פירוש על ישעיהו 37:45

proof (Aprobement in O.F.) The enemies show evidence to praise themselves with their success, saying, “Our hand has overpowered (lit., has become high), and there is no God (like our God).”

for the children have come The children of Israel, children of the Holy One, blessed be He.

as far as the birthstool and there is no strength to give birth It is a time of distress analogous to a woman sitting on the birthstool, and the fetus has no strength to come out.

and he brought proof with the words (וְהוֹכִיחַ) He told his strength and showed his success. The word והוֹכִיחַ is eprober in O.F., to prove.

and he will hear a rumor immediately. This is the rumor of Tirhakah, king of Cush, because of which he will leave you this time to battle with Tirhakah, but this is not the return to his land. Afterwards he will return here, and I am destined to return him to his land and to cause him to fall there by the sword.

And he heard i.e., the king of Assyria.

about Tirhakah...saying Tirhakah went out to wage war against you.

And he heard, and he sent emissaries The second “and he heard” is not like the first “and he heard.” The first is an expression of hearing, and the second is an expression of accepting. He accepted the report of the messengers, and it appealed to him to give thought to withdraw from Jerusalem to fight first with Cush.

and he sent emissaries to Hezekiah to notify [him] that he was not withdrawing completely, but with the intention of returning.

Eden the name of a kingdom, as it is stated (Ezekiel 27:23): “Haran and Canneh and Eden.”

He exiled [them] and twisted [them] (וְעִוָּה הֵנַע) The king of Assyria exiled him and twisted him; he destroyed them and exiled them from their place.

Indeed, O Lord It is true that the kings of Assyria destroyed

all the countries and their land “The countries” refers to the (capitals) of the provinces, and (“their land” refers to) the land near them, the royal cities, which are the heads of the provinces, he calls “countries” and the remaining regions surrounding them he calls “their land.” And in the Book of II Kings (19:7) it is written: “the nations and their land.” It has, however, one meaning.

And committing (Heb. וְנָתֹן). Comp. (Gen. 41:43) “And appointing (וְנָתוֹן) him over all the land of Egypt,” an expression of the infinitive. Comp. “saying” (אָמוֹר), “remembering” (זָכוֹר), (donnant in French, giving).

wood and stone are they; therefore, they had no power, and the king of Assyria destroyed them.

to the heights of mountains the Temple mount.

to the end of the Lebanon the Temple.

and I will cut down its tallest cedars I will not go to my land until I destroy it.

its remotest height (lit., the height of) its end.

its farmland forest The best of its praise and the intensity of its strength.

I dug and drank (קַרְתִּי) I.e., to say, I started all my deeds and completed them and succeeded, as one who digs a hole and finds water and succeeds. This is an expression of a spring (מָקוֹר).

3. In the book of Kings there is the addition of the words נהרי זרים═זרים, the rivers of strangers, after מים water.

and I dry up with the soles of my feet If I would besiege a city reliant on the strength of its rivers, I would bring upon it many troops, and the water of their rivers would be depleted from their drinking and the drinking of their cattle and by the treading of their feet.

and I dry up (lit., and I will dry up) This is the present tense, i.e., to say, so is my wont always.

rivers of the siege The rivers of the city that is besieged through its rivers. ([Mss. yield:] that is besieged by me.)

Have you not heard Now why do you boast? This is not yours, for this is a decree that emanated from Me many years ago, that you will exact My recompense from the nations, as the matter is written (supra 10:5): “Woe! Assyria is the rod of My wrath.”

Have you not heard from long ago More than seventy years (correct version as in Parshandatha and Warsaw edition) since Amos prophesied two years before the earthquake (Amos 7:17), “and Israel shall be exiled from upon its land.” Since then, you should have heard that I wrought and prepared this retribution.

in days of yore Since the six days of Creation, that decree that was decreed upon you entered My mind, as it is said (supra 30:33): “For Tophteh is set up from yesterday, that too has been prepared for the king.” Now that I have given you superiority over the nations, I have brought it, that decree, in order that it shall be to make desolate, blossoming hills [of] fortified cities, that you shall slay their inhabitants and they shall remain devoid of people and they shall be prepared for hills where vegetation grows.

And their inhabitants became short of strength (lit. short of hand.) I weakened the strength before you.

and stubble before [becoming] standing grain (וּשְׁדֵמָה) That is what is called ‘estoble’ in O.F., stubble, what remains in the ground, the roots of the harvest.

before [becoming] standing grain When it has not yet reached the time to ripen and harden, to become standing grain, and it is weak and tender.

before standing grain Before becoming standing grain.

And your sitting and your going out and your coming I know Jonathan paraphrased: And your sitting in counsel, and your going out to wage war, and your coming to the land of Israel, is revealed to Me. When the thought entered your mind, and you took counsel to destroy My house, I knew it.

you have raged against Me Your raging and your becoming overpowering toward Me (acc. to Parshandatha).

and your tumult (וְשַׁאֲנַנְךָ) like וּשְׁאוֹנְךָ.

My ring (חַחִי in Heb.) It is a kind of ring that is inserted into the lip of an unruly animal by which to pull it.

and My bit Jonathan renders וּזְמַם, which is made of iron, and which they insert into the nostrils of a female camel. This is what we learned, “and the female camel with a nose ring” in Tractate Shabbath (5:1). (This is difficult in view of the wording of the verse, which places חַח in the nose and מֶתֶג in the lips.)

And this shall be the sign for you This statement is not addressed to Sennacherib, but the prophet said to Hezekiah, “And this salvation shall be a sign for you for another promise. Now the legions have destroyed all the vegetation and chopped off the trees, and the Holy One, blessed be He, promises you that you will have sufficient from the shoots of the plants that will grow by themselves.”

this year you shall eat (אָכוֹל) to eat this year.

and the next year what grows from the tree stumps (Heb. שָׁחִיס.) They are the shoots of the stumps. So it appears in Seder Olam (ch. 23), but Jonathan renders: כַּתְכַּתִּין, the shoots of the shoots. And this will be the sign for you; when you see that my words, that Sennacherib will return to his land and he will fall, are fulfilled, you will believe that the second promise will yet be fulfilled.

the zeal of the Lord of Hosts that He will be zealous for His Name and not because of the merit you possess. We learn that the merit of the Patriarchs has been depleted.

nor shall he advance upon it with a shield (Heb. יְקַדְּמֶנָּה.) He shall not set a shield before it, since the Aramaic of “before” is קֳדָם.

nor shall he pile up a siege mound against it [Targum renders:] He should not pile up against it a landfill. I say that they pour out earth and pile it up against the walls and towers so that they can build a rampart.

a siege mound (סֹלְלָה) since it is trodden (סוֹלְלִים) and pressed down with sledge hammers in order that it harden. The Targum renders: מִלֵּיתָא, since they first make for it two walls of a fence of reeds and pour the earth between them and press it down there after they have filled (מִלְאוּ) the walls. And I heard that they interpret it as the throwing of huge stones, called perere in O.F., but the expression of piling up, lit., spilling, does not apply to stones, neither is the expression of pressing down, nor the rendering of the Targum, appropriately for this interpretation.

And an angel of the Lord went forth, etc. After he went and battled with Cush, he returned and came to Jerusalem, and at the time an angel of the Lord went forth. In the following manner, it was taught in Seder Olam (ch. 23): (supra v. 7) “Behold I will imbue him with a desire, and he will hear a rumor,” as it is said (v. 9): “And he heard about Tirhakah etc.” He swept Shebna (the scribe) ([Warsaw edition:] the treasurer) and his company and led them in chains, and went away to Cush, and took all the coveted treasures, and came to Jerusalem, to fulfill what was stated (infra 45: 14): “The toil of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush...shall pass over to you.” This refers to Jerusalem. “After you they shall go.” This refers to Hezekiah. At that time, “And...sent Tartan and Rabsaris.” They are the ones mentioned in the Book of Kings (2 18:17), and they are the emissaries concerning whom it is stated that he sent after the rumor, as it is said (v. 9), “And he sent emissaries to Hezekiah,” and they did not come with Rabshakeh on his first mission. And concerning those letters, Hezekiah replied (v. 22), “...has despised you, has mocked you.” At that time, “an angel of the Lord went out and slew, etc.” All of them were kings with crowns ti ed to their heads, and the smallest of them was an officer over two thousand men, and they and their armies fell.

and dwelt in Nineveh That is the capital, as it is said (Gen. 10:11): “From that land Asshur came out, and he built Nineveh.”

the temple of Nisroch A board (נֶסֶר) from Noah’s ark, as is related in the Aggadah of Chelek (San. 96a).

slew him by the sword for he said, “If you save me that my subjects do not kill me for I brought their sons here (sic) and they died, I will sacrifice my two sons before you.” They rose and slew him.