6:9-10 וַיֹּאמֶר לֵךְ וְאָמַרְתָּ לָעָם הַזֶּה
שִׁמְעוּ שָׁמוֹעַ וְאַל־תָּבִינוּ וּרְאוּ רָאוֹ וְאַל־תֵּדָעוּ׃ הַשְׁמֵן לֵב־הָעָם
הַזֶּה וְאָזְנָיו הַכְבֵּד וְעֵינָיו הָשַׁע פֶּן־יִרְאֶה בְעֵינָיו וּבְאָזְנָיו
יִשְׁמָע וּלְבָבוֹ יָבִין וָשָׁב וְרָפָא לוֹ׃
He then said, “Go and tell this people: ‘You hear but do
not comprehend, you see but are not aware. The hearts of this people have
become fattened, their ears deafened and their eyes glazed—lest they see with
their eyes, hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts and return;
thus, they would be healed.’”
God then commissioned Isaiah to tell the people: “You
hear with your ears, even understand with your intellects, but do not comprehend
the message. You see with your eyes, even interpret with your brains, but are not
aware of the message. You have heard with your ears the words of the
prophets, but do not take them to heart; you have seen with your eyes the
marvels of God, but are still not aware of His Presence. For you have fattened
your hearts and closed off your inner ears and do not let yourselves really see—you
are afraid that God’s Word may reach you and that would bring healing to your souls.”
(Shmuel Yerushalmi, The Book of Yeshayahu: Me’am Lo’ez [trans. Yehoshua
Starrett; New York: Moznaim Publishing Corporation, 1999], 44)
9:1 הָעָם הַהֹלְכִים בַּחֹשֶׁךְ רָאוּ אוֹר גָּדוֹל
יֹשְׁבֵי בְּאֶרֶץ צַלְמָוֶת אוֹר נָגַהּ עֲלֵיהֶם׃
The people who walk in darkness shall see a great light;
those dwelling in death’s shadow shall be radiated with light.
Returning now to speak about Judah’s ordeals, Isaiah
foresees “light”—salvation—for
the people of Judah who are presently going through “dark” times. But Isaiah is
not only referring to the present threat of Aram’s and Samaria’s joined forces,
he is also referring to the future threat of Assyrian in King Hezekiah’s days:
besieged by Sannecherib and in the “shadow of death,” that generation shall be miraculously
saved—be “radiated with light.” And Isaiah is also alluding to the people’s
spiritual “light” in King Hezekiah’s times as compared to the present state of spiritual
darkness that the people were walking in, under King Ahaz. (Shmuel
Yerushalmi, The Book of Yeshayahu: Me’am Lo’ez [trans. Yehoshua
Starrett; New York: Moznaim Publishing Corporation, 1999], 62)
28:9-10 אֶת־מִי יוֹרֶה דֵעָה וְאֶת־מִי יָבִין
שְׁמוּעָה גְּמוּלֵי מֵחָלָב עַתִּיקֵי מִשָּׁדָיִם׃כִּי צַו לָצָו צַו לָצָו קַו לָקָו קַו לָקָו זְעֵיר שָׁם זְעֵיר שָׁם׃
To whom shall they teach wisdom, to whom shall they impart
knowledge—[they are like] those weaned from milk and removed from the breast.
For instruction by instruction, instruction by instruction, measure by measure,
measure by measure; a bit here, a bit there.
The entire people have gone astray—the true prophets and
teachers have no one to teach and no one to guide. They all have become like little
children just weaned from the breast.
And it is not that the teachers overburdened them with
too much—they tried them a bit at a time. But even this they could not bear.
. . .
28:13 וְהָיָה לָהֶם דְּבַר־יְהוָה צַו לָצָו
צַו לָצָו קַו לָקָו קַו לָקָו זְעֵיר שָׁם זְעֵיר שָׁם לְמַעַן יֵלְכוּ וְכָשְׁלוּ
אָחוֹר וְנִשְׁבָּרוּ וְנוֹקְשׁוּ וְנִלְכָּדוּ׃
The Word of God will thus
be for them instruction by instruction, instruction by instruction, measure by
measure, measure by measure, a bit here, a bit there, so that they go and fall
backwards and become broken, ensnared and trapped.
Because the people of
Judah could not bear to learn the Word of God—even one instruction and one
measure at a time (v. 10)—therefore God will “instruct” the gentiles mete
upon them a “measure” of retribution for every measure of Judah’s sins
and to exile them among the nations, spreading them “a few here and a few
there.” Let them all into national decline and be trapped amidst mighty
nations. (Shmuel Yerushalmi, The Book of Yeshayahu: Me’am Lo’ez
[trans. Yehoshua Starrett; New York: Moznaim Publishing Corporation, 1999],
171, 172)
31:3 וּמִצְרַיִם אָדָם וְלֹא־אֵל וְסוּסֵיהֶם
בָּשָׂר וְלֹא־רוּחַ וַיהוָה יַטֶּה יָדוֹ וְכָשַׁל עוֹזֵר וְנָפַל עָזֻר וְיַחְדָּו
כֻּלָּם יִכְלָיוּן׃
For the Egyptians are men and not gods, and their horses
are flesh and not spirit, so when God tilths His hand, the helper shall stumble
and the helped shall fall and they shall all perish together.
How foolish it is to trust in a human!—he cannot annual
what God has decreed. How foolish they were to place trust in Egypt—they would
not keep their word as God keeps His. And Egypt’s horses are only flesh without
spirit and are just a tool in the Egyptians’ hands—how can they help them more
than Egypt itself? So when “God
tilts HIs hand” which supported Egypt’s prowess, they who leaned on Egypt shall
also fall. (Shmuel Yerushalmi, The Book of Yeshayahu: Me’am Lo’ez
[trans. Yehoshua Starrett; New York: Moznaim Publishing Corporation, 1999],
193-94)
54:12 וְשַׂמְתִּי כַּדְכֹד שִׁמְשֹׁתַיִךְ וּשְׁעָרַיִךְ
לְאַבְנֵי אֶקְדָּח וְכָל־גְּבוּלֵךְ לְאַבְנֵי־חֵפֶץ׃
I shall make your windowpanes of rubies and your gates of
precious stones and all your borders of gems.
The wealth of the Jewish people will be so great that
even their personal dwelling places will be built with precious stones. And although
these prophecies are to be taken literally, then also allude to the Jewish
people: The carbuncles are the Jewish women and the sapphires are the children;
the windowpanes are the sages and wise ones, the gates are the judges and the
borders are the messages. All of these shall reach great spiritual levels which
are comparable to the lasting value of precious stones. (Shmuel Yerushalmi, The
Book of Yeshayahu: Me’am Lo’ez [trans. Yehoshua Starrett; New York: Moznaim
Publishing Corporation, 1999], 348)
61:1 רוּחַ אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה עָלָי יַעַן מָשַׁח
יְהוָה אֹתִי לְבַשֵּׂר עֲנָוִים שְׁלָחַנִי לַחֲבֹשׁ לְנִשְׁבְּרֵי־לֵב לִקְרֹא לִשְׁבוּיִם
דְּרוֹר וְלַאֲסוּרִים פְּקַח־קוֹחַ׃
The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, for God has
appointed me to herald the humble, sending me to bandage the broken-hearted, to
declare freedom for captives and release for the imprisoned.
To strengthen the hearts of the humble and broken Jewish
people, Isaiah reassures of Redemption. Even if it tarries in coming, God Himself
has vows to bring it. More than any other prophet, Isaiah foretells it, because
he was chosen by God. He heralds to those who are humble and accepting, not complaining
about exile’s length. He is specifically sent to bandage the broken, those who
suffer under exile’s weight. He declares future freedom for the captive Judeans
and release for the imprisoned Ten Tribes.
61 2 לִקְרֹא שְׁנַת־רָצוֹן לַיהוָה וְיוֹם נָקָם
לֵאלֹהֵינוּ לְנַחֵם כָּל־אֲבֵלִים׃
To declare a year of God’s favor, a day of vengeance for
our God to console all the mourners.
Redemption will usher in a time of God’s “favor”—when all
peoples will favor God and all mankind will honor Him. It will also usher in a
period of His vengeance upon the peoples who blasphemed Him, or who tortured
the Jewish people. And it will usher in the epoch of consoling HIs people who
suffered so much for Him. (Shmuel
Yerushalmi, The Book of Yeshayahu: Me’am Lo’ez [trans. Yehoshua
Starrett; New York: Moznaim Publishing Corporation, 1999], 389)
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