Ibn Ezra on Isaiah

Ariel. Jerusalem. According to some, Ariel is the name of Jerusalem, on account of the altar therein, which is called הראל and also אריאל Harel and Ariel (Ez. 43:15, 16); for the letters אׄ הׄ וׄ יׄ interchange; according to others, on account of her planet being the lion; but this is absurd. קרית The city; it is in the construct state; supply אמת of truth, or some similar word: the city of truth, where David hath dwelt; or the city, where David dwelt, since the whole sentence, with the past tense of a verb, can in this case be considered as a noun in the genitive governed by a preceding substantive; comp. בראשית ברא in the beginning, when God created, etc. (Gen. 1:1); תחלת דבר וגו׳ the beginning of the Lord’s speaking to Hosea (Hos. 1:1). ספו Add. Comp. לספת to add (Num. 32:14). חגים Sacrifices. ינקפו Will cease. It is a neuter verb. It can also be rendered: they shall kill, ינקפו being explained to be a transitive verb with the omission of the subject (הנקפים the men that kill); comp. ויאמר ליוסף and one said to Joseph (Gen. 48:1)

To Ariel. To Jerusalem. תאניה ואניה Heaviness and sorrow. Comp. ואנו and they shall mourn (19:8). According to others, A waste place, the two words being derived from אנה where; the meaning of the phrase is, that only her place will be left. והיתה לי כאריאל And it shall be unto me as Ariel, as the altar which is desolate of sacrifices, or like an altar, because the inhabitants will be slaughtered.

כדור Suddenly. Comp. 22:18. מגדל מצב = מצב A tower set up.

And thou shalt be brought down. This applies to the words of Hezekiah’s messengers to Rabshakeh. Thou shalt speak out of the ground. Thou shalt speak so, as if the voice came from the depth of the earth. כאב As a potter. Comp. כאבת as bottles.—The potter, because of his vocation, speaks from below.

כאבק דק Like small dust. Some word must be supplied, because of אבק being in the construct state. The multitude of thy strangers. The army of the Assyrians. Yet it shall be at an instant, suddenly. All this, mentioned before, shall take place suddenly.

By the Lord, etc. From the Lord will this visitation come against the besiegers. With thunder from above. With earthquake below. With great noise, with storm and tempest, and flame of fire. All this refers to the angel that was sent to destroy the Assyrian army.

Shall be as a dream, etc. It will be like a dream; it causes man to see things by night, which, when he awakes, are no more. This was to be the case with the Assyrian camp. צובאיה = צוביה Her hosts. ואנשי מצודתה = ומצודתה And the men engaged in her siege, or And all the towers of the besiegers.

והנה And behold. The word חלום dream, is usually followed by והנה and behold, or as if; the subject to the following אׄכֵל is רָעֵב the hungry. שוקקה Desirous to drink.

Stay yourselves. The prophet addresses the men of Zion who will be curious to know how this will happen, and what the meaning of this prophecy is.—The prophet speaks in the same manner as people use to speak one to another; and why do they still not understand him? because they are drunken, but not with wine.

נסך He has covered. Comp. והמסכה and the covering (28:20). Upon you. Upon the inhabitants of Zion. ויעצם And he closed. Derived from עצם bone; he put, as it were, a bone on your eyes. כסה He covered. This proves that נסך has also the meaning, he covered.

The vision of all. Every prophecy. For it is sealed. They cannot understand it; the same meaning is contained in the words, seal the law (8:16), as I explained.

And the book is delivered, etc. Neither the wise men nor those that have no intellect will understand this prophecy.

נגש He vexeth himself. Comp. והנגשים the taskmasters (Exod. 5:13). It is Niph.—They will afflict themselves in vain with fasting. בפיו With his mouth. With the mouth of each of them. מלמדה Accustomed. Comp. לא למד unaccustomed, (Jer. 31:18)

הנני יוסיף Behold I will proceed, comp. ונשאר אני and I am left (Ez. 9:8); אמלל אני I am withering (Ps. 6:3); אמלל is the third person past, because of the Pathah under ל. Some explain יוסיף to be a participle like תומיך supporting (Ps. 16:5). להפליא את העם הזח הפלא ופלא To be very embarrassing to this people, that they shall not understand, that the wisdom of the wise shall be lost, etc. Others explain this phrase thus: To do a marvellous work among this people; comp. עשה פלא who performs wonders (Ex. 15:11). I explain it in the following way: To do to this people a wonderful thing like this.

המעמיקים That seek deep in the depth of their hearts. להסתיר=לסתיר To hide. Comp. להשמיד=לשמיד to destroy (23:11)

הפככם You are going from the truth. אם כחמר היוצר יחשב Shall man be esteemed as the potter’s clay. ויצר And the thing framed. It is derived from יצר to form. ליצרו Of him that framed it. Comp. לי of me (Gen. 20:13)

מעט A little. A little while, a few days. And Lebanon shall be turned, etc. And the Lebanon, that yields more fruit than Karmel, will become like Karmel, and the latter like a forest; that is to say, they will have scanty food.

And in that day shall the deaf hear, etc. Then they will understand the words of the prophecy, and those blind men will not see, until they have already been in darkness.

The meek also shall increase, etc. The righteous will escape, when the fortified towns of Judah will be taken, and the judges of Ahaz will be no more, as I explained above (1:26).

אפס Is brought to naught. Comp. Gen. 47:15. שקדי That watch. Comp. לשקד to watch (Prov. 8:34)

מחטיאי אדם בדבר That make a man an offender for a word, that watch the words of man, and accuse him, in order to see him punished; or that cause others to sin by their words. יקושון They lay a snare. Comp. מוקש snare (Deut. 7:16). R. Moses Hakkohen explains יקושון they rebuke, comparing it with התקששו וקשו be rebuked and rebuke (Zeph. 2:1), and says that the ש ought to have a Dagesh.

Who redeemed Abraham, by taking him away from amongst the wicked. יחורו Shall wax pale. The root חור to be white is frequent in Chaldee.

For when he seeth his children, etc. For when he sees his children, and the good which I shall do to the pious, they—he and his children—shall sanctify my name. יעריצו They will cause others to fear the God of Israel, or they shall be afraid, intransitive. Having mentioned Jacob, the prophet says metaphorically, they will sanctify, etc. that is to say, if Jacob were alive and saw his pious children, and the wonders which God performed for their sake, he would join his children in sanctifying His name; for He was the holy one of Jacob.

ורגנים And they that murmured, comp. יתרגנו and you were murmuring (Deut. 1:27). They are the opposite of those that learn doctrine.