Ibn Ezra on Isaiah

Behold a king shall reign, etc. This refers to Hezekiah and his princes, the firm establishment of whose government is promised. ולשרים And princes. The ל has no meaning as far as I know. Comp. לאבשלום (1 Chr. 3:2), למן (Ex. 9:18). Is. 31:1; 1 Sam. 15:22; Deut. 24:5; 1 Chr. 29:6; Ezr. 1:5; Gen. 1:15; or the predicate, e.g., 1 Chr. 1:13; 21:12; 2 Chr. 3:12; 5:12; Jer. 30:12, 15.

והיה איש And a man shall be. Either every one of the officers of Hezekiah, or Hezekiah himself is meant. מחבא Hiding place. Participle Hiphil. בציון In a dry place. Comp. ציה dry (41:18). עיפה Thirsty. Comp. Ps. cxliii.— The verse may also be explained thus: And Judah shall be like one who sitteth in a hiding-place from the wind, etc.

תשעינה Shall be dim. Root שעע. Comp. השע Shut (6:10)

נמהרים The rash. Hasty in a foolish way. It is derived from מהר to be hasty. עלגים The stammerers. Hap. leg.; in Arabic it means slaves. It is contrasted with to speak plainly (דבר צחות). צחות Pure words. Supply מלות words; for צחות is an adj., in form and meaning like זכות.

נבל The vile person. Comp. נובלת fading (1:30). כילי The opposite of שוע. שוע Bountiful. A noble person, whose hands are loose, ready to give, and not closed. Comp. ושוע and turning. Adopting a sort of homiletic explanation, כילי may be said to be composed of two words, כי לי for it belongs to me; for he says, שלי שלי what is mine shall remain mine (Aboth 5:13)

For the vile person, etc. This refers to the officers of Ahaz. תועה Error. It is a noun; the forms of nouns are manifold.

The instruments also, etc. The instruments of justice; for the officers were judges, whose principle was to arrest judgment.

But the liberal. Hezekiah and his officers, of whom it was said, And princes shall rule in judgment.

Ye daughters. According to some the towns, which are like the daughters of the metropolis Samaria.

שנה על שנה = ימים על שנה. Year after year. רגזה=רגזנה Be troubled. The opinion of the Nagid is, that רגזה is imperative, referring to the feminine בטחות, although it has a masculine termination; according to R. Moses Hakkohen it is infinitive. The gathering of the increase shall not come. Repetition of the same idea.

חרדו Tremble. Imperative masculine. Comp. תעירו ye stir (Song 2:7); תמצאו ye find (Ib. 5:8). It may be considered as an elliptical expression. רגזה I have explained this word already. פשוטה וערה Strip you and make you bare. These words are to be explained in the same way. וערה And make you bare. Comp. עריה naked (Ez. 16:7). עריה תעור Thy bow will be made quite naked (Hab. 3:9). I think that women, daughters (ver. 9), are to be taken literally.

סופדים They shall lament. כל all is to be supplied. Comp. וכל הנשים יתנו and all women shall give. (Est. 1:20)

My people. The people of Samaria. קוץ שמיר Thorns, briers. Asyndeton. Comp. אדם שת אנוש (1 Chr. 1:1). Yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city. Supply thorns shall come up.

The palace of the king. נטש, shall be forsaken; עזב, shall be left. Pual. עופל An elevated place. Comp. ויעפילו and they ascended. ובחן And tower. Comp. בחוניו his towers. (23:13). היו מערות= היה בעד מערות shall become dens.

יערה Be poured. Niphal. עד יערה עלינו רוח Until the decreed evil, the approach of the King of Assyria to the land of Judah, be poured upon us. רוח signifies here the divine decree. And the plain, that is cultivated, will be like Karmel, and Karmel, etc. Comp. 29:17

Then judgment shall dwell, etc. God will punish those that forsake him.

And the work of righteousness shall be peace, as in the time of Hezekiah. Comp. And peace without end (9:6) Some explain ver. 15 sqq. as a blessing.

My people. Judah.

וברד When it shall hail. The Pathah under ר proves that the word is a verb; comp. עשן it smoked (Ex. 19:18). When it shall hail, coming down on the forest. When the hailstones will come down, they will come down on the forest, not on the fields. The city shall be low, shall be like a wide plain without walls

Beside all waters, that shall come. That send forth the feet of the ox and the ass. Comp. 30:24; all these chapters from xxiv.—xxxvi. form one continuous prophecy.