Ibn Ezra on Isaiah

Out of the waters of Judah. That is, out of the seed of Judah. Comp. The fountains of Jacob (Deut. 33:28). Not in truth. They utter with their lips that they are God’s people, but do not think so in their hearts nor show it in their deeds.

For they call themselves of the holy city, namely children of Zion. And stay themselves upon the God of Israel with their lips.

I have declared, etc. God will say to the unbelievers, Have I not often foretold you coming events before they happened (ראשנות)? The past tense is therefore used : and they came to pass.

מדעתי I know. As I knew the former things, so I know also that thou art hardened in thy heart. The second person refers to those Israelites who do not believe in God. And thy neck is of iron. Thou dost not depart from thy way, as if thy neck were of iron. And thy brow brass. And thou dost not blush, as if thy forehead were brass.

I have even from the beginning, etc. This is the explanation; I foretold thee coming events, in order that thou shouldst not say when they happened, that thy idols worshipped by thee in thy land had prepared them, that by their decree the events took place, Hath commanded them. It is the same expression as used of the Almighty (45:12)

Thou hast heard, see all this. What thou hast heard, all has come. And will not ye declare that this is the case? Behold, I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, that are kept (בצורות=נצורות) with the Omniscient alone.

נבראו They are decreed. And before the day, on which I told you. ולא שמעתם Thou heardest them not. The ו introduces the principal sentence, as فَ in Arabic; comp. אברהם ביום השלישי וישא when the third day came, Abraham lifted up (Gen. 22:4)

Yea, thou knowest not, etc., I knew, etc. That is, I know it for certain, that thou hast not heard of it, or I knew it, that thou wouldst not listen, that thou wouldst be treacherous against me, and not believe in my words. From the womb. I knew thee since thou camest to existence. In the opposite sense this expression is used in Jer. 1:5: Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee. And thou wast called a transgressor from the womb. This refers to the decrees of the Almighty. I shall fully explain this subject in my commentary on the book of Jeremiah. פתחה Hath opened itself; it is an elliptical expression.

For My name’s sake, Israel is called the people of the Lord. אחטם Wrath, It is hap. leg.; comp. אף=חטם nose in Rabbinical Literature. Supply אאריך before אחטם : I will defer my wrath; also למען for the sake of is to be repeated before תהלתי : and for the sake of my praise.

I have refined thee, by the exile. במצרף כסף=בכסף In the silver refinery, I have refined thee, by taking away the dross, that is, the wicked. בחרתיך I have chosen for thee, Some say that בחנתיך=בחרתיך I have tried thee; in that sense the word is hap. leg. I take it in its usual meaning, I have chosen for thee to refine thee in the furnace of affliction, not in the silver refinery.

יחל Should be polluted. It is the Niphal of a verb (חלל) ע״ע; as to the use of the first person in למעני and third person in יחל, comp. ונשאר אני and I was left (Ez. 9:8); הנני יוסיף behold, I will add (38:5).

מקראי Called by me. They are called the children of God. You ought to believe that God is the first and last; this would be a true belief, for my hand, etc.

ידי Mine hand. My left hand. It is a figurative expression; the right hand is used in connection with the heavens, because they are higher in rank than the earth. אף has in this verse the same meaning as כי for.—It is true that I am the first and last, because I created every thing. טפחה Hath put round, Comp. טפחתי I have swaddled (Lam. 2:22). Others explain it: Hath measured with the handbreadth יעמדו יחדיו —.(טֶפַח) They stand up together. From this phrase some of the commentators derive their opinion, that heaven and earth were created simultaneously, not consecutively. The literal meaning, however, is: I have made them, and when I call them to do My will and desire they stand both before Me like servants; comp. למשפטיך עמדו they stand up according to Thy ordinances (Ps. 119:91). For else how should God call them, when not yet existing.

These. The coming events. Hath loved him, namely Cyrus. His pleasure. The pleasure of God. Cyrus will perform the will of God concerning Babylon, and show His arm against the Chaldæans. It is, however, also possible, that the possessive pronoun his (ו) in his pleasure and his arm refers to Cyrus.

I, even I. The word I is repeated to express the idea: I who am always the same. I have called him, namely Cyrus.

Come ye near unto me, unto the prophet. I have not spoken in secret from the beginning of this plan and this divine decree. From the time that it was, there was I. The Gaon finds here an indication that the soul exists before the body; but he is wrong, because it is said, They are decreed now, and not from the beginning a time anterior to the birth of the prophet, and the pronoun I in the phrase, There am I, to the soul of the prophet. If this were the correct explanation, the prophet implied in these words his adherence to the theory of the pre-existence of the soul. But I. E. properly rejects this explanation, since ver. 7, quoted by him, proves that the words, from the beginning, do not refer to a very remote time, but to a period within the lifetime of the prophet. (ver. 7). The meaning of the sentence is the following: When this decree was made by God unto the angels, the representatives of the respective countries (comp. Dan. 10:20), I was also there. ורוחו And His spirit, that is His angel. The Gaon says, that ברוחו=ורוחו by His spirit; comp. דרשו יי ועזו seek the Lord in His strength ; but there is no necessity to assume that.

Thy redeemer, etc. The words which follow are to announce the reward of those that listen to the words of the Lord.

לוא Oh that. The א is paragogic; comp. ההלכוא that went (Jos. 10:24). ויהי Then had been. The ו has here the same meaning as فَ in Arabic. Thy peace had been as a river, that does not cease to flow. And thy righteousness, etc. And thy righteousness had been continuous as the waves of the sea.

Thy seed. The number of thy children. בטנך=מעיך Thy womb. כמעותיו As its bowels. The possessive pronoun refers to the sea, the waves and sand of which have just been mentioned (ver. 18 and 19); by the bowels of the sea the roe of the fish is meant. His name. The name of thy seed.

Go ye forth, etc. Now the prophet addresses those in exile. Utter it, etc. Make it known publicly; not alone that He will redeem His people, He will do wonders to them at their return to Zion. ולא צמאו That they will not thirst in the deserts, through which God will lead them.

Out of the rock. Where no water had been before. ויזבו And gushed out. Comp. זב running (Lev. 15:2)

There is no peace unto the wicked, that is, unto the wicked of Israel, as some explain, or unto the Babylonians; for this blessing shall be for Israel alone, but there shall be no peace for the Babylonians.