פירוש על ישעיהו 58:13

If thou turn away, etc. The Lord will lead thee continually (ver. 11), if thou keep back thy foot from the sabbath; or, thou shalt be called the restorer, etc. (ver. 12), if thou turn, etc., both explanations are equally admissible.¹⁷The difference between the two explanations can hardly be seen, for if the sentence, If thou turn away, etc., is the protasis to And the Lord shall guide thee, etc., (ver. 11), the words Thou shalt be called, etc., are part of the apodosis, which includes verses 11 and 12. The following conjecture suggests itself as probable: The words או הוא דבק עם משובב נתיבות are the product of some careless copyist, who omitted the word אז after עם, and erroneously repeated, perhaps, from the preceding line the words נתיבות משובב, which must therefore be struck out. The remark of I. E., thus emended, would tell us that the conditional sentence, If thou turn, etc., may be connected with the preceding verses as well as with the succeeding. משבת From walking on sabbath.

From doing thy pleasure. Repetition of the same idea.

And thou wilt call the sabbath a delight, that thou wilt do no work on it, and thy soul will rejoice in reading the words of the Law.

The holy of the Lord. The sabbath. Honourable. The words which follow explain its meaning. And thou shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, which thou art accustomed to do in week days; the same idea is contained in the words from finding thine own pleasure. ודבר דבר Nor speaking a word,¹⁸A. V., Nor speaking thine own words. concerning any future act, or concerning worldly affairs; thou shalt only speak of the words of the Law. As a general rule observe, that we require tradition for understanding this.¹⁹Tradition explains in detail what kind of work, according to the words of the prophet, is prohibited to be done on the Sabbath, and what is allowed. Comp. Tract. Shabbath, and Erubin. In everything that concerns the religious practice, I. E., refers to tradition contained in the Talmud, that is, to the Oral Law.