Komentaryong Sumisipi para sa Isaias 1:20

The discourse of Abraham the author: Behold, I have endeavored to speak. The One, which precedes calculation, is, from one aspect, the cause of all calculation, and from another aspect, it is all the calculation – it neither adds nor subtracts, yet it is the cause of all addition and subtraction. It does not accept multiplication or division, yet it is the cause of both. And this One is the First World relative to the worlds that are after it. This world is not corporeal, and it is called the "likeness of the glory of the LORD" on high [cf. Ezekiel 1:28]. It does not change in essence or configuration, and it has no time or place, and the honored Name is within it. And the Second World, which is the Middle one – there reside souls/forms of truth without bodies [i.e., angels], and also souls in bodies [celestial intelligences?], and their number is beyond us, as are the bodies [celestial spheres/stars]. And all of them are honored [beings], for they have no opposite, or change, or alteration in their essence, but only incidentally in the configuration of their motion. And this world is called the Holy Temple/Palace (Heikhal Ha-Kodesh), and they are the Heavens of Heavens (Shmei Ha-Shamayim). And there is the Throne of Glory (Kissei Ha-Kavod), and there are Michael and Gabriel. Therefore, Jonathan ben Uzziel translated [Isaiah 6:3, “Holy, holy, holy...”] as “Holy in the highest heavens, the house of His Shekhinah...” [Targum Jonathan on Isaiah 6:3]. And this is what [Isaiah] mentioned first: “sitting upon a throne” [Isaiah 6:1], which is the Throne of Glory, “and His train” – meaning the train/hem of the Throne – “filled the Temple” [Isaiah 6:1]. And he said, “Holy upon the earth, the work of His might...” [Targum Jonathan on Isaiah 6:3]. And behold, the two [first declarations of 'Holy'] refer to the hidden [worlds], and afterwards he mentioned “Holy forever and ever” [Targum Jonathan on Isaiah 6:3]. Know that the attribute [of holiness] does not change relative to the places [worlds], therefore the secret of his words is [in the repetition] “And one called...” [Isaiah 6:3]. And behold, the bodies of the Middle World neither begin nor end. And concerning this world it is written: “Praise Him, all His angels; praise Him, all His hosts” [Psalms 148:2], also the ministers [planets] and the two luminaries [sun and moon]. And concerning all, it says: “For He commanded and they were created. And He established them forever and ever; He gave a decree, and it shall not pass away” [Psalms 148:5-6]. Yet there is opposition/variety in their movements: some go from east to west, and the opposite [west to east]; also northward and southward; also along the equator; some are direct in their course, some retrograde, some stationary; some swift, some slow; some ascending, some descending; some visible, some hidden; the ministers [planets] alone have 120 conjunctions, and the higher ones [fixed stars?] are countless. Sometimes [they are] in opposition, sometimes in aspects of love. And I say [despite] all this, there is no [conflict] among them, but rather thus are new events generated in the Lower World, on account of their movement and their changing configurations, sometimes for good, sometimes for ill. And these matters require a lengthy explanation, and one book cannot contain the knowledge of their secret and purpose. And the Third World is beneath the firmament, and it is entirely full of bodies, both subtle and dense. And there are bodies containing souls (neshamot), also spirits (ruchot), also life-forces (nefashot). And Man alone is the secret [centerpiece] of this Lower World, and for his sake it was created, and his soul is bound to the higher souls. And because the speaker is human, and the listener is human, therefore [Scripture speaks of] the higher [realities] and the lower [realities] in human terms. Behold, it attributes majesty to the higher and diminishes them [by using physical terms], for I cannot speak [of them] unless it is done thus, and it elevates the lower [by giving them human-like attributes]. Therefore, the Sages, of blessed memory, said: “The Torah speaks in the language of human beings.” They [Scripture] say: “the top of the earth's soil” [Proverbs 8:26], “covered the eye of the land” [Exodus 10:5], “Give ear, O earth” [Isaiah 1:2], “Incline your ear” [cf. Psalms 45:11], and concerning the stone, that it heard the word of the Lord [Joshua 24:27], “And the earth opened its mouth” [Numbers 16:32], “from the ends of the earth” [Isaiah 41:9], “in the heart of the seas” [Exodus 15:8], “on the lip of the river” [Exodus 2:3], “the hand [bank] of the Jordan” [II Kings 2:7], “a helmet of salvation on His head” [Isaiah 59:17], “eyes of the LORD” [Zechariah 4:10], “in the ears of the LORD” [Numbers 11:1], “for the mouth of the LORD has spoken” [Isaiah 1:20], “by the word of Your lips” [Psalms 17:4], “My own hand founded the earth, and My right hand spread out the heavens” [Isaiah 48:13], “And the LORD said to His heart” [Genesis 8:21], “therefore My inner parts moan for him” [Jeremiah 31:19], “and under His feet” [Exodus 24:10]. And in this manner: “And the anger of the LORD burned” [Numbers 11:1], “the beloved of the LORD” [Deuteronomy 33:12], “And the LORD went” [Exodus 13:21], “The LORD sat enthroned at the Flood” [Psalms 29:10], “Behold, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud” [Isaiah 19:1], “Awake! Why do You sleep?” [Psalms 44:24], “Then the Lord awoke as from sleep” [Psalms 78:65], “I have kept silent from of old, I have been still and restrained Myself” [Isaiah 42:14]. And behold, the Prince of Persia is the one appointed over the large or the middle company/grouping [perhaps referring to a level in the celestial/angelic hierarchy]. And behold, Daniel mentioned the appointed one [Prince of Persia] using the name "angel." And the matter of the additional [statement, Daniel 11:1] confirms this, as it stems from love [mutual support between angels]. And the meaning of the 21 days [of struggle, Daniel 10:13] corresponds to the appointee over Daniel himself, for just as there are appointees over every nation, so there is over every person. And the opposition between this [individual angel] and that [national angel] is the "war" [mentioned in Daniel 10:20]. And behold, this Lower World is the world of opposition and change, in essence, in configuration, and in motion. And the form that Daniel mentioned [the man clothed in linen, Daniel 10:5] appeared to him in prophetic visions. And I have already revealed to you the secret of the holy angels briefly through hints, and there is proof for all this from the words of the Prophets, and also proofs from the external wisdoms [philosophy/science]. And know that the decrees, past and future, come from the heavens, and they are the word of God, and it is written: “Forever, O LORD, Your word stands firm in the heavens” [Psalms 119:89]. And the secret of the configurations [of the heavens] from the beginning of their creation – upon all the configurations of the heavens are the Books [of decree]. Therefore, [this explains] the secret of dreams. And now I will return to explain the words of the angel.

V. 24. אם כסף תלוה וגו׳. Vergleichen wir die Stellen, in welchen לוח außer dem Darlehnverhältnisse vorkommt, so stellt sich überwiegend die Bedeutung eines freien persönlichen, dem sich Anschließenden in einer wesentlichen Beziehung förderlichen Anschlusses an die Person eines anderen heraus. So: der Anschluss des liebenden Gatten an die Gattin (Bereschit 29, 34), der Anschluss des Leviten an die Priester in der Teilnahme am Tempeldienst, der Anschluss des Proselyten und der Völker an Israel und an Gott (Jesaias 14, 1 u. 56, 3, 6; Esther 9, 27). הַלְוֶה, im Hiphil, würde demnach heißen: die Person eines andern zu dessen Förderung der eigenen Persönlichkeit anschließen, einen andern sich anschließen, ihn an der eigenen Persönlichkeit teilnehmen, ihn in diesem Anschluss nicht Selbständigkeit verlieren, sondern gewinnen lassen, כסף: durch Geld, indem man ihm von seinem Gelde zum Gebrauch gibt. Das eigentliche Objekt ist der לוה, hier: העני ,עמי, die daher auch mit את konstruiert sind. כסף ist das Mittel, wie חרב תאכלו (Jes. 1, 20) u. f. Wörtlich hieße es daher: wenn du mein Volk, den dir verbundenen Armen, durch Geld dir enger anschließest usw. את עמי וגו׳, offenbar ist את העני Apposition zu את עמי, du leihest dem Armen, allein indem du dem Armen leihest, du "meinem Volke", in dem עני עמך, in dem mit dir national verbundenen, auf deinen Beistand hingewiesenen Armen soll dir "עמי" "meine Volksgesellschaft" gegenwärtig sein. Gegen sie übst du Pflicht, indem du ihm leihest. (Vergl.: מלוה ד׳ חונן דל Prov. ולקחתי אתכם לי לעם .(19,16, lautet die Urbestimmung Israels, eine Volksgesellschaft Gottes (עַם von עמם, wovon עִם) zu bilden, eine Volksgesellschaft, die ihre gegenseitigen Beziehungen unter der Herrschaft des göttlichen Gesetzes sich gestalten, nicht den Tempelgottesdienst, sondern das soziale Leben die Gott verherrlichende Offenbarungsstätte sein lässt. Die urwüchsigste Blüte aus dieser Bestimmung, die unmittelbarste Konsequenz, zugleich Grundstein und Bekenntnistat der Bestimmung עם ד׳ zu sein, ist dies ganze הלואה-Gesetz; nur von ihr aus erschließt sich sein Begriff. Es ist nicht der abstrakte Rechtsgedanke, es ist die Idee der durch die Gotteshörigkeit aller unserer Güter sich aufbauenden jüdischen Volksgesellschaft, die es konstruiert, es ist nicht משפט, es ist צדקה, der jüdische Pflichtbegriff, der in ihm zur Verwirklichung kommt.

חרב, “sword,” this is the opposite of the promise in verse 6, that no sword will cross the boundaries of your land. Regarding this “sword,” Isaiah 1,20, has said that you will be devoured by it. נוקמת נקם הברית “it shall execute the vengeance of the covenant (that has been broken by you.) The Torah had warned of this already in Exodus 24,8, when it was first described as a great blessing for you. In Vayikra Rabbah 35,6, the author, quoting Isaiah 1,18, אם תאבו ושמעתם טוב הארץ תאכלו, speaks of if you will agree and listen you will eat of the best the earth has to offer,” adding that “you will be devoured by the sword if you do not listen.”Rashi adds on our verse that there is also a vengeance that is not related to this covenant between the Jewish people and their G-d, citing the gouging out of King Tzidkiyahu’s eyes for having broken a covenant with King Nebuchadnezzar. (Torat Kohanim) This is a form of vengeance not mentioned in the Torah. [The first time we encounter it occurs with Shimshon, whose eyes were gouged out by the Philisitines, but in his caseaccording to our sages, it was actually retribution not for what he had done to the Philistines, but by what he had done to himself by following his eyes when repeatedly choosing Philistine women to cohabit with. The Torah, and Shimshon’s father, had warned him not to rely on what his eyes saw when choosing a wife. Ed.] There is yet another kind of vengeance not mentioned in the Torah, which is also described as violation of a covenant; When the Torah wrote in Deuteronomy 28,69, at the end of Moses’ version of the reprimands, Tochachah, אלה דברי בהרית, “these are the words of (warning) of the covenant concluded with the people at Mount Chorev,” the very word: אלה “these,” hints to us that in addition to “these,” there may be other contractual and mutual obligations, but not necessarily the ones entered into at Mount Sinai. [Keeping one’s solemn promise surely did not have to become part of morality only after the Jewish people accepted the Torah. Our forefathers already encountered this problem in their lives, Ed.]