"When the Lord will complete all His work on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, I will bring punishment upon the fruit of the greatness of the heart of the king of Assyria, and upon the glory of his haughty eyes." When Hashem finishes everything He intended to accomplish through the king of Assyria, that is, to punish everyone who rebelled against Hashem. When will Hashem complete His work? When will He tell the anguish of the nations that the awesome conqueror, the king of Assyria, has done enough? On Mount Zion and in Jerusalem. When Sancheriv comes to conquer Mount Zion, then Hashem says, that will be the conclusion of My reckoning with the king of Assyria. Then "I will bring punishment upon the fruit of the greatness of the heart of the king of Assyria." I will punish him for the deeds that grew and flourished from his arrogance. This is "upon the fruit of the greatness of the heart." The greatness of his heart means his pride. He destroyed mighty nations through his arrogance. Hashem did not command him to do that. Hashem only commanded him to take spoil, as we said before. Hashem commanded him so that through this the nations would repent, not to destroy them and eliminate them entirely. And besides this, Hashem says I will also punish him for the glory of his haughty eyes. He gloried in the loftiness of his eyes and his pride. "The loftiness of his eyes" means he raised his eyes and his pride. He refused to recognize that he was merely a rod and a staff in Hashem's hand; he attributed this power to himself. Hashem says, for this I will punish him.
"For he said: By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I am understanding; I removed the borders of peoples and plundered their treasures, and I brought down as a mighty one those who sat." The Malbim explains, war requires two things. First you need strength and might. Second you need counsel and strategy, as it is written "counsel and might for war." And both these things are essential. For if you have many strategies but at the time of battle you lack sufficient strength and might, you have no chance of victory. And conversely the reverse is also true. You have much strength and might, one can defeat you through strategy. Therefore you need to have both things, both strategies, which is called tactics, and also strength and might. The king of Assyria boasted that I have both these things. I no longer need Hashem's help. I have both strength and might, and I also have counsel and strategy for war. Against might, the king of Assyria says "by the strength of my hand I have done it." I did not need a power to help me, some god to assist me. "By the strength of my hand I have done it." Against the strategies needed for war, the tactics, he says "and by my wisdom, for I am understanding."
What does "by my wisdom, for I am understanding" mean? In general, wisdom (chochmah) and understanding (binah) are two different things. The Malbim explains, he has an explanation that he repeats in many places, particularly in Mishlei where the Malbim follows this line extensively because there the matter of chochmah and tevunah is mentioned frequently. The Malbim says, chochmah is something received from above. In contrast, tevunah is something in which a person understands one thing from another. Logical deductions, reasoning, probability, a person draws conclusions. As it says "But where shall wisdom be found?" That is to say, one must receive chochmah from Him, may He be blessed. "From His mouth come knowledge and understanding." A person must receive chochmah from Hashem. Why? Because chochmah consists of things that the Divine intellect can contain, and you understand them by receiving them through a prophet, through the giving of the Torah. In contrast, tevunah is when I already have the foundations of chochmah, and now I make logical deductions and draw conclusions and develop that chochmah which I received; this is called tevunah. Regarding this the king of Assyria says, "by my wisdom," what will you say? You received the wisdom from a god? He says not at all, "for I am understanding." My understanding comes from myself. I do not need to receive wisdom from a god. I have wisdom that I arrived at through the power of my own private understanding, through the power of my own contemplation.
And now he explains the matter. He says "I removed the borders of peoples." See how wise I was. Now he reviews the special wisdom that I have. I did not act like the kings before me. The kings before me conquered a country and left its inhabitants in place. What did they guarantee by this? That those inhabitants would eventually rise up against you at some stage. Just as we see uprisings in all the Arab lands today. Why? Because they are in their own home, they are on their own territory, they know the topography well, they know where to flee, where to hide. Try to conquer Gaza today. Very difficult. But in contrast, he says, I was not foolish like them. Those nations conquered peoples and afterward those peoples rose up against them and threw off their yoke. I, in contrast, did not act this way. I "removed the borders of peoples." I exiled them from their land and settled other peoples there. I brought the Kutim to the Land of Israel, and the Israelites, those who dwelt there, the Ten Tribes, I brought them to Kuta, to Ava, to Sefarvaim. I exiled them from their place. Through this I guaranteed that they would not throw off my yoke.
Not only that, he continues, "and I plundered their treasures." This means, I also took from them the right so that they could not in the future even lay claim to their land, to say they would have some claim "this land was ours." I completely confused them, mixed them with one another, so that they would have no right in the future. Now, not only did I exile the peoples so that other peoples would come and dwell here, but also "I brought down as a mighty one those who sat." Even those who had dwelt in the land for a long time, I brought them down and exiled them. That is to say, I can exile from here to there, but I was not content with that. Even those who had been here a long time, who had been dwelling here for a very long time, "and I brought down as a mighty one those who sat." Those who had dwelt here for a long time, I brought them down from their place and exiled them to another place. And through this I guaranteed that all the peoples would be subject to me, would be a tributary labor force to me, and would not be able to throw off my yoke.
"And my hand reached, as into a nest, the wealth of the peoples; and as one gathers abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth, and there was none that moved a wing, or opened a mouth, or chirped." The Malbim says, when a tyrant king conquers kingdoms, it is usually difficult for him to plunder their treasures. He needs many battles until he manages to seize their treasures. And meanwhile, during the battle and the war, first, the conquered country spends much money. After all, it is at war. So it spends much money for the sake of the battle. What happens is, the longer the battle lasts, when you finally conquer, less money remains. Since the country spent more and more of its treasures to guarantee that the people would keep fighting, so its blood, so to speak, has dwindled by the end. That is one thing. Second, meanwhile, since it takes a long time, they smuggle out the silver and gold and hide it. They transfer all their treasures, scatter it in other places, banks in Switzerland. Afterward it is very difficult for you to find those kingdoms' treasures. But he says, with me it was not so. "And my hand reached, as into a nest." He says, my hand reached and attained the wealth of the peoples, their prosperity, like a person who finds a nest with the bird sitting on it, the mother brooding over the chicks. That is, they were peaceful and in one moment I trapped them. Here is the bird, here are the eggs, the golden eggs, everything in my hands. It was not done over a long time. I pounced on them while they were tranquil, while they were quiet, sitting on their wealth and prosperity like a bird sitting on its nest.
And even, the Malbim says, when a person comes to fight with the bird, wanting to take the young, the bird will fight with him. It will not let him. With its meager strength, with its wings, its claws, its beak, it will fight with him. He says, with me it was not so. "And as one gathers abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth." I gathered it like one who gathers abandoned eggs. That is, the bird that was supposed to fight had, as it were, flown from the nest at that time. I gathered the wealth of all the earth like a person who gathers abandoned ownerless eggs, when the mother is not in the nest. That is, they did not even wage any war against me. I came straight in, gathered everything, they left all the silver, all the gold, I took the chicks and the eggs without any war. "And there was none that moved a wing, or opened a mouth, or chirped." It is the way of a bird to fight with its wings in order to remove and drive off enemies. But there was none that moved a wing, there was none who stirred and moved his wings to fight against me. And there was none that opened a mouth; a bird fights by pecking with its beak. There was none who opened a mouth to peck me with its beak. And there was also none that chirped. When there is no choice, no wings, no beak, then at least one screams. He says, there was not even one who screamed. I came, I took everything, everything was free, no one fought, no one even raised a cry of protest against me. That is, I came upon the wealth of a people and a country that were quiet and tranquil, I took them by force, I exiled them all, no one screamed, no one fought, because of the immense power that I have. Rashi explains why he continues "that moved a wing, opened a mouth, or chirped," because he compared the conquered country to a bird, so he continues with this metaphor. He continues with the metaphor of the bird, that this country is like a captured bird, and this bird did not move its wing, did not open its mouth, did not chirp, because he compares everything to the example of a bird upon its chicks and eggs.
"Shall the axe boast over the one who hews with it? Shall the saw magnify itself over the one who wields it? As if a rod should wield those who lift it, as if a staff should lift what is not wood." Here the prophet gives an answer to the king of Assyria. Shall the axe boast over the one who hews with it? Why do you boast in your strength? Can it be that the axe boasts over the one who hews with it? After all, the axe is a powerful and mighty tool. Can it break by itself? Can it hew by itself? Were it not for the hand that lifts the axe, could you break anything on your own? So you say "Hey, I am a great axe." True, but there is the one who hews with it. There is someone who holds this axe and uses it. You are only a tool in the hand of the Holy One, blessed be He. Hashem lifted you and gave you power. What is added by "shall the saw magnify itself over the one who wields it"? You already said this in the first metaphor. The Malbim says, the axe still has some power it could boast about. Why? If I lifted the axe, at the moment the axe descends, it hews from its own power, not from mine. The force of gravity is enough to pull the axe down by its weight to break what is below. So you are right, you did the lifting, but the part of the descent and the breaking, that I did. That is, so to speak, it still has some argument to come and say, true, the beginning was from the Holy One, blessed be He, but the conclusion I, Sancheriv, did. So he comes and tells him, it cannot be and it is not comparable at all. "Shall the saw magnify itself over the one who wields it"? After all, there is a saw. And by what power does the saw cut? By your moving it back and forth, and back and forth. Rest for one moment, and the saw ceases from its work entirely. It has no power of its own to come and act. He says, so even if you claim "I am like an axe, but the falling I did, the descent and the breaking I did," he says not at all, you are like a saw. And can it be that the saw boasts and magnifies itself over the one who wields it? And you think that you did the completion of the action, you conquered lands, you drove out many peoples? After all, a saw that cuts through cedars does so only through the Holy One, blessed be He, that is, you are only a tool in His hand like a saw in the hand of a person.
"As if a rod should wield those who lift it." He says, and how much more so is it impossible that the axe and the saw would still boast, that not only did I break and cut by my own power, but they even boast, do you see the saw moving back and forth? Do you see a hand grasping it and moving back and forth? The saw says, I am moving, so the hand is moving. Do you understand? Do you see the hand moving back and forth? That is me moving. And when I move back, then accordingly I move the hand back. When I move forward, accordingly I move the hand forward. Do you see the hand wielding the axe? I decided to rise up, so you see, the hand rose up because of me. I decided to descend, so how much more so should the axe not boast, that it thinks not only am I independent, but I even operate the one who holds me. I even move him. Could such a thing enter one's mind? "As if a rod should wield" - not only does the rod wield itself, but "those who lift it," the one who lifts it, so to speak, it also moves him. As if you claim not only am I independent and act by my own power, but I even have the power to compel and force the supreme might to do as I wish. This is the analogy here. Not enough that this saw is independent, it even moves the hand that moves back and forth. I have the power to act, so to speak, even upon the Holy One, blessed be He. "As if a staff should lift what is not wood." And more than this he says to him, will the staff rise up to say that it is not wood? The stick rises up and says "No, I am not wood." What is wood? Wood is a physical thing, without life, without any power of independent action. You, so to speak, take upon yourself greatness to come and say "I am not lifeless wood, but there is life in me, I am not wood, I am a staff capable of lifting itself." And this is what he said "I am a god and not a man," I resemble the Most High. Could such a thing enter one's mind? Would dead wood claim that there is life in it?
And in this, the Malbim says, he increased his foolishness in four matters. First, he denied that all his power and his action are from Hashem, and instead what? It is an independent power. Second, he also denied that the dominion and the origin of the power are from Hashem. For as we said, a person could say "true, I was created by Hashem, but now I act independently." This too he denied, that even the origin of the power is not from Hashem. And this is included in "Assyria, the rod of My anger, and the staff in their hand is My wrath." The rod of My anger from the outset you are only a stick. Second, you can also strike only whom I tell you. Both these things he denied. Third, he thought he could overpower even the God of gods. He has the power to overpower even the divine power of the Holy One, blessed be He. And fourth, he became so foolish that he thought he was already a god. He forgot that he is a man and said "I resemble the Most High."
"Therefore the Master, the Lord of Hosts, will send leanness among his fat ones, and beneath his glory a burning will be kindled like the burning of fire." The Malbim explains, a kingdom has power and glory from two things. First, from its internal power. How many mighty men the kingdom has, how much fortitude of soul and strength the people in that kingdom have, those mighty men of the kingdom. Second, from the external glory that it has. The multitude of the people, the wealth that the kingdom has. Here he compares this, so to speak, speaking about a person. And the person here is the analogy for the kingdom of Assyria. He says, this person in his days of might, first, in his internal power, that he is fat and mighty, as we said, a kingdom that has many mighty men. And this person in his external glory, his wealth, his many children. He now compares the downfall of Sancheriv, that at first their internal power was destroyed, which is their might, and in the second stage their fatness, which is the illness of leanness, their wealth, the kingdom, that too fell. And now he explains. "Therefore Hashem will send leanness among his fat ones." The Holy One, blessed be He, nullifies their internal power, which comes to them from themselves, not from an external cause. Like leanness, for leanness operates by itself. A person who becomes lean and loses kilograms, it is not because someone drained something from him. There is liposuction, but we are not talking about that. We are talking about a person who becomes lean internally. How does this actually happen? The internal organs digest the fat. If you do not take in more and more fat from outside, then what happens is that the fat itself is consumed by the body. The body takes it as energy, and so the person becomes lean. So he says, first their internal power will be nullified from within themselves. Not from an external force, but like fat that grows lean and consumes itself, so to speak, the body consumes itself, so too among his fat ones there will be leanness. And second, also the external glory, which is the wealth and greatness they have in the eyes of kingdoms and peoples, he says this too will be nullified, but this will be by an external cause. Like a person to whom some fire comes and burns all his possessions and his property and his house and everything, he essentially loses all his greatness. And then this kingdom has neither might, which is internal fortitude of strength, for this we said "among his fat ones He will send leanness," nor external glory and wealth, for regarding this "a burning will be kindled like the burning of fire."
This also comes to allude, the Malbim says, to the fire from heaven that consumed his camp. And this will be further clarified for us based on what Rashi brings. Chazal say, Rashi brings from Chazal, "and beneath his glory a burning will be kindled." What is "his glory"? What did they call garments? "My honorers." The Gemara brings, Rabbi Yochanan would call garments "my honorers." He would call his clothes "my honorers." Why? Because through clothing a person has honor. And this is reality. Suppose a person now enters here in shorts and an undershirt, and in contrast a person enters with a tie and a James Bond briefcase. It could be the same person, with two different outfits. The first time he enters, we will look at him with esteem. You do not know him and know nothing. And after he enters in shorts and an undershirt, we will look at him with disdain. There was once, I do not know if it was Ibn Ezra, once he arrived as a wretched pauper at some place, they seated him at the table of the poor. And another time he came with distinguished garments, important clothes, they seated him at the table of the rabbis, of the distinguished. So he sat, he had a robe with sleeves that extended down low, wide ones, like royal garments. So there, they served him a bowl of soup, so he took it, inserted his sleeve like this, gave it to soak up the soup, into his coat. They asked him "What are you doing?" He said to them "I will explain to you. I was here two weeks ago, they honored me by placing me among the poor. And today they placed me at the head. What happened? Because of my fine clothes. So tell me, who really deserves to eat? Me or the clothes? If I deserve to eat, then last week, two weeks ago you would have brought it to me. Rather what? To my clothes. All honor to them, they deserve to eat, let them drink soup." This is really what he wants to say. His glory, what honors a person, is his clothing. Therefore, by the way, this is also the laws of modesty, that women should not go about in cheap clothes. Some criticize this, why in our community, the community of the God-fearing, a woman goes about in respectable clothes. Someone who says "I pass through Bnei Brak and it always seems like Shabbat to me. I pass through all kinds of places, they go about with jeans, with simple clothes, and on the other hand in the places of God-fearing people you see that they are always dressed in important clothes." The explanation for this is simple. I am not saying this legitimizes dressing in overly fancy clothes, but when one dresses in respectable clothes, it creates distance. When a person dresses in simple clothes, wears a t-shirt and jeans, it creates closeness. And it is among the ways of modesty that a woman should dress in clothing that creates distance, not in clothing that creates a feeling of closeness. This is the reason for that dress. So then we see that honor depends on clothing. And this is what he says, "and beneath his glory a burning will be kindled like the burning of fire." After all, how did Sancheriv and his army die? Their souls were burned while their bodies remained intact. That is, their clothes remained whole. "And beneath his glory a burning will be kindled like fire." The clothes are what honor a person, and only internally were they burned like a burning fire. A midrashic teaching, Rashi says, here He repaid the descendants of Shem the honor that Shem did for his father when he covered the nakedness of Noach his father, as it says "And Shem and Yefes took the garment." The people of Israel, through what did they merit through "And Shem and Yefes took the garment"? Tzitzit. We merited the tallit. And in contrast, through what did Sancheriv and his men, who are also descendants of Shem, merit? They merited that "beneath his glory a burning will be kindled." Their clothes, you took a garment to cover your father, your garment, your clothes will remain intact and will not be burned. You might ask, what honor is there in this? The meaning is this, that when the clothes are burned, this is a corrupted death, this is a death, it is not a fine death. It is written "choose for him a fine death." "Choose for him a fine death" means that even a person who is sentenced by a court and is liable to death, they do not kill him with a disgraceful death. A death that involves great suffering, a death that involves disgrace to the body, that the whole body fills with blood and wounds and bruises, but rather "choose for him a fine death." Here too, so to speak, the Holy One, blessed be He, chose for them a fine death, that their whole body remained intact and only their soul was burned as the reward for the deed they did.
"And the Light of Israel will be for a fire, and its Holy One for a flame; and it will burn and consume its thorns and its briars in one day." The Malbim explains, the salvation of the people of Israel from troubles will come through two things. First, in time. Every trouble has a limited time. When the time ends, the trouble must necessarily depart. There is no such thing as a trouble without limit. Just as after every night day eventually comes, after trouble comes salvation. But the question is how much time. Second, salvation from trouble depends on improving one's deeds. We improve our deeds, and accordingly the trouble will depart. And this is in the manner of "if they merit, I will hasten it; if they do not merit, in its time." What does "in its time" mean? There is a set time for trouble. The trouble is not eternal. The trouble will cease. But if they merit, if you purify yourself, purify your deeds, change your ways, then "I will hasten it," you can remove the trouble already today. But if they do not merit, if they do not purify themselves, then will the trouble last forever? No, but rather "in its time." The trouble will come in its time, or he will receive relief in its time. So this is what he says. If the salvation comes through their deeds, the salvation will be complete. And therefore he comes and says, come and see, here in the salvation from Sancheriv, from before Sancheriv, both things were present. There was salvation from the standpoint of time, as if the end of the night had already come, and this is what he says "And the Light of Israel," this is the light of morning. The light of morning is the time that is supposed to shine for the people of Israel, the trouble will end, because day has already come, from the standpoint of time. And this light of ours that shines, what does it do to Sancheriv? It becomes a fire that will burn him. That is, there is a possibility that we would be saved and Sancheriv would return whole to his land. He says no, no, what shines for us will burn him. It is not only salvation for us, it finishes him. And this is what he says "And the Light of Israel," light will be for us, for Israel, and it will be for a fire for whom? For Sancheriv. And he continues and says, we will also change our deeds, for in that generation there were righteous people, and they will be even more righteous because of the siege that Sancheriv laid upon them. And this is what he says "and its Holy One," the Holy One of Israel, "will be for a flame." That is, through the special merits that the people of Israel have, through this the fire in the camp of Assyria will grow greater. And then the miracle will also become known far and wide. A flame is greater than a fire. Fire is low, a flame is large, it is high. Through this the downfall of Sancheriv will be evident to all the peoples. Through what will this be? Through its Holy One. Through our becoming more sanctified, through our repairing and improving our deeds, this will increase, first, our merit for salvation, for we deserve salvation by virtue of our deeds. Second, it will increase the downfall of Sancheriv, that if until now they had only fire, the righteousness of our deeds and the change of our ways for the better will increase the burning of Sancheriv into a flame. And this will cause "and it will burn and consume its thorns and its briars." Through this, "it will burn," the fire, "and consume," the flame, its thorns and its briars, its thorns, which represent the camp. The camp is considered like thorns, and this will burn all the thorns, and through this there will be salvation for the people of Israel at that time.
"And the glory of his forest and his fruitful field, from soul to flesh will He consume, and it will be as a sick man wasting away." "And the glory of his forest and his fruitful field" - if earlier we spoke of his thorns and briars, which are the thorns, this is the common folk, the simple camp of Sancheriv, now he moves to speak of the officers, the advisers, the mighty men, they are the distinguished ones. They are of the category of forest and orchard. A forest, the Malbim says, is stronger than an orchard. The orchard expresses a forest, and a forest is stronger than an ordinary forest that is called an orchard. But on the other hand the orchard is more distinguished than the forest, because the orchard is an analogy for the officers, for the advisers. He says, this will consume from soul to flesh. That is, a burned forest, as we said many times, does not burn the trunk, but rather burns the upper part. All the branches, the crown, but the trunks are only scorched. They are not burned until they become embers.
Complete embers. Mostly it does not reach this stage. So too he says in the analogy, the vegetative soul at first is what is burned. And in the meaning, he comes and says, the camp will be split apart until there is no longer spirit of life in it. What does this mean? This is the monarchy, this is the leadership, this will be nullified from them. But the body, which is the private individuals, they will still remain intact. Therefore he adds and says "from soul to flesh will He consume." Even the private individuals, not only the leadership, not only the distinguished ones, not only the officers, but also the private individuals, from soul to flesh He will consume them all. "And it will be as a sick man wasting away." What is "as a sick man wasting away"? The Malbim says, also the standard-bearer, who is Sancheriv. Why is Sancheriv called "the standard-bearer"? Because he raises the banner of the peoples to war. What is a banner (nes)? A tall pole. A tall mast, this is what "lift up a banner toward Zion" means. The banner is the pole on which the flag is hung. And he says, "as a sick man wasting away," the standard-bearer is Sancheriv who bears the banner to war. They would go out to war, they would take a tall pole, hang a flag on it, and go out to battle with it. And he too, Sancheriv, who bears the banner, will in the end be like one melting away. "Melting" means a thing that dissolves. A thing that dissolves is called melting. The bearer of the banner and the flag, he too will melt. Rashi here explains somewhat differently. Rashi says, since he compared them to trees of the forest, he compared their punishment to a worm that eats the trees of the forest. And as is known, the people of Israel, the house of Yaakov, is compared to a worm, whose strength is only in their mouth. So the worm is small, no one counts it. But you know, such a big worm can... such a small one can bring down a mighty tree. There are entire houses whose inhabitants are evacuated. Why? They are built of wood. Small worms, small ants, ate it, the house is finished, they tell you there is danger of collapse at any moment. So this is what he says here, since we compared them to a tree, know that there will be a small worm that will consume them. What is the small worm? Rashi says, the standard-bearer is the worm. "Melting" means what is ground away by the worm. So the worm will grind and gnaw at you little by little, until in the end nothing at all will remain of you. And one could also say perhaps that this is also an analogy for their situation, for after all they were burned with a burning of the soul while the body remained intact. So too when a tree falls, you know, a moment before it falls you do not feel it. Because the worm eats it from within. You do not feel it, it eats from within, gnaws from within, until suddenly it collapses, cannot hold on and falls. And accordingly so too it will be, that there will be a burning of their soul while their body remains intact.
"And the remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few in number that a lad could write them down." "And the remnant of the trees of his forest" means the few who will remain of the camp, of all this immense forest that he will bring against Yehudah. Only a few will remain, very few in number. "Will be so few in number," number meaning they can be counted. To such an extent that "a lad could write them down." That is, a lad cannot write much, he also does not know how to count much. Small, a child. He says they will be so few, a child could count them. This is like the expression we use today, you can count them on one hand. So too, a lad could write them down. Rashi brings the teaching of Chazal, Chazal say, how many remained of them? Ten. Since there is no child who does not write a small yud. Tell a child to write a letter, he does not know how, it is hard, complicated. But a line, he knows how to write, right? A small line he knows how to write. This is a dot, this is a yud. How many will there be? Something that even a child can write, which is a yud, ten remained.
"And it will be on that day that the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Yaakov will no longer lean upon the one who struck them, but will lean upon Hashem, the Holy One of Israel, in truth." And it will be on that day when they see the immense power of Hashem. The remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Yaakov will no longer lean upon the one who struck them. What is "the remnant of Israel" and what is "the survivors of the house of Yaakov"? We explained several times in the past that there is a difference between Yaakov and Israel. Israel is a term of dominion, this speaks of the great ones, the distinguished. Yaakov is a term of heel (ekev), speaking of the heels, of the bottom, of the portion of the people who are more lowly, more inferior. And there is also a difference between "remnant" and "survivors." "Remnant" refers to those who remained here, whoever stayed in this place. "Survivors" refers to one who fled from here, who ran, who escaped to another place and got away. And so, what he calls here the people of Zion, they are "the remnant of Israel," the reference is to the tribe of Yehudah. The tribe of Yehudah is still here, they were not exiled. But the Ten Tribes, as you recall, were already exiled. And they were on a lower level than Yehudah, since they were idol worshippers all along the way. Regarding them he says "and the survivors," those who escaped, "the survivors of the house of Yaakov." They are those who remained of the house of Yaakov, meaning of the Ten Tribes, and they also escaped because they fled. And then "the remnant of Israel will no longer," this is Yehudah who remained here, "and the survivors of the house of Yaakov," these are the Ten Tribes who escaped and fled, "lean upon the one who struck them, but will lean upon Hashem, the Holy One of Israel, in truth." They will no longer lean upon the one who struck them, for we saw what they went to do, whom did they go to take and enlist as an auxiliary force? Assyria. Aram. They went to enlist the peoples as an auxiliary force for themselves. What happened in the end? Those very peoples upon whom you thought to lean, they still struck you. Those very peoples still took payment from them. So not only did he fail to deliver the goods and did not protect you from your enemies, but he himself even came and struck you, after taking all your silver and gold from you. And this is what he says, "Israel will no longer lean upon the one who struck them." Now he gives an analogy here that expresses both things together. The stick, the staff, expresses two things. First, it is a support. One who walks leans on his staff. On the other hand, there is a staff of chastisement. A rod of chastisement. That is, the very stick on which you lean is also a stick capable of striking. And this is exactly what happened to you. You took for yourselves such a support that became a rod of chastisement. This support struck you. Upon whom did you lean? Upon Sancheriv, upon Egypt, upon whom did you lean? In the end they struck you. Rather what? "But will lean upon Hashem, the Holy One of Israel, in truth." He will lean upon the true support. Who is the true support? It is the Holy One, blessed be He, the Holy One of Israel. Hashem, whose name the people of Israel sanctify and exalt. This will be a true support. And this is what is said, the Holy One of Israel "in truth." And the "in truth" here refers to two things. First, He is a true support. Not like those supports that were a broken reed of a support, that, as the prophet says, when a person would lean on it, the thorns would enter his hand. That is one thing. Second, the truth recurs here for us. "But will lean upon Hashem, the Holy One of Israel, in truth." When you lean upon and trust in Hashem in truth, Hashem will be a support for you. But if with their mouths they honored Me while their heart was far from Me, then you are not truly leaning upon Him. You only want to receive protection from Him and afterward do whatever comes to your mind. He says that in such a case Hashem will not be a support for you. Only if one leans upon Hashem, the Holy One of Israel, in truth, with all one's heart, if you lean upon Hashem, then Hashem will protect and save you.
"A remnant will return, the remnant of Yaakov, to the mighty God." "A remnant will return" refers to those who will remain, the survivors of the sword who will remain here from Yehudah and from Israel. And do not think that only a portion of them, but rather the entire remnant of Yaakov. For "the remnant of Yaakov," we said, includes also the more lowly. All of them will return to whom? To the mighty God. They will see the might of Hashem, they will be inspired. They will see the might of Hashem, and this will awaken in their hearts the desire to return and come back to the land and to take shelter in the shadow of Hashem, may He be blessed.
"For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of it will return; destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness." The Malbim explains, this verse is seemingly an obscure verse that includes several expressions whose connection to one another is not understood. The Malbim explains it thus: Israel, your people, are as the sand of the sea. For though only a remnant of it will return, righteousness overflows the decreed destruction. Let us explain. You, Israel, your people, who now are numerous and mighty as the sand of the sea. Even if after the exile of the king of Assyria only a remnant remains of it. A remnant, only a remnant will remain, only a few will remain. But he says "it will return." Know that they will still return. Even if after the exile in which the Ten Tribes were exiled, only a remnant remained, few, as it is written "and the remnant of the trees of his forest" regarding Sancheriv, remnant meaning few remained. Know, Hashem says in prophecy, "it will return." They will still return. Even though in the end only a few remained. But know, by virtue of what will this be? By virtue of "destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness." That is, the righteousness, the righteousness of their deeds, that they will improve their deeds and do righteousness and justice and return to Hashem, this will overflow the decreed destruction. "Decreed destruction" means absolute destruction, complete destruction. And they should have suffered, God forbid, decreed destruction. What will overflow the decreed destruction? What will nullify the decreed destruction? Righteousness. Righteousness means the good deeds they will do, they will justify their deeds. This will overflow the decreed destruction. Through this the remnant will still return and come back to complete redemption here in the holy land.
"For a completion, and one that is decreed, the Lord, God of Hosts, will carry out in the midst of all the earth." A completion, and one that is decreed. Even though Hashem decreed destruction, and so the decree is essentially decreed. "Decreed" means engraved, it is absolute, it is final. It will not change, it is fixed. And if so, seemingly this is already after the verdict. So how can it be that the Holy One, blessed be He, would change His decree, so to speak? The prophet tells you, know that Hashem does not change His decree, the decree remains, He only changes the address. "For a completion, and one that is decreed, the Lord of Hosts will carry out." And upon whom was the decree decreed? Upon Israel. He tells him, do not worry, the decree will remain, but in the midst of all the earth. He will bring the decree upon the nations. A completion, and one that is decreed, Hashem will carry out, for this is already decreed, it is done, it is decreed, meaning it cannot be changed. But He will do this in the midst of all the earth, upon the idolaters who blaspheme the people of Hashem. Yisrael, the people of Hashem, will in the end be saved.
"Therefore thus says the Lord, God of Hosts: Do not fear, My people who dwell in Zion, of Assyria; with a rod he will strike you, and his staff he will lift against you in the manner of Egypt." And therefore He informs them, do not fear, My people. Even though the rest of the nations fear Sancheriv, for as we said he cast terror and dread upon all the peoples. You, My people, do not fear. And even though the Ten Tribes fear Assyria, since they were exiled by him. But you, My people who dwell in Zion, who still remained in Zion, and as we said the generation of Chizkiyahu were righteous, over you he will not prevail. Rather what? "With a rod he will strike you." "With a rod he will strike you," the Malbim says, the striking of a rod is not dangerous, in contrast to the striking of a staff which is dangerous. The rod is a soft stick. In contrast, this is not dangerous. "He who spares his rod hates his son." That is, what does one need with the son? A rod. But in contrast, a staff, a staff is severe suffering. A staff is most painful. He says you have nothing to worry about. There will only be some striking of a rod. "And his staff he will lift against you in the manner of Egypt." When he departs from here, for we already saw in Melachim and we will see it here as well later on, that when he came here, he had no choice, he was forced to return to Egypt and go to fight against Tirhaka king of Kush. And he went there and said do not think that I am going for good, I will yet return. He promised them that he would still return and still conquer them. And we explained why Hashem did this, so that he would bring all the treasures from what he would conquer in Egypt, bring it here, and all of it would fall into our hands. And then he will frighten you with his staff. "He will lift his staff against you," like "he will lift," like he will raise the staff against you. He will threaten, you only saw a rod, but that is nothing, just a rod, wait, wait, the staff is still waiting for you. He will threaten you in the manner of Egypt. When he returns from Egypt he says get ready, you will still get it with the staff. Do not worry about this, do not be afraid of these threats.
"For yet a very little while, and the fury will be spent, and My anger will be upon their destruction." "Yet a very little while" - a very little means a little. It means yet a short time, a few days, and the fury will be spent. Hashem says, My fury upon you will be spent. My fury upon you will end. Why? For after all, we said Assyria is the rod of My anger. He is My wrath, he is the staff of My wrath. Assyria, after all, we said has no power of its own. Rather what is he? He is a stick in His hand, may He be blessed, to threaten the people of Israel so that they will repent. Hashem says, the fury, which is essentially My curse, this was the staff with which I struck the peoples, as it is written "and the staff in their hand is My wrath." Hashem says, this will be spent. And the fury will be spent, I will no longer be furious, and there will no longer be a staff, so to speak, in My hand to strike. And My anger? But the anger will not yet be spent. The burning anger will not yet be spent. And upon whom will the anger be? Not upon the inhabitants of the world (tevel), but upon their destruction (tavlitam). "Their destruction" means upon the abominations of the Assyrians. The Malbim explains, tavlitam is from the term tevel (abomination) of theirs. To what term does tevel belong? Abomination. "They have committed an abomination (tevel), both shall be put to death." "They have committed tevel" - there it speaks of harlotry, it speaks of abomination. This means tevel is from a term of abomination. Hashem says, but My anger upon the abominations of Assyria will still remain, upon their abomination My anger will still remain, My wrath will still remain and I will take payment from them.
"And the Lord of Hosts will rouse against him a scourge, like the striking of Midian at the rock of Orev; and His staff will be over the sea, and He will lift it in the manner of Egypt." Hashem will rouse against Assyria a scourge, just as Hashem struck Midian at the rock of Orev. Regarding the camp of Midian it is brought there that they killed one another, out of fear of Hashem that fell upon them. They fell into panic and there was the sword of each man against his fellow. And their officers afterward fled and were killed. So too Hashem says, that same scourge that was in the striking of Midian at the rock of Orev, so too it will fall upon the camp of Assyria, that they will kill one another, and in the end who killed Sancheriv himself? His sons struck him with the sword. Exactly as it was at the rock of Orev, the striking of Midian, that they struck one another. "And His staff," after this Hashem will rouse His staff against him. Where did we see the staff of Hashem in action? We saw that Hashem struck with the staff upon the sea. That was only through Hashem, may He be blessed. So too, in the end Hashem struck them with His hand, this is His angel that came and burned the camp of Assyria, which was a burning of the soul while the body remained intact. This is already the staff of Hashem. That is, the completion of the work will be done by the angel of Hashem. "And He will lift it in the manner of Egypt." What is "and He will lift it in the manner of Egypt"? For he speaks here of the staff with which Hashem struck the Egyptians at the sea. He says, after all, the king of Assyria has now gone to Egypt. When he returns, he will bring with him, by way of the sea, the staff of Egypt. Do you understand, this is a poetic expression, so to speak, that when he returns from there, the blows that Egypt received at the sea with the staff, he will gather up on his way back also the staff. These blows will accompany him and these blows he will receive here. In this, so to speak, he will receive his blow through the staff that he brings from Egypt.
"And it will be on that day that his burden will depart from upon your shoulder, and his yoke from upon your neck, and the yoke will be destroyed because of fatness." "And it will be on that day that his burden will depart" means you have a burden from the king of Assyria. And what is the burden whose loads you bear? This is the tribute that you must give him. Furthermore, there is also his yoke upon you. His yoke is that you are subjugated beneath him, you are not independent. He tells you, do not worry, "and the yoke will be destroyed because of fatness." The Malbim says, the analogy here is the ox, it has a fat neck. It has a thick and fat neck. The yoke is like a kind of fork that sits on the neck of the ox, and to this they tie the plow, to this they tie the wagon. Regarding this he says, "and the yoke will be destroyed because of fatness." The ox's neck will be so fat that the yoke, if you place it on the neck, will damage the ox's neck. Since the yoke is narrow, and if you place it on the neck of an ox whose neck is too fat, it is impossible for the yoke not to press on the neck and damage it. So to speak, he wants to say, you, king of Assyria, have a yoke. This yoke you want to place upon whose neck? Upon Chizkiyahu's. Chizkiyahu has a neck that is too fat. Your yoke is too small, it does not fit over him. "And the yoke will be destroyed," the yoke of Sancheriv, "because of fatness," because of the fat neck of Chizkiyahu. And what is his fat neck? The reference is to the many merits that Chizkiyahu has, the merits, we will soon mention what special merits he had. These merits will cause that when you come and try to insert the narrow yoke onto the fat neck, what will happen to the yoke? It will break apart. It cannot enter, the neck is fat. So "the yoke will be destroyed because of fatness," the yoke of Sancheriv will be destroyed because of the fat neck of Chizkiyahu. And this is always the way of the prophet, to speak in metaphors, to speak in poetic analogies, right? As we saw in the previous verse, this staff upon which they lean, it is the staff that will strike them. Or "His staff will be over the sea," He will bring the staff from Egypt, like the staff that struck Egypt. It is always the way of the prophet to speak in analogies. So here too he speaks in an analogy and says, this yoke that you want to place upon Chizkiyahu will not fit. Chizkiyahu has many merits, this yoke will break. Chazal expound upon this an additional teaching. Chazal say, Rashi brings this, "and the yoke will be destroyed," the reference is to the yoke of Sancheriv because of Chizkiyahu. For Chizkiyahu, Rashi says, was pleasant to his generation like oil. That is, when they want to say about a person that he is pleasant, they say he is soft like oil. Like butter. In contrast, when they want to say a person is harsh, they say he is hard like a cedar, one cannot deal with him, everything is very hard with him. On the other hand they say this one is soft either like margarine or like butter, soft like oil. So he says, Chizkiyahu was to his generation like oil. And Sancheriv is a yoke. He says the harsh yoke, so to speak, will be destroyed because of the oil. The soft one, which is Chizkiyahu, will manage to overcome the hard one, which is the yoke of Sancheriv. An additional explanation Chazal say, "the yoke will be destroyed because of oil," because of the oil of Chizkiyahu, which burned in the synagogues and study halls. For he seated them to engage in Torah. As it is written there, that they searched from Gevat to Antipris, and they did not find, from Dan to Beer Sheva, they did not find a boy or girl who was not expert in the laws of tumah and taharah. The laws of tumah and taharah are among the difficult laws. A boy and girl refers to children of seven, eight, ten years old. They were all expert in the laws of tumah and taharah. Where did this come from? From Chizkiyahu the king, who brought them all close to the service of Hashem, may He be blessed. They tell you, this oil of Chizkiyahu is what broke the yoke of Sancheriv. And it is brought there that he planted a sword in the study hall, and said whoever does not engage in Torah will be pierced by the sword. So what should we think, coercion? They say no, what he told them was simple. He said to them, look, Sancheriv is waiting here outside. After all, Sancheriv has already finished his work with the Ten Tribes. Do you want the same thing, the same results? Your only way is to engage in Torah. And therefore he planted a sword in the study hall, and told them this sword is the sword of Sancheriv. If you do not engage in Torah, this sword will reach you. God forbid I would not kill you, but rather know that there is a sword hovering over your heads. Only if you engage in Torah do you have the merit to be saved from it.
"He comes upon Ayat, he passes through Migron; at Michmash he deposits his baggage." Now he comes and describes for us how, on the one hand, the king of Assyria comes with immense power, everyone melts before him, entering into dread. He says, behold, see, everyone entered into dread except Zion. Except Jerusalem. They laughed at him, they mocked him, they scorned him. Since they knew, our strength is with us, for we in the name of Hashem our God make mention. They knew, accordingly we have nothing to fear from you. And behold, come see his immense power. He comes upon Ayat, this is the name of a place. All of these are names of places. He passes through Migron, no one fought against him. And at Michmash he deposits his baggage, in order to lighten his load. He came with much weaponry, there he deposited his baggage, at a place called Michmash. "They have crossed the ford; Geva is our lodging place; Ramah trembles, Givat Shaul flees." From there they crossed to Michmash, and there at Geva they lodged. For at Geva there was the crag of Michmash on one side. And then his coming became known to all the inhabitants of the land, both the near and the far. To such an extent that those who were in Ramah entered into dread. And Givat Shaul fled, to flee out of fear of Sancheriv who was approaching. "Cry aloud with your voice, daughter of Galim; listen, Layish; O afflicted Anatot." He commands her to cry aloud with her voice to the daughter of Galim, until Layish too listens, and the afflicted city of Anatot too, that they all hear. And behold what does he inform them? "Madmenah has fled; the inhabitants of Gevim have gathered to flee." He informs them, look, Madmenah has already managed to flee. The inhabitants of Gevim have gathered to flee, "heizu" is like "send, gather in your livestock." The meaning is they gathered all their property and moved it to a safe place, to a place where the hand of the enemies would not reach it. "Yet this day he will halt at Nov; he will wave his hand at the mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem." In contrast to how he describes the immense dread that all were seized with, he comes and says look, in contrast, the hill of Jerusalem, he will wave his hand at the mountain of the daughter of Zion. That is, so to speak, the mountain of the daughter of Zion, this refers to Jerusalem, he will wave his hand as if saying to all those fleeing and escaping from all the cities around, why do you need to flee? What are you afraid of? Yet this day he will halt at Nov. This very day he will stop at Nov and there he will remain. Do you think he will continue and come further? Like one waving his hand to all and saying, there is nothing to fear from him. He will reach Nov, which is near Jerusalem, and there he will stop. "He will halt" (yaamod), the Malbim explains, is like "the affliction has halted in its appearance," and "she stopped bearing." The thing ceased, this too is an expression of "halting." "Yet this day he will halt at Nov" means he will cease already at Nov. Do not fear, he will not reach here. Rashi brings that this whole way he agonized in order to arrive that very day at Nov. That is, this whole way he agonized, "nitlabet" means he suffered distress. Not what we say today "we deliberated (hitlabatnu)," meaning we were uncertain. Here "nitlabet" in the language of Chazal means he suffered distress. Like "how much we suffered on the way." That is how the people of Israel complained. "Hitlabet" means he suffered distress. This whole way he agonized, meaning he suffered distress, he raced all his forces and battalions with the aim of halting that very day at Nov. His astrologers told him, if you fight against her today, you will conquer her. And therefore he raced them because he wanted to make it that same day, since his fortune, so to speak, indicated that he would have success. And when he saw, he arrived at Nov, truly panting, but in the end they arrived. He stands at Nov, he looks, he says where is Jerusalem? Where? They tell him, there, over there. What over there? That is a neighborhood, he tells them, that is not... They tell him, no no, that is not a neighborhood, that is the problematic Jerusalem that does all the... that is Jerusalem. He says, what, that is Jerusalem? He began to wave his hands in arrogance, and for such a city I bothered all these forces? I would have brought one battalion, why did I bring the whole army and all the forces here for what? For this little village? He told them, lodge here tonight, he is no longer in a hurry. They told him, today if you conquer her you will succeed. Ha, to conquer this? I can conquer her while walking. Lodge here tonight and tomorrow each will throw a stone at her. Each one will take and throw a stone, we have finished her off. No more is needed. I brought such forces that I do not need all this. And whoever sees the descriptions in Chazal of the hundreds of thousands who came with him, they dried up the Jordan just by their steps. The hundreds of thousands who arrived with him were a mighty army. So he said, all this I bothered and troubled over for Jerusalem? Whoever knows the original Jerusalem, it was a few square kilometers. It is not what... less than today. It is less than the wall that surrounds Jerusalem today, less than the wall of the Old City, it is less than that. Jerusalem is a few square kilometers. And he says regarding this I made all this commotion? So against this he waves his hand, what, what is this? The mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem? Is this thing a little hill? Against this I raced so much?
"Behold, the Master, the Lord of Hosts, will lop off the boughs with terrible force, and the lofty in stature will be cut down, and the high ones will be brought low." Behold, the Master in whose hand are all the hosts, this is the Master, the Lord of Hosts. He will perform a miracle beyond nature, to cut down this great forest of the camp of Sancheriv. And He "lops off," "lopping off" means cutting down trees from the forest. Now, one who cuts down trees in order to use them, the way of cutting is that at first he cuts down the unimportant trees, the low trees, and afterward he moves to the more important and larger trees. All this is when you want to cut in an orderly fashion, when you have no interest in destroying the forest. You want to cut in an orderly fashion, you begin with the less important trees. But in contrast, when you come with the aim of destroying, then you begin the opposite way. You begin with the more important and larger trees. And this is what he says, first He will lop off the boughs. The branches that give splendor to the tree, the large branches. And do not think that He will prune them with what is called today shears. With shears you trim it in a way that looks nice, in a way that the appearance gains beauty. He says not so, but rather "with terrible force," to destroy. This will be with terrible force so that it will be complete destruction. "Ma'aratzah," the Malbim explains, is a heavy and strong tool of iron, that they would strike against the tree, and it would break it with force. It is from the term of tyranny (aritzut), "ma'aratzah" from the term of a tyrant (aritz), one of great power. "With terrible force" is a tool that will destroy the tall trees. "He will lop off the boughs with terrible force." And the boughs (pu'rah) are the fruit of the tree, and they are like splendor and a crown upon the head, therefore it is called "pu'rah." The tall branches. Like "I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the peoples there was no man with me." "Pu'rah" is the high part of the tree, the fruit of the tree. "And the lofty in stature will be cut down." Afterward, in the second stage, the trees that are lofty in stature, that are taller than the rest of the trees of the forest, these too He will cut down. And afterward He moves to the lower ones, that are not so lofty in stature, they are only high, "and the high ones will be brought low." That is, He will cut down all the trees until only the small shrubs remain, only the low ones remain. And afterward, "and He will cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and the Lebanon will fall by a mighty one." He will surround with iron all the thickets of the forest, meaning all the branches, all the trunks. If until now I spoke of the tall, the lofty, the strong, now he tells you He will finish off everything, He will not leave a thing. Even the low ones, even the thickets of the forest, even the lower part that becomes entangled in the forest, until the entire Lebanon by a mighty iron will fall. The meaning is that at first the officers and the mighty men will fall, until in the end the weak ones will also fall, and the entire people as well. And this is what is written "and He will cut down the thickets of the forest." "Niqaf" is a term of cutting and breaking, like "the one who beats an olive tree," or like "striking." We explained once that this is the same term as "striking." "No person injures his finger below unless it is proclaimed upon him above," the reference is "nogef," not receiving a blow. "Behold, I will strike all your borders with frogs." So here too, "niqaf" means like "nogef," like cutting, breaking through the iron. And this will fall "by a mighty one." And the Lebanon will fall by a mighty one. "By a mighty one," Rashi says, they will fall through an angel. Another explanation of "by a mighty one": the merit of Chizkiyahu. For Chizkiyahu was the mighty one and the ruler of Israel, as it is said "and his mighty one will be from him." This refers to Chizkiyahu. As it is written "in mighty waters." What does Rashi explain? What is this... "the depths covered them, and they sank in mighty waters." "They sank in the waters," comma, who? The mighty ones. The mighty ones are the Egyptians. So here too, "by a mighty one it will fall," the reference is through a mighty person who is strong and rules over Israel, through the merit of Chizkiyahu, in the end all of Sancheriv and his forces will fall.