The chapter before us continues the prophecies of Yeshayahu in the days of Achaz, when Retzin king of Aram and Pekach son of Remalyahu king of Yisrael march against Yehudah. Up to this point, we heard words of comfort: "Immanu El" (God is with us) - there is nothing to fear, the Holy One, Blessed is He, is with the House of David. From this point forward, the prophet addresses the conspirators, those from within and without who plotted against the Davidic monarchy, informing them that all their schemes will not stand, and that the evil they plan will rebound upon their own heads.
רֹעוּ עַמִּים וָחֹתּוּ, וְהַאֲזִינוּ כֹּל מֶרְחַקֵּי אָרֶץ, הִתְאַזְּרוּ וָחֹתּוּ, הִתְאַזְּרוּ וָחֹתּוּ׃ - Band together, O peoples, and be shattered; give ear, all you distant parts of the earth! Gird yourselves and be shattered; gird yourselves and be shattered!
At first glance, there is a contradiction here: until now, the prophet spoke words of reassurance - Yehudah will be saved, the Holy One, Blessed is He, will punish Retzin and the son of Remalyahu, "Maher Shalal Chash Baz"; and suddenly he speaks of an impending calamity, of the king of Ashur surging like an overflowing river. The Malbim explains: this is not addressed to Yehudah, but rather to the conspirators - Shevna and his faction, those who reached out to forge an alliance with Sancheiriv king of Ashur, telling him: We are with you, Chizkiyahu will fall; those who spoke from atop the wall in the Judean language to the people to incite a rebellion from within.
"Band together, O peoples" (Ro'u amim) - from the language of association and friendship: associate with the nations, let Sancheiriv and his army be your companions, forge an alliance with them to rebel against your master. But "and be shattered" (vachotu) - know that you will be broken. Chat connotes shattering, as in the expression "made without fear" (asui lelo chat, meaning unbreakable), and likewise "he was humbled (nichat) before My Name." "Give ear, all you distant parts of the earth" - even those far away must listen to what I am now declaring. "Gird yourselves" (hit'azru) - from the word for a belt (ezor), gird a belt around your loins and muster your strength to rebel against Chizkiyahu. Yet nevertheless - "and be shattered." And once again, "Gird yourselves and be shattered" - a second time you will gird yourselves and gather strength, and a second time you will be broken.
עֻצוּ עֵצָה וְתֻפָר, דַּבְּרוּ דָבָר וְלֹא יָקוּם, כִּי עִמָּנוּ אֵל׃ - Devise a scheme and it shall be foiled; speak a word and it shall not stand, for God is with us.
"Devise a scheme" - sit and deliberate as you wish on how to carry out this conspiracy against Chizkiyahu, but "and it shall be foiled" - your counsel will be frustrated. "Speak a word" - let there be agreements and declarations between you, and nevertheless "it shall not stand." And why? "For God is with us" (ki Immanu El) - and as we explained, this is the name of the child that symbolizes the nation, for the nation stands in the dimension of "God is with us."
What is the difference between "Devise counsel" (utzu eitzah) and "Speak a word" (daberu davar)? The Malbim explains: counsel (eitzah) is the deliberation aimed at selecting the best means to achieve a desired end. For example, if someone wishes to conquer a certain nation, they seek counsel regarding the right path: one suggests an internal coup, another suggests a military assault, and a third suggests a "Trojan horse." That is the counsel. A "word" (davar), however, is the decision to execute: once we have agreed on what to do, orders are issued to the general staff, to the army, to the various units - that is "speak a word."
At times the word (the decision) precedes the counsel, and at times it follows it. If one resolves in advance to go to war without consultation, that is a "word"; subsequently, one takes counsel on how to fight, whom to deploy, air force or ground troops, and what intelligence reports - that is the counsel that follows the word. Conversely, sometimes we first deliberate whether to fight and in what manner, and only afterwards speak a word and decide to put it into action - that is a word that follows counsel.
And so it is here: "Devise counsel" - deliberate on how to carry out the conspiracy, "and it shall be foiled" - because counsel exists only in thought, and therefore the concept of annulment applies to it. "Speak a word" - resolve to put it into execution, wishing for the matter to be established, and the prophet tells you: "and it shall not stand." Why? "For God is with us."
כִּי כֹה אָמַר יְהֹוָה אֵלַי כְּחֶזְקַת הַיָּד, וְיִסְּרֵנִי מִלֶּכֶת בְּדֶרֶךְ הָעָם הַזֶּה לֵאמֹר׃ - For so Hashem said to me with the strength of the hand, and admonished me from walking in the way of this people, saying:
There are text variants with "kechezkat hayad" (as with the strength of the hand) and some with "bechezkat hayad" (with the strength of the hand); in the Mikraot Gedolot it appears as "bechezkat hayad," and in other places as "kechezkat." Either way, the meaning is one: this is how Hashem spoke to me when the hand of prophecy overcame me. Rashi explains that this is similar to what is said in Yechezkel, "and the hand of Hashem was strong upon me," for prophecy would descend upon the prophet with tremendous force. We have already mentioned that a prophet would sometimes collapse under the sheer weight of prophecy, and Shaul began to strip off his heavy royal garments due to the overwhelming weight of prophecy. "And admonished me from walking in the way of this people" - Hashem admonished me with ethical reproof not to join the conspirators, not to take part in the counsel of Shevna the scribe and his faction who sought to rebel against Chizkiyahu.
לֹא תֹאמְרוּן קֶשֶׁר לְכֹל אֲשֶׁר יֹאמַר הָעָם הַזֶּה קָשֶׁר, וְאֶת מוֹרָאוֹ לֹא תִירְאוּ וְלֹא תַעֲרִיצוּ׃ - Do not call a conspiracy all that this people calls a conspiracy, and do not fear what they dread, nor be terrified.
Whatever the people call a "conspiracy" - meaning an enduring alliance or bond - do not call it a conspiracy. It is neither an alliance nor is it enduring, and nothing will come of it. "And do not fear what they dread" - do not be afraid of it, for it cannot harm you. "Nor be terrified" - do not consider it something formidable and mighty, possessing strength; rather, it is a weak conspiracy, devoid of any real force.
The Malbim explains: sometimes something is weak yet feared because it is capable of causing harm, and sometimes something is strong yet not feared because it poses no threat. Do not make the mistake of thinking that the strong is always frightening while the weak is harmless. A person sees an elephant and is not seized by terrible dread, for there is no reason it will harm him; yet he walks past a small snake the size of a finger and is filled with terror. People say that all of America is afraid of a cockroach: America fears the president, the president fears his wife, and his wife fears a cockroach. Thus, all of America fears a cockroach! A tiny creature, a mosquito or a scorpion, already poses danger.
Therefore, there are two distinct points here: "Do not fear what they dread" - do not fear them, for they cannot harm you; "nor be terrified" - nor do they possess might and power. They are weak, and they are weak without even being frightening. In other words, they are like a small snake that is also completely harmless: you have nothing to fear, neither on account of its size nor on account of the dread it might instill.
אֶת יְהֹוָה צְבָאוֹת אֹתוֹ תַקְדִּישׁוּ, וְהוּא מוֹרַאֲכֶם וְהוּא מַעֲרִצְכֶם׃ - Hashem of Hosts, Him shall you sanctify, and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread.
How does one sanctify Hashem? By obeying His commandments. "And let Him be your fear" - He will be the cause of fear on your behalf, so that people will fear you through Him. When you walk with Hashem, the nation that comes to wage war against you will fear you, as it is said, "And all the peoples of the earth shall see that the name of Hashem is called upon you, and they shall fear you." Nor will this be merely an imaginary fear, where they are afraid even though you possess no real strength; rather, "and let Him be your dread" - from the term for mighty and formidable: He will grant you actual, tangible strength. It is not merely that they will think you are powerful, but that you will truly possess power, for the very Hashem Whom you sanctify is also the One Who strengthens you.
וְהָיָה לְמִקְדָּשׁ, וּלְאֶבֶן נֶגֶף וּלְצוּר מִכְשׁוֹל לִשְׁנֵי בָתֵּי יִשְׂרָאֵל, לְפַח וּלְמוֹקֵשׁ לְיוֹשֵׁב יְרוּשָׁלָ͏ִם׃ - And He shall be for a sanctuary, and for a stumbling stone and a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, for a trap and a snare to the inhabitant of Jerusalem.
This is a complex verse, so let us break it down. "And He shall be for a sanctuary" - just as you sanctify Him, so will He be for you a sanctuary of strength, an aid and protection from all distress and trouble. Yet that very same thing will be a stumbling stone to those conspiring against you: those who oppose you will be struck down by the very thing in which you place your trust.
The Malbim explains that there were two factions here (or three upon closer inspection, but broadly two). The first faction consisted of Ephraim and the Ten Tribes allied with Pekach son of Remalyahu, alongside the people of Judah living outside the walls of Jerusalem, whom Pekach had already conquered in his first war and who became his partners against the Davidic monarchy. The second faction was the conspirators within the walls themselves - Shebna the scribe and his faction, who sent letters to Sennacherib, king of Assyria, claiming that while Hezekiah and his faction had not surrendered, Shebna and his followers had - a fifth column from within.
Corresponding to this, the verse states: "For both houses of Israel" - these are Ephraim and the Ten Tribes together with Judah outside the walls; the conspiracy they formed will become for them a stumbling stone and a rock of offense. For you went and allied yourselves with the king of Aram and foreign kings, and as a result, a foreign king came to wage war against you and conquered you first. And indeed, so it happened - the king of Assyria marched against them and exiled them. In contrast, "the inhabitant of Jerusalem" refers to the conspirators inside, Shebna and his faction, and for them the conspiracy will become "a snare and a trap."
What is the difference between an even negef (a stumbling stone) and a tzur michshol (a rock of offense)? The Malbim explains: a stone is a stone, while a tzur is a hard boulder or rock. An even negef is something by which one is struck directly: you are walking, stub your toe on a stone, and get hurt by it. Negef is an expression of striking, as in "lest you strike your foot against a stone." Similarly, Chazal taught: "A person does not strike his finger below unless it is decreed from Above" - not, as people often think, that nokeif means moving a finger, but rather striking his finger, taking a blow, and shedding a drop of blood. A michshol (obstacle or stumbling block), on the other hand, is merely the cause for stumbling into something else, as in "do not place a stumbling block before the blind" - something that causes him to stumble over something else. The obstacle itself does not inflict the damage; rather, it is the catalyst: it tripped me, I fell on my face, and was injured by the ground. The obstacle is the cause, and the ground is the source of injury.
So too with a pach (snare) and a mokeish (trap): a pach is merely that which captures a person, like hunters digging a pit in the ground and covering it with branches and leaves, into which a passing animal or person falls. There is nothing there that actively injures; rather, he is trapped and cannot escape - "the snare is broken, and we have escaped." A mokeish, however, both captures and injures simultaneously: like that round, toothed metal trap that snaps shut when one steps in the center, seizing the leg, and through the spring's tremendous force crushes the leg, sometimes leading to death from blood loss. If we picture a pit lined with sharp swords at the bottom, the pit is the pach, and the swords are the mokeish.
Now let us explain. To the inhabitants of Jerusalem it was said: "For a snare and for a trap." A snare does not inflict harm on its own; rather, whoever approaches it and falls into it is captured. This is precisely what happened: those conspirators had to go out of Jerusalem to suffer harm, for they went out to Sennacherib to tell him that they had surrendered and only Hezekiah refused. (One must note that two periods are referenced here: the era of Pekach son of Remalyahu and Rezin king of Aram, and the later era of Sennacherib. Some commentators attribute the prophecy to the days of Hezekiah, while the Malbim attributes it primarily to the days of his father Ahaz, when Rezin and Pekach marched against them - yet broadly speaking, they belong to the same historical continuum.)
Shebna had a large following, yet when he went out, they all slipped away in fear and abandoned him, leaving him virtually alone. Much like in modern politics: a candidate claims countless signatures, but when election day comes, he can barely count his own family among his voters. Sennacherib saw this and demanded: "Where are all those people you promised?" He seized him, tied his heels to the tails of horses, and dragged him over thorns and briers - so may all the enemies of Hashem and all traitors to His people Israel perish. Thus, only those who left the city were overtaken by the sword of the king of Assyria, whereas those who did not leave were untouched by evil. This is the snare: to fall into a snare, one must walk right into it, and there they were trapped and destroyed.
Regarding the two houses of Israel that were outside Jerusalem from the outset, it was said: "For a stumbling stone and a rock of offense." The Malbim explains that the danger of a rock of offense is greater than that of a stumbling stone. Although a stumbling stone might seem more severe, since one is struck directly by the stone itself, nevertheless, one who trips over a stone suffers only minor harm. In contrast, one who stumbles over a rock and falls flat on his face against the ground experiences a harder fall, greater pain, and far worse damage. So too in the analogy: the plot of conspiracy they devised to rebel will be to you merely as a stumbling stone - minor damage; you have nothing to fear, Hezekiah; you have nothing to fear, Ahaz. But the damage that will befall them because of this conspiracy will be like a rock of offense - the king of Assyria will come and exile them all. What they do to you is a stumbling stone, but what will come upon them is a rock of offense, a massive obstacle that leads to their complete exile.
Likewise further on: the harm of the trap is greater than that of the snare, for the trap inflicts physical harm and kills - or in modern terms, a mine does not merely trip you, it blows up on you. Moreover, a trap captures on its own, without requiring the hunter's physical presence. The conspiracy itself, when they went out from Jerusalem to join Pekach, served as a snare that caused minor harm, capturing them within it so that Pekach took them as slaves; but the ultimate catastrophe was that they were exiled together with the Ten Tribes. All those who went out to Pekach and all those who went out to Sennacherib brought about their own exile alongside the Ten Tribes. The damage began small and culminated in a devastating trap. Thus, "a stumbling stone" parallels "a snare" - minor harm, while "a rock of offense" parallels "a trap" - catastrophic ruin.
וְכָשְׁלוּ בָם רַבִּים, וְנָפְלוּ וְנִשְׁבָּרוּ, וְנוֹקְשׁוּ וְנִלְכָּדוּ׃ - "And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken."
"And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken" corresponds to the stumbling stone and the rock of offense; "and be snared, and be taken" corresponds to the snare and the trap: they are captured in the snare, and through it they are devastated by the trap. Rashi explains that those stones will cause both these and their faction to stumble, and both will fall into the hands of their enemies: Pekach was slain by Hoshea son of Elah, the Ten Tribes fell to Sennacherib, and Shebna, who went out of Jerusalem when Sennacherib marched against Tirhakah king of Cush, was destroyed by Sennacherib himself, who put him to death with brutal tortures. Thus, the very party with whom you sought to conspire will himself cause you to stumble and bring about your destruction.
צוֹר תְּעוּדָה, חֲתוֹם תּוֹרָה בְּלִמֻּדָי׃ - Bind up the testimony, seal the teaching among my disciples.
The chapter opened with the command: "Take a large scroll and write upon it with human script for Maher-shalal-chash-baz." The Malbim explained that "human script" (*cheret enosh*) refers to pictorial script, hieroglyphics - that he should draw a picture from which it would be understood: "the spoil speeds, the prey hastens" - that Sancheriv would ultimately hasten to plunder the Ten Tribes who were besieging you. And now the Holy One, blessed be He, says to him: "Draw the testimony" (*tzor te'udah*) - depict what I told you in human script within this document, *te'udah* being an expression of testimony and forewarning, to warn those conspiring with the enemies that this plot will turn back upon them. "Seal the teaching among my disciples" - seal this instruction and prophecy through "my disciples" (*limudai*), meaning my students. For after the command regarding the scroll, it is said: "And I called to bear faithful witness Uriah the Kohen and Zechariah the son of Yevarechyahu" - they are the witnesses signed on the document. Seal it through their authority, so that it will remain as a lasting memorial for a long time, that everyone may see that Hashem promised that the Ten Tribes would fall - and that is indeed how they ended up.
The Radak explains *tzor* as an expression of binding and tying up, as in "and they were shut up (*tzerurot*) until the day of their death." According to this, the prophet is saying: I have no choice but to bind up and seal the Torah among my disciples, among my students alone, so that others will not see it. For the others do not want to hear words of Torah, nor do they wish to see all that I teach. If so, it is better that I bundle up the testimony and seal the Torah, and let it be mentioned only among the students. For if I teach the others and show them the words of Torah, their punishment will only increase, as they will hear rebuke and fail to observe it, thereby being punished doubly. It is better that I teach the attentive students who truly desire to elevate themselves in the service of Hashem - who through this will change their ways for the good - rather than publicize the Torah to the entire nation who will not change their ways, for why add sin upon transgression for them?
וְחִכִּיתִי לַיהֹוָה הַמַּסְתִּיר פָּנָיו מִבֵּית יַעֲקֹב, וְקִוֵּיתִי לוֹ׃ - And I will wait for Hashem, Who hides His face from the house of Yaakov, and I will hope for Him.
The prophet says: From now on I will wait and yearn for Hashem; and even though He currently hides His face from the house of Yaakov, and it appears that the enemies are besieging them and prevailing over them, "and I will hope for Him" - I hope and wait, and I am confident that not a single one of His words will fall to the ground.
הִנֵּה אָנֹכִי וְהַיְלָדִים אֲשֶׁר נָתַן לִי יְהֹוָה לְאֹתוֹת וּלְמוֹפְתִים בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל, מֵעִם יְהֹוָה צְבָאוֹת הַשֹּׁכֵן בְּהַר צִיּוֹן׃ - Behold, I and the children whom Hashem has given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel, from Hashem of Hosts, Who dwells on Mount Zion.
Upon what does my trust rest? Upon the actions I have performed: drawing the testimony upon the scroll and having it signed by the witnesses Uriah and Zechariah - that is one. And second, the children whom Hashem has given me: Immanuel ("God is with us"), given as a sign that Hashem will be with us; and Maher-shalal-chash-baz, given as a sign that the plunder of Aram and the Ten Tribes will soon be taken. They stand as signs and wonders, and these signs and wonders are "from Hashem of Hosts," and Hashem will certainly not retract His words after having performed signs and wonders.
We have already explained according to the Malbim the difference between an *ot* (sign) and a *mofet* (wonder): an *ot* is a sign, whereas a *mofet* is something that departs from the natural order, what we today call a miracle. Therefore, the birth of the children is an *ot* - there is nothing supernatural about it, but rather, since the Holy One, blessed be He, does not retract a prophecy of doom, the giving of these names in a natural birth serves as a sign that the matter will surely come to pass. And the wonder is that I informed you of everything in advance, writing and drawing it upon the scroll in human script, where I depict what is destined to occur. That is a wonder: when I describe to you something that you cannot see and do not know, which defies all visible odds. For what you see now is the helplessness of Yehudah, surrounded by enemies - Pekach, Retzin, the part of Yehudah that Pekach ben Remalyahu has already captured, and even a faction within Yehudah itself, Shevna and his faction, all aligned against small Yehudah containing Achaz and Chizkiyahu. What are our chances? And yet I write and draw for you: we will prevail, and they will ultimately be exiled and perish. And what will come to pass? What is written. This is a wonder, for who could know such a thing in advance?
Our Sages say: Achaz, why was he called Achaz? Because he locked (*achaz*, seized) the synagogues and study halls so that school children would not learn Torah. And Rashi cites a Midrash Aggadah: Achaz said, "If there are no young kids, there are no he-goats; if there is no flock, there is no shepherd." I will ensure there are no kids, and consequently there will be no he-goats - there will be no Torah giants, no Torah scholars, and no God-fearing people. And if there is no flock, what has the Holy One, blessed be He, to do here? He will remove His Shechinah. He found a scheme to banish the Creator of the world.
The prophet said to him: No matter how much you bind up the testimony and seal the Torah to close it off so that it will not be found in Israel, all your schemes to stifle the Torah and obstruct it will not avail you. For "Here am I and the children whom the Lord has given me, for signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of Hosts, Who dwells on Mount Zion." And who are the children? Our Sages explain: These are the disciples, who are as dear to me as sons. They will serve as signs and wonders that the Torah will endure in Israel through them. If there are kids, there will be he-goats; we have a continuing generation, and it is the next generation that will restore the ruins and rebuild the Torah anew.
And indeed, so it was. For he was speaking to Ahaz, yet from Ahaz came Hezekiah, and regarding Hezekiah it was said, "The yoke was destroyed because of oil" - because of the oil of Hezekiah that burned in the synagogues and houses of study, such that from Gevat to Antipatris there was not a boy or girl who was not fluent in the laws of ritual purity and impurity. Thus, the prophet was proven right when he said, "Here am I and the children whom the Lord has given me": this is the future generation, in which we invest. "Bind up the testimony, seal the Torah" - nothing will help you; we have a continuing generation, and you will not succeed in stifling and shutting away the Torah.
וְכִי יֹאמְרוּ אֲלֵיכֶם דִּרְשׁוּ אֶל הָאֹבוֹת וְאֶל הַיִּדְּעֹנִים הַמְצַפְצְפִים וְהַמַּהְגִּים, הֲלוֹא עַם אֶל אֱלֹהָיו יִדְרֹשׁ, בְּעַד הַחַיִּים אֶל הַמֵּתִים׃ - And when they say to you, "Inquire of the mediums and of the necromancers, who chirp and mutter: Does not a people inquire of its gods? On behalf of the living, [should one inquire] of the dead?"
I am giving you signs and wonders from Hashem: do not rebel against Ahaz and Hezekiah. This is the meaning of "Bind up the testimony, seal the Torah" - these matters are absolute; know that in the end, they will prevail. But "those who chirp and mutter" - "mutter" (mehagim) being related to speech and utterance, referring to those who speak words of vanity and futility - will come and say things contrary to the prophet's words: Behold, there are mediums and necromancers; consult them and you will see that they say the opposite of the prophet. And they will bring you proof that the mediums and necromancers know whereof they speak and are not merely inventing fabrications out of thin air. They will tell you that there is no sin or iniquity in this, for "Does not a people inquire of its gods?" - every nation believes in its god and inquires of it, and so it is fitting that we too, "on behalf of the living," to know how to conduct ourselves in our lives, should inquire of the dead, of the mediums and necromancers.
And what are an ov (medium) and a yid'oni (necromancer)? An ov is a practitioner who would communicate with the dead, and the dead would speak from within the ground, as it is written: "And your voice shall be like a ghost from the earth" - a muffled voice like an echo rising from the earth. The yid'oni would take a bone of a beast called yado'a, place it beneath his armpit, and warm it, and through the power of that bone he would receive a spirit of impurity. This is the origin of the term used for the magicians (chartumim), "charei timei": "charei" meaning warming, and "timei" meaning bones. Thus, on the one hand there is prophecy, but on the other hand the sitra achra (the other side) also possesses power, and the mediums and necromancers have something to say. Therefore, they come and tell the people: Do not be overly impressed by the prophet's words; there is a sorceress here, there are knowledgeable and discerning people here, consult them.
לְתוֹרָה וְלִתְעוּדָה, אִם לֹא יֹאמְרוּ כַּדָּבָר הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר אֵין לוֹ שָׁחַר׃ - To the Torah and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light of dawn in it.
To this Isaiah replies: Inquire "of the Torah and of the testimony" that the prophet gave you - that very Torah and that testimony of which it was said, "Bind up the testimony, seal the Torah." Examine them, and you will see: "If they do not speak according to this word" - they will not speak to you as I have spoken, but will tell you things "which have no dawn." And why is there no dawn? Because this conspiracy being forged against Hezekiah and Ahaz has no dawn, no validity whatsoever. Therefore, pay no heed to those who chirp and mutter, and to all who babble, saying, "Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers" - their words have no dawn to them.
These two verses seemingly appear detached from the context, and the Malbim, as we have seen, connected them directly to the subject at hand. However, there is a midrashic teaching of Chazal cited by Rashi: Rabbi Simon said, Be'erah, the father of Hosea son of Be'eri, prophesied these two verses, but as they were not enough to constitute a book, they were attached to Isaiah. As is well known, whenever a prophet's name and his father's name are mentioned, his father was also a prophet; and when it says "Hosea the son of Be'eri," it implies that Be'eri was a prophet, and elsewhere he appears under the name "Be'erah." He prophesied only two verses, and it was impossible to make a book of them on their own, for the minimal prophecy we possess as an independent book is a full chapter, as with Obadiah. Since two verses are not enough for a book, they incorporated them into the Book of Isaiah. His prophecy was about the exile of the Ten Tribes, and when Sennacherib came and exiled the Reubenites and the Gadites, he exiled Be'erah with them, as is written in I Chronicles chapter 5: "Be'erah his son, whom Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria carried away into exile; he was prince of the Reubenites." He was a prophet, and he prophesied that the Ten Tribes were destined to go into exile. And since there is a connection between his prophecy and Isaiah's prophecy here - both conveyed that the Ten Tribes would be exiled, and therefore you should not conspire against Ahaz and Hezekiah, because the conspirators are destined to fall - they appended his prophecy here. Nonetheless, as noted, the Malbim explains the verses according to their plain meaning, as the words of the prophet Isaiah himself, without needing this homiletic exposition.
וְעָבַר בָּהּ נִקְשֶׁה וְרָעֵב, וְהָיָה כִי יִרְעַב וְהִתְקַצַּף וְקִלֵּל בְּמַלְכּוֹ וּבֵאלֹהָיו וּפָנָה לְמָעְלָה׃ - And he shall pass through it, hard-pressed and famished; and it shall come to pass that when he is hungry, he will become enraged and curse his king and his God, and turn his face upward.
To complete the prophecy concerning the land of Ephraim - what will become of it at the time of the exile, in the sixth year of Chizkiyahu - the prophet says: Everyone will be exiled, and whoever passes through there will be "hard-pressed and hungry" (niksheh vera'ev). A "niksheh" is one prepared to harden his body and withstand all troubles and terrors, an exceptionally tough individual ready to face any danger. Only such a person will be able to pass through there - meaning the place will be so terrifying that a delicate or ordinary person will not be able to cross it at all. And even so, even that hardened person will be hungry, because the land will be desolate.
"And it shall come to pass that when he is hungry" - when he sees that he has nothing to eat due to the sheer desolation of the place, "he will become enraged and curse by his king and by his God." Notice the precise phrasing: it does not say "and curse his king and his God," Heaven forbid, but rather "by his king and by his God" - he cursed his day in the name of his king and in the name of his God. Just as Iyov said, "Cursed be the day on which I was born," and "the night that said: 'A man-child is conceived,'" for it was customary in those days for a person to curse his day and say, cursed is the day on which I was born. And that person cursed his day and his misfortune, and by whom? In the name of the king and in the name of his God, just as people curse in the Name of Hashem so that the curse takes effect with greater force. "And he will turn upward" - wherever he turns and looks.
וְאֶל אֶרֶץ יַבִּיט, וְהִנֵּה צָרָה וַחֲשֵׁכָה, מְעוּף צוּקָה וַאפֵלָה מְנֻדָּח׃ - And he will look to the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, gloom of anguish, and driven darkness.
Whether he turns upward or looks down to the earth, wherever he gazes - "and behold, distress and darkness": distress on the earth and darkness in the heavens above. And not only external distress, but also "me'uf tzukah", the weariness of internal anguish of the soul; and not darkness alone, but deep gloom, until he is "driven" away by the obscurity.
The Malbim explains, as he does in several places: We are accustomed to saying "tzarah vetzukah" (distress and anguish) in a single breath, but they are two distinct things. A tzarah is something that comes from without - someone attacks me, besieges me, from which we get the word matzor (siege). The affliction of illness, the trouble of poverty, hardship with children - anything that causes distress and is external to me is called a tzarah. Tzukah, on the other hand, is the inner anguish of the soul. Even today, in modern Hebrew, we do not say a person is in a "tzarah nafsheet", but rather in "metzukah nafsheet" (emotional distress), because metzukah is from within.
And it is very possible to have tzukah without tzarah: a person who has grown weary of his life and consumes himself from within, even though he has no external hardship whatsoever. This can be seen among prominent and famous people, actors and figures who appear outwardly joyful and wealthy, yet provide a handsome living for psychologists and sometimes psychiatrists, living on medications. The reason: there is tzukah without tzarah. Outwardly everything is fine, but inwardly there is anguish. And conversely, there is a person who endures a tzarah, yet inside he is as strong as solid flint, unbroken and undismayed, trusting in Hashem, and the tzarah does not cause him internal anguish. Therefore, when Scripture says "in the siege and the distress with which your enemy shall distress you," or "tzarah vetzukah" in Tzephaniah, Tehillim, and Mishlei, it refers to both together: the trouble of an enemy from without, and the anguish of the soul from within.
And the Gemara says: Woe to one stung by both a scorpion and a hornet - for the cure of one exacerbates the other, and the cure of the other worsens the first. One requires hot water, and if cold is applied, it intensifies the venom and the harm; the other requires cold water, and if hot is applied, it worsens the injury. What is this person to do? If he applies cold, he aggravates one; if he applies hot, he aggravates the other. There is a situation where two troubles strike a person simultaneously, such that whenever you try to escape one, you fall into the other.
So too here, says the Malbim: When a person faces external trouble (tzarah), the proper course is to hide at home until the wrath has passed - "hide for but a little moment until the anger passes" - he goes inside. But for one suffering from internal anguish (metzukah), on the contrary, it is good for him to go outside, get fresh air, see people, step into the daylight, in order to extricate himself from internal depression. Indeed, it is well known that when depressed people shut themselves away in a dark place indoors, the depression deepens. Psychologically, it has been found that there is "winter depression" (seasonal affective disorder), where people suffer from depression more in the winter than in the summer, because going outside opens a person up and releases him, while shutting oneself inside magnifies one's distress. Thus, facing external trouble he must go inside, but facing internal anguish he must go outside. And when both strike together - if he goes inside, he worsens the anguish; if he goes outside, he is harmed by the trouble. This is truly a double blow.
Darkness (choshech) and deep gloom (afelah) are also two different things. Choshech means the absence of light - the sun has set and there is no light, that is choshech. But afelah is when there are not even stars or a moon, complete pitch-black darkness. As Iyov said: "Let that day be darkness" - let the day turn to darkness, let the sun set; "as for that night, let thick darkness seize it," so that even the "stars of its twilight" do not shine upon it, and this is already the level of afelah.
Now let us explain the verse: Not only will there be external distress, but "me'uf tzukah" - the weariness of anguish of the soul, which is harsher than external trouble; and not only will there be darkness, but also "afelah menudach" - pitch darkness so profound that one is as if driven away. And this refers to the exile, which will be a great and severe darkness.
The Malbim adds by way of poetic metaphor: the prophet portrays distress and darkness as abstract entities, as if they were figures ruling over the land. And he says that the distress will be weary. How so? The affliction will destroy all the inhabitants of the land to the point that no one will be found there over whom distress could rule. For normally, after the initial affliction comes distress - when a person is struck again and again and placed under siege, he eventually enters a state of distress. But if the affliction has destroyed the person entirely, who remains to enter distress? The affliction has already finished him off. Therefore, the distress will be as if weary and exhausted from performing its function; it will not be actualized, because there is no one left to receive it.
And likewise the thick gloom that follows darkness will be "banished" (menudah), from the concept of being driven away or cast aside, meaning it will not come. Why? Because the darkness will be so severe that it will consume the people, leaving nothing behind. And upon whom would the gloom fall? Gloom can descend only if there is someone to receive it and be harmed by it, and if the darkness has already consumed everything, there is no one left to receive the thick gloom, which is even greater than darkness. Thus, the affliction and the darkness will consume the people here to such a degree that the distress will be "weary" (me'uf) - exhausted from exerting influence, since there is no one to influence - and the gloom will be "banished", lacking the power to act, as if cast away.
כִּי לֹא מוּעָף לַאֲשֶׁר מוּצָק לָהּ, כָּעֵת הָרִאשׁוֹן הֵקַל אַרְצָה זְבֻלוּן וְאַרְצָה נַפְתָּלִי, וְהָאַחֲרוֹן הִכְבִּיד דֶּרֶךְ הַיָּם עֵבֶר הַיַּרְדֵּן גְּלִיל הַגּוֹיִם׃ - For there is no weariness to him who oppresses her; as the first time treated lightly the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, so the last has dealt heavily, by way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, the district of the nations.
At first glance, the words here seem disconnected from one another, but according to the Malbim we can connect them and see how marvelous they are. He asks: Why will the affliction be so severe that distress will no longer take effect, and the darkness so intense that gloom will have nothing left to accomplish? "For there is no weariness to him who oppresses her" - the one who comes to oppress her will not grow weary. He will come and oppress again and again and again without any exhaustion, and weariness will not overcome him.
At first, he came upon them in the days of Pekah son of Remaliah, as it is written: "and he took Ijon, and Abel-beth-maacah, and the Galilee, and all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria," and this occurred in the fourth year of Ahaz, king of Judah. In the twelfth year of Ahaz, he came a second time and exiled the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. And this exile was also relatively light, like the first, affecting only a portion of the people rather than being a comprehensive exile. This is what is meant by "as the first time treated lightly the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali" - even the second time, he did not exile everyone. "So the last has dealt heavily" - the third time would be a heavy exile, for it was an all-inclusive exile in which he exiled all the Ten Tribes and all who remained.
And now he enumerates the exiles: "By way of the sea" - this refers to the land of Naphtali, situated along the Sea of Tiberias, as it is said, "Possess the sea and the south"; "beyond the Jordan" - these are Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh who dwelt on the other side of the Jordan; and in the final exile, "the district of the nations" (Gelil HaGoyim) - all the regions of the tribes and their nations. You thus understand why distress and gloom will not be able to exert their influence: because a stage will never arrive where they can operate, for the enemy will not grow weary and will destroy everything, leaving no one behind to endure the distress and the gloom.
In this part of the chapter, the prophet addresses the conspirators against the Davidic dynasty - the Ten Tribes and Judah outside the walls on the one hand, and Shebna and his faction from within on the other - and announces to them that no alliance, no counsel, and no proclamation will stand, "for God is with us." One must not fear them, neither for their strength nor for the harm they might cause, but rather sanctify the Name of Hashem, for He alone is your fear and He alone is your dread. The conspiracy they formed will itself become for them a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, a snare and a trap; its damage will begin small and end in total exile. And against the plot of Ahaz to seal up the Torah and stifle its study, the prophet answers: "Here am I and the children whom Hashem has given me" - there is a continuing generation, and if there are kid goats there will be he-goats, as indeed came to pass in the days of his son Hezekiah. And confronted with the seductions of those who chirp and mutter, urging people to consult ghosts and familiar spirits, the prophet determines: "To the Torah and to the testimony!" - things that have no dawn will fall away, and the word of Hashem will endure forever.