Chapter 24 in Yeshayahu is a chapter of destruction and desolation. Some commentators explain that this prophecy refers to the future End of Days, but we will study it according to the approach of the Malbim: Yeshayahu is prophesying here about the exile of the Ten Tribes at the hands of Sancheriv. The prophet announces to the people: Know that your land is destined to be desolated and destined to be abandoned by you, when Sancheriv comes and exiles you.
הִנֵּה יְהֹוָה בּוֹקֵק הָאָרֶץ וּבוֹלְקָהּ וְעִוָּה פָנֶיהָ וְהֵפִיץ יֹשְׁבֶיהָ׃ - Behold, Hashem empties the land and lays it waste, distorts its face, and scatters its inhabitants.
"Bokek" means empties, and we find this expression in Hoshea and Nachum as well. The Holy One, blessed be He, empties the land, and in the first stage this refers to the produce of the land: there will be no fruit. "U'volkah" denotes abandonment and ruin, also echoing the language of Nachum, meaning that all the produce of the land will become ownerless and ruined. Afterwards, "ve'ivah faneha," He will distort and confuse the land itself, the soil. And finally, "vehefitz yoshveha," the people of Israel go into exile.
The Malbim adds: not only do the people go into exile, but the land itself will also be ruined, to the extent that a person will not be able to recognize his own inheritance. This is "ve'ivah faneha": He will alter the face of the land and its boundaries, until a person comes and says, "I had a field here, where is it? Where does it begin and where does it end?" and he will not know. "Ve'ivah" is also related to madness and confusion; He will confound the face of the land. Such will be the extent of Sancheriv's devastation.
וְהָיָה כָעָם כַּכֹּהֵן כַּעֶבֶד כַּאדֹנָיו כַּשִּׁפְחָה כַּגְּבִרְתָּהּ כַּקּוֹנֶה כַּמּוֹכֵר כַּמַּלְוֶה כַּלֹּוֶה כַּנֹּשֶׁה כַּאֲשֶׁר נֹשֶׁא בוֹ׃ - And it shall be: as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maidservant, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the creditor, so with the debtor.
When the people go into exile, Sancheriv will show favor to no one. No person will hold any importance; no status and no authority will be of any avail. He will humiliate and degrade everyone equally.
The Malbim teaches us a fundamental rule here: when the verse employs two comparative kafs, "ka'am kakohyen," the comparison is absolute and completely equal. If one were to say "Reuven is like Shimon" with a single kaf, the meaning is that he resembles him but is not identical to him. But "k'Reuven k'Shimon" means that the comparison between them is absolute. And here: the common person and the priest will be on the exact same level; Sancheriv will show no consideration at all.
Notice that as the prophet adds further examples, the contrast becomes increasingly severe. This is a basic rule of expression: when describing a calamity, one progresses from the lighter to the more severe. For if you opened with the severe, what point would there be in adding the lighter one after it? One would hardly say of someone who received a million-dollar fine, "and they also gave him a hundred-shekel parking ticket." One begins with a hundred shekels, then a hundred thousand, then half a million, and finally a million dollars. So too here: the distinction between the common people and the priest is not so drastic, but "as with the servant, so with his master" is already a far more substantial disparity.
Even more so: "as with the maidservant, so with her mistress." The Malbim explains that a maidservant is far more subservient to her mistress than a manservant is to his master. A manservant still retains some stature, but a maidservant is in a lower, more humbled position. Proof of this comes from the verse in Tehillim: "Like the eyes of servants to the hand of their master," and then with even greater intensity, "like the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress." Thus, the subservience of a maidservant is greater than that of a manservant. In other words: no elevated status whatsoever will remain.
And what does this remind us of? The horrific and terrible Holocaust in Europe, may trouble not rise a second time. There, too, they did not care about the distinguished or the destitute, the ruler or the ruled; they took everyone. There was no situation where someone received a better bunk in the labor camp because he had held an exalted position beforehand; on the contrary, it was specifically against the prominent and important, specifically against the rabbis, that they sought to abuse even more. This is the meaning of "And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress."
From here onward, the prophet moves to another aspect: not only will every distinction of status and authority cease, but the binding nature of acquisitions and the advantages of wealth will also be nullified. Generally, a person sells his ancestral land only when he is impoverished, when his financial situation deteriorates and he has no choice. The buyer, by contrast, represents wealth: here, I have money and I am buying. And the prophet says that a time will come when the buyer will be considered poor and destitute just like the seller.
And not only this. One might have argued that this is obvious, for one who buys land loses it when exiled from his place, so he too has no land, and it is understood that "as with the buyer, so with the seller." Therefore, the prophet adds that even one whose business was in liquid money rather than real estate, who ostensibly has his wealth in hand, will also lose his fortune. "As with the lender, so with the borrower": the lender will become as destitute as the borrower. As for the borrower, even if he still has means to repay, the very fact that he needed a loan indicates his dire financial straits, and such will be the status of the lender as well.
And furthermore: "as with the creditor, so with the debtor." A creditor (nosheh) is one who demands that another repay his debt, and here it refers to a situation where the debtor has nothing with which to pay. This is a far worse situation: I approached you to collect my debt and you have nothing to pay with, meaning that the money that was mine until now, and that I assumed was in your hands, is neither with me nor with you. It does not exist at all. Therefore, the situation of the creditor will be like that of the debtor who has nothing. Everyone will be equal in their desperate financial straits, for Sancheriv will strip them of all their possessions and leave them with nothing.
What is the difference between a malveh (lender) and a nosheh (creditor)? Radak explained that a malveh is one who lent money, whereas a nosheh is one who lent food, as it was their practice to lend a sack of wheat and receive a sack of wheat in return. But the Malbim raises a difficulty from the verse, "If you lend money to My people... you shall not be to him as a creditor (nosheh)," which shows that nosheh applies to money as well.
Therefore, the Malbim explains a different distinction, one that is familiar in our spoken language as well: A malveh is one who gave money or food to his fellow; at that stage he is called a malveh. But from the moment he comes to demand payment and press his fellow to repay him, he is called a nosheh. If I gave a loan for thirty days, during all those thirty days I am a malveh; from the moment I approach him and say, "May I have the money back?", I am already a nosheh. This is as it is written, "creditors against them for silver and grain."
From this emerges a fine grammatical insight: malveh is always associated with the word et, whereas nosheh is connected with the prefix letter beit. One is malveh et chaveiro (lends to his fellow), but nosheh bechaveiro (acts as creditor against his fellow). Why? Et indicates an action passing from the subject to the object: I lend you money, from me to you. The letter beit, on the other hand, indicates that the item is already within him, and I am coming to extract what is already in his possession. The same is true of nogesh (an exacting collector), which always takes a beit - nogesh bo - since the money is in his hands and I am demanding that he return it.
And what is the difference between a nogesh and a nosheh, given that both are demanding repayment of a debt? The Malbim explains: A nogesh coerces his fellow to give him something he never received from him, whereas a nosheh demands only what he gave. If I lent you a thousand dollars and demand fifteen hundred with interest, I am acting as a nogesh against you. This is the meaning of "he shall not exact (lo yigosh) from his neighbor," which is said regarding interest, because interest is oppressive extraction. But if I gave a thousand and ask for a thousand back, I am a nosheh against you. Both make demands, but the nosheh demands what is his, while the nogesh demands an added amount as well.
הִבּוֹק תִּבּוֹק הָאָרֶץ וְהִבּוֹז תִּבֹּז כִּי יְהֹוָה דִּבֶּר אֶת־הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה׃ - The earth shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled; for Hashem has spoken this word.
Now the prophet explains why all distinctions disappeared and why it will be "as with the people, so with the priest." "The land will be utterly emptied" - the land will be desolated and sent into exile; the moment they go into exile, there is no difference between master and servant, for all are slaves to Sancheiriv, and consequently authority has no meaning. And corresponding to "as with the buyer, so with the seller" - that the wealthy will no longer be considered people of prominence - he says, "and utterly plundered," meaning that all wealth will be looted and everyone will become destitute and needy. And why will all this happen? "For Hashem has spoken this word," and when Hashem speaks, not a single word falls to the ground unfulfilled.
אָבְלָה נָבְלָה הָאָרֶץ אֻמְלְלָה נָבְלָה תֵּבֵל אֻמְלָלוּ מְרוֹם עַם־הָאָרֶץ׃ - The earth mourns and withers; the world languishes and withers; the exalted people of the earth languish.
Here the prophet describes the destruction stage by stage. "Mourns" (avlah) indicates an external change: there are no travelers passing through, as in "the ways of Zion mourn, for none come to the solemn feast" (Eichah 1:4), like a person mourning his deceased relative, where no one comes or goes from his presence. On the other hand, "withers" (navlah) indicates internal degradation, that the land's very vitality has weakened: it yields no fruit, no crops grow in it, briers and thorns have overgrown it, and it has become desolate.
And this is the root n-v-l everywhere: something whose strength has ceased. When the flower's strength ceases, "the flower withers" (navel tzitz). When a person's strength is depleted, "you will surely wear away (navol tibol), both you and this people," as Yisro said to Moshe. A soul depleted of its spiritual strength behaves ignobly: "he has committed an outrage (nevalah) in Israel," "a son disgraces (menabel) his father." Similarly, an animal carcass (neveilah) is one whose life force has ceased entirely.
"The world languishes and withers" represents a further stage: the inhabited areas of mankind, which is the meaning of tevel (world), were also affected. "Languishes" (umlelah) derives from the root a-m-l, related to mul, meaning to cut and sever, as in "for I will cut them off" (amilem) in Tehillim ("they surrounded me, yea, they surrounded me," meaning I will cut them down). So too, circumcision (milah) is cutting, severing the foreskin. Likewise, "Be gracious to me, Hashem, for I am languishing (umlal)" describes a warrior whose strength has been weakened and cut off, and "she who has many children languishes (umlalah)" refers to one whose offspring has been withheld and cut off. Thus, "the world languishes" indicates that its influx from Above has been severed and divine bounty no longer descends upon it, while "withers" indicates that its internal strength has faded. It has neither strength from Above nor strength from within, and therefore it sprouts thorns and thistles.
"The exalted people of the earth languish": and finally, even the exalted center of the nation - the royal city, the royal palace, and the seat of the ministers - was likewise severed from Above, and consequently all the strength of the land came to an end.
The Malbim highlights: three conditions are mentioned here - "the earth mourns and withers," "the world languishes and withers," and "the exalted people of the earth languish" - corresponding to the three campaigns Sancheiriv launched against the Ten Tribes. First against the inhabitants of the Transjordan, then against the land of Zevulun and Naftali, and finally he exiled them all. The first time, the destruction touched only uninhabited areas, for the refugees abandoned their places and fled elsewhere in the land, and those abandoned areas sprouted thorns and thistles because there was no one to cultivate them. Afterward, it reached tevel, the inhabited areas, and finally "the exalted people of the earth," the entire land.
Rashi explains that tevel here refers to the Land of Israel. Why is it called tevel? Because it is seasoned (metubelet) with many mitzvos. The diaspora is not seasoned with mitzvos, but the Land of Israel is seasoned, which is why it is called tevel.
וְהָאָרֶץ חָנְפָה תַּחַת יֹשְׁבֶיהָ כִּי־עָבְרוּ תוֹרֹת חָלְפוּ חֹק הֵפֵרוּ בְּרִית עוֹלָם׃ - And the land is defiled under its inhabitants, for they have transgressed teachings, altered decrees, broken an everlasting covenant.
After this dire description - "utterly emptied," "utterly plundered," "mourns, withers, languishes" - the prophet comes to explain the reason why. "The land is corrupted under its inhabitants" means that the land is stricken in place of its inhabitants. As it is written in Parashas Nitzavim, "and all the curse written in this book shall rest upon him," followed by, "and they shall see the plagues of that land, and the diseases with which Hashem has made it sick; brimstone and salt, burning the whole land" (Devarim 29:19-22). Originally, the people were meant to be stricken, but in reality the land was stricken in their stead, becoming sulfur, salt, and scorched land, and there the reason is explicitly stated: "Because they abandoned the covenant of the God of their fathers." In the wake of their sin, the land itself was devastated.
The concept that the land suffers under its inhabitants is explicitly stated regarding the sin of murder, as it is said, "For blood pollutes the land" (Bamidbar 35:33), and "The land was polluted with blood" (Tehillim 106:38). The impression left by murder is felt in the earth itself and alters its nature, and the location is damaged merely by the reality of bloodshed taking place upon it.
This is a fascinating matter. It is known that even with a person who committed suicide, Heaven spare us, as long as his blood is soaked into the ground, his soul wanders there, as it were. A remarkable incident was recounted at length by Rabbi Itzele Blazer regarding a man who committed suicide in a town abroad. From that time on, strange occurrences began in the house: plaster fell from the walls on its own, and doors swung open and closed. His friends were seized with terror; they began taking spiritual resolutions upon themselves, started wearing tzitzit, and gathered there to recite Tehillim, yet nothing helped. They came to ask him what spiritual rectification could be done. He told them: I am neither a Kabbalist nor a miracle worker, but we know that "blood pollutes the land." In that very spot, in the attic, he severed his veins and his blood soaked into the floorboards. He instructed them: Dismantle all the boards and bring them to burial.
And that is precisely what they did. He described an astounding sight: hundreds of people accompanying floorboards to a proper burial, and among them all his friends, who were not observant Jews. They had previously gathered there to play cards to dispel their fright in each other's company, only to be terrified by sudden noises, boards shifting, and plaster falling. Once they took the boards for burial, the ground grew calm and the house returned to peace. There were several other incidents of this kind as well.
In the kollel of Rabbi Fallach, while the scholars were sitting and learning, a woman called him. She related that she and her daughter had moved into a new apartment, and during the night she suddenly saw a figure dressed in black standing beside her bed, and she froze in terror. Two minutes later she heard her daughter screaming hysterically, as that same figure had entered the daughter's bedroom as well. In the morning she called in panic to ask what to do. It turned out that someone had committed suicide in that apartment, and his spirit was making nocturnal visits. She asked if any tikkun could be made, and the Rabbi advised her simply to pack up and flee the place.
We see, therefore, that murder and bloodshed affect the land, and the site itself becomes cursed and steeped in the reality of killing. This is the meaning of "The land was polluted under its inhabitants," for this prophecy addresses the First Temple era, and the First Temple was destroyed because of bloodshed, among other sins. The Book of Yosippon describes an appalling state of affairs during that period: men would walk through the marketplace with short daggers concealed beneath their clothing, approach a passerby, stab him in the abdomen, and casually walk away. People would see a man collapse without comprehending what had happened or where the blow came from - an utter horror. Part of this degeneration began under King Menasheh, of whom Scripture records that he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood from one end to the other, creating complete contempt for human life. As a consequence, people murdered one another without hesitation; if someone had a petty grievance with his neighbor, he simply eliminated him.
"For they have transgressed the teachings, breached the statute, broken the everlasting covenant" - three offenses are enumerated here. The Malbim explains that there are three systems of law, meaning three orders of human conduct: the natural, the civil, and the Divine.
The natural code is the conduct that all human beings accept as axiomatic: do not murder, do not steal, do not wrong one another, do not strike one's fellow. Why is it called natural? Because every human being is born with this innate moral compass. You will not find even a primitive tribesman in the deep jungles of Africa who never saw civilization who would tell you that in his society, killing is permitted over every petty grievance. Everywhere in the world murder is condemned, and while societies differ over specific circumstances when taking life might be justified, there is no place on earth where indiscriminate murder is viewed as legitimate.
A story is told of an American who brought a cannibal from the African jungle and said to him: Come and see civilization; you live among wild beasts, so come witness cultured people. Just as they arrived, the American Civil War broke out, and the visitor watched men dying like flies. He asked: What is this? They explained that a war was being fought over the system of government and territory. He asked: And what do you do with the bodies? They answered: We bury them. He said to them: Tell me, and you consider yourselves moral? Where I come from, if we kill someone, at least it is for food, but you slaughter people for nothing and simply bury them? Where is your morality? In other words, even when societies permit killing, it follows recognized rules; in one place the trigger finger is quicker and in another less so, but nowhere is murder over every whim considered legitimate.
The same holds true for the other interpersonal commandments of the Decalogue, which are universally accepted. Regarding "Do not steal," no society claims that robbery is its legal code. There is a well-known joke told about Ceaușescu, that he walked around with a flashlight searching from country to country for justice, and when he reached Romania, he had to search for his flashlight. There may be places where theft is rampant, but no society declares that stealing is the law and the standard of how one ought to live. Likewise with "Do not commit adultery": a place may be morally loose and decadent, but for infidelity to be formally sanctioned - such a thing does not exist.
The civil code consists of conventional laws that human beings agreed upon among themselves to facilitate orderly living: paying taxes, keeping public spaces clean, restricting deforestation so as not to wipe out the green lungs of the earth. These are not principles that a person is born with by nature, but rather civic measures we have assumed upon ourselves - in the words of the Malbim, "to distance what is detrimental and bring near what is beneficial." A clear example is traffic law: we all understand that at an intersection, one car must stop so another can proceed, for otherwise utter chaos would reign.
And the third is the Divine code: the word of Hashem conveyed to us through a prophet. When we observe the mitzvot, we uphold this Divine law, whose ultimate purpose, in the words of the Malbim, is to lead a person to true spiritual fulfillment and the eternal bliss of the soul.
Now see how the prophet characterizes that generation: they nullified all three categories of law. "They transgressed the teachings (*averu torot*)" refers to Divine law delivered through a prophet; they violated what is written in the Torah. "They changed the ordinance (*chalefu chok*)" refers to conventional civil law, what human intellect dictates and what we accept upon ourselves as proper conduct for an enlightened society; this too they abolished. And lest you say that at least they preserved natural law - not to murder and not to steal - regarding this he says, "they broke the everlasting covenant (*heferu berit olam*)," meaning they violated natural law as well. After all, natural law is what prevents the world from being ruined, for if people would "swallow one another alive," and there is murder, theft, and looting, the world collapses. And this is "they broke the everlasting covenant."
And from where do we know that conventional civil law is called *chok* (ordinance)? From Yosef: "And Yosef made it an ordinance (*chok*)" - that the priests did not share in the taxes, since their role was to bring the word of G-d to the people and they were not required to share the burden. Likewise, "and it became an ordinance (*chok*) in Israel" is stated regarding the daughter of Yiftach, that they would go up to lament her once a year. From this we see that the legislators of a state are called *mechokekim*, because they establish laws that are universally accepted based on logic and reason.
And what is the difference between *averu* (transgressed) and *chalefu* (changed)? The Malbim explains: *avar* denotes something violated permanently, while *chalaf* implies even a temporary departure, from the language of exchange (*hachlafa*). For even a band of thieves has an internal code of law; furthermore, they have their own court, and anyone who violates their code is judged and punished, with fines imposed, and crime families are thoroughly organized. Thus, they did not abolish civil law entirely, but rather exchanged it: the government's law did not appeal to them, and the underworld instituted different rules. But the Torah they transgressed completely, permanently and continuously, rather than temporarily swapping it.
עַל־כֵּן אָלָה אָכְלָה אֶרֶץ וַיֶּאְשְׁמוּ יֹשְׁבֵי בָהּ עַל־כֵּן חָרוּ יֹשְׁבֵי אֶרֶץ וְנִשְׁאַר אֱנוֹשׁ מִזְעָר׃ - Therefore a curse has devoured the earth, and its inhabitants bear the guilt; therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched, and few men are left.
Because they violated the Torah, the curse written in Parashat Nitzavim - "and all the curse written in this book shall settle upon him" - is what consumed and burned the land: "sulfur and salt, all its land burned." "And its inhabitants bear the guilt": the blame rests upon those who dwell in it, for the land itself has no sins; they are the ones who committed the iniquities, and the land pays the price.
"Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched (*charu*)": *charu* stems from fire and heat, like *charon af* (fierce anger) and "a fire is kindled in My nostrils." And because the land is burning, the fire reaches its inhabitants as well, drying them out. And what happens to a thick log when it is placed in fire? First it contracts, its moisture evaporates, and from that entire massive log only a small remnant remains. So too here: once they dried up, they dwindled, "and few men are left (*venish'ar enosh miz'ar*)."
And *miz'ar* (few / diminished) expresses two things: quantity and quality. In terms of quantity, only a few remained; and in terms of quality, all the prominent figures of the land were exiled. For although the exile-driver made no personal distinction between the prestigious and the humble in his treatment, the notables were always exiled first, and those who remained were the poorest of the land.
אָבַל תִּירוֹשׁ אֻמְלְלָה־גָפֶן נֶאֶנְחוּ כָּל־שִׂמְחֵי־לֵב׃ - The new wine mourns, the vine languishes, all the merry-hearted sigh.
Now the prophet describes in poetic language how the land loses all its stature and how all its produce is harmed by the very exile of the people. The new wine (*tirosh*) is, as it were, the offspring of the vine, born of it and extracted from it, as it says, "and new wine shall make the maidens flourish." Here, the wine mourns - "the new wine mourns" - because "the vine languishes"; its mother has died and been cut down, and it is like a son mourning the death of his parent.
"All the merry-hearted sigh": and since the new wine mourns, and what brings joy to people - "and wine gladdens the heart of man" - consequently, all those who were accustomed to rejoicing with wine now sigh, having nothing left with which to rejoice.
שָׁבַת מְשׂוֹשׂ תֻּפִּים חָדַל שְׁאוֹן עַלִּיזִים שָׁבַת מְשׂוֹשׂ כִּנּוֹר׃ - The mirth of timbrels has ceased, the noise of revelers has ended, the joy of the harp has ceased.
Once wine ceased, dancing and joy ceased as well. The timbrel was generally intended for dance, as it provides the beat, and the dancer steps according to a specific rhythm. Consequently, "the noise of revelers has ended" - the clamor made by the lively dancers to the sound of the timbrels stopped as well. Not only that, but "the joy of the harp has ceased": the harp is not meant for dancing, but rather to awaken the joy of the soul, a melody that one listens to and enjoys without getting up to dance, akin to classical music. They would play the harp even outside times of dancing, to relax and listen to a pleasant tune, and this too ceased on account of the multitude of troubles that befell the land.
And what is meant by "alizim" (revelers)? The Malbim explains that "alizut" is when laughter and joy move a person to dance. It is not enough that he hears and rejoices; rather, he engages his body and begins to dance out of joy.
בַּשִּׁיר לֹא יִשְׁתּוּ־יָיִן יֵמַר שֵׁכָר לְשֹׁתָיו׃ - They shall not drink wine with song; strong drink shall be bitter to those who drink it.
Not only did instrumental music cease, but vocal singing as well. There were people who, when drinking wine, would break out into song; the prophet says that even those accustomed to singing while drinking wine will no longer find joy in it. Why? "Strong drink shall be bitter to those who drink it" - strong drink becomes a form of bitterness for those who drink it, as in "Give strong drink to the perishing, and wine to the bitter in soul" (Mishlei 31:6), where strong drink serves as the beverage of bitter and suffering people.
נִשְׁבְּרָה קִרְיַת־תֹּהוּ סֻגַּר כָּל־בַּיִת מִבּוֹא׃ - Broken is the city of chaos; every house is shut so that none may enter.
Now the prophet describes the magnitude of the exile, as the people are already preparing to depart for the enemy's land. There is a difference between an *ir* (city) and a *kiryah* (fortified city): *kiryah* is related to *kirui* (roofing) and *kirot* (walls) - a fortified place surrounded by a wall, protected so that it is not easy for an enemy to conquer. Yet the prophet says, "Broken is the city of chaos" - that very city that was meant to be strong has been shattered and become desolation, a ruined and wasteland place.
"Every house is shut so that none may enter": After they began exiling them, the enemy wanted to ensure they would not return to their homes, so he drove nails and boarded up all the entrances, so the houses could not be reinhabited.
צְוָחָה עַל־הַיַּיִן בַּחוּצוֹת עָרְבָה כָּל־שִׂמְחָה גָּלָה מְשׂוֹשׂ הָאָרֶץ׃ - There is an outcry for wine in the streets; all joy has darkened, the mirth of the land has gone into exile.
The people stood in the streets and cried out in bitterness with their cups of wine still in their hands. See how difficult it was for them to break away from their corrupt habits: just as they were accustomed to singing over wine, so now they were groaning, weeping, and crying out with the wine still in their hands.
And what did they cry out? "All joy has darkened, the mirth of the land has gone into exile." The Malbim explains that *simchah* (joy) is internal joy, the joy of the heart, the light that illuminates man's soul and gives him a desire to live and meaning in his life. In contrast, *masos* (mirth) is the outward expression: dancing, festive garments, music, and feasting - everything a person visibly does as a sign of joy and celebration. One who rejoices within expresses it outwardly in *masos*. Therefore, the people cry out: "All joy has darkened" - internal joy has faded away, and consequently, "the mirth of the land has gone into exile" - all those who rejoiced and made merry have gone into exile, and as it were, mirth itself has gone into exile with them, leaving neither mirth nor joy.
נִשְׁאַר בָּעִיר שַׁמָּה וּשְׁאִיָּה יֻכַּת־שָׁעַר׃ - Desolation is left in the city, and the gate is battered into ruin.
"Desolation is left in the city" - nothing remains in the city except desolation. And the gate is the place where most of the people would gather, the seat of judgment and the place where the elders sat, as in "The elders have ceased from the gate" and "Those who sit in the gate talk about me," and now it too is desolate and lonely, with no one there.
And our Sages in the Gemara in Masechet Bava Kamma expounded "and the gate is battered into ruin [u'she'iyah yukat sha'ar]" in an additional way: It is better for a person's house to remain inhabited, and even if he travels abroad for three years, he is better off having someone live in the house. And why? For if you think that the house will preserve itself while you are away, that is not so; rather, "she'iyah yukat sha'ar" - there is a destructive spirit named She'iyah, and when no one is in the house and it is locked up, it strikes and batters the gate and the house, destroying it. Therefore, a person sometimes returns to his house after it was locked for several years and is shocked to discover cracks, peeling plaster, and decay. He cannot understand: no one was using the place, so why is the house not preserved just as on the day he locked it? Rather, She'iyah batters the gate.
So it is in the description before us, regarding the exile of the Ten Tribes: since "every house is shut so that none may enter" and the houses were left locked, "desolation is left in the city" and everything became utter desolation. Consequently, "and the gate is battered into ruin" - those destructive forces strike and batter the gate.
In this part of the chapter, Yeshayahu depicts - according to the Malbim - the exile of the Ten Tribes at the hands of Sancheriv: first, the stripping and abandonment of the land's produce; next, the defacing of the land itself until a person cannot recognize his inheritance; and finally, the scattering of its inhabitants. In exile, all social distinctions will be erased - like people, like priest; like slave, like master; like maidservant, like mistress - and the advantage of wealth will likewise be nullified: like buyer, like seller; like lender, like borrower; like creditor, like debtor. The reason for all this is made explicit: they abrogated all three frameworks of governance - the Divine Torah, which they transgressed; the civil law, which they replaced with their own statutes; and natural morality, through which they violated the everlasting covenant. Because of this, the earth was defiled under its inhabitants, a curse consumed it, few people were left, wine, joy, tambourine, and harp ceased, the city was shattered, the houses were shut, and desolation was left in the city. From all this we must learn how profoundly the land depends upon the deeds of its inhabitants, and how every position of prominence, authority, and wealth is nothing more than a deposit, contingent upon upholding the word of Hashem.