כְּעַ֗ן כָּל־קֳבֵל֙ דִּֽי־מְלַ֤ח הֵֽיכְלָא֙ מְלַ֔חְנָא וְעַרְוַ֣ת מַלְכָּ֔א לָ֥א אֲֽרִֽיךְ לַ֖נָא לְמֶֽחֱזֵ֑א עַ֨ל־דְּנָ֔ה שְׁלַ֖חְנָא וְהוֹדַ֥עְנָא לְמַלְכָּֽא׃
Sekarang, karena kami menghendaki agar Bait itu tetap tinggal dalam keruntuhannya, dan tidak patut bagi kami melihat raja dipermalukan, maka kami mengirim surat ini dan memberitahukan hal ini kepada raja,
Sforno
וירא חם אבי כנען את ערות אביו, he saw the shameful deed his son כנען had done to his father Noach when he had castrated him. (according to some of our sages in Sanhedrin 70) According to the historian Berussi Hacaldaii, (compare Genesis 6,9) Canaan castrated his grandfather not surgically, but by some means of sorcery. His father Cham watched his son invoke the witchcraft without protesting or trying to stop him. Disgrace, shame, is also called ערוה, “nakedness.” Compare Ezra 4,14 וערות מלכא לא אריך לנא למחזא “it is not right that we should see the king being disgraced.” Also, in Deuteronomy 24,1 the expression ערות דבר does not refer to either literal nakedness, or to sexual licentiousness, or incest, but refers to “a disgraceful thing.”
Chizkuni
ממולח, “seasoned with salt;” compare Ezekiel 16,4: והמלח לא הומלחת, “and you had not been rubbed with salt.” Compare also Ezra 4,14: די מלח היכלא מלחנא, “seeing that we have eaten from the salt of the palace, etc.” [i.e. the king has fed us generously. Ed.]