פירוש על ישעיהו 27:1

on leviathan the barlike serpent Jonathan renders: On the king who aggrandized himself like Pharaoh the first king, and upon a king who was as haughty as Sennacherib the second king. בָּרִיחַ is an expression of ‘straight’ like a bar, since he is the first. (The matter of simplicity is related to oneness. Since Pharaoh was the first great king, he is referred to as ‘the barlike serpent,’ a straight, penetrating serpent, that does not coil.)

ביום ההוא In those days.¹ביום ההוא Though singular, does not refer to one particular day, but to a whole period.

crooked An expression of ‘double,’ since he is the second one. (I.e. the bend in the serpent indicates duality, thus the number two.) And I say that these are three important nations: Egypt, Assyria, and Edom. He, therefore, stated concerning these as he said at the end of the section (v. 13), “And those lost in the land of Assyria shall come, as well as those lost in the land of Egypt,” and since the nations are likened to serpents that bite.