הושע, פרק ט׳, פסוק ו׳

Fleeing from disaster does not guarantee safety; it often leads directly to total ruin in the chosen place of refuge, while the abandoned homeland turns into a wasteland. When the Israelites ran away, the primary approach among commentators is that they were escaping from robbers, the sword, and the destruction brought by Nebuchadnezzar, or from the crushing weight of severe famine [רד״ק]. A unique perspective offers a different understanding of their escape, suggesting they fled to Egypt under the false illusion that they were returning to the native land that first nursed them in their early history. In doing so, however, they actually abandoned the true nursing breast of their mother, the Land of Israel, and simply walked toward their own deaths [מלבי״ם].

In their escape, the people hoped to find a safe haven. Instead, Egypt will gather them together only for the great and familiar Egyptian city of Noph to serve as their graveyard [רד״ק, מצודת ציון]. Rather than finding help in their exile, they will meet their end, dying by the sword, from starvation, or along the roads, never to return home [אבן עזרא, רד״ק, מצודת דוד].

While the people suffer exile and die in a foreign country, their estates in the Land of Israel are left completely abandoned. The beautiful homes and silver treasures they left behind [רש״י, רד״ק, מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ] will never be passed down to their rightful heirs. Instead, weeds and thorns will grow wild, completely covering the ruined houses and the empty, forsaken tents [מצודות, רד״ק, מלבי״ם, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Alternatively, an ancient tradition suggests that the ruins will not be overrun by thorny plants, but rather by wild animals that will claim the desolate spaces as their own [רש״י, רד״ק].