Say to the king and to the queen mother: Lower yourselves, sit down, for your glorious crown has come down from your heads. Say to the king and to the queen mother. Who are these, the king and the queen mother, and what is the message that must be told to them? Rashi explains this way, and the Radak also brings it: the king and the queen mother are Yehoyachin and his mother. They were exiled first, together with the mighty men, together with the craftsmen and the smiths, and therefore, say to the king and to the queen mother. Here the Radak says that the intention is not that someone specific should tell them. He did not say to you, you should tell the king and the queen mother, rather the meaning is, as it were, convey this to the king and to the queen mother. Whoever is present here, let them tell them, that is the intention. Say to the king and to the queen mother, to Yehoyachin and his mother, tell them: Lower yourselves, sit down. Lower yourselves, sit down means sit down in lowliness. If so, the word hashpilu (lower) is not fully understood, for it is in the causative form, as if you should lower someone else. So one explanation is: lower yourselves, that is the meaning of hashpilu shevu. Or, says the Radak, it is a verb acting upon something else. Upon what is it said? Upon the throne. Lower your throne and sit on the ground, that is the meaning of hashpilu. It is causative in relation to something else. And why? For your glorious crown has come down from your heads (merashoteichem). What does merashoteichem mean? It means like mimalchuteichem, from your kingdoms. That is to say, the great sovereignty that you had has come down, has been lowered, everything has descended. He says even more: also in exile there, they did not treat them with the practice due to kings. Sometimes they exile a king and grant him certain privileges. He tells them: no, your headship has come down, meaning even in exile you will be in lowliness, since your headship, your authority (from the word rosh, head), will be lowered. And behold, you see that Yehoyachin was placed in prison like one of the common people. From this you learn that indeed their greatness came down to the lowest depths.
The Malbim continues along the same line he explained earlier, that the Holy One, blessed be He, commands here the king and the queen mother to lower themselves before Nevuchadnetzar. The command is to accept his kingship, since Heaven had made him king. Therefore He tells them: Lower yourselves, sit down. Sit down means do not fight. Why? For your glorious crown has come down from your heads (merashoteichem). The Malbim explains it like the phrase vayasem merashotav (and he placed at his head), where merashotav means something placed around the head, what rests around the head, or perhaps what today is called a pillow. The thing upon which you rest your head has come down. What does this mean? The Malbim says it means that the portion upon which you relied in the land, that portion has already fallen and been destroyed, handed over into the hands of the nations. Normally, when there is a king, on what does he lean? He leans on the tracts of land that he holds. That is still what remains to him. And if this portion too has been handed over into the hands of the nations, then on what will he lean? About this He tells them: it has come down from your heads, meaning that very portion upon which you relied has come down and been destroyed. And your glorious crown too has come down. What is your glorious crown? These are the officers and the important ones, the craftsmen and the smiths. If so, nothing of them remains, so lower yourselves before Nevuchadnetzar.
The cities of the Negev are shut, with none to open them. All of Yehudah has been exiled, exiled completely. The cities of the Negev are shut, with none to open them. The cities of the Negev are shut, meaning they are closed before those who come upon them from the north. Why? Out of fear, out of dread of Nevuchadnetzar, for Nevuchadnetzar comes from the north. With none to open them: no one will open for the enemy who arrives. Yehudah has been exiled, Yehudah has already gone into exile, all of Yehudah has been exiled, exiled completely (shelomim). Exiled shelomim means Yehoyachin will not fight, says Rashi, but rather went out in peace, and through this Nevuchadnetzar exiled him. Another explanation: shelomim is from the word tashlum, payment of their sin. As Targum Yonatan says, itkabelu tashlumat chovaihon, meaning they were now exiled and their sin was paid in full, meaning they paid the full price for their sins.
The Radak explains that the cities of the Negev refers to the south. He is speaking here of the cities of Yehudah. Yehudah is in the south. The portion of Yehudah was in the southern part of the Land of Israel. Here he mentions in fact their exile. Yehudah has been exiled and the cities of the Negev are shut, these are the cities of Yehudah, shut with none to open. He explains: but they have already been exiled, so what does shut mean? The Radak says that the word sugru (shut) written here means they were destroyed. None goes out and none comes in, none shuts and none opens, that is the meaning of sugru written here. It means shut, that no person can enter there. The land was destroyed. And so you will find in Yeshayahu, sogar kol bayit mibo (every house is shut from entering), meaning that destruction is a kind of shutting, for this place is no longer fit for settlement, not fit for dwelling. And all of Yehudah has been exiled, even though it was not all exiled until Tzidkiyahu, says the Radak, but the king had already gone into exile. And if the king had gone into exile, says the Radak, it is as if all of it had gone into exile. Why? Because the rest of the exile is merely a matter of time. Once King Tzidkiyahu went into exile, and we already know that King Yehoyachin went into exile, we already know that there is in fact here a complete exile, and so it can already be defined as all of Yehudah has been exiled.
The Malbim explains that what is spoken of here regarding the cities of the Negev, says the Malbim, refers to Jerusalem. Jerusalem was in the north of the land of Yehudah, and from there Nevuchadnetzar came, from the north. But, says the Malbim, here the prophet is hinting at what happened in the middle of the siege. In the middle of the siege there was a situation in which the army of Pharaoh came out to help Yehudah. The army of Pharaoh came to assist us. What happened is that Nevuchadnetzar, the Chaldeans, went up from Jerusalem, as we will see later in chapter 37, they went out toward the army of Pharaoh. Now that the army of Pharaoh was coming to assist, they went out to repel it. Pharaoh came from Egypt, which is in the south of the Land of Israel. About this he says: the cities of the Negev are shut. The cities of the Negev are shut, closed by the enemy who conquered them. And already all of Yehudah has been exiled, he conquered all the fortress cities. And also exiled shelomim, meaning the covenant of peace that you had with Nevuchadnetzar, that too has been exiled from you. For if you went to enlist Pharaoh to fight against Nevuchadnetzar, then you are not accepting the kingship of Nevuchadnetzar. You are in fact initiating an attack against him. And so exiled shelomim, in this the covenant of peace that you had with Nevuchadnetzar, who was willing to leave you be had you accepted his kingship in peace, had you been willing to bend your neck to the yoke of Nevuchadnetzar's kingship, this thing has now gone and been nullified, exiled shelomim, by your calling Pharaoh to come and assist you. And then Nevuchadnetzar went out toward Pharaoh, now Tzidkiyahu thinks that he will not return anymore. That is, now Nevuchadnetzar goes out toward Pharaoh, and presumably there he will already strike him, Pharaoh will strike Nevuchadnetzar, and we will be rid of him. But the prophet here cools the enthusiasm somewhat. Lift up your eyes and see those coming from the north. Where is the flock given to you, your beautiful flock?
Lift up your eyes, he tells them, lift up your eyes and see that they come from the north, he comes a second time from the north. The army of Nevuchadnetzar is from the north of the Land of Israel. They have come upon you. Do not think that the army of Pharaoh from the south won the battle. Do not think that the war against Nevuchadnetzar is over. About this he says: where is the flock given to you, for Nevuchadnetzar will now come to a reckoning with you. He will say to you: where is the flock, where is the remnant that he left after he exiled Yehoyakim, and he gave you to rule over them. He will ask you where they are, he will seek them out to see whether you kept his command. But you think to yourself that Nevuchadnetzar has gone. You think to yourself that Pharaoh will strike him and we will be rid of his yoke. Says the prophet: your rejoicing is premature. Lift up your eyes and see those coming from the north, you will see Nevuchadnetzar returning. And then he will ask hard questions. Where is the flock given to you, your beautiful flock?
What will you say when He appoints over you, since you yourself taught them to be commanders over you as a head? Shall not pangs seize you like a woman in labor? What will you say when He appoints over you. We will explain according to the Malbim. What will you say when He appoints over you, this refers back to Nevuchadnetzar as we explained. What will you say when Nevuchadnetzar appoints over you and asks you: where is the flock given to you? Meaning: why did you rebel against me and take all the flock that I entrusted into your hands, those who remained here I entrusted into your hands to guard until my return, and now you rebel against me? What will you say? For it is written, vayedaber ito mishpatim (and he spoke judgments with him). It is written that Nevuchadnetzar came with a claim against him. What will you say? For you yourself taught them to be commanders over you, meaning you swore to him that you would not rebel against him. Tzidkiyahu swore to Nevuchadnetzar that he would not rebel against him. And you accepted his kingship over you. What will you say when he appoints you for judgment? Shall not pangs seize you? Pangs meaning he wants to say you will have terrible fear like the pangs of childbirth. Pangs will seize you, and what pangs does he describe? Explicitly, like a woman in labor, like a woman sitting on the birthing stool before giving birth. Then, when Nevuchadnetzar comes and claims back his deposit, terrible fear will seize you.
Rashi, by contrast, and this is perhaps slightly different from the Radak, Rashi says: what will you say when He appoints over you does not refer back to Nevuchadnetzar but to the Holy One, blessed be He. What will you say when He appoints over you? That is, what will you say, Congregation of Israel, when the Holy One, blessed be He, appoints over you? That is, when Hashem demands of you the fulfillment of the Torah, the fulfillment of the mitzvot, did you do His will? Since you taught them to be commanders over you as a head, meaning you sent messengers to the Chaldeans to bring idols from there in order to worship them. As it is written, va'ta'gvah aleihem lemareh eineha va'tishlach malachim aleihem Kasdima (and she lusted after them at the sight of her eyes and sent messengers to them, to Chaldea). Meaning you even brought here the idols from Chaldea. What will you do when Hashem appoints over you and asks you: you complain that the Chaldeans are now coming to conquer you? You invited their idols to you. You believed in their idols. So now you complain that the Chaldeans have become a head over you? You taught them to be commanders over you as a head. You accustomed them to be over you, to be your head, that they should be commanders, like an aluf (chief) over your head. You appointed them over you as a head, as commanders. So now why do you complain that the Chaldeans are coming upon you?
Another explanation: this refers back to Chizkiyahu. Whoever remembers, we learned this at length, the matter of Chizkiyahu, that following the fact that the Holy One, blessed be He, turned the sun back ten degrees, fifteen degrees backward, following this there came here Merodach Baladan son of Baladan, and he wanted to see who this was, who it was for whose sake the Holy One, blessed be He, removed and returned the sun. And then he came to Chizkiyahu, and Chizkiyahu showed him all his treasure house, and Chizkiyahu's wife was serving them, grave things were said there. And then the Holy One, blessed be He, told him: you will be punished for this. And your punishment will be that they will come now and plunder you of your spoil, they will come and conquer you. And it will not be in your time, it will be later. And what was the matter with this? We explained there according to the Malbim that there is here in fact something that operates according to the way of nature. Since you brought him here, showed him all his treasure house, showed him all your prosperity, what did you do? You aroused his appetite. Therefore, at the first opportunity when the Chaldeans can come and conquer all of this, they will come. And this then is what is written here: what will you say when He appoints over you, since you yourself taught them to be commanders over you as a head. For you sent to show Merodach Baladan all your treasure house. You, as it were, set him as a head over you and taught him to come here. So why are you amazed that now Nevuchadnetzar will come and conquer the Land of Israel?
The Radak explains: what will you say when He appoints over you means when the enemy comes to exile Israel, what will you say then? Says the Radak, and it seems more fitting that the verse, from what is written, since you yourself taught them to be commanders over you as a head, means: what will you say when the enemy appoints over you, for you yourself taught them to be a head over you. And when was this? He explains that Achaz sent to the king of Assyria. Note, this is already a third explanation. For we saw one explanation as the Malbim explained, that here we are speaking of the reality, perhaps as Rashi explained, pardon me, that we are speaking of the reality that they went and took idols from there. A second explanation is Chizkiyahu, who took and showed Merodach Baladan. A third explanation, says the Radak, is that this speaks of Achaz. Achaz sent to the king of Assyria: your servant and your son am I, come up and save me from the hand of the king of Aram and from the hand of the king of Israel who rise against me. The prophet says to Achaz: you caused them to exile you, to destroy you. For you brought them upon you. They were far away. Assyria was far away, they were far from your land. What will you say when they come to destroy you? For they already know the way. You already called them once. This is what he says: you taught them to be commanders over you as a head. You taught them to come upon you and to be commanders over your head. So why are you amazed now that he comes once again to appoint over you, to exile you? Shall not pangs seize you like a woman in labor? For this thing will cause pangs to seize you, fear, as we said, like a woman in labor, like a woman about to give birth.
And when you say in your heart: why have these befallen me? For the greatness of your iniquity your skirts are uncovered, your heels are violated. And if you say in your heart: why have these befallen me? Meaning: why has this decree been decreed upon me? He tells them: for the greatness of your iniquity your skirts are uncovered, your heels are violated. What does your skirts are uncovered mean, and what does your heels are violated mean? Your skirts are uncovered: a garment when it is spread out, a person's garment, speaking especially of their times, or speaking of a dress, when the dress is turned over, then one sees the hem of the garment and sees the inner stitching, which is the more disgraceful part of the garment. As it is stated that a Torah scholar must be careful that his robe not be turned inside out, since the inner part of the garment is the more disgraceful part. Here the Radak says that there is in fact a parable here, a parable about the Congregation of Israel. Congregation of Israel, as it were, until now you were under the Holy One, blessed be He, you took refuge under the Master of the World. You were hidden under the wings of God. They had honor in their land. And now your skirts are uncovered. Your skirts are uncovered, what does this mean? It is as if, as it were, a woman stands and her dress is lifted, and through this she is exposed in her shame. Both the dress is seen in its inner side, and her exposure is revealed. And this is the disgrace, as it were. About this he tells them: until now you had honor, you were hidden under the Master of the World, and now your skirts are uncovered. And now, since you went and took idols for yourselves, other gods, so now you are exposed, and every enemy comes and violates you, every enemy comes and takes you. Would it not have been better for you to take refuge in the shadow of Hashem? Your heels are violated, Rashi explains: your ways are cut off, meaning nechmesu (violated) like va'yachmos ke'gan suko (and he has violated His booth like a garden), and your heels is from the word steps. That is, the wayfarers ceased. That is your heels are violated. In the place where footsteps used to walk, they were violated, as if robbed from there, and now there are no wayfarers.
The Malbim explains: and when you say in your heart, why have these befallen me? Says the Malbim: what is kera'uni (befallen me)? It expresses chance, mikreh. Everything that happened here is a chance that occurs in the world. And then you ask: how did such a chance happen to me? And how do bad occurrences befall me and Hashem does not save me? Because you do not relate to it as a punishment from God. You relate to it as chance. So He explains to her from the outset what the matter is and what the cause is. He tells her: for the greatness of your iniquity your skirts are uncovered. That is, He describes the iniquity within her. The Malbim explains that the parable here is to the impurity of menstrual blood. And regarding the impurity of menstrual blood, what is inside her comes out. And her impurity is in her skirts, meaning what comes out clings to the hems of the garments. The blood drips and clings to the hems of the garments. And when the hems of the garments are uncovered, what is revealed? The blood of her impurity is revealed. That is your skirts are uncovered. And a woman who is a zavah walks along and the blood flows from her flesh, the blood drips on her heels and descends to the ground. And then in the place where she walked there are marks of her heels, of blood, stained with her blood. And this is what he says: your iniquity, you did not believe in God, you went to seek help from Egypt, and, as it were, you left tracks. One sees your tracks. That is, the impurity, the impurity here is the symbol of the menstruant. The symbol of the menstruant defiles, and it in fact serves as a parable for your corruption. He says: your corruption left tracks. The Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, made evident the help that you went to seek from Egypt instead of turning to Hashem and improving your way. You said: we will continue to act wickedly and they will help us, there will already be someone to help us. The Holy One, blessed be He, tells them: your skirts are uncovered, your heels are violated, and behold, now your tracks have been revealed, that you went to seek help from Egypt instead of turning to Hashem. So the iniquities that until now were internal, they are characteristic like menstrual blood which is internal, now it has come out, that is, your wickedness has been revealed.
Can the Cushite change his skin, or the leopard his spots? So too can you do good, you who are trained in evil. Can the Cushite change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Says the Radak: the blackness of the Cushite is a natural thing. It is not by chance and will never depart from him. And also in the leopard, the spots, the marks upon it, they too will never depart. So he tells them: so too can you do good, you who are trained in evil. Can you change? You who are practiced in doing evil, you are like a Cushite whose color will not change, and like a leopard whose spots will not change. You have become so accustomed to the deed of evil that the matter has become for you like nature, just as with the Cushite his color is already his nature.
But the Malbim explains: what is the repetition, can the Cushite change his skin, or the leopard his spots? This is one and the same. Why did he need to give the parable in two forms? Says the Malbim: can the Cushite change his skin means the Cushite does not change his skin. But you might insist and say: the Cushite does not change his skin because the Cushite continues to live in Africa. And in Africa, we all know, the sun beats down mightily there. But if this Cushite were to move and live for a few hundred years in Europe, there is a chance that he would indeed turn white. That is to say, it turns out then that the blackness of the Cushite is from external causes. But he tells them: and what will you say about the leopard? Or the leopard his spots? Even if you say that the Cushite could change the color of his skin, regarding the leopard, it can never change the color of its skin. For with the leopard, the color of its skin does not stem from its place of dwelling. It is not because it is in Africa that its color is thus, or in another place its color is different. That is to say, the blackness in it is in its nature, these are pigments that are part of it. It is not something that will change following a change of climate. So even though with the Cushite it might perhaps be possible that he will change his skin, but the leopard his spots? With a leopard, will its spots change? So too with you, the prophet tells them, it is not possible that you could do good, for you are trained in evil, meaning the evil has become for you like nature already.
Therefore, and I will scatter them like straw passing before the desert wind. Therefore he says: I will scatter you quickly and easily, just as straw passes and is scattered by the desert wind. So I too will scatter you in the desert, says the Radak. He took them out of the cities to a far place like the desert. And says the Radak: there is a desert between Jerusalem and Babylon. And so it turns out that in the analogue as well, the desert here is precise.
And the Malbim explains: and I will scatter them like straw passing, says the Malbim: you said earlier, why have these befallen me? What is kera'uni? We said, by chance. The Holy One, blessed be He, tells them: you are mistaken. For everything that happened to you is precisely because you are like a Cushite in his skin and a leopard in its spots. The prophet tells them: and I will scatter them, this is not befallen by chance, this comes from Me. I scattered you. I will disperse you. And then through this you will recognize that this thing is not chance, it is not kera'uni (befallen by chance), but it is from Hashem.
This is your lot, the portion of your measures from Me, says Hashem, because you forgot Me and trusted in falsehood. This is your lot, the portion of your measures. Says the Radak: the portion of your measures is like your measures. With the measure that you measured, I measured to you. Because you forgot Me, you forgot Me, you forgot the Master of the World, says the Holy One, blessed be He, so I too forgot you. You trusted in falsehood, you did not rely on the Holy One, blessed be He, you turned your back to Me and not your face, so I too hid My face from you and you became prey, as it is written in the verse, and many troubles and evils befell him.
The Holy One, blessed be He, says in fact: everything that you receive is measure for measure. What a person cooked is what he eats. It is not an evil that I brought upon you, rather you brought it upon yourselves by hiding your faces. When a person hides his face, he walks in darkness. When a person walks in darkness, he falls. So he cannot come with a complaint against the Master of the World.
And this too is what the Malbim explains, that here too He comes to answer what they said earlier, why have these befallen me? Kera'uni, chance. Says the Malbim: the Holy One, blessed be He, tells them here: this comes from Me. This is not by chance. And do you want to know that this comes from Me? The proof that something is a punishment from God is always the measure for measure. When one sees measure for measure, that is the proof of punishment from Hashem. And here He says: see that this is measure for measure. Once we explained and showed what a wondrous thing it is to see how the entire Holocaust was measure for measure. Those who took and made themselves a new Shulchan Aruch, in his time the Maggid of Kelm told them: Germany will be here, they will make you a new Shulchan Aruch. And I will tell you what will be written in this Shulchan Aruch. This was thirty years before the Holocaust. He preached in the rabbinical seminary of the Maharam Shapiro. He told them: I will tell you what will be written in this Shulchan Aruch. This Shulchan Aruch was against, in his time Geiger made a Shulchan Aruch, as it were, against the Shulchan Aruch of the Torah. He told them: the gentile will come and make a Shulchan Aruch, and in this Shulchan Aruch there will be only one law. The best of the Jews, kill. The best of the Jews, kill. And then they told him: no, you do not know who Germany is, you do not know the enlightenment, you do not know the refinement, you do not know the good manners, the exemplary conduct of Germany, and you came from Poland, you think this is Eastern Europe. It is not, sir, this here is Western Europe, this is not what you are used to thinking. And to our sorrow we know how much these things came to be fulfilled, and in the most painful way. And precisely those who saw in Germany the pinnacle of culture, the peak of progress, measure for measure the Holy One, blessed be He, says: there is no culture, there is no progress. You abandoned the Torah since you chose enlightenment which expresses progress. He says: this progress will show you how much murderousness there is in it, how many human beasts are there. And so once Rav Pincus delivered an entire talk about this, we spoke about it once, we spoke about it here, how much everything that occurred through the Holocaust in Germany was measure for measure in the conduct toward those who broke the covenant of Hashem and went and chose for themselves new gods, how measure for measure, each and every thing the Holy One, blessed be He, exacted from them. May Hashem save us, trouble shall not arise twice. So the matter of measure for measure always constitutes a sign and a wonder of divine punishment. He tells them: you say kera'uni? Behold, come and see that this is your lot, the portion of your measures from Me. For this is measure for measure. You forgot Me and trusted in falsehood, for as the prophet told them, woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on chariotry and did not turn to Hashem. And since you trust in falsehood, says the Holy One, blessed be He, so now I too have exposed your skirts over your face and your shame will be seen. Since you trusted in falsehood, so I too exposed the impurity that was in you, your skirts, in the hems of the garments in secret, I exposed them over your face and your shame will be seen, your shame will be seen by all. And the Malbim explains that what is written here, your measures, means measure for measure. In contrast, there is an aspect of your lot. What is the difference between measure, like your measure, and your lot? Says the Malbim: the lot is sometimes more than what is due to a person. In contrast, your measures is exactly what is due to a person. And whichever way it is, in any case this comes to express a measure. It comes to express according to what is fitting. So then, according to what is due to you, so too you have received. The Metzudat David explains that what is written here
Your adulteries and your neighings, the lewdness of your harlotry, on the hills in the field I saw your abominations. Woe to you, Jerusalem, you will not be cleansed, how long yet? Your adulteries and your neighings, the lewdness of your harlotry. The Malbim explains: your adulteries, this is the adultery itself. Your neighings, this is the exultation on the way to the adultery, meaning the publicizing. Not only the adultery itself, they even do it publicly, which is sin upon crime. Another thing: the lewdness of your harlotry. Lewdness, says the Malbim, always comes to express thought. That is to say, you had deep thoughts in the matter of harlotry. So there was here an act, there was here a thought, there was here publicizing. In fact there are here the three elements that turn the thing into a great and enormous sin. He tells them: and also on the hills in the field I saw your abominations. After you went out of the city into exile, even in the field you still did not abandon your abominations. And there too it was in public. It is written that in Egypt they burned incense to Molech. That is to say, you are already in exile, you are already in the field on the hills, and there on the hills in the field are your abominations, there too you burn incense to Molech. He tells them: woe to you, Jerusalem, you will not be cleansed. How long yet? Meaning: even after the destruction you will not be cleansed. So if afterward you will not be cleansed, then how long yet? When then will you still be cleansed? Even after everything you have received, and all the exile, and all the suffering that you are undergoing, you will not be cleansed. So afterward, then how long yet? When yet is there a chance that you will be cleansed? And the Radak says that the adultery written here, and generally the adultery written in the Scriptures, is generally an expression and a parable for idolatry. And we have seen this many times, the matter of adultery in the context of idolatry, your harlotries, her adulteries, and so on. And we explained in greater depth the words of the Gra, that their way was that in every place where there was a house of idolatry, they would also make a house of harlotry. And this matter was intended to draw people, so that they would be drawn after idolatry. Therefore the expression of harlotry appears many times in the context of idolatry, and you will play the harlot after the Baalim. But even without this, one must know that the expression of harlotry is not for naught, since the bond between us and the Holy One, blessed be He, is a bond like that between husband and wife. The Congregation of Israel and the Holy One, blessed be He, are the beloved and the bride. And when the wife corrupts her ways and goes to strange men, that is called harlotry. And when we do not serve Hashem, the Holy One, blessed be He, but rather go to idolatry, to the idols, that is a kind of harlotry. Harlotry means to deviate from the straight path. This is an aspect of adultery. And since this is so, he tells them: your adulteries and your neighings are the lewdness of your harlotry.