​Introduction:
 
As is the case with all of Hebrew Scripture, there are no chapter breaks in the scroll of the 12 Prophets in which Hosea is located. It’s important to see the text of this chapter as a continuation of the previous chapter:
 
“They return not to the most High: they have become like a slackened bow: their princes will fall by the sword from the rage of their tongue: this stammering derision in the land Egypt.” -Hosea 7:16
 
1“Put a shofar (ram’s horn) to your mouth! Kanesher Like an eagle al upon beit YHVH the house of the Lord (Mercy) Ya’an because averu the people have passed over, alienated veriytiy My covenant (cutting agreement), ve’al and against Toratiy My Torah Instruction pashau rebelled.
 
“Put the shofar to your mouth” is an instruction to the prophet Hosea. He is to blow the shofar (ram’s horn) with the wind (ruach) of the Holy Spirit in him. The mouth denotes both intimacy and proclamation. The shofar (Gen. 22) represents the voice of the Ram of God (Yeshua the King Messiah), Who is the Word (Ha-Davar) essence, the substance of God and the testimony of Yeshua is the spirit of prophecy (Rev. 19:10).
 
It is interesting to compare a similar phrasing spoken to Yishayahu (Isaiah):
 
“Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a shofar, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.” -Isaiah 58:1
 
“Ram’s horn” (shofar) is often blown as a warning (Joel 2:1; Amos 3:6) and is also associated with the giving of the Torah (Ex. 19:16) [poignant given the accusation concerning rejection of Torah in verses 1 & 11], the jubilee (Lev. 25:9), war & miracles (Jos. 6:4; Jdg. 6:34; 7:8) etc. And finds its true origin in the “binding of Isaac” (Gen. 22). Meaning that at its root it is the sound of redemption.
 
Rashi understands this verse to carry the same meaning as that of Isaiah 58:1.
 
“The Shechinah says to the prophet: Let the voice of your palate be heard, and call like a shophar, and say: You enemies! Fly and hasten as the eagle swoops and come to the house of the Lord. To your palate a shophar, it is as though a shophar is placed to your palate. [after Jonathan]” -Rashi
 
“Like an eagle upon the house of the LORD”
 
“behold, as an eagle flies, so shall a king with his army come up and encamp against the house of the sanctuary of the Lord.” -Targum Yonatan
 
The eagle is a bird of prey and is used as a figure for invading rulers and their empires (Eze. 17:3; Deut. 28:49). This is misinterpreted by the majority of Christian scholars as referring to the Assyrian invasion. This cannot be the case because the Assyrians did not take Jerusalem and defile the Temple (House of the LORD).
 
The rabbinical interpretation rightly concludes that this is prophetic of the Babylonian invasion when Nebuchadnezzar (Ezekiel 17) would destroy the Temple in 586 BCE. Therefore, the warning reaches beyond the exile of the northern tribes to the exile of all Israel including Judah and Benjamin.
 
“And say, ‘Thus says the LORD GOD; A great eagle with great wings, long winged, full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar:” -Ezekiel 17:3
 
All this had been long since prophesied over Israel’s disobedience:
 
“The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;” -Deuteronomy 28:49
 
“because the people have passed over, alienated My covenant, and against My Torah Instruction rebelled.” The reason for the warning is that Israel (the northern tribes) have ignored the covenant they have with YHVH (made at Sinai) and have wilfully rebelled against the Torah Instruction of YHVH. “Pasha” a Hebrew word for sin means “to miss the mark” and at its root denotes rebellion born of idolatry. This is significant because the beginning of this chapter addresses with warning the idolatry of the previous chapter.
 
2 Liy To Me Yisrael (overcome in God) yizaku cries,  ‘Elohay My God, yeda’anucha we know You!’
 
The northern tribes claim to call on God as “My God”, “Our God”, but they do so while calling on many gods and while rejecting YHVH’s covenant and wilfully turning from his Torah. To this hypocrisy they add the self-incriminating phrase “we know you” denoting intimate knowledge of God. This is vile for two reasons, first, God has offered Israel faithful intimacy and they have spurned Him, and second, they have been consistently intimate with false gods, prostituting themselves before His face.
 
The Targum Yonatan interprets this as temporary, situational confession from the lips of the unrepentant:
 
"in every time that distress comes upon them, they pray before me, and say, now we know that we have no God besides thee; redeem us, for we are thy people Israel;'' -Targum Yonatan
 
Rav Shaul the Shaliach (Apostle) writes concerning hypocritical “Messianic Gentiles” who acted in a similar way. These gentile believers were demanding that other gentiles be circumcised in the flesh contrary to Shaul’s (Paul’s) teaching (Philippians 3). This same gentile circumcision cult were claiming to teach the things of God and to know God, but were in themselves detestable, disobedient, and worthless in God’s sight.
 
“10 For there are many rebellious people, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, 11 who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of [h]dishonest gain. 12 One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” 13 This testimony is true. For this reason reprimand them severely so that they may be sound in the faith, 14 not paying attention to Jewish myths and commandments of men who turn away from the truth. 15 To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. 16 They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.” -Titus 1:10-16 (NIV)
 
Amos, another contemporary of Hosea, makes it clear that while Israel was claiming to Know YHVH she was practicing flagrant idolatry (Amos 2:4, 7-8; 3:14; 5:26).

3 Zanach Yisrael Israel has cast off, spurned, rejected tov good; oyeiyv  an enemy yirdefov will pursue him.
 
“Israel has cast off, spurned, rejected good;” Good is not just a reference to a distinction in circumstance or flavour. Good is defined by the character of God. This is why Yeshua said “Why do you call me good, no one is good but God alone.” (Matt. 19:17; Mark 10:18). Therefore, this opening phrase is the poetic couplet which correlates to “rebelled against My Torah” (v.1). Some of our ancient rabbis rightly interpret this as “Israel has cast off and rejected God (Good Himself).”
 
“an enemy will pursue him.” This correlates to the “eagle” who is to come against all Israel including Judah and Benjamin. In fact there is a progression of eagles through Assyria (against the northern tribes) and on to Babylon (taking Judah and Benjamin into exile).
 
4 Heim They himlichu have set up kings ve’lo mimeniy that did not come from Me; heisiyru they appointed princes ve’lo yadaetiy not known by Me. Kaspam With silver uzehavam and gold asu  they make lahem for themselves atzabiym idols/images lema’an for the purpose of yikareit cutting themselves off.
 
“They have set up kings that did not come from Me”
 
“They” refers to the northern tribes and the “kings” are all the kings of the north from Jeroboam I onward. Jeroboam I having set the stage for the idolatry of the north by setting up the calf idols of Bethel and Dan (1 Kings 12:25-33). The evidence that the kings did not “come from” (were not established) by God is manifest in their idolatrous and unrepentant behaviour. This is not to say that God was not in control but that He allowed their disobedience for a greater redemptive purpose.
 
Jeroboam I was allowed by the will of God to become king of the northern tribes, but was nonetheless crowned by the people without the express instruction of God, and without His counsel being sought by either rulers or people. God allowed but did not consent to the crowning of Jeroboam I. Therefore, the appointment of Jeroboam I was on the heads of the people themselves.
 
Many of Jeroboam’s (I) successors were conspirators, who set themselves up without the consent of either God or the people of the northern tribes. They plotted to overthrow others, and reigned after slaughtering them. This is true of Shallum, Menahem, Pekah, and Hoshea (the king, not the prophet).
 
Further still, the people of Israel had no right to choose a king for themselves; the right belonged to God alone; it was He that chose and appointed the kings of all Israel (Deut. 17:15): Saul, David, and Solomon, were all chosen and appointed by YHVH (1 Samuel 10:24).
 
The people of the north brought curse on all the kings of the northern tribes through their rejection of the line of David. By rejecting the throne of David they rejected the greater Son of David, the King Who was to come, the King Messiah.
 
“What share do we have in David?
We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse;
To your tents, Israel!
Now look after your own house, David!” -1 Kings 12:16 (NIV)
 
Jeroboam I had built up Shechem as his residence. Thus the connection to the rebuke of Hosea levelled against those practicing acts of perversity on their way to Shechem (Hosea 6:9).
 
“they appointed princes not known by Me” Here “known” does not negate knowledge of the princes, rather it reveals the fact that there was not an intimate connection between them and YHVH as there had been with Solomon and David. The key is that the princes were “appointed” by apostate people and not by God.
 
“With silver and gold they make for themselves idols/images for the purpose of cutting themselves off.” Their idolatry results in self-harm. Practically speaking idolatry makes waste of things which God has purposed for use while turning useful things into waste. 
 
Isaiah another contemporary of Hosea, says:
 
“They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith; and he makes it a god: they fall down, yes, they worship.” -Isaiah 46:6

5 Zanach Cast off, reject, spurn egleich your calf-idol Shomeron (Samaria, guarding/watch mountain) [alt. “Your calf-idol has been cast off Samaria” or "Your calf has cast you off"]! Charah Fury burns apiy in My nostrils bam against them. Ad-matay How long will they lo yuchelu refuse to overcome nikayon with innocence?
 
“Cast off, reject, spurn your calf-idol Samaria!” This connects the apostate kingship of the north through Jeroboam I to the calf idols established by him in the territory of Samaria in the towns of Bethel and Dan (1 Kings 12:28-33). It is worth noting that upon setting up these calf idols Jeroboam I had spoken the same words Aaron had spoken when setting up the calf deity at Sinai.
 
“So the king Jeroboam I consulted, and he made two golden calves; and he said to the people, ‘It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; behold your gods, Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt.’” -1 Kings 12:28
 
This can be read as “Your calf-idol has been cast off Samaria” or "Your calf has cast you off" Kimkhi and Ben Melekh understand this to mean that the false god has left the northern tribes in the lurch, it has forsaken them, and has removed itself. It can also mean that the calf will be carried away. In fact that is exactly what Hosea prophecies, indicating that the king of Assyria will do so (Hosea 10:5).
 
“Fury burns in My nostrils against them. How long will they refuse to overcome with innocence? The mention of snorting nostrils in the Hebrew denotes intimate fury. There is heartbreak in the expression and a sense of incredulity, though God is not capable of the human response, it is meant to be viewed with incredulity by the hearer/reader. A shocking indictment. Israel, knowing the way of innocence revealed through covenant and Torah, nonetheless wilfully refuse it to their own harm.
 
6 Kiy For miYisrael from Israel vehu charash asahu he (the calf idol) is made by a craftsman; ve’lo and it is not elohiym a god/judge. Hu he (the calf idol) kiy-shevaviym will be splintered, powdered yihyeh it will happen egel to that calf of Shomeron (Samaria, guarding/watch mountain).
 
“For it was Israel’s doing; It was only made by a joiner, It is not a god. No, the calf of Samaria shall be reduced to splinters!” -Hosea 8: 6 Sefaria translation
 
“For from Israel he (the calf idol) is made by a craftsman.” This is an important phrase which emphasizes the fact that the calf idol is not an assimilated deity from the Canaanites or from other foreign cults but is an invention of Israel, from Sinai to Samaria (Bethel and Dan) the calf idol is the sole responsibility of Israel. The idea for the calf idol may have originally been borrowed from the Egyptians who had a cult that worshipped a living ox or cow, however the allusion here is to the fact that it was gold and silver of Israel moulded by a member of the northern tribes that was crafted into the calf idols of Bethel and Dan.
 
With prophetic irony the calf idol of which Jeroboam I had said “behold your gods…” is called “not a god!”
 
“he (the calf idol) will be splintered, it will happen to that calf of Shomeron (Samaria, guarding/watch mountain).” The calf idol, not a god, will provide no protection, it will not guard the mountain of guardians (Shomeron), it will be splintered like a breaking beam, pulverised into powder.
 
The commentator Yarchi says that in ancient Aramaic (Syriac) “shevaviym” signifies, beams, planks, and boards, and pieces of them falling as dust. The Targum and Ben Meleckh agree in accordance with rabbinical teaching. The inference being that the calf idol of Samaria will be ground to fine dust and the northern tribes made to drink it mixed with water just as the golden calf was ground to powder by Moses, and all those who sinned in it were made to drink the powder mixed with water. The symbolism of the act conveys the reality that idolatry is self-harm.
 
7 “Kiy For ruach a wind yizrau they have sown vesufatah and a whirlwind yiktzoru they will reap. Kamah eiyn-lo The standing grain does not tzemach bud, fruit;  beliy wearing out it will not ya’aseh produce kemach flour. Ulay ya’aseh If perhaps it yields grain, zariym strangers yivlahu would swallow it down.
 
“For a wind they have sown and a whirlwind they will reap.” The wind produced by the voice of idolatrous worship has reaped the much greater whirlwind of God’s prophetic judgement at the hand of Assyria and then Babylon.
 
“The standing grain does not bud, fruit;  wearing out it will not produce flour.” The grain barely grew tall enough to produce ears sufficient for grinding flour.
 
“If perhaps it yields grain, strangers would swallow it down.” Even if the crop were to produce grain the tribes of the north will not consume it, rather it will be eaten by the invading armies of Assyria.

8 Nivla Yisrael (overcomes in God/the Judge) is swallowed up; now she hayu has become bagoyim in the nations kichliy  like a vessel eiyn-chefetz none delight in.
 
Like swallowed grain Israel (northern tribes) will be swallowed up by the invading Assyrian armies. As a result of her exile she will become known among the nations as a worthless vessel, a jug with cracks in it, a tool with a blunt edge, without value, devoid of purpose, and without place.
 
 9 Kiy For they have alu gone up to Ashur (Assyria, a step) pere  a wild donkey bodeid wandering alone. Efrayim (doubly fruitful) hitnu has hired herself out ahaviym to lovers.
 
A wild donkey wanders aimlessly and is vulnerable as prey to lions.
 
The kings (Ephraim) of the northern tribes have sought help from the Assyrians, paying them tribute (Menachem 2 kings 15:19, Hoshea 2 Kings 17:3) and courting their power like prostitutes trying to sleep their way to a position of higher social status and strength.

10 Gam Also kiy because yitnu they have hired themselves out bagoyim in the nations, now akabetzem they gather together. Vayacheilu and defile, pollute themselves me’at becoming a little thing mimasa from the burden Melekh of a king sariym of princes.
 
The gathering of the northern tribes refers to them being gathered for captivity. They intensify the fruit of their idolatrous sin and as a result are weakened and become subject to a king who is over many princes (an allusion to the king of Assyria Isaiah 10:8).
 
11 “Kiy-hirbah For Efrayim mizbechot has made many altars lachato for sin (offerings), hayu-lo which  have become mizbechot altars lachato for sinning.
 
The northern kings, first inspired by Jeroboam’s (I) idolatrous act (calf idols), have syncretised the practice of sin offerings from the Torah with the altars of false gods and the worship of the calf idols. Thus the offerings that might have covered their sin have in fact become additional sin of an abhorrent nature.
 
How many “altars”, both physical and metaphorical, have been built in “Church” communities throughout the world? Altars built as places to repent and receive forgiveness for sin by connecting to the Gospel message, that have instead been turned into altars of sinful practice. The list is long:
 
·      “Church” Buildings costing millions, while the people of the community struggle for work and the sick and poor go unaided
·      Popular “Christian” music proliferated and profited from by secular record companies that own smaller “Christian” record labels. The money of believer’s being used to fund immoral secular agendas
·      Famous pastors, prophets, authors and worship leaders, followed as heroes to the point of idolatry
·      “Christian” psychology intended to help and mature believers, nonetheless fallen prey to secular psychological philosophies that contradict and distort the message of Scripture. Places where people come for help from godly men and women who should be pointing them to God’s strength in their time of need, but instead encourage them to trust in their own mental strength, and promise the self-empowerment to overcome (that empowerment being from the poisoned well of secular self-help doctrines
·      The list goes on and on…
 
12 Echtov-lo I wrote for them kemov-ribov the many things Toratiy of my Instruction (Torah), zar nechshavu but they thought of them as a foreign thing.
 
Here God refers to His Torah which Israel had treated like the spiritual writings of another people, written in a foreign language, an alien thing that had no connection to them. They had spurned the love letter of the Creator to His creation, given to and through the nation Whom He had chosen and called to be a light to others.
 
“I constantly reprimand them through My prophets, and write for them the great things of My Law, but they are considered a strange thing.” -Rashi

13 Zivcheiy They offer sacrifices havhavay as gifts to Me, yizbechu they sacrifice vasar flesh vayocheilu and they eat it, YHVH (Mercy) the Lord lo does not ratzam accept them.

 The offered sacrifices may have included offerings which were to be eaten only by the priests (Levites)[Lev. 6:24-26]. These offerings were apparently being eaten by those who should not eat them. Additionally it is possible that the priests were acting in a similar way to the sons of Eli, taking the fat that should have been burned as the LORD’s portion, and instead eating it themselves (1 Samuel 2:15-17).

Of course, the priests of the north included men from tribes other than Levi, meaning that all offerings brought to God by them were apostate based on the requirements of the Torah.
​
Ultimately, the reason the offerings were not accepted was because there was no genuine repentance, no real willingness to obey YHVH.
 
“21 This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat flesh. 22 For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them on the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. 23 But this is [h]what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you shall walk [i]entirely in the way which I command you, so that it may go well for you.’ 24 Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked by their own advice and in the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and they [j]went backward and not forward.” -Jeremiah 7:21-24 (NIV)
 
Now yizkor he will remember avonam their perverse depravities. Veyifkod  and visit chatotam their sins (missing the mark, uncleanness, offenses) upon them: Hemah They yashuvu Mitzrayim will return to Egypt (double distress).
 
God is just and must punish perversity. The disobedience of Israel will result in a return to bondage (Egypt) for the purpose of discipline and return to God.

14 Vayishkach Yisrael And Israel (overcomes in God/the Judge) has forgotten, ignored, wilfully turned from et-Oseihu their specific Maker vayiven and built heiychalot temples (to false gods);
 
The Targum reads “and built temples to idols”.
 
No one forgets a lover except by wilful avoidance. Israel had turned her back on her Husband (YHVH), Who was also her Creator. Like an adulterous and hateful wife she had sought other lovers (idolatry).
 
Israel (the northern tribes) had sought strength in other gods (idolatry).
 
Y’hudah (praise) hirbah has become great, multiplying ariym betzurot fenced cities (excitement). Veshilachtiy-eish But I will send fire be’arayv in his cities ve’achelah and devour armenoteyah the palaces.”
 
Where Israel (the northern tribes) had sought strength in other gods (idolatry), Judah had trusted in his own strength (idolatry). But fire from God would devour them and burn away the weak strength of those temporary things they had trusted in. Historically speaking Jerusalem would be burned by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon (Jeremiah 52:13).
 
Messiah follower, do we pass judgement on those who worship idols while trusting in our own intellect, physical strength, talents, finances, emotional intelligence, qualifications, righteousness? If so, we are hypocrites and idolaters.
 
Copyright 2021 Yaakov Brown

​1Shimu-zot Hear, listen, receive, understand this, ha-kohaniym you the priests!
Ve’hakshiyvu and pay attention, be attentive, heed, incline your ears beiyt Yisrael house of Israel! Uveiyt ha-melekh And house of the king ha’azinu give ear, listen, harken, be obedient! Kiy For lachem upon you hamishpat is the judgment, kiy because you have been a pach bird trap le’Mitzpah at Mizpah (look out, watch point, watchtower), vereshet and a net perusah spread out, breaking in pieces al-Tavor (mound, breaking) on Tabor (Mt Tabor).
 
1Hear this, you priests!
Pay attention, house of Israel!
Listen, you of the house of the king!
For the judgment applies to you,
Because you have been a trap at Mizpah,
And a net spread out on Tabor.
 
a.     “Hear… Pay attention… Listen” are a trifold admonishment in response to Israel’s wilful decision to block her ears, ignore and refuse to listen to God.
b.     “You priests” is spoken to the illegitimate priests of the north but also regards Israel being a nation of priests called by God (Exodus 19:6) and finds its triplet in the “house of Israel” and the “house of the king”. Each of the three were responsible for maintaining justice: a. Priest [Godly, spiritual justice] b. Israel [social justice] c. King [justice of governance].
c.     “House of the king” could refer to HaShem as King [the King], or to the king of Judah, linking to the reference to Judah in verse 5, it could also be a reference to Menachem [the then king of the north] or a symbolic reference to Jeroboam: of Ephraim, as first king of the north).
d.     “Judgement” corresponds to “a trap” and “a net”.
e.     The two locations of “Mizpah” and “Tabor” are mentioned as locations relating to Israel’s idolatrous sin against God. They mark two places where idolatry was being practiced, a reference to high places of occult worship. They may also have been look out stations intended to prevent members of the northern tribes from going up to Jerusalem to worship (Rashi).
 
“Hear this you priests”
 
God had called all Israel a “priesthood”:
 
“and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.” -Exodus 19:6 NASB
 
It’s important to note that the priests of the northern kingdom appointed by Jeroboam were not Levites and therefore were illegitimate priests.
 
“And he (Jeroboam) made a house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.” -1 Kings 12:31 KJV
 
We could read “Hear this you illegitimate priests!”
 
“incline your ears house of Israel! And house of the king give ear”
 
The distinction made by admonishing the “house of Israel” and the “house of the king” could mean that God is addressing both the northern tribes and Judah (Benjamin). The remaining verses and the greater context makes this the most likely interpretation. However, as stated in the points above regarding the poetic mechanisms, there are at least two other possible interpretations.
 
“For upon you is the judgment, because you have been a bird trap at Mizpah (look out, watch point, watchtower), and a net spread out, breaking in pieces (mound, breaking) on Tabor.”
 
Bird traps and the like are used in Scripture as a metaphor of the practices of the wicked in entrapping innocent people (Job 18:8-10; Psalm 140:5; Proverbs 29:5; Lamentations 1:13). This adds weight to Rashi’s assertion that Mizpah and Tabor were look outs intended to prevent members of the northern tribes from going up to worship in Jerusalem.
 
Mizpah could be one of two places: 1. Mizpah in Gilead east of the Jordan (Genesis 31:43-49) 2. Mizpah in Benjamin (1 Samuel 7:5-6; 10:17). Given the historical context it seems more likely that Mizpah in Benjamin is being alluded to, making the indictment equally against the northern and southern kingdoms. However, Rashi infers that both locations were in the northern kingdom and were high points where look outs were placed to prevent members of the northern tribes from going up to Jerusalem to worship.
 
“On these two mountains they stationed sentries so that Israel would not make the pilgrimage to the Temple.” -Rashi
 
Regardless, as a result of her occult and idolatrous practices on the high places of Mizpah and Tabor, the northern kingdom and perhaps Benjamin (Mizpah: 1 Samuel 7:5-6; 10:17) have set a trap for all residents of Israel (and Judah) and have caused a breaking out of violence and debauchery that has permeated through the entire northern region and as a result has overflowed into Judah.
 
Mizpah means “look out” and Tabor “breaking”. Thus, both Israel (northern kingdom) and Judah have invited demonic false deities to have access to the north (Tabor) and south (Mizpah). They have done this by a. preventing those who wish to come to worship at the God appointed location of the temple mount and b. by worshipping other deities in syncretism with their worship of HaShem.
 
There is a warning here for all who believe. When we compromise the clear instruction of God and in turn allow other forms of worship to converge with our faith practice, we too invite demonic influence, and if we leave these things unaddressed, that influence becomes a stronghold with the potential to lead us to destruction.

2 Veshachatah And the slaughter seitiym of the rebels he’miyku has gone deep,
va’aniy And I musar will discipline lechulam all of them. 3 Aniy yadatiy I know Efrayim (doubly fruitful), veYisrael and Israel (Overcome in El) lo-nichchad is not hidden/cut off mimeniy from Me; kiy for now nitma unclean, impure Efrayim (doubly fruitful), has been, as has Israel.
 
2 And the rebels have gone deep in [a]depravity,
But I will discipline all of them.
3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me;
Because now, Ephraim, you have been unfaithful,
Israel has defiled itself.
 
a.     “Depravity” is the fruit of “Rebellion”, and a loving God disciplines the ones He loves.
b.     “Ephraim” and “Israel” (northern tribes) are synonymous terms. The northern tribes are neither hidden nor cut off from HaShem YHVH (Mercy).
c.     “Unfaithfulness (in particular, sexual unfaithfulness)” is “Self-defilement”.
 
“the slaughter of the rebels has gone deep”
 
Iben Ezra calls them “those idolaters, revolters, or worshippers of Baal.”
 
This refers to the fruit of idolatrous blood sacrifices. Both the spiritual and physical implications have found their way into the depths of societal and individual consciousness.
 
“The extent of their straying they have deepened. I said that anyone who does not go up to Jerusalem on the Pilgrimage festivals transgresses a positive commandment, and they decreed that anyone who does go up to Jerusalem shall be put to death. Hence, they went deeper than I. I.e., they were more stringent than I (Sanhedrin 102a).” -Rashi
 
“I will discipline all of them”
 
“All of them” refers to all who have sinned. God is just, those who are part of the righteous remnant will go into exile along with the wicked but will be kept set apart from the punishment of the wicked.
 
“I know Efrayim, and Israel is not hidden/cut off from Me;”
 
“I know” is an intimate phrase denoting God’s relationship to Ephraim. “Not hidden” is an affirmation of God’s intimate knowledge of Israel and is a reminder of His All Knowing (omniscient) nature.
 
“Until Hosea son of Elah, they blamed their sins on their kings, who prevented them from going on the pilgrimages. This one arose and abolished the sentries; yet they did not go up. Therefore, they were exiled. For now you have committed harlotry, O Ephraim, and they cannot blame the king. I learned this in Seder Olam [Order of the world] (ch. 22).” -Rashi

4 Lo yitnu Nothing will be given them ma’aleiyhem from their deeds, lashuv to return el-Eloheiyhem to their God. Kiy For ruach a spirit, wind, breath of zenuniym prostitution, adultery, fornication bekirbam is within them, ve’et-YHVH and the particular YHVH (Mercy) lo yadau they do not know.
 
4 Their deeds will not allow them
To return to their God.
For a spirit of [b]infidelity is within them,
And they do not know the Lord.
 
a.     “Their deeds” and “infidelity” are connected to a spirit (demonic) of infidelity which has gained access through the perpetual nature of their sin.
b.     Their ability to “return to” is corrupted by the fact that they “do not know”.
 
“Nothing will be given them from their deeds, to return to their God.”
 
The fruit of idolatry does not lead to repentance. To the contrary, an awareness of God’s holiness exposes sin and leads to godly sorrow and returning. It’s not true to say only that “All things work together for good”, a part truth is a lie. What is true is that “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28; cf. Eph. 1:11). Neither “things” nor “works” themselves are the cause, rather, they are the substance moulded by the cause, and the cause proceeds from God.
 
Persistent intentional sin, the decision to make sin a lifestyle, eventually leads a person to a place where repentance is impossible (Jeremiah 13:23; Hebrews 6:4-6).
 
“For a spirit, wind, breath of prostitution, adultery, fornication is within them,”
 
Israel, through perpetual and intentional sin has opened the door of her inner self to the demonic and the demonic has taken up residence “within” her. All of this is a result of her wilful ignorance of God:
 
“They do not know the LORD”
 
This is because they have refused to know Him. In one sense this is consistent with the sexual sin metaphor, in that they have rejected intimacy with their Husband and have “known” (in the Biblical sense: sexually) other husbands (false gods, foreigners, strangers).
 
They have sinned both corporeally and spiritually by practicing orgies of worship before false deities, on the high places that God had commanded them not to worship at.

5 Ve’anah and testifies, geon-Yisrael the pride of Israel befanayv in his face,
ve’yisraeil and Israel ve’Efrayim (doubly fruitful) and Ephraim yikashelu have stumbled, staggered ba’avonam in their depravity, iniquity, perversity; kashal stumbling gam-Y’hudah also Judah (praise) imam with them.
 
5 Moreover, the pride of Israel testifies against him,
And Israel and Ephraim stumble in their wrongdoing;
Judah also has stumbled with them.
 
a.     The “pride of Israel”, “their wrong doing”, and the “stumbling” of Judah are a trifold indictment.
b.     The sin itself (pride) is testifying against the sinner (Israel).
 
“and testifies, the pride of Israel in his face,”
 
The outworking of Israel’s pride is staring her in the face. Her sin is obvious to her. The use of the Hebrew befanayv denotes intimacy and affirms the idea of the previous verse that notes Israel’s intimacy with other lovers. One of her other lovers is her own pride.
 
“Israel and Ephraim have stumbled in their perversity…”
 
The Hebrew avon denotes vile perversity, the English (NASB) “wrong doing” is a benign translation. The imagery is of one who is caught in the quagmire of his own debasement, sin and death being both cause and effect.
 
“also Judah with them”
 
As evidenced by the repeated references to Judah, Israel (northern kingdom) are not alone in idolatrous practice (1:7; 3:5; 4:15; 5:5, 10, 12, 14; 6:11; 12:3). Judah has, of her own freewill chosen to adopt the idolatrous practices of Israel.

6 Betzonam With their flocks uvivkaram and herds yelechu they will walk (go out)
levakeish to seek et-YHVH (Mercy) the particular Lord, velo yimtzau and they will not find Him; chalatz He has withdrawn meihem from them.
 
6 They will go with their flocks and herds
To seek the Lord, but they will not find Him;
He has withdrawn from them.
 
a.     “Flocks and herds” and “seek the LORD” qualify the flocks and herds as sacrificial animals intended for the covering of sin before YHVH.
b.     “Will not find Him” and “withdrawn from them”, establish the fact that Israel’s intentional and perpetual idolatry has made it impossible, at this juncture, for her to find Him. They intend to defile the sacrifices commanded by God and as a result the sin sacrifices will be ineffective, leaving them incapable of reconciliation to YHVH, at this point in time.
 
“With their flocks and herds they will walk out”
 
Sacrificial animals.
 
“To seek the particular Lord, and they will not find Him; He has withdrawn from them.”
 
They intend to seek the LORD with syncretized worship practices. Therefore, He will not be found by them. It will be as if He has withdrawn from them. Grace and mercy are offered to all through blood covering but only the truly repentant can receive God’s free gift.
 
To seek to offer compromised sacrifices to YHVH in their situation was abhorrent (Isaiah 1:10-14; Amos 5:21-25; Micah 6:6-8). Note that when the prophets speak of God not wanting sacrifices and festivals they are not speaking of the proper observance of the LORD’s appointed times or the proper offering of sacrifices according to His Torah, but the syncretized, compromised observance of festivals and the offering of defiled sacrifices.
 
Rashi interprets “withdrawn” as “slipped off” and infers that God as Husband has removed Israel’s marital covering like the removal of a garment. This is consistent with the marriage metaphor.
 
“Heb. חָלַץ, slipped away. Comp. (2 Samuel 2:21) “and take to yourself his clothing (חֲלִצָתוֹ),” the clothing that you will slip off them.” -Rashi
 
This verse is not saying that Israel will never return to the LORD, but that she was unable to at that time. Elsewhere we are told that Israel will return to the LORD when she repents in the true integrity of her inner being (3:5; 5:15; Dt. 4:29—31; Jer. 29:13).

7 Ba-YHVH Against the LORD they have dealt bagadu treacherously,
Kiy For vaniym children zariym strangers yaladu they have given birth to.
Now yochlem chodesh the new moon/new month is devouring them et-chelkeiyhem with their portion, share, territory, possession.
 
7 They have dealt treacherously with the Lord,
For they have given birth to [c]illegitimate children.
Now the new moon will devour them with their [d]land.
 
a.     “Dealt treacherously” finds its correlation in “given birth”.
b.     “The LORD” and “illegitimate children” are connected phrases because a point is being made that Israel has birthed children of idolatrous practices and the children are therefore worshipping false gods because they are not the legitimate children of YHVH. In some cases the children in question are literally children born of the sexual union of Israelites and foreigners (idolaters).
 
“For children strangers they have given birth to…”
 
Israel had attributed the successful birth of her children to the Canaanite fertility god Ba’al and therefore have made Ba’al the father, making them legitimate children of Satan illegitimate children of Israel.
 
“the new moon/new month is devouring them with their portion, share, territory, possession.”
 
The desecration of the God appointed new moon celebration will become a sign of the punishment coming against Israel. The punishment will happen over a metaphorical month and she will be removed from her tribal territories and taken into captivity. Why, because the reason for the removal of the inhabitants of the land given to Israel, was their idolatrous behaviour (Lev. 20:23). Therefore, being a just God and Father, YHVH removes (temporarily) Israel for the same reason. However, being Israel’s Father YHVH intends this removal as temporal discipline and not permanent banishment (as some fools teach).
 
8 Tiku Blow shofar a ram’s horn ba-Givah in Gibeah (bowl, in the mountain district of Judea), And chatzotzerah the trumpet in ba-Ramah (high place, near to Gibeah).
Hariyu Shout, raise an alarm at Beit Aven (Beth-aven, House of vanity, wickedness, sorrow, iniquity): “Behind you, Benyamiyn (son of the right hand [strength])!”
 
8 Blow the horn in Gibeah,
And the trumpet in Ramah.
Sound an alarm at Beth-aven:
“Behind you, Benjamin!”
 
a.     “Ram’s horn” and “Trumpet” are both instruments for calling the people. However, they serve different purposes in calling. The Ram’s horn is associated with the binding of Isaac (Gen. 22), the giving of the Torah (Ex. 19:16), the jubilee (Lev. 25:9), war & miracles (Jos. 6:4; Jdg. 6:34; 7:8) etc., whereas the silver trumpets were associated with the movement of the camp in the desert (Num. 10:2), the priesthood (Num. 10:8; 1 Ch. 15:24), worship (1 Ch. 13:8; 2 Ch. 5:12), and the coronation of kings (2 Ch. 23:11-13).
b.     “Gibeah”, “Ramah”, and “Beth Aven” are all locations of idolatrous worship, two of which are in the territory of Benjamin (Gibeah and Ramah), and one on the border of Ephraim and Benjamin (Beth Aven), or, if Beth Aven and Bethel are the same place, then it is located in the territory of Benjamin just east of the border.
 
“Ram’s horn” (shofar) As stated, the ram’s horn is associated with the giving of the Torah (Ex. 19:16), the jubilee (Lev. 25:9), war & miracles (Jos. 6:4; Jdg. 6:34; 7:8) etc. And finds its true origin in the “binding of Isaac” (Gen. 22). Meaning that at its root it is the sound of redemption.
 
“Trumpet” (chatzotzerah, silver trumpet) As stated, is associated with the movement of the camp in the desert (Num. 10:2), the priesthood (Num. 10:8; 1 Ch. 15:24), worship (1 Ch. 13:8; 2 Ch. 5:12), and the coronation of kings (2 Ch. 23:11-13).
 
Therefore, all aspects of meaning associated with both instruments are denoted in the naming of them:
 
1.     The Torah has found you wanting (Ex. 19:16).
2.     You will not be in the land to celebrate the jubilee (Lev. 25:9).
3.     War is at hand, but the power of God is levelled against you by way of punishment at the hand of the Assyrian Empire (Jos. 6:4; Jdg. 6:34; 7:8).
4.     The camp is about to move, into exile (Num. 10:2).
5.     Your compromised priesthood will fall (Num. 10:8; 1 Ch. 15:24).
6.     There will be an end to your apostate worship (1 Ch. 13:8; 2 Ch. 5:12).
7.     The north will see no more kings (2 Ch. 23:11-13).
 
“Gibeah” and “Ramah” are situated in the territory of Benjamin. This means that the alarm being sounded is a warning to Judah and in particular to Benjamin. The Assyrian invasion is immanent.
 
“Beit-Aven” (House of vanity, wickedness, sorrow, iniquity) is a sarcastic way of referring to Bethel (House of God)[Talmud], and or a place very close to Bethel (Joshua 7:2), it was a main centre of northern apostate worship located in the territory of Ephraim/Benjamin. A place that has a strong connection to both the physical and spiritual journeys of the Patriarchs and in particularly to Jacob, who became Israel. It was on the border of the territories of Ephraim and Benjamin (according to the interpretation that equates it to Bethel it is technically located in the territory of Benjamin to the east of the border between the two territories).
 
It seems likely, given Hosea 4:15, that Beth Aven was considered to be part of the territory of Ephraim (northern tribes):
 
“Judah must not become an offender in the Gilgal; and don’t go into Beth-Aven” -Hosea 4:15
 
Proximity is important. Benjamin had absorbed the practices of the northern tribes. “Bad company corrupts good character” (Proverbs 1:8-19; 1 Corinthians 15:33).
 
“Sound a shofar: [O prophets, raise your voices like a shofar.] The news of the sword which is coming as retribution for the iniquity of crowning Saul, who was in Gibeah, and for disobeying Samuel, who was from Ramah. And their kings caused them to turn away from following Me, such as Jeroboam and his ilk. Shout over them, ‘Violence and great destruction!’” -Targum Yonatan
 
Some claim that this warning refers to the Aramean/Syrian and Ephraimite war 734-733 BCE recorded in 2 Kings 16:5-9 and alluded to in Isaiah 7:1-9. This cannot be determined definitively.

9 Efrayim (doubly fruitful) le’shamah will become a horror bayom in the day tocheichah of correction; beshivteiy Among the tribes of Yisrael I make known what is ne’emanah to be established.
 
9 Ephraim will become a desolation in the day of rebuke;
Among the tribes of Israel I make known what is trustworthy.
 
a.     “Ephraim” and “Israel” are in one sense synonymous, however, Ephraim is mentioned as a symbol of the kings of the north (Jeroboam of Ephraim being the first king of the north), whereas Israel encompasses all the tribes. Thus, all are culpable.
b.     “made known” and “firmly established” are phrases denoting the obvious outcomes of Israel’s sin and the just indictment made against her to her face by YHVH.
 
The plain meaning denotes the exile of the northern tribes at the hand of the Assyrians. Their exile will be a horror to both the northern tribes, who endure it, and the southern tribes who observe it. Nonetheless, the southern tribes failed to heed the warning and were taken into exile in Babylon approximately a hundred years later.
 
“Said Rabbi Abahu in the name of Rabbi Yose bar Chanina. On the day that the Holy One, blessed be He, debates with them in judgment, they will not be able to open their mouths, for among their tribes I made known that the judgment is a true judgment. You find that, when the ten tribes were exiled, Benjamin and Judah were not exiled, and the ten tribes were saying, Because they are the dwellers of His palace, He did not exile them. There is favouritism in this matter. God forbid, there is no favouritism, but their measure of sin was not yet full. As soon as they sinned, they were exiled. Then the ten tribes were bewildered, without an answer in their mouths, and they said, “Behold God! Behold the Mighty One! Behold the Just One! For even to those who dwell in His house He shows no favouritism.” This is to fulfil what is stated: Among the tribes of Israel I made known a true judgment. [from Lam. Rabbah, Proem 6]” -Rashi

10 The sareiy princes of Y’udah have become kemasigeiy like those who remove gevul a boundary (territory) marker; aleiyhem on them eshpoch I will pour out kamayim evratiy My fury like water.
 
10 The leaders of Judah have become like those who displace a boundary marker;
On them I will pour out My anger like water.
 
Idolatry is also present in Judah, perhaps not yet to the same extent but it is nonetheless growing. The exile of the northern tribes is to be an unheeded warning and the sins of Judah are being called out. The indictment against Judah addresses a sin against all the tribes. The moving of territory markers which secure the tribal allotments assigned by HaShem.
 
The Torah forbids the moving of boundary stones because it is an act of stealing from another tribe and a desecration against Israel as a whole.
 
“You shall not displace your neighbor’s boundary marker, which the ancestors have set, in your inheritance which you will inherit in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to [q]possess.” -Deuteronomy 19:14 NASB
 
“Cursed is the one who moves his neighbor’s landmark.” - Deuteronomy 27:17 NKJV
 
This sin is abhorrent to HaShem because it is in direct opposition to His provision of an inheritance for all Israel. It would be a king of Judah who would one day rule over all the tribes in the Messianic age, therefore, for the then kings and princes of Judah to be likened to those who remove boundary markers is to say they have dishonoured their role as protectors of the inheritance of Israel.

11 Efrayim (doubly fruitful) ashuk is oppressed, retzutz crushed mishpat by judgment,
Kiy Because hoiyl he was determined halakh to walk achareiy after tzav a command.
12 Va’aniy And I am cha’ash like a moth to Efrayim, ve’charakav and like decay leveiyt Y’hudah to the house of Judah.
 
11 Ephraim is oppressed, broken by judgment,
Because he was determined to follow [e]man’s command.
12 Therefore I am like a moth to Ephraim,
And like rottenness to the house of Judah.
 
a.     Ephraim’s oppression is the result of following a command of men, or of Ba’al (as opposed to the commands of God).
b.     Oppression is the fruit of human sin, whereas judgement (in this case) is of God, Elohiym (the Judge).
c.     “Moth” and “Rottenness” progressively destroy and are the result of neglect. In Israel’s case they have neglected the Torah of YHVH and have instead followed the doctrines of men.
 
“Now why does he suffer with all this? Because he wished and desired and followed the new commands of the prophets of Baal.” -Rashi

13 When Efrayim saw chalyo his sickness, and Y’udah his et-mezoro particular wound,
Efrayim then went to Ashur (Assyria, a step) vayishlach And sent to Melekh Yarev a king of Jareb (Contender). But he is unable lirpo to heal lachem you, or to yigheh take away mikem from you mazior your wound.
 
13 When Ephraim saw his sickness,
And Judah his [f]sore,
Ephraim then went to Assyria
And sent word to [g]King Jareb.
But he is unable to heal you,
Or to cure you of your [h]sore.
 
a.     “Sickness” and “wound” are the result of idolatry.
b.     “Ephraim (northern tribes)” and “Judah (including Benjamin)”
c.     The northern kings went to Tiglath Pileser II for help.
 
Despite the protests of revisionist liberal scholars both Jewish and Christian, there is clear evidence here of the Assyrian threat.
 
“King Jareb” or “king of Jareb” appears to be another name for Tiglath Pileser II whom Assyrian records say received a tribute paid by the Israelite (northern tribes) kings Menachem and Hoshea (2 Kings 15:19-20; 17:2). The reading “Of Jareb” would mean that he was a king of a province called Jareb rather than a king named Jareb. This is consistent with the correlation to Tiglath Pileser II.
 
“This is Hosea son of Elah, who was his vassal and then rebelled against him (II Kings 17:4).” -Rashi
 
"and sent to the king that shall come to avenge them;'' -Targum Yonatan

14 Kiy For Anochiy I will be chashachal like a lion to Efrayim, vechakefiyr and like a young lion leveiyt to the house of Y’hudah. Aniy Aniy I, indeed I, etrof will tear to pieces ve’elech and go away, esa carrying away, ve’eiyn matziyl and there will be no one to rescue.
 
14 For I will be like a lion to Ephraim
And like a young lion to the house of Judah.
I, yes I, will tear to pieces and go away,
I will carry away, and there will be no one to rescue.
 
The metaphor “like a lion” used of YHVH is consistent with similar usage elsewhere in prophetic literature. The King Messiah is known as the “Lion of Judah” (Rev. 5:5).
 
The Assyrian Empire will take away the northern tribes, however, God is in control of what takes place, therefore, He is the One who carries Israel away as prey.

15 I eilech will go ashuvah and return el-makumiy to My place, ad until asher-yeshemu they acknowledge their guilt uvikshu and seek panay My face; batzar In their distress lahem yeshacharuniy they will earnestly search for Me.
 
15 I will go away and return to My place
Until they [i]acknowledge their guilt and seek My face;
In their distress they will search for Me.
 
“I will go and return to My place,”
 
While the plain meaning indicates that God will withdraw His protection over Israel. It is worth noting that the Hebrew el-makumiy can be understood to refer to the temple mount in Jerusalem ha-makum.
 
“Until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face”
 
According to the redemptive rhythm of the prophetic work an opportunity for repentance is given along with hope for reconciliation.
 
The acknowledgement of sin is necessary and to seek intimate knowledge of God is essential in order for reconciliation to take place.
 
“In their distress they will search for Me.”
 
The discipline that will result in Israel’s distress is intended to bring her to godly sorrow unto repentance and to deliver her from her self-harming lifestyle of idolatry.
 
“29 But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul. 30 When you are in distress and all these things happen to you, in the latter days you will return to the Lord your God and listen to His voice.” - Deuteronomy 4:29-30 NASB
 
Copyright 2021 Yaakov Brown

CHAPTER 3
 
3 1Vayomer And said YHVH (Mercy) the Lord to me (Hosea), “Eilay od leicha Walk continually toward and, ehav-ishah love a woman ahuvat who is beloved by/as an reia intimate friend, umena’afet and yet continues to commit adultery, ke’ahavat because of the love YHVH (Mercy) the Lord bestows on et-beneiy Yisrael the children of Israel, ve’hem and they poniym look/turn (continually) el-elohiym acheiriym toward other gods veohaveiy and love ashiysheiy fire pressed anaveiym fruit/grapes (raisin cakes, wine libation).”
 
“go, deliver a prophecy against the house of Israel, who are like a woman dear to her husband; and though she commits fornication against him, yet he so loves her that he will not put her away:” -Hosea 3:1 Targum Yonatan Ben Uzziel (2nd Centruy CE Aramaic paraphrase translation)
 
We note that in the previous chapter HaShem has promised to show compassion upon Israel and to seed righteousness in them through His sacrificial love. Their future is belonging and right relationship but their present was the antithesis of these things. The stark contrast between the faithfulness of God and the unfaithfulness of Israel is illuminated in the living mashal (parable) of Hosea’s life.
 
Hosea (Salvation) is tasked with physically showing the northern tribes and by extension all Israel (including Judah and Benjamin) the abhorrent nature of her condition. Consider the gut wrenching heartbreak the prophet must suffer in order to act out these instructions, the self-sacrificing obedience to God, the forsaking of an opportunity for marriage to a faithful bride of the remnant in order to continue to offer grace to the wayward wife Gomer (Perfect, beautiful), who has wilfully chosen to seek her own pleasure over the secure love of her husband. Are we willing to be obedient in the face of suffering? To forgo just outcomes in this temporary world in order to expose wickedness and offer redemption to the wicked? What would that look like in our lives?
 
“And Mercy said to me, ‘Walk continually toward and love a woman who is loved by/as an intimate friend, and yet continues to commit adultery…”
 
There are two ways to understand this verse. First, the intimate friend is the wayward women and second, the intimate friend is a friend of the prophet who has cheated with the wayward woman (Gomer). If the latter is the intended meaning the weight of Hosea’s task becomes exponentially greater. Regardless, the woman is intentionally and flamboyantly adulterous and thus her actions both break her husband’s heart privately and humiliate her husband publicly. The fact that she is clearly (according to the social norms that had developed through sin practices and in opposition to the Torah) not being held accountable by society at large, places the righteous prophet in an extremely vulnerable position.
 
“for the love the Lord bestows on the children of Israel, and they look/turn (continually) toward other gods and love fire-pressed grapes.”
 
The plain meaning shows that HaShem’s relationship with Israel is being reflected in what Hosea has been instructed to do.
 
The last phrase (description) is difficult to translate into English. The Hebrew ashiysheiy essential means “to press down” and appears to come from the root ish (fire) and the plural anaveiym refers to fruit and in particular grapes. Therefore the phrase may refer to raisin cakes offered to Ba’al [Husband, Master, Lord] (Canaanite deity of the harvest and fruitfulness in general), but could just as easily refer to libation offerings of wine made on a fiery altar to any number of other false deities (Ba’al is not mentioned specifically here, though is mentioned in the surrounding text along with the many ba’aliym). The Talmud Bavliy (Babylonian Talmud) contains a dispute between two rabbis, one of whom explains the Hebrew “ashiysheiy” to mean “a cake prepared from one-sixth of an eipha of flour” and the other as “a jug of grapes”, or “excessive wine” (Pesachim 36b:15).
 
2 Va’ekereah And I purchased her liy to me bachamishah asar for fifteen pieces kasef of silver, vechomer and a portion of se’oriym barley veleitech and a half portion of  se’oriym barley. 
 
It is highly unlikely that the purchase of Gomer was a transaction related to her price as a prostitute for two reasons: first, the price was too high (being half the worth of a servant/bond servant Ex.21:23), and secondly, being a figure for God’s relationship with Israel it would impugn God’s character were His proxy (Hosea) to validate the price of prostitution. Therefore, this “purchase, trade” is most likely the result of a discounted sale of a slave/bondservant (Ex.21:23).
 
Due to her lifestyle Gomer had apparently been left with no other option but to sell herself into slavery to an Israelite household. They seem to have placed little value on her and were thus willing to sell her for half the accepted price (Ex.21:23) along with a portion and a half of barley to compensate them for the remainder (15 shekelim).
 
It’s impossible to accurately equate the value of ancient Biblical silver to modern silver values. Therefore, it is far better to qualify our understanding of the value being placed based on the relevant Biblical texts.
 
The Targum Yonatan suggests a figurative connection between the purchase of Gomer and the feast of unleavened bread which is convergent with Passover and lasts seven days. The Targum paraphrases this verse as follows:
 
“And I redeemed them at My command on the fifteenth day of the month of Nisan, and I made shekalim of silver an atonement for their souls, and I declared that they offer before me an ‘omer’ as heave-offering from the barley harvest; that is to say, I did not weary you with difficult duties.” -Hosea 3:2 Targum Yonatan Ben Uzziel (2nd Centruy CE Aramaic paraphrase translation)
 
This is consistent with the fact that barley is the first grain crop and its first appearance when coming up from the ground coincides with yom habikkurim (the day of first fruit), not to be confused with the later “first fruits” offering associated with Shavuot (Pentecost). At very least the price being partially paid in barley gives seasonal context, and seasonal context allows for the connection to the Biblical moedim (appointed times), the one most closely associated with barley being Pesach (Passover). Additionally the Hebrew denotes a portion of grain alluding to the counting of the “omer”(portion) for the 50 days between Passover and Shavuot (Pentecost).
 
A “chomer” of barley is thought to be approximately 6.5 bushels and is equivalent to 230 litres.
 
Barley being the early crop, was generally eaten by the poor and or lower middle class, who had no means of either purchasing or storing large amounts of wheat from the previous year’s latter harvest: whereas wheat was the latter crop and was consumed by the upper class due to their wealth and ability to store wheat from the previous year’s harvest to be enjoyed in the subsequent year. Bread made from barley being rougher and bread made from wheat being more refined and at that time preferred by the upper class. In short, Gomer was purchased cheaply based on the price she set upon her body when selling herself to other men. This is figurative of the cheap price Israel (the northern kingdom) sold herself for to her false gods and foreign political “friends”.
 
The price paid in these verses is a price of redemption intended to return wayward Israel to her true Husband YHVH.
 
3 Vayomer And I said to her, “Yamiym rabiym For many days teisheviy liy sit, abide, dwell with me. Lo don’t tizniy sell your body (practice prostitution), velo and don’t have le’ish another man; Vegam-aniy and also eilaych I will be toward you.”
 
“Many days” denotes a temporary period. (v.5) Rashi understands this phrase to refer to a period of 5 days in total:
 
“The plural “days” refers to (a minimum) of two, “many” to (a minimum of) three, making a total of five. This (the forty-five of the previous verse added to the five of this verse) alludes to the fifty days between Passover and Pentecost. On that day I offered her the Torah, admonishing her:” -Rashi
 
“and don’t have le’ish another man” is a figurative way of saying “You shall have no other gods before Me” -Exodus 20:3
 
Gomer, and therefore Israel is being asked not to continue to worship false gods (practice prostitution). Rashi interprets the pretext “many days” to be a promise of the longevity of the children of Israel in the land provided they do as HaShem asks.
 
God will be as He has always been toward Israel, and she is being asked to use her opportunity of redemption to change her behaviour and dwell with her Husband in purity.
 
“I will be toward you” is a continued offer of fidelity from God to Israel (from Hosea to Gomer). Essentially it means, “I will not replace you with another woman, I will continue to be faithful to you despite having every reason to divorce you.”
 
4 Kiy For yamiym rabiym many days yeishevu beneiy Yisrael the children of Israel will be without melekh a king ve’eiyn and without sar a prince, ve’eiyn and without zevach a slaughter (sacrifice) matzeivah a memorial stone (pillar, idol, stump), ve’eiyn and without an eiphod (seamless priestly garment) uterafiym or household idols/healers.
 
Once again and by means of firmly establishing the fact, “Many days” denotes a temporary period. (v.5).
 
“the children of Israel will be without a king and without a prince”
 
It’s important to remember that in the context of Hosea this refers to the northern kingdom seeing an end to her kings. To be without both king and prince means to be without the hope of an heir coming into power. It means an end to the line of a king. In this case it means an end to the kingship of a divided kingdom and points to a return to the kingship of a united kingdom [all 12 tribes under David’s greater Son (the King Messiah) of Judah].
 
“without a slaughter (sacrifice), a memorial stone (pillar, idol, stump), and without an (seamless priestly garment) or household idols/healers.”
 
Each of these is associated with Israel’s idolatry. Either because the godly forms are missing or because the ungodly forms are present. However. The last descriptor “household idols (teraphim)” indicates that God will remove all worship tools including both those divinely appointed and those associated to false gods.
 
Iben Ezra understands this to refer to the lack of godly representations:
 
“without a king of the house of David, and without a ruler over Israel; without sacrifice for acceptance in Jerusalem; and without a high place in Samaria; and without an ephod, and him that shows;” -Iben Ezra
 
Whereas Rashi combines the two ideas, seeing this as representing both the absence of godly forms and the introduction of idolatrous alternatives.
 
“In the Temple in Judah. nor pillar The pillar of Baal in Samaria of the kings of Israel. nor ephod of the Urim and Tummim, which discloses to them hidden things. teraphim They are images constructed, having in mind a particular hour established, at which time they speak of their own accord and tell of hidden things. So does Jonathan translate: and there shall be no ephod or oracle.” -Rashi
 
Modern readers often ask “What exactly are these teraphim?” Jewish tradition answers:
 
“what are the ‘teraphim?’ they slay the firstborn of a man, cut off his head, and pickle it with salt and oil, and inscribe on a plate of gold the name of an unclean spirit, and put that under his tongue; then they place it in a wall, and light candles before it, and pray unto it, and it talks with them.’” - Pirke Eliezer, c. 36. fol. 40. 1.
 
This combines the occult practice of speaking with the dead to demonic spirits and in some cases ancestral idolatry, where the idol itself is an ancestor under whose tongue the name of a demon is placed. Based on this understanding the teraphim therefore, are the ultimate convergence of self-deification and witchcraft. An abhorrent form of idolatry.
 
5 Achar  Afterward yashuvu he will return beneiy Yisrael the sons of Israel uvikshu and they will seek, desire et the particular YHVH (Mercy) Lord Eloheiyhem their God/Judge ve’et-daveed and David malkam their king; ufachadu and they will fear, tremble, be in awe  el before YHVH (Mercy) the Lord ve’el-tovu and before His goodness be’acharit hayamiym in the latter days.
 
“and seek the worship of the Lord their God, and obey Messiah the Son of David their King;” -Hosea 3:5 Targum Yonatan Ben Uzziel (2nd Centruy CE Aramaic paraphrase translation)
 
The return of Israel (the northern tribes) to the LORD will be marked by their return to the greater heir to David’s throne. The kings of Israel (northern kingdom) were never going to endure because to deny the God appointed succession of David’s throne was to deny the greater Son of David, the King Messiah, Who was to be a descendant of David by blood and to rule on David’s throne forever over all Israel (12 tribes).
 
Therefore, the King of Judah was to be King of the Jews and all the remaining tribes would come under His authority and be known as Y’hudim. This began in a practical historical sense upon the return of the 12 tribes to dwell in Judea as Judeans (Jews) following the Babylonian exile, joining the remnant of Judah that had remained in the land.
 
“The latter days” refers to the olam haba (world to come). We note that it is in the goodness of God that all Israel will tremble. Terror and security united in love through the redemptive work of God in Messiah Yeshua the greater Son of David.
 
“the Rabbis say this is the King Messiah; if of the living, David is his name; if of the dead, David is his name.” - T. Hieros. Beracot, fol. 5. 1.
 
“it is said, when Jerusalem is built, David comes; that is, the Son of David, the Messiah; which is proved by this passage, ‘afterwards the children of Israel shall return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their King’” - Talmud Bavliy Megillah, fol. 18. 1.
 
“the holy blessed God is well pleased with him in this world, and in the world to come; in this world, as it is written, ‘and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake’, 2 Kings 20:6, and in the world to come, as it is written, ‘they shall seek the Lord their God, and David their King,’” - Zohar in Exod. fol. 93. 3.
 
“It was taught in the name of R. Shimon the son of Yochai: The children of Israel rejected three things during the reign of Rehoboam; the Kingdom of Heaven, the kingdom of the House of David, and the Holy Temple, as it is written: “What portion have we in David” (1 Kings 12:16) which may be understood literally; “to your tents O’ Israel” (ibid.), do not read, “to your tents” (Heb. לְאֹהָלֶךָ) but “to your gods” (Heb.לֵאלֹהֶך) “now see your own house, David” (ibid.), refers to the Holy Temple (see Rashi 1 Kings 12:16). R. Shimon the son of Menassiah said: Israel shall not be shown any omen of good until they repent by seeking out all three; “Afterwards shall the children of Israel return, and seek their Lord their God,” which refers to the Kingdom of Heaven; “and David their king” is self-explanatory; “and shall come trembling to the Lord and to His goodness,” which refers to the Holy Temple, as it is written “that good mount” (Deut. 3:7) (a reference to the Temple Mount. [from Midrash Samuel 13:4]” -Rashi
 
Introduction to Chapter 4:
 
Throughout my commentary of chapter 4 I will give a secondary rendering of the text with the poetic couplets and mechanisms highlighted for emphasis.
 
CHAPTER 4
 
Once again the poetic couplets, word play and synonymous terms of Hebrew poetry are employed in this chapter. Take note of the emphasis on connected attributes, practices, ideas, and principles.
 
This chapter essentially addresses the spiritual prostitution of Israel, her idolatry (worship of Canaanite deities) and her political adultery (courting the aid of foreign powers and their gods).
 
4 1Shimu Hear, listen, receive, understand, comprehend devar a word of YHVH (Mercy) the Lord, beneiy Yisrael you children of Israel, for YHVH (Mercy) the Lord has riyv a case, dispute im with yosheveiy those who dwell in ha-aretz the land/earth (Land of Israel), kiy For eiyn there is no emet truth, ve’eiyn and no chesed goodness, kindness, mercy, practical love, ve’eiyn and no da’at knowledge Elohiym of God/the Judge ba-aretz in the land/earth (Land of Israel).
 
4 1Listen to a word of the Lord, you children of Israel,
Because the Lord has a case against the inhabitants of the land of Israel,
For there is no truth, nor practical love,
Nor knowledge of God in the land of Israel.
 
a.     The Word of the LORD and the LORD are echad (One)
b.     Israel (northern tribes) must “listen” to “the case”
c.     Truth, practical love (mercy), and knowledge of God are connected in unity
 
The LORD has a legitimate case against Israel according to Torah (moral law). His case is not (in this instance) against all inhabitants of the earth but against the inhabitants of the land of the northern tribes.
 
While it’s true that haaretz can be translated “the earth”, it is not contextually true in this case. Here haaretz refers specifically to the land of Israel. God’s indictment against Israel begins by explaining that by ignoring God and His attributes the people of the land have lost their knowledge of God, a knowledge given by Him for their good.
 
“For there is no truth, and no goodness, kindness, mercy, practical love, and no knowledge of God/the Judge in the Land of Israel.”
 
The popular English translation “there is no faithfulness” does not reflect the Hebrew text. The Hebrew word emet means “truth”. Faithfulness is born of truth but it does not convey the fullness of truth.
 
Each of the attributes listed as missing from among the people of the land are manifestations of God’s character. Therefore, the fact that these attributes are not present among the people means that the people have wilfully rejected God and as a result have no knowledge of His role as Judge (Elohiym). The word Elohiym (the Judge) is used because the situation regards judgement of a crime.

2 Aloh oath-taking, vechacheish and deception, veratzoach and murder, veganov and stealing, venaof and adultery. Paratzu They break out (in violence), vedamiym and bloodshed bedamiym follows bloodshed nagau (at their) touch.
 
2 Oath-taking, and deception, and murder, and stealing, and adultery.
They break out (in violence), and bloodshed follows bloodshed (at their) touch.
 
a.     Deceptive oath taking, murder, stealing, adultery, are all sins against fellow human beings. Therefore, because they have forsaken their God and lack knowledge of His right judgement they have also forsaken the second of the greatest commandments “love thy neighbour as thyself” (Lev.19:18). One cannot love one’s self if one does not recognize the fact that human worth is defined by the Creator and His love, and without true love for self it is impossible to love someone else.
b.     Sinful violence, and bloodshed upon bloodshed, denotes an intrinsic murderous nature (Cain).
c.     All of these actions ultimately lead to death.
 
“Oath taking” is not the problem. “Oath taking and deception” together are the problem.
 
Rashi notes:
 
“blood touches blood They multiply transgression upon transgression (Targum Jonathan). Now according to its more apparent meaning: they broke down all bounds and increased bloodshed until the blood of one murdered person touches the blood of another.” -Rashi

3 Al-kein Therefore upon this te’eval ha-aretz the land mourns,
Veumlal kol-yosheiv And all who dwell in it languish
Bah b’chayat It’s in the animals hasadeh of the field uve’of and in the birds hashamayim of the sky, ve’gam and also degeiy the fish of hayam the waters ye’asefu which are gathered.
 
3 Therefore upon this the land mourns,
And all who dwell in it languish
Mourning is in the animals of the field, and in the birds of the sky,
And also the fish of the waters, which are gathered.
 
a.     As a result of the sinful practices of human beings, in particular the northern tribes of Israel, the land of Israel (ha-aretz) mourns. Humanity were tasked from the beginning of creation with being caretakers of creation (the earth), through humanity’s choice to sin death entered the world and in the perpetuation of sin death reigned over creation.
b.     The mention of land animals, birds, and water life reflects the creation narrative (Gen.1).
 
4 Yet let no iysh man (person) yarev complain, and let no one rebuke another iysh man (person); ve’amecha for your people kimriyveiy are like those who argue with kohein a priest.
 
4 Yet let no one complain, and let no one rebuke another person; for your people are like those who argue with a priest.
 
a.     Complaining about the repercussions of one’s sin is ludicrous, like those who know God’s Torah but argue with a priest about how it should be observed
 
In a greater sense the northern kingdom “argues against the true priesthood” which has remained true to the Temple cult instructed by Torah (Mt Zion, Jerusalem).
 
The opening clause is quite simply an admonishment against hypocrisy.
 
“‘let no man strive’ You forewarn the true prophets not to strive with you nor to reprove you, as it is written concerning Amos 7:16, that Amaziah the priest of Bethel said to him (i.e. to Amos): “Do not prophesy against Israel, and do not preach against the house of Isaac.” This transpired in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash in whose time Hosea prophesied.” -Rashi
 
“‘them who strive with the priest’ They strive with their instructors, for the priests were the instructors, as it is written [concerning the priestly tribe of Levi]: “They shall teach Your judgments to Jacob, etc.” (Deut. 33:10).

5 Vechashalta And you will stagger hayom during the day,
vechashal And staggering gam also, naviy will be a prophet imecha (with ayin) with you Laylah at night; vedamiytiy and I will put a stop to imecha (with aleph) your mother.
 
5  And you will stagger during the day,
And staggering also, will be a prophet along with you at night;
And I will put a stop to your mother.
 
a.     Staggering is the couplet to destruction. Thus staggering from sin leads to being cut off.
b.     The “mother” here is generally speaking Israel (the northern kingdom) as allegorised in the living parable of Gomer, Hosea’s wife. However “mother” may refer to Shomron (Samaria) one of the main cities of the northern tribes, and a hotbed of idolatry and sexual immorality.
c.     “Put a stop to” is the better translation of the Hebrew text. It means that God will “put a stop to” her sinful behaviour.
 
Staggering is associated with drunkenness, a self-imposed state of disorder. Staggering during the day is a sign of an extreme state of perpetual drunkenness given that even those given to drunkenness tend to limit their behaviour to the cover of darkness. Such is the extent of the people’s pride and haughty outlook that they brazenly flaunt their sinful chaos in the daylight.
 
The result of the common people staggering during the day is that they eventually lure in the priest. Alternatively, the priests in question are priests of Ba’al and are staggering at night due to the drunken worship of the false god.

6 Nidmu Cut off, destroyed are amiy My people mibeliy from lack of hada’at the knowledge. Kiy For atah you (singular) hada’at ma’asta have refused the knowledge,
Ve’emasecha And I refuse you mikahein liy from being My priest.
vatishkach Since you have ignored Torah the Instruction Eloheycha of your God,
Eshkach baneycha gam-Aniy I also will ignore your children.
 
6 Cut off, destroyed are My people from lack of the knowledge.
For you (singular) have refused the knowledge,
And I refuse you from being My priest.
Since you have ignored the Instruction of your God,
I also will ignore your children.
 
a.     Destruction is the result of a lack of the knowledge and the lack of the knowledge is the result of wilful ignorance.
b.     Lack of the knowledge is disobedience to Torah.
c.     God ignores the children of sin in order to bring about repentance. To prosper the children of sin would be to enable their sinful lifestyle.
 
Notice, not just “knowledge” but “the knowledge”. The people are not cut off for lack of knowledge but for the lack of “the knowledge” of God. “Knowledge (human) puffs up, Love (of God) builds up” (1 Cor. 8:1).
 
The word “forgotten” used in some English versions is a poor translation. Israel had not “forgotten” Torah, to the contrary, they had intentionally “ignored” Torah. Or, more precisely, had neglected the remembrance of Torah.
 
God speaks through Hosea using the singular to refer to Israel (northern kingdom) as a priest who has neglected to pass on the Instruction of God and will therefore produce offspring that do not know the truth about the God of Israel or of the judgement and mercy He offers.
 
God had called all Israel a “priesthood”:
 
“and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.” -Exodus 19:6 NASB
 
It’s important to note that the priests of the northern kingdom appointed by Jeroboam were not Levites and therefore were illegitimate priests.
 
“And he (Jeroboam) made a house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.” -1 Kings 12:31 KJV
 
7 Kerubam Because of abundance, kein so chateu-liy they sinned (missed the mark) against Me; kevodam their glory, honour bekalon amiyr I will change into shame, dishonour.8 Chatat The sin (missing the mark) Amiy of My people, yocheilu they eat up, devour, burn up ve’el-avonam And perversity, depravity, iniquity yisu they set nafsho their souls (entire functioning being) on.
 
7 Because of abundance, so they sinned (missed the mark) against Me;
Their glory, honour I will change into shame, dishonour.
8 The sin (missing the mark) of My people, they eat up, devour, burn up
And perversity, depravity, iniquity they set their souls (entire functioning being) on.
 
a.     Abundance (material) has resulted in sin born of false comfort.
b.     The glory (idolatry) of abundance will bear the fruit of shame.
c.     Sin is delighted in, consumed with passion.
d.     The soul being of the people respectively seeks out depravity. “The heart (lev, inner being) of man deceitful and desperately wicked above all things” (Jeremiah 17:9).
 
With the exception of Abraham very few Biblical characters remained faithful during times of abundance. It seems that the nature of human beings causes us to be prone to wander when we are comfortable (in material things). Our faith undergoes its greatest refining, not in the furnace of poverty but in the trial of abundance.
 
False comfort is found in temporal things and bears the fruit of selfish dissatisfaction. The comfort of God is everlasting, eternally present in those who have turned to Him, and overflows into the lives of others.
 
“The sin of My people, they eat up, devour, burn up And perversity, depravity, iniquity they set their souls (entire functioning being) on.”
 
This refers to the illegitimate priests of the former verse. Those priests who were not Levites but were appointed by Jeroboam from other tribes. The sin offerings were meant as a means of symbolic propitiation and were to be offered properly before God in order to cover the sins of the people. The illegitimate priests of the northern kingdom were desecrating these offerings with syncretised idolatry and drunkenness and as a result the sin of the northern tribes remained upon them before God’s judgement.

9 Vehayah And it will be, cha’am like people, kakohein like priest;
Ufakadtiy And I will punish them alayv according to derachayv their ways
Uma’alalayv ashiyv lo And repay them for their practices.
 
9 And it will be, like people, like priest;
And I will punish them according to their ways
And repay them for their practices.
 
a.     Both the priests and common people of the northern kingdom were apostate. The fact that Levites were worshipping at altars outside of Jerusalem and non-Levites were being appointed priests (1 Kings 12:31) was abominable by Torah standards.
b.     The punishment of the LORD is just and is according to the sinful actions of the people. It is repeated because it is firmly established.

10 Ve’achelo And they will eat, velo yisba’u and not have enough;
Hiznu They practice prostitution, velo and don’t yifrotzu break out (give birth, prosper), kiy-et-YHVH because YHVH (Mercy) the Lord azevu they have forsaken, lishmor and have ceased watching for Him, alt. guarding, observing the things of Him.
 
10 And they will eat, and not have enough;
They practice prostitution, and not break out (give birth, prosper),
Because YHVH (Mercy) the Lord they have forsaken,
And have ceased watching for Him,
 
a.     To eat and not have enough is a figure of excess rather than want. Gluttony eventually lessens the effectiveness of the palate and causes all food to seem common (familiarity breeds contempt), meaning that one is always seeking something more even while being full to overflowing. Thus obesity gives way to want for more, an insatiable appetite. This is also reflected in the prostitution metaphor which sees the practice become fruitless due to its proliferation (disease, infertility etc.)
b.     This is happening not because God has forsaken Israel (northern kingdom) but because she has intentionally and consistently forsaken Him and has ceased looking for Him or observing His Word.
 
We are all potentially guilty of these same practices in spiritual form if not physical. When we neglect the reading and observance of God’s Word on a daily basis we become less and less interested in the things of God and thus, perhaps at first in small ways, forsake Him Who has redeemed us. What might it mean for the modern believer who is otherwise chased in their behaviour to ask, “Have I ceased to watch for Him?”
 
11 Zenut Prostitution, veyayin and wine, vetiyrish and new wine yikach-leiv take away the heart (inner being, core being). 12 Amiy My people be’eitzo yishal seek counsel from their wooden idol, umaklo and their magic wand yagid speaks to them;
Kiy For ruach a spirit zenuniym of prostitutions hit’ah has caused them to err, stagger, wander, go astray, vayiznu and they prostitute themselves, mitachat coming out from under Eloheiyhem their God.
 
11  Prostitution,  and wine, and new wine take away the heart (inner being, core being).
12  My people  seek counsel from their wooden idol, and their magic wand speaks to them; for a spirit of prostitutions has caused them to err, stagger, wander, go astray, and they prostitute themselves,  coming out from under their God.
 
"there shall not be found among you any that use divination" -Deuteronomy 18:10
 
a.     Prostitution and excessive alcohol are vehicles for the destruction of the inner being of a person. Sexual immorality being a sin that one sins against one’s self (1 Cor. 6:18), and drunkenness (stoned, high etc. Eph. 5:18) causing one to become out of control and therefore lacking self-control, which gives way sins a sober mind is able to withstand. Inevitably intoxication leads a person into a spiral of self-destructive behaviour.
b.     Demonic spirits are involved in the tempting of the people but it is people who are responsible for giving in to temptation. Israel have chosen to come out from under the covering of God their Husband.
 
The NASB translation “understanding” in place of “heart” albeit possibly a choice which follows the Septuagint, is nonetheless extremely poor. “Understanding” in a Greco-Roman or modern English sense is an insufficient representation of what is meant. Mental acuity is not what’s being spoken of here, but the complete breakdown of the core person.
 
The heart of the people is taken away by the false comfort of material things. The wine in this context is from the abundance of the previous harvest and the new wine reflects the belief that Ba’al the Canaanite deity of fertility is at work.
 
Verse 12 describes the occult practices of the northern tribes and reveals that through their intentional and repeated sin choices they have given access to a demonic spirit of prostitution because they have come out (of their own free will) from under the covering of their Husband HaShem and have made themselves fair game for the powers of darkness. The modern “Church” is in no position to pass judgement. We are guilty of the same. We have allowed access to the demonic through perpetual sin practices, small compromises that when proliferated open wide the gates of destruction.
 
“14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. 15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it has run its course, brings forth death.” -Yaakov (James) 1:14-15 NASB

13 Al Upon rasheiy the summits of hehariym mountains yezabechu they slaughter/kill (offer sacrifices) ve’al and upon hagevaot the hills they yekateru burn incense, tachat under alon oaks, velivneh and poplars, ve’eilah and terebinth, kiy because tov tzilah their shade is good. Al-kein Therefore tizneynah benoteiychem your daughters practice prostitution, vechaloteiychem And your brides/daughter’s in law tena’afnah commit adultery.
 
13  Upon the summits of mountains they slaughter/kill (offer sacrifices) and upon the hills, they burn incense, under oaks, and poplars, and terebinth, because their shade is good. Therefore your daughters practice prostitution, And your brides/daughter’s in law commit adultery.
 
a.     Here the worship of false gods and the practice of divination are linked to prostitution and adultery. The repetitions affirm the prolific and deep seeded nature of the sin being practiced among the people.
 
It was not just certain woman but the majority of women who were practicing sexual immorality.

14 I will lo-efkod not punish benoteiychem your daughters kiy when they tizneiynah practice prostitution, or your kaloteiychem brides/daughters in law when they commit tena’afnah adultery, kiy because the men hem themselves hazonot yefareidu separate, divide (themselves) with the prostitutes, veim-hakedeishot and with shrine prostitutes yezabeichu slaughter/kill (offer sacrifices); ve’am lo-yaviyn and the people don’t understand yilaveit and are cast down, ruined.
 
14 I will not punish your daughters when they practice prostitution, or your brides/daughters in law when they commit adultery, because the men themselves separate, divide (themselves) with the prostitutes, and with shrine prostitutes slaughter/kill (offer sacrifices); and the people don’t understand and are cast down, ruined.
 
a.     Punishment or lack thereof is mitigated equitably. God does not hold the misplaced patriarchal view that men should be allowed to keep mistresses but women should be punished for having lovers. To the contrary, inevitably the fruit of sexual immorality and idolatry will be poison to both sexes.
b.     Sexual sin separates, which is the opposite of godly unity.
c.     Sexual sin is intrinsically connected to idolatry.
d.     Sexual sin and idolatry numb the consciousness and result in self destruction. Sexual sin itself being a form of self-harm (1 Cor. 6:18).
 
The punishment concerning “bitter waters” (Numbers 5:11-29) will not be enforced because the men are as guilty as the women.
 
“‘I will not punish your daughters’ anymore, to test them with the ‘bitter waters’ should they commit adultery. Why? Because their husbands join with harlots; for once the man is not free of sin, the waters do not test his wife.” [based on Sifrei Num. 5:82 and Sotah 47a] -Rashi
 
15 Im-zoneh With a prostitute atah Yisrael you Israel are al upon
Yesham Y’hudah (Judah, Praise) must not become an offender in HaGilgal The Gilgal (rolling wheel); ve’al-ta’alu And don’t go into to Beit Aven (Beth-aven, House of vanity, wickedness, sorrow, iniquity), ve’al-tishave’u and don’t take an oath saying, “Chay-YHVH (Mercy) Life is in YHVH alt. As the Lord lives!”
 
15  With a prostitute you Israel are upon
 Judah (Praise) must not become an offender in the Gilgal (rolling wheel);
And don’t go into to Beth-Aven (House of vanity, wickedness, sorrow, iniquity),
And don’t take an oath saying, “As the Lord lives!”
 
a.     Israel are in the midst of the act of idolatry (sexual immorality). That is, it has become a perpetual practice.
b.     Judah is warned not to do as the northern tribes are doing: “Don’t become offenders like them, don’t desecrate the righteous heritage of Samuel by participating in the idolatry practiced at Gilgal, don’t go to the house of vanity and wickedness, and don’t swear oaths as hypocrites who, while worshipping other gods, say ‘As YHVH lives!’” “for if they say, ‘As the Lord lives,’ they, nevertheless, swear falsely” (Jer. 5:2).
 
Giglal is the first site of the Israelite camp west of the Jordan and east of Jericho. It is where Samuel the prophet was judge and Saul was made king. It was also a main centre for Israel’s (the northern kingdom) idolatrous worship practices (Hosea 9:15; Amos 4:4).
 
“Beit-Aven” (House of vanity, wickedness, sorrow, iniquity) is a sarcastic way of referring to Bethel (House of God)[Talmud], and or a place very close to Bethel (Joshua 7:2), it was the other main centre of northern apostate worship. A place that has a strong connection to both the physical and spiritual journeys of the Patriarchs and in particularly to Jacob, who became Israel.

16 Kiy For kefarah like a cow soreiram that rebels, pulls away, slides back, is stubborn sarar with stubbornness, rebellion, pulling away, is Yisrael (Israel)[northern kingdom]
Atah (Ayin not Aleph) Now yireim YHVH (Mercy) will the Lord feed them kecheves like a lamb bamerchav in a large field?
 
16 For like a cow that rebels, with rebellion, is Israel (northern kingdom)
Now will the Lord feed them like a lamb in a large field?
 
a.     The rebellion of the northern kingdom is firmly established (rebels with rebellion). Therefore, the LORD cannot feed them because rather than being like a gentle, vulnerable lamb that is entirely reliant on the shepherd (and or its mother) for milk, Israel is like a hyper stubborn cow that will not receive food from the herdsman’s hand.
 
The figurative reference to God as Shepherd (herdsman) is well established in Scripture.

17 Chavur Joined, bound together, coupled atzabiym to idols is Efrayim (Doubly fruitful, Ephraim); hanach-lo rest him (leave him to it).
18 Sar Sour saveam is their liquor, fortified drink, strong drink,
Hazneh They prostitute themselves hiznu in the act of prostitution;
Ahavu heivu Loving to love kalon shame, disgrace, dishonour magineyah is her shield.
 
17 Coupled to idols is Ephraim; leave him to it.
18 Sour is their liquor,
They prostitute themselves in the act of prostitution;
Loving to love shame, is her shield.
 
a.     The quadruple ideas of coupling to idols, strengthened liquor, doubled prostitution, and loving to love a shame shield, are an horrific indictment against the wilful unrepentant nature of the northern kingdom. By extension, these are an horrific indictment against the modern body of believers, given that these same things are ratified and practiced prolifically throughout the modern “Church” under the guise of syncretism.
 
Ephraim is an alternative name for the northern kingdom (Israel). This is because Jeroboam (1 Kings 11:26) the northern kingdom’s first king and founder was from Ephraim.

19 Tzarar Bind her ruach otah with a miraculous sign of wind, spirit, breath bichnafeyah that wraps them in her wings, ve’yeivoshu And they will be ashamed mizivchotam because of their sacrifices.
 
19 Bind her with a miraculous sign of wind that wraps them in her wings,
And they will be ashamed because of their sacrifices.
 
The traditional Jewish and Christian scholarship interpretations of this verse see the wind as likened to the sifting of wheat on a threshing floor. That wind being the invading Assyrian Empire and the resulting shame brought upon Israel as she’s dragged into exile. However, the Hebrew text indicates something quite different and in a plain sense presents the wind as a redemptive sign which convicts unto godly sorrow rather than a punishing wind that forces shame upon the people.
 
I have researched this extensively and find that my interpretation is unique. However, as I read the Hebrew text I find it difficult to conclude otherwise (it is of course quite possible that I’ve misunderstood what is meant, given that so many others have concluded a contrary interpretation).
 
“Bind her” is reminiscent of the binding of Torah and of tefillin in order to remember and act righteously. This is a binding that produces freedom.
 
“With a miraculous sin of spirit that wraps them in her wings” How could this refer to the threshing floor or to a destructive wind, except by way of refining. The wind “wraps them” it does not agitate them or thresh them.
 
“And they will be ashamed because of their sacrifices” This is a godly repentant response to a manifest garment of God’s Spirit. The sacrifices are the defiled, syncretised and idolatrous sacrifices of the northern kingdom. As a result of the coming of this miraculous sign of “Ruach” (Spirit, Wind, Breath) Israel becomes ashamed, seeing the wickedness of her idolatry for what it really is.
 
To follow this rhythm of redemptive hope after stern rebuke fits the pattern of Hosea and indeed of Isaiah and numerous other prophetic voices of the Tanakh.
 

1. The Comforter, Who is called the Ruach Ha Kodesh (Holy Spirit), the Spirit of the Father and of the Son (Galatians 4:6; 1 Peter 1:10-12), is given as a miraculous sign of God to enwrap Israel and bring her into a godly state of sorrow. This Breath, Spirit, Wind says “While we were yet sinners Messiah died for us (Romans 5:8)”. Therefore, the coming of the Spirit births godly shame which leads to repentance/reconciliation.

 
“Put to shame” is a poor translation that infers shame forced upon them. This is not what the Hebrew is saying. It literally reads “and they will be ashamed”. This is a response born of sober self-reflection and not one forced upon them. It is to be a genuine form of shame leading to repentance and not forced shame leading to a return to shame. Artificial shame is a satanic separation, whereas godly shame (sorrow over a sin act) leads to reconciliation.
 
“For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance [a]without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.” -2 Corinthians 7:10 NASB
 
Copyright 2021 Yaakov Brown

Scroll of the Twelve Prophets:
 
The book of Hosea is the first of twelve books collected into a single scroll some time prior to the second century BCE (ref. Dead Sea Scrolls 4QXII; Sirach [Ecclesiasticus] 49:10). The orthodox Jewish order of the books within the scroll of the twelve prophets is: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah (from the period of Assyrian empire), Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (from during the decline of the Assyrian empire), Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi (dating from the post exilic era).
 
Given what we know from extra-Biblical textual sources, it is likely that the twelve prophets were combined into one scroll within a century of the completion of the book of Malachi. Thus, the scroll of the twelve prophets has taken its place alongside the other canonical Jewish prophetic books of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel (Daniel is considered part of the Ketuvim [poetry books] in the Jewish canon [TaNaKH].
 
Author and Dating of the book of Hosea:
 
Regardless of the specific date of writing (be it by a scribe or by Hosea himself), Hosea prophesied sometime in the mid eighth century BCE. His ministry began in tandem with that of Amos, who threatened God’s judgement at the hands of an unnamed foreign power which Hosea identifies as Assyria (7:11; 8:9; 10:6; 11:11).
 
Given the kings mentioned in Hosea 1:1, Hosea would have ministered for approximately 60 years. The Talmud calls Hosea the greatest prophet of his generation (Pesachim 87a), a bold claim given that Isaiah was one of his contemporaries. Hosea is unique in that he is the only one of the writing prophets to come from the northern kingdom (10 tribes/Israel). His prophecy is addressed to the northern kingdom. However, his work references the kings of Judah as a means of dating and is therefore, most likely to have been written in the territory of Judah following the fall of the northern capital, Shomron (Samaria) (722-721 BCE) [1:7, 11; 4:15; 5:5, 10, 13; 6:4, 11; 10:11; 11:12; 12:2]. This means that Hosea’s warnings to the northern kingdom were also intended as a warning to Judah. While Judah continued to dwell in the land under the repentant king Hezekiah, the southern kingdom was eventually taken into captivity by the Babylonian empire in 586 BCE (136 years after the demise of the northern kingdom) through a succession of invasions and as a result of political intrigue. This exile, while leaving a remnant of Judah in the land, nonetheless (generally speaking) meant the fullness of the exile of the entire nation (12 tribes) and was a judgement decreed by God of seventy years (Jeremiah 29:10) which ended in 516 BCE (there are varied scholarship estimations of the dating of the Babylonian exile).
 
Context:
 
Hosea lived in the final days of the northern kingdom, during which six kings reigned within a 25 year period (2 Kings 15:8-17:41). These kings are said to have been given by God “in anger” and taken away “in wrath” (13:11). The Assyrian empire was expanding to the west and Menachem king of Israel submitted the northern kingdom to the Assyrian empire, and paid tribute (2 Kings 15:19-20). Shortly afterward in 733 BCE Assyria dismembered the northern kingdom following the murder of Pekahiah, Menachem’s son by Pekah. Leaving only the territories of Ephraim and Manasseh. Then, due to the disloyalty of Pekah’s successor Hoshea (the king), Shomron (Samaria) was captured and its people exiled from 722 - 721 BCE. This was the end of the northern kingdom, but it was not the end of Israel.
 
Message:
 
Like the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, Hosea’s ministry proclaims a message of judgement and redemption pretexted by the holiness and love of God. The rhythm of the book is consistent with the redemptive meta-narrative of the Bible as a whole. Hosea’s book is essentially a Gospel (Good News) message. One that calls out the evil deeds of those to whom the offer of redemption is given. Like the Gospel, the book of Hosea recognizes the need for labeling and rebuking sinful behavior and exposing its consequences in order to inspire its hearers to return to God and receive His redemptive sacrificial love.
 
Throughout the book loving discipline is followed by the offer of unmerited favor, grace, mercy, and a return to right relationship. Hosea, like all God’s prophets, demands that the wicked acknowledge and repent of their sinful lifestyles and return to God. This too is the message of the Gospel. All are offered forgiveness but only the repentant receive it. Those who present God as love but fail to convey the message of repentance, turning away from evil, are enablers of the wicked. A Gospel devoid of rebuke is a false Gospel, nothing more than a vehicle carrying souls to torment. Like Hosea we are tasked with a message that exposes wickedness and requires repentance in order to receive redemption through the sacrificial love of God.
 
The first three chapters tell of Hosea’s family life, an historical account that also acts as an allegory for God’s relationship with Israel. Chapter 3 is likely a sequel to Chapter 1, making chapter 2 the observation of the actions of the wayward woman Gomer. Chapters 4 through 14 detail the idolatrous practices of Israel and her adoption of Canaanite deities. Hosea calls Israel to return to HaShem (YHVH). Hosea observes that it is Israel’s failure to acknowledge God which is at the root of her suffering and spiritual darkness (4:6; 13:4). God’s relationship with Israel is one of immutable love (2:19), likened to that of husband and wife, and later compared to the relationship between Father and child (11:1-4). Israel’s disloyalty toward God is likened to the behavior of a promiscuous woman and is a metaphor for idolatrous worship (4:13-14; 5:4; 9:1). Hosea details Israel’s worship of the Baalim (masters/husband gods) of the Canaanites and their sacrificing at high places used for the worship of false gods. Israel had also been worshipping the calf deity at Shomron (Samaria) [8:5; 10:5-6; 13:2], a return to the sin at Sinai (Exodus 32).
 
Ultimately the message of Hosea is one of God’s love for Israel and based on His character, a story relating His inability to utterly forsake her even when He has cause.
 
“I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for My anger has turned away from them.” -Hosea 14:4 (NIV)
 
Hosea in Jewish liturgy:
 
It is interesting to note that Hosea plays a special role in orthodox Jewish liturgy. Hosea 14:2-10 is read in the afternoon service of Tish’ah b’av (the ninth day of the month of Av [coincides with July and/or August], and is the major day of communal mourning in the Jewish calendar. Although a large number of disasters are said to have befallen the Jews on this day, the major commemoration is of the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E. and 70 C.E., respectively. Central to the observance of this day is fasting) by Sephardi and Yemenite communities. On Shabbat Shuvah (Sabbath of turning/returning) between Rosh HaShanah (New Year a.k.a Yom Teruah [Day of soundings]) and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), Hosea 2:1-22 is read as haftarah (completion of the Torah) for the parashah B’midbar (Num. 1:1-4:20). Additionally, Hosea 2:21-22 (19-20) is prayed while binding Tefillin shel Yad (Prayer box of the hand) to the wedding finger (fingers) on the left hand.
 
“I will betroth you to me in perpetuity;
    I will betroth you in righteousness and justice,
    in immutable love and compassion.
 I will betroth you in fidelity,
    and you will acknowledge YHVH.” -Hosea 2:21-22 (19-20)
 
Hosea Transported in to Today’s Context:
 
Some things worth considering…
 
In the midst of today’s immoral world, and given the fact that even in ancient Israel during her days of immorality there were still a remnant community who were faithful to God, what would it be like for a righteous man who has been asked by God to marry a promiscuous woman for the purpose of revealing the love of God? Then to be instructed not to divorce her (though he had cause), and further to take her back and remain faithful to her in spite of her unrepentant nature.
 
How would such a man be viewed by the righteous remnant community of today’s world?
 
Consider the difficulties faced by such an individual as a result of his obedience and devotion toward HaShem (YHVH). Some among his righteous pairs in ancient Israel may well have challenged Hosea’s choices with sound Biblical reasoning. Others among the immoral majority may have used Hosea’s choice to marry the wayward woman as an excuse to take on promiscuous partners and even become promiscuous themselves. How we view and apply the lessons of Hosea to our lives today will directly influence our walk before HaShem, for better or worse.
 
Remember that for all intents and purposes Hosea was marrying a woman of his own ethnic religious faith community and was therefore not becoming unequally yoked (according to Torah). The indictment issued by this prophetic work is not against Hosea but against the hypocrisy of Gomer (Israel). Many righteous people among the faith community of today marry fellow believers in good conscience only to discover that a true heart change within that person has yet to occur.
 
Hosea’s calling should not be considered an excuse for believers as a whole to marry promiscuous people (of the same faith). However, nor does it negate the very real principle that teaches a salvation offered to all, including those who seem least likely or able to receive it. In truth, even the most hardened sinner can be redeemed through Yeshua our King Messiah. A lifestyle of sin can be incinerated by the blood of our King, and a new creation made from the ashes. It is important to recognize that new actions are the evidence of a person made new in Messiah.
 
The Text
 
Hosea Chapter 1:1-2:2 (1:1-11)
 
1 1 A Word, Essence, Substance (Devar) of the Lord (YHVH: Mercy) which happened (hayah) to, through Hosheia (Salvation) the son of Be’eiriy (My well/spring) , during the days of UziYah (My might is YHVH), Yotam (YHVH is perfect, complete), Achaz (grasp, seize), and YechizkiYah (Hezekiah: My strength has been YHVH), kings of Y’hudah (praised), and during the days of Yarav’am (Jeroboam: quarrelling people) the son of Yoash (YHVH fire), king of Israel (Yisra: overcome, El: in God).
 
In the Hebrew text the opening phrasing reveals the Word of God as the substance of God’s mind present and happening to and through Hosea, whose name is salvation. The beauty here is that the Word (Ha-Davar [John 1:1]), Who is Salvation Himself, the King Messiah, is manifest in substance upon the tongue of Salvation (Hosea). This book of prophecy begins and reaches its goal with Salvation, the son of Mayiym Chayiym (living waters), Be’eiriy “My wellspring”.
 
The Word, Essence, Substance of God doesn’t just come to Hosea, He (the Word) happens in Hosea.
 
HaShem, Who is the source of Israel’s living waters has been forsaken by the majority of Israel’s people. Therefore, out of love for Israel He has sent yet another prophet to draw their attention to their spiritual dehydration which has resulted from their rejection of Him.
 
“For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.” -Jeremiah 2:13
 
“With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” -Isaiah 12:3
 
“On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.” -Zechariah 13:1
 
Yeshua answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” -John 4:10
 
“On the last day of the feast, the great day, Yeshua stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Yeshua was not yet glorified.” -John 7:37-39
 
The kings of Judah and the king of Israel who collectively spanned the ministry of Hosea are listed as they are for a number of reasons. By listing them this way the scribe gives us an approximation of the length of Hosea’s prophetic ministry and the historical period in which the prophet lived God’s Word in the presence of the people of Israel and Judah. As previously stated Hosea ministered for approximately 60 years in the mid eighteenth century BCE. We know this because the reigns of the kings listed begin in 793 BCE and span to 686 BCE, making it possible for Hosea to have lived to be over 100 years old. It is likely that Hosea began his ministry around the age of 25 years. Hosea was a contemporary of Isaiah, Amos and Micah. Therefore, it’s good to be aware of the messages of these three prophets when considering the message of Hosea.
 
We note that the kings of Judah are listed first and with some detail, while the king of Israel is listed last. The prophet clearly intends that the people of Judah take the demise of the northern kingdom seriously and repent of their own wickedness and unfaithfulness toward God. The destruction of the northern kingdom was inevitable at this point in time and acted as a dire warning to Judah, lest she too fall at the hands of a foreign power (Babylon 586 BCE).
 
Jeroboam II died during the reign of Uzziah (2 Kings 15:8). Therefore, from the Israelite perspective the book is understood from the last period of the northern kingdom’s waning strength. Whereas from the perspective of Judah, according to the listing of the kings of Judah, the book finds its context in the slightly earlier period where Israel first began to move from a position of political strength into one of political demise. Each perspective is relevant and the Hebrew text clearly intends to make the words of the prophet poignant for both Israel (northern kingdom) and Judah.
 
Additionally, the names of the kings have prophetic significance past, present, future, and when reading the text according to the meaning of the names one sees the redemptive purposes of God conveyed.
 
NB: In order to help non Hebrew readers understand the depth of meaning within the Hebrew text the following is an allegorical [drash (comparative), remez (hint) & sod (mystery)] reading, utilizing the Hebrew meanings of words and names:
 
A Word essence of Mercy happened through Salvation the son of My well-spring, during the days of my might is Mercy, Mercy is perfectly complete, grasping, my strength has been Mercy, kings of praise during the days of a quarrelling people, the son of Mercy’s fire, king of those who overcome in God. (Authors Paraphrase)
 
The allegorical reading presents a message of fire (judgement, purification) and Salvation (overcoming in God). Therefore, the literal, literary and allegorical interpretations are convergent. This is an excellent example of how one should utilize the rabbinic method of interpretation PaRDeS (P’shat [Plain meaning], Remez [hint], Drash [comparative], Sod [mystery]). All the components of PaRDeS that proceed from the P’shat (plain meaning) must submit to the plain meaning, which is precisely what occurs here when each sub-method of interpretation is applied to the text.
 
2 Beginning (Techilat) a Word, Essence, Substance (Diber) of the Lord (YHVH: Mercy) in Hosheia (be’Hosheia), and said (vayomer) the Lord (YHVH: Mercy) to (el) Hosheia (Salvation), “Go (leich), take (kach) to yourself (lecha) a woman (eishet) of promiscuities, fornications (zenuniym), and children (veyaldeiy) of promiscuities, fornications (zenuniym); for (kiy) a whore, fornicator, promiscuous woman (zanoh) of whoredom (tizneh) is the land (Ha-Aretz: Israel), from ceasing to follow after (mei’achareiy) the Lord (YHVH: Mercy).”
 
The command to marry (legitimize) a promiscuous woman presents Hosea with an opportunity to empathize with the grief of God regarding His promiscuous wife Israel. Hosea’s marriage to the promiscuous woman is not mere allegory as some suggest. The false choice between allegory and practical reality is unnecessary (Rashi & Abravanel say that this is literal [Pes. 87a], whereas Ibn Ezra, Radak & Maimonides claim that it is a prophetic vision, this is supported by the Targum). Hosea literally marries a promiscuous woman and this reality acts as a vehicle for allegory reflecting God’s relationship to wayward Israel. This verse sets the stage for the remainder of the book.
 
“Techilat” is not a new beginning, as in the case of “Bereishit”, but a beginning that takes place mid journey. The Word begins in Hosea in the midst of a faltering people who having begun in God have now stepped off the path and gone after other gods. Therefore, God sends His messenger to call Israel to return to right relationship with Himself.
 
The imagery of the marriage between God and Israel is also seen in the works of Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
 
In Biblical Hebrew narrative the repetition of something denotes that it is firmly established. In this verse the Hebrew root “zanah” (fornicator, harlot, whore) is employed four times, emphasising the fact that the idolatry of Israel has exceeded even the most debauched practices of the godless. This is a tragic indictment. One that could well be levelled at the community of believers today.
 
Hosea is instructed to take not only a promiscuous wife but also the children who are the fruit of her promiscuity. In light of the figurative application regarding God and Israel it is important to understand and sympathise with Hosea’s appointed task and the spiritual, emotional and practical turmoil that he must certainly have experienced. He is choosing to marry (legitimize) an unrepentant fornicator and to welcome her unrepentant children, who have grown in the knowledge of sexual sin (idolatry) as seed of that same sexual sin. We see this generational sin at work in the modern world. The reality of generational sexual sin is palpable. In fact, our movie and tv screens advocate for it. This present reality reflects the idolatrous spiritual condition of today’s secular world, but more poignantly, it reflects the present syncretised condition of the body of believers. After all, the message of Hosea is to the people of God (Israel), those who claimed to have overcome in God but were in fact hypocrites, idolaters, fornicators. This was no foreign harlot Hosea was marrying, but an Israelite woman. Sadly the modern body of believers is in no position to say “Thank God we are not like the whoring nation of Israel during the time of Hosea!” To the contrary, we are. Many claim to be followers of Messiah while practicing sexual sin, superstition, idolatry, debauchery, and the list goes on. Therefore, we to must repent or suffer the discipline of God.
 
The land of Israel is intrinsically linked to the people and the condition of the land is therefore affected by the behaviour of the people. Therefore, when God speaks through the prophet saying that the land of Israel is full of fornication (idolatry) and the fruit thereof, He is speaking of both physical and spiritual consequences. The disease of the spirit is reflected in the sexual diseases and the death that results from them. The people are weakened by their sin and are unable to resist their enemies, as a result of the physical condition of the people the land is unfruitful and unable to provide nutrition for the people, and so the cycle of sin and death are perpetuated. All this is happening among a people who have been afforded the instruction of God and the living waters that flow from Him.
 
So how has all this come about? The text is clear, it is the result of a people “ceasing to follow after the Lord”.
 
Why is the body of believers in such disarray today? Are we not guilty of this same cycle of perdition. If so, how have we arrived here? The same way Israel did, by turning away from devotion to God. We have made our religious practice just another app on our home screens, and we wonder why the world is turning to custard.
 
Rav Shaul (Paul) illuminates the abhorrent reality of Hosea’s experience when he writes to the early believers at Corinth:
 
“Don’t you realize that your bodies are actually members of Messiah? Should a man take his body, which is part of Messiah, and join it to a prostitute? Never!” -1 Corinthians 6:15
 
To say that God’s instruction to Hosea contradicts His Word is a lie. While it was forbidden for a priest to take a promiscuous woman as a wife, it was not a sin for a prophet to take a once promiscuous woman to wife. It was in fact an opportunity for that woman to be redeemed through the sacred unity of godly marriage. However, any subsequent act of adultery by that same woman was punishable by death. Hosea’s long suffering was to reflect the fact that in spite of Israel’s continued adulteries (idolatries) God had shown patience and great mercy toward her.
 
Allegorical Reading continued:
 
When a Word essence of Mercy in Salvation began to speak through Salvation, He said “Go, take to yourself a woman of promiscuous lifestyle and the children who are the fruit of her promiscuity, for the land of Israel is like a whore of whoring because they stopped following after Mercy. (Authors Paraphrase)
 
3 So he (Hosea: Salvation) went and took the certain, specific, definite (et) Gomer (complete, perfect, end, goal) the daughter (bat) of Divlayim (multiple pressed figs), and she conceived and bore him (lo) a son (ben).
 
It is worth noting that Gomer means “perfect, goal etc.” and that we can understand this to convey the idea that Salvation (Hosea, a figure for Messiah) sees the yet to be redeemed Israel (Gomer) as perfect outside of time and space, in the sense that he knows she will eventually repent through discipline and receive the atoning work of God. This reflects the meta-narrative of God’s redemptive purpose which finds its ultimate fullness in the redemptive work of Messiah Yeshua’s substitutionary sacrifice and the eternal covering blood of God.
 
We also note that Gomer is the daughter of sweet and abundant provision. The fig is the fruit of the tree which symbolises the seat of Israel’s teachers and commentators. This means that Gomer (Israel) is without excuse because she has been brought up in the ways of God’s Torah instruction and in the fruitfulness of godly life but has chosen to reject good instruction and turn aside to other gods.
 
The Hebrew “lo (him)” referring to Hosea is omitted in verses 6 and 9, making it more than likely that the two subsequent children were the progeny of adulterous relationships with other Israelite men, relationships entered into by Gomer while she was married to Hosea.
 
Allegorical Reading continued:
 
Salvation went and took a chosen woman Whom He saw perfect, in spite of her sinful lifestyle, she was the daughter of the abundant sweet fruit of the land, and she conceived and bore him a son. (Authors Paraphrase)
 
4 And the Lord (YHVH: Mercy) said to him (Hosea: Salvation), “Name him Yizre’el (sown by God); for in a little while I will visit, reckon, punish, care for (ufakadtiy) the (et) shed blood (demeiy) of Yizre’el (sown by God) upon (al) the house (beit) of Yeihu (YHVH is He), and I will cause to cease (vehishbatiy) the kingdom (mamlechut) of the house (beit) of Israel (the northern kingdom, Yisra: overcome, El: God). 5 And it will happen (v’hayah) in that day (be’yom) of the him (hahu) that I will break into pieces (veshavartiy) the (et) bow, (keshet) of Israel (Yisra: overcome, El: God) in the Valley (be’eimek) of Yizre’el (sown by God).”
 
The literal historical outworking of this prophecy sees the just punishing of Yeihu for the blood his house shed and the demise of the northern kingdom at the hand of the Assyrian Empire. Subsequently (136 years later) Judah also went into exile, however a remnant of Judah remained in Judea throughout the Babylonian exile. The allusion to the valley of Yizre’el (a plain in central Israel and a city on its perimeter [Joshua 17:16]) likely refers to the events described in 1 Kings 21:1-24; 2 Kings 9:21-35 (The demise of Jezebel [Baal exalts]).
 
In addition to the literal historic fulfilment of the prophecy there are the far reaching Messianic implications and the seeding of Messiah into time and space followed by the dispersion and return of Israel (the Jewish people) and the coming of God’s kingdom.
 
The name Yizre’el means “Seeded by God” and conveys both judgement and redemption. Seed is scattered and so the tribes of the north will be scattered in judgement against their idolatry. In addition a son seeded by God will bring both retribution and redemption to Israel as a whole (born of Judah), making the seeding a means of salvation.
 
This, Hosea’s firstborn son to Gomer is according to the previous verse “his” (Hosea’s) son, that is, of his seed. It is important to recognise that the name of this son denotes direct connection to God in a figurative sense and that this one seeded by God (Yizre’el) is a figure for justice and restoration. This son is a figure for One yet future (at the time of Hosea’s prophecy) seeded by God through the Jewish people, Who will put an end to apostate faith and break Israel into pieces, eventually sending all Israel into exile and then returning all the tribes of Israel to Judea where Israel in her entirety now known as Y’hudiym (Jews) will be reconciled to God through Him. This is why a distinction is made later in Hosea’s prophecy between the northern kingdom (Israel) and Y’hudah (Judah). Messiah will be seeded in Judah in the line of David.
 
We note that an end is to be put to the northern kingdom (Israel) but not to Israel/Jacob/Judah as a whole. This is of the utmost importance given the misuse of this text by the satanic “Continuationist” (Supersessionist, Replacement etc.) ideology of many modern Christian scholars and practitioners.
 
As alluded to in my commentary of the previous verse, there is no indication that the subsequent two children (v.6, v.9) were of Hosea’s seed, possibly denoting their illegitimacy.
 
“In that day” is an ambiguous phrase referring to the day, days, time period of God’s work of redemption and judgement through the One seeded by YHVH (Yizre’el), who is a figure for the King Messiah Yeshua, the only human being born of a woman to be directly seeded of God (Yizre’el).
 
Allegorical Reading continued:
 
And Mercy said to Salvation, “Name your son ‘Sown by the Judge’”; for in a little while I will require blood for the shed blood of he who I have sown from the house of the one who pretends that I AM his God, and I will put an end to the hypocritical kingdom of the house of those who claim to overcome in Me but do not. And it will come to pass that in the day of Him (Messiah) I will break into pieces the strength of those who claim to overcome in Me but do not, in the valley of the One Whom I have sown. (Authors Paraphrase)
 
6 Then she (Gomer) conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. And He (YHVH) said to him (Hosea), “Call, declare (kera) her name (shemah) Lo-ruchamah (no mercy, love, compassion, tenderness), for I will no longer have mercy (arachem) on the house of Israel (Yisra: overcome, El: God), nor (kiy) will I lift them up, carry them (naso), take them away (esa).
 
As mentioned previously Gomer conceived again but it is not said that she conceived by “him” Hosea. It is possible that lo-ruchamah was the daughter of another man (another Israelite).
 
We note that while the firstborn son was “named” the daughter and the subsequent son are “Declared by name”. In other words, the firstborn son is named without proclamation, whereas the children of judgement are declared as a warning to all who have ears to hear. This reflects the nature of Messiah’s (Yizre’el) first earthly ministry and the present declaration that warns our people in order to redeem all Israel (ethnic, religious, chosen) through Yeshua upon His return (Rom. 11:25-27).
 
“I will no longer have mercy” is directed toward the apostate among Israel. We must remember that in every generation Israel and Judah had a faithful remnant who served God, or else where did the prophets come from?
 
“Nor will I lift them up” is a statement of deep love and beautiful saving irony. God will give of Himself, not lifting up Israel but lifting up His Son the King Messiah Who is of her, seeded by Him, making the King Messiah (Yizre’el, Yeshua) to become accursed and hanging on a tree for the sake of Israel’s sins. Therefore, “He Who was without sin became a sin offering for us” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
 
Allegorical Reading continued:
 
Then the one perfect in Salvation conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Mercy instructed Salvation to call the daughter “No Mercy” for Mercy said “I will no longer have mercy on those who claim to overcome in Me but have instead rejected Me. Nor will I lift them up, or help them escape the fruit of their own wickedness.”  (Authors Paraphrase)
 
7 And on the (ve’et) house (beit) of Y’hudah (praised) I will have mercy (arachem) and save (ve’hoshatiym) them in the Lord (Ba’YHVH: Mercy) the Judge (Elohim: God), and will not save them (oshiyeim) by bow, (be’keshet) or sword (uvecherev), or battle (uvemilchamah), by horses (be’sosiym), or horsemen (uve’farashiym).”
 
This reference is first to the temporal salvation of Judah during the Assyrian Empire but does not negate the later exile of Judah due to her sin (Babylonian exile 586 BCE). It is also a prophetic allusion to the fact that salvation Himself (Yeshua, Yizre’el) will come through the line of David of the tribe of Judah. Therefore, “Not by might or by power but by My Spirit says the Lord Who goes warring.” (Zechariah 4:6)
 
Allegorical Reading continued:
 
“And upon the house of praise I will have mercy and save them in Mercy the Judge, and will not save them by the strength of temporal things.” (Authors Paraphrase)
 
8 When she (Gomer) had weaned Lo-ruchamah (no mercy, love, compassion, tenderness), she conceived and gave birth to a son. 9 And He (YHVH) said to him (Hosea), “Call, declare (kera) his name (shemo) Lo-amiy (not My people), because you are not My people, and I (ve’anochiy) have not existed (lo Ehyeh) to you (lachem).”
 
Once again this child is not attributed to the seed of Hosea and is likely the progeny of an adulterous relationship with another Israelite.
 
NB: “Ehyeh asher Eyeh” is “I AM that I AM”, “I Exist for I Exist”. Therefore, when the Hebrew text of Hosea records HaShem’s words as “lo Eyeh lachem” it translates literally as “I don’t exist to you” rather than the popular English mistranslation “I am not your God”.
 
YHVH has never ceased to be Israel’s God.
 
Allegorical Reading continued:
 
When the one perfect in Salvation had weaned no mercy, she conceived again and gave birth to a son. Mercy instructed Salvation to call the son “’Not my people’ because you are not My people, I don’t exist to you”.  (Authors Paraphrase)
 
I cannot emphasize enough the fact that God’s declaration “You are not My people” (Hosea 1:9) is not Him denying His people but an observation of their denial of Him. It is the inverse of the fact that the statement “He is our God” does not mean He belongs to us but that we belong to Him. The former is idolatry, the latter is, right relationship.
 
2:1 [1:10] And it will happen (ve’hayah) that the number (mispar)
of the children of Israel (beneiy Yisrael)
Will be like the sand (kechol) of the body of water (hayam),
Which cannot be measured (yimad) or counted, recorded (yisafeir);
And it will happen (ve’hayah) in the place (bimkum: the temple mount, hamakum)
Where it is said to them,
“Lo-amiy Not My people,”
It will be said to them,
“Beneiy El-Chay Children of the God of life.”
 
Almost as if in the same breath that issued the disappointment of God at the rejection shown Him by His people, He issues the promise born of His deep love for them.
 
In the first verse of the second chapter God immediately reverses the name and fate of His people Israel. Where He had said that He would put an end to her He now numbers her offspring as the sands of the waters. Where He had said “Not My people” He now says “Children of the God of Life!”
 
How is this possible? Through the seeded One (Yiz’re’el). Those who once chose to put an end to themselves through sin will repent and be numbered exponentially, and those who chose not to be called the people of God will repent and through the seeded One become Children of the God (Judge) of Life.
 
The God of Israel is God of Merciful Judgement. We know Him as Adonai (YHVH: Merciful) Elohim (Judge). His Mercy precedes His judgement. Put another way “Mercy triumphs over judgement”. (Yaakov [James] 2:13)
 
The rhythm of mercy, judgement, mercy fulfilled is the rhythm of all Scripture, the redemptive story of God and His creation.
 
In Israel’s sin we see our own sin and our desperate need to repent and be restored to right relationship with God. As Messiah followers we cannot afford to sit in judgement of Israel but must instead ask God to judge us and in sober self-examination, by His Spirit, allow Him to cleanse us of that which defiles Him in us (Imanu El) as our Groom, our Husband to be. We open ourselves to Him in the knowledge that “through one sacrifice Messiah has made perfect (Gomer) those who are being made holy (sanctification through discipline: Gomer in transition).” (Hebrews 10:14)
 
Allegorical Reading continued:
 
“And it will happen that the children of those who truly overcome in God will be as immeasurable as the sand of every body of water on earth. And it will happen that on the temple mount where I declared you ‘Not My people’ you will be declared ‘Children of the God of Life’”.  (Authors Paraphrase)

2:2 [1:11] And gathered (ve’nikbetzu) shall be the children (beneiy) of Y’hudah (praised) and the children (beneiy) of Israel (Yisra: overcome, El: God), they will be gathered together (yachdav), And they will appoint, ordain, permanently fix (vesamu) to themselves (lahem) a Head, First, Leader (Rosh) Who is One (Echad: a complex unity) and they will ascend (ve’alu) from the land (min-ha-aretz: Israel),
For (kiy) great (gadol) is the day (yom) of Yizre’el (the sowing of God).
 
Many of our modern commentators claim that this prophecy was never fulfilled, and in part they are right, but not in full. This prophecy began its fulfilment at the first coming of the King Messiah Yeshua (Whom, in the first century CE, tens of thousands of Jews/Israelis received and followed as the ordain Son of David and High Priest over all peoples), and will reach its fullness at the end of days when on His return we Jews (all the tribes of ethnic, religious, chosen Israel) will look upon the One Whom we have pierced and mourn in repentance, receiving Him as the means of our redemption and restoration to right relationship with El Elohay Yisrael (Zechariah 12:10; John 19:37).
 
“They will appoint to themselves a Head Who is One” means, “They will submit themselves to the authority of the Head Who is One”. “The Head Who is One” is God the Father and His King Messiah Imanu El (God with us) Yeshua, in the power of the unified Spirit of God. We need not make the false choice between this representing God or the King Messiah. God is One.
 
A local Chabad Rebbee says, “I’m okay with you believing Yeshua is the Messiah, but I am not okay with you believing Yeshua is a manifestation of God.” To which I respond, “If Yeshua is the Messiah, and we know that the Messiah will not lie concerning either Himself or the nature of God, then Yeshua is also God with us, for Yeshua says of Himself ‘I and the Father are Echad’, and when called ‘My Lord and My God’ by His disciple, Yeshua does not rebuke His disciple (T’oma) but says, ‘Because you have seen you have believed’. Therefore, if as you say, it is okay to believe that Yeshua is the Messiah, it is also okay to believe what Yeshua says of Himself. Thus, your statement both contradicts itself while also agreeing that Yeshua is Imanu (with us) El (God), according to the prophet Yishayahu (Isaiah)!”
 
“They will ascend from the land”. To date Israel has returned in part to our land physically speaking. However, because over 7 million Jews still live outside of the land of Israel it is not true to say that the prophecy in question has been fully filled as yet. Therefore, this is ultimately a reference to all the tribes of Israel ascending from their various allotments of land to celebrate HaShem in the later days at the redemption of our people through Yeshua our King Messiah. “Land” may also refer to the land of our exile [to sin] and correlate to Isaiah 11:16. Regardless, this speaks of the unity of our people in Messiah and the perpetual day called the Olam Haba (world to come) when God will manifestly dwell with us and us with Him forever. In one sense this day began before the creation of the world and again with the first coming of our King Messiah Yeshua.
 
See Ezekiel 37:15-28 for another prophecy regarding the reunification of Israel’s tribes under the reign of David (the Messiah) in the Olam Haba (world to come).
 
Allegorical Reading continued:
 
And the children of praise will be gathered and the children of those who truly overcome in God will also be gathered, the two gathered together in praise and overcoming, and they will appoint over, submit themselves to the Head Who is One, the King Messiah under God, and they will ascend from all parts of the land of Israel to go up to the LORD of Mercy, for great will be the day that brings to perfection all that the Judge of the Universe has seeded.  (Authors Paraphrase)
 
The first eleven verses of the book of Hosea reveal the whole of God’s redemptive purpose. These verses, which act as an overview to the remainder of the book, conclude with the goal. That being the appointment of the King Messiah and His rule over all Israel. This wonderful outcome made great through the seeding of Elohim (God and Judge).
 
The Mercy of God both precedes Judgement and is the result of it.
 
Copyright 2021 Yaakov Brown

Introduction:
 
The first half of this chapter concerned the clear redemptive messianic mandate of Yeshua and His unwillingness to abide the plans of fallen human beings. It continued with His faithful observance of the instruction to go up for the festival of Sukkot, and alludes to His public teaching in the Temple proper (an area Gentiles were excluded from) among His fellow Jews in the middle of the festival.
 
As I previously stated, a sound understanding of the festival of Sukkot (Lev. 23:33-43; Num. 29:12-39; Deut. 16:13-16) and its first century customs (some of which are described in the Mishnah and Talmud) is key to a correct interpretation of John 7:37-39 and 8:12. The festival of Sukkot is the backdrop for John chapters 7 and 8.
 
Sukkot begins 5 days after Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) on the 15th of Tishri (the Shabbat or seventh month of the Biblical lunar calendar). It is highly likely given Yeshua’s strict observance of the Torah, that He had gone up to Jerusalem for Yom Kippur and had returned to the Galilee for the 5 day interim period between Yom Kippur and Sukkot. He had every intention of going up for Sukkot, in His own timing (according to God’s timing).
 
Sukkot is the festival of the later harvest and is full of completions: seven days, seventy sacrificial bulls etc. It has a long standing connection to the nations, from the time of the giving of the Torah in the presence of seventy elders, to the time of the prophet Zechariyah, and in the Talmud of rabbinical Judaism, and beyond.
 
“16 Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths.17 And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the 
 
Concerning the seventy bulls required by Numbers 29:12-34, which were to be sacrificed over the seven days of the festival of Sukkot, the Talmud Bavliy says:
 
“Rabbi El’azar said, ‘To what do these seventy bulls correspond? To the seventy nations…” (Sukkah 55b)
 
Based on the many correlations between the number seventy and the nations in the Torah, rabbinic tradition teaches that seventy is a number for the nations and that the seventy bulls sacrificed during Sukkot are meant as an atonement for the nations.
 
Jewish Tradition and Practice During First Century CE Sukkot Celebrations at the Temple in Jerusalem:
 
In addition to the continued Torah instructed practice of dwelling, sleeping, eating and drinking, in temporary shelters, first century Jews practiced various other rites during Sukkot in Jerusalem each year.
 
The waving of the four species or Lulav (still practiced today) made up of branches of palm tree, myrtle, and willow, bound up together in a bundle (Lev.23:40). These were carried in the right hand, with an etrog (citron native to Israel) in the left. The lulav is waved three times first toward the east, then south, east, north, toward the heavens and then toward the lower regions and brought back to rest over the heart of the worshipper. This signifies that God is Creator and sustains of all things.
 
In the first century the priests walked around the altar once for each of the first six days of Sukkot, with the lulav in their hands, saying the words "Hoshana Save now, I plead to You, O Lord, O Lord I plead to You, send now prosperity" (Psalm 118:25): and on the seventh day, they went around the altar seven times (Mishnah. ib. c. 4. sect. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Maimon. Hilch. Lulab, c. 7. sect. 5, 6, 9, 23).
 
There were great Menorah-like four branched candles stands in the Temple precinct. At sundown on the first day of the feast, they went down to the court of the women where golden candlesticks had been erected, and at the head of them four golden basins, and four ladders to every candlestick, and four young priests had four pitchers of oil, that held a hundred and twenty logs (an ancient measure of oil), which they put into each basin. Wicks were made from the old breeches and girdles of the priests, and it was these oil soaked wicks that the priests would light. There was not a court in Jerusalem which was not lit up with that light, and religious men, and men of good works, danced before them, with lighted torches in their hands, singing songs and hymns of praise, which continued for the following six nights (Mishnah. Succah, c. 5. sect 2, 3, 4; Maimon. ib. c. 8. sect. 12.).
 
On every day of the festival water was drawn from the pool of Siloach (sent) [Situated approximately 2km south of the Temple Mount], and was poured along with wine at the base of the altar as a libation offering. This was celebrated with great rejoicing (simchateinu). During the illumination in the court of the women, many instruments were employed such as harps, psalteries, cymbals, and two priests with trumpets, who sounded them when they were given the signal, and on every day, as they brought water from the pool of Siloach to the altar, they sounded with trumpets, and shouted; the great "Hallel" (Psalms 136), was sung all the eight days (Mishnah. ib. c. 4. sect. 8, 9. & c. 5. 1, 4, 5. & Eracin, c. 2. sect. 3). The whole festival was one of great rejoicing, according to Leviticus 23:40. 
 
With all this and more in mind, and ultimately, guided by the Ruach Ha-Kodesh Who imparts the teaching of Yeshua to all believers, we attempt to humbly, and contextually understand the text that follows.
 
25 So some of the people of Yerushalayim[H] (Jerusalem: Downpour of Peace) were saying, “Is this not the one whom they’re seeking to kill?
 
“Is this not the one whom they’re seeking to kill?” This is a reference to those religious leaders among the Judean sect that were moved to hatred by Yeshua’s making whole of the man at Beit Chasda (House of Kindness and practical love). As mentioned previously, John 5:18 says “they sought to kill Him…”
 
The fact that “some of the people of Jerusalem” (Jews who had made aliyah for the festival of Sukkot) use the determiner “they” to refer to the small group of leaders who wanted to kill Yeshua, shows a social distancing between the speakers and the group who hated Yeshua. To say “they” is to exclude self and or, the collective “we”.
 
26 See, behold, pay attention (eido[G], Hinei[H]), He is speaking unreservedly, frankly, without ambiguity (parrhesia[G], doveir[H]), publicly, among the masses (barabiym[H]), and they’re not saying anything to Him. 
 
The same “they” of the previous verse have been witnessed by the crowd watching Yeshua and listening to His teaching without making a move to prevent Him or interrupt Him, even though He is doing all this publicly and with dynamic, articulate, awe inspiring success.
 
The rulers, leaders, magistrates, heads (archon[G], rasheiynu[H]) haven’t truly concluded, come to the knowledge, come to have faith, trust (ginosko[G], um’nam[H]), because (kiy[H]) in truth (be’emet[H]) this one (zeh[H]) He (Hu[H]) is the Messiah (ho Christos[G], ha-Mashiyach[H]), have they?
 
“The rulers, leaders, magistrates, heads” Refers to the Spiritual leaders, certain adjudicators of Torah and early rabbinic Halakhah, and possibly to some of the leaders of various smaller synagogues from throughout the region who practiced a pharisaic form of Judean Jewish faith. It does not refer to the Pharisees or Priests who are named separately in verse 32.
 
“haven’t truly concluded, come to the knowledge, come to have faith, trust… have they?” This statement reads as either incredulity or sarcasm, possibly even as a rhetorical question. It is certainly not a genuine attempt to discern the thinking or faith of the religious Jewish leaders.
 
The Greek “ginosko”[G] which alludes to mental assent or knowledge gleaned from persuasion, is equivalent but not the same as the more holistic Hebrew concept of emunah[H], faith, trust, knowledge of the inner being. The Greek concept of consciousness requires the seat of consciousness to reside in the brain/mind, the Hebrew idea of consciousness does not, rather, for the Hebrew the seat of consciousness is at the centre of being where the mind, emotion, soul, spirit, intellect, action etc. converge. Thus the Hebrew concept of consciousness allows for a continued conscious state following the physical death of the brain, and finds a greater continuity with the meta-narrative of Scripture.
 
In the next verse the Greek “ginosko”[G] is juxtaposed against the idea of belief based on various forms of sight “eido”[G]. This is yet further evidence of the Hebraic thought of the author, who appropriates Greek language as a vehicle for relaying a more holistic Hebrew understanding of the redemptive work of God.
 
27 In addition (alla[G]), we see, perceive (eido[G]) this man’s place of origin (pothen[G]); but whenever the Messiah (Christos[G], ha-Mashiyach) comes, no one (oudeis[G]) knows (ginosko[G], yeida[H]) His place of origin (pothen[G]).”
 
“we see, perceive this man’s place of origin” This tells us that by far the majority of those who were listening to Yeshua were aware that He had been residing in K’far Nachum (Capernaum) in the Galilee and as testified to in John 6:42, others were aware of His parents Yosef and Miriyam and His connection to Nazareth. However, based on what follows it seems clear that few if any (other than His immediate family and close retinue) were aware that He had been born in Beit Lechem (Bethlehem, the house of bread), the town of King David.
 
Note the Greek “eido” does not mean “to know”, as is translated in so many English versions. In fact the text makes a clear distinction between perception based on knowledge “ginosko” and perception based on the various forms of sight “eido”. Yeshua’s listeners claim to be speaking of “knowing” where Messiah will come from, but Yeshua rebukes them by saying (to paraphrase), “You see Me and see where I have come from, I haven’t separated Myself from God Who is Truth and sent Me, Him you don’t see or perceive of, in spite of the fact that you can most certainly see Me!”
 
“…but whenever the Messiah comes, no one knows His place of origin;” Among the many strands of thought regarding Jewish messianic expectation in the first century CE, was the tradition of the “Hidden Messiah”, which some associate with the apocryphal (Not Inspired) book of Chanoch (1 Enoch 46:1-3).
 
“Then I inquired of one of the angels, who went with me, and who showed me every secret thing, concerning this Son of man; who he was; whence he was; and why he accompanied the Ancient of days.” -1 Enoch 46:1b
 
The point is that contrary to Scripture (Micah 5:1[2]), the “Hidden Messiah” tradition of the first century CE was prevalent among observant Jews.
 
The reality is that Scripture makes clear that the King Messiah will be born in Beit Lechem (Bethlehem):
 
“But as for you, Beit Lechem (Bethlehem, house of bread) Efratah (Ephrathah, fruitful place). Insignificant among the clans of Y’hudah (Judah, Praise), from you One will go forth for Me to be Ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago,
from the days of eternity.” -Micah 5:1 [2] Author’s translation
 
Note that our rabbis rightly conclude that this refers to the King Messiah the Greater Son of David, due to the fact that according to this text the individual being referred to is both of the lineage of Judah and of eternity past.
 
One might conclude that this belief in the “Hidden Messiah” tradition was one held by Am Ha-aretz (Commoners) unlearned in the Torah, Prophets and Writings. If this is the case the latter reference to these unlearned commoners and their ignorance by the religious rulers (v.49), denotes that the religious leaders, being aware of the prophet Micah and knowing the birthplace of the Messiah, were all the more accountable and therefore in a much worse position than that of the ignorant masses, whom were supposedly under God’s curse. This brings to mind the writing of Yeshua’s brother Yaakov (James):
 
“Not many of you should aspire to become teachers, my Jewish brothers and sisters, knowing that as such we teachers will incur a stricter judgment.” -Yaakov (James) 3:1 Author’s translation
 
28 Then Yeshua (YHVH Saves, Jesus) cried out like a raven, like a prayer for vengeance (krazo[G], kara[H]) in the Temple (hieron[G], ha-Mikdash[H]), teaching (didasko[G], vay’lameid[H]) and saying (lego[G], vayomer[H]), “You both see, perceive (eido[G]) Me and see, perceive (eido[G]) My place of origin (pothen[G]); and of separation (apo[G]) I have not come, but He Who is true, faithful, trustworthy (ne’eman[H]) did the sending, sent Me (ho pempo me[G], she’lachaniy[H]), Whom all of you don’t see, perceive (eido[G]).
 
The Greek “krazo” denotes a cry like that of a raven or a man screaming a prayer of vengeance. Such was the power of His voice, that the sound of it carried over the heads and into the ears of the thousands of worshippers gathered in the Temple complex.
 
As stated in my previous article “…in the Mikdash (Temple)” means inside the Temple area itself, and does not refer to the outer court of the Gentiles which is not considered part of the Temple proper. In other words, at the time of these events Yeshua’s teaching was made available only to Jews.
 
“You both see, perceive Me and see, perceive My place of origin;” Yeshua acknowledges that with their physical sight and human intellect they have observed and heard of His then current physical place of origin. However, what follows is a rebuke regarding their inability to see His ultimate origin in God the Father and His manifest identity as the visible substance of the invisible God. We should be slow to judge these first century Jewish worshippers, after all, we who have seen Yeshua spiritually are prone to the same lack of discernment but are, unlike them, without an excuse.
 
“and of separation I have not come,” Yeshua’s physical and spiritual being are inseparable. Likewise He and the Father are inseparable. He has not come from just one physical location, nor has He ever been separate from His origin in the Father, rather, He has come in unity with the Father and the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) and in unity with the Father’s will.
 
Therefore, Yeshua’s identity can only be fully understood in the unity of the Godhead and the Person of Yeshua as Imanu El “With us God”. Ironically, to see Him in any other way is to practice the compartmentalization of the Greco-Roman world, and yet, Yeshua’s listeners were doing that very thing. Sadly, many believers also misperceive Yeshua in the same way today.
 
“…but He Who is true, faithful, trustworthy did the sending, sent Me, Whom all of you don’t see, perceive.” Simply put, you don’t perceive of the true nature of God, Who sent me.
 
29 I (Aniy[H]) see, perceive (eido[G]) Him, because from Him likewise existing, present (eimi[G]), I am sent (apostello[G], she’lachaniy[H]).”
 
Yeshua is essential saying, “I am God with You, In Him and of Him, Sent from Him to dwell within Him in the created order…”
 
30 As a result they were seeking (zeteo[G]) to lay hold of (piazo[G]) Him; and no one could lay a hand (epiballo[G]) on Him, because the certain, definite, time, hour (hora[G]) for Him had not yet come (lo bai to[H]).
 
“As a result they were seeking to lay hold of Him” In almost every instance when the religious authorities sought to lay hold of, stone, throw of a cliff or kill Yeshua, it was because He was either directly or indirectly claiming to be Imanu El God with us. Not “A son of God” but “The Son of God”.
 
“…and no one could lay a hand on Him, because the certain, definite, time, hour for Him had not yet come…” Notice the repetition of this phrase which is used to illuminate the reason that Yeshua would not acquiesce to His brothers’ suggestion earlier in this chapter. It is Yeshua, within God’s will, Who both knows and decides when He will give up His life as a vicarious sacrifice for all who will believe.
 
“The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” -John 10:17-19 (NASB)
 
31 From the crowd many (polus[G], rabiym[H]) believed, trusted, had faith, were persuaded, placed their confidence (pisteuo[G], he’emiynu[H]) in Him; and they were saying, “When the Messiah (Christos[G], ha-Mashiyach[H]) comes, He will not perform more, superior or greater (pleion[G], har’beih[H]) signs, marks, wonders (semeion[G], otot[H]) than those which this man has, will He?”
 
Notice that “many” of the Jewish worshippers who heard Yeshua were “persuaded” (pisteuo[G]) and “trusted, chose faith in Him” (he’emiynu[H]). This is not, as some suggest, a limited or superficial faith. To the contrary, like the disciples of Yeshua’s inner circle many thousands of Jews of the first century began to have faith in Yeshua during His ministry and found a greater fullness in the progression of that same faith following His death and resurrection.
 
Long before the body of believers became predominantly Gentile, it was wholly Jewish. In fact, at the convergence of the Jewish and Gentile progression of faith in Yeshua, the body of believers (Ecclesia[G]) was called Ha-Derech (The Way), a “Jewish Sect”. Interestingly, today in modern rabbinical Judaism we have a prayer dedicated to God’s protection and blessing as we journey, called Tefiylat HaDerech, Prayer of the way.
 
32 Some of the P’rushiym[H] (Separate, distinct, chased ones, Pharisees) heard the crowd murmuring these things about Him (Yeshua), and the chief priests (archiereus[G], ha-kohaniym[H]) and some of the P’rushiym[H] (Pharisees) sent servants (huperetes[G]) to apprehend (piazo[G]) Him.
 
I have added the words “some of” for clarification because it is clear from Scripture that Nakdiymon (Nicodemus) and other Pharisees like Him, along with many of Yeshua’s own disciples, who were clearly of the Pharisaic sect, were not among the Pharisees who were seeking to seize Yeshua. For all intents and purposes Yeshua Himself was a Pharisee.
 
It is worth noting the P’rush means “Separate, distinct, set apart”. Therefore, the P’rushiym (ancient forerunners to rabbinical Judaism) were “Distinct, set apart ones”. In respect to God’s call on His people this is a wonderful name to carry, however, God’s Son our King Messiah comes to remind us that we are to be set apart unto God and not separated from Him by our fallen sense of self-righteousness.
 
At this juncture we need to be reminded once again that for all intents and purposes and with regard to theology and faith Yeshua was a Pharisee. Likewise Nakdiymon, Rav Shaul (Paul the sent one) and many others who chose faith in Yeshua. The Chief Priests and Pharisees mentioned here are a subgroup among those groups and do not represent the whole.
 
It’s important to clarify the distinction between the Pharisees and the Chief Priest, the majority of whom were Sadducees (forerunners of the modern Karaite Jews). Unlike the Pharisees, the Sadducees accepted the Torah alone as authoritive Scripture and would therefore have rejected Yeshua’s claims to Messiahship, a majority of which were based on the writings of the prophets, which the Sadducees considered uninspired. In addition, the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection (imagine their chagrin concerning the resurrection of Lazarus), angels, demons, miraculous healing (Oiy Vey) and so on. The Sadduciym were essentially moralists, making ethics out of sacred writings and seeing death as the absolute end of life. Not unlike numerous ethics lecturers in our modern western universities.
 
Therefore, the fact that Sadducees and Pharisees could have united in their dislike of Yeshua means that at least part of the reason was political rather than spiritual. Roman occupation hung on their minds and the repercussions they foresaw regarding a messianic uprising terrified them.
 
Pilate, the Roman Governor of the time is recorded in extra Biblical history as an insidious man who used provocations and tyranny to incite and murder Jews in Roman occupied Israel. Thus, the Pharisees and Sadducees had good reason to be fearful of what might result if Yeshua was allowed to be hailed as the King Messiah of Israel, a land known in the first century by the Roman names of occupation, Roman province of Judea, Roman province of Samaria, Roman province of Idumea. Later following the Bar Kokhba revolt in 132 CE Emperor Hadrian changed the name of the land to Syria Palaestina, thus the present day illegitimate name of occupation “Palestine” used by Israel’s oppressors and those who would take God’s Name “El” out of the land of Yisra-El. To hear the name “Palestine” on the tongue of one who claims to be a follower of Yeshua (Jesus) is an appalling oxymoronic disgrace!
 
 33 Therefore the Yeshua said, “Yet for a short time I am with you, then I withdraw Myself (hupago[G]) to Him Who sent (pempo[G], she’lachaniy[H]) Me. 34 Seeking (zeteo[G],) Me, you will not come upon (heurisko[G]) Me; and where I am, exist (eimi[G], aniy sham[H]) you’re not able, nor do you have the power (dunamai[G]) to come.”
 
“the Yeshua” The Greek says “ho Iesous”. Not just any Joshua of the time but “the Joshua”. Remembering that Joshua was a very common name in the Jewish community of the first century CE and indeed continues to be popular today among Jewish families both in Israel and in the Diaspora.
 
In hindsight it is easy to see that Yeshua was referring to His death and resurrection and possibly to His subsequent ascension. However, given the theological dialogue and the first century worship environment, along with the messianic expectation and the physical need for deliverance from the Roman occupation: it seems reasonable that His hearers might conclude a literal interpretation of His words rather than a euphemistic one.
 
“…and where I am, exist you’re not able, nor do you have the power to come.” The use and tense of the language is illuminating. In one sense Yeshua is saying He is already where He is going to be (slain before the creation of the world [Rev.13:8]). Furthermore, He explains that where He is going (Gan Eden, the Bosom of Abraham, Paradise), they are presently unable to enter because they do not (in their present state of disbelief) qualify among the righteous of Israel’s departed. Nor have they yet received Yeshua and the means of redemption by which they might follow Him to Gan Eden, as the thief on the cross did (Luke 23:39-43). Therefore, even if they wanted to locate Yeshua, following this dialogue, they could not. Not yet. Keep in mind that it is highly likely that many of His opponents were among those who would soon come to faith at Shavuot (Pentecost) [Acts 2] following His resurrection.
 
35 Some of the the Judeans, religious Jews (Ioudaios[G], Ha-Yehudiym[H]) then said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find Him? He is not intending to travel to the Diaspora (Jewish dispersion throughout the Greco-Roman world) among the Greeks (Hellen[G]), and teach (didasko[G]) the Greeks (Hellen[G]), is He? 36 What is this word, speech (logos[G]) that He said, ‘Seeking (zeteo[G],) Me, you will not come upon (heurisko[G]) Me; and where I am, exist (eimi[G], aniy sham[H]) you’re not able, nor do you have the power (dunamai[G]) to come’?”
 
They ask if Yeshua will go into the Diaspora or where Jews are dispersed throughout the Greco-Roman world. While the text says specifically will He “teach the Greeks”, it may denote Jews living in the diaspora, who were looked down upon by the Jews of the land, in much the same way as Jews living outside of Israel today are looked down upon by some ultra-observant religious Jews in the land of Israel. It is worth noting that by far the majority of secular and less observant Israeli Jews are extremely friendly toward Jews from outside of the land and are welcoming and supportive of all new comers to Israel.
 
37 Now on the last day, Hoshanah Rabah[H] (the Great Save Now) the great day of the festival of Sukkot[H] (hagadol chag[H]), Yeshua stood and cried out like a raven, like a prayer for vengeance (krazo[G]), saying (lego[G]), “If anyone is suffering thirst (dipsao[G]) let that one come (erchomai[G]) to Me and drink (pino[G]). 38 He who believes, has faith, trusts, is persuaded (pisteuo[G]) in Me, according to the speech of the Writing (ho graphe[G], hakatuv[H]), ‘A river (potamos[G]) coming out of the entire cavity of his inner being (koilia autos[G], leiv[H]) will flow (rheo[G]) with waters that are living (mayim chayiym[H]).’”
 
The last or seventh day of Sukkot is known as Hoshanah Rabah, which literally translates as “the save now that is great”. It is the climax of the seven-day festival during which the water libation offering of the first century period was conducted.
 
For seven days the people had watched the Cohen Hagadol (High Priest) pour out water at the base of the altar inside the Temple grounds. This water was collected from the pool of shiloach (Siloam, meaning “sent”), situated approximately 2km south of the Temple Mount not far from the place where the Hinnom and Kidron valleys converge. A specially selected priest collected the water each day and brought it up the hill and through the water gate into the Temple with singing, a variety of instruments and great rejoicing (the festival of Sukkot is closely associated to the word simchateinu “Our great rejoicing”). This was a kinetic form of ritual prayer petitioning God for rain. It also figuratively represents the out pouring of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) on the people of Israel. Our rabbis make the connection between this first century practice and Isaiah 12:3:
 
“Collectively you will draw water in joy you will draw water
    from the springs of the salvation” -Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 12:3 Authors Translation
 
Therefore, the Jewish worshippers of the first century have prayed for rain and that God would send the promised King Messiah to deliver them from Roman oppression. And now, on the final day of the feast called Hoshanah Rabbah (The Great Save Now), the water is carried to the Temple accompanied by Cohaniym (priests) blowing gold trumpets and L’vi’iym (Levites) singing songs of praise and worship, surrounded by common Israelis waving lulaviym of the four species prescribed by Scripture (Lev.23:40), including the palm branch, and chanting the Hallel (Psalms 113-118), which include in their final verses:
 
“I plead with You HaShem, Hoshana, save us!
I plead with You HaShem, send prosperity, I plead!
Barukh Haba b’sheim Adonai, Blessing is He who comes in the Name of HaShem!
We have blessed from the House of Hashem!
God HaShem and uncreated light to us!
Bind a festival sacrifice with cords against the horns of the altar.
My God, You I throw praise to You My God, exalting You!
Give thanks to HaShem for Good, forever, for His kindness, faithfulness, practical and transcendent love!” -Psalm 118:25-29 Author’s translation
 
This prayer is employed as a heralding of the Messiah during Yeshua’s later entry into Jerusalem (Matt.21:9; Mk.11:9-10). It was also a petition for salvation from sin.
 
The Encyclopedia Judaica notes:
 
“A connection between the possession of the Ruach Ha-Kodesh and ecstasy, or religious joy, is found in the ceremony of water drawing, Simchat Beit-HaSho’evah [“feast of water drawing”], on the festival of Sukkot. The Mishnah said that he who had never seen this ceremony, which was accompanied by dancing, singing and music (Sukkot 5:4), had never seen true joy (Sukkot 5:1). Yet this was also considered a ceremony in which the participants, as it were, drew inspiration from the Holy Spirit itself, which can only be possessed by those whose hearts are full of religious joy (Jerusalem Talmud, Sukkot 5:1, 55a).” - Encyclopedia Judaica 14:365
 
Given the historical context of these events and Yeshua’s participation in and veneration of the practices associated with the festival, and the fact that these rites are extrabiblical, being recorded in the Mishnah and Talmud; we can determine that Yeshua and His disciples observed, at least in part, significant portions of the Oral Torah, which was later codified as the Mishnah (2nd Century CE). Therefore, it is foolish to discount the Mishnah in its entirety as “the traditions of men” (Mark 7:5-13), in light of the fact that Yeshua considered its traditions to be valid expressions of Jewish worship and further still, used these practices as a platform for revealing His identity and purpose.
 
Now, in the midst of the cacophony of rejoicing and spiritual ecstasy the Cohen Hagadol (High priest) pours the water out at the base of the altar for the final time and the energy of the crowd builds to a crescendo; a young rabbi from the Kinneret (Galilee) shouts out above the crowd who have gathered in great anticipation, and says:
 
“If anyone is suffering thirst let that one come to Me and drink, He who believes, has faith in Me, according to the speech of the Holy Writings, ‘A river coming out of the entire cavity of his inner being, will flow with waters that are living.’”
 
Yeshua was unifying the message of several passages from the prophet Yeshayahu (Isaiah):
 
“‘For I will pour out water on him who is thirsty
And streams on the dry ground;
I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring
And My blessing on your descendants;” – Isaiah 44:3 (NASB)
 
“Ho, take notice, be awe struck! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters;
And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without cost.” -Isaiah 55:1 Author’s translation
 
“And the Lord will continually guide you,
And satisfy your desire in scorched places,
And give strength to your bones;
And you will be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.” -Isaiah 58:11 (NASB)
 
“The words of the mouth are deep waters,
    but the fountain of wisdom is a rushing stream.” -Proverbs 18:4 (NASB)
 
Of course, the ultimate and everlasting fulfilment of these kinetic prayers is recorded in Yeshua’s Revelation to Yochanan:
 
“The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.” -Revelation 22:17 (NASB)
 
39 But this He (Yeshua) spoke of the Spirit (Pneuma[G], Ha Ruach[H]), Whom those who believed (ha-ma’amiyniym[H]) in Him were to receive; for the Spirit (Pneuma[G], Ha Ruach[H]) was not yet given (nitan[H]), because Yeshua was not yet glorified.
 
“But this He spoke of the Spirit, Whom those who believed in Him were to receive;” Yeshua speaks of the outpouring of water as a metaphor for the outpouring of the Ruach HaKodesh. This was something that all Israel was anticipating in association with the festival of Sukkot and its many spiritual implications. However, the author of John’s Gospel explains that the Ruach HaKodesh will be given in full measure at a later date and only to those who believe.
 
“…for the Spirit was not yet given, because Yeshua was not yet glorified.” Yeshua did breathe the Holy Spirit upon His disciples prior to His ascension (John 20:22), however, the Spirit was not given in full measure, that is, did not indwell the disciples and others who believed until the Shavuot (Pentecost) that occurred 50 days after His resurrection (Acts 2).
 
“Yeshua was not yet glorified” This refers to His resurrected glory. The Holy Spirit, Who is the Spirit of the Father and of the Son (Rom.8:9; Heb.9:14; Phil.1:19; 2 Pet.1:20-21; Gal.4:6), could not be poured out into the hearts of human beings until the death and resurrection of Yeshua had made possible the perpetual atonement that brings salvation and right standing before God. Therefore, it was after Yeshua’s ascension and from His position seated in and with the Father, that the Father and the Son began to pour out their unified Spirit into the hearts, the inner being, of every believer.
 
40 Some of the people therefore, when they heard these words, were saying, “This certainly is the Prophet (zeh hu ha-naviy[H]).”
 
“This is the prophet” God spoke to Moses of, “I will raise up a prophet like you…” (Deut.18:15-18; Acts 7:37).
 
41 Others were saying, “This is the Messiah (Christos[G], ha-Mashiyach[H]).” Still others were saying, “Surely the Messiah (Christos[G], ha-Mashiyach[H]) is not going to come from the Galilee (ha-galiyl[H]), is He? 42 Has not the Writing (ho graphe[G], hakatuv[H]) said that the Messiah (Christos[G], ha-Mashiyach[H]) comes from the descendants of David (Beloved), and from Beit Lechem[H] (House of Bread) Bethlehem, the village David came from?”
 
“Others were saying, ‘This is the Messiah’” As attested to in verse 31, many already believed Yeshua was the promised King Messiah.
 
“Surely the Messiah is not going to come from the Galilee, is He? 42 Has not the Writing said that comes from the descendants of David, and from Bethlehem, the village David came from?” Sadly human beings are prone to both proposing and making false choices. The Scriptures show that Messiah is from both Bethlehem and the Galilee. In fact, He is from Bethlehem, Egypt, Nazareth and the Galilee.
 
Ref. Matt. 2; 2 Sam. 7:12-13; Jer. 23:5-6; Micah 5:1 [2]; Psalm. 89:36-38 [35-37]; 132:11; 1 Chron. 7:11, 14).
 
The people were right to say that the Messiah was to come from Bethlehem. Those who were in confusion and disbelief were clearly not aware that Yeshua had been born in Bethlehem. If they had been, many more may well have believed, but, this would not have allowed for the purposes of God to come about because they would have made of Yeshua a temporal King, and devoid of the sacrificial means of eternal redemption, would have died in their sin without the eternal Kingdom promised by God.
 
43 As a result a division, split, gap (schisma[G]) occurred in the crowd because of Him (Yeshua[H]).
 
There have and until His return will always be only two responses to the work of Yeshua: acceptance and life, rejection and death.
 
“For we are a fragrance of Messiah to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing;to the one an aroma from death leading to death, to the other an aroma from life leading to life. And who is adequate for these things?” -2 Corinthians 2:15-16 Author’s translation
 
44 Some of them intended to apprehend (piazo[G]) Him, but no one laid hands on Him. 45 The servants (huperetes[G]) then came to the chief priests (archiereus[G], ha-kohaniym[H])  and some of the P’rushiym[H] (Separate, distinct, chased ones, Pharisees), and they said to them, “Why did you not bring Him?”
 
“No one laid hands on Him” because His time had not yet come.
 
46 The servants (huperetes[G]) answered, “Never has a human being (anthropos[G]) spoken in the manner this man speaks.”
 
In saying this the servants insulted the P’rushiym, who considered themselves well versed and well spoken in the Torah, Prophets, and Writings. The servants were testifying to witnessing the reality of Yeshua’s own words: “My teaching is not Mine but His Who sent Me!” (v.16).
 
47 The P’rushiym[H] then answered them, “You haven’t also been led astray, have you?
 
The hubris of this small group of P’rushiym is palpable. They conclude that no one could speak in a manner that is superior their own ability, therefore, those who witnessed it must be deluded, lead astray.
 
 48 No one among the leaders, magistrates, rulers, princes (archon[G], ha-sariym[H]) or P’rushiym[H] have believed, trusted, been persuaded (pisteuo[G]) in Him, have they?
 
In fact Nakdiymon is likely to have already become a disciple of Yeshua, and his subsequent rebuttal of the religious party’s unlawful judgement is further evidence of this (v.50-52). In addition to Nakdiymon, many others among the P’rushiym who had been among the crowd had also become followers of Yeshua (v.31).
 
 49 But this crowd which does not know (yod’iym[H]) the Torah[H] (Instruction, ho nomos[G]) is under God’s curse (epikataratos[G]).” 
 
Once again the pride of the learned religious leaders raises its ugly head. They’re essentially saying that all the common Israelis who have come up to attend the festival of Sukkot in obedience to the Torah, are ignorant of the Torah. Worse still, because many in the crowd have concluded that Yeshua speaks the truth, the religious leaders consider them under God’s curse. What a sad and ironic situation the religious leaders find themselves in, for, as the Scripture says “an undeserved curse cannot land”, in fact, it returns to rest upon the one who uttered it.
 
50 Nakdiymon[H] (Nikodemos[G], nikos: vanquish, victory; demos: the people, assembled mass of people)  [the one who had come to Yeshua before, being one of the P’rushiym[H]) said to them, 51 “Our Torah[H] (Instruction, ho nomos[G]) does not separate, judge, access (krino[G]) a man unless it first hears (akouo[G]) from him and knows (ginosko[G]) what he is doing (poieo[G]), does it?”
 
Many among them knew and were thinking this but it was Nakdiymon alone who had the courage to speak up. A courage born of the Spirit of God. He is correct in his assertion. Deuteronomy 19:15-21 demands that a lawful gathering be held in order to hear from all parties involved in a matter of Torah law.
 
52 They answered him (Nakdiymon), “You’re not also from the Galilee (ha-galiyl[H]), are you? Search, and see that prophets aren’t raised out of the Galilee (ha-galiyl[H]).” 53 Each man journeyed to his house.
 
“You’re not also from the Galilee, are you?” Personal attacks are often the domain of those who have lost an argument or are found wanting in their ability to refute the truth. Therefore, knowing they’re in the wrong the religious leaders cover up their inadequacy with bigotry. They were essentially saying, “You’re not also one of those ignorant hicks from the Galilee are you?” This they said to a man honoured by the Talmud as a tzadik (righteous saint), well learned in the Torah and well-practiced in Halakhah, righteous living (see my article on John 3).
 
“Search, and see that prophets aren’t raised out of the Galilee” Usually, when one relies on emotion to further a point of disagreement, the result is untenable. Not only was Nakdiymon right concerning the Torah, he was also vindicated by the response of the religious leaders which proved them to be guilty of the ignorance they had presumed upon others. One need not look far to find that the prophet Yonah came from Gat-Hefer in the Galilee. What’s more, our own rabbis, men who are the progeny of Pharisaic Judaism, testify against the false information of the religious leaders:
 
“Rabbi Eli’ezer… said… ‘There was not a tribe in Israel which did not produce prophets…” (Sukkah 27b).
 
However, because the tense of the Greek text allows for the meaning “no future prophet comes from the Galilee”, we must give the religious leaders the benefit of the doubt on this matter.
 
“Each man journeyed to his house.” This does not mean that the people returned from the festival to their home villages but that those involved with the private meeting of the religious leaders and their servants returned to their homes in the city of Jerusalem. We know this because the eighth day Sh’mini Atzeret of Sukkot was yet to occur and the seventh day would not conclude until the following sundown according to the Biblical lunar calendar. Therefore, thousands remained in Jerusalem for the conclusion of the festival.
 
Copyright 2020 Yaakov Brown

​Introduction:
This chapter continues the prophet’s illumination of the Servant of God Whom he introduces afresh in Isaiah 52:13. Thus, as explained in my previous commentary on that chapter, the entirety of this portion from 52:13-53:12 is one cohesive prophetic message within the meta-narrative of the scroll of Isaiah.
 
I also explained in the previous commentary on chapter 52, that the modern Jewish and Liberal Christian theological assertion that the Servant is representative of Israel the people is untenable when weighed against the plain meaning of the text and the relevant historical and Biblical evidence to the contrary. While I acknowledge that The Servant is intrinsically connected to Israel and a representative of the people of Israel (a Jew, born of her), He cannot be both Israel (the ethnic/religious people) and the one Who is “struck, stricken” for the sake of Israel’s transgressions, at the same time (53:8). For this and many other reasons which will become clear as we follow the plain meaning of the text of Isaiah 53 to its logical goal, it is impossible to conclude, as the majority of our modern Rabbis have, that this portion of Isaiah applies to the people of Israel.  
 
The Suffering Servant Prophesied and Fulfilled

• He will be exalted (52:13)                                                             Philippians 2:9
• He will be disfigured (52:14; 53:2)                                               Mark 15:17, 19
• He will make a blood atonement (52:15)                                   1 Peter 1:2
• He will be widely rejected (53:1, 3)                                              John 12:37, 38
• He will bear our sins and sorrows (53:4, 5)                                Romans 4:25; 1 Peter 2:24, 25
• He will be our substitute (53:6, 8)                                                 2 Corinthians 5:21
• He will voluntarily accept our guilt and punishment (53:7-8)  John 10:11; 19:30
• He will be buried in a rich man’s tomb (53:9)                              John 19:38-42
• He will save those who believe in Him (53:10-11)                       John 3:16; Acts 16:31
• He will die on behalf of transgressors (53:12)                             Mark 15:27, 28; Luke 22:37

 
This portion of Isaiah’s scroll (52:13-53:12) has 5 distinct sections that act together fluidly in order to provide a clear and concise prophetic picture of the Servant of HaShem.

1. HaShem introduces His Servant [52:13-15]
2. The repentant confession of Israel (ethnic/religious) [53:1-3]
3. The vicarious sacrifice of HaShem’s Servant [53:4-6]
4. The suffering and death of HaShem’s Servant [53:7-9]
5. The future glory of HaShem’s Servant [53:10-12]

 
The text speaks of an individual Who offers Himself as a substitutionary sacrifice for the atoning of Israel’s sins and subsequently, for the atoning of the sins of all who will accept God’s redemptive gift.
 
Isa 53:1  Miy Who he’emiyn has believed (found faith in) lishmoateinu the message which we have heard? And to whom has the arm of HaShem (YHVH: Mercy) been revealed?
 
The prophet himself cannot be the sole speaker of these words (his prophesying of them not withstanding), which are spoken by a group, thus, “our message”. The reference to this passage in Rav Shaul’s (Paul’s) letter to the Roman believers appears to apply the “our” of Isaiah 53:1 to the remnant among Israel who had believed. Thus, in one sense Rav Shaul is implying that Israel’s faithful were saying, “Lord, who has believed our message?” While this might include the prophets (Isaiah not withstanding), it doesn’t appear to refer to them alone.
 
“But they did not all hearken to the glad tidings. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed our message?’” -Romans 10:16
 
The better translation of the phrase “Who has believed our message?” is in fact, “Who has believed the message we have heard?”
 
Therefore, message itself is the cumulative testimony of the forebears and prophets of Israel which had been imparted to Israel from her inception, prophetically speaking of the coming of the Deliverer appointed to redeem and completely save Israel from her sins. Thus, the first verse of Isaiah 53 is spoken by those among Israel’s remnant at the time of the Babylonian captivity and from that point (in a prophetic sense) throughout Israel’s future existence until the return of the Messiah (Servant).
 
Iben Ezra attributes this verse to the nations, however, due to the fact that according to Isaiah 52:15 the nations receive with faith the good news of things which they had not heard before; the present verse cannot apply to them. On the other hand Israel is mourning the fact that she had failed to put her faith in the good news which she had been hearing through her prophets from time immemorial.
 
Thus, having concluded that it is Israel who is speaking, it makes sense that she speaks from a position of incredulity with regard to her failure to believe. The remnant of Israel (ethnic/religious) speaks to both herself and the nations saying, “And to whom has the arm of HaShem (YHVH: Mercy) been revealed?” We know from Isaiah 52:10 that the Arm of HaShem has been made bare “in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.”
 
Therefore, in one sense Israel’s confession of her own disbelief makes it possible for her to become the light to the nations she was always meant to be through the redeeming work of the Servant Messiah Who has been sent to take upon Himself all her transgressions, and indeed, the transgressions of all who would receive Him. So it is that from the beginning of Isaiah 53 there is a clear distinction being made between Israel (ethnic/religious/corporate) and the Servant Redeemer of Israel (a unique individual, albeit a Jew [Israelite]). This, as we have seen in my commentary on Isaiah 52, and as we will yet see in the present commentary, is the view most common to our ancient Rabbis and commentators.
 
“The arm of the Lord” is a figure for the strength and wisdom of HaShem made manifest in His redemptive acts throughout history. This strength is of course yet another figure for the work of the Servant King Messiah. Therefore, it’s spoken of here to the people of Israel 700 years before the birth of the Servant, as an allusion to the redemptive work of the Servant as described in the subsequent verses.
 
Isa 53:2  Vaya’al For he grew up kayoneik like a sapling (a young plant) lefanayv before his face, vechashoresh and as a root mei-eretz tziyah from dry ground; he had no toar form ve’lo and no hadar splendour, honour, majesty that we should look at him, and no mareh spectacular appearance venechmedeihu that we should desire, take pleasure in, delight in him.
 
The humble beginnings of the Servant are described here. He is said to have no royal splendour about His visage. This is important because almost all of Israel was looking only for a triumphant King Messiah in the line of David (Israel was not wrong in this, just lacking a full understanding of the greater work of the coming Messiah). Therefore, she did not expect a humble seemingly unroyal Messiah.
 
The Hebrew “yoneik” refers to a plant that has just burst through the soil. A vulnerable young suckling. The Hebrew “sheresh” (from sharash) refers to a root and thus connects the present verse to Isaiah 11:1 where the prophet says:
 
“And then will come out a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a green branch misharashayhu from his root will bear fruit.”
 
Note that the same root “sharash” is used here to describe the “root” that comes from Jesse. This is an allusion to the fact that the Messiah will be born of the line of David, and thus, will be the King Messiah Who reigns on the throne of David. Therefore, Isaiah 53:2 connects the Kingly nature of the Messiah in juxtaposition against the humble lack of royal visage of the Servant. In a beautiful irony of practice the Servant, although He is royalty, choses to come without pomp or ceremony, royal clothing or position. In fact, such will be the lowliness of his station that His people will not recognise Him as being special or honourable: nor will they desire Him to rule over them.
 
“And it has come to pass in that day that the shoresh root of Jesse will stand to be a sign, banner, miracle for the peoples. The nations will seek for Him, and His resting place will be glory.” -Isaiah 11:10
 
There can be little doubt that the King Messiah (Who is to reign on David’s throne re: Jesse) of the early part of Isaiah’s scroll is also the Servant of the latter part of Isaiah’s scroll.
 
“mei-eretz tziyah” (from earth that is dry), can be understood in multiple ways. The condition of Israel in the first century CE at the time when Messiah Yeshua was born into this world, was truly dry in both a physical and spiritual sense. God had not spoken through a prophet to Israel for approximately 400 years prior to the birth of Yochanan (John). In addition to this Israel had been under Roman occupation for some time and prior to that had suffered under the oppression of Antiochus Epiphanes (Syrophoenician) among others. Under Roman occupation the illegitimate king Herod had usurped the throne of Judah, which when added to the rarity of the “Bat Kol” (Audible voice of the Holy Spirit: lit. daughters voice), the lack of true prophetic voices and the political subjugation of the Jewish people, made for a truly dry land from which the Servant would come forth.
 
“Eretz Tziyah” (Dry/Parched ground) is also literally the meaning of the proper noun Tziyon (Parched land). Thus, quite literally, the Servant will be born of Zion, of a daughter of Zion, of the tribe of Judah, in the line of David. Furthermore, the Servant comes to offer living waters (John 4:14) that will saturate refresh and rejuvenate the dry land.
 
Isa 53:3  Nivzeh He was despised (held in contempt) vachadal and rejected by iyshiym men (human beings), iysh a man machovot of sorrows (afflictions) vidua and a deep knowing (acquainted) concerning sickness, weakness, affliction, grief; uchemasteir and as one from whom people hide their paniym faces nivzeh He was despised (held in contempt), ve’lo and we did not chashavnuhu esteem him.
 
It’s clear that the afflictions suffered by the Servant are both physical and spiritual. There are of course no words to truly describe the weight of the affliction suffered for the sins of humanity.
 
The opening word “Nivzeh” (despised, held in contempt), links the Servant to the Messianic prophecy of Isaiah 49:7:
 
“Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despises (holds in contempt), to him whom the nation abhors, to a servant of rulers: Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall worship; because of Adonai that is faithful, even the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”
 
Early rabbinic literature recognizes that part of the Messiah’s ministry includes suffering:
 
“The Messiah—what is his name? …The Rabbis say, ‘the Leprous one’: Those of the house of Rabbi say, ‘the sick one’, as it is said, ‘surely he has borne our sickness.’” -Sanhedrin 98b, Babylonian Talmud
 
Some of our ancient Rabbis struggled to understand the divergent elements of Isaiah 52:13-53:12. As a result the two Messiah theory developed. Mashiach Ben Yosef, the suffering Messiah (Isaiah 50:5-7 & 53). Mashiach Ben David, the triumphant King Messiah who subdues the nations and establishes his Messianic kingdom (Psalm 2 & 110). Messiah Ben Yosef is said to die in the battle against Edom (figuratively Rome): he is followed by Messiah Ben David, who establishes His kingdom of righteousness after defeating the gentile nations. The irony of this interpretation is that the two Messiah figures accurately divide the ministry of the living Messiah Yeshua, Who came first as the suffering Servant (Ben Yosef) and will come again as the victorious King (Ben David).
 
The Brit Ha-Chadashah (NT) solves the question of divergent themes by revealing the advent of the King Messiah and subsequently describing His second coming (Mt. 23:29; John 14:3; Acts 1:11; 1 Thess. 4:14-17 etc.)
 
“He was despised (held in contempt) and rejected by men (human beings),” Note the past tense. HaShem speaks into time and space through His prophet Isaiah, that which has already been made complete outside of time and space. The Hebrew plural “iyshim” (men) is the poetic form of “anashiym”. “Iyshiym” refers specifically to men of stature (Prov.8:4; Psalm 141:4). Thus, the Servant is shunned by leading men: kings, political leaders, spiritual leaders etc. Yeshua’s contemporaries struggled to come to terms with his humble birth and the town of His upbringing, which is not even mentioned in rabbinic literature.
 
 “‘Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?’ Nathanael asked.” -John 1:46a (NIV)
 
“Still others asked, ‘How can the Messiah come from Galilee’”? -John 1:41b (NIV)
 
“A man of afflictions and of a deep knowing (acquainted) concerning sickness, weakness, affliction, grief…”  Although it is true that the Messiah was familiar with grief (it is likely that His earthly father Joseph died prior to the beginning of Messiah’s ministry, and He is seen grieving deeply at the tomb of Lazarus), the meaning of the text appears to convey that the Servant was familiar with the cause of disease and sickness and was knowledgeable in a transcendent way concerning the healing of such disease and afflictions. Additionally, the Messiah Himself suffered great affliction both physical and spiritual prior to and during His crucifixion.
 
“And as one from whom people hide their faces” As a result of His affliction the people of Israel turned away from Him, the disfigurement resulting from His beating, whipping and crucifixion making Him a hideous sight to behold.
 
He was despised (held in contempt), and we did not esteem him.” The Hebrew “nivzeh” (despised) is repeated here as affirmation of the fullness of His people’s rejection of Him. In particular He was despised by many of Israel’s first century religious leaders. To this day as a result of the modern rabbinic polemic against Yeshua, His name is rendered in modern Hebrew as Yeshu which is an acronym for the curse “Ye’mach Sh’mo” meaning, “May His name be blotted out!” This disgusting curse is further evidence of the ongoing rejection of the Servant King Messiah by our people.
 
“He was in the world, and the world was made through Him; but the world did not know Him. He came to His own, but His own did not receive Him.  But whoever did receive Him, those trusting in His name, to these He gave the right to become children of God.” -John 1:10-12 (TLV)
 
Isa 53:4  Achein Certainly cholayeinu our sicknesses, weaknesses, diseases he has nasa borne, carried, lifted up (a sign) umachoveiynu and our sorrows, pain sevalam he has dragged along, bared as a load; yet we esteemed him nagua struck (diseased) mukeih beaten, killed, slain by Elohiym (God: Judge), umeuneh and afflicted, oppressed, humbled.
 
“But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.” -John 19:34 (TLV)
 
“Look, He is coming with the clouds,
and every eye shall see Him,
    even those who pierced Him.
And all the tribes of the earth
    shall mourn because of Him.
Yes, amen!” -Revelation 1:7 (TLV)
 
“Certainly our sicknesses, weaknesses, diseases he has nasa borne, carried, lifted up (a sign)” The sickness described here is the result of sin’s entry into the world (and death with it). Or else, why does the Hebrew employ the word “nasa”, which is used in connection with the Torah sacrifices of expiation (Lev.5:1, 17; 10:17; 16:22; 17:16; 20:19-20; 24:15).
 
“Who His own self bore our sins in his body upon the tree, that we, having died unto sins, might live unto righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed.” -1 Peter 2:24 (ASV)
 
“Nasa” is also a sign (nisi) that points to a mighty work of Hashem. Yeshua quite literally bore (healed) our (The people of Israel) sicknesses and diseases during His earthly ministry:
 
“And when Yeshua was come into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother lying sick of a fever. And He touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she arose, and ministered unto him. And when even was come, they brought unto Him many possessed with demons: and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all that were sick: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying, ‘He took our infirmities, and bare our diseases.’” -Matthew 8:14-17
 
“Our sorrows, pain he has dragged along, bared as a load” I’m surprised that few if any comment on the descriptive Hebrew language here in regard to the last hours of the Messiah’s life. After all, He quite literally dragged the cross (means of His death) along until He was relieved by Shimon of Cyrene.
 
“Yet we esteemed him nagua struck mukeih beaten, killed, slain by Elohiym (God: Judge), umeuneh and afflicted, oppressed, humbled.” The Hebrew “nagua” is associated to terrible diseases such as leprosy (Gen. 12:17; Lev. 13:5; 1 Sam. 6:9; 2 Kings 15:5), and “mukeih” to divine retribution for heinous sin (Though the servant is not suffering for His own sin re: next verse).
 
The Talmud says of the Messiah that he is "a leper of the house of Rabbi is his name'' - T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 98. 2.
 
Sadly, the Talmud calls Yeshua a “transgressor”, ironic, given that Yeshua died for the transgressions of those who penned and codified the Talmud. Maimonides states that Yeshua deserved the violent death which He suffered. Once again ironic, given that it is in fact Maimonides who deserved the rightful punishment for his sins, and yet Yeshua was willing to die also for Maimonides. So much for the human wisdom of our rabbis. I have visited the tomb of Maimonides, it is dead and lifeless. The tomb of Yeshua however is empty, He is alive and living by His Spirit within me. He is transcendent and seated at the right hand of the Father.
 
Isa 53:5  Vehu And he mecholal was pierced (defiled, polluted) mipeshaeinu for our transgressions (rebellions); meduka he was crushed (broken, became contrite) meiavonoteiynu for our iniquities (perversity, depravity, guilt); Musar The chastisement (discipline) shelomeinu of our peace, wholeness, wellbeing alayv was placed upon him, uvachavurato and by his wounds (stripes, bruises, blows) nirpa-lanu we are healed, made healthy (whole).
 
As I have previously shown, the Servant cannot be Israel the people. Why? Because the entire history and character of the people of Israel as a whole is contrary to the description of God’s faithful Servant, Who takes upon Himself the sins of His people (inferring that He is not guilty of their sins) and redeems all willing human beings. Israel the collective people on the other hand are repeatedly denounced by the prophet Isaiah as being deaf and blind to the will of God (42:19-20; 43:24). The prophet’s words state that the people do not even deserve the name Israel (Overcome in God), and that their allegiance to YHVH is insincere (48:1). Further, Isaiah speaking from God pronounces his nation “an obstinate people with a neck like iron sinew and their forehead like brass” (48:4). Thus, Israel the people, like all people, are sinners in need of salvation. Fortunately for Israel, the Servant King Messiah was pierced for our transgressions.
 
We are reminded again that our ancient Rabbis understood these words to be referring to the King Messiah:
 
“Chastisements are divided into three parts, one to David and the fathers, one to our generation, and one to the King Messiah; as it is written, ‘he was wounded for our transgressions; and bruised for our iniquities’:'' - Mechilta apud Yalkut, par. 2. fol 90.
 
“Messiah Son of David who loves Jerusalem… Elijah takes Him by the head…and says, ‘You must bear the sufferings and wounds by which the Almighty chastises you for Israel’s sins’ and so it is written, ‘He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities.’” -Midrash Konen; 11 Century CE
 
“The children of the world are members one of another. When the Holy One desires to give healing to the world, He smites one just man amongst them, and for his sake heals all the rest. From where do we learn this? From the saying, ‘he was wounded for our transgressions; and bruised for our iniquities’”. -Zohar, Numbers, Phinchus 218a
 
Furthermore, our Rabbis also testify to the wickedness of Israel and her need for the Messiah:
 
"At that time they shall declare to the Messiah the troubles of Israel in captivity, and the wicked which are among them, that do not mind to know the Lord; he shall lift up his voice, and weep over the wicked among them; as it is said, ‘he was wounded for our transgressions’, &c.'' - Zohar in Exod. fol. 85. 2. See also Midrash Ruth, fol. 33. 2. and Zohar in Deut. fol. 117. 3. and R. Moses Hadarsan apud Galatia de Arcan. Cath. Ver. I. 8. c. 15 p. 586. and in I. 6. c. 2. p. 436.
 
“And he was pierced (defiled, polluted) for our transgressions (rebellions);” The Hebrew “mecholal” meaning pierced, could only have been written by a divinely inspired prophet of God. These words, spoken and recorded some 700 years before the birth (into this world) of Messiah Yeshua, describe exactly what happened to Him, both physically and spiritually.
 
“Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgota). There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Yeshua in the middle. Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: Yeshua of nazareth, the king of the jews.” -John 19:17-19
 
Crucifixion involved the nailing of hands and feet to a cross beam position equal to or slightly below the top of a firmly established upright post. Thus, Yeshua had is hands and feet pierced quite literally. The Psalmist, writing over 500 years before the birth (into this world) of Yeshua the Servant of God, wrote:
 
“Do not be far from me,
    for trouble is near
    and there is no one to help.
12 Many bulls surround me;
    strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
13 Roaring lions that tear their prey
    open their mouths wide against me.
14 I am poured out like water,
    and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
    it has melted within me.
15 My mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
    and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
    you lay me in the dust of death.
16 Dogs surround me,
    a pack of villains encircles me;
    they pierce my hands and my feet.
17 All my bones are on display;
    people stare and gloat over me.
18 They divide my clothes among them
    and cast lots for my garment.” -Psalm 22:11-18 (NIV)
 
“But when they came to Yeshua and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Yeshua in the side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe.” -John 19:33-35
 
“He was crushed (broken, became contrite) for our iniquities (perversity, depravity, guilt); The chastisement (discipline) of our peace, wholeness, wellbeing was placed upon him, and by his wounds (stripes, bruises, blows) we are healed, made healthy (whole).” The entire sacrificial system of the Torah is symbolic of substitution.
 
“For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.” -Leviticus 17:11 (NIV)
 
One of the primary stories of the Torah “Ha-Akeidah” The Binding of Isaac, binds Israel to the faith of Abraham and frees her from bondage to sin through the substitution of the Ram, who is a figure for the promised Messiah, and highlights the fact that the Messiah will be a substitutionary sacrifice for Israel (Jacob). While Jacob was still in the loins of Isaac, the Ram took his place on the altar (of Moriah) [Genesis 22].
 
“He was crushed (broken, became contrite) for our iniquities (perversity, depravity, guilt);” We note that the Servant takes a punishment upon Himself that was meant for us (Israel, ethnic, religious). Not only was He crushed on our behalf, He took the suffering willingly, the Hebrew “meduka” denotes contrite acceptance.
 
“The chastisement (discipline) of our peace, wholeness, wellbeing was placed upon him, and by his wounds (stripes, bruises, blows) we are healed, made healthy (whole).” As a result of the Servant’s substitutionary sacrifice and because our sin has not just been covered but has been atoned for, annihilated by His blood shed for us, we are made whole, given peace, physical and spiritual, temporal and transcendent. Those who receive the Servant King Messiah enter the eternal present. Though we die, yet will we live. The Hebrew “Musar shelomeinu” reads, “The chastisement that secures our peace”. There is everlasting security in the receipt of the sacrificial love of the Servant King Messiah.
 
“In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” -Hebrews 19:22 (NIV)
 
“The next day Yochanan saw Yeshua coming toward him and said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’” -John 1:29
 
At a time yet future, all ethnic/religious Israel will look upon the Servant King Messiah and repent in mourning, acknowledging that for our sake He has been pierced (Zech. 12:10). Thus the redemption of the entire remnant of ethnic/religious Israel will take place through Messiah Yeshua at His second coming following the coming in of the fullness of the nations (Romans 11:25-26).
 
“Then I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication, when they will look toward Me whom they pierced. They will mourn for him as one mourns for an only son and grieve bitterly for him, as one grieves for a firstborn.” -Zechariah 12:10 (TLV)
 
“For I do not want you, brothers and sisters, to be ignorant of this mystery—lest you be wise in your own eyes—that a partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,
“The Deliverer shall come out of Zion.
    He shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.” -Romans 11:25-26 (TLV)
 
Isa 53:6  Kulanu All we katzon like sheep taiynu we have wandered, erred, staggered, gone astray; iysh each human being (man) ledarko to his own way paniynu we have turned;  and HaShem (YHVH: Mercy) hifgiya has laid on him (caused him to encounter, make intercession for) et avon the perversity, depravity, guilt, iniquity of kulanu us all.
 
In reference to Genesis 49:11, the Jewish commentator R. Kahana writes:
 
"As the ass bears burdens, and the garments of travellers, so the King Messiah will bear upon him the sins of the whole world; as it is said, ‘the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all’”
 - Apud Galatin. de Cathol. Ver. I. 10. c. 6. p. 663, and Siphre in ib. l. 8. c. 20. p. 599.
 
The righteous remnant of the people of Israel speak here of the nature of human beings, themselves included. This is a confession of the sin nature and its fruit. As is so often the case in the TaNakh (OT), Israel are figuratively referred to as sheep. However, what’s different here is that Israel self-identify as sheep who have strayed from the Shepherd’s (YHVH) instruction, guidance and the safe pasture of His kingdom. It is also literally true that the sin of Israel had been the reason for their being led into captivity. Thus, they physically strayed into Babylon, leaving the promised land of Israel behind them.
 
“For ‘you were like sheep going astray,’ but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” -1 Peter 2:25
 
“Each human being to his own way we have turned” Both as individuals and corporately human beings (iysh used in an iconic way) have fallen short of the holiness of God. Israel includes herself in this and acknowledges that she has turned to her “own way” rather than continuing in the “way of the Lord”. 
 
“And Adonai has laid on him (caused him to encounter, make intercession for) the perversity, depravity, guilt, iniquity of us all.” The problem of sin is addressed here. Sin must be atoned for. A substitution must be made (Lev.17:11; Hebrews 9:22). Thus, the Servant becomes the vicarious sacrifice for Israel and all humanity. It is Adonai Himself that has laid the utter depravity of human sin on the Servant. Once again, Israel cannot be both those who have gone astray and the one on whom the sins of those who have gone astray are laid upon. Israel corporate is not the Servant. The Servant is an individual born of her on whom Adonai will lay the sins of Israel and of all humanity.
 
The core doctrine of the fallen nature of humanity is supported throughout Scripture:
 
“No one living is righteous before you.” -Psalm 143:2b
 
“Surely there is no one on earth so righteous as to do good without ever sinning.” -Ecclesiastes 7:19
“For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. 10 As it is written:
‘There is no one righteous, not even one;
11     there is no one who understands;
    there is no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away,
    they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
    not even one.’” -Romans 3:9b-12 (Psalms 14:1-3; 53:1-3; Eccles. 7:20)
 
“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” -Romans 3:23
 
“God made Him who had no sin to be a sin offering for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” -2 Corinthians 5:21
 
Isa 53:7  He was oppressed (tormented), and he was afflicted, and did not open his mouth; kaseh like a lamb latevach led to the slaughter, ucheracheil and like a ewe lifneiy before the face of its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
 
“He was oppressed (tormented), and he was afflicted,” The Servant King Messiah suffered both physical and spiritual affliction.
 
“and did not open his mouth” This is repeated in the last clause. The firmly established humility and silence of the falsely accused Messiah is evident in the Brit HaChadashah (NT) account (Matt. 26:62-63, 27:12).
 
“Like a lamb led to the slaughter, and like a ewe before the face of its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.” The NT references to Yeshua as the “Lamb of God” are born of the story of the Passover and Israel’s exodus from Egyptian bondage (Ex.12:3, 4, 7). The blood of the Pesach Lamb was painted on the door posts of Jewish homes as a symbol of God’s protection and deliverance of the family who lived within. Additionally, vicarious animal sacrifice is well established in the TaNakh (OT).
 
The extreme submissive behaviour of the Servant cannot be attributed to Israel as a nation. The nation of Israel has many virtues but suffering silently is not among them. Throughout our history we have resisted our oppressors. Even in the most heinous case of our persecution (the Shoah) the Holocaust, we resisted wherever possible. Therefore, as a nation Israel does not qualify for the position of Servant as described in Isaiah 53.
 
Isa 53:8  Meiotzer From restraint (prison, oppression) umishpat and judgment lukach he was seized, taken away; ve’et-doro and as for his generation, miy who yesocheicha has considered it? Kiy For nigzar he was cut off mei’eretz from the land chayiym of the living, mipesha for the transgression, rebellion amiy of My people nega  lamo he was stricken (diseased, marked, plagued).
 
“From restraint (prison, oppression) and judgment he was seized, taken away”
He was not treated fairly with a proper trial. He was taken out of prison and summarily judged and sentenced to death contrary to both Jewish and Roman law.
 
“And as for his generation, who has considered it? For he was cut off from the land of the living” His generation refers to any for whom he might have been a progenitor. The Servant will have no physical children born of His natural seed. Why? Because He was cut off (murdered, killed) from the land (Israel, the earth) of living (the present world).
 
“He was cut off from the land of the living, for the transgression, rebellion of My people he was stricken (diseased, marked, plagued).” These words are prophesied spoken through Isaiah by the Spirit of God. Thus, Israel is called “My people” by both God Himself and the prophet. If the Servant is to be killed as a vicarious sacrifice for Isaiah’s people (Israel), He cannot be corporate Israel. The same is true of the ethnic/religious people of God. Israel (ethnic/religious) are God’s people. This latter clause shows clearly that the Servant is killed (cut off) as a substitutionary sacrifice (because of transgression) for Israel (My people).
 
Those who claim that the Hebrew “lamo” is solely plural are incorrect, it is used here to refer to the singular Servant in the same way it is used in the singular in Job 20:23, 22:2 and Isaiah 44:15.
 
“Philip ran up and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
31 ‘How can I,’ he said, ‘unless someone guides me?’ So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of Scripture that he was reading was this:
‘He was led as a sheep to slaughter;
    and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
    so He opens not His Mouth.
33 In His humiliation justice was denied Him.
    Who shall recount His generation?
    For His life is taken away from the earth.’
34 The eunuch replied to Philip, ‘Please tell me, who is the prophet talking about—himself or someone else?’ 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he proclaimed the Good News about Yeshua.” -Acts 8:30-35 (TLV)
 
“Therefore the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again.” -John 10:17
 
Isa 53:9  And they made kivro his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no mirmah deceit in his mouth.
 
The Hebrew “kever” grave, is here used to describe the physical status of a dead body. Thus, the Servant’s physical death was like that of the wicked (albeit undeserved). This is why the subsequent phrase “and with a rich man in his death” is added in describing the nature of the Servant’s tomb.
 
“Now when it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had also become a disciple of Yeshua. 58 This man went to Pilate and asked for Yeshua’s body. Then Pilate ordered it to be given up. 59 And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth. 60 And he laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. Then he rolled a large stone up to the door of the tomb and went away.” -Matthew 27:57-60
 
Isa 53:10  Yet HaShem (YHVH: Mercy) chafeitz desired to bruise (crush) him; hecheliy He has put him to grief; im-tasiym with his appointment as an offering for guilt nafsho by his soul (life, being), yireh he will see his zera offspring; ya’ariych he will prolong his yamiym days; ve’cheifetz and the desire of HaShem (YHVH: Mercy) beyado in his hand yitzlach will advance, rush, succeed, progress, prosper.
 
Iben Ezra says these words are spoken of the generation that shall return to God, and to the true religion, at the coming of the Messiah.
 
An old midrash says:
 
“The Messiah, in order to atone for them both (Adam & David), will make his soul a trespass offering; as it is written next to [prior to] this parashah [Isa.53:10], “Behold My Servamt” [Isa.52:13]. -Midrash Aseret Memrot
 
We note that the desire or will of Hashem begins and completes the verse. In order for the will of Hashem to bring redemption and the advancement of His kingdom, He must also will the means of that redemption, suffering in and with the Servant King Messiah for the sin of His people, and indeed, for all people.
 
“Yet HaShem desired to bruise (crush) him” This connects the present passage to the prophecy of Genesis 3:15, where the Serpent Satan is said to bruise the heel of the Messiah. In the present text the bruising is ascribed to HaShem. Thus we understand that Satan is subject to HaShem and is allowed to act only according to God’s purposes for the redemption of His chosen.
 
“He has put him to grief; with his appointment as an offering for guilt by his soul (life, being)” The text could not be more clear. The Servant is to be a guilt offering, that is a substitutionary offering for the sins of others. He is to complete His atoning work by giving His very soul (life). “Asham” is a trespass offering that is distinct from every other sacrifice. It was made by an individual as a substitutionary compensation for any wrong doing committed by that person. It removed the person’s guilt and set them free (Lev. 5:15). The central tenant of this and many other sacrifices was the need to satisfy the justice demanded by the Holy God of Israel, Creator of the universe and God over all things.
 
“How much more shall the blood of Messiah, Who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish unto God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” -Hebrews9:14
 
“Him who knew no sin He made to be a sin offering on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in him.” -2 Corinthians 5:21
 
“and walk in love, even as Messiah also loved you, and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for an odour of a sweet smell.” -Ephesians 5:2
 
“He will see his offspring; he will prolong his days” The “seed” (offspring) in question are spiritual seed (Psalm 22:30; Isa. 65:25; Malachi 2:15): those who receive Him. We know this because Yeshua Himself explained that the resurrected do not procreate (Luke 20:34-36). “He will prolong His days” is a figurative way of describing the Olam Haba (World to come).
 
“Certainly, certainly, I say to you, except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, it abides by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” -John 12:24
 
“His seed also will I make to endure for ever, And his throne as the days of heaven.” -Psalm 89:29
 
“The desire of HaShem in his hand will advance” In the hand (actions) of the resurrected Servant King Messiah the desire of HaShem will advance. The Servant, a son of Israel, will thus make it possible for Israel to fulfil her calling to be a light to the nations (Isa.49:6). The Spirit will be poured out and the kingdom of God will grow and await the Messiah’s return, the final resurrection and the Olam Haba (World to come).
 
Isa 53:11  Meiamal From the anguish of nafsho his soul yireh he will see and be satisfied; bedato by the knowledge (perception, skill, understanding, wisdom, discernment) of Him yatzdiyk tzadiyk avdiy the righteous one, My servant, larabiym will justify many, va’avonotam and their iniquities (depravity, perversity, guilt) hu he yisbil shall bear.
 
“From the anguish of his soul he will see and be satisfied” The Servant King Messiah will look back on His suffering and death, and resurrected He will see the resulting fruit of His anguish and be satisfied.
 
“looking to Yeshua the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” -Hebrews 12:2
 
“By the knowledge of Him the righteous one, My servant, will justify many, and their iniquities he shall bear.” The Servant King Messiah will justify “many”, not only Israelites (ethnic/religious) but also people from the nations. They will be justified through the knowledge of Him. Not just mental assent but true knowledge learned in relationship through practiced faith placed in Him.
 
“Seventy weeks are decreed upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy.” -Daniel 9:24
 
The Servant King Messiah’s ministry of bearing the sin of many goes beyond the finished work of His death and resurrection to His continued work as the Great High Priest Mediator for all who believe (Hebrews 8:6).
 
“As through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one shall the many be made righteous.” -Romans 5:19
 
Isa 53:12  Lachein Therefore, achalek I will divide him barabiym among the many, ve’et and from the atzumiym strong (mighty, numerous) he shall divide the spoil, tachat asher for the sake of (beneath) which he’erah he poured out lamavet to death, nafsho his soul ve’et-posheiym and with the transgressors was numbered; vehu and he cheit-rabiym nasa bore the sin of many, velaposheiym and for the transgressors yafgiya made intercession.
 
“Therefore, I will divide him among the many” This opening phrase uses the Hebrew “rabiym” which can be understood as “great ones” or “many”. The same word is used at the end of the verse and refers to the many believers who will receive the forgiveness of sin through the Messiah’s finished work. Therefore, it seems unlikely that “rabiym” refers to “men of stature, kings, politicians, religious leaders” as some suggest. The more consistent understanding is that the body of the Servant King Messiah’s is divided among the “many” in Israel and among the nations, who, later in the verse are interceded for by the Servant. That is, those who receive Him.
 
“And from the strong (mighty, numerous) he shall divide the spoil” Here, the “mighty” may refer to the men of stature of 52:15. The Servant Messiah will one day yet future divide the spoils of all the mighty rulers of the earth.
 
“for the sake of (beneath) which he poured out to death, his soul” For the sake of the many and the strong, the Servant will pour out His life unto death.
 
“And with the transgressors was numbered” The Servant was crucified as a criminal in spite of the fact that He was innocent and there were no legitimate legal reasons for His execution (Matt. 27:38).
 
“And he bore the sin of many, and for the transgressors made intercession.” Even as He was dying on the cross the Servant King Messiah Yeshua spoke words, not of vengeance or hatred but of intercession:
 
“But Yeshua was saying, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’ Then they cast lots, dividing up His clothing.” -Luke 23:34 (TLV)
 
The Servant King Messiah Yeshua continues to make intercession today for all who put their trust in Him:
 
“But now Yeshua has obtained a more excellent ministry, insofar as He is the mediator of a better covenant which has been enacted on better promises.” -Hebrews 8:6 (TLV)
​
Copyright 2019 Yaakov Brown

Introduction:
 
In this short chapter the Holy Name YHVH (Mercy) is used nine times. The Servant (Yeshua) of Mercy is introduced in the first seven verses of this section of Isaiah, preceding the disobedient servant (Israel) from whom He comes.
 
Isaiah introduces us to the servant Israel (Isa. 41:8) as a people chosen to represent God’s redemptive purpose for all peoples, however, the Servant of Hashem who is presented in the beginning of this chapter is clearly distinct from Israel the people, while also being born of her. In fact, the Servant described in 42:1-7 has such a strong individuality and distinct personal features, that the title “Servant” cannot be understood of the collective entity Israel (ethnic, religious, empirical).
 
From verse 19 onwards we see a different servant, one who is blind, disobedient and in need of the deliverance offered through the first Servant (v.1-7).
 
We further note that Hashem has previously alluded to the Servant Who will bring good news to Israel:
 
“Rishon The first Le’Tziyon to Zion, Hineih Behold, now, hineih behold, now, them: and I will give to Yerushalayim Jerusalem one that brings good news.” – Isaiah 41:27
 
With these things in mind we are able to better understand the transition that takes place over the next 25 verses, where the Servant Messiah, born of the servant nation, is sent to redeem the disobedient nation and establish justice in the land.
 
Isa 42:1  Hein Behold av’di My Servant, etmoch-bo whom I uphold (hold fast); be’chiyriy My chosen one (elect), in Whom ratzetah delights nafshiy My soul (core being); natatiy I have put (given, bestowed, extended, yielded produce) ruachiy My Spirit alav upon (together with) Him: He will bring mishpat judgment la-goyim to the Gentiles (nations).
 
“Behold my servant the Messiah…I have put My Holy Spirit upon him…” -Targum Yonatan
 
In spite of the scholarship debate over the application of the title “Servant” in the opening verses of Isaiah 42, the majority of ancient Jewish commentators have interpreted Isaiah 42:1-4 to refer to the King Messiah.
 
In the second part of scroll of Isaiah there are four distinct Messianic servant prophecies (Isaiah 42:1-7; 49:1-7; 50:4-11; 52:13-53:12).
 
It’s important to understand and distinguish between the two types of servant prophecies. The Brit Ha-Chadashah (NT) applies the Messianic Servant passages of Isaiah to Yeshua (Jesus) the King Messiah (Matt. 12:17-20, Luke 2:32; 4:16-18, Acts 8:30-35).
 
In Isaiah 42:1-4 it is clear that the servant is an individual who has been given the Ruach Ha-Kodesh (Holy Spirit) and called to establish justice in the land (earth).
 
Isa 42:2  He will not cry out, lo-yisa nor exalt Himself (endure, resist, lift up), nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.
 
“He will not strive, nor cry; neither will any man hear his voice in the streets.” -Matthew 12:19
 
“He will not lift up his voice…” - Yarchi, Kimchi, & Ben Melech 
 
To put it concisely, He will not seek glory for Himself or cry out in defence of Himself.
 
Isa 42:3  Kaneh A reed ratzutz crushed, (bruised, oppressed) lo He will not break, and the smoking flax (a dying flame) He will not quench: le-emet for truth He will bring forth judgment.
 
“A bruised reed He will not break, and dying flame He will not put out, until He sends forth judgment to victory.” -Matthew 12:20
 
Notice that the Septuagint (Greek OT) version quoted by Matthew (Levi) further illuminates the form that the judgement Messiah brings will take. His judgement will bring about the immutable truth of all things and victory over judgement that condemns, for those who receive Him.
 
"The meek, who are like a bruised reed, shall not be broken; and the poor, who are as obscure as flax (or a lamp ready to go out), shall not be extinct:'' -Targum Yonatan
 
“Ratzutz” describes something cracked, that is, half broken. Thus, it is inferred that not only will He not break it, He will also restore it.
 
Isa 42:4  He will not yichheh grow weak (fail, be faint, be restrained) nor be yarutz discouraged (crushed, oppressed), until He has yasiym set (appointed) mishpat judgment ba-aretz in the land (earth): u’torato and His Torah will be awaited by the iyiym islands (coastlands, Mediterranean).
 
The Servant (Yeshua) is now identified alongside the figures of the previous verse. He will both ensure the restoration of the broken (v.3) and remain in strength to bring about justice in the land of Israel (v.4). Thus, the Torah (Instruction) He imparts will bear fruit among the nations. Notice that the Torah is His. Both the literal Torah of Moses and the living Torah (Instruction) of the Messiah are born of His authorship. Messiah is the author and goal of the Torah (Romans 10:4).
 
“Looking to Yeshua the author and perfecter of our trust; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, thinking the shame small, and is seated down at the right hand of the throne of Elohim (God: Judge).” -Hebrews 12:2
 
Isa 42:5  Thus, says Elohim (God: Judge) Hashem (YHVH: Mercy), Who borei (from bara) created ha-shamayim the heavens, and stretched them out; He that roka beat out (stamped, spread forth) ha-aretz the land (earth), and that which comes out of it; He that notein gives neshamah life breath (convergence of soul and spirit directly issuing from God) la’am to the people (singular: Israel) on it, and ruach spirit la-holechiym to them that walk there:
 
“Created the heavens and stretched them out” connects the present chapter to Isaiah 40:22.
 
“To the people” is singular and refers to the ethnic people of Israel whom the Lord is addressing through the prophet. In principal it may be applied to all people but the p’shat (plain meaning) denotes the people of Israel (ethnic, religious).
 
There is an important distinction made here between the neshamah (life breath) of humanity and the ruach (spirit, breath, wind) of both humanity and the various species of creatures that inhabit the land. The neshamah is distinct in that it is not merely spirit but is rather the convergence of spirit and soul (nefesh), which is imparted to human beings from the Creator from the beginning. Animals on the other hand are devoid of neshamah (conscious-convergence) but are endowed with ruach (spirit, breath). This is why it is said that He created human beings in His own image, the image being the nature of soul and spirit made echad (one), inseparable.
 
Isa 42:6  Ani I Hashem (YHVH: Mercy) have called you be’tzedek in righteousness, and will hold your hand, ve’etzarecha and will keep (guard) you, and give you livriyt for a covenant (cutting) of (for) am the (a) people, le’or for a light to the goyim Gentiles (nations);
 
Notice that the Servant will be a “cutting” or a “covenant” for “a people”. The servant of verses 1 to 7 cannot possibly be Israel because He will be a covenant for “am” a single people (Israel). This is why the singular “am” people, is used first and the plural “goyim” nations, follows. “The Gospel is first and always for the Jews and also always for the nations” (Romans 1:16).
 
The “Or” (original light) spoken of here pre-existed the created lights. God said, “There has been light (Or), and there was light (Or)” [Genesis 1:3]. This correlates to John’s Gospel which says, “In the beginning was the Word-essence and the Word-essence was with God and the Word-essence was God, He was with God in the beginning” (John 1:1).
 
Notice also, that the Servant of Hashem is given by Hashem as a covenant. The Servant does not make a covenant (cutting), He is the covenant. This clearly refers to the King Messiah Yeshua Who says, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood” (Luke 22:20). Yeshua is the covenant that is both of and for the people of Israel and because of this He is also the light to the nations. When we fail to understand this order of redemptive purpose we do harm to the Gospel message, which is perpetuated in truth only according to the order outlined in Scripture.
 
The covenant mentioned here, referring to the Servant Himself (Yeshua) is also alluded to in Isaiah 54:10 following the essential Messianic passage of Isaiah 53. It is also the “Eternal covenant” of Isaiah 61:8, and the promised “New covenant” of Jeremiah 31:31-34 and Ezekiel 16:60.
 
Isa 42:7  To open the eiynyim eyes of the ivrot blind ones, to bring out from prison the prisoners, and mi’beiyt from the house of bondage those who sit in choshekh darkness.
 
The Servant will open the eyes of the blind both physically and spiritually. This correlates to the smouldering flame that He will not allow to go out (v.3). He will also set captives free both physically and spiritually. This correlates to the bruised reed that He will not break or allow to be broken (v.3). In each case the physical manifestation of a miraculous event is intended to illuminate the spiritual and eternal truth of salvation through the Servant (Yeshua). Miracles have no value if they achieve only temporal change (healing). The goal of a true miracle is an eternal one: to reconcile humanity to God through Messiah. Any miracle that doesn’t bear the fruit of eternal redemption is not of God. There are times when sickness is a greater miracle than healing.
 
“Choshekh” darkness, the opposite of Or light in the Genesis account. Therefore, the light of verse 6 delivers from the darkness of verse 7.
 
Isa 42:8  I am Hashem (YHVH: Mercy): that is shemiy My name: u’chevodiy and My glory I will not give to another, u’tehilatiy nor My praise la’pesiyliym to idols.
 
“I Mercy, that is My Name, and My glory I will not give to anyone or anything nor the praise due Me to worthless idols!” He is the very essence of Mercy, none the less, in mercy He is fierce for His people and will not allow evil to steal their attention away from Him.
 
Isa 42:9  Ha-rishonot the first things, hineih now are come to pass, va-chadashot and new things I make known: before they spring forth I tell you of them.
 
All this is being said to Israel through the prophet in advance. God is making the Gospel known first and always to Israel (ethnic, religious), and “Salvation (Yeshua) comes from the Jews”.
 
Isa 42:10  Sing to Hashem (YHVH: Mercy) shiyr chadash a new song, and His praise from the extremity of ha-aretz the land (earth), you who go down to ha-yam the sea (body of water, lake etc.), and all that are there; iyiym the islands (coastlands, Mediterranean), and the inhabitants there.
 
This is an instruction to Israel (ethnic, religious) to proclaim the new things of God in song to the ends of the known world, including the islands of the Mediterranean. This is in keeping with God’s promise that both Israel and the Servant Messiah (A Jew) will be a light to the goyim (nations) [42:1; 49:6; 60:3; Luke 2:32; Acts 13:47, 26:23].
 
Isa 42:11  Let the midbar wilderness (from the Word) and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages Kedar (dark, dusty skinned ones) inhabited: let the inhabitants of sela the rock (Petra?) sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains. Isa 42:12  Let them give glory to Hashem (YHVH: Mercy), and make known His praise in the iyiym the islands (coastlands, Mediterranean).
 
In short, let all people, both obscure and renowned lift up their voices and shout praise to Hashem because of the good news of the Servant King Messiah.
 
Isa 42:13  Hashem (YHVH: Mercy) will go forth as a mighty ce’iysh man, He will go to war, awakening jealousy with a shout: He will cry, He will certainly, roar; He will prevail against His enemies.
 
This fierce poetic language describes Hashem going to war against His enemies. His enemies are the forces of darkness that oppose His glory and His purposed redemption of humanity. His enemies are those who oppose His chosen ethnic people Israel and His purposes for her. His enemies are those that oppose His children who share the good news of His Servant, regardless of their ethnicity. His enemies are those who deny the deity of His Son Who is literally a “iysh” man, Who has come to go to war against idolatry, sin and death, defeating the darkness in the light of His death and resurrection. Are you an enemy or a friend of God?
 
Isa 42:14  I have kept silent for a long time; I have been still, and restrained Myself: now I will scream like a woman in labour, gasping; and devour at once.
 
In poetic language God describes His long suffering, limitless patience. In doing so He also explains the need for that patience to come to a conclusion so that mercy might be made known through discipline. Such is His passionate love for Israel that He screams like a woman in labour, gasping in hopeful expectation.
 
Isa 42:15  I will lay waste hariym mountains and gevaot hills, and cause all their herbs to wither; and I will turn the rivers into islands, and the pools I will dry up.
 
In poetic language Hashem’s gasping screams for the redemption of His chosen people Israel result in the laying waste of idolatry (mountains) and pride (hills), and the decimation of the sinful fruit of the highly positioned gods of hubris. Consequently, in spiritual discipline, God also affects the land in a literal way in counter distinction to the fruiting of the land in conjunction with spiritual freedom.
 
Isa 42:16  And I will lead the blind be-derekh in the way they didn’t know; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make ma-cheshakh the darkness before them la’or into light, and crooked things straight. These things I will do, and not forsake them.
 
Hashem now links Himself to the actions of the Servant of verse 7 saying, “I will lead the blind in the way”, that way being the way of the Messiah, a way that Israel was yet to learn. This is a promise of redemption and freedom from blindness (darkness), bringing the blind, seeing, into the light. God affirms His promise not to forsake blind Israel in spite of her wandering, He will “do these things… and not forsake them (Israel).”
 
Isa 42:17  They will be turned back, they will be greatly ashamed, that trust in idols (images), that say to the molten images, “You are our eloheiynu gods (judges).”
 
Those among Israel who have worshipped the false gods of their neighbours will shuva repent, turn back to Hashem through the Servant (Yeshua) of verses 1 - 7, and be ashamed in the sense of godly sorrow for sinful practices because they had foolishly called idols “Our gods.” This is a promise of the latter redemption of Israel: it comes before the sobering conclusion of this chapter in order to remind the reader that Mercy precedes Judgement.
 
Isa 42:18  Hear, you deaf; and look, you blind, that you may see.
 
God admonishes Israel in her sinful state to hear, receive, understand, and to open her spiritual eyes to see the truth of her sin and return to God through His Servant King Messiah.
 
Yeshua says, “Let the one who has ears to hear, listen, perceive, receive, understand…” (Luke 8:8).
 
Isa 42:19  Who is blind, but My servant? or deaf, as My messenger that I sent? who is blind ki’m’shulam in order to bring a covenant of peace (wholeness), and a blind servant of Hashem (YHVH: Mercy)?
 
The Servant of verses 1 through 7 is clearly not blind. In fact, He ministers to the blind. Therefore, the servant of verses 19-20 is clearly Israel (ethnic, religious), who, in spite of her calling has been blind, why? For the sake of the “covenant of peace” that will be instigated by the Servant (Messiah) described in verses 1 - 7. 
 
Isa 42:20  Seeing many things, but not observing; opening the ears, but not yishma hearing.
 
Speaking again of Israel His servant Hashem describes their spiritual state using the words that Isaiah has already spoken (Isa. 6:9) and Yeshua will later repeat during His ministry in the land of Israel.
 
“Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: ‘You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.’ For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” -Matthew 13:14-17
 
Isa 42:21  Hashem (YHVH: Mercy) is delighted for the sake of His righteousness'; He will yagdiyl magnify (make great) the Torah (Instruction), and reveal (make) its yadir majesty, honour.
 
The righteousness of Hashem and His Torah are revealed, therefore, Israel is without excuse, we have beheld His majesty and the Torah that proceeds from Him. The same Torah that the Servant of Isaiah 1-7 sends from Israel to the nations, has been among us the Jewish people from its entry into time and space through the Patriarchs and Moses at Sinai.
 
Isa 42:22  But this is a people robbed and spoiled; snared in holes (caves), all of them are hidden in prison houses: they have become a prey, and none delivers them; for a spoil, and none says, “Ha-shav Return, restore.”
 
This is both figurative and literal. At the time these words were spoken to Israel we were being robbed, imprisoned by enemies and had become prey for the nations. It seemed as though there was no one to deliver us. We also allowed ourselves to be robbed of our sacred religious texts and our calling and identity as the chosen of God. We were in prisons of our own making, bound by the idols of the nations that surrounded us. We had become prey to every false idea, and yet we did not return to Hashem in order to be restored in Him.
 
Isa 42:23  Who among you will give ear to this? who will hearken and hear for the time to come?
 
The desperate plea of a birthing mother, the longing cry of a loving father, and the clarion call of the prophet of salvation and the Servant King Messiah.
 
Isa 42:24  Who gave Yaakov (follower, Jacob) for a spoil, and Yisrael (Yisra – overcome in El – God: Israel) to the robbers? Wasn’t it Hashem (YHVH: Mercy), He against Whom we have sinned? for they would not walk in His ways, neither were they obedient unto His Torah (Instruction).
 
God makes it clear to Israel His servant that her imprisonment and suffering are not the result of chance but are part of God’s intentional work for the sake of her redemption. The giving over of Israel as spoil is an act of discipline intended to bring her to repentance. The prophet himself interjects to say, “Wasn’t it Hashem, He against Whom we have sinned?” We had come to this point through sin and wilfully disobeying His loving Instruction (Torah).
 
Isa 42:25  Therefore, He has poured upon him the fury of His anger, and the strength of battle: and it has set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to leiv heart (core being).
 
This chapter comes to a sobering conclusion. In spite of the pleas of Adonai and the remarks of His prophet, Israel will not listen, hear, understand (yet). The fire of His discipline will burn her and the hardness of her heart will (temporarily) deceive her until, in exile, she learns to be obedient once more and return to her loving Father, her faithful Husband, Her unchanging God of Mercy.
 
Copyright Yaakov Brown 2018

​Cf. 2 Kings 20:1-11
Introduction:
 
The events described in chapters 38 - 39 preceded the events of chapters 36 and 37 by a period of approximately 10 years. We’re able to deduce this because chapter 39 ends with a prediction of the Babylonian exile. However, the scribes who transmitted the scroll of Isaiah placed these events after chapters 36 and 37 in order to form a bridge, giving the meta-narrative a greater sense of continuity. Thus, the prediction of the Babylonian exile (Chap. 39) precedes chapter 40, the subject of which is Israel’s return from the Babylonian exile.
 
The events of chapter 38 are recorded in a parallel passage in 2 Kings 20:1-11 with only slight variations, and of course the omission of Hezekiah’s psalm/meditation (Isaiah 38:9-20). It seems fitting that the scribes include the mikhtav of Hezekiah in the present chapter of Isaiah’s poetic, prophetic scroll and exclude it in the more historically styled record of the Kings.
 
What follows conveys the ancient rhythm of God inspired relationship: a relationship strengthened rather than weakened by illness and despair.
 
Isa 38:1  In those days Chizkiyahu (Hezekiah: my strength is YHVH, Mercy) became chalah sick, weak, grieved, sorry, diseased lamot to the point of death. And Yeshayahu (YHVH, he is salvation: Isaiah) the prophet the son of Amotz (Strength, courage) came to him, and said to him, Thus says HaShem (YHVH: Mercy, the LORD), “tzav order, command lebeitecha your house: for met die you shall, and not tichyeh live.”
 
Cf. 2 Kings 20:1
 
“In those days” as discussed above, refers to that time approximately 10 years prior to the events of chapters 36-37. Hezekiah assumed the throne of Judah at the age of 25 and reigned for 29 years (2 Kings 18:2), living to the age of 54: given that 15 years are added to his life in the present text, he was therefore, 39 years of age at the time of the events recorded in Isaiah chapter 38. However, Yarchi and a number of other Jewish commentators suggest that these events took place three days before the ruin of Sennacherib's army (placing them at the end of the aforementioned ten year period); and that it was on the third day that Hezekiah recovered, and went up to the temple, that the destruction of the Assyrian army occurred, that evening being the first day of Pesach the Passover (Seder Olam Rabba, c. 23. p. 65).
 
It is noteworthy that Isaiah came to Hezekiah during his time of personal illness, whereas on occasions when Hezekiah was in health he had sent messengers to Isaiah. This shows compassion on the part of Isaiah. Although he had been tasked with giving bad news to Hezekiah, he performed that duty in person as a friend to the King rather than sending a messenger to deliver the news.
 
Some have suggested that the Hezekiah’s illness was brought on by the stress that he experienced in response to the speed and force of the invading Assyrian army, and his inability to gain adequate protection from Egypt. We find out later in this chapter that the sickness is somehow connected to a boil that had grown on Hezekiah’s body which may have become infected, thus, causing blood poisoning; a life threatening condition.
 
“order, command your house” is a way of saying “Make your last will and testament, leave instructions for your household regarding what is to be done after your passing.”
 
“for die you shall, and not live.” Makes death certain but is not specific enough to infer immediate death. None the less, Hezekiah’s illness was terminal.
 
Isa 38:2  Then Chizkiyahu (Hezekiah: my strength is YHVH, Mercy) turned his face toward ha-kiyr the wall, and prayed to HaShem (YHVH: Mercy, the LORD),
 
Cf. 2 Kings 20:2
 
“The wall” could be understood in a plain sense to simply refer to the wall of the room in which Hezekiah was bedridden. Turning in toward the wall would have been his only means of finding some privacy and solace with the palace representatives and staff constantly present to care for the king.
 
As a remez I see the act of Hezekiah’s turning as being a turning toward God in his distress. Further to this although the Hebrew kiyr is a generic term for a flat surface, wall etc. it can also be used to describe the wall surrounding the Temple complex of Solomon. I can’t help but see a comparrison to ha-kotel, the western wall of the Temple of Herod, yet future at the time of Hezekiah, and certainly present in its Solomonic form during Hezekiah’s time . To turn toward it is to turn toward the Temple and the Holy of holies. As I’m writing this we are in that time of repentance and preparation in the month of Elul, when, davening selichot (prayers of contrition), thousands of Jews are turned toward ha-kotel and the Temple mount as a symbolic physical act representing our desire to turn toward God in our distress.
 
I’m not alone in my supposition, regarding Hezekiah potentially turning toward the wall surrounding the Temple complex of his time: the second century Targum writers understood ha-kiyr to refer to the outer wall of the Temple complex of Hezekiah’s day:
 
“Then Hezekiah turned his face towards the wall of the house of the sanctuary, and prayed before the Lord,” -Targum Yonatan
 
Turning toward the Temple to pray is advocated for by king Solomon (1 Kings 8:29-61) and is elsewhere commonplace within traditional Jewish prayer practice throughout the world.
 
Hezekiah’s first instinct as a human being and as a Jew upon whom God had placed His Name, was to turn to God in an intimate gesture of vulnerability and cry out in prayer: his prayer being a response to the conversation God had already begun. One could say that the general nature of Isaiah’s warning (which doesn’t say when Hezekiah will die, just that his death is certain) was God’s way of allowing Hezekiah the opportunity for repentance and healing.
 
Isa 38:3  And said, “Anah I beseech you, HaShem (YHVH: Mercy, the LORD), zechor-na remember, recall, call to mind now, how I have walked before You be-emet in truth uveleiv and with a heart (core being) of shaleim wholeness, safety, completeness, peacefulness, and have done that which is ha-tov good in Your sight.” And Chizkiyahu (Hezekiah: my strength is YHVH, Mercy) bechiy bewailed gadol greatly.
 
Cf. 2 Kings 20:3
 
Hezekiah does not presume to be perfect in his walk before God, he is simply asking that God acknowledge the sincerity with which he has sought to follow the commandments and restore the centrality of the Temple cult to Judah and Israel. After all, Hezekiah was responsible for removing the high places and tearing down the heathen altars, and for bringing the focus of Israel’s worship back to the God appointed Temple mount and the altar of sacrifice therein (2 Kings 18:4).
 
Hezekiah does not think that God has forgotten him, rather he is in a sense, reminding himself that God is aware of every intimate part of Hezekiah’s life. Thus, feeling abandoned within time and space, he calls out to God, Who is outside of Time and space and in control of all things.
 
Hezekiah’s “bewailing greatly” denotes not only his concern for himself and his potential loss of life but also for the state of the nation and the added vulnerability that would ensue were he to die with the invading Assyrian army at the doorstep of Jerusalem.
 
Isa 38:4  Then came a devar-YHVH word of HaShem (YHVH: Mercy, the LORD) to Yeshayahu (YHVH, he is salvation: Isaiah), saying,
 
“And it came to pass, before Isaiah was gone out (chatzeir) of the city centre, that a word of the Lord came to him, saying,” -2 Kings 20:4
 
The account of 2 Kings 20 illuminates further the immediacy of God’s response to Hezekiah. Isaiah was still in the centre of the upper city of Jerusalem and probably had gone no further than the middle court of the king’s residence, and or had progressed via the Temple pausing at the middle court (court of Israel) to pray.
 
Isa 38:5  “Go, and say to Chizkiyahu (Hezekiah: my strength is YHVH, Mercy), ‘Thus says HaShem (YHVH: Mercy, the LORD), Eloheiy the God of David aviycha your father, I have shamatiy heard, listened to your prayer, I have raiytiy seen, considered your tears: Hineni Now, behold, pay attention, I will yosif add to your days fifteen years.’”
 
Cf. 2 Kings 20:5-6
 
“Thus says HaShem the God of David your father”. This is said to affirm the covenant God had made with the house of David (2 Sam. 7:4-17). It is for the sake of the King Messiah Who will come out of the line of David and for the subsequent redemption of those who receive Him that God calls Himself “Eloheiy Daveed”.
 
Neither a prayer said in vain nor the superficial tears of the unrepentant invoke the mercy of God. Hezekiah’s request is acknowledged as genuine and moving (Yaakov [James] 5:16). God now demands that Hezekiah pay attention, that is, “act righteously in response to the extension of life that I am giving you”.
 
15 years is representative of two terms of completion (2 x 7) plus a year of new beginning (+1). 2 sevens are an allusion to eternity (completion perfected) and the added single year an allusion to the beginning of that eternity. Thus, the added years promise far more than earthly life, something that Isaiah already understands but Hezekiah has yet to fully grasp.
 
Isa 38:6  And I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Ashur (A step, Assyria): ve’ganotiy and I will defend, cover, surround this city.
 
Cf. 2 Kings 20:6
 
This verse suggests that while these events occurred as many as 10 years prior to Sennacherib’s move against Jerusalem, it is also possible that they occurred closer to the end of that 10 year period and therefore, align with the Jewish Sages’ tradition more closely than some scholars suspect.
 
The wording of God’s comforting response to Hezekiah seeks to calm his concerns both for himself and for Jerusalem and its inhabitants: “I will defend, cover, surround this city.”
 
The 2 Kings 20 account places the entire conversation concerning the sign and the healing of Hezekiah by means of a pressed fig rub at this point in the narrative, giving the dialogue a more natural continuity. Thus, 2 Kings 20:7-8 correspond to the seemingly ill-placed verses of Isaiah 38:21-22, which bare no connection to the following chapter but rather refer back to a point in the narrative prior to the giving of the sign and the healing of Hezekiah.
 
“And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered. And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the Lord the third day?” -2 Kings 20:7-8
 
Isa 38:7  And this to you ha-ot the miraculous sign from HaShem (YHVH: Mercy, the LORD), that HaShem (YHVH: Mercy, the LORD) will ya’aseh fashion, do ha-devar this thing, word, essence that He has dibeir spoken;
 
“And Isaiah said, This sign you will have of the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps? And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten steps: no, but let the shadow return backward ten steps.” 2 Kings 20:9-10
 
The sign is to be a miraculous one. While some seek to provide a practical reason for the adjustment of the shadow, the plain meaning of the text denotes a supernatural event that directly affects the sun itself. In the 2 Kings 20 account the recorded request of Hezekiah shows either his true belief in the miraculous power of God or his desperate need to witness that power made manifest as a promise of even greater deliverance to come. Thus, his request relates to both his own healing and the protection of Jerusalem and her inhabitants.
 
“Do this thing which He has spoken” refers to the healing and longevity of Hezekiah, for which the sign is offered.
 
It is of note that Hezekiah acted in contradiction to his wicked father Ahaz, who hypocritically refused to ask for a sign from God (Isaiah 7:12).
 
Isa 38:8  Hineni Now, behold, pay attention, I will bring again the shadow of ha-ma’alot the steps, which yaredah descends bema’alot on the steps of Achaz (grasped), ten ma’alot steps backward. Ve’tashav And returned ha-shemesh the sun, the ten ma’alot steps, bama’alot on the steps it yaradah had descended.
 
“And Isaiah the prophet cried to the Lord: and He brought the shadow ten steps backward, by which it had gone down in the steps of Ahaz.” -2 Kings 20:11
 
Although some suggest a momentary refraction of light as the mechanism behind the sign, we notice that it is the sun itself that is the subject of the returning in the latter clause of verse 38, and not it’s light, the steps or the shadow it casts. In laymen’s terms, the sun itself went backward; a stumbling block for both the modern scientist and the desperately rational theologian. This is one of the many reasons we must become like children in order to enter the Kingdom of God (Matt. 18:3).
 
Isa 38:9  The writing of Chizkiyahu (Hezekiah: my strength is YHVH, Mercy) king of Yehudah (Praise, Judah), bachaloto in his sickness, vaychi and in restored life from out of his sickness:
 
This psalm-like piece of writing (mikhtav) while present here, is not included in the 2 Kings 20 account. As I said in my introduction to the chapter, it seems fitting that the scribes include the mikhtav of Hezekiah in the present chapter of Isaiah’s poetic, prophetic scroll and exclude it in the more historically styled record of the Kings.
 
This psalm/meditation was written both during (in) Hezekiah’s illness and following (in) his restoration to health. Thus, it probably covers Hezekiah’s progression of feelings throughout the entire experience. Therefore, we should look for a progression of Hezekiah’s understanding of God and his relationship in Him as we journey through the thoughts, emotions, desperate cries and ecstatic relief of Hezekiah’s psalm/meditation.
 
Hezekiah’s mikhtav is typical of psalms of supplication and thanksgiving. Similar elements appear in psalm 118 and in the psalm of Jonah 2. In fact, Hezekiah’s mikhtav follows the basic structure of this type of psalm:
 

1. A description of crisis: Isaiah 38:10-13 (Psalm 118:5-7; 10-16; Jonah 2:4-7)
2. A reference to the lament offered during the crisis: Isaiah 38:14 (Psalm 118:5; Jonah 3, 3)
3. God’s faithfulness: Isaiah 38:15-20 (Psalm 118:8-9; Jonah 2:7-8)

 
Isa 38:10  “I said bidmi in the cessation, silence, quiet, pause of my days, I will walk to the gates of Sheol (Holding place of departed humans, divided into Gan-Eden and Gehinnom): I am deprived of the yeter remainder, residue, excellence of my years.
 
Ibn Ezra explains that “bidmi” means “cut off” according to its comparable use in Hosea 10:15. This makes sense as an allusion to the weavers analogy of Isaiah 38:12. Others interpret it to convey a quiet part of the day, that being the middle of the eastern day and a time for rest from the heat. Both readings have relevance here: the theme being that Hezekiah is to be cut off (die) in the prime of his life, the middle of his days.
 
Hezekiah’s reference to Sheol does not denote a cessation of consciousness but a cessation of earthly life. As I have stated in previous articles, Sheol is not the grave (kever), and the ancient (Biblical) Hebrew grave was above ground, a tomb, cave, and or stones piled over the remains.
 
Isa 38:11  I said, I will not see HaShem (Yah: Mercy, the LORD), HaShem (Yah: Mercy, the LORD), be’eretz in the land of ha-chayim the living: I will behold humanity no more with the inhabitants chadel at rest.
 
The repetition of “Yah”, the shortened form of YHVH, denotes the permanence of Mercy. We note that while Hezekiah says “I will not see Yah, Yah” the qualifying phrase is “in the land of the living”, the living being the temporal living of humanity within the sin affected creation. Thus, the final clause in this verse alludes to the cessation of Hezekiah’s days spent with humanity (humanity within the context of the sin affected creation and not in regard to consciousness of the spirit).
 
Ibn Ezra suggests that “I will not see” means, “I shall not see any longer the works of the Almighty:” in the land of the living. He explains further that this is the reason for the latter clause “I will behold humanity no more”, because part of the witness of God’s works is manifest in human beings.
 
Many translate the Hebrew “chadel” as “World, life” following the comparative use in Psalm 39:5-6. However, the plain meaning of this word is “rest, cessation” and as such conveys a much different meaning from that of the traditional English translations. In short, the latter part of this verse “I will behold humanity no more with the inhabitants chadel at rest.” Is conveying the idea that Hezekiah is mourning the beholding of humanity in this (temporary) life alone, while at the same time showing that his understanding of Sheol includes the idea that he will share this inability to behold humanity in the land of the living, with those others who are departed and present with him in Sheol “with the inhabitants chadel at rest.”
 
The Jewish sage Ben Melekh, in keeping with the writers of the 2nd Century Targum, observes, that seeing or appearing before the Creator signifies confession and praise. Thus the Targum of Yonatan’s allusion to the Temple cult and the manifest feminine presence of the Shekhinah, which is a manifestation of the Kevod HaShem (Glory of God).
 
“I shall no more appear before the face of the Lord in the land of the house of his Shekhinah, in which is length of life; and I shall no more serve him in the house of the sanctuary.'” -Targum Yonatan (2nd Century CE)
 
Isa 38:12  Doriy My generation, time, age is nesa pulled up, departed, veniglah and is removed, uncovered from me like keohel roiy my shepherd's tent: kipadtiy I am gathered together, rolled up by a weaver is chayay my life: midalah from threads he will cut me off: from day until night ta-shlim-eini You will make a covenant of peace with me.
 
Contrary to common interpretation I do not believe “Doriy” (from dor: generation) should be understood as describing the so called “Tent of the body”, which is in fact a Gnostic idea drenched in heresy. Rather, as is suggested by the plain meaning of the Hebrew “Dor”, it is the temporal nature of existence in general within the sin affected creation, that is intended. Thus, “Generation” and not “Tent, dwelling”.
 
That which is being lifted up and put away like a tent is the temporal existence (generation of a life) within the sin affected creation. The body on the other hand is yet to be restored and renewed as a metaphysical entity at the resurrection of the dead, and not done away with completely as many theologians suggest. To the contrary, we believe in the physical resurrection, or did Messiah rise a ghost? A curse on that idea! Thomas touched His physical body post resurrection. It is high time we did away with these Gnostic lies.
 
“veniglah and is removed, uncovered from me like keohel roiy my shepherd's tent”. So much is to be uncovered ahead of the dying man: the veil of temporal existence gives way to eternal rest for those, who like Hezekiah have placed their hope in HaShem. A shepherds tent is pulled up to make way for a journey, an adventure into the new grazing lands of the future. Thus, following death the believer receives a fuller understanding of the eternal present.
 
The Hebrew “Roiy” can be understood as “My shepherd” or, “The Shepherd to Whom I belong”. Both denote God and His King Messiah Yeshua. Think carefully on this: “uncovered from me like my shepherd's tent (generational existence)”. God, Who is Hezekiah’s Shepherd, is attributed a temporal tent, even though He is unmistakably eternal. Therefore, Whoever Hezekiah is referring to must be that manifestation of God as Shepherd Whom Isaiah has been prophesying as the King Messiah Imanu (with us) El (God). Messiah is yet to come in the context of Hezekiah’s historical prayer, and yet is alluded to as being one Who will experience death, the cessation of His time (dor) on earth (albeit temporarily).
 
“I am gathered together, rolled up by a weaver is my life: from threads He will cut me off: from day until night You will make a covenant of peace with me.”
 
The weaving analogy infers God as the weaver (Job 6:9). It also reveals the threads of life woven together to bring Hezekiah to this point. The phrase “from day to night” is a Hebrew idiom expressing the outworking of something within a short period of time. Thus, prior to God’s response and promise of additional years Hezekiah believed his death was imminent.
 
“You will make a covenant of peace with me.” Notice that in spite of his distress and the realization that he is soon to die Hezekiah none the less acknowledges his belief that beyond death the covenant of peace God will make with Hezekiah will sustain him.
 
Isa 38:13  It is made plain to me until morning, as a lion, so will He break all my bones: from day until night ta-shlim-eini You will make a covenant of peace with me.
 
Simply put, Hezekiah has come to terms with his imminent death. He has concluded that regardless of the distress caused by his anticipation of death and the pain of the illness along with its fast approaching end, that he is certain (repeating the phrase for the second time) that God “will make a covenant of peace” with him. That covenant, whether Hezekiah fully understood it or not, would be made in the shed blood of the coming Messiah (historically speaking), a covenant that had already been made outside of time and space (Rev. 13:8).
 
Notice that Hezekiah acknowledges God’s control over both the illness and the covenant of peace.
 
Isa 38:14  Like a swallow or a crane, so I did chirp: ehgeh moaning, muttering, meditating as a dove: my low eyes fail to look up: Adonaiy Lord I am oppressed; areveini make an exchange, become surety, mortgage (death pledge), become a ransom for me.
 
Hezekiah explains the din of his expressions of pain. The cacophony of cries that issue from his suffering body and soul. He likens his suffering to oppression, an allusion to the oppression of Israel, particularly with regard to her time in Egypt. The sickness is the Tyrant that is oppressing Hezekiah and is a figure for sin, which oppresses his soul.
 
“my low eyes fail to look up”. The plain meaning is that Hezekiah is so weak and sick that he lacks the physical and emotional energy to look up, either for food or in a spiritual sense to make proper supplication before God. The Targum Yonatan conveys this in the spiritual sense by alluding to the manifest glory of the Shekhinah:
 
“I lifted up mine eyes, that refreshing might come to me from (before) Him whose Shekhinah is in the highest heavens: Lord, hear my prayer; grant my petition.” -Targum Yonatan
 
“Lord I am oppressed make an exchange for me.” This shows, at least in part Hezekiah’s understanding that his suffering can only be overcome through a redemptive ransom. The title Adonaiy is used rather than the Holy Name YHVH: while Adonaiy can refer to any lord, YHVH refers only to Hashem. Thus, in petitioning Hashem Hezekiah has chosen a title that might also be used of Messiah, a man Who is God with us. “Make an exchange for me” equates to “take my place”, or “Bail me out”. Thus, whether Hezekiah fully understand what he is asking for or not, he is essentially requesting that God take his place and bear the suffering for him. This is of course, the very nature and mechanism of the Gospel: Messiah (Imanu-El, with us-God) becomes the ransom that atones for our sin and makes us whole.
 
Isaiah will later prophecy the greater answer to Hezekiah’s request:
 
“Surely He has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to His own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” -Isaiah 53:4-6
 
Isa 38:15  What will I say? Now speaking to me Himself He has fashioned, made, done it: I will go softly all my years upon the bitterness of nafshiy my soul.
 
Hezekiah acknowledges that in when faced with God’s authority, mercy and redemption there is nothing more a man can say.
 
Ibn Ezra suggests that this verse refers to the answer of God and the promise of an additional 15 years. This view would mean that the final clause refers to the way Hezekiah intends to address bitterness in the years ahead, be it through illness or political intrigue. However, it is equally possible that this verse is referring to the first words of the Lord spoken through Isaiah concerning Hezekiah’s certain death. If this is the correct understanding then the present verse shows that Hezekiah has concluded that he should exhibit a contrite state of heart before God in the face of his imminent death.
 
Isa 38:16  Adonaiy Lord, according to this life are all these things, and in the life of ruchiy my spirit ve-ta-chalimein-iy so You will recover me (chalam as from a dream), ve-ha-chayeiniy and cause me to live.
 
“according to this life are all these things”. What things? All those things aforementioned in Hezekiah’s mikhtav: pain, sorrow, despair, distress, oppression are all part of a man’s life on earth in a sin affected world.
 
“These things” might also refer to the things fashioned by God for the sake of Hezekiah, however, this is less likely. What is certain is that all things exist according to God’s word and that “man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Deut. 8:3 Matt. 4:4). Therefore, we can understand this verse to convey the idea that relying on the things of God is the foundation for the recovery the human spirit.
 
“In the life of my spirit, so You will recover me and cause me to live.” Hezekiah has just prior to this named those things that are common to life on earth in a sin affected body: now he makes a distinction between the sin affected body and the everlasting nature of the spirit ruach, that part of the person that continues to exist in Sheol after death awaiting the resurrection and restoration of the physical in the perfect world to come. Therefore, contrary to the protestation of many modern scholars, Hezekiah is clearly showing an understanding of the afterlife that includes the conscious state of the spirit within Sheol, be it in Gan-Eden or Gehinnom. After all, the Hebrew chalam is used as a descriptor that invokes the idea of waking from a dream. What is this life if not the dream that acts as a prelude to the reality of eternity. Thus, “In the life of my spirit, so You will recover me and cause me to live” takes on an ambiguous meaning that illuminates both the physical healing of Hezekiah and the post death reality of his spirit when the 15 years are concluded.
 
The Targum also interprets this verse as referring to the resurrection:
 
“O Lord, You have said concerning all the dead, that You will quicken them, and You have quickened my spirit before any of them: You have quickened, You have made me to live.” -Targum Yonatan
 
Isa 38:17  Hineih Behold, now, le-shalom for peace I had great bitterness: but You have chashakta in longing for nafshiy my soul delivered it mishachat from the pit of wearing out: for You have cast behind Your back all my sins.
 
One cannot dispute the fact that Hezekiah understands his deliverance to be both physical and spiritual. It is deliverance from sin that he is alluding to here, something that can only be purchased by a substitutionary sacrifice of shed blood. Therefore, he understands at least in part the redemptive process of God through Messiah, even though at that time in history Messiah was yet to enter time and space. Thus, we understand that the transcendent nature of the resurrected Messiah is inferred by Hezekiah’s words.
 
“now, for peace I had great bitterness”. Is understood by Ibn Ezra to refer to Hezekiah’s life being at the middle point of his days and the bitterness refers to his illness. Thus, at 39 years old he was considered to be in the relatively peaceful middle time of life rather than at one end or the other. It was therefore, in the peaceful time of his life that he received the dreadful news of his imminent death and was thus embittered. However, Yosef Kimchi interprets this phrase to mean that peace had replaced the bitterness: “Now my life is for peace, though I had great bitterness”. This I believe is the correct interpretation.
 
“but You have in longing for my soul delivered it from the pit of wearing out: for You have cast behind Your back all my sins.” Hezekiah recognizes that God has longed for him in love and mercy and will both deliver him from the physical wearing out of his body in the immediate sense, and from the just punishment for his sins in the eternal sense.
 
Isa 38:18  For Sheol (Holding place of departed humans, divided into Gan-Eden and Gehinnom) cannot praise You, nor can death yahaleka celebrate (shine light on) You: there is no hope for those who descend into bor a pit, well, cistern, to come into amitecha Your truth.
 
It is true that the holding place Sheol cannot praise God, nor can death, which is not a person but a state resulting from sin. This of course does not negate the ability of the departed to engage with God (Rev. 6:9-11), Who is not bound by time and space, nor is He deaf to the conscious departed (Though it is true that they have no means of communicating with those who remain living in the sin affected world of the present reality).
 
The latter clause “there is no hope for those who descend into a pit, to come into Your truth” is best summed up by the Scripture “It is appointed unto human beings to die once and then the judgement” (Hebrews 9:27). In other words, there is no dispensation for salvation following death: a person must accept God’s redemptive offer during life and or in the moments of transition between life and death.
 
Isa 38:19  Chay Life, chay life, he yodecha shall throw praise to You, kamoni as I do ha-yom this day: Av Father levaniym to the children You make known amitecha Your truth.
 
“Chay, chay” The living, both those corporeally and spiritually alive will always praise God.
 
“As I do this day” refers first to the day that Hezekiah receives his healing and in general to every day on which Hezekiah’s voice gives praise to Hashem.
 
The Father mentioned is of course Hashem and the children (plural) are Israel, ethnic, religious and subsequently all those who through Israel’s Messiah receive the truth that the Father makes known. “Your truth made known” is the redemption of human beings and of all sin affected creation through the shed blood of the Son and King Messiah Yeshua.
 
Isa 38:20  HaShem (YHVH: Mercy, the LORD) is for saving me: u-neginotay therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life at beiyt the house of HaShem (YHVH: Mercy, the LORD).”
 
The singular grammar of the first clause is beautiful: “Mercy is for saving me”. Take time to pause and consider this, HaShem is for saving you, are you for accepting that salvation?
 
Notice that following the singular phrasing of the first clause that the Hebrew uses the plural to describe the songs of praise. Why? Because Hezekiah is referring to something more than physical healing and salvation from certain death in his personal immediate context. He is also referring to the deliverance of Judah from the Assyrians: further still and most importantly he is alluding to that salvation which places our sin behind the back of God (as it were). Thus, in the likeness of the psalmist we (all Israel and those from other nations who find redemption through her Messiah) sing praises “all the days of our life at the house of HaShem”, both physical atop the Temple mount and eternal, being in God and the Lamb, Who reside in place of the Temple in the New Jerusalem, a city which has no need of a Temple (Rev. 21:22).
 
Isa 38:21  For Yeshayahu (YHVH, he is salvation: Isaiah) had said, “Let them take a cake of pressed figs, and use it as a medicinal rub upon the boil, and he will recover.”
 
These verses are retrospective in that they refer back to the process of healing that occurred over the period of time that Hezekiah was recording his mikhtav.
 
The mechanism for the healing reminds us that God heals in many and varied ways and not always instantaneously. The goal of the miraculous is to point people to salvation. Healing is of little value if it only extends life unto eternal death. The purpose of God’s healing is to invoke salvation and wholeness. Thus, Yeshua says “Go, your faith has made you whole.” And not “Go, your faith has healed you” as some intellectually dishonest English versions suggest (Luke 19:17; Mark 5:34; 10:52 etc.)
 
Isa 38:22  Chizkiyahu (Hezekiah: my strength is YHVH, Mercy) also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of HaShem (YHVH: Mercy, the LORD)?
 
Once again this verse should be understood retrospectively and refers to the sign of the shadow reversing up the stars of Ahaz, which has occurred chronologically speaking prior to this point in the narrative. As explained earlier, these verses are included directly prior to the healing of Hezekiah in the 2 Kings 20 account.
 
Copyright Yaakov Brown

Introduction:
Following destruction of Babylon, God will show mercy to His chosen people ethno-religious Israel and return her to her land, prospering her in peace and subduing her oppressors so that Israel will rule over those who had taken her captive.
 
This chapter contains prophecies of the restoration of the Jews, of the fall of the king of Babylon, and the destruction of the Assyrian empire, and the ruin of the Pilishtiym (immigrants). Proselytes will join the dispersed Jews and even aid their return to the land of Israel. Subsequently those who join themselves to Israel will serve her in the land and in many cases they will be the descendants of her oppressors. Thus Israel will rule over her captors. Israel will find rest in God and freedom from the fear and suffering she experienced under bondage.
 
As a result of her redemption and security in God, Israel will take up a song, share a parable, make a proclamation; concerning the fall of the king of Babylon. Israel’s song will echo throughout the nations and others will rejoice at hearing it. For the tyrant that once oppressed Israel and the nations will be brought down to Sheol, the holding place of the departed.
 
Following the parable spoken against the king of Babylon, prophecies of destruction are issued against Assyria and the Pilishtiym (immigrants) who have come against the people of Israel and their land. It is as if, with the seat of confusion (Babylon) destroyed, the progeny of her wickedness (Assyria and Philistia) are without sustenance from the root of confusion and therefore, perish.
 
Finally, those who ask how all this has come about are given the answer, “HaShem (YHVH: Mercy) has founded Tziyon (Zion: parched land), and the humble of His people will seek refuge in it.”
 
Text:
Isa 14:1  For yeracheim mercy born of love HaShem (YHVH: Mercy) will show to Yaakov (Follower), u-vachar and will decide for, elect, choose od (perpetually going round) be’Yisrael on Israel (Overcomes in God), ve-hiniycham and rest them upon their own ad’matah soil: and join to them ha-geir (foreigners in Israel) the sojourners, and they shall cleave (attach themselves) to the house of Yaakov (Follower).
 
Mercy will show loving mercy to the follower and will choose him perpetually, living in the one who overcomes through God: the follower will rest securely in his own land and people from other tribes will join themselves to his tribe because of what Mercy has done.
 
The Holy Name denotes mercy. Therefore, it is Mercy Himself Who shows mercy to Yaakov the follower. The text doesn’t just say that God will “choose Yaakov” but that He will “perpetually choose Yaakov”. Rather than replace or supersede Yaakov, God will continually choose him throughout time and if other nations wish to be delivered by being chosen, they must attach themselves to Yaakov. It is attachment to and not replacement of Israel, that is the essence of the writings of Rav Shaul in his letter to the Roman believers of the first century CE.
 
Numerous English translations render the Hebrew “od” as “again”, which conveys only a derivative attribute of the word. In fact the Hebrew “od” literally means to go round continually. In short, it is best represented in English by the word “perpetually”. Therefore, while it is true that God chooses Israel again, the greater illumination of that truth is that He consistently and perpetually chooses her.
 
The Hebrew “geir” refers specifically to resident aliens. Meaning those who choose to live peacefully in the land among the community of Israel. Many of the instructions of the Torah make allowances for those who are not ethnically Jewish but live among the Jewish people. There is an important distinction to be made here between those who favour Israel from afar and those who live in the land as aliens who love and support her. The present text is referring to the latter.
 
Jewish commentators such as Kimchi and Ben Melech apply these verses to the times of the Messiah; and Yarchi to the Olam Haba (world to come), when Israel is to be redeemed with a perfect redemption.
 
Isa 14:2  And the amiym peoples shall take hold of them, ve-heviyum and enter together  to mekomam their place: and the house of Yisrael (Overcomes in God) will possess them in adamat the land of HaShem (YHVH: Mercy) for servants and handmaids: and it comes to pass that the captives will capture their captors; and they shall rule over their oppressors.
 
In this verse Isaiah further illuminates his former prophecy regarding the Messianic age when people from the nations will flock to the mountain of the Lord in order to learn to walk in His ways (Isa. 2:2-4).
 
Note that it is “amiym” rather than “goyim” that take hold of Yaakov and help him return to enter into the land of Israel and go up to “mekomam” their place. It is tribal groups from within the nations rather than the nation, who will cleave to Yaakov. More specifically, given the present context of the prophecy, these peoples are residents of Babylon who will help Jews escape and return to the land of Israel. A comparative edict from Cyrus of Persia was later made in fulfilment of what Jeremiah had spoken:
 
“And whosoever remains in any place where he sojourns, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, beside the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.” -Ezra 1:4
 
“Mekomam” their place, is a reference to the Temple mount “Makoom”.
 
This aspect of the prophecy has never been fully realized politically speaking. However, it is intrinsically linked to the Messianic theme of Isaiah and the other prophets of the Tanakh (Isa. 2:2-4; 52:10; 54:2-5; 55:5; Mic. 4:1-4; Zech. 8:2-23).
 
In the present chapter we see a concise revelation of what is prophesied in chapters 46-66. That is, “Babylon falls, that Israel may rise!” -Delitzsch
 
Isa 14:3  And it comes to pass beyom in that day, ha-niyach the rest (comfort) of HaShem (YHVH: Mercy) lecha will come to you meiatz’becha from your sorrow (pain, idol), and from ha-avdah your labour and hard bondage under which you were made to work.
 
The hard bondage of the Babylonian exile is likened to that of the bondage Israel suffered in Egypt. Once again the deliverance and rest of Israel rests on Hashem.
 
Notice that the comfort of Hashem will come to Israel both in compensation for and as a result of her bondage and suffering. The text says that the rest and mercy of Hashem will come to Israel “From” her suffering.
 
“…we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope.” -Romans 5:3
 
Our rest is born of Messiah’s suffering.
 
Isa 14:4  And all of you will nasa take up, carry, bear ha-mashal the parable, proverb, poem against the king of Bavel (Babylon: confusion), and say, “How has the oppressor ceased? Ceasing Madheivah his boisterous rage!
 
The Hebrew “nasa” carry or take up, is related to “neis” banner, miraculous sign. Thus, Israel is to take up and publically display this parable (mashal) of God’s goodness and redemption in His destruction of Babylon (figuratively, the seat of Satan’s power).
 
Though the text may refer to a specific Babylonian king (possibly Belshazzar), it none the less speaks against any and all satanic rulers of empire in history past, present and future. It is the seat of satanic power that is ultimately being spoken against.
 
We note that in a remez (hint) concerning the name of Bavel, that we read “And all of Israel will take up and proclaim this parable against the king of confusion.”
 
The rhetorical question, “How has the oppressor ceased?” is answered in the power and majesty of God Himself.
 
Isa 14:5  HaShem (YHVH: Mercy) has broken in pieces mateih the staff, branch, tribe of the wicked ones, and sheivet the root, sceptre, tribe, rod of the rulers.
 
God will break the staff of the wicked and their oppressive rule (Specifically Babylon), the branch of their direct progeny and the entire tribe associated to them. He will also remove kingly authority from the seat of Satan’s power, never to allow rulers to come forth from it again.
 
Isa 14:6  He who struck the amiym peoples (tribes) in wrath with a continual striking, he that ruled the goyim nations in anger, is persecuted, and no one prevents it.
 
This verse describes the wicked actions of the king of Babylon and his open hatred for all the tribes (peoples) of the earth. He struck down tribes within nations and continued to strike nations in his unfounded anger. He persecuted many and few had the courage to stop him, nor were the courageous able to. This, though specific to the king of Babylon, is a description of every evil tyrant the world has or will know. It is ultimately a figure for Satan.
 
Isa 14:7  Nachah restful (comforting) shaktah tranquillity (quietness) is over all ha-aretz the land/earth: he breaks out with a ringing cry.
 
“Ha-aretz” can be translated either “Land” or “earth” here.” Land is acceptable because in the context of Israel’s parable against the king of Babylon it makes sense that they are thoughtful of their own land. On the other hand, tribes and nations are mentioned and the reign of the Babylonian Empire engulfed the entire middle east, therefore, it might just as well be translated “earth”.
 
Ultimately, the rest, peace, comfort, tranquillity and quietness over the earth, is the direct result of God’s destruction of the king of Babylon and his empire, both literally and figuratively.
 
“And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.” -revelation 19:20
 
Thus, the land/earth breaks out in song. This personification denotes the redemption and reconciliation of all things.
 
“For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.” -Romans 8:19
 
Isa 14:8  Also , the fir trees rejoice at you, the cedars of Le’vanon (witness) saying, “Since you are asleep (have been laid down), no one has ascended to cut us down to the ground.”
 
Since the destruction of Babylon and its allies, no armies have entered the land of Israel to besiege its cities. Therefore, the trees of Lebanon to the north have not been cut down for use as siege towers and battering rams etc.
 
Figuratively the towering trees unfelled represent abundance and health in the land. They prosper in times of peace and in personified form they rejoice at the coming redemption of all things. Isaiah is very fond of personifying trees and seems to have had a special love for creation (Isa. 1:29, 30; 2:13; 6:13; 9:10; 10:18; 17:7; 32:15; 41:19; 55:13).
 
The euphemism “laid down” refers to temporal death. Yeshua used this same euphemism to refer to death of the body.
 
“Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.” -Yochanan (John) 11:11
 
Isa 14:9  Sheol (Holding place of the departed) from beneath quakes for you to meet you as you enter: it stirs up for you the raphaiym spirits, all the he goats (chief ones) of the aretz earth; it has raised up from their thrones all the kings of the goyim nations. Isa 14:10  All of them will speak and say to you, “Have you also become as weak as we are? Have you become like us?
 
The next three verses are an excellent example for distinguishing between the holding place of the departed and the grave, which in Hebrew are two entirely different things. Sheol, the holding place of the departed is far beneath, and is a spiritual place that is cut off from all ties to this world. Ha-kever, the grave, on the other hand is the physical resting place of the body, devoid of but intrinsically linked to, the spirit/soul. Ancient Jews, and in fact many Jewish communities still to this day, inter the bodies of their dead in above ground mausoleums and or box like stone or concrete coverings. There are many examples of this in Scripture, including the interment of Avraham in the cave of Machpelah (Gen. 50:13) and the interment of the bones of Elisha (2 Kings 13:21).
 
In ancient times kings were met by the royalty of the cities they entered, usually with celebration of alliance in the case of allies and with humility and subservience in the case of the conquered. Here however, the king of Babylon will be met in Sheol by the spirits of departed kings who he once ruled over as a tyrant. They will greet him with taunting and mock his mortal frailty.
 
The phrase “He goats” is a metaphor for a chief or tribal ruler, in the sense that the strongest male is usually head of the flock.
 
“Raphayim”, means “feeble ones” or “spirits” as in departed spirits who are no longer inhabiting their earthly bodies. These spirits are bound to the realm of Sheol. Thus, “raised up” is written in the context of Sheol. They are raised up within Sheol from their fallen thrones.
 
Isa 14:11  Descending to Sheol (not the grave [Kever] but the place of the dead) is your majesty, the noise of your nevaleycha skin bag, pitcher, instrument: beneath you is a bed of maggots, and covering you are scarlet female worms.
 
“For when he dies he shall carry nothing away;
His glory shall not descend after him.” -Tehillim (Psalm) 49:17
 
Isa 14:12  How have you fallen from the heavens, heiyleil Shinning one, self-praising one, ben shachar son of the dawn? Cut down la’aretz to the ground, earth, land: choleish prostrated in weakness al-goyim upon the nations!
 
In a literary sense this verse refers to the king of Babylon. The text is figurative and alludes to his pompous pride and arrogant claims. The Babylonians worshipped numerous gods, chief among them being in the heavens. The morning star, that is the brightest star in the morning sky (Venus) was an enviable position for the king of Babylon and in his pride he likened himself to it. However, in the figurative language of the text he is said to be brought down from his high horse and laid prostrate in weakness before the nations he had once ruled over.
 
There are some who see a remez (hint) in this text and make a comparison to Satan being like an angel of light. While this is not the p’shat (plain meaning), it does have some weight to it. Yeshua may be alluding to this text when He says:
 
“I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” -Luke 10:18
 
Isa 14:13  For you have said vile’vavecha in your inner being, heart, “Into the heavens I will ascend, I will exalt my throne above the stars of El (God: Judge): I will sit also upon the mount of the moeid appointed place (place of convocation and gathering), in the sides of the north:
​
Once again with dramatic hyperbole the proud ranting of the king of Babylon sees him exalting himself even above the stars (symbolic of angels) of the Supreme God El-Elyon, the God of all things. The Har-moeid mount of appointed gatherings, is a reference to the Temple mount in Jerusalem. Thus the king of Babylon boasts with the vilest of blasphemes, that he is greater than the God of Israel, Creator of the heavens and the earth.
 
Pride is the fruit of self-deification. Idolatry is the root of all sin. The boast of the king of Babylon is a satanic one. It is the very definition of anti-Messiah. Thus, figuratively speaking this text is alluding to the man of perdition, the anti-Messiah who will come in the latter days.
 
“Let no man deceive you by any means: for except there comes a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition. Who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.” – 2 Thessalonians 2:5
 
In the Targum of Yonatan the last part of the verse reads:
 
"over the people of God I will put the throne of my kingdom;''
 
Isa 14:14  I will ascend upon the high place of the av dark clouds; I will be like le’Elyon the most High.
 
“I will ascend above all people… I will be higher than them all.” -Targum Yonatan         
 
Isa 14:15  Surely to Sheol you will descend, to the extremity of the pit.
 
The plain meaning again refers to the king of Babylon and his literal death. The figure continues to show the demise of satanic power. In which case Sheol becomes a precursor to the second death.
 
“Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.” -Revelation 19:20
 
“The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” -Revelation 20:10
 
Isa 14:16  They that see you will gaze sharply at you, and with discernment say, “Is this ha-iysh the man that made ha-aretz the land, earth to tremble, that shook kingdoms?
 
The man is literally the king of Babylon and figuratively the anti-Messiah (man of perdition).
 
Isa 14:17  Who made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities within; refusing to open the house of his prisoners?”
 
This describes the horrific nature of the destruction that the king of Babylon brought to the cities of the earth. Those he imprisoned suffered a fate worse than death, never to see the light of day again.
 
Isa 14:18  All the kings of the goyim nations, all of them together, lie in glory, each one in his own house.
 
This means that the kings of these nations remained interred in their original burial places within their homelands awaiting the resurrection. “Glory” refers to their memory and their graves being honoured.
 
Isa 14:19  But you are cast out of your kever grave like a weed, and like the clothing of the slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet.
 
We notice that the king of Babylon is cast out of his grave (kever), not out of Sheol (Holding place of the departed). This means that his enemies will dig up his grave and desecrate his remains, treading him under foot. This is the ultimate act of desecration over the dead.
 
Isa 14:20  You will not be teichad joined with them in burial, because you have destroyed your land, slain your people: do not recite the seed of evildoers.
 
The king of Babylon will not join the kings of the earth in honourable burial because unlike them he did not honour his own people. Thus his subjects took part in desecrating his body. One is reminded of modern history and the mockery and torture of Gadhafi when he was captured and subsequently killed and his body desecrated, all caught on film for the world to see.
 
The phrase, “Do not recite the seed of the evildoers” means, “Don’t recount the lineage of the wicked”.
 
Isa 14:21  Firmly established is the children’s matbeiach slaughtering place because of the iniquity of their fathers; they will not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities.
 
This is an instruction to the Medes and Persians to prepare themselves for the slaughter of the whole royal family, Belshazzar and all his children. 
 
In a figurative sense it means the slaughter of all wickedness born of the seat of Satan’s temporal earthly power.
 
Isa 14:22  “For I will rise up against them”, says HaShem (YHVH: Mercy) Tzevaot (Who goes to war, of hosts), “and cut off from Bavel (Babylon: confusion) the name, and remnant, and offspring, and posterity”, says HaShem (YHVH: Mercy). Isa 14:23  “I will also appoint it a possession for the porcupine, ve-agmei mayim and troubled pools of water: and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction”, says HaShem (YHVH: Mercy) Tzevaot (Who goes to war, of hosts).
 
Here it is not the Medes who rise against Babylon but God Himself. This strengthens the figurative message that HaShem Tzevaot will go to war against evil and annihilate it, removing it forever from the eternal world of the righteous.
 
Isa 14:24  HaShem (YHVH: Mercy) Tzevaot (Who goes to war, of hosts) has sworn, saying, “Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand”:
 
What God has firmly established cannot be thwarted.
 
Isa 14:25  “I will break Ashur (a step) the Assyrian in be’artziy My land, and upon My mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders”.
 
Now, having destroyed the root, Hashem turns to the fruit of the seat of evil, the other nations who have come against Israel and her God. The Assyrians who have invaded Israel and sought her destruction will be stamped out on the very mountains they presumed to occupy and as a result the burden of oppression suffered by the Jewish people will be removed.
 
The “yoke” can also refer to false teaching or the yoke of the teaching of foreign religions and spirituality. Thus, false gods and beliefs will be removed from Israel when Assyria is destroyed.
 
Isa 14:26  This is the purpose that is purposed upon col-ha-aretz the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all ha-goyim the nations.
 
All nations who act as Assyria has against Israel and against God will perish in like manner.
 
Isa 14:27  For HaShem (YHVH: Mercy) Tzevaot (Who goes to war, of hosts) has purposed, and who shall frustrate it? and His hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?
 
HaShem has perpetually purposed the redemption of Israel and the destruction of her enemies. No one can prevent what He has firmly established outside of time and space.
 
Isa 14:28  In the year that king Achaz (He has grasped) died was ha-masa this burden.
 
Achaz died approximately 715 BCE. The burden is the word against Philistia (immigrants) who dwell in the land of Israel.
 
Isa 14:29  Do not rejoice, you whole Peleshet (Land of immigrants), because the rod of him that struck you is broken: for out of the root of the nachash serpent shall come forth tzepa an adder, and his fruit saraph a fiery flying serpent.
 
The Pilishtiym, according to Genesis 10:14 (1 Chronicles 1:12) were a Hamitic people. Sometime during the second millennium BCE they came into Canaan from Caphtor (Crete) and settled along the southwestern coast of Israel below the territory of Judah.
 
Both historically and because this follows directly after the prophecy against Assyria, it is possible that the “rod of him that struck you” refers to the Assyrians. Another possibility is that it refers to Babylon, which makes more sense in light of the figurative language used regarding the serpent.
 
Whomever the enemy of the Pilishtiym may have been, the point is that from the remnant of that enemy an even deadlier foe will come against them and finally the deadliest of foes, as the progression of snake types shows.
 
Isa 14:30  And the firstborn of the poor will feed, and the needy will lie down in safety: and I will kill your root with famine, and he will slay your remnant.
 
The poor among the Jews who Philistia persecuted will receive food and Israel will lie down in peace while HaShem brings famine on the Pilishtiym and will wipe them out through the fiery serpent of the previous verse. 
 
Isa 14:31  Heiliyliy Howl, O gate; cry, O city; you, whole Peleshet (Land of immigrants), dissolved: for there will come from the north a smoke, and there will be no straggler in his appointed times.
 
The confederacy of Philistia was made up of Ekron, Gath, Ashdod, Ashkelon and Gaza. Thus “the whole of Philistia” will be dissolved. The enemy coming from the north is unknown, but the description is similar to that of the Assyrian army as it approached to invade Israel (Isa. 5:26-27).
 
The Pilishtiym are mentioned for the last time by Zechariah (9:6). Thus Isaiah’s prophecy of their disappearance from history without a trace became a reality.
 
Isa 14:32  What answer will be given to malachiy-goy the messengers of the nation? That HaShem (YHVH: Mercy) has founded Tziyon (Zion: parched land), and the humble of His people will seek refuge in it.
 
Nations will seek answers for the miraculous deliverance and prosperity of Israel. One answer will be given:
 
“HaShem (YHVH: Mercy) has yesad  founded Tziyon (Zion: parched land), and the humble of His people will seek refuge in it.”
 
The Hebrew “yesad” is from the root “yasad”, meaning founded, fixed, established, foundation. It is used in numerous scriptures in reference to the establishing/founding of the earth itself (Psalm 78:69; 119:90; Proverbs 3:19; Isaiah 45:18; Jeremiah 10:12; 51:15).

“The Lord by wisdom founded the earth;
By understanding He established the heavens;” -Proverbs 3:19
 
The founding of Zion (The Holy mountain, Land and people of Israel) rests in YHVH the LORD. The answer is, that the least of peoples (Israel) have been established and find refuge due to the pre-ordained and sacred choice of God. We are who we are because He has loved us with an everlasting love. The answer is that we always have a place of shelter and refuge to return to, He is the Rock of our refuge, the fierce warrior of our protection, the humble King of sacrifice and the resurrection of the dead.
 
But be warned, only “the humble among his people seek refuge in mount Zion”.
 
Without humility, no one can come to God.
 
Copyright 2018 Yaakov Brown

Introduction:
At the end of chapter 7 Israel was left with the prophetic words describing the devastation and desolation that was soon to consume the entire land. Chapter 8 adds to that prophecy by instructing Isaiah with the words, “Take a large tablet/mirror and write on it using a human engraving tool concerning hurried spoil, hastening robbery…”

The writings of the prophet Isaiah have a redemptive rhythm that conveys the meta-narrative of God’s redemptive plan and purpose for Israel and subsequently unto the nations. It is therefore unfortunate that the traditional Christian chapter division of Isaiah 8 and 9 does not take the Hebraic formula into account. The traditional Christian division of the text places the last verse of Isaiah 8 in the position of the first verse of Isaiah 9 and thus reduces the impact of the redemptive rhythm of the prophet’s words. For the purposes of my commentary I have included the complete contents of chapter 8 as correctly discerned and ordered by our rabbis.

Isa 8:1 And HaShem (YHVH: Mercy) said to me, “Take a great gilayon tablet/mirror, and write on it using a common human (enosh) engraving tool (cheret), concerning Le-Maheir (Hurry) shalal (Spoil) chash (Hasten) baz (Robbery).”

What HaShem says here to Isaiah is an addition to the prophecy of the previous chapter, thus, “And”. Isaiah (Salvation of YHVH) is instructed to take a large tablet or mirror, and engrave upon it the warning, “Hurried spoil, hastening robbery”. At this point in the prophecy the Hebrew phrase that was to become the name of Isaiah’s son is simply a statement of warning and not used as a proper noun.

The Hebrew gilayon refers to a tablet of wood, stone or polished metal, and is thus also used to describe ancient mirrors which give a reflection, albeit a murky one. Tablets were used to record the written word by engraving or chiselling out the text. There are many archaeological examples of this ancient practice attributed to the period. Scrolls made from kosher animal skin were also used for recording purposes during this period of Israel’s history. The word cheret describes an iron engraving stylus and the Hebrew enosh, meaning man or human, infers common use.

The Hebrew gilayon is significant because it reflects the dual meaning of both a written warning and a mirrored indictment. Judah is being both warned and given an opportunity to look in the mirror. Judah’s actions have hurried spoil and hastened robbery (The people of Judah had taken what little spoil the poor had [Isaiah 3:5, 15; 5:8], and Achaz their king had effectively robbed HaShem’s Har Beit (Mountain House) by giving the Temple silver and gold to the king of Assyria [Ashur] in payment for his help against Ephraim and Aram [2 Kings 16:7-8]).

The hastening of Judah’s destruction and the hurrying of her captivity is a direct response to her mocking words recorded in Isaiah 5:19, “They say, ‘Let Him hurry and hasten His work that we may see it…”

Isa 8:2 And I took to myself trusted witnesses, Uriyah (My light is YHVH) the cohen priest, and Zechar’yahu (YHVH Remembers) the son of Ye’varekhyahu (YHVH Blesses).

With regard to the two witnesses the Torah itself is the best commentary:

“One witness shall not rise up against a man for any perversity or any sin, in any sin that he sins, upon the mouth of two witnesses or upon the mouth of three witnesses will a word (d’var) rise up (yakum), be established, stand.” –Deuteronomy 19:15

There are at least two possibilities here regarding the phrase, “trusted witnesses”:

1.) Uriah the priest is not the same man as is mentioned sinning against God by becoming an accomplice in Achaz’s building of a pagan altar [2 Kings 16].

2.) Uriah is the same priest mentioned in 2 Kings 16, and the phrase “trusted witnesses” refers to their being trusted by the people of Judah rather than being a description of their personal moral character.

Regardless of the moral character of the witnesses, their names reflect God’s grace and love toward His disobedient people: HaShem (Mercy) is my light, HaShem (Mercy) remembers, HaShem (Mercy) blesses. It is interesting to note that this section of Isaiah ends with a promise of “Heavy Glory/Light” because HaShem “Remembers” His people and “Blesses” them because of His character and not because of their character (8:23 [9:1]).

Isa 8:3 And I went in to ha-naviyah the prophetess; and she conceived, and gave birth to a son. Then said HaShem (YHVH: Mercy) to me, “Kera Proclaim his name Maheir (Hurry)-shalal (Spoil)-chash(Hasten)-baz (Robbery).”

Isaiah was not instructed to simply name his son “Maheir-shalal-chash-baz” but to proclaim his name, that is, in the hearing of the people of Judah on a public occasion. Thus he has now written a warning from HaShem on a tablet, reflected that message, seeded a son who would bear the same message and shouted out the message, making it both a warning and a living proper noun. Judah and Ephraim have been justly warned.

Isa 8:4 For before this boy will know how to cry, “Avi My father”, and “Imi My mother”, the riches of Damesek (Silent sackcloth weaver) and the spoil of Shomeron (Watch Mountain) shall be taken away before the king of Ashur (A step).

This prophecy was spoken in late 733 BCE/BC and its literal fulfilment began less than a year later in 732 BCE/BC when Damascus (Damesek) was captured by the Assyrians (Ashur) and Samaria (Shomeron) subsequently ceased to be a kingdom in 722 BCE/BC.

Isa 8:5 Yosef Adding, HaShem (YHVH: Mercy) dabeir spoke to me continually (going round, circuit), saying, Isa 8:6 For as much as this people refuses the waters of Shiloach (To walk) that go softly, and rejoice in Retzin (Firm) and Remalyahu's (Protected by YHVH) son;

It is interesting to note the correlation between the perpetual or circuit-like words of HaShem to Isaiah and the subsequent outcome prophesied in 8:23 [9:1].

The people have refused the mayim waters (life) of shiloach my walking or sent one (Living out God’s instruction, given by His prophet [sent one]), and have instead rejoiced in the Assyrian king and the strength of human beings.

Shiloach (Siloam), meaning “sent one” or “of me walking”, is the same pool at which Yeshua ministered to a blind man (John 9:1-12). It is the pool whose wall was repaired by Shallun son of Kol-Hozeh, ruler of the district of Mizpah during the time of Nehemiah the prophet (Nehemiah 3:15 [444 BCE/BC]). It is also the pool from which water was drawn for the water ceremony of Sukkot (Booths, dwellings). Thus the symbolism is both poignant and clear. God has sent this living water for the healing and cleansing of the people. It is easily accessed at the foot of Mount Zion and is available to all the people, existing as a physical symbol of God’s provision of spiritual vision given to the sightless, and yet they have refused this gift of living water from HaShem and have instead hastened to seek their own desolation by investing their hope in the king of Assyria. A king who will one day soon rule over them and make them captive to his empire.

Isa 8:7 Hinei Now therefore, behold, Adonai brings up upon them the waters of the river (Euphrates), strong and many, even the king of Ashur (A step), and all his kevodo glory: and he shall overflow all his channels, and overflow all his banks: Isa 8:8 And he shall pass through Yehudah (Praise); he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of your land, imanu (Be with us) El (God).

The waters that Judah have chosen to trust in will overflow and consume them. The waters of Shiloach were soft and flowed gently, offering healing and renewal. On the other hand the waters of the river (Euphrates), which symbolizes the Assyrians, will rush upon them like a tidal wave, instantaneously and violently drowning the people. These flood waters being the result of Judah’s reliance on the river of the king of Assyria. They will reach the neck, meaning that if it were not for HaShem’s protection of the Davidic Dynasty, they would have consumed even the head. However, HaShem will stop them at the neck so that the head (Davidic Dynasty producing the Messiah) is not cut off.

In the face of this prophecy Isaiah is emotionally torn in two. He is tasked with speaking the truth and with warning his people but at the same time he is of Yehudah (Judah), he is one of them, albeit a righteous one. In his desperation over his own people’s coming destruction he cries out to HaShem as if to remind himself that “Imanu (with us), El (is God, the Judge).” The use of the phrase Imanu-El is also a cry for help, calling on the son of the virgin whose birth was yet future.

Isa 8:9 Wicked peoples, be broken in pieces; and give ear, all you of far off lands: equip yourselves, and you will be broken in pieces; encompass yourselves (with protection), and you will be shattered.

In light of the horrifying revelation concerning Judah’s destruction at the hands of her supposed allies, Isaiah now turns his attention to Israel’s enemies. He speaks to warn the nations against gloating over Israel’s temporary desolation (Which is a disciplining and not an annihilation). Paul (Rav Shaul) the Shaliach (Sent one [writing in approx. 60-70 AD/CE]) speaks in a similar way when he warns arrogant Gentile Christians not to despise unbelieving ethnic Israel (Romans 11).

“Do not be arrogant toward these branches (Ethno-religious Israel). If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you.” –Romans 11:18

Isaiah explains to the nations who are to come against Israel that God will not allow them to trust in human strength either. All their efforts to protect and strengthen themselves will be brought down and shattered.

Isa 8:10 Take counsel together, and it will come to nothing; speak the word, and it will not stand: for imanu (with us) El (is God).

Isaiah now alludes to the reason for the destruction of the nations who come against Israel, “With us is God”, which infers that God is not with the nations who attack Israel. God is for all humanity but He is with Israel and those who honour her through His Son, the Messiah Yeshua (Jesus). Again “Imanu-El” is both a phrase and a description of the Messiah’s character.

Isa 8:11 For HaShem (YHVH: Mercy) has spoken to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying, Isa 8:12 “Don’t call, ‘Conspiracy’, all that this people call, ‘Conspiracy’; neither are you to fear what they fear, nor be afraid.”

Isaiah shares a warning with those in Judah who have remained faithful to God. They are warned not to buy into the popular conspiracies and political intrigues of their time. They are not to adopt the prejudices and worries of the secular community. They are not to fear the naysaying words of their superstitious false prophets and mediums, rather they are to be in awe of God and tremble before His judgement.

This same warning is levelled at the observant Jews, Messianic Jews and Christians of today. Too many (so called) Gentile Messianics (Christians) pursue internet Bible teachers and foolish spiritual conspiracy theories that are not of God. Many of these theories come from pseudo learned teachers who have little or no true understanding of the Hebrew view of Scripture. Some of these conspiracies include but are not limited to: Two House Theology (A Satanic Heresy), Kabbalistic Gematria (Occult), accusing every Democratic US President of being the anti-Christ, Misapplying to the Church Scripture pertaining specifically to ethnic Israel, the teaching that spiritual beings have mated with human beings, and the list goes on. Ironically, many of these spiritual conspiracy theories have more in common with Darwinian conjecture and political gossip than they do with authentic spirituality.

Let me echo to you the words of God spoken to Judah through the prophet Isaiah:

“Do not call, ‘Conspiracy’, all that this people call, ‘Conspiracy’; neither are you to fear what they fear, nor be afraid.”

Notice that the righteous are instructed not to fear what the wicked fear. This is because the wicked fear that which cannot redeem them. In other words, by being afraid of conspiracies and false spiritual power they unwittingly become servants of those same entities and enter into a bondage of destruction. The righteous on the other hand are to fear God. In doing so the righteous come under His protection and receive His redemption through the soft flowing waters of Shiloach (Sent one), which is Imanu-El God with us, the Messiah Yeshua.

“Do not fear those who kill the fallen flesh but are unable to kill the nefesh (Soul being): rather, fear Him Who is able to destroy both nefesh (soul unrepentant) and fallen flesh in Gehinnom (place of continual torment).” –Matthew 10:28

Isa 8:13 Only HaShem (YHVH: Mercy) Tzevaot (Of heaven’s armies, going to war) Himself will you Sanctify; and let Him be your morah (awe, reverence, fear), and let Him be your aratz (trembling, dread).

The righteous are instructed to continually walk in the sanctification of the Holy One HaShem and make Him the sole subject of their devotion, awe and trembling. The fear of God is not the fear of punishment, which is upon the unrepentant, but the awe of redemption, which is received by the repentant.

Isa 8:14 And He will be for a le’mikdash sanctuary; le’even to be a stone striking (a fatal blow and for a u-le’tzur rock of michshol stumbling to both the houses of Yisrael (Judah and Ephraim), for a snare and for a ulmokeish baited lure to those who dwell in Yerushalayim.

Isaiah has repeatedly proclaimed and called upon Imanu-El, God’s intimate closeness and presence with His people. Thus Isaiah now reminds the faithful that Hashem Himself has promised to be manifest in the sign of the virgin birth and to cause the son of that virgin to be a stone which strikes a fatal blow to the unrepentant and a rock (Cliff face) of stumbling that brings the wicked in Israel to their knees (with the view to see them repent and be saved).

God Himself will be the Sanctuary and the stone and rock. Isaiah 28:16 makes the connection between Hashem Who is the Sanctuary and the Stone. Meaning that the Messiah Who is to be the Stone (Even) will also be God and therefore Imanu-El with us, God. Paul (Rav Shaul) the Shaliach (Sent One) applies the words of Isaiah 28:16 to Yeshua:

“Behold, I lay in Tzion (Parched land)
a (even even) stone, stone of testing
and a precious corner foundation (rock) a sure foundation,
and whoever believes in Him shall not act quickly (rashly) [or: shall not be put to shame].”
–Isaiah 28:16 (Romans 9:33)

Isa 8:15 And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.

Those taken, as in the case of Matthew 24:38-46, are the wicked, like those taken in the flood and like Lot’s wife (Luke 17:28-36) [neither text alludes to the false theological construct called “Rapture”].

Isa 8:16 Bind up te’udah the testimony, seal the Torah (Books of Moses, Instruction) in my be’limuday disciples.

The testimony is the Word of the prophets and the righteous ones of God in every generation and the Torah is the foundation of the written word, the books of Moses. Isaiah and the righteous of his time are to bind the actions of the living Word to themselves and keep spiritual truth that might be misused away from the mouths of the unfaithful. They are to seal, protect, make accurate copies of and maintain the unbroken transmission of the written Torah and not allow it to be compromised by the wicked in Israel or by the wicked nations that will come to punish her according to God’s temporary disciplining of her.

This text also tells us that Isaiah, like Yeshua, had disciples who adhered to the Word he taught and diligently followed him walking in the ways of Hashem. This is because Isaiah is both a pre-figure of and a prophetic voice concerning the Messiah Yeshua. Perhaps Isaiah had 12 disciples?

Isa 8:17 And I will wait for HaShem (YHVH: Mercy), Who hides His face from the house of Yaakov (Jacob: Judah & Ephraim-Israel), and I will look for Him.

Isaiah waits upon the Lord. The true prophet understands that the future redemption he sees in the spiritual may not be made manifest in his lifetime. Thus he ultimately places trust in Hashem rather than in what he can see with his physical sight. The true prophet accepts that the promises of Hashem are eternal and that the prophet will yet rise at the last day to behold what he has faithful prophesied within time and space.

The phrase, “Hides His face from” means that HaShem has intentionally withheld His manifest countenance from wrestling Jacob (Israel united: prior to her redemption). However, although Hashem’s face is hidden from the one who denies Him, the prophet will seek Him out.

Isa 8:18 Hinei, Now, Behold, I and the children whom HaShem (YHVH: Mercy) has given me are for le’otot signs and for ul’mofetiym wonders in Yisrael from HaShem (YHVH: Mercy) Tzevaot (Of heaven’s armies, going to war), Who dwells in mount Tziyon (Parched land).

Isaiah proclaims his family’s identity as living representations of God’s Word to His people. Yeshua proclaims the same concerning those who have become His followers and therefore Sons of the Living God. We are to be living examples of God’s Word to the world we live in.

Isa 8:19 And when they say to you, “Seek those who consult the dead and those that have familiar spirits, who whisper, moan and growl: shouldn’t a people seek out their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?

Again the prophet rebukes the superstitious people of Judah and their failure to seek God for direction and counsel. Instead they have sought after those who practice witchcraft and are seeking counsel from the dead (Who cannot communicate to the living). This is in direct rebellion toward the Torah and the testimony of the prophets. The Rhetorical question of the prophet is thickened with incredulity.

Isa 8:20 Le’Torah to the Torah and to ve’le’te’udah the testimony! If they don’t speak according to ka’daveir this Word, there is no dawn in them.

Isaiah gives the people of Judah the solution to their predicament, knowing that they will not listen. It is to the Torah they must turn and to the testimony of the prophets. If they fail to do this there will be no dawn (no resurrection) for them. This is a hard word and is as relevant today as it was then. Those who refuse the Living Word (Yeshua) of God and His written Word (Bible/Torah), and who ignore the testimony of His followers, will have no hope of resurrection unto life (dawn). In order to be resurrected unto life the dawn (Yeshua: firstborn from the dead) of God must dwell within us. Imanu-El, with us is God!

Isa 8:21 And they will alienate it, suffering severe hunger: and it has come to pass, that when they will be hungry, they will fret themselves, and curse in their king and uveilohay their God, gods, judges, and turn their gaze upward (Highest part).

The people will alienate God’s Torah and His testimony through the prophets, thus they will invite their own starvation and oppression. As a result they will curse the weakness of their human king who could not save them and curse the false judges and gods who were unable to guide them. They will gaze up toward God in the highest heavens and find no relief because the unrepentant receive silence. No one can come to god without humility.

Isa 8:22 And they will look to the land (of Israel); and Hinei, now, behold distress and darkness, gloom and anguish; and calamity thrust upon them.

Finding no salvation from God because of their unbelief, they will turn their gaze back to the earth only to find that it is filled with calamity, gloom, distress and anguish. This destruction which has been of their own making will come quickly.

Isa 8:23 (Isaiah 9:1) Nevertheless there will be no lasting gloom on her in her anguish, the first will be light affliction on the land of Ze-vu-lun (Exalted) and the land of Naphtali (Wrestling) and afterward heavy glory by way of Ha-yam the body of water beyond ha-Yardein (Descender) Jordan, Geliyl (Circuit, turning) Galilee ha-Goyim of the nations.

Sadly, the reader of the traditional Christian canon will end chapter 8 here in misery and hopelessness. Thank God the rabbis of rabbinical Judaism chose to divide the chapters according to the redemptive rhythm of Isaiah’s words. For the purposes of my commentary I have followed the rabbinical division of chapters and included verse 23 (9:1 in the traditional Christian division of the book).

The majority of commentators suggest that the body of water in this verse refers to the Mediterranean Ocean and that the second clause of verse 23 is therefore describing the trade root that extends from Egypt up via Akko (Acre: costal city north of Haifa) and then across to the Galilee and Jordan River. Thus it makes a type of circuit (Galilee) of trade of the nations (Goyim).

However, a plain reading of the Hebrew text from the context of Isaiah’s view from Jerusalem would seem to indicate that the prophet is speaking in regard to the Galilee itself when he says Ha-yam (The body of water: yam being the Hebrew referring to a body of water and not necessarily an ocean) beyond the Jordan (meaning beyond that place where the Jordan river flows out of lake Galilee*, as perceived from the prophet’s position in Jerusalem). Then he concludes by naming the area of the Galilee that was at times in Israel’s history, and would come to be in her future (Decapolis: 10 towns of foreigners [goyim] First century CE/AD), a location where people of other nations would dwell (East bank of the Galilee and extending down toward Pella). Thus both Israel and the nations will behold the heavy glory that will be manifest in the Galilee region. The glory of the Messiah.

This glorious hope concludes chapter 8 and illuminates the beginning of chapter 9. Of course, the scroll of Isaiah has no such chapter divisions and the rhythm remains intact for the reader who is devoid of the ordered divisions of scholarly interference.

The message of the prophet is clear and redemptive, “Turn from your sins and be saved by the Imanu-el God with us, the light is dawning!”

"Now when Yeshua heard that Yochanan had been handed over, He withdrew to Yam Kinneret (the Galilee). Leaving Natzeret, He came and settled in Kfar Nachum (village of comfort: Capernaum), which is by the yam (Body of water) in the regions of Zevulun and Naphtali. This was to fulfil what was spoken through Yishaiyahu (Isaiah) the prophet, saying,
'Land of Zevulun and land of Naphtali, the way of the lake, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations—the people sitting in darkness have seen a great light, and those sitting in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.'
From then on, Yeshua began to proclaim, 'Turn away from your sins, for the kingdom of heaven is near.'”
–Matthew 4:12-17 (Isaiah 8:23-9:1[9:1-2])

*Lake Galilee is called Yam Kinneret in Hebrew. The Hebrew Kinneret meaning Harp, the lake being shaped like a Harp.

© Yaakov Brown 2017