The righteous perisheth, etc. There is nothing but the deeds of these evil shepherds; the righteous are gone, And no man layeth it to heart to consider, why do the righteous perish, and those wicked people remain alive; but the prophet gives the answer to this question: The righteous is taken away from the evil to come, that he should not see the evil that is coming over Israel and the holy city.

יבא שלום He shall enter into peace, etc. The righteous shall come in peace to his grave; comp. Thou shalt die in peace (Jer. 34:5); And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace (Gen. 15:15).

ינוחו על משכבותם הלך נכחו They that walk before Him, shall rest in their beds.¹ Comp. אחרי יי אלהיכם תלכו ye shall walk after the Lord your God (Deut. 13:5). Some explain the verse thus: Peace and tranquillity shall come to them, and they that walk, etc.²

footnotes: ¹ A. V., They shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness. ² According to the first explanation בשלום ═ שלום in peace, and the subject הצדיק the righteous must be supplied, which is the subject to יבא as well as to ינוחו; to the latter in a collective sense. According to the second explanation שלום is the subject to יבוא, and שלום together with השקט tranquillity (which must be supplied), the subject to the plural form ינוחו, they shall rest. But whence we have to get the supplementary השקט is not explained.

נִכְחוֹ ═ נְכֹחוֹ Before Him. The form of nouns varies.³

footnotes: ³ I. E. supposes here the form נֹכַח ═ נֶכַח, although it is not found in Scripture. Comp. I. E. on 9:3, Note 4.

Draw near, Ye my people, house of Israel, for judgment. The Lord addresses Israel.

בני עוננה Ye sons of the sorceress. Comp. ועננים and sorcerers (2:6).

זרע מנאף The seed of the adulterer, that is, of the adulterous father.

ותזנה And the whore, the adulterous mother.¹ The sense of the whole is: Men and women, both are bad.

footnotes: ¹ ותזנה is either an elliptical phrase and of her that is a whore or a noun (זונה ═ תזנה) with the prefix וְהַ ═ וַ and the.

Against whom do you sport yourselves, to ask what good he has done unto us.

הנחמים באלים The best of the various explanations of this phrase is that it refers to idolatry;⁴ הנחמים Who are conceived, similar in form to הנצבים that stood (Gen. 45:1), is the Niphal of יחם to conceive; comp. בכלּ יַחֵם whensoever (the stronger cattle) did conceive (Gen. 30:41). This expression is the description of children of transgression (ver. 4); comp., And in sin did my mother conceive me (Ps. 51:7).

footnotes: ⁴ The noun אלים signifies here trees under which idols were worshipped. See Rashi and Targum ad locum.

שחטי הילדים Slaying the children in honour of the idols; comp. ואשחט and I pressed⁵ (Gen. 40:11). They act like a harlot that kills her children.

footnotes: ⁵ I. E. read שֹחֲטֵי instead of שֹׁחֲטֵי.

בחלקי Among the smooth stones. Comp. חלוקי אבנים smooth stones (1 Sam. 17:40). Among the smooth stones of the stream is thy portion. They seek for smooth stones to shape them into idols.

אנחם Shall I regret,⁶ the evil with which I intend to afflict thee. Some consider אנחם to be Hithpael and explain it: Could I receive comfort? But it is not necessary to depart from the usual meaning of אֶנׇּחֵם.⁷

footnotes: ⁶ A. V., Should I receive comfort in these? ⁷ Shall I alter my mind? Shall I regret? Comp. I. E. on Gen. 6:6.

Upon a lofty and high mountain, etc. Like a harlot that commits adultery in an open place, that is, publicly.

Behind the doors also, etc., that is, also privately.

זכרונך Thy scent.⁸ Comp. וזכרו the scent thereof (Hos. 14:8); אזכרתה a sweet savour (Lev. 2:2).

footnotes: ⁸ A. V., Thy remembrance.

Thou hast discovered thyself, etc., that is, thou hast behaved like a harlot. גלית מאתי Thou hast discovered thyself of me,⁹ who covered thee.¹

footnotes: ⁹ A. V., Thou hast discovered thyself to another than me. ¹ That is, God told them not to go after vain things, but they abandoned His advice and worshipped idols.

Thou art gone up, to commit whoredom publicly.

Thou hast enlarged thy bed, to fit it for more than one.

ותכרת is here used instead of ותכרתי as ותוכל instead of ותוכלי thou couldest (Jer. 3:5). ותכרת לך מהם And made thee a covenant with them. Thou hast chosen for thy friends those,

אהבת משכבם whose bed thou lovedst,¹⁰ whom thou desiredst to lie with thee.

footnotes: ¹⁰ A. V., Thou lovedst their bed.

יד חזית In every place which thou sawest.¹¹ It has the same meaning as בכל מקום אשר תראה in every place, which thou seest (Deut. 12:13)

footnotes: ¹¹ A. V., Where thou sawest it.

ותשרי וגו׳ And thou gavest,¹² etc. There is yet another evil, says the Lord, to Israel; thou hast not only worshipped idols, thou hast also sent presents to the kings of Assyria or Egypt, and hast relied on them.¹³ As to the meaning of ותשרי and thou gavest a present, comp. ותשורה and a present (1 Sam. 9:7); R. Moses Hannagid¹⁴ derives תשורה from שור to see, and explains it to signify the fees for the vision and prophecy; according to this explanation ותשרי may be compared with אשורנו I shall see him (Num. 24:17), and explained thou didst go to see him.

footnotes: ¹² A. V., And thou wentest. ¹³ Comp. c. xxx. and xxxi.; Hos. 14:4; 2 Kings 16:8, 17:4. ¹⁴ R. Moses Hannagid is probably identical with R. Moses Hakkohen. Hannagid means the prince, and is a title given to men of distinction.

With oil. Oil was exported from Palestine.

ציריך Thy messengers.

זתשפילי And didst debase thyself.

In the greatness of thy ways, which thou didst frequent, and in which thou hast wearied thyself, without saying: נואש there is no hope, my heart is despairing;¹⁵ (comp. שאול ונואש ממני and Saul shall despair of me (1 Sam. 27:2)); thou thoughtest that thy exertion might still be of some use.

footnotes: ¹⁵ I. E. supplies the masculine noun לבי, my heart, as the subject to נואש.

חית The life, that is, the strength. Thou hast found the life of thine hand, when thou hadst wearied thyself; therefore thou wast not grieved.

And of whom hast thou been afraid, etc. What hadst thou to fear from an enemy and to be afraid of him for, so as to lie, and not to think of me.

מחשה is a causative verb, and means silencing. אני מחשה ומעולם I silence, even of old,¹⁶ those that lie; this I am doing now, and have always done. It is, however, possible to explain the words ואת מי דאגת ונו׳ when hast thou feared me, etc.;¹⁷ but I prefer the first explanation. Some compare אני מחשה with החשתי I have holden my peace (42:14), and explain it I held my peace, I forbore; it is in that case an anthropomorphism.

footnotes: ¹⁶ A. V., Have not I held my peace even of old. ¹⁷ One can hardly see how the meaning when can be found in the words מתי ;ואת מי is perhaps a corruption of את מי, and the meaning of I. E.’s remark would in that case be, for whom hast thou been afraid of me ?

צדקתך Thy righteousness in words.

And thy works they shall not profit thee, because they are bad; thou hast trusted to others beside me.

קבוציך Thy companies, which thou hast brought together for thy assistance. קבוציך lit., those gathered by thee, is an adjective, in form like למודי taught of (54:13).¹⁸

footnotes: ¹⁸ That is, the pupils of. Comp. c. iii. Note 5.

But the wind shall carry them all away, etc. This is a figurative expression for they will perish and not see the salvation which is coming from the Lord.

And he that putteth his trust, etc. We see here how this chapter is connected with the preceding; comp. whosoever keepeth the Sabbath etc. (56:6).¹⁹

footnotes: ¹⁹ I. E. seems to consider the keeping of the Sabbath as a sign of our trust in the Lord, since he finds in the words and he that putteth a trust in me a reference to the words that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it.

ואמר And it will be said. Lit., and shall say the subject, האומר he who will say, הקורא he who will call, or הכרוז the proclamation is to be supplied.²⁰

footnotes: ²⁰ Comp. I. E. on 2:4, Note 5.

סלו Remove the stones from the path. The repetition of סלו indicates, that this proclamation is to be made repeatedly.

My people, that is, those that worship the Lord; comp., there is no peace to the wicked (ver. 21).²¹

footnotes: ²¹ The expression עמי my people must, therefore, be limited to the good of the people of God; only for them are all these happy events predicted.

רם ונשא The high and lofty. He whose name is high and lofty.²²

footnotes: ²² Instead of attributing the properties high and lofty directly to God, I. E. connects them with the name of God, in order to attenuate the anthropomorphism.

עולמי עד═עד Innumerable worlds; עד signifies that which cannot be counted; eternity.²³ That resteth for ever. This is a distinctive attribute of God, since all creatures move, the stars also change their places, and even the soul.²⁴

footnotes: ²³ I. E. repeatedly gives this paraphrase of עד, but does not explain how it is drawn from the word עד. It would be equally strange to suppose that עד is the beginning of a sentence which is to be supplied, namely, עד שלא יוכלו לספור; a similar ellipsis is suggested by I. E., for the phrase עולם ועד עולם═עולם ועד Comp. I. E. on Ex. 15:18; Ps. 9:6. ²⁴ The Hebrew text has the words גם לכוכבים יש תנועה כנשמה also the stars move like the soul; but it can hardly be found what I. E. meant by these words. We have, perhaps, to read גם לנשמה instead of כנשמה, as has been emended for the translation, or בשמים in the heavens. In the latter case, the meaning of the phrase would be, that even the stars, which are, according to the opinion of I. E., more stationary and durable than the earth and the creatures below, move about in their exalted places.

I dwell in the high and holy place, with the angels above. ואת דכא ושפל רוח And with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit on earth, I dwell, to revive the spirit, etc.; or, I dwell in the high and holy place above with the angels in order to give life to those humble people on earth.²⁵

footnotes: ²⁵ According to the first explanation we have to repeat the verb אשכון after ואת דכא ושפל רוח; according to the second the verb להחיות must be supplied.

I will not contend with Israel.

Neither will I be always wroth; for I have created the spirits, and the spirit that comes from me should be humble.²⁶

footnotes: ²⁶ This is the reason why God will not be always wroth; He expects that the souls, His own work, shall approach Him with humility and prayer, and He will no more be wroth.

The souls which I made. Repetition of the same idea.

יעטף Should be humble.²⁷ Comp. כי יעטף לעני of the afflicted, when he is humble (Ps. 102:1)

footnotes: ²⁷ A. V., For the spirit should fail before me. When he is over-whelmed.

ואכהו And smote him, namely, my people (ver. 14), or him that is of a contrite and humble spirit (ver. 15). It is the imperfect, for which the Hebrew language has no special form.²⁸

footnotes: ²⁸ Comp. I. E. on 1:21, and Note 43.

I hid me. I hid my face when I smote him with my hand. It is a figurative expression for I smote him without pity. הסתר lit., to hide is infinitive.

וילך שובב He went on returning,²⁹ with frowardness and obstinacy, in the way of his heart, that is, in his evil ways. שובב is used in a bad sense.¹

footnotes: ²⁹ A. V., He went on frowardly. ¹ שובב is derived from שוב to return, to repeat, and means repeating perseveringly, but is always used in the Bible in a bad sense, while the verb שוב is chiefly used in a good sense: to cause to return to God or to the good way.

I have seen his ways, etc. This verse proves that my opinion concerning this book is right.³⁰ His ways, that is, his repentance, or his innate evil inclination; comp. for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth (Gen. 8:21).³¹

footnotes: ³⁰ The punishment of the Israelites, which consisted, according to I. E., in the Babylonian exile and their slow improvement, are described here in the past tense: Was I wroth, he went on frowardly in the way of his heart, I have seen his ways, but the promised deliverance in the future tense: and will heal them, etc.; I. E. infers from this that at the time when the prophet uttered this prophecy, the Babylonian exile was already expiring, and that the prophet consequently did not live in the time of King Hezekiah, but was a contemporary of the Persian King Cyrus, and of Zerubbabel. ³¹ According to both explanations the expression דרכיו his ways is different from the preceding ררך לבו the way of his heart, which refers to his evil doings. By his ways the prophet means, according to I. E., either his proper ways, the ways which he should go, that is, the way of repentance, or his natural character, his natural weakness in resisting temptation.

And I will heal him, and I will lead him also. He is like an invalid, that has no strength to go by himself.

And I will restore comforts unto him for the calamity that had befallen him.

And to his mourners, that is, to his friends; people usually begin to mourn when they see their sick friend dying.³²

footnotes: ³² That is, before he is actually dead. Israel was in exile, and was considered by his friends as already entirely lost, without hope of recovery. I. E. explains by this comparison the expression ולאבליו and to his mourners, which is only used in case of death.

בורא The Creator. It is generally explained to refer to God, and the verb אמר said is supplied. Were it allowed to depart from the common explanation, I should suggest to take בורא in the sense of decreeing; comp. ובורא חשך (45:7).³³

footnotes: ³³ Comp. I. E. on 45:7, 40:28, Note 61, and on Gen. 1:1.

ניב Fruit Comp. תנובות fruits (Deut. 32:13). By fruit of the lips the speech is meant. The meaning of the whole verse is: Proclaim, Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near; announce, that the Lord has already saved Israel, because ורפאתיו I have indeed healed him.³⁴

footnotes: ³⁴ ורפאתיו admits of two explanations; it can be past with ו conjunctive, and I have healed him, or past with ו conversive, I will heal him. I. E. seems to be in favour of the first explanation.

But the wicked are, etc. God heals the righteous of Israel, but not the wicked, because the latter are troubled, like the sea that is continually troubled. נגרש Troubled. It has the same meaning as ויגרשו and they moved, and is probably of the same root as גורש driving out (Ex. 34:11);

it is explained by the words which follow: when it cannot rest. Before נגרש the relative (אשר═) שהוא is to be supplied;³⁵ for נגרש is an adjective.¹

footnotes: ³⁵ Or the definite article בַּיָם הַנִּגְרָשׁ ¹ Comp. I. E. on 13:15, and Note 18.

ויגרשו And they moved.³⁶

footnotes: ³⁶ A. V., Whose waters cast up.

There is no peace, etc. No peace shall be to them, because they cannot rest.