Willing or Defiant and Why Jeremiah Comforted but Isaiah Rebuked

"If you are willing and you listen, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel" (Isaiah 1:19, 20), you shall eat carob-pods. Rabbi Aha said: Israel needs the carob in order to repent. Rabbi Akiva said: poverty becomes the daughter of Jacob like a red strap on the neck of a white horse. Rabbi Samuel bar Nahman said: when the capital sinks low it is still called "capital," and when the dunghill rises up it is still called "dunghill." When the capital sinks low it is still called "capital," as in "Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob and all the families" (Jeremiah 2:4) [the meaning: even in their descent He calls them the house of Israel]. And when the dunghill rises up it is still called "dunghill," as in "Behold the land of the Chaldeans, this is the people that was not" (Isaiah 23:13) [the meaning: would that it had never been]. Rabbi Levi said: it is like a noble lady who had two escorts, one a villager and one a city-man. The one who was a villager would speak words of comfort to her: "are you not of good stock, are you not of noble lineage?" But the one who was a city-man would speak words of provocation to her: "are you not the daughter of poor wretches, are you not the daughter of the destitute?" So too Jeremiah, because he was a villager from Anatot, would enter Jerusalem and speak to Israel words of comfort: "Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob" (Jeremiah 2:4); these are the abominable things your fathers used to do. But Isaiah, because he was a city-man from Jerusalem, would speak to Israel words of provocation: "Hear the word of the LORD, O rulers of Sodom" (Isaiah 1:10); are you not from the remnant of the people of Sodom? Rabbi Levi said: Amotz and Amaziah were brothers, and because Isaiah was the son of the king's brother he would speak to Israel words of provocation, as it is said, "and the rich answers harshly" (Proverbs 18:23).