Commento su Isaia 54:12

jasper Heb. כַּדְכֹד, a kind of precious stone.

Kadkhod is the gemstone called Shoham, according to the Sages.

כדכד Agates. It is hap. leg.; it is the name of a precious stone.

your windows Jonathan renders: your woodwork, and Menahem associated it with (Dan. 7:10): “ministered to Him (יְשַׁמְּשׁוּנֵהּ).” (Menahem, apparently renders: your utensils, i.e., the vessels that serve you.) And some interpret it as an expression of a sun (שֶׁמֶשׁ), windows through which the sun shines, and they make opposite it a barrier of kinds of colored glass for beauty, and Midrash Psalms interprets שִׁמְשׁוֹתַיִךְ as well as שֶׁמֶשׁ וּמָגֵן (Ps. 84:12) as “the pinnacles of the wall.”

Nofech was the tribal gemstone of Yehuda, and is the symbol of kingship; Sapir was the tribal gemstone of Yissachar, and is the symbol of wisdom and of Torah. These two will be the foundation of the building: the crown of Torah and the crown of kingship.

ושמשתיך And thy windows. It is derived from שמש sun. It signifies the apertures, which are closed with glass²⁴שמשה is the name of the aperture through which the sunlight (שמש) passes into the house; in the earlier centuries they were not filled at all, or they were closed with oil paper; in the time of I. E. glass windows seem to have been introduced, but only in houses of a grand style. Here still more is promised. Precious, transparent stones shall be used as windows in all houses, and even over the gates. The Hebrew text has: ישימו זכוכיות והן בחלונות; it is rather difficult to find the meaning of these words; in the inverted order they read very well והן זכוכיות ישימו בחלונות and these are transparent things which are put in the windows. in stately palaces.

of carbuncle stones Heb. אֶקְדָּח. Jonathan renders: of gomer stones. Gumrin is the Aramaic translation of גֶּחָלִים, coals. He interprets אֶקְדָּח as an expression similar to (supra 50: 11) “who kindle (קֹדְחֵי) fire,” and they are a type of stones that burn like torches and that is the carbuncle (karbokle in O.F.), an expression of a coal. Others interpret it as an expression of a drill, i.e., huge stones of which the entire opening of the doorway is drilled, and the doorposts, the threshold, and the lintel are all hewn from the stone.

Shoham was the stone of Yosef, and is the symbol of success and wealth. This will be the window for sunshine, symbolizing "the delight of the sun's harvest" (Deuteronomy.33.14), an outpouring of wealth and success.

ושעריך And of thy gates.²⁵A. V., And thy gates. And the windows of thy gates.²⁶The words of the Hebrew text, והם המשמשות על השער, require some emendation. Firstly, there is no noun to which the masculine pronoun והם and these could refer; secondly, שמשות is derived from שמש sun, and not from the verb שמש to serve or to attend; thirdly, the word which they explain is missing; the original words are perhaps the following: ושעריך ֗ שמשות שעריך והן השמשות על השער. The translation is based on this suggestion.

of precious stones Desirable stones [from Jonathan].

Ekdach was the stone of Levi, a symbol of the Divine Service. This was the gate: "This is the gateway to Hashem; the righteous shall enter through it." (Psalms.118.20)

אקדח Carbuncles. A precious stone. The א is prosthetic; comp. קדחה is kindled (Deut. 32:22).

"And your entire boundary will be precious stones"; the stones of the remaining tribes will be set into the rest of the building.

To stones that are desired, that are not like those stones which are thrown about, and are of no value.

Also included is the idea that all the tribes will be united then, and will never again split into two kingdoms.

Discord and conflict in a country result from any of four causes, two internal and two external. A. poverty. This he precluded by describing the great wealth and success that would be theirs. B. religious disagreements and sectarian groups based on differences of dogma, as there were during the Second Temple, when the Sadducees and the Boethusians arose. Addressing this, the prophet said: