"עלה אריה מסובכו. ומשחית גויים נסע יצא ממקומו. לשום ארצך לשמה, עריך תיצינה מאין יושב". "A lion has come up from his thicket, a destroyer of nations has set out, gone forth from his place, to make your land a waste, your cities laid in ruins without inhabitant." "A lion has come up from his thicket." The lion here refers to Nebuchadnezzar. "Has come up from his thicket": what is "his thicket"? The thicket refers to the tangled place he was in, that is the meaning of "his thicket." And what is "his thicket"? The way of the lion is to lie in ambush among the thickets of the forest. So he is telling you that the lion has already come out of the ambush, "a lion has come up from his thicket." And the Radak explains that "his thicket" refers to the booth in which he would always dwell. And why is it called "his thicket"? Not literally the thickets of the forest, but a booth according to the Radak, since this booth is made of intertwined branches, therefore it says "a lion has come up from his thicket." And they are speaking here about Nebuchadnezzar, who left his palace, his booth located somewhere out in the thickets of the forest, and now...
"He has set out, gone forth from his place," and his aim is clear: "to make your land a waste." This means a desolate place. "Your cities laid in ruins without inhabitant." "Your cities תצינה": "תצינה" is from a root, without an alef, meaning dryness and desolation. The Radak explains it is from the meaning of "they will be laid waste," like "heaps of ruins." And on the simple level too, it follows the same principle. But he brings a very beautiful explanation from his father, who explains that "תצינה" is from the expression "have the pomegranates budded." "Your cities תצינה," from the language of budding forth. What is the connection? Rather, the meaning of the matter: when the enemy comes and destroys a place, what happens? Grasses begin to sprout there. Thorns begin to grow. That is what he is saying. The cities will sprout grasses and weeds, because any place that is not trodden upon, grass grows in it. You can see this even on a road. A road that is abandoned begins to grow grass in it. So he means to say, your roads, your cities will be so abandoned that they "תצינה." "תצינה" means that various kinds of grasses will begin to bud there without inhabitant, since no one will dwell there anymore in that place.
The Malbim explains that this verse is connected to the following verse. "A lion has come up from his thicket, a destroyer of nations has set out, gone forth from his place, to make your land a waste, your cities laid in ruins without inhabitant. For this gird yourselves with sackcloth, lament and wail, for the fierce anger of the Lord has not turned back from us." The Malbim says: even though the lion has already come up from his thicket to make your land desolate, and even though your cities will certainly be laid in ruins without inhabitant, nevertheless you should not yet lament and wail. It is still not the place nor the time to lament and wail. So over what should you? He tells them: only over this, "for the fierce anger of the Lord has not turned back from us." The meaning is: over the fact that the Lord's fierce anger has not yet turned back, over that it is truly fitting to lament. Over that it is truly fitting to mourn and wail.
"A lion has come up from his thicket." The Malbim explains: what is the connection? According to all the other explanations we saw that the lion is a metaphor for Nebuchadnezzar. So it is according to Rashi, and according to the Radak. But according to the Malbim there is another explanation. The Malbim says: "a lion has come up from his thicket" means that the lion always arrives at the place where the conqueror has conquered. The moment there is a conqueror, the conqueror casts down many slain, and the lion knows there are feasts there. He comes to eat. So "a lion has come up from his thicket," since the lion knows that behold, "a destroyer of nations has set out, gone forth from his place." Who is that? Nebuchadnezzar. The lion knows that every place Nebuchadnezzar arrives, afterward there is food. There are bodies, there are corpses, and the lion has what to eat. Therefore the beast of prey came up from his thicket. This comes and says: behold, you will see, your land will be a wasteland. And "your land" refers to it in general. Then he goes down and specifies more particularly. "Your cities," they too will be laid in ruins. Not only the large place, but also every small place in itself. That is to say, do not think that he will conquer only on a large scale. He will destroy everything, even the small cities. As it is written in the verse in Isaiah, "your land is desolate, your cities burned with fire." "Your land" is the land in its entirety. But you might think perhaps villages, perhaps various places will be spared? He says: no, even the cities in particular will be burned with fire.
What one needs to understand: why does it say "has set out, gone forth from his place"? The Malbim says: the setting out precedes the going forth and the marching. The uprooting of the camp from the place where it was is called "setting out." And afterward the actual marching and going forth from the city is called "going forth." So he set out, uprooted his camp, and went forth from his place. About this he tells them: gird yourselves with sackcloth, lament and wail. Over what? Not because a lion has come up from his thicket, according to the Malbim, but because the fierce anger of the Lord has not turned back from us. The main problem for us is the fierce anger of the Lord. As for his coming up from his thicket, it would have been possible to nullify it, if the fierce anger of the Lord had turned back. But over what should you lament and wail? Since the fierce anger of the Lord has not turned back from us, over that mainly one should grieve.
Rashi explains: what is "for this gird yourselves with sackcloth"? "For My fierce anger has not turned back from him." That is to say, according to Rashi this verse speaks about something else entirely. And he returns to another matter we discussed earlier. We discussed the death of Josiah. And the death of Josiah, we saw, was a very difficult reality for Israel. "The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord, was taken in their corruptions." This is Josiah, who was righteous. About this he says: why did it happen? "For this gird yourselves with sackcloth, lament and wail," over the death of Josiah. For even though Josiah returned to the Lord with all his heart, nevertheless the Lord did not turn back from His fierce anger. Over what? Over all that Manasseh had provoked. Over all that they had done in the past; soon we will see that he even goes back earlier in history. Over this His fierce anger did not turn back from Him. So if so, Josiah's repentance no longer helped. And it also did not help that Josiah himself was righteous, because as we said, his generation too were wicked, as he will soon specify. And then consequently Josiah's repentance and good deeds did not avail to remove the trouble from them. And over this matter, gird yourselves with sackcloth, lament and wail.
"And it shall come to pass on that day, says the Lord, the heart of the king shall perish and the heart of the princes, and the priests shall be astonished and the prophets shall be amazed." "And it shall come to pass on that day," according to Rashi all of this speaks about the death of Josiah. So in Josiah's day all will be amazed. They wondered: after all, Josiah is righteous, why did it come about that they stabbed him and killed him and made him like a sieve? And they do not know that his generation was not equally virtuous. As we discussed in the past, they did not know that his generation was worshiping idols in secret. And here Rashi specifies more of what we said in the past. What would the scoffers of the generation do? They engraved the form of an idol on their doors. Half on this door and half on that door. They had two doors to a house. Two doors that open inward. And they would engrave the idol on both of them together. And when the inspection patrols sent by Josiah would arrive to check and search for idols, they would open the door and then it was not visible. The door, its inner part, folds against the wall. They would not see the idol, and it was also split apart. Afterward they would finish the inspection, write a check mark, this house is clean of idols. As soon as he goes out and closes the door, the idol returned to its place. They had there some kind of LCD screen, an idol with all its wicked accompaniments, that is what they had, that was the idol. The idol returned to its place when he closes it, it joins together. So on that day, says the Lord, the heart of the king shall perish and the heart of the princes, they will all be amazed. The priests shall be astonished, the prophets shall be amazed, a great bewilderment. "Astonished" is a term of desolation, like a person who is amazed and desolate and has no answer. Why did Josiah die? And they do not know that this sin was in their hands.
The Radak explains: "and it shall come to pass on that day, the heart of the king shall perish and the heart of the princes." The Radak says: it is the way of the king, the way of the princes, always to arouse, to bring morale to the heart of the people. For as is known, a nation that is in low morale has virtually no chance of victory. And the reality is that every nation tries to harm the morale of the opposing nation, since by this its chances of victory are more assured. And to this day this psychological warfare continues. Every so often Hamas, ISIS, and all these various such organizations, they periodically put out video clips about attacks and all sorts of things, and come to burn Tel Aviv, and flee, this is your day, and various other such expressions in order to create fear, in order to create a state of dread. Why does ISIS always have those clips of how they behead people? What is the point of that? The point is to create terror. In order to create a psychological effect so that people will understand: there is nothing to be done, we cannot. And the reality is always that the weaker a person is, the more psychological effects he needs. If the nation is strong, America does not put out clips saying beware of me and I will come and we will... it does not, it does not need that. That is to say, you know that if it comes, it comes with bombers and it can wipe out entire regions. They do not need that. Let us not speak of the Obama era, right? Let us speak of periods when there were somewhat stronger presidents. But when you are weak, then you need many threats and much bluster and much... and sometimes it is only to strengthen your own people, more than to weaken the enemy, to give some enthusiasm to your army. So you say all sorts of boastful things and all sorts of expressions meant to express the supposedly enormous strength you have.
So the king and the princes always encourage the people. They always strengthen their hearts against the psychological warfare of the enemy. And then he tells you: the situation will be so terrible that when the enemy comes upon them, even the king and the princes, who are the ones who always appear in the media, who are always the ones who strengthen the heart of the people. Who was it that collapsed before the cameras and spoke... which war was that? I think the Yom Kippur War. Who spoke in the media and said that we will be strong and... and they say that his appearance was worse than if he had not appeared at all. Levi Eshkol, it could be. They say that when he spoke, it was evident that the man understood that this was truly serious, he did not... that is to say, the story here is about to end. That was the feeling then. Behold, it is the kindnesses of the Lord that we are not consumed, for His mercies have not ended. But at any rate let us understand that the king and the princes are the last who are supposed to break. And if they broadcast breakdown, then the people are utterly finished, the people are utterly destroyed. The king no longer trusts himself, the princes. So he says: there will be a breakdown so terrible, the heart of the king and the heart of the princes shall perish.
And the priests who always strengthen the people, and the prophets who always encourage them, they will be desolate and amazed. Which priests are being spoken of here? Well, there are two possibilities here. The Radak explains that the priests are the priests of the high places. And then "the priests shall be astonished" means the service of the high places will be nullified. "And the prophets shall be amazed," here too we are speaking of false prophets. Why? Because the prophets kept telling the people there will be peace, do not be alarmed, Nebuchadnezzar will not come. The religious always love to frighten, always Jeremiah, apocalyptic prophecies and all sorts of that, destruction, end of the world, I am telling you it is... they always love disasters, it is... leave it, do not be alarmed. The false prophets were the media people. Do not be alarmed, it will be good, the Lord loves Israel, and love and rejoicing and unity and all sorts of such empty expressions void of content. The main thing is not to repent. So do not let them frighten you, everything will be fine. Everything will be fine, relax, just relax, drink water and everything will be fine. And then suddenly they see: what "will be fine"? Suddenly Nebuchadnezzar and all his armies arrive here. Dread of dreads. When they cross over, it is written that they dried up the river just from the people who crossed. Well, so what did you say? So the prophets shall be amazed. Huh? The false prophets? Oh, we thought it would be fine. We are sorry, we had an error in our information sources, yes? No, we did not connect to the direct source, to the Holy One, blessed be He. Suddenly it becomes clear that everything the prophets promised was a lie.
The Malbim explains: "and it shall come to pass on that day," says the Malbim. In war the king and the princes have counsel and might for battle. And when it goes hard for them, then the priests, according to the Malbim, note this, these are the priests of the Lord. So the priests, the people who are in the Temple, the people who pray, and the prophets, who are those close to the Holy One, blessed be He, they strengthen the people. For sometimes there is a situation where only the men of spirit, the spiritual people, the people of prayer, the people who serve the Lord, the people of prophecy, only in them is there still the strength to strengthen the people, because even the king and the princes have already lost their heart. But he tells you: understand how great the trouble will be, that not only will the heart of the king and the princes perish, so that they will find no counsel and might, but even the priests too will be desolate. And also the prophets, we are speaking here of false prophets, according to the Malbim he says it is like, as the Radak explains, here the priests are the priests of the Lord, but the prophets are the false prophets, who said peace shall be yours; they too will now not know what to answer. For the Malbim cannot explain this about the true prophets, because how can one say that the true prophets did not know what to answer? After all, Jeremiah is a true prophet, and Jeremiah kept telling them what was to come. So with regard to the true prophets it does not apply to say so.
"And I said, Ah, Lord God, surely You have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Peace shall be yours, whereas the sword reaches to the soul." "And I said, Ah, Lord God, surely You have greatly deceived," the meaning is like "You have promised," like "You enticed me to say," like "the serpent enticed me and I ate." Right? So You have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, You, the Lord, told them peace shall be yours. And now we see that the sword reaches to the soul. It is not clear. Completely unclear. Where did the Holy One, blessed be He, promise peace shall be yours? On the contrary, the opposite is true. The Holy One, blessed be He, always announced that trouble was to come, that the enemy would come, that he would conquer Israel, that there would be death and slaughter and loss. Where does it apply to say, You, Lord God, greatly deceived this people saying peace shall be yours? It does not apply to say such a thing; the Holy One, blessed be He, never promised peace shall be yours. And the opposite is true.
Therefore the Radak explains that the meaning of the matter is through the false prophets. The false prophets? Did I send them? The false prophets come on their own initiative. So what do you still want from the Holy One, blessed be He? Rather, Master of the Universe, the moment You were long-suffering toward them and did not punish them immediately when they spoke a false thing in Your name, by this You enticed the people to believe that the false prophets speak in Your name. If You, Master of the Universe, had killed them immediately when the false prophets spoke a false thing, through this the people would not have been enticed to believe their words, and would not have thought that their words truly come from You. But the moment You, the Lord, did not punish the false prophets, then people said, apparently they are prophets of the Holy One, blessed be He. Apparently these people are true prophets. And many would follow after the false prophets. And if so, it turns out that as it were, through Your silence, in that You do not punish them, in that You do not harm them, You as it were fulfill their words. You as it were support them. And this is what he says: "surely You have greatly deceived this people." You enticed them to believe the false prophets, in that You do not punish them. And this is like what is written in Ezekiel, "and if the prophet be deceived and speak a thing, I the Lord have deceived that prophet." That is to say, the Holy One, blessed be He, says: I deceived him. How did You deceive him? In that I did not punish him. In that I allowed him to keep speaking lies, through this I deceived him.
"Whereas the sword reaches to the soul." The sword reaches to the soul. That is to say, the sword is already striking lives. And this is what the people come and complain to Jeremiah. The people come and say to Jeremiah: look, the false prophets told us peace shall be yours. And you told us the sword would come. And now behold, we see that the sword reaches to the soul. So why did the Holy One, blessed be He, do this to us? Why did the Holy One, blessed be He, let the false prophets mislead us?
The answer is: why indeed did the Holy One, blessed be He, let the false prophets mislead them? Because the people wanted to be misled. The people wanted to hear the lies. The people did not want to hear the truth. And therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, gave them what they wanted. In the way a person wants to go, he is led. You want to hear lies? You will receive lies. You want to believe that everything is fine? Believe that everything is fine. But the reality is that everything is not fine. The reality is that you are sinning, the reality is that you are worshiping idols in secret. And therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, brings the punishment upon you. And this is what he says: the sword reaches to the soul. The sword already reaches to the soul. This is no longer merely a matter of money, this is no longer merely a matter of property. This is a matter of life and death. For if they had repented, or at least had given a bribe to Nebuchadnezzar, as other kings did, then perhaps they would have been saved. But they did not do this. They relied on the false prophets, and they thought everything would be fine. And therefore the sword reached to the soul.
"At that time it shall be said to this people and to Jerusalem: A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness, toward the daughter of My people, not to winnow and not to cleanse." "At that time," when the enemy comes, "it shall be said to this people and to Jerusalem: a dry wind of the high places in the wilderness." What is "a dry wind of the high places in the wilderness"? "A dry wind" is a strong wind, a parched wind, a wind that has no restraint in it. "The high places" are high mountains. "In the wilderness," in a place where there is no settlement. "Toward the daughter of My people," the way of My people. "Not to winnow and not to cleanse." This wind does not come to winnow the grain, and it does not come to cleanse, to sift the grain.
What is the meaning? When there is wind, the wind can be beneficial. When is the wind beneficial? When one wants to winnow the grain. They take the grain, throw it in the air, and the wind carries off the chaff, and the wheat falls down. But for this a moderate wind is needed. A wind that will not also carry off the wheat. But this wind, "a dry wind of the high places in the wilderness," is a very strong wind. It is a wind that does not come to winnow and not to cleanse. It comes to destroy. It comes to uproot. It comes to ruin.
"A wind fuller than these shall come for Me; now I too will speak judgments against them." "A wind fuller than these," a wind stronger than these, shall come for Me. "Now I too will speak judgments against them." The Holy One, blessed be He, says: now I will speak judgments with them. I will punish them. This wind is a metaphor for the enemy who will come and destroy the land. The enemy will come like a strong wind, like a storm, and will leave nothing.
The Malbim explains the metaphor of the wind. He says: "a dry wind of the high places in the wilderness." "A dry wind" is a dry wind. A dry wind does not bring rain. It does not bring blessing. "The high places in the wilderness": in the wilderness there is no grain. So this wind cannot winnow and cannot cleanse. It is a wind that has no benefit in it. It is only a wind of destruction. It is only a wind of ruin.
So too the false prophets. The false prophets are like a dry wind of the high places in the wilderness. They speak empty words. They bring no benefit. They neither winnow nor cleanse. They do not separate the evil from the good. They do not arouse the people to repentance. They only speak lies, and these lies bring destruction.
"Now I too will speak judgments against them." The Holy One, blessed be He, says: now I will speak judgments with them. I will punish them for all their sins. I will bring the enemy upon them, and the enemy will execute judgments against them.
"Behold, he shall come up like clouds, and his chariots like the whirlwind; his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we are ruined!" "Behold, he shall come up like clouds," the enemy will come like clouds that cover the sky. "And his chariots like the whirlwind," his chariots will come like a whirlwind, like a storm. "His horses are swifter than eagles," his horses will be swifter than eagles. "Woe to us, for we are ruined," the people will cry out and say, woe to us, for we are plundered, for we are destroyed.
This is the difference between the false prophets and the true prophets. The false prophets promise peace, but bring destruction. The true prophets warn of the destruction, so that the people will repent and be saved. But the people did not listen to the true prophets, and therefore the destruction came upon them. Woe to us, for we are ruined.
"Wash your heart of evil, O Jerusalem, that you may be saved. How long shall your iniquitous thoughts lodge within you?" "Wash your heart of evil, O Jerusalem," Jeremiah calls to Jerusalem to repent. To wash the heart of the evil. It is not enough to perform external acts. It is not enough to buy tzitzit or to change a shirt. One must wash the heart. One must change the inner being. "That you may be saved," so that you will be able to be saved. "How long shall your iniquitous thoughts lodge within you," how long will you keep within you your evil thoughts?
What are "your iniquitous thoughts"? "Aven" means strength, but it also means falsehood, sin, idolatry. "Your iniquitous thoughts" are the thoughts of sin, the thoughts of idolatry. Jeremiah tells them: you must uproot these thoughts from your heart. You must repent completely, not only outwardly, but also inwardly.
"For a voice declares from Dan, and proclaims iniquity from Mount Ephraim." "For a voice declares from Dan," they already hear the voice of the enemy arriving from Dan, from the north. "And proclaims iniquity from Mount Ephraim," and they hear the voice of the destruction coming from Mount Ephraim. The enemy is already on the way, and he is approaching Jerusalem. If you do not repent now, it will be too late.
Rashi brings the Targum: "For the voice of the prophets who prophesy over them that they will be exiled, because they worshiped the calf that is in Dan." Every prophet prophesies over them that they will be exiled, "every voice that declares from Dan." What is "from Dan"? It means because of Dan, because of the sin that was in Dan. And what was in Dan? For Jeroboam set up two calves, one in Dan and one on Mount Ephraim. So every declaration is about their having worshiped the calf that is in Dan.
"And announces evil tidings," and the prophet, the true prophet, announces bad tidings, "evils will come upon them," the meaning is evils will come upon them, "because they subjected themselves to the image" that they worshiped the image, "that Micah set up in the mountain of the house of Ephraim." What is "proclaims iniquity from Mount Ephraim"? About the image that Micah made in Mount Ephraim, as is well known and as you remember from what we learned. About this the prophet announces to them that trouble will come upon them, evil will come upon them.
Rashi asks: but did not the calves already go into exile in the days of Sennacherib? That is to say, here we are already speaking with Judah. Judah in the period after the exile of Samaria. In the exile of Samaria the calves already went into exile. So over what do you now hold me accountable, over something that no longer exists? Rashi says: great is a sin, which breaks before it and after it. Come and see the magnitude of the trouble of the sin, a sin creates damage both before and after.
What does it mean that it breaks before it and after it? It means a sin has such a terrible power that the sin creates consequences even before it was committed, and consequences also after it was completed. Listen how terrible. Come and see, says Rashi, where do you see that the sin creates consequences even before it was committed? "Before it," from the days of Abraham, as it is said, "and he pursued as far as Dan." Abraham our father pursues as far as Dan. Why as far as Dan? Why did he not continue? Because when he reached Dan his strength failed him, for his descendants were destined to worship idols there. He reached the place where idol worship was destined to be, as it were there are consequences even before it. "And after it," from the destruction of the Temple, as it is said, "for a voice declares from Dan." How from Dan? Dan long since came to an end, long since went into exile, the calves were long ago removed from there. Come and see that it influences also after it.
The Radak explains: "for a voice declares from Dan," as it were the declaring voice comes and says that from Dan the enemy will come. Dan is the place from which the enemy, as it were, will penetrate. And why does he mention Dan? Because Dan is on the border of the land of Israel, as we say "from Dan to Beersheba," and also Mount Ephraim. And since so, from there, as it were, the enemy will penetrate. This is "the voice declares from Dan," from Dan the enemy will enter.
The Malbim, by contrast, explains that "a voice declares" is not, as we saw according to the Targum and Rashi, a declaration of truth, meaning a prophet, but rather the Malbim explains that here the punishment you will receive is because you heard and listened to the voice of the declarer that comes from Dan. You heard and listened to the false prophets who come from Dan, as it were the false prophets who draw their power from the calves that are in Dan. "And proclaims iniquity," the meaning is also, a prophet who comes to proclaim words of falsehood, from where does he arrive? From Mount Ephraim. Mount Ephraim, there was the second calf, in Beth El, in Mount Ephraim. As it were you believe the false prophets. And what do the false prophets say? Do not worry, there will be no trouble, the enemy will not come, and various other such expressions. And following these words you did not hurry to repent, for what is there to hurry to repent about if in any case there is no trouble? So why repent?
So this is what he says: do you know why the trouble came? Because "a voice declares from Dan and proclaims from Mount Ephraim," you listen to the voice of the declarers, the false prophets who come from the calves that are in Dan and in Mount Ephraim. It may be that here he refers to them more symbolically, since as we said they no longer exist. So symbolically, to those whose power is drawn from Dan and from Mount Ephraim, to them you listen, and since so, following these words you do not repent.
"Make mention to the nations, behold, proclaim over Jerusalem, that besiegers come from a far country, and they raise their voice against the cities of Judah." "Make mention to the nations, behold, proclaim over Jerusalem." What is the voice that the declarer says on behalf of the nations? "Behold, proclaim over Jerusalem that besiegers come." The Radak explains that "to the nations" means on behalf of the nations, like "say of me, he is my brother"; "say of me" means on my behalf. So make mention on behalf of the nations; what should you make mention of on behalf of the nations? "Proclaim over Jerusalem that besiegers come." The meaning is: proclaim over Jerusalem that besiegers come. What are "besiegers"? The simple interpretation is what Rashi says, from the language of laying siege. "Besiegers" means people who lay siege upon us. That is the meaning of "besiegers." The Radak explains that "notzrim" comes from the language of the army of Nebuchadnezzar, like "Nebuchadnezzar-ites" as it were, that is the meaning of "notzrim," the men of Nebuchadnezzar. The Targum translated "notzrim" like "vintagers." As it were, those who come to pick and harvest everything here. That is the meaning of "notzrim" here. What is clear is that no one explains that it is from the language of what is called Christianity, right? For that is only a later period, and certainly the prophet is not speaking about it.
And then, "and they raise their voice against the cities of Judah." Proclaim over Jerusalem that already, as it were, they raise their voice against the cities of Judah, that they announce that they are already near. The besiegers, those who come either to lay siege, or to harvest, or the army of Nebuchadnezzar, whichever it may be, they are already approaching. In simple words, the enemy is already near.
The Malbim explains: it is written here "make mention," the meaning is you should mention to the nations what I say to them. Second, he says, proclaim to Jerusalem. What should you mention to the nations? The Malbim says: pay attention, it is written here "besiegers come from a far country," and afterward in the following verse it is written "like keepers of a field they are against her round about, for she rebelled against Me, says the Lord." So once he describes the enemies as "besiegers," once he describes them as "keepers of a field." What is the difference between a keeper and a besieger? Ostensibly it is the same idea. The Malbim says: the besieger is more than the keeper. The term "besieger" is generally about a city closed under siege. The term "keeper" is about a person who guards a field of grain. Who guards more? Certainly the besieger allows no exit and entry. He makes a siege around the city, a strangling ring. The keeper, by contrast, sits in some booth and watches those who come and go, to see that no one passes through the field. That is to say, the expression "besieger" is always on a much higher level than that of "keeper."
So if so, this is what he tells them here: mention to the nations how the thought of their plans differed, how they prepared to come, from the conclusion of their deeds. In simple words, they planned one thing and it ended up as another thing. When they came, they thought they would need to besiege for many days until the city would fall. For when the city is strong, one needs a firm siege, a stubborn siege, over a long period, until one succeeds in bringing down the city. About this he said: at first, make mention to the nations, behold, proclaim over Jerusalem, besiegers come. In the beginning they thought, we are coming to lay siege. Another thing, they were certain, we will not even manage to reach Jerusalem, we will already, long before that, have to besiege the cities of Judah, and therefore it is written "and they raise their voice against the cities of Judah," and only afterward will we be able to reach the capital city. That is to say, in their plans it was that we will not manage to conquer Jerusalem easily.
By contrast, come and see what happened in the end: "like keepers of a field they are against her." They were not like besiegers of a fortified city, but like keepers of a field. Like one who guards a field when it is empty. As it were they came here, there was no longer anyone here. And what is the reason that no one was here? We will see below in chapter 52 that they broke through the wall of Jericho and fled. So it turns out that when they came, the nations had prepared to be besiegers, and suddenly it became clear to them that they were like keepers of a field. There is no one here. Everyone had already fled. That is to say, the unbearable ease with which they will conquer the city will bring them to surprise, how it was so easy. And not only that, "like keepers of a field they are against her round about." At first they thought that we will be against the cities of Judah, we will not manage to reach the capital city but will have to begin already to struggle even in the cities of Judah. He says: no, suddenly they arrive straight to her, they reach the city itself. They do not need it, they have no preliminary struggle at all. And not only at the gate of the city did they catch them, but around the city. For they caught them at Jericho. And so that when they arrived, the days of siege were not prolonged for them, they were not forced to struggle a long time. So even though besiegers come, they only recently came, and even though they came from a far country, and one who comes from a far country usually tires on the way, it is hard for him to make war immediately, come and see that with ease they immediately succeeded in conquering the land.
Why is this? This matter was not because the people were weak, and not because these besiegers were strong, but rather the verse says: for she rebelled against Me, says the Lord. This is what is written: "if only they were wise, they would understand this: how should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them and the Lord had delivered them up?" The Holy One, blessed be He, says: "she rebelled against Me," they rebelled against My word, and therefore He says to them: make mention to the nations, tell the nations that they should not think it is by their own strength, that they should not think it is by their own might, that they should pay attention that "she rebelled against Me." Pay attention that all that happened here in a supernatural way is because Israel was handed over by the Holy One, blessed be He, into your hands. And now he will begin to explain what he said, "proclaim over Jerusalem," that from this itself there is rebuke to Jerusalem. Do you not understand how this happened so quickly? Do you not understand that this is the hand of the Lord? Do you not understand that one must repent and mend the deeds? From this itself it will be a proof for you that your deeds are corrupt, and because of this the Holy One, blessed be He, brought the enemy upon you not in a natural way.
"Your way and your doings have brought these upon you; this is your evil, for it is bitter, for it reaches to your heart." So that you will understand: "your way," that is to say, the trouble is not the problem, but your deeds are the problem. "Your way and your doings have brought these upon you." What brought this upon you? It is your way and your doings. That is to say, it is not a trouble that came of itself, it is not a trouble that came only because of the wickedness of the nations, though without doubt they were wicked. The one who caused it, who brought it, "she rebelled against Me, says the Lord," as we saw in the previous verse. And all the expressions we saw in the previous verse came so that through them he would rebuke the people. This is what the prophet tells them: come and see that this trouble came through the evil deeds. And note, says the prophet: if the evil had not come through your evil deeds, there would still be consolations. Where, in fact, are there consolations? If I know that a trouble came because of some external cause, not through my evil deeds, I will pray to the Lord. I will ask the Lord for help and assistance, I will cry out to the Lord, and the Holy One, blessed be He, He is my hope, to Him I will wait and He will save me. But by contrast, if the trouble came through the evil deeds, that is the main problem. Since then to whom will you turn? To the Lord whose word you defy and whose commandments you transgress and do not fulfill, so how will you turn to the Lord? In such a situation you have no choice but to repent. Turning to the Lord is when someone else troubles me, but if it comes from the Lord in order to arouse me, to whom will I plead? To the Lord? The Lord tells you: awaken, and then the trouble will depart from you. There is no place here for pleading, there is nothing here to hope for, but only for changing the deeds.
This is what he says here: "your way and your doings have brought these upon you." That is to say, the evil, the true trouble, "this is your evil." "For it is bitter, for it reaches to your heart." That is to say, the main trouble is that it reaches to your heart, that your heart knows: I caused it for myself. I brought this upon myself. And if so, this is a bound-up trouble from which there is no exit except only to repent. In any other situation I will pray to the Lord that the Lord save me and I will rest from the evil. By contrast here, we know it reaches to your heart, this is your evil, the evil is yours, the corruptions stemmed from you, you are the one who brought this upon yourself, and if so, in this trouble it is a trouble that reaches to the heart. If not, it is a trouble that reaches the body, I will pray to the Lord, the Lord will save me. But here it is something much more internal, for I know that it stems from me. And then indeed what more can be done?
"My bowels, my bowels! I writhe in pain. The walls of my heart! My heart moans within me, I cannot be silent, for you have heard, O my soul, the sound of the shofar, the alarm of war." "My bowels, my bowels, I writhe." The Radak first of all explains that the repetition, "my bowels, my bowels," the Radak says, is in the manner of mourners who repeat their words. "My head, my head, my belly, my belly." When a person weeps, he repeats his pain. "My bowels, my bowels, I writhe," this is from the language of the writhing of a woman in labor, meaning from the language of shuddering, like a woman giving birth. I cry out from the pain of my bowels, from the evil, from the trouble. What will you say? Fine, cry out and be silent. He says: I cannot be silent. The heart moans continually so that I cannot be silent after the cry, but rather "my bowels, my bowels, I writhe, from the walls of my heart my heart moans, I cannot be silent." My heart moans and it does not give me a single moment to be silent. "You have heard, O my soul," that is to say, why can I not be silent? Because you have heard, O my soul, the alarm of war. The meaning is: I hear the alarm of war. So although the enemy has not yet come, so I cannot say "my ears have heard," for to hear with the ear is something tangible, but it has not yet happened. But the soul, which already knows what is destined to be, hears. Since you have heard, O my soul, the alarm of war, since so, I cannot be silent. And mainly he says, note that he turns to his soul, the Radak explains, since "my soul" is the one who hears. If it were in a situation of actual hearing, then I would speak about my ears. But your soul hears, since there is here a more inner knowledge, it is not the hearing of the ear, and since so I will not be silent, since it means that evil is approaching and I cannot be silent.
The Malbim explains: note, there are here two expressions. There is here "my bowels, my bowels, I writhe," and there is here "my heart moans." What is the difference between the moaning of the bowels and the moaning of the heart? The Malbim says: the bowels fear only about something over which we have no control. Note that there is such a situation where a person has fear, he has a stomachache. "My bowels writhe," that is to say, he has some lump in his belly that he feels, his belly hardens, because there is some fear of something that is destined to be. The Malbim says: this is specifically about something over which I have no control, that I cannot change, that is not given into my hands. By contrast, the Malbim says, there is a situation of the stirring of the heart, which is about things that a person can indeed change, that are indeed within his control, and about this too his heart moans. The Malbim says: here it is written "my bowels writhe" and also "the walls of my heart moan." And this is something I cannot silence. "I cannot be silent" means I cannot silence and quiet the heart from this moaning. And the reason for this is because in fact I caused it. And he explains: after all, we saw that Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the cities, Nebuchadnezzar exiled Jehoiachin to Babylon, and afterward, with all this, Zedekiah rebels against him a second time. Zedekiah blows the shofar and proclaims to go and fight against the king of Babylon. What are the chances? Zero. So what are you doing? So how are you going to create a war whose chances are zero? And this is what he says: behold, my soul hears the sound of the shofar. This sound, the alarm of war. The meaning is: sometimes there is a shofar that is not for war, but simply to gather, as it was in the camps and when they were in the wilderness, so sometimes there were trumpets and the sound of the shofar meant for gathering the camp. But here he says: you have heard, O my soul, the sound of the shofar, the alarm of war. And about this my heart moans. My heart moans, why are they not fighting? For "breach upon breach is proclaimed, for the whole land is ruined; suddenly my tents are ruined, in a moment my curtains." Breach upon breach is proclaimed, for we have already been broken more than enough by the first exiles, where we saw that we have no chance against the enemy. The enemy is far stronger than us. And not only that, but we saw also that the enemy came with a supernatural power. For as we saw, they were supposed to come and wage a long war here, and in a single moment the Holy One, blessed be He, handed over everything into their hands. So we saw that suddenly my tents were ruined. We saw that everything was sudden, with great ease. And if so, after we have already seen to what breach we have come, then the question is: how long will I see a standard, hear the sound of the shofar?
"How long will I see the standard, hear the sound of the shofar?" The meaning is: the standard, "nes" means the banner that is raised on the flag. "How long will I see the standard, hear the sound of the shofar." I hear, I see that there is here a sound of the shofar to gather those who have distanced themselves, and afterward they blow the shofar to arouse us to war. As it were, what is the point? What is the chance? Whom are you going to gather to a battle that is lost from the outset? "How long will I see the standard," all the standard that is raised to gather the people to war, and I hear the sound of the shofar to gather the people to fight against Nebuchadnezzar. Has history not sufficed for us to understand that the chances against them are zero? Is what happened not enough for us to understand that these things cannot be changed? And this is what he says, this is the aspect of "my bowels, I writhe." "My bowels, my bowels, I writhe" means there is no chance whatsoever. But as it were the heart says: no, there is still a chance. Let us go make war. He says: what foolishness this is, that the experience did not make us wise to understand that if we did not succeed then, then we will not succeed now either. And especially since we have no account with the nation opposing us, but rather we have an account with the Holy One, blessed be He, "she rebelled against Me, says the Lord." So if so, what do you still have hope in your heart to succeed, when your account with the Master of the Universe is still open? So in this my heart moans, there is here a moaning of the heart that says there is no chance. The moaning of the heart is about something that is still hoped for, but here it is something for which there is no chance that we will still succeed and have the upper hand.
The Malbim gives another explanation: the matter of "my bowels, my bowels, I writhe" and "my heart shall moan," the Malbim says, "achilah" is from the language of waiting/hoping. We explained one explanation, that it is from the language of the writhing of a woman in labor, shuddering. And an additional explanation he explains, that "achilah" is from the language of "I will wait for God, I will entreat His face." The meaning is to wait for Him. So he says: how much "my bowels I would wait," I want to wait, that is to expect good and to calm my bowels, to say it will be good, to hope for good. But he says: my heart, by contrast, my heart moans, I cannot silence it. The heart I cannot silence. That is to say, although I would want to somewhat calm my bowels with some good hope, "I would wait," but the heart foresees here very bad things that are destined to be, and then the heart I cannot silence. The heart I cannot silence, but rather the heart moans and foresees hard troubles, terrible problems, difficult wars, and then in such a situation I have no possibility to fulfill the hopes of my bowels. What my bowels expect for good, the heart foresees as evil, and since so, then I have no way how to calm those expectations of mine and to think that they will still be realized.
The Radak explains "breach upon breach"; but perhaps first Rashi says, what is "breach upon breach is proclaimed"? Rashi explains: the ruins of Jerusalem upon the exile of Jeconiah. That is to say, according to Rashi everything here speaks about Judah. The exile of Jeconiah from Judah, and the ruins of Jerusalem from Judah, so the ruins of Jerusalem are an additional breach upon what already went into exile in the time of Jeconiah. By contrast, the Radak explains that "breach upon breach" is the breach of the tribes. That is to say, it speaks about Samaria in general here. This was the first breach when Israel went into exile, the ten tribes went into exile. "Upon breach," this is the exile of Judah. According to Rashi it speaks about both concerning Judah, about the stages within the exile of Judah. By contrast, according to the Radak it speaks about how at first, in the first breach, Israel went into exile from here, and the second breach is Judah.
What is "for the whole land is ruined; suddenly my tents are ruined, in a moment my curtains"? Why does he define "my tents," "my curtains"? These people have long not lived in tents. Why this description? The Radak says: not for nothing does he express himself with this expression, for in fact he wants to say that this thing was done so easily, in such a quick manner, as if everything here were tents, curtains stretched out, something very easy to conquer. In a single moment it is conquered. So it seemed, as it were, that there is here a war, it seemed, as it were, that we would still struggle against them, we have fortresses. But he says: the enemy arrived and everything was plundered as if we were inside a tent. As if we were located inside curtains, without needing to struggle, without effort he took everything that is here in the easiest way.