Yeshayahu chapter 17. The previous chapter dealt with Moav; our chapter will deal with Damascus and Ephraim. The burden of Damascus: behold, Damascus is removed from being a city, and it will become a ruinous heap. The navi says, let us look at the difference between Damascus and Ephraim. Damascus was utterly destroyed, and therefore it is removed from being a city. "Removed from being a city" means it has been taken off the list of cities that are counted. Damascus is no longer counted among the cities, so in what reckoning is it counted? "And it will become a ruinous heap." It is reckoned among the heaps. What is a heap? A destroyed and desolate place. Damascus is no longer considered among the number of cities, but rather it is reckoned among the number of heaps, houses that suffered collapse, that suffered an earthquake, so that whatever was there became a heap. That is, all of Damascus, as is said here in the prophecy, its houses will fall, the place will be desolate, no man will be able to come and dwell there. Removed from being a city, and it will become a ruinous heap. It will suffer such a downfall that it will be reckoned as heaps of fallen houses.
"The cities of Aroer are forsaken, they will be for flocks, which will lie down, and none will make them afraid." But the cities of Aroer, these are the cities of Ephraim, which are already forsaken. Forsaken already for some time, meaning ever since the ten tribes were exiled. They too will have a downfall, but they will not be so desolate. Rather, only "they will be for flocks." The meaning is, it is not utterly desolate, sheep will still be able to graze there. "They will be for flocks." And lest you think the sheep will graze there only occasionally, rather "they will lie down, and none will make them afraid." The meaning is the flocks will lie down there permanently. Why? Because there will truly be no wild beasts there, and no collapse of houses.
Now why does the navi here join the downfall of Damascus to the downfall of Ephraim? What is the connection between them? We saw above that Aram and Ephraim joined together to come and fight against Yehudah. Therefore he comes and says that both will have an identical downfall, both will fall at the hand of Sancheriv. Only that the downfall of Aram, Damascus, will be more severe, for there it will become truly a heap of ruins. In contrast, the downfall of Ephraim, the place will still be "for flocks, which will lie down, and none will make them afraid."
"And the fortress will cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Aram; they will be like the glory of Bnei Yisrael, says Hashem Tzevakot." "And the fortress will cease from Ephraim." We remember that Ephraim thought to receive help and support from Aram. They turned to Retzin, yes? And to Pekach ben Remalyahu, they thought that the king of Aram, Retzin king of Aram, would help Pekach ben Remalyahu, the kingdom of Yisrael, the ten tribes, in order to come and fight against Achaz, against Chizkiyahu. And he announces, "and the fortress will cease from Ephraim." That is, when Damascus falls, then the fortress, where Ephraim thought to be fortified, the power that Ephraim went to rely upon, which is Damascus, ceases. That power will cease. Damascus was a fortified city and a stronghold for Ephraim, and the moment they fall, then this fortress, as it were, will not be there, they will have no one to be fortified with, no one with whom to be saved. "And the kingdom from Damascus," that is, the kingdom will cease from Damascus and from all of Aram. Why will they be alike? "And the remnant of Aram, like the glory of Bnei Yisrael." The remnant of Aram will be like what happened to the glory of Bnei Yisrael. For Bnei Yisrael, who are Ephraim, their glory was brought low when Sancheriv came and exiled them. And if so, know, Damascus, a similar future awaits you. Both your glory and all your kingdom will cease, just as the glory was brought low, like the glory of Bnei Yisrael who are Ephraim, so too will be your glory, your glory too will be brought low.
From this stage he begins to prophesy about Ephraim alone. "And it will be on that day that the glory of Yaakov will be brought low, and the fatness of his flesh will grow lean." "Will be brought low" is from the expression of dwindling, the glory of Yaakov's wealth will dwindle. As is known, Yaakov comes to symbolize the state of Yisrael at the lower level, in contrast to Yisrael which expresses the state of Yisrael at the higher level, an expression of dominion. Yaakov is from the word for heel, an expression of lowliness. And not only that, "and the fatness of his flesh will grow lean." "The fatness of his flesh" means his men, the strong ones, those who establish the kingdom, they will be few in number. An expression of leanness.
"And it will be like the harvester gathering the standing grain, and his arm reaping the ears, and it will be like one gleaning ears in the Valley of Refaim." Now he will describe the three exiles which they were exiled by Sancheriv. And then he tells us this: in the first exile it will be like the harvester gathering standing grain. Like one who gathers the harvest of a field that stands full of its standing grain. That is, the meaning is, the land was fully inhabited, like one who gathers the harvest when the whole field is in its standing grain. The second time he comes, "and his arm reaping the ears." He is like one who reaps scattered ears, this is not standing grain, not a field where all the standing grain is full, but scattered ears here and there. After the first exile not many remained here, the land was empty. And the third time, "and it will be like one gleaning ears in the Valley of Refaim." One gleaning ears in the Valley of Refaim means a barren place, in which only a few ears grew. Whoever comes to gather them cannot gather them with sickle and scythe. Why would you go to reap a single ear? You have no choice but to go and gather them by hand. Therefore he no longer says "reaping," but rather "like one gleaning ears," gathering them and gleaning them one by one in the Valley of Refaim. The Valley of Refaim is a place where no one goes to sow, a place that is desolate. So too the third time when he comes here, he already found only a few.
The Malbim says this pasuk has another explanation, by way of figurative speech. "And it will be like the harvester gathering," as it were, so will the gathering of the standing grain be. The meaning of the matter is, standing grain is the produce that is attached to the ground. They will gather the standing grain, which is the produce attached to the ground, with the same ease with which one gathers the harvest. What is the harvest? The harvest is reaped produce. Reaped produce is easy to gather, you just go, lift, and take. In contrast, standing grain is growing, harder to gather, you need an additional act of reaping. So he says, know that when the enemy comes here to take the land of Ephraim, the ten tribes, "and it will be like the harvester gathering the standing grain." Just as one gathers the harvest, so will he gather the standing grain. And not only that, "and his arm," that is, even with his arm alone, without a sickle, without a scythe, he will reap the ears without laboring at all. And with all this, "and it will be like one gleaning ears," he will reap everything without leaving anything. Like a man who comes to glean ears in the Valley of Refaim, for the Valley of Refaim is a place where one cannot reap with a scythe, but rather glean one by one, so too he will not leave anything. What does he mean to say? That even though the tribe of Ephraim are now like standing grain rooted in the land, and then you say, ah, such a great people, ten tribes rooted here, who could take them and bring them down from here? He says, know that the king of Ashur will gather them with such ease, like one gathers reaped produce. And another thing, he will not need, as I said at first, "his arm reaping the ears," he will not even need to reap with a reaping tool, he will not require a scythe, he will not require a sickle, but rather like one gleaning ears. One gleaning ears takes them out by hand, as I said. So too he will gather them like a man who takes what is, as it were, in his hand, without need of scythe and sickle, without need of weapons of war, he will conquer them with great ease. This is essentially a prophecy about the downfall of Ephraim, about how they went to join with the king of Aram in order to fight against Yehudah.
"And gleanings will be left in it like the beating of an olive tree, two or three berries at the top of the highest bough, four or five on its fruitful branches, says Hashem, the God of Yisrael." "And gleanings will be left in it like the beating of an olive tree." Even the gleanings, which they would usually deliberately leave for the poor, since the gleanings are what is left as gifts to the poor, the individual grapes, he tells you even these will not be so many. "And gleanings will be left in it like the beating of an olive tree." That is, how much is that? It is little. "At the top of the highest bough," meaning the choicest, there will be only two or three. That is what will remain. And on the branches, what are "its four or five branches"? Its branches are the boughs that branch out from the trunk itself, where there are usually more fruits on the branches, so there will be four or five. That is, what he means to say is, even what Sancheriv will in the end leave here will be countable, will be few. Now notice, he writes here "and gleanings will be left in it like the beating of an olive tree." What is the difference between "left" (nishar) and "remained" (notar)? We explained in the past that notar is when I take, and what I did not take is called notar. In contrast, nishar is what I deliberately decided to leave. This I leave, this is called nishar. But in contrast, if I took everything and there are some I did not notice and did not take, this is called notar. Notar is always what remains on its own, in contrast to nishar which leaves them deliberately. So he will deliberately leave here a few so that they may continue to work the land, for vinedressers and farmers. How many will they be? He tells you a small number, very few. The "highest bough" written here is usually the top of the tree. Why is it called amir? It is written, "You have exalted (he'emircha) Hashem this day," He raised you up. So first of all it is an expression of importance, and second it is an expression of height, since it is at the top of the tree. So it is important because what is at the top receives the most sun, and therefore it is ripened in the best way. And another thing, it is also high, and therefore it is called amir. The branches, as we explained, are the thin boughs that come out from the thick boughs and bear the fruit, and the branches here are called from the expression of a branch of the thing itself, something that branches out from the thing itself.
Now regarding the olives, he writes "like the beating (nokef) of an olive tree." What is nokef? The Metzudat Tziyon explains nokef is from the expression of cutting, as in "and He will cut down (venikaf) the thickets of the forest." But I think, in my opinion, nokef connects more with nogef (striking). Yes? As we say "he does not stir (nokef) a finger." What does "he does not stir a finger" mean? This is an expression that many err about. Some think "he does not stir a finger" means he is not willing to help in anything. This is a corruption, that is not the meaning. Nokef etzba, Rashi says nokef is like nogef. "A man does not injure (nokef) his finger below unless it is decreed upon him above." Rashi explains nokef is like nogef. A man does not receive a blow on his finger, a drop of blood does not come out of his finger, unless it is decreed upon him above. So it turns out that nogef is an expression of striking. Whoever knows how olives are harvested? How are the olives brought down from the tree? Blows, you give blows to the branches and they fall. Or you shake the tree and thereby they fall. In a place where it is hard to shake, you simply give blows to the tree, and thereby the olives fall. So according to this we can explain here in its plain sense, "and gleanings will be left in it like the beating of an olive tree." Nokef like nogef of the olive tree, from the expression of striking the olive tree in order to shake off its fruit.
"On that day man will look to his Maker, and his eyes will regard the Holy One of Yisrael." The Malbim says, in that period among the idol worshipers there were two sects. One sect completely denied the existence of the Creator; everything they attributed to the idols. They would say the idol is the Creator, it is the fashioner, it does everything, from it everything comes. There was another sect, examples of which we find often in Tanach, who believed there is a Creator of the world, only they said Hashem is the God of gods, He is above all of them, but we cannot form a connection with Him because He is exalted far above, and therefore He does not form a connection with lowly beings like us, and therefore our way to turn is specifically through the stars, the constellations, the ministers of nature, all those idols which are essentially the intermediaries between us and Him, and them the Holy One placed as officials so that from them we would receive the flow of blessing. Such was the conception, and this was usually the more accepted conception. Now he comes and says, know, on that day these two sects will be nullified. Against the first sect, of which he said they were the ones who believed that the idol is everything, that there is no Creator of the world but the idol is the creator of the world, he says "on that day man will look to his Maker." Man will look and recognize that there is a God who made him, this is the Creator, the idol did not make him, for they believe that the idol is everything. But there is still room to think like the second sect: true, the Creator made him, but He wants us to form a connection with the idols, with the stars and constellations. He says, even though Hashem made him, know, the Holy One watches over him. Where do you see this? Also, this is what he continues, "and his eyes will regard the Holy One of Yisrael." The meaning is his eyes are toward the Holy One of Yisrael, he believes in Hashem's providence. A state will come when there will no longer be those who believe that the providence of the Holy One no longer rests upon us, but rather that the Holy One does not deal with lowly creatures who are human beings and that they have been handed over to the stars and constellations, no. Rather "his eyes will regard the Holy One of Yisrael," he will believe in Hashem's providence, that Hashem alone watches over, and not through intermediaries. And this is what he says, "the Holy One of Yisrael." "The Holy One of Yisrael" comes to indicate the special individual providence that expresses the attachment we have with Hashem. The Holy One of Yisrael, how, why does Hashem connect to us? Because You are holy and Your Name is holy, while the people of Yisrael are also holy, "every day they will praise You, Selah." This is, as it were, a shared expression for us and for Hashem, which comes to indicate the attachment, the connection between us and Hashem. The people of Yisrael are called holy and the Holy One is called holy. That is, this says that we have a connection. From where do we even have the title of holy? Only because we connected to the Holy One. So this is what he says, we will reach a state where not only will man not believe that the idol made him, but he will also know that the Holy One of Yisrael, Hashem Himself, is the one who watches over, He is the one who knows what is happening with man at every given moment, and to Him it is fitting to pray.
The Malbim says, it is written "on that day man will look to his Maker, and his eyes will regard the Holy One of Yisrael." What is the difference between "looking" (lishot) and "seeing" (lirot)? The Malbim says, lishot means to turn the whole body. If you call me, I can look at you, and on the other hand I can turn my whole body toward you. When I look (sho'eh) toward you, then my whole body turns toward you. In contrast to seeing, which is only seeing with the eye. Now let us notice, says the Malbim, whenever it is written "see," it is written "see et," or "see be," but it is never written "see el." We do not find the expression "see el." Or "see toward the house, see toward the people," or "see the house, or see the people," but you do not say "see el." The Malbim says, and here you have it written "and his eyes will regard (yiruna) el the Holy One of Yisrael." "Regard el the Holy One of Yisrael," they see el. What is the explanation of the matter? The Malbim says, therefore we must explain that when speaking of something exalted, something that is not grasped by the eye of flesh but by what is called the spiritual eye, in this case it is indeed applicable to say "to see el." And this is what he writes, "his eyes will regard the Holy One of Yisrael." The meaning is his eyes will look toward the Holy One of Yisrael. Since this matter cannot be grasped with the eye, it is not possible to see Hashem, therefore the meaning is his eyes will incline toward the Holy One of Yisrael, toward Hashem and not toward a foreign god.
"And he will not look to the altars, the work of his hands, and what his fingers made he will not regard, neither the asherim nor the sun images." And moreover he will not look to the altars, the work of his hands, that which until today he sacrificed and burned incense upon. "And what his fingers made," the idols, those he will no longer regard, the asherim and the sun images. The Malbim says, the halves of the verse are parallel. We explained in the past what "the halves of the verse are parallel" means. In Iyov the Malbim makes much use of this method of reading Tanach. "The halves of the verse are parallel" means, if there is pasuk A that includes within it A and B, and pasuk B includes within it also a phrase that includes A and B, then know that part A of pasuk A, its continuation is part A of pasuk B. And part B of pasuk A, its continuation is part B of pasuk B. And then you must, as it were, read them together. And now let us see how this fits with us. Pasuk 7 and pasuk 8, in them the halves of the verse are parallel. I will read them and afterward we will see how they are parallel. "On that day man will look to his Maker, and his eyes will regard the Holy One of Yisrael." These are two parts. Pasuk 8, "and he will not look to the altars, the work of his hands," one part, "and what his fingers made he will not regard, neither the asherim nor the sun images." And then we will read it thus: "on that day man will look to his Maker, and he will not look to the altars, the work of his hands." Whom is he speaking about here, as we explained? About the first sect, those who denied the existence of Hashem, who thought the idols do everything. And then what? They would make altars for the idol. They looked to it, "looked to it" means to it alone they turned. "On that day man will look to his Maker, he will not look to the altars, the work of his hands." The end of the previous pasuk, "and his eyes will regard the Holy One of Yisrael." Now he speaks about those who believed there is Hashem, Creator of the world, but who would turn and, as it were, regard the idol, as though the idol is the official who is supposed to bring down the flow of blessing to him. So this sect, the second sect which acknowledges the existence of Hashem but only denies providence, they believed the idol is an intermediary between us and Hashem, so they did not make altars for it, for after all Hashem is the Creator of heaven and earth, why would I make altars for the idol? But in any case, when he worshiped, he needed the idol before him, because he needed the official. That is, if you ask him in whom do you believe? He tells you in Hashem. But when I worship Hashem I need the official before me, I need the idol before me. Therefore they would place the idols before them at the time they would worship and bow in their houses of idol worship. And this is what he says, "and his eyes will regard the Holy One of Yisrael," he will not place an idol before him in order to stand before it and bow, but rather his eyes will regard the Holy One of Yisrael, "and what his fingers made he will not regard." The idol that he placed before him, what his fingers made, which is, as it were, the official as we explained, that he will not regard, since he will believe with complete faith in Hashem's providence, and therefore only Hashem will be before his eyes.
The Malbim says, what is the difference between "the work of his hands" and "what his fingers made"? Regarding the altars he says "the work of his hands," regarding the idol he says "what his fingers made." The Malbim says, "the work of his fingers" specifies what a person does himself without intermediaries. In contrast, "the work of his hands" could be something my worker did. This is still called the work of his hands. But "the work of his fingers," even today in the expression, "with my ten fingers I made this." What is meant? The worker? I myself. This is what he means to say. The idols they would make with the work of their fingers. So not only the altars, which are the work of his hands, to which he will not look, but even the idol, which he made with his fingers, which shows something of greater value, as it were, to them, with all this, even this he will not regard.
"On that day his fortified cities will be like the abandonment of the wood and of the highest bough, which they abandoned before Bnei Yisrael, and it will be a desolation." On that day, he continues to prophesy about Ephraim and says, his fortified cities will be, the strong cities of Ephraim, "his cities of might" from the expression of might, "like the abandonment of the wood and the highest bough." What is "the abandonment of the wood and the highest bough"? On Mount Ephraim they had a forest. This is mentioned in Sefer Yehoshua, that Bnei Ephraim came to Yehoshua and said to him that we are a numerous people and the place we have is not enough for our tribe. Whoever wishes can hear this in the lessons we have on Sefer Yehoshua. There they come and complain that the place is not enough for them. Yehoshua tells them, behold you see, you have a mountain, on this mountain there is a forest, and in its wood, meaning go up to the forest, cut down the trees from there, you will have a place to dwell. But they could not dispossess the Canaanite. The Canaanite had control over the forest because he had chariots of iron. Those who dwelt in the forest were strong. Now the Canaanites abandoned and fortified the forest. From what expression is "abandoned"? Notice, this is not from the expression of leaving, but from the expression of strengthening. As it is written "and they strengthened (vaya'azvu) Yerushalayim up to the wall." What does this mean? The meaning is to strengthen the thing, it does not mean from the expression of abandonment. Yes? Or as they say ma'aziva, which means the covering that is made to strengthen the roof. So here "abandoned" means strengthened. So on that day his fortified cities will be like the abandonment of the wood and the highest bough, just as the Canaanites strengthened the wood and the highest bough before Bnei Yisrael, "which they abandoned before Bnei Yisrael," they strengthened the forest before Bnei Yisrael so that Bnei Yisrael would not conquer, they understood that they had plans to conquer the wood and their forest. "And it will be a desolation." That is, this abandonment and this strengthening, which is the fortress that the men of Canaan made there, became a desolation of its inhabitants. So too will his fortified cities be, what Bnei Ephraim now make and strengthen against their enemies, he says, know that this too will in the end be a desolation. This too will be ruined. That is, what the Perizzite who dwelt on the mountain formerly had, where we in the end conquered them and it became a desolation, know Ephraim, so too it will be for you. Just as you conquered and it became a desolation for the Canaanite, so too they will conquer you and there will be a desolation for you. And this is what he says, "on that day his fortified cities will be," the cities that he strengthens, "like the abandonment of the wood and the highest bough which they abandoned before Bnei Yisrael," just as the Canaanites strengthened the wood and the highest bough before Bnei Yisrael so they would not come and conquer them, so just as there "it became a desolation," so too for you, Ephraim, now it will be a desolation.
"For you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and the Rock of your strength you have not remembered; therefore you will plant pleasant plantings, and you will sow it with foreign vine shoots." "For you have forgotten," for you have forgotten the God of your salvation. That is, you have forgotten Hashem, who is the God of your salvation from time immemorial, you have forgotten Him completely. "And the Rock of your strength you have not remembered." And even what now Hashem is the Rock of your strength, He is now the rock and the stronghold in which you are exalted, in which you are saved, this fortress you now see before your eyes, it is impossible that you would forget it; I can forget what happened twenty years ago, I cannot forget what is now before my eyes. And therefore "the Rock of your strength you have not remembered." "You have not remembered" means you did not want to remember, you did not want to bring it to your heart. What is the intent of the words? The Malbim says, there is a difference between "you have forgotten" and "you have not remembered." What is the difference between forgetting and not remembering? The Malbim says, the difference is this. "You have forgotten" is a person who forgot. "You have not remembered" means he did actions in order not to remember. What is called doing actions in order to make oneself forget. For example, "and the chief cupbearer did not remember Yosef." This was through the negligence of the chief cupbearer, he made efforts in order not to remember. And afterward "and he forgot him," truly. At first he made an effort for it, but afterward it already happened on its own, in the end he truly forgot. And therefore he comes and says, "for you have forgotten the God of your salvation." What Hashem saved us in the past, for this you truly need a strong memory in order to remember. So this we forgot. Forgot, we explained, truly, this is what happened, we forgot. In contrast, "the Rock of your strength," what Hashem now protects us with, what Hashem is now like a rock for us, it is impossible to say about this "I forgot." What did you forget? It is before you. What did you forget? Rather this is "you have not remembered." "You have not remembered" means you do deeds in order to make yourself forget that the Holy One now guards you, that Hashem now protects you.
"Therefore you will plant pleasant plantings, and you will sow it with foreign vine shoots." Now he gives a parable and figurative speech for a man who has a pleasant planting, a most beautiful plant. "Pleasant" is from the expression of pleasantness, agreeableness. Yes? He has a most special plant. "You will plant pleasant plantings." And this plant you went and grafted foreign vine shoots into it. "You will sow it with foreign vine shoots." From where do we know that the meaning here is to graft? The Malbim says, always in the Holy Tongue, regarding seeds, regarding produce, the expression of sowing is used. In contrast, regarding trees, the expression of sowing is never used, but rather what expression? Planting. Trees are not sown, trees are planted. But, says the Malbim, if you find the expression of sowing regarding a tree, know that its meaning is grafting. To graft. You take, there is one tree, you take a shoot from another tree and graft it onto an existing tree, this is planting. They make a cut and insert and bind, yes, this is called, this is called sowing regarding trees. Apart from this you will not find the expression of sowing that applies to trees. And therefore the Malbim says, "therefore you will plant pleasant plantings." You had a planting of pleasant plants, most special. And what did you go and graft into it? Here it is written "and you will sow it with foreign vine shoots." An expression of sowing. Sowing, we said, is not planting, but rather the meaning is to graft. What did you go and graft into it? Foreign vine shoots. Foreign vine shoots means another thing, another kind, lesser, inferior, something that will only ruin its beauty, the splendor of the pleasant plantings. What does he mean to compare to them by this? You have a Rock of strength, you have a God on high, and you are the people of Yisrael, children of the living God. What did you go and do? To graft foreign vine shoots. What did you go and do, Bnei Ephraim? To take for yourselves other gods. To take foreign vine shoots and graft them, to plant, to sow them within yourselves. To take other nations and rely upon them, instead of strengthening your trust in Hashem.
"On the day of your planting you make it flourish, and in the morning you make your seed blossom; but the harvest flees on a day of a flooding stream and incurable pain." Apart from having gone and done an act of folly, to go and connect a foreign and inferior kind onto pleasant plantings, you also went and strove to hasten the growth and taking-root of this thing, so that it would immediately be fruitful and multiply and grow. "On the day of your planting you make it flourish," that very day that you planted it, immediately in the morning "you make your seed blossom," in the morning that follows you already expect, expect that it should already blossom, that it should be large. That is, you occupied yourself with this so much, that already, as it were, the following morning it already puts forth flowers, it already puts forth a bud. But in any case he says, "the harvest flees on a day of a flooding stream and incurable pain." That is, know, Hashem says, as it were, to Ephraim, you will not succeed in your deeds. The seed you sowed, you will not merit to reap. Why? Because the harvest will flee from you. "The harvest flees," it will flee, "on a day of a flooding stream." "Nachlah," the Malbim explains, many commentators explain "nachlah" means from the expression of illness. But the Malbim explains that "nachlah" is from the expression "a stream (nachal) passed over our soul." What is "a stream passed over our soul"? An expression of a stream. "A stream passed over our soul." So he says "the harvest flees on a day of a flooding stream." The meaning is the harvest will flee from you, you will not merit to reap what you made, when there comes a day on which a stream of mighty waters will wash away the entire harvest. And this flood will reach you too, and you will have with this incurable pain. "Incurable pain" means a severe illness, a mortal blow, meaning a most severe blow. What is the meaning of the parable? The meaning is you went to seek help from other nations. And not only did you go to seek help, but you also said to them, come quickly, come quickly. This is, as it were, the foreign vine shoot that you went and planted within yourselves; instead of turning to Hashem, you turn to other nations and even hurry them along, "on the day of your planting you make it flourish, in the morning you make your seed blossom," that they should come quickly, that it should already blossom. But he says, know, this will not help you. For when you will need their help, what will happen? The stream will wash them away too. Who is the stream? Sancheriv will come and exile you too, and Aram as well, upon whom you Bnei Ephraim rely, him too he will exile. The wall will exile you to Chalach, Chavor, the river Gozan. Those upon whom you rely and whose salvation you cause to grow quickly, the stream will wash both you and them away. So that in the end you will have no benefit from them. It is written here "on the day of your planting you make it flourish (teshagsegi)." What does teshagsegi mean? From what expression is teshagsegi? The Malbim says, we know this in the Holy Tongue, to flourish. But truly this is an expression that does not appear much in Tanach. From what expression is teshagsegi? It is written, there is an expression called "yisgeh." "Yisgeh" means will increase. Yes? Will grow, will increase. Yes? "Like a cedar in Levanon he will grow (yisgeh)," will grow, will increase. Now always know a rule in the Holy Tongue: when a verb is doubled, this indicates increase. So when it is written yisgeh, this is will grow. Teshagseg, again, again sin-gimel. Again sin-gimel means more, will increase and add and multiply. Always when a thing is doubled it means much. Gal is one wave. Galgal (wheel) recurs, wave after wave, or rotates round and round. Or as there is kirker, yes? Kirker from the expression of a carriage (karkarah), from the expression of to skip. Kar, we said, is a messenger, a runner. And karkarah is running, running, running. The meaning is jumping, jumping, jumping. This is the meaning. So too in every expression, patz and potzetz, yes? So the same idea. Katz, cut the tree, and kitzetz, made small pieces of it. Always when we double the thing, this indicates increase of the thing itself. So here he says "on the day of your planting you make it flourish," you wait to see how it flourishes and grows, immediately that same day, and the following day you want the seed to already put forth flowers. But this hope in the end will not be realized. Now he says here "and incurable pain" (anush). The Malbim says, anush is like "her wounds are incurable (anushah)." And this also joins with the verb anush. Anush is from the expression of humaneness, yes? A "mortal (anushah) blow," the meaning is an inhuman blow. This is the meaning of a mortal blow. That is, when a person strikes with humaneness, they mean he strikes gently, yes? They mean to say this person has a human image, he has mercy, he has, he does not act with cruelty, a human image. Now, apparently then a "mortal blow" (makah anushah) should be a merciful blow. Why is it the opposite? Because it is among the opposite verbs. There are opposite verbs, like "stone with a stone." The meaning is, on the one hand either to stone with stones, to strike with stones, or to remove the stones, to clear them away. Or "my produce will root (teshares)." There is one possibility that the meaning is to take root, giving roots in the ground, or from the expression of uprooting (mesharesh), tearing the thing out from the root. Like kilas and lekales. Also, one can say to put him to mockery and scorn (kalas), which means an expression of disgrace, and on the other hand "we must glorify, to exalt and to praise (lekales)," which means an expression of praise. These are opposite verbs. So here too, "incurable pain," on the one hand anush indicates humaneness and mercy, on the other hand anush means to say lacking humaneness, a most severe pain that a human being is not capable of inflicting such pain.
"Woe to the multitude of many peoples, they roar like the roaring of the seas; and the tumult of nations, they make a tumult like the tumult of mighty waters." Rashi explains, a principle that runs through all the generations. The rod with which Yisrael is smitten will in the end be smitten. Therefore the nevi'im who prophesy the punishment of Yisrael through the nations follow it with the punishment of the nation through which Yisrael was smitten. Rashi says, you will see a certain fixed pattern in the words of prophecy. The nevi'im prophesy some harsh prophecy about the people of Yisrael, if they deviate from the way or since they deviated from the way, and immediately afterward you will see a prophecy about the nations. What is this balance? He says it is simple. The harsh prophecy for the people of Yisrael will come through a certain nation. Afterward he tells you, but know, this nation that served here as a rod, this rod will in the end be broken. And this is what he says, "woe to the multitude of many peoples, they roar like the roaring of the seas; and the tumult of nations, they make a tumult like the tumult of mighty waters." That is, in the end these peoples will in the end fall and be broken. This is according to Rashi. The Malbim explains, we saw in the previous pasuk "on a day of a flooding stream and incurable pain." The Malbim explained that a stream will come that will wash away all this harvest, they will have incurable pain. Here he essentially speaks about Ephraim, about the ten tribes, who as we said went and planted foreign vine shoots, married foreign women. He said there will be a stream that will wash them away. And now he explains to us what the nature of the stream will be, which he mentioned in the previous pasuk. He tells you the stream that will wash them away will be a multitude of many peoples, this multitude being like the roaring of the seas. Like a raging sea. Which is the camp of Sancheriv. The camp of Sancheriv will come and exile the ten tribes. And it is the stream that washes away the harvest of that grafting of forbidden mixtures that we explained, that the tribe of Ephraim, meaning the ten tribes, went and connected with the nations, there was here a forbidden mixture, a foreign vine shoot. Sancheriv will come and exile them. And this camp that will come upon them, the camp of the nations, will be a tumult. That is, on the one hand it will have an abundance of quantity, and this is what he says "they roar like the roaring of the seas." From what expression is roaring (hemyah)? We will mention it shortly in more detail, the meaning is from the expression of noise, roaring. Hemyah. Second, abundance of quality. This will be "the tumult of nations." This will not be merely roaring; a tumult is already much more than roaring, it is already actual noise. "The tumult of nations." What is the difference and why regarding the seas did he write "they roar," and regarding the nations "like the tumult of mighty waters"? What is the difference between them? The Malbim says, in the Holy Tongue one must know there is a difference between "peoples" (amim) and "nations" (le'umim). "Am" indicates a gathering of people that has a government. A "goy," in contrast, indicates a gathering of people even without a government. But if we are dealing with an am, an am means they also have a unified rule. What then is the meaning of a le'om? Le'umim? The Malbim says, le'umim means they have a unity from the standpoint of their religion. Now notice, peoples can be several separate peoples, but they are one le'om. If, for example, we take all the peoples of Arabia, they are separate peoples but they are one le'om, and that is the religion of Islam. Essentially the le'om unites many peoples under the same religion. So now this is not from the standpoint of government, they do not have one king, but only from the standpoint of belief, that their belief is one. And if so, le'umim includes more than amim. Because amim, I just said, includes many of the peoples of Arabia, that is many peoples, but one le'om. So when I say the word le'umim it includes many more peoples. Like if I say America and England, I spoke about two peoples, but I spoke about one le'om, because both America and England, their common religion is the religion of Christianity. So le'umim includes more than amim. Now the Malbim says, there is a difference between hamon (multitude/roaring) and sha'on (tumult). Hamon is the ordinary murmur. And therefore many people are called a hamon, because when you are near many people there is a rustle, a murmur, the sound of speech, a hamon. This is called hemyah. In contrast, sha'on is an unusual noise. It is a noise that is much more than the standard. The hamon is the ordinary murmur in any place where there is a gathering of people. But when there is a sha'on it means a noise much greater than the standard and ordinary noise. Rabbim (many) and kabbirim (mighty), the Malbim says, rabbim are those who are many in quantity, there are many people there. Kabbirim means it is immense in terms of quality. Its quality is much greater, much stronger. So now let us look and be precise. "For the multitude of many peoples." We explained that amim is less than le'umim. And therefore when there are many peoples then there is a hamon. A murmur, noise, not too great, because a murmur, we said, is a noise that is not great. "They roar like the roaring of the seas." But "the tumult of nations," le'umim, we already said, includes much more. Le'umim includes the whole religion. So this means, then, that it includes also several many peoples. So the le'umim already make a sha'on. Sha'on means a much, much greater noise. So this is not like the tumult of many waters, but rather like the tumult of mighty waters they make a tumult. As we said, kabbir is more than rav. Kabbir means also, in terms of quality, much much much stronger. Like the tumult of mighty waters they make a tumult. This will be the stream about which the navi spoke in the previous pasuk, that "on the day of your planting you make it flourish, and in the morning you make your seed blossom, but the harvest flees on a day of a flooding stream and incurable pain." On that day a flooding stream will come that will wash away everything. Who will be this stream? A multitude of many peoples and the tumult of mighty waters.
"The nations make a tumult like the tumult of many waters; but He will rebuke it, and it will flee far off, and be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a whirling thing before the storm." Now he turns to Ashur. He says this is Ashur, which will come as we said like a flooding stream, it will fall with all its camp. Those nations make a tumult, they roar, but there is a voice of many waters that is stronger than them. A voice of mighty waters, "Hashem on high is mighty." Mighty waters are stronger than the camp of Ashur. "But He will rebuke it," whom will Hashem rebuke? That tumult, that tumult which Ashur makes, the many nations, the immense noise that they make when they come to conquer the ten tribes, from afar, from His holy dwelling, "but He will rebuke it, and it will flee far off." Hashem will rebuke it. And it will flee in humiliation to where? To Ninveh. For we will see that his sons, Saretzer, yes? The sons of Sancheriv went and pursued him and killed him. Esarchadon killed him. That is, in the end he will flee. From whom will he flee? From all the mighty waters of Hashem. From afar Hashem will come and Hashem will rebuke it. "And be chased," there will be a state here where he will be chased by Hashem's rebuke. Chased like what? About this the navi says, "and be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a whirling thing before the storm." The Malbim says, the wind (ruach) is an ordinary wind. The storm (sufah) is a much stronger wind. Now chaff flies by the wind. But the whirling thing (galgal) not only flies by the wind but also rolls by itself. Let us imagine, for example, that now from the mountain a wheel of thorns is rolling and descending. So on its own it rolls because it descends on the mountain, and on the other hand there is also wind, so this makes it run much faster. And therefore he goes here gradually. "And be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind." At first he will be chased like chaff that is in the mountains before the wind. And more than that, "and like a whirling thing," for a whirling thing already rolls by itself, and it will not be merely wind but a storm, a storm that is much greater than wind. What does he come to add by this? That apart from the king of Ashur fleeing, why? Because Hashem chases him, because Hashem strikes him, he will in the end be chased by the people of his nation and country, and his sons will strike him with the sword. And this is what he tells you, that not only will he be chased by Hashem, but also "like a whirling thing before the storm," from himself as it were, from his own nation they will already kill him, apart from the wind and the storm with which Hashem chases him.
"At evening time, behold terror; before morning, it is no more. This is the portion of those who plunder us, and the lot of those who despoil us." And he continues and says, what will happen with that Ashur? "At evening time, behold terror." He compares him to the fear of demons at evening time. As is known, demons were once very prevalent and there was terrible fear of them. So he says "at evening time, behold terror." The Malbim says, demons at night are very frightening. But when day arrives, suddenly light, it is over, there is nothing. Demons have no dominion by day. So "at evening time, behold terror; before morning, it is no more." But morning arrives and those demons dissolve and there is nothing, as if there had not been. What is this "terror" (balahah)? The Malbim says, there is a pasuk in Iyov, "it drives him to the king of terrors (balahot)." The Malbim says, there is a difference between balahah (terror) and behalah (panic). Balahah comes to express the powers of the harmful spirits, the powers of the demons, which terrify a person. Like "consuming coals of Reshef, bitter destruction (ketev meriri)," they are appointed over Sheol, over Gehinnom. He says this creates fear and dread in a person. Behalah is ordinary panic. Balahah means from those demons, which create a terrible dread in a person. Now the main time of their dominion, as we said, is at night. "You bring darkness and it is night, in which all the beasts of the forest creep." What are "the beasts of the forest"? Those powers of impurity. This is the time of their dominion. When the light of morning arrives, as we said, they return to nothingness. And now, according to this the Malbim says, he gives a parable and figurative speech for the camp of Ashur. When did the camp of Ashur arrive at Yerushalayim? At night, correct? They said, tomorrow morning each of us in a flash takes and topples the wall of Yerushalayim and conquers it. He said, what, is this the Yerushalayim for which I brought so many troops to conquer it? They came at night. But at night, as we said, morning arrives, all the demons and the fear, everything departs. There is no fear of demons in the morning. He says also here, these harmful spirits at night their power ends. Morning arrived, it is over, they saw nothing. What happened? An angel of Hashem came into the camp of Ashur, struck 185,000 heads of troops. So although "at evening time, behold terror," there was terrible fear when he came and besieged here around Yerushalayim. But "before morning, it is no more." Even before morning arrived they had already vanished, they are no more, dead corpses. "This is the portion of those who plunder us, and the lot of those who despoil us." This is what comes to those who plunder us, and this is the lot, like "my lot and my inheritance," that comes to those who despoil us. What is the difference between "portion" (chelek) and "lot" (goral), between "those who plunder us" (shosinu) and "those who despoil us" (bozezinu), and why do those who plunder us deserve a "portion" and those who despoil us a "lot"? The Malbim says, there is a difference between chelek and goral. Chelek means, if I say you have a portion in the inheritance, is it as though it does not belong to you and I gave it to you? No. Rather it belongs to you. The inheritance belongs to you. But then, how do I determine what belongs to you? A division is made. This is called chelek. Chelek means what belongs to you, but the division determines what belongs to you, which portion exactly belongs to you. In contrast, goral, a person acquires even something that does not belong to him. What falls in a lot cannot be a large portion, more than his portion, more than what belongs to him, this fell in a lot. In a lot it can be that he receives more than his true portion. For example, in inheritance it cannot be that you receive more than your portion. If your portion is one quarter, then the division will determine which quarter you receive, but it will always be one quarter. In contrast, in a lot it can be that there falls to you in the lot something much more than what belongs to you. This is the difference between chelek and goral. The Malbim says, there is also a difference between shoseh (plunderer) and bozez (despoiler). And this explanation the Malbim brings in several other places. The Malbim says, the despoiler has one concern, to increase his wealth. He wants to take spoil. In contrast, the Pelishtim "plunder (shosim) the threshing floors." What is "plunder the threshing floors"? They came to plunder, the meaning is not to take for profit, but to destroy, to ruin, to spoil. And therefore a plunderer is worse than a despoiler. Because a despoiler, if he has no possibility to take, then he will leave it. He does not come to destroy and ruin, he comes, what he can take he takes, what he cannot take he leaves. In contrast, the plunderer, true, it can be that he takes part, but what he cannot take all, he will destroy and ruin, because this is essentially his main aim. It turns out, then, that the plunderer is worse than the despoiler. So he says, the plunderers, these are those whose intent is to destroy, they are evil-hearted, those who came to destroy the people of Yisrael, the plunderers, this is "the portion of those who plunder us." What they will receive is the portion that truly belongs to them. It belongs to them according to their measure, it belongs to them according to their evil-heartedness, this is a portion. As we explained that in a portion you receive what belongs to you. This downfall belongs to them. "And the lot of those who despoil us." But those who despoil us, even though they are not truly hostile to us, but their whole aim is for their own enjoyment, there is money and he comes. With all this they too will receive this punishment. Although it will not truly belong to them measure for measure, but this is a lot. A lot, as we explained, it can be that you receive more than what belongs to you. Those who despoil us will receive here, it can be, more than belongs to them, meaning in punishment. The punishment will be more than what belongs to him, because this is a lot. But for those who plunder us, those who came out of evil-heartedness only to destroy, they received their portion that belongs to them truly measure for measure.