The vision of Yeshaya son of Amotz which he saw concerning Yehudah and Yerushalayim... "Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for Hashem has spoken: Children I have raised and exalted...".
We need to understand Yeshaya's choice of words in this Passuk; why he specifically associated the expression שמיעה, hear, to the heavens, and האזינה, give ear, to the earth? We also need to understand the words of the Zohar who says that at the moment when Yeshaya said these words, the angels wanted to break his skull. Why was this so? What did Yeshaya do so wrong by stating these words?
The Zohar notes that Moshe said, (דברים לב האזינו השמים ותשמע הארץ א) - May the heavens give ear and the earth hear; linking האזינה to the heavens and שמיעה to the earth. The Zohar explains Moshe's choice of correlation as follows. The word האזינה alludes to an effortless manner of hearing, whereas שמיעה alludes to a more strenuous manner of hearing. Therefore, Moshe, who throughout his life stood figuratively much closer to heaven than to earth said, האזינו השמים ותשמע הארץ, which inferred that the 'close-by heavens' will be able to hear his words without much effort, for they stood close to him, while the 'faraway earth' would need to put in effort in order to be able to hear his words.
Based on the concept that the term האזינה alludes to an effortless hearing and שמיעה to a more strenuous hearing, the Shach offers an alternative explanation for Moshe's choice of correlation. He says that because האזינה indicates a more natural and graceful form of hearing, it consequently also infers to a loftier hearing, and is thus linked to the heavens. On the other hand, שמיעה, which indicates a more strenuous form of hearing, consequently also infers to a more physical and coarse form of hearing, and as such is closely linked with the earth.
In view of these two explanations regarding Moshe's choice of association, we can understand why Yeshaya altered Moshe's correlation, and why indeed the angels were so angry about what he chose to say. We could explain that Yeshaya assumed the Zohar's explanation, and thus because he was different than Moshe, for he - as most other people - stood closer to earth than to heaven, felt it more appropriate to say, שמעו שמים והאזיני ארץ, which indicates that the close-by earth will be able to hear him effortlessly, while the faraway heavens will need to put in effort to hear his words which were spoken on earth. The angels, however, assumed the Shach's explanation, and thus, when they heard Yeshaya say שמעו שמים, associating the humbled form of hearing with the heavens, they took it as a brazen disrespect towards the heaven, and thus wanted to kill him.
זרע שמשון פרשתנו אות ו
