קְחִ֥י רֵחַ֖יִם וְטַ֣חֲנִי קָ֑מַח גַּלִּ֨י צַמָּתֵ֧ךְ חֶשְׂפִּי־שֹׁ֛בֶל גַּלִּי־שׁ֖וֹק עִבְרִ֥י נְהָרֽוֹת׃
Take the millstones, and grind meal; Remove thy veil, Strip off the train, uncover the leg, Pass through the rivers.
German Commentary
Auch hatten die Schalen keinen Fuss. ולא היו לבזכים שולים. Die allgemeine Aussprache ist שׁוּלַיִם; doch hat der Dual hier gar keine Berechtigung. Als Singular findet sich שֹׁבֶל (Jes. 47,2; arab. سبلة = Schleppe), wovon der PI. שְׁבָלִים oder auch שְׁוָלִים lauten würde, was dann zu שוּלִים geworden ist, wie אוֹנִים von אָוֶן und עוֹלוֹת von עָֽוֶל. Verwandt ist שפל = niedrig; daher שולים beim Kleide der Saum oder die Schleppe, beim Gefässe der Boden.
Sforno
והנה נשחתה, without external influences, as a natural consequence, not due to man’s ecologically criminal behaviour. Although on the surface, there appeared to be no connection, man’s corruption resulted in the corruption of his habitat. The language used here by the Torah is comparable to Isaiah 47,2 וטחני קמח, “and grind meal.” One does not grind flour, but one grinds grain into flour. The prophet spoke about the end product. The Torah also spoke about the end product of man’s corruption bringing in its wake, though invisibly, the destruction of the earth’s crust.
Rashi
or to scoop water Or to draw. Comp. (Haggai 2:16): “To draw off (לַחְשׂף) fifty measures.” Also (below 47:2): “Draw off (חֶשְׂפִּי) the path.” Draw water from your path, Epuyse in O.F.
Kli Yakar
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to draw off to draw, as in (Isa. 30:14) “To scoop water from a cistern”; and so (ibid. 47:2) “Draw off the path.”
Rabbeinu Bahya
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Like two flocks of goats. [חשפי means] “flocks of goats,”15I.e., they are small in number in comparison with Arom’s army which “filled the land.”. The two flocks consisted of one group of youths of the officers of the provinces and another group of 7000 men.—Metzudas Dovid but there is no similar word [in Scripture]. However, Menachem classifies [חשפי] as an expression of revelation, as in, “by uncovering [מחשוף] the white,”16Bereishis 30:37. [and as in,] “bare [חשפי] a leg.”17Yeshayahu 47:2. An expression of “revelation” can be applied to flocks of goats, as in, “who bared [שגלשו] from Mount Gilad,”18Shir Hashirim 4:1. [i.e.,] when they come down from the mountain, the mountain is bared.