Comentário sobre Isaías 24:26

Behold the Lord empties the land and lays it waste This prophecy represents retribution for Israel. Since he prophesied for them this consolation, and they are destined to see great distress before it, he, therefore, said to them, “Not to you do I say that you will inherit it, for, behold, the Holy One, blessed be He, empties you out and lays you waste, but those of you who survive until the day of redemption, they shall raise their voice and sing;” this is the end of the passage (v. 14), and for them have I prophesied the favorable prophecy.

בוקק. He maketh empty. Comp. Hos. x. i.

empties (בּוֹקֵק) empties.

ובולקה And maketh it waste. This word is met with a second time in the book of the vision of Nahum (Nah. 3:10).¹The Hebrew text has בספר הזה; but in Nahum, not in Isaiah, another instance of this root is found. בספר הזה is therefore a mistake; the text had originally בספר חזון (Nah. 1:1). The translation is based on this correction.

and lays it waste (וּבוֹלְקָה) and lays is waste.

ועוה And turneth it upside down.

and He shall turn over its face And He shall confuse its esteemed men. עִוָּה is an expression related to (supra 21:3): “I have become confused (נַעֲוֵיתִי) from hearing.”

(Addendum) And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest Not like other travelers, that the master is led by his slave, and the mistress is led by her maidservant; the master is esteemed and the slave is held in low esteem, the mistress is esteemed and the maidservant is held in low esteem, but when the captor leads the captives, all are equal before him. [Addendum to Rashi]

And it shall be, etc. All men shall be alike in this catastrophe. כעם ככהן וגו׳. As with the people, so with the priest. etc. When two nouns with the prefix כ follow each other, the phrase is elliptical; the complete sentence would be: as with the people so with the priest, and as with the priest so with the people, as with the servant so with the master, and as with the master so with the servant, etc.

as with the buyer, so with the seller When the people lives in its land securely, the buyer is happy and the seller is unhappy, since he will not return to the land he sold, but when the captor leads them, the buyer will not rejoice and the seller will not mourn, and so, as with the lender, so with the borrower, both are equal, for the borrower has nothing to pay, and the lender, had he not lent to this one, the captor would have taken it. Likewise, as with the creditor, so with the one who owes him. The word לֹֹוֶה applies to money and נֹשֶה applies to other commodities, such as wine, oil, grain, and honey, as it is written (Deut. 24:10): “When you lend your brother anything as a loan.” [Addendum to Rashi]

כמלוה As with the lender, as with him who gives away money without security.²A. V., As with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him. According to I. E. לוה to borrow money without security נשה (חנם) to lend on security. Comp. לא תהיה לו כנשה Thou shalt not be to him as one that lends money on security (A. V., As an usurer). Ex. 22:25, the נשה, according to I. E., has not that kind and charitable feeling, which he has who lends without security (מלוה); the former is more liable to hurt the feelings of the poor in taking and giving back the pledge (comp. Dent. xiiv. 10, ff.). The word חנם used by I. E. is translated without security, because it is here the opposite of על משכונו on his security.

נושה The capitalist.

אשר נושה בו He who borrows money on security.

shall be emptied (וְהִבּוֹק תִּבּוֹק) shall be emptied.

הבוק תבוק. Shall be utterly emptied. Comp. בוקק (ver. 1); הבוק is infinitive Niphal of a verb בקק) ע״ע to empty). חבוק is formed like יסוב is driven back³According to I. E. יִסּוֹב ,תִּבּוֹז ,תִּבּוֹק, are forms of the future Niphal for יִסַּב ,תּבַּזּ ,תִּבַּק. (Ps. 114:3.) הבוז תבוז Shall be utterly spoiled. The same.⁴Infinitive and future Niphal.—Since God decreed this, there will not remain to man any cause to exalt himself above his fellow.

and it shall be pillaged (וְהִבּוֹז תִּבּוֹז) an expression of pillage and spoils.

it has withered (נָבְלָה) Comp. (Jeremiah 8:13) “And the leaf has withered (נָבֵל).” An expression of withering and languishing.

The earth mourneth, because the King of Assyria has destroyed many countries.

has been humbled (אֻמְלְלָה), an expression of humility. Comp. (Neh. 3: 34) “humble Jews (אֻמְלָלִים).”

נבלה Fadeth away.⁵Literally, according to I. E., is confounded. Niphal of בלל, to confound; comp. ונבקה, and it will be emptied⁶A V., Shall fall. (19:3); ונסבה and it will be surrounded⁷A. V., There was a winding about. (Ez. 41:7); the second נבלה might, however, be the Kal of נבל, to fade; comp. נבול תבול, thou wilt surely wear away⁸The two roots נבל and בלל are similar in form and meaning; the former to fade away, the latter to confound, Niphal to be confounded or to be destroyed. נָבְלָה is therefore either the third person feminine Kal of נבל or the same person Niphal of בלל; the regular form would be נָבַלָּה, but the Dagesh is sometimes omitted, as in the instances quoted by the author. נָבַקָּה═נָבְקָה נָםַבָּה═נָםְבָה. (Ex. 18:18).

The land (תֵּבֵל) This is the land of Israel, which is spiced (מְתֻבֶּלֶת) with many commandments.

יושבי מרום═מרום they that sit on high, the chiefs of the land.⁹A. V., The haughty people.

the highest of the people of the land the pride of the people of the land.

And the land has deceived This is a sort of deceit; it produces grass but does not produce growing grain; it shows growing grain, but there are no wheat kernels in its stalks (lit., in its straws).

תורות The laws. The laws which are dictated by common sense, in which all agree.¹⁰חּוֹרה and חֹק are generally distinguished by saying that the former refers to those laws which society would make even without revelation; the latter, to such laws as would not be made without direct command in Scripture. This distinction is not applicable here, because the prophet speaks in this passage of laws that concern all nations. The explanation, however, given here by I. E., does not agree with his remark on Gen. 26:5, where תורה is explained to refer to the law of circumcision. What I. E. means by the laws contained in the natural order of things or by the covenant of the universe is more clearly stated in his commentary on Gen. 26:5, namely, שילך אדם אחרי מעשיו Man shall follow the ways of God displayed in his works. Comp. I. E. on Lev. 19:19.¹⁰חּוֹרה and חֹק¹¹A. V., Changed. are generally distinguished by saying that the former refers to those laws which society would make even without revelation; the latter, to such laws as would not be made without direct command in Scripture. This distinction is not applicable here, because the prophet speaks in this passage of laws that concern all nations. The explanation, however, given here by I. E., does not agree with his remark on Gen. 26:5, where תורה is explained to refer to the law of circumcision. What I. E. means by the laws contained in the natural order of things or by the covenant of the universe is more clearly stated in his commentary on Gen. 26:5, namely, שילך אדם אחרי מעשיו Man shall follow the ways of God displayed in his works. Comp. I. E. on Lev. 19:19.

because of its inhabitants (תַּחַתיוֹשְׁבֶיהָ) lit., under its inhabitants; because of its inhabitants.

חלפו They have abolished. Comp. יחלוף, he shall abolish (2:18).

the everlasting covenant That is the Torah that they received with a covenant.

חק Ordinance. The laws of God, contained in the natural order of things; and this is likewise the meaning of ברית עולם, the covenant of the universe.

Therefore, an oath For the sin of vain oaths. ([Manuscripts read:] Because of the sin of false oaths.)

באלה ═ אלה By a curse;¹²From this remark it may be concluded that I. E. read אבלה mourneth instead of אכלה. comp. בששת ═ ששת, in sin (Ex. 20:11); according to others, the preposition תחת, for, is to be supplied; comp. פ׳ שפ׳ ונ׳ תחת ═ ונשלמה פרים שפתינו. And let us bring our lips (that is, the words of our lips, our prayer) instead of bulls (Hos. 14:2).¹³A. V., So will we render the calves of our lips.

were dried up (חָרוּ) an expression of dryness and thirst through the heat of dryness. Comp. (Jer. 6: 29) “The bellows are dried (נִחַר).”

חרו They are burned. Comp. וחרה, and may be burnt (Ez. xxiv. II).¹⁴A. V., And may burn.

The new wine mourneth, etc. Because there is none to dress the vine and to dig the ground.

The merry-hearted. For wine maketh glad the heart (Ps. 104:15)

The joy of the drums that you said (supra 22:13), “And behold, joy and happiness.”

The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, from the feasts.

The noise of them that rejoice, when they are drunk.

They shall not drink wine with a song, for the strong drink shall be bitter. יֵמַר is according to my opinion¹⁵The grammarian, R. Jonah, is of opinion that יֵמַר is Kal; therefore I. E. adds, according to my opinion. a verb ע״ע—comp. וָאֵקַל And I was despised (Gen. 16:5)—Niphal of מרר

The wasted city is broken When it is broken, it will be called the wasted city.

The city of vanity. The city whose inhabitants go after vain things.

from entering for anyone to enter.

Every house is shut up, that no man can come in. For every one will go out into the streets because of the great trouble.

is darkened (עָרְבָה), is darkened.

צוחה A crying.

the joy of the land That is Jerusalem.

על מקום היין ═ על היין In the place of wine.¹⁶A. V., For wine.

In the streets. Publicly.

ערבה Is darkened. Comp. עֶרֶב evening.

Through desolation, the gate is battered Through the desolation of loneliness, that the houses are desolate, without an occupant, the gates shall become battered by demons and destructive creatures.

ושאיה And with destruction. שאיה is a noun derived from שאה to be waste;comp. שואה desolation (10:3).

In the city is left desolation. This phrase is used by the prophet improperly; comp. Better is he than both they, who hath not yet been (Eccles. 4:3).¹⁷Strictly speaking, he who has not yet been born cannot be better; in the same way שַׁמָּה desolation cannot be said to be left; because desolation is the negation of existence. Comp. I. E. on 2:11.

For so shall Israel remain in the midst of the peoples, one in a city and two in a family.

בנקף As the shaking. נקף is similar in meaning to ונקף and he shall cut down (10:34).

like the cutting of the olive tree that leaves over berries at the tip of the uppermost bough.

As the gleaning grapes, that is, only a few; for when the vintage is over, the gleaning grapes are left.

They shall raise their voice For those few survivors shall come the good that I prophesied above.

They shall lift up, etc. All commentators agree that from the words, Behold, the Lord maketh, etc. (ver. 1), the prophet refers to the remote future, to the war of Gog and Magog;¹⁸Comp. Ez. xxxyiii. and xxxix. Gog is the name of the king of Magog, a country or nation in the north of Palestine (xxxyiii. 15), deriving their origin from Magog, the son of Japheth (Gen. 10:2). only R. Moses Hakkohen refers this prophecy to the king of Assyria, and finds in a feast of fat things (25:6) the indication of the destruction of the hosts of Sennacherib, which remains the subject of the prophecy until the words, Woe to the crown of pride, etc. (28:1).¹⁹The words of the Hebrew text are—ועדו הוי עטרת גאות And his proof is taken from the words, ‘Woe to the crown of pride,’ but the proof is not at all clear; for granted even that xxviii. refers to the period of the Assyrian invasion, it cannot be concluded that xxiv.—xxvii. refer to the same period, especially since the last verse of xxvii. seems to be the conclusion of a prophecy (comp. 11:15, 16; 19:23—25). The translation is based on the suggestion, that ועדו is a corruption of the original וְעַד or עַד unto.—

they shall shout for joy more than [by the] sea (Lit., they shall shout for joy from the sea.) More than they shouted for joy by the sea during the redemption from Egypt.

They shall lift up, etc., they that escaped, etc.²⁰The remnant of the army of Sennacherib, after the loss it sustained before Jerusalem. The opinion of R. Moses Hakkohen is continued in this remark.

ירנו They shall shout.²¹A. V., They shall sing. According to I. E., or rather to R. Moses Hakkohen, ידנו and צהלו refer to the cries of anxiety and distress which the remnant of the Assyrian army lifted up. רנן and צהל do not always signify, to sing, as proved by the quoted הָרִנָּה the proclamation after a defeat, and צהלת the neighing of horses. Comp. הרנה the proclamation (1 Kgs. 22:36). They shall cry aloud from the sea. They that go on the sea, shall cry, etc. צהלו They shall cry aloud. Comp. צהלת הסום the neighing of the horse.²²Instead of צהלת הסוס, which is not a biblical phrase, we have perhaps to read מצהלות אביריו the neighing of his strong ones (Jer. 8:16).

Therefore, for the lights (בָּאֻרִים). Jonathan paraphrases: When lights come to the righteous, concerning the two good tidings, both that of the redemption from Babylon and that of Edom. ([Most manuscripts read:] Jonathan paraphrases: When lights come to the righteous, concerning the two lights, etc.) And Menachem stated (Machbereth, p. 32) that אֻרִים is an expression of holes and crevices where they were fleeing, and so (Gen. 11:28): “אוּר, the valley of the Chaldees,” and so (supra 11: 8): “And on the hole (מְאוּרַת) of an adder,” the hole of its dwelling.

באורים Some explain it, In the countries; comp. כשרים אור the land of the Chaldæans²³The same phrase is also quoted in favour of the second explanation. See Rashi. (Gen. 11:31); others: In valleys. The former explanation is the right one.

שם The name. Supply כבדו glorify; for the verb כבדו in the first half of the sentence refers also to the second. They (ver. 14) can also be explained to refer to the righteous.²⁴With this remark I. E. reverts to the first mentioned opinion, that these chapters (xxiv.—xxvii.) refer to the period of Gog and Magog. According to this opinion the prophet speaks in ver. 14, of the righteous people, that will then receive the reward for their faith in God; ידנו and צהלו retain according to this explanation their usual meaning, they sing. In the following part the commentary is based on this same supposition, while that of R. Moses Hakkohen is only incidentally mentioned, as if to show that it can really be maintained throughout the whole portion from xxiv. unto xxvii.

From the end of the earth Jonathan paraphrases: From the Temple, which is at the edge of the land of Israel in the east, as we learned: (Maaser Sheni 5:2) [According to Lev. 19:23 25, the produce of the vineyards produced during the first three years of its growth may neither be eaten nor may any benefit be derived therefrom. The produce of the fourth year must be taken to Jerusalem and eaten there. If this is inconvenient, the owner may redeem the produce and take the redemption money to Jerusalem, where he must buy food to eat with the sanctity of כֶּרֶם רְבָעִי, the fourth year vineyard. The Rabbis decreed, however, that within a day’s journey from Jerusalem, all produce must be brought to Jerusalem, and the owner has no option to redeem it. The following Mishnah delineates the boundaries of this area.] Lod from the west, and the Jordan from the east. It is found that from Jerusalem to the Jordan is a day’s journey. But I say according to the simple meaning, that we heard from behind the heavenly Curtain that they are destined to raise their voices in song from the edge of the earth. Now what are the songs? “The righteous shall be upraised.” There shall be a position and an upraising for the righteous.

מכנף From the uttermost part. The word כנף corner, is used here to signify a great distance, because the earth is round.²⁵One is rather inclined to think that, because the earth is round, the expression כנף הארץ the comer of the earth should not be used. Perhaps he means to say, that the corner of the earth is used instead of far off, because we can never reach it.

And I said, I have my secret; I have my secret; woe is to me! Woe is to me that these two secrets have been revealed to me, the secret of retribution and the secret of salvation, for the salvation will be far off until enemies come, plunderers after plunderers, and marauders after marauders (San. 94a). Five instances of treachery are stated here, corresponding to Babylon, Media, Persia, Greece, and Edom, who will enslave Israel before their redemption, and after these plunderings.

צבי Glory. The word is derived from a Chaldaic root.²⁶צבה to desire; from this I. E. derives צבי desirable, beauty, glory. And I said. Each nation will say so. Have we heard, etc. The same.

רז׳ Leanness. Comp. רזון leanness (Ps. 106:15). The repetition indicates that these words are said every moment.

בגדים בגדו וגו׳ Treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously, etc. For all people deal treacherously again and again.²⁷The root בגד is here repeated five times; this, according to I. E., indicates the repetition of the same action by the same person, as well as its contagious spreading amongst all classes of people.

Fright and a pit and a trap [shall come] upon you upon the peoples dwelling in the land.

Fear and the pit, etc. And therefore the evil is come to all people; for when any person is in fear, and a kind of pit is near him, and his foot is besides caught in a snare, he must instantly fall.

a pit a hole in which to fall, as he goes on to state.

he who flees from the sound of the fright shall fall into the pit. etc. Whoever escapes the sword of the Messiah the son of Joseph shall fall into the sword of the Messiah the son of David, and whoever escapes from there shall be snared in the trap of the wars of Gog.

Windows from on high, etc. A figure for decrees of the Lord.

The earth has broken (רֹעָה הִתְרֹעֲעָה) an expression of breaking. Comp. (Ps. 2:9): “You shall break them (תְּרֹעֵם) with an iron rod.”

רעה Is broken. Comp. תרועם thou wilt break them (Ps. 2:9); a word found frequently in the Targum.²⁸רעע in Chaldee is the same as רצץ in Hebrew.

has crumbled (פּוֹר הִתְפּוֹרְרָה), an expression of crumbs.

פור התפוררה Is broken asunder. Comp. ויפרפרני and he hath broken me asunder (Job 16:12); פוררת thou hast divided (Ps. 74:13)

like a lodge a booth of the watchmen at the top of a tree.

The earth shall reel, etc. The inhabitants of the land will flee from one place to the other, and be moved like the cottage of the watchman; for the watchman changes the place of his abode.

And shall be heavy, etc. When they will be about to move and to flee, their transgression will be too heavy for them, and they will fall.

קום To rise. It is infinitive; comp. אלקום no rising up (Prov. 30:31 ).²⁹It is rather curious to find I. E. referring to אלקום as another instance of the infinitive קום, and not to Ps. 18:39, 36:13, 127:2; Lam. 1:14; Am. 5:2.

the host of heaven He shall cast down the heavenly princes of the nations first.

Many refer this prediction to an eclipse of the sun and moon; but more correctly it is referred to the angels, that are ready to assist or to attack a nation. Comp. Dan. 10:13, 20. These words are therefore followed by: the kings of the earth on the earth; for the reign of the kings is in connexion with the reign of the angels.³⁰Those unknown causes that govern the destinies of men and nations are sometimes personified, and represented as the messengers or angels of the Lord. Each nation is therefore said to have its angel above, in whose hand its destiny is placed, and the prosperity or the misfortune of a nation is made dependent on the success or failure of its representative angel above.

And they shall be gathered a gathering that is to their detriment, i.e., to bring a prisoner into a dungeon prepared for him, those sentenced to Gehinnom to be brought into Gehinnom.

באסיר ═ אסיר As a prisoner. As prisoners are gathered, etc. As people who are brought to the prison to be shut in are often left there for a long time before they are visited to be supplied with their food. The idea contained in this simile is, that this evil will last a long time. יפקדו they shall be visited, may also be compared with ומימים רבים תפקד and after many years thou wilt be visited (Ez. 38:8), and explained in an evil sense.³¹According to the first explanation, יפקדו means they will be visited to receive their food; according to the second, they will be visited to receive their final punishment.

and they shall be shut up in the prison They are the seven compartments of Gehinnom.

and [sins] of many days shall be visited [upon them] Sins of many days shall be visited upon them. This is what the Kalir (R. Eleazar son of R. Kalir in his final liturgical poem for Parshath Zachor) established: “From many days to be counted, to reckon their reckonings.”

And the moon shall be ashamed, etc. Jonathan paraphrases: And the worshippers of the moon shall be ashamed, and the worshippers of the sun shall be humbled.

Then the moon, etc. Sun and moon, the rulers of heaven, are used here in a figurative sense for the kings of the earth, who will be ashamed; but it is also possible that an eclipse of sun and moon is meant by the prophet. The kingdom of God will then appear on the mount of Zion, and honour will be given to those that remain faithful to God. According to others this passage refers to the worshippers of the heavenly bodies; but this explanation is at variance with the context.