The valley of vision. Jerusalem, the centre of all prophecies.

Thou art wholly gone up to the house-tops. Some think, they went up in order to offer incense to the host of heaven, but my opinion is, that they went up in order to see the force that besieged Jerusalem, as is generally done under such circumstances.

תשואות Stirs. Root שאה to stir; comp. שאון noise (13:4).

עליזה Joyous.—Jerusalem had been full of men, but they were smitten with captivity and famine, and could not fight.

מקשת אסרו Because of the bow they were bound.¹ When they saw the bow of the enemy, they surrendered out of fear, and became prisoners.

footnotes: ¹ A. V., They are bound by the archers.

מרחוק ברחו ׳ Which have fled from far. The relative אשר which is to be supplied; comp. עם אשר לבבם שלם ═ עם לבבם שלם in behalf of those whose heart is perfect (2 Chr. 16:9)

Therefore said I. The first person refers to the prophet.

שעו ממני Look away from me. Root שעה to let loose, to turn away; comp. תשעה Thou wilt depart² (Job 7:19).

footnotes: ² See chap. xvii. Note 11.

אמרר בבכי I will embitter by weeping.³ I will embitter those that listen.

footnotes: ³ A. V., I will weep bitterly. According to I. E., the Piel of מרר is causative, and the object השמעים the bitterness, is to be supplied here.

ומבוכה And of perplexity. Comp. נבוכים entangled (Ex. 14:3).

מקרקר overthrowing, or pulling down, derived from קיר wall, with a negative sense; comp. ושרשך, and he will take away thy root (Ps. 52:7), derived from שרש root.

ושוע אל ההר And of crying to the mountains. Some say that this phrase means the same as ישעו ואין מושיע they look, but there is none to save (2 Sam. 22:42); others, their cry will reach the mountains.⁴

footnotes: ⁴ According to the first explanation, שוע is identified with שעה to turn,to look, or to trust; and the meaning of the phrase is, it will be as if they trusted to the mountains, that could not help (see c. 17:7). The second explanation takes שוע in its usual meaning to cry: Their cry will be so loud that it will reach the mountains, that are far away.

And Elam, etc. In the following the prophet predicts the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar.⁵ Elam. Even Elam, that was defeated by Nebuchadnezzar,⁶ was to take up arms against Jerusalem.

footnotes: ⁵ I. E. refers this prophecy to Nebuchadnezzar, and not to Sennacherib; because the siege described here, is to end in the fall of Jerusalem (ver. 14 ); this was in fact the result of the siege of Nebuchadnezzar, while Sennacherib was, by a miraculous destruction of his army, compelled to leave Palestine altogether. ⁶ This statement is perhaps based on Jer. 25:25, 49:34 ff., where the collapse of the power of Elam is predicted; and Ezek. 32:24-25, where the extinction of the power of Elam is mentioned as an accomplished fact. Elam, according to I. E., conquered by Nebuchadnezzar, might be expected to refuse to join him in an expedition against Palestine.7 The Hebrew text has the words אפילו שחם בעלי מדינות though they are in possession of provinces; they have no sense; for why should the inhabitants of Kir in that case not join Nebuchadnezzar? even if we join the following קיר with this phrase: though they are in possession of the provinces of Kir, it is impossible to find any sense in it. If, however, we add רחוקות distant, as is done in the translation, all difficulty is at once removed. קיר אפילו שהם בעלי מדינות רחוקות even Kir, that is a distant country, or, even the inhabitants of Kir, that live in distant countries, and must find an expedition against Jerusalem very hard and troublesome, etc.

And Kir, though being far from Jerusalem;—comp. And Aram from Kir (Am. 9:7)⁸—will uncover the shield round Jerusalem against Israel.

footnotes: ⁸ The quotation is probably to prove that Kir is the name of a country, which is situated beyond Syria, and therefore distant from Jerusalem.

Thy valleys. The second person refers to Jerusalem. שת שתו.

They prepare,⁹ the forts, the trenches, and all the instruments of war.

footnotes: ⁹ A. V., They set themselves in array.

And he discovered, etc. The veil was already taken away from the eyes of Judah, when the enemy was approaching; they saw immediately that they had no strength to resist. The third person ויגל, And he discovered might also be referred to God.¹⁰

footnotes: ¹⁰ According to the first explanation, the enemy is the subject; the enemy, by his approach, opened the eyes of Judah, and made them discover their weakness.

And thou didst look. Judah is addressed.

Ye have seen also, etc. They looked to the fortifications, and found that the breaches of the town of David were many; they were therefore obliged to collect the waters of the pool, that they might serve as a fence round the town.

And ye have numbered, etc. They had to count the houses, in order to know the number of the soldiers.¹¹

footnotes: ¹¹ It was desirable to know the number of the houses, in order to ascertain how many soldiers the town might be able to keep.

And the houses have ye broken down. The houses that were near the wall from without.

ומקוה And a ditch. מקוה מים ═ מקוה A gathering of water (Lev. 2:36).

Unto the maker thereof. Unto God, who has decreed to bring Nebuchadnezzar against Jerusalem.

Unto him that fashioned it. That fashioned the decree.

מרחוק Long ago. Join מרחוק either with ויוצרה, he that fashioned it long ago, or with לא ראיתם, you have not seen for a long time.¹²

footnotes: ¹² The second explanation is not in accordance with the accents; וְיוֹצְרָ֥הּ has a conjunctive, מֵרָח֭וֹק a disjunctive accent.

And in that day did the Lord, God of Hosts, call, etc. That is, God decreed. More correctly, however, this phrase may be referred to the words of the prophet.¹³

footnotes: ¹³ The meaning of the phrase is therefore, And the prophet, in the name of God, declared.

הרג Slaying, causing the separation of the soul from the body; הרג is used with reference to cattle instead of שחט, and on the other side וישחטם, And he slaughtered them (Num. 14:16) is used with reference to men instead of ¹⁴.ויהרגם

footnotes: ¹⁴ הרג to slay, is used with reference to man, שחט to kill, with reference to beasts; this passage, and the one quoted from Num. 14:16, are of the exceptions, the entire number of which is very small.

For to-morrow we shall die. The prophet foretells what people will say in the days of the siege.

ונגלה And it was revealed. This thing¹⁵ was revealed. באזני In mine ears.¹⁶ Supply אָזְנֵי the ears of.¹⁷ Comp. נביאכם יי Your prophet, the prophet of the Lord¹⁸ (Num. 12:6). According to some the suffix in באזני refers to the prophet; but the first explanation is better.¹⁹

footnotes: ¹⁵ The determination of the people, mentioned in the preceding verse. ¹⁶ A. V., In mine ears, by the Lord, etc. ¹⁷ The complete sentence would be: In mine ears, the ears of the Lord, etc. ¹⁸ A. V., A prophet among you, I, the Lord, etc. ¹⁹ See c. v., Note 16.

Till ye die by the hand of the enemy who will besiege you.

God of hosts. This attribute is added, because the treasurer is mentioned, who was appointed over the royal house, and whom some believed to be the master of the money stored up there.²⁰

footnotes: ²⁰ The hosts are, according to I. E., all creatures on heaven and earth (comp. Gen. 2:1). God of hosts is therefore the true master of the state treasures, not Shebna. Concerning the occasional use of the Tetragrammaton as an appellative governing the genitive צבאות of hosts, see i., Note 45, and I. E. On Exodus 3:15.

הסוכן The treasurer. Comp. מסכנות stores (Ex. 1:11).

עַל Concerning. He shall prophesy concerning him, and say to him.

What hast thou here? Why didst thou stop here? And whom hast thou here of thy family that could assist thee?

חצבת Thou hast hewed. Comp. חצובים hewed (Deut. 6:11). Thou thinkest that thou wilt always remain treasurer, and that thou wilt die in Jerusalem, and therefore thou hast already prepared a grave for thee.—Those commentators that take gravein the sense of palace are mistaken, as shown by the words there shalt thou die (ver. 18).²¹

footnotes: ²¹ The Targum has אְַתַר place, and אַתְרֵיהּ his place for קבר and קברו and seems to take קבר figuratively for the palace or the place where Shebna hoped to remain till his death.

מטלטלך Will carry thee away. Reduplication of טול to carry. Comp. ויטילו And they cast (Jon. 1:5).

גבר O man.²² Thou, who thinkest that thou art mighty. Comp. והיית לאיש and show thyself a man (1 Kgs. 2:2). גבר is here the vocative case. It can also mean as the carrying away of a man.²³ I prefer the first explanation.

footnotes: ²² A. V., A mighty captivity. ²³ Comp. טלטולא דגברא קשה טדאתתא A man, carried away in Captivity is treated more harshly and cruelly than a woman. See Rashi ad locum.

צנוף יצנפך צנפה He will surely bind thee together.²⁴²⁴ Comp. מצנפת mitre (Ex. 28:4). He will take him, together with all his money and wealth.²⁵

footnotes: ²⁴ A. V., He will surely violently turn and toss thee. According to I. E.: צנף to bind, מצנפת a mitre that is bound round the head. ²⁴ A. V., He will surely violently turn and toss thee. According to I. E.: צנף to bind, מצנפת a mitre that is bound round the head. ²⁵ I. E. infers this probably from the root צנף being repeated thrice.

כדור Like a ball. The כ is the prefix of comparison; the word is familiar from its use in the Rabbinical literature; its meaning may also be gathered from the context.²⁶

footnotes: ²⁶ I. E. overlooks that in Rabbinical literature the ball is called כדור not דור. (Comp. Mishna, Kelim 10:4, and I. E. on Job 15:24).

A large country. Babylon.²⁷

footnotes: ²⁷ According to I. E. this catastrophe of the house of Shebna took place in the days of the Babylonian invasion during the reign of king Jehoiakim or Zedekiah, when Shebna himself was probably no more alive; for Manasseh reigned 55, Amon 2, Josiah 31, Jehoahaz ¼, Jehoiakim 11 years; and to these a part of the reign of Hezekiah must be added. It can hardily be understood why I.E. transfers this catastrophe to a later period and takes Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, for the son of that Hilkiah, who officiated as high priest during the reign of king Josiah, while the text seems to point at the reign of Hezekiah (comp. 36:22), unless we assume that he is anxious to refer the second part of the chapter to the same period, to which, as he believed, the first part alluded. (Comp. ver. 6).

There shalt thou die, etc. There he shall die, with all his horsemen. The shame of thy lord’s house. For thou art a disgrace to the house of thy master; or thou wilt then be, etc. This prediction was probably verified in the exile of King Jehoiakim or Jehoiachim; comp. And I will call my servant Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah (ver. 20)

To my servant. He was the servant of the Lord; not so Shebna.

Thy robe and thy girdle. Every officer has a certain robe and girdle, as e.g., the wise men of Athens wore a certain distinctive girdle.

A father. A good teacher and a friend, like a father.

And the king of the house of David, etc. From this verse we learn that the house (ver. 15) means the royal palace.

יתד As a nail. כיתד ═ יתד. Comp. וכעיר ═ ועיר And like a wild ass (Job 11:12)

And they shall hang, etc. Having compared Eliakim with a nail, the prophet continues, they shall hang upon it, etc.

הצאצאים The offspring. The children that will come out of him.²⁸

footnotes: ²⁸ The root of צאצאים is יצא to come out.

והצפיעות And the issue. The female children are perhaps meant; comp. יצא צפע shall come forth a cockatrice (14:29).²⁹ Since he is said to be the father, the men of Judah are as it were his sons, and the women his daughters. All vessels of small quantity. The children are compared to small vessels.

footnotes: ²⁹ According to this remark צפע means offspring, but in commenting on 14:29 he says that צפעני ═ צפע means cockatrice, and is more dangerous than נחש serpent. A joke at the expense of women is perhaps intended by this remark. The real reason for this explanation is very likely to be found in the masculine and feminine terminations of the two words צאצאים and צפיעות.

האגנות The cups. (Comp. 24:6). The gold was perhaps kept in those vessels.

כלי הנבלים. The vessels of psalteries.³⁰ Musical instruments. Nothing will remain in the royal palace, that should not be placed under his authority.

footnotes: ³⁰ A. V., All the vessels of flagons.

The nail, etc. Shebna, who thought himself a nail fixed in a strong place.

The burden that is upon it. The supporters of his government.