Virgin. Babylon is like a virgin, that has not yet been deflowered.¹

footnotes: ¹ That is, for a long period; but strictly speaking, Babylon had been conquered before by the Assyrians. See Niebuhr, Gesch. As. and B. p. 179.

בת Daughter. It is here figuratively used for people.²

footnotes: ² It is strange that I. E. here explains the expression daughter, after having many times passed it over in silence (1:8; 10:32; 16:1; 22:4 ; 23:10, etc.); even the very same phrase בתולת בת (23:12; 37:22), did not elicit any remark or explanation. The object of his remark here, is probably not only to explain the figurative use of the word בת daughter קהלת═ congregation or people, but also the meaning of the construct state of the two nouns בתולת בת the virgin of the daughter of, while other authorities render them the virgin daughter of, explaining בתולת, in spite of the form of the construct state, to be in apposition to בת. I. E. refers the virgin to the capital and the daughter to the whole country. Comp. his remark on Lam. 1:15. The Chaldæan translation renders these two words by מלכו כנשתא the kingdom of the people.

There is no throne for thee any longer.

ענוגה Tender. It is an adjective similar in form to אדומה red (Num. 19:2)

Take the millstones, etc., as handmaids do; for thou wilt go into captivity.

Meal. This is a prolepsis. Comp. And stripped the naked of their clothing (Job 22:6).

צמתך *Thy crown.*³ The hair upon the head.

footnotes: ³ A. V., Thy crown.

שובל *Locks.*⁴ The hair that hangs down over the cheeks. R. Moses Hakkohen compares שובל with שבלת the channel of the river (27:12),⁵ but I consider it as hap. leg., and its meaning can only be found from the context, without being supported by any. parallel passage.

footnotes: ⁴ A. V., The leg. ⁵ The comparison between the locks of hair and the river is probably made with regard to the similarity in their winding form.

Pass over the rivers, in order to grind.

תגל Shall be uncovered. It is Niphal of גלה .

ולא אפגע אדם *And I shall not accept the intercession of any man.*⁶ פגע means to entreat; comp. אל תפגעי בי entreat me not (Ruth 1:16); when פגע is constructed with the preposition ב, then the noun, to which the ב is prefixed, is the object to the verb.⁷ Some render the meaning of this sentence in the following way: I shall not take vengeance on thee, and I shall not meet a man (comp. ויפגעו and they met, Ex. 5:20) sc. standing in my way, or telling me not to do it, or I shall not meet a man, whom 1 should not cause joy by this.⁸

footnotes: ⁶ A. V., And I will not meet thee as a man. ⁷ I. E. thus distinguishes between פגע governing the accusative, and פגע being followed by the preposition ב; the former has the meaning to accept the prayer of or to be entreated by, the latter: to entreat. In the former case the noun governed by the verb פגע is in reality הפועל, the one that acts (that entreats), in the other case הפעול the object. ⁸ It can hardly be seen, how the reader could supply from the context, or from the signification of the verb פגע to meet, the relative sentence whom I should not cause joy by this, and it is very improbable that the prophet, if he had this sentence in his mind, should have dropped it, leaving it to the sagacity of the reader or hearer to supply it.

Our redeemer, etc. Then the Israelites will say, this is our redeemer, etc.

יקראו לך Thou shalt be called. Lit. They, the people, will call thee. Comp. Num. 26:59; there are many other instances like it.⁹

footnotes: ⁹ Comp. I. E. on 2:4 and note 5.

I was wroth, etc. When I was angry with my people, thou didst not show mercy to them, etc.

The ancient is especially mentioned because of the failure of his strength and because of the regard due to him.

And thou saidst, in thy heart, etc.;

but thou ought to have taken to thy heart These things, which I have done for my people.

Neither didst thou remember the latter end of it. That is, the latter end of the pride; or thou didst not remember what the future of my peculiar people was to be, when I was angry with them.¹⁰

footnotes: ¹⁰ The question is, to which noun does the pronoun –ָהּ its in אחריתה refer, since there is no such noun directly preceding. According to I. E. it may refer either to the noun pride which is the true character of the words I shall be a mistress for ever, and can be substituted for them, whenever reference is made to them; or to a word like נחלתי my inheritance (ver. 6), which might easily be supplied from the preceding verse, as well as from the phrase I shall be a mistress for ever, viz., of Israel, the inheritance of the Lord.

עדינה Given to pleasures. It is an adjective; עדנה pleasure (Gen. 18:12) is of the same root.

אפס═אפסי *None,*¹¹ The י is paragogic;¹ comp. מן═מני from (Judg. 5:14).

footnotes: ¹¹ A. V., None beside me. ¹ Comp. I. E. on 52:10, and Notes 11, 12 and 13. According to I. E. אפס signifies either the negatives not or none or the preposition beside; in the former case אפס ═ אפסי; in the latter אפסי means beside me; but it does not signify both simultaneously: none beside me. Since the context of the verse demands the negation; I. E. here gives the preference to the former.

A widow. The king of the country is metaphorically called the husband.¹²

footnotes: ¹² It is not clear whether I. E. meant by the evils the threatened punishment of the loss of children and widowhood or the sins of Babylon mentioned vers. 6, sqq. In the former case I. E. would probably have said these evils (הרעות האלה); in the other case it is rather at variance with the words, וכל זה בעבור, All these evils came over thee for, since the cause of the threatened evils is stated already by the word כתמם when they were complete.

שכל The loss of children. It is a noun similar in form to כפר hoar-frost (Ex. 16:14); שפט judgment (2 Chr. 20:9)

These two. The loss of the kingdom and the death of the children.

כתמם In their perfection. When the evils¹² were complete. תמם is an infinitive.¹³—All these evils came over thee for the multitude of thy sorceries, etc.

footnotes: ¹² It is not clear whether I. E. meant by the evils the threatened punishment of the loss of children and widowhood or the sins of Babylon mentioned vers. 6, sqq. In the former case I. E. would probably have said these evils (הרעות האלה); in the other case it is rather at variance with the words, וכל זה בעבור, All these evils came over thee for, since the cause of the threatened evils is stated already by the word כתמם when they were complete. ¹³ It is the infinitive of תמם with the pronominal suffix –ם their.

And thy knowledge. The prophet here alludes to that rationalism which denies the existence of God.

רוֹאׇגׅי Seeth me. The א has Kamez, because it is a guttural letter.¹⁴

footnotes: ¹⁴ See I. E. on 41:25 and note 31.

Thy wisdom. That which was wisdom in thy imagination.

שובבתך Hath perverted thee, has made thee obstinate, that thou art not inclined to return from thy evil way.

ואפסי And none. It has here the same meaning as above (ver. 8). I am, and none else beside me, I am wise, and there is none as wise as I am.

יום רעה═רעה A day of evil.¹⁵

footnotes: ¹⁵ A. V., Evil. I. E. supplies יום the day of because of the masculine form of the verb ובא.

לא תדעי שחרה *Thou shalt not know its light.*¹⁶ It will be like a night, which is not relieved by daylight; שחר means light.

footnotes: ¹⁶ A. V., From whence it riseth.

הׂוׇה Mischief. It is derived from הוה to become; comp. ואתה הוה that thou mayest become (Neh. 6:6);¹⁷ it signifies an evil that comes suddenly; of the same root is והותי and my calamity (Job 6:2).

footnotes: ¹⁷ A. V., That thou mayest be. Although the root הוה has the general meaning to become, both in the good sense and in the evil, the noun הוה may still be said to be derived from the same root, and to be used only in the bad sense.

כפרה To put it off by ransom; comp. כפר ransom (Ex. 30:12); or to annul it; comp. יכפרנה will remove it¹⁸ (Prov. 16:14).

footnotes: ¹⁸ A. V., Will pacify it.

שואה Desolation.

נא Now.¹⁹

footnotes: ¹⁹ See I. E. on 5:1 and note 1.

בחבריך With thine enchantments. It is a plural noun, of the same root as וחבר חבר or a charmer (Deut. 18:11).

הועיל To profit. It is Infinitive.

תערוצי Thou mayest prevail. Comp. עריץ strong (29:20)

עֲצׇתׇיׅךְ Thy counsels. It is an irregular form, a combination of the singular and plural; comp. מֲכּׂתְךְ thy plagues (Deut. 28:59), which shows the same peculiarity in the opposite order.²⁰

footnotes: ²⁰ The possessive pronoun of the second person feminine is –ֵךְ or –ַיׅךְ the former, if connected with a noun in the singular, the other, if connected with a noun in the plural; the regular forms for the two words are accordingly עֲצָתֵךְ thy counsel, or עֲצוֹתַיׅךְ thy counsels; מַכְּתֵךְ thy plague, or מַכּוֹתַיִךְ thy plagues.

הברי שמים Astrologers. Some derive הברי from ברר to be clear, because the astrologers cannot know the exact time unless the heaven be clear and cloudless. This is far-fetched ; besides, the ה is radical, and the word is in form²¹ similar to שמרי watchmen of (Song 5:7).

footnotes: ²¹ That is in respect to letters and vowels. Although this is not yet sufficient to establish the identity of two forms, in this case it is sufficient, since the radical and preformative letters can in both words be easily distinguished and found as corresponding to each other.

מודיעים לחדשים The monthly prognosticators. This is their wisdom; they look to the stars for the knowledge of changes in the weather, and of events concerning the countries, only at the time of the conjunction of the planets, which is the source of their wisdom, and is here indicated by the word מאשר יבאו עליך ²².לחרשים

footnotes: ²² According to this explanation the literal translation of לחדשים is at each new revolution of the stars.

From these things that shall come upon thee. This phrase is not to be joined with מודיעים לחדשים, but with ויושעוך and save thee, though distant from it; comp. אשד עבדו שם הגוים אשר אתם יורשים אותם את אלהיהם wherein the nations which ye shall possess, served their gods²³ (Deut. 12:2)

footnotes: ²³ The words את אלהיהם are not governed by the nearer ירשים, but by the more remote עבדו.

Fire. The host of the enemy. Comp., There is a fire gone out of Heshbon (Num. 21:28).

לחמם To warm at. It is infinitive of a verb (חמם) ע״ע, written in full, and similar in form²⁴ to לשכב to lie (Gen. 34:7).—The meaning of the whole sentence is: they will perish and no remnant will be left of them.

footnotes: ²⁴ The Pathah under ל in לַחמם instead of Hirek as in לִשכב is easily explained by the guttural letter by which the ל is followed; but not so regular is the change of Pathah in the second syllable into Kamez; and a remark of I. E. on this point might have been expected, if he had had the reading לחמָם; and not rather לחמַם.

Thus were they, those wise men.

With whom thou hast laboured. To whom thou hast given money.

Even thy merchants, which were not from thy land, but had been thy friends.—When thy fall cometh, they all forsake thee.