Chapter 48 of Yeshayahu continues the prophecies concerning the fall of Babylon. The Radak explains that the prophet addresses here those people who heard the prophecy that Babylon itself would be destroyed after the exile, saying to them: Indeed, Babylon will be destroyed, but I have not abandoned you. Yet alongside the comfort comes rebuke as well - how did you reach this spiritual low? The central axis of the entire chapter, according to the Malbim, is the question of miracles: when the Holy One, blessed be He, performs a miracle without prior notice, when He announces it in advance, and what is to be done with a generation that even a new creation before its very eyes would not convince.
שִׁמְעוּ־זֹאת בֵּית־יַעֲקֹב הַנִּקְרָאִים בְּשֵׁם יִשְׂרָאֵל וּמִמֵּי יְהוּדָה יָצָאוּ הַנִּשְׁבָּעִים בְּשֵׁם יְהֹוָה וּבֵאלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל יַזְכִּירוּ לֹא בֶאֱמֶת וְלֹא בִצְדָקָה׃ - Hear this, O house of Yaakov, who are called by the name of Yisrael and have come forth from the waters of Yehudah, who swear by the name of Hashem and mention the God of Yisrael, not in truth and not in righteousness.
The Radak emphasizes the contrast between the names. "Yaakov" reflects the state of the Jewish people when they are low, at the heel (ekev); "Yisrael," an expression of authority and nobility, reflects their state of strength. The prophet says to them: You are the house of Yaakov; you have forgotten that you are called by the name of Yisrael - how did you sink to the level of the heel? After all, you should have learned from the deeds of your forefather. "And have come forth from the waters of Yehudah" - you emerged from the seed of Yehudah, who was righteous; how, then, did you decline to such a state?
Yet here they swear by His Name and invoke His Name, but not in truth and not in righteousness. They do not fulfill His mitzvos, they do not fear Him, and yet they casually take oaths by His Name. This is comparable to someone who swears by the name of the king while cursing the king and rebelling against him - does such an oath bring honor to the king? It is an utter disgrace to the king. It is like someone who flippantly says, "I swear by the life of my mother-in-law." When you swear by someone you hold in contempt, the oath has no real value; it is merely another insult.
Therefore, the Torah indicates that only when the Jewish people fulfill the will of Hashem completely - walking in His statutes and observing His commandments - only then does it say, "and by His name shall you swear." Chazal teach: If you conduct yourself in this manner, it is even a mitzvah to swear by the Name of Hashem. That is to say, if the Name of Hashem is so precious in your eyes, and you observe all His mitzvos and are meticulous in all His laws, then an oath in His Name carries immense sanctity and is even a fulfillment of a mitzvah. But who can claim to have attained such a level? The very fact that you do not observe the mitzvos of Hashem with integrity, yet still swear by Him, constitutes a desecration and degradation of Hashem's Name.
A fitting illustration of this principle can be seen with Yosef, who said to his brothers, "By the life of Pharaoh, you shall not leave this place," and later released them. Yosef had no qualms about swearing by the life of Pharaoh - he could swear by his life, by his death, or by whatever he wished. Why? Because Yosef had no genuine reverence for Pharaoh, and swearing by someone you do not revere actually reflects disdain. But swearing by the One in Whom you truly believe and trust - saying, "I swear by the life of the King" - is an honor to the King only when one serves Him properly and faithfully.
The Malbim explains that the phrases in the verse are parallel: "who swear by the name of Hashem" corresponds to "not in truth," and "mention the God of Yisrael" corresponds to "not in righteousness." You should have been righteous both in terms of your deeds and in terms of your ancestral roots, yet in your case the reality is the exact opposite. You swear by the Name of Hashem, but the oath is not in truth, rather in falsehood; and on the other hand, you invoke the God of Yisrael as if to say, "We are the servants of Hashem," yet there is no righteousness in you. You lack the truth that governs interpersonal relationships (bein adam l'chaveiro), and you lack the righteousness directed toward Heaven (bein adam laMakom) - how then can you mention the God of Yisrael and swear by His Name? Such behavior is intolerable when you fail to maintain even a baseline level of divine service.
כִּי־מֵעִיר הַקֹּדֶשׁ נִקְרָאוּ וְעַל־אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל נִסְמָכוּ יְהֹוָה צְבָאוֹת שְׁמוֹ׃ - For they are called from the holy city, and rely on the God of Yisrael; Hashem of Hosts is His name.
The Malbim notes a precision: the word ki here is not a causal explanation ("because"), but rather means "when" - as in ki tetzei lamilchamah ("when you go out to war"). That is to say: when they are called from the holy city.
Here the Malbim lays down a major principle: The miracles performed by the Holy One, blessed is He, occur in one of two ways. Sometimes the Jewish people are worthy of miraculous providence, and the Holy One performs a miracle on account of their righteousness - such as the generation that left Egypt, of whom it is said, "your following Me into the wilderness," who were worthy, and He performed miracles for them. Other times, Israel is not worthy, yet the Holy One performs a miracle nonetheless - so that we may believe in Him, so that we may recognize His providence over us.
So it is in the recent generation as well: The Holy One, blessed is He, has performed many miracles for us - cloaked in nature, yet open miracles nonetheless - so that we will believe in Him and acknowledge Him. Consider, for example, the recent war known as Operation "Pillar of Cloud" (Amud Anan), whose very name testifies to its nature: the Holy One shields us. Fifteen hundred missiles fell, and if we were to calculate what could have unfolded - Heaven forbid, a terrible catastrophe. Yet the Holy One took pity and had mercy. Of course, we mourn every Jewish soul, but when one contemplates the damage that could have resulted, and sees what happened in the places where missiles did strike, one understands the destructive force involved; this is no game, it can cause real devastation. These are true miracles. Are we worthy of such miracles? Sadly, no. Rather, as the Malbim explains: when Israel is not worthy, He performs signs and wonders before their eyes so that they will believe in Him.
And what is the difference between these two categories of miracles? The Malbim explains: Miracles performed in the merit of our righteousness do not require prior notice. Why? Because their sole purpose is to resolve a problem into which we have fallen. When Yehoshua pursued the enemy nations during the conquest of the Land and the Holy One rained hailstones upon them from heaven, was prior notice ever sent? Did a prophet announce that in so many days hailstones would fall along the descent of Beit Choron? Nothing preceded it. That was a miracle meant to resolve a localized dilemma, and the Holy One brought it about at that very moment. But a miracle that comes to bolster our faith derives its entire power specifically from Hashem announcing it in advance. For then the Holy One says: Who informed you of such a thing? Who told you this was going to happen? Is this nature? Is this coincidence? Here came the prophet and announced a month beforehand that on this day and at this hour such and such would occur - something no one could have known in advance except the prophet from the mouth of Hashem. Through this, faith is fortified.
This is the plain meaning of the verse: At the time when they were called by the Holy City - when Israel were holy and identified with the Holy City, called a holy people in the Holy Land; and at the time when they "relied upon the God of Israel" - on account of the strength of their faith, then I performed wondrous miracles for them, miracles that required no prior announcement.
הָרִאשֹׁנוֹת מֵאָז הִגַּדְתִּי וּמִפִּי יָצְאוּ וְאַשְׁמִיעֵם פִּתְאֹם עָשִׂיתִי וַתָּבֹאנָה׃ - The earlier things I declared of old; they went forth from My mouth, and I announced them; suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.
What kind of miracles did I perform back then? Miracles that did not require Me to announce them before they occurred. "The earlier things I declared of old; they went forth from My mouth, and I announced them; suddenly I acted, and they came to pass" - the moment the word went forth from My mouth, so it was, in an instant. There was no need for advance notice because you were righteous, and when they are righteous, the miracle comes to resolve a problem rather than to fortify belief.
The Malbim notes the precision of the dual phrasing: "I declared" (higadti) and "I announced them" (ve-ashmi'em). In an advance notification, there are always two stages: first, the Holy One, blessed is He, informs the prophet - "Know that such and such will occur" - and then the prophet goes and announces the word of Hashem that came to him to the people. "I declared" refers to the declaration to the prophet; "and I announced them" refers to the prophet's proclamation to the nation. With the ancient miracles, however, when you stood at a high spiritual level, this extended process was unnecessary: at the very moment I told the prophet, in that same moment he went and proclaimed it, and immediately it transpired. "Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass" - the instant it was willed, that very instant it materialized.
מִדַּעְתִּי כִּי קָשֶׁה אָתָּה וְגִיד בַּרְזֶל עָרְפֶּךָ וּמִצְחֲךָ נְחוּשָׁה׃ - Because I knew that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew, and your brow is bronze.
The Holy One, blessed is He, says: All this applied to the ancient miracles, when you were firm in your faith. But today, this is no longer your reality. "Because I knew that you are obstinate" - I know that you are stubborn, that you do not easily believe. If a miracle were to come suddenly, you would not attribute it to a Higher Power; instead, you would claim: it is nature, it is chance. Even if one were to show you that it is the hand of Hashem, it would not help.
"And your neck is an iron sinew" - why is stubbornness specifically described as being "stiff-necked"? Because it describes the reality with precision. When someone tries to persuade you, saying, "Sir, the direction you are heading in is wrong; it is the opposite way," if you are open to listening, you turn your head, look to see if what was said is true, and change your course. But a stiff-necked person keeps walking and does not turn his head. People call after him from behind, warning him that he is heading the wrong way, but his neck is like an iron sinew - it cannot turn. A one-way neck. Such a person is obstinate, unwilling to alter his path: "I see nothing; I did not see a thing."
A story is told of Admiral Nelson, the famous British navy admiral about whom many tales of heroism are recounted. Once, enemy ships surrounded his fleet from all sides, and his men said to him, "We must raise the white flag, we are surrounded." Now, he was blind in one eye. He said, "Nonsense! Bring me the telescope." He took the telescope, placed it to his blind eye, looked, and declared, "I see nothing; forward!" In his case it actually worked, but that is hardly a sound method - yet there are those for whom this is their philosophy in life: turn a blind eye, charge ahead, and then sometimes, Heaven forbid, disaster strikes.
"And your forehead is bronze" - this is the next stage. If they finally force you, sit you down, and show you tangible proof, you brazenly deny it and say, "There was no miracle." This is an expression of sheer impudence and stubbornness in denying empirical reality, a forehead like bronze upon which nothing makes an impression.
There is a story about two people who were arguing. From a distance, they saw an animal perched on a branch. One said, "It is a dog." The other said, "Nonsense, it is a crow!" They argued back and forth until the second one picked up a stone and threw it at the tree. The creature spread its wings and flew away. He said to the first, "Well?" The man replied, "What can I tell you? I have never seen a flying dog in all my life!" This is the type of person who is prepared to invent the most bizarre and absurd rationalizations, so long as he never has to admit, "I was wrong."
The same occurs in secular fields of knowledge. People ask the geologists: archeologists have classified ages - the Stone Age and the rest - and it is a known principle that the deeper one digs, the older the layer is. If so, how is it that deep excavations uncover a layer that, according to your theory, belongs to a much later period? The actual layers do not match your timeline. And what do they answer? "There must have been a tectonic shift, and the lower stratum folded over the upper one." That is truly a "flying dog." Anything is possible, provided one never admits, "I made a mistake." You are shown the evidence, yet you refuse to believe.
This is what the Holy One, blessed be He, is saying: For earlier generations, I could perform an immediate miracle without advance notice, for their faith was strong and they knew that everything comes from Him, blessed be He. But "because I knew that you are obstinate" - your faith is weak; "and your neck is an iron sinew" - even when shown miracles, you refuse to turn your head and look; "and your forehead is bronze" - and if you have already seen it with your own eyes, you brazenly deny the tangible miracle.
וָאַגִּיד לְךָ מֵאָז בְּטֶרֶם תָּבוֹא הִשְׁמַעְתִּיךָ פֶּן־תֹּאמַר עָצְבִּי עָשָׂם וּפִסְלִי וְנִסְכִּי צִוָּם׃ - I declared it to you from of old; before it came to pass I announced it to you, lest you say, "My idol did them, and my carved image and my molten image commanded them."
Therefore, says the Holy One, blessed be He, I was compelled to tell you of the miracle before it occurred. And as we saw in verse 3, "to tell" (lehagid) refers to the prophet, while "to announce" (lehashmia) is to the people: I had to tell it to the prophet, and from the prophet it reached you - "before it came to pass I announced it to you." Before the event materialized, I ensured that the prophet would proclaim to you that this sign would take place tomorrow. And why? "Lest you say: My idol did them" - lest you say: "Did you see? My idol performs wonders!" To this I respond: Where is your idol? I announced it in advance; did your idol say anything? It has been silent all along. Let it foretell the future! I informed you a month in advance, and behold, you see that it came to pass.
The Malbim notes that the two halves of the verse correspond precisely: "I declared it to you from of old" corresponds to "lest you say, 'My idol did them,'" while "before it came to pass I announced it to you" corresponds to "'and my carved image and my molten image commanded them'" (niski means a molten image, a form of idolatry). The early declaration to the prophet, the moment I resolved to perform the miracle, was meant to prevent you from claiming that your idol had done it. Yet I also needed to announce and publicize it through the prophet immediately prior to the event; for otherwise - even though I had revealed it a month earlier and you could not claim the idol initiated it - you would still argue that while Hashem decreed it, it was the idol and the molten image that commanded the decree to descend into this world.
The explanation is as follows: Many idolaters actually believed in a supreme power, a God exalted above all creation; however, they believed that the entities actively managing the world were the intermediaries, the idols. Such a person would argue: "True, the original decree from a month ago was proclaimed by the prophet in the name of Hashem, and I believe that Hashem said it. But someone must channel it down here! And who channels it? The stars, the constellations, the sun, and the moon - the ministers of nature." When you need something done practically, you do not go to the prime minister; you deal with the local bureaucrat. Therefore, an early notification alone was insufficient, because the moment the event arrived, you would attribute its execution to the bureaucrat - your idol. Consequently, the Holy One, blessed be He, had to announce it again through the prophet right before the event unfolded, so that you would know: I am the One who commanded that what I had decreed should come to pass.
Thus we find two elements here: A notification far in advance, so that you would know that I know the distant future. Immediate occurrences can sometimes be predicted - "tomorrow will be like this" is something even astrologers might conjecture. But what will happen in the distant future, no man can foresee. This is also true regarding dreams: a dream that reveals what will happen in the near future can be delivered by a demon, for as the holy Zohar states, demons listen behind the heavenly curtain - once a decree is sealed and a day or two before it is executed, a proclamation goes forth, and then demons too can overhear it and tell you that tomorrow such and such will happen. Therefore, if someone dreams of an imminent event and it comes to pass, it is no proof that it was a dream brought by an angel; it is far more likely to have been delivered by a demon, for it is hard to believe that any of us in this generation have connections with angels, while connections with demons are far more plausible! But a dream that foretells what will occur five years from now, in the distant future - demons have no knowledge of such things, and that is certainly a dream brought by an angel. And this is the claim of the Holy One, blessed be He: I informed you far in advance, so you would know that this is none other than the word of Hashem, since astrology and all such forces cannot know the distant future; and I also announced it again right beforehand, lest you claim that the idol channeled the ancient decree and implemented it at that very moment.
Why did the verse duplicate the expressions for idolatry? Because there were two factions among them. There were those who believed that the idol was a god in its own right and that there was nothing else - these were the worshippers of atzabim (idols), of whom it is said, "Lest you say: My idol did them," meaning it did everything. And there were those who believed that the idol was merely an intermediary: that there is a Supreme God, but the channeling of decrees down to the lower world occurs through the power of idols - and of them it is said, "and my carved image and my molten image commanded them." Notice the precision: the first says "did them" (asam), having done everything independently; while the second, who believes in God but views the idol as the executive agent, says "commanded them" (tzivam) - the idol commanded that what Hashem spoke should come into being, giving the order for it to descend into the physical world. And in order to refute both claims at once, the Holy One, blessed be He, gave an advance notification from long ago, and then announced it once more just before it transpired.
שָׁמַעְתָּ חֲזֵה כֻּלָּהּ וְאַתֶּם הֲלוֹא תַגִּידוּ הִשְׁמַעְתִּיךָ חֲדָשׁוֹת מֵעַתָּה וּנְצֻרוֹת וְלֹא יְדַעְתָּם׃ - You have heard; see it all! And as for you, will you not declare it? I announce to you new things from now on, hidden things that you did not know.
The Holy One, blessed be He, says: Even though I devised a strategy to inform you of the future in advance, and thereby, as it were, refuted your claims that idolatry performed the deed - behold, I see that I accomplished nothing. "You have heard; see it all" - you heard the entire vision, the prophets announced what was to happen in advance, "and as for you, will you not declare it?" - yet you still insist on saying, "My idol has done them, and my carved image and my molten image commanded them." Even though My prophets, and not the prophets of the Baal, announce this in advance, you attribute the miracles to nature or to your idols.
Therefore, says the Holy One, blessed be He, I need another strategy through which you will believe: "I announce to you new things from now on" - I will perform new miracles, the likes of which have never been seen before. And not only that, but "and hidden things" - things kept and guarded in My heart, of which even the prophet had no knowledge, which I did not reveal even to him, so that you did not know them before their arrival.
עַתָּה נִבְרְאוּ וְלֹא מֵאָז וְלִפְנֵי־יוֹם וְלֹא שְׁמַעְתָּם פֶּן־תֹּאמַר הִנֵּה יְדַעְתִּין׃ - Now they are created, and not from long ago; before this day you did not hear of them, lest you say: Behold, I knew them.
Here the Malbim presents a major principle: none of the miracles performed by the Holy One, blessed be He, in the past involved creation ex nihilo (yesh me'ayin); rather, all were in the realm of something from something (yesh miyesh). The Holy One, blessed be He, transforms one form into another: there is a staff - an existing formed entity - and the staff turns into a serpent; there is water - and it turns into blood; there is a sea whose nature is liquid - and Hashem turns it into an upright wall; the sun moves in a certain direction - and the Holy One, blessed be He, moves it in the opposite direction. There is no new creation here, no creation ex nihilo, but rather an existing thing that was transformed into another thing, a change within nature.
If so, what was unique about those signs and wonders? It was that the prophet announced in advance that this was going to happen. The prophet says: Know that on this day and at this hour, such-and-such will occur. The wisdom here lies in specifying the exact time, which is why Moshe told Pharaoh, "Glory over me; for when shall I plead for you?" There is something supernatural here, yet it remains within nature, and its uniqueness lies in setting the exact time - through this, it is evident that a Master of power is at work here.
However, there is the concept of creation: the making of a new thing that never existed in the world, ex nihilo. All the miracles that were ever performed had already been created during the six days of Creation, to the point that Chazal said that the mouth of the donkey and the mouth of the well were already created then - because the Holy One, blessed be He, does not make a new thing, but rather operates within nature. But when Hashem creates something truly new, even the diviners, sorcerers, and all believers in idolatry, in Baal and in the stars, would never dream of claiming that it came from the power of their idol. Why? Because even they admit that the stars and constellations can only bring forth what already exists, only what is part of creation, and cannot create something new - for the stars and constellations themselves are natural heavenly bodies, subject to the laws of nature. Thus, even according to their own view, something seen to be created ex nihilo certainly does not stem from the power of idols.
This is the meaning of "Now they are created, and not from long ago" - everyone will know that the thing was created right now, and it could not have existed since antiquity, for it is a new creation. And since the event is wondrous in and of itself, there is no need to announce it in advance. For the entire need for prior announcement applied to a miracle within nature, where the advance announcement is the miracle itself: "See, I foresaw this; I knew the exact second it would happen." But in a brand new creation, the very sight of it inspires awe, even without prior announcement.
"Before this day you did not hear of them" - therefore these matters are guarded and kept with Me, and I will not reveal them even to the prophet, for there is no need for the prophet to announce them to the people. "Lest you say: Behold, I knew them" - lest you say: Behold, I already knew; it was already stated that such a thing would occur, so the novelty is not so great, and I am not amazed. But when something happens suddenly without being foretold, the wonder is far greater. Therefore, what I will now create ex nihilo I will not reveal even to the prophet, so that you do not feel as though you already recognized, heard, or saw it.
גַּם לֹא־שָׁמַעְתָּ גַּם לֹא יָדַעְתָּ גַּם מֵאָז לֹא־פִתְּחָה אָזְנֶךָ כִּי יָדַעְתִּי בָּגוֹד תִּבְגּוֹד וּפֹשֵׁעַ מִבֶּטֶן קֹרָא לָךְ׃ - You have neither heard, nor have you known; nor was your ear opened from of old; for I knew that you would deal very treacherously, and you were called a transgressor from the womb.
The Holy One, blessed be He, says: Yet I know what all these measures will accomplish. "You have neither heard" - even though you did not hear of the miracle in advance, for I wish to create ex nihilo; "nor have you known" - nor could you have attained knowledge that such a thing was destined to occur, since creation ex nihilo cannot be perceived by the senses and cannot be known at all; and despite all this, "nor was your ear opened from of old" - it will not avail to open your blocked ears. You do not wish to listen, you do not wish to hear, and your foolishness and lack of knowledge stem from the fact that you do not want to believe, and consequently your ear will not be opened.
And why? "For I knew that you would deal very treacherously" - I know that your lack of faith does not stem from ignorance or from doubt as to whether Hashem created the world. For had that been so, why would these miracles, which are absolute creation, not suffice to convince you? Rather, there is no lack of conviction here: it is clear to you that the matter is from Hashem, yet you betray Him willfully. And one who does so willfully, what is it fitting to call him? "And you were called a transgressor from the womb" - as though the nature of transgression were in you since you were an embryo; the nature of rebelling against the word of Hashem has been planted in you from birth and pregnancy. If so, what will it accomplish even if I create a new creation for you? You will persist in claiming that you see nothing, that you do not understand, that you are not convinced. What point is there in overturning the order of nature for one whose ear has not opened and does not listen, one who will deal treacherously and is a transgressor from the womb?
The Malbim explains the distinction between betrayal (begidah) and willful transgression (pesha): Betrayal occurs between equals - two companions who forged a covenant between them, or a husband and wife who forged a covenant, and when one of them strays, he is called a traitor. Transgression, by contrast, is of a servant against his master. Therefore, the deceit in denying wonders is called betrayal - for there is, so to speak, a covenant between us; I show you a wondrous thing and you do not accept it, so you betray the covenant between you and Hashem. And the fact that one rebels against the Holy One, blessed be He, like a servant against his master - this the verse calls transgression.
The chapter opens with sharp rebuke: you are the house of Yaakov who are called by the name of Yisrael and have come forth from the waters of Yehudah, yet you swear by the name of Hashem and mention the God of Yisrael - not in truth nor in righteousness, and such an oath is nothing but a disgrace. From there, the prophet turns to the Malbim's profound principle regarding miracles: in generations that were worthy, miracles occurred suddenly without prior notice, since their purpose was to resolve distress; whereas for an unworthy generation, where the sole purpose of the miracle is to strengthen faith, the Holy One, blessed be He, had to announce it in advance - at times long before, so they would know it is not nature, and at times shortly before the event, so they would not attribute its performance to an idol. And when even this did not help, Hashem promises "new things and hidden things," a new creation ex nihilo over which idolatry cannot claim ownership and which requires no advance notification at all. The prophet concludes with a painful diagnosis: stubbornness is not a lack of knowledge but betrayal and rebellion, "your neck is an iron sinew and your forehead brass" - and for one who refuses to see, a miracle is ineffective. Even so, Scripture continues: "For My name's sake I will defer My anger, and for My praise I will restrain Myself for you, so as not to cut you off."