ומלאה And its fulness;¹ that is, those beings of which it is full.

footnotes: ¹ A. V., And all that is therein.

תבל The inhabited part of the earth.²

footnotes: ² A. V., The world. According to I. E., ארץ is the whole earth; תבל the inhabited part of it.

צאצאיה The things that come out of it. It is derived from יצא to go out.

For the indignation, etc. All commentators refer this prophecy to the Messianic period, except R. Moses Hakkohen, who says, that Edom was destroyed in the time of the invasion by the Assyrians, and that all these chapters (xxiv—xxxiv) are connected with each other.³

footnotes: ³ Although it is not distinctly mentioned, it may be fairly supposed that Edom was conquered by the Assyrians at the same time when Syria and all the neighbouring countries were occupied by the armies of Assyria.—Edom was conquered and united with Judæa by John Hyrcanus, 129 B.C.

צבאם Their armies.

באשם Their stink. It is a noun derived from באש after the form of קׂדֶשׁ holiness.

ונמסו And shall be melted. Niphal of מסס to melt.

And all the host of heaven, etc. When the fatal day approaches to man, the sun darkens to him, as it is said in the description of the approaching death (Koh. 12:2). I think, that by these words the support is to be understood which each nation receives from its representative above; comp. Dan. 10:20.⁴

footnotes: ⁴ This is a part of the Kabbalistic theory, which is, in some respects, the development of the Neo-Platonic philosophy; it gives to the material world below its image, its abstract form, above, and attributes to these heavenly images real life and the power to govern the world below. Those images, or ideas, are called angels, or the princes above, or by similar names.

ונמקו And shall be dissolved. Niphal of מקק to dissolve. ונגלו And shall be rolled together. Niphal of גלל to roll; comp. מגלה roll (Jer. 36:28)

For my sword, etc. This verse confirms my remark concerning the heavenly decrees.⁵

footnotes: ⁵ That the divine decrees (גזרות) are identical with the first steps taken towards the realisation of the will of the Almighty. It is first carried out above upon the heavenly ideals of the earthly objects, and then below on earth. Comp. I. E. on 9:7, 16:13, and Dan. 10:24.

עם חרמי The people of my doom.⁶ The people which I desire to see doomed to punishment.

footnotes: ⁶ Upon the people of my curse.

The sword of the Lord. The divine decree.

הודשנה Is made fat. Many think it is a form composed of the Hophal and Hithpael,⁷ but wrongly;⁸ it is an irregular form; it is derived from דשן to be fat; comp. דשן fat (30:23).

footnotes: ⁷ The Hophal of רשן is הֻדְשְׁנָה, the Niphal is נִדְשְׁנָה; a compound of both could hardly produce the form הֻדַּשְׁנָה, as we might infer from the Hebrew text: מורכבת מבנין שלא נקרא שם פועלו ומבנין נפעל a compound of Hophal and Niphal. Instead of נפעל we must read התפעל; for the Hithp. of דשן is הִדַּשְּׁנָה ═ הִתְדַּשְּׁנָה, the Hophal הָדְשְׁנָה and the form הֻדַּשְׁנָה may well be considered as a compound of these two, the Dagesh in ד and the Pathah under it being the traces left of the Hithp., the remainder being the characteristics of the Hophal. ⁸ I. E. in Zahoth, On the compound forms, seems to include in this term only such words as can easily be divided into two parts, the one containing properties of the one. form, the other of the second; הֻדַּשְׁנָה which begins and ends with the regular form of the Hophal, is, on account of the irregularity of the middle syllable, called by I. E. an irregular form of the Hophal.

כרים Lambs. Comp. Deut. 32:14. — The nobles are figuratively called lambs; comp. אילי מואב the chiefs⁹ of Moab.

footnotes: ⁹ Lit.: the rams.

Bozrah. According to some it is the name of the town now called Constantinople; this is impossible, because since the foundation of that town, there have not yet elapsed a thousand years;¹⁰ Bozrah is a province in Edom.¹¹

footnotes: ¹⁰ Constantinople was built in 330, on the site of Byzantium, which was founded about 660 B.C., long after the death of Isaiah. ¹¹ Rashi quotes a passage from the Pesikta, in which it is stated, that Bozrah belonged to Moab, but shared the fate of Edom. Comp. Jer. 48:24. Very probably there were several places of the name Bozrah; since בצרה is originally an appellative, signifying stronghold or castle; there was one Bozrah in Edom, another in Moab.

With them, with the lambs and goats; by the unicorns and bullocks the kings of Edom are meant.

For it is the day of the Lord’s vengeance, etc. This verse shows that the prophecy refers to the Messianic period;¹² some believe, that it was fulfilled already in the time of Nebuchadnezzar, after the conquest of Zion; comp. The cup will be passed also to thee (Lam. 4:21).¹³

footnotes: ¹² It is not clear, how the words of this verse prove its reference to the Messianic period; the inference is perhaps drawn from the circumstance, that no hostilities of the Edomites against the Israelites, which should call for vengeance and recompences, are reported in scripture in describing the reign of Hezekiah. ¹³ This passage contains only a hope or prayer, and permits no inference as to the time when that hope was realised. It is, however, very probable, that Edom was occupied by the Babylonians in their expeditions against Syria and Egypt, as it had been previously by the Assyrians.

The year of recompences. Comp. Thy reward shall return over thine own head (Obad. 15); these words refer likewise to Edom.

And the streams thereof, etc. This really happened or will happen¹⁴ in a miraculous way, as some believe; others are of opinion that this verse is to be taken figuratively: None will remain there to drink the water, as if it were changed to pitch.

footnotes: ¹⁴ If this prophecy refers to the time of Hezekiah, as R. Moses Hakkohen asserts, or to the time of Nebuchadnezzar, as others believe, then it has been fulfilled already; if to the Messianic period, as I. E. seems to assume, it is yet to be fulfilled.

בוערה Burning. This word shows that the ת of זפת is the feminine termination.¹⁵

footnotes: ¹⁵ זפת is derived from זוף, which, however, is not found in any other form in the Bible.

It shall not be quenched. The fire thereof shall not be quenched.

לנצח נצחים For ever and ever. For periods without end.

קפוד Hedgehog.¹⁶ Well known;¹⁷ the root of this word is met with in קפדתי I have rolled together (38:12).¹⁸

footnotes: ¹⁶ A. V., Bittern. ¹⁷ It seems as if I. E. used the word well-known when he was at a loss to substitute another word for it. He derives the word קפוד from קפד to fold or to roll together because of its peculiar habit of rolling itself into a ball. See I. E. on 14:23. ¹⁸ In his remark on 38:12, I. E. explains קפדתי by כפלתי I folded together.

And he shall stretch upon it, etc. Lime and stones are materials used by the builder.

תהו, בהו Emptiness, confusion. These words are similar in meaning to שממה desolation.

חוריה The nobles thereof. They are compared with the white colour; the people of the lower class are called the black (Prov. 22:29).

יקראו They shall be called.¹⁹ Lit., They—the people—will call them. למלוכה ═ מלוכה to the kingdom.

footnotes: ¹⁹ Comp. Chapter ii. Note 5.

אפס Nothing.

ארמנותיה Over her palaces.²⁰ The preposition על is to be supplied. ועלתה סירים And thorns shall come up. Lit., And each of the thorns shall come up.²¹ סירים Thorns. Comp. Koh. 7:6. קמוש The same.

footnotes: ²⁰ A. V., In her palaces. ²¹ Comp. Chapter ii. Note 18.

תנים Dragons. Comp. Job 30:29.

חצר ═ חציר A court. Comp. יָשֵׂשׂ (2 Chr. 36:17) ═ יָשִׂישׂ (Job 15:10), old. It can also be taken in its usual meaning: grass.²²

footnotes: ²² Comp. Ps. 104:14; Job. 8:12, etc.

ציים The wild beasts of the desert.

איים *Kites.*²³ It is the plural of אַיָה (Lev. 11:14), although it has the masculine termination .ים.

footnotes: ²³ A. V., The wild beasts of the islands.

שעירים An animal, similar to the wild goat.²⁴

footnotes: ²⁴ A. V., Satyr.

הרגיעה Shall rest.

לילית The screech owl. A bird that flies abroad by night.

קפוז The great owl. It is not the same as ²⁵;קפוד it is some other bird.²⁶

footnotes: ²⁵ I. E. frequently states, that he objects to the assumption of an interchange of letters others than א ה ו י. Rashi is of opinion that קפוז and קפד are the same. ²⁶ Other bird is not quite correct; for קפוד is explained by I. E. to signify the hedgehog; the word other is perhaps used with regard to the birds mentioned ver. 11, and in this same verse (15).

ותמלט And lay. Comp. והמליטה זכר and she was delivered of a man-child (66:7).

ובקעה And break.²⁷ It is the nature of this bird to break its eggs.

footnotes: ²⁷ A. V., Shall hatch.

ודגרה And gather. Comp. דגר he gathereth²⁸ (Jer. 17:11).

footnotes: ²⁸ A. V., Sitteth on eggs.

דיות Vultures. It is the plural of דַיָה (Deut. 14:13)

Seek ye out of the book of the Lord and read: none of these shall fail, etc. None of the divine decrees, which are written down with the finger of God, shall fail; all of them will be fulfilled in Edom. Or: None of those, for which Edom is said (ver. 13, 14) to become the habitation, shall fail.

My mouth. The decrees that come from the mouth of the Lord.

ורוחו And its breath,²⁹ that is, the breath of His mouth. It is a repetition of the same idea.

footnotes: ²⁹ A. V. And his spirit.

חלקתה Hath divided it. Both subject and object are feminine.

בקו By line. With the line of truth.³⁰

footnotes: ³⁰ This remark of I. E. is probably based upon the occurrence of the definite article in בַּקָּו, lit., by the line.