And in order to show them just how near these matters are, "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger, who announces peace, who brings good tidings, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion: Your God reigns." How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger. The word "na'avu" (beautiful), the Radak explains, comes from the root "ivah" (to desire). "How beautiful" is like "beautiful are your cheeks with rows of jewels." "Na'avu" is a term for something a person desires, something lovely. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger. How lovely upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger. The Radak says this is by way of metaphor, like "how beautiful are your steps in sandals." How pleasant and lovely are the feet of the messenger who ascends the mountains in order to proclaim and announce peace, to announce salvation, to say to Zion: behold, your God already reigns. As if to say, how much we wait and yearn, how lovely will be the feet of the messenger, how pleasant will be the steps of the messenger who will come and announce, behold, now the Holy One, blessed be He, reigns over the people of Israel. For until this time, the Radak says, His kingship, may He be blessed, was not seen and not recognized. Even though the Holy One, blessed be He, reigns, Hashem reigns, Hashem will reign, yet His kingship was not recognized. But then, "who says to Zion: Your God reigns," and everyone will know and everyone will see and recognize Hashem, and the kingship will belong to Hashem, and the matter will be evident. Who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion: Your God reigns.
The Malbim says that the messenger who will ascend the mountaintops, as it is written "get you up upon a high mountain, O herald of good tidings to Zion." At first his tidings will be to announce peace. What is announcing peace? First of all, what are we waiting for? What are we yearning for? First of all, peace. That the wars should cease, that they should stop pursuing the people of Israel, from without and from within. So at first, announcing peace. After there is peace, peace means only that they are not harming you. What does peace mean? That they are not disturbing you. The next stage, after announcing peace, will be bringing good tidings. What is bringing good tidings? The kingdom of the house of David, the building of the Beit HaMikdash. The next stage, proclaiming salvation. What is proclaiming salvation? All of Israel will be gathered, all its dispersed ones, to Jerusalem, to the land of Israel. Proclaiming salvation, the ingathering of the exiles. And afterward the kingship of Heaven will be revealed in all the world, "who says to Zion: Your God reigns." And then all the world, all of them, will know that your God reigns, His name will be revealed among all the nations.
"The voice of your watchmen, they raise their voice, together they sing, for eye to eye they see Hashem returning to Zion." The voice of your watchmen. Who are these watchmen? The prophet is called a watchman. "I have set you as a watchman over the nations." Why? Because the prophet watches the future. What is the voice of your watchmen, they raise their voice, what do they sing? They will see, "they raise their voice" always comes to express joy. And they will sing, sing out, they see the visions of prophecy, that behold, the Holy One, blessed be He, is now being revealed. And then eye to eye they will see Hashem returning to Zion. Eye to eye they will see. What does this mean? After all, all of us had the spirit of prophecy at the standing at Mount Sinai. We will merit that all of us will see eye to eye. Not only that, but the glory that will be clearly evident. The Targum Onkelos says that "your watchmen" means your leaders. The voice of your watchmen means these are the leaders, those who sustain the people of Israel, all of them will rejoice to see Hashem returning to Zion.
The Malbim explains that this is an explanation and, in essence, an elucidation of the preceding verses. We saw that there will be one bringing good tidings, one bringing good tidings who will announce the redemption, the salvation. And where does this messenger stand? He stands on the mountain. And the watchman, where does he stand? The watchman stands in a tower. The messenger stands on the mountain, and the watchman stands in the tower. The watchman stands in the tower, he watches toward the one who is on the other side. And at the very moment that he brings him tidings, calls out to him, the redemption has arrived, the Holy One, blessed be He, reigns. And then the watchman opens his eyes and sees eye to eye that which the other one called out and told him. Sometimes there is a situation where you tell someone that something is happening, and he says I still do not see anything. Yes, no, it is approaching. But no, I still do not see anything. Here it says it will not be like that. Rather, after we saw that there will be a messenger bringing good tidings who stands on the mountain, the watchman stands on the other side, because he too is a watcher, wanting to see what is happening, what is coming, what the changes are. The messenger calls out to him, behold, your God reigns, and immediately he sees it. The voice of your watchmen, they raise their voice, together they sing, for eye to eye they see. What does "eye to eye" mean? At the very moment that the one bringing good tidings saw the things, at that same moment the watchman will also see it. This means the redemption will be immediate. And then together they sing. Who is "together they sing"? Both the messenger and the watchman. Because, as we explained, in one moment they both will see the things. So together they sing. Who is the watchman? It is the prophet. Excuse me, yes, the prophets are the messengers, and the watchmen are the people of Israel. Not as we explained in the Radak, that the watchmen are the prophets. He says no, the watchmen, according to the Malbim, are those who look out in anticipation. He is already watching for it, anticipating it, waiting. And in contrast there is the messenger, who receives the message from God, and he announces it to the people. The messenger informs the watchmen, the people of Israel who are already anticipating, and then eye to eye, in one moment they will see the salvation of Hashem. Together they sing, who are they? The watchman and the messenger, both of them together will sing. For eye to eye they will see. What is "eye to eye"? The Malbim explains that there is an inner eye and there is an outer eye. There is the eye of vision, which is the messenger, who saw it in prophecy. And there is the outer eye of the watchman who now merits to see the things now in their fulfillment. Eye to eye they will see, what the messenger saw with his spiritual eye, now everyone sees with eyes of flesh. Now they see the things as they are fulfilled in Hashem returning to Zion.
"Break forth, sing together, O waste places of Jerusalem, for Hashem has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem." Break forth, sing together. "To break forth" (patzcho) means to open. They break forth in song, they raise their voice. Break forth, sing together, O waste places of Jerusalem. The Malbim says that when the watchmen raise a voice of song, together with the messengers as we said, "they raise their voice, together they sing," then also all the waste places of Jerusalem will break forth, they too will break forth and sing. What does this mean? That the waste places of Jerusalem will now begin to awaken from their desolation. The waste places of Jerusalem...
will begin to be built, so break forth, sing together, O waste places of Jerusalem. Together with the messenger and with the watchmen, now Jerusalem will begin to be built. For eye to eye they see Hashem returning to Zion, so now also the waste places of Jerusalem begin to be restored, for Hashem has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem. Hashem has comforted His people, this is the ingathering of the exiles, and through this He comforted Jerusalem, that Jerusalem, as we saw, was like a widow, like a lonely one bereft of her children. And what, where is the comfort? That now her children return to her. And this corresponds to what we saw, "proclaims salvation," now what is the salvation? Behold, the time of your salvation has arrived, Hashem will save you from the hand of the enemies, and will settle within you your children. This is the ingathering of the exiles that come to Jerusalem, as we said, that Jerusalem generally comes to express the multitude of the people. Jerusalem generally comes to speak of all of Israel. The multitude will have its exiles gathered to Jerusalem, for Hashem has comforted His people, and through this He comforted Jerusalem.
"Hashem has bared His holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God." The Radak says, "He has bared His holy arm" comes to express that the salvation will be openly manifest. Like the arm which is bare, revealed, so too the salvation will be openly manifest. The Malbim says that this corresponds to what we said, "who says to Zion: Your God reigns." Hashem bares His holy arm, and the Malbim already explained to us in the past that "arm" comes to express power. Hashem bares His holy arm, these are miracles, great miracles that come without any merits of ours. This is what he explained there, that there is a difference between "arm" and "hand." The arm is the upper part, it is what moves the hand. The arm, the Malbim explained to us, is also without merits. Rather it is by the will of the Emanator, by the will of the Creator, may He be blessed. It is something more inner, it is from Him, may He be blessed. In contrast, the hand comes to express what Hashem acts according to the merits that the people of Israel have, that is already something more openly manifest.
Here the Holy One, blessed be He, will bare His holy arm, open miracles that no merit of man nor his righteousness attains at all, says the Malbim. This means not from our power, not from our merits, but only by the will of Hashem, may He be blessed. And these miracles will be openly manifest before the eyes of all the nations, and then all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. Everyone will see the salvation with which the Holy One, blessed be He, saves us, the kingship of Heaven will be revealed in all the world. And then everyone will see that this salvation is not an incidental salvation, it is not a natural salvation, it is a salvation that is planned by Hashem, may He be blessed, the salvation of our God. Hashem saves us because He is our God, from this power comes the salvation.
"Turn aside, turn aside, go out from there, touch no unclean thing. Go out from her midst, purify yourselves, you who bear the vessels of Hashem." Turn aside, turn aside, now he depicts, as it were, how the people of Israel go out from the land where idolatry is worshiped. Turn aside, turn aside, go out from there, Hashem commands them, go out from there. And why? One reason, because the very soil is impure. Go out from there because it is unclean, touch it not. The purity of the body, for it is known that the sages decreed impurity upon the land of the nations. The land of the nations is an impure place. So turn aside, go out from there, because the place there is impure. A further matter, because of the purity of thought. The Holy One, blessed be He, says to them, you are situated among the festivals of idolatry, and then you may come to thoughts of idolatry, to forbidden thoughts. Therefore, go out from her midst, purify yourselves, you who bear the vessels of Hashem. You who bear the vessels of Hashem, it is not fitting that there be in you any unworthy thought.
Notice that here he is in fact speaking of thought, this is hinted at in the expression "purify yourselves" (hibaru). The Malbim says, what is "hibaru"? "Hibaru" always comes to express purity of thought, like "pure of heart," like "with the pure You show Yourself pure," it always comes to speak of thought. "Hibaru" in general is a term of cleanliness, like clear, clean, right? Clear, that is what is called "hibaru." "Hibaru" means purify your thought, you who bear the vessels of Hashem. So I have two reasons why he told you: turn aside, turn aside, go out from there quickly. One, because the place is physically impure. Two, because the place is spiritually impure. And if the place is physically impure you are liable to touch something impure and become impure, and therefore he says touch it not, turn aside, turn aside, go out from there. Besides this, the place is also spiritually impure, and you may arrive at corrupt views, at impure views. Purify yourselves, you who bear the vessels of Hashem, you who bear the name of Hashem, who publicize the name of Hashem in the world, you must be at a level of holiness.
"For not in haste shall you go out, nor in flight shall you go; for Hashem goes before you, and the God of Israel is your rearguard." In this verse there is a most wonderful elucidation by the Malbim, preceded by the Gra, that in fact both of them explain the verse according to the grammar of the holy tongue and both intend the same thing. Notice, "for not in haste shall you go out, nor in flight shall you go." There are here two different expressions that we need to understand. There is here "haste," there is here "flight." We must distinguish what is the difference between haste and flight. There is here "going out" and there is here "going." Not in haste shall you go out, nor in flight shall you go. What is the difference between going out and going? And there is further on, "for Hashem goes before you, and the God of Israel is your rearguard." Here too notice, Hashem goes before us and Hashem is our rearguard. What is the difference between going before us and being our rearguard? And Hashem goes before you, and the God of Israel is your rearguard. What is the difference between "Hashem" and "the God of Israel"? Notice, see what a wonderful elucidation.
The Malbim says, the Gaon of Vilna says: there is a difference between haste and flight. What is the difference? Whenever a person hastens, it is because he hastens to reach a certain place. He needs to be somewhere urgently, to attain a certain thing in another place, therefore he hastens. I, I am really hastening to go, I have a shiur. Hastening is always toward something. In contrast, flight is always away from something. Someone is pursuing me, I flee from him. I do not say I flee to the shiur. There are those who really flee to the shiur, they escape from the chaos at home to the shiur, that too is a wonderful thing. But in any case, to flee is always to escape from something. To hasten is always toward something. Notice, the exodus from Egypt, what was it? Flight or haste? Very good. Also haste, correct. But also flight. And both of these expressions appear in the exodus from Egypt. The people of Israel, "for in haste you went out from Egypt." What is "in haste"? We have the giving of the Torah, we have a divine revelation, we have the standing at Mount Sinai, we hasten in order finally to reach the day of the marriage, which is the day of the giving of the Torah. We hasten. In contrast, when we went out from Egypt, after we began to walk on the way, and it is written "and Israel fled before Egypt," for Egypt pursues after the children of Israel, then we are in the aspect of fleeing. Why? Because now Egypt is pursuing us.
And he tells you, in the future know that it will not be like that. On one hand, "for not in haste shall you go out." Why do we not go out in haste as we hastened in Egypt to the standing at Mount Sinai? Not in haste shall you go out, notice, the reason is at the end of the verse: for Hashem goes before you. To whom would you hasten? Hashem is here before you. To whom do you have to hasten? We said that to hasten is toward something. There Hashem awaited us at Mount Sinai. Here Hashem goes before you, you do not need to go after Him to the mountain of God, He is here, Hashem goes before you. Therefore, not in haste shall you go out, so the going out itself will not be in haste. But the people of Israel indeed went out in haste from Egypt, yet afterward they fled from the enemies who pursued them, that is the going. He says not in haste shall you go out, as in Egypt we went out in haste, our dough did not have time to leaven because we already wanted to reach Mount Sinai. But it could be that afterward we would have flight because the enemy would harass us. Nor in flight shall you go. You will not go in flight because the enemy is behind you, for you have a rearguard. For the God of Israel is your rearguard. What is a rearguard for all the camps? It is the one who is at the back, the one who ensures that catapult stones are not thrown, that is, that is the Iron Dome that protects us. The God of Israel is your rearguard, Hashem goes before you but also goes as a rearguard behind you after the camps, so from whom do you have to flee? Hashem is also in the aspect of a rearguard. For Hashem goes before you, and if He goes before you then it is not in haste, you have no one to run to, Hashem is here. And also you do not need to flee from the enemies, since Hashem is the rearguard and He is behind you and He ensures that the enemies do not harm you.
What is the difference, if so all that remains for us to understand is, "for Hashem goes before you, and the God of Israel is your rearguard"? This the Malbim already explained, that "Hashem" is the name from the aspect that He directs the whole world. "The God of Israel" is the name from the aspect of His individual providence over us. He is our God, He attaches His name to us, the God of Israel. The rearguard who goes after the camps, the Malbim says, in order to save them from the enemy who pursues them, the God of Israel is your rearguard. This is Hashem specifically because He is the God of Israel, He is the rearguard and He is the one who guards us with special protection from the enemies. And before them, the one who goes to illuminate for us with the light of life, goes before us, this is from the aspect that He is "Hashem." For "Hashem" is a general name, that Hashem is the one who illuminates the earth and those who dwell upon it. He illuminates the whole world, so here Hashem is in the general aspect, Hashem always goes at the head. For Hashem is always the first for everyone. But how could Hashem go at the end? Ah, at the end is because of special protection over you. Because I am your God. The being-your-rearguard is not a natural thing. The being-your-rearguard is from the aspect that Hashem is the God of Israel. But that Hashem goes at the head, Hashem always goes at the head. Therefore the one who "goes before you" is "Hashem," it is the Tetragrammaton, this is the name of His constant action, as He is the God of all the nations. What I go and become your rearguard, this is from the aspect of your elevation, that therefore I am the God of Israel who attaches His name to you specifically.
"Behold, My servant shall prosper, he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high." "My servant shall prosper," Rashi explains, in the end of days Yaakov, My servant, shall succeed. The righteous ones among him shall succeed. The Malbim explains, it is written here "he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high." And whoever knows the Malbim knows that there is here a broad field to distinguish what is "exalted" (ram), what is "lifted up" (nisa), and what is "high" (gavoah). Ostensibly he doubled and tripled the matter with different words. The Malbim explains, "exalted and lifted up" comes to denote the place. "Exalted" is the point of elevation, the highest place. "Lifted up" means that he is lifted from the low place and rises up to the high place. And "high" refers to the place where he is, the height of the thing itself. For example, I say the cedar, the cedar is high. What does this mean? It is tall. The height of the thing itself, something that is high, tall, is called "high." What is the exalted point in it? It is the top. The top of the cedar is the exalted place in the cedar. That is, as I say this young fellow is tall, the highest place in the fellow, let us say, is the head. That is the expression of "exalted." "High" comes to describe the whole of it. "Exalted" comes to describe the point of elevation in it. And if this fellow keeps growing, or the cedar keeps growing, then I say it keeps being lifted up. "Lifted up" means it speaks of the action, that it keeps rising and keeps growing. And this is what he says here, "My servant shall prosper." With wisdom, My servant, the people of Israel, shall grow, that he shall be exalted, as we said "exalted" speaks of the point of height. And lifted up, keeps rising and keeps growing, until finally he will be very high. Until he will be very high in wisdom, in knowledge, in the fear of Hashem, an exalted level.
"As many were astonished at you, so marred was his appearance beyond that of a man, and his form beyond that of the sons of men." As many were astonished at you. "Astonished" (shamemu) is a term of wonder, a term of being desolate and astonished, dumbfounded. As many were astonished, from the great lowliness of the people of Israel. They saw how low the people of Israel are, how debased the people of Israel are among the nations. And they say, after all, the people of Israel are marred, their appearance beyond that of a man. His form and his appearance are marred and blemished more than the rest of the sons of men. Here there is a difficulty, notice, "they were astonished at you," and afterward it says "so marred was his appearance and his form," once it speaks of him in the hidden form, once it speaks of him in the open form. So the Radak already says that this is the way of the Scriptures to explain. But in any case, "so marred was his appearance beyond that of a man," "marred" like being marred beyond a man's appearance, the Ibn Ezra says a wonderful thing. The Ibn Ezra says, "marred beyond a man's appearance" is the words of the nations, that they are astonished at Israel and say that his appearance is marred beyond that of a man. For there are how many crooked ones in the world who think that the form of the Jew is different from all forms. Indeed, on this Goebbels based much of his propaganda. About the Jewish people, how inferior he is, what, they always depict him with a crooked nose, marred beyond a man's appearance, different from all forms. The Ibn Ezra says, there are even among them those who ask, does a Jew have a mouth or an eye? That is, to such an extent some demonic figure of the Jew was created, it is something monstrous. Are you sure a Jew has a mouth? Does he have eyes? Yes, this is in the land of Ishmael and in the land of Edom. Take now, listen, today there are already media, so everyone knows more or less that the Jew looks like any other person. But there they did not know, and then they only heard about the horrors of the Jew. How much the Jews are a problematic people, how much the Jews are dangerous. So what, do Jews really have a face? Do they have a nose? Do they have eyes? I once read that some Jew arrived in Australia, an elderly woman met him there, and he told her that he was a Jew. She said to him, you are a Jew? Would you please take off your hat for a moment? He took off his hat, she began to feel around up here. He asks her, is something the matter? She tells him, no, no, because I heard that Jews have a horn. They have a horn here that comes out of their forehead. I wanted to check whether it is true. And this was in complete seriousness. That is, not that you would say she was someone who came to mock the Jew, oh, this is how she heard it. Jews have a horn. She finally gets to meet a Jew in the flesh, let us check, maybe you clipped it, maybe it is just as if, maybe you did something cosmetic. Surely you have a horn. So as many were astonished at you, marred beyond a man's appearance. For the Jew is marred beyond the form of a man, he does not even have the form of a human being according to the conception of the nations.
And the Malbim explains that when many will be astonished and wonder, after all he is marred beyond a man's appearance, that is, he was at the most lowly and low level, then he says his success will be at the greatest extreme. And this is already in the next verse. "So he shall startle many nations, kings shall shut their mouths at him; for that which had not been told them they see, and that which they had not heard they perceive." For when many are astonished, after all he is marred beyond a man's appearance, so his success will be in the greatest extreme. Good, before I explain the next verse, the Malbim here gives us, on the previous verse, another linguistic explanation. The Malbim says, "as many were astonished at you," what does "as" mean? It means like "at the time when many were astonished at you," at that same time they will be amazed to see how you are suddenly so exalted and lifted up. And "so marred was his appearance," this is like "and according as" they were stunned to see that he is marred beyond a man's appearance, so they will be stunned to see what greatness will suddenly be the people of Israel's. The "so" comes to say this corresponds to that. Like, that is, according to the extent of the astonishment at the lowliness of the Jew, so will be the extent of the astonishment at the level of the might of the greatness of the Jewish people. That is, the change will be so tremendous, that that astonishment will be equal to the astonishment they will now see, how his situation changes.
Now the Malbim explains what "marred was his appearance and his form beyond that of the sons of men" means. What is the difference between the form of a man and the appearance of a man? The Malbim says, the appearance denotes the color. What is his appearance? It means what color he is. In contrast, the form comes to describe the contours of the thing. For example, I say the form, it means the form of the cheeks, the form of the nose. Its meaning is, does the nose protrude or not, are his ears large or not. That is the meaning of form. As if we would perhaps want to describe, it is like you take and draw the person from the outside, only with a line, with a line, just trace over his external part, that is called his form. Are his cheeks large or small, his mouth, his eyes, his ears, his nose, that is the fo... that is his form. Now, when I want to describe the color of his face, that will be his appearance. And his appearance is white, and his appearance is dark, and his appearance... this comes to describe the color. And this is seen much in the Torah. "The appearance is deep, the appearance is lower than the skin," when they speak there, lehavdil, about tzara'at, yes? And this is the concept of "beautiful of form and beautiful of appearance." "Form" means the external form, the shaping of the limbs. And "appearance" means the color of the face or the color of her body. The Malbim says, there is also a difference between "ish" (man) and "benei adam" (sons of men). "Ish" is from the term "yesh" (existence), it includes all being, includes all that exists. That is, "ish" can apply even to animals. Even among them we found the expression "ish." In contrast, "benei adam" denotes specifically the human species. So he says, marred beyond a man's appearance. From the aspect of his form he is more marred than any "ish," not even like the form of a beast. For we said "ish" is anything that exists. And from the aspect of color, that there are animals that are very beautiful in their color, he says "and his form beyond that of the sons of men." And his form is worse than the form of the sons of men, meaning he does not even have the form of the sons of men. As if they want to describe the lowliness of the Jew.
Know that, corresponding to what they describe of the lowliness of the Jew, so he shall startle many nations, kings shall shut their mouths at him; for that which had not been told them they see, and that which they had not heard they perceive. So he shall startle many nations. What is the meaning of "he shall startle (yazeh) many nations"? The Radak explains "yazeh" is from the term of speech. Like "yatif" (drop) whose matter is speaking. If I say he preaches (matif) in the gate, what is "matif"? Speaking, right? Giving rebuke. And also to drip, I drip water. So that is, you see that the expression that we use regarding water, regarding liquids, is also the expression that is used regarding speech. So "yazeh many nations," "yazeh" means from the term of speaking to many nations. And he says that they will be astonished, those who were astonished at his lowliness, will be astonished at his greatness. How suddenly the one whom we did not recognize suddenly speaks, suddenly leads the others, suddenly they see in him powers that were not imagined. Kings shall shut their mouths at him. Even the kings will have fear and honor before him. As it is written "and nations shall see your righteousness, and all kings your glory." Even the kings will see your glory. For if the lowly one honors me, that is no greatness. But if the king honors me, then that already shows might.
This is what he says here, kings shall shut their mouths at him. The kings, as if to shut his mouth. No, he has nothing to say, he cannot open his mouth. The one whom we did not recognize, such lowly ones, suddenly such exalted and lifted up ones. What is the meaning of "they shall shut" (yikpetzu)? So it is very interesting that the Radak says that the expression "kefitzah" (springing/shutting) is an expression that conveys two opposite things. On one hand, "kefitzah" is a term of opening. Like "springing (mekapetz) upon the hills." What does "mekapetz" mean? He opens his legs with a great opening, that is "kefitzah." So "kefitzah" is a term of opening. And "kefitzah" is also a term of closing. Like "he shut his mouth," "he closes his hand." And he says both things I can explain here. According to both explanations I will explain to you what is written here. On one hand, kings shall shut their mouths, they will open their mouths to tell of the greatness of the people of Israel. Or I can say, on the other hand, they will shut their mouths, like "the words are taken from my mouth." He shuts his mouth, I have no words to say about the greatness of this people, whom we saw was marred beyond a man's appearance. How suddenly we see that this people is great, exalted and lifted up. The king sees this, puts his hand to his mouth, there is nothing, he shuts his mouth, he has nothing to say. The words are taken from his mouth. For that which had not been told them they see. This means, many times someone tells you something, and when you arrive, you say yes, correct, fine, but no, listen, he exaggerated a little, it is not to such an extent. You are not as impressed as he was impressed in his account. But here it will be exactly the opposite. It will become clear to you that what they told you was little compared to the reality. And this is what he says, that which had not been told them they see. They will see the greatness of the people of Israel which is far more than what was told them. Might far more and beyond what people said. And more than what they heard, they perceive. And more than what they heard, when they look upon him, they will see a great and mighty force that is far, far more than what they heard, than what they were told before.
The Malbim explains that what is written "so he shall startle many nations," and "for that which had not been told them they see," the Malbim says, something that is impossible can be of two kinds. There are two types of impossible. There is something that is impossible in reality, in actuality this thing is impossible. And there is something that is impossible only from a conceptual standpoint. What does this mean? For example, if I tell you something that is impossible in thought, it is like a square circle. Can you comprehend such a thing? It is impossible. Try to think of a square circle. It does not go together. It is something that, from a conceptual, mental standpoint, is impossible. There is something that is impossible in reality. What is impossible in reality? For example, that a person should fly in the sky. Possible in reality? There were several who tried, it did not end well. So to fly in the sky is impossible. A person who by himself simply spreads wings and tries to fly, that is impossible. But notice, the impossible in reality is possible in thought. I can imagine a person flying. Can you imagine a square circle? That is the difference between the impossible in reality and the impossible in thought. There are things that cannot be done in reality, but I can imagine it. I can think of such a thing. Because it does not contradict that a person flies, for behold you see that there is a bird that flies. So theoretically it could also be that a person would fly. But to think theoretically about a square circle, about a black color that is white, that is impossible. That, how, such a thing cannot contain an idea. So that is, in summary, something that is contradictory in thought is entirely impossible. In contrast, something that is contradictory in reality, then it may be that in reality it cannot happen, in actuality it cannot happen, but in thought it can indeed happen. The Malbim says, this wonder, that they will wonder at the success of the people of Israel, was until now for them impossible in reality. For there was never such a reality of a nation so lowly, that suddenly became such an exalted and lifted up nation. And therefore "that which had not been told them" that it happened, what was not told them that it happened in actuality, now they see with their senses. That is, such a thing, what is called "it would not be believed even if told." There was never such a thing. We never saw such a lowly nation that would rise and be elevated. But tell me, is this contrary to reason? Is this contrary to thought? Is it impossible to picture such a thing? Of course it is possible. But did such a thing actually happen? Such a thing did not happen. It is like a flying person. A flying person, as we said, one can imagine in the mind. So he says, now they see with their senses what was not told them. Behold, now he sees it in actuality. And more than this, he says, this was for them like something impossible even in thought, that something impossible in thought, we said, cannot happen at all, one cannot picture such a thing in thought, how could it be that such a despised people suddenly rises up, that which they had not heard they perceive. Now he will perceive and see, and in his thought he will see the thing that you thought could not happen even in thought, behold, come see how this thing is possible. For the Malbim explains, something unheard-of means that it is impossible to picture it in thought, this is the concept of "unheard-of." So "that which they had not heard they perceive," now he perceives in his thought and can indeed grasp it in his thought. But before, "that which had not been told them," what they were not told about something that happened in actuality, this they see in actuality.