Ibn Ezra on Isaiah

The Lord rideth upon a swift cloud. This figure signifies the imminent fulfilment of the divine decrees.

וסכסכתי And I will set. Comp. יסכסך He will set up (9:10)

ונבקה And shall fail. Root בקק to empty. Comp. בוקק maketh empty (24:1). נבקה is Niphal of בקק, and is formed like נסבה and it will be wound about (Ez. 41:7). אטים Charmers. Comp. אט softly (1 Kings 21:27); אטים signifies things that are done secretly.

וסכרתי And I will give over. The כ is here, according to some, substituted for נ, but, in fact, only the silent letters interchange; it is rather to be compared with ויסכרו and were stopped (Gen. 8:2). אדנים קשה A cruel lord. The grammatical irregularity is already explained (Ex. 21:4). And a fierce king. The king of Assyria.

ונשתו And shall be dried up. Comp. לשונם בצמא נשתה their tongue is dry for thirst (41:17)

והאזניחו And shall leave.. א is epenthetic. והאזניחו נהרות And the people will leave the rivers. דללו They shall be poor. Comp. דל poor (Lev. 14:21). יאורי מצור The ponds of siege. The ponds which are prepared in order that the enemy should not be able to destroy the inhabitants through want of water, when he besieges the town. קנה וסוף The reeds and flags. The plants on the banks of the river. קמלו Shall be cut off. Another instance of the same root occurs in this book (33:9)

ערות Some compare it with מתערה spreading himself (Ps. 37:35), and say that it means green; all green herbs that grow on the banks of the river and at its mouth, and all that is sown near the river, all will dry up. Others, The banks of the river and its mouths have been stripped of every thing that had been there, for the plants may be considered as a covering to them.

ואנו And they shall mourn. הדיגים The fishers. A noun analogous to גַּנָּבִים thieves (1:23). חכה Angle. Comp. בחכה with an angle (Hab. 1:15), an instrument by which the fish are caught. Many derive the word from חֵךְ palate, but they are far from being right. מכמרת Net.

שריקות Red. Some compare it with משרק comb, but more correctly it is derived from שורק vine branch (5:2), and it signifies, having the colour of the vine branch, red; comp. שרקים red (Zac. 1:8). חורי It is either an adjective, meaning white, or a noun, signifying fine things, חוֹרָי being a plural form used instead of חורים; comp. חוֹרֵי the nobles of (Jer. 27:20).

שתותיה Her foundations. Comp. Ps. 11:3. The buildings which they erect to take the fish in. שכר Sluices. Comp. ויסכרו and they were stopped (Gen. 8:2), although שכר is spelt with שֹ; comp. בסורי = בשורי when I depart (Hos. 9:12). אנמי נפש The ponds for fish. Ponds containing the lives (נפש) of the fish.., עֹשֵֹ֖י שֶֹכֶ֥ר אַנְמֵי־נָ֑פֶשֹ.

חכמי פרעה, יעצי פרעה = חכמי יועצי פרעה The wise men of Pharaoh, the counsellors of Pharaoh. This is an elliptical expression; comp. נחרי נחלי דבש Rivers, brooks of honey (Job 20:17). נבערה Foolish. Comp. בער fool (Ps. 73:22). I am a son of wise men. Comp. A son of free men (Koh. 10:17). Each of them will praise himself: my father was wise, my forefathers in days of old were also kings.

Where are thy wise men, etc. If they in reality be the sons of wise men, of royal family, why do they not know what God has decided for Egypt.

נואלו Are become fools. Comp. נואלנו we acted foolishly (Num. 12:11). נשאו They are deceived. Comp. השיאני hath beguiled me (Gen. 3:13); it is Niphal. פנת The stay. The nobles. Comp. פנות the chiefs (Judges 20:2). שבטיה The tribes thereof, that is, her families.

נסך = מסך Hath mingled. The two roots have the same meaning, namely, to mingle. עועים Perverseness. An irregular form of עוה to overturn. Comp. עַוָּה Overturned (Ez. 21:32)

Head or tail. Even a plant in its integrity, with head and tail, will not be left to them. Others take the phrase and explain it figuratively, They are wandering about and do not know what to begin; they can do neither the work of the head, of the old and noble (9:14), nor that of the tail, of the common people. In the same way the phrase, palm-tree and reed, is to be explained.

And it shall be afraid, etc. When the Egyptians shall have heard these decrees of the Lord, and also witnessed their fulfilment, they will fear the Lord.

לחגא For a terror. Comp. יחגו they reel to and fro (Ps. 107:27). ובמחוגה and with the compass (44:13). The land of Jehudah. The glory of God, which is manifested in that land, is meant.

The language of Canaan. We may learn from this that the Canaanites spoke the holy language. עיר ההרס The name of a town. It is surprising how people can confound ה with ח ..(ההרס with החרס)

Shall there be an altar, etc. The explanation of the Midrash is known, that the altar refers to the slaughter of the Egyptians; but the verse can be explained literally. Comp. And they will worship with sacrifice and meat-offering (ver. 21)

They shall cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors, etc. Whosoever will be in trouble will come thither to bring his offering. ורב And a great one.: a deliverer who is also a great man; a great deliverer. It would be a more natural explanation to take רב as participle of ריב to plead; a helper and a defender. Comp. רב chief (Est. 1:8)

ועבדו בזבח = ועבדו זבח And they shall worship with sacrifice.

ורפאם רפא = ורפא And he will surely heal them. ונעתר And he will be entreated. He will accept their prayer.

אשורה To Assyria.—Egypt and Assyria will be in peace together, after a part of the Egyptians have been taken captive and made subjects of the king of Assyria.

שלשיה The third. Most of the commentators compare it with ושלשים and chiefs (Ex. 14:7); but they must presume the existence of the second degree before they speak of the third. More naturally it is derived from שלשה three, and explained by the third; for there will be in Assyria people that will know the Lord, and many more so in Egypt; and Israel will be a blessing in the midst of the land, for through him Egypt and part of Assyria will know the Lord.

Whom the Lord of hosts hath blessed. For the Lord has blessed Israel, therefore he will be a blessing, etc; or He has blessed each of the three. My people. Because they will erect an altar to the Lord publicly, He calls them my people. And the work of my hands (and not my people), for there will be only a few of them that will know the work of the Lord. And mine inheritance. Israel remains His inheritance for ever, for Assyria and Egypt are this only temporarily in comparison with Israel. The Chaldæan translation renders this passage thus: Blessed be my people that is in Egypt.