מוסר Taken away. Comp. ¹הסיר He took away (18:5).

footnotes: ¹ Hiphil of סור to depart; מוסר is participle Hophal: caused to depart, or taken away.

דמשק מוסר מעיר Damascus is taken away from being a city. Join מוסר with the feminine noun דמשק, although it has a masculine form. More correctly, however, דמשק may be taken as equal to עם דמשק the people of Damascus,² especially since in the phrase which follows,³ the feminine והיתה and she will be, is used.

footnotes: ² דמשק מוסר מעיר The people of Damascus will be taken away from the city. ³ That phrase undoubtedly refers to the city of Damascus.

מעי Heap. Comp. לעיים to heaps (Ps. 79:1); the מ is not radical.

The cities, etc. This was caused by the king of Assyria.

The fortress also shall cease, etc. When Sennacherib came, Damascus had been already conquered and also Samaria with its fortresses.⁴

footnotes: ⁴ According to the Hebrew text: When Sennacherib came, he took (תפש) Damascus and also Samaria with its fortresses. This is incorrect, for Tiglath Pileser took Damascus in the time of Ahaz (2 Kings 16:7—10), and Shalmaneser conquered Samaria (ibid. 17:9, 10) in the sixth year of King Hezekiah; Sennacherib entered Judah in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah. This incorrectness is probably not the fault of I. E., but that of the copyist; for if we read instead of תפש, the Niphal נתפשה, and translate for when Sennacherib came, Damascus was already conquered, Samaria with its fortresses likewise, we have a better construction of the sentence, and no contradiction of the account given in the Book of Kings. I. E. refers the prophecy of this chapter to the period of the Assyrian invasion under Sennacherib.

And the remnant of Syria, Damascus was the capital of Syria. They shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, of which it is said, The glory of Jacob shall be made thin (ver. 4). Others explain, And the remnant of Syria will be reduced to so disgraceful a condition, that the condition of the Israelites will be considered glorious, in comparison with the fate of Damascus.⁵

footnotes: ⁵ ככבוד בני ישראל is, according to this explanation, to be translated by as if it were a glory for the children of Israel, or nearly a glory, etc. For both significations of the prefix כ a sufficient number of instances can be adduced.

The glory of Israel shall be made thin. The numbers of Israel shall be greatly reduced by slaughter and captivity.

And it shall be, the first time.⁶, that of King Phul.

footnotes: ⁶ I. E. does not here explain the repetition of והיה as a poetical figure; because two different periods are here clearly indicated; the gathering of the standing corn at the beginning of the harvest, and the gathering of the ears from the field at the end of the harvest. The two invasions referred to by I. E. are probably the two principal ones of Tiglath Pileser and Shalmaneser. There were, in fact, other invasions, e.g.

כאסף קציר As when the harvestman gathereth the corn. הקוצר the harvestman, must be supplied before קציר.

And it shall be, the second time. The king of Assyria came twice against the land of Israel.

In the valley of Rephaim. A place where the harvest was bad, thin and meagre.⁷

footnotes: ⁷ The valley Rephaim is here declared to be a barren valley; it is not certain whether I. E. derives this explanation from the meaning of the word רפה═רפא to be weak, or from some other source.

כנוקף As the shaking of. Comp. ונקף and he will cut down (10:34); ינקופו let them kill (29:1).

אמיר The top of the olive-tree.⁸ Comp. האמירך He hath exalted thee (Deut. 26:18); the word אמיר has the same meaning in Arabic.⁹

footnotes: ⁸ A. V., The uppermost bough. ⁹ أَمِير chief. Comp. Sephath Yether 47.

Four or five. Supply berries.

בסעיפיה פוריה In the branches of the fruitful olive-tree.¹⁰

footnotes: ¹⁰ פוריה is not an attribute to סעיפיה, because it is feminine, while סעיף branch is masculine, but to the noun referred to by the pronoun הָ her, that is, the olive tree. בסעיפיה פוריה means accordingly, In the branches of her that is fruitful. A. V., In the outmost fruitful branches thereof.

ישעה האדם על עשהו Shall a man look to his maker. Man will renounce his own powers, because of the Lord, and this is the true confidence in God (comp. 2 Sam. 22:42).¹¹

footnotes: ¹¹ It is remarkable that I. E. makes a similar remark on all passages where the verb שעה occurs, (comp. 22:4, 31:1, Ex. 5:9), as if he wished to show that they have all the same fundamental meaning, while according to R. Jehudah Hayug this root comprises four meanings. See Two Treatises, etc., ed. John W. Nutt, pp. 97, 113.

And his eyes shall see, etc. They shall no more see the worship of idols, for they will only visit places sanctified to the worship of the Lord.

והחמנים Nor the images of the sun.¹² The נ is not radical; comp. רחמניות merciful (Lam. 4:10). חמנים are images made like chariots in honour of the sun (חַמָּה) as stated in the history of King Manasseh (2 Kings 21:3)

footnotes: ¹² A. V., Nor the images.

His strong cities. The strong cities of Israel.

החרש The tree.¹³ Comp. Ezek. 31:3.

footnotes: ¹³ A. V., Bough.

והאמיר And the uppermost branch. They abandoned everything, the root and the branches, in their flight, when the Israelites entered the land of Canaan.

They left. By the pronoun they the Canaanites are meant.

And she shall be desolate. The prophet speaks here of Samaria, for she was the capital of the kingdom of Israel.¹⁴

footnotes: ¹⁴ This remark is caused by the change of the number from the plural in ערי מעזו his strong cities, to the singular in והיתה And she shall be.

Because thou hast forgotten, etc. The prophet turns now to the people of Samaria, and rebukes them.

נעמנים The same as in Arabic; a plant that grows quickly.¹⁵ זר means likewise growing quickly. וזמורת שורק זר ═ וזמורת זר And a branch of a thriving vine-tree.¹⁶

footnotes: ¹⁵ نَعِمَ to flourish. A. V., pleasant. ¹⁶ A. V., With strange slips.

תשגשגי Thou shalt make to grow. Root שנא to be large; comp. שניא great. Thou shalt make it to grow quickly. And in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish. The same. As a general rule for the understanding of the prophetical books, I say, that from the one part of the verse we can infer what the words of the other part signify.¹⁷

footnotes: ¹⁷ This is a very important rule, and if applied with propriety as it is by I. E., one which affords much assistance in finding the true sense of a verse.

נד There will depart.¹⁸ קציר The branch.¹⁹ Comp. בקצירי in my branch (Job 29:19)

footnotes: ¹⁸ A. V., Shall be a heap. ¹⁹ A. V., The harvest.

נחלה Sore.²⁰ Supply מכה plague, to which the word is an attribute (מכה נחלה ═ נחלה), a sore plague; comp. בריאה ומאכלו and their meat plenteous (Hab. 1:16) ═ בריאה ומאכלו אכילה.²¹ This explanation is supported by the words which follow: וכאב אנוש and of desperate sorrow; with אנוש con-connect ויאנש and it was very sick (2 Sam. 12:15). Thou hast a great many children, but when the day of affliction shall come they will all perish.

footnotes: ²⁰ A. V., Grief ²¹ The assumption of the ellipsis of מכה plague, is based on the difference in respect to the genders of the noun יום (masc.), and the adjective נחלה (fem.); the same is the case in ומאכלו בריאה, which is explained by I. E. to be equal to ומאכלו אכילה בריאה.

Woe to the multitude of many people, that is, to the king of Assyria and his army, coming against Zion.

ישאון That make a rushing. It is of the same root (שאה) as שאון noise. The נ in שאון is not radical;²² the form of the noun is like that of זדון pride (Prov. 11:2)

footnotes: ²² Root שאה to rush.

But He shall rebuke him. God will rebuke the king of Assyria.

From far off. That is, far from his own land.

And shall be chased. The part of the army that will be left will be pursued.²³

footnotes: ²³ This is not quite in accordance with the words of the account given by Isaiah 37:36, unless the expression all of them (ibid.) be taken as a hyperbole.

At eveningtide, that is, when the inhabitants of Jerusalem are afraid of him.²⁴

footnotes: ²⁴ By this remark, I. E. meant perhaps to say that eventide is to be considered as a figurative expression, signifying distress, anxiety.

בלהה Trouble. Comp. בלהות terror (Ez. 26:21); בהלה ═ בלהה like כבש ═ כשב lamb.

And he is not. When the angel will have come forth and destroyed the greater part²³ of the camp.

footnotes: ²³ This is not quite in accordance with the words of the account given by Isaiah 37:36, unless the expression all of them (ibid.) be taken as a hyperbole.

This is the portion of them that spoil us. These are the words of the prophet in his rejoicing.²⁵

footnotes: ²⁵ See c. xvi., note 27.