וַיִּקַּ֣ח ׀ עֶֽבֶד־מֶ֨לֶךְ אֶת־הָאֲנָשִׁ֜ים בְּיָד֗וֹ וַיָּבֹ֤א בֵית־הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ אֶל־תַּ֣חַת הָאוֹצָ֔ר וַיִּקַּ֤ח מִשָּׁם֙ בְּלוֹיֵ֣ הסחבות [סְחָב֔וֹת] וּבְלוֹיֵ֖ מְלָחִ֑ים וַיְשַׁלְּחֵ֧ם אֶֽל־יִרְמְיָ֛הוּ אֶל־הַבּ֖וֹר בַּחֲבָלִֽים׃
Lalu Ebed-Melekh membawa orang-orang itu bersamanya dan masuk ke istana raja, ke tempat di bawah perbendaharaan. Dari sana ia mengambil kain-kain usang yang compang-camping dan pakaian-pakaian tua yang sudah rusak, lalu menurunkannya dengan tali kepada Yeremia ke dalam perigi.
Rashi
shall vanish Heb. נִמְלָחוּ, shall rot away. Comp. (Jer. 38:12) “Rags and decayed clothing (בְּלוֹאֵי הַסְּחָבוֹת),” a decayed garment. Another explanation of נִמְלָחוּ is: shall be stirred. This is an expression similar to “the sailors of (מַלָּחֵי) the sea,” who stir the water with the oars that guide the ship. Comp. also (Ex. 30:35) “Stirred (מְמֻלָּח), pure, and holy.”
Ramban
MEMULACH’ (SEASONED WITH SALT), PURE AND HOLY. This means that it be seasoned with salt of Sodom, just as the Rabbis have said:164Kerithoth 6a. “Of salt of Sodom, the fourth part of a kab.” Onkelos translated [memulach as] m’areiv (mixed together). By this he intended to say that memulach means “rubbed out” — that the ingredients should all be so well-ground and mixed so thoroughly together, that their identity is “rubbed out” and none of the [individual] ingredients can be recognized. This is of the expression: For the heavens ‘nimlochu’ (shall vanish away) like smoke.191Isaiah 51:6. Similarly: ‘u’vloyei m’lachim’ (and worn rags);192Jeremiah 38:11. A fruitful land ‘limleichah’ (into a salt waste).193Psalms 107:34. These are all expressions of destruction and annihilation.
And Rashi explained that the term memluach means that it be thoroughly mixed together in the grinding of the ingredients one with another. To this interpretation Rashi brought proof from the verse similar in meaning: ‘malachayich’ (thy mariners) and thy pilots,194Ezekiel 27:27. who are so called “because they turn over the water with the oars when they propel the ship, like a person who stirs up beaten eggs with a spoon in order to mix them thoroughly.”
In my opinion mariners are called malachim [of the root melach — salt] because they know the “taste” of the sea, as if they could feel if it is “salty” or “sweet;” that is to say, they know when it will be sweet and pleasant for those travelling by sea, and when it will be bad and bitter for them. It is not those who hold the oars [propelling the ship] who are called malachim [as Rashi said], for it is written on Tyre, The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were thy ‘shotim’ (rowers);195Ibid., Verse 8. The elders of Gebal and the wise men thereof were in thee thy calkers; all the ships of the sea ‘u’malacheyhem’ (and their mariners) were in thee.196Ibid., Verse 9. For it is the older captains who know the sea that are called malachim. And it is further written, And all that handle the oar, ‘malachim’ (the mariners), and all the pilots of the sea, shall come down from their ships, they shall stand upon the land.197Ibid., Verse 29. Thus three categories are mentioned: those that handle the oar, the mariners, and the pilots [which proves that malachim — the mariners — are not those that handle the oar].
Similarly, a fruitful land ‘limleichah’193Psalms 107:34. means “to a salt land,” for in a salt land nothing will grow, just as is written of Sodom, The whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and a burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth,198Deuteronomy 29:22. and it is further written, and he sowed it with salt.199Judges 9:45. It is possible that the letter lamed is redundant in the verse, for the heavens ‘nimlochu’ like smoke,191Isaiah 51:6. the intent thereof being as in the word nimchu (erased), which would make it similar to these cases: ba’l'umim;200Psalms 44:15. The structure of the word is ba’umim (among the nations). wholly ‘shalanan’ (at ease) and quiet.201Job 21:23. The structure of the word is shanon (ease).
And Rashi explained that the term memluach means that it be thoroughly mixed together in the grinding of the ingredients one with another. To this interpretation Rashi brought proof from the verse similar in meaning: ‘malachayich’ (thy mariners) and thy pilots,194Ezekiel 27:27. who are so called “because they turn over the water with the oars when they propel the ship, like a person who stirs up beaten eggs with a spoon in order to mix them thoroughly.”
In my opinion mariners are called malachim [of the root melach — salt] because they know the “taste” of the sea, as if they could feel if it is “salty” or “sweet;” that is to say, they know when it will be sweet and pleasant for those travelling by sea, and when it will be bad and bitter for them. It is not those who hold the oars [propelling the ship] who are called malachim [as Rashi said], for it is written on Tyre, The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were thy ‘shotim’ (rowers);195Ibid., Verse 8. The elders of Gebal and the wise men thereof were in thee thy calkers; all the ships of the sea ‘u’malacheyhem’ (and their mariners) were in thee.196Ibid., Verse 9. For it is the older captains who know the sea that are called malachim. And it is further written, And all that handle the oar, ‘malachim’ (the mariners), and all the pilots of the sea, shall come down from their ships, they shall stand upon the land.197Ibid., Verse 29. Thus three categories are mentioned: those that handle the oar, the mariners, and the pilots [which proves that malachim — the mariners — are not those that handle the oar].
Similarly, a fruitful land ‘limleichah’193Psalms 107:34. means “to a salt land,” for in a salt land nothing will grow, just as is written of Sodom, The whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and a burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth,198Deuteronomy 29:22. and it is further written, and he sowed it with salt.199Judges 9:45. It is possible that the letter lamed is redundant in the verse, for the heavens ‘nimlochu’ like smoke,191Isaiah 51:6. the intent thereof being as in the word nimchu (erased), which would make it similar to these cases: ba’l'umim;200Psalms 44:15. The structure of the word is ba’umim (among the nations). wholly ‘shalanan’ (at ease) and quiet.201Job 21:23. The structure of the word is shanon (ease).