Keep ye judgment, etc. You know that God will redeem you, and that He will bless you with all these benefits; keep, therefore, His judgments, for, if you do this, salvation is near to come. We may learn from this verse that the coming of Messiah is delayed because of our sins.

Blessed is the man that does this, that keeps the following precepts, to observe the Sabbath, etc. מחללו From polluting it. It is certain that the ת in שבת indicates the feminine gender;¹ the masculine pronoun וֹ refers to the masculine noun יום day, which may be supplied before שבת, or to the verbal noun שִׁמּוּר implied in the verb שֹׁמֵר; for every verb implies a verbal noun, if that is not directly expressed;² compare the remark of R. Moses Hakkohen on וַתִּצְפְּנוֹ (Jos. 2:7), that the suffix refers to the verbal noun the taking;³ compare also ברב יעצים עצה תקום ═ ברב יעצים תקום, in the multitude of counsellors it is established⁴ (Prov. 15:22), the word עצה being supplied.

footnotes: ¹ It is generally believed that the ת in שבת is radical and that it is formed from שבת, like גַּנׇּב thief from גׇּנַב to steal. I. E. either derives the word from שוב to return, to rest, or believes that one ת has been dropped. ² I. E. repeatedly mentions the rule that every form of the verb contains the verbal noun, which may be supplied, whenever required, either in the form of a masculine noun, or of a feminine one, according to circumstances. The suffix singular וֹ in ותצפנו (Jos. 2:4.) does not agree with the plural שני האנשים the two men; it is therefore explained to refer to the noun לקח the taking contained in the verb ותקח and she took, and the sense of the passage is accordingly: She took the two men and hid that fact. The subject to תקום (Prov. 15:22) is עצה counsel, which is contained in the participle יועצים they that give counsel. The masculine suffix וֹ in מחללו is in the same way explained to refer to the masculine noun שמור the keeping, contained in the participle שמר who keepeth. ³ A. V., And hid them. ⁴ A. V., But in multitude of counsellors they (the purposes מחשבות) are established.

The son of the stranger. The true proselytes.

הַנִּלְוׇה That hath joined himself. It is the past tense with a prefixed ה, which is here equivalent to the relative אשר that; comp. ההלכוא who went (Jos. 10:24)⁵.

footnotes: ⁵ The past of the Niphal of לוה is נִלְוׇה, the participle נִלְוֶה m., נִלְוׇה f. Because of the preceding בן הנכר the masculine is here required, and נִלְוׇה is consequently the past, third person masculine; the ה, which before nouns and participles has a demonstrative character, has before the past or future of a verb the power of a relative pronoun. This latter case is, however, very rare.

יבדילֵנִי═יבדילַני The Lord will separate me. Comp. יאהבַני (my husband) will love me (Gen. 29:32).⁶

footnotes: ⁶ The vowel, which connects the suffix with the verb, is Kamez or Pathah for the forms of the past tense, Zere or Segol for the other forms. This rule, however, is not without exceptions, of which יַבְדִילַנִי instead of יַבְדִּילֵנִי is one.

I am a dry tree, because I cannot have children.

That keep my sabbath, etc. The sabbath is mentioned, because it is a sign of the covenant between Him and those that keep it, on account of God having rested on it;⁷ he who keeps the Sabbath is, therefore, a worshipper of the Lord.

footnotes: ⁷ The words on account of God having rested on that day are part of the condition of the covenant; the Sabbath is to be kept, because God declared it holy when He created the universe in six days and rested on the seventh.

יד A place. Comp. Deut. 23:13

Also the sons of the stranger, etc. The eunuchs are mentioned before the sons of the strangers, because they are the last named (ver. 3). Comp. And I gave to Isaac, Jacob, and Esau, and I gave to Esau, etc. (Jos. 24:4).

To serve him. The service of the Lord consists in keeping His commandments.

For mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people. Compare the prayer of King Solomon (1 Kings 8:41)

The outcasts of Israel, that came from Babylon, Elam, and Assyria.⁸

footnotes: ⁸ The words of the Hebrew text are: כי אם עלו מבבל ומעילם ומאשור. It is impossible to make sense of these words; אם is probably the cause of the confusion, and if we replace it by הם, they, we get a tolerable sense; this emendation has been adopted for the translation. But the whole remark of I. E. seems to be superfluous, for the meaning of the outcasts of Israel is well known. Another emendation suggests itself to the reader, namely, to alter אם into עמהם with them; and to translate the phrase thus: For people of Babylon, Elam, Assyria went up with them (the Israelites). The remark would in that case not explain the expression outcasts of Israel, but the word לנקבציו; its proper place would then be at the end of the verse.

Beside those that are gathered unto him, that is, besides the proselytes. The meaning of the whole phrase is, Yet will I gather others to him, besides those that have already joined Israel. The suffix in ¹לנקבציו, that are gathered unto him, refers to Israel.

footnotes: ¹ ולנקבציו of the Hebrew text is probably a corruption of ו״״ו לנקבציו.

All ye beasts of the field, etc. The idea connecting the following with the preceding verses is, that the righteous Israelites and the proselytes will return, but those that persevere in the worship of idols will not return. אתיו Come. It is imperative (comp. 21:12) of אתה to come; comp. ואתה, and He came (Deut. 33:2). God summons the idolatrous wicked nations, to come and devour the wicked of Israel, like wild beasts that devour each other.

His watchmen are blind, etc. The false prophets in Israel are meant, who were like blind watchmen during the day, and like dumb dogs during the night, that cannot guard the house and are of no use whatever.

לנבח To bark. The word has in Arabic the same meaning.

הזים Dogs.⁹ It is hap. leg.; the ה is radical as in הורו והנו conceiving and uttering (59:13).¹⁰ The participle Hiphil has always מ at the beginning.—R. Jonah says that the Targum renders הזים by ניימין slumbering, because dogs are more addicted to slumber than all other animals.¹¹ Loving the slumber. Repetition of the same idea.

footnotes: ⁹ A. V., Sleeping. ¹⁰ The Hebrew text has הורים והוגים; but since those words do not occur in the Bible, the words הרו והגו have been substituted for them. I. E. read perhaps הרים והגים instead of הרו והגו. ¹¹ Dogs are employed as the guardians of the house, because their sleep is not very deep, but rather like slumbering which is interrupted by the least noise; they are, therefore, according to R. Jonah, called the slumberers.

עזי נפש Greedy. The word נפש is mostly used in Scripture to express the appetitive soul;¹² comp. ונפשו מאכל תאוה and his soul (abhorreth) dainty meat (Job 33:20). All these dogs are useless; they do only harm, because of their strong, insatiable appetite, called עזות נפש greediness;¹ they can never have enough. The words which follow contain the explanation of the figure used here.

footnotes: ¹² Comp. I. E. on 26:9, Note 9, and Eccles. 7:3. Three kinds of נפש, soul, are mentioned there; one of them, which is mostly understood by נפש, is נפש הצומחת or נפש המתאוה, the vegetative or appetitive soul. ¹ Lit., Strength of appetite.

And they, the dogs mentioned here, Are the shepherds of Israel, that cannot understand. הבין Understand. It is infinitive.

לבצעו For his gain, for that which brings him profit; comp. מה בצע what profit is there (Ps. 30:10).

מקצהו From his quarter. Every one from his quarter.¹³

footnotes: ¹³ This remark, which is usually made by I. E. to explain the use of the singular instead of the plural, is here superfluous; since the singular איש, and also לבצעו are preceding. The similar phrase, כל העם מקצה (Gen. 19:4) was perhaps intended as an explanation of מקצהו, everyone, from whatever quarter he might come.

Come ye, etc. The money which they acquire unjustly, they spend in feasting, and one shepherd says to his fellow- shepherd, Come, let us buy wine.

ונסבאה שכר And let us fill ourselves with strong drink. Let us make ourselves drunk.¹⁴ Comp. סבאי יין wine-bibbers (Prov. 23:20). And to-morrow shall be as this day. They do this not one day alone but day after day.

footnotes: ¹⁴ משכר in the Hebrew text is probably a corruption of נשתכר; and the quotation from the Book of Proverbs is to prove that the verb סבא means to drink too much. Comp. I. E. on Deut. 21:20.—To explain שכר by משכר of strong drink would be wrong, since סבא does not govern the preposition מן of; and would not be supported by the phrase quoted.

יתר More abundant. It is an adjective. The morrow shall excel to-day in pleasure and feasting.