Introduction
Chapter 33 in Yeshayahu deals with the downfall of Sancheiriv and the Assyrian camp, and the salvation of Yerushalayim in the days of Chizkiyahu. In this section of the chapter, we encounter the turning point: the Holy One, blessed be He, declares that the time has come to arise, depicts the destruction of the enemy, and then reassures the anxious inhabitants of Tzion - you have a righteous king, and you have a God Who is your Judge, your Lawgiver, and your King. The prophet portrays Yerushalayim as a steadfast tent whose pegs will never be uprooted, and as a small vessel that no mighty fleet can overcome, so long as it is steered by the faithful Captain.
"Now I Will Arise" - The Arising of the Holy One, Blessed Be He, and the Sanctification of His Name
עַתָּה אָקוּם יֹאמַר יְהֹוָה, עַתָּה אֵרוֹמָם, עַתָּה אֶנָּשֵׂא׃ - "Now I will arise," says Hashem; "now I will be exalted, now I will be lifted up."
Because of the multitude of evils the enemy inflicted upon My people, the Holy One, blessed be He, says: That is enough, I will no longer restrain Myself. Now I will arise, be exalted, and be lifted up, and I will save the people of Israel. The Malbim explains: "I will be exalted" - over the camp of Ashur, and consequently "I will be lifted up" - in the mouths of all creations. For when the Holy One, blessed be He, executes vengeance - "O God of vengeance, Hashem, God of vengeance, appear!" - the Name of Heaven is sanctified in the world through this.
From here we must learn: when we plead "God of vengeance, appear," this is not a request that we may finally repay the nations for their deeds. Rather, the request is that through Your appearance, Master of the Universe, Your Name will be sanctified. For when the enemy taunts and blasphemes the people of Israel, the Name of Hashem is desecrated, because we are the people of Hashem. They say: Where is their God? Why is He unable to save them? "Why should the nations say, 'Where is their God?'" And so Moshe Rabbeinu said: "Why should the Egyptians say, 'With evil intent He took them out to slay them in the mountains'" - behold, He could not bring them into the Land. When the people of Israel suffer, there is a desecration of Hashem's Name; and when we ask that His Name be exalted through vengeance against the nations, our intention is that His blessed Name be sanctified in the mouths of all creations for the wonders He has performed.
"You Shall Conceive Chaff, You Shall Bring Forth Stubble" - Futile Thoughts
תַּהֲרוּ חֲשַׁשׁ תֵּלְדוּ קַשׁ, רוּחֲכֶם אֵשׁ תֹּאכַלְכֶם׃ - You shall conceive chaff, you shall bring forth stubble; your breath is a fire that will consume you.
The address here is to the camp of Ashur. "Chaff" (chashash) refers to the dry husks at the top of the stalk, the part that burns very quickly. "Stubble" (kash) refers to the body of the stalk, from the ground up to the grain. In other words: your conception was of chaff, and therefore the birth - the outcome - is nothing but stubble. "And your breath" - the speech with which you taunted the ranks of the living God and blasphemed, as it were, the Name of Heaven, will itself be the fire that consumes you, the fire that will burn through the stubble and the chaff.
And why this pairing of stubble and chaff? The Radak explains: thought is regarded as conception, and the deed is called birth. They thought to capture Yerushalayim - this is "you shall conceive"; yet it was a pregnancy of chaff, a pregnancy with no substance, like the top of a stalk that has no value. All their thoughts were vanity and emptiness. Not only that, but even when they come to carry the matter out into action, which is the aspect of birth, the transition from thought to realization - even then nothing will be born but stubble, nothing will be produced that anyone needs to fear. And ultimately, that very fire emerging from within you will be what consumes you yourselves.
And indeed, this is precisely what happened: the angel of Hashem who struck the camp of Ashur burned them from within, as it is written, a burning of the soul while the body remained intact. Therefore it is likened to fire - because their inner essence, all those schemes of how they would conquer the people of Israel, was likened to chaff and stubble, and they themselves were burned from within.
"Burnings of Lime" and "Thorns Cut Down" - Two Qualities of Fire
וְהָיוּ עַמִּים מִשְׂרְפוֹת שִׂיד, קוֹצִים כְּסוּחִים בָּאֵשׁ יִצַּתּוּ׃ - And peoples shall be like the burnings of lime, like cut thorns ignited in fire.
First, let us clarify the language: kesuchim means severed and cut, as in the expressions lo tizmor, lo tekhasei'ach ("you shall not prune"). Radak explains why it specifies "cut thorns": as long as a thorn is attached to the ground, it is still green and does not burn quickly; but cut it, give it two or three days to dry out, and then the smallest spark, a tossed cigarette, immediately sets the entire thornfield ablaze.
Why does the prophet duplicate the metaphor - both burnings of lime and cut thorns? Malbim explains: Lime has one distinct property - it retains its heat for many days, but it does not catch fire quickly; it takes time before one succeeds in igniting it. Dry thorns are the exact opposite: at the slightest spark they burn instantly, yet just as quickly as they flared up, they also burn out. Therefore, the prophet says: The nations will be like burnings of lime, in which the fire lingers for many days; and lest you say that if so, it will take time until they are ignited - it says "cut thorns," indicating that the conflagration will be instantaneous. And lest you say that if they are like thorns, the fire will immediately die down - it says "burnings of lime," indicating that the burning will endure for a long time. Thus, both attributes are combined: ignited instantly like thorns, and burning for a long duration like lime.
"Hear, You Who Are Far Away" - Rumor and Firsthand Knowledge
שִׁמְעוּ רְחוֹקִים אֲשֶׁר עָשִׂיתִי, וּדְעוּ קְרוֹבִים גְּבֻרָתִי׃ - Hear, you who are far away, what I have done; and know My might, you who are near.
Rashi explains: "You who are far away" - these are those who believe in Me, who have performed My will from their youth, meaning those who have served Hashem from time immemorial, from afar. "You who are near" - these are the ba'alei teshuvah (penitents) who have drawn close to Me anew. See how wondrous this is and how well it aligns with Chazal's teaching: "In the place where ba'alei teshuvah stand, even the completely righteous cannot stand." For how does the verse describe the penitents? As "near." Although we explained that "near" can mean newcomers who only recently arrived, in contrast to the one from "afar" who has believed in Hashem for a long time, one can also see an allusion here: the "near" one is now close to Hashem, blessed be He, whereas the one from afar remains in the status of "far" - because the spiritual level of ba'alei teshuvah is even closer to Hashem, blessed be He.
Malbim, however, explains differently: "Hear, you who are far away" - the miracle that the Holy One, blessed be He, performs will be heard far and wide; even those far away will hear how He destroyed the camp of Assyria. Yet there is a novel insight here. Usually, when an astonishing event occurs, it is precisely those far away who are more impressed by it, since for them everything is based on hearsay: "Did you hear what happened there? An unbelievable explosion!" Why? Because one was not there, and naturally the story sounds far more sensational. But one who is actually present at the scene sees that reality does not match the outcry. It has often been observed: whoever wants to know how much the newspapers fabricate should read a report of an event that he himself witnessed, and then he will see how much imagination is mixed into it and how many baseless descriptions it contains. A story heard from afar is almost always more sensational than it appears to someone who was actually there.
Yet with the Holy One, blessed be He, it was the exact opposite: "Hear, you who are far away, what I have done" - in distant places it will merely be a report heard from afar, but "and know My might, you who are near" - for those who are close, it will be in the realm of direct knowledge. This is a far higher level: even those nearby, who see it with their own eyes, will perceive the miracle and wonder in all its magnificence.
As one of the great Torah leaders once remarked about the Chofetz Chaim: What was the difference between him and other figures recognized as great? Usually, when you get close to a great person, you realize that in the end he too is a human being, elevated and exalted though he may be, yet upon drawing near, his stature somewhat diminishes in your eyes. With the Chofetz Chaim, however, whoever heard of him from afar knew he was great and mighty, but whoever was close to him was all the more astonished by his greatness. This is truly remarkable, for the Gemara says regarding a Torah scholar: once a person speaks with him, he seems like a glass vessel; once he benefits from him, he seems like an earthenware vessel. From afar he sounds like a giant, but upon drawing near, one sees that he is also human. But regarding the might of Hashem, it is not so: one who was near was even more overwhelmed upon witnessing His might, blessed be He. It was not merely distant rumors; here, they directly witnessed the greatness of Hashem.
"Sinners in Zion Dread" - The Terror of Sinners and Hypocrites
פָּחֲדוּ בְצִיּוֹן חַטָּאִים, אָחֲזָה רְעָדָה חֲנֵפִים, מִי יָגוּר לָנוּ אֵשׁ אוֹכֵלָה, מִי יָגוּר לָנוּ מוֹקְדֵי עוֹלָם׃ - Sinners in Zion dread; trembling has seized hypocrites: "Who among us can dwell with consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?"
The sinners, those who lacked faith in Hashem, when they heard that Sennacherib was approaching - dreaded in Zion, terrified of the enemy advancing toward the city. And the hypocrites, the dissemblers, were ashamed to say aloud that they were afraid and lacked trust in Hashem, but their bodies gave them away: "trembling has seized hypocrites" - the physical trembling of their bodies was noticeable to all, and everyone could see that they were gripped by fear.
And what did they say? "Who among us can dwell with consuming fire?" - who can dwell here in Zion when Sancheriv's camp besieges us all around and a consuming fire threatens? "Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?" - mokedei (burnings) is from the term moked, a pyre of fire. After all, Sancheriv set the whole world ablaze, and the Gemara says that he confounded all the nations. Who can live in a place reached by a man who burned the entire world?
"One who walks righteously" - The Righteousness of King Chizkiyahu
הֹלֵךְ צְדָקוֹת וְדֹבֵר מֵישָׁרִים, מֹאֵס בְּבֶצַע מַעֲשַׁקּוֹת, נֹעֵר כַּפָּיו מִתְּמֹךְ בַּשֹּׁחַד, אֹטֵם אָזְנוֹ מִשְּׁמֹעַ דָּמִים וְעֹצֵם עֵינָיו מֵרְאוֹת בְּרָע׃ - He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, who despises the gain of oppressions, who shakes his palms free from holding a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed, and shuts his eyes from looking upon evil.
To this the Holy One, blessed be He, responds to them: You have nothing to worry about. You have a righteous king, and in his merit Hashem will perform signs and wonders for all of you.
"He who walks righteously" - tzedakah always pertains to matters between man and his fellow. "And speaks uprightly" - uprightness refers to integrity in matters of faith; he possesses pure faith in Hashem and upright convictions. "Who despises the gain of oppressions" - to take unlawful gain means profiting at another's expense, in a way that causes the other person to be wronged. Sometimes a person buys or sells, and both I profit and you profit. But sometimes the situation is that I can profit only on one condition - that you lose. An example of this is a pyramid scheme, in which you buy nothing and sell nothing; rather, you are ensnared, and you must bring in ten more people to be ensnared in your place so you can get out, and if you bring in a hundred you begin to turn a profit. This is not commerce where one buys and another sells and both gain; rather, someone must inevitably lose. The same applies to stock trading, where the profit is largely virtual, and when one profits it is usually because another has lost. Chizkiyahu despised profit that came about through another person being wronged and suffering a loss.
"Who shakes his palms free from holding a bribe" - he shakes his hands free from even grasping a bribe. And not only did he not take a bribe to judge between two litigants, but he would not even accept a gift. The customary way of kings was that subjects coming before the king would bring him a gift, just as Yaakov instructed his sons to take before Yosef "a little balsam and a little honey... pistachios and almonds." Chizkiyahu was unwilling to accept anything. Why? Because tomorrow that same person might appear in court against his fellow, and the king might remember that this man had brought him a generous basket. Therefore, he shook his hands free of receiving a gift from anyone, lest he come, Heaven forbid, to uphold bribery.
"Who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed" - he would not accept lashon hara about anyone. Even if they told him that so-and-so had rebelled against him and was liable to capital punishment, he would stop his ears from hearing, so as not to come to bloodshed. "And shuts his eyes from looking upon evil" - for it is known that the source of covetousness and lust is in the eyes: I see what you have and I want it too; I see how successful you are and I envy you. Therefore, he would shut his eyes from looking at anything that might lead him into evil.
"He shall dwell on high" - The Security of the Righteous
הוּא מְרוֹמִים יִשְׁכֹּן, מְצָדוֹת סְלָעִים מִשְׂגַּבּוֹ, לַחְמוֹ נִתָּן מֵימָיו נֶאֱמָנִים׃ - He shall dwell on high; the fortresses of rocks shall be his stronghold; his bread shall be given, his waters are sure.
Because of this, King Chizkiyahu does not fear the consuming fire. Those who were terrified in Zion were the sinners; those gripped with trembling were the hypocrites. But one who is righteous, who walks righteously, speaks uprightly, and despises unlawful gain, does not fear and is not terrified. Such a person "shall dwell on high" - the enemy cannot draw near him; he is, as it were, elevated, beyond the enemy's reach.
Not only that, but the place where he dwells is immensely strong: "The fortresses of rocks" - a fortress built atop a rock cliff, a place extremely difficult to reach and conquer. And should you say that even a fortress on a rock can easily be conquered by siege - a month, two months, how long can he hold out, how much food does he have there? To this comes the reply: "His bread shall be given, his waters are sure" - he has an orderly supply of bread and a constant supply of water. Thus he shall dwell on high, with rocky strongholds for his refuge, without any fear or apprehension of the enemy whatsoever.
"A King in His Beauty" - Countering the Splendor of Sancheriv
מֶלֶךְ בְּיָפְיוֹ תֶּחֱזֶינָה עֵינֶיךָ, תִּרְאֶינָה אֶרֶץ מַרְחַקִּים׃ - Your eyes will behold a king in his beauty; they will see a distant land.
We noted that Chizkiyahu was neither fearful nor anxious regarding the camp of Assyria. "Your eyes will behold a king in his beauty" - you gaze upon Chizkiyahu in his time of beauty, meaning in his exaltedness, his faith, and his trust in Hashem. But on the other hand, "they will see a distant land" - you also see with your own eyes the splendor of the king approaching from a distant land, namely Sancheirev, king of Assyria. You say: True, we have a king of great spiritual beauty and accomplishment; but what about what your physical eyes see, the king of Assyria arriving here with all his legions? Shouldn't that arouse apprehension?
"Your Heart Will Meditate on Terror" - Where Is the Scribe, Where Is the Weigher?
לִבְּךָ יֶהְגֶּה אֵימָה, אַיֵּה סֹפֵר אַיֵּה שֹׁקֵל, אַיֵּה סֹפֵר אֶת הַמִּגְדָּלִים׃ - Your heart will meditate on terror: Where is the scribe? Where is the weigher? Where is he who counted the towers?
If you evaluate Chizkiyahu against the king of Assyria in all his military splendor, with his vast armies and legions, your heart will naturally meditate on terror; fear and dread will grip you. You will say: If Chizkiyahu wishes to do battle with the king of Assyria, "Where is the scribe? Where is the weigher?" Kings had dedicated officers whose entire duty was to muster the troops, count them, and record them. Yet for you, Chizkiyahu, there is not even someone to tally the Assyrian ranks - not to mention that you lack soldiers, you lack an army, and you lack horses to face him. Indeed, this was precisely what Ravshakeh shouted from across the wall: I can provide you with horses, but do you even have men who know how to ride them? I could supply the horses, but how can you possibly go out against me? I conquer empires, and you stand against me? Did Shomron not have a god? I conquered them as well. True, they worshipped idols while we go forth in the Name of Hashem and trust in Him, but on a physical level, they had no fighting force at all.
"He who counted the towers" - this refers to those stationed atop the siege towers from which they fought. At times armies came with elephants and at times with cavalry, and often there was an elevated siege tower upon which the warrior stood and shot his arrows. Thus, when you see our king's glory in his spiritual beauty, you say: This does not compare at all to the might of Sancheirev, who comes with overwhelming power and massive battalions; how can we fight against him? Through this, "your heart will meditate on terror."
Notice the subtlety in the wording: Which impacts us more, *techzeinah* (gazing upon inner beauty) or *tireinah* (physical sight)? Sight always makes a stronger impression, for sight is perceived openly and tangibly. One might say: But he has inner strength and spiritual power! That is all well and good, but what did my eyes actually see? This was just like the incident with Elisha: he prayed that Hashem open the eyes of his attendant, and what did the youth see? "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them" - the entire mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire - and only then was he calmed. Previously he was terrified, even though he stood beside Elisha and knew who Elisha was. For what one sees with the physical eye always impacts a person more profoundly than intellectual or abstract knowledge. Therefore, when one envisions the inner stature of Chizkiyahu versus the colossal military might of Sancheirev seen with one's own eyes, the heart meditates on terror.
"You Shall Not See a Fierce People" - Do Not Fear Them
אֶת עַם נוֹעָז לֹא תִרְאֶה, עַם עִמְקֵי שָׂפָה מִשְּׁמוֹעַ, נִלְעַג לָשׁוֹן אֵין בִּינָה׃ - You shall not see a fierce people, a people of speech too deep to understand, of a stammering tongue that has no meaning.
Therefore, the prophet comes and says: Do not fear. That fierce nation you see, over which you ask, "Where is the scribe, where is the weigher?" due to the sheer size of its army - "you shall not see"; you will never see them again, for they will perish and be wiped out before you.
And who are they? "A people of speech too deep to understand" - people whose language is obscure and difficult to comprehend, who do not speak clearly. Moreover, they are "of a stammering tongue" - speaking an alien dialect that cannot be made out. "That has no meaning" - you cannot discern what they are saying, for they are people devoid of true understanding, so why should you fear them at all?
"Gaze Upon Zion" - Jerusalem as a Steadfast Tent
חֲזֵה צִיּוֹן קִרְיַת מוֹעֲדֵנוּ, עֵינֶיךָ תִרְאֶינָה יְרוּשָׁלַיִם נָוֶה שַׁאֲנָן, אֹהֶל בַּל יִצְעָן, בַּל יִסַּע יְתֵדֹתָיו לָנֶצַח וְכָל חֲבָלָיו בַּל יִנָּתֵקוּ׃ - Gaze upon Zion, the city of our appointed festivals; your eyes shall behold Jerusalem as a tranquil dwelling, a tent that will not be dismantled, whose pegs will never be pulled up, and none of whose ropes will ever snap.
Zion, which you fear is about to be wiped out by the forces of Sancheriv - do not worry, you will yet behold it as "the city of our appointed festivals," where everyone ascends on the pilgrimage festivals. And not only that, but "your eyes shall behold Jerusalem as a tranquil dwelling." Even though right now you cannot imagine Jerusalem as the city of the great King, as a place of blessing, success, and prosperity, since all around you see the looming threat of Sancheriv - envision a different picture: "a tranquil dwelling" (naveh sha'anan). A naveh is always a pasture for flocks, and sha'anan means calm and serene, as in "complacent women" (nashim sha'ananot). If you want to depict something pastoral, think of sheep grazing peacefully in a pasture without any fear. That is how you should picture Jerusalem, for that is the state it is about to experience. People envisioned fire, conflagration, war, slaughter, and bloodshed - but the prophet tells them: That will not be the reality.
"A tent that will not be dismantled [bal yitz'an]" - in the place where you dwell there will be no inner agitation, meaning they will be wholehearted with Hashem, and through this "whose pegs will never be pulled up" - it will be impossible to uproot its tent pegs. The pegs are the parts that secure the tent so it does not move. "And none of whose ropes will ever snap" - rather, they will endure permanently. For they viewed Jerusalem as a fragile tent that any slight gust of wind from Sancheriv would blow down and dismantle, but the prophet tells them: You have nothing to fear, this place will be a steadfast, enduring, strong, and tranquil tent, and it will yet be the city of our appointed festivals, a place to which everyone makes the pilgrimage to offer their sacrifices.
And this is also stated in contrast to the kings who barred the people from making the pilgrimage. For the kings of Shomron, Yarov'am and his successors, set up sentries and roadblocks so that the Ten Tribes could not ascend for the festivals. The prophet says: That will not remain so; this is Zion, the city of our appointed festivals, a place to which pilgrimages will once again be made, and on the contrary - the Jewish people will yet seek Hashem in Jerusalem.
Notice, too, that here as well there is a distinction between re'iyah (physical seeing) and chaziyah (spiritual vision), as we explained: "Gaze [chazeh] upon Zion, the city of our appointed festivals," whereas "your eyes shall behold [tireinah] Jerusalem as a tranquil dwelling." The tranquility of Jerusalem is "your eyes shall behold" - that you will be able to see with your physical eyes, that the place will be tranquil and quiet. But the holiness of Zion, the site of the Beis HaMikdash, the dwelling place of the Shechinah, and the festival pilgrimage - that is "chazeh," the vision of the soul, the inner spiritual perception, and not merely external physical sight.
"For There Hashem Will Be Mighty for Us" - The Ship That No Mighty Fleet Can Overcome
כִּי אִם שָׁם אַדִּיר יְהֹוָה לָנוּ, מְקוֹם נְהָרִים יְאֹרִים רַחֲבֵי יָדָיִם, בַּל תֵּלֶךְ בּוֹ אֳנִי שַׁיִט וְצִי אַדִּיר לֹא יַעַבְרֶנּוּ׃ - For there Hashem will be mighty for us, a place of broad rivers and streams, where no oared galley can go, and no mighty ship can pass.
And why will this tent never be uprooted? Why will it endure forever? Because there "Hashem will be mighty for us" - Hashem will be strong on our behalf there; He is the Mighty One who will serve as our shield and stronghold. And if Hashem is mighty for us there, we have nothing to fear from anything.
And even if the place should turn into "a place of broad rivers and streams" - which is the exact opposite of a tranquil pasture. A tranquil dwelling is a meadow where sheep graze, whereas here there are suddenly broad rivers and canals, and the tent is no longer pitched in a quiet, pastoral meadow, but is like a ship tossed upon the sea. The metaphor is: the king of Ashur is like a mighty fleet of warships sailing the sea to seize this tossed ship, which is Jerusalem. The prophet tells you: even if a mighty force appears there, "Hashem will be mighty for us." "No oared galley can go" - an oni shayit is a small oared vessel, and even it will not succeed in passing through there, let alone a "mighty ship [that] can pass." That is, even if you view the situation as precarious, like a surging river or sea, you need not fear the mighty fleet of Sancheriv approaching, for HaKadosh Baruch Hu will not allow even a small craft to pass through and harm the ship of Israel. Tranquil Jerusalem has no reason to fear Sancheriv's mighty fleet, and even as he approaches them, the ship of the kingdom of Yehudah will remain calm and serene, without fear.
"Hashem Is Our Judge, Hashem Is Our Lawgiver, Hashem Is Our King"
כִּי יְהֹוָה שֹׁפְטֵנוּ, יְהֹוָה מְחֹקְקֵנוּ, יְהֹוָה מַלְכֵּנוּ הוּא יוֹשִׁיעֵנוּ׃ - For Hashem is our Judge, Hashem is our Lawgiver, Hashem is our King; He will save us.
We are currently experiencing a state of "the current of the river has swept me away," adrift like a ship tossed upon the sea. And who brought this situation upon us? Did it happen by natural means? No, rather HaKadosh Baruch Hu brought this situation upon us; He is the One who brought Sancheriv to besiege us. This entire situation is from Him, blessed be He - "Hashem is our Judge."
Yet do not forget: "Hashem is our Lawgiver." Who set the laws in the earth, who determined reality? The Holy One, blessed be He. And He who is the Lawgiver also has the power to change the law. Because of this, "Hashem is our King" - and a king possesses the power to pardon even outside the strict letter of the law. A judge has no such power; a judge cannot say, "I forgive you," for there is a penalty prescribed by law and a minimum that he must impose. But a king can execute judgment on a person who, under standard law, is not liable to death, as David said, "He shall pay for the ewe-lamb fourfold, and the man deserves to die" - and we never find that a person is liable to death for robbery. A king can judge without witnesses and without formal legal procedures, as it says, "A king establishes the land through justice," and on the other hand, he can also grant a pardon to one who has already been condemned. That is the power of a king.
Therefore we always plead, "Avinu Malkeinu" (Our Father, our King): have mercy on us like a father, and in Your hands is the power, even if we are guilty, as a King to alter the law. "Hashem is our Lawgiver" - He legislated the law; "Hashem is our King" - He can act toward us with lovingkindness even contrary to strict justice. And if so, "He will save us" - specifically He, blessed be He, in whose hands lies all power, whose law it is and with whom judgment rests, He is the One who will save us.
"Your Ropes Hang Slack" - Neglect of the Ship
נִטְּשׁוּ חֲבָלָיִךְ, בַּל יְחַזְּקוּ כֵן תָּרְנָם בַּל פָּרְשׂוּ נֵס, אָז חֻלַּק עַד שָׁלָל מַרְבֶּה, פִּסְחִים בָּזְזוּ בַז׃ - Your ropes hang slack; they could not hold the base of their mast, they could not spread a sail; then an abundance of spoil was divided, even the lame plundered prey.
As noted, the land of Judah was compared to a place of wide rivers, to a ship tossed at sea, yet a mighty fleet is unable to approach it. How so? Because the Holy One, blessed be He, is the One who strengthens this ship and guards it. But such a ship requires a captain who knows how to steer it, who will not run it aground on a reef, but will protect it in every respect.
"Your ropes hang slack" - if the captain, namely King Chizkiyahu, abandoned the ropes and did not secure them; for the ropes of the mast and sails must be pulled taut. "They could not hold the base of their mast" - the mast too is neither secured nor strengthened. "They could not spread a sail" - they provided no shelter against the wind. In such a state, the ship will inevitably fail to reach a safe harbor; rather, "then an abundance of spoil was divided" - the enemies will divide among themselves vast plunder, each coming to take as much from the ship as he can. And its condition will be so degraded that "even the lame plundered prey" - the lame are disabled individuals who seemingly cannot do anything, yet even they will come and plunder it.
And what is the lesson? The Holy One, blessed be He, is mighty on our behalf - if the kingdom and the people are bound to Hashem and His mitzvos, and if they hold fast to the captain and the mast of the ship, meaning they remain loyal to the king steering the ship, and if they spread a sail to shield against the wind from outside - meaning they do not rely on the nations to extend protection over them, nor turn to Egypt to defend and shelter them, but rely solely on the Holy One, blessed be He - then even the mighty fleet of Assyria will be unable to approach them.
Yet if they do not act this way, but rather "your ropes hang slack, they could not hold the base of their mast, they could not spread a sail" - and they neglect their duties. And what neglect does this expression describe? Neglect in Torah and mitzvos. They do not support Chizkiyahu, who is a righteous king; they go and rely on other nations to save them, imagining they will find favor in the eyes of Sancheriv and make peace with him, like Ravshakeh and his cohorts who betrayed the people of Israel. When this is the case, know that he will come and take great spoil, and even the lame will plunder prey - even a lame person will overcome you.
However, if you do not behave this way, but instead trust in Chizkiyahu and in Hashem, blessed be He, and reinforce the ship's maintenance - and what is that? Spirituality, Torah, and mitzvos, just as Chizkiyahu ensured that there was not a young boy or girl from Dan to Beersheba who was not thoroughly versed in the laws of purity and impurity - and you spread a sail over it yourselves, not waiting for someone else to spread their umbrella over it to protect it, but relying solely on Chizkiyahu and on Hashem, blessed be He - then no one will be able to draw near and harm it.
"And No Inhabitant Shall Say, 'I Am Sick'" - The People Who Dwell Therein Are Forgiven Their Iniquity
וּבַל יֹאמַר שָׁכֵן חָלִיתִי, הָעָם הַיֹּשֵׁב בָּהּ נְשׂוּא עָוֺן׃ - And no inhabitant shall say, "I am sick"; the people who dwell therein are forgiven their iniquity.
Even at a time when plunder is taken within it by the ship's sailors, those who pull its ropes - "no inhabitant shall say, 'I am sick'": whoever dwells within the ship will not say, "I have grown sick," meaning I have become weak, behold Assyria is coming. For know this: whoever remains within the ship itself, which is Jerusalem, will be protected and need not fear. "The people who dwell therein are forgiven their iniquity" - the Holy One, blessed be He, is merciful, He forgives sin, and therefore "He will not destroy," and the destroyer will not enter to strike within it.
And so, the prophet tells them: You have nothing to fear or dread from Sancheiriv. Whoever trusts in Hashem's kindness, and whoever trusts in Chizkiyahu's righteousness and walks with him, helping him strengthen faith among the people of Hashem and diligence in fulfilling the mitzvos - this ship will be protected by Him, blessed be He, and the people dwelling within it will be forgiven of iniquity without any fear.
In summary:
In this section of the chapter, the Holy One, blessed be He, proclaims, "Now I will arise," and His exaltation over Ashur brings about the exaltation of His Name in the mouths of all creations - for the salvation of Israel is a Kiddush Hashem. Ashur's schemes are nothing but chaff and straw, and their own spirit will be the fire that consumes them, a conflagration both instantaneous like cut thorns and enduring like lime kilns. The miracle will be heard among those far away, while for those nearby it will be a clear knowledge of Hashem's might. The sinners and hypocrites in Tzion were terrified and trembled, whereas Chizkiyahu - who walks righteously, speaks uprightly, spurns dishonest gain, shakes his hands from taking a bribe, stops his ear from hearing slander, and shuts his eyes from looking at evil - he will dwell on high, and his bread and water will be secure. Even though the eye sees the grandeur and might of Sancheiriv, the prophet promises that this insolent nation will no longer be seen, and Tzion will be the city of our appointed festivals and Jerusalem a tranquil abode, a tent whose stakes will never be uprooted. Above all: "Hashem is our Judge, Hashem is our Lawgiver, Hashem is our King; He will save us" - the One who established the law has the power to change it, and a king can grant a pardon even beyond the strict letter of the law. Therefore, the people must not abandon the ship's ropes and rely upon the nations of the world, but rather strengthen Torah and mitzvos and support their righteous king; then no mighty fleet will pass, and the people dwelling there will be forgiven of their iniquity.