1 Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin:
2 That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt!
3 Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.
4 For his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes.
5 They were all ashamed of a people that could not profit them, nor be an help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach.
6 The burden of the beasts of the south: into the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the young and old lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a people that shall not profit them.
7 For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I cried concerning this, Their strength is to sit still.
8 Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever:
9 That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord:
10 Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:
11 Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.
12 Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon:
13 Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.
14 And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters' vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit.
15 For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.
16 But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.
17 One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on an hill.
18 And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.
19 For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee.
20 And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers:
21 And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.
22 Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence.
23 Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous: in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures.
24 The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground shall eat clean provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan.
25 And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the Lord cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:
28 And his breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity: and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err.
29 Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the Lord, to the mighty One of Israel.
30 And the Lord shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall shew the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones.
31 For through the voice of the Lord shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod.
32 And in every place where the grounded staff shall pass, which the Lord shall lay upon him, it shall be with tabrets and harps: and in battles of shaking will he fight with it.
33 For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.
<html><b>rebellious</b> (סוֹרְרִים) who turn away from the way of God. <b>and to appoint a ruler</b> (וְלִנְסֹךְ מַסֵּכָה) to appoint a ruler to rule over them, with neither My spirit nor My will in the matter, and what is this appointing? This is Pharaoh.</html>
<html><b>Those who go to descend to Egypt</b> This alludes to Hoshea, son of Elah, who sent emissaries to So, king of Egypt (II Kings 17:4). <b>to descend to Egypt</b> The land of Israel is higher than all the other lands. Alternatively, this is a degradation for them. <b>and to take shelter</b> (lit.) to cover themselves, abrier in O. F. (This is the equivalent of sabriter in Modern French, to take shelter.)</html>
<html><b>For his princes were in Zoan</b> The princes of the king of Israel in their errand to the king of Egypt. <b>Hanes</b> That is Tahpanhes.</html>
<html><b>They all disgraced themselves</b> They all disgraced themselves to acquire a master for nothing, and the people of the land will not avail them. <b>because of a people</b> (Lit., on a people.) Because of a people that will not avail them. <b>for disgrace</b> For insult, distraber in O.F., to insult.</html>
<html><b>The burden of the beasts of the southland</b> The burdens on their beasts on the way to the southland (Jonathan), for Egypt is in the south of Eretz Israel, and this is the insult and the derision that they would insult them: See these people, whose burdens of money are laden on their beasts to transport bribes to Egypt for nothing, and they imperil themselves in the deserts, in a land of trouble and anguish, etc. <b>viper</b> It is a species of deadly snakes, and there are only two of them in the world, a male and a female, which reproduce after seventy years, (i.e. its gestation period is seventy years) (Bechoroth 8a). The flying serpent, too, is a species of snake, not that it has wings with which to fly, but it jumps and springs long distances and throws a flame from its mouth. <b>their wealth</b> (חֵילֵיהֶם) their money. <b>the humps</b> (דַּבֶּשֶׁת) hidroba in O.F. A camel has this in the place the burden is laden, and since it always becomes sore, and they smear honey there to heal it, it is called דַּבֶּשֶׁת, (from דְּבַשׁ, honey,) as we say in Baba Mezia 38b: Honey that lost its sweetness is fit for the sores of the camels.</html>
<html><b>this</b> to Egypt. <b>They are haughty</b> (רַהַב) of proud spirit. <b>idlers</b> (שָׁבֶת) A people who are idle and are proud for no reason. Alternatively, שָׁבֶת means that their pride and haughtiness is fit to be curtailed.</html>
<html><b>engrave it</b> (חֻקָּהּ) engrave it, this prophecy.</html>
<html><b>a rebellious people are they</b> Israel.</html>
<html><b>smooth talk</b> Flattery. <b>prophesy</b> (חֲזוּ, lit., envision) prophesy.</html>
<html><b>turn away</b> (Turn) us (away). <b>from the path</b> We want the false prophecy.</html>
<html><b>this matter</b> the true prophecy. <b>and a perverse one</b> a disgraceful one and a mocker.</html>
<html><b>as a breach</b> of a fallen wall. <b>revealed in a fortified wall</b> Revealed to enter thereby the walls of your fortification. נִבְעֶה is an expression of revealing, as in Obadiah (1:6): “His hidden things were revealed (נִבְעוּ).” Dunash, however, interprets נִבְעֶה as a protrusion, since the wall develops blisters (אֲבַעְבּוּעוֹת) because of the rains and the deterioration of the weak mortar.</html>
<html><b>a potter’s jug</b> An earthenware jug. <b>shall not be found</b> in the crushing of its fragments a shard large enough to scoop fire from a hearth, to pick up fire from a hearth. All scooping up of fire is referred to with an expression of חֲתִיָּה. <b>or to scoop water</b> Or to draw. Comp. (Haggai 2:16): “To draw off (לַחְשׂף) fifty measures.” Also (below 47:2): “Draw off (חֶשְׂפִּי) the path.” Draw water from your path, Epuyse in O.F. <b>from a cistern</b> (מִגֶּבֶא) A pit full of water.</html>
<html><b>For so said</b> the Holy One, blessed be He, to you long ago, “You need not seek for yourselves the strength of Egypt and waste your money, for with tranquility and restfulness you shall have salvation, without any toil, if you listen to Me.” <b>with tranquility</b> (בְּשׁוּבָה) an expression of restfulness and tranquility, Comp. (Num. 10:36): “Rest (שׁוּבָה), O Lord, with the ten thousands of the thousands of Israel.” <b>with quietude</b> that comes to you from Me, and with trust, shall be your might.</html>
<html><b>on horses will we flee</b> (נָנוּס) We will ally ourselves with the king of Egypt, and we will bring from there swift steeds in order to flee.</html>
<html><b>One thousand [of you], because of the shout of one</b> of the enemies, or all of you because of the shout of five, shall flee. <b>you remain</b> (lit., if you remain,) like ‘that you remain.’ <b>like a mast</b> (כַּתֹּרֶן) a lofty pole, inserted in the ground, like a sort of mast of a ship, that they call ‘mast’ in O.F. <b>and like a flagpole</b> (וְכַנֵּס) That, too, is a lofty pole, which they place on a hilltop, and when the scout sees troops coming, he places a banner on it, and the wind moves it. This is the signal that they flee or assemble.</html>
<html><b>Therefore</b> Because you would not obey. <b>the Lord shall wait to be gracious to you</b> He (acc. to Parshandatha) does not skip for you over the evil decree, which was decreed upon you, in order to hasten and to bring the good, but He will wait until its end comes. <b>and therefore, He shall withdraw to have mercy upon you</b> (יָרוּם) He shall draw Himself far away to have mercy upon you. <b>for the Lord is a God of justice</b> and He first metes out justice upon those who rebel against Him. <b>fortunate are all who wait for him</b> for the consolations that He promised, for nothing shall fail.</html>
<html><b>For</b> days will yet come that he who remains to be dwelling in Zion and in Jerusalem, will be righteous. ([Manuscripts read:] For days will yet come and a righteous nation will dwell in Zion and in Jerusalem.) ([Other manuscripts read:] For the nation that He shall leave to be dwelling in Zion and in Jerusalem, shall be righteous people.) <b>you shall not weep</b> You shall not need to offer supplication to the Holy One, blessed be He, with weeping, for, at the sound of your cry, He shall respond to you.</html>
<html><b>scant bread and water of oppression</b> You shall not run after pleasures as you do now, as it is said (Amos 6:6): “Who drink from basins of wine.” (Above 22:13) “And behold joy and happiness.” <b>shall no longer be concealed</b> (לֹא יִכָּנֵף) shall not be covered from you with the skirt of His garments, i.e., He shall not hide His countenance from you. <b>your Teacher</b> The Holy One, blessed be He, who teaches you for your profit.</html>
<html><b>And your ears shall hear from behind you</b> Not as you do now, that you despise My words and say, “You shall not prophesy for us true things” (verse 10), but your ears shall be bent also behind you to hear from Me, perhaps a prophet will come and instruct you the way to go, whether right or left.</html>
<html><b>the adornment</b> the beauty. <b>like a menstruant</b> They shall be repugnant in your eyes like a menstruant.</html>
<html><b>And He shall give</b> I.e., the Holy One, blessed be He, shall give the rain for your seed. <b>fat</b> (וְשָׁמֵן) an expression of fat. Therefore, its accent is below (on the last syllable) and it is voweled with a kamatz (tzeireh). <b>a fattened lamb</b> until the lambs will become fat and wide. <b>lamb</b> (כַּר) a lamb. Alternatively, a wide plain. Comp. (Gen. 12:10) “the plain (כִּכַּר) of the Jordan,” (below 32:15) “Carmel,” meaning a wide plain, full of grain.</html>
<html><b>And the oxen.</b> (אֲלָפִים) oxen. <b>enriched provender</b> (בְּלִיל חָמִיץ) comp. (Job 6:5) “On his provender (בְּלִילוֹ).” Stubble and straw, strengthened and enriched with the grain within them, they shall eat. <b>which was winnowed</b> The grain is winnowed twice, once with a shovel and once with a fan, in order to clean the grain. Therefore, the straw will be mixed with grain that was winnowed with a fan near the stubble. <b>shovel</b> (רַחַת) paile (pelle) in O.F. (fan, [מִזְרֶה] van in O.F.) And the Midrash Aggadah states that בְּלִיל is an expression of mixing, that the food will be mixed into the straw. (I.e., the grain will be so plentiful that it will be mixed into the straw eaten by the cattle and donkeys.)</html>
<html><b>rivulets of water</b> (יִבְלֵי מָיִם), rivers of water. Comp. (Jer. 17:8) “And upon the river (יוּבַל) he sends forth his roots.” <b>on the day of the great slaying</b> when there will be a great slaughter (in the land of Assyria), and Jonathan renders: On the day of the great slaying, when the great ones will fall.</html>
<html><b>sevenfold</b> (שִׁבְעָתַיִּם.) This means seven sevens as the light of the seven days, i.e., forty nine sevens, equaling three hundred forty-three.</html>
<html><b>the Name of the Lord</b> His might, which will be for Him as a name, viz., what He will do to Sennacherib. <b>comes from long ago</b> (מִמֶּרְחָק, lit. from afar.) To realize what He promised long ago. <b>the burden</b> (מַשָּׂאָה) The ‘heh’ is superfluous, and it is only like מַשָּׂא. Therefore, the ‘heh’ is silent, not punctuated by a mappiq.</html>
<html><b>is like a flooding stream</b> which divides the one who crosses it, up to his neck, for he has no strength to stand against the current of the water. <b>to wave</b> (לַהֲנָפָה) to wave, vaner in O.F. <b>with a vain waving</b> Not to avail them, but they think it will avail. <b>and a bit</b> (רֶסֶן) a bit, freynk in O.F., (a rein or curb).</html>
<html><b>This song shall be to you</b> On the night of Passover shall this joy come to you. <b>as the night of the sanctification of the festival</b> Just as you recited a song over the Paschal sacrifices in Egypt [It appears from this verse as though he wishes to teach us about Sennacherib, but he teaches us about Pharaoh, that they recited Hallel on the night of the eating of the Paschal sacrifices. In Midrash Tehillim (1:20)]. <b>like one who goes with a flute</b> And you shall rejoice with the downfall of Sennacherib like the joy of those who bring the First Fruits, before whom the flute would play, to come upon the mountain of God, as we learned in Tractate Bikkurim (3:4).</html>
<html><b>and the laying down of His arm</b> This is not an expression of resting but an expression of placing, posement in O.F. Comp. (Exod. 10:14) “And placed it (וַיָּנַח) throughout the entire boundary of Egypt.” The placing of His might He will show in a flame by which the armies of Sennacherib were burnt. <b>bursting</b> (נֶפֶץ) an expression of more intense breaking, (shattering).</html>
<html><b>from the Lord’s voice Assyria shall be broken</b> he opened up their ears, and they heard the song from the mouth of the Chayoth, and they died. In the Aggadah of Chapter Chelek. <b>with a rod he would smite</b> Assyria, who was wont to smite you with his rod.</html>
<html><b>And it shall be, every place where the established staff shall pass</b> All the crossings of the strength of the foundations of his armies; all the places they passed and destroyed, and on the day of their downfall the Lord shall grant peace upon them through the news of their downfall, and they shall be joyful with drums and harps. And this is the interpretation of the verse in inverted order: And it shall be with drums and harps, every passing of the established staff upon which the Lord shall grant peace, and with wars of vain waving, lifting and lowering, did the Holy One, blessed be He, fight against them. And, according to Midrash Aggadah, the waving of the harvest of the Omer stood up for Israel in that war, for it was the night of the sixteenth of Nissan.</html>
<html><b>For…is set up from yesterday</b> The second day of the Creation of the world a day that has a yesterday but not a day before yesterday. <b>Tophteh</b> Gehinnom, for whoever is enticed (מִתְפַּתֶּה) by his temptation falls into there. <b>has been prepared for the king</b> For the necessity of Sennacherib and his army. <b>its pile</b> (מְדֻרָתָהּ) an expression of a heated fire. An arrangement of wood on the fire is called מְדוּרָה. <b>the breath of the Lord</b> the blowing of His breath. <b>burning</b> (בֹּעֲרָה) equivalent to בּוֹעֶרֶת.</html>