Chapter 16
16:1 Send forth, O Lord, the lamb, the ruler of the earth, from the rock of the desert, to the mount of the daughter of Zion.
16:2 And it shall come to pass, that as a bird fleeing away, and as young ones flying out of the nest, so shall the daughters of Moab be in the passage of Arnon.
16:3 Take counsel, gather a council: make your shadow as the night in the midday: hide them that flee, and betray not them that wander about.
16:4 My fugitives shall dwell with you: O Moab, be you a covert to them from the face of the destroyer: for the dust is at an end, the wretch is consumed: he has failed, that trod the earth under foot.
16:5 And a throne shall be prepared in mercy, and one shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging and seeking judgment and quickly rendering that which is just.
16:6 We have heard of the pride of Moab, he is exceeding proud: his pride and his arrogancy, and his indignation is more than his strength.
16:7 Therefore shall Moab howl to Moab, every one shall howl: to them that rejoice upon the brick walls, tell their stripes.
16:8 For the suburbs of Hesebon are desolate, and the lords of the nations have destroyed the vineyard of Sabama: the branches thereof have reached even to Jazer: they have wandered in the wilderness, the branches thereof are left, they are gone over the sea.
16:9 Over this I will lament with the weeping of Jazer the vineyard of Sabama: I will water you with my tears, O Hesebon, and Eleale: for the voice of the treaders has rushed in upon your vintage, and upon your harvest.
16:10 And gladness and joy shall be taken away from Carmel, and there shall be no rejoicing nor shouting in the vineyards. He shall not tread out wine in the press that was wont to tread it out: the voice of the treaders I have taken away.
16:11 Over this my bowels shall sound like a harp for Moab, and my inward parts for the brick wall.
16:12 And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is wearied on his high places, that he shall go in to his sanctuaries to pray, and shall not prevail.
16:13 This is the word, that the Lord spoke to Moab from that time:
16:14 And now the Lord has spoken, saying: in three years, as the years of a hireling, the glory of Moab shall be taken away for all the multitude of the people, and it shall be left small and feeble, not many.
444 . Send forth, O Lord, the lamb . Here he describes the condition of their punishment, and he sets out two conditions:
first, equity on the part of the one who judges;
second, deception on the part of the one who suffers the punishment: and it shall come to pass, when it is seen (Isa 16:12).
Now equity of punishment is disposed from the preceding fault, and therefore it orders the fault. And he sets out a double fault:
first, against the contempt of the benefit they were promised;
second, against the contempt of wholesome counsel they were given: take counsel (Isa 16:3).
445 . Concerning the first, he does two things.
In the first, he promises the benefit of Christ to be born from their people, that they might receive some comfort. For Ruth the Moabitess married Booz, by whom she conceived Obed the father of Jesse, the father of David, from whom Christ was born, as it is said in Ruth 4:17. And therefore, he says: O Lord , the Father, the lamb , Christ (John 1:29); from the rock of the desert , from Ruth the gentile, whose people were of stone, worshipping gods of stone, and because of this, deserted by God; to the mount , Jerusalem, in which Christ was killed and rose again, or the Church; the ruler : to him that sits on the throne (Rev 4:9).
Second, the punishment of those who hold the promise in contempt is set out: and it shall come to pass, that as a bird fleeing away , whence they fled or were led captive, above: my hand has found the strength of the people as a nest (Isa 10:14).
446 . Others wish, though it is tortured, to explain this literally of the tribute of lambs, which the king of Moab took from the king of Israel, as it says in 2 Kings 3:4, which the prophet foretells will be restored to the king of Jerusalem: the ruler , as a sign of its lord; from Petra of the desert , the place in which sheep are raised.
447 . Take counsel . Here he ordains the punishment against their contempt of the counsel they were given. And this is divided into three:
in the first, he sets out the counsel;
in the second, their contempt of the counsel: we have heard of the pride of Moab (Isa 16:6);
in the third, the punishment of those who hold it in contempt, where it says, therefore shall Moab howl (Isa 16:7).
Concerning the first, he sets out three things.
First, he exhorts them to deliberation: take counsel , as if to say: deliberate over how you might be saved. The counsel is the question itself which is moved among those taking counsel; the council is the congregation of those taking counsel. Gather a council , as though having a strict counsel: there is safety where there is much counsel (Prov 11:14); do you everything with counsel, and you shall not repent when you have done (Sir 32:24).
448 . Second, he sets out the contents of the counsel: make your shadow as the night , in which he exhorts them to two things.
To receive the fleeing Jews, that they might prepare a hiding place: make your shadow as the night in the midday , that is, prepare yourself to hide them so that they will be hidden in the day as if in the night; or in the midday , in open persecution, that you might conceal them that flee ; hide them , that hiding them, you might not reveal them that wander about .
He also exhorts them to amicably sustain those they have received: my fugitives shall dwell with you , below: and a man shall be as when one is hid from the wind (Isa 32:2).
449 . Third, he assigns the reason: for the dust is at an end .
And first, as to the destruction of the enemy, lest they dismiss the Jews in the fear of them: the dust is at an end , the multitude of the army of Sennacherib; consumed , that is, killed by his sons, is the wretch , Sennacherib, below: he has failed (Isa 37:38), as to power (Isa 14).
Second, as to the restoration of the Jews, that they might do it freely; as to the preparation of the kingdom: a throne , of the kings of the Judah, shall be prepared in mercy , the mercy of God, or of a merciful king; as to the power of the king: one shall sit , as if to say, he shall reign restfully; as to the equity of his judgments: in truth ; judging , as to the pronouncing of sentences; seeking , as to the examination of cases; rendering , as to the execution of sentences. And this can be explained as referring to Ezechias or as referring to Christ, above: he shall sit upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom (Isa 9:7).
450 . Note on the words, send forth the lamb (Isa 16:1), that Christ is called a lamb
first, because of the purity of his life: it shall be a lamb without blemish, a male, of one year (Exod 12:5);
second, because of the meekness of his death, below: as a lamb before his shearer, and he shall not open his mouth (Isa 53:7);
third, because of his expiation of sin: behold the Lamb of God. Behold him who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).
451 . Note on the words, from the rock of the desert (Isa 16:1), that the Blessed Virgin is called a rock
first, because of the firmness of grace: as everlasting foundations upon a solid rock (Sir 26:24);
second, because of the coolness of continence, below: as the shadow of a rock that stands out in a desert land (Isa 32:2);
third, because of the fruit of her womb: the rock poured me out rivers of oil (Job 29:6).
And note that this rock alone was of the desert,
because she was before all others, as to the first: you are all fair, O my love (Song 4:7);
second, because she was first, as to the second: we will run to the odor of your ointments (Song 1:3);
she was a virgin, as to the third, above: behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son (Isa 7:14).
452 . Note on the words, send forth (Isa 16:1), namely, you, Father, send the Son,
first, as the sun sends a ray: the sun three times as much, burns the mountains (Sir 43:4);
second, as a spring sends a stream: I, like a channel of a river (Sir 24:41);
third, as a father sends a son: God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son (John 3:16).
453 . We have heard . Here he sets out contempt of counsel proceeding from their pride. Hence he describes their pride as to three things:
first, as to its being made commonly known: we have heard , as if it were public;
as to its quantity: he is exceeding proud ;
as to its exceeding their dignity: his pride , by which he extolls himself as to the gifts he possesses, and his arrogancy , by which he pretends to have gifts that he does not possess, and his indignation , by which he presumptuously proposes vengeance, is more than his strength .
454 . Therefore . Here he sets out the punishment of those who hold the counsel in contempt.
And first, the weeping of those to be punished: shall Moab howl to Moab , that is, to each other, about which enough is said above (ch. 15).
Second, he describes the manner of punishment: to them that rejoice ; and he sets out three things.
First, the announcement of the punishment is proclaimed by prophets or messengers: them that rejoice , they glory and trust in the fortifications of their brick walls: if the watchman see the sword coming (Ezek 33:6).
455 . Second, the description of the punishment is set out as to the destruction of lands: Hesebon , a city in whose territory wheat abounded; Sabama , a neighboring city, in which wine abounded. As to the strength of their enemies: the lords of the nations , that is, of Assyria or Chaldea, ruling over many nations; the branches , that is, the shoots which are on the top of a vine, which metaphorically signify princes and distinguished persons; destroying, even to Jazer —which is on the farthest border—as to the affliction of men, the lords of the nations have wandered : they wandered in a wilderness, in a place without water (Ps 106[107]:4); the baseness of those who remain: the branches thereof , which remain on the vine when the shoots have been cut off, without fruit or beauty: leave the stump of its roots in the earth (Dan 4:12); the removal of the captives: they are gone over the , Moabitic, sea , led captive into Babylon. Or the sea , that is, the Euphrates, according to Hebrew usage: they shall sell them to the Sabeans, a nation far off (Joel 3:8); or this is interpreted as the Assyrians going over the sea and coming to destroy.
456 . Third, the compassion of the prophet is set out.
And first, his compassion is set out: over this , namely the misfortune of Moab, I will lament with the weeping of Jazer , that is, weeping over that city of Moab, and similarly also the vineyard of Sabama, and Eleale .
Second, the reason for his compassion is set out as to attack their enemies: the treaders , that is, of the ravaging Assyrians. And as to the taking away of the joy that they had from abundance of grain: from Carmel , that is, from fertility—for Carmel is not in Moab, but the Jews use proper nouns for appellatives; and the joy that they had in abundance of wine: in the vineyards (cf. Jer 48:33).
Third, the conclusion is inferred as from a proof: over this , misfortune, my bowels , that is, my senses, shall sound like a harp , making a sound for lamentation, or because the harp increases joy in the cheerful and sadness in the sad, or because of the harmony of the virtues of the prophet.
457 . And it shall come to pass . Here he shows their frustration, concerning both the idols to which they sacrificed in high places and the idols to which they sacrificed in temples when they were in fear: where are their gods, in whom they trusted? (Deut 32:37).
458 . This is the word . Here is the epilogue. From that time , from the death of the king Achaz.
459 . And now . Here he shows the shortness of the time: in three years , which will be until their destruction and from the death of Achaz—in whose time was the vision of this second word—or in which your persecution or battle will last; the years of a hireling , for after these, the Lord will repay to you the wages for your sins; or those who seem great are hirelings and small to the Lord: the life of man upon earth is a warfare, and his days are like the days of a hireling (Job 7:1).