In those days was Hezekiah sick to death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him: ‘Thus says Hashem: Set your house in order; for you shall die, and not live.’
verse value 4027
Insights
Verse structure: 21 words, 86 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָה֙) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "command" (צַ֣ו, 2 letters) and the longest is "Hezekiah" (חִזְקִיָּ֖הוּ, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 47: to·him, to·him. 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Isaiah. Unique to this verse in Isaiah (hapax): "in·the·days" (בַּיָּמִ֣ים), "abundance" (הָהֵ֔ם), "and·he·came" (וַיָּב֣וֹא). The root מות appears 2 times in this verse. 18 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 449x in Isaiah); "and·not" (root לא, 286x in Isaiah); "and·said" (root אמר, 244x in Isaiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·die', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 16 words.
Rashi
"In those days." Three days before the downfall of Sennacherib, Hezekiah fell ill, and on the third day, when he entered the House of the Lord, that was the day of Sennacherib's downfall, which was the first day (Yom Tov) of Passover.
"For you are dead and shall not live. You are dead in this world and shall not live in the World-to-Come, because you did not take a wife, etc., as it is stated in Berakhot."
Metzudat David
"In those days." Our Sages of blessed memory taught that there were three days before the downfall of Sennacherib.
To die. This means a severe and life-threatening illness that is sufficient to cause death.
"Command!" He was to give command concerning the affairs of his house.
Malbim
"In those days," the enemies of man are three: A. The most external enemy, which is the enemy that comes upon him from outside, from others among human beings. B. The enemy closer to him, which are the forces of the body and its composition; since he is composed and mixed from various opposing elements, when the balance between them is broken and the acted-upon forces overpower the acting ones, then the ship is deemed to be breaking apart. C. The most internal enemy, which are the evil dispositions, traits, and desires implanted in his soul; the plumb line is in his hand to incline them according to his choice, and when he does not rule over his spirit, he sickens his soul and drowns it in the depths of destruction. Now, Hezekiah was assailed by the agitation of the two external enemies, for three days before the foreign enemy Sennacherib came to his gates, also the enemy closest to him, which are the illnesses of the temperament and the distress of the composition, surrounded him to destroy him. And this is what is written: "In those days Hezekiah became sick unto death." And you will already see how David, his grandfather, lamented, prayed, and gave thanks constantly for deliverance from these two severe enemies, as we have explained many times in his Book of Psalms, and see especially (Chapter 6, verses 1-3). However, when a man conquers the most internal enemy, which is when he improves his deeds, his soul and intellect will have true peace. For then, his two external enemies will also be subdued before him. And regarding this, when Isaiah came to awaken him, saying that he was dying and would not live, because he lacked the internal matter, which is the cause of true eternal life, as our Sages of blessed memory stated concerning this, then he saw and understood what to do.
Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed to Hashem,
verse value 1319
Insights
Verse structure: 6 words, 32 letters. The shortest word is "and·he·turned" (וַיַּסֵּ֧ב, 4 letters) and the longest is "Hezekiah" (חִזְקִיָּ֛הוּ, 6 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Isaiah. Unique to this verse in Isaiah (hapax): "and·he·turned" (וַיַּסֵּ֧ב), "to·the·wall" (אֶל־הַקִּ֑יר). 6 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "to·Hashem" (root יהוה, 449x in Isaiah); "to·the·wall" (root איל, 114x in Isaiah); "his·face" (root פנים, 88x in Isaiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·the·wall', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 2 words. Full calculation: וַיַּסֵּ֧ב [and·he·turned] (78) + חִזְקִיָּ֛הוּ [Hezekiah] (136) + פָּנָ֖יו [his·face] (146) + אֶל־הַקִּ֑יר [to·the·wall] (346) + וַיִּתְפַּלֵּ֖ל [and·he·prayed] (556) + אֶל־יְהֹוָֽה [to·Hashem] (57) = 1319.
Metzudat Zion
The wall. The wall:
Malbim
And he turned around, to pray with complete intention, and the explanation is well-known: for this reason he turned his face toward the wall, so that the members of the household would not disturb him, and he would be able to pray from the depths of his heart.
and said: ‘Remember now, O Hashem, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart, and have done that which is good in Your sight.’ And Hezekiah wept sore.
verse value 4661
Insights
Verse structure: 18 words, 78 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָה֙) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "where?" (אָנָּ֤ה, 3 letters) and the longest is "I·have·walked" (הִתְהַלַּ֣כְתִּי, 7 letters). 8 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Isaiah. Unique to this verse in Isaiah (hapax): "where?" (אָנָּ֤ה), "remember·now" (זְכׇר־נָ֞א), "I·have·walked" (הִתְהַלַּ֣כְתִּי). The root בכה appears 2 times in this verse. 17 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 449x in Isaiah); "and·he·said" (root אמר, 244x in Isaiah); "that" (root אשר, 176x in Isaiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'I·did', dividing the verse into phrases of 14 and 4 words.
Rashi
"Where are You, Lord? Where is Your compassion?"
Metzudat Zion
"Anah." It is a matter of the expression of a request:
Malbim
And it says, "Behold, the perfection has three conditions: 1. The perfection of contemplation, which is the offspring of the intellect, and it is truth—that he should not believe in falsehood, but rather attain and believe in truth in his beliefs and opinions. To this it refers when it says, 'Remember how I have walked before You in truth.' 2. The perfection of practical intellect, and it is that the good deed which he performs should not be a means, but an end in itself. That is, he should not perform the good deed for the sake of some other thing, an external bodily or spiritual benefit, such as the sweetness of reward in this world or in the World-to-Come; for then his heart is not whole, but rather divided between the action and the end of the action, which is outside the action. And that deed is not called a voluntary deed, as was explained in the philosophy of the virtues in what follows nature. Rather, he should perform the action for the sake of a supreme, all-encompassing law which the practical intellect has inscribed for itself, that he should do the good thing because it is good, and because its root is in the supreme, efficient intellect, which is God, blessed be He. To this it refers when it says, 'and with a whole heart.' 3. The perfection of the actions themselves, that hindrances should not prevent him, nor should obstacles restrain him from bringing forth the perfection of his heart into the actual performance of the deed. And concerning this it says, 'and I have done what is good in Your eyes.'"
’Go, and say to Hezekiah: Thus says Hashem, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will add to your days fifteen years.
verse value 6696
Insights
Verse structure: 18 words, 85 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָה֙) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. Verse gematria: 6696 is divisible by 18, the value of chai ('life'). The shortest word is "David" (דָּוִ֣ד, 3 letters) and the longest is "to·Hezekiah" (אֶל־חִזְקִיָּ֗הוּ, 8 letters). 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Isaiah. Unique to this verse in Isaiah (hapax): "your·prayer" (אֶת־תְּפִלָּתֶ֔ךָ), "your·tears" (אֶת־דִּמְעָתֶ֑ךָ), "to·your·days" (עַל־יָמֶ֔יךָ). The root אמר appears 2 times in this verse. 17 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 449x in Isaiah); "and·you·shall·say" (root אמר, 244x in Isaiah); "to·your·days" (root יום, 124x in Isaiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'your·tears', dividing the verse into phrases of 12 and 6 words.
Rashi
"Here I am, adding." "Here I am, he who will add to your days."
Metzudat David
"Behold, I will add." "Here I am"—He is the One who will add.
Malbim
“I have heard your prayer” means that the two matters for which the Lord will save and deliver you have now come together here. One is on account of merit, and this was the content of his prayer, which stirred up and recalled his merits. The other is on account of mercy, and this was effected by his tears, which stirred up mercy. Now that the soul has been healed and the most internal enemy has been removed, the external enemy in its corresponding measure, namely the illness, will also be removed; hence, “And behold, I will add to your days,” etc. And all the more so will He remove the most external and least significant enemy in their scale — namely [the king of Assyria], as the verse continues.
And I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city.
verse value 3272
Insights
Verse structure: 9 words, 43 letters. The shortest word is "and·(object marker)" (וְאֵ֖ת, 3 letters) and the longest is "king·of·Assyria" (מֶֽלֶךְ־אַשּׁוּר֙, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 413: this, this. 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Isaiah. Unique to this verse in Isaiah (hapax): "and·from·ladle·of" (וּמִכַּ֤ף), "I·will·deliver·you" (אַצִּ֣ילְךָ֔). The root עיר appears 2 times in this verse. 7 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "king·of·Assyria" (root אשור, 43x in Isaiah); "the·city" (root עיר, 43x in Isaiah); "this" (root זאת, 35x in Isaiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'this', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 3 words. Full calculation: וּמִכַּ֤ף [and·from·ladle·of] (146) + מֶֽלֶךְ־אַשּׁוּר֙ [king·of·Assyria] (597) + אַצִּ֣ילְךָ֔ [I·will·deliver·you] (151) + וְאֵ֖ת [and·(object marker)] (407) + הָעִ֣יר [the·city] (285) + הַזֹּ֑את [this] (413) + וְגַנּוֹתִ֖י [and·I·will·defend] (475) + עַל־הָעִ֥יר [over·the·city] (385) + הַזֹּֽאת [this] (413) = 3272.
Rashi
"And from the hand of the king of Assyria I will deliver you." We learned that before the downfall of Sennacherib, he became ill.
Malbim
And I will deliver you from the hand of the king of Assyria; and in addition to this, that I will not save the city through natural means, but rather I will guard over the city so that its salvation will be through a miraculous providence. And in the Book of Kings it added that this guarding, which is the manifestation of the miracle, will be for My sake and for the sake of My servant David. For regarding that generation, a natural salvation would have sufficed, but it will be to sanctify the Name, which is for My sake, and to cause the horn of the House of David to flourish, which is for the sake of My servant David.
And this shall be the sign to you from Hashem, that Hashem will do this thing that He has spoken:
verse value 3195
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 42 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֑ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "from" (מֵאֵ֣ת, 3 letters) and the longest is "the·thing" (אֶת־הַדָּבָ֥ר, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 501: that, which. The root זה appears 2 times in this verse. 7 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 449x in Isaiah); "that" (root אשר, 176x in Isaiah); "will·do" (root עשה, 101x in Isaiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Hashem', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 7 words. Full calculation: וְזֶה־לְּךָ֥ [and·this·to·you] (68) + הָא֖וֹת [sign] (412) + מֵאֵ֣ת [from] (441) + יְהֹוָ֑ה [Hashem] (26) + אֲשֶׁר֙ [that] (501) + יַעֲשֶׂ֣ה [will·do] (385) + יְהֹוָ֔ה [Hashem] (26) + אֶת־הַדָּבָ֥ר [the·thing] (612) + הַזֶּ֖ה [this] (17) + אֲשֶׁ֥ר [which] (501) + דִּבֵּֽר [He·has·spoken] (206) = 3195.
Rashi
"And this shall be the sign to you" (2 Kings 20:8) — that you shall be healed and your days shall be added, as is explained below. And in Kings (2 Kings 20:8), He asked him, "What shall be the sign to you, that I will go up?"
Malbim
“And this shall be the sign for you”: In the Book of Kings it is mentioned that Isaiah said, “And this shall be the sign for you: shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?” And Hezekiah said, “It is a light thing for the shadow to go forward ten steps; no, but let the shadow return backward ten steps.” And Isaiah called unto the Lord, and He brought back the shadow ten steps by which it had gone down on the dial of Ahaz.
The intention, in my opinion, is as follows: Since the sun had already traveled ten hours on that day, it necessarily follows that this statement was made ten hours into the day. Since the average day consists of twelve hours, this means it was two hours before nightfall. It is clear that the miracle Isaiah initially intended to perform—namely, that the shadow would move forward ten steps—could not have been accomplished with the sun itself, for the sun was only two hours’ journey from the western horizon, and it could not travel the distance of ten hours in that direction. Therefore, it was necessary that the miracle be performed solely through the shadow, such that the shadow would lengthen by ten steps while the sun remained in its place. For if the sun were also to move in that direction, it would end up eight hours below the horizon, which would be two hours past midnight, and there would be no shadow and no caster of shadow.
Therefore, Hezekiah replied: Since you wish to perform the miracle through the shadow alone, this is a simple miracle, that the shadow would incline ten steps without the sun. Rather, let the shadow return backward ten steps, for in this case the sun too could return with it toward the east, until near the eastern horizon, and this would be a wonder and a marvel. This is what is explained here more explicitly in the verse, “Behold, I will bring back the shadow of the steps which it has gone down,” meaning that the sun went down (for the word “shadow” is masculine).
Regarding the “ten steps” by which Hezekiah rectified this instrument: The phrase “and the sun” is dependent on the preceding “Behold, I will restore the shadow,” indicating that the restoration would be effected by the sun itself returning, not by the shadow alone; rather, the sun itself would retrogress ten degrees. Hence it says, “And the sun returned ten degrees,” not “the shadow.” [Note: In Kings, it is mentioned that Isaiah intended to restore the shadow, and Hezekiah said, “It is an easy matter for the shadow to go back ten degrees.” This is very astonishing: How is it easy? Surely it is known that the shadow’s inclination depends on the sun’s inclination, and who can incline the sun other than He who said, “Let there be lights,” and they were? If inclining the shadow forward was easy in His eyes, why would inclining it backward not be easy? So much so that the Ralbag, in his Wars, wrote regarding this that the miracle was due to the movement of the clouds, whose custom is that when they sway beneath the sun, they bring the sun’s ray to a place other than its proper one. Isaiah said that they should temporarily create vapors swaying in such a way as to bring the sun with wondrous speed. Since Hezekiah then observed from the wind’s movement and from some of the vapors beneath the sun that it was now easy to return the shadow to that place, he requested that the matter be the opposite, so that the miracle of the Lord would be recognized. These are his words. And the verse here reads, “And the sun returned ten degrees,” and in Chronicles it is mentioned that the princes of Babylon sent to inquire about the miracle that had occurred in the land. End of quote.]
behold, I will cause the shadow of the dial, which is gone down on the sun-dial of Ahaz, to return backward ten degrees.’ So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down.
verse value 8987
Insights
Verse structure: 19 words, 81 letters. The shortest word is "which" (אֲשֶׁ֣ר, 3 letters) and the longest is "of·the·ascents" (הַֽמַּעֲל֡וֹת, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 570: ten, ten. 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Isaiah. Unique to this verse in Isaiah (hapax): "shadow·of" (אֶת־צֵ֣ל), "of·the·ascents" (הַֽמַּעֲל֡וֹת), "in·the·sun" (בַּשֶּׁ֛מֶשׁ). The root מעלה appears 5 times in this verse. 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "which" (root אשר, 176x in Isaiah); "they" (root הן, 86x in Isaiah); "causing·to·return" (root שוב, 51x in Isaiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'steps', dividing the verse into phrases of 12 and 7 words.
Rashi
I am answering. The shadow that had descended went backward ten degrees:
The shadow of the steps. A sort of steps were made opposite the sun to test by them the hours of the day, like the sundials that craftsmen make.
Which descended. It hastened to descend, and the day was shortened by ten hours on the day that Ahaz died, so that they would not mourn for him; and now they returned backward on the day that Hezekiah was healed, and ten hours were added to the day.
Metzudat David
Behold, I will cause to return. The steps were made opposite the sun to test by them the hours of the day, for each hour the shadow would descend one step. And He said, “Behold, I will cause the shadow to return ten steps backward,” in order to lengthen the day by ten hours.
"Which descended." This means: the shadow that had already descended.
“On the stairs of Ahaz.” For Ahaz built these stairs.
"In the sun backward." This is expounded above to say: By the inclination of the sun’s rays, I will cause the shadow to go backward ten degrees.
“And the sun returned.” This means that indeed the sun’s ray returned the ten degrees by which it had descended, and consequently the shadow also returned.
The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness.
verse value 1322
Insights
Verse structure: 6 words, 33 letters. The shortest word is "writing" (מִכְתָּ֖ב, 4 letters) and the longest is "king·of·Judah" (מֶלֶךְ־יְהוּדָ֑ה, 8 letters). 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Isaiah. Unique to this verse in Isaiah (hapax): "writing" (מִכְתָּ֖ב), "to·Hezekiah" (לְחִזְקִיָּ֣הוּ), "when·he·was·sick" (בַּחֲלֹת֕וֹ). 6 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "king·of·Judah" (root מלך, 73x in Isaiah); "to·Hezekiah" (root חזקיהו, 22x in Isaiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'king·of·Judah', dividing the verse into phrases of 3 and 3 words. Full calculation: מִכְתָּ֖ב [writing] (462) + לְחִזְקִיָּ֣הוּ [to·Hezekiah] (166) + מֶלֶךְ־יְהוּדָ֑ה [king·of·Judah] (120) + בַּחֲלֹת֕וֹ [when·he·was·sick] (446) + וַיְחִ֖י [and·lived] (34) + מֵחׇלְיֽוֹ [from·his·sickness] (94) = 1322.
Rashi
"Mikhtav." The Targum renders it as "a document of acknowledgment for the miracle that was performed for Hezekiah."
Ibn Ezra
A letter to Hezekiah. "And he lived" – like "until their healing" (Joshua 5:8), meaning "until the time of their standing," and similarly, "You also give life to all of them" (Nehemiah 9:6); likewise, it denotes the boundary of the living.
Radak
A letter. He wrote this letter of thanksgiving when he recovered from his illness and ascended to the House of the Lord. He said, "A thanksgiving, to serve as a memorial of the kindness that the Lord performed for him, by adding to his days." And in Kings and in Samuel, the matter of the addition of days is explained.
"And he lived." This refers to the matter of healing, as it is also stated, "until they recovered."
Metzudat David
A letter to Hezekiah. This letter was addressed to Hezekiah; that is to say, he was the one who wrote this expression of gratitude.
"Because of his illness." Because he was ill and was healed from his illness.
Metzudat Zion
And he lived. The matter concerns healing, as it is written: "until they were healed" (Joshua 5:8).
I said: In the noontide of my days I shall go, even to the gates of the nether-world; I am deprived of the residue of my years.
verse value 3773
Insights
Verse structure: 10 words, 41 letters. The shortest word is "I" (אֲנִ֣י, 3 letters) and the longest is "I·utteranced" (אָמַ֗רְתִּי, 5 letters). Words sharing gematria 56: in·noontide·of, I·shall·go. 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Isaiah. Unique to this verse in Isaiah (hapax): "in·noontide·of" (בִּדְמִ֥י), "I·shall·go" (אֵלֵ֖כָה), "in·gates·of" (בְּשַׁעֲרֵ֣י). 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "I·utteranced" (root אמר, 244x in Isaiah); "my·days" (root יום, 124x in Isaiah); "I" (root אני, 76x in Isaiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'nether-world', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 3 words. Full calculation: אֲנִ֣י [I] (61) + אָמַ֗רְתִּי [I·utteranced] (651) + בִּדְמִ֥י [in·noontide·of] (56) + יָמַ֛י [my·days] (60) + אֵלֵ֖כָה [I·shall·go] (56) + בְּשַׁעֲרֵ֣י [in·gates·of] (582) + שְׁא֑וֹל [nether-world] (337) + פֻּקַּ֖דְתִּי [I·am·deprived] (594) + יֶ֥תֶר [remainder] (610) + שְׁנוֹתָֽי [my·years] (766) = 3773.
Rashi
"I said: In the stillness (bidmi) of my days." When I saw my days in stillness — in desolation and silence, as in "all the people of Canaan is undone (nidmah)" (Zephaniah 1:11) —that is to say, when I was ill, I said, "I will go to the gates of Sheol; now I shall die," because until that day, no sick person had been healed.
"I have numbered the remainder of my years." This is akin to (Numbers 31:49), "Not one of them was missing," meaning, I was deprived of the remainder of my years. And the Targum translated it as: "For my remembrance for good, my years were added and I was counted favorably, and my years were left over."
Ibn Ezra
I. In my blood. Some say it is derived from the root *dam* (blood), like *lechaluchei* (the moistness), but the correct derivation is like *keritot* (excisions), as in "the king of Israel shall be utterly destroyed" (Hosea 10:15).
Sheol. It is the grave, which is at the bottom of the earth, the counterpart of the heavens, which are above in the world. And the proof is: "And if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there" (Psalms 139:8). And it is not Gehinnom at all.
"I have visited." From the root of "not one man was missed from among them" (Numbers 31:49), and it is a term of elegance, likewise in the language of Qedar. And some say that "I have visited" means "He visited me," like "My children have forsaken me" (Jeremiah 10:20). And others said, "I have visited" because "visited" is more [intensive].
And the meaning of “the remainder of my years” is like “I will fill the number of your days” (Exodus 23:26), and there I have expounded it:
Radak
"I said, in the midst of my days," [This refers to] the cutting short of my days, for he was but thirty-nine years old; and so too, "And I reckoned," meaning, "And I said, Woe is me, for I have reckoned [my days as lost]." And those who are like him—whose matter is one of cutting off—said: "I thought, when the prophet said to me, 'You shall die and not live,' how shall I go to the grave in the cutting short of my days, before my time? And how was I to be deprived of the remainder of my years, since most people live more than fifty years?" And our Sages of blessed memory said: "To die before the age of fifty—this is the death of karet [excision]."
"I visited." I diminished; similarly, "her evil companions were not visited" (Genesis 19:9), and "no man was visited from him" (Genesis 44:17), and matters similar to them are a matter of diminution.
Metzudat David
In the prime of my days. At the cutting off of my days, I will go to the grave.
"I have been deprived of." I have subtracted my remaining years until the completion of the fixed number of years allotted to the majority of human beings:
Metzudat Zion
In the matter of "demai." The topic of keriyyah, and likewise "Ar of Moab is laid waste" (above 15):
"Pakadeti" (I have visited). The matter concerns being lacking, like [the verse] "Yifked moshavkha" (He will visit your dwelling) (1 Samuel 20:18).
Malbim
I said in the days of my youth, the verse depicts time, which is always going and oscillating from the time of a person’s birth until his death, at which point the days will become still and cease from their motion. And behold, time itself is nothingness; it is merely a condition for the apprehension of things that exist in actuality according to our apprehension, for we apprehend all things as connected with parts of time. And when the tangible thing returns to nothingness, then time too is nothingness, for time is only the measure of the continuity of the existence of the thing that exists in actuality, not a thing that truly exists in its own right, as has been explained in the wisdom of the perfection of the intellect. Based on this, it depicts that a person at the time of his death, before he decays and putrefies, when the body still exists and is present in actuality, and is still connected with time as long as it is in existence, his days still remain, only that they are mute and silent and do not oscillate, for the motion of the days and their activity can only be depicted with the motion of the existent that is connected with time, which is the life of the person. And at his death, even though it, like all things apprehended by the senses, is connected with time, nevertheless his time is still, not oscillating. This is what is meant by: “For I said, I shall go to the gates of Sheol with the days of my youth,” meaning that before Sheol consumes me—the Sheol that wastes the body (which implies that he is going to its gates and has not yet entered within Sheol that wastes and returns to nothingness)—I will be found there with days that are mute and resting. However, after I come to the belly of Sheol and its chambers, which is after the annihilation of the body, then I will count the remainder of my years; then the time allotted to me will be entirely absent and return to nothingness, and these years, which were counted in the reckoning of my life if I were alive, will be lacking from my account.
I said: I shall not see Hashem, even Hashem in the land of the living; I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world.
verse value 1943
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 46 letters. The shortest word is "Hashem" (יָ֔הּ, 2 letters) and the longest is "with·inhabitants-of" (עִם־י֥וֹשְׁבֵי, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 15: Hashem, Hashem. 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Isaiah. Unique to this verse in Isaiah (hapax): "not·I·will·see" (לֹא־אֶרְאֶ֣ה), "not·I·will·behold" (לֹא־אַבִּ֥יט), "with·inhabitants-of" (עִם־י֥וֹשְׁבֵי). The root יה appears 2 times in this verse. 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "I·utteranced" (root אמר, 244x in Isaiah); "in·land·of" (root ארץ, 169x in Isaiah); "not·I·will·see" (root ראה, 83x in Isaiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'the·living', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 5 words. Full calculation: אָמַ֙רְתִּי֙ [I·utteranced] (651) + לֹא־אֶרְאֶ֣ה [not·I·will·see] (238) + יָ֔הּ [Hashem] (15) + יָ֖הּ [Hashem] (15) + בְּאֶ֣רֶץ [in·land·of] (293) + הַחַיִּ֑ים [the·living] (73) + לֹא־אַבִּ֥יט [not·I·will·behold] (53) + אָדָ֛ם [man] (45) + ע֖וֹד [again] (80) + עִם־י֥וֹשְׁבֵי [with·inhabitants-of] (438) + חָֽדֶל [world] (42) = 1943.
Rashi
Tosafot: "I said, I will not behold YH." – I will no longer make use of the Name YH.
"In the land of the living." The living use it, but the dead are not permitted to do so, as it is stated: "Let not the dead praise You" (Psalms 115:17). It is a decree concerning the dead that they do not mention the Name consisting of two letters at all.
In the land of the living. In the House of Study:
"I will not look upon a man. Still alive:"
"With the inhabitants of the land of cessation." That I may be with the dead who dwell in the land of desolation and are cut off from life.
Ibn Ezra
I said, “I shall not behold [Yah].” The Divine Name is not something that can be grasped by chance until the eye has dominion over it; rather, He is perceived through His deeds. The reason for this is that one does not behold the deeds of the Divine Name in this world, and the meaning is that one recognizes the deeds of the Divine Name in this world, and this is in the land of the living. It is as if He were to explain His words: behold, He first mentioned the pleasure of man in this world, which is that he recognized [corrected from “mentioned”] the deeds of the Divine Name, and afterward he will delight in the vision of the eye by being with his companions, and this is “I shall no longer look upon man.”
“Chadal.” Like “tevel,” and it is possible that the word is reversed, like “keves” and “shev” from the root chalad (Psalms 39:6). And it is possible that it is like “What am I, O Lord?” [ibid.]. And it is possible that this world is called “chalad,” because it ceases forever for a person to be in it.
Radak
I said, “I shall not behold YH.” Rabbi Saadia Gaon interpreted this as referring to the matter of thanksgiving, and his interpretation is correct, for beholding God is thanksgiving and praise before Him, and contemplating His ways. My master and father, of blessed memory, interpreted it as: “I shall not behold the dwelling of YH,” meaning the Temple. Thus, he explained what is meant by “I shall not behold YH in the land of the living,” namely, in this world, which contains both the vision of the heart and the vision of the eye. The vision of the heart is within the heart. He further added and said, “I shall not behold man anymore,” and this is the vision of the eye.
“With the inhabitants of cheled.” This refers to the inhabitants of this world, which is called chadal and cheled, just as [the words] “kevesh” and “shev” [are used interchangeably].
Metzudat David
"I shall not behold YH." [This means:] I shall no longer look to contemplate the deeds of YH. And it expounds His words to say: I shall not contemplate the deeds of YH.
"In the land of the living": This means in this world, for I shall die and depart from it.
"I will not look upon man." From this we learn that I will not look upon those human beings who are with the inhabitants of the world, meaning those who walk among the creatures dwelling in this world.
Metzudat Zion
He ceased. Thus is the world called, and thus all inhabitants of the world (Psalms 49:2), for it is reversed, like *kavesh* and *kavesh*, and similar words.
Malbim
I said, “I shall depict anew the state in which he will find himself after death, for there he will not behold the Lord, for the apprehension of the intellect connected with the body, which attains to all things through the conditions of time and place, and by abstracting general concepts from the sensible objects it has gathered within itself, is not a condition of the apprehension of the intellect itself, but only a condition of the apprehension of the intellect connected with the body. Just as it is not a condition of a healthy eye that it should see visions through glass and mirrors, even though these are conditions of sight for a man with impaired eyes, so the intellect abstracted from matter will attain to things in a more excellent manner and according to laws different from those by which it attains while confined within the body. Until the soul is separated from the body, it will not know the Lord in the manner in which it knew Him in the land of the living, for there it depicted for itself the Lord as one who brings into being and creates in time and place, in order and sequence, causes and effects. And then it will know nothing of all this, for it will depict Him according to the depictions of the simple intellect, which knows neither time nor place nor the accidents of sensible objects nor the conditions of logic that the intellect abstracted from these apprehensions, but rather according to the way things are in themselves, outside of sensation, abstracted from all accidents and their conditions—an apprehension which we cannot now depict, just as the blind man cannot depict colors and appearances. And this is what it says, ‘I shall not behold the Lord.’ And it explains that his intention is that I shall not behold the Lord as He was in the land of the living, for there I shall behold in Him other matters, more sublime than these. And likewise, the souls, the intellects abstracted from matter, even though they will attain to one another, will no longer attain through sensory apprehension by the attachment of the sense to the sensible object, but only through intellectual apprehension. And they will not be able there to depict for themselves a man occupying a measure of the continuum of time and an extent of place, so that the soul will not depict for itself there any concept of a corporeal man at all. And this is what is written, ‘I shall behold man no more among the inhabitants of Silence.’”
My habitation is plucked up and carried away from me as a shepherd’s tent; I have rolled up like a weaver my life; He will cut me off from the thrum; from day even to night will you make an end of me.
verse value 3172
Insights
Verse structure: 14 words, 61 letters. Verse gematria: 3172 is divisible by 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "was·pulled·out" (נִסַּ֧ע, 3 letters) and the longest is "will·you·finish·me" (תַּשְׁלִימֵֽנִי, 7 letters). 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Isaiah. Unique to this verse in Isaiah (hapax): "my·generation" (דּוֹרִ֗י), "I·have·rolled·up" (קִפַּ֨דְתִּי), "as·the·weaver" (כָאֹרֵ֤ג). 14 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "from·day" (root יום, 124x in Isaiah); "my·shepherd" (root רעה, 25x in Isaiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'my·shepherd', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 8 words. Full calculation: דּוֹרִ֗י [my·generation] (220) + נִסַּ֧ע [was·pulled·out] (180) + וְנִגְלָ֛ה [and·is·carried·away] (94) + מִנִּ֖י [from·me] (100) + כְּאֹ֣הֶל [as·tent·of] (56) + רֹעִ֑י [my·shepherd] (280) + קִפַּ֨דְתִּי [I·have·rolled·up] (594) + כָאֹרֵ֤ג [as·the·weaver] (224) + חַיַּי֙ [my·life] (28) + מִדַּלָּ֣ה [from·thrum] (79) + יְבַצְּעֵ֔נִי [He·will·cut·me·off] (232) + מִיּ֥וֹם [from·day] (96) + עַד־לַ֖יְלָה [until·night] (149) + תַּשְׁלִימֵֽנִי [will·you·finish·me] (840) = 3172.
Rashi
"Dorai" – My dwelling departed and was removed from me. "Bnei dorai" – The members of my dwelling departed from it. "Nisa" (departed) is like "nischa" (were driven out), as in "let not his stakes be moved" (above 33:20).
Like a shepherd’s tent. Like a shepherd’s tent for livestock, which he moves from here and pitches in another place when this grazing area is exhausted.
I was strict. I recognized that my life was like a weaver who hastens to weave; thus I thought. And the Targum [renders it]: “like a stream of torrents,” like a stream that flows between high banks, so that it does not spread out, and therefore its waters are swift to run. And I say that it is a sharp stream whose name is “weaver,” and this is what it says: “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle” (Job 7:6), “with the ships of reed” (ibid. 9).
“From My glory He will strip me.” The Targum renders: “From My kingdom, I pray, He will remove.” I thought that now He would strip me of all My honor. For “glory” is in the language of “goah,” as it is written, “And the crown of your head” (Song of Songs 7:5).
“From day until night, complete me.” Just as “from male until female” means from males and from females, so too “from day until night” means from days and from nights, complete me. And so did Jonathan render it: “My days and my nights, complete them.”
Ibn Ezra
"Dori." "Migori" is like "midor" in "the dwelling of the wicked" (Psalms 84:11), and this expression is known in Aramaic. It is also correct that "dor" and "dor" are from its root, in the sense of "for I am a stranger with You" (Psalms 39:13):
"Vayisa" (He set out). It is in the Nifal conjugation, and the letter samekh is dagesh-ed (doubled) due to the absence of the nun, which is the first letter of the verb root.
It is revealed. From the root of the word "exile" (Isaiah 20:4):
From me. Just as "from me" (mimeni), and similarly "from me" (menni) in Isaiah 22:4.
Like the tent of a shepherd. The yod is for the euphony of the word, or like the internal yod (1 Kings 6:27), also in achzari [Isaiah 13:9], for the tent of a shepherd does not remain in one place.
"I was strict." Like "I doubled."
[Like a weaver]. And similar to this is the verse: “My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle” (Job 7:6):
From "dalah" (the sickness), as in: "Why are you so weak, O son of the king?" (2 Samuel 13:4).
[“From this He will cut me off.”] For from this illness He will cut me off, meaning that my years will come to an end, as it is written: “He stretched out His hand against me, and He cut me off” (Job 6:9).
[From the day, etc.]: And this illness makes peace with me by day and war by night, and so it is with most illnesses. And behold, it will make peace with me, just as it says, "If it does not make peace" (Deuteronomy 20:12).
Radak
"Dori." The meaning is "my dwelling," and similarly, "from the dwelling of the wicked" (in the verse "I said, 'My dwelling has departed from me' in this world").
And it was removed from me. Just as "from me":
“Like the tent of a shepherd.” Just as the yod in “ro’eh” (shepherd) is exchanged for the heh of “lamed” in the pa’al conjugation, the meaning is like a shepherd who moves his tent from place to place, and this alludes to the matter of exile, which is displacement.
"I have cut off my life like a weaver." I said that I have cut off my life, like the weaver who cuts off the cloth when its weaving is completed. And 'kaphadeti' is a matter of cutting, like 'kefeda' used in it, which is a matter of cutting. And what he meant by saying 'I have cut off' is that I caused it through my sins.
From it He will cut me off. I said that from this illness God will kill me,
"Dalah" (poorly) – from illness, as in: "Why are you so poorly, son of the king? Are you ill?"
“Yiv’at’ani.” The matter concerns opening and cutting; similarly, “that He would let loose His hand and cut me off (vivatze’eni)” (Job 6:9). And the Targum of “break it in pieces” (Leviticus 2:6) is “betza yatah bitzu’in” (break it into pieces).
"From day until night, complete me." On the day of his illness, he said, "Until night, complete me," meaning, complete my days. And when He says, "He will break me," and afterward says, "He will complete me," this is the way the verse speaks in a single verse both directly and indirectly, as in "Hear, O all nations," and "and all the peoples."
Metzudat David
My days have journeyed on. My dwelling in this world has departed and been revealed from me, like a shepherd who moves his tent from one place to another.
I have cut off my life. On account of the sin, it is as if I myself severed my life quickly and hastily, like a weaver who hastens to cut the cloth from the loom once it has been completed.
"From illness, He will complete me." From this illness, He will complete the days of my life.
“From day until night, complete me.” I reasoned that from the beginning of the day until nightfall He would complete the days of my life, for surely I would die within the course of that day.
Metzudat Zion
Dorim. The word is derived from "m'dorah":
He set out. The word is derived from the root meaning "to move" and "to uproot."
And it was revealed. The word is related to the root of "exile":
From Me. From Me:
"Roei." Like "ro'eh" with a he:
"Kippadti" (I cut off). A term of cutting off, as in "kefadah has come" (Ezekiel 7):
"Medelah." The matter of illness and weakness, like "Why are you so weak?" (2 Samuel 13).
יבצעני. The matter of completion, as it says: "For the Lord will complete" (above 10:).
Malbim
"Dori" – the circumference that encompasses the time span of a person’s life is called a "generation" (dor), from the root meaning "encirclement." And for every individual, it can be said that he constitutes a specific generation and encirclement within time. "When the body decays" – this encirclement is removed, for time in itself is nothing. With this, the poet depicts the sublime: as if this temporal encirclement is a tent that shades and covers the person, surrounding him throughout his existence in the perceptible world. And when the body ceases to exist, this tent that covered him is removed, and it covers other beings, which is the coming generation. It is likened to the tent of shepherds, which, when the pasture is exhausted, they remove from the place where it was to another place. And this place, which was covered by the tent, now becomes uncovered, without a tent. And regarding this it says, "My generation departs and is revealed from me," for now it is revealed from the veil of time that was spread over him, for he is no longer found in any portion of the divisions of time. With this, it depicts how, just as the tent recedes from the place where it was initially, as long as they continue to move it further, so too does his generation recede from him, as long as the generations continue to descend and distance themselves from him. And as long as the tent of time continues to withdraw from the existing generations to those coming after them to fill their place in the voided time, the departure of his generation—which is his time—continues without interruption until the end of all generations, and its fixed link in the chain of time is constantly transferred to past time and to ancient days.
I have been strict as a weaver with my life. The metaphor depicts the fixed time allotted to each person for his days of life as a woven and finished garment, and life itself as the craft of weaving by which he weaves that very garment. For life is composed of hours and moments that join together one by one, like a weaver who connects thread to thread and weaves them into one another until the entire garment is completed. So too, these moments accumulate until the great garment is completed from them—that is, the time destined for a person to live in. And then both the garment and the one who wears it will depart, and the person will return to his world. Similarly, Job likened the movement of his time to a weaver (Job 7:6), saying, “Behold, until now I have been strict and have bound my life from the warp and weft threads that are stretched out, which are the moments and hours, like a weaver. And the garment is still not completed, for this weaving is woven from extremely fine threads, which are the moments. But now, by means of ‘dalah’ (weakening/loosening), You will finish me off. Through weakening and illness, You desire to finish and complete the garment in a short time, so that from day to night You will complete me, to fulfill the term of my life in one day, and to leap over all these hours and bind them into the garment in a single day. And in its imagery, the metaphor grasps with force as if the weaving that a person weaves by strength would not suffice to complete the garment, whereas in contrast, ‘dalah’ (weakening) and weakness will excel in their power to complete the work, which agile hands did not accomplish in it.”
The more I make myself like to a lion until morning, the more it breaks all my bones; from day even to night will you make an end of me.
verse value 3666
Insights
Verse structure: 9 words, 45 letters. Verse gematria: 3666 is divisible by 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "so" (כֵּ֥ן, 2 letters) and the longest is "all·my·bones" (כׇּל־עַצְמוֹתָ֑י, 8 letters). 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Isaiah. Unique to this verse in Isaiah (hapax): "I·have·set" (שִׁוִּ֤יתִי), "until·morning" (עַד־בֹּ֙קֶר֙), "like·a·lion" (כָּאֲרִ֔י). 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "from·day" (root יום, 124x in Isaiah); "so" (root כן, 48x in Isaiah); "He·breaks" (root שבר, 25x in Isaiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'all·my·bones', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 3 words. Full calculation: שִׁוִּ֤יתִי [I·have·set] (726) + עַד־בֹּ֙קֶר֙ [until·morning] (376) + כָּאֲרִ֔י [like·a·lion] (231) + כֵּ֥ן [so] (70) + יְשַׁבֵּ֖ר [He·breaks] (512) + כׇּל־עַצְמוֹתָ֑י [all·my·bones] (666) + מִיּ֥וֹם [from·day] (96) + עַד־לַ֖יְלָה [until·night] (149) + תַּשְׁלִימֵֽנִי [will·you·finish·me] (840) = 3666.
Rashi
"I set myself all night to endure the pangs of illness, and I overcame them like a lion in enduring them."
“Thus He will break all my bones.” Just as it says (Exodus 1:12), “Thus they multiplied and thus they swarmed,” so too: the more I strive to strengthen myself, the more the illness will overpower me, to break all my bones.
Ibn Ezra
"I have made." This is derived from a gezerah shavah (Esther 5:13), and the word "my soul" is omitted. The correct interpretation is that it refers to the illness, for it is equal in the strength of its battle against me, like a lion, and the custom of the lion is to break bones. And he wonders: why does it battle against me at night and make peace with me in the morning?
Radak
“I have appointed a watch until morning.” “I have appointed” is like “I have set.” And behold, when I was in the evening and saw that I had not yet died, I set my time until morning. And behold, the night strengthened my illness until the sickness broke all my bones, like a lion that breaks the bones of the animal it has seized in its mouth. And I thought that from day until the end of the night, which is until morning, He would say, “Complete me,” meaning He would complete my time and I would die. And there are those who interpret “as a lion, so it breaks” as a crushing of the bones — not their breaking — because of the fever; this is what it says: “the lion” — fever seizes him every day, and he has a crushing of the bones.
Metzudat David
“I have appointed until morning.” This means that when night comes, I set the time for the completion of my life until morning.
Like a lion. This means that my illness intensified until the sickness broke all my bones, just as a lion breaks the bones of the animal it has seized in its mouth.
From the day, etc. This means: I have considered again that from the beginning of the day until nightfall, the days of my life will be completed, for I shall die as the day draws to a close.
Metzudat Zion
"I have set." I placed:
Malbim
"I made" – in contrast to this, I strengthened myself during the night against the weakness and frailty that sought to carry out its work, and I likened myself against this weakness to a lion, to overcome the weakness. But then, this very lion that I set up against the weakness – just as it is a lion, so too like a lion it will break my bones. This depicts that against the great weakness he had, which made him feel as though he would die during the night, a severe fever attached itself to his illness, until he became greatly overwhelmed due to the burning heat, and he struggled with great strength against the sickness. But this very fever itself, which is a foreign fire, appeared to him like a devouring lion breaking all his bones, until I thought again that from day to night it would complete me – meaning that the strength of the fever would bring about the completion of the garment, which is death.
Like a swallow or a crane, so do I chatter, I do moan as a dove; mine eyes fail with looking upward. O Hashem, I am oppressed, be You my surety. .
verse value 2349
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 51 letters. The shortest word is "so" (כֵּ֣ן, 2 letters) and the longest is "I·am·oppressed" (עָֽשְׁקָה־לִּ֥י, 6 letters). 8 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Isaiah. Unique to this verse in Isaiah (hapax): "name of a bird" (עָגוּר֙), "I·chatter" (אֲצַפְצֵ֔ף), "I·will·moan" (אֶהְגֶּ֖ה). 12 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "my·lord" (root אדון, 64x in Isaiah); "so" (root כן, 48x in Isaiah); "my·eyes" (root עין, 45x in Isaiah). First appearance of the root יונה ("like·the·dove") in Isaiah. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'like·the·dove', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 6 words. Full calculation: כְּס֤וּס [like·a·swallow] (146) + עָגוּר֙ [name of a bird] (279) + כֵּ֣ן [so] (70) + אֲצַפְצֵ֔ף [I·chatter] (341) + אֶהְגֶּ֖ה [I·will·moan] (14) + כַּיּוֹנָ֑ה [like·the·dove] (91) + דַּלּ֤וּ [they·hang] (40) + עֵינַי֙ [my·eyes] (140) + לַמָּר֔וֹם [to·the·high] (316) + אֲדֹנָ֖י [my·lord] (65) + עָֽשְׁקָה־לִּ֥י [I·am·oppressed] (515) + עׇרְבֵֽנִי [be·surety·for·me] (332) = 2349.
Rashi
Kesus. Like kesus, and it is the name of a bird:
“Like a seized, choking one.” Like “seized and choking,” (an alternative interpretation is:) like this bird that was seized by its throat, and it is chirping; and so does the Targum render it: “like a seized one that is held and chirping.”
"Oppressed me." Just as it says, "He oppressed me," meaning He took me from the hand of the Angel of Death and guaranteed my deliverance. The term "guarantee" corresponds to the Old French word "garantiya," similar to (Psalms 119:122): "Be a guarantee for Your servant for good."
"Take up my cause (oshkah li)." Contend for me against His hand; [the form is] as when you say "heal her (refa na lah)" (Numbers 12:13), [meaning] "heal her."
Ibn Ezra
“Like a stork in the skies.” The letter kaf in kasus [“like a stork”] draws another example along with it, just as in “He bent like a reed” (Psalms 31:14), and similarly in “like a lamb among the rams.” And these are birds. The meaning is that a person who is severely ill will chirp and mutter, and no one understands his words.
Dalio. From the doubled forms, like dalio shokhim (Proverbs 26:7), in the sense of lifting up.
“YHWH has afflicted me.” This refers to the illness.
“Mix me in.” “Now, mingle with Your servant for good” (Psalms 119:152). And some say that the ayin is in place of a het, but this is nonsense. The word “mix me in” is in the manner of human speech, and the meaning is: “Be mingled with me in my distress.”
Radak
“Like a swallow and a nightingale.” The word is missing the vav of the conjunction, and the meaning is “like a swallow and a nightingale.” Similarly, we find “sun and moon,” “Reuben and Simeon,” and other similar pairs. The word sus is a bird, and it is written in Jeremiah: “the dove, the swallow, and the nightingale.” Jonathan’s Targum translates it as karkia. In the words of our Sages of blessed memory, it is said: “Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish rose and cried out like a karkia.” Rashi explains that this is the bird called grua in the language of the gentiles. The word agur: Jonathan’s Targum translates it as sanunita, which is the swallow mentioned in the words of our Sages of blessed memory. Rabbi Hai Gaon explains that it is the ta’af in Arabic, which they call arunda. But here, Jonathan’s Targum translates “like a swallow and a nightingale” in a different sense, according to its plain meaning, like “a horse and its rider” — as it is said: “like a horse that is held and neighs, so do you chirp.” He translates agur in the sense of chirping. The meaning of menatzef is like the expression in the words of our Sages of blessed memory: “a horse that snorts.” He says: “In my illness, I will chirp like the chirping birds, and I will moan like the dove, which is the moaning of the sick person in his illness.”
“Lift up mine eyes unto the hills.” And through the severity of my illness, I lifted my eyes upward to God, Who is in the heights, and I said to Him: “O Lord, I am oppressed on account of my sickness.”
"Be my surety." [Meaning] "You" — as in "Be surety for Your servant for good" (Psalm 119:122), a matter of providing security and calm. And one may also interpret 'ashkah' as an imperative. And even though the ayin does not have a reduced (chataf) vowel but is read with a long vowel, similarly "Preserve my soul, for I am pious" (Psalm 86:2) — its meaning there is one of addition and excess. Likewise, in the words of our Sages of blessed memory: "Add for yourself and match it to your chair" — meaning: he said, "Add to my days, and be my surety."
"דלו עיני" – the meaning of "lift up" (from the root דלה, which has related words), as in "I will extol You, O Lord, for You have lifted me up" (Psalm 30:2), and similar expressions. This refers to the lifting of the eyes, as it is said, "To You I lift up my eyes, You who are enthroned in the heavens" (Psalm 123:1). For God is called "He who is enthroned in the heavens," and although He has no physical location, His great honor is in the heavens.
Metzudat David
"So do I chirp." From the intensity of the pain, I would chirp like birds and coo like a dove.
“Lift up my eyes to the heights.” Lift up my eyes to gaze at the heavens for Your help, and I said: “Lord, this illness has been taken away from me; sweeten it and set it right for me.”
Metzudat Zion
“Like a swift or a crane.” Like “a swift and a crane” — species of birds; so too “and the turtledove, and the swift, and the crane” (Jeremiah 8:7).
Tzafzaf. The matter of causing the sound of birds to be heard:
Ahagah. So is the cooing of the dove called, as it is said: “And like a dove cooing” (ibid. 59).
Dal. The meaning of *haroma* is like "I will exalt You, O Lord, for You have lifted me up" (Psalms 30:2). *Askeha*. The meaning is taking and snatching, and it is expressed in the language of a question:
"Arveni." [Meaning] make it good and fit for me; and similarly, "Be surety for Your servant for good" (ibid. 119:122). And it is from the notion of sweetness, as in "and my sleep was sweet to me" (Jeremiah 31:26).
Malbim
“Like a swallow, a stork” – this depicts how two opposing ideas raced within him at that time. On one hand, he had already considered himself ready to go to the house appointed for all the living, and he reasoned that he was like a swallow and a stork, which are among the family of migratory birds, as it is written, “The swallow and the stork observe the time of their coming” (Jeremiah 8:7). Just as the swallow and the stork chirp at the beginning of winter, when they see the wings of death spread over all the children of nature, to journey to the warm lands, so too will I chirp. And the gates inscribed in Scripture restrict: “Like a swallow, a stork, so will I chirp.” “My eyes are lifted up to the heights” – I will moan like a dove. “O Lord, I am oppressed; be my surety for me” – that is to say, like a swallow and a stork, so will I chirp to my place, for my eyes are lifted up to the heights; my eyes are raised to my place in the heights, for my soul lifts its gaze, when it sees the children of nature around it languishing and dying, to return to the heavens to its place, like migratory birds that fly in this manner to the land of fluttering wings.
However, on the other hand, “I will moan like a dove,” like the dove that guards its nest and does not depart from it at any time. And in this manner my soul is likened now, when it sees that death has come to oppress its nest, it will cry out like a dove, saying, “The Lord has oppressed me, my companion,” meaning, behold, they wish to oppress my nest; “my companion,” rescue me from the hands of these oppressors, and save me from the hand of death.
What shall I say? He has both spoken to me, and Himself has done it; I shall go softly all my years for the bitterness of my soul.
verse value 2542
Insights
Verse structure: 8 words, 38 letters. Notable word values: "and·He" (וְה֣וּא) = 18, chai, 'life'. The shortest word is "did" (עָשָׂ֑ה, 3 letters) and the longest is "all·my·years" (כׇל־שְׁנוֹתַ֖י, 7 letters). 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Isaiah. Unique to this verse in Isaiah (hapax): "what·shall·I·speak" (מָֽה־אֲדַבֵּ֥ר), "and·he·said·to·me" (וְאָֽמַר־לִ֖י), "I·shall·go·softly" (אֶדַּדֶּ֥ה). 8 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·he·said·to·me" (root אמר, 244x in Isaiah); "for·bitterness" (root על, 200x in Isaiah); "did" (root עשה, 101x in Isaiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'did', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 4 words. Full calculation: מָֽה־אֲדַבֵּ֥ר [what·shall·I·speak] (252) + וְאָֽמַר־לִ֖י [and·he·said·to·me] (287) + וְה֣וּא [and·He] (18) + עָשָׂ֑ה [did] (375) + אֶדַּדֶּ֥ה [I·shall·go·softly] (14) + כׇל־שְׁנוֹתַ֖י [all·my·years] (816) + עַל־מַ֥ר [for·bitterness] (340) + נַפְשִֽׁי [my·soul] (440) = 2542.
Rashi
"What shall I say? Praise and praises before Him, and yet He said to me: 'Comforts,' and He made them so."
"And I have wandered through all my years." Just as it is written (Genesis 31:40), "and I have wandered," meaning that I have wandered through all my years to praise before Him. And the Targum [renders] "years" in the sense of "years" [i.e., as a measure of time].
"Upon My soul." This implies that it was bitter, and He comforted Me.
Ibn Ezra
"What shall I say, and it was said to me: Behold, I will add to your days:"
And the word "asah" (do/make) is like "ya'aseh" (he will do), and similarly, "I have given the silver for the field" (Genesis 23:13). Or, the meaning of "asah" is that He performed this act of kindness with me; nevertheless, I will spend all my days remembering this attribute that passed over me.
And the word *adadah* is from the *nifal* construction, and it has no parallel in Scripture, except for *addam* in “I led them to the house of God” (Psalms 42:6), and in the Mishnah, “He measured his son” [Shabbat 18b], and the meaning is well known.
Radak
“What shall I say?” What can I say and praise before Him? And He told me through the prophet that I would recover from this illness and ascend to the House of the Lord on the third day, and so He did, and so He will also do in the added years. I have nothing to do but remember this all my days, and in these words I will thank God who saved me. And the meaning of “I will praise” (adodeh) is like a woman who rocks her child, according to the words of our Sages of blessed memory, and it is the rocking little by little. And so is the way of a person when he remembers the distress that passed over him and he was saved from it, he shakes his head. And the meaning of “upon the bitterness of my soul” is upon the bitterness of my soul that I had, and I was saved from it.
Metzudat David
"What shall I speak?"—This means that there is much praise and eulogy for me to utter, for He spoke to me words of comfort, and He brought them to pass.
"Adadah." Therefore, I would wander about through all my sleep to praise before Him for my soul, which had been bitter, and to comfort it.
Metzudat Zion
"What shall I speak?" The word "what" indicates abundance, as in "How great is Your goodness" (Psalms 31:19).
Edde. From the language of wandering:
Shanoti. From the word "sheinah (sleep)":
Malbim
"What shall I speak? For at the time when his soul wandered between these two alternatives, thinking about his place in heaven and praying for a reed on earth, he returned to his heart, saying, 'What shall I speak? Why should I pray in vain, that the Lord would deliver me from the hand of oppressive death? But He said to me, and He did it, and the Lord has already said to me that you will die and not live. Moreover, He has done what He said, for the illness is critical unto death. And what benefit will my prayer have against the decree?' In this depiction, he portrays how he despaired of himself and thought that he would not live. He returned and said, 'I have already skipped all my years upon the bitterness of my soul. In my thoughts, I have already leaped over all my years, and I have already wandered and leaped over the bitterness of my soul. It was already in my eyes as if I had skipped over the years remaining for me to live and leaped over them as if they no longer exist in reality. And I have also leaped over the bitterness of my soul, for my bitter soul began to calm down and forget its toil, and to prepare itself for its path, the path of every living being.'"
O Lord, by these things men live, and altogether therein is the life of my spirit; wherefore recover You me, and make me to live.
verse value 1292
Insights
Verse structure: 8 words, 41 letters. The shortest word is "life·of" (חַיֵּ֣י, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·restore·me" (וְתַחֲלִימֵ֖נִי, 8 letters). 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Isaiah. Unique to this verse in Isaiah (hapax): "and·to·all·in·them" (וּלְכׇל־בָּהֶן֙), "and·restore·me" (וְתַחֲלִימֵ֖נִי), "and·make·me·live" (וְהַחֲיֵֽנִי). The root חיה appears 2 times in this verse. 7 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "by·them" (root על, 200x in Isaiah); "and·to·all·in·them" (root כל, 93x in Isaiah); "my·lord" (root אדון, 64x in Isaiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'live', dividing the verse into phrases of 3 and 5 words. Full calculation: אֲדֹנָ֖י [my·lord] (65) + עֲלֵיהֶ֣ם [by·them] (155) + יִֽחְי֑וּ [live] (34) + וּלְכׇל־בָּהֶן֙ [and·to·all·in·them] (143) + חַיֵּ֣י [life·of] (28) + רוּחִ֔י [my·spirit] (224) + וְתַחֲלִימֵ֖נִי [and·restore·me] (554) + וְהַחֲיֵֽנִי [and·make·me·live] (89) = 1292.
Rashi
"O Lord, by these things men live." The Targum renders: "O Lord, concerning all the dead, You have said to give life."
And in all of them is the life of my spirit. And prior to all of them is the reviving of the life of my spirit, and I say according to its simple meaning: "The Lord" (Hashem) refers to "upon them" (aleihem), regarding the years mentioned above.
I will wander all my days; the Lord has made His dwelling among them, and His kindness upon them, and He said to me by the mouth of His prophet: "They shall live."
And for all of them, my soul’s life depends upon them. And for every matter upon which my soul’s life depends, the Lord said concerning them: “And they shall live.”
"And You will heal me." From this I know that You will heal me and give me life: "You will heal me," meaning You will create me anew and strengthen me, as it is written (Job 39:4): "Their young ones also shall be strong."
Ibn Ezra
May they live [and be well]. Regarding the matter mentioned above, where it says “And He said,” behold, through your word and your deeds shall life be granted, and for all, there is a time in which my spirit lives.
"And He will heal me." It is from the root of "their young ones shall play" (Job 39:4), meaning they shall increase in abundance. And in the words of our Sages: "at times sound [of mind]" (itim chalim) [Rosh Hashanah 28a]:
Radak
O Lord, by these things men live. He now said, "I know that they will live upon them," meaning: upon them—upon the days decreed for a person—they will be able to live, if you wish, just as I am doing, for the decreed days have already been completed, and fifteen years were added to them.
And in them all is the life of my soul. To all I will recount and say that in them, in the two additions, is the life of my soul.
“Restore my health and give me life.” I supplicate before You that in these years which You have added to me, You will restore my health and give me life. This is a duplication of the same idea expressed in different words, and the matter is one of health, that I will be healthy in these years.
Metzudat David
May the Lord revive them. The Lord has decreed that all the dead will rise in the resurrection.
And in all of them. And the first among all of them is that He revived my spirit, for I was near to death.
And He has healed me. I sent for health, and You gave me life:
Metzudat Zion
"And He healed me." The matter concerns health and strength, as it is written: "Their sons will be refreshed" (Job 39:4).
Malbim
But then, the Lord said concerning them: "Regarding the years mentioned, that I would live them, I had despaired, yet the Lord has given my portion in life, and to all of them, my spirit's life—namely, the Lord spoke to all of them, and He is God over all the things that fill my years (which refers to all the generations of days). The Lord said, 'My spirit's life,' meaning that all of them will be prepared to revive my spirit, and to heal me and to give me life. And now it seems as though He has healed me and given me life." This means that everything now appears to me as a dream, as if it were a dream in which I was likened to those who descend into a pit, and the Lord revived me with revival.
Behold, for my peace I had great bitterness; But You have in love to my soul delivered it From the pit of corruption; For You have cast all my sins behind Your back.
verse value 4547
Insights
Verse structure: 14 words, 53 letters. The shortest word is "bitter" (מָ֑ר, 2 letters) and the longest is "all·my·sins" (כׇּל־חֲטָאָֽי, 6 letters). 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Isaiah. Unique to this verse in Isaiah (hapax): "for·peace" (לְשָׁל֖וֹם), "bitter·to·me" (מַר־לִ֣י), "you·loved" (חָשַׁ֤קְתָּ). 14 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "for" (root כי, 221x in Isaiah); "they" (root הן, 86x in Isaiah); "and·you" (root אתה, 50x in Isaiah). First appearance of the root גו ("your·back") in Isaiah. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'bitter', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 10 words. Full calculation: הִנֵּ֥ה [they] (60) + לְשָׁל֖וֹם [for·peace] (406) + מַר־לִ֣י [bitter·to·me] (280) + מָ֑ר [bitter] (240) + וְאַתָּ֞ה [and·you] (412) + חָשַׁ֤קְתָּ [you·loved] (808) + נַפְשִׁי֙ [my·soul] (440) + מִשַּׁ֣חַת [from·pit] (748) + בְּלִ֔י [corruption] (42) + כִּ֥י [for] (30) + הִשְׁלַ֛כְתָּ [you·cast] (755) + אַחֲרֵ֥י [after] (219) + גֵוְךָ֖ [your·back] (29) + כׇּל־חֲטָאָֽי [all·my·sins] (78) = 4547.
Rashi
"Behold, for peace I had great bitterness." When I was informed of peace, it too was bitter to me, for they attributed my healing to the merit of others, as it is said: "Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father" (above 37), "for My sake and for the sake of David My servant." Here, He informed me that I am a sinner, as the Sages interpreted it. But according to the straightforward meaning of the verse, it implies: "Behold, for peace, bitterness came to me, bitterness" - when I was informed by You to save me from the hand of Sennacherib, it was bitter to me, bitter, regarding my illness, for I was inclined toward death and did not rejoice in the good news, and You, in Your goodness, desired my soul without descending to the pit.
Ibn Ezra
“Behold, for peace.” When I was in the middle of my days, for he was thirty-nine years old when he fell ill, for if the red bile dominates human nature, one will always be ill in his youth and will be in good health in his old age; and the opposite is that the phlegm dominates, and behold, the middle years are years of peace.
Bitter, bitter to me. Sometimes it is for reinforcement, and there are those who say it is from the root of "temurah" (Leviticus 27:17):
“From the pit of decay, without.” Some say it is from the root of “without” (Genesis 18:12), and it is a noun on the pattern of *peri*, and others said that in this place it is like “not,” and it is the opposite, and the first [opinion] is the correct one in my eyes, as if it said, “And you desired my soul and brought us up from the pit of decay, without.”
“For you have cast me off behind you.” By way of parable: it is like a person who does not see what is behind him. For we know that there is no “behind” to the Creator of the nations; hence, this serves as proof for what our forebears said, that because of the sin he committed, he died in his youth. And they transmitted that one who dies before the age of fifty-two dies by karet. And he was distressed because he did not know that he had transgressed a sin for which he was liable to die by karet. Therefore, he said, “Remember now how I have walked before You, and how I have done what is good in Your eyes.” And behold, he mentioned both thought and deed. And our forebears said that he did not engage in the commandment of procreation.
Radak
“Behold, for peace.” “Behold” – in my illness, I had bitterness on account of the peace that I did not have. And the sage Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra explained “Behold, for peace” as follows: When I was in the middle of my days, for I was thirty-nine years old when I fell ill. For if the red bile dominates a person, he will always be sick in his youth and will be at peace in his old age; and the opposite is true if the phlegm dominates. And behold, the middle years are years of peace.
"And You have desired my soul" – "my soul shall delight" in saving it from the corruption of decay, which is the grave wherein the body of man decays.
"For You have cast us off." And even though I was liable [to punishment] according to my iniquities and sins, You cast them off behind Your back. This is like a parable of a person who casts something behind his back so that he will not see it.
Metzudat David
“Behold, for peace.” “Behold, in my illness, what I had hoped for peace and health was added to me bitterness upon bitterness,” meaning pain upon pain.
"And you." But you, in your goodness, desired my soul to lift it up from the pit of destruction, which is the grave.
"for you have cast them behind you." He employs a parable based on the way a person casts something behind his back so that it will not be seen. This means: hiding the eye from my sins and forgiving them.
Metzudat Zion
"חשקת" – from the root חשק, meaning "desire" and "longing."
Corruption. It is the pit of the grave.
Bali. The word denotes decay and rot, as it is written: "I gave my back to the smiters" (below, 50).
Malbim
Behold, now I see that the bitter has been exchanged for me for peace, that the Lord exchanged and substituted the bitter and bitterness for peace, that in place of the bitter that was mine, He assured me of peace, for He assured him of more days and years, and also deliverance from the hand of Sennacherib, and this was in exchange for the bitter and the afflictions that he endured. (The first "bitter" is from the root of exchange, and the second [is] bitterness and a term that falls upon the tongue [i.e., a play on words]). And now I see that You have desired my soul from the pit of destruction, as if at the time You saw my soul standing at the gates of the Pit and ready to be destroyed, then You desired it and loved it with great desire, so that because of the abundance of Your desire for it, You cast behind You all my sins, as in the matter of "Love covers all transgressions," that through the desire You forgave all her iniquities. (And the expression [means] that when the Lord saw that he was in danger, He had mercy on him and forgave his sins).
For the nether-world cannot praise You, Death cannot celebrate You; They that go down into the pit cannot hope for Your truth.
verse value 2848
Insights
Verse structure: 9 words, 41 letters. The shortest word is "for" (כִּ֣י, 2 letters) and the longest is "goers-down·of·pit" (יוֹרְדֵי־ב֖וֹר, 8 letters). 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Isaiah. Unique to this verse in Isaiah (hapax): "will·praise·you" (תּוֹדֶ֖ךָּ), "death" (מָ֣וֶת), "will·praise·you" (יְהַלְלֶ֑ךָּ). 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "not" (root לא, 286x in Isaiah); "for" (root כי, 221x in Isaiah); "to·your·truth" (root איל, 114x in Isaiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'will·praise·you', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 3 words. Full calculation: כִּ֣י [for] (30) + לֹ֥א [not] (31) + שְׁא֛וֹל [Sheol] (337) + תּוֹדֶ֖ךָּ [will·praise·you] (430) + מָ֣וֶת [death] (446) + יְהַלְלֶ֑ךָּ [will·praise·you] (95) + לֹא־יְשַׂבְּר֥וּ [not·hope] (549) + יוֹרְדֵי־ב֖וֹר [goers-down·of·pit] (438) + אֶל־אֲמִתֶּֽךָ [to·your·truth] (492) = 2848.
Rashi
"For Sheol will not thank You." If I were dead, I would not thank You for the miracle of Sennacherib's defeat, nor would I believe in the truth of Your promise that You promised me regarding it.
Ibn Ezra
"For I will not praise You in Sheol." The meaning is that the body buried in Sheol [the word "not" extends itself and another with it], and similarly it is written, "Death shall not praise You," like "A gift in secret covers anger" (Proverbs 21:14).
“Yishberu” (they shall hope). Like “yichalu” (they shall wait), as it says, “The eyes of all look expectantly to You” (Psalms 145:15). And many are astonished at how the prophet wrote such words, which seem to deny the resurrection of the dead. The answer is that the body has no power or understanding once the soul departs from it; so why should they be astonished? For even while the soul is attached to the body, it does not comprehend, let alone after death.
Radak
"For death shall not give thee thanks." And he stated the matter a second and a third time in different words to strengthen the matter, saying: It is good that You keep people alive when they cry out before You upon returning from their sin, for they will thank You in their lifetime, but they will not thank You in their death. And regarding the body, He said that it dies, not regarding the soul, which will live after the death of the body.
"Death." And not "death," nor that a masculine form stands in place of two, and many are like it.
"They shall not break." The bodies that are cast into a pit shall not break out to your hand, to recount and declare, as the living do. And this is not contrary to the resurrection of the dead, for he is speaking only of the bodies while they are still in the grave, and not all bodies will live and arise from the grave.
Metzudat David
"For I will not thank You in Sheol." One who is in Sheol does not thank You; that is to say, if I were dead, I would not thank You for the downfall of Sennacherib.
“Death will praise You.” Men of death will not praise You. And the word “not” serves in two ways, and the matter is doubled in what is stated:
"They shall not be broken." The men who have already descended into the pit should not expect that Your promise will be fulfilled for them, for they have no benefit in the matters of this world. That is to say: if I were already dead, I would no longer hope for the downfall of Sennacherib, as You promised.
Metzudat Zion
They shall hope. The matter of hope is like “The eyes of all look to You” (Psalms 145:15):
Malbim
For indeed, the acknowledgment to thank You for Your goodness can only be envisioned if I remain alive, not if I am destroyed in Sheol. And to praise You, to recount the praises of Your deeds, likewise only the living can praise Your works. And even to cleave to Your truth, which is the fulfillment of Your promise for the future, this too can only be envisioned in life, not for those who descend into the pit. And he explains his words.
The living, the living, he shall praise You, As I do this day; The father to the children shall make known Your truth.
verse value 1002
Insights
Verse structure: 10 words, 38 letters. Notable word values: "living" (חַ֥י) = 18, chai, 'life'. The shortest word is "living" (חַ֥י, 2 letters) and the longest is "to·your·truth" (אֶל־אֲמִתֶּֽךָ, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 18: living, living. 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Isaiah. Unique to this verse in Isaiah (hapax): "will·praise·you" (יוֹדֶ֖ךָ), "father" (אָ֣ב), "made·known" (יוֹדִ֖יעַ). The root חי appears 2 times in this verse. 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "day" (root יום, 124x in Isaiah); "to·your·truth" (root איל, 114x in Isaiah); "he" (root הוא, 98x in Isaiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'day', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 4 words. Full calculation: חַ֥י [living] (18) + חַ֛י [living] (18) + ה֥וּא [he] (12) + יוֹדֶ֖ךָ [will·praise·you] (40) + כָּמ֣וֹנִי [like·me] (126) + הַיּ֑וֹם [day] (61) + אָ֣ב [father] (3) + לְבָנִ֔ים [to·sons] (132) + יוֹדִ֖יעַ [made·known] (100) + אֶל־אֲמִתֶּֽךָ [to·your·truth] (492) = 1002.
Rashi
"Alive, alive." This is the language of living people, meaning that when there are living people in this world, "alive" and "alive" – the thanksgiving emerges from among them. (Another version: "Alive, alive, You are alive, and it is fitting to give thanks to the Living One.")
Yodia. The expression "asishfar" in the foreign tongue:
"Unto Thy truth." The father informs and directs the mind of his son toward "Thy truth," that he may believe in You.
Ibn Ezra
"Alive, alive." At times, the meaning is: one who is alive like me, or who will survive after his illness, is obligated to thank You; and the reason for the word "alive" is in the mouth, through which one perceives the joining of the soul with the body in a manner of thanks. And there are those who say that the first "alive" is the Name [of God], but this is unnecessary.
"Father to sons shall make known." These are the matters of faith:
Radak
“Living, living”: Every living being and every living being shall thank You like me today, and if I were dead, I would not thank You with the thanksgiving of the mouth as I am doing now. Furthermore, “a father to children shall make known Your truth”: If he had no children, and You revived him and he had children, he would make known Your truth, as I shall do; and even if he had children, as long as he lives with them, he will teach them and make them know. If so, it is good that You prolong a person’s life, and if he falls ill, that You heal him of his illness, and he will thank You for the good You have done for him and make it known to his children after him. And so our Sages of blessed memory said that Hezekiah had no children until after his illness. And even though the thanksgiving and the making known will not benefit him nor will it be of advantage to him, as it says, “If you are righteous, what do you give him?” Nevertheless, since He desired and created human beings, He desires their preservation and their walking in a good way, and that they have understanding to comprehend the kindnesses of the Creator and to thank Him before Him for them, for this is part of the good way, and when their hearts are set aright, He assists them and helps them in this.
"El emetkha" – like "et emetkha." And similarly, "et" takes the place of "el," as in "ve-hor'ah et ha-kohen" (and he shall show it to the priest), and the like. And similarly, "el" takes the place of "et," as in "asaprah el choq" (I will declare the decree) and "va-yirdefu el Midyan" (and they pursued unto Midian). Or, the interpretation is: he will inform them of the way that will bring them to Your truth, and the kindness that God does for human beings is truth in itself, for He is abundant in kindness, and this is one of His ways; if so, it is truth. And it appears that Jonathan translated this "el" as though it were pointed with a tzere, as in "ha-aratzot ha-el" (these lands), which he translated: fathers will relate to their sons Your might, and they will say that every word is true. And so did the sage Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra explain, and this is the wording of his commentary: "A father shall make known to his children these truths." And I am astonished at this, for I have not seen in any book other than "el" pointed with a segol, and construct, in place of "im" in "amitkha," as in the other instance. And the Masorah notes "el amitkha" twice, and these are the two verses in which it occurs: in the verse "for Sheol shall not thank You," and in the verse "the living, the living."
Metzudat David
"The living, the living." Every living being, it is he who shall praise You.
“Like me today.” Just as I am today, alive, and thank You, O Father of children—every father teaches his sons and informs them of Your truth—so too I will do likewise: when I live and beget sons, I will teach them and inform them of Your truth.
Metzudat Zion
"Your truth." [Meaning] your truth; and so אל functions in place of את, as in "and they pursued Midian" (Judges 7:25):
Malbim
Contrary to what is written, “For Sheol will not thank You,” because only the living will thank You, in that he is alive; and the meaning is that the living one, because he is alive, will thank You, and not the one who is absent in Sheol will thank You, because he is not alive. For this is impossible from two aspects: A. Because thanksgiving is only for the good of life, and one who is not alive will not give thanks for a good that he did not receive. B. Because it cannot be conceived that the absent one will give thanks and praise. And this is specified in what is written, “Only the living will thank You,” and only because he is alive. (And it limits [the scope] against “For Sheol will not thank You,” only because he is alive, and not death will praise You, only one who is alive.) And contrary to what is written, “Those who go down into the pit will not trust in Your faithfulness,” he explains that only like me today, a father to sons—only like me, who from now on will be a father to sons whom I will bear—only a man like me will inform [others] of Your faithfulness; he will inform his sons of the fulfillment of Your promise that You promised to every generation. Not so if I were to go down into the pit; then Your faithfulness would not have been fulfilled for a later generation.
Hashem is ready to save me; Therefore we will sing songs to the stringed instruments All the days of our life in the house of Hashem.
verse value 1917
Insights
Verse structure: 8 words, 42 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֖ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֖ה, 4 letters) and the longest is "to·save·me" (לְהוֹשִׁיעֵ֑נִי, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 26: Hashem, Hashem. 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Isaiah. Unique to this verse in Isaiah (hapax): "to·save·me" (לְהוֹשִׁיעֵ֑נִי), "and·stringed·instruments·of" (וּנְגִנוֹתַ֧י), "we·will·play" (נְנַגֵּ֛ן). The root יהוה appears 2 times in this verse. 7 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 449x in Isaiah); "all·days·of" (root יום, 124x in Isaiah); "in·the·house·of" (root בית, 67x in Isaiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·save·me', dividing the verse into phrases of 2 and 6 words. Full calculation: יְהֹוָ֖ה [Hashem] (26) + לְהוֹשִׁיעֵ֑נִי [to·save·me] (481) + וּנְגִנוֹתַ֧י [and·stringed·instruments·of] (525) + נְנַגֵּ֛ן [we·will·play] (153) + כׇּל־יְמֵ֥י [all·days·of] (110) + חַיֵּ֖ינוּ [our·life] (84) + עַל־בֵּ֥ית [in·the·house·of] (512) + יְהֹוָֽה [Hashem] (26) = 1917.
Ibn Ezra
“The Lord.” "He shall say, or he shall speak, or he shall command":
"And my melodies." That I will compose and play them, I and the singers who are in the House of the Lord, all the days of our lives.
Radak
“O Lord, save me.” The Lord said [i.e., determined] to save me from the illness, and so He did — He saved me; and the lamed [of “le-hoshi’eni”] is like the lamed of “to slay him with guile” (Exodus 21:14), [and] “to lie with the daughter of Jacob” (Genesis 34:7), and their like.
“And my melodies I will sing.” And regarding the salvation with which He saved me, I will always give thanks before Him; and I and my companions will sing my melodies, which I composed concerning the salvation, all the days of our lives we will sing them.
“Upon the House of the Lord.” Just as in “in the House of the Lord,” for it comes in the matter of the preposition “bet” denoting usage, like “and you shall live by your sword,” which is like “with your sword,” and “you shall put them in one basket,” which is like “in a basket,” and “save your life,” which is like “with your life.”
Metzudat David
“The Lord to save me.” This means that the Lord said, “He would save me from the illness,” and He indeed did so. A similar case is “to kill him deceitfully” (Exodus 21:14), which means that he planned to kill him, and he indeed did so.
"And my melodies we shall play." The melody of this praise, I and the poets will play in the House of the Lord all the days of our lives.
Metzudat Zion
And my melodies. It is a noun from the root *ngn*, meaning tune and song.
"Al beit" – just as "bebeit" [means] "in the house," so too "al" [functions] in place of the letter bet. And likewise, "you shall stand upon your swords" (Ezekiel 33:26).
Malbim
"The Lord is my helper; also in the future, and my songs, the songs that I used to sing for my own needs to rejoice in them, will now be sung all the days of our lives for and on account of the House of the Lord, for I have consecrated my songs and the joys of my times to Heaven."
And Isaiah said: ‘Let them take a cake of figs, and lay it for a plaster upon the boil, and he shall recover.’
verse value 2689
Insights
Verse structure: 8 words, 41 letters. The shortest word is "they·will·lift" (יִשְׂא֖וּ, 4 letters) and the longest is "upon·the·boil" (עַֽל־הַשְּׁחִ֖ין, 7 letters). 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Isaiah. Unique to this verse in Isaiah (hapax): "fig cake" (דְּבֶ֣לֶת), "figs" (תְּאֵנִ֑ים), "and·they·will·rub" (וְיִמְרְח֥וּ). 8 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·said" (root אמר, 244x in Isaiah); "they·will·lift" (root נשא, 57x in Isaiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'figs', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 3 words. Full calculation: וַיֹּ֣אמֶר [and·said] (257) + יְשַֽׁעְיָ֔הוּ [Isaiah] (401) + יִשְׂא֖וּ [they·will·lift] (317) + דְּבֶ֣לֶת [fig cake] (436) + תְּאֵנִ֑ים [figs] (501) + וְיִמְרְח֥וּ [and·they·will·rub] (270) + עַֽל־הַשְּׁחִ֖ין [upon·the·boil] (473) + וְיֶֽחִי [and·will·live] (34) = 2689.
Rashi
"A cake of figs." A cake made from figs: when they are fresh, they are called figs; but when they are trodden into a circle, they are called a cake.
“And they anointed.” And they smoothed it out so that it would adhere to the sore. And it was a miracle within a miracle, for even if one places a poultice on living flesh, it causes putrefaction. Rather, the Holy One, blessed be He, places a corrupting agent into the corrupted area and heals it.
Ibn Ezra
"And he said." This is a marvel, for figs are harmful to boils; and regarding what the prophet said, some say that it was by [divine] command.
“Diblat te’enim.” They are opened while still attached, and cut with a knife.
And they anointed. It is akin to the language of the Kedarites, and its meaning is well known:
Radak
And Isaiah said: This verse that follows it is not part of the written text, and I have not found a reason for why they were written here, after the written text, for their proper place is above, after “and I will protect this city,” and so too they appear in the Book of Kings.
“Dablat te’enim” (a cake of figs). And this was a miracle within a miracle, for figs are harmful to a boil.
And they anointed. The matter is one of binding and bandaging.
"And he lived." "And he healed," like the phrase "until their lives" (i.e., until they revived).
Metzudat David
"They shall take." They shall take a piece of crushed figs to place a bandage on the boil, and it will heal.
Metzudat Zion
They shall carry. They shall take:
Dibbat teanim: A piece of dried figs that are trampled together until they form a single mass. And similarly, "And they gave him a cake of pressed figs" (II Samuel 30:12).
"And they shall anoint." The matter is akin to plastering and the manner of a bandage, as our Sages of blessed memory stated: "Because he is anointing" (Shabbat 116).
The boil. A type of affliction that is contracted through it; and likewise, “boils” (Exodus 9).
And he lived. The matter of healing:
Malbim
And Isaiah said, referring back to the above, relating that the healing was contrary to nature, for the application of figs cleanses the boil and cures it, and through this he was healed miraculously, and concerning this
And Hezekiah said. 'What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of Hashem?’
verse value 1419
Insights
Verse structure: 8 words, 29 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָֽה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "what" (מָ֣ה, 2 letters) and the longest is "Hezekiah" (חִזְקִיָּ֖הוּ, 6 letters). 8 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 449x in Isaiah); "and·said" (root אמר, 244x in Isaiah); "that" (root כי, 221x in Isaiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'sign', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 4 words. Full calculation: וַיֹּ֥אמֶר [and·said] (257) + חִזְקִיָּ֖הוּ [Hezekiah] (136) + מָ֣ה [what] (45) + א֑וֹת [sign] (407) + כִּ֥י [that] (30) + אֶעֱלֶ֖ה [I·will·go·up] (106) + בֵּ֥ית [the·house·of] (412) + יְהֹוָֽה [Hashem] (26) = 1419.
Rashi
What is the sign? How good and how fair is this sign that was given to me, that I will ascend to the House of the Lord:
Ibn Ezra
"And He said." The meaning is: And already Hizkiyahu said, "What is the sign?" And it was already mentioned above (Isaiah 38:7), "This is the sign to you from the Lord."
Radak
And Hezekiah said. Regarding what was stated above, that Isaiah said, “This shall be the sign for you,” Hezekiah asked Isaiah, saying to him, “What sign?”—meaning, “What sign that I shall recover and ascend to the House of the Lord, as you say?”
Metzudat David
What is the sign? How good and how beautiful is this wondrous sign, that I have been healed and can ascend to the House of the Lord.
Metzudat Zion
What is the proof? The word "what" indicates the magnitude and importance of the matter.
Malbim
From the words of the Scripture here, it appears that Hezekiah did not ask for a sign. And in Kings, the opinion is that after Isaiah said, “Let them take a poultice of figs,” Hezekiah said, “What is the sign that the Lord will heal me?” And Isaiah said, “Go, let the shadow go back ten steps.” It is clear that what he said, “What is the sign that I will go up to the House of the Lord?” was asking for a sign and a wonder. How did he reverse the order here? And the matter itself is very strange that the Lord would perform such a great miracle for such a small matter as this, and what was the need for such a great miracle? (See Chapter 99).
Rashi
Metzudat David
Malbim