הִנֵּ֣ה יְהוָ֗ה הִשְׁמִ֙יעַ֙ אֶל־קְצֵ֣ה הָאָ֔רֶץ אִמְרוּ֙ לְבַת־צִיּ֔וֹן הִנֵּ֥ה יִשְׁעֵ֖ךְ בָּ֑א הִנֵּ֤ה שְׂכָרוֹ֙ אִתּ֔וֹ וּפְעֻלָּת֖וֹ לְפָנָֽיו׃
Narito, ang Walang-Hanggan ay nagpahayag hanggang sa dulo ng lupa: “Sabihin ninyo sa anak na babae ng Zion: Narito, dumarating ang iyong kaligtasan; narito, ang Kanyang gantimpala ay nasa Kanya, at ang Kanyang pabuya ay nasa harapan Niya.”
Devarim Rabbah
Another matter, “see, I have begun” – this is what the verse said: “Expectation deferred sickens the heart” (Proverbs 13:12). Rabbi Azarya said: It is speaking of the salvation that is expected to come. How so? When the prophet says to Israel: “Another one will be soon, and I will quake the heavens, and the earth” (Haggai 2:6), they say: “Expectation deferred sickens the heart.” When he said to them: “Behold, your Savior has come” (Isaiah 62:11), they said: “And desire realized is a tree of life” (Proverbs 13:12).
Another matter, “expectation deferred” – this is Pharaoh, as Moses was coming and going and bringing plagues upon him, and with each and every plague, Israel believed that he would release them. “And desire realized is a tree of life” – this is the wars of Siḥon and Og, as the Holy One blessed be He said to him immediately: “See, I have begun delivering before you.”
Another matter, what is “see, I have begun”? The Holy One blessed be He said to Moses: ‘Moses, see that I have toppled their guardian angel.’ Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: Like a king who ties up his son’s enemy, and says to him: ‘Do to him anything that you wish.’
Another matter, “expectation deferred” – this is Pharaoh, as Moses was coming and going and bringing plagues upon him, and with each and every plague, Israel believed that he would release them. “And desire realized is a tree of life” – this is the wars of Siḥon and Og, as the Holy One blessed be He said to him immediately: “See, I have begun delivering before you.”
Another matter, what is “see, I have begun”? The Holy One blessed be He said to Moses: ‘Moses, see that I have toppled their guardian angel.’ Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: Like a king who ties up his son’s enemy, and says to him: ‘Do to him anything that you wish.’
Midrash Tanchuma
Woe unto him who sins, let him consider before whom he sins; happy is he who is worthy, let him consider in whose sight he is worthy! Woe to him who will be compelled to account for his misdeeds in the hereafter! Happy is he who will be given his reward in the hereafter, as it is said: Behold, His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him (Isa. 62:11).
Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer
Rabbi Eliezer said: Not only concerning the water does the Scripture say that "the waters should bring forth abundantly" (Gen. 1:20), but also concerning the birds which are compared with water, as it is said, "And the uproar of many peoples, which roar like the roaring of the seas" (Isa. 17:12), and just as the waters brought forth abundantly on the fifth day, likewise in the future will the nations of the world swarm in the fifth world, and they will fight one another to destroy (one another), as it is said, "And they were broken in pieces, nation against nation, and city against city; for God did vex them with all adversity" (2 Chron. 15:6). What is written (immediately) afterwards? The Salvation of Israel (is mentioned), as it is said, "But be ye strong; and your hands shall not be slack" (2 Chron. 15:7).