At the beginning of the chapter, the Holy One, Blessed be He, rebukes Israel, asking: "Why, when I came, was there no man? When I called, was there none to answer?" - I called to you through My prophets, yet you did not respond. From this point forward, the prophet Yeshayahu addresses every possible claim that could be raised against him: Perhaps the prophet did not know how to speak? Perhaps he failed to carry out his mission? Perhaps he was intimidated by his audience? To all of these, he responds one by one.
אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה נָתַן לִי לְשׁוֹן לִמּוּדִים לָדַעַת לָעוּת אֶת־יָעֵף דָּבָר יָעִיר בַּבֹּקֶר בַּבֹּקֶר יָעִיר לִי אֹזֶן לִשְׁמֹעַ כַּלִּמּוּדִים׃ - The Lord God has given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary; He awakens morning by morning, He awakens my ear to hear as the learned.
At first glance, this verse appears completely obscure. The Malbim explains that the prophet is returning to what was stated earlier: "Why, when I came, was there no man?" If you should claim, "We never heard that Hashem called to us" - behold, Hashem granted me a taught tongue, eloquence of speech to awaken you to His service. And in order for the prophet to serve as an intermediary between Israel and the Holy One, Blessed be He, and to instruct both the nations and the people of Israel, three conditions must be met.
The first prerequisite is a tongue capable of articulating great matters - that is, linguistic richness. What is the difference between someone blessed with a rich vocabulary and someone who is not? One who lacks rich language conveys ideas narrowly, allowing the listener to grasp only a single angle. By contrast, a person with a rich vocabulary can weave parables, offer vivid metaphors and examples, and drill down to the finest detail until the concepts are understood magnificently. Regarding this it is said, "He gave me a tongue of the learned" - you cannot claim any shortcoming in my articulation.
"To know how to articulate [la'ut]" - the Malbim explains that the letter lamed is part of the root, and the word derives from loa (throat or jaw), the place where the jaw moves in speech. Similarly: "It is a snare for a man rashly to utter [yala] holy things" - speaking, consecrating, and taking vows without minding what leaves his mouth; "They shall drink and swallow down [velau]" - speaking incoherently like drunks; "And suck up [ye'alu] blood" - drawing blood into the cheeks; and "Put a knife to your throat [belo'ekha]." All of these derive from the word loa. In other words: Hashem granted me the gift of physical articulation, the mastery of speech.
"A word to the soaring [et ya'ef davar]" - ya'ef shares the root of flight and height, as in "the towering horns [to'afot] of the wild ox," referring to lofty, sublime ideas. Hashem gave me the power to take exalted matters and express them through my lips in language that people can understand. For the true challenge is not in explaining simple matters, but in translating sublime concepts into accessible speech. There are people of extraordinary brilliance who simply cannot be understood, because their minds soar too high and an ordinary listener cannot reach the heights where they stand.
The second prerequisite is that this ability remain with him continuously, not merely occasionally or as a fleeting moment of inspiration. Regarding this it is said, "He awakens morning by morning" - consistently and constantly, the Holy One, Blessed be He, granted me the power to take exalted ideas and bring them down into the realm of practical life.
The third prerequisite is that he deliver the message in language that people can readily absorb, rather than speaking in cryptic riddles and obscure allegories whose meaning remains elusive. Regarding this it is said, "He awakens my ear to hear as the learned [ka-limudim]" - according to the capacity of the students (lomdim). I received the prophecy from Hashem measured to the exact burden the student is capable of bearing and absorbing, and Hashem endowed me with a special faculty to convey the message according to the recipient's capacity. For if you speak to someone in language that is too elementary, he will grow bored; yet if you speak to another in terms that are too elevated, he will say: "I did not understand a single word."
Rabbi Nogershel once related that he delivered a lecture at a seminar for academics, pitched precisely to the intellectual level of his audience. Afterward, he traveled across the same city to speak at a grassroots seminar. One of the participants from the academic seminar asked to accompany him and sat in on the second lecture as well. At the end, the man approached the rabbi and said, "Now the rabbi was finally talking sense!"... It turns out the fault did not lie in the listener's ear, but in the registrar: whoever registered him for the academic seminar is the one who should be fired! One person says, "Now you are speaking down to earth, at eye level, and I understand," while another says, "Why is he speaking to me like a vendor in the marketplace? I expect a high-level presentation." Everything depends on the level of the individual, and the Holy One, Blessed be He, granted the prophet the ability to speak to the exact level of his listeners.
All this is according to the Malbim. However, Rashi and the Radak explain these two words differently: Hashem gave me a tongue fit for teaching; la'ut derives from et (season or time) - to speak the right word at the proper time and in the proper manner, setting appropriate times for them; and ya'ef means weary and thirsty - a person whose soul is fatigued, who needs matters explained and simplified. A parable illustrates this: if someone is parched with thirst and you dump a bucket of water over his head, you have accomplished nothing. One must offer drink at his own pace and according to his capacity, and it is this very gift that the Holy One, Blessed be He, bestowed upon me.
אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה פָּתַח־לִי אֹזֶן וְאָנֹכִי לֹא מָרִיתִי אָחוֹר לֹא נְסוּגֹתִי׃ - The Lord God opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I did not turn backward.
Hashem opened my ear and made me hear, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" As we have seen, the Holy One, blessed be He, said: I sent Amos and they called him a stammerer; I sent Micah and they disparaged him. That is to say, when He sent me, His intention was that the words should be heard. Yeshayahu declares: I did not disobey His word; rather, I went on His mission, and I did not draw back, but said, "Here I am, send me."
Radak notes the repetition of the Divine Name "Adonai Hashem" in verse 4 and verse 5: Elohim also denotes an emissary or angel, as in the sense of angels that carry out His word. The Holy One, blessed be He, conveyed the prophecy to me through emissaries, for prophecy arrives by way of angels, since a human being cannot endure direct contact with the Creator of the world and this immense voltage. Therefore, the angel placed His word in the prophet's mouth, just as we find that an angel appeared to Avraham and said to him, "Do not stretch out your hand against the lad." Elohim denotes powers, and the connection between the Holy One, blessed be He, and man comes about through the agency of angels.
The Malbim explains that this continues the argument: If you argue that the fault lies with the prophet - it was already stated that Hashem gave him the tongue of the learned. And if you still claim: perhaps you were given the tongue of the learned, but you betrayed your mission and failed to call out to the people with the word of Hashem? To this he replies: the moment Hashem opened my ear, as soon as an opening of any kind was made for me, I immediately went on His mission. And if you say: perhaps you went, but you saw the people and became intimidated, for stage fright and fear of the public are very real? To this he says, "I did not turn backward" - even when standing face to face with them, I spoke everything Hashem sent me to say.
גֵּוִי נָתַתִּי לְמַכִּים וּלְחָיַי לְמֹרְטִים פָּנַי לֹא הִסְתַּרְתִּי מִכְּלִמּוֹת וָרֹק׃ - I offered my back to the smiters and my cheeks to those who pluck out hair; I did not hide my face from humiliation and spitting.
Not only this, but I prepared my back for the strikers - I was ready even to receive blows. Furthermore, ordinarily when someone comes to strike a person across the face or pluck out his hair, he shields his cheeks, and when someone spits at him, he covers his face with his hands. The prophet says: I did not hide my face from the pluckers, nor from humiliation and spit. In other words, I was prepared to carry out the mission with complete self-sacrifice, even though I knew full well it would exact a toll from me.
Rashi cites a Midrash of Chazal: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Yeshayahu, "Know that My children are rebellious, My children are troublesome; accept the mission on condition that you do not become angry with them." Yeshayahu replied, "On this condition I accept." However, Radak raises a difficulty: we do not find anywhere in Scripture that they actually struck Yeshayahu. With Yirmiyahu, we certainly find throughout his life that they afflicted him and threw him into the courtyard of the guard, but with Yeshayahu, we find no record that they slapped his cheeks or plucked out his beard.
There are two possibilities here: either this did indeed occur, though Scripture did not record every detail; or the verse describes Yeshayahu's resolve - I undertook the mission even if it meant surrendering my back to the strikers and my cheeks to the pluckers. And this is Rashi's intent: the Holy One, blessed be He, notified him in advance that His children are rebellious and troublesome, and he responded, "On this condition" - from the outset, I accepted everything upon myself, so long as I fulfill the word of Hashem and carry out the mission in its entirety.
וַאדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה יַעֲזָר־לִי עַל־כֵּן לֹא נִכְלָמְתִּי עַל־כֵּן שַׂמְתִּי פָנַי כַּחַלָּמִישׁ וָאֵדַע כִּי־לֹא אֵבוֹשׁ׃ - But the Lord God helps me, therefore I am not humiliated; therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.
"Hashem will help me" - if they struck me, He will help me so that they do not kill me and do not injure me too severely. And according to the second explanation of the Radak, that they did not actually strike him, the intention is that Hashem will help me by causing my words to come to pass. For if a prophet speaks words and the public does not see them fulfilled, it brings shame upon him: "Why do you keep threatening all the time? Why do you religious people love to scare everyone, when nothing ever happens?" To this he says: Hashem will help me so that my words are fulfilled, and therefore I was not humiliated. And because of this, I set my face like flint, like a rock, to proclaim the word of Hashem, knowing that it is impossible that I speak words that will not be fulfilled - and this is what gave me the fortitude to deliver the words properly.
The Malbim adds: given the brazenness of that generation, they could easily and effortlessly have beaten him, and it would not have taken much provocation for them to lash out against him. Why then did they not strike him? "And the Lord Hashem will help me" - I saw Divine providence over me, and this is why I was not humiliated; consequently, I set my face like flint and knew that I would not be ashamed, for I have help from Hashem.
And what is the difference between nichlam (humiliated) and bosh (ashamed)? The Malbim explains: kelimah comes from others, whereas bushah is from oneself, an internal shame - "shame shall cover him," being ashamed of oneself over how such a thing could have happened. Since I saw that I had help from Hashem, I was not even ashamed within myself, and I arose and found the courage to speak the words.
קָרוֹב מַצְדִּיקִי מִי־יָרִיב אִתִּי נַעַמְדָה יָּחַד מִי־בַעַל מִשְׁפָּטִי יִגַּשׁ אֵלָי׃ - "He Who vindicates me is near; who will contend with me? Let us stand together. Who is my adversary in judgment? Let him approach me."
The Malbim first clarifies the difference between a riv (dispute) and a mishpat (judgment). A riv is when there are opposing claims and counterclaims; this party has what to argue and that party has what to argue, and there is room for deliberation to hear both sides and see which way the ruling leans - "the judge hears the dispute between them." A mishpat, by contrast, is a straightforward, decided, and clear-cut matter with no room for doubt: someone damaged his fellow's property, so he must pay. There are no competing arguments, proofs, or differing perspectives.
Hence: one who has a riv approaches the judge, but one who has a clear mishpat against his fellow approaches him directly - "Sir, give me what is mine; I lent you money, pay me back." For such a clear claim one does not go to court. Only for a matter that involves complexities and compromises, with arguments on both sides, does one go to the judge.
Now the verse is understood: whoever wishes to contend with me (riv), who has claims and arguments - "let us stand together," let us go together to the judge, in accordance with the rule of "and they shall stand before the judge who will be in those days." Yet "He Who vindicates me is near" - I will surely be vindicated in my judgment. And whoever claims to have a clear and explicit mishpat against me - "let him approach me," let him come to me directly with his claim. In truth, says the prophet, there is neither a riv nor a mishpat here: it is absolute that my words are true and upright, and no one can challenge me, neither in a trial before a judge nor in a direct claim.
הֵן אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה יַעֲזָר־לִי מִי־הוּא יַרְשִׁיעֵנִי הֵן כֻּלָּם כַּבֶּגֶד יִבְלוּ עָשׁ יֹאכְלֵם׃ - "Behold, the Lord Hashem will help me; who is he that will condemn me? Behold, they all shall wear out like a garment; a moth shall consume them."
"Who is he that will condemn me?" - who could possibly prevail in debate and arguments against my prophecy, or find a contradiction in my words or proof against them? This addresses the disputants mentioned earlier.
And the Malbim notes the precise difference between "wearing out like a garment" and "a moth shall consume them": a garment wears out from excessive use, whereas a moth consumes it specifically from lack of use - leave a garment in the closet for six months and moths will eat it. According to this: regarding the disputants, who come with claims and counterclaims, it says "they shall wear out like a garment" - they will repeat and recycle the same arguments over and over without finding any substance in them, like a worn-out garment that no longer warms its wearer because its fabric is frayed. And regarding one who comes with a supposed clear and direct lawsuit, the prophet says: with him I will not debate at all, for I possess the words of the living God - and even without debate, "a moth shall consume them"; the matter will decay on its own.
The Malbim offers another explanation elsewhere for the distinction: the wearing out of a garment stems from the weakness of the garment itself, as the material naturally deteriorates over time - take burial shrouds or garments found in caves after a hundred or two hundred years; you touch them and they crumble, yet no moth ate them. The moth, by contrast, is an external cause, a worm that comes from the outside and consumes even the strongest material. So too here: their claims will wear out on their own, and an external cause will also consume them - for "behold, the Lord God will help me," which is the external cause compared to the moth. Thus, no claims whatsoever will remain to refute the words of prophecy or to prove that they lack substance.
מִי בָכֶם יְרֵא יְהֹוָה שֹׁמֵעַ בְּקוֹל עַבְדּוֹ אֲשֶׁר הָלַךְ חֲשֵׁכִים וְאֵין נֹגַהּ לוֹ יִבְטַח בְּשֵׁם יְהֹוָה וְיִשָּׁעֵן בֵּאלֹהָיו׃ - Who among you fears Hashem, listening to the voice of His servant, who walked in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the Name of Hashem and rely upon his God.
"Listening to the voice of His servant" - Rashi explains: the voice of the prophets. "Who walked in darkness" - even if troubles befall him, he still trusts in Hashem. And the Malbim explains: most of that generation did not believe the prophet's words, coming forward with claims, disputes, and counterproofs, regarding which he said, "Who will contend with me? Who is my adversary?" Yet there were a few individuals who believed the prophet's words and accepted them, one from a city and two from a family, and it is to them that he now speaks.
The Malbim offers a wonderful parable: Two men are in the desert at night, in pitch darkness. One trusts in Hashem and says: I am not afraid; I am confident and secure that He will save me from all harm. He does not kindle a lamp, for he has no need of it. The second does not trust in Hashem; he is fearful and anxious about what lies ahead. And what does he do to escape his fear? He strikes a fire, blows upon the coals, and kindles them. But did it help him at all? He remains lying there in fear, dreading at every moment who knows what wild beast might emerge from its lair. Furthermore, he blackened his hands and face in the process, and perhaps even burned himself - all because he did not rely on the Holy One, Blessed be He, but instead sought natural means to save himself.
And for the nimshal (the lesson): Fire here symbolizes the candle with which one inspects holes and crevices. One who fears Hashem, listens to the voice of His servant, and believes all the words of the prophet does not need a candle to search through holes and cracks, for his trust is absolute. Not so the deniers and those who doubt the prophet's words, who say: Who says your words are true? Let us examine and verify them! The believer, on the other hand, sleeps peacefully - even though he lit no fire, and even though he lies in the dark with no light - free of any anxiety or dread.
And he gains two things: First, "let him trust in the Name of Hashem" - his heart is confident, and he is calm, tranquil, and at peace. Second, "he who trusts in Hashem is surrounded by lovingkindness," and consequently he will "rely upon his God" - finding a firm and solid support to lean upon, for Hashem will indeed save him.
We have previously explained the words of the Vilna Gaon on the verse, "It is better to take refuge in Hashem than to trust in man": What is the difference between taking refuge (chesayah) and trusting (bitachon)? Refuge implies that there is some shelter, and I go and hide beneath it, yet it does not conceal me completely, and no one has promised me that it will protect me; I went of my own accord to take shelter in its shade. Trust means someone promises you: "Do not worry, I will protect you." King David says: With the Holy One, Blessed be He, even merely taking refuge, without an explicit promise of salvation, is better than an absolute promise from flesh and blood. Something worthy of trust is called a strong support, whereas something untrustworthy is called "the staff of a broken reed" - which not only shatters under the one leaning on it, but its sharp splinters also pierce his hands.
And what is the meaning of "walked in darkness and has no light (nogah)"? The Malbim explains: Darkness (choshech) is the absence of direct light, but it is not complete blackness; darkness can exist while some glow (nogah) remains. Nogah also refers to reflected light, where light strikes one place and bounces to another, such as the glow of the moon - where one does not see the moon directly, but rather the mist it illuminates, creating a halo of sorts. The verse teaches that even such a glow he does not have, yet despite this he fears nothing at all, because "let him trust in the Name of Hashem and rely upon his God."
The difference between trust (bitachon) and reliance (hish'anot), the Malbim explains, is that trust is in the heart, while reliance is in actual practice. And since he relies upon his God, he has nothing to fear. Why does the verse say "upon his God (b'Elokav)" rather than "upon God (b'Elokim)"? As the Malbim has explained several times before, "Elokim" indicates general providence (hashgachah kelalit), whereas "his God" - his personal God - indicates individual providence (hashgachah pratit). The moment you rely upon Him, the providence over you becomes individual, a special, dedicated care tailored exclusively for you, as though God devotes Himself to him and him alone.
הֵן כֻּלְּכֶם קֹדְחֵי אֵשׁ מְאַזְּרֵי זִיקוֹת לְכוּ בְּאוּר אֶשְׁכֶם וּבְזִיקוֹת בִּעַרְתֶּם מִיָּדִי הָיְתָה־זֹּאת לָכֶם לְמַעֲצֵבָה תִּשְׁכָּבוּן׃ - Behold, all of you who kindle a fire, who gird yourselves with sparks: walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks you have kindled! From My hand this has come upon you; in sorrow shall you lie down.
First, the simple meaning of the verse according to Rashi and the peshat commentators: You who do not listen to the words of the prophet, "kindlers of fire" - you stir up and ignite the fire of the Holy One, blessed be He's wrath and anger against yourselves; "girders of sparks" - strengthening the flaming missiles, as Rashi explains: glowing coals slung from a sling, like sparks of fire flying through the air. "Walk in the light of your fire" - that very fire you kindled will itself consume you. "From My hand this has come upon you; in sorrow you shall lie down" - a lying down of illness or death, so that you will have no strength left to rise up before your enemies.
And now according to the approach outlined by the Malbim: In contrast to the one who trusts in Hashem, who lights no fire and sleeps in the wilderness without fear, there are those who probe deeply - who says the prophet's words are true? What proof is there that they will be fulfilled? Why is he only frightening us? Perhaps this is not the word of Hashem? And what do they do? They light a fire to poke around and search through the holes and crevices. And since they lack good oil and wicks to provide light, they are "kindlers of fire" - taking wood and trying to spark it into flame, girding and surrounding the fire with sparks and brands to make it burn.
And the nimshal: If you had a genuine argument against the prophet, that would be called a torch, a lamp with which one can search, illuminate, and show that the prophet was inaccurate, that he misled, that he did not speak in Hashem's Name. But you have no real light, so you gather straw and twigs, trying to produce light from them in order to search through the prophet's words. And what happens to one who tries to kindle such a fire? He blows on the coals and his face is blackened with soot. "Walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks you have kindled" - go on in this petty light of yours, yet "from My hand this has come upon you; in sorrow you shall lie down."
And in the words of the Malbim: You will grope like a blind person along the wall of doubts. A person plagued by doubts is like a blind man groping in the dark; he has no certainty. Do you truly believe that the arguments you mount against the prophet's words will calm you? If you had produced proof that the prophet's words are baseless, you would be able to go to sleep peacefully: "True, the prophet said there would be troubles, disasters, and destruction, but I proved there is no substance to it." However, you have no proof and no real light, and all you have done is stir up doubts - consequently, you yourselves are not confident, and you remain filled with dread and apprehension. One who trusts in Hashem knows that he relies upon his God and is untroubled; whereas one who does not trust, but merely stirs up doubts while knowing deep down that his arguments are groundless, cannot lie down in peace.
The Malbim also made a precise observation: Why does the verse say "kodchei eish" ("borers of fire") rather than mav'irei or madlikei eish (igniters or lighters of fire)? The term kedichah (drilling or boring fire) usually refers to an internal burning, as in the verse, "For a fire has flared in My anger and burned to the depths of the lowest Sheol" (Devarim 32:22), and as in the word kadachat (fever) - where the body's internal heat rises, and the body tries on its part to cool down and fight the heat, yet the fever burns, intensifies, and consumes the body. So too there: the blaze of anger emerges, as it were, "from between mountains of snow"; there is a force trying to extinguish the great heat, yet the fire bores through, penetrates it, and overcomes it nonetheless.
And so it is here: One who lacks genuine arguments takes damp logs and tries to kindle them. Had you possessed a good fire, you would have lit it cleanly; since you have none, you drill into damp wood that does not ignite properly and merely gives off sparks, which is the meaning of "girders of sparks." The wood itself, as it were, struggles against the fire drilling into it. In the same way, you attempt to cast upon the prophet all manner of hollow claims and accusations that have no substance and cannot endure. Therefore, your punishment is the direct opposite of the righteous person's reward: The righteous person, even when walking in darkness with no glimmer of light, as soon as he trusts in Hashem, relies upon his God; but you have no such thing, and therefore "in sorrow you shall lie down."
In our chapter, the prophet answers every conceivable argument that could be leveled against him: Hashem granted him a "tongue of the learned" - a richness of expression to bring sublime concepts down into human language, constant renewal "morning by morning," and the ability to teach each person according to his capacity; he did not rebel against Hashem's word nor turn backward, and was even prepared for blows, plucking of hair, insults, and spitting, if only to fulfill his mission; and with Hashem's help, he was neither humiliated externally nor ashamed internally, setting his face like flint, and none could contend with him in judgment or bring a definitive claim against him - for all the arguments of his opponents will wear out like a garment on their own and be eaten away by moths from without. And in conclusion, the prophet contrasts two archetypes: the one who fears Hashem and listens to the voice of His servant, who walks in total darkness with no light yet trusts in Hashem and relies upon his God through divine providence and lies down in peace; and against him, the kindlers of fire and girders of sparks, who attempt to ignite a fire of doubts from damp logs, blackening their own faces, groping like the blind along the wall of doubts, and ultimately "in sorrow you shall lie down." May Hashem grant us the merit to do His will and serve Him with a whole heart, Amen.