זכריה, פרק ח׳, פסוק י׳

A bleak portrait of a society in utter ruin—financially, physically, and socially—sets the stage for a dramatic contrast between a harsh past and a promised future. This dark period refers to the time before the foundations of the Second Temple were laid [אבן עזרא, רד״ק, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. It reflects an era when the people were steeped in sin and thus unworthy of any divine reward [אברבנאל]. The economic collapse was absolute. Human labor brought no blessing; jobs were either nonexistent, or the wages earned were so terribly insufficient that they seemed to vanish instantly, as if placed into a purse with holes [רד״ק, מלבי״ם, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. This financial paralysis extended to the use of livestock. The profits typically gained from renting animals for agriculture, riding, or hauling goods ceased completely [מצודת ציון, מלבי״ם, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. The lack of blessing in the animals' labor was so profound that it felt as though the beasts themselves did not exist [רד״ק], or, in a very literal sense, they had simply disappeared due to enemy plunder [אבן עזרא בשם ר' משה]. On a symbolic level, this dual economic loss affected every tier of society, with the lack of human wages representing the fallen kings and ministers, and the loss of animal labor symbolizing the impoverished masses and farmers [אברבנאל].

This economic standstill was intimately tied to a complete lack of physical safety. The roads became perilous, leaving people terrified to travel or conduct business out of fear of their enemies [מצודת ציון, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Confined behind city walls and paralyzed by the danger of the open roads, the people lost all ability to use their animals for trade or agriculture [מלבי״ם]. This overwhelming vulnerability was a direct result of God hiding His face, abandoning the people to the hostility of the surrounding nations [אברבנאל].

Beyond these external threats, the nation suffered from a devastating internal collapse. God allowed the society to fracture, inciting a chaotic state of civil strife and mutual destruction [רד״ק, מצודת ציון]. The ruined city of Jerusalem became a breeding ground for bitter quarrels and cruelty among neighbors. The social fabric tore so deeply that even the meager earnings a person somehow managed to scrape together were often ruthlessly stolen by their own countrymen [מצודת דוד, אבן עזרא, מלבי״ם, ביאור שטיינזלץ].