1 Onus Babylonis, quod vidit Isaias, filius Amos.
Jerome · AD 420 (Chapter XIII—Verse 1) The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah, son of Amos, saw. The Hebrew word 'Messa' can be understood as burden, load, or weight. And wherever it is mentioned, it signifies a heavy message. Hence, I wonder why the Septuagint translators wanted to use the word 'vision' in this sad context; but that is a topic for another time.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 The burden of Babylon. Here he threatens against the Babylonians, who had captured the two tribes. And this is divided into two parts: in the first, he threatens the destruction of the enemy, in the second, he promises, from this, the comfort of the Jews: her time is near at hand (ch. 14). The first of these is divided into two.
2 Super montem caliginosum levate signum: exaltate vocem, levate manum, et ingrediantur portas duces.
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 2.) On the dark mountain, raise a sign, lift up your voice, raise your hand. The dark mountain, also called the mountain of darkness, which in Hebrew is called Nesphe, represents Babylon because of its pride.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 By a mountain is designated the apostate angel, as is said to preachers concerning the ancient enemy under the character of the king of Babylon, Lift ye up a banner upon the gloomy mountain. For holy preachers lift up a banner above the gloomy mountain, when they exalt the virtue of the cross against the pride of Satan, which is frequently concealed under the mist of hypocrisy.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Concerning the first of these, he does two things. First, he sets out the calling together; and he calls them together to attack and besiege: lift up a sign, that is, a banner, upon the mountain, of Babylon, dark, because of the smoke from the fire, when it had been burned.
3 Ego mandavi sanctificatis meis, et vocavi fortes meos in ira mea, exsultantes in gloria mea.
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 3) I have commanded my sanctified ones. Concerning this, in the Septuagint (LXX): I will command, and I will bring them. For he himself sanctifies his ministers, so that both the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified may all be one.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Second, he sets out the condition of those who are called as to their suitableness on account of charge of office: my sanctified ones, as if to say: those whom I have sanctified to carry out this office; and as to power: strong; and as to cheerfulness: them that rejoice: the Lord has sanctified those he has called (Zeph 1:7).
4 Vox multitudinis in montibus, quasi populorum frequentium; vox sonitus regum, gentium congregatarum. Dominus exercituum præcepit militiæ belli,
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 4, 5.) The voice of the multitude on the mountains, like the voice of many people: the sound of the gathered kings of nations. The Lord of hosts has commanded the forces of war to come from afar, from the top of the heavens. The Lord and His vessels of fury, to destroy all the earth.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 The voice of a multitude. Here he describes the coming of those who are called, and first, as to the lowly: the voice of a multitude; second, as to the great, the voice of the sound of kings: their voice shall roar like the sea (Jer 50:42); below: the tumult of crowds shall come (Isa 17:12). The Lord of hosts. Here he decrees the command.
5 venientibus de terra procul, a summitate cæli; Dominus, et vasa furoris ejus, ut disperdat omnem terram.
Jerome · AD 420 (Vers. 5, 6.) How has the tax collector ceased, the tribute rested? The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked: the rod of the rulers, smiting the people in wrath, with an incurable plague, subjecting the nations in fury, persecuting cruelly. In the Epistle of Peter we read: The time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God (1 Peter 4:17).
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Second, divine help to fulfill the command: from the end of heaven, as though to help; and the instruments of his wrath, that is, all kinds of arms.
6 Ululate, quia prope est dies Domini; quasi vastitas a Domino veniet.
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 6, 7.) Howl, for the day of the Lord is near; it will come as destruction from the Lord. Therefore all hands will be feeble, and every man's heart will melt, and be crushed. For the warriors of the Lord are coming to destroy all the earth, howl and repent, for punishment is coming.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Howl. Here he describes the affliction of the punishment. And concerning this he sets out three things: first, the fear of those to be punished; second, the affliction: behold, the day (Isa 13:9); third, the ferocity of the punishers, behold I will stir up (Isa 13:17).
7 Propter hoc omnes manus dissolventur, et omne cor hominis contabescet,
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 7, 8.) Therefore, all hands will be loosened, and every man's heart will waste away and be crushed. There will be twisting and pain: they will be in agony like a woman in labor. Each person will be astonished at their neighbor; their faces will be burned with the expression of fear.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Second, as to the abatement of work: therefore shall all hands be faint: the king of Babylon has heard the report of them, and his hands are grown feeble (Jer 50:43).
8 et conteretur. Torsiones et dolores tenebunt; quasi parturiens dolebunt: unusquisque ad proximum suum stupebit, facies combustæ vultus eorum.
Ambrose of Milan · AD 397 The day of the Lord comes suddenly, it says, and in an unexpected way like the pains of childbirth, which forestall all one's efforts to hide them.
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 8.) They will be tormented with twists and pains. They will groan like a woman giving birth. Each one will be astonished at their neighbor. Their faces will be burned.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Third, as to the disturbance of the heart, which is disturbed in three ways. According to its inner state, either as to cheerfulness: and every heart of man shall melt; or as to magnanimity: and shall be broken, as though divided into little pieces; or as to security, by the distress of fear: gripings: there were pains as of a woman in labor (Ps 48:8).
9 Ecce dies Domini veniet, crudelis, et indignationis plenus, et iræ, furorisque, ad ponendam terram in solitudinem, et peccatores ejus conterendos de ea.
John Chrysostom · AD 407 Concerning that day, hear the prophets, saying, "The day of the Lord is incurable, full of anger and wrath." For there will be none to stand by, none to rescue, nowhere the face of Christ, so mild and calm.
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 9.) Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel and full of indignation, wrath and fury, to make the earth a desolation, and to destroy its sinners. He calls it a cruel day, not because of its own merit, but because of the people. For he is not cruel who kills the cruel, but because he appears cruel to those who suffer.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Behold, the day. Here he describes the punishment of the afflicted. And concerning this, he sets out three things: first, the magnitude of the punishment: full of indignation, as to the removal of mercy; and of wrath, as to the delight of punishment; according to the Philosopher: the angry are saddened, but rejoice in punishing; and fury, as to impetuous vengeance, for fury is…
10 Quoniam stellæ cæli, et splendor earum, non expandent lumen suum; obtenebratus est sol in ortu suo, et luna non splendebit in lumine suo.
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 10) For the stars of the heavens and their splendor will not extend their light; the sun will be darkened at its rising, and the moon will not shine with its light. The Hebrew word Chisile () was translated as ὠρίωνα in the Septuagint. The Hebrews, with whom I studied, translated it as Arcturus.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 It is also expressed in the removal of comfort: for the stars of heaven, and their brightness shall not display their light, either literally as how they are reckoned, for all things seem dark to the afflicted; or the stars, the princes; the sun in his rising, the king; the moon, the queen: the sun became black as sackcloth of hair (Rev 6:12).
11 Et visitabo super orbis mala, et contra impios iniquitatem eorum; et quiescere faciam superbiam infidelium, et arrogantiam fortium humiliabo.
Clement of Rome · AD 99 You have opened "the eyes of our hearts" so that we realize you alone are "highest among the highest, and ever remain holy among the holy." "You humble the pride of the arrogant, overrule the plans of the nations, raise up the humble and humble the haughty.
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 11) And I will visit the evils of the world, and against the wickedness of their iniquities. When God visits and strikes; He strikes in order to correct.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Second, he sets out equity, ordaining the punishment for the fault which they committed against themselves: I will visit, I will avenge, the evils of the world, that is, of Babylon, for it was in that monarchy, or because of the multitude of those assembling from all over; and, as to the fault which they also committed against their subjects, through the oppression of the wicke…
12 Pretiosior erit vir auro, et homo mundo obrizo.
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 12) How you have fallen from heaven, Lucifer, son of the morning! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! LXX: How you have fallen from heaven, Lucifer, son of the morning! You have been shattered on the earth, who once sent to all the nations.
Bonaventure · AD 1257 That price is most precious. On account of this Isaiah says: "A man shall be more precious than gold, and a human being than pure gold of Ophir." This he says of Christ, who made us precious.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Third, he sets out the moderation of the punishment. And he sets out four things: first, the small number of defenders: more precious, that is, more rare: the word of God was precious (1 Sam 3:1), and a man, who can defend by power, yea a man, who can defend by counsel, the finest of gold, that is, red gold, which is the best, above: they that remain of the trees of his forest…
13 Super hoc cælum turbabo; et movebitur terra de loco suo, propter indignationem Domini exercituum, et propter diem iræ furoris ejus.
Jerome · AD 420 (Verses 13, 14.) You said in your heart: I will ascend to heaven, above the stars of God I will exalt my throne; I will sit on the mount of the covenant on the sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Second, the commotion of the elements: for this I will trouble the heaven: and the earth shall be moved, as to the literal sense, there could have been a storm in the air and an earthquake in the earth; or this is hyperbole for the magnitude of their evils: I beheld the earth, and lo it was void, and nothing: and the heavens, and there was no light in them (Jer 4:23).
14 Et erit quasi damula fugiens, et quasi ovis, et non erit qui congreget. Unusquisque ad populum suum convertetur, et singuli ad terram suam fugient.
Eusebius of Caesarea · AD 339 In this way the word [Scripture] clearly shows the few who will be saved in the day of the ruin of those who are evil. Therefore, one cannot expect that all those who are uncircumcised and all of the Jewish nation, without exception, will receive the promises of God.
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 14) And it will be like a frightened doe, and like a sheep, and there will be no one to gather. It signifies the people of Babylon and the Chaldeans, who flee in fear from the invasion of the Medes and Persians, like a doe and a sheep fleeing from the roar of a lion and the howl of a wolf: they have no defender or ruler whose authority they can follow.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Third, as to the dispersion of those who flee, citizens and warriors as much as captives, a doe, a swift animal: deliver yourself as a doe from the hand (Prov 6:5); my flocks were scattered upon the face of the earth (Ezek 34:6).
15 Omnis qui inventus fuerit occidetur, et omnis qui supervenerit cadet in gladio;
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 15.) Everyone who is found will be killed, and everyone who comes will fall by the sword. Those who do not flee will be struck with a sword, and anyone who tries to resist or return will not be of any help to the captured city, to the extent that they will shed their own blood as well.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Fourth, as to the oppression of those who remain, which occurred in three things: in the killing of men: every one that shall be found, as to citizens, every one that shall come to their aid, as to foreigners, infants, as to children: with you I will break in pieces the old man and the child (Jer 51:22).
16 infantes eorum allidentur in oculis eorum, diripientur domus eorum, et uxores eorum violabuntur.
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 16.) Their infants will be shattered before their eyes: their houses will be plundered, and their wives violated. This is what David prophesied in the Spirit: O daughter of Babylon, miserable one, blessed is he who will repay you according to what you have done to us. Blessed is he who will seize and shatter your little ones against the rock (Psalm 139:8).
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Second, in the pillaging of goods: their houses shall be pillaged: our inheritance is turned to aliens: our houses to strangers (Lam 5:2); third, as to the violation of women: their wives shall be ravished: they humiliated the women in Zion (Lam 5:11).
17 Ecce ego suscitabo super eos Medos, qui argentum non quærant, nec aurum velint;
Jerome · AD 420 [Daniel 5:30-31] "On that same night Belshazzar, King of the Chaldeans, was slain, and Darius the Mede succeeded to his kingdom at the age of sixty-two." Josephus writes in his tenth book of the Jewish Antiquities that when Babylon had been laid under siege by the Medes and Persians, that is, by Darius and Cyrus, Belshazzar, King of Babylon, fell into such forgetfulness of his…
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Behold I will stir up the Medes against them. Here he describes the ferocity of the enemy, which is not appeased by tribute: who shall not seek silver.
18 sed sagittis parvulos interficient, et lactantibus uteris non miserebuntur, et super filios non parcet oculus eorum.
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 18 and following) And Babylon will be glorious among the kingdoms, renowned in the pride of the Chaldeans, just as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Nor softened by mercy: but with their arrows they shall kill the children, neither on powerless men: the sucklings, nor on little children: their sons: behold, I will bring upon her, and she shall be utterly destroyed (Jer 51:64).
19 Et erit Babylon illa gloriosa in regnis, inclyta superbia Chaldæorum, sicut subvertit Dominus Sodomam et Gomorrham.
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 19.) And Babylon will be glorious in kingdoms, renowned in the pride of the Chaldeans: just as the Lord overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah: it will not be inhabited until the end, and it will not be established until generation after generation.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 And that Babylon. Here he describes Babylon's subsequent desolation. And first, the destruction of the city: turned, that is, overturned, as Sodom, about which Revelation 18:10 says: alas! Alas! That great city, Babylon, that mighty city: for in one hour is your judgment come.
20 Non habitabitur usque in finem, et non fundabitur usque ad generationem et generationem; nec ponet ibi tentoria Arabs, nec pastores requiescent ibi.
Jerome · AD 420 (Verses 20-22.) Neither the Arabs will pitch their tents there, nor will shepherds rest there; instead, there will be beasts, their houses will be filled with dragons, and ostriches will dwell there, and hairy creatures will leap about. And owls will answer in her buildings, and sirens in the temples of pleasure.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Second, as to its perpetual solitude: it shall no more be inhabited: him that bends his bow shall not live there, and him that is armed with a coat of mail shall not go up (Jer 51:3).
21 Sed requiescent ibi bestiæ, et replebuntur domus eorum draconibus, et habitabunt ibi struthiones, et pilosi saltabunt ibi;
John Chrysostom · AD 407 Wherefore I entreat, let us kill the serpent, let us shut up the wild beasts, let us stifle them, let us slay them, and these wicked thoughts let us give over to the sword of the Spirit, lest the prophet threaten us also with such things as he threatened Judea, that "The wild asses shall dance there, and porcupines, and serpents." For there are, there are even men worse than wi…
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 21, 22.) The seed of the wicked, prepare your sons for the slaughter of the sins of their fathers: they will not rise nor inherit the land, nor fill the face of the cities of the world. And I will rise up against them, says the Lord of hosts: and I will destroy the name and remnants of Babylon, and its seed, and its offspring, says the Lord of hosts.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 As to the inhabitation of beasts and the dead: but wild beasts shall rest there, who love solitude. Dragons, who, according to some, are large winged serpents, according to others, are large fish with wet scales, and according to others, are cubit long serpents that eat other serpents and, because of this, poison with the breath of their mouths.
22 et respondebunt ibi ululæ in ædibus ejus, et sirenes in delubris voluptatis.