standing beside the altar—Going away from the cherub to the altar on its way out, on the golden altar which is in the Temple, and this is one of the ten travels made by the Shechinah. [from Jonathan]

Strike the lintel—which is on top of the roof.

and the sideposts shall quake—The lower doorposts of the Temple; so will the king be slain and the princes quake.

and break to pieces those who are at the head of all of them Heb. וּבְצַעַם, like וּפְצַעַם [wound them or break them] And Jonathan renders כַּפְתּוֹר as the Menorah: [If the people of the house of Israel do not repent,] extinguish the Menorah; King Josiah shall be slain. And the sideposts shall quake, meaning that the Temple will be destroyed, and the Courtyards will be demolished.

וּבְצַעַם בְּרֹאשׁ כֻּלָם, meaning that the vessels of the Temple will go into captivity. וּבְצַעַם means ‘their money’ shall go into exile at the head of all of them.

If they dig down into the grave—If they think to hide in Sheol.

My hand shall take them—Their enemies shall take them with My word. -[from Jonathan]

and if they ascend to the heavens—And if they ascend to the lofty mountains up to the heavens, from there they shall bring them down with My word.

at the peak of Carmel—At the top of the towers of the fortifed cities. [from Jonathan]

from there I will search [them out]—From there I will appoint searchers, and they will search them out. [from Jonathan]

in the land of the sea Heb. בְּקַרְקַע הַיָּם. [Jonathan renders:] בְּנִיסֵי יַמָּא, in the islands of the sea.

I will command the serpent—Jonathan renders: peoples as strong as a serpent.

Who touches the land and it quakes—Who rebukes the land and it quakes. וַתָּמוֹג is an expression of motion. And the Lord is He Who touches the land and it quakes. I.e, this decree emanates from Me.

and... His company—The company of His creatures. Another explanation: The company of the righteous was the foundation of the earth and the ceiling [other editions: and the benefit] of the heavens, for whose sake everything exists.

Who calls the water of the sea—Who says to gather camps as numerous as the waters of the sea. [from Jonathan]

Are you not like the children of the Cushites to Me—Why should I refrain from exacting retribution upon you since you do not return to Me? Have you not come from the sons of Noah like the other nations? Like the Cushites whom you resemble, as the matter is stated: (Jer. 13:22) “Will a Cushite change his skin…? So will you be able to improve.”

Did I not—Was it not out of My goodness, the beginning of My choosing you, My taking you out of the land of Egypt? Now what is that to Me? The Philistines, too, I took out of Caphtor in such a manner when the Caphtorites came upon the Avvites, as the matter is stated (Deut. 2:23) “And the Avvites who lived in open towns up to Gaza etc.” They vanquished also the people of Gaza and the remaining lords of the Philistines under them, and I took them out of their hands, and, even so, I did not make them My people.

and Aram from Kir—And so am I destined to bring Aram up from Kir, where Sennacherib will exile them, and, at the end of days, when the kingdom of Assyria will terminate, they will go out.

and I will destroy it—The kingdom is the house of Jehu, but I will not destroy the house of Jacob.

For behold I command—to exile them among all the nations, an unusually great scattering.

as it is shaken—What they sift with a sieve after the fine bran falls out of it, and there remains the coarse [bran], which cannot come out, and then the one who shakes [it], shakes with all his might.

it is shaken—by another, and it is impossible to read יָנוּעַ, since that denotes a thing that moves by itself.

“The evil shall not soon come upon us.”—Because of our iniquities, the evil shall not hasten to approach and to come.

On that day—And, after all these will befall him, that day will come, the day destined for the redemption, and thereon... I will raise up the fallen Tabernacle of David—Jonathan renders: the kingdom of the house of David.

In order that they inherit—[I.e, in order that] Israel [inherit] the remnant of Edom etc. because My Name is called upon them Heb. אֲשֶׁר, like כִּי, because.

that the plowman shall meet the reaper—(Lev. 26:5) “And your threshing shall overtake the vintage, and the vintage shall overtake the sowing.” They will not finish plowing until the harvest comes, and they will not finish harvesting until the time of sowing comes.

shall melt Heb. תִּתְמוֹגַגְנָה. Jonathan renders: shall split. Tilled soil splits when rains come.

sweet wine Heb. עָסִיס. Good and sweet wine.