"Thus said Hashem, God of Hosts, go, come to this steward, to Shevna who is over the house." This section, chapter 22 from verse 15, is essentially like a chapter in its own right. We have already spoken in the past about how the division into chapters is not Jewish, and here is another example that it was not people who understood who divided the chapters. Because from here, from verse 15, a new prophecy in fact begins, a new matter begins. Let me give a bit of connecting background to understand what is being discussed. Whoever learned Melachim II with us knows and remembers that when Sancheriv besieged Yerushalayim, there were people within Yerushalayim who were a fifth column. They went and worked among Sancheriv's forces to say to them: know that it is only Chizkiyahu and his faction who have not surrendered, but Shevna and his faction have surrendered. Shevna's faction surrendered, we are the majority here. Through this they in fact wanted to seize power from Chizkiyahu's hands, so that Sancheriv would accept him as ruler, and by this would install the wicked Shevna and his men as those who would rule over Yerushalayim.
"Thus said Hashem, God of Hosts, go, come to this steward, to Shevna who is over the house." What is this "steward"? Why does he call Shevna by the name steward? Well, we have already seen there that the term steward (sochen) is a term that appears in several explanations. There is one well known and famous explanation: a person appointed over the king's possessions, over the king's house, is called a steward. A person responsible for the expenditures and the income, like the storehouse cities for Pharaoh, storehouse cities, cities in which they would store the grain. "And she became a stewardess to the king", there too the plain meaning is that she managed the king's house. The Malbim says this also comes to describe a person who is a man of pleasures. A person who pursues matters of desire, that is, matters of food and the like. For behold you see, in the storehouse cities they would keep grain, they would keep fruit for the purpose of eating. Therefore Chazal say, the steward, says Rashi, he was a man of pleasures. And according to this, "and she became a stewardess to him" is also connected to pleasures, since there it was speaking of one who enjoyed her for warmth, "and she became a stewardess to him", meaning she warmed him. There is another explanation there of "and she became a stewardess to him" which does not fit here: Chazal there explain "sochenet" from the language of "a woodcutter is warmed by them". "Sochen" there means from the language of warming, a woodcutter, one who cuts wood is warmed by it through the fire when they place the wood. And so too there David took Avishag in order to be warmed by her. But here this explanation of steward does not fit. But here there is another explanation that relates specifically to this place: what is written here "sochen" is from the language of Sichni. It is written "he was from Sichni." He came from a place called Sichni which was near Yerushalayim, and from there he came to Yerushalayim.
Another explanation: the stewardess, we saw, was appointed over the house. So here too there is an opinion in Chazal that Shevna was appointed over the Beit HaMikdash. In what was his appointment? Some say he was Kohen Gadol, to our shame. And some say he was an amarkal. An amarkal is like a director general. That is, whatever he says, everyone does. "Amar kol", everything is done according to his word.
"What have you here, and whom have you here, that you have hewn for yourself here a tomb, hewing his tomb on high, carving in the rock a dwelling for himself." First of all I will dwell on a grammatical point that we have already dwelt on in the past, but it is a rule that is important to know in grammar. Let us note, "mah lecha foh, umi lecha foh, ki chatzavta lecha poh kaver". Why are the first two "foh", while the last is "poh" with a dagesh? Well, we explained that according to the rules of grammar, when there is a preceding aleph-hei-vav-yud, then the dagesh drops from the beged-kefet. Beged-kefet means the letters bet, gimel, dalet, kaf, pei, tav, when they are at the head of a word they have a dagesh. We say "kefar", we do not say "chefar". Unless I attach a word to it, and then I say "lichfar", I traveled to Kfar Saba, but I do not say "chefar Saba", I say "kefar". When do I read the word, the beged-kefet, without a dagesh? When one of the letters aleph-hei-vav-yud precedes it before it. Aleph, hei, vav, yud. The previous word ends in them, I will read the following word without a dagesh. If for example I say "Pharaoh", I always read it with a dagesh. But when do I write the word Pharaoh without a dagesh? If for example the previous word ended with "ki". "Ki Pharaoh". So "ki" ends with a yud, aleph-hei-vav-yud, preceding the word Pharaoh, dropping the dagesh from the pei. "Vayar Balak", we do not say "vayar Balak" with a dagesh, but rather "vayar Valak", because the "vayar" ends with a resh, that is a preceding aleph-hei-vav-yud. This rule is true, by the way, also regarding a word like "lecha". The word "lecha" is considered a word that ends with a preceding aleph-hei-vav-yud. Why? Where is the aleph-hei-vav-yud? It ends with a kaf, it is not with an aleph, not a hei, not a vav. But when I say "lecha", how does it sound? As if it ended with a hei. In hearing it sounds as if it ended with a hei, "lecha". Since it sounds as if it ended with a hei, then consequently it is read like a preceding aleph-hei-vav-yud. Therefore "mah lecha foh", this drops the dagesh from the pei, I do not read "mah lecha poh", but rather I read "mah lecha foh". If it had been written "melech", then I would certainly read "poh", because "lech" does not end in aleph-hei-vav-yud. But "lecha" as if ends in aleph-hei-vav-yud, as if ends in a hei. So why is the last one "ki chatzavta lecha poh kaver", why here is it written "poh"? What is the reason that under the last "lecha" it is written so? The reason of the tevir. What does a tevir do? It lowers, it stops, right? It stops. The level of tevir. So "ki chatzavta lecha, poh kaver". What does this mean? That it is no longer a preceding aleph-hei-vav-yud. A preceding aleph-hei-vav-yud is when I read "lecha foh", together. The "lecha foh" drops the dagesh from the pei and it becomes "foh" instead of "lecha poh". But when I read "lecha, poh", then it is not a preceding aleph-hei-vav-yud. Then consequently the pei remains with a dagesh. Therefore in the first ones "lecha foh umi lecha foh", both, the "lecha foh" are attached, the aleph-hei-vav-yud is preceding, and since this is so the dagesh dropped from the beged-kefet. In the last one "lecha, poh", the cantillation marks teach us to stop, and consequently the dagesh did not drop from the pei. Good, that is enough for a moment of grammar, and we now move on to understand the verse.
"What have you here, and whom have you here, that you have hewn for yourself here a tomb." Here he in fact turns to Shevna and says to him: you, Shevna, you came from another city. We saw one of the explanations, a steward who came from the city of Sichni. That is, you are not local at all. What are you looking for here in Yerushalayim? Do you have here some field inheritance? Some house of your ancestral estate? "What have you here." "And whom have you here", the meaning is: do you have relatives here from your father's family? Because it could be that I come to live in a city where my relatives are. So he says "whom have you here", so "what have you here" refers back to: you have no house here, you have no field here. So "what have you here". A second question, "whom have you here", you also have no relatives here from your father's family. And if a person has relatives, many times he wants to be buried near his relatives. So he says "that you have hewn for yourself here a tomb". For you hewed yourself a tomb here, meaning that you think to remain here for many years. You bought yourself here a burial estate so that after your 120 years they will bury you there. That is, here you feel permanent. "Hewing his tomb on high, carving in the rock a dwelling for himself." He says to him: I tell you, you, the wicked one who went and hewed himself a tomb on high. You went and hewed yourself in the mountain, a high place, a tomb. "Hewing", why does he call this "hewing"? Because their way was to hew tombs, to hew burial caves. They would make a cave and on the sides they would hew niches, and there they would bury them. And this is called "hewing his tomb on high", you went to hew yourself in the mountain, a high place, a tomb. "Carving in the rock a dwelling for himself." Carving in the rock a dwelling for himself, the meaning is: within the place where you hewed the tomb, they carved a place where they place the coffin. What is the difference between hewing (chotzev) and carving (chokek)? The hewer hews in something attached. The carver carves in something detached. That is, if I now take and sculpt here on some detached stone, it is called that I carved in the stone. Like "engraved on the Tablets". In contrast, when I go to hew in a rock that is attached, I chisel in the mountain itself, I am called a hewer. So at first he hewed himself a tomb place, after that he carved himself the niche. Do you know how they used to bury? They would bury within, whoever will see at the Israel Museum or in other places, they see a burial coffin, ossuaries. A stone burial coffin. You see literally a coffin but entirely of stone. In fact you need to know, they would not bury there. They would bury him in the ground, and after a time when he had decomposed, after a year, they would take the bones and place them there. Therefore do not be surprised, you see a coffin of such a size, you say how did they fold him? How did they pack him in there? What... But this was only after the bones already had no flesh on them at all, they would place it inside the ossuary, and thus they would make them family tombs. This was their way, this is permitted according to halacha to do this. And by the way, this is the first burial in tiers, because whoever looks sees they would bury in tiers. That is, they would make like shelves and would insert and would close. This was the manner of burial. But at first they would certainly let the flesh decompose, because after all it is not possible on stone, the flesh takes time until it decomposes. Whereas in the earth it decomposes much faster. And the flesh needs to decompose quickly so that the soul can leave the body. As long as the flesh has not fully decomposed, the soul does not leave the body and then it has anguish. So he says to him: you went and hewed yourself in the mountain, in the high and steep mountain, some tomb. You wanted to have honor there, to have glory, and you went and carved yourself a special coffin within which they would place your bones. He says, you as it were prepared yourself a mighty place, you prepared for yourself honor and glory. But the Creator of the world is preparing something else for you. The Creator of the world is preparing for you a downfall, prepared for you disgrace, prepared for you humiliation, as we will soon see.
Now Rashi explains that Scripture comes to condemn him, since he was in fact the first traitor known to us as a fifth column. What is called the New Israel Fund. These are the corrupters of Israel who go and hand Israel over to the nations, operating from within us and among us to dismantle us from the inside. This was Shevna, he was the first leftist. He is the one who came and fought and shot an arrow to the king of Ashur: Shevna and his faction have surrendered. When you come to fight here, take into account there are here those who are yours. There are here people of yours and therefore I ask that you treat us differently. The Gemara says: he wrote a note and shot it with an arrow. This was the SMS they had at the time. What would they do? He takes an arrow, wraps it, the arrow in a letter, shoots the arrow toward that direction, they see they received a letter and thus they would understand and communicate with one another.
The Holy One, Blessed be He, says to him: "Behold Hashem is hurling you with a man's hurling, and enwrapping you with a wrapping." Hashem is hurling you, the Holy One, Blessed be He, is about to hurl you a man's hurling. What is a man's hurling? There are several explanations for this. Rashi brings a first explanation, which is what the Targum says: like this rooster that is moved from place to place. One of the lightest animals that jump in an instant from place to place is the rooster. The "gever" in the language of Tanach is the rooster, it is called "gever". Right? "The gever crowed", the meaning is the rooster. So I hurl you like this rooster that jumps and is moved from place to place. Chazal say, a man's hurling, why a man's hurling and not a woman's hurling? A man's hurling is harder than a woman's. Chazal say, when a person has to uproot from place to place, the woman has no problem. In one moment she packs suitcases, she is already settled. After two moments she has already settled in there and she already has three friends from the neighbors. She already knows everyone, after two days she will also tell you the names of the residents in the neighborhood, according to the population registry. One by one. A woman has no problem at all uprooting from place to place. A man, in contrast, until he arrives, until he even leaves the house, until he acclimatizes there, until he finds a synagogue, in fact for months he goes each time to a different synagogue, manages somehow to exchange a word with someone. Usually also to absorb languages, men, until they absorb languages it is a problem. Women, chick chack, very quickly she has a language, the neighbor speaks French she understands her, even without much to it, immediately she understands her what she wants, what she says. A man, until he absorbs, people are twenty years in a different place, and he still has not absorbed the language. You speak with him, he tells you: I do not, do not know English. What do you mean you do not know English? You have been twenty years in the United States. No, I do not know English, and to write, that is out of the question. In short, the reality is that a man's hurling is much harder than a woman's hurling. For a woman it is easy, she moves from place to place, for a man it is hard. And therefore, by the way, it is written that people are warned not to take elderly parents and move them from place to place. Because for a man this is very hard. I know several stories of people, where the children wanted the parents to be close to them and all sorts of things of this kind, and they moved the parents from place to place, and after a not long period the father passed away. It is very hard for a person to undergo hurling, especially after years that he is used to and knows a certain place, this is very hard. A man's hurling is harder than a woman's, says the Gemara. Therefore "behold Hashem is hurling you with a man's hurling", like that of a man. There is another explanation, the Radak explains, a man's hurling means a harsh hurling, a strong hurling. Just as a man symbolizes strength, symbolizes might, so Hashem hurls you a strong hurling. A hurling that will be a mounting and intensifying hurling. Hashem will hurl you and carry you, to where? To the air of the heavens. Why to the air of the heavens? Where is this written? "And enwrapping you with a wrapping." Like an eagle that soars in the air, Hashem will make you fly in the air. And the meaning is that in fact Shevna went out from Yerushalayim to Sancheriv's army, to connect with them, to become part of them, so that they would accept him. So "enwrapping you with a wrapping" is from the language of eagle (ayit), like "and he swooped upon the spoil", "and the people swooped upon the spoil", the meaning is they swooped like an eagle bird that darts to the spoil. There is another explanation in Chazal, "and enwrapping you with a wrapping", Chazal say, Shevna already began to receive on account, he became a leper. This is "and enwrapping you with a wrapping", as it says "and he shall cover his upper lip". So we see that covering is from the language of leprosy, so here too leprosy broke out on him.
"Wrapping he will wrap you a wrapping like a ball into a land wide of hands, there you will die and there the chariots of your glory, the disgrace of your master's house." He announces to him another tiding: "Wrapping he will wrap you a wrapping like a ball into a land wide of hands." He will wind you round and round with a turban, until your body will resemble a ball. "Ball" means like a ball. Just as a ball is thrown and rolled in a land wide of hands, they play with it from place to place in a land wide of hands, so too he will do to you. That is, at first you will fly willingly to Sancheriv's army, like an eagle, like a bird flying joyfully. But afterward, against your will, they will roll you like a ball. "And there you will die and there the chariots of your glory, the disgrace of your master's house." What is "the chariots of your glory, the disgrace of your master's house"? First of all he says to him "there you will die". After all you came and went to hew yourself a tomb in order to die here. He says to him: no, no, my master, you will not die here, but rather there you will die. Second thing, you sought the disgrace of your master's house. You wanted to be built up from the disgrace of Chizkiyahu. Behold Chizkiyahu rebels against you, but I, I am with you, Sancheriv. Hashem says to him: your glory, disgrace. The glory that is yours will turn into disgrace. Why? It is written that when Shevna organized all the fellows for a mass exit toward Sancheriv, then all the party and the enrolled members and everyone arrived. And then when he came to go out, suddenly he sees there is no one behind him. This one slipped away, that one "I must go", that one "I cannot right now", that one "I am in a hurry", that one... In short, the day of reckoning came, at the ballot box there was no one with him. He arrives alone to Sancheriv. Sancheriv asks him: what did you say? I have enrolled members, I have this, I have that, so where? Where? Where is the party center? Where? Where? Where is everyone? He tells him: what can I do, they abandoned me. Sancheriv said to him: ah, so you are only making a mockery of me. You are making a joke of me. What do you think, that you as it were came to surrender to me, you brought people and you arrive to me alone? What are you looking for, that I give you some gift? Some prize? The Gemara says: they pierced him in his heels and tied him to the tails of their horses and dragged him over the thorns and over the brambles. And this is like a ball, they rolled him like a ball, thus will be done to all traitors of Hashem. And this is what he says to him, "and there the chariots of your glory". You thought that you would come and they would give you a chariot, honor, my master, the chariots of your glory, these will be the chariots that you wanted in exchange for the honor, the disgrace of your master's house, you wanted there to be disgrace to your master's house, but it is this disgrace that you will receive. These chariots you will receive, they will mount you on the horse and thus drag you, and this will be your punishment for what you did.
There is another explanation here that the Malbim brings. The Malbim says an additional explanation, "kadur" (like a ball), what is the difficulty here, perhaps I will explain why there is a difficulty in the first explanation. "Kadur", the kaf, the kaf of comparison, is missing here. After all, if you say "wrapping he will wrap you", the meaning is he will wind you round with a turban, a turban is like a scarf, like what? Like a ball. So where is the kaf of comparison? It should have said "like a ball" (kekadur). Why "a wrapping kadur"? Why did it not say the kaf of comparison, "kekadur"? Well, there are indeed examples of this from the Tanach and the commentators bring that we find in several other places where the kaf of comparison is missing. So this is not such a great difficulty. But with all this the Malbim brought another explanation. "Kadur", says the Malbim, the first kaf is indeed the kaf of comparison, according to the second explanation. And then in fact the word itself is "dur". What is the word "dur"? What does it remind us of? "Medura" (bonfire). The Malbim says, we find the word "medura" whose source is from the word "dur", as it is written "the pile of bones (dur ha'atzamim) beneath it". "Dur ha'atzamim" means fire that burns in the bones beneath it. From this the word "medura" is derived. So when Hashem wraps you "kadur", the meaning is like a bonfire, Hashem will burn you like a bonfire into a land wide of hands.
"And I will thrust you from your station and from your standing he will tear you down." He says to him at first, "and I will thrust you from your station". After all you now have a strong station, you are at the height of rank, you are a minister, you are honored, we even saw that according to a certain opinion he was Kohen Gadol or amarkal of the Beit HaMikdash. "I will thrust you from your station", from your strength I will bring you down. And afterward "and from your standing he will tear you down". Your standing means also as a simple standing, that you should not think I will bring you down from the top and you will be a simple man. No, "and from your standing", after that also from the simple standing "he will tear you down", you will have no standing at all and no existence whatsoever, but rather complete destruction. And this is the difference, says the Malbim, what is the difference between "station" (matzav) and "standing" (ma'amad)? The Malbim already explained to us above that there is a difference between "standing" (omed) and "stationed" (nitzav). "Omed" comes to teach only that he is not sitting. Whoever is not sitting is standing. And "nitzav", in contrast, is one who is firmly fixed in his place at the same point. Firmly stationed. Or a person who is "nitzav" means as one appointed over others. Standing means only not sitting. Someone who is standing is called not sitting, he is called standing. But in contrast a person who is stationed, stationed like one appointed over others, like one firmly fixed in his place, stationed in the place of great ones, he is stationed there, he is like fixed in that place. Now let us note, at first he said "and I will thrust you from your station". "I will thrust you", I will push you. After that he said "and from your standing he will tear you down". Note that "he will tear you down" is not written like "I will thrust you". It does not say "I will thrust you and I will tear you down". And then everything would truly be in the same form and the same language. I will thrust you, I will tear you down. He does not write this language. "He will tear you down" means as if someone else. Someone else will tear you down. Why? Says the Malbim, because indeed this is how the reality was. At first, the beginning of the thrusting was by the Creator of the world. But after that he would already be torn down of himself by that cruel king, who, as we said, tied him by his heels to the horse and destroyed him and tormented him. So therefore the first fall is "and I will thrust you", I, as they say, will give you the push. But the conclusion of your story someone else will already do, "he will tear you down", it will be by Sancheriv.
"And it will be on that day that I will call to My servant, to Elyakim son of Chilkiyahu." "And it will be on that day I will call to My servant, to Elyakim." Who is My servant Elyakim? Rashi says, he was over the house when Sancheriv fell. That is, at first, whom did we see there? Shevna. But afterward, who was already appointed over the house? It was Elyakim son of Chilkiyahu. And when Shevna went, that is when we saw that they tormented him, then they appointed Elyakim. "And it will be on that day that I will call to My servant, to Elyakim son of Chilkiyahu. And I will clothe him with your tunic and your sash I will strengthen upon him, and your dominion I will place in his hand, and he will be a father to the inhabitant of Yerushalayim and to the house of Yehuda." Usually when they would appoint someone as one appointed on behalf of the king, they would clothe him with a sash and a precious tunic for glory and greatness. Where did we see this? Yosef. Right? By Yosef we saw that they placed the mantle on his neck, we saw it was a manner when they would appoint someone, they clothe him in special garments. Apparently these were also garments that symbolized his role, like a special uniform of one who serves the king. So as it is written "and he clothed him in garments of fine linen". So "and I will clothe him with your tunic and your sash I will strengthen upon him". Your sash, which is the belt, this I will strengthen. And this too is a metaphor for strength, that he will not slip from his greatness. After all, always when someone wants to strengthen himself, what does he do? He ties the belt on his loins, strengthens it on his loins. By whom did we see this? Eliyahu, when he went to run before Achav, what is written? "And he girded his loins." He tied the sash strongly on his loins. So when someone would go to do some action, he would strengthen the sash, strengthen the belt on himself. And this is a metaphor to say that he will not slip from his greatness, not like you, whose sash was loose and you slipped from your greatness, by him the sash will be strong and he will hold onto his greatness. "And your dominion I will place in his hand." And he too will not be like you, "and he will be a father to the inhabitant of Yerushalayim". He will have mercy on them like a father who has mercy on his sons. Not like you who went to inform on Chizkiyahu and his faction and did not have mercy on them but rather looked out for your own benefit. He will be like a father who looks out for the good of the people, for the inhabitant of Yerushalayim and for the house of Yehuda. There is an opinion in Chazal that this Elyakim, Elyakim son of Chilkiyahu, there is an opinion in Chazal that he was Kohen Gadol. So the Radak brings as a possibility, but this is not agreed upon. Some say only that he was appointed by the king.
"And I will place the key of the house of David upon his shoulder, and he will open and none will shut, and he will shut and none will open." "And I will place the key of the house of David upon his shoulder." This Elyakim will receive the key of the house of David. According to how Yonatan translates, the meaning is the key of the Beit HaMikdash, this is the key of the house of David. And the rule of the house of David. According to the Radak, here this is in fact a metaphor. He says, he will be the advisor of the king of Yehuda, everything the king of Yehuda does will be according to him. In short, he is the one who opens and he is the one who shuts. This is an expression that the key is in his hand. The keys are with him, everything is done according to him. Only the Radak is a bit puzzled: "and I will place the key of the house of David upon his shoulder", where should it have been? In his hand. The key is in his hand. Why suddenly did the key become upon the shoulder? If it were a burden, then I understand, a burden is placed on the shoulder. But a key one holds in the hand, or on a keychain, but not on the shoulder, seemingly. About this the Malbim says, here the Radak says about it, there are two metaphors here. The first thing he says: the key will be in his hand, and this is the matters of kingship, everything will be according to him, he will be the one who opens and he will be the one who locks. And the second thing he says, that he will carry and bear and sustain all the matters of the kingdom. The meaning is he will carry it upon his shoulder. As it is written "and the authority will be upon his shoulder". So there are two things here. One, like a key in his hand, everything is opened and shut according to him. The second thing, upon whom will all this burden be? Who will bear and everything will be loaded upon his shoulder? It is he. So in short they do not mean that the key is on the shoulder. Rather these are two metaphors, a key in his hand, and the burden, all the bearing of the yoke of the people will be upon his shoulder. So the Radak explains. But the Malbim explains more simply. The Malbim says, it was the manner of the ministers appointed over the king's house to carry the key upon their shoulder as a sign. This was their way, they had large keys. Sometimes such old drawings can be seen, where you see how as it were he places this chain here and the key here comes down on his shoulder. This was the manner of importance, it was not a key as small as you have, it was a large key, it could be 30 centimeters, the size of a key. So he would throw it behind and the key here dangles upon him. Like generals who take their medals here in front, you see him walking full of medals, so they would walk like this in front with the key, and this shows, you see, the keys are with me, I am the bearer of the authority here. So this is what he says, "and I will place the key of the house of David upon his shoulder".
"And I will drive him a peg in a faithful place, and he will be a throne of glory to his father's house." By the way, on account of this Rav Shach named the newspaper he published at the time "Yated Ne'eman" (Faithful Peg), on account of this verse. "And I will drive him a peg in a faithful place." He comes here to give a metaphor about the greatness and the authority that he will have, until it will be an honor to all the members of his family. Everyone will hang upon him, like the small one who hangs upon the great one. And this is what he says, "and he will be a throne of glory to his father's house". To all his father's house, his service will be a throne of glory. Not like by Shevna, whose service was a disgrace to his father's house, that such a traitor came out from them. "And I will drive him a peg in a faithful place." A peg, I can drive it for example into a wall. When it is driven into the wall, it can hold weight up to a certain size. If I drive it into a mound of earth, then it can hold much less weight. If I drive it into concrete or into rock, it can hold a mighty weight. And this is what he says, "and I will drive him a peg", but it is important where you drive the peg. "And I will drive him a peg in a faithful place." A faithful place means a strong place, that when the peg is driven, it is driven well. It is strengthened, it can bear a great load. And then this peg, when it is driven thus, it does not come out quickly. Go and pull out a nail that was driven with a nail gun into a concrete wall. Go try to pull it out. Impossible, it is driven, a peg in a faithful place, it is a peg that will not be shaken. And such a peg is fit to hang anything on it and it will not move from its place. So too he will be screwed in there and driven in there in the strongest manner. And then "and they will hang upon it all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the outgrowths, every small vessel from the vessels of the basins to all the vessels of the harps".
And he continues with the metaphor we said earlier. Since I compare you to a peg driven in a faithful place upon which many things can be hung because it is very strong, so they will hang upon it, upon this peg, everyone. That is, the meaning in the parable, everyone will rely on him. He will be something strong that one can depend upon. Also the small children, and all their vessels they will hang upon it, this as it were comes to say all their needs will be in his hand. I rely on him from small to great, this is the meaning of all their vessels. "To all the vessels of the harps", the meaning is everything will be dependent on him. What are "the offspring (tze'etza'im) and the outgrowths (tzefi'ot)"? Says the Malbim, that "tze'etza'im" is like "tzo'ah" (excrement). Why is excrement called "tzo'ah"? Because it goes out from the person's body, it goes out from his body, therefore it is called "tzo'ah". So too the offspring go out from the person's body and therefore they are called "tze'etza'im". Heaven forbid there is a connection between them and excrement, rather it only comes to express the expression of going out. Going out, both go out from the person's body, therefore they are called "tze'etza'im". "Tzefi'ot", also familiar to us are "tzefi'ei ha'bakar" (cattle dung). What are "tzefi'ei ha'bakar"? This comes to say the excrement of the cattle. This is called "tzefi'ei ha'bakar". So here too the "tzefi'ot" comes to say, they are the offspring. The offspring who go out are like "tzefi'ot", for "tzefi'ot" is excrement going out from the cattle's body, so the "tzefi'ot" here in the parable is small children. Just as "tze'etza'im" resembles excrement, so "tzefi'im", "tzefi'ot" which is written here, resembles cattle excrement, something that goes out from the body. And then he says, "every small vessel from the vessels of the basins". The vessels of the basins, the basins were vessels with which they would throw the blood upon the altar. As it is written "and he took half of the blood and placed it in the basins", so it is written by Moshe Rabbeinu. "And the vessels of the harps", these are the instruments of song. The meaning is both the Levi'im and the Kohanim will hang their glory upon him. In short, he will be a support for the small and for the great. Everyone will rely on him, the small and the great, the Kohanim and the Levi'im, these will hang upon him the vessels of the basins and these the vessels of the harps, for all of them he will be faithful, for all of them he will be the figure that one can depend upon like a peg driven in a faithful place.
"On that day, says Hashem of Hosts, the peg driven in a faithful place will be removed, and it will be cut down and fall, and the burden that was upon it will be cut off, for Hashem has spoken." "On that day, says Hashem of Hosts, it will be removed", removed means it will depart, the greatness of whom? Of Shevna, who is the peg driven in a faithful place. So at first it will be removed from its place, and afterward "and it will be cut down", after it is cut down, what happens to something that is cut down? It falls. "And it will be cut down and fall." And then "and the burden that was upon it will be cut off". This means that after this all his authority will be cut off, the burden that was upon it will be cut off, and to whom will it pass? As we said earlier, to Chilkiyahu. That he will be the driven peg, and he will be a peg driven in a faithful place, he will truly manage the affairs of the people of Israel in the best manner. And why? "For Hashem has spoken." Since Shevna did such harsh things, this will be his punishment, and in his stead Chilkiyahu will be appointed.