Комментарий к Йешайау 59:22

Behold, the hand of the Lord is not too short Your failure to be delivered is not due to the shortness of My hand.

The prophet continues to reprove those who are in exile, and concludes with the words, As for me, this is my covenant, etc. (ver. 21). Thus all these chapters are well connected together in one whole.¹The leading idea in all these chapters from c. xl., according to I. E., is to prove that the Israelites are wrong in disbelieving the prophet, and manifesting want of confidence in the Divine promise of a perfect and lasting salvatior. I. E. points out, therefore, how this chapter begins with, Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, etc., and concludes with the declaration that the truth of the words which God commanded the prophet to proclaim, will be established for ever.

Behold the Lord’s hand, etc. Know that the Lord is not unable to help you.

have caused [Him] to hide [His] face They caused for you that He hid His face from you.

לבין And (lit., between). It is a compound of ל and בין, each of which alone would suffice.

Have hid His face. This is a figurative expression, taken from man covering his face and closing his ears when he is unwilling to see or to hear.

were defiled Heb. נְגֹאֲלוּ, an expression of defilement. Comp. (Mal. 1:7) “polluted bread (מְגֹאָל).”

נגאלו Are defiled. The grammatical form of the word is a compound of the Niphal and Pual.²The נ of נגאלו is the characteristic of the Niphal; the Holem in the first syllable that of the Pual; the Niphal being נִגְאֲלוּ, the Pual גּאֲׁלוּ.

With blood. With murder.

Your fingers with iniquity, that is, with dishonesty.

Your lips, etc. Your deeds and words are equally bad.

None calleth for justice. Nobody reproves you.

נשפט Judged.³A. V., Pleadeth. It is participle Niphal.⁴Comp. I. E. on 13:15 and Note 18.

They trust in vanity, etc. They promise each other what they never fulfil.

They conceive mischief in their minds.

And bring forth iniquity in words.

vipers a species of harmful snake.

They hatch, etc. They are compared with the cockatrice’s eggs, when they open themselves.⁵A. V., They hatch cockatrice’s eggs. I. E. supplies the relative כאשר when. The Hebrew text has the words: המשילם שהם כביצי צפעוני. Lit., he compared them, (saying) that they are like the eggs of the cockatrice. This passage seems to be corrupt, because, in the first place, if I. E. intended only to say that the prophet compared them with the eggs of the cockatrice, he would have said המשילם לביצי צפעוני, or אמר שהם כביצי צפעוני; secondly, the whole remark would, in that case, be superfluous; thirdly, from the preceding remark of I. E., in which thoughts and words are pointed at as meant by the prophet, it may be inferred, that the commentator will show in this remark that the prophet speaks of the deeds of the people. It is, therefore, probable that the words in question are a corruption of the original מעשיהם לביצי צפעוני המשיל, he compares their deeds with the eggs, etc.

hatched Heb. בִּקְּעוּ, eskloterant in O.F. That is to say that they committed ugly deeds, from which they did not benefit.

וקורי עכביש The web⁶The Hebrew text has ידוע well-known; but יריעה, a web, a curtain, is meant. The same expression is used by Kimchi in explaining the word קורי. of the work of a spider.

and...spider webs Irajjne in O.F., spider, and קוּרֵי is ordiojjrs in O.F., warp. קוּרֵי are the implements of the weaver, those upon which the warp is mounted. Menahem (Machbereth Menahem p. 158) classifies it in the class of קוֹרוֹת, beams, since the spider mounts the warp of his weavings on beams.

Of their eggs. Of the eggs of the cockatrice.

and what hatches Heb. וְהַזּוּרֶה. Jonathan renders: וּמְשַׁחְנָן, an expression of warming, called in O.F. kover [couve], hatching when one warms them, it emerges from them when he cracks the shell. The original meaning of וְהַזּוּרֶה is an expression of pressing to extract what is absorbed within. Comp. (Jud. 6:38) “And pressed (וַיָּזַר) the fleece.” The pressing of this one is its hatching.

וְהַזּוּרֶה And that which is crushed. It is an irregular form; the Segol under ר is substituted for Kamez, as in ולנה and it shall remain (Zec. 5:4.) זורה is participle passive; comp. מולים circumcised (Jos. 5:5); סוגה set about (Songs 7:2). As to its meaning comp. ויזר and he pressed⁷A.V., And thrust together. (Jud. 6:38). If one presses the egg, the cockatrice breaks through and comes out. אפעה Viper. Comp. 30:6

viper Heb. אֶפְעֶה, a species of snake that is harmful, so will nothing result from their deeds but evil.

Their webs shall not become garments. Their deeds are compared with the spider’s web, that is to say, they are not durable.

Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity, of wasting and destruction in their paths, that is, in the paths which they go. The second half of the verse contains the same idea as the first half.

and there is no justice in their paths That is to say that in their paths there is nothing judged truly according to its law.

Their paths that were well known before (as straight), are now crooked. Whosoever goeth therein, that is, he who walks in their ways, and learns from them.

they have made themselves crooked paths They made their road crooked for themselves.

justice is far from us For we were crying that we were robbed by our enemies, yet the Holy One, blessed be He, does not judge to avenge us.

Therefore is judgment far from us, etc. The prophet now represents Israel while in exile, as speaking.

and righteousness does not overtake us The good consolations that He promised us are not coming to overtake us.

For brightness, etc. Repetition of the same idea.

for brightness we hope, but we walk in gloom.

in dark places Heb. בָּאַשְׁמַנִּים. Menahem (Machbereth, p. 35) interpreted it as an expression of dark places, and most exegetes concur with him. Dunash, however, (Tesuhvoth Dunash, p. 93) interprets it as an expression of fat (שׁוּמָן), with the ‘alef’ prefixed to it like the ‘alef’ that is in (Job 13:17) אַחְוָתִי, “my narrative,” [derived from חוה]; and that is in (Jer. 15:18) אַכְזָב, “a failure,” (derived from כזב ; and (Num. 21:1) “the way of the spies (הָאֲתָרִים),” [derived from תור]. Here, too, among the שְׁמֵנִים, among the lusty living, we are like dead. And Jonathan rendered it as an expression of locking: It is locked before us as the graves are locked before the dead.

נגששה We grope. It is hap. leg. Some connect it with גוש a clod (Job 7:5).⁸Or rather the reverse, connect גוש with גשש. The fundamental meaning seems to be to touch, to feel; from this is derived גוש clod, that is, some substantial thing that is felt. Comp. Ges. Lex., sub voce גוש.

At noon day as in the night, that is, as if it were in the evening. It is a figurative expression.

באשמנים. Some say that it means in graves;^8aComp. Targ. Jonathan: מתיא אתאחד באפנא כמה דאחידין קבריא באפי The door closes before us, as the graves close to the dead.—R. Joseph Kimchi explains likewise באשמנים in graves; he derives the word from the root שמם═אשם to be desolate, with a paragogic נ. but it is equally admissible to explain it, at noon,⁹The opposite is said by some commentators, namely, that באשמנים means the same as במחשכים in darkness; this explanation is probably based on a comparison of this phrase with the verse He hath set me in dark places (במחשכים), as they that be dead of old (Lam. 3:6). צהרים in the Hebrew text is perhaps a corruption of חשכים. or, amongst the living.^9aבאשמנים being considered to be the opposite of כמתים as dead men, as in the preceding phrase בצהרים at noonday is the opposite of כנשף in the night. or, considering the א to be prosthetic, among the fat ones, that is, the heathen people.¹⁰The Israelites, while in exile, and deprived of liberty and independence, among successful and prospering people, compare themselves to dead persons among the living.

we moan Heb. הָגֹה נֶהְגֶה, an expression of wailing.

We roar, etc. We cry, but nobody comes to our assistance, nobody comes to do us justice.

For our transgressions, etc. The repenting Israelites are now represented by the prophet as speaking.

ענתה בנו Hath testified against us. Comp. לא תענה ברעך, thou shalt not testify against thy neighbour (Ex. 20:13).

For our iniquities are with us. Our iniquities are yet with us.^10aThey have not yet been removed by repentance on the one side, and pardon on the other.

speaking oppression Like: to speak oppression.

פׇּשֹׁעַ וְכַחֵשׁ In transgressing and lying. These are infinitives; the meaning of פשע is to renounce obedience.

sprouting and giving forth Heb. הֹרוֹ וְהֹגוֹ to shoot and to give forth. הֹרוֹ is an expression of (Ex. 15:4) “He shot (יָרָה) into the sea.” (Another explanation: הֹרוֹ means: the teacher and the disciple, a gerund.) הֹגוֹ is an expression of (II Sam. 20:13) “When he was removed (הֹגָה) from the highway”; (Prov. 25:4) “Take away (הָגוֹ) the dross from the silver.”

נסג Departing. It is infinitive Niphal, similar in form to ונשלח and being sent (Est. 3:13).¹¹The forms of the infinitive Niphal are נִפְעול and נׇסוג ;הִפׇּעְל and נשלוח are formed after נִפְעוֹל.

סרה Revolt. Comp. סורר rebellious (Deut. 21:18).

הורו Conceiving it,^11aA.V., Conceiving, Uttering. that is, forming it; comp. הורי my progenitors (Gen. 49:26); ותהר and she conceived (1 Chr. 4:17).¹²The instances quoted are intended to prove that the verb הרה to conceive, which is mostly used as a neuter verb, expressing a certain state and condition, is sometimes used as a transitive verb, and governs in that case the accusative. Its form is the same as that of the succeeding והגו and uttering it; the possessive pronoun (וֹ) refers to שקר falsehood. Some say that הֹרוֹ and הֹגוֹ are irregular forms of the infinitive; the regular infinitive would be הׇגֹה ,הׇרֹה, comp. בׇּנֹה to build (1 Kings 8:13.)

מלב From the heart. They bring forth words of falsehood out of their hearts.

And justice has turned away backwards Our revenge from our enemies, which depends upon the Holy One, blessed be He, and His righteousness stands from afar. Why? For truth has stumbled in our streets, [and since truth has stumbled from the earth, even from heaven righteousness and justice do not come.]

והסג And is turned away. It is Hophal

And justice standeth afar off. It is figurative expression for "they evince no justice". אמת Truth. It is a feminine noun; the third radical (נ) is dropped and expressed implicitly by Dagesh in אמתך "thy truth" (38:18).

נכחה Equity. Things which one says straightforwardly to his neighbour; comp. נכוחים right (Sam II 15:3).

is considered mad Heb. מִשְׁתּוֹלֵל, considered mad by the people. Comp. (Micah 1:8) “I will go as a mad man (שׁוֹלָל).” This is equivalent to שׁוֹגֵג, inadvertent, which the Targum renders: שָׁלוּ. Likewise (II Sam. 6:7), “For his error (הַשַּׁל).”

משתולל According to some it means "mad;" comp. שולל "mad"¹³A. V., "stripped." (Mic. 1:8); אשתללו "they are mad" (Ps. 76::6); perhaps all these words are serived from שלל "to deprive of property;"¹⁴The meaning of משתולל accordingly is "maketh himself a prey (A. V.). משתולל is the participle Hitpael of שלל.

and was displeased for there is no justice Therefore, He brought retribution upon them.

And He saw that there was no man And now, when He repents of the evil to His people, He sees that there is no righteous man to stand in the breach.

וישתומם And wondered. Comp. שממה desolation (1:7).¹⁵שמם to be desolate, so that no word is heard; so he that wonders cannot utter a word in the first moment. Rabbi Menahem connects it with ¹⁶וישתומם is, according to the opinion of R. Menahem, formed from שתם with reduplication of the third radical. I. E. properly rejects this explanation, because the ת is not a radical, but a formative letter, the characteristic of the Hithpael, being placed after the first radical, in accordance with the rule concerning the verbs, whose first radical is a sibilant. R. Menahem is a famous grammarian of the 11th century.שתום (Num. 24:3); but he is wrong; it is improper to form וישבורר from שבר, with reduplication of the third radical.

and He was astounded He was silent to see whether there was an intercessor, and there was no intercessor. וַיִּשְׁתּוֹמֵם is an expression of a man who stands and wonders and remains silent in his wonder, and the ‘tav’ of וַיִּשְׁתּוֹמֵם is like the ‘tav’ of מִשְׁתּוֹלֵל, and both of them serve here as the reflexive, and this is the procedure of the word whose first radical is a ‘shin’ or a ‘samech,’ that when it is converted into the form of מִתְפָּעֵל, the present reflexive, נִתְפָּעֵל, the past reflexive, or יִתְפָּעֵל, the future reflexive, the ‘tav’ comes in the middle of the letters of the radical. The result is that וַיִּשְׁתּוֹמֵם is an expression from the same root as (Jer. 2:12) “Be admonished (שֹׁמּוּ), O ye heavens”; (Ezekiel 3:15) “appalled (מַשְׁמִים) among them”; (Job 18:20) “the later ones will be astonished (נָשַׁמּוּ),” an expression of wonder.

ותשע לו זרעו Therefore His arm helped him.¹⁷A. V., Brought salvation. This is an anthropomorphism, for, in fact, God helps, but does not require the assistance of others. The meaning of the phrase is, His glory helped Him to show His power.^17aThe words of the Hebrew text are זרעו .והטעם על כבודו להראות גבורתו His arm, seems hero to be explained by His glory; and ותשע לו helped Him, to be complemented by to show His power. I. E. intends to remove the anthropomorphism by this explanation, but in reality he replaced it only by another one. The most striking expression in the anthropomorphism, the verb helped, as correctly pointed out by I. E., is not replaced by another verb. It is, however, possible that the whole phrase גבורתו והטעם, על כבודו להראות is the explanation of the expression זרעו his arm: his glory, in displaying his power, is meant.

and His arm saved for Him and He will take revenge from His enemies.

מפגיע Intercessor. Comp. יפגיע made intercession (53:12)

and His righteousness, that supported Him to entice Him and to strengthen His hands in His revenge, although we are not worthy of being saved.

zeal enprenmant in O.F., to be zealous for His great name.

And He put on, etc. This is a figure taken from a warrior putting on his armour.

תלבשת Clothing. Both the letters ת are formative, as in תפארת glory (3:18).

ויעט כמעיל קנאה And was clad with zeal as a cloke, that is, as if he were clad with a cloke.¹⁸I. E. seems to point out by this remark, that קנאה is not a genitive governed by מעיל, and that the whole phrase does not mean and was clad as it were with a cloke of zeal (similar to בגדי נקם garments of vengeance), but that both מעיל and קנאה are in the accusative case governed by the verb ויעט.

According to their deeds As is fitting to recompense for what the enemies dealt to them.

כעל גמלות Like a man who is zealous for repaying.¹⁹It is not clear from the words of I. E. whether this remark refers also to כעל ישלם, and explains it to mean like a man (who is zealous) for revenge, or is limited to כעל גמלות; in that case the whole phrase is to be translated, Like a man (who is zealous) for repaying, so he (is clad with zeal) for revenge. A. V., According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay. Fury to his adversaries, etc. He will repay fury to his adversaries, etc.

accordingly He shall repay As is fitting to repay them He shall repay.

To the islands, etc. By his adversaries and enemies mentioned before, those on the continent are meant; the prophet continues, therefore, to the islands, etc.

For...shall come like a river distress upon His enemies.

ויראו Some explain it, And they will fear; one י being omitted (וייראו═ויראו); others, paying strict regard to its orthography, render it, and they shall see.

is wondrous in it Heb. נֹסְסָה, is wondrous in it, an expression of a miracle (נֵס). Another explanation: נֹסְסָה [means:] eats into him like a worm in wood. Comp. (supra 10:18) “And it shall be as a tree eaten to powder by the worms.”

The name of the Lord. His deeds, as proved by the parallelism of the verse; His glory in the second part corresponds to the name of the Lord, in the first part.²⁰If יראו means they will see, the expression the name of the Lord must refer to the works of the Lord, since the name cannot be seen. His glory is identical with his glorious works, or the glory displayed in his works.

צר Distress.²¹A. V., The enemy. Comp. צר ומצק trouble and anguish (Ps. 119:143). It is a noun.²²It can hardly be anything else. I. E. means, perhaps, to say that צר is an abstract noun (שם) signifying distress, and not a common noun (שם התואר) signifying enemy. (Comp. c. iii., Note 5). In such a degree רוח יי נוססה בו the spirit of the Lord will wonderfully act therein.²³A. V., The spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him. Standard. נוססה is derived from נס miracle. This verse is in perfect harmony with the prophecy, And there shall be a time of trouble such as never was, etc. (Dan. 12:1). At that time Israel alone will be saved; therefore this verse is followed by the words, And the Redeemer shall come to Zion.

And a redeemer shall come to Zion As long as Zion is in ruins, the redeemer has not yet come.

And a redeemer shall come to Zion – The redeemer will come to Zion to return the crown of Zion, the Holy Temple and the Sandhedrin. He will also come to those of Yaakov who turn from sin, to the children of exile who will then repent through the distress which presses down upon them. And if you say ‘how will the people survive until that time, isn’t there still a long wait?’ The next verse replies:

גואל Redeemer, that is, Messiah.

Unto them that turn from transgression. Comp. Every one that shall be found written in the book (Dan. 12:1)

As for Me, this is My covenant with them In this matter, I made a covenant with them, and I will fulfill it, for even in their exile, My Torah shall not be forgotten from them.

"And for me, this is my covenant:" He means to say, "Upon this I will make a covenant with them, 'says the Lord.'" And [then] he explained what he made the covenant upon and said, "The spirit of prophecy that rests upon you - you, Israel - and the words of Torah that I placed in your mouth to teach them, behold these two 'will not depart from your mouth, etc. says the Lord,' such that they will not depart 'from now and forever' until the end of all the generations."

As for me, this is my covenant. I shall make a covenant with them, namely, that my spirit which is upon thee, etc. Upon thee. Israel is addressed. My spirit. My prophecy; comp. And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, etc. (Joel 3:1).

And my words which I have put in thy mouth. Repetition of the same idea. God has revealed Himself to His people through prophets, whose divine words shall never depart from the hearts of the Israelites.