Commentaire de citation sur Isaïe 51:15

wrinkled Heb. רגע wrinkled, as in (Isa. 51:15), “Who wrinkles (רגע) the sea.” Another explanation: עוֹרִי רָגַע is an expression of resting a wave after a wave, like wrinkles (?).

ברגע For a moment. The preposition ב is here pleonastic as in בתחלה at the beginning בראשונה at first.¹⁶The Hebrew text has בראשון; but since this word has the meaning in the first month, it is to be emended into בראשנה, at first; comp. I. E. on 1:26.—The ב in ברגע may justly be considered as superfluous, since רגע is here used as a noun, and the accusative without the preposition ב would likewise express the duration of time. This is not the case with בתחלה, which without the preposition is a noun, the beginning; with the preposition it is an adverb meaning at first. Some say that the meaning of רגע is rebuke; comp. רוגע who rebuketh.¹⁷A. V., That divided. (51:15); their opinion is supported by the parallelism of the verse.¹⁸By the parallelism רגע is the opposite of רחמים mercy.

לִרְגָעִים as is an expression of breaking, like (Isa. 51:15): “Who splits (ַרוֹגַע) the sea;” (Job 7:5), “my skin split (רָגַע);” (Ps. 35:20), “and against the crushed people of (רִגְעֵי) the earth,” [synonymous with] דִכְּאֵי “the crushed people of the earth.” Menachem, however, explained it (p. 162) in the sense of רֶגַע, a moment, as in (Ps. 30:6): “For His wrath lasts but a moment (רֶגַע).”

רקח מרקחת A COMPOUND COMPOUNDED — רקח is a noun and its accent proves it, for it is on the first syllable, on the ר, so that it is a noun just as are רֶקַח in (Song 8:2) “I would cause thee to drink of the mixed wine (מיין הרקח)” and רֶגַע in (Exodus 33:5) “one moment (רֶגַע אחד)”, and it is not a participle like (Isaiah 51:15) “[I am the Lord] who stireth up (רוֹגַע) the sea”, or (Isaiah 42:5) “Who spreadeth forth (רֹקַע) the earth”, where the accent is on the last syllable. Any thing (ingredient) which is mixed with another so thoroughly that one becomes impregnated with the other as regards the smell or the taste is called a מרקחת.