Ibn Ezra on Isaiah

The righteous perisheth, etc. There is nothing but the deeds of these evil shepherds; the righteous are gone, And no man layeth it to heart to consider, why do the righteous perish, and those wicked people remain alive; but the prophet gives the answer to this question: The righteous is taken away from the evil to come, that he should not see the evil that is coming over Israel and the holy city.

יבא שלום He shall enter into peace, etc. The righteous shall come in peace to his grave; comp. Thou shalt die in peace (Jer. 34:5); And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace (Gen. 15:15). ינוחו על משכבותם הלך נכחו They that walk before Him, shall rest in their beds. Comp. אחרי יי אלהיכם תלכו ye shall walk after the Lord your God (Deut. 13:5). Some explain the verse thus: Peace and tranquillity shall come to them, and they that walk, etc. נִכְחוֹ = נְכֹחוֹ Before Him. The form of nouns varies.

Draw near, Ye my people, house of Israel, for judgment. The Lord addresses Israel. בני עוננה Ye sons of the sorceress. Comp. ועננים and sorcerers (2:6). זרע מנאף The seed of the adulterer, that is, of the adulterous father. ותזנה And the whore, the adulterous mother. The sense of the whole is: Men and women, both are bad.

Against whom do you sport yourselves, to ask what good he has done unto us.

הנחמים באלים The best of the various explanations of this phrase is that it refers to idolatry; הנחמים Who are conceived, similar in form to הנצבים that stood (Gen. 45:1), is the Niphal of יחם to conceive; comp. בכלּ יַחֵם whensoever (the stronger cattle) did conceive (Gen. 30:41). This expression is the description of children of transgression (ver. 4); comp., And in sin did my mother conceive me (Ps. 51:7). שחטי הילדים Slaying the children in honour of the idols; comp. ואשחט and I pressed (Gen. 40:11). They act like a harlot that kills her children. בחלקי Among the smooth stones. Comp. חלוקי אבנים smooth stones (1 Sam. 17:40). Among the smooth stones of the stream is thy portion. They seek for smooth stones to shape them into idols.

אנחם Shall I regret, the evil with which I intend to afflict thee. Some consider אנחם to be Hithpael and explain it: Could I receive comfort? But it is not necessary to depart from the usual meaning of אֶנׇּחֵם.

Upon a lofty and high mountain, etc. Like a harlot that commits adultery in an open place, that is, publicly.

Behind the doors also, etc., that is, also privately. זכרונך Thy scent. Comp. וזכרו the scent thereof (Hos. 14:8); אזכרתה a sweet savour (Lev. 2:2). Thou hast discovered thyself, etc., that is, thou hast behaved like a harlot. גלית מאתי Thou hast discovered thyself of me, who covered thee. Thou art gone up, to commit whoredom publicly. Thou hast enlarged thy bed, to fit it for more than one. ותכרת is here used instead of ותכרתי as ותוכל instead of ותוכלי thou couldest (Jer. 3:5). ותכרת לך מהם And made thee a covenant with them. Thou hast chosen for thy friends those, אהבת משכבם whose bed thou lovedst, whom thou desiredst to lie with thee. יד חזית In every place which thou sawest. It has the same meaning as בכל מקום אשר תראה in every place, which thou seest (Deut. 12:13)

ותשרי וגו׳ And thou gavest, etc. There is yet another evil, says the Lord, to Israel; thou hast not only worshipped idols, thou hast also sent presents to the kings of Assyria or Egypt, and hast relied on them. As to the meaning of ותשרי and thou gavest a present, comp. ותשורה and a present (1 Sam. 9:7); R. Moses Hannagid derives תשורה from שור to see, and explains it to signify the fees for the vision and prophecy; according to this explanation ותשרי may be compared with אשורנו I shall see him (Num. 24:17), and explained thou didst go to see him. With oil. Oil was exported from Palestine. ציריך Thy messengers. זתשפילי And didst debase thyself.

In the greatness of thy ways, which thou didst frequent, and in which thou hast wearied thyself, without saying: נואש there is no hope, my heart is despairing; (comp. שאול ונואש ממני and Saul shall despair of me (1 Sam. 27:2)); thou thoughtest that thy exertion might still be of some use. חית The life, that is, the strength. Thou hast found the life of thine hand, when thou hadst wearied thyself; therefore thou wast not grieved.

And of whom hast thou been afraid, etc. What hadst thou to fear from an enemy and to be afraid of him for, so as to lie, and not to think of me. מחשה is a causative verb, and means silencing. אני מחשה ומעולם I silence, even of old, those that lie; this I am doing now, and have always done. It is, however, possible to explain the words ואת מי דאגת ונו׳ when hast thou feared me, etc.; but I prefer the first explanation. Some compare אני מחשה with החשתי I have holden my peace (42:14), and explain it I held my peace, I forbore; it is in that case an anthropomorphism.

צדקתך Thy righteousness in words. And thy works they shall not profit thee, because they are bad; thou hast trusted to others beside me.

קבוציך Thy companies, which thou hast brought together for thy assistance. קבוציך lit., those gathered by thee, is an adjective, in form like למודי taught of (54:13). But the wind shall carry them all away, etc. This is a figurative expression for they will perish and not see the salvation which is coming from the Lord. And he that putteth his trust, etc. We see here how this chapter is connected with the preceding; comp. whosoever keepeth the Sabbath etc. (56:6).

ואמר And it will be said. Lit., and shall say the subject, האומר he who will say, הקורא he who will call, or הכרוז the proclamation is to be supplied. סלו Remove the stones from the path. The repetition of סלו indicates, that this proclamation is to be made repeatedly. My people, that is, those that worship the Lord; comp., there is no peace to the wicked (ver. 21).

רם ונשא The high and lofty. He whose name is high and lofty. עולמי עד=עד Innumerable worlds; עד signifies that which cannot be counted; eternity. That resteth for ever. This is a distinctive attribute of God, since all creatures move, the stars also change their places, and even the soul. I dwell in the high and holy place, with the angels above. ואת דכא ושפל רוח And with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit on earth, I dwell, to revive the spirit, etc.; or, I dwell in the high and holy place above with the angels in order to give life to those humble people on earth.

I will not contend with Israel. Neither will I be always wroth; for I have created the spirits, and the spirit that comes from me should be humble. The souls which I made. Repetition of the same idea. יעטף Should be humble. Comp. כי יעטף לעני of the afflicted, when he is humble (Ps. 102:1)

ואכהו And smote him, namely, my people (ver. 14), or him that is of a contrite and humble spirit (ver. 15). It is the imperfect, for which the Hebrew language has no special form. I hid me. I hid my face when I smote him with my hand. It is a figurative expression for I smote him without pity. הסתר lit., to hide is infinitive. וילך שובב He went on returning, with frowardness and obstinacy, in the way of his heart, that is, in his evil ways. שובב is used in a bad sense.

I have seen his ways, etc. This verse proves that my opinion concerning this book is right. His ways, that is, his repentance, or his innate evil inclination; comp. for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth (Gen. 8:21). And I will heal him, and I will lead him also. He is like an invalid, that has no strength to go by himself. And I will restore comforts unto him for the calamity that had befallen him. And to his mourners, that is, to his friends; people usually begin to mourn when they see their sick friend dying.

בורא The Creator. It is generally explained to refer to God, and the verb אמר said is supplied. Were it allowed to depart from the common explanation, I should suggest to take בורא in the sense of decreeing; comp. ובורא חשך (45:7). ניב Fruit Comp. תנובות fruits (Deut. 32:13). By fruit of the lips the speech is meant. The meaning of the whole verse is: Proclaim, Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near; announce, that the Lord has already saved Israel, because ורפאתיו I have indeed healed him.

But the wicked are, etc. God heals the righteous of Israel, but not the wicked, because the latter are troubled, like the sea that is continually troubled. נגרש Troubled. It has the same meaning as ויגרשו and they moved, and is probably of the same root as גורש driving out (Ex. 34:11); it is explained by the words which follow: when it cannot rest. Before נגרש the relative (אשר=) שהוא is to be supplied; for נגרש is an adjective. ויגרשו And they moved.

There is no peace, etc. No peace shall be to them, because they cannot rest.