Comentário sobre Isaías 22:28

the Valley of Vision This is Jerusalem, the valley concerning which most prophecies were prophesied.

The valley of vision. Jerusalem, the centre of all prophecies.

that all of you have gone up to the rooftops When an army comes upon them, they go up to their roofs to see the army and to fight. Our Rabbis, however, explained this concerning the priests who went up to the roof of the Temple with the keys of the forecourt in their hands, as is stated in the Tractate Taanith (29a). The Midrash Aggadah, however, states that they, (the people of Jerusalem,) were haughty. (This is found) in Lamentations Rabbah (Int. 24).

Thou art wholly gone up to the house-tops. Some think, they went up in order to offer incense to the host of heaven, but my opinion is, that they went up in order to see the force that besieged Jerusalem, as is generally done under such circumstances.

full of clamor A city that was full of clamor, the voice of many people, tumultuous and happy, now, what ails you that you mourn?

תשואות Stirs. Root שאה to stir; comp. שאון noise (13:4).

your fallen have not fallen by the sword It would have been better had they fallen by the sword than now that they have perished by hunger.

עליזה Joyous.—Jerusalem had been full of men, but they were smitten with captivity and famine, and could not fight.

All your officers wandered together Zedekiah and his officers, who went out to flee at night (II Kings 25:4).

מקשת אסרו Because of the bow they were bound.¹A. V., They are bound by the archers. When they saw the bow of the enemy, they surrendered out of fear, and became prisoners.

because of the bow they were bound who, because of fear of the archers, were bound to be confined within the city, and all those found therein were bound together with chains, and the majority of them fled from afar prior to this.

מרחוק ברחו ׳ Which have fled from far. The relative אשר which is to be supplied; comp. עם אשר לבבם שלם ═ עם לבבם שלם in behalf of those whose heart is perfect (2 Chr. 16:9)

Leave Me alone (שְׁעוּ מִנִּי). Leave Me alone. So says the Holy One, blessed be He, to the ministering angels.

Therefore said I. The first person refers to the prophet.

שעו ממני Look away from me. Root שעה to let loose, to turn away; comp. תשעה Thou wilt depart²See chap. xvii. Note 11. (Job 7:19).

אמרר בבכי I will embitter by weeping.³A. V., I will weep bitterly. According to I. E., the Piel of מרר is causative, and the object השמעים the bitterness, is to be supplied here. I will embitter those that listen.

trampling (מְבוּסָה), trampling. Comp. (Jer. 12:10) “They trampled (בּוֹסְסוּ) My heritage.” Comp. also (Zech. 10:5): “And they shall be like heroes, trampling (בּוֹסִים) in the mire of the streets.”

ומבוכה And of perplexity. Comp. נבוכים entangled (Ex. 14:3).

destroying the wall a day of destroying the wall.

מקרקר overthrowing, or pulling down, derived from קיר wall, with a negative sense; comp. ושרשך, and he will take away thy root (Ps. 52:7), derived from שרש root.

and shouting, “To the mountain!” (וְשׁוֹעַ). And the voice of a shout to flee to the mountains to escape.

ושוע אל ההר And of crying to the mountains. Some say that this phrase means the same as ישעו ואין מושיע they look, but there is none to save (2 Sam. 22:42); others, their cry will reach the mountains.⁴According to the first explanation, שוע is identified with שעה to turn,to look, or to trust; and the meaning of the phrase is, it will be as if they trusted to the mountains, that could not help (see c. 17:7). The second explanation takes שוע in its usual meaning to cry: Their cry will be so loud that it will reach the mountains, that are far away.

carried a quiver a quiver of arrows.

And Elam, etc. In the following the prophet predicts the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar.⁵I. E. refers this prophecy to Nebuchadnezzar, and not to Sennacherib; because the siege described here, is to end in the fall of Jerusalem (ver. 14 ); this was in fact the result of the siege of Nebuchadnezzar, while Sennacherib was, by a miraculous destruction of his army, compelled to leave Palestine altogether. Elam. Even Elam, that was defeated by Nebuchadnezzar,⁶This statement is perhaps based on Jer. 25:25, 49:34 ff., where the collapse of the power of Elam is predicted; and Ezek. 32:24-25, where the extinction of the power of Elam is mentioned as an accomplished fact. Elam, according to I. E., conquered by Nebuchadnezzar, might be expected to refuse to join him in an expedition against Palestine.
7 The Hebrew text has the words אפילו שחם בעלי מדינות though they are in possession of provinces; they have no sense; for why should the inhabitants of Kir in that case not join Nebuchadnezzar? even if we join the following קיר with this phrase: though they are in possession of the provinces of Kir, it is impossible to find any sense in it. If, however, we add רחוקות distant, as is done in the translation, all difficulty is at once removed. קיר אפילו שהם בעלי מדינות רחוקות even Kir, that is a distant country, or, even the inhabitants of Kir, that live in distant countries, and must find an expedition against Jerusalem very hard and troublesome, etc. was to take up arms against Jerusalem.

and to the wall they attached their shields (עֵרָה). Comp. (above 19:7) “The well rooted plants (עָרוֹת) by the stream,” (Psalms 37:35) “Striking roots (מִתְעָרֶה) like a green tree in its native soil.” It is also possible to explain: וְקִיר עֵרָה מָגֵן as follows: Kir is the name of the city. Comp. (II Kings 16:9) “And exiled [its inhabitants] to Kir.” The people of that province exposed their shields toward Jerusalem.

And Kir, though being far from Jerusalem;—comp. And Aram from Kir (Am. 9:7)⁸The quotation is probably to prove that Kir is the name of a country, which is situated beyond Syria, and therefore distant from Jerusalem.—will uncover the shield round Jerusalem against Israel.

laid [siege] to the gate (Lit., laid to the gate.) They laid siege to the gates. There is a similar expression in Kings (II 20:12) in the war with Ben Hadad, “Lay on!” And they laid siege to the city.

Thy valleys. The second person refers to Jerusalem. שת שתו.

They prepare,⁹A. V., They set themselves in array. the forts, the trenches, and all the instruments of war.

And he bared (וַיְגַל), an expression of uncovering.

And he discovered, etc. The veil was already taken away from the eyes of Judah, when the enemy was approaching; they saw immediately that they had no strength to resist. The third person ויגל, And he discovered might also be referred to God.¹⁰According to the first explanation, the enemy is the subject; the enemy, by his approach, opened the eyes of Judah, and made them discover their weakness.

the covert of Judah That is the Temple, which shielded, protected, and covered them.

And thou didst look. Judah is addressed.

and you looked on that day for means of waging war.

to the weapons of the house of the forest They are the three hundred shields and two hundred body shields that Solomon made, and the king placed them in the house of the forest of Lebanon (I Kings 10:16).

the cracks of the city of David The cracks of the wall you saw that they had increased.

Ye have seen also, etc. They looked to the fortifications, and found that the breaches of the town of David were many; they were therefore obliged to collect the waters of the pool, that they might serve as a fence round the town.

and you gathered the water of the lower pool Jonathan renders: And you gathered the people to the waters of the lower pool, which is near the cracks of the city of David, to fight there, because you saw that Jerusalem had a weak spot there and was vulnerable to conquest from there.

And the houses of Jerusalem you counted how many houses each one had, that they give of them proportionally, to take the stones and the wood to fortify the wall.

And ye have numbered, etc. They had to count the houses, in order to know the number of the soldiers.¹¹It was desirable to know the number of the houses, in order to ascertain how many soldiers the town might be able to keep.

to fortify (לְבַצֵּר), to strengthen, an expression similar to “fortified cities” (בְּצוּרוֹת) (Num. 13:28).

And the houses have ye broken down. The houses that were near the wall from without.

And a ditch you made A pool of water, to be a defense (lit., strength) for the city.

ומקוה And a ditch. מקוה מים ═ מקוה A gathering of water (Lev. 2:36).

between the two walls the double walls, the low wall and the high wall, and the water of the old pool.

Unto the maker thereof. Unto God, who has decreed to bring Nebuchadnezzar against Jerusalem.

but you did not look to its Maker Now, if you ask, Hezekiah, too, did so, as it is stated (in II Chron. 32:5) “And he strengthened himself, and he built up all the broken down wall, and he went up on the towers and outside the other wall, and he strengthened the Millo of the city of David,” the answer is that Hezekiah “trusted in the Lord God of Israel, etc.” (II Kings 18:5), but you, in the days of Jehoiakim and Zedekiah did not look to its Maker.

Unto him that fashioned it. That fashioned the decree.

and Him Who fashioned it from afar From the time He created the world, Jerusalem and the Temple were His intention.

מרחוק Long ago. Join מרחוק either with ויוצרה, he that fashioned it long ago, or with לא ראיתם, you have not seen for a long time.¹²The second explanation is not in accordance with the accents; וְיוֹצְרָ֥הּ has a conjunctive, מֵרָח֭וֹק a disjunctive accent.

you did not see You did not think of Him.

And in that day did the Lord, God of Hosts, call, etc. That is, God decreed. More correctly, however, this phrase may be referred to the words of the prophet.¹³The meaning of the phrase is therefore, And the prophet, in the name of God, declared.

And behold, joy and happiness The Holy One, blessed be He, so to speak, is mourning, and you are eating and rejoicing.

הרג Slaying, causing the separation of the soul from the body; הרג is used with reference to cattle instead of שחט, and on the other side וישחטם, And he slaughtered them (Num. 14:16) is used with reference to men instead of ¹⁴הרג to slay, is used with reference to man, שחט to kill, with reference to beasts; this passage, and the one quoted from Num. 14:16, are of the exceptions, the entire number of which is very small..ויהרגם

for tomorrow we will die in the World to Come. The prophets tell us in the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, that we will have no share in the World to Come. Let us, therefore, enjoy ourselves during our lifetime.

For to-morrow we shall die. The prophet foretells what people will say in the days of the siege.

until you die Jonathan paraphrases a second death in the World to Come.

ונגלה And it was revealed. This thing¹⁵The determination of the people, mentioned in the preceding verse. was revealed. באזני In mine ears.¹⁶A. V., In mine ears, by the Lord, etc. Supply אָזְנֵי the ears of.¹⁷The complete sentence would be: In mine ears, the ears of the Lord, etc. Comp. נביאכם יי Your prophet, the prophet of the Lord¹⁸A. V., A prophet among you, I, the Lord, etc. (Num. 12:6). According to some the suffix in באזני refers to the prophet; but the first explanation is better.¹⁹See c. v., Note 16.

Till ye die by the hand of the enemy who will besiege you.

voluptuary (סוֹכֵן), he was lustful of pleasures. Comp. (I Kings 1:2): “And she shall be to him a warmer (סוֹכֶנֶת),” (San. 26b, where Rashi cites exegetes who claim that Shebna had homosexual tendencies.) Midrash Aggadah states: He was from Sichni, and he came to Jerusalem. This is in Lev. Rabbah (5:5).

God of hosts. This attribute is added, because the treasurer is mentioned, who was appointed over the royal house, and whom some believed to be the master of the money stored up there.²⁰The hosts are, according to I. E., all creatures on heaven and earth (comp. Gen. 2:1). God of hosts is therefore the true master of the state treasures, not Shebna. Concerning the occasional use of the Tetragrammaton as an appellative governing the genitive צבאות of hosts, see i., Note 45, and I. E. On Exodus 3:15.

appointed over the Temple (lit., the house.) He was appointed over the entire Temple. Some say he was the High Priest and some say he was a Temple trustee.

הסוכן The treasurer. Comp. מסכנות stores (Ex. 1:11).

עַל Concerning. He shall prophesy concerning him, and say to him.

What have you here Scripture denigrates him because he wished to surrender Hezekiah to the king of Assyria, as is stated in San. (26a): He wrote a note and shot it on an arrow, “Shebna and his company wish to make peace; Hezekiah and his company do not wish to make peace.”

What hast thou here? Why didst thou stop here? And whom hast thou here of thy family that could assist thee?

and whom do you have here Who of your family is buried here?

חצבת Thou hast hewed. Comp. חצובים hewed (Deut. 6:11). Thou thinkest that thou wilt always remain treasurer, and that thou wilt die in Jerusalem, and therefore thou hast already prepared a grave for thee.—Those commentators that take gravein the sense of palace are mistaken, as shown by the words there shalt thou die (ver. 18).²¹The Targum has אְַתַר place, and אַתְרֵיהּ his place for קבר and קברו and seems to take קבר figuratively for the palace or the place where Shebna hoped to remain till his death.

he hews his grave on high For he hewed a grave for himself among the graves of the House of David, to be buried among the kings. Therefore, he says to him, “What right of heritage do you have in these graves?”

he hews (חֹצְבִי). The ‘yud’ is superfluous. Comp. (Deut. 33:16): “Who dwells (שׁוֹכְנִי) in the thornbush”; (Psalms 113:7) “He raises up (מְקִימִי) the poor man from the dust.”

Shall cast you about with a mighty toss (גָבֶר) like a rooster that wanders from place to place (Lev. Rabbah ibid.) The Midrash explains גֶבֶר as a rooster. Our Rabbis, however, stated that the wandering of a man is more trying than that of a woman (San. 26a).

מטלטלך Will carry thee away. Reduplication of טול to carry. Comp. ויטילו And they cast (Jon. 1:5).

and cause you to fly. Heb. (וְעֹטְךָ עָטֹה). Comp. (I Sam. 25:14) “And he drove them away (וַיָּעַט),” an expression of עַיִּט, a bird. He will make you fly away like a bird, in exile. Our Rabbis, however, stated that ‘zaraath’ broke out upon him, as is stated: (Leviticus 13:45) “And on his upper lip he shall enwrap himself (יַעְטֶה).”

גבר O man.²²A. V., A mighty captivity. Thou, who thinkest that thou art mighty. Comp. והיית לאיש and show thyself a man (1 Kgs. 2:2). גבר is here the vocative case. It can also mean as the carrying away of a man.²³Comp. טלטולא דגברא קשה טדאתתא A man, carried away in Captivity is treated more harshly and cruelly than a woman. See Rashi ad locum. I prefer the first explanation.

He shall wind you around like a turban that surrounds the head, the enemies and oppressors shall surround you.

צנוף יצנפך צנפה He will surely bind thee together.²⁴A. V., He will surely violently turn and toss thee. According to I. E.: צנף to bind, מצנפת a mitre that is bound round the head.²⁴A. V., He will surely violently turn and toss thee. According to I. E.: צנף to bind, מצנפת a mitre that is bound round the head. Comp. מצנפת mitre (Ex. 28:4). He will take him, together with all his money and wealth.²⁵I. E. infers this probably from the root צנף being repeated thrice.

like a surrounding wall. (כַּדּוּר). Our Rabbis, however, explained it as an expression of a ball, which they call ‘pelote’ in French, which is tossed and caught from hand to hand.

כדור Like a ball. The כ is the prefix of comparison; the word is familiar from its use in the Rabbinical literature; its meaning may also be gathered from the context.²⁶I. E. overlooks that in Rabbinical literature the ball is called כדור not דור. (Comp. Mishna, Kelim 10:4, and I. E. on Job 15:24).

to a land of ample space in Casiphia, the name of a place.

A large country. Babylon.²⁷According to I. E. this catastrophe of the house of Shebna took place in the days of the Babylonian invasion during the reign of king Jehoiakim or Zedekiah, when Shebna himself was probably no more alive; for Manasseh reigned 55, Amon 2, Josiah 31, Jehoahaz ¼, Jehoiakim 11 years; and to these a part of the reign of Hezekiah must be added. It can hardily be understood why I.E. transfers this catastrophe to a later period and takes Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, for the son of that Hilkiah, who officiated as high priest during the reign of king Josiah, while the text seems to point at the reign of Hezekiah (comp. 36:22), unless we assume that he is anxious to refer the second part of the chapter to the same period, to which, as he believed, the first part alluded. (Comp. ver. 6).<

there you shall die And you shall not be buried in the sepulchre of the House of David, and there the chariots of your glory shall be converted into the shame of the house of your master which you sought.

There shalt thou die, etc. There he shall die, with all his horsemen. The shame of thy lord’s house. For thou art a disgrace to the house of thy master; or thou wilt then be, etc. This prediction was probably verified in the exile of King Jehoiakim or Jehoiachim; comp. And I will call my servant Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah (ver. 20)

and from your station (Lit., your stand. The Temple service was performed in a standing position.) And from your service in the Temple, He shall tear you down.

to Eliakim He was appointed over the house when Sennacherib took him, (i.e., Shebna,) as we find, when they went out to Rabshakeh, and he revealed to him Shebna and his company, and they dragged him with their horses’ tails, as is related in San. (26b). When Sennacherib went to Tirhakah, king of Cush, he swept away Shebna and his company and went away. We learned this in Seder Olam (ch. 23).

To my servant. He was the servant of the Lord; not so Shebna.

Thy robe and thy girdle. Every officer has a certain robe and girdle, as e.g., the wise men of Athens wore a certain distinctive girdle.

A father. A good teacher and a friend, like a father.

the key of the House of David Jonathan paraphrases: The key of the Temple and the government of the House of David.

And the king of the house of David, etc. From this verse we learn that the house (ver. 15) means the royal palace.

And I will thrust him like a peg in a sure place (Jonathan renders:) And I will appoint him a faithful trustee, serving in a sure place. Jonathan renders נֶאֱמָן as sure, i.e., a place that is faithful to those who lean on it, for it shall not move. Another explanation is to reverse the word order of the verse: And I will thrust him a sure peg in a place.

יתד As a nail. כיתד ═ יתד. Comp. וכעיר ═ ועיר And like a wild ass (Job 11:12)

the children and the grandchildren (צֶאֱצָאִים וּצְפִיעוֹת). Jonathan renders: the children and the children’s children. Menachem (Machbereth p. 151) associates it with, (Ezekiel 4:15) “Cattle dung (צְפִיעֵי).” This teaches us that it is an expression of tiny infants that issue forth from their mother’s womb. making צְפִיעוֹת an expression of coming out, i.e., a thing that comes out.

And they shall hang, etc. Having compared Eliakim with a nail, the prophet continues, they shall hang upon it, etc.

all the small vessels the smallest of their families shall take pride in him and rely on him.

הצאצאים The offspring. The children that will come out of him.²⁸The root of צאצאים is יצא to come out.

from the vessels of basins to the vessels of the lyres Jonathan paraphrases: From the priests who wear the ephod to the Levites who hold the lyres. Accordingly, it is an expression of the ministration vessels with which the priests perform the service in the Temple.

והצפיעות And the issue. The female children are perhaps meant; comp. יצא צפע shall come forth a cockatrice (14:29).²⁹According to this remark צפע means offspring, but in commenting on 14:29 he says that צפעני ═ צפע means cockatrice, and is more dangerous than נחש serpent. A joke at the expense of women is perhaps intended by this remark. The real reason for this explanation is very likely to be found in the masculine and feminine terminations of the two words צאצאים and צפיעות. Since he is said to be the father, the men of Judah are as it were his sons, and the women his daughters. All vessels of small quantity. The children are compared to small vessels.

the lyres with which the Levites recite the song during the offering of the sacrifices.

האגנות The cups. (Comp. 24:6). The gold was perhaps kept in those vessels.

כלי הנבלים. The vessels of psalteries.³⁰A. V., All the vessels of flagons. Musical instruments. Nothing will remain in the royal palace, that should not be placed under his authority.

shall the peg...move (This alludes to) the greatness of Shebna.

The nail, etc. Shebna, who thought himself a nail fixed in a strong place.

and the burden which is upon it shall be cut off His family members and his company who depend on him and who hang upon him the vessels of their glory. And since he likened him to a peg, he likened those who boast about him and rely on him, to a burden loaded on the peg. Some interpret it: And the prophecy prophesied about him shall be fulfilled.

The burden that is upon it. The supporters of his government.