in the sixth year of the exile of Jeconiah.

from the appearance of its loins, etc. It is forbidden to reflect on this verse.

by a lock of my hair Heb. צִיצִיתרֹאשִּׁי [lit. fringes of my head.] By the hair of my head, flozel in Old French, a lock of hair.

in the visions of God He showed me [a vision looking] as if He were carrying me and bringing me to Jerusalem.

the inner gate that faces north The gate to the court, which is within the Temple Mount, [and] which had gates to all its sides.

the image of jealousy The image of jealousy would make the Holy One, blessed be He, jealous and provoke Him, for they put it there to make the Holy One, blessed be He, jealous; to anger Him, and so did Jonathan render: the image of jealousy, which they provoked.

“Now lift your eyes northward” Toward the Temple Mount, outside the court. For he [already] was standing outside the northern entrance of the court, and north of the gate is [farther] outside the court.

from the north of the gate of the altar On the Temple Mount, from the north of that northern gate of the court, and I say that that gate was exactly in line with the gate of the altar.

at the entrance Heb. בַּבִאָה. When a person comes to enter the court, he finds it there; a l’entree in French, at the entrance.

to cause Me to distance Myself from My sanctuary In order that I distance Myself from My sanctuary.

to the entrance of the court He brought me up until the entrance of that very gate.

a hole in the wall The wall of the court.

dig now in the wall and widen the hole.

and behold an entrance Through the hole, I saw the entrance of one chamber.

of detestation Made for the detestation of idolatry.

engraved Heb. מְחֻקֶה, engraved on the wall.

and Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan He was of high esteem, and his generation was learning from him; therefore, He took particular offense at him.

and a thick cloud of incense Heb. עֲתַר, thick. The ascent of the smoke of the cloud of the incense [was thick]. The word עַתַר denotes immensity, and so (35:13): “and have magnified (הַעְתַּרְתֶּם) your words against Me,” and so (Prov. 27:6): “whereas kisses of an enemy are burdensome (נַעְתָּרוֹת).” Menachem (p. 140) grouped all three under one heading and they all denote an idea of thickness, but each one is an independent expression.

in his paved chambers Heb. מַשְּׂכִּיתוֹ. Covered with a floor of marble. An expression related to (Exod. 32:22): “and I will cover (וְשֲּׂכֹּתִי) you with My hand.”

to the entrance of the gate of the house of the Lord Within the inner space of the courtyard [that led] to the entrance of the heichal that is in the north, for the master [R. Jose the son] taught: Two wickets were in the Temple chamber for the knives, one in the north and one in the south (see Zev. 55b, 56a).

making the Tammuz weep There was an image that they would heat up from the inside, and its eyes, which were of lead, would melt from the heat of the fire, and it would appear as though it was weeping, and they would say, “It is asking for an offering.”

“Tammuz” is an expression of heating, like (Dan. 3:19): “more than it was wont to be heated (לְמֵזְיֵהּ)”; (ibid. 22), “and the furnace exceedingly hot (אֵזֵהּ).”

Making the Tammuz cry is fesant plorer la chalfez in Old French; making the heated [god] weep.

And He brought me to the inner court of the house of the Lord This is the Temple court, for the Temple Mount is called the outer court, and until now that is where he [already] had been standing, except that he had entered the northern gate when He showed him the image of the Tammuz in the chamber of the knives. Then He brought him to the east, [to stand] before the Temple and the altar.

and their faces toward the east From the implication of the statement, “and their faces toward the east,” I [already] know that “their backs were toward the Temple,” but [Scripture] tells us that their posteriors were exposed, for they would uncover themselves and excrete downward.

and they were prostrating themselves Heb. מִשְּׁתַּחֲוִיתֶם. This serves as two words, an expression of destruction (הַשְּׁחָתָה) and an expression of prostrating oneself (הִשְּׁתַּחֲוָיָה). So it is in Yerushalmi (Suc. 5:5, see Korban Ha’edah): “They were destroying the Temple and bowing to the sun.” Jonathan, too, rendered in that manner: and they were destroying and bowing.” Menachem (p. 171) classified it as an expression of bending down, like (Isa. 51:23): “Bend down (שְּׁחִי) and let us cross.”

Was it [too] trivial to the house of Judah Is it trivial and light in their eyes, the other sins that they have committed?

to prevent them from performing the abominations that they should refrain from doing all the abominations that they have done in My house here?

for they have [already] filled the land with violence and that that iniquity is trivial in their eyes, and they repeatedly provoke Me within My house with these abominations.

and behold they send disgrace into their nose Behold they send to their nose the foul odor of this “song,” which they “sing” with the wind emerging from their anus; i.e., this disgrace of theirs will come back to their faces. Menachem (p. 79) explained: “and behold they send the disgrace into their nose” is a matter of disgrace and shame; and according to his explanation, He compares the aroma of their censers and (Ezek. 20:28) “the anger of their sacrifices” and (ibid.) “their pleasant aroma” to the work of the disgrace of the orifices. “Their backs to the Temple of the Lord” implies this idea.