פירוש על ישעיהו 64:16

As fire burns something that melts because of it, and as fire causes water to bubble; when you put a coal or glowing metal into water, the water bubbles. All this You did in Egypt, as it is written (Ex. 9: 24): “And there was hail, and fire burning in the midst of the hail.” Jonathan, however, renders: “As fire burned materials that melt,” in reference to Elijah on Mount Carmel, concerning whom it is stated (I Kings 18:38): “and the water which was in the trench, it licked up.”

כקרח אש המסׁים As when the melting fire burneth, and mountains melt in the heat of the fire, and. מים תבעה אש Like the water, which the fire causeth to boil.⁵A. V., As when the fire causeth the waters to boil. As to תבעה causeth to boil (lit. swelleth) comp. אבעבעות blains (Ex. 9:9). מפניך גוים ידגזו Thus the nations would tremble at Thy presence.⁶A. V., That the nations may tremble at Thy presence.

to make Your name known to Your adversaries like the matter that is stated concerning that plague (Ex. 9:16): “But, because of this I preserved You, [in order to show you My strength, and in order to tell of My name throughout the entire land.]” Had You done this now, then nations would quake from before You.

When You performed against the Egyptians and against all the adversaries awesome deeds, that we did not hope You would perform all those awesome deeds, for we were unworthy of them.

בעשותך When thou didst.

You descended to Mount Sinai, then mountains dripped from before You. In this manner, Dunash son of Labrat explained it.

נוראות Terrible things. It is an adjective, and a noun must be supplied. Comp.⁷The Hebrew text has the words כמו ועל דרך; but either כמו or ועל דרך is superfluous, because both expressions have the same meaning: like. It is also possible that the original text had a word like חלקות (30:10) after כמו which has been omitted by some careless copyist. עזות rough words (Prov. 18:20).

לא נקוה Which we looked not for.

ירדת When thou camest down. מפניך הרים נזלו Then the mountains flowed down at Thy presence. Such things Thou hast already done in the past.

And whereof no one had ever heard like those awesome deeds performed for one of all the nations before that, and no eye had ever seen another god besides You, that the god would do for him who hoped for him what You did for him who hoped for You. I heard this from Rabbi Jose, and it pleased me. ([Manuscripts yield:] And whereof no one had ever heard like those awesome deeds performed for one of all the nations before that, neither had an eye seen God, besides your eyes, what He would do for one who hoped for Him. Another explanation is: No eye had seen that a god besides You should perform miracles for him who hoped for him, as You do for those who hope for You. From Rabbi Joseph I heard this. Our Rabbis, however, who stated (Ber. 34a): “None of the prophets prophesied except regarding the Messianic era, but the World to Come, ‘no eye saw etc.,’” expounded its meaning in the following manner: No prophet’s eye saw what the Holy One, blessed be He, will do for him who hopes for Him except Your eyes, You, O God.

לא שמעו ונו׳ Men have not heard,⁸Comp. I. E. on 2:4, Note 5. nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, etc. יעשה What he will prepare.⁹A. V., What He hath prepared for him that waiteth for Him. למחכה For him that will wait.

You smote him who rejoiced and worked righteousness Heb. פָּגַעְתָּ. Comp. (I Kings 2:34) “and he fell (וַיִּפְגַּע) upon him and slew him.” You removed from us and slew the righteous, who would rejoice to work righteousness, and with the ways of Your mercies, they would mention You in their prayer.

פגעת וגו׳ Thou didst meet him, etc.¹⁰A. V., Thou meetest him, etc. When thou wast angry in former days, thou didst meet the righteous; comp. Had not Moses, his chosen, stood before Him in the breach, to turn away His wrath? (Ps. 106:23). It may also be rendered, Thou acceptedst the prayer of him, etc. Comp. לא אפגע אדם I will not accept the prayer of any man (47:3; 53:12).

behold,...You When You became wroth with us for all that we would sin. through them of old we were saved; with their prayer. [Rashi according to Parshandatha; Printed editions are erroneous.]

את שש Him that rejoiced.¹¹A. V., Him that rejoiceth. The righteous man that rejoiced in God.^11aBetter Rashi: Him that rejoiced in doing righteousness; and Targum Jonathan: דחדיאו למעבד רעותך בקשוט וכזבו who rejoiced when performing Thy will with truth and integrity.

we would be saved A present tense [i.e., a continual procedure.]

In Thy ways. The ways which Thou hast taught us through the faithful of Thy house.¹²That is, Moses. (Comp. Num. 12:7.)—The Hebrew text has the words שהורתנו לנאמן בית, which seem to be incorrect; לנאמן בית is probably to be altered into על ידי נאמן בית.

הן אתה קצפת ונחטא But now¹³At the time, when this prayer is uttered, during the exile of the Israelites. Thou art wroth, for we have sinned, or Behold Thou wast angry,¹⁴At various times, when the Israelites were punished for their sins; as is for example pointed out in the book of Judges. for we had sinned.

בהם Through them,¹⁵A. V., In those is continuance.—The words לעולם הספירות הקצף are corrupt; they must contain the explanation of עולם, since that of בהם is given before in the words בעבור הצדיקים through the righteous. If עולם were explained by always, the most important part of the sentence, the removing of the anger, is left to the reader to supply; it is, therefore, probable that I. E. renders עולם disappearance from עלם to conceal; and the Hebrew text is to be altered into עולם י הפרת הקצף or עולם.עולם י סתירת הקצף means the disappearance of the wrath. that is, through the righteous men. עולם The disappearance of the wrath.

ונושע And we were saved.^15aA. V., And we shall be saved. It is the imperfect.¹⁶Comp. I. E. on 1:21, Note 43.

And we all have become like one unclean since the righteous have departed from us.

ונהי כטמא כלנו But now we are all as an unclean thing.

and like a discarded garment Heb. עַדִּים. [Jonathan renders:] and like a discarded garment, like a rejected garment, which all say, ‘Remove.’ עִדִּים is the Aramaic translation of removal.

עדים Filthy rags. It is derived from עַד spoil (Gen. 49:47); for the garment of the spoil is usually stained with blood.

and we...have withered like a leaf Heb. וַנָּבֶל, and we have withered like a leaf; fletrire in French.

וַנָּבֶל And we fade away. The radical נ and the prefix of the first person plural are contracted into one letter. The root of the word is נבל. Comp. נבלת, fading (1:30). There is no other word similar to it in form.¹⁶Comp. I. E. on 1:21, Note 43.

and our iniquities carry us away like the wind [Jonathan renders:] And with our sins we were carried away like the wind.

arouses himself Like ‘overpowers his temptation.’

מתעורר That stirreth up himself. It is an adjective.¹⁷Such a contraction is usually indicated by a Dagesh in the letter next to the one omitted; here the ב should have a Dagesh (וַנַּבֶּל Hiphil of נבל). The form can, however, be considered as regular if derived from בול; verbs פ״נ and ע״ו interchange sometimes; comp. סוך and נסך to anoint.

and You caused us to wander Heb. וַתְּמוּגֵנוּ, You caused us to wander.

להחזיק To take hold with his hand.¹⁸להחזיק is Hiphil, and therefore a transitive verb, governing the accusative; I. E. supplies therefore ידו; lit. to cause his hand to be strong in Thee.

ותמוגנו And hast consumed us. Comp. נמנו they melt (Ex. 15:15)

But now do unto us according to Thy will; there is no strength in us; for we are like clay, etc.

Be not wroth very sore, for Thou hast been very angry.

We are all Thy people now.

The holy cities, etc. Supply הבט, see from the preceding verse. Look at the towns which Thou hast sanctified with Thy name, and which are now desolate.

Our holy and our beautiful house. The temple.

Where our fathers praised Thee through the mouth of the Levites, the singers.¹⁹I. E. takes the verb הללוך literally: to praise, i.e., by singing, and this was done in the temple by the Levites. In a more general sense it is paraphrased in Targum Jonathan: דפלחו קדמך אבהתנא where our ancestors worshipped Thee.

will You remain silent and afflict us Will You remain silent concerning what is done to us? Until here is the prophet’s prayer. Its beginning is (supra 63:7) “The kind acts of the Lord I will mention.”

תחשה Wilt Thou hold Thy peace? Wilt Thou not hasten to save us.