For thus said Hashem, God of Israel, to me: take this cup of wine of wrath from My hand, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink of it. Thus said Hashem, God of Israel, to me: take the cup of wine of wrath. The cup of wine of wrath is essentially the prophecy of calamity that is now being handed over here, and it is compared to a cup of wine. And this cup of wine He commands him to take from My hand, from Hashem, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink of it. Its meaning is: you shall prophesy to them that their end is near, that the trouble, their calamity, is drawing close. The wine of wrath, the Radak explains, is as though in construct form, like the wine of wrath, similar to "the men of the war," meaning the men of the war, or "the book of the purchase," meaning the book of purchase. So here too, the wine of wrath. The wine of wrath comes to express the calamity that Hashem holds against the nations, that He will exact retribution from them. The Malbim explains that this is really a figure of speech indicating that among them too many rebellions and much turmoil will arise. That is to say, the nations themselves will be embroiled in conflict, in the vein of "I will set Egypt against Egypt." A reality in which the nations are at odds with one another is generally a good reality for us, the people of Israel. Because when the nations are at rest among themselves, then they are free to deal with us. But when the Syrians are fighting the Syrians, and the Shiites the Sunnis, and Hezbollah and Iran, in short everyone is celebrating there, then we are calm. At most, every now and then some missile strays over. But beyond that we have quiet from the northern flank, because they are busy up to their necks, and sometimes without their heads, in all their wars there. And we wish them to continue and that no one should give up, that each should strive to come out victorious and that no one should yield until their very last drop of blood. We wish victory to both sides, that they may all clearly say they wiped out the other side, with Hashem's help speedily, amen.
And they shall drink, and reel to and fro, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them. And they shall drink, and reel to and fro, there will be the sword of a man against his fellow. "Reel to and fro" (hitgoashu), Rashi says means they will go mad, and this he brings from the Targum. "And be mad" (hithollelu), a term of madness, they will act foolishly. The Malbim explains in his commentary on the words that hitgoashu means a shaking of the body, when the body trembles and shakes. And hithollelu, says the Malbim, is a confusion of the mind.
And I took the cup from Hashem's hand, and made all the nations to whom Hashem sent me drink of it. I took the cup, as He showed me in the vision of prophecy, and I made the nations drink. Its meaning is: I see in the vision of prophecy how I make them drink. Its meaning is: I prophesied to them the prophecy that the Holy One, blessed be He, told me to prophesy. Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and its kings, and its princes, to make them a ruin, an astonishment, a hissing, and a curse, as it is this day. Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people. And all the mixed multitude, and all the kings of the land of Utz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Gaza, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod. Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and its princes, as we saw that there is here a prophecy also against Jerusalem, for they rebelled against Hashem's word and did not listen to Him to repent. Jerusalem was destroyed first, and afterward Egypt was destroyed, says the Malbim. Therefore he counts her here at the beginning. Jerusalem and the cities of Judah...
As it is this day. What is meant by "as it is this day"? Rashi says that Jeremiah wrote his book after the destruction, and since that is so, he says "as it is this day," meaning: just as you see her in ruins this day, so did I prophesy to them. What is "all the mixed multitude" (ha-erev)? The Malbim explains that erev refers to a mixture of nations who had no king. That is why he did not say "the kings of the erev," as he said "the kings of the land of Utz," because the people of the erev had no king, but were mixed people like the erev rav (mixed multitude).
Ashkelon, Gaza, and Ekron were of the Philistines, as we know from the book of Judges. Each of them had its own particular king. Ashdod had already been conquered by Pharaoh, and therefore, notice, he says "and Ashkelon, and Gaza, and the remnant of Ashdod." Of Ashdod there is only a remnant, since Pharaoh had already conquered it, as we will see in chapter 47. And all the mixed multitude, and all the kings of the land of Utz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Gaza, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod.
The Radak says the erev is a people gathered from nations that mixed together, as we saw, along the line that the Malbim followed. "And all the kings of the land of the Philistines," the Radak explains this means the rest of the land of the Philistines, because in fact he has a difficulty here: "all the kings of the land of the Philistines," and afterward you say Ashkelon, Gaza, and Ekron, which are Philistine. Why did you need to say beforehand "all the kings of the land of the Philistines"? Therefore he says the intent is the rest of the land of the Philistines. Besides Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and Ashdod, there were other cities, and notice he says that so too in the book of Samuel, after mentioning the cities there regarding the golden hemorrhoids and the trouble that came upon them following the taking of the Ark, it is written there "from the fortified city to the country village of the Perizzite," or Perazi. What do you see? That there were additional cities beyond Ashkelon, Gaza, and Ashdod, which were the larger cities, but there were still other cities as well.
Which city does not appear here? The Radak says: Gath does not appear here. And why? Because David took Gath from the hand of the Philistines, as brought in Chronicles, and since that is so, he does not express himself about it as one of the cities of the Philistines. It is written "and he took Gath and its towns from the hand of the Philistines," and this is "Metheg-ammah" mentioned in the book of Samuel.
The Radak explains that "the remnant of Ashdod" means that when Nebuchadnezzar captured it, he already found it partly destroyed by the king of Egypt or another. That is to say, there had already been another king there, as we explained earlier, that since this came after it had been conquered from Egypt, therefore he found that only remnants remained there.
Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon. And all the kings of Tyre, and all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastland beyond the sea. All these, says Rashi, are neighbors of the land of Israel round about. And Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all who have the corners of their hair cut. Dedan, Tema, and Buz are also of the children of Ishmael and the children of Keturah, who were also around them. "And all who have the corners cut" (ketzutzei peah). What is ketzutzei peah? Peah is a term for the end of a thing. "The corner of your field" (peat sadcha) is the end of the thing, that is called peah. When we speak of the peah of the hair, we speak of the end that is at the edge of the head. Peah is edge. Ketzutzei peah refers to those who dwell at the very edge of the edge. There is an edge, and there is this peah, and ketzutzei peah means at the outermost edge of the peah. That is to say, it speaks of those literally at the edge of the world.
The Malbim explains that the ketzutzei peah refers to the rest of the children of Ishmael and the children of Keturah, who would cut off the flesh of their foreskin, and this is the meaning of ketzutzei peah. Peah alludes to the foreskin, and they were the ketzutzei peah. Why? Because this is the edge of the body, as we explained, meaning the end of the body, and they would cut off their foreskin, therefore they are called ketzutzei peah.
And all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the erev who dwell in the desert. "All the kings of Arabia" (Arav), Rashi says this is Aravia, the lands of Arabia. "And all the kings of the erev," this refers to those adjacent to the Arabs, meaning those close to them, or a mixture of Arabs. The Radak explains that the intent is the Arabs who dwell in tents, as it is written "no Arab shall pitch a tent there," which means he will not build a tent, referring more to the Bedouin. "And all the kings of the erev," those who dwell in the desert, which is what we saw earlier regarding the erev. He says these are others who dwell in the desert. So notice, earlier we mentioned "and all the mixed multitude," now he says "and all the kings of the erev who dwell in the desert." This is not the erev we spoke of before. The erev we spoke of before had no kings and did not dwell in the desert. Here we are speaking of kings of the erev who dwell in the desert, so this comes to distinguish them from those we spoke of in verse 19.
And all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of Media. Zimri, says the Radak, may be Zimran of the children of Keturah. And all the kings of the north, near and far, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the earth that are upon the face of the ground, and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them. The Holy One, blessed be He, as it were says to him: all of this you shall give to drink, the cup, to all these kings. That is to say, upon them too the cup shall pass, in the sense that the calamity will come upon them. So he says all the kings of the north, near and far, one with another, meaning those close to and those far from one another. And all the kingdoms of the earth that are upon the face of the ground, and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them. Our Sages ask: who is Sheshach? Sheshach is Babylon. Because Sheshach is a letter substitution of at-bash: aleph becomes tav, bet becomes shin, so when I want to say Bavel (Babylon), I say Sheshach, since the kaf and lamed also interchange in at-bash. It follows, say our Sages, so the Gemara says, that Sheshach is Babylon. So the king of Sheshach, the king of Babylon, will in the end drink after them, as we saw that after his seventy years are complete, he will pay the full account.
And you shall say to them: thus said Hashem of hosts, God of Israel, drink and be drunk, and vomit, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword that I will send among you. Drink and be drunk, and vomit. The Malbim explains: there is a person who drinks and does not get drunk. That is still not so bad. He tells them: drink and be drunk, you will drink and also get drunk. There is a person who drinks, but his stomach is like poured concrete, nothing moves him. He has such defenses that no alcohol affects him. He has a stainless steel stomach. What about him? He does not vomit. But of them He says: drink and be drunk and vomit. Yes, this will affect the stomach, you will also vomit. There is a person who vomits but still, so to speak, stands on his feet. The wine, as they say, has not yet knocked him down. He tells them: drink and be drunk and vomit and fall. There is a person who falls, but somehow still manages to wobble and get back up. You know the story of that drunk whom a policeman once stopped for excessive drinking? He tests him with the breathalyzer and says to him, buddy, your condition is really not good. There is a line on the road, a stripe of the road at the side, so he tells him: walk here on the stripe, walk straight on the stripe. He says to him: what, are you making fun of me? He says to him: first straighten out the stripe. Do you understand? So there is a person who falls and then gets up. About this it says "and fall, and rise no more." He says: you will be a drunk who falls, collapses, and does not get up afterward.
What does he really mean to say by this? The drunk, says the Malbim, when he vomits and falls, the expression is that so too they will want to throw off the yoke of the king of Babylon and vomit him out. Because he will destroy them; as we said, the king of Babylon ruled over everything and oppressed them. He sent among them the sword, nation against nation, and through this they will all fall beneath him. It follows, then, that you think to fight against him, you want to throw off the yoke of the king of Babylon and vomit him out, but what will happen in the end is that you will fall. The drunk wants to bring out what is inside him, and in the end he falls and wallows in his vomit. That is to say, do not think that by rebelling against the king of Babylon you will succeed, for your desire and your attempt to vomit him out will bring about your fall, a fall from which you will not rise. Because of the sword that I will send among you, because Hashem sends among them the sword, nation against nation, and then through this they will all fall beneath the feet of Nebuchadnezzar.
And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them: thus said Hashem of hosts, you shall surely drink. "If they refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink," its meaning is: whoever wants to fight against Nebuchadnezzar and rise against him and nevertheless persist, he tells you nothing will help you, you will drink the cup regardless. The Holy One, blessed be He, will in any case bring about a situation in which Nebuchadnezzar subdues them all.
For behold, in the city upon which My name is called I begin to bring evil, and shall you be entirely unpunished? You shall not be unpunished, for I am calling a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, says Hashem of hosts. For behold, in the city upon which My name is called I begin to bring evil. Its meaning is: the people of Israel, says the Malbim, are under Hashem's providence. Therefore He says "in the city upon which My name is called," this is Jerusalem, upon which I watch, there the beginning will be. Nebuchadnezzar's fortune will rule over them at the start. And all the more so the rest of the nations, upon whom My name is not called, will surely fall beneath him. What is "upon which I begin to bring evil"? The Malbim explains: sometimes Hashem terrifies the nations so that they take a lesson. As it is written, "I cut off nations, their corners are desolate, I said, surely you will fear Me, you will take a lesson." "I cut off nations, their corners are desolate," means their mighty towers were laid waste, that is "their corners," which had been a cornerstone. "I said, surely you will fear Me, you will take a lesson." The purpose was that the people of Israel would see the troubles of the nations and through this come to fear Hashem, and Hashem would then not need to bring the calamity upon us. We would see what happens to the nations, we would see some earthquake at the edge of the world, and this thing itself would shake us. And then he says: when Hashem begins to bring evil first upon the nations, there is a chance for us, because perhaps we will be roused, perhaps we will take it to heart. But notice what happens here, it is the opposite. What happens with us: "behold, in the city upon which My name is called I begin to bring evil." The beginning of the evil I bring upon Jerusalem, so we no longer have the privilege of seeing the troubles of the nations and taking a lesson from them. When the trouble comes to the nations, there is still a possibility that we will take a lesson, but here the evil begins specifically with us. That is to say, its meaning is: it is impossible to be cleansed of this evil. That is what he says, "and shall you be entirely unpunished? You shall not be unpunished." When there is a possibility of being cleared, then I bring the evil upon the nations, says Hashem, and then in the meantime you will be cleansed. You might say this is dangerous, it could come upon us too. But when it is impossible to be cleared, that is to say, the trouble must arrive in any case, in such a situation, says the Holy One, blessed be He, I bring it directly first upon the people of Israel.
And you shall prophesy to them all these words, and you shall say to them: Hashem roars from on high, and from His holy dwelling gives forth His voice; He roars mightily over His habitation, He answers with a shout like those who tread grapes, to all the inhabitants of the earth. You shall prophesy to them all these words. What shall you say to them? Hashem roars from on high, and from His holy dwelling gives forth His voice, He roars mightily over His habitation. Rashi brings the teaching of our Sages, familiar to us from the Gemara in tractate Berachot, that "the Holy One, blessed be He, roars mightily over His habitation" means Hashem mourns over the destruction of His House. But we must understand the whole of the verse here, and this the Malbim explains. The Malbim says: there is a giving forth of voice and there is a roar. Even today in common speech, giving forth a voice is weaker than a roar. When a person roars, it is a great and mighty sound. It is written here that Hashem roars from on high, and from His holy dwelling gives forth His voice. So there is a roar versus a voice, "on high" versus "His holy dwelling." What is the difference between "on high" and "His holy dwelling"? "On high" is the governance of the celestial system. It is the governance of the heavens. That is, the stars. In contrast, "His holy dwelling" is the governance that is above the stars. That is the holy dwelling of the Holy One, blessed be He. There we speak of the providential governance that is above the celestial system, which actually rules even over the system. It follows, then, says the Malbim, that in "on high" He always gives forth His voice. That is to say, the governance of the stars is constant. You can always draw up an astrological chart and see what the stars indicate. Not that we have understanding of this today, but in principle there is such wisdom, and this wisdom was known to the sages of old and it is a constant thing. There is no possibility of saying that right now the stars show nothing. There is no such thing. The stars are always in a certain position, a certain location, with mutual influences one upon another, and this thing indicates astrologically influences that will descend here. So notice, in "on high" there is always a voice. The stars always have a message. They always have something to say. But now notice: Hashem from on high, from the place of the governance of the stars, will roar. We said a roar is not the standard. It is far more than a voice. Hashem will roar. How? By what power? By Hashem giving forth His voice from His holy dwelling. That voice from His holy dwelling: Hashem's voice is not heard constantly from His holy dwelling. What exists constantly? The governance of the stars. To see the hand of Hashem in miracles or supernatural acts, that is not even a voice; we do not see it constantly. So the Holy One, blessed be He, from His holy dwelling, which is the hidden governance, the miraculous governance, the governance of the Holy One, blessed be He, from His holy dwelling, then it will give forth its voice. A voice will go out from that governance, meaning there will be influences. And these influences will reach the stars, and then the stars, that is "on high," where there is always a voice, from on high it will roar. Here it will not be a voice, but a great and mighty roar, because this roar will be over His habitation. This roar will be to destroy the Temple. That is to say, this is not another announcement, not another ordinary running of this world, where you would say it is constant, from on high He gives forth His voice, the stars give their instruction. No. Rather, know that this comes from above, from the upper hidden part, from the Holy One, blessed be He, in His very essence, which is the aspect of "dwelling." From there Hashem will give forth His voice, which He does not normally do, since Hashem's governance is always hidden. And then this will cause it to descend to the stars, and from there to the earth, so it turns out that from on high, from the stars, it will already be a roar. Because it comes from above in a matter that is not natural. And then from His holy on high He gives forth His voice, He roars mightily over His habitation. There will be a roar over His habitation, which is the Temple, that the Temple will be destroyed.
And what will it be? He answers with a shout like those who tread grapes, to all the inhabitants of the earth. Rashi explains "heidad" (the shout): these were people who did heavy labor, and they had calls with which they would encourage themselves and give themselves a rhythm. For example, when wanting to move something with force several times, they do "hey, hop, hey, hop." That gives a rhythm, everyone does it together. Such was their custom in many activities, like those who would row boats or all sorts of activities of that kind, they would drum or make a sound, and sometimes weavers would make a sound during weaving so that there would be a certain song that put them into a certain rhythm. Or as it is written about Uza and Azael, that there it is written they would make "hi" and "hiya," there were two more there, like Uza and Azael and "hi" and "hiya." There were two others there, at any rate, who would always make their sound when they wanted to do work, they would make the sound of "hi" and "hiya," who were two others in the time of Uza and Azael, who were the fallen ones who descended from heaven. In any case, what have you learned? That people who work together make a sound. And the way of those who tread the winepresses, those who would tread the grapes in the press, their custom was to make these rhythmic sounds in order to do the work in rhythm. And the "answering" written here, "ya'aneh," always denotes the raising of the voice. "You shall answer and say, an Aramean sought to destroy my father," Rashi says, there he raises his voice. There is "answering" that is answering a question, and there is "answering" that is the raising of the voice. Here we speak of answering that is the raising of the voice. About this he says: Hashem, as it were, will roar over His habitation, He answers with a shout like those who tread grapes. Just as those treading in the press answer with a shout and make sounds to perform their work with greater vigor, so too all the beasts of prey will answer opposite the sound of the roaring lion. The Holy One, blessed be He, His voice will roar, and then all the beasts of prey will suddenly be roused. That is, Nebuchadnezzar and all the rest of the nations will come to destroy His habitation. Like the sound of those treading, where one shouts to his fellow and his fellow answers him, his fellow calls out opposite him. So in fact the Holy One, blessed be He, comes here to express the destruction of the Temple, how it will be carried out by the nations.
A tumult comes to the end of the earth, for Hashem has a contention with the nations; He enters into judgment with all flesh, the wicked He gives to the sword, says Hashem. A tumult comes. "Shaon" (tumult) is the roar of sound. This is called shaon. "The roar of many waters," and several such expressions whose meaning is the sound of noise. A tumult comes. Shaon is also an expression of all commotion, a general noise, as the Targum Yonatan says, "a commotion comes." There will be a noise of agitation, of commotion. So this commotion of which we spoke, which is Hashem's roar, a tumult comes to the end of the earth. This noise reaches to the end of the earth. For Hashem has a contention with the nations. The Holy One, blessed be He, has a contention with the nations generally, and judgment specifically with all those who sinned against Him; against them He has judgment. Through the contention there is danger to all, and through the judgment, the wicked who specifically acted wickedly, from them the Holy One, blessed be He, will exact retribution personally.
Thus said Hashem of hosts: behold, evil goes forth from nation to nation, and a great storm shall be roused from the ends of the earth. "Behold, evil goes forth from nation to nation," Rashi says: I set them against one another. The Radak explains that this passage relates to the matter preceding it, meaning the destruction of the Temple, and upon this will depend how we explain "He has forsaken His covert like a young lion," as we will see further on. If it refers back to the First Temple, then it is a continuation of what we spoke of earlier. But if it refers to the Second Temple, then here he begins a new matter. Thus said Hashem: behold, evil goes forth from nation to nation. The nations will be embroiled in conflict with one another, and a great storm, an expression from "storm," from the ends of the earth, will be roused. The Malbim explains that this speaks of Nebuchadnezzar; then Nebuchadnezzar will be roused to come upon them to destroy them.
And the slain of Hashem on that day shall be from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth. They shall not be lamented, nor gathered, nor buried; they shall be as dung upon the face of the ground. The slain of Hashem on that day will be from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth. And the reason is that the sword will kill many, and not only will many die, but also the living will have no leisure to occupy themselves with the dead. Therefore what is naturally required when there is a funeral, that they eulogize the dead, will not happen: "they shall not be lamented." And not only will they not be lamented, they will not even be gathered, meaning at least gathering the bodies to one place, even if not a private grave. "Nor buried," he tells you even this will not be, they will not even be covered with earth, but "they shall be as dung upon the face of the ground," because of the magnitude of the trouble and disaster, that there will be no one to occupy himself with their burial.
Wail, you shepherds, and cry; and roll yourselves in ashes, you mighty of the flock; for the days of your slaughter are fulfilled, and your dispersions, and you shall fall like a precious vessel. "Wail, you shepherds," the intent is the kings, says the Malbim. "And roll yourselves, you mighty of the flock," the intent is the princes. "For the days of your slaughter are fulfilled," the intent is: the time has come, that the Holy One, blessed be He, sent the prophecies that you are destined to be a slaughter, that the oppressor will come and kill them. "And your dispersions," the intent is: the time has come that you will be scattered into exile, that you will be dispersed from the land, "and your dispersions." "And you shall fall like a precious vessel." "And you shall fall like a precious vessel," the Radak explains, and in fact Rashi says: if you say we are very important, there is a precious vessel of glass that falls and shatters and is lost. That is, you feel important, I am some prestigious crystal vase worth thousands of dollars. He tells you: true, but with one throw to the floor it shatters. So even if you feel so important, know that this reality can change in an instant, like a precious vessel, and you shall fall like a precious vessel. The Malbim explains "and you shall fall like a precious vessel" means: when there is a precious vessel or a most prestigious vessel, but when it falls, it breaks, it is damaged, it is considered as nothing. You do not say about some ancient Chinese vase from the Chang Yong Yang dynasty three thousand years ago, you do not say after it has shattered into fragments that there is still something to do with it. Usually most of them are broken, they are after gluing, all that survives from those periods. So there are two or three fragments. But something that has become literally splinters, there is nothing to do with it. That prestigious glass vessel, after it shatters into splinters there is nothing to do with it. That is really what he comes to say. According to the Malbim he comes to tell them: your reality will be "and you shall fall like a precious vessel." Just as a precious vessel, after it has fallen, is finished, utterly nullified. No, you do not say it still retains fifty percent of its worth. There is nothing, it is worth nothing. So too your fall will be that, following your descent into exile, you will be worth nothing at all.
And flight shall be lost from the shepherds, and escape from the mighty of the flock. When the time of slaughter comes, flight shall be lost from the shepherds. There will be no place for the shepherds to flee, and no place of escape for the mighty of the flock. The Malbim explains the difference between "flight" (manos) and "escape" (peletah): manos generally refers to a person who has intellect. I do not say the donkey fled, I say the person fled. Manos speaks of a person who has understanding. In contrast, peletah refers also to animals. And flight shall be lost from the shepherds, and escape from the mighty of the flock. That is to say, the shepherds will have no flight, they will find no place to flee to. Usually the shepherds always prepare for themselves a place of refuge, as Zedekiah had a cave. The shepherds have some routes or some refuge states, as they spoke about Assad, that he prepares for himself all sorts of options for the worst possible situation, so that he will have somewhere to be, some place of refuge, some state that will take him in and protect him so that in The Hague they will not put him on trial for genocide. So in fact the shepherds are generally more organized. The shepherds plan for flight. He says: flight shall be lost from the shepherds. Do not count on it, because there is no flight. The leaders will have nowhere to flee. And escape from the mighty of the flock. The mighty of the flock, here he compares the people to a flock, so he says even the flock will have no place of escape.
A sound of the cry of the shepherds, and the wailing of the mighty of the flock, for Hashem is plundering their pasture. The shepherds and the princes will roar aloud that Hashem is plundering their pasture. That is to say, everyone will discern this, that it is from Hashem. It is not a natural punishment, it is not a punishment according to some movement of the stars. To everyone it will be clear: He roared mightily over His habitation, here is a providential punishment from Hashem.
And the peaceful pastures are cut off because of the fierce anger of Hashem. Rashi explains that "nadamu" is an expression of ruin. The word is like "we will ruin," and "come, let us go and ruin there." "Nidmesheh" is an expression of ruin. And the Radak explains "nadamu" as "they were cut off." The peaceful pastures are cut off. That place of pasture where they would graze in peace, a place where they had quiet and tranquility, meaning this is the analogy here for the states, for all their cities. Those places, the peaceful pastures, are cut off, those places were cut off because of the fierce anger of Hashem. There is no longer any place that will have peace in it.
He has forsaken His covert like a young lion, for their land has become a desolation because of the fierceness of the oppressing sword, and because of His fierce anger. He has forsaken His covert like a young lion. "He has forsaken like a young lion," Rashi brings the Targum Yonatan: "the king has gone into exile from his cities like a young lion that forsakes its covert." That is, the king will go into exile from his city like a young lion that goes out of its lair. To what does this refer? The Radak explains: when does the young lion forsake its lair? When it has nothing to eat, when it is hungry. So "He has forsaken His covert like a young lion." So too the Holy One, blessed be He, has forsaken His covert. What is the covert of the Holy One, blessed be He? A place where His Presence shelters, this is the Temple. So "He has forsaken His covert like a young lion," like a young lion that forsakes its lair because it has nothing to eat there, so, as it were, the Holy One, blessed be He, forsakes the Temple because He did not find His desire there. That is to say, they were bringing idolatry into the Temple, within the Temple they would provoke Hashem. And since the Holy One, blessed be He, forsook the place, hid His face from the place, the Temple was destroyed. So "He has forsaken His covert like a young lion," like a lion that forsakes its place when it does not find its sustenance there. So too, when the Holy One, blessed be He, no longer finds in this place a reason to remain, there are no sacrifices here, there is no service of Hashem here, not that the Holy One, blessed be He, needs those sacrifices, but at any rate there is no longer the service of Hashem here, so Hashem, as it were, has nothing to do here in His covert. "For their land has become a desolation." He says "their land has become," the Radak says the intent is: even before the House was destroyed, their land had already become a desolation. And behold, come and see, they took no lesson from this. Their land had become a desolation, and with all this they took no lesson, therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, forsook His covert, forsook the Temple. The Malbim explains that "He has forsaken His covert like a young lion" refers to the fierce anger of Hashem. The fierce anger of Hashem is like a young lion that roars for prey, as we saw earlier, "He roars mightily over His habitation." Until now the young lion, as it were, the fierce anger, was within His covert. The fierce anger was, so to speak, in its place, it did not leave the home base. Now He has forsaken His covert like a young lion. Now this fierce anger goes out outward in order to destroy. And here he explains: "for their land has become a desolation because of the fierceness of the oppressing sword and because of His fierce anger." "Their land has become a desolation because of the fierceness of the yonah." Who is the "fierceness of the yonah"? This is Nebuchadnezzar, whose flag emblem is a dove (yonah). The Malbim explains that this was the flag of the kingdom of Assyria and Babylon, named after an ancient queen who was so called, so in her name they made a dove as their emblem. "And because of His fierce anger," since Nebuchadnezzar is the rod of My anger, so here there is the fierce anger of Hashem, which is what brought about that fierceness of the yonah. According to the Malbim, "the fierceness of the yonah" is really the emblem of Nebuchadnezzar, whose sign was a dove. In contrast, the Targum Yonatan says "the sword of the enemy, which is like intoxicating wine." What is the meaning of "like intoxicating wine"? Like wine that makes drunk. That is, the sword of the enemy is like the wine of a drunk, or "like an ancient one whose anger is strong." And this then is "the fierceness of the yonah": yonah is an expression of wine, of drunkenness, so it turns out according to the interpretation of the Targum Yonatan. And according to an additional interpretation that Rashi brings, "the fierceness of the yonah" is an expression of wronging (honaah), like "a man shall not wrong his fellow." This is an expression that appears elsewhere too, "because of the oppressing sword," which refers there to Nebuchadnezzar, or refers to that sword which creates deception, deception meaning to cheat, to lie, to cause pain, like verbal wronging that grieves one's fellow; that sword which grieves the community is called the oppressing sword.