A Prophet Without Honor
1 Jesus went out from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him.
2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many hearing him were amazed, saying, “Where did this man get these things? And what is this wisdom given to him, and such remarkable miracles performed by his hands?
3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
Thus says the Lord—
the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One—
to the despised One, to the One abhorred by the nation,
to the servant of rulers:
“Kings will see and rise,
princes will also bow down,
because of the Lord, who is faithful,
and the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.” ISA 49:7
Rashi’s Commentary
To the One abhorred by the nation—To the One abhorred by the nation, and he is the servant to those who rule over him.
Kings will see—Him and rise.
Who is faithful—To keep his promise that he promised Abraham concerning the kingdoms, as the matter is stated (Gen 15:17): “And, behold, there appeared a smoking stove, etc.”
2 And he grew up before it like a sapling,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no stately form or majesty; and when we see him,
there is no appearance that we should desire him.
Rashi’s Commentary
And he grew up before it like a sapling—This people, before this greatness came to it, was a very humble people, and it came up by itself like a sapling of the saplings of the trees.
And it was, when the sun had set and it was dark, and, behold, there appeared a smoking firepot and a blazing torch that passed between these pieces [intimating the descent of the kingdoms into hell]. GEN 15:17
The Holy One of Israel—Is he, who has chosen you.
And like a root—He grew up out of dry land.
No stately form—Had he in the beginning, or majesty.
And when we see him, there is no appearance that we should desire him—And when we see him from the beginning without an appearance, how could we desire him?
That we should desire him—This is a question.
3 He is despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with pain.
And as one who hides his face from us,
despised, and we held him of no account. ISA 53:2-3
Rashi’s Commentary
And as one who hides his face from us—Because of their intense shame and humility, they were as one
who hides his face from us, with their faces bound up in concealment, in order that we not see them, like a plagued man who hides his face and is afraid to look.
4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his own relatives and in his own home.”
For, even your relatives, and the household of your father—
even they have dealt treacherously with you;
they have called a gang after you.
Do not trust them,
though they speak cordially to you. JER 12:6
Rashi’s Commentary
Have called a gang after you—Heb. מלא, a group of men.
5 And he could do no miracle there except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them.
“Hurry, flee there, for I will not be able to do anything until you come there.” (For this reason [i.e., that it is small (מִצְעָר)], the town was called Zoar.) GEN 19:22
Rashi’s Commentary
Hurry, flee there, for I will not be able to do—This admission of their powerlessness was the angels’ punishment for having said, (v. 13) “For we are about to destroy,” attributing the act to themselves; therefore they could not go away from there (i. e., the incident could not close) until they were compelled to admit that the thing was not in their power) (Bereishit Rabbah 50:9).
. . . for we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become so great before the Lord that the Lord has sent us to destroy it. GEN 19:13
For I will not be able—The pronoun is singular number. This proves that one was to overthrow the city and the other to deliver, for two angels are not sent on the same mission.
When he saw that he could not prevail against him, he touched the socket [the upper bone] of his hip so the socket of Jacob’s hip was wrenched as he wrestled with him. GEN 32:26
Rashi’s Commentary
He touched the socket of his hip—The upper thigh-bone that is sunk in the hip is called כַּף because the flesh on it (on this bone) has the form of the hollow part of a pot-ladle.
1 Behold, the arm of the Lord is not too short to save,
nor his ear too dull to hear.
Rashi’s Commentary
Behold, the arm of the Lord is not too short—Your failure to be delivered is not due to the shortness of my arm.
2 But your iniquities have separated
you from your God;
and your sins have caused him to hide his face from you,
so that he will not hear. ISA 59:1-2
Rashi’s Commentary
Have caused him to hide his face—They caused for you that he hid his face from you.
6 And he wondered at their unbelief.
Jesus Sends Out the Twelve
Then he went around the villages teaching.
He saw that there was no man,
and he was appalled that there was no intercessor;
and his own arm achieved salvation for him,
and his own righteousness, that sustained him. ISA 59:16
Rashi’s Commentary
He saw that there was no man—And now, when he repents of the evil to his people, he sees that there is no righteous man to stand in the breach.
And his own arm achieved salvation for him—And he will take revenge from his enemies.
And his own righteousness, that sustained him—To entice him and to strengthen his hands in his revenge, although we are not worthy of being saved.
Has a nation changed its gods,
which are not gods?
But my people have exchanged their glory
for what does not avail. JER 2:11
Rashi’s Commentary
For what does not avail—For an idol that does not avail.
Jesus Rejected at Nazareth
18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to set free those who are oppressed,
And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel [to bite him]. GEN 3:15
Rashi’s Commentary
And I will put enmity—Your sole intention was that Adam should die by eating it first and that you should then take Eve for yourself (Bereishit Rabbah 20:5), and you came to speak to Eve first only because women are easily influenced and know how to influence their husbands; therefore “I will put enmity.”
And you will strike his heel—As you will have no height (not stand erect) you will be able to strike him only on the heel, but even at that spot you will kill him. The word תְּשׁוּפֶנוּ is of the same import as the verb in (Isa 40:24): “He blew (נָשַׁף) on them.” When a serpent comes to strike, it blows with a kind
of hissing sound, and since the two words coincide i.e.,
Even as though they were not planted,
even as though they were not sown,
even as though their trunk was not rooted in the ground,
and also he blew on them, and they dried up,
and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff. ISA 40:24
2 [Why did] the kings of the earth rise up
and the rulers take counsel together
against the Lord and against his anointed?
Rashi’s Commentary
The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers take counsel, etc.—Heb. רוזנים, senors (seigneurs) in Old French, lords.
Take counsel—Heb. נוסדו, an expression of counsel (סוד), furt konsilez in Old French (furent conseilles), they hold counsel (see below 55:15). And what is the counsel? . . .
they sound alike, Scripture used the expression of נְשִׁיפָה in both cases.
We would devise counsel [in the law] together
and walked to the house of God [the study halls] in the throng. PSA 55:15
6 But I have installed [David] my king [to reign]
on Zion, my holy mountain. PSA 2:2, 6
Rashi’s Commentary
But I have installed my king—Why have you gathered together? I have appointed this one for me to govern and to reign on Zion, my holy mountain.
You loved righteousness and despised wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil [of dominion amidst] the joy of your companions. PSA 45:8
Rashi’s Commentary
Anointed you with the oil of joy—Every expression of greatness is depicted by the anointment of oil, as is the custom of the kings.
to hear the groans of the bound
to undo the bonds of [his] dying sons. PSA 102:21
Rashi’s Commentary
Dying—Heb. תמותה, mortally ill, enmorindes in Old French (as above 79:11).
May the cry of the prisoner come before you;
according to the greatness of your arm [i.e., your strength] preserve those who are condemned to die. PSA 79:11
18 In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll,
and out of their gloom and darkness
the eyes of the blind will see.
Rashi’s Commentary
In that day . . . will hear, etc.—And the curse stated above (v. 10, 14): “For the Lord has brought over you, etc. . . . And the vision of everything has been to you, etc. . . . and the wisdom of his wise men will perish,” will be repealed.
10 For the Lord has brought over you a spirit of deep sleep:
He has sealed your eyes, namely, the prophets;
and he has covered your heads, namely, the seers.
14 Therefore, I will continue to perform a marvelous work to this people,
even a marvelous work and a wonder,
and the wisdom of his wise men will perish,
and the intelligence of his intelligent men will vanish. ISA 29:10, 14
the Lord,
and the needy among men will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. ISA 29:18-19
Rashi’s Commentary
And those who suffered—The suffering ones, who bore the yoke of the Holy One, blessed be he, and his decrees.
19 And those who suffered will increase their joy in
Then the eyes of the blind will be opened
and the ears of the deaf unstopped. ISA 35:5
Rashi’s Commentary
The eyes of the blind will be opened—Those who were blind, not to recognize (lit., from recognizing) their fear (sic) (Warsaw: this fear;) (mss. my fear) upon them.
9 to say to the captives, “Come out,”
and to those who are in darkness, “Show yourselves!”
They will feed along the roads,
and their pasture will be on every barren heights.
Rashi’s Commentary
To say to the captives, “Come out”—At the time I will say to the captives of the exile, “Come out.”
Barren heights—Jonathan renders: נַגְדִּין, streams of water.
24 Can plunder be taken from a mighty warrior,
or the captives of the righteous be rescued?
Rashi’s Commentary
Can plunder be taken from a mighty warrior—You think that it is impossible to take from Esau those captured from Jacob the righteous one.
25 Surely, thus says the Lord,
“Even the captives of a mighty warrior will be taken
and the plunder of the tyrant shall be retrieved;
for I will contend with those who contend with you,
and your children I will save.” ISA 49:9, 24-25
The Lord God has given me a tongue for teaching,
to know to establish times for him who is weary for his word.
He awakens me morning by morning,
he awakens my ear to listen according to the teachings. ISA 50:4
Rashi’s Commentary
Has given me a tongue for teaching—Isaiah was saying, The Lord sent me and has given me a tongue fit to teach, in order to know to establish a time for him who is weary and thirsty to hear the words of the Holy One, blessed be he.
He awakens my ear—He awakens my ear with his Holy Spirit.
To listen according to the teachings—According to the custom of the teachings, the truth and that which is proper.
A Thorn in the Flesh
7 Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from becoming conceited, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from becoming conceited.
The sun rose upon him just as he passed Peniel, and he was limping on his hip. GEN 32:32
Rashi’s Commentary
And he was limping on his hip—He was limping on his hip when the sun rose.
. . . so that his heart will not be haughty over his brothers, and so that he will not turn aside from the commandment [even a “light” commandment of a prophet] to the right or to the left, in order that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his sons in the midst of Israel [if his son is fit to rule, he takes precedence to others]. DEU 17:20
Rashi’s Commentary
And so that he will not turn aside from the commandment—Not even from a less important command given to him by means of a prophet.
He and his sons—This tells you that if his son is worthy of becoming king he has to be given preference to any other person (Horayot 11b).
This work, "A Prophet Without Honor," is a derivative of "The Rashi Chumash" and "The Rashi Ketuvim" by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein used under CC BY 3.0