Komentaryong Sumisipi para sa Isaias 64:1

AND CAPTAINS OF HOSTS SHALL BE APPOINTED AT THE HEAD OF THE PEOPLE. He so commanded because the Torah enjoins in accordance with the way of the world while G-d does miracles for those who fear Him secretly. There is no desire before Him to change the natural order of the world, unless there is no other way for salvation, or in order to make His Name known to His adversaries³¹⁶Isaiah 64:1. at certain times as at the splitting of the Red Sea and similar events.

ורב יעבוד צעיר, the word את which we would have expected before the word צעיר is missing. It is not clear who will serve whom, i.e. the predicate in such a construction as is before us. The only clue we have to determine who is meant as serving whom, is the fact that normally the active subject is written first in any verse. In other words, there is a hint that the senior brother (Esau) will eventually be subservient to the junior one (Yaakov). In some verses similarly constructed there is no doubt as to who is the active party. For instance in Job 14,19 אבנים שחקו מים, “water wears away stone,” there is no question that the stone does not wear away water, i.e. that the first subject mentioned is the active one. Similarly, in Isaiah 64,1 מים תבעה אש, “water drowned fire,” there can also be no doubt as to which subject is the active one. The reason we face the problem of meaning in our verse is that the future of the two peoples is not spelled out clearly, in the prophecy, seeing that history teaches that the Jewish people enjoyed distinct periods in which it was in the ascendancy, whereas over the last 1000 years plus the opposite is the case. The only part of the prophecy which is clear is that during most of history Esau was indeed subservient to Israel, hence Esau is mentioned first in this part of the verse, seeing that it is the principally active subject. Not only this, but after the arrival of the Messiah this situation will be restored with Edom/Esau serving his junior brother Israel. The word רב being applied to the older of the twins refers to his seniority at the time of birth, seeing he emerged first from Rivkah’s womb. It follows that the one who emerged last must be referred to as the צעיר, the younger one. We find another examples of the word רב or at least its plural רבים referring to chronological seniority in Job 32,9 לא רבים יחכמו, “it is not the seniors who are wise.”