Table of Contents
Isaiah 32
Isaiah 32
1 Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.
2 And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
3 And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken.
4 The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.
5 The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful.
6 For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the Lord, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.
7 The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right.
8 But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand.
9 Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech.
10 Many days and years shall ye be troubled, ye careless women: for the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come.
11 Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones: strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins.
12 They shall lament for the teats, for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.
13 Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city:
14 Because the palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks;
15 Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.
16 Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.
17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.
18 And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places;
19 When it shall hail, coming down on the forest; and the city shall be low in a low place.
20 Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass.
Notes
Cross Reference
Commentary
Rashi
Verse 1
<html><b>Behold, for righteousness shall a king reign</b> Behold a king has no right to reign except to execute righteous judgment. <b>and over princes who rule with justice</b> And over whom should he reign? Over princes who rule with justice. The prophet says this concerning Ahaz, who was a wicked man, but Hezekiah his son shall rule, and he is worthy. ([Manuscripts read:] And he is worthy of reigning.)</html>
Verse 2
<html><b>And the man shall be</b> The hero in the fear of the Holy One, blessed be He - that is Hezekiah - shall be for Israel. <b>as a hiding place from the wind</b> As a shelter of a rock, where people hide because of the wind, and they hide there because of the heat ([mss. read:] because of the rain), so will those remaining from the ten tribes trust in him. <b>in an arid land.</b> (בְּצָיוֹן) an expression of dryness, desolation (צִיָּה). <b>as the shade of a huge rock in a weary land</b> In a sunny place, where the earth is weary and dry and yearning for shade.</html>
Verse 3
<html><b>And the eyes of them that see shall not be sealed</b> (Heb. תִשְׁעֶינָה) Not as they are now, that “his ears are becoming heavy, and his eyes are becoming sealed (הָשַׁע)” (supra 6:10), an expression of sealing.</html>
Verse 4
<html><b>And the heart of the hasty shall understand to know</b> Not like now, that “this people’s heart is becoming fat” (ibid.). <b>and the tongue of the stammerers, etc.</b> Not like now, “for with distorted speech” (supra 28:11). <b>stammerers</b> Anyone who does not know how to direct his speech to be clear is termed עִלֵּג or נִלְעַג.</html>
Verse 5
<html><b>deceitful</b> (כִּילַי) a plotting deceiver, who plots evil. <b>noble</b> (שׁוּעַ) an expression of a lord, to whom everyone turns (שׁוֹעִין).</html>
Verse 6
<html><b>speaks villainy</b> (יְדַבֵּר) like מְדַבֵּר, a present tense. <b>works iniquity</b> (יַעֲשֶׂה) Gathers thoughts of iniquity. Comp. (Deut. 8:17) “Gathered (עָשָׂה) for me this wealth.” <b>to practice flattery</b> (לֲַעֲשׂוֹת) He thinks thoughts how he can practice flattery. חֹנֵף is a noun; therefore, the accent is on the first syllable, it is vowelized with a ‘pattah’ (now called a ‘segol’). <b>and the drink of the thirsty he causes to fail</b> According to the simple meaning, they rob the poor. The Targum, (however, paraphrases:) The words of the Torah, which are like water to the thirsty, they plan to nullify.</html>
Verse 7
<html><b>and when the needy speaks a plea</b> (מִשְׁפָּט) To destroy the needy in his plea (מִשְׁפָּטוֹ). This word מִשְׁפָּט is an expression denoting the initial presentation of the case; when the needy presents his pleas, this one plans wicked plots to trap him with his devices. The word מִשְׁפָּט has three meanings: the initial pleas (derajjsnement in O.F.), the sentence (joujjment), and the execution of the verdict, that they discipline him with chastisement (joustize in O.F.).</html>
Verse 8
<html><b>because of generous deeds, shall stand</b> Because of his generous acts, he will have preservation.</html>
Verse 9
<html><b>Complacent women</b> Provinces that dwell in tranquility [from Jonathan]. <b>confident daughters</b> Walled cities that dwell confidently [from Jonathan].</html>
Verse 10
<html><b>Year after year</b> (lit., ‘days upon a year.’) Comp. (supra 29:1) “Add year to year,” and your sins are constantly becoming more serious, until eventually you shall be troubled, those who are now confident, for the vintage of the grapes shall be over for them, and the ingathering of the grain shall not come into the house. <b>the ingathering</b> (אֹסֶף) This is a noun; therefore, its accent is on the first syllable and it is vowelized with a ‘pattah’ (now called a ‘segol’).</html>
Verse 11
<html><b>to be troubled</b> (רְגָזָה) to be troubled. (This is an infinitive despite the absence of the ‘lammed.’) <b>to undress</b> (פְּשֹׁטָה) to undress. (This too is an infinitive with the ‘lammed’ missing.) <b>and to bare</b> (וְעֹרָה) An expression of ‘naked’ (עֶרְיָה) (Micah 1:11). <b>and to gird</b> (וַחֲגוֹרָה) Therefore, the accent is before the last syllable, and so did Jonathan render: Undress and bare yourselves and gird on your loins. Since they will undress and bare themselves of their garments, they will not gird on their garments but on their loins.</html>
Verse 12
<html><b>on the breasts, lamenting</b> They shall beat their heart. <b>for the desirable fields</b> For the fields of their desire. The Midrash Aggadah (See twenty-fourth poem to Lamentations Rabbah) states: For the sages of the Sanhedrin, who are like breasts that nurture, they will lament, and for the city of their desire that will be plowed up like a field, and for the fruitful - vine that is Israel, called a vine, as it is said (Psalms 80:9): “You plucked a vine out of Egypt.”</html>
Verse 13
<html><b>Thorns and briers</b> The Targum renders: הוּבֵאִי וּבוּר various types of thorns, for all this destruction shall be on all houses of joy, and on <b>the joyful city</b> Jerusalem, which is “the joy of all the land” (Lamentations 2:15).</html>
Verse 14
<html><b>For the palace</b> The king’s palace has been forsaken. <b>the multitude of the city</b> has been exiled. <b>rampart and tower</b> My Temple, which was a fortification for them. <b>are amidst ruins</b> (הָיָה בְּעַד מְעָרוֹת), shall be amidst ruins. מְעָרוֹת is an expression similar to (Psalms 137:7) “Raze it, raze it (עָרוּ עָרוּ).” בְּעַד is like “(Job 22:13) Can He judge through (הַבְעַד) a thick cloud?” <b>forever</b> Until the time of the end. <b>a joy for wild donkeys</b> For the lust of Ishmael and his hosts.</html>
Verse 15
<html><b>Until…be poured upon us</b> (יֵעָרֶה) He shall pour upon us. Comp. (Gen. 24:2) “And she emptied (וַתְּעַר) her pitcher.” An expression of pouring applies to spirit. Comp. (Zech. 12:10) “And I will pour upon the house of David…a spirit of grace.” Comp. also (Joel 3:1) “I will pour My spirit upon all flesh.” <b>shall be regarded as a forest</b> (Jonathan renders:) Great cities, like this forest, which is full of trees.</html>
Verse 16
<html><b>And justice shall dwell in the desert</b> In Jerusalem, which is like a desert. <b>and righteousness shall reside in the fruitful field</b> That is the land of Israel, which in those days shall be like a fruitful field.</html>
Verse 19
<html><b>And He shall hail down the hailing of the forest</b> (וּבָרַד בְּרֶדֶתהַיָּעַר) Perforce, this word וּבָרָד is not a noun, since half of it is vowelized with a ‘kamatz’ and half of it with a ‘pattah’ in an expression of פָּעַל. (Rashi distinguishes בָּרַד from בָּרָד, the noun denoting hail.) And so is its interpretation, an expression of an action, like ‘and he shall wash’ (וְרָחַץ), ‘and he shall sit’ (וְיָשַׁב), ‘and he shall stand’ (וְעָמַד). Here too, וּבָרַד ‘and He shall hail down the hailing of the forest.’ Then the ‘beth’ of בְּרֶדֶת is a radical, like עֲטֶרֶת, ‘a crown,’ עֲקֶרֶת ‘a barren woman.’ That is to say that the Holy One, blessed be He, shall rain down the rain of the coals of the wicked, those who are now built up and full of cities like a forest. <b>and into the low state</b> Into which Israel has been humbled until now, <b>shall the metropolis</b> of Persia (Seir, Edom, [according to various mss.]) <b>be humbled.</b> In a similar manner did Jonathan render it: And hail will come down and kill the camps of the nations.</html>
Verse 20
<html><b>Fortunate are you</b> Israel, that the sowing of your righteousness has succeeded like those who sow by all waters. From now on, you shall reap and gather the grain of your good reward; you shall send forth the feet of the ox to thresh the grain, and the donkey to bring it into the house. So did Jonathan render it: You shall receive the reward of your good work.</html>