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1 Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;

2 To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!

3 And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory?

4 Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

5 O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.

6 I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.

7 Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few.

8 For he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings?

9 Is not Calno as Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad? is not Samaria as Damascus?

10 As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria;

11 Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?

12 Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.

13 For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man:

14 And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.

15 Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood.

16 Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire.

17 And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day;

18 And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body: and they shall be as when a standard-bearer fainteth.

19 And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a child may write them.

20 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.

21 The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.

22 For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness.

23 For the Lord God of hosts shall make a consumption, even determined, in the midst of all the land.

24 Therefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt.

25 For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction.

26 And the Lord of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and as his rod was upon the sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt.

27 And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.

28 He is come to Aiath, he is passed to Migron; at Michmash he hath laid up his carriages:

29 They are gone over the passage: they have taken up their lodging at Geba; Ramah is afraid; Gibeah of Saul is fled.

30 Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim: cause it to be heard unto Laish, O poor Anathoth.

31 Madmenah is removed; the inhabitants of Gebim gather themselves to flee.

32 As yet shall he remain at Nob that day: he shall shake his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.

33 Behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, shall lop the bough with terror: and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled.

34 And he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.

<html><b>engravings of injustice</b> Notes of injustice, forged notes. <b>letters</b> Heb. מְכַתְּבִים. This is Arabic, like מִכְתָּבִים in Hebrew.</html>

<html><b>To pervert</b> through the false notes, the poor from the legal rights due them.</html>

<html><b>for the day of visitation</b> when the Holy One, blessed be He, visits upon you your iniquities. <b>and for the destruction</b> Heb. וּלְשׁוֹאָה, an expression of destruction. <b>To whom will you flee for aid</b> The Holy One, blessed be He, will afford you no aid. <b>and where will you leave</b> all the riches you are accumulating from robbery, when you go into exile?</html>

<html><b>Where he never knelt</b> In the place where none of you ever knelt or lay down, where there was no kneeling to lie down, in that place you shall be prisoners, i.e., to say, outside of your land you shall be imprisoned, and so did Jonathan render: Outside of your land you shall be bound as prisoners. <b>in that place</b> Heb. תַּחַת, a place. Comp. (Exodus 16:29) “Let every man stay in his place (תַּחְתָּיו).” <b>and in that place they will fall slain</b> Heb. וְתַחַתהֲרוּגִים יִפֹּלוּ, and in that place they will fall slain.</html>

<html><b>Woe</b> that I made Assyria the rod of My wrath with which to chastise My people. <b>and…a staff</b> is My fury in the hands of the people of Assyria.</html>

<html><b>Against a hypocritical nation</b> Israel.</html>

<html><b>But he</b> Sennacherib. <b>does not deem it so</b> that the decree is from Me, and that I am sending him. יְדַמֶּה koujjder in O.F. ( <b>and his heart does not think so</b> that I sent him concerning money, to take plunder and spoils.) but in his heart is the thought to destroy everything with his haughtiness.</html>

<html><b>For he says</b> Therefore, his heart is haughty.</html>

<html><b>Is not Calno like Carchemish</b> Just as the inhabitants of Carchemish are princes and governors, so are the inhabitants of Calno. Therefore, if not like Arpad, which is under the rule of Hamath, which I took from Aram, and if not like Damascus, that I took from Aram, so will I do to Samaria. “If not like Arpad of Hamath,” is the construct state, like Arpad of Hamath. Therefore, it is voweled with a ‘pattach’ [i.e., it reads אַרְפַּד rather than אַרְפָּד].</html>

<html><b>and their graven images</b> were from Jerusalem and from Samaria. From here we deduce that the wicked of Israel supplied all the nations with their images, and “since the worshippers of the graven images of Samaria and Jerusalem fell into my hands, and their graven images did not save them, so will Samaria and Jerusalem not be saved.”</html>

<html><b>as I did to Samaria</b> He shall say this after he conquers Samaria.</html>

<html><b>And it shall be, when the Lord completes…</b> But it did not come about as he thought, but, after the Holy One, blessed be He, completes all His work and His vengeance against Israel and against some of the cities of Judea, and because of that fear, the inhabitants of Zion and Jerusalem will be humbled to return to Me, I will let the king of Assyria know that not by his power was he victorious. <b>I will visit retribution upon the increase of the arrogance of the king of Assyria’s heart</b> For that which he increased the arrogance of the king of Assyria’s heart, to boast of his power falsely. The fruit of the arrogance is craysement de grandeze in O.F., increase of arrogance, of Sennacherib’s heart. <b>the boasting of the haughtiness of his eyes</b> Since he boasted with his haughtiness. Boasting is vantance in O.F. <b>haughtiness of his eyes</b> Arrogance, as the matter is stated: (Psalms 101:5) “One who has proud eyes and a haughty heart.”</html>

<html><b>For he said, With the strength of my hand I accomplished this</b> None of my might is from the Holy One, blessed be He. <b>I am clever</b> [More exactly,] I have become clever. <b>and their positions</b> Heb. וַעֲתוּדֹתֵיהֶם, their stand and their position. <b>and I lowered</b> I lowered them from their greatness. <b>many inhabitants</b> Heb. כַּאבִּיר יוֹשְׁבִים, plousors in O.F., several.</html>

<html><b>like a nest</b> like nests of ownerless birds. <b>and as one gathers abandoned eggs</b> And as one gathers abandoned eggs which their mother abandoned, and no one protests against him by covering them. <b>and no one moved a wing, or opened his mouth or chirped</b> This entire expression is apropos to birds; since he compared those exiles to a bird’s nest and to abandoned eggs, he used this expression, saying that neither the father nor the mother chirped about them.</html>

<html><b>Shall the axe boast</b> The Holy One, blessed be He, says: You should not have boasted about this, since you are merely like My axe, and I am hewing with you; I visit retribution upon My enemies. You are the saw, and I am He Who wields it. Now is it customary for the saw to boast over the one who wields it? מַשּׂוֹר is dolodojjre in O.F., a small axe. <b>It is as though the rod wields those who raise it</b> It is as though the rod was raising [itself and] the hand of him who was raising it. Is it not so that the rod does not wield itself but the man? <b>When the staff is raised, it is not the wood</b> It is not the wood that raises it, but it is the man who raises it.</html>

<html><b>and in the place of his honor</b> Under their clothing they shall be burnt. The garments [are referred to as “his honor” since] they command respect for the man. <b>a burning shall burn</b> A burning shall burn like the burning of fire. The Midrash Aggadah [states]: Here He repaid the children of Shem for the respect Shem showed for his father, when he covered the nakedness of Noah his father, as it is said (Gen. 9:23): “And Shem and Japeth took the garment…”</html>

<html><b>the light of Israel</b> The Torah in which Hezekiah engages shall become fire for Sennacherib. <b>and his holy one</b> The Holy One, blessed be He. Alternatively, “And his holy one,” refers to the righteous of the generation. <b>his thorns and his worms</b> [They symbolize] his nobles and his heroes.</html>

<html><b>And the glory of his forest and his stately forest</b> They are his numerous armies. כַּרְמֶל is a tall forest. <b>as a tree eaten to powder by the worms</b> Since he compared them to forest trees, he compared their retribution to the worm that saws with his mouth and grinds the tree. He called him סָס, as (infra 51:8): “Like wool, the worm (סָס) shall devour them.” <b>as a tree eaten to powder by the worms</b> As the grinder grinds. <b>as a tree eaten to powder by the worms</b> Heb. כִּמְסֹס נֹסֵס, [lit.] as that which is sawed by the sawyer, which is pulverized very finely, which the worm grinds. So fine were the ashes of their burnt bodies. מְסֹס is that which is ground and falls off because of the worm. נֹסֵס is the worm.</html>

<html><b>And the remaining trees of his forest</b> The survivors of his armies. <b>shall be few</b> [lit. a number, i. e.,] easy to count, for they will be few, and a lad will be able to write them, and our Rabbis said that ten remained of them, for there is no small child who cannot write a small ‘yud.’</html>

<html><b>to lean on him that smote them</b> [i.e.,] to lean on the kings of Egypt, who were the first to oppress them.</html>

<html><b>A remnant shall return</b> The remnant of them shall return to the Holy One, blessed be He. <b>the mighty God</b> Who demonstrated His might against Sennacherib.</html>

<html><b>For if your people</b> The prophet says to Hezekiah, If your people are like the sand of the sea, the remnant of them that return to do good, will wash away the destruction sentenced to come upon them, and prevent it from coming, through the righteousness with which they will behave.</html>

<html><b>For destruction and annihilation</b> you shall see that the Holy One, blessed be He, executes upon the wicked, and you shall humble yourselves and return to Him.</html>

<html><b>Therefore</b> Since I know that Hezekiah and his company will return to Him. [Aternatively, לָכֵן is an expression of an oath. לָכֵן indeed.] <b>so said the Lord… Fear not,…Assyria; with a rod may he smite you</b> With the “rod” of his mouth will he insult and deride you through Rabshakeh. <b>and his staff may he bear over you</b> to frighten you, the way he did to Egypt. It may alternatively be explained: With a rod does he smite you[i.e.,] who has smitten you until now with a rod and has become accustomed to bearing his staff and his fright over you as the Egyptians did. Rabbi Joseph told me this in the name of Rabbi Menahem.</html>

<html><b>For [in] yet</b> very few days…<b>the fury shall be over</b> My fury, which was given as a staff into the hand of Assyria, as he said above, “And My fury is a staff in his hands” (v. 5). <b>and My wrath</b> that became a rod, shall return <b>because of their blasphemy</b> Heb. (עַל-תַּבְלִיתָם). Comp. (Lev. 20:12) “they have committed a disgrace (תֶּבֶל),” i.e., because of the insults and blasphemies which the servants of the king of Assyria blasphemed Me.</html>

<html><b>And…shall stir up against him</b> And to stir up. <b>a scourge</b> A tortuous blow. <b>like the smiting of Midian</b> who were slain in one night, and as for the kings who fled from them and escaped, Oreb was slain at the Rock of Oreb, and is related in the Book of Judges (7:25). This one, too, after he returns to his land, will die there by the sword. <b>and his staff on the sea</b> And furthermore, He shall stir up against him, His staff, which was on the sea against Pharaoh and his army. <b>and He shall carry him off</b> And He shall carry him away from the world after the manner that He carried off Egypt.</html>

<html><b>and the yoke shall be destroyed</b> The yoke of Sennacherib shall be destroyed because of Hezekiah, who was mild to his generation, as oil. Our Rabbis, however, explained [that Sennacherib’s yoke would be destroyed] because of Hezekiah’s oil which burnt in the synagogues and in the study-halls, for he persuaded them to engage in Torah, after the matter that is written (Proverbs 25: 1): “Which the men of Hezekiah strengthened.”</html>

<html><b>He came upon Aiath</b> He goes on to enumerate the travels which Sennacherib traveled when he came upon the cities of Judah, to come to Jerusalem, on the day of his downfall: Aiath, Migron, Michmas, Ramah, Gib’ath Saul, Bath-galim, Laishah, Anathoth, Madmenah, and Gebim. They are all places.</html>

<html><b>they lodged</b> Heb. לָנוּ, an expression of lodging. <b>Gib’ath Saul fled</b> Fled, they all fled because of his armies.</html>

<html><b>Raise your voice</b> to warn the people. <b>Hearken, Laishah</b> to the sound of the shofar and flee, and so, Aniah Anathoth.</html>

<html><b>gathered</b> Assembled to flee. Our Rabbis, however, expounded, “Raise your voice, Bath-Gallim,” and the entire verse in a different manner in the Aggadah of “Chelek,” and they set the number of travels at ten. But, Jonathan rendered them all as names of places.</html>

<html><b>Still today, [he intends] to stand in Nob</b> All this way he hastened, in order to stand in Nob while it is still day, since his stargazers told him, If you attack it today, you will conquer it. And, when he stood in Nob and saw that Jerusalem was small, he did not heed the words of his stargazers and began to wave his hand arrogantly: For a city like this have I mustered all these armies? Stay here overnight, and tomorrow, each one will cast his stone upon it.</html>

<html><b>Behold the Master</b> on that night. <b>lops off the branches with a saw</b> Shall lop off its branches, the root of the branches of his trees. ([Mss. read:] Uproots the branches of his trees.) ([Other mss. read:] Cuts off the branches of his trees.) <b>with a saw</b> Heb. בְּמַעֲרָצָה, with a saw that cuts the boughs. This [word פֻּארָה] is not an expression denoting a winepress, for it is not spelled with a ‘vav,’ like (infra 63: 3) “A winepress (פּוּרָה) I trod,” and like (Haggai 2:16) “To draw off fifty measures from the winepress (פּוּרָה),” but with an ‘aleph,’ like (Ezekiel 31:5) “And its boughs became long (פֹּארֹתָיו).” מְסָעֵף is an expression of cutting off branches [esbranchier in O.F.], like (infra 27:10) “And he will destroy its branches (סְעִיפֶיהָ), and (infra 17:6) “On its branches (בִּסְעִיפֶיהָ) the fruitful one.” <b>with a saw</b> Heb. בְּמַעֲרָצָה, with an implement of destruction, which breaks them. <b>and those of lofty height</b> [This alludes to] the heroes. <b>are hewn down</b> The expression of hewing is apropos only to trees and hard things.</html>

<html><b>And…shall be cut off</b> Heb. וְנִקַּף. This, too, is an expression of cutting, as (ibid.) “Like one who cuts off olives (כְּנֹקֶף).” ואךדר גךכנִקַּף is in the passive voice. <b>the thickets of the forests</b> The prominent branches, symbolizing the heroes. <b>and the Lebanon</b> The thickness of his forest and his stately forest. They are the multitudes of his armies. <b>shall fall through a mighty one</b> Through an angel they shall fall. Alternatively, through a mighty one, in the merit of Hezekiah who is the mighty one and the rulers of Israel, as it is said (Jer. 30:21): “And their leader shall be of themselves.”</html>