1 The burden of the valley of vision. What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops?
2 Thou that art full of stirs, a tumultuous city, joyous city: thy slain men are not slain with the sword, nor dead in battle.
3 All thy rulers are fled together, they are bound by the archers: all that are found in thee are bound together, which have fled from far.
4 Therefore said I, Look away from me; I will weep bitterly, labour not to comfort me, because of the spoiling of the daughter of my people.
5 For it is a day of trouble, and of treading down, and of perplexity by the Lord God of hosts in the valley of vision, breaking down the walls, and of crying to the mountains.
6 And Elam bare the quiver with chariots of men and horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield.
7 And it shall come to pass, that thy choicest valleys shall be full of chariots, and the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate.
8 And he discovered the covering of Judah, and thou didst look in that day to the armour of the house of the forest.
9 Ye have seen also the breaches of the city of David, that they are many: and ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool.
10 And ye have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses have ye broken down to fortify the wall.
11 Ye made also a ditch between the two walls for the water of the old pool: but ye have not looked unto the maker thereof, neither had respect unto him that fashioned it long ago.
12 And in that day did the Lord God of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth:
13 And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die.
14 And it was revealed in mine ears by the Lord of hosts, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord God of hosts.
15 Thus saith the Lord God of hosts, Go, get thee unto this treasurer, even unto Shebna, which is over the house, and say,
16 What hast thou here? and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre here, as he that heweth him out a sepulchre on high, and that graveth an habitation for himself in a rock?
17 Behold, the Lord will carry thee away with a mighty captivity, and will surely cover thee.
18 He will surely violently turn and toss thee like a ball into a large country: there shalt thou die, and there the chariots of thy glory shall be the shame of thy lord's house.
19 And I will drive thee from thy station, and from thy state shall he pull thee down.
20 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah:
21 And I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand: and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah.
22 And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.
23 And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father's house.
24 And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons.
25 In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall the nail that is fastened in the sure place be removed, and be cut down, and fall; and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off: for the Lord hath spoken it.
<html><b>the Valley of Vision</b> This is Jerusalem, the valley concerning which most prophecies were prophesied. <b>that all of you have gone up to the rooftops</b> When an army comes upon them, they go up to their roofs to see the army and to fight. Our Rabbis, however, explained this concerning the priests who went up to the roof of the Temple with the keys of the forecourt in their hands, as is stated in the Tractate Taanith (29a). The Midrash Aggadah, however, states that they, (the people of Jerusalem,) were haughty. (This is found) in Lamentations Rabbah (Int. 24).</html>
<html><b>full of clamor</b> A city that was full of clamor, the voice of many people, tumultuous and happy, now, what ails you that you mourn? <b>your fallen have not fallen by the sword</b> It would have been better had they fallen by the sword than now that they have perished by hunger.</html>
<html><b>All your officers wandered together</b> Zedekiah and his officers, who went out to flee at night (II Kings 25:4). <b>because of the bow they were bound</b> who, because of fear of the archers, were bound to be confined within the city, and all those found therein were bound together with chains, and the majority of them fled from afar prior to this.</html>
<html><b>Leave Me alone</b> (שְׁעוּ מִנִּי). Leave Me alone. So says the Holy One, blessed be He, to the ministering angels.</html>
<html><b>trampling</b> (מְבוּסָה), trampling. Comp. (Jer. 12:10) “They trampled (בּוֹסְסוּ) My heritage.” Comp. also (Zech. 10:5): “And they shall be like heroes, trampling (בּוֹסִים) in the mire of the streets.” <b>destroying the wall</b> a day of destroying the wall. <b>and shouting, “To the mountain!”</b> (וְשׁוֹעַ). And the voice of a shout to flee to the mountains to escape.</html>
<html><b>carried a quiver</b> a quiver of arrows. <b>and to the wall they attached their shields</b> (עֵרָה). Comp. (above 19:7) “The well rooted plants (עָרוֹת) by the stream,” (Psalms 37:35) “Striking roots (מִתְעָרֶה) like a green tree in its native soil.” It is also possible to explain: וְקִיר עֵרָה מָגֵן as follows: Kir is the name of the city. Comp. (II Kings 16:9) “And exiled [its inhabitants] to Kir.” The people of that province exposed their shields toward Jerusalem.</html>
<html><b>laid [siege] to the gate</b> (Lit., laid to the gate.) They laid siege to the gates. There is a similar expression in Kings (II 20:12) in the war with Ben Hadad, “Lay on!” And they laid siege to the city.</html>
<html><b>And he bared</b> (וַיְגַל), an expression of uncovering. <b>the covert of Judah</b> That is the Temple, which shielded, protected, and covered them. <b>and you looked on that day</b> for means of waging war. <b>to the weapons of the house of the forest</b> They are the three hundred shields and two hundred body shields that Solomon made, and the king placed them in the house of the forest of Lebanon (I Kings 10:16).</html>
<html><b>the cracks of the city of David</b> The cracks of the wall you saw that they had increased. <b>and you gathered the water of the lower pool</b> Jonathan renders: And you gathered the people to the waters of the lower pool, which is near the cracks of the city of David, to fight there, because you saw that Jerusalem had a weak spot there and was vulnerable to conquest from there.</html>
<html><b>And the houses of Jerusalem you counted</b> how many houses each one had, that they give of them proportionally, to take the stones and the wood to fortify the wall. <b>to fortify</b> (לְבַצֵּר), to strengthen, an expression similar to “fortified cities” (בְּצוּרוֹת) (Num. 13:28).</html>
<html><b>And a ditch you made</b> A pool of water, to be a defense (lit., strength) for the city. <b>between the two walls</b> the double walls, the low wall and the high wall, and the water of the old pool. <b>but you did not look to its Maker</b> Now, if you ask, Hezekiah, too, did so, as it is stated (in II Chron. 32:5) “And he strengthened himself, and he built up all the broken down wall, and he went up on the towers and outside the other wall, and he strengthened the Millo of the city of David,” the answer is that Hezekiah “trusted in the Lord God of Israel, etc.” (II Kings 18:5), but you, in the days of Jehoiakim and Zedekiah did not look to its Maker. <b>and Him Who fashioned it from afar</b> From the time He created the world, Jerusalem and the Temple were His intention. <b>you did not see</b> You did not think of Him.</html>
<html><b>And behold, joy and happiness</b> The Holy One, blessed be He, so to speak, is mourning, and you are eating and rejoicing. <b>for tomorrow we will die</b> in the World to Come. The prophets tell us in the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, that we will have no share in the World to Come. Let us, therefore, enjoy ourselves during our lifetime.</html>
<html><b>until you die</b> Jonathan paraphrases a second death in the World to Come.</html>
<html><b>voluptuary</b> (סוֹכֵן), he was lustful of pleasures. Comp. (I Kings 1:2): “And she shall be to him a warmer (סוֹכֶנֶת),” (San. 26b, where Rashi cites exegetes who claim that Shebna had homosexual tendencies.) Midrash Aggadah states: He was from Sichni, and he came to Jerusalem. This is in Lev. Rabbah (5:5). <b>appointed over the Temple</b> (lit., the house.) He was appointed over the entire Temple. Some say he was the High Priest and some say he was a Temple trustee.</html>
<html><b>What have you here</b> Scripture denigrates him because he wished to surrender Hezekiah to the king of Assyria, as is stated in San. (26a): He wrote a note and shot it on an arrow, “Shebna and his company wish to make peace; Hezekiah and his company do not wish to make peace.” <b>and whom do you have here</b> Who of your family is buried here? <b>he hews his grave on high</b> For he hewed a grave for himself among the graves of the House of David, to be buried among the kings. Therefore, he says to him, “What right of heritage do you have in these graves?” <b>he hews</b> (חֹצְבִי). The ‘yud’ is superfluous. Comp. (Deut. 33:16): “Who dwells (שׁוֹכְנִי) in the thornbush”; (Psalms 113:7) “He raises up (מְקִימִי) the poor man from the dust.”</html>
<html><b>Shall cast you about with a mighty toss</b> (גָבֶר) like a rooster that wanders from place to place (Lev. Rabbah ibid.) The Midrash explains גֶבֶר as a rooster. Our Rabbis, however, stated that the wandering of a man is more trying than that of a woman (San. 26a). <b>and cause you to fly.</b> Heb. (וְעֹטְךָ עָטֹה). Comp. (I Sam. 25:14) “And he drove them away (וַיָּעַט),” an expression of עַיִּט, a bird. He will make you fly away like a bird, in exile. Our Rabbis, however, stated that ‘zaraath’ broke out upon him, as is stated: (Leviticus 13:45) “And on his upper lip he shall enwrap himself (יַעְטֶה).”</html>
<html><b>He shall wind you around</b> like a turban that surrounds the head, the enemies and oppressors shall surround you. <b>like a surrounding wall.</b> (כַּדּוּר). Our Rabbis, however, explained it as an expression of a ball, which they call ‘pelote’ in French, which is tossed and caught from hand to hand. <b>to a land of ample space</b> in Casiphia, the name of a place. <b>there you shall die</b> And you shall not be buried in the sepulchre of the House of David, and there the chariots of your glory shall be converted into the shame of the house of your master which you sought.</html>
<html><b>and from your station</b> (Lit., your stand. The Temple service was performed in a standing position.) And from your service in the Temple, He shall tear you down.</html>
<html><b>to Eliakim</b> He was appointed over the house when Sennacherib took him, (i.e., Shebna,) as we find, when they went out to Rabshakeh, and he revealed to him Shebna and his company, and they dragged him with their horses’ tails, as is related in San. (26b). When Sennacherib went to Tirhakah, king of Cush, he swept away Shebna and his company and went away. We learned this in Seder Olam (ch. 23).</html>
<html><b>the key of the House of David</b> Jonathan paraphrases: The key of the Temple and the government of the House of David.</html>
<html><b>And I will thrust him like a peg in a sure place</b> (Jonathan renders:) And I will appoint him a faithful trustee, serving in a sure place. Jonathan renders נֶאֱמָן as sure, i.e., a place that is faithful to those who lean on it, for it shall not move. Another explanation is to reverse the word order of the verse: And I will thrust him a sure peg in a place.</html>
<html><b>the children and the grandchildren</b> (צֶאֱצָאִים וּצְפִיעוֹת). Jonathan renders: the children and the children’s children. Menachem (Machbereth p. 151) associates it with, (Ezekiel 4:15) “Cattle dung (צְפִיעֵי).” This teaches us that it is an expression of tiny infants that issue forth from their mother’s womb. making צְפִיעוֹת an expression of coming out, i.e., a thing that comes out. <b>all the small vessels</b> the smallest of their families shall take pride in him and rely on him. <b>from the vessels of basins to the vessels of the lyres</b> Jonathan paraphrases: From the priests who wear the ephod to the Levites who hold the lyres. Accordingly, it is an expression of the ministration vessels with which the priests perform the service in the Temple. <b>the lyres</b> with which the Levites recite the song during the offering of the sacrifices.</html>
<html><b>shall the peg…move</b> (This alludes to) the greatness of Shebna. <b>and the burden which is upon it shall be cut off</b> His family members and his company who depend on him and who hang upon him the vessels of their glory. And since he likened him to a peg, he likened those who boast about him and rely on him, to a burden loaded on the peg. Some interpret it: And the prophecy prophesied about him shall be fulfilled.</html>