What does "and you were cast out of your grave like an abhorred branch" mean? Chazal say that Nevuchadnetzar, and anyone who wishes can hear about this in our shiurim on Sefer Daniel, became an animal for seven years. During those seven years, when he was literally like a beast of the field, his nails and hair grew like eagles' talons and feathers, truly terrifying. During that period his son, Evil Merodach, seized the throne and reigned for seven years. After seven years Nevuchadnetzar's punishment ended and he returned to his kingdom, and then he was surprised to discover that someone was sitting on his throne. What did he do? He took his son and threw him into prison. Some years later, Nevuchadnetzar died. Once again Evil Merodach came out of prison, and this time they wanted to crown him, but he now refused. He told them, I am not taking any risks. Who knows, last time too we thought Father was dead, and suddenly he came back. Who knows, it is not certain, he could suddenly return, I am not taking any risks. They said to him, fine, what do you want? He told them, take him out of the grave, drag his bones, only then will I be certain that this time he is truly dead, completely and finally, he does not intend to return. And so it indeed happened, they took him out of his grave and dragged his bones. This is "and you were cast out of your grave like an abhorred branch." This disgrace that he underwent is what the prophet is expressing here.
The Malbim says: "and you" - this prophecy, says the Malbim, turned into two things that became for him a source of scorn and disgrace. First, "your grave like an abhorred branch." What is a branch (netzer)? The Malbim says: there is a kever (grave) and there is a netzer. A kever is for a person, a netzer is for an animal. In their times too they would bury animals, though there was no special cemetery for animals, but in any case they would bury the animals. The animals' burial place was called a netzer. There are additional pesukim for this, as it is written "who dwell in the graves and lodge in the netzurim" - yes, in the graves of human beings, and "netzurim" refers to the place of animal graves. So he says: you were not even allowed to lie there, but first, "your grave was like an abhorred branch," a place where they throw animals, not in the palace, you were not buried in the royal palace as they buried the kings. Second, even there they gave you no rest, but from there you were cast outside in great disgrace.
And then they clothed you in "the garment of the slain, thrust through with the sword." They clothed you in the garment worn by people who were killed by men bearing swords. "Bearers of the sword" means those who carry swords. Why? "Who go down to the stones of the pit, like a trampled corpse." The meaning is that they painted on your garment slain people stabbed with a sword, in order to recall through this the many murders you committed. Through this they wanted to express how corrupt you were, how much you killed and murdered in your great cruelty, and therefore they clothed you at that time in the garment of the slain who were killed by bearers of the sword, this is what they, as it were, painted on your garment. This too is included in what Chazal say, that they dragged him from the grave and hauled him about in disgrace.
Now he explains why I am comparing you to the honor of kings, saying: look, your honor was not like the honor of kings, for even "those who go down to the stones of the pit, like a trampled corpse," the corpses that are thrown into the pit naked, without shrouds, like a corpse that is trampled - "trampled" (muvas) is from the root of trampling, treading down, a trampled corpse that no one bothers with - even these who go down to the pit: "you shall not be joined with them in burial, because you have destroyed your land, you have slain your people, the seed of evildoers shall never be named." You are not worthy to be united with them, meaning to resemble them in burial like the rest of those who go down to the pit, you are not worthy to be buried at all, rather your flesh deserves to be given to the dogs. Why? "Because you have destroyed your land." Who will honor you after your death if you destroyed your land? And not only that, but "you have slain your people." This is the most terrible of all. Every king at least protects his own people, at least defends his own people, but you not only did not protect and defend them, but you even "slew your own people." Apparently this is like among the Arab nations, where there are all sorts of ethnic cleansings and they try to defend their government by force, and yes, like Gaddafi, Assad, "you have slain your people." "The seed of evildoers shall never be named." Therefore he says, it is fitting not only that everyone should be angry and pour out their wrath upon you after your death, but it is also fitting that "the seed of evildoers shall never be named," that is, even your seed, your children, shall never be called to the throne of office. This means, they will not have a lasting kingdom, rather their kingship is destined to be cut off, because you were so wicked, this is the punishment you deserve.
And now, says the Malbim, in the midst of these words that the prophet says about Nevuchadnetzar, the prophet becomes stirred by these words and comes and says, this is not enough, this punishment is not enough. For it is fitting: "Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers, that they do not rise and possess the land and fill the face of the world with cities." He says, it is more fitting that not only will his children have no kingdom, but that they "prepare slaughter for his children," that is, a place of slaughter, that they kill his children. Why? Because first, they deserve it "for the iniquity of their fathers," for their fathers destroyed the world, destroyed cities, destroyed lands. Furthermore, if they, the children, continue in the way of their fathers, then they too will continue the destruction. So it is necessary to ensure "that they do not rise," that these children too do not rise after their fathers and continue in Nevuchadnetzar's way. "And possess the land" - they will once again grow strong and seek how to conquer the whole world again. For they will say, our father already conquered the world, so the world is now for us merely an inheritance. What is stronger, something I am taking for the first time or something I am inheriting? Inheriting is much stronger, this came to me from my father. So this is what he says, a situation will arise where if we leave his children after him, they too will want to conquer the whole world and will say, now this is already "possess the land," this is already an inheritance for us, because our father already ruled the entire world in the past. Therefore he says "prepare slaughter for his children," it is fitting then to prepare for his children a place of slaughter. Why? So that "they fill the face of the world with cities," so that through this the face of the world will be filled with inhabited cities. For if the children continue in the ways of their fathers, then he will go and destroy the face of the world, he will not allow the world to be filled with cities. On the contrary, so that the world will be filled with cities and they will not be destroyed, it is fitting to prepare slaughter for Nevuchadnetzar's children.
There is another explanation of what "and fill the face of the world with cities" means. Rashi brings that "arim" (cities) is from the language of "arich" (your enemy). It is written that Shmuel said to Shaul that he was "the One who is your arech." What is "arech"? Your enemy. The Targum also translates it thus: "arim - ba'alei devavin" (adversaries). The meaning is that if they continue and possess the land, if Nevuchadnetzar's children inherit the land, the face of the world will be filled with enemies. That is, through this he will cause wars and conflicts throughout the entire world. Therefore it is better to "prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers," so that first they pay the price, and second so that they do not continue in the ways of their fathers and do not continue to cause harm.
"And I will rise up against them, says Hashem Tzvakot, and I will cut off from Bavel name and remnant, offspring and posterity, says Hashem." Hashem says, "and I will rise up against them," meaning I Myself will rise up against them. Not only will I cut off the house of Nevuchadnetzar, but I will also cut off from Bavel name and remnant, offspring and posterity. "Name and remnant" means I will cut off the kingdom as a whole, and not only the kingdom but also "I will make it a possession for the hedgehog and pools of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction, says Hashem Tzvakot."
Before that let us explain what "name and remnant, offspring and posterity" means. First of all, what are "nin" (offspring) and "neched" (posterity)? "Name and remnant" we understood: there will be no continuation of the kingdom, the kingdom will not remain. But what are "nin" and "neched"? On this there are two explanations. According to Targum Yonatan, "nin" is a son. "Neched" is what today is called a grandson, that is, the son's son. This is according to Rashi. This is "nin and neched," as it is written "that you will not deal falsely with me, with my nin and with my neched" - with me, with my son, and with my son's son. This is according to the Malbim's view. But according to Rashi's view, and also according to the Radak's view, "nin" is the son, and "neched" is what today is called a grandson. "And I will make it a possession for the hedgehog." The prophet is now prophesying about Bavel in general and he says it will become a possession for the hedgehog. What does "a possession for the hedgehog" mean? Hedgehogs will inherit it. What is a "kippod" (hedgehog)? The Radak says, the kippod is what is called in Arabic "kunfud." Do you know that word? Kunfud or kunpud. That is, it is what is called a hedgehog. And in the vernacular "tartug." Kunpud. What is "tartug" in the vernacular? It seems to me it may be a turtle, a tortoise? It could be. But here he says it is always found in a place of water. From this I understand that he means a frog. As if he is speaking of something that is always found in a place of water. Either way, some explain that the kippod is like today's hedgehog. A turtle, right, there is a water turtle, right. A bird, right, there is a bird called kippod, and it is included in what is written "pelican and kippod," for there it speaks of birds. There are some who wish to say that the kippod is among the creeping creatures, and some wish to say there are also creeping creatures and also birds.
"A possession for the hedgehog and pools of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction." Once I told someone that the word "broom" (mat'ate) is written in the Prophets, and he did not believe me. I told him this is a word written in Tanach, and he did not believe me. Here we have reached this word. What is "and I will sweep it" (v'tetetiha)? Do not be surprised, for indeed the Gemara says that even the Rabbanan did not know what "v'tetetiha" meant. They did not understand this word, what "to sweep" means, what "v'tetetiha" is. Until they heard the maidservant of Rebbi, who said to a certain woman, "take your broom and sweep the house." She told her, take the broom and sweep the house. From this she understood that "mat'ate" and "letate" is what today we actually call sweeping. So he says, I will sweep it with the broom of destruction, just as the broom, as it were, takes everything out and leaves nothing. "Says Hashem Tzvakot." It will remain and be a desolation forever. This we already showed in the previous chapter, we showed how this prophecy that Bavel will be a desolation forever has remained fulfilled to this day, and upon the ruins of Bavel they have not built from the days of Nevuchadnetzar until today, it has remained a desolation as the word of Hashem.
"Hashem Tzvakot has sworn, saying: surely as I have thought, so it shall be, and as I have counseled, so it shall stand." Hashem Tzvakot has sworn, "surely as I have thought, so it shall be," as I have thought so it shall be, "and as I have counseled, so it shall stand." Here the Malbim enters to explain to us in Lashon Hakodesh, the Malbim says: what is the difference between a thought (machashava) and a counsel (etza)? The Malbim says: counsel, in the case of the Holy One, blessed be He, is the ultimate purpose. The ultimate purpose means the bottom line, what you want to reach. Let us give an example. If, for instance, I want to conquer Egypt, this I would call a counsel. What would I call a thought? The tactics by which I will do it. The plan, how to carry out the purpose to which I aspire, which is, for example, the conquest of Egypt. Which army and by what means I will do it, whether through the air force or the navy or the infantry or the artillery, and so on in this manner. All this falls under the category of thought. The thought is essentially the way to reach the ultimate purpose. What is the purpose? The conquest of Egypt. What is the thought? This is called counsel. Counsel is what we want. In contrast, thought is how we get there, how we achieve that counsel. Thoughts are the means to reach the ultimate purpose. And the Malbim says, we see this in other places, "thoughts are established by counsel." That is, through thoughts I wish to bring the counsel, which as we said is the ultimate purpose, into effect.
Now, a person cannot determine the true ultimate purpose. That is decreed by Hashem. What will be in the end? That is decreed by Hashem. All a person does is merely think thoughts, plan, I will do this and I will act this way and I will... Why? So that in the end I will be wealthy, for example. That is the purpose. So I think, I will buy from here and take from there... But who really determines the purpose? It is the Holy One, blessed be He, He determines the purpose. Whether you were born with a fortune of wealth or of poverty, that Hashem determined. From the moment of birth it is already decreed upon a person. So it turns out, you can think many thoughts, you can plan schemes of how you will sell and how you will buy and how you will enter and how you will exit, these are lovely plans, but in the end what happens? In the end, in actuality, this is the counsel, which means the ultimate purpose of the Holy One, blessed be He. And this is what we say, "many are the thoughts in a man's heart." What are the thoughts, as we said? These are the plans of how to reach the purpose. But what is in the end? "The counsel of Hashem, it shall stand." The ultimate purpose in the end will be determined according to what the Holy One, blessed be He, determines.
And this is what He tells us, "Hashem annuls the counsel of nations." What is the counsel of nations? What was the counsel of the nations? What did they want? To destroy Am Yisrael. Consequently, "He frustrates the thoughts of the peoples." So consequently all the plans they planned as to the way, how it is done and by what means, suddenly they prepared sabotage with them, it blew up with them. What is this called? That Hashem annulled their thought. For in fact their ultimate purpose, what was it? To destroy us. Hashem already annulled it, Hashem annulled the counsel of nations. Hashem has a different purpose, that we remain in existence. So consequently when Hashem annulled their counsel, then "He frustrates the thoughts of the peoples." So in their thought, how to do it and by what means, suddenly there are incidents, suddenly there are all sorts of problems along the way that he cannot carry out, because your counsel is opposed to the counsel of Hashem. So "He frustrates" means to remove.
Now he says as follows, the ultimate purpose is something that exists forever. The purpose will never change, since with the Holy One, blessed be He, there is no such thing as reconsidering, there is no such thing as changing His mind. But what can happen is that the means are what change. That is, the Holy One, blessed be He, wants, for example, that Am Yisrael remain in existence forever. So there are two ways to accomplish this. Either, for example, that we serve Hashem with all our heart and all our might, and then the Holy One, blessed be He, will bring upon us all the good destinies. And there is another possibility, that we stray from the way, and the Holy One, blessed be He, will give us blows, and through this we will be forced to repent, and in the end what will be? The counsel will remain the same. What is the counsel? Am Yisrael will remain in existence. It will remain in existence. The question is how much we lose along the way, the question is how many blows we receive, until in the end we reach that purpose. But the purpose does not change. What does change? The thought. What is the thought? How to reach that counsel, by what way. That is something that changes. This is what we say, "the counsel of Hashem stands forever." The counsel of the Holy One, blessed be He, which is the ultimate purpose, exists, it is perpetual, there is no change in the purpose. But "the thoughts of His heart are for all generations." The thoughts of how to carry it out, that is already temporary. A generation is not forever, it is not eternal, "the thoughts of His heart" are for all generations. In this generation Hashem thinks to bring forth the counsel in this way, in this generation according to the state of the generation Hashem thinks to bring the counsel into effect in this way. How the counsel will ultimately be implemented, that can be in all sorts of ways. Therefore it is called a thought. The thought is how to bring it into effect, the "how" can change, it is for all generations, changing according to the generation. But the counsel of Hashem, that is, the ultimate purpose, stands forever, it does not change, it will remain in existence forever.
And this is now the explanation in our case. "Hashem Tzvakot has sworn, saying: surely as I have thought, so it shall be, and as I have counseled, so it shall stand." Hashem has sworn, the Holy One, blessed be He, established this matter with an oath, and thus He said to clarify His words. For "as I have thought," the ultimate purpose, as we explained, is the counsel, and the means are the thought. So the Holy One, blessed be He, in the downfall of Ashur, what was His purpose? That Ashur would not harm us. That was the purpose. This is called counsel. What is the counsel? To remove from us the yoke of Ashur. What were the means? What was His thought? By what way is this done? Through Ashur reaching Mount Tzion, and there on Mount Tzion through this the mighty acts of Hashem would be seen and the angel of Hashem would strike them, and neither they nor other nations would ever come again. Hashem says, for "as I have thought," meaning the means, and the counsel, "so it shall be." That is, the counsel in the end that I counseled, not only was it fulfilled, that the counsel stood and they did not succeed in oppressing Am Yisrael, but also "it shall stand." What does "it shall stand" mean, we said? "It shall stand" means forever. "It shall stand" means: I saved them from Ashur and through this I saved them from all who oppress them. What does this mean? For if the Holy One, blessed be He, had only wanted to prevent Ashur from us, He could have brought upon him there in his own land some plague and prevented him from us, and then the counsel of Hashem would have stood. What is the counsel of Hashem? That we not be harmed. Done. No, but the Holy One, blessed be He, wanted not only that Ashur would not come against us, but that other peoples too would see the great and mighty Ashur, who came against us and suffered such a downfall, with 180,000 army commanders dying on Mount Tzion, ah, everyone would see this, so consequently the counsel of Hashem would stand forever. What would stand forever? That no other people that has plans to come against us would come. That was the plan. The plan was not only that he in the end would not arrive, but "as I have counseled," which is in fact the ultimate purpose, and what is the purpose? To remove from us the yoke of the nations, "it shall stand." This matter shall stand, that no more peoples and oppressors will come against us.
And this is what He now details. "To break Ashur in My land, and upon My mountains I will trample him, and his yoke shall depart from them, and his burden shall depart from off their shoulder." My thought regarding the means consisted of two things. We said that the thought is how to bring it into effect, these are the means by which we reach the purpose. The thought was to break Ashur so that he would not harm Yisrael, and where would this be done? "Upon My mountains I will trample him." "Avusenu" is from "tevusa" (rout). There is a difference between a defeat in war and a rout. A rout means like trampling, treading down, that is, not merely a defeat, a defeat of disgrace. This is "upon My mountains I will trample him." The Holy One, blessed be He, says, I wanted there to be an extraordinary rout so that it would be clear to everyone that this is from Hashem. So that they would not think, ah, poor Ashur, it did not work out for him, let us try. No, sir, look, this is not just poor Ashur, this is the Holy One, blessed be He, who stopped him. And then any other nation that would want to do this would think twice. These were the means. And what was the ultimate purpose? This is what we said, this was the counsel. And through this, "and his yoke shall depart from them." And if his yoke departs from them, through this "and his burden shall depart from off their shoulder."
What is the difference between "his yoke" and "his burden"? The Malbim says, that "soveil" or "seivel" is the load that a person bears on his shoulder. This is called "his burden." Now, when he does not want to bear the load on his shoulder, there is no choice but to place the yoke upon him. The ox too does not really feel like plowing, but what happens? They place the yoke on its neck and then it has no choice, it is forced to do what the master wants. So that is to say, the "burden" is the load, the "yoke" is what I compel you to carry. You do not want to, because you want to cast off the load, so I compel you to carry. The Malbim says, regarding G-d we see that He removes the burden and afterward the yoke. Thus we saw, that Am Yisrael, as it were, removed the burden and afterward the yoke. And here it is written "and his yoke shall depart from them" and afterward "and his burden shall depart from off their shoulder." The Malbim asks, why did he change the order? The Malbim says, above he spoke about the people. The people, what do they first cast off? They first cast off the burden. First they do not want a load. And then he comes to place a yoke upon them, and in the second stage they cast off the yoke. We are also not prepared for you to place a yoke upon us, not prepared for you to compel us to carry the load. The load does not have to be a load on the shoulder, the load can be taxes. He tells us to pay taxes, we refuse. This is called "his burden," we do not want to bear this burden, this load. And then he comes and imposes a yoke. What is a yoke? He comes to compel, by the sword or any other way, to force us, and we cast off the yoke, we rebel against him and do not accept the yoke. So there he spoke about the people. But here, says the Malbim, here he attributes it to the Holy One, blessed be He. The Holy One, blessed be He, first removes the yoke, He stunned the camp of Ashur. Ah, if there is no yoke, consequently there is also no burden. So consequently there are also no taxes and nothing at all, because I removed the yoke, which is what? The threat of war is always present. If you do not pay taxes I will kill you, I will come here with an army, I... The moment I removed the army from here, his yoke departed, consequently his burden already departed. Consequently there are already no taxes and consequently we are not subject to being trampled underfoot. So therefore in the act that the Holy One, blessed be He, does, the removal of the yoke precedes the removal of the load.
"This is the counsel that is counseled upon all the earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations." Hashem says, this is the counsel that is counseled upon all the earth. This means, as we explained, that the plan was not only to free us from the present problem, which is the king of Ashur, no. The purpose was that all the nations would not enslave Yisrael. Consequently Hashem says, "and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations," that all the nations that had plans to come and enslave us, they too would see what happened to Ashur, and they too would be careful not to come to oppress Am Yisrael. And if they come and oppress, Hashem says, I will subdue and overthrow them like Ashur. Only what, we said, if this were the sole aim, only Ashur, then we could have inflicted upon him some small downfall in his own land and prevented him for any other reason, brought some other people to come and fight against him and through this he would leave us. Hashem Yitbarach has many ways. But no, He tells you that the plan was that in fact all the peoples would not come against us. And if this is the plan, that the counsel that is counseled is upon all the earth, you will understand why He had to bring them here and have them be opposite Mount Tzion and fall here by the angel of Hashem. All this was intended to bring about the purpose that no people would come against us. And this is what we said regarding G-d, "as I have counseled, it shall stand," that "it shall stand," we said, means something that will stand forever, not a temporary salvation.
"For Hashem Tzvakot has counseled, and who shall annul it, and His hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?" Since Hashem Tzvakot has counseled, the Holy One, blessed be He, set for Himself a certain purpose and He strives to reach that purpose, who shall annul it? Can anyone annul the counsel of Hashem, meaning the purpose that Hashem chose for Himself? And if so, it is impossible that the Holy One, blessed be He, would not succeed in achieving His purpose through all sorts of counsels. And therefore "His hand is stretched out," that the hand of Hashem is stretched out with all sorts of thoughts to achieve that counsel, "who shall turn it back?" Is there anyone who can turn back His stretched-out hand, meaning the thoughts He has to bring that counsel into effect?
"In the year that King Achaz died was this pronouncement." Here we apparently move to another point, toward the end of the chapter. And the Malbim explains that Uziyahu, who was king of Yehuda, fought the Pelishtim. It is written there "and he broke down the wall of Gat and Ashdod, and built cities in Ashdod and among the Pelishtim." That is, in the time of Uziyahu there was a situation in which the Pelishtim were subdued under us, he broke down their wall, Gat is one of the five cities of the Pelishtim, and Ashdod, and he built cities there. In the days of Achaz, Achaz was a wicked king, and the Pelishtim rebelled against him. They raided the cities of the lowland and the Negev, they captured part of Yehuda, and the saga with the Pelishtim was an unending saga, like today with the Palestinians. It is constantly back and forth, sometimes we strike them, sometimes they strike us. All this was until the death of Achaz. When Achaz died and Chizkiyahu came, he succeeded in subduing the Pelishtim once again. And on this matter the prophet Yeshayahu now bears this pronouncement.
"In the year that King Achaz died was this pronouncement. Rejoice not, all of you Peleshet, that the rod that struck you is broken, for from the root of the snake shall come forth a viper, and its fruit shall be a flying serpent." "To Peleshet": until now you rejoiced, you rejoiced entirely during the life of Achaz. Why? "For the rod that struck you is broken." Since the one who struck you in the time of Uziyahu, his staff was broken in the time of Achaz, and then during the period of Achaz you grew strong, Yehuda declined greatly, and then they could not stand against you, and you were able to overcome Yehuda. He tells her, we are done. The parties and celebrations are over, this story is over. "Rejoice not, for from the root of the snake," who are the previous kings of Yehuda, "now shall come forth a viper." The Malbim says, a viper is a snake more harmful than an ordinary snake. So from the root of the snake, which is, say, Achaz, will come forth a viper, someone more harmful. And this viper has venom, and its offspring is a flying serpent. What is "flying"? There are snakes that spit venom. It spits venom and is able to harm from afar, and usually spits the venom into the eyes of the living creature that is before it. So he says, therefore, there is now a viper here, who is it? This is Chizkiyahu, who will be able to harm you from afar. So your rejoicing is premature.
"And the firstborn of the poor shall graze, and the needy shall lie down in safety, and I will kill your root with famine, and it shall slay your remnant." Now he describes the tranquility of Yisrael like animals grazing in pastures of grass. Like an animal grazing in pastures of grass, it has a place there where it is, it has grazing, it is there, this comes to express a pastoral scene, tranquility, contentment, an animal resting like this on a summer day in pastures of grass and grazing, it has food, it has drink. So he says, just as there the large animals graze and the small animals lie down beside them, so too he says, "the firstborn of the poor shall graze." The needy, who are worse off than the poor, they "shall lie down in safety." That is, Am Yisrael, the strong among them, as it were, are poor, who are the firstborn of the poor, they shall graze. What does "shall graze" mean? They will have grazing, they will have tranquility, in pastures of grass. The needy, a needy person is always worse off than a poor person. For "dal" (poor) is a person who has become impoverished, he had and became impoverished. The "evyon" (needy), by contrast, is a person who craves everything. From the language of "ava" (desire), "my brother-in-law does not desire (avah)," a language of will, he desires and wants everything. The needy, who are worse off than the poor, they too shall lie down in safety. But you, he tells her, you, Peleshet, will be the opposite of them, of Am Yisrael. Am Yisrael's firstborn shall graze, but you, by contrast, "I will kill your root with famine." Your mighty ones, the strong roots, in the days of the siege that will be upon Peleshet they will die of famine. They, Am Yisrael, their needy will lie down in safety, but you, "and it shall slay your remnant." Your remnant, after the siege, the enemy that conquers you will slay them by the sword.
"Wail, O gate; cry, O city; you are melted away, all of you Peleshet, for from the north a smoke comes, and there is none straggling in his ranks." Sancheriv conquered the Pelishtim three years before he fell in the land of Yehuda by the angel of Hashem. This is what he told us in the previous pasuk, "and it shall slay your remnant." Now he comes to point out to us that when Sancheriv went against the land of Yehuda to seize it, he passed by the Pelishtim. Now the Pelishtim have memories, three years earlier they already received their blows from Sancheriv. So when Sancheriv passes by them, what happens to them? They enter a state of trembling, right? They all begin to tremble. Here now Sancheriv is approaching, he is coming here again. And then this is what happened to them, "you are melted away, all of you Peleshet." They send spies to see what the plans are, where does Sancheriv want to reach? Does he intend to reach us? Does he have some plans here in the area? And then they receive an answer that his plans are against Yisrael, but Peleshet too will receive a portion along the way as he passes here, or he will send his army here as well, for there is none straggling in his ranks.
The Malbim explains what "Wail, O gate; cry, O city" means. "Wail, O gate" means wail at the gate. Cry in the city. This comes to express the terrible fear that Peleshet had at Sancheriv's approach toward us. The Malbim says, usually when the enemy arrives, people wail at the gate. Those who are there in the city, people wail, the children, the tender ones, those who remained in the city, they are the ones who wail there, since they are in fear and are shut up within the city. In contrast, the mighty men go out to return battle at the gate. Who is it that goes out? The mighty men fight at the gate. The place of the mighty men's battle is at the gate. So he comes and says, usually the mighty men go out to fight at the gate, and the women and the little ones weep in the city. But when there is no hope, no chance of fighting against the enemy, what happens then? At the gate, those mighty men who were supposed to go out to fight, instead of going out and fighting, instead of crying out to gather an army, come, there is a war, instead of that what do they do? They wail. "Wail, O gate." Why? Their hands are weakened. And through this "cry, O city," in the city they begin to cry out that the enemy has arrived. This comes to express how enormous the crisis will be.
"And what will one answer the messengers of a nation? That Hashem has founded Tzion, and in it the poor of His people shall take refuge." He sent, as we said, spies, he sent messengers, envoys, to determine the plans, where Sancheriv intends to reach, what the address is, where this smoke is supposed to reach in the end. What is the answer? "And what will one answer the messengers of a nation?" What is the answer that they gave to Peleshet to comfort them, their messengers, their envoys? "Hashem has founded Tzion, and in it the poor of His people shall take refuge." The Holy One, blessed be He, will save His people, the poor of His people will take refuge from this oppressor who came to oppress them. Why? Because Hashem overthrew him before Am Yisrael. And then what the prophet intended here to include Peleshet in his rhetorical expression, what does he mean to say? That even though the Pelishtim rejoiced over the downfall of Yehuda, now this has become for them a source of joy. The fact that Yehuda was uplifted became for them a source of joy. If they rejoiced over the downfall of Yehuda, then over the uplifting of Yehuda they should have been grieved. He tells you, no, even the Pelishtim rejoiced over the uplifting of Yehuda. Why? Because the uplifting of Yehuda means that Sancheriv fell. And if Sancheriv fell, then we can rejoice. Then we can relax, since if so the enemy will no longer come against us.
I want to read for you a Gemara in Masechet Shabbat 149b, which relates to our entire chapter. I left this deliberately for the end, since there are here several quotations from our chapter. The Gemara says, "How do we know that this word 'chalashim' is a language of lots?" The Gemara says, like casting lots (chalashim) over the sacred portions, meaning they cast a lot. Who said that "chalashim" is a language of lots? Because in our Yeshaya chapter 14 it is written, "How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn, you are cut down to the ground, you who cast lots over the nations." We explained there that the reference is to his star in the heavens. The Gemara says that this is expounded upon whom? Upon Nevuchadnetzar, upon his star in the heavens that fell. Rabbah bar Rav Huna said, this teaches that he would cast lots over the great ones of the kingdom to know which of them would be for the day of homosexual relations. Truly terrifying. He says, who is this morning star, son of the dawn, "choleish al goyim" (who casts lots over nations)? What is "choleish"? He casts a lot. He would cast a lot over the kings of the peoples, who would be with him on that day for homosexual relations. And it is written, "all the kings of the nations, all of them, lie in honor, each in his own house." What is "lie in honor, each in his own house"? That they rested from homosexual relations. So corrupt was that wicked Nevuchadnetzar. And Rabbi Yochanan said, throughout the days of that wicked one no laughter was found in the mouth of any creature. Not a single person was permitted to smile. As it says, "the whole earth is at rest and quiet; they break forth into song." This implies that until now there was no song. In our chapter we read, when he dies, "the whole earth is at rest and quiet; they break forth into song." Ah, now one can begin to sing. This implies that until now they did not sing, until now they did not rejoice, there was no song. And Rabbi Yitzchak said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan, it is forbidden to stand in the house of that wicked one, as it says "and satyrs shall dance there." About what is this said? About the place where Nevuchadnetzar's palace will be destroyed, satyrs, demons, will dance there. And Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav, at the time that wicked one sought to do to that righteous man thus, his foreskin extended three hundred cubits and encircled the entire party. As it says, "you are filled with shame rather than honor," that is, disgrace came to him from the honor he thought he would have, "drink you also, and be uncircumcised (v'he'arel)." "He'arel," its gematria is three hundred cubits. "He'arel" is from the language of his foreskin (orlato). And Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav, at the time that wicked one descended to Gehinnom, all those who had descended to Gehinnom trembled. Do you hear? Nevuchadnetzar arrived in Gehinnom, and everyone begins to tremble. They said, perhaps he has come to rule over them? Or has he come to be destroyed like them? Or perhaps he has come to punish like us? They do not know. As it says, "you also have become weak like us, you are compared to us," as we saw in our chapter. A heavenly voice came forth and said, "whom do you surpass in pleasantness?" Go down and be laid with the uncircumcised. This is in Yechezkel 32. The meaning is, do you think you will have pleasantness? You will descend and lie with the uncircumcised, meaning together with them you will be in the same section of Gehinnom. "How the oppressor has ceased, the golden city (madheiva) has ceased." Rav Yehuda said, this nation caused a nation to cease that said "measure and bring (mad ve'hava)." The meaning is that they always ruled over them and demanded much taxes from them. And some say that it said "measures upon measures, bring without measure (madot madot hava belo mida)." On the contrary, some say "madheiva" means measures, bring without limits, without allotment, which is even worse. "It has been taken from you, and it has been added to me," thus it is said in Daniel chapter 4 about Nevuchadnetzar. Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav Yirmiya bar Abba, this teaches that he rode on a male lion and tied a serpent to its head, to fulfill what is said "and even the beast of the field I have given him to serve him." He rode on a male lion, Nevuchadnetzar would not ride on a donkey or on a horse, he would ride on a lion, and he had a snake as a crown around his head, to show, as it were, that he had dominion over all the beasts of the field, as it says "and even the beast of the field I have given him to serve him." This was at first, but in the second stage he was handed over to be like a beast of the field, and as we said, for seven years he was part of it.