Commentaire sur Isaïe 1:6

soundness An expression of perfection, sound without pain.

מְתוֹם A place containing soundness (תּוֹם ‘ soundness or integrity’). The form of the word is irregular, for it should be מָתוֹם like מָעוֹז (25:4). The same form is used Ps. 38:4. R. Moses Hakkohen says that מְתוֹם is the same as מְתִים ‘ people ;’ he quotes a parallel, Judges 20:48, and explains our verse, there is nothing in them that is good for man; but this explanation is rather far-fetched.

wounds Heb. פֶּצַע, i.e., a wound of a sword.

פצע Wounds. Supply the word רק ‘only,’ ‘but,’ before פצע. There is no soundness in him ; there are but wounds and bruises ; comp. שיאכל ושתה אין טוב באדם There is nothing good for man but that he should eat and drink. (Eccles. 2:24).

contusions Heb. חַבּוּרָה, an expression of a bruise. [Some editions read:] Other bruises.

פצע A wound caused by the breaking of the bone.

and lacerated sores Jonathan renders: מְרַסְסָא, lacerated and crushed.

חבורת A sore attended with suppuration. >

and lacerated sores demarcejjre, in O.F., and in the language of the Talmud, we find, “he bumped (טַרְיֵה) his head” (Chullin 45b). Menahem explained it as an expression of moisture, i.e., moist and wet, always oozing [muyte in O.F.].

טריה Fresh,¹⁸A. V., Putrefying. not yet dry (comp. Judges 15:15); in Arabic the word طرا has the same meaning. ..

they have not been sprinkled These lesions were not sprinkled with medicinal powders by physicians. This is an expression of: (Job 18:15) “Sulphur shall be sprinkled (יְזֹרֶה) on his dwelling.” Menahem explained it as an expression of healing, as in (Jeremiah 30:13): “No one pronounced your judgment for healing (לְמָזוֹר).”

זׂרוּ They have been squeezed.¹⁹A. V., They have been closed. Root זׁרד ‘ to squeeze ’ (comp. Judges 6:38). The wound cannot be healed unless the matter is removed from it.

neither was it softened with oil Their wound was not softened with oil, as is customary with other wounds. It would be inappropriate to say here, “They were not softened with oil,” for they soften only the place of the sore, not the wound and the contusion but the sprinkling and the bandaging applies to all three, [i.e., the wound, the contusion, and the lacerated sore.] Therefore, the plural number applies to them; the lesions were not sprinkled and not bandaged. Jonathan interprets the entire verse figuratively, referring to the fact that they were soiled and afflicted with iniquity. Accordingly, he rendered, “From the sole of the foot until the head,” from the smallest to the greatest, there is no soundness. There is none good among them, wounds and contusions, rebellious deeds, iniquities, and inadvertent sins. they have not been sprinkled... i.e., they have not been healed by repenting wholeheartedly, nor has it been softened with oil, not even a trace of repentant thought has entered their heart.

חבשו They have been bound up. Root חבש ‘ to compress,’ ‘to bind up ’ (comp. חובש ‘ruler,’ 3:7).²⁰Ibn Ezra seems to identify ruler with oppressor. Compare his commentary on 3:7, and Eccles. 4:16, The laws of kings are tyrannical.

בַּשָּׁמֶן With the oil.²¹A. V., With ointment. With the oil, which the cure of the wound requires.