Woe to those who are at ease in Zion. This entire passage continues from what is said in verse 7, "Therefore, now they shall go into exile at the head of the exiles," meaning that Israel went into exile first, and afterward all the neighboring nations went into exile, so that Israel was the first of all the exiles. This was so both in the exile of the Ten Tribes by the king of Assyria—for although the king of Assyria also exiled the other nations, as it is written, "Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus?" (Isaiah 10:9), it is clear from this that he did not exile Calno, Hamath the Great, and the Philistines until after he had first exiled the Ten Tribes, so that at the time the Ten Tribes went into exile, the countries of Calno, Hamath, and Eden were still dwelling upon their land. (Likewise, we find concerning Nebuchadnezzar that he did not exile the neighboring nations of Edom, Ammon, Moab, and the Philistines until after he had exiled Judah, so that Israel was always the first of the exiles.) The prophet wonders why this was so, for according to the natural course of events, he should first have conquered and exiled the smaller and weaker kingdoms and only afterward conquered Samaria or Zion, which were mighty and fortified kingdoms. This is the meaning of "Woe," I call out: are not those who are at ease in Zion and those who trust in the mountain of Samaria secure? There is a distinction between being at ease and trusting: one who is at ease has no war at all and no external threat to disturb him, whereas one who trusts relies upon his strength even though he is at war and is not at ease. Now the inhabitants of Zion had no war at all at that time, for the king of Assyria did not come against Judah until the fourteenth year of Hezekiah, while the exile of Samaria occurred in the sixth year of Hezekiah. Therefore, he called them "those who are at ease." As for Samaria, although they were at war at that time, they trusted in their strength and in Samaria, which was a fortified city, for indeed he was forced to besiege it for three years before conquering it. If so, since the inhabitants of Zion and the Ten Tribes were mighty and powerful, and they were the distinguished of the foremost of the nations, singled out and renowned for praise as the foremost of the nations, meaning the choicest among them in stature and might, how could it be that the house of Israel came to them? That is, the house of Israel went into exile first and came in their exile to those nations, for some of them were initially exiled to the neighboring nations, as I explained above (3:12), that they were first exiled to Damascus; some passed into exile through the cities of the neighboring nations, which were still dwelling in tranquility; and others fled through them, as explained above (1:6, 9). This was contrary to the usual course of events, for the smaller kingdoms should have been exiled first.

Pass over. He answers that this occurred through the Providence of Hashem, so that you should pass over to Calneh and see, for some of the exiles passed through Calneh during their exile; and go from there to Hamath the Great, and afterward, when the king of Assyria conquered Calneh and exiled its inhabitants, they went from there in their exile to Hamath, which was still dwelling in tranquility (as appears from Isaiah 10), for he conquered Calneh before Hamath. And afterward, when he conquered Hamath, go down to Gath of the Philistines; they passed on to Gath, whose inhabitants were still dwelling in tranquility. Therefore, Hashem providentially arranged that Israel should go into exile first, so that they would pass through these kingdoms, which, although weaker than Israel, were still dwelling upon their own land. And see: then you will perceive with your mind's eye why this was so and what caused them still to dwell in tranquility while you went at the head of the exiles. It cannot be said that this was because their kingdoms were better governed than the kingdom of the house of Israel. Therefore, he says: Are they better than these kingdoms of Zion and Samaria, so that for this reason the king of Assyria did not dare to wage war against them first? Or is their territory greater than your territory, so that he feared to wage war against them first because their land was larger and more difficult to conquer than the land of Israel and Judah? From this you will see that it was not for these reasons that he exiled you before these nations; rather, the reason your exile preceded the exile of these nations was a matter of Divine Providence from Hashem because of the wickedness of your ways. And he explains:

Who put off the evil day. This was because those nations sought to put off the evil day and keep it at a distance, so that it would not quickly reach their borders; but you bring near the seat of violence. Through your evil deeds, you cause the cessation brought by violence to approach and draw near; you commit deeds through which the violence of the king of Assyria will quickly approach you and cause you to cease being a nation. And he explains how you bring it near.

Who lie upon beds of ivory. A bed is made for reclining upon either by day or by night, whereas a couch is specifically intended for the lying down of women, children, the sick, and the pampered at night. They lay upon beds of ivory, and upon their couches, which were specifically intended for women's beds, there lay wanton women, namely prostitutes who were defiled by semen, as our Sages said, "They defile their couches with semen that is not their own." And they indulged themselves with delicacies, gluttonously eating and drinking with their prostitutes, eating lambs from the flock, meaning the fattened sheep, and calves that they took from the midst of the stall, where the calves were fattened and made plump.

Who drink. And they drink wine from large bowls, rather than from small cups, and anoint themselves with the finest oils, with the best and choicest oil, namely balsam oil, but they do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph, taking no heed of the distress of the community, nor mourning over the calamity threatening them and returning to Hashem with fasting, weeping, and lamentation.

Therefore, now they shall go into exile at the head of the exiles. All these things were the reason that they would now go into exile, at an earlier time, and their exile would not be delayed until a later time, so that they went at the head of the exiles, being the first to go into exile before the other nations, because the nations took to heart the distress of their brethren and devised plans to put off and distance the evil day. And the revelry of the wanton shall cease; because they were exiled from their land, the revelry and feasting that they held for the wanton women, namely the debauched prostitutes for whose sake they held revelry and feasting every day, ceased and came to an end. Now this revelry will cease.

Hashem has sworn by Himself, meaning by His will, for His will is what brings everything into effect. I abhor the pride of Jacob; I no longer have any desire for the pride of Jacob, and therefore I hate his palaces, and I will deliver up the city and all that fills it into the hands of enemies.

And it shall be, if ten men remain whom the enemy does not kill, and they remain in one house, for example, a father and his nine sons, they shall all die through the pestilence that will be in the city.

And his uncle shall carry him. He depicts a situation in which a father, his sons, and his brothers, who would be entitled to inherit from him, have all died in the pestilence, and no relative remains to attend to the dead and bury them and to inherit the remaining house and property except the householder's uncle, as it is written, "And if his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father's brother." He will carry him away for burial, and he will also be the one who burns him, meaning that he will burn the bones (as it is written (I Samuel 31:12), "And they took the body of Saul, etc., and burned them." Radak explains this as the embalming of the bones with spices that burn and dry them, and particularly during a plague, lime is poured upon the bones so that they will be consumed and the pestilence will not spread from them). The reason he will carry him away is to remove the bones from the house, for since he is the heir to the house, he will wish to cleanse it of the bones. And he shall say to the one who is in the innermost part of the house, "Is there still anyone with you?" He depicts one of the household servants who has remained alive and sits in the innermost part of the house, unwilling to enter the house itself, whether because of the pestilence or because of the collapse. The uncle who is occupied with the burial will ask him, "Is there still anyone with you?" meaning whether there remains with him anyone from the household, a son or brother, who escaped the pestilence together with him. And he shall say, "None." For all the members of the household have died. And he shall say, "Silence!" Since it was customary to mention the name of Hashem over the dead, whether to acknowledge the justice of the judgment and recite the blessing "the True Judge," and also because, according to the law, one must recite the blessing Shehecheyanu as well, as it is said: If they told him that his father had died and he was his heir, he recites two blessings, "Blessed is the True Judge" and Shehecheyanu. And since he is the heir to the house, he will wish to mention the name of Hashem. Therefore, the servant will command him to be silent and say nothing, for the name of Hashem is not to be mentioned, meaning that now is not the time for this. And the servant will explain to him the reason, because:

For behold, Hashem commands, and He will strike the great house into fragments. Therefore, this is no time to pray because of the danger, for the great house will soon collapse. It was for this reason that he fled from the great house and sits in the innermost part of the house, that is, in the small house adjoining the great house at its rear, where there is less danger, for the small house He will strike only with small cracks, and it will not be shattered into fragments like the great house. For this reason as well, he should not sing in the name of Hashem over the benefit of the inheritance or recite the blessing Shehecheyanu, for the house will collapse and he will inherit nothing.

Do horses run upon a rock? A rock, being a hard and sharp rocky mountain, is fit for nothing, for it is impossible to make upon it a smooth road on which horses can run in time of war; likewise, it is not fit to be plowed with oxen in order to make fields of grain upon it. This is a metaphor for their land, which has become like rock and flint, so that they will be unable either to wage war upon it on the day of battle and escape the sword or to sow grain in it and escape famine. (It likewise alludes to their hearts, which have become like rock, so that they are unable to withstand the struggle against the evil inclination or to receive the seed of moral instruction and knowledge.) He explains that the condition for victory in war is that they practice justice between man and his fellow, as is mentioned concerning Jehoshaphat in II Chronicles (chapters 19 and 20): when he appointed judges in every city, he defeated his enemies round about. And as our Sages said, the sword comes upon the world because of the perversion of justice. But you have turned justice into poison; whereas justice should sweeten all bitterness, and in an organized society people will live pleasant lives if there is justice between man and his fellow, you have turned it into bitterness. And the condition for sowing and for fields of grain to flourish is righteousness between man and God, through which Hashem watches over them and gives the rain of their land in its proper time. But you have turned the fruit of righteousness into wormwood, acting contrary to righteousness by worshiping idols, so that He shuts up the heavens and there is no rain, and the land lies desolate.

Who rejoice over no word. Behold, concerning Jeroboam son of Joash, it is written (II Kings 14:25) that "he restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of Hashem, the God of Israel, which He spoke through His servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet who was from Gath-hepher. For Hashem saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter, etc., and Hashem had not spoken of blotting out the name of Israel from under heaven, and He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam son of Joash." This means that Jeroboam's success at that time in restoring the border of Israel, even though Hashem knew that they were destined to go into exile because of their iniquities, was because the final decree had not yet been issued. The final decree of exile was not issued until the days of Amos, when it was decreed that they would go into exile. As I explained concerning the verse (Isaiah 7:8), "And within sixty-five years Ephraim shall be shattered from being a people," this period begins from the time when Amos prophesied, "Israel shall surely go into exile from its land," for at that time their judgment was finally decreed that they would go into exile after sixty-five years. Since in the days of Jeroboam son of Joash the decree had not yet been issued, concerning which it says, "And Hashem had not spoken of blotting out the name of Israel," meaning that He had not yet spoken the final decree at that time, and since He saw that they were greatly afflicted and that, if He left them to nature and chance, they would perish by themselves even though the time for this had not yet arrived, He was therefore compelled to save them through Jeroboam son of Joash. That generation, which heard this prophecy from Jonah son of Amittai, who told them that they had been saved because Hashem had not spoken of destroying them, rejoiced over "no word," meaning over the fact that no word or decree had been issued against them. Accordingly, they reasoned that since their victory over the enemy and the restoration of Israel's border from the entrance of Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah had come about not because Hashem had spoken, but because Hashem had not spoken, their salvation had therefore not occurred miraculously through Hashem. For He had not actively saved them through a word spoken for their benefit; rather, it had come about because He had not spoken evil against them, and thus they had saved themselves through Jeroboam's military power. Consequently, they thought that they had triumphed through their own strength and might, and they said, "Have we not by our own strength taken horns for ourselves?" meaning that their victory had been achieved through their own strength and might. Therefore, Hashem will deal with them measure for measure.

For behold, I am raising up against you a nation, says Hashem God of Hosts. The nation that I will raise against you will not come about through "no word," but through the word and declaration of Hashem God of Hosts, for now He has spoken and pronounced His declaration and issued the decree. And He will raise up the nation that will oppress you from the entrance of Hamath to the Brook of the Arabah, just as previously He saved them through Jeroboam and restored their border from the entrance of Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah.