Commentaire sur Isaïe 1:4

Woe Every instance of הוֹי in Scripture is an expression of complaining and lamenting, like a person who sighs from his heart and cries, “Alas!” There are, however, several, which are an expression of a cry, the vocative voice, e.g., “Ho, ho, flee from the land of the north” (Zech. 2:10), which the Targum renders, אַכְלוּ, an expression of announcing. Woe There is a reason to cry about a holy nation that turned into a sinful nation, and a people referred to by the expression, “for you are a holy people” (Deut. 7:6), turned into a people with iniquity.

הוי. Some consider the ה as a substitute for א, and explain אוי ═ הוי, ‘woe;’ comp. אדורם and הדורם, N. pr. (2 Chr. 10:18; 1 Kings 12:18); איך and היך, how (1 Chr. 13:12 ; 2 Sam. 6:9); but I think that it is a sign of the vocative case (derived from the verb היה ‘to be’), and that the passage must be rendered, O sinful people, etc. ; comp. הוי הוי ונסו, Ho, ho, flee (Zach. 2:10), הוי ציון המלטי O Zion, deliver thyself (Ibid. 11).¹³In the two passages quoted by the author, הוי cannot be translated by ‘ woe,’ because it is followed by good tidings.—Ibn Ezra does not mean to say that הוי is never used instead of אוי (woe); for in this same chapter (ver. 24) he admits the identity of these two words.—The connection between היה ‘ to be ’ and הוי ‘ Oh ’ is not clear. Comp. Zahoth, On the Aleph. The second person is, therefore, used in the next verse, Why should ye be stricken any more.

a people heavy with iniquity The heaviness of iniquity. The word denotes a person who is heavy, pesant in French, ponderous. The word כֶבֶד is a substantive of heaviness, pesantoma in French, and is in the construct state, and is connected with the word עָוֹן, iniquity.

כֶבֶד Laden with. An adjective in the construct state; comp. עֶרֶל לב ועֶרֶל בשר, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh (Ez. 44:9).¹⁴כֶּבֶד is, according to Ibn Ezra, not a substantive, the burden of, but the construct state of the adjective כָּבֵד, heavy of, heavy with regard to; like עֶרֶל uncircumcised with regard to—the construct state of the adjective עָרֵל, uncircumcised.

evildoing seed And they were seed whom the Lord blessed (Isa. 61:9). Similarly, they were children of the Holy One, blessed be He, and they became corrupt.

Seed of evil doers. They and their forefathers have been wicked ; or, their father was an Amorite, their mother a Hittite (Ez. 16:3),¹⁵The Israelites are, according to this explanation, called a seed of evil-doers, because their forefathers, the ancestors of Abraham, were idolators. as I shall explain.¹⁶The commentary of Ibn Ezra on Ezekiel is not known.

they provoked Heb. נִאֲצוּ, they angered.

משחיתים Corrupters. That corrupt their soul or their way.¹⁷משחיתים is the participle Hiphil, and has therefore originally the causative meaning, causing their soul or way to be corrupt.

they drew backwards [The root נְזִירָה,] wherever it appears, is only an expression of separation. Similarly, Scripture states: “And they shall separate (וְיִנָּזְרוּ) from the holy things of the children of Israel” (Lev. 22:2), “the one separated (נְזִיר) from his brothers” (Gen. 49:26). Here too, they drew away from being near the Omnipresent.

They have forsaken the Lord, that is, the service of the Lord.

נאצו They have provoked unto anger.

נזורו. They are gone away. Root נזר ‘to separate’ ; comp. וינזרו that they separate themselves (Lev. 22:2). נָזוֹרוּ is formed like יָבׂלוּ ‘ they could ’ (Exod. 8:14). Many take it as Niphal of זור ‘ to separate ’; comp. נָכוֹנוּ ‘ they are prepared ’ (Prov. 19:29); Niphal of כּוּן, ‘ to stand.