החרישו ושמעו אלי ═ החרישו אלי Be silent and listen unto me.¹ here, החרישו ושמעו אלי ═ החרישו אלי and להסיר אותה מעל ראש אפרים ולשום אותה על ר״ מנ״═ אפרים על ראש מנשה להסיר אותה מעל ראש to remove it from Ephraim’s head unto Manasseh’s head. (Gen. 48:17). —A. V., Keep silence before me.

footnotes: ¹ To join a preposition to a verb, which does not govern it, while the verb which governs it is omitted, is a construction known as constructio pregnans; as e.g.

And let the people renew their strength, if they can.

Let them come near, after having renewed their strength. Then let them speak, and let us come near together to judgment, to know, who is the mighty.

ממזרח *The man from the east.*² The ancients refer this expression to Abraham, who defeated the kings (Gen. xiv.), and broke the idols;¹ especially because of the words the seed of Abraham, my friend, (ver. 8). This is not impossible, but I refer it rather to Cyrus; because all these chapters are connected by their contents; comp. calling a ravenous bird from the east (46:11) and I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come; from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name (41:25); besides, the name of Cyrus is distinctly mentioned 44:28 and 45:1.

footnotes: ² A. V., (Who raised up the righteous man) from the East. ¹ Comp. Bereshith Rabba, xxxviii.

From the east, Elam was north-east of Babylon.³

footnotes: ³ Modern geographers describe Elam as rather to the south-east of Babylon. See c. xiii. Note 7.

יקראהו He shall meet it or it shall meet him.⁴ לרגלו To his foot. Wherever he goes.

footnotes: ⁴ A. V., Called him.—קראִ means to call; קרה to meet; but this distinction is often neglected, and the two verbs seem to be used indiscriminately.

ומלכים ירד *He will appoint rulers over hings.*⁵ יַרְדְּ is Hiphil; he will cause to rule; comp. (the Kal) וירר and he shall have dominion (Num. 24:19)

footnotes: ⁵ A. V., And made him rule over kings.

יתן כעפר חרבו he will turn his sword into dust, that is, the sword of every other king. Others explain it: he will make his swords as numerous as the dust,⁶ and his arrows shall fly about as thickly as stubble driven by the wind.

footnotes: ⁶ A. V., He gave them as the dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow.

ירדפם *He will pursue them,*⁷ the kings. And pass in peace, that is, without weariness. ארח ברגליו לא יבוא As if he had not at all gone that path with his feet.⁸

footnotes: ⁷ A. V., He pursued them. ⁸ That is, As if he had not had the exertion of travelling so far.—A. V., Even by the way that he had not gone with his feet.

עשה Hath prepared.⁹ Comp. לעשות to dress (Gen. 18:7). Who has done this? God has done it, who is calling the generations from the beginning, before they come into existence; who knows all future generations, and cites each of them to appear in its right time.

footnotes: ⁹ A. V., And hath done.

The first of all generations that have hitherto existed. And with the last, with the last generations.

The isles saw the victory of Cyrus.

They drew near. Those events drew near.

ויאתיון And came. It is here written like a perfect verb; the third radical ה is replaced by י.¹⁰

footnotes: ¹⁰ The usual form is ויאתו, the third radical (ה) being entirely omitted.

They help¹¹ every one, etc. All islands, all men, and all nations are now more anxious to worship idols, believing that they can thus be delivered out of the hands of Cyrus.

footnotes: ¹¹ A. V., They helped.

מחליק He that smootheth. Comp. חלק smooth (Gen. 27:11).

פטיש Hammer. A well known instrument¹ Comp. Jer. 23:29.

footnotes: ¹ It seems as if I. E. being here at a loss to find for פטיש another expression, which, being better known, could serve as an illustration, satisfied himself with the statement, that the same instrument is meant here by פטיש, which is well known by that name. It is also possible that the necessity of explaining הלם פעם elicited also a word on פטיש. Comp. c. v. Note 21, and I. E. on 34:11, Note 17.

הלם It is a noun derived from הלם to beat; comp. והלמה and she smote; it signifies the iron which is wrought by beating with the hammer. פעם The iron block, upon which the iron is hammered : the anvil; it is called פַעַם because of the beating upon it.¹² It is also possible that the two words פעם הלם together signify one instrument.¹³

footnotes: ¹² פָעַם to beat. פַעַם the foot, the step, the thing which is beaten, the anvil. ¹³ הלם פעם is according to this explanation analogous to אדמת עפר (Dan.xii. 12), quoted repeatedly by I. E., since הלם has the same meaning as פעם to beat.—The construction of the sentence according to I. E. is not quite clear; it is not explained whether פטיש and הלם פעם both are in the objective case governed by מחליק (he that smootheth the hammer and the anvil) or פטיש is the subject of the sentence, הלם פעם being the objective case (the hammer smootheth the anvil); the rendering he that smootheth with the hammer is out of question; I. E. would then not have omitted to say בפטיש═פטיש.

אמר לדבק טוב הוא *Saying of the joining, It is good.*¹⁴ Till the joining is good.¹⁵

footnotes: ¹⁴ A. V., It is ready for the sodering. ¹⁵ I. E. seems to explain here the words Saying of the joining, etc.═Till he is able to say of the joining, etc.═ till the joining is good.

But thou, Israel, etc. Those are worshippers of idols, says the prophet, but thou, Israel, art my servant; the name of Abraham is mentioned here, because he also was taken out from the midst of idolaters.

אהבי Who loved me.¹⁶ It is not the same as אהובי who is loved by me, the former being active, the latter passive.

footnotes: ¹⁶ A. V., My friend.

From the ends of the earth. The Israelites were in Babylon, far away from their own land.

ומאציליה And from the chief men thereof, who are distinguished from the rest;¹⁷ comp. ואצלתי and I will take (Num. xi. אצילי .(17 . the nobles of (Ex. 24:11). ומאציליה can also be explained from between her arms.¹⁸

footnotes: ¹⁷ אצל to be on the side. Hi. to set aside, to separate, to distinguish. אציל adj. distinguished, noble, chief. ¹⁸ Comp. אצילי armholes (Ez. 13:18.)

תשתע The second ת is the characteristic of the Hithpael, correctly put after the first radical. אל תשתע *Do not turn away.*¹⁹¹⁹ Comp. שעו מני turn away from me. (22:4)

footnotes: ¹⁹ See c. xvii. Note 11; c. xxii. Note 4. ¹⁹ See c. xvii. Note 11; c. xxii. Note 4.

הנחרים They that were incensed. It is the Niphal;²⁰ Comp. חרי lit. the burning; נחרו were angry (Song 1:6). The Babylonians are meant; when God punished and destroyed Babylon, He released His people, who returned home to their country with the permission of Cyrus.

footnotes: ²⁰ Of חרה to burn.21 To God all eternity is one indivisible whole. Time and space and their divisions are not in real existence, but postulates of and for our reason and imagination.

מנצותך ═ מצותך Thy Contention. The נ is replaced by Dagesh in צ ; the form of the word is like that of מלקות. Comp. מצה strife (Prov. 17:19); ינצו strive together (Deut. 25:11).

אפס Nothing.

For I, the Lord, etc. For this is a wonderful event, that Babylon was taken, that her armies were destroyed in their own land, and the Israelites remained unhurt.

Thou worm Jacob, Israel had been considered by the Babylonians as worms. Fear not, that you will be killed together with the Babylonians.

עזרתיך I will help thee. The future is here expressed by the past (עזרתיך), because all the divine decrees concerning the future, are considered as sure as if they were already fulfilled; besides the difference between past and future exists only with regard to created beings.²¹

footnotes: ²¹ to God all all eternity is one indivisible whole. Time and space and their divisions are not in real existence, but postulates of and for our reason and imagination

למורג A threshing instrument. It is well known.²² Comp. המוריגים threshing instruments (2 Sam. 24:22).

footnotes: ²² A.V., "Sharp."

חרוץ *Decreed by law.*²² Comp. חרצת thou hast decreed (1 Kings 20:40). It is not surprising to find here the word ישראל used as a masculine and feminine noun in one verse;²³ it is used as feminine, as far as ערה congregation is understood, but it is not a feminine noun itself.

footnotes: ²² A. V., Sharp. ²³ Comp. c. xv. Note 12.

Mountains, A figurative expression for the Babylonians.

Thou shalt scatter them, etc. This verse indicates that the greater part of the Babylonians will perish, and also that the Israelites will take their spoil.

The poor, etc. In their return from Babylon to Jerusalem.

נשתה Faileth. Comp. ונשתו and shall fail (19:5).

The God of Israel, I (אני) of the preceding, refers to this sentence also, and is to be supplied before the God, as is often the case.

שפים High places. It is the opposite of בקעות valleys. This also is wonderful, that rivers will be found on high places.

מדבר Wilderness. A plain that is not inhabited.²⁴

footnotes: ²⁴ I. E. seems here to be of opinion, that מדבר means originally a plain, an oasis (lit. a place whither the flock is led to be fed, from דבר to lead); but is used also to signify the wilderness, the desert (usually a vast plain, containing oases ; comp. Ex. 3:1). Otherwise his remark would be superfluous.

ארז שטה The cedar, the shittah tree. Asyndeton, like ירח שמש the sun, the moon (Hab. 3:10),

תדהר ותאשור. Names of trees. All these trees grow about rivers; they do not grow where there is a want of water.

That they may see, etc. That the poor may see with their own eyes, and take it to heart.

בראה According to my opinion, hath shaped it; according to others, hath created it, that is, has brought it from non-existence into existence, but not from one form of existence into another.²⁵

footnotes: ²⁵ See c. xl. Note 61.

קרבו Produce. It is imperative Piel after the form of ברכו praise (Jud. 5:2).

עצומותיכם *Your disputes,*²⁶²⁶ Comp. עצומים quarreling (Prov. 18:18). It would, however, not be wrong to explain עצומותיכם your strong reasons, as the plural of the adjective עצום mighty, strong.²⁷

footnotes: ²⁶ A. V., Your strong reasons. Mighty. ²⁶ A. V., Your strong reasons. Mighty. ²⁷ The Hebrew text has the words תאר הרבים, which seems to mean adj. plur.; but I. E. in similar cases, generally adds the remark, that the phrase is elliptical, and that such and such a noun must be supplied; (here טענות pleadings or מלות words). It is therefore not unlikely that we must not read תאר הׇרַבּׅים but תאֽר הׇרׇבׅים an attribute to רׇבׅים ‘men that quarrel,’ which is understood. In that case the remark refers to עצומים and leaves it to the reader to apply the same proceeding to עצומותיכם.

Let them bring forth, their idols.

The imperative produce is addressed to those Israelites, who did not trust in God, but worshipped idols even in Babylon; they are told to produce (ריבכם) their cause, that is, their evidence, to show which is the righteous side. The imperative shew הגידו is addressed to the idols.²⁸

footnotes: ²⁸ In some editions this remark is affixed to the word הגידו of the next verse, but it is more probable that it is intended for this verse, since there is no reason why we should refer the second הגידו to the idols and not also the first.

האתיות Theat things that are to come. Comp. אתה cometh (21:12).

לאחור hereafter it is the opposite of לפנים (Ruth 4:7). And know etc. We shall then know that you have power to do good or evil.

ונשתעה that we may relate. ²⁹ Comp. ואשתעי the Chaldean translation of ויספר "and he related" (Ex. 48:18). Some explain it "and we shall turn unto it,"³⁰ and compare it with אל תשתע do not turn away.

footnotes: ²⁹ A.V., "That we may be dismayed." ³⁰ See Note 19.

Ye. The idols are adressed.

מאפע of nothing. It is hap. leg.

תועבה=איש תועבה "An abominable man," or it is the same as תועבה "for an abomination." יבחר בכם Chooseth you, for worship.

העירותי I have raised. The Pathah³¹ under ה is caused by the ע which follows.

footnotes: ³¹ This rule is expressed in the first chapter of I. E.’s Safah Berurah: ע״ין הוא נרחב ויהחיב אשר לפניו. The ע prefers Pathah (lit., a wide vowel), and changes the preceding vowel (or Sheva) into Pathah or Kamez. The same is generally the case with all the gutturals.

From the north, Elam was north-east of Babylon.³² The word איש a man must be supplied : I have raised up a man from the north; Cyrus is meant.

footnotes: ³² See Note 3.

ויאת *And he came.*³³ It is an irregular form, because of the first and third radical (א and ה) being weak letters; it would have been of the form וַיׅפֶן, but the א being silent, the Hirek under י is changed into Pathah as is usually the case with gutturals;³⁴ ויאת is Kal.

footnotes: ³³ A. V., And he shall come. ³⁴ See Note 31.

And he shall come upon princes, etc. He shall come into the land or the camp of princes, and tread upon them, as upon mortar.

צדיק He is righteous. His words are true; it is the opposite of כזב false.

Behold, there is none that showeth, none that heareth the words of the idols; for they have mouths but speak not (Ps. 115:5)

The first. The first relatively;³⁵ it is the attribute to מבשר one that bringeth good tidings, which is to be supplied.

footnotes: ³⁵ The first in an absolute sense, can only be applied to God; I. E. therefore explains the word ראשון here by ראשון אחר ראשון lit. the first after another first, that is, the first relatively.

הנה הם ═ הנם Behold them. These are the words which the messenger will say to Zion, behold there they are. The repetition of הנה behold is to indicate the speediness of the appreach.

For I beheld and there was no man of the idolaters that could tell this.

They. The idols.

אין ═ און nothing as some explain ; the letters אֹ הֹ וֹ יֹ interchange. It can, however, also be taken literally.³⁶ The meaning of the verse is, they are vanity, much more so their works.³⁷

footnotes: ³⁶ There is hardly any difference between the two explanations, since און in the meaning vain must ultimately be derived from אין nothing. ³⁷ I. E. here again neglects the accents, which demand the following rendering: Behold, all of them! their works are vain, nothing.

נסכיהם According to some their images; comp. עגל מסכה molten calf (Ex. 32:4). I explain it their libations, that is, the libations which the idolaters offer to their idols.³⁸

footnotes: ³⁸ The parallelism of the verse demands for נסכיהם a rendering similar in meaning to מעשיהם their works. If therefore the former is correctly rendered drink-offerings, the latter must refer to sacrifices, to which, however, the remark of I. E. they themselves are vain, how much more their works cannot be applied. The author seems here to have neglected the rule of the parallelism which he repeatedly recommends, without any necessity; for נסך admits also the meaning to weave to form, and מעשה ═ נֶסֶך the work ; comp. I. E. on Ex. 32:4.