Commento su Isaia 52:16

"Awaken,awaken" (this is also said in response to what is written above, "Awaken, awaken, dress yourself with strength, O arm of the Lord" And He responds - you awake, upon you the thing depends, you dress yourself with strength Zion, as was explained above)

All agree that this prophecy has reference to the time yet to come, notwithstanding the passage Depart ye, etc. (ver. 11), which is adduced by R. Moses Hakkohen, though in error, as I shall prove, in answer to this opinion. How could this prophecy be referred to the deliverance and return of the captives in Babylon, when it is said, the uncircumcised and unclean shall no more come unto thee (ver. 1.); for this is as the waters of Noah, etc. (54:1); thus have I sworn (ibid.); such expressions characterise an irrevocable decree.¹Since these prophecies are described as irrevocable decrees, but have not been verified at the return of the Israelites from the Babylonian exile, they are still to be fulfilled, and refer therefore to the days of Messiah.

"put on your strength, O Zion" In the stronghold of Zion, the City of David, there resided the Holy Temple,the priesthood, the Sanhedrin and the kingship which are the inner strength - in reference to this the verse says 'put on your strength, O Zion.' But in Jerusalem, which is the wholeness of the city, resided the outer garments - the clothes of glory which are wealth and a populous people and are physical success. In reference to this it says

לא יוסיף יבוא Shall no more come. As to יבוא and יוסיף following each other without conjunction, comp: אל תרבו תדברו talk no more. The conjunction שֶׁ ²That is אֲשֶׁר; I. E. says שֶׁ, because he is more used to it than to the full form אשר, although in the Bible the syncopated form is very rare. is omitted by poetical license.³The omission of the conjunction between words and sentences is often met with in poetry or in poetical prose (oratory), but is very rare in the usual prose.

"put on the garments of your beauty, Jerusalem the Holy City, for no longer shall there come into you the uncircumcised" into Jerusalem

"and the unclean" into Zion

Shake yourself Heb. הִתְנַעֲרִי, escourre in O.F., to shake strongly, like one who shakes out a garment.

Shake thyself from the dust. It is a figurative expression. The prophet therefore⁴The word therefore does not refer to the remark immediately preceding, but to the words of the text, Shake thyself from the dust, which imply, that she was lying in the dust.—The words sit down are to be contrasted with the lying in dust. continues, Arise, sit down; for Jerusalem is compared to one that has been lying down in dust.

arise from the ground, from the decree (supra 3:26), “She shall sit on the ground.”

Loose thyself, etc. Thou wilt be no more under the dominion of another nation.

sit down on a throne.

free yourself Untie yourself [from Jonathan].

bands of Heb. מוֹסְרֵי, cringatro umbriah in O.F., [strap].

captive Heb. שְׁבִיָה, like שְׁבוּיָה, captive.

You were sold for nought Because of worthless matters, i.e., the evil inclination, which affords you no reward.

You have been sold, etc. I have sold you to the nations without receiving money for you, and so will I redeem you without giving money for you.

and you shall not be redeemed for money but with repentance.

My people first went down to Egypt The Egyptians had somewhat of a debt upon them, for they served for them as their hosts and sustained them, but Assyria oppressed them for nothing and without cause.

My people went down, etc. Many evils came over my people from the beginning; for when, long ago, they went down to Egypt to sojourn there, they were oppressed.

באפס Without cause. For nothing. And the Assyrian without cause oppressed them. This refers to the exile of the ten tribes.

And now, what have I here Why do I stay and detain My children here?

מה לי פה What have I here, any more.⁵After the people has been carried away into captivity. It is an anthropomorphism. It might also mean, what reason have I to be silent,

boast Heb. יְהֵילִילוּ, Boast saying, “Our hand was powerful.”

that my people is taken away for nought by Babylon, Edom, and other nations.

is blasphemed Blasphemes itself, and this is an instance similar to (Num 7:89) “And he heard the voice speaking to him.”

ומשליו And they that rule over them, that is, the princes of Israel, or His poets; comp. המשלים they that speak in proverbs (Num. 21:27).

יהילילו Hoẇl.⁶A. V., Make them to howl. The ה, the characteristic of the Hiphil, is here not omitted, as is usually the case.

מתנאץ═מנאץ Is blasphemed. The Dagesh in נ compensates for the omitted ת.⁷I. E. does not describe this form as a compound of Hithpael and Pual, but as the Hithpolel, which is a conjugation by itself, regularly formed of verbs ע״ו and ע״ע, but exceptionally of other verbs.

My people shall know When I redeem them, they will recognize that My name is master, monarch, and ruler, as is its apparent meaning.

Therefore my people shall know my name when I shall proclaim, Behold, it is I.

therefore, on that day The day of their redemption, they will understand that I am He Who speaks, and behold, I have fulfilled the prophecy.

How beautiful upon the mountains, etc. After I shall have helped thee, that is, after I have said, Behold, it is I, then how beautiful, etc. נאוו Are beautiful. It is Niphal of אוה to desire. Comp. תאוה desire. He who thinks that נ in נאוו is radical, is mistaken, although the root נאה to be beautiful is found in Rabbinical literature.⁸Comp. the phrase לך נאה לשבח It is becoming to praise Thee, which is frequently met with in the Hebrew liturgy.

Thy God reigneth. This is the explanation of הנני behold, it is I.

The voice of your watchmen The watchmen who are stationed on the walls and the towers to report and to see (to see and to report [Parshandatha]) who comes to the city.

קול צפיך נשאו קול יחדיו ירננו The voice of thy watchmen,^8aThat is, the watchmen whom thou wilt appoint for thyself, while the bearers of good tidings mentioned in the preceding verse are appointed by God. The Hebrew text has the words צופים שיש לך watchmen that are unto thee as the explanation of צופיך thy watchmen, but it is difficult to see why this possessive pronoun should require the explanatory paraphrase, more than the very many others in the Bible. The word שיש is perhaps a corruption of שים appoint, an קול צופיך is to be translated accordingly: Let there be the voice of thy own watchmen. all of them shall lift up their voices, they shall shout,⁹A. V., Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing. bringing good tidings to thee.

For they shall see, etc. For all of them shall see with their own eyes that the Lord has returned to Zion. Comp. That thou, Lord, art seen face to face (Num. 14:14)

פצחו Break forth. A poetical expression for speak. The word has the same meaning in Arabic.¹⁰Comp. I. E. on 14:7.

has revealed Heb. חָשַׂף, has revealed.

Hath made bare His holy arm. He has shown His strength. It is a figure taken from the hero that slays with the strength of his arm.

אפסי The ends of. Some consider this word as hap. leg., its meaning being found from the context. According to others, it is to be compared with באפסו═באפס in his land (ver. 4); ואפסי and my land (47:8).¹¹The phrase אני ואפסי עוד is according to this explanation, to be translated I and my land shall remain for ever. A. V., I am, and none else beside me. According to I. E. I am, and none besides. To others the א is prosthetic; they compare, therefore, אפס with פיסת a handful (Ps. 72:16).¹²It is difficult to see the connection between פיסת handful and אפסי ends. The latter is perhaps according to this translation to be rendered like מְלׂאׇהּ the fulness of or the inhabitants of. I connect it with מי אפסים waters to the ankles (Ez. 47:3).¹³The meaning of אפס is according to this explanation, ankle extremity, and אפסי ארץ the extremities of the earth, or the ends of the earth. It is not in the least surprising that the text attributes to God hand, foot, heart, and mouth; the meaning of such figures is well known. He who speaks, as well as he who is addressed, is a human being; the idea is therefore clothed in such language as can be understood by man.¹⁴This observation is made here by I. E. as if he wanted to refute the opinion of those that try to explain here the arm of the Lord by Messiah.

touch no unclean one They shall be abominable to you to touch them.

Depart ye from Babylon, according to R. Moses Hakkohen. I think that these words are addressed to those that are still in exile among the nations.

get out of its midst Out of the midst of the exile, for all these last consolations refer only to the last exile.

The repetition of Depart ye is to indicate that it is to be done immediately. Comp. Turn in, my lord, turn in to me (Jud. 4:18).

purify yourselves Heb. הִבָּרוּ, purify yourselves.

From thence. Every one from the place of his exile.¹⁵שׇׁם there seems to point to one certain place, but since no such place is mentioned before, its meaning must be found from the context. R. Moses Hakkohen, who refers this whole section of the book to the Babylonian captivity, understands by there the city or country of Babylon. I. E. who refers this section to the period of Messiah, understands by the word שׇׁם all the countries whither the Jews came during the exile. It is, however, strange that שׇׁם is explained by I. E. to refer to one country only and to require paraphrasing like מִתּׂכׇהּ, since it could easily be connected with כל הגוים all the nations. The parallelism of the verse (שם═מתכה) perhaps gave rise to this explanation.

you who bear the Lord’s vessels You, the priests and the Levites, who carried the vessels of the Holy One, blessed be He, in the desert [from here is proof of the resurrection of the dead].

It is unclean, touch not, that is, keep away from the heathen nations.

Go ye out of the midst of her. Every one shall go out of the country of his exile. Babylon has not been mentioned in any of these chapters.¹⁶That is from c. l., if we are to consider the north (49:12) and Babylon to be the same (see I. E. ad locum); or, if not, from c. xlix., since Babylon is mentioned 48:20.

הברו Be ye clean. It is Niphal. The Dagesh, which usually compensates for the omitted letter, is here left out, because ר is a guttural letter.¹⁷The root of the word is ברר; the one ר being omitted, a Dagesh in the other is required for its compensation, instead of which the preceding short vowel (Pathah) is produced into the long Kamez: although ר is no guttural letter, it shares this property with the gutturals.

Ye that bear the vessels of the Lord. The Israelites, who are the bearers of the law.¹⁸The Law (תורה) is called here according to I. E. כלי יי the vessels or the instruments of the Lord, because it is the means by which God makes mankind holy and happy. Some refer these words to the Levites, who are the bearers of the Holy Ark; but I prefer the former explanation.

for...goes before you Two things at the end of this verse explain two things in its beginning, [viz.] For not with haste shall you go forth. What is the reason? For the Lord goes before you to lead you on the way, and one whose agent advances before him to lead him on the way his departure is not in haste. And not in the flurry of flight shall you go, for your rear guard is the God of Israel. He will follow you to guard you from any pursuer. Comp. (Num. 10:25) “And the division of the camp of Dan shall travel, the rear guard of all the camps.” Whoever goes after the camp is called מְאַסֵּף, the rear guard, because he waits for the stragglers and the stumblers. Similarly, Scripture states in Joshua (6: 13): “And the rear guard was going after the Ark.”

Not with haste, as was the case at the departure from Egypt.

For the Lord, that is, the Glory of the Lord,¹⁹Comp. I. E. on 18:4, and Note 10.

is going before you. ומאספכם And your gatherer, that is, he who gathers the people scattered by the exile. I however, explain it and your rereward; God will surround them from all sides; His Glory will be before and behind them. Comp. מאסף rereward (Num. 10:25)

Behold My servant shall prosper Behold, at the end of days, My servant, Jacob, [i.e.,] the righteous among him, shall prosper.

The passage which follows offers great difficulties. The Christians refer it to Jesus, and explain my servant to indicate the body. This is wrong; the body cannot be wise, even during the life of man. Again, what is the meaning of he shall see his seed (53:10), he shall prolong his days (ib.)? This was not in fact the case. Again, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong (53:12).²⁰This, if taken literally, was not the case; if in any figurative sense, the whole argument is destroyed which is based on the supposition of a minute coincidence of the facts here predicted with the incidents in the life of Jesus. The best proof,²¹ראיה גמורה means literally a perfect or complete proof. The first proof was a negative one, but the proof introduced with these words is a positive one that the chapter refers to Israel or to the prophet. however, is the circumstance that this passage is preceded by the Lord will go before you, etc., which undoubtedly refers to the Israelites, and is followed by Sing, O barren, etc., which is likewise addressed to the Israelites. My servant. The Israelites, who are the servants of the Lord, and are now in exile. Many believe that Messiah is meant by this expression, because our ancient teachers said that Messiah was born on the day on which the temple was destroyed, that he was, as it were, bound in chains, etc.;²²Comp. Midrash Rabba, Echa 1:16. The passage must be taken in a figurative sense, namely, that on the day on which the temple was destroyed, it was already decreed, by the Almighty that it should again be rebuilt, but that the restoration would be dependent on the return of the Israelites to God and to His word. but many verses in this passage cannot be explained on this supposition. Comp. He is despised and rejected of men, he was taken from prison and judgment, and he made his grave with the wicked, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days. The Gaon R. Saadiah refers the whole passage to Jeremiah. His explanation is beautiful; he says: he shall scatter many nations by his words, by his prophecy. Comp. Jer. 1:10. As a tender plant. Jeremiah was young when he began to prophesy (Jer. 1:6). And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of all of us; he took away the sin of many. Comp. Remember that I stood before thee, to speak good for them, and to turn away the wrath from them (ibid. 18:20). He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter. Comp. But I was like a lamb or an ox that is brought to the slaughter (ibid. 11:19). And he shall divide the spoil with the strong. Jeremiah received presents and gifts from the Babylonian chief of the guard (ibid. 40:5). But I think that this passage must be connected with the chapters that procede and follow. What reason is there for mentioning Jeremiah here after some of the comforting prophecies, and before others of the same kind ? The singular, my servant, is used because the prophet speaks of every one that is a servant of the Lord and suffers in exile, or because ישראל עבדי ═ )עבדי my servant Israel,) refers to the whole nation; the latter reason is more probable.

My servant shall be wise, etc. My servant shall see and understand, that he will again be high and exalted. נשא Exalted. It is Niphal.

As many wondered As many peoples wondered about them when they saw them in their humble state, and said to one another, How marred is his [Israel’s] appearance from that of a man! See how their features are darker than those of other people, so, as we see with our eyes.

שממו Were astonished. Comp. ושממו and shall be astonished (Lev. 26:32). Every one will be surprised at the sight of the servant of the Lord.

Many. The heathen nations.

כן משחת מאיש מראהו His visage is so marred more than any man. Supply לאמר saying before this sentence.²³That is, the words His visage is so marred more than any man are the expression of the surprise felt at the sight of the servant of God, not as suggested by some commentators, the cause of the surprise. A.V., His visage was, etc. משחת Marred. It is an adjective.

ותארו And his form. It is in form similar to רחבו his breadth (Exod. 25:10).²⁴The two words, as in the printed editions of the Bible, are not quite alike; the one has Kamez in the first syllable (רׇחְבּוֹ) the other Holem (תֹּאֲרוֹ); this leads to the conjecture that I. E. read תׇּאֳרוֹ.—It is a well-known fact that many people in the world imagine the Jew a being altogether different from his fellow creatures; they ask, Has the Jew a mouth, an eye, etc.? This is the case among Mahometans as well as among Christians.

So shall he cast down many nations So now, even he his hand will become powerful, and he will cast down the horns of the nations who scattered him.

So shall he sprinkle many nations, etc. This verse is the explanation of the words he will be high and exalted. As it was true ²⁵The words of the Hebrew text are כאשר היה כן אמתנו, but if we compare them with the corresponding words in the antithesis, we are inclined to correct them into: כאשר היה זמן as there was a time. that his form was destroyed in the sight of those that saw him, so truly will come the time when their oppressors^25aThe Hebrew text has מהם of them and refers to הראים those that saw them mentioned before; but both must be understood to refer to the enemies and oppressors of the Israelites. will be punished.

shall shut Heb. יִקְפְּצוּ. They shall shut their mouths out of great bewilderment. for honor. what had not been told them concerning any man, they saw in him.

יזה He will sprinkle the blood of many nations.

they gazed Heb. הִתְבּוֹנָנוּ, they gazed.

Then kings shall shut their mouths at him. בשבילו═עליו for him.

That which had not been told them, they have seen.²⁶A. V., Shall they see. They, the heathen peoples, could not believe that Israel would ever be delivered.

"The voice of your watchmen- they raised a voice, together they shall sing, for eye to eye they shall see when the Lord returns to Zion."