"I have forsaken My house, I have abandoned My inheritance, I have given the beloved of My soul into the hand of her enemies." Hashem says, "I have forsaken My house." The Radak explains: like a person moaning over his loss. "I have forsaken My house" - as it were, the Holy One, blessed be He, says in sorrow, I have forsaken the Beit HaMikdash. "My inheritance" refers to Israel, as it is written, "Yaakov is the portion of His inheritance." "I have given the beloved of My soul into the hand of her enemies." "The beloved of My soul" is the people of Israel. Rashi says: My treasured people, they are the beloved of My soul, and now, because of their sins, I have handed them into the hand of their enemies.
The Malbim explains that all the expressions here are stated about the future. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: Now I will be forced to destroy My house. So even though it is phrased in the past tense, because as it were the Holy One, blessed be He, already sees the results, in relation to us this is really a prophecy of the future. He says: Now I will be forced to forsake My house, to destroy the Beit HaMikdash, I will be forced to give the beloved of My soul into the hand of her enemies. That is to say, it is not enough that I forsook her, but I Myself handed her into the hand of her enemies, which as it were means that in place of the closeness and love, hatred was created between the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, and us, as we will see in the following verse.
The Malbim explains from a grammatical standpoint: it is written here "I have forsaken My house, I have abandoned My inheritance." What is the difference between forsaking and abandoning? The Malbim says: abandoning is far more severe than forsaking. For forsaking means I got up and left. Abandoning, on the other hand, means I remove the thing from my possession, I actively take it and cast it away, as if throwing it out. "Inheritance," says the Malbim, is more than a house. It is possible for me to have a house and a residence that are not my inheritance. "Inheritance" means something I inherited from my forefathers, something that truly belongs to me. So then, says the Malbim, notice that there are two expressions here. "I have forsaken My house" - the Holy One, blessed be He, says I have forsaken My house, and forsaking is less severe, and a house is a lesser matter, because we said a house is still not an inheritance. And Hashem says, and even more severe than that: "I have abandoned My inheritance," which is abandonment as we said, casting it away by force, throwing it from Himself, abandoning it. Something that is My inheritance, in the sense that the people of Israel are My inheritance, their sanctity is an eternal sanctity, I inherited them from of old, from the Exodus from Egypt, I was forced as it were, says Hashem, to actively abandon them, to remove My sanctity from the people of Israel and hand them into the hand of her enemies. And why did I do this?
"My inheritance has become to Me like a lion in the forest, she has raised her voice against Me, therefore I have hated her." The Holy One, blessed be He, says: My inheritance has become to Me like a lion in the forest. When the lion roars in the forest and raises its voice, says the Radak, the passersby who hear the sound leave the place. They flee from there, they do not want to remain in a place where some lion might suddenly appear. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: So too I have forsaken My inheritance, because My inheritance became to Me like a roaring lion in the forest. Just as when there is a lion everyone keeps their distance, says Hashem, when My inheritance, the people of Israel, were like a roaring lion in their deeds, I had no choice but to forsake them.
What does "she has raised her voice against Me" mean? What is that voice that My inheritance raised against Me? What is He speaking of here? So the Radak explains that this is the cry of the oppressed because of the violence. So too Rashi says: the cry of her violence rose before Me. This is "she has raised her voice against Me." When I hear from Jerusalem, from the place of their dwellings, the cries of the people who are wronged, the oppressed people, therefore I have hated her. This arouses hatred toward these evil deeds, toward the people of Israel. Another explanation the Radak gives is that the intent is to the voice of the idol worshipers in the houses of idolatry. They would raise their voices in their prayer to idols, in their worship of the image. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: she has raised her voice against Me. When I hear that voice, therefore I have hated her. As it is written in the story of Eliyahu with Achav, "And they called on the name of the Baal from morning until noon, saying, O Baal, answer us, and they called with a loud voice." This is "she has raised her voice against Me." That voice with which they would call to idols, says Hashem, brings Me to the point that therefore I have hated her, because of this I abandoned them, since I could not bear the evil deeds they do.
The Malbim explains: "My inheritance has become to Me like a lion in the forest." The Malbim says: he compares the people of Israel here to someone who took a lion, raised it, and made it domesticated. Meaning, he raised it among human company, accustomed it to being with people, and this lion was his pet, his amusement animal. But then once he went with this lion, this poodle, went with it to stroll in the forest, and then suddenly in the forest the lion remembered its past, remembered its origins, its native land, and began to long for it. And then this lion suddenly roars at its master a blood-curdling roar, as the Gemara in Bava Kama and in Sanhedrin also says, that the lion is not domesticated, meaning it cannot be tamed, it cannot be turned into a domesticated creature. What is the analogy? The people of Israel, says the Holy One, blessed be He, when they were in Egypt were wild like a lion in the forest. And I took them and tamed them, I made them into a domesticated people, I brought them out of Egypt, I gave them the Torah, I bestowed upon them mitzvot. When they came into the forest, meaning again into the company of the nations, again drawing close to the gentiles, behold, ever since it happens: she has raised her voice against Me. Suddenly this lion bares its fangs against whom? Against its master, against the One who brought it out of the forest, against the One who made it domesticated. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: therefore I have hated her. And that is why I gave the beloved of My soul into the hand of her enemies. Those whom I labored so hard to make domesticated are the ones who now go and threaten Me, as it were, they are the ones who threaten My prophets to murder them, says Hashem, therefore I have hated her.
The poskim generally bring this verse against a chazzan who is not fitting. Poskim cite it regarding a person who, for example, publicly desecrates Shabbat, but has a pleasant voice, or thinks he has a pleasant voice, or even has a crow's voice, it makes no difference, and he decides to be a chazzan. Why? A yahrtzeit. How did Rav Ovadia once put it? Your father made you an orphan, he did not make you a chazzan. Yes, everyone thinks that because his father passed away he becomes a chazzan, and then everyone has to endure in silence his undeveloped talents. Truly no, this is not our custom, not the custom of the Sephardim. Whoever wishes and truly is able, may blessing come upon him, fine. Whoever is truly a fitting person, fine. But that a person who does very severe things should come and want to be a chazzan, about this it is written in the holy books that the congregation must leave. If a person who publicly desecrates Shabbat rises to be a chazzan, one leaves the synagogue. "She has raised her voice against Me, therefore I have hated her." The Holy One, blessed be He, says: such a one does not pray before Me, this is "she has raised her voice against Me." His prayer that he prays before Me is as if he is crying out at Me, as it were, says the Holy One, blessed be He, as if he is blaspheming Me. "She has raised her voice against Me, therefore I have hated her." So although there is room to discuss all sorts of transgressions, into which I am not entering a detailed discussion now, I deliberately gave the example about which there is no doubt, that we are speaking of one who publicly desecrates Shabbat, that such a person is considered as a gentile in all his matters. If such a person rises as chazzan, the halacha is simply to leave the synagogue.
"Is My inheritance to Me a colored bird of prey, that the birds of prey surround her? Come, gather all the beasts of the field, bring them to devour." "Is My inheritance to Me a colored bird of prey?" Rashi explains that this is the interrogative hei, it is a question. Is My inheritance a colored bird of prey? What does "colored bird of prey" mean? What is the coloring here? Rashi explains that "colored" means stained with blood. The other birds gather upon it, and as a result it is colored from the blood dripping from it. An additional explanation Rashi gives: a bird that is colored, and all the birds gather upon it to devour it because they hate it. "That the birds of prey surround her," says Rashi, perhaps the birds of the sky are these, they are the great armies, the light bands who are around her. As it were, are they like a bird of prey? With what speed did the gentile arrive here? With what speed did the enemies come to strike the people of Israel? As Hashem said, I handed and gave the beloved of My soul into the hand of her enemies. So quickly the bands came like the birds of the sky.
The Radak explains that the analogy here of the bird of prey - he says it has a patach, as we said it is phrased as a question, as Rashi explained. He explains that "a colored bird of prey" means colored with the blood of the slain. Meaning, around the inheritance that I chose for Myself, there are gentiles who come to swoop upon her. Just as the bird of prey is considered a predatory bird, and the predatory bird comes and eats from the carcasses, so too the bird of prey, the gentiles will come upon the inheritance of the people of Israel, and after he is satisfied, he will call to all the beasts of the field so that they too will come to eat. That is to say, the bird of prey will not be satisfied with what he eats, but will even bring additional beasts and additional birds. "Is My inheritance to Me a colored bird of prey, that the birds of prey surround her? Come, gather all the beasts of the field." Meaning, the bird of prey summons the beasts of the field: come and eat, there is still something here to eat. "Bring them to devour." "Bring" (hetayu) is from the language of "atayu," like "ata" in Aramaic, which means to come. As it were, he invites them and says to them, come to eat.
What is the meaning of these words? So the Radak explains that in practice it happens this way, even if the bird of prey does not go to call the birds. Whoever knows, when searching for a body, does anyone know one of the signs to know where there is a body? One looks upward, sees a bird of prey, sees crows, sees predatory birds in a certain place, immediately one knows to send the forces there, for apparently they saw some body there. Usually it is a carcass, but if one is searching for a missing person, may Hashem save us, then many times this thing serves as a sign. It emerges then that the bird of prey written here, that says "gather all the beasts of the field," does not necessarily mean that the bird of prey goes to call them, but rather the very presence of the bird of prey above them is a kind of sign to all the beasts of the field. The beasts already know how to decipher this sign, and through this all the beasts see them while flying and they arrive in order to take and eat from those carcasses or from those cast-away animals. So too he says here, at first the colored bird of prey will come, upon which will be blood from the blood of the slain, and they will see how they fly above her, and through this the rest of the beasts will also come. And the analogy is: this is the rest of the nations who came with Nevuchadnetzar to destroy Jerusalem. As it were, Nevuchadnetzar was the bird of prey, and after they saw that Nevuchadnetzar came upon the slain, they all came too, each one to snatch his portion. So there is here really a prophecy of what is to be, that Nevuchadnetzar and the nations with him will come in order to plunder spoil from the people of Israel.
The Malbim explains: "Is My inheritance to Me a colored bird of prey?" Are they like the colored bird of prey? The colored bird of prey - the Malbim explains according to what he explained earlier, that he interpreted the analogy of the people of Israel like a lion that they tried to tame and domesticate, and afterward what happened is that the lion returned to its ways. So too he explains the colored bird of prey. "A colored bird of prey" means that one took a bird of prey and tried to make it domesticated. And then it has two advantages. First, it is beautifully colored, it has very lovely coloring among its feathers. Second, "that the birds of prey surround her." That is to say, it is trained with people, it is not frightened of human company, and this thing causes everyone to be entertained by it, everyone comes to see it, to feed it. A bird of prey fed by hand. In short, there are all kinds of predatory birds that when they form a bond with people they become friendly. Many, incidentally, use them for the purpose of hunting and all sorts of activities of this type. So this bird of prey resembles the lion, as we mentioned earlier, that the lion is an amusement lion, it does not harm, as it were they succeeded in taming it. And therefore he says, come, gather all the beasts of the field, in order to come and fight with this predatory lion. And do not think that it is strong, but rather bring them to devour. Meaning, this lion only appears strong, but know, it is as weak as a lamb, for just as one gives the lamb to be eaten, so too this lion can be eaten without fear.
"Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard, they have trampled My portion, they have made My desirable portion a desolate wilderness." Who are these many shepherds? These are the forces of Nevuchadnetzar. As it is written above, shepherds will come with their flocks, thus we had in chapter 6. "They have trampled" - to trample means to tread down. They trampled My portion. And My portion, like the vineyard, they destroyed My vineyard, My portion and My vineyard, these are expressions that come to express the people of Israel, who are the vineyard of the Holy One, blessed be He. As we saw such a prophecy stated also in Yeshayahu, that the prophet describes the people of Israel like the vineyard, "my beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill." So too here, many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard, this is the people of Israel. They have trampled My portion, that My portion is the portion of the Holy One, blessed be He, this is the people of Israel.
So at first they destroyed My vineyard, explains the Malbim, this is his grapevines. After a bare portion without vines remained here, they trampled My portion. Meaning the gentile arrived in the second stage, when he saw there was nothing left to take, so what does he do? He now tramples the portion, destroys the land, ruins the soil. Third stage, they made My desirable portion a desolate wilderness. There is nothing left to ruin in the soil, so he turns it into a desolate wilderness, sulfur and salt, all its land a burning, it will not be sown and will not sprout. That is to say, notice, says the Malbim, that we are speaking here of three, three stages. He says this was exactly the number of times Nevuchadnetzar came. Nevuchadnetzar arrived three times. And therefore at first they destroyed My vineyard, we were still a vineyard, there were still grapes, there was something to destroy. In the second stage they trampled My portion, there was nothing left to take, so they ruined the soil. In the third stage there was also nothing to be done, so they made My desirable portion a desolate wilderness. Meaning, they made it into a wilderness by burning and scattering salt and sulfur, all of which comes to express that in the future too it will not be possible to create something new here, it will not be possible to sow anything here. And this is what he continues onward.
"He made it a desolation, it mourns to Me desolate, the whole land is made desolate because no man takes it to heart." "He made it a desolation" - meaning Nevuchadnetzar, says the Radak, made it a desolation. Even though Nevuchadnetzar is not mentioned here by name, says the Radak, behold, "many shepherds" are mentioned here. These many shepherds, who was at their head? We know the history, it was Nevuchadnetzar. And therefore what is written here "he made it a desolation," he speaks of someone in a hidden way, in the third person, he made it a desolation. Who is "he"? Says the Radak, "he" refers to Nevuchadnetzar.
"It mourns to Me desolate." Says the Radak, "it mourns to Me desolate" is a description of Knesset Yisrael, that she was desolate, mourned to Me over her desolation. What does "mourned to Me" mean? They came with complaints to the Holy One, blessed be He. It mourns to Me: Master of the World, see what You have done to me. This is "it mourns to Me." In her mourning, to whom does she turn with accusations? To Me. "It mourns to Me" - Rashi explains, before Me, desolate. This desolation, which is the people of Israel, comes and complains against the Holy One, blessed be He, that as it were their troubles came from Me. I made it desolate. Says the Holy One, blessed be He: the whole land is made desolate because no man takes it to heart. No one takes to heart that the fact that the whole land is made desolate, meaning laid waste, is because of their sins. Because of their sins, in that I sent them the prophets early and late, they did not listen to them, they did not take it to heart. Because of this the whole land is made desolate. And instead of coming and seeking the things they need to correct, it lays it on Me, says the Holy One, blessed be He, it mourns to Me desolate. This desolation mourns to Me, as it were comes with complaints against Me, and does not understand that it brought all these troubles upon itself.
The Malbim explains: "he made it a desolation." The Malbim says: the wilderness. Who is it that "made it a desolation"? Not as the Radak explained that it is Nevuchadnetzar, but rather it is a continuation of the previous verse. They made My desirable portion a desolate wilderness. And they made My desirable portion, the Land of Israel, into a desolate wilderness. And the wilderness made it a desolation. "He made it a desolation." It is so desolate that the wilderness, as it were, designated its most desolate place for this place. This is the meaning of "he made it a desolation." The wilderness includes within it desolate places. What is the greatest desolation within it? This is the Land of Israel. This is "he made it," the wilderness made it a desolation. "It mourns to Me desolate, made desolate." Behold she mourns to Me, as the Radak explained, she comes with accusations against Me, but truly no man takes it to heart to return in repentance, as the Radak explained, so too the Malbim explains, that as a result the troubles came upon them.
"Upon all the high places in the wilderness spoilers have come, for the sword of Hashem devours from the edge of the land to the edge of the land, there is no peace for all flesh." From the edge of the land to the edge of the land, there is no peace for all flesh. "Upon all the high places in the wilderness." The place of grazing for cattle is called "wilderness," says the Radak. We saw this with Moshe, that he went to graze the flock of Yitro past the wilderness. "Wilderness" is generally the place where they would graze. Not necessarily like what we today call wilderness, a place that has no vegetation, but rather many times a wilderness place is a place without settlement, but it is possible there were places there to graze the flock. So a wilderness place is a grazing place. And "high places" are the high places, yes, like mountains and hills. "And he went to a high place" (shefi), a high place is from the language of "shefi" which is from the language of high. "Upon all the high places in the wilderness spoilers have come." The spoilers arrived and took everything, even in the high places. "For the sword of Hashem devours from the edge of the land to the edge of the land." "Devours" means like a devouring sword, from the edge of the land to the edge of the land. The meaning is, do not think it is only there, but also in the rest of the places, in every single place the hand of Nevuchadnetzar spread. And do not think that it is his own hand, but rather the sword of Hashem devours. The meaning is that this sword is a sword of Hashem. Know that the One who sent this sword is the Holy One, blessed be He, it comes from Him, blessed be He. And the prophet announces this in advance, and says: know, there is no peace for all flesh. Know that the sword will devour, and do not think that trouble will not reach me. In my place there will not be a problem. He says to you: know, there is no peace for all flesh. Every place where they will be, the sword will devour there and there will be no peace for all flesh.
The Malbim explains: upon all the high mountains that are in the wilderness. "Upon all the high places in the wilderness" means also the high mountains that are in the wilderness, where seemingly the spoilers should not reach, for there is no man there. So the prophet really wants to tell you: know, they will reach even the most remote places. This is the expression "upon all the high places in the wilderness." That even this is wilderness, this is a place where people are not found. The high place in the wilderness, even fewer people are found there. And upon all the high places in the wilderness spoilers have come. That is to say, the spoilers will search for you in the crevices, in the holes of the caves, in every single place, even in the high mountains that are in the wilderness, even in the most remote places, they will search for you. And then there will be such a situation that the sword of Hashem devours from the edge of the land to the edge of the land, for if the spoilers search everywhere, there will be no place to hide. And through this there is no peace for all flesh. And accordingly there will be no person of whom we can say that he is in peace and tranquility, because the spoilers, as we said, will search in every single place.
"They have sown wheat and reaped thorns, they have exhausted themselves without profit. Be ashamed of your produce, because of the fierce anger of Hashem." "They have sown wheat and reaped thorns." So first of all Rashi brings that there are texts in which it is written "zir'u" with a chirik, and this is corrupted. For if you say "zir'u" it is a command, and here it is not a command, but rather he describes a situation. And the situation is that they sowed wheat, and instead of reaping grain, they reaped thorns. They have sown wheat and reaped thorns. What does this come to express? That they prayed and their prayer did not bear fruit. They prayed and received thorns. Why? Because "break up your fallow ground and do not sow among thorns." Meaning, when you do early plowing, then the seed you sow takes hold. But if you go to sow in a place where there are thorns, it will not take hold. So too here. If you had returned in repentance beforehand, your prayer would have had meaning. The Holy One, blessed be He, would have responded and heeded your prayer. But since you did not break up your fallow ground, did not plow beforehand, since this is so, the prayer made no impression, and consequently they sowed wheat and reaped thorns. Therefore the result was thorns.
"They have exhausted themselves without profit." "They have exhausted themselves" (nechlu) is from the language of illness. "Nechlu" from the language of sickness. What did he want to say? That they were like a sick person in their pain, from all their crying out, so to speak they became sick from their outcry, and it did not help them. "They have exhausted themselves without profit." Even though they became sick from their outcries, this thing did not help, meaning it did not bring salvation upon them.
"Be ashamed of your produce, because of the fierce anger of Hashem." "Your produce" Rashi explains means from your evil deeds, through which you caused and brought the fierce anger of Hashem.
The Radak, in contrast, explains that "they have sown wheat and reaped thorns" speaks of the work of the prophets. According to Rashi it is the prayer of Israel, which had no benefit. According to the Radak, it is the prophecies of the prophets, which did not produce grain. The prophets would sow wheat, you are called, as we saw, My vineyard, My portion, so the prophets would sow in this portion. What did they sow? Wheat. Through the prophecy they wanted to produce repentance, good deeds, correction. Instead of this, the prophets reaped thorns. What did the prophets receive? Thorns. Nothing grew for them in this portion, in the vineyard of the house of Israel, nothing grew for them except thorns, evil deeds of the people of Israel, which resemble thorns. "They have exhausted themselves without profit." That is to say, the prophets already became sick as a result of this matter, that they saw their deeds do not help. We speak early and late, and it is very, very frustrating, that you expend so much energy, and in the end there is no benefit from it. In the end the words do not have an effect. "Be ashamed of your produce, because of the fierce anger of Hashem." That is to say, the prophets had shame from your produce. That is to say, from your expectation, from their expectation of you to see produce. But instead of seeing produce, as we said, they would see thorns. And then through this the prophets had great sorrow. And the prophets also, says the Radak, became sick from the fierce anger of Hashem. That is to say, when the prophet imagines to himself what fierce anger of Hashem will come as a result of the rebukes that I rebuke and they do not accept, he becomes sick. This is "they have exhausted themselves." "They have exhausted themselves" means he imagines to himself what troubles will come, over this the prophets became sick, from their fear of the fierce anger of Hashem. And this is an analogy, says the Radak, as we saw there was an analogy of God regarding the people of Israel that they are in the category of a portion and a vineyard, as we explained earlier, that Yeshayahu also compared us to a vineyard, "and He hoped it would produce grapes, but it produced wild grapes." So too here, he hoped to see produce, and instead received thorns.
A third interpretation the Radak brings in the name of his father the Rosh, that is, the father, excuse me, of the Radak, and he explains that what is written here "they have sown wheat and reaped thorns" does not speak of the people of Israel praying as Rashi says, nor of the prophets testifying against us as the Radak says, but rather he explains that it refers back to the people of Israel who placed their trust in Egypt, in other nations, that they would save us. And we know how much the prophets told them not to place their trust in them, that behold, Egypt is destined to be a broken reed that pierces the palm of whoever grasps it. And the prophets always warned them not to expect salvation from those kings of the nations around them, a support of a broken reed. And this is what he says here: behold, they sowed wheat and reaped thorns. He thought he would receive salvation from the nations around. How does one receive salvation? One sends them a gift, sends them money, as we see several times in the prophet, that they would send them very substantial sums as a bribe, so that they would protect us and guard us. What was the reality? That they would take the money, but the protection they did not provide. And this is what he says, they sowed wheat, they invested much in their faith and trust in those nations around them, and in the end they reaped thorns. They exhausted themselves without profit. The meaning is that from all the wealth they gave they already became sick, and without profit, and it did not help them anything at all.
One can also explain "they have exhausted themselves without profit" this way, that is to say, when do we expect them to come to be of profit to us? When we became sick, when we became sick. "We became sick" means we are in danger, we are now with threats around us. So now, well, all our investments should now come to be realized. Come, you nations to whom we paid, help us. "They have exhausted themselves" - we became sick, and without profit. And those nations upon whom we hoped and upon whom we built, in the end did not profit us at all. And then he says to them, be ashamed of your produce. You have cause to be ashamed of what you sowed and expected that produce would come out for you, well, this is your produce. Be ashamed of your produce. What produce did you receive? As we said, thorns. So this is a great disgrace and great shame.
The Metzudat David explains that what is written here "they have sown wheat" - he says it refers back to the Chaldeans. This is a novel interpretation, because it somewhat departs from all the other interpretations, which explain that everything here refers back to the evil situation of the people of Israel. And it describes the desolation and describes the deterioration. And the Metzudat David, in contrast, explains that what is written "they have sown wheat and reaped thorns" speaks of the Chaldeans. The Chaldeans, we said earlier, upon all the high places in the wilderness spoilers have come. Nevuchadnetzar will arrive and come and plunder the land. The sword of Hashem devours from the edge of the land to the edge of the land, there is no peace for all flesh. And the Holy One, blessed be He, says: and do not think that they will have success here, but rather they have sown wheat and reaped thorns. The Chaldeans who will come and conquer the land, they will not succeed here. They will sow wheat, but reap thorns. Meaning, they will have no benefit from conquering the land here. And then be ashamed of your produce, because of the fierce anger of Hashem. That is to say, through this it will be revealed that the curse that came upon them is from the fierce anger of Hashem. It is not something that came by chance, but rather from Hashem. As the Holy One, blessed be He, says, and I will make desolate the enemies who dwell upon it, the Holy One, blessed be He, promises that those who conquer the land will not succeed. So according to the words of the Metzudat David, "they have sown wheat" here refers back to the Chaldeans, that what they will do here to sow the land, in the end they will not succeed.
Perhaps we will only mention at the conclusion of this verse what the Malbim says here. For the Malbim also explains like the Radak, that "they have sown wheat" is the prophets, that they spoke words of ethical instruction. But the Malbim explains "they have exhausted themselves without profit," he explains that this is an additional matter beyond the prophets. The prophets came to rebuke, they sowed wheat, reaped thorns. "They have exhausted themselves without profit" is another way of rebuke with which the Holy One, blessed be He, rebuked us. What is it? That we became sick. "They have exhausted themselves." So perhaps through becoming sick, through this we will return to Hashem. Says the prophet, this too did not help. So it is not enough that they sowed wheat and reaped thorns, the prophets came and rebuked and it did not help, I brought illnesses upon them, meaning I brought afflictions upon them, and this thing too did not help them. And therefore he says, be ashamed of your produce, that your produce became thorns, this is corresponding to "reaped thorns." And be ashamed because of the fierce anger of Hashem, that the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were now doubles their afflictions, because they exhausted themselves without profit. The illness did not help to change their way.
"Thus says Hashem concerning all My evil neighbors who touch the inheritance which I gave My people Israel to inherit: Behold, I will uproot them from upon their land, and the house of Yehuda I will uproot from among them." "Thus says Hashem concerning all My evil neighbors." Who are these evil neighbors of the people of Israel? My neighbors, as it were the Holy One, blessed be He, calls them My neighbors, because the people of Israel are His portion, they are the vineyard of the Holy One, blessed be He. So our neighbors are the neighbors of the Master of the World. "Thus says Hashem concerning all My evil neighbors." These are the Philistines, Ammon, Moav, Tzur, Tzidon, they are the neighbors of the Land of Israel, and they do evil to us, therefore they are called evil neighbors. "Who touch the inheritance which I gave My people Israel to inherit." The meaning is like "whoever touches this man." What does "touch" mean there? The Targum says: harm. So "who touch the inheritance" means those who harm the inheritance which I gave My people Israel to inherit. Says the Holy One, blessed be He, these, these nations who were in the category of assisting our enemies in order to distress us, about them the Holy One, blessed be He, says: behold, I will uproot them from upon their land. "Behold, I will uproot them," the meaning is Nevuchadnetzar will come and exile them too. "And the house of Yehuda I will uproot from among them." The meaning is, also the house of Yehuda I will uproot from among them. Meaning those who were exiled from among them, I will uproot from among them, meaning I will redeem them, as the Radak explains, when I return the captivity of My people, then I will uproot from among them and redeem them. In contrast, according to the interpretation of the Malbim, the meaning is that after they were exiled and settled in the places around the Land of Israel, I will uproot from among them, because they were exiled again a second time with the nations who dwelt there. So it emerges that there will be here exile upon exile.
"And it shall be, after I have uprooted them, I will return and have compassion on them, and I will bring them back, each man to his inheritance and each man to his land." "And it shall be, after I have uprooted them," says Rashi, all those mentioned here were all stricken close to the destruction of the Temple. And regarding all of them it is written "and I will return the captivity." In Sefer Yirmiyahu, says Rashi, regarding all of them he mentions that they will return. What does this mean? It is written "and I will return the captivity of Moav, afterward I will return the captivity of the children of Ammon." That is to say, when Yehuda and Binyamin return from the Babylonian exile, then also Ammon and Moav, they too will return.
And then, "And it shall be, if they will diligently learn the ways of My people, to swear by My name, As Hashem lives, just as they taught My people to swear by the Baal, then they shall be built up in the midst of My people." Says the Holy One, blessed be He, if they will believe in Hashem, and if they will diligently learn the ways of My people to swear by My name, As Hashem lives, the meaning is, they will learn just as the people of Israel swear by the name of Hashem, then the gentiles who until now swear by the Baal, swear by idols, this is their faith, they will nullify their faith and learn the ways of My people to swear by My name, As Hashem lives. They will learn to swear by the name of Hashem and say As Hashem lives, and not say As the Baal lives. Indeed this is one of the reasons that it is forbidden, that there is a problem to do a transaction with a gentile or a partnership with a gentile, that he not come to swear by the name of the idol. He will say to him, swear, and he will swear by the name of the idol. So their way was, when they would swear by the name of a certain thing, it shows its importance. And since this is so, the Torah says "and by His name you shall swear," which shows that my complete faith is in Hashem, for by Him I swear to affirm my words. In practice it is written that only if that Torah scholar and so forth, and come swear, only if you have reached the attainments written earlier, then "and by His name you shall swear." But if not, God forbid, it is like taking the name of Heaven in vain, God forbid. But we see from here that the one by whose name you swear, this shows faith in him. And if they will diligently learn the ways of My people to swear by My name, As Hashem lives, says the Holy One, blessed be He, they will swear by My name, because truly the people of Israel...
Until now they learned from the gentiles to swear by the name of the idol. And now exactly the opposite will happen. If they will diligently learn the ways of My people to swear by My name, As Hashem lives, just as they taught My people to swear by the Baal. Until now you taught My people to swear by the Baal, and what will be the corresponding measure? That you will learn from My people to swear by the name of Hashem. Says the Holy One, blessed be He, then they shall be built up in the midst of My people. They will have through this a building among them, "building" means standing and endurance, as the Targum says, "and they shall endure in the midst of My people." They will have through this endurance, so that through this they will correct their ways.
And the Malbim essentially explains that the whole matter of the exile of the nations is so that they will learn from Israel the true faith. When the nation is strong and we are subjugated beneath them, then as is known there is in this a great and terrible disgrace to the name of God. Because then as it were our God is weak beside their idol, for they give thanks to their idol that they succeeded in conquering us. But when they are exiled together with us, then this shows them the weakness of their gods. And they are together with us, and the people of Israel even in exile are strong in their faith. A gentile immediately kicks away his god, he knows there is no substance in it, so he kicks it away. But the people of Israel, specifically in exile we see that they grow stronger. So what we saw earlier that they will be exiled together with My people Israel, and they will see that they are subjugated like us, and then through this they will recognize the religion of truth, and then they shall be built up in the midst of My people. Says the Holy One, blessed be He, in this situation I will return and redeem them, as we said, I will return and have compassion on them, and I will bring them back, each man to his inheritance and each man to his land.
"But if they will not listen, then I will uproot that nation, uproot and destroy, says Hashem." "But if they will not listen," the meaning is they will not want to accept the religion of truth, they will not want to cling to My people and their faith, says the Holy One, blessed be He, then I will uproot that nation, uproot and destroy. Meaning they will not return to their land. Behold we saw "I will return the captivity of the children of Ammon." Of whom does it speak there? It speaks of those who learned the ways of Israel. But those who did not learn the ways of Israel, in the end says the Holy One, blessed be He, I will uproot the nation, uproot and destroy.
The Malbim explains, meaning the uprooting will not be in order to plant again. For the exile is intended to straighten you out and return you back to the place. This is what is called being sent for a period of re-education and returning back to the land. But if there the reality will be that this education will not help, the exile will not help, says the Holy One, blessed be He, then the uprooting will be an uprooting of uproot and destroy. Not an uprooting in order to return and plant anew, but an uprooting in order to completely destroy.