Ibn Ezra on Isaiah

My servant. Most of the commentators refer this expression to the pious Israelites; the Gaon to Cyrus; I to the prophet, who speaks here of himself, as in 49:6. My spirit of prophecy. He shall bring forth judgment. He shall proclaim all that which shall happen in future to all nations. According to the Gaon the prophet indicates by this phrase that Cyrus will be a righteous king.

He shall not cry, as the judge is used to do. Nor cause his voice to be heard in the street, in order that people should flock unto him.

A bruised reed. This is a prolepsis, like And stripped the naked of their clothing (Job 22:6). He will not break a reed, is figuratively said for he will not act by violence. ופשתה כהה לא יכבנה And glimmering flax shall he not quench. Flax is easily put out. Glimmering flax is here a prolepsis. כהה thin; comp. כהה hath become smaller (Lev. 13:6). There is, however, some difference between these two words; that in Leviticus is a verb, the word used here is an adjective. The meaning of the whole verse is: The prophet does no harm to any nation by his prophecies; he is but proclaiming what is to come in future. He shall bring forth judgment unto truth. The judgment upon each nation, as it is decreed by the Lord, is meant.

He shall not fail. The prophet shall not fail, with regard to the spirit, which is joined to his body. in the preceding verse to the flame of the burning flax, while the verb רצץ to break points in fact more to the body itself. Nor will he be broken, with regard to his body. ירוץ is a verb ע״ע; comp. רצוץ broken (ver. 3); its form is like that of יָרוּז, doth sing (Prov. 29:6). The meaning of this phrase is: The prophet shall not die, or he shall not be overcome by any violence of man. Compare the similar phrase in the preceding verse. This latter explanation, I think, is the right one. Till he have set judgment in the earth, till the truth of his prophecy be proved, and isles shall wait for his law, for the instruction contained in his prophecies; comp. 8:20, and my commentary thereon.

בורא שמים He that shaped the heavens. There is a line, by which they are bordered. And stretched them out over the earth; comp. רקיע expanse (Gen. 1:6). רוקע He that spread forth. ק has Pathah because of the ע which follows; comp. הנוטע he who planted (Psa. 94:9). And that which cometh out of it. The plants which grow upon the surface of the earth. לעם עליה נותן נשמה He that giveth a soul unto the people upon it, that is, to man. ורוח להלכים בה And breath to them that walk therein, that is, to the animals. Upon it is used in the first instance, because man walks upright.

I, the Lord, have called thee, etc. The Lord in these words addresses the prophet upon his own concerns. And I will keep thee, that no evil shall befall thee. For a covenant of a people. To establish the covenant of a people ; comp. 49:8

To bring out the prisoners, etc. To tell Israel that they shall be delivered out of the Babylonian exile. Comp. 49:9

That is my name, my real name. Besides the tetragrammaton there is no other proper name of God in the Scripture. And my glory, that I tell the prophet what is to come, and that he reveals them in my name to honour me. ולא תהלתי=ותהלתי. The negative לא not of the preceding phrase לא אתן, refers to this one also.

Sing unto the Lord, etc. The prophet addresses the people in these words. They that go down to the sea, etc. For all the people of the earth will praise God at the return of Israel from the Babylonian exile (Kedar is therefore mentioned together with the inhabitants of the isles, and those that go down to the sea), when they hear of this extraordinary event.

The plain and the cities thereof shall lift up their voice, etc. Every plain and the cities thereof, all villages which are inhabited by Kedar, etc.; the tribe of Kedar always lived in the plain. The inhabitants of the rock, the nations that live in the rocks. ירנו Shall shout. Comp. הרנה the cry (1 Kings 22:36). יצוהו Shall lift up their voice. It is used both in a good and a bad sense. Comp. צוחה crying (24:11).

They will give glory, etc. They will acknowledge that God has done great things, and will say as follows :

The Lord shall go forth, that is, the divine decrees, that were secret hitherto, shall now be revealed. Jealousy because of the Babylonians, that worship Bel. יריע He shall cry. Comp. תרועה shout (Jos. 6:5). יצריח He shall roar. Comp. צורח crying (Zeph. 1:14), though of a different conjugation. He shall show Himself mighty by the victory over Babylon.

I have long time, etc. The first person refers to God. החשתי I have holden my peace. Comp. החשו hold ye your peace (2 Kings 2:3). אתאפק I refrained myself. Comp. להתאפק refrain himself (Gen. 45:1). אפעה Will I cry. Hap. leg. According to some it means viper, and כיולדה אפעה וגוי is explained by them as follows : like one that beareth a viper, so shall I be desolate and sighing at once. אשם I shall be desolate. It is Niphal of a verb ע׳׳ע (שמם). אשאף I shall sigh. Comp. שואף sighing (Eccles. 1:5). אשם Refers to the feeling of the heart, אשאף to the utterance of the mouth. This verse is addressed to those who will assert, that God is unable to help His people.

I will make waste, etc. How can they think thus? Do they not see, that I lay waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs, and make rivers into islands, that people can dwell therein.

And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; for even the blind, if accustomed to a path, go there without a guide. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. Some refer this to the return of the Israelites from Babylon.

They shall be turned back, etc., for I have the power to do as I like, not so the idols. מסכה Molten images. The plural פסלי images must be supplied from the preceding phrase, because of the pronoun אַתֶּם ye which follows.

Ye deaf etc. Hearing and seeing originate in the heart; those that are deaf and blind in their hearts are, therefore, called here deaf and blind.

Who is blind, etc. This verse proves the correctness of my explanation. You are blind who say that none is so blind as the prophet. כמלאכי As my messenger. Comp. חגי מלאך יי Haggai, the messenger of the Lord (Hag. 1:13). כמשלם As he that is righteous. Comp. ישולם is recompensed (Prov. 11:31) ; שַׁלֵּם to pay (Exod. 22:5); פשלם lit., he who is recompensed, that is, the righteous. As the servant of the Lord, who, though not a prophet, serves God.

ראות Seeing. It is an irregular form; it is a combination of the two infinitives, the construct (רְאׁת) and the absolute (רׇאׁה). The meaning of the verse is: they will perceive many words of God, but their soul or eye will not retain them ; their ears will be open, they will not be closed, and still, strange to say, they will not hear.

The Lord is well pleased, that they do not see; He will show His justice and exalt His law, so that all those that forsake it shall be afraid. This verse may also be connected with the next, thus : God showed His justice, and made those, that said of the prophet, that he is blind, robbed and spoiled, etc.

שסוי Spoiled. This is a verb .שסה) ל׳׳ה) Comp. שוסים spoiling (1 Sam. 23:1). הפח Breathing. It is infinitive and has the same meaning as נפח, though of a different root (פוח). בחורים In holes. Comp. חור hole (11:8). They are imprisoned, occupying the lowest dungeons of all the captives. הׇשַׁב The Pathah is substituted for Zeré because the word is the end of the verse ; השב is transitive, and means restore, namely the spoil. Who among you will tell this, will tell things like those which the prophet, whom you declared to be blind, proclaimed. לאחור For the time to come. Comp. תאחרו you keep me waiting (Gen. 24:56); לפנים in former time is derived from פנה it has turned away ; it is gone.

Who gave Jacob, etc. Then the people will confess and say: who has given us for a spoil? Certainly the Lord, it is He (זה=זו this), against whom we have sinned, and in whose ways our forefathers refused to walk.

Upon him. Comp. Gen. 49:22. עליו upon him, after the plural לא שמעו ,לא אבו they would not, they were not obedient, and צעדה she runs after בנות branches. (Gen. 49:22.) Comp. c. ii. Note 18. Upon every one of our forefathers. חמה חמת אפו=חמה אפו The fury, the fury of His anger, Comp. האהלה אהל שרה == האהלה שרה into the tent, the tent of Sarah (Gen. 24:67). ותלהטהו And it burned him. Comp. להט flame (Gen. 3:24).—They will confess that their forefathers were blind with regard to their hearts, and had no understanding.