Commentaire sur Isaïe 5:33

I will now sing for my beloved The prophet says: “I will now sing for my beloved and in his place and as his messenger. [The word לִידִידִי would usually mean, ‘to my beloved.’] Similar to (Exodus 14: 4): “The Lord will wage war for you (לָכֶם), for you [not ‘to you’].”

נא Now. נא is always identical in meaning with עתה now.¹The identity of נא and עתה is often mentioned by our author, as if he thereby wished emphatically to exclude the meaning of I pray thee; compare Talmud Babli, Berachoth, p. 9, אין נא אלא ל׳ בקשה, the word נא means always ‘I pray thee,’ and Rashi on Gen. 19:18.

the song of my beloved about his vineyard This is the song of my beloved that he sang for his vineyard, about his vineyard, as (Genesis 26:7): “And the people of the place asked about his wife (לְאִשְׁתּוֹ), about his wife [not ‘to his wife’].”

לידידי Concerning²A.V., To. my well-beloved; comp. אמרי לי Say of me (Gen. 20:13).

a vineyard in a fertile corner in a corner that produces fat fruit, like good oil.

לכרמו Touching his vineyard.

fertile Heb. בן-שמן [lit. the son of oil, i.e.,] a corner fit for oil, for olives to produce oil, [like] (I Samuel 20:31) בֶּן-מָוֶת, [lit. a son of death,] fit to die. This is a parable, and at the end of the section, he will explain it.

ידידי My well-beloved. Root tri-literal דודי .(ידד) My beloved. Root bi-literal (דוד). ³I. E. calls the verb ע״ו biliteral, since the ו is never sounded. Compare Moznaim, sub voce השנײם, and Zahoth, on the biliteral verbs.

(This is Odom Horishon)

בקרן בן שמן In Keren Ben Shamen. A beautiful spot among the vineyards of Jerusalem. According to some, בקרן On a hill. בן שמן Fruitful; comp. שָׁמֵן fat (30:23), לשׁד הַשָֽׁמֶן fat oil (Num. 11:8);⁴According to this opinion שָֽׁמֶן here and in Num. 11:8 has the same meaning as שָׁמֵֽן 30:23, fat, although having the accent on the first syllable, and in the second Segol instead of Zero. I. E. in the Commentary on Num. (11:8) rejects this explanation. and this explanation is not incorrect.

(This is Hakodosh Boruch Hu)

(In Gan Eden)

And he fenced it in Heb. וַיְעַזְּקֵהוּ. He fenced it and walled it around, surrounded like a sort of ring, translated into Aramaic as עִיזְקָא.

ויעזקהו According to some: he sealed it; comp. the Chaldæan עזקתא Ring (3:21) for the Hebrew ⁵עזק would thus be a denominative of עזקא ring: to seal with the ring.;טבעת but this gives no sense; I think that this word is hapax legomenon. In Arabic there is, however, a word of the same root, meaning fence or hedge (to fence).

and he cleared it of stones Heb. וַיְסַקְלֵהוּ. He cleared it of the stones that are detrimental to the vines, comp. (infra 62:10) “Clear of stones (סַקְּלוֹ מֵאֶבֶן).”

ויסקלהו, Piel; he removed the stones thereof; the Kal, (סקל) has the meaning, to heap up stones; comp. ושרשך And he shall root thee out (Ps. 52:7).⁶וְשֵׁרֶשְׁךָ is derived from שׁׂרֶשׁ root; the Hiphil of the same verb signifies to take root. Similarly דֶשֶׁן ashes, Piël: to take away the ashes.

and he planted it with the choicest vines They are the best of all branches for planting.

ויטעהו מטע שרק ═ ויטעהו שרק And he planted it, the planting of a choicest vine.⁷That is, he planted it as carefully as the choicest vine is planted. This kind of ellipsis is very often assumed by I. E., and a great many phrases are explained by it. A.V., And planted it with the choicest vine. The verbal substantive is implied in every form of the verb, whether past or future.

and he built a tower in its midst A press in which to press the grapes.

Tower. A place for the watchman to dwell in.

and also a vat he hewed therein Heb. יֶקֶב, the pit that is before the press, to receive the wine. Likewise, every יֶקֶב in Scripture is an expression denoting a pit. Likewise (Zechariah 14:4), עַד יִקְבֵי הַמֶלֶךְ, which Jonathan renders, “Until the King’s pits.” This is the depth of the ocean. Therefore, the expression of hewing applies, just like (Deut. 6:11): “and hewn pits.”

And also made a wine-press therein. To press the vine within the vineyard.⁸The wine-press in the vineyard does not contribute to the production of good grapes; but it shows how firmly the owner hoped for good grapes, and how strong his desire was to prevent any loss of the flavour of the fruit by the transport.

and he hoped to produce grapes And my beloved hoped that this vineyard would produce grapes for him.

באושים Thorns;⁹A.V., Wild grapes. comp. באשה thorn (31:40).

and it produced wild berries Heb. בְּאֻשִׁים. Similar to grapes, and they are called lanbrojjses in O.F.

[The application of the parable is as follows:] And he fenced it. Palestine was filled with good houses and protected by strong walls. And he removed the stones thereof. God expelled the Canaanites. And built a tower. The temple on Mount Moriah was built. And also made a wine-press. The altar of burnt-offering was erected. And he looked that it should bring forth grapes, that is righteous men.

Regarding the ten canopies that are stated in that chapter about Chirom the king of Tyre.

From the Yetzer Horah, until he ate from the tree and then the Yetzer Horah entered him.

The beginning of his creation is from the place of the altar.

And he blew into his nostrils the breath of life from the upper realms.

A spring flowing, the fountain of wisdom.

That he should know and praise you.

putrid things; he reviled and blasphemed.

Since the end of the parable comes to say that they too did like him, he asks them the judgment.

And men of Judah. And every man of Judah round about Jerusalem.¹⁰And ye men of Judah═And ye other men of Judah. The inhabitants of Jerusalem were also men of Judah.

What could have been done, etc. What good thing is left to be done for the vineyard that I have not yet done?

מדוע Wherefore. A compound of two words,¹¹מַה יָדוּעַ ═ מה רוע ═ מדוע : What is known. Compare מה ראית What sawest thou (Gen. 20:10). There are also many instances of the use of the phrase מה ראית in the meaning Why in Rabbinical Literature. like (מה זה ═) מזה What is this (Exod. 4:2). (מה לכם═) מלכם What is it unto you (Is. 3:15)

I will remove its hedge I will remove the fence that covers and protects it. מְשׂוּכָה is a fence of thorns; גָדֵר is a fence of stones.

משובחו The hedge thereof. Comp. שכים thorns (Num. 33:55).

and it shall be [i.e.,] the vineyard.

לבער For pasture. Comp. ובער And he feedeth (Exod. 22:4).

eaten up For cattle and wild beasts will graze there.

Break down the fence thereof. By this the prophet indicates that the walls of the towns shall be destroyed.

What appears in my eyes to do to him and I did it.

I expelled him from amidst his canopies.

He will eventually die and evil beats will rule over him.

I expelled from the enclosure of Paradise.

And I will make it a desolation Heb. בָתָה, an expression of desolation and emptiness. Compare (infra 7:19): “in the desolate valleys (הַבַּתּוֹת).”

בתה Waste. Comp. בתות The desolate places (7:19).

nor hoed Heb. יֵעָדֵר ; this is an expression of digging in a vineyard.

יזמר It shall be pruned. זמורה branch is of the same root; זמר means to dress the vineyard by cutting off the branches.

the shamir and desolation will come up Heb. שָׁמִיר וָשָׁיִת. Menahem ben Seruk interprets them as kinds of thorns (Machbereth Menahem p. 176), but I say that “shamir” is a word denoting a strong worm that splits stones, with which Solomon built the Temple, like the matter that is written (Ezekiel 3:19), “Like a shamir, stronger than rock.”

יעדר It shall be digged. עדר to dig, to prepare the vineyard by digging (comp. 7:25).

desolation Heb. שַׁיִת, an expression similar to (Lamentations 3:47), “desolation (הַשְׁאֵת) and breach,” an expression similar to (infra 6:11), “shall be made desolate (תִּשָּׁאֶה) [as a wilderness”; i.e., it will be] empty with no one seeking it to enter it, and thereby worms will overrun it.

שמיר ושית Two kinds of thorns. The application of this figure is The wicked will increase.

I put him on his side, that I did not give him the Torah in his days.

The clouds. The prophets are hereby meant; comp. Her prophets also find no vision from the Lord (Lam. 2:9).¹²Compare Let my doctrine drop like rain, let my word distil as the dew, etc. (Deut. 32:2).

They did not learn from it not Zechus or good deeds.

The Yetzer Horah ruled him and in the other generations for them to do disgusting things.

I commanded him to keep guard and to guard the way of life.

For the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the House of Israel To this vineyard are you compared, O House of Israel, for all that He did for this vineyard, He did for Israel. The vineyard represents Adam, for we find in Midrash Aggadah, in many places in Tanhuma, and in Genesis Rabbah [that] these passages are expounded concerning him, e.g., Adam was not expelled from Paradise until he reviled and blasphemed, as it is said: And He hoped to produce grapes,... (Gen. Rabbah 19:12). And in another place we find: He appointed guards over him that he should not eat from the Tree of Life, as it is said (verse 6): “And I will command the clouds...” (ibid. 21:8). And in this manner, [the following verses] can be expounded concerning him:

The prophet now explains who is meant by the vineyard.

(1) My beloved had a vineyard. A vineyard This [alludes to] Adam.

משפח Disease.¹³A.V., Oppression. About the interchange between ש and ס, see I. E. on 3:17. Comp. מספחת scab (Lev. 13:6)

My beloved This is the Holy One, blessed be He.

In a fertile corner in the Garden of Eden.

(2) And he fenced it in with the ten canopies mentioned in Ezekiel (28), in the section dealing with Hiram, king of Tyre.

And He cleared it of stones Of temptation, until he ate from the tree, and temptation gained entry into him.

And He planted it with the choicest vines The beginning of his formation was from the place of the altar.

And He built a tower in its midst And He breathed into his nostrils the spirit of life, from the heavenly beings.

And also a vat He hewed therein A spring flowing, the fountain of wisdom.

And He hoped to produce grapes that he would thank Him and praise Him.

And it produced wild berries putrid things; he reviled and blasphemed.

(3) Judge now Since the end of the parable comes to say that they too did like him, he asks them the judgment.

(5) I will inform you what I decided to do to him and I did.

I removed its hedge I expelled him from amidst his canopies.

And it shall be eaten up His end will be to die and to be ruled over by wild beasts.

Breach its wall I expelled from the enclosure of Paradise.

(6) And I made it a desolation I made him dwell in desolation, for I did not give the Torah in his days.

It shall neither be pruned nor hoed They will learn from him neither merit nor good deeds.

The shamir and desolation will come up Temptation ruled over him and his posterity, to perform corrupt deeds.

And I commanded the clouds I appointed guards over him to guard the way of the Tree of Life.

(7) For the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the House of Israel For the House of Israel is to Me like that vineyard; The ten tribes were to Me like a vineyard producing wine, like an olive orchard, in a fat corner, in a fat land, [producing anointing] oil for the priesthood, [anointing] oil for the kingdom, oil for the Menorah, oil for the meal offerings. I fenced them in first with the encirclement of the clouds of glory in the desert and I cleared them of stones, i.e., I cleansed them of the transgressors of the generation. I planted them with the choicest vines (שׂוֹרֵק) six hundred and six commandments, like the numerical value of שׂוֹרֵק, I added for them to the seven commandments that the children of Noah were commanded. I built a tower in their midst, My Tabernacle and My Temple, and also a vat, the altar and the pits [the pits by the side of the altar into which the remainder of the libations was poured.]

(2) And it produced wild berries They corrupted their deeds.

(3) And now, dwellers of Jerusalem and men of Judah who have not yet been exiled, please judge between me and between them concerning the evil that I brought on them; who sinned against whom? What more could I have done beneficial deeds for My vineyard, and I have not done for it?

(5) Now I will inform you Even you who anger Mewhat is fitting in My eyes to do to My vineyard, according to all that I did to Adam, viz.

to remove its hedge I will remove My Shechinah from them, the Shechinah that covers them, as it is said (infra 22:8), “And He bared the covert of Judah.”

Breach its wall I will demolish its walls.

(6) And I will make it a desolation And I will make them forsaken [from Targum Jonathan].

It will neither be pruned nor hoed They will not be visited nor will they be supported. [from Targum Jonathan].

And the shamir and desolation will come up And they will be wandering and forsaken, represented by the שָׁמִיר וָשָׁיִת [desolation] of the vineyard, and regarding the vineyard itself in another place, it is rendered הֲבָאִי וּבוּר, desolate and fallow.

And I will command the clouds And I will command the prophets not to prophesy on your behalf [Jonathan]. Prophecy is analogous to rain, which the clouds receive from heaven; so do the prophets receive the divine prophecy.

The plant of His joy Comp. נָטָע (Job 14:9), but since it is in the construct state, it is vowelized with a patach, like (Num. 7:88) בְּקַר זֶבַח הַשְּׁלָמִים, “the cattle of the peace offerings.”

and He hoped that they would perform justice, and behold, there was מִשְׂפָּח, an accumulation of sin upon sin, like (I Sam. 26:19), “From cleaving (מֵהִסְתַּפֵּחַ),” also (ibid. 2:36), “Take me now into (סְפָחֵנִי).” Another explanation is that it is an expression of a lesion, and since it is a similar expression, for, in pronunciation, מִשְׂפָּח resembles מִשְׁפָּט, and so, זְעָקָה resembles צְדָקָה, it fell through divine inspiration into the prophet’s mouth.

Woe to those who join a house to a house Twenty-two instances of אַשְׁרֵי, fortunate, were said in the Book of Psalms concerning those who fulfill [the tenets of] the Torah, and Isaiah said twenty-two times, “הוֹי,” woe, concerning the wicked. Woe An expression of a cry of a sigh concerning the impending retribution.

הוי Oh. The sign for the vocative; or (אוי ═) woe. That join house to house, etc. That move the boundaries of the houses and fields according to their own interest. אין ═ אפס Not.

those who join a house to a house They draw their houses one to the other, thereby taking the land of the weak poor man between the two houses, and so

Till there be no place. Till they have taken away every place.

a field to a field they draw near until there is no place No place for the poor man to live.

הושבתם That you may be placed. Hophal of a verb ¹⁴ישב, To sit.;פ״י comp. ¹⁵Hophal of ירד to go down. והורד and it was taken down (Num. 10:17)

and you will be settled alone in the midst of the land You think that neither the Holy One, blessed be He, nor the poor, have a share in the land. His share of the tithes you are stealing, and the poor, [you are robbing] of their land, so that you alone will occupy it.

In my ears [spoke] the Lord of Hosts Said the prophet, Both my ears heard when the decree was decreed upon them by the Lord, and with an oath, “Truly, because of this thing, great houses will become desolate, yea, large ones and good ones, without inhabitants.”

באזנָי באזנֵי ײ ═ באזני ײ To mine ears, the ears of the Lord, has come the report of the injustice which you have committed; comp. נביאכם ײ Your prophet, the prophet of the Lord (Num. 12:6); or, referring באזני to the prophet, supply אמר said, or קול came the voice of.¹⁶The question is, to whom does the personal pronoun in באזני refer, to the Lord or to the prophet? In either case we have here an ellipsis; in the first case we have to supply besides the verb hath come a noun in stat. constr., which governs the genitive of the Lord of hosts; in the second we must add, said, or came the voice of. The אני of the Hebrew text in this remark, as well as in that on 22:14, is a mutilation of אׇזְנֵי the ears of; the comparison with the instance quoted, and I. E. on Num. 12:6, leaves no doubt about it.

For ten acres of vineyard And, because of the famine, the inhabitants of the house will be exiled, leaving no one dwelling in them. This, too, will be for your payment in kind for bringing one field near to the other field, for you have stolen the share of the Omnipresent in the tithe of the land.

Ten. A round number, meaning many.

ten acres of vineyard arpent in French, and I say that the amount of land requiring the work of one day with a yoke of oxen is called צֶמֶד, a yoke.

צמדי כרם Pairs of vineyards.¹⁷A. V., Acres. They have removed the boundaries, and many vineyards were thus coupled together (נצמדים), combined into one.

will produce one bath One measure of wine. A bath is three se’ah.

בת Bath. A measure. חמר Homer; the same as ten pairs of vineyards.¹⁸Homer, though signifying a certain measure, is in this place like ten pairs, etc., not to be taken strictly, but in the meaning of a great quantity. The Hebrew text has the words והחומר הוא עשרת כורים the Homer has ten Kur. This statement is contradicted by Ez. 45:14, where Homer and Kur are declared to be equal. The concluding words Bath and Epha are equal, show that the purpose of I. E.’s remarks is to explain the parallelism of this verse: ten pairs of vineyards—Homer, Bath—Epha. We read, therefore, צמדי כרם instead of .כורים Bath and Epha are likewise equal.

and the seed of a homer A place where a kur, which is thirty se’ah of grain, is usually produced, will produce an ephahthree se’ah.

They sit until late in the evening to drink wine at night.

משכימי That rise up early. Status constructus, although followed by the preposition ב; comp. השכוני באהלים that dwell in tents (Judg. 8:11);

wine inflames them It burns in them.

the same is the case with the following מאחרי בנשף, that continue until night. נשף The beginning of the night (comp. Prov. 7:9, Job 3:9); sometimes נשף is the time before daybreak, the dawning.¹⁹נֶשֶׁף signifies the transition from day to night, and from night to day; as a rule it is used for the twilight of the evening, but sometimes for dawn.

ידליקם Causative. He will cause them to pursue; comp. דלקת Thou hast pursued (Gen. 31:36); others compare it with דאדלק, the Chaldæan translation of המבעיר, he that kindled (Exod. 22:5).²⁰In the first explanation I. E. omits to show what has to be supplied as the second object; very probably it is wine or strong drink. According to the second explanation ײן ידליקם is to be translated till wine inflame them.

harp and lute A lute has more strings than a harp. [Perhaps Rashi explains נֵבֶל as a lyre, which may have more strings than a harp.] Now why is it called נֵבֶל? Because it disgraces (מְנַבֵּל) all kinds of musical instruments. In Midrash Tehillim (81:3).

כנור Harp. A well-known musical instrument.²¹This remark is quite superfluous, but very probably the comments on נבל and חליל elicited also—for the sake of completeness—a word for כנור.

tamborine That was made of skin.

נבל A musical instrument with ten holes.²²נבל is, according to this explanation, the same as נבל עשור (Ps. 33:2), which is generally believed to be a musical instrument of ten strings. The explanation given here by I. E. is quoted by him in the commentary on Ps. 33:2, as the opinion of R. Moses Hakkohen with regard to נבל צשור, while he himself is of the opinion that these two words signify two different musical instruments. חליל Pipe. Likewise a hollow instrument; חליל is of the same root as חלול, hollow.

a flute A flute of reed, chalemel in O.F.

And they regard not the work of the Lord. Many explain, They regard, etc., because he who is given to drunkenness does not regard the ways of the Lord; comp. Whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise (Prov. 20:1); but my opinion is, that by the work of the Lord those punishments are to be understood which the Lord was bringing over Israel, when the ten tribes went into exile.

and the work of the Lord they do not regard And in the Torah of the Lord they did not look [from Jonathan].

and the deed of His hands they have not seen They pretended that they did not see His mighty deeds. Another explanation is: They did not praise Him in the morning by reciting, “He Who forms light,” nor in the evening, by reciting, “He Who brings on the evenings.”

because of lack of knowledge because their heart was without knowledge.

ועם כבודו ═ וכבודו And the people of his glory, according to the rule of ellipsis; in the same way מח׳ צחה צמא ═ צחה צמא Men dried up with thirst.²³It is not clear why Ibn Ezra assumes the ellipsis of עחה ,מתי being an adjective agreeing with המון; even if it were a noun, thirst, and an ellipsis is to be assumed, that of המון is the one which recommends itself most as being more in accordance with the instances of ellipsis usually quoted by Ibn Ezra (see note 16); perhaps he read מֵתֵי רעב dying of hunger, instead of רעב מְתֵי men of hunger (that is, hungry men), and constructed accordingly the following phrase מֵתֵי צחה צמא ‘dying of thirst.’

and its esteemed ones shall die of hunger Heb. וכבודו מתי רעב [lit. and its honor dead ones of hunger.] [Some editions add:] Payment in kind, corresponding to the satiety.

צחה is nearly the same as צמא thirsty; comp. בצחצחות in drought (58:11); צח (18:4), the pure and dry air.²⁴The words of the Hebrew text, ונזרתו האור הזך והצח, are corrupt. ונזרתו demands a biblical quotation containing some word of the root צח, and this is not given. Very probably the original had האויר הזך והצח ונזרתו כחם צח עלי אזר. The translation of the passage is based on this emendation.

shall be parched from thirst Thirst corresponds to their elaborate drinking feasts.

Heb. צחה Aramaic for thirst.

Therefore, the nether-world has expanded Retribution corresponding to deed; they expanded themselves to swallow much food and drink, and they opened their mouth to swallow, so will the nether world expand itself to swallow.

נפשה Her breath.²⁵A. V., Herself. נפש is the breath that comes out of the mouth; comp. נפשו his breath (Job 41:21).

and opened Heb. פָּעֲרָה.

ופערה And opened; comp. פערו they opened (Job 29:23).

without measure Without end; and why [did the grave open] without measure? Because these people had no measure or limit to their enjoyments.

לבלי חק Unusually.²⁶חק statute, rule.

shall descend There the splendor of Jerusalem.

ועלז בה And all that rejoice in it. or, and rejoicing will be—to others—at his fall. According to R. Jonah, the phrase ועלז בה And rejoicing, or laughing will be in it, describes that kind of laughter which may sometimes be noticed in people at the moment of death.

And those who rejoice therein Heb. ועלז בה. [I.e., those who rejoiced in Jerusalem, or in all the Land of Israel, with the plenty they had there, will fall into Sheol, i.e., they will die.]

And man shall be humbled... and the strong of men shall be weakened. [after Jonathan]. According to the Midrashic interpretation (Sotah 48a), this is the Holy One, blessed be He. They caused Him to appear as a man who is stunned. [The expression originates in Jeremiah 14:9]. And so Scripture states (Deut. 32:18): “The Rock that begot you, you have weakened (תֶּשִׁי),” [interpreting the word as originating from תָּשׁ, weak,] and Scripture states [further] (Ecclesiastes 10:18): “Through slothfulness, the One Who frames His upper chambers will become impoverished.”

And the mean man, etc. And all men of the nations which surround Judah will be humbled.

And the Lord of Hosts shall be exalted through judgment When He executes judgment upon them, His Name shall be exalted in the world. through judgment Jostise [justice] in O.F.

But the Lord of hosts, etc. Then the excellence of the Lord will be known by the judgment (משפט) which He will have executed on Israel, and His holiness will be revealed by the kindness (צדקה) shown to them.

and the holy God shall be hallowed among the righteous remaining of you.

And lambs shall graze as their wont The righteous who are compared to a flock of ewes.

Then shall the lambs feed, etc. Judah will then be desolate, and lambs will feed therein, as if they were driven to be there.

as their wont Heb. כדברם. According to their habit, with equity and with a measure, guiding their affairs with justice, like these lambs. [Variant reading: According to their habit, with equity and of their own, for there will no longer be wicked people in the world, who will rob them.] Our Rabbis expounded כְּדָבְרָם to mean: According to all that was spoken regarding them, [i.e.,] the consolations spoken for them.

כדברם As if they were driven.²⁷A. V., After their manner. Comp. the Chaldee דבר to lead, to drive; and דברת floats (1 Kings 5:25).

and...the ruins of the fat ones the houses of the wicked, who are fat.

מחים Strong lambs,²⁸A.V., The fat ones. that have marrow (מוח) in their bones; comp. ממוחים things full of marrow (25:6). וחרבות And the waste places of; comp. חרבן destruction. It is the construct state; supply הארץ the land; comp. ושכורת And drunken of SORROW. (51:21). משא ח׳ ל׳ ═ חמר לחם An ass’s LOAD of bread (1 Sam. 16:20). גרים Strangers, that will then dwell there. מחים (Adjective,^28*Comp. c. iii. note 5. strong lambs) is the objective case; גרים strangers, the subject.²⁹The translation of the passage according to this explanation would be, And in the waste places of the land will strangers eat the fat lambs. This is against the accents which join מחים rather with חרבות than with יאכלו.

sojourners shall eat The righteous, who are like sojourners, shall eat them.

fat Heb. מֵחִים, meaning “fat,” as (Psalms 66: 15): “Burnt offerings of fatlings will I offer up.”

Woe to those who draw the iniquity They draw the evil inclination upon themselves little by little; at first with ropes of nothingness, like the thread of a spider web. And since it provokes them, it continuously gains strength until it becomes like cart ropes, with which they tie a wagon in order to pull it.

מושכי העון That fasten iniquity.

nothingness Heb. שָׁוְא, a thing that has no tangibility.

וכעבות העגלח חטאה supply הם משכים And draw sin as if it were with a cart rope. המאה is here a noun; it is the same as חטאת sin (comp. Exod. 34:7); it can also be an adjective, signifying a woman that committeth many sins.

sin Heb. חַטָּאָה, sin.

Let Him hurry; let Him hasten His deed [i.e.,] the retribution He says He will bring.

ימהר Either transitive, let him bring hastily; comp. מהרו (Esth. 5:5), fetch hastily; or intransitive, let him make speed; and only יחישה transitive, let him accelerate. As to two verbs in the future following each other without conjunction, comp. אל תרבו תדברו Talk no more (1 Sam. 2:3).—Let these prophecies be fulfilled, that we may see whether they are true.

so that we may see whose word will stand up.

Those who say of the evil that it is good They praise idolators [var. idolatry], but they consider it evil to worship the Holy One, blessed be He, Who is good.

Woe unto them that call, etc. They wish that these evils shall come, they are therefore like those that have no reason.

who present darkness as light A thing which is destined to bring darkness upon them, they say, will bring light to them.

who present bitter as sweet Iniquity, [var. idolatry] which is destined to bring upon them bitter retribution, they say, will be sweet for them.

and sweet as bitter The sweet worship of the Holy One, blessed be He, they say, is bitter.

Woe unto them that are wise, etc. They do not know how to discern between good and evil, yet think themselves wise.

to mix strong wine Heb. לִמְסֹךְ. To mix (לִמְזֹג) strong wine. Preparation [of the beverage] is called מֶסֶךְ.

Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, etc. They lose their reason through drunkenness.

לנסוך ═ למסוך To pour out,³⁰A. V., To mingle. though these words have different roots, נסך and מסך. Comp. מסכה she poured (Prov. 9:2)

and the innocence of the innocent who are fit to be exonerated in court, they take away from him, and find him guilty in his suit, and rob him of his money.

Which justify the wicked, etc. Wine deprives them of understanding, so does a bribe.

עקב For, the reward that comes generally at the end;³¹Comp. I. E. on Deut. 7:12 and 8:20. comp. עקבו Its rear (Jos. 8:13).

וצדקת צדיקים יסירו ממנו And the righteousness of each of the righteous they take away from him; comp. בנות צעדה (Gen. 49:20).³²Comp. 2:11.

Therefore this thing shall be to them...

קש Stubble. Objective case. לשון אש The flame of fire.³³A. V., The fire. Subject.

as a flame of fire consumes stubble [lit.] as consuming the stubble a flame of fire.

חשש Chaff; comp. 33:11.

and straw Jonathan renders: chaff, the straw of ears of grain; and like straw that the flame shrivels and turns to ashes.

בלהבה ═ להבה through the flame; comp. בששת ═ ששת in six (Exod. 20:11); בבית ═ בית in the house (2 Kings 18:15); for ירפה, the predicate to חשש, is an intransitive verb.³⁴The passage is therefore to be translated And chaff is consumed by the flame.

like rot Like something that melts.

Their root shall be as rottenness. Their root will rot, and they will not be able to stand.

and their blossom Their greatness; just as the dust that is raised before the wind and goes away, so will it go away.

כאבק As the dust of.³⁵A. V., As dust. In our text כָּאָבָק is the absolute state. Ibn Ezra seems to have read כַּאֲבַק. It is the construct state; supply הארץ the earth, or a similar word. Their root. Their blossom. The parents and their children.

therefore [i.e.,] because of these deeds of theirs.

Therefore. For having forsaken His law.

and the mountains have quaked [This is symbolic of] their kings and their princes.

And the hills did tremble, in consequence of the heavy blow.

like spittle Heb. כַּסּוּחָה, like spittle and vomit, which is expelled (נִיסָח) from a person’s body, which is repugnant. In the language of the Rabbis, it is called סְחִי and so (Lamentations 3:45): “Loathsome and rejected.”

כסוחה Cast away;³⁶A. V., Torn. the כ is radical; comp. כסוחה thrown down³⁷A. V., Cut down. (Ps. 80:17). These two words are various forms of the same root.³⁸כַּסּוּחָה is an adjective, כְּסוּחָה is participle passive Kal.

in the midst of the streets So they will be loathsome among the nations.

with all this that has come upon them.

and His hand is still outstretched to harm them.

His anger has not turned back They have not been rectified with their deeds to cause His anger to turn back.

And He shall raise i.e., the Holy One, blessed be He. an ensign to the nations and signal to them to gather and to come upon them. Raising an ensign (נֵס) is like a long pole (כְּלוּנָס), at the end of which they attach a cloth, [i.e., a flag,] and they climb to the top of a lofty mountain and see it from afar; and that is the sign for people to gather. Comp. (infra 49:22) “And to peoples I will raise My ensign (נִסִּי)”; comp. also (Numbers 21:8), “And set it upon a pole (נֵס),” meaning a pole (כְּלוּנָס), perche in French, but since it is for a sign, it is called נֵס.

And He will lift up, etc. It will be as if He lifted up a banner to all nations to come and to fight against Israel; the same is meant by And will hiss, etc.

And He will whistle sibler in O.F. This too is a sign for gathering.

בזמן קל ═ קל Swiftly; or it is an adjective, attribute to the subject contained in the verb יבא he, a swift one, will come, and this latter explanation is the right one.

from the end of the earth that they should come from afar to besiege Israel.

swiftly he will come The enemy [will come] upon them [swiftly,] as Scripture proceeds to explain.

None is weary or stumbles among them No one will be weary and no one will stumble in his running, to fulfill (supra v. 19), “Let Him hurry, let Him hasten,” that they say before Him.

ינום He will slumber; נום signifies a sleep of a less profound kind than ישן. He will not slumber, much less will he sleep.

open up Heb. נִפְתַּח, an expression of untying, as (Genesis 24:32): “And he untied (וַיְפַתַּח) the camels.”

נתק It is broken. Niphal.

nor will...be torn And they will not see any omen of defeat, because of which to fear to come.

like flint Jonathan renders: like a rock, similar to צור.

כצר Like flint; comp. צורים flint³⁹A. V., Sharp. (Jos. 5:3); the form of the noun varies.⁴⁰From the same root two nouns can be constructed of different forms, but having the same meaning, like צר and צור flint; there is, according to I. E., no standard for the inflexion of the noun as there is for the verb : all verbs are conjugated after פעל.

and his wheels the wheels of his chariots.

וגלגליו The wheels of his chariots; they⁴¹It is not clear whether the wheels or the chariots are to be understood; in the first case this remark is quite superfluous; in the second it is perhaps to explain the omission of of his chariots as easily supplied by the reader. are known. סופה ═ כסופה כמוץ. As the chaff of the storm.⁴²A. V., Like a whirlwind. They will come as quickly as the chaff driven by the storm.

He has a roar like a lion His fear will be upon you like a lion.

וינהום And he shall roar. Irregular form; because regularly the guttural letter widens the vowel, and causes the form of the future to be like ⁴³Instead of יִפְעוֹל. See Zahoth, on the Kal.,יִפְעַל the second radical of the verb פעל being a guttural; in the conjugation tables, however, no notice is taken of this property, else we should not have in the paradigm the standard form of the future ויפליט

and he will retrieve He will save it from all those who try to save it. יַפְלִיט is esmoucer in O.F. [to seize].

יִפְצוֹל And he lets escape.⁴⁴A, V., And shall carry it away safe. He lets escape the prey, as I think, in order to see whether there is any one to deliver it.

And he will growl That enemy [will growl] at the people of the Lord, mentioned above.

עליו Against him: against Israel.

like the growling of the sea whose waves roar, so will he come with roaring armies.

Like the roaring of the sea, etc.; behold darkness. For the light shall then be withheld from the earth. Comp. darkness of water⁴⁵When great storms stir up the sea, clouds usually cover the sky and conceal the heavenly luminaries. The figure of the roaring of the sea is therefore followed by that of darkness. (Ps. 18:12).

and he will look to the land Heb. וְנִבַּט, an expression of looking. Israel will look and hope that the kings of the land, upon whom they rely, will assist them, like the matter that is stated (infra 31:1): “Those who go down to Egypt for aid.”

And if he look unto the land, etc. For they⁴⁶They, the hostile armies, whose attack is compared to the roaring of the sea, will be on the land—that is to say, will reach the inhabitants of the land, the Israelites—and cause them harm and distress; they will not be like the roaring of the sea, for that does not hurt the people on land. will be on the land, not on the sea. And behold darkness. Darkness is here a figure for the distress of the heart. ונבט According to some it is Niphal, And it is looked; but I think it is Piel, And he looks, and its subject is Israel, the same to whom reference is made in the word עליו, as I have already stated.

and behold darkness for they will have no support. וְנִבַּט is in the passive voice (נִפְעַל) like וְלֹא נִפְתַּח, will not open up, וְלֹא נִתַּק, will not be torn, and the ‘vav’ causes the tense to be reversed to the future. Ediert esvuardeyd in O.F.

צר ואור According to some, Sun and moon; according to others, Moon and sun, because the moon is small (צַר) if compared with the sun; R. Adonim thinks that ה is omitted, צהר═צר light; for the letters א ה ו י are sometimes present in a word when they are superfluous, and at others omitted where they properly form part of the root; but he is mistaken, because ה does not belong to the vowel letters, and cannot be dropped except at the end of a word, where it replaces א. I take צר literally; it has here the same meaning as in Ps. 119:143, namely, distress, or—being an adjective—distressed. Palestine will be darkened by distress as well as by the sun, which will cast a gloom over her at the time of her destruction; for a mist will rise and hide the sun.

the distressed one and the light shall darken Comp. (infra 31:3) “And the helper shall stumble and the one who is helped shall fall.” He who is distressed, upon whom the trouble has come, as well as he who comes to bring light to him, both of them will darken. Some interpret צַר as the moon, whose light was diminished, צַר [meaning narrow,] and אוֹר as the sun, [meaning light].

בעריפיה In her destructions.⁴⁷A. V., In the heavens thereof. Comp. יערף (Hos. 10:2) He will destroy; similar to it is וערפתו And break its neck (Exod. 13:13)

in its eclipse Heb. בַּעֲרִיפֶיהָ. When its darkening comes. An expression similar to (Deut. 32:2): “Shall drip (יַעֲרֹף) like rain,” for so is the nature that when rain falls, the light darkens.