Isaiah 33

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Isaiah 33

1 Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.

2 O Lord, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.

3 At the noise of the tumult the people fled; at the lifting up of thyself the nations were scattered.

4 And your spoil shall be gathered like the gathering of the caterpiller: as the running to and fro of locusts shall he run upon them.

5 The Lord is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness.

6 And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the Lord is his treasure.

7 Behold, their valiant ones shall cry without: the ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly.

8 The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.

9 The earth mourneth and languisheth: Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down: Sharon is like a wilderness; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits.

10 Now will I rise, saith the Lord; now will I be exalted; now will I lift up myself.

11 Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath, as fire, shall devour you.

12 And the people shall be as the burnings of lime: as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire.

13 Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might.

14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?

15 He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;

16 He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.

17 Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.

18 Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?

19 Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.

20 Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken.

21 But there the glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby.

22 For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he will save us.

23 Thy tacklings are loosed; they could not well strengthen their mast, they could not spread the sail: then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the prey.

24 And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.

Notes

Cross Reference

Commentary

Rashi

Verse 1

<html>Woe To the enemy, that you constantly spoil, but you are not spoiled, and you constantly deal treacherously, but no man deals treacherously with you or spoils you. when you finish being a spoiler, when you finish your spoiling of those upon whom it was decreed to be spoiled by you, you shall be spoiled. when you finish dealing treacherously (כַּנְּלֹתְךָ) Menahem classified כַּנְלֹתְךָ with (Job 15: 29) “And their destruction (מִנְלָם) shall not fall to the earth,” in one group (Machbereth Menahem, p. 123). In the word מִנְלָם, the first ‘mem’ is a radical which sometimes is absent, like the ‘mem’ of מַאֲמָר, a statement, and of מַדָּע, knowledge, and it is possibly an expression of ending, according to the context. h.כַּנְּלֹתְךָ is an expression of ‘when you finish.’ “And מִנְלָם shall not fall to the earth,” the destruction decreed upon them shall not fall to the earth to become progressively void, but will become progressively stronger.</html>

Verse 2

<html>Be their arm of the spoiled ones in the hand of the spoiler. (Note that we followed other editions of Rashi. Nach Lublin is erroneous in this passage.) every morning Daily, when they are in straits, also You be our salvation in time of trouble.</html>

Verse 3

<html>From the sound of roaring that emanated from before You, peoples wandered until here when You performed wondrous miracles for us.</html>

Verse 4

<html>And your booty shall be gathered This refers back to “when you finish dealing treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with you,” and your booty, you, who spoil My people, when your reckoning comes, the remnant of My people shall plunder you and gather your booty like the gathering of locusts, each one of whom gathers grain for himself in summer; here too, each one will plunder for himself. like the roaring of the cisterns Like the sound of the roar of water gathering and falling into the cisterns in the river, so will those coming to plunder and pillage, roar. מַשַּׁק is an expression of roaring. Comp. (Prov. 28:15) “A roaring lion and a growling (שׁוֹקֵק) bear.” Also (Zeph. 2:9), “The noise (מִמְשַׁק) of the thorns.” When the wind blows on the thorns, and they knock against one another, they produce a sound. Comp. also, (Joel 2:9) “In the city they roar (יָשֹׁקּוּ).” cisterns (גֵּבִים) like (supra 30: 14) “or to scoop water from a cistern (מִגֶּבֶא).” Our Sages expounded it in the Aggadah of Chapter Chelek (San. 94b) as referring to the booty of Sennacherib’s soldiers.</html>

Verse 5

<html>for He dwells on high He demonstrated His might, that He is exalted above all, and He has the upper hand.</html>

Verse 6

<html>And the faith of your times, etc. And it shall be for you for strength of salvations and for wisdom and knowledge, that you will be faithful to your Creator concerning the times that He set for you for terumoth and tithes at the time of their separation, for gleanings, forgotten sheaves, and the corner of the field in their time, to leave them over for the poor, to keep release years and jubilee years in their time. Another explanation is: faith of your times What you believed in the Holy One, blessed be He, in times that passed over you, and you hoped for salvation, shall become your strength. fear of the Lord That you shall fear Him - that is a good treasure to open up for you from before Him.</html>

Verse 7

<html>Behold [for] their altar they have cried in the street The prophet was prophesying consolations and saying that the retribution had already been completed, and from now I will rise and exalt Myself to redeem them. Behold for their Arel - that is the altar (see above 29:1) - they have already cried and lamented in their streets and in their squares with weeping and wailing. ambassadors of peace And the ambassadors whom they send, who were wont to bring tidings of peace, cry bitterly and say, “Highways have become desolate, the wayfarer has stopped.”</html>

Verse 8

<html>he has abrogated the treaty The enemy has abrogated the treaty he made with Israel. despised cities He despised in his eyes; no enemy considers any man.</html>

Verse 9

<html>mourns (אָבֵל) an expression of mourning. it was cut off Dried and cut off. became (הָיָה, lit. was.) This is the past tense. the Sharon The name of a region of pasture for animals, as we learned (Men. 87a): Rams from Moab, calves from Sharon. like the plain a ruin. have become emptied (וְנֹעֵר) An expression of shaking out. Comp. (Ex. 14:27): “And the Lord shook (וַיְנַעֵר).”</html>

Verse 10

<html>Now I will rise Because of the many evils the enemy perpetrated against My people, I will no longer restrain Myself; now I will rise, be raised and be exalted.</html>

Verse 11

<html>chaff (חֲשַׁשׁ) a kind of chaff, something that is easily ignited. your breath is fire From your body shall emanate breath of fire and will consume the chaff and the stubble.</html>

Verse 12

<html>severed (כְּסוּחִים) Comp. (Lev. 25:4) “You shall not prune.” Onkelos renders: לָא תִכְסָח.</html>

Verse 13

<html>you far-off ones Those who believe in Me and do My will from their youth. you near ones Repentant sinners who have recently drawn near to Me.</html>

Verse 14

<html>Sinners in Zion were afraid How they would find an opening to repent. Who will stand up for us against a consuming fire? (lit., Who will live for us a consuming fire?) I.e., who will stand up for us to appease burning wrath? Alternatively, who among us will dwell, i.e., who among us will dwell in Zion with the Rock, Who is a consuming fire? And he replies, “He who walks righteously, etc.”</html>

Verse 15

<html>He who walks righteously Who will be found? One who walks righteously. who shakes his hands (eskot in O.F.). closes his ear (אֹטֵם) Comp. (I Kings 6:4) “transparent but closed (אֲטֻמִים).” and closes (וְעֹצֵם) Comp. (supra 29:10) “And He has closed (וַיְעַצֵּם) your eyes.”</html>

Verse 16

<html>his bread shall be given He will not seek bread, for it will be supplied to him from heaven. his water sure The source of his water will not fail. I.e., his seed will become great, and all his wants will be supplied.</html>

Verse 17

<html>The King in His beauty shall your eyes behold (The Holy One, blessed be He, Who is a King, Him you shall see from a distant land where you are standing. You shall see the miracles and the greatness that I will perform for you, and a people of a strange tongue, of obscure speech, shall not see the Shechinah of the King in His beauty. [This does not appear in many editions.]) The King in His beauty shall your eyes behold. To you, O righteous man, I say that you shall merit to see the splendor of the Shechinah of the Omnipresent. they shall see [from] a distant land Jonathan renders: You shall look and see those who go down to the land of Gehinnom.</html>

Verse 18

<html>Your heart shall meditate [in] fear When you see the princes and the savants of the heathens, who ruled during their lifetime, and who are now being judged in Gehinnom, your heart will meditate in terror, and you will say, “Where is the wisdom and the greatness of these men? Where is the one who, during his lifetime, would count and weigh every word of wisdom, for they would ask him every counsel of the kingdom? Where is he who counts the towers This too is a matter of the kingdom. He is appointed over the houses of the kingdom, how many they are, and how many towers a certain city requires. Comp. (Ps. 48:13) “Encircle Zion and surround it, count its towers,” how many towers it requires.</html>

Verse 19

<html>A people of a strange tongue (נוֹעָז) like לוֹעֵז. These are all the heathens, whose language is not the holy tongue. ([Other editions read:] These are Assyria and Babylon, whose language is not the holy tongue.) ([Manuscripts read:] These are all the nations whose language is not the holy tongue.) you shall not see You shall not esteem in your heart, for they shall all be dark and humble. speech… obscure (שָׂפָה, lit. lip.) Comp. (Gen. 11:1) “And all the land was one speech (שָׂפָה).” of stammering tongue (נִלְעָג לָשׁוֹן). Comp. (32:4) “The tongue of the stammerers (לְשׁוֹן עִלְּגִים),” (and of obscure speech. All this is a foreign language, for they do not understand the holy tongue.)</html>

Verse 20

<html>See Zion But whom will you see in your heart to be regarded as a kingdom and a ruling power? Zion, which is the city of our meeting place. that shall not fall (יִצְעָן) shall not be lowered. Comp. (Jud. 4:11) “Elon-bezaanannim (אֵלוֹן בְּצַעֲנַנִּים),” which is rendered as: the plain of pits (מִישׁוֹר אַגְנַיָּא), which are pits in the fields, called kombes in O.F. Comp. (Baba Kamma 61b) “The pits of the earth (אַגְנֵי דְאַרְעָא) they are considered,” where water gathers from the mountains and the hills. I believe that the ‘beth’ of the word בְּצַעֲנַנִּים is not radical, but is a prefix. whose pegs shall never be moved (יִסַּע) The pegs with which they tie the ropes of the tent he shall not move them from the earth, from the place into which they are thrust. Comp. (I Kings 5:31) “And they quarried (וַיַּסִּעוּ) great stones.” Also (Jud. 16:3), “And he plucked them (וַיִּסּעֵם) together with the bolt,” an expression of uprooting.</html>

Verse 21

<html>But there ‘But’ refers back to ‘whose pegs shall never be moved,’ and ‘shall not be torn.’ The evil shall not be, only the good. There the Lord shall be mighty for us, and the city shall be a place of rivers and streams, in the manner it is said in Ezekiel (47:4f.): “And He measured a thousand (cubits), and He led me…a stream that I could not cross.” And so did Joel prophesy (4:18) “And a spring shall emanate from the house of the Lord,” that it shall become progressively stronger. a galley with oars a ship that floats on the water. and a great ship (וְצִי אַדִּיר) and a great ship [from Jonathan].</html>

Verse 22

<html>For the Lord is our judge Our prince and judge.</html>

Verse 23

<html>Your ropes that draw the ship, you sinful city. ([Mss. yield:] you, sinful Rome.) properly prepared well. a sail Heb. נס, the sail of a ship. they did not spread out a sail They will not be able to spread the sail that guides the boat. then plunder [and] booty were divided (עד) related to עֲדָאָה, plunder, in Aramaic. by many Many will divide the plunder of the heathens. ([Mss. yield:] the plunder of Edom.) ([Others:] the nations.) ([Still others:] Sennacherib.) lame Israel, who were weak until now.</html>

Verse 24

<html>And the neighbor shall not say (I.e., the neighbor of) Israel. “I am sick” Because of this nation, this misfortune has befallen me, for The people Israel, who is called a people, that dwells in Jerusalem, shall be forgiven of sin.</html>

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Table of Contents

Isaiah 33

Isaiah 33

Notes

Cross Reference

Commentary

Rashi

Verse 1

Verse 2

Verse 3

Verse 4

Verse 5

Verse 6

Verse 7

Verse 8

Verse 9

Verse 10

Verse 11

Verse 12

Verse 13

Verse 14

Verse 15

Verse 16

Verse 17

Verse 18

Verse 19

Verse 20

Verse 21

Verse 22

Verse 23

Verse 24