Chapter 3 of Yechezkel is the direct continuation of the previous chapter. There we saw that the Holy One, Blessed is He, appeared to the prophet and commanded him to eat the scroll that He was giving him, warning him not to be rebellious and disobey the command. We have already explained that this does not mean literally taking a piece of parchment and eating it, but is rather a metaphor and an allegory: that the words should be absorbed into his innermost being and become part of him.
וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלַי בֶּן־אָדָם אֵת אֲשֶׁר־תִּמְצָא אֱכוֹל אֱכוֹל אֶת־הַמְּגִלָּה הַזֹּאת וְלֵךְ דַּבֵּר אֶל־בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ - And He said to me: "Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel."
"Eat what you find" - whatever you find in My hand, whatever I present and give to you, eat that. And what is it? The scroll. The Metzudas David explains that this refers to everything you find: since the scroll is written front and back, eat everything, both what is written on the front and what is written on the back. And "eat" means: study and internalize the message written here.
The Malbim explains this based on what Yechezkel saw written in the scroll: laments and dirges, harsh matters that terrify anyone who hears them, expressing troubles and disasters. Hence the prophet's concern. The Malbim explains: when someone accepts Hashem's command purely out of compulsion and fear of punishment, this acquisition does not adhere to his soul; rather, it is the acquisition of one who is looking to break free. Why? Because I am only complying because there is a gun to my temple; I am only doing it because there is a dreadful punishment and Gehinnom beneath my feet; and if that punishment were removed from me for even a moment, I would certainly flee from fulfilling Hashem's commandments.
And here, in the scroll that Yechezkel sees, all the words are words of threats, punishments, tribulations, laments, and wailing. Yechezkel therefore thinks: such threats will not lead to an acquisition of the soul; it is something that does not endure, frightening for a moment and then fading away. Therefore Hashem says to him: eat the scroll, so that the scroll enters your innards and is engraved upon the tablet of your heart, akin to "and Your Torah is within my innards" and "upon their heart I will write it." Through this, the words will be internal rather than external - not merely fear of punishment and dread of retribution, but a true part of your innards and your heart.
וָאֶפְתַּח אֶת־פִּי וַיַּאֲכִילֵנִי אֵת הַמְּגִלָּה הַזֹּאת׃ - So I opened my mouth, and He fed me this scroll.
The Radak emphasizes that this is entirely allegorical, as we noted. And Targum Yonatan translates: "And I submitted my soul, and He granted me wisdom in what was written in this scroll" - I inclined my soul, and Hashem enlightened me with what was written in this scroll. This is the meaning of being fed.
The Malbim explains what the verse comes to express: reaching the level where the scroll is within one's innards and engraved upon the tablet of one's heart is impossible without Divine assistance. Therefore, all that was required of me was to open my mouth, and the Divine assistance did its part - "and He fed me this scroll."
וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלַי בֶּן־אָדָם בִּטְנְךָ תַאֲכֵל וּמֵעֶיךָ תְמַלֵּא אֵת הַמְּגִלָּה הַזֹּאת אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי נֹתֵן אֵלֶיךָ וָאֹכְלָה וַתְּהִי בְּפִי כִּדְבַשׁ לְמָתוֹק׃ - And He said to me: Son of man, feed your belly and fill your stomach with this scroll that I am giving you. So I ate it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth.
Targum Yonatan translates: "And He said to me: Son of man, your soul will be satisfied and your stomach filled if you accept what is written in this scroll" - if you accept what is written here in the scroll, your soul will be satisfied and your stomach filled. And further: "And I accepted it, and its words were in my mouth sweet as honey" - I accepted it, and the words of Hashem were in my mouth sweet as honey. Since the prophet began with a metaphor of eating, he also concludes with a metaphor of eating. He does not say they were like a pleasing fragrance to me, since fragrance is not eating; rather, because the metaphor was "eat the scroll," he says the taste of the scroll was sweet as honey. The meaning is that the words Hashem gave him to taste were sweet as honey, concepts that were readily embraced by the mind.
And so the Malbim explains: Hashem commands him, "Feed your belly and fill your stomach" - not merely like a person eating with his mouth, who only chews, but that the words should descend into the innermost chambers of the belly. And what is meant by "fill"? That you should have nothing else in your innards. That is, that your innards should not be filled with the pleasures and delights of this world - ice creams and pizzas - but rather the words of Torah and the words of the scroll alone should fill your belly completely, without anything else. Then, "and it was sweet as honey in my mouth": beyond finding the words intrinsically good, they were also pleasant to his palate. As is well known, there are three categories: good, pleasant, and beneficial, and what is good is not necessarily pleasant. Here it comes to teach that the words were both good and pleasant.
וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָי בֶּן־אָדָם לֶךְ־בֹּא אֶל־בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל וְדִבַּרְתָּ בִדְבָרַי אֲלֵיהֶם׃ - And He said to me: Son of man, go, get yourself to the house of Israel, and speak with My words to them.
What is meant by "and speak with My words"? The Malbim explains: the exiles had become accustomed to speaking the Chaldean language, the language of the nations, and therefore Hashem commanded the prophet to speak His words in Lashon HaKodesh. "And speak with My words" - just as I speak to you, so shall you speak to them, exactly as you received from Hashem. Do not think that you must speak in Chaldean, claiming: "I do not understand the Chaldean language; this people is already in Babylon and have learned the language, but I do not know it." Hashem tells him: there is no need; you will speak with My words, with the words that I tell you, and in Lashon HaKodesh.
Radak similarly writes: "'And speak with My words' - in the language with which I speak to you, for they are not speakers of a foreign tongue who will not understand your language." That is to say, you have nothing to worry about; they still know Lashon HaKodesh and will understand your language.
Metzudat David, on the other hand, explains along a different line: "'And speak with My words' means do not alter any of the words." This is not referring to Lashon HaKodesh versus the Chaldean language, but rather that just as the words were arranged when spoken by Hashem, so shall you deliver them. Do not change a thing, for the very arrangement of the words as spoken by Hashem is more readily accepted by the heart. To understand this: often a prophet speaks with pathos, adding words and phrasing things rhetorically for stylistic flourish. Certainly, everything is precise and everything is from Hashem, yet "no two prophets prophesy in the identical style" - for each prophet, the prophecy passes through the vessel of his own intellect and emerges in a specific form. Here, Hashem tells him that the words must be exact: precisely as you heard them, so shall you say them.
כִּי לֹא אֶל־עַם עִמְקֵי שָׂפָה וְכִבְדֵי לָשׁוֹן אַתָּה שָׁלוּחַ אֶל־בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ - For you are not sent to a people of deep speech and a heavy tongue, but to the house of Israel.
Rashi explains: I am not sending you to a people of "deep speech," who have an obscure language unfamiliar to you, but to the house of Israel, whose language is like yours. So too the Malbim: they understand Lashon HaKodesh. This is not a people that was exiled to Babylon two thousand years ago or two hundred years ago, where one might say they had already lost their language. After all, when people immigrated to Eretz Yisrael from abroad, whether from Europe, Iraq, Yemen, or anywhere else, the older generation continued speaking their native language for many years. Some communities did so more, and some less: among Ashkenazim, it was very common to speak Yiddish; among Persians as well, there are those who have lived in the country for fifty years and still speak Persian, speaking Persian at home rather than Hebrew. Most of the other communities eventually transitioned, but Persians remain strongly attached to their language and continue speaking it even fifty years later. Hence, this people that was exiled to Babylon had not been exiled long ago, and so they will understand the language in which you speak to them; they understand Lashon HaKodesh.
לֹא אֶל־עַמִּים רַבִּים עִמְקֵי שָׂפָה וְכִבְדֵי לָשׁוֹן אֲשֶׁר לֹא־תִשְׁמַע דִּבְרֵיהֶם אִם־לֹא אֲלֵיהֶם שְׁלַחְתִּיךָ הֵמָּה יִשְׁמְעוּ אֵלֶיךָ׃ - Not to many peoples of deep speech and a heavy tongue, whose words you cannot understand; surely, had I sent you to them, they would have listened to you.
What is meant by "many peoples" (amim rabim)? The Radak explains that this refers to distant peoples, where rabim denotes a great distance - nations that are far away. That is to say: I am not sending you to nations whose language you have never heard, about whom you could say that you do not understand their tongue.
And what is the meaning of "surely, had I sent you to them, they would have listened to you"? The Radak explains that this is phrased as an oath, as if telling him: in truth, had I sent you to them, they would have listened to you. Even though they would not understand your language and you would not understand theirs, they would have sought out an interpreter to explain things to them. There is an implicit indictment here: distant nations would have searched for a translator just to hear what you have to say, yet here you are sent to a nation that refuses to listen to what you say, even though your language is their own.
The Malbim explains in his own way: Yechezkel might have thought, "Perhaps I will need to deliver my prophecy in the Chaldean tongue?" Why would one think this, given that the Jewish people still knew the Holy Tongue (Lashon HaKodesh)? The answer: perhaps the goal was for the surrounding nations to understand as well. For we find many prophecies where the prophets are sent to the nations - the burden of Damascus, the burden of Egypt, and the like. Thus, perhaps this prophecy was also intended for the Chaldeans, and consequently had to be spoken in their language. To this, Hashem tells him: You are not sent to many peoples of deep speech and a heavy tongue, whose language is too deep and unfamiliar for you, which would require you to learn it. Nonetheless - even though I have not sent you to them, meaning even if your prophecy is not directed at them, still, "they would listen to you": when word of the prophecy reaches them, they will listen and accept it. The Malbim notes that through his interpretation we retain the literal meaning of the verse: while other commentators had to interpret "im lo" as an expression of an oath, according to his approach it reads literally - though I did not send you to them, they would still listen to you. In contrast, I am indeed sending you to the Jewish people, and with them you can speak in the Holy Tongue, so that your words will be immediately intelligible to them.
וּבֵית יִשְׂרָאֵל לֹא יֹאבוּ לִשְׁמֹעַ אֵלֶיךָ כִּי־אֵינָם אֹבִים לִשְׁמֹעַ אֵלָי כִּי כָּל־בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל חִזְקֵי־מֵצַח וּקְשֵׁי־לֵב הֵמָּה׃ - But the House of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to Me; for all the House of Israel are hard of forehead and stiff of heart.
The other nations, even if I did not send you to them directly, would listen to you. But the House of Israel, unfortunately, is unwilling to listen. And why? The Radak explains: "For they are not willing to listen to Me" - do not think that they have rejected you; they have rejected Me, and therefore they do not want to listen to the words of My prophets.
The Malbim explains that this continues what was stated earlier: you are not going to speak to a people of deep speech who do not understand your language; thus, their unwillingness to listen does not stem from a language barrier, but solely from the fact that they are unwilling to listen to Me. They make up excuses and pretexts: "I do not understand what the prophet is saying," "his language is too heavy for me," "I cannot decipher his meaning." To this, Hashem says to him: "All the House of Israel are hard of forehead" - they possess brazen audacity to deny the clear proofs, signs, and demonstrations you bring them, which is sheer impudence. "And stiff of heart" - someone with a tender heart flinches upon hearing of impending trouble and disaster; but one who is stiff-hearted does not fear the punishments with which the prophet threatens them.
הִנֵּה נָתַתִּי אֶת־פָּנֶיךָ חֲזָקִים לְעֻמַּת פְּנֵיהֶם וְאֶת־מִצְחֲךָ חָזָק לְעֻמַּת מִצְחָם׃ - Behold, I have made your face hard against their faces, and your forehead hard against their foreheads.
"I have made your face hard" - do not fear their harm; "and your forehead hard" - do not fear or be ashamed before them. The explanation is that "your face hard" addresses the threats of physical harm against the prophet: your face will remain resolute and you will not be afraid. The forehead always signifies boldness and assertiveness; therefore, He tells him: there is a concern that you might feel intimidated or embarrassed to deliver these harsh words to them, and here holy boldness is required. Thus, "your forehead hard against their foreheads" - so that you will not feel ashamed.
כְּשָׁמִיר חָזָק מִצֹּר נָתַתִּי מִצְחֶךָ לֹא־תִירָא אוֹתָם וְלֹא־תֵחַת מִפְּנֵיהֶם כִּי בֵּית מְרִי הֵמָּה׃ - Like a shamir, harder than flint, I have made your forehead; do not fear them and do not be dismayed before them, for they are a rebellious house.
What is the shamir? Rashi explains that it is a type of worm; when held up against a stone, the stone splits before it. The Malbim develops this further: although the shamir worm is physically very weak, it is nevertheless stronger than flint by virtue of its unique, intrinsic property, splitting even flint and thus prevailing over it. Hashem was telling him: I have made your forehead to overcome them not through your personal strength - for the shamir is not strong on its own either - but through this special spiritual power, the divine force within you, as the One sending you to them. Though physically they are stronger than you, in terms of divine power you are stronger than they are, like the shamir, which in its inherent power is stronger than rock even though physically it is weaker. And He says to him: "Do not fear them and do not be dismayed before them" - do not demean yourself in your own eyes, thinking "Who am I and what am I?", "for they are a rebellious house" - they rebel against the word of Hashem, and they will be nullified before you.
This is one explanation: "Like a shamir, harder than flint" refers to the shamir worm, which is stronger than stone and splits it. A gloss on Rashi's commentary cites two other explanations. First: shamir is a hard rock, and in Targum Yerushalmi, this is the translation of tzur (flint) - "from the flinty rock" (mi-tzur ha-chalamish) is translated as shamir tinara, where chalamish is tinara and tzur is shamir, showing that shamir is also a term for rock. Another explanation: shamir is hard iron, and just as hard flint is called shamir, so too iron is called shamir on account of its strength. According to this, "like a shamir" parallels the expression "your forehead is brass," meaning it has no fear of attackers, and you will possess a forehead of iron.
וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָי בֶּן־אָדָם אֶת־כָּל־דְּבָרַי אֲשֶׁר אֲדַבֵּר אֵלֶיךָ קַח בִּלְבָבְךָ וּבְאָזְנֶיךָ שְּׁמָע׃ - And He said to me: Son of man, all My words that I shall speak to you, take into your heart, and hear with your ears.
Anyone reading the verse wonders: the order seems reversed! One should first hear with his ears and only afterward take it into his heart. How can a person take something into his heart before hearing it? Radak explains that we find similar constructions elsewhere, such as "Behold, You were angry, and we sinned," where wrath naturally follows sin even though the verse places it first; so too here, "Take into your heart, and hear with your ears" means that internalizing in the heart follows hearing with the ears, and the text implies that the hearing came first.
The Malbim explains differently: the prophet attained wondrous visions; he perceived the Work of the Chariot (Ma'aseh Merkavah), and he was also destined to perceive the design of the Third Temple, as we will see later on. Concerning these, the Holy One, blessed be He, tells him: "Take into your heart" - these are profound matters that require preparation of the heart. "And hear with your ears" - that which I send you to admonish the people with. Thus, there are two separate matters here: take into your heart all the concepts I am teaching you, the vision of the Chariot you saw and the building of the Third Temple, for all of which you must prepare an expansive heart capable of receiving them; and aside from that, hear with your ears the mission to rebuke the nation. According to this explanation, the difficulty is resolved, since these are two distinct commands, rather than instructing him to internalize in his heart before hearing the very same thing - for one cannot take into his heart something he has not yet heard. Thus we have Radak's explanation and the Malbim's interpretation.
וְלֵךְ בֹּא אֶל־הַגּוֹלָה אֶל־בְּנֵי עַמְּךָ וְדִבַּרְתָּ אֲלֵיהֶם וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵיהֶם כֹּה אָמַר אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה אִם־יִשְׁמְעוּ וְאִם־יֶחְדָּלוּ׃ - And go, come to the exile, to the children of your people, and speak to them and say to them: Thus said the Lord Hashem, whether they will hear or whether they will forebear.
What is the meaning of "go, come to the exile," when he himself was already in the exile? Radak explains: he was in one place, while some of the exiles to whom he was being sent were in another location, also along the Chebar River, and he was being dispatched to go to them.
And what is the reason for the repetition, "and speak to them and say to them"? Radak explains that this is a repetition for emphasis, conveying strength and persistence: speak and speak again, and say again, time after time, perhaps they will listen. Targum Yonatan, on the other hand, explains that "and speak to them" means prophesy to them, while "and say to them" means recite the prophecy; that is, two separate facets: the prophesying and the delivery of the words.
"Whether they will hear or whether they will forebear" - an expression we already encountered in the previous chapter. Hashem tells him: even though you doubt whether there is anyone to talk to at all, you must deliver these words. Whether they listen or refrain is not your concern; you are commanded to speak, so carry out your duty.
The Malbim explains that by saying "Go, come to the exile," he was taught that he was not being sent to the Children of Israel who remained in the Land. We asked earlier: isn't he already in exile? Radak explained that he was sent from one place to another within the exile; but the Malbim says that although he was in the exile, he might have thought that his prophecies were intended for those still living in the Land. To this Hashem tells him: No. Those in the Land have their own prophet, who was Yirmiyahu during that period. You, I am sending to the exile, and your prophecy should be designated for those living here in exile.
The Malbim learns further from this: "to the children of your people" - meaning you shall not go prophesy to other nations. For there were prophets who prophesied to the nations, as we find with Yirmiyahu and other prophets; and here Hashem tells him that I am not telling you to prophesy to the other nations, but only to the children of your people, since it was Yirmiyahu who was commanded to deliver the prophecies concerning the nations, as we saw in chapter 26. Therefore, "and you shall speak to them" - only to the people of the exile, and not to the nations.
The Malbim also explains the difference between dibbur (speaking) and amirah (saying): Amirah is a brief statement - "I said to him," even three words. But when a person wants to speak at length with his fellow, he says, "I have to talk with you," "I spoke with him," and even today we use this expression for lengthy speech, whereas amirah is brief: do this, and it is finished. Therefore He says to him, "and you shall speak to them" at length, "and say to them" - that you should say to them that you are not inventing these words from your own heart, but rather: "Thus said the Lord God" - do not think that my words are something I have concocted on my own, but rather I am an emissary sent to you by Hashem.
וַתִּשָּׂאֵנִי רוּחַ וָאֶשְׁמַע אַחֲרַי קוֹל רַעַשׁ גָּדוֹל בָּרוּךְ כְּבוֹד־יְהֹוָה מִמְּקוֹמוֹ׃ - Then a spirit lifted me, and I heard behind me a sound of a great rushing: "Blessed be the glory of Hashem from His place."
Rashi explains that after the Holy One, Blessed is He, finished the command "Go, come to the exile, to the children of your people," He commanded the spirit to transport Yechezkel to the place where the exiles were, so that he could prophesy to them. Simply put: Yechezkel did not need to board a bus to reach the exiles; he was in one place and they were in another, and a wind or spirit lifted him and brought him to them. Radak, on the other hand, explains that "then a spirit lifted me" was said within the prophetic vision, not in physical reality: an actual wind did not come and carry Yechezkel, but rather in the prophetic vision it appeared to him as though a spirit had lifted him to go to the exile.
And what is "and I heard behind me"? Since in the prophetic vision he saw himself being carried by the spirit away from the place where he had been, he heard behind him - from the place where he had received the prophecy and where Hashem had delivered His words to him - a voice saying: "Blessed be the glory of Hashem from His place."
What is the meaning of this? Radak says: It refers to when Hashem departs from His place. And what is the place of the Holy One, Blessed is He, where does the Holy Shechinah reside? Between the two cherubim upon the kapporet (the ark-cover). And when we pray, we direct our thoughts - one who is outside the Land faces Eretz Yisrael, and one who is in Eretz Yisrael faces Jerusalem, facing the Beit HaMikdash and the Holy of Holies, toward the Shechinah resting upon the Ark between the cherubim. This is how one must focus during prayer, knowing that he stands before the King of kings. The kapporet is the cover of the Ark, and the cherubim are the angelic figures whose wings shelter toward one another, and that is, so to speak, the place of the Holy One, Blessed is He.
And the Jewish people were detracting from His honor: since they practiced idolatry, there was a blemish upon the honor of Hashem, and a blemish, so to speak, upon the resting of the Shechinah. The image of jealousy provoking fury was there - idols and symbols of idolatry, as we will see later in Yechezkel, where Hashem takes him on a tour of the Beit HaMikdash and shows him: Come and see how much the people anger Me, and what terrible things they do inside the Temple. And then Hashem tells him: Do not think that through what they did, My honor has diminished. As has been discussed several times, it is impossible to genuinely impair the honor of Hashem. True, the honor of Hashem can be desecrated from a person's perspective, but the honor of Hashem in His essence lacks nothing at all. Therefore it is written, "Blessed be the glory of Hashem from His place" - and baruch ("blessed") is a term of increase and abundance, and according to the kabbalists it is related to the word bereikhah (a pool), for a pool overflows and pours forth, which is also the root of the word berachah. Similarly, we find later: "And the glory of the God of Israel ascended from upon the cherub where it had rested, to the threshold of the House." It turns out that He is telling them: In Hashem's glory, abundance increases despite the deeds they commit; that is, they do not damage the honor of the Creator, blessed be He. If a person blemishes, he blemishes only his own portion, in his deeds, ruining his share in the World to Come, but in Hashem's honor, no blemish is possible.
Even more than this: Rav Dessler says that the Divine plan will inevitably be fulfilled, and that Divine plan is "Everything that is called by My name, and which I have created for My glory, I have formed it, indeed I have made it" - the entire world was created to sanctify the Name of Heaven. As discussed extensively in the past: you have free choice - either it will occur through you or it will occur upon your back, but the Name of Heaven will be sanctified. If you wish it to be through you, walk in the path I have laid out, and you will merit eternity through the fact that the Name of Heaven is sanctified through you: all the nations will come here, "And all the peoples of the earth shall see that the Name of Hashem is called upon you," and everyone will praise and laud Hashem, the God of Israel. But if you do not follow the path of Hashem, the Name of Heaven will still be sanctified, but upon your back: you will go into exile, you will suffer blows, you will be afflicted, there will be catastrophes, persecutions, killings, and pogroms, and then the gentile will stand and wonder: "Why did Hashem do this to this land? What is the meaning of this great, raging wrath?" - "Because they abandoned the covenant of Hashem, the God of their fathers," and the Name of Hashem will be sanctified, and everyone will understand that when heavenly honor is compromised, punishment follows. Only you decide whether the Name of Hashem will be sanctified through you or upon your back. And so it is here: "Blessed be the glory of Hashem from His place" - the honor of Hashem has not moved from its place, the honor of Hashem is not diminished, the honor of Hashem is sanctified and will be sanctified no matter what, and it is in your hands to choose the course: will you be a partner in this sanctification of Hashem's Name, or will you be the one suffering from that sanctification because you failed to take part in that mission?
The Malbim explains "Then a spirit lifted me" - the spirit of Hashem carried him upward, and then he heard the sound of a great rushing. And what is that sound of a great rushing? Here the Malbim finds the connection to the vision of the Chariot (Ma'aseh HaMerkavah) that we saw earlier: Yechezkel envisioned a chariot, and we explained that the Holy One, Blessed is He, is the Rider, and that there is the realm of the angels, the realm of the celestial spheres which are the wheels (ofanim) of the Chariot, and the chayot hakodesh (holy creatures) that guide the Chariot. Now Yechezkel describes: I saw this vision and I heard a sound of a great rushing - the sound of the Chariot in motion. And where is it going? Where, as it were, is Divine Providence turning? It is going to shake kingdoms. We already saw earlier that this was shown to Yechezkel to indicate how Divine Providence is now going to destroy the Beit HaMikdash, and this was the fire he saw there, the entire purpose of which was to convey that the Beit HaMikdash was going to be burned in fire; for this purpose they showed him the Chariot. And now he hears the sound of a great rushing, the Chariot in its movement - the spheres, the wheels, and the chayot hakodesh - advancing to shake kingdoms.
And what is "Blessed be the glory of Hashem from His place" in this context? The Malbim says: Even though the glory of Hashem is departing from the Beit HaMikdash, since the Beit HaMikdash will be destroyed, and blessing and abundance will no longer descend via Jerusalem - through which Hashem had ordained the blessing - know that this is not so; the source of blessing remains in its place. "Blessed be the glory of Hashem from His place": even though it seems to you that abundance comes solely through the Beit HaMikdash, through the Ark, the cherubim, and the Altar, know that Hashem's place has not vanished, and the source of blessing is wherever Hashem is present. Furthermore, one could explain that "from His place" means that even if He is not there, from whatever place He may be, blessing will flow forth. This seems to be more precise in the wording of the Malbim: even though the Beit HaMikdash is destroyed and there is no Altar, no Ark, and no cherubim, from whatever place His presence is, from there the abundance will come. From the perspective of reality, the first explanation seems more apparent, since we still face the site of the Beit HaMikdash in prayer, toward the place of the cherubim and the Ark, which shows that the Shechinah never moved from there and that remains "the place." Yet even if that were not so, abundance descends from Him, blessed be He, and from whichever place He is present, He will bestow His abundance.
וְקוֹל כַּנְפֵי הַחַיּוֹת מַשִּׁיקוֹת אִשָּׁה אֶל־אֲחוֹתָהּ וְקוֹל הָאוֹפַנִּים לְעֻמָּתָם וְקוֹל רַעַשׁ גָּדוֹל׃ - "And the sound of the wings of the living creatures touching one another, and the sound of the ofanim beside them, and the sound of a great rushing."
The prophet hears the *chayos* lifting their wings, and they are *mashikot*. Radak explains *mashikot* in two ways: either from the language of kissing (*noshkot*, touching gently), or as Targum Yonatan renders it, knocking (*nokshot*, striking). This is an interchange of letters, and seemingly not without reason: *noshkot* and *nokshot*. For Daniel states, "his knees knocked against each other" (*arkovateh da leda nakshan*) - the knees knock, and they also touch one another. We know there are many Hebrew verbs whose letters transpose, such as *keves* and *kesev* (lamb), *salmah* and *simlah* (garment), *kahel* and *lahak* (assembled company), and *noshkot* - *nokshot* is among these verbs, beating against one another. Thus, either the wings of the *chayos* touch each other gently, or they strike against one another. And one can say there is a difference between them: a touch does not necessarily produce a sound, whereas a strike usually makes a sound, for when one knocks, the sound of the blow is heard.
In any case, the Malbim explains this based on what we have already seen in the explanation of the Vision of the Chariot: when the *chayos* lift their wings upward, it indicates supreme spiritual providence. When the *chayos* walk, that represents the natural order, through the manner of walking, by way of the feet; and when they raise their wings, that is flight, representing a providence above nature, a lofty spiritual governance stemming from the upper realms. Here, he sees the sound of the wings of the *chayos* touching one another as they raise their wings, which indicates that the Holy One, blessed be He, now has a supernatural plan. That is, according to the natural order, there was no imperative for the Holy One, blessed be He, to go and shake up and overturn kingdoms, but Hashem is now performing something above nature, placing this power into the hands of the *chayos*. They receive it through their wings, which act as conduits through which divine bounty (*shefa*) descends from the upper spiritual worlds downward. This is the touching of the wings to one another, as this bounty flows down, followed by "the sound of a great rushing" - this is the war, the clamor, the shaking of the kingdoms. The Holy One, blessed be He, showed him everything that was destined to occur in that vision: he sees the *ofanim* beside them and the sound of a great rushing, meaning that from this point forward, a process begins to unfold that is not within the natural order, but is a supernatural, heavenly course from Hashem. Because they did not follow the ways of Hashem, the Holy One, blessed be He, brings upon them a supernatural course of events to chastise them and to destroy the Temple.
וְרוּחַ נְשָׂאַתְנִי וַתִּקָּחֵנִי וָאֵלֵךְ מַר בַּחֲמַת רוּחִי וְיַד־יְהֹוָה עָלַי חָזָקָה׃ - "So a spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit, and the hand of Hashem was strong upon me."
According to Rashi, the verse is understood literally: a wind lifted him against his will to go and prophesy to the people, and the wind had to carry him from where he was to the place where the people were located. Why did he need a wind to take him, and why did he say, "and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit"? Because it was, as it were, against his will: I must speak harsh words to them, things that I naturally have no desire to say, and consequently the spirit takes me in the distress of my spirit. I have no desire to speak these harsh words to the people, but Hashem compels me, and a prophet who suppresses his prophecy is liable to death. If so, I have no choice, and I must deliver the message just as it was given by Hashem.
Radak, by contrast, as he explained earlier, maintains that this spirit was merely an expression of what he saw within the prophetic vision. The reason he said earlier, "And a spirit lifted me up," and now repeats, "And a spirit lifted me up," is because he paused in the middle upon hearing the voice, and he therefore returns to the original subject: that which I told you before, "and a spirit lifted me up," I now return to. Later, the text states, "And a spirit lifted me up and brought me to Chaldea, to the exile, in a vision by the spirit of God" (11:24), and the Malbim explains that everything seen from here until there - from chapter 3 through chapter 11, verse 24 - occurred entirely within the vision of prophecy. As we will see, he arrives at the exile and sits there for seven days, then goes out to the valley: "take a brick," "lie upon your side," take wheat, take a sharp sword - all of this took place in a prophetic vision, as we will see further on, until the stage of "and brought me to Chaldea." There, once brought to Chaldea, he actually spoke the words. Here, he is still in the phase where Hashem is speaking to him and instructing him on what to tell them.
Why is there a duplication: "So a spirit lifted me up and took me away"? Radak explained that this refers to the same spirit spoken of earlier, returning to the initial subject. The Malbim takes a different approach: at first the spirit lifted him into the air, in his place, and now it transports him to the new location. There are two distinct actions here: "and a spirit lifted me up" - it raised me; and then "lifted me up and took me away" - it was already carrying me to a different place. There is an elevation and there is a taking, and that explains the duplication.
As for "and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit" - according to the Malbim, the prophet felt bitter within himself because he foresaw the future. This was not bitterness over the mission itself, as Radak explained, but bitterness over the tragedy itself: I see what tribulations are destined to come, and I was deeply pained by this. However, "the hand of Hashem was strong upon me" - the hand of Hashem and the power of prophecy were forceful upon me, powerfully rousing me to fulfill Hashem's mission.
In this chapter, Yechezkel is commanded to eat the scroll. The metaphor of eating teaches that the words of Hashem must become an internal acquisition - in the stomach, the entrails, and upon the tablet of the heart - rather than an external, fleeting fear of punishment; and this can only be achieved through divine assistance, where man opens his mouth and Hashem provides the food. He is then commanded to speak to the people of the exile with the words of Hashem and in the Holy Tongue, knowing that the obstacle does not stem from language, but from will: "they do not wish to listen to Me," being brazen-faced and hard-hearted. Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, strengthened his face and forehead like *shamir*, harder than flint - not through physical might, but through the intrinsic strength of the divine power within him. The prophet was commanded to take the profound visions to heart and hear the mission of rebuke with his ears, speaking it "whether they hear or whether they refrain." Finally, he witnessed the Chariot moving to shake kingdoms, and heard, "Blessed be the glory of Hashem from His place" - that Hashem's glory is never diminished or displaced, and bounty will emanate from Him, blessed be He, wherever He may be; and it is within our power to choose whether the sanctification of Hashem will occur through us or upon our backs. The prophet goes bitter in the heat of his spirit over the tribulations he envisions, yet the hand of Hashem is strong upon him, rousing him to fulfill his mission.