The chapter before us concludes with great prophecies of consolation. After the harsh rebuke regarding straying after the Ba'alim, the prophet moves to describe the state of Israel in the era to come: direct closeness to the Holy One, blessed be He, the eradication of idolatry from the world, peace with all creations, a new and eternal betrothal, and an orderly flow of divine bounty from above to below. In this lesson, we will explore these verses through the commentaries of the Radak and the Malbim.
"Ishi" and Not "Ba'ali": From Ownership to Intimacy
וְהָיָה בַיּוֹם הַהוּא נְאֻם ה' תִּקְרְאִי אִישִׁי וְלֹא תִקְרְאִי לִי עוֹד בַּעְלִי׃ - "And it shall be on that day, says Hashem, that you will call Me 'my husband' (Ishi), and you will no longer call Me 'my master' (Ba'ali)."
The Radak explains that the intention is: you will call Me "Ish." A woman's husband is called ish, as it is written, "Elkanah, her husband (isha)." Knesset Yisrael is compared to a married woman; the Jewish people are the bride, and the Holy One, blessed be He, is the Beloved, the husband. However, the term "Ba'al" is problematic because it is also shared with the pagan Ba'alim idols. Therefore, the verse states, "and you will no longer call Me Ba'ali," in order to completely eradicate the name of the Ba'alim so that it will not cross our lips at all, and in its place we will say "Ishi."
The Malbim delves deeper into this matter. The term "Ba'al" indicates ownership, dominion, and possession, as in the expressions ba'al ha-shor (the owner of the ox), ba'al ha-bor (the owner of the pit), or ba'al ha-bayit (the master of the house). In contrast, the term "Ish" signifies closeness, stemming from the concept of ishut (marital union). Until now, Israel did not experience direct closeness with the Holy One, blessed be He; divine providence was concealed, and they served Hashem out of fear rather than out of genuine connection. Therefore, they called Him "Ba'ali" - He is our Master; He holds dominion and ownership over us.
This very dynamic led to idolatry. Since they lacked a direct relationship with the Master of the Universe, and reality was one of concealment, they sought to draw divine bounty through intermediaries, through the stars and constellations. In the future, however, this will not be the case. The Holy One, blessed be He, will, as it were, walk among them, be openly revealed, and bestow blessing directly from Himself - an immediate and direct influence, like the bond between a husband and his wife.
And as Chazal taught, we will be like a bride in her father-in-law's home, rather than a bride in her father's home. A bride in her father's home is still distant from the groom, remaining in her parents' house. A bride in her father-in-law's home is one whom the groom has already brought into his own house. So too here: today we are in the state of a bride in her father's home, and the Holy One, blessed be He, is still in the category of "Ba'ali" - there is distance. In the future, He will be "Ishi"; the Holy One, blessed be He, will come to us and rest His Shechinah among us, the divine flow will be manifest, and our service will stem from love and personal connection rather than from fear and sovereign ownership.
This, fundamentally, is the difference between Israel and the nations: "For kingship belongs to Hashem, and He rules over the nations." The Vilna Gaon explains that the Jewish people crown the Holy One, blessed be He, and willingly accept His sovereignty; therefore, "kingship belongs to Hashem." A "ruler" (moshel), on the other hand, governs against the subjects' will, by force. The nations do not accept His kingship over them, and therefore He rules over them by force. For us, in the future, Hashem will be in the aspect of "Ishi" - my husband, an intimate bond like a wife with her husband.
Who Is the "Ba'al Chov"?
In this connection, an insight is cited in the name of Rav Shteinman: see how distorted our concepts have become. Nowadays, people refer to someone who owes money to many people as a "big ba'al chov (debtor)" and warn others to beware of him. Yet if one opens the Gemara, one will never find such an expression. In the language of Chazal, a ba'al chov is always the creditor, the lender, the claimant, as in the phrase, "and his ba'al chov came and claimed from him." Rav Shteinman observed: this semantic shift did not happen by chance. In the past, the creditor was seen as the master of the debt, who would come and say, "Sir, pay me my money." Today, the borrower feels that he is in control: "When I have the money, if I wish, and when it suits me, I will get back to you; stop bothering me." He dictates when to pay, how to pay, and in how many installments. From this distorted mindset, the corruption of the term itself was born.
Removing the Names of the Ba'alim from the World
וַהֲסִרֹתִי אֶת שְׁמוֹת הַבְּעָלִים מִפִּיהָ וְלֹא יִזָּכְרוּ עוֹד בִּשְׁמָם׃ - "And I will remove the names of the Ba'alim from her mouth, and they will no longer be mentioned by their name."
The Radak explains that God, blessed be He, will dedicate the hearts of Israel to fear His Name alone, and the Ba'alim and idol worship will no longer be mentioned or revered. Rav Saadia Gaon, quoted by the Radak, divides the verse into two parts: "And I will remove the names of the Ba'alim from her mouth" refers to the mouth of Israel, while "and they shall no longer be remembered by their name" refers to the nations of the world, for the nations will also no longer worship idols at that time, as it is written: "For then I will turn to the peoples a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one accord." He also offers another interpretation: "And I will remove the names of the Ba'alim from her mouth" refers to the generation of salvation, the generation in which the redemption takes place, while "and they shall no longer be remembered by their name" refers to the subsequent generations, for all eternity.
The Malbim continues with his approach. They used to worship forces they perceived as intermediaries channeling divine abundance from Him, blessed be He: celestial bodies, stars, angels, the sun, and the moon. Concerning this, the verse states first that the names of the Ba'alim will be removed from her mouth - she will no longer pray to them, but will turn directly to Him, as we saw with "You will no longer call Me 'my master' (Ba'ali), but 'my husband' (Ishi)." Furthermore, "and they shall no longer be remembered by their name" means that since the entire world will be under God's direct providence and not governed by the celestial order and the stars, people will not even remember that such a concept as idolatry ever existed, and it will be completely abolished.
In the era of prophecy, this sounded completely unimaginable, but anyone observing our reality sees that these words have largely already come to pass. This is precisely what the Rambam explains: that both Christianity and Islam are stages in the process leading toward the ultimate redemption. Previously, people did not believe in an abstract God, but in idols: an individual would sculpt an image and bow down to it, take a cow and worship it as in India, or fashion a Buddha and bow down to it. Christianity came and created a hybrid, an impure trinity connecting a human being to a spiritual entity. Islam is on a higher level, as it completely eradicated corporealism. If Christianity is classified as idolatry, Islam is not considered idolatry: they believe in Allah, which refers to God, and they believe in Moshe His prophet, though they claim that Muhammad later received updates. Yet they have no worship attached to any physical idol or image.
There were those who sought to argue that the Kaaba is a form of idolatry similar to Markulis (the Roman god Mercury), given the practice of casting stones, and some were therefore careful not to enter a mosque. The Steipler Gaon arrived at the Cave of Machpelah and refrained from entering because a mosque was there. However, the opinion of the vast majority of halachic authorities is that Islam is not idolatry, and therefore it is strictly permitted to enter a mosque, whereas entering a church is strictly forbidden because it is a house of idol worship. Thus, we already see the unfolding process of "And I will remove the names of the Ba'alim from her mouth, and they shall no longer be remembered by their name," as the worship of the Ba'al is completely erased. It is far easier for a Christian or a Muslim to embrace Judaism, whereas for an Indian bowing down to a cow, the distance separating him from belief in the Creator of the universe is immense. The Holy One, blessed be He, is gradually guiding the world toward belief in one God, until ultimately everyone will believe in the Lord, the God of Israel.
A Covenant with the Beasts of the Field
וְכָרַתִּי לָהֶם בְּרִית בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא עִם חַיַּת הַשָּׂדֶה וְעִם עוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם וְרֶמֶשׂ הָאֲדָמָה וְקֶשֶׁת וְחֶרֶב וּמִלְחָמָה אֶשְׁבּוֹר מִן הָאָרֶץ וְהִשְׁכַּבְתִּים לָבֶטַח׃ - And in that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground; and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.
According to the plain understanding, and as most commentators explain, "for them" refers to Israel: the Holy One, blessed be He, will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. Rashi explains that He will eliminate harmful creatures from the land. Other commentators explain similarly: "They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain," and as it is said, "For your covenant shall be with the stones of the field, and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you," as well as Yeshayahu's prophecy: "The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid," and "The nursing child shall play over the asp's hole." Harmful animals will no longer harm man; rather, there will be a sort of covenant of peace between them.
The Malbim offers an interpretation distinct from all the others. Since we spoke earlier about the forces of nature and the celestial order, the verse means that the celestial bodies and cosmological forces will have a covenant only with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. They will no longer rule over human beings, but exclusively over the animal kingdom. This aligns with what the early authorities taught: that divine providence over animals is general or species-wide - God ensures that the species does not become extinct, but there is no individual providence (hashgachah pratit) over each single animal (the Baal Shem Tov maintained differently, but many of the Rishonim drew this distinction between animals and humans). Even today we are affected by the celestial bodies, yet we possess the power to rise above them through prayer, Torah, and merits. In the future to come, however, we will be under the direct individual providence of the Holy One, blessed be He, alone, leaving no role whatsoever for the celestial bodies.
The Malbim adds that the verse can also be interpreted according to its plain meaning, like the other commentators: that no evil will exist in the world when the Holy One, blessed be He, is revealed - neither from creatures of instinct nor from beings endowed with free will. Creatures of instinct refers to animals, which lack free will and possess only instinctual desire - a dog desires to eat, and this is not a moral choice. And not only animals, but also savage humans who resembled predatory beasts and caused harm in ancient times will likewise have no power to act in the End of Days. And regarding beings with free will, the verse continues: "and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely." This is just as written in Yechezkel: "And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause harmful beasts to cease out of the land; and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods," meaning they will have no fear of sleeping in the forest. So too in the promises delivered by the master of prophets: "And I will cause evil beasts to cease out of the land" addresses creatures of instinct, while "neither shall the sword pass through your land" addresses beings of free choice.
I Will Betroth You to Me Forever
וְאֵרַשְׂתִּיךְ לִי לְעוֹלָם וְאֵרַשְׂתִּיךְ לִי בְּצֶדֶק וּבְמִשְׁפָּט וּבְחֶסֶד וּבְרַחֲמִים׃ - And I will betroth you to Me forever; and I will betroth you to Me in righteousness, and in justice, and in lovingkindness, and in compassion.
Rashi explains: "In righteousness and in justice" refers to how you conduct yourselves; "and in lovingkindness and in compassion" refers to what will come to you from Me as a result. When you conduct yourselves with righteousness and justice, you merit the outpouring of lovingkindness and compassion from Hashem. Rashi brings proof from Avraham Avinu, of whom it is said: "For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice." In return for this righteousness and justice, the Holy One, blessed be He, bestowed lovingkindness and compassion upon his descendants: "And give you compassion," and "The Lord your God shall keep for you the covenant and the mercy (chesed)." But when they ceased doing righteousness and justice, as stated in Amos, "You who turn justice to wormwood, and cast down righteousness to the earth," Hashem withdrew the lovingkindness and compassion from them, as it is said: "For I have taken away My peace from this people... even lovingkindness and compassion." And when they return to practicing righteousness and justice - "Zion shall be redeemed with justice, and they that return of her with righteousness" - He makes a crown of all four attributes and places it upon their heads. Thus, righteousness and justice reflect our conduct, while lovingkindness and compassion are the divine abundance bestowed upon us in return.
Radak explains that "I will betroth you to Me" is a continuation of what was stated above. The Holy One, blessed be He, had commanded Hoshea to take a wife of harlotry and marry her, and corresponding to this He now says: I will betroth you, the congregation of Israel - not as it was then in the sense of divorce, but rather a betrothal that endures forever. Israel was like a bride who strayed from her ways, who went after her lovers and left her husband, and the bond was severed. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: the future bond will last forever.
Why Betrothal and Not Marriage?
The question is asked: why does it say "I will betroth you to Me" and not "I will marry you to Me forever"? After all, no young man and woman wish to remain engaged forever. This can be explained based on the famous insight often shared at Sheva Berachot and engagement celebrations. It is said: "There shall yet be heard in the cities of Yehudah and in the streets of Yerushalayim the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride." Joy and gladness are understandable, but what is "the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride" - what kind of voice is that? Rather, when the groom and bride are still engaged, how much gentleness and mutual respect exist between them: he does not interrupt her, she does not cut him off in the middle, she does not criticize what he says, and he does not tell her that she is talking nonsense. That is the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride, and that is the period of betrothal. The Holy One, blessed be He, says, "I will betroth you to Me forever," so that catapult stones will not follow later as sometimes happens after the wedding. A man once remarked that ever since he got married he believes in flying saucers, and someone who arrived at the rabbinate steps related that his wife had been throwing plates at him for twenty years. When asked why he only came now, he replied: "She started hitting the target."
And the deeper meaning of this is according to the words of Rabbi Yose: "May my portion forever be among those who die on the way to perform a mitzvah." Rabbi Yose asks to be among those who merited to pass away on the way, while going to fulfill a mitzvah. Seemingly, why not ask for something even higher - that he finish performing the mitzvah and only then depart from the world amidst a mitzvah? Rather, leading up to the mitzvah a person experiences elevation and excitement, whereas after the fulfillment of the mitzvah there is a descent. Consider how much a person cares about his etrog the moment after he finishes shaking the Arbaat HaMinim, even on the first day. By contrast, beforehand, how much he fusses over it, binds the lulav, checks that everything is in order, and inspects the etrog again and again. Rabbi Yose says: I do not want to depart from the world during a descent, but rather during an ascent, while I am still in a state of yearning. This is "I will betroth you to Me forever": the level of betrothal is so exalted because it represents the yearning toward perfection, whereas once you arrive and unite, a descent usually begins. Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, says that the bond between us will be one of affection, desire, and the yearning to draw close, like an engaged couple longing to unite with one another. Whereas after marriage, many times the husband is not at home because he is escaping, and the wife is with friends because she too is escaping. As someone once said: they live like a pair of doves - every night a different one flies out of the nest. It turns out that the highest level lies in the aspiration, whereas after you have already attained it, a descent begins.
Three Betrothals Corresponding to Three Exiles
Radak asks: why are three betrothals mentioned - "I will betroth you to Me forever," "I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, in lovingkindness and in compassion," and "I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness"? Because they correspond to the three exiles that Israel suffered. The first exile was the Egyptian exile, after which the Holy One, blessed be He, betrothed us at the Giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. The second exile was the Babylonian exile, after which He betrothed us at the building of the Second Temple, through the redemption of Cyrus in the days of Ezra and Nechemiah. And the third is the exile in which we currently find ourselves, two thousand years of exile, in which we still await "I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, and you shall know Hashem" - the complete and eternal betrothal.
Radak explains that every time they emerged from exile, Hashem betrothed them as if it were the very first time, as if nothing had happened before and as if He had never betrothed them. There is great significance in this. After all, we know there are times when one may not marry, yet remarrying one's ex-wife is permitted, because there is no great joy involved. He has already seen this movie; he just hopes that this time it ends with a happy ending. There is a story of a man who got divorced, and a few months later a shadchan came and suggested his ex-wife to him. He looked into the matter, thought it over, and finally said: "I am ready." They remarried. The shadchan said to him: "I want to understand the logic - you divorced her, she was not suitable for you!" He answered him: "Listen, for a second marriage she is fine; in a second marriage one has to compromise. For a first marriage I simply was not ready." When a person takes something familiar, there is no great joy in it. But here, the Holy One, blessed be He, betroths them, as it were, like a first marriage, as if it were the first time.
And all three future betrothals correspond to the earlier betrothals. The betrothal of the Giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai and the Exodus from Egypt did not endure forever, for afterward they were exiled; corresponding to that, the Holy One, blessed be He, says, "I will betroth you to Me forever." The second betrothal, when we left Babylon in the days of Ezra and Nechemiah and the Second Temple, took place in a state that lacked righteousness and justice: there were Sabbath desecrators, those who married foreign women, and those who subjugated their brothers as slaves, and reproofs were delivered for all of these (and whoever wishes can listen to the recording on Ezra and Nechemiah). Corresponding to this, the Holy One, blessed be He, says that the future betrothal will be in righteousness and in justice. And the third, "I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness" - faithfulness (emunah) in the sense of permanence and stability, as in "I have planted them in a steadfast place," a place that endures and will not totter. This betrothal will not be like the previous ones that were nullified, and then "you shall know Hashem," as it says, "they shall all know Me, from their smallest to their greatest."
Malbim explains that "I will betroth you to Me forever" is like "and as the groom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you" - a new betrothal, different from the previous ones, as it says, "And I will make a new covenant with the House of Israel." The earlier betrothals were temporary, for it was said: "When you beget children and grandchildren..." and "you shall utterly perish quickly from off the land," and "this people will rise up and stray after the foreign gods of the land... and My anger will flare against them." But this betrothal will be a betrothal in which there is no sin.
The Dowry of Both Sides
And what will sustain the betrothal forever? Righteousness and justice. Malbim explains that a person requires two forms of perfection to reach his ultimate completion: perfection in matters between man and his fellow man, meaning the proper conduct between him and those around him, and perfection in matters between man and the Omnipresent, meaning the fulfillment of the 613 mitzvot and Torah study. Corresponding to perfection between man and his fellow man, it says, "I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice," for the aspect of righteousness and justice always pertains to interpersonal conduct: justice (mishpat) is according to the strict letter of the law, while righteousness (tzedek) is beyond the letter of the law, as in "in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor" - to treat him beyond the strict measure of the law. The dowry that you bring, House of Israel, is righteousness and justice, and corresponding to it, the dowry that the Holy One, blessed be He, brings is lovingkindness and compassion, as we saw in Rashi.
Malbim makes a precise observation: one who acts with compassion looks upon the lowly state of the one in need of mercy and executes justice on his behalf, and justice is according to the law; therefore, compassion corresponds to justice. Whereas the master of lovingkindness (chesed) does not look at whether we are deserving of it, but rather bestows out of the abundance of his kindness, and this corresponds to righteousness (tzedek). You acted with righteousness, which is beyond the strict letter of the law; therefore, you are worthy of lovingkindness, which is likewise an outpouring beyond the strict measure of the law.
וְאֵרַשְׂתִּיךְ לִי בֶּאֱמוּנָה וְיָדַעַתְּ אֶת ה'׃ - And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, and you shall know Hashem.
"And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness" corresponds to the mitzvos between man and God, which depend primarily on faith; for the more a person believes in Hashem, the more he fulfills His mitzvos. Faith is the dowry that we bring, and in return the Holy One, blessed be He, bestows "and you shall know Hashem": He will reveal to her signs, wonders, and the resting of the Shechinah until they possess a clear knowledge, a sensory perception, such that faith is no longer needed.
The distinction between faith and knowledge is simple. If someone is asked whether there is a cup here, he will answer that there is; and if they ask whether he believes it, he will say that he knows it. If they ask whether there is a cup in the next room, he will answer that he believes there is, but does not know. Something that is unproven falls under the category of faith, while something absolute falls under the category of knowledge. The Torah commands a person to attain: "Know this day and lay it to your heart, that Hashem is God" - to reach a tangible, sensory knowledge where the matter is clear and absolute. Thus, according to the Malbim, there is a wonderful explanation: When you perfect yourselves in interpersonal relations through righteousness and justice, I will bestow upon you lovingkindness and mercy; and when you perfect yourselves in the realm between man and God and bring faith, I will bestow upon you the knowledge of Hashem. And this is what was promised: "For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Hashem, as the waters cover the sea," "and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy," "your old men shall dream dreams" - prophetic dreams - and it is all an aspect of the knowledge of Hashem.
The Chain of Abundance: I Will Respond to the Heavens
וְהָיָה בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא אֶעֱנֶה נְאֻם ה' אֶעֱנֶה אֶת הַשָּׁמָיִם וְהֵם יַעֲנוּ אֶת הָאָרֶץ׃ - And it shall come to pass on that day, I will respond, says Hashem; I will respond to the heavens, and they shall respond to the earth.
Rashi explains: I will pour into the skies from the stream of God full of water, and they will respond by pouring water onto the earth. There is a stream of benevolent spiritual influences, and this can also be understood literally regarding rainfall; the Holy One, blessed be He, by His word pours and bestows into the skies, and from the skies to the earth.
Radak continues the approach he has maintained throughout the chapter. Earlier we saw the punishment, "Therefore I will return and take away My grain in its time, and My wine in its season," meaning that everything we toiled, labored, and planted, the Holy One, blessed be He, would take away after it grew, so that we would not place our trust in the natural order of the constellations, but rather see that everything comes from Him. And just as "I will betroth you to Me forever" corresponds to the woman of harlotry who strayed from Hashem, so too here: corresponding to the taking away of the grain and wine, when closeness to Hashem returns, the heavens will give their dew and the earth will yield its produce. The heavens had been withheld from bestowing, as in the days of Achav, but in the time of redemption there will no longer be drought. "I will respond to the heavens" is as though the heavens are asking the Master of the Universe for rain, and He responds to them and willingly grants it to them so that they may bestow it down upon the earth; and "they shall respond to the earth," as the earth too, as it were, asks for rain, and the heavens answer it and bestow abundance upon it.
The Malbim explains that "I will respond" refers to an entire chain that begins with the seed. The seed sown in the ground is what seeks, asks, and demands rain, for it desires to produce fruit, grain, and wine. The grain and wine ask the earth to bestow upon them so that they can grow. The earth hears the request and passes it along, asking the heavens to grant their dew, for through the heavens the early and late rains are given in their due season, "with the precious fruits of the sun, and with the precious yield of the moons" - and it is known that there are crops that grow through the influence of the moon, such as various types of cucumbers and melons. The heavens then present the demand to the Holy One, blessed be He, asking Him to grant rain in its time; for even when by nature it is fitting for rain to fall, sometimes there is a supernal decree of Providence, as it is said, "And I also withheld the rain from you when there were still three months to the harvest," and then the request is turned down.
Here it is worth mentioning what people asked the Brisker Rov: What is the meaning of the fact that we prayed and prayed and were not answered? He replied to them: You are mistaken; it is not that you were not answered, but rather that you were answered, and the answer is "no." There is no such thing as a person who is not answered. Every prayer is answered, but sometimes you ask your father and he tells you "no." Would you say that you were not answered? You were answered, with a negative response. Sometimes the Holy One, blessed be He, sees that this is what is necessary and vital, and the answer "no" is for your own good. There is never a situation where something happens to a person's detriment; everything is always for the good, and sometimes the answer "no" is what is best.
The Malbim details where this chain might be broken. Sometimes the seed does not receive the influence, such as through blight, mildew, locusts, or caterpillars - where the rain fell, but the seed did not receive the bounty because a disease struck it. Sometimes no response comes to the grain and wine from the earth, where the earth received abundance but does not bestow it upon its produce, as it says, "When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you." Sometimes no response comes from the heavens to the earth, a time of drought and aridity when no rain falls naturally. And sometimes no response comes from Hashem to the heavens, where the Holy One, blessed be He, withholds the rain through Divine Providence. But here, the Holy One, blessed be He, promises, "I will respond, says Hashem" - there will be a universal response to all factors, a providential answer. First, "I will respond to the heavens," Divine Providence from Heaven, and the heavens will consent to that blessing and impart the abundance to the earth.
וְהָאָרֶץ תַּעֲנֶה אֶת הַדָּגָן וְאֶת הַתִּירוֹשׁ וְאֶת הַיִּצְהָר וְהֵם יַעֲנוּ אֶת יִזְרְעֶאל׃ - And the earth shall respond to the grain, the wine, and the oil, and they shall respond to Yizreel.
The earth will bestow upon the grain, the wine, and the oil from the good it received, and thereby they will grow; "and they shall respond to Yizreel" - the earth will respond to the seed that was sown there. Thus we have the entire chain: the seed turned to the earth, the earth turned to the heavens, the heavens turned to Hashem, and the Holy One, blessed be He, bestowed upon all of them; and the abundance descended from above to below until the earth yields richness and fertility, grain, wine, and oil, imparting it to the seeds.
The Radak explains "and they shall respond to Yizre'el" along the lines of "when good things increase, those who consume them increase" - when abundance abounds, many come to partake. Earlier, in the context of punishment, Hashem called Israel "Yizre'el" because He winnowed and scattered them among the nations, sowing them everywhere. But at the time of salvation, He calls them Yizre'el because He sows them and plants them as a faithful planting in the Holy Land.
"And I will sow her to Me in the land"
וּזְרַעְתִּיהָ לִּי בָּאָרֶץ וְרִחַמְתִּי אֶת לֹא רֻחָמָה וְאָמַרְתִּי לְלֹא עַמִּי עַמִּי אַתָּה וְהוּא יֹאמַר אֱלֹהָי׃ - And I will sow her to Me in the land, and I will have mercy upon her who had not obtained mercy, and I will say to those who were not My people: "You are My people," and they shall say: "My God!"
I will sow them in the land and they will be as numerous as the seed of the earth; they will no longer be few as before, but manifold. "And I will have mercy upon her who had not obtained mercy" - upon those who had not merited compassion. "And I will say to those who were not My people: You are My people, and they shall say: My God."
Chazal expounded this verse in reference to the land of the nations. Rabbi Elazar said: The Holy One, blessed be He, exiled Israel among the nations only so that converts would be added to them, as it is stated: "And I will sow her to Me in the land" - does a person sow a se'ah of wheat for any reason other than to harvest several korin? Chazal interpreted "in the land" not only as the Holy Land, but throughout the world, as in "And who is like Your people Israel, one nation in the land." For if a person sows a kilogram of wheat in his field, if you ask him what he expects from it, does he sow just to get back a kilogram of wheat? He could have simply kept it. A person sows one kilo to harvest thirty or fifty kilos. Likewise, when the Holy One, blessed be He, sowed Israel among the nations, the goal was not merely to bring them back as they were, but that they should be joined by many more.
Yet one must be careful to avoid a misconception. It is not the aspiration of Israel to proselytize converts, nor do we have any desire to turn Gentiles into Jews. On the contrary, when a Gentile comes to convert, we initially turn him away, telling him: Israel is persecuted, oppressed, and suffering in exile; why do you want to join this distress? Nevertheless, when a Gentile comes with sincere intentions, Halachah instructs us not to overburden him excessively and to draw him near. For he may be among those whose souls stood at Mount Sinai; surely there were individuals among the nations who consented, and those individuals are the souls who convert throughout the generations. These are holy sparks that we seek to return to sanctity, and therefore we must not reject them. Yet we have no mission to go out and convert the nations; only someone whose intention is genuinely sincere is accepted.
The Changing of the Children's Names
The Malbim clarifies that this entire response from Hashem and the cascade of abundance from on high down to the seed is also the sign for the changing of the children's names mentioned earlier. Recall: Hashem commanded Hoshea to take a wife of harlotry, Gomer the daughter of Divlayim, and three children were born to him. Later He commanded him to send her away, so that Hoshea would understand how grievous it was in Hashem's eyes when Hoshea suggested casting off Israel and taking another nation instead. The three children symbolized our estrangement from Hashem.
The first child was named Yizre'el, alluding to the fact that we would be sown and scattered across the lands of our captors. Now the verse says, "And I will sow her to Me in the land" - Hashem will sow us in the land, and we will be dedicated solely to Him. Just as a person sows a kav of wheat and reaps many korin, so too Israel will flourish and multiply, "and the number of the Children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea." This corresponds to "and the earth shall respond to the grain," where the earth brings forth growth from the sowing for the honor of Hashem.
Corresponding to the daughter named "Lo-ruchamah" (Not Pitied), it says, "and I will have mercy upon her who had not obtained mercy" - Hashem will show compassion and gather the Ten Tribes, whose redemption depends entirely on mercy. In truth, they are unworthy of redemption, yet Hashem will have mercy on them and bring them back. This corresponds to the heavens responding to the earth, because mercy is lesser than loving-kindness and points to hidden miracles, which are attributed to heaven as a hidden realm.
And corresponding to the son called "Lo-ammi" (Not My People), who represents the tribe of Binyamin, it now says: "and I will say to those who were not My people: You are My people." Corresponding to what was said to them, "and I will not be yours," it says: "and they shall say: My God" - Hashem will be ours, and He is our God. Over the tribe of Yehudah the Shechinah will be revealed openly; there will not be miracles cloaked in nature, but open miracles with constant Divine providence. This corresponds to "I will respond to the heavens" - direct providence from Him, blessed be He, pouring forth abundant favor from His holy abode.
In summary:
The conclusion of the chapter describes the transformation in the relationship between the Holy One, blessed be He, and the Congregation of Israel: from "Ba'ali" (my master), a relationship of distant ownership and dominion from which arose the turning to intermediaries and idolatry, to "Ishi" (my husband), a relationship of intimacy and direct influence. The names of the Baalim will be removed from speech and memory, and already today we witness the beginning of this process. The forces of the celestial order will retain dominion only over the beasts of the field, and harm will find no place, neither from instinctive creatures nor from beings of free choice. The new betrothal will be eternal: we bring righteousness, justice, and faithfulness as our dowry, and the Holy One, blessed be He, reciprocates with lovingkindness, compassion, and the knowledge of Hashem. Finally, the plea will be heard from the seed to the earth, from the earth to the heavens, and from the heavens to the Creator, and the response will flow from above downward, until the names of the children are transformed from calamity into consolation: Yizre'el into a sowing of sanctity, Lo-Ruchamah into mercy, and Lo-Ammi into "You are My people," and he shall say, "My God."