This chapter is one of the great chapters of consolation in Yeshayahu, and it is framed as an allegory: a country is compared to a mother giving birth, and her children are the nation that dwells within it. Tzion, which sat desolate and childless for many generations, is informed here that many children are destined to come to her, and that precisely from what appeared to be a disadvantage, a great reward will flourish for her. We will proceed through the pesukim in order, with the explanations of the Radak and the Malbim, and in the first pasuk we will also elaborate on the wondrous explanation of the holy Alshich.
רׇנִּי עֲקָרָה לֹא יָלָדָה, פִּצְחִי רִנָּה וְצַהֲלִי לֹא־חָלָה, כִּי־רַבִּים בְּנֵי־שׁוֹמֵמָה מִבְּנֵי בְעוּלָה אָמַר יְהֹוָה׃ - Sing, O barren woman who has not given birth; burst into song and shout for joy, you who have not suffered birth pangs; for the children of the desolate one will be more numerous than the children of the married woman, said Hashem.
According to the literal meaning of the text, as explained by the Radak: "Sing, O barren woman" - this refers to Yerushalayim, which was like a woman who had never given birth. "Burst into song and shout for joy, you who have not suffered birth pangs" - burst into joyous song and shout, you who were never seized by trembling. "Chalah" is from the root of trembling, the agony and spasms that seize a woman before giving birth, as in the phrase "chul keyoledah" (trembling like a woman in labor). "For the children of the desolate one will be more numerous than the children of the married woman" - the children of the desolate one, the people of Israel who sat desolate, will be more numerous than the children of the married woman, which refers to the nations, the children of Edom.
The Minchat Shai notes that in some texts "shomemah" is written defective (chaser) and in some accurate texts it is written full (malei). He writes: "And I sit appalled seeing the abundance of variations that have crept into the texts, and this matter grieves me greatly, for each and every day books proliferate in a way that never occurred before, and the printers walk in darkness without any light, with no one seeking or demanding care." His words are sevenfold more precise in our generation: if in the past a certain accuracy was still maintained, today's new books in peshat, remez, drash, and Kabbalah are largely corrupt. Nowadays it is very easy to publish a book, and consequently people no longer pay attention to detail: defective and full spellings, glaring spelling mistakes, textual errors, and sometimes missing lines. When anyone with a keyboard and a printer becomes a publisher, the result is evident. The Minchat Shai explains the source of this discrepancy: there are other places with this word, such as "And Tamar remained desolate (veshomemah)", "He made me desolate (shomemah) all the day", and "For the children of the desolate one (shomemah)", and it was not clarified which of them is full and which is defective, and from this arose the corruption where people assumed that here it is defective, without a vav.
The Radak writes that the meaning of the verse aligns with Targum Yonatan: a pregnant woman suffers birth pangs as her delivery draws near, for prior to giving birth she is gripped by trembling. Even though Yerushalayim sat desolate for long periods without her children dwelling within her, the verse promises us that the Holy One, blessed be He, will return and repopulate her, and her children will be more numerous than the children of the married woman. And who are the "children of the married woman"? These are the nations, who are like a woman dwelling with her husband. The desolate one, by contrast, is Yerushalayim, who sits like a widow without her children. The Radak makes a fine distinction: the text does not say she is an actual widow, but rather, as Scripture states in Eichah, "She has become like a widow" - like a widow, but not an actual widow. For an actual widow's husband has died, whereas here her Husband is alive, and He is merely waiting for Israel to repent so that He may return to us.
The Malbim explains that the poetic metaphor compares a country to a mother giving birth, and the citizens of the country to children. Tzion - which is Eretz Yisrael, and more specifically Yerushalayim - is like a barren woman who does not bear children and sits desolate. Concerning this, she is told: Know that children will come to you from afar, to the point that you will stand in wonderment asking, "Who bore these for me?" And even though you did not bring them forth yourself, you lost nothing; on the contrary, you gained.
How did you gain? Before giving birth, a woman cries out from intense pain, "she writhes in her labor pangs." So it is with a nation: during the stages of its establishment, before it becomes a nation and a kingdom, it endures very difficult periods. Almost every country in the world passed through harsh wars on its path to independence - even the United States, where it is hard to believe what bloodshed and bitter wars took place between the South and the North. The same is true of what happens in Russia and Chechnya and anywhere people seek independence; the Kurds in Iraq who seek independence; the Palestinians who kill us mercilessly in the name of independence in their land. In the initial stages, there are always fierce wars.
Here, however, the prophet promises: Tzion will be in a state where, when a great nation comes to her, when all the people of Israel return to her, it will happen without labor pangs and contractions, like a woman who gave birth without falling ill. This refers to the future Redemption, when all the Jewish people will gather here in a short time and without pain, free of the agonizing symptoms of a woman about to give birth. Therefore, "burst into song and shout for joy" - rejoice specifically over the fact that you did not give birth, for through this "you did not suffer birth pangs"; you did not endure the sickness and trauma that every country suffers during the stages of its birth. And lest you think: if so, perhaps my children will be few? To this it is said, "for the children of the desolate one will be more numerous than the children of the married woman" - the children of desolate Yerushalayim will outnumber the children of the nations who dwelt securely on their land, fought for their independence, and suffered heavy bloodshed and countless casualties.
The Malbim addresses the phrasing "a barren woman who has not given birth," which seemingly appears to be an unnecessary redundancy. As was previously explained regarding Samson's mother, "barren and had not given birth" (Shoftim 13:2), there is a situation where a barren woman has previously given birth. Today this is known in medicine as secondary infertility: a couple marries, the woman gives birth to a child or two, and subsequently can no longer conceive. Sometimes one sees someone who has no children for fifteen years, and then has another child; in some cases this is by choice, but for most people it is due to secondary infertility, which is beyond our control, requiring treatments until Hashem has mercy. Therefore, the verse is precise: "Sing, barren woman" - which barren woman? One who has never given birth previously at all. So too regarding Manoach's wife, "Behold now, you are barren and have not given birth," and similarly, "And Sarai was barren; she had no child" (Bereishit 11:30).
Similarly regarding "who has not travailed": seemingly, every birth involves labor pains and anguish, so what is the novelty? Rather, the Malbim explains that the two are not necessarily bound together. There is one who experiences labor pains but does not give birth, as the verse says, "We were with child, we travailed, we have as it were brought forth wind" (Yeshayahu 26:18) - great pain, the process of labor, and ultimately nothing, naught. And there is the opposite: one who gives birth without labor pains - one who was spared the decree of Chava, giving birth effortlessly "like a chicken laying an egg," in a single moment, without an epidural and without anything. It is rare, exceptional cases, but they exist. Therefore, both descriptions are stated here: she has not given birth, and she has not travailed.
Although our usual approach is to study with the Malbim, here the Alshich offers a magnificent explanation of the verse. Incidentally, on verses that serve as haftarot, far more commentaries are to be found, as many commentators wrote on the Chumash and subsequently on the haftarot, rather than on the entirety of Tanach in sequence.
The Alshich raises several difficulties: (1) How can it say "who has not given birth" and "who has not travailed," when Scripture explicitly states the exact opposite: "For as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children" (Yeshayahu 66:8)? (2) Furthermore, we observe tangibly that she did give birth - who gave birth to the Jewish people if not Jerusalem? (3) Moreover, if the praise of the barren woman is that she did not give birth, the verse should have said, "for more are the children of the barren woman than the children of the one who gives birth"; why begin with one description and end with another, "the children of the desolate than the children of the married woman"? (4) In addition, if the title "barren woman" already teaches that she has not given birth, why say "Sing, barren woman who has not given birth"? It should have simply said from the start, "Sing, one who has not given birth." (5) Furthermore, "burst into song" following "Sing" seems redundant. (6) In addition, the chronological order is reversed: labor pains precede childbirth, so it should have said, "Sing, barren woman who has not travailed, burst into song and shout, who has not given birth." (7) Finally, the verse should have spoken in the second person - "you who have not given birth," "you who have not travailed" - since it is addressing the Congregation of Israel; why is it written in the third person: "she has not given birth," "she has not travailed"?
The Alshich explains: A parable of a woman who was barren for ten years or more, and eventually gave birth to many children. However, the children did not survive with her - some died and some were taken captive, leaving her bereft of both her husband and her children. She grieved, saying, "Woe to me that I had so few children! For had I borne many, then out of that abundance - since so many were lost and exiled - there would have been a chance that at least some would have remained with me. But now that I bore few, when they were taken, everything was taken."
In time, her children were remembered and returned to her. She is then told: Rejoice that you did not give birth during those years when you were barren; sing over this. First, you were spared the pains of childbirth - the pregnancy, the suffering, and the hardship, which is no small matter. And if you say, "Perhaps I could have had more children?" - behold, they have all gathered and come back to you, and you see that ultimately all those you worried about are returning. And if you say, "I could have had additional children?" - they too would not have remained; they too would have departed, and as it turns out, departed never to return. Because you did not give birth then, you merited that other children came to you without you having to exert yourself, give birth, and toil so intensely for them.
According to this parable, says the Alshich, so it happened to Jerusalem. Heavenly Jerusalem is the source from which all Jewish souls emanate. Behold, we see that from the source whence the roots of the nations emerge, it flows boundlessly, and they multiply without end: a billion Chinese and a billion Indians; the Kenizzites, Pathrusites, and Casluchites; "And these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the Children of Israel" (Bereishit 36:31) - before we even began, they already had this chieftain and that chieftain, their legions without number. And as it is said regarding Yaakov, "And the house of Yaakov shall be a fire, and the house of Yosef a flame" (Ovadiah 1:18) - initially one looks and sees a camel laden with straw and thorns, so many nations, so many peoples, while we have not even started; yet a single spark consumes it all.
Thus it emerges that we were in the category of a barren woman. Until Avraham arrived, we had not begun to give birth at all, and when Avraham arrived, it was genuine barrenness: only at the age of one hundred did he father a child. Then Yitzchak, who was born when it was naturally impossible to father children, and until he underwent the Akeidah; and even when standing alongside Rivkah, "And Yitzchak entreated Hashem opposite his wife, because she was barren" (Bereishit 25:21), even then it did not come easily. With Yaakov, as well: Leah, "And Hashem saw that Leah was hated, and He opened her womb" (Bereishit 29:31), and regarding Rachel, Scripture explicitly states that she was barren. We see that with the Jewish people everything comes through hardship: until the souls emerge, until the nation develops - everything is through travail; whereas with the nations of the world, everything proceeds effortlessly.
If so, the Community of Israel could come and complain: "Woe to me for the barrenness that was, woe to me that I did not give birth back then! For when we went into exile, we were millions and were exiled; had we been a billion, perhaps a portion would have remained here." To this the verse responds: "Sing, barren woman" - rejoice specifically over having been barren. "Sing, barren woman" refers to the past, and that is why it does not address her in the second person, "you did not give birth," but in the third person, "who did not give birth" - rejoice over what you did not bear back then, over the fact that the Holy One, blessed be He, brought the Jewish people into the world drop by drop, slowly, and not in immense quantities like the nations.
However, one must ask: if no misfortune befell you, one might say to you, "Rest easy," but does one break into dance over that? Song (*rinah*) comes from joy over a good thing that occurred, not merely over a misfortune that did not happen. "I did not lose" is not a sufficient reason for joyful song. To this the verse states, "Break into song and rejoice" - it is fitting for you to burst into song out of joy, and not merely ordinary joy, but a joy that bursts forth outwardly, in the manner of jubilation. And why? "Who did not travail."
The explanation is as follows: Why, indeed, did the Holy One, blessed be He, multiply the nations endlessly, while bringing forth the Jewish people with difficulty and in stages? The holy Alshich explains that it is for a simple reason: impurity and contamination were abundant in the world. Sand is plentiful, while diamonds are scarce; and how much one must dig, and how much blood one sweats until finding a single genuine diamond, pure and refined. The nations are like sand, stones, and mud - there is an endless supply, as much as one could wish. But the Holy One, blessed be He, wanted to bring forth the Jewish people refined.
After all, had Avraham fathered Yitzchak at a younger age, would Yitzchak have emerged refined? It was specifically because Avraham first fathered Yishmael and discharged his impurity into him that Yitzchak emerged far more refined. Likewise, had Yitzchak fathered Yaakov first - sparing us the headache of the quarrels with Eisav, who wanted to kill Yaakov and felt that the birthright belonged to him - it would have been far worse: the dross of Yitzchak was cast into Eisav, and thus Yaakov was born far more refined.
And as explained in the past: the primary attribute of Avraham was *chesed* (lovingkindness). And what is the dross of *chesed*, *chesed* taken to its extreme? It is licentiousness and forbidden relations, of which the Torah also says, "it is a *chesed*" (disgrace/excessive intimacy), for this too is a kind of giving and providing pleasure to another, yet in impurity. Yishmael absorbed this extreme: "Ten measures of licentiousness descended to the world; nine were taken by the Arabs" - this represents the aspect of *chesed* of impurity that was latent in Avraham and transferred to Yishmael. The attribute of Yitzchak was *gevurah* (might/strict justice); and what is the *gevurah* of impurity? Murder. For *gevurah* means "let the law pierce the mountain," intense severity, and if taken to the extreme, whoever fails to act according to the law is immediately put to death. Eisav absorbed the dross of *gevurah*: "And by your sword you shall live" - his entire essence was Edom, bloodshed. Once the dross of *chesed* was passed to Yishmael and the dross of *gevurah* to Eisav, Yaakov emerged in the aspect of *tiferet* (harmony/truth), his bed complete and entirely refined.
This is what the verse is saying: Rejoice! For in the earliest generations, even before the generation of Avraham, the venom of the primordial serpent was pervasive and the power of impurity in the world was immense; had children been born then, they would have been born tainted, carrying that same impurity of the nations. What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He restricted the offspring of Avraham and Yitzchak and delayed them, bringing Avraham into the world in a later generation, so that the people of Israel would emerge far more refined. The closer the generations were to the sin of Adam HaRishon, the more the venom of the primordial serpent pulsed and its contamination endured; and as the generations grew more distant, the power of that contamination progressively weakened.
And this is the meaning of "for the children of the desolate one are more numerous than the children of the married woman": Do not be dismayed by the fact that the nations continue to multiply. The "children of the desolate one" are the children born after the period of desolation, that era during which souls from the root of the souls of Israel did not emerge. And if you ask, "Do they not have many?" - come and see who the "children of the married woman" are: those born to Eisav, who is the root of Amalek, and from them came Tyre, which was destined for destruction in its kingship, and in the end they all perish. Thus it turns out that ultimately, the children of the desolate one will be far more numerous than the children of the married woman - than Amalek, the rest of the nations, and the peoples of Edom who multiplied without limit. If so, it is not merely that "no misfortune befell you," but rather that something exquisite happened to you: the Holy One, blessed be He, waited until all the dross was filtered out, in order to bring you forth, the people of Israel, refined and worthy. And this is the tremendous tidings that He promises, "said Hashem."
In light of this, the questions are resolved. We asked based on the verse, "for as soon as Zion travailed, she gave birth to her children" - and the answer is that "did not give birth" refers to back then, to that earlier period. And how fortunate we are that she did not give birth back then! For had she given birth when impurity was rampant, we would have emerged with the same contamination as the nations, of whom the Gemara says that they retain the venom of the serpent and that their bodies are damaged. By contrast, "as soon as Zion travailed, she gave birth to her children" was said regarding a later period, when they were already refined.
This also resolves both "did not give birth" and "did not travail," as well as the order of the terms: how much you must rejoice that she did not give birth - for had she given birth back then, what kind of children would they have been? Children of shuddering (*chalchalah*) and sickness (*choli*), unworthy and blemished children. Therefore, rejoice that she did not give birth; and the primary joy is "break into song and rejoice, who did not travail" - rejoice that you did not bear children back then, for giving birth to children then would have been *chalah*, bearing children afflicted with sickness, children of trembling and fear, who would not have been fitting for you. And over this, the Community of Israel must rejoice.
הַרְחִיבִי מְקוֹם אׇהֳלֵךְ וִירִיעוֹת מִשְׁכְּנוֹתַיִךְ יַטּוּ אַל־תַּחְשֹׂכִי, הַאֲרִיכִי מֵיתָרַיִךְ וִיתֵדֹתַיִךְ חַזֵּקִי׃ - "Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your habitations, do not spare; lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes."
Here the prophet comes to describe the reality of the Jewish people in the future. Since "the children of the desolate one are more numerous than the children of the married wife," and because of the multitude of children returning from the exile - "Enlarge the place of your tent," which is Jerusalem; "and let them stretch out the curtains of your habitations," these being the curtains with which one stretches and extends the tent, referring to the rest of the mountains of Israel - "do not spare." That is, whoever extends the curtains should draw them outward from afar. An ordinary tent is triangular, like a scout's tent; when one wishes to accommodate more people, one raises the ceiling and pulls it outward to the sides, thus allowing more to enter. This is the meaning of "let them stretch out the curtains of your habitations, do not spare" - do not hold back, for a vast multitude is destined to come and settle here in the land.
And not only this: the Radak explains that in these words, the prophet speaks of the expansion of the borders of Eretz Yisrael, and this is explicitly stated in the verses of Tanach. In Zechariah it says, "A pronouncement of the word of Hashem in the land of Chadrach, and Damascus shall be its resting place" - meaning that Eretz Yisrael will expand as far as Damascus; "and Chamath also shall border thereon, Tyre and Sidon" - that the border will encompass Tyre and Sidon. Likewise: "All the land shall be turned as the plain from Geva to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; and it shall be lifted up and inhabited in its place, from the gate of Benjamin to the place of the first gate, to the corner gate, and from the tower of Chananel to the king's winepresses. And they shall dwell therein, and there shall be no more utter destruction, but Jerusalem shall dwell safely." And likewise in Yirmiyahu: "Behold, the days are coming, says Hashem, that the city shall be built to Hashem from the tower of Chananel to the corner gate." We see that Jerusalem is destined to expand, as Chazal say that Jerusalem is destined to expand until it is like the entire Eretz Yisrael, and Eretz Yisrael will be like the entire world. To this the prophet hints: "Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your habitations; do not spare."
And the Malbim explains: "Enlarge the place of your tent" - to accommodate the multitude of children, for the tent is the primary dwelling place. At times, guests and affiliates arrive, and they too come into the tent; therefore, "the curtains of your habitations," which surround the tent - extend these as well, because there are additional and secondary groups. "Do not spare" - ceaselessly, continuously, as they arrive in endless waves; the returning children will constantly multiply, and there will always be a need to add more housing. "Lengthen your cords" - cords are the ropes used to fasten the tent, with which it is extended and shortened; and the prophet tells her: know that you will need exceedingly long ropes, so prepare them long in advance. In plain terms: if one is about to build residential neighborhoods and plans for an expected capacity of one hundred thousand people - by no means! Increase the projection to a million. This is "lengthen your cords," for a vast multitude is yet to come.
כִּי־יָמִין וּשְׂמֹאול תִּפְרֹצִי, וְזַרְעֵךְ גּוֹיִם יִירָשׁ וְעָרִים נְשַׁמּוֹת יוֹשִׁיבוּ׃ - "For you shall spread abroad to the right and to the left, and your offspring shall possess nations and settle desolate cities."
This is the fulfillment of the metaphor. "For you shall spread abroad to the right and to the left" - echoing the phrase, "and you shall spread abroad to the west, to the east, to the north, and to the south." If "right and left" denote south and north, then "your offspring shall possess nations" corresponds to east and west. "And desolate cities" - meaning that even cities that lay desolate in the rest of Eretz Yisrael will be populated.
The Malbim explains: "You shall spread abroad to the right and to the left" - you will break through the borders to the right and to the left, and Eretz Yisrael will expand beyond its borders; to the point that "your offspring shall possess nations" - our own territory will not suffice, and we will have to inherit lands belonging to the nations, just as we find that King David made conquests in Syria and elsewhere. And even this will not suffice, until "they will settle desolate cities" - even among the nations, after we take over all the inhabited cities, we will need to utilize desolate cities, in places that are uninhabited among them, in order to spread out there as well.
However, regarding David there was a grievance on this account, as was explained at length when studying the narrative of King David and his conquests. On the one hand, the Torah says, "Every place whereon the sole of your foot shall tread shall be yours," but on the other hand, the Torah delineates exact borders - up to the river, up to the sea, and so forth. The explanation is that the borders represent the minimum: upon entering the land, the Jewish people must conquer the land within its designated borders, for that is the Promised Land. From then on, once that base is complete, every place where the sole of their foot treads shall be theirs - whether Damascus, or Iraq, or anywhere else to which we expand.
In the days of David, however, the conquest of all of Eretz Yisrael had not yet been completed, yet David went and conquered in Syria, in Aleppo, and places which the Torah promises will be yours - and it was said to him that we had not yet fully acquired them. For all this applies only once you have finished conquering the land; but if you have not yet completed conquering the Promised Land and you expand into other territories, those territories are not secured for you. This is what the verse states here: "and your offspring shall possess nations" - only after we properly settle the land, and only after we conquer all that belongs to us according to the original borders of the land, will the promise be fulfilled that "your offspring shall possess nations and settle desolate cities."
This chapter of consolation opens with a call to Zion to sing specifically over her barrenness: according to the Malbim, because her redemption will come without the pangs of childbirth, without the wars and bloodshed that all nations endure on the path to independence, and yet her children will outnumber theirs. According to the Alshich, the joy is over the very delay: the Holy One, blessed be He, delayed the birth of the seed of Israel until the contamination of the serpent subsided, arranging for the contamination of Chesed to be channeled into Ishmael and the contamination of Gevurah into Esau, so that Jacob would emerge refined - for had she given birth then, the children would have been "challah," flawed offspring. From this point forward, the prophet commands her to enlarge the tent and lengthen the cords, for Jerusalem is destined to expand and be filled with the children returning from exile, until they burst forth to the right and to the left and even inherit the lands of the nations - provided that we first properly settle the boundaries of the Promised Land.