פירוש על ישעיהו 3:30

removes from Jerusalem... This entire section is explained in Tractate Chagigah (14a): Isaiah cursed Israel [i.e., prophesied tribulations for them] with eighteen curses, yet he was not satisfied until he said, (verse 5) “The youth shall behave haughtily against the old, and the base against the honorable.”

THIS Chapter is either the explanation of the latter part of Chapter II., beginning the cedars, the mountains, etc. (2:13, ff.) or the continuation of the subject, commencing Cease, ye from man, etc. (2:22); I adopt this latter view.

משען ומשענה. The stay and the staff. Poetically said for every kind of staff. ¹The repetition of a noun with or without the variation of its form is often used for כל, all; for instance, איש איש every man, Lev. 15:2, חכם מחכם wise in every respect (Prov. 30:24), שממה ומשמה all kinds of desolation (Ez. 6:14, comp. Job 30:3). The explanation of the figure follows immediately, The whole stay of bread and water.

soothsayer This denotes the king, as it is stated: (Prov. 16:10) “[Like] soothsaying on the lips of a king.”

The mighty man. He who has the strength required for a successful war.²The words required for a successful war have no direct equivalent in the Hebrew text, but are understood. Without this addition the remark of I. E. would have no sense. I.E. evidently endeavours to show how all the categories mentioned in this verse might contribute to save the nation from imminent ruin by a foreign conqueror. The first two are enabled by valour and practice to lead the people against the approaching enemy, the second two to keep them from unjust, the third from unsuccessful undertakings. I. E. adds before the astrologer the word also (גם), and before the charmer (ver. 3) the word even (אפילו), to indicate the distinction between them and the others; while the latter promote the welfare of the country in reality, the merits of the former exist only in the imagination of the credulous people.

The man of war. He who has the experience.

The judge, who is asked to show the right way according to the law. The prophet, who serves the same purpose; and also the astrologer,³A.V., the prudent. Root קסם, to decide, to give judgment. In his commentary on Deut. (18:10) Ibn Ezra leaves it uncertain whether קוסם has the general meaning prognosticator, and includes the מעונן מנחש מכשף as three kinds of קוסם who pretend to derive their knowledge of the future from the clouds, from predictive signs or experiments, or the special meaning, an astrologer, who foretells the future by stars; קוסם is in the latter case coordinate with the other three. who foretells future events through the science of astrology.

The ancient, who has profited by the changes and trials of life.

counsellor One who knows how to intercolate the years and fix the months.

חכם חרשים The cunning artificer.

skillful craftsman [explained by the Talmud as “wise of the deaf,” meaning that] when he commences [to speak of] words of Torah, all become as deaf [i.e., unable to refute his statement].

נבון לחש The charmer. Even he that understands to charm the serpents, will be taken away. According to some, the eloquent orator; comp. מתלחשים whispering (2 Sam. 12:19).⁴לחש, to whisper, to speak; 1st ,נבון לחש. One that understands to whisper, to conjure by whispering charming formulas. 2nd. One that understands to speak ; an orator.

one who understands secrets [The Talmud separates this into two, explaining “understanding” as one capable of deducing a decision from an earlier premise. “Secret” is explained as] one fit to be entrusted with secrets of the Torah, given in whispers, such as the story of Creation and the account of the Celestial Chariot, related in Ezekiel 1.

And I will appoint youths as their princes These are people devoid of any observance of the commandments.

תעלולים Babes. The ת is not a radical letter; root עול to be young. Comp. עולל child (Jer. 6:11). העלולים is here an adjective, they that are young,⁵The adjective (שם התואר) includes those adjectives which in consequence of the qualified noun being omitted, are treated as nouns; e.g., החכם the wise האיש החכם═, The wise man; העלולים, Young תעלולים אנשים═, Young men. More correctly this word may be explained as an abstract noun, which is used instead of the concrete ; childishness═children. but in chap. 66:4, it is a noun, childishness, delusions.

and scorners will rule over them Heb. וְתַעֲלוּלִים [related to the Aramaic תַּעֲלֵי] foxes, [i.e.,] weak people. But I say that according to the simple meaning, תַּעֲלוּלִים means scornful people, people who mock them, as (Job 16:15): “I soiled (וְעוֹלַלְתִּי) my radiance in the dust,” and (Exod. 10: 2): “how I mocked (הִתְעַלַּלְתִּי) the Egyptians.”

And the people shall be oppressed They shall be pressed and oppressing each other with competition and strife.

וְנִנַּשׂ And shall be oppressed. Niphal; like נִצָּב (3:13), he is standing up. According to some, and shall oppress; the נ being radical, and נִנַּשׁ piel.

they shall behave haughtily, the youth against the elder The youth will raise himself over the elder.

ירהבו They will have power or dominion ;⁶A.V., Shall behave himself proudly. comp. רהב power (51:9)

and the base against the honorable [This is to be interpreted] according to its simple meaning. The exegetical meaning is as follows: Let one to whom grave interdicts seem light come and raise himself over one to whom light interdicts seem grave.

When a man shall seize his brother When a man shall seize his brother in his father’s house, saying, “You are wealthy in Torah, and it is as white to you as a garment.”

The house of his father. His family.

be an officer to us and teach us.

לכה To thee. It is the same as לך though having an additional שמלה לכה .ה thy clothing be to thee.⁷A.V., Thou hast clothing. We do not ask thee to give us clothing.

and this obstacle upon which we are stumbling, in prohibition or permissibility, in defilement or in purity, shall be under your hand, for you know how to instruct us. Another explanation is: You have a garment to clothe the naked.

This ruin. Jerusalem (comp. 5:8.).—This is just the style in which people speak while labouring under strong excitement.⁸This remark seems to refer to this ruin, which Jerusalem in her despair exclaims, while pointing to herself.

and this obstacle fajjlejjnca in O.F. [faibless in modern French]. My want, that I lack bread, is under your hand to supply me. Therefore, you shall be to us as an officer. He replies, In my house there is neither bread nor clothing. What then are my qualifications as an officer?

He shall swear on that day [lit. he will raise. The word יִשָּׂא] is only an expression of swearing; he will swear to them, I will not be a ‘Chovesh.’ I will not be one of those confined to the study hall, since, in my house there is neither bread nor clothing; I have understanding neither of the Mishnah nor of the Aggadah. Another explanation according to the simple meaning is: I will not be a confiner; I will not be a judge, who confines the convicts to prison.

יִשא He will swear (comp. לא תשא את שם ײ thou shalt not swear by the name of the Lord, Exod. 20:7).

חובש Ruler.⁹A.V., Healer. According to I. E., 1st ,עצר═חבש, to keep or press together; 2nd, to rule. See note 20, c. i., and I. E. on Job 34:17. It is the same verb as in הובש מכה ‘ dressing a wound ;’ comp. עֶצֶר power (Judg. 18:7).

There is no clothing. Even for myself.

For Jerusalem stumbled They are all faulty and falling, and no one assists the next one. Why? Because they refused to obey, and now, they all provoke.

כי לשונם ומעלליהם אל ה׳ For their tongue and their doings with regard to the Lord.¹⁰A.V., Are against the Lord.

for their tongue and their deeds are against the Lord [lit. to the Lord;] against Him to provoke Him.

למרות To provoke. ל has Pathah, because of the omission of ה, the characteristic of the Hiphil; להמרות ═ למרות comp. להנחותם ═ לנחותם to lead them (Ex. 13:21).

to provoke the eyes of His glory to provoke before His glory. Another explanation is: to provoke the matters of His glory.

The eyes of His glory. Publicly.¹¹The eyes of His glory are, according to Ibn Ezra, the eyes of all nature, which witness the actions done publicly.

The recognition of their faces The sin that they recognize faces [i.e., show favoritism] in judgment testified against them before Me. Another version is: The recognition of their faces—They are recognizable by the boldness of their faces.

הכרת. According to some, the cutting off, derived from כרת to cut off, but more correctly, the knowing of; comp. הכירהו they knew him (Gen. 42:8); the Dagesh in כ indicates the omission of the radical נ which appears in ינכר He is known (Prov. 26:24).¹²The first explanation is probably rejected, because הכרת would then be status constructus with the definite article ; and this is very exceptional. He who is able to judge of the constitution of the whole body from the face will find in it the declaration and confession of the truth; no further evidence is wanted.¹³Their evil designs are clearly written in their face, and easily to be discovered by those who are versed in reading countenances.

like Sodom they told, they did not deny They committed [sins] publicly.

And they tell their sin like Sodom. They do not even conceal their sins; for he who does conceal them feels at least ashamed of what he has done.

Praise the righteous man for he is good Say to the righteous man that he did good.

אמרו According to some, Praise ye (comp. Dent. 26:17); I prefer Say ye, from אמר to say—in the heart or with the mouth.¹⁴In the heart or with the mouth—that is, to think or to declare—is added because the context—here as well as Deut. 26:17—requires rather the verb to think, to be convinced, than to speak. In his commentary on Deut. 27:11, I. E. confesses to have obtained this explanation from R. Jehudah Hallevi.

Shall they eat. They, that is, all the righteous (for these words have to be supplied);¹⁵The ellipsis is assumed by I. E. to explain the discord between the singular צדיק and the plural יאכלו. as if to say, Do not think that only one righteous man shall enjoy the fruit of his actions. This verse is closely connected with the preceding.¹⁶The preceding verse concludes with exclaiming : Woe unto them, etc. In this verse it is shown that they might as well have enjoyed the divine blessings, for the righteous enjoy, etc.

Woe to the wicked [who does] evil For he is bad to himself and to others; he brings about harm to himself and to others. [This is found] in Tanchuma (Emor 5). This verse refers back to: Say to the righteous that he is good and woe is to the wicked [who does evil].

רע. Bad. According to some it is in apposition to אוי woe. Woe, evil, etc. I take it rather as an attribute to רשע woe to the hardened sinner.

their rulers are mockers Heb. נֹגְשָׂיו מְעוֹלֵל, they are mockers.

נגשיו מעולל Every one of his rulers is playful.¹⁷A.V., Children are their oppressors. Compare 2:11. The מ in מעולל is not essential; מעולל is an adjective, and not a participle.¹⁸מְעוֹלֵל is the regular form of the participle Polel of עלל, to do, to mock; according to I. E. it is an adjective, and has the same meaning as עוֹלֵל young, playful.

and women govern them Heb. נָשִׁים. Adulterous women govern them, as he states below (verse 16): “Since the daughters of Zion were haughty,” and they turned their hearts to evil; therefore, all weaklings governed them. Jonathan renders it as an expression of creditors (נוֹשִׁים) [rendering: and as creditors they govern them].

מישריך ═ מאשריך They that lead thee. א in מאשריך is instead of י, for the letters א ה ו י interchange; comp. 1:17.—They that ought to guide you mislead you.

Your leaders Heb. מְאַשְּׁרֶיךָ. Your leaders, who should have led you on the good way, lead you astray.

בלעו They have destroyed. (Literally, they have swallowed up.) They have destroyed the way to such an extent that it is no more to be recognised.

they have destroyed Spoiled.

stands to plead [i.e., to judge the case] of Israel standing, so to speak, so as not to be strict in their judgment.

The Lord standeth up. Therefore the Lord standeth up.¹⁹This remark of I. E. is to show that the prediction contained in this verse is the consequence of the preceding, and that the conjunction על כן therefore is to be supplied. לריב To plead. It is not the noun, ריב the strife, with the preposition ל, but infinitive Hiphil; the same is to be said concerning. לדין To judge.—This verse refers to the punishments to be decreed by Him.

and stands to judge the nations Heb. ועמד. He delays and dwells on their judgment. This expression of standing means delay.

עמים People. A great many; comp Deut. 32:19

The Lord will enter into judgment with the elders of His people For they should have protested (Shabbath 55a), and to the nations He says, And you have ravaged My vineyard. I became slightly incensed [against them,] and you helped to do harm.

Ye have eaten up, etc. How can you be the judges of my people, when you yourselves, etc. בערתם You have eaten up. Comp. Exod. 22:4. The vineyard. That is, Israel.

the spoils of the poor [of] a poor generation, for they were poor in good deeds. All this is in the Midrash Aggadah, but according to its simple meaning, the entire section deals with Israel, and “stands to judge the peoples,” refers to the tribes.

and you have ravaged the vineyard The elders and the officers ‘ate up’ the rest of the people.

What to you mean Heb. מַלָּכֶם, like מַה לָכֶם, what do you mean? [lit. What is to you?]

מלכם What mean you ? Dagesh in ל compensates for the omitted מה לכם ═ מלכם .ה is compounded, of two words, like (מה זה ═)מזה What is that (Exod. 4:3).

you grind Crush and degrade to disgrace them in their lawsuit.

Ye grind. Metaphorically said, for you put to shame and contempt.

And the Lord said Concerning the women who governed My people, “Since the daughters of Zion are so haughty...”

ומשקרות And wantonly looking about. In Rabbinical literature a woman of this class is called סקרנית (Bereshith Rabba, 100:19).

and winking eyes Heb. וּמְשַׂקְּרוֹת, an expression of looking. Another explanation is: They paint their eyes with vermilion or with blue eye shade.

וטפוף According to some, Speaking; comp. והטף And prophesy (Ez. 21:2); but the grammatical principles of the Hebrew language will not admit of this explanation ; according to others, Mincing—comp. אטיף, the Chaldæan translation of הציף He made overflow (Deut. 11:8)—‘ moving slowly, like one that swims upon the surface of the water.’ Others, again, derive it from טף Little ones (Est. 3:16), and I incline to this opinion ; walking slowly like a child. ²⁰The first explanation makes טפוף related to נטף, to drop; Hiphil: to speak, to prophesy. The second derives it from צוף ═ טוף, to swim, to go slowly; the third takes it as a denominative from טף, child: to walk like a child.

walking and raising themselves they walk Heb. ותפוף. This is an expression of something floating on another, as (Deut. 11:4): “over whom He caused...to flow (הֵצִיף),” which the Targum renders as אַטֵיף. Thus, a tall one would walk between two short ones, in order to appear to be floating over them (Shabbath 62b). Jonathan, however, renders: and with wigs they surround themselves. They would tie wigs, braids of cut-off hair. They would twist together with their braids so that they would appear thick and broad.

תעכסנה They put spurs. They wear spurs on their feet, like riding-men; according to some, they make a tinkling with their spurs.

and with their feet they spout venom When they would pass in the street near Jewish youths, they would stamp their feet and hint to them of the affection of the adulteresses, in order to arouse their temptation, like the venom of a serpent. עֶכֶס is the venom of a serpent.

And the Lord shall smite with zaaraath Heb. וְשִׂפַּח. This is an expression of zaraath [believed to be a form of leprosy, see Commentary Digest II Kings 5:1], as (in Leviticus 13:6): “It is a mispachath (מִסְפַּחַת).” But since it is written with a ‘sin,’ our Sages expounded about it that they would become enslaved maidservants (שְׁפָחוֹת), and some expounded it to mean that He smote them with many families (מִשְׁפָּחוֹת) of lice.

ושפח And he will smite with a scab. It has the same root as מספחת scab (Lev. 13:6), although written with שׂ; comp. בסורי ═ בשׂורי when I turn away (Hos. 9:12).

shall pour out their “vessels” Heb. פָּתְהֵן יְעָרֶה. Their vessels He shall pour out. This is the Aramaic language, like “a black vessel” פַּתְיָא אוּכְמָא [in] (Pesachim 88a). They would say, Let Him hurry and hasten His deed, to bring on the invaders. An officer will see me and take me. When the retribution came, Nebuchadnezzar’s officers took them for wives because of their beauty. Thereupon, the Holy One, blessed be He, signaled to their ‘fountains,’ and blood of an issue flowed from them profusely, as a person pours from one vessel to another. They became loathsome to them, and they cast them to the ground from upon their chariots (Lamentations Rabbah 4:15). Jonathan, however, rendered: He will remove their glory. פתהן means wideness or greatness.

פתהן Some supply א, so that פאתהן ═ פתהן the locks of their head ; but I compare it rather with הפותות the hinges (1 Kings 7:50), that is, the back of the doors, and find in this verse the description of the plagues of the whole body, from the head to the foot.

On that day In the future, when the Holy One, blessed be He, will come to restore Israel to Him, the Lord shall remove from them the glory of the shoes, that they will not depend for their glory on the beauty of women’s jewelry and objects of vanity.

עכסים Ornaments for the foot.

the shoes The shoes that were on their feet with which they spouted venom.

שביסים Hapax legomenon; according to some, an ornament for the legs.

and the embroidered headdresses Heb. והשביסים. Types of headdresses for the ornaments of the head. Many [instances of this word] are found in the language of the Mishnah: the embroidered headdress (שביס) of the hair net (Kelim 28:10).

שהרנים A moonlike ornament of the girdle, derived from the Chaldæan סהרא moon; סהר (Song 7:2) is generally explained in the same way.

and the hair nets Heb. וְהַשַׂהַרֹנִים. Jonathan renders: the hair nets.

The necklaces [Jonathan renders:] עַנְקַיָא, necklaces, an expression similar to (Proverbs 1:9): “And necklaces (עֲנָקִים) for your throat.” They are called נְטָפוֹת, meaning “to drip,” because they hang on the neck and drip onto the breast, and they are a sort of pierced pearls, strung on a string, mostnecs in O.F.

נטיפות Hap. leg. According to some, an ornament for the hair.

and the bracelets Heb. וְהַשֵּׁרוֹת, bracelets for the arm, translated וְשִׁירַיָא.

שרות An ornament for the ears; according to others, bracelets; comp. שרין the Chaldean translation of אצעדה bracelets (Num. 31:50).

and the veils Heb. וְהָרְעָלוֹת. A veil with which they envelop their entire countenance except the eyeball, so that a man will desire to satisfy himself by gazing at the cheeks. Another explanation is that they are types of pretty shawls, with which to enwrap themselves, and in the language of the Mishnah, there is an instance: “Shawled (רְעוּלוֹת) Arabian women,” in Tractate Shabbath (65a).

רעלות Hap. leg. An ornament for the cheeks.

The tiaras Heb. פְּאֵרִים. The Targum renders: tiaras. This resembles (Exodus 39:28): “the beautiful hats (פַּאֲרֵי הַמִּגְבָּעוֹת).”

פארים comp. תפארת ornament; for the hands.

and the foot chains Heb. וְהַצְּעָדוֹת, circlets for the legs.

צעדות An ornament for the arms; comp. אצעדה bracelet (which Saul wore on his arm, 2 Sam. 1:10). א of אצעדה is pleonastic, as the א in אזרוע (Jer. 32:21).

and the hair ribbons [Lit. ties,] as the name implies, short ties with which they tie their hair, and some make them gilded, fres in O.F.

קשרים A well-known ornament for the neck.

and the clasps Heb. וּבָתֵּי הַנֶּפֶשׁ, [the houses of the soul] opposite the heart, nosche in O.F.

בתי הנפש An ornament for the breast; the breast is called נפש soul, because it is the seat of the soul, it contains the heart.

and the earrings Heb. לְחָשִׁים, rings for the ear, the place into which people whisper (לוֹחֲשִׁים).

לחשים Amulets. Inscriptions on gold and silver, for a charm.

טבעות Rings, for the fingers.

נזמי האף Nose jewels; I have already described them (Gen. 24:22)

The tunics Heb. הַמַּחֲלָצוֹת. [Jonathan renders:] כִּתּוּנַיָּא as in Samuel (2 2:21): and take to yourself his clothing (חֲלִיצָתוֹ), for the body is clothed with them, and when they are removed, they are removed from the body (חוֹלְצִין).

מחלצות Changeable suits of garments, worn over the dress; comp. חלצתו his armour (2 Sam. 2:21), which is worn over the garments.²⁰The Hebrew text has אלה בגדים, which is evidently a mistake, and is to be altered to על הבגדים.

and the bedspreads Heb. וְהַמַּעֲטָפוֹת, bedspreads, according to the Targum, who renders שׁוֹשִׁיפַיָא.

מעטפות Mantles. A dress wherein the woman wraps herself. According to some, מחלצות shifts; מעטפות trowsers.

and the tablecloths Heb. וְהַמִּטְפָחוֹת, tablecloths. and the purses Heb. וְהַחֲרִיטִים. [Jonathan] translates it as מַחְכַּיָּא, [an ornament] bearing the shape of the woman’s private parts, as we translate כּוּמָז (Ex. 35:22) as מָחוֹךְ.

מטפחות Vails (comp. Ruth 3:15).

הריטים According to some, a dress in the form of a Taleth²¹The scarf still worn by the Jews in prayer. (this word has a similar meaning in Arabic ²²حَرِيطَةٌ bag. But bag and Taleth not being very similar, the words קרוב מל ישמעאל, similar to the Arabic, contain perhaps a second explanation, so that three various different of the word חריטים are given, namely, Taleth, bag, figures. Before קרוב the word או, or, must then be added, which would better agree with the next או than the preceding יש אומרים, According to some. From the remark of I. E. in his commentary on Exodus (32:4), it appears that the second explanation is his own.), or figures (comp. 8:1), as I shall explain further on (ibid.)

The mirrors Heb. גִּלְיוֹנִים. These are mirrors, as the Targum renders: מַחְזְיָתָא, miradojjr in O.F., and because they reveal (מְגַלּוֹת) the form of the face, they are called גִּלְיוֹנִים, or perhaps their mirrors were rolled (נִגְלָלוֹת).

נליונים Cloth (cp. 8:1).

and the sheets of linen with which they would enwrap themselves.

סדינים Fine linen (cp. Pr. 31:24).

and the turbans Heb. וְהַצְּנִיפוֹת, molekin in O.F.

צניפות An ornament for the head;

and the clasps Heb. וְהַרְדִידִים, Fermalc in O.F., and they are of gold with which the shawl is closed when the woman enwraps herself therein.

רדידים. In Arabic,²³رِدَاعٌ Mantle. this word signifies a dress in form of a taleth. All these things here enumerated are, in general, articles of clothing, and vary with the fashion of the country.

And it shall come to pass, that, instead of perfume, there will be decay The place where they would perfume themselves will be decayed.

בושם Sweet smell. It keeps the body fresh and healthy.

and in the place of a girdle, laceration Heb. נקפה. The place where she girded herself, there will be lacerated, cut with wounds and signs of blows, as (Job: 19:26): “And after my skin is cut to pieces (נִקְּפוּ)”; (infra 10:34) “and the thickets of forest shall be cut down (וְנִקַּף).”

מק Rottenness is nearly the opposite of the preceding. Root מקק, to rot; verb, ע״ע; comp. תמקנה They shall consume away (Zac. 14:2).

and in the place of the deed, a wound Heb. (מַעֲשֶׂה מִקְשֶׁה). [The place where they would do the deed mentioned above: “walking and raising themselves they walk,” and that is at the height of the head, there will be] מִקְשֶׁה קָרְחָה, a wound that makes the head bald. מִקְשֶׁה is an expression similar to (Daniel 5:6): “knocked one against the other (נַקְשָׁן).” I would explain it as follows: The place where they would put the plates of gold made by hammering batdec in O.F.but it is vowelized in the Masorah among the ten words vowelized with a ‘pattach’ [i.e., a ‘segol,’ and none of them is connected to the following word, and every [instance of the word] that is in the construct state is vowelized with a ‘kamatz’ [i.e., a ‘tzeireh’].

נקפה A noun; נ is radical; we may fairly compare with it ונקף And he shall cut down (10:34); its mean-is a kind of cutting.

and in the place of the organ of levity Heb. וְתַחַתפְּתִיגִיל. This is like two words: פְּתִי גִיל, a vessel [or organ] that brings levity; the secret parts about which is mentioned above: shall pour out their ‘vessels.’ Instead of that levity, a girdle of sackcloth will be on all loins.

מעשה מקשה Well set hair; comp. עשה שפמו ולא Nor trimmed his beard (1 Sam. 19:25).

for this is instead of beauty For this is fitting for them to have instead of the beauty with which they acted haughtily.

פתיגיל A fine embroidered garment, which is worn over all the dresses.

כי תחת יופי According to Saadiah: for the contrary (תחת) is more fit for them; others take כויה ═ כי burning (Exod. 21:24); comp. ברויה ═ ברי (root רוה) with plenty (Job. 37:11); but this is contrary to the rules of the grammar, since ו in כויה is radical. I think the passage must be taken in this sense: For instead of beauty, the above-mentioned consumption, destruction and baldness shall come.²⁴Ibn Ezra rejects the identity of כי and רי ,כויה and רויה; he takes the ב in ברי as radical, and explains ברי pure; root כי תחת יופי .ברר is translated by Saadiah: إنَّ ٱلتَّبْدِيلُ أحْمَلُ لَهُم

Your men Your heroes, your men of war, who go out in the army with a number.

The women shall become widows in consequence of the death of their husbands in war. וגבורתך And the men of thy strength. Supply מתי the men of; comp. והנבואה עודד הנביא And the prophecy, the prophecy of the prophet Oded (2 Chr. 15:8)

shall lament Heb. וְאָנוּ, an expression of lamentations.

ואנו And they shall lament; comp. באני In my sorrow (Deuter. 26:14); root און to lament, it is a weak verb (ע״ו); the accent is on the ultima. as in וסרו And shall depart (Exod. 8:1).²⁵The laws of Hebrew accentuation demand that the bi-syllabic forms of verbs עֹוֹ and ע״ע should have the accent on the first syllable; אָנֽוּ is therefore an exception to the rule.

her gates The gates of the towns and houses. In all their gates will be lamentation.

פתחיה Her gates. Those of Zion, which is mentioned at the beginning of the chapter.²⁶Jerusalem is mentioned in the first verse of this chapter, Zion and Jerusalem are, however, the same, as a figure representing the Hebrew nation.

and she shall be emptied out Heb. ונקתה, lit., and she shall be cleansed, meaning: and she shall be emptied of everything, like (Amos 4:6): “And behold, I have given you cleanness of teeth (נִקְיוֹן שִׁנַּיִם),” [meaning hunger,] and in the language of the Mishnah; “So-and-so was cleaned out (נקי) of his belongings” (Baba Kamma 41a).

ונקתה And she shall be desolate. Comp. נקיון שנים cleanness of teeth (Am. 4:6).

she shall sit on the ground [This denotes figuratively that they will be reduced] from a high station to a low one. (Lam. 2: 10) “...shall sit on the ground and remain silent,” on the Ninth of Av.

She will sit. The pronoun refers to Zion.