זכריה, פרק י״ד, פסוק י״ג

In the end of days, the nations that gather to attack Jerusalem will be met with a sudden and devastating strike. This divine intervention is designed to completely shatter their minds, driving them toward inevitable self-destruction. The plague will not only afflict the soldiers but will also strike their animals [צאינה וראינה]. The ultimate purpose of this event is to show the entire world that God fights directly for His people, bringing the nations to a profound recognition of faith in Him [אברבנאל].

The panic that descends upon the attacking armies is an absolute loss of sanity and reason [מצודת ציון, רש״י]. It is a direct blow from God, specifically intended to scramble their human wisdom and replace it with sheer madness [רש״י, מצודת דוד]. This deep disorientation mirrors the punishment of the generation that built the Tower of Babel. God disrupts their language and ability to communicate, leaving them entirely unable to call for help, even from the higher powers above them. Cut off from one another, they inevitably turn against their own brothers [אהבת יהונתן].

Out of this utter chaos, a deeply tragic and ironic reality unfolds. The primary approach among commentators is that as the panic sets in, a person might reach out to help a friend, hoping to support them or escape the danger together. However, stripped of the ability to tell friend from foe, the confused companion mistakes this gesture of salvation for an attack and violently strikes down the very person trying to save him [מצודת דוד, מלבי״ם, אברבנאל, ביאור שטיינזלץ, צאינה וראינה].

Others view this physical contact differently, suggesting that the grasping is hostile from the start. In a state of total madness, every person seizes his neighbor with the intent to kill, and in the ensuing struggle, the stronger and more violent individual simply overpowers the other [רש״י]. Taking a completely different approach based on the physical decay caused by the plague, some explain that the interaction is not about striking or fighting at all. Instead, because their flesh is actively rotting away, the moment a person tries to grab hold of a companion's hand, the limb simply tears away and detaches from the body [אבן עזרא, רד״ק].