The Song of the Lion

If you've read Perek Shira (Chapter of Song), then you probably recognize the following verse from Yeshayah (Isaiah) 42:13 as the Song of Lion:

אריה אומר (יג)  ה' כַּגִּבּוֹר יֵצֵא, כְּאִישׁ מִלְחָמוֹת יָעִיר קִנְאָה; יָרִיעַ, אַף-יַצְרִיחַ--עַל-אֹיְבָיו, יִתְגַּבָּר

"The Lion says: 'God will go forth as a mighty man, like a man of wars will He arouse zealousness, He will shout, he will even scream; He will overcome his enemies.' "

*Note: Kinah (קִנְאָה) is always one of those words I get frustrated about translating into English. It can mean religious zeal or zealousness or envy or jealousy, depending on how it's used. Also, teruah (the root word of יָרִיעַ ) can be expressed vocally by a person or by the blast of a trumpet or shofar, making this also difficult to translate exactly.

Metzudat Tzion (Rav David Altschuler, Galicia, published in 1753 by his son, these commentaries were written while locked in a tower; like a dictionary this commentary explains the words in the text)
יָעִיר - hitorerut, an arousal/awakening
יָרִיעַ - teruah, a loud sound
יַצְרִיחַ - a matter of shouting in a great voice (as mentioned in Tzefania 1: "mar tzoreach")

Metzudat David (Same as above; this commentary explains the meaning of the text)
יֵצֵא - He will go out for the salvation of Yisrael
יָעִיר קִנְאָה - He will arouse zeal of the zealousness of His Nation
יִתְגַּבָּר - He will overpower his enemies

Radak (Rav David Kimchi, 1160-1235, southern France)
"God will go out as a mighty man" for the salvation of Yisrael like the mighty one who goes out to war without fear.
"He will arouse zealousness" of Yisrael, whom they [the nations] oppressed in Exile for years.
"He will shout, He will even scream" -- All this is a form of metaphor representing those victorious in war, that they make noise and scream to overpower that which opposes them.
יַצְרִיחַ - it's like "he will make a loud noise/יָרִיעַ" and it says "He will even scream" because hatzricha (bellowing) is even louder than teruah (shouting) and will overpower His enemies.

Ibn Ezra (Rav Avraham ibn Ezra, 1089-1167, Muslim Spain)
"God will go out as a mighty man" -- Indicates the secret decrees that go out from Hashem's Mouth
"zealousness" -- for the Babylonian worshipers of Bal
"He will shout" -- a kind of teruah

Malbim (the words in parentheses also appear in the Malbim's text in parentheses)
Gibur/Mighty Man: The power of a gibur is in his loins as he goes out to war himself like it says "God will go out as a mighty man"
Ish Milchamot/Man of Wars: And a man of wars is not a gibur; he is only learned in the strategies of war. And a man of wars is one who has examined many wars and is expert in the administration of wars. And he is not a warrior himself; he only arouses zeal from knowing the tactics that hasten men of valor and arouse zeal in their hearts.

(And the metaphor is: Just as the gibur himself fights, likewise God will appear with miraculous leadership and the overriding of the planetary/star system Himself by His Own Might. And just as the ish milchamot organizes the men of valor according to his will, likewise will God organize nature and the planetary/star system to concede to His Orchestrations against His enemy.)

יָרִיעַ - It used a metaphor of a man of war's cry of victory that strengthens his battalion.

אַף יַצְרִיחַ - He will orchestrate things so that His enemies will scream out in a broken cry that will terrify them with tactics so that in this way, their heart will weaken. And by means of this tactic, He will overpower His enemies.

Final Thoughts

Malbim (1809-1879) clearly says that Hashem will override (שידוד) the entire system (מערכה) of orbits and constellations in order to bring His enemies to their knees.

Over the past years, we've been hearing lots of predictions, but we don't know what exactly will occur, nor when or how it will occur.

And the Malbim seems to imply that astronomical predictions simply won't be, well, predictable because Hashem will override anything He chooses in order to achieve His desired result.

We can make observations regarding objects and their trajectories, but it is all subject to change depending on what Hashem plans to do with it.

If you're on His Side (or at least sincerely trying to be on His Side, even if you mess up at times), then His enemies are your enemies and you have nothing to fear, Jew or non-Jew.

Where does it say that? Previously, in verse 12 (included in the Song of the Bear), the Malbim explains:
" 'and in the islands they'll relate His Praises' -- to recognize the Unity of Hashem and His Spirituality (Ruchaniut), that He overrides the planetary/star system."

Malbim may be referring either to:

• two different times (the initial terror and the later recognition)

OR

• two different categories of people (His enemies who will scream in terror and His non-enemies for whom the miraculous override fills them with recognition of His Unity and Ruchaniut)

 
Or both.

May we all do true teshuvah from love & not from trials or disgraceful events.

The Malbim (1809-1879) is Rabbi Meir Leibush ben Yechiel Michel who was born in Russia and served as rav all over Eastern Europe. He was bitterly fought by the Reform Movement for most of his adult life, even suffering a brief imprisonment on a false accusation in Rumania by wealthy German Reformers. Fortunately, he left us an amazing commentary on the entire Torah among other valuable works he composed. 

This is my own translation and any errors are also mine.