The chapter before us is one of Jeremiah's prophecies of consolation. In the section we are studying here, the prophet portrays the nation's condition as that of a terminally ill patient given up on by all the doctors - and precisely from that low point, the Holy One, Blessed be He, promises a complete recovery, retribution upon the strike-bearers, the rebuilding of the city and the Temple, and kingship arising from within the people. Let us follow the order of the verses and examine how the Malbim, Radak, and Rashi explain them.
"Yet of you I will not make a full end" - Suffering, yes; destruction, no
כִּי אִתְּךָ אֲנִי נְאֻם ה' לְהוֹשִׁיעֶךָ, כִּי אֶעֱשֶׂה כָלָה בְּכָל הַגּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר הֲפִצוֹתִיךָ שָּׁם, אַךְ אֹתְךָ לֹא אֶעֱשֶׂה כָלָה, וְיִסַּרְתִּיךָ לַמִּשְׁפָּט וְנַקֵּה לֹא אֲנַקֶּךָּ. - "For I am with you, says Hashem, to save you; for I will make a full end of all the nations where I have scattered you, yet of you I will not make a full end, but I will chastise you with justice, and I will not utterly destroy you."
The Holy One, Blessed be He, says: I will save you, and your fate will not be like the fate of the other nations. As we previously explained, the people of Israel were afraid that perhaps during the calamity now befalling Babylon, we too would be harmed, for whenever wars break out between enemies, Israel is caught in the middle and ends up suffering. To this, the prophet comes and says: You have nothing to worry about. "I will make a full end of all the nations" - the wars are not coming for you; they are coming to destroy the nations: the Chaldeans, Assyria, those very places to which you were exiled. And if all those who pose a threat to you are destroyed, who will terrify you? That is the meaning of "with none to make them afraid."
Notice the precise wording: "Yet of you I will not make a full end." It does not say "you will not endure suffering," but rather "I will not make a full end." This implies that suffering will indeed occur, and the verse immediately continues: "And I will chastise you with justice." There will be no annihilation, but there will be chastisement. This is just as it is written in Amos: "You alone have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will visit upon you all your iniquities." The Gemara asks: Is it because "I have known you" that I will visit upon you your iniquities? "I have known" is an expression of deep connection and love, as in "And Adam knew Eve his wife." Does love warrant punishment? Yes.
To what can this be compared? Someone tells you that there are several children downstairs causing trouble, breaking things, and wreaking havoc. You go down and see your own little "gem" among them. Whom do you discipline? Whom might you even slap on the wrist? Your own child. He cries out: "Abba, there are ten other kids here, and specifically to me, your own son, you give a slap?" And the answer is: "Precisely because you are my son." The others can do whatever they want; if they grow up ill-mannered or delinquent, that is their father's problem. Each has his own father. To the nations of the world, the Holy One, Blessed be He, does not relate as a father; but to Israel He is a Father - "Israel is My firstborn son." And because Hashem loves us, when we stray from the path, the Father straightens out His children. The entire redemption and the entire future depend on us, the people of Israel, and therefore: "I will visit upon you."
"And I will not leave you unpunished [venakeh lo anakka]" - Radak explains that this is an expression of excision and clearing away, as in "and being emptied [veniketah], she shall sit on the ground" and "for everyone who steals shall be cleared away [nikah]." That is: I will not sweep you clean from the world. When someone is cut off, the world is, as it were, "clean" of him. Even today, Hebrew uses the idiom "he emerged clean of his assets," meaning stripped of all his possessions. Here too: "venakeh lo anakka" means I will not wipe you out. This is also how the Targum translates it: "And I will not utterly destroy you" - I will not bring complete destruction upon you.
The Incurable Wound: "None Pleads Your Cause for a Cure"
כִּי כֹה אָמַר ה' אָנוּשׁ לְשִׁבְרֵךְ, נַחְלָה מַכָּתֵךְ. אֵין דָּן דִּינֵךְ לְמָזוֹר, רְפֻאוֹת תְּעָלָה אֵין לָךְ. - "For so said Hashem: Incurable is your breach, severe is your wound. None pleads your cause for a cure; there are no healing remedies for you."
"Incurable is your breach" - this refers to the external affliction, a fatal blow. "Severe is your wound" - this is the internal disease, which is also an extremely grave illness. Such a dire condition calls for extraordinary, specialized healing measures to overcome it. Yet the prophet comes and says: "None pleads your cause for a cure" - there is not a single person who believes you have any prospect of salvation. In short, the doctors are in unanimous agreement that it is time to prepare the funeral notices and loudspeakers. No one sees any chance of recovery for you.
What is a "mazor"? As we have noted several times, mazor means a remedy or bandage, named after the practice of sprinkling medicinal herbs (zoresh samanim) over a wound. From this stems the Rabbinic prohibition regarding medical remedies on Shabbat - taking medication is restricted out of concern for grinding herbs (shechikat samanim), lest one come to grind medicinal substances to place on the wound and violate the Torah prohibition of grinding (tochein). At any rate, mazor refers to the medicinal powders sprinkled over a wound, and "none pleads your cause for a cure" means there is no one who assesses your condition as having any possibility of healing.
And what is "refo'ot te'alah" (healing remedies)? Radak explains that te'alah means healing, and the verse is repeating the same idea in different words. Rashi explains that "te'alah" means effective or beneficial (mo'ilah) - no one contends that any remedy will avail you. But the Malbim explains that "te'alah" derives from the word for a water channel (te'alah). When describing a person in full health, Scripture says that his bones "shall flourish like grass"; they possess vitality and moisture. The opposite occurs when the bones dry out, as in the vision of the dry bones, or as in "his bones dried up," which signifies a person in decline. When the bones are moist and healthy, a channel flows there: the nourishment of the bones and the deep-rooted moisture that flows like a water channel, through which "his flesh becomes fresher than a child's, he returns to the days of his youth," as the Malbim phrases it based on Iyov. By virtue of healthy bones and proper internal flow, the flesh itself is restored and healed.
According to this, the Malbim explains: "None pleads your cause for a wound to heal" - because "you have no healing medicines." There is no nourishment for the bones and no natural strength capable of enduring the treatment until the body's natural constitution overcomes the illness. There are situations where doctors say of a patient: he needs surgery. But why don't they operate? Because he will not survive it. The anesthesia might become his eternal sleep, or his body might not withstand the trauma of the incisions and suturing. When the body is extremely weak, the surgery itself will kill the patient. So too here: there is no restorative drink for the bones to restore them to health, and consequently, any medicine administered will not overcome the illness; rather, the diseased nature will only amplify the illness. In contrast, when the foundations are healthy, even if there is illness in the flesh, the healthy bones and their circulation will cause the flesh to heal as well.
And the moral of the parable, the Malbim explains, is that they cannot be healed by the prophets and the rebukers, because the foundations themselves - the principles of faith, fear of Heaven, and morality, which correspond to the "bones" - are lacking in them. And when there is no foundation, any medicine you administer will not heal the flesh.
"All Your Lovers Have Forgotten You"
כָּל מְאַהֲבַיִךְ שְׁכֵחוּךְ, אוֹתָךְ לֹא יִדְרֹשׁוּ, כִּי מַכַּת אוֹיֵב הִכִּיתִיךְ מוּסַר אַכְזָרִי, עַל רֹב עֲוֹנֵךְ עָצְמוּ חַטֹּאתָיִךְ. - All your lovers have forgotten you; they do not seek you out. For I have struck you with the blow of an enemy, the chastisement of a cruel one, for the greatness of your iniquity, because your sins have multiplied.
"All your lovers" - Assyria and Egypt, to whom you used to turn seeking aid, have forgotten you and do not seek you out. And why? "For I have struck you with the blow of an enemy." The Radak, as well as the Malbim, explains that since I delivered you into the hand of that bitter, impetuous, and cruel nation - the Chaldeans - your allies cannot help you, for they cannot even save themselves from the hand of the Chaldeans. They think: I myself am terrified of him, so shall I go and deliver you from his hand?
The Radak cites an additional explanation in the name of his father, which connects back to the earlier parable of the sick person. When people come to visit an invalid, it depends on his condition: if they see that he still has prospects of recovery, they visit and converse with him, for after all, he is expected to remain among the living. But when they see that a person already has one foot in the grave and is near death, false lovers abandon him, reasoning that "nothing more will come from him." True lovers and genuine friends, however, perform true lovingkindness with him: even if they receive nothing in return, they remain to tend to him in his illness until the very last moment. Yet in your case, "all your lovers have forgotten you" - both the false and the true, all of them - and judged you as one whose illness is terminal. And what is "the chastisement of a cruel one"? The Radak explains: the rebuke of a cruel person, "musar" meaning afflictions, afflictions delivered by a cruel agent - the Chaldeans and Nebuchadnezzar, who were wicked and ruthless.
The Malbim explains: "All your lovers have forgotten you; they do not seek you out" - you were like a patient of whom everyone despairs, and even when they supposedly come to visit you, they do not inquire after you at all; they are not interested in whether your condition has improved or if the illness has eased. They look at you as someone living on borrowed time, on the verge of the grave. And why? "For I have struck you with the blow of an enemy... for the greatness of your iniquity." An enemy typically seeks to kill rather than to discipline - he wants to conquer a land and slaughters everyone standing in his way; he has no interest in mere affliction. And if he is cruel, he adds severe suffering to the one he strikes. Here, both were mentioned: the blow of an enemy, which is a lethal blow, and "the chastisement of a cruel one," severe torment - even harsher than an ordinary enemy. And the reason: "For the greatness of your iniquity, because your sins have multiplied" - "greatness" (rov) in quantity, and "multiplied" (atzmu) in gravity and quality. There was both sheer volume and exceptionally grave, immense transgressions, and therefore the punishment corresponds accordingly.
"Why Do You Cry Out Over Your Wound?"
מַה תִּזְעַק עַל שִׁבְרֵךְ אָנוּשׁ מַכְאֹבֵךְ, עַל רֹב עֲוֹנֵךְ עָצְמוּ חַטֹּאתַיִךְ עָשִׂיתִי אֵלֶּה לָךְ. - Why do you cry out over your injury, that your pain is incurable? For the greatness of your iniquity, because your sins have multiplied, I have done these things to you.
First, note that the prophet shifts here to the masculine form, whereas the preceding verses were in the feminine: "None pleads your cause for a wound to heal," "All your lovers have forgotten you." The Radak notes: do not wonder at this, for we have already written several times that when addressing the Jewish people, Scripture may speak in the masculine - Yisrael - or in the feminine - Keneset Yisrael; the collective body of Israel is also referred to in the feminine.
The meaning of the passage is: Why do you cry out over your injury? A person's cry here is like a complaint against Heaven. True, you suffer a fracture, and indeed, "your pain is incurable," but it has all come about because of the greatness of your iniquity and the enormity of your sins. This injury is caused by iniquities and sins, and had you repented, the blows and afflictions would have ceased. If so, over what should you weep and cry out? Over your iniquities and your sins, because of which "I have done these things to you."
The Malbim analyzes the difference between an avon (iniquity) and a chet (sin): an avon is intentional, a distortion of the intellect, where a person turns transgression into an ideology. A chet is an unintentional mistake, or an act stemming from sheer temptation. Accordingly, the verse seemingly should have said the reverse: "for the greatness of your sins" - since large numbers typically apply to unintentional lapses, "and your iniquities have multiplied in gravity" - since intensity, malice, and willfulness belong to iniquities. Why, then, did the verse invert the terms? The Malbim explains that it comes to emphasize an even greater novelty: an avon is intrinsically severe and terrible, a willful perversion of reason, and not only that, but they also became numerous; they were not only grave but also pervasive. As for the sins, which are naturally plentiful, since a person stumbling inadvertently tends to do so frequently, in your case they also became intensified in severity: these were not minor missteps, but sins punishable by karet (spiritual excision) and judicial execution, harsh and severe transgressions.
Measure for Measure upon the Nations
לָכֵן כָּל אֹכְלַיִךְ יֵאָכֵלוּ וְכָל צָרַיִךְ כֻּלָּם בַּשְּׁבִי יֵלֵכוּ, וְהָיוּ שֹׁאסַיִךְ לִמְשִׁסָּה וְכָל בֹּזְזַיִךְ אֶתֵּן לָבַז. - Therefore all who devour you shall be devoured, and all your adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and those who despoil you shall be for spoil, and all who plunder you I will give up for plunder.
The Malbim explains: Since all the afflictions came solely on account of iniquities, it follows that once those sins have been atoned for, there is no longer any purpose in continuing to strike. The entire reason for the afflictors' existence - the nations - was to serve as "Assyria, the rod of My anger," to execute judgment upon us. Once there is no longer a need to punish us, since our deeds have been rectified, there is no reason to spare the afflictors.
And each one will receive measure for measure, according to the specific nature of what they did. Some harmed Israel physically, and some harmed them monetarily. Those who harmed them physically either killed and destroyed, or took them captive. Corresponding to those who killed, it says: "All who devour you shall be devoured" - for devouring here denotes death. Corresponding to those who oppressed and took captive: "And all your adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity." Those who harmed them monetarily are divided into two categories: there were those who seized property to possess it, and those whose sole objective was wanton destruction, without even deriving any benefit. Corresponding to the destroyers: "And those who despoil you shall be for spoil," for the term shoses always denotes destruction; and corresponding to those who looted for their own gain: "And all who plunder you I will give up for plunder" - those who sought booty will themselves be plundered. The Malbim emphasizes that sho'asayich derives from shisah and meshissah (the root shin-samech-samech), defined as someone whose primary goal is destruction: he may have initially looted, but if anything remains, he makes sure that nothing is left behind, destroying the rest. This is the definition of a shoses, as opposed to a bozez (plunderer), whose entire desire is merely to take.
"For I will restore health to you" - And Why the Nations Will Be Punished
כִּי אַעֲלֶה אֲרֻכָה לָךְ וּמִמַּכּוֹתַיִךְ אֶרְפָּאֵךְ נְאֻם ה', כִּי נִדָּחָה קָרְאוּ לָךְ צִיּוֹן הִיא דֹּרֵשׁ אֵין לָהּ. - For I will restore health to you and heal you of your wounds, says Hashem, because they called you an outcast: "She is Zion, no one seeks her out."
Here the reason is given for "all who devour you shall be devoured, and all your adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity": since I will bring healing to you and cure you of your wounds, there is no longer any purpose in leaving the nations that afflicted you. What purpose is there in keeping the rod when it is no longer needed?
There is a double expression here, and the Malbim explains: "I will restore health (a'aleh aruchah)" means that the fracture will heal. Why is the healing of a fracture called aruchah? Because the flesh elongates (mit'arech) and covers the site of the break, as in "and healing arose (va-ta'al aruchah) for the walls of Jerusalem" (Nechemiah 4:1). For this reason, the term aruchah is associated with growth: "And your healing (va-aruchatcha) shall spring forth speedily" (Yeshayahu 58:8) - because it refers to the extension of the flesh, as though the flesh grew anew. And "I will heal you of your wounds" means that I will heal you of your internal injuries as well. Thus, the verse addresses both the fracture and the wound.
This resolves the famous question: If the nations were carrying out Hashem's will, and Assyria is "the rod of My anger," why do they deserve punishment rather than reward? Why is this rod ultimately cast into the fire? The Malbim explains that this is the very reason stated in the verse: "Because they called you an outcast: 'She is Zion, no one seeks her out.'" They called you an "outcast," saying: Zion is cast off, Hashem has banished her forever. They forgot that we are like a son who misbehaved toward his father, and the father handed him over to someone else to discipline him so that the son would return to his father. In such a situation, a tremendous responsibility rests upon the one administering the blows not to inflict excessive punishment; otherwise, the father will be furious with him, since the father's entire intention was merely that his son should return to him. But they forgot this, saying: There is no longer anyone to seek them out, we can strike without restraint, and no one will hold us accountable. "She is Zion, no one seeks her out" - there is no one to seek Zion's welfare, to see what was done to her and take up her cause. Therefore, the nations sought to bring total destruction upon us. This aligns with the well-known verse: "I was only a little angry, but they helped to further the disaster" (Zechariah 1:15) - the nations added much of their own volition, and for this they deserve punishment, as they went far beyond what was decreed upon us.
And why does the verse use the dual expression "an outcast (nidachah)" and "no one seeks her out (doresh ein lah)"? The Malbim explains: Sometimes a sheep from the flock wanders off and strays far, yet the shepherd still goes out to search for it. But here, not only is she cast out and wandering, but no one seeks her; the shepherd does not even go out to look for her. She is not merely cast off - "no one seeks her out."
The Stages of Rebuilding: From Tent to Dwelling and to City
כֹּה אָמַר ה' הִנְנִי שָׁב שְׁבוּת אָהֳלֵי יַעֲקוֹב וּמִשְׁכְּנֹתָיו אֲרַחֵם, וְנִבְנְתָה עִיר עַל תִּלָּהּ וְאַרְמוֹן עַל מִשְׁפָּטוֹ יֵשֵׁב. - Thus says Hashem: Behold, I will restore the captivity of Jacob's tents and have compassion on his dwellings; and the city shall be built on its mound, and the palace shall stand on its proper site.
The Holy One, blessed be He, says: Tzion is not forsaken. At first it will be in the category of a tent - "Behold, I will return the captivity of the tents of Yaakov"; at the next stage they will have a permanent dwelling - "and I will have compassion on his dwelling places"; and afterward, "and the city shall be rebuilt upon its mound," meaning the entire city will be rebuilt as of old, and then the Beit HaMikdash will be built - "and the palace shall sit upon its rightful plan," meaning the king will sit in his palace in accordance with the laws of the Beit HaMikdash. And what is "upon its rightful plan" (al mishpato)? As we have already learned in Sefer Melachim, the Beit HaMikdash is not built according to standard architectural designs, but according to an exact blueprint from Hashem - "All this in writing from the hand of Hashem, which He made me understand." Therefore, it must be according to its prescribed design.
The Malbim notes the precise distinction between a tent and a dwelling place: a tent is temporary, whereas a dwelling place (mishkan) is permanent, and a tent also denotes more modest, common dwellings, the simple folk. Therefore, it says "Behold, I will return the captivity of the tents of Yaakov" - referring to those from whom Hashem was distant, the common folk, and the simple return of people to their homes. In contrast, there are places where the Shechinah rests, and regarding them it is said, "and I will have compassion on his dwelling places" - that the Holy One, blessed be He, will restore His Shechinah to its place, to the site of the Mikdash. And why does it say "I will have compassion" (arachem) here, rather than "I will return" (ashiv)? Because these places retain their holiness and high stature even in desolation, and they require only compassion; the language of returning cannot be applied to them, for as it were, the Holy One, blessed be He, is still there. In contrast, the tents of Yaakov, which lack intrinsic sanctity, must be returned, for as it were, nothing remained of them. And corresponding to "Behold, I will return the captivity of the tents of Yaakov," it says "and the city shall be rebuilt upon its mound" - in place of tents there will be a city; and corresponding to "and I will have compassion on his dwelling places," which is the site where the Shechinah rests, it says "and the palace shall sit upon its rightful plan," with all the laws governing the building of the Beit HaMikdash.
וְיָצָא מֵהֶם תּוֹדָה וְקוֹל מְשַׂחֲקִים, וְהִרְבִּתִים וְלֹא יִמְעָטוּ וְהִכְבַּדְתִּים וְלֹא יִצְעָרוּ. - And from them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of those who make merry; and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; and I will honor them, and they shall not be diminished.
"And from them shall proceed thanksgiving" - gratitude for the miracles performed on their behalf. "And the voice of those who make merry" - from the abundance of goodness that the Holy One, blessed be He, will bestow upon them, there will be the sound of laughter, and laughter signifies joy. "And I will multiply them, and they shall not be few" - a quantitative increase, among a multitude of people, so that they will not be few in number, but a populous nation. "And I will honor them, and they shall not be diminished" - many explain hichbadtim in the sense of increase, but this is difficult to understand, as it would be redundant with "and I will multiply them." Rather, the intention is honor and high office, that they will possess authority. And yitz'aru is an expression of diminution, not in quantity, but in quality, as in "though your beginning was small (mitz'ar)" - that they will not be humiliated or bereft of honor, but their stature will increase.
וְהָיוּ בָנָיו כְּקֶדֶם וַעֲדָתוֹ לְפָנַי תִּכּוֹן, וּפָקַדְתִּי עַל כָּל לֹחֲצָיו. - And his children shall be as of old, and his congregation shall be established before Me, and I will punish all that oppress them.
"And his children shall be as of old" - that they will be children of the Living God. "And his congregation" - the community as a whole and the Sanhedrin, "shall be established before Me," meaning that I will dwell among them. And it will no longer be as before, when they abandoned Hashem and He delivered them into the hands of the nations; rather, "and I will punish all that oppress them" - whoever oppresses Israel, the Holy One, blessed be He, will exact retribution from him.
"Their Noble Leader Shall Be from Themselves" - A Leader from Within the People
וְהָיָה אַדִּירוֹ מִמֶּנּוּ וּמֹשְׁלוֹ מִקִּרְבּוֹ יֵצֵא, וְהִקְרַבְתִּיו וְנִגַּשׁ אֵלָי, כִּי מִי הוּא זֶה עָרַב אֶת לִבּוֹ לָגֶשֶׁת אֵלַי נְאֻם ה'. - And their noble leader shall be from themselves, and their ruler shall proceed from their midst; and I will bring him near, and he shall approach Me; for who is this who has pledged his heart to approach Me? says Hashem.
Today, even if we have a prime minister and a government, we all know how independent this government truly is; he who pays the piper calls the tune, and Uncle Sam is the one who decides whether a balcony can be extended here or not, where we build, how we build, and what we do. We are still subordinate to the nations, and our noble leader is not from ourselves. But at the time of the Redemption - "and their noble leader shall be from themselves," the noble ruler will be from within the people and not a foreigner; unlike during the Second Temple era, when the rulers were from the surrounding nations who held dominion over us.
"And their ruler shall proceed from their midst" - the Malbim explains: by the choice of the people. Interestingly, perhaps the Malbim is prophesying democracy here. But the straightforward meaning is that the ruler will find favor with the people, that the people will truly want this ruler. "And I will bring him near" - I will bring him close so that he will be among those intimate with Hashem who stand in His sanctuary, as it is said, "Fortunate is the one You choose and bring near, he shall dwell in Your courtyards; we shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, Your holy sanctuary," which is recited at a brit milah; and as in "to bring you near to Himself," when the Holy One, blessed be He, set apart the tribe of Levi from the congregation of Israel. Everything will be in accordance with the will of Hashem, Who will choose an exceptional individual from all of Israel, bring him near, and make him a ruler - like the tribe of Levi, the seed of Aharon, and the Davidic dynasty, where the Holy One, blessed be He, brought a person close to Him to be the leader. And through My bringing him near to Me - in that manner he will approach Me.
"For who is this who has pledged his heart to approach Me?" - who would dare pledge his heart to approach Me without My having brought him near, against My will? An example of this is Uziyahu, who approached to burn incense in the Beit HaMikdash, and instantly tzara'at broke out on his forehead. One who approaches against the will of Hashem - God forbid, his punishment is immediate. And it is written that during the Second Temple period they would replace the High Priests every year, and they never needed to dismiss them: on Yom Kippur, they would lead him into the Holy of Holies with a chain and pull him out, because he would not survive. So too happened with Korach, who dared pledge his heart to approach Hashem, and we saw what his fate was; and to distinguish a thousandfold, Nadav and Avihu, who dared pledge their hearts to approach and offer strange fire that He had not commanded. Hashem says: "And I will bring him near, and he shall approach Me" - only one whom I bring near may approach Me.
Rashi, on the other hand, interprets "who has pledged his heart to approach Me" as referring to the nations: during the Second Temple period, whenever Israel wished to appoint a ruler of their own, the nations would intervene and appoint a puppet of their own making to do their bidding, and often Israel would rebel against them, as did Tzidkiyahu and others. Regarding this, the Holy One, blessed be He, says: at that time, their noble leader will be from themselves and their ruler will proceed from their midst; and lest you say that the nations will prevent it - "for who is this who has pledged his heart to approach Me," who would dare presume to overturn an appointment that I have made, and who would approach Me in battle to protest My hand, as it were?
וִהְיִיתֶם לִי לְעָם וְאָנֹכִי אֶהְיֶה לָכֶם לֵאלֹהִים. - And you shall be My people, and I will be your God.
First, the nation as a whole will become My people through their good deeds, and through that, I will become their God. That is, it will begin with an awakening from below (an itaruta deletata), from us, and then an awakening from Above (an itaruta dele'ila) will be aroused in response - "and I will be your God."
The Great Day of Judgment
הִנֵּה סַעֲרַת ה' חֵמָה יָצְאָה סַעַר מִתְגּוֹרֵר, עַל רֹאשׁ רְשָׁעִים יָחוּל. - Behold, the storm of the Lord, fury has gone forth, a lingering tempest; it shall alight upon the head of the wicked.
All this will take place at first, before the complete rectification arrives. But the day of the Lord is yet to come, which is the great Day of Judgment, and then, at the final rectification, "the storm of the Lord, fury has gone forth": the wrath held back, as it were, in the heart of the Holy One, blessed be He, over the deeds of the wicked will turn into a storm. "A lingering tempest" (sa'ar mitgorer) - just as in our language today, mitgorer means dwelling and residing, from the phrase "the land of his dwelling" (eretz megurai); this storm will, as it were, reside upon the head of the wicked to punish them.
לֹא יָשׁוּב חֲרוֹן אַף ה' עַד עֲשֹׂתוֹ וְעַד הֲקִימוֹ מְזִמּוֹת לִבּוֹ, בְּאַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים תִּתְבּוֹנְנוּ בָהּ. - The fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back until He has executed and fulfilled the designs of His heart; in the end of days you will understand it.
The fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back until He executes the designs of His heart and brings judgment upon the wicked, as it is written: "For behold, the day comes, burning like an oven... and all the arrogant and every doer of wickedness shall be straw." And this will take place in the end of days, at which time "you will understand it" and recognize that this is the hand of the Lord and the work of the Lord.
Notice: at that time, the sequence will not follow what was stated earlier, "And you shall be My people, and I will be your God," where you begin and I follow after you. For it is said: "At that time, says the Lord, I will be God to all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people" - in the future to come, first I will be God to them, and only afterward will they be My people. God's cleaving to them is, in the words of the Malbim, the kindness that does not look at the recipient's preparation, whether he is worthy of it or not. This is God's chesed on the highest plane, which does not examine whether you are worthy or whether your preparation warrants that kindness; a chesed that endures forever, in the aspect of the Providence of Unification (Hanhagat HaYichud), which is boundless giving and lovingkindness, even beyond standard rules and beyond the rules of strict justice. Then, the resting of the Shechinah will begin, as it were, from Him, and by virtue of Hashem cleaving to them - "and they shall be My people." And this is a higher level than the previous one: earlier, an awakening from below was required, whereas in the future to come, everything will begin with an awakening from Above.
In summary:
In this chapter, the Holy One, blessed be He, promises that He will bring an end to the nations, but not to us: suffering, yes; annihilation, no, for "Only you have I known" - when someone is a son, his father chastises him. The prophet depicts Israel as a terminally ill patient with no cure, because the foundations of faith have been damaged - which are the "bones" from which all healing is drawn - and all his lovers have abandoned him. Yet precisely from there comes the promise: the iniquities are atoned for, and with their atonement there is no longer a need for the rod; the nations who dealt out excessive blows and said, "Zion is an outcast, no one seeks her," will be punished measure for measure. And then, "I will restore health to you": a return from tent to permanent dwelling, the rebuilding of the city and the palace upon its rightful place, increase, honor, and authority, the Sanhedrin and the Shechinah in our midst, and a ruler from among the people whom the Holy One, blessed be He, Himself brings near. And finally, the great Day of Judgment for the wicked, and a new level in the covenant: no longer "And you shall be My people" first, but "I will be God to all the families of Israel" - a kindness that does not look at the recipient's preparation, and from within it, we will become His people.