Commentaire de citation sur Isaïe 18:5

מוסר Taken away. Comp. ¹Hiphil of סור to depart; מוסר is participle Hophal: caused to depart, or taken away.הסיר He took away (18:5).

Hat man den Kopf mit einem Schlage abgetrennt. indem man das Messer nicht, wie vorgeschrieben, an der Schnittfläche entlang geführt, sondern von oben nach unten gedrückt hat. Zu והתיז vgl. Jes. 18, 5.

והיא כפרחת means AND IT WAS AS THOUGH IT BUDDED — it seemed to me in my dream as though it budded, and after the bud its blossom sprang up — i.e. it began to flower; old French spanier — and after that the clusters brought forth ripe grapes. The Targum has והיא כד אפרחת אפיקת לבלבין “and it, when it budded, brought forth blossoms”, These words (ע״כ, abbreviation for עד כאן “till here”. The abbreviation is employed to show where a quotation ends.) are the translation of the word פרחת"” only. A נץ is larger than a פרח (i.e. נץ is a later stage of the bud), as it is written (Isaiah 18:5) “and the blossom (נצה) becometh a ripening grape”, and it is written (Numbers 17:23) “And it brought forth buds (פרח)” and afterwards it states “it brought forth (ציץ) blossoms”.

ויגמל שקדים AND RIPENED INTO ALMONDS — This means that when the fruit was recognisable as such it could be recognised that they were almonds. The verb has the same meaning as in (Genesis 21:8) “And the child grew ויגמל, and became a full child” (i.e., able to do without its mother’s milk). This expression is frequently used of the fruit of trees, as e.g. (Isaiah 18:5) “And the blossom becometh a ripening (גמל) grape” (cf. Rashi on Genesis 40:10). — But why did it bring forth almonds? Because it is a fruit that blossoms earlier than all other fruits; so, too, the punishment of him who sets himself in opposition to the constituted priesthood comes quickly, just as we find stated in the case of Uzziah (II Chronicles 26:19) “And the leprosy instantly broke out in his forehead”. — Its translation in the Targum is: וכפת שגדין, meaning that it produced a kind of cluster of almonds, knotted together one upon the other (Aramaic כפת denotes “tied”).