Commento su Isaia 54:11

tempestuous one whose heart storms with many troubles.

"Poor one." After the prophet already prophesied that the barren one would have many children, which is an allegory for the ingathering of the exiles, he describes that at that time Zion will still not be rebuilt on her hill. This poor one, who is Zion, will still storm in the rage of her spirit because she still is not comforted. (This was similarly expressed above in chapter 49, "Behold, these shall come from afar... -- And Zion will say, the Lord has abandoned me..." which is similarly expressing that at the time of the ingathering, Zion would yet sit in ruins, as I explained there.) He is saying: 'the barren woman' is already filled with joy, because 'many are the children of the desolate'; but the 'poor one' is still 'storming, still 'not comforted,' i.e., the land is filled with people returned from the exile, yet Zion is still not built. God replies to her: "Behold, I set your floor-stones with puch" -- the stones on which the foundation rests will be Nofech-stones, and the foundation itself will be of Sapir-stones.

This was said about Jerusalem, that she is like a poor afflicted one shivering as if from a storm wind and there is no one to console her

סוערה Tempestuous; comp. סוער (Jon. 1:11); or Tossed with tempest. Jerusalem is meant.^22aThe Hebrew text has the words והיא זאת ירושלים; either והיא or זאת is superfluous, or בת is to be read instead of זאת.

I will set with carbuncle I pave your floor with carbuncle stones.

פוך A precious stone of black colour. Some think that it is the same as נפך, an emerald (Ex. 28:18).

Thy stones, which will be required for the building.

ספירים Sapphires. Precious stones of red colour, as I have explained²³Saadiah is of opinion that ספיר signifies a stone of white colour, because of the expression לבנת הספיר, the white colour of the sapphire (Ex. 24:10). I. E., however, explains the latter phrase, the pavement of a sapphire stone, and infers, by means of the rule of parallelism, that ספיר has the same colour as פנינים, of which the verb אדמו they are red is used (Lam. 4:7). (Lam. 4:7)