ספר דברים

In light of the above we can now also understand the verse in ‎Isaiah 40,4, where the prophet speaks of messianic times, ‎והיה ‏העקוב למישור‎, usually translated as “and what has been bent out ‎of shape will be straightened out.” Nachmanides quotes this verse ‎of Isaiah in his commentary on the verse of the Torah above. He ‎understands the word as equivalent to ‎סבה‎, the cause of future ‎developments.‎Onkelos understands the word ‎עקב‎ positively, i.e. ‎compensation for merits acquired under difficult circumstances. ‎In other words, if the Jewish people observe the Torah’s ‎commandments even when in exile, when it is so much more ‎difficult to observe these commandments, the eventual reward ‎will be commensurate with the difficulties experienced in exile. ‎The word ‎עקוב‎ is an apt description for the difficulties facing the ‎Jewish people who want to remain or again become faithful to the ‎Torah while in exile. When something is twisted around and ‎around, making it next to impossible to get to what is within, this ‎describes the obstacles faced by Jews in exile when they want to ‎observe the Torah. Part of the reward for people observing the ‎Torah while in exile, when they do so out of pure faith, not ‎knowing if and when the redemption will come, will be that when ‎the redemption does come, they will be able to perform the Torah ‎without difficulty as the messiah will have taught them the ‎reason behind all the commandments. Isaiah 40,4 therefore ‎alludes to exactly the same phenomenon that Moses alluded to in ‎our verse above.‎