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text: Rashi on Isaiah
  רש"י על ישעיהו
  Sefaria Community Translation
  
  
  Rashi on Isaiah
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  "The vision of Isaiah the son of Amotz..." Rav Levi said: We have a tradition from our fathers that Amotz and Amatziah, the king of Judah, were brothers.
  "That he saw regarding Judah and Jerusalem." But didn't he prophesy regarding several nations? He prophesied "the prophecy of Bavel" and "the prophecy of Moav." We learn from here that this is not the [chronological] beginning of the book, and the book is not named after this vision. We see in a baraisa in Mechilta that the book (Isaiah's story) begins in the year King Uziah died, but the events are not presented in chronological order. Proof can be found in the words of the sefer: On the tumultuous day on which Uziah became leprous, it says, "And I heard the Voice of G-d saying, 'Whom will I send, and who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here I am, send me.'" We learn that this was the beginning of this mission, and the prophecy in this chapter was said later on. When it says, "That he prophesied on Judah and Jerusalem," it refers specifically to this prophecy. Just as later it says, for each nation's prophecy, "the prophecy of such-and-such nation," here it says that he saw this vision regarding Judah and Jerusalem. [This verse should not be regarded as a general introduction to Isaiah and his prophecies, but rather as a specific introduction to this particular prophecy.] Because this vision comprises harsh words of reproof it is called a "chazon," which is the harshest of the ten terms for prophecy, as it says in Beraishis Rabba. Proof of this can be found in the words "Harsh visions were told to me."
  "In the days of Uziah..." Kings of Judah. [Isaiah] outlived these four kings. On the day that Uziah became leprous the Shechina rested on [Isaiah], and he prophesied throughout all the days of these kings, until Menashe arose and killed him. (And this prophecy was said in the days of Chizkiyahu, after the Ten Tribes were exiled.)
  
  Verse 2
  
  "Hear, heavens, and listen, earth." Moshe said, "Listen, heavens, and hear, earth" (Devarim 32). Why did Isaiah change the phrase? Our rabbis discussed this matter and there are many midrashim in the parsha of Haazinu [where Moshe's original phrase appeared] in Sifri. But the chachamim disagreed with them and said that the true explanation is otherwise: when witnesses come and testify, and their testimonies match, the testimonies are valid, but if the testimonies do not match they are not valid. If Isaiah had not come and given [the language of] "hearing" to the heavens and "listening" to the earth, the heavens would have testified that when they were called on to witness in the days of Moshe, who said "I have called on you to witness today," they were called to perform "listening." But the earth would have testified, "I was called to perform 'hearing,'" and their testimonies would not have matched. Isaiah came and switched the phrases, so both the heavens and the earth could testify regarding "listening" and "hearing."
  "For G-d has spoken." (That [the heavens and earth] should be witnesses in the matter when I warned [the Jews] in the days of Moshe. Therefore come and hear that I have a quarrel with [the Jews], for they did not heed the warning, while I have not rejected them; on the contrary, I have made them great and elevated them, and they sinned against Me. [In another version of Rashi.]) That [the heavens and the earth] should be witnesses in the matter. What matter? "Listen, heavens, and I will speak" (Devarim 32:1). (Mechilta)
  
  Verse 3
  
  "His owner." [The owner] guides [the ox] in the plowing during the day, and after he has accustomed the ox to the task, it knows [how to perform it]. But the donkey is impervious; it does not know its master until he has fed it. Israel was not clever enough to know, as an ox does, when I called them, "Israel will be your name," and told them some of My laws, and they left Me, as it says (Ezekiel 20:39) "Each man, his idols..." And even after I brought them out of Egypt and fed them the mann and called them My nation, the children of Israel were not even as wise as a donkey. Another explanation: The ox recognizes its master and is fearful of him; it does not change what I have decreed upon it, saying, "I will not plow today." And the donkey does not say to its master, "I will not carry loads today." These animals, which were created to serve you, and do not receive reward if they behave appropriately, nor are they punished if they sin, do not change their ways which I decreed upon them. And Israel, who receive reward if they are worthy, and if they sin receive punishment...!
  "Did not know." They did not want to know; they knew and they crushed with their heels; and My nation did not pay attention in order to understand.
  
  Verse 4
  
  Each "הוי" in Tanach is a language of complaint and mourning, like a man who groans from his heart and cries, "Eha." But there are a few of them [the "הוי"s] that are a language of calling out in a loud voice, e.g. "הוי, הוי, and escape from the land of the north" (Zechariah 2), which is translated as "אכלו", a language of proclamation. It is appropriate to cry "הוי" over a holy nation that has become a sinning nation, and a nation of whom it was said "For you are a holy nation," which has become "A nation of the heaviness of iniquity."
  The heaviness of iniquity; the heaviness (noun) of a man who is heavy (adj.).  "פישנ"ט" in Old French. "Heaviness" is the noun form of "being heavy"; "פישנ"טומא" in Old French. It is attached to the word "iniquity."
  And they were the offspring blessed by G-d; they were children of the Holy One, Blessed be He, and become depraved.
  Angered.
  "Nezira," wherever it appears, is a language of separation, as it says, "they should be scrupulous with the sacred donations of the Bnei Yisrael" (Vayikra 22:2); "the elect of his brothers" (Beraishis 49:26). Here, too, they separated and turned away from G-d.
  
  Verse 5
  
  If a man was punished and returns to his evil ways, his friend will reprove him and say, "You were punished for this; why don't you pay attention and say, 'I was punished for this evil behavior, I will not go back and do it again'?" Here, too: Why are you stricken? You are still departing from following after G-d, adding on to your previous departures. Isn't every head already ill? Why do you not gain understanding?
  
  Verse 6
  
  A language of complete wholeness, without pain.
  A wound from a sword.
  Lesion.
  ...Jonathan renders: מְרַסְסָא, lacerated and crushed.
  "דמיצייד"א" in Old French. And in the language of the Gemara, it says "טרייה לרישיה". Menachem translated: a language of moisture, as if to say moist and damp, continually flowing; "מוישט"א" in Old French.
  These afflictions were not sprinkled by doctors with herbs for dressing a wound. This is the same language as "Sulfur is strewn upon his home" (Job 18:15). And Menachem translates "זורו" as a language of healing, as in "No one argues your case for healing" (Jeremiah 30:13). "ולא חובשו." A language of healing.
  Their sore was not softened with oil, as is usual with other sores. It would not make sense to say "_They_ were not softened with oil" [instead of "_it_ was not softened"], because one only softens the location of the sore itself. But "sprinkling" and "bandaging" refer to the entire body, and they are therefore in the plural: the afflictions were not sprinkled [pl.] or bandaged [pl.]. And Yonasan interpreted the entire passage allegorically: Israel is dirtied and afflicted with iniquity. He explained that "from the sole of the foot until the head" means from the lesser ones of Israel to the greater ones [all were sinful]. "There is no wholeness": there is no goodness among them. "Bruises and welts": rebellious, intentional, and unwitting sins. "They were not sprinkled...": they were not healed to return with complete repentance. "And it was not softened with oil": there was not even an argument for a thought of repentance in their hearts.
  
  Verse 7
  
  Your enemies will consume your land before your eyes.
  From you -- like an inheritance that is turned over to strangers, and is desolate from its owners. (This is Yonasan's explanation.)
  
  Verse 8
  
  [Zion will be left] empty from her inhabitants, for they will be exiled from within her, like a vineyard hut is left [empty]: it was made for keeping watch, and once the vineyard is fortified he leaves his hut and goes.....after they fortified it. Or like a resting-hut in a squash field is left, which was built at the front of the squash field for watching over its squash, and when they are gathered he leaves it and goes. The one in the vineyard is called a "סוכה" because the watcher lives there day and night: during the day he guards [the vineyard] from birds, and at night from thieves. But squash are difficult [large and heavy] and have nothing to fear from birds, and there is no need to guard it during the day. It's therefore called a "מלונה" because it's slept in during the night.........
  Like a city that was oppressed, and they made huts around it to conceal soldiers. When the oppressors leave the city, they leave their huts and go. (From Targum Yonason.)
  
  Verse 9
  
  He left us a remnant out of His own mercy, and not because of our merits.
  Completely destroyed.
  
  Verse 10
  
  Princes whose actions are like Sodom. From here they say, "One should not open his mouth to the Satan."
  
  Verse 11
  
  This is like, "Lest He become sated with you and hate you" (Mishlei 25:17).
  Fattened sheep.
  [I no longer desire these] once you have transgressed My Torah. The offerings of wicked ones are an abomination.
  
  Verse 12
  
  To trample my courtyards once your hearts are no longer completely with Me.
  
  Verse 13
  
  I release you: do not bring Me any longer your empty meal-offerings, whose rising smoke is an incense of disgust to Me, and not of pleasure.
  And to declare the new moon and Shabbos, when you gather to announce a holiday and gathering on those days -- I cannot endure the sinfulness in your hearts that is inclined towards idolatry and holiday with it. Two things like this cannot exist together: to call a holiday and gather before me, and the sinfulness that is in your hearts towards idolatry, and you do not excise it from your hearts.
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  Because your hands are filled with blood
  Murder
  
  Verse 16
  
  (It has a patach [rachatzu].) This is a language of command, from the root "wash," but "רחצו" with a kamatz [ruchatzu] is the past tense of the root "wash". Wash, purify, remove, cease, learn, seek, uphold, judge, fight: there are ten terms of repentance here, corresponding to the ten days of repentance [between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur] and the ten verses of Kingship, Remembrance, and Shofar.
  Cease from your evil ways.
  Like "to do evil." There is no need to write, "from doing evil," because this is how the language of the text usually falls with the term "ceasing": e.g., "and refrains from offering the Passover sacrifice" (Numbers 9:13), "until he ceased to measure it" (Genesis 41:49). As if to say: the counting ceased, the offering ceased, so too here, let the evil cease.
  
  Verse 17
  
  It is punctuated ‘raphe,’ weak, without a dagesh. This is from the form לָמֹד, learn to do good. One who teaches himself is of the ‘kal’ form. Therefore, its imperative plural is voweled with a ‘chirik’ like אִמְרוּ, שִׁמְעוּ, but one who teaches others is of the form of the ‘heavy conjugation’ (pi’el) with a ‘dagesh,’ and if one comes to command a number of people, the word is voweled לַמְּדוּ. And so, דִּרְשׁוּ, from the form דְרשׁ, but אַשְּׁרוּ in which the ‘shin’ has a ‘dagesh,’ is from the ‘heavy conjugation,’ and from the form אַשֵּׁר; therefore, the imperative plural is voweled with a ‘patach’ like בַּשְּׂרוּ, סַפְּרוּ, דַּבְּרוּ.It is punctuated ‘raphe,’ weak, without a dagesh. This is from the form לָמֹד, learn to do good. One who teaches himself is of the ‘kal’ form. Therefore, its imperative plural is voweled with a ‘chirik’ like אִמְרוּ, שִׁמְעוּ, but one who teaches others is of the form of the ‘heavy conjugation’ (pi’el) with a ‘dagesh,’ and if one comes to command a number of people, the word is voweled לַמְּדוּ. And so, דִּרְשׁוּ, from the form דְרשׁ, but אַשְּׁרוּ in which the ‘shin’ has a ‘dagesh,’ is from the ‘heavy conjugation,’ and from the form אַשֵּׁר; therefore, the imperative plural is voweled with a ‘patach’ like בַּשְּׂרוּ, סַפְּרוּ, דַּבְּרוּ....
  ...This is a Mishnaic term, אֲשַׁרְנוּהִי, “we have verified it” (Ketuboth 21a);“if I had strength (אֲיַשֵּׁר) ” (Gittin 30b);“May your strength be strengthened (יִישַׁר) ” (Shabbath 87a). Another explanation is: Lead him in the path of truth to acquire what rightfully belongs to him. An expression of: (Job 23:11) “My foot held its path (בֲּאֲשׁוּרוֹ)” ; (Prov. 23:19) “And go (וְאַשֵׁר) in the way of your heart.” 
  "So-and-so is innocent; so-and-so is guilty."
  Involve yourselves in her dispute, to argue on her behalf, because she does not go out to pursue the adversary in her case.
  Theft, as in "from the grasp of one who is unjust and steals" (Tehillim 71:4)
  
  Verse 18
  
  Together, I and you, and we will establish who sinned against whom. And if you sinned against Me, I will yet give you hope to return.
  Stained before Me like the redness of dyed wool -- I will whiten them like snow, says G-d. He always says this to you, as in "By G-d's word they camped" (Numbers 9:20). Another explanation: Come and let us argue regarding what is written above: Cease from doing evil, learn to do good, and once you return to Me, go and we will argue together to tell Me, "We have done our task, now You do Yours," and I will say, "If your sins were like scarlet wool, like snow..."
  A dye which is used to dye red. They are seeds, and there are worms in each each one.
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  And where did He say this? "And I will bring the sword upon you" (Vayikra 26:25)
  
  Verse 21
  
  Straying from her G-d.
  [The city] that was faithful and full of justice, and righteousness dwelt within it -- and now they are murderers.
  Like "Great with people" (Eichah 1:1)
  The morning Tamid offering would atone for the sins of the night, and the evening Tamid offering would atone for the sins of the day. Another explanation: They would "rest" capital cases within the city. When they were not able to exonerate the defendant in one day, they wouldn't complete his sentence until the following day, in case an exculpatory argument would arise and they would become murderers [if they had already executed him]. And we have found in Peskita that R' Menachem bar Oshiah said: There were 481 synagogues in Jerusalem, which is the gematria of "מלאתי", and now they are murderers: they killed Uriah and Zecharia.
  
  Verse 22
  
  They would make currency out of copper and coat it with silver, in order to cheat with them.
  "Your wine is mixed with water." Your drinks are mixed with water, as it says in Pesikta. "מהול" means "mixed", and there is no similar word in Tanach. Midrash Aggadah translates "מהולל" in "To mirth I said, מהולל" (Koheles 2:2) as "mixed."
  
  Verse 23
  
  They stray from the straight path.
  Payments. Targum Yonason: One man would say to his friend: Do me a favor in my judgment, and I will pay you back when I judge your case. If a judge was a thief, and the person he stole from would cry out against him before another judge, the thieving judge would say to him: Rule in my favor today, and I will repay your favor when they cry out against you before me. Thus, they chased the repayment of favors.
  A widow would come to bring a case, and she would meet an orphan coming out. She would ask him, "How did your case go?" and he would say, "All day I have toiled over it and in the end I was not successful." She would turn away and say, "If he, who is a man, was not successful, I will definitely not succeed." Thus: They do not judge the orphan, and the case of the widow does not even appear before them at all.
  
  Verse 24
  
  [G-d is called the Master] because everything is His, and it is in His power to uproot you from your land and plant others in it.
  The strength of Israel.
  A language of invitation and announcement, similar to "הוי and flee from the land of the north" (Zecharia 2:10). And all will know that I will win satisfaction from My enemies who angered Me with their deeds.
  
  Verse 25
  
  Blow after blow until the sinners are destroyed. The language of "בורית" (soap) "סבו"ן" in Old French, a language of cleanliness, as in "and pure of heart" (Tehillim 24:4), because it cleanses the garment from its stains. "סיגיך" refers to what was said above, "Your silver became full of dross [לסיגים]." Copper mixed into silver is called dross. Here, too, sinners are mixed in with the innocent ones. I will wipe out the sinners, who are the dross adulterating the silver.
  Tin mixed in with silver, as if to say that the sinners who are within you are tin. "אשטיי"ס" in Old French.
  
  Verse 26
  
  I will establish for you legitimate judges.
  Like in the beginning, when righteousness would rest in it.
  
  Verse 27
  
  [Zion will be saved] because there will be those within her who serve justice.
  From her sins.
  Those within her who repent. 
  "With righteousness." With those within her who justify themselves with justice and righteousness.
  
  Verse 28
  
  All of these kinds of people were reproved previously in the text: "And they willfully sinned against me"; "a sinning nation"; "they left G-d."
  Rebels and those who serve idols.
  These are the sinners who transgressed other sins.
  
  Verse 29
  
  A language of ...  A kind of tree that is called "אולמ"א" in Old French.
  [That you desired] to serve idols beneath them [the trees], as it says, "Under oaks, cedars, and terebinths whose shade is good" (Hosea 4:13) from the gardens. They would serve idols there, as it says "Those who sanctify and purify themselves to enter the gardens" (Isaiah 66:17).
  
  Verse 30
  
  Its leaf is wilted and withered (פלישטיישנ"ט in Old French), when the hot season comes upon it. ....
  To water its seedlings. In the matter in which they sin, their punishments are equal.
  
  Verse 31
  
  The power with which they would force the poor and rob them, and store up wealth as it says above, "[Your princes are] friends of thieves." That very wealth will be like chaff that is winnowed from flax, which is easy to burn.
  And the perpetrator of that force will be like a spark of fire, and they will burn with each other. Spark is "אישטנציל"א" in Old French. Targum Yonason translate "ופעלו" as "and the work of their hands." But this does not follow the Hebrew language, because if so it should have been vowelized with a chataf patach, and would be interpreted as "work." Instead it is vowelized with a melupum (or cholom) and is interpreted as "worker."
  Jonathan renders: And no one will pity them.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  after the rebels perish.
  Fixed
  On a mountain that is the head of all the mountains in the importance of the mountains.
   The miracle performed on it, will be greater than the miracles of Sinai, Carmel, and Tabor....
  will gather and stream to it like rivers.
  
  Verse 3
  
  Since he [Jacob] called it [the Temple site] Beth El [the house of God], therefore, it will be called on his name, but Abraham called it a mount, “On God’s mount shall He appear” (Gen. 22:14); Isaac called it a field, “to meditate in the field” (ibid. 24:63).
  
  Verse 4
  
  Koltres in Old French
  sarpes in O.F. [serpes in modern French], with which they prune the vineyards.
  
  Verse 5
  
  The nations will say this to them, and this verse refers back to the verse [commencing with], “And many peoples shall go…”
  They will say this to them. Jonathan, however, renders: And those of the house of Jacob will say, [“Come and let us go in the teaching of the Law of the Lord”].
  
  Verse 6
  
  The prophet addresses the Shechinah and says, “For until now You have forsaken Your People because of their iniquity.” [Other editions read:] “… that which You have forsaken Your people was because of their iniquity, for they are full of [witchcraft] from the East,” and the entire section, and all the chapters follow one another, until (ch. 5) “I will sing now…” Therefore, in the end of days, when the sinners perish, it will be good for them (Parshandatha). (Another explanation is: The prophet admonishes them and says this to them, “For you have forsaken your people, O house of Jacob…” You have forgotten [the deed of your people Parshandatha] the good deed through which you became a people, you house of Jacob.)
  Their hosts have become full of the deeds of the Arameans who dwell in the East, who were sorcerers and used the name of pagan deities. [Other editions read:]… and used the name of defilement [sorcery and demonism Rashi ad loc.], as we say in Ch. Chelek (Sanh. 91a): “Abraham gave gifts” (Gen. 25:6) He gave them the name of defilement and sent them away to the land of the East [as quoted by Parshandatha].
  They cohabit with the daughters of the heathens and mingle with them, and they would bear children to them, with whom they are always pleased, and they occupy themselves [with them] and long for them and bother with them. This is an expression similar to [that of] (Job 36:18) “lest he incite you because of abundance (בְּשֶׂפֶק)” [debatement in O.F].
  
  Verse 7
  
  an expression derived from קץ.
  
  Verse 8
  
  Although the form is future, it is to be rendered like מִשְׁתַּחֲוִים, they prostrate themselves.
  
  Verse 9
  
  [This refers to] inferior [men].
  [This refers to] great [men], heroes, and warriors.
  The prophet says to the Holy One, blessed be He: And I know that you shall not forgive them from punishing them.
  
  Verse 10
  
  To come into the rock to escape in the cracks of the rocks.
  and to hide in the dust.
  
  Verse 11
  
   [This means] the haughty spirit, and so every expression of haughty eyes in the Scriptures, as it is said: “Whoever is haughty of eye, lustful in heart…” (Ps. 101:5).
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  This is symbolic of the heroes [var. the kings].
  The governors, just as the oaks are inferior to the cedars.
  
  Verse 14
  
  over their inhabitants.
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  Jonathan renders: And over all those who inhabit the islands of the sea, who go and come by ship.
  The name of a sea called Tarshish.
  palaces paved with coverings of marble floors, similar to: (Lev. 26:1) and a covering stone מַשְׂכִּית) (וְאֶבֶן, since they cover the ground with it.
  
  Verse 17
  
  That is the Day of Judgment.
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  the inhabitants of the earth shall come into the caves of the rocks.
  They are caves.
  For judgment day
  to break the wicked of the earth.
  
  Verse 20
  
  idols in the likeness of moles, a species of rodents who dig in the earth, called talpes in O.F. [taupes in modern French].
  kalbe soric [chauvesouris in modern French]. Alternatively, this may be interpreted to mean that man will cast his idols that he made for himself, before which to prostrate himself, into pits and ditches that he finds before him when he goes to escape and hide.
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  not to heed those who cause you to stray from following Me and to prostrate yourselves to the work of his hands.
  Whose entire life and strength are dependent upon the breath of his nostrils, which is a fleeting spirit, in him today and leaving him tomorrow. Surely the image of the moles and the bats has no substance. Another explanation is: Withdraw yourselves from all the evil ways and learn from the man who has a soul in his nostrils. Have you seen to what he is esteemed? Surely the image of his handiwork is of no esteem.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  This entire section is explained in Tractate Chagigah (14a): Isaiah cursed Israel [i.e., prophesied tribulations for them] with eighteen curses, yet he was not satisfied until he said, (verse 5) “The youth shall behave haughtily against the old, and the base against the honorable.”
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  One who knows how to intercolate the years and fix the months.
  [explained by the Talmud as “wise of the deaf,” meaning that] when he commences [to speak of] words of Torah, all become as deaf [i. e., unable to refute his statement].
  [The Talmud separates this into two, explaining “understanding” as one capable of deducing a decision from an earlier premise. “Secret” is explained as] one fit to be entrusted with secrets of the Torah, given in whispers, such as the story of Creation and the account of the Celestial Chariot, related in Ezekiel 1.
  
  Verse 4
  
  These are people devoid of any observance of the commandments.
  foxes, [i.e.,] weak people. But I say that according to the simple meaning, תַּעֲלוּלִים means scornful people, people who mock them, as (Job 16:15): “I soiled (וְעוֹלַלְתִּי) my radiance in the dust,” and (Exod. 10: 2): “how I mocked (הִתְעַלַּלְתִּי) the Egyptians.”
  
  Verse 5
  
  They shall be pressed and oppressing each other with competition and strife.
  The youth will raise himself over the elder.
  [This is to be interpreted] according to its simple meaning. The exegetical meaning is as follows: Let one to whom grave interdicts seem light come and raise himself over one to whom light interdicts seem grave.
  
  Verse 6
  
  When a man shall seize his brother in his father’s house, saying, “You are wealthy in Torah, and it is as white to you as a garment.”
  and teach us.
  upon which we are stumbling, in prohibition or permissibility, in defilement or in purity, shall be under your hand, for you know how to instruct us. Another explanation is: You have a garment to clothe the naked. fajjlejjnca in O.F. [faibless in modern French]. My want, that I lack bread, is under your hand to supply me. Therefore, you shall be to us as an officer. He replies, In my house there is neither bread nor clothing. What then are my qualifications as an officer?
  
  Verse 7
  
  is only an expression of swearing; he will swear to them, I will not be a ‘Chovesh.’ I will not be one of those confined to the study hall, since, in my house there is neither bread nor clothing; I have understanding neither of the Mishnah nor of the Aggadah. Another explanation according to the simple meaning is: I will not be a confiner; I will not be a judge, who confines the convicts to prison.
  
  Verse 8
  
  They are all faulty and falling, and no one assists the next one. Why? Because they refused to obey, and now, they all provoke.
  against Him to provoke Him.
  to provoke before His glory. Another explanation is: to provoke the matters of His glory.
  
  Verse 9
  
  The sin that they recognize faces [i.e., show favoritism] in judgment testified against them before Me. Another version is: The recognition of their facesThey are recognizable by the boldness of their faces.
  They committed [sins] publicly.
  
  Verse 10
  
  Say to the righteous man that he did good.
  
  Verse 11
  
  For he is bad to himself and to others; he brings about harm to himself and to others. [This is found] in Tanchuma (Emor 5). This verse refers back to: Say to the righteous that he is good and woe is to the wicked [who does evil].
  
  Verse 12
  
  They are mockers.
  Adulterous women govern them, as he states below (verse 16): “Since the daughters of Zion were haughty,” and they turned their hearts to evil; therefore, all weaklings governed them. Jonathan renders it as an expression of creditors (נוֹשִׁים) [rendering: and as creditors they govern them].
  Your leaders, who should have led you on the good way, lead you astray. Spoiled
  
  Verse 13
  
  This expression of standing means delay.
  
  Verse 14
  
  For they should have protested (Shabbath 55a), and to the nations He says, And you have ravaged My vineyard. I became slightly incensed [against them,] and you helped to do harm.
  [Of] a poor generation, for they were poor in good deeds. All this is in the Midrash Aggadah, but according to its simple meaning, the entire section deals with Israel, and “stands to judge the peoples,” refers to the tribes. The elders and the officers ‘ate up’ the rest of the people.
  
  Verse 15
  
  What is to you?
  Crush and degrade to disgrace them in their lawsuit.
  
  Verse 16
  
  Concerning the women who governed My people, “Since the daughters of Zion are so haughty…"
  an expression of looking. Another explanation is: They paint their eyes with vermilion or with blue eye shade.
  This is an expression of something floating on another, as (Deut. 11:4): “over whom He caused… to flow (הֵצִיף),” which the Targum renders as אַטֵיף. Thus, a tall one would walk between two short ones, in order to appear to be floating over them (Shabbath 62b). Jonathan, however, renders: and with wigs they surround themselves. They would tie wigs, braids of cut-off hair. They would twist together with their braids so that they would appear thick and broad.
  When they would pass in the street near Jewish youths, they would stamp their feet and hint to them of the affection of the adulteresses, in order to arouse their temptation, like the venom of a serpent. עֶכֶס is the venom of a serpent.
  
  Verse 17
  
  This is an expression of zaraath [believed to be a form of leprosy, see Commentary Digest II Kings 5:1], as (in Leviticus 13:6): “It is a mispachath (מִסְפַּחַת).” But since it is written with a ‘sin,’ our Sages expounded about it that they would become enslaved maidservants (שְׁפָחוֹת), and some expounded it to mean that He smote them with many families (מִשְׁפָּחוֹת) of lice. Their vessels He shall pour out. This is the Aramaic language, like “a black vessel” פַּתְיָא אוּכְמָא [in] (Pesachim 88a). They would say, Let Him hurry and hasten His deed, to bring on the invaders. An officer will see me and take me. When the retribution came, Nebuchadnezzar’s officers took them for wives because of their beauty. Thereupon, the Holy One, blessed be He, signaled to their ‘fountains,’ and blood of an issue flowed from them profusely, as a person pours from one vessel to another. They became loathsome to them, and they cast them to the ground from upon their chariots (Lamentations Rabbah 4:15). Jonathan, however, rendered: He will remove their glory.
  This means wideness or greatness.
  
  Verse 18
  
  In the future, when the Holy One, blessed be He, will come to restore Israel to Him, the Lord shall remove from them the glory of the shoes, that they will not depend for their glory on the beauty of women’s jewelry and objects of vanity.
  The shoes that were on their feet with which they spouted venom.
  Types of headdresses for the ornaments of the head. Many [instances of this word] are found in the language of the Mishnah: the embroidered headdress (שביס) of the hair net (Kelim 28:10).
  Jonathan renders: the hair nets.
  
  Verse 19
  
  an expression similar to (Proverbs 1:9): “And necklaces (עֲנָקִים) for your throat.” They are called נְטָפוֹת, meaning “to drip,” because they hang on the neck and drip onto the breast, and they are a sort of pierced pearls, strung on a string, mostnecs in O. F.
  bracelets for the arm, translated וְשִׁירַיָא.
  A veil with which they envelop their entire countenance except the eyeball, so that a man will desire to satisfy himself by gazing at the cheeks. Another explanation is that they are types of pretty shawls, with which to enwrap themselves, and in the language of the Mishnah, there is an instance: “Shawled (רְעוּלוֹת) Arabian women,” in Tractate Shabbath (65a).
  
  Verse 20
  
  The Targum renders: tiaras. This resembles (Exodus 39:28): “the beautiful hats (פַּאֲרֵי הַמִּגְבָּעוֹת).”
  circlets for the legs.
  as the name implies, short ties with which they tie their hair, and some make them gilded, fres in O.F.
  opposite the heart, nosche in O.F.
  rings for the ear, the place into which people whisper (לוֹחֲשִׁים).
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
   [Jonathan renders:] כִּתּוּנַיָּא as in Samuel (2 2:21): and take to yourself his clothing (חֲלִיצָתוֹ), for the body is clothed with them, and when they are removed, they are removed from the body (חוֹלְצִין).
   bedspreads, according to the Targum, who renders שׁוֹשִׁיפַיָא. Tablecloths.
  [Jonathan] translates it as מַחְכַּיָּא, [an ornament] bearing the shape of the woman’s private parts, as we translate כּוּמָז (Ex. 35:22) as מָחוֹ
  
  Verse 23
  
  These are mirrors, as the Targum renders: מַחְזְיָתָא, miradojjr in O.F., and because they reveal (מְגַלּוֹת) the form of the face, they are called גִּלְיוֹנִים, or perhaps their mirrors were rolled (נִגְלָלוֹת).
  of linen with which they would enwrap themselves.
  molekin in O.F.
  Fermalc in O.F., and they are of gold with which the shawl is closed when the woman enwraps herself therein.
  
  Verse 24
  
  The place where they would perfume themselves will be decayed.
  The place where she girded herself, there will be lacerated, cut with wounds and signs of blows, as (Job: 19:26): “And after my skin is cut to pieces (נִקְּפוּ) ” ; (infra 10:34) “and the thickets of forest shall be cut down (וְנִקַּף).”
  [The place where they would do the deed mentioned above: “walking and raising themselves they walk,” and that is at the height of the head, there will be] מִקְשֶׁה קָרְחָה, a wound that makes the head bald. מִקְשֶׁה is an expression similar to (Daniel 5: 6): “knocked one against the other (נַקְשָׁן).” I would explain it as follows: The place where they would put the plates of gold made by hammering batdec in O.F.but it is vowelized in the Masorah among the ten words vowelized with a ‘pattach’ [i.e., a ‘segol,’ and none of them is connected to the following word, and every [instance of the word] that is in the construct state is vowelized with a ‘kamatz’ [i.e., a ‘tzeireh’].
  This is like two words: פְּתִי גִיל, a vessel [or organ] that brings levity; the secret parts about which is mentioned above: shall pour out their ‘vessels.’ Instead of that levity, a girdle of sackcloth will be on all loins.
  For this is fitting for them to have instead of the beauty with which they acted haughtily.
  
  Verse 25
  
  Your heroes, your men of war, who go out in the army with a number.
  
  Verse 26
  
  an expression of lamentations.
  The gates of the towns and houses. In all their gates will be lamentation.
  and she shall be cleansed, meaning: and she shall be emptied of everything, like (Amos 4:6): “And behold, I have given you cleanness of teeth שִׁנַּיִם) (נִקְיוֹן,” [meaning hunger,] and in the language of the Mishnah;“So- and-so was cleaned out (נקי) of his belongings” (Baba Kamma 41a).
  [This denotes figuratively that they will be reduced] from a high station to a low one. (Lam. 2: 10) “… shall sit on the ground and remain silent,” on the Ninth of Av.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  And they shall take hold of.
  because of the many widows, with one man they would ask from him that he should marry them.
  hide our reproach, similar to (Deut. 22:2): “And you shall gather it (ואספתו) into your house.” For the woman, when she is married, will not be dealt with licentiously. According to Midrash Aggadah, (Lamentations Rabbah 5:11) Nebuchadnezzar commanded (or decreed upon) [his armies] not to have relations with married women, lest they be punished. They, therefore, begged to be nominally married.
  
  Verse 2
  
  After the beauty of the ornaments of the adulteresses and the wanton women is curtailed, the glory of My people and the beauty of their honor will no longer depend upon these things.
  to you for beauty.
  They are the righteous who remain among them, and the sages, the students of the Torah; upon them will they depend the beauty of their honor.
  They are the children of the righteous, the fruit of the Tree of Life. They shall be for greatness and glory, for the survivors of Israel will boast and praise themselves with them. צְבִי means ‘beauty,’ an object of desire, for there is desire in it.
  
  Verse 3
  
  among them will settle in Zion.
  anywhere, shall dwell in Jerusalem.
  All of them will be righteous. Now lest you say that the righteous who died prior to this day have lost their honor, the Scripture states: “anyone inscribed for life,” in the Hereafter, will be in Jerusalem.In this manner, Jonathan translates it.
  
  Verse 4
  
  There are instances of אִם being used in this manner in the usage of כִּי; and so (Job 8:18): “But when (אִם) men destroy him from his place,” is [equivalent to] כִּי יְבַלְּעֶנּוּ. Also (Gen. 24:9): “Until when (אִם) they will have finished drinking.”...
  Defilement, as its Aramaic translation; i.e. to say, when He will remove their iniquity through chastening and purging from the world.
  an expression of ‘washing’ in the language of the Mishnah, and in Scripture (Ezek. 40:38): “There they will rinse (יָדִיחוּ) the burnt offering.”
  through chastening. ‘spirit’ [is equivalent] to talant in O.F. When He so desires to judge them.
  to purge them from the world, בָּעֵר is like לְבָעֵר, to purge, descombrement in O.F., an expression of doing, going.
  
  Verse 5
  
  and over those summoned therein.
  to protect them from the nations. stated to them, shall be a shelter, for I will cause My Shechinah to cover them. Seven chupoth [shelters or canopies] are [mentioned here]: cloud, smoke, splendor, fire, flame, shelter, Shechinah.
  
  Verse 6
  
  to protect from the burning of the future sun, as it is said in regard to the wicked (Malachi 3:19): “And the coming sun shall set them ablaze,” for the Holy One, blessed be He, will take the sun out of its case, and cause it to burn them.
  [This is] an expression of covering. in which to hide.
  of fire gushing forth from the river of fire on the wicked in Gehinnom, as it is said (Jeremiah 23:19): “On the heads of the wicked it shall rest.” [This is found] in Tractate Chagigah 13b.
  the rain that falls on the wicked, as in the manner stated in Psalms 11:6: “He rains on the wicked burning coals.”
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  The prophet says: “I will now sing for my beloved and in his place and as his messenger. [The word לִידִידִי would usually mean, ‘to my beloved.’] Similar to (Exodus 14:4): ” The Lord will wage war for you (לָכֶם) , for you [not ‘to you’]."
  This is the song of my beloved that he sang for his vineyard, about his vineyard, as (Genesis 26:7): “And the people of the place asked about his wife (לְאִשְׁתּוֹ), about his wife [not ‘to his wife’].”
  in a corner that produces fat fruit, like good oil.
  a corner fit for oil, for olives to produce oil, [like] (I Samuel 20:31) בֶּן-מָוֶת, [lit. a son of death,] fit to die. This is a parable, and at the end of the section, he will explain it.
  (This is Odom Horishon)
  (This is Hakodosh Boruch Hu)
  (In Gan Eden)
  
  Verse 2
  
  He fenced it and walled it around, surrounded like a sort of ring, translated into Aramaic as עִיזְקָא.
  He cleared it of the stones that are detrimental to the vines, comp. (infra 62:10) “Clear of stones (סַקְּלו ֹמֵאֶבֶן).”
  They are the best of all branches for planting.
  A press in which to press the grapes.
  the pit that is before the press, to receive the wine. Likewise, every יֶקֶב in Scripture is an expression denoting a pit. Likewise (Zechariah 14: 4), עַד יִקְבֵי הַמֶלֶ, which Jonathan renders, “Until the King’s pits.” This is the depth of the ocean. Therefore, the expression of hewing applies, just like (Deut. 6:11): “and hewn pits.”
  And my beloved hoped that this vineyard would produce grapes for him.
  Similar to grapes, and they are called lanbrojjses in O.F.
  Regarding the ten canopies that are stated in that chapter about Chirom the king of Tyre.
  From the Yetzer Horah, until he ate from the tree and then the Yetzer Horah entered him.
  The beginning of his creation is from the place of the altar.
  And he blew into his nostrils the breath of life from the upper realms.
  A spring flowing, the fountain of wisdom.
  That he should know and praise you.
  putrid things; he reviled and blasphemed.
  Since the end of the parable comes to say that they too did like him, he asks them the judgment.
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  I will remove the fence that covers and protects it. מְשׂוּכָה is a fence of thorns; גָדֵר is a fence of stones.
  The vineyard
  For cattle and wild beasts will graze there.
  What appears in my eyes to do to him and I did it.
  I expelled him from amidst his canopies.
  He will eventually die and evil beats will rule over him.
  I expelled from the enclosure of Paradise.
  
  Verse 6
  
  an expression of desolation and emptiness. Compare (infra 7:19): “in the desolate valleys (הַבַּתּוֹת).”
  this is an expression of digging in a vineyard.
  Menahem ben Seruk interprets them as kinds of thorns (Machbereth Menahem p. 176), but I say that “shamir” is a word denoting a strong worm that splits stones, with which Solomon built the Temple, like the matter that is written (Ezekiel 3:19), “Like a shamir, stronger than rock.”
  an expression similar to (Lamentations 3:47), “desolation (הַשְׁאֵת) and breach,” an expression similar to (infra 6:11), “shall be made desolate (תִּשָּׁאֶה) [as a wilderness” ; i.e., it will be] empty with no one seeking it to enter it, and thereby worms will overrun it.
  I put him on his side, that I did not give him the Torah in his days.
  They did not learn from it not Zechus or good deeds.
  The Yetzer Horah ruled him and in the other generations for them to do disgusting things.
  I commanded him to keep guard and to guard the way of life.
  
  Verse 7
  
  To this vineyard are you compared, O House of Israel, for all that He did for this vineyard, He did for Israel. The vineyard represents Adam, for we find in Midrash Aggadah, in many places in Tanhuma, and in Genesis Rabbah [that] these passages are expounded concerning him, e.g., Adam was not expelled from Paradise until he reviled and blasphemed, as it is said: And He hoped to produce grapes,… (Gen. Rabbah 19:12). And in another place we find: He appointed guards over him that he should not eat from the Tree of Life, as it is said (verse 6): “And I will command the clouds…” (ibid. 21:8). And in this manner, [the following verses] can be expounded concerning him:
  For the House of Israel is to Me like that vineyard; The ten tribes were to Me like a vineyard producing wine, like an olive orchard, in a fat corner, in a fat land, [producing anointing] oil for the priesthood, [anointing] oil for the kingdom, oil for the Menorah, oil for the meal offerings. I fenced them in first with the encirclement of the clouds of glory in the desert and I cleared them of stones, i.e., I cleansed them of the transgressors of the generation. I planted them with the choicest vines (שׂוֹרֵק) six hundred and six commandments, like the numerical value of שׂוֹרֵק, I added for them to the seven commandments that the children of Noah were commanded. I built a tower in their midst, My Tabernacle and My Temple, and also a vat, the altar and the pits [the pits by the side of the altar into which the remainder of the libations was poured.]
  They corrupted their deeds. And now, dwellers of Jerusalem and men of Judah: who have not yet been exiled, please judge between me and between them concerning the evil that I brought on them; who sinned against whom? What more could I have done: beneficial deeds. or My vineyard, and I have not done: for it? Now I will inform you: Even you who anger Mewhat is fitting in My eyes to do to My vineyard, according to all that I did to Adam, viz. to remove its hedge: I will remove My Shechinah from them, the Shechinah that covers them, as it is said (infra 22:8), “And He bared the covert of Judah.”
  I will demolish its walls.
  And I will make them forsaken [from Targum Jonathan].
  They will not be visited nor will they be supported. [from Targum Jonathan].
  And they will be wandering and forsaken, represented by the שָׁמִיר וָשָׁיִת [desolation] of the vineyard, and regarding the vineyard itself in another place, it is rendered הֲבָאִי וּבוּר, desolate and fallow.
  And I will command the prophets not to prophesy on your behalf [Jonathan]. Prophecy is analogous to rain, which the clouds receive from heaven; so do the prophets receive the divine prophecy.
  but since it is in the construct state, it is vowelized with a patach, like (Num. 7: 88) בְּקַר זֶבַח הַשְּׁלָמִים, “the cattle of the peace offerings.”
  that they would perform justice, and behold, there was מִשְׂפָּח, an accumulation of sin upon sin, like (I Sam. 26: 19), “From cleaving (מֵהִסְתַּפֵּחַ) ,” also (ibid. 2:36), “Take me now into (סְפָחֵנִי).” Another explanation is that it is an expression of a lesion, and since it is a similar expression, for, in pronunciation, מִשְׂפָּח resembles מִשְׁפָּט, and so, זְעָקָה resembles צְדָקָה, it fell through divine inspiration into the prophet’s mouth.
  
  Verse 8
  
  Twenty-two instances of אַשְׁרֵי, fortunate, were said in the Book of Psalms concerning those who fulfill [the tenets of] the Torah, and Isaiah said twenty-two times, “ הוֹי,” woe, concerning the wicked. Woe: An expression of a cry of a sigh concerning the impending retribution.
  They draw their houses one to the other, thereby taking the land of the weak poor man between the two houses, and so a field to a field.
  No place for the poor man to live.
  You think that neither the Holy One, blessed be He, nor the poor, have a share in the land. His share of the tithes you are stealing, and the poor, [you are robbing] of their land, so that you alone will occupy it.
  
  Verse 9
  
  Said the prophet, Both my ears heard when the decree was decreed upon them by the Lord, and with an oath, “Truly, because of this thing, great houses will become desolate, yea, large ones and good ones, without inhabitants.”
  
  Verse 10
  
  And, because of the famine, the inhabitants of the house will be exiled, leaving no one dwelling in them. This, too, will be for your payment in kind for bringing one field near to the other field, for you have stolen the share of the Omnipresent in the tithe of the land.
  arpent in French, and I say that the amount of land requiring the work of one day with a yoke of oxen is called צֶמֶד, a yoke. will produce one bath: One measure of wine. A bath is three se’ah.
  A place where a kur, which is thirty se’ah of grain, is usually produced, will produce an ephahthree se’ah.
  
  Verse 11
  
  To drink wine at night.
  It burns in them.
  
  Verse 12
  
  A lute has more strings than a harp. [Perhaps Rashi explains נֵבֶל as a lyre, which may have more strings than a harp.] Now why is it called נֵבֶל ? Because it disgraces (מְנַבֵּל) all kinds of musical instruments. In Midrash Tehillim (81:3).
  This was made of skin.
  A flute of reed, chalemel in O.F.
  And in the Torah of the Lord they did not look [from Jonathan].
  They pretended that they did not see His mighty deeds. Another explanation is: They did not praise Him in the morning by reciting, “He Who forms light,” nor in the evening, by reciting, “He Who brings on the evenings.”
  
  Verse 13
  
  because their heart was without knowledge.
  and its honor dead ones of hunger.
  Thirst corresponds to their elaborate drinking feasts. 
  Aramaic for thirst.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  Beasts, i.e. Deamons
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  But there -The phrase 'but there' refers back to  "... a tent that shall not fall, whose pegs shall never be moved, and all of whose ropes shall not be torn." (Isaiah 33:20) Evil will not be, but rather good. The Lord will there, great for us, and the city will be a place of rivers and stream as it says "And he measured one thousand, a stream that I could not cross..." (Ezekiel 47:5) So too Yoel prophesied "...and a spring shall emanate from the house of the Lord..." (Yoel 4:18) This is the river which will progressively increase.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  הן עבדי אתמך בו This is my servant Jacob, you have none like him, for I am supported by him.  
  בחירי: Israel is named my chosen one (Psalms 135 "For Adonai has chosen Jacob for Adonai, Israel, as God's treasured possession" for (this).
  רצתה נפשי I placed my spirit upon him to make his prophecy known, his secret and his end (sofo) justice will go out to the nations as it is written ... 
  
  
  
  
  
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  By saying, 'By what shall I know?'
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  shall be gathered to him: They will return in repentance.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  "Sing, oh barren one" Jerusalem, who was as one who never gave birth:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  "Upon your walls, oh Jerusalem" Our rabbis explained this according to its implied meaning - angels who recall her destruction before Gd in order that He rebuild her. What did they say? "You will rise, You will have mercy on Zion..." (Tehillim 102:14) "For the Lord has chosen Zion..." (Tehillim 132:13) as it says in tractate Menachot. Yonatan translates 'your walls' as the forefathers who guard us like a wall.