Out of the waters of Judah. That is, out of the seed of Judah. Comp. The fountains of Jacob (Deut. 33:28).

Not in truth. They utter with their lips that they are God’s people, but do not think so in their hearts nor show it in their deeds.

For they call themselves of the holy city, namely children of Zion.

And stay themselves upon the God of Israel with their lips.

I have declared, etc. God will say to the unbelievers, Have I not often foretold you coming events before they happened (ראשנות)?¹ The past tense is therefore used : and they came to pass.

footnotes: ¹ Comp. I. E. on 46:9 and note 6, and on 41:27 and note 35.

מדעתי *I know.*² As I knew the former things, so I know also that thou art hardened in thy heart. The second person refers to those Israelites who do not believe in God. And thy neck is of iron. Thou dost not depart from thy way, as if thy neck were of iron. And thy brow brass. And thou dost not blush, as if thy forehead were brass.

footnotes: ² A. V,, Because I knew. The literal translation according to I. E. is: It is by my knowledge.

I have even from the beginning, etc. This is the explanation;³ I foretold thee coming events, in order that thou shouldst not say when they happened, that thy idols worshipped by thee in thy land had prepared them, that by their decree the events took place,

footnotes: ³ Of the connection between the divine predictions (ver. 3) and Israel’s obstinacy (ver. 4).

Hath commanded them. It is the same expression as used of the Almighty (45:12)

Thou hast heard, see all this. What thou hast heard, all has come.

And will not ye declare that this is the case? Behold, I have shewed thee new things from this time,

even hidden things, that are kept (בצורות═נצורות⁴) with the Omniscient alone.

footnotes: ⁴ The word כמו comp. seems to have been omitted in the Hebrew text.

נבראו They are decreed.⁵

footnotes: ⁵ A. V., They are created. Comp. I. E. on 40:28, note 61.

And before the day, on which I told you. ולא שמעתם *Thou heardest them not.*⁶ The ו introduces the principal sentence, as فَ in Arabic; comp. אברהם ביום השלישי וישא when the third day came, Abraham lifted up (Gen. 22:4)

footnotes: ⁶ I. E. here explains the words Yea, thou hast not heard, etc., as a repetition of Thou heardest them not of the preceding verse for the sake of

Yea, thou knowest not, etc., I knew, etc. That is, I know it for certain, that thou hast not heard of it,⁶ or I knew it,⁷ that thou wouldst not listen, that thou wouldst be treacherous against me, and not believe in my words.

footnotes: ⁶ I. E. here explains the words Yea, thou hast not heard, etc., as a repetition of Thou heardest them not of the preceding verse for the sake of ⁷ According to this explanation the words I knew it are understood; and the past tenses ידעת שמעת, are here used instead of the future.

From the womb. I knew thee¹ since thou camest to existence. In the opposite sense⁸ this expression is used in Jer. 1:5: Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee. And thou wast called a transgressor from the womb. This refers to the decrees of the Almighty.⁹ I shall fully explain this subject in my commentary on the book of Jeremiah.¹⁰

footnotes: ¹ The accents are against this explanation; they join מבטן with ופשע; ‘And one that transgresseth from the womb, that is a sinner from his earliest youth; while according to I. E. מבטן is joined with קרא לך : Thou art called from thy birth a sinner. ⁸ That is, in a good sense. ⁹ Which fix the destinies of man before he is born. ¹⁰ I. E. alludes here to the contradiction that seems to be implied in the fact, that on the one side the destinies of man are settled before his birth, and on the other side, free-will is conceded to him ; as here the one has been appointed to be a prophet, the other a sinner. I. E. promises to explain it fully in his commentary on Jeremiah, which seems either to have never been written, or if written, not to be known.

פתחה Hath opened¹¹ itself; it is an elliptical expression.

footnotes: ¹¹ A. V., Thine ear was not opened.

For My name’s sake, Israel is called the people of the Lord.

אחטם *Wrath,*¹² It is hap. leg.; comp. אף═חטם nose in Rabbinical Literature. Supply אאריך before אחטם : I will defer my wrath; also למען for the sake of is to be repeated before תהלתי : and for the sake of my praise.

footnotes: ¹² A. V., Will I defer mine anger.

I have refined thee, by the exile.

במצרף כסף═בכסף *In the silver refinery,*¹³ I have refined thee, by taking away the dross, that is, the wicked.

footnotes: ¹³ A.V., With silver.

בחרתיך *I have chosen for thee,*¹⁴ Some say that בחנתיך═בחרתיך I have tried thee; in that sense the word is hap. leg.¹⁵ I take it in its usual meaning, I have chosen for thee to refine thee in the furnace of affliction, not in the silver refinery.

footnotes: ¹⁴ A. V., I have chosen thee. According to I. E. we have to supply the infinitive to be tried. ¹⁵ As to בחן ═ בחר to try, comp. תתבחרון in the Targum corresponding with the Hebrew, תבחנו, ye shall be proved (Gen. 42:15, 16).

יחל Should be polluted. It is the Niphal of a verb (חלל) ע״ע; as to the use of the first person in למעני and third person in יחל, comp. ונשאר אני and I was left (Ez. 9:8); הנני יוסיף behold, I will add (38:5).¹⁶

footnotes: ¹⁶ I. E. supplies the personal pronoun אני before יחל, from the pronominal suffix of the first person in למעני and compares then the construction with נשאר אני I am left (Ez. 9:8) and הנני יוסיף (38:5). In all these cases the personal pronoun of the first person is connected as the subject with a verb in the third person singular. Comp. 38:5 and I. E. on 29:14, Note 22.

מקראי Called by me.¹⁷ They are called the children of God. You ought to believe that God is the first and last; this would be a true belief, for my hand, etc.

footnotes: ¹⁷ A. V., My called.

ידי Mine hand. My left hand.¹⁸

footnotes: ¹⁸ From the word ימיני My right hand, which follows in the second sentence of the verse, I. E. probably inferred that the general term ידי is here used for שמאלי My left hand.

It is a figurative expression; the right hand is used in connection with the heavens, because they are higher in rank than the earth.

אף has in this verse the same meaning as כי for.—It is true that I am the first and last, because I created every thing.

טפחה *Hath put round,*¹⁹¹⁹ Comp. טפחתי I have swaddled (Lam. 2:22). Others explain it: Hath measured with the handbreadth יעמדו יחדיו —.(טֶפַח) They stand up together. From this phrase some of the commentators derive their opinion, that heaven and earth were created simultaneously, not consecutively.²⁰ The literal meaning, however, is: I have made them, and when I call them to do My will and desire they stand both before Me like servants; comp. למשפטיך עמדו they stand up²¹ according to Thy ordinances (Ps. 119:91). For else²² how should God call them, when not yet existing.

footnotes: ¹⁹ A. V., Hath spanned. According to I. E. טפח means to put round; but although he appears to reject here the derivation from טֶפַח hand breadth, in his commentary on Lamentations 2:20, he seems to adopt it. ¹⁹ A. V., Hath spanned. According to I. E. טפח means to put round; but although he appears to reject here the derivation from טֶפַח hand breadth, in his commentary on Lamentations 2:20, he seems to adopt it. ²⁰ When a dispute arose between the school of Hillel and that of Shammai about the order of the creation of heaven and earth, R. Shimeon ben Jochai settled the dispute, proving from this verse, I call unto them, that is, unto heaven and earth, they stood up together, that both were created at the same time. (Bereshith Rabba c. i.). Comp. Kimchi ad locum. ²¹ A. V., They continue. This quotation is to show that the verb עמד has also the meaning to stand as a servant, to attend. Comp. לפניו אשר עמדתי before whom I stand (1 Kings 17:1), that is, whose servant I am. ²² That is, if the words I call unto them had not the meaning, I give commands to them, as to my servants, but were the description of their creation, identical with I commanded them to come into existence.

These. The coming events.

Hath loved him, namely Cyrus.

His pleasure. The pleasure of God. Cyrus will perform the will of God concerning Babylon, and show His arm against the Chaldæans. It is, however, also possible, that the possessive pronoun his (ו) in his pleasure and his arm refers to Cyrus.

I, even I. The word I is repeated to express the idea: I who am always the same.

I have called him, namely Cyrus.

Come ye near unto me, unto the prophet.

I have not spoken in secret from the beginning of this plan and this divine decree.

From the time that it was, there was I. The Gaon finds here an indication that the soul exists before the body; but he is wrong, because it is said, They are decreed now, and not from the beginning²³ a time anterior to the birth of the prophet, and the pronoun I in the phrase, There am I, to the soul of the prophet. If this were the correct explanation, the prophet implied in these words his adherence to the theory of the pre-existence of the soul. But I. E. properly rejects this explanation, since ver. 7, quoted by him, proves that the words, from the beginning, do not refer to a very remote time, but to a period within the lifetime of the prophet. (ver. 7). The meaning of the sentence is the following: When this decree was made by God unto the angels,²⁴ the representatives of the respective countries (comp. Dan. 10:20), I was also there.

footnotes: ²³ According to the Gaon, the words From the time that it was, refer to a very remote time, indicated in the phrase from the beginning, which precedes, i.e., ²⁴ The Hebrew text has the words אלה המלאכים these angels, which cannot be properly connected with the words which precede, nor with those that follow. אלה is probably a corruption of אֶל unto. The angels receive from the Almighty the power to act, with regard to a certain event, and this authorisation is called by I. E. The decree of the Almighty. See his commentary on 9:7, and note 13.

ורוחו And His spirit, that is His angel.²⁵ The Gaon says, that ברוחו═ורוחו by His spirit; comp. דרשו יי ועזו seek the Lord in His strength ; but there is no necessity to assume that.

footnotes: ²⁵ God had sent me to proclaim the future events; and He sent His angel to verify the words of the prophet. It is however possible, that I. E. connects ורוחו with שם אני ; There was I and His angel.

Thy redeemer, etc. The words which follow are to announce the reward of those that listen to the words of the Lord.

לוא Oh that. The א is paragogic; comp. ההלכוא that went (Jos. 10:24).

ויהי Then had been. The ו has here the same meaning as فَ in Arabic.²⁶ Thy peace had been as a river, that does not cease to flow.

footnotes: ²⁶ Comp. I. E. on ver. 7, and on 28:18.

And thy righteousness, etc. And thy righteousness had been continuous as the waves of the sea.

Thy seed. The number of thy children.

בטנך═מעיך Thy womb.²⁷

footnotes: ²⁷ A. V., Thy bowels.

כמעותיו As its bowels. The possessive pronoun refers to the sea, the waves and sand of which have just been mentioned²⁸ (ver. 18 and 19); by the bowels of the sea the roe of the fish is meant.

footnotes: ²⁸ The sand refers to the sea, mentioned at the end of the preceding verse. Comp. Gen. 32:13.

His name. The name of thy seed.

Go ye forth, etc. Now the prophet addresses those in exile.

Utter it, etc. Make it known publicly; not alone that He will redeem His people, He will do wonders to them at their return to Zion. ולא צמאו That they will not thirst²⁹ in the deserts, through which God will lead them.

footnotes: ²⁹ A. V., And they thirsted not.

Out of the rock. Where no water had been before.

ויזבו And gushed out. Comp. זב running (Lev. 15:2)

There is no peace unto the wicked, that is, unto the wicked of Israel, as some explain, or unto the Babylonians; for this blessing shall be for Israel alone, but there shall be no peace for the Babylonians.