יחזקאל, פרק ט״ז, פסוק ל״ו

After a long history of God’s kindness, the reality of the nation’s severe betrayal comes to light. The crimes committed are not hidden; they are public, blatant, and cruel, demanding a heavy and equally public response. The central theme of this accusation is complete exposure, described through the imagery of something being poured out. The primary approach among commentators is that this spilling represents the uncovering of the very bottom or base of something, serving as a metaphor for nakedness and deep shame [רש״י, רד״ק, מצודת ציון, אברבנאל]. It is compared to a cooking pot that tips over, spilling its food and leaving its bare bottom exposed to the world [ביאור שטיינזלץ], or simply to a spilled liquid that can no longer be contained or hidden [רד״ק, מצודת דוד, אברבנאל]. Because the nation publicly flaunted its evil deeds before other nations, its punishment must also take place in full view of everyone. Adding a more physical layer to this imagery, [רש״י] explains that the pouring describes a literal flow driven by an intense lust for unfaithfulness.

Taking a different approach, another perspective links the spilled substance to a snake or to witchcraft. According to this view, the nation poured out and revealed the toxic venom and filth of the serpent hiding within it, or actively engaged in sorcery [מלבי״ם, חומת אנך]. The resulting disgrace was achieved through the nation’s unfaithfulness with its foreign lovers. These lovers are the surrounding nations that the Israelites eagerly joined out of a desire to worship their false gods [רד״ק], representing permanent, ongoing relationships of betrayal [מלבי״ם]. Alongside these nations are the idols themselves, described with a derogatory term that compares them to feces [מצודת ציון]. These idols symbolize a complete lack of boundaries, representing a willingness to act recklessly with anyone who passes by [מלבי״ם].

The accusation reaches its horrifying peak with the nation's ultimate crime: slaughtering its own children and burning them as offerings to these disgusting idols [מצודת דוד, אברבנאל, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. The tragedy of the children's blood establishes a strict standard of measure for measure. Just as the people showed absolutely no mercy in shedding the blood of their sons and daughters for false gods, God will show no mercy in shedding the nation's blood, punishing them with the exact same severity [רד״ק, מצודת דוד]. Other commentators see the blood of the children simply as the direct cause of the impending disaster, noting that this specific guilt is what brings about the ruin [רש״י, מנחת שי]. Tying the entire sequence of events together, [מלבי״ם] explains that just as the nation poured out the blood of its children in massive amounts, it poured out its toxic venom in equal measure, sealing its fate and ensuring its punishment.