"For thus shall it be in the midst of the land among the peoples, like the beating of an olive tree, like the gleanings when the vintage is finished." After describing the destruction and the exile that will befall the ten tribes at the hands of Sancheriv, he now turns to describe, in contrast, the miracle and salvation that will come to Chizkiyahu. What miracle and salvation will Chizkiyahu experience? When Sancheriv, after finishing with the ten tribes, thinks that the next stage is Yerushalayim, Yehuda and Binyamin, a surprise will await him. For the king in that time was Chizkiyahu, and he was a righteous king, and in the end Sancheriv and his armies will fall at the gates of Yerushalayim. So now, after describing the ten tribes, he moves on to describe Yehuda and Binyamin. "For thus shall it be in the midst of the land among the peoples, like the beating of an olive tree, like the gleanings when the vintage is finished." He says: thus shall Yisrael be, they will be in the midst of the land and among the peoples, meaning in the land of their exile, like the beating of an olive tree, like the gleanings when the vintage is finished. The Malbim says that here the verse presents parallel clauses. We have spoken about this several times in the past: when there is a sentence with two parts followed again by a sentence with two parts, then we say that the continuation of the first part of the first sentence is the first part of the second sentence, and the continuation of the second part of the first sentence is the second part of the second sentence. This is called parallel clauses. In Iyov this appears very often, and the Malbim tends to explain the verses this way, but in other places too he occasionally explains the text this way. And here too he says so: "For thus shall it be in the midst of the land" - to what will they be compared? "Like the beating of an olive tree." Meaning those who are in the midst of the land will all be killed, all will be exiled, like the beating of an olive tree, like a person who beats an olive tree and takes the olives one by one, leaving nothing. And afterward he says "among the peoples" - to what will they be compared? "Like the gleanings when the vintage is finished." When the vintage is finished, the gleanings remain. What are the gleanings? Gleanings are the vine on which a few isolated grapes still remain. Those who will already be in exile, which is what he speaks of "among the peoples," not those here. Of those here we said nothing will remain, he says like the beating of an olive tree. But those who will be among the peoples, in Chalach, Chavor, and the river Gozan, they will be as few as gleanings after the vintage. That is to say, even in the land of their enemies those ten tribes will dwindle, that is, will be cut off, and almost nothing will remain of them. Now let us note: the Radak asks, why is it called "beating an olive tree"? Does anyone know how olives are harvested? By beating, more precisely. What is done is simply that they place cloths, nets and the like around the tree, and then they shake the olive tree, and whatever does not fall they strike with sticks. I do not know, there is some kind of roller that it needs to pass through for such treatment, but they strike it with sticks. Through the striking of the sticks the olives fall off. This is the manner of the harvest. It may be that today there are more advanced mechanized methods, but in any case this was their way in their times. And whoever knows, it is written: a person does not injure his finger below unless it is decreed upon him above. What does "injure his finger" mean? Receiving a blow to the finger. There are many whom the Ben Yehoyada has confused. "Nokef etzba" does not mean, as people say, that he is not willing to lift a finger. When we say "lift a finger" we mean to extend a finger, but that is not the intent here. "Linkof" means to receive a blow to the finger. "Nokef" is like "nogef." This is how Rashi explains it. "Nokef" among the Yemenites is even quite similar. Yes? "A person does not strike his finger," the intent is that he receives a blow to the finger, from the language of "magefa," a plague, a blow. So, then, "a person does not injure his finger" means he received some small blow to his finger without it being decreed above. According to this, the Radak says, that is also the meaning here, "like the beating of an olive tree." How would they bring down the olives? By beating. What is beating? As we said, they give a blow, they strike the olive tree until the olives fall off it, they beat it. So too he says that, as it were, what will happen here is like the few olives that do not fall after you strike and strike, leaving a tiny remnant that does not fall, so whoever remains here will be like the beating of an olive tree.
"They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of Hashem, they shall cry aloud from the sea." Those who remain here will lift up their voice and sing for the majesty of Hashem. The intent is that they will rejoice in the majesty of Hashem as when they cried aloud from the sea, as they rejoiced when they came up from the sea. When Yisrael came up from the Yam Suf, what did they do? They sang. There was tremendous joy. They saw the destruction of the Egyptians, they saw the greatness of Hashem's hand. And this is what he says: "they shall sing for the majesty of Hashem, they shall cry aloud from the sea." Who are these? The ones he mentioned here who remained, the fewest of the few. Who are those who remained? Yehuda and Binyamin. And they will lift up their voice and sing and rejoice and thank Hashem for the majesty of Hashem, just as they cried aloud when they came up from the sea. What does this refer to? It refers to when the camp of Ashur will be struck. When the camp of Ashur is struck and they rise in the morning and see all of them, 180,000 army commanders, corpses, dead, they will sing for the majesty of Hashem. They will have great joy to see the greatness of Hashem striking their enemies, like that same joy when they came up from the Yam Suf.
The Radak explains "they shall cry aloud from the sea" to mean from the west. In contrast, the Malbim, as we said, explains "from the sea" as Rashi mentions, that the intent is when they came up from the Yam Suf. "Therefore honor Hashem in the regions of light, the name of Hashem, the God of Yisrael, in the isles of the sea." Let us read another verse, for it is connected to the following verse. "From the uttermost part of the earth we have heard songs, glory to the righteous. But I said, I waste away, I waste away, woe is me! The treacherous deal treacherously, yes, the treacherous deal very treacherously." "Therefore honor Hashem in the regions of light." This verse is in fact connected to the following verse, which is why we read them both together. "Therefore honor Hashem in the regions of light," after "from the uttermost part of the earth we have heard songs." What was the song we heard from the uttermost part of the earth, meaning the edge of the earth, like the corner (kanaf) of a garment, meaning the edge of the garment? What is the song heard from the edge of the earth? They all say, "in the regions of light honor Hashem." What does "be'urim" mean? When they had joy, they had a way of lighting torches, lighting bonfires, to show and increase the joy. So "in the regions of light honor Hashem," from the uttermost part of the earth they will say to them in song, they will all say to one another: honor Hashem, blessed be He, through lights, through the lighting of bonfires, through the raising of signal fires. "Honor Hashem in the isles of the sea," meaning through your doing this, this news will reach every place. Even in the isles of the sea, there too they will see that the Holy One, blessed be He, showed His signs and wonders. So one can explain this way, that in the isles of the sea they will know that the name of Hashem is the God of Yisrael. And one can explain that we also turn to the isles of the sea and say: you too light signal fires, you too light bonfires as a sign of joy and thanksgiving to Hashem, blessed be He, for the great miracle He performed for us in the downfall of Sancheriv. One can also explain how it reached the isles of the sea, for the downfall of Sancheriv ultimately became known throughout the whole world. How did this thing become known throughout the whole world? Because the Holy One, blessed be He, performed a great miracle for Chizkiyahu that became known throughout the whole world. What was that miracle? The sun, correct. It moved back ten degrees. This means that this thing received publicity throughout the entire world. And whoever remembers, we brought there the explanation of the Malbim: why was it necessary to do such a thing? It was not for Chizkiyahu. It was done for the people who were exiled to Chalach, Chavor, and the river Gozan. Those people were in utter despair. The Holy One, blessed be He, had exiled them, abandoned them. Suddenly they hear the sun is going back in reverse. What happened? The God of Yisrael is performing miracles for the people who dwell here in the land. This was for them a greeting, a shot of encouragement. Here, come, there is a chance, let us change our deeds and Hashem will return us to the land. But they saw, and perhaps they were even impressed, yet they continued in their ways. They did not change their ways, says the Malbim, and therefore they too remained in that same exile, in the reality in which today we do not recognize or know them.
"From the uttermost part of the earth we have heard songs." Now he says: these songs we heard from the edge of the earth, they are the ones who will sing and say "in the regions of light honor Hashem." And these will be songs of "glory to the righteous." That is, these songs we also heard as songs of "glory to the righteous." "Tzvi latzaddik" - "tzvi" is from the language of splendor, glory. And there will be glory to the righteous, for part of the merits by which we merited this salvation is in the merit of the righteous one, in the merit of Chizkiyahu. And he said, "I waste away." That is, the prophet says: know that more secrets have been revealed to me in this matter. You see that there is salvation here, very wondrous, everyone is joyful. But I want to cool the enthusiasm a bit. "Razi li" - there is a secret and mystery revealed to me. And this secret and mystery revealed to me is that this salvation will not be an eternal salvation. For we see that afterward that same people, a period of several kings after Chizkiyahu, they too were exiled from the land. So he says: there was salvation, but it was not an eternal salvation, not everlasting deliverance. And I see that there will be many more troubles and there will be exiles, the exile of Bavel, the exile of Madai. And these things, these secrets, were made known to me. Therefore he says "razi li, razi li," there are more and more secrets revealed to me. "Woe is me," following this he says woe is me when I hear those secrets about what is destined to happen. And then I see that "the treacherous deal treacherously." I see that after Chizkiyahu, kings will arise here who are treacherous kings. They will commit acts of treachery: Menashe, Yehoyakim and their companions. "Yes, the treacherous deal very treacherously." What is the addition? He means to say: it will not be a small treachery, it will be a treachery so great that it is unique to great traitors. "The treacherous deal very treacherously." Not merely treachery, but the treachery of great traitors who will go and set up an idol within the Heichal. This is not merely violating the will of Hashem, but doing something to provoke the Creator of the world. Therefore he says this "razi li," this secret, woe is me when I hear and see it, that more troubles are destined to come, for "the treacherous deal very treacherously."
"Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth." Through this treachery of the traitors, the land will be ready for several calamities. Now he will come and describe the pressing of the calamities, how they push one after another. And in order to describe this to us he draws a parable. And the parable is: fear, and the pit, and the snare, a parable from the hunters. In order for the hunters to trap the beast, what do they do? At first they make a pit. The pit is some large hole into which the beast falls. Afterward, when it wants to get out of this hole, there is some place that is like an exit. The beast comes to exit from there, and there is a snare. The snare is the place where it is caught and captured without the ability to move. Now how would the hunters bring it to the large hole in the first place? How would they do this? Through fear. They would frighten it, startle it from here, startle it from there, until it reaches that large hole they wanted it to reach. After reaching that large hole, it already on its own tries to seek an exit and falls into the snare, into that very trap that truly captures it. And this is what he says: at first there will be fear, they frighten it as they frighten the beast, then it falls into the pit, then into the snare. Incidentally, this teaches us that the accepted saying is imprecise. We say "from the pach (frying pan) to the pachat." But it is the reverse: from the pit to the snare, which is much bigger. If anything, say "from the pachat to the pachat." That is still in order. But the sequence is from the pit to the snare, and not from the snare to the pit.
The prophet says: "And it shall come to pass, that he who flees from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit, and he who comes up out of the midst of the pit shall be caught in the snare; for the windows on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth shake." There will be a state of desolation for the land, time after time. At first the earth will quake from its place, says the Malbim, its pillars will tremble. This means, the Malbim says, that there is a situation where sometimes the shaking of the earth depends on all sorts of upper causes. But he says here: know that it will not be like that. He says: here the windows of heaven will open, this will appear as a decree from Above. There are things that occur naturally, where the earth trembles. He says: no, here it will be a state where the windows on high are opened, and through this the foundations of the earth will shake. What will cause the trembling here, what will cause the shaking of the foundations of the earth? The windows of heaven. That is, here it will be evident to all: this comes from heaven, it is not something that happened naturally. And here he in fact also explains the parable he drew: whoever flees from the noise of the fear falls into the pit, whoever comes to rise out of the pit in order to escape is caught in the snare. Why? Because this is from on high, from heaven, from the windows of heaven.
Rashi explains: whoever flees, for according to Rashi this speaks of the nations. So Rashi explains: the one who escapes from the sword of Mashiach ben Yosef will fall to the sword of Mashiach ben David. And the one who escapes from there will be caught in the snare in the war of Gog and Magog. "The earth is utterly broken, the earth is completely shattered, the earth is violently shaken." Now he will come and describe the shaking of the earth. What he said in the previous verse, "and the foundations of the earth shake," he will now come and describe the shaking of the earth stage by stage. At first he says "the earth is utterly broken." At first there will be a state of instability. What is instability? He says: an unstable state. Cracks will form in it because of the shaking. In the second stage, "the earth is completely shattered." What is it when it is shattered? These are already finer pieces. And afterward, "the earth is violently shaken," it will collapse entirely. Three stages in the collapse of the earth. But what is "ro'a hitro'a'a," "por hitporera"? Why the doubling? The Malbim says: "ro'a" is the fracturing. The blow causes damage, from what root is this? "Ra'u'a," the thing is unstable, a break, yes? So the blow causes only damage, but afterward "hitro'a'a," for in the blow the pieces are still, as they say, stuck together. But afterward "hitro'a'a," the intent is that the pieces have come apart and separated. "Por" is the actual dividing of the thing into small pieces, and therefore in the first blow it will be "por," and afterward it went and crumbled. This is the second stage. And this is like this expression in the language of Chazal, the term "peirurin" (crumbs). "Peirurin" is not written in Tanach, but "hitporera" is written, and it is the same meaning, that this thing will crumble into small pieces.
"The earth reels to and fro like a drunkard, and it sways like a hut; and its transgression is heavy upon it, and it shall fall, and not rise again." After describing to us how the earth begins to quake, which was what is called part of the earth, he now describes how the entire earth will quake. At first he says the earth will reel like a drunkard. Have you ever seen a drunkard walk? Swaying from place to place, as if hearing music. He walks in a way that is not straight. Do you know the story of the policeman who stopped a drunkard? Some policeman stopped a drunkard, in the middle of the road for excessive speeding and zigzagging across the road. There was some kind of line there, a straight line, and he says to him: walk along the line so I can check whether he is really drunk or whether he is fine. The fellow starts to walk, and he says to him: wait, what are you trying to pull, first straighten the line. He sees even the line as crooked. So this is "the earth reels to and fro like a drunkard." Like the drunkard who sways, so the earth sways of itself. Now what sways the drunkard? Something external? No. The vapors within, the alcohol vapors that rise to his brain, it is something internal that sways him. Pay attention, because shortly he will refer to this. Afterward the earth "sways like a hut." What is a "melunah"? It is not a dog's kennel. "Melunah" is from the language of lodging (linah). "Like a booth in a vineyard, like a hut." What is the hut? Like a kind of booth that the watchmen would build in the vineyard. And of what was it made? Of willow branches, of all sorts of pieces of wood. This was called a "melunah." Now this place is not a strong place, it is not a stable place. A little wind, and this place collapses. Therefore he says "it sways like a hut," just as this hut is unstable and the wind sways it, which, as I am now explaining, is an external cause that sways it, so too will be the state of the earth. What is the analogue? At first he says: know that there will be an internal rebellion, a war of man against his fellow. This is like what? Like the drunkard. When the drunkard sways, from what is it? From within, from the alcohol vapors that move inside. This is "the earth reels to and fro like a drunkard." But afterward "it sways like a hut," afterward enemies from without will already come. This is like the parable of the hut, where the wind comes from outside and sways it, so too enemies from without will come and cause upheavals here in the land. In the third stage, "and its transgression is heavy upon it," and afterward "and it shall fall, and not rise again." Its transgression will be heavy upon it, meaning it will be a state of complete downfall, since the sins of the people dwelling here tipped the situation so that it is not merely a swaying, not merely "a booth sways like a hut," but a complete downfall. The Malbim says: here he in fact comes to draw a parable for us and triples the descriptions, if we pay attention. He said fear, pit, snare. After that he said "ro'a hitro'a'a," "por hitporera," "mot hitmotета" (broken, shattered, violently shaken). And afterward he says "noa tanua" (reels), "hitnodeda kamelunah" (sways like a hut), "nafla" (fell). We see that he triples the descriptions of the downfall of the land. Against what is he speaking? The Malbim says: he is directing this against the three times that Nevuchadnetzar came in order to shake the land of Yehuda until in the end he succeeded in conquering it. Now in the last verse the Malbim says: here he already moves on to describe what happened not in the days of Nevuchadnetzar but in the days of the kings of Yavan in the Second Temple period. And afterward the land was destroyed by Edom. And then, when it was destroyed by Edom, "it shall fall, and not rise again." What is "not rise again"? If after the first time, which was by Nevuchadnetzar, after 70 years of exile we returned to the land, and once again the Beit HaMikdash was built. But when there will be the second downfall, the second exile that will be by the kings of Edom, "its transgression is heavy upon it, and it shall fall, and not rise again." Then the redemption will not be so near. It will be pushed off for thousands of years, as we have already been 2000 years and still have not been redeemed. And this is what is written, "the virgin of Yisrael has fallen, she shall not rise again," that this last exile will last for ages and ages and half an age, as we saw in the prophecies said by Daniel. And with what he mentioned earlier, "and the foundations of the earth shake," he says that there he is describing all the troubles they went through until the destruction of the Second Temple, when they then fell fall after fall, fall after fall. The Malbim explains: what is the difference between "noa" and "hitnodeda"? What is the difference between "lanua" and "lanud"? Pay attention: "the earth reels to and fro like a drunkard" (noa tanua), "it sways like a hut" (hitnodeda). The Malbim says: "na" is from place to place, and it may even move in the same place from side to side. But in contrast, "mitnoded," from the language of migration (nedidah), migrates from place to place, wanders to another place. That is to say, if it moves it can move in the same place, right, left, forward, backward, this is already called moving, it is in motion. But "lanud" means to wander from its place. To wander from its place is from the language of migration, it moved entirely from its place. "Like a bird wandering from its nest." The bird wanders from its nest, it does not just turn its head, it wanders completely away. In contrast, "noa tanua" means it is still in its place but it moves right and left, this is called "noa tanua." What is the difference between "nud" and "noded"? As it is written regarding Kayin, "and he dwelt in the land of Nod." From what language is it? For it was decreed upon him, "a fugitive and a wanderer (na va-nad) shall you be in the land." The Malbim says: "noded," "nud" is still that he wanders in the same place, in the vicinity. "Noded" doubles it, meaning a great distance. "Like a bird wandering from its nest," birds that wander from place to place cross continents. That is a great migration. So the doubling of the "dalet" indicates that it refers to a much greater wandering.
"And it shall come to pass on that day, that Hashem shall punish the host of the high ones on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth." After he describes "razi li," what difficult secrets were transmitted to me, woe is me, says the prophet, for I saw that wicked kings are destined to arise, I saw that there is destined to be an exile by Nevuchadnetzar, I saw that there is destined to be an exile by the kings of Yavan, the kingdom of Edom. After describing the troubles that will befall Yisrael, he begins to inform us what will be in the end of days. In the end of the days of wrath, when the time of the eternal redemption arrives. That is to say, he does not want to bring the public to despair, he does not want them to come to a crisis and say: what terrible troubles, "she has fallen, she shall not rise again." He tells you: no, it is not that she will never rise again, but that she will not rise again temporarily, as it was after the fall of the First Temple, when she rose again afterward in the Second Temple. But here it will take a long time until she rises again. Therefore he begins to describe how the Holy One, blessed be He, will exact retribution from the nations that oppressed Yisrael. So Hashem will punish the host of the high ones. Who is the host of the high ones? The Malbim says: these are the ministers of the idolaters, who are there on high. Or the stars and constellations, from which the idolaters in fact draw their power. And then, after He punishes the host of the high ones, in the second stage, the kings of the earth. The kings of the earth are the kings of the idolaters, and from where in fact do they receive their bounty? From the host of the high ones. As Daniel describes there, that when I went out, the angel told him, I saw that the angel who is the minister of Persia entered, who is like a bear, and so on. That is to say, they have ministers in heaven. So these ministers will fall first, this is the host of the high ones on high. The second stage will be the kings of the earth upon the earth. Those idolatrous kings who will come to help Gog and Magog, from them too Hashem will exact retribution.
"And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be punished." And by the will of Hashem all the peoples will be gathered, says the Malbim, they will gather against Yerushalayim for war. Who will gather them? The Holy One, blessed be He. The Holy One, blessed be He, will concentrate them here. Why? In order to bring them down. There the Holy One, blessed be He, will judge them with pestilence and blood, the prophecies we read in Zecharyah, yes, which we read on Sukkot. Therefore he describes it as when at first they gather the prisoners at the pit, and even before that they do not yet put them into the pit but judge them, and then they put them into the pit. So too the Holy One, blessed be He, will at first gather them to Yerushalayim in order to bring them to judgment, and after they stand for judgment and are found guilty, then "and shall be shut up in the prison," afterward they will shut them into the pit. "And after many days shall they be punished." What is "after many days"? Hashem will hold them accountable for what they did over many days, for what they sinned all the days, over the course of the many days, all that they oppressed Yisrael, for all of it they are destined to give a reckoning. And this is what the Kalir established in the piyut of the Yotzer of Parashat Zachor - the Ashkenazim have the custom to recite the piyutim of the Kalir - and there he says: "lerov yamim lehimanot," to make reckonings for them. The Holy One, blessed be He, will count and make reckonings for them of all that they oppressed us over many days, and the Holy One, blessed be He, will punish them. And Rashi explains that what is written, "and they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit," Rashi explains that the intent is Gehinnom. That is, it is not enough that Hashem will judge with them here, as we explained according to the Malbim, but they will further be punished in the seven levels of Gehinnom, this is "and shall be shut up in the prison."
"Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, for Hashem of hosts shall reign in Har Tziyon and in Yerushalayim, and before His elders shall be glory." Rashi explains "the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed" according to Targum Yonatan: "and those who worship the moon shall be ashamed, and those who bow to the sun shall be subdued." Those who worship the moon will be ashamed, this is "the moon shall be confounded." The intent is not that the moon itself will be ashamed, but the worshippers of the moon, this is the meaning of "the moon shall be confounded." "And the sun ashamed," the worshippers of the sun will be subdued, ashamed and humbled. Why? Because then it will become clear that Hashem of hosts reigns in Har Tziyon and in Yerushalayim. It will become clear that you worshipped in vain. Behold, Hashem reigns in Tziyon. "And before His elders shall be glory." Against whom will the glory be? Only against the elders and not against those people. The Radak says "the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed," the intent is that from the abundance of the troubles that will be, the moon will be confounded and the sun ashamed for the idolaters. As it were, the Holy One, blessed be He, will darken the world upon them from the abundance of troubles. The moon and the sun will, as it were, be confounded, as if they will be in a place of hiding, as if the world will darken upon them from the abundance of troubles that will come upon them. And when will this be, says the Radak? In the war of Gog and Magog. And then they will conquer half the city, and Hashem will go out and fight against those nations. And then all who remain in Yerushalayim will recognize that the kingship belongs to Hashem. And to whom is the glory fitting? "And before His elders shall be glory." These are the righteous, these are the servants of Hashem, they are the ones who will be worthy of glory. And who are these in fact? The righteous who will remain in Yerushalayim. This is the Radak. Now let us study the Malbim. The Malbim says "the moon shall be confounded," the intent is that then they will no longer give faith and glory and power to the moon. That is, there were moon worshippers, and they will stop giving power to and believing in the moon. And why? Because the ancient idolaters believed that the moon has power. From where is its power? From a god higher above it. And who is the god higher above it? It is the sun. They too knew that the moon is nothing but a reflector of light. It has no power of its own. When there is a sun, then the sun strikes the moon and consequently the moon shines. And then, when they see that the first cause that bestows bounty is the Holy One, blessed be He, then consequently the moon is confounded. They will no longer give glory to the moon, for from whom does the moon in fact receive? From the sun. And from whom does the sun receive? From the Holy One, blessed be He. So they will understand that it is all vanity of vanities, as they thought of the sun, and the moon itself has no power of its own but receives everything from the Holy One, blessed be He. And why? Because Hashem reigns in Har Tziyon, Hashem of hosts in Har Tziyon and in Yerushalayim, and before His elders shall be glory. This means: they believed that the moon, as we said, is the emanating power. Against this he says: it will become clear to them that Hashem reigns. The moon is not the emanating power. There is a power above it, Hashem reigns. Not the sun, it is not the emanating power. The one who emanates is the Holy One, blessed be He. "The moon shall be confounded." Well, who are those who receive the power? They believed it was the moon. He tells you: no, it will become clear to them that it is not the moon that receives the power. Who receives the glory from Hashem? "And before His elders shall be glory." Who is it that receives from the supernal spiritual power? It is the elders. "I will pour out My spirit upon them," they are the ones who receive. So consequently "the moon shall be confounded," why? Because it is confounded, forgive me, the sun is ashamed, why? Because it is not the sun that bestows bounty but the Holy One, blessed be He, who is the bestower. It is not the sun that bestows bounty. "The moon shall be confounded," why? Because it is not the moon that receives but rather "before His elders shall be glory." The one who receives is the elders, upon them the bounty descends. And through this they will in fact understand that all their belief was a belief of vanity. The Malbim says: what is the difference between "chafra" (confounded) and "boshah" (ashamed)? The Malbim says: "chafra" is harsher than "boshah." "Machpir" (disgraceful), even we, when we say "you should be ashamed," it is disgraceful. "Machpir" means a deed worse than a deed one should be ashamed of. What is the definition? When a person is ashamed before someone, what does he do? He hides his face from him, right? He is ashamed, he does not want to be seen. As there is an expression that says, he would have preferred that the earth swallow him at that moment. The shame is such that a person wants to cover his face so that his disgrace will not be seen. So this is the concept of being ashamed. "Chafer" means he is willing to be buried so that his disgrace will not be seen. That is, he is willing to dig into the ground and bury his head there so that his disgrace will not be revealed. And this is what he says, that the light of the sun will diminish, and the light of the moon, which is anyway diminished, will be completely hidden. "The moon shall be confounded." And why? Because in fact the moon, as we explained, symbolizes them, for then it will become clear that you are not worthy at all, but rather it is not the sun that bestows bounty but the elders who are the ones bestowed upon, it is not the sun that bestows bounty and not the moon that is bestowed upon, but the elders who are bestowed upon. And through this, as it were, "the moon shall be confounded." And also by nature, for the sun, even if you darken it, still has some light. The moon, if you darken it, then it has nothing, for it in fact has nothing of itself. Therefore, regarding the moon he uses the language "chafra," which means complete abolition of the light, whereas regarding the sun he uses "boshah," which means the light will diminish somewhat, but not completely.