Hear, all you peoples—meaning all the tribes; and also, Give ear, O earth and all that fills it—the entire earth, for from there the evil spread throughout the earth. And let Hashem be a witness against you—Hashem is the One warning you. Hashem warns you from His holy sanctuary, while He is still in His sanctuary, before He goes forth from His place to judge the earth.

For behold—at the time when Hashem goes forth from His place (this expression signifies that He Himself will go forth to inflict punishment through His Providence, striking not through an emissary but in person, as in, “About midnight I will go forth into the midst of Egypt”).

And He will descend and tread upon the high places of the earth—using corporeal imagery, he depicts Him as first standing upon the lofty mountains.

And they will melt—then the mountains will melt from dread of Hashem and the splendor of His majesty. The clauses correspond: the mountains will melt beneath Him like wax before fire, melting as readily as wax; and the valleys will split open like water poured down a slope—thus solid substances will become soft and fluid. This is a metaphor for the devastation of the land, which will become water again, as it was in the time of primordial chaos. (All this is figurative language, like “The mountains flowed before Hashem,” “The earth shook and quaked,” and similar expressions.)

For the transgression—all this will be for the transgression of Jacob—these are the ten tribes, who transgressed and deliberately rebelled against Hashem, worshiping idols and sun pillars. And for the sin of the house of Israel—these are the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, who did not rebel but sinned out of desire or error, as when they offered sacrifices at the high places. Although this was a sin, it was not rebellion, since most of these offerings were intended for Heaven. He explains: Who caused the transgression of Jacob, whereby the tribes worshiped idols? Was it not Samaria? For the monarchy in Samaria made the calves and enticed the people into this worship. And who caused the high places of Judah? Was it not Jerusalem? For the monarchy of Judah, situated in Jerusalem, brought this about by failing to abolish the high places until the days of Hezekiah.

And I will make—this refers back to “And let Hashem be a witness against you,” for Hashem warns them, saying: I Myself will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the field, as its houses will fall and be destroyed. Afterward, I will make it a place for planting vineyards, and then I will pour its stones into the valley, for those planting vineyards will clear away the stones and remove the heaps left by the fallen houses, until I will lay bare even its foundations, as they will remove even the foundation stones to make the ground suitable for planting vineyards.

And all her carved images—the carved images were made of wood or stone, and people gave them hire and gifts; beneath them stood the idols. When the carved images are smashed, the idols will remain desolate. For she gathered it from a harlot’s hire—Samaria gathered all her wealth in this way, for she believed that all her prosperity came through idol worship, as it says, (Hosea 2:14) “Of which she said: These are my hire, which my lovers have given me.” Therefore, to a harlot’s hire they shall return—the king of Assyria will take them, as though his idols were giving them to him as hire. That is to say: I do not grieve at all over Samaria and its destruction, since they worshiped carved images and idols and strayed after others, forsaking Me.

(8–9) For this—but for this I will lament and wail, until I walk about like a madman, like someone who goes naked in his madness, because her wounds are grievous—a dangerous, contagious sickness that spread from Samaria to the land of Judah. They too suffered blows, although they did not worship idols in the days of Jotham and Uzziah, and their merchandise and hire were holy to Hashem. It seems more likely, however, that “her wounds are grievous” refers to the wounds Samaria inflicted upon Judah. He speaks here of the severe blows the ten tribes dealt Judah in the days of Ahaz, when Pekah son of Remaliah killed 120,000 in Judah in a single day. At that time, the Philistines also raided the cities of Judah’s lowlands and southern region, capturing several cities and settling in them (II Chronicles 28). (For in the days of Uzziah and Jotham there was peace in Judah. It is likewise difficult to interpret this as referring to Sennacherib’s invasion in the days of Hezekiah, since he would then have mentioned their deliverance as well.) He means that the wounds Samaria inflicted upon Judah were grievous and dangerous, for it has reached Judah—when Ephraim, Aram, Edom, and the Philistines invaded Judah—and reached as far as Jerusalem; but Jerusalem itself they could not conquer, as stated in Isaiah (chapter 7).

Tell it not in Gath—after saying that he would lament like jackals, he now says that they should remain silent and not cry out, lest word be told in Gath. For Uzziah had taken Gath of the Philistines from them (II Chronicles 26), and it was under Judah’s control, while the Philistines were waiting to recapture it. Therefore, weep not at all, lest the Philistines learn of it and gain strength against you. Only in Beth-leaphrah, which belonged to Benjamin’s inheritance (Joshua 18:23), there roll yourself in the dust, for it is far from the Philistines, and your mourning and lamentation will not become known to them.

Pass over. When the enemy came to the city named Shaphir, he stripped all its inhabitants naked but left them alive, because they did not fight him. The city of Zaanan, however, shut its gates and fought the enemy. Although the enemy killed everyone living in the houses surrounding the city outside its walls, they refused to open their gates. Therefore, when they were conquered, the enemy killed them all, rather than contenting himself with their spoil. Accordingly, he says figuratively, Pass over—shameful nakedness—to you, inhabitants of Shaphir. “Shameful nakedness” means the exposure of the private parts. He personifies nakedness and shameful exposure as an abstract entity: You, shameful nakedness, shall not go to Zaanan, for everyone there will be killed; instead, pass over to the inhabitants of Shaphir. For you, inhabitants of Shaphir, will go naked, with your buttocks exposed, and it is to you that I have commanded shameful nakedness to pass, for among you it will find people naked and shamefully exposed. But the inhabitants of Zaanan did not come out from within the walls, even to the mourning of Beth-haezel. Although all the neighboring houses raised a great lament over their dead, the people of Zaanan nevertheless refused to come out and open the city gates. Therefore, it will take its standing place from you—the lamentation will take its place among you, for there will be great slaughter in your city. In the city square they will hold the gathering where the mourner stands to lament those killed in the city and in Beth-haezel—that is, in the houses beside the city.

For she yearned. He explains why the inhabitants of Zaanan did not come out and upon whom they relied. For the inhabitants of Maroth—meaning Zaanan, which rebelled and refused to surrender to the enemy—hoped for good, expecting troops to come from Jerusalem to help them. Therefore, they rebelled and did not open their gates. He now explains why lamentation took its place among them and they were not delivered: For evil came down from Hashem to the gate of Jerusalem—through Hashem’s Providence, calamity descended upon Jerusalem, and they could not send troops to help the people of Zaanan.

Harness the chariot to the swift steed, O inhabitant of Lachish. Idolatry first took root in Lachish. Thus we find that Amaziah king of Judah, who began worshiping the gods of Seir and whose servants rebelled against him, fled to Lachish and reigned there for twelve years, while Uzziah reigned in Jerusalem (as I explained in II Kings, chapter 14). Evidently, the priests of Hashem in Jerusalem opposed his idolatry zealously, whereas the people of Lachish supported him, and he reigned there for twelve years until the inhabitants of Jerusalem prevailed and killed him. There it says, “They carried him on the horses, and he was buried in Jerusalem.” The statement that they carried him on the horses means the following: Idol worshipers, whose principal worship was directed toward the sun, which they regarded as the queen of heaven, dedicated horses and a chariot to its worship. At sunrise, they would ride eastward to meet it with a chariot and horses, corresponding to their depiction of the sun’s journey along its circuit, as is known from ancient histories. Thus it says, (II Kings 23:11) “He abolished the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire.” Amaziah had horses in Lachish dedicated to sun worship. Therefore, when the servants of Hashem prevailed and killed him, they carried his corpse upon the horses of the sun as an act of disgrace and contempt. It was their custom to make the sun’s chariots from broom wood, which retains the heat of a fire for many days (as our Sages stated in the chapter HaSefinah), symbolizing the sun’s heat and its enduring fire, for sun worship involved fire, as is known. Accordingly, he says, Cover the chariot with broom wood—cover the familiar chariot, the chariot of the sun, with broom wood. But to the swift steed—do not harness it to the horses dedicated to the sun; instead, harness it to a swift steed, fleet-footed for escape, so that they may flee from the enemy. Concerning this he says, She was the beginning of sin for the daughter of Zion—this was the first place belonging to the daughter of Zion, meaning the kingdom of Judah, where they began committing this sin of sun worship.

For in you were found the transgressions of Israel—sun worship, one of the transgressions of Israel, meaning the ten tribes, was found in you, even though you belong to Judah.

Therefore you shall give farewell gifts for Moresheth-gath. Gath had originally belonged to Israel from the days of David, who took Metheg-ammah from the Philistines, meaning the city of Gath (II Samuel 8:1). Rehoboam built it into a fortified city (II Chronicles 11), but afterward the Philistines took it from Israel. Uzziah king of Judah then conquered it from the Philistines and breached its walls (II Chronicles 26:6). In Rehoboam’s days, he also fortified Mareshah near Gath (II Chronicles 11:8). Once Gath’s wall had been breached, Mareshah protected Gath against recapture by the Philistines. It was called Moresheth-gath because it served as Gath’s defense. When the Philistines raided the cities of the lowlands in the days of Ahaz and sought to conquer Moresheth-gath so that they could take Gath, Pekah son of Remaliah was also waging war against Judah. The people of Lachish then reached an agreement with him to give him the city of Achzib, which was near Mareshah (as stated in Joshua 15:44), so that they could retain Mareshah, which protected Gath, and prevent Gath from falling into Philistine hands. Thus he says, Therefore you shall give gifts—meaning that you will give a present for, and on behalf of, Moresheth-gath. You will give as gifts the houses of Achzib to a deceiver—that is, to a deceitful man. He then explains who the deceiver is: to the kings of Israel. You gave the houses of Achzib as a present to the kings of Israel, who are false to their word, in order to save Moresheth-gath.

Yet. This means: But you gained nothing by this, for the kings of Israel proved deceitful and did not keep their promise; they themselves took Mareshah from you. Whereas at first only the Philistines sought to possess Mareshah, now I will bring yet another heir to you, O inhabitant of Mareshah, for the kings of Israel also came to possess Mareshah. Moreover, they were not content to take Mareshah alone, for he shall come as far as Adullam—the second heir would reach Adullam, which was also a fortified city in that region and is listed among the fortified cities Rehoboam built. Pekah then took both Mareshah and Adullam from them. He explains: Who is this heir who will come as far as Adullam? The glory of Israel! That is, the army of the king of Israel and his splendor.

Make yourself bald. Therefore, make your head bald and shear your hair, for your cherished children, for they have gone into exile from you. He adds, Make your baldness wide like the eagle’s, for birds of prey suffer from a disease that causes their feathers to fall out, especially the eagle, until eventually it loses all its feathers and dies from this. It may also be interpreted as follows: First, make yourself bald and shear your hair for your pampered children while they are still with you, for indulgence leads you to sin against Hashem. Afterward, make your baldness wider, for they have gone into exile from you.