Rashi, a 10th-century French rabbi, gave the following commentaries regarding Bible prophecies: • Genesis 15:18 "
To your seed I have given The word of the Holy One, blessed be He, is like an accomplished fact." • Genesis 17:8 "
for an everlasting possession And there I will be to you for a God (Gen. Rabbah 46:9), but if one dwells outside the Holy Land, it is as though he has no God (Keth. 110b)." • Exodus 34:11 "
the Amorites... Six nations are [enumerated] here [not the proverbial seven], because the Girgashites [i.e., the seventh nation] got up and emigrated because of them [the Israelites]. -[from Lev. Rabbah 17:6, Yerushalmi Shevi ith 6:1.]" • Deuteronomy 7:1 "
He will cast away Heb. וְנָשַׁל. This is an expression meaning casting away, and causing to fly. Similarly is (Deut. 19:5),“and the iron [axe blade] will cause to fly [from the tree].” • Joshua 15:63 "
the children of Judah could not drive them out We learned in Sifrei : Rabbi Joshua the son of Korha says: They really could, but they were not permitted, because of the oath which Abraham had sworn to Abimelech. Now these Jebusites were not of the Jebusite nation, but the Tower of David which was in Jerusalem, was called Jebus, and the inhabitants of that section were of the Philistines. And when the children of Judah conquered Jerusalem, they did not drive out the inhabitants of that section." • Judges 1:19 "
but they could not drive out Targum Jonathan paraphrases: But after they had sinned, they were unable to drive out the inhabitants of the plain." • Judges 1:21 "
the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem There was a section in Jerusalem called Jebuse, which was populated by the descendants of Abimelech who were not driven out because of the oath [which Abraham had sworn], until the coming of David. This was because his grandson was still alive and Abraham had sworn [Gen. 21:23] to him, his son, and grandson." • 2 Samuel 5:6 "
to the Jebusites Mezudath Zion is called Jebus. Now they (the inhabitants of the area) were of the seed of Abimelech, and they were in possession of two statues, one blind and the other lame, symbolizing Isaac (who was blind in his latter years. See Gen. 22:1) and Jacob (who turned lame as a result of his bout with the angel. See Gen. 32:26), and in their mouths was the oath that Abraham had sworn to Abimelech (Gen. 22:23). For this reason they (the Israelites who had conquered the land) did not drive them out, for when they took Jerusalem they failed to take the stronghold, as it is stated: “And the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the people of Judah were unable, etc.” (Josh. 15:63) – it was learned: R. Joshua b. Levi said: They were indeed able but were not permitted." • 2 Chronicles 13:5 "
a covenant of salt with endurance and permanence." • 2 Chronicles 35:22 "
and he did not hearken to the words of Neco from the mouth of God who said to him from the mouth of God, for so said Isaiah, (19:2): 'And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians.' This is what the Kallir composed: 'He withheld his troops from marching to Aram Naharaim, in order that no single sword should pass through Ephraim; and he did not hearken to the prophet to turn back, for it was decreed that Egyptian be set against Egyptian.'" • 1 Kings 9:7 "
and this house which I have made sacrosanct for My Name There is a condition between Me and You, “If you heed not…” What is stated there? “I shall make desolate your sanctuaries” (Lev. 26:31)." • 1 Kings 11:36 "
a kingdom Heb. ניר, a kingdom. ניר is an expression of a yoke." • Daniel 2:38–45 "
You are the head of gold You are the golden head of the image that you saw, for your kingdom is strong, and now it is in existence and is very prominent.
And after you will arise another kingdom lower than you And after you, after the reign of your son, Belshazzar, will arise a kingdom that will take the ruling power from your seed, lower and humbler than your kingdom.
lower Aram. אֶרַע, lower, as silver is lower and humbler than gold, and you saw that the breast, which is after the head, was of silver; so will the kingdom of Media and Persia, which will follow the kingdom of Babylon, be humbler than the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar.
it will crumble and shatter It will crumble and shatter all the nations.
it will be a divided kingdom It will be a divided kingdom; two kings will rise from it at once, strong and weak, as explained below (verse 42): “part of the kingdom will be strong.”
that they will mingle with the seed of men They will intermarry with the other nations but they will not be at peace and truly cleave to them wholeheartedly, and their laws will differ from the laws of the other nations.
And in the days of these kings in the days of these kings, when the kingdom of Rome is still in existence.
the God of heaven will set up a kingdom The kingdom of the Holy One, blessed be He, which will never be destroyed, is the kingdom of the Messiah. • Daniel 7:4–8 "
The first one was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle It was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle; that is the kingdom of Babylon, which was ruling at that time, and so did Jeremiah see it (4:7): “A lion has come up from its thicket,” and he says also (48:40): “like an eagle he shall soar.”
until its wings were plucked Its wings were plucked, which is an allusion to its downfall.
resembling a bear This represents the kingdom of Persia, which will reign after Babylon, who eats and drinks like a bear and is enwrapped in flesh like a bear.
and it stood to one side and it stood to one side, indicating that when the kingdom of Babylon terminates, Persia will wait one year, when Media will reign.
and there were three ribs in its mouth Aram. וּתְלָת עִלָעִין בְּפֻמַּהּ, three ribs. Our Sages explained that three provinces were constantly rebelling against it [i.e., Persia] and making peace with it; sometimes it would swallow them and sometimes spit them out. That is the meaning of “in its mouth between its teeth,” sometimes outside its teeth, sometimes inside (Kid. 72a), but I say that the three עִלָעִין are three kings who will rise from Persia: Cyrus, Ahasuerus, and Darius who built the Temple.
four wings... four heads They are the four rulers to whom Alexander of Macedon allotted his kingdom at his death, as is written in the book of Joseph ben Gurion (Book 3, ch. 14), for this third beast is the kingdom of Antiochus, and it is called נָמֵר because it issued decrees upon Israel [which were] spotted (מְנֻמָּרוֹת) and varied one from the other.
and... ten horns Aram. וְקַרְנַיִן עֲשַׂר. The angel explained to him that these are the ten kings who would ascend [the throne] of Rome before Vespasian, who would destroy the Temple.
speaking arrogantly words of arrogance. That is Titus, about whom the Rabbis, of blessed memory, said (Gittin 56b) that he blasphemed and berated and entered the Heichal with brazenness." • Daniel 7:25 "
until a time, two times, and half a time This is an obscure end, as was said to Daniel (12:4): “And you, Daniel, close up the words and seal,” and the early commentators expounded on it, each one according to his view, and the ends have passed. We can still interpret it as I saw written in the name of Rav Saadia Gaon, that they are the 1,335 years stated at the end of the Book (12:12): “Fortunate is he who waits [and reaches the days one thousand three hundred and thirty-five],” and he explains the appointed time as until the time of two times and a half time, and he [Rav Saadia Gaon] said that the times are 480 [years], which is the time from the Exodus from Egypt until the Temple was built, and 410 [years], [which are] the days of the First Temple, totaling 890, and another half of this time, 445, totaling 1,335. Figure these from the time the daily sacrifice was discontinued until the daily sacrifice will be restored to its place; it was discontinued six years prior to the destruction, and there is somewhat of a proof in this Book. [See Rashi to 8:14.] Others bring further proof to this computation, namely that (Deut. 31: 18): “And I, will hide My face” [the words] הַסְתֵּר אַסְתִּיר add up in gematria to 1,335." • Daniel 8:14 "
Until evening and morning, two thousand and three hundred I saw an interpretation in the name of Rav Saadia Gaon for this matter, but it has already passed, and he interpreted further “until evening and morning,” that evening about which it says (Zech. 14:7): “and it shall come to pass that at eventide it shall be light,” and we are confident that our God's word will stand forever; it will not be nullified. I say, however, that the עֶרֶב and בֹּקֶר stated here are a gematria, and there is support for this matter from two reasons: 1) that this computation should coincide with the other computation at the end of the Book, and 2) that Gabriel said to Daniel later on in this chapter (verse 26): “And the vision of the evening and the morning is true.” Now, if he had not hinted that the computation was doubtful, why did he repeat it to say that it was true? And the seer was commanded to close up and to seal the matter, and to him, too, the matter was revealed in a closed and sealed expression, but we will hope for the promise of our king for end after end, and when the end passes, it will be known that the expounder has erred in his interpretation, and the one who comes after him will search and expound in another manner. This can be interpreted [as follows]: namely, that עֶרֶב בֹּקֶר has the numerical value of 574, ע = 70; ר = 200; ב = 2; ב = 2; ק = 100; ר = 200. Added together, this equals 574; plus 2,300, we have 2,874.
and the holy ones shall be exonerated The iniquity of Israel shall be expiated to bring an end to the decrees of their being trodden upon and crumbled since they were exiled in their first exile to Egypt, until they will be redeemed and saved with a perpetual salvation by our king Messiah, and this computation terminates at the end of 1, 290 years from the day the daily sacrifice was removed, and that is what is stated at the end of the Book (12:11): “And from the time the daily sacrifice is removed, and the silent abomination placed, will be 1,290 years,” and no more, for our king Messiah will come and remove the silent abomination. The daily sacrifice was removed six years before the destruction of the Second Temple, and an image was set up in the Heichal. Now that was the seventeenth day of Tammuz, when Apostomos burned the Torah, put an end to the daily sacrifice, and set up an image in the Heichal, as we learned in Tractate Ta’anith (26b), but for the six years that I mentioned, I have no explicit proof, but there is proof that the daily sacrifice was abolished less than a complete shemittah cycle before the destruction, for so did Daniel prophesy about Titus (9:27): “… and half the week of years [shemittah cycle] he will curtail sacrifice and meal-offering,” meaning that a part of the week of years before the destruction, sacrifices will be abolished. So it is explained below in this section. Let us return to the earlier matters, how the computation of “evening and morning, two thousand and three hundred,” fits exactly with the time commencing from the descent to Egypt to terminate at the end of 1,290 years until the day that the daily sacrifice was abolished: 210 years they were in Egypt. 480 years transpired from the Exodus until the building of the Temple. 410 years the Temple existed. 70 years was the Babylonian exile. 420 years the Second Temple stood. 1,290 should be added until the end of days, totaling: 2,880. Subtract six years that the daily sacrifice was removed before the destruction, for Scripture counted 1,290 years only from the time that the daily sacrifice was removed. Here you have the computation of “evening and morning, and 2,300” added to the computation. Fortunate is he who waits and reaches the end of days 45 years over 1,290 [years]. We may say that the king Messiah will come according to the first computation, and he will subsequently be concealed from them for forty-five years. Rabbi Elazar HaKalir established (in the concluding poem of the portion dealing with the month of Nissan): in the foundation of his song: six weeks of years, totaling 42. We may say that the three years that did not total a week of years he did not count. And I found it so in Midrash Ruth that the king Messiah is destined to be concealed for forty-five years after he reveals himself, and proof is brought from these verses." • Daniel 12:11–12 "
And from the time the daily sacrifice was removed in order to place a silent abomination in its stead, are days of one thousand two hundred and ninety years since the daily sacrifice was removed until it will be restored in the days of our King Messiah, and this calculation coincides with the calculation of (8:14): “evening and morning, two thousand and three hundred” from the day of their exile to Egypt until the final redemption: Egyptian exile 210; From their Exodus until the First Temple 480; First Temple 410; Babylonian exile 70; Second Temple 420; Totaling 1590. The daily sacrifice was removed six years before the destruction, which equals 1584. Add 1290, and the total sum is 2874; like the numerical value of בֹּקֶר עֶרֶב [574] plus 2300 [2874]."
Fortunate is he who waits etc. Forty five years are added to the above number, for our King Messiah is destined to be hidden after he is revealed and to be revealed again. So we find in Midrash Ruth, and so did Rabbi Eleazar HaKalir establish (in the concluding poem of the morning service of the portion dealing with the month of Nissan): “and he will be concealed from them six weeks of years.” • Ezekiel 29:11 "
neither shall it be inhabited for forty years Forty-two years of famine were decreed in Pharaoh’s dream, corresponding to the three times the dream is written. He saw seven bad cows and seven bad ears of grain (Gen. 41) and he told it to Joseph; hence we have [it mentioned] twice, and Joseph said to him, “The seven thin and bad cows and the seven empty ears,” totaling forty-two for the famine. But they had only two, as it is stated (ibid. 45:6): “For it is two years now that the famine has been on earth,” and when Jacob came down to Egypt, the famine ceased, for behold in the third year they sowed, as it is stated (ibid. 47:19): “and then you give us seed that we may live etc.,” and the forty years were paid to them now: “neither shall it be inhabited for forty years.” תֵּשֵּׁב means sera asijiee in Old French. will be settled, peopled." • Ezekiel 29:21 "
On that day will I cause the horn of the House of Israel to blossom out I have neither heard nor found the explanation of this verse. What is the blossoming of the horn of Israel in the downfall of Egypt? Was not Israel exiled eight years before the downfall of Egypt? [Therefore,] I say that “On that day” refers back to the above section, (verse 13): “At the end of forty years, I will gather the Egyptians.” That count ends in the year that Belshazzar assumed the throne, and we find in Daniel that in that year the kings of Persia began to gain strength, and downfall was decreed upon Babylon, as it is said (Dan. 7:1): “In the first year of Belshazzar,… Daniel saw a dream, etc.”; (verse 4) “The first one was like a lion” - that is Babylon. And it is written (ad loc.): “I saw until its wings were plucked off, etc. (verse 5) And behold another, second beast, resembling a bear” that is Persia. And it is written (ad loc.) “And thus it was said to it, ‘Devour much flesh.’” i.e., seize the kingdom. And the kingdom of Persia was the blossoming of the horn of Israel, as it is said regarding Cyrus (Isa. 45:13): “He shall build My city and free My exiles.” Now, how do we know that the forty years of Egypt ended at that time? [The proof is that] Egypt was given into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar in the twenty-seventh [year] of Nebuchadnezzar, in the year that this prophecy was said to Ezekiel. Add forty years, and you have sixty-seven. Deduct from them forty-five for Nebuchadnezzar and twenty-three for Evil-Merodach, as we say in Megillah (11b), one of these years counting for both [kings], as we say there: “they were incomplete years.” • Ezekiel 30:4 "
and there will be quaking in Cush [Heb. חַלְחָלָה,] expression of trembling. When they hear of Egypt’s downfall, they will fear for their lives: perhaps the king of Babylon will rise up against them." • Ezekiel 30:18 "
a cloud will cover her Trouble will come upon her and cover her, and it will become dark [for her] like a day covered with clouds." • Ezekiel 30:21 "
I have broken the arm of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt already another time, for I placed his army in the hands of Nebuchadnezzar in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, as it is said in the Book of Jeremiah (46:2): “Concerning Egypt, concerning the army of Pharaoh-neco, the king of Egypt, which was on the Euphrates in Carcemish, whom Nebuchadnezzar king smote, etc.”
and behold, it was not bound from that day on, as it is said at the end of the Book of Kings (II 24:7): “And the king of Egypt no longer went out of his land, for the king of Babylonia had taken from the river of Egypt,” and with this expression Jeremiah, too, prophesied concerning that blow, using the language “it has no cure,” as it is said (Jer. 46:11): “Go up to Gilead and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt; in vain you have increased medicines, you have no cure.” חֻבָּשָּׁה is an expression of binding, for they bind the broken bone." • Jeremiah 12:14–15 "
My wicked neighbors Egypt, Ammon and Moab, Tyre and Sidon, who were neighbors of Eretz Israel and were inflicting harm upon them.
I will return and have pity on them They all suffered close to the destruction of the Temple, and concerning each one it is stated in this Book, “I will return the exile of…” • Jeremiah 33:18 "
for all time There shall not be cut off from them seed fit to offer up a burnt-offering or to burn a meal-offering." • Jeremiah 34:5 "
You shall die in peace Our Sages stated that Nebuchadnezzar died during his lifetime (Moed Katan 28b), for all the days of Nebuchadnezzar his prisoners were not freed from their imprisonment, and when Nebuchadnezzar died, Zedekiah emerged from the prison. He died the next day and was buried with pomp." • Isaiah 7:9 "
if you do not believe My prophecy, you, Ahaz, and his people, for I know that you are wicked. • Isaiah 7:14 "
the young woman My wife will conceive this year. This was the fourth year of Ahaz.
Immanuel [lit. God is with us. That is] to say that our Rock shall be with us, and this is the sign, for she is a young girl, and she never prophesied, yet in this instance, Divine inspiration shall rest upon her. This is what is stated below (8:3): “And I was intimate with the prophetess, etc.,” and we do not find a prophet's wife called a prophetess unless she prophesied. Some interpret this as being said about Hezekiah, but it is impossible, because, when you count his years, you find that Hezekiah was born nine years before his father's reign. And some interpret that this is the sign, that she was a young girl and incapable of giving birth." • Isaiah 13:17 "
Behold I stir up Media against them Darius the Mede assassinated Belshazzar. So Scripture states (Dan. 5:30): “On that very night, Belshazzar… was slain”; (ibid. 6:1) “And Darius the Mede acquired the kingdom.” • Isaiah 13:22 "
and her days The days of her flourishing shall not be extended, for Israel was promised (Jer. 29: 10): “When seventy years of Babylon are over, I will remember you.” And that remembering will be through Cyrus king of Persia, who will take the kingdom from Babylon after Darius the Mede, for they both, Media and Persia, joined over it, [i.e., over Babylon,] and stipulated between themselves, if the kings are from us, the governors are from you." • Isaiah 17:2 "
The cities of Aroer are abandoned Jonathan renders this as an expression of destruction. Comp. (Jer. 51:58) “shall be destroyed (עַרְעֵר תִּתְעַרְעַר), and he explained it in reference to the cities of Aram, i.e., Jonathan renders it: Their cities are abandoned, they are destroyed. The Midrash Aggadah (introduction to Lam. Rabbah 10 [with variations], Yalkut Machin) asks in amazement, since Aroer was [part] of Eretz Israel, as it is said (Num. 32:34): ” and Aroer.“ He is dealing with Damascus and he announces matters concerning Aroer? But, since in Damascus there were streets as numerous as the days of the solar year, and in each one was a pagan deity, which they would worship one day in the year, and the Israelites made them all into one group and worshipped all of them every day, he, therefore, mentioned the downfall of Aroer juxtaposed to Damascus. I explain it, however, according to the simple meaning of the verse, as follows: Since Rezin and Pekah son of Remaliah joined together, and the prophet prophesying about the downfall of Damascus, and saying, ” Behold, Damascus shall be removed from [being] a city," and the cities of Aroer which belonged to Pekah were already abandoned, for the Reubenites and the Gadites had already been exiled, and they were always given to the flocks of sheep, and the sheep of Moab would lie there undisturbed, he continues to say that the kingdom of Pekah shall continue to be gradually terminated, and that Samaria, too, shall be captured in the days of Hoshea, and then (v. 3) And a fortress shall cease from Ephraim and a kingdom from Damascusfor Rezin shall be killed." • Isaiah 19:5 "
And water from the sea shall dry up And the sea shall not return the Nile to its source, but the Nile will descend into it and will not ascend to water Egypt." • Isaiah 19:17 "
And the land of Judah shall be to Egypt for a dread When those remaining in Egypt from the captivity of Sennacherib hear of his downfall, that he will fall in the land of Judah without any physical warfare, they will know that the Divine Presence is manifest in Israel and that their Savior is mighty, and they will fear and be frightened of the land of Judah." • Isaiah 19:18 "
On that day there shall be five cities, etc. We learned in Seder Olam (ch. 23): Following Sennacherib’s defeat, Hezekiah stood up and released the armies he had brought with him from Egypt and from Cush in chains before Jerusalem, and they imposed upon themselves the kingdom of heaven, and returned to their place, and it is said: “On that day there shall be five cities, etc.” They went and built an altar to the Lord in the land of Egypt and they would sacrifice on it to heaven, to fulfill what was said: On that day there shall be an altar to the Lord in the land of Egypt. Some of our Sages expounded it in the tractate Menahoth (109b) as referring to the altar of the temple of Onias the son of Simon the Just, who fled to Egypt and built an altar there." • Isaiah 19:23–25 "
there shall be a highway And there shall be a paved road by which they will always go from Egypt to Assyria.
and Assyria shall come upon Egypt Jonathan renders: And the Assyrians shall wage war with the Egyptians.
Israel shall be a third to Egypt and to Assyria for a blessing, since there was no prominent nation in the world at that time like Egypt and like Assyria, and the Jews were humble in the days of Ahaz and in the days of Hoshea the son of Elah. And the prophet states that, through the miracle that will be performed for Hezekiah, Israel's name will be greatly magnified, and they will be as prominent as one of these kingdoms in regards to blessing and greatness.
Which...blessed them [lit. him,] i.e., Israel.
Blessed is My people Israel, whom I chose for Myself as a people when they were in Egypt.
and the work of My hands I showed them with the mighty deeds I performed wondrously against Assyria, and through those miracles they will repent and be as though I just made them anew, and they will be My heritage, Israel. Jonathan paraphrased this in a similar manner." • Zechariah 10:11 "
the waves of the sea to sink Tyre." • Obadiah 1:18 "
for the Lord has spoken Now where did He speak? (Num. 24:19) “Out of Jacob shall come a ruler, and he shall destroy him that remains in the city.” [from Mechilta Bo 12:16, Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer ch.37]" • Haggai 2:6 "
and I will shake up with the miracles performed for the Hasmoneans.
the heaven, etc. And they will understand that My Shechinah rests in this House, and they will bring gifts of silver and gold, as is written in the book of Joseph ben Gurion." ==Muhammad==