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1 And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to enquire of the Lord, and sat before me.

2 Then came the word of the Lord unto me, saying,

3 Son of man, speak unto the elders of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Are ye come to enquire of me? As I live, saith the Lord God, I will not be enquired of by you.

4 Wilt thou judge them, son of man, wilt thou judge them? cause them to know the abominations of their fathers:

5 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; In the day when I chose Israel, and lifted up mine hand unto the seed of the house of Jacob, and made myself known unto them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up mine hand unto them, saying, I am the Lord your God;

6 In the day that I lifted up mine hand unto them, to bring them forth of the land of Egypt into a land that I had espied for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands:

7 Then said I unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

8 But they rebelled against me, and would not hearken unto me: they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt: then I said, I will pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.

9 But I wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, among whom they were, in whose sight I made myself known unto them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt.

10 Wherefore I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness.

11 And I gave them my statutes, and shewed them my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them.

12 Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them.

13 But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; and my sabbaths they greatly polluted: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them.

14 But I wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, in whose sight I brought them out.

15 Yet also I lifted up my hand unto them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands;

16 Because they despised my judgments, and walked not in my statutes, but polluted my sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.

17 Nevertheless mine eye spared them from destroying them, neither did I make an end of them in the wilderness.

18 But I said unto their children in the wilderness, Walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols:

19 I am the Lord your God; walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them;

20 And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God.

21 Notwithstanding the children rebelled against me: they walked not in my statutes, neither kept my judgments to do them, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; they polluted my sabbaths: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness.

22 Nevertheless I withdrew mine hand, and wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be polluted in the sight of the heathen, in whose sight I brought them forth.

23 I lifted up mine hand unto them also in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the heathen, and disperse them through the countries;

24 Because they had not executed my judgments, but had despised my statutes, and had polluted my sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers' idols.

25 Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live;

26 And I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all that openeth the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am the Lord.

27 Therefore, son of man, speak unto the house of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me.

28 For when I had brought them into the land, for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to them, then they saw every high hill, and all the thick trees, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering: there also they made their sweet savour, and poured out there their drink offerings.

29 Then I said unto them, What is the high place whereunto ye go? And the name whereof is called Bamah unto this day.

30 Wherefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; Are ye polluted after the manner of your fathers? and commit ye whoredom after their abominations?

31 For when ye offer your gifts, when ye make your sons to pass through the fire, ye pollute yourselves with all your idols, even unto this day: and shall I be enquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, saith the Lord God, I will not be enquired of by you.

32 And that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all, that ye say, We will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.

33 As I live, saith the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you:

34 And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out.

35 And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face.

36 Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord God.

37 And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant:

38 And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the Lord.

39 As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord God; Go ye, serve ye every one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me: but pollute ye my holy name no more with your gifts, and with your idols.

40 For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord God, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the firstfruits of your oblations, with all your holy things.

41 I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen.

42 And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to your fathers.

43 And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein ye have been defiled; and ye shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that ye have committed.

44 And ye shall know that I am the Lord when I have wrought with you for my name's sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord God.

45 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

46 Son of man, set thy face toward the south, and drop thy word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the south field;

47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the Lord; Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.

48 And all flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it: it shall not be quenched.

49 Then said I, Ah Lord God! they say of me, Doth he not speak parables?

<html><b>to inquire of the Lord</b> concerning their needs, and if He does not listen to us, neither will we be punished for the sins in our hands, for He has already sold us, and He has nothing on us. If a master has sold his slave, or a husband has divorced his wife, does one have anything on the other? And from the conclusion of the matter you learn [this], from the reply that he gave them (verse 32): “What enters your thoughts, etc.”</html>

<html><b>I will not be inquired of by you!</b> in your request. Yet at the end of this Book (36:37): He says: “I will…be inquired of by the house of Israel.” This is one of the places that teach us that the Holy One, blessed be He, recants on evil. And regarding matters similar to this, it is said (Num. 23:19): “He says but He does not do.” Midrash of Rabbi Tanchuma (Vayera 13).</html>

<html><b>Will you contend with them</b> Heb. הֲתִישְׁפֹּט, an expression of contending.</html>

<html><b>On the day I chose Israel</b> This hatred was pent up before the Omnipresent close to nine hundred yearsfrom [the days] that they were in Egypt until [those of] Ezekielbut His love had shielded them. Now that they had increased their transgressions, though, it was awakened, and concerning this it is stated (Prov. 10:12): “Hatred arouses quarrels [but love covers up all transgressions].”</html>

<html><b>And I said to them</b> Aaron proclaimed this prophecy to them before the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed Himself to Moses in the thorn bush. This is what was said to Eli (I Sam. 2:27): “Did I appear to the house of your father when they were in Egypt, etc.?”</html>

<html><b>But they rebelled against Me</b> They are the wicked, the majority of Israel, who died in the three days of darkness, as it is said (Exod. 13:18): “and the children of Israel went out of Egypt, (חֲמֻשִּׁים)”one out of fifty, and some say, one out of five hundred.</html>

<html><b>that it should not be desecrated</b> That My Name should not be desecrated; since I became known to them and I promised to take them out, and the Egyptians recognized that they are My people, if I were to destroy them their enemies would say, “Because He has not the ability to take them out.”</html>

<html><b>to be for a sign</b> It is a great sign for them, that I gave the day of My resting to them for a resting. Behold this is a phenomenal manifestation that I hallowed them to Myself.</html>

<html><b>they walked not in My statutes</b> They tested Me with the calf, and in Rephidim [i.e., showing unwillingness] to receive the Torah, and they left over some of the manna. <b>and My Sabbaths they desecrated</b> Some of the people went out to gather manna.</html>

<html><b>But the children rebelled against Me</b> The tribe of Dan, and likewise those who became attached to Baal Peor after the generation of the wilderness had died out.</html>

<html><b>to scatter them</b> Back then, I promised them to scatter them (Deut. 4:25ff.): “When you will beget children and children’s children, etc. [the Lord will scatter you among the nations, etc.].”</html>

<html><b>statutes that were not good</b> I delivered them into the hands of their temptation to stumble over their iniquity, and so did Jonathan render: And I delivered them into the hands of their foolish temptation, and they went and made decrees that were not good, and practices by which they cannot live.</html>

<html><b>And I defiled them with their gifts</b> Those gifts that I legislated for themto hallow for Me every firstborn—I delivered them into the hands of their temptation: to pass those firstborn to the Molech. Hence the statutes that are not good. <b>in order that I lay them desolate</b> Heb. אֲשְּׁמֵם. I shall lay them desolate and destroy them. אֲשְּׁמֵם, is an expression of שְּׁמָמָה, desolation. Whoever explains it as an expression of אַשְּׁמָה, guilt, errs, because the ‘aleph’ is not part of the radical. <b>that they know</b> when I will bring upon them the evil.</html>

<html><b>this too</b> they continued to do when I brought them into the land.</html>

<html><b>So its name was called Bamah</b> A pejorative: i.e., of what (בַּמֶה) importance is it?</html>

<html><b>in the way of your forefathers, etc.</b> [This is] a rhetorical question. Is this proper, that you should have defiled yourselves in the way of your forefathers, and I should be inquired of by you to reply to your question?</html>

<html><b>And when you take your gifts</b> And with the taking of your gifts that you should have given Me, and you take them from Me to cause your firstborn to pass to idols.</html>

<html><b>But what enters your mind</b> Heb. והעלה על-רוחכם [lit. what ascends upon your spirit], what ascends upon your mind. <b>‘Let us be like the nations’</b> Let us break off His yoke from our necks since He sent us away from Him. <b>shall not come about</b> For you already accepted upon yourselves of your own free will in the days of Joshua, as it is written (Josh. 24:1): “And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel,” and the entire episode.</html>

<html><b>the wilderness of the peoples</b> That is the wilderness through which they [the children of Israel] traveled for forty years, and so did Hosea prophesy (2:16): “and I will…lead her into the desert.” That is the desert of Sihon and Og. Ezekiel called it the wilderness of the peoples because many nations bordered upon it.</html>

<html><b>under the rod</b> That you shall be subordinate to Me and to My chastisement. <b>into the transmission of the covenant</b> The covenant that I transmitted to you.</html>

<html><b>And I shall separate</b> Heb. וּבָרוֹתִי, an expression of ברד [selecting, separating]. <b>from the land of their sojournings</b> From the land of their exile I shall take them and slay them in the wilderness.</html>

<html><b>go worship</b> and do not show the nations that you are called by My Name by coming to the prophet to inquire of him [about the] Torah, and, after he tells you My words, not hearkening to Me, as the matter that is stated (33:32): “And behold you are to them like the song of the flutes, etc.” They hear your words, but they do not carry them out. <b>with your gifts and with your idols</b> For you separate the first born to be designated as a firstborn as I commanded you, but once My Name is called upon the thing, you sacrifice them to idols.</html>

<html><b>and the first of your food</b> Heb. מַשְׂאוֹתֵיכֶם, like מִשְׁאַרוֹתֵיכֶם your kneading troughs, an expression of food, like (Exod. 21:10): “her food (שְּׁאֵרָה), her clothing, or her conjugal rights shall not be diminished.” Menachem also (p. 168) associated it in this manner.</html>

<html><b>and you will quarrel</b> Heb. וּנְקֹטֹתֶם, an expression of quarreling (קְטָטָה). Another explanation, following the Targum: וְתִּידַנְקוּן, and so does Jonathan render (9:4) הַנֶאֱנָחִים: “and those who groan,” demonir in Old French, to melt away.</html>