ישעיהו, פרק כ״ט, פסוק ה׳

Following the terror of a siege, an unexpected salvation completely turns the tide of war, bringing down the mighty Assyrian empire in the blink of an eye. The commentators agree that this prophecy targets Sennacherib's camp as it surrounded Jerusalem, foretelling its swift and absolute destruction. The besieging forces are identified as foreign strangers [מצודות, רד״ק], reflecting the ancient reality where any outsider was inherently viewed as a hostile enemy [שד״ל]. While the primary approach among commentators understands the vast presence of these attackers as a massive multitude of troops, another perspective suggests that the focus is actually on their deafening noise. According to this view, the terrifying uproar of the enemy camp will suddenly fall completely silent [שד״ל].

To illustrate the sheer helplessness of this massive army, the attackers are compared to weightless materials blown away by the wind—fine dust and passing chaff. The primary approach among commentators is that this double imagery simply reinforces how quickly the enemy will scatter and vanish, just as a light breeze effortlessly clears away dust and chaff [רד״ק, מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. However, others see a precise distinction between the two materials. The dust represents the countless common soldiers who will die and drop exactly where they stand around Jerusalem, unable to move. In contrast, the chaff caught in the wind symbolizes the surviving commanders and the king—the powerful elites—who will be swept away, fleeing back to their homeland in sheer panic [מלבי״ם, אברבנאל]. Taking a more literal approach, another viewpoint suggests that the comparison to dust means the enemy troops will literally be consumed by fire and reduced to actual ashes [רש״י].

The immense speed of this downfall is heavily emphasized. The suddenness of the event is described with overlapping concepts to reinforce just how fast the defeat will occur [מצודת ציון, רד״ק]. One aspect highlights the rapid, entirely unexpected nature of the strike, while the other emphasizes the incredibly short window of time in which it happens, leaving no room for preparation [מלבי״ם]. This total collapse will unfold over the course of a single night, executed by an angel of God, leaving only dead corpses to be discovered by morning [מצודת דוד, רד״ק]. Ultimately, the enemy's grand visions of conquest and plunder will evaporate in an instant, fading away just like a dream that vanishes the moment one wakes up [אברבנאל].