His breath as a torrent overflowing even to the midst of the neck, to destroy the nations unto nothing, and the bridle of error that was in the jaws of the people.
Ibn Ezra
And His breath. The breath that comes out of His mouth; a figurative expression for the work of the angel. להנפה. Most of the commentaries say that להנפה is the same as להניף, to wave; but R. Moses Hakkohen is of opinion, that it means to bridle, and that by the breath of God, the false spirit, described by Micaiah (1 Kgs. 22:19—23) is to be understood; and this is the right explanation. And there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err. The bridle is put in the mouth of the horse, to make it go the right way, but the spirit mentioned here, will be רסן מתעה a misleading bridle. The same idea is expressed by ,בנפת שוא and this proves that להנפה has the meaning to bridle.
Hebrew and Aramaic words are the commentator’s citations of the sacred text; the English translation that follows each is the translator’s.
Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.