The tragic fall of the nation was not merely a military defeat, but the catastrophic result of a deep spiritual betrayal by its own leadership. Rather than serving as a moral compass to awaken the generation and correct its path, the spiritual guides abandoned their duty, feeding the public comforting illusions that paved the way to destruction. These figures were not sent by God. They were popular prophets chosen, loved, and maintained by the people themselves, despite never having experienced a true divine vision [לחם דמעה, ביאור שטיינזלץ].
They delivered messages of vanity and foolishness. The primary approach among commentators is that these were empty lies, as tasteless and unfulfilling as unsalted food, which only served to distance the people from the proper path. However, another perspective suggests their words were actively destructive, seducing the nation to embrace idolatry [תורה תמימה].
The ultimate betrayal of these leaders lay in their refusal to expose the nation's wrongdoing. A true prophet confronts the people face-to-face, pointing out specific flaws to inspire sincere repentance. Instead, these popular figures placed a mask over the nation's eyes, hiding their sins and silently validating their corrupt behavior [תורה תמימה, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Had they exposed the very first offense, repentance would have been simple. However, their deliberate silence allowed transgressions to multiply out of control [לחם דמעה].
By covering up the truth, the prophets actively prevented the nation from healing. Most commentators explain that they blocked the people from returning to their former, healthy state through repentance, which would have saved them from disaster [ביאור שטיינזלץ, לחם דמעה]. Alternatively, they simply failed to correct the nation's rebellious streak [רש״י, לחם דמעה]. Some even suggest a dark irony: the prophets hid the truth with the specific intention of ensuring the people would continue in their rebellion and keep sinning [לחם דמעה].
As a result of this moral decay, the leadership produced only false and misleading visions. While these are generally understood simply as fake prophecies [אבן עזרא, ביאור שטיינזלץ], they can also be viewed metaphorically as a crushing physical weight, like a heavy load carried by a beast of burden, symbolizing the massive accumulation of sins and resulting troubles [לחם דמעה]. These deceptive messages actively pushed the nation away from God and the straight path [רש״י, אבן עזרא, ביאור שטיינזלץ, צאינה וראינה]. This deception dragged the people into widespread idolatry—worshipping as many false gods as there are days in the year—and ultimately led them into exile, where the false prophets continued to peddle empty hopes [מנחת שי, לחם דמעה].
Ultimately, this dynamic became a form of divine punishment, exacted measure for measure. Because the prophets enabled the wicked with lies instead of offering honest rebuke, God Himself allowed a spirit of deception to overtake them. Their own false prophecies transformed into a divine stumbling block, designed to bring about their final ruin [אלון בכות].