Commentaire sur Isaïe 60:23

“for your light has come” The commentators were astounded by this usage because they thought when speaking of the sunrise, the Hebrew language employs the terms ‘rising’ or ‘going out’ while ‘coming’ implies sunset in all cases. But they did not check this matter well, because this is true only in reference to the body of the sun, when the speaker describes it as coming out from its place beyond the eastern horizon and heading toward its destination at the western. Then its 'coming’ is the moment it reaches its destination in the west. This is not so when speaking of the light, whose purpose is achieved when its rays touch that which is illuminated, then it has come to its place. “Your light” refers to the light which comes of itself, and the rising of the glory of Gd is the light of prophecy - they will shine upon you until they are as the light of the sun upon the moon, as I wrote elsewhere (see Isaiah 60:19). On this it says “…and kings by the brilliance of Your shine,” (Isaiah 60:3) because ‘shine’ refers to the light of the moon as I mentioned above (verses 13 and 14, and 19 below).

אורי Shine. It is the imperative; comp. בואי come (2 Sam. 13:11); these two have Holem instead of Shurek on account of the א.¹The infinitive Kal of the verb ע״ו has, according to the rule, the vowel וּ; e.g., קוּם, to rise. Generally the vowel is affected by the consonant which follows, but not by the preceding, as is the case in אוֹדִי, according to the opinion of I. E.

בא אורך Thy light is come, if taken in a good sense; but I think that it means thy light has set, and it has become dark; that is,²The Hebrew text has the word במו, which can be translated as if to say, or that is, but usually it introduces some quotation from the Bible; very probably it was originally followed by the words בי בא השמש because the sun was set (Gen. 28:11). the evening is come, and the light which has shone for thee hitherto, is gone, but in its stead the glory of the Lord will henceforth shine over thee; comp. The sun shall be no more thy light by day, etc. (ver. 19). By the words Shine, etc., the restoration of the kingdom of Israel, or of the prophecy is meant.

For behold, the darkness will cover the earth. Comp. For distress shall come in like a flood (59:19).

וערפל לאמים And gross darkness—supply יכסה shall cover—the people.

But upon thee. Upon thee alone.

And nations shall come to thy light. He who is in darkness usually sees those that are dwelling in light.

shall be raised on [their] side [Jonathan renders:] on the flanks, the flanks of the kings, they will be raised.

All they. All thy sons and daughters, whom the prophet is going to mention; it may also refer to kings (ver. 3).

תאמנה Shall be nursed. Comp. ויהי אמן and he brought up (Est. 2:7)

Then you shall see and be radiant Heb. וְנָהַרְתָּ, from נְהוֹרָה, [Aramaic for light,] then you shall see and be radiant [from Jonathan].

Then. When kings come unto thee and bring thee thy children. תראי Thou shalt fear,³A. V., Thou shalt see. I. E. seems to have read תִּֽרְאִי or תִּרְאִי (root ירא), instead of תִּרְאִי. like a man that trembles when help comes to him suddenly, or anything he did not anticipate; this is usually the case with a person who finds something.

and your heart shall be startled and become enlarged And your heart shall wonder and become enlarged.

ונהרת And thou wilt run hither and thither.⁴A. V., And flow together.

for the abundance of the west shall be turned over to you for the abundance of the west shall be turned over to you [after Jonathan].

And thine heart shall fear and be enlarged. Anxiety will be mixed with the rejoicing, which is indicated by the words: And thine heart shall be enlarged. This is the opposite of צרה straits, distress.

the wealth of the nations The possessions of the nations [after Jonathan].

The reason of the joy will be Because the abundance of the sea, etc. The verse may also be explained thus: Thou shalt fear because of the great multitude that will flow unto thee.

חיל גוים The forces of the nations.⁵A. V., Of the Gentiles. The land armies.⁶According to this explanation המון ים is not the abundance of the sea, but the multitude or the armies that will come by sea.

A multitude Heb. שִׁפְעַת, A multiplicity.

שפעת A company. Comp. 2 Kgs. 9:17.

the young camels of Midian Heb. בִּכְרֵי. [Jonathan renders:] הוֹגְנֵי. They are young camels. Comp. (Jer. 2:23) “a swift young camel (בִּכְרָה).”

בכרי With dromedairies.⁷A. V., The dromedaries. The ב is a preposition; comp. בר the swift (16:1). They shall bring for a present.

and Ephah They, too, are of the sons of Midian. Comp. (Gen. 25:4) “Ephah and Epher.”

the rams of Nebaioth Heb. אֵילֵי, rams of Nebaioth [after Jonathan].

ישרתונך Shall minister unto thee, that is, shall be at thy service; comp. לשרת to do service (Ex. 35:19), which is used of the cloth for covering the holy vessels during the journey.

על רצון על מזבחי═על רצון מזבחי With acceptance on my altar.⁸Usually one preposition is connected with several nouns, but in one and the same meaning; here this is not the case. על רצון means with acceptance, or for acceptance; על מזבחי upon my altar. But, in fact, the repetition of the preposition is not required here at all, since עלה governs also the accusative; comp. Gen. 49:4; Num. 13:17.

Who are these, etc. This question refers to the children (ver. 4). The words Arise, shine, etc. (ver. 1) are addressed by God to Zion.⁹It seems as if I. E. explained this chapter to be a dialogue between God and Zion. Ver. 1 to ver. 7 is assigned to God; ver. 8 contains a question asked by Zion, the verses which follow contain the answer of God. Otherwise the remark is here superfluous, or at least out of place. (Comp. ver. 14).

ארבתיחם Their windows. The holes, where their nests are.

as in the beginning Like ‘as in the beginning,’ meaning in the days of Solomon, like the matter that is stated (I Kings 10:22): “For the king had at sea ships of Tarshish, etc.; once in three years, the ships of Tarshish would come, etc.” Tarshish is the name of the sea.

Shall wait for me, that I shall give them a good reward.

in the name of the Lord your God that is called upon you, for they will hear a report of Him and the name of His might, and come.

Tarshish. This place is mentioned because it is near Palestine.¹⁰Comp. I. E. on Jonah 1:3. He mentions there the opinion of Saadiah, that Tarshish is the same as Tarsus, Tartessus in Hispania Bætica; and also the opinion of another commentator, who believes it to be Tunis in Africa.

for He has glorified you He has given you glory.

Their silver and their gold with them. These words contain the reason why the islands shall wait for the Lord; the Israelites will not give them wages. It is distinctly said unto the name of the Lord thy God.¹¹They will do all this work for the Israelites without expecting any pay for it except from the Lord, whose will they carry out.

פארך He hath glorified thee. The Kamez under ר instead of Zeré, is caused by the pause.¹²The feminine suffix –ֵ is here to be expected, because it refers to Zion, which is, in this whole chapter, addressed as a woman. I. E. attributes the cause of this change to the pause; but it must be considered as very exceptional, since the pause changes the masculine suffix –ְ into –ָ, but not so the feminine suffix –ֵ.

and in my grace Because I favored you; in old French, en mon apayemant.

And the sons of strangers shall build, etc. The Israelites will not build the walls of Jerusalem, as they did not build even the temple; other nations will do it.

And they shall open your gates always Heb. וּפִתְּחוּ. This is an expression of opening in the strong conjugation (פִּעֵל), since their opening is a perpetual opening, a constant opening. Just as שַׁבֵּר is an expression of breaking, so is פִּתְּחוּ an expression of opening. Tresoverts in O.F.

ופתּחו Some say that וּפִחְּחוּ is the same as וּפֻתְּחוּ and they will be opened. According to others, And they will open, that is, the sons of strangers will open, etc.; this explanation is not improbable.—The sense of the whole verse is: the gates will be opened continually, day and night, by those that will bring in the abundance of nations.

Their kings, that is, those who had been their kings. And that their kings may be brought. Comp. To bind their kings with chains (Ps. 149:8)

חרב יחרבו They will be slain. This verb is derived from חרב sword; comp. החרב נחרבו they are surely slain. (2 Kgs. 3:23). Some explain it they shall be utterly wasted, and compare it with חרבן destruction. I prefer the first explanation.

box trees, firs, and cypresses Species of trees of the forest of Lebanon.

The glory of Lebanon. The best trees of Lebanon; the fir tree, etc.

To beautify the place of my sanctuary. To build the house of the Lord.

Zion of the Holy One of Israel [Lit. Zion the Holy One of Israel. Jonathan renders:] Zion desired by the Holy One of Israel, Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

"come bending unto you" The idolaters who oppressed you with hard oppression will come to the point of bending over in order to appease you. And your abusers who did not oppress you but rather only insulted and disparaged you, because you were not worthy of consideration in their eyes (and they will not need to appease you), will bow down at your feet now from the greatness of your importance. And they will call you now

שחח Bending. It is a noun.¹³I. E. uses the expression שם a noun; he means perhaps שם הפועל infinitive or verbal noun, as contrasted with פועל participle, and שם התואר common noun; in the latter cases the plural form would be used. Comp. c. iii., Note 5.

"the city of the Lord" This will be Jerusalem, and the name

And they shall call thee the city of the Lord. This proves that the exclamation Arise, etc. is addressed to Zion.¹⁴Another opinion is mentioned, Midrash Yalkut ad locum: R. Johanan compares these words (קומי אורי) to those uttered by one who is about to travel at night a little before dawn; he gets a candle lit, but the flame is blown out; he gets another candle, but it meets with the same fate; he then resigns himself and says: I shall not trouble myself any longer with those candles, I shall wait for the light of the morning. The same was the case with the Israelites: they said: We have lit the candle in the time of Moses; it has been put out; under king Solomon we lit another candle, this also was extinguished; we must now resign ourselves and wait, till the Lord himself will renew for us the light. Therefore God said: Arise, my light (אורי), etc. I. E. thought, perhaps, of this or similar passages in the Midrash, when he considered it necessary to remind us repeatedly that the words קומי אורי are addressed to Zion.

"Zion" they will call

עיר קדש ישראל═קדש ישראל The city of the holy One of Israel. Comp. Ps. 6:1.¹⁵קדוש ישראל is the genitive; but it cannot be governed by ציון, because the latter is a proper noun, and proper nouns do not govern a genitive; wherever, therefore, this seems to be the case, another noun in apposition to it is supplied, as e. g. here, the word עיר city.

"the Zion of the Holy One of Israel" because there Gd will be revealed with the greatest intensity through the pouring out of His holy spirit according to the holiness of Israel and their actions (because this is what divides between Gd and the holiness of Israel in every place):

Thou hast been forsaken. When in a state of ruin.

A rejoicing of many generations. A rejoicing, which shall never cease.

and the breast of kings Heb. וְשֹׁד, an expression of breasts (שָׁדַיִם) and ‘you shall suck’ proves it.

The milk of nations. Their money; they will pay tribute.

שד Breast. It is the same as שָׁדַיִם. The form of the nouns is not constant.¹⁶The two forms referred to are שֹׁד and שֵׁד. Comp. I. E. on c. 9:3, and Note 4.

Instead of the copper that they took from you.

I will bring gold. That is, I shall induce the nations to bring the gold, or, and that is perhaps better—I shall bring thee the value of gold;¹⁷That is, for the copper that has been taken away from thee, thou wilt get a compensation of such a value, as if gold had been taken away. (or,¹⁸זהב גוים the gold of nations seems to be another reading for the preceding זהב gold, but not a new explanation. Comp. נ״א another reading of the M.S. of the British Museum. the value of the gold of nations.) Copper is better than iron, it is therefore contrasted with gold.

and I will make your officers peace [Jonathan renders:] And I will make your officers peace and your rulers with righteousness.

פקודתך Thy officers. Lit., the men of thy office (אנשי פקודתך). Comp. פקיד officer. The men, who distribute the taxes.

פְקֻדָּתֵךְ Your appointed officers. Our Rabbis stated: The officers who came upon you in your exile and the rulers who pressed you will be counted for you as peace and charity (Baba Bathra 9a). [That is, the money they have exacted from you will be counted as charity.]

I will make thine officers peace. They will collect the taxes in peace.

And thine exactors righteousness. They will exact the money with righteousness.

Violence shall not, etc. Repetition of the same idea.

וקראת ישועה חומתיך Some explain it: And salvation will meet thy walls; comp. וֹקראת אתכם הרעה and evil will befall you (Deut. 31:29); others: And salvation shall call unto thy walls; but it is more correct to take וקראת as the second person feminine, and to render it, And thou, Zion, wilt call thy walls salvation. The correctness of this explanation is proved by the words which follow: ושעריך תהלה and thy gates praise. וקראת is to be repeated before ושעריך, according to the rule of ellipsis.

You shall no longer have You shall not require the light of the sun.

The sun shall be no more, etc. Thou wilt not want the light of the sun, because of the light of God.

An everlasting light, that shines day and night.

neither...be gathered in Heb. יֵאָסֵף, an expression similar to (Joel 2:10) “gathered in (אָסְפוּ) their brightness.” Gathered in their light.

Thy sun shall no more go down, etc. That sun¹⁹The glory of the Lord mentioned in the preceding verse as a substitute for the light of sun and moon. will not set, and that moon לא יאסף Shall not withdraw itself. Lit., shall not be gathered; the moon appears dark to the earth, when in conjunction with the sun.²⁰The phrase the moon is gathered means, according to I. E., the moon comes together with the sun, in one straight line from the earth, so that the part of the moon illuminated by the sun is not seen by the inhabitants of the earth, and she is, therefore, not seen at all: this is the case at every new moon.

And the days of thy mourning shall be ended. The mourner sits, as it were, in darkness.

in which I will glory That I will glory with them. Pourvanter in French.

The branch. Comp. And a branch shall grow out of his roots (11:1).

The work of my hands, that I may be glorified. It is a figure taken from the joy which a man feels when his work proves to be successful.²¹God rejoices that Israel have proved themselves, by repentance and by faithfulness to the word of God, deserving of the promised distinction, and worthy of the position assigned to them among the nations.

in its time I will hasten it If they are worthy, I will hasten it; if they are not worthy, it will be in its time.

The little one, etc. The small family, that numbers a few, shall become a thousand.

In his time, that is, when the time of salvation will come, I will hasten it, that is, the salvation; or, I shall hasten to make the little one a strong nation; לגוי עצום A strong nation. Comp. And I shall make thee a great nation (Gen. 12:2)