Commento su Isaia 6:14

In the year of the death i.e., when he was smitten with zaraath.

In the year that King Uzziah died. Our sages said that died is here used for became a leper;¹Comp. Rashi, ad locum, and Talmud Babli Nedarim, 64: There are four persons who, though living, may be counted as dead: the poor, the blind, the leper, the childless. for when Uzziah entered the temple to offer the incense,²On that occasion, Uzziah was struck with leprosy (2 Kgs. 15:5, and 2 Chr. 26:20, 2 Chr. 26:21). the earthquake³At which, as some believe, Isaiah hinted by the words, And the posts of the door moved. See Rashi on ver. 4. The earthquake, which took place during the reign of King Uzziah, is mentioned Amos 1:1, and Zac. 14:5. Compare also Seder Olam, Amos prophesied before, Isaiah during the earthquake. took place. This may be true; but מות can also be taken literally; in that case the death of Uzziah must be placed in the same year in which Isaiah became prophet; no objection can be raised from In the days⁴In the days (1:1) appears to mean in the midst of the reign of, since ימים sometimes signifies years. Ibn Ezra anticipates this objection and refutes it by referring to the literal meaning of ימים days, which may of course be applied to a part of a year. Thus the words in the days of Uzziah admit the supposition, that Isaiah commenced his prophetical career in the last year of the reign of Uzziah. of Uzziah (1:1), since even months might have passed between Isaiah’s initiation as prophet and the death of Uzziah. This chapter contains the first prophecy of Isaiah.

and His lower extremity Heb. וְשׁוּלָיו, comp. (Exodus 28:34) “On the hem (שׁוּלֵי) of the robe,” meaning its lower extremity. I saw Him sitting on His throne in heaven with His feet in the Temple, His footstool in the Sanctuary, to pass judgment on Uzziah, who came to usurp the crown of the priesthood.

High and lifted up. Attributes to throne (כסא), not, as many thought, to the Lord. The throne⁵The throne כסא הכבוד is, according to I. E., the sphere or force (גלגל) that encompasses and moves all the remaining spheres. The whole Universe is divided into three parts; a. עולם העליון the highest world, described as spiritual, indivisible, and unchangeable; b. עולם התיכון the middle world, or היכל the divine temple, described as being of a mixed nature, containing bodiless forms, and also bodies, but of a pure and unchangeable substance; c. עולם השפלות the lowest world, the earth and the fulness thereof, consisting of bodies of all description. The forms and bodies of the middle world are contained in ten spheres : sun, moon, and five planets in seven spheres, the large body of stars in the eighth, the Zodiac in the ninth, the tenth is the throne.—The angels inhabit the middle world. See I. E. on Ps. 8:4, and on Dan. 10:21. is above the Hajoth⁶חיות lit. living beings, signify a certain class of angels, frequently mentioned by Ezekiel (1:5, 13, etc.). as I shall explain on Ezekiel.⁷The commentary of Ibn Ezra on Ezekiel, promised by <underline>him</underline> repeatedly, is not known.

And his train. The train of the throne; kings usually have their thrones covered with drapery.

Seraphim. The prophet calls them Seraphim—i.e., burning ones—because they seared his mouth.

Stood by Him.⁸A. V., Above it stood. Comp. 1 Kings 22:19. Anthropomorphism drawn from the custom of great kings.

What the wings mean I shall explain on the visions of Ezekiel.⁷The commentary of Ibn Ezra on Ezekiel, promised by him repeatedly, is not known.

He covered his face. Comp. And Moses hid his face (Exod. 3:6). He covered his feet, out of reverence.

He did fly, to carry the message of the Lord.

Seraphim stood above in heaven.

for Him i.e., to serve him, and so does Jonathan render: Holy servants are on high before Him.

with two he would cover his face so as not to look toward the Shechinah.

and with two he would cover his feet for modesty, so as not to bare his entire body before his Creator. And in Tanhuma (Emor 8), I saw that the feet were covered because they are like the sole of the foot of a calf, in order not to remind Israel of the sin of the golden calf.

and with two he would fly And with two he would serve [from Targum Jonathan].

And one called to the other They would take permission from one another so that one would not commence before [his fellows] and be guilty of [a sin punishable by] burning, unless they all commenced simultaneously. This is what was established in [the blessing commencing:] “...Who formed light,” “the declaration of holiness, they all respond as one...” This is a Midrash Aggadah of the account of the Merkavah. And so did Jonathan render this.

And one cried unto another. The number of the seraphim is not mentioned; some believe they were two, but I am of opinion that there were many.

Holy, holy, holy Three times, as the Targum renders.

Holy, holy, holy. Repeated thrice, to express the continuity of the declaration. Comp. Jer. 7:4, Jer. 22:29.

Holy. An adjective. Holiness is an essential attribute of the Lord; it is therefore the same in every place. God showed Isaiah this vision, that he might purify himself from the uncleanness of the lips; for the Lord is holy, and so also should be His servants and messengers.

Hosts. Angels that are above.

The whole earth, etc. Although He is holy above, still His glory filleth the earth below. He who explains מלא כל הארץ that which filleth the whole earth, that is, its inhabitants, and compares it with וּמְלאׇׁהּ and the fulness thereof (Ps. 24), is mistaken.⁹Ibn Ezra does not show why this explanation is wrong; nor does he give any opinion of his own as to what form מְלאׁ is; the quotation, Num. 14:21, only shows that a phrase like the glory of the Lord filleth the whole earth, is correct; but he fails to prove the identity of this quotation with הארץ כבודו מלא כל. In his commentary on Num. 22:18, however, he explains בֵּיתוֹ מָלֵא כסף ═ מְלאׁ ביתו כסף and quotes מלא כל הארץ as a parallel. Comp. ה׳ את כל הארץ וימלא כבוד And the whole earth will be full of the glory of the Lord. (Num. 14:21)

And the doorposts quaked [Jonathan renders:] אֵילְוַתסִפֵּי, they are the doorposts of the entrance, which are measured with the measurements of cubits in the height and in the width, and they are the doorposts of the Temple.

And the posts of the threshold moved. It was as if the threshold would move away from its place.

from the voice of him who called [i.e.,] from the voice of the angels calling. This took place on the day of the earthquake, about which it is stated (Zechariah 14:5): “And you shall flee as you fled on the day of the earthquake in the days of Uzziah.” On the day that Uzziah stood, ready to burn incense in the Temple, the heavens quaked, [attempting] to burn him, as if to say that his punishment should be by burning, as it is said (Num. 16:35): “And it consumed the two hundred and fifty men.” For this reason, Scripture calls them seraphim, for they attempted to burn him. The earth quaked, attempting to swallow him up, thinking that his punishment should be that he be swallowed up like Korah, who contested the priesthood. Thereupon, a heavenly voice emanated and said (ibid. 17: 5), “And there shall not be” another man contesting the priesthood “like Korah” to be swallowed up, “and like his assembly” to be burnt, but, “as the Lord spoke by the hand of Moses,” in the thornbush (Exodus 4:6), “Now bring your hand into your bosom,” and he took it out, stricken with zaraath like snow, here too, the zaraath shone on his forehead.”

אמות Posts. About the meaning of the word there is no question; in this sense, it is, according to some,¹⁰I. E. probably derives אמות in this verse from אַמׇּה cubit, arm, comparing the two doorposts with two arms. hapax legomenon.

and the House became filled with smoke Was filled with smoke [i.e., even though the future tense is used, the past is meant].

ההמון הקורא מקול ═ םקול הקורא At the voice of the multitude that cried.

The verse begins with the past וינועו, and continues with the future ימלא, because the Hebrew language has no special form for the imperfect tense; past and future are therefore used for it promiscuously.¹¹Comp. I. E. on 1:21 and Chap. i., Note 43.

for I am lost I will die, for I was not worthy of seeing the Countenance of the Shechinah. We find a similar statement made by Manoah (Judges 13:22): “We shall surely die, for we have seen God.”

נדמיתי I am undone. I am cut off from the company of the holy ones; comp. ודמיתי And I will destroy (Hos. 4:5). Some compare it with דׂמִּי Be silent (Ps. 62:6). This view also may be correct.

I am lost Heb. נִדְמֵיתִי, comp. (Zephaniah 1:11): “The entire people of Canaan is broken (נִדְמֶה).”

A man of unclean lips. The prophet was a man of unclean lips, I think, because he grew up with the Israelities, that were unclean in deeds and words, and he learnt their way of speaking; comp. And he warned me not to go the way of this people (8:11); therefore he says, And in the midst of a people of unclean lips I am dwelling.

people of unclean lips that are defiled with sins [from Jonathan].

For mine eyes have seen the king, who is holy, and whom I was afraid to anctify because of the uncleanness of my lips. Although he says, Mine eyes have seen, etc., it is but in a prophetical vision that he saw Him.

a glowing coal Heb. רִצְפָּה, a coal, and similarly, (I Kings 19:6) “a cake baked on hot coals (עֻגַּתרְצָפִים),” like עֻגַּתרְשָׁפִים. In regards to Isaiah and Elijah, however, it is written with a ‘zadi,’ רִצְפָּה, because they spoke ill of Israel. This one [Isaiah] called them a people of unclean lips, and this one [Elijah] said, (ibid. 10) “For...have forsaken Your covenant.” Said the Holy One, blessed be He, to the angel, “Break the mouth (רְצוֹץפֶּה) that spoke ill of My children.”

ויעׇף Then flew. As written here, with a short kamez under ע, it is derived from עוף to fly; but ויעַף (Jud. 4:21), where the ע has a pathah, is derived from עיף to be weary.

with tongs Heb. (בְּמֶלְקֳחַיִם) with tongs.

רצפה A live coal. Comp. רצפים coals (1 Kings 19:6).

he had taken it from upon the altar that was in the forecourt.

With tongs. As men use to do.

From off the altar. Where the fire is holy, where there is no strange fire.

And he caused it to touch my mouth... “...and your iniquity shall be removed” This is to cause pain, to atone for your iniquity that you degraded Israel. And his strength was great, for the angel was afraid to take it without tongs, yet he caused it to touch the prophet’s lip, and he [the prophet] was not injured. [This is found] in Tanhuma (ibid.) This is [the meaning] of what Scripture states (Joel 2: 11): “For His camp is very great,”these are the angels; “and stronger” than they “are those who fulfill His word”these are the prophets (Tanhuma ibid.). Jonathan renders: “And in his hand was a glowing coal,” to mean, “And in his mouth was speech.” The expression רִצְפָּה: [means a thing refined in the mouth and with the tongue] (רָצוּף בְּפֶּה). “From upon the altar,” he received the speech from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be he, from His throne in Heaven, which was directed opposite the altar that was in the Temple.

זה This, namely, הׇאֵשׁ the fire; אֵשׁ is used also as a masculine noun.¹²I. E. does not refer זה to רצפה, because the former is masculine, the latter feminine; he supplies therefore הָאֵשׁ the fire, which, though generally used as a feminine noun, is sometimes constructed with the masculine form of an adjective; comp. אש להט flaming fire (Ps. 104:4).

Thy sin. The sinning by words; for he spoke frivolously, like his fellow-men.

Whom shall I send to admonish Israel? I sent Amos, and they called him, ‘Pesilus,’ because he was tongue tied, [’Pesilus’ being the Greek word for tongue-tied.] He prophesied two years before the earthquake, and the Israelites would say, The Holy One, blessed be He, left over the whole world and caused His Shechinah to rest on this tongue-tied one, as is stated in Pesikta.

For us. He speaks now to the seraphim; therefore he says, for us (plural).¹³For us is, according to Ibn Ezra, equal to for myself and you, the Seraphim; by this interpretation he avoids referring the plural for us to God.

Here am I, send me. Since my lips are pure, I am fit to be the messenger, but I was not before. From these words I infer that this chapter contains Isaiah’s first prophecy.¹⁴He declares that he was before unfit for bearing the message of the Most Holy.

Indeed you hear I say to you, Indeed you hear, but you do not strive to understand, and indeed you see miracles that I have performed for you, yet you do not strive to know Me.

Hear ye, indeed, etc. Some assert that God does not accept the repentance of the sinner, when his earthly punishment is already decreed, to cancel the sentence. R. Moses Hakkohen is of opinion that this passage describes the benefit the people will derive from listening to the good advice of the prophet; that they will be delivered from their afflictions.¹⁵R. Moses Hakkohen explains the verse thus: Listen to the words of the prophet, and you will not suffer any of the threatened evils; but this opinion is rejected by Ibn Ezra on account of the following verse, which is the continuation of this, and leaves no doubt about its meaning; according to his opinion the prophet says, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; it is of no use, because it is too late. This is, however, contradicted by Lest they return and be healed. The first explanation is the right one.

This people’s heart is becoming fat [This structure] הַשְׁמֵן resembles (Exodus 8:11), “And making his heart heavy (הַכְבֵּד),” an expression of a continuous action. Their heart continuously becomes fatter, angrajjsant in O.F., and his ears are becoming heavier and heavier, [i.e., harder and harder] of hearing.

השמן Make fat. According to some it is infinitive, like הקטר To burn incense (1 Sam. 3:16); and הׇשַׁע likewise, like הׇרַע To do evil (Lev. 5:4); but this cannot be so, because of the conjunction פן lest.¹⁶Since the part beginning with lest is the secondary sentence, the preceding must be the principal one; and השמן ,השע, the verbs of the principal sentence, cannot be Infinitives. They are all rather imperative forms. We know that the prophet cannot make the heart fat; he shall only declare their heart to be so; there are many instances like it.

and his eyes are becoming sealed Plastered, comp. (infra 44:18) “For their eyes are plastered from seeing.” הִטּוֹחַ (Leviticus 14:43) is translated into Aramaic as דְאִתְשַׁע. We, thereby, equate the two words הָשַׁע and טָח.

הׇשַׁע Shut. Comp. תשעינה Will be shut (32:3). In Chaldee, this word שעה has the same meaning.¹⁷Comp. Lev. 14:42, 43, and the Chaldæan translation. The imperative Hiphil ought to be הֶשֶׁע like הֶרֶף, but the guttural letter ע causes the alteration; the form הָשַׁע can also be derived from a verb (שעע) ע״ע

lest he see with his eyes They intended not to hearken to the words of the prophets, for they fear lest His words please them, and they will understand with their heart, and return to Me, and this will be their cure.

Until when will they make their heart heavy and not listen?

How long. The prophet wants to know how long this misfortune shall last, that the people shall not understand nor repent. The answer is, Till the land be desolate.

And He said I know that they will not repent until retribution comes upon them and they go into exile, and the cities will be desolate without inhabitants.

lies waste and desolate an expression of solitude, without an inhabitant.

and the deserted places be many For the land will be abandoned by them, and this is the explanation of the language: Deserted places will increase in the midst of the land.

And have removed. He will take them far away, and bring them into a distant country.

העזובה The forsaken land.¹⁸A. V., Forsaking. I. E. supplies הארץ the land. Adjective or participle passive Kal.

And when there is yet a tenth And when they are diminished to one out of ten (Rashi ms.)] even upon this remnant will I return My hand as a purge after a purge, and it will be purged until only completely righteous men will remain, who will repent wholeheartedly.

ועוד בה וגו׳ And yet in it shall be, etc. According to some: Ten more kings will rule over Judah before the exile, and then ושבה והיתה לבער it^18*The kingdom. shall again be removed¹⁹A. V., Shall return and shall be eaten.: comp. ובערת And thou shalt put away (Deuter. 21:21); others compare לבער with תבערו You shall kindle (Exod. 35:3)—and the number of kings from that time, Uzziah included, was really ten. Some explain, the tenth part will be left in the land. Grammatically, עשיריה is an adjective, the tenth; but different from עשירית the tenth part; comp. שלישיה (19:24) the third. It is, therefore, clear that עשיריה refers to the number of kings.²⁰עשיריה being an adjective, and the feminine noun מלכות being supplied, the phrase ועוד בה עשיריה וגו״ is explained by I. E., But yet in it shall be a tenth reign, and then it shall again, etc.

like the terebinth and like the oak which, at the time of their casting, when they cast off their leaves during the fall, one casting after another casting, until nothing is left in it except the trunk, they too, the holy seed found in its midst, adhering to their holiness, they will be to Me as the trunk; another explanation of מַצַּבְתָּהּ is: its planting. Therefore, I will not destroy them, for I planted them as holy seed. Some explain that there was a Shallecheth Gate in Jerusalem, as it is stated in Ezra (I Chron. 26:16, written by Ezra), and there, terebinths and oaks were planted.

אשר בשלכת Which were in Shalecheth.²¹A. V., When they cast their leaves. Two trees were in the gate Shalecheth, which were exceedingly strong.^21*The gate Shalecheth is mentioned 1 Chr. 26:16; but for the two trees no other authority is known than the oak and terebinth of this verse. Those that take לשכת ═ שלכת are wrong, as well as those that derive it from השליך he cast; for whoever is able to say such things has no knowledge of grammar.²²שלכת is a form derived from the Piel; but השליך is Hiphil; this is however, no valid objection, since the Piel has often the meaning of the Hiphil.

מצבת בם Substance is in them. They will still remain and stand firmly for ever; the comparison of the people with a tree is by no means uncommon; comp. for as the days of a tree, etc. (65:22).

Holy seed will be the substance thereof. Holy seed will they be that will remain after that. Those that would come back from the Babylonian exile are here hinted at.