The opening words of this week’s Haftarah ring with promise: אָנֹכִי אָנֹכִי הוּא מְנַחֶמְכֶם, I, I am the One who comforts you.” The repetition of the word “אָנֹכִי” is striking. It is not merely poetic emphasis, but rather a theologically rich expression that bridges the redemptive arc of Jewish history. This doubled “I” is a message of deep consolation: not just that Hashem will bring comfort, but that the very source of that comfort is He Himself, with no intermediary.

The Zohar teaches that the redemption from Egypt was not an isolated event, but the spiritual seed of the ultimate redemption. When Hashem spoke to Yaakov Avinu before he descended to Egypt, He promised: אָנֹכִי אֵרֵד עִמְּךָ מִצְרָיְמָה, וְאָנֹכִי אַעַלְךָ גַּם עָלֹה, I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up (Bereishit 46:4). This dual “אָנֹכִי” — “I will descend” and “I will ascend” — echoes again in our Haftarah. Just as Hashem Himself descended with us into exile, so too He assures us that He will be the One to lift us up. The redemption will not come through a shaliach, an agent or emissary, but by the Divine Presence itself — a geulah that is direct and complete.

The Shemot Rabbah (3:4) adds a beautiful thread to this tapestry of meaning. It notes that the word “אָנֹכִי” is used at two critical moments in redemptive history. When Israel went down to Egypt, Hashem said “אָנֹכִי אֵרֵד עִמְּךָ” — and at the end of days, before the final redemption, the Navi Malachi declares: הִנֵּ֤ה אָנֹכִי֙ שֹׁלֵ֣חַ לָכֶ֔ם אֵ֖ת אֵלִיָּ֣ה הַנָּבִ֑יא לִפְנֵ֗י בּ֚וֹא י֣וֹם ה’ הַגָּד֖וֹל וְהַנּוֹרָֽא׃, Lo, I will send the prophet Eliyah to you before the coming of the awesome, fearful day of G-D.

There too, the verse opens with הִנֵּ֤ה אָנֹכִי֙. The word “אָנֹכִי” thus becomes a spiritual bookend — the first marking the descent into exile, the second heralding our ascent into eternal geulah.

In this light, the comfort offered in our Haftarah takes on new meaning. Hashem is not merely offering consolation for past suffering. He is connecting the first redemption to the final one, assuring us that the process is unfolding as promised. Just as He descended into Egypt and redeemed us with signs and wonders, so too He will redeem us again — but this time in a way that is greater in scope and permanence, a redemption that will never be followed by exile.

אָנֹכִי אָנֹכִי הוּא מְנַחֶמְכֶם, I, I am the One who comforts you. I descended with you. I will ascend with you. I redeemed you before, and I will redeem you again. That is the promise. That is the comfort.