Chapter 30 in Yeshayahu is a sharp rebuke to that generation that sought shelter in the shadow of Egypt and did not inquire of Hashem. In the section before us, from verse 12 onward, the prophet moves from rebuke to describing their downfall: their trust is built on shaky foundations, and therefore its collapse will be sudden and total. From there onward, the prophet turns to consolation: what could have been, and what will yet be for a people that trusts in Hashem with a complete heart.
לָכֵן כֹּה אָמַר קְדוֹשׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל יַעַן מָאָסְכֶם בַּדָּבָר הַזֶּה וַתִּבְטְחוּ בְּעֹשֶׁק וְנָלוֹז וַתִּשָּׁעֲנוּ עָלָיו׃ (יב) - Therefore, thus says the Holy One of Israel: Because you despise this word, and trust in oppression and crookedness, and rely upon it.
"Thus says the Holy One of Israel" - so says Hashem, may He be blessed, Whom you reject. "Because you despise this word" - this speech, the words of the prophets and the words of the seers. And instead, "and trust in oppression and crookedness": "oppression" refers to matters between man and his fellow man, one who robs and oppresses his fellow; "crookedness" (naloz) refers to matters between man and the Omnipresent, for naloz means straying from the path. Crooked things are things that are not upright, the opposite of the straight path.
"And rely upon it" - it is not enough that in your hearts you trust in oppression and crookedness, but you also lean upon them with all your might. There is a person who resorts to oppression and crookedness as a last resort, as a way to solve a problem out of having no choice; and there is a person who takes oppression and crookedness and turns them into a system and a way of life. Not out of a lack of choice and not as a way out of distress, but as though this is how things ought to be: one must rob, one must oppress, one must deviate from Hashem's commandments. This is "and rely upon it" - you turned it into a staff to lean on, into a way of life.
לָכֵן יִהְיֶה לָכֶם הֶעָוֺן הַזֶּה כְּפֶרֶץ נֹפֵל נִבְעֶה בְּחוֹמָה נִשְׂגָּבָה אֲשֶׁר פִּתְאֹם לְפֶתַע יָבוֹא שִׁבְרָהּ׃ (יג) - Therefore this iniquity shall be to you like a falling breach, bulging out in a high wall, whose collapse comes suddenly, in an instant.
This iniquity will be to you like a falling breach: a wall built on weak foundations, when it begins to sink, splits in the middle. And what does this depend on? The Malbim explains: the stronger the wall is, the more brittle it is. And this is a simple reality. Take iron and try to break it - you will not break it; you will bend it. Take a drill bit and strike it - it shatters. And which is stronger, a drill bit or iron? Surely the drill bit, for it has been tempered and can drill through iron. And that is precisely the point: specifically because the drill bit is so hard, if it drops, it is liable to shatter. Anything that is made very hard becomes brittle.
An example from food: crisp cookies are called crisp because they are hard, and therefore they crumble and break much faster than a soft cookie. A biscuit snaps much faster than a pita, even though the pita is soft and the biscuit is hard. Similarly, the Malbim brings an example from buildings: a wooden building will bend and not break, but a concrete building - the moment there is a bend, it breaks immediately. And so it is with a wall: when it is very strong, the moment one side leans, it cracks and collapses; but when the wall is not as rigid, the stones yield and shift, taking on a rounded contour, shifting slightly without breaking.
According to this: "Like a falling breach, bulging out in a high wall" - specifically because the wall is towering and strong, the breach gives way and then the fracture is revealed and exposed within it. And the downfall is intensified for several reasons: first, the timing of the fall - "whose collapse comes suddenly, in an instant," unexpected, when suddenly the ground sinks and the wall breaks. And second, the nature of the destruction, as we will see in the next verse: destruction upon destruction, a breaking that means pulverization, until not one stone is left upon another.
And in explaining "niv'eh" (נבעה), there are two approaches. According to the Malbim, as well as the first interpretation in Rashi, niv'eh is an expression of revelation or exposure, as in "How Esav is searched out, his hidden treasures revealed [niv'u matzpunav]" (Ovadiah 1:6), which the Targum renders as "his hidden things are revealed" - the matters concealed in his heart were exposed. From here, the tooth is also called mab'eh because it is revealed in the mouth, and similarly a flowing spring (ma'ayan hanove'a) denotes exposure and revelation. However, Rashi brings an additional interpretation in the name of Dunash, one of the grammarians, and the Radak follows this path as well: niv'eh is from the language of aba'abu'ot (blisters, bulges) - a protrusion. A swelling and bulge formed in the wall, apparently due to the rains, and this bulge causes the wall to lose its equilibrium, to topple and break. And this is the meaning: because a large bulge formed in the wall, the towering wall collapsed, and suddenly, in an instant, its shattering came.
וּשְׁבָרָהּ כְּשֵׁבֶר נֵבֶל יוֹצְרִים כָּתוּת לֹא יַחְמֹל וְלֹא יִמָּצֵא בִמְכִתָּתוֹ חֶרֶשׂ לַחְתּוֹת אֵשׁ מִיָּקוּד וְלַחְשֹׂף מַיִם מִגֶּבֶא׃ (יד) - And He shall break it as the breaking of a potter's vessel, crushed unsparingly, so that there shall not be found among its shattered pieces a shard to scoop fire from a hearth, or to skim water from a puddle. (14)
In terms of its quality, this will be an exceedingly severe shattering: "as the breaking of a potter's vessel." A "potter" (yotzer) is the craftsman who fashions earthenware vessels, and when a vessel turns out flawed, he grinds it down to dust in order to fashion a new vessel from the clay. The prophet says: the crushing will be so thorough that among the crushed shards, not even a single usable potsherd will be found. "A shard to scoop fire from a hearth" - a person who wishes to scoop fire from a place where flames burn cannot do so with his bare hands, as "Can a man take fire into his bosom and his clothes not be burned?" Therefore, he takes a shard. Yet here, not even such a small shard will be found. And even more: "or to skim water from a puddle" - a shard used to scoop embers needs to be somewhat sizable, but to scoop up a bit of water from a puddle, an even smaller shard suffices, yet not even such a shard will remain.
In other words: since the lofty wall has unsound foundations - and those shaky foundations are oppression and deviousness, the sins between man and his fellow and between man and God - when it collapses, it will collapse with a tremendous crash, exploding and turning back into mere dust, until virtually nothing remains of it. And so will be your reality. You think: we are strong, our existence is secure and enduring. The prophet says: no. When it breaks, it will happen suddenly, "its breach comes suddenly, in an instant," and not just an ordinary break, but a shattering that will crumble into fine dust.
כִּי כֹה אָמַר אֲדֹנָי ה' קְדוֹשׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּשׁוּבָה וָנַחַת תִּוָּשֵׁעוּן בְּהַשְׁקֵט וּבְבִטְחָה תִּהְיֶה גְּבוּרַתְכֶם וְלֹא אֲבִיתֶם׃ (טו) - For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: In serenity and rest shall you be saved, in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength; but you would not. (15)
The Holy One, blessed be He, says to them: You have no need to take shelter under Egypt's wings. After all, we saw that they went to seek aid and support from Egypt, and Hashem says to them: you will have salvation in serenity and rest, without any toil at all, if you only listen to Me. "In serenity and rest" - with composure, in quietness and confidence; you do not need salvation from Egypt. This is how Rashi explains it.
And the Malbim adds: We saw above that the Holy One, blessed be He, wanted to build Jerusalem and establish it as a solid foundation from which the Kingdom of Israel would flourish, yet we went searching for other nations to rely upon. The Holy One, blessed be He, says to them: rescue from the enemy can come in two ways. Either you will be saved, meaning merely delivered from the enemy without overpowering him; or you will overcome him, conquer him, and strike him a decisive blow. Each way requires a different level. "In serenity and rest" reflects bodily rest - you rest and do nothing at all; "in quietness and in confidence" reflects, according to the Malbim, tranquility of the soul and trust in the heart - calmness, serenity, and faith.
The Holy One, blessed be He, tells them: If you only wish to be saved - to be protected from the enemy so he does not harm you - serenity and rest are sufficient for you. Rest, do nothing, rejoice in Hashem and He will help you: "you shall be saved." But if you are not content with mere deliverance and wish to strike the enemy a crushing blow, that requires a higher level: "in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength." This requires such complete trust in Hashem that you achieve complete peace of mind: I am calm, I trust, I have no worry, for "Hashem will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace." If you possess not only inaction but also inner peace born of profound bitachon in Hashem, then not only will you be saved, but you will also perform acts of valor and strike down your enemies. "But you would not" - yet you refused to listen.
וַתֹּאמְרוּ לֹא כִי עַל סוּס נָנוּס עַל כֵּן תְּנוּסוּן וְעַל קַל נִרְכָּב עַל כֵּן יִקַּלּוּ רֹדְפֵיכֶם׃ (טז) - And you said, "No, for we will flee upon horses!" Therefore shall you flee; and, "We will ride upon swift steeds!" Therefore shall your pursuers be swift. (16)
Corresponding to the two proposals came their two responses. In response to "In serenity and rest you shall be saved," they say: "Upon horses we will flee" - we will go to Egypt, bring horses from there, and by means of them we will flee and escape from the enemy. The Holy One, blessed be He, replies to them: "Therefore shall you flee" - if that is what you say, that will be your punishment: you will be forced to flee before the enemy, just as you said. And in response to the second proposal, that in quietness and confidence shall be your strength, they claim: "And we will ride upon swift steeds" - we will ride swiftly and pursue the enemy; not through quietness and trust, but through our own might will we save ourselves and overcome him. He replies to them: "Therefore shall your pursuers be swift" - the enemies will be swift and pursue you. You wanted to ride swift horses to attack the enemy; on the contrary, the enemy will arrive on swift horses and strike you down, Heaven forbid.
אֶלֶף אֶחָד מִפְּנֵי גַּעֲרַת אֶחָד מִפְּנֵי גַּעֲרַת חֲמִשָּׁה תָּנֻסוּ עַד אִם נוֹתַרְתֶּם כַּתֹּרֶן עַל רֹאשׁ הָהָר וְכַנֵּס עַל הַגִּבְעָה׃ (יז) - One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall you flee, until you are left like a mast atop the mountain, and like a banner upon the hill. (17)
A thousand of you will flee at the rebuke of a single enemy. And as discussed in the past, during the terrible, horrific Holocaust - may trouble not arise a second time - this very phenomenon was witnessed: "and a little child shall lead them" - a single German, may his name and memory be blotted out, walking with a submachine gun, and a thousand people following after him. "One thousand at the rebuke of one." "And at the rebuke of five shall you flee" - and if there are five enemies, everyone will flee, not just a thousand.
And what will remain? "Until you are left like a mast atop the mountain, and like a banner upon the hill." The Malbim explains: A mountain is higher than a hill. The toren (mast) is the tall wooden beam upon a ship, visible from afar, and it symbolizes solitude - standing alone at great height. The neis is not a pole as we usually think, but rather the banner hoisted at the top of the mast, which in the Malbim's phrasing is called a vilon (curtain/canvas), just as a ship's sail is called a vilon (as Rashi mentions in several places). The banner symbolizes rallying for war - a flag is raised high where everyone can see it, and they come and gather around it.
According to this, the prophet says: If you flee to the peaks of the high mountains, to the places where you can be alone, you will be solitary like a mast. No one will be there with you; you will be isolated and unable to survive. And when you wish to descend to the hill, which is a habitable place with a community, you will be there "like a banner upon the hill" - an assembly of nations, where everyone will come to wage war against you. In simple terms: you have nowhere to run. If you try to go up, you will find yourselves utterly isolated; if you try to go down, you will find war staring you in the face.
וְלָכֵן יְחַכֶּה ה' לַחֲנַנְכֶם וְלָכֵן יָרוּם לְרַחֶמְכֶם כִּי אֱלֹהֵי מִשְׁפָּט ה' אַשְׁרֵי כָּל חוֹכֵי לוֹ׃ (יח) - Therefore Hashem will wait to be gracious to you, and therefore He will be exalted above having mercy upon you, for Hashem is a God of justice; fortunate are all who wait for Him. (18)
"Therefore" - since you did not listen to His voice, the Holy One, blessed be He, will not bring the redemption immediately. "Hashem will wait to be gracious to you" - He will not grant you grace right away, but only after a long time. And not only will He not grant you grace out of unearned favor (chein and chaninah), but "He will be exalted above having mercy upon you": even when many terrible troubles overtake you - a situation that naturally arouses the onlooker's pity, and under normal circumstances would arouse Hashem's mercy toward us - nevertheless, "He will be exalted." He will elevate Himself to the heights of heaven and avert His eyes from you, as it were, so that He will not have to pity you. When you see someone in dire straits, your compassion is stirred; but if you do not want to pity him, you simply look away, for out of sight is out of mind.
And if you should ask: Behold, we are in distress, and Hashem sees our suffering, so how can He not have mercy? To this the verse says, "He will be exalted above having mercy upon you" - the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, withdrew from the earth so as not to witness your suffering and be forced to pity you. And this is what happened during the Holocaust. People ask: Where was the Holy One, blessed be He, during the Holocaust? The answer is that He was not there, and He announced in advance that He would not be there. The Holy One, blessed be He, said explicitly: "And I will surely hide My face on that day." He warned that if you stray from the path, there will be hestair panim (concealment of the Divine face); and then they strayed from the path, and hestair panim came. He left a note, saying: I am leaving, I will not be there, there will be no one to pity you. When He announces beforehand that there will be troubles and that He will not be there, and then a person says, "Is it not because my God is not in my midst," and concludes as though God does not exist - how foolish are those who fail to consider that all of this was written in advance.
And if you ask why, the verse answers: "For Hashem is a God of justice." There is no such thing as not paying the price for the actions a person commits; no such concept exists. Whoever says that the Holy One, blessed be He, overlooks sin, his innards shall be surrendered, for Hashem is a God of justice, and retribution must come. And yet, know that in the end there will be salvation: "Fortunate are all who wait for Him" - fortunate is the one who waits and hopes for Hashem's salvation, for once they pay the penalty of justice, undergo the judgment, and retribution is exacted, the redemption will ultimately arrive. But one must know that first, the price must be paid. When the Holy One, blessed be He, says, "I came and there was no man, I called and there was no answer," and extends such offers to us yet we refuse - that exacts a price.
כִּי עָם בְּצִיּוֹן יֵשֵׁב בִּירוּשָׁלִָם בָּכוֹ לֹא תִבְכֶּה חָנוֹן יָחְנְךָ לְקוֹל זַעֲקֶךָ כְּשָׁמְעָתוֹ עָנָך׃ (יט) - For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more; He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; as soon as He hears it, He will answer you. (19)
The verse stated, "Fortunate are all who wait for Him," and now it explains: Know that salvation and redemption will surely come. You are unwilling to listen and unwilling to accept - I offer you to dwell in tranquil trust, to do nothing and the Holy One, blessed be He, will save you, yet you refuse. But there will be a people in Zion who will be willing, and who will not rely on the help of Egypt. And not only in Zion, but they will "dwell in Jerusalem" - throughout the entire city; and this people will dwell in tranquility and will not flee from the enemies. Which people is this? The generation of Chizkiyahu, who, when Assyria marches here, will place absolute trust in Hashem, may He be blessed. Unlike the generation that said: Let us go down to Egypt, they will provide us with horses, we have a treaty with them and they will help us. The prophet had already told them earlier that no one ever gained help from Egypt; Egypt was a promise that was never fulfilled.
"You shall weep no more" - this nation will not need to weep in order to arouse heavenly mercy. "He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry" - the people's cry alone will suffice; they will merely say, "Master of the Universe, please save us," and immediately the Holy One, blessed be He, will be gracious to them and deliver them. Even more: "as soon as He hears it, He will answer you" - the Holy One, blessed be He, will not wait for your cry; rather, the moment you cry out, salvation will already have been prepared, in the sense of "Before they call, I will answer." Normally, a person cries out and Hashem responds; here, Hashem will respond even before you cry, to the point that it will seem as if the Holy One, blessed be He, spoke first and we are answering Him. This is the meaning of "as soon as He hears it, He will answer you": it will seem as if Hashem is hearing your response, because the Holy One's response to save us will come even before our cry.
וְנָתַן לָכֶם אֲדֹנָי לֶחֶם צָר וּמַיִם לָחַץ וְלֹא יִכָּנֵף עוֹד מוֹרֶיךָ וְהָיוּ עֵינֶיךָ רֹאוֹת אֶת מוֹרֶיךָ׃ (כ) - And the Lord will give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, and your Teacher will no longer conceal Himself, and your eyes shall behold your Teacher. (20)
It was once noted jokingly that "bread of adversity and water of affliction" [lechem tzar umayim lachatz] is a baguette and soda [tzar = narrow, lachatz = pressurized]. But what does it mean here? Rashi explains: The prophet had rebuked them for being among "those who drink from basins of wine," those who lived in luxury and drank wine in an ostentatious manner. He tells them: it will not be like this anymore; rather, bread of adversity and water of affliction - you will not pursue pleasures, but will suffice with modest sustenance. "And your Teacher will no longer conceal Himself [lo yikanef]" - yikanef means covered by the corner (kanaf) of a garment, as if a cloak covers your Teacher, referring to the Holy One, blessed be He. For there will come a generation when "I will pour out My spirit," and "your sons shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams," when the earth will be filled with the knowledge of Hashem as water covers the sea. Then there will no longer be the concealment of the Divine face [hester panim] as there is today; the Holy One will not conceal His face beneath the corner of His cloak, and His providence will not be hidden, but all will perceive Hashem's guidance - "and your eyes shall behold your Teacher."
The Malbim explains this verse based on what the Holy One, blessed be He, told Chizkiyahu: "Eat this year what grows of itself," in the second year what springs from that, and in the third year, "sow and reap, and plant vineyards." The reason was that when Sancheriv came, he laid waste to everything and left nothing behind. Therefore the prophet says: know that initially there will not be such great abundance; rather, the Holy One will give you bread of adversity and water of affliction. "Bread of adversity" - because there will not yet be cultivated grain fields. "Water of affliction" - because the springs of water had been stopped up when the enemies arrived, and the water sources were diverted to flow into the city.
Regarding the meaning of "yikanef," the Malbim offers an original interpretation: yikanef comes from kanfei (wings), meaning to fly away with wings, and "morecha" refers to the early rain (yoreh) and late rain (malkosh). Do not think that, as during the years of famine when the rains took flight, flew away, and were gone - your rains will no longer fly away; rather, the early and late rains will come and fall in their proper time, and blessing will return.
And what is the second "morecha"? Here it carries a different meaning: a prophet. The Malbim maintains a general principle in Biblical exegesis, which he repeats in many places: when the exact same word appears twice in the same verse, it comes with two distinct meanings, for the text does not repeat a word needlessly. So too here: the first "morecha" relates to the rain (yoreh), meaning that the rains will not cease, but blessing and abundance will return; while the second "morecha" refers to the prophet, who guides and instructs (moreh) along the upright path. "And your eyes shall behold your Teacher" expresses their attitude toward the prophet: whereas earlier it was said of those "who said to the seers, 'Do not see,'" when they refused to listen to the prophets' words and would not look at what they were showing them, once the generation rectifies its ways, they will look to the prophets' words, eagerly await their guidance, and desire to see what the prophet has to say.
וְאָזְנֶיךָ תִּשְׁמַעְנָה דָבָר מֵאַחֲרֶיךָ לֵאמֹר זֶה הַדֶּרֶךְ לְכוּ בוֹ כִּי תַאֲמִינוּ וְכִי תַשְׂמְאִילוּ׃ (כא) - And your ears shall hear a word from behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. (21)
Rashi explains: Not like your current situation, where you despise the word of Hashem and say to the prophets, "Do not prophesy upright things to us"; rather, in the future, "your ears shall hear" - your ears will be attuned to hear a word from Hashem, listening in case a prophet comes to rebuke us and tell us, "This is the way, walk in it." "When you turn to the right [ta'aminu] or when you turn to the left" - all the commentators explain "ta'aminu" as derived from yamin (right), meaning when deciding the correct path, whether to the right or to the left.
Radak explains "a word from behind you": even if someone calls out to you from behind you and tells you, "This is the path you must walk," you will listen to him; how much more so if he instructs you face to face. After all, when someone is behind me, it is easy to ignore him and pretend I did not hear; but when someone stands before me and says, "This is the way," it is difficult to ignore, even if one might want to say, "I don't want to listen." The prophet says: you will possess such a desire to fulfill the will of Hashem that even if someone behind you directs your way to the right or left, you will heed his voice, out of your great eagerness to perform the will of Hashem.
The Malbim explains differently. He depicts a guide walking before them: the prophet is not behind us, but rather walks ahead of us as the guide, showing us the proper way while the people follow behind him without straying to the right or to the left, for this speaks of an era when they do the will of Hashem. However, at times even a prophet can err. This does not mean that he erred in his prophecy or received a prophecy that was false - there is no such thing - but rather that in leadership and practical judgment, an error can occur. Indeed, we find that even Moshe Rabbeinu erred, and great figures made errors in judgment, such as Avraham Avinu when he went down to Egypt, and others.
And what shall we do if he makes an error and leads us to the right instead of the left, or to the left instead of the right? Concerning this it says: "Your ears will hear a word from behind you, saying" - the Holy One, blessed be He, is still behind you, as it were, to guide your path straight. If you follow the prophet with the intention of fulfilling the will of Hashem, and what can be done if the prophet erred and is leading on the wrong path - you will have divine providence behind you. The Holy One, blessed be He, watches from behind so that you will not stray, and you have backing: Someone behind you who will show you the right way.
וְטִמֵּאתֶם אֶת צִפּוּי פְּסִילֵי כַסְפֶּךָ וְאֶת אֲפֻדַּת מַסֵּכַת זְהָבֶךָ תִּזְרֵם כְּמוֹ דָוָה צֵא תֹּאמַר לוֹ׃ (כב) - And you shall treat as defiled the silver plating of your graven images and the golden adornment of your molten idol; you shall cast them away like an impure cloth; "Begone!" you shall say to it. (22)
When the Holy One, blessed be He, is the One who straightens our path and directs us toward the right way, then we will consider those idol platings as an impure thing. "And the golden adornment (afudat) of your molten idol" - afudah is like an ephod (vestment), and although it is merely an ornament of idolatry and not the idol itself, out of deep revulsion toward idolatry, "you shall cast them away (tizrem)" - we will cast it away and it will become alien (zar) to us, "like a davah." And what is a davah? As in the verse, "If a woman has an issue of her blood for many days... like the days of her menstrual uncleanness (devotah) she shall be impure" - davah means a niddah, and it will be loathsome in our eyes like a niddah. Not only that, but "Begone (tzei)! you shall say to it" - and Chazal say that tzei relates to the word tzo'ah (excrement): it will be detestable in your eyes like excrement, like filth.
וְנָתַן מְטַר זַרְעֲךָ אֲשֶׁר תִּזְרַע אֶת הָאֲדָמָה וְלֶחֶם תְּבוּאַת הָאֲדָמָה וְהָיָה דָשֵׁן וְשָׁמֵן יִרְעֶה מִקְנֶיךָ בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא כַּר נִרְחָב׃ (כג) - And He will give the rain of your seed with which you sow the ground, and bread of the yield of the ground, and it shall be rich and fat; on that day your livestock will graze in a broad pasture. (23)
The word deshen expresses strength and abundance, as in "and your bones shall flourish like grass (deshe)," that which sustains a person's health. On the other hand, deshen is the ash removed from atop the Altar - after everything has burned, what remains, something unfit for anything. What is the meaning of this? The Malbim explains: this is one of the contranyms, verbs that carry opposite meanings. Just like sakol, which means both to clear away stones and to pelt someone with stones ("stone him with stones"). Just like lesharesh (to uproot) and lehashrish (to take root): lesharesh means to tear out by the root, while lehashrish is to send down roots. And just as with killes: "and made it an object of mockery and derision (veliklos)," yet on the other hand, "therefore it is our duty to praise, laud (u-lekalles), and glorify." So too here: deshen expresses the choicest and finest quality, and after an offering burns on the Altar and all its rich portions have departed, what remains is called deshen - something completely devoid of richness.
וְהָאֲלָפִים וְהָעֲיָרִים עֹבְדֵי הָאֲדָמָה בְּלִיל חָמִיץ יֹאכֵלוּ אֲשֶׁר זֹרֶה בָרַחַת וּבַמִּזְרֶה׃ (כד) - And the oxen and the donkeys that work the ground shall eat seasoned mash, which was winnowed with shovel and pitchfork. (24)
Here the prophet describes the immense abundance that will exist. "The oxen (alafim)" are the large cattle that work the land, and one would not see them in the pasture, for only the simpler animals not used for labor were sent out to graze, such as sheep, with which one does not plow. But the large beasts work. And why are they called alafim? The Malbim offers an interesting explanation: because they are taught to work, related to aleif binah ("learn understanding") - they are trained to plow, and are therefore called alafim, as in the phrase "the herds (alfei) of your cattle." And not only them, but even "the young donkeys (ayarim)," small donkeys not used for heavy labor like oxen - they too "shall eat seasoned mash."
The Malbim explains that belil is fodder that is mixed (bolelim) with grain, and is therefore called belil. And chamitz means clean and pure, clean grain winnowed with the shovel and pitchfork. The rachat (shovel) and mizreh (pitchfork) are two implements used to winnow grain so that it becomes clean: with the shovel they would toss it into the wind - "he winnows and the wind assists him" - and the pitchfork is also a specialized tool for winnowing. All this comes to show the extent to which even the animals' food will be clean and select, out of the greatness of the blessing. For normally, what do people feed animals? Refuse, whatever a person cannot eat - for if a person could eat it, why give it to an animal? But then, there will be such immense abundance that even the animals will receive the very finest food.
Based on this definition of chamitz, the Malbim explains several verses: "Strengthen the chamotz" - support and encourage the one who is chamotz, meaning clean and vindicated in his judgment, chamotz being an expression of purity. "Who is this that comes... with chamutz garments from Botzrah" - in clean garments. "Rescue... from the unrighteous and chometz man" - one who has acted wrongly and seeks to become cleansed, rescue him from all sin so he may be pure. And likewise, "When my heart becomes yitchametz" - an expression of cleansing, that his thoughts be purified. There are other explanations for these verses, but this is how the Malbim explained them.
וְהָיָה עַל כָּל הַר גָּבֹהַּ וְעַל כָּל גִּבְעָה נִשָּׂאָה פְּלָגִים יִבְלֵי מָיִם בְּיוֹם הֶרֶג רָב בִּנְפֹל מִגְדָּלִים׃ (כה) - And there shall be upon every high mountain and upon every lofty hill streams and watercourses, on a day of great slaughter, when towers fall. (25)
If initially they stopped up all the water springs and channeled the outer pool into the city so that the enemy, Sancheriv, would not find water to give his soldiers to drink - now, "upon every high mountain and upon every lofty hill" there will be streams of water. On a mountain certainly, and even on a hill, where springs are not usually found. And when? "On a day of great slaughter" - at the time when the enemy is slain and they will no longer fear him, then the Holy One, Blessed is He, will grant an abundance of water. "When towers fall" - the towers that were built on high vantage points to battle the enemy, since whoever holds the high ground has the advantage, will collapse, because there will no longer be any need for them.
And what is the difference between "streams" (pelagim) and "watercourses" (yivlei mayim)? The Malbim explains: A yuval is the source of the spring, and the pelagim are the branches that divide off from it. There are streams that come from rainwater, whereas "streams, watercourses" are streams that originate from a yuval, from the source of the spring itself. Through this there will be an immense abundance, so that you will no longer depend on rain, but rather the vast bounty will flow from streams emerging from flowing watercourses.
In this section of the chapter, the prophet sets two paths side by side. On the one hand, reliance on oppression and perversity, which had become a way of life: a towering wall that appears mighty, yet precisely because of its seeming strength, its collapse is sudden, and its shattering is like the breaking of a potter's vessel with not even a potsherd left behind. On the other hand, the Divine proposition: "In returning and rest you shall be saved," and if you also add quietness and trust - that will be your strength. Once they refused and said, "We will flee upon horses" and "We will ride upon the swift," they were answered measure for measure: "Therefore you shall flee," and "Therefore your pursuers shall be swift," until a thousand flee at the rebuke of one, with nowhere left to turn - above, the isolation of the mast atop a mountain, and below, a solitary banner upon a hill. From here onward, the prophet depicts the rectification: although the Holy One, Blessed is He, delays His grace and looks away, for Hashem is a God of justice, "praiseworthy are all who wait for Him." A people will arise in Zion that will place its complete trust in Him, who will be answered even before they cry out, who will see their teachers and hear the guiding word behind them, who will reject idolatry like an impurity and filth - and then the abundance will come: rain in its proper season, clean feed even for the livestock, and streams and watercourses upon every mountain and upon every hill.