The prayer continues — the mountains quaking at His presence; 'we are the clay, and Thou our potter'; the plea that He remember not iniquity for ever, and look upon Zion's desolation.
Tap any Hebrew word to reveal its root, value, and meanings.
As when fire kindles the brush-wood, and the fire causes the waters to boil; to make Your name known to Your adversaries, that the nations might tremble at Your presence,
verse value 2776
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 48 letters. The shortest word is "fire" (אֵ֣שׁ, 2 letters) and the longest is "boils·fire" (תִּבְעֶה־אֵ֔שׁ, 6 letters). 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Isaiah. Unique to this verse in Isaiah (hapax): "as·it·kindles" (כִּקְדֹ֧חַ), "twigs" (הֲמָסִ֗ים), "boils·fire" (תִּבְעֶה־אֵ֔שׁ). 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "from·your·face" (root פנים, 88x in Isaiah); "your·name" (root שם, 83x in Isaiah); "to·make·known" (root ידע, 73x in Isaiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·your·adversaries', dividing the verse into phrases of 8 and 3 words. Full calculation: כִּקְדֹ֧חַ [as·it·kindles] (132) + אֵ֣שׁ [fire] (301) + הֲמָסִ֗ים [twigs] (155) + מַ֚יִם [water] (90) + תִּבְעֶה־אֵ֔שׁ [boils·fire] (778) + לְהוֹדִ֥יעַ [to·make·known] (125) + שִׁמְךָ֖ [your·name] (360) + לְצָרֶ֑יךָ [to·your·adversaries] (350) + מִפָּנֶ֖יךָ [from·your·face] (200) + גּוֹיִ֥ם [nations] (59) + יִרְגָּֽזוּ [tremble] (226) = 2776.
Rashi
Like a fire that is kindled. This refers to the matter that was melted away before Him, and just as when water encounters fire—when you place an ember or metal into water, the water rises up in bubbles—all this You did to the Egyptians, as it is stated: “And there was hail, and fire flashing forth in the midst of the hail” (Exodus 9:24). But the Targum [renders] “like a fire that is kindled” as referring to the fire that consumed Elijah on Mount Carmel, concerning which it is stated: “And the water that was in the trench was dried up” (1 Kings 18:38).
To make Your name known to the needy. As it is stated regarding that plague: “Nevertheless, for this reason have I raised you up” (ibid.), [and it continues]: “If you now do so, then the nations will tremble at Your presence.”
Ibn Ezra
Like a fire that causes things to melt. Others melted before him like a fire that is burning fiercely, and like water that the fire has consumed—from the root of "blisters" (Exodus 9:9)—so shall the nations tremble before You.
Radak
Like a fire that melts. "That melts" is a noun, its root being *masas*, and the *s* would have been subject to *dagesh* due to the omission of the doubled letter, but instead the *nach* came in place of the *dagesh*, and one of the *s* letters in *hamassim* is the *s* of *mas*. And a great and strong fire is called "a melting fire" because it melts everything; so too was that fire on Mount Sinai.
“Like a burning fire.” The matter of kindling and burning, as it is said, “for a fire burned in My anger” (Deuteronomy 32:22), “for a fire has burned against them” (Jeremiah 4:4), and “there was a fire that sought water, for the fire was on the mountain and the water was on the mountain; behold, the waters were boiling, and the entire mountain was smoking, both in the place of the fire and in the place of the water, for boiling waters emit smoke.” All of this was to make Your name known to those in need who did not know Your name and did not recognize You, and through these wonders You made it known to them that there is a Master in the world who guides and does all according to His will, setting the mountains ablaze contrary to the custom and nature of the world, so that the nations would tremble before You, just as the mountains trembled, for on that day it was heard and made known throughout the world.
“Water sought fire.” Fire is the active agent, even though it comes last, and water is the passive agent, even though it comes first, because it is clear that fire boils water, and one should not err in this matter. Therefore, they did not insist on the order of the first and the last.
“Teva’ah.” The matter is one of boiling, for since water when it boils rises in bubbles, this expression is used. And one may interpret this entire matter as an allegory for the battles that God fought on behalf of Israel against their enemies. He said, “You rent the heavens and came down,” meaning that the stars fought against Sisera by being shaken from their courses. Likewise, “the mountains” is an allegory for the great ones. And “fire” is as it is stated, “Nations were burning like lime.”
Metzudat David
Like a feverish fire that melts. This means: Behold, from the time You destroyed those who besieged us, it was like a fire that heats and burns the thing being melted until its complete destruction; and just as the heat of fire causes water to boil, forming bubbles that increase and continue to grow, so too You increased in afflicting the besiegers.
To make known. This means: Not because of our righteousness, but in order to make known—i.e., to publicize—Your Name, for those who deny God require this.
Before You. Or: "The nations trembled before You."
Metzudat Zion
Like burning. The matter of burning is like the fire that rages in His anger (Deuteronomy 32:22).
Hamasim. From the language of melting and dissolving:
Tiv'eh. From the language of "ava'bu'ot" (blisters).
ירגזו. The meaning is trembling movements, as in “They shall tremble, and shall not sin” (Psalms 4:5).
Malbim
“As fire kindles (ki-kdoach),” the Divine Spirit hovers over his preceding words, which he said: “Would that You would rend the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at Your presence” (Isaiah 64:1), and a terrifying vision now wanders before his eyes: how fire consumes fire, mighty fire descends from the mountains of prey; the mountains will quake, the rocks will melt, the valleys will be split, like wax melting before the fire. And the vision of the great mountains pouring forth fire, and upon their peaks covered with snow, is the image which he now sees: how the mountain pours forth fire, sulfur, and stones of algubish, and the snow and ice upon it will burn and become hot, and melt into water. These waters bubble from this terrible fire, and they will boil and flare up terribly. He says: At the time when the mountains quake, at the time when the fire burns and melts, at the time when the fire heats the things that are melting, which are the snow and ice on the peak of the mountain, then fire demands water; then the fire bubbles, and it boils the water like a cauldron. All this it does in order to make known Your name to those who need it, so that because of You the nations will tremble.
when You did tremendous things which we looked not for— Oh that You would come down, that the mountains might quake at Your presence!—
verse value 2815
Insights
Verse structure: 8 words, 35 letters. The shortest word is "not" (לֹ֣א, 2 letters) and the longest is "when·You·did" (בַּעֲשׂוֹתְךָ֥, 6 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Isaiah. Unique to this verse in Isaiah (hapax): "when·You·did" (בַּעֲשׂוֹתְךָ֥), "feared" (נוֹרָא֖וֹת). 8 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "not" (root לא, 286x in Isaiah); "when·You·did" (root עשה, 101x in Isaiah); "from·your·face" (root פנים, 88x in Isaiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'we·waited-for', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 4 words. Full calculation: בַּעֲשׂוֹתְךָ֥ [when·You·did] (798) + נוֹרָא֖וֹת [feared] (663) + לֹ֣א [not] (31) + נְקַוֶּ֑ה [we·waited-for] (161) + יָרַ֕דְתָּ [you·came·down] (614) + מִפָּנֶ֖יךָ [from·your·face] (200) + הָרִ֥ים [mountains] (255) + נָזֹֽלּוּ [they·were·quaked] (93) = 2815.
Rashi
"When you do." In Egypt and against all the enemies, the awesome deeds which we did not expect You to perform for us—all those awesome deeds for which we were not worthy.
“You went down to Mount Sinai.” Then, because of You, the mountains melted. This is the explanation of Dunash ben Labrat.
Ibn Ezra
In doing. The meaning is: as you were doing.
And it is evident. And it is a description of God, in the manner of "And a rich man will answer with harshness" (Proverbs 18:23):
[We did not hope]. We did not expect to see [a situation] like theirs:
[“You descended,” etc.]: And when you were descending, the mountains melted away before you; and the reason is that you had already done so previously.
Radak
In doing. We would not have hoped for the great wonders that You were doing with us; we would not have hoped that You would do so many wonders for our sake, that You would descend for our sake and the mountains would melt away before You.
Metzudat David
“when you do.” At the time of performing wondrous and awesome miracles, which we did not expect, for we were not worthy of such wonders.
"You descended." This means that those [previous acts] were not sufficient, for You also descended for our sake upon Mount Sinai and gave us the Torah, and then the mountains trembled before You until they were dripping with sweat from the intensity of the trembling.
Metzudat Zion
Nezulu. Dripped:
Malbim
“Be-doing” (in the phrase “when you do”)—why should You not do so now? Did You not already do this in days of old? Was it not the case that when You performed wonders at a time when we had no hope, that at that very time, in days of old, we still had no hope for such wonders? And yet, even though You performed wonders for which we had no hope, nevertheless You descended then, and mountains melted away at Your presence.
And whereof from of old men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither has the eye seen a God beside You, who works for him that waits for Him.
verse value 2589
Insights
Verse structure: 10 words, 50 letters. Notable word values: "God" (אֱלֹהִים֙) = 86, equal to Elohim. The shortest word is "not" (לֹ֣א, 2 letters) and the longest is "for·the·one·who·waits·for·him" (לִמְחַכֵּה־לֽוֹ, 7 letters). 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Isaiah. Unique to this verse in Isaiah (hapax): "and·from·everlasting" (וּמֵעוֹלָ֥ם), "not·has-seen" (לֹֽא־רָאָ֗תָה), "for·the·one·who·waits·for·him" (לִמְחַכֵּה־לֽוֹ). 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "not" (root לא, 286x in Isaiah); "not·heard" (root שמע, 106x in Isaiah); "will·do" (root עשה, 101x in Isaiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'they·gave·ear', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 6 words. Full calculation: וּמֵעוֹלָ֥ם [and·from·everlasting] (192) + לֹא־שָׁמְע֖וּ [not·heard] (447) + לֹ֣א [not] (31) + הֶאֱזִ֑ינוּ [they·gave·ear] (79) + עַ֣יִן [eye] (130) + לֹֽא־רָאָ֗תָה [not·has-seen] (637) + אֱלֹהִים֙ [God] (86) + זוּלָ֣תְךָ֔ [beside·you] (463) + יַעֲשֶׂ֖ה [will·do] (385) + לִמְחַכֵּה־לֽוֹ [for·the·one·who·waits·for·him] (139) = 2589.
Rashi
"And they have never heard" — this refers to those awesome things that were done for one of all the nations of the world previously, and also "eye has not seen, O God, other than You, who will do for those who wait for Him what You have done for those who wait for You." Thus I heard from Rabbi Yosi, and I am confident in it. But our Sages who said that all the prophets prophesied only about the days of the Messiah, but regarding the World-to-Come, "eye has not seen," etc., their meaning is that the eye of no prophet saw what the Holy One, Blessed be He, will do for those who wait for Him, except for Your eyes, O God.
Ibn Ezra
And never have they heard — [namely] the hearers — nor given ear; neither has any eye seen a God besides You, who acts for those who wait for Him, for those who wait for Him.
Radak
And they have never heard. The nations of the world neither listened to the awesome deeds that You have done for us, nor did they hear, nor did they see.
“God, other than You” – This means that no other deity besides You will do for those who wait for Him what You have done for those who wait for You. And the Targum translates it likewise: “And you have not heard from the world of any other god…” And in the words of our Sages of blessed memory, Shmuel said: All the prophets prophesied only concerning the Messianic era, but as for the World to Come, “No eye has seen, God other than You, will do for those who wait for Him.”
Metzudat David
And from of old. From the days of old, mankind has neither heard nor listened to words like these.
"Eye has not seen" — No eye has seen what God, besides You, will do for those who wait for Him and believe in Him.
Metzudat Zion
"Hear" – The matter is one of hearing, from the root of "ear."
"Other than You" – meaning, "besides You."
For hope. The matter of "hope" is similar to "Therefore, wait for Me" (Zephaniah 3:8).
Malbim
“From of old” refers back to the preceding phrase: “Surely, when You do wonders, we have not hoped.” That is, wonders such as have never been heard of from of old, nor have ears ever listened to wonders like these, nor has an eye seen, O God, besides You. Surely, at that time, we had not yet hoped for wonders like these, nor had an ear ever heard, nor had an eye seen wonders like these, except for You, O God. And yet, You did perform wonders like these at that time. You descended then, and at Your presence the mountains melted away. If so, how much more so—by an a fortiori argument—will He perform wonders for those who wait for Him. Indeed, He is obligated to perform wonders like these for this generation, which has waited for Him and hoped for wonders like these, and which has already heard and seen them.
You did take away him that joyfully worked righteousness, those that remembered You in Your ways— Behold, You were wroth, and we sinned— Upon them have we stayed of old, that we might be saved.
verse value 4478
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 53 letters. The shortest word is "justice" (צֶ֔דֶק, 3 letters) and the longest is "in·Your·ways" (בִּדְרָכֶ֖יךָ, 6 letters). 8 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Isaiah. Unique to this verse in Isaiah (hapax): "you·encountered" (פָּגַ֤עְתָּ), "the·one·who·rejoices" (אֶת־שָׂשׂ֙), "in·Your·ways" (בִּדְרָכֶ֖יךָ). 12 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·doer·of" (root עשה, 101x in Isaiah); "in·Your·ways" (root דרך, 57x in Isaiah); "behold·You" (root אתה, 50x in Isaiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'they·will·remember·you', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 6 words. Full calculation: פָּגַ֤עְתָּ [you·encountered] (553) + אֶת־שָׂשׂ֙ [the·one·who·rejoices] (1001) + וְעֹ֣שֵׂה [and·doer·of] (381) + צֶ֔דֶק [justice] (194) + בִּדְרָכֶ֖יךָ [in·Your·ways] (256) + יִזְכְּר֑וּךָ [they·will·remember·you] (263) + הֵן־אַתָּ֤ה [behold·You] (461) + קָצַ֙פְתָּ֙ [have·been·wroth] (670) + וַֽנֶּחֱטָ֔א [and·we·sinned] (74) + בָּהֶ֥ם [in·them] (47) + עוֹלָ֖ם [ever] (146) + וְנִוָּשֵֽׁעַ [and·we·will·be·saved] (432) = 4478.
Rashi
"You struck him who rejoiced (sas) to do righteousness." As in "and he fell upon him, and he died" (1 Kings 2:34); You removed from us and slew the righteous, who rejoiced to do justice; they would invoke You in their prayers, in the ways of Your mercy.
"Behold, You: when You were angry with us for all the sins we had committed from of old, we were saved through their prayer; we were saved from of old."
And we are saved. In the present tense:
Ibn Ezra
"Pigeata." The reason is: If you had been angry, you would have harmed the righteous, in the sense of "standing in the breach" (Psalms 106:23); or the meaning of "pigeata" is: you would have accepted the appeasement of the righteous, as in "I will not spare man" (Isaiah 47:3, 53:12).
And the meaning of “six” is: the righteous one who rejoiced in you.
"In your ways they will mention you." In the ways that were taught to the faithful household.
[“Behold, you and...”]. And now, are You angry, and we were sinners? Or is its meaning: When You were angry, we had already sinned?
In them. On behalf of the righteous, for the eternal quelling of the wrath:
And we shall be saved. And this means: we shall be saved, and behold, this form stands for the present tense.
Radak
“You have struck down the righteous, and they have done justice.” Some say that “struck down” refers to the blow of death, meaning that You have removed from the world the righteous who rejoiced in Your commandments and practiced justice. Others explain that “struck down” refers to the rejection of the righteous’ supplication, just as it is said, “I will not strike down any man,” meaning “I will not accept any man’s supplication for them.” According to both interpretations, the verse’s meaning follows the pattern of “The righteous has perished from the earth.” The verse states that those righteous individuals who used to perform Your commandments with joy are no longer in the world to stand in the breach for us, as the earlier generations did.
"In Your ways they shall remember You." They were remembering You in Your ways, which are the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy. When You were angry with Your people because of their sins, the righteous ones would stand before You, just as Moses did in the incident of the Golden Calf and in the incident of the spies. He said: "The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin..." (Exodus 34:6-7). He then pleaded: "Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people..." (Exodus 34:9).
"Behold, You were angry, and we sinned." When You were angry with us because we had sinned before You:
“By them the world is sustained and saved.” By them we relied throughout all the days of the world, meaning, in every generation and generation, there were righteous people, and we were saved through them, for they would pray before You on our behalf. But now, in exile, the pious and the righteous have ceased to exist, and we are all like the unclean. There is nothing else to do but that You act for the sake of Your Name.
And we sinned. After we had sinned, and similarly, "and it brought forth worms and rotted," after it had rotted, and similarly, "and He split the waters," after the waters were split.
Metzudat David
“You have struck.” Behold, now you have removed from us the righteous ones, each of whom was eager to perform righteousness, for he was anticipating that it would come to him.
"In your ways they will remember you." In the ways of Your mercy, they used to mention You in their prayer, even when You were angry. Indeed, when You were angry with us, the anger was because we had sinned against You. A parallel to this is: "I awoke and looked" (Jeremiah 31:26) — meaning, the awakening was because I saw.
In them is the world, and they are saved. Throughout all the days of the world, we have relied upon their merit and their prayer, and we have been saved through them, and the wrath has departed, even though it came upon the sin, and we did not return from it.
Metzudat Zion
"פגעת" – The term "פגישה" (meeting/encounter) denotes a negative encounter, specifically in the context of striking a person, as in "and the Lord struck him" (above 53:6). "שש" – The term denotes joy.
Malbim
“Piga’at” [You have encountered]—it says: Is it not by this path that you went then, when you tore the heavens and descended in ancient days to perform wonders? Is it not by this path that you encounter One who is joyful and performs righteousness? For when You walk in such a way, in the path of miracles, the righteous who performed acts of charity with joy would encounter You. Because they saw Your miracles, they would rejoice to perform righteousness; and they would remember You in Your ways; they would constantly remember You in these paths, for in all their prayers they would mention You regarding the great and wondrous deeds that You perform. And even at the time when You were angry, at the time when we sinned, they would remember You in these paths forever, and thereby they would be saved. For in these miraculous paths, they would mention You even in their prayer to remove anger and atone for sin, and this prayer was effective. Just as Moses, our teacher, may he be blessed, prayed, and Egypt heard that You had brought forth this people with Your strength from their midst, and they said, etc., “Your cloud stands over them, and in a pillar of cloud You go before them,” etc., and the Lord said, “I have forgiven, as you have spoken.” And so it was with all his prayers. (The verb “yizkerucha” [they will remember You] extends to two meanings: “they will remember You in them forever.”)
And we are all become as one that is unclean, and all our righteousnesses are as a polluted garment; and we all do fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
verse value 2224
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 57 letters. The shortest word is "and·we·were" (וַנְּהִ֤י, 4 letters) and the longest is "all·our·righteousnesses" (כׇּל־צִדְקֹתֵ֑ינוּ, 9 letters). Words sharing gematria 106: all·of·us, all·of·us. 8 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Isaiah. Unique to this verse in Isaiah (hapax): "and·we·were" (וַנְּהִ֤י), "like·the·unclean" (כַטָּמֵא֙), "and·as·cloth·of" (וּכְבֶ֥גֶד). The root כל appears 2 times in this verse. 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·we·were" (root היה, 213x in Isaiah); "all·of·us" (root כל, 93x in Isaiah); "they·will·lift·us" (root נשא, 57x in Isaiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'all·our·righteousnesses', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 6 words. Full calculation: וַנְּהִ֤י [and·we·were] (71) + כַטָּמֵא֙ [like·the·unclean] (70) + כֻּלָּ֔נוּ [all·of·us] (106) + וּכְבֶ֥גֶד [and·as·cloth·of] (35) + עִדִּ֖ים [filthy·rags] (124) + כׇּל־צִדְקֹתֵ֑ינוּ [all·our·righteousnesses] (710) + וַנָּ֤בֶל [and·we·fade] (88) + כֶּֽעָלֶה֙ [as·the·leaf] (125) + כֻּלָּ֔נוּ [all·of·us] (106) + וַעֲוֺנֵ֖נוּ [and·our·iniquity] (188) + כָּר֥וּחַ [like·the·wind] (234) + יִשָּׂאֻֽנוּ [they·will·lift·us] (367) = 2224.
Rashi
And he became like a ritually impure person. Since the righteous ones withdrew from him:
"And like a garment of idim." That is, like a garment that is repulsive, of which everyone says, "Remove it" — "idim" is the Targum's term for removal.
"And we fade like a leaf." And it withers like a leaf; "fleistre" in the vernacular:
And let our iniquity be borne away like the wind. And in the Targum: “And our iniquity shall be carried away like the wind.”
Ibn Ezra
And now. And now we are all like one who is ritually impure.
Edim. Like the verse “he shall devour the prey” (Genesis 49:27), for the garment of spoils is stained with blood.
"And we wither." The nun of the root is connected, for it is from the root of "novlat" (as in Isaiah 1:30), with a nun serving as the sign of the speaker, lacking the nun of the root, and it is lacking according to its measure.
Radak
And we have become like an unclean thing. Garments. From the Targum: “Our witnesses are leprous,” and some explain it from the Targum: “Our witnesses are impure,” meaning that when she gives birth, her garments are soiled with blood. And there is another explanation: “garments” refers to ragged and worn-out clothes. Similarly, in the words of our Sages of blessed memory: “She who is accustomed to wearing rags until they are placed under her pillow.” The matter is one and the same, for a soiled garment causes disgust among people. We say: We remain in exile like something unclean, or like a soiled garment that becomes detestable. Likewise, all our righteous deeds—even the righteous deeds we perform—are not acceptable but are detestable, because we do not perform them except to boast in them, to exalt ourselves, and out of rivalry between one person and another. Therefore, “and we are all withered like a leaf.” Just as a leaf withers, so too we all wither. And just as the wind carries away the falling leaf, so too our sins will carry us to our dispersion in every direction. Regarding the grammatical precision of the word “and we are withered” (venavval), some say it is from the Nifal conjugation, and its proper form should be “venanavval.” Due to the absence of the first letter of the root, its vowel was placed on the nun, which is aitán (a nun that does not assimilate). And others say it is from the Hifil conjugation, and the bet should have been dagesh-ed, but a shva was placed instead of the dagesh, as occurs in the word “wayyazd” (and Jacob journeyed).
Our iniquities. The plural form is missing the yod in the written text:
Metzudat David
And now. And now, upon their departure, we shall all be like one who is ritually impure, for there is no one to protect us.
And as for the phrase “like a filthy garment,” etc.: All the righteous deeds that we perform are like a worn-out garment and rags, for they are not done with complete intent, but rather out of a desire to boast.
And we are like a withered leaf, all of us. Therefore, we have withered, and our strength has become dried up like a withered leaf.
"And our iniquity." The sins accuse us and take vengeance upon us, causing us to be restless and wandering like the wind that carries a thing and moves it.
Metzudat Zion
And we became. We were:
Edim. Its meaning is spoiled and worn out, as in the phrase of our Sages of blessed memory, "that which is used for witnesses" (Niddah 2b), that is to say, it refers to rags.
And "venavol." The meaning is like "to wither," as it is written: "and its leaf shall not wither" (Psalms 1:3).
Like a leaf. The leaves of the tree:
Malbim
And now, since you do not walk in these paths of miracles, and you do not descend from heaven to earth to perform wonders, you will also not encounter one who rejoices and does righteousness. For we are all like the impure, since we have distanced ourselves from the Holy One, like one who is warned against the Holy and the Sanctuary. (We are also like the impure, all of us, in that one person renders another impure, and there is no one to sprinkle upon us the waters of purification after we have all become impure; thus, there is no one to bring us back in repentance.) And like a menstrual cloth is all our righteousness; even the commandments that we perform are like a garment made only for adornment and ornament, which we engage in merely to boast in them, not to clothe ourselves in them so that they become a firm possession within our souls. And we are all like a withered leaf; the tree and its fruit do not wither, but only the leaf, which is merely secondary and weak. Likewise, we lack the fruit of charity and good deeds. Therefore, our iniquity will carry us away like the wind carries the withered leaf. (This means that one who possesses Torah and good deeds is like a tree with many roots, such that all the winds in the world cannot move it from its place. For if he is strong in his faith, the wind of desire will not carry him away to sin, and he is strong against the wind of the heart that raises evil images upon the heart, for the intellect is like a strong wall against this wind, and it will not pass through it. But since we are like a withered leaf, lacking inner faith and commandments, our iniquity will carry us away by means of the wind that blows and storms in the chambers of the soul, carrying dust and dirt to cover the face.)
And there is none that calls upon Your name, that stirs up himself to take hold of You; for You have hid Your face from us, and have consumed us by means of our iniquities.
verse value 3934
Insights
Verse structure: 10 words, 56 letters. The shortest word is "in·you" (בָּ֑ךְ, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·none·calls" (וְאֵין־קוֹרֵ֣א, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 160: to·take-hold, your·face. 7 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Isaiah. Unique to this verse in Isaiah (hapax): "and·none·calls" (וְאֵין־קוֹרֵ֣א), "stirring-himself-up" (מִתְעוֹרֵ֖ר), "to·take-hold" (לְהַחֲזִ֣יק). 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "your·face" (root פנים, 88x in Isaiah); "in·your·name" (root שם, 83x in Isaiah); "stirring-himself-up" (root עור, 30x in Isaiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'in·you', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 5 words. Full calculation: וְאֵין־קוֹרֵ֣א [and·none·calls] (374) + בְשִׁמְךָ֔ [in·your·name] (362) + מִתְעוֹרֵ֖ר [stirring-himself-up] (916) + לְהַחֲזִ֣יק [to·take-hold] (160) + בָּ֑ךְ [in·you] (22) + כִּֽי־הִסְתַּ֤רְתָּ [for·you·have·hidden] (1095) + פָנֶ֙יךָ֙ [your·face] (160) + מִמֶּ֔נּוּ [from·us] (136) + וַתְּמוּגֵ֖נוּ [and·you·melted·us] (511) + בְּיַד־עֲוֺנֵֽנוּ [by·hand·of·our·iniquity] (198) = 3934.
Rashi
He arouses himself. Like one who overcomes his evil inclination:
"And it melts us." And it makes us totter:
Ibn Ezra
"And there is, etc." – "Awakens," "wages war," [these are] descriptions of the Divine Name.
to uphold. His hand is with you:
And they shall be dismayed. From the root of “All the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away” (Exodus 15:15):
Radak
"And one does not call upon Your name." Just as the early pious ones used to do:
He becomes aroused. And there is no arousal, and there is no case where a masculine form stands in place of a dual:
to uphold you. In Your commandments and in Your ways:
"For You have hidden Your face." The word "For" here is used in the sense of "when," just as in the phrase "When you beget sons," it says: "When You have hidden Your face and caused us to melt away by the hand of our iniquities, there is no one who calls upon Your name."
He arouses Himself to uphold you, just as the ancients did, who stood in the breach before You.
“Vatomgenu.” The matter of the melting down, and it says “by the hand of our iniquities,” meaning that it was not You who did it, but rather our iniquities.
Metzudat David
And there is no one who reads. There is none among us who will call upon Your name to pray for us:
He awakens. The word "and there is not" serves two purposes: to say that there is no one who awakens to support your hand, to be drawn after you, to restore us to what is good, and to return to You.
"For You have hidden [Your face]." When You have hidden Your face from us because of our deeds, we melt away because of our sins, for there is no one to turn away Your anger from us, not as in the past, when there was someone to remove the wrath and annul the decree.
Metzudat Zion
“Awakens.” From the language of “awakening” and “strengthening”:
To hold. To grasp:
And melt us. From the language of "melting" and "dissolving":
Yad. This means: on account of.
Malbim
"And there is none who calls in Your name" — meaning, there is no longer a prophet or seer who will call the people in Your name to bring them back in repentance, nor will there be found, at the very least, anyone who will awaken on his own to cling to You by means of divine assistance that appeared to individuals, as was the case with the Forefathers. For You have completely hidden Your face from them, and consequently, "and we are melting away in the midst of our iniquity" — we are melting away and continuing to melt away.
But now, O Hashem, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You our potter, and we all are the work of Your hand.
verse value 2679
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 46 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֖ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "you" (אָ֑תָּה, 3 letters) and the longest is "our·father" (אָבִ֣ינוּ, 5 letters). 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Isaiah. Unique to this verse in Isaiah (hapax): "our·potter" (יֹצְרֵ֔נוּ). The root אתה appears 2 times in this verse. 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 449x in Isaiah); "all·of·us" (root כל, 93x in Isaiah); "your·hand" (root יד, 79x in Isaiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'you', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 7 words.
Ibn Ezra
"And now." The meaning is: "Deal with us according to Your will, for we have no power in our hands, for we are like clay."
Radak
“And now, O Lord.” Even though we have sinned before You, we are Your children and You are our Father, and a father does not abandon his son even though he has sinned against him. And behold, we are the clay and You are our Potter, and the Potter reshapes the clay from one vessel to another as seems right in the eyes of the Potter. So too, we are in Your hand, and not so are the other nations, for Your providence is not constantly upon them. But we are in Your hand like clay in the hand of the Potter, whose eyes are always upon the clay as he fashions a vessel; and if it does not seem right in His eyes, He returns and makes another vessel. So too, Your eyes are always upon us, and You observe our deeds. And if we have sinned and You are angry with us, behold, we are a broken vessel; return and make us another vessel.
"And do not remember forever our iniquity; behold, consider that we are all Your people. And even though we have sinned, we have not gone out from under Your dominion, nor have we abandoned Your great Name, nor have we turned to other gods. Therefore, pass over our iniquity and have mercy on us."
Metzudat David
"And now, O Lord." This means: Nevertheless, are You not our Father? And it is a father's way to show mercy to his son.
We are the clay. That is to say, just as a potter forms everything from clay, so too, did You not create us? And we are all the work of Your hands. How then can You destroy the work of Your hands?
Metzudat Zion
The clay. The potter’s clay:
Our Maker. The term is used both of the potter who forms clay and of the Absolute Creation:
Malbim
And now, here is the conclusion of the complaint that began with what was stated, “He remembered the days of old,”: If we are sinning because You have removed Your Divine Presence from among us, are You not our Father? And it is fitting for a father to have compassion on his children. Moreover, we are like clay; we resemble clay in the hand of the potter, ready to receive any form from the Shaper, as it is stated, “Can I not do to you as this potter does, O house of Israel. In a moment I will speak, and so on, and the nation will return, and so on, and I will have compassion, and so on.” And we are ready to accept discipline and reproof if You will restore Your divinity over us. And thus, You are the cause. Furthermore, are we not all the work of Your hands? And a craftsman does not desire to ruin the work of his hands. And therefore, we are requesting.
Be not wroth very sore, O Hashem, neither remember iniquity for ever; behold, look, we beseech You, we are all Your people.
verse value 2098
Insights
Verse structure: 10 words, 42 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָה֙) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "they" (הֵ֥ן, 2 letters) and the longest is "do·not·be·wroth" (אַל־תִּקְצֹ֤ף, 6 letters). 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Isaiah. Unique to this verse in Isaiah (hapax): "do·not·be·wroth" (אַל־תִּקְצֹ֤ף), "and·not·forever" (וְאַל־לָעַ֖ד), "you·shall·remember" (תִּזְכֹּ֣ר). 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 449x in Isaiah); "do·not·be·wroth" (root איל, 114x in Isaiah); "your·people" (root עם, 107x in Isaiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'perversity', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 4 words. Full calculation: אַל־תִּקְצֹ֤ף [do·not·be·wroth] (701) + יְהֹוָה֙ [Hashem] (26) + עַד־מְאֹ֔ד [until·exceedingly] (119) + וְאַל־לָעַ֖ד [and·not·forever] (141) + תִּזְכֹּ֣ר [you·shall·remember] (627) + עָוֺ֑ן [perversity] (126) + הֵ֥ן [they] (55) + הַבֶּט־נָ֖א [look·please] (67) + עַמְּךָ֥ [your·people] (130) + כֻלָּֽנוּ [our·them] (106) = 2098.
Ibn Ezra
"Al, etc." – "For You have been very angry":
Your people. We today:
Radak
“Do not be angry.” It is explicitly stated:
Metzudat David
"Until very much." Do not increase Your anger.
"And not forever, etc." — Do not remember the sin forever.
Behold, look now. Consider us now and see that we are all with You and believe in You, and no one’s heart turns away from after You.
Malbim
“Do not be angry, O Lord, exceedingly,” meaning that the anger should not be great in its intensity, and “do not remember iniquity forever,” meaning that the anger should not be perpetual. For behold, look, I pray, at Your people, all of us; we are Your people, awaiting You, believing in You. And as for the fact that we have strayed back from You, we are not culpable in this matter, for the cause of this is because
Your holy cities are become a wilderness, Zion is become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.
verse value 2764
Insights
Verse structure: 9 words, 36 letters. The shortest word is "cities·of" (עָרֵ֥י, 3 letters) and the longest is "Jerusalem" (יְרוּשָׁלִַ֖ם, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 246: wilderness, wilderness. The root היה appears 2 times in this verse. 7 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "were" (root היה, 213x in Isaiah); "cities·of" (root עיר, 43x in Isaiah); "Jerusalem" (root ירושלם, 42x in Isaiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'wilderness', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 5 words. Full calculation: עָרֵ֥י [cities·of] (280) + קׇדְשְׁךָ֖ [your·holiness] (424) + הָי֣וּ [were] (21) + מִדְבָּ֑ר [wilderness] (246) + צִיּוֹן֙ [Zion] (156) + מִדְבָּ֣ר [wilderness] (246) + הָיָ֔תָה [was] (420) + יְרוּשָׁלִַ֖ם [Jerusalem] (586) + שְׁמָמָֽה [devastation] (385) = 2764.
Ibn Ezra
"Cities, etc." Behold, for we are Your people, and see the cities that you sanctified with Your name—they lie in ruins.
Radak
“Your holy cities.” And behold, Your holy cities, which were Zion and Jerusalem, where Your Glory dwelt, now they are a wilderness and a desolation. Even though after its destruction the nations returned and rebuilt it, since the Israelites are not upon it, it is considered destroyed and desolate of its inhabitants. Moreover, it will be destroyed by their hand in the future, when the Edomites will come and take it from the hand of Ishmael and destroy it. Indeed, it has been in this state since the day the Israelites were exiled from it.
Metzudat David
"Your holy cities." Behold, your holy cities were desolate like a wilderness, and Zion too was like a wilderness, and Jerusalem is a desolation.
Malbim
Your holy cities have become a wilderness, and the foundation of holiness was in the Land of Israel, which is prepared for the providence of the Lord and the purification of the soul. Zion, wherein the Sanhedrin sat, and from there the Torah issued forth; it became a wilderness. Jerusalem, where the prophets were, became a desolation, and even its prophets found no vision from the Lord.
Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised You, is burned with fire; and all our pleasant things are laid waste.
verse value 4886
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 58 letters. The shortest word is "fire" (אֵ֑שׁ, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·all·our·pleasant·things" (וְכׇל־מַחֲמַדֵּ֖ינוּ, 10 letters). Words sharing gematria 20: was, was. 7 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Isaiah. Unique to this verse in Isaiah (hapax): "our·holiness" (קׇדְשֵׁ֣נוּ), "and·our·glory" (וְתִפְאַרְתֵּ֗נוּ), "praised·you" (הִֽלְל֙וּךָ֙). The root היה appears 2 times in this verse. 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "was" (root היה, 213x in Isaiah); "where" (root אשר, 176x in Isaiah); "house·of" (root בית, 67x in Isaiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'fire', dividing the verse into phrases of 9 and 3 words. Full calculation: בֵּ֧ית [house·of] (412) + קׇדְשֵׁ֣נוּ [our·holiness] (460) + וְתִפְאַרְתֵּ֗נוּ [and·our·glory] (1143) + אֲשֶׁ֤ר [where] (501) + הִֽלְל֙וּךָ֙ [praised·you] (91) + אֲבֹתֵ֔ינוּ [our·fathers] (469) + הָיָ֖ה [was] (20) + לִשְׂרֵ֣פַת [for·burning] (1010) + אֵ֑שׁ [fire] (301) + וְכׇל־מַחֲמַדֵּ֖ינוּ [and·all·our·pleasant·things] (214) + הָיָ֥ה [was] (20) + לְחׇרְבָּֽה [to·ruin] (245) = 4886.
Ibn Ezra
"House." It is the House of God.
“Whom our fathers praised.” The meaning is: the singers:
Radak
Our Holy Temple. Our forefathers praised You in it, and it was consumed by fire in the First Temple period and in the Second Temple period, and it still lies in ruins, for the Temple site was never rebuilt by the hands of the nations.
And all our desires were in it. The Holy Temple, and behold, it has been a ruin for many years.
Metzudat David
And our glory. That in which we used to boast:
"Which praised You." With which our ancestors praised You in the burning of the fire, so that it might be burned in the fire.
“And all our pleasant places.” All the places that had been ours were transformed, each one becoming a desolation.
Metzudat Zion
"Halleluch." From the language of "halul" and praise.
“our delights.” From the word “cherished” and “beloved.”
To desolation. From the word "destruction":
Malbim
And even our Holy House and our Glory, the Temple in which our ancestors praised You, and where they learned the fear of the Lord and love of Him, as it is written, "That you may learn to fear the Lord your God," became a burning fire. And through these causes, all our delight became a desolation. Consequently, our hands grew slack from guarding the Torah and the commandments, for they were all dependent upon holiness, the Sanctuary, and the sanctified places. But if You will restore all these to us, then we will be Yours as in the past, and ready to receive the Divine bounty. And so...
Will you refrain Thyself for these things, O Hashem? Will you hold Your peace, and afflict us very sore?
verse value 2562
Insights
Verse structure: 6 words, 30 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֑ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֑ה, 4 letters) and the longest is "upon?·these" (הַעַל־אֵ֥לֶּה, 6 letters). 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Isaiah. Unique to this verse in Isaiah (hapax): "upon?·these" (הַעַל־אֵ֥לֶּה), "will·You·refrain-Yourself" (תִתְאַפַּ֖ק), "you·will·be·silent" (תֶּחֱשֶׁ֥ה). 6 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 449x in Isaiah); "upon?·these" (root אלה, 27x in Isaiah); "and·afflict·us" (root ענה, 25x in Isaiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Hashem', dividing the verse into phrases of 3 and 3 words. Full calculation: הַעַל־אֵ֥לֶּה [upon?·these] (141) + תִתְאַפַּ֖ק [will·You·refrain-Yourself] (981) + יְהֹוָ֑ה [Hashem] (26) + תֶּחֱשֶׁ֥ה [you·will·be·silent] (713) + וּתְעַנֵּ֖נוּ [and·afflict·us] (582) + עַד־מְאֹֽד [until·exceedingly] (119) = 2562.
Rashi
“Will You be silent, and afflict us? Be silent regarding what is done to us.” Thus far is the prayer of the prophet, and its beginning is: “The kindnesses of the Lord I will recount.”
Ibn Ezra
"Because of these, etc." "You will be silent," like "and why will you be silent," and the meaning is: do not hasten to save us.
Radak
"Is it concerning these things?" How can you restrain yourself regarding these matters and not show mercy?
Tachashah. Be silent, as if you do not hear our cries:
"Answer us." That is, we are afflicted in exile at the hands of our enemies. And Targum Jonathan [renders it]: "For these things will You restrain Yourself, O Lord," etc.
Metzudat David
“Concerning these things.” And is it only regarding the destruction of these things that you should restrain yourself and strengthen your heart, so that your compassion be not stirred within you — will You be silent? And will You keep still toward the nations, who did all these things? And will you continue to allow them to afflict us for a long time? Is not what has already passed sufficient?
Metzudat Zion
"Be strong." The meaning is of fortification and strengthening of the heart.
Tachashah. The matter of silence is like "a time for silence" (Ecclesiastes 3:7):
And afflict us. From the root of affliction:
Malbim
“Will You restrain Yourself concerning these things, O Lord?” – Is it not because of this that we are distant from the salvation of the soul? And why do You delay? These words stirred the spirit of the divine seer once again. He turns his face to the Lord and says to Him: “But, O Lord, You delay and answer us exceedingly in that You delay and remain silent; in that You do not reply to these words, in this very thing You answer us and return to us a great answer and a response that is exceedingly sufficient. Your silence itself will answer his words.” And he ceased his discourse; the strings of the lyre of rhetoric were now stunned. The great storm returned to silence in the spirit of the rhetorician, so that in the next chapter, the spirit will come and the answer of God to this:
Rashi
Ibn Ezra
Radak
Metzudat David
Metzudat Zion
Malbim