Isaiah: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66
29:1 HOY ARI-EL ARI-EL KIRYAT CHANAH DAVID SEPHU SHANAH AL SHANAH CHAGIM YINKOPHU
הוֹי אֲרִיאֵל אֲרִיאֵל קִרְיַת חָנָה דָוִד סְפוּ שָׁנָה עַל שָׁנָה חַגִּים יִנְקֹפוּ
BN: Oi, Ari-El, Ari-El, the city where David encamped! Add one year to the next, let the feasts come round!
"Woe to Ari-El", described as "the city where David dwelt", which could as well have been Beit Lechem or Tsiklag or Chevron as Tsi'on, but we have to presume this is an epithet or sobriquet for Tsi'on, as nothing in any Bible text tells us that David lived in a place actually named Ari-El, or even "encamped" there; unless this is not the human king David, but the cosmological Adonis, and Ari-El a point on the map of the heavens, a star somewhere close to Lyra. "The lion of El" is how the Gideon Bible prefers to translate it. EL, anyway, is not YHVH, though Ari-El may well be one of the "host". Is it then a sobriquet for Yehudah? I suggest this because Ya'akov's oracular blessings, the Hikavtsu of Genesis 49, describe Yehudah (49:9) as "a lion's whelp" and he has come down in proverb as "the lion of Yehudah".
And if it really does mean "encamped", then maybe the intention is Adul-Am? No other city fits that particular bill.
Is the verse not somewhat self-contradictory? In the first part if pronounces the oi veis mir, but in the second it can't wait for the next round of festivities.
29:2 VA HATSIYKOTI LA ARI-EL VE HAYETAH TA'ANIYAH VA ANIYAH VE HAYETAH LI KA ARI-EL
וַהֲצִיקוֹתִי לַאֲרִיאֵל וְהָיְתָה תַאֲנִיָּה וַאֲנִיָּה וְהָיְתָה לִּי כַּאֲרִיאֵל
Gideon: Then I will distress Ari-El, and there shall be mourning and moaning; and she shall be to me as a hearth of God.
BN: Then I will distress Ari-El, and there shall be mourning and moaning; and she shall be to me like the altar to El.
TA'ANIYAH VA ANIYAH: the word-games go on and on; we think of this sort of thing as Joyceian or maybe Nabokovian, as though no one had ever done this until the 20th century!
KA ARI-EL: I have included the Gideon translation, but only because it appears to suggest a meaning that is different from all the other translators, and it must have found it somewhere. Looked up in Gesenius, he tells us that "Ari-El... used of Jerusalem as 'the city of heroes', which is to be unconquered; although others, comparing the passage of Ezekiel about to be cited, render it hearth, ie altar of God." And as to his reading of "hearth": "from the root ARAH (ארה), used of the altar of burnt offering (Ezekiel 43:15/16)."
KJ: And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee.
KA ARI-EL: I have included the Gideon translation, but only because it appears to suggest a meaning that is different from all the other translators, and it must have found it somewhere. Looked up in Gesenius, he tells us that "Ari-El... used of Jerusalem as 'the city of heroes', which is to be unconquered; although others, comparing the passage of Ezekiel about to be cited, render it hearth, ie altar of God." And as to his reading of "hearth": "from the root ARAH (ארה), used of the altar of burnt offering (Ezekiel 43:15/16)."
And if the Yechezke-El is indeed what Y-Y intends here, then it reaffirms our earlier commentaries on the basic philosophy of this book: "the gods do not want your sacrifices, they want your obedience". So Yeru-Shala'im will become, so to speak, "the sacrifice of the first-born of cities", which could be any of the Karbanot, but in this context can only be one of those, the Kurban itself, the burnt offering.
Which is why my translation follows the Gideon, not the KJ.
29:3 VE CHANIYTI CHADUR ALAYICH VE TSARTI ALAYICH MUTSAV VA HAKIYMOTI ALAYICH METSUROT
Which is why my translation follows the Gideon, not the KJ.
29:3 VE CHANIYTI CHADUR ALAYICH VE TSARTI ALAYICH MUTSAV VA HAKIYMOTI ALAYICH METSUROT
וְחָנִיתִי כַדּוּר עָלָיִךְ וְצַרְתִּי עָלַיִךְ מֻצָּב וַהֲקִימֹתִי עָלַיִךְ מְצֻרֹת
BN: And I will set my camps so that they completely surround you, and I will set the siege against you with a mound, and I will set up siege-engines against you.
Addressed in the feminine, as cities generally are in Yehudit.
Siege and a mound; again the I of YHVH as an agent of the invading enemy; so this must either be the early historical conquest by Sennacherib, when Chizki-Yah successfully staved off the siege, or the later one of Nebuchadnezzar, which led to the destruction of the city in 586 BCE.
29:4 VE SHAPHALT ME ERETS TEDABERI U ME APHAR TISHACH IMRATECH VE HAYAH KE OV ME ERETS KOLECH U ME APHAR IMRATECH TETSAPHTSEPH
Siege and a mound; again the I of YHVH as an agent of the invading enemy; so this must either be the early historical conquest by Sennacherib, when Chizki-Yah successfully staved off the siege, or the later one of Nebuchadnezzar, which led to the destruction of the city in 586 BCE.
29:4 VE SHAPHALT ME ERETS TEDABERI U ME APHAR TISHACH IMRATECH VE HAYAH KE OV ME ERETS KOLECH U ME APHAR IMRATECH TETSAPHTSEPH
וְשָׁפַלְתְּ מֵאֶרֶץ תְּדַבֵּרִי וּמֵעָפָר תִּשַּׁח אִמְרָתֵךְ וְהָיָה כְּאוֹב מֵאֶרֶץ קוֹלֵךְ וּמֵעָפָר אִמְרָתֵךְ תְּצַפְצֵף
BN: And being brought down, you shall speak out of the ground, and your speech shall emerge from the dust where you lie prostrate; and your voice shall be like some mad mystic out of the ground, and your speech shall tweet out of the dust.
ME ERETS: Does this phrase go with VE SHAPHALT, as in "you shall be brought down from the Earth", or with TEDABERI, as in "you shall speak from the earth". I have gone for the second in my translation, because a translator has to make a choice, but I am by no means convinced it is this way around.
KJ: Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly.
ME ERETS: Does this phrase go with VE SHAPHALT, as in "you shall be brought down from the Earth", or with TEDABERI, as in "you shall speak from the earth". I have gone for the second in my translation, because a translator has to make a choice, but I am by no means convinced it is this way around.
TEDABRI: Modern Ivrit would point this differently: TEDABRI.
TETSAPHTSEPH: And yes, I have chosen this word, rather than, say, "chirp" or "mutter", for a very deliberate contemporary reason.
OV: as in Ba'alat ov?
There is a definite sense of sadistic pleasure in the tone of this verse.
29:5 VE HAYAH KE AVAK DAK HAMON ZARAYICH U CHE MOTS OVER HAMON ARIYTSIM VE HAYAH LE PHET'A PIT'OM
There is a definite sense of sadistic pleasure in the tone of this verse.
29:5 VE HAYAH KE AVAK DAK HAMON ZARAYICH U CHE MOTS OVER HAMON ARIYTSIM VE HAYAH LE PHET'A PIT'OM
וְהָיָה כְּאָבָק דַּק הֲמוֹן זָרָיִךְ וּכְמֹץ עֹבֵר הֲמוֹן עָרִיצִים וְהָיָה לְפֶתַע פִּתְאֹם
BN: And that vast number who are your enemy shall be reduced to the smallness of small dust, and the vast number who are tyrannising you shall be like chaff that rots; and it will happen quite suddenly, and in an instant.
ZARAYICH: ZAR came up in a most complex form at 28:21, and its repetition here only adds to that complexity. "Strangers" in some translations; but meaning what: foreigners, immigrants, enemies, or simply neighbours that you don't happen to know? "Foes" in other translations, but what makes them that? Are they perhaps the besiegers of verse 3? But if so, were they not the ones doing the grinding down, rather than being ground down themselves, as here? Perhaps he is suggesting a major turn in the tide: pagan-heathen Yeru-Shala'im getting what it deserves for worshipping foreign gods and failed ethics; then Ba'al Teshuvah, the full repentance and redemption, the full return to YHVH; and lo and behold, LE PHET'A PIT'OM, the enemy is already in flight. Lovely fantasy! (And clearly Y-Y agrees with me on that latter comment - see verse 7).
29:6 ME IM YHVH TSEVA'OT TIPAKED BE RA'AM U VE RA'ASH VE KOL GADOL SUPHAH U SE'ARAH VE LAHAV ESH OCHELAH
מֵעִם יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת תִּפָּקֵד בְּרַעַם וּבְרַעַשׁ וְקוֹל גָּדוֹל סוּפָה וּסְעָרָה וְלַהַב אֵשׁ אוֹכֵלָה
BN: There shall be a visitation from the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens, with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire.
KJ: And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision.
KJ: And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:
KJ: And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.
But this is about spiritual illiteracy, not alphabetic… To me, a book that explores the world of quarks and quants and bosons and fermions is like a book that is sealed; I have never studied science; I recognise the names of the words; I do not know what they mean.
KJ: Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
KJ: The meek also shall increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
29:20 KI APHES ARIYTS VE CHALAH LETS VE NICHRETU KOL SHOKDEY AVEN
KJ: For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off:
29:24 VE YAD'U TO'EY RU'ACH BIYNAH VE ROGNIM YILMEDU LEKACH
KJ: They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.
…storm and earthquake and fire, which brings the two forms – natural and man-made – together.
29:7 VE HAYAH KA CHALOM CHAZON LAILAH HAMON KOL HA GOYIM HA TSOV'IM AL ARI-EL VE CHOL TSOVEYHA U METSODATAH VE HA METSIYKIM LAH
29:7 VE HAYAH KA CHALOM CHAZON LAILAH HAMON KOL HA GOYIM HA TSOV'IM AL ARI-EL VE CHOL TSOVEYHA U METSODATAH VE HA METSIYKIM LAH
וְהָיָה כַּחֲלוֹם חֲזוֹן לַיְלָה הֲמוֹן כָּל הַגּוֹיִם הַצֹּבְאִים עַל אֲרִיאֵל וְכָל צֹבֶיהָ וּמְצֹדָתָהּ וְהַמְּצִיקִים לָהּ
BN: And the vast numbers of all the nations who wage war against Ari-El, every single one of them who wages war against her and the bulwarks that protect her, every one of those that are causing her such distress, shall be like a dream, or perhaps I should say a nightmare.
TSOV'IM...TSOVEYHA: The army - even today: Tseva Haganah Le Yisra-El, which translates into English as the IDF, the Israel Defense Force. Though in our verse, it is the enemy's attack-force which is being described.
29:8 VE HAYAH KA ASHER YACHALOM HA RA'EV VE HINEH OCHEL VE HEKITS VE REYKAH NAPHSHO VE CHA ASHER YACHALOM HA TSAM'E VE HINEH SHOTEH VE HEKITS VE HINEH AYEPH VE NAPHSHO SHOKEKAH KEN YIHEYEH HAMON KOL HA GOYIM HA TSOV'IM AL HAR TSI'ON
KJ: It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion.
TSOV'IM...TSOVEYHA: The army - even today: Tseva Haganah Le Yisra-El, which translates into English as the IDF, the Israel Defense Force. Though in our verse, it is the enemy's attack-force which is being described.
Having said which, is there not a difference between TSOV'IM and TSOVEYHA, conveyed in my transliteration by the apostrophe in the first, but not needed in the second, because one has an Aleph, but the other does not.
TSADE-BET-ALEPH is unquestionably military; hundreds of instances, but see Numbers 31:5 or 2 Kings 25:19 (two usages in the latter, the noun for the army, and the verb for the conscripting: הַצָּבָא, הַמַּצְבִּא). But the concept of "service" applies to the priesthood as much to the military, so look at Numbers 4:23 or 1 Samuel 2:22.
TSADE-BET-HEY, on the other hand, becomes a "swelling" (לַצְבּוֹת) in Numbers 5:22, and my translation is an attempt to demonstrate that Y-Y is using this root, alongside TSAV'A, as a metaphor. Most translations agree that there is a word-play between METSODATAH (bulwarks) and METSIYKIM (distress) in the same verse, so why do they not also make this connection?
29:8 VE HAYAH KA ASHER YACHALOM HA RA'EV VE HINEH OCHEL VE HEKITS VE REYKAH NAPHSHO VE CHA ASHER YACHALOM HA TSAM'E VE HINEH SHOTEH VE HEKITS VE HINEH AYEPH VE NAPHSHO SHOKEKAH KEN YIHEYEH HAMON KOL HA GOYIM HA TSOV'IM AL HAR TSI'ON
וְהָיָה כַּאֲשֶׁר יַחֲלֹם הָרָעֵב וְהִנֵּה אוֹכֵל וְהֵקִיץ וְרֵיקָה נַפְשׁוֹ וְכַאֲשֶׁר יַחֲלֹם הַצָּמֵא וְהִנֵּה שֹׁתֶה וְהֵקִיץ וְהִנֵּה עָיֵף וְנַפְשׁוֹ שׁוֹקֵקָה כֵּן יִהְיֶה הֲמוֹן כָּל הַגּוֹיִם הַצֹּבְאִים עַל הַר צִיּוֹן
BN: And it shall be as when a hungry man dreams, and, suddenly, there's food; but he wakes up, and his soul is empty; or as when a thirsty man dreams, and, suddenly, there's drink; but he wakes up, and, suddenly he's tired, and it's his soul that is thirsty - so shall the vast numbers of all the nations be, who fight against Mount Tsi'on. {P}
29:9 HITMAHMEHU U TEMAHU HISHTA'ASH'U VA SHO'U SHACHRU VE LO YAYIN NA'U VE LO SHECHER
KJ: Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.
29:9 HITMAHMEHU U TEMAHU HISHTA'ASH'U VA SHO'U SHACHRU VE LO YAYIN NA'U VE LO SHECHER
הִתְמַהְמְהוּ וּתְמָהוּ הִשְׁתַּעַשְׁעוּ וָשֹׁעוּ שָׁכְרוּ וְלֹא יַיִן נָעוּ וְלֹא שֵׁכָר
BN: Stupefy yourselves, and be stupid! Blind yourselves, and be blind! You who are drunk, but not with wine, who stagger, but not with strong drink.
Not really accurate, but absolutely splendid, that Gideon Bible translation which I have marked BN!
The image functions rather cleverly in fact: the deity is promising a vineyard, which is beautiful to look at, produces grapes which are good to eat fresh or dry, which can be turned into healthy juice; or fermented into mind-and-life destroying alcohol, and consumed at orgies of sexual lust… or indeed sacramentally, as Eucharist and Kiddush, at the shrine. Good and evil once again wrapped together, choosable, both from the same source, Yetser ha Tov versus Yetser ha Ra. This is the true monotheism, Omnideism, where good versus evil is separated, dualistic.
29:10 KI NASACH ALEYCHEM YHVH RU'ACH TARDEMAH VA YE'ATSEM ET EYNEYCHEM ET HA NEVIY'IM VE ET RA'SHEYCHEM HA CHOZIM KISAH
KJ: For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.
Not really accurate, but absolutely splendid, that Gideon Bible translation which I have marked BN!
The image functions rather cleverly in fact: the deity is promising a vineyard, which is beautiful to look at, produces grapes which are good to eat fresh or dry, which can be turned into healthy juice; or fermented into mind-and-life destroying alcohol, and consumed at orgies of sexual lust… or indeed sacramentally, as Eucharist and Kiddush, at the shrine. Good and evil once again wrapped together, choosable, both from the same source, Yetser ha Tov versus Yetser ha Ra. This is the true monotheism, Omnideism, where good versus evil is separated, dualistic.
29:10 KI NASACH ALEYCHEM YHVH RU'ACH TARDEMAH VA YE'ATSEM ET EYNEYCHEM ET HA NEVIY'IM VE ET RA'SHEYCHEM HA CHOZIM KISAH
כִּי נָסַךְ עֲלֵיכֶם יְהוָה רוּחַ תַּרְדֵּמָה וַיְעַצֵּם אֶת עֵינֵיכֶם אֶת הַנְּבִיאִים וְאֶת רָאשֵׁיכֶם הַחֹזִים כִּסָּה
BN (extended translation): Because YHVH has poured out upon you the spirit of deep, creative sleep, and has strengthened your ability to see; the visions of your Prophets, the insights of the seers, are like the cloud over the Mishkan as it awaits transportation across the wilderness.
RU'ACH TARDEMAH: In KJ, and somewhat sarcastically, a contrast with the RU'ACH poured out by Elohim when the Cosmos (Genesis 1:2), and Humankind, first came into existence; then it was decidedly wide-awake, full of impetus; here it is simply couch-potatoed.
Or is it? Translating YE'ATSEM as "shut" appears to make it that; but since when did the root ATSAM have anything to do with "shutting"? ATSAM is all about "vastness" and "power" (Genesis 26:16, Exodus 1:7, Psalm 38:20, many others).
But the root also yields the word ETSEM for "a bone", for which see Genesis 2:23, but not yet, because, first, the most famous occasion for TARDEMAH was precisely that moment when Womankind came into being, moulded from one of Adam's bones, his fifth rib: two verses earlier, at Genesis 2:21.
So which is it? One option might be a spelling error, because ATSAR (עצר) could definitely including "shutting" among its usages (Deuteronomy 11:17 the most apposite of references on this occasion). But we also need to keep in our mind's eye the vision behind the word KISAH, which closes the verse. Numbers 9:15 is the place to go for an understanding of my extended translation.
So to sum up: KJ and others have this completely wrong, completely backwards: the Yehudim have a choice: go on with your laissez faire, or come back to Kavanah. Everything you need to know, if you wish to build a successful and endurable civilisation, is already there, in the words of the Prophets, in the laws of Mosheh. The moment of creative awakening is yours to seize, or squander.
29:11 VA TEHI LACHEM CHAZUT HA KOL KE DIVREY HA SEPHER HE CHATUM ASHER YITNU OTO EL YODE'A HA SEPHER LEMOR KER'A NA ZEH VE AMAR LO UCHAL KI CHATUM HU
29:11 VA TEHI LACHEM CHAZUT HA KOL KE DIVREY HA SEPHER HE CHATUM ASHER YITNU OTO EL YODE'A HA SEPHER LEMOR KER'A NA ZEH VE AMAR LO UCHAL KI CHATUM HU
וַתְּהִי לָכֶם חָזוּת הַכֹּל כְּדִבְרֵי הַסֵּפֶר הֶחָתוּם אֲשֶׁר יִתְּנוּ אֹתוֹ אֶל יוֹדֵעַ הספר (סֵפֶר) לֵאמֹר קְרָא נָא זֶה וְאָמַר לֹא אוּכַל כִּי חָתוּם הוּא
BN: So this entire vision has become to you like the words of a scroll that has been sealed, which men deliver to one who is able to read such scrolls, saying: "Please read this"; and he replies, "I cannot, because it is sealed".
Isn't this precisely how Muhammad responded to Jibril on the night of the first revelation, the Night of Power (click here)? I wonder if he was quoting! The point being: as with Mosheh, so with Muhammad: there was no written text. In Mosheh's case, this was because alphabetic writing had not yet yet been invented (one of the great anomalies of Jewish faith this, that it is entirely focused on a Torah whose text, if there even was one, can only have been the pictograms of Egyptian hieroglyphics). In Muhammad's case it was because Jibril brought oral speech (though many Moslems have mis-read the text and allowed themselves to believe that Muhammad was admitting his own illiteracy).
29:12 VE NITAN HA SEPHER AL ASHER LO YADA SEPHER LEMOR KERA NA ZEH VE AMAR LO YADA'TI SEPHER
29:12 VE NITAN HA SEPHER AL ASHER LO YADA SEPHER LEMOR KERA NA ZEH VE AMAR LO YADA'TI SEPHER
וְנִתַּן הַסֵּפֶר עַל אֲשֶׁר לֹא יָדַע סֵפֶר לֵאמֹר קְרָא נָא זֶה וְאָמַר לֹא יָדַעְתִּי סֵפֶר
BN: Then the scroll is delivered to one who is capable of reading scrolls, saying: 'Please read this"; and he replies : "I cannot read." {S}
But this is about spiritual illiteracy, not alphabetic… To me, a book that explores the world of quarks and quants and bosons and fermions is like a book that is sealed; I have never studied science; I recognise the names of the words; I do not know what they mean.
And well worth noting that the word "mystery" derives from precisely this. A "mysterium" in Latin was simply a craft that required an apprenticeship, because it involved technical knowledge and specific skills that a person needed several years to learn; those who had never served such an apprenticeship could not be expected to understand the esoteric workings of, say, basket-weaving, plumbing, clay-brick masonry or fishmongering. So, yet again, we hear Y-Y telling his people what their priority in life must be: Education. Education. Education. Unseal those scrolls!
29:13 VA YOMER ADONAI YA'AN KI NIGASH HA AM HA ZEH BE PHIV U VIS'PHATAV KIBDUNI VE LIBO RICHAK MIMENI VA TEHI YIR'ATAM OTI MITSVAT ANASHIM MELUMADAH
29:13 VA YOMER ADONAI YA'AN KI NIGASH HA AM HA ZEH BE PHIV U VIS'PHATAV KIBDUNI VE LIBO RICHAK MIMENI VA TEHI YIR'ATAM OTI MITSVAT ANASHIM MELUMADAH
וַיֹּאמֶר אֲדֹנָי יַעַן כִּי נִגַּשׁ הָעָם הַזֶּה בְּפִיו וּבִשְׂפָתָיו כִּבְּדוּנִי וְלִבּוֹ רִחַק מִמֶּנִּי וַתְּהִי יִרְאָתָם אֹתִי מִצְוַת אֲנָשִׁים מְלֻמָּדָה
BN: And my Lord said: Because this people approaches me, and with its mouth and lips pays homage to me, but has removed its heart far from me, while its fear of me is simply a requirement of others learned by rote...
29:14 LACHEN HINENI YOSIPH LEHAPHLIY ET HA AM HA ZEH HAPHLE VA PHEL'E VE AVDAH CHACHMAT CHACHAMAV U VIYNAT NEVONAV TISTATAR
KJ: Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall come to nought, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.
KAVANAH again, both the sincerity and the intensity… and its opposites, false speech and hypocrisy... and a phrase reminiscent of the munafiqun or nifaq in the Qur'an - 63:3 especially (and how odd that this chapter should have two Qur'anic comparables; clearly Muhammad was entirely capable of reading, and had read this!).
U VIS'PHATAV: Or U VI SEPHATAV?
U VIS'PHATAV: Or U VI SEPHATAV?
29:14 LACHEN HINENI YOSIPH LEHAPHLIY ET HA AM HA ZEH HAPHLE VA PHEL'E VE AVDAH CHACHMAT CHACHAMAV U VIYNAT NEVONAV TISTATAR
לָכֵן הִנְנִי יוֹסִף לְהַפְלִיא אֶת הָעָם הַזֶּה הַפְלֵא וָפֶלֶא וְאָבְדָה חָכְמַת חֲכָמָיו וּבִינַת נְבֹנָיו תִּסְתַּתָּר
BN: Therefore, watch, I shall again perform a marvellous work among this people, both a marvellous work and a wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their intellectuals shall be concealed. {S}
LEHAPHLIY...HAPHLE...PHEL'E...: Three developments of the same root, and it is precisely the root that gives us the grammatical structure of language itself, the means by which humans are capable of articulating the universe, the means by which the closed book can be unsealed. To see how this works as grammar, click here (simple) or here (even simpler), or here (complex). To see how this works as Isaiac philosophy, just keep reading (you can read!).
29:15 HOY HA MA'AMIYKIM ME YHVH LASTIR ETSAH VE HAYAH VE MACHSHACH MA'ASEYHEM VA YOMRU MI RO'ENU U MI YOD'ENU
KJ: Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?
LEHAPHLIY...HAPHLE...PHEL'E...: Three developments of the same root, and it is precisely the root that gives us the grammatical structure of language itself, the means by which humans are capable of articulating the universe, the means by which the closed book can be unsealed. To see how this works as grammar, click here (simple) or here (even simpler), or here (complex). To see how this works as Isaiac philosophy, just keep reading (you can read!).
What then is the "marvellous work" that YHVH will perform? If men were only approaching him with Kavanah, it would have been the bestowing upon human beings of the capacity to use their brains, to work out complex grammatical forms for the articulation of language, and then (remember these are verbs about verbs) the ability to turn that understanding into deeds and actions. But alas, they come without Kavanah, and so, instead - another layer of seal added to the book.
AVDAH: With an Aleph (א), meaning "rendered void"; not with an Ayin (ע), which would be a different kind of work (עבודה).
TISTATAR: Which "covers up" in a manner very different from KISAH at verse 10. And in the Hitpa'el, so they will have done this to themselves. And this verb, not any other - the same one that yields HISTIR PANAV, the divine "turning aside" (cf Isaiah 59:2). Though it is the human "turning aside" that is core to the verse that follows.
TISTATAR: Which "covers up" in a manner very different from KISAH at verse 10. And in the Hitpa'el, so they will have done this to themselves. And this verb, not any other - the same one that yields HISTIR PANAV, the divine "turning aside" (cf Isaiah 59:2). Though it is the human "turning aside" that is core to the verse that follows.
29:15 HOY HA MA'AMIYKIM ME YHVH LASTIR ETSAH VE HAYAH VE MACHSHACH MA'ASEYHEM VA YOMRU MI RO'ENU U MI YOD'ENU
הוֹי הַמַּעֲמִיקִים מֵיְהוָה לַסְתִּר עֵצָה וְהָיָה בְמַחְשָׁךְ מַעֲשֵׂיהֶם וַיֹּאמְרוּ מִי רֹאֵנוּ וּמִי יֹדְעֵנוּ
BN: Woe to those who seek the deepest depths to hide their bones from YHVH, who carry out their deeds in darkness, and then they say: "Who sees us? who knows us?".
LASTIR ETSAH: Why do the translators treat ETSAH as "advice" or "counsel", of which the deity has absolutely no need, even if did follow orthodoxy? The language has been playing with "bones", most particularly in verse 10, creating the metaphorical skeleton of a belief system, and a system of social organisation, one that can stand upright in the world because it has a strong backbone. And, according to Leviticus 3:9, the ETSAH is precisely that "backbone" (though pronounced there as ATSEH).
29:16 HAPHKECHEM IM KE CHOMER HA YOTSER YECHASHEV KI YOMAR MA'ASEH LE OSEHU LO ASANI VE YETSER AMAR LE YOTSRO LO HEVIN
KJ: Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?
BN: O your habit of turning everything upside down! Should the potter not be esteemed by the clay, or should the object made say of him who made it: "He did not make me", or the creature formed by breathing life into it say of him who fashioned him : "He did not understand what he was doing"?
29:17 HA LO OD ME'AT MIZ'AR VE SHAV LEVANON LE KARMEL VE HA KARMEL LA YA'AR YECHASHEV
KJ: Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest.
LASTIR ETSAH: Why do the translators treat ETSAH as "advice" or "counsel", of which the deity has absolutely no need, even if did follow orthodoxy? The language has been playing with "bones", most particularly in verse 10, creating the metaphorical skeleton of a belief system, and a system of social organisation, one that can stand upright in the world because it has a strong backbone. And, according to Leviticus 3:9, the ETSAH is precisely that "backbone" (though pronounced there as ATSEH).
29:16 HAPHKECHEM IM KE CHOMER HA YOTSER YECHASHEV KI YOMAR MA'ASEH LE OSEHU LO ASANI VE YETSER AMAR LE YOTSRO LO HEVIN
הַפְכְּכֶם אִם כְּחֹמֶר הַיֹּצֵר יֵחָשֵׁב כִּי יֹאמַר מַעֲשֶׂה לְעֹשֵׂהוּ לֹא עָשָׂנִי וְיֵצֶר אָמַר לְיֹצְרוֹ לֹא הֵבִין
KJ: Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?
BN: O your habit of turning everything upside down! Should the potter not be esteemed by the clay, or should the object made say of him who made it: "He did not make me", or the creature formed by breathing life into it say of him who fashioned him : "He did not understand what he was doing"?
YETSER: Interesting play on this! These past chapters, we have repeatedly seen the YETSER as "inclination", the human capacity to make choices that are good or bad. But this is the verb used for the making of Humankind - see my notes as Genesis 2:7. And when you do that, as per the link to Genesis 1:26, it becomes clear that OSEY and MA'ASEY are also being used in the same manner.
29:17 HA LO OD ME'AT MIZ'AR VE SHAV LEVANON LE KARMEL VE HA KARMEL LA YA'AR YECHASHEV
הֲלוֹא עוֹד מְעַט מִזְעָר וְשָׁב לְבָנוֹן לַכַּרְמֶל וְהַכַּרְמֶל לַיַּעַר יֵחָשֵׁב
BN: Will it not be very soon, that Levanon shall be turned back into a land rich with agriculture, and that rich land shall be reckoned to provide for forestry?
Sudden shift: Levanon will become so richly fertile that not only agriculture, but entire forests, will sprout from its soil - this is the epoch of the fertility gods, after all, so it is what they have to bestow as a reward - reversing the previous destruction of its cedars, restoring it to the House of the Forest of 22:8. And why this image? Because it was from that forest that the wood was timbered for the building of the Temple in Yeru-Shala'im.
MIZ'AR: Playing with ZAR earlier in the chapter (see my notes on this at verse 5).
29:18 VE SHAM'U VA YOM HA HU HA CHERSHIM DIVREY SEPHER U ME OPHEL U ME CHOSHECH EYNEY IVRIM
KJ: And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.
BN: And on that day shall the deaf hear the words of the scroll, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.
29:18 VE SHAM'U VA YOM HA HU HA CHERSHIM DIVREY SEPHER U ME OPHEL U ME CHOSHECH EYNEY IVRIM
וְשָׁמְעוּ בַיּוֹם הַהוּא הַחֵרְשִׁים דִּבְרֵי סֵפֶר וּמֵאֹפֶל וּמֵחֹשֶׁךְ עֵינֵי עִוְרִים תִּרְאֶינָה
BN: And on that day shall the deaf hear the words of the scroll, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.
"In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book" completes the metaphor above, as "the eyes of the blind" completes the second metaphor above.
HA CHERSHIM: Have I missed a dot in there somewhere? Chereshim? Cherashim? Apparently not, but I think the pointer has. The root is CHERESH (חֵרֵשׁ), with a TSEYREY not a SHVA under the Reysh, so masculine plural must be CHERESHIM.
HA CHERSHIM: Have I missed a dot in there somewhere? Chereshim? Cherashim? Apparently not, but I think the pointer has. The root is CHERESH (חֵרֵשׁ), with a TSEYREY not a SHVA under the Reysh, so masculine plural must be CHERESHIM.
OPHEL: the place, or the reason why the place had that name?
IVRIM: with a Vav (ו) not a Vet (ב), second letter, but the homophonic pun is truly splendid on this occasion.
29:19 VA YASPHU AVANIM BA YHVH SIMCHAH VE EVYONEY ADAM BIKDOSH YISRA-EL YAGIYLU
וְיָסְפוּ עֲנָוִים בַּיהוָה שִׂמְחָה וְאֶבְיוֹנֵי אָדָם בִּקְדוֹשׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל יָגִילוּ
BN: The humble too shall increase their joy in YHVH, and the neediest among men shall exult in the Holy One of Yisra-El.
Victory is now being achieved, the humble can sing their joy, and the poor can rejoice. This is the social contract side of Y-Y's preaching, and it is very much in the mode of the Enlightenment philosophers of the epoch of the French Revolution: based on the fullest possible understanding of the workings of the Cosmos, both Nature and Human, use the optimum of human intelligence to create a structure for society which can work for everyone, from the rulers to the lowest ranks of urban and rural peasants, one that includes the economic and the political, but also the cultural and the spiritual, and in which everyone has their rights, but also understands that these come with responsibilities. Does it need a belief in God, or gods? No - not in today's world. But back then it did, because the gods, as we have seen, were the only means available to explain the workings of the Cosmos, both Nature and Human. Once scientific language replaces the mythological, all that is needed is the Humanistic.
29:20 KI APHES ARIYTS VE CHALAH LETS VE NICHRETU KOL SHOKDEY AVEN
כִּי אָפֵס עָרִיץ וְכָלָה לֵץ וְנִכְרְתוּ כָּל שֹׁקְדֵי אָוֶן
BN: For violence will lead nowhere, and scorn will prove futile, and all who sit vigil for sin will be rejected from the covenant...
"The terrible one" who is brought to nothing, and "the scornful one" are who? Satan? Lucifer? Or are these humans too? Sounds to me like people looking over hedges or peeking through curtains, suffering from Mary Whitehouse Syndrome. But this only applies to the Christian translations, which superimpose their theology upon the text. ARIYTS is violence per se, not some outside force - the same applies here as with the YETSER: there is no separated dualism in Y-Y.
NICHRETU: The root is CHERET, and it is with this root that the BRIT, the covenant between the human and the divine, was established (Genesis 15:18, 21:27 and 32, Exodus 23:32, many others). But there is also Genesis 17:14, Exodus 12:15 and 19, Leviticus 7:20, many others) which use the same root to "cut a person off from his people". That verb can only have two such seemingly different usages if it is the covenant that connects them. And why does it apply here? Because "to sit vigil for sin" is either to spend your time looking for it in others, rather than dealing with your own, or else sitting up all night doing neurosis over it, rather than taking responsibility for redemption and repentance by doing something about it. Once again, personal responsibility and active engagement at the core of Y-Y's philosophy.
29:21 MACHATIY'EY ADAM BE DAVAR VE LA MOCHIYACH BA SHA'AR YEKOSHUN VA YATU VA TOHU TSADIK
KJ: That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought.
"The terrible one" who is brought to nothing, and "the scornful one" are who? Satan? Lucifer? Or are these humans too? Sounds to me like people looking over hedges or peeking through curtains, suffering from Mary Whitehouse Syndrome. But this only applies to the Christian translations, which superimpose their theology upon the text. ARIYTS is violence per se, not some outside force - the same applies here as with the YETSER: there is no separated dualism in Y-Y.
NICHRETU: The root is CHERET, and it is with this root that the BRIT, the covenant between the human and the divine, was established (Genesis 15:18, 21:27 and 32, Exodus 23:32, many others). But there is also Genesis 17:14, Exodus 12:15 and 19, Leviticus 7:20, many others) which use the same root to "cut a person off from his people". That verb can only have two such seemingly different usages if it is the covenant that connects them. And why does it apply here? Because "to sit vigil for sin" is either to spend your time looking for it in others, rather than dealing with your own, or else sitting up all night doing neurosis over it, rather than taking responsibility for redemption and repentance by doing something about it. Once again, personal responsibility and active engagement at the core of Y-Y's philosophy.
29:21 MACHATIY'EY ADAM BE DAVAR VE LA MOCHIYACH BA SHA'AR YEKOSHUN VA YATU VA TOHU TSADIK
מַחֲטִיאֵי אָדָם בְּדָבָר וְלַמּוֹכִיחַ בַּשַּׁעַר יְקֹשׁוּן וַיַּטּוּ בַתֹּהוּ צַדִּיק
BN: ...[as will they who] make a man an offender by words, and raise a suit against him in the gate to trap him, and turns aside the just with a thing of nought. {P}
MOCHIYACH BA SHA'AR YEKOSHUN: Or somebody bringing a lawsuit just to get some negative publicity against you, and their name in the public eye, and then the judge tells you to withdraw the suit because it has no substance...
BA TOHU: Yes, vacuity, emptiness, zero, any of those words. But TOHU is also TOHU - see the link.
29:22 LACHEN KOH AMAR YHVH EL BEIT YA'AKOV ASHER PADAH ET AV-RAHAM LO ATAH YEVOSH YA'AKOV VE LO ATAH PANAV YECHEVARU
KJ: Therefore thus saith the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale.
DAVAR: The image of the word "word" again.
MACHATIY'EY...DAVAR: the Biblical equivalent of finding your reputation damaged by some unreasearched piece of negative gossip in the tabloids, and of course no one apologises when it turns out that the gossip was all false.
MACHATIY'EY...DAVAR: the Biblical equivalent of finding your reputation damaged by some unreasearched piece of negative gossip in the tabloids, and of course no one apologises when it turns out that the gossip was all false.
MOCHIYACH BA SHA'AR YEKOSHUN: Or somebody bringing a lawsuit just to get some negative publicity against you, and their name in the public eye, and then the judge tells you to withdraw the suit because it has no substance...
BA TOHU: Yes, vacuity, emptiness, zero, any of those words. But TOHU is also TOHU - see the link.
29:22 LACHEN KOH AMAR YHVH EL BEIT YA'AKOV ASHER PADAH ET AV-RAHAM LO ATAH YEVOSH YA'AKOV VE LO ATAH PANAV YECHEVARU
לָכֵן כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה אֶל בֵּית יַעֲקֹב אֲשֶׁר פָּדָה אֶת אַבְרָהָם לֹא עַתָּה יֵבוֹשׁ יַעֲקֹב וְלֹא עַתָּה פָּנָיו יֶחֱוָרוּ
BN: Thus therefore says YHVH to the house of Ya'akov, which redeemed Av-Raham: Ya'akov shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale...
This appears to speak of the "redemption of Av-Raham" – where in the Bible is that to be found?! Av-Raham, of course, "redeemed" Yitschak his son, by sacrificing a ram in his place at the Akeda (Genesis 22:1-19); and that act became the incipit for the end of child sacrifice, its replacement by PIDYON HA BEN - yes, the same verb that is being used here - which theologically is placed at Exodus 13:13, and then again at Numbers 18:16.
But from what did Ya'akov redeem Av-Raham? And is it not a strange coincidence, that the text says Av-Raham, and not Av-Ram? Because, when we first met him (Genesis 11:26), in Ur Kasdim, his name was Av-Ram; it only changed to Av-Raham (Genesis 17:5) when he moved to... well, after he had moved on to a place with a very odd name that no one has ever been able to explain... PADAN ARAM! (Gesenius insists it is an error for PADAD ARAM; everyone else for the last two thousand years has copped out and accepted "plains" or "fields"...)
But that is me adding an extra dimension, though it is clearly there in the text to be added. Av-Ram becomes Av-Raham in Genesis 17, aged 90 and living in Kena'an; but the key to the text is the key to this chapter: the BRIT, the CHERET; look at 17:6 and following, and then re-ask the question: from what did Ya'akov redeem Av-Raham? From his inability, the fault of historical circumstances and conditions not his own unwillingnerss, to fulfill the terms of the covenant. But Ya'akov can now fulfill those terms...
29:23 KI VIR'OTO YELADAV MA'ASEY YADAI BE KIRBO YAKDIYSHU SHEMI VE HIKDIYSHU ET KEDOSH YA'AKOV VE ET ELOHEY YISRA-EL YA'ARIYTSU
KJ: But when he seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel.
29:23 KI VIR'OTO YELADAV MA'ASEY YADAI BE KIRBO YAKDIYSHU SHEMI VE HIKDIYSHU ET KEDOSH YA'AKOV VE ET ELOHEY YISRA-EL YA'ARIYTSU
כִּי בִרְאֹתוֹ יְלָדָיו מַעֲשֵׂה יָדַי בְּקִרְבּוֹ יַקְדִּישׁוּ שְׁמִי וְהִקְדִּישׁוּ אֶת קְדוֹשׁ יַעֲקֹב וְאֶת אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל יַעֲרִיצוּ
BN: Because, when he sees his children, the work of my hands, in his midst, that they sanctify my name, then, indeed, they shall sanctify the Holy One of Ya'akov, and stand in awe of the god of Yisra-El...
29:24 VE YAD'U TO'EY RU'ACH BIYNAH VE ROGNIM YILMEDU LEKACH
וְיָדְעוּ תֹעֵי רוּחַ בִּינָה וְרוֹגְנִים יִלְמְדוּ לֶקַח
BN: And those who err in spirit shall come to understanding, and those who criticised shall acquire knowledge. {S}
BIYNAH: The top left of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life.
LEKACH: Fascinating that the Christian translators all render this as "doctrine", as though "a fully-fledged education" and "brain-washing" were simply synonyms.
LEKACH: Fascinating that the Christian translators all render this as "doctrine", as though "a fully-fledged education" and "brain-washing" were simply synonyms.
Isaiah:
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56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66
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