Introduction
In this section of the chapter, the prophet describes the stages of the future redemption: from the initial herald ascending the mountain peaks, through the revelation of the kingdom of Heaven before the eyes of all the nations, the departure from the land of impurity, to the elevation of the Jewish people from the lowest degradation to the greatest grandeur. We will follow the order of the verses and examine the explanations of the Malbim, alongside the insights of Rashi, Radak, and Ibn Ezra.
The Feet of the Herald - The Stages of Good Tidings
מַה־נָּאווּ עַל־הֶהָרִים רַגְלֵי מְבַשֵּׂר מַשְׁמִיעַ שָׁלוֹם מְבַשֵּׂר טוֹב מַשְׁמִיעַ יְשׁוּעָה אֹמֵר לְצִיּוֹן מָלַךְ אֱלֹהָיִךְ׃ - How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the herald, who announces peace, who brings tidings of good, who announces salvation, saying to Zion, "Your God reigns!"
"Na'avu" - Radak explains - comes from the root avah, an expression denoting something that one yearns for, something beautiful, as in "Your cheeks are lovely with plaits." The verse speaks metaphorically, like "How beautiful are your footsteps in sandals": how lovely and beautiful are the feet of the herald who will ascend the mountains to proclaim and bring tidings of peace, to herald salvation, and to say to Zion that your God has reigned. As it were, how eagerly we wait and yearn - how pleasant will be the feet of the herald who comes to proclaim that now the Holy One, blessed be He, reigns over the Jewish people. For until that moment, Radak notes, His blessed sovereignty was neither seen nor apparent. Even though Hashem reigns and Hashem will reign forever, His kingship is not openly manifest. But then, "saying to Zion, 'Your God reigns,'" everyone will know, see, and recognize Hashem, and the kingdom will be Hashem's in full revelation.
The Malbim analyzes the precise order of the phrases in the verse, identifying four stages. The herald climbs upon the mountain peaks, as it is written, "Ascend a high mountain, herald of Zion." Initially, he announces peace - for the very first thing we anticipate is that wars will cease and that the persecution of the Jewish people, from without and within, will stop. Yet peace merely signifies that no one is harming you or disturbing you. The next stage is brings tidings of good - referring to the Davidic kingdom and the rebuilding of the Beit HaMikdash. After this comes announces salvation - the ingathering of the exiles, when all the dispersed of Israel will be gathered to Jerusalem and Eretz Yisrael. And finally, saying to Zion, "Your God reigns" - that the kingdom of Heaven will be revealed throughout the entire world, and His Name will become manifest among all the nations.
The Voice of Your Watchmen - Who Are the Watchmen?
קוֹל צֹפַיִךְ נָשְׂאוּ קוֹל יַחְדָּו יְרַנֵּנוּ כִּי עַיִן בְּעַיִן יִרְאוּ בְּשׁוּב יְהֹוָה צִיּוֹן׃ - The voice of your watchmen! They raise their voice, together they sing for joy; for eye to eye they shall see when Hashem returns to Zion.
Who are the watchmen? The prophet is called a watchman (tzofeh), as in "I have made you a watchman," because a prophet foresees the future. "They raise their voice" is always an expression of joy: they will sing and shout with joy, for they see in prophetic vision that the Holy One, blessed be He, is revealing Himself. And then "for eye to eye they shall see" - just as at the Giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai the spirit of prophecy rested upon all of us, so too we will merit that all of us will see eye to eye, and the Divine glory will be clearly perceived. And Targum Onkelos translates "your watchmen" as your leaders - the shepherds who sustain the Jewish people - who will all rejoice to see Hashem's return to Zion.
The Malbim explains that this verse is a continuation and elaboration of the previous verse. We have seen that there will be a herald announcing the redemption and salvation, standing atop the mountain. The watchman, by contrast, stands upon the tower and gazes toward the other side. The moment the herald calls out to him that the redemption has arrived and that the Holy One, blessed be He, reigns, the watchman opens his eyes and sees eye to eye what the herald has proclaimed. Often, a person tells his companion that something is approaching, and the companion replies: "I still do not see anything." Here it will not be so. At the very moment the herald sees it, the watchman sees it immediately as well - the redemption will be instantaneous.
According to the Malbim, the heralds are the prophets who receive the message from the Creator, while the watchmen are the Jewish people - those who look forward and await the redemption. The herald announces it to the watchmen, to the Jewish people who are already eagerly waiting, and immediately "eye to eye they shall see" the salvation of Hashem. "Together they sing for joy" - both the watchman and the herald as one, for in a single instant both behold the events. And what is "eye to eye"? There is an inner eye and an outer eye: the visionary eye of the herald, who perceived this in prophecy, and the physical eye of the watchman, who now merits to witness these events unfold in reality. What the herald saw with his spiritual eye, everyone now sees with eyes of flesh, witnessing how these things are fulfilled as Hashem returns to Zion.
The Ruins of Jerusalem Burst into Song
פִּצְחוּ רַנְּנוּ יַחְדָּו חׇרְבוֹת יְרוּשָׁלָ͏ִם כִּי־נִחַם יְהֹוָה עַמּוֹ גָּאַל יְרוּשָׁלָ͏ִם׃ - Break forth into joy, sing together, ruins of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem.
The word pitzchu ("break forth") denotes opening - bursting into song, raising the voice. The Malbim explains: when the watchmen raise their voice in song together with the bearers of glad tidings, as it says, "They lift up their voice, together they sing," then even the ruins of Jerusalem will burst forth and sing along with them. That is to say, the ruins begin to awaken from their desolation and be rebuilt. Together with the herald and the watchmen, Jerusalem begins to be restored.
"For the Lord has comforted His people" - this refers to the ingathering of the exiles, and through this very act He comforts Jerusalem. Jerusalem was like a widow, solitary without her children, and what is her comfort? That her children return to her. This corresponds to what we saw earlier, "announcing salvation": behold, the time of your salvation has arrived; Hashem will save you from the hand of the enemies and resettle your children within you. Jerusalem here represents the masses of the people, the entirety of Klal Yisrael - that the exiles of the masses will be gathered into Jerusalem. For the Lord has comforted His people, and thereby He has comforted Jerusalem.
The Revealing of the Holy Arm
חָשַׂף יְהֹוָה אֶת־זְרוֹעַ קׇדְשׁוֹ לְעֵינֵי כׇּל־הַגּוֹיִם וְרָאוּ כׇּל־אַפְסֵי־אָרֶץ אֵת יְשׁוּעַת אֱלֹהֵינוּ׃ - The Lord has bared His holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.
The Radak explains that baring the holy arm expresses that the salvation will take place openly: just as the arm is exposed and revealed, so too will the salvation be open and manifest.
The Malbim explains that this verse corresponds to "Saying to Zion: Your God reigns." He has already explained that the arm (zero'a) signifies power, and there is a distinction between an arm (zero'a) and a hand (yad): the arm is the upper part, the one that moves the hand, and it represents an action that does not depend on our merits but solely on the will of the Creator, blessed be He - something more internal, directly from Him. By contrast, the hand represents what Hashem does according to the merits of the Jewish people, and it is something more overt.
Here, the Holy One, blessed be He, will bare His holy arm: open miracles "that man's merit and righteousness could never attain at all," in the words of the Malbim - not by our strength nor through our merits, but solely by the will of Hashem, blessed be He. These miracles will take place before the eyes of all the nations, and then "all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God." Everyone will witness the salvation, the kingdom of Heaven will be revealed throughout the world, and it will become clear that this is neither a coincidental salvation nor a natural one, but a deliberate salvation from Hashem: "the salvation of our God" - Hashem saves us because He is our God, and from that bond the salvation springs forth.
Depart, Depart - Purity of Body and Purity of Thought
סוּרוּ סוּרוּ צְאוּ מִשָּׁם טָמֵא אַל־תִּגָּעוּ צְאוּ מִתּוֹכָהּ הִבָּרוּ נֹשְׂאֵי כְּלֵי יְהֹוָה׃ - Depart, depart, go out from there, touch no unclean thing; go out of the midst of her, purify yourselves, you who bear the vessels of the Lord.
Here the prophet portrays the Jewish people leaving the land where idolatry is practiced. Hashem commands them to depart from there, for two reasons. The first is bodily purity: the soil itself is ritually impure, as the Sages decreed impurity upon the land of the nations (eretz ha'amim), making the lands of the nations an impure place; therefore, "touch no unclean thing," lest you touch something impure and become defiled. The second is purity of thought: you dwell among idolatrous festivals and might come to entertain idolatrous or forbidden thoughts; therefore, "go out of the midst of her, purify yourselves, you who bear the vessels of the Lord."
The Malbim notes that thought is alluded to in the expression hibaru ("purify yourselves"). The root bar consistently connotes purity of thought, as in bar leivav ("pure of heart"), and as in "with the pure You show Yourself pure" (im navar titbarar) - which all pertain to thought. More broadly, it denotes cleanliness, clarity, and purity. Hibaru means purify yourselves in your thought. And why? "You who bear the vessels of the Lord" - you who carry the Name of Hashem and make His Name known throughout the world, it is unfitting for you to harbor improper thoughts; rather, you must remain on an elevated level of holiness.
Neither in Haste nor in Flight
כִּי לֹא בְחִפָּזוֹן תֵּצֵאוּ וּבִמְנוּסָה לֹא תֵלֵכוּן כִּי־הֹלֵךְ לִפְנֵיכֶם יְהֹוָה וּמְאַסִּפְכֶם אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ - For you shall not go out in haste, nor go in flight; for Hashem goes before you, and the God of Israel is your rear guard.
On this verse, there is a wonderful explanation from the Malbim, preceded by the Vilna Gaon (the Gra), both explaining according to the precision of the Holy Tongue and arriving at the same essential point. There are four distinctions here that require careful attention: between "haste" (chipazon) and "flight" (menusa); between "go out" (teitzei'u) and "go" (teleichun); between "goes before you" (holech lifneichem) and "your rear guard" (me'asifchem); and between the Divine Name "Hashem" and "the God of Israel."
The difference between haste and flight: A person is always in haste toward something - he urgently needs to attain something somewhere else, and so he hurries. Flight, by contrast, is always from something - someone is in pursuit and one flees from him. People do not say, "I am fleeing to a shiur" (though there are those who do flee to a shiur, escaping the chaos at home, which is also a wonderful thing!), for fleeing is always escaping from something, while hurrying is always toward something.
At the Exodus from Egypt, both expressions applied. "For in haste you departed from the land of Egypt" - we hurried toward the Giving of the Torah, toward the Divine revelation at Mount Sinai, toward the wedding day. Yet after setting out on the way, it says "and Israel fled" before Egypt, for the Egyptians were pursuing the Children of Israel, and they were then in a state of flight.
The prophet declares: In the future, this will not be the case. "For you shall not go out in haste" - and why? The reason appears at the end of the verse: "for Hashem goes before you." Toward whom do you need to hurry? In Egypt, Hashem awaited us at Mount Sinai, so we rushed toward Him before our dough had time to leaven. But here, Hashem Himself goes before you, and you do not need to journey after Him all the way to the mountain of God - He is already right here. Therefore, the departure itself will not be in haste.
"Nor go in flight" - this refers to the journey following the departure. In Egypt, after we left, we fled from the enemy pursuing us. But here you will not go in flight, because you have a rear guard: "and the God of Israel is your rear guard." The rear guard for all the camps travels behind, ensuring the rear is not harmed, like an Iron Dome shielding us. Hashem goes before you and also behind you as a rear guard - if so, from whom do you have to flee?
It remains to understand the distinction between the two Divine Names, which the Malbim explains. The Name "Hashem" is used from the perspective of His governance of the entire universe - a general Name, as the One who illuminates the earth and its inhabitants and shines light upon the entire world. Therefore, the One going in front to guide us with the light of life acts in the aspect of "Hashem," for God is always first before all, this being His constant role as the God of all nations. But that He goes and serves as a rear guard at the end of the camps, to rescue you from the pursuing enemy - this is not the natural order; it stems from your unique stature and from His individual Providence (hashgachah pratit) over you, from the aspect of His being "the God of Israel," Who associates His Name specifically with you and watches over you with special protection.
"Behold, My Servant Shall Prosper" - Exalted, Raised Up, and High
הִנֵּה יַשְׂכִּיל עַבְדִּי יָרוּם וְנִשָּׂא וְגָבַהּ מְאֹד׃ - Behold, My servant shall prosper; he shall be exalted and raised up, and be very high.
Rashi explains: At the end of days, My servant Jacob will succeed, and the righteous within him will prosper.
The Malbim, in his characteristic approach, distinguishes among the three expressions reiterated in the verse. "Exalted" (ram) denotes the highest peak, the uppermost point of an object. "Raised up" (nisa) means being lifted from a low place and elevated to a high one, describing the active process - continually rising and growing greater. "High" (gavoha) describes the overall height of the object itself, in its entirety. For example, a cedar: the cedar is tall or high, meaning long - this describes the entire entity; whereas the exalted part of it is the treetop. So too with a person: we say that a young man is tall, referring to his whole stature, while the exalted point of him is the head. And if the cedar or the young man is progressively growing taller, it is said that he is being elevated (nisa).
And this is what it says here: "My servant shall deal wisely" - through wisdom and insight, the Jewish people will become great. "He shall be exalted" - referring to his peak height; "and extolled" - continually rising and growing greater; until "he shall be very high" - he will be exceedingly lofty in wisdom, knowledge, and fear of Hashem, a sublime level.
Just as Many Were Appalled at You
כַּאֲשֶׁר שָׁמְמוּ עָלֶיךָ רַבִּים כֵּן־מִשְׁחַת מֵאִישׁ מַרְאֵהוּ וְתֹאֲרוֹ מִבְּנֵי אָדָם׃ - Just as many were appalled at you, so marred was his appearance from that of a man, and his form from that of the sons of men.
"*Shamemu*" (were appalled) denotes astonishment and bewilderment - being desolate and stunned. Many were astonished at how low the Jewish people had sunk, seeing how debased and degraded they were among the nations, saying: "His appearance was so marred from that of a man" - his visage and form were more ruined and damaged than any other human being. There is a grammatical difficulty here: the verse begins in the second person, "at you" (*alecha*), and then shifts to the third person, "his appearance and his form" (*mar'ehu vetoiro*); but the Radak already noted that this is a common stylistic shift in the verses of Scripture.
The Ibn Ezra explains a wonderful point here: "his appearance was so marred from that of a man" - these are the words of the nations, who wonder at Israel and say that his appearance is more marred than that of any man, for there are many distorted minds in the world who imagine that the Jewish form is unlike any other. Goebbels based much of his propaganda on this very idea - portraying how degraded the Jewish people are, always drawing the Jew with a hooked nose, strange and grotesque. The Ibn Ezra adds: some among them ask whether a Jew even has a mouth or an eye, both in the lands of Ishmael and the lands of Edom. To such an extent was a demonic, monstrous image of the Jew manufactured. Today, mass media exists and everyone knows a Jew looks like any other human being, but in those days they had never seen one, having only heard about the "horrors" of the Jew - how troublesome and dangerous a people they allegedly were - leading to the question of whether a Jew even has an ordinary face, nose, and eyes.
A story is told of a Jew who once arrived in Australia and met an elderly woman. He told her that he was Jewish. She asked: "You are a Jew? Could you take off your hat for a moment?" He took off his hat, and she began feeling his head. He asked her, "Did something happen?" She replied, "No, I had heard that Jews have a horn growing out of their forehead, and I wanted to see if it was true." This was said in all seriousness - not out of mockery, but because that was genuinely what she had heard. Having finally encountered a living Jew in the flesh, she wanted to see whether it was true, or perhaps it had been filed down or cosmetically altered. This is the meaning of "just as many were appalled at you, so marred was his appearance from that of a man" - in the perception of the nations, the Jew did not even possess human form.
The Malbim explains the structure of the verse: "*Ka'asher*" (just as) means both "at the time when" and "to the extent that." At the very time when many were appalled at you, they will be stunned to see you suddenly exalted and extolled; and in proportion to their shock at your degradation - "so marred was his appearance from that of a man" - so will be the magnitude of their amazement at the immense greatness of the Jewish people. The transformation will be so radical that the astonishment over their greatness will equal the astonishment over their former humiliation. The deeper the degradation and lowliness, the more consummate the eventual triumph.
The Malbim also differentiates between "*mar'eh*" (appearance) and "*to'ar*" (form): *mar'eh* refers to complexion or color - what does he look like, what is his hue; while *to'ar* refers to bodily contours and facial features - the shape of the cheeks, the contour of the nose, whether the nose is prominent or not, whether the ears are large or small. It is as though one draws an outline of a person with an external contour - that is his *to'ar*. When one wishes to describe the complexion of his face - that is his *mar'eh*, whether fair or dark. We find this frequently in the Torah, such as "its appearance is deeper" or "an appearance lower than the skin" in the laws of *tzara'at*. This also clarifies the phrase "*yifat to'ar vifat mar'eh*" (beautiful of form and beautiful of appearance): *to'ar* denotes the bodily features, while *mar'eh* denotes the complexion of the face or body.
The Malbim further distinguishes between "*ish*" (man/individual entity) and "*bnei adam*" (human beings): *ish* shares a root with *yesh* (existence) and encompasses every entity and living creature - Scripture even uses the term *ish* regarding animals; whereas *bnei adam* refers specifically to the human species. Accordingly: "so marred from an *ish* was his appearance" - in terms of complexion, he was degraded even lower than animals, some of which possess striking colors; "and his form from that of the sons of men" - his bodily form was worse than that of human beings, not even possessing a human shape. All of this describes how degraded the Jew appeared in their eyes.
He Shall Sprinkle Many Nations - The Shock of Exaltation
כֵּן יַזֶּה גּוֹיִם רַבִּים עָלָיו יִקְפְּצוּ מְלָכִים פִּיהֶם כִּי אֲשֶׁר לֹא־סֻפַּר לָהֶם רָאוּ וַאֲשֶׁר לֹא־שָׁמְעוּ הִתְבּוֹנָנוּ׃ - So shall he sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which had not been told them they shall see, and that which they had not heard they shall perceive.
The Radak explains that "*yazeh*" (shall sprinkle) is related to speech, similar to "*yatif*" (shall drop/preach), which conveys sprinkling. A "preacher at the gate" speaks and offers rebuke, yet *lehatif* is also used for liquids - demonstrating that the same expression used for fluids is used for speech. Therefore, "so shall he sprinkle many nations" means he will speak to many nations. Those who were once bewildered by his degradation will now be astonished by his greatness: how is it that we did not know him at all, yet suddenly he speaks, suddenly he leads others, and suddenly qualities and powers never imagined are revealed in him?
"Kings shall shut their mouths at him" - even kings will feel awe and reverence before him, as it is written, "And nations shall see your righteousness, and all kings your glory." For if an inferior person honors me, there is no great distinction in that; but if a king honors me - that already demonstrates true power.
Radak makes a very interesting observation, noting that the root of *kefitzah* expresses two opposite meanings. On the one hand, leaping or stretching open, as in "leaping upon the hills" (*mekapetz al hageva'ot*), where one stretches his legs wide apart. On the other hand, *kefitzah* denotes closure, as in "shutting his mouth" (*kafitz piyo*) or "clenching his hand" (*kofetz et yado*). Both meanings can be applied here: either the kings will open their mouths wide to recount the greatness of the Jewish people; or, conversely, words will fail them, they will shut their mouths, having nothing to say about the greatness of this nation, whom they had previously seen as "so marred beyond human semblance," and now suddenly he is exalted and elevated. The king sees this, puts a hand to his mouth, and is left speechless.
"For that which had not been told them they shall see" - often, someone is told about something, and when he arrives and sees it, he says: Sure, it is fine, but he exaggerated a bit, it is not quite that extraordinary - and he is not nearly as impressed as the storyteller was. Here, however, it will be the exact opposite: they will realize that whatever they were told was negligible compared to reality. They will witness the greatness of Israel with an intensity far beyond anything ever recounted to them, and "that which they had not heard they shall perceive" - when they contemplate it, they will behold immense grandeur, far greater than anything they had heard or been told beforehand.
The Malbim explains a profound principle here. An "impossibility" is of two kinds: there is that which is impossible in reality, and that which is impossible in thought. Something impossible in thought is like a square circle - try to conceive of a square circle, or a black color that is white; the concept simply cannot exist, as it is an inherent contradiction. By contrast, something impossible in reality is like a person spreading wings and flying through the sky - in reality it is impossible (and those who tried did not end well), but in thought one can certainly imagine a flying man, for there is no logical contradiction: after all, birds fly, and theoretically a human being could have flown as well. Thus, something that contradicts logic is utterly impossible, whereas something that contradicts physical reality cannot happen in practice, but is entirely conceivable in thought.
Accordingly, the astonishment they will feel at Israel's success was previously considered by them to be impossible in reality, for there had never been a reality where such a downtrodden nation became exalted and elevated. This is "that which had not been told them they shall see" - what had never been told to them as having actually occurred in reality, they now witness with their own senses. It is truly unbelievable: we have never seen such a degraded nation rise and become so elevated; and although it does not contradict logic and can be conceived in thought, in actual history such a thing never took place - just like a flying man. Furthermore, "and that which they had not heard they shall perceive" - what seemed to them impossible even in thought, where they could not even begin to fathom how such a despised people could ever rise, they will now contemplate and understand in their minds how it is possible. For "unheard of" means something inconceivable to thought; and now they will contemplate it and be able to grasp it even in their minds.
In summary:
The chapter outlines the stages of the Redemption in orderly progression: the herald ascending the mountains first proclaims peace; then announces good tidings - the Davidic dynasty and the rebuilding of the Temple; then proclaims salvation - the Ingathering of the Exiles; and finally, "saying to Zion: Your God reigns!" - the revelation of the Kingdom of Heaven throughout the entire world. The watchmen - the awaiting Jewish people - will see eye to eye with the herald in a single instant, and will sing together with the ruins of Jerusalem as they begin to be rebuilt. Hashem will bare His holy arm through miracles that do not depend upon our merits, before the eyes of all the nations. Israel is commanded to depart from the land of impurity, both due to the impurity of the place and for purity of thought - "purify yourselves, bearers of the vessels of Hashem." And this departure will not be in haste, for Hashem goes before them, nor in flight, for the God of Israel is their rearguard. Finally: just as immense as the shock was at Israel's lowliness in the eyes of the nations, so will be the shock at their greatness - to the point that what had never been told to them they will see with their own eyes, and what they could never even imagine, they will contemplate and understand.