הוי Ho ! It is the sign of the vocative. Ho, every one that thirsteth, etc. With these words the Lord will address those who will then be desirous to accept the Law.

And he that hath no money to buy, that is, that has not the means required for study.

Buy and eat the wisdom. Comp.¹ Eat this roll, (Ez. 3:1). Wisdom is demanded by the soul as the food is demanded by the body.

footnotes: ¹ As to the verb to eat being used in a figurative sense, signifying to learn, to perceive.

Come ye unto me,

Buy for nothing, And eat without paying. Wine and milk. Each serves both for food and drink, as medical authorities assert.² Wine and milk are mentioned because the Law is compared with them.³

footnotes: ² The function of the drink is to dissolve the food and to accelerate its digestion; most beverages, according to I. E., are believed to contain no elements of nourishment, but in wine and milk both properties are found, they nourish and accelerate the digestion. ³ Comp. Midrash Yalkut ad locum, and I. E. on Solomon’s Song 2:4.—No other passage of the Bible, however, can be adduced, in which the Law is compared with wine and milk.

Wherefore do you spend money, etc. Wherefore will you labour in profane science⁴ which is of no use to you.

footnotes: ⁴ By the term חכמות נכריות profane science, as contrasted with the knowledge of the Law, I. E. means hardly anything but speculative philosophy, metaphysics; because all practical sciences, especially the science of nature, is repeatedly recommended by I. E.; comp. his commentary on Exod. 20:1.

בדשן In fatness. Comp. דשן (30:23). Let your soul delight itself in fatness, that is, in that happiness which the soul enjoys after its separation from the body by death.⁵

footnotes: ⁵ A second explanation is indicated by I. E. in the additional words או טעמו or its meaning is; the explanation itself is missing in the Hebrew text, or it is the same which is mentioned below (ver. 3.), and is likewise introduced by the words או טעם; the two words have therefore been omitted in the translation.

ולכו אלי And come unto me. Lit., Go away from your place toward me; comp. סורה אלי turn in to me (Jud. 4:18).⁶

footnotes: ⁶ הלך to go signifies removal from the place of him that speaks, בוא to come, approach to it. The preposition אלי demands the verb ובואו, while the verb ולכו demands ממני; I. E. therefore explains the words ולכו אלי as an elliptical phrase, meaning, and go from your place and come unto me. Comp. I. E. on 31:1, Note 2.

And your soul shall live. That is, your soul shall live for ever after the death of the body, or you will receive new life through Messiah, when you will return to the Divine Law.

An everlasting covenant, that will never expire. The sure mercy of David, that is, like the covenant which I made with David and the kindness which I showed to him, promising him my mercy will I keep for him for evermore, etc. (Ps. 89:29). It is also possible, that by David in this verse Messiah is meant, who will be of the family of David; as the prophet is sometimes called Israel for the same reason;⁷ and the meaning of הנאמנים חסדי דוד is in that case: for the kindness of Messiah is sure.⁸ This explanation is supported by the next verse.

footnotes: ⁷ See I. E. on 49:3. ⁸ That is, is everlasting, and therefore the covenant which will be made with you through him, will likewise be ברית עולם an everlasting covenant. According to the first explanation the everlasting covenant promised here, is compared with the everlasting covenant which God made with King David.

Behold, I have given him, namely, Messiah.

לאמים The people, the ל being radical; or to the people, the ל being a preposition.⁹ For a witness. Messiah will testify, that there is no other king, no other ruler of the world, than God.

footnotes: ⁹ There are in Hebrew two words which signify nation, namely: אֹם and לאֹם; pl. אֻמִּים (Ps. 117:1) and לאֻמִּים (49:1).

ומצוה And one that issues commands.¹⁰

footnotes: ¹⁰ This remark appears to be quite superfluous, since מְצַוֵּה can hardly mean anything else; it is perhaps intended to indicate that it is not an irregular participle instead of מְצַוֶּה, but the construct state of the noun מְצַוֶּה commander. See Kimchi ad locum.

A nation, that thou knowest not, which thou hast not known hitherto, thou shalt call to come unto thee; comp. I called my servant, etc. (Job 19:16).

And nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee. This proves my explanation¹¹ to be correct.

footnotes: ¹¹ This refers to the opinion of I. E. that the prophecies contained in this part of the book, describe the time of Messiah yet to come; the verse before us supports that opinion, since the promise contained in it, has not yet been fulfilled.

פארך He hath glorified thee. It is irregular;¹² there is no other instance of a perfect verb having this form; but there is one of the weak verb: עׇנׇךְ He hath answered thee (30:19)

footnotes: ¹² The regular form of the two verbs is: עׇנְךָ ,פְּאֵרְךָ.

Seek ye the Lord. This appeal is made to the contemporaries of the prophet,¹³ telling them to seek the Lord, since they knew that they would be redeemed from Babylon, and after that again from all other nations.

footnotes: ¹³ That were, together with the prophet, captives in Babylon. See I. E. on 40:1.

While He may be found by those that seek Him. God is certainly everywhere at all times; but the meaning of this phrase is, while the decree is not yet resolved upon: in a similar way the phrase, while He is near is to be explained, namely, while He permits His glory to rest upon the temple.¹⁴

footnotes: ¹⁴ The words רמז לשכינה שהיא במקדש seem to be a new explanation, which is quite different from the preceding one while the decree is not yet resolved upon. In the commentary Michlal Jofi the latter is assigned to the Talmud, the former to Don Isaak Abravanel. We conjecture therefore that the word או or before רמז has been dropped; and have restored it in the translation.

Let the wicked forsake, etc. This is the explanation of Seek ye the Lord, etc.

His way. The way which he is accustomed to go. ואיש און מחשבתיו And the unrighteous man his thoughts. Supply יעזב let him forsake. The principal points, the thought and the deed are mentioned by the prophet.¹⁵

footnotes: ¹⁵ According to I. E. דרך signifies the way of action, the practice, contrasted with מחשבה thought, plan.

He will abundantly pardon the iniquities.

For my thoughts are not yours. You thought that I should punish you even after your return to me; but your thoughts are not mine; my intention is to do good to you. Neither are your ways my ways. My ways are righteous; comp., Are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal ? (Ez. 18:19)

For as the heavens, etc., so are my ways higher, etc. This is a figurative expression.¹⁶

footnotes: ¹⁶ In the Hebrew text there is no proper distinction between this verse and the succeeding. משל should be separated from the succeeding words by a full stop. The conjunction כי, which follows, is not part of the commentary but of ver. 10, the text which is to be explained.

For as the rain cometh down, etc. The rain watereth the earth, in coming down from heaven; for that purpose God sends it down, in order that seed may be given to the sower and bread to the eater.

So shall my word, etc. I shall fulfil all I spake to the prophets.

For you shall go out with joy. You will go out from the exile joyfully.

And be led forth with peace to your land on horses and mules. If this passage be referred to the Babylonian exile, it was indeed literally fulfilled.¹⁷ But if it is understood to allude to a future redemption, in that case comp. And they shall bring all your brethren upon horses, etc. (66:20). Some refer it to both.¹⁸

footnotes: ¹⁷ Comp. Ezr. 1:3, sqq. ¹⁸ To the Babylonian exile and the Roman exile.

ימחאו Shall clap. This verb is frequently met with in the Chaldee.¹⁹ ומחה and shall reach (Num. 34:11) is of the same root.²⁰

footnotes: ¹⁹ Comp. Dan. 2:35, 5:19. ²⁰ The two verbs compared by I. E. are not the same, the one is ל״ה, the other ל״א; but א and ה interchange. The word מגזרת before ומחה seems to be a corruption of ומגזרתו; since ימחאו is not derived from מחה, but the latter is, in the one passage quoted here, exceptionally used in the sense of מחא, to join, to clap, or to strike.

הנעצוץ The thorn. Comp. הנעצוצים the thorns (7:19). The fir is undoubtedly better than the thorn.

סרפד The brier. A kind of thorn. And it shall be to the Lord for a name, etc. He will perform wonders, in providing the wilderness with rivers, when Israel will return to Zion, and this will be to the Lord An everlasting sign, a miracle that will remain for ever.²¹

footnotes: ²¹ I. E. means either that the rivers and fountains produced in the wilderness by a miracle will remain for ever, and thus continually testify the glory of God, or that the miracle will be of such an extraordinary character, that it will for ever remain in the memory of mankind.