1 Væ terræ cymbalo alarum, quæ est trans flumina Æthiopiæ,
Hippolytus of Rome · AD 235 The word of Isaiah: "Woe to the wings of the vessels of the land, beyond the rivers of Ethiopia: (woe to him) who sends sureties by the sea, and letters of papyrus [on the water; for nimble messengers will go] to a nation anxious and expectant, and a people strange and bitter against them; a nation hopeless and trodden down."But we who hope for the Son of God are persecuted and…
Cyril of Alexandria · AD 444 Someone might wonder and say to himself, "Why does the prophetic oracle addressed to Damascus now mention the land that is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia?" At certain times the Israelites foolishly abandoned God the Savior of all and fell into the error of worshiping many gods.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Woe to the land, the winged cymbal. Here he threatens against the Egyptians. And first, he threatens their punishment through comparison to what merits the punishment; in the second part, he describes the manner of the punishment: the burden of Egypt (ch. 19); in the third part, he designates the time of the punishment: in the year (ch. 20).
2 qui mittit in mare legatos, et in vasis papyri super aquas. Ite, angeli veloces, ad gentem convulsam et dilaceratam; ad populum terribilem, post quem non est alius; ad gentem exspectantem et conculcatam, cujus diripuerunt flumina terram ejus.
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 2.) He who sends envoys to the sea, and in papyrus vessels on the waters. Go, swift angels, to a nation torn and ravaged, to a fearsome people after whom there is no other, to a nation waiting and trampled, whose rivers they have plundered. Among the Hebrews and Egyptians and the Egyptians themselves and the Egyptians, they are called by one name, Mesraim.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Second, he describes the help which they promised to the two tribes. And first, he describes the manner of announcing, saying: they that, namely, the Egyptian people, sends ambassadors, that is, messengers, to the two tribes, in the sea, that is, through the sea, and upon the waters, of the river or the sea, in vessels of papyrus, a kind of rush, from which they made small boxe…
3 Omnes habitatores orbis, qui moramini in terra, cum elevatum fuerit signum in montibus, videbitis, et clangorem tubæ audietis.
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 3) Therefore, all who dwell and live in the world, lift up their eyes to the sign of the heretics, which is raised as if on mountains, and they hear the sound of the trumpet, that is, their teaching.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 All you inhabitants of the world. Here he threatens the punishment, and concerning this, he does two things. First, he shows the manifestation of the punishment: you shall see, that is, it will be known to you, the sign, the flag of Nabuchodonosor: the nations have heard of your disgrace, and your howling has filled the land (Jer 46:12); or, you shall see the abundance of the e…
4 Quia hæc dicit Dominus ad me: Quiescam et considerabo in loco meo, sicut meridiana lux clara est, et sicut nubes roris in die messis.
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 4) Because this is what the Lord said to me: I will rest, and I will consider in my place. What is it that the Lord said to the Prophet? This is what follows: until what I have commanded comes, I will rest in my seat: as the Jews believe, in the Temple; as we believe, in heaven. And I will consider, he says, the coming of the end of things.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Second, he takes away their confidence in divine defense: for thus says the Lord. And first, because he takes away the help of his defense from them: I will take my rest, as though not helping you; and consider, I will see what you can do: I will consider what their last end shall be (Deut 32:20).
5 Ante messem enim totus effloruit, et immatura perfectio germinabit; et præcidentur ramusculi ejus falcibus, et quæ derelicta fuerint abscindentur et excutientur.
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 5, 6.) For before the harvest it had flowered entirely, and immature perfection had sprouted, and its small branches will be cut with sickles, and whatever has been left behind will be cut off and shaken off.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Third, where it says, before the harvest, he describes a metaphor of the punishment, namely through the destruction of fruit in the field, and he sets out three things.
6 Et relinquentur simul avibus montium et bestiis terræ; et æstate perpetua erunt super eum volucres, et omnes bestiæ terræ super illum hiemabunt.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Third, he places the abandonment of the field itself: and they shall be left, like an uncultivated field, which signifies the slaughter of men, after there were many beasts in the land of Egypt: these things says the Lord God, say to every fowl, and to all the birds, and to all the beasts of the field: assemble yourselves, make haste, come together from every side to my victim,…
7 In tempore illo deferetur munus Domino exercituum a populo divulso et dilacerato, a populo terribili, post quem non fuit alius; a gente exspectante, exspectante et conculcata, cujus diripuerunt flumina terram ejus; ad locum nominis Domini exercituum, montem Sion.
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 7) In that time the gift of the Lord of hosts will be brought by the scattered and torn people, by the terrifying people, after whom there was no other: by the waiting people, waiting and trampled, whose rivers they have plundered, to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, the mountain of Zion.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 At that time. Here the fruit of the punishment is set out, namely, that the people of the two tribes shall trust in God and shall call on his help with offerings of presents, above: and it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and they that shall escape of the house of Jacob, shall lean no more upon him that strikes them: but they shall lean upon the Lord…