"And I cut it asunder."-By the hands of Pharaoh Necho I removed him. "To break," ?, with Tsere and Yod, to make it long. -He says, when I saw that no good king would arise after him, I removed him, in order that the nations might rule over Israel. For they did not keep the way of the Lord, except in spite of the king, as it is written ; therefore it is said, To destroy my covenant which I had made with all people, as if God had made a covenant with the nations not to do evil to Israel, for they had done them no evil in the days of Josiah. Even Pharaoh Necho sent to him a message, that he should not make war with him.

11. "And it was broken in that day.”—That covenant was broken in the day that Josiah died, for the three shepherds ruled over them, and the nations plundered them, and robbed, and slew, and led away captive.

"And so the poor of the flock that kept me, upw♫

, knew that it was the word of the Lord."-Those righteous persons amongst them who were keeping me, i. e., what I said to them through the prophets. But the people did not hearken, for they did not believe them, only the good amongst them, who were keeping me, i. e.,

But his father kept * וְאָבִיו שָׁמַר אֶת־הַדָּבָר my word, as

the word," and when the punishments came, they knew that it was the word of the Lord.

12. And I said unto them."-This is the word of the Lord which he said to them through the prophets.

"Give me my price."-Inasmuch as I have fed (or been a shepherd to you) give my price or hire. By hire, is meant repentance and good works.

"And if not, forbear."-Similar to what Ezekiel said, "Whether they hear, or whether they forbear."

"So they weighed my price, thirty pieces of silver.”— There were thirty righteous persons amongst them in the days of these three shepherds, and of them we find

Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Zephaniah. But it is impossible that there should not have been more, even though they are not mentioned, for, behold, it is written, "The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven; the flesh of thy saints unto the beast of the earth." (Psalm lxxix. 2.) But Jonathan has interpreted, "If it be right in your eyes, do my will; if not, forbear. And they did my will; the men partly," i. e., some of the men returned in repentance.

13. "And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter,”. The prophet says, that God told him to cast this silver to the . And some interpret this word as if it were in (treasure), for the Ehevi letters may be interchanged, and the meaning then is, "The keeper of the treasure ;" so Jonathan has interpreted by "Treasurer." This comment then signifies, figuratively, that they (the pious persons spoken of in the preceding verse) should unite in the house of the Lord, and be separate from the people that did evil in the eyes of the Lord. The word is used to convey an allusion to the

He fashioneth their * הַיּוֹצֵר יַחַד לִבָּם הַמָּבִין וגו',Creator

hearts alike, he considereth," &c. (Psalm xxxiii. 15); for he knoweth the good and the evil, He searcheth the heart, and trieth the reins, for there are some who show themselves as good, but are not good.

"And I took."-So it appeared to him in the prophetic vision, that he took the silver and cast it in the house of the Lord to the potter (or treasurer); but this whole matter had happened many years before, for it occurred in the days of the three shepherds, and signifies, in a figure, that the good were united together, and kept separate from the people, and were not seen with them in the streets, and this is what Jeremiah says, "Run ye, to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem and seek in the broad places thereof-if there be a man that seeketh

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the truth and I will pardon it" (Jer. v. 1), as I have explained it in the book of Jeremiah. The words, goodly price," (magnificence of honour), mean, the house of the Lord, according as is said, "I cast it in the house of the Lord." The meaning is [as if it were written], To the magnificence of honour. The, which is written, [before in] stands in the place of two [i. e., it applies to both and 7];

אֲשֶׁר יָקַרְתִּי מֵעֲלֵיהֶם,,and the meaning of the words

"That I was prized at of them" [that I was honourable from upon them] is, I was honoured in myself, and I turned away from them, on account of the evil of their deeds, and so Jonathan has interpreted.*

14. "Then I cut asunder." This is said of the destruction, when Zedekiah was destroyed, for that was the end of the destroyers and corrupters, the temple was destroyed and Israel led captive.

"That I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel." -The brotherhood which existed between Judah and Israel in the service of idols was broken then. When Judah was led captive, there did not remain an idolater in Israel; for Israel, until they were led away captive, did not cease from the service of idols, in all the afflictions that came upon them. But when they were led captive, and saw that the words of the prophets were verified in the desolation of the land, they no more committed idolatry. And Judah also served idols, until they were led captive, but after their captivity, idolatry was annihilated from amongst them. Behold, then, the brotherhood in idolatry which had existed between them, was destroyed; and so Jonathan has interpreted.

Behold, we have interpreted this chapter of the past,

כלומר יקרתי בעצמי says אֲשֶׁר יָקַרְתִּי The Michlal Jophi on the words * ,The words mean, I was honourable * וסרתי מעליהם כי לא היתי יקר בעיניהם :

or precious in myself, but I turned away from them, because I was not precious in their eyes.”

but the following chapter is, in every case, a prophecy of the future, of the time of the second temple, and we will explain it after that we shall have explained this chapter of the time of the second temple. My lord, my father, has interpreted thus:

Joseph Kimchi's Interpretation.

God, blessed be He, says, I began to feed the flock, and I took to me two choice staves for the purpose.

חוֹבְלִים is the high-priest, and-נוֹעַם and חוֹבְלִים בּוֹעַם

-the king. Of the priest it is said, "The priest's lips
should retain knowledge;" and again it is said, “ Know-
ledge shall be pleasant, y, to thy soul." is the
ban
king, because he is like the in 22, captain of the
sailors in a ship. (Jon. i. 6.) But this flock, although I
fed them with these two staves, and kept away from them
other shepherds, i. e., the kings of the nations, did not
turn to that which is good; and I sent them three
prophets to feed them in my place, and they are Haggai,
Zechariah, and Malachi; but as their reproof did not
profit them, I cut them off, as it is said, "Three shepherds
also I cut off in one month." From this we learn,
that they died in one month; and after them there was no
prophecy in Israel, as our rabbies, of blessed memory,
have said, "After the death of Haggai, Zechariah, and
Malachi, prophecy departed from Israel." We find also,
that the beginning of their prophecy was in one time, in
the second year of Darius. It is said, when I cut off
these three shepherds, "my soul loathed them, and their
soul also abhorred me." signifies" abhorred;" as

,An unripe fig (פגה בוחל וצמל ,in that rabbinical saying

a ripening fig, and a ripe fig. They say, a means the days of childhood. is when the daughter is great, and her father abhors her; and the explanation of s is by, when she is adult, and her father despairs

of getting her married, on account of her abiding so long in the house.

"Then I said, I will not feed you and I took my staff Pleasantness, and cut it asunder."-This signifies, that near the captivity they lost the priesthood. "Give me my price." Turn in repentance, and they did turn, but their repentance was not perfect, but only thirty days of the mourning, which they mourned on account of the high-priest who died; this is meant by the thirty pieces of silver. "Cast it to the potter,", i. e., to the treasure, as it is explained" to the house of the Lord, to the house of the "* The meaning is, Write this prophecy, and lay it in the house of the Lord. And there are some who interpreti, to the congregation, as ,"The former of the grasshopper." (Amos

vii. 1.)

יוצר

"The magnificence of the honour wherewith I was honoured from upon them."-The majesty of the glory which I removed from them, inasmuch as in the second temple the Shechinah did not rest.

,הקַר רַגְלְךָ means, “ Which I withheld, as אֲשֶׁר יָקַרְתִּי

"Withdraw thy foot." (Prov. xxv. 17.)

"Then I cut asunder mine other staff,"

as,

in, that

is, the king, and he is Agrippas, for in his days Titus led them captive.

R. Abraham of Toledo's Exposition.

The wise man, R. Abraham, the Levite, from Toledo, the author of the "Book of Cabbalah," has interpreted this chapter thus:

"Feed the flock of the slaughter." - This is the

* In verse 13.

+ Kimchi on Amos, amongst other interpretations of these words, says, They may signify '," A collection of locusts ;" and it is in

this sense that Joseph Kimchi here quotes the words.