Commento su Isaia 7:27

And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz What did Scripture see to trace his lineage? But, since the end of the verse states: “And he could not wage war against it,” it teaches you that the merit of his forebears stood him in good stead. The ministering angels said before the Holy One, blessed be He, Woe! Who is this wicked man who has become king? He replied to them, He is the son of Jotham; he is the son of Uzziah. His forebears were righteous. I, therefore, do not wish to harm him. This is the meaning of the words, “and he could not wage war against it,” because of the merit of his forefathers. [This is found in Gen. Rabbah 63:1.]

And he could not. Pekah ben Remaliahu is meant; comp. Aram is confederate with Ephraim, in the next verse.¹From this Ibn Ezra infers that Ephraim and its king Pekah were the principal enemies of Judah.

And it was told to the House of David Since he was wicked, Scripture did not mention his name.

Ephraim. The kingdom of the ten tribes is called Ephraim, because their first king Jeroboam was of that tribe (1 Kings 2:26).

Aram has allied itself with Ephraim lit. has rested upon Ephraim. The king of Aram has joined the king of Israel to attack you. נָחָה is the feminine gender, since the kingdom (מַלְכוּת) joined. Posad in O. F., lay, comp. (Exodus 10:14) “And it rested (וַיַָּנַח) in all the boundary of Egypt.”

עם═על With; comp. האנשים על הנשים The men with the women (Exod. 35:22)

and his heart... trembled Since each one individually had already waged war with him and defeated him, as it is said (II Chron. 28:5): “And the Lord his God delivered into the hand of the king of Aram...,” and it states further (v. 6): “And Pekah son of Remaliah slew 120,000 men.” Both verses are in Chronicles.

as the trees of the forest tremble The sound of trees that do not produce fruit is heard more than that of all fruit trees [var. the sound of fruit trees], as is [found] in Gen. Rabbah (16:3).

and Shear yashuv your son The small remnant that will return to Me through you, and they are like your sons.

נא Now.²See chap. v., note 1. Shear Yashub. The name of the prophet’s son, as I shall explain (ver. 14).

to the edge of the conduit There you will find him. תְּעָלַת is fosed [a ditch] in O.F.

בנך Thy son. Those that derive בנך from בינה understanding understand nothing of grammar.³Thine understanding would be in Hebrew בִּינָתְךָ.

the upper pool A type of gathering of water that is made for fish.

תעלת Ditch (comp. 1 Kings 18:38), where the water is running; while בְרֵכָה pool signifies a gathering of rain water; many derive בְּרֵכָה from בְּרָכָה blessing, its water coming from a blessed place, from heaven.

upper On the incline of the mountain, and there is one below it at its base.

the washer’s field A field in which the washers spread out laundry to dry. So did Jonathan render this. Our Rabbis expounded that Ahaz humbled himself before Isaiah and placed on his head a washer’s utensil, i.e., he inverted a vessel on his head [i.e., a perforated vessel used by the washers, with which they sprinkle water on the clothing].

Feel secure Heb. הִשָּׁמֵר. Sit tranquilly like wine on its lees (שְׁמָרָיו).

חִשָּׁמֵ֨ר Accent on the last syllable. This word is to be compared with שמרים dregs, lees (25:6.), שמריו ושקם הוא על He has settled on his lees (Jerem. 48:11), and explained, Remain on thy lees (that is remain quiet), for הִשָּֽׁמֶר Take heed has the accent on the last syllable but one; and besides, the following Fear not proves the correctness of this explanation.⁴השמר is parallel to אל הירא as השקט to לבבך אל ירך, and all these verbs appear to have a similar meaning, while Take heed, and Fear not are just the reverse in meaning the one of the other. השמר means therefore, according to I. E., remain quiet.

smoking stubs of firebrands Consider them as stubs of firebrands whose flame has been extinguished. אוּדִים is tisons [embers] in French.

והשקט Transitive verb Make quiet; supply נפשך thyself or עמך thy people.

Tails of smoking firebrands. The prophet compares these kings to the tails of firebrands—אודים firebrands comp. Zach. 3:2—because they are like the remnant of a firebrand that smokes, but cannot burn; and adds. In the fierce anger because it is by their fierce anger that they are like tails of firebrands.

יען Because. י is perhaps the preformative of the future.⁵Literally, It will correspond, It will be according to. From this the meaning because is derived.

and provoke it Let us provoke them to war.

ונקיצנה Transitive verb, let us cause her to be distressed because of us; the suffix נה her, refers to Jerusalem; the following, Let us make a breach therein, proves the correctness of this interpretation.⁶I. E. seems to derive from this that the suffix נָה refers to a fortified town, as Jerusalem was, and not to the land or people of Judah. Comp. Targum and Rashi ad locum. The son of Tobel. According to some^6*א and ב ,ג and נ ,מ and נ, and so on, are put for each other (אלפא ביתא דאל״בם).

and annex it to us Heb. וְנַבְקִיעֶנָּה. Let us even it out with us like a valley (בִּקְעָה) that is even. And so does Jonathan render: And let us even them with us, that they should be even with the ten tribes under one king.

טבאל is by a certain interchange of letters the same as רמלא, and בן טבאל therefore the same as בן רמליהו; this is nonsense, because Ben Remaliahu is mentioned before, and he says with Aram, Let us set a king in the midst of it, the son of Tobel. Others say that טָבְאַל means טׂב אֵלֵינוּ good for us, but אַל can only be taken as equal to לא, and בן טבאל would then be בן טבלא ═ good for nothing; but I conclude that it is the name of some famous prince in Israel or Aram.

one who is good for us Heb. בֶּן טָבְאַל [a combination of the words: טוֹב אֶל,] good for us; so did Jonathan render it. It is also possible to interpret it as: טוֹב אַל, not good in the eyes of the Omnipresent, and according to the calculation of the letters of ‘al-bam,’ Tov’al is Ramla. ‘Teth’ equals ‘resh’; ‘beth’ equals ‘mem’; ‘aleph’ equals ‘lammed.’ Hence, “ben tov’al” equals ‘ben Ramla.’

Neither shall it succeed This plan of theirs, that Judah should be subordinated under them.

תקום Shall stand. Supply זאת העצה this counsel; for יעץ he has taken counsel is mentioned above (ver. 5), and I stated already (5:2) that the verb contains implicitly a verbal noun, when it is not directly mentioned.

For the head of Aram that is Damascus, and Jerusalem has nothing with them.

כי Although, Comp. כי עם קשה ערף הוא Although they be a stiffnecked people. (Exod. 34:9.) This plan will not be realised, although Rezin and Pekah besiege Jerusalem.

and the head of Damascus is Rezin In Damascus he shall be head, but not in Jerusalem, and also as regards Pekah and the ten tribes in another sixty-five years from the day it was decreed in the days of Amos (7:11): “And Israel shall surely be exiled from upon its land.”

And yet⁷A. V. Within. threescore, etc. Comp. the common phrase so and so many years are still left before such and such an event will take place. ב in בעוד is superfluous as in (טרם═)בטרם before. These sixty-five years begin with the year of the earthquake, that happened in the days of Uzziah, when Amos prophesied^7*This is not quite correct, since Amos prophesied two years before the earthquake (Amos 1:1.) And Israel will surely go into exile (Amos 7:11). Comp. And it was at the end of forty years (2 Sam. 15:7.)⁸No mention is there made when the 40 years began, but it is certain that they did not begin with the event recorded immediately before; in the same way the sixty-five years here are not to be counted from the year of this prophecy, but, according to Ibn Ezra, from the year of the earthquake in the reign of Uzziah.

Ephraim shall be broken, no longer to be a people Ephraim shall be shattered, no longer to be a people, for Sennacherib will exile them with their king, Hoshea son of Elah. Go out and calculate from Amos’ prophecy until the ten tribes were exiled, and you will find them to be sixty-five years. Amos’ prophecy was two years before Uzziah was stricken, as it is stated (Amos 1:1): “Two years before the earthquake.” And Uzziah was stricken for twenty-five years, plus these two years, giving us a total of twenty-seven years. Add the sixteen years of Jotham and the sixteen years of Ahaz and six years of Hezekiah, as it is stated (II Kings 18:10, 11): “And they captured it [at the end of three years]; in the sixth year of Hezekiah, which is the ninth year of Hoshea, king of Israel...And the king of Assyria exiled Israel to Assyria.” Here are sixty-five years. Now how do we know that the duration of Uzziah’s state as a confirmed metzora was twenty-five years? For it is stated (ibid. 15:1): “In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam the king of Israel, Azariah the son of Amaziah the king of Judah, became king.” Is it possible to say this? Did not Uzziah and Jeroboam reign simultaneously, according to the calculation you will find in the Book of Kings (See Rashi II Kings 14:22)? Rather he reigned a plagued kingship. In the twenty-seventh year he was stricken, and he reigned for fifty-two years. It is impossible, however, to count “and in another sixty-five years” from the day that Isaiah said this prophecy, for he said it in the days of Ahaz, and they were exiled in the sixth year of Hezekiah. In this manner it is explained in Seder Olam (ch. 28), that Scripture counted from the prophecy of Amos.

יֵחַת Shall be broken; comp. החתות Thou hast broken (9:3); it is Niphal, like יִמַּס (13:7) Will be melted מֵעָם By a people.⁹A. V. That it be not a people. Evil shall befall them by means of a people that will come against them. יֵחַת can also be Kal of a verb נחת ,פ״נ to go down, (like יִגַּשׁ he will approach; comp. תֵּחַת It comes down) (Prov. 17:9); הנחת Cause to come down (Joel 3:11), where the נ is not omitted. The meaning of יֵחַת מֵעָם is accordingly: They will go down and be no more considered as a nation.

if you do not believe My prophecy, you, Ahaz, and his people, for I know that you are wicked.

And the head of, etc. As I explained.¹⁰In the preceding verse כי was explained to signify Although; this verse is the continuation of it, and וכי ראש═וראש And although the head, etc.

it is because you cannot be believed There is no truth in you.

If you will not believe. Supply speak, or ask for a sign; wherefore immediately succeeds, And the Lord, etc., Ask thee a sign. But it appears that when the prophet said, If ye will not believe, etc., Ahaz did not answer.

כי לא תאמנו Because there is no truth in you¹¹You do not believe, because your own words are not trustworthy. A. V., Surely ye shall not be established.; comp. ויאמנו דבריכם So shall your words be verified (Gen. 42:20)

And the Lord continued [Jonathan paraphrases:] And the prophet of the Lord continued.

Unto Ahaz. Through Isaiah; comp. And the Lord spake unto Manasseh and unto his people (2 Chr. 33:10).¹²The inference is drawn from the words unto his people, since it is evident that God spoke to the whole people only through the prophets.

Ask for yourself a sign for this thing, for I know that you do not believe the words of the Holy One, blessed be He.

העמק שאלה. Two consecutive imperatives without the conjunctive ו; comp. התאחדי הימיני Go thee one way, go on the right hand (Ez. 21:16). שְׁאָלָה Imperative, like שְׁמָעָה hear (Dan. 9:19). Ask, and touch the depth with the question, or ask on high above. Many take both העמק and הגבה as infinitives.¹³As infinitives they must be connected with אות a sign, and שְׁאָלָה must then have the same meaning as שְׁאׂלָה grave.—Ask for a sign, that he do anything either below in the depth of the earth or on high in heaven.

ask it in the depths Heb. הַעֲמֵק שְׁאָלָה. Go down to the depths and ask. שְׁאָלָה is like, “שְׁמָעָה, hear, סְלָחָה, forgive” (Daniel 9:19). Ask for a sign in the depths of the abyss, to resurrect a dead person for you, or go up to the heights above to ask for a sign in the heavens.

and I will not test I do not wish that His Name be hallowed through Me.

I will not ask, etc. From the answer of the prophet we conclude that the words of Ahaz must be taken in a bad sense: I shall not ask nor shall I try Him, for I know that He cannot do what I should ask Him.

to weary men God’s prophets.

To weary men. To make them tired of a thing which they have tried to accomplish, so that they become unable to continue their efforts. Because you are kings, and people cannot resist you, you think the same about the ways of God.¹⁴You think, that in the same way, as men become weary in their resistance against you, God is weary and unable to oppose your plans.

that you weary, etc. For He knows that you do not believe in Him, and you weary Him with your wickedness.

the Lord, of His own, shall give you a sign He will give you a sign by Himself, against Your will.

Therefore the Lord himself etc. Though you do not ask a sign, He will give it you. It is to me a matter of surprise that there are those who say the prophet here refers to Jesus, since the sign was given to Ahaz, and Jesus was born many years afterwards; besides, the prophet says, For before the child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land shall be forsaken; but the countries of Ephraim and Syria were wasted in the sixth year of Hezekiah, and¹⁵The following is added to show that The land shall be forsaken, can only refer to Syria and Israel; both kingdoms were successively conquered by Assyria in the time of Ahaz and Hezekiah. it is distinctly said of whose two kings, etc. Many make the mistake of identifying Immanuel with Hezekiah; they cannot be the same, granting even this prophecy to have been uttered at the beginning of the reign of Ahaz; he reigned only sixteen years, and Hezekiah was at the death of Ahaz twenty-five years old. According to others, Immanuel is another son of Ahaz, and others again take the names (Immanuel, Maher Shalal and Shear Yashub) as symbolical of the kingdom; but if so, what meaning would be in the child’s knowing good and evil and in Maher Shalal calling father and mother? (8:4). I think that Immanuel is the son of Isaiah, as well as Maher Shalal; the latter is proved by And I went unto the prophetess, etc. (8:3). Shear Yashub is similarly related to the prophet (ver. 3); each of the three sons received a name that contained some hint at future events; Immanuel implied that God would help them and be with them during the troubles caused by the two kings; Maher Shalal, that the time for the exile of Samaria had arrived; and Shear Yashub, that the remnant of Israel would repent; this explanation is well borne out by the words, Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me, are for signs and for wonders. Comp. The children which the Lord hath graciously given to thy servant (Gen. 33:5).¹⁶This quotation is to prove that the words, the children which the Lord has given me refer to the true children of the prophet, not to pupils, and that they are not used in any other figurative sense. Those that in the former passage regard children as equivalent to pupils must produce us some analogy from Scripture.¹⁷It is hardly necessary to refer to the great many instances, where the listener or reader is addressed as My son, but Ibn Ezra speaks of the whole phrase, children whom the Lord hath given me, and to take that in a figurative sense is not possible without some analogous examples. Isaiah himself was a sign and an example concerning Egypt (20:3).—The Gaon says that the sign consisted in the child being a male child;¹⁸This was foretold by the prophet (ver. 14). but in my opinion the sign was that the child was to eat butter and honey; for it is not usual that children eat these things immediately after their birth.¹⁹If this be the right explanation, the most important point in the sign is omitted from the text, namely, that the child will eat those things immediately after its birth.

is with child This is actually the future, as we find concerning Manoah’s wife, that the angel said to her (Judges 13:3): “And you shall conceive and bear a son,” and it is written, “Behold, you are with child and shall bear a son.”

We know that a male child is called נער, a female child נערה or עלמה—the feminine of עֶלֶם—whether she be a virgin or not; for עלמה signifies a person of a certain age, like the masculine עלם; and in דרך גבר בעלמה the way of a man with a young woman²⁰A. V. the way of a man with a maid. (Prov. 30:19) עלמה is certainly not a virgin; because at the beginning of that passage it is said, which I know not (ibid. 18).

the young woman My wife will conceive this year. This was the fourth year of Ahaz.

וקראת And shall call. Subject is, העלמה; comp. וחטאת And it sinneth (Ex. 5:16).²¹וקראה ,וחטאה═וקראת ,והטאת, third person sing. fem. past of Kal.

and she shall call his name Divine inspiration will rest upon her.

Immanuel [lit. God is with us. That is] to say that our Rock shall be with us, and this is the sign, for she is a young girl, and she never prophesied, yet in this instance, Divine inspiration shall rest upon her. This is what is stated below (8:3): “And I was intimate with the prophetess, etc.,” and we do not find a prophet’s wife called a prophetess unless she prophesied. Some interpret this as being said about Hezekiah, but it is impossible, because, when you count his years, you find that Hezekiah was born nine years before his father’s reign. And some interpret that this is the sign, that she was a young girl and incapable of giving birth.

Cream and honey he shall eat [i.e.,] the child [shall eat,] for our land shall be replete with all good.

ברע The bad.²²A.V., the evil. The bad food; as הטוב the good means the good food.

when he knows to reject bad and choose good Heb. לְדַעְתּוֹ [lit. to his knowledge], when he knows to reject bad and choose good. Now whence will we have this plenty? Is not our land desolate now from the troops of the kings of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah?

For, when the lad does not yet know to reject bad and choose good the land shall be abandoned by its inhabitants, [i.e.,] the land of Rezin and the land of Pekah.

For before the child shall know, etc. Some assume that such is the case at the age of twenty years, because of the words of Moses, From twenty years old, etc. (Exod. 30:14); if so, this prophecy must have been delivered after the second year of the reign of Ahaz.²³Ahaz reigned sixteen years; the exile of Israel took place in the sixth year of King Hezekiah; from the second of Ahaz till the exile are twenty years. But it is possible²⁴Necessary is expected after I. E.’s remark on ver. 15. that an earlier age than twenty is meant.

you dread and fear its two kings, Rezin and Pekah, for in that year the king of Assyria marched on Damascus since Ahaz hired him, as it is stated in the Book of II Kings (16:9): “And seized it and exiled its inhabitants to Kir, and he slew Rezin,” and in that very year (ibid. 15:30), “Hoshea the son of Elah revolted against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and he struck him and slew him...in the twentieth year of Jotham,” which was the fourth year of Ahaz.

The Lord shall bring upon you and upon your people “And yet greater that this, the Lord shall bring upon you and upon your people [ms]. Upon Hezekiah your son, who will reign after you,” but since he was righteous, he did not call him his son.

The Lord shall bring unto thee, etc. When Samaria and Damascus will be exiled, then Sennacherib shall come against Judah.

days which have not come since the day the kingdom of the House of David was divided, and Ephraim seceded from Judah. And what are the days? The days of the army of the king of Assyria, and even then [lit. in them], a miracle shall be performed for Judah, and so we find in II Chron. (28:20) that he came first upon Ahaz, for it is written: “And Tilgath-Pilnesser [not as in printed editions] came upon him and distressed him, but did not strengthen him.” And in the days of Hezekiah his son, the miracle was performed.

the Lord shall whistle Shall signal them that they assemble.

The fly. The host is compared to a fly.

to the “fly” Armies as numerous as flies, will come from Egypt with Sennacherib.

The rivers of Egypt. The king of Assyria conquered Egypt; therefore the Egyptians had to come to assist him.

the canals of Egypt Since all the land of Egypt is made into canals, for rain does not fall there, but the Nile rises and waters it.

and to the “bee” An army of heroes who sting like bees.

in the desolate valleys Heb. נַחֲלֵי means valleys, i.e., fallow fields.

וְנָחֽוּ And shall rest. Accent on the last syllable; comp. שָֽׂמוּ (Gen. 40:15), וְשָׂמֽוּ (Num. 6:27).

and in the clefts of the rocks to ambush. נְקִיקֵי is synonymous with נִקְרוֹתהַצּוּר.

בתות Desolate places. Comp. בתה desolate (5:6).

and in the thornbushes the places of the thorns called broces [briars]. And similarly (infra 55:13): “Instead of the thornbush (הנַּעֲצוּץ) the fir tree shall come up.”

ובנקיקי And in the holes of. Hapax legomenon; its meaning is found by the context.

the shrines houses of praise [from Jonathan].

נעצוצים Thorns Trees that bear no fruit. Comp. נעצוץ (55:13) thorn.

נהלולים Bushes. Hap. leg.—They will be so many that they will encamp even in uninhabited and desolate places.

the Lord shall shave with the great razor Heb. (שְּׂכִירָה), comp. (Jer. 46:21) “Also its officers (שְׂכִירֶיהָ) in its midst,” which Jonathan renders: its great ones.

Shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired. This refers to the angel of the Lord coming forth and destroying the camp of Assyria (37:36). Some take השכירה in the meaning of great; comp. שכיריה (Jer. 46:21) her great ones.²⁵This is the explanation of Rashi; the Targum has here for שכירה the word הריפא sharp, but in Jerem. רברבהא, her great ones. I think that שכירה is a noun like אכילה the eating (1 Kings 19:8), derived from שכר hire, which the owner of the razor receives; for this instrument, the hired razor, is very sharp; it is his profession.²⁶It is the profession of him, that lets out razors on hire, to keep them sharp. The head, the hair of the feet, the beard. Every mighty one, all princes and noblemen; it is said so distinctly (9:14)

on the other side of the river Of those who dwell on the other side of the river, and of which of those dwellers? The king of Assyria, the head He will shave and the hair of the legs. Since it is in the construct state, it is voweled with a ‘pattach,’ (שַׂעַר) instead of (שֵׂעָר).

shall be entirely removed Will be destroyed. The shaving is the slaying, and the razor is the sword.

the head This symbolizes the king.

the legs [This symbolizes] his camps [from Jonathan].

the beard [This symbolizes] the governors [from Jonathan]. But our Rabbis said that this literally refers to shaving, and the removal of the beard is by singeing it with fire. “The beard” refers to the beard of Sennacherib, as is found in the Aggadah of the chapter entitled, ‘Chelek.’

a man shall keep alive and since the land will be empty, for the armies will pillage the livestock, and in the few that remain I will give a blessing.

ושתי צאן And two sheep.²⁷צאן is a general term for the whole species, and cannot be joined with any number, when this is the case, another word must be supplied, as for instance here: שיות lambs. Elliptical expression for ושתי שיות צאן And two lambs of the flock.

A man. Every one that will be in Jerusalem.

And it shall be, because of the plentiful milk that these two sheep will produce, they will despise the milk and eat the cream, which is the fat of the milk.

And it shall come, etc. God will send a blessing, so that plenty will spring out of little; therefore the sign was given, He will eat butter and honey.

everyone left The righteous who were saved from the sword of Sennacheribhe is bringing them good news, that sustenance will be prepared for them after that desolation.

And it shall come to pass on that day that the land will be desolate, there will be a place where there were, before the coming of the armies.

היה═יהיה Was; comp. ישיר (Exod. 15:1) sang, יעשו They made (Ps. 106:19).

a thousand vines worth a thousand pieces of silver will be for the worms and the thorns, for their owners will abandon them and flee, and they will be overgrown by thorns and worms and scorpions.

שמיר ושית Two kinds of thorns. This figure refers to the hosts of Assyria that destroyed the land year after year.

With arrows and with a bow shall one come there Everyone who wishes to enter therein, will require a bow and arrows in his hand, to save himself from wild beasts, snakes, and scorpions.

With arrows, etc. One will not be able to enter the vineyards of former days, unless armed with arrows, from fear, they might harbour robbers or wild beasts in the thickets.

And all the mountains where there are wheat fields fit for grain.

And on all hills, etc. And all the hills, where vineyards have formerly been carefully dressed, will now again be prepared; for there will be no thorns, and God will give such a blessing on the vineyards of the mountains, that people will send the cattle there; comp. He bindeth his foal to the vine (Gen. 49:4). The prophet says that from one cow and two sheep there will be obtained a plentiful supply of milk; and the vineyards of the mountains, that will alone remain undamaged, will enjoy a boundless blessing from the Almighty.

that will be dug with a spade It is a kind of shovel called fosojjr in O.F.

the fear of worms and thorns For in them they will engage to sow grain for food, for it is impossible without grain, but the vines will be neglected, for that generation of Hezekiah will return to Me to engage in the Torah, and not to drink wine, as it is [stated] in [the chapter of] “Chelek” (San. 94b): They searched from Dan to Beer-sheba, and did not find any man who was not well-versed in the laws of prohibition and permissibility and ritual defilement and purity. And concerning that generation, Scripture says: And it shall come to pass, that every place, etc. This is what is stated (Prov. 25:1): “Which the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah, strengthened.”

and it shall be for the pasture of oxen There their cattle will graze on fat pastureland.