19:23
(Verse 23) On that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. As we have shown, the preceding events have been for the good of the Egyptians. Five cities in their land will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord of Hosts. They will have an altar to the Lord in their midst, as well as a marker, testimony, sign, and savior to deliver them. The Egyptians will recognize the Lord and offer sacrifices, gifts, and vows. They will be healed and return to the Lord, finding favor and healing once again. Therefore, it should be understood that serving the Assyrians is also for the good of the Egyptians. For the Apostle serves the believers in order to make them gain (1 Corinthians 9). And Esau submits to his brother Jacob (Genesis 33), in order to become a partaker of his blessings. Therefore, those who were saved first from the Gentiles and have the altar of the Lord in themselves, will save those who persist in hardness through their servitude, and through their mixture and association with them, they will go to the Assyrians, so that they may bring the Assyrians to Egypt; and afterwards they may be able to reach the Israelite people. For this reason, I believe that a faithful woman should serve an unfaithful man, in order to gradually draw him from Egypt and Assyria to Judaea.
19:25-26
(Verse 25, 26.) On that day, Israel will be a third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying: Blessed be My people Egypt, and the work of My hands Assyria, and My inheritance Israel. Israel will be a third with Egypt and Assyria, to mix together the full measure of its blessing, and those who had previously been hostile to it will be joined by this bond of blessing; and Egypt will be the people of God, and Assyria the work of His hands, but Israel will be His inheritance. Blessed is the Egyptian to the Lord, because he is blessed by the company of the Israelites. And the work of his hands is Assyrian, because in him he has shown his mercy. But Israel alone can say: The Lord is my portion (Lam. 3:24); he who sees God with the mind, and is called his inheritance.
20:1-6
(Chapter 20, verses 1 and following) In the year that Tartan came to Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him and he fought against Ashdod and took it, at that time the Lord spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, "Go, and loose the sackcloth from your waist and take off your sandals from your feet," and he did so, walking naked and barefoot. And the Lord said, "As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years, as a sign and a portent against Egypt and Cush. Thus the king of Assyria will threaten the captivity of Egypt, and the migration of Ethiopia, both the young and the old, naked and barefoot, with their buttocks uncovered, the shame of Egypt. And they will fear and be ashamed because of Ethiopia, and because of Egypt, their glory. And the inhabitants of this island will say on that day, Is this our hope? To whom did we flee for help, to be delivered from the face of the king of Assyria? And how can we escape? Pro Thartan LXX Thanatan transtulerunt: et pro Sargon, Arna: quod quid interpretetur, scire non possumus. Neque enim falsorum nominum falsas possumus etymologias fingere. Sunt autem nomina non Hebraea, sed Assyria, e quibus sonare cognovimus Thartan, turrem dedit, vel superfluus, sive elongans. Sargon autem princeps horti. Hic rex Assyrius quem supra legimus sensum magnum, habet duces plurimos, quorum unus est Thartan, elatus in superbiam, et longe procedens in scelere,et amplior caeteris: et mittitur ad impugnandam Azotum, quae Hebraice dicitur Asdod (), et interpretatur, ignis generationis; expugnatque dux regis Assyrii eos qui generationi et libidini serviunt. And beautifully the king of the Assyrians, Sargon the prince of gardens, is said to be dedicated to pleasure and luxury. Finally, even Ahab, the king of Israel, desired to turn Naboth's vineyard into a garden, understanding the figurative meaning according to the laws of tropology, he preferred to die rather than to do it, so that his paternal inheritance and ancient possession would not be turned into the delights of an impious king. Moreover, the prophet is commanded to walk naked and barefoot, with his sack and shoes removed, as a sign and wonder to the Egyptians and Ethiopians who persecuted the people of God, and to humble them because of their pride. For Egypt means pursuing or afflicting; the Ethiopians, are humble and dejected; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled. (Luke 14:11). And those who are to be led into captivity and suffer torment for three years, as we read in the Psalms: I considered the days of old and years long past. (Psalm 77:5). These are not small punishments, but ones extended for long periods of time. But in the very captivity and transmigration in Egypt, both young and old, who have been strengthened in evil and have reached the vices of perfect age, will go naked so that all their crimes may be exposed (For nothing is hidden that will not be revealed), and barefoot, because they will not be able to eat the Pascha of the Lord: whoever eats it has his loins girded and holds a staff in his hand and stands with feet shod, so that while passing through the desert of this world he may not be bitten by serpents. Then their buttocks will be exposed, from which excrement is produced, and all the shame of Egypt will be revealed, so that those who had hope in Egypt and Ethiopia will be confounded, and they will see that their glory has been changed into confusion; to such an extent that the inhabitant of this island, that is, of this world, who is not a stranger and foreigner, but desired to have perpetual possession of the world, says in confusion: This is Egypt, and this is Ethiopia, from which we hoped for help, in order that they would free us from the prince of this world. How then can we escape, since those in whom we had hope are captured? And it should be noted that before Azotus is captured, he is clothed in a sackcloth and with feet shod, so that he may indeed bewail those who have been wounded by the burning darts of the devil and serve their lust; but nevertheless, he himself walks shod, so that he may tread upon serpents and scorpions, and walk securely through the wilderness of this world, in which there are serpents and scorpions, and a thirst for good things. But after Ashdod was captured, he walks barefoot and naked as a sign of the captivity of Egypt and the exile of Ethiopia. For he could not stand or walk in the holy land, to which he hurried to go, dressed in a sackcloth and with his feet covered with skins, as the Lord said: Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place you are standing on is holy (Exodus 3:5).
21:1-3
(Chapter 21—Verse 1 and following) The burden of the desert of the sea. As hurricanes come from the south, it comes from the desert, from a fearful land. A harsh vision has been revealed to me: he who is unbelieving acts unfaithfully, and he who is a plunderer lays waste. Rise up, Elam, besiege Media: I have caused all their groaning to cease. Therefore my loins are filled with pain: distress has gripped me, like the distress of a woman in labor. 70: Vision of the desert of the sea. Just as a storm passes through the desert, coming from the desert. A vision of horror has been announced to me from the land of distress: the transgressor transgresses, and the unjust acts unjustly. The Elamites are against me, and the messengers of Persia come: now I groan and console myself: therefore my loins are filled with anguish, sorrows have seized me, like a woman in labor. What seems to us according to History we have said briefly: now let us grasp the summary of tropologies. A vision, or a burden against this world, is seen as the sea: and it is seen by the Prophet, how great temptations this world is full of. However, as to why the sea is called a world (not to mention many other things), I am content with one testimony from the Psalms: Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do business on great waters, they have seen the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep (Psalm 107:23). For those who work in this world do the work of God, and with the Prophet they say: Come into the deep sea, they themselves see his wonders in the deep; and having been delivered from temptations and distress, they say they have heard a terrible and harsh vision. But this very storm comes from the desert, in which the Lord was tempted (Matthew IV), and Israel suffered from the bites of serpents and the stings of scorpions (Numbers XXI). And when it comes, it passes through and goes by; and then he who endures understands that only the transgressor transgresses and only the wicked acts wickedly. Therefore, if we are overwhelmed by the waves of the sea and if a fierce storm overtakes us, it is because of our own vice, for we were transgressors and wicked before the storm. And what he says is this: Against me the Elamites and the ambassadors of the Persians come, here the meaning is: the Elamites interpret with contempt, the Persians try. Therefore, let those come who are accustomed to despise, to scorn, and to try; but I will lament, and my groaning will be my consolation. But even my loins are filled with distress, and I have been seized by pains like a woman in labor, so that I may conceive and give birth from the fear of the Lord, and make his spirit of salvation come upon the earth. But according to the Hebrew, the whirlwinds and storms come from the desert and from the dreadful land, where there is no inhabitant, God is not present, and everything is earthly. And whoever is unbelieving acts in accordance with his unbelief, and the devastator lays waste. Therefore, he speaks boldly against his adversaries, saying, 'Ascend, Elam; lay siege to the Medes!' I have caused every groaning of the desert sea and the dreadful land, and the harshest vision that was announced to cease. Because my loins are filled with repentance, not with pleasure as before, but with sorrow, and I will say no more: My loins are filled with illusions. (Ps. XXXVII, 7). For anguish and tribulation have taken hold of me, as it is wont to hold a woman in labor. The Vulgate edition and the Hebrew text differ greatly in this place; therefore, we will briefly examine both, lest we leave ourselves an opportunity for captious fault-finding.
21:4-5
(Vers. 4, 5.) I fell down when I heard, I was troubled when I saw: my heart grew faint, darkness overwhelmed me: Babylon, my beloved, has become a wonder to me. Set the table, watch those who eat and drink: rise up, princes, take the shield. LXX: I acted unjustly so that I would not hear, I hastened so that I would not see, my heart went astray: iniquity has flooded over me; my soul is filled with fear. Set the table, watch the watchtower: eat, drink: rise up, princes, prepare the shields. Before hearing and seeing the harshest things that the Prophet foresaw about the desert sea, he says that he fell and was troubled, and with almost blinded eyes and a bewildered mind, he did not know what he was seeing. For that Babylon (about which Aquila and Theodotius interpreted as darkness, to signify this world, which is in the evil (1 John 5), and whose rulers are according to the Apostle Paul (Ephesians 6), the rulers of these darkness), which once was either loved by the Prophets or by God, has become marvelous in its downfall. Where the Prophets are commanded that, partaking of the table of the Lord and being satisfied with His food, they may more diligently contemplate the things that are to come to the world; and through him it is said to all believers that, by partaking of and drinking the body and blood of the Lord, they may become princes of the Church, etc., and listen to the Apostles when they say, “Arise; take up the shield of faith from the armor of the Apostle Paul” (Ephesians 6), in which they can extinguish the fiery darts of the devil. According to the Hebrew, and the interpretation begun on the world. Let us move on to the Septuagint edition, which differs greatly from the previous ones. The Prophet corrects himself, or rather confesses the error of others under his own person, who following the literal letter, despise the life-giving spirit; and he says that he has acted unjustly, so as not to hear the law spiritually: but on the contrary, he hastened not to perceive the sacraments of God, nor did he say with David: Open my eyes, and I will consider the wonders of your law (Ps. 118:18). Therefore, his heart wanders and is filled with Jewish superstition, not remaining in the love of God, but in fear, so that he may have a spirit of slavery in fear, and not the spirit of adoption, in which we cry out, Abba Father (Rom. VIII). Therefore, it is commanded to him to approach the table of spiritual food, and all who follow his example shall eat from it and drink. And with the old error despised, let them rise up in the spirit which lay in the letter, and let them become princes, and let them say with the Prophet: O Lord, you have crowned us with the shield of your goodwill (Ps. V, 15).
21:6-7
(Vers. 6, 7.) For the Lord said to me: Go and set a watchman, and whatever he sees, let him announce. And he saw a chariot of two horsemen, a rider on a donkey, and a rider on a camel, and he examined carefully with great attention, and the lion roared. LXX: For thus says the Lord to me: Go and set a watchman for yourself, and whatever you see, announce. And I saw two horsemen riding, a rider on a donkey, and a rider on a camel: I heard a great sound, and I called Uriah to the watchtower. The Prophet is commanded to place in his heart a lookout and to look more closely at what is to come to the world. And he saw two horsemen, one riding on a donkey and the other riding on a camel. Some have interpreted this as the rider on the donkey representing Christ according to the Gospel reading (Matt. XXI) and the prophecy of Zechariah (Zech. IX), and, on the contrary, the rider on the camel representing contrary strength because of the ugliness of the twisted animal. But others refer the two ascending letters and spirit to the two Testaments. And that which is said in Hebrew Arie (), for which Aquila and Symmachus have interpreted lion and lioness, the Seventy, I know not what, have put οὐρίαν, which some think to be interpreted as the light of the Lord, while with other letters it is the light of the Lord, which is not here, and with others it is written lion, which is here read. And he wishes this beholder, whom the Prophet is commanded to place in his heart, to be called Uriah, and through the interpretation of the name, refers it to the understanding of Christ, so that with him dwelling in us, we may perceive what is to come. Indeed, Jacob (Gen. XLIX) and Balaam (Num. XXIII and II) are named under the mystery of Christ, and can be compared to the lion.
21:8-10
(Verses 8-10.) I am a watchman of the Lord, standing continuously during the day, and I am a guard of my duty, standing all through the night. Behold, here comes a chariot rider, a man riding in a pair of horses, and he answered and said: Babylon has fallen, has fallen, and all the idols of its gods are shattered on the ground. My threshing floor and my sons of the barn, what I have heard from the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I have declared to you. LXX: The Lord said: I have stood throughout the day, and I have stood over the camp throughout the night. And behold, here comes a chariot rider, and answering he said: Babylon has fallen, has fallen, and all its idols, and its manufactured things, are shattered on the ground. Listen, you who have been forsaken, and mourn: listen to what I heard from the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, who has announced to us. The Prophet stands on the lookout of the Lord, and in his light, he sees what is to come. He has this responsibility, and this task assigned to him, to see what is to come in the darkness of this age. Behold, he says, he is coming, indicating that he has seen this, the Lord Savior coming seated on a chariot, and joining together two animals, a donkey and a camel. The Prophet responded and said: Babylon has fallen, the confusion of the whole world has fallen. And in my coming, in which I took on a human body, it will completely collapse at the end of the world. And all its sculptures have been crushed on the ground. For this reason, the seventy idols and artifacts have been interpreted, signifying the Scriptures of the heretics and the various errors of heresies, who are the fabricators of idols and worship what they have imagined in their own hearts. And what follows from the person of the Prophet saying: My thrashing, and the son of my threshing-floor, which I heard from the Lord God of Hosts, I have announced to you; according to the Hebrew, it has this meaning: O people, who are to be stored in my barns, whom I have thus trampled in various hardships, so that I might separate the chaff from him, and pure wheat might be stored in my barns, which I heard from the Lord God of Hosts would come to the whole world, I have announced to you who are in the world, all of you. But others say that the superior person is indeed the Lord Savior, because He Himself spoke to the Apostles: 'What I have heard from the Father, I have made known to you' (John 15:15). And because it is written in the Septuagint, 'Listen, you who have been left behind and feel sorrow' (Isaiah 5:9), the sense of their interpretation seems to me to be: 'O Apostles, of whom Isaiah writes: 'Unless the Lord had left us a remnant, we would have become like Sodom, and would have been like Gomorrah' (Romans 9), whose remnants the Apostle teaches to be saved. You who have been left from the people of the Jews in order to be saved; and you feel sorrow over the ruin of your nation, about which we also read elsewhere: 'I am filled with sorrow and continuous pain for my brethren, who are Israelites according to the flesh' (Romans 9:2-3): I announce to you the things that I have heard from God the Father, which God of Israel predicts will come to you.'
21:11-12
(Verse 11, 12.) The burden of Dumah: he calls to me out of Seir: Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, The morning comes, and also the night: if you will inquire, inquire: turn back, and come. Vision of Edom, he calls to me out of Seir: Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, The morning comes, and also the night: if you will inquire, inquire: and dwell with me. The Hebrew word for Elai (), which all have interpreted for me, if you wish to read Eli, it means my God, or my strong one. And what we have said, he cries out, or calls, that is, καλεῖ, according to the ambiguity of the Hebrew and Greek language, can be called either 'cry out' or 'call'; and the meaning is: God, who is my guardian, calls me day and night to repentance, so that, leaving Seir, which means 'rough and hairy', I may return and dwell with Him. It sounds like thunder or a likeness, or silence. But Edom turns into earth. Therefore, the Lord speaks to the choir of the Apostles and commands him: Call to me those who are from Seir, so that the multitude of the Gentiles may serve me, which, in the likeness of Esau, has nothing soft, light, and shining in itself, but is rough, wild, and untamed. And you, Apostles, after you have called the nations from Seir to me, guard the fortifications of the Church, so that the enemy may not easily break in: let not the roaring and prowling lion, who seeks an entrance by which he may enter, tear apart and scatter the flock enclosed in the Church. And the multitude of the Church responded: not only in prosperity, but also in adversity, that is, both in day and in night, I will keep your commandments, O God. To whom God speaks: If you truly seek me, show by your actions how you seek me; and let it not suffice that you have sought me once; but whoever you find, always search; and in order to hold more perfectly, forget your people and the house of your father, and leaving behind the error of the Gentiles, dwell with me in the Church. According to the Septuagint, we have said that those who represent the vision of Edom, that is, earthly things, are placed in the title to show that they are called those who previously served earthly works. Moreover, according to Aquila, who put 'Duma,' that is, silence, or likeness, we can understand it in this way: that the multitude of the Gentiles is provoked to the likeness of the people of Israel, and where there was previously silence of the law of God, there let there be the cry of confession; and let the wild olive tree be grafted onto the good olive. We also read in the parable of the Gospel about the servants who were sent to call the good and the bad and to fill the banquet of the master of the house, because the first ones did not want to come (Matthew 22). The Church can also narrate that the Lord from Seir, that is, from earthly places, calls out to himself and challenges him to salvation, and says to him: O guardian, why do you wander in darkness when you rise at night? Why are you a sinner without sin in the flesh? For what reason did you want to assume a human body? The guardian, that is, the Samaritan, who carried the wounded on his shoulders to the inn in the Gospel (Luke 9) replied: 'Day and night come. And the meaning is this: the sun of righteousness rose for the multitude of the Gentiles, and darkness came to the Jews. As it is said by the Lord: 'I have come into this world for judgment, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind' (John 9:39). And the guardian himself who had said, 'He comes morning and night,' speaks to the multitude of nations: If you seek me, seek more diligently. Turn to me, O converted children, and I will heal your brokenness, and come to me. The places are difficult, and since they are not widely known according to history, we are forced to follow various opinions according to interpretation.
21:13
(Verse 13.) Burden in Arabia. This is not found in the edition of the Seventy Interpreters: but what follows is: In the evening you shall sleep in the paths of Dodanim, which is connected with the previous vision, so that it is read, if you seek, seek: and dwell with me in the woodland. In our language, Arabia means evening, which is the beginning of night and darkness, and everyone who has the beginning of sins is involved in the evening. But whoever comes to the highest point, stands in the middle of the night. And in Egypt the firstborn are killed in the middle of the night (Exod. 12). And the Apostle Peter, before the rooster crowed, denied the Lord three times, which is understood as the middle of the night (Mat. XXVI): But after the night had passed, and the day began to approach, having overcome the darkness of the middle of the night, and with the rooster, the messenger of light, resounding, he wept bitterly, and understood his sin, and at that time he could say: At evening weeping endures, and in the morning there is joy (Ps. XXIX, 6). Meanwhile, let's talk about the present place. However, the name Arabia, that is, the evening and the west, receives different interpretations in other passages of the Scriptures.
In the forest you will sleep until evening, on the paths of Dodanim. LXX: In the forest you will sleep until evening on the road to Dedan. Those who have begun in wickedness and enter the path of sin do not sleep, nor do they tarry in cultivated fields and fallow lands, nor in meadows and fields of grain, where the Savior teaches that they should be burning for harvesting, nor among fruit-bearing trees; but in barren forests, where there are brambles and thorns, and beasts dwell. We read in the book of Kings that the forests or woods devoured more people than were killed by the sword when Absalom, the enemy of his father, rebelled against him (1 Kings 18). And it is rightly said that evening is the beginning of evils, to dwell on the road and on the paths, and on the way of Dedan, which is interpreted as judgments. For as many kinds of sins as they have, so many sentences of judgments do they deserve. Moreover, Dedan can be interpreted as a great judgment.
21:14-15
(Verse 14, 15.) Bring water to the thirsty, O inhabitants of the land of the South; meet the one fleeing with bread. For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, from the bent bow, and from the severity of battle. LXX: Bring water to the thirsty, O inhabitants of the region of Theman; meet the fleeing ones with bread because of the multitude of the slain, because of the multitude of the wanderers, because of the multitude of the sword, and because of the multitude of the bows drawn, and because of the multitude of those falling in battle. You who are in Theman, which is interpreted as Auster and perfection, and you turn in that place of which it is written: God will come from the south wind (Habakkuk III, 4), and you who are consummated and perfected, and have within you the light of the knowledge of the Scriptures, when those fleeing from Arabia and the thicket come to you, meet them with water and bread, and do not wait until they come to you; but imitate the father in the Gospel parable, who reached out to his returning son. And indeed he gave a robe, and presented a ring (Luke XV): but you offer water and bread to the fleeing, so that those who are weary and exhausted may be sustained by your mercy, and quickly reach your seats. For they have fled the swords of heretics, the doctrine of the pagans, and the blasphemies of the Jews. And because they have seen many of them killed by spears and many fallen in battle, they themselves desire to be freed by your help. This place can properly be understood as being against those who surrender themselves to idleness and laziness, content with their own well-being, and do not reach out a helping hand to those who are repentant and converted.
21:16-17
(Verse 16, 17.) For thus saith the Lord to me: Within one year, as the years of a hireling, all the glory of Cedar shall be taken away, and the residue of the number of archers of the mighty men of the children of Cedar shall be diminished: for the Lord God of Israel hath spoken it. Therefore I said to you: Run ye to meet with water, and with bread, them that flee from the face of the battle. For thus saith the Lord: The whole glory of Cedar shall be taken away, and there shall be nothing left of the number of the very strong bowmen of the children of Cedar. For the Lord God of Israel hath spoken it. And it shall come to pass in that day, that every glory of Cedar shall be brought to nothing, and the bow long shall be made weaker. And the number of them that bow themselves down shall be diminished, and they that remain shall be diminished: because the Lord hath spoken it. And the men that shall be left in it, shall be as the biting of a flesh eating moth: and they shall be as a spark among the trees, and as dry stubble: And they that were shall be as a burning in lime: they shall be burnt and devoured together, and there shall be none that shall deliver them. Expect therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth: patiently bearing till he receive the early and latter rain. Be you therefore also patient, and strengthen your hearts: for the coming of the Lord is at hand. For the Lord of all has spoken these things, and specifically the God of Israel, that is, the God who is perceived by those who have understanding.
22:1
(Chapter 22, Verse 1) The burden of the valley of vision. LXX: The word of the valley of Zion. In the book of Hebrew Names, we have defined Zion as the watchtower that is situated in the heights and contemplates those who come from afar. Therefore, when Zion is referred to in accordance with the laws of tropology, it signifies the Church. This is written in the second psalm from the perspective of the Lord and Savior: 'But I have been set as king by Him upon His holy mountain Zion' (Psalm 2:6); and, 'They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion' (Psalm 125:1); and, 'The Lord loveth the gates of Zion above all the tabernacles of Jacob' (Psalm 86:2); And the Apostle makes it even clearer: 'But ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem' (Hebrews 12:22). Now we inquire why in the present vision, it is called the valley of Zion. And from the very sequence of words, we are led to spiritual understanding so that we may know that all the leaders of perverse doctrines, who have fallen from the sublimity of the sense of the Holy Scriptures and have descended to lowly things, are dwelling in the valley of Zion. I think that Solomon also says something similar in Proverbs, saying: 'The eye that mocks a father, and scorns to obey a mother, will be picked out by the ravens of the valley and eaten by the young eagles.' (Prov. 30:17). For as soon as the heretics mock the Creator Father and despise the old age of the Church mother, they are dug into by filthy and unclean birds, which are drawn to opposing strengths. And they cannot say: I lift up my eyes to the mountains, from where does my help come? (Ps. CXX, 1): but they are cast down like the beasts of the earth.