The first part of the chapter relates the prophet’s reproach of the idol worshippers:

"ואל מי תדמיון א-ל ומה דמות תערכו לו?!" (מ:יח)

"הלוא תדעו, הלוא תשמעו, הלוא הוגד מראש לכם…" (מ:כא)

“To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness will you compare him to?!” (40:18)

“Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told to you from the beginning?” (40:21)

The prophet, however, does not relate in this way to the Jews who are lacking in faith. To those who are in despair as a result of the difficult exile, the prophet offers a message of support and tranquility.

"למה תאמר יעקב ותדבר ישראל: נסתרה דרכי מה' ומאלקי משפטי יעבר. הלוא ידעת אם לא שמעת אלקי עולם ה' בורא קצות הארץ לא ייעף ולא ייגע אין חקר לתבונתו." (מ:כז-כח)

“Why do you say, O Ya’akov, and why do you speak, O Yisrael: ‘My way is hidden from the Lord, and my judgement is passed over by my God.’ Have you not know, have you not heard that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth faints not nor is weary? There is no searching of His understanding.” (40:27-28)

The Message to the Exiles – Three Explanations

The commentators raise a question with regard to these verses: How does the mention of the creation of the world serve as an answer of support to the protesters? The following is Abarbanel’s wording of the question:

"כי בריאת העולם אינה טענה על ההשגחה ומאמר 'אין חקר לתבונתו' אינו 'אין חקר לאורך הגלות'."

“For the creation of the world is not an answer that relates to God’s providence, and the expression ‘there is no searching of his understanding’ is not the same as ‘there is no understanding of the length of the exile.’”

Let us examine three explanations of the complaint of the people: “My way is hidden from the Lord, and my judgement is passed over by my God.”

רש"י: העלים מנגד עיניו כל מה שעבדונהו והמשיל עלינו אותם שלא ידעוהו.

Rashi: He concealed from his eye all that we did to serve him, and gave to rule over us those who do not know him.

אבן עזרא: אין ה' רואה מה אני עושה וככה "משפטי יעבר", והטעם יעבר מני משפטי ולא ישפטני על דרכי.

Ibn Ezra: God doesn’t see what I do and, thus, “my judgement is passed over”, meaning my judgement is passed over and I am not judged on my way of life.

אבן כספי: "נסתרה דרכי" כמו (יחזקאל ח:יב) "עזב ה' את הארץ".

Ibn Caspi: “My way is hidden” as (Yechezkel 8:12) “(The Lord sees us not), the Lord has forsaken the land.”

All three of these interpretations relate the phrase “נסתרה דרכי” to the concept of הסתר פנים, a temporary state in which God is hidden from the Jewish people. This concept is introduced in Devarim 31:18:

"ואנכי הסתר אסתיר פני ביום ההוא על כל הרעה אשר עשה כי פנה אל אלהים אחרים."

“And I will surely hide my face on that day for all of the evil that they have done, that they turned to other gods.”

The three commentaries differ, however, in what they consider to be the extent of the הסתר פניםexperienced by the Jewish people during the exile. According to Rashi, God was purposely ignoring only the positive acts of the people, their credits. According to Ibn Ezra, God was ignoring both positive and negative behavior, the credits and the debits. In other words, God stopped supervising and judging all of their activities, essentially cutting all ties with them. According to Ibn Caspi, the complaint relates to a break in the relation with the entire world, a removal of all supervision of human activity.

Ibn Caspi ’s Formulation: God Has Abandoned The World

The advantage in the explanation of Ibn Caspi is the correspondence between the complaint of the people that God has abandoned the world and the response of the prophet that God is the Creator of the world. In the continuation of the text we see that implied in Yeshayahu’s answer is that God continues to supervise the world, even if it currently appears that He is absent. According to the commentary of Ibn Caspi, the prophet’s response is indeed a message of hope to the people, that although the world seems to be in a state of anarchy in the aftermath of the destruction of the Temple, one can still hope for God’s ultimate redemption. Nevertheless, Shadal points out a weakness in the explanation of Ibn Caspi:

"כי האומר 'עזב ה' את הארץ' לא יתכן שיאמר ,נסתרה דרכי מה' ומא-לקי…' בפרט. אך נראה שזו תלונת נפש נענה."

“One who wants to claim that ‘God has abandoned the earth’ would certainly not make the particularistic statement ‘My way is hidden from the Lord, and my judgement is passed over by my God.’ But it appears that this is the statement of a suffering individual.”

In Shadal’s opinion, the general nature of the complaint as explained by Ibn Caspi is inconsistent with the personalized nature of the declaration.

Ibn Ezra ’s Formulation: The Argument of Job

Ibn Ezra’s formulation of the complaint relates to an apparent lack of justice toward the Jewish people. The judge is absent and as a result there is no justice. This interpretation might be compared to the argument of Job against God. So too, the response of the prophet can be compared to God’s response to Job:

"מי זה מחשיך עצה במלין בלי דעת….איפה היית ביםדי ארץ הגד אם ידעת בינה." (איוב לח:ב,ד)

“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge…. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if you have understanding.” (Job 38:2,4)

The prophets responds that one cannot always fathom the innermost secrets of the world. The person of faith, however, understands that there is a divine plan, be it hidden.

Rashi ’s Formulation: Israel – The Servant of God

Rashi’s formulation of the complaint of Israel and the response of the prophet differs from both Ibn Ezra and Ibn Caspi. He portrays Israel as the unrequited servant, who has fulfilled his duty to God, but does not receive credit for it. This image is consistent with the portrayal of Israel in chapter 49:

"ה' מבטן קראני ממעי אמי הזכיר שמי….ויאמר לי עבדי אתה ישראל אשר בך אתפאר. ואני אמרתי לריק יגעתי לתהו והבל כחי כליתי…" (מט:א,ג-ד)

“The Lord has called me from birth, from the womb of my mother he made mention of me….And he said to me: “You are my servant, Israel, by whom I shall be glorified.” And I said: “I have labored in vain and have spent my strength for naught…” (49: 1:3-4)

Rashi divides the complaint of Israel into two parts: 1) God did not pay attention to our positive actions, and 2) He allowed non-believers to rule over us. Rashi sees the response of the prophet in verse 28 as a reply to the first complaint:

"ומי שיש לו כח כזה וחכמה כזו הוא יודע את המחשבות למה הוא מאחר טובתכם אלא כדי לכלות את הפשע ולהתם את החטאת על ידי היםורין."

“And he who has such strength and wisdom knows the inner thoughts, that He delays your benefit only in order to finish off the transgression and sin by means of affliction.”

Apparently, Rashi’s interpretation of this verse relates to the words “there is no searching of his understanding” ("אין חקר לתבונתו"). The concept of “affliction motivated by love” (“יסורים של אהבה) is introduced by the prophet in chapter 53. Rashi’s use of the phrase “to finish off the transgression and sin” ("לכלות את הפשע ולהתם את החטאת") is taken from the Book of Daniel 9:24 where Daniel complains in the first year of the reign of Daryavish about the deferred redemption and the ongoing suffering.

Rashi finds the response to the second complaint of Israel, relating to foreign domination in verses 29-31:

"נותן ליעף כח ולאין אונים עצמה ירבה. ויעפו נערים ויגעו ובחורים כשול יכשלו. וקוי ה' יחליפו כח יעלו אבר כנשרים ירצו ולא ייגעו ילכו ולא ייעפו."

“He gives power to the faint and increases strength to the powerless. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, the young men shall utterly fall. But those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall rise with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not grow faint.”[1]

Rashi comments:

"ויעפו נערים - גבורת אויביכם המנוערים מהמצוות תיעף, ואתם קווי ה' תחליפו כח חדש וחזק. לאמור קוי ה' השמים בטחונם בה' גם אם אזל כוחם יתחדש, יתחלף בכח חדש..."

“Even the youths shall faint - The strength of your enemies who are shaken from the commandment will tire, and you who hope in God will be refreshed with a new and strong power. That is to say, the קוי ה'who place their trust in God, even if they lose their strength, will be renewed, it will be replaced by a new strength.”

Rashi’s explanation of the word נעריםdiverges from its widely used meaning. This is a practice that Rashi utilizes only when there is a compelling exegetical reason to do so. In our case, it presents the enemy as those removed from the performance of the commandments, the antithesis of those who wait for God. Thus, according to Rashi, the “ו” in “וקוי ה'” is translated as “but” reflecting that it is in contrast to the “נערים”.

In this response, the prophet assures the people that their strength will one day be renewed, although they now suffer under the dominion of their enemies. The phrase “He gives power to the faint” (“נתן ליעף כח”) has been incorporated into the morning prayers. In the prayer, it relates to the individual who thanks God for giving him renewed strength in the morning after he had returned home weary from his previous day of toil. In the context of Yeshayahu’s prophecy, however, it offers hope to the Jewish people collectively in all generations, weary and faint from the pain, oppression, and persecution of the protracted exile.

Although Rashi’s interpretation expresses confidence in the ultimate redemption, it does not promise a quick end to the suffering. Nevertheless, part of the comfort that the prophet offers the people is an understanding that there is meaning to the suffering. Rabbi Joseph Hertz expresses a similar idea in his explanation of the last verse in chapter 40:

"ירצו ולא ייגעו ילכו ולא ייעפו" (ישעיהו מ:לא)

“They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not grow faint.” (Yeshayahu 40:31)

This verse runs contrary to the usual style of Biblical poetry in that it mentions running before walking. If they are able to run and not become weary, certainly they would be able to walk without growing faint. Rabbi Hertz explains the order of the verse as follows:

Under a wave of enthusiasm, we are all capable of an isolated act of heroism, i.e. to “soar’ or “to run” for a time. It is far harder to follow the monotonous round of everyday duty when the vision has faded and the splendor seems gone…meeting them in the spirit of faith and conquering them by steadfastness. This is the achievement of those who “wait for the Lord”. Day by day, they shall renew their strength.

And so, the Jewish people needed, and still need, to gird themselves with great strength in order to continue the difficult journey toward their destiny.

[1] Ramban uses this verse in his comment on Bereshit 29:2 to explain how Ya’akov was able to remove the heavy stone from the well after he had just arrived fatigued from a long journey.