Introduction: From Here Onward, Words of Consolation
Chapter 40 in Yeshayahu is a turning point in the book. Until now we have seen primarily words of retribution, and from here onward - through the end of the book, another twenty-six chapters - these are words of consolation. As Rashi explains: from here the prophet begins to speak of the future prophecies, and the Holy One, Blessed be He, turns to the prophets: you shall comfort My people.
"Nachamu Nachamu" - Why the Repetition?
נַחֲמוּ נַחֲמוּ עַמִּי יֹאמַר אֱלֹהֵיכֶם. - Comfort, comfort My people, says your God.
This is the haftarah of Parashat Va'etchanan, and many commentators have addressed the question: what is the meaning of this duplication? Why does the verse repeat, "Comfort, comfort"?
The Dubno Maggid offers a parable for this. Two men left their wives and traveled to far-off lands. One did so because the financial situation in his home was dire - no job, no livelihood, nothing to eat. He told his wife: I will go to a distant land, find work, and send money back home. The second was wealthy and lacked nothing material in his home, but he had a difficult wife from whom he suffered greatly, so he simply abandoned his home and left. Both of them traveled together to the same distant land.
Years passed, and one day a merchant arrived in the town and told the two women: I have a letter from your husbands. They rejoiced greatly - after three or four years, finally a letter! They asked to see it immediately. The merchant told them: the letter is packed away among my bundles, and I cannot attend to it right now. Tomorrow I will unpack the cargo, find the letters, and bring them to you. One of them heard this, was placated, and went home. The second stood her ground and insisted: I want the letter now, it is extremely urgent for me. And who was the one who insisted? None other than the poor man's wife. But the rich man's wife was in no rush; she would wait until tomorrow.
The merchant asked her: Your friend went home, so why do you insist on seeing the letter right now? She answered him: There is a vast difference between her and me. As for my friend, her husband did not leave her for financial reasons, but because there was discord between them. The mere fact that he sent her a letter already means he wishes to return, that he seeks closeness with her, that he wants to reconcile. That alone is enough for her, and she has no urgent need to delve into the details of what is written inside. But I live in hardship and poverty, and every day I wait for a letter from my husband to know: did he find work or not? Is there an income or not? For me, it is crucial to know what is written in the letter. My friend, who has wealth and fortune at home, what is she lacking? Only to know that her husband cares for her - and behold, he sent her a letter, which sets her mind at ease.
So it is with us, explains the Dubno Maggid. "Comfort" - in this very fact alone you should be comforted. In what? In that "Comfort My people, says your God." In the fact that the Holy One, Blessed be He, tells you to be comforted, and in that He calls Himself "your God" - this itself is the greatest consolation. Just like the rich man's wife, for whom the very sending of the letter is the comfort, even before reading what is written in it, before knowing the details: He cares for you, He is still your husband. So too with us - "comfort," and what is the consolation? In Hashem saying "Comfort My people," in the Holy One, Blessed be He, sending us a letter. That alone is enough to take comfort, already giving us hope even before we see what the words of consolation contain.
The Malbim explains the repetition differently. The Holy One, Blessed be He, addresses the prophets here and says to them: Comfort My people, for the redemption will surely come. And how will it come? There are two possibilities: be'itah ("in its time") and achishenah ("I will hasten it"). If we are meritorious, Hashem will hasten it; and if we are not meritorious, it will arrive in its designated time. Therefore, we must make every effort so that the redemption comes ahead of time. In any event, either way consolation will surely arrive: either the "comfort" of achishenah, or the "comfort" of be'itah. That is why the phrasing is doubled, because there are two tracks here, two possibilities.
"For She Has Received from the Hand of Hashem Double" - Interpretations of the Rishonim
דַּבְּרוּ עַל לֵב יְרוּשָׁלַיִם וְקִרְאוּ אֵלֶיהָ כִּי מָלְאָה צְבָאָהּ כִּי נִרְצָה עֲוֺנָהּ כִּי לָקְחָה מִיַּד ה' כִּפְלַיִם בְּכָל חַטֹּאתֶיהָ. - Speak to the heart of Jerusalem and proclaim to her that her term of service is completed, that her iniquity is expiated, for she has received from the hand of Hashem double for all her sins.
The Malbim here is sweeter than honey, but let us first introduce the simple meaning according to the Radak. "Her iniquity has been pardoned (nirtzah avonah)" - her punishment has been paid in full, as in "then shall the land be appeased for its Sabbaths," and like "for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full." The meaning is: her debts have been forgiven.
And what is "double for all her sins"? First, the Radak notes that kefel (double/multiply) does not necessarily mean twofold; it can mean a multiple of three or four, as in "and let the sword be doubled a third time" - meaning it multiplied itself three times. If so, "she has received from the hand of Hashem double" means: she paid manifold for all her sins. And to what does the verse refer? There were two exiles: the Babylonian exile, and this current exile that stretches on without end. And why was she stricken with two exiles? Because Jerusalem had many sins, and therefore she had to be stricken twice. According to this, the consolation is also twofold: "Comfort, comfort" - because she was stricken twofold, she will therefore be comforted twofold.
Ibn Ezra, whom the Radak cites, explains: "Double" - double what any gentile nation suffered. Whatever any nation was stricken, we received twice as much; we were stricken and drained the cup of poison to its dregs. The Radak brings an additional explanation based on Yirmiyahu: "Our fathers sinned and are no more, and we have borne their iniquities" - and what about our own iniquities? We bore them as well. It turns out that we suffered twice: once for the iniquities of our fathers, and once for our own iniquities.
One might ask: where is the justice in this? After all, it is written in the Torah: "A person shall be put to death for his own sin," and "Fathers shall not be put to death for children, nor children put to death for fathers." The holy Ari explains: the fact that we pay for our fathers' iniquities means that we are our fathers. We return in reincarnation - "in the third generation they shall return here." Those fathers who sinned and are no more return in reincarnation, and when we bear the iniquities of our fathers, it refers to both this incarnation and that incarnation, also for what we did in previous lifetimes. And "our fathers" is not necessarily my immediate father; it could be the father of my great-grandfather. It turns out to be double: once for what we did now, and once for what we did back then.
Targum Yonatan explains: "Behold, she has received a cup of consolation from before Hashem as if she were stricken twofold for all her sins" - the Holy One, blessed be He, comforts us and gives us a double cup of consolation, as if we were punished double. And here one must first raise the fundamental difficulty: if we sinned, why would we receive double? Seemingly, there is an injustice in that. Therefore, Targum Yonatan explained that the doubling is not in the punishment, but in the consolation - she received a cup of consolation as if she had been stricken double. And Ibn Ezra explained that the intention is double what the nations received, for with the Jewish people the standards are different: for a gentile the rate is low, while for us it is high, because more is expected of us.
The Malbim's Explanation: Three Reasons and Redemption on Two Tracks
The Malbim continues the principle he began with: "Comfort, comfort" hints at two modes of redemption, be'itah (in its time) or achishena (I will hasten it). "For her term of service (tzeva'ah) is ended" - tzava is an expression denoting time or an appointed period, as we find in Sefer Daniel. "Her term is ended" means: the allotted time has run out, the time of redemption has arrived. This is the first possibility, redemption be'itah, if we were not worthy of being redeemed through achishena.
"For her iniquity has been pardoned" - this is the second possibility: that they will be redeemed before the allotted time by doing teshuvah. Her iniquity was pardoned through repentance, and now they are worthy of redemption even before the appointed time.
Yet there is another route to achishena that does not depend on teshuvah: if we receive a double punishment. Just as it was in the Egyptian exile, where the Jewish people left after 210 years instead of 400, because the harshness of the servitude intensified and hurried the end. And this is "for she has received from the hand of Hashem double for all her sins." The Malbim presents a parable: A man was sentenced to serve ten years in prison and receive ten lashes each day, but the warden was harsh with him and gave him a hundred lashes each day. After one year, the warden released him and said: "You have already received all that was due to you - in a tenth of the time, I gave you ten times as much." It follows that we have two reasons for the hastening of the redemption: either "for her iniquity has been pardoned," or "for she has received from the hand of Hashem double for all her sins."
The Parallel Hemistichs of the Verse
And now the Malbim adds a wonderful insight: the clauses of the verse are parallel. As explained several times, this means dividing the verse into four parts, where part 1 connects to part 3, and part 2 connects to part 4. Here: "Speak to the heart of Jerusalem" - and what should you tell her? "For her term of service is ended," the time for redemption has arrived; this is be'itah. "And call out to her" - and why? "For her iniquity has been pardoned, for she has received from the hand of Hashem double for all her sins," meaning that Hashem will hasten the redemption.
And here is the wondrous nuance: why does the verse say "Speak to the heart of Jerusalem" regarding the redemption in its designated time, whereas regarding the hastened redemption it says "and call out to her" rather than "and speak to her"? The Malbim explains: If the time of redemption has arrived, all that is needed is to speak to her heart - to speak to the heart means words of comfort. And why does she need comfort? Because if redemption comes in its designated time, it means not a single moment was shortened for us, that we paid the full price - and in such a state, Jerusalem must be consoled. But if Hashem hastened the redemption, after all, we were supposed to remain in exile longer, and someone is calling out to us: Come, come, you are being brought in before the time! Therefore it says, "and call out to her" - there is someone here calling to her and announcing that her iniquity has been pardoned and that she is being redeemed ahead of time. And notice how precise this is: in such a situation, there is no need to speak words of comfort to her heart, since her burden was eased, she was redeemed before the time, and was even granted a pardon. On the one hand, she must be called because she is far off and it is not yet the appointed time of redemption, and on the other hand, there is no need for consolation.
"Kiflayim" Versus "Pi Shenayim"
The Malbim also teaches us an interesting distinction: there is kiflayim and there is pi shenayim. Kiflayim comes from the root of folding (in Talmudic Hebrew spelled with a kuf - lekappel, to fold over): there is a complete whole that is folded in two, so that you receive in half the time everything you were meant to receive over the entire duration. In contrast, pi shenayim means having one unit and adding another onto it - you received one hundred, and an additional hundred is given to you.
And how is kiflayim expressed here? If you were destined to endure suffering over the course of a thousand years, and it was administered at an intensified dosage over five hundred years, the final five hundred years were folded over the first, giving you in five hundred years everything you were meant to endure in a thousand. That is the meaning of folding, where the duration is doubled over. But pi shenayim means that you are owed something and given it twice. Kiflayim means that what was due over a long span of time is compressed into half the time.
"A Voice Calls in the Wilderness" - New Miracles
קוֹל קוֹרֵא בַּמִּדְבָּר פַּנּוּ דֶּרֶךְ ה' יַשְּׁרוּ בָּעֲרָבָה מְסִלָּה לֵאלֹהֵינוּ. - A voice calls: In the wilderness clear the way of Hashem, make straight in the desert plain a highway for our God.
Rashi explains: "A voice calls in the wilderness" - this is the Holy Spirit calling out in the wilderness, saying "Clear the way of Hashem," because the Jewish people are about to return from exile. The Malbim adds that the prophet depicts a voice he hears, as if the event is already unfolding: right now I hear a voice calling in the wilderness. Later, this voice stops, and as we will see in verse 6, another voice arouses him and says, "Call out!" - why have you stopped? Call out that proclamation once again.
And what does this voice proclaim? "Clear the way of Hashem, make straight in the desert a highway for our God." The Malbim explains: It is written, "As in the days of your coming out of the land of Egypt, I will show him wonders" - the Holy One, blessed be He, will perform wonders for us just as in the wilderness. Therefore, "a voice calls in the wilderness": the prophet in his vision sees the wonders of the desert, the miracles the Holy One, blessed be He, performed for us there, the path He paved for us then, and the supernatural Divine providence. Just as there was then a voice calling in the wilderness and clearing a path before the nation leaving Egypt, so too in the future, "make straight in the desert a highway for our God" - Hashem will further reveal His mighty hand along a new highway where no man has ever trodden, performing miracles and wonders for us that He never performed of old, brand new miracles unprecedented since that time.
To properly understand the verse, the Malbim points out three distinctions. First, between midbar (wilderness) and aravah (arid plain): just as in inhabited land there are gardens and orchards, so too within the wilderness there are barren wastelands and ravines, places overgrown with thorns and thistles. Second, between "clear" (pannu) and "make straight" (yashru): "clear" refers to a place that was already in use and merely became obstructed, so it needs to be cleared and emptied. A path exists, but thorns and briars have accumulated, making it impassable, and this path must be cleared. A "highway" (mesilah), however, means paving a brand new road, which is why the word "clear" is not used with it. It is like an apartment full of debris - one clears out the debris because the apartment already exists; but if there is no apartment, one must build one from scratch. Third, between "Hashem" and "our God": the Four-Letter Name represents the Infinite, blessed be He, Who creates and renews the world, whereas "our God" (Eloheinu) expresses His personal relationship with us, watching over us with individual Divine providence and performing miracles especially for us, through the unique bond He shares with the Jewish people.
Now let us connect the elements: "A voice calls: In the wilderness clear the way of Hashem" - in the wilderness where Israel once walked, a path already exists; they have walked here before, but to travel it again it must be cleared. "Make straight in the desert a highway" - the arid plain is a wilder place overgrown with thorns, where there is nothing to clear; rather, a new highway must be paved from scratch, a road that never existed before. And notice: "a highway for our God" - whereas the wilderness mentions the Four-Letter Name, Hashem in a general sense, here it says "our God," signifying that He will act especially for us, intimately, because we are His people and the flock of His pasture, performing unique miracles unknown to earlier generations.
A Supernatural Redemption
כָּל גֶּיא יִנָּשֵׂא וְכָל הַר וְגִבְעָה יִשְׁפָּלוּ וְהָיָה הֶעָקֹב לְמִישׁוֹר וְהָרְכָסִים לְבִקְעָה. - Every valley shall be raised up, and every mountain and hill made low; the crooked shall become straight, and the rough ridges a plain.
The prophet in his vision sees the return of Israel to their land and describes how the return will take place without delay and along a direct path. Valleys and rugged ridges hinder people from walking, but at that time this will present no obstacle: low-lying valleys will be lifted up and leveled, while mountains and hills that serve as barriers and obstructions will be leveled and smoothed out. Thus they will return across a completely flat plain, unobstructed by terrain changes and topography.
Here the Malbim makes a wonderful observation. In natural terms, if there is a mountain here and a valley there, how do you solve both problems? You cut down the mountain and move the earth into the valley: you bring in heavy equipment, level the mountain, dump the soil into the valley, and voilà - a paved road. That is how nature works. But the redemption will be supernatural, and when something is supernatural, there is no need for the mountain to fill the valley - the Holy One, Blessed is He, fills the valley on His own and removes the mountain on His own, with no dilemma over what to do with the mountain's earth. Where is this derived from? From the order of the verse: "Every valley shall be raised up" - first the low valley rises and becomes level, and only afterwards "and every mountain and hill made low." If this followed natural means, the order would be reversed: first lowering the mountain, and where does the earth go? Into the valley. With the Holy One, Blessed is He, it works in reverse, because His redemption transcends nature.
"And the crooked shall become straight" - "the crooked" (ha'akov), the Malbim explains, refers to a winding, crooked road, bent because one cannot continue straight ahead: there are mountains and hills, forcing detours, so the road twists around the ridges and hills. In the natural order, one would first level the ridges and turn them into a plain and flat ground, and consequently the road becomes straight without any need for winding bypasses. Yet the verse states first: "and the crooked shall become straight" - first the path will straighten out, even before the ridges are removed, and only then "and the rough places a plain." Once again we see that in the redemption brought by Hashem, the process need not follow the natural sequence; the way itself will transcend nature.
"And the Glory of Hashem Shall Be Revealed" - Six Levels of Future Comprehension
וְנִגְלָה כְּבוֹד ה' וְרָאוּ כָל בָּשָׂר יַחְדָּו כִּי פִּי ה' דִּבֵּר. - And the glory of Hashem shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of Hashem has spoken.
Here the prophet describes the Divine revelation. As is well known, a major part of the immense stature of the future redemption is that the entire Jewish people will attain the status of prophets. We will merit perceiving Hashem eye to eye; we will merit closeness to Him, unlike our current state of concealment and distance. "And I raised up prophets from your sons and nazirites from your young men," "I will pour out My spirit on all flesh" - many prophecies describe how the Jewish people will become a holy nation, an entire people endowed with prophecy. And here the prophet outlines six distinct ascents reflecting the contrast between our current reality and that future reality.
1. Until now, Divine comprehension was veiled by separating barriers, and it was impossible to perceive the Holy One, Blessed is He, through a luminous lens (aspaklaria ha-me'irah); even the prophets did not merit this, with the sole exception of Moshe Rabbeinu. But in the future - "and [it] shall be revealed": everything will be in plain sight, with neither concealment nor an obscure lens; everyone will perceive through the luminous lens.
2. Until now, we perceived the glory of "Elokim," or "Shakai," or "Tzevaot." "Elokim" represents the Divine conduct by which the Holy One, Blessed is He, governs the world, and "Elokim" has the numerical value of "ha-teva" (nature); "Shakai" signifies that He said "enough" (dai) to His creation; "Tzevaot" means that all the hosts of heaven and earth are His. Yet we did not merit perceiving the glory of Hashem Himself - that is, to grasp Him according to His Essence and Being, as the Holy One, Blessed is He, told Moshe: "And I appeared to Avraham, to Yitzchak, and to Yaakov as El Shaddai, but by My Name Hashem I was not known to them." In the future, however, "and the glory of Hashem shall be revealed" - not merely the glory of Elokim, which is a state of concealment and nature, but His glory in terms of His Essence, and He will make Himself known through the four-letter Name, Havayah.
3. Until now, people did not actually see Hashem, but only comprehended and knew Him intellectually, never with direct sensory vision, for "no man can see Me and live," and even Moshe did not merit seeing God directly. Regarding this it is said, "and [they] shall see" - for eye to eye they shall see; in the future redemption we will truly merit beholding the presence of Hashem.
4. Until now, even those who were prophets and able to witness prophetic visions perceived through the eye of the soul, the prophetic eye, and not with the physical eye; in most cases, prophecy occurred through dreams or visions. In the future, however, "and all flesh shall see" - even with the physical eye, the eye of flesh, a person will be able to see and comprehend, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of Hashem.
5. Until now, those who saw and comprehended the glory of Hashem were few. How many prophets did the Jewish people have across all generations? One million two hundred thousand, and among them forty-eight prophets and seven prophetesses are known to us. But in the future, "and all flesh shall see" - anyone who is worthy and remains at that time will merit beholding the presence of Hashem, even one who never attained the rank of prophecy, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of Hashem.
6. Until now, not everyone perceived at the same level; rather, there were distinctions: Moshe perceived through a luminous lens, while the other prophets perceived through an obscure lens. The Gemara itself distinguishes between prophets and their levels - Shmuel possessed a very high level of comprehension, while some prophets were compared to a villager who catches sight of the king, and others to a servant who sees the king. Likewise, "And Moshe went up to God" - Moshe alone drew near to God, "and they shall not draw near, nor shall the people go up with him": Moshe's level was one of drawing near, the elders' level was one of ascending, and the people's level was below that. But in the future, "and all flesh shall see together" - "together" means they will be equal in their comprehension; from the greatest to the smallest, everyone will perceive Him with complete, full, and authentic comprehension, without any deficiency.
"A Voice Says: Proclaim!" - What Is the Purpose of Proclaiming?
קוֹל אֹמֵר קְרָא וְאָמַר מָה אֶקְרָא כָּל הַבָּשָׂר חָצִיר וְכָל חַסְדּוֹ כְּצִיץ הַשָּׂדֶה. - A voice says: "Call out!" And he said: "What shall I call out? All flesh is grass, and all its grace is like the blossom of the field."
Let us first explain according to the peshat, as Radak explains: The voice tells the prophet to proclaim the prophecy, and the prophet asks, "What shall I call out?" - which prophecy should I proclaim? The voice replies to him: "All flesh is grass." Of whom is it speaking? Of the nations who are destined to come with Gog and Magog to wage war against the Jewish people - they will all be like grass, meaning they will all perish and almost nothing of them will remain.
And the Malbim interprets in his own way: We saw that initially, "A voice calls out in the wilderness: Clear the way of Hashem, make straight in the desert a highway," and then the voice fell silent. Now the prophet hears another voice, saying to the first voice: "Call out!" - why have you fallen silent? Continue calling out about the future redemption! And the first voice replies: "What shall I call out?" - what purpose is there in my calling out again? For "all flesh is grass." The voice had proclaimed that the redemption was ready to arrive, but we all know that the redemption did not arrive; the sins of the generation caused that generation to die out and the redemption did not come, and consequently the voice fell silent. What point is there in calling out - when it is proclaimed that redemption is coming, yet ultimately everyone dies, they perish and are cut off, and the footsteps of Mashiach are nowhere to be seen?
And what are "grass" (chatzir) and "the blossom of the field" (tzitz hasadeh)? The Malbim explains: Grass is the first of all vegetation to wither, as in "like grass on the rooftops, which withers before it is plucked." And "the blossom of the field" refers to tiny herbs that grow in the field, which, because of their smallness, seem to have no real substance; they are called tzitz because they merely sprout forth (metzitzim) and remain tiny. Concerning this it is said, "As for man, his days are like grass" - his life is not long; within a short time he withers; "like a blossom of the field, so he blossoms" - lest one think he possesses substance, for at least grass has some size, he is actually like a blossom of the field, so minute that even during his lifetime he lacks real substance. And corresponding to "his days are like grass," it says, "For the wind passes over it, and it is gone," and corresponding to "like a blossom of the field," it says, "And its place knows it no more."
And this is what the voice says: "What shall I call out? All flesh is grass" - their lives are fleeting like grass; "and all its grace is like the blossom of the field" - and even its existence, while it exists, is exceedingly slight. If so, they are not worthy of redemption, and redemption does not come. What purpose is there in calling out before grass and the blossom of the field - before those who are here one moment and in the grave the next, and who, even while they exist, have no significance? What purpose is there in announcing a redemption that does not arrive?
"Indeed, the People Is Grass" - Only the People, Not Hashem
יָבֵשׁ חָצִיר נָבֵל צִיץ כִּי רוּחַ ה' נָשְׁבָה בּוֹ אָכֵן חָצִיר הָעָם. - Grass withers, a blossom fades, because the breath of Hashem blew upon it; indeed, the people is grass.
"Because the breath of Hashem blew upon it" - the Holy One, Blessed be He, as it were, blew His wind upon them, and through this the grass withered. Just as grass withers from the wind that dries it out, so in the analogy, the breath of Hashem brought about the death of the people: the grass withered and the blossom faded from the blowing wind. If so, what point is there in my calling out, when that generation is already gone? To this, the second voice - the voice that commanded, "Call out!" - replies: Do not despair - "Indeed, the people is grass"; only the people is grass, but not Hashem, blessed be He.
Achein, Aval, Ulam, Omnam
Before we examine the answer, let us look at a nuance that the Malbim analyzes regarding the word achein ("indeed" or "surely"). There are four related terms - achein, aval, ulam, and omnam - and ostensibly they all come to express a single idea: one makes a statement and then qualifies part of it. What, then, is the difference between them?
Achein and aval contradict what preceded them - "it is not as you thought." And the difference between them is: aval comes to contradict the words of someone else, whereas achein comes to contradict what I myself said earlier, or a doubt I harbored that has now become completely clear to me. Examples of aval: "Nay (aval), our lord King David has made Solomon king" - you wish to crown Adonijah, and I am contradicting your stance. "Nay (aval), Sarah your wife shall bear you a son" - you say, "I have no offspring," and I contradict your words. And examples of achein: "Surely (achein) Hashem is in this place, and I did not know it" - I was not certain, and now my previous assumption has been overturned. "Indeed (achein), the matter is known" - until now I did not understand why Israel is in exile, and now it has become known to me. "Surely (achein) the bitterness of death is past" - I did not know if you would kill me, and now it is clear to me. Likewise: "Truly (achein) You are a God Who conceals Himself," "Surely (achein) my judgment is with Hashem," "Surely (achein) he has borne our illnesses" - all of these represent the resolution of a prior doubt or an opposing thought that I refute, arriving at a different conclusion.
Ulam ("however") is used when I do not contradict the preceding statements, but rather maintain them and merely add a new piece of information that was previously unknown. "However (ve'ulam), Luz was the name of the city at first" - I do not contradict the fact that today its name is Beit El, but merely add that in the past it was called Luz. "I know, my son, I know" - I know that he is the firstborn, "however (ve'ulam), his younger brother shall be greater than he," which is additional information rather than a contradiction. Likewise, "I have forgiven according to your word, but (ve'ulam), as I live," "However (ulam), put forth Your hand," "However (ulam), I would inquire of God" - in all of these, there is no contradiction of what preceded, but rather an addition of knowledge.
"Omnam" (truly / indeed) - here it does not add anything nor does it contradict anything; rather, it comes to affirm: indeed, so it is. "Omnam" derives from omanah (truth, fidelity, belief). "Truly, Hashem, the kings of Assyria have laid waste..." - true, so it is, the kings of Assyria destroyed all the nations; however, we are not afraid that they will destroy us as well, because we have Hashem, blessed be He. Likewise, "And yet indeed (amnah) she is my sister, the daughter of my father" - truly, what I told you is correct.
According to this, "Achein chatzir ha'am" (Surely the people is grass) contradicts the voice's own previous words: Initially I said that this nation is grass and redemption will not come because they are unworthy; "achein" (surely / yet) - now I qualify and reverse my words: "the people is grass" - only the people is grass, but not Hashem. And if Hashem is not grass but endures forever, His word will certainly endure forever.
"And the word of our God shall stand forever"
יָבֵשׁ חָצִיר נָבֵל צִיץ וּדְבַר אֱלֹהֵינוּ יָקוּם לְעוֹלָם. - Grass withers, flower fades, but the word of our God shall stand forever.
Indeed the people withers, indeed they are like grass and they perish - but because of that, will the word of Hashem not be fulfilled? To this the verse responds: "And the word of our God shall stand forever." In truth, "As for man, his days are like grass; a wind passes over it, and it is no more," yet "the lovingkindness of Hashem is from everlasting to everlasting upon those who fear Him." And if you should say: Many generations have not merited salvation! Know that Hashem's word will be fulfilled with absolute certainty. There is a time of be'itah (in its appointed time), and if they do not merit achishena (that it be hastened), the promise will with absolute certainty be fulfilled be'itah. Therefore, do not be swayed by arguing that "all flesh is grass" and that there is no point in proclaiming the redemption - "the people is grass," but the Creator of the universe, Heaven forbid, is not grass. The Holy One, blessed be He, endures forever, and therefore, "A voice says, Proclaim!": announce the future redemption that will certainly, ultimately arrive.
Withered and Faded
In conclusion, a further nuance pointed out by the Malbim: Why does it say "grass withers" (yavesh) and "flower fades" (navel), the grass drying out while the flower wilts? Withering (yavesh) occurs when the time has come; the plant's life cycle is complete and it dries up in its due season, like grain that dries when summer arrives. But fading (navel) is the cessation of growth while still in its prime, when the vital force ceases in the midst of its development and it wilts. Therefore: grass withers only when its time is up and does not wilt before its season, but the flower perishes quickly and wilts on its own while still in its bloom, not waiting for the natural time of withering.
In Summary:
Chapter 40 opens the prophecies of consolation: "Comfort, comfort" - corresponding to the two paths of redemption, be'itah (in its time) and achishena (hastened), and corresponding to the consolation inherent in the very missive that the Holy One, blessed be He, sends us, calling Himself "your God." "Speak to the heart of Jerusalem" refers to redemption be'itah, where the full price was paid and deep solace is needed; "and proclaim to her" refers to the hastened redemption, by merit of repentance or condensed suffering compressed into a brief period. "A voice calls in the wilderness" heralds that just as in the days of our Exodus from Egypt, there will be new miracles, a path cleared and a highway paved, and redemption will transcend nature - the valley being lifted before the mountains are brought low, and the crooked made straight before the ridges become a plain. "And the glory of Hashem shall be revealed" describes six levels of future perception: revelation without barriers, grasping the ineffable Name Havayah, seeing with the eye, seeing even with physical eyes of flesh, seeing experienced by all flesh and not just elite individuals, and perception shared equally by all. And even though generations have passed and "all flesh is grass," the answer remains "surely the people is grass" - the people is grass, but the Creator of the universe endures forever, "and the word of our God shall stand forever."