Hosea · Chapter 3

“Beloved of her husband.” She is dear to her husband and beloved by him, yet she commits adultery under his roof, just as the Holy One, blessed be He, loves Israel, and yet they commit idolatry under Him by turning to other gods. “O you who are like clusters of grapes.” R. Menachem explains: “Cups of wine” – they love to get drunk on their wine and do not engage in Torah study. And similarly, we find that He reprimands them elsewhere for this very thing: “You who drink wine in bowls” (Amos 6:6).

And He said – in the manner of prophecy. “Go, love a woman” — and take her as a wife, for this is the meaning of the term “woman,” since he did not mention a harlot. And the proof is, “And I bought her for myself,” and afterward, “she will love her lover,” and the meaning of “another man” is that she will commit adultery with him. And the parable is like the Holy One, blessed be He, loving the children of Israel: He loved them, yet they turned to other gods — this is “loving another man,” and they do not love the Name, but only love the wine that intoxicates them. The word *ashishi* is like: “They supported me with *ashishot*,” and the meaning is “with the pressings of wine.” Similarly, *ashishi* means “wine of grapes.” And so too: “one *ashishah*,” and there is no need to mention “wine.”

And the Lord said to me. After the prophet concluded his words of comfort, he returned to words of reproof against the people of his generation. This is also the way of the prophets: to speak in their prophecies both reproof and comfort. And he further stated that God had already told him to take a wife of harlotry, and now He spoke to him another parable. He said: “Go, love a woman who is beloved by her companions.” You will love her, and she will be your companion, and afterward she will commit adultery with others. The first parable was concerning Jeroboam son of Nebat and those who came after him, who prostituted themselves after the Lord, abandoned the service of the Temple, and served the calves. Afterward, Ahab came and added to the evil, introducing the worship of Baal and Asherah. Now, in this parable, He added the idea of God’s love for Israel from of old, like a man who loves a woman dear to him. This is a great love, for a man does not love every woman equally, as it is stated regarding Jacob: “And Jacob loved Rachel.” And David said, “More than the love of women,” referring to his two wives who were dear to him. And despite all this, they turned to other gods. "And those who love Me, My beloveds of grapes." And whereas it was incumbent upon them to love the Torah of the Lord and His commandments, and to meditate continually upon its love, for it is that which teaches the good and straight path, they cast off from themselves the yoke of Torah and loved the pleasures of the world, and their desire was the drinking of wine, for "everyone who is addicted to it will not be wise." And the Prophet said concerning them: "Woe to the crown of their pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim"; and He said: "Woe to those who rise early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; who tarry until evening, till wine inflames them." And the interpretation of "My beloveds of grapes" is "wine of grapes," and Jonathan [ben Uzziel] translated and said: "The Lord said to Me, etc."

“Love a woman.” This means: She should be upright in your eyes, so that you may betroth her. "Beloved of her husband": This means that the woman was one who, from the time she was with her husband, was beloved by her husband, and yet she committed adultery under him. As it is said, “As the love of the Lord.” This means that this serves as an allusion: just as the Lord loved Israel, yet they committed harlotry under His protection by turning to idolatry. "And they love." They love cups of grape wine and become intoxicated, and in the delirium of drunkenness they pursue idolatry. Since the passage employs the simile of a harlot, it uses this language, for wine leads to adultery.

Ra. The term "associate" (chaver) can also be applied to a husband, as evidenced by the verse: "And she is your associate" (Malachi 2:14). "Turn around." From the language of "turn aside" and "turn around": Ashishei. Cups and goblets, as in “sustain me with cups” (Song of Songs 2:5): "Grapes." This means: grape wine.

And the Lord said to me further: After the first parable, in which He compared Israel to a married woman who is a harlot, under her husband, and commanded the prophet to take also a woman through the way of marriage, who is a harlot under her husband, another commandment came to the prophet: “Go, love a woman who is beloved of a lover and an adulteress,” so that he should love a woman through the way of love, not through the way of taking and marriage like the first woman, whom he took through the way of marriage. And she should not be a married woman who is a harlot under her husband, but rather she should be a maiden who has no husband through the way of marriage; only she has a lover whom she loves exceedingly, and she is an adulteress for a wage, also with other men besides the lover. And although she will not be called by the name of a harlot, because she has no husband, nevertheless she is betraying the lover who loves her. And this will be another parable, in which to compare the matter of the congregation of Israel after their exile. Then the Lord removed them from His presence and annulled the previous betrothal, and she became like a maiden. And she, after He said, “You are not My people,” from then on she is an adulteress, not a harlot, because she has no fixed husband. And nevertheless, she is beloved of a lover, for although the Lord does not love her with the love of a husband, He loves her with the love of a lover. For although His love for her is not in public, He loves her and watches over her in secrecy, through hidden providence. And they are harlotting after others. And this is what it says: “As the Lord loved the children of Israel,” meaning that the tenor of the parable of “beloved of a lover” is the love of the Lord for the children of Israel in their exile, when He is neither their husband nor their betrothed, but only like the love of a lover for his concubine. And that in this manner Hosea should take her to be his companion, not that she should be his wife. And the tenor of the parable of “adulteress” is that they turn to other gods, turning away from the Lord, their lover, to serve idolatry. And they are lovers of “grapes of wine,” meaning they are no longer at the previous level, where the husband provided her sustenance, and she went after the lovers thinking that they were the ones providing her sustenance, as it is written: “I will go after my lovers, who give my bread and my water.” For now, in exile, she has no fixed sustenance, neither from the lover who is not her husband, nor from the lovers, for she has no lovers either. Rather, she is like a lowly harlot who harlots for a cup of wine that the adulterers give her, for they are her lovers through “grapes of wine.” And so too, Israel in their exile turns away from the Lord for a trifling matter. As it is written: “Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything, you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger and in thirst, etc.”

“And I bought her for myself.” This is a term for merchandise, in the vernacular it means “bargain,” as it says (Genesis 50:5), “which I dug/acquired for myself,” and in the cities of the sea they call a sale a “kirah.” "On fifteen pieces of silver, and a measure of barley, and a measure of barley." The Targum: "And I redeemed them with my words on the fifteenth day of the month of Nisan, and I gave the silver of shekels as atonement for their souls, and I said that they would be brought before the Omer of the sheaves of barley," meaning that they were not subjected to harsh words. “Fifteen shekels of silver.” According to gematria, [the word] “Nisan” [equals 15]. In the Pesiqtah, it is expounded: “Fifteen shekels” — on the fifteenth of Nisan. And “chomer and letekh” — this makes forty-five, for a “chomer” is thirty seahs, and a “letekh” is half a chomer.

“Va’achareha” – Some say: “And I will buy her,” like the phrase “Tichru me’hem” (you shall buy from them). But this is not correct in meaning or in grammar. It is from the root “Hakar” (to recognize), as in “Hakar na” (Recognize, please). It should have been “Va’achireha,” or it would be in the Qal stem. And if it is not found in the Qal pattern, even though the word “Hakar” is not found in the Qal weight, it would be on the pattern of “Atnah” or with a small Patach instead of a large Patach, like “Va’eddecha” (and I adorned you with ornaments), which is from “Edah” (witness); “Pen achalekha” (Lest I devour you), which is from “Kalah” (to devour); and this word comes in the manner of “V’yidbakhu” (And they shall cleave), and many are like this. And the meaning of "for fifteen silver shekels" is according to its plain sense, [referring] to her ketubah. “Chomer and Latak” – it is its food. And according to my opinion, it is an allegory for Judah, and these fifteen are the kings of Judah, whose beginning is King Rehoboam; and do not count the reigns of the sons of Josiah as separate, but rather as one reign, since they were brothers. And Chomer and Letekh – these were the High Priests who were in the Kingdom of Judah in Jerusalem.

"And I will buy her for myself." The dagesh in the kaf is for the honor of the reading, like the dagesh in the qof in "The Lord sanctifies" (Exodus 15:11), and its root is "to dig," from "and you shall also dig water for yourselves from them" (Exodus 17:6). It means: I have acquired her for myself as a wife. And the meaning of "for fifteen pieces of silver" is that Jonathan rendered it: "And I redeemed her with my words on the fifteenth day of the month of Nisan." And they further interpreted it as: on the merit of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the twelve tribes. And a homer of barley and a lethek of barley. They too are fifteen, for the homer is ten ephahs, as it is stated, “For ten houses [are] a homer,” and the lethek is half a homer. And Rabbi Saadia Gaon, of blessed memory, explained that the homer and the lethek, which are fifteen, correspond to Moses, Aaron, Miriam, and the twelve tribes who went out from Egypt. And there is an explanation according to what the Targum explained regarding “fifteen shekels of silver,” namely, the fifteenth of Nissan. He explained “homer and lethek” as the number of days from when the Israelites went out from Egypt until they came to the Desert of Sinai and received the Torah there, for the homer is thirty seahs and the lethek is fifteen; behold, forty-five. And the fifteen days remaining from Nissan and the thirty of Iyar—behold, forty-five. And what he said about “barley,” which is food for animals, is because the majority of the people who went out from Egypt until they received the Torah were like animals, like a horse or a mule, without understanding, working in mortar and bricks and in all field labor. And from the time they received the Torah, their eyes were opened, and the spirit of intellect rested upon them, and they understood and knew. And Rashi wrote that he found it written in the name of Rabbi Hai, of blessed memory: “And I have appointed for her a redemption price before Me for a small price.” The one who says, “The value of my life is upon me,” if he is from the age of sixty years and older, [the redemption is] fifteen shekels of silver. And a homer of barley, the value of a male from the age of twenty to sixty, is fifty shekels of silver, and these are the redemption costs for the seed of a homer of barley, which is also fifty shekels. "And you shall give barley." The redemption price of the seed of barley is twenty shekels, and five shekels is the value from one month old up to five years old, and from five years old up to twenty years old is twenty shekels; behold, this makes twenty-five. And Jonathan [the Aramaic translator] translated "silver" as a separate item, not joining it with the fifteen, and he rendered: "And you shall give silver, etc."

"And I purchased her for myself." I have acquired for myself such a woman; that is to say, I betrothed her with fifteen silver coins. "And a homer, etc." — The barley was given for their food. (And since she was a harlot and acted like a beast, therefore He gave her for her food the food of beasts; and similarly our Sages of blessed memory said concerning the Sotah's offering that it was from barley flour.) And according to the allusion, it may be said that the Omnipresent promised Israel to take them to Himself as a people in the end of days. And that promise was in the hands of the fifteen prophets of Israel: the first, King David, in the Book of Psalms in several psalms; the second, Isaiah, in his prophecies; the third, Jeremiah; the fourth, Ezekiel; the fifth, Hosea; the sixth, Joel; the seventh, Amos; the eighth, Obadiah; the ninth, Micah; the tenth, Habakkuk; the eleventh, Zephaniah; the twelfth, Daniel; the thirteenth, Haggai; the fourteenth, Zechariah; and the fifteenth, Malachi. For they alone prophesied concerning the future redemption. Moreover, it says "silver," for Israel yearned for their prophecies, and their souls were consumed with longing. And the homer and the letech also allude to those prophets, for in a homer and a letech there are fifteen ephahs, corresponding to the number of those prophets who promised Israel that even when they would be in a foreign land, God would not abandon them and would provide them with sustenance. However, not with abundant providence; and this is hinted by "barley," which is eaten only out of necessity.

"And I bought." The term denotes an act of acquisition, as it is written: "and also water shall ye buy" (Deuteronomy 2:6). "Silver." It is a word shared between actual silver and desire, as in "for the work of Your hands You will long" (Job 14:15): And a *chomer*. It is the kor, of ten ephahs, and the ephah is three seahs. "Vilat." It is half a kor, five eiphs.

"And he shall redeem her for fifteen pieces of silver": This is compared to one who purchased her from her friend and gave for her fifteen pieces of silver. In this, two matters are depicted: a) That he did not purchase her as a wife, for a woman's ketubah is fifty pieces of silver, like the bride-price of a virgin; rather, he purchased her as one purchases a maidservant, whose price is thirty pieces of silver, as it is stated: "If the ox was accustomed to goring... he shall give thirty pieces of silver" (Exodus 21:32). Likewise, the value of a woman, from the age of twenty until sixty, is thirty shekels, as is elucidated in the chapter of Arakhin. b) It is depicted that he did not even give for all thirty shekels, but only half, which is fifteen shekels. For the depiction is that she is not exclusively his alone, for she is an adulteress, and therefore he gave only half her value. Likewise, he acted similarly regarding her sustenance, giving her a homer of barley and a lethek of barley. The homer is thirty se'ahs, and the lethek is fifteen se'ahs. This is because, since she is not his wife, he is not obligated to provide her bread and water abundantly according to her honor. Rather, she is like a poor woman whom he supports not out of obligation, but out of grace. Now, one does not reduce the allowance for a poor traveler passing from place to place from a kor per pondion to less than four se'ahs per sela. And the sela is four denarii; thus, the se'ah is worth one dinar. The dinar is six ma'ahs, and the ma'ah is two pondions. It turns out that they provide for his meal one-twelfth of a se'ah. Thus, the homer, which is thirty se'ahs, suffices for the food of 360 days of the year. Only that instead of wheat bread, he gave her barley bread, which is inferior, to indicate her degradation, that she eats animal fodder. And for the evening meal, he assigned her half of the day's meal, to show that he is not obligated to give her more than half, for in the evening she goes out to commit adultery with the adulterers, and only half is due to her. And even this is only inferior barley.

And He says to her, “Many days you shall dwell with Me.” Two days, many days, three days—these are five days. These are the fifty days between Passover and Shavuot. On that day I gave them the Torah, and in it I warned her. "You shall not commit adultery, and you shall not be with a man." "You shall have no other gods" (Exodus 20:3): “And I also to you.” “I am the Lord your God” (there). And He made two calculations of fifty days: one corresponding to the end of the chomer, and one corresponding to the end of the letekh. This corresponds to the manna that descended for them at the end of thirty days, on the fifteenth of Iyar. And from there, fifteen days later, on this day, they came to the Wilderness of Sinai on the new moon of Sivan. And in the name of Rav Hai, I found a fitting matter: “And I betrothed you to Myself…” I fixed the price of the atonement ransom for her before Me with light prices. The one who says, “The value of my life is upon me,” if he is sixty years old and above, and your value is fifteen shekels, and the chomer, which is fifty se’ah. The value of a male from twenty years old and above until sixty years old is fifty shekels, and these are the redemption prices of the chomer, which is also fifty silver shekels. And the letekh, which is fifty se’ah, is the redemption price of land, latik se’ah for the Temple. Twenty-five shekels is the fixed value from one month old until five years old, five shekels; and from five years old until twenty years old, and your value is twenty shekels. Behold, twenty-five. After all this covenant, I said to her: You shall dwell with Me for many days; you shall not commit harlotry with other gods. For if you commit harlotry, many days shall your sons dwell without a king and without a prince, and without a sacrifice in the Temple in Judah, and without the pillar of Baal in Samaria for the kings of Israel, and without the ephod of Urim and Thummim that reveals hidden things to them, and without teraphim—they are images made at a specific designated time, which speak on their own and reveal hidden things. And so does the Targum: “And there is no ephod and no teraphim.”

And it says, "You shall dwell many days" – and the meaning is: if you desire to dwell with Me for many days, so that you do not commit adultery and do not belong to another man; and the meaning is [that you] shall not serve other gods in secret. “And you shall not be to a man, and I also”—the word “not” serves as a substitute for another [negative], and the meaning is: “and I also will not come to you.” And there are those who say: “If you return to Me—then I also will return to you,” and this is the interpretation of the prophet.

"And He said to her." I said to her: After you have committed adultery under me, your punishment shall be that you will remain a living widow for many days. And the meaning of "to me" is that you will be called by my name; you will not say, "I am the wife of so-and-so," nor will you commit adultery with men, nor will you become a woman to any other specific man besides me. “And I also will come to you.” “And I also will not come to you,” and it is not that the singular form “one” stands in place of the plural “two.” And this will be for many days. And in the following verse, the parable is explained, as it says “many days,” and Jonathan the Targumist rendered it: “The prophet said to her, and so on.”

And He says to her: "As I sanctified you, I said to you, 'You shall remain and wait for Me for many days, until I take you as a wife.'" "You shall not commit adultery, and you shall not be with a man." This is stated with regard to a woman who was already under the authority of her husband and subsequently added to her transgression by committing adultery with other men; it tells her that during those days she shall be separated from both her husband and her adulterers. "And I also to you" – I too, like you, will be separated from a woman and will wait for you until I take you as my wife.

Teshvi. The matter of "delay" and "waiting" is like "I will sit until you return" (Judges 6:18).

And He says to her, “Many days you shall sit to Me.” He made a condition with her that she should wait for him for many days, and during these days she should not commit harlotry in the manner of harlotry, nor be to a man in the manner of marriage, and also I will sit with you, for after many days I will take you to Me as a wife. The parable is that the Holy One, blessed be He, sold her into exile for fifteen pieces of silver, for in the days of exile the Name is not complete, and He uses only half the Name, namely the Yod and Heh, whose numerical value is fifteen. And her sustenance is fixed only for one year, at each New Year, as it is stated, “You shall be afraid night and day,” which refers to one who buys grain for a year. And her food is inferior barley. And He commanded her to wait for Him many days until His hand would be strengthened again to purchase the remainder of His people. And He commanded that she not commit harlotry to idolatry, nor be to a man to grasp another faith from another man. And He assured her that He too would sit with her and wait to redeem her and to free her forever in the time to come.

"When many days pass" — there is no king. And there is no objection from the Hasmoneans, for they are not of the descendants of Judah. "And no sacrifice" – Yefet ben Ali said: This refers to Teshvi, as it is written, "For you shall not make for Me a sacrifice and a pillar." According to his opinion, the pillar is not forbidden in general, only when the Torah explicitly spoke about it. But then, what is to be done with the term teraphim? And others said: All of these are for idolatry, and we have not found the ephod mentioned in a derogatory sense. And the correct view in my eyes: "No sacrifice" – [is valid] to the Name, And no pillar—for Baal,—for her husband, There is no ephod – for the Name, "And there shall not be found among you" — [referring to] teraphim, which are used by idolaters, as it says, "as Laban called them his gods."

"For many days shall the children of Israel dwell..." These are the days of exile in which we find ourselves today, for we have neither a king nor a prince from Israel, for we are under the dominion of the nations and under the authority of their kings and princes. "And there is no sacrifice, and there is no pillar." This means: There is no sacrifice to God, and there is no pillar to idolatry. And there is no ephod and teraphim: There is no ephod for God, meaning that He does not need to foretell the future like the Urim and Thummim; and there are no teraphim for idols, which are supposed to foretell the future according to the belief of those who trust in them. And so we are today in this exile, all the children of Israel. And Jonathan rendered it: “There is no king...”

"When many days shall pass." Now he explains that this alludes to the fact that Israel will dwell in exile for many days and will await the redemption, and even the Omnipresent will, as it were, await to take them to Himself as a people; and even during the days of their exile, He will not be joined with any of the nations. “And there shall be no prince.” Throughout all the days of their exile, even though their King, namely the Holy One, blessed be He, is not with them, nevertheless, “there shall be no prince”—that is to say, they shall not serve any of the princes of the higher realms to accept them as gods. This is analogous to that woman who, although separated from her husband, nevertheless remains abstinent from harlots. "And there shall be no sacrifice." Even if the Temple is in ruins and there is no sacrifice for peace-offerings, nevertheless, "there shall be no matzevah"—that is to say, they shall not make a matzevah to offer upon it for idolatrous worship. "And there shall be no ephod or teraphim." The word "and there shall be" serves two purposes, as if it said, "And there shall be no teraphim," and the meaning is: even though there will not be among them the Urim and Thummim to inquire through them about future events, nevertheless, there shall be no teraphim—that is, they will not turn to the teraphim to inquire through them about future events. These words are good tidings for Israel: in the days of their exile, they will not turn either to the worship of the heavenly hosts or to idolatry, even though they will lack the Divine Presence, the altar, and the Urim and Thummim; nevertheless, they will not be like the nations.

"Matsavah." It is an altar consisting of a single stone, and they make it in order to offer idolatrous sacrifices upon it. Ephod. This term refers to the ephod and the breastplate together with the Urim and Thummim; similarly, "the ephod descended into his hand" (1 Samuel 23:6).

"When many days have passed," this explains the metaphor: that for many days the Israelites will dwell in exile, waiting and hoping for Me to return to them as in days of old. "They shall have no king"—meaning they will have no king from the kings of the House of David, who sat upon the Throne of the Lord and stood under His providence; "and no prince"—meaning they will also not stand under the princes of the celestial host. "For they shall wait for the Lord," as it is stated, "You shall not commit harlotry, nor be with a man." "They shall have no sacrifice"—meaning they will also not offer sacrifices at this time to draw down divine abundance from the Lord, because the Temple and its service are in ruins; "and no pillar"—and even so, they will not set up pillars for their masters; "and no ephod"—meaning there will be no priest among them wearing an ephod who knows future events through it; and despite all this, "they shall have no teraphim"—meaning they will not inquire of teraphim to know future events through them. Our Sages of blessed memory stated that the Israelites rejected three things in the days of Rehoboam: the kingship of the House of David, the Kingship of Heaven, and the Holy Temple. Rabbi Shimon ben Menasya said: Israel will not see the signs of salvation and redemption until they return to seek all three. Hence it is said: "Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God"—this refers to the Kingship of Heaven; "and David their king"—according to its plain meaning; "and fear the Lord and His goodness"—this refers to the Holy Temple, as it is written, "This good mountain and Lebanon." And with this in mind, it is said: "For many days the children of Israel shall dwell without a king"—from the kings of the House of David; "and without sacrifice"—in the Holy Temple; "and without an ephod"—to announce future events through the Divine Spirit, for the ephod used to proclaim through the Holy Spirit, which comes from the Kingship of Heaven. And corresponding to this, they will also have no prince, pillar, or teraphim, which restrict them.

After the days of the exile: “And the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord, etc.” It was taught in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai: In three matters did the children of Israel reject [authority] in the days of Rehoboam: the Kingdom of Heaven, the House of David, and the Temple. Hence it is said (1 Kings 12:16): “We have no portion in David,” according to its plain meaning. “[O] Israel, to your tents” (ibid.)—do not read “to your tents” (le’ahalekha) but rather “to your God” (le’Elohekha). “[A]nd David to his house” (ibid.)—this refers to the House of the Lord. Rabbi Shimon ben Menasya said: No favorable sign is shown to Israel until they return and seek all three. “And the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord”—this is the Kingdom of Heaven; “and David their king”—according to its plain meaning; “and fear the Lord and His goodness”—this is the Temple, as it is stated elsewhere: “this good mountain.”

"After the return of the children of Israel." This refers to the children of Judah and Israel who were exiled initially; therefore, he included them all. And the meaning of "and David their king" is the Messiah, as it is written, "And David My servant shall be prince among them forever." “And they shall fear the Lord” – that they will return swiftly, at the coming of the end, to their land, in a rush, all of a sudden, as it is said: “They shall tremble like a bird from Egypt.” There it is written: “And I will bring them back to their homes, says the Lord.” And the trustworthy proof for this interpretation is that it states “in the latter days,” which refers to the end of the prophets’ prophecy, as in: “And it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established.” And there it is written: “And they shall beat their swords into plowshares.” And all these things are for the future.

"After the return of the children of Israel." This will be in the end of days, close to the time of salvation, when the children of Israel will return in repentance. And in the words of our Sages of blessed memory, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai says: In three things did Israel reject [authority] in the days of Rehoboam: the Kingdom of Heaven, the House of David, and the Temple. This is what is written: "We have no portion in David," according to its plain meaning. "To your tents, O Israel" — do not read "to your tents" but rather "to your God." "See, your house, O David" — this is the Temple. Rabbi Shimon ben Menasya said: One does not show a sign of redemption to Israel until they return and seek all three. This is what is written: "After the return of the children of Israel, and they seek the Lord" — this is the Kingdom of Heaven; "and David their king" — according to its plain meaning; "and they shall fear the Lord and His goodness" — this is the Temple, as it is said: "This good mountain and Lebanon." And "they shall fear the Lord" — that they will fear and stand in awe of Him upon returning to Him, and they will rely on the great, good repentance that He promised. And this will be in the end of days. And Jonathan [ben Uzziel] rendered in the Targum: "And they will seek the service of the Lord, etc." And Rabbi Saadia Gaon explained: "And His goodness" means "His glory," like [the verse]: "I will pass all My goodness before you."

Achar. This means that after many days, the children of Israel shall return to their land, and then they shall seek the Lord to inquire of Him regarding their needs, for He shall return and cause His Divine Presence to dwell among them. “And David their king.” And they will also seek the King Messiah, who will come from the seed of David, and from Him they will seek their petition, for He will rule over them; no longer will a king of Israel from another tribe rule over them, as was the case in the past when Jeroboam and the other kings of Ephraim ruled over them. “And they shall fear the Lord.” Then they shall fear the Lord and His goodness. This means that they will no longer sin, for they shall fear the Lord, lest He remove His Divine Presence from among them, and they shall fear His goodness, lest they lose the influence of His benevolence. A similar expression is found in: “And they shall fear and tremble at all the goodness...” (Jeremiah 33:9). "In the latter days." This refers to the end of days, which is the future redemption in the days of the Messiah.

"Unto the Lord." "The Lord"—and similarly, "unto His goodness," just as it is written, "they pursued unto Midian" (Judges 7:25).

After the return of the children of Israel, and they seek the Lord their God, which is the Kingdom of Heaven, and David their king, which is the Kingdom of the House of David, and they fear the Lord and His goodness, that they will then fear Him so that He will restore His goodness and His Divine Presence to Zion, which is the Holy Temple, for then He will dwell among them, and this will be at the end, as it is stated in many places. And thus was the order of the commandment: to establish for them a king, and to blot out the seed of Amalek, and afterwards to build the Holy Temple, as our Sages of blessed memory stated (in Sanhedrin, page 21). The establishment of a king is the Crown of Kingship; the blotting out of Amalek is so that the Divine Name will be complete; and the House of David upon the Throne of the Lord is the Kingdom of Heaven and Earth. And then the Crown of Torah will be completed, for then there will be a king and the revelation of future events through the Holy Spirit, which is by the power of the Divine Name. And afterwards is the building of the Chosen House, which is the sacrifice, and the Crown of Priesthood, which will be in the end of days.