Ibn Ezra on Isaiah

מדבר ים The desert of the west, that is, Babylon, which is west of Persia and Media; or the desert of the sea, ים being taken in its original sense, the sea. לחלוף To pass through. He cometh from the desert. He, the enemy, comes from the desert, and not from the sea. From a terrible land. From Persia and Media.

חזות A vision. Grievous for Babylon. Unto me. The first person refers to the prophet. The treacherous dealer, etc. He who wishes to be treacherous and rebellious will be able to be so, and he who wishes to rob will be able to rob. Elam. A Persian province. צוּרִֽי Besiege. Root צור to besiege; comp. וצרת and thou wilt besiege (Deut. 20:12). It has the accent on the last syllable, like שׁוּבִֽי return (Ps. 116:7). All the sighing thereof have I made to cease. Some explain, None will be left that should sigh for Babylon; others, All the sighing she has caused, has ceased. I think that the whole passage, from the beginning of this verse till the end of the chapter, is the speech which the prophet put into the mouth of King Belshazzar; for it is well known that the prophet rejoiced in the fall of Babylon; how, then, could he have said, Therefore are my loins filled with pain (ver. 3)? The connection is as follows: the king says, When I heard the cry, ‘ Go up, O Elam ‘—the soldiers used to call out in battle the name of their country—I made all her sighing cease with musical instruments; the vessels of the house of the Lord were brought, and they drank out of them, while Babylon was in siege and distress.

Therefore. Because I heard the cry, Go up, O Elam, I neither heard nor saw anything on account of my great fear.

פלצות Boasting. Comp. מפלצתה her pride (1 Kings 15:13); the meaning of the whole phrase is: The boasting of the Persians terrified me; it may also be rendered trembling; comp. יתפלצון they tremble (Job 9:6). The night of my pleasure. The night in which he drank out of the holy vessels. Hath he turned, into fear unto me. Belshazzar was frightened when Daniel read to him the miraculous writing (Dan. 5:3)

צפה הצפית I think that these words are hap. leg., and that the phrase means sing the song. Arise ye princes, and anoint the shield. For Belshazzar was killed that same night, and Darius, the old, was anointed king. The king is called shield, מָגֵז, because he protects the people; comp. Behold, O Lord, our shield (Ps. 84:10)

For thus hath the Lord said unto me. These are the words of the prophet. Set the watchman. This is not to be done really, but only to be seen in a vision.

וראה וגו׳ When he seesordinate, but the former is subordinate, and the latter is the principal sentence. a chariot with a couple of horsemen, a chariot of asses, or a chariot of camels, he will hearken diligently to learn what news they have to tell.

אריה A lion. According to the Midrash, Habakkukis meant, because חבקוק = אריה taking the arithmetical value of the letters. I think ב must be supplied; comp. אש אוכלה as a consuming fire (Deut. 4:24). The watchman called with a loud voice like a lion. I stand continually upon the watch-tower, to seek prophecy.

צמד With a couple. Supply עם. with, before ויען .צמד And every one of them answered, Babylon is fallen, is fallen. The repetition indicates that no remnant has been left to her. He hath broken. There is no noun in the text to which the pronoun he could refer; comp. אשר ילדה אותה ללוי whom she had born unto Levi (Num. 26:59)., .יָלְדָה הַיוֹלֶדֶת ,שִׁבֵּר הַמְּשַׁבֵּ־

My threshing. Babylon is the object of threshing; the pronoun my refers to God, to the prophet, or to the chariot of men. The meaning of the phrase is: I also threshed it, and it has become like ‘ the corn of my floor.’ It is also possible that בן גרן signifies the pure corn that is kept in the threshing-floor, and refers figuratively to Israel.

Dumah. Comp. Gen. 25:18. He calleth to me. The prophet here represents Dumah as speaking, and we have to imagine a spy coming from Seir to search Dumah; he asks the watchman, Watchman, tell me, what is the time of the night, what is the time of the night? just as one of the people of Dumah would ask who had to rise early for a journey, or for work in the field, as is usual in a great many places. The repetition indicates that he asks several men. I, however, think that this question is put to see whether the watchmen sleep. מליל Of the night. It should be followed by a genitive; it is without the genitive, like בייז חלבון in the good wine of (Ez. 27:18); מיין הטוב like the good wine of (Song 7:10), where the name of the place, whence the wine comes, is omitted. According to the Gaon (Saadiah), the meaning of the phrase is, O watchman, how much has passed of the night? O watchman, how much is left? I explain it thus, O watchman, what of such and such a night of the week; comp. 15:1

Morning hath come, and also the night. Many mornings and nights have passed, and you, O Seirites—for you are one of them—did not come against us to war. תבעיון Ye wish. The root בעה to wish, to enquire, is of Chaldaic origin; the third letter of the root is here fully written, י being substituted for ה. The same is the case in בְּעָיוּ wish ye, which is like שְׁלָחוּ send (2 Kings 2:17). The meaning of the whole phrase is: If you wish to come, do so. Return to those that sent you, and come all together. אתיו Come. The word is irregular, the regular form is אְַתוּ; the א has a Zere,, here, in אֵתָיוּ by Zere. probably because of its guttural character. By the watchman, the chief of the country is perhaps meant; for there are many chiefs that cannot endure hardship, and prefer to surrender their country.

בערב In Arabia. Comp. Jer. 25:29. The Arabs belong to the family of Kedar; the second בערב has the same meaning. Dodanim. Comp. Gen. 10:6. The land of the Dodanim is hot and dry, wanting water.

Bring water. The prophet tells them to be kind to the caravans, and to give them water, for Moab was rebuked for not having done so (Deut. 23:5). התיו Bring. ה is instead of .א Tema. Comp. Gen. 25:15. With his bread. With the bread of him that is now thirsty.—Be kind to him, for he used to feed every one that came wandering to him. They prevented. They, that is, he and his men or friends.

For they fled from the swords. They, that are wandering about, are fleeing because of the king of Assyria. נטושה. According to some, sharp, the נ being put instead of ל, (לטושה = נטושה); this is wrong; נטושה means spread; comp. 1 Sam. 30:16

For thus hath the Lord said unto me, etc., because of this sin, that they did not show kindness; comp. because they did not prevent you, etc. (Deut. 23:5.) Within a year, according to the years of an hireling. That is, within a year, that will seem to be as long as the year of an hireling.

And the residue, etc. This expression indicates that the greater part will perish.