גליון. According to some related to מגלה scroll; the י of גליון compensates for the omission of the Dagesh in ל; comp. דליו They are poor (Prov. 26:7).¹

footnotes: ¹ Our editions have ל ,גִּלָּיוֹן with a Dagesh, like ﬠִוָּרוֹן ,זִכָּרוֹן etc., of the root גלה, the ה being changed into י as in the participle passive Kal גָּלוּי; according to I. E. it is derived from גלל, like רליו from רלל.

בחרט In the form of.²² Comp. Exod. 32:4. בחרט אנוש. In the form of a man. That is, in a form cast in the same way as the figure of a man is cast.¹ Others³ take גליון as the singular to גליונים (3:23) a cloth to which the writing was affixed by embroidery. Maher-shalal-hash-baz.² The prophet is told to indicate by these words the fall of Samaria.

footnotes: ² A. V. With a man’s pen. ² A. V. With a man’s pen. ¹ According to this explanation we have to imagine the גליוז as a cylindric pillar, on the top of which the words Maher Shalal, etc., were cast in metal. ³ This seems to be the opinion adopted by Ibn Ezra, chap. 3:23. ² The meaning of these four words is: Quick is the spoil, swift the prey, viz. of Samaria, to pass into the conqueror’s hand.

.⁴ואעידה According to some the א is here instead of ה. And take unto me faithful witnesses. According to others the future is used for the past: And I took unto me faithful witnesses. It may, however, be taken literally,⁵ that I should take as witnesses for me. The prophet did what God commanded, although it is not related in the text.

footnotes: ⁴ ואעידה is future Hiphil of והעידה ;עוד is imperative Hiphil, both with ה parag. and conjunctive ו. ⁵ As future.

Uriah THE priest; Uriah was then high priest. Zachariah was likewise a great man; what our Sages say about the prophecies of Zachariah and Uriah is well known.⁶

footnotes: ⁶ R. Gamaliel, R. Eleazar, the son of Asaria, R. Josua, and R. Akiba, were once going up to Jerusalem; when they came to Zophim (a place near Jerusalem), they rent their garments; they approached the Temple-Mount and saw a fox coming forth from the place where the Holy of Holies had stood before. The sages burst into tears, but R. Akiba exhibited joy. When they enquired how he could express feelings of gladness at such a sight, he asked them why they wept. What! said they; have we not cause to weep, when we find that the very spot of which the law has said, ‘The stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death’ (Num. 18:7), has now become the abode of foxes? (Lam. 5:18.) And for the same reason, returned R. Akiba, do I rejoice. It is written: ‘And I should take for myself faithful witnesses, the priest Uriah, and Zachariah, the son of Berchjah.’ Now, what connection is there between Uriah and Zachariah? The one lived in the time of the first Temple (under Ahaz), the other in the time of the second. No other connection but to show that the prophecy of the one is conditioned by the words of the other. Uriah declared: ‘ For your sake shall Zion be ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins,’ etc. (Mic. 3:12). Zachariah foretold: ‘There shall yet old men and women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem,’ etc. (Zac. 8:4). As long as Uriah’s words were not fulfilled, one might have doubted the truth of the prophecy of Zachariah; but when I perceive how literally the predictions of the one have been verified, I can entertain no reasonable doubt that the promises of Zachariah will be fulfilled likewise. Thereupon his companions exclaimed, Akiba, thou hast given us true comfort. (Talm. Babli Makkoth, 24).

ואקרב. And I went unto. Euphemism; comp. Exod. 19:15.

The prophetess. The wife of the prophet; she is called prophetess on account of her husband being a prophet, or perhaps because she was herself a prophetess.

For before the child, etc. This child was born two years⁷ before the conquest of Samaria.⁸

footnotes: ⁷ Two years are supposed by I.E. to pass, before the child is able to call, My father, My mother. ⁸ In the sixth year of the reign of King Hezekiah.

ישא. The subject is the indeterminate pronoun one; one will carry away:⁹ comp. ויאמד ליוסף And one said to Joseph (Gen. 48:1).¹⁰

footnotes: ⁹ A. V. shall be taken away. ¹⁰ Comp. 2:4.

And the Lord spake again. The word again is used because the following prophecy refers likewise to the invasion of the king of Assyria.

The water of the Shiloah.¹¹ According to some Jerusalem is referred to by these words, but it is more correct to explain them as indicating the house of David, because the majority of the kings of this house were righteous, but the kings of Israel were all bad and wicked. מי השילח, literally: the canal, the water which is conducted by man, or which causes plants (שלחים) to sprout forth; comp. שלחיך Thy plants (Song 4:13).¹²

footnotes: ¹¹ Shiloah is a rivulet that takes its rise in the north-west of Zion, flowing between Zion and the Upper City, and falling into the Kedron, which runs into the Dead Sea. ¹² Shiloah, though a proper noun, may still, like all names, be explained like a common noun. According to Ibn Ezra it is derived either from שלח to send; שילח the water which is sent or conducted by the industry of man through the bordering fields and gardens; or from שלח to make fruitful; שילח the river which waters the valley through which it flows.

Upon them. Upon the men of Judah, that conspired against Ahaz.

אפיקיו Its rapid parts.¹³ — comp. Ps. 42:2, Song 5:12 — or banks, according to the context.

footnotes: ¹³ Where the river is the most violent, and its overflowing causes great damage. Comp. I.E. on Job 40:18, and Joel 1:20. A. V. his channels.

גדותיו its banks; some supply ;¹⁴ר comp. שרשות ═ שרשרות (Exod. 28:14, 22), but this is a mistaken inference, for in שרשרות it is the ר of reduplication which is dropped in שרשת; the root is שרש, but we have no instance where a radical ר is dropped, since it does not belong to the silent letters.¹⁵

footnotes: ¹⁴ גדרותיו═גדותיו. ¹⁵ It is more probable that שרשדות contains a reduplication of the two radical letters ש ר; in שרשות the first radical ש alone is repeated; in שרות 3:19, neither is repeated.

Immanuel. He is mentioned here because he is to serve as a sign that Jerusalem will be delivered out of the hand of Pekah, Rezin and Sennacherib, even after the conquest of Damascus and Samaria.¹⁶

footnotes: ¹⁶ The Assyrian armies could then march directly against Jerusalem, and their success was considered certain.

רעו Break.¹⁷ Comp. תרועם thou shalt break them (Ps. 2:9.) רׂעוּ as well as חׂתּוּ are imperatives; like סׂבּוּ surround (Ps. 48:13).

footnotes: ¹⁷ A.V., Associate yourselves.—According to I.E. the meaning of the verse is: Prepare yourselves to destroy nations; the next verse continues: It will all be in vain.

Gird yourselves. These words are repeated twice, to indicate that they should be perpetually armed.

Take counsel, etc. Whatever you will counsel against Jerusalem will not be realised. עצו. Take counsel. A biliteral verb (ע״ו). According to R. Moses Hakkohen, י is dropped, and it should be יעוצו like זכורו (Neh. 4:8).¹⁸

footnotes: ¹⁸ If this is the exact form of the word meant by Ibn Ezra, he must have read זְכוּרוּ like יְעוּצוּ. Our editions have זְכׂרוּ.

כי עמנואל. For God is with us. Here we have the reason for עמנואל Immanuel being the name of the prophet’s son.

For the Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand, that is: When the prophecy came with force upon me; comp. The hand of the Lord was upon me (Ez. 37:1).

ויסרני And instructed me. The ס has a dagesh to compensate for the absence of the י, which is the first radical;¹⁹ comp. אֶצָּרְךָ I formed thee (Jer. 1:5).²⁰ He instructed me, etc. A proof of the correctness of my view concerning Unclean lips (6:5).²¹

footnotes: ¹⁹ Ibn Ezra had the reading וִיִסְּרֵנִי; if he had וְיִסְּרֵנִי he would certainly not have explained it as future Kal, with ו conversive, and supposed the omission of a radical י; since this word is perfectly regular, being the Piël past with ו conjunctive of יסר. ²⁰ Future Kal of יצר. ²¹ If this instruction was necessary, the prophet must personally have been inclined to go the way of the people.

Say ye not. The prophet warns the right-minded not to conspire against Ahaz in order to join the King of Assyria; and this is to be understood by And their fear, etc., which refers to the King of Assyria²² mentioned before (ver. 7)

footnotes: ²² The King of Assyria was the object of their fear, and therefore many joined him.

אתו Him is added, although את is before the noun, as in many instances; or it means Him alone.²³ You shall sanctify. That which is holy is usually revered by men; comp. for he is a man of God, he is holy (2 Kings 4:9).

footnotes: ²³ The repetition is explained as a sign of emphasis. Comp. Gen. 47:21; 1 Sam. 25:29; 2 Kings 9:27; Neh. 9:29.

מעריצכם is either an adjective, Your dreadful one, or participle, who in truth makes you fear.²⁴

footnotes: ²⁴ It is God who causes the terror, not the King of Assyria.

והיה And he—namely, the King of Assyria—shall be.

למקדש For a sanctuary. For a place whither man is used to go to receive blessing and strength. It is to be connected with לאבן ²⁵.נֶגֶף For a stone. For a rock, upon which man is used to go to find shelter.

footnotes: ²⁵ The construction of the phrase, according to I. E., is: נגף ולאבן נגף והיה למקדש; but this explanation does not agree at all with the accents; לְמִקְדָּ֑ש is separated by a pause from the following words.

For the two houses of Israel. The kingdom of Israel and that of Judah.

For a gin, to Ephraim. And for a stumbling, to Judah.²⁶

footnotes: ²⁶ Israel will be entirely conquered by Assyria, while Judah will only be partially taken for a short time, and will then be altogether delivered from the Assyrian invasion.—Here I. E. again neglects the accents, which join לפח ולמוקש, and separate ולמוקש from ליושב ירושלים.

By them. By the gin and snare.

צור According to some נ of the root is dropped; נצור ═ צור keep; but more correctly it is explained, Bind up; comp. וצרת And bind up (Deuter. 14:25). צור has, then, the same meaning as in the parallel phrase, חתום seal.—Do not reveal these prophecies, the testimony and the law.

למורי My disciples. An adjective²⁷ (comp. 1. 4); it is the same as תלמידי my pupils.

footnotes: ²⁷ למדים Disciples, persons that are learning; originally adj. learning. See 100:3, Note 5.

And I will wait. These are the words of the prophet; he will delay revealing the divine message till the Almighty shall give him permission.

Behold, I and the children, etc. They may understand a part of the prophecy entrusted to me from my actions and from the names of my sons.

From the Lord of hosts, etc. These names were given by the Lord of hosts,

Who dwelleth on the mount of Zion, and loves His people exceedingly.

To you. He addresses his pupils.

המצפצפים That peep. צִפְצֵף has a meaning similar to רִּבֵּר; comp. אצפצף I shall peep (38:14).

והמהגים. Hiphil. And they that cause others to mutter.

Surely a people that seeketh unto their God, etc.²⁸ This is the reply.²⁹ Surely such is a people that seeketh unto his God! sarcastically and ironically said.³⁰ How could one seek unto the lifeless idols for the benefit of the living.

footnotes: ²⁸ A. V.: Should not a people seek unto their God? ²⁹ To those that advise to consult wizards and them that have familiar spirits. ³⁰ Comp. the words of Elijah, 1 Kings 18:27.

לתורה ולתעודה Concerning³¹³¹ the law and concerning the testimony. The preposition ל has the same meaning as in לי of me (Gen. 20:13). לתורה ולתעודה Concerning the law and the testimony³² contained in the prophecy.—They will surely³³ speak according to this word, etc. They will say : We shall not listen to it, for it is like a night that is not followed by a dawn; its secret will never come forth to light. According to some לתורה is an oath, by the law; but we find no analogy to this in Scripture.

footnotes: ³¹ A. V., To. ³¹ A. V., To. ³² The words כי עוד are a corruption of והתעודה. ³³ A. V., If they speak not.

And they shall pass through it, etc. Some explain this verse in the following way: Days will come when he that is travelling in Judah, and being himself of the tribe of Judah, will be hardly bestead and hungry through the host of Sennacherib; and when he sees that neither his king nor his idol will help him, then he will turn upwards to pray to God in heaven. I think it refers to the host of Sennacherib when marching through the land of Judah; for when the army is large, it is frequently exposed to hunger.

Their king; that is, the King of Assyria.

And look upward. Wherever they will turn, upward or downward, only darkness shall meet them.

מעוף Dimness. Comp. עיפתה darkness (Job 10:22).

מנדח Scattered.³⁴ Comp. והנדחים And they that are scattered (27:13); the construction of the sentence is perhaps אפלה מנדח ומעוף Dimness of darkness is scattered about; by this construction the masculine form of פנודח is explained.³⁵

footnotes: ³⁴ A. V.: And they shall be driven. ³⁵ מנדח masc., agrees with מעוף, but not with the fem., אפלה.

מי לא מועף וגו׳ For such dimness and darkness will not come over Jerusalem, though it is distressed by the enemy. According to others, The enemy will not be able to hurry³⁶ to Jerusalem, which he had distressed.³⁷

footnotes: ³⁶ מועף Lit. flying. It is derived from עוף to fly according to this explanation. ³⁷ A. V., Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation.

At the first, etc. The first time that the king of Assyria came, he afflicted the land of Israel only slightly, by taking the districts of Zebulun and Naphtali;³⁸ but the last time he afflicted it heavily, and took the whole of Galilæa.³⁹ Of the nations. Perhaps Israel is meant; comp.⁴⁰ בעממיך Amongst thy people (Judg. 5:14)

footnotes: ³⁸ See 2 Kings 15:29. ³⁹ See 2 Kings xvii. ⁴⁰ This reference is to prove that the plural nations is used for Israel.