Isaiah · Chapter 12

"And you shall say. In seeing this:" "I will thank You, for You were angry with me and exiled me, and You atoned for my exile; and now, accept my iniquity and turn away Your anger and comfort me." And Jonathan [ben Uzziel] translated: "I will thank You, Lord, for I have sinned against You, and therefore You were angry with me. And were it not for Your mercies, I would not have been worthy for You to turn away Your anger and to comfort me. And behold, You have turned away Your anger from me."

"And you shall say." The tav is directed toward Israel, namely those who return to their land. “Because You have been angry with me.” Even though You have been angry with me, [I pray] “Heal my soul, for I have sinned against You” (Psalms 41:5).

“And you shall say, ‘Because You were angry with me.’” The explanation is: Since You were angry with me and exiled me, and now You have turned away Your anger and comforted me, therefore I am required to thank You that You have turned away Your anger from me and did not leave me in exile as I deserved according to my sins.

“Because You have been angry with me, and have exiled me, and my exile has atoned for me; now, please accept my iniquity, and let Your anger turn away from me, and comfort me by bringing good.”

Anafat. You were angry, as it says, “Lest He be angry” (Psalms 2:12).

"And you shall say on that day": At the time of the redemption, "I will thank You, O Lord, for You were angry with me." The verb *anaf* (from the root *anaf*) indicates the open display of a countenance filled with wrath. This is the distinction between it and *chama* (anger), which denotes the concealment of wrath and enmity in secret. Through this, they will praise the Lord for having been angry with them and punished them for their sin, because thereby His wrath will turn away and depart entirely, until He returns and comforts them—like one who wronged his friend and made peace with him, who will yet comfort him for the suffering he endured. Unlike if the Lord had not punished them but merely harbored concealed anger (*chama*) toward them, in which case there would have been no remedy for them.

“His strength and the song of the Lord” (Exodus 15:2). [It means:] the strength and the praise of the Holy One, blessed be He — that was my salvation. One cannot interpret “ozi” as “my strength,” for nowhere in Scripture do we find “my strength (uzzi)” vocalized with a qamats-chatuf — rather with a shuruk — except in three places, where it stands next to “ve-zimrat” (e.g., Psalm 18:2), except in three places where it is adjacent to “and the song.” Moreover, it is not “and I sang,” as in “and I will sing” (e.g., Exodus 15:1), but rather, necessarily, “and the song” is connected to the word following it. Therefore, I say that the yod in “My strength” is not a possessive suffix but is like the yod in “dwelling in the bush” (Deuteronomy 33:16). "Yah, Yahweh." Until now, His Name was incomplete, and with the downfall of Amalek, it became complete. As it is said, "For a hand upon the throne of Yah" (Exodus 17:16): The Throne is not complete, and the Name is not complete, until there is war against Amalek for the Lord. "And it became for me a salvation." Just as it says, "He was for me a salvation." The manner of Scripture is to speak thus, as in "And he who did not set his heart on them" (Exodus 9:21), etc., and "And he left his servants and his livestock," and further in Chronicles (II 10:17), "And the children of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah, and Rehoboam reigned over them." It should have said, "Rehoboam was king over them."

"Behold, etc." – This means that after I have said, "My God is my salvation; I will trust," I will dwell securely. [Yah]. The explanation of the half-written Divine Name in the Book of Psalms (Psalms 68:5) "and the song" is derived from the explanation in the Torah (Exodus 15:2):

"Behold, God is my salvation." For "My strength" is written with a chataf kamatz under the ayin. And you shall sing. Like "and I will sing." And the proof is that the resh is with a qamats, and if it were maqqef (connected to the following word), it would have a patakh. Similarly, "that He has given you today into the hand"—like "into My hand."

“Behold, God is my salvation.” Since with me God is my salvation, I will dwell securely and not fear anymore. "For my strength and my glory..." The strength and praise of the Omnipresent were for me a salvation; that is to say, the salvation was in order to demonstrate His might and in order that I might sing of His praise.

Ozi. The matter is one of strength, and the yod is superfluous. And song. From the language of song and praise: "And it came to pass for me." This is like "it was for me"; and similarly, "and he left his servants" (Exodus 9:21), and its grammatical rule is that it is equivalent to "he left."

Behold, God is my salvation: Come to explain what is written, “I will trust and not fear,” that they will trust that they will no longer come into exile, and that the salvation will be an eternal salvation. And He gives two reasons: 1. For one who trusts in a person has cause to fear lest the savior die or become weak; but I—surely God is my salvation. 2. One who is aided has cause to fear that the aid will not endure; not so is it with one who is saved, for there is a distinction between “aid” (ezrah) and “salvation” (yeshuah). “Aid” is merely assistance, and the aided one must perform the main effort; but in salvation, the saved one performs nothing at all, for the Savior does everything. And in the salvation of God, if it comes through the deeds and merit of human beings, it is called “aid,” and then it is conceivable that if afterward their deeds worsen, He will hide His face from them. But if it is through the kindness (chesed) of God, without regard to whether they are worthy or not, it is called “salvation,” and then they can trust that He will not remove His kindness from them even if they are not worthy, since He did not now look upon their merit. And this is what is said: “Surely He is God, my salvation”—through complete kindness. And therefore, “I will not fear.” (Also, the statements [parallel] this: Because He is God, I will trust, in the present tense, for He has the power to save; and because He is my salvation on account of kindness, I will not fear in the future, for kindness will never be broken, since it does not depend on the deeds of human beings.) “For He is my strength and song,” adds another reason why he has no cause to fear forever, for surely the strength and might that is mine is Himself the song and praise of the Lord, that through His being my stronghold, all will recognize His power and might and the truth of His prophet’s word. And therefore, God will not abandon His people a second time, for the sake of His great Name. “And He became my salvation,” adds a third reason why he has no cause to fear that He will abandon them after the redemption, after He had been my salvation from eternity, and this salvation He assured me through His prophets, and His word will not return void. These are the three reasons explained by the principles (Statement 4) that God will surely fulfill His word: 1. On account of the kindness that will not cease; 2. On account of the honor of His Name that will not be profaned; 3. To confirm His promise, as it is written: 1. “For Your Name’s sake, give glory”; 2. “On account of Your kindness”; 3. “On account of Your truth.”

"And you shall draw." And you will receive new teaching. “From the springs of salvation.” For their hearts will be broadened through the salvation that comes to them, and the secrets of the Torah that were forgotten in Babylonia on account of the troubles will be revealed to them.

"And you shall draw water." This is a parable: that they will delight as one who is thirsty does when he draws water.

“And you shall draw water with joy.” This is an allegory: just as one who draws water from a spring does not find its waters cease, because at every time he will find it ready to draw from, since it is a perpetual source, so too shall blessing and salvation not cease from them, and they shall be in joy all their days. And Jonathan rendered the verse as an allegory for the study of wisdom, for wisdom is likened to water, and the teachers are like the spring, and the students are the drawers. As Jonathan’s Targum states: “And you shall receive new instruction.” And he said “new” because that study will be new, and thus they will then learn the knowledge of God, which no person had learned until that day, as it is said: “As waters covering the sea.”

"And you shall draw water with joy." This means: Just as one who draws water from a spring that flows continuously draws it with joy, because he is not anxious lest the water run out, so too you shall draw salvation with joy from the springs of salvation, for the salvation will not cease, for the hand of the Lord is not shortened.

"And you shall draw." The taking of water is called drawing:

“And you shall draw” – this adds to say that not only will you not fear that salvation will cease from you, but also you will attain new salvations at every moment, as if the springs of salvation were opened, which flow continuously and increase as long as one continues to draw from them, until the one who draws from them draws with joy, for he knows that the source will not be exhausted, nor will its waters fail. (There is also a difference between “drawing” [sho’ev] and “drawing up” [doleh]: “drawing up” is from deep wells and involves labor, whereas “drawing” is without labor; and in the allegory, it means that you will attain salvation without toil and effort.)

His deeds. From his deeds: They mentioned it. For praise, because He is exalted:

"And you shall say" – this refers to one another: Call out: "A great voice, in His name." His deeds. His actions:

"And you shall say" – You shall say to one another, in the manner of exhortation. "Cry out in His name." This means to call upon the nations in His name, as it is written, "Abram called there in the name of the Lord," and this is the sense of "make Him known" or "mention Him." Alternatively, the phrase "cry out in His name" means when you pray to Him, as it is written, "And I will call upon the name of God," and as the Targum of Jonathan renders it: "Pray in His name."

"And you shall say." You shall say to one another, by way of exhortation: Announce it!. To publicize the miracle: They reminded one another. They would remind one another of the praises of the Omnipresent for His name is exalted, and therefore it is fitting to mention His praises.

“His deeds.” His deeds: Exalted. Strong:

And you shall say on that day: “Behold, the Lord’s governance of His world according to the laws of nature is called in the Holy Writings ‘acts’ or ‘deeds.’ But His miraculous governance, which overturns the laws of nature and conducts affairs according to selective laws of wonders, is called ‘wondrous deeds’ in the Holy Writings. Now, the nations of the world recognize only natural governance. He therefore says that in the future they will thank the Lord for the good things He will do for you at every moment, and through this they will invoke His name and proclaim His greatness, particularly by making known among the nations His wondrous deeds, which constitute His providential governance. Coupled with this, they are also reminded that His name is exalted, which is something they already know, that His name is exalted even in their own eyes, because He is the First Cause.”

Sing. “the choice fruits of the land” (Genesis 43:11); the meaning is: “Give praise,” speaking in a laudatory manner for its sake. Modi'at. A passive participle (pa'ul) of the heavy augmented binyan: "Ki ga'avah" – the term is feminine, and the final tav serves as a marker for a collective noun.

“Sing to the Lord, for He has done gloriously.” Just as it said regarding the Sea of Reeds: “He is exalted, He is exalted,” so too this exaltation will be known throughout the entire land, that He will bring out a poor people from among many and mighty nations. And the plague of Gog and Magog will also be known throughout the entire land. And for all of this, you ought to sing praises to the Lord.

“Sing to the Lord.” Sing to the Lord, for He has done a deed worthy of boasting. This is known. That arrogance is known and renowned throughout the land:

“Sing praises,” but now, sing and offer praise to the Lord specifically for that He has performed a mighty act, for the term “might” mentioned in connection with the Lord indicates that He has elevated Himself from natural providence to a higher, miraculous providence. This is unlike the miracles He performed in previous days, which were not publicized throughout all regions of the inhabited world, but only to Israel alone. For now, this providence is known throughout the entire land, so that even the nations will see His wonders and marvels. Nevertheless, even though this miraculous providence will spread throughout the entire land...

Zehali. It is a decree that you raise your voice, daughter of Zion, for the Divine Presence dwells within you.

Tzhalai. Lift up your voice in song and praise to God, for the Holy One of Israel was great among you; that is to say, His name was magnified among you through the wonders He performed, as stated in the prophecy of Gog and Magog in Ezekiel: “And I will be magnified and sanctified…”

"Cry aloud." Lift up your voice with song, for the Holy One of Israel is great in your midst. This means that through the wonders He performed in your midst, His name was magnified. And it is a verse written in reverse order.

Tzaheli. The matter is one of raising the voice; and similarly, "Raise your voice, daughter of Gallim" (above 10:30).

Rejoice and sing, especially you, O inhabitant of Zion, for great is He who is in your midst, the Holy One of Israel. For the wonders and miracles will be solely for your sake, because He is the Holy One of Israel in accordance with your holiness; for the fundamental purpose of the signs and wonders is to be performed for you and on your behalf.