Ibn Ezra on Isaiah

הוי Oh. Sign of the vocative; the prophet invokes the judges and their scribes. ומכתבים And they that cause to write. A verb that governs two accusatives; it is participle Piel. עמל כתבו They cause to write grievousness. עמל is to be joined with .כתבו

To turn aside, etc. They command the secretaries to write false documents for the orphans, widows and poor, who are powerless, and cannot open their mouths in defence of their rights.

And what, etc. All this you have done, but what do you think to do in future, when the Lord will visit your iniquities? כבודכם Your Glory. Your army.

All this you have done. בלתי וגו׳ Except they bow down, etc. None will escape except those that will bow down amongst the captives, or throw themselves amongst the slain, as if they were slain with them.

הוי Oh. Sign of the vocative. The rod of mine anger, wherewith I have chastised many. And the staff, etc. And the staff that is in the hand of the Assyrians, is the instrument of my indignation.

The people of my wrath. The people with whom I am wroth.

ידמה He meaneth. Comp. דמיתי I thought (Num. 33:56); דמיון imagination (Ps. 17:12). He does not think that I have sent him to chastise; he only considers how to overthrow every kingdom.

He will say in his heart. Behold my officers, etc. Those who formerly were officers, have now, through me, become rulers over nations.

כלנו Kalno כלנה = Kalneh (Gen. 10:10); for the names mentioned there (Gen. x.) are names of places called after their founders, like מצרים Egypt.

לממלכות עובדי אליל = לממלכות אליל To the kingdoms of worshippers of idols. ופסיליהם מירושלים And their graven images of Jerusalem. Of the country surrounding Jerusalem, of the fortified towns of Judah, which were already in the hands of the Assyrian conqueror.

Shall I not, etc. This prophecy refers to Sennacherib, when he came to conquer Jerusalem.

יבצע He will perform (comp. Zach. 4:9). His work. To bring the host of Sennacherib unto Zion. The fruit of the stout heart of the king. Comp. The fruit of their thoughts (Jer. 6:19)

עשיתי I have acted valiantly. Supply גבורה valour. נבונותי I am prudent. Niphal of בין, verb ע"י. ואסיר And I was removing. Future for the imperfect; comp. יעשו they made. Ps. 106:19. ועתודתיהם And their treasures. Comp. ועתדה And prepare it (Prov. 24:26); the possessions which man provides for himself for the days that are to come. כאביר Although it is written with Aleph, this letter is pleonastic, and the word means strong, mighty—I subdued those that dwell in strong fortresses. According to R. Moses Hakkohen, who takes the א as radical—comp. אביר the chief (1 Sam. 21:8)—it means like a hero.

לחיל The riches. Comp. החיל the wealth (Deut. 8:17). נודד Moving. A transitive verb, governing the accusative. כנף Wing. This figure is used because the nations have just been compared with eggs, and birds come from eggs.

הגרזן. An instrument to cut with. Comp. נגרזתי, I have been cut. (Ps. 31:23.) Shall the axe, etc. That is to say, It is God that has given the power to the Assyrians. משוד. Only one parallel is found to this word; וישר, And he cut (1 Chr. 20:3); it is derived from a verb ע״ע (שרר, to cut), after the form of מֽעוֹז, strength. Another figure is contained in the succeeding .וחנופת מרימיו כהנפת שבט = כהניף שבט ואת מרימיו It is like the shaking of the rod; and this is principally the action of them that lift it up. כהרים מטה. As the lifting up of the staff, which is done by the people, not by the wood.

Among his fat ones, leanness. This refers to the death of the nobles of Assyria, related 2 Chr. 32:21. יֵקַד He will kindle. Comp. וַיֵרַד, And he came down (Ps. 18:10.) in the second syllable of the future Kal; e.g., יֵצֵא יֵרֵד, but occasionally Pathah, e.g. וַיׅרֵד יֵקֵד. יקד. A burning. A noun like כְּפׂר, hoar frost (Ps. 147:16.

The light of Israel. God. Shall be a fire. This refers to the angel that destroyed the Assyrian camp. His thorns and his briers. The wicked.

And the glory of his forest and of his fruitful field. A figure, signifying that his armies would be as numerous as the trees of the forest, and as the ears of a fruitful field. Both soul and body. He destroyed them as if it were by burning. מְסוֹס, Destruction. A noun like יְקׂד; it is not in the construct state. נוסס. Wonderful; appearing as a miracle (נֵס)

And the rest of the trees, etc. There will escape but a few, whose number even a boy that has not yet had practice in counting, will be able to calculate and write down.

That smote them, the Assyrians. This verse shows, that many of the men of Judah conspired against their king.

שאר יעקב. The remnant shall return. This is the name of the prophet’s son, which is to be explained now. Supply יעקב, after the first שאר. The remnant of Jacob, that is Judah, will return; repeat likewise ישוב before אל: The remnant of Jacob will return to the mighty God (comp. Prov. 21:14). The verse, if written in full, would run thus: שאר יעקב ישוב אל אל גבור שאר יעקב ישוב,. The remnant of Jacob will return, the remnant of Jacob will return to the mighty God. Mighty, who is able to help them.

For though, etc. Although Israel should in those days be as numerous as the sand of the sea, only those that will return to God will remain; for destruction, which is decreed—חרוץ, decreed; comp. חרצת, thou hast decreed (1 Kings 20:40)—by God, will come like a river, overflowing with righteousness.

נחרצה. A decree is made by God. Comp. חרצת (1 Kings 20:40)

Inhabitants of Zion. All the other towns of Judah are already conquered. He will smite thee, in his thought. בדרך מצרים On the way to Egypt. Sennacherib was then on his march to Egypt.

מעט מזער. A very little. Supply בימים, of time. And the indignation, etc. And mine anger and wrath, on account of their great iniquities will all be spent. תבליתם. Their iniquities. According to some, their destruction; comp. בלותי, My old age (Gen. 18:12). The form of the word is like that of תַּכְלִית (Ps. 132:32)

וכמכת מטהו=ומטהו. As he smote with his staff at the sea, when the water flowed back over the Egyptians. So shall be lift up. This refers to the defeat of Sennacherib, after which he returned to his own country disappointed.

His burden. The burden imposed by the King of Assyria. Thy neck. Judah’s neck. וחבל. And shall be destroyed. Comp. וְחִבֵּל, And he will destroy (Eccl. 5:5). The yoke is broken, when the neck has become very fat; it is a figurative expression for, Judah will become mighty.

מעברה. The passage, or the name of a place. לנו. They have taken up their lodgings. Comp. ללון, To stay over night. (Gen. 24:23.

צהלי. Lift up the voice. Comp. מצהלת, the neighing of the horse (Jer. 8:16.) בת גלים. Name of a country. בת has here perhaps the same meaning as in בת־ציון. (The state of, the people of.

הגבים. Name of a place; or pits; comp. גובא, pit, in Chaldee. העיזו. They saved themselves or others of Israel; it is a transitive verb; comp. העז, Save (Exod. 9:19)

And yet, etc. There will yet come a day when he will stay in Nob.

מסעף Shall cut off the branches (סעיפים). Comp. לא תפאר Thou shalt not take off the crown (פאר, Deut. 24:20); ושרשך And he will take away thy root (Ps. 52:7). פארה Bough. Comp. פארות Branches (Ez. 17:6). במערצה With strength. Comp. עריץ strong. And the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, etc. The nobles shall be cut off.

ונקף And he shall cut down. סבכי The trees that are thick with branches. בברזל With the axe, that is, by means of the angel. And Lebanon, etc. The princes, that are compared with the trees of the Lebanon, shall fall. בברזל אדיר = באדיר By a mighty axe; ברזל is to be supplied from the preceding בברזל with the axe.