יחזקאל, פרק כ״ב, פסוק י״ג

Jerusalem has sunk into deep moral decay, reaching a breaking point that triggers a profound and final response from God. The city is overwhelmed by severe corruption, driven specifically by financial crimes and violent bloodshed.

God responds to this tragedy with a striking of His hands. The primary approach among commentators is that this action serves as a human metaphor for overwhelming sorrow and distress. It paints a picture of God mourning and crying out in pain over the tragic state of the people. However, another perspective views this striking of hands not merely as an expression of grief, but as the official sealing of a decree. It represents the final stamp of judgment, officially confirming the mission of the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, to destroy Jerusalem [מלבי״ם].

This intense divine reaction is directed squarely at the city's rampant greed and extortion. The people are violently taking wealth from the helpless, exploiting those who have no power to defend themselves [מצודת ציון, רד״ק, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. The commentators point out the extraordinary severity of this financial corruption. Even though the people are guilty of other terrible offenses, such as idolatry and forbidden relationships, it is specifically this robbery and social abuse that seals the fate of the city. This mirrors the generation of the Flood, whose ultimate destruction was also finalized because of the exact same sin of robbery [רש״י, רד״ק, מלבי״ם].

Alongside these financial crimes is the horrific reality of innocent blood spilled in the streets [מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. The way this violence is described highlights both the fundamental, corrupt nature of the sin itself and the massive, overwhelming quantity of innocent lives that have actually been taken [רד״ק].