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reprove you, how could he have fabricated his prophecies, for how could he have
known what I am going to do? Know that I have sent him (RaDaK).
2. "Will a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey?" (v 4) The holy spirit in the
mouth of the prophet is the "roar of the lion". Just as the lion only roars when he has
his prey, so the prophets only prophesy doom when the decree has been made. The
lion also alludes to Nebuchadnezzar (Rashi).
3. "Will a young lion cry out from his lair if he has taken nothing?" (v 4). The lion does
not roar before he has his prey in order not to give it a warning in time for it to escape
(RaDaK).
4. "Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth where there is no trap for it?" (v 5): The
enemy will not leave you alone and go away empty-handed (RaDaK).
5. "Does a snare spring up from the earth and have taken nothing at all?" (v 5). How
can it be that you sin yet your sins will not be a snare for you? (Rashi).
6. "Shall a shofar be sounded in the city and the people not be afraid?" When the
watchman warns the people of an onslaught of enemies, the people become filled
with fear. So you should have feared on hearing the warnings of the prophets.
7. "Shall evil befall a city and the Lord has not done it?" When the evil comes, you will
know that it has been sent by God as the penalty for not heeding His prophets.
Vv 9-10: The prophet calls on the Philistines and Egyptians to come to witness the
coming tumult in Shomron, capital of the Ten Tribes, as a result of their oppression and
robbery.
V 11: The enemies are poised all around the land, ready to bring down the arrogant
nation.
V 12: When a lion snatches a lamb, the shepherd tries to retrieve at least a mere
couple of bones or a piece of ear, even though they are of no use whatever, in order
to prove to his master that the lamb was taken as prey and that he did not steal it
(Metzudas David). The metaphor comes to emphasize how absolute the destruction of
the kingdom of the Ten Tribes would be. Only the few members of the Ten Tribes who
attached themselves to the House of Judah would survive (see Rashi).
Vv 13-15: The first section of this prophecy concludes with the warning that the
coming doom will destroy Jeraboam's idolatrous altar of Beith El together with the
opulence of Shomron, whose inhabitants were so wealthy that they had separate
winter and summer houses.
"May G-d return our hearts to the Holy One, restore us to our land and re-build the
temple in Jerusalem quickly in our times. " Amen