Commento su Isaia 49:30

called me from the womb When I was still in the womb, the thought came before Him that my name should be Isaiah (יְשַׁעְיָה) to prophesy salvations (יְשׁוּעוֹת) and consolations.

Unto me, that is unto the prophet.

From far. That live far away; or things that will happen in remote future.

Hath called me from the birth, I shall explain this in the commentary on Jer. 1:2.¹Comp. c. xlviii. Note 10.

And He made my mouth like a sharp sword to castigate the wicked and to prophesy retribution upon them.

And He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword, to speak elegantly; or, as was the case in his prophecies against Babylon, to speak sharply; and the meaning of the whole phrase is accordingly : Although God has made my mouth like a sharp sword against the Babylonians, neither the Babylonians nor the wicked men in Israel, could do any harm to me,

He concealed me in the shadow of His hand that they be unable to harm me.

because God hath hid me in the shadow of His hand, which is to the prophet as the sheath to the sword; comp. in His quiver hath he hid me.

into a polished arrow Heb. בָּרוּר, [lit. clear,] polished, kler in O.F.

ברור Polished, when seen.²I. E. adds נראה seen, in order to show more clearly the similarity between the two figures. The prophet is compared with a sword which is sharp to inflict wounds, but is well protected by its sheath from receiving injury, and with an arrow, which is shining when let loose, but is at other times kept well in its quiver.

in His quiver A receptacle used as a case for arrows, called koujjbre in O.F.

And said. And God said. ישראל

Israel.³A. V., O Israel. That is, Thou art an Israelite of whom I am proud; or Thou art Israel, thou art estimated in mine eyes like all Israelites together. I prefer this latter explanation.

And I said, I toiled in vain when I saw that I admonish them and they do not obey.

Then I said. Then I, the prophet, said.

Yet surely my right is with the Lord He knows that it is not from me but from them [i.e., He knows that their failure to obey is not due to my laziness, but to their obstinacy].

I said to myself,

I have laboured in vain. I have troubled myself in vain to rebuke Israel; they do not hearken.

My judgment is with God. He will reward me for my trouble. ופעלתי And my wages.⁴A. V., And my work. Comp. שביר פעלת the wages of one that is hired (Lev. 19:13)

shall be gathered to Him To Him they shall return in repentance.

That formed me, etc. God formed me, that I should rebuke Israel, till they returned to Him.

לא Unto him.⁵A. V., Not. The original reading is לו unto him, as the Masorah recommends; comp. Ps. 100:5; there are some more instances of the same kind. According to the Gaon, the meaning of לא יאסף is: Will not die; he generally explains both the Keri and the Ketib;^5aComp. c. ix. Note 2. but what I said, is nevertheless right, and לא of the text is the same as לו, as the Grammarian R. Jehudah explained.⁶The quiescent letter after Holem (ō) which is also called mater lectionis, is generally ו, but sometimes א, so that לא can sometimes he written for לו. See Two Treatises, etc. ed. John W. Nutt, p. 11 (p. 13 in the Engl. Transl.).

And He said, “It is too light for you to be, etc.” In My eyes, it is too small a gift that you should have this alone, that you be My servant to establish Jacob and to bring back to Me the besieged of Israel, and behold I add more to you, “And I will make you a light for the nations,” to prophesy concerning the downfall of Babylon, which will be a joy for the whole world.

It is a slight thing, in mine eyes, that thou shouldst be a servant to bring Israel back to their land by thy word.

and the besieged of Israel Heb. וּנְצוּרֵי. Comp. (Prov. 7:10) “With a heart surrounded by evil thoughts (וּנְצֻרַת),” that their heart is surrounded by the inclination of sinful thoughts, like a city besieged by a bulwark of those who besiege it.

ונצורי And the ruins of.⁷A. V., The preserved. Besieged.⁷A. V., The preserved. Besieged. Comp. נצורה desolate (1:8).—

Not alone wilt thou bring Israel back, but I will give thee for a light of nations.

להיות ישועתי. That my salvation may be,⁸A. V., That thou mayest be my salvation. that is, that my salvation maybe published before it comes, unto the end of the earth

about him who is despised of men Heb. לִבְזֹה נֶפֶשׁ, a despised soul, about Israel, who are despised.

Thus saith the Lord, etc. The prophet continues to speak of himself: Thus says the Lord unto me, who am despised of the wicked men. לבזה To him who is despised. בזה is an adjective.

about him whom the nation abhors About him whom the nation abhors, and he is a slave to those who rule over him.

מתעב It is either a causative verb, meaning: causing to abhor, that is, saying things, for which the nations abhor him; or a transitive verb: abhorring, that is, abhorring all idolaters.

Kings shall see him and rise.

To a servant of rulers, that is of the nobles of Israel, as they consider themselves, or of the Babylonians. The latter rendering is preferable.

Who is faithful to keep His promise that He promised Abraham concerning the kingdoms, as the matter is stated (Gen. 15:17): “And behold a smoking stove, etc.”

Kings shall see and arise. I have already alluded to the inference that may be drawn from those words (40:1). Most of the commentators explain this sentence thus: Kings, like Cyrus, will rise and worship, when they hear the words of the prophet.

the Holy One of Israel is He, and He chose you.

Because of the Lord. For He remains faithful to His word.—

The suffix ך in ויבחרך and He chose thee,⁹A. V., And he shall choose thee. shows that this explanation is right.¹⁰The use of the pronoun of the second person, proves according to I. E. that the prophet himself is addressed, and that he is personally to receive compensation for the contempt and scorn with which the people received his prophecies. See I. E. on 40:1.

In a time of favor In the time of prayer, when you seek My favor and appease Me.

בעת רצון עניתיך In an acceptable time I have heard thee. This expression is likewise a proof of the correctness of my opinion.¹¹See preceding note. The meaning of the phrase according to I. E. is: In the time of favour, viz., for the Israelites, when their redemption was prepared, I have also heard thee, the prophet, and decreed to cause thee to be honoured by all. Many, in opposition to the context, refer the pronoun thee to Cyrus. R. Moses thinks that the preposition ב in בעת רצון has the same meaning as in במרחב יה (Ps. 118:5), namely: with. It is not at all unlikely that his opinion is right.

and on a day of salvation When you need salvation.

and I will watch you Heb. וְאֶצָּרְךָ, and I will watch you.

for a people of a covenant to be a people of a covenant to Me.

to establish a land The land of Israel, chosen by Me from all lands.

To say to the prisoners, “Go out!” At the time I will say to the prisoners of the exile, “Go out!”

That thou mayest say, etc. This shows that the prophet announced this to the Jews before they returned from the Babylonian exile.

rivers Jonathan renders: נַגְדִּין, streams of water.

And their pastures in all high places. And they shall find their pastures, etc.

heat Heb. שָׁרָב, heat.

They will not, etc. When they return to Zion.

שרב Heat. Comp. 35:7. Nor the sun smite them. Comp. The sun shall not smite thee by day (Ps. 121:6)

And I will make all My mountains into a road In contrast to what he said concerning the days of its ruin (supra 33:8) “The wayfarer has stopped,” now the wayfarers shall return and go therein.

And I will make all my mountains a way, etc. The mountains will be lowered, and the paths which are low will be exalted.

and My highways shall be raised In contrast to what he said (ibid.): “Highways have become desolate,” deteriorated with no one to repair them, now My highways shall be raised, they shall repair the deterioration of the roads and raise them as is customary, with smooth pebbles and earth.

As to the use of the masculine plural ירומון, together with the feminine מסלות, comp. תמצאו ye (daughters of Jerusalem) find (Song 5:8). The origin of the seeming irregularity is to be found in the indifference of the Hebrews as to the use of the plural masculine for the feminine, so long as the idea of plurality is clearly expressed.¹²According to this remark, the distinction between the masculine and feminine is in the plural often neglected; Comp. the third person plural past, and the second person plural past with a pronominal suffix. Others explain the verse thus: Those that will return, will be so numerous, that they will have to walk high on the mountains.¹³That is, the roads between the mountains will not be wide enough for all the people that will return; part of the people will therefore be compelled to walk on the mountains on both sides of the road. According to their opinion ירמון means: they—that will return—will be high, as if the prophet said: they will walk high on my paths (ועל מסלתי)

from the land of Sinim [Jonathan renders:] from the southland.

From far, from the east.¹⁴The phrase From far, is explained to refer to The east, because north and west are directly mentioned, and Sinim is supposed by I. E. to be in the south. Where three sides are mentioned, it may be expected, that the fourth will likewise be found.

From the north, from Babylon.^14aBabylon is here described to be in the north; but in his remark on 43:5, I. E. says, that it is in the east. It was perhaps north-east of Palestine. See c. xliii. Note 2a.

From the west. From Assyria. Comp. Ezr. 6:22.¹⁵See I. E. on 43:5, and Notes 3 and 4.

מארץ סינים From the land of Sinim. A land near Egypt. The name סינים is perhaps connected with סנה bush.¹⁶This remark seems to be intended as a hint where to place the land of Sinim, indicating that Mount Horeb is a part of it; because simply to say, that סינים means perhaps bushes would be quite superfluous, and moreover, I. E. would in that case rather have said והוא מגזרת סנה it is derived from סנה ‘bush,’ than הסנה מזאת הגזרה, the word סנה is of the same root.

for the Lord has consoled His people.

Sing, etc. This is a figurative expression; or¹⁷According to the second explanation the expression must also be figurative; the difference between the two explanations is, that according to the former the nouns heaven, earth, mountains, are used here in a figurative sense, signifying all classes of people; according to the latter the verb sing has a figurative meaning. the purity of the air is to be considered as the singing of the heavens, the productiveness of the fields and gardens as the singing of the earth, and the singing of the mountains can be explained in a similar way.

And Zion said She thought that I had forgotten her.

But Zion said before the redemption,¹⁸The Hebrew text has קודם הגולה but it may be inferred from the context, that I. E. meant here קודם הגאולה before the redemption. that the Lord forgot her. Zion. The congregation of Israel.^18aBy this remark I. E. probably intends to say that Zion here is not the representative of the kingdom of Judah alone, but of all the tribes of Israel, so that this prediction might as well refer to the redemption from the Babylonian exile as to the period of Messiah. See I. E. on 40:1.

Shall a woman forget her sucking child Heb. עוּלָהּ, similar to עוֹלֵל.

Can a woman, etc. This is mentioned, because God has given to woman a natural disposition to have pity on her children.

from having mercy on the child of her womb Heb. מֵרֶחֶם בֶּן-בִּטְנָהּ.

עולל═עול Sucking child. Comp. Jer. 6:11; Is. 65:20.

These too shall forget Even if these forget, I will not forget you.

That she should not have compassion, etc. Repetition of the same idea.

גם אלח תשכחנה Yea, they may forget. There are cruel women, that forget their children or themselves;¹⁹This is the translation according to the Hebrew text או עצמן; the question, however, is not whether they forget themselves, but whether they forget their children. It is possible that עצמן is a corruption of עולליהן their sucking children. or there are women that forget these,^19aAccording to the first explanation the pronoun אלה these is the subject of the sentence, and refers to the women; according to the second to the sucking child and the son of her womb.

yet will I not forget thee. Her sucking child is mentioned, because the mother has usually more compassion for the little one that has no strength.

Behold on [My] hands Heb. עַל-כַּפַּיִם [lit. on hands]. I see you as though you are engraved on My hands, to see you and always to remember you. Another explanation is: עַל-כַּפַּיִם “from upon the clouds of glory.” Comp. (Job 36:32) “On the clouds (כַּפַּיִם) He covered the rain.”

I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands. According to the Gaon, the clouds are meant by the palms of my hand;²⁰Comp. Rashi ad locum (second explanation), and I. E. on Job 36:34. but I say it is an anthropomorphism, meaning: I shall see thee continually; the second part of the verse, the parallelism of which divides it into two similar halves, confirms the correctness of this explanation.

Your sons have hastened to return.

Thy children, etc. Thy children have come, and all thy destroyers shall go away from thee.

All of them. All of thy children.²¹According to I. E. the pronoun them (–ׇ ם in כֻּלׇּם) refers to thy children of the preceding verse, though separated from it by the sentence thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee. R. Moses Hakkohen explains the expression thus: Thy children as well as thy destroyers, that is, the wicked, gathered themselves, etc. According to this explanation the future יֵצֵאוּ is used instead of the past יׇצׇאוּ.²²The sense of ver. 17 and ver. 18 accordingly is: Thy children make haste, even thy destroyers, etc., that had gone away from thee, all of them now come back unto thee, etc. But it is not necessary to assume this irregularity here.

As I live. The decree shall not be annulled; as truly as I am living, it will be acted upon.

כקשורי כלה ═ ככלה As the ornament of the bride round her neck.²³A. V., As a bride doeth. I. E. supplies the noun קשורי ornament, from the preceding verb ותקשרים and bind them. He repeatedly mentions the rule, that every verb implies a verbal noun: so here the noun קשורים is contained in the verb; to this rule another must be added, which is here made use of, namely the rule of ellipsis: מושך עצמו ואחר עמו. A word, mentioned in one sentence, or in one part of the sentence, is sometimes meant for the next likewise.

you shall be crowded by the inhabitants You shall be crowded by the multitude of inhabitants that shall come into your midst. The place shall be too narrow for them to build houses for themselves.

תחת חרבותיך ═ חרבותיך Instead of Thy waste places.²⁴A. V., Thy waste places. I. E. supplies the preposition תחת instead of, because the second person fem. תצרי does not agree with the plural חרבותיך ,שממתיך. Comp. פשעי for my transgressions (Mic. 6:7); פרים instead of calves (Hos. 14:31.) The verse can also be explained thus: They were thy waste places before, but now,

Thou shalt be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, by reason of the multitude of inhabitants, all of whom are thy children; because they that swallowed them up, will be far away.

Your children of whom you were bereaved [lit. the children of your bereavements.] The children of whom you were bereaved.

גשה לי Give place unto me. Lit. Go thither for my sake. Comp. גש הלאה stand back (Gen. 19:9)

move over for me [lit. approach for me.] Draw closer to another side for me, and I will dwell.

and solitary solede in O.F.

נלמודה Desolate. Remaining lonely; comp. גלמוד solitary (Job 3:7). It is an adjective, of a quadriliteral root.

rejected Rejected by everyone. All say about me, “Turn away from her.”

וסורה And removing to and fro. It is an adjective, and not a participle passive;²⁵Comp. Rashi ad locum. for סור to depart is a neuter verb.

איפה where. It is a compound of two words אי and פה

My hand...My standard A signal to bring the exiles.

Behold, I will lift up My hand, etc. As a man lifts up his hand, that he may be seen. This phrase as well as that which follows: And set up my standard, are the same as I shall make known this my salvation.

a standard Perka in O.F., [perche in modern French,] a pole. Comp. (supra 30:17) “And like a flagpole (וְכַנֵּס) on a hill.” It is a signal for gathering, and they place a cloth [a flag] on the end of it.

And they shall bring thy sons. By they the Non-Israelites are to be understood.

in their armpits Ajjsela [aisela] in O.F., [aisselle in modern French]. Comp. Ezra (Neh. 5:13): “Also I shook out my armpit (חָצְנִי).”

בחוצן In their lap.²⁶A. V., In their arms. Comp. חצני my lap (Neh. 5:13)

אומניך Thy nursing fathers. Comp. ויהי אמן and he brought up (Est. 2:7). It is a figurative expression for the great honour which will be shown to Israel.

Shall prey be taken from a mighty warrior You think that it is impossible to take from Esau those captured from Jacob the righteous one.

Shall the prey, etc. These words are put into the mouth of Israel by the prophet. How is it possible, the people ask, that Israel should be delivered from the power of the heathen nations ?

המלקח The prey, which he has taken, that is, the captives.

ואם שבי צדיק ימלט Or shall the righteous²⁷A. V., Lawful. captive be delivered, because of his righteousness, after having been taken by the mighty.

and with your contender Heb. יְרִיבֵךְ. And with your contender I will contend.

The captive of the mighty. The captive which the mighty man has taken, will be taken away from him.

עריץ The terrible. It is an adjective with transitive meaning: causing terror; comp. אימים (Gen. 14:5).

Moreover, I will contend with him that contendeth with thee. I shall make war against those that attack thee. יריבך that contendeth with thee. Some derive it from ירב; others by metathesis from ריב;²⁸There is in fact no difference between the two views, whether we assume a new root ירב which has the same meaning as ריב, or say that it is the same root, the י having changed its place; in both cases יריב is a noun, meaning he that contendeth. according to the Jerusalemite²⁹See I. E. on 28:12, and note 13. the relative אשר who must be supplied before יריבך, which he explains to be the third person singular masculine future of ריב; he overlooked, however, the parallel instance of יריבי that strive with me (Ps. 35:1).³⁰This form cannot be explained to be the future, since in that case it would be יְרִיבֵנִי he that contends with me, or יְרִיבוּנִי they that contend with me. In short it is an irregular form.

And those who taunt you I will feed their flesh to the beasts of the field. The word מוֹנַיִךְ is an expression akin to (Lev. 25:14) “You shall not taunt (אַל תּוֹנוּ).” This denotes taunting with words, those who anger you with their revilings.

מוניך That oppress thee. Comp. ולא תגו ye shall not oppress (Lev. 25:17). Others say that it means: thy numberers, comparing it with מונה that telleth (Jer. 33:13), because Israel is compared to a flock of sheep.³¹It is true that Israel is often compared by the prophets and poets to a flock of sheep; but in this chapter this is not the case, and the verb מוניך, if taken in this figurative sense, would here be too isolated, and out of place.

and as with sweet wine Heb. וְכֶעָסִיס. The sweetness of wine.

מדמם = דמם With their own blood. An ellipsis is as frequently found in poetry.

they shall become drunk [from] their blood So shall those accustomed to drink blood become drunk from their blood. Now who are they? These are the fowl of the heavens. So did Jonathan render this.