Sefer Yirmiyahu chapter 21. The word that came to Yirmiyahu from Hashem when King Tzidkiyahu sent to him Pashchur son of Malkiyah and Tzefanyah son of Maaseyah the Kohen, saying.
Now he describes a prophecy, a prophecy that came to Yirmiyahu from Hashem, when King Tzidkiyahu sent two messengers to him. The messengers were Pashchur son of Malkiyah and Tzefanyah son of Maaseyah, and what did they actually want? Please seek out Hashem on our behalf, for Nevuchadretzar king of Bavel is waging war against us, perhaps Hashem will act toward us according to all His wonders and cause him to withdraw from us. They came to ask him, please seek out Hashem on our behalf. The meaning is that in the end they knew that he was a prophet of Hashem, so however much they fought against him, they knew the truth. Therefore they come to ask, saying please seek out from Hashem, seek out Hashem on our behalf. What, is there a shortage of prophets? A shortage of people who prophesy? You have plenty of false prophets. No, it is written that Tzidkiyahu was a righteous king, and being so, he asks that Hashem be sought out on our behalf, for Nevuchadretzar king of Bavel.
Nevuchadretzar or Nevuchadnetzar? In truth, we see two forms. Sometimes Nevuchadretzar, sometimes Nevuchadnetzar with a nun. They bring various explanations of his name, and I will give the more accepted explanation, that his name is Nevuchadretzar. Nevuchadnetzar means that he wanted to nullify a shoot (netzer) of the kingdom of the House of David, a messianic shoot, so that is Nevuchadnetzar, from the language of wanting to nullify the netzer. Another explanation says Nevuchadnetzar was perplexed (navuch) about the matter of the netzer. There are opinions among Chazal that Nevuchadnetzar was the son born from the affair of Shlomo and the Queen of Sheva. When Shlomo received the Queen of Sheva in his palace and showed her all his treasure house and all his wisdom, some say he also married her, and from her Nevuchadnetzar was eventually born. If so, it turns out that regarding Nevuchadnetzar he had doubt about his origin, so he was perplexed (navoch) about the netzer, that is, about the shoot, whose shoot he was, and that is Nevuchadnetzar.
In any case, we have the rule of the Radak, and the Radak says that when you see a name appearing in several forms, that same person was called by all those forms. So sometimes we see the name Avigayil, and sometimes Avigal, and both names are correct. Just as you can call a person Itzik and Yitzchak and Yatzek and all these names, people call him by these names. So too in Tanach, when you see the same name several times with variations, know that this was his name and people called that same person by several names, and this applies here as well.
So then, they now ask him, please seek out Hashem on our behalf, perhaps Hashem will act toward us according to all His wonders. After all, Hashem is able to do miracles and wonders with us, and then he will withdraw from us, Hashem will remove Nevuchadretzar king of Bavel from us. The Malbim notes precisely and says, they say please seek out Hashem on our behalf, perhaps Hashem will act toward us according to all His wonders. Why "toward us"? Perhaps Hashem will act with us? Why "us"? Says the Malbim, there is a deeper intent here, that the meaning is perhaps Hashem will bring us back in teshuvah and make us, remake us anew. For when one repents, a person becomes a new creation, like clay in the hand of the potter, as we saw earlier regarding the House of Israel. So perhaps Hashem will make us, perhaps Hashem will bring us back in teshuvah and then we will be worthy for Hashem to act toward us according to all His wonders and cause Nevuchadnetzar to withdraw from us.
And Yirmiyahu said to them, thus shall you say to Tzidkiyahu. Thus said Hashem the God of Israel, behold I am turning against you, behold I am turning around the weapons of war that are in your hands, with which you fight the king of Bavel and the Kasdim who besiege you from outside the wall, and I will gather them into the midst of this city. He thought he would receive aid and support, and not only did he not receive it, but he even receives a prophecy of calamity. And he says, thus said Hashem the God of Israel, behold I am turning around the weapons of war that are in your hands. What is "turning around the weapons of war that are in your hands"? Let us first explain the plain meaning, which is the explanation of the Radak. The Radak explains that "behold I am turning around the weapons of war that are in your hands" means like turning them around. You now have weapons of war in your hands? These weapons will be, as it were, in the hands of the enemies. That is the meaning, I am turning around the weapons of war in your hands so that they will belong to the king of Bavel. These weapons will, as it were, be with the king of Bavel. In simple words, you will not have the strength to fight against them, and your weapons of war will not help to strike the enemy, but on the contrary, I am turning them toward him, as if they are his weapons and they will strike you.
The Malbim explains that the meaning is that through the famine there will be a rebellion in the city. So "behold I am turning around the weapons of war that are in your hands" means that the war, the weapons of war you have, will now be turned inward. That is to say, I am going to fight, I fight against the enemy from outside, but if Hashem turns the weapons of war around, what actually happens? I turn them inward. What is the reason for this? Says the Malbim, because there will be among them those who want to surrender to the Kasdim. There will be those among them who want to turn to the king of Bavel so that he will leave them be, so that he will do with them as he wishes, as long as he does not kill them. And this will incite the men of war, for it will appear to them as rebellion, it will appear to them as betrayal. And then what will happen? An internal battle will begin, in which the men of war will want to fight against those who want to make peace with Nevuchadnetzar. So it turns out that the weapons of war, behold I am turning them around. Turning them where? Inward, into the city.
I mention Rashi last on purpose, because here Rashi is more on the way of derash. This is interesting because usually Rashi comes to explain the plain meaning of the verse, and here specifically Rashi explains on the way of derash. Says Rashi, what is "behold I am turning around the weapons of war that are in your hands"? Among them are those who know how to adjure the ministering angels above who are appointed over the calamity. That is, they were not worried. They said, we know how to adjure the ministers above, and we will adjure the ministers above not to harm us. And then through this we have nothing at all to fear, we have the code to the operating system, so we are not worried at all, whatever they do here they will not be able to do anything. He said to them about this, is this what you rely on? Behold I am turning around the weapons of war that are in your hands. He tells them, I am transferring the authority from this one to that one, and you will not know whom to adjure. He comes to adjure A, the minister of fire, Hashem transfers the authority over fire to B. He comes to adjure B, the minister of hail, Hashem transfers the authority over hail to C. He adjures D, the minister of war, and Hashem transfers the authority over war to E. So through this it turns out that in short Hashem switched their code. And then they try to act and see that things are not working, they do nothing. And then you will not know upon whom to adjure.
And I will gather the weapons of war, and I will gather them into the midst of this city. Says Rashi, I will gather the weapons of war into the midst of this city, meaning, I will destroy you with pestilence through the angel of death, who is one of the supreme ministers, as it is written later, they will die in a great pestilence. That is, those weapons of war that you want to control through the adjuration of angels, on the contrary, the greatest weapon, which is Sama-el, the angel of death, I will bring him, I will gather them into the midst of this city so that he will strike you by way of pestilence.
And I Myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm and with anger and with fury and with great wrath. And I Myself will fight against you. Says the Radak, the Kasdim will fight from outside, and I, says the Holy One blessed be He, will fight with you, meaning against you, with a great pestilence, I will strike you and your cattle. The Metzudat David explains "and I Myself will fight against you" to mean, I will give such strength to the Kasdim that it is as if I am fighting against you. And then I will fight with an arm, with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm. And "I will fight" the Malbim explains, that after there will be sword and famine, I will come to fight with them. And then this war will be with an outstretched hand, as we know from the Haggadah of Pesach, this is the pestilence. And with a strong arm, this is the sword. And this war will be with anger and with fury and with great wrath.
The Malbim explains, with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm. Says the Malbim, it is always written with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm. What happened that here he reversed it, with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm? Explains the Malbim, the hand characterizes the pestilence. The outstretched arm signifies the sword. And why? Says the Malbim, the hand acts without an intermediary. Therefore it signifies the pestilence, the pestilence that comes without an intermediary. That is, the pestilence comes directly. So too the hand, the hand acts directly. In contrast, note, the arm does not act directly. The arm moves the hand. Therefore it characterizes the sword, for the sword too acts by way of an intermediary. That is, when Hashem wants to bring us harm directly, that is pestilence. When He wants to bring it to us indirectly, that is the sword. That is to say, He activates someone to come fight against us. So it turns out that the hand is a direct action, this fits pestilence, Hashem directly sends illness from Himself. In contrast, the arm is indirect, Hashem sends an enemy to strike us, this is like an arm that moves the hand, and this is the aspect of the sword.
Among the idolaters the hand is the pestilence, this is "with a strong hand." Therefore it is always written regarding the idolaters, when Hashem fights against them, that Hashem fights with a strong hand. This is not the case with Israel; when the Holy One blessed be He brings pestilence upon us, He brings it with compassion, all the illness that I placed upon Egypt I will not place upon you, for I am Hashem your healer. Among the nations it is "with a strong hand," Hashem brings the pestilence with full force. So too says the Malbim, among the idolaters the arm, which as we said is the sword, is outstretched. What does outstretched mean? Outstretched means, as it were, stretched out on its own, striking on its own. But in contrast, with Israel it is written that the arm is "with a strong arm." What does "strong" mean? "Strong," the Malbim explains, is from the language of holding. The Holy One blessed be He holds back the arm to strike only as much as necessary, and no more than necessary. So it turns out that among the nations both the pestilence and the sword are, as it were, without measure. This is not the case with us, for when the Holy One blessed be He brings both the pestilence and the sword, the Holy One blessed be He brings them in precise measures, not, God forbid, in a way that Israel would be destroyed and perish.
With anger and with fury and with great wrath, what is the difference between them? Says the Malbim, anger (af) is revealed burning wrath. As we explained, af is the flaring of the nostril. This is a metaphor for a person, when a person is angry his nose turns red. That is, here something revealed happens. Fury (chemah), in contrast, "and his fury burned within him." Fury burns inside. So it is not evident outwardly. Whoever wishes may listen to the disc on Megillat Esther, where the Malbim has a very wonderful explanation on "and his fury burned within him," and the difference between this and anger, and the wrath that was there is a whole approach to explain the matter wonderfully. But in any case the principle applies everywhere, that fury always expresses the inner fury, the inner anger. Wrath (ketzef), says the Malbim, is always relative to the magnitude of the sin. That is, according to the magnitude of the sin, so too the wrath increases, and the wrath too is something revealed, like the foam (ketzef) on the surface of the water, wrath is always anger that is evident outwardly.
And I will strike the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast, they will die in a great pestilence. And I will strike this city, meaning Yerushalayim, both man and beast in a great pestilence, pestilence is a plague. And what is written, "both man," says the Malbim, this comes to include also those who are not part of the city, for at first he said the inhabitants of the city, but he says "both man," also those who are not part of the city.
And afterward, says Hashem, I will give Tzidkiyahu king of Yehudah and his servants and the people and those remaining in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nevuchadretzar king of Bavel and into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their lives, and he will strike them by the sword, he will not spare them, nor pity, nor have mercy. Hashem says afterward, I will give Tzidkiyahu king of Yehudah and his servants and the people and those who remain in this city, meaning those who survived the pestilence and the sword and the famine, those who remained I will hand over into the hand of Nevuchadretzar king of Bavel, who will ultimately conquer the city and will succeed in laying his hand also upon Tzidkiyahu and his servants. And he will strike them by the sword, whoever he wants to put to death he will put to death, says the Radak, and whoever he wants to exile he will exile. He will not spare them, nor pity, nor have mercy, as we know that Tzidkiyahu's sons were slaughtered before his eyes, and even upon the ministers and the elders he did not have pity.
The Malbim explains that what is written "and afterward," that is, corresponding to the strong arm, which is the sword, about this he said that He will hand them over into the hand of Nevuchadnetzar and he will strike them by the sword. And what he said before, "and the people," these are the citizens of Yerushalayim, and "those remaining," this refers to those people who are not among the inhabitants of Yerushalayim. And let us note, says the Malbim, that there is here the expression he will not spare, will not pity, will not have mercy. What is the difference between sparing, pitying, and having mercy? Says the Malbim, a person who spares something does so because he needs it. It is a shame about this, I spare it from destruction, why? Because I still need it. So to spare is from the aspect that I have a need for the thing. To pity, on the other hand, is not from the aspect that I need that thing, but rather my heart aches to destroy it, because that thing has some virtue, some advantage, and therefore I pity it, even though I do not need it for myself, but as people sometimes say, it is a shame about this. This is called pitying, it still has virtue. In contrast, mercy, says the Malbim, is usually only regarding people. I do not say he has mercy on the table. I do not say he has mercy on the cats. Rather I say he has mercy on the person. Mercy applies only to people, it is an expression that appears only regarding people, and says the Malbim, mercy is from the aspect of the stirring of the soul, that a person is, as it were, moved, he cannot bear to see something bad happen to someone. This is mercy, from this the trait of mercy is aroused. Says the Malbim, according to this you will understand what is written here. He said I will hand you over, give you into the hand of Nevuchadnetzar. And then Nevuchadnetzar will not spare them, after all they are his, He gave us to him, we said a person spares and has mercy on his possessions, he will not spare us from the aspect that we are his possessions, since he has conquered us. Afterward he said He will give them into the hand of their enemies. About this he says that the enemy will not pity. We said pitying means one wants to pity something because of some virtue it has. The enemy will treat us like dung, like nothing, like nothing at all, and consequently pity will not apply, out of his great hatred for us he will not regard us as anything. And corresponding to those who seek their lives, he said he will not have mercy. And why? Because a person who seeks a life becomes cruel and destructive, and as we said, here we are already speaking of lives, therefore he said corresponding to this, he will not have mercy, and as we saw that indeed Tzidkiyahu's sons were slaughtered before his eyes, so we saw that indeed Nevuchadnetzar also did not have mercy even on the lives.
And to this people you shall say, thus said Hashem, behold I place before you the way of life and the way of death. The meaning is, I place before you ways through which you can find life, and if you do not go in this way, know that you are necessarily going in the way of death, in the way that will lead you to death. He who dwells in this city will die by the sword and by famine and by pestilence, and he who goes out and falls upon the Kasdim who besiege you will live, and his life will be his as spoil. He who dwells in this city, meaning whoever remains here, as we already saw, will die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. And he who goes out and falls upon the Kasdim, what does it mean "falls upon the Kasdim"? Explains the Malbim, they did not allow anyone to leave the city, only when they would fall upon the Kasdim in order to fight with them. That is, they feared, as in the time of the destruction of the Second Temple, when this same thing happened, that they did not allow anyone to leave because they feared that whoever left would actually go to make peace with the enemies, and there is here some sign of surrender, and against this matter they did not allow anyone to leave the city at all. Therefore he says, whoever leaves this city means falling upon the Kasdim, meaning falling upon the Kasdim in order to fight with them, only for this purpose would they allow them to leave. Or, says the Malbim, whoever wanted would surrender to the Kasdim and remain there and not return to the city. Therefore he says "upon the Kasdim," and then the spoil that he will plunder from the war is what will actually be his as spoil. What will be his as spoil? He says he will not plunder any spoil, but rather his life. His life. That is what he will save. That is, whoever leaves the city, as we explained, with the aim of falling upon the Kasdim and fighting against them, then the only spoil he will receive is his life, since here in the city only death awaits. As we said, sword, famine, pestilence. If there is any way to be saved, it is only by leaving the city.
For I have set My face against this city for evil and not for good, says Hashem. It will be given into the hand of the king of Bavel and he will burn it with fire. For I have set My face against this city for evil and not for good. "My face," says the Targum, My wrath. From the language of a face of anger. "My face will go and I will give you rest," face is a language of anger. I will set My wrath against this city for evil and not for good. Says the Malbim, above we saw "behold I am forming evil against you and devising a plan against you, please return each man from his evil way." The whole matter of the evil is meant so that they will return, so that they will correct their ways. And note, this is only regarding a person. That is, when speaking of people, the Holy One blessed be He says return from your evil ways, and I will spare and pity and have mercy on you. But note, says the Malbim, regarding the city nothing will help anymore. Upon it the decree of destruction has already been sealed. The city will be destroyed. So it turns out that the only thing that can still be saved here is your lives. So all that we saw earlier that he said please return each man from his evil way, that is only regarding people, there is still a chance, return and live. But regarding the city the destruction is already a sealed decree, and therefore it is written here "for evil and not for good." Evil that will not change to good, but rather evil that is for the sake of evil, because as we explained all evil is for the sake of doing good. That is, I devise evil against you so that you will repent and it will be good for you. But regarding the city it will not be so. I devise evil against it and the evil will come. And not for the sake of doing good, but for evil and not for good. That is, ultimately it will be given into the hand of the king of Bavel and in any case he will burn it with fire.
And to the House of the king of Yehudah, hear the word of Hashem. And to the House of the king of Yehudah, here it returns to what was written at the beginning of the matter, that the Holy One blessed be He said to Yirmiyahu, thus shall you say to the people of Yerushalayim. So now Hashem tells him what to say to the people of the House of the king of Yehudah. To the House of the king of Yehudah, to them you shall say, that there is and will be for them a remnant for the seed of the House of David, this is now a unique prophecy given to the House of Yehudah, to the House of the royal dynasty. House of David, thus said Hashem, execute judgment in the morning and rescue the robbed from the hand of the oppressor, lest My fury go out like fire and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds. House of David, thus said Hashem, execute judgment in the morning. Why does he mention the House of David? Because of David it was said, "and David executed justice and righteousness for all his people." So the House of David are the ones dedicated to executing justice. So it would have been fitting that his descendants who come after him, you who are the kings of the dynasty of the House of David, it would have been fitting that you too do as he did and execute judgment in the morning, do justice and judge with righteousness and fairness. And what is "in the morning"? "In the morning," explains the Radak, means before you engage in eating and drinking, before you engage in matters of your needs, execute judgment in the morning. Whoever comes to cry out before you, judge him. So too it is written about Moshe, "and Moshe sat to judge the people from the morning until the evening." And as the Gemara there brings, that there is a claim against a judge who says to a person who comes to lodge a complaint before him, saying to him wait for me until I drink my cup. Wait, I am still on break, until I finish the sandwich. Says the Gemara that regarding this it said, why do we go out to be killed like those liable to death by the court? He said to him, did you ever say such a thing? He said to him yes. So he said to him if so, this comes to you, God have mercy. That is, the death of the ten martyrs came to such a reality that a person delays judgment, because judgment must be immediately in the morning, first engage in judgment, for judgment is the first thing that must stand at the forefront of the concerns of the judge, of the dayan, of the king, who is the one before whom one comes to be judged. Therefore he says execute judgment in the morning. Judgment must be immediately in the morning, and Moshe sat to judge the people from the morning until the evening, before you engage in any of your needs.
The Malbim explains the matter of the morning in a more metaphorical way. Says the Malbim, "execute judgment in the morning" means while it is still before the coming of darkness. The darkness is the trouble. Therefore judge in the morning, meaning while the day still shines, that is the morning. The meaning is while the troubles are only about to come, they have not yet stirred and arrived, but rather they are still, so to speak, in the pipeline, judge. So that is to say you have a chance for correction, how? Through executing judgment, do justice. And why? Why specifically in this matter? Says the Malbim, "Tzion will be redeemed through justice and its captives through righteousness." We see that the destruction of Yerushalayim was because of robbery and oppression and because of the lack of justice. "Your ministers are rebellious," you are murderers, your ministers are rebellious. So then the thing that can now save you from all of this is if you return to executing justice. If you judge with righteousness and fairness, then the Holy One blessed be He says to them, you have a chance of salvation.
And then if not, lest My fury go out like fire and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds. For if not, then My fury will go out like fire and, God forbid, there will be no remnant at all. Says the Malbim, note, it is written here "and rescue the robbed from the hand of the oppressor." Says the Malbim, the oppressor is a person who withholds the wages of a hired worker. This is called oppression. That is, the worker requests his wages, come tomorrow. Oh, I was not at the bank, I did not manage, oh, they put a lien on my account, I will try to arrange it for you, in short, there is one place and not only two that open long term savings plans for their workers. Yes, for many years. And sometimes it is what is called an unlimited plan, yes, it is not exactly a plan as you requested. And sometimes you see the money after many long months and you took gemachim loans and interest free loans and what not. Many times this is found in the kollel, in kollelim unfortunately this reality is found. This is called oppression. Whoever tells him go and come back and tomorrow I will give, this is called oppression. The robber, in contrast, takes what belongs to you. What belongs to you he takes by force. Oppression is what he must pay you, that he does not pay. Says the Malbim, but in contrast the oppressor, although he is not a robber, he can afterward become a robber. How? Over time that person already despairs of nagging you, he leaves you. And then you have become from an oppressor to a robber. Because the money of his that until now you only withheld, you have now, as it were, nationalized, you left it with yourself. This is what is written, and rescue the robbed from the hand of the oppressor. That is, someone who at first oppresses, that it should not ultimately come about that the poor person afterward is already robbed, despairs completely, and then from an oppressor you become a robber.
Behold I am against you, dweller of the valley, rock of the plain, says Hashem. You who say, who will descend upon us, and who will enter our dwellings. To whom is the prophet turning here? The commentators explain, Rashi first among them, "dweller of the valley" is Yerushalayim. That Yerushalayim is within a valley. Another interpretation, what is the meaning of within a valley? The meaning is that around it are valleys, that is the meaning. Another interpretation, that the valley here too is in a more conceptual sense, deep counsel. "And they traveled from the valley (emek) of Chevron," from deep counsel. So too here, that the Holy One blessed be He deepened counsel against it to destroy it. Dweller of the valley, the one who dwells in that place where Hashem deepened counsel against it to bring it to destruction. Rock of the plain, a rock is a mountain whose surroundings are all plain. And they say, who will descend upon us? "Who will descend upon us" is like what is written, "for there Aram is encamped," the meaning is the camp of Aram is stationed there, so what camp will come upon us? So they say with great confidence, they have no doubts that they can withstand everyone. Says the Holy One blessed be He, you say who will descend upon us? Says the Radak, behold I will come against you and I will fight with you. That is, you say who will come upon us since our place is hard to conquer? Is this hard against the Holy One blessed be He? Says the Holy One blessed be He, I handed you over, I will come and I will fight against you. So it turns out that you have no basis to be confident and secure that nothing will happen to you.
The Malbim explains, what is "dweller of the valley"? Says the Malbim, the king's house and the fortress were on one side on the slope of the mountain, and on the other side was plain. So on the slope on the mountain side it is called dweller of the valley, because if it is next to the mountain, relative to the mountain it is considered a valley. And on the other side is plain, and on the plain side the city was very strong and fortified. So therefore about this he says, behold I am against you, they think and say who will descend upon us? And why? Because it is dweller of the valley. Since it is dweller of the valley, it says I have on one side a mountain that protects me. So who will descend upon us? "Descend" is from the language of coming down. Not from the language of "Aram is encamped," but from the language of descending. From the language of coming down. "Who will descend upon us" means regarding the side of the mountain, who can attack us? From the top of the mountain it is not a convenient place to attack. Regarding the plain side it says, who will enter our dwellings? For after all we said that on the plain side there they made the fortress fortified. So behold the king's house and the fortress were confident that they would be protected. About this He says to it, you have nothing to rely on. Your security is a security that relies on something that is truly not worthy of being relied upon.
And I will visit upon you according to the fruit of your deeds, says Hashem, and I will kindle a fire in its forest and it will consume all its surroundings. Says Hashem, and I will visit upon you according to the fruit of your deeds, as we explained, after all your war is not against Nevuchadnetzar, it is against Hashem. And if so, says the Holy One blessed be He, I with providence, "and I will visit," from the language of providence, I will oversee to give you according to the recompense of your deeds. And I will kindle a fire in its forest, I will kindle a fire in the forest, which is Yehudah, and it will consume all its surroundings. "It will consume all its surroundings" means everything that is also around the city. The Malbim explains that the fire in its forest is on the Negev side, on the south side, from which side was the conquest of the city, that is "and I will kindle a fire in its forest," and afterward "and it will consume all its surroundings," all its surroundings means all the cities that dwell also around it, all the places that were around Yerushalayim.