וְֽהָ֨יְתָ֜ה צִיצַ֤ת נֹבֵל֙ צְבִ֣י תִפְאַרְתּ֔וֹ אֲשֶׁ֥ר עַל־רֹ֖אשׁ גֵּ֣יא שְׁמָנִ֑ים כְּבִכּוּרָהּ֙ בְּטֶ֣רֶם קַ֔יִץ אֲשֶׁ֨ר יִרְאֶ֤ה הָֽרֹאֶה֙ אוֹתָ֔הּ בְּעוֹדָ֥הּ בְּכַפּ֖וֹ יִבְלָעֶֽנָּה׃ (ס)
And the fading flower of his glorious beauty, Which is on the head of the fat valley, Shall be as the first-ripe fig before the summer, Which when one looketh upon it, While it is yet in his hand he eateth it up.
Rashi on Isaiah
as a fig that ripens before the summer like the ripening of the young fruits of an inferior fig.
Ibn Ezra on Isaiah
ציצת נובל The blooming of the blossom which will fade away,4A. V., A fading flower.—I. E. supplies ציץ blossom, or עלה leaf, plant, because of the incongruity of the feminine ציצת and the masculine נובל. There is besides, according to his opinion, a contradiction between a fading flower, and the glorious beauty, which he believes to be in apposition to the former; he explains therefore נובל to have the meaning of a participle future that will fade away, and for a similar reason, השדודה (Ps. 137:8): that will be destroyed. The latter expression is explained by him differently in his commentary on the Psalms (ad locum).—comp. בת בבל השדודה O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed (Psa. 137:8)—or the blossom of the fading plant, and this is better.
Rashi on Isaiah
before the summer the time of the ripening of other figs, which, because of its early ripening, he pounces on it and swallows it while it is still in his hand. So (Dan. 9:14), “He hastened the evil and brought it upon us.”