Introduction
In this part of the chapter, the prophet continues the historical journey he began: Israel's sins in Egypt, the sins of the fathers in the wilderness, the sins of the children in the wilderness - and now the description arrives at the fourth sin, the sin after entering the Land. From here, the chapter moves to the claim of the exiled generation ("we will be like the nations"), and to the Holy One's response that there is no possibility whatsoever of severing themselves from Him, culminating in the description of the future redemption, the judgment in the wilderness of the nations, and the purging of the rebels and transgressors.
"And I Defiled Them Through Their Gifts" - Three Approaches to the Explanation
וָאֲטַמֵּא אוֹתָם בְּמַתְּנוֹתָם בְּהַעֲבִיר כׇּל פֶּטֶר רָחַם לְמַעַן אֲשִׁמֵּם לְמַעַן אֲשֶׁר יֵדְעוּ אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי יְהֹוָה׃ (כו) - "And I defiled them through their gifts, in that they caused every firstborn to pass through [the fire], so that I might desolate them, so that they might know that I am Hashem." (26)
Rashi continues here along the same line he explained in the previous verse. "I gave them statutes that were not good" - meaning, I delivered them into the hand of their evil inclination to stumble after it, to enact and make for themselves statutes that were not good. And so too here: what does it mean that Hashem defiled them through their gifts? Those very gifts that I legislated for them, "Sanctify unto Me every firstborn" - the moment I delivered them into the hand of their inclination, where did they go to consecrate their firstborn? To Molech. A person to whom a firstborn was born would sacrifice it to Molech. Thus, by handing them over to their evil inclination, "I defiled them through their gifts": those very gifts they were meant to sanctify to the Holy One, blessed be He, "by causing every firstborn to pass through," they went and passed through to Molech. And "so that I might desolate them [ashimem]," Rashi explains, is from the language of guilt (ashmah) - so that guilt would rest upon them.
Radak explains that the verse refers back to their attachment to Baal Peor, where they caused every firstborn to pass through. I commanded them to bring it in holiness, yet they went and gave it to Baal Peor and to the nations - this is the defilement, the very opposite of holiness. And what is "and I defiled them"? I rendered them impure, I distanced them from Me, in place of having sanctified them previously. They did not desire holiness, and therefore I distanced them and made them impure and far removed from Me. From this, Radak notes: observe that Shimon is not mentioned in the blessing of Moshe; when Moshe Rabbeinu blesses the tribes, the tribe of Shimon is not mentioned, because the tribe of Shimon attached itself to Baal Peor. And this is what is meant by "and I defiled them" - defilement is always an expression of distancing; to defile something is to push it away, and pollution is something from which one recoils. "So that I might desolate them [ashimem]" - to make them desolate (shemamah), just as I warned them that if they strayed from the path, desolation would come upon them. Furthermore, "so that they might know that I am Hashem" - just as I spoke, so I did, for in that incident of Baal Peor twenty-four thousand died, and through this they knew that I am Hashem, that they rebelled against the word of Hashem and received their punishment corresponding to their sin.
The Malbim continues along the path he charted in the previous verse: "And I also gave them statutes that were not good" - this is their own claim, the subjective feeling in which they lived. So too here: in their view, not only did Hashem not sanctify us with His commandments, but according to their distorted perception, "and I defiled them through their gifts" - He allegedly defiled them by commanding that every firstborn be dedicated to Hashem. For they had been accustomed to worshiping the sun, they were worshipers of sun-pillars, and they would designate the firstborn to be consecrated to the worship of Molech, which was sun worship, and that was holiness and divine service to them. Therefore, when I command them to bring the firstborn to Me - to them, this felt like defilement, since the worship of Molech was holiness in their eyes! Look at the distortion they reached: as if they had left the "holiness" of Molech worship and entered, Heaven forbid, into defilement - into what? The worship of Hashem, may the Merciful One preserve us. This was ostensibly their claim: why did Hashem take us from holiness and bring us to the exact opposite?
The Malbim interprets "so that I might desolate them" as a return to the subject preceding the parenthesis, to what was stated: "to scatter them among the nations and disperse them throughout the lands." In truth, the scattering among the nations and lands had two purposes: first, "so that I might desolate them" - to make them desolate on account of their iniquities, for since they sinned, this was the punishment due to them; and second, "so that they might know that I am Hashem" - through the exiles they would come to recognize His Blessed Divinity, and from this they would return to Hashem in the end of days.
The Fourth Sin: "In This, Too, Your Fathers Blasphemed Me"
לָכֵן דַּבֵּר אֶל בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל בֶּן אָדָם וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵיהֶם כֹּה אָמַר אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה עוֹד זֹאת גִּדְּפוּ אוֹתִי אֲבוֹתֵיכֶם בְּמַעֲלָם בִּי מָעַל׃ (כז) - "Therefore, speak to the house of Israel, son of man, and say to them: Thus said the Lord God: In this, too, your fathers blasphemed Me, in trespassing against Me." (27)
Up to this point, three cycles of sin were enumerated prior to their arrival in the Land: the sin in Egypt, the sin of the fathers in the wilderness, and the sin of the children in the wilderness. Now the prophet speaks of the children who had already entered the Land, and this was a fourth foul deed in their hands. "Behold, God does all these things twice, three times with a man, to bring back his soul from the pit, that he may be enlightened with the light of the living" - we have seen three times that the Holy One, blessed be He, warned them, spoke harshly with them, and acted as He did so that His Name would not be desecrated among the nations. This is "twice, three times with a man." But on the fourth time - "and for four, I will not revoke it."
And what is blasphemy (giduf)? The Malbim explains: a blasphemer is one who reviles the Name of Hashem publicly, who despises with contempt, malice, and denial, as it is written: "And the soul that acts with a high hand... he blasphemes Hashem." Blasphemy is performed publicly and with a high hand.
"And they sacrificed their sacrifices there" - The High Places and Syncretic Worship
וָאֲבִיאֵם אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר נָשָׂאתִי אֶת יָדִי לָתֵת אוֹתָהּ לָהֶם וַיִּרְאוּ כׇל גִּבְעָה רָמָה וְכׇל עֵץ עָבֹת וַיִּזְבְּחוּ שָׁם אֶת זִבְחֵיהֶם וַיִּתְּנוּ שָׁם כַּעַס קׇרְבָּנָם וַיָּשִׂימוּ שָׁם רֵיחַ נִיחוֹחֵיהֶם וַיַּסִּיכוּ שָׁם אֶת נִסְכֵּיהֶם׃ (כח) - For when I brought them into the land concerning which I had lifted My hand to give it to them, they saw every high hill and every thick-branched tree, and they sacrificed their sacrifices there and presented their provocative offerings there; they placed their sweet savors there and poured out their libations there. (28)
I brought them into the Land, "and they presented their provocative offerings there." Radak explains: they provoked Me to anger with the sacrifices they offered to false gods, following the customs of the nations whom I dispossessed before them because of these very corruptions - yet they repeated those same mistakes. The Malbim likewise explains that this was a result of seeing the Canaanites burning incense on high places (bamot) to idols.
It is noteworthy that they did this on every high hill and near every thick tree, because the forces of impurity are drawn to and dwell in trees. Therefore, they established their altars beside trees. Many people who lived abroad describe hearing various sounds of impure forces, demons, and the like beneath trees. In Eretz Yisrael there are no demons, but outside the Land one could hear such sounds. Trees were places where demons attached themselves and dwelled, which is why the Torah warns: "Do not plant an asherah beside the altar of Hashem your God," so as not to imitate the practice of idolaters.
The Malbim notes that initially they worshipped in partnership (syncretism): "They sacrificed their sacrifices there" - to Hashem, "and presented their provocative offerings there" - meaning the sacrifice was directed both to Hashem and to idolatry. "They placed their sweet savors there" for Hashem, while the libations they poured were dedicated to idolatry, as it is written, "who drank the wine of their libations," for it was their way to pour libations to idols. Thus, they worshipped in these places through shituf (partnership), serving Hashem alongside idolatry.
וָאֹמַר אֲלֵהֶם מָה הַבָּמָה אֲשֶׁר אַתֶּם הַבָּאִים שָׁם וַיִּקָּרֵא שְׁמָהּ בָּמָה עַד הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה׃ (כט) - And I said to them: What is the high place to which you go? And its name is called Bamah to this day. (29)
The Malbim explains: The term bamah (high place) as a designation for a sacred place does not appear anywhere in the Torah. Wherever it is mentioned, it refers to idolatry. The Torah says, "An altar of earth you shall make for Me," and the Torah warns against planting an asherah beside the altar like the custom of idolaters. Yet here, when they arrived in the Land, they began offering sacrifices on bamot - learning this from the nations.
This is the meaning of: "And I said to them: What is the high place to which you go?" When you first began sacrificing on a bamah, I protested against you. I said to you: What is this bamah that you go to? This form of worship is not appropriate for you! You were commanded to use an altar, so why are you sacrificing on a bamah, something characteristic of idolaters? Yet despite all this - "and its name is called Bamah to this day." This name became entrenched among you as a term for an altar supposedly dedicated to the service of Hashem.
The Malbim adds: Observe carefully, and you will see that the term bamah for the worship of Hashem is not found in the Torah, nor later in Yehoshua, nor in Shoftim, until the days of Shmuel. Once the Mishkan of Shiloh was destroyed, the people began sacrificing on bamot. From that point on, even after the Beit HaMikdash was built and bamot became prohibited, we find countless times in the Prophets that "the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places." Again and again - even the righteous kings found it exceedingly difficult to stop the people from sacrificing and burning incense on the bamot. It had become a deeply ingrained habit. At that stage, they were sacrificing on the bamah to Hashem alone, and because of this, they rationalized it: "After all, we are sacrificing to Hashem, so what is the problem?" Especially since they held fast to the customs of their fathers: "Was my grandfather doing something wrong? Are you slandering earlier generations? My grandfather was a great tzaddik, and he sacrificed on a bamah!" The answer is: True, that was back then, but now bamot are forbidden. This is comparable to someone who is asked why he does not separate tithes (ma'asrot), and he replies, "What are you talking about? That's an invention of religious people! Outside of Israel nobody ever separated tithes; only here did they invent new rules for us." Such a person fails to understand which mitzvot are bound to the Land and which do not apply abroad, and he does not realize that something once permitted can become forbidden today. Thus, it was exceedingly difficult to eradicate the improper practice of sacrificing on a bamah, and concerning this it says, "and its name is called Bamah to this day" - the name and the practice stayed with them to this very day.
"Let us be like the nations" - The Claim and Its Refutation
וְהָעֹלָה עַל רוּחֲכֶם הָיוֹ לֹא תִהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אַתֶּם אֹמְרִים נִהְיֶה כַגּוֹיִם כְּמִשְׁפְּחוֹת הָאֲרָצוֹת לְשָׁרֵת עֵץ וָאָבֶן׃ (לב) - And what enters your mind shall never come to pass, when you say, "Let us be like the nations, like the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone." (32)
You say: Let us be like the nations, like the families of the countries, for Hashem has already driven us out and cast us away from His presence. Hashem replies: "It shall never come to pass." Rashi explains that you already voluntarily accepted this covenant upon yourselves in the days of Yehoshua, as it is written, "And Yehoshua gathered all the tribes of Israel." There, Yehoshua made them take an oath and warned them to walk in the way of Hashem, declaring that if they did not wish to, only he and his household would follow Hashem; and then they all accepted upon themselves to walk in the way of Hashem and not worship idols. Thus, you have already committed yourselves to this.
The Radak explains: "And that which comes into your mind shall not be at all" - the wicked thought that enters your spirit will not come to pass, and "your spirit" means your heart. And why do you say, "We will be like the nations"? Because you imagine exiting Hashem's jurisdiction and no longer being His people, seeing that the gentiles worship idols and prosper. As we find with King Achaz: "Because the gods of the kings of Aram help them, therefore will I sacrifice to them, that they may help me." A person always tends to notice only the green grass of his neighbor; that it is full of manure, which is the very reason it is green, he does not see, and perhaps does not smell. It is like someone stuck in a traffic jam who constantly feels that the lanes to his right and left are moving smoothly while only he is stopped. Such is human nature. Interestingly, here in Israel, when looking down at a traffic jam from above, one sees constant shuffling: the driver on the right weaves to the left, and the one on the left weaves to the right, each convinced the other lane is advancing. Why? Because it is ingrained in the Jewish soul to constantly strive for more, a trait instilled within us so we would reach higher in spirituality. When this drive is not channeled toward spiritual growth, it turns toward material pursuits and a thousand vain distractions. Thus Achaz sees the kings of Aram prospering and reasons: This must be because of their idolatry; they have a powerful deity, so I will sacrifice to it and it will help me. He never stopped to ask how that same "boss" could sustain both Aram and himself, or which of the two it would favor. He asks no questions - all that matters to him is that it appears to "work."
Notice the precise phrasing of the Radak: "That is not so, for regarding the idolaters - I do not oversee them because of their insignificance before Me, like animals." The nations are base before Him like beasts, and there is no individual providence over them in their own right; Divine oversight over them exists solely in relation to the people of Israel. As independent entities, the Holy One, blessed be He, says: I do not oversee them at all; they are like beasts before Me. When does He oversee them? When they have dealings with Israel - to hold them accountable for their guilt. When Israel fulfills My will, retribution is exacted from the nations, as King David exacted retribution from Edom and the surrounding peoples; and when Israel transgresses My commandments, I empower the nations over them - and the Radak emphasizes: not for the benefit of those nations, but to discipline Israel.
Even when the nations strike the people of Israel, as Aram succeeded in striking us, it is not because success was decreed for them, but because defeat was decreed upon us. In short, all decrees apply solely to the people of Israel. If we are worthy, we triumph over the nations; and if, heaven forbid, we corrupt our ways, the nations strike us. But no decree is issued concerning them, for they are like animals, and decrees are not issued over beasts. Providence over them is what is known in classical works, and in the language of the author of Sefer HaIkkarim, as "species-level providence" (hashgachah minit) rather than individual providence (hashgachah pratit). Individual providence watches over every single member of the species, whereas species providence is like the Holy One, blessed be He, ensuring that the elephant species does not become extinct - He watches over the species as a whole, not the individual. The only exception is when widespread violence and corruption occur, as in the Generation of the Flood and Sodom and Gomorrah; only then is an individual decree issued. Notice that in those instances, the decree was triggered by interpersonal transgressions, whereas regarding idolatry, even of the most severe kind, we do not find collective destruction decreed upon gentile nations purely for that - not that it is acceptable, for it violates the Seven Noahide Laws. The Radak cites that this is found in Chazal as well: "gentiles, regarding whom strict justice is not exacting in this world."
By contrast, regarding the people of Israel, says the Radak: "Whom I took from the house of bondage to be My treasured people, and I would be their God - My eyes are constantly upon them, for good and for ill." Everything that happens to them, whether good or bad, unfolds under complete Divine providence ("bad" meaning what appears bad to our limited perception). As the prophet Amos declared: "You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will visit upon you all your iniquities." We see, then, the sheer foolishness and vanity in the reasoning of Achaz, who assumed the gods of Aram granted them success and chose to pursue them. If they succeed against you, it is solely because a harsh decree was issued against you, not because a decree of success was issued for them - upon them, there are no decrees at all. All decrees are directed solely at you, for better or for worse.
And if you nevertheless seek to abandon the service of Hashem and depart from His domain - "that which comes into your mind shall not be at all." There is no way to sever ties with the Holy One, blessed be He. Even if you endure many days in exile, you will not cease to be a nation. The Radak adds: even if some individuals break away from the community - for one will always find those who apostatize, worship idols, intermarry, father gentile children, and become severed from the House of Israel - nevertheless, the collective people of Israel will remain a nation before Me forever, as it is written: "If those ordinances depart from before Me... then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before Me for ever." "And with a strong hand I will reign over you," and I will refine you as I bring you out of exile, and "I will purge out from among you the rebels" - which is the essential theme of the following two verses.
This also sheds light on the teaching that Hashem overturned the mountain above them like a vat at Mount Sinai. A common question is asked: If this covenant was proceeding so harmoniously, with Israel proclaiming "Na'aseh ve-nishma" ("We will do and we will hear"), why was coercion necessary? Because when a bond is based purely on voluntary consent, either side can claim: Whenever I no longer wish to remain, I may withdraw. Therefore, they were shown that the bond involves an element of compulsion, meaning that this connection can never be undone. Let no one think: "We accepted willingly, and we may withdraw willingly." Hashem declares: "With a strong hand, with an outstretched arm, and with poured-out fury, I will reign over you" - there is no possibility of walking away.
The Malbim explains that these thoughts arise because I have distanced Myself from you, leaving you feeling that I no longer watch over you, like a woman whose husband has divorced her, so you imagine you are just like all the nations and the families of the lands. But what is the difference? Over the gentiles, each territory on earth is governed by a celestial sphere, and each family of that land directs its worship toward the star and constellation that ostensibly holds sway over that region. This is the meaning of "which Hashem your God has allotted to all the nations" - they draw their sustenance through the intermediary of the stars. We, however, do not draw sustenance through the stars, but directly from Him, blessed be He. If you wish "to serve wood and stone" - referring to the talismans and astral intentions directed toward the Queen of Heaven, which the gentiles utilized to channel spiritual influences - concerning this it is stated: "It shall not be at all." You are Hashem's direct portion, not subject to astral intermediaries, and therefore it is completely impossible for you to operate in that manner.
"With a Strong Hand... I Will Reign Over You"
חַי אָנִי נְאֻם אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה אִם לֹא בְּיָד חֲזָקָה וּבִזְרוֹעַ נְטוּיָה וּבְחֵמָה שְׁפוּכָה אֶמְלוֹךְ עֲלֵיכֶם׃ (לג) - "As I live, says the Lord God, surely with a strong hand, with an outstretched arm, and with poured-out fury, I will reign over you." (33)
"As I live, says the Lord God" - an expression of an oath. "Surely with a strong hand, with an outstretched arm, and with poured-out fury" - all this, the Radak notes, is in order to consume the transgressors and those who rebel against Hashem. The Malbim explains that although manifest Divine providence has departed, meaning Hashem does not perform open miracles for us nor radiate His countenance upon us, nevertheless, regarding His kingship ruling over us, the Holy One, blessed be He, declares: It will come to pass. If not willingly, then heaven forbid through chastisements and tribulations, by force of which Israel will return to Hashem to submit under His kingship and His service. This, of course, is painful for us - it is "with an outstretched arm," "with poured-out fury." How much better it would be for the Jewish people to come willingly to cleave to Hashem, rather than having this brought about through adversity and poured-out fury instead of open, benevolent miracles.
וְהוֹצֵאתִי אֶתְכֶם מִן הָעַמִּים וְקִבַּצְתִּי אֶתְכֶם מִן הָאֲרָצוֹת אֲשֶׁר נְפוֹצֹתֶם בָּם בְּיָד חֲזָקָה וּבִזְרוֹעַ נְטוּיָה וּבְחֵמָה שְׁפוּכָה׃ (לד) - "And I will bring you out from the peoples, and will gather you out of the countries wherein you are scattered, with a strong hand, with an outstretched arm, and with poured-out fury." (34)
Ultimately, birth pangs will come upon you through great tribulations at the End of Days, and I will bring you out with a strong hand from the nations. What is the distinction between "the peoples" (ha'amim) and "the countries" (ha'aratzot), and why does the verse use "I will bring you out" for the peoples, yet "I will gather you" for the countries? The Malbim explains: "The peoples" refers to neighboring nations, whereas "the countries" refers to distant lands. Furthermore, an "am" (people) signifies an organized collective ruled by a monarch; extracting a captive group from the grip of a nation ruled by a king requires immense force, for the ruler resists - hence the verse says, "I will bring you out from the peoples." By contrast, across distant lands Israel is scattered far and wide, and there the primary challenge is the ingathering itself; therefore it says, "I will gather you out of the countries." And the Holy One, blessed be He, affirms that all of this, too, will be accomplished with a strong hand and an outstretched arm.
"The Wilderness of the Peoples" - Three Approaches
וְהֵבֵאתִי אֶתְכֶם אֶל מִדְבַּר הָעַמִּים וְנִשְׁפַּטְתִּי אִתְּכֶם שָׁם פָּנִים אֶל פָּנִים׃ (לה) - "And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face." (35)
כַּאֲשֶׁר נִשְׁפַּטְתִּי אֶת אֲבוֹתֵיכֶם בְּמִדְבַּר אֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם כֵּן אִשָּׁפֵט אִתְּכֶם נְאֻם אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה׃ (לו) - "Just as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I enter into judgment with you, says the Lord God." (36)
Here the commentators seek to understand what is meant by "the wilderness of the peoples." Rashi explains that this is the wilderness through which the people of Israel journeyed for forty years, as Hoshea prophesied, "and lead her into the wilderness," meaning that the Holy One, blessed be He, will bring the entirety of Israel to the Sinai wilderness and enter into judgment with us there.
Radak explains that when the Holy One, blessed be He, takes us out from among the nations, He will not bring us to the land of Israel until He has judged us in the wilderness of the peoples. In his view, this does not necessarily refer to the wilderness they traversed upon leaving Egypt, but rather a wilderness belonging to the nations. This refers to a scenario in which the Holy One, blessed be He, will eliminate the rebels and transgressors found among the Jewish people. For this purpose the judgment will take place: "And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples" in order to judge there and purge from among you those who rebel and transgress against Me, as will be explained more explicitly later on: "and I will exact My judgment from you in the wilderness." Why specifically in the wilderness? Because in the wilderness there are no passersby, and the nations cannot see what happens there, preventing the nations from gloating when they see Hashem punishing the transgressors among us. This is similar to what took place during the plague of darkness, when the Holy One, blessed be He, brought an end to the rebels and transgressors during the days of darkness so that the nations would not rejoice over us and witness our misfortune. So too here, this will take place in the wilderness of the peoples to ensure that no one will rejoice over our downfall.
And this is the meaning of "and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face" - "face to face" means in privacy, without other parties present. When a person says, "I have a face-to-face meeting with you," he means without anyone else around, just you and me. Thus the Holy One, blessed be He, says: I will have a reckoning with you between Me and you alone, with no other nations present. Just as it was said of Moshe that Hashem spoke with him "face to face," meaning directly, without any intermediary and without other people present.
The Malbim explains that these verses describe the stages of the ingathering through which the Holy One, blessed be He, will gather us from the nations. First, "I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples." In his view, this does not refer to an actual wilderness; rather, the lands of the nations themselves are referred to as a wilderness. Why? Just as a person in the desert cannot fulfill his needs - he has no home, no food or drink, no place to sleep, and cannot attend to any of his affairs - so too, for us, the lands of the nations are like a wilderness: we cannot serve Hashem there properly, we are far removed from the Beit HaMikdash, and for the most part we could not even purchase houses, fields, or vineyards there, because we were constantly subject to wanderings and persecutions. It turns out, then, that the lands of the nations are, for us, in the category of a wilderness. Accordingly, "And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples" refers to our presence there in exile, and there, "and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face" - among the nations, Israel will be punished for their misdeeds. This will be like someone speaking harshly to us face to face, as "speaking" (dibbur) always denotes harsh speech. And just as we saw with Hashem's providence in Egypt and the wilderness, so it will be there: the people of Israel suffered, were tormented, and were persecuted, and this is a form of judgment by which Hashem judges us face to face. For the purpose of the exile is that we reflect and understand why we are here, what wrongs we committed, and how we reached this state - and that is the judgment.
The Malbim offers an additional explanation: one could say that from each and every land where they are found in exile, they will travel through the wilderness adjacent to that land. This will be analogous to the Exodus from Egypt, where they journeyed through the wilderness bordering the land of Egypt; so too, there will be the wilderness bordering each and every land, and there they will witness a revelation of the Shechinah. Hashem will reveal Himself to them and judge them. According to this approach, the verse is understood more closely to the explanation of Radak - that Hashem will bring them to a place where He will judge them face to face.
"Under the Rod" and "The Bond of the Covenant"
וְהַעֲבַרְתִּי אֶתְכֶם תַּחַת הַשָּׁבֶט וְהֵבֵאתִי אֶתְכֶם בְּמָסֹרֶת הַבְּרִית׃ (לז) - "And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant." (37)
"And I will cause you to pass under the rod" - a rod (shevet) refers to a staff. Radak explains that this was the method used to count the flock, "whatever passes under the rod," becoming an expression for an examination conducted individually, one by one. Thus the Holy One, blessed be He, says: I will examine you one by one, I will cause you to pass under the rod, and the sinner will perish. Just as we mark the tenth animal in red, so too the Holy One, blessed be He, will examine them like one scrutinizing under the rod, and whoever has sinned will be separated and removed. This is by way of an allegory, as Yirmiyahu said, "the flock will again pass under the hands of the one who counts them," which reflects the concept of "passing under the rod" - scrutiny and meticulous examination, to see who is worthy of remaining and who is not.
"And I will bring you into the bond of the covenant" - we are accustomed to thinking of the word masoret as tradition, as in a "traditional" person (shomer masoret). But the commentators explain that masoret here is related to ma'asoret, where the letter alef has dropped out - that is, from the root of imprisonment or binding: I will bind you to a covenant from which you will never depart. As we saw earlier, He had a covenant with us at Mount Sinai, and unfortunately we broke that covenant; the Holy One, blessed be He, promised that He would make a new covenant with us that we will never breach, an enduring covenant that will last forever (not to be confused with the Christian concept of a "new testament"; the meaning here is that the Holy One, blessed be He, will enter into a covenant with us and this covenant will endure permanently). This is the meaning of "and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant" - that you will be bound and committed to this covenant, unlike the previous covenant from which you felt free to rebel against Hashem, but rather a covenant from which you will never break free, remaining bound to the Holy One, blessed be He, never returning to sin again.
"And I Will Purge Out from Among You the Rebels"
וּבָרוֹתִי מִכֶּם הַמֹּרְדִים וְהַפּוֹשְׁעִים בִּי מֵאֶרֶץ מְגוּרֵיהֶם אוֹצִיא אוֹתָם וְאֶל אַדְמַת יִשְׂרָאֵל לֹא יָבוֹא וִידַעְתֶּם כִּי אֲנִי יְהֹוָה׃ (לח) - "And I will purge out from among you the rebels and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them forth out of the land where they dwell, but they shall not enter into the land of Israel; and you shall know that I am the Lord." (38)
"*U-varoti*" is like "*u-verarti*" - I will sift out and purge from among you the rebels and those who transgress against Me, and He will consume them in the wilderness; there He will enter into judgment with them and destroy them. First, "I will bring them forth out of the land where they dwell": the Radak explains that He will first take them out of the land of their dwelling intact, so that the nations will not witness their downfall, as explained earlier, and therefore He will not destroy them in the land where they dwell. But lest one think that if they leave the land of their dwelling they will also enter the Land - "but they shall not enter into the land of Israel," they will not enter the soil of Israel, but rather there in the wilderness He will judge them.
The Malbim notes precisely: "And I will purge out from among you the rebels and those who transgress" - not only the rebels, but even those who transgress. For a rebel (*mored*) is more severe and defiant than a transgressor (*poshea*), so the verse first mentions rebels and then, by way of "*lo zu af zu*" (not only this, but even that), includes the lesser transgressors as well. "I will bring them forth out of the land where they dwell, but they shall not enter into the land of Israel" - this will mirror the redemption from Egypt. There too, He ruled over them with a strong hand and through the harshness of servitude, and afterward brought them out into the wilderness and forged a covenant with them. Yet the generation that rebelled against Hashem and said they did not want the Land - "they despised the desirable land" - perished there in the wilderness, and only their children who arose after them entered the Land. This is the meaning of "As in the days of your coming out of the land of Egypt I will show him marvelous things" - in this respect as well: just as during the Exodus from Egypt the Holy One, blessed be He, judged them in Egypt and then in the wilderness, and did not bring them all into the Land, so too with those who will come from among the nations, whom Hashem will gather toward the land of Israel - not all of them will enter. "And you shall know that I am the Lord" - through this it will become clear that the Holy One, blessed be He, is the One Who judges and exacts retribution.
And why does the verse say "he shall not enter" (*lo yavo*) in the singular, when it should have said "they shall not enter" (*lo yavo'u*)? The Radak explains that this is a collective term, similar to "the people shall not enter," where a group is spoken of in the singular. The Malbim explains that "he shall not enter" is precise: not a single one of them will enter. It is written in the singular to emphasize that not even one of the rebels and those who transgress against Me will enter.
"The Rebels and Those Who Transgress" - Children of the Nine Traits
This verse is well known, for the Gemara in Masechet Nedarim (folio 20b) expounds upon it: "'And I will purge out from among you the rebels and those who transgress against Me' - who are they? Rabbi Levi said: These are the children of nine traits," designated by the mnemonic *OSNAT MASHGA'ACH*. Since we have mentioned the verse, let us review these nine traits defined by the Gemara, of which it is said, "the rebels and those who transgress against Me."
These are: *bnei eimah* (children of fear and intimidation), *bnei anusah* (children of coercion), *bnei snu'ah* (children of a hated wife), *bnei nidui* (children conceived under a ban of ostracism), *bnei tmurah* (children of substitution), *bnei merivah* (children of strife), *bnei shichrut* (children of drunkenness), *bnei gerushat haleiv* (children of a wife divorced in the heart), *bnei irbuvyah* (children of confusion), and *bnei chatzufah* (children of a brazen woman). All of these fall under the category of the rebels and transgressors concerning whom it is said, "And I will purge out from among you," Heaven spare us. The Ran explains each of them.
*Bnei eimah* - meaning fear; one who casts fear upon his wife to engage with him against her will, and as a result his children do not turn out upright, because he acts improperly, as it is written, "and he who hastens with his feet sins." *Bnei anusah* - this is worse than *bnei eimah*; for with *bnei eimah* it is not outright physical coercion but rather against her will, whereas with *bnei anusah* it is actual force. Because their underlying nature is similar, the Ran counts them as one category, which is why although listing the details yields ten, the traits are reckoned as nine.
*Bnei snu'ah* - a man who sets his mind on another woman and despises his wife, yet is intimate with her; this too produces flawed children, rebels and transgressors. *Bnei nidui* - one who is intimate with his wife while under an excommunication ban (*nidui*). *Bnei tmurah* - one who is intimate with one of his wives thinking she is her co-wife; he has two wives, and while with one, he imagines he is with the other. *Bnei merivah* - even though he does not hate her, they had a quarrel and he engaged with her during that strife. *Bnei shichrut* - one who, out of drunkenness, lacks awareness of his wife. *Bnei gerushat haleiv* - one who has already resolved in his heart to divorce her, yet remains intimate with her. *Bnei irbuvyah* - where several men had relations with her and it is unknown from whom she conceived; Rashi also cites a case where a man was intimate with one of several women and does not know which one, along with another explanation like that of the Ran, and yet another explanation involving a doubt between nine months for the first husband or seven months for the second - a woman who remarried after divorce without observing the three months of discernment (*havchanah*), so it is unknown whether the child was born at seven months to the second husband or at nine months to the first. *Bnei chatzufah* - a woman who acts brazenly and verbally demands intimacy. All of these, as mentioned, produce rebels and transgressors, Heaven spare us.
The Question of "Children of Substitution" Regarding Yaakov Avinu
Since we have mentioned this, let us address the well-known question that everyone asks: seemingly, with Yaakov Avinu there was an aspect of *bnei tmurah*, for he thought he was with Rachel, and in the morning, "behold, it was Leah." And we have seen how severe the matter of *bnei tmurah* is. Indeed, the author of *Asarah Ma'amarot* explains that this is why Reuven's tribal portion was placed outside the Land of Israel, because he possessed the subtlest trace of the aspect of *bnei tmurah*. There are those who offer the simple answer that none of this applied prior to the Giving of the Torah; however, *Asarah Ma'amarot* suggests that Reuven did not receive a portion in the Land proper precisely because of this infinitesimally subtle deficiency. Some further explain that for this very reason, it was specifically Reuven who disturbed and exchanged his father's couch - measure for measure: just as with Yaakov there was the subtlest aspect of *bnei tmurah*, being with one while thinking he was with the other, so too Reuven went and switched his father's couch, for his father wished to be with one, and Reuven rearranged it so that he would be in his mother's tent, the tent of Leah.
Nonetheless, there are other explanations. The holy Zohar states that a ben temurah (a child conceived under substituted intention) applies only when a man is with one woman while his thoughts are on another; with Yaakov Avinu, the holy of holies, it was certainly impossible that he would entertain any extraneous thoughts during the act, and therefore this concept does not apply to him at all. This is presented in the Zohar, Parashat Vayeitzei, folio 155. The Magen Avraham also raises this difficulty and offers a different distinction: bnei temurah applies only when the husband intends to be intimate with one body, but another body happens to present itself, and he is intimate with her. With Yaakov, however, this was not the case, for he saw Leah as she entered the chuppah - he did not necessarily recognize her face, but he saw this physical person, knew he was marrying this person, and was intimate with her. A ben temurah occurs when one believes he is with one body and it turns out to be another, whereas here he married this person and was intimate with this person; therefore, this does not fall under the category of bnei temurah. Not everyone accepts this distinction, but this is the distinction drawn by the Magen Avraham.
In summary:
In these verses, the prophet completes the indictment: after three generations of sin, the children who entered the Land added a fourth degradation; they blasphemed and sacrificed on the high places upon every high hill and under every leafy tree, serving Hashem in syncretism with idolatry, until the practice of high places became entrenched in them for generations. The exiled generation claims, "Let us be like the nations," to which the Holy One, Blessed be He, replies, "It shall not be!" Divine providence over the nations exists only for the sake of Israel, and all decrees are directed at us, for better or for worse; the bond between us and the Creator is an eternal bond that can never be severed - and therefore: "With a strong hand, with an outstretched arm, and with poured-out wrath, I will reign over you." Ultimately, the ingathering will come: being brought out from the nations and gathered from the lands; judgment face to face in the "wilderness of the peoples" (whether an actual wilderness or the lands of exile, which are like a wilderness to us); passing under the rod one by one; entering into the "bond of the covenant" from which we will never depart; and the purging of the rebels and transgressors, who will not enter the Land of Israel - and through all of this, "You shall know that I am Hashem."