Hearken to this The two tribes destined to go in exile to Babylon.

O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel That is the tribe of Benjamin, who are not called by the tribe of Judah, but by the general name of the tribes of Israel.

and who emanated from the waters of Judah And the tribe of Judah who emanated and ran from the waters of Judah’s pail, as Scripture states (Num. 24: 7): “Water shall run out of his pails.”

neither in truth As Jeremiah said, (5:2) “And if they say, ‘As the Lord lives,’ surely they swear falsely,” i.e., you were unworthy of being redeemed, but since they were called [as being] from the Holy City, and that caused them not to be exiled with the ten tribes in the time of Sennacherib, to Halah and Habor, for they have no redemption.

and they leaned on the God of Israel in the days of Hezekiah, about whom it is written (2 Kings 18:5): “He trusted in the Lord God of Israel.” That caused them not to be exiled except in the days of Nebuchadnezzar, who exiled them to Babylon, and they had a redemption through Cyrus.

The first things that passed, [viz.] the redemption from Egypt and Hezekiah’s salvation from the hand of Sennacherib.

I told from then When they had not yet come about, and suddenly I did it.

and they came to pass as I told before through My prophets.

Because of My knowledge that you are obstinate. Heb. מִדַּעְתִּי. Because I knew you, that you are obstinate, and if the miracle would come and I had not told of it before, you would say, “My idol performed them, and they were not from the Holy One, blessed be He.” Therefore, I told you from then; when it had not yet come to pass etc. מִדַּעְתִּי [although usually translated ‘from My knowledge,’ in this case,] ; the ‘mem’ denotes the giving of a reason, like ‘Because I knew.’ A similar form [is found in Deut. 7:8:], “For, because of the Lord’s love (מֵאַהֲבַת) for you, and because of His observing (וּמִשָּׁמְרוֹ) the oath.”

You have heard, see all of it You have heard the first ones that I told; see that all of them have come about.

and you, will you not tell and testify for Me that nothing failed?

I let you hear new things from now Now I come back and let you hear new things that are new to you, but to Me they are revealed from time immemorial.

and hidden things and things guarded in My treasure houses, and you did not know them.

Now they have been created and not from then are they.

and before the day that they take place I let you hear of them.

and you did not hear them until this day. The words, “and before the day,” refer back to “I let you hear,” as stated above.

Neither did you hearken Jonathan renders: Neither did you hearken to the words of the prophets, neither did you accept the teaching of the Torah, nor did you bend your ear to the words of the blessings and the curses of My covenant that I established with you at Horeb.

for I knew that you would deal treacherously When I came down to save you from the hands of the Egyptians, it was revealed to Me that you would eventually deal treacherously. Nevertheless, I kept the oath of the Patriarchs. This is what is stated (Ex. 3:7): “I saw the affliction of My people.” [The Hebrew expression for “I saw,” is רָאֹה רָאִיתִי, a double verb form, which denotes] two seeings. I see that they will eventually deal treacherously, but, nevertheless, I saw the affliction of My people. Rabbi Tanhuma expounded it in this manner.

and...transgressor from the womb Since you were in Egypt, as it is related in Ezekiel (20:5): “And I made Myself known in the land of Egypt, etc. (v. 7) and I said to them, [Cast away, each man the abominations of his eyes, and do not contaminate yourselves with the idols of Egypt].”

I defer My anger Heb. (אַאֲרִיךְ אַפִּי). Despite the future form, it is an expression of the present.

and My praise is that I restrain My wrath Heb. אֶחֱטָם. And this is My praise, that I restrain My wrath for you. אֶחֱטָם is an expression of חֹטֶם, a nose. I will close My nose not to allow the smoke of My nostrils to go out and not to be angry with you, for, when one is angry, smoke comes out of his nostrils, as Scripture states (Ps. 18:9): “Smoke rose in His nose.” Likewise, every expression of ‘kindling of anger’ (חֲרוֹן אַף) is an expression of the heating of the nose, (Job. 42:7) “My anger was kindled (חָרָה אַפִּי).” Comp. also (ibid. 30:30) “And my bones were burnt (חָרָה) from heat.” My nose was heated (נִחַר) from much heat.”

but not as silver [lit. but not with silver.] Not with the fire of Gehinnom, as silver is refined through fire.

I have chosen for you Heb. בְּחַרְתִּיךָ. I have chosen for you the crucible of poverty as opposed to the crucible of fire. A crucible (כּוּר) is a vessel in which they melt silver and gold.

For My sake For the sake of My holy name.

for how shall it be profaned How shall My name be profaned when I utterly destroy you?

And My honor I will not give to another That your enemies shall say that their God is powerful.

Hearken to Me, O Jacob The name that your father called you.

and Israel, who was called by Me You were called Israel by Me (Gen. 32:29). Jonathan renders: Israel, My summoned one.

The Lord loves him He who will perform the will of the Holy One, blessed be He, upon Babylon.

and [show] His arm He will show in the land of the Chaldees, and concerning Cyrus he states this.

I redeemed Israel from Egypt, and I will redeem all Israel from the last exile and from the four corners of the earth.

I even called him [i.e., I called] Cyrus. Others say: The Lord loves Israel. I even called him, [i.e.,] Abraham. This calling is an expression of exaltation, to be My called one. Comp. (Num. 1:16), “These are the called ones of the congregation.”

from the time it was, there was I [Jonathan paraphrases:] From the time the nations ceased fearing Me, there I brought Abraham your father near to My service.

and now, the Lord God has sent me, and His spirit [Jonathan paraphrases:] Said the prophet, “And now, the Lord God has sent me, and His word.” This is an intermingling of words. The one who said this did not say that [i.e., the first part of the verse was said by God, and the second part by the prophet]. And the Aggadic Midrash of Rabbi Tanhuma (Yithro 21) explains: Hearken to this—This alludes to Moses’ Torah, referred to as “This is the Torah.” In the beginning, I did not speak in secretat Sinai. And the prophet says, “From the time that thing was that, He says, I was there.” And we learned from here that all the prophets stood at Sinai. And now He sent me to prophesy to them. Even in this version there is an intermingling of words. “In the beginning I did not speak in secret,” was said by the Shechinah. “From the time it was, there was I,” was said by the prophet. It is possible to interpret it so that there should not be intermingling of words [as follows:] Draw near to me, hearken to this what I prophesy to you regarding the downfall of Babylon and your redemption. In the beginning I did not speak that in secret. From the time it was, that the Holy One, blessed be He, decreed to bring it, there I was. This teaches that from the time of the decree, the Holy One, blessed be He, appoints the prophet who is destined to prophesy regarding the matter in the council of the heavenly household, although it has not yet been created.

like its innards of the sea, like the fish of the sea for multitude.

for the wicked For Nebuchadnezzar and his seed.