yourself, I will give the god, as it were, his son, which is what was born to me, so the god will be for my lot. The meaning is, my fortune will succeed. For behold, now I offer him sacrifices. "They, they are your lot," you, in your folly, will think that through this the gods will rise in your lot, the intent being "lot" from the language of fortune, they are the ones who will rise in your fortune.