Perhaps first, in the previous pasuk, Rashi explains what "I knew that you would surely betray" means, and he brings a Midrash. When I descended to save you from Egypt, it is written there "I have surely seen the affliction of My people." Chazal ask: what does "I have surely seen" mean? What is the repetition? Says the Holy One, blessed be He, I see two visions. One vision, I have seen the affliction of My people. But "I have surely seen," I also see one vision of the future. And I see that you are destined to betray. Where? Already at the Golden Calf. Says the Holy One, blessed be He, I do not only see what exists now. You say, behold the people are suffering, the people here are in pain, the Egyptians are afflicting them. He says, I have seen the affliction of My people, but also "I have surely seen." I have an additional vision, and it is what they are yet destined to betray after I take them for Myself as a people. Says the Holy One, blessed be He, "For My name's sake I defer My anger, and for My praise I restrain it toward you, so as not to cut you off." The Malbim explains, there is a way to be patient with a sinner. Why? Perhaps he will repent. Hashem is patient because there is a chance, there is always a possibility that the person will change his ways. But says the Holy One, blessed be He, you are a rebel from the womb, and if so I have no hope that you will repent. And especially since you saw such wondrous miracles, and says the Holy One, blessed be He, even miracles of Creation do not convince you. Creation, which is something from nothing, even that does not convince you. So what should have been? Then it would have been fitting that I destroy you. It would have been fitting that I punish you immediately. So if that is the case, why am I patient? "For My name's sake I defer My anger." The Holy One, blessed be He, wishes to resolve this and says, do you know why I am nevertheless patient? Not because of you. Rather for My name's sake, I delay your punishment, because I do not want My name to be desecrated. For the name of Hashem is called upon you. And if so, when you suffer, when the people of Israel suffer, what is desecrated? The name of Hashem is profaned among the nations. And therefore, "for My praise I restrain it toward you." What does "I restrain it toward you" mean? The Malbim explains, "echtom" is from the word "chotem," nose. Says the Holy One, blessed be He, even at the moment I punish you, I still do not exhaust all My burning anger upon you. First I defer My anger until I punish. And even when I punish, I restrain it toward you. "I restrain it toward you" means, I hold back in the nose, a small portion of the anger. That is the meaning of "I restrain it toward you." A little of the anger remains in My nose, I do not exhaust all My arrows upon them. And this is what Chazal say, "My arrows I exhaust upon them," My arrows are consumed and they are not consumed. The meaning of this is, I do not bring them to annihilation, but rather I even make sure that My arrows are exhausted before they are exhausted. The meaning of this is, "I restrain it toward you," I leave a little of My anger in My nose, so that the wrath will not be complete wrath, the anger will not be an anger through which, God forbid, there would be annihilation.
So relatively I separate the better metal, which I will leave, and the worse, the tin, the lead, that I separate out. For when I separate from dross I have no choice but to create a separation between the bad and the worse. Says the Holy One, blessed be He, when I come to examine your condition, people of Israel, there are not such righteous ones among you, there is no silver among you, so what do I find in you? That it is all in the category of dross. If so, God forbid, what should have been? What was decreed? Complete destruction, God forbid. There would need to be absolute burning anger, there would need to be annihilation. Says the Holy One, blessed be He, "Behold, I have refined you, but not with silver." When I refine you, I will make a situation of refining, of separating the dross, this is not a furnace containing silver, but rather a furnace of affliction, and consequently through this the relatively finer one among the rest will remain. That is, this compels Me to leave a portion of the people of Israel. For if I refined them in a furnace of silver, they would all be consumed. For all of them, compared to silver, are considered dross. But since this is a furnace of affliction, then in a furnace of affliction one takes the relatively good compared to the relatively bad. And therefore this is what He says, "I have chosen you," you are the choicest in the furnace of affliction, you are relatively more chosen than the rest of the dross which is worse than you. In simple terms, I will consume the complete wicked ones and not the intermediate ones. For if I consume the intermediate ones, nothing will remain of them. So "I have refined you, but not in a furnace of silver, I have chosen you" where? Specifically in the furnace of affliction. The Radak explains, I did not want to cut you off with complete cutting off, and therefore "I have refined you, but not with silver." Not like the refiner of silver, who refines silver and removes all the dross until only the silver remains. Rather says the Holy One, blessed be He, I have refined you, I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction. How do I refine you? In the furnace of affliction. "Oni" is a term of poverty, a term of affliction. If I wanted to refine you in a furnace of silver, what happens to all the dross? It is burned, completely consumed. Says the Holy One, blessed be He, no, I will refine you in a different way. Poverty befits Israel. Says the Holy One, blessed be He, the way to refine you will be that I will purify you through the power of poverty, through the power of suffering, through the power of afflictions, subjugation to kingdoms. This will be the way of refining, through which the people of Israel will be purified. For if I wanted to refine them like one who refines silver and purifies gold, then they would all go to destruction. That is simply to burn. Says the Holy One, blessed be He, this will not be the way. I will not refine you in such a furnace. The furnace that will purify you will be a furnace of poverty, that consumes children, the animal of the ground, the animal of the earth, as is written in the curses, says the Radak, not to cut them off entirely. And this is what He said, "I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction." As we explained, the meaning is that through afflictions specifically will be the purification of the people of Israel. It emerges then that poverty befits Israel. For when there is poverty for the people of Israel, besides the fact that they do not spurn Hashem when they are in poverty, it also guarantees that they will remain. For if there were no poverty then it would be necessary to consume them all. But since the Holy One, blessed be He, specifically in poverty purifies us, then poverty is better than destruction, poverty is better than annihilation.
"For My own sake, for My own sake I do it." For how should My name be profaned, and My glory I will not give to another. Says the Holy One, blessed be He, sometimes a person chooses someone because of his importance, and then he does everything for the one he chose, because he chose him on account of his being important. I choose a certain person to give him some role, and he is an important person, I will exert myself and make an effort for him, I chose him and he is important. Sometimes it may be that I choose someone lesser. So why do you choose him? Because I need him. I have some benefit from it. And then it turns out that I chose him both for my sake and for his sake. I chose him for my sake, I have benefit. I chose for his sake, he is a means through which I attain the benefit. So in fact I have gain and I also choose him for his sake, he has no merit, he is not important. But what can be done, with him I will attain the benefit. There is a third situation, says the Malbim, that you choose a lesser person and you have no benefit from him. So that is the worst situation. This person, in fact, I can easily abandon him. I have no benefit from him and he in himself is also not important, so I can easily neglect him. So if that is the case, why not neglect him? Because if I neglect him, it will leave me open to disgrace. How? Says the Malbim, for example, he is a relative of yours. He is a relative of yours, and then what? You are obligated to help him, you are obligated to support him. Tell me, what do I gain from helping him? I only lose money, nothing. What do I gain, I also receive nothing from him. So say he is lesser in himself, but perhaps you have benefit from him? I have no benefit either. So then what will you have? Lest it be a disgrace. By helping him you will not be disgraced. For otherwise they can disgrace you, saying, you have such a relative and you neglected him, you do not help him? So sometimes I have no benefit and he is also not an important person by whom I can be honored, but the only thing is that they will not disgrace me. That is the only thing. You know, there was once a wealthy man to whom they came to solicit for charity, a stingy rich man. They said to him, what are you talking about, I have a brother who has nothing to eat, and you think I will give to you? Well, after two weeks this brother himself also comes to the charity fund to ask them to help him. They said to him, what are you talking about, your brother is very wealthy, he said he has a brother who has nothing to eat, does he not give to you? He says, nothing, a miser, he never gave me a penny in his life. They went back to him, said to him, why did you say such things? He said, did I say I give to him? I told you I have a brother who has nothing to eat, and no, I do not give, would I give to you? What, how can you imagine such a thing? No, I do not give. So sometimes a person is forced to give out of awkwardness, he has no choice and he must give only so that they will not hurt him, so that they will not portray him in a disgraceful manner. That is what the Holy One, blessed be He, says. "For My own sake, for My own sake I do it." Says the Holy One, blessed be He, here everything is for My own sake. In both aspects. As we said, sometimes you give because that person is important. Sometimes you give because here you have benefit. Says the Holy One, blessed be He, they are not worthy and I have no benefit, so this is "for My own sake, for My own sake." That is why it is twice. These two reasons do not apply here. So if so, what is the reason? "For how should My name be profaned." Says the Holy One, blessed be He, I am concerned for the honor of My name. How should My name be profaned? As is written "And what will You do for Your great name," as Moshe Rabbeinu said. "And My glory I will not give to another." For through the people of Israel being disgraced, swept away and rejected, what emerges, who is honored? The name of the idols is honored, the name of idolatry is honored. For then they say, behold you have seen, our god defeated, God forbid, their God. Says the Holy One, blessed be He, that is the whole matter, only the disgrace to My name, but not for their sake.
"Hearken to Me, Yaakov, and Yisrael My called one. I am He, I am the first, I am also the last." Hearken to Me, Yaakov, and Yisrael My called one. Rashi explains that "Hearken to Me, Yaakov" is the name your father called you. In contrast, who called him Yisrael? The Holy One, blessed be He. That is "Yisrael My called one." This is the name that I called. This is the meaning here of "My called one." I am He, I am the first, I am also the last. "I am He," says the Radak, means I endure in time. "I am the first" in time means in the present. "I am the first" means in the past. And "I am the last" means the future. He was, is, and will be. The Malbim explains the difference between Yaakov and Yisrael in his usual way, that Yaakov always comes to express the condition of the people of Israel when they are at a low point, when they are lowly, from the word "ekev," heel, bottom. In contrast, Yisrael indicates the condition of Israel when they are in a time of dominion, when they are in a time of elevation. He says to him, hearken to Me, Yaakov, you are lesser in merit in yourself, but you are called Yisrael My called one. Since you are My people, that is the only thing that gives you merit. That is to say, if we look at your deeds, you are Yaakov. But since you are My called one, we are called by the name of Hashem, we are the people of Hashem, we were chosen by Hashem, you are My called one, that gives you the merit of Yisrael, but without that you are Yaakov. Says the Holy One, blessed be He, know that I am He. The miracles I will perform for you in the redemption from Bavel, I performed them. Why? Because I am the first and I am the last. For there are miracles in the past that everyone agrees are from Hashem. Those are the miracles of the Exodus from Egypt. Says the Holy One, blessed be He, when you now see miracles as I redeem you from Bavel, and this refers to Koresh as we discussed in the past, who will bring the people of Israel out of Bavel and they will go up to enter the Land of Israel. Says the Holy One, blessed be He, the one who was the "I am the first" and performed the miracles and brought you out of Egypt, so too I am the last. He is the one who will perform the present miracles. And do not think that these miracles are through the laws of nature or through the arrangements of the heavens, the directives of the stars, or through some things that are compelled by nature, by the earthly. Says the Holy One, blessed be He, no. "My hand also founded the earth, and My right hand spread out the heavens; I call to them, they stand together."
"My hand also founded the earth, and My right hand spread out the heavens." The earth and the heavens I made at one time, all at once. And therefore He says "My hand" and "My right hand." "My hand" is always the left, "My right hand" is the right hand. As if with the left hand I placed the foundations, that is the earth, and the right hand spread out the heavens, in one moment, like a pot and its lid that one places at once. And if so, now "I call to them, they stand together." I want to ask them the question that will come in the next pasuk. "Assemble all of you and hear," and so on. This is a question I want to ask the heavens and the earth, which I created as one. The Radak explains, do not say that only from the beginning of time am I here. Says the Holy One, blessed be He, no, know that even before time was created, from then I already exist. Who knows when time was created? At the moment the first matter was created. The Ramban writes that time is dependent on matter. Where there is matter, there is time. Where there is no matter, there is no time. And it took Einstein 800 years until he too arrived at this, and he too established the theory of relativity, that in fact time is dependent on the existence of matter. Where there is matter there is time, where there is no matter there is no time. And if you pass the limits of matter, for example if you take a physical object, take a spaceship, fly it at the speed of light, it will turn from mass into energy. It will no longer be matter, it will be like energy, like rays of the sun. That is to say, time is dependent on matter. Where there is no matter there is no time. Therefore the Ramban says it is not fitting to ask what the Creator of the world did a thousand years before the creation of the world. Why? Because there is no such thing as a thousand years before the creation of the world. There is no second before the creation of the world. For before the creation of the world there was no time. So it is not fitting at all to speak in concepts of time. After there is matter there is time. When there is no matter it is not fitting, in relation to a reality in which there is no matter, to speak at all about the existence of time. And therefore, even when Chazal wanted to speak about primeval times, how did they define it? Generations. Generations. We already understand that they are not speaking about concepts that are familiar to us, this is not a clock. They speak about a generation. A generation is not a concept of time. They are speaking to you about something beyond that, something much more inner, before the creation of the world. So the Radak says, know that I am here even before time was created. "My hand founded the earth, and My right hand spread out the heavens." For the moment the earth and the heavens were created, then time was in fact created. Know that My hand founded the earth. If at the moment the earth was created time was created, and My hand founded the earth, then who was earlier? Certainly I. For I am speaking to you about a hand. There is here a hand that founded the earth. This hand was before the earth. For it founded the earth. And so I was here even before the clock of time began to tick. So "My hand founded the earth, and My right hand spread out the heavens." "Spread out the heavens" means I made the heavens by a handbreadth, this is from the word "tefach." As they say "and He meted out the heavens by a span." A tefach is the hand, right? The hand is the size of a handbreadth, therefore it is called "spread out the heavens." I founded the heavens. And let us note, says the Radak, that regarding the hand He uses the left hand. "My hand founded the earth." Everywhere it is written "hand" it is the left. For we see "My hand founded the earth, and My right hand." Immediately He moves to the right. That is to say, the hand we spoke about earlier is the right hand. The hand is the left because it is the earth. The earth is the lowly thing. In contrast, "My right hand spread out the heavens." The heavens are more honored than the earth. Just as the right is more honored than the left. Another matter, who will remain in existence forever, the earth or the heavens? Certainly the heavens. The heavens will remain forever. It is written that "were it not for My covenant of day and night, I would not have established the ordinances of heaven and earth," there is another pasuk, there is another pasuk that expresses this matter that the heavens will remain forever. That the heavens would depart before Me, God forbid, if Israel would cease from being a nation before Me. The heavens will remain forever. So the heavens will remain forever because they were made with the right. And the right is a strong action. In contrast, the left, with this the left hand founded the earth. And the earth was made, as it were, with the weaker hand, and therefore there is a possibility that the earth too will come to an end.
"Assemble all of you and hear. Who among them declared these things?" Hashem loves him, he will do His pleasure against Bavel, and his arm the Chaldeans. And therefore He says to them, assemble all of you. Let them all gather and hear this question that I want to ask the heavens and the earth. As the Malbim explained, the Holy One, blessed be He, said, both of them I created and I have a question for them. I want them to come and hear the question that I ask. "Who among them declared these things?" Who in the heavens or in the earth declared these things? What things? What is He speaking about here? For Hashem loves him, he will do His pleasure against Bavel, and his arm the Chaldeans. Hashem loves him, Koresh whom Hashem loves, he will do the pleasure of Hashem against Bavel, that is, he will destroy Bavel. "And his arm the Chaldeans." And he will act with force, with the arm of the Chaldeans. The meaning is, who are those by whose power he will act? By the power of the Chaldeans. That is to say, who will be My arm? As we would say, this is his long arm. Who will be My long arm? Those will be the Chaldeans. So the Chaldeans will help, as it were, the Holy One, blessed be He, to bring His plan into effect. For we know who it was that rebelled against Belshatzar? His ministers. The Chaldeans are the ones who rebelled. They informed Koresh of this, they helped him to destroy Bavel. So the heavens and the earth, who among them declared these things? Who among them declared these things? It was not they who said this. And this is the next pasuk, in which Hashem says "I, even I, have spoken."
"I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him, I have brought him, and he will prosper in his way." I redeemed Israel from Egypt. I will also redeem all of Israel from the final exile, from the four corners of the whole earth. "Yea, I have called him" means I called Koresh. And "Hashem loves him," to whom does "Hashem loves him" refer? So there is a possibility to explain "Hashem loves him" refers to Koresh. As we saw earlier. That is, Hashem loved him so that he would do His pleasure and kill Belshatzar, so in this respect Hashem loves him. But Rashi brings from Targum Yonatan that it refers to Avraham. "I have spoken, yea I have called him" refers to Avraham. What does "I have called him" mean? The meaning is I raised him up. To be among My called ones, the meaning is the called ones of the congregation, from the term greatness. I made him great. "I have brought him and he will prosper in his way." "He will prosper in his way" means to spread the faith in the Creator of the world throughout the entire world. The Radak explains that the repetition comes to say, I who was, I who will be. What does "I, even I, have spoken" mean? "I" is a term of the past, that I was, and "I" refers to the future, that I will be. And just as I spoke about Koresh through My prophets and brought him to Bavel, and he prospered in his way, so just as I spoke, so too I did. That is the "I, even I." As My word was in the past, so too I brought it out afterward. What does "I have called him" mean? I called him by name, as is written that Hashem called His anointed one, Koresh. He mentioned his name. And it is a greatness and a distinction when the Holy One, blessed be He, mentions the name of the messenger whom He wishes to send. The Malbim says, I spoke from the beginning that it would be so. "Yea I have called him" that he should go to war. "I have brought him" upon the city of Bavel. The meaning is that all of this is stages. I mentioned that it would be so, I called him to come and fight, I brought him upon the royal city itself, and not only that but he also prospered in his way and prevailed over them. The meaning is, he destroyed Bavel. What does He wish to say? That all these things were not compelled by nature, they were not compelled by the arrangements of the stars, but rather what? Says the Holy One, blessed be He, I. I brought all of this. So how do you claim that your idols, that your idolatry does things in the world? Behold, I announced this in advance and I ultimately brought it about.
"Draw near to Me, hear this. From the beginning I did not speak in secret. From the time it was, there was I. And now the Lord God has sent me, and His spirit." In fact this pasuk is very difficult. For the difficulty here, "Draw near to Me, hear this, from the beginning I did not speak in secret, from the time it was, there was I," it is implied that this is a continuation of the previous pasuk. And the previous pasuk, "I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him, I have brought him, and he prospered in his way," who says all of this? The Holy One, blessed be He. And how at the end, "And now the Lord God has sent me, and His spirit"? Here suddenly the prophet is speaking. So who says these things? Is this a sentence coming from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He, or is it a sentence coming from the mouth of the prophet? In fact, in the Midrash it is brought, and thus Rashi elaborates on this, that there is a mixture of statements here. And the one who taught this did not teach that. That is to say, the prophet in a certain part says his words in the name of Hashem, and in a certain part transitions and speaks in his own name. And the first part, as it were, he says to them, Hashem says, "Draw near to Me, hear this, from the beginning I did not speak in secret, from the time it was, there was I." Now the prophet transitions to speak in his own name. "And now the Lord God has sent me, and His spirit." Everything I say to you, the Holy One, blessed be He, sent me and His spirit. There are those who explain, what does "from the beginning I did not speak in secret, from the time it was, there was I" mean? That it speaks about the standing at Mount Sinai. And all the prophets, as it were, already from the standing at Mount Sinai, as it were, all of them stood there at the standing at Mount Sinai and received the Torah. So already this was not "from the beginning in secret," but rather "from the time it was," of what? Of the Torah. For they explain that what is written "hear this," this is the Written Torah. As it says "And this is the Torah." So when it is written "hear this," the meaning is the Torah that the Holy One, blessed be He, gave. "From the beginning I did not speak in secret," rather the giving of the Torah was revealed to all the nations. And "from the time it was," from the time of the existence of the Torah, says the prophet, "there was I." Already then my soul was there when the Holy One, blessed be He, gave the Torah to His people Israel. There are here more explanations of the Radak, who brings an explanation in his own name, an explanation in the name of the Ibn Ezra, an explanation in the name of his father, but we will skip over this. We will want to see what the Malbim explains so that we do not end up with a complete salad in this pasuk. Whoever wants nevertheless to delve deeper should look in the commentators and see the difficulty in the pasuk and see also how they explain it. The Malbim explains, "Draw near to Me, hear this." Says the Malbim, it is not the heavens and the earth, which are far from you, who speak these things. Rather you can hear it from me. I who am here beside you, draw near to me and hear this. I speak this prophecy in the name of Hashem. And not only that I declare it now, the prophet adds and says, "from the beginning I did not speak in secret." The meaning is, from the time the matter began I publicized it and announced it to all. Although I was not commanded to publicize it. That is to say, the Holy One, blessed be He, did not transmit it to me as a prophecy in order to publicize it. And so he says, "from the time it was, I did not speak in secret, there was I." From the time of the existence of the matter, he says, there I did not speak my words in secret but rather I spoke it openly. Already in Bavel I announced that Bavel would be destroyed. Already in Bavel I announced that the Holy One, blessed be He, would bring Koresh here. All of this I was not afraid to speak openly. From the beginning, from the time it was, there I did not speak in secret but rather I spoke on my own and said the things that were destined to be. So what is the change? The change is that "now the Lord God has sent me, and His spirit." So I spoke this on my own, apparently on my own, the plain meaning is on the basis of "a wise man is preferable to a prophet." And now Hashem has sent me on a mission to prophesy about this. And He sent with me His spirit, the spirit of prophecy, so that I would say the things openly. Even then I said the things openly but on my own. According to what I understood the matters. "From the beginning I did not speak in secret, from the time it was, there in Bavel was I." And already then I spoke about the things destined to be. But now Hashem has sent me and His spirit, and now you will hear this as a command from Hashem, blessed be He.
"Thus said Hashem, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am Hashem your God, who teaches you for your benefit, who leads you in the way you should go." Thus said Hashem, your Redeemer, from the exile of Bavel through Koresh. "Who teaches you" means, I every day teach you the ways of life so that you will be in peace and tranquility, if you listen to the way of Hashem, if you listen to the command of Hashem. For all the exiles and all the troubles began as a result of deviation from the way of Hashem. So I, Hashem, teach you for your benefit, that you should have benefit in this, that you should not need to suffer exiles, that you should not need to suffer the yoke of subjugation to kingdoms. You will not be exiled to Bavel, you will not need salvation. "Who leads you in the way you should go." If you go in the way that I lead you, then I teach you for your benefit, you will gain from this only benefit. The Malbim explains that here the prophet in fact returns to reassure them. That you are worried, as we saw and explained above, that they had a fear that this redemption would not last a long time. And we said, more than that, there were many who knew this in advance, and therefore those who went up from the exile of Bavel were only 50,000. Whoever reads in the book of Ezra and Nechemiah, it is possible to hear this on the recordings, those who went up from the exile of Bavel were only 50,000. Make the calculation, it was hundreds of thousands who did not go up to the Land. And why did they in fact not go up? There are those who tend to attribute this only to the Yemenites, but it was not only the Yemenites who did not go up. Many others did not go up. One can say that the majority of the exile did not go up. It is like if they would say, what is the State of Israel? The state of the Jews. Where are the majority of the Jews located? Scattered throughout the world. But it is the state of the Jews, true it is the state of the Jews but the majority of the Jews are not here. So it is today, so it was also in their time. When they returned from the exile of Bavel, the majority of the people of Israel did not return. Only 50,000 returned. Why? What was the reason? The reason was the fear of another exile. Thus it is brought that the Yemenites said to Ezra that it was a tradition in their hands that this is not the final exile and this redemption is not the eternal redemption, but rather after it another exile is destined to come. So they said, why should we go and go up and afterward suffer more great suffering of another exile? In fact we already learned there, and whoever wants can hear on the recordings the words of the Malbim, that this redemption, the redemption of Bavel, what is called Ezra and Nechemiah, was like a trial redemption, a test. If the people of Israel had stood in it, the Mashiach would have come at the end of 420 years and built an eternal House. The meaning is that the Beit HaMikdash would have come down built from heaven, and with this the exile would have ended. But since we all know that the Second Temple was destroyed because of baseless hatred, because of many more things that were not good there at that time, consequently they did not merit to succeed in this test, and consequently another exile was decreed upon them. But truly this was a period of testing, after which the complete redemption, the eternal redemption, should have come. The Malbim elaborates and details this also in the book of Daniel, there in the visions of the book of Daniel, this too can be heard on a recording, there we detail the matters more. So here the prophet comes, as it were, to reassure them. You are afraid that perhaps the days of tranquility will not last, that perhaps you will be exiled a second time. He says to them, know that the matter depends on you. If you improve your deeds, then the redemption, as I explained now, will be an eternal redemption. The period of the test, the period of the trial, will become a period of eternal success and complete redemption.
"Had you hearkened to My commandments, then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea. Then your seed would have been like the sand, and the offspring of your body like its grains; his name would not be cut off nor destroyed from before Me." Through this your reward would be that "your seed would have been like the sand. And the offspring of your body like its grains." "Like its grains, his name would not be cut off nor destroyed from before Me." Through this, "your seed would have been like the sand and the offspring of your body like its grains." What does "the offspring of your body like its grains" mean? So the Radak explains that "its grains" refers to the grains of sand. They are small pebbles and they resemble coins. Like the small smooth pebbles, it resembles a "me'ah," the meaning is a coin. There are those who explain, "the offspring of your body" will multiply like its "me'otav," the meaning is not like the pebbles of the sea, but rather "like its me'otav" the meaning is from the word "me'av," its innards. Like the innards of the sea. What is in the innards of the sea? Fish. Yes, "me'ayim" always means the interior. What is in the innards of the sea? It is fish. Your offspring will multiply like fish. So "the offspring of your body like its grains." Like the innards of the sea, about which I spoke, "your righteousness like the waves of the sea," your offspring like its innards, like that which is in the innards of the sea, which are the fish. "His name would not be cut off nor destroyed." Of whom? Of your seed, which will multiply like the innards of the sea, will not be cut off. So even though you did not hearken to My commandments, I will not destroy you but rather I will exile you to the land of your enemies and afterward I will redeem you. In contrast, according to the Malbim, all of this comes to speak of what will happen if you return in the Second Temple and are righteous and go in the way of Hashem, as we explained that this speaks about this period, then you will merit "then your peace would have been like a river," your peace will last forever, you will then merit the complete redemption, "your righteousness like the waves of the sea," and then at that time, if you go in the way of Hashem, "then your seed would have been like the sand and the offspring of your body like its grains." You will merit that the great ones will be as numerous as the sand of the sea. And the small ones, the offspring of your body, will be as numerous as its grains. What does "like its grains" mean? Here too he goes in the direction of the Radak, he only explains it with more depth. "Like its grains" means like the innards of the sea. The sea is fruitful with fish beyond number. There are billions of fish. This tranquility will last forever, for his name will not be cut off from before Me, and then as we said the future redemption will already be. So this tranquility will be a perpetual redemption. The Malbim explains what is the difference between "your seed" and "the offspring of your body." The Malbim says, seed are the great ones. Offspring are the small ones. And then he explains another explanation, that "its grains" refers to the sand. Do you know where the fish lay their eggs? In the sand. The fish lay the eggs in the sand, within the sand at the bottom of the sea, and there the fish are fertilized. Pardon, there the eggs grow until fish emerge from them. So he says, if so, he brings, I will read to you the language of the Malbim. For there are found species of fish in which there are found in the belly of the female eggs numbering nine million and more. Right? Today nine million, that is not money, right? Well, in any case he says, see what quantities are being spoken of. So when he says that "the offspring of your body will be like its grains," what does "like its grains" mean? The sand. Like the sand, where the offspring, the fish, lay their offspring, like this sand your offspring will multiply. "Will not be cut off nor destroyed." What is cutting off and what is destruction? Cutting off, explains the Malbim, is the destruction, the cutting off of the thing itself. Destruction means to destroy what is connected with it. For example, I can say that the nation will be destroyed, meaning that its religion will be destroyed, for example. And it would still be correct to call this destruction. And I can say "will be cut off," and "will be cut off" means the nation itself will be cut off. It will not remain, the nation will be wiped out. But destruction does not necessarily speak about the body of the nation. That is cutting off. Destruction means what is connected with it. For example, its faith will be destroyed. Regarding this too the term destruction applies. And therefore he says, it is written here "will not be cut off" physically. So you might say, well, perhaps physically they will exist but their religion is destroyed? He says no, no, also "his name will not be destroyed from before Me," but rather will remain forever.
"Go out from Bavel, flee from the Chaldeans with a voice of song. Declare, proclaim this, bring it forth to the end of the earth. Say: Hashem has redeemed His servant Yaakov." And therefore the prophet says to them, go out from Bavel with a voice of song. Do not worry, as we saw that they had a worry, perhaps we will return to exile. No, if you go in the straight way I promise you that you will not return to exile. Go out from Bavel with a voice of song and do not worry, for if you merit this will be an eternal salvation. And only "declare," you will be able to declare this tidings, and not only that, also "proclaim," which is in public. To declare means when I tell you, to proclaim means to publicize. Proclaim in public. And not only in a nearby place will you be able to proclaim this, the prophet says to them, "bring it forth to the end of the earth," publicize it throughout the whole world. What will be the report? Hashem has redeemed His servant Yaakov. The redemption from Bavel will certainly come, Hashem has redeemed His servant Yaakov. And if you remember, Yaakov always comes to express the low state of the people of Israel. Yisrael is a state of dominion, Yaakov comes to say that the people of Israel are in a low state. The Malbim says, what is the difference between "go out" and "flee"? It is written here "go out from Bavel, flee from the Chaldeans." Says the Malbim, when they went out from Bavel, Bavel was still quiet. So this is in the category of going out. But on the way, when they were already in the land of the Chaldeans, already then there were sounds of war. And when there are sounds of war you do not go quietly, you flee. And therefore he says, at the beginning when you only went out from Bavel it was still a going out. But afterward, sounds of war already began, and then when you reached the Chaldeans you were already forced to flee. Go out from Bavel, yes, flee from the Chaldeans. But he says to them that this will be, with the help of Hashem, with a voice of song. Why? Because you know that behold you are now going toward the future redemption, and if so this matter should gladden you, so do not go out in sadness but rather go out with a voice of song.
"And they did not thirst when He led them through the deserts; He caused water to flow for them from the rock; He split the rock and the water gushed out." In the plain meaning of the text He promises them that when this redemption comes, then "through the deserts He led them, water from the rock He caused to flow for them." They did not thirst, for "through the deserts He led them." Seemingly He led them in a place of dryness. "Chorev" is a dry place. He tells you, "water from the rock He caused to flow for them." Hashem brought out water for them from the rock. "He split the rock and water gushed out." Only the Radak says this is a bit astonishing. For if this speaks about this period of the redemption from Bavel, which is what is called the redemption of Ezra and Nechemiah, it is puzzling how it was not written in the book of Ezra, when it told of their going out from the exile, that such miracles were done for them. The book of Ezra and Nechemiah describe their going out from the exile. If it is about this period that He speaks, then it should have been written in Ezra and in Nechemiah to note there that at the time they went out Hashem did wondrous miracles for them and brought out water for them from the rock. The Malbim explains that what is written "they did not thirst," they did not thirst for water, that although "through the deserts He led them," a dry place, "water from the rock He caused to flow for them," that they had water, "He split the rock and water gushed out." The Malbim explains that now, as it were, the prophet in his eloquence mentions now the splitting of the waters of the sea and the Jordan before the children of Israel, where the waters stood like a heap of flowing liquid, He split the sea and they stood. About which period is he speaking? He is speaking about the period when the people of Israel went out from Egypt. That is to say, he wanted to make a comparison for them. To say to them, the Holy One, blessed be He, will redeem you. Do you remember how you were redeemed then? The Holy One, blessed be He, brought out water for you from a rock, split the sea, the Holy One, blessed be He, is destined to redeem you. But he does not mean to say that in the same measure now too He will bring out water for you from the rock. And consequently the difficulty of the Radak is resolved, for he does not come to say something that is destined to be. The prophet, as it were, soared in his eloquence to the ancient period. You doubt the redemption? Remember the previous redemption. Hashem brought out water for you from the rock, Hashem set up the waters of the sea like a heap. So the Holy One, blessed be He, is there any doubt whether there is power in His hand? So just as He did in the past, so the Holy One, blessed be He, is destined to redeem you. But there is no promise here that He will actually set up the waters of the sea for them or bring out water for them from the rock.
"There is no peace, said Hashem, for the wicked." Who are the wicked? Rashi says Nevuchadnetzar and his seed. "There is no peace, said Hashem, for the wicked," the Radak says the wicked here are the people of Bavel. The Malbim explains, if so, you need no longer fear the Chaldeans, for to these wicked ones Hashem says there is no peace. There is no more peace within their border forever. And thank God we see that there is no peace up to our time. Every time you hear about some car bomb, another 100 dead, you hear about some wars that are there in Bavel, in Iraq, another such and such. In short, there is no peace, says the Malbim, He removed peace from their border forever. "O daughter of Bavel who is to be plundered, happy is he who repays you as you have dealt with us; happy is he who seizes and dashes your little ones against the rock." This prophecy is being fulfilled before our eyes; may Hashem redeem us with an eternal redemption speedily.