פירוש על ישעיהו 38:21

a cake of pressed figs (דְּבֶלֶת) A pressed cake made from figs. When they are fresh, they are called תְּאֵנִים, and when they are pressed into a circular cake, they are called דְּבֵלָה.

Let them take a lump of figs, etc. This is a miracle, because the figs are injurious to him who suffers from the scab;³⁹Comp. Rashi ad locum. and the reason that the future forms וימרחו ,ישאו are used,⁴⁰The words יש אומרים of the Hebrew text give no sense; after וזה שאמר and that he says, the words, which he said, are expected. They are very probably a corruption of במצות ;ישאו ,וימרחו is either identical with, or wrongly copied for בצווי in the imperative. is, that here only the command is reported.⁴¹It is frequently the case that a command is mentioned, and it must be inferred from the context that it was carried out; comp. Zech. 3:4.

and lay it for a plaster And they shall smooth it out to cause it to adhere to the boil, and this was a miracle within a miracle, for, even healthy flesh, upon which pressed figs are placed, decays. But the Holy One, blessed be He, places an injurious substance upon vulnerable tissue, and it heals.

דבלת תאנים A lump of figs. Figs, that are opened, pressed together, and form a mass which is cut with a knife.

וימרחו And lay it for a plaster. The word has a similar meaning in Arabic; what it means is well known.⁴²مَرَخَ to rub. Comp. c. xxxiv. Note 17.