Ibn Ezra on Isaiah

הוי Woe to. ממני = מני Of me. (Comp. 22:4). ולנסוך מסכה And that cover with a covering. Comp. והמסכה and the covering (28:20). It is figuratively used for counsel. ולא מרוחי = ולא רוחי But not of my spirit, that is, of my prophecy.

That walk to go down, etc. This verse explains the preceding. במעוז In the strength of. מ retains its vowel, although the word is in the construct state, because of the second and third letter of the root being the same. מָעוֹז strength, root מָקוֹם :עזז place, root קום; in the construct state, however, they differ; the former retains the Kamez under מ, the latter changes it into Sheva.

והחסות And the trust. A noun; it is the contracted form of חסיות; comp. עבדות slavery (Ezr. 9:8)

שריו His princes. The princes of the people; they sent even their princes to Egypt, that the Egyptians might deliver Jerusalem from the Assyrians.

כל הוביש=כל הבאיש. The א is superfluous; הבאיש is transitive, Every one blamed those that had gone to Egypt; for they went to a people that would not profit them.

The burden of the beasts of the south. This refers to those that went down to Egypt. South. Egypt, which is in the south of Palestine. The prophet says that, on their way, those messengers would meet wild beasts, as bears, tigers, etc.; this is expressed in the words a lion, a leopard, amongst them an asp, etc. בארץ צרה In a narrow land, whence they will not be able to escape. They will carry, etc. Those messengers will carry their property on the back of the mules, in order to bring it to Egypt into safety. חיליהם Their property. Comp. החיל the property (Deut. 8:17). דבשת Bunches. Hap. leg.—The beasts of the south will do them much damage.

לזאת To this. To Jerusalem. רהב הם שבת Their strength is to sit still. He who remains in Jerusalem, and will not go down to Egypt, will be strong and safe.

Now go. Now go with them; the prophet has hesitated to be together with them. חקה Note it. חקה is without Dagesh in ה; some copies have the Dagesh; it is the imperative instead of חוקקה or חוקקהּ or חוקקנה.

כחשים Lying. Adjective of the same form as אִבָּרִים husbandmen; the כ has Segol, on account of the guttural letter which follows. שמוע Infinitive. To hear.

See not. You shall not prophesy. לראים To the seers. To those that see a divine vision. נכחות Upright things. Comp. טובים ונכוחים דבריך thy words are good and upright (2 Sam. 15:3). It is an adjective. דברי חלקות = חלקות words of flattery; חלקות is a substantive; so also דברי מהתלות = מהתלות, words of mockery.

Get you out of the way, etc. These words are addressed by the people to the prophets. Cause the Holy One, etc. Cause the mention or the name of the Holy One of Israel to cease, etc.

Ye despise this word, the prophecy. בעושק In oppression. In the money wrongly taken from the nation. ונלוז And a perverse thing. נלוז is an adjective; supply דבר thing. Comp. תועבת ח׳ נלוז the perverse (man or thing) is an abomination to the Lord. נלוז is the opposite of ישר upright.

Therefore, because you trust in the money, which you send to the King of Assyria, that he shall not come. This iniquity shall be to you, etc., that is, it will destroy you. כפרץ מגדל נופל = נופל כפרץ As a breach of a falling tower. דבר נבעה = נבעה A swelling thing. Of the same root is אבעבועות blains (Exod. 9:9). נבעה can also be joined with פרץ: a swelling breach. לפתע פתאם Suddenly at an instant. The two words have nearly the same meaning; comp. אדמת עפר the dust of the earth (Dan. 12:12). קדש הקדשים the most holy; so also לפתע פתאם most suddenly.

נבל Vessel. He shall not spare, to break it. לחתות אש To take fire. Comp. יחתה אש he takes fire (Prov. 6:27). גחלים אתה חותה thou shalt heap coals of fire (ib. 25:22). במכתתו In the bursting of it. Derived from כתת, a verb ע׳ע. ולחשוף מים And to take water. Lit., to reveal the water, which is hidden. Comp. מחשוף to make appear (Gen. 30:37); חשף he made bare, (52:10). גבא Pit. Comp. וגבאיו and its pits. (Ez. 42:11), and גבא, the Chaldæan translation of בור (14:15). This prophecy refers to those that went down to Egypt for assistance.

בשובה In rest. Comp. שובה give rest (Num. 10:36). You will find salvation at home, and you need not go down to Egypt.

ננוס. According to the grammarian R. Jonah: we shall lift ourselves up; he compares it with נֵס banner (that is lifted up), and gives thus to ננוס a meaning similar to that of נרכב we will ride, as required by the parallelism. Others taking ננוס in its usual sense, we shall flee, explain the passage thus: You fled without cause, you will therefore be compelled to flee by your pursuers. קל The swift. An epithet of the horse, as is כר swift of the camel.

אלף Thousand. It is in the constr. st. אלף אחד The thousand men of one of you; אחד signifies the officer. The meaning of the whole phrase is: An officer over a thousand men will flee at the threatening of one man. Shall ye flee, shall all of you flee. Till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, etc., till a few out of many will be left. I think that the words as an ensign on a hill refer to those who remained in Jerusalem and did not go down to Egypt.

Will the Lord wait. An anthropomorphism. לחננכם That He may be gracious unto you. A verb ע״ע like לחמם to warm (47:14); it is the Kal like לשכב to lie (Gen. 34:7); all these forms, however, are irregular. And therefore will He be exalted, that He may have mercy upon you, for the Lord is a God of judgment, He will do judgment on Assyria for your sake.

Thou shalt weep no more, says the prophet to his people, for he will be, etc. God will be gracious unto thee. לקול זעקך. The ל indicates the cause: At the voice of thy cry, that is, because thou hast cried unto Him. עָנָ He hath answered thee. It is an irregular form; comp. פֵּאֲרָ He hath glorified thee (55:5).

לחם צר Scanty bread. They were afflicted with famine, as I said before (29:17). מים לחץ The water of affliction. מים is not in the construct state, but מֵי the waters of is to be supplied. מים מי לחץ = מים לחץ; comp. שרה האהלה אהל = האהלה שרה to the tent, namely to the tent of Sarah. (Gen. 24:67)

And thine ears, etc. Thou wilt see thy teachers before thee, and hear the words of thy prophets and instructers, that call after thee from behind. Some explain the words thine eyes shall see and thine ears shall hear to express figuratively the seeing and understanding of the heart. תאמינו = חימינו; א is substituted for י as is frequently done. When you turn to the right hand, etc.: When you are about to depart from the right way, either to the right or to the left, you will hear distinctly the words of them that show the right way.

צפוי The covering. A noun. אפודת The ornament of. The ornamental covering over the image.— Thou shalt cast them away, for they can be of no use. דוה A menstruous woman, that is unclean, and whom no clean person may touch.

Then shall he give, etc., that thou shalt sow, after the death of the King of Assyria. ככר = כר (Gen. 13:10), Plain; comp. בבת עין=בת עין the apple of the eye (Lam. 12:18). In that day shall thy cattle feed, etc. Such will be the abundance of corn and fruit.

The oxen and young asses that ear the ground, that are employed in ploughing the fields. אלפים Oxen. Comp. אלפיך thine oxen (Deut. 7:13). בליל Provender. Comp. Job 6:5. חמיץ=חמץ Leaven. אשד זרה Which he winnows. Supply אתי it. ברחת With the shovel. Derived from רוח wind. It is an instrument used for the same purpose as מזרה the fan.

יבלי Rivers. Comp. יובל river (Jer. 17:8). And there shall be upon every high mountain, etc. The rain will come in such quantity, that the water will remain upon the mountains. In the day of great slaughter, etc. When people will die through the fall of towers. It is a kind of consolation to learn, that when ten die, myriads are kept alive: for although the wall might fall upon the widow through the rain, the Lord will not keep it back from coming down and giving life to many; the rain has no knowledge that it should come down upon one place and not at the same time upon the neighbouring ones.

Moreover the light of the moon, etc. All commentators refer this verse to the Messianic period, to the time of the war of Gog and Magog; only R. Moses Hakkohen is of opinion, that all this part of the book refers to one and the same event. We read e. g. in the next chapter (ver 1.): Woe unto them that go down to Egypt; the same we read above (ver. 2). The meaning of this verse is, that the Lord will increase the light of the moon and sun after the rain in a wonderful way. Sevenfold, the prophet himself explains it, as the light of seven days taken together. In the day that the Lord bindeth up, etc. When the Lord heals the wounds of Israel; it refers either to the time of the war of Gog or to the time of the Assyrian dominion.

The name of the Lord, the report of what He has done to the army of Assyria. From far. From heaven; the angel that smote the Assyrians came down from heaven. משאה Smoke. Comp. המשאת the smoke (Judg. 20:40); there are many words for smoke.

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.

To you, to Judah. As in the night when a holy solemnity is kept, In the night of the passover. Our sages said therefore, that the Assyrian army was destroyed on the Passover night. לבוא To come. To be joined with כהולך as when one goeth.

And the Lord shall cause His glorious voice to be heard. The people will be frightened, as they are when they hear the thunder. ונחת And the lighting down. Comp. ותנחת and it cometh down (Ps. 38:3). And shall show to all people. בזעף With the indignation. The preposition ב governs also the nouns נפץ ,להב, etc. נפץ With scattering. Comp. תנפצם thou wilt scatter them (Ps. 2:9). And hailstones. A figurative expression.

בשבט יכה As if he were smitten with a rod or for the Lord will smite him with a rod.

מוסדה Grounded. Participle Hophal; מטה is sometimes used as a feminine noun; comp. Mic. 6:9.—The following is the meaning of the whole verse: And in every place where this rod shall pass, and upon which the Lord shall lay his staff, it will be done. בתפים ובכנרות with tabrets and harps; the Lord will not be weary, but there will be a continual smiting by the angel, who shall rejoice as if he were playing with tabrets and harps. תנופה Playing. Lit., moving, sc. the hand to play with musical instruments.

מאהמוֹל=מאתמוּל Of old. תפתה Tophet. The name of a squalid place near Jerusalem, where all refuse was cast, and whence a continual smoke was rising. The meaning of the sentence is: Tophet is prepared by the Lord for the King of Assyria. גם הוא למלך הוכן. Yea, for the king it is prepared. For all his officers and princes have already perished. According to others the pronoun הוא refers to the King of Assyria. מדרתה The pile thereof. Comp. מדורה fireplace (Ez. 24:9). The breath of the Lord, the breath that cometh out quickly; it expresses figuratively the immediate fulfilment of the divine decrees.