Ibn Ezra on Isaiah

אורי Shine. It is the imperative; comp. בואי come (2 Sam. 13:11); these two have Holem instead of Shurek on account of the א., קוּם, to rise. Generally the vowel is affected by the consonant which follows, but not by the preceding, as is the case in אוֹדִי, according to the opinion of I. E. בא אורך Thy light is come, if taken in a good sense; but I think that it means thy light has set, and it has become dark; that is, the evening is come, and the light which has shone for thee hitherto, is gone, but in its stead the glory of the Lord will henceforth shine over thee; comp. The sun shall be no more thy light by day, etc. (ver. 19). By the words Shine, etc., the restoration of the kingdom of Israel, or of the prophecy is meant.

For behold, the darkness will cover the earth. Comp. For distress shall come in like a flood (59:19). וערפל לאמים And gross darkness—supply יכסה shall cover—the people. But upon thee. Upon thee alone.

And nations shall come to thy light. He who is in darkness usually sees those that are dwelling in light.

All they. All thy sons and daughters, whom the prophet is going to mention; it may also refer to kings (ver. 3). תאמנה Shall be nursed. Comp. ויהי אמן and he brought up (Est. 2:7)

Then. When kings come unto thee and bring thee thy children. תראי Thou shalt fear, like a man that trembles when help comes to him suddenly, or anything he did not anticipate; this is usually the case with a person who finds something. ונהרת And thou wilt run hither and thither. And thine heart shall fear and be enlarged. Anxiety will be mixed with the rejoicing, which is indicated by the words: And thine heart shall be enlarged. This is the opposite of צרה straits, distress. The reason of the joy will be Because the abundance of the sea, etc. The verse may also be explained thus: Thou shalt fear because of the great multitude that will flow unto thee. חיל גוים The forces of the nations. The land armies.

שפעת A company. Comp. 2 Kgs. 9:17. בכרי With dromedairies. The ב is a preposition; comp. בר the swift (16:1). They shall bring for a present.

ישרתונך Shall minister unto thee, that is, shall be at thy service; comp. לשרת to do service (Ex. 35:19), which is used of the cloth for covering the holy vessels during the journey. על רצון על מזבחי=על רצון מזבחי With acceptance on my altar.

Who are these, etc. This question refers to the children (ver. 4). The words Arise, shine, etc. (ver. 1) are addressed by God to Zion. ארבתיחם Their windows. The holes, where their nests are.

Shall wait for me, that I shall give them a good reward. Tarshish. This place is mentioned because it is near Palestine. Their silver and their gold with them. These words contain the reason why the islands shall wait for the Lord; the Israelites will not give them wages. It is distinctly said unto the name of the Lord thy God. פארך He hath glorified thee. The Kamez under ר instead of Zeré, is caused by the pause.

And the sons of strangers shall build, etc. The Israelites will not build the walls of Jerusalem, as they did not build even the temple; other nations will do it.

ופתּחו Some say that וּפִחְּחוּ is the same as וּפֻתְּחוּ and they will be opened. According to others, And they will open, that is, the sons of strangers will open, etc.; this explanation is not improbable.—The sense of the whole verse is: the gates will be opened continually, day and night, by those that will bring in the abundance of nations. Their kings, that is, those who had been their kings. And that their kings may be brought. Comp. To bind their kings with chains (Ps. 149:8)

חרב יחרבו They will be slain. This verb is derived from חרב sword; comp. החרב נחרבו they are surely slain. (2 Kgs. 3:23). Some explain it they shall be utterly wasted, and compare it with חרבן destruction. I prefer the first explanation.

The glory of Lebanon. The best trees of Lebanon; the fir tree, etc. To beautify the place of my sanctuary. To build the house of the Lord.

שחח Bending. It is a noun. And they shall call thee the city of the Lord. This proves that the exclamation Arise, etc. is addressed to Zion. עיר קדש ישראל=קדש ישראל The city of the holy One of Israel. Comp. Ps. 6:1. here, the word עיר city.

Thou hast been forsaken. When in a state of ruin. A rejoicing of many generations. A rejoicing, which shall never cease.

The milk of nations. Their money; they will pay tribute. שד Breast. It is the same as שָׁדַיִם. The form of the nouns is not constant.

I will bring gold. That is, I shall induce the nations to bring the gold, or, and that is perhaps better—I shall bring thee the value of gold; (or, the value of the gold of nations.) Copper is better than iron, it is therefore contrasted with gold. פקודתך Thy officers. Lit., the men of thy office (אנשי פקודתך). Comp. פקיד officer. The men, who distribute the taxes. I will make thine officers peace. They will collect the taxes in peace. And thine exactors righteousness. They will exact the money with righteousness.

Violence shall not, etc. Repetition of the same idea. וקראת ישועה חומתיך Some explain it: And salvation will meet thy walls; comp. וֹקראת אתכם הרעה and evil will befall you (Deut. 31:29); others: And salvation shall call unto thy walls; but it is more correct to take וקראת as the second person feminine, and to render it, And thou, Zion, wilt call thy walls salvation. The correctness of this explanation is proved by the words which follow: ושעריך תהלה and thy gates praise. וקראת is to be repeated before ושעריך, according to the rule of ellipsis.

The sun shall be no more, etc. Thou wilt not want the light of the sun, because of the light of God. An everlasting light, that shines day and night.

Thy sun shall no more go down, etc. That sun will not set, and that moon לא יאסף Shall not withdraw itself. Lit., shall not be gathered; the moon appears dark to the earth, when in conjunction with the sun. And the days of thy mourning shall be ended. The mourner sits, as it were, in darkness.

The branch. Comp. And a branch shall grow out of his roots (11:1). The work of my hands, that I may be glorified. It is a figure taken from the joy which a man feels when his work proves to be successful.

The little one, etc. The small family, that numbers a few, shall become a thousand. In his time, that is, when the time of salvation will come, I will hasten it, that is, the salvation; or, I shall hasten to make the little one a strong nation; לגוי עצום A strong nation. Comp. And I shall make thee a great nation (Gen. 12:2)