Sefer Yeshayahu, chapter 27. "On that day Hashem will punish with His sword, the harsh and great and mighty one, Leviathan the bar serpent, and Leviathan the twisting serpent, and He will slay the sea monster that is in the sea." After he concluded the previous chapter and said, "Behold, Hashem goes forth from His place to punish the iniquity of the inhabitant of the earth against Him, and the earth will reveal its blood and no longer cover its slain," he now speaks about that time when Hashem is destined to take vengeance upon the nations.
Who is this Leviathan the bar serpent? Rashi says this is Egypt. Leviathan the twisting serpent is Assyria. And He will slay the sea monster that is in the sea, this is the one dwelling in the heart of the seas, the Kittim, yes, they are called the isles of the sea. When will this be? The Radak says this will be in the war of Gog and Magog.
The Malbim explains: "On that day," that same day on which Hashem will take vengeance upon the nations, "Hashem will punish with His sword, the harsh and great and mighty one." This is, as we know, fertile ground for the Malbim to explain the difference between "harsh," "great," and "mighty." The Malbim says that here he characterizes three types of strength. On the day of vengeance the Holy One, blessed be He, will punish them with His sword. What kind of sword will it be? A harsh sword. "Harsh" comes to denote the quality of the iron. The iron is so strong that it is able to shatter any other material. So first of all it will be harsh. Second, this sword will be great. "Great" speaks of the length. It speaks of the length. Something can be long but not hard. He says: no, this sword will also be harsh in terms of strength, and it will also be long. Third, it will be mighty. What is "mighty"? What does it add to "harsh"? "Mighty," says the Malbim, comes to denote the force and the thickness and the heaviness of that sword. A material can be hard but thin. A material can be hard but little. He comes and tells you: this hard material will be great, that is what he meant by "great," this hard material will be heavy and thick, and then that means its power is much, much stronger.
Upon whom will the Holy One, blessed be He, brandish His sword? Whom will the Holy One, blessed be He, strike with that sword? "Upon Leviathan the bar serpent." The Malbim says, if we noticed, we have here a sword that is harsh, great, mighty. And corresponding to this we have Leviathan the bar serpent, we have Leviathan the twisting serpent, that is the second, and the sea monster that is in the sea, that is the third. And each one, says the Malbim, corresponds to one, and now we will explain.
The harsh sword, this the Holy One, blessed be He, will bring upon Leviathan the bar serpent. What is Leviathan the bar serpent? The Malbim says this is the giant fish in the sea that stretches like a bar across the middle of the sea. "Bar" means something passing from end to end. Like in the Mishkan, there was the middle bar that would bar the boards from end to end. And it was also miraculous, it would go and turn, yes, at the corners of the Mishkan that wood would turn. Yes, the middle bar. So "bar" means from end to end. So the Holy One, blessed be He, will punish with His harsh sword upon Leviathan the bar serpent. This Leviathan is called thus because it is in the middle of the sea, it does not allow passage through it, yes, it is, so to speak, like a fortified wall that guards along its whole line so that none pass through it. Therefore it is called the bar serpent.
And the great sword, that is the second, is against whom? Leviathan the twisting serpent. Leviathan the twisting serpent, the Malbim explains, is a serpent and a long fish found in the sea that coils itself around the globe. And then he tells you: ah, it is long, there will be the great sword. "Great," we explained, is the long sword. The long sword of the Creator of the world will be able to reach it too.
The third thing is the mighty sword, which we explained refers to its heaviness, the strength of its force, that it will be thick and heavy, and this He will bring upon the sea monster that is in the sea. The sea monster that is in the sea is the whale. What is a whale, does anyone know? Leviathan. Somewhat, huh? A wall fish. No, it really is. So this is the Leviathan. The Leviathan cannot be killed with a sword, shooting an arrow at it, it is very difficult to kill it. But then if the sword is extremely heavy and mighty, one can kill even the Leviathan. Now what exactly is the sea monster that is in the sea? The Malbim explains, he explained that it is the Leviathan, and he brings that there are those who wish to say it is the crocodile. The crocodile is what is called in our language a tanin. Yes. Either way, says the Malbim, our explanation will hold according to whichever approach we explain.
Good, all of this now is really a parable. He compared those nations and said that one nation is Leviathan the bar serpent, there is Leviathan the twisting serpent, there is the sea monster in the sea, and corresponding to them the harsh sword, the great one, the mighty one. The Malbim says: how does this apply in the analogue? There are several types of strength and might among the nations, says the Malbim. There is a nation that is strong on account of the strength of its land. Its land is fortified, its land has lofty and high mountains, fortresses that cannot be passed, this is the bar serpent. "Bar serpent" means it bars from end to end, one cannot penetrate them. Go pass the Great Wall of China. The bar serpent. These are places where it may be that the nation itself is not made up of mighty warriors, it may be that the place is not large, but it is very difficult to penetrate them, very difficult to breach them. This is the bar serpent, and corresponding to it is the harsh sword. The harsh sword, as we said, is the one that will succeed even in breaking the walls of that bar serpent.
There is a country that indeed does not have such strong walls or fortified mountains or high mountains, but on the other hand it is a huge country. However much you kill, there are still millions more who will come against you. On account of the size of that place, on account of the great population found in that place, it is very difficult to conquer them. And this he refers to with the second one, with what he defines as the twisting serpent. "Twisting" is long. This is a very large country. It is difficult to conquer all of it. Go start conquering the Soviet Union. You do not know where you begin, where you finish. Or China. These are huge places. There is a small place, you conquered it, you exerted yourself a little, you succeeded. But here you need an army of billions upon billions from every direction to succeed in conquering half the world. So that is what he says, that the second serpent we mentioned here, the twisting serpent, where "twisting" expresses length, until it coils from its great length, coiling like a rope that rolls up from its length, this comes to express countries that are large with many people.
And there is a country that on account of its size is not especially large, and on account of the strength of its cities and its fortresses and its walls it is not especially strong. But there are within it mighty men who act without fear. People who are ready to fight to their last drop of blood. And this is the sea monster that is in the sea. It is within the sea, it is indeed not in a place, it is not a bar, it is not twisting, but it is a sea monster, it is extremely strong. Whoever knows, one of the things with the strongest jaws in nature is that of the crocodile. It has jaws with a bite force of several hundred kilograms of clamping power. It is simply dreadful and terrifying. So this is according to the explanation that says "sea monster." According to whoever says "Leviathan," that too is a fearsome beast. Either way, says the Holy One, blessed be He, He will be able to overcome all kinds of nations. Whether those that are behind gates, wall, and bar, whether those that are strong on account of size and on account of a large population, and whether those that are strong on account of the strength of their warriors. Upon all of them, ultimately, on that day Hashem will punish with His sword, the harsh, great, and mighty one.
"On that day, a vineyard of wine, sing of it." On that day, then, the people of Israel will be like a vineyard of wine. What is a vineyard of wine? A vineyard that produces wine. A vineyard from which one extracts wine. And its wine they will drink to satisfaction, says the Malbim. And then on that day they will sing this song about it, about whom? About the people of Israel. If we recall, we saw earlier the song of my beloved concerning his vineyard in chapter 5. There he brings that the Holy One, blessed be He, planted a vineyard, and how successful the vineyard was and how wonderful and how much He invested in it, "and He hoped it would produce grapes, but it produced rotten grapes." The Holy One, blessed be He, invested so much, and in the end what did He receive? Rotten fruit. Instead of special wine, He received rotten fruit. Rotten grapes. And then he says that in the future they will say that it will be exactly the reverse. "On that day, a vineyard of wine, sing of it." This vineyard will be a vineyard that produces the most special wine. It will be an excellent vineyard, not like then when it produced rotten fruit. And then they will sing the song we will mention shortly.
The Malbim explains: what is "chemer"? Chemer is the strong wine that foams up when poured. From its great strength, from the great amount of alcohol in it, it foams up. Like "and wine of chemer, full of mixture." Fermenting, yes. There is another explanation: the Radak explains that chemer is red. And the Radak brings support for this from the Arabic language. How does one say "red"? "Achmar." Red earth, how does one say it? "Chamra." Correct? So he says: behold, see that in the Arabic language red is called "al-chamar." So then when it is written "a vineyard of chemer," this is a vineyard of the choicest wine. What is the choicest wine? Red wine. It is also written in halacha that red wine is superior to white wine, for kiddush, for the Seder night. "Do not look at wine when it reddens," correct? That means the red has an advantage. Red has a distinctiveness. So "on that day" wishes to say the vineyard will be so special, "a vineyard of wine, sing of it." "Anu," as in they will sing of it and say "a vineyard of wine." "Anu" is like, it is an expression of song, like "and Miriam answered them." Yes, there too it is an expression of song. "A vineyard of wine, sing of it."
The Holy One, blessed be He, says, and then the vineyard, thus Hashem will say to it in that song: "I, Hashem, guard it; every moment I water it; lest anyone harm it, night and day I watch over it." Thus Hashem will say in the song of the vineyard. "I, Hashem, guard it." I, Hashem, keep and guard the vineyard from every affliction that comes from without. The Malbim says this is against what we mentioned in chapter 5, where it brings "remove its hedge, and it will be for consuming." The Holy One, blessed be He, said: I shielded this vineyard, but this vineyard produced rotten fruit. He said: ah, this is what they do, so remove its hedge. Remove from it that shelter, that guarding, that protection, that fence, and it will be for consuming, so that the beasts will come and eat it. That was their punishment then. Here Hashem says "I, Hashem, guard it." Since the people of Israel will return to being righteous and God-fearing, Hashem says that then I am the one who guards it. And also "every moment I water it." I will water it at every moment, not once a month. And this is the opposite of what is written there, that concerning that vineyard where "He hoped it would produce grapes, but it produced rotten fruit," it is written there "and I will command the clouds not to rain rain upon it." Their punishment will be that there will be no rain upon that vineyard. As it were, the Holy One, blessed be He, will not give rain in the land of the people of Israel. Here He says that when the people of Israel are righteous, a vineyard of wine, "every moment I water it." I will watch over it constantly in order to water it properly, so that the vineyard of Israel will grow properly.
And not only that I will guard so that the branches or the fruits do not spoil, but I will guard it also "lest anyone harm it." What does "yifkod" mean? To be missing. "And not a man of us was missing." "Lest it be missing upon it." What is "upon it"? Its leaves. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: I will give it such excellent guarding, that even over the leaves I will be careful and guard that they not be missing. For whoever guards the vineyard, he guards so that the grapes not be missing, he guards so that the branches not be missing, for each such vine can bring several clusters of grapes. But to guard even the leaves? The Holy One, blessed be He, says that then, when the people of Israel are righteous, I will guard also "lest it be missing upon it." Lest even one of the leaves upon it be missing and lost. "Night and day I watch over it." The Holy One, blessed be He, says this guarding will be a guarding of night and day.
What does this come to say in the analogue? The Holy One, blessed be He, says: I will watch over it from what? From the enemies outside. "Every moment I water it." What is this watering that the Holy One, blessed be He, waters with? This is the constant divine providence over us. This is the abundance of prophecy. How is the abundance of prophecy written when they wish to say that the Holy One, blessed be He, will pour prophecy upon us? Does anyone remember which expression this is stated with? It is connected, connected to water and pouring, come on. "I will pour out My spirit upon you." We see that prophecy comes with an expression of pouring out the spirit, as if the Holy One, blessed be He, pours and spills it upon us, it is an abundance. And so too "every moment I water it." The watering spoken of here is the watering of prophecy. The watering of that divine abundance that will be constant upon us. As it is written that the Holy One, blessed be He, there is a verse that says that "your sons will dream dreams," "from your sons for Nazirites, from your young men for prophets." There are expressions in prophecy where we see that in the future the spirit of Hashem will be upon the entire people of Israel. So that is what He says, "every moment I water it." And not only that I will guard the righteous, the great ones, the holy ones, but even the empty ones among the people of Israel, "lest it be missing upon it." These are the leaves. This is not fruits, not branches, but only leaves. He says: even them I will guard like the apple of My eye, "night and day I watch over it."
The Malbim says that the word "lifkod" is among the reversed verbs. There are reversed verbs, like "lehashrish" and "leshoresh," for example. Like "killes." What is "lehashrish"? To make roots. What is "leshoresh"? To uproot from the root. These are reversed verbs. Like "killes." What is "killes"? Praise, correct? On the other hand, "he made him into mockery and derision." That is also disgrace. There are reversed verbs. There are many more examples of this. So the Malbim says that what is written "lest it be missing upon it" is also among the reversed verbs. "Yifkod" is from an expression of lack, yes, "and not a man of us was missing." And on the other hand it is also an expression of counting. Correct? "To count the children of Israel," what does it mean? To number them. So the Malbim says that here too it is among the reversed verbs. For when it speaks of "lifkod," there are several expressions of "lifkod." The Malbim says that when it speaks of "lifkod," it speaks of counting something important. Things that are important, they would count them. Like they would count the men of the army when they went out to war. And afterward when they return from war, what is written? "And not a man of us was missing." Not a man was lacking from us. For as we explained, these are the reversed verbs. On one hand it is to count that they are all present, and on the other hand when someone is lacking then we say that he is "nifkad," missing.
"Fury I have not; who would give me thorn and thistle in battle, I would step upon it, I would set it ablaze together." Let us follow the line of the Malbim, and shortly we will see here an additional explanation of the Radak. "Fury I have not." The vineyard, as it were, says: I bear no fury against any nation or any tongue. Why? Only against whom? Only against whoever would give me thorn and thistle in battle. Only whoever wishes to fight against me in order to turn the vineyard into thorn and thistle. What is thorn and thistle? Types of thorns that ruin the vineyard. The vineyard says: only whoever wishes to come and fight against me and turn the vineyard as it was then, when it produced rotten fruit, a vineyard of thorn and thistle, a vineyard of thorns, then "I would step upon it, I would set it ablaze together." "I would step upon it" is from an expression of stepping. I will step with that fury, with that anger, and I will set it ablaze, "atzitenah" from an expression of burning, I will burn them together. Whoever comes to fight against me, together with the thorns, together with the thorn and thistle. The meaning of the matter is, as it were, the vineyard says: I do not seek vengeance, but whoever wishes to harm the people of Israel, says the vineyard, from him I want to exact punishment.
The Malbim says: what is the difference between "tza'ad" (step) and "pesha"? The Malbim says "tza'ad" comes to express walking. Walking with one's steps. What are "pe'amim"? Steps, correct? "Pe'imot," yes, everyone knows from politics. "Pe'imot," phases. Whoever remembers the "phases" there were. Yes. "Niftamti" (I was moved) is a different matter. But "how beautiful are your feet in sandals, your steps." Correct? What is the meaning? It refers to the steps when they would go up on pilgrimage. So this, this is an expression of "pa'am." "The footsteps of Mashiach." Also the same idea. As if one already hears the footsteps of Mashiach who is already on the way, his steps were heard. Yes, so to tread, to step, this is called "pa'am," "pe'amim," steps. In contrast, "pesha," says the Malbim, comes to express a measure, a portion, a distance. Therefore he says: see that when they wish to say that he was about to die, it is written "as a pesha between me and death." What is a pesha? The distance of a step. And where, says the Malbim, what is the distance of a step? Where actually is the step? Where is the stepping carried out? At the mifsa'a (the groin, the parting of the legs). The mifsa'a is the place of stepping. And therefore he says: see that there it is written "and they cut off their garments up to the mifsa'a." What is "up to the mifsa'a"? The place from which the legs divide and from which one steps. So "pesi'a," "pesha," comes to express a measure. Up to where did he cut off their garments, their clothes? Up to the mifsa'a. That is, "pesha" expresses a measure. So here too, "I would step upon it, I would set it ablaze together," wishes to say, as it were, "as a pesha," only within the distance of a single step I would already burn them together. This is the explanation according to the Malbim.
In contrast, the Radak explains it somewhat differently. That, as it were, the Holy One, blessed be He, says "fury I have not." What is "fury I have not"? It is not among My attributes. Among My attributes are slowness to anger and not wrath and fury. Ah, but seemingly it is written "Hashem is vengeful and a master of fury"? For it is written "vengeful and bearing a grudge, for the time when their calamity comes." It seemingly implies that the Holy One, blessed be He, is indeed a master of fury and indeed vengeful and grudge-bearing and repays His enemies to their face to destroy them, to exterminate them forever. So the answer is found here in the body of the verses. "To repay His enemies to their face, to destroy them, to exterminate them forever." Concerning whom? This speaks against the nations. But concerning the people of Israel the Holy One, blessed be He, says "fury I have not." What does this mean? When a person, or here we speak of the Holy One, blessed be He, when He punishes a nation with fury, then it is unto annihilation. When there is fury, it means complete destruction, He eliminates them. But the Holy One, blessed be He, says concerning the people of Israel "fury I have not." I never have an action in which I take vengeance on the people of Israel, in which I exact punishment from the people of Israel by way of fury. For if, God forbid, it were by way of fury, nothing would remain of the people of Israel. Rather, even when the Holy One, blessed be He, exacts punishment from the people of Israel, it is not by way of fury. Rather He punishes them little by little. As it is written "only you have I known of all the families of the earth, therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities." Little by little the Holy One, blessed be He, and again, what is "efkod"? It is also from an expression of lacking. "I will punish you for all your iniquities." Slowly the iniquities will be reckoned. A little more punishment, a little more suffering, a little more exile, slowly until all the iniquities are reckoned, until all the iniquities are finished. But this is not elimination. This is not a state in which the people of Israel, God forbid, are destroyed. And this is in contrast to the nations. For if we search for the ancient nations, we do not find them. Where is ancient Babylon? Where is ancient Egypt? Where is... These are nations that assimilated and vanished, gone. Or nations that were utterly wiped out. But the people of Israel, says the Holy One, blessed be He, "fury I have not." I never have such fury that I, God forbid, annihilate them.
Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, says "fury I have not" against Israel. Why? For if I had fury against them, says the Holy One, blessed be He, who would give me thorn and thistle? The meaning is: the vineyard that gives me thorn and thistle instead of grapes, seemingly I would already long ago have stepped upon it a single step and set it ablaze together. For if I had fury against the people of Israel, I would already long ago have had all the reasons to eliminate them. For the vineyard, "who would give me thorn and thistle," this vineyard that gave me thorn and thistle, the people of Israel who grew thorns instead of grapes, the Holy One, blessed be He, says: I would already long ago have set it ablaze together, I would already long ago have needed to bring them to a state where they were eliminated, if I had fury. A single step and already nothing would remain of them. The Radak says: thus my master, my father, of blessed memory, explained to me. I always told you that when you hear from the Radak an explanation in the name of his father, look for sweets. He has wonderful explanations in the name of his father. And he says: and it is the best of the explanations. Of everything that was said, he says this is the best explanation that fits the plain meaning of the verse.
"Or let him hold fast to My stronghold, let him make peace with Me; peace let him make with Me." Let us continue with the line of the Radak. "Or let him hold fast to My stronghold," the meaning is the other possibility is, "let him hold fast to My stronghold," that the people of Israel hold fast to My Torah. That is to say, I would have eliminated them, says the Holy One, blessed be He, were it not that he holds fast to My Torah. The meaning is: and if he holds fast to My Torah, then this will protect them, that the Torah will be a kind of stronghold for them. As it is written "Hashem will give strength to His people." "Strength" means Torah. "Hashem will bless His people with peace." This is brought concerning Bilaam, whom they asked what the commotion in the world was at the giving of the Torah. He said to them "Hashem will give strength to His people." What is "He will give strength to His people"? The Holy One, blessed be He, gave the Torah to His people Israel.
"Let him make peace with Me," the meaning is: a time will come when he will yet make peace with Me. And why again "peace let him make with Me"? The Radak says the repetition is to strengthen the peace. That there will no longer be war between us and the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were. That there will not be a state of strictness from Heaven toward us. That there will not be a state as it is written "a partition of iron was spread between Israel and their Father in Heaven." The Holy One, blessed be He, says "peace let him make with Me." This is the time of salvation, this is the time when there will be peace between Israel and their Father in Heaven.
The Malbim explains that this continues what we explained earlier, that according to the Malbim the vineyard really says: I have no fury against whoever transgressed against me, the people of Israel, as it were, say. We have no fury against whoever transgressed against us, but only against whoever now wishes to make me into thorn and thistle in battle, against them I have strictness. So he continues and says, the vineyard says: but whoever holds fast to My stronghold and makes peace with Me, this man, peace let him make with Me, I will not do him harm. He wishes to make peace with Me, I too will make peace with him. So this is like what was written before. That is to say, as it were, he says "who would give me thorn and thistle," whoever wishes to turn the vineyard into thorn and thistle, in a single step I will make war with him and eliminate him, says that vineyard. But whoever, on the other hand, is the opposite, rather "let him hold fast to My stronghold," let him strengthen the vineyard, let him strengthen the people of Israel, he says: peace to Me, then "peace let him make with Me." Since he is peace to Me, he makes a reality of peace, then I will not do him harm, so consequently, as water reflects face to face, then I too will make peace on his behalf. What does this song come to say, says the Malbim? That Israel will not do evil and will not destroy. But whoever ventures in his heart to approach them, they will be judged with anger and fury. As it were, in the time of the people of Israel it is a time when there will no longer be wars. So he will not seek to exact punishment for all that was in the past. But whoever nonetheless wishes to come and fight against them will pay a heavy price.
"Those coming, Yaakov will take root, Yisrael will blossom and flower, and the face of the world will be filled with produce." "Those coming, Yaakov will take root." Now he will explain to us who that vineyard of wine is. Who is that vineyard of which we have spoken until now? Who planted it? From where are its shoots, its branches? He says: these vines, do you know from where they are? "Those coming from the root of Yaakov." The people of Israel after the exile, after the killing, after what afflicted and distressed them, are like a vineyard that was ruined. Like a vineyard of which nothing remained. What remained? Only the root. Only the roots. When you destroy a tree from above, the roots below still exist. He says: know that "those coming" is from the root of Yaakov. From that ancient root. This root still exists. However much they afflicted it and destroyed it and struck it, still the root exists. To such an extent that "the face of the world will be filled with produce." This root will blossom and flower. "Those coming, Yaakov will take root," that root that began from Yaakov, "Yisrael will blossom and flower." From this there will be a great vineyard of wine that will produce, as we said, the choicest grapes, the red ones, fit for wine.
Now let us note, says the Malbim, that there is here "Yaakov will take root, Yisrael will blossom and flower." Why once Yaakov and once Yisrael? Once "take root," once "blossom and flower"? So the Malbim says: the expression "take root" means the rooting of the thing. "Blossom and flower" means what it produces afterward. When it grows, it produces flowering and blossoms with buds. So "Yisrael" comes to express the importance of the people of Israel. The term Yisrael. In contrast, "Yaakov" comes to express "akeva" (a heel). It comes to express the lower state of the people of Israel. So that is what he says. At first "those coming, Yaakov will take root." When it is still only a root, it has not yet come to actualization, so it is still in the state of "taking root," so it is still Yaakov. This is Yaakov, this is still not at their high level. But afterward when it blossoms and flowers, the people of Israel will be elevated in their level and their holiness, the people of Israel will be in the state of a vineyard of wine that already produces choice wine, "blossom and flower," this will already be Yisrael. Yisrael is at their high level, Yisrael is at the level of their exaltation, an expression of rulership, an expression of greatness. But at the beginning "take root," then it was Yaakov, small and lowly, this is still roots. But in the future this will become a great vineyard that will fill the face of the world with produce. Its produce, its yield, will fill the face of the world. The meaning is that in all the world they will hear about the people of Israel. But not because we send criminals to all the world, to our sorrow, or all sorts of other evils. Rather they will hear about the people of Israel because they will come and grasp the fringes of the people of Israel and say to them "come, let us go up to Zion." You merited to be the people of God, you merited to be the chosen people. They will see in them a symbol and an example and a model of the fear of Heaven, of holiness, of exaltation, that all will wish to cling to them.
Verse 7. "As the striking of the one who struck him, has He struck him? As the slaying of his slain, was he slain?" Rashi explains, "as the striking of the one who struck him, has He struck him?" Rashi says, as it were the Holy One, blessed be He, says to them: have you seen that as the striking, like the blow of the one who struck him, whom? Yaakov, of whom he spoke earlier, "has He struck him." I struck whoever struck you. I struck the one who struck you as his own blow. What does this mean? Measure for measure. Which means that if the Egyptians drowned us in water, that is, the Holy One, blessed be He, drowned them in the Sea of Reeds. "As the striking of the one who struck him, has He struck him."
Only what would you say, seemingly, why the letter heh? "Ha-kemakat." "As the striking of the one who struck him, has He struck him." Why the wonderment? The heh usually expresses wonderment. Rashi says: no, there is a heh that is a fixed heh. There are wonderments that are affirmed. This is not in wonderment, but rather the meaning of the matter, "as the striking of the one who struck him, has He struck him," this is not the heh of wonderment. Where do you see this? As it is written in Shmuel, "did I reveal Myself to the house of your father?" To whom was this said? To Shmuel, to Eli.