הוי *Ho!*¹ Interjection of calling. The prophet addresses Assyria.

footnotes: ¹ See c. i., note 13.

כהתמך שודד when thou shalt have finished spoiling.

כהנלותך ═ כנלותך When thou shalt have finished.² Of the same root is מנלם the perfection thereof (Job. 15:29)

footnotes: ² A. V., When thou shalt cease to spoil. When thou shalt make an end.

O Lord, etc. This was to be the prayer of the righteous at the time of the invasion of the Assyrian king; the prayer is given here as a prophecy.

Their arm. The arm of the soldiers.

The tumult of Assyria.

מרממתך By Thy honour.³ The honour which Thou hast given him.

footnotes: ³ A. V., At the lifting up of thyself.

Your spoil. Those of you that have become a spoil of the nations; the possessive pronoun your refers to the Israelites, of whom the king of Assyria carried a part away into captivity.⁴

footnotes: ⁴ The possessive pronoun your has here the same meaning as the partitive genitive.

גבים Locusts. Comp. גובא in Chaldee, meaning the same as ארבה locusts in Hebrew.

שוקק Gathering.⁵⁵ Some think that משק the steward (Gen. 15:2) is of the same root. I compare it rather with ישתקשקון they gather themselves (Nah. 2:5), which expression is likewise used of locusts.

footnotes: ⁵ A. V., Shall he run. They shall jostle. ⁵ A. V., Shall he run. They shall jostle.

The Lord, etc. The divine glory, that revealeth itself in Zion.⁶

footnotes: ⁶ This remark is introduced to explain the anthropomorphism, because in reality the Lord cannot be exalted.

Thy times. The pronoun refers to Judah.

חכמת The wisdom of. Some noun must be supplied.⁷

footnotes: ⁷ The form חָכְמַת instead of חָכְמָה is perhaps caused by a kind of attraction of the similar form דַעַת which is often used in the absolute state.

His treasure. The treasure of strength of salvation.

אראלם According to some their altar; comp. אריאל (29:1); if this were correct, we should have to supply על for, but this explanation is not in accord with the whole context of the chapter. Others say, that אראה להם ═ אראלם I shall see them; this is not probable. I think that it means their messenger, as we may infer from the ambassadors of peace in the second half of the verse. Comp. 2 Sam. 23:20.⁸—All the messengers of the nations, that are desirous of peace, will weep when Assyria has dominion.

footnotes: ⁸ This proof, based upon 2) אריאל Sam. 23:20), is not convincing, since the plural would be required, if it were, as I. E. believes, a common noun, meaning messenger.

The highways lie waste. For the king of Assyria will not be faithful to his treaties with other nations.

He regardeth no man. He does not esteem any person to be worth anything in comparison with himself.

אבל אמללה ארץ The earth mourneth and languisheth. ארץ is sometimes used as a masculine noun; comp. 9:18. This phrase⁹ overthrows the rule laid down by R. Moses Hakkohen (Job 20:26), that words which can be used both as masculine and feminine nouns, cannot be joined with a feminine attribute, after having been joined with a masculine one in the same phrase.

footnotes: ⁹ אבל אמללה ארץ both אבל as well as אמללה are predicates to ארץ; nevertheless the first is masculine, the second feminine.

החפיר לבנון¹⁰ He—the king of Assyria—put the Lebanon to shame.¹¹ החפיר is transitive. קמל Till it was hewn down.

footnotes: ¹⁰ The Hebrew text has לשון; this gives no sense, and is evidently a corruption of לבנון. ¹¹ A. V., "Lebanon is ashamed."

השרון Sharon. Comp. Song 2:1.

ונער בשן וכרמל And Bashan and Karmel shake off. Comp. נעור shaken (Neh. 5:13)

Now, that he has already destroyed too much, will I rise.

אתרומם═ ארומם will I be exalted. It is Hithpael; the ר should have a Dagesh¹² to compensate for the omission of the ת, as the נ of אֶנָּשֵׂא has.¹³

footnotes: ¹² The ר being subject to the same rule as the gutturals, with regard to the Dagesh, its reduplication is replaced by the change of the short vowel (Segol) into a long one (Zere). ¹³ To compensate for the omission of the אֶנְנָשֵׂא ═ אֶנָּשֵׂא ;נ.

Ye shall conceive. Assyria is addressed.

חשש Chaff. The word has the same meaning in Arabic.

רוחכם אש תאכלכם According to some: Your breath, as fire, shall devour you. It is more correctly considered as the continuation of the preceding figure of the chaff and stubble: Your wind, will not lift you up,¹⁴ but, like fire, utterly destroy you.

footnotes: ¹⁴ The wind, which will blow for you, will not raise you, as it raises chaff and stubble.

As the burnings of lime. As if they were burnt by lime.—This refers to the sudden destruction of the Assyrian army through the angel, as is the case with the next simile as thorns cut off, which are burnt¹⁵ in the fire.

footnotes: ¹⁵ A. V., Shall they be burnt.

Ye, that are near. The Israelites are addressed, as may be inferred from the next verse, The sinners in Zion etc.

The sinners in Zion are afraid. They will be afraid of the Lord, when they see His power displayed in the destruction of the Assyrian army; then will they say: Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire, with the Lord, who is like the devouring fire, that is, in Zion, where the divine glory manifests itself. The prophet replies.

He that walketh, etc. בצדקות ═ צדקות In righteousness.

אוטם That stoppeth. Comp. יאטם that stoppeth (Ps. 58:5); although the two words are of two different conjugations.¹⁶¹⁶

footnotes: ¹⁶ עוצם is Kal, ויעצם Piel of אוטם ;עצם Kal, יאטם Hiphil of אטם. ¹⁶ עוצם is Kal, ויעצם Piel of אוטם ;עצם Kal, יאטם Hiphil of אטם.

ועוצם And shutteth. Comp. ויעצם and he shut, though not of the same conjugation.

He, who does all this,

shall dwell on high, etc., shall dwell in Zion in safety, as if he dwelt, etc.

לחמו נתן His bread, bread, sufficient for his sustenance, shall be given him.

נאמנים Sure. Lit. faithful. The water will not deceive his hope, will not fail. He will dwell in peace and be satisfied.

Thine eyes shall see the king, etc. The prophet brings these words back to the memory of Judah;¹⁷ הסופר the secretary, that wrote down how much each had to contribute, and who was to carry the tribute to the king of Assyria; comp. ver. 18 and 22. The words of this verse were, as distinctly stated by I. E., addressed to Judah by the Assyrian officers. when the messengers of the king of Assyria came for the tribute, and Hezekiah, after having delivered up all the treasures of the temple, imposed besides a tax on Judah for that purpose, they said, who of the princes of Hezekiah will come with us, to bring this tribute to the king of Assyria? thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty; they shall behold the land that is far off, the land of Assyria, that is far from Jerusalem.

footnotes: ¹⁷ The Hebrew text has the words אלה דברי הנביא כאומר יזכור יהודה lit., These are the words of the prophet, as if he said, that Judah should remember. The remark of I. E. on ver. 15 begins likewise with the phrase אלה דברי הנביא these are the words of the prophet. This introduction is there an essential part of the explanation, since part of the preceding verse was assigned to the people; but this verse does not require an introduction of this kind. A comparison of this remark with ידבר בנפשו (ver. 18) leads to the suggestion, that instead of הנביא another word, signifying the messenger, or the officer, is to be read, as, e.g.,

Thine heart shall meditate, etc. These are the prophet’s own words.¹⁸

footnotes: ¹⁸ The words ידבר בנפשו he speaks his own words, are contrasted with the introductory phrase of the preceding remark, These are the words of the Assyrian officer, which the prophet brings back to the memory of Judah.

סופר The scribe who writes down, how much every one shall contribute.

סופר He that counted. Comp. מספר the number, He that counted the towers. They taxed even the towers.

נועז We cannot say, whether the נ is radical, or the characteristic prefix of the Niphal; the word is hap. leg.; it means a stranger or a strange man; to consider לועז═נועז speaking a foreign language, is incorrect.

נלעג לשון *Mocked for his tongue.*¹⁹ People usually laugh at a language, which they cannot understand.

footnotes: ¹⁹ A. V., Of a stammering tongue.

Look upon Zion, etc. We need not look at the king of Assyria, we should rather look at Zion.

מועדנו It has here its usual meaning: our solemnities or our sanctuary; comp. מעדי אל The synagogues of God (Ps. 74:8).

כאהל═אהל As a tent.²⁰

footnotes: ²⁰ A. V., A tabernacle.

יצען Hap. leg. It means, shall fall.²¹

footnotes: ²¹ A. V., Shall be taken down.

יתדותיו ובל יסע Not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed.²² חבליו The cords thereof.

footnotes: ²² The combination of the singular יסע and the plural יתדותיו is explained in this remark, by considering יתד מיתדותיו ═ יתדותיו. See c. ii., note 18.

But there, etc. This tent shall not be removed, but God will be there unto us as a stronghold, like a place surrounded by rivers.

נהרים יארים Rivers, streams. Asyndeton; comp. שמש ירח sun, moon (Hab. 3:11).

ידים Space.²³ A place of broad rivers.²⁴ A place surrounded on all sides by rivers, בל תלך בו וגו׳ wherein shall go no, etc.²⁵ None of the rivers will be passed by any ships with oars; the people will have no cause for fear, either from the sea or from the continent. Thus this verse contrasts with the words Thine heart meditates terror (ver. 18)

footnotes: ²³ רחבי ידים Wide of space, that is, spacious, or broad. ²⁴ I. E. explains why the plural rivers is used here. ²⁵ The incongruity of the singular בו with the plural יארים, to which it refers, is explained in the usual way. See c. ii., note 18.

For the Lord is our judge, etc. There will be no judge to say to this person and that pay so and so much for the tribute, nor will any scribe write down, who shall go to the king with the tribute; for the Lord alone will be our judge, our scribe,²⁶ and our king.

footnotes: ²⁶ A. V., Lawgiver.

Thy tacklings. The Assyrian army is adressed.

נטשו Are loosed. Comp. ונמשתה thou shalt let it lie still²⁷ (Ex. 23:11). The meaning of this figure is: the ship will go down, and her riches will then be thrown out again by the sea.

footnotes: ²⁷ Lit., And thou shalt let loose of it; that is, thou shalt not take hold of it, to till it, and to do the usual work therein.

תרנם וגו׳ בל יחזקו כן They, that is, the sailors, cannot strengthen their mast, nor spread the sail.²⁸ עד שלל The prey of a spoil. Comp. אדמת עפר the dust of the earth (Dan. 12:2).²⁹ עד Spoil. Comp. Gen. 49:27.

footnotes: ²⁸ A. V., They could not well strengthen their mast, they could not spread the sail. ²⁹ See c. xxx., note 18.

הרבה ═ מרבה Great. The lame shall take prey. How much more the others.

And the inhabitant of Zion shall not say again, I am sick; for all the people shall be forgiven their iniquity.