Verse 10: "And Hashem continued to speak to Achaz, saying." The meaning is not that the Holy One is speaking with Achaz, for surely He would not, God forbid, rest His prophecy upon this corrupt wicked man; rather it means that He speaks with Yeshayahu, giving him another message to continue and deliver to Achaz. "Ask for yourself a sign from Hashem your God, make the request deep or high above." I see that you do not believe, therefore I tell you, ask for yourself a sign from Hashem your God. Ask for a sign and a token. Is one permitted to test Hashem? It is forbidden. But if Hashem tells you to test Him, then on the contrary, that is precisely what the Holy One desires. Now He says to him, make the request deep or high above. What does deep mean, what does high mean? The Malbim says He told him: ask for yourself a sign in the depths or above in the heavens. In the depths means an earthly sign here from this world, that is the depth. Or high above means ask for a sign from the heavens. A sign from the heavens, for example, that the sun moves backward, as was done for Achaz's son, for Chizkiyahu.
Now, why are both of these options needed? The Malbim says that a person who asks for a sign wants one of two things. Either a sign for himself, so that he will believe, or he says: I am fine, I believe, but perform a sign so that others will also believe. So He tells him: if you are asking for a sign for yourself, you do not need too bombastic a sign. Even a small private sign can suffice for you, even a small token. Therefore, make the request deep. If you want a sign only for yourself, then even an earthly sign here will do, dew on the fleece but not on the field, or on the field but not on the fleece, that too is enough for you. You do not need an all encompassing sign, or He could even give you a sign with some money in your purse and the like, that too is enough. But, and this is preferable by the way, since it is the glory of God to conceal a matter and Hashem prefers to minimize the miracle. But if you are asking for a sign for the many, that is, so that all will know and all will be calmed and all will not fear the coming of Retzin and Pekach ben Remalyahu, then make the request high. In that case I permit you to ask even for a sign in the heavens, so that all will be able to see that the Creator of the world truly promises and stands behind His promise as well. The Malbim says: a sign is a token. Like "And Hashem placed a sign for Kayin." It does not have to be something outside of nature. A wonder, by contrast, is something outside of nature. A wonder is something not in accordance with the orderly conduct of nature.
Verse 12: "And Achaz said, I will not ask and I will not test Hashem." What is there to say about Achaz? A righteous man, right? Well done for him. After all it is written, he says I will not test Hashem.
Hashem, "you shall not test Hashem your God." I will not ask, why should I come to request signs and wonders from the Holy One? We only have one small problem: how is it, then, that afterward he does the opposite? You say I will not ask, I will not test Hashem, you do not listen to what the prophet says, you act against the words of the prophet. Now you come with such words of faith, of strengthening, I am not testing the Holy One, what is the plain meaning here? So truly, truly Achaz's declaration did not stem from righteousness at all, but exactly the opposite.
The Malbim says: if Achaz's declaration had truly stemmed from righteousness, as would seem at first from the plain meaning of the verses, then the order should have been different. "I will not ask, I will not test Hashem." The Malbim says: if the intent of his words was that he would not ask because he believes in Hashem even without a sign and a wonder, then he should have said I will not test, since it is forbidden to test Hashem, so how could I ask a request of Him? For it is forbidden to test Him. As if to say: I will not test for my own need, for I am already certain, I have no doubts. And I will also not ask for the sake of others, for surely what Hashem says will be trusted by everyone? That is how it should have been. But pay attention, he reversed the order, he said I will not ask and I will not test. From the fact that he says I will not ask and I will not test, the meaning is: I will not ask for the sake of others, and I also will not test for my own need. Why? Because I do not want signs and I do not want wonders, for if there are signs or wonders they compel me to believe in Hashem.
And if I ask, first, if I ask for the sake of others, what will happen to them? The name of Heaven will be sanctified through me. You see, the Creator of the world stopped the sun to show you, you have nothing to fear. Shall I be a cause for the sanctification of God's name? Thank you very much, I do not want the name of Heaven sanctified through me. Fine, for my own sake, even for my own sake I will not do it. Why? Because all the signs and wonders that may be will not lead me to faith. I have the Baal, I have my idolatry, no signs and wonders will succeed in convincing me. For truly, by the proper order one should put oneself first, since a sign is first meant to strengthen you, and afterward to strengthen the people. Why does he open in reverse? First he says I will not ask, then I will not test, because he means to say: first and foremost, to strengthen the people, I certainly do not want, for that is the greater thing, and even for myself I do not want it, because I too have no faith in the words of Hashem.
And we see, as appears further on for us, and as appears in Sefer Melachim II chapter 16, that he did not listen to the words of the prophet, he sent a bribe to the king of Ashur, and in the end this caused the sin of the king of Ashur to grow, and each time he would come anew because he saw that this was an inexhaustible source of silver and gold. So if you see that he did not listen, it means that this declaration too was not a declaration of faith. Verse 13: "And he said, Hear now, House of David, is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God as well."
"Hear now, House of David." What is House of David? Hear now, Achaz. What is "Hear now, House of David"? The Radak says: to disparage him, he did not call him by his name. As we recall, we explained several times that whenever one wants to address a person in a manner of contempt, one calls him son of so and so. As David was always referred to by Shaul as ben Yishai, "you choose the son of Yishai," he always mentioned him by the name ben Yishai. What does that indicate? This person is a son without a name. He has no name of his own; his father indeed had a great father, but he himself is as if to say who is he, not even worthy of being called by a name. Or as we saw with the son of Achituv: "is it true, son of Achituv, what you have done," Shaul asked ben Achituv, Achimelech ben Achituv, about how he went and helped David and gave him the sword and gave him from the showbread. So here too, "Hear now, House of David," you are worthy only through the name of King David, and even the merit to be saved is not your own merit, it too is only the merit of David.
And he says to them, "is it too little for you to weary men." It is not enough that you attribute weariness, what is weariness? Fatigue, lack of strength. It is not enough that you attribute lack of strength to men, and who are the men here? These are the prophets who come and speak in Hashem's name. "Is it too little for you to weary men," it is not enough that you think that we as prophets have no power and receive no messages from Hashem, "that you weary my God as well," you claim and cast accusations of lack of strength even against the Creator of the world. As if the Creator of the world is incapable of performing a sign and a wonder, I do not want to hear and I do not want, to the point that you supposedly do not believe in His signs and wonders. By the way, from here is another proof that "And Achaz said, I will not ask and I will not test Hashem" did not stem from righteousness, for immediately afterward the prophet rebukes him: you hold that there is weariness in Hashem, that there is lack of strength in Hashem.
"Therefore Hashem Himself will give you a sign, behold the young woman is with child and bears a son and she shall call his name Immanu El." Therefore Hashem of His own will give you a sign. The Malbim says: many tried to search where here is the sign and the wonder, and we will further explain who the young woman is, what happens with her. The young woman will conceive, will bear a son, they will call him Immanuel. And people try to understand, where here is the sign, where here is the wonder? The Malbim says: they erred. Because a sign, as we already explained to Achaz, need not contain a change of nature, rather a sign is a token. "And Hashem placed a sign for Kayin," He did not make a miracle for him, He did not make a wonder for him, He made a sign for him, a token. Here too, Hashem will give you a sign, meaning Hashem will give a token. What is given here in this token?
The Malbim says: know that whenever a good decree comes upon Israel, it will always be fulfilled, and Hashem never retracted a good matter that He decreed upon Israel, except once, in the matter of the mark of the tav, but because of the foreheads of those people and so forth. Once Hashem retracted. A decree for the good will always be fulfilled. By contrast, a decree for the bad is not necessarily fulfilled. And why? Because when Hashem decrees a decree for the bad, it is very possible that the people will repent, and Hashem will turn from His fierce anger, and thereby annul the decree He decreed. And if so, when one wants, for example, to examine a prophet, one does not tell him to say future things about bad events that will occur. For even if he says something bad will happen and in the end it is not fulfilled, that is no proof that he is a false prophet. Rather one tells him: tell us what good thing will happen in another week. And then, if he truly speaks the truth, that thing will be fulfilled. The Malbim says: the rule we stated, that a bad matter is not necessarily fulfilled, all of this is firm and true, provided that no sign and token was made on earth regarding that matter. But when a sign and token was made on earth regarding that matter, the matter will necessarily be fulfilled.
And this is a method of the Malbim that we have learned several times in the past, and each time we encounter it anew. The Malbim says: when you see the Holy One saying to a prophet, take for example a scroll, write on it such and such, put it inside a bottle, throw it into the sea, take arrows, shoot them toward Aram, afterward strike the arrows on the ground, and all sorts of physical actions, you ask yourself, is the statement not enough? Why is the display needed? Yes, to turn it into a display, to make it some bringing forth from potential to actual, why is that needed? There is a statement of the Creator of the world, that suffices. The Malbim says no. With a statement alone the matter is not necessarily fulfilled. But if the Holy One says take arrows and shoot toward Aram, and tells him some complete process, know that this matter will be fulfilled with complete certainty. There is no possibility that this matter will not be fulfilled. But this is for the bad? Correct, a prophecy for the bad is not necessarily fulfilled. If a sign and wonder was made for it on earth, not a wonder, excuse me, more precisely a sign on earth, meaning they turned it from an abstract matter that exists in the spiritual realm and brought it down to the physical. Once they brought it down to the physical, it will be fulfilled. It is not just talk, it is already deeds. And therefore he comes and says, Hashem will give you a sign. What is the meaning of "will give a sign"? The Holy One will bring it down from the abstract reality into the actual. Behold the young woman is with child and bears a son and shall call his name Immanuel. I have not yet explained what will happen in practice, but what is clear is that this sign, as it were, comes to symbolize that it is not merely a spiritual reality about which you might say maybe yes maybe no, rather it says this will happen. So if that is the case, all the commentators, says the Malbim, who tried to search where here is the wonder, where here is the miracle, where here is the something supernatural, did not speak correctly. Because the sign here is not a sign of something supernatural, but rather it is only a sign to bring the matter down from a statement to fulfillment and actual deed.
Now let us explain. "Hashem Himself will give you a sign, behold the young woman is with child and bears a son." The Holy One says the young woman, who will this young woman be? This young woman of whom we are speaking is the wife of the prophet. The young woman is with child. The Radak, Rashi explains like the Malbim, that it speaks of the prophet's wife, and we will see this in the next chapter as well. The Radak explains that the young woman is the wife of Achaz. And according to the Radak, where here is the wonder? Behold, you see, I knew that she was with child without even her knowing. And indeed so it was, she was with child. But we already explained that according to the Malbim we are not looking for wonders here, rather it is only a token to bring it down, as it were, to earthliness. He says: behold, the sign will be that the young woman, the prophet's wife, is with child and this woman is destined to bear a son, and this son will be called Immanu El. What does that mean? That we will see further on. Now, "with child" here means that she is already with child, and she will bear a son.
The Malbim says: alma, and the Radak also explains this and other commentators expand to explain, that alma does not necessarily mean a virgin. Naara often symbolizes a virgin, but alma can be a virgin, can be one who has known a man. As it is written "the way of a man with a maiden." Why is it so important for us to emphasize this here? Because this verse, the Christians made a delicacy out of it. The Christians took this verse and saw in it a kind of prophecy about the birth of that impure one. They said therefore Hashem Himself will give you a sign, behold the young woman is with child, this is the impure non virgin, and bears a son and shall call his name Immanu El, that supposedly God is with him, that supposedly Hashem, God, impregnated that impure woman and from her came forth that man. Now, their claim is that she is a virgin, and therefore everyone explains that "behold the young woman" is not an expression for a virgin. The alma may also be one who has known a man, "the way of a man with a maiden," so the ladder on which you climbed is a rickety ladder. It is impossible at all to prove anything from this verse. Beyond that, even according to their approach, how does he speak here about something supposed to happen hundreds of years later and bring it as a sign and wonder according to their approach? There is no place for it at all, and it is also lodged in a context that does not deal with this matter whatsoever.
Now what will be the nature of that son? "Butter and honey he shall eat, until he knows to reject the bad and choose the good." Butter, when he reaches the time that he knows to reject the bad and choose the good, he will eat butter and honey. That is, this lad is like the depiction of the whole nation. Just as we say Immanuel symbolizes us, God will be with us, so too the eating of butter and honey comes to symbolize that the Holy One will be with us and will give us as food the choicest things whose symbol is butter and honey. This means that even though now you see the land of Yehudah devastated, know that Hashem will leave a remnant. How will this be? For "before the lad knows to reject the bad and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be abandoned."
Even before the lad knows to reject the bad and choose the good, the young woman is already now with child, and if she is now already with child, that means I am speaking of someone who is supposed to be born in the coming months. Even before he knows to reject the bad and choose the good, meaning even before he has understanding, know that the land which you dread, that is the land of Retzin king of Aram and Pekach ben Remalyahu, which you dread and detest, it will be abandoned by its inhabitants. Why? Because these two wicked kings, because of their wickedness the Holy One will dispossess them from their land, will destroy their land. And this will cause Yehudah to have a remnant, this will cause Yehudah to still remain with an offshoot and they will not succeed in cutting it off and ending its being a nation.
"Hashem will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father's house days that have not come since the day Ephraim departed from Yehudah, the king of Ashur." Hashem will bring upon you and upon your people; "upon you," says Rashi, upon Chizkiyahu your son who will reign after you. And why does he not say "upon your son"? Because Chizkiyahu was righteous, and he did not want to mention that righteous Chizkiyahu had such a wicked father as Achaz. "Days that have not come since the day Ephraim departed from Yehudah." What is "since the day Ephraim departed from Yehudah"? It means since the kingdom of the house of David split and Ephraim rebelled, and we explained in the past why the ten tribes were called Ephraim, because their first king was Yeravam ben Nevat who was of the tribe of Ephraim, and therefore after his name the entirety of the ten tribes were called Ephraim. So Hashem will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father's house days that have not come since the day Ephraim departed from Yehudah, since the kingdom split. And he informs him: days that have not come since the day Ephraim departed from Yehudah, the king of Ashur.
The Malbim explains, he says to him: you do not trust in Hashem. After all, Hashem told you to guard yourself and be quiet, and Achaz, as we explained, did not rely on the Holy One, but rather went and called upon the king of Ashur, come save me. Retzin king of Aram, Pekach ben Remalyahu king of Israel are coming upon me. He goes and hires and pays money to the king of Ashur to come and save him. Therefore he says to him: know that Hashem will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father's house days that have not come since the day Ephraim departed from Yehudah, whom? The king of Ashur. That very king of Ashur upon whom you rely, that very king of Ashur whom you go to hire to save you from Aram, against Hashem's command who told you to guard yourself and be quiet, who told you that you have nothing to worry about, that He shields you, and nonetheless you went and relied on flesh and blood and rejected the wonder that the Holy One offered. The Holy One says I will give you a wonder, ask for yourself, make the request deep or high, ask, I will prove it to you. No no no, I do not want proofs, I have someone who will help me, the king of Ashur is the one who will go and help me. So if that is the case, Hashem will bring upon you the king of Ashur to destroy your land. Precisely the one you rely on, he is the one who will bring you down.
"And it shall be on that day, Hashem will whistle for the fly that is at the edge of the rivers of Egypt and for the bee that is in the land of Ashur." Will whistle; whistling is always a hint to gather people, they whistle to them and thereby people would arrive. So the Holy One will whistle for the fly that is at the edge of the rivers of Egypt. Fly means armies, many armies like flies that will come from the land of Egypt with Sancheriv. "At the edge of the rivers of Egypt," what are the rivers of Egypt? Rashi explains that all of Egypt was built with canals upon canals. That is, the Nile would rise and irrigate, meaning enter into the canals. Canals are pools that people built, that they dug independently. There was there a very very complex and sophisticated system of irrigating the fields by means of the water and by means of the high and low places, through a play of elevation they would irrigate all the fields by means of the canals. The canals are a digging that people dug themselves to lead the water to their fields. So he says, Hashem will whistle for the fly that is at the edge of the rivers of Egypt, and also for the bee that is in the land of Ashur. The bee, these are armies of mighty men who sting like a bee.
The Malbim explains that this speaks of the king of Ashur when he returned from Egypt, he went to conquer the land of Yehudah. And this was in a later period. Now, why does he compare this to a fly and to a bee? He says because the Egyptians are compared to a fly, since the fly is weaker than the bee. The bee is stronger, the bee is also able to sting, it is also stronger physically, also in its size, compared to the fly which is weaker. So Hashem will whistle for the fly that is at the edge of the rivers of Egypt, and also for the bee which is stronger, that is in the land of Ashur, this is Sancheriv king of Ashur.
"And they shall come and rest all of them in the desolate valleys and in the clefts of the rocks and in all the thornbushes and in all the pastures." These flies and bees will come, they will rest in the desolate valleys. Nachal means a valley. Batot means desolate, a ruined place, like "laid waste." We once explained that a son in the Holy Tongue is called ben because he builds his father's house, his father's house continues from him and is called after his name. By contrast a daughter is called bat because she lays waste her father's house. Lays waste not in the negative sense as if performing an act to destroy, but rather from the very fact that her offspring will be called after the house of her husband's father, so consequently these offspring are as if not called after your name and do not belong to you, which is like a destruction for that house, whereas your own descendants will be called after your name. So here too, batot is a term of destruction. They all rested in the desolate valleys, in the ruined valley, and in the holes of the rocks, these are the clefts of the rocks. Among the thorns and thornbushes, a place where flies are wont to dwell, says the Malbim. And this is really a parable of how they will spread throughout the whole land. Naatzutzim and nahalulim are thorns and worthless, contemptible barren trees, so the Metzudot explains.
"On that day Hashem will shave with the hired razor from across the river, with the king of Ashur, the head and the hair of the legs, and also the beard it shall sweep away." To whom does this verse refer? Well, there is one interpretation, that of Rashi based on what Chazal explain, that when they come and rest in the desolate valleys, who? Sancheriv king of Ashur and all his armies, the Holy One will shave with the hired razor the king of Ashur, the head, the hair of the legs, also the beard it shall sweep away. And there is a long Gemara on this that explains all that mockery that Hashem made of the king of Ashur, that they shaved his hair and burned his beard, and it is a whole story there in the Gemara that we mentioned once, it is not to be explained according to its plain meaning but there are more matters there that are in the depths of the secrets of the Torah. But the Malbim, as is his way, always has an original approach in explaining the verses.
And the Malbim explains that here it does not speak at all about the king of Ashur, what will happen to him, but rather here it speaks essentially about what will happen to Yehudah. And we will explain. "On that day," meaning this will be in the days of Achaz. "Hashem will shave," Hashem will shave, or by means of the hired razor. The hired razor means a large razor. This is the meaning of "the hired," so the commentators explain that the expression "the hired" means large, like "a large pot within it." The hired razor, with a large razor, Hashem will shave from across the river with the king of Ashur. "With the king of Ashur" means, who is that razor? By whom will Hashem shave? With the king of Ashur. The king of Ashur will as it were be the shaver, he will be the smiter. By means of the king of Ashur, who is compared to a razor, the razor in which one leaves all the hair, Hashem will shave with it the hair of the head. He will shave with Ashur the hair of the legs, meaning again, He will shave from us by means of the king of Ashur. The king of Ashur is in the aspect of the razor, and he will shave from us the hair of the head, the hair of the legs and the beard.
What actually are these three types of hair and what do they come to express in the analogue? The Malbim says: it was the custom in their times to shave the hair of the head. Only in a later period did they begin to grow forelocks, but naturally people would shave the hair of the head. When a person came with a wild, unkempt head, meaning he did not shave the hair of his head, this showed a manner of disgrace, it showed mourning, God forbid. Their way was to shave the hair of the head, and therefore the kohanim were warned not to let the hair of their heads grow wild, and the king would get a haircut every day. Kohanim get a haircut, the Kohen Gadol gets a haircut once a week. Why? Growing the hair was considered shameful. Now, that is the hair of the head. The hair of the legs was also considered disgraceful, but this is the disgrace in a concealed place. For usually the robe covers the hair of the legs, so although it is disgraceful it is concealed. By contrast, the hair of the beard is considered honor and glory. And we already saw that there is proof from the verses that in their times everyone would grow the hair of their beard and would not shave. And if they shaved, the matter was considered for them a disgrace, the matter was considered for them a debasement. Where do we see this, proof from the verses? With the men whom David sent to Chanun ben Nachash, Nachash ben Chanun, yes, there, and what did he do? He cut off, he shaved off half their beards. What did they do with them? They sent them to Yericho until their beards would grow. The Radak says: what is the problem, let them shave the other half too? From here you learn that it was a greater disgrace to go with no beard at all, worse than to go with half a beard. So they remained there until the entire beard grew. We see that in their times it was their way to grow the beard.
And therefore he comes and says: see that here the king of Ashur will shave both the hair of the head, and the hair of the legs, and also the hair of the beard, which is for honor and glory. What is essentially the analogue? The hair of the head is the parable for the great wicked ones, whose wickedness is revealed and famous, like the hair of the head whose abundance is revealed and famous and needs to be removed, as we explained, that it was their way to remove the hair of the head. Hashem will shave by means of the king of Ashur also the hair of the legs. Who are the hair of the legs? These are also wicked ones who need to be removed, for the hair of the legs which it was their way in their times to remove, but they are wicked in secret. They are not openly wicked like the hair of the head, they are hidden wicked ones like the hair of the legs. But since permission was given to the destroyer to destroy, it does not distinguish between righteous and wicked. And then the king of Ashur will strike and destroy also the beard. The beard is the parable for the righteous.
And therefore, the Malbim says, examine closely and you will see. "On that day Hashem will shave with the hired razor," by means of the large razor "across the river with the king of Ashur," by means of a king who comes from across the river who is the king of Ashur, Hashem will shave the head and the hair of the legs, "and also the beard it shall sweep away." Did you notice, it does not say "He shall sweep away." Why does it not say "He shall sweep away"? After all you are speaking of "Hashem will shave," you say Hashem will shave the head, the hair of the legs and also the beard it shall sweep away. Why did he change here and write "and also the beard it shall sweep away"? "It shall sweep away" as it were speaks of some hidden one, you shall sweep away, but as it were Hashem says not I. Since the hair of the beard hints at the righteous, since the hair of the beard hints at the destroyer that does not distinguish between righteous and wicked, but Hashem surely will not, God forbid, destroy the righteous, rather the destroyer already does not distinguish between righteous and wicked and it is he who will destroy the hair of the beard, also the righteous. And therefore it is written here "it shall sweep away," and here it does not write "it shall also shave." It shall sweep away, the Satan, you shall sweep away, says the Holy One, not I. It is only the destroyer that does not distinguish. And it is also written "it shall sweep away" and not "it shall shave," because "sweep away" means to destroy. "I will surely gather them up, says Hashem." "They are swept away, finished," this is a term of destruction. By contrast, shaving is when you shave in a proper manner. But when it concerns the righteous and the beard, one does not shave the beard, so if one removes the beard what is that? That is called destroying his beard, destroying his hair. And therefore this refers to the righteous, all of this will be in the days of Achaz.
"And it shall be on that day, a man will keep alive a heifer of the herd and two sheep." On that day too the sign of Immanuel will be fulfilled, the sign that the child will eat butter and honey. Why? Because from the great desolation, that the country will be destroyed, every person will have a heifer of the herd. That is, the moment the country is destroyed and there are not many people, what happens? That same flock, that same herd that had been numerous before, say there were a million people here, the moment only ten thousand people or fifty thousand people remain, then the herds are many and the people are few, each one will have a heifer of the herd, which previously did not exist in such quantity that each person had a heifer of the herd.
"And it shall be, from the abundance of milk produced, he will eat butter, for butter and honey shall everyone who is left in the midst of the land eat." So consequently, the moment there are not many people and the flock and herd are numerous, then it turns out there will be much milk. Now, when there is much milk, can one preserve it? Milk spoils. But by contrast, butter you can leave for months outside the refrigerator, nothing happens to it. And that is what he says, from the abundance of milk produced he will eat butter. Since there is such great abundance, for there will be many animals and few people, then there will be much milk, from this they will turn the milk into butter, for they will not be able to sell the milk as merchandise, since the people are few, the milk is abundant, there is no one to buy. So to preserve it they will make butter. And they will also have honey, and this everyone who is left in the midst of the land will eat. All who remain in the midst of the land, this will be their food.
"And it shall be on that day, every place where there were a thousand vines worth a thousand pieces of silver, will be for briers and thorns." And if you ask, why will they eat butter and honey? Why will they not eat bread and wine? For when there is wealth one eats bread and wine. Why will they eat butter and honey? He informs you, know that the whole land will be desolate. To the point that a place where there are a thousand vines worth a thousand pieces of silver, there will be briers and thorns. And if this is the vines, all the more so that the grain fields will be desolate. So there will be no bread and wine. From what will they need to sustain themselves? From butter and honey. The milk of the animals and the honey that will come from the bees. And he informs, they will be for briers and thorns. Briers and thorns, the Malbim says, is a figurative expression. "Will be for briers and thorns" means, briers and thorns means thorns. He tells you as it were: who will be the lords of the land? Who will rule here? The briers and thorns. The thorns, they will be the rulers here. They are the ones who will as it were be the lords of the land, to the point that the precious vineyard worth a thousand pieces of silver, whose possession will it be? Who will be the master there? The briers and thorns, they will do with it as they please.
"With arrows and with a bow one shall come there, for all the land will be briers and thorns." Here there are several interpretations. Rashi explains, perhaps we will continue, perhaps first with the Malbim, afterward we will see the other interpretations. The Malbim says that just as we explained that the briers and thorns, as it were the thorns, will be the lords of the land, so they will as it were come to the vineyards with arrows and with a bow. He will conquer them with his sword and with his bow, which are as it were the thorns, until they are his and belong to him and are his possession. That is, it is a figurative expression that explains that the briers and thorns will be the sole ruler, with a sword, with an arrow and with a bow. He will rule there and he will be the sole governor, for all the land will be briers and thorns, so consequently the government will be his alone. Rashi explains, with arrows and with a bow one shall come there, meaning anyone who wants to enter into the vineyard will need arrows and a bow. Since it is an abandoned place, consequently the wild beast rules over it, snakes rule over it, the foxes, the jackals. So whoever wants to enter such a place needs to enter with a weapon, for the place is a place of danger. And consequently, whoever wants to enter that vineyard will come with arrows and with a bow. The Radak explains that "with arrows one shall come there," he now explains, whoever wants to come there will come with arrows and a bow because of the wars. Whoever wants to enter there will need to enter with arrows and a bow, not because of the beasts and the dangerous animals that will be there, but because the whole land will be war, so a person will constantly need to be with a bow and arrows to protect himself, in order to survive.
"And all the hills that are tilled with the hoe, you will not come there for fear of briers and thorns, and it shall be for the sending of oxen and for the treading of sheep." And all the hills, if you ask, if so, where will the animals graze? Since all the land will be briers and thorns, then you say animals will indeed remain, what will we eat? The milk of the animals and honey that will come from the bees. But the animals need to survive, the animals need to eat something. An animal does not eat thorns, it needs grass to eat. If all the crops, you say, will turn into briers and thorns, on what will the animals live, from which we will produce the butter and milk? So this he informs you, know: the high hills where it is impossible to plow with the plowing implement, since they are high, so how would they plow them? "They are tilled with the hoe." They would till them with a digging tool, a hoe, a mattock, a digging implement. The hills there, "you will not come there for fear of briers and thorns." We explained that the briers and thorns are like the lords of the land, as it were compared as if to some powerful rulers who take control of everything. He says that up there on the peaks of the hills they do not fear this powerful ruler called briers and thorns, these thorns. As it were, this powerful ruler cannot reach to conquer the peaks of the hills, cannot cast its fear upon them. And consequently in these places "it shall be for the sending of oxen and for the treading of sheep." There the ox and the sheep will graze there, they will crouch there. And this comes to tell you that the precious places will be desolate, and only the unimportant places, who is going to sow on the hills? These are places where it is hard to sow, hard to plow, hard to reap. Only the unimportant places are those that will be settled so that herds and flocks will crouch there. But all the valleys, the important places, the fertile ones, these places will be for briers and thorns. That is the interpretation of the Malbim. Rashi explains that the generation about which the prophet speaks here, Rashi says, he is essentially already speaking about the generation of Chizkiyah. This is unlike what the Malbim explained, as we said that it speaks about the generation of Achaz, and that it essentially comes to symbolize the terrible situation that will follow the coming of Sancheriv, the situation of the calamity and of the lack of everything, and in place of what there will be, there will be only butter and milk. He comes and says, according to Rashi, that on the contrary, he symbolizes here the generation of Chizkiyahu. For about the generation of Chizkiyahu it is written that they were righteous, to the point that there was no boy or girl who was not expert in the laws of impurity and purity. They checked from Dan to Beer Sheva, from Gevat to Antipatris, and did not find a person who was not expert in the laws of what is forbidden and permitted. And about that generation he says, and it shall be, every place where there were vines will be for briers and thorns. The meaning of the matter is that these places will already cease to occupy themselves with wines and seeking for themselves places where they can enjoy pleasures, rather all their occupation will be in what? Only in Torah. What about the vines? What about the fields? This will not interest them at all, it will be for briers and thorns. That is to say, on the contrary, this is essentially a prophecy for the good. Your son will be righteous, and in the period of your son the land will be desolate, because all the occupation of people in that period will be in intellectual matters, they will no longer occupy themselves with vines, they will not be interested in drinking a cup of wine, that will no longer be their concern. Their concern will be how I can occupy myself with Torah, a little butter and milk is enough for me to eat for my sustenance, and I do not seek for myself fields nor seek for myself vineyards in order to grow rich.