Rashi on the Prophets and Writings

Behold, the hand of the Lord is not too short Your failure to be delivered is not due to the shortness of My hand.

have caused [Him] to hide [His] face They caused for you that He hid His face from you.

were defiled Heb. נְגֹאֲלוּ, an expression of defilement. Comp. (Mal. 1:7) “polluted bread (מְגֹאָל).”

vipers a species of harmful snake. hatched Heb. בִּקְּעוּ, eskloterant in O.F. That is to say that they committed ugly deeds, from which they did not benefit. and...spider webs Irajjne in O.F., spider, and קוּרֵי is ordiojjrs in O.F., warp. קוּרֵי are the implements of the weaver, those upon which the warp is mounted. Menahem (Machbereth Menahem p. 158) classifies it in the class of קוֹרוֹת, beams, since the spider mounts the warp of his weavings on beams. and what hatches Heb. וְהַזּוּרֶה. Jonathan renders: וּמְשַׁחְנָן, an expression of warming, called in O.F. kover [couve], hatching when one warms them, it emerges from them when he cracks the shell. The original meaning of וְהַזּוּרֶה is an expression of pressing to extract what is absorbed within. Comp. (Jud. 6:38) “And pressed (וַיָּזַר) the fleece.” The pressing of this one is its hatching. viper Heb. אֶפְעֶה, a species of snake that is harmful, so will nothing result from their deeds but evil.

and there is no justice in their paths That is to say that in their paths there is nothing judged truly according to its law. they have made themselves crooked paths They made their road crooked for themselves.

justice is far from us For we were crying that we were robbed by our enemies, yet the Holy One, blessed be He, does not judge to avenge us. and righteousness does not overtake us The good consolations that He promised us are not coming to overtake us. for brightness we hope, but we walk in gloom.

in dark places Heb. בָּאַשְׁמַנִּים. Menahem (Machbereth, p. 35) interpreted it as an expression of dark places, and most exegetes concur with him. Dunash, however, (Tesuhvoth Dunash, p. 93) interprets it as an expression of fat (שׁוּמָן), with the ‘alef’ prefixed to it like the ‘alef’ that is in (Job 13:17) אַחְוָתִי, “my narrative,” [derived from חוה]; and that is in (Jer. 15:18) אַכְזָב, “a failure,” (derived from כזב ; and (Num. 21:1) “the way of the spies (הָאֲתָרִים),” [derived from תור]. Here, too, among the שְׁמֵנִים, among the lusty living, we are like dead. And Jonathan rendered it as an expression of locking: It is locked before us as the graves are locked before the dead.

we moan Heb. הָגֹה נֶהְגֶה, an expression of wailing.

speaking oppression Like: to speak oppression. sprouting and giving forth Heb. הֹרוֹ וְהֹגוֹ to shoot and to give forth. הֹרוֹ is an expression of (Ex. 15:4) “He shot (יָרָה) into the sea.” (Another explanation: הֹרוֹ means: the teacher and the disciple, a gerund.) הֹגוֹ is an expression of (II Sam. 20:13) “When he was removed (הֹגָה) from the highway”; (Prov. 25:4) “Take away (הָגוֹ) the dross from the silver.”

And justice has turned away backwards Our revenge from our enemies, which depends upon the Holy One, blessed be He, and His righteousness stands from afar. Why? For truth has stumbled in our streets, [and since truth has stumbled from the earth, even from heaven righteousness and justice do not come.]

is considered mad Heb. מִשְׁתּוֹלֵל, considered mad by the people. Comp. (Micah 1:8) “I will go as a mad man (שׁוֹלָל).” This is equivalent to שׁוֹגֵג, inadvertent, which the Targum renders: שָׁלוּ. Likewise (II Sam. 6:7), “For his error (הַשַּׁל).” and was displeased for there is no justice Therefore, He brought retribution upon them.

And He saw that there was no man And now, when He repents of the evil to His people, He sees that there is no righteous man to stand in the breach. and He was astounded He was silent to see whether there was an intercessor, and there was no intercessor. וַיִּשְׁתּוֹמֵם is an expression of a man who stands and wonders and remains silent in his wonder, and the ‘tav’ of וַיִּשְׁתּוֹמֵם is like the ‘tav’ of מִשְׁתּוֹלֵל, and both of them serve here as the reflexive, and this is the procedure of the word whose first radical is a ‘shin’ or a ‘samech,’ that when it is converted into the form of מִתְפָּעֵל, the present reflexive, נִתְפָּעֵל, the past reflexive, or יִתְפָּעֵל, the future reflexive, the ‘tav’ comes in the middle of the letters of the radical. The result is that וַיִּשְׁתּוֹמֵם is an expression from the same root as (Jer. 2:12) “Be admonished (שֹׁמּוּ), O ye heavens”; (Ezekiel 3:15) “appalled (מַשְׁמִים) among them”; (Job 18:20) “the later ones will be astonished (נָשַׁמּוּ),” an expression of wonder. and His arm saved for Him and He will take revenge from His enemies. and His righteousness, that supported Him to entice Him and to strengthen His hands in His revenge, although we are not worthy of being saved.

zeal enprenmant in O.F., to be zealous for His great name.

According to their deeds As is fitting to recompense for what the enemies dealt to them. accordingly He shall repay As is fitting to repay them He shall repay.

For...shall come like a river distress upon His enemies. is wondrous in it Heb. נֹסְסָה, is wondrous in it, an expression of a miracle (נֵס). Another explanation: נֹסְסָה [means:] eats into him like a worm in wood. Comp. (supra 10:18) “And it shall be as a tree eaten to powder by the worms.”

And a redeemer shall come to Zion As long as Zion is in ruins, the redeemer has not yet come.

As for Me, this is My covenant with them In this matter, I made a covenant with them, and I will fulfill it, for even in their exile, My Torah shall not be forgotten from them.