Hear this word. He further explains another snare that they had, by which they were ensnared and caught in a deadly trap: the sin of robbery and oppression that was in their hands. This came about through their wives, women of arrogance, and therefore he addressed his words specifically to them: You cows of Bashan who are on the mountain of Samaria, who were fat and pampered, gluttonous and drunken, and who oppress the poor. That is, the oppression is attributed to them because they say to their husbands, "Bring, and let us drink," and as a result their husbands were compelled to oppress and rob others in order to provide them with wine for drunkenness.

Hashem has sworn. He decreed their sentence against them with an oath: "For behold, days are coming when they shall carry you away in carriages," when enemies will come and carry you away in carriages with honor; "and your latter ones," meaning that in the end you will be so despised that they will not transport you in a ship used for carrying people, but rather "in fishing boats," in vessels made like pots in which fish are carried, piled one upon another.

And through the breaches. And there you will be sold to the harem, which is a place designated for women, where wives, concubines, and prostitutes are kept. And when you come into the hands of your purchasers, each woman shall go out straight ahead through the breaches; a wanton prostitute will come out to receive her, as degraded prostitutes are received, and there she will be cast into the harem to be designated for prostitution and servitude, and she will be cast through the chamber in great disgrace.

Come to Beth-el. Now he begins to explain the fourth introduction, concerning what he said, "If a shofar is sounded in a city, will the people not tremble?" He relates how Hashem commanded the prophets to sound the shofar, declare their transgression to them, and inform them of the punishment destined to come upon them, yet they did not tremble. The prophets said to them in the name of Hashem, "Come to Beth-el and transgress," etc., "and I also gave you cleanness of teeth." Just as you increase your transgressions, so will I increase your punishment. The word "proclaim" in the following verse applies to the entire passage, and its meaning is: "Proclaim: Come to Beth-el and transgress." You shall proclaim, announce, and command the people to come to Beth-el and transgress against Hashem, and to come to Gilgal, and there increase transgression even more, for in Gilgal they sinned more than in Beth-el (as it is written in Hosea 9:15, "All their wickedness is in Gilgal," and there, 12:12, "In Gilgal they sacrificed bulls"). "And bring your sacrifices every morning." Proclaim that they should bring sacrifices to idolatry every morning, and bring the tithes every three days.

And offer. And proclaim that they should offer a thanksgiving offering with leaven, just as in the House of Hashem the thanksgiving offering was offered with loaves of leavened bread; and besides the obligatory offerings, proclaim freewill offerings, so that each person will bring whatever his heart moves him to give as a freewill offering. Proclaim, meaning: proclaim and announce all these things, for so you love, O children of Israel, and all of you proclaim and exhort others concerning the worship of the calves and their sacrifices.

And I also. But I too sounded the shofar and decreed famine upon you, for I gave them cleanness of teeth in all your cities, so that in the large cities you would find no food at all and the teeth would be completely clean, and in all your dwelling places, in the smaller settlements and villages, where you would find various kinds of fruit, you would have lack of bread, for the various kinds of grain from which bread is made would not grow. Nevertheless, you did not return to Me, says Hashem. This is what he wondered at when he said, "If a shofar is sounded in a city, will the people not tremble?" For they did not tremble and did not return to Hashem. And now he relates that Hashem sounded the shofar five times: three times with a decree of famine, once with a decree of pestilence, and once with a decree of the sword, yet they did not tremble and did not return.

And I also. Then I increased your chastisement with a famine more severe than the previous one, for I withheld the rain from you when there were still three months until the harvest, when the land needs rain, and as a result they sowed, but the grain did not sprout, and they also lost the seed that they had sown. And do not say that this was a natural occurrence, for they should have seen that it was an act of Divine Providence, since I caused it to rain upon one city, and upon another city I did not cause it to rain; the city whose sins were not so numerous received rain. More than this, even within a single city, one portion was rained upon if the owner of the field had committed fewer transgressions or had repented, and the portion upon which it did not rain withered. For although, if rain fell upon one portion and rainwater collected there in cisterns, they could have taken water from there to irrigate the neighboring portion upon which rain had not fallen, it would not be so, for the rain would fall in a precisely measured amount sufficient only for that particular portion, and no water would remain to irrigate the neighboring portion, so that the second portion would wither.

And they shall wander. And as a result, two or three cities shall wander to one city where the rain had fallen, to drink water, for in their own places there would be drought and thirst; and even then, they shall not be satisfied, for a curse would enter their bodies. Nevertheless, you did not return to Me, says Hashem. If a shofar is sounded in a city, will the people not tremble?

I struck. Therefore, He sounded the shofar a third time and brought an even more severe famine, striking the grain with blight and mildew, while the locust devoured the fruit of the trees; yet you did not return to Me, and the people did not tremble.

I sent pestilence among you. He sounded the shofar a fourth time, sending pestilence among them when they went on the way to Egypt. It is explained in Hosea that many of the Ten Tribes went at that time to Egypt because of the wrath of the oppressor, and there Hashem sent pestilence among them, as it is written there, "Egypt shall gather them; Memphis shall bury them." And also at that time, along this way, I slew your young men with the sword, together with your captured horses, for the king of Assyria came upon them on the road and slew them with the sword (as it is written there, "When they go, I will spread My net over them, etc.; their princes shall fall by the sword," as I explained there). And because they were slain by the sword, I caused the stench of your camps to rise, as the corpses of the men and horses fallen in the field began to stink, even into your nostrils, for this stench rose even into your nostrils, and through this a pestilence arose that spread even into the Land of Israel. Nevertheless, you did not return to Me, and the people did not tremble.

I overthrew. Then He sounded the shofar a fifth time, overthrowing some among you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, referring to the exiles in which the king of Assyria exiled them from their land, so that their country was overturned and destroyed; and after the first two exiles, only Samaria and its surrounding towns remained.

And you were like a firebrand rescued from the burning, like a firebrand whose two ends have been consumed by the fire while its middle has been scorched; nevertheless, you did not return to Me, says Hashem, and the people did not tremble.

Therefore. After explaining what was meant by, "If a shofar is sounded in a city, will the people not tremble?" and likewise by, "Can there be calamity in a city that Hashem has not caused?" for He made clear to them that all these calamities were not matters of chance but acts of Divine Providence brought about by their sins, he now explains what was meant by, "For Hashem God does nothing unless He has revealed His secret to His servants the prophets." Hashem does not bring about evil as an absolute end in itself, for the purpose of His decreeing calamity is that they should repent through the rebukes of the prophets, and thereby the decree will be annulled and He will not bring the calamity. This is the meaning of "Therefore, thus will I do to you, O Israel," meaning that what I will thus do to you—all the calamities that have been mentioned—is not for the purpose of bringing evil; rather, the purpose of the decree of punishment is that "because I will do this to you," through your knowing that I will bring this calamity upon you, you will thereby "prepare to meet your God, O Israel." You will take it to heart to prepare yourself to meet Him and appease Him through repentance and good deeds. Do not wait until He comes upon you and brings upon you the calamity decreed by Him; rather, go out to meet Him before He comes to you and does this to you, and appease Him and return to Him so that He will not bring the calamity, for in truth, "He does nothing unless He has revealed His secret to His servants the prophets." He also alludes, by way of homiletical interpretation, to a second meaning: not only does Hashem have no desire to bring calamity upon you, but, on the contrary, His desire is only to do good and bestow goodness and kindness. By compelling Him to deal harshly with you through your evil deeds, you compel Him to act against His will, to the extent that you will receive punishment even for this—for having caused Him to do evil contrary to His desire to do good. This is similar to the saying, "The reward of a transgression is a transgression": the punishment received for the transgression is itself a transgression, and for this too they will receive punishment. This is the meaning of "This I will do to you because I will do this to you": for the very fact that I must do this to you, you will be punished, and I will bring evil upon you for having compelled Me to do evil. Therefore, "prepare to meet your God," who exercises particular Providence over you.

For behold, He forms mountains. He brings proof of His Providence: First, from the beginning of creation, when initially the world was water within water, and the element of water covered the entire globe. We explained in our commentary on the account of Creation that initially the element of earth was mingled with the element of water, as it is written, "And darkness was upon the face of the deep," while the element of air was mingled with the element of water above. Therefore, the waters spread out and covered the entire element of earth through the expansive power possessed by the element of air, as it is written, "And the spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters." Through the light that the Holy One, blessed be He, created, He separated the element of air from the element of water so that it would exist independently, and as a result the waters contracted, the tops of the mountains became visible, and the dry land was revealed, as it is written, "Let the waters be gathered together." This is the meaning of "For behold, He forms mountains and creates the wind," for the element of earth was separated to exist by itself and the element of air by itself. This was through His general Providence, so that the earth would be prepared for habitation by animals and man. Likewise, His Providence continually watches over man individually, for "He declares to man what his thought is." Not only does He know a person's speech and deeds that are performed intentionally, but even his siach—the movements or words that escape through an emotional stirring of the soul without intention, of which the person himself is unaware—He reveals to him what he uttered through the stirring of his soul. And just as through His Providence He established nature and creation and formed the earth to be inhabited, so, when He wills, He can destroy and lay it waste. Then "He makes the dawn into darkness," darkening the dawn and nullifying the light that He created at the beginning of creation, through which He established the air (as I explained in my commentary on Genesis); this is the opposite of "creates the wind." And "He treads upon the high places of the earth," sinking the mountains into the watery depths, as it was originally when the earth was formless and void; this is the opposite of "forms mountains." For Hashem of Hosts is His name, for He rules over all the hosts of creation and all its powers.