Isaiah Chapter 12 is the direct continuation of the preceding chapter. There, the prophet described the shoot emerging from the stem of Yishai, the King Messiah who will stand as a banner for the nations and to whom peoples will turn, whose resting place will be glorious, and the great peace that will prevail across the world: the wolf dwelling with the lamb, and the leopard lying down with the kid. Now the prophet comes to describe what Israel will sing and say on that very day. This is a short chapter of song and thanksgiving, containing a foundational principle of faith: why the future redemption will be an everlasting salvation, unlike the redemptions we experienced in the past.
"I Will Thank You, Hashem, for You Were Angry with Me" - Giving Thanks for the Anger
וְאָמַרְתָּ בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא אוֹדְךָ יְהֹוָה כִּי אָנַפְתָּ בִּי יָשֹׁב אַפְּךָ וּתְנַחֲמֵנִי׃ - And you will say on that day: I will thank You, Hashem, for You were angry with me; may Your anger subside and You comfort me.
At the time of the redemption, we will thank Hashem specifically for the troubles: "I will thank You, Hashem, for You were angry with me." The Malbim explains the difference between chemah (internal wrath) and af (visible anger). Chemah is inward rage, as said of Achashverosh, "and his wrath burned within him" (and one who studies the Malbim there will find a wonderful explanation for why there was internal wrath beyond outward anger, though that is not our subject here). By contrast, af is anger displayed outwardly, like a person whose nostrils flare with smoke, whose face turns red, and who is visibly consumed with fury. Chemah is what happens within, while af is what is seen on the outside.
Therefore the prophet says: I thank You, Master of the Universe, for showing me an outwardly stern countenance, for pouring out Your visible anger upon me. Even though that reality brought me pain at the time, and Hashem's burning wrath was directed against us, on the contrary - precisely because You exacted payment from me then for what I owed, from now on, "may Your anger subside and You comfort me." It is like someone who was angry at his friend and vented his anger, so that from that moment on there is once again room for friendship between them. Since You have already collected our debt, it is a sign that the account is settled.
In contrast, had the Holy One, blessed be He, not exacted payment from us, where would the anger have remained? Inside. He would not have shown us an angry countenance and would not have brought troubles upon us, but the anger would have remained within. And anger that remains bottled up without being drained and released is a permanent anger with no resolution. It must be emphasized: this does not grant a person license to vent his anger at his fellow, for a person is commanded to break his anger. All this applies solely to the relationship between man and the Creator of the world.
"The God of My Salvation" - Three Reasons for Trust
הִנֵּה אֵל יְשׁוּעָתִי אֶבְטַח וְלֹא אֶפְחָד כִּי עׇזִּי וְזִמְרָת יָהּ יְהֹוָה וַיְהִי לִי לִישׁוּעָה׃ - Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid, for Yah Hashem is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation.
"I will trust and not be afraid" - I am certain that Israel will never return to exile again, and that the salvation will be an everlasting salvation. After all, we have already experienced a situation where we were saved and the salvation did not endure: during the Second Temple era, we returned to the Land and rebuilt the Temple, and after four hundred and twenty years the Temple was destroyed. Evidently, salvation can be temporary. Here, however, we are confident that the salvation is permanent, and I have no fear of another exile.
Why? For several reasons. One who trusts in man has reason to fear, since the person he relies on may die, and on whom will he lean then? But I do not trust in flesh and blood, but in Hashem - "Behold, God [Kel]" - who lives and endures forever; and Kel denotes the possessor of ultimate power. That is the first reason.
The second reason: a person assisted by his fellow has reason to worry that the assistance might not continue. To understand this, one must recognize the difference between salvation (yeshuah) and help (ezrah), a distinction that also exists in everyday speech. When someone says, "I am willing to help you," it means: you lend a hand, and I will lend a hand as well. It makes no sense to say, "I will help you while you sit on the side" - that is not help. Help means both of us working together, and it requires the participation of the one being helped. The term salvation (yeshuah), by contrast, is used when a person was entirely helpless on his own and someone came and saved him, where he did nothing and the entire salvation came from the rescuer.
The Malbim explains: If salvation from Hashem were in the category of help - meaning that Hashem comes to help, but also requires our input - what could we contribute? Mitzvot and good deeds. The Holy One, blessed be He, would say: You performed good deeds, you have merits, so I too will come and help, and the redemption will arrive. If so, there would always be reason to worry that we might not remain righteous, that tomorrow something might change for the worse in us, just as Yaakov feared lest sin cause a downfall, and then the Holy One, blessed be He, might say: in this state, you are no longer worthy of My help. But if the Holy One, blessed be He, does not rely on our merits at all, but rather comes to save - and a savior is one who extends a hand to the helpless without scrutinizing their standing or looking at what they can give, but gives entirely from Himself - then even if our conduct deteriorates, nothing will change. For this is a salvation that does not depend on our merits, but on Hashem's lovingkindness toward us.
And this is "Behold, God is my salvation": "God" (El) - mighty, and not flesh and blood who may fall tomorrow; "my salvation" (yeshuati) and not merely "my help" - therefore the salvation is enduring. The Malbim adds: because He is "God," all-powerful - "I will trust" right now; and because He is "my salvation," which stems from the attribute of lovingkindness that is not contingent upon merit - "and I will not fear," phrased in the future tense, meaning that for the future as well I remain confident that Hashem's salvation will not depart from me.
A third reason: "for God (Yah) is my strength and my song." Hashem is my strength and might, and this itself is "the song of Yah," the praise of His blessed Name. For when Hashem is praised for His salvation, by virtue of His great Name alone He will not withdraw His salvation from us; for if He were to withdraw it, why should the nations say, "Because Hashem was unable," thereby desecrating His blessed Name? This is, as it were, the Creator's own interest, so that the nations do not say: He came to save them, but in the end threw up His hands and was unable to do so. And this was the very argument of Moshe Rabbeinu: "Why should the nations say... Where is their God?" and "Because Hashem was unable."
The Malbim notes that these are the three reasons outlined by Rabbi Yosef Albo in Sefer HaIkkarim, grounds on which Hashem will inevitably fulfill His word: first, on account of His chesed, which never ends, corresponding to "my salvation"; second, for the honor of His Name, so it not be desecrated, corresponding to "for Yah is my strength and song"; and third, because His word never returns void - when Hashem promises, His promise is never revoked. Corresponding to these three, it says in Tehillim: "give glory to Your Name" - that He act for the sake of His Name, so it not be desecrated among the nations; "for Your lovingkindness" - this is His salvation and kindness toward us; "and for Your truth" - this is the fulfillment of His promise, for if Hashem has promised, He will undoubtedly fulfill it.
And this is the conclusion of the verse, "and He has become my salvation" - this is the promise, the third reason. Thus, there are three reasons here: "God" - mighty and not flesh and blood; "my salvation" - kindness that is not dependent on merits and is therefore everlasting; "and He has become my salvation" - a promise that is never revoked.
You Shall Draw Water with Joy - An Ever-Renewing Salvation Without Toil
וּשְׁאַבְתֶּם מַיִם בְּשָׂשׂוֹן מִמַּעַיְנֵי הַיְשׁוּעָה׃ - And you shall draw water with joy from the springs of salvation.
The prophet adds that we need not fear that the salvation will pass, for it will not be a one-time salvation, but one that is constantly renewed, like someone drawing water from the springs of salvation. What is the difference between a spring and a river? A river flows from the sea or from rains, whereas a spring wells up from within itself and always contains fresh water. Therefore, "you shall draw water with joy" - we will draw without fearing that it will run out, for these are "the springs of salvation," a source whose waters never fail.
The Malbim further notes the precise distinction between one who draws water (sho'ev) and one who hoists it up from the deep (doleh): one who hoists (doleh) extracts from a deep place and requires exertion and toil, whereas one who draws (sho'ev) does so effortlessly. This means that we will receive salvations without effort and without toil, and consequently the drawing will be with joy and we will welcome the salvations with gladness.
Make Known His Deeds Among the Peoples - Publicizing Miraculous Providence
וַאֲמַרְתֶּם בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא הוֹדוּ לַיהֹוָה קִרְאוּ בִשְׁמוֹ הוֹדִיעוּ בָעַמִּים עֲלִילֹתָיו הַזְכִּירוּ כִּי נִשְׂגָּב שְׁמוֹ׃ - And on that day you will say: Give thanks to Hashem, call upon His Name, make known His deeds among the peoples, declare that His Name is exalted.
The Malbim explains that there are two forms of divine providence in Hashem's governance of His world. There is the providence by which the Holy One, blessed be He, guides the world according to the laws of nature, known as "the action of Hashem" (pe'ulat Hashem) or "the work of Hashem" (ma'aseh Hashem). In contrast, there is miraculous providence, in which the Holy One, blessed be He, upends the natural order and guides His world through signs and wonders. This is called "deeds" (alilot) - governance not through the ordinary course, but in a supernatural manner.
The nations are acquainted only with natural providence and do not recognize miraculous providence, for Hashem has never governed them through miracles, but always through nature. Individual divine providence (hashgachah pratit) belongs to the Jewish people, whereas the nations are subject to general providence over the species (hashgachah minit): the Holy One, blessed be He, watches over the nation as a whole, but not over each individual person and what he does at every moment. Although according to the teachings of Chassidut there is individual divine providence even over a worm, according to the great Jewish philosophers, divine providence over the nations is like providence over animal species, general providence, whereas over Israel it is individual providence over each and every person.
However, in the time to come, "Give thanks to Hashem, call upon His Name" will be said over the miracles that He will perform for us at every moment, and through this, "make His deeds known among the nations." Since we will live constantly under supernatural guidance and open miracles, the nations as well will recognize His deeds - meaning, the supernatural and individual Divine Providence of the Holy One, Blessed be He.
The verse continues: "Declare that His Name is exalted" - recount His wonders, for the Name of the Holy One, Blessed be He, is exalted even in the eyes of the nations. Even in ancient times, when they worshipped idols, they believed that Baal and the idols were the conduits in the lower realm of influence, but at the highest level is the God of gods, the Holy One, Blessed be He, Who is the ultimate source of influence; however, in their view, one had to receive that divine bounty through a specific constellation or idol. And why did they not turn to Him directly? Because according to their conception, He is too elevated to concern Himself with the lower realms, overseeing only general matters, whereas the god who cares about what happens to us is Baal, Dagon, Chemosh, and the other idols. That is what they believed back then. And today, monotheism - the belief in one God - is already the most widespread faith in the world, aside from idol worshippers who remain in various corners of the globe.
Therefore it says, "Declare that His Name is exalted" - when you mention the Name of God to them, you are not innovating anything new for them, for His Name is already exalted in their eyes. The novelty is that now they will realize that Hashem performs "deeds" for human beings - that is, He performs supernatural miracles for them.
For He Has Done Gloriously - Rising Above Nature and Its Renown
זַמְּרוּ יְהֹוָה כִּי גֵאוּת עָשָׂה מוּדַעַת זֹאת בְּכׇל־הָאָרֶץ׃ - Sing to Hashem, for He has done gloriously; let this be known throughout all the earth.
Now you will sing and offer special praise to Hashem, and for what reason? "For He has done gloriously." The term *ge'ut* (exaltation) used in reference to the Holy One, Blessed be He, explains the Malbim, means that He elevates and raises Himself above the natural order, guiding His world through miraculous providence. And these are not like the miracles of ancient times that were not publicized; rather, "let this be known throughout all the earth." The miracles about which it was said, "You shall draw water with joy from the springs of salvation," and the miracles about which it was said, "make His deeds known among the nations," will be publicized throughout the entire earth. Even though this is a miraculous order and the whole earth had previously known only the natural order, now the entire world will recognize His miraculous guidance.
Cry Out and Sing, You Inhabitant of Zion - Everything Is for the Sake of Israel
צַהֲלִי וָרֹנִּי יוֹשֶׁבֶת צִיּוֹן כִּי־גָדוֹל בְּקִרְבֵּךְ קְדוֹשׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ - Cry out and sing for joy, you inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.
"Cry out and sing for joy" - especially you, the people of Israel, the inhabitant of Zion. A person might mistakenly say: if the miracles and wonders are revealed to the whole world, does that mean we become just a small cog in a large machine? The prophet tells you: by no means. The people of Israel will forever maintain their exalted stature, "for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel" - all the miracles and wonders are for the sake of the people of Israel, because He is "the Holy One of Israel," for we sanctify, glorify, and exalt His Name. The primary purpose of the signs and wonders is for the people of Israel, not for the nations. Therefore, the Holy One, Blessed be He, says to the Congregation of Israel: know that you must rejoice, cry out and sing, for Hashem is in your midst, and all that He does - He does for you.
In summary: Chapter 12 is the song of thanksgiving of the Messianic era. First, we will give thanks for the very wrath that was poured out upon us, because anger that has been fully vented is anger through which the reckoning has ended - "Your anger has turned away, and You comfort me." Afterwards, the prophet details three reasons why the future salvation will be an eternal salvation: "God (El)" - the power and eternity of the Savior; "my salvation" - that it is an act of lovingkindness not contingent upon our merits and therefore never ceases; "and He has become my salvation" - the fulfillment of His promise; corresponding to "to Your Name... for Your lovingkindness and for Your truth." This salvation will be like drawing water from a constantly flowing spring, effortless and therefore with joy. The miraculous providence will be publicized throughout the earth until even the nations, who knew only natural order, will recognize His "deeds" and His exalted Name. Nevertheless, the ultimate essence of everything is for the sake of Israel: "Cry out and sing for joy, you inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel."