Yeshayahu chapter 23. The burden of Tyre. Wail, ships of Tarshish, for it is laid waste, without a house, without an entryway, from the land of Kittim it is revealed to them. This is a prophecy about the fall of Tyre at the hands of Nevuchadnetzar, and when Tyre fell, refugees fled to a place called the land of Kittim, and there they were the first to announce this news. This is not like today, when within two minutes the whole world already knows, everyone has telephones and there is... In their time you needed a messenger, someone who would come and announce the news. Who were the ones who went and reported the news of the fall of Tyre? Those were the refugees who fled to the land of Kittim, and there the report was first announced. And when the ships of the city of Tarshish passed by, the city of Tarshish had ships that would travel to Tyre for trade by way of the land of Kittim, so the ships of Tarshish heard, where? In the land of Kittim, about the fall of Tyre.
And then, the burden of Tyre, wail, ships of Tarshish. Wail, from what root is this? From the word yelalah, a wail. Wail, ships of Tarshish, they wailed, those who come in the ships of Tarshish. Tarshish is a place name, Tartesus, that is how it was called in their language, a place where they wailed, for it is laid waste, without a house, without an entryway, from the land of Kittim it is revealed to them. They heard that it is laid waste, without a house. Whom did they hear was laid waste? Tyre was laid waste, as we said, you will not find there in Tyre any place or inn to lodge, this is what they are told, from the land of Kittim it is revealed to them. This matter was revealed by way of the land of Kittim, where the news of Tyre's fall was announced to them. And why will they not find there a house, an entryway? It is impossible to come to a house there in the land of Tyre because Sancheriv conquered it. Why should it be impossible to come there? The Malbim says because after Nevuchadnetzar conquered Tyre, he destroyed all the houses, brought up the sea and flooded everything, until even the shore that was a shore for ships, Tyre was known as a place of ships, there was a great port there, it was a central city.
This is what is called the Phoenicians. The Phoenicians, their place was from Tyre, that is from Lebanon, down to the shore of Acco. That was the Phoenicians, and this was a well known and famous nation in their time who dwelled in this region, and this nation was known for its ships. They had many ships and they were men of war and mainly men of commerce, everyone would come there to that shore to transport goods, and from there they would trade with the whole land. Tyre was a glorious city at that time, and Sidon too was a very, very renowned city because of its commerce. And then, when Tyre was destroyed, what happens to the second city, which is a city of commerce? It grows at its expense. Like, to make a distinction, when Rimadia fell, then suddenly Matarna doubled and tripled its customers. So it is exactly the same, when Tyre, which was a central city for commerce, fell, then automatically Sidon became the ones who received all the clients who were supposed to arrive at Tyre. And Tarshish, Tarshish is the city of Tartesus that is located in the land of Spanien. Where is that, Spanien? Spain. Spain. Spain was connected with Tyre in matters of commerce, it is known that Spain too were great merchants.
Be still, dwellers of the coastland, merchant of Sidon, crossing the sea, they filled you. Sidon, as we said, was near Tyre, and when Tyre was at ease, then Sidon was considered a small city, of no significance, it was not great beside it. But as we said, after Tyre fell, all the commerce turned to Sidon, and it grew very wealthy, until in the end Sidon too was destroyed by Nevuchadnetzar, but at first it became very great. So at the beginning he describes Sidon mourning over the fall of Tyre. Why should it mourn? On the contrary, seemingly it should rejoice, Tyre fell, now I am growing. No, rather they were heavily invested there in Tyre, says the Malbim. Where were their investments? In Tyre. And automatically when Tyre is destroyed, then Sidon too is harmed. It is like when one country in the world falls, it is not a local blow, it can sometimes harm the entire world. Everyone falls in the wake of that country, everyone is invested there, they have assets there and the like. So great harm is caused to them. The prophet says to them, on the contrary, you should not be sad, why are you crying over the destruction of Tyre? And especially you, merchant of Sidon, why are you crying? For from now on, crossing the sea, they filled you, from now on those who cross the sea, where was their route to arrive? To Tyre, now they filled you, they will fill you with goods, so automatically you have become the alternative address to Tyre. So what do you need to cry about? What are you wailing about? Be still, dwellers of the coastland, merchant of Sidon, you should be silent from your weeping, on the contrary you should even rejoice, since now, crossing the sea, they filled you, those who cross the sea will now fill Sidon in place of what was, of what used to go to Tyre.
And on many waters the seed of Shichor, the harvest of the Nile was its produce, and it was the merchandise of nations. Now too he says to Sidon, now you will be filled with the seed of Shichor. The seed of Shichor is the Nile of Egypt, from there they would send over many waters to distant coastlands the seed for trade, since in Egypt, as is known, it was a very fertile land, they had there the Nile that rises and irrigates, and he tells them now she supplies, Sidon will be the one who supplies the goods. What until now was the seed of Shichor that was in Egypt, will now come to Sidon. Seed, harvest, its produce, he specifies, whether the seed that grew there in Egypt, whether the harvest that was from the Nile, whether its produce of the Nile, the grain that is already ready for eating, all this, and it was the merchandise of nations, all this that until now was the merchandise of nations, that was for trade to the nations, where? In Tyre, all this will now pass to Sidon. Now what actually is the division between them? The Malbim explains, there is grain that is sold with the straw and the stalk, this is called the harvest of the Nile, as it is reaped. And there was grain that was already threshed on the pile, after they separated the chaff from it, this is called produce. And he says essentially everything, all that used to come from Egypt and go to Tyre, will now come to the ports of Sidon, and if so, Sidon, you have reason to rejoice.
But, be ashamed, Sidon, for the sea has spoken, the stronghold of the sea, saying, I have not travailed nor given birth, nor raised young men nor brought up virgins. But now, as it were, the same figure of speech says to Sidon, I take back what I said. You began to rejoice too early. What will you rejoice about, Sidon? About the fact that all the commerce of Tyre passed to you? He says this is a premature joy, because the enemy will come to destroy you too. The enemy will come and do to you what he did to Tyre. And the sea said, and especially the stronghold of the sea, which is the strong place of the sea, the place that becomes a fortress, an island, where people dwell, it says to itself, would that I had not travailed nor given birth, nor raised young men. I have not travailed means would that I had not had birth pangs. And if I had birth pangs, would that I had not given birth. And if I gave birth, would that I had not raised young men. The meaning is, Sidon is destined to fall like Tyre. Now when a person, Heaven forbid, has his son die in his adulthood, this is a terrible grief, a very great grief. And then a person says, would that I had not travailed, that I had not had birth pangs, since in the end he passed away, would that I had not had birth pangs. And if I had birth pangs, would that I had not given birth, that the sons had died in their mother's womb. And if I gave birth and did not raise young men, would that I had not raised him until he reached the age of a young man, and would that I had not brought up virgins. Raised means to bring up, to elevate means to raise him to an additional level. And I did not bring up virgins, because why? Because when I rejoice in their maturity, afterward when I see their downfall the grief is great. How is it written there in the curse of Eli? He said to him, and all the increase of your house will die as men. To die as men is a great grief, a terrible grief, a person who mourns a son who passed away at age twenty is not comparable to a person who mourns a son who passed away at the age of a week. He has not yet grown attached to him, he has not yet raised him, he has not yet... So he says, if so, Sidon, your grief, your joy is premature. For you, Sidon, if you were in a state of long ease like Tyre, then the sorrow would not be so great. But since your ease did not last long like Tyre, but rather you grew in one moment, for Tyre fell, all the commerce passed to you, you grew in one moment, you became great, and after that you received a downfall, for Nevuchadnetzar came to you and took your wealth too. And if so he says to them, your joy is premature, for what befell Tyre will befall you too, Sidon. And on the contrary, if so, it would have been better for you not to grow at all. It would have been better for you to remain as you were, and then Nevuchadnetzar would not have shown any interest in you. Why did he show interest in you? Because he had already conquered Tyre which was great, and afterward Sidon was great, and since Sidon was great he came to Sidon. So it would have been better for you, Sidon, if I had not travailed nor given birth nor raised young men, it would have been better if I had not risen so high, because that rise caused me a great downfall afterward.
There is a Rashi who brings a Midrash that the Sages said in the Aggadah, be ashamed, Sidon, for the sea has spoken. What did the sea say? The sea said, just as I have not travailed nor given birth nor raised young men, just as I have no sons and daughters to worry about being seized for my iniquity, I do not deviate from the commands of my Maker, there is a boundary, the Holy One, blessed be He, set a boundary for the sea, says the sea, I do not cross it. Even though seemingly I have nothing to lose, I have no sons that the Holy One, blessed be He, can take from me, I have not travailed nor given birth nor raised young men. So he says, all the more so you, be ashamed, Sidon, for you should worry about this, that behold, if you rebel against the word of Hashem, then Heaven forbid they will take your sons and your young men. So why did you not worry? This is, as it were, a kal vachomer that Sidon should have learned from the sea.
Verse 5. When the report reaches Egypt, they will tremble as at the report of Tyre. When the report reaches Egypt of the downfall of Sidon, then Egypt will tremble, meaning they will be filled with fear, dread, then Egypt will tremble as they trembled at the report of Tyre. Just as they were terrified when they heard about the fall of Tyre. Why? Because, as we explained, Egypt used to supply goods to Tyre. What happens when one of your buyers falls? The seller falls too, right? Because I am invested there, my money is there, people there owe me. So the moment Tyre fell, Egypt, which was the main supplier, was left with many debts. Tyre became insolvent, it actually ceased entirely, not just insolvent, for the sea rose over them too, in short there is no more Tyre. So when Egypt heard about this, Egypt had a great loss, they suffered from this matter. And now, where did they go to invest? To Sidon, for as we explained Sidon grew in the wake of the fall of Tyre. When Sidon falls, then the fear and dread of Egypt that they had when Tyre fell, return again when Sidon falls, because now we are invested in Sidon. And this is what he says, when the report reaches Egypt, they will tremble as at the report of Tyre, when Egypt hears about the fall of Sidon, they will have fear and dread just as they heard about the fall of Tyre, for there too they were invested. Rashi explains, when the report reaches Egypt, just as Egypt heard that I brought upon them ten plagues and they drowned in the sea, and then they will tremble and be terrified as at the report of Tyre, when the hearers hear about the plagues of Tyre which were like the plagues of Egypt, they will have that same fear and that same dread. Which plagues? Rashi says blood and fire, as it is written in Yoel, this is an example that is like the plague of blood. All the tumult of the fire that is written in Yeshayahu is the croaking of the frogs, its streams turned to pitch, in short Tyre underwent plagues similar to the plagues of Egypt. Whoever hears about this will tremble as at the report of Tyre, just as they were afraid when they heard about the plagues of Egypt, it aroused dread, so they will be afraid when they hear about the plagues of Tyre.
Cross over to Tarshish, wail, dwellers of the coastland. And here he concludes what he began, what he said at the beginning, be still, dwellers of the coastland, that is, do not mourn, Sidon, over the fall of Tyre, for the commerce will pass to you. Afterward he retracted and said, indeed you should mourn, since soon the same cup of poison that Tyre drank will pass over you too. And he says, if so, since you did not gain much profit from the great success, since it is a temporary success, for Nevuchadnetzar will come and destroy you too, therefore I offer you a suggestion, cross over to Tarshish, I suggest you flee immediately to Tarshish. Wail, dwellers of the coastland, the meaning is wail over the downfall of Tyre, certainly do not be still and certainly do not rejoice. What at first he told them, you have no reason to rejoice, now on the contrary he tells them, I tell you, you should wail, for what befell them causes you to be next in line. My recommendation, cross over to Tarshish, flee to Tarshish before it is too late.
Is this your joyous one, whose antiquity is from days of old, whose feet carry her far off to sojourn? Now he speaks about Tyre, and he as it were turns to the inhabitants of the world and, as if amazed, says. You must know that the prophet often speaks in the parable of some person who observes, sees the matters and describes them. Like some observer from the side, like a person speaking with Sidon, telling them rejoice, Tyre fell, and after that now he turns and speaks about Tyre, like a person observing from the side and seeing the matters and describing them. And then he turns and says, is this your joyous one from days of old? He asks the inhabitants of the world, have you heard of such a city that was joyous from days of old in its antiquity, leaving its place and going into exile to a distant land? How can such a thing be? That is to say, this is something against nature, something illogical. Such a successful city, whose feet carry her far off to sojourn? Her feet carry her into exile to go to a distant place? This matter must necessarily bring us to the conclusion that the Holy One, blessed be He, did these things, that the Holy One, blessed be He, is the one who brought the downfall of Tyre. And now he will come and show us how illogical what befell Tyre is. First he says, is this your joyous one. This thing is far from reason for two reasons. First, when we look at the place they left, second when we look at the place they arrive at. And now he will begin to elaborate. Regarding the place they leave, it could be that indeed a certain nation goes into exile to another place because this place is bad. This place, the people who live in it are always in depression, sad, they have no joy there, it is a place where they suffer. But he says it cannot be, is this your joyous one, for this place has joyous people in it, that is to say it is a good place, a successful place, a place where it was pleasant for people to live, is this your joyous one, a place where people are happy, they left it? Another thing, it is very possible that a person, a group comes to live in a certain place for a short period, it did not please them, they went to another place. But people who live in a certain place for years, and not only years but for generations, is it logical that they would leave for another place? Even if the place is not amazing, is it logical that they would leave? You know there is a place called Pompeii. Do you know how this place was preserved? It is a place that a volcano covered. And you see there people sitting, eating, drinking, everything in the middle, they were frozen. A volcano covered them, lava covered them, in excavations years later they found everything. Think about people living on the hole of a volcano, at the mouth of a volcano, can you imagine what danger? What is the explanation for this? The Sages say the grace of a place is upon its dwellers. The grace of a place is upon its dwellers. A person can live in Haifa, where Haifa statistically is the place with the highest rate of cancer, the place with the most polluted air, and with all that you see people continuing to live there and after me the flood. Is there logic to this? No. The grace of a place is upon its dwellers. He will tell you, come sir, you will see, come look from my place how you see the sea, how it is, once you live on the Carmel you will understand. Fine, I prefer to live in Bnei Brak, a longer life than living on the Carmel, a shorter life. The grace of a place is upon its dwellers. What do we want to say? That he says here, fine, if these people live here for a short period, you say we have not yet grown attached to the place, they get up, leave, go to another place. But he says, it was not so here in this place, for from days of old in its antiquity, that is, its antiquity is from days of old. The meaning is that already in days of old it was considered an ancient city. Do you understand what from days of old in its antiquity means? Already in days of old Tyre was considered an ancient city. That is to say it is an ancient city among the most ancient. And if so, how can they suddenly get up and leave? This is no explanation. Now if you say, fine, listen, but perhaps look where they went. Come see the place they arrived at and then you will understand the process. He says it cannot be, for a person who changes his place to go to another place surely knows that in the other place there is a more successful place, a better one, he goes with a direction. He does not go wherever my feet carry me. No, rather he has a destination. He says but here, they do not know where they are going, for you see her feet carry her. What does her feet carry her mean? To wherever my feet lift me. They left Tyre, to where? I do not know, I have no address. To wherever my feet lift me, her feet carry her. Another thing, it is very possible that people go to a distant place without knowing the nature of the place, but at least he knows the country. I do not know the region, I do not know the village, I do not know the exact environmental data, but I know I want to go to Poland, I know I want to go to Iraq, I want to go... I know the country, Australia. Where in Australia? I do not know much, but I at least know the region. So he says but here it was not so, he says far off, her feet carry her far off. Far off, that is to say like a nation whose language you do not understand, a place that I do not know at all, do not know, have not heard of, this is not like today when I can know Australia from photos, from descriptions, from encyclopedias. In the past if it was a distant place, they did not know it. They did not know, they simply knew nothing. And where do they go? Far off, without knowing even the essence of the country. A third thing, sometimes it happens that a person also goes far off to seek himself a place, but he does not go, does not take with him the household vessels, the utensils to dwell there permanently, because he does not know what it is about, he is unfamiliar. But a person who uproots with all his household vessels to go and dwell there, this says that he has completely left the first place and is now going to establish himself in another place. And this is what is called far off to sojourn, not to scout out, he goes to dwell. Is this logical? To leave a permanent, successful place, from its antiquity, where people are joyous, everything in it is wonderful, and go to a place where your feet carry you without even knowing the country, and moreover to dwell there? In a permanent home? What is the logic in this? There is no explanation for it.
And if so, how can they suddenly get up and leave? This is no explanation. Who counseled this against Tyre the crowning one, whose merchants are princes, whose traders are the honored of the earth? That is, after you see how illogical this is, you must begin to investigate and consider, who counseled this? Who has such immense and great power to decree such a counsel against Tyre? And now he elaborates on her greatness, Tyre was the crowning one, he says she had a crown of kingship, and she is the one who crowns kings. What does the crowning one mean? Not from the sense that she is merely crowned, but the crowning one, in the causative sense, that is to say where were kings crowned? In Tyre. Tyre would decide, here this one will reign and there that one will reign, she was the crowning one. How can it be that she came to such a fall? Second, whose merchants are princes, there was enormous wealth there. Her great merchants are princes and rulers from the abundance of legendary wealth they have. And not only that, also her traders, her traders are always the small merchants. Those who go around the towns, and they are always considered lowly everywhere, they are not considered important, these are the peddlers. He says but not by Tyre, by Tyre her traders, the small merchants, are the honored of the earth, even the peddlers who go around the towns are considered wealthy, as the honored of the earth. And if so, how can it be that from such a great power to such a fall and exile? Who counseled this against Tyre the crowning one? And the answer of who counseled this he will mention shortly in the next verse. But first I want to note, her merchants and her traders. Merchants, says the Malbim, are the great merchants. It was like ships of merchandise, a person does not go to bring haberdashery in ships. In ships they bring the great trade goods. Her traders are the small merchants, as it is written, Canaan, in his hand are deceitful scales, the one who sits and weighs on the scales and sells little by little. There shall no longer be a trader in the house of Hashem, these are the sellers of small things. Why were the merchants called Canaan? The Malbim says because we explained that those who dwelled between Acco and Tyre, the Tyre and Sidon of today, those who dwelled in this whole region were called Phoenicians. The Phoenicians were very ancient, and these Phoenicians trace back to Canaan. Canaan the son of Cham, right? Canaan the son of Cham. And since they were traced to the people of Canaan and they were the men of commerce as we explained, it was a central place of commerce, so when we speak about merchants he calls them Canaanite. Canaanite after the Phoenicians who were the sons of Canaan and they were merchants.
Now he asked, who counseled this against Tyre the crowning one? Verse 9. Hashem of Hosts counseled it, to defile the pride of all glory, to bring low all the honored of the earth. It is none other than that Hashem is the one who counseled this against Tyre to bring her down. And if you ask, for what purpose did the Holy One, blessed be He, decree this upon them? Then he tells you, because in Tyre there were two things that were hated in the eyes of Hashem. First, to defile the pride of all glory. There was lust for money there, they pursued money, until to what did they ascribe honor? To every glory and to everything desirable. What is glory? Glory, whoever knows Aramaic recognizes the word tzvi? Desire. Beautiful, tzvi means desire. Tzvi means desire. Anything that a person desires is called tzvi. Also in Lashon HaKodesh it is called the glory of kingdoms, that all the kingdoms desire it, this is called tzvi, from the sense of desire, anything that a person wants. So he says to defile the pride of all glory, why did they ascribe pride and strength and might? To every glory, to everything desirable, to everything of value, they ascribed to it pride and importance. That is to say these people, their yearning was after material things, that to everything important from a monetary standpoint they ascribed honor, they gave it strength and might, esteem. This somewhat recalls America that fell in the last decade, and there too it is exactly the same. The Americans worshiped the dollar, today you see people fleeing from the dollar. People have... Slowly, soon this will happen to the euro too. It is exactly the same, when someone worships a certain thing, speaks with you, the first thing they ask a person in order to know who he is, is how much he makes a year. What is your income? That is the first question, what do you do, what is your income? Forget it, do not ask, maybe he is a decent person, maybe he is a person of virtue, maybe he is good to his fellow, forget it, it is all nonsense, it is all nonsense, how much are you worth? How much are you worth? This is what is hated in the eyes of Hashem, the golden calf. Therefore Hashem of Hosts counseled it, to defile the pride of all glory, those who to every glory, everything desirable, ascribed pride and importance, the pride of all glory, the Holy One, blessed be He, says I want to defile it, to show that there is no substance in it. And a second thing, they pursued honor and dominion, the Holy One, blessed be He, says to bring low all the honored of the earth. They made honor and dominion into strength, might, the Holy One, blessed be He, came and lowered their honor, to show this is not the might, this is not the honor, this is not the essence, one must value other things, things of the spirit, things that are true virtues, and not honor and wealth which are fleeting, vain things.
Pass through your land like the Nile, daughter of Tarshish, there is no more restraint. After he as it were turns to the world and tells them, have you seen such a thing? What a fall Tyre had? Is it not clear that this is from Hashem? Now he turns as it were to Tyre directly. As it were the orator, the reprover, turns to Tyre and speaks with her. And he says to her, pass through your land like the Nile, daughter of Tarshish, there is no more restraint. After the sea, as we explained, after Nevuchadnetzar conquered Tyre, the sea rose and flooded Tyre. He says to Tyre, pass through your land, the land that is yours which is like the Nile, now it resembles the Nile, pass over to the daughter of Tarshish, the meaning is flee to Tarshish. We said that Tarshish is what was called in ancient times Tartesus, so the Malbim brings that it is a place located in Spanien. Where is that? Spain, right? That is where the ships of Tarshish are located, we have seen this many times in Tanach. So he says flee, because it rose like the Nile, flee all of you to Tarshish. And why? After there is no more restraint, there is no restraint or belt that would gird against the sea and prevent it from rising onto the dry land. The sea as it were breached all the boundaries, so if there were a restraint then there would be a place that girds against the sea, so the sea would not rise. But after the sea rose, there is no more restraint, you have no choice but to flee to Tarshish. The Malbim explains that the Nile is a place that fills from rainwaters, like the Nile river, and usually the Nile river has flood and ebb, it rises over its banks, and there the Egyptians were known for making a place of water channels, they were great experts in this, transporting the water channels for distances of kilometers, so that when the Nile rises it thereby irrigates all the fields. And you would water it with your foot like a vegetable garden, so it was in the land of Egypt. And accordingly he likens the land of Tyre to the Nile, that just as the Nile rises when the rainwaters increase, so too the sea rose over you. You, land of Tyre, the sea rose over you like the Nile, and this is what he says, pass through your land, for your land is like the Nile, your land became like the Nile that rises and swells, and thus through this you were flooded. What is restraint? There is no more restraint. The Malbim says we found this in another verse, chapter 109 in Tehillim. If there is someone you want to give a mi shebeirach in quotation marks, someone you want to be rid of, read chapter 109 of Tehillim over him. In Yemen, when there was some king, some tyrant, someone who was a terror who was corrupt or a tyrant, they would enter the synagogue and read chapter 109 of Tehillim over him, and usually by the time they came out they were already informed that he had already bid farewell to all living. Yes, whoever reads there, it is full of blessings, in quotation marks, in chapter 109. One of the blessings there he brings over the curse, that the curse should be like a garment he wears and as a restraint he always girds himself. What is the meaning of and as a restraint he always girds himself? The Malbim says a restraint is a belt. A restraint is a belt. The belt that girds the body is called a restraint. But what is the difference between a restraint and a sash and a belt? The Malbim says a restraint is the belt that they gird over long garments, when the garment is too long, they would gird some restraint in order to raise the garment so it would not drag on the ground. This is called a restraint, and this is with the purpose that the garments be to his measure. And this is from the sense of the choshen shall not slip off the eiphod, the meaning is that the choshen should not rise above the eiphod, so they would tie it, the restraint would raise the garments so they would not drag on the ground, and it also holds, for example they tie the eiphod with it so it should not slip, should not rise. So a restraint, says the Malbim, is from the sense of raising. And therefore you will understand the expression, haughty of heart. Haughty of heart or his spirit rose, right? From what root is this? Raising, raising, haughty of heart means high of heart. And this is the meaning there, and he clothed himself with a curse like his garment, that is, that the curse should fit him precisely, exactly to his measure. And it will be to him like a garment he wears, as we said that the curse clothes him. And if you say sometimes the garment is longer than the body, so he says the curse itself will be as a restraint he always girds himself. The curse will gird him like a restraint that ensures the garment is not too long, but rather what is called, fits him exactly to his measure. So the restraint, as we said, is something that raises the garment so the garment does not drag. And from this sense too is he removes the confidence of the trusty, what is written in Iyov, yes, the Malbim explains this too, we will not enter into it.
Verse 11. He stretched out His hand over the sea, He shook kingdoms, Hashem commanded concerning Canaan to destroy her strongholds. As it were, says the Malbim, it is as if written here, He shook kingdoms, He stretched out His hand over the sea. Nevuchadnetzar, after he shook kingdoms, he shook kingdoms means he would pass from kingdom to kingdom and cause commotion, shook kingdoms, meaning removing them from that place, causing that kingdom to fall and submit under him, exiling them, this is called shaking kingdoms. After he shook kingdoms on the dry land, now he stretched out his hand over the sea, his soul was not at rest and he stretched out his hand over the dwellers of the sea too. Who is this one who caused the commotion? He will explain this in verse 13, he will give a precise description. Meanwhile he speaks about him in an unnamed manner. But he comes and says, you should know, this one who caused the commotion did not do this of his own accord, Hashem commanded him. He stretched out His hand over the sea, He shook kingdoms, Hashem commanded concerning Canaan, for the sake of Canaan, for Tyre and Sidon are the offspring of Canaan, so the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded to destroy their strength and might. And if you ask why? He already explained to us beforehand, to defile the pride of all glory, to bring low all the honored of the earth, those who yearned after money, those who yearned after honor, therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded to destroy her strongholds, her strongholds means like her strongholds, the place that was a fortress for them, Hashem commanded to destroy it.
And He said, you shall no longer exult, O oppressed one, virgin daughter of Sidon; to Kittim arise, cross over, even there it will not be restful for you. Now what he said beforehand, He shook kingdoms, so who is the one who shook kingdoms? Nevuchadnetzar. He says to Sidon, you shall no longer exult, you shall not continue to rejoice as until now you rejoiced over what? Over the downfall of Tyre. You rejoiced that now the commerce will turn to you, everyone will come to you to trade and you will be the center of commerce, you shall no longer exult, you shall not exult anymore. You, the oppressed one, virgin daughter of Sidon, you who as virgin daughter of Sidon will be oppressed. Oppressed means from the sense of oppression, that they will oppress her. The Malbim says, why specifically does he call the daughter of Sidon oppressed? We did not see that he called Tyre oppressed. As it were Tyre was not oppressed and Sidon was oppressed. What is the difference? The Malbim says, behold we saw what rose over Tyre? The sea. After Nevuchadnetzar came, we saw that the sea rose over Tyre and washed them away. So automatically Nevuchadnetzar could not take wealth from there, could not oppress them, since the sea rose and washed everything away. In contrast by Sidon, there the sea did not rise. So there after he conquered Sidon, he also had what to take, he could oppress them. And this is what is written in Yechezkel chapter 29, Nevuchadnetzar king of Bavel made all his army labor a great labor against Tyre, and there was no wage for him and his army. Why was there no wage for him and his army? The Malbim says, now you will understand it wonderfully. For Sidon, in Yechezkel chapter 29, it says that Sidon was oppressed, for there it was, but Tyre the sea washed away, so automatically there was no wage for him and his army, he had nothing with which to pay the wage of his army after he made all his army labor. And then he says, to Kittim arise, cross over. The meaning is flee to the land of Kittim. And do not think, he says to Sidon, that after you reach the land of Kittim you will return back to your land, he says to her even there it will not be restful for you, even there in the land of Kittim it will not be restful for you, for you will see that after you flee to Kittim, what will happen is that Nevuchadnetzar will come and conquer Kittim too. So that is to say you will receive blow after blow.
Behold the land of the Chaldeans, this people that was not, Ashur founded it for the desert dwellers, they set up its siege towers, they stripped bare its palaces, he made it a ruin. Behold the land of the Chaldeans. Now he returns to verse 11, He stretched out His hand over the sea, He shook kingdoms, he did not tell us who this is, did not reveal to us which nation he is speaking about. Now he comes and explains to us who this is that shook kingdoms, who this is whose hand stretched out over the sea? Behold it is the land of the Chaldeans, they did this. And he tells you, know, this people that was not. Was not considered, the Chaldeans were not considered in ancient days, they were as nothing, this is the meaning of that was not. I do not mean to say they did not exist at all, for they did exist, but they were not important. So instead of saying that was not, say it was not, as it were it was not important. As if not considered. And who turned them into such a great one? Ashur founded it. Ashur who ruled over the land is the one who founded it, raised it from the refuse. What did he teach them? He taught them to travel, founded it for the desert dwellers, to travel in fleets and ships, meaning he taught them the ways of commerce by sailing in ships and the ways of war, he built them fleets. And now these Chaldeans set up its siege towers, they came now and made a test as it were of the might of the king of Ashur. They came, after we have a great fleet, you know an army, when it establishes a squadron, when it establishes a missile array, it waits for the moment, it waits for fire. Why? So that we can test it in real conditions. So that we can see how the system works. After they established the Iron Dome, they waited for the first Qassams, we always hope there will not be, but there they waited for it, to see how it works. So he says, behold you will see, they set up its siege towers, for they founded fleets there, and these fleets need to stand at a time of test to see how they hold up, what is called under fire. They set up its siege towers, to see how these fleets hold up, this is the test of the king of Ashur, they put them to the test, whether truly these fleets are firm and strong, these ships that you now built and made for us? And through this they stripped bare its palaces, he made it a ruin. Stripped bare means destroyed, like tear down, tear down to its foundation in it, which means from the sense of demolition. Through this they demolished the palaces of Tyre, he made it a ruin, he made it a ruin, meaning he brought it down completely.
Wail, ships of Tarshish, for your stronghold is laid waste. After both Tyre and Sidon, behold we saw fell, the ships of Tarshish used to come for trade, so at first they came to Tyre, and following that when they saw there was no Tyre they went to Sidon, but after Nevuchadnetzar brought down Sidon too, what will the ships of Tarshish do? These ships of the merchants wailed, wailed meaning they wailed, wept, your stronghold is laid waste, the place that was our stronghold where we trusted from a commercial standpoint, is laid waste, now Nevuchadnetzar brought everything down.
And it will be on that day that Tyre will be forgotten seventy years, like the days of one king; at the end of seventy years it will be for Tyre like the song of the harlot. And it will be on that day that Tyre will be forgotten seventy years. Tyre will be in its downfall and its lowliness for seventy years, the same period that the Land of Israel was in its downfall and was in its exile. Like the days of one king, what does like the days of one kingdom mean? This is like the days of the kingdom of Bavel, for the kingdom of Bavel's reign lasted seventy years. So it turns out then that the whole kingdom, both Nevuchadnetzar and his son and his son's son, his son is Evil Merodach and his son's son is Belshatzar, all is considered one kingdom. Tyre will be for the seventy years of the kingdom of Nevuchadnetzar, will be forgotten. This whole kingdom of his son and his son's son is considered like one kingdom of seventy years, and in this period Tyre will be in its downfall, like the days of one king. And behold, at the end of seventy years it will be for Tyre like the song of the harlot. At the end of seventy years the rise of Tyre will begin. What does he mean, like the song of the harlot? The Malbim says here the prophet made a parable, a parable to something that was known then. Like this city, essentially Tyre was a city that many came to for trade. So he likened it to a harlot to whom many come to receive her services and give her a harlot's fee, so too Tyre, it as it were supplies the needs of the many and they would give it money, for essentially it is a commercial city, so it would earn money from what it traded with the many. Now after it was destroyed, he compares it to a harlot whose clients left her. And then they say to her as it were, they sing to her and say to her, do you want to renew your days as of old? Take a harp, begin to go around the markets and streets to play, so that they see you and remember you. And then those who showed interest in you in the past will as it were want your services again. So too he says it was with Tyre, this is as it were a parable of disgrace, that Tyre which was great, will begin to send all kinds of letters to all kinds of peoples, you remember we are the nation of merchants, come, return, we built the port, we restored the ruins, come, return, there is trade here. And then they will sing over it the song of the harlot as it were, like that lowly harlot who seeks all those who were with her before so they will come again, so too Tyre, the one that was great and they would plead to come trade with it, it will now plead, come, renew the trade with me.
And then what will they sing over her, the song of the harlot, what will they say? They will address her thus: take a harp, go around the city, forgotten harlot; play well, sing much, that you may be remembered. They will tell her what to do, your shares have dropped, so take a harp, take yourself a harp and go around the city, begin to go around with the harp in the city, forgotten harlot, for you are a harlot who was forgotten, and you must play well, meaning to play in a pleasant voice, sing much, that you may be remembered, so that they remember you and come to you again. The Malbim says, what is take a harp, go around the city, play well, sing much? What is the difference between playing and singing? The Malbim says, a song is what is played on an instrument, in contrast, excuse me, playing is what is played on an instrument, as we say he plays the guitar, plays the violin. In contrast singing applies also with the mouth. Now the tune is the pleasantness of the melody according to the wisdom of music, according to the notes, the rises and falls of the music, this is the expertise of the player. In contrast the song is the pleasantness of the phrases measured in meter. How is this called today? Rhymes. Rhymes. What is it called to sing? No, I mean the rhymes, the phrases measured in meter, the meaning is a song that is written in a metrical form, meaning it begins in a certain form and ends in a certain form, this is the meter of the song. And so on one hand there is the tune which is the sweetness of the melody, on the other hand there is the song. And therefore this is what he says, play well, sing much, that there also be a sweet melody and also be a fine song, and then that you may be remembered, as if he comes and says you, Tyre, need today someone to remember you, you need to begin playing now, to send out advertisements so they remember that there was such a place called Tyre, for after seventy years who remembers you?
Verse 17. And it will be at the end of seventy years that Hashem will remember Tyre, and she will return to her harlot's fee and will play the harlot with all the kingdoms of the earth on the face of the ground. At the end of seventy years, this was already in the days of Cyrus, then Tyre returned and was rebuilt, raised her head again, Hashem will remember Tyre to renew her state as of old, and then she will return to her harlot's fee. She will return to her harlot's fee, the meaning is he continues according to the parable, that her commerce as it were is defined as harlotry and the money she earns in her commerce is defined as a harlot's fee, so he means to say she will return to her commerce, she will return to her harlot's fee. I think it is also very possible that he intended here a play on words, like she will return to her strength, so he writes she will return to her harlot's fee, which comes to say both to her strength and to her harlot's fee, as he compared it earlier to a harlot's fee. And she will play the harlot with all the kingdoms of the earth, here it will be explained as was explained earlier, the meaning is she will have commerce with all the kingdoms of the earth on the face of the ground.
And her merchandise and her harlot's fee will be holy to Hashem. It will not be stored up nor laid away, for her merchandise will be for those who dwell before Hashem, to eat to satisfaction and for splendid covering. And her merchandise, the meaning is both her commerce which is the goods she would trade in the country, produce, metals, what they would sell to other lands, and her harlot's fee, her harlot's fee is the money and the coins as we explained that she would receive in exchange for the goods, all of it will be holy to Hashem. That is, both the raw materials and the money received for them, will be holy to Hashem. What is he speaking about here? The meaning is they will send an offering to the house of Hashem, for in the days of the Second Temple Tyre had peace with the people of Israel. So when the Temple would be built here, they will send to the house of Hashem also from the commerce, her merchandise, which we explained means the produce and kinds of metals, and also her harlot's fee, also the money that they receive for all those things, they will send to the Temple so it will be a merit for them, so they will have a contribution to the Temple. But he says what, the merchandise that they send, meaning the produce, the kinds of metals, will not be stored up, meaning they will not bring it to the treasury of the Temple to offer from it burnt offerings, to offer from it sacrifices, burnt offerings from the animals and from the fine flour and the wine to offer sacrifices, it will not be stored up. And not only that, also the money that they send will not be laid away. Laid away means they will place it in storehouses, or the meaning is they will not make from it something to strengthen the Temple, from what root? Chosen, from the sense of strength. They will not use this gold to strengthen the Temple. Rather what will they do with it? For her merchandise will be for those who dwell before Hashem, to eat to satisfaction. That is, the things they send as products, which means the animals, which means the produce, all this will be for those who dwell before Hashem, meaning the kohanim who serve in the Temple, they will divide it among themselves, they will have it to satiety. And her harlot's fee, that is the money they send, the kohanim will take it for splendid covering. What is splendid covering? The meaning is to buy with it important and expensive garments, this is the meaning of splendid covering. Splendid, atik, is also from the sense of strength, like those speaking against the righteous arrogantly with pride and contempt, right? In the Midrash Rabbah he explains there that it is from the sense of and he moved from there to the mountain, meaning from the sense of changing clothing, therefore clothing is called atik. So for splendid covering means clothing that the kohanim will have. He means to say that although she will send her merchandise to the Temple, they will not use it for the holy itself but only for the matters accompanying the holy, that means the kohanim will eat from it, that means clothing for the kohanim, but to use it to overlay the Temple or to use it for actual offerings, for this even Tyre will not have the merit.