A prophecy of wrath targets a corrupt leader who exploits his own people to build monuments to his personal glory. The commentators agree that this rebuke is directed at Jehoiakim, the king of Judah and son of Josiah, who constructed his royal palace using forced labor, extortion, and theft, entirely neglecting to pay his workers [רש״י, רד״ק, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. On a spiritual level, every human endeavor, including the building of a home, ought to be directed toward Heaven and established on firm foundations of righteousness and justice [חומת אנך].
The criticism is divided into two distinct stages of the palace construction, focusing first on the lower structure and then on the upper chambers [מצודת ציון, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. A careful distinction is made between acting with moral righteousness, which goes beyond the strict letter of the law, and acting with basic justice, which is the dry law itself. According to Jewish law, workers are only legally owed their wages once their task is complete. Therefore, while the king was building the lower foundation of his palace, he was not yet legally bound to pay his laborers. However, morality and righteousness dictated that he should have advanced their pay. Later, when the construction reached the upper chambers, the main frame of the building was already standing. At that point, he was legally obligated to pay them. By continuing to withhold their wages, he violated the actual law [מלבי״ם].
The exploitation was absolute, as the king forced his citizens to work for free, providing no compensation at either the beginning or the end of their labor [מצודת דוד, רד״ק]. The primary approach among commentators is that the king simply refused to pay the workers their earned wages [מצודת ציון, רד״ק, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Another perspective suggests the focus is on the workers themselves, emphasizing that the king denied the laborers the basic dignity and compensation they inherently deserved [רד ק בשם אביו].
The severity of this injustice is further deepened by the exact nature of what was withheld. A formal wage implies a specific amount agreed upon in an organized contract. In this case, the king did not merely fail to arrange a fair, predetermined wage. He ultimately refused to give his workers even the most minimal compensation for the basic physical labor they provided [מלבי״ם].