Ibn Ezra on Isaiah

The drunkards of Ephraim. The princes indulged in wine. צבי Beauty. Comp. 4:2. Crown. The royal crown, the king. ראש The best. Comp. ראשי בשמים the chief spices (Song 4:14). ניא שמנים Valley of oil. There was so much of it, that it was like a valley full of oil. Comp. בגיא in the valley (Deut. 3:29). Others compare נֵּיא with נֵּא proud (16:6), and say that the radical ה is omitted. הלומי Overcome. Comp. הלמוני they have smitten me (Prov. 23:35)

חזק Mighty. Attribute to יום day, or חיל host, which is to be supplied. שער קטב. The כ in כזרם refers also to שער: As a destroying wind. קטב Destruction. Comp. קטבך thy destruction (Hos. 13:14). הניח לארץ He cast down to the earth. God sent those storms and caused them to visit the earth. ביד With the hand. With His mighty hand.

עטרת Crown. Singular form but plural sense; there are many instances of this usage.

ציצת נובל The blooming of the blossom which will fade away,—comp. בת בבל השדודה O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed (Psa. 137:8)—or the blossom of the fading plant, and this is better. כבכורה As the hasty fruit. As the fig that ripens before any of the summer fruit comes.

In that day, etc. This will be just the reverse of the fate of the crown of Ephraim; for the kingdom of the Lord will appear in Zion.

To him that sitteth in judgment. To the judges. God will strengthen them. אל השער = שערה. To the gate. שערה משיבי מלחמה. Some explain: who turn the battle away from the gates. R. Moses Hakkohen renders the passage thus: (God will give strength to those) who have escaped, and this is the right explanation.

They also, etc. There are also some of the men of Judah that have erred through wine, etc. The priest, whose duty it is to teach; the prophets, whose duty it is to exhort the people. בראה In the words of the prophet, who rebukes the people; בדברי הראה = בראה. פקו פליליה, they pervert judgment; by the subject they the judges are meant, and the verb פקו has a transitive meaning; or the words of the judgment are unstable, דברי the words of being supplied. I prefer this latter explanation; for פקו is intr.; comp. ופיק ברכים, and the tottering of the knees. (Nahum 2:11.

For all tables are full of vomit, etc. This is usually the case with drunken people. בלי מקום So that there is no place, which is not full, etc.; comp. עד אפס מקום until there be no place, (5:8). קיא צואה Asyndeta. They are covered with filthiness from the top to the bottom.

Whom shall he teach knowledge, etc. When the prophet is about to reprove them, no one understands him; for because of the wine they have not their reason; they are like little children. שמועה Doctrine. A noun. גמולי Those that are weaned. This form can be both the absolute state of the noun as well as the construct; comp. השכוני באהלים they that dwell in tents (Judg. viii., 11). Note 2. עתיקי Drawn. An adjective of the same root as ויעתק and he removed (Gen. xii., 8)

For precept must be upon precept, etc. One must speak to them in the same way as the father speaks to his little child, that does not yet know much. צו לצו Precept after precept, or precept joined to precept. קו לקו Line after line. This is just the way how writing is taught. Here a little and there a little. Little by little, gradually.

בלעני שפה With laughing lips. Comp. לענ derision (Ps. lxxix., 4). The teacher speaks to the child in a laughing and mocking way. And with another tongue. The teacher usually tries to substitute letters which are easy to pronounce for the more difficult ones; in the same manner the prophet must speak, when he rebukes this people.

He said. The prophet said. This is the rest, etc. Jerusalem is the place of your rest; there procure rest for the weary; he shall not take refuge in Assyria or Egypt. המרנעה The refreshing. Comp. מרגוע rest (Job 6:16); both words are substantives. According to the grammarian of Jerusalem מרגעה is a participle. אבו = אבוא They would. Comp. ההלכו = ההלכוא who went (Jos. 10:24)

But the word of the Lord was unto them, etc. They indeed thought that the word of God itself was of no importance; it was only a school-exercise to them. That they might go to Egypt. Comp. Woe to those that go down to Egypt, etc. (31:1), a portion of this same prophecy.

Ye scornful men, that say mockingly, that the words of the Lord are like precept upon precept, etc. מושלי According to some, they that rule; comp. ממשלה dominion; but better, the poets; comp. המשלים they that speak in proverbs (Num. 21:27)

We have made a covenant with death. We shall not die now. חזה An agreement. R. Moses Hakkohen says that חזות (ver. 18) signifies a kind of prophecy; but how can he apply this explanation to the phrase ?עשינו חזה I think that חזה means prophet, and explain עשינו חזה to be the same as עשינו ברית חזה We have made a prophet’s covenant, a covenant like that made by divine inspiration. שוט שוטף An overflowing scourge, that is, famine; or better, the scourge of an overflowing stream; שוט נחל שוטף =שוט שוטף. כי Although. Comp. Ps. 41:5

הנני יִסַּד I will lay the foundation. יסד is an adjective, derived from a Piel like אִבַּד he hath destroyed (Lam. 2:9). Comp. ושבח אני and I praise (Koh. 4:2); which is likewise transitive. בחן Tower. Comp. ובוחן and towers (32:14). Zion will be protected against the King of Assyria. מוסד מוסד A sure foundation. The first מוסד is a noun, meaning foundation; it is a genitive, governed by the preceding noun יקרת the value of; the second is a participle Hophal, like מוסב; the ס has therefore a Dagesh, as a substitute for the omitted silent letter (ו). Shall not make haste. For this prophecy refers to a very remote future.

To the line, to the plummet. The figure, taken from the line and plummet of the builders, is used because of the words I will lay the foundation. Some are of opinion that Hezekiah is meant by the tried stone. ויעה ברד And the hail shall sweep away. Comp. היעים the shovels. ברד the hail is the subject to יעה, which is a transitive verb; by hail the King of Assyria is here meant. וסתר מים ישטפו. Repeat כזב falsehood after וסתר; And the waters shall overflow the hiding-place of falsehood; or supply אלה these: And the waters will overflow the unstable hiding-place.

וכפר And shall be disannulled. Comp. יכפרנה he will pacify it, that is, will annul or remove it. וברית חזותכם=וחזותכם And your prophetical agreement. והייתם Then you shall be. The ו has the same force as فَ in Arabic; comp. וישא ביום השלישי on the third day, then Abraham lifted up (Gen. 22:4)

That it goeth forth. That the overflowing river goeth forth. זועה Vexation. It is not the same as זעוה (Deut. 28:25), with transposition of letters, as many think; but it is derived from זוע to tremble, to move; comp. ולא זע and he moved not (Est. 5:9); the ו in the middle is analogous to the ו of מָוֶת death. The meaning of the whole phrase is: Whoever hears of you, of what has befallen you, will be afraid.

המצע The mattress, which is underneath in the bed. מהשתרע than that a man can stretch himself on it. Comp. שרוע superfluous too long (Lev. 22:23). המכסה=המסכה The covering. בהתכנס It is Infinitive of כנס to assemble; comp. כנוס gather together (Est. 4:16); and means When many gather together under it. The figure refers to the people and its rulers.

As in mount Perazim, known by the wars of David (2 Sam. 5:20); the place was called בעל פרצים place of breaches, because the Philistines were suddenly defeated there in a miraculous way. As in the valley of Gibeon (Jos. 10:12), where sun and moon stood still. That He may do His work, His strange work. In the same way God will make a strange war against Israel, such as was never heard of before. And bring to pass His act, His strange act. A mere repetition of the preceding idea, not an exceptional instance.

מוסרותיכם = מוסריכם Bands. ונחרצה Even determined. Comp. חרצת thou hast decided (1 Kings 20:40)

Hear my voice, hear my speech. Parallelism.

Doth the plowman, etc. The plowman tills the ground once and twice, and sows, then the earth by its natural power brings forth the increase. יפתח He opens, וישדד and he breaks the clods, that is, he prepares the field; comp. Hos. 10:11. יפתח and וישדד are a repetition of the same idea in different words.

שוה He hath made plain. Derived from שוה equal; comp. נשתוה alike (Prov. 27:15). קצח A kind of cummin, but smaller and black. שורה According to some, good; according to others, with measure; comp. במשורה with the measure (Lev. 19:35), and this is right. ושערה And barley. It is well known. נסמן Marked. Comp. סימן sign. נבלתו In its place. Comp. מגבלות measured (Ex. 28:14)

ויסרו For the Lord instructed him. The Lord has already instructed him, who sows and scatters the seed, and taught him how to do it. למשפט According to the custom, to do as it is usually done; comp. כמשפט after the manner (Num. 29:32). His God doth teach him. The same.

בחרוץ With a threshing instrument. Comp. 41:15. יסב Neither is turned about. Repeat לא, the negation of the first part of the verse, before יוסב

Bread corn is bruised. It is customary for bread corn to be bruised. אדוש To thresh. The א is prosthetic, as in אזרועך thine arm (Jer. 32:21). והמם And he turneth, etc. And when he turns the wheel of his cart to till the field, his horsemen will then not break it (the corn), for God has appointed every thing for its proper season; therefore the prophet continues This also cometh from the Lord, namely, that he shall not bruise it always.

הפליא עצה Who is wonderful in counsel. תושיה הגדיל Who is great in wisdom. R. Moses Hakkohen derives הושיה from יש substance.—The nature of the earth and the seeds is better than the character of man, who hears the words of the prophet without any profit The reverse is expressed by a similar figure: Let my doctrine drop like rain, as I explained (Deut. 32:2)