Comentario sobre Isaías 44:33

And now, hearken to return to My Torah, Jacob My servant.

but now hear the good which I shall do unto thee.

From the womb. With this expression the prophet alludes to Jacob (comp. Hos. 12:4; in my commentary thereon I shall explain it),¹I. E. takes the expression womb literally, and refers it to the incident recorded Gen. 25:26, in the account of the birth of Jacob and Esau. or metaphorically to the time, when Israel was declared to be the people of the Lord.

ישרון Jesurun. It is originally an adjective derived from ישר right; there is no other instance of this form.

As I will pour water on the thirsty Just as I pour water on the thirsty, so will I pour My spirit on your seed.

For I will pour water, etc. As I pour water over the place that is thirsty, so will I pour out the spirit of my holiness, or of my salvation, etc. אֶצּׁק I will pour out. The Dagesh in צ compensates for the י which is omitted;²The root of אצק is יצק. comp. אצרך I shall form thee (Jer. 1:5)

And they shall sprout among the grass among Esau (mss. and K’li Paz). [The Jewish nation will grow] through the proselytes who will join them. [The expression,] “among the grass” refers to Esau, for it is stated concerning Edom (supra 34:13): “And it shall be the habitat of jackals, an abode (חָצִיר) for ostriches.” (Editions reading, “Amalek,” are erroneous cf. reference.)

And they shall spring up. The pronoun they refers to My spirit, and My blessing, of the preceding verse; according to others³Comp. Rashi, ad locum; and Targum Jonathan. to thine offspring. בבין חציר Like grass. Lit., between the grass, that is, as if they were between grass. They will increase and multiply.⁴This remark on בבין חציר is seemingly a continuation of the second explanation of And they shall spring up, but in reality it can also be connected with the first one.
5 Comp. Rashi ad locum.

This one shall say, “I am the Lord’s.” These are the perfectly righteous.

One shall say, etc. They will be numerous, and the majority of them will be faithful to God, and desirous of returning to His house.

and this one shall call himself by the name of Jacob. These are the children, the sons of the wicked.

And another shall call himself by the name of Jacob, in order to show to all nations, how proud he is of belonging to the holy people.

and this one shall write [with] his hand, “To the Lord,” These are the repentant.

בידו═ידו With his hand. And another shall subscribe unto the Lord, that he is willing to go to the sanctuary of the Lord.

and adopt the name Israel These are the proselytes. So it was taught in Avoth d’Rabbi Nathan (36:1).

יכנה He will surname himself.—Many refer this verse to proselytes; comp. Ten men shall take hold, out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you; for we have heard that God is with you (Zec. 8:23)

The King of Israel, When the Israelites were in their own land. And his redeemer, when he is in exile.

The Lord of hosts. He is always king, and the hosts of heaven testify it.

I am the first, the first king.⁶I. E. explains ראשון by מלך ראשון the first king, because the context demands here rather the declaration that God is the King and Ruler of the universe, that every thing that happens is caused and commanded by Him, than a description of His Eternity.

And who will call [that he is] like Me And who will call that he is like Me and tell and arrange for me all that transpired since I placed the ancient people and until now?

And who is like me, that is, Who pretends to be like me.

the ancient people All the creatures.

יקרא Shall lift up his voice.⁷The Hebrew text has the words כאמר קולו which appear to be a corruption of a phrase like הרמת קול the translation is based on this conjecture.

and the signs Marvelous things.

And shall declare it, namely all that has passed.

and those that will come And those destined to come, let them tell, as I do now, for the Temple has not yet been destroyed, and you have not been exiled, and neither has Cyrus been born, but I am reporting it to you.

עם עולם The ancient people. עולם means here of old.

ואתיות And the things that are coming. It is like a perfect verb.⁸The third radical ה of the verb אתה being replaced by י, I. E. seems to have overlooked the Dagesh in י, else he would have made some remark on it. למו For themselves,⁹A. V., Unto them. that is, in order to show that they know it.

and be not dismayed Heb. תִּרְהוּ. There is no similar word, and its interpretation according to its context is like תֵּחַתּוּ, be not dismayed from making My name known among the heathens (nations [K’li Paz and mss.]).

אל תרהו Be ye not afraid, תרהו is hap. leg; those that identify it with תראו are wrong, on account of the absence of the radical י ¹⁰This is no good reason at all; since י of ירא to fear can in writing be well omitted in the future Kal; it is read תּׅ־רְאוּ to distinguish it from. תּׅרְאוּ you will see.—According to I. E. א and ה belong to those letters which interchange.—

let you hear from Mount Sinai, and I told you there that there is no God besides Me.

Be not afraid, when those calamities befall Babylon.

and you are My witnesses that I opened for you seven heavens and showed you that there is no other, and you are My witnesses to this thing that there is no God besides Me.

Have I not told thee of it long ago? Ye are even my witnesses, and you will see whether there is a God beside me; There is no God בל ירעתי whom I know not¹¹A. V., I know not any. to be vain and powerless. According to some, whom I chastised not; comp. ויודע and he chastised¹²A. V., He taught. (Jud. 8:16). I think that the prophet speaks here of the host of heaven.¹³In that case צור rock, protection, would signify the same as שׂר prince, used by Daniel 10:20. See I. E. on 24:21, Note 30.

and there is no rock I did not know Jonathan renders: And there is no strong one unless he is given strength by Me.

I did not know Heb. יָדַעְתִּי. An expression similar to (Exodus 33:17) “And I knew you by name (וָאֵדָעֲךָ)”; (Deut. 2:7) “He knew (יָדַע) your going”; (Hosea 13:5) “I knew you (יְדַעְתִּיךָ) in the desert.”

and they are their witnesses The idols are witnesses of the shame of their worshipers, for we see that they neither see nor know, yet they were worshiping them.

They that make a graven image, are all of them vanity. They themselves as well as their images are vanity.

so that they be ashamed Those who worship them.

וחמוריהם And their delectable things. The objects which they ornament with figures, that they be charming to the eye, namely the idols.¹⁴The word פסילים is not used here by I. E. in its general meaning idols; but in the special meaning assigned to it by I. E., stone images (40:19). The reason that I. E. refers חמודיהם to stone images is to be found in his desire to find system and symmetry in the words of the prophet. The images made of metal and wood being mentioned ver. 12 and ver. 13, the general term חמודיהם must be restricted to stone images, in order to have a complete picture of all kinds of idols.

And they are their¹⁵A. V., Their own. witnesses, to testify that the images see not, nor know.

That they may be ashamed. Connect this phrase with they are their witnesses.¹⁶That is, they shall be compelled to confess, to their own shame, that the idols in whose divine power they have believed hitherto, have no power whatever, not even that of man.

molded Heb. נָסָךְ, an expression of pouring and a molten image (מַסֵּכָה). The ‘nun’ in the word is a radical sometimes omitted, e.g., the ‘nun’ of נשך, biting, and of נגף, plaguing.

Who hath formed, etc. Is there any thoughtlessness like this, to attempt to form a god? God. So called in the sense of him who formed the image.

נסך He hath molten. Comp. מסכה molten (Jer. 7:5)

Behold, all his colleagues of that fashioner and molder of graven images, who join him to worship his creation and his molten image, shall be ashamed.

His fellows. The priests of Baal, or the artificers of the idols; the latter explanation is the better.

and they are smiths those fashioners and molders, and they are of men, surely their creation is vanity.

Let them all be gathered together and be ashamed.

The ironsmith a smith of iron.

חָרַשׁ Smith. In the construct state the ר has Pathah, in the absolute it has Kamez, without exception.

an axe Heb. מַעֲצָָד. That is one of the tools of the blacksmiths.

מעצר A cutting instrument of iron.¹⁷A. V., With the tongs.

and he works the image. with coal Heb. פֶּחָם, charbon in French.

מקבות Borer.¹⁸A. V., With hammers. An instrument used for making a hole.

and with sledge hammers Heb. מַקָּבוֹת, marteau in French.

יצרהו He fashioneth it. Comp. צורה form, or, what is still better, יצירה formation.¹⁹It can hardly be discovered, why I. E. gives the latter the preference. As to the meaning of the word there can be no difference whether it is compared with צורה or with יצירה, since the latter could in this instance only signify formation, not creation. With regard to the etymology there can be no doubt that the word is to be derived from יצר, and not from צור.

he fashions it Heb. יִצְּרֵהוּ, an expression of fashioning.

He is hungry. The smith is hungry.

and he made it with his strong arm; yea he is hungry etc. Even he, the fashioner, lacks strength and is weak, for if he becomes hungry he has no strength, or if he does not drink water, he becomes faint immediately. Surely his product has no power to help.

The carpenter And if he comes to make it of wood, and he is a carpenter, the following is his method.

The carpenter, etc. After having mentioned the mason and smith,²⁰Ver. 9 and 12. Comp. Note 14. he speaks of the carpenter.

stretched out a line as is the custom of the carpenters, and according to the line, יְתָאֲרֵהוּ בַשֶּׂרֶד, he straightens it with a saw, which they call doloire in French. he beautifies it Heb. יְתָאֲרֵהוּ, he beautifies it.

The carpenter stretches out his rule, etc. This is just the mode of proceeding of those workmen.

he fixes it with planes Heb. מַקְצֻעוֹת. He smoothes it with a plane and a blade. Jonathan renders מַקְצֻעוֹת as אִיזְמֵלַיָּא, knives or blades.

יתארהו He forms it or he draws the outlines; comp. ותאר הגבול and the border was drawn (Jos. 15:9).

and with a compass he rounds it Heb. יְתָאֳרֵהוּ, an expression similar to (Josh. 15:9): “And the border circled (וְתָאַר).” If he comes to make circular drawings, he draws around it with a compass, compas in French.

שרד A kind of drug used for dying.²¹A. V., A line. The word is hap. leg. יעשהו He finisheth it.²²A. V., He fitteth it.

like the beauty of a man That is a woman, who is the beauty of her husband.

מקצעות Rulers.²³A. V., With planes. This is the opinion of R. Jonah.

מחוגה Compass. Comp. חוג circle (40:22). It is an instrument used for drawing a circle.

According to the beauty of a man, that is, the female, according to the opinion of some ; but I think that it is in reality only a repetition of the preceding idea.²⁴Of כתבנית ארם after the figure of a man, which refers to man generally, without any distinction between the male and female sex.

לשבת בית That it may remain in the house. That it be like a man, who dwells in his house.

ilex and an oak kinds of non-fruit-producing trees.

He heweth him down cedars, etc. Some cut the idols out of cedar wood, others of. תרזה cypress. It is the name of a tree.

and he reinforced it with forest trees He makes for it types of reinforcements, either for strength or for beauty, with types of trees, one different from the other in their appearance.

ויאמץ לו And he planted it.²⁵A. V., He strengtheneth for himself.—I. E. does not inform us how the verb ויאטץ comes to have the meaning and he planted. There is perhaps some omission or corruption in the Hebrew text.

he planted a sapling When he finds a branch or a sapling that is fit for that, he plants it for that and the rain makes it grow.

אורן It is either the name of a tree, or it means root.²⁶A. V., An ash.—The connection between the word ארן and the meaning root, is not explained by I. E.

a sapling Heb. אֹרֶן, a young sapling, ploncon in O.F.

וגשם And the stem.²⁷A. V., Rain. Lit., the substance comp. גשמא in Chaldee, and in Arabic <ara/> body. According to others: rain ; the meaning of וגשם יגדל is then, and the rain will cause it to grow.

And it was for man to ignite And part of that very tree was for man’s necessities, [viz.] to ignite.

לבער To bum. Then shall it be for a man, etc. Some warm themselves by the fire, others kindle it, etc. ישיק He kindleth it. Comp. נשקה was kindled (Ps. Ixxviii. 21); the meaning of נשק is similar to that of בער to burn.

and he took from the trees. and he warmed his body opposite them.

ויסגד And falleth down. This word is frequently met with in Arabic and Chaldaic.^27aThe Targum usually renders השתחוה by סגד; in Arabic سجد to bow down: comp. يَسْجُدُونَ in the Arabian translation of Isaiah by R. Saadiah, 2:8. مَسْجَدََ Mosque.

he even heated an oven with them and baked bread.

he even made a God from what was left over.

האח Aha. Interjection of joy; comp. Ps. 35:21.

אור Fire, Comp. 31:9.

ראיתי I have seen. It is to be taken literally. R. Saadiah explains it I enjoyed,²⁸<ara/> but he has no parallel instance to support his rendering.

A god according to his idea.

His image. This is the explanation of the expression a god which precedes.

לא ידעו ולא יבינו They have not known nor understood. The seat of knowledge (רעת) is in those cavities of the brain that are nearer to the forehead; the understanding (בינה) is in the middle one, that is also in the middle of the head.²⁹In his remark on Ex. 31:3, I. E. explains the three expressions ,חכמה ,תבונה, דעת to signify the receptive, discriminative and reproductive faculties of our mind, and assigns to each of them its special place in the brain.

טח He hath shut. Comp. וטח and he shall plaister (Lev, 14:42); it is a transitive verb; the Lord is understood as the subject to it.

עיניהם Their eyes. The eye of each of them; this construction is not at all rare.³⁰As to the explanation of it, see I. E. on 2:11, Note 18.

And he does not give it thought [lit. and he does not return to his heart.] Half of it I burnt with fire.

His heart. His intellect, which is the principal part of man.

and he has neither knowledge nor understanding [lit. and there is neither knowledge nor understanding] in him to say this.

במו=ב In. Comp. כמו=כ as (Ps. 58:10).

to rotten wood Heb. לְבוּל עֵץ, to decay of wood.

ויתרו And the residue thereof.

בול It is hap. leg.³¹Although we meet with the same word again in Job 40:20, but since according to I. E., it seems to have a different meaning, he calls it properly hap. leg. It means, according to some authorities, an image, or a statue. R. Moses Hakkohen compares it with בול plant (Job 40:20).³²A. V., Food. יבול═בול produce.

[To] a provider [made] of ashes, a deceived heart has perverted him His heart, which was deceived, turned him aside to make for himself a provider of ashes. The image, half of which was burned and made into ashes, this fool says that it is his provider and patron. Another explanation: רוֹעֶה אֵפֶר is an expression of companionship. One who worships idols associates himself with the idol, which is ash.

He feedeth on ashes. He is like a man who feedeth on ashes, that hurt and do no good. It may also be compared with Ephraim feedeth on wind (Hos. 12:2).³³That is, he goes after vain things.

and he shall not save [i.e.,] the misled one shall not save his soul, saying, “Is there not falsehood in my right hand?” and separate from it.

הותל Foolish.³⁴A. V., Deceived.³⁴A. V., Deceived. It i³⁵The same remark as repeatedly made by I. E. concerning the substantive. See c. 9:3. Note 4.s an adjective; the form of adjectives is not constant. The form of הותל is like that of מועדת out of joint (Prov.xxv. 19).

לב הותל הטהו A foolish heart hath turned him aside.

The verb הטה is always used in an unfavorable sense: to turn from the right way. As to the phrase אחרי רבים להטות (Ex. 23:2) I have given my opinion.³⁶The remark referred to is the following: The principle of our Sages, to decide every question by majority, is right, but it is not based on the words אחרי רבים להטות (Exod. 23:2), as some believe, since להטות is always used in a bad sense (לגנאי). These words are only brought in connection with that rule לזכר, as a mnemonicon.

do not forget Me Do not forget My fear.

Remember these, those which I have done, when thou wast in thy land.

For thou art my servant. Since thou hast been my servant, confess thy former sins; I am desirous to keep thee as my servant.

אתה Thou. Thou alone.³⁷I. E. seems to connect, in accordance with the accents, עבל לי with יצרתיך ; I have formed thee that thou be a servant unto me. The addition of אתה is therefore explained by I. E., as a sign of emphasis.—A. V., I have formed thee, thou art my servant.

תנשני is Niphal, and I think³⁸I. E. seems to oppose his rendering of the phrase to that of others, who explain it in an active sense, thou shalt not forget me. Comp. Rashi ad locum. that the meaning of לא תנשני is: Thou shalt not be forgotten of me. The meaning of the verse is: Remember me, and I will remember thee.

I erased your transgressions like a thick cloud in Egypt and in the desert. Now too, return to Me.

As a thick cloud, that passeth away; when the sun comes out, it is no more.

burst out An expression of opening the mouth.

Sing, 0 ye heavens, etc. This is a figurative expression ; it means: great rejoicing will be through Israel, for through the redemption of Israel the glory of God will be revealed to the whole world.

and the One Who formed you from the womb From the time that (Gen. 25:22) “the children struggled within her,” I was your help and I chose you.

That maketh all things, which I desire; you may infer it from the fact, that I, by myself, stretch forth the heaven.

מאתי By myself. Lit., from myself, that is, by my strength; for God is incorporeal.³⁹The literal meaning of the words, That spreadeth abroad the earth from, myself might imply the idea that the earth has its origin materially in God; I. E. refutes this idea by substituting the figurative meaning from or with my strength. It is written in two words, מי אתי. who is with me, which is the same as I alone. Consider well the words of the text: who stretcheth⁴⁰The use of the present tense.⁴⁰The use of the present tense. forth the heavens and spreadeth abroad the earth ; they teach us that it is God who is continually keeping heaven and earth in existence.

Who stretched forth the heavens alone...Who frustrates the signs of imposters Since I stretched forth the heavens, I can, therefore, frustrate their signs.

בדים Liars. Comp. בדיך thy lies (Job 11:3). More probably בדים is connected with בדד alone, and signifies such, persons as pretend to be able to emancipate their souls from, the influence of the body, which some in reality can do.^40aThe more the soul emancipates itself from the body, the closer is its union, with the pure intellect, with the original and fundamental ideas, and the wider and surer its knowledge. This state of emancipation is called by I. E. preparatian for inspiration. Comp. תמונות צורות ומראות בדבר השם ובהיות הנפש מכוונת לכבוד או תתחדש לה when the soul is prepared for the Divine Glory, then it receives new ideas, images, and visions by the word of the Lord. (Abridged Commentary on Exod. 23:21.)

imposters Heb. בַּדִּים. They are stargazers, who predict the future through signs of the heavens, and since many times they lie, they are called בַּדִּים, imposters, for I change the heavenly princes, and these who ask of them err, and since the astrologers of Babylon were stargazers, as Scripture states (infra 47:13), “Let them stand now, and let the gazers into the heavens save you.” He, therefore, states that He will frustrate the signs of their imposters, for I am He Who frustrated the signs of the imposters of Egypt.

וקוסמים And astrologers.⁴¹A. V., Diviners. Lit., men that decide by reason, and say that and that will happen; while בדים foretell the future not by reasonable means.⁴²Comp. I. E. on c. 3:2, and Note 3.

Wise men. Persons, who divine from the liver or shoulder, and soothsayers.⁴³From the context it may be inferred that by wise men the prophet meant diviners; but since two kinds of diviners ברים and קוסמים have already been mentioned, I. E. refers this general expression to other kinds, which are not included in these two names.

He fulfills the word of His servant Moses.

His servant. The prophet himself.⁴⁴I. E. here neglects the rule of the parallelism, which he repeatedly recommends; for that rule demands that עברו and מלאכיו should have the same meaning) and since the latter is a plural, signifying his messengers, עבדו is likewise to be taken in a collective sense, and referred not only to the one prophet who is here speaking, but to all prophets. The word of his servant, that Jerusalem shall be inhabited.

and the counsel of His messengers One angel said to Jacob (Gen. 32:27), “Israel shall be your name,” and I fulfilled his words. Here too, I will fulfill the counsel of My prophets who say concerning Jerusalem, “It shall be settled.”

תושב Thou shalt be inhabited. Root ישב to dwell. Comp. תורד thou shalt be brought down (14:15) from ירד to go down.

Her decayed places. The decayed places of every city,⁴⁵The use of the singular her (הָ) after the plural the cities of Judah is explained in this remark. Comp. I. E. on c. 2:11, Note 18. or of Jerusalem.^45aAlthough the pronoun her is nearer to the cities of Judah, it may still agree with Jerusalem, which is mentioned first, because it is the most important, and may be considered as the representative, of all the cities of Judah.

Who says to the deep, “Be dry” Who says to Babylon, “Be dry.”

מצולה═צולה (Jon. 2:4) The deep. A figurative expression, signifying Babylon, that was full of men and wealth like the deep of the sea.⁴⁶Which is full of water.

and I will dry up your rivers Since it is situated on rivers, he compares the slaying of its population to the drying up of rivers.

My shepherd My king.

That saith to Cyrus, etc. This verse proves that Jerusalem was built in the days of Cyrus; the words thy foundation shall be laid contain an allusion to the fact, that Cyrus ordered the temple to be built, but after its foundation had been laid by Zerubbabel, prohibited its further restoration; it is therefore clear, that Daniel made no mistake in his calculations, as I have already explained.⁴⁷All our learned men agree, says I. E. in his commentary on Dan. 9:1, that Daniel made a miscalculation; he thought that the 70 years of exile, foretold by Jeremiah, commenced with the first deportation under king Jehoiakim, and ended with the commencement of the reign of king Cyrus over Babylon, while in truth the exile commenced with the destruction of the temple, and ended during the reign of Darius Hystaspes. I. E. objects to this opinion, and proves, in the form of a dialogue between himself and R. Jehudah Hallevi, that Daniel was right. The exile lasted only till the reign of Cyrus, under whose auspices the foundation of the temple was laid. According to the prophecy of Isaiah not the building, but the founding of the temple (תּׅוׇּםֵר), was to be promoted by Cyrus.