The impending destruction and the departure of God's presence from the nation are not random tragedies, but the direct and unavoidable consequences of a deep moral collapse [אברבנאל]. The spiritual decay of the divided kingdom can be traced directly to its centers of power, with the capital cities bearing the heaviest blame. All the resulting punishments and disasters arrive simply as a payback for the nation's own actions [מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ].
The primary approach among commentators is that the nation is addressed through a poetic double expression representing the Ten Tribes, who made up the vast majority of the people [רד״ק, מצודת דוד]. Another perspective suggests a broader scope, where one term encompasses all twelve tribes, while the other focuses specifically on the northern Kingdom of Israel [אברבנאל]. A more nuanced view draws a sharp contrast between the different titles used for the nation based on the severity of their actions. In this reading, the masses of the Ten Tribes are guilty of intentional rebellion and outright idolatry. Conversely, the more honorable title represents the leadership or the Kingdom of Judah, whose offenses were considered less severe, stemming from misplaced desires or errors rather than outright rebellion—such as offering sacrifices on unauthorized altars that were still directed toward God [מלבי״ם]. Underlying all these transgressions, a midrashic approach points out that the true root of the nation's crimes and subsequent suffering is the abandonment and neglect of the Torah [חומת אנך].
When questioning the source of this widespread corruption, the focus is placed on the people responsible rather than the abstract nature of the crimes themselves. The inquiry specifically targets the intelligent beings—the leaders and influencers—who invented the sins, spread them, and caused the masses to stumble [אבן עזרא, רד״ק]. The central blame falls squarely on the leadership and the capital cities.
Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom, served as the very root of the nation's idolatry. Its kings erected golden calves, nurtured false prophets, and blindly led the masses astray [רד״ק, מצודת דוד, מלבי״ם]. The toxic influence of Samaria did not stop at its own borders; it spilled over and indirectly caused the spiritual downfall of the Kingdom of Judah, whose kings were drawn to and learned from the wickedness of their northern neighbors [אברבנאל].
Parallel to Samaria, Jerusalem faces its own severe indictment regarding the proliferation of unauthorized high places—altars built outside the central Temple that were sometimes even used for idolatrous worship [ביאור שטיינזלץ, מצודת ציון]. Even though Jerusalem was home to God's Temple, the city became littered with these forbidden altars, creating a profound disgrace. Because the kings residing in Jerusalem failed to eradicate these high places, their inaction served as a silent endorsement. By allowing the altars to remain, the leadership gave them legitimacy, signaling to the rest of the Kingdom of Judah that they too could freely build their own private altars [אברבנאל, מצודת דוד, מלבי״ם].