But you, Bethlehem. It has already been explained in Ezekiel, chapter 37, that at the time of the end, the ten tribes will first awaken, with the Messiah son of Joseph as their king, and they will achieve great strength. The tribe of Judah, scattered among the nations, weak and few in number, will join them and remain subordinate to them under the rule of the Messiah son of Joseph. Afterward, the Messiah son of David will arise through the might of Hashem, and they will all accept the kingdom of the house of David. Wars will then cease, for nations will seek him, and his resting place will be glorious. Our visionary prophet explains these matters to us, saying: But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, from which David, son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, emerged and the kingdom of the house of David arose, are too young to be among the thousands of Judah; from you shall come forth for Me one who is to rule Israel. That is, at present you are still too young and insignificant, even together with the thousands of Judah who accompany you, to attain the stature required for the man designated for Me to come forth from you and rule Israel. You are still too small and weak, even with the thousands of Judah beside you, to prevail in this manner—until you exercise great dominion and the Messiah who emerges from you, the Messiah son of David, gains the strength to rule Israel, whose origins are from ancient times, from days of old. That is, he will attain a powerful kingdom corresponding to his ancient origins in the days of David and Solomon, who ruled a great and mighty kingdom. For this, you are still too young, weak, and lacking in strength, even together with the thousands of Judah who are with you.

Therefore. The sense of the verse is: Therefore, until the time when she who is in labor has given birth, and until the time when the rest of his brothers return, He will place them over the house of Israel. Therefore, throughout the period before the ingathering of the exiles is complete—which is compared to a woman giving birth, as it says, “For Zion has both labored and given birth to her children”—and until the rest of Judah’s brothers return to their land, He will place them—the thousands of Judah—under the authority of the house of Israel. That is, as long as the general ingathering has not been completed and all the exiles of Judah have not yet assembled in the Land of Israel, the house of Israel—the ten tribes and the Messiah son of Joseph, who comes from among them—will remain predominant. They will be the warriors and rulers, while the house of Judah will be subordinate to them. (As stated there in Ezekiel: “Behold, I am taking the stick of Joseph,” etc., “and I will place them upon it, together with the stick of Judah,” as I explained there.)

And he shall stand. But afterward, the Messiah from Bethlehem Ephrathah will arise—that is, he will stand firm and prevail over the nations—and shepherd Israel. He explains: He shall stand in the strength of Hashem, confronting the nations through Hashem’s power, and he shall shepherd in the majesty of the name of Hashem his God, tending Israel through the holiness of Hashem’s name, as it says, “He shall be imbued with the fear of Hashem, and he shall not judge by what his eyes see.” And they shall dwell. From that time onward, they will no longer wage war but will dwell in tranquil security, as it says, “His resting place shall be glorious.” For now, etc.

(4–5) And he shall be, etc. This means that he will now become great to the ends of the earth, and this will be achieved through peace. The greatness of the Messiah will extend to the ends of the earth, not through wars but through the power of peace. This itself will constitute his greatness: he will have no need for war, for all the peoples will accept his Torah, his religion, and his sovereignty over them. The sense of the verses is: And this shall be peace, and it shall deliver us from Assyria when he comes into our land. Peace will then save us from Assyria, so that we will not need to fight against him as in the past; for the peace prevailing at that time will save us from Assyria, since he will submit to us and seek a covenant of peace. The passage from Assyria, when he comes into our land, etc., through and the land of Nimrod at its entrances, is parenthetical. That is, until now, before the Messiah son of David arose, while the Messiah son of Joseph reigned, we required warfare throughout the wars of Gog and Magog. If Assyria came into our land during that period, or even when he trod within our borders, we had to raise against him seven shepherds to fight him. They shepherded the land of Assyria with the sword, for sword and warfare were necessary; and they also shepherded the land of Nimrod—the country of Babylonia, where Nimrod was the first king—at its entrances, for they had to advance as far as the entrance to their land and subdue and break them there through warfare and siege. But now it will no longer be so. Rather, this shall be peace, and it shall deliver—peace will deliver us from Assyria when he comes into our land. Regarding the seven shepherds and eight princes, the commentators have offered many interpretations. It may also be said that this alludes to the earlier period: From the time the enemy began to cut Israel down—which occurred in the days of Jehoahaz son of Jehu (II Kings 13:7)—until the king of Assyria came and exiled them in the days of Hoshea son of Elah, there were eight princes, meaning eight kings of the ten tribes: Jehoahaz; his son Joash; his son Jeroboam; his son Zechariah; Menahem; Pekahiah; Pekah; and Hoshea—eight in all. (Shallum was killed immediately and is therefore not included in the count.) Afterward there were seven shepherds from the house of Judah: Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jeconiah, and Zedekiah. It may also be interpreted as referring to the future. According to Ezekiel’s prophecies concerning the wars of Gog and Magog in chapters 32 and 38, the war prophesied in chapter 32—in which Assyria will come against the Land of Israel to wage war with Edom, as I explained there—will involve seven shepherds: Egypt, Elam, Meshech, Tubal, Edom, the princes of the north, and the Sidonians. The war prophesied in chapter 38 will involve eight princes: Gog, prince of the land of Magog; Meshech; Tubal; Persia; Cush; Put; Gomer; and the house of Togarmah. I explained there that on one occasion he will come into the land but will not enter Jerusalem; concerning this he says, “When he comes into our land.” On another occasion he will come as far as Jerusalem; concerning this he says, “When he treads within our palaces.”

And the remnant of Jacob shall be. Even the remnant who remain at that time among the nations and do not go to the Land of Israel will be like dew from Hashem. That is, unlike the present, they will not receive their sustenance through the nations among whom they dwell, but will be like dew that comes directly from Hashem. They will also resemble showers upon the grass, which cause the grass to grow without receiving any benefit from it. Likewise, they will bestow goodness and kindness upon the nations among whom they dwell but will receive nothing from them, for they will not depend upon man to obtain goodness and kindness from him; rather, they will receive all their abundance directly from Hashem, without any intermediary.

And the remnant of Jacob shall be. With regard to their strength against their oppressors—whereas until now Israel was like a scattered sheep among lions, as it says, “Israel is a scattered sheep; lions have driven him away”—they will now be like a lion and a young lion. There is a distinction between “nations” and “peoples”: nations are of lower standing than peoples and have no king, whereas peoples are distinguished and possess a king. Conversely, “nation” denotes a larger collective than “people.” The lion is mature, while the young lion is youthful. A lion customarily goes out into the forest in search of prey and tears apart large animals, whereas a young lion lies in ambush in its lair, does not go out in search of prey, and tears apart only small animals. He therefore depicts Israel as being among the nations—the larger but less distinguished collectives—like a lion among the beasts of the forest. Although the nations resemble large wild animals, Israel will be like a great lion in comparison with them, going out to the lands of the nations to wage war against them and seize prey among them. But among many peoples, which are smaller than nations but more distinguished, Israel will be like a young lion among flocks of sheep. Just as a young lion does not go out in search of prey, Israel will not go forth to fight them in their own lands, for most of them will accept the yoke of the kingdom of Heaven. Only those who come to Israel’s dwelling place to wage war against them in the Land of Israel—such as the peoples who will march against Mount Zion in the army of Gog and Magog—will be torn apart like prey seized by a young lion in its lair, while they will be as weak before Israel as flocks of sheep. He explains: Which, if it passes through, tramples—the mature lion passes through the forest outside its lair and tramples, whereas the young lion tears its prey within its lair, and none can deliver from their grasp.

Your hand shall be raised. They will not need to fight their oppressors with both hands; it will suffice to raise a single hand over your adversaries. There is a distinction between an adversary and an enemy: an adversary actively oppresses and fights against someone, whereas an enemy seeks his harm but does not actively attack him. Against the adversaries who fight you, your hand will be raised, while all your enemies shall be cut off by themselves.

And it shall be. This means that the situation described above will prevail at first, while the war of Gog is still being waged against them, when they will need to tear their enemies apart and raise their hand against them. But on that day—meaning after the war of Gog and Magog—they will no longer need warfare at all, for Hashem will cut off their enemies. Warfare requires: 1] Horses and chariots; concerning these He says, I will cut off your horses. 2] Cities containing weapons and fortified cities; concerning these He says:

And I will cut off the cities of your land. This means the cities belonging to the land and the state, for the chariot cities and the cities containing weapons did not belong to the people as individuals, but to the state as a whole, and were therefore called “the cities of the land.” Concerning the fortresses, He says, And I will demolish all your strongholds. 3] They had sorcerers and soothsayers to determine when they would succeed in war; concerning this He says:

(11–13) And I will cut off sorceries from your hand. 4] They had among them the worship of carved images, sacred pillars, and Asherah trees. Concerning this He says, And I will cut off your carved images, etc., and I will uproot your Asherah trees and destroy your cities—meaning that the cities in which they practiced idolatry will be treated like cities condemned for idolatry.

And I will execute. Then I will execute vengeance upon the nations that refuse to return to the true religion and accept upon themselves the kingdom of Heaven, as explained at the end of Zechariah.