Yeshayahu chapter 32. "Behold, a king shall reign for righteousness, and princes shall rule with justice." He is telling you: know that everything we have seen until now was in the merit of Chizkiyahu. Chizkiyahu did not reign in order to conquer nations. So why did he reign? For what purpose was he crowned? For righteousness. So that he would oversee the princes, that their office would be conducted with justice, that everything would be according to law and halacha. When we crown a king, we do not do so in order to have some kind of dominion over the nations, to prove our might. No. The purpose of the king's reign is "Behold, a king shall reign for righteousness, and princes shall rule with justice." That the princes should rule, that their office should exist, in order to carry out justice.
The Malbim asks: what is the difference between justice (mishpat) and righteousness (tzedek)? Mishpat is according to the law, and this is in the hands of the princes. It is justice, to carry out judgment upon them as written. Tzedek, on the other hand, as we have explained several times, is from the word tzedakah, it is going beyond the letter of the law. Tzedek is only in the hands of the king. That is to say, when a matter comes before the judge, the judge must render the verdict, he cannot decide to grant a pardon. The king, on the other hand, can decide to pardon him, even though he does not really deserve it. And therefore we see to this day, when they want, for example, to pardon some prisoner, that this is one of the few things they left in the hands of the president, this matter of pardoning prisoners. And even that is not really in his hands, usually it is just a rubber stamp. There is a committee that sits and decides who is worthy and who is not, and he is a rubber stamp who signs what they submit to him. Yes. But in their day the king could pardon a man who deserved death, to extend to him his scepter, for if he extended to him the golden scepter he would live. That is to say, it was in the king's power to render judgment both with justice and with charity, this is in the king's hands. But the judge did not have many options; if the law determines thus and the statute determines thus, he could not act against it. So therefore regarding the princes he writes mishpat, because justice they must carry out, that is the law. But regarding the king, "a king shall reign for righteousness," the king is also able to act with charity and to go beyond the letter of the law.
"And a man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the storm; as streams of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land." He is speaking here about the protection of Chizkiyahu, who was a king of righteousness, a king of justice. He says: know that Chizkiyahu protected and shielded his people through his righteousness. And he says, even though Chizkiyahu is a man who was created according to nature, and everything created according to nature is composed of four elements, this we have already learned. Four elements called ARM"A: fire (esh), wind (ruach), water (mayim), earth (afar). So then, "and a man shall be," Chizkiyahu is in the category of a man, he is composed of the four elements. He says: know that it is within his power to rule over all four elements and to shield against them.
And now he begins: "as a hiding place from the wind," like something in which one hides from the first element, which is wind. Second, "and a covert from the storm." A storm, as we always know, refers to rain, water. A flood of many waters. So he is like a place in which to hide from the storm, which is the harm of the water element. "As streams of water in a dry place," like streams of water that provide benefit in a place of drought and heat. When there is drought and heat, what actually helps? What is beneficial? What gives life? Water. It protects, water protects against what? Against fire. If there is something that heats up, how do we cool it? By means of water. So he is "as streams of water in a dry place," in a hot place it is within his power to shield against the heat, against the fire element. "And as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land," in a place where the earth element is what causes harm, then he is a great rock. When there are mudslides, landslides of earth, what can shield against them? Large rocks. They place rocks and the rocks cause the earth not to continue and slide further down. So he shields like a great rock in a weary land, in a place where the land has already grown weary and the earth begins to slide and there is a danger that the earth element will prevail, the rock is the protector. So he is really describing for us how a man, who is a man, composed of four elements, is nevertheless able to shield against the harm of all four elements.
"And the eyes of those who see shall not be dim, and the ears of those who hear shall hearken." Above we saw that he said "Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes," so that they should not see and not repent, "lest they return and be healed," the Holy One Blessed be He said that they should receive the punishment fitting for them. Now he says, this will last until when, as we saw? Until "the cities be waste without inhabitant." And then "the holy seed shall be its stock," if you recall we explained that a holy seed would still remain from which it would begin to flourish, from which everything would begin to rise and sprout anew. And they would be the kind who would see and hear and understand. Of whom is he speaking? Of the era of Chizkiyahu. That in the era of Chizkiyahu there would be righteous people. Now this prophecy would be fulfilled, "the eyes of those who see shall not be dim." Against what he said, "shut their eyes," shut we explained as smooth, as if something was smeared over them and made them smooth, he is unable to see. Now he says, his eyes shall not be dim, the eyes of those who see shall not be dim, their eyes shall be opened to see. And also "and the ears of those who hear shall hearken," his ears shall hearken. And hearkening is usually from a distance. This means, even when someone calls him from afar he will hearken. The metaphor here, as we discussed in the past, is that they were essentially like the blind and the deaf. The prophet comes and rebukes them, the prophet shows them how their way is not the right one, he explains to them that they are actually walking in the opposite direction from the correct path, and they are like a man who walks with his eyes sealed and his ears blocked, not hearing the one who directs him, not seeing the straight path. But now, "and the eyes of those who see shall not be dim," he says now their eyes shall be opened, "and the ears of those who hear shall hearken."
"The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly." Against what he said, "Make the heart of this people fat," he says suddenly they will understand, the fat will already be removed from their heart. "The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge." A rash person means a man who does his deeds without thought, hastily, he is rash. Suddenly the heart of the rash will understand knowledge. And lest you think that his understanding will be an understanding used to mock and taunt, no, rather it will be an understanding through which he attains knowledge. And not only that, "and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly." Not only will they understand for themselves, but they will even teach others. And one who until now was in the category of a stammerer, a stammerer is a man who speaks with a defective tongue, meaning he can barely speak, their tongues will even be ready to speak plainly. Ready to speak plainly, they will speak with a clear tongue. This means they are the ones who will spread the Torah, they are the ones who will spread the word of Hashem. Those whose hearts were smeared with fat, those whose tongues were stammering, will now become those who bring the word of Hashem and teach others.
"The vile person shall no more be called generous, nor the churl said to be noble." There will no longer be flattery. For when there is flattery, then a wicked man is called righteous, and a man who is not honest is called a good man. He says, then such a situation will not exist. "The vile person shall no more be called generous." The vile will not be called generous. "Nor the churl said to be noble." A churl (kili), what is a churl? Usually it is a miser. Its meaning is also from the word swindler (nochel), as we will soon explain. "Nor said to be noble (shoa)." What is shoa? Shoa is from the word for a wealthy man, a generous man. And we will explain. The Malbim says, the vile one (naval) is a man who is evil in his inner self and in his outer self. That is, both in what is revealed and in his conscience, in his hidden depths. Evil toward Heaven and evil toward people. But the churl is from the word swindler. His cunning is hidden in his heart. And he does not display his cunning outwardly, he does not display his wickedness outwardly. This is as we said, churl is from the word swindler. (A questioner asks: not "orek"? Isn't churl from "orek"?) No, churl is from the word swindler. It is also an expression for a miser, it has several meanings. So he says, until now they would flatter, they would call the vile one, call him generous. He says from now on not only will the vile one not be called generous, for really the vile and the generous are the two most distant extremes, so to speak, he says until now they would call the vile one generous, he says not only will this not be, but even the churl, who is not as evil as the vile one, for as we explained the vile one is evil both inwardly and outwardly, and the churl we said is inwardly evil but outwardly he is ostensibly a good man, toward others he is ostensibly a good man. He says, no, even the churl, who is not as evil as the vile one, not only will he not be called generous, which is the other extreme, but he will also not be called shoa, for shoa is a lesser level than generous. So he says at first there was such an extreme, that the generous, who is at this end, they would call, excuse me, the vile one, who is at this end, they would call generous, which is the other end. He says now not only will this not be, but even much less. The churl, who is not the most extreme, will not be called shoa, for the shoa in terms of goodness is also not the most extreme toward the other side. So even such a distortion will not exist. The Malbim explains, churl is like the word cursed swindler, "with their wiles which they beguiled you," a man who devises evil counsel, a man whose inner faculties advise evil. Therefore churl always expresses evil in the inner self. Shoa, says the Malbim, always comes in contrast to the poor. "Nor was the shoa distinguished before the poor." "Will he value your riches (shua)? No, not gold." The churl is not a shoa. But the vile one, as we said, is the opposite extreme to the value of the generous one. Rashi explains, shoa is from the word master. And why, how is shoa connected to master? Everyone turns (shoin) to him. Like "turn to my prayer." To turn to someone means to direct yourself toward him. I turn to you. So the generous one, the master, is considered shoa because they always turn to him, request from him, everyone needs him. Compared to the poor man, who even if he is wise, his wisdom is despised. The generous one, even if he speaks nonsense, even if his jokes are tasteless, everyone will laugh. Yes, who knows, maybe something, maybe something will rub off on me. Right? Everyone comes to shake his hand, everyone... this is part of the world of falsehood. So he is called master. Why? Everyone turns to him, that is shoa.
"For the vile person will speak villainy, and his heart will work iniquity, to practice hypocrisy, and to utter error against Hashem, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail." Now he describes the baseness of the vile one, and we explained that the vile one is at the extreme end of the scale, he is worse than the churl. He says, the vile one has baseness in two matters. First, he is evil both openly and secretly. For openly he "will speak villainy." He has no problem, he speaks words of villainy, words of insolence, words of coarseness, in public, without shame. What will you say, perhaps inwardly, well, perhaps there he is still okay? His conscience, he tells you, "and his heart will work iniquity." Even within his heart he has iniquity, iniquity meaning evil, negative thoughts. Second, says the Malbim, his evil extends over three matters upon which a man's perfection depends. First, regarding faith in Hashem may He be blessed. Second, in matters between man and God. Third, in matters between man and his fellow. In all three of these things the vile man is corrupted. Against matters between man and God, he says "to practice hypocrisy." All the mitzvot he performs are done in hypocrisy, in order to boast, in order to gain benefit. Hypocrisy, not truly because Hashem commanded and for the sake of Hashem. This is regarding matters between man and God. Against faith in Hashem, "and to utter error against Hashem." As if Hashem acts improperly, Hashem acts unjustly. "And to utter error against Hashem." And against deeds between man and his fellow, "to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail." The hungry man, some food item has now reached his hand, he goes to empty the soul of the hungry, goes and empties it from him. Some drink reached a poor and thirsty man, "and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail," he goes and takes from him the drink that the thirsty man has. So this vile one, to summarize, has, first, evil in his inner self and in his outer self, and second, he lacks all perfection, both in matters between man and God, both in beliefs and opinions, and in matters between man and his fellow, from all aspects.
"And the churl," in contrast the churl we spoke of earlier, "and the churl, his instruments are evil; he devises wicked schemes to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaks justly." Indeed the churl is not as evil as the vile one, he has an advantage over him in two matters says the Malbim. First, his evil is not open, he does not act wickedly in public. He does not do his evil openly the way the vile one acts wickedly in public. Furthermore, he sins only in mitzvot between man and his fellow, but not in mitzvot between man and God. That is to say, inwardly he is still somehow good, but outwardly, as we explained, in matters between man and his fellow he sins and corrupts. But he tells you, still generous he certainly cannot be defined. "And the churl, his instruments are evil." What are his instruments? It means his cunning, his inner self is evil, his thoughts are evil. It could be that outwardly he is a likable and pleasant person, this churl, for we are not speaking of a vile one, since a vile one is also outwardly vile. A vile one, villainy is with him, like the way Naval the Carmelite behaved, he cursed and insulted David and behaved coarsely toward a man who guarded his flock. With the churl it is not so. The churl is outwardly pleasant, but he tells you "his instruments are evil, he devises wicked schemes." He always has scheming in his heart, all kinds of plans, how to do, how to... outwardly he is very pleasant, he is very fine with you, but this swindler, the churl as we explained is from the word swindler, conceals his evil. And through this "to destroy the poor." He destroys the poor by deceiving them. "Even when the needy speaks justly." And even when the needy man speaks justly, meaning there is a clear judgment, there is no doubt that the needy man is right in his case, he nevertheless goes and deceives him, goes and takes from him unlawfully, takes and robs him. So he says, certainly he cannot be called generous. How can we call him generous?
For "but the generous devises generous things, and by generous things he shall stand." It is impossible to call the churl generous, even though he is as far as east from west from the vile one, for the vile one as we explained is evil both inwardly and outwardly, but certainly the churl is still certainly not generous. For the generous one is the complete opposite. He "devises generous things." Where is the counsel found? Inside or outside? Inside. A man advises, the inner faculties advise. The generous one devises generous things. Even in his heart and conscience he is full of generosity. How to yield to others, how to bestow good upon others, he has generosity in his inner self. But lest you think this is only in his inner self. He tells you "and by generous things he shall stand." The Malbim explains, the definition of the generous one is that the generosity should not be an incidental matter not sought for its own sake, for some purpose outside of the generosity itself. Let me explain, the Malbim's language is sometimes difficult. The Malbim explains, if you are generous for the sake of an interest, that is not generous. If you are generous because you will gain benefit from it, because you are in the category of "cast your bread upon the waters," then you are not generous, you are simply self-interested, someone who thinks two steps ahead. That one is not really giving, you say listen, if I give, I will receive in the end. Is such a man called generous? A man who takes an elderly person, goes and helps him and assists him, an elderly childless man, cares for him in everything possible. There is one who will say listen, I am impressed, what a man of kindness, what a good-hearted person. But one who knows the type a bit, tells you listen, he says how much longer will this person live? Let me help him, I will do this, in the end he will give me the inheritance, everything will pass to me. Is this one called generous? That is what he says. The generous one must have no ulterior motive in his generosity. For the generous one, the purpose is the generosity itself. Namely to benefit, to do good to another. The purpose of the generosity, this is what he says, the generosity must be a matter sought for its own sake. He despises for its sake his self-love, all the benefits and pleasures that would come to him, he gives them up. Everything, the goal is to be generous. The goal is to give to another. Not how do I give in order to receive in the end. And he says, such a man, whose entire foundation and purpose is generosity, is a man who truly deserves to be called generous. And this is what he says, "and by generous things he shall stand." What does "by generous things he shall stand" mean? It means, not that the generosity shall stand upon him, but rather that he himself shall stand, meaning his foundation will be upon generosity. His entire foundation, for what is the foundation of a thing? The foundation of a thing is its purpose. When I plan something, one must look at what the foundation of the matter is, that is, what is at the base of the plan, and then afterward come the ways of how I carry it out. For example, if I want to accumulate wealth, the foundation of the matter is how I accumulate wealth. How do I carry it out? I establish a business. Now, there could be a person who does the same thing through a free-loan fund (gemach) that he establishes. He establishes a gemach, but if the foundation of the matter is how I accumulate wealth, and the gemach is a way to accumulate wealth, then this turns everything you did into something negative. Because the foundation of the matter is negative. But if the goal, the foundation of the matter, is truly how to help others, then even if along the way I accumulate wealth, in order to help others, this act itself becomes a praiseworthy act, an act of generosity, because the entire goal, the foundation of the matter, is really to benefit others. And this is what he says, who is the true generous one? "And by generous things he shall stand." "Shall stand" is the foundation of the matter. If the foundation is truly that the goal, the purpose, is in order to give, in order to benefit, in order to bestow upon others, he says then all that you do leads to that goal and that purpose, for this stands, this is the foundation of the matter. But if the foundation of the matter is all kinds of other profits, then even when you perform many acts of generosity along the way, we will always look for where the interest is, where the benefit is, what you want to gain from all this. He says, look, this is the difference between the churl and the generous one. That the generous one, even within himself, first, his counsel is generosity, and second, all his deeds are founded upon generosity, and not a generosity that is meant to bring benefit and provide some other profits or foreign interests.
"Rise up, you women that are at ease; hear my voice, you confident daughters, give ear to my speech." The Radak explains, women at ease, women meaning as the Targum renders it "provinces," meaning states. Confident daughters, meaning fortified cities, meaning cities. And this refers to Yehuda, who were at ease and confident. He told them, even though now you are still at ease and confident, upheavals still await you, you will still tremble. "Give ear to my speech," and this is the following pasuk, "days beyond a year shall you be troubled" and so on. And this expression appears in another place as well. "Let Mount Zion rejoice," what is the continuation? "Let the daughters of Yehuda be glad." Who are these daughters of Yehuda? The daughters of Yehuda are not the daughters of Yehuda, but rather the meaning is the cities, the satellite cities of Yehuda. That is the meaning of the daughters of Yehuda. The daughters means the neighboring cities. So here too, confident daughters means the cities. The Malbim explains that what is written here will be understood based on what is brought in the book of Amos: "Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and to those who are confident in the mountain of Shomron." To explain this I must first explain the difference between one who is at ease and one who is confident. The person who is at ease is a man who sits quietly. He is calm, he is tranquil, he does not trust in his own might, he really has no might, but he also has no disturbers, he has no wars. Because of this he is at ease. The confident man, on the other hand, trusts in his own might. That is, he is not at ease, there are threats upon him, he has concerns, but, as they say, come on, I will show you what we know. He trusts in his might, he is strong, he is a warrior. The one at ease, in contrast, is not a warrior, but he is calm because there are no threats upon him. So therefore he sits at ease. Based on this he now explains. The people of Zion, this refers back to Yehuda. Zion as is known is Yerushalayim, it is Yehuda. The people of Yehuda did not trust in their might, but they were at ease. Sancheriv had not yet brought a threat upon them. And therefore they were at ease. They have no might, but in the meantime they are calm. In contrast, the people of the mountain of Shomron, who were the people of Ephraim, they were not at ease, because the king of Ashur was fighting them. But they were confident that they had strength. They were confident in their might. They said, let him come to fight, we will go out against him. Based on this he says here, what is written "women at ease," these are the people of Yehuda, who are the ones at ease. The people of Ephraim are called "confident daughters." Now see how wondrous this is. For where was the source of the kingship? Yehuda, right? Only afterward, when Shlomo passed away, Rechavam rose to reign, Yarovam and the people of Shomron came, essentially the ten tribes, and wanted to make conditions with him, he did not accept them, and the kingdom split. The kingdom that split off, which is essentially Ephraim, is called a daughter of the mother kingdom, which is the kingdom of Yehuda. So women at ease, this is the kingdom of Yehuda, she is the woman. And afterward confident daughters, these are those who came from them, who are the people of Ephraim, who are in the category of a daughter, who are confident, as we explained, they are confident in their might, even though Sancheriv already came to fight them, but they are confident that by their might they will succeed in winning the battle. So now he says to them, "rise up, you women at ease, hear my voice." That is to say, I want you to hear my voice, meaning my message is not directed at you, but you will hear. In contrast, "you confident daughters, give ear to my speech." To the confident daughters, which is Ephraim, I have what is called a direct message for you. Why? Because you are now in trouble. You are now threatened by Sancheriv, you are threatened by Ashur. So therefore "give ear to my speech." To give ear means to pay attention to what I say. My speech is intended for you. But since Sancheriv will come in the future also upon Yehuda, then this is like sometimes there is a child who is problematic, they give him discipline, and they want the child who is now starting to stray a bit from the path to see it. That he should pay attention to what they do to this child so that he will be wary, so that he will be afraid. Like there is an expression that says, they rebuke the daughter-in-law but mean the mother-in-law. Or they rebuke the mother-in-law but mean the daughter-in-law. He rebukes his mother-in-law, telling his wife, why, why wasn't it tidied up here? Why, why is everything a mess here? When he actually means the daughter-in-law, what, can't you move a little to tidy up? What... he is really saying it to his wife, but he means for his daughter-in-law to listen. So here too, essentially, the aim, the speech is to the confident daughters. The confident daughters, namely Ephraim, they are confident in their strength and they were the first to stray from the path. "Give ear to my speech," my speech is intended for you. But also you, the women at ease upon whom there is still no threat, also you, Yehuda, "hear my voice." Listen to what I am now speaking to them. My voice, the voice comes as if from afar, take note. It is not direct speech to you, but this voice of what I am speaking to them, you would do well to heed, hear my voice, because essentially in the future these matters also have an implication regarding you.
"Days beyond a year shall you be troubled, you confident ones; for the vintage shall fail, the ingathering shall not come." "Days beyond a year," he tells them a year, this is a year literally. Days beyond a year means immediately after the year ends, namely on the first of Tishrei, a few days later, "you confident ones shall be troubled." Who are these confident daughters we explained? Confident daughters is Ephraim. The people of Ephraim will be troubled, the confident ones shall be troubled. To trouble means like the expression "who troubles kingdoms." It means they will be dislodged from their place, they will not remain as they are. When? "The vintage shall fail." At the end of the summer, even though they have already harvested their fields, at the end of the year. One who harvests his field, a man who is in tranquility, at ease, goes and harvests his field, there are no threats upon him. They harvested their fields, he tells you, know that they will not manage to gather their produce home, because even before the harvest festival the enemy will come upon them. And this is what he says, "the vintage, the ingathering shall not come." It means as if there will be no ingathering. Even before you gather what you have harvested, the enemy will come.
"Tremble, you women at ease; be troubled, you confident ones; strip yourselves, and make yourselves bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins." As we said, there is an indirect message here to Yehuda. "Tremble, you women at ease; be troubled, you confident ones." The Malbim explains, what is the difference between trembling (charada) and being troubled (rogza)? Says the Malbim, trembling is before the trouble. I tremble in anticipation of the trouble. In contrast, being troubled is when the trouble has already come. And therefore take note how wondrous this is. For the ones at ease still have no problem, Yehuda still has no threat upon them. But he tells them, you should tremble at what is coming. And why? Because "be troubled, you confident ones." Be troubled, you confident ones, for those who were confident, as we said, were dislodged from their place. Who are they? Ephraim. For they have already received it. They drank the cup of poison to its dregs. So this is an indirect message to you, Yehuda, that you too should be careful, that you should not go in the same way. Come and see what happened to the confident ones, the people of Ephraim. "Strip yourselves, and make yourselves bare, and gird." He says, strip, the enemy stripped off her outer garments. Afterward he stripped also the tunic, which is what is called "make yourselves bare," her garment to bareness. And what remained? "And gird sackcloth upon your loins." All that remained for them is only a girding upon the loins, what is called to cover the flesh of nakedness, which means the most minimal clothing. It means, come and see how they stripped and bared the people of Ephraim, namely conquered them harshly, and therefore tremble, you women at ease, that the same scenario should not pass over you as well.
"They shall beat upon the breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine." Rashi explains, "they shall beat upon the breasts," this is like the manner of a mourner who beats, oh, he beats upon his chest. That is the meaning of beating upon the breasts. The Sages expound this as referring to the sages of the Sanhedrin, for the sages of the Sanhedrin are like breasts that nurse. Breasts always express, also in Shir HaShirim, everywhere, they always express abundance. Their meaning is always nursing from breasts, meaning bestowing upon the recipients. So here too, these are the Sanhedrin who are like breasts that would nurse, they will mourn over them, for the Sanhedrin has ceased. "For the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine," all this will be cut off, all this will be gathered, all this will be destroyed by the nations. The Malbim explains that here he is describing, this is a continuation of the previous pasuk. He described the people of Ephraim, what they went through. We said "be troubled, you confident ones," those who were confident in their strength, Hashem troubled their kingdoms. "Strip yourselves and make yourselves bare," He stripped them completely. To this he comes and adds, saying, they beat upon the breasts. What does this mean? They say, if only we were like a small naked daughter nursing from her mother's breast. It means, when a person is in the category of an infant, he does not need to worry about his sustenance. He is not troubled by what I will eat today for lunch. He knows, if Mother is here, I have something to eat. Why? Because the mother nurses him. And he says, if only they were like an infant who could rely upon his mother's breast. And the metaphor, says the Malbim, this is the analogy. What is this, this is the metaphor. The meaning of the matter, says the Malbim, is that he says, if only they had the fields where they would find bread. At least if he has no clothing, at least let him have food. But it is not enough that "strip yourselves and make yourselves bare," also "for the pleasant fields and for the fruitful vine," this too they do not have. They have no sustenance, they have no food. So about this they have cause to lament. And if you ask, what happened to their fields? For earlier we said that they had a vintage and went and already gathered the vintage, and at the last moment the enemy arrived. What happened to all this?
"Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city." He says, the fields are destroyed, they have no possibility of sustenance. "For the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine," a pleasant field, a fruitful vine, all is lost. "Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers." Thorns and briers shall come up, meaning thorns and briers will come up there upon the land. That is to say, the place that was supposed to grow fine produce, fruitful grapes, this place instead grows thorns and briers. "Yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city." And if you want to know why such a thing happened, for he says, upon all the houses of joy and also upon the joyous city, the places considered fine, the places where there was the joy of all the land, their houses, their palaces, all these places grew thorns, briers. And why? Because they exiled the people from there. Once they exiled from there...
the people, then naturally a situation arose where there is no one to live there, so they are desolate, and if a man understands that the houses are desolate, you will also understand why the fields are so. For after you see that even the houses are desolate, which is the place where people dwell, thorns and briers have already come up in them, so what is there to wonder about that the fields have no one to work them? And why is this? Because they exiled everyone. Since they exiled everyone, then even in the houses thorns and briers came up, so there is nothing to wonder about why upon the land of my people thorns and briers shall come up.
"For the palace shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city shall be abandoned; the hill and the watchtower shall become dens forever, a joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks." Against what he said before, that thorns and briers came up upon all the houses of joy, in all the houses there are already thorns and briers, he says why, how suddenly are there thorns inside the houses? Because the palace is forsaken. When the palace is abandoned, thorns come up there.
Against what he said, that thorns and briers came up upon the joyous city, why did the whole city grow thorns and briers? Because the multitude of the city is abandoned. The multitude abandoned the city. "The hill and the watchtower shall become dens forever." The Malbim explains, the meaning is this: instead of dens the hill and the watchtower became a joy of wild donkeys forever. The wild ones, the flocks, the animals, until now dwelt in dens, now they as if leave these dens and go to dwell in fine and wondrous dwellings. How does such a thing happen? When we abandon the houses, who enters in their place? The porcupine and the raven and beasts and animals, they graze inside the houses, for the houses are abandoned.
This is what he says, the hill and the watchtower are always an expression for towers, palaces. The hill and the watchtower were for them, for the animals, in place of dens, "in place of" is like a replacement for dens. Now the hill and watchtower have been taken from them, and lest you think temporarily, rather they took this for themselves forever. This place became a joy of wild donkeys, animals, beasts that are wild animals, this place became for them a place of pasture for flocks. They graze inside these houses, inside these fortresses. And therefore do not wonder how upon the land of my people thorns and briers shall come up, since even the houses have already become a place of thorns and briers and a place where animals and wild creatures graze.
"Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness become a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted as a forest." Until when will this be? "Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high," until the Holy One Blessed be He pours, "poured" means to pour, to spill, "and she emptied her pitcher into the trough," "and I will pour upon the house of David a spirit of grace and supplication" - until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, until Hashem pours upon us a spirit of favor from Him may He be blessed toward us, that Hashem will desire to save us. And then "the wilderness shall become a fruitful field," the place that is now destroyed like a wilderness will be full of produce like a fruitful field. The fruitful field (karmel) is the land of Yehuda, it does not refer to Mount Carmel; the land of Yehuda, which was not destroyed, the place that is a wilderness will become a fruitful field, "and the fruitful field be counted as a forest." The fruitful field, which is the land of Yehuda that was not destroyed, will be full of people like a forest, meaning everything will sprout and flourish.
"Then justice shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness shall abide in the fruitful field." "Then justice shall dwell in the wilderness," the place that is now considered a wilderness will have justice there. Justice always comes to express the law between man and his fellow, "and these are the ordinances (mishpatim) which you shall set before them, when you buy a Hebrew slave" and so on, all the matters between man and his fellow. "Then justice shall dwell in the wilderness" means that this place which is a wilderness, for you understand, in a wilderness place there are no quarrels, right? In a wilderness place there are no arguments, this is mine, that one says it is mine, no one quarrels in a wilderness place. He tells you, then justice shall dwell in the wilderness, but since this place is meant to become fruitful, then there could be quarrels, this is my portion, how dare you encroach on my field. He says, no, there too there will be justice. That is to say, the place will be settled but there will be no quarrels, since there will be justice among them, there will be righteousness among them, they will not join field to field.
And righteousness, righteousness always, the Malbim explains, means matters between man and God, not what we call today charity, that I give charity to someone, but rather righteousness (tzedakah) is from the word for being righteous with the Creator of the world, from the word tzaddik; righteousness is always matters between man and God. And righteousness means that which is between man and God shall abide. Where? In the fruitful field, "and righteousness shall abide in the fruitful field." What does he mean? This is Yerushalayim and her daughters; there they will serve Hashem, there they will conduct themselves in the way of righteousness.
What does he mean? The Malbim explains, he wants to express by this that righteousness will be primary and justice will be secondary. That is to say, when people are engaged mainly in their work, then the main thing they have is laws between man and his fellow, that one did such to him, this one robbed him here, that one intruded into his business, and so on. But in contrast, when it comes to people whose Torah is their occupation, then he does not have many laws between man and his fellow, he does not have much commerce, he does not have many matters of money. Therefore he says, take note that there will be such a situation, "then justice shall dwell in the wilderness," the matter of justice will be in the category of a dweller, a dweller (shachen) is not permanent. In contrast, "and righteousness shall abide in the fruitful field," the matters between man and God will be in the category of abiding (teshev), abiding is dwelling, dwelling is a permanent thing. And therefore he says, this means their main occupation will be in matters of spirituality, in matters of righteousness, closeness to Hashem. The aspect of righteousness, which is between man and God, this will be in the category of abiding, this will be the primary thing, for their essence will be that their Torah is their occupation.
"And the work of righteousness shall be peace, and the service of righteousness quietness and confidence forever." We have here "work" versus "service," we have "peace" versus "quietness and confidence." The Malbim explains the difference between service (avodah) and work (maaseh). Service is always something heavier than work; service is something that has more toil, "I worked hard," it always comes to express something heavier. Compared to "I did," it could be something very easy, I did the thing.
"And the work of righteousness shall be peace." We explained that righteousness is mitzvot between man and God. The mitzvot between man and God are divided into two parts: there are received mitzvot (shimiyot) and rational mitzvot (sichliyot). The rational mitzvot are things that speak of faith, of morality, for example, do not steal, do not murder, do not commit adultery, all these mitzvot are mitzvot that a person understands with reason. What we understand with reason we do with joy, for I understand the benefit of the matter, I grasp, I know that this will result in a more properly ordered society, I know that in terms of my character traits it improves them wonderfully; this a person does willingly. This is called the work of righteousness. Why work? Because it is not heavy upon me, we said, it is doing, doing is easy, it is not service. The work of righteousness shall be peace; we will soon explain the difference between peace and quietness and confidence, and then we will understand why he specifically uses "peace" here.
In contrast, there are mitzvot that are in the category of a statute (chok), matters of the sacrifices, matters that are not understood by us, such as shaatnez or other mitzvot that are in the category of a statute; we fulfill them, but take note, it is the service of a servant, for I do not really understand it, but why do I do it? A king's decree is upon me, the Holy One Blessed be He commanded, and therefore I do it. This is harder for me, it is no longer a mere deed, it is service, it already demands faith of me, it already demands sacrifice of me, for if I stumbled in something and I need to bring a sacrifice, then I need to spend a large sum of money when I do not really understand what the sacrifice accomplishes; this is much harder for me. And regarding this part, this is called the service of righteousness, this will be quietness and confidence. Quietness and confidence, says the Malbim, is more than peace.
The work of righteousness will be peace, but the service of righteousness, which is the part of righteousness between man and God involving some service, in matters that are a statute, matters not understood by human reason, for this the reward will be much greater; it will be, first, quietness and confidence, and second, it will be eternal, forever.
The Malbim explains the difference between quietness and confidence and peace. First, says the Malbim, the matter of peace is always about standard success; he has peace in the regions, this does not mean he has some overly great success, but rather standard, customary, ordinary success, this is called having peace. In contrast, quietness and confidence always come to express a higher level; he has not only peace, he also has quietness and confidence. And what is the difference between them? Quietness is from inner turmoil, confidence means trust, strength of heart regarding the future. Quietness comes and says I have nothing that disturbs me from within me. Sometimes a person may have everything around him fine, but he is at odds with himself, he suffers from all kinds of problems, he suffers from anxieties, he suffers from fears, he has all kinds of inner problems with himself; quietness comes to express this. Quietness means he is calm, he is not under pressure, he is not in anxieties from an inner standpoint. Confidence means that I have trust in the Creator of the world and the like, and then consequently I am not exposed to fears from without.
Peace, as we said, is the standard, ordinary peace, not some great level, there are no disturbances, this is called peace. So the work of righteousness, which we explained is something easy, and this is the work of righteousness in matters that a person understands with reason, the reward for this will be peace, which is the lower level. But the service of righteousness, that which you must labor at in order to be righteous and a man devoted to God, in what? In mitzvot that are in the category of a statute, this will be quietness, both from an inner standpoint, and confidence from an outer standpoint. And not only that, but this will also be forever, it will be eternal, without interruption.
"And my people shall dwell in a peaceful habitation, and in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places." "And my people shall dwell in a peaceful habitation." A habitation (naveh) is usually the dwelling of the flock. Where do we see this? Whom did He take from following the flock? David, right? It is written that He took him from following the nursing ewes, right? He brought him from following, from the habitation of the flock. Habitation, says the Malbim, is the dwelling of the flock, and it always comes as a borrowed term for a house. When one wants to say a house borrowed from where? Actually from the dwelling place of the flock, which is the dwelling of the flock. He says, there will be, my people shall dwell in a peaceful habitation, there will be peace, there will be no plunderers, no despoilers. And not only that, but "and in quiet resting places," what are resting places? The unwalled towns, they will be at ease. At ease (shaanan) means there will be no sound of noise there to disrupt the rest. The Malbim explains that shaanan is the opposite of shaon (noise), meaning shaon is noise and shaanan means without noise; he is quiet and at ease, he has no noise, there is nothing that troubles him, there is nothing that disturbs him. So the unwalled towns will be at ease. What are the unwalled towns? It means the open towns, like the exposed ones, those without a wall, they will be at ease, they will have no noise to frighten them, they will have no enemy who comes and disrupts their rest, and in quiet resting places.
In contrast, the dwellings, the dwellings we explained, a dwelling (mishkan) is already something permanent; he is speaking here about a fortress, he is speaking here about a palace. For the fortress, they will be secure. Confidence we explained is: I trust even if there is a threat upon me, but I trust because I have something to rely upon; I have a fortress, I have walls, if the enemy comes he will not succeed against me. And my people shall dwell in a peaceful habitation and in secure dwellings; since he dwells in fortified dwellings, then naturally he will be secure, and in resting places, and also those who will be in the towns, in the open towns, they too will be at ease, since there will be no threat upon them, and since there will be no threat upon them, naturally he will be at ease, he will not tremble from noise.
"And it shall hail, in the coming down of the forest; and the city shall be low in a low place." The Malbim explains that the forest and the lowland were both in the portion of Yehuda. We saw that the lowland was part of Yehuda's portion in the book of Yehoshua in chapter 15, and Sancheriv destroyed it; it is written that Lachish and Livnah, which Sancheriv destroyed, were among the cities of the lowland. The forest that they destroyed there, this too was within that border, and all this was part of Yehuda's portion. Based on this he says, "and it shall hail, in the coming down of the forest." Take note, "barad" here is not the hail that comes down from the heavens, not a plague of hail. How do we know? By the vocalization. If the vocalization were with two patachs, I would know that it refers to "barad" which is a noun. But if it is written "u-varad" meaning with a kamatz on the bet, it means "and when it comes down," "u-varad" means "and when it comes down." This is how Rashi explains it, and Rashi says perforce this "barad" is not a noun; a noun means like a proper noun, hail (barad), for indeed it is vocalized half kamatz and half patach, in the verbal form it is "barad." Barad means a verb; what is the verb? It "came down."
Based on this he says, "and it shall hail, in the coming down of the forest." The Malbim explains the meaning is: when everything came down and was destroyed. When? When the forest came down and was destroyed. "And the city shall be low in a low place." When? In the lowland, in the portion of Yehuda, the city will be brought low. When all the cities that were in the lowland are brought low, they will descend from their standing at that time when everything is destroyed. Then this reality will exist. What will there be then? "Blessed are you who sow beside all waters, who send forth the feet of the ox and the donkey." Blessed is the generation of Chizkiyahu, who are the generation that remains. When everything came down, as we explained, "and it shall hail, in the coming down of the forest," when the forest and the lowland came down, and the city that was in Yehuda's portion reached a state of lowliness, but someone in the category of "who sow beside all waters, who send forth the feet of the ox and the donkey," blessed are you. Who are these? This is the generation of Chizkiyahu, those who remained here. They will sow beside all waters, meaning beside every source of water. When you sow in a place where there is no water, then there is a danger that it will dry up, but if you sow in a place that is a source of water, there is a spring gushing beside the place of sowing, this is called "who sow beside all waters." This sowing will yield "who send forth the feet of the ox and the donkey," it will grow forth animals who send forth the feet of the ox and the donkey, meaning they will be able to graze in this place; it will be a place of animals, a place of growth, as it is written "and all the hills that were dug with the mattock, you shall not come there for fear of thorns and briers; but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of sheep." The lowland will be destroyed, but he tells you, know that to the mountain it will not reach. Blessed are you who sow beside all waters, the generation of Chizkiyahu, they are the generation that remains, their sowing will yield forth the ox and the donkey. That is to say, everything around will perish, and this is the lowland in the coming down of the forest, as he explains, but on Mount Zion there will be a remnant and it will be holy. What is this? This is Yerushalayim. Sancheriv will come, Sancheriv will besiege, he will destroy everything around, but he will not be able to approach Yerushalayim; an angel of Hashem will come and strike him there, all around, 185,000 army commanders, and by this his power will be nullified.