Ibn Ezra on Isaiah

Virgin. Babylon is like a virgin, that has not yet been deflowered. בת Daughter. It is here figuratively used for people. There is no throne for thee any longer. ענוגה Tender. It is an adjective similar in form to אדומה red (Num. 19:2)

Take the millstones, etc., as handmaids do; for thou wilt go into captivity. Meal. This is a prolepsis. Comp. And stripped the naked of their clothing (Job 22:6). צמתך Thy crown. The hair upon the head. שובל Locks. The hair that hangs down over the cheeks. R. Moses Hakkohen compares שובל with שבלת the channel of the river (27:12), but I consider it as hap. leg., and its meaning can only be found from the context, without being supported by any. parallel passage. Pass over the rivers, in order to grind.

תגל Shall be uncovered. It is Niphal of גלה . ולא אפגע אדם And I shall not accept the intercession of any man. פגע means to entreat; comp. אל תפגעי בי entreat me not (Ruth 1:16); when פגע is constructed with the preposition ב, then the noun, to which the ב is prefixed, is the object to the verb. Some render the meaning of this sentence in the following way: I shall not take vengeance on thee, and I shall not meet a man (comp. ויפגעו and they met, Ex. 5:20) sc. standing in my way, or telling me not to do it, or I shall not meet a man, whom 1 should not cause joy by this.

Our redeemer, etc. Then the Israelites will say, this is our redeemer, etc.

יקראו לך Thou shalt be called. Lit. They, the people, will call thee. Comp. Num. 26:59; there are many other instances like it.

I was wroth, etc. When I was angry with my people, thou didst not show mercy to them, etc. The ancient is especially mentioned because of the failure of his strength and because of the regard due to him.

And thou saidst, in thy heart, etc.; but thou ought to have taken to thy heart These things, which I have done for my people. Neither didst thou remember the latter end of it. That is, the latter end of the pride; or thou didst not remember what the future of my peculiar people was to be, when I was angry with them.

עדינה Given to pleasures. It is an adjective; עדנה pleasure (Gen. 18:12) is of the same root. אפס=אפסי None, The י is paragogic; comp. מן=מני from (Judg. 5:14). A widow. The king of the country is metaphorically called the husband. שכל The loss of children. It is a noun similar in form to כפר hoar-frost (Ex. 16:14); שפט judgment (2 Chr. 20:9)

These two. The loss of the kingdom and the death of the children. כתמם In their perfection. When the evils were complete. תמם is an infinitive.—All these evils came over thee for the multitude of thy sorceries, etc.

And thy knowledge. The prophet here alludes to that rationalism which denies the existence of God. רוֹאׇגׅי Seeth me. The א has Kamez, because it is a guttural letter. Thy wisdom. That which was wisdom in thy imagination. שובבתך Hath perverted thee, has made thee obstinate, that thou art not inclined to return from thy evil way. ואפסי And none. It has here the same meaning as above (ver. 8). I am, and none else beside me, I am wise, and there is none as wise as I am.

יום רעה=רעה A day of evil. לא תדעי שחרה Thou shalt not know its light. It will be like a night, which is not relieved by daylight; שחר means light. הׂוׇה Mischief. It is derived from הוה to become; comp. ואתה הוה that thou mayest become (Neh. 6:6); it signifies an evil that comes suddenly; of the same root is והותי and my calamity (Job 6:2). כפרה To put it off by ransom; comp. כפר ransom (Ex. 30:12); or to annul it; comp. יכפרנה will remove it (Prov. 16:14). שואה Desolation.

נא Now. בחבריך With thine enchantments. It is a plural noun, of the same root as וחבר חבר or a charmer (Deut. 18:11). הועיל To profit. It is Infinitive. תערוצי Thou mayest prevail. Comp. עריץ strong (29:20)

עֲצׇתׇיׅךְ Thy counsels. It is an irregular form, a combination of the singular and plural; comp. מֲכּׂתְךְ thy plagues (Deut. 28:59), which shows the same peculiarity in the opposite order. הברי שמים Astrologers. Some derive הברי from ברר to be clear, because the astrologers cannot know the exact time unless the heaven be clear and cloudless. This is far-fetched ; besides, the ה is radical, and the word is in form similar to שמרי watchmen of (Song 5:7). מודיעים לחדשים The monthly prognosticators. This is their wisdom; they look to the stars for the knowledge of changes in the weather, and of events concerning the countries, only at the time of the conjunction of the planets, which is the source of their wisdom, and is here indicated by the word מאשר יבאו עליך .לחרשים From these things that shall come upon thee. This phrase is not to be joined with מודיעים לחדשים, but with ויושעוך and save thee, though distant from it; comp. אשד עבדו שם הגוים אשר אתם יורשים אותם את אלהיהם wherein the nations which ye shall possess, served their gods (Deut. 12:2)

Fire. The host of the enemy. Comp., There is a fire gone out of Heshbon (Num. 21:28). לחמם To warm at. It is infinitive of a verb (חמם) ע״ע, written in full, and similar in form to לשכב to lie (Gen. 34:7).—The meaning of the whole sentence is: they will perish and no remnant will be left of them.

Thus were they, those wise men. With whom thou hast laboured. To whom thou hast given money. Even thy merchants, which were not from thy land, but had been thy friends.—When thy fall cometh, they all forsake thee.