The Malbim then explains that this is what the verse comes to tell us here. All the nations are as nothing before Him. If you want to weigh the nations relative to the Blessed One, He tells you they are in the category of nothing. Beside the Blessed One they are as nothing before Him. And even if you say, fine, truly beside the Blessed One they are as nothing, but perhaps in themselves they do have some importance? Relatively you are correct, but perhaps in themselves they do? He says, no, less than nothing and emptiness are they reckoned to Him. In themselves they count for nothing at all. This corresponds to what we mentioned earlier, and His work is before Him. Hashem will not change His work for the sake of the nations, for when Hashem has decided something, He does not need any power to bring the matter into actuality, His work is before Him. If so, why would Hashem, as it were, change His mind because the nations find favor in His eyes? They are altogether as nothing and as naught before Him.
To whom then will you liken God, and what likeness will you set beside Him? You who doubt whether God has the ability to fulfill His will and His promise to redeem the people of Israel, you picture God, as it were, as one whose power is limited. You begin to reckon, this Hashem can do, this He cannot, this interests Him, this does not interest Him, here He will want to change His will, here He will not change His will. You regard the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, as one of the created beings. You picture the Blessed One as matter, as form, as a body, like something familiar to you here in the world. Only, you say there is a body and a more refined body. There is matter and more refined matter. So you say, as it were, the Holy One, blessed be He, is more refined matter, the Holy One, blessed be He, is a more refined body. And therefore you also make graven images in order to make things resembling Him. Therefore you make images so as to bow down before Him through that image. Concerning this He says to them, you fools, to whom will you liken God? The Holy One, blessed be He, has no likeness at all, He has no form and no image, Hashem is a supreme, exalted intellect, without limit. We have no grasp of Him whatsoever. So to whom will you liken God? Do you think you can liken to Him some image? But you, since in your folly you attribute to the Holy One, blessed be He, some likeness, some image, some form, therefore you go and also make graven images, as it were, in His likeness, blessed be He. Now He comes and says to them, but the likeness you set beside Him, to what do you liken Him? In the next verse He begins to describe before them what folly they have, why they liken Hashem, as it were, and what images they make, as it were, in His likeness, blessed be He.
The Malbim notes here a change of expression. To whom will you liken God, and what likeness will you set beside Him. There is setting one thing beside another, and there is likening one thing to another. The Malbim asks, what is the difference between them? Likening, says the Malbim, refers to sameness in some external form. This resembles that. Setting beside refers to when there is not necessarily an external resemblance between them, but in terms of value they are equal. He gives an example. A gold dinar and a copper dinar. They resemble each other, but in terms of value there is no equivalence between the value of a gold dinar and a copper dinar. A gold dinar and myrrh oil, let us say of the same value, then you can say they are of equal value, but as for resemblance, one is oil and one is a gold dinar. So they are equal in value but not alike in appearance. A gold dinar and honey of its weight, is neither alike nor of equal value. They are not alike, a gold dinar does not resemble honey in its external form, and in terms of value a gold dinar is worth far more than that same quantity, than a quantity and size of honey equal to a gold dinar. So it is neither alike nor of equal value. Concerning this He now says to them, the image surely does not resemble Him. And even according to your approach, that you think it resembles Him and that you can make for the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were according to your approach a physical form, still it is not comparable in value to the Blessed One, meaning in terms of the power of His action. There is neither external resemblance, and even according to your approach that Hashem has an external form, in terms of value what equivalence is there between Hashem and the image? For the Blessed One does the will of those who serve Him, while the image has no power at all and no benefit comes from it.
Now He continues, to whom will you liken God, and what likeness will you set beside Him? What likeness do you make of Him? The craftsman casts an image, and the smith overlays it with gold, and casts for it silver chains. To whom do you liken Him? To the image which a craftsman has cast, which he has melted, for casting means like pouring, the craftsman melted it. The craftsman is a person skilled in metalwork. You, how do you do such a thing that is utter foolishness, to take a physical thing and to liken to it, as it were, the Holy One, blessed be He, Hashem who is infinite and without end, to take Him and liken Him to an image that a craftsman cast, to an image that a craftsman went and poured? For the silver idols and gold idols, even though they are precious to you because of their metal, this is gold, it is worth much, He says that from the standpoint of the maker they are considered cheap things. A craftsman is not a master artist. A craftsman is a simple person, not one of special skill. This is what a simple metalworker is called, a craftsman. Your image, any craftsman can make it. Any simple metalworker can make such a thing. And any smith, you do not need a master expert smith. And any smith overlays it. Its overlaying is a simple task that does not require any expert to do it. And He also says that even in terms of its form it is inferior. For the world is divided into inanimate, growing, living, speaking. Had you made some form of something living, well, that is a level. Had you made a form at least of something growing, that too is something. But what did you liken to Him? An inanimate thing. Inanimate is the lowest of all that exists here in the world. So to take an inanimate thing and make it, as it were, resemble the Blessed One? Beyond this, its inferiority, for note, this image itself is of iron, this image is of tin, this image is of lead. Ah, but it is gold? No, it is only, only overlaid with gold. They coated it with gold. Do you understand what kind of image this is? That is to say, the one who made it also looked for where to save. You liken something to the Blessed One, and you make its material out of the simplest things, and only the gold is on the outside. And casts for it silver chains, what was fastened and attached to it is all sorts of ornaments of silver, ornaments of gold, all sorts of coatings, and in itself it is worth nothing.
The Malbim says let us note the difference between a craftsman and a smith. The craftsman casts an image, and the smith overlays it with gold. The Malbim says the smith is the one who melts the metals and refines them. In fire one refines metal, purifying it of its dross. The craftsman is the artisan who knew how to do skilled work on the metal itself. Usually the smith's work precedes the craftsman's work. First the smith makes the external form, afterward the craftsman comes and makes upon it engravings, decorations, and the like. He says here, note, this image is so simple that it does not need the smith to melt it, rather the craftsman casts the image. The craftsman suffices, though this is not his trade, to melt it. And afterward what is needed to overlay and beautify it? For this one needs a craftsman. He says here, you make such simple things that a smith suffices to overlay it, which is not his trade, the smith's trade being to melt. A smith suffices to overlay it, so that no great artisan is needed for it, and no care is taken in the craftsmanship of that image. As if to say, what is there to liken to the Blessed One, all the more so when you make something inferior, both in terms of its material, its composition, and the craftsmen who set up and made that thing.
He who is impoverished for an offering chooses wood that will not rot. He seeks for himself a skilled craftsman to prepare an image that will not totter. He who is impoverished for an offering. What is "impoverished"? There is Rashi who explains "impoverished" as being from the language of being practiced, like "have I ever been accustomed to do so to you," am I practiced in doing this to you? This is the expression of "impoverished." He who is impoverished for an offering. If he comes to make it of wood, then one who is practiced in distinguishing between wood that endures and wood that does not endure, wood that will not rot quickly, then the impoverished, the practiced, the expert, an offering, will lift up and choose wood that will not rot. He takes and uses such wood that will be of use to him, wood that will not spoil. He seeks for himself a skilled craftsman to prepare from it an image that will not totter. Since wood naturally tends to rot, he chooses for himself a skilled craftsman to prepare from it something that will not rot.
The Malbim, by contrast, explains that "he who is impoverished for an offering" here is not from the language of being practiced, like "have I ever been accustomed," but from the language of poor. Poor and impoverished. "He who is impoverished for an offering" means one who wants to come and make the image of something more elevated, the poor and destitute one who wants to make something more refined, as it were, so what does he do? Indeed, first of all he chooses wood. Wood, we said, has an advantage over the inanimate, for it at least has the power of growth. In this respect it has an advantage. Second, he chooses wood that will not rot. Since he needs to seek wood that will not rot, he necessarily chooses the best wood of all the woods so that he will have such wood from which he can prepare a good thing. Third, also from the standpoint of the maker, he does not take, as we said earlier, people who are not experts, but seeks for himself a skilled craftsman. When he seeks someone to make the image for him in a proper manner, he looks for a skilled craftsman, an artisan, so that he will prepare for him such a fine image, an image that will not totter. Wood, from its weakness, can reach a state where it crumbles and rots. So he takes a skilled craftsman to take for him the best material and make the best thing. So "the impoverished" is the person, as we said, the poor one, and he already makes something better than what the rich man made. Only the Malbim says, note, what is the difference between poor and destitute? The destitute one is truly depleted, he has nothing. By contrast the poor one does not have storehouses. "Poor" is from the language of storehouses, from the language of a treasury. "The impoverished" means one who has no store cities. As it is written, a poor king. What is a poor king? A king who is not rich, not that he has nothing to eat, but he is poor. A land in which you shall eat bread not in scarcity, meaning you will have storehouses full of grain, yes? A land in which you shall eat bread not in scarcity. "Scarcity" means storehouses. So "the poor" means a person who has no storehouses, but he is not in such a state of poverty as the category of the destitute.
Do you not know? Do you not hear? Was it not told to you from the beginning? Have you not understood the foundations of the earth? The Malbim explains that the knowledge a person has in any matter comes from four sources. First, from the rational. Some prior knowledge you have by way of intellect and wisdom and reflection upon the matter. Concerning this He says, do you not know? Second, from what is well known. You heard, it is already famous, everyone knows that it is so. Concerning this He says to them, do you not hear? This matter is famous. Third, from what is received by tradition. This means it is received tradition from generation to generation. Concerning this He says, was it not told to you from the beginning? It was already told from the beginning, thus it is received by us from our fathers and the fathers of our fathers. Fourth, from the perceptible. Everything that each of us has experienced and seen to be so. From the experience that each and every one has. Concerning this He says, have you not understood the foundations of the earth? From the foundations of the earth, from its complexity, you understand the power of the Holy One, blessed be He, you understand His ability.
I will read perhaps another verse or two and after that we will see what the Radak says, for the Radak here is somewhat lengthy. So He says to them, do you not know? Do you not hear? Was it not told to you from the beginning? Have you not understood the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are as grasshoppers, who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them like a tent to dwell in. He brings princes to nothing, He makes the judges of the earth as emptiness. Scarcely are they planted, scarcely are they sown, scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth, when He blows upon them and they wither, and the storm carries them off like stubble. To whom then will you liken Me, that I should be equal, says the Holy One. The Radak explains this against those who are worshipers of the image. He says, how can you err in such an error, to take the image and worship it as if it created the world? Do you not know, for from your own knowledge you understand that Hashem is the Master of the world. And not only this, do you not hear from what you read in books. And if that is not enough, was it not told to you from the beginning, as we said, this is the tradition received from generation to generation. Did you not hear this from the ancients of old? For in all these matters a person ought to know and understand the reality. And He says, have you not understood the foundations of the earth? If you have none of all this, reflect, you will understand, reflect upon the foundations of the earth. Through reflecting upon this you will be compelled to reach the conclusion that there is a Creator of the world. If only you would reflect.
And the Radak says, let us expand a little on this. Here the Radak states an important principle. The Radak says, one must know that those who are idol worshipers, do not err to think that they truly believed that this image, that this metal, that this wood, that this gold, created the world, that it formed man. The Radak says it is inconceivable that there is a fool in the world who would believe this. There is no such fool in the world. We already said once that if you find such a fool in the world he is not fit for punishment but for hospitalization. For truly a person who would believe such a thing clearly has a serious defect in his mind and one cannot make claims against him. So what really was the process of those idol worshipers? The Radak says the images at first were made for the sake of one of the stars or one of the upper forms. They believed that since the world is influenced by the twelve constellations, the twelve stars, and the twelve stars, even according to Judaism the influence descends and flows down through them, there is no contradiction in this to Judaism. But they believed that since each star influences a force, and this too we know according to Judaism that each star has a force that influences a particular thing, for example the star Saturn, what does it influence? Destruction, damage in the world. And therefore whoever works on Shabbat, this is what it influences upon him. Whoever works on Shabbat will have destruction, damage, troubles, this is Saturn. This is the star that governs on Shabbat. Just an example. So they believed in those forces of the stars, and therefore they believed that in order to draw the forces from those stars, one needs to make a form with which they would serve the star and through this draw force from the star itself. So for example if the Egyptians' deity is the lamb, for which constellation is the lamb? Of which month? Nisan. So they believed that in order to draw force from this star, from this constellation, we need to make ourselves a lamb and through this we will draw force not from this lamb, not from this gold, but this force is directed toward the upper lamb, toward the upper star, and then through this we will have abundance that will flow and bring down upon us good from that upper force. But the Radak says, true, thus it was at first. The earlier ones erred in their thinking, and the later ones erred without knowledge. The earlier ones still had some understanding, they aimed at something. But those who came after them, this was already without knowledge. For he saw the image, thus he received from his father, thus he received from his grandfather, and he began to worship it itself. He begins to worship the image itself instead of worshiping whom? The Blessed Creator. Or the star itself.
The Radak says, concerning this the prophets would rebuke them. Whom? Already the next generation, the second generation who already related to the image as having power of its own. Not those who, as we explained, still believed that through the image one draws force from the star. Rather those who related to the image as having power of its own. He says, half of it I burned in the fire, and half, half he burned in the fire there in order to eat, to bake, and half he made into an image which he worships. They do not feel, nor do they smell, concerning this the prophets would mock them. The Radak says they believed that those forms would do good and do harm. Meaning do harm to them, they would offer to them, pour libations, burn incense. And they did not pay attention that there is a Creator of the world who does good to the good and harm to the wicked, but they thought that the world was and will be without a Creator, without a leader, how? By chance. By chance the world is here. What luck that there was an explosion so and so long ago, otherwise you would not exist, we would be here. By chance, everything here is by chance. And they believed, look, they said, when we pour libations to the queen of heaven, what did they say? We saw good. Look, we succeed, everything goes wonderfully. And from the moment we ceased to pour libations to the queen of heaven, look, people said to him there, right? Look, only troubles, only problems. They truly believed that they were drawing forces through those images and believed that they had benefit from this. And so too they thought that if they performed certain actions for those images, they would receive by way of a segulah. If you do such to this image, you receive such. This is the ways of the Amorite. The ways of the Amorite, thus was their way. Do such and such will happen to you. You saw such, you will receive such. You left the house and a black cat crossed your path, you had an unlucky day. Can you explain to me the logic? No, it just became so, it is so, take it into account, it is so. This is the ways of the Amorite. Offer to it such and you will receive such, do to it such and such will happen to you. A machine, what you put into it accordingly you take out. Thus they had all sorts of vain beliefs, in which they were habituated generation after generation from ancient years. And often it is enough for one story where something succeeds to make it famous. Like a certain holy man. For seven hundred times that he spoke nonsense no one will tell you. For the one time that he told my sister-in-law, and I tell you afterward she became pregnant, and don't ask, and what a thing, they brought a sandak and... yes, but what do you want, that the Holy One, blessed be He, should change His world for the fools? She deserves pregnancy, and just because the holy man said, so now Hashem will withhold pregnancy from her? So He gives it to her despite the holy man having said. So now she is certain it is because of the holy man. Because of the holy man. How many times the holy man spoke and nothing happened? That no one knows, that they will not tell you. Do you understand? Therefore these people became believers in that idolatry and tell you, saying, look, the idolatry did such and did such, they became habituated to believe that this is the force that acts in the world.
Therefore the Radak says, the prophet says to them against the worshipers of the image, have you not understood the foundations of the earth? If there is understanding in you, reflect upon the foundations of the earth. Then you will be able to see whether there is a Ruler of the world, who is the Holy One, blessed be He, or your image that is the deity. Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and so on. Does this too seem to you to be from the power of the images? Then He says, from all this reflection you will understand that there is something planned here. For behold, if you reflect upon the creation, there are in creation four elements. And among them there are also opposing elements. For example, fire versus water. How do they endure in creation? Seemingly they should nullify one another. Or man himself, in him too there are opposing elements, and yet man endures. How can you say this happened by chance? That this whole world was created by chance. And He gives several more examples that I would not want to enter into. One thing is clear, whoever reflects upon nature, upon creation, from my flesh I behold God. So how can you believe in this vanity called idolatry? For it is clear that someone planned the reality. We once said that if we would reflect even only upon the human body, a person would be compelled to reach the conclusion that someone planned it in the most sophisticated manner. Everything in the clearest and most sophisticated way. For if our fingers were a bit more sticky, everything we touched we would stick to. And if our fingers were a bit less sticky, we could not even leaf through pages. We could not even grasp an object. It would immediately slip from your hand. The stickiness of our hand is at the most precise level. Incidentally, there are poor people who suffer from excessive sweating of the hands, and it truly makes their lives miserable. It greatly hinders all the most basic actions. Imagine that the Holy One, blessed be He, had created man just without a thumb. Now go and try to arrange your daily routine without a thumb. Can anyone picture how he would hold something? Just the thumb, look, I did not take from you two legs. Just the thumb, remove the thumb, tell me how you button a button. Tell me how you grasp a cup. You would still need to grasp like, like a monkey, like this. Do you understand? Everything you would have to grasp in this manner. For the whole way we can grasp something delicately is only because a person has a thumb. Tell me how you eat, you would have to grasp like this and eat in this manner. All that we are able to do in terms of actions is because we have a thumb. Imagine that we had no fingernails. The fingernails cause that when I grasp something, there is something hard that helps me grasp. Imagine that the fingernail were only on the other side. Alright? Not in place of the upper side, on the lower side. I can go like this over the whole human body and show how much immense wisdom there is in the construction of the human body. Imagine that we had no eyebrows. Has it ever happened to you that you sweated a lot? What happens to the eyes? The eyes begin to receive the saltiness of the sweat. Why do those athletes put here some absorbent cloth? Because otherwise, from how much he sweats, the eyebrows are not enough to stop it. But by Hashem's kindness that there are eyebrows, a person can drain the sweat off himself, and it does not enter his... Do you have a windshield wiper more wondrous than the eyelids? Without all the eyelids the eye would long ago have been blocked just from the dust and dirt. And we have a wiper with water that comes down without any of us even noticing that something is interfering. Even when you clean the windshields in a car, there is some interval of a second or two of the spray on the windshield and the wiper where everything is dirty, you cannot see. Imagine that every few seconds we had to run a wiper over our eyes. You cannot see for a few seconds, you are now cleaning them. And the eyes clean themselves without our feeling it. We already told once that Rav Shach once took out a clementine and ate it. Some young scholar came in, he asked him, what do you see? He said, a clementine. Rav Shach said to him, by my soul. Rav Shach swore to him, by my soul, when I see a clementine I see the Creator of the world. When I look at its beauty, at the wrapping with which the Creator of the world wrapped it so that it would not get dirty. Leave a clementine outside for half a day, you cannot eat it, it dries out. Hashem wrapped it in a wrapping. And afterward also the segments. Imagine it were all one piece. Go bite into such a thing. You get all wet, you get all dirty. The Holy One, blessed be He, says, no, I made for you savings packages inside. Here, segments. Take, take out a segment, something you can actually put into your mouth. And not only that, what about more clementines further on? The Holy One, blessed be He, says, I put it inside for you. You have there a little seed, take it out, plant it, receive another tree. He does not even keep it for Himself, it is open source. It is software with open source, whoever wants can duplicate it. Take, make yourself one. Had the Creator of the world made such a thing, He would have told you there are copyright rights, that's it, I created it, no more. No, He says, take, duplicate it for yourself, make yourself another tree. Do not do things I did not do. Do not invent all sorts of hybrids, that no. But that which... For anyone who wishes to reflect can see with his eyes, have you not understood the foundations of the earth? True, correct, you are right, thus you received from your father, thus it was told to you from the beginning. What? Instead of transmitting to you the Exodus from Egypt and the splitting of the Red Sea, what they transmitted to you was images and idols. True, I agree. But you understood the foundations of the earth. For you can reflect upon the foundations of the earth and then from this see the hand of Hashem, from this see the guidance of the Holy One, blessed be He. So why did you not do this? And the main thing is the order. There is nothing in the world that is not ordered. And when a person sees order, this necessarily means that there is someone who ordered it. How did Rav Shalom Schwadron once put it? He met someone, he said to him, tell me, he began to speak with him about faith, tell me, from where were you created? So he says to him, I am from the Big Bang. So he says to him, from the Big Bang. Rav Shalom Schwadron says to him, look, if your hand were stuck in your bald spot, and your leg came out of your back, and your ear grew on your knee, then I would say, correct, you are right, from the Big Bang. You really look like someone who went through an explosion. He says, but look how beautifully you are arranged. Hands, legs, eyes in front, ears to hear. So orderly. What explosion creates such a thing? What explosion creates such a thing? And this is something that anyone who reflects, even a child can understand it. And if a person does not understand this, it is a sign that he wants to deny. There is no other explanation for it. Anyone who reflects upon reality, such a thing cannot form by itself. So this is what He argues to them. For if you had reflected, surely you would have reached the conclusion that there is a Creator of the world.
And man in his world, the Radak summarizes, he expands further, I will only shorten. Man in his world is like the steward in a house, into whose hands were given all the affairs of the house. And this steward did not see the master of the house with his eyes. Rather he grew up in that house. What are you doing here? My father too was a steward here. And what did he do here? They told him to take care of the house. Fine, who is the owner? Your father was a steward, you too are a steward, but who is the owner? He never saw him. Should he not seek to know who is the master of the house, so as to know that I am truly doing what he wants? I take care of the house, I arrange things, but to know that this is what the master of the house truly wants. That the master of the house will ultimately give me my wages. Should he not try to find favor in his eyes? Should he not try to verify that his deeds are truly fitting so that in the end he will receive his wages and not be dismissed from his work? The foolish steward will not do this. Since he sees himself as a steward, he does with it as he wishes, as the desire of his heart. He uses the house for whatever he pleases, not according to the original plans of the one who appointed him over the house. He does not consider who the master of the house is. And he says in his heart, since I do not see with my eyes that this house has an owner, who brought me to think that it has an owner? Why should I think it has an owner? You see that each time the food gets arranged in the house, you see that each time the refrigerators suddenly become full by themselves, you see that there is someone who pays the electricity and water bill, you have already been here in the house a long time, and you do not see that everything is so orderly, there is some accounting, you do not understand this? No, I live here, I never saw the master of the house, let me continue to enjoy. He takes out another bottle of drink from the refrigerator and is content. They put me here, I am a steward here in the house. But one who has understanding will try to see who the master of the house is, before the master of the house becomes aware and casts him out with a push and great wrath.
This is what the prophet argues to them. The prophet says to them, even if you know and hear and it was told to you from the beginning, you say, I did not have this, they did not inform me from the beginning. But have you not understood the foundations of the earth? Reflect upon the foundations of the earth and through this you will know that there is a Master of the palace who formed, planned, made, and established all that is here. So how do you continue with that image which a craftsman cast, how do you still cling to idolatry?
It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are as grasshoppers, who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them like a tent to dwell in. There are people, says the Malbim, who picture the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, sitting in heaven and the earth His footstool, and He thus looks from above down below. There are those who picture Him like a king and like some tent spread out above. The Malbim says, if you picture Him as sitting above the circle of the earth, the circle of the earth is a compass. Thus the Malbim explains, and also the Radak. A compass has the part that is stuck into the surface, the pin, and the part with the pencil that goes around. So the earth is, as it were, at the place of the center, it is the pin, and the part that goes around makes the drawing, and this, as it were, is the place where the Holy One, blessed be He, sits. So Hashem is, as it were, seated above and observes what happens below. Thus people, as it were, picture the perspective of the Divine relative to man. And accordingly, one who looks in such a manner, in what size do human beings appear to him? And its inhabitants are as grasshoppers. If He sits above the circle of the earth, then human beings appear to Him as small as grasshoppers. So He says, if so, accordingly a person perceives that we are nothing before the Holy One, blessed be He. For just as when I look at an ant it does not interest me at all, and I have no interest in investigating what it went through today and how it felt, it is just an ant. So too the Holy One, blessed be He, who sits there above, or sits as a ruler, stretches out the heavens like a curtain, like some sheet and tent spread out, and the Holy One, blessed be He, is like a king seated there, so accordingly the Holy One, blessed be He, in such a state surely does not oversee. Who is interested in what happens with the ant beneath him? So Hashem, who sits thus in such a lofty and exalted place, surely has no interest in the human beings sitting here. And if so, He brings princes to nothing, He makes the judges of the earth as emptiness. Accordingly even the princes, the princes who are considered the advisers of the king, and the judges who are the ones who judge the king's people, the Holy One, blessed be He, does not need them at all, as it were. Not as it were, He truly does not need them at all. For the Holy One, blessed be He, does not need advisers. So the princes to Him are nothing. Who needs judges? A king who cannot judge everyone, has no time, has no ability, has no strength, does not have the mind to judge everyone, such a king needs judges. So the Holy One, blessed be He, makes the judges of the earth as emptiness. To Him they are in the category of emptiness, they are naught, they provide nothing, He has no need of them, He has no help or assistance from them. Scarcely are they planted, scarcely are they sown, scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth, when He blows upon them and they wither, and the storm carries them off like stubble. They are like a plant that was not planted. How does one plant a plant? One takes a cutting that already has roots and plants it in the earth. Scarcely are they sown, how does one sow? Here one no longer takes a plant but needs to take a seed. "Sown" is by sowing, when one sows a seed in the earth. Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth, even the stock that arose by itself did not put down roots in the earth at all. Beyond all this weakness, He blows upon them and they wither. He blows upon them with His breath and in a single moment they are dry. And the storm carries them off like stubble. There is a storm that takes and carries them off like stubble. The Malbim explains that He always proceeds in gradation. This is the Malbim's approach everywhere, that whenever he enumerates several things there is a gradation from the weak to the strong. Always in such a way that he enumerates them in order. So he says, even if you would regard them as strong, as though they were planted, He says, scarcely are they planted. And there is something weaker, merely sown. When I plant, at least there is a seedling, but when I sow there is not even a seedling, from the seed something needs to begin to develop. He tells you, scarcely are they sown, there is not even a seed here. And if you say, fine, but it grew by itself, one sees a stock here, He tells you, no, this stock has no root in the earth, their stock. A stock is always what is above the ground, a root is what is within the ground. He says, this stock has no root at all. So accordingly He blows upon them and they wither, and the storm carries them off like stubble. In a single moment the Holy One, blessed be He, scatters them.
So accordingly the reality of the Blessed Creator is such that He has, as it were, no relation at all to physical, material reality, that all physical, material reality resembles here a reality that does not exist at all. Not planted, not sown, no root in the earth, not even the princes, not even the judges of the earth, even the most important things are, before the Holy One, blessed be He, nothing beside the Creator Himself. To whom then will you liken Me, that I should be equal, says the Holy One. After He told us before, what likeness will you set beside Him, and after He told us the craftsman casts an image, as if it is possible to give Him a likeness, only that what you do, what you liken Him to, does not fully resemble. As if this was the claim. For He said to them, what, you liken the Holy One, blessed be He, to an image? One can liken Hashem, but the image does not fully resemble. Or I liken Him as sitting in heaven. The prophet says to them, all that I described to you, do not think that this is how I think the reality of the Creator is. I described this according to your perspective, according to the limitation of your understanding. I tell you, to what do you liken Him, the image? This wood that yesterday you cut and today you carved into it, this you liken to the Blessed Creator? According to the limitation of your understanding I tell you. Even according to your approach, surely it is inconceivable to liken a physical, material, worthless thing, to liken it to the Blessed Creator. This He said to them in the previous verses. But He says, know this, I for My own part tell you that the Holy One, blessed be He, is hidden from all likeness. Not only that a craftsman cannot be likened to Him, but the Holy One, blessed be He, is a matter of abstract reality to which it is inapplicable to liken anything at all. And therefore He says, to whom then will you liken Me, that I should be equal, says the Holy One. For the Blessed One, as it were, says to you, to whom will you liken Me, that I should be equal? For I have no likeness or resemblance at all. When you want to liken something to something, you need there to be some resemblance. But the Holy One, blessed be He, you do not grasp Him at all, so to whom will you liken Me? So how is it at all applicable to liken Him? The Malbim asks, what is the difference between "liken Me" and "be equal"? The Malbim explains, likening is even by some resemblance. For example, my beloved resembles a gazelle. What, does he have antlers like a gazelle? No, rather it means he is swift like the gazelle. There is some resemblance, and one can already say to liken. The Holy One, blessed be He, says, to whom will you liken Me? To whom is it applicable to say that the Holy One, blessed be He, has some resemblance, something that can even be explained, something to liken, to whom will you liken Me? "That I should be equal," He speaks of equating altogether, the Holy One, blessed be He, says, would I truly be equal to it? If you compare the Holy One, blessed be He, my beloved resembles a gazelle, and indeed all the comparisons in Song of Songs speak of the Holy One, blessed be He. If you compare the Holy One, blessed be He, then would I truly be equal? "Equal" means complete equivalence. Would it truly enter one's mind that I should be equal to it? That I should be identical to it? As it is written, lest you make yourself equal to Him as well, "equal to Him" meaning completely identical. So all the likening is only in some attribute, only by some resemblance so that you will understand. So they tell you the Holy One, blessed be He, for example sits in heaven, or all sorts of such expressions. But do I really think that this is equivalent to what we liken "my beloved resembles a gazelle"? Is this truly in complete likeness, is this equivalence? "That I should be equal"? Says the Holy One. For the Holy One, blessed be He, is of the category of holy. What is holy? Holy is separate. Be holy, be separate. So the Holy One, blessed be He, is of the category of holy and separate from all physical reality. So to whom is it applicable to liken Him?
Lift up your eyes on high and see, who created these, who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, from the greatness of might and because He is strong in power, not one is missing. Lift up your eyes on high and see, who created these. The Malbim says He continues along the same line. You want to liken the Holy One, blessed be He, to something? To whom will you liken Him? To something physical here? Ah, that is surely lowly. Some animal here, to man, to what will you liken Him? If they are already going to liken Him, then surely the star worshipers will want to liken Him to one of the heavenly bodies. That is something that expresses power. As is brought there about Rabbi Akiva, that a certain Caesar said to him, show me your God. I do not remember whether it is brought about Rabbi Akiva, some other sage. He said to him, show me your God. He said to him, come tomorrow at noon. He came the next day at noon, and he showed him the sun. Rabbi Yehoshua. Rabbi Yehoshua. He showed him the sun. The other tries to look, he says to him, no, no, what is your God? He says to him, no, this is one of His servants. One of His servants.
A person is capable of looking at what you want to see. That is to say, when I want to liken something lofty and exalted, I will try to liken it to the heavenly bodies, which are something lofty and exalted. So concerning this He says to them, to whom do you want to liken? To whom will you liken Me, that I should be equal? Lift up your eyes on high. You want to liken Me to one of those awesome, wondrous bodies that fly in the heavens, or the angels that move them? He says, but if you lift up your eyes on high, you will reflect and see, who created these. For it is inapplicable to liken the Creator to the created, for it must be that the Creator is more sublime and more mighty than what was created.
If I made a cup, then who is wiser, I or the cup? Surely I am wiser than the cup, for I made it. And also a person who created a computer, do not err to think, the computer is not wiser than the person. It is a golem that may perform actions quickly. It is like if I create a car, this does not mean that because the car drives fast and I cannot run at its speed, it is more excellent than I. Surely not. Man in himself is more sublime and elevated than all that he created in the world, than all that he made, even though this is something made from something.