Commento su Isaia 33:18

Your heart shall meditate [in] fear When you see the princes and the savants of the heathens, who ruled during their lifetime, and who are now being judged in Gehinnom, your heart will meditate in terror, and you will say, “Where is the wisdom and the greatness of these men? Where is the one who, during his lifetime, would count and weigh every word of wisdom, for they would ask him every counsel of the kingdom?

Thine heart shall meditate, etc. These are the prophet’s own words.¹⁸The words ידבר בנפשו he speaks his own words, are contrasted with the introductory phrase of the preceding remark, These are the words of the Assyrian officer, which the prophet brings back to the memory of Judah.

Where is he who counts the towers This too is a matter of the kingdom. He is appointed over the houses of the kingdom, how many they are, and how many towers a certain city requires. Comp. (Ps. 48:13) “Encircle Zion and surround it, count its towers,” how many towers it requires.

סופר The scribe who writes down, how much every one shall contribute.

סופר He that counted. Comp. מספר the number, He that counted the towers. They taxed even the towers.