Introduction: A Kal VaChomer from the Generation of the Wilderness
In this part of the chapter, the prophet continues the rebuke he began earlier: Israel was not content with sins between man and God alone, but corrupted their ways with immorality and idol worship as well, like the deed of the Gibeah in the days of the concubine in Gibeah (Pilegesh b'Givah), regarding which it was said, "He will remember their iniquity, He will punish their sins." From here on, the prophet constructs one great kal vachomer (a fortiori argument): see what the Holy One, Blessed be He, did to those who left Egypt when they sinned with Baal Peor and the daughters of Moab. Even though that generation was exceedingly precious and beloved before Him, He did not spare them and struck them with a severe blow. You, who are not nearly as significant before Him as that generation, will all the more so be punished.
Like Grapes in the Wilderness: The Stature of the First Generation
כַּעֲנָבִים בַּמִּדְבָּר מָצָאתִי יִשְׂרָאֵל, כְּבִכּוּרָה בִתְאֵנָה בְּרֵאשִׁיתָהּ רָאִיתִי אֲבוֹתֵיכֶם, הֵמָּה בָּאוּ בַעַל פְּעוֹר וַיִּנָּזְרוּ לַבֹּשֶׁת וַיִּהְיוּ שִׁקּוּצִים כְּאׇהֳבָם׃ - Like grapes in the wilderness I found Israel, like the first-ripe fruit on a fig tree in its beginning I saw your fathers; they came to Baal Peor and separated themselves to shame, and became abominable like that which they loved.
The Holy One, Blessed be He, says: Come and see how precious in My eyes were the Israelites who left Egypt. Like a person who finds the choicest fruit, grapes, specifically in the wilderness - a place that is not an environment of seed, fig, vine, or pomegranate. A cluster of grapes in the wilderness is a rare, priceless find for which one would pay a fortune. That is how precious Israel was in My eyes.
Why were they compared specifically to grapes? The Malbim explains: Israel is the first vineyard planted by the Holy One, Blessed be He, as is said of the Exodus from Egypt, "You transplanted a vine from Egypt." And a vine specifically, because vines cannot be grafted onto another type of tree. This is especially true of grapes in the wilderness, for anything that grows where human hand has no control contains no grafting whatsoever. This is like the etrog, whose special beauty lies in bringing it from the wild forests where no grafting is done and everything grows in its purity.
And so was Israel in Egypt: completely free of any "grafting." Chazal taught that they were holy and separated from immorality; Shelomit bat Divri was the single exception, and Scripture publicized her. And lest one say, even if they controlled themselves, perhaps they did not control their wives? Regarding this, Chazal say: "To Pallu, the family of the Palluites; to Chetzron, the family of the Chetzronites" - the Holy One, Blessed be He, placed His name upon them, the letters Hei and Yud, testifying that they were holy, pure, and far removed from any corruption or intermingling with the defiled Egyptians.
"Like the first-ripe fruit on a fig tree in its beginning" - the fig is an esteemed fruit that has no waste: it has neither a peel nor pits to discard; it is eaten entirely in its fullness. And the first-ripe fig, the very first to be picked, is the most prized of all, for there is not yet an abundance of fruit and it is unique. Thus Israel was precious: in terms of place - like grapes in the wilderness; and in terms of time - as the Malbim adds - for this occurred at a time when darkness covered the earth and thick gloom the nations, when all the nations worshiped idols and there was no recognition of the Creator's existence. That the Holy One, Blessed be He, found Israel at such a time was a tremendous virtue.
Yet despite all this prominence - "they came to Baal Peor." When they desired the daughters of Moab, they deteriorated from bad to worse: "And the people began to commit harlotry with the daughters of Moab," and subsequently, "And they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods." "And separated themselves to shame" - they detached themselves from everything else and dedicated themselves to the shameful matter, as it is said, "And the people ate, and bowed down to their gods." And through this, "and became abominable" - they became detestable; Hashem abhorred them and rejected them, and the anger of Hashem flared against Israel. All this happened "like that which they loved," through their love for the daughters of Moab. Now draw the kal vachomer: if they, who were so beloved, became abominations through this - you, who possess none of these virtues, how much more so!
Ephraim: Like a Bird Their Glory Shall Fly Away
אֶפְרַיִם כָּעוֹף יִתְעוֹפֵף כְּבוֹדָם, מִלֵּדָה וּמִבֶּטֶן וּמֵהֵרָיוֹן׃ - As for Ephraim, like a bird their glory shall fly away, from birth, from the womb, and from conception.
According to the Malbim, this is the continuation of the kal vachomer. Those who came out of Egypt still possessed honor and stature, like a vine and a fig tree, and preserved their sanctity. But you, Ephraim, have no honor from the very beginning: not at the time of birth, not while in their mother's womb, and not at the time of conception. Most of them are born of illicit unions and were conceived in harlotry, and their glory took flight and spread its wings like a bird right from birth, womb, and conception. If the generation of the Exodus, with all their stature, became abominable - you, who have no stature to begin with, all the more so will you suffer affliction and become detestable.
Rashi, on the other hand, explains that from this point the prophet begins dispensing "blessings" upon them: would that Ephraim be like a bird wandering from its nest, ceasing to be fruitful and multiply, and so they too will lose their offspring. "Their glory shall fly away" - that they should lose their seed either at the time of birth, or through miscarriage in the womb, or that conception not take hold at all. And what purpose is there in raising their children if ultimately they will be bereaved - as explained in the next verse.
Though They Bring Up Their Children
כִּי אִם יְגַדְּלוּ אֶת בְּנֵיהֶם וְשִׁכַּלְתִּים מֵאָדָם, כִּי גַם אוֹי לָהֶם בְּשׂוּרִי מֵהֶם׃ - Though they bring up their children, I will bereave them until none remain; for woe also to them when I depart from them!
What purpose is there in pregnancy, gestation, and birth, if in the end, even when they raise their children, they will die? The Malbim continues along the line he began: you have two distinct flaws compared to the generation of the wilderness. First - "I will bereave them of men": you are not considered before Me to be on the level of human beings at all, for you have been abominable from the womb, having failed to preserve your lineage and instead fathering mamzerim. Second - "for woe also to them when I depart from them": even the fathers themselves, who were not born of illicit unions and still hold the status of human beings - since their own parents were righteous and free of this corruption, and they merely fathered mamzerim - they too face woe. For although I was initially with them, I have now departed from them and cast them out from before Me due to the evil of their deeds. Parenthetically, "besuri" is written here with a sin (left dot), which is rare, though there are several examples in Scripture where words usually written with a samech are spelled with a sin.
Ephraim, as I Saw Tyre
אֶפְרַיִם כַּאֲשֶׁר רָאִיתִי לְצוֹר שְׁתוּלָה בְנָוֶה, וְאֶפְרַיִם לְהוֹצִיא אֶל הֹרֵג בָּנָיו׃ - Ephraim, as I saw Tyre, is planted in a pleasant place; yet Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the slayer.
Rashi explains: Just as I saw Tyre in its serenity, crowned and wealthier than all the lands, so did I see Ephraim planted in a pleasant abode. I brought them to an optimal state, like a peaceful, quiet country - what today might be called Switzerland. I planted Ephraim in a pleasant dwelling, free of all problems and troubles. And what repayment did he give Me? "To bring forth his children to the slayer" - he goes and brings out his children to be slain, sacrificing them to Molech. Is this your gratitude for My having planted you like Tyre, in peace and prosperity?
The Malbim, characteristically, explains that this verse also serves to heighten the contrast between the first generation and Ephraim: The first generation was like grapes in the wilderness, whereas you do not dwell in the wilderness; you are like Tyre, planted in a pleasant pasture. I transplanted you from the wilderness into a pleasant haven, an inhabited land, and I see you there in abundant goodness. Now, those who left Egypt endured harsh conditions, and even so I showed them no leniency, striking them when they strayed after the daughters of Moab - so you, whose condition is so prosperous and to whom I did so much good, will certainly receive no leniency. Furthermore, according to the Malbim, "Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the slayer" is not a description of their sin, but of their punishment: the enemy will bring Ephraim's children out to slaughter. And although by nature they should have prospered, multiplied, and flourished, given that I granted them a spacious land - nevertheless, see the catastrophe destined to befall them.
Give Them, Hashem - What Will You Give?
תֵּן לָהֶם יְהֹוָה מַה תִּתֵּן, תֵּן לָהֶם רֶחֶם מַשְׁכִּיל וְשָׁדַיִם צֹמְקִים׃ - Give them, Hashem - what will You give? Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.
Rashi explains that the prophet is praying here that the Holy One, blessed be He, take the lives of their children while they are still young. And if you ask why the prophet asks for something harmful to befall them - according to all commentators, the prophet is actually asking for something merciful on their behalf. Since the decree of "I will bereave them of men" had already been issued, that their children will die, when is death harder for parents to endure: when the child is an infant, or when he is grown? Surely when he is grown, when he has acquired understanding, has become his own person, and the parents already anticipate celebrating his milestones and standing under his chuppah. When he is an infant, the attachment is still minimal. Therefore the prophet pleads: Master of the Universe, if You intend to bring them to the point of "I will bereave them of men," bring bereavement while the child is still an infant - lessen the anguish, soften the blow.
Rashi adds: Even though he initially prayed "from birth, and from the belly, and from conception," it has already been said, "and your desire shall be to your husband," making it impossible for pregnancy to be avoided entirely, so conception will inevitably occur. Therefore, give them in infancy what You are destined to bring upon them later in life. "A miscarrying womb" - that upon emerging from the womb into the world, they should pass away. And if not that, then at least "dry breasts": in those days there was no infant formula, and a baby who cannot nurse will die. The prophet thus asks that the mother have no milk to nourish her child, so that the children perish in infancy rather than in adulthood.
Radak explains that when the prophet sees that Ephraim is leading its children out to the slaughter, he pleads: Master of the Universe, let the children at least perish in the womb rather than fall into enemy hands. Falling into enemy hands is always the far worse fate. We see in several narratives in Tanach that when a military leader or warrior realized he was about to fall into enemy hands, he preferred to take his own life rather than fall into their grasp. From a halachic standpoint, one certainly may not do so, as this constitutes suicide, but in any event, one must recognize that falling into enemy hands is always vastly more horrific. Therefore, the prophet pleads: Since they are destined to fall into enemy hands, grant them death from the womb or in their infancy, rather than later at the hands of their enemies.
The Malbim addresses the repetition in the verse that Rashi and Radak did not address: What is meant by "Give them, Hashem - what will You give?" and why does he seemingly ask himself "what will You give?" Rather, the intention is: Master of the Universe, give them what is fitting to be given to them. And what is fitting to give them? Measure for measure, for whenever the Holy One, Blessed be He, punishes, He does so measure for measure. Since the indictment here is for the sin of harlotry, bearing children who are illegitimate offspring, mamzerim, and blemished, it is fitting that these children die in their infancy so that mamzerim do not proliferate - rather than a punishment of exile and banishment from their land, which lacks this element of measure for measure. This is the prophet's plea: let this be the punishment, and not the punishment of exile.
All Their Wickedness Is at Gilgal
כׇּל רָעָתָם בַּגִּלְגָּל כִּי שָׁם שְׂנֵאתִים, עַל רֹעַ מַעַלְלֵיהֶם מִבֵּיתִי אֲגָרְשֵׁם, לֹא אוֹסֵף אַהֲבָתָם כׇּל שָׂרֵיהֶם סֹרְרִים׃ - All their wickedness is at Gilgal, for there I hated them; because of the evil of their deeds, I will drive them out of My house. I will love them no more; all their princes are rebellious.
Radak explains: In Gilgal they inaugurated the monarchy, and we have already seen above that He took them to task over this matter in Give'ah, as Rashi explained there that they crowned Shaul from Give'ah. Here too: that is where the evil began; they renewed the monarchy and rejected Me from reigning over them, and it was the kings who led them astray.
Radak brings an additional explanation, as does Rashi: Gilgal was the initial site of the Mishkan after they crossed the Jordan. The place was held in high esteem by the people, and for that reason, the prophets of Baal would also send them to worship there, to erect calves and monuments to Baal there, as it is said, "In Gilgal they sacrifice bullocks." Because the place had been sanctified from the start as the site of the Mishkan, they saw special virtue in it, and this drew the people to come and worship the Baalim specifically there.
We see this to this day: both Christianity and Islam seek out sites that were already sanctified by us. Islam built a mosque - where? Over the tomb of the holy Patriarchs, in Me'arat HaMachpelah. What connection does Yishmael have to Me'arat HaMachpelah, when he is not even buried there? So too with the Temple Mount: they built al-Aqsa upon it. What do they have to do with the Temple Mount? Jerusalem is not mentioned even once in the entire Quran, whereas in our scriptures it is mentioned hundreds of times. Yet they do not let facts confuse them. Every place that possessed holiness for us, they sought to appropriate for themselves, because the intrinsic stature of the place attracts the masses, and whoever establishes idolatry there finds a way to gather people around himself.
This is the reason cited in the holy sefarim for why the Holy One, Blessed be He, did not disclose the location of the Beit HaMikdash in the Torah. Nowhere in the Torah is its location specified; it says only, "in the place that Hashem shall choose." Chazal recount that David was in Nayot in Ramah with Shmuel, and they deliberated where the site of the Mikdash was - a fair place, on the shoulders of the ox, and so forth - until they reached their conclusion. And why was this not written explicitly? Because had the location of the Mikdash been written in the Torah, there was a concern that idolaters would preempt them and build a house of prayer and idolatry there. It would then have been exceedingly difficult to remove them, and they would have claimed that you were seeking to destroy their site, creating endless friction. Another reason: so that no abomination and defilement would be placed upon the site of the Mikdash, since introducing idolatry into the site of the Beit HaMikdash is a grave blemish. As we find in the poskim, one does not establish a synagogue in a place that once served as a church, and specific halachic processes are required to permit such a site. A place where idolatry once stood is unfit to become a place of holiness. Therefore, Heaven did not reveal the location of the Mikdash, and when the time arrived to build it, they received a hint and a sign from Heaven - King David received that hint through the angel with his sword drawn in his hand during the pestilence, after he shrank from the three days of plague and said, "Let us fall into the hand of Hashem, and let me not fall into the hand of man."
Therefore, the Holy One, Blessed be He, says, "I will drive them out of My house": since they spurned My service and chose idolatry, even if they wish to return and serve Me in My house, they will not find Me there, for I will destroy the Beit HaMikdash and abandon them. "There I hated them" - in that very place, in Gilgal, they built themselves a house of idolatry; "because of the evil of their deeds" I will drive them out of My house, "I will love them no more." And why is there no hope? "All their princes are rebellious" - the leaders appointed over them, whose role was to rebuke the nation, are themselves rebellious, so how can I expect them to bring the nation to repentance?
The Malbim explains that here the Holy One, Blessed be He, answers the prophet: The exile does not come merely on account of the sin of harlotry, for harlotry is only one detail among their evils. "All their wickedness is at Gilgal" - there they committed other evils: idolatry, bloodshed, and abominations, in addition to harlotry. "There I hated them because of the evil of their deeds" - on account of the rest of the abominations. Therefore, "I will drive them out of My house." You, the prophet, ask Me, "Give them a miscarrying womb" instead of exile, as measure for measure for harlotry? Says the Holy One, Blessed be He: Harlotry is a small detail among their sins; the major factor is the idolatry and the ruin they brought upon the land, and corresponding to that, "I will drive them out of My house" is necessary. There is no solution other than exile, for I do not want them to remain any longer in My house - which is the land I gave them to inhabit.
The Malbim draws an analogy: It is like a man who hates his wife for her wicked deeds and drives her out of his home, so that he will no longer have to provide her with shelter and sustenance. In such a reality, there is no hope that they will restore their relationship as of old; neither he will return to her, nor she to him. Regarding this it is said, "I will love them no more." For as long as the wife remains in the home and there is no get and no divorce, there is still hope of reconciliation; but once a complete severance takes place, it is over. The Holy One, Blessed be He, says: Here I am banishing them, and there is no reality in which I will bring them back to Me in the foreseeable future, nor is there hope that they will improve their ways, since even those who are meant to set them straight - all their princes are rebellious.
Ephraim Is Stricken, Their Root Is Dried Up
הֻכָּה אֶפְרַיִם שׇׁרְשָׁם יָבֵשׁ פְּרִי בַל יַעֲשׂוּן, גַּם כִּי יֵלֵדוּן וְהֵמַתִּי מַחֲמַדֵּי בִטְנָם׃ - Ephraim is stricken, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit; even if they give birth, I will slay the darlings of their womb.
The Malbim explains: There is no need for Me to give them a "miscarrying womb" so that their children perish before birth, for this is already occurring naturally. Ephraim itself has been stricken and its root has dried up, and when the root is dried, the tree cannot bear fruit. Naturally, therefore, they cannot produce fruit even without a special decree of Divine Providence. For there are punishments that come through direct Providence, and there are punishments that unfold according to the laws of nature; since they corrupted their ways within the natural realm, they were harmed naturally. And if, by chance, they still bear children, "I will slay the darlings of their womb" - through Providence, I will put to death the cherished fruit of their womb.
My God Will Reject Them
יִמְאָסֵם אֱלֹהַי כִּי לֹא שָׁמְעוּ לוֹ, וְיִהְיוּ נֹדְדִים בַּגּוֹיִם׃ - My God will reject them because they did not listen to Him, and they shall be wanderers among the nations.
Rashi cites that this is not a curse, but a prophetic forewarning: the prophet informs them of what will happen in the future, that the Holy One, blessed be He, will ultimately reject them. Ibn Ezra, and Radak after him, noted the wording "My God" rather than "their God" - because He is no longer their God, "because they did not listen to Him." Therefore, He will reject them and cast them out from His presence, and they will become wanderers among the nations. This is specifically the punishment of exile, rather than death alone, as the Malbim explains: the punishment had to be exile, expressing their alienation from the people and from the corrupt deeds they had committed.
In Summary:
The chapter is built as one great kal vachomer (an a fortiori argument). The Holy One, blessed be He, recalls the immense stature of the generation of the Exodus: like grapes in the wilderness, an un-grafted vine, holy and separated from immorality until His Name bore witness to them; and like the first ripe fig, a fruit eaten whole, at a time when darkness covered the earth. Yet even so, when they came to Baal Pe'or and clung to the daughters of Moab, they became abominations and were stricken. Ephraim - whose glory flew away from birth, from the womb, and from conception, and who was settled in a peaceful dwelling with abundant bounty like tranquil Tyre, yet corrupted themselves with immorality and idolatry - all the more so! The prophet seeks to mitigate the suffering, praying that bereavement occur in the womb and in infancy rather than in adulthood at the hands of the enemy, measure for measure for the sin of promiscuity; but the Holy One, blessed be He, answers that promiscuity is only one detail, and the root of their evil was at Gilgal, in idolatry and abominations. For that, there is no remedy other than "I will drive them out of My house" - exile and estrangement, like a husband who divorces his wife and loves her no more, with no one to restore them, for all their princes are rebellious.