Commentary for Isaiah 43:19
הִנְנִ֨י עֹשֶׂ֤ה חֲדָשָׁה֙ עַתָּ֣ה תִצְמָ֔ח הֲל֖וֹא תֵֽדָע֑וּהָ אַ֣ף אָשִׂ֤ים בַּמִּדְבָּר֙ דֶּ֔רֶךְ בִּֽישִׁמ֖וֹן נְהָרֽוֹת׃
Behold, I will do a new thing; Now shall it spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, And rivers in the desert.
Ibn Ezra on Isaiah
A new thing. The taking of Babylon, or the fact that the Israelites alone will escape; the latter seems the more probable explanation.22Because, in the first place, Babylon had been taken before by Sennacherib; secondly, the capture of a town does not appear to be a new thing, since many strongholds had been taken before, and this event could not be called by the prophet a new thing ; while it can more properly be said of the deliverance of the oppressed Israelites, who were in numbers and warfare inferior to all other nations. I will even make, etc. I shall, besides, produce water in the wilderness for the benefit of those who will return from Babylon to Zion.
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