1883 Haydock Douay Rheims Bible
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| Isaiah 1:1 | The vision of Isaias, the son of Amos, which he saw concerning Juda and Jerusalem in the days of Ozias, *Joathan, Achaz, and Ezechias, kings of Juda. A.M. 3219, A.C. 785. | Amos. His name is written in a different manner, in Hebrew, from that of the third among the minor prophets, (Worthington) though St. Augustine has confounded them. --- Ezechias. He wrote this title towards the end of his life, or it was added by Esdras, etc. |
| Isaiah 1:2 | Hear, O ye heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord hath spoken. I have brought up children, *and exalted them, but they have despised me. Osee 11:3. | Earth. He apostrophises these insensible things, (Calmet) because they contain all others, and are the most durable. (Theodoret) (Deuteronomy 31:1.) |
| Isaiah 1:3 | The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel hath not known me, and my people hath not understood. | |
| Isaiah 1:4 | Woe to the sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a wicked seed, ungracious children: they have forsaken the Lord, they have blasphemed the holy One of Israel, they are gone away backwards. | |
| Isaiah 1:5 | For what shall I strike you any more, you that increase transgression? the whole head is sick, and the whole heart is sad. | \f + \fr 1:5-7\ft Sad. This was spoken after Ozias had given way to pride, when the Ammonites, etc., began to disturb Juda, (4 Kings 15:37., and 2 Paralipomenon 27:7.) under Joathan, who was a good prince, but young. (Calmet) --- Enemies. At the last siege, (St. Jerome) or rather when Jerusalem was taken by the Chaldeans. (Calmet) --- Many, from the highest to the lowest, had prevaricated: but God always preserved his Church. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 1:6 | From the sole of the foot unto the top of the head, there is no soundness therein: wounds and bruises, and swelling sores: they are not bound up, nor dressed, nor fomented with oil. | |
| Isaiah 1:7 | *Your land is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your country strangers devour before your face, and it shall be desolate as when wasted by enemies. Isaias 5:6. | |
| Isaiah 1:8 | And the daughter of Sion shall be left as a covert in a vineyard, and as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, and as a city that is laid waste. | Cucumbers. Or melons, which grew in the fields, and huts were erected for guards, till they were gathered. |
| Isaiah 1:9 | *Except the Lord of hosts had left us seed, **we had been as Sodom, and we should have been like to Gomorrha. Romans 9:29. --- ** Genesis 19:24. | |
| Isaiah 1:10 | Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom, give ear to the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrha. | Sodom. Juda is so styled reproachfully, (Calmet) because the princes imitated the crimes of that devoted city, Ezechiel 16:49., and infra[Isaias] Isaias 2:6., and 3:9. (Menochius) |
| Isaiah 1:11 | *To what purpose do you offer me the multitude of your victims, saith the Lord? I am full, I desire not holocausts of rams, and fat of fatlings, and blood of calves, and lambs, and buck-goats. Jeremias 6:20.; Amos 5:21. | Victims. Without piety, they are useless. God tolerated bloody victims to withdraw the people from idolatry, but he often shewed that they were not of much importance, in order that they might be brought to offer the sacrifice of the new law, which eminently includes all the rest. (St. Jerome) (Psalm 49:9., Amos 5:21., and Jeremias 6:20.) (Theodoret) |
| Isaiah 1:12 | When you came to appear before me, who required these things at your hands, that you should walk in my courts? | |
| Isaiah 1:13 | Offer sacrifice no more in vain: incense is an abomination to me. The new moons, and the sabbaths, and other festivals, I will not abide, your assemblies are wicked. | |
| Isaiah 1:14 | My soul hateth your new moons, and your solemnities: they are become troublesome to me, I am weary of bearing them. | Bearing. Hebrew, etc., "pardoning," (Calmet) or "bearing." Septuagint, "I will no longer pardon your sins." (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 1:15 | And when you stretch forth your hands, I will turn away my eyes from you: and when you multiply prayer, I will not hear: *for your hands are full of blood. Isaias 59:3. | |
| Isaiah 1:16 | *Wash yourselves, be clean, take away the evil of your devices from my eyes: cease to do perversely, 1 Peter 3:11. | Wash. Interiorly. (Calmet) --- He seems to allude to baptism. (Eusebius) (Theodoret) |
| Isaiah 1:17 | Learn to do well: seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge for the fatherless, defend the widow. | |
| Isaiah 1:18 | And then come, and accuse me, saith the Lord: if your sins be as scarlet, they shall be made as white as snow: and if they be red as crimson, they shall be white as wool. | Accuse me. If I punish you without cause. |
| Isaiah 1:19 | If you be willing, and will hearken to me, you shall eat the good things of the land. | |
| Isaiah 1:20 | But if you will not, and will provoke me to wrath: the sword shall devour you, because the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. | |
| Isaiah 1:21 | How is the faithful city, that was full of judgment, become a harlot? justice dwelt in it, but now murderers. | |
| Isaiah 1:22 | Thy silver is turned into dross: thy wine is mingled with water. | Water. There is no sincerity in commerce. (Calmet) --- Teachers give false interpretations of the law. (St. Jerome) --- Iniquity abounded before the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans and Romans. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 1:23 | Thy princes are faithless, companions of thieves: they all love bribes, they run after rewards. *They judge not for the fatherless: and the widow's cause cometh not in to them. Jeremias 5:28. | |
| Isaiah 1:24 | Therefore, saith the Lord, the God of hosts, the mighty one of Israel: Ah! I will comfort myself over my adversaries: and I will be revenged of my enemies. | Ah! God punishes with regret. (Menochius) --- Comfort. I will take complete vengeance under Joathan, (4 Kings 15:37.) Achaz, etc. |
| Isaiah 1:25 | And I will turn my hand to thee, and I will clean purge away thy dross, and I will take away all thy tin. | Tin. I will reform abuses in the reign of Ezechias, but much more by establishing the Church of Christ, which shall be the faithful city. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 1:26 | And I will restore thy judges as they were before, and thy counsellors as of old. After this thou shalt be called the city of the just, a faithful city. | Judges. The Jews explain this of the judges, and priests, who governed after the captivity; though it refer rather to the apostles, etc. (St. Jerome) (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 1:27 | Sion shall be redeemed in judgment, and they shall bring her back in justice. | |
| Isaiah 1:28 | And he shall destroy the wicked, and the sinners together: and they that have forsaken the Lord, shall be consumed. | |
| Isaiah 1:29 | For they shall be confounded for the idols, to which they have sacrificed: and you shall be ashamed of the gardens which you had chosen. | Idols. Protestants, "oaks, which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens," etc. (Haydock) --- The groves were sacred to Venus, and the gardens to Adonis, and were scenes of the greatest immorality and profanation, Isaias 65:3. |
| Isaiah 1:30 | When you shall be as an oak with the leaves falling off, and as a garden without water. | |
| Isaiah 1:31 | And your strength shall be as the ashes of tow, and your work as a spark: and both shall burn together, and there shall be none to quench it. | It. The efforts of Achan and Ezechias against the enemy proved in vain. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 2:0 | All nations shall flow to the Church of Christ. The Jews shall be rejected for their sins. Idolatry shall be destroyed. | |
| Isaiah 2:1 | The word that Isaias, the son of Amos, saw, concerning Juda and Jerusalem. | Jerusalem. Many particular prophecies are blended with the general one, which regards Christ. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 2:2 | *And in the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared on the top of mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it. Micheas 4:1. | Days. The whole time of the new law, from the coming of Christ till the end of the world, is called in the Scripture the last days; because no other age, or time shall come after it, but only eternity. (Challoner) --- It is therefore styled the last hour, 1 John 2:(Worthington) --- Mountains. This shews the perpetual visibility of the Church of Christ: for a mountain upon the top of mountains cannot be hid. (Challoner) --- This evidently regards the Church, Matthew 5. (Worthington) --- The Jews can never shew the fulfillment of this prophecy in any material temple. Micheas 4:1. copies this text. |
| Isaiah 2:3 | And many people shall go, and say: Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall come forth from Sion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. | Jerusalem. Our Saviour preached there, and in some sense the religion established by him, may be esteemed a reform, or accomplishment of the old law. |
| Isaiah 2:4 | And he shall judge the Gentiles, and rebuke many people: and they shall turn their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into sickles: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they be exercised any more to war. | War. Ezechias enjoyed peace after the defeat of Sennacherib, as the whole world did at the birth of Christ. (Calmet) --- Claudentur belli portae. (Virgil, Aeneid i.) |
| Isaiah 2:5 | O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord. | Lord. Ezechias, or rather Christ and his Church, invite all to embrace the true faith. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 2:6 | For thou hast cast off thy people, the house of Jacob: because they are filled as in times past, and have had soothsayers as the Philistines, and have adhered to strange children. | Jacob. Thus the converts address God, (Haydock) or the prophet gives the reasons of the subversion of the ten tribes. --- Filled. Consecrated as priests. --- Children. Imitating idolatrous nations, (Calmet) and marrying with them, (Calmet; Septuagint; Theodoret) or even giving way to unnatural sins. (St. Jerome) (Menochius) --- The Jews were not utterly cast off till they had put Christ to death. His Church shall never perish. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 2:7 | Their land is filled with silver and gold: and there is no end of their treasures. | |
| Isaiah 2:8 | And their land is filled with horses: and their chariots are innumerable. Their land also is full of idols: they have adored the work of their own hands, which their own fingers have made. | Horses. Which the kings were forbidden to multiply, Deuteronomy 17:16. Great riches often precede the ruin of states. |
| Isaiah 2:9 | And man hath bowed himself down, and man hath been debased: therefore, forgive them not. | Forgive. Septuagint, "I will not dismiss them." Hebrew, "and thou hast not pardoned them." |
| Isaiah 2:10 | Enter thou into the rock, and hide thee in the pit from the face of the fear of the Lord, and from the glory of his majesty. | Rock. Screen thyself if thou canst. He alludes to the kingdom of Israel, which was ruined by idolatry, ver. 18, 20. |
| Isaiah 2:11 | The lofty eyes of man are humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be made to stoop: and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. | |
| Isaiah 2:12 | Because the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and high-minded, and upon every one that is arrogant, and he shall be humbled. | |
| Isaiah 2:13 | And upon all the tall and lofty cedars of Libanus, and upon all the oaks of Basan. | Basan. Israel; or Syria and the Ammonites, (Calmet) whom Nabuchodonosor subdued, five years after he had taken Jerusalem, (Josephus, [Jewish Antiquities?] 10:11.) as the Idumeans, (ver. 14.) Philistines, and Egyptians, (ver. 15.) and Tyrians, (ver. 16.) who felt also the indignation of the Lord, Jeremias 25:15. |
| Isaiah 2:14 | And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the elevated hills. | |
| Isaiah 2:15 | And upon every high tower, and every fenced wall. | |
| Isaiah 2:16 | And upon all the ships of Tharsis, and upon all that is fair to behold. | Tharsis. In Cilicia, denoting large ships for merchandise. --- Fair. Hebrew, "desirable pictures." Septuagint, "ships." (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 2:17 | And the loftiness of men shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be humbled, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. | |
| Isaiah 2:18 | And idols shall be utterly destroyed. | Destroyed. This was verified by the establishment of Christianity. And by this and other texts of the like nature, the wild system of some modern sectaries is abundantly confuted, who charge the whole Christian Church with worshipping idols, for many ages. (Challoner) --- Yea, for above a thousand years, while she still professed the name of Christ. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 2:19 | *And they shall go into the holes of rocks, and into the caves of the earth, from the face of the fear of the Lord, and from the glory of his majesty, when he shall rise up to strike the earth. Osee 10:8.; Luke 23:30.; Apocalypse 6:16. | |
| Isaiah 2:20 | In that day a man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which he had made for himself to adore, moles and bats. | Bats. The Egyptians adored all sorts of animals. (Herodotus 2:65.) --- Aegyptus portenta colat. (Juvenal xv.) --- Omnigenumque Deum monstra. (Virgil, Aeneid viii.) --- The mole was much esteemed by magicians, who promised any the art of divination and success, who should eat the heart of one still warm. (Pliny, [Natural History?] 30:3.) The Israelites were always ready to embrace such superstitious practices. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 2:21 | And he shall go into the clefts of rocks, and into the holes of stones, from the face of the fear of the Lord, and from the glory of his majesty, when he shall rise up to strike the earth. | |
| Isaiah 2:22 | Cease ye, therefore, from the man, whose breath is in his nostrils, for he is reputed high. | High. Adhere to Jesus Christ. (Origen) (Menochius) --- Septuagint omit this sentence, and St. Jerome thinks they did it perhaps for fear of shocking their brethren. In Jeremias xvii. --- It is supplied from Aquila's version, "how must he be esteemed?" (Calmet) --- Protestants, "for wherein is he to be accounted of?" Jesus will kill the wicked one with the spirit of his mouth, 2 Thessalonians 2:8. (Haydock) --- No dependence must be had in man. The Israelites vainly trusted in Egypt. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 3:0 | The confusion and other evils that shall come upon the Jews for their sins. The pride of their women shall be punished. | |
| Isaiah 3:1 | For behold the sovereign, the Lord of hosts, shall take away from Jerusalem, and from Juda, the valiant and the strong, the whole strength of bread, and the whole strength of water. | Strong. Hebrew and Septuagint imply, "woman." (Haydock) --- Validam. (St. Cyprian, Test. i.) --- After the death of Christ, the Jews had none strong. (St. Jerome) --- Strength. Hebrew, "staff," or support (Leviticus 26:26.) in the dreadful famine which fell on Jerusalem, Lamentations 4:5, 10. Who then shall rely on the power of any man? (Chap. 2:22.) (Calmet) --- The Jews were depressed at the sieges of their city, and will be so till the end of the world. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 3:2 | The strong man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the cunning man, and the ancient. | Prophet. Ezechiel was taken away under Jechonias. Other prophets were disregarded, and the cunning man, (ariolus, which may be understood in a good or bad sense. Calmet) every false prophet was silent, when danger threatened. |
| Isaiah 3:3 | The captain over fifty, and the honourable in countenance, and the counsellor, and the architect, and the skilful in eloquent speech. | Countenance. Septuagint, "the admired counsellor," (Haydock) who came into the king's presence. --- Architect. 4 Kings 24:14. (Calmet) --- Eloquent. Literally, "mystic." (Haydock) --- Aquila and Symmachus, "enchanter." |
| Isaiah 3:4 | *And I will give children to be their princes, and the effeminate shall rule over them. Ecclesiates 10. | Effeminate. Hebrew, "babes." Septuagint, "scoffers." Aquila, etc., "changers," (Calmet) who give way to unnatural excesses, Romans 1:27. (Haydock) --- Some manifest a prudence beyond their years: but the last kings of Juda did not, 2 Paralipomenon 36:1., and Ecclesiastes 10:16. |
| Isaiah 3:5 | And the people shall rush one upon another, and every man against his neighbour: the child shall make a tumult against the ancient, and the base against the honourable. | People. They were divided, whether they should continue to obey Nabuchodonosor, or listen to the Egyptians. Ismael slew Godolias, Jeremias xli. |
| Isaiah 3:6 | For a man shall take hold of his brother, one of the house of his father, saying: Thou hast a garment, be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand. | Garment. They were ready to follow any, who was not quite destitute, like themselves, Jeremias 39:10. --- Ruin. Fallen people. |
| Isaiah 3:7 | In that day he shall answer, saying: I am no healer, and in my house there is no bread, nor clothing: make me not ruler of the people. | Clothing. The indigent were excluded from dignities, for fear lest they should seek to enrich themselves by unjustifiable means, Exodus 18:22. (Plut.[Plutarch?] in Solon.) (Pliny, [Natural History?] 16:19.) (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 3:8 | For Jerusalem is ruined, and Juda is fallen: because their tongue, and their devices, are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his majesty. | For. The prophet tells what will happen. (Menochius) --- And their. Septuagint, "are sinful, disbelieving what regards the Lord. Wherefore now their glory is brought low." (Haydock) --- They must have followed a very different Hebrew copy from ours. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 3:9 | The shew of their countenance hath answered them: and they have proclaimed abroad their sin as Sodom, and they have not hid it: woe to their soul, for evils are rendered to them. | Shew, (agnitio.) "Knowledge." (Worthington) --- Impudence, etc. (Calmet) --- Hacurath (Haydock) occurs no where else. (Calmet) --- From their countenance we may judge that they are proud, etc. (Menochius) |
| Isaiah 3:10 | Say to the just man that it is well, for he shall eat the fruit of his doings. | Well. Jeremias (xxxix. 11.) was treated by the enemy with great respect. Septuagint, "having said, let us bind the just man, for he is troublesome, (Haydock) or displeasing (Calmet) to us. Hence they," etc. (Haydock) (Wisdom 2:12.) Many of the Fathers quote it thus. But our version agrees very well with the original, as Isaias joins consoling predictions with those which are of a distressing nature. (Calmet) --- Yet the Septuagint seem to have thrown light on the Hebrew by supplying an omission from the book of Wisdom. (Houbigant) --- Thus all must be explained of the wicked, whose malice shall be punished. --- He shall. St. Jerome and all versions read, "they shall eat the fruit of their doings, or devices." Fructum adinventionum suarum comedent. (Haydock) --- All who hear of this must applaud the just God for acting well in their punishment. According to the Septuagint, Christ and his adversaries are clearly pointed out. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 3:11 | Woe to the wicked unto evil: for the reward of his hands shall be given him. | |
| Isaiah 3:12 | As for my people, their oppressors have stripped them, and women have ruled over them. O my people, *they that call thee blessed, the same deceive thee, and destroy the way of thy steps. Ezechiel 13:10. | Women. "Let no women be our senate, as the impious Porphyrius objects." The scribes and Pharisees sought for lucre and pleasure. The teacher approved by the Church must excite tears and not laughter; he must correct sinners, and pronounce no one blessed. (St. Jerome) (Haydock) --- The last kings of Juda were real tyrants, and weak as women. (Calmet) --- Blessed. Protestants' marginal note, and the text has, "lead thee." |
| Isaiah 3:13 | The Lord standeth up to judge, and he standeth to judge the people. | |
| Isaiah 3:14 | The Lord will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and its princes: for you have devoured the vineyard, and the spoil of the poor is in your house. | |
| Isaiah 3:15 | Why do you consume my people, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord, the God of hosts? | |
| Isaiah 3:16 | And the Lord said: Because the daughters of Sion are haughty, and have walked with stretched-out necks, and wanton glances of their eyes, and made a noise as they walked with their feet, and moved in a set pace: | Pace. Protestants, "and making a tinkling with their feet," (Haydock) by means of little rings round their legs. (Calmet) Stridore ad se juvenes vocat. (St. Jerome, ep. xlvii.) --- The daughters of Sion, denote all the cities and villages which were defaced by the Chaldeans, and still more by the Romans, forty years after Christ. (St. Jerome) (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 3:17 | The Lord will make bald the crown of the head of the daughters of Sion, and the Lord will discover their hair. | Bald. Like slaves, Deuteronomy 21:12. --- Hair. Hebrew and Septuagint, "shame." |
| Isaiah 3:18 | In that day the Lord will take away the ornaments of shoes, and little moons, | Of shoes. Hebrew, "gold tissue," Psalm 44:14. This term occurs no where else, and many of these superfluous ornaments are not well known. But we may conclude that they are pernicious to a state, and hateful to God. (Calmet) --- Decorem....invitatorem libidinis scimus. (Tertullian, cult.) |
| Isaiah 3:19 | And chains, and necklaces, and bracelets, and bonnets, | |
| Isaiah 3:20 | And bodkins, and ornaments of the legs, and tablets, and sweet balls, and ear-rings, | |
| Isaiah 3:21 | And rings, and jewels hanging on the forehead, | |
| Isaiah 3:22 | And changes of apparel, and short cloaks, and fine linen, and crisping pins, | |
| Isaiah 3:23 | And looking-glasses, and lawns, and headbands, and fine veils. | |
| Isaiah 3:24 | And instead of a sweet smell, there shall be stench, and instead of a girdle a cord, and instead of curled hair baldness, and instead of a stomacher haircloth. | Stench. The Jews are noted on this account, as if in consequence of this curse, or of their being confined to prisons, etc. Foetentium Judaeorum et tumultuantium saepe taedio percitus. --- M. Aurelius "was often weary of the stinking and seditious Jews." (Marcellin ii.) |
| Isaiah 3:25 | Thy fairest men also shall fall by the sword, and thy valiant ones in battle. | Fairest. They shall not be spared. (Calmet) --- "As they have perished by their beauty, their fairest," etc. (Chaldean) |
| Isaiah 3:26 | And her gates shall lament and mourn, and she shall sit desolate on the ground. | Ground. The posture of captives, Lamentations 1:1. |
| Isaiah 4:0 | After an extremity of evils that shall fall upon the Jews, a remnant shall be comforted by Christ. | |
| Isaiah 4:1 | And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying: We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, take away our reproach. | Seven. Many shall sue for a husband, men shall be so scarce. To continue unmarried was reproachful, Deuteronomy 7:14. (Calmet) --- After the conversion of the Gentiles, pastors will be much wanted. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 4:2 | In that day the bud of the Lord shall be in magnificence and glory, and the fruit of the earth shall be high, and a great joy to them that shall have escaped of Israel. | Bud. That is, Christ, (Challoner) who was faintly prefigured by Zorobabel, Zacharias 3:8. Our Saviour was the fruit of the earth, and sovereign Lord. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 4:3 | And it shall come to pass, that every one that shall be left in Sion, and that shall remain in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, every one that is written in life in Jerusalem. | Life. Only the faithful shall be saved. (Worthington) --- The Jews, after the captivity, shall be more obedient. But converts to the faith of Christ are styled saints, (Romans 1:7., etc.) such particularly as are predestined to glory, Romans 8:30. (Calmet) --- Those who are called to life and the true faith, may forfeit this honour, by their own fault. (Menochius) |
| Isaiah 4:4 | If the Lord shall wash away the filth of the daughters of Sion, and shall wash away the blood of Jerusalem out of the midst thereof, by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning. | Burning. By baptism of water and fire, or of the Holy Ghost. (St. Jerome) |
| Isaiah 4:5 | And the Lord will create upon every place of Mount Sion, and where he is called upon, a cloud by day, and a smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire in the night: for over all the glory shall be a protection. | Protection. God will protect his Church, more than he did the Israelites by the pillar, Exodus 14:20. (St. Basil, etc.) |
| Isaiah 4:6 | And there shall be a tabernacle for a shade in the day-time from the heat, and for a security and covert from the whirlwind, and from rain. | |
| Isaiah 5:0 | The reprobation of the Jews is foreshewn under the parable of a vineyard. A woe is pronounced against sinners: the army God shall send against them. | |
| Isaiah 5:1 | I will *sing to my beloved the canticle of my cousin concerning his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a hill in a fruitful place. Jeremias 2:21.; Matthew 21:33. | My cousin. So the prophet calls Christ, as being of his family and kindred, by descending from the house of David. (Challoner) (Menochius) --- Hebrew and Septuagint, "beloved." Dod may also mean a near relation. (Calmet) --- Isaias being of the same tribe, sets before us the lamentations of Christ over Jerusalem, Luke 19:41. (Worthington) --- The Hebrews had canticles of sorrow, as well as of joy. The prophet thus endeavours to impress more deeply on the minds of the people what he had been saying. The master of the vineyard is God himself, ver. 7. (Calmet) --- Hill. Literally, in the horn, the son of oil. (Challoner) --- The best vines grew among olive and fig trees. (Doubdan 21.) --- Septuagint, "in a horn, (mountain) in a fat soil." (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 5:2 | And he fenced it in, and picked the stones out of it, and planted it with the choicest vines, and built a tower in the midst thereof, and set up a wine-press therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. | Stones. They burn and starve in different seasons, Colossians 12:3. --- Choicest. Hebrew sorek. (Haydock) --- There was a famous valley of this name, Judges 16:4. The angels guarded the vineyard, in which Abraham, Moses, etc., were found. --- Tower. To keep the wine, etc., Matthew 21:33. It denotes the temple, (Calmet) Scriptures, etc. (Menochius) --- Wild. Sour, Deuteronomy 32:32. |
| Isaiah 5:3 | And now, O ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and ye men of Juda, judge between me and my vineyard. | Judge. God condescends to have his conduct scrutinized, Isaias 41:1. |
| Isaiah 5:4 | What is there that I ought to do more to my vineyard, that I have not done to it? was it that I looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it hath brought forth wild grapes? | Was it. "Why has it produced wild grapes, while I looked?" etc. |
| Isaiah 5:5 | And now I will shew you what I will do to my vineyard. I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be wasted: I will break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down. | Down. By the Chaldeans, and after the death of Christ. (Calmet) --- When God withdraws his aid, man is unable to stand. Yet he falls by his own fault, which God only permits. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 5:6 | And I will make it desolate: it shall not be pruned, and it shall not be digged: but briers and thorns shall come up: and I will command the clouds to rain no rain upon it. | It. During the whole of the captivity, the land might keep its sabbaths, Leviticus 26:34. (Calmet) --- The people shall be deprived of saving doctrine. (Menochius) |
| Isaiah 5:7 | For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts 1:the house of Israel: and the man of Juda, his pleasant plant: and I looked that he should do judgment, and behold iniquity: and do justice, and behold a cry. | Israel. This comparison is very common, Psalm 79:9., and Matthew 20:1. (Calmet) --- The preceding parable is explained. (Menochius) --- Cry. For vengeance, Jeremias 12:8., and Genesis 4:10., and 18:20. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 5:8 | Woe to you that join house to house, and lay field to field, even to the end of the place: shall you alone dwell in the midst of the earth? | Even. Septuagint, "to take from your neighbour: shall," etc. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 5:9 | These things are in my ears, saith the Lord of hosts: unless many great and fair houses shall become desolate, without an inhabitant. | Things. Unjust practices. --- Inhabitant. What will your avarice avail, (Haydock) since you must abandon all? (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 5:10 | For ten acres of vineyard shall yield one little measure, and thirty bushels of seed shall yield three bushels. | Measure. Hebrew, "both." --- Thirty. Hebrew, "a chomer shall yield an epha." |
| Isaiah 5:11 | Woe to you that rise up early in the morning to follow drunkenness, and to drink till the evening, to be inflamed with wine. | To follow. Hebrew, "for shecar," (Calmet) palm wine, (Theodoret) or any inebriating liquor. (St. Jerome in Isaias 28.) Our version is conformable to Aquila and Symmachus. (Haydock) --- Numbers 6:3., and Ecclesiastes 10:16. |
| Isaiah 5:12 | The harp, and the lyre, and the timbrel, and the pipe, and wine, are in your feasts: and the work of the Lord you regard not, nor do you consider the works of his hands.* Amos 6:6. | Work. Chastisement, ver. 19., and Isaias 28:21. (Calmet) --- They are admonished to observe the festivals of the Lord, and not to indulge in riotousness. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 5:13 | Therefore is my people led away captive, because they had not knowledge, and their nobles have perished with famine, and their multitude were dried up with thirst. | |
| Isaiah 5:14 | Therefore hath hell enlarged her soul, and opened her mouth without any bounds, and their strong ones, and their people, and their high and glorious ones shall go down into it. | Hell. Or the grave, which never says enough, Proverbs 30:15. Isaias alludes to what should happen under Nabuchodonosor, as if it were past. (G.[Calmet?]) |
| Isaiah 5:15 | And man shall be brought down, and man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be brought low. | |
| Isaiah 5:16 | And the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and the holy God shall be sanctified in justice. | Justice. All will be taught to adore him. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 5:17 | And the lambs shall feed according to their order, and strangers shall eat the deserts turned into fruitfulness. | Strangers. Ammonites, etc., (Calmet) shall occupy part of the land. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 5:18 | Woe to you that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as the rope of a cart. | Cart. Fatiguing themselves with iniquity, (Wisdom 5:7.; Calmet) and delaying your conversion. (St. Isidore) (Menochius) |
| Isaiah 5:19 | That say: Let him make haste, and let his work come quickly, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the holy one of Israel come, that we may know it. | It. The Jews were often guilty of the like insolence, Jeremias 17:15. |
| Isaiah 5:20 | Woe to you that call evil good, and good evil: that put darkness for light, and light for darkness: that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter. | |
| Isaiah 5:21 | *Woe to you that are wise in your own eyes, and prudent in your own conceits. Proverbs 3:7.; Romans 12:16. | Conceits. Blind guides, Matthew 15:14. |
| Isaiah 5:22 | Woe to you that are mighty to drink wine, and stout men at drunkenness. | Drink. Hebrew, "mix shecar." People generally mixed wine and water. They also strove who could drink most, and the Greeks had a feast for this purpose, (Calmet) which they styled Choas, for the measure which was to be swallowed down. (Aristophanes, Acharn. act. 4:4. and 5. ultra) --- Cyrus the younger boasted to the Greek ambassadors, that "he could drink and bear more wine than his brother." (Plut.[Plutarch?] in Artax.) |
| Isaiah 5:23 | That justify the wicked for gifts, and take away the justice of the just from him. | Justice. Declaring the righteous guilty, ver. 20. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 5:24 | Therefore, as the tongue of the fire devoureth the stubble, and the heat of the flame consumeth it; so shall their root be as ashes, and their bud shall go up as dust: for they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and have blasphemed the word of the holy one of Israel. | |
| Isaiah 5:25 | Therefore is the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, and he hath stretched out his hand upon them, and struck them: and the mountains were troubled, and their carcasses became as dung in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. | Still. After the ruin of Jerusalem, the people were led away. (Calmet) --- Grievous sins must be severely punished, as was that of the murderers of Christ. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 5:26 | And he will lift up a sign to the nations afar off, and will whistle to them from the ends of the earth: and behold they shall come with speed swiftly. | Off. Like a king, leading all his subjects to battle. (Calmet) --- Whistle. He alludes to the custom of leading forth bees by music, Isaias 7:18. (St. Cyprian) --- Earth. The Chaldeans, (chap. 41:9., and Jeremias 6:22.) and not the Romans, as some would suppose. --- Swiftly. Like an eagle, Daniel 7:4., and Jeremias 48:40. |
| Isaiah 5:27 | There is none that shall faint, nor labour among them: they shall not slumber, nor sleep, neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken. | Broken. They shall march incessantly, Ezechiel 26:7., and 30:11. |
| Isaiah 5:28 | Their arrows are sharp, and all their bows are bent. The hoofs of their horses shall be like the flint, and their wheels like the violence of a tempest. | Hoofs. They were hardened, but not shod. (Xenophon) (Amos 6:13.) |
| Isaiah 5:29 | Their roaring like that of a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yea, they shall roar, and take hold of the prey, and they shall keep fast hold of it, and there shall be none to deliver it. | Lion. Nabuchodonosor is compared to one, ver. 26., and Jeremias 4:7. |
| Isaiah 5:30 | And they shall make a noise against them that day, like the roaring of the sea: we shall look towards the land, and behold darkness of tribulation, and the light is darkened with the mist thereof. | Mist. Denoting calamity. Hebrew, "ruin." Septuagint, "indigence." (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 6:0 | A glorious vision, in which the prophet's lips are cleansed: he foretelleth the obstinacy of the Jews. | |
| Isaiah 6:1 | In the year that king Ozias died, *I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and elevated: and his train filled the temple. | Year of the World 3246, Year before Christ 758. Died. Either a natural (Calmet) or a civil death, by means of the leprosy. (Chaldean) (Tostat. 7.) --- This and the former chapters relate to the commencement of Joathan's reign, whether before or after the death of Ozias. (Calmet) --- Many think that this was the first prediction of Isaias. (Origen) (St. Jerome, ad Dam.) --- I saw. By a prophetic vision, as if I had been present at the dedication of the temple, 3 Kings 8:10. (Calmet) --- Lord. Not the Father, as some have asserted, but the Son, John 12:40. (St. Jerome, ad Dam.) (Calmet) --- Neither Moses nor any other saw the substance of God; but only a shadow. Yet Manasses hence took a pretext to have Isaias slain. (Origen) (St. Jerome, Trad.) (Paralipomenon) (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 6:2 | Upon it stood the Seraphims: the one had six wings, and the other had six wings: with two they covered his face, and with two they covered his feet, and with two they flew. | The two Seraphims "burning." They are supposed to constitute the highest order of angels, Numbers 21:6. --- His. God's or their own face. Hebrew and Septuagint are ambiguous. Out of respect, (Calmet) they looked not at the divine majesty. (Menochius) |
| Isaiah 6:3 | And they cried one to another, and said: *Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God of hosts, all the earth is full of his glory. Apocalypse 4:8. | Glory. By no means of the Incarnation. The unity and Trinity are insinuated. (St. Jerome; St. Gregory, Mor. 29:16.) |
| Isaiah 6:4 | And the lintels of the doors were moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. | Of him. Septuagint, "them," (Haydock) the Seraphim signifying that the veil was removed by the death of Christ, (Theodoret) or that the people should be led into captivity, as a Jew explained it to St. Jerome. |
| Isaiah 6:5 | And I said: Woe is me, because I have held my peace; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people that hath unclean lips, and I have seen with my eyes the King, the Lord of hosts. | Peace. It is proper for sinners to do so, Ecclesiasticus 15:9. The prophet was grieved that he was unworthy to join in the acclamation of the Seraphim, and had reason to fear death, Genesis 16:13., and Exodus 33:20. He finds himself less able to speak than before, like Moses, Exodus 4:10., and 6:12. |
| Isaiah 6:6 | And one of the Seraphims flew to me, and in his hand was a live coal, which he had taken with the tongs off the altar. | Coal. "Carbuncle," (Septuagint) the word of God, (St. Basil) spirit of prophecy, (St. Jerome, 142. ad Dam., etc.) |
| Isaiah 6:7 | And he touched my mouth, *and said: Behold this hath touched thy lips, and thy iniquities shall be taken away, and thy sin shall be cleansed. Jeremias 1:9. | Sin. Impediment in speech. All defects were attributed to some sin, (John 9:2.) as Job's friends maintained. |
| Isaiah 6:8 | And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: Whom shall I send? and who shall go for us? And I said: Lo, here am I, send me. | For us. Hence arises a proof of the plurality of persons. (Calmet) --- Send me. Thus Isaias was an evangelical and apostolical prophet. (St. Jerome) (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 6:9 | And he said: Go, and thou shalt say to this people: *Hearing, hear, and understand not: and see the vision, and know it not. Matthew 13:14.; Mark 4:12.; Luke 8:10.; John 12:40.; Acts 28:26.; Romans 11:8. | |
| Isaiah 6:10 | Blind the heart of this people, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes: lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and I heal them. | Blind. The prophets are said to do what they denounce. (St. Thomas Aquinas, 1. q. 24:3.) (Sanctius) --- Septuagint, "heavy or gross is the heart," etc. The authors of the New Testament quote it thus less harshly. --- Them. Is God unwilling to heal? Why then does he send his prophet? (Calmet) --- He intimates that all the graces offered would be rendered useless by the hardened Jews. (St. Isidore. Pelus 2. ep. 270.) --- Hebrew may be, "surely they will not see," etc. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 6:11 | And I said: How long, O Lord? And he said: Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land shall be left desolate. | Desolate. By means of Nabuchodonosor, (St. Chrysostom) and the Romans, (Eusebius, etc.) or even till the end of the world, their obstinacy will continue. |
| Isaiah 6:12 | And the Lord shall remove men far away, and she shall be multiplied that was left in the midst of the earth. | Earth. After the captivity, the people shall be more docile. But this was more fully verified by the preaching of the gospel. |
| Isaiah 6:13 | And there shall be still a tithing therein, and she shall turn, and shall be made a shew as a turpentine-tree, and as an oak that spreadeth its branches: that which shall stand therein, shall be a holy seed. | Tithing. The land shall produce its fruits, and people shall bring their tithes, Ezechiel 20:40. There shall be some left; (chap. 1:9., and 4:3.; Calmet) though only a tenth part will embrace Christianity. (St. Basil) --- Made. Septuagint, "ravaged." They shall be exposed to many persecutions under Epiphanes, and few shall escape the arms of the Romans, (Calmet) those particularly (Haydock) who shall be a holy seed. (Calmet) --- The apostles were of Jewish extraction, (Haydock) and spread the gospel throughout the world. (Menochius) |
| Isaiah 7:0 | The prophet assures Achaz that the two kings, his enemies, shall not take Jersualem. A virgin shall conceive and bear a son. | |
| Isaiah 7:1 | And *it came to pass in the days of Achaz, the son of Joathan, the son of Ozias, king of Juda, that Rasin, king of Syria, and Phacee, the son of Romelia, king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem, to fight against it: but they could not prevail over it. 4 Kings 16:15. | Year of the World 3262, Year before Christ 742. Achaz. This must be seventeen years later than the former prediction, 4 Kings 15:37. The kings of Syria and Israel jointly attacked Juda, but were forced to raise the siege of Jerusalem. The next year they came separately, and committed the following ravages. The news of their junction threw all into confusion, ver. 2. Isaias was then sent to inform the king, that the designs of his enemies should not take effect. Yet the two kings obtained each a victory. But they could not dethrone Achaz, as they intended. (Calmet) --- Paine traduces this prophecy as a lie, asserting that they succeeded. What! did they make Tabeel king? ver. 6. The Israelites would not even keep the captives who had been taken, 2 Chronicles 28:15. (Watson, let. 5.) --- Achaz had been made captive before. But now the Lord defeated the projects of his enemies, as he will the conspiracy of heretics against his Church. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 7:2 | And they told the house of David, saying: Syria hath rested upon Ephraim, and his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the woods are moved with the wind. | |
| Isaiah 7:3 | And the Lord said to Isaias: Go forth to meet Achaz, thou and Jasub, thy son, that is left, to the conduit of the upper pool, *in the way of the fullers' field. 4 Kings 18:17. | Jasub. This name was mysterious: Shear-Jashub means "the rest shall return" from Babylon, or be converted under Ezechias, Isaias 10:22. (Calmet) --- Protestants, Go "thou, and Shear-Jashub, thy son, at the end of the conduit," etc. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 7:4 | And thou shalt say to him: See thou be quiet: fear not, and let not thy heart be afraid of the two tails of these fire-brands, smoking with the wrath of the fury of Rasin, king of Syria, and of the son of Romelia. | Tails. So he styles the two kings in derision. The distrust of Achaz was punished by the loss of many of his subjects, but he was not dethroned, having engaged the Egyptians and Assyrians to attack his enemies, ver. 17. |
| Isaiah 7:5 | Because Syria hath taken counsel against thee, unto the evil of Ephraim and the son of Romelia, saying: | |
| Isaiah 7:6 | Let us go up to Juda, and rouse it up, and draw it away to us, and make the son of Tabeel king in the midst thereof. | Tabeel. Chaldean, "whom we shall think proper." He will not so much as name him. |
| Isaiah 7:7 | Thus saith the Lord God: It shall not stand, and this shall not be. | |
| Isaiah 7:8 | But the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rasin: and within threescore and five years, Ephraim shall cease to be a people: | Rasin. Both the king and his capital shall be ruined. --- And five. Capellus (p. 497.) would read six and five; or, in eleven years time. But (Calmet) Ephraim was led captive twenty-one years after, and the Cutheans took their place when sixty-five years had elapsed. (The year of the world 3327., Usher) --- Most people date from the prophecy of Amos to the ruin of Samaria, just sixty-five years. The former solution seems preferable. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 7:9 | And the head of Ephraim is Samaria and the head of Samaria, the son of Romelia. If you will not believe, you shall not continue. | Continue. Septuagint, "and will not understand, even the Lord," etc. (Haydock) --- Hebrew, "and since you do not believe," (Calmet) or "because you are not confirmed" by a miracle. (Grotius) |
| Isaiah 7:10 | And the Lord spoke again to Achaz, saying: | |
| Isaiah 7:11 | Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God, either unto the depth of hell, or unto the height above. | Above. Require it to thunder, (1 Kings 12:17.) or the earth to open, Numbers 16:28. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 7:12 | And Achaz said: I will not ask, and I will not tempt the Lord. | Lord. He was afraid of being forced to relinquish his evil ways. (St. Jerome) --- Though an idolater, he knew he ought not to tempt God. |
| Isaiah 7:13 | And he said: Hear ye, therefore, O house of David: Is it a small thing for you to be grievous to men, that you are grievous to my God also? | |
| Isaiah 7:14 | Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. *Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel. Matthew 1:23.; Luke 1:31. | Virgin, halma, (Haydock) one secluded from the company of men. Alma in Latin signifies "a holy person," and in Punic "a virgin." The term is never applied to any but "a young virgin." If it meant a young woman, what sort of a sign would this be? (St. Jerome) --- It was indeed above the sagacity of man to declare that the child to be born would be a boy, and live till the kings should be destroyed. But the prophet undoubtedly speaks of Jesus Christ, the wonderful, etc., (chap. 9:5.) as well as of a boy, who should prefigure him, and be an earnest of the speedy destruction of the two kings. He was to be born of Isaias, (chap. 8:4.) and of all the qualities belonging to the true Emmanuel, only that regards him, which intimates that the country should be delivered before he should come to years of discretion, ver. 16. (Calmet, Diss.) (Bossuet) --- The Fathers generally apply all to Christ. --- Called. Or shall be in effect, Isaias 1:26. (Calmet) --- The king hardly trusted in God's mercies, whereupon the incarnation of Christ, etc., is foretold. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 7:15 | He shall eat butter and honey, that he may know to refuse the evil, and to choose the good. | Honey. Like other infants. (Calmet) --- The new baptized received some to remind them of innocence. (Tertullian, cor. 3.) --- Christ shall be true man. (Menochius) |
| Isaiah 7:16 | For before the child know to refuse the evil, and to choose the good, the land which thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of the face of her two kings. | Good. Being arrived at the age of discretion, Achaz engaged the Assyrians to invade Damascus. Its citizens and four tribes were carried into captivity the year following. Phacee only survived another year, the year of the world 3265. This was a pledge, that what regarded the son of the virgin would also be accomplished. (Calmet) --- Land of the enemy. (Calmet) (4 Kings xvi.) (Menochius) |
| Isaiah 7:17 | The Lord shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon the house of thy father, days that have not come since the time of the separation of Ephraim from Juda, with the king of the Assyrians. | Assyrians. His aid shall prove the greatest scourge, (2 Paralipomenon 28:20.) while the Idumeans and Philistines shall also ravage the country. (2 Paralipomenon 28:17.) Achaz has vainly trusted in man. |
| Isaiah 7:18 | And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall hiss for the fly, that is in the uttermost parts of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. | Of Egypt. The Idumeans, etc., dwell on the borders, Isaias 5:26. Yet many explain this of the victories of Nabuchodonosor and Nechas. |
| Isaiah 7:19 | And they shall come, and shall all of them rest in the torrents of the valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all places set with shrubs, and in all hollow places. | |
| Isaiah 7:20 | In that day the Lord shall shave with a razor that is hired by them that are beyond the river, by the king of the Assyrians, the head and the hairs of the feet, and the whole beard. | Razor. Or cut off with scissors all the hair, as was done with lepers, (Leviticus 14:9.) and Levites, Numbers 8:7. The country shall be pillaged, and all shall be in mourning. (Calmet) --- The men shall be despised as no better than women and cowards. (St. Jerome) (Theodoret) --- Hired. With large sums. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 7:21 | And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep. | |
| Isaiah 7:22 | And for the abundance of milk he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that shall be left in the midst of the land. | Land. Pastures shall be so large, (Menochius) though uncultivated, the greatest part of the inhabitants being removed. |
| Isaiah 7:23 | And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place where there were a thousand vines, at a thousand pieces of silver, shall become thorns and briers. | Pieces. Sicles. This was the price of the best vineyards, Canticle of Canticles 8:2. (Calmet) --- Now people may hunt in them. (Haydock) --- The subjects of Achaz were much reduced. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 7:24 | With arrows and with bows they shall go in thither: for briers and thorns shall be in all the land. | Thither. The hedges shall be rooted up (Haydock) or neglected, so that cattle may graze. (Menochius) --- Two sorts of mountains are specified; some for vineyards, and others for pasture. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 7:25 | And as for all the hills that shall be raked with a rake, the fear of thorns and briers shall not come thither, but they shall be for the ox to feed on, and the lesser cattle to tread upon. | |
| Isaiah 8:0 | The name of the child that is to be born: many evils shall come upon the Jews for their sins. | |
| Isaiah 8:1 | And the Lord said to me: Take thee a great book, and write in it with a man's pen. Take away the spoils with speed, quickly take the prey. | Book. This mystery would require a large explanation. (Worthington) --- Pen. Literally, "style." (Haydock) --- Write intelligibly. Here all is plain. (Calmet) --- Take. Protestants, "concerning Mahershalalchashbaz." Marginal note, "in making speed to the spoil, he hasteneth the prey." (Haydock) --- Chashbaz, the son of Isaias, was a sign that Syria and Israel should soon be rendered desolate; and in a more elevated sense, he shewed that Christ should overturn the powers of hell. (Calmet) --- The virgin's son [Jesus Christ] took the prey from the devil, who before possessed almost all the world. (Worthington) --- Urias. Probably the high priest, who afterwards weakly complied with the king's idolatrous order, 4 Kings 16:10. (Calmet) --- Yet at this time, he was a credible witness. (Haydock) --- Zacharias. A person to us unknown. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 8:2 | And I took unto me faithful witnesses, Urias, the priest, and Zacharias, the son of Barachias. | |
| Isaiah 8:3 | And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived, and bore a son. And the Lord said to me: Call his name, Hasten to take away the spoils: Make haste to take away the prey. | Prophetess. The blessed Virgin [Mary], (St. Chrysostom, etc.) or to his wife. He gives his son a different name from Emmanuel, (chap. 7:14.) that they might not be confounded. --- Hasten. Hebrew Mahershalalchashbaz, ver. 1. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 8:4 | For before the child know to call his father and his mother, the strength of Damascus, and the spoils of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of the Assyrians. | Assyrians. Theglathphalassar, the next year, took the Damascenes to Kir, and Nephthali, Reuben, Gad, and Manasses into captivity. Yet the kingdom continued some time longer. Never was prediction more explicit. Can the pagans produce any thing similar? |
| Isaiah 8:5 | And the Lord spoke to me again, saying: | |
| Isaiah 8:6 | Forasmuch as this people hath cast away the waters of Siloe, that go with silence, and hath rather taken Rasin, and the son of Romelia: | Silence. Being willing to receive Tabeel, instead of their lawful prince. Achaz was then terrified, and chose to become tributary, rather than to lose his crown. Herein both offended God, in whom they ought to have trusted; and the auxiliary king looked upon himself as master of the country, 2 Paralipomenon 28:20. (Calmet) --- Israel had joined with the Syrian; but was reduced to the state of captivity, while Jerusalem was preserved. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 8:7 | Therefore, behold the Lord will bring upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, the king of the Assyrians, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and shall overflow all his banks, | River. Euphrates, (Calmet) with the overflowing of which the Assyrian is compared. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 8:8 | And shall pass through Juda, overflowing, and going over, shall reach even to the neck. And the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Emmanuel. | Wings. Or troops. --- Emmanuel. Christ was born in the country, and Lord of it: though it might be said to belong to the son of Isaias, as being his figure. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 8:9 | Gather yourselves together, O ye people, and be overcome, and give ear, all ye lands afar off: strengthen yourselves, and be overcome, gird yourselves, and be overcome. | Overcome. The defeat of Sennacherib, of the Idumeans, etc., under Ezechias, is intimated, 4 Kings 18:8., and 19:35. |
| Isaiah 8:10 | Take counsel together, and it shall be defeated: speak a word, and it shall not be done: because God is with us. | God. Hebrew, "Emmanuel." We have a pledge of God's protection. |
| Isaiah 8:11 | For thus saith the Lord to me: As he hath taught me, with a strong arm, that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying: | |
| Isaiah 8:12 | Say ye not: A conspiracy: for all that this people speaketh, is a conspiracy: neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. | Conspiracy. In despair, they wish to submit to the enemy, ver. 6. Isaias exhorts them to have recourse rather to the Lord. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 8:13 | Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself: and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. | |
| Isaiah 8:14 | And he shall be a sanctification to you. *But for a stone of stumbling, and for a rock of offence to the two houses of Israel, for a snare and a ruin to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Luke 2:34.; Romans 9:32.; 1 Peter 4:6. | Two. The wicked of both kingdoms, (Haydock) who choose to revolt from God. Many of Israel were led into captivity, and the territory of Juda was laid waste. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 8:15 | And very many of them shall stumble and fall, and shall be broken in pieces, and shall be snared, and taken. | |
| Isaiah 8:16 | Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. | Disciples. Let some faithful witnesses keep this prophecy, (Haydock) that when it is verified, all may be convinced. |
| Isaiah 8:17 | And I will wait for the Lord, who hath hid his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him. | Jacob. Having resolved on their ruin. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 8:18 | Behold I and my children, whom the Lord hath given me for a sign, and for a wonder in Israel, from the Lord of hosts, who dwelleth in Mount Sion. | I and my two children. Isaias 7:3., and 8:4. (Haydock) --- The actions of some were prophetical, Isaias 20:2., and Osee 12:10. (Calmet) --- God announces what will happen, by the names of my children, (Haydock) and by their age, as well as by my mouth. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 8:19 | And when they shall say to you: Seek of pythons, and of diviners, who mutter in their enchantments: should not the people seek of their God, for the living of the dead? | Seek of pythons. That is, people pretending to tell future things by a prophesying spirit. --- Should not the people seek of their God, for the living of the dead? Here is signified, that it is to God we should pray to be directed, and not to seek of the dead, (that is, of fortune-tellers dead in sin) for the health of the living. (Challoner) --- Mutter. Literally, "use a shrill note," strident. (Haydock) --- So Horace, (1 Sat. viii.) says: Umbrae cum sagana resonarent triste et acutum. --- Should. Make this reply: Should, etc. |
| Isaiah 8:20 | To the law rather, and to the testimony. And if they speak not according to this word, they shall not have the morning light. | Law. Sealed, (ver. 16.) or to the law of Moses, Ecclesiasticus 34:28. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "why do they consult the dead concerning the living? For he gave the law to assist us." (Haydock) --- Light. They shall die or be miserable. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 8:21 | And they shall pass by it, they shall fall, and be hungry: and when they shall be hungry, they will be angry, and curse their king, and their God, and look upwards. | By it. The word of God. (Haydock) --- God. Elohim means also princes or idols. (Calmet) --- Whether they seek God unwillingly, or the aid of men, (ver. 22.) they shall perish. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 8:22 | And they shall look to the earth, and behold trouble and darkness, weakness and distress, and a mist following them, and they cannot fly away from their distress. | |
| Isaiah 9:0 | What joy shall come after afflictions by the birth and kingdom of Christ; which shall flourish for ever. Judgments upon Israel for their sins. | |
| Isaiah 9:1 | At *the first time the land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthali was lightly touched: and at the last the way of the sea beyond the Jordan of the Galilee of the Gentiles was heavily loaded. Matthew 4:15. | Loaded. Theglathphalassar took away whole tribes, (2 Paralipomenon 5:26.) the year after this. Yet these people were the first enlightened with the rays of the gospel, (Matthew 4:13.) though so much despised, John 7:52. (Calmet) --- Here Christ preached first. But after his passion, few Jews believed in him. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 9:2 | The people that walked in darkness, have seen a great light: to them that dwelt in the region of the shadow of death, light is risen. | Risen. The kingdom of Juda hoped for redress, when they saw the people of Israel humbled, (Haydock) or rather after the defeat of Sennacherib. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 9:3 | Thou hast multiplied the nation, and hast not increased the joy. They shall rejoice before thee, as they that rejoice in the harvest, as conquerors rejoice after taking a prey, when they divide the spoils. | And hast. Parkhurst says it should be, "(whom) thou hast not brought up (the Gentiles) with joy they," etc. (Symmachus) (Haydock) --- The numerous forces of the Assyrians could not save them from the angel. Under Ezechias the people increased. Was not his reign a figure of the Church persecuted and increasing: but on that account, in danger from a relaxation of discipline? (Luke 5:7.) --- Spoils. They shall return thanks to God for the unexpected liberation. |
| Isaiah 9:4 | For the yoke of their burden, and the rod of their shoulder, and the sceptre of their oppressor thou hast overcome, *as in the day of Madian. Judges 7:12. | Oppressor. Who levied taxes for Assyria, 4 Kings 18:7. Sennacherib made war, because Ezechias refused to pay them any longer, and his troops fell upon each other, (Calmet) as the Madianites had done, Judges vii. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 9:5 | For every violent taking of spoils, with tumult, and garment mingled with blood, shall be burnt, and be fuel for the fire. | Fire. Being cut and useless. See Diss. on the defeat of Sennacherib. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 9:6 | For a child is born to us, and a son is given to us, and the government is upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, God the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace. | Child. The Messias, whom the son of Isaias prefigured. --- Shoulder. Where the badges of royalty were worn. (Calmet) --- Christ bore his cross. (Tertullian, etc.) --- Wonderful. In his birth, etc. --- Counsellor. From whom all good advice proceeds. Grotius falsely translates, "the consulter of the strong God," meaning Ezechias. Though he deemed the Socinians unworthy of the Christian name, (Ep. ad Valleum.) he too often sides with them. Johets always means one who "gives counsel," Isaias 40:13. Ezechias was at this time ten years old, and he did not always take advice, nor was his reign peaceful, etc. --- God. The three Greek versions maliciously render El "the strong," though it be uncertain that it ever has that meaning, as it certainly has not when joined with gibbor, "mighty." Why should two terms of the same import be used? The Septuagint copies vary much. Some read only, "he shall be called the angel of the great council, for I will bring peace upon the princes and his health." St. Jerome thinks they were afraid to style the child God. But this reason falls to the ground, as other copies have, (Calmet) after council, "Wonderful, Counsellor, God, the Mighty, the Potent, exousiaszes, the Prince of Peace, the Father of the world to come, for, etc., (7.) His." Grabe (de Vitiis lxx. p. 29.) asserts that the former is the genuine version, and that the inserted titles are a secondary one; so that there must have been two version before the days of Aquila, as the text is thus quoted at large by Clement and St. Iraeneus, the year of the Lord 180; Kennicott adds also by St. Ignatius, the year of the Lord 110. (Haydock) --- The omnipotent God became a little child, and without violence subdued the world, which he still governs. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 9:7 | His empire shall be multiplied, and there shall be no end of peace: he shall sit upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom: to establish it, and strengthen it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth and for ever: the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. | Peace. Christ gives it, and propagates his Church, Hebrews 12:2. |
| Isaiah 9:8 | The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel. | Word. Septuagint, "death." This also agrees with the Hebrew term, and with the context. |
| Isaiah 9:9 | And all the people of Ephraim shall know, and the inhabitants of Samaria, that say in the pride and haughtiness of their heart: | Cedars. They speak in a proverbial way, that they will shortly repair the injuries done by the Assyrians depending on king Osee. |
| Isaiah 9:10 | The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with square stones: they have cut down the sycamores, but we will change them for cedars. | |
| Isaiah 9:11 | And the Lord shall set up the enemies of Rasin over him, *and shall bring on his enemies in a crowd: 4 Kings 16:9. | Him. Israel. Salmanasar came to ruin the kingdom. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 9:12 | The Syrians from the east, and the Philistines from the west: and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his indignation is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. | Still. God punishes the impenitent throughout eternity, ver. 12., and Isaias 10:4. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 9:13 | And the people are not returned to him who hath struck them, and have not sought after the Lord of hosts. | |
| Isaiah 9:14 | And the Lord shall destroy out of Israel the head and the tail, him that bendeth down, and him that holdeth back, in one day. | Him. Hebrew, "the branch and the rush." (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "the great and the small." |
| Isaiah 9:15 | The aged and honourable, he is the head: and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail. | |
| Isaiah 9:16 | And they that call this people blessed, shall cause them to err: and they that are called blessed, shall be thrown down headlong. | Headlong. If the blind lead the blind, both fall into the ditch, Matthew 15:14. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 9:17 | Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men: neither shall he have mercy on their fatherless, and widows: for every one is a hypocrite and wicked, and every mouth hath spoken folly. For all this his indignation is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. | Folly. Sin. They are all guilty. He will shew no compassion. |
| Isaiah 9:18 | For wickedness is kindled as a fire, it shall devour the brier and the thorn: and shall kindle in the thicket of the forest, and it shall be wrapped up in smoke, ascending on high. | High. All shall witness the fall of Israel, (Calmet) like a forest on fire. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 9:19 | By the wrath of the Lord of hosts the land is troubled, and the people shall be as fuel for the fire: no man shall spare his brother. | Brother. Civil wars shall rage, 4 Kings xv. Josephus (Jewish Wars vii.) perhaps alluded to this passage, when he said, that an ancient prophecy announced ruin to the Jews, when they should turn their arms against each other. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 9:20 | And he shall turn to the right hand, and shall be hungry: and shall eat on the left hand, and shall not be filled: every one shall eat the flesh of his own arm: Manasses Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasses, and they together shall be against Juda. | |
| Isaiah 9:21 | After all these things his indignation is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. | |
| Isaiah 10:0 | Woe to the makers of wicked laws. The Assyrians shall be a rod for punishing Israel: but for their pride they shall be destroyed: and a remnant of Israel saved. | |
| Isaiah 10:1 | Woe to them that make wicked laws: and when they write, write injustice: | Injustice. These great ones excite God's indignation. (Calmet) --- Jeroboam forbidding any to go to Jerusalem; and the Pharisees establishing their wicked traditions, ruined all. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 10:2 | To oppress the poor in judgment, and do violence to the cause of the humble of my people: that widows might be their prey, and that they might rob the fatherless. | |
| Isaiah 10:3 | What will you do in the day of visitation, and of the calamity which cometh from afar? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory? | Afar. When Salmanasar shall come from Ninive to destroy Samaria, to punish the people for their idolatry (Calmet) and oppressions. (Haydock) --- Glory. Golden calves, (Osee 8:5., and 10:5.) or possessions, Isaias 9:8. |
| Isaiah 10:4 | That you be not bowed down under the bond, and fall with the slain? In all these things his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. | |
| Isaiah 10:5 | Woe to the Assyrian, he is the rod and the staff of my anger, and my indignation is in their hands. | Woe. Or come on, Heus, though (Calmet) ho is ordinarily rendered, alas! It here indicates that God makes use of this scourge with regret, and will afterwards consign it to the flames. (Haydock) --- The prophet speaks of Salmanasar, or of Sennacherib. (St. Cyprian; St. Jerome) |
| Isaiah 10:6 | I will send him to a deceitful nation, and I will give him a charge against the people of my wrath, to take away the spoils, and to lay hold on the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. | Deceitful. Hebrew, "hypocritical," joining my worship with that of idols. (Calmet) --- They had solemnly promised to serve the Lord, Exodus 19:8. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 10:7 | But he shall not take it so, and his heart shall not think so: but his heart shall be set to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few. | So. He will not think that he is executing my vengeance, supposing that he conquers by his own power. |
| Isaiah 10:8 | For he shall say: | |
| Isaiah 10:9 | Are not my princes as so many kings? is not Calano as Charcamis: and Emath as Arphad? is not Samaria as Damascus? | As. Literally, "altogether kings." (Haydock) --- Thus Nabuchodonosor kept the conquered princes for derision, Habacuc 1:10., and Judges 1:7. --- Arphad, Arad, or rather Raphanae, Jeremias 49:23. --- Damascus. These two cities were not yet subdued. |
| Isaiah 10:10 | As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idol, so also their idols of Jerusalem, and of Samaria. | Idols. He looks upon the true God as no better than any idols, (4 Kings 18:32.) and falsely supposes that the latter were adored in Jerusalem. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 10:11 | Shall I not, as I have done to Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols? | |
| Isaiah 10:12 | And it shall come to pass, that when the Lord shall have performed all his works in Mount Sion, and in Jerusalem, I will visit the fruit of the proud heart of the king of *Assyria, and the glory of the haughtiness of his eyes. 4 Kings 19:35.; Isaias 37:36. | Works. Humbling and terrifying Ezechias and his subjects, who were reduced to great distress, in order to avert the impending war. (Haydock) --- Eyes. The Assyrians were punished in their turn. |
| Isaiah 10:13 | For he hath said: By the strength of my own hand I have done it, and by my own wisdom I have understood: and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have taken the spoils of their princes, and as a mighty man have pulled down them that sat on high. | |
| Isaiah 10:14 | And my hand hath found the strength of the people as a nest; and as eggs are gathered that are left, so have I gathered all the earth: and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or made the least noise. | Nest. Some put these words in the mouth of God. (Tertullian) (Abdias 4.) --- But they shew the insolence of Sennacherib. |
| Isaiah 10:15 | Shall the axe boast itself against him that cutteth with it? or shall the saw exalt itself against him by whom it is drawn? as if a rod should lift itself up against him that lifteth it up, and a staff exalt itself, which is but wood. | Axe. The Assyrian has no right to boast. What can man do without God's assistance? (Calmet) --- Gratiae tuae deputo et quaecumque non feci mala. (St. Augustine, Confessions 2:7.) --- Sennacherib persecuted the Jews of his own free will, though he was God's instrument. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 10:16 | Therefore, the sovereign Lord, the Lord of hosts, shall send leanness among his fat ones: and under his glory shall be kindled a burning, as it were the burning of a fire. | Fire. The Jews assert, that 185,000 perished by an inward burning, so that only ten men were left, ver. 19. (St. Jerome) |
| Isaiah 10:17 | And the light of Israel shall be as a fire, and the holy One thereof as a flame: and his thorns and his briers shall be set on fire, and shall be devoured in one day. | Light. God. (Haydock) --- Thorns. Private soldiers. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 10:18 | And the glory of his forest, and of his beautiful hill, shall be consumed from the soul even to the flesh, and he shall run away through fear. | Glory. Officers. --- Flesh. Or body. All shall perish. (Haydock) --- Fear. Sennacherib escaped alone, and fell by the sword of his own sons. |
| Isaiah 10:19 | And they that remain of the trees of his forest shall be so few, that they shall easily be numbered, and a child shall write them down. | |
| Isaiah 10:20 | 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 striketh them: but they shall lean upon the Lord, the holy One of Israel in truth. | Israel now submitted to Ezechias, as their kingdom was overturned in the sixth year of his reign, eight years before Sennacherib's arrival. Isaias speaks of this time, and therefore makes no distinction of the kingdoms. Striketh the Assyrian. |
| Isaiah 10:21 | The remnant shall be converted, the remnant, I say, of Jacob, to the mighty God. | |
| Isaiah 10:22 | *For if thy people, O Israel, shall be as the sand of the sea, a remnant of them shall be converted, the consumption abridged shall overflow with justice. Isaias 11:11.; Romans 9:27. | Converted. This was partly verified in the children of Israel who remained after the devastations of the Assyrians, in the time of king Ezechias: and partly in the conversion of a remnant of the Jews to the faith of Christ. (Challoner) --- 4 Kings 18:3., and Romans 9:27. The apostle follows the Septuagint, (Calmet) "and if the people of Israel be." --- Converted. Septuagint, "saved, for perfecting the word and abridging in justice. Because God, the Lord of hosts, will make an abridged word in the universe." (Haydock) --- As the apostle has explained this passage, "every other interpretation must cease." (St. Jerome) --- The few who were converted under Ezechias were a figure of those who should embrace the faith of Christ. (Calmet) --- Consumption. That is, the number of them cut short, and reduced to few, shall flourish in the abundance of justice. (Challoner) --- Hebrew, "the desolation is decreed, justice shall overflow." God will treat all with rigour, Nahum 1:8. The incredulous Jews shall be rejected, ver. 23., and Romans ix. |
| Isaiah 10:23 | For the Lord God of hosts shall make a consumption, and an abridgment in the midst of all the land. | |
| Isaiah 10:24 | Therefore, thus saith the Lord, the God of hosts: O my people, that dwellest in Sion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall strike thee with his rod, and he shall lift up his staff over thee in the way of Egypt. | Egypt. He sent Rabsaces from Lachis, when he set out to meet Tharaca, 4 Kings xix. |
| Isaiah 10:25 | For yet a little, and a very little while, and my indignation shall cease, and my wrath shall be upon their wickedness. | Little. Twenty-eight years, (Psalm 89:4.) or he alludes to the destruction which took place in a single night, (Calmet) or in a moment, ver. 16. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 10:26 | *And the Lord of hosts shall raise up a scourge against him, **according to the slaughter of Madian in the rock of Oreb, and his rod over the sea, and he shall lift it up in the way of Egypt. Isaias 37:36.; Judges 7:25. | Oreb. Judges 7:25. --- And his. Moses thus let loose the waters of the Red Sea on the Egyptians, by stretching forth his rod. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 10:27 | And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall putrefy at the presence of the oil. | Oil. That is, by the sweet unction of divine mercy. (Challoner) --- Chaldean, "before the anointed," in consideration of Ezechias and Isaias. In the higher sense, it denotes the victory of Christ over the devil. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 10:28 | He shall come into Aiath, he shall pass into Magron: at Machmas he shall lay up his carriages. | Into Aiath, etc. Here the prophet describes the march of the Assyrians under Sennacherib; and the terror they should carry with them; and how they should suddenly be destroyed. (Challoner) |
| Isaiah 10:29 | They have passed in haste, Gaba is our lodging: Rama was astonished, Gabaath of Saul fled away. | Lodging. Here, say the Assyrians, we will encamp. |
| Isaiah 10:30 | Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim; attend, O Laisa, poor Anathoth. | |
| Isaiah 10:31 | Medemena is removed: ye inhabitants of Gabim, take courage. | Take. Protestants, "gather themselves to flee." (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 10:32 | It is yet day enough, to remain in Nobe: he shall shake his hand against the mountain of the daughter of Sion, the hill of Jerusalem. | Nobe. He may arrive thither shortly, in the environs of Jerusalem. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "exhort to-day, that they may continue on the road. Comfort with the hand the daughter of Sion, thou rock and hills within Jerusalem." (Haydock) --- Hand. As Nicanor did against the temple, 2 Machabees 15:32. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 10:33 | Behold the sovereign Lord of hosts shall break the earthen vessel with terror, and the tall of stature shall be cut down, and the lofty shall be humbled. | Vessel. Like Gideon, when he attacked Madian, ver. 26., and Judges 7:19. Septuagint, "the nobles." (Haydock) --- Hebrew, "their beauty." The empire of Assyria shall presently fall. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 10:34 | And the thickets of the forest shall be cut down with iron, and Libanus, with its high ones, shall fall. | |
| Isaiah 11:0 | Of the spiritual kingdom of Christ, to which all nations shall repair. | |
| Isaiah 11:1 | And *there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root. Acts 13:23.; Isaias 53:2. | Root. Juda shall not be exterminated, like the Assyrians. (Calmet) --- Christ shall spring from the blessed Virgin [Mary], (Worthington) for the salvation of mankind. The Jews agree, that this prediction regards the Messias; though some, with Grotius, would explain it literally of Ezechias. They do not reflect that he was now ten years old, and that the prophet speaks of an event which should still take place after he had been a long while upon the throne. If we were to look for any figure of the Messias, to whom this might be applicable, it would be Zorobabel, Zacharias 3:8. But how disproportionate would be the promises to the execution? Some passages may indeed relate to the return of the captives, (ver. 11.) as the people must have a more immediate object, to insure the accomplishment of the more elevated predictions concerning the Messias: but these also refer ultimately to the propagation of the gospel, which the prophet had also in view. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 11:2 | And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: the spirit of wisdom, and of understanding, the spirit of counsel, and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge, and of godliness. | Him. In the form of a dove, John 1:32. (Haydock) --- "The whole fountain of the Holy Ghost descending." (Ev. Nazar.) (St. Jerome) --- Christ was filled with his seven gifts, and of his fullness his servants receive. (Worthington) --- Yet all virtues are the gifts of the holy Spirit, and the number seven is not specified in Hebrew, as the same word (Calmet) yirath, is rendered godliness, which (ver. 3.) means, the fear of the Lord. (Haydock) --- God enables us to penetrate the difficulties of Scripture, and to act with prudence, etc. (Menochius) |
| Isaiah 11:3 | And he shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge according to the sight of the eyes, nor reprove according to the hearing of the ears. | Filled. Hebrew, "breath or smell." So St. Paul says, (2 Corinthians 2:15.) we are the good odour of Christ. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "he shall make him of quick understanding (marginal note, smell) in the fear," etc. (Haydock) --- Ears. Which are often deceived. (Menochius) |
| Isaiah 11:4 | But he shall judge the poor with justice, and shall reprove with equity, for the meek of the earth: *and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. 2 Thessalonians 2:8. | Wicked. Antichrist, (2 Thessalonians 2:8.) and all impiety, by means of the apostles. |
| Isaiah 11:5 | And justice shall be the girdle of his loins: and faith the girdle of his reins. | Reins. He shall possess these virtues, performing his promises with the strictest fidelity. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 11:6 | *The wolf shall dwell with the lamb: and the leopard shall lie down with the kid: the calf, and the lion, and the sheep, shall abide together, and a little child shall lead them. Isaias 65:25. | Wolf. Some explain this of the Millennium. (apud St. Jerome) (Lactantius 7:24.) --- But the more intelligent understand, that the fiercest nations shall embrace the gospel, and kings obey the pastors of the Church. (Calmet) --- Lead. Or "drive," as the word is used by Festus. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 11:7 | The calf, and the bear shall feed: their young ones shall rest together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. | |
| Isaiah 11:8 | And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp: and the weaned child shall thrust his hand into the den of the basilisk. | Basilisk. Psalm 9:13. The apostles subdued kings and philosophers, without any human advantages. |
| Isaiah 11:9 | They shall not hurt, nor shall they kill in all my holy mountain, for the earth is filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the covering waters of the sea. | Kill. The most inveterate pagans, being once converted, entirely alter their manners, Osee 2:18. |
| Isaiah 11:10 | *In that day the root of Jesse, who standeth for an ensign of people, him the Gentiles shall beseech, and his sepulchre shall be glorious. Romans 15:12. | Ensign. The cross is the standard of Christians. --- Sepulchre. Hebrew, Septuagint, etc., "rest." St. Jerome give the true sense. The holy places have been greatly reverenced, and Christian princes strove for a long time to recover them. (Calmet) --- They are respected even by the Turks. Christ's death was ignominious, but his monument was full of glory. Thus the saints begin to shine, where the glory of the wicked ends. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 11:11 | And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand the second time to possess the remnant of his people, which shall be left from the Assyrians, and from Egypt, and from Phetros, and from Ethiopia, and from Elam, and from Sennaar, and from Emath, and from the islands of the sea. | Time. After the deliverance from Sennacherib, they shall return from captivity. Ezechias recalled some few, 2 Paralipomenon 29:9. --- Remnant. Some embraced the gospel, Romans 2:2., and Acts 2:41., etc. --- Phetros, in Egypt. --- Of the Mediterranean sea, and all places to which the Jews went by water. |
| Isaiah 11:12 | And he shall set up a standard unto the nations, and shall assemble the fugitives of Israel, and shall gather together the dispersed of Juda from the four quarters of the earth. | |
| Isaiah 11:13 | And the envy of Ephraim shall be taken away, and the enemies of Juda shall perish: Ephraim shall not envy Juda, and Juda shall not fight against Ephraim. | Away. Under Ezechias the Israelites began to join with Juda. But they did it more cordially after their return from Babylon. |
| Isaiah 11:14 | But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines by the sea, they together shall spoil the children of the east: Edom, and Moab, shall be under the rule of their hand, and the children of Ammon shall be obedient. | Shoulders. Or confines, Ezechiel 25:9. Ezechias and the Machabees attacked the Philistines. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "and they shall fly on the ships of the strangers; they shall plunder the sea together, and those on the east, and Idumea." (Haydock) --- East. Ammonites, etc., often defeated by the Machabees, and probably by Ezechias. |
| Isaiah 11:15 | And the Lord shall lay waste the tongue of the sea of Egypt, and shall lift up his hand over the river in the strength of his spirit: and he shall strike it in the seven streams, so that men may pass through it in their shoes. | Tongue. Gulf of the Mediterranean, near Pelusium, or the seven mouths of the river Nile. The country was ravaged by Sennacherib, Cambyses, Alex.[Alexander the Great?], and Epiphanes, Isaias 19:4., etc. The Jewish captives shall return thence, Isaias 50:3., and Zacharias 10:10. |
| Isaiah 11:16 | And there shall be a highway for the remnant of my people, which shall be left from the Assyrians: as there was for Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt. | Assyrians. They shall march without impediment. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 12:0 | A canticle of thanksgiving for the benefits of Christ. | |
| Isaiah 12:1 | And thou shalt say in that day: I will give thanks to thee, O Lord, for thou wast angry with me: thy wrath is turned away, and thou hast comforted me. | Thanks. Literally, "confess." The Jews thank God for their return, as the Church does for her deliverance from sin. (Worthington) --- Canticles were composed on such occasions, Exodus xv. --- Angry. They do not thank God on this account; but because he had averted his indignation. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 12:2 | Behold, God is my Saviour, I will deal confidently, and will not fear: *because the Lord is my strength, and my praise, and he is become my salvation. Exodus 15:2.; Psalm 117:14. | |
| Isaiah 12:3 | You shall draw waters with joy out of the Saviour's fountains: | Fountains. Instead of those which your fathers drank in the desert. (Calmet) --- You shall have the holy Scriptures, (Haydock) sacraments, etc., John 4:13., and 7:38. |
| Isaiah 12:4 | And you shall say in that day: Praise ye the Lord, and call upon his name: make his works known among the people: remember that his name is high. | |
| Isaiah 12:5 | Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath done great things: shew this forth in all the earth. | |
| Isaiah 12:6 | Rejoice, and praise, O thou habitation of Sion: for great is he that is in the midst of thee, the holy one of Israel. | Of thee. He alludes to the name Emmanuel. Christ preached, and his own would not receive him, John 1:11., and 26. (Calmet) --- He continues with us, concealed under the sacramental species [of the Eucharist]. (Menochius) |
| Isaiah 13:0 | The desolation of Babylon. | |
| Isaiah 13:1 | The burden of Babylon, which Isaias, the son of Amos, saw. | Burden. That is, a prophecy against Babylon. (Challoner) --- Nimrod began the kingdom, Genesis 10. Belus and Ninus brought it to great eminence. But after 1240 years, Babylon was taken by Cyrus. (Worthington) --- Isaias delivered the seven following chapters in the first year of Ezechias, Isaias 14:28. |
| Isaiah 13:2 | Upon the dark mountain lift ye up a banner, exalt the voice, lift up the hand, and let the rulers go into the gates. | Mountain of Media, whence Darius came. It was usual to erect a signal, (chap. 30:17., and Jeremias 6:1.) to call troops together. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 13:3 | I have commanded my sanctified ones, and have called my strong ones in my wrath, them that rejoice in my glory. | Sanctioned. The Medes and Persians were appointed by God to punish Babylon. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 13:4 | The noise of a multitude in the mountains, as it were of many people, the noise of the sound of kings, of nations gathered together: the Lord of hosts hath given charge to the troops of war. | Kings. Darius styles himself king of the Medes and Persians, Daniel 6:12. Many princes and nations composed his army. |
| Isaiah 13:5 | To them that come from a country afar off, from the end of heaven: the Lord, and the instruments of his wrath, to destroy the whole land. | Heaven. Where it seems to touch the horizon. Thus the countries beyond the Euphrates are often designated. |
| Isaiah 13:6 | Howl ye, for the day of the Lord is near: it shall come as a destruction from the Lord. | Near. Though one hundred and seventy-two years distant. |
| Isaiah 13:7 | Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every heart of man shall melt, | |
| Isaiah 13:8 | And shall be broken. Gripings and pains shall take hold of them, they shall be in pain as a woman in labour. Every one shall be amazed at his neighbour, their countenances shall be as faces burnt. | Burnt. Black with despair, Nahum 2:10., and Joel 2:6. |
| Isaiah 13:9 | Behold, the day of the Lord shall come, a cruel day, and full of indignation, and of wrath, and fury, to lay the land desolate, and to destroy the sinners thereof out of it. | Desolate. This was effected in the course of many centuries. (Calmet) --- The building of Seleucia caused Babylon to be deserted. (Pliny, [Natural History?] 6:27.) --- Hence we know not at present where it was situated. |
| Isaiah 13:10 | *For the stars of heaven, and their brightness, shall not display their light: the sun shall be darkened in his rising, and the moon shall not shine with her light. Ezechiel 32:7.; Joel 2:10.; Joel 3:15.; Matthew 24:29.; Mark 13:24.; Luke 21:25. | Stars. This is not to be taken literally, but only implies that the people shall be in as much consternation (Calmet) as if the world were at an end, ver. 13. (Haydock) (Grotius) (Matthew 24:27., Apocalypse 6:12., and Jeremias 4:23.) |
| Isaiah 13:11 | And I will visit the evils of the world, and against the wicked for their iniquity: and I will make the pride of infidels to cease, and will bring down the arrogancy of the mighty. | World. The vices of all nations were concentrated at Babylon. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 13:12 | A man shall be more precious than gold; yea, a man than the finest of gold. | Precious. Rare, (Worthington) or sought after for destruction, ver. 17. |
| Isaiah 13:13 | For this I will trouble the heaven: and the earth shall be moved out of her place, for the indignation of the Lord of hosts, and for the day of his fierce wrath. | Heaven. With thunders. |
| Isaiah 13:14 | And they shall be as a doe fleeing away, and as a sheep: and there shall be none to gather them together: every man shall turn to his own people, and every one shall flee to his own land. | Land. Baltassar shall be abandoned by his allies. Croesus had been already defeated, before Cyrus invested Babylon. |
| Isaiah 13:15 | Every one that shall be found, shall be slain: and every one that shall come to their aid, shall fall by the sword. | |
| Isaiah 13:16 | *Their infants shall be dashed in pieces before their eyes: their houses shall be pillaged, and their wives shall be ravished. Psalm 136:9. | |
| Isaiah 13:17 | Behold I will stir up the Medes against them, who shall not seek silver, nor desire gold: | Medes. Who had set themselves at liberty about twenty years before this. They were not solicitous about gold, Ezechiel 7:19., and Sophonias 1:18. |
| Isaiah 13:18 | But with their arrows they shall kill the children, and shall have no pity upon the sucklings of the womb, and their eye shall not spare their sons. | |
| Isaiah 13:19 | And that Babylon, glorious among kingdoms, the famous pride of the Chaldeans, *shall be even as the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrha. Genesis 19:24. | Gomorrha. Towards the end of the Macedonian empire. (Calmet) --- The Persians kept wild beasts in it. (St. Jerome) --- The palace of Nabuchodonosor subsisted in the days of Benjamin, (Calmet) but could not be approached on account of serpents. (Tudel. p. 70.) |
| Isaiah 13:20 | It shall no more be inhabited for ever, and it shall not be founded unto generation and generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch his tents there, nor shall shepherds rest there. | Tents. To dwell, (Calmet) or to traffic. (Theodoret) --- Another city was built, but not so large, nor in the same place. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 13:21 | But wild beasts shall rest there, and their houses shall be filled with serpents, and ostriches shall dwell there, and the hairy ones shall dance there: | Beasts. Hebrew tsiim, "fishermen." --- Serpents. Hebrew ochim. Septuagint, "echo," (Haydock) or "reeds." Babylon was built on a marshy situation, and Cyrus having let out the waters of the Euphrates, they could never be effectually stopped. --- Ostriches. Or swans. --- Hairy. Goats, Isaias 34:14. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 13:22 | And owls shall answer one another there, in the houses thereof, and sirens in the temples of pleasure. | Owls. Or jackals, which resemble foxes, and going in packs, will devour the largest creatures. (Bochart) (Parkhurst in aje.) (Haydock) --- But St. Jerome explains it of birds, Job 28:7., and Leviticus xiv. --- Sirens, fabulously supposed to be sweet singing women with wings. --- Thannim denotes some great sea monsters, such as whales or sea calves. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 14:0 | The restoration of Israel after their captivity. The parable or song insulting over the king of Babylon. A prophecy against the Philistines. | |
| Isaiah 14:1 | Her time is near at hand, and her days shall not be prolonged. For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose out of Israel, and will make them rest upon their own ground: and the stranger shall be joined with them, and shall adhere to the house of Jacob. | Prolonged. Babylon was taken one hundred and seventy-two years after. (Calmet) --- Yet this time is counted short, compared with the monarchy, which had lasted a thousand years. (Worthington) --- Ground. Cyrus restored the Jews; yet all did not return at that time. --- Stranger. Converts, Esther 8:17. All Idumea received circumcision under Hyrcan. |
| Isaiah 14:2 | And the people shall take them, and bring them into their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord for servants and handmaids: and they shall make them captives that had taken them, and shall subdue their oppressors. | Place. Cyrus probably granted an escort, as Artaxerxes did, 2 Esdras 2:7. --- Servants. They had purchased many slaves, (1 Esdras 2:65.) as some were very rich in captivity, and were treated like other subjects. --- Oppressors. Stragglers of the army of Cambyses, etc., though this was chiefly verified under the Machabees, Jeremias 25:14., and 30:16. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 14:3 | And it shall come to pass in that day, that when God shall give thee rest from thy labour, and from thy vexation, and from the hard bondage wherewith thou didst serve before, | |
| Isaiah 14:4 | Thou shalt take up this parable against the king of Babylon, and shalt say: How is the oppressor come to nothing, the tribute hath ceased? | Parable. Septuagint, threnon. "Lamentation." (Haydock) --- Or mournful canticle. |
| Isaiah 14:5 | The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, the rod of the rulers, | |
| Isaiah 14:6 | That struck the people in wrath with an incurable wound, that brought nations under in fury, that persecuted in a cruel manner. | Persecuted. The Jews read incorrectly, "is persecuted." |
| Isaiah 14:7 | The whole earth is quiet and still; it is glad, and hath rejoiced. | Earth. Subject to, or bordering upon the Assyrian empire. Under Darius the Mede, (the Cyaxares of Xenophon) and Cyrus, the people were little molested. (Calmet) --- The neighbouring princes (fir-trees, etc., ver. 8.) were also at rest. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 14:8 | The fir-trees also have rejoiced over thee, and the cedars of Libanus, saying: Since thou hast slept, there hath none come up to cut us down. | |
| Isaiah 14:9 | Hell below was in an uproar to meet thee at thy coming, it stirred up the giants for thee. All the princes of the earth are risen up from their thrones, all the princes of nations. | Hell is personified, deriding the Chaldean monarch, Baltassar, who perished the very night after he had profaned the sacred vessels, Daniel 5:3. He probably received only the burial of an ass, ver. 11, 19. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 14:10 | All shall answer, and say to thee: Thou also art wounded, as well as we, thou art become like unto us. | |
| Isaiah 14:11 | Thy pride is brought down to hell, thy carcass is fallen down: under thee shall the moth be strewed, and worms shall be thy covering. | |
| Isaiah 14:12 | How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, who didst rise in the morning? how art thou fallen to the earth, that didst wound the nations? | O Lucifer. O day-star. All this, according to the letter, is spoken of the king of Babylon. It may also be applied, in a spiritual sense, to Lucifer, the prince of devils, who was created a bright angel, but fell by pride and rebellion against God. (Challoner) (Luke 10:18.) (Calmet) --- He fell by pride, as Nabuchodonosor did. (Worthington) --- Homer (Iliad xix.) represents the demon of discord hurled down by Jupiter to the miserable region of mortals. |
| Isaiah 14:13 | And thou saidst in thy heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, I will sit in the mountain of the covenant, in the sides of the north. | North. And be adored as God in the temple of Jerusalem, Psalm 47:3. The Assyrian and Persian monarchs claimed divine honours, 4 Kings 18:33., and Judith 3:13. |
| Isaiah 14:14 | I will ascend above the height of the clouds, I will be like the Most High. | |
| Isaiah 14:15 | But yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, into the depth of the pit. | Depth. Hebrew, "sides," (ver. 13.) or holes dug out of a cavern. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 14:16 | They that shall see thee, shall turn toward thee, and behold thee: Is this the man that troubled the earth, that shook kingdoms, | Turn. From their respective holes in the monument. |
| Isaiah 14:17 | That made the world a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof, that opened not the prison to his prisoners? | |
| Isaiah 14:18 | All the kings of the nations have all of them slept in glory, every one in his own house. | |
| Isaiah 14:19 | But thou art cast out of thy grave, as an unprofitable branch defiled, and wrapped up among them that were slain by the sword, and art gone down to the bottom of the pit as a rotten carcass. | Grave. Strangers seized the crown of Baltassar, and neglected his sepulchre: or if we explain it of Nabuchodonosor, his tomb was probably plundered, (Calmet) as the Persians did not spare that of Belus. In the reign of Alexander, the tombs of the kings were covered with water, and filled with serpents. (Arrian. vii.) |
| Isaiah 14:20 | Thou shalt not keep company with them, even in burial: for thou hast destroyed thy land, thou hast slain thy people: the seed of the wicked shall not be named for ever. | Thy. Septuagint, "my." Thou hast been a murderer instead of a shepherd. --- Ever. The children and monarchy of Nabuchodonosor presently perished. Evilmerodac and Baltassar reigned but a short time, and left no issue to inherit the throne. |
| Isaiah 14:21 | Prepare his children for slaughter, for the iniquity of their fathers: they shall not rise up, nor inherit the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities. | |
| Isaiah 14:22 | And I will rise up against them, saith the Lord of hosts: and I will destroy the name of Babylon, and the remains, and the bud, and the offspring, saith the Lord. | Name. It shall lose all its splendour, and be mentioned only with abhorrence, 1 Peter 5:13. |
| Isaiah 14:23 | And I will make it a possession for the ericius and pools of waters, and I will sweep it, and wear it out with a besom, saith the Lord of hosts. | Besom. Reducing it to a heap of rubbish, (chap. 13:21.; Calmet) as the event shewed. (Watson) |
| Isaiah 14:24 | The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying: Surely as I have thought, so shall it be: and as I have purposed, | |
| Isaiah 14:25 | So shall it fall out: That I will destroy the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: and his yoke shall be taken away from them, and his burden shall be taken off their shoulder. | Assyrian. 4 Kings xix. (Worthington) --- Sennacherib, (St. Jerome) Cambyses, or Holofernes. The sight of their chastisement would be an earnest of the fall of Babylon. (Calmet) --- The allies of Assyria, (Menochius) or the enemies of God's people, will also be punished, Isaias 15. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 14:26 | This is the counsel, that I have purposed upon all the earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all nations. | |
| Isaiah 14:27 | For the Lord of hosts hath decreed, and who can disannul it? and his hand is stretched out: and who shall turn it away? | |
| Isaiah 14:28 | In the *year that king Achaz died, was this burden: | Year of the World 3277, Year before Christ 727. Achaz. When Ezechias was just seated on the throne. The preceding and subsequent predictions were then delivered, Isaias 13:20. |
| Isaiah 14:29 | Rejoice not thou, whole Philistia, that the rod of him that struck thee is broken in pieces: for out of the root of the serpent shall come forth a basilisk, and his seed shall swallow the bird. | Rod. Achaz. --- Bird. Ezechias will openly attack thee, 4 Kings 18:8. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "shall be a fiery flying serpent," (Haydock) like that erected by Moses, Numbers 21:9. Sennacherib and Assaraddon shall lay waste Philistia, ver. 31., and Isaias 20:1. (Calmet) --- Though Achaz be dead, Ezechias and Ozias will destroy more of that nation, 4 Kings 18:8., and 2 Paralipomenon xxvi. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 14:30 | And the first-born of the poor shall be fed, and the poor shall rest with confidence: and I will make thy root perish with famine, and I will kill thy remnant. | |
| Isaiah 14:31 | Howl, O gate, cry, O city: all Philistia is thrown down: for a smoke shall come from the north, and there is none that shall escape his troop. | |
| Isaiah 14:32 | And what shall be answered to the messengers of the nations? That the Lord hath founded Sion, and the poor of his people shall hope in him. | Nations. Surprised that Ezechias should escape, while the power of the Philistines was overturned so easily; or when the king sent ambassadors to his allies, to announce the defeat of Sennacherib by the angel. All confessed that this was an effect of the divine protection towards Sion. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 15:0 | A prophecy of the desolation of the Moabites. | |
| Isaiah 15:1 | The burden of Moab. Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste it is silent: because the wall of Moab is destroyed in the night, it is silent. | Moab. Which would be visited in three years' time (chap. 16:14.) either by Ezechias, or by Sennacherib, though history be silent on this head. The Moabites had been very cruel, Amos 1:and 2:--- Night. Suddenly. (Calmet) --- Their misery was so much the greater. (Worthington) --- Ar. The capital. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 15:2 | The house is gone up, and Dibon to the high places, to mourn over Nabo, and over Medaba, Moab hath howled: *on all their heads shall be baldness, and every beard shall be shaven. Jeremias 48:37.; Ezechiel 7:18. | House. Protestants, "he is come up to Baiith," (Haydock) or the royal family is gone to the temple of their idol, Chamos, to lament. (St. Jerome) (Menochius) (Calmet) --- Shaven. As in mourning, Jeremias 48:37. |
| Isaiah 15:3 | In their streets they are girded with sackcloth: on the tops of their houses, and in their streets all shall howl, and come down weeping. | |
| Isaiah 15:4 | Hesebon shall cry, and Eleale, their voice is heard even to Jasa. For this shall the well appointed men of Moab howl: his soul shall howl to itself. | Itself. Every one shall deplore his own distress. |
| Isaiah 15:5 | My heart shall cry to Moab, the bars thereof shall flee unto Segor, a heifer of three years old: for by the ascent of Luith they shall go up weeping: and in the way of Oronaim they shall lift up a cry of destruction. | My. A charitable heart will grieve for the misfortune of an enemy. (Worthington) --- I shall join in the general lamentations, though Moab has always been so great an enemy of Israel. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "the heart of Moab cries in itself to Segor." (Haydock) --- We will retire thither. (Chaldean) --- Bars. Princes. Protestants, "his fugitives shall," etc. --- Heifer. Strong and ungovernable. Hebrew, "to Heglath and to Shelishia for," etc., though we may as well adhere to the Vulgate, Septuagint, etc. |
| Isaiah 15:6 | For the waters of Nemrim shall be desolate, for the grass is withered away, the spring is faded, all the greenness is perished. | Nemrim. Or Nemra, (Numbers 32:3.) to the north of Segor. (Calmet) --- The country around hence became barren. (St. Jerome) |
| Isaiah 15:7 | According to the greatness of their work, is their visitation also: they shall lead them to the torrent of the willows. | Willows. That is, as some say, the waters of Babylon; others render it a valley of the Arabians, (Challoner) or "of crows," to which their bodies will be exposed, Isaias 57:6. |
| Isaiah 15:8 | For the cry is gone round about the border of Moab: the howling thereof unto Gallim, and unto the well of Elim the cry thereof. | Cry. Of iniquity, or rather of grief. |
| Isaiah 15:9 | For the waters of Dibon are filled with blood: for I will bring more upon Dibon: the lion upon them that shall flee of Moab, and upon the remnant of the land. | Dibon. Septuagint, etc., read, "Dimon," which signifies, "blood." I will give it a better claim to this appellation. --- Lion. Nabuchodonosor. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "I will bring the Arabs up on Dimon, and will take away the seed of Moab, and Ariel, and the remnant of Adama." (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 16:0 | The prophet prayeth for Christ's coming. The affliction of the Moabites for their pride. | |
| Isaiah 16:1 | Send forth, O Lord, the lamb, the ruler of the earth, from Petra of the desert, to the mount of the daughter of Sion. | Petra. Hebrew selah, "the rock." (Haydock) --- Our Saviour sprung from Ruth, the Moabitess. (Menochius) --- The original may insinuate, that the king of the country had neglected to pay the usual tribute to Juda, 4 Kings 3:4. (Calmet) --- "Send the lamb to the ruler," etc. (Tournemine.) Amid scenes of distress, the prophet perceives that the Saviour will proceed from one of this nation. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 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. | Arnon. They shall not be able to fly over, or to escape the conqueror. |
| Isaiah 16:3 | Take counsel, gather a council: make thy shadow as the night in the mid-day: hide them that flee, and betray not them that wander about. | Night. Seek a retreat in the darkest places; or protect Israel when they shall flee before the Assyrians. Their cruelty is thus insinuated, Amos i. |
| Isaiah 16:4 | My fugitives shall dwell with thee: O Moab, be thou a covert to them from the face of the destroyer: for the dust is at an end, the wretch is consumed: he hath failed, that trod the earth under foot. | Dust. Theglathphalassar. I need not exhort you to receive my people, as I know your dispositions, and they are out of danger. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 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. | Just. This regards Christ, (St. Jerome) prefigured by (Haydock) Ezechias. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 16:6 | *We have heard of the pride of Moab, he is exceedingly proud: his pride and his arrogancy, and his indignation, is more than his strength. Jeremias 48:29. | |
| Isaiah 16:7 | Therefore shall Moab howl to Moab, every one shall howl: to them that rejoice upon the brick walls, tell ye their stripes. | Walls. Hebrew, "Kir-hareseth," Isaias 15:1. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 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. | Lords. Princes of Jerusalem, (Lamentations 1:1.) or of Assyria. (Calmet) --- Sea. Of Sodom, even as far as Jazer, (Haydock) in the tribe of Ruben. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 16:9 | Therefore, I will lament with the weeping of Jazer, the vineyard of Sabama: I will water thee with my tears, O Hesebon, and Eleale: for the voice of the treaders hath rushed in upon thy vintage, and upon thy harvest. | My tears. Isaias 15:5. (Haydock) --- I announce a different sort of music from that which is customary in times of harvest, and of vintage. The liquor shall be tears, Isaias 63:2., and Jeremias 48:32, 33. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 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. | Carmel. This name is often taken to signify a fair and fruitful hill or field, such as Mount Carmel is. (Challoner) --- It means, "the vine of God." (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 16:11 | Wherefore my bowels shall sound like a harp for Moab, and my inward parts for the brick wall. | Wall. Kir-hareseth, ver. 7. I am grieved at your misfortunes. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 16:12 | And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is wearied on his high places, that he shall go into his sanctuaries to pray, and shall not prevail. | Prevail. Chamos shall not be able to help them. |
| Isaiah 16:13 | This is the word, that the Lord spoke to Moab from that time: | That time. A long while ago, Psalm 92:2. |
| Isaiah 16:14 | And now the Lord hath 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. | Not many. It was laid waste in the third year of Ezechias. But its final destruction took place only five years after that of Jerusalem. (Calmet) --- The wars against Moab continued three years, after which it was reduced to servitude. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 17:0 | Judgments upon Damascus and Samaria. The overthrow of the Assyrians. | |
| Isaiah 17:1 | The burden of Damascus. Behold Damascus shall cease to be a city, and shall be as a ruinous heap of stones. | Damascus. When it was taken by Theglathphalassar, or rather by Sennacherib, Isaias 10:8. It was again ruined by Nabuchodonosor, Jeremias 49:24. But after the first taking, it never regained its power. Magni nominis umbra. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 17:2 | The cities of Aroer shall be left for flocks, and they shall rest there, and there shall be none to make them afraid. | Aroer. Chaldean, "abandoned, shall be folds for sheep." Septuagint, "left for ever a resting place for flocks and herds, and none shall pursue." The tribes on the east of the Jordan shall be led captive, as well as those on the west, Ephraim, etc. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 17:3 | And aid shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus: and the remnant of Syria shall be as the glory of the children of Israel: saith the Lord of hosts. | Damascus. Their too great union proved their ruin. Sennacherib took Damascus, as Salmanasar had done Samaria. |
| Isaiah 17:4 | And it shall come to pass in that day, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall grow lean. | Lean. All the power of the kingdom shall fail, as in a mortal illness. |
| Isaiah 17:5 | And it shall be as when one gathereth in the harvest that which remaineth, and his arm shall gather the ears of corn: and it shall be as he that seeketh ears in the vale of Raphaim. | Raphaim. Near Jerusalem, 3 Kings 23:13. Septuagint, "of stones." (Calmet) --- It will be equally difficult to find any men left in the kingdom of Israel. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 17:6 | And the fruit thereof, that shall be left upon it, shall be as one cluster of grapes, and as the shaking of the olive-tree, two or three berries in the top of a bough, or four or five upon the top of the tree, saith the Lord, the God of Israel. | |
| Isaiah 17:7 | In that day man shall bow down himself to his Maker, and his eyes shall look to the holy One of Israel. | Israel. They obeyed the summons of Ezechias and of Josias, (2 Paralipomenon 30:1., and 34:6.) and every after followed the same worship as Juda. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 17:8 | And he shall not look to the altars which his hands made: and he shall not have respect to the things that his fingers wrought, such as groves and temples. | |
| Isaiah 17:9 | In that day his strong cities shall be forsaken, as the ploughs and the corn that were left before the face of the children of Israel, and thou shalt be desolate. | Left. By the Chanaanites, when the children of Israel came into their land. (Challoner) --- Their consternation was become proverbial, Josue 2:9., and 5:11. |
| Isaiah 17:10 | Because thou hast forgotten God, thy Saviour, and hast not remembered thy strong helper: therefore shalt thou plant good plants, and shalt sow strange seed. | Good. Septuagint, "fruitless." Israel had abandoned the Lord; and could expect nothing but the fruits of death. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 17:11 | In the day of thy planting shall be the wild grape, and in the morning thy seed shall flourish: the harvest is taken away in the day of inheritance, and shall grieve thee much. | Much. Thou hast laboured earnestly, but reaped no benefit. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 17:12 | Woe to the multitude of many people, like the multitude of the roaring sea: and the tumult of crowds, like the noise of many waters. | Multitude, etc. This and all that follows to the end of the chapter, relates to the Assyrian army under Sennacherib, (Challoner) or rather to that of Israel and its allies. (Calmet) --- After the Assyrians had afflicted Israel, they were also punished. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 17:13 | Nations shall make a noise like the noise of waters overflowing, but he shall rebuke them, and they shall flee afar off: and they shall be carried away as the dust of the mountains before the wind, and as a whirlwind before a tempest. | |
| Isaiah 17:14 | In the time of the evening, behold there shall be trouble: the morning shall come, and he shall not be: this is the portion of them that have wasted us, and the lot of them that spoiled us. | Not be. Phacee and Rasin were presently exterminated. --- Spoiled us. The kingdom of Achaz, 4 Kings 17:5. |
| Isaiah 18:0 | A woe to the Ethiopians, who fed Israel with vain hopes: their future conversion. | |
| Isaiah 18:1 | Woe to the land, the winged cymbal, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia. | Cymbal. Or sistrum, commonly used in Egypt. Septuagint, "ship sails." --- Ethiopia, or Chus, lying between the Nile (the branches of which are styled rivers) and the Red Sea. He alludes to the kingdom of Tharaca, 4 Kings 19:8. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 18:2 | That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, and in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters. Go, ye swift angels, to a nation rent and torn in pieces: to a terrible people, after which there is no other: to a nation expecting and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled. | Ambassadors. Hebrew, "images," (Bochart) in honour of Adonis; (St. Cyril) or rather Ezechias, or Tharaca send to demand troops. (Calmet) --- Bulrushes. Literally, "paper." (Haydock) --- Formed of rushes which grow on the banks of the Nile. (Pliny, [Natural History?] 7:56., and 13:11.) --- Angels. Or messengers. --- Pieces. With factions after the death of Sabacon, or by the inroads of Sennacherib. --- Other. He derides the vanity of the Egyptians. (Calmet) --- Expecting the overflowing of the Nile. (Haydock) --- Hebrew, "of line," (Calmet) with which they marked out each person's property, after the waters had subsided. (Strabo 17.) --- Foot. They worked their dough with their feet, and sent swine to trample on the seed, which required no more cultivation. (Herodotus 2:14., and 36.) --- Spoiled. The Nile made considerable alterations. |
| Isaiah 18:3 | All ye inhabitants of the world, who dwell on the earth, when the sign shall be lifted up on the mountains, you shall see, and you shall hear the sound of the trumpet: | |
| Isaiah 18:4 | For thus saith the Lord to me: I will take my rest, and consider in my place, as the noon light is clear, and as a cloud of dew in the day of harvest. | Place. God rules all with ease. --- Harvest. The allies shall comfort my people, (Calmet) or Sennacherib shall threaten ruin. (Haydock) --- But I will frustrate his evil designs. His army shall perish unexpectedly, ver. 5. (Calmet) --- The Egyptians had sent messengers to assure the Israelites that they would come to assist them: but the prophet informs them of their own ruin. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 18:5 | For before the harvest, it was all flourishing, and it shall bud without perfect ripeness, and the sprigs thereof shall be cut off with pruning-hooks: and what is left shall be cut away, and shaken out. | |
| Isaiah 18:6 | And they shall be left together to the birds of the mountains, and the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall be upon them all the summer, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them. | Them. Their bodies shall lie unburied. |
| Isaiah 18:7 | At that time shall a present be brought to the Lord of hosts, from a people rent and torn in pieces: from a terrible people, after which there hath been no other; from a nation expecting, expecting and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, to Mount Sion. | Sion. Egypt shall send presents to the Lord, 2 Paralipomenon 32:23. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 19:0 | The punishment of Egypt: their call to the Church. | |
| Isaiah 19:1 | The burden of Egypt. Behold the Lord will ascend upon a swift cloud, and will enter into Egypt, and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst thereof. | Egypt. Many refer this to the coming of Christ, (Calmet) at whose presence the idols fell down, and many saints adorned the country. (Worthington) --- But the prophet may also literally refer to the wars of the Assyrians against Egypt. Sabacon having retired, after reigning fifty years, Anysis, and afterwards the priest of Sethon, succeeded to the throne. The latter was attacked by Sennacherib. After his death, twelve kingdoms were formed, but Psammitichus reunited them, and had Nechao for his successor. (Herodotus 2:141, 158.) --- Behold. The prophet speaks fourteen years before the attack of Sennacherib. --- Cloud. Psalm 17:11. Some Fathers explain it of the blessed Virgin [Mary]. (Calmet) --- Moved. Plundered by the Assyrians. (Menochius) |
| Isaiah 19:2 | And I will set the Egyptians to fight against the Egyptians: and they shall fight brother against brother, and friend against friend, city against city, kingdom against kingdom. | Kingdom. Under the twelve kings. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 19:3 | And the spirit of Egypt shall be broken in the bowels thereof; and I will cast down their counsel: and they shall consult their idols, and their diviners, and their wizards and soothsayers. | Egypt. Septuagint, "of the Egyptians shall be troubled within them." (Haydock) --- Soothsayers. Feeble but too common resource of superstitious people! |
| Isaiah 19:4 | And I will deliver Egypt into the hand of cruel masters, and a strong king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the God of hosts. | Masters. Twelve kings. Psammitichus, one of them, shall gain the ascendancy. |
| Isaiah 19:5 | And the water of the sea shall be dried up, and the rivers shall be wasted and dry. | Dry. The lakes and the Nile shall not afford sufficient moisture. (Calmet) --- If the Nile rose less than twelve or more than sixteen cubits famine ensued. (Pliny, [Natural History?] 18:18.) |
| Isaiah 19:6 | And the rivers shall fail: the streams of the banks shall be diminished, and be dried up. The reed and the bulrush shall wither away. | |
| Isaiah 19:7 | The channel of the river shall be laid bare from its fountain; and every thing sown by the water shall be dried up; it shall wither away, and shall be no more. | Fountain. The Nile rises in Ethiopia. But the canals alone were left dry. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "the achi, every green herb along the river, and every," etc. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 19:8 | The fishers also shall mourn: and all that cast a hook into the river shall lament; and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish away. | Fishers. The lake Moeris produced a talent every day for the revenue, and so great was the abundance of fish, that they could hardly be salted. The Nile was also well supplied with fish. |
| Isaiah 19:9 | They shall be confounded that wrought in flax, combing and weaving fine linen. | Linen. Greek, "silk." Ezechiel 16:10. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 19:10 | And its watery places shall be dry; all they shall mourn that made pools to take fishes. | All they. Septuagint, "and all who make strong drink (secer) shall be in sorrow, and shall afflict their souls." (Haydock) --- This version is perhaps the best, as the Egyptians used much ale or wine distilled from barley. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 19:11 | The princes of Tanis are become fools; the wise counsellors of Pharao have given foolish counsel: how will you say to Pharao: I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings? | Tanis. Or of the twelve kings, ver. 1. They are disconcerted at the approach of Psammitichus, (Calmet) or at the want of water. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 19:12 | Where are now thy wise men? let them tell thee, and shew what the Lord of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt. | |
| Isaiah 19:13 | The princes of Tanis are become fools; the princes of Memphis are gone astray; they have deceived Egypt, the stay of the people thereof. | Memphis. The seat of many kings, and a very ancient city. Hebrew, "Noph." --- Stay. Literally, "angle," denoting the chiefs, or all the land, Judges 20:2. |
| Isaiah 19:14 | The Lord hath mingled in the midst thereof the spirit of giddiness: and they have caused Egypt to err in all his works, as a drunken man staggereth and vomiteth. | |
| Isaiah 19:15 | And there shall be no work for Egypt, to make head or tail, him that bendeth down, or that holdeth back. | Back. King and subject are equally confused, Isaias 9:14. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 19:16 | In that day Egypt shall be like unto women, and they shall be amazed, and afraid, because of the moving of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which he shall move over it. | |
| Isaiah 19:17 | And the land of Juda shall be a terror to Egypt: every one that shall remember it shall tremble, because of the counsel of the Lord of hosts, which he hath determined concerning it. | Terror. Hebrew also, "a rejoicing," (St. Jerome) on account of Sennacherib's defeat there, Isaias 18:7. |
| Isaiah 19:18 | *In that day there shall be five cities in the land of Egypt, speaking the language of Chanaan, and swearing by the Lord of hosts: one shall be called the city of the sun. Ezechiel 30. | Chanaan. Hebrew. The Israelites had a connection with Egypt, which the prophets often blame, Isaias 30:2. Ezechias trusted in their aid, when he refused to pay tribute to the Assyrians. Many at that time, or afterwards, retired thither, and served God unmolested, Isaias 11:2., and Jeremias xlii. More established themselves in the country under Alexander [the Great] and the Ptolemies. (3 Machabees viii.) But this prediction was more fully accomplished by the propagation of the Christian religion. Grace no where shone forth more brightly than in this country, once the seat of superstition. --- Sun. Hebrew, "of desolation." But the copies have varied. It is supposed to denote the city On, Genesis 41:45. (Calmet) --- Prideaux (p. 2. b. 4.) accuses the Jews of willfully corrupting this text in the Septuagint. (Kennicott) |
| Isaiah 19:19 | In that day there shall be an altar of the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a monument of the Lord at the borders thereof: | Altar. If the Jews were forbidden to have any other than the one at Jerusalem, how can the prophet announce this as a blessing? Onias being excluded from the high priesthood, retired into Egypt, and obtained leave to build the temple Onion, in the Nome, though not in the city of Helipolis, above Bubaste, on the Nile, alleging that Isaias had foretold this event, and that one was already built at Leontopolis. (Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 12:15., and 13:6.) --- But we must allow with the fathers and Jews in the days of St. Jerome, that this prediction regarded the Messias, when altars might be lawfully erected in every nation. See Misna, tr. Moneuth, 13:10. --- Monument. The cross is set up wherever Christ is adored. (Calmet) --- The Egyptians shall embrace Christianity, and St. Anthony of Thebes, etc., shall live a holy (Worthington) and austere life. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 19:20 | It shall be for a sign, and for a testimony to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt. For they shall cry to the Lord, because of the oppressor, and he shall send them a Saviour and a defender to deliver them. | Them. The Jews were miraculously rescued from the hands of Philopater, (Josephus, contra Apion ii.) or rather Christians are delivered from sin and Satan. |
| Isaiah 19:21 | And the Lord shall be known by Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, and shall worship him with sacrifices and offerings: and they shall make vows to the Lord, and perform them. | Egypt. The kings often caused sacrifices to be offered for them; but they were not acceptable, as long as they continued idolaters. The country was converted to Christianity, (Calmet) and the Anchorets performed their vows and penitential exercises, to the admiration of all. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 19:22 | And the Lord shall strike Egypt with a scourge, and shall heal it, and they shall return to the Lord, and he shall be pacified towards them, and heal them. | Scourge. By means of Sennacherib, Cambyses, and Ochus. Afterwards the country was quietly subject to the kings of Persia, Alexander the Great, the Ptolemies, and the Romans. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 19:23 | In that day there shall be a way from Egypt to the Assyrians; and the Assyrian shall enter into Egypt; and the Egyptian to the Assyrians; and the Egyptians shall serve the Assyrian. | |
| Isaiah 19:24 | In that day shall Israel be the third to the Egyptian and the Assyrian: a blessing in the midst of the land, | Land. The apostles, who were true Israelites, (Haydock) procured the blessing of faith for these nations, (Calmet) to serve God with concord. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 19:25 | Which the Lord of hosts hath blessed, saying: Blessed be my people of Egypt, and the work of my hands to the Assyrian: but Israel is my inheritance. | |
| Isaiah 20:0 | The ignominious captivity of the Egyptians, and the Ethiopians. | |
| Isaiah 20:1 | In *the year that Tharthan entered into Azotus, when Sargon, the king of the Assyrians, had sent him, and he had fought against Azotus, and had taken it: | Year of the World 3291, Year before Christ 713. Year. Eighteen after the preceding predictions. (Calmet) --- Sargon. Sennacherib, (St. Jerome) Salmanasar, (Sanctius) or Assaradon, who intended to revenge Sennacherib, and sent his "collector of taxes" to take Azotus from Ezechias, and then to proceed farther. (Calmet) --- Psammitichus having obtained the sole dominion of Egypt, besieged Azotus for 29 years. (Herodotus 2:157.) (Amos 1:8.) |
| Isaiah 20:2 | At that same time the Lord spoke by the hand of Isaias, the son of Amos, saying: *Go, and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and take off thy shoes from thy feet. And he did so, and went naked, and barefoot. Zacharias 13:4.; Matthew 3:4. | Sackcloth. The prophets lived in poverty, Zacharias 13:4. Their persons were prophetic. It is not agreed whether Isaias went quite naked, or only without his upper garment. The former supposition would represent better the condition of slaves, (ver. 4.) and is adopted by St. Jerome, etc. (Calmet) --- People are said to be naked when they are almost so, 2 Kings vi., and John xxi. (Haydock) --- Yet "nothing is more honest than to obey God." (St. Jerome) (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 20:3 | And the Lord said: As my servant, Isaias, hath walked naked and barefoot, it shall be a sign and a wonder of three years upon Egypt, and upon Ethiopia, | Years. Isaias went so long, or perhaps only three days undressed, Numbers 14:34., and Ezechiel 4:5. Egypt and the Arabian Ethiopia were to be abandoned to the Assyrians, in or during three years. |
| Isaiah 20:4 | So shall the king of the Assyrians lead away the prisoners of Egypt, and the captivity of Ethiopia, young and old, naked and barefoot, with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. | Shame. Thus captives were generally exposed to sale, Isaias 47:2., and Nahum 3:5. |
| Isaiah 20:5 | And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia, their hope, and of Egypt, their glory. | Glory. The alliance of these nations shall not avail the Jews, who are said to inhabit an island, because they neglected God's service no less than the most distant and abandoned nations. (Calmet) --- The changes in empires must convince us to depend only on God, since Damascus and Egypt could not save the Hebrews, nor even themselves. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 20:6 | And the inhabitants of this isle shall say in that day: Lo, this was our hope, to whom we fled for help, to deliver up from the face of the king of the Assyrians: and how shall we be able to escape? | |
| Isaiah 21:0 | The destruction of Babylon by the Medes and Persians: a prophecy against the Edomites and the Arabians. | |
| Isaiah 21:1 | The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds come from the south, it cometh from the desert, from a terrible land. | The desert of the sea. So Babylon is here called, because from a city as full of people as the sea is with water, it was become a desert. (Challoner) --- After its fall, it was mostly inundated, Isaias 13:20. --- Land. Media and Persia, which lay to the south, and were not so beautiful as the environs of Babylon. |
| Isaiah 21:2 | A grievous vision is told me: he that is unfaithful dealeth unfaithfully: and he that is a spoiler, spoileth. Go up, O Elam, besiege, O Mede: I have made all the mourning thereof to cease. | Spoileth. Baltassar is incorrigible, or his opponents must proceed. (Calmet) --- Elam; that is, O Persia: (Challoner) Cyrus, and Darius, the Mede. (Calmet) --- The former nation was weak, and the latter strong. (Worthington) --- Cease. The enemy will shew no pity; nor shall I; as Babylon did not heretofore. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 21:3 | Therefore are my loins filled with pain; anguish hath taken hold of me, as the anguish of a woman in labour: I fell down at the hearing of it: I was troubled at the seeing of it. | Pain. He bewails the crimes and the fall of Babylon, which at this time was in amity with Ezechias, ver. 10. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 21:4 | My heart failed; darkness amazed me: Babylon, my beloved, is become a wonder to me. | Babylon. Protestants, "the night of my pleasure hath he turned into fear unto me." Septuagint, "My soul is turned into fear." (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 21:5 | Prepare the table; behold in the watch-tower them that eat and drink: arise, ye princes, take up the shield. | Drink. Persians refresh yourselves. --- Take up. Hebrew, "anoint." He may also allude to the Babylonians, who were feasting. |
| Isaiah 21:6 | For thus hath the Lord said to me: Go, and set a watchman; and whatsoever he shall see, let him tell. | |
| Isaiah 21:7 | And he saw a chariot, with two horsemen, a rider upon an ass, and a rider upon a camel: and he beheld them diligently with much heed. | Camel. These two riders are the kings of the Persians and Medes. (Challoner) --- The sentinel, placed by Isaias, in spirit, or rather by the king of Babylon, brings these tidings. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 21:8 | And a lion cried out, I am upon the watch-tower of the Lord, standing continually by day; *and I am upon my ward, standing whole nights. Habacuc 2:1. | Out. Literally, "He cried, a lion." (Haydock) --- Cyrus appears like one. Septuagint, "And call Urias to the watch-tower," etc., Isaias 8:2. |
| Isaiah 21:9 | Behold this man cometh; the rider upon the chariot, with two horsemen, and he answered, and said: *Babylon is fallen, she is fallen, and all the graven gods thereof are broken unto the ground. Jeremias 51:8.; Apocalypse 14:8. | Horsemen, drawn by the ass and camel, ver. 7. This was verified long after. |
| Isaiah 21:10 | O my threshing, and the children of my floor, that which I have heard of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I have declared unto you. | Floor: you who must shortly be reduced to the utmost distress. Baladan was friendly to Ezechias. But Assaradon having seized Babylon, took Manasses prisoner; and the city thenceforward continued to fill up the measure of its sins. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 21:11 | The burden of Duma calleth to me out of Seir: Watchman, what of the night? watchman, what of the night? | Duma. That is, Idumea, or Edom. (Challoner) --- It was a city of that country, twenty miles from Eleutheropolis. (St. Jerome) --- Assaradon desolated Idumea the year following, ver. 16. The Jews absurdly apply to Rome what is said of Edom. (St. Jerome) (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 21:12 | The watchman said: The morning cometh, also the night: if you seek, seek: return, come. | Night. Instead of joy, I must announce dreadful things. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 21:13 | The burden in Arabia. In the forest at evening you shall sleep, in the paths of Dedanim. | Arabia. This sentence is not in the Roman (Calmet) or Alexandrian Septuagint, (Haydock) and Dedan is a city of Idumea. (Calmet) --- The Ismaelites are threatened. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 21:14 | Meeting the thirsty, bring him water, you that inhabit the land of the south; meet with bread him that fleeth. | Water. To neglect this was to be accessary to another's death, in those dreary regions, Isaias 16:3., and Deuteronomy 23:2. |
| Isaiah 21:15 | For they are fled from before the swords, from the sword that hung over them, from the bent bow, from the face of a grievous battle. | |
| Isaiah 21:16 | For thus saith the Lord to me: Within a year, according to the years of a hireling, all the glory of Cedar shall be taken away. | Hireling; counting precisely, Isaias 16:14. (Calmet) --- Cedar: Arabia, (Challoner) near to Edom. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 21:17 | And the residue of the number of strong archers of the children of Cedar shall be diminished: for the Lord, the God of Israel, hath spoken it. | |
| Isaiah 22:0 | The prophet laments the destruction of Juda. He foretells the deprivation of Sobna, and substitution of Eliacim, a figure of Christ. | |
| Isaiah 22:1 | The burden of the valley of vision. What aileth thee also, that thou too art wholly gone up to the house tops? | The valley of vision: Jerusalem. The temple of Jerusalem was built upon Mount Moria, or the mountain of vision. But the city is here called, the valley of vision, either because it was lower than the temple, or because of the low condition to which it was to be reduced, (Challoner) during the captivity. (Worthington) --- Vision. Septuagint, "Sion." (Haydock) --- This prophecy regards the devastation caused by Sennacherib, (St. Jerome) Nabuchodonosor, (Sanctius) the Romans, (Eusebius) or by Assaradon, when he took Manasses, 2 Paralipomenon 33:11., and 4 Kings 21:10. --- Tops, to weep. |
| Isaiah 22:2 | Full of clamour, a populous city, a joyous city: thy slain are not slain by the sword, nor dead in battle. | Battle. He taxes the king with cowardice. |
| Isaiah 22:3 | All thy princes are fled together, and are bound hard: all that were found, are bound together, they are fled far off. | |
| Isaiah 22:4 | Therefore have I said: Depart from me, I will weep bitterly: labour not to comfort me, for the devastation of the daughter of my people. | People. He saw this in spirit, though he might not live to witness it. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 22:5 | For it is a day of slaughter, and of treading down, and of weeping to the Lord, the God of hosts, in the valley of vision, searching the wall, and magnificent upon the mountain. | Searching. That day beheld the Assyrians (Haydock) undermining the wall, and behaving with haughtiness (Calmet) on Mount Sion. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 22:6 | And Elam took the quiver, the chariot of the horseman, and the shield was taken down from the wall. | Wall. Arms were frequently hung thereon, Canticle of Canticles 9:4. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 22:7 | And thy choice valleys shall be full of chariots, and the horsemen shall place themselves in the gate. | |
| Isaiah 22:8 | And the covering of Juda shall be discovered, and thou shalt see in that day the armoury of the house of the forest. | Covering. Hebrew masac, (Haydock) "shade," for the convenience of the people, 4 Kings 16:18. --- Forest, built by Solomon. Ezechias has also procured store of arms, which were now delivered out to the citizens. |
| Isaiah 22:9 | And you shall see the breaches of the city of David, that they are many: and you have gathered together the waters of the lower pool. | Many, but you have neglected them, (Calmet) till it be too late. (Haydock) --- Pool, communicating with Gehon on the west. |
| Isaiah 22:10 | And have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and broken down houses to fortify the wall. | |
| Isaiah 22:11 | *And you made a ditch between the two walls for the water of the old pool: and you have not looked up to the maker thereof, nor regarded him even at a distance, that wrought it long ago. 4 Kings 20:20.; 2 Paralipomenon 32:30. | Walls. Manasses enclosed the pool within walls, forming a second town, 4 Kings 22:29. --- Ago. You have not imitated the piety of Ezechias. |
| Isaiah 22:12 | And the Lord, the God of hosts, in that day shall call to weeping, and to mourning, to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth: | |
| Isaiah 22:13 | And behold joy and gladness, killing calves, and slaying rams, eating flesh, and drinking wine: *Let us eat, and drink; for to-morrow we shall die. Wisdom 2:6.; Isaias 56:12.; 1 Corinthians 15:32. | Die. Thus the pagans encouraged themselves to feast. (Calmet) --- Ergo vivamus dum licet esse bene. (Petronius) --- This conduct betrayed an entire want of faith. (Calmet) --- "Nothing offends God so much....as contempt proceeding from despair." (St. Jerome) |
| Isaiah 22:14 | And the voice of the Lord of hosts was revealed in my ears: Surely this iniquity shall not be forgiven you till you die, saith the Lord God of hosts. | Die. The repentance of Manasses, and the piety of Josias, could not avert the storm. Discite justitiam moniti et non temnere divos. |
| Isaiah 22:15 | Thus saith the Lord God of hosts: Go, get thee in to him that dwelleth in the tabernacle, to Sobna, who is over the temple: and thou shalt say to him: | Temple, in the place of Eliacim. He had been secretary before, (Calmet) and had intruded himself into some office in the temple, which he abused. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 22:16 | What dost thou here, or as if thou wert somebody here? for thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre here, thou hast hewed out a monument carefully in a high place, a dwelling for thyself in a rock. | |
| Isaiah 22:17 | Behold the Lord will cause thee to be carried away, as a cock is carried away, and he will lift thee up as a garment. | Cock. St. Jerome's master assured him that the word which is usually rendered a warrior, has this meaning. (Haydock) --- The comparison agrees well with a proud man reduced to misery. (Calmet) --- Hebrew, "With the captivity of a man, and he will cover thee." Septuagint, "he will cast out and bruise the man, and will take away thy comely robe, and throw thee into," etc. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 22:18 | He will crown thee with a crown of tribulation; he will toss thee like a ball into a large and spacious country: there shalt thou die, and there shall the chariot of thy glory be, the shame of the house of thy Lord. | Lord; Manasses, who hath exalted thee. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 22:19 | And I will drive thee out From thy station, and depose thee from thy ministry. | |
| Isaiah 22:20 | And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliacim the son of Helcias. | Eliacim, who had been displaced, ver. 15. He acted as regent after the departure of Manasses, who always followed his counsels at his return, Judith 4:5. The priesthood was not then incompatible with civil and military functions. |
| Isaiah 22:21 | And I will clothe him with thy robe, and will strengthen him with thy girdle, and will give thy power into his hand: and he shall be as a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Juda. | Girdle, the badge of power, Job 12:18. |
| Isaiah 22:22 | *And I will lay the key of the house of David upon his shoulder: and he shall open, and none shall shut: and he shall shut, and none shall open. Apocalypse 3:7.; Job 12:14. | Shoulder. Here the marks of dignity were worn. Eliacim was appointed master of the palace, over all the other servants. (Calmet) --- Thus we may gather what power Christ conferred on St. Peter, when he gave him the keys of heaven, Matthew 16:19., and Apocalypse 3:7. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 22:23 | And I will fasten him as a peg in a sure place, and he shall be for a throne of glory to the house of his father. | Peg, on which whatever is placed shall be secure, 1 Esdras 9:8. |
| Isaiah 22:24 | And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, divers kinds of vessels, every little vessel, from the vessels of cups, even to every instrument of music. | House. He shall be the ornament of the priesthood. --- Music. All affairs in church and state shall be at his disposal. |
| Isaiah 22:25 | In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall the peg be removed, that was fastened in the sure place: and it shall be broken and shall fall: and that which hung thereon, shall perish, because the Lord hath spoken it. | Fall. Sobna shall lose all his employments, and ruin others. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 23:0 | The destruction of Tyre. It shall be repaired again after seventy years. | |
| Isaiah 23:1 | The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of the sea, for the house is destroyed, from whence they were wont to come: from the land of Cethim it is revealed to them. | Tyre was destroyed, in part, by Nabuchodonosor. Cyrus permitted all the captives of this, as well as of other countries, to return. --- Cethim; Cyrus, or rather Macedonia. Merchants come thence no longer. |
| Isaiah 23:2 | Be silent, you that dwell in the island: the merchants of Sidon passing over the sea, have filled thee. | Island. Tyre was originally surrounded with water. A communication with the land was made afterwards, Josue 19:29. (Calmet) (Ezechiel xxvii.) (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 23:3 | The seed of the Nile, in many waters, the harvest of the river, is her revenue: and she is become the mart of the nations. | Nile. Hebrew Shichor, or "muddy water," designates that river, Josue 13:3. --- River. The overflowing of the Nile gave fertility to Egypt, insomuch that Tyre and other nations were supplied by it with corn. |
| Isaiah 23:4 | Be thou ashamed, O Sidon: for the sea speaketh, even the strength of the sea, saying: I have not been in labour, nor have I brought forth, nor have I nourished up young men, nor brought up virgins. | Strength: people who sail. Septuagint, "but the strength....replied: I," etc. Sidon will not be concerned for the fall of her rival. She alleges that she has nothing to do with Tyre. That city would not allow that it was a colony of Sidon, ver. 12. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 23:5 | When it shall be heard in Egypt, they will be sorry when they shall hear of Tyre: | |
| Isaiah 23:6 | Pass over the seas, howl, ye inhabitants of the island. | Seas. The rich Tyrians did so. (St. Jerome) --- Septuagint, "to Carthage." Hebrew Tharsis, in Cilicia. (Calmet) --- Hence Nabuchodonosor did not find a sufficient reward, Ezechiel 29:18. |
| Isaiah 23:7 | Is not this your city, which gloried from of old in her antiquity? her feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn. | Sojourn. Many fled, others were made captives. |
| Isaiah 23:8 | Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, that was formerly crowned, whose merchants were princes, and her traders the nobles of the earth? | Earth. The merchants were as rich as kings, or the latter sent their merchandise to Tyre, Ezechiel 27:33. |
| Isaiah 23:9 | The Lord of hosts hath designed it to pull down the pride of all glory, and bring to disgrace all the glorious ones of the earth. | |
| Isaiah 23:10 | Pass thy land as a river, O daughter of the sea, thou hast a girdle no more. | Girdle, fortress; or rather, thou art naked, like a slave, Isaias 20:4. |
| Isaiah 23:11 | He stretched out his hand over the sea: he troubled kingdoms: the Lord hath given a charge against Chanaan, to destroy the strong ones thereof, | |
| Isaiah 23:12 | And he said: Thou shalt glory no more, O virgin, daughter of Sidon, who art oppressed: arise and sail over to Cethim, there also thou shalt have no rest. | Daughter; colony. (Calmet) --- Oppressed. Literally, "calumniated." (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 23:13 | Behold the land of the Chaldeans, there was not such a people, the Assyrian founded it: they have led away the strong ones thereof into captivity; they have destroyed the houses thereof; they have brought it to ruin. | It. Hebrew adds, "for fishermen." It was formerly covered with water. (Eusebius, praep. ix.) --- Ruin. The fall of Babylon has been denounced, Isaias 13. |
| Isaiah 23:14 | Howl, O ye ships of the sea, for your strength is laid waste. | |
| Isaiah 23:15 | And it shall come to pass in that day, that thou, O Tyre, shalt be forgotten, seventy years, according to the days of one king: but after seventy years, there shall be unto Tyre as the song of a harlot. | King Nabuchodonosor, whose two sons reigned but a short time. The captivity of the people of God began also the year of the world 3398, and ended the year of the world 3468, the first of Cyrus. --- Harlot. She shall be re-established, (Calmet) and shall invite people to her markets. (Sanchez) --- Before Cyrus, she had kings, but they were of small power. The city was become very rich, and well fortified, when Alexander [the Great] was stopped by it for seven months. See Ezechiel 26:14. (Calmet) --- Tyre had rejoiced at the misfortunes of the Hebrews, and was punished by the like captivity. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 23:16 | Take a harp, go about the city, thou harlot, that hast been forgotten: sing well, sing many a song, that thou mayst be remembered. | |
| Isaiah 23:17 | And it shall come to pass after seventy years, that the Lord will visit Tyre, and will bring her back again to her traffic: and she shall commit fornication again with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth. | Commit. Septuagint, "be the emporium for all." Great injustice prevailed formerly among merchants, so that it is represented as a dishonest calling. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 23:18 | And her merchandise and her hire shall be sanctified to the Lord: they shall not be kept in store, nor laid up: for her merchandise shall be for them that shall dwell before the Lord, that they may eat unto fulness, and be clothed for a continuance. | Sanctified to the Lord. This alludes to the conversion of the Gentiles. (Challoner) --- Before, the Tyrians were great enemies to the Jews, 2 Esdras 13:16., and 1 Machabees 5:15. Our Saviour wrought a miracle in favour of one of this country, Matthew 5:22., and Zacharias 8:20. (Calmet) --- Continuance. Literally, "old age." Aquila, "with changes of dress." (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 24:0 | The judgments of God upon all the sinners of the world. A remnant shall joyfully praise him. | |
| Isaiah 24:1 | Behold, the Lord shall lay waste the earth, and shall strip it, and shall afflict the face thereof, and scatter abroad the inhabitants thereof. | Earth. After the ten preceding threats, the prophet denounces destruction to the whole world, (Worthington) at the day of judgment; though he may also allude to the desolation of the promised land, as our Saviour joins both in the same prediction, Matthew xxiv. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 24:2 | *And it shall be as with the people, so with the priest: and as with the servant, so with his master: as with the handmaid, so with her mistress: as with the buyer, so with the seller: as with the lender, so with the borrower: as with him that calleth for his money, so with him that oweth. Osee 4:9. | Priest. All distinctions shall be disregarded. (Worthington) --- When Jerusalem was taken, all became captives. |
| Isaiah 24:3 | With desolation shall the earth be laid waste, and it shall be utterly spoiled: for the Lord hath spoken this word. | |
| Isaiah 24:4 | The earth mourned, and faded away, and is weakened: the world faded away, the height of the people of the earth is weakened. | Weakened: Joakim, etc., are made prisoners. The greatest monarchs must come before God's tribunal. |
| Isaiah 24:5 | And the earth is infected by the inhabitants thereof: because they have transgressed the laws, they have changed the ordinance, they have broken the everlasting covenant. | |
| Isaiah 24:6 | Therefore shall a curse devour the earth, and the inhabitants thereof shall sin: and therefore they that dwell therein shall be mad, and few men shall be left. | Sin. Towards the end of the world iniquity will abound, and men shall rage against each other, Matthew xxiv. (Worthington) --- They will also feel the effects of sin. --- Mad: abandoned to their passions, (Deuteronomy 28:28.) excepting only the elect. (Menochius) --- Few. The Chaldeans permitted only a few of the poorest sort to remain, 2 Paralipomenon 29:10. |
| Isaiah 24:7 | The vintage hath mourned; the vine hath languished away; all the merry hearted have sighed. | |
| Isaiah 24:8 | The mirth of timbrels hath ceased; the noise of them that rejoice is ended; the melody of the harp is silent. | |
| Isaiah 24:9 | They shall not drink wine with a song: the drink shall be bitter to them that drink it. | The drink. Hebrew shecar, "palm wine." |
| Isaiah 24:10 | The city of vanity is broken down; every house is shut up, no man cometh in. | Vanity. Jerusalem, (Calmet) or any other city, will be all in confusion. (Haydock) --- In, as was the case in times of mourning, Jeremias 9:21. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 24:11 | There shall be a crying for wine in the streets: all mirth is forsaken: the joy of the earth is gone away. | |
| Isaiah 24:12 | Desolation is left in the city, and calamity shall oppress the gates. | |
| Isaiah 24:13 | For it shall be thus in the midst of the earth, in the midst of the people, as if a few olives, that remain, should be shaken out of the olive-tree: or grapes, when the vintage is ended. | |
| Isaiah 24:14 | These shall lift up their voice, and shall give praise: when the Lord shall be glorified, they shall make a joyful noise from the sea. | Sea. The few elect (ver. 13.) being rescued from the misery of the world, shall praise God. (Haydock) --- They are exhorted to lift up their heads, Luke 21:28. (Menochius) |
| Isaiah 24:15 | Therefore glorify ye the Lord in instruction: the name of the Lord God of Israel in the islands of the sea. | Instruction. The Church is like an island, compared with the rest of the world; or it preaches the gospel to all nations, and to the islands, like Great Britain. (Worthington) --- Apostolic men are required to preach incessantly to all sorts of people. Hebrew, "in light;" or Pagnin, "in vales." (Menochius) |
| Isaiah 24:16 | From the ends of the earth we have heard praises, the glory of the just one. And I said: My secret to myself, my secret to myself, wo is me: the prevaricators have prevaricated, and with the prevarication of transgressors they have prevaricated. | I said. The prophet, or any other, may speak thus in the latter days. (Calmet) --- Myself. I cannot recount what horrid pains I beheld. (St. Jerome) (Menochius) (2 Corinthians 12:4.) |
| Isaiah 24:17 | Fear, and the pit, and the snare are upon thee, O thou inhabitant of the earth. | Snare. He alludes to the methods of taking wild beasts, Job 18:11. --- Opened, as they were in the days of Noe[Noah]. (Calmet) --- All sorts of misery hang over us. |
| Isaiah 24:18 | And it shall come to pass, *that he that shall flee from the noise of the fear, shall fall into the pit: and he that shall rid himself out of the pit, shall be taken in the snare: for the flood-gates from on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth shall be shaken. Jeremias 48:44. | |
| Isaiah 24:19 | With breaking shall the earth be broken; with crushing shall the earth be crushed; with trembling shall the earth be moved. | |
| Isaiah 24:20 | With shaking shall the earth be shaken, as a drunken man, and shall be removed as the tent of one night: and the iniquity thereof shall be heavy upon it, and it shall fall and not rise again. | Night, unexpectedly, (Haydock) and with the utmost speed. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 24:21 | And it shall come to pass, that in that day the Lord shall visit upon the host of heaven on high, and upon the kings of the earth, on the earth. | High. The stars, which in many places of the Scripture are so called. Some commentators explain that these words here signify the demons of the air. (Challoner) --- The apostate angels will be judged, 1 Corinthians 6:3., and Matthew 24:29. |
| Isaiah 24:22 | And they shall be gathered together as in the gathering of one bundle into the pit, and they shall be shut up there in prison: and after many days they shall be visited. | Visited. Hence Origen (Prin. 3:6., etc.) took occasion to assert, that the damned would one day be released, though the Scripture so often declares the contrary. The prophet speaks of the future liberation of the Jews; (Calmet) or he intimates that after many days, yea throughout eternity, the reprobate will still be punished. (Menochius) |
| Isaiah 24:23 | *And the moon shall blush, and the sun shall be ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount Sion, and in Jerusalem, and shall be glorified in the sight of his ancients. Joel 2:31.; Acts 2:20. | Blush: be turned into blood, Joel 2:10. Dreadful calamities shall ensue, to usher in the great day of judgment. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 25:0 | A canticle of thanksgiving for God's judgments and benefits. | |
| Isaiah 25:1 | O Lord, thou art my God, I will exalt thee, and give glory to thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things, thy designs of old, faithful, Amen. | Amen. He approves of God's judgments (Haydock) against Jerusalem. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 25:2 | For thou hast reduced the city to a heap, the strong city to ruin, the house of strangers to be no city, and to be no more built up for ever. | City; Jerusalem, or rather Babylon, (chap. 21.) (Calmet) or every city (Haydock) in the world. (Menochius) --- Strangers: the temples of idols. |
| Isaiah 25:3 | Therefore shall a strong people praise thee; the city of mighty nations shall fear thee. | People; the Chaldeans, or their conquerors. |
| Isaiah 25:4 | Because thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress: a refuge from the whirlwind, a shadow from the heat. For the blast of the mighty is like a whirlwind beating against a wall. | Poor; Juda, whom Nabuchodonosor's fury could not exterminate. |
| Isaiah 25:5 | Thou shalt bring down the tumult of strangers, as heat in thirst: and as with heat under a burning cloud, thou shalt make the branch of the mighty to wither away. | Away. Cyrus (Calmet) shall reduce Babylon the great. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 25:6 | And the Lord of hosts shall make unto all people in this mountain, a feast of fat things, a feast of wine, of fat things full of marrow, of wine purified from the lees. | Mountain of Sion, a figure of the Church, and of heaven. The Jews shall feast: yea, some of all nations shall partake of the blessed Eucharist, and obtain heaven. The expressions are too grand for a corruptible feast. (Calmet) --- Wine. Literally, "of vintage," (Haydock) on which occasion great rejoicings were made. (Hesiod, Hercul. 297.) --- Protestants, "of wines on the lees." (Haydock) --- In the East, the wines were very thick, Psalm 75:9. (Calmet) --- On the rejection of the Jews, the Gentiles were converted. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 25:7 | And he shall destroy in this mountain the face of the bond with which all people were tied, and the web that he began over all nations. | Tied. He will open their eyes to the truth of the gospel. They shall be no longer as criminals, expecting death, or mourning. |
| Isaiah 25:8 | He shall cast death down headlong for ever: *and the Lord God shall wipe away tears from every face; and the reproach of his people he shall take away from off the whole earth: for the Lord hath spoken it. Apocalypse 7:17.; Apocalypse 21:4. | Ever. Hebrew, "he shall swallow up death in victory," 1 Corinthians 15:54. Christ, by dying, conquered death, and rescued us from its power, if we do not voluntarily subject ourselves to it again. This was faintly represented by the liberation of the captives. |
| Isaiah 25:9 | And they shall say in that day: Lo, this is our God, we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord, we have patiently waited for him, we shall rejoice and be joyful in his salvation. | |
| Isaiah 25:10 | For the hand of the Lord shall rest in this mountain: and Moab shall be trodden down under him, as straw is broken in pieces with the wain. | Mountain: the Church. (Calmet) --- Moab. That is, the reprobate, whose eternal punishment, from which they can no way escape, is described under these figures. (Challoner) --- The Machabees probably executed this vengeance on Moab, 1 Machabees 5:6. |
| Isaiah 25:11 | And he shall stretch forth his hands under him, as he that swimmeth stretcheth forth his hands to swim: and he shall bring down his glory with the dashing of his hands. | Hands. All his exertions and fury will prove useless. (Haydock) --- Moab shall lie prostrate. |
| Isaiah 25:12 | And the bulwarks of thy high walls shall fall, and be brought low, and shall be pulled down to the ground, even to the dust. | |
| Isaiah 26:0 | A canticle of thanks for the deliverance of God's people. | |
| Isaiah 26:1 | In that day shall this canticle be sung the land of Juda. Sion, the city of our strength, a Saviour, a wall, and a bulwark, shall be set therein. | Day. Under the law of grace, Christians sing this and such like canticles. (Worthington) --- Sion. This word is not in Hebrew, etc., though it be understood. (Calmet) --- Other nations have their respective cities. All Christians admit this one. (Worthington) --- The captives continue to return thanks. Yet the Holy Ghost speaks chiefly of the Church, and of the general resurrection. (Calmet) --- Bulwark. Faith and good works. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 26:2 | Open ye the gates, and let the just nation, that keepeth the truth, enter in. | Truth. The Jews who returned from Babylon, were more virtuous than their ancestors, as the prophets intimate; though they have Christians principally in view. |
| Isaiah 26:3 | The old error is passed away: thou wilt keep peace: peace, because we have hoped in thee. | Away: condemning the virtuous, as if they were fools. (Menochius) --- Symmachus, "our work, or fiction, is taken away." Hebrew may have other meanings. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 26:4 | You have hoped in the Lord for evermore, in the Lord God, mighty for ever. | You, people of Juda. |
| Isaiah 26:5 | For he shall bring down them that dwell on high; the high city he shall lay low. He shall bring it down even to the ground; he shall pull it down even to the dust. | High: Nabuchodonosor and his empire. |
| Isaiah 26:6 | The foot shall tread it down; the feet of the poor, the steps of the needy. | Needy. The Jews shall behold the ruin of the city by Cyrus, (Calmet) who was of a contemptible nation. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 26:7 | The way of the just is right; the path of the just is right to walk in. | In. God will remove every obstacle, at their return. |
| Isaiah 26:8 | And in the way of thy judgments, O Lord, we have patiently waited for thee: thy name, and thy remembrance are the desire of the soul. | |
| Isaiah 26:9 | My soul hath desired thee in the night: yea, and with my spirit within me, in the morning early, I will watch to thee. When thou shalt do thy judgments on the earth, the inhabitants of the world shall learn justice. | Night of distress. |
| Isaiah 26:10 | Let us have pity on the wicked; but he will not learn justice: in the land of the saints he hath done wicked things, and he shall not see the glory of the Lord. | Justice. Clemency would therefore be ill placed. If the Israelites had not been led away captives, would they ever have been reformed? |
| Isaiah 26:11 | Lord, let thy hand be exalted, and let them not see: let the envious people see, and be confounded: and let fire devour thy enemies. | Not see. Let them perish, or live to witness the glory of the Jews. |
| Isaiah 26:12 | Lord, thou wilt give us peace: for thou hast wrought all our works for us. | Works, both in punishing and rewarding. (Calmet) --- God crowns his own gifts. (Estius) |
| Isaiah 26:13 | O Lord, our God, other lords besides thee have had dominion over us, only in thee let us remember thy name. | Lords of Babylon, (Calmet) and our own passions. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 26:14 | Let not the dead live, let not the giants rise again: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and hast destroyed all their memory. | Giants; the proud emperors of Babylon, whom thou wilt destroy. Septuagint, "physicians;" as Rephaim has also this meaning. |
| Isaiah 26:15 | Thou hast been favourable to the nation, O Lord, thou hast been favourable to the nation: art thou glorified? thou hast removed all the ends of the earth far off. | Nation of the Jews. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "add evils to them, O Lord; add evils to the nobles of the land." (Haydock) --- Hebrew may have the same sense. --- Ends: princes, or the Chaldeans, sending them also into captivity; or thou hast propagated thy Church over the world. |
| Isaiah 26:16 | Lord, they have sought after thee in distress; in the tribulation of murmuring thy instruction was with them. | They. Septuagint, "We," etc. (Calmet) --- Affliction is a wholesome medicine. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 26:17 | As a woman with child, when she draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs, so are we become in thy presence, O Lord. | |
| Isaiah 26:18 | We have conceived, and been as it were in labour, and have brought forth wind: we have not wrought salvation on the earth, therefore the inhabitants of the earth have not fallen. | Wind. Our expectation of aid from others has been disappointed. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "the spirit of thy salvation, which thou hast wrought on the earth. We shall not fall, but the inhabitants of the earth shall fall." (Haydock) --- Their copies must have been different from ours. --- Fallen. The Chanaanites are left for our trial and punishment. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 26:19 | Thy dead men shall live, my slain shall rise again: awake, and give praise, ye that dwell in the dust: for thy dew is the dew of the light: and the land of the giants thou shalt pull down into ruin. | Dead: a civil death, shall regain their liberty; and those who have left this world in a state of virtue, shall be happy. --- Ruin. Cyrus liberated the Jews, having conquered Babylon. |
| Isaiah 26:20 | Go, my people, enter into thy chambers, shut thy doors upon thee, hide thyself a little for a moment, until the indignation pass away. | Away, and Cambyses be destroyed, Ezechiel 38:11. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 26:21 | *For behold the Lord will come out of his place, to visit the iniquity of the inhabitant of the earth against him: and the earth shall disclose her blood, and shall cover her slain no more. Micheas 1:3. | Shall cover her stain no more. This is said with relation to the martyrs, and their happy resurrection. (Challoner) --- The blood of the saints shall demand vengeance. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 27:0 | The punishment of the oppressors of God's people. The Lord's favour to his Church. | |
| Isaiah 27:1 | In that day the Lord, with his hard, and great, and strong sword, shall visit Leviathan, the bar serpent, and Leviathan, the crooked serpent, and shall slay the whale that is in the sea. | Hard. Septuagint, "holy." (Calmet) --- Leviathan. That is, the devil, the great enemy of the people of God. He is called the bar serpent from his strength, and the crooked serpent from his wiles, and the whale of the sea, from the tyranny he exercises in the sea of this world. He was spiritually slain by the death of Christ, when his power was destroyed. (Challoner) --- It may also literally refer to Nabuchodonosor, and the king of Egypt, or rather to Cambyses, or Holofernes, but particularly Cambyses. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 27:2 | In that day there shall be singing to the vineyard of pure wine. | Vineyard; the Church of Christ, (Challoner) or Judea. It may be the beginning of a noted song. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 27:3 | I am the Lord that keep it, I will suddenly give it drink: lest any hurt come to it, I keep it night and day. | Drink; or, as the Hebrew may also be rendered, I will continually water it. (Challoner) --- God will protect his people. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 27:4 | There is no indignation in me: who shall make me a thorn and a brier in battle: shall I march against it, shall I set it on fire together. | In me, against the Church; nor shall I become as a thorn or brier in its regard; or march against it, or set it on fire: but it shall always take fast hold of me, and keep an everlasting peace with me. (Challoner) --- God rather speaks of the enemy. If he attempt to lay waste this vineyard, I will chastise him. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 27:5 | Or rather, shall it take hold of my strength, shall it make peace with me, shall it make peace with me? | |
| Isaiah 27:6 | When they shall rush in unto Jacob, Israel shall blossom and bud, and they shall fill the face of the world with seed. | Rush in. Some understand this of the enemies of the true Israel, that shall invade it in vain. Others of the spiritual invasion made by the apostles of Christ. (Challoner) --- Protestants, "He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root." Septuagint, "those who come are children of Jacob." (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 27:7 | Hath he struck him according to the stroke of him that struck him? or is he slain, as he killed them that were slain by him? | Struck. Hath God punished the carnal persecuting Jews, in proportion to their doings against Christ and his saints? (Challoner) --- God punished Israel as a father: but he will destroy the Chaldeans, etc. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 27:8 | In measure against measure, when it shall be cast off, thou shalt judge it. He hath meditated with his severe spirit in the day of heat. | Cast off. When the synagogue shall be cast off, thou shalt judge it in measure, and in proportion to its crimes. (Challoner) --- The Israelites have been rigorously punished. (Calmet) --- He, etc. God hath designed severe punishments in the day of his wrath. (Challoner) |
| Isaiah 27:9 | Therefore upon this shall the iniquity of the house of Jacob be forgiven; and this is all the fruit, that the sin thereof should be taken away, when he shall have made all the stones of the altar, as burnt stones broken in pieces, the groves and temples shall not stand. | Jacob; viz., of such of them as shall be converted. (Challoner) --- Altar, dedicated to idols: then he shall obtain pardon. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 27:10 | For the strong city shall be desolate, the beautiful city shall be forsaken, and shall be left as a wilderness: there the calf shall feed, and there shall he lie down, and shall consume its branches. | City. Jerusalem, (Challoner) or more probably Babylon, of which he is going to speak. |
| Isaiah 27:11 | Its harvest shall be destroyed with drought, women shall come and teach it; for it is not a wise people, therefore he that made it, shall not have mercy on it: and he that formed it, shall not spare it. | Women. The princes shall be weak and irresolute. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "Hither, ye women, coming from the shew. For it is not an intelligent people." |
| Isaiah 27:12 | And it shall come to pass, that in that day the Lord will strike from the channel of the river even to the torrent of Egypt, and you shall be gathered together one by one, O ye children of Israel. | River Euphrates, even to the Nile. (Haydock) --- Nabuchodonosor laid waste all the intermediate countries. Afterwards Cyrus gave the people liberty. On the death of Cambyses, the nations were in consternation; and it was only during the peaceable reign of Darius that Israel returned, though not in a body, as the Jews had done twenty years before, Isaias 26. (Calmet) --- By one, into the Church of Christ, John xi. (Menochius) |
| Isaiah 27:13 | And it shall come to pass, that in that day a noise shall be made with a great trumpet, and they that were lost shall come from the land of the Assyrians, and they that were outcasts in the land of Egypt, and they shall adore the Lord in the holy mount in Jerusalem. | Trumpet. The preaching of the Gospel for the conversion of the Jews. (Challoner) |
| Isaiah 28:0 | The punishment of the Israelites, for their pride, intemperance and contempt of religion. Christ the corner-stone. | |
| Isaiah 28:1 | Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower, the glory of his joy, who were on the head of the fat valley, staggering with wine. | Ephraim. That is, the kingdom of the ten tribes. (Challoner) --- Flower. The pride of the kingdom shall thus decay. (Menochius) --- Head. Samaria, situated on a hill, having under it a most fertile valley. (Challoner) --- See Amos 2:6., and 4:2. Samaria was taken in the sixth year of Ezechias. |
| Isaiah 28:2 | Behold, the Lord is mighty and strong, as a storm of hail; a destroying whirlwind, as the violence of many waters overflowing, and sent forth upon a spacious land. | The Lord. By his instrument, Salmanasar. (Haydock) --- Hebrew, "behold the strong one, and the mighty to the Lord, as," etc. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "behold the Lord's fury....as." (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 28:3 | The crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim shall be trodden under feet. | |
| Isaiah 28:4 | And the fading flower, the glory of his joy, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be as a hasty fruit before the ripeness of autumn: which, when he that seeth it shall behold, as soon as he taketh it in his hand, he will eat it up. | Up. Theglathphalassar was captivated with the beauty of the country, and made it tributary. But Salmanasar, fearing a revolt, destroyed it, 4 Kings 17:4. |
| Isaiah 28:5 | In that day the Lord of hosts shall be a crown of glory, and a garland of joy to the residue of his people: | People, who returned to the service of God; or it refers to the kingdom of Juda. |
| Isaiah 28:6 | And a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and strength to them that return out of the battle to the gate. | Gate. Ezechias reunited the divided kingdoms, and inspired his troops with courage, bringing them back victorious, 2 Paralipomenon 30:1., and 4 Kings 18:7. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 28:7 | But these also have been ignorant through wine, and through drunkenness have erred: the priest and the prophet have been ignorant through drunkenness; they are swallowed up with wine; they have gone astray in drunkenness; they have not known him that seeth; they have been ignorant of judgment. | These also. The kingdom of Juda. (Challoner) --- Ezechias could not correct every abuse; though what is here specified, regards rather the reigns of his successors. |
| Isaiah 28:8 | For all tables were full of vomit and filth, so that there was no more place. | Place. All was defiled: they gloried in their shame. |
| Isaiah 28:9 | Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand the hearing? them that are weaned from the milk, that are drawn away from the breasts. | Breasts? St. Paul seems to allude to this text, 1 Corinthians 3:2. (Calmet) --- The abandoned Jews ask contemptuously, if they be to be taught like children? (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 28:10 | For command, command again, command, command again; expect, expect again, expect, expect again; a little there, a little there. | Command, etc. This is said in the person of the Jews, resisting the repeated commands of God, and still putting him off. (Challoner) --- They deride the prophets, speaking words of no meaning, as if their predictions were no better. (St. Jerome) --- Think they that we have to learn the first elements, or to join syllables together? (Calmet) --- Hebrew Tsav latsav, etc. (Haydock) --- The Nicholaites abused these words. (St. Epiphanius 25.) --- Why do they not speak plain? Sometimes terrible things are denounced, then subjects of joy! Isaias answers, that since they pretend not to understand, God will lead them into a country where they shall indeed have to learn the language, like children, Isaias 29:11. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "for precept must be upon precept....line upon line....here a little, and there a little. For with stammering lips," etc. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 28:11 | *For with the speech of lips, and with another tongue he will speak to this people. 1 Corinthians 14:21. | |
| Isaiah 28:12 | To whom he said: This is my rest, refresh the weary, and this is my refreshing: and they would not hear. | Hear. To leave off their wicked practices, and cruelty. The Jews would not understand: therefore Christ spoke to them in parables, Isaias 6:9., and Matthew 13:14., etc. |
| Isaiah 28:13 | And the word of the Lord shall be to them: Command, command again; command, command again; expect, expect again; expect, expect again: a little there, a little there: that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken. | Taken. God will make his prophets speak, notwithstanding your repugnance; or he will reduce you to the necessity of learning an unknown language. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 28:14 | Wherefore, hear the word of the Lord; ye scornful men, rule over my people that is in Jerusalem. | Men, who make a parade of your knowledge, (Haydock) to turn the most sacred things into ridicule. |
| Isaiah 28:15 | For you have said: We have entered into a league with death, and we have made a covenant with hell. When the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come upon us: for we have placed our hope in lies, and by falsehood we are protected. | Protected. Their conduct spoke this language. They would not fail to make alliances with Egypt, and to trust in idols, whatever the prophets might say to dissuade them. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 28:16 | *Therefore, thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will lay a stone in the foundations of Sion, a tried stone, a corner-stone, a precious stone, founded in the foundation. He that believeth, let him not hasten. Psalm 117:22.; Matthew 21:42.; Acts 4:11.; Romans 9:33.; 1 Peter 2:6. | Stone. Christ. (Challoner) --- The Jews and Grotius would apply it to Ezechias. But he was already on the throne, and never could realize these glorious promises. The people were not to believe in him, etc. (Calmet) --- Hasten. Let him expect his coming with patience. (Challoner) --- It would be delayed some time. Hebrew may also signify "stagger;" (Calmet) in which sense the Septuagint and the authors of the New Testament seem to have taken it. "Whosoever believeth in him, shall not be confounded." See Romans 9:33. (Haydock) --- Isaias promises a Redeemer, though these people were unworthy; and then returns to his own times. (Menochius) |
| Isaiah 28:17 | And I will set judgment in weight, and justice in measure: and hail shall overturn the hope of falsehood: and waters shall overflow its protection. | Measure. In the days of the Redeemer, they shall lead a virtuous life, (Calmet) or the scorners shall be treated with rigour. --- Protection. The wall, (Menochius) or lies, (ver. 15.; Calmet) on which you depend, shall turn to your confusion. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 28:18 | And your league with death shall be abolished, and your covenant with hell shall not stand: when the overflowing scourge shall pass, you shall be trodden down by it. | |
| Isaiah 28:19 | Whensoever it shall pass through, it shall take you away; because in the morning early it shall pass through, in the day and in the night, and vexation alone shall make you understand what you hear. | Hear. Under the last kings of Juda, the misery was continual. Captivity opened the eyes of the people, and they were afterwards more docile. The murder of Christ, and the subsequent evils which befell the nation, seem to have had a quite different effect. They will at last submit to his yoke. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 28:20 | For the bed is straitened, so that one must fall out, and a short covering cannot cover both. | Straitened. It is too narrow to hold two: God will have the bed of our heart all to himself. (Challoner) (1 Corinthians 10:20., and 2 Corinthians 6:14.) (St. Jerome, etc.) --- The Jews explain it of the utmost distress, to which the people would be reduced, so that they would not be able to assist a friend, Amos 3:12. (Forcr.[Forerius?]) (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 28:21 | *For the Lord shall stand up as in the mountain of divisions: **he shall be angry as in the valley which is in Gabaon: that he may do his work, his strange work: that he may perform his work, his work is strange to him. 2 Kings 5:20.; 1 Paralipomenon 14:11.; Josue 10:13. | As in, etc. As the Lord fought against the Philistines in Baal Pharasim, (2 Kings v.) and against the Chanaanites, in the valley of Gabaon, Josue 10. (Challoner) --- Strange. He punished unwillingly. (Calmet) --- "It is not God's work to ruin what he has created." (St. Jerome) --- He will punish in an extraordinary manner those scoffers, ver. 15., and Numbers 16:29. (Piscator) |
| Isaiah 28:22 | And now do not mock, lest your bonds be tied strait. For I have heard of the Lord, the God of hosts, a consumption and a cutting short upon all the earth. | Earth. Nabuchodonosor will take a complete and speedy vengeance, Isaias 10:22. |
| Isaiah 28:23 | Give ear, and hear my voice, hearken, and hear my speech. | |
| Isaiah 28:24 | Shall the ploughman plough all the day to sow? shall he open and harrow his ground? | Sow. The works of the husbandman vary, so will God's punishments be inflicted with measure, according to each one's deserts, ver. 27., and Wisdom 6:7. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 28:25 | Will he not, when he hath made plain the surface thereof, sow gith, and scatter cummin, and put wheat in order, and barley, and millet, and vetches in their bounds. | Gith. Heberw ketsach. Septuagint, melanthion. (Haydock) (Pliny, [Natural History?] 20:17.) (Menochius) --- Septuagint have not expressed all the terms of the original, (Haydock) being perhaps ignorant of their meaning. (St. Jerome) |
| Isaiah 28:26 | For he will instruct him in judgment: his God will teach him. | God. From him proceeds every useful invention. The pagans attributed the discovery of corn, etc., to their idols. |
| Isaiah 28:27 | For gith shall not be thrashed with saws, neither shall the cart wheel turn about upon cummin: but gith shall be beaten out with a rod, and cummin with a staff. | Saws, or heavy instruments. It would be thus crushed too much. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 28:28 | But bread-corn shall be broken small: but the thresher shall not thresh it for ever; neither shall the cart wheel hurt it, nor break it with its teeth. | But. Septuagint, "it shall be eaten with bread. For I will not be angry with you for ever, nor shall the sounds of my bitter wrath trample upon you." (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 28:29 | This also is come forth from the Lord God of hosts, to make his counsel wonderful, and magnify justice. | This also, etc. Such also is the proceeding of the Lord with his land, and the diverse seeds he sows therein. (Challoner) |
| Isaiah 29:0 | God's heavy judgments upon Jerusalem, for their blind obstinacy: with a prophecy of the conversion of the Gentiles. | |
| Isaiah 29:1 | Woe to Ariel, to Ariel the city which David took: year is added to year: the solemnities are at an end. | Ariel. This word signifies the lion of God, and here is taken for the strong city of Jerusalem. (Challoner) --- It was destroyed by the Chaldeans, (4 Kings xxv.) and still more by the Romans, 40 years after. (Calmet) (Worthington) --- Ezechiel (xliii. 15.) styles the altar of holocausts Ariel. --- Took. Septuagint. The Hebrew means also "inhabited." (Haydock) --- Sion was called the city of David. (Calmet) --- The invasion (Haydock) of Sennacherib is here foretold (Forcr.[Forerius?]) two years before, Isaias 31:10. |
| Isaiah 29:2 | And I will make a trench about Ariel, and it shall be in sorrow and mourning, and it shall be to me as Ariel. | Trench. Sennacherib did not besiege the city, Isaias 37:33. But he made preparations for it, and his sentiments are expressed, (Calmet) together with the fatal consequences which he felt, when his army was offered up (Haydock) as a victim on the altar of holocausts, ver. 1. |
| Isaiah 29:3 | And I will make a circle round about thee, and will cast up a rampart against thee, and raise up bulwarks to besiege thee. | Circle. Thus provisions were cut off. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 29:4 | Thou shalt be brought down, thou shalt speak out of the earth, and thy speech shall be heard out of the ground: and thy voice shall be from the earth like that of the Python, and out of the ground thy speech shall mutter. | The Python. The diviner by a spirit. (Challoner) --- Jerusalem shall hardly dare to make a noise. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 29:5 | And the multitude of them that fan thee, shall be like small dust, and as ashes passing away, the multitude of them that have prevailed against thee. | Away. The numbers, and speedy downfall of the Assyrians, are described. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 29:6 | And it shall be at an instant suddenly. A visitation shall come from the Lord of hosts in thunder, and with earthquake, and with a great noise of whirlwind and tempest, and with the flame of devouring fire. | Thunder. Psalm 75:7. Tharaca was coming to assist Ezechias, Isaias 37:36. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 29:7 | And the multitude of all nations that have fought against Ariel, shall be as the dream of a vision by night, and all that have fought, and besieged, and prevailed against it. | It, in their dreams. |
| Isaiah 29:8 | And as he that is hungry dreameth, and eateth, but when he is awake, his soul is empty: and as he that is thirsty dreameth, and drinketh, and after he is awake, is yet faint with thirst, and his soul is empty: so shall be the multitude of all the Gentiles that have fought against Mount Sion. | |
| Isaiah 29:9 | Be astonished, and wonder, waver, and stagger: be drunk, and not with wine: stagger, and not with drunkenness. | Be, etc. Though God spared the city, for the sake of the good, He will not fail to punish scoffers, in due time, as He now declares. (Haydock) --- Drunkenness. You shall suffer for your crimes, (chap. 28:7.) or be affrighted. |
| Isaiah 29:10 | For the Lord hath mingled for you the spirit of a deep sleep; he will shut up your eyes; he will cover your prophets and princes, that see visions. | Sleep, or compunction, (Romans 11:8.; Calmet) denoting their obstinacy. (St. Chrysostom) --- Visions. Protestants, "the seers." (Haydock) --- The Jews perceived but very imperfectly the meaning of the prophets, when they spoke of a future Redeemer, God and man. They are now more infatuated, (Calmet) having a veil on their hearts, 1 Corinthians 4:3. Both learned and ignorant refuse to believe, excusing themselves, ver. 12. (Haydock) --- The more they read the Scriptures, the less do they understand. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 29:11 | And the vision of all shall be unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which when they shall deliver to one that is learned, they shall say: Read this: and he shall answer: I cannot, for it is sealed. | |
| Isaiah 29:12 | And the book shall be given to one that knoweth no letters, and it shall be said to him: Read: and he shall answer: I know no letters. | |
| Isaiah 29:13 | *And the Lord said: Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips glorify me, but their heart is far from me, and they have feared me with the commandment and doctrines of men: Matthew 15:8.; Mark 7:6. | Men. Our Saviour applies this to the Jews. The evangelists follow the Septuagint, Matthew 15:8., and Mark 7:6. (Calmet) --- "This people approacheth to me, (Grabe adds, with its mouth and with) their lips they honour me, but their heart is far from me. Yet in vain do they honour me, teaching the commands of men and doctrines." (Haydock) --- They still continue to corrupt God's word by their false interpretations. |
| Isaiah 29:14 | Therefore, behold I will proceed to cause an admiration in this people, by a great and wonderful miracle: *for wisdom shall perish from their wise men, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. 1 Corinthians 1:19.; Abdias 1:8. | Hid. At the approach of Sennacherib, the politicians were confounded. But the obstinate blindness of the Jews in the midst of such a blaze of predictions, which are evidently accomplished in Jesus Christ, excites admiration. That their ancestors should have found them obscure, is not so wonderful. The prophets foretold this event; and the reprobation of the synagogue, which had been so highly favoured, is a proof of the truth of the Christian religion, 1 Corinthians 1:18. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 29:15 | Woe to you that are deep of heart, to hide your counsel from the Lord: and their works are in the dark, and they say: *Who seeth us, and who knoweth us? Ecclesiasticus 23:26. | |
| Isaiah 29:16 | This thought of yours is perverse: as if the clay should think against the potter, and the work should say to the maker thereof: Thou madest me not: or the thing framed should say to him that fashioned it: Thou understandest not. | Not. So it is in vain to think that your hypocrisy or excuses will deceive God, Isaias 28:15. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 29:17 | Is it not yet a very little while, and Libanus shall be turned into charmel, and charmel shall be esteemed as a forest? | Charmel. This word signifies a fruitful field. (Challoner) --- Shall Carmel be presently a forest or barren mountain? No. But I will work a greater miracle, ver. 18. Jerusalem shall rejoice, and Sennacherib shall be filled with dismay. |
| Isaiah 29:18 | And in that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, and out of darkness and obscurity the eyes of the blind shall see. | |
| Isaiah 29:19 | And the meek shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor men shall rejoice in the holy One of Israel. | Rejoice. Our Saviour alludes to this text, (Luke 7:22.) which, under the figure of the deliverance from captivity, points out the vocation of the Gentiles, Isaias 35:5., and 42:7, 19. |
| Isaiah 29:20 | For he that did prevail hath failed, the scorner is consumed, and they are all cut off that watched for iniquity: | Prevail. Wicked princes, scoffers, etc., (ver. 10., and Isaias 28:7.) shall be exterminated. Ezechias promoted piety with greater zeal after his deliverance. |
| Isaiah 29:21 | That made men sin by word, and supplanted him that reproved them in the gate, and declined in vain from the just. | Gate. False prophets rose up against those who spoke the truth, and condemned them unjustly. (Calmet) --- The just, Christ. (Menochius) |
| Isaiah 29:22 | Therefore, thus saith the Lord to the house of Jacob, he that redeemed Abraham: Jacob shall not now be confounded, neither shall his countenance now be ashamed. | |
| Isaiah 29:23 | But when he shall see his children, the work of my hands, in the midst of him sanctifying my name, and they shall sanctify the holy One of Jacob, and shall glorify the God of Israel: | Israel. They shall serve God with fidelity and gratitude, Isaias 30:22. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 29:24 | And they that erred in spirit, shall know understanding; and they that murmured, shall learn the law. | Murmured. Magicians, (Grotius) or false sages, Isaias 28:9. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 30:0 | The people are blamed for their confidence in Egypt. God's mercies towards his Church: the punishment of sinners. | |
| Isaiah 30:1 | Woe to you, apostate children, saith the Lord, that you would take counsel, and not of me: and would begin a web, and not by my spirit, that you might add sin upon sin: | Of me. Ezechias was guided by human prudence, in making an alliance with Egypt, though he might have just reasons for refusing to pay tribute to the Assyrians, 4 Kings 18:20. (Calmet) --- And. Septuagint, "alliances not by," etc. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 30:2 | Who walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth, hoping for help in the strength of Pharao, and trusting in the shadow of Egypt. | Down, with presents, ver. 6., and 4 Kings 18:20. |
| Isaiah 30:3 | And the strength of Pharao shall be to your confusion: and the confidence of the shadow of Egypt to your shame. | Shame. Egypt had been defeated before Sennacherib's approach. |
| Isaiah 30:4 | For thy princes were in Tanis, and thy messengers came even to Hanes. | Hanes. Chaldean, "Taphanes," (Jeremias 2:16.) or Daphnae Pelusiae. (Herodotus 2:30.) --- In the Arabic, Nome, which formed part of (Haydock) the dominions of Tharaca. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 30:5 | They were all confounded at a people that could not profit them: they were no help, nor to any profit, but to confusion and to reproach. | |
| Isaiah 30:6 | The burden of the beasts of the south. In a land of trouble and distress, from whence come the lioness, and the lion, the viper and the flying basilisk, they carry their riches upon the shoulders of beasts, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels to a people that shall not be able to profit them. | Burden. This title seems unnecessary, and may be added by some Jew, (chap. 21:13.) though the Chaldean and others explain it, "They carry on their beasts, presents to the south," to the nations of Arabia and Egypt, infested with lions, etc. The rest of the prophecy is against the Jews, who cannot well be styled beasts of the south. (Calmet) --- Basilisk. The ibis devours many serpents on their flight from Arabia into Egypt. (Herodotus 2:5.; Solin. xxxii.) |
| Isaiah 30:7 | *For Egypt shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I cried concerning this: It is pride only, sit still. Jeremias 37:7. | Cried. Hebrew, "called it Rahab, (or pride) it is rest." The people are indolent, though they will make great promises. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 30:8 | Now therefore go in and write for them upon a box, and note it diligently in a book, and it shall be in the latter days for a testimony for ever. | Box. This word was covered with wax. (Propertius 3:3.) --- Write, that none may pretend that they were not admonished. Some think that this was addressed to Jeremias: but Isaias spoke to his incredulous countrymen. |
| Isaiah 30:9 | For it is a people that provoketh to wrath, and lying children, children that will not hear the law of God. | |
| Isaiah 30:10 | Who say to the seers: See not: and to them that behold: Behold not for us those things that are right: speak unto us pleasant things; see errors for us. | See not. Such were the dispositions of their heart, Isaias 28:15. |
| Isaiah 30:11 | Take away from me the way; turn away the path from me; let the holy One of Israel cease from before us. | Us. Mention God no more, or let him not meddle with our affairs. Seek not to reclaim us, we are pleased with our delusion. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 30:12 | Therefore thus saith the holy One of Israel: Because you have rejected this word, and have trusted in oppression and tumult, and have leaned upon it: | Oppression. Literally, "calumny," (Haydock) or rebellion against the Assyrians. This was contrary to the respect due to God's name, used in the ratification of treaties, how wicked soever those princes might be. |
| Isaiah 30:13 | Therefore shall this iniquity be to you as a breach that falleth, and is found wanting in a high wall; for the destruction thereof shall come on a sudden, when it is not looked for. | For. Psalm 61:3. If God had not miraculously cut off the army of Sennacherib, what would have become of the kingdom of Juda? |
| Isaiah 30:14 | And it shall be broken small, as the potter's vessel is broken all to pieces with mighty breaking, and there shall not a shard be found of the pieces thereof, wherein a little fire may be carried from the hearth, or a little water be drawn out of the pit. | |
| Isaiah 30:15 | For thus saith the Lord God, the holy One of Israel: If you return and be quiet, you shall be saved: in silence and in hope shall your strength be. And you would not: | Be. Septuagint, "groan," as Origen, etc., read. If you be seriously converted, and trust not in Egypt, you need not fear. |
| Isaiah 30:16 | But have said: No, but we will flee to horses: therefore shall you flee. And we will mount upon swift ones: therefore shall they be swifter that shall pursue after you. | Ones, or chariots. (Calmet) --- Egypt was famous for horses, Deuteronomy 17:16. (Forcr.[Forerius?]) --- Rebsaces ridicules the Jews for the want of them, 4 Kings 18:23. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 30:17 | A thousand men shall flee for fear of one: and for fear of five shall you flee, till you be left as the mast of a ship on the top of a mountain, and as an ensign upon a hill. | Five. A small number shall put you to flight. (Menochius) --- Mast, set up after a shipwreck, to warn others, or as a signal, Isaias 33:23. |
| Isaiah 30:18 | Therefore the Lord waiteth, that he may have mercy on you: and therefore shall he be exalted, sparing you: because the Lord is the God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him. | Wait for him. Having convinced Ezechias that he ought to trust in no other, the Lord rescues him from the hand of Sennacherib. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 30:19 | For the people of Sion shall dwell in Jerusalem: weeping, thou shalt not weep, he will surely have pity on thee: at the voice of thy cry, as soon as he shall hear, he will answer thee. | Weep. The citizens expected certain death, (Haydock) or slavery. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 30:20 | And the Lord will give you spare bread, and short water: and will not cause thy teacher to flee away from thee any more: and thy eyes shall see thy teacher. | Water. The land will be reduced to a miserable condition by the ravages of Sennacherib. (Haydock) --- The following was a sabbatical year, ver. 23., and Isaias 37:30. --- Teacher. It seems that Isaias, etc., had been silent. He spoke after Ezechias had sent for him, and God promises that the people shall not be left without guides. (Calmet) --- Christ will not abandon his Church. (Menochius) |
| Isaiah 30:21 | And thy ears shall hear the word of one admonishing thee behind thy back: This is the way, walk ye in it: and go not aside neither to the right hand, nor to the left. | |
| Isaiah 30:22 | And thou shalt defile the plates of thy graven things of silver, and the garment of thy molten things of gold, and shalt cast them away as the uncleanness of a menstruous woman. Thou shalt say to it: Get thee hence. | Garment. Hebrew, "ephod," belonging to the idol, or its priests. Ezechias had prohibited idolatry at first. After his deliverance he was still more zealous, and even those who had formerly retained an affection for idols, saw their vanity, and became sincere. |
| Isaiah 30:23 | And rain shall be given to thy seed, wheresoever thou shalt sow in the land: and the bread of the corn of the land shall be most plentiful, and fat. The lamb in that day shall feed at large in thy possession: | |
| Isaiah 30:24 | And thy oxen, and the ass-colts that till the ground, shall eat mingled provender, as it was winnowed in the floor. | Floor. They shall not have straw only, but wheat, etc., to denote abundance. |
| Isaiah 30:25 | And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every elevated hill, rivers of running waters in the day of the slaughter of many, when the towers shall fall. | Towers, or chief officers of Sennacherib. All shall be luxuriant. |
| Isaiah 30:26 | And the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when the Lord shall bind up the wound of his people, and shall heal the stroke of their wound. | Sevenfold. Exceedingly great, equal to the light of 49 days. (Calmet) --- The fame of Ezechias spread widely. His kingdom was a figure of that of Christ, when this was more perfectly realized, the preaching of the gospel having dispelled the darkness of error. (Calmet) --- He alludes to the day of judgment. (St. Jerome) (Menochius) |
| Isaiah 30:27 | Behold the name of the Lord cometh from afar, his wrath burneth and is heavy to bear: his lips are filled with indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire. | Name. Majesty of God, (Calmet) in the future ages. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 30:28 | His breath as a torrent overflowing even to the midst of the neck, to destroy the nations unto nothing, and the bridle of error that was in the jaws of the people. | Error. The unjust government of Sennacherib, who endeavoured to engage all in idolatry. |
| Isaiah 30:29 | You shall have a song as in the night of the sanctified solemnity, and joy of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe, to come into the mountain of the Lord, to the mighty One of Israel. | Night. When the festivals commenced. (Calmet) --- He may particularly mean that night, when the destroying angel slew the Egyptians. (Vatable) --- Pipe. Music. (Haydock) --- This was not prescribed. |
| Isaiah 30:30 | And the Lord shall make the glory of his voice to be heard, and shall shew the terror of his arm, in the threatening of wrath, and the flame of devouring fire: he shall crush to pieces with whirlwind, and hailstones. | Stones. The Angel raised the storm, which destroyed many, while the rest in a panic fell upon one another, Isaias 9:5., and 37:36. |
| Isaiah 30:31 | For at the voice of the Lord the Assyrian shall fear being struck with the rod. | Rod. Sennacherib is terrified, who a few days before insulted the living God. |
| Isaiah 30:32 | And the passage of the rod shall be strongly grounded, which the Lord shall make to rest upon him with timbrels and harps, and in great battles he shall overthrow them. | Harps. The sound of thunder will fill the people of Ezechias with joy, while the enemy shall perish irrecoverably. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 30:33 | For Topheth is prepared from yesterday, prepared by the king, deep, and wide. The nourishment thereof is fire and much wood: the breath of the Lord as a torrent of brimstone kindling it. | Topheth. 'Tis the same as Gehenna, and is taken for hell. (Challoner) --- The Assyrians perish amid horrid cries (Haydock) and thunders, which resembled the noise made by drums, and by children who were burning in the arms of Moloc, 4 Kings 18:4., and 23:10., and 2 Paralipomenon 29:16. Some think that the carcasses of the Assyrians were to be burnt in this common sewer of Jerusalem. But they were too far distant, Isaias 37:33. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 31:0 | The folly of trusting to Egypt, and forgetting God. He will fight for his people against the Assyrians. | |
| Isaiah 31:1 | Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help, trusting in horses, and putting their confidence in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; and have not trusted in the holy One of Israel, and have not sought after the Lord. | Chariots. He continues to inveigh against this practice, Isaias 30:16. (Calmet) --- Salmanasar will ruin the ten tribes. (Menochius) |
| Isaiah 31:2 | But he that is the wise one hath brought evil, and hath not removed his words: and he will rise up against the house of the wicked, and against the aid of them that work iniquity. | Words. The Lord will punish the wicked Jews, (Calmet) after the Egyptians. (Josephus, [Jewish Antiquities?] 10:1.) --- The former would not believe the prophets. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 31:3 | Egypt is man, and not God: and their horses, flesh, and not spirit: and the Lord shall put down his hand, and the helper shall fall, and he that is helped shall fall, and they shall all be confounded together. | Hand. If God neglect to support empires, they fall of themselves. |
| Isaiah 31:4 | For thus saith the Lord to me: Like as the lion roareth, and the lion's whelp upon his prey, and when a multitude of shepherds shall come against him, he will not fear at their voice, nor be afraid of their multitude: so shall the Lord of hosts come down to fight upon Mount Sion, and upon the hill thereof. | Thereof. He will thence hurl destruction on the distant enemy. (Calmet) --- He had destroyed Sennacherib's army, 4 Kings xix. Yet they forgot this and other proofs of God's power and love. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 31:5 | As birds flying, so will the Lord of hosts protect Jerusalem, protecting and delivering, passing over and saving. | Over. He will protect Jerusalem, notwithstanding the menaces of Sennacherib, as he did his people from the destroying angel. |
| Isaiah 31:6 | Return as you had deeply revolted, O children of Israel. | Revolted. Let your conversion bear proportion (Calmet) with your sins. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 31:7 | For in that day a man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which your hands have made for you to sin. | Idols. Their worship was afterwards more severely prohibited, Isaias 30:21. |
| Isaiah 31:8 | *And the Assyrian shall fall by the sword, not of a man; and the sword, not of a man, shall devour him; and he shall flee not at the face of the sword: and his young men shall be tributaries: Isaias 27:36.; 4 Kings 19:35.; 2 Paralipomenon 32:21. | Flee not. Hebrew, "flee to himself," lo. Septuagint and Vulgate have read la, "not." The angel destroyed the army, and the king was slain at his return. --- Tributaries. Ninive being afterwards subject to the Chaldeans, etc. (Calmet) --- Hebrew, "shall melt." (Vatable) |
| Isaiah 31:9 | And his strength shall pass away with dread, and his princes fleeing shall be afraid: the Lord hath said it, whose fire is in Sion, and his furnace in Jerusalem. | Strength. Hebrew, "rock," the king. --- Jerusalem, to protect it, (Calmet) and punish the guilty. (Chaldean) |
| Isaiah 32:0 | The blessings of the reign of Christ. The desolation of the Jews, and prosperity of the Church of Christ. | |
| Isaiah 32:1 | Behold, a king shall reign in justice, and princes shall rule in judgment. | King. Ezechias or Josias, as figures of Jesus Christ, who is meant. (Calmet) --- They and their counsellors only foreshewed the advantages derived from Christ and his apostles in a more abundant manner. (St. Jerome) --- Judgment and justice. These words have a higher meaning than what is assigned to them by philosophers. In God, the former implies the preparation of the means for man's redemption, as the latter does the execution; and in man, judgment denotes the selection of what is right, and justice implies the putting it willingly in practice. Thus Christ will fulfill all that he has graciously purposed, with the two other divine persons; and the princes, his pastors, shall discern what is good for their own and people's eternal welfare. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 32:2 | And a man shall be as when one is hid from the wind, and hideth himself from a storm, as rivers of waters in drought, and the shadow of a rock that standeth out in a desert land. | Land. Ezechias and Josias were both a defence to their subjects. |
| Isaiah 32:3 | The eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken diligently. | Dim. True prophets shall speak, while false ones shall be silent. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 32:4 | And the heart of fools shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of stammerers shall speak readily and plain. | Plain. Some parts of the prediction relate literally to the Old Testament. But this alludes to the New, when the mysteries of religion are clearly confessed in the Catholic Church. (Worthington) --- Even the most illiterate are guided with security, if they will but hear the Church. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 32:5 | The fool shall no more be called prince: neither shall the deceitful be called great: | Deceitful. Hebrew, "miser be called liberal," Luke 22:25. These good princes are contrasted with Achaz, who had oppressed his subjects. |
| Isaiah 32:6 | For the fool will speak foolish things, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and speak to the Lord deceitfully, and to make empty the soul of the hungry, and take away the drink from the thirsty. | |
| Isaiah 32:7 | The vessels of the deceitful are most wicked: for he hath framed devices to destroy the meek, with lying words, when the poor man speaketh judgment. | Vessels. Arms, (Calmet) or all the words and actions of the miser are bent on evil. (Haydock) --- The ministers of wicked princes resemble them. (Menochius) |
| Isaiah 32:8 | But the prince will devise such things as are worthy of a prince, and he shall stand above the rulers. | |
| Isaiah 32:9 | Rise up, ye rich women, and hear my voice: ye confident daughters, give ear to my speech, | Women. Great cities. He announces the impending dangers. |
| Isaiah 32:10 | For after days and a year, you that are confident shall be troubled: for the vintage is at an end, the gathering shall come no more. | Year. After a long time; or the prophet speaks two years before the arrival of Sennacherib, after the vintage was ended, Isaias 30:20., and 4 Kings 19:29. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 32:11 | Be astonished, ye rich women, be troubled, ye confident ones: strip you, and be confounded, gird your loins. | |
| Isaiah 32:12 | Mourn for your breasts, for the delightful country, for the fruitful vineyard. | Mourn. Septuagint, "beat." (Haydock) --- Breasts, suckling infants. In mourning, women beat and uncovered their breasts, which, on any other occasion, would have been deemed very indecent. (Calmet) (Ezechiel 23:34.) (Herodotus 2:84.) |
| Isaiah 32:13 | Upon the land of my people shall thorns and briers come up: how much more upon all the houses of joy, of the city that rejoiced? | Up. Being uncultivated for two years. This was still more the case during the captivity. (Calmet) --- How. Septuagint, "from every house joy shall be taken away, thou rich city." (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 32:14 | For the house is forsaken, the multitude of the city is left, darkness and obscurity are come upon its dens for ever. A joy of wild asses, the pastures of flocks. | Ever. Some palaces had been demolished by Sennacherib, though this seems to refer to the Babylonian captivity. |
| Isaiah 32:15 | Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high: and the desert shall be as a charmel, and charmel shall be counted for a forest. | High, as Ezechiel (xxxvii. 10.) saw the dry bones rise again. Under this idea prosperity is frequently described. The rest of the chapter may very well be explained of the propagation of the gospel. --- Forest. Carmel was a fertile spot. Judea shall flourish, and Assyria shall be laid waste. The synagogue will be rejected, while the Gentiles, (Calmet) formerly so barren, shall embrace the faith and true piety. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 32:16 | And judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and justice shall sit in charmel. | |
| Isaiah 32:17 | And the work of justice shall be peace, and the service of justice quietness, and security for ever. | Peace. The just shall enjoy peace, under Ezechias. |
| Isaiah 32:18 | And my people shall sit in the beauty of peace, and in the tabernacles of confidence, and in wealthy rest. | |
| Isaiah 32:19 | But hail shall be in the descent of the forest, and the city shall be made very low. | Hail. God's judgment shall overtake Babylon, or rather Ninive. |
| Isaiah 32:20 | Blessed are ye that sow upon all waters, sending thither the foot of the ox and the ass. | Waters. Fruitful soils, abounding with cattle. (Calmet) --- Both Jews and Gentiles shall submit to Christ. (Clement of Alexandria, Strom. vi.) (St. Jerome) |
| Isaiah 33:0 | God's revenge against the enemies of his Church. The happiness of the heavenly Jerusalem. | |
| Isaiah 33:1 | Woe to thee that spoilest, shalt not thou thyself also be spoiled? and thou that despisest, shalt not thyself also be despised? when thou shalt have made an end of spoiling, thou shalt be spoiled: when being wearied, thou shalt cease to despise, thou shalt be despised. | Spoilest. This is particularly directed to Sennacherib. (Challoner) --- He was a figure of persecutors of the Church, to which many passages here allude. (Calmet) --- Remota justitia quid sunt regna nisi magna latrocinia? (St. Augustine, City of God 4:4.) --- Sennacherib plundered Samaria and Juda, and despising God, was himself contemned. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 33:2 | O Lord, have mercy on us: for we have waited for thee: be thou our arm in the morning, and our salvation in the time of trouble. | Morning. Speedily. Hebrew, "mornings," or every day. Ezechias thus addresses God. |
| Isaiah 33:3 | At the voice of the angel the people fled, and at the lifting up thyself the nations are scattered. | |
| Isaiah 33:4 | And your spoils shall be gathered together as the locusts is gathered, as when the ditches are full of them. | Them. The neglect of burying these insects has often brought on the plague. (St. Augustine, City of God 3:31.) |
| Isaiah 33:5 | The Lord is magnified, for he hath dwelt on high: he hath filled Sion with judgment and justice. | |
| Isaiah 33:6 | And there shall be faith in thy times: riches of salvation, wisdom and knowledge: the fear of the Lord is his treasure. | Faith. Sincerity and justice adorn the reigns of Ezechias and Christ. |
| Isaiah 33:7 | Behold, they that see shall cry without: the angels of peace shall weep bitterly. | Without. The people of the country, and the envoys of Ezechias, 4 Kings 18:14. Hebrew, "Behold their Ariel, cried they without," insultingly, (Calmet) pointing at Jerusalem, Isaias 29:1. At which (Haydock) the envoys rent their garments, etc., Isaias 36:22. (Calmet) --- "Behold I shall appear to them." (Aquila) (St. Jerome) --- Angels. Messengers or deputies sent to negotiate a peace, (Challoner) who wept because they could not obtain it. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 33:8 | The ways are made desolate; no one passeth by the road; the covenant is made void; he hath rejected the cities; he hath not regarded the men. | Void, though Sennacherib had received what he demanded, 4 Kings 18:14. |
| Isaiah 33:9 | The land hath mourned, and languished: Libanus is confounded, and become foul, and Saron is become as a desert: and Basan and Carmel are shaken. | Confounded. Its trees were cut down, Isaias 37:24. |
| Isaiah 33:10 | Now will I rise up, saith the Lord: now will I be exalted, now will I lift up myself. | Myself, when all human aid fails. |
| Isaiah 33:11 | You shall conceive heat, you shall bring forth stubble: your breath, as fire, shall devour you. | You, Assyrians, are bringing destruction upon yourselves. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 33:12 | And the people shall be as ashes after a fire; as a bundle of thorns, they shall be burnt with fire. | |
| Isaiah 33:13 | Hear, you that are far off, what I have done; and you that are near, know my strength. | |
| Isaiah 33:14 | The sinners in Sion are afraid; trembling hath seized upon the hypocrites. Which of you can dwell with devouring fire? which of you shall dwell with everlasting burnings? | Of you. Hebrew, "of us." (Haydock) --- They are seriously alarmed at the sight of the fires prepared to burn the dead bodies of the Assyrians, (chap. 30:33.) and begin to think of hell, (Calmet) which their sins deserve. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 33:15 | *He that walketh in justices, and speaketh truth, that casteth away avarice by oppression, and shaketh his hands from all bribes, that stoppeth his ears lest he hear blood, and shutteth his eyes that he may see no evil, Psalm 14:2. | Blood. Avoiding revenge, and punishing the guilty, without respect to persons. Such was Ezechias, and therefore his enemies could not hurt him. |
| Isaiah 33:16 | He shall dwell on high, the fortifications of rocks shall be his highness: bread is given him, his waters are sure. | Sure. Never failing. (Calmet) --- This was a great advantage in those dry regions. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 33:17 | His eyes shall see the king in his beauty, they shall see the land far off. | King Ezechias, or he shall be one of his courtiers. --- Off. Their limits shall be extended. Those who believe in Christ, shall cast their eyes up towards their heavenly country, Hebrews 9:13. |
| Isaiah 33:18 | Thy heart shall meditate fear: *where is the learned? where is he that pondereth the words of the law? where is the teacher of little ones? 1 Corinthians 1:20. | Ones. These questions were put by the people, when the enemy approached; or they now rejoice that their severe masters were gone. |
| Isaiah 33:19 | The shameless people thou shalt not see, the people of profound speech: so that thou canst not understand the eloquence of his tongue, in whom there is no wisdom. | Shameless, unjust Assyrians, Luke 18:2. When shame is gone, people give way to every excess. --- Profound. Unknown to the Jews, 4 Kings 18:26. --- No wisdom, manners, or piety. |
| Isaiah 33:20 | Look upon Sion, the city of our solemnity: thy eyes shall see Jerusalem, a rich habitation, a tabernacle that cannot be removed: neither shall the nails thereof be taken away for ever, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken: | Broken. It was taken 125 years afterwards. The Church remains till the end of time, (Calmet) whereas both the prophets and history assure us, that Jerusalem was subject to destruction. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 33:21 | Because only there our Lord is magnificent: a place of rivers, very broad and spacious streams: no ship, with oars, shall pass by it, neither shall the great galley pass through it. | Of rivers. He speaks of the rivers of endless joys that flow from the throne of God to water the heavenly Jerusalem, where no enemy's ship can come, etc. (Challoner) --- God keeps all enemies from Jerusalem, like a deep river. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 33:22 | For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king: he will save us. | |
| Isaiah 33:23 | Thy tacklings are loosed, and they shall be of no strength: thy mast shall be in such condition, that thou shalt not be able to spread the flag. Then shall the spoils of much prey be divided: the lame shall take the spoil. | Thy tacklings. He speaks of the enemies of the Church, under the allegory of a ship that is disabled. (Challoner) --- Sennacherib shall attempt invasion no more than a ship without masts would put to sea. |
| Isaiah 33:24 | Neither shall he that is near, say: I am feeble. The people that dwell therein, shall have their iniquity taken away from them. | Feeble. All were obliged to collect the plunder, to be afterwards divided. None shall plead illness. The inhabitants of Jerusalem will not feel the effects of sin (Calmet) on this occasion. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 34:0 | The general judgment of the wicked. | |
| Isaiah 34:1 | Come near, ye Gentiles, and hear, and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein, the world, and every thing that cometh forth of it. | Come. Both Gentiles and Jews are admonished of the world's end before judgment. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 34:2 | For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath killed them, and delivered them to slaughter. | |
| Isaiah 34:3 | Their slain shall be cast forth, and out of their carcasses shall rise a stink: the mountains shall be melted with their blood. | |
| Isaiah 34:4 | And all the host of the heavens shall pine away, and the heavens shall be folded together as a book: and all their host shall fall down as the leaf falleth from the vine, and from the fig-tree. | Away. These strong expressions denote great misery, Isaias 13., and Joel 2:10., and Ezechiel 32:27. (Calmet) --- Book. Hebrew, "roll." (Haydock) --- Some thence foolishly inferred that the destiny of every one might be read in the heavens. (Huet.; Eusebius, praep. 6:11.; Philoo. xxiii.; Pic. Astrol. 8:5.) --- The prophet only means that the heavens shall be devoid of beauty, (Calmet) and covered with darkness. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 34:5 | For my sword is inebriated in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my slaughter unto judgment. | Heaven. Casting down the rebel angels. (St. Jerome) --- The resolution to destroy the Idumeans, for their cruelty to the Jews, has been taken long ago. All these expressions allude to the last judgment. (Calmet) --- Idumea. Under the name of Idumea or Edom, a people that were enemies of the Jews, are here understood the wicked in general, the enemies of God and his Church. (Challoner) --- Assaradon fell upon Edom two years after Sennacherib's death. (Calmet) --- No strong place like Bosra, shall rescue any from destruction at the last day. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 34:6 | The sword of the Lord is filled with blood; it is made thick with the blood of lambs and buck-goats, with the blood of rams full of marrow: for there is a victim of the Lord in Bosra, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom. | |
| Isaiah 34:7 | And the unicorns shall go down with them, and the bulls with the mighty: their land shall be soaked with blood, and their ground with the fat of fat ones. | The unicorns. That is, the great and mighty. (Challoner) |
| Isaiah 34:8 | For it is the day of the vengeance of the Lord, the year of recompenses of the judgment of Sion. | Recompenses. When the persecutors of Sion, that is, of the Church, shall receive their reward. (Challoner) --- The Idumeans had frequently shown their ill-will towards the Jews, 2 Paralipomenon 28:17., and Amos 1:11. (Calmet) --- Sion shall perish as the wicked in hell shall be tormented. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 34:9 | And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the ground thereof into brimstone: and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. | Pitch. The soil was sulphureous, and became neglected, (ver. 10.) like the territory of Sodom. The people are now no more, and only a few miserable Arabs pitch their tents there. |
| Isaiah 34:10 | Night and day it shall not be quenched; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste, none shall pass through it for ever and ever. | |
| Isaiah 34:11 | The bittern and ericius shall possess it: and the ibis and the raven shall dwell in it: and a line shall be stretched out upon it, to bring it to nothing, and a plummet, unto desolation. | Line. Intimating entire destruction, Lamentations 2:8., and 4 Kings 11:13. (Calmet) --- Yet God will not punish more than people deserve. (Menochius) |
| Isaiah 34:12 | The nobles thereof shall not be there: they shall call rather upon the king, and all the princes thereof shall be nothing. | |
| Isaiah 34:13 | And thorns and nettles shall grow up in its houses, and the thistle in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be the habitation of dragons, and the pasture of ostriches. | Dragons, Thannim, Isaias 13:22. (Haydock) --- Ostriches, or swans. |
| Isaiah 34:14 | And demons and monsters shall meet, and the hairy ones shall cry out one to another, there hath the lamia lain down, and found rest for herself. | Monsters. Literally, "Ass-centaurs." (Haydock) --- Hebrew, "fishermen shall find islands," Isaias 13:21. --- Ones. Goats. --- Lamia. Hebrew lilith. Chaldean, "owl," the bird of Minerva, or the Moon, which the Arabs style Alilat. (Calmet) --- Dicodorus (20) relates that Lamia was an African queen, who having last her children, was changed into a beast, and destroyed all the children she could catch; and the Jews deal still more in fables, (Calmet0 asserting that Lilith was the first wife of Adam, etc. (Buxtorf. Syn. 2.) |
| Isaiah 34:15 | There hath the ericius had its hole, and brought up its young ones, and hath dug round about, and cherished them in the shadow thereof: thither are the kites gathered together one to another. | Ericius. Hebrew, "kippoz, (Haydock) hath its nest." It may denote the serpent, acontias. (Bochart) --- All this shews the desolation of the country. |
| Isaiah 34:16 | Search ye diligently in the book of the Lord, and read: not one of them was wanting, one hath not sought for the other: for that which proceedeth out of my mouth, he hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them. | Read what I have written. --- The other. All these beasts will be there, (Calmet) or all these declarations will be verified. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 34:17 | And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it to them by line: they shall possess it for ever; from generation to generation they shall dwell therein. | |
| Isaiah 35:0 | The joyful flourishing of Christ's kingdom: in his Church shall be a holy and secure way. | |
| Isaiah 35:1 | The land that was desolate and impassable, shall be glad, and the wilderness shall rejoice, and shall flourish like the lily. | Lily. Judea flourishes under Ezechias: but the Church does more so after the coming of Christ, to whom these expressions conduct us. (Calmet) --- The Gentiles shall be converted and flourish, as this text shews. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 35:2 | It shall bud forth and blossom, and shall rejoice with joy and praise: the glory of Libanus is given to it: the beauty of Carmel, and Saron, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the beauty of our God. | Joy. The primitive Christians rejoiced in a good conscience, and in suffering for the truth. |
| Isaiah 35:3 | Strengthen ye the feeble hands, and confirm the weak knees. | Knees. Ye prophets, comfort the people with these promises. (Calmet) --- The apostles taught the Gentiles to do good. (Menochius) |
| Isaiah 35:4 | Say to the faint-hearted: Take courage, and fear not: behold, your God will bring the revenge of recompense: God himself will come and will save you. | Recompense. Christ will satisfy the justice of his Father. (Haydock) --- He will redeem the world, and refute the false interpretations of the Bible. (Calmet) --- He will bring the devil into subjection. (Menochius) |
| Isaiah 35:5 | Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. | |
| Isaiah 35:6 | Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall be free: for waters are broken out in the desert, and streams in the wilderness. | Free. Our Saviour healed both soul and body, (Calmet) shewing by his works (John x.; Worthington) that he had fulfilled this prediction, Luke 7:22., and Matthew 11:5. --- Waters. Baptism has sanctified the most wicked. |
| Isaiah 35:7 | And that which was dry land, shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water. In the dens, where dragons dwelt before, shall rise up the verdure of the reed and the bulrush. | Dragons. Sea monsters, Isaias 34:13. (Calmet) --- All shall be in proper order, neither too dry nor too wet. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 35:8 | And a path and a way shall be there, and it shall be called the holy way: the unclean shall not pass over it, and this shall be unto you a straight way, so that fools shall not err therein. | Way, leading to Jerusalem. Idolaters, etc., shall not be there, Isaias 52:1. This was only verified (Calmet) in the Catholic Church, where, though some wicked may be found, the truth still prevails; and holiness can be obtained no where else. (Haydock) --- This Church is unspotted, Ephesians 5:27. (Calmet) --- Fools. The most simple may learn what is necessary for salvation, (Menochius) which will never be done by consulting Scripture alone. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 35:9 | No lion shall be there, nor shall any mischievous beast go up by it, nor be found there: but they shall walk there that shall be delivered. | Lion. The devil's power shall be repressed, so that none will be deluded except by their own fault. (Menochius) |
| Isaiah 35:10 | And the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and shall come into Sion with praise, and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and mourning shall flee away. | Sion. Before the defeat of Sennacherib, the roads were unsafe, Isaias 38:8. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 36:0 | Sennacherib invades Juda: his blasphemies. | |
| Isaiah 36:1 | And it came to pass in the fourteenth year *of king Ezechias, that Sennacherib, king of the Assyrians, came up against all the fenced cities of Juda, and took them. Ecclesiasticus 48:20. | Year of the World 3291, Year before Christ 713.; 4 Kings 18:13.; 2 Paralipomenon xxxii. And. These four chapters are taken from 4 Kings xviii., etc., as a sort of explanation of what Isaias has been foretelling. (Calmet) --- An abridgment also occurs, 2 Paralipomenon xxxii. |
| Isaiah 36:2 | And the king of the Assyrians sent Rabsaces from Lachis to Jerusalem, to king Ezechias, with a great army, and he stood by the conduit of the upper pool, in the way of the fuller's field. | |
| Isaiah 36:3 | And there went out to him Eliacim, the son of Helcias, who was over the house, and Sobna, the scribe, and Joahe, the son of Asaph, the recorder. | |
| Isaiah 36:4 | And Rabsaces said to them: Tell Ezechias: Thus saith the great king, the king of the Assyrians: What is this confidence wherein thou trustest? | |
| Isaiah 36:5 | Or with what counsel or strength dost thou prepare for war? on whom dost thou trust, that thou art revolted from me? | |
| Isaiah 36:6 | Lo, thou trustest upon this broken staff of a reed, upon Egypt: upon which, if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharao, king of Egypt, to all that trust in him. | |
| Isaiah 36:7 | But if thou wilt answer me: We trust in the Lord our God: is it not he whose high places and altars Ezechias hath taken away, and hath said to Juda and Jerusalem: You shall worship before this altar? | Altar. Such is the blindness of infidels, that they confound what is done to destroy idols, with their worship. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 36:8 | And now deliver thyself up to my lord, the king of the Assyrians, and I will give thee two thousand horses, and thou wilt not be able, on thy part, to find riders for them. | |
| Isaiah 36:9 | And how wilt thou stand against the face of the judge of one place, of the least of my master's servants? But if thou trust in Egypt, in chariots and in horsemen: | |
| Isaiah 36:10 | And am I now come up without the Lord against this land to destroy it? The Lord said to me: Go up against this land, and destroy it. | |
| Isaiah 36:11 | And Eliacim, and Sobna, and Joahe, said to Rabsaces: Speak to thy servants in the Syrian tongue: for we understand it: Speak not to us in the Jews' language, in the hearing of the people, that are upon the wall. | |
| Isaiah 36:12 | And Rabsaces said to them: Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee, to speak all these words; and not rather to the men that sit on the wall; that they may eat their own dung, and drink their urine with you? | |
| Isaiah 36:13 | Then Rabsaces stood, and cried out with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and said: Hear the words of the great king, the king of the Assyrians. | |
| Isaiah 36:14 | Thus saith the king: Let not Ezechias deceive you, for he shall not be able to deliver you. | |
| Isaiah 36:15 | And let not Ezechias make you trust in the Lord, saying: The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be given into the hands of the king of the Assyrians. | |
| Isaiah 36:16 | Do not hearken to Ezechias: for thus said the king of the Assyrians: Do with me that which is for your advantage, and come out to me, and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig-tree, and drink ye every one the water of his cistern, | |
| Isaiah 36:17 | Till I come and take you away to a land, like to your own; a land of corn and of wine; a land of bread and vineyards. | |
| Isaiah 36:18 | Neither let Ezechias trouble you, saying: The Lord will deliver us. Have any of the gods of the nations delivered their land out of the hand of the king of the Assyrians? | |
| Isaiah 36:19 | Where is the god of Emath, and of Arphad? where is the god of Sepharvaim? have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? | |
| Isaiah 36:20 | Who is there among all the gods of these lands, that hath delivered his country out of my hand, that the Lord may deliver Jerusalem out of my hand? | |
| Isaiah 36:21 | *And they held their peace, and answered him not a word. For the king had commanded, saying: Answer him not. 4 Kings 18:36. | |
| Isaiah 36:22 | And Eliacim, the son of Helcias, that was over the house, and Sobna, the scribe, and Joahe, the son of Asaph, the recorder, went in to Ezechias, with their garments rent, and told him the words of Rabsaces. | |
| Isaiah 37:0 | Ezechias, his mourning and prayer. God's promise of protection. The Assyrian army is destoryed. Sennacherib is slain. | |
| Isaiah 37:1 | And *it came to pass, when king Ezechias had heard it, that he rent his garments and covered himself with sackcloth, and went in to the house of the Lord. 4 Kings 19:1.; | Year of the World 3294, Year before Christ 710. Sackcloth. Emblems of repentance. Sennacherib's boasting (ver. 13.) was chastised, ver. 36. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 37:2 | And he sent Eliacim, who was over the house, and Sobna, the scribe, and the ancients of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaias, the son of Amos, the prophet. | |
| Isaiah 37:3 | And they said to him: Thus saith Ezechias: This day is a day of tribulation, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth. | |
| Isaiah 37:4 | It may be the Lord thy God will hear the words of Rabsaces, whom the king of the Assyrians, his master, hath sent to blaspheme the living God, and to reproach with words which the Lord thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left. | |
| Isaiah 37:5 | And the servants of Ezechias came to Isaias. | |
| Isaiah 37:6 | And Isaias said to them: Thus shall you say to your master: Thus saith the Lord: Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of the Assyrians have blasphemed me. | |
| Isaiah 37:7 | Behold, I will send a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a message, and shall return to his own country, and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own country. | Spirit. Angel, or a different design, 2 Thessalonians 2:8. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 37:8 | And Rabsaces returned, and found the king of the Assyrians besieging Lobna. *For he had heard that he was departed from Lachis. 4 Kings 19:8. | |
| Isaiah 37:9 | And he heard say about Tharaca, the king of Ethiopia: He is come forth to fight against thee. And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Ezechias, saying: | |
| Isaiah 37:10 | Thus shall you speak to Ezechias, the king of Juda, saying: Let not thy God deceive thee, in whom thou trustest, saying: Jerusalem shall not be given into the hands of the king of the Assyrians. | |
| Isaiah 37:11 | Behold, thou hast heard all that the kings of the Assyrians have done to all countries which they have destroyed, and canst thou be delivered? | |
| Isaiah 37:12 | Have the gods of the nations delivered them whom my fathers have destroyed, Gozam, and Haram, and Reseph, and the children of Eden, that were in Thalassar? | |
| Isaiah 37:13 | Where is the king of Emath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Ana, and of Ava?* 4 Kings 18:34.; 4 Kings 19:23. | |
| Isaiah 37:14 | And Ezechias took the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it, and went up to the house of the Lord, and Ezechias spread it before the Lord. | |
| Isaiah 37:15 | And Ezechias prayed to the Lord, saying: | |
| Isaiah 37:16 | O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, who sittest upon the Cherubims, thou alone art the God of all the kingdoms of the earth, thou hast made heaven and earth. | |
| Isaiah 37:17 | Incline, O Lord, thy ear, and hear: open, O Lord, thy eyes, and see, and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he hath sent to blaspheme the living God. | |
| Isaiah 37:18 | For of a truth, O Lord, the kings of the Assyrians have laid waste lands, and their countries. | Lands. Hebrew, "all the lands and their land." The parallel text is more correct, "the nations and their land." (Kennicott) |
| Isaiah 37:19 | And they have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, but the works of men's hands, of wood and stone: and they broke them in pieces. | |
| Isaiah 37:20 | And now, O Lord, our God, save us out of his hand: and let all the kingdoms of the earth know, that thou only art the Lord. | |
| Isaiah 37:21 | And Isaias, the son of Amos, sent to Ezechias, saying: Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: For the prayer thou hast made to me concerning Sennacherib, the king of the Assyrians: | |
| Isaiah 37:22 | This is the word which the Lord hath spoken of him: The virgin, the daughter of Sion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn: the daughter of Jerusalem hath wagged the head after thee. | |
| Isaiah 37:23 | Whom hast thou reproached, and whom hast thou blasphemed, and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thy eyes on high? Against the holy One of Israel. | |
| Isaiah 37:24 | By the hand of thy servants thou hast reproached the Lord: and hast said: With the multitude of my chariots I have gone up to the height of the mountains, to the top of Libanus: and I will cut down its tall cedars, and its choice fir-trees, and will enter to the top of its height, to the forest of its Carmel. | Carmel. See 4 Kings xix. (Challoner) |
| Isaiah 37:25 | I have digged, and drunk water, and have dried up with the sole of my foot all the rivers shut up in banks. | Shut, etc. Hebrew matsor, (Haydock) "of Egypt," where Sennacherib had been. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 37:26 | Hast thou not heard what I have done to him of old? from the days of old I have formed it: and now I have brought it to effect: and it hath come to pass that hills fighting together, and fenced cities, should be destroyed. | |
| Isaiah 37:27 | The inhabitants of them were weak of hand, they trembled, and were confounded: they became like the grass of the field, and the herb of the pasture, and like the grass of the house-tops, which withered before it was ripe. | |
| Isaiah 37:28 | I know thy dwelling, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me. | |
| Isaiah 37:29 | When thou wast mad against me, thy pride came up to my ears: therefore I will put a ring in thy nose, and a bit between thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest. | Lips, and treat thee like some ungovernable beast. (Haydock) (Ezechiel 29:4., and 38:4.) (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 37:30 | But to thee this shall be a sign: Eat this year the things that spring of themselves, and in the second year eat fruits: but in the third year sow and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. | Thee. He directeth his speech to Ezechias. |
| Isaiah 37:31 | And that which shall be saved of the house of Juda, and which is left, shall take root downward, and shall bear fruit upward : | |
| Isaiah 37:32 | For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and salvation from Mount Sion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this. | |
| Isaiah 37:33 | Wherefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of the Assyrians: He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow into it, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a trench about it. | |
| Isaiah 37:34 | By the way that he came, he shall return, and into this city he shall not come, saith the Lord. | |
| Isaiah 37:35 | And I will protect this city, and will save it for my own sake, and for the sake of David, my servant. | Servant. Hence it plainly appears that God protects the living for the sake of the saints departed. To evade this proof, Protestants (Bible 1603) explain, "for God's promise sake made to David." But God never made any such promise to him; otherwise the city would never have been destroyed. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 37:36 | *And the angel of the Lord went out, and slew in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand. And they arose in the morning, and behold they were all dead corpses. Isaias 31:8.; 4 Kings 19:35.; Tobias 1:21.; Ecclesiasticus 48:24.; 1 Machabees 7:41.; 2 Machabees 8:19. | They. The people of Jerusalem, or rather the soldiers of Ezechias, who saw those who had been slain, near Pelusium. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 37:37 | And Sennacherib, the king of the Assyrians, went out and departed, and returned, and dwelt in Ninive. | |
| Isaiah 37:38 | And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the temple of Nesroch, his god, that Adramelech and Sarasar, his sons, slew him with the sword: and they fled into the land of Ararat, and Asarhaddon, his son, reigned in his stead. | |
| Isaiah 38:0 | Ezechias being advertised that he shall die, obtains by prayer a prolongation of his life: in confirmation of which the sun goes back. The canticle of Ezechias. | |
| Isaiah 38:1 | In *those days Ezechias was sick, even to death, and Isaias, the son of Amos, the prophet, came unto him, and said to him: Thus saith the Lord: Take order with thy house, for thou shalt die, and not live. 2 Paralipomenon 32:24. | Year of the World 3291, Year before Christ 713.; 4 Kings xx. |
| Isaiah 38:2 | And Ezechias turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the Lord, | |
| Isaiah 38:3 | And said: I beseech thee, O Lord, remember how I have walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Ezechias wept with great weeping. | |
| Isaiah 38:4 | And the word of the Lord came to Isaias, saying: | |
| Isaiah 38:5 | Go and say to Ezechias: Thus saith the Lord, the God of David, thy father: I have heard thy prayer, and I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add to thy days fifteen years: | |
| Isaiah 38:6 | And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of the Assyrians, and I will protect it. | |
| Isaiah 38:7 | And this shall be a sign to thee from the Lord, that the Lord will do this word which he hath spoken: | |
| Isaiah 38:8 | *Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the lines, by which it is now gone down in the sun-dial of Achaz, with the sun, ten lines backward. And the sun returned ten lines by the degrees by which it was gone down. Ecclesiasticus 48:26. | |
| Isaiah 38:9 | The writing of Ezechias, king of Juda, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness. | Ezechias. Sanchez groundlessly thinks it was composed by Isaias. (Calmet) --- Ezechias was afflicted lest he should give way to dangerous joy. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 38:10 | I said: In the midst of my days I shall go to the gates of hell: I sought for the residue of my years. | Hell. Sheol, or Hades, the region of the dead. (Challoner) --- He was afraid to die without issue. (St. Jerome; ver. 12.) --- Manasses was born three years later. (Calmet) --- The king would naturally have died. (St. Augustine, de Gen. ad lit. 6:17.) (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 38:11 | I said: I shall not see the Lord God in the land of the living. I shall behold man no more, nor the inhabitant of rest. | Living. I shall not assist at the festivals of the Lord in the temple. |
| Isaiah 38:12 | My generation is at an end, and it is rolled away from me, as a shepherd's tent. My life is cut off, as by a weaver: whilst I was yet but beginning, he cut me off: from morning even to night thou wilt make an end of me. | |
| Isaiah 38:13 | I hoped till morning; as a lion so hath he broken all my bones: from morning even to night thou wilt make an end of me. | |
| Isaiah 38:14 | I will cry like a young swallow; I will meditate like a dove: my eyes are weakened looking upward: Lord, I suffer violence, answer thou for me. | For me. He represents his disease, as an inexorable creditor. |
| Isaiah 38:15 | What shall I say, or what shall he answer for me, whereas he himself hath done it? I will recount to thee all my years in the bitterness of my soul. | |
| Isaiah 38:16 | O Lord, if man's life be such, and the life of my spirit be in such things as these, thou shalt correct me, and make me to live. | |
| Isaiah 38:17 | Behold in peace is my bitterness most bitter: but thou hast delivered my soul that it should not perish; thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. | |
| Isaiah 38:18 | For hell shall not confess to thee, neither shall death praise thee: nor shall they that go down into the pit, look for thy truth. | Truth. He speaks only of the body. |
| Isaiah 38:19 | The living, the living, he shall give praise to thee, as I do this day: the father shall make thy truth known to the children. | |
| Isaiah 38:20 | O Lord, save me, and we will sing our psalms all the days of our life in the house of the Lord. | |
| Isaiah 38:21 | Now Isaias had ordered that they should take a lump of figs, and lay it as a plaster upon the wound, and that he should be healed. | |
| Isaiah 38:22 | And Ezechias had said: What shall be the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord? | Lord. The answer is given, (4 Kings 20:9.) which seems to evince that this is only an extract. (Calmet) --- The prophet prescribed the medicine, and the king asked for a sign before he sung the canticle. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 39:0 | Ezechias shews all his treasures to the ambassadors of Babylon; upon which Isaias foretells the Babylonian captivity. | |
| Isaiah 39:1 | At *that time Merodach Baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and presents to Ezechias: for he had heard that he had been sick, and was recovered. 4 Kings 20:12. | And. Septuagint add, "ambassadors and presents." See 4 Kings 20:12. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 39:2 | And Ezechias rejoiced at their coming, and he shewed them the storehouses of his aromatical spices, and of the silver, and of the gold, and of the sweet odours, and of the precious ointment, and all the storehouses of his furniture, and all things that were found in his treasures. There was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion that Ezechias shewed them not. | |
| Isaiah 39:3 | Then Isaias, the prophet, came to king Ezechias, and said to him: What said these men, and from whence came they to thee? And Ezechias said: From a far country they came to me, from Babylon. | |
| Isaiah 39:4 | And he said: What saw they in thy house? And Ezechias said: All things that are in my house have they seen; there was not any thing which I have not shewn them in my treasures. | |
| Isaiah 39:5 | And Isaias said to Ezechias: Hear the word of the Lord of hosts. | |
| Isaiah 39:6 | Behold the days shall come, that all that is in thy house, and that thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried away into Babylon: there shall not any thing be left, saith the Lord. | |
| Isaiah 39:7 | And of thy children, that shall issue from thee, whom thou shalt beget, they shall take away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. | |
| Isaiah 39:8 | And Ezechias said to Isaias: The word of the Lord, which he hath spoken, is good. And he said: Only let peace and truth be in my days. | Days. He is not unconcerned about his children, but dares not request more. Having given way to immoderate joy and vanity, he was informed that all his treasures should be taken away. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 40:0 | The prophet comforts the people with the promise of the coming of Christ to forgive their sins. God's almighty power and majesty. | |
| Isaiah 40:1 | Be comforted, be comforted, my people, saith your God. | Be. Septuagint, "comfort my people." Let them not be dejected. (Haydock) --- The end of the captivity, and still more the coming of the Messias, afford consolation, (Calmet) and to this the prophet chiefly alludes. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 40:2 | Speak ye to the heart of Jerusalem, and call to her: for her evil is come to an end, her iniquity is forgiven: *she hath received of the hand of the Lord double for all her sins. Apocalypse 18. | Evil. Hebrew and some Latin copies have, "warfare." --- Double. A rigorous chastisement, Apocalypse 18:6. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 40:3 | *The voice of one crying in the desert: Prepare ye the way of the Lord; make straight in the wilderness the paths of our God. Matthew 3:3.; Mark 1:3.; Luke 3:4.; John 1:23. | God, that he may conduct his people from Babylon. (Sanchez) --- Yet the prophet speaks chiefly of John the Baptist, (Matthew 3:3.; Calmet) who is evidently foretold. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 40:4 | Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough ways plain. | Plain. For the captives, or the conversion of the world, Baruch 5:6. |
| Isaiah 40:5 | And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh together shall see, that the mouth of the Lord hath spoken. | Glory. God will rescue his people. Christ will redeem mankind. |
| Isaiah 40:6 | The voice of one, saying: Cry. And I said: What shall I cry? *All flesh is grass, and all the glory thereof as the flower of the field. Ecclesiasticus 14:18.; James 1:10.; 1 Peter 1:24. | Field. On the downfall of the empire of Babylon, the Jews were liberated. |
| Isaiah 40:7 | The grass is withered, and the flower is fallen, because the spirit of the Lord hath blown upon it. Indeed, the people is grass: | |
| Isaiah 40:8 | The grass is withered, and the flower is fallen: but the word of our Lord endureth for ever. | |
| Isaiah 40:9 | Get thee up upon a high mountain, thou that bringest good tidings to Sion: lift up thy voice with strength, thou that bringest good tidings to Jerusalem: lift it up, fear not. Say to the cities of Juda: Behold your God: | Thou, female. How beautiful are the feet of those who announce good tidings! (Romans 10:15.) (Haydock) --- Thus a feminine noun is applied to Solomon, Ecclesiastes 1:Prophets make known to all the coming of the Saviour. (Calmet) --- Christ preaches from the mountain, and his apostles over the world. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 40:10 | Behold the Lord God shall come with strength, and his arm shall rule: behold his reward is with him, and his work is before him. | Him. Christ will reward and punish, Jeremias 31:16., and Luke 2:34. |
| Isaiah 40:11 | *He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather together the lambs with his arm, and shall take them up in his bosom, and he himself shall carry them that are with young. Ezechiel 34:23.; Ezechiel 37:24.; John 10:11. | Young, or have lately had young lambs, foetas. Jesus is the good shepherd, John 10:14. |
| Isaiah 40:12 | Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and weighed the heavens with his palm? who hath poised with three fingers the bulk of the earth, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? | Who. He now proceeds to shew the difference between God and idols. --- Fingers, is not expressed in Hebrew, which may denote the epha, Psalm 79:6. (Calmet) --- God's power and goodness in the works of the creation, shew what he will do for man. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 40:13 | *Who hath forwarded the spirit of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor, and hath taught him? Wisdom 9:13.; Romans 11:34. | |
| Isaiah 40:14 | With whom hath he consulted, and who hath instructed him, and taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and shewed him the way of understanding? | |
| Isaiah 40:15 | Behold the Gentiles are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the smallest grain of a balance: behold, the islands are as a little dust. | Dust. Hebrew caddak, (Haydock) "as dok fallen." (Symmachus) --- It may signify an atom. (St. Jerome) --- If all nations be only like a drop, what portion of it do I occupy? (Calmet; ver. 17.) |
| Isaiah 40:16 | And Libanus shall not be enough to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt-offering. | |
| Isaiah 40:17 | All nations are before him as if they had no being at all, and are counted to him as nothing, and vanity. | |
| Isaiah 40:18 | *To whom then have you likened God? or what image will you make for him? Acts 7:40. | Image. Catholics never pretend to represent the Deity, when they depict the Father as a venerable old man, etc. They do not adore pictures, as our adversaries would insinuate. If we were disposed to cavil, we might bring the same charge against them. For a few weeks ago, "a beautiful altar-piece, painted and presented by the lady of major general Cheney, was put in Hornsea church, representing Christ blessing the bread and wine." But Protestants can confine such things to their proper use, and Catholic must adore them. (Haydock) --- "Such things the Jew, Apella, may believe: not I." (Horace) |
| Isaiah 40:19 | Hath the workman cast a graven statue? or hath the goldsmith formed it with gold, or the silversmith with plates of silver? | Silver. Is God like these idols? (Haydock) --- Who knows not that the workman is better than they are? (Wisdom 13:11.) (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 40:20 | He hath chosen strong wood, and that will not rot: the skilful workman seeketh how he may set up an idol that may not be moved. | Wood. Hebrew hamsuccan, (Haydock) which Septuagint, Chaldean, and St. Jerome explain of a sort of wood used for idols. Moderns take it to be "a rich," or rather "a poor man. He who is mean in his offering, chooses wood that," etc. (Calmet) (Protestants) |
| Isaiah 40:21 | Do you not know? hath it not been heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have you not understood the foundations of the earth ? | Beginning, by the light of nature, and (Worthington) has not Moses declared that God alone created the world? (Haydock) --- His power and goodness herein convince us that he will not deny grace. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 40:22 | It is he that sitteth upon the globe of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as locusts: *he that stretcheth out the heavens as nothing, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in. Genesis 1:6.; Psalm 14:2. | Locusts, compared with the greatest animals. --- Nothing. Hebrew, "a curtain." Septuagint, Syriac, "vault, (Calmet) or chamber," kamaran. |
| Isaiah 40:23 | He that bringeth the searchers of secrets to nothing, that hath made the judges of the earth as vanity. | Searchers. Hebrew, "princes to nothing." (Protestants) --- Philosophers know nothing independently of God, nor can they subsist without him. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 40:24 | And surely their stock was neither planted, nor sown, nor rooted in the earth: suddenly he hath blown upon them, and they are withered, and a whirlwind shall take them away as stubble. | |
| Isaiah 40:25 | And to whom have ye likened me, or made me equal, saith the holy One? | |
| Isaiah 40:26 | Lift up your eyes on high, and see who hath created these things: who bringeth out their host by number, and calleth them all by their names: by the greatness of his might, and strength, and power, not one of them was missing. | Host of heaven, the stars, etc., Genesis 2:1., and Psalm 146:4. |
| Isaiah 40:27 | Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel: My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God? | Judgment, or conduct, (Genesis 40:13.; Calmet) as if God minded not our affairs. |
| Isaiah 40:28 | Knowest thou not, or hast thou not heard? the Lord is the everlasting God, who hath created the ends of the earth: he shall not faint, nor labour, neither is there any searching out of his wisdom. | |
| Isaiah 40:29 | It is he that giveth strength to the weary, and increaseth force and might to them that are not. | |
| Isaiah 40:30 | Youths shall faint, and labour, and young men shall fall by infirmity. | |
| Isaiah 40:31 | But they that hope in the Lord, shall renew their strength; *they shall take wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Psalm 10:5. | Eagles, who grow young, when they get new feathers, Psalm 102:5. (St. Jerome) --- In this and the following 26 chapters the prophet chiefly comforts his people, as he had rebuked them for their crimes in the first part. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 41:0 | The reign of the just one: the vanity of idols. | |
| Isaiah 41:1 | Let the islands keep silence before me, and the nations take new strength: let them come near, and then speak: let us come near to judgment together. | Islands, near Asia, whose conversion Isaias often predicts, (Calmet) as he does that of all nations. (Haydock) --- God continues to prove his divinity, (Calmet) expostulating with idolaters, whose conversion is insinuated, and among the rest that of Britain, which is the most renowned island in Europe. (Bristow, anot. 11.) (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 41:2 | Who hath raised up the just one from the east, hath called him to follow him? he shall give the nations in his sight, and he shall rule over kings: he shall give them as the dust to his sword, as stubble driven by the wind, to his bow. | Just one. Septuagint, "justice." Christ, (Eusebius; St. Jerome) Abraham, (Chaldean; Grotius) or Cyrus, whose conquests were effects of God's providence, ver. 10., and Isaias 45. --- Kings. Cyrus liberated Persia, conquered Babylon and all Asia. |
| Isaiah 41:3 | He shall pursue them, he shall pass in peace, no path shall appear after his feet. | Feet. His march and victories shall be so rapid, like those of Alexander the Great, Daniel 8:5. |
| Isaiah 41:4 | Who hath wrought and done these things, calling the generations from the beginning? *I, the Lord, I am the first and the last. Isaias 44:6.; Isaias 48:12.; Apocalypse 1:8.; Apocalypse 1:17.; Apocalypse 22:13. | Beginning. Disposing all things, as the conquests of Cyrus, announced so long before by name, evince. --- Last. Alpha and Omega, Apocalypse 1:8., and 22:13. |
| Isaiah 41:5 | The islands saw it, and feared, the ends of the earth were astonished, they drew near, and came. | Islands. People of Asia Minor, Genesis 10:5. (Calmet) --- The Babylonians made a league with the most potent king Croesus, to oppose the young conqueror. (Xenophon B. i.) |
| Isaiah 41:6 | Every one shall help his neighbour, and shall say to his brother: Be of good courage. | |
| Isaiah 41:7 | The coppersmith striking with the hammer encouraged him that forged at that time, saying: It is ready for soldering: and he strengthened it with nails, that it should not be moved. | Moved. Thus the nations conspire against Cyrus (Calmet) and the Messias. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 41:8 | But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, my friend. | |
| Isaiah 41:9 | In whom I have taken thee from the ends of the earth, and from the remote parts thereof have called thee, and said to thee: Thou art my servant, I have chosen thee, and have not cast thee away. | |
| Isaiah 41:10 | Fear not, for I am with thee: turn not aside, for I am thy God: I have strengthened thee, and have helped thee, and the right hand of my just One hath upheld thee. | Upheld thee. Cyrus shall gain the victory, and give thee liberty. |
| Isaiah 41:11 | Behold, all that fight against thee shall be confounded and ashamed, they shall be as nothing, and the men shall perish that strive against thee. | |
| Isaiah 41:12 | Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find, the men that resist thee: they shall be as nothing: and as a thing consumed the men that war against thee. | |
| Isaiah 41:13 | For I am the Lord thy God, who take thee by the hand, and say to thee: Fear not, I have helped thee. | |
| Isaiah 41:14 | Fear not, thou worm of Jacob, you that are dead of Israel: I have helped thee, saith the Lord: and thy Redeemer, the holy One of Israel. | Dead. Though you were in the grave, I could protect you. Captivity is often represented under this idea. (Calmet) --- You who are despised, fear not, since Christ will protect and reward you. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 41:15 | I have made thee as a new threshing wain, with teeth like a saw: thou shall thresh the mountains, and break them in pieces: and shalt make the hills as chaff. | Chaff. Cambyses perished on the mountains of Judea, (Haydock) and the Machabees gained many victories over the Syrians, Micheas 4:13., and Ezechiel xxxix. (Calmet) --- They are here meant, as their exploits resembled those of Cyrus. (Houbigant) |
| Isaiah 41:16 | Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, in the holy One of Israel, thou shalt be joyful. | |
| Isaiah 41:17 | The needy and the poor seek for waters, and there are none: their tongue hath been dry with thirst. I, the Lord, will hear them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. | |
| Isaiah 41:18 | I will open rivers in the high hills, and fountains in the midst of the plains: I will turn the desert into pools of waters, and the impassable land into streams of waters. | Waters. The captives shall be refreshed in the deserts, Isaias 35:6., and 43:20. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 41:19 | I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, and the thorn, and the myrtle, and the olive-tree: I will set in the desert the fir-tree, the elm, and the box-tree together: | The thorn. In Hebrew, the shitta or setim, a tree resembling the whitethorn. (Challoner) (St. Jerome) --- A fragrant shade shall speedily rise up, Baruch 5:6. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 41:20 | That they may see and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the holy One of Israel hath created it. | |
| Isaiah 41:21 | Bring your cause near, saith the Lord: bring hither, if you have any thing to allege, said the king of Jacob. | Thing. Add "strong," forte, (Haydock) any good proof of idolatry. |
| Isaiah 41:22 | Let them come, and tell us all things that are to come: tell us the former things, what they were: and we will set our heart upon them, and shall know the latter end of them, and tell us the things that are to come. | |
| Isaiah 41:23 | Shew the things that are to come hereafter, and we shall know that ye are gods. Do ye also good or evil, if you can: and let us speak, and see together. | Good. The prescience and power of God prove his divinity. Can idols produce any thing similar? (Calmet) --- None can tell what will happen, unless God reveal it. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 41:24 | Behold, you are of nothing, and your work of that which hath no being: he that hath chosen you is an abomination. | Work. All that you can do or promise. Hebrew, "your work is worse than a viper." |
| Isaiah 41:25 | I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come from the rising of the sun: he shall call upon my name, and he shall make princes to be as dirt, and as the potter treading clay. | Sun. Cyrus had a Persian for his father, and a Mede for his mother; thus uniting both nations, (Calmet) so that he was styled a mule by an ancient oracle. (Eusebius, praep. 9:41.) --- These countries lay to the north-east of Judea. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 41:26 | Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know: and from time of old, that we may say: Thou art just. There is none that sheweth, nor that foretelleth, nor that heareth your words. | Just, or "the just one," (Haydock) that we may recognise Cyrus at once. --- Your words. He addresses the idols. You cannot dive into futurity. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 41:27 | The first shall say to Sion: Behold, they are here, and to Jerusalem, I will give an evangelist. | |
| Isaiah 41:28 | And I saw, and there was no one even among them to consult, or who, when I asked, could answer a word. | 1:Isaias, (Menochius) or God, (Haydock) pronounces sentence against the speechless idols. (Menochius) |
| Isaiah 41:29 | Behold, they are all in the wrong, and their works are vain: their idols are wind and vanity. | |
| Isaiah 42:0 | The office of Christ. The preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles. The blindness and reprobation of the Jews. | |
| Isaiah 42:1 | Behold, *my servant, I will uphold him: my elect, my soul delighteth in him: I have given my spirit upon him, he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. Matthew 12:18. | My servant. Christ, who, according to his humanity, is the servant of God, (Challoner) and Redeemer of others; none else being able to satisfy for themselves. (Worthington) (Philippians 2:7.) (Calmet) --- This passage clearly refers to the Messias, (Chaldean; Kimchi) who was prefigured by Cyrus, ver. 6. (Calmet) (Hugo.) --- It is quoted by St. Matthew 12:18. who has some variations both from the Hebrew and the Septuagint, (Calmet) particularly the first part of ver. 4., which the Septuagint renders, "He shall shine, and shall not be broken." |
| Isaiah 42:2 | He shall not cry, nor have respect to person, neither shall his voice be heard abroad. | |
| Isaiah 42:3 | The bruised reed he shall not break, and smoking flax he shall not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. | |
| Isaiah 42:4 | He shall not be sad, nor troublesome, till he set judgment in the earth: and the islands shall wait for his law. | Islands. Septuagint and St. Matthew, "the Gentiles shall hope in his name." (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 42:5 | Thus saith the Lord God, that created the heavens, and stretched them out; that established the earth, and the things that spring out of it; that giveth breath to the people upon it, and spirit to them that tread thereon. | |
| Isaiah 42:6 | I, the Lord, have called thee in justice, and taken thee by the hand, and preserved thee. *And I have given thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles: Isaias 49:6. | Gentiles. This was literally verified in Christ. Cyrus is also styled the just, (chap. 41:26.) and gave liberty to many nations. |
| Isaiah 42:7 | That thou mightest open the eyes of the blind, and bring forth the prisoner out of prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house. | House. The Jews out of captivity, prefigured the redemption of mankind. These miracles proved that Jesus was the Messias, Luke 7:22. |
| Isaiah 42:8 | *I, the Lord, this is my name: I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to graven things. Isaias 48:11. | Things. They shall not partake of my divinity. Our Saviour was truly God, Philippians 2:6. |
| Isaiah 42:9 | The things that were first, behold they are come: and new things do I declare: before they spring forth, I will make you hear them. | Them. The completion of former predictions enforces the belief of those which are yet to come. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 42:10 | Sing ye to the Lord a new song, his praise is from the ends of the earth: you that go down to the sea, and all that are therein: ye islands, and ye inhabitants of them. | All. Literally, "its fullness," (Haydock) sailors, (Calmet) and fishes. (Haydock) --- He concludes with a canticle. |
| Isaiah 42:11 | Let the desert and the cities thereof be exalted: Cedar shall dwell in houses: ye inhabitants of Petra, give praise, they shall cry from the top of the mountains. | Cedar, or the Jews in exile in the desert Arabia, Psalm 119:5. (Calmet) --- The people dwell in tents. (Roger. 2:5.) --- Petra. A city that gives name to Arabia Petraea. (Challoner) |
| Isaiah 42:12 | They shall give glory to the Lord, and shall declare his praise in the islands. | |
| Isaiah 42:13 | The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man; as a man of war shall he stir up zeal: he shall shout and cry: he shall prevail against his enemies. | Enemies. The Chaldeans, (Calmet) by the hand of Cyrus. |
| Isaiah 42:14 | I have always held my peace, I have I kept silence, I have been patient, I will speak now as a woman in labour. I will destroy, and swallow up at once. | |
| Isaiah 42:15 | I will lay waste the mountains and hills, and will make all their grass to wither: and I will turn rivers into islands, and will dry up the standing pools. | Pools. Cyrus deluged the country about Babylon, Isaias 13.; Isaias 21:1. (Haydock) --- The proud and covetous, who expected Christ to give them kingdoms, were deceived. He came to teach humility, and to grant eternal rewards. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 42:16 | And I will lead the blind into the way which they know not: and in the paths which they were ignorant of I will make them walk: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight: these things have I done to them, and have not forsaken them. | Blind captives, or converts to Christianity. |
| Isaiah 42:17 | They are turned back: let them be greatly confounded, that trust in a graven thing, that say to a molten thing: You are our gods. | |
| Isaiah 42:18 | Hear, ye deaf, and, ye blind behold that you may see. | Deaf Jews, who would not listen to the prophets, ver. 19. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 42:19 | Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, but he to whom I have sent my messengers? Who is blind, but he that is sold? or who is blind but the servant of the Lord? | Sold. Hebrew Cimshullam, (Haydock) the perfect, or favoured. The Turks call "believers" Musselmans. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 42:20 | Thou that seest many things, wilt thou not observe them? thou that hast ears open, wilt thou not hear? | |
| Isaiah 42:21 | And the Lord was willing to sanctify him, and to magnify the law, and exalt it. | |
| Isaiah 42:22 | But this is a people that is robbed and wasted: they are all the snare of young men, and they are hid in the houses of prisons: they are made a prey, and there is none to deliver them: a spoil, and there is none that saith: Restore. | Men, whom they corrupt by their bad example. (Haydock) --- Hebrew, "their young men are in chains," during the last wars, and the captivity of Juda. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 42:23 | Who is there among you that will give ear to this, that will attend and hearken for times to come? | |
| Isaiah 42:24 | Who hath given Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to robbers? hath not the Lord himself, against whom we have sinned? And they would not walk in his ways, and they have not hearkened to his law. | We. Septuagint, "they have sinned," which seems preferable. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 42:25 | And he hath poured out upon him the indignation of his fury, and a strong battle, and hath burnt him round about, and he knew not: and set him on fire, and he understood not. | |
| Isaiah 43:0 | God comforts his Church, promising to protect her for ever: he expostulates with the Jews for their ingratitude. | |
| Isaiah 43:1 | And now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and formed thee, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed thee, and called thee by thy name: thou art mine. | And. Notwithstanding the sins of his people, God will deliver them, that they may be his witnesses, ver. 10. (Calmet) --- Name. As an intimate friend, (Haydock) or slave, Isaias 49:1. (Calmet) --- God grants grace without any preceding merit. (Worthington) --- Forerius explains this mostly of the Gentile church, though it regards the converted Jews. (Houbigant) |
| Isaiah 43:2 | When thou shalt pass through the waters, I will be with thee, and the rivers shall not cover thee: when thou shalt walk in the fire, thou shalt not be burnt, and the flames shall not burn in thee: | Waters. In every emergency, God will protect thee, (Calmet) as he did the three children. [Daniel iii.] (Haydock) --- He will suffer none to perish, without their own fault. Hence the Church still continues pure. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 43:3 | For I am the Lord thy God, the holy One of Israel, thy Saviour, I have given Egypt for thy atonement, Ethiopia, and Saba for thee. | Ethiopia. Hebrew, "Chus," the isle of Meroe, (Grotius) or the country bordering on the Red Sea, Isaias 45:14. These were given to indemnify Cyrus. They obtained their liberty to return home, after 40 years, Ezechiel 29:11. |
| Isaiah 43:4 | Since thou becamest honourable in my eyes, thou art glorious: I have loved thee, and I will give men for thee, and people for thy life. | Eyes, by a gratuitous choice. --- Men. Chaldeans, etc. |
| Isaiah 43:5 | Fear not, for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west. | East. Babylon. --- West. The islands beyond the Mediterranean. |
| Isaiah 43:6 | I will say to the north: Give up: and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from afar, and my daughters from the ends of the earth. | North. Assyria. --- South. Egypt. The captives returned from these countries under Cyrus, Alexander the Great, etc., so that before the coming of Christ, Judea was as well peopled as ever. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 43:7 | And every one that calleth upon my name, I have created him for my glory, I have formed him, and made him. | Calleth. Hebrew, "is called by my name." (Protestants) (Haydock) --- My people's chastisements and liberation prove my divine perfections. |
| Isaiah 43:8 | Bring forth the people that are blind, and have eyes: that are deaf, and have ears. | Ears. Yet will not hear, (Calmet) or who are miraculously healed. (Haydock) --- It seems rather to mean idolatrous nations, (ver. 9.; Calmet) or rebellious Jews. (Forerius) (Houbigant) |
| Isaiah 43:9 | All the nations are assembled together, and the tribes are gathered: who among you can declare this, and shall make us hear the former things? let them bring forth their witnesses, let them be justified, and hear, and say: It is truth. | Former. The pagans were little acquainted with antiquity. Such researches lead to the knowledge of the true religion. (Haydock) --- Truth, if they can produce any true prophecy. |
| Isaiah 43:10 | You are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: that you may know, and believe me and understand that I myself am. Before me there was no God formed, and after me there shall be none. | Witnesses. The history of the Israelites was sufficient to shew who was God. (Calmet) --- Thus the establishment of Christianity manifests its truth. (St. Augustine, City of God 22:6.) --- Septuagint add, "and I am witness." (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 43:11 | *I am, I am the Lord: and there is no Saviour besides me. Osee 13:4. | |
| Isaiah 43:12 | I have declared, and have saved: I have made it heard, and there was no strange one among you. You are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and I am God. | One idol, to announce what would happen. |
| Isaiah 43:13 | And from the beginning I am the same, and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall turn it away? | |
| Isaiah 43:14 | Thus saith the Lord, your Redeemer, the holy One of Israel: For your sake I sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their bars, and the Chaldeans glorying in their ships. | Bars. Septuagint, "fugitives." Theodotion, "strong ones." --- Glorying. Septuagint, "shall be bound in ships," to be sent beyond the Caspian Sea. (Calmet) --- Cyrus was victorious for the sake of God's people; for he will not neglect his Church. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 43:15 | I am the Lord, your holy One, the Creator of Israel, your king. | |
| Isaiah 43:16 | Thus saith the Lord, who made a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters. | Waters of the Jordan and the Red Sea, in the latter of which Pharao perished, ver. 17. |
| Isaiah 43:17 | Who brought forth the chariot and the horse, the army and the strong: they lay down to sleep together, and they shall not rise again: they are broken as flax, and are extinct. | |
| Isaiah 43:18 | Remember not former things, and look not on things of old. | |
| Isaiah 43:19 | *Behold, I do new things, and now they shall spring forth; verily you shall know them: I will make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. 2 Corinthians 5:17.; Apocalypse 21:5. | New. I shall work the like miracles as were seen in the wilderness. |
| Isaiah 43:20 | The beast of the field shall glorify me, the dragons and the ostriches: because I have given waters in the wilderness: rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, to my chosen. | Chosen. We know not that rivers were found in Arabia. But the people were equally favoured. Christ facilitates the road to heaven by his example and graces, while the most savage tempers are changed in baptism. |
| Isaiah 43:21 | This people have I formed for myself: they shall shew forth my praise. | |
| Isaiah 43:22 | But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob, neither hast thou laboured about me, O Israel. | |
| Isaiah 43:23 | Thou hast not offered me the ram of thy holocaust, nor hast thou glorified me with thy victims: I have not caused thee to serve with oblations, nor wearied thee with incense. | Incense. My kindness is gratuitous. In a strange land, thou couldst not offer sacrifice. See Isaias 48:9., and 49:1. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 43:24 | Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy victims. But thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thy iniquities. | Iniquities. Thou hast shewn the greatest ingratitude. (Haydock) --- Yet I will save thee. |
| Isaiah 43:25 | I am, I am he that blot out thy iniquities for my own sake, and I will not remember thy sins. | |
| Isaiah 43:26 | Put me in remembrance, and let us plead together: tell, if thou hast any thing to justify thyself. | Thyself. God condescends to act thus with men, Isaias 41:20., and Osee 4:1. |
| Isaiah 43:27 | Thy first father sinned, and thy teachers have transgressed against me. | First father. Adam, (Lyranus) or rather Abraham sinned, by diffidence, (Genesis 15:8.; St. Jerome) or was formerly an idolater, Josue 24:2. (Genebrard, the year of the world 2049) (St. Augustine, City of God 16:12.) (Calmet) (Tirinus) --- Teachers. Literally, "interpreters," (Haydock) Moses and Aaron, Numbers 20:9. (Calmet) --- All the patriarchs and teachers sinned, till Christ, the immaculate lamb, appeared. Adam engaged all in guilt. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 43:28 | And I have profaned the holy princes, I have given Jacob to slaughter, and Israel to reproach. | Profaned, or declared such, (Haydock) Nadab, etc., (Leviticus 10:1.; Calmet) or Moses and Aaron. (Menochius) --- Septuagint, "and the princes defiled my holy things." (Haydock) --- Slaughter. Hebrew, "anathema." Yet I will re-establish all. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 44:0 | God's favour to his Church. The folly of idolatry. The people shall be delivered from captivity. | |
| Isaiah 44:1 | And *now hear, O Jacob, my servant, and Israel, whom I have chosen. Jeremias 30:10.; Jeremias 46:27. | |
| Isaiah 44:2 | Thus saith the Lord, that made and formed thee, thy helper from the womb: Fear not, O my servant, Jacob, and thou most righteous, whom I have chosen. | |
| Isaiah 44:3 | For I will pour out waters upon the thirsty ground, and streams upon the dry land: I will pour out my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thy stock. | Stock. I will give fresh life to my people, as to the figure of Christ's Church. |
| Isaiah 44:4 | And they shall spring up among the herbs, as willows beside the running waters. | |
| Isaiah 44:5 | One shall say: I am the Lord's, and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob, and another shall subscribe with his hand, To the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel. | Israel. They shall no longer be ashamed of being called Israelites or Christians. |
| Isaiah 44:6 | Thus saith the Lord, the king of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: *I am the first, and I am the last, and besides me there is no God. Isaias 41:4.; Isaias 48:12.; Apocalypse 1:8.; Apocalypse 17.; Apocalypse 22:13. | |
| Isaiah 44:7 | Who is like to me? let him call and declare: and let him set before me the order, since I appointed the ancient people: and the things to come, and that shall be hereafter, let them shew unto them. | |
| Isaiah 44:8 | Fear ye not, neither be ye troubled, from that time I have made thee to hear, and have declared: you are my witnesses. Is there a God besides me, a Maker, whom I have not known? | Witnesses. The history of the true religion is its best proof, Isaias 43:9, 10. --- Known. Ruled, consequently no other can be truly God. (Calmet) --- Idolaters are foolish, trusting in those who cannot announce future events. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 44:9 | The makers of idols are all of them nothing; and their best beloved things shall not profit them. They are their witnesses, that they do not see, nor understand, that they may be ashamed. | Ashamed of the origin and imbecility of their idols. (Calmet) --- All this may be turned against heretics, who worship their own fictions; which the Church never does. (St. Jerome) (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 44:10 | Who hath formed a god, and made a graven thing that is profitable for nothing? | |
| Isaiah 44:11 | Behold, all the partakers thereof shall be confounded: for the makers are men: they shall all assemble together, they shall stand and fear, and shall be confounded together. | |
| Isaiah 44:12 | *The smith hath wrought with his file, with coals, and with hammers he hath formed it, and hath wrought with the strength of his arm: he shall hunger and faint, he shall drink no water, and shall be weary. Wisdom 13:11. | File. Hebrew mahatsad, (Haydock; Jeremias 10:3.) "to make an ax, with," etc. This is the remote cause of the idol. |
| Isaiah 44:13 | The carpenter hath stretched out his rule, he hath formed it with a plane: he hath made it with corners, and hath fashioned it round with the compass: and he hath made the image of a man as it were a beautiful man dwelling in a house. | Man. To be styled afterwards a god. (Calmet) --- Maluit esse deum. (Horace 1:ser. 8.) |
| Isaiah 44:14 | He hath cut down cedars, taken the holm, and the oak that stood among the trees of the forest: he hath planted the pine-tree, which the rain hath nourished. | |
| Isaiah 44:15 | And it hath served men for fuel: he took thereof, and warmed himself: and he kindled it, and baked bread: but of the rest he made a god, and adored it: he made a graven thing, and bowed down before it. | |
| Isaiah 44:16 | Part of it he burnt with fire, and with part of it he dressed his meat: he boiled pottage, and was filled, and was warmed, and said: Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire. | |
| Isaiah 44:17 | But the residue thereof he made a god, and a graven thing for himself: he boweth down before it, and adoreth it, and prayeth unto it, saying: Deliver me, for thou art my god. | |
| Isaiah 44:18 | They have not known, nor understood: for their eyes are covered, that they may not see, and that they may not understand with their heart. | Covered. Septuagint, "darkened." Are Catholics in the same predicament? (Chap. 40:18.) (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 44:19 | They do not consider in their mind, nor know, nor have the thought to say: I have burnt part of it in the fire, and I have baked bread upon the coals thereof: I have broiled flesh, and have eaten, and of the residue thereof shall I make an idol: shall I fall down before the stock of a tree? | |
| Isaiah 44:20 | Part thereof is ashes: his foolish heart adoreth it, and he will not save his soul, nor say: Perhaps there is a lie in my right hand. | Lie. Can I assert in conscience that it is a god? |
| Isaiah 44:21 | Remember these things, O Jacob, and Israel, for thou art my servant. I have formed thee, thou art my servant, O Israel, forget me not. | |
| Isaiah 44:22 | I have blotted out thy iniquities as a cloud, and thy sins as a mist: return to me, for I have redeemed thee. | Return from captivity, (Calmet) and from your former errors, Matthew 11:26. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 44:23 | Give praise, O ye heavens, for the Lord hath shewn mercy: shout with joy, ye ends of the earth: ye mountains, resound with praise, thou, O forest, and every tree therein: for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and Israel shall be glorified. | |
| Isaiah 44:24 | Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, and thy Maker, from the womb: I am the Lord, that make all things: that alone stretch out the heavens, that establish the earth, and there is none with me. | |
| Isaiah 44:25 | That make void the tokens of diviners, and make the soothsayers mad. That turn the wise backward, and that make their knowledge foolish. | Mad. That people may be no longer deluded. |
| Isaiah 44:26 | That raise up the word of my servant, and perform the counsel of my messengers, who say to Jerusalem: Thou shalt be inhabited: and to the cities of Juda: You shall be built, and I will raise up the wastes thereof. | Servant. The prophets and Jesus Christ, whose works never fail, Matthew 24:35. (Calmet) --- In all this prediction of the Church, Isaias alludes to Jerusalem destroyed, and afterwards rebuilt. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 44:27 | Who say to the deep: Be thou desolate, and I will dry up thy rivers. | Deep. Babylon, situated amid waters, Isaias 21:1. (Calmet) --- Rivers, as Cyrus did. (Herodotus 1:191.) |
| Isaiah 44:28 | Who say to Cyrus: Thou art my shepherd, and thou shalt perform all my pleasure. Who say to Jerusalem: Thou shalt be built: and to the temple: Thy foundations shall be laid. | Cyrus. This was spoken 110 years before his birth, which shews the prescience and power of God, so as not to injure free-will. The parents of Cyrus could not give him this name to fulfill the prediction, as they knew nothing of it. Amon was apprised that a person called Josias would overturn idolatry; but he had no reason to suppose that it would be his son, 1 Kings 13:2. --- My shepherd. Chaldean, "that he shall reign." This was shewn by the Jews to Cyrus, on which account, (Calmet) he gave them leave to return, etc. (Josephus, [Jewish Antiquities?] 11:1.) --- The title of shepherd is given to Agamemnon by Homer, and it denotes a good prince, such as historians represent Cyrus to have been. He observed that kings and shepherds had the like duties to perform; (Xenophon viii.) and after his death he was bewailed as a "father." (Herodotus 3:89.) --- At first he did not bear the name of Cyrus, (Herodotus 1:113.) which in the Persian language means "the sun." (Ctesias.) (Plut.[Plutarch?]) |
| Isaiah 45:0 | A prophecy of Cyrus, as a figure of Christ, the great deliverer of God's people. | |
| Isaiah 45:1 | Thus saith the Lord to my anointed Cyrus, whose right hand I have taken hold of, to subdue nations before his face, and to turn the backs of kings, and to open the doors before him, and the gates shall not be shut. | Anointed, often implies one chosen for some great work. Cyrus was to ruin the empire of Babylon, and to set the nations at liberty. He was a proof of the Deity by executing his decrees. --- Cyrus. Some copies of the Septuagint seem to have read kurio, "to the Lord," incorrectly. (St. Jerome) --- Though Cyrus was not anointed, he is styled thus, in allusion to the custom of the Jewish kings. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 45:2 | I will go before thee, and will humble the great ones of the earth: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and will burst the bars of iron. | Brass. Babylon had 100 such gates. (Herodotus 1:179.) |
| Isaiah 45:3 | And I will give thee hidden treasures, and the concealed riches of secret places: that thou mayst know that I am the Lord who called thee by thy name, the God of Israel. | Treasures. See Pliny, [Natural History?] 33:3. He overcame the rich king of Lydia, etc. |
| Isaiah 45:4 | For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have made a likeness of thee, and thou hast not known me. | Likeness of Christ. --- Known me. Before the Jews had shewn Cyrus the prophecies, he did not attribute his success to the Lord, and even afterwards he seems not to have left the superstitions of his country, as his sacrifices to idols are described. He resembled Nabuchodonosor and the philosophers, who did not glorify God according to their knowledge, Daniel 2:47., and Romans 1:21. Cyrus even revoked the decree for building the temple, 1 Esdras 4:5. (Calmet) --- He believed there was one God; (1 Esdras i.) yet he did not embrace the truth entirely. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 45:5 | I am the Lord, and there is none else: there is no God, besides me: I girded thee, and thou hast not known me: | |
| Isaiah 45:6 | That they may know who are from the rising of the sun, and they who are from the west, that there is none besides me. I am the Lord, and there is none else. | |
| Isaiah 45:7 | I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil: I, the Lord, that do all these things. | Create evil, etc. The evils of afflictions and punishments, but not the evil of sin. (Challoner) --- I afflict and comfort my people. |
| Isaiah 45:8 | Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the just: let the earth be opened, and bud forth a Saviour; and let justice spring up together: I, the Lord, have created him. | Saviour. Thus the ancient saints thirsted for the coming of Christ. His figure is styled the just, Isaias 41:2, 25. --- Him. Christ, born of the virgin, in time, and of God from all eternity. I have appointed Cyrus to be his precursor, to set the captives free. (Calmet) --- He has been spoken of before. But now the prophet turns to Christ alone, who built his Church on a rock. (Worthington) --- Cyrus had not a right faith in God, and Zorobabel was himself set free, and was not king. (St. Jerome) |
| Isaiah 45:9 | *Woe to him that gainsayeth his Maker, a sherd of the earthen pots: shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it: What art thou making, and thy work is without hands? Jeremias 18:6.; Romans 9:20. | Earthen. Literally, "Samian." (Haydock) --- Samos was famous for its pottery. (Pliny, [Natural History?] 35:12.) Hebrew, "Clay, disputest thou against the potters of the earth?" He shews the folly of idols, after having proved his own divinity. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "Let the potsherds strive with the potsherds of the earth." (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 45:10 | Woe to him that saith to his father: Why begettest thou: and to the woman: Why dost thou bring forth? | Forth. As such language would be improper to parents, so it is wrong to complain that God places us in any situation. (Menochius) |
| Isaiah 45:11 | Thus saith the Lord, the holy One of Israel, his Maker: Ask me of things to come concerning my children, and concerning the work of my hands give ye charge to me. | To me. Ask what will come to pass, or direct me how to act. |
| Isaiah 45:12 | I made the earth: and I created man upon it: my hand stretched forth the heavens, and I have commanded all their host. | |
| Isaiah 45:13 | I have raised him up to justice, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and let go my captives, not for ransom, nor for presents, saith the Lord, the God of hosts. | Justice. Cyrus shall punish the Chaldeans and restore the Jews. (Calmet) --- The prophet returns to him after having mentioned a greater Saviour, ver. 8. (Houbigant) |
| Isaiah 45:14 | Thus saith the Lord: The labour of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethiopia, and of Sabaim, men of stature shall come over to thee, and shall be thine: they shall walk after thee, they shall go bound with manacles: and they shall worship thee, and shall make supplication to thee: only in thee is God, and there is no God besides thee. | Stature: the people of Saba were the tallest and best proportioned in Arabia. (Agathar. 5:50.) --- Cyrus possessed all these countries. He sent the Egyptians home in the third year of his reign, at Babylon, the year of the world 3470, Ezechiel 29:11. They never became subject to the Jews; but embraced the religion of Christ, acknowledging him for God, ver. 15. (Calmet) --- Besides thee. Protestants, "Surely God is in thee, and there is none else, there is no God." Those whom we have hitherto adored, deserve not the name. Vulgate and Septuagint make the people address Christ, the God-man. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 45:15 | Verily, thou art a hidden God, the God of Israel, the Saviour. | Saviour. We confess that thou hast delivered the Jews; or rather, we acknowledge that thou, O Christ, art true God under the veils of thy human nature, and Saviour of all. Cyrus was only a feeble representation of thee. |
| Isaiah 45:16 | They are all confounded and ashamed: the forgers of errors are gone together into confusion. | Confusion. Idolaters shall be confounded, when they shall behold the glory of the elect. |
| Isaiah 45:17 | Israel is saved in the Lord with an eternal salvation: you shall not be confounded, and you shall not be ashamed for ever and ever. | |
| Isaiah 45:18 | For thus saith the Lord, that created the heavens, God himself, that formed the earth, and made it, the very maker thereof: he did not create it in vain: he formed it to be inhabited. I am the Lord, and there is no other. | In vain. Hebrew, "to be a chaos," Genesis 8:2. |
| Isaiah 45:19 | I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I have not said to the seed of Jacob: Seek me in vain. I am the Lord, that speak justice, that declare right things. | Earth. The pagan oracles were given chiefly in mountains, where the impostures of the priests might escape detection. They were also generally ambiguous, or mere guesses. The declarations of the true prophets were quite the reverse. --- In vain; without reward. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 45:20 | Assemble yourselves, and come, and draw near together, ye that are saved of the Gentiles: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven work, and pray to a god that cannot save. | Gentiles: converts, (Haydock) or Jews, returning from Babylon. |
| Isaiah 45:21 | Tell ye, and come, and consult together: who hath declared this from the beginning, who hath foretold this from that time? Have not I, the Lord, and there is no God else besides me? A just God, and a Saviour, there is none besides me. | Me. He transports his auditors to the times succeeding the captivity, when the completion of the prophecies will be evident. |
| Isaiah 45:22 | Be converted to me, and you shall be saved, all ye ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is no other. | |
| Isaiah 45:23 | I have sworn by myself, the word of justice shall go out of my mouth, and shall not return: | \f + \fr 45:23-24\ft Myself, having none greater, Hebrews 6:13. --- Justice: sure. --- To me. All that are born belong to me. The Jewish women had seldom recourse to midwives, (Exodus 1:19., and 1 Kings 4:19.; Calmet) no more than the Ethiopians. (Ludolf. 1:14.) --- Swear, by the true God. (Haydock) --- Oaths on proper occasions, honour him, Deuteronomy 6:13. Nothing could be spoken more plainly of the Gentiles' conversion. |
| Isaiah 45:24 | *For every knee shall be bowed to me, and every tongue shall swear. Romans 14:11.; Philippians 2:10. | |
| Isaiah 45:25 | Therefore shall he say: In the Lord are my justices and empire: they shall come to him, and all that resist him shall be confounded. | Empire. Cyrus shall make this confession, (1 Esdras 1:2.) and all who embrace the religion of Christ, shall attribute all their virtue to him. |
| Isaiah 45:26 | In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified and praised. | |
| Isaiah 46:0 | The idols of Babylon shall be destroyed. Salvation is promised through Christ. | |
| Isaiah 46:1 | Bel is broken, Nabo is destroyed: their idols are put upon beasts and cattle, your burdens of heavy weight even unto weariness. | Bel; perhaps Nimrod, (Calmet) or Saturn, to whom they sacrificed their children. (Worthington) --- Nabo, "the oracle" of Belus. The Chaldeans adored statues and beasts. But the Persians worshipped the elements. (Calmet) --- Xerxes destroyed the tomb of Belus, after his expedition into Greece. (Arrian vii.) He had there demolished the temples, (Herodotus 8:109.) pretending (Haydock) that "the world is the house of the gods." (Cicero, Leg. ii.) --- Weariness. The priests affected to be weighed down, as if the god were present. (Baruch 6:25.) (St. Cyril) |
| Isaiah 46:2 | They are consumed, and are broken together: they could not save him that carried them, and they themselves shall go into captivity. | They. Literally, "their soul." (Haydock) --- The pagans must have supposed they had one. (Calmet) --- Captivity. "There are as many triumphs over the gods as over men." (Tertullian) --- The former shared the fate of their adorers. Their statues were plundered. |
| Isaiah 46:3 | Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who are carried by my bowels, are borne up by my womb. | By my. Vulgate may have read a me ab, (Calmet) instead of a meo. Hebrew and Septuagint, "taken from the womb," (Haydock) and treated with the utmost tenderness. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 46:4 | Even to your old age I am the same, and to your grey hairs I will carry you: I have made you, and I will bear: I will carry and will save. | |
| Isaiah 46:5 | To whom have you likened me, and made me equal, and compared me, and made me like? | |
| Isaiah 46:6 | You that contribute gold out of the bag, and weigh out silver in the scales: and hire a goldsmith to make a god: and they fall down and worship. | |
| Isaiah 46:7 | *They bear him on their shoulders and carry him, and set him in his place, and he shall stand, and shall not stir out of his place. Yea, when they shall cry also unto him, he shall not hear: he shall not save them from tribulation. Baruch 6:15. | |
| Isaiah 46:8 | Remember this, and be ashamed: return, ye transgressors, to the heart. | Ashamed. Septuagint, "groan." Protestants, "shew yourselves men." (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 46:9 | Remember the former age, for I am God, and there is no God beside, neither is there the like to me: | |
| Isaiah 46:10 | Who shew from the beginning the things that shall be at last, and from ancient times the things that as yet are not done, saying: My counsel shall stand, and all my will shall be done: | |
| Isaiah 46:11 | Who call a bird from the east, and from a far country the man of my own will, and I have spoken, and will bring it to pass: I have created, and I will do it. Hear me, O ye hard-hearted, who are far from justice. | Bird; Cyrus, whose rapid conquests are thus denoted. (Calmet) --- He chose a golden eagle, with wings expanded, for his standard. (Xenophon vii.) --- Christ came from heaven to redeem the world, Psalm 18:6., and Malachias 4:2. (Calmet) --- He was the orient, adored by the eastern sages, to whom the prophet refers. (St. Jerome) (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 46:12 | I have brought my justice near, it shall not be far off: and my salvation shall not tarry. I will give salvation in Sion, and my glory in Israel. | Israel. It shall no longer be a reproach. Cyrus shall restore my people to their own country. But Christ more full accomplished what is here declared respecting the establishment of his Church. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 47:0 | God's judgment upon Babylon. | |
| Isaiah 47:1 | Come down, sit in the dust, O virgin, daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne for the daughter of the Chaldeans, for thou shalt no more be called delicate and tender. | Virgin; delicate. (Menochius) --- Cyrus overthrew this empire, (Calmet) which now felt its share of misery. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 47:2 | Take a mill-stone and grind meal: uncover thy shame, strip thy shoulder, make bare thy legs, pass over the rivers. | Shame. Hebrew tsammathec, Canticle of Canticles 4:1, 4. Protestants, "thy locks, make bare the legs, uncover the thigh, pass," etc. (Haydock) --- Thou shalt be reduced to a state of the most abject slavery, Exodus 11:5., and Supra[Isaias] 3:17., and 20:4. The Barbarians sold their slaves naked. |
| Isaiah 47:3 | *Thy nakedness shall be discovered, and thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and no man shall resist me. Nahum 3:5. | |
| Isaiah 47:4 | Our Redeemer, the Lord of hosts is his name, the holy One of Israel. | |
| Isaiah 47:5 | Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called the lady of kingdoms. | |
| Isaiah 47:6 | I was angry with my people, I have polluted my inheritance, and have given them into thy hand: thou hast shewn no mercy to them: upon the ancient thou hast laid thy yoke exceedingly heavy. | Polluted; deemed or declared unclean. But thou hast sought to gratify thy vindictive temper, in punishing my people. (Calmet) --- The sins of both called down vengeance. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 47:7 | And thou hast said: I shall be a lady for ever: thou hast not laid these things to thy heart, neither hast thou remembered thy latter end. | Lady. Pride goes before ruin, Proverbs 16:18. |
| Isaiah 47:8 | And now hear these things, thou that art delicate, and dwellest confidently, that sayest in thy heart: *I am, and there is none else besides me: I shall not sit as a widow, and I shall not know barrenness. Apocalypse 18:7. | |
| Isaiah 47:9 | *These two things shall come upon thee suddenly in one day, barrenness and widowhood. All things are come upon thee, because of the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great hardness of thy enchanters. Isaias 51:19. | Two. The empire and the people shall be removed at once. --- Enchanters; princes or magicians, who gave them evil counsel, ver. 12. |
| Isaiah 47:10 | And thou hast trusted in thy wickedness, and hast said: There is none that seeth me. Thy wisdom, and thy knowledge, this hath deceived thee. And thou hast said in thy heart: I am, and besides me there is no other. | |
| Isaiah 47:11 | Evil shall come upon thee, and thou shalt not know the rising thereof: and calamity shall fall violently upon thee, which thou canst not keep off: misery shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know. | Know. All this shews the vanity of magic, which cannot announce future events to do any good. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 47:12 | Stand now with thy enchanters, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, in which thou hast laboured from thy youth, if so be it may profit thee any thing, or if thou mayst become stronger. | |
| Isaiah 47:13 | Thou hast failed in the multitude of thy counsels: let now the astrologers stand and save thee, they that gazed at the stars, and counted the months, that from them they might tell the things that shall come to thee. | Months, to tell which would prove lucky, Esther 3:7. |
| Isaiah 47:14 | Behold, they are as stubble, fire hath burnt them, they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flames: there are no coals wherewith they may be warmed, nor fire, that they may sit thereat. | Thereat, to warm themselves, (Haydock) or to adore. (Calmet) --- In Cappadocia are to be seen "Pyratheia,...in which the magi keep a perpetual fire, and sing hymns about the space of an hour." (Strabo xv.) --- These were a sort of open temples. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 47:15 | Such are all the things become to thee, in which thou hast laboured: thy merchants, from thy youth, every one hath erred in his own way, there is none that can save thee. | Merchants. The city was well situated for trade, Isaias 13:20. (Diodorus ii.) |
| Isaiah 48:0 | He reproaches the Jews for their obstinacy: he will deliver them out of their captivity, for his own name's sake. | |
| Isaiah 48:1 | Hear ye these things, O house of Jacob, you that are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Juda, you who swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in justice. | Waters; people, (Apocalypse 17:15.; Haydock) or from the stock of Juda, Proverbs 5:15. (Calmet) --- He claimed the sovereign power, but had not the fortitude or wisdom of Israel. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 48:2 | For they are called of the holy city, and are established upon the God of Israel: the Lord of hosts is his name. | City: citizens of Jerusalem, Daniel 3:28., and Matthew 4:5. |
| Isaiah 48:3 | The former things of old I have declared, and they went forth out of my mouth, and I have made them to be heard: I did them suddenly, and they came to pass. | Suddenly, when there was no human appearance of the event, as when I foretold the exploits of Cyrus and the ruin of Babylon so long before. |
| Isaiah 48:4 | For I knew that thou art stubborn, and thy neck is as an iron sinew, and thy forehead as brass. | Brass; unblushing, Jeremias 3:3. (Calmet) --- Os tuum ferreum. (Cicero, contra Pis.) |
| Isaiah 48:5 | I foretold thee of old: before they came to pass I told thee, lest thou shouldst say: My idols have done these things, and my graven and molten things have commanded them. | |
| Isaiah 48:6 | See now all the things which thou hast heard: but have you declared them? I have shewn thee new things from that time, and things are kept which thou knowest not: | Them. Could you have believed them? --- Knowest not. He upbraids their ignorance and indocility. |
| Isaiah 48:7 | They are created now, and not of old: and before the day, when thou heardest them not, lest thou shouldst say: Behold, I knew them. | Knew. Therefore I did not speak of the liberation from Egypt, but from Babylon, which is represented as just taking place. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 48:8 | Thou hast neither heard, nor known, neither was thy ear opened of old. For I know that transgressing thou wilt transgress, and I have called thee a transgressor from the womb. | Opened; docile, (Theodoret) or acquainted with these things. Isaias first made known the captivity of Babylon, and its end; and he insists so much, that people may discern the truth of his predictions, and of religion. No atheist can, with a good conscience, hold out against his arguments, Isaias 40. |
| Isaiah 48:9 | For my name's sake I will remove my wrath far off: and for my praise I will bridle thee, lest thou shouldst perish. | Bridle thee, like a headstrong beast, (Calmet) running to its own ruin. (Haydock) --- God pardons freely, that people may be saved if they will. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 48:10 | Behold, I have refined thee, but not as silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of poverty. | Poverty, at Babylon. I have not treated thee with the utmost rigour, nor attempted to render thee free from every imperfection. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "Lo, I have sold thee, but not for silver; I have snatched thee from the," etc. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 48:11 | For my own sake, for my own sake will I do it, that I may not be blasphemed: *and I will not give my glory to another. Isaias 42:8. | |
| Isaiah 48:12 | Hearken to me, O Jacob, and thou Israel, whom I call: *I am he, I am the first, and I am the last. Isaias 41:4.; Isaias 44:6.; Apocalypse 1:8.; Apocalypse 17.; Apocalypse 22:13. | |
| Isaiah 48:13 | My hand also hath founded the earth, and my right hand hath measured the heavens: I shall call them, and they shall stand together. | |
| Isaiah 48:14 | Assemble yourselves together, all you, and hear: who among them hath declared these things? the Lord hath loved him, he will do his pleasure in Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans. | Things, as I have done respecting Cyrus? (St. Cyril, etc.) who was a figure of Christ, ver. 15. |
| Isaiah 48:15 | I, even I, have spoken, and called him: I have brought him, and his way is made prosperous. | |
| Isaiah 48:16 | Come ye near unto me, and hear this: I have not spoken in secret from the beginning: from the time before it was done, I was there, and now the Lord God hath sent me, and his spirit. | Spirit. The Fathers here find the three Persons of the blessed Trinity specified. Isaias was not from the beginning, though the text may also speak of him (Calmet) as he spoke long before the event, by divine inspiration. (Chaldean) (St. Jerome) |
| Isaiah 48:17 | Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the holy One of Israel: I am the Lord thy God that teach thee profitable things, that govern thee in the way that thou walkest. | |
| Isaiah 48:18 | O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments: thy peace had been as a river, and thy justice as the waves of the sea, | |
| Isaiah 48:19 | And thy seed had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof: his name should not have perished, nor have been destroyed from before my face: | Name. The Jews were not forgotten, till they had rejected the Messias. |
| Isaiah 48:20 | *Come forth out of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, declare it with the voice of joy: make this to be heard, and speak it out even to the ends of the earth. Say: The Lord hath redeemed his servant Jacob. Jeremias 51:6.; Apocalypse 18:4. | |
| Isaiah 48:21 | They thirsted not in the desert, when he led them out: *he brought forth water out of the rock for them, and he clove the rock, and the waters gushed out. Exodus 17:6.; Numbers 20:11. | Out. Their return was facilitated. This may easily be applied (Calmet) to the conversion of the Gentiles. (St. Jerome) |
| Isaiah 48:22 | *There is no peace to the wicked, saith the Lord. Isaias 57:21. | Peace. Septuagint, "rejoicing," or prosperity for the Chaldeans or wicked Jews, ver. 18. (Calmet) --- It is promised only to the penitent. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 49:0 | Christ shall bring the Gentiles to salvation. God's love to his Church is perpetual. | |
| Isaiah 49:1 | Give ear, ye islands, and hearken, ye people from afar. *The Lord hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother he hath been mindful of my name. Jeremias 1:5.; Galatians 1:15. | Give. This fresh discourse continues to Isaias 56:9., relating to the Messias, who is introduced speaking to all the world, Acts 13:47., and 2 Corinthians 6:2. Some apply a part to Cyrus, Isaias, or John the Baptist, as to his figures. (Calmet) --- The prophet has foretold the conversion of the Gentiles, as he now does, like an evangelist. (St. Jerome) --- Many Jews will embrace the gospel at the end of time. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 49:2 | *And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword: in the shadow of his hand he hath protected me, and hath made me as a chosen arrow: in his quiver he hath hidden me. Isaias 51:16.; Ephesians 6:16.; Hebrews 4:12.; Apocalypse 1:16. | Sword, penetrating the very soul, (Hebrews 4:12.) and slaying the wicked, Apocalypse 1:16., and 2 Thessalonians 2:8. Without Christ, his ministers can apply this sword to little purpose. Cyrus cut asunder the bonds of the captives by his decree. (Calmet) --- Grotius improperly explains all of Isaias. (Houbigant) |
| Isaiah 49:3 | And he said to me: Thou art my servant, Israel, for in thee will I glory. | Glory. In the Church, God is adored in spirit and truth. Isaias is ordered thus to address the Israelites. |
| Isaiah 49:4 | And I said: I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength without cause and in vain: therefore my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God. | God. He will reward the labours of his ministers, though the people be obstinate. The prophets and our Saviour frequently complain, Isaias 65:2., and Mark 9:18. |
| Isaiah 49:5 | And now saith the Lord, that formed me from the womb to be his servant, that I may bring back Jacob unto him, and Israel will not be gathered together: and I am glorified in the eyes of the Lord, and my God is made my strength. | Will not. Hebrew, Septuagint, etc., "to be gathered." (Haydock) --- The original text, independent of the Masorets, may have the sense of the Vulgate. Yet there are other proofs of the synagogue's rejection. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "though Israel be not gathered, yet," etc. Marginal note, or "that Israel may be gathered, and I may," etc. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 49:6 | And he said: It is a small thing that thou shouldst be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to convert the dregs of Israel. *Behold, I have given thee to be the light of the Gentiles, that thou mayst be my salvation even to the farthest part of the earth. Isaias 42:6.; Acts 13:47. | Earth. St. Paul, explains this of Christ, (Acts xiii.) who said, Go teach all nations, Matthew xxviii. Isaias was one of his first preachers. |
| Isaiah 49:7 | Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, his holy One, to the soul that is despised, to the nation that is abhorred, to the servant of rulers: Kings shall see, and princes shall rise up, and adore, for the Lord's sake, because he is faithful, and for the holy One of Israel, who hath chosen thee. | Despised, Christ, Cyrus, or Isaias; though it refer chiefly to our Saviour. |
| Isaiah 49:8 | Thus saith the Lord: *In an acceptable time I have heard thee, and in the day of salvation I have helped thee: and I have preserved thee, and given thee to be a covenant of the people, that thou mightest raise up the earth, and possess the inheritances that were destroyed: 2 Corinthians 6:2. | |
| Isaiah 49:9 | That thou mightest say to them that are bound: Come forth: and to them that are in darkness: Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in every plain. | Ways. The captives shall find every convenience. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 49:10 | *They shall not hunger, nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor the sun strike them: for he that is merciful to them, shall be their shepherd, and at the fountains of waters he shall give them drink. Apocalypse 7:16. | |
| Isaiah 49:11 | And I will make all my mountains a way, and my paths shall be exalted. | |
| Isaiah 49:12 | Behold, these shall come from afar, and behold these from the north and from the sea, and these from the south country. | South. Hebrew Sinim; (Haydock) China, (St. Jerome) or rather Sin, or Pelusium, and Sinai, in Egypt and Arabia. Septuagint, "Persians." (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 49:13 | Give praise, O ye heavens, and rejoice, O earth; ye mountains, give praise with jubilation: because the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy on his poor ones. | |
| Isaiah 49:14 | And Sion said: The Lord hath forsaken me, and the Lord hath forgotten me. | Sion, the Jews, who will at last be converted in great numbers. (Houbigant) |
| Isaiah 49:15 | Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to have pity on the son of her womb? and if she should forget, yet will not I forget thee. | |
| Isaiah 49:16 | Behold, I have graven thee in my hands: *thy walls are always before my eyes. Exodus 13:9. | Hands, which were nailed to the cross. Septuagint, "I have delineated thy walls on my hands, and thou art before me always." (Haydock) --- The Assyrians wore such characters on their hands or necks. (Lucian) (Leviticus 19:28.) (Calmet) --- Christ will always love his Church, which is of all times and nations. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 49:17 | Thy builders are come: they that destroy thee and make thee waste, shall go out of thee. | Of thee. Sanballat, etc., shall yield to Zorobabel, Nehemias, etc. |
| Isaiah 49:18 | *Lift up thy eyes round about, and see all these are gathered together, they are come to thee: as I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt be clothed with all these as with an ornament, and as a bride thou shalt put them about thee. Isaias 60:4. | |
| Isaiah 49:19 | For thy deserts, and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction shall now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be chased far away. | Inhabitants. The country was better peopled, (Calmet) and Jerusalem enlarged under the Machabees. (Josephus, Jewish Wars 5:6.) |
| Isaiah 49:20 | The children of thy barrenness shall still say in thy ears: The place is too strait for me, make me room to dwell in. | Barrenness, of which thou complainest. He alludes to the captives who returned, and to Christian converts. (Menochius) |
| Isaiah 49:21 | And thou shalt say in thy heart: Who hath begotten these? I was barren, and brought not forth, led away, and captive: and who hath brought up these? I was destitute and alone: and these where were they? | |
| Isaiah 49:22 | Thus saith the Lord God: Behold I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles, and will set up my standard to the people. And they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and carry thy daughters upon their shoulders. | Shoulders. Thus the Syrians commonly carried children astride. (Cotovic. xiv.) |
| Isaiah 49:23 | And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and queens thy nurses: they shall worship thee with their face toward the earth, and they shall lick up the dust of thy feet. *And thou shalt know that I am the Lord, for they shall not be confounded that wait for him. Psalm 71:9.; Isaias 40:14. | Nurses. The Persian kings favoured the captives. The greatest monarchs bow before the prelates of the Church, (Menochius) and kiss the Pope's toe. They venerate relics, (Haydock) and greatly enrich the Church. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 49:24 | Shall the prey be taken from the strong? or can that which was taken by the mighty be delivered? | Strong. Can I force the Babylonians to yield? Surely, and the devil also, Luke 11:21. --- Mighty. Hebrew, "just," in lawful war. Septuagint, "unjustly." |
| Isaiah 49:25 | For thus saith the Lord: Yea verily, even the captivity shall be taken away from the strong: and that which was taken by the mighty, shall be delivered. But I will judge those that have judged thee, and thy children I will save. | |
| Isaiah 49:26 | And I will feed thy enemies with their own flesh: and they shall be made drunk with their own blood, as with new wine: and all flesh shall know, that I am the Lord that save thee, and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob. | Flesh. They shall attack one another. (Calmet) --- Neriglissor slew Evil-merodac. (Berosus, apud Josephus, contra Apion i.) --- Gobrias and Gadatas betrayed and killed Baltassar. (Xenophon 4:5, 7.) (Calmet) --- In their fury they shall tear their own flesh. (Menochius) |
| Isaiah 50:0 | The synagogue shall be divorced for her iniquities. Christ, for her sake, will endure ignominious afflictions. | |
| Isaiah 50:1 | Thus saith the Lord: What is this bill of the divorce of your mother, with which I have put her away? or who is my creditor, to whom I sold you: behold, you are sold for your iniquities, and for your wicked deeds have I put your mother away. | Away. Such a one could not be received again, if she had taken another husband, Deuteronomy 24:3. Some explain this of the captives. But God restored them to favour. It seems rather to relate to the reprobation (Calmet) of the synagogue, which will never again become the true Church, (Haydock) though many of Israel will be converted, Romans 11:25. --- Sold you, as a father might do, Exodus 21:1., and Matthew 18:15. St. Ambrose (Tob.[Tobias?] viii.) inveighs against such cruel parents, as the Christian religion had not then entirely repressed this inhumanity. (Calmet) --- God rejected the synagogue, not out of hard-heartedness or want, but because of her sins. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 50:2 | Because I came, and there was not a man: I called, and there was none that would hear. *Is my hand shortened and become little, that I cannot redeem? or is there no strength in me to deliver? Behold, at my rebuke, I will make the sea a desert, I will turn the rivers into dry land: the fishes shall rot for want of water, and shall die for thirst. Isaias 59:1. | Hear. My spouse had gone after other lovers. The people refused to hear the prophets; and the priests were become as corrupt as the rest, when the city was taken by the Chaldeans and by the Romans. (Calmet) --- Sea. Babylon, Isaias 21. (Haydock) --- I could work the same miracles, as I did when Israel came out of Egypt. |
| Isaiah 50:3 | I will clothe the heavens with darkness, and will make sackcloth their covering. | |
| Isaiah 50:4 | The Lord hath given me a learned tongue, that I should know how to uphold by word him that is weary: he wakeneth in the morning, in the morning he wakeneth my ear, that I may hear him as a master. | Weary. Isaias speaks in the name of Christ, whose words carried conviction and comfort along with them, John 6:69., and 7:46. (Calmet) --- Wakeneth. Literally, "lifteth up." Cynthius aurem---Vellit. (Ec. vi.) --- Hear, or obey. (Haydock) --- Christ preached more powerfully than Isaias, and continues to do so by his pastors. (St. Jerome) (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 50:5 | The Lord God hath opened my ear, and I do not resist: I have not gone back. | |
| Isaiah 50:6 | *I have given my body to the strikers, and my cheeks to them that plucked them: I have not turned away my face from them that rebuked me, and spit upon me. Matthew 26:67. | Spit. The greatest indignity, Job 30:10., and Deuteronomy 25:9. Yet this was the treatment of our Saviour, Luke 18:31., and Matthew 26:67. (Calmet) --- "The great Grotius, (I wish he were great in explaining the prophets)" applies this to Jeremias. (Houbigant) |
| Isaiah 50:7 | The Lord God is my helper, therefore am I not confounded: therefore have I set my face as a most hard rock, and I know that I shall not be confounded. | Rock. Christ heard the accusations of his enemies unmoved, as he had not been afraid to blame the conduct of the Pharisees. |
| Isaiah 50:8 | *He is near that justifieth me, who will contend with me? let us stand together, who is my adversary? let him come near to me. Romans 8:33. | |
| Isaiah 50:9 | Behold, the Lord God is my helper: who is he that shall condemn me? Lo, they shall all be destroyed as a garment, the moth shall eat them up. | |
| Isaiah 50:10 | Who is there among you that feareth the Lord, that heareth the voice of his servant, that hath walked in darkness, and hath no light? let him hope in the name of the Lord, and lean upon his God. | Light. The faithful are exhorted to take courage, while the Romans will destroy the rebellious Jews, (ver. 11.; Calmet) and the wicked shall dwell in hell fire. (Menochius) |
| Isaiah 50:11 | Behold, all you that kindle a fire, encompassed with flames, walk in the light of your fire, and in the flames which you have kindled: this is done to you by my hand, you shall sleep in sorrows. | |
| Isaiah 51:0 | An exhortation to trust in Christ. He shall protect the children of his Church. | |
| Isaiah 51:1 | Give ear to me, you that follow that which is just, and you that seek the Lord: look unto the rock whence you are hewn, and to the hole of the pit from which you are dug out. | Lord. He speaks of the redemption of mankind, under the allegory of the return from captivity. |
| Isaiah 51:2 | Look unto Abraham, your father, and to Sara, that bore you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and multiplied him. | Alone, and gave him children when he was grown old, and Sara barren. I can surely save you likewise. (Calmet) --- The example of these great progenitors is set before the Jews. Thus St. Paul says: Remember your prelates, Hebrews xiii. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 51:3 | The Lord therefore will comfort Sion, and will comfort all the ruins thereof: and he will make her desert as a place of pleasure, and her wilderness as the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving and the voice of praise. | |
| Isaiah 51:4 | Hearken unto me, O my people, and give ear to me, O my tribes: *for a law shall go forth from me, and my judgment shall rest to be a light of the nations. Isaias 2:3. | Nations. This was verified when the Bible was translated into Greek, and still more by the preaching of the gospel. |
| Isaiah 51:5 | My just one is near at hand, my Saviour is gone forth, and my arms shall judge the people: the islands shall look for me, and shall patiently wait for my arm. | Just. Christ, prefigured by Cyrus, whose empire was very mild, Isaias 44:28. |
| Isaiah 51:6 | Lift up your eyes to heaven, and look down to the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish like smoke, and the earth shall be worn away like a garment, and the inhabitants thereof shall perish in like manner: *but my salvation shall be for ever, and my justice shall not fail. Psalm 36:31. | Fail. Matthew 24:35. The prosperity of the Jews was not of long duration. But the Church will remain till the end of time. |
| Isaiah 51:7 | Hearken to me, you that know what is just, my people who have my law in your heart: fear ye not the reproach of men, and be not afraid of their blasphemies. | |
| Isaiah 51:8 | For the worm shall eat them up as a garment: and the moth shall consume them as wool: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my justice from generation to generation. | |
| Isaiah 51:9 | Arise, arise, put on strength, O thou arm of the Lord: arise as in the days of old, in the ancient generations. Hast not thou struck the proud one, and wounded the dragon? | Proud. Hebrew, "Rahab," Pharao, king of Egypt, Job 26:12., and Ezechiel 29:3. (Calmet) --- God drowned in the water, which had retired for Israel. He will thus destroy the devil. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 51:10 | *Hast not thou dried up the sea, the water of the mighty deep, who madest the depth of the sea a way, that the delivered might pass over? Exodus 14:21. | |
| Isaiah 51:11 | And now they that are redeemed by the Lord, shall return, and shall come into Sion singing praises, and joy everlasting shall be upon their heads, they shall obtain joy, and gladness, sorrow and mourning shall flee away. | |
| Isaiah 51:12 | I, I myself will comfort you: who art thou, that thou shouldst be afraid of a mortal man, and of the son of man, who shall wither away like grass? | |
| Isaiah 51:13 | And thou hast forgotten the Lord, thy Maker, who stretched out the heavens, and founded the earth: and thou hast been afraid continually, all the day, at the presence of his fury who afflicted thee, and had prepared himself to destroy thee: where is now the fury of the oppressor? | Oppressor. If thou hadst not abandoned God, thou wouldst have had no reason to fear Nabuchodonosor; and his power is now gone. |
| Isaiah 51:14 | He shall quickly come that is going to open unto you, and he shall not kill unto utter destruction, neither shall his bread fail. | Fail. Cyrus shall quickly restore the Jews to their country. He shall not lay waste the provinces, like many conquerors. |
| Isaiah 51:15 | But I am the Lord thy God, who trouble the sea, and the waves thereof swell: the Lord of hosts is my name. | |
| Isaiah 51:16 | *I have put my words in thy mouth, and have protected thee in the shadow of my hand, that thou mightest plant the heavens, and found the earth: and mightest say to Sion: Thou art my people. Isaias 49:2. | People. This may refer to Isaias, Cyrus, etc., as figures of Christ, Isaias 49:1. He has bestowed greater favours on Christians than Cyrus did on the Jews, opening the kingdom of heaven to true believers, etc., Ephesians 2:19. |
| Isaiah 51:17 | Arise, arise, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath: thou hast drunk even to the bottom of the cup of dead sleep, and thou hast drunk even to the dregs. | Dregs. Take courage: Babylon's turn is come, ver. 23. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 51:18 | There is none that can uphold her among all the children that she hath brought forth: and there is none that taketh her by the hand among all the children that she hath brought up. | |
| Isaiah 51:19 | *There are two things that have happened to thee? who shall be sorry for thee? desolation and destruction, and the famine, and the sword, who shall comfort thee? Isaias 47:9. | Two. War and famine cause desolation and destruction. (Worthington) --- Jerusalem was reduced to the greatest misery in the last siege under Nabuchodonosor, Lamentations 4:3. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 51:20 | Thy children are cast forth, they have slept at the head of all the ways, as the wild ox that is snared: full of the indignation of the Lord, of the rebuke of thy God. | Ox, oryx. Hebrew Thua, Deuteronomy 14:5. (Haydock) --- Many accounts respecting it are fabulous. Some understand a sort of wolf, mentioned by Pliny, [Natural History?] 8:34. Septuagint, "like beet half boiled." |
| Isaiah 51:21 | Therefore hear this, thou poor little one, and thou that art drunk, but no with wine. | |
| Isaiah 51:22 | Thus saith thy Sovereign, the Lord, and thy God, who will fight for his people: Behold, I have taken out of thy hand the cup of dead sleep, the dregs of the cup of my indignation, thou shalt not drink it again any more. | |
| Isaiah 51:23 | And I will put it in the hand of them that have oppressed thee, and have said to thy soul: Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as a way to them that went over. | Over. This inhumanity was not uncommon, Josue 10:24., and Psalm 109:1. |
| Isaiah 52:0 | Under the figure of the deliverance from the Babylonian captivity, the Church is invited to rejoice for her redemption from sin. Christ's kingdom shall be exalted. | |
| Isaiah 52:1 | Arise, arise, put on thy strength, O Sion, put on the garments of thy glory, O Jerusalem, the city of the holy One: for henceforth the uncircumcised, and the unclean, shall no more pass through thee. | Thee. Judea was no more laid waste by its ancient enemies. The persecution of Epiphanes did not continue long. Many have attacked the Church; but they cannot overcome her, nor will she cease to preach the truth, and to continue pure and holy. |
| Isaiah 52:2 | Shake thyself from the dust, arise, sit up, O Jerusalem: loose the bonds from off thy neck, O captive daughter of Sion. | |
| Isaiah 52:3 | For thus saith the Lord: You were sold gratis, and you shall be redeemed without money. | Money. The Chaldeans acted impolitically in leaving the country without inhabitants, and Cyrus will derive no immediate advantage from your return. (Calmet) --- The Jews had not injured the Chaldeans, nor mankind the devil. But both had offended God, who out of mercy paid their ransom. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 52:4 | For thus saith the Lord God: *My people went down into Egypt at the beginning to sojourn there: and the Assyrian hath oppressed them without any cause at all. Genesis 46:6. | Assyrian. Pharao, (Sa; Tirinus) or rather Nabuchodonosor, (Calmet) and the princes of Assyria, who acted tyrannically. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 52:5 | And now, what have I here, saith the Lord: for my people is taken away gratis? They that rule over them, treat them unjustly, saith the Lord, *and my name is continually blasphemed all the day long. Ezechiel 36:20.; Romans 2:24. | Long, by the Chaldeans, weak Jews, and strangers, who misconstrue my conduct towards my people, and represent it as the effect of injustice, or of weakness. |
| Isaiah 52:6 | Therefore my people shall know my name in that day: for I myself that spoke, behold, I am here. | Here. Jesus Christ appears, the Redeemer foretold so long before. |
| Isaiah 52:7 | *How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, and that preacheth peace: of him that sheweth forth good, that preacheth salvation, that saith to Sion: Thy God shall reign. Nahum 1:15.; Romans 10:15. | Peace. He comes like a conqueror to save his people. It may also be applied to the prophets and apostles, (Calmet) as St. Paul explains it, Romans 10:15. (Menochius) |
| Isaiah 52:8 | The voice of thy watchmen: they have lifted up their voice, they shall praise together: for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord shall convert Sion | Watchmen, prophets. The angels sung at the birth of Christ, Luke 2:14. |
| Isaiah 52:9 | Rejoice, and give praise together, O ye deserts of Jerusalem: for the Lord hath comforted his people: he hath redeemed Jerusalem. | |
| Isaiah 52:10 | The Lord hath prepared his holy arm in the sight of all the Gentiles: *and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. Psalm 97:3. | Arm. The Saviour, Luke 1:51. |
| Isaiah 52:11 | Depart, depart, go ye out from thence, *touch no unclean thing: go out of the midst of her, be ye clean, you that carry the vessels of the Lord. 2 Corinthians 6:17. | Lord, the Levites departing from Babylon, 1 Esdras 1:7., and Numbers 3:6., and 4:5., etc. (Calmet) --- St. Paul proves hence that communication with infidels in spiritual things is always unlawful, 2 Corinthians 6:17. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 52:12 | For you shall not go out in a tumult, neither shall you make haste by flight: for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will gather you together. | |
| Isaiah 52:13 | Behold, my servant shall understand, he shall be exalted, and extolled, and shall be exceedingly high. | Servant, Christ. In vain do the Jews attempt to apply this to any other. It is wonderful that Grotius should follow their steps, and understand Jeremias to be meant; though elsewhere he allows that the prophet speaks only of the Messias. (De Verit. 5:19.) --- This author [Grotius] has been of great prejudice to religion. The Chaldean and many modern Jews have been compelled by evidence to apply this to the Messias. See Geir., etc. Jesus was pleased to assume the form of a servant, Philippians 2:7. |
| Isaiah 52:14 | As many have been astonished at thee, so shall his visage be inglorious among men, and his form among the sons of men. | Of men, who have disfigured the countenance of our Saviour with buffets, etc. The Jews would not receive him under this abject form, though it had been foretold equally with his elevation. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 52:15 | He shall sprinkle many nations, kings shall shut their mouth at him: *for they to whom it was not told of him, have seen: and they that heard not, have beheld. Romans 15:21. | Sprinkle with baptism, (Haydock) and his manifold graces. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "so many nations shall wonder at him." (Haydock) --- Mouth, out of reverence. How many great princes have submitted to his yoke? (Calmet) --- Beheld. The Gentiles (Menochius) embrace the faith, at the sight of Christ's miracles. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 53:0 | A prophecy of the Passion of Christ. | |
| Isaiah 53:1 | Who *hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? John 12:38.; Romans 10:16. | Revealed. Who could have believed such things? The apostles complain how few were converted, John 12:38., and Romans 10:16. (Calmet) --- These would not submit, though the gospel was not against reason. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 53:2 | And he shall grow up as a tender plant before him, and as a root out of a thirsty ground: there is no beauty in him, nor comeliness: and we have seen him, and there was no sightliness, that we should be desirous of him: | Plant. Hebrew also, "suckling child." (Septuagint, etc.) --- Ground. The blessed Virgin [Mary]. (Calmet) --- Was. Septuagint, "he had no appearance nor beauty. But his appearance was abject and deficient above all men; a," etc. --- That we. Literally, "and we have desired him." Notwithstanding his abject condition, He was the desired of all nations, and by his wounds we are healed. (Haydock) --- Some assert that the person of Christ was not beautiful, while others think that his wounds prevented it from being discerned. Salmeron would supply a negation from the first number: "We have not desired him." |
| Isaiah 53:3 | *Despised, and the most abject of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with infirmity: and his look was as it were hidden and despised, whereupon we esteemed him not. Mark 9:11. | Not. The whole life of Christ was spent in the midst of poverty, and contradictions, Hebrews 4:15. He has thus taught us to despise ourselves. |
| Isaiah 53:4 | *Surely he hath borne our infirmities and carried our sorrows: and we have thought him as it were a leper, and as one struck by God and afflicted. Matthew 8:17. | Sorrows. Healing them by his own afflictions, Matthew 8:15. Sickness is an effect of sin, which Jesus came to destroy, 1 Peter 2:24 --- Leper, who was bound to have his face covered, ver. 3., and Leviticus 13:45. --- God. Payva (Def. Trin. iv.) assures us that many Jews were converted by the perusal of this chapter, and particularly of this verse, which may be rendered "as a God wounded and afflicted." (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 53:5 | *But he was wounded for our iniquities, he was bruised for our sins: the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his bruises we are healed. 1 Corinthians 15:3. | Healed. He inculcates this important truth repeatedly. Christ nailed the hand-writing that was against us to the cross, Colossians 2:14. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 53:6 | All we like sheep have gone astray, every one hath turned aside into his own way: and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquities of us all. | Astray. We belong to his fold, Isaias 40:11., John 10:11., and Luke 15:4.--- Laid. Septuagint, "abandoned him to our sins," as to so many executioners; (Calmet) "and he, because he had been abused, opened," etc. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 53:7 | He was offered because it was his own will, and he opened not his mouth: he shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter, and shall be dumb as a lamb before his shearer, *and he shall not open his mouth. Matthew 26:63.; Acts 8:32. | Will. The pagans were very attentive that the victim should not make much resistance. (Macrobius 3:5.) --- God loves a cheerful giver. (Haydock) --- Our Saviour offers himself willingly, knowing the inefficacy of legal victims, Psalm 39:7. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 53:8 | He was taken away from distress, and from judgment: who shall declare his generation? because he is cut off out of the land of the living: for the wickedness of my people have I struck him. | Judgment, or by an unjust and cruel judgment. (Haydock) --- Hebrew, "from prison and judgment." (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "in humiliation, (Haydock) or humility, his judgment was taken away," or rescinded, by his glorious resurrection. St. Philip follows this version in explaining this passage to the eunuch, Acts 8:33. --- Generation, from his eternal Father or from the Virgin [Mary], his incarnation, life, resurrection, or posterity in the Church. All these may be meant, and are inexplicable. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 53:9 | And he shall give the ungodly for his burial, and the rich for his death: *because he hath done no iniquity, neither was there deceit in his mouth. 1 Peter 2:22.; 1 John 3:5. | Death. Hebrew, "and he made his grave with the wicked men, and with the rich man, in his death." (Haydock) --- Grave and death seem to be transposed; and we might better read, "He was taken up with wicked men in his death, and with a rich man was his sepulchre." This indeed is only a conjecture, but well grounded in the context. See Josue 24:19. (Kennicott) --- Septuagint, "and I will give the wicked for his grave, and the rich men for his death." (Haydock) --- The rich man may denote the small number of Jews who embraced the faith. (Calmet) --- They esteemed themselves rich, and were highly favoured by God; yet they were blinded, (Haydock) and given up to the Romans, in punishment of their deicide, Matthew 27:25. The Church is gathered both from Jews and Gentiles, ver. 10. (Calmet) (St. Jerome) --- "He will send to hell the wicked," (Chaldean) who slew him. (Menochius) --- Christ was buried where malefactors were generally, yet honourably, in the tomb of Joseph [of Arimathea]. (Worthington) (Matthew 27:57.) |
| Isaiah 53:10 | And the Lord was pleased to bruise him in infirmity: if he shall lay down his life for sin, he shall see a long-lived seed, and the will of the Lord shall be prosperous in his hand. | Bruise. Septuagint, "to cleanse him from the wound." (Haydock) --- God was pleased that he should satisfy for our crimes. --- Hand. Christ has died for all, and established a Church which shall not perish. |
| Isaiah 53:11 | Because his soul hath laboured, he shall see and be filled: by his knowledge shall this my just servant justify many, and he shall bear their iniquities. | |
| Isaiah 53:12 | Therefore will I distribute to him very many, and he shall divide the spoils of the strong, because he hath delivered his soul unto death, *and was reputed with the wicked: and he hath borne the sins of many, **and hath prayed for the transgressors. Mark 15:28.; Luke 22:37. --- ** Luke 23:34. | Many. Even to the ends of the earth, Psalm 2:8. --- Strong. Demons, Jews, etc. Hebrew, "with the strong" apostles. --- Wicked thieves. Barabbas, etc. --- Transgressors. His executioners. The gospel could not speak plainer. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 54:0 | The Gentiles, who were barren before, shall multiply in the Church of Christ: from which God's mercy shall never depart. | |
| Isaiah 54:1 | Give *praise, O thou barren, that bearest not: sing forth praise, and make a joyful noise, thou that didst not travail with child: for many are the children of the desolate, more than of her that hath a husband, saith the Lord. Luke 23:9.; Galatians 4:27. | Barren Jews in captivity, or Church of the Gentiles, to which alone many of the expressions can be applied. (Calmet) --- The Gentiles were before unfruitful, as the Jews will be till towards the latter times. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 54:2 | Enlarge the place of thy tent, and stretch out the skins of thy tabernacles, spare not: lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes. | Stakes, to receive so great a family. All the Israelites did not return, and it does not appear that many embraced their religion, as they have done that of Christ. |
| Isaiah 54:3 | For thou shalt pass on to the right hand, and to the left: and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and shall inhabit the desolate cities. | Left. To the north and south. Jerusalem increased. But what was it compared with the Christian establishment! |
| Isaiah 54:4 | Fear not, for thou shalt not be confounded, nor blush: for thou shalt not be put to shame, because thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt remember no more the reproach of thy widowhood. | Widowhood. Thy former excesses shall be forgotten. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 54:5 | For he that made thee shall rule over thee, *the Lord of hosts is his name: and thy Redeemer, the holy One of Israel, shall be called the God of all the earth. Luke 11:32. | Thee. Hebrew, "Bohalaic (Haydock) shall be your Baalim," or husband, who was styled Lord, 1 Peter 3:6. Perhaps he may allude to the two wives, the synagogue and the Church, or to the idols, which should be adored no more. |
| Isaiah 54:6 | For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and mourning in spirit, and as a wife cast off from her youth, said thy God. | Youth. This enhances her fault. God is pleased to overlook it, in the captives (chap. 50:1.) and Gentiles. |
| Isaiah 54:7 | For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee. | |
| Isaiah 54:8 | In a moment of indignation have I hid my face a little while from thee; but with everlasting kindness have I had mercy on thee, said the Lord, thy Redeemer. | |
| Isaiah 54:9 | *This thing is to me as in the days of Noe, to whom I swore, that I would no more bring in the waters of Noe upon the earth: so have I sworn not to be angry with thee, and not to rebuke thee. Genesis 9:15. | Earth. Giving him the rainbow for a sign. My covenant with the Church is equally irrevocable: she is founded on a rock, Matthew 16:18. (Calmet) --- Christ will no more abandon her than he will drown the world. Some mountains shall be moved out of their place, but she shall not. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 54:10 | For the mountains shall be moved, and the hills shall tremble: but my mercy shall not depart from thee, and the covenant of my peace shall not be moved: said the Lord that hath mercy on thee. | |
| Isaiah 54:11 | O poor little one, tossed with tempest, without all comfort, behold, I will lay thy stones in order, and will lay thy foundations with sapphires. | Sapphires. Hebrew, "antimony," a mineral shining like silver, 4 Kings 9:30. |
| Isaiah 54:12 | And I will make thy bulwarks of jasper: and thy gates of graven stones, and all thy borders of desirable stones. | Bulwarks. Hebrew, windows of crystal; (Ezechiel 27:1[].; Calmet) Protestants, "of agate." (Haydock) --- All this is allegorical, like the redemption of the new Jerusalem, Apocalypse. xxi. |
| Isaiah 54:13 | *All thy children shall be taught of the Lord: and great shall be the peace of thy children. John 6:45. | Lord, Christ, Jeremias 31:33., and John 6:45. |
| Isaiah 54:14 | And thou shalt be founded in justice: depart far from oppression, for thou shalt not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near thee. | Thee. The Cutheans rendered the Jews suspected, 1 Esdras 4:2., and 6:1 |
| Isaiah 54:15 | Behold, an inhabitant shall come, who was not with me; he that was a stranger to thee before, shall be joined to thee. | To thee, in the inheritance. This was verified in the Church. We have no accout of many being converted before. |
| Isaiah 54:16 | Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the killer to destroy. | Destroy. I can give peace or war. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "but I have created thee not for utter destruction." (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 54:17 | No weapon that is formed against thee, shall prosper: and every tongue that resisteth thee in judgment, thou shalt condemn. This is the inheritance of the servants of the Lord, and their justice with me, saith the Lord. | |
| Isaiah 55:0 | God promises abundance of spiritual graces to the faithful, that shall believe in Christ out of all nations, and sincerely serve him. | |
| Isaiah 55:1 | All *you that thirst, come to the waters: and you that have no money, make haste, buy, and eat: come ye, buy wine, and milk, without money, and without any price. John 7:37.; Ecclesiasticus 51:33.; Apocalypse 22:17.; Jeremias 15:16.; Ezechiel 3:3.; Proverbs 9:5. | Waters, which in that country are very scarce. --- Milk. Septuagint, "fat." (Calmet) --- In the western Churches, wine and honey were given to the new baptized, Isaias 7:15. (St. Jerome) --- Christ invites all to come to him, John 4:14,. and 7:37. The establishment of the Church is described under the figure of the return from Babylon. (Calmet) --- Grace is offered to all. But only those are justified who thirst, and do their best, Matthew 5:6. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 55:2 | Why do you spend money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which doth not satisfy you? Hearken diligently to me, and eat that which is good, and your soul shall be delighted in fatness. | |
| Isaiah 55:3 | Incline your ear, and come to me: hear and your soul shall live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, *the faithful mercies of David. Acts 13:34. | David. I will be equally faithful to you, Psalm 88:29. Septuagint, "the holy things of David faithful," Acts 13:34. The resurrection of Christ fully accomplished the promise made to David. |
| Isaiah 55:4 | Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people; for a leader and a master to the Gentiles. | Him. David, who continually proclaimed the divine mercies, (Psalm 17:1.) or rather Christ; though Grotius alone would refer it to Jeremias. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 55:5 | Behold, thou shalt call a nation, which thou knewest not: and the nations that knew not thee, shall run to thee, because of the Lord thy God, and for the holy One of Israel, for he hath glorified thee. | Not with approbation. (Haydock) --- The Gentiles are converted. |
| Isaiah 55:6 | Seek ye the Lord, while he may be found: call upon him, while he is near. | Near. He will shortly (Calmet) turn to the Gentiles, John 12:35., and Acts 13:46. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 55:7 | Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unjust man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God: for he is bountiful to forgive. | Way. This is a necessary preliminary to God's service. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 55:8 | For my thoughts are not your thoughts: nor your ways my ways, saith the Lord. | My ways. I am not vindictive, but require a sincere conversion. (Calmet) --- We cannot serve both God and the world. We must therefore adhere to the former. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 55:9 | For as the heavens are exalted above the earth, so are my ways exalted above your ways, and my thoughts above your thoughts. | |
| Isaiah 55:10 | And as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and return no more thither, but soak the earth, and water it, and make it to spring, and give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: | |
| Isaiah 55:11 | So shall my word be, which shall go forth from my mouth: it shall not return to me void, but it shall do whatsoever I please, and shall prosper in the things for which I sent it. | Sent it. I will assuredly bring you from Babylon; and the rain shall sooner return upwards than I will break my promise. |
| Isaiah 55:12 | For you shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall sing praise before you, and all the trees of the country shall clap their hands. | Peace, by strangers, Isaias 49:22. --- Hands, for joy. (Calmet) --- Ipsa sonant arbusta Deus Deus ille, Menacla. (Virgil, Eclogues v.) |
| Isaiah 55:13 | Instead of the shrub, shall come up the fir-tree, and instead of the nettle, shall come up the myrtle-tree: and the Lord shall be named for an everlasting sign, that shall not be taken away. | Myrtle-tree. Instead of the wicked, the just shall be seen. (Chaldean) --- Away. The conversion and sanctity of the Gentiles shall be a trophy to the Lord. (Menochius) |
| Isaiah 56:0 | God invites all to keep his commandments: the Gentiles that keep them shall be the people of God: the Jewish pastors are reproved. | |
| Isaiah 56:1 | Thus *saith the Lord : Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my justice to be revealed. Wisdom 1:1.; Matthew 23:23. | Judgment, the right resolution to do God's will, which justice executes, Isaias 32. (Worthington) --- My justice. Septuagint, "mercy." Christ is at hand. Prepare for your deliverance, by keeping the commandments. |
| Isaiah 56:2 | Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that shall lay hold on this: that keepeth the sabbath from profaning it, that keepeth his hands from doing any evil. | Sabbath. All the Jewish festivals, (Calmet) as well as those of the Christian Church, (Haydock) and the whole law. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 56:3 | And let not the son of the stranger, that adhereth to the Lord, speak, saying: The Lord will divide and separate me from his people. And let not the eunuch say: Behold, I am a dry tree. | People. The Jews would not admit all nations to their communion, Deuteronomy 33:1. A little before Christ's coming, they began to make more proselytes; (Matthew 23:15.) and the sacred books being translated, came to the knowledge of the Gentiles, who were thus induced by degrees to embrace the true faith. The road to heaven was always open for those who kept the commandments, (ver. 6.; Calmet) though they might not receive circumcision. (Haydock) --- Christ has removed the wall of separation, (Ephesians 2:14.; Calmet) and established one fold for all, John 10. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 56:4 | For thus saith the Lord to the eunuchs: They that shall keep my sabbaths, and shall choose the things that please me, and shall hold fast my covenant: | Eunuchs. It was ignominious to have no children among the Jews, as the propagation of the true religion depended much on their numbers. But now, since the Church is gathered from all nations, virginity is preferable to marriage, and those who keep the sabbath, or all the commandments, and choose this state freely, will receive greater glory than the other sons and daughters of God. Against this plain meaning, P. Martyr (de Coelib.) asserts that God prefers eunuchs only before those who transgress the law. But he gives them a place better than his other sons, etc.! (Protestants Bible, 1603) understand that eunuchs shall be called after (or according to) God's people, and be of the same religion, which implies no preference at all. They add, therefore, yea, under Christ the dignity of the faithful shall be greater than the Jews were at that time; as if the comparison were between God's servants before and after Christ, and not between eunuchs and such as have children. How much better is it for us to follow the holy Fathers, who hence commend those who make a vow of perpetual chastity? They shall possess an excellent dignity among the angels. (St. Basil, virg.) --- The rewards of continency are great, eximia. (St. Cyril of Alexandria, hic.) --- "In the eternal mansion they are preferred before children." (St. Gregory, past. 3:29., etc.) (Worthington) --- Such spiritual eunuchs, as St. John the evangelist, are meant. "He hath chosen what the Lord would, that he should offer more than was commanded....He who is an eunuch, and performs all that is prescribed, shall have....the best place, so that he shall be a tower, and occupy the rank of a priest, and instead of children of the flesh, shall have many spiritual children." (St. Jerome) (Haydock) --- The law excluded eunuchs from the Church. (Deuteronomy 23:1.) But under the gospel, they may enter heaven. (Matthew 19., and 1 Corinthians 7:32., etc.) Daniel and his companions were eunuchs, yet in high estimation; and virtuous eunuchs are commended. (Daniel 1:3.; Wisdom 3:13.) (Calmet) --- Choose. Observing the commandments and counsels, like religious men. (Menochius) --- Those who choose to do more than is commanded, will have a greater reward. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 56:5 | I will give to them in my house, and within my walls, a place, and a name better than sons and daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, which shall never perish. | |
| Isaiah 56:6 | And the children of the stranger that adhere to the Lord, to worship him, and to love his name, to be his servants: every one that keepeth the sabbath from profaning it, and that holdeth fast my covenant: | |
| Isaiah 56:7 | I will bring them into my holy mount, and will make them joyful in my house of prayer: their holocausts, and their victims shall please me upon my altar: *for my house shall be called the house of prayer for all nations. Jeremias 7:11.; Matthew 21:13.; Mark 11:17.; Luke 19:46. | Prayer. So the temple is justly styled. (Haydock) --- This shall be open to all nations. After the captivity, the Jews condescended to let the Gentiles have a court, and they even suffered some princes to go into the court of the priests, 2 Machabees 3:33. Physcon wished to penetrate into the inner sanctuary, (3 Machabees; Ecclesiasticus l.) which could not be granted. |
| Isaiah 56:8 | The Lord God, *who gathereth the scattered of Israel, saith: I will still gather unto him his congregation. John 11:52. | |
| Isaiah 56:9 | All ye beasts of the field come to devour, all ye beasts of the forest. | Beasts. Here a fresh discourse begins to Isaias 61. The Chaldeans and Romans are invited to punish God's people for their sins, committed before the captivity, Zacharias 14:2. (Calmet) --- The prophet foresees the negligence of some pastors, and denounces their rigorous chastisement. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 56:10 | *His watchmen are all blind, they are all ignorant: dumb dogs not able to bark, seeing vain things, sleeping and loving dreams. Ezechiel 3:17.; Ezechiel 33:2.; Ezechiel 6:7. | Watchmen. Priests and prophets. (Calmet) --- We know (Haydock) only Jeremias who continued firm, Lamentations 2:14. In the days of Christ, the corruption was not diminished. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 56:11 | And most impudent dogs, they never had enough: the shepherds themselves knew no understanding: all have turned aside into their own way, *every one after his own gain, from the first even to the last. Jeremias 6:13.; Jeremias 8:10. | Last. The scribes devour the houses of widows, making long prayers, Matthew 23:14. They are blind, Matthew 15:14. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 56:12 | Come, let us take wine, and be filled with drunkenness: and it shall be as to-day, so also to-morrow, and much more. | |
| Isaiah 57:0 | The infidelity of the Jews: their idolatry. Promises to humble penitents. | |
| Isaiah 57:1 | The just perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart, and men of mercy are taken away, because there is none that understandeth; for the just man is taken away from before the face of evil. | The just. Christ, (Calmet) Josias, (Grotius) or any whose cause is just, yet finds no protection from such corrupt magistrates. (Haydock) --- Evil, by the wicked, or to prevent his fall, 4 Kings 12:20. People little consider what a loss the world sustains, when those die who might have averted the divine wrath. (Calmet) --- They are usually taken away, that they may not witness such misfortunes, and are settled in eternal peace. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 57:2 | Let peace come, let him rest in his bed that hath walked in his uprightness. | Bed. The grave which affords rest to the virtuous, Josias, etc. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 57:3 | But draw near hither, you sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer, and of the harlot. | Sorceress. Septuagint, "lawless" children. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 57:4 | Upon whom have you jested? upon whom have you opened your mouth wide, and put out your tongue? are not you wicked children, a false seed? | Tongue, in contempt. Saints, and particularly Jesus Christ, have been exposed to ridicule. |
| Isaiah 57:5 | Who seek your comfort in idols under every green tree, sacrificing children in the torrents, under the high rocks? | Comfort. Hebrew, "heat," abandoning yourselves to shameful excesses. --- Torrents, to avoid being seen. Such sacrifices would have been incredible, if the Scriptures, and all history did not prove their existence, Deuteronomy 12:31., and Wisdom 12:3., and 4 Kings 23:10. |
| Isaiah 57:6 | In the parts of the torrent is thy portion, this is thy lot: and thou hast poured out libations to them, thou hast offered sacrifice. Shall I not be angry at these things? | Them. The stones of the torrent, which were often the objects of adoration, Leviticus 26:1., and Genesis 28:18. The god, Helagabalus, was a rough boundary stone. |
| Isaiah 57:7 | Upon a high and lofty mountain thou hast laid thy bed, and hast gone up thither to offer victims. | Bed, like a shameless prostitute. The idols are generally represented in this light, as corrupting God's people. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 57:8 | And behind the door, and behind the post, thou hast set up thy remembrance: for thou hast discovered thyself besides me, and hast received an adulterer: thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made a covenant with them: thou hast loved their bed with open hand. | Remembrance. Domestic gods. (St. Jerome) The Lares or Penates were usually placed in the court or porch. The Jews probably used Hecate or Trivia, for the same purpose, Isaias 65:11., and 66:17. To prevent this impiety, God had ordered some of the law to be written on the doors, Deuteronomy 6:9. But this it seems was disregarded, 4 Kings 23:8., and 1 Machabees 1:58., and Ezechiel 8:5. --- Near me. Idols were placed in the very temple, Jeremias 35:15., and 4 Kings 21:4., and Ezechiel 8:3., and 16:17. (Calmet) --- Hand. Protestants, "where thou sawest it." Thou didst even invite thy lovers by presents, Ezechiel 16:32. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 57:9 | And thou hast adorned thyself for the king, with ointment, and hast multiplied thy perfumes. Thou hast sent thy messengers far off, and wast debased even to hell. | King. Moloc, or (Calmet) any foreign king, of whose alliance God did not approve. (Theodoret) --- To please them, the true religion was adulterated. |
| Isaiah 57:10 | Thou hast been wearied in the multitude of thy ways: yet thou saidst not: I will rest: thou hast found life of thy hand, therefore thou hast not asked. | Rest. They were obstinate before the coming of Nabuchodonosor, and of the Romans. --- Asked. Confiding in their own strength. |
| Isaiah 57:11 | For whom hast thou been solicitous and afraid, that thou hast lied, and hast not been mindful of me, nor thought on me in thy heart? for I am silent, and as one that seeth not, and thou hast forgotten me. | Afraid, since thou hast despised me, my laws and offers. |
| Isaiah 57:12 | I will declare thy justice, and thy works shall not profit thee. | Justice. He speaks ironically. (Calmet) --- Self-righteousness is vicious. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 57:13 | When thou shalt cry, let thy companies deliver thee, but the wind shall carry them all off, a breeze shall take them away: but he that putteth his trust in me, shall inherit the land, and shall possess my holy mount. | Companies, or princes, in whom thou hast confided. Assyria and Egypt cannot save themselves. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 57:14 | And I will say: *Make a way: give free passage, turn out of the path, take away the stumbling-blocks out of the way of my people. Isaias 62:10. | And 1:Seeing there is no aid in man, God will save his people for his own goodness' sake. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 57:15 | For thus saith the High and the eminent that inhabiteth eternity: and his name is Holy, who dwelleth in the high and holy place, and with a contrite and humble spirit: to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite. | |
| Isaiah 57:16 | For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be angry unto the end: because the spirit shall go forth from my face, and breathings I will make. | End. I will not always threaten or be angry, Genesis 6:3. (Calmet) --- Spirit. Holy Ghost. (St. Irenaeus 5:12.) (St. Augustine) --- God spares the humble penitent, and grants what they desire with as much eagerness as a sailor does a fair wind. (Worthington) --- He does not regard the indifferent. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 57:17 | For the iniquity of his covetousness I was angry, and I struck him: I hid my face from thee, and was angry: and he went away wandering in the way of his own heart. | Heart. Dreadful state of the abandoned sinner! (Deuteronomy 32:21., and Psalm 12:2., and 43:24.) |
| Isaiah 57:18 | I saw his ways, and I healed him, and brought him back, and restored comforts to him, and to them that mourn for him. | |
| Isaiah 57:19 | I created the fruit of the lips, peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, said the Lord, and I healed him. | Lips. Whatever they could ask, so that they might sing canticles. All shall be content. He alludes to the liberation of the captives, which was near, and to the redemption of mankind far off. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 57:20 | But the wicked are like the raging sea, which cannot rest, and the waves thereof cast up dirt and mire. | Dirt. Literally, "treading," conculcationem. (Haydock) --- The works of the wicked are fruitless. They have no content. (Calmet) Non enim gazae neque consularis Summovet lictor miseros tumultus, Mentis et curas laqueata circum, Tecta volantes. ----- (Horace, 2:ode 16.) --- The obstinate sinner can receive no pardon. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 57:21 | *There is no peace to the wicked, saith the Lord God. Isaias 48:22. | |
| Isaiah 58:0 | God rejects the hypocritical fasts of the Jews: recommends works of mercy, and sincere godliness. | |
| Isaiah 58:1 | Cry, cease not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their wicked doings, and the house of Jacob their sins. | Sins. During the captivity, ver. 11. (St. Thomas Aquinas) --- Some will not hear, and those must be rebuked with all patience, till they follow virtue. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 58:2 | For they seek me from day to day, and desire to know my ways, as a nation that hath done justice, and hath not forsaken the judgment of their God: they ask of me the judgments of justice: they are willing to approach to God. | Approach, and contend with God, scrutinizing his conduct, (Proverbs 25:27.) and doing good for the sake of applause and self-interest. |
| Isaiah 58:3 | Why have we fasted, and thou hast not regarded: why have we humbled our souls, and thou hast not taken notice? Behold, in the day of your fast, your own will is found, and you exact of all your debtors. | Will. This alone suggested their fasts, and they did not shew compassion, Ezechiel 7:2. (Calmet) --- Debtors, who are not able to pay. (St. Jerome) (Deuteronomy 24:12.) |
| Isaiah 58:4 | Behold, you fast for debates and strife, and strike with the fist wickedly. Do not fast as you have done until this day, to make your cry to be heard on high. | Strife. The usual works were interrupted. The Church formerly forbade law-suits on fast-days. --- Fist. Matthew 18:28. --- Wickedly. Septuagint, "the humble." |
| Isaiah 58:5 | *Is this such a fast as I have chosen: for a man to afflict his soul for a day? is this it, to wind his head about like a circle, and to spread sackcloth and ashes? wilt thou call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the Lord? Zacharias 7:5. | Circle. They affected extreme debility, Matthew 6:16. (Calmet) --- Ashes. These external marks of penance are not condemned, but the want of corresponding sentiments. (Haydock) --- Protestants would hence infer that fasting from flesh is not requisite, or a religious worship. But St. Jerome shews the contrary, provided it be joined with the observance of other commandments, as the saints and Christ himself have shewn us. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 58:6 | Is not this rather the fast that I have chosen? loose the bands of wickedness, undo the bundles that oppress, let them that are broken, go free, and break asunder every burden. | Bands. Contracts of usury, etc. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 58:7 | *Deal thy bread to the hungry, and bring the needy and the harbourless into thy house: when thou shalt see one naked, cover him, and despise not thy own flesh. Ezechiel 18:7.; Ezechiel 18:16.; Matthew 25:35. | Deal. Literally, "break." (Haydock) --- Thin cakes are still used in the East. --- Flesh, or relation, Genesis 37:27. |
| Isaiah 58:8 | Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy health shall speedily arise, and thy justice shall go before thy face, and the glory of the Lord shall gather thee up. | Light. Prosperity, (Calmet) or Saviour. (Haydock) --- Matthew 4:2., and John 1:8. (Calmet) --- Health. Aquila, "the scar of thy wound shall soon be covered." (St. Jerome) --- Up. He shall close the rear, like the angel in the cloud, Exodus 13:21., and 14:19. He will grant thee rest from bondage in the grave and in heaven. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 58:9 | Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall hear: thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou wilt take away the chain out of the midst of thee, and cease to stretch out the finger, and to speak that which profiteth not. | Finger, contemptuously, or threatening. (St. Jerome) --- Some explain it of the ordaining sacred ministers, or taking another's property. |
| Isaiah 58:10 | When thou shalt pour out thy soul to the hungry, and shalt satisfy the afflicted soul, then shall thy light rise up in darkness, and thy darkness shall be as the noon-day. | Soul, effectually, and with love relieving the distressed. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 58:11 | And the Lord will give thee rest continually, and will fill thy soul with brightness, and deliver thy bones, and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a fountain of waters, whose water shall not fail. | Fail. Alexandrian Septuagint adds, "and thy bones as a flower shall spring and grow fat, and shall inherit ages of ages." St. Jerome says this is not in the best copies. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 58:12 | *And the places that have been desolate for ages, shall be built in thee: thou shalt raise up the foundations of generation and generation: and thou shalt be called the repairer of the fences, turning the paths into rest. Isaias 61:4. | Generation. As the Jews did not comply with the condition, the Church falls heir to these promises. |
| Isaiah 58:13 | If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy own will in my holy day, and call the sabbath delightful, and the holy of the Lord glorious, and glorify him, while thou dost not thy own ways, and thy own will is not found, to speak a word: | Sabbath, doing no work, or refraining from the violation of festivals. --- Delightful. We must not think the sabbath of the Lord a loss: (Amos 8:5.) but rejoice in praising him, Psalm 45:11. (Calmet) --- A word, or to apply to God's word. (Grotius) --- Pious reading on holidays is the duty of all who have an opportunity. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 58:14 | Then shalt thou be delighted in the Lord, and I will lift thee up above the high places of the earth, and will feed thee with the inheritance of Jacob, thy father. For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. | Earth. Judea. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "upon the good things of the land." (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 59:0 | The dreadful evil of sin is displayed, as the great obstacle to all good from God: yet he will send a Redeemer, and make an everlasting covenant with his Church. | |
| Isaiah 59:1 | Behold, *the hand of the Lord is not shortened, that it cannot save, neither is his ear heavy that it cannot hear. Numbers 1:23.; Isaias 50:2. | |
| Isaiah 59:2 | But your iniquities have divided between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you that he should not hear. | Iniquities. The history of Susanna shews that the captives were not all free from sin, which alone prevented their liberation, Lamentations 3:44. (Calmet) [Daniel xiii.] --- God is willing and able to save. He punishes for sin, to cause us to repent, ver. 20. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 59:3 | *For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity: your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue uttereth iniquity. Isaias 1:15. | |
| Isaiah 59:4 | There is none that calleth upon justice, neither is there any one that judgeth truly: but they trust in a mere nothing, and speak vanities: they have conceived labour, and brought forth iniquity. | Justice. They arraign unjustly. None call upon the just God, but trust in idols. --- Iniquity. They kill themselves, while they strive to injure others, Psalm 7:15., and Micheas 2:1. |
| Isaiah 59:5 | They have broken the eggs of asps, *and have woven the webs of spiders: he that shall eat of their eggs, shall die: and that which is brought out, shall be hatched into a basilisk. Job 8:4. | Basilisk, or viper. (Calmet) --- The young ones "burst through the viper's sides." (Pliny, [Natural History?] 10:62.) --- So the works of the wicked are useless or destructive. |
| Isaiah 59:6 | Their webs shall not be for clothing, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are unprofitable works, and the work of iniquity is in their hands. | |
| Isaiah 59:7 | *Their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are unprofitable thoughts: wasting and destruction are in their ways. Proverbs 1:16.; Romans 3:15. | |
| Isaiah 59:8 | They have not known the way of peace, and there is no judgment in their steps: their paths are become crooked to them: every one that treadeth in them, knoweth no peace. | Peace, or prosperity. They quarrel with all, and ruin themselves, Psalm xiii. |
| Isaiah 59:9 | Therefore is judgment far from us, and justice shall not overtake us. We looked for light, and behold darkness: brightness, and we have walked in the dark. | Therefore. The wicked Jews nevertheless confess that their sins prove their destruction. |
| Isaiah 59:10 | We have groped for the wall, and like the blind we have groped as if we had no eyes: we have stumbled at noon-day, as in darkness, we are in dark places, as dead men. | Dead. The Jews will not recognize Christ, notwithstanding the prophecies and miracles. |
| Isaiah 59:11 | We shall roar all of us like bears, and shall lament as mournful doves. We have looked for judgment, and there is none: for salvation, and it is far from us. | Judgment, that God would avenge us, (ver. 9.) and regard our fasts, Isaias 58:3. |
| Isaiah 59:12 | For our iniquities are multiplied before thee, and our sins have testified against us: for our wicked doings are with us, and we have known our iniquities, | |
| Isaiah 59:13 | In sinning and lying against the Lord: and we have turned away so that we went not after our God, but spoke calumny and transgression: we have conceived, and uttered from the heart, words of falsehood. | |
| Isaiah 59:14 | And judgment is turned away backward, and justice hath stood far off: because truth hath fallen down in the street, and equity could not come in. | In. Where truth is disregarded, there can be no justice. |
| Isaiah 59:15 | And truth hath been forgotten: and he that departed from evil, lay open to be a prey: and the Lord saw, and it appeared evil in his eyes, because there is no judgment. | |
| Isaiah 59:16 | And he saw that there is not a man: and he stood astonished, because there is none to oppose himself: and his own arm brought salvation to him, and his own justice supported him. | Himself, to arrest his arm, stretched out to chastise his son; or to second him. There is nothing in man to stop God's vengeance. He therefore pardons out of his own goodness, Isaias 59:2., and 63:4. (Calmet) --- He became man to redeem us, as no pure mortal could do it. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 59:17 | *He put on justice as a breast-plate, and a helmet of salvation upon his head: he put on the garments of vengeance, and was clad with zeal as with a cloak. Ephesians 6:17.; 1 Thessalonians 5:8. | Justice. None can blame his conduct. |
| Isaiah 59:18 | As unto revenge, as it were to repay wrath to his adversaries, and a reward to his enemies: he will repay the like to the islands. | |
| Isaiah 59:19 | And they from the west, shall fear the name of the Lord: and they from the rising of the sun, his glory: when he shall come as a violent stream, which the spirit of the Lord driveth on: | On. Hebrew, "is standard-bearer." (Aquila) (St. Jerome) --- Cyrus, the figurative redeemer, proceeds rapidly. |
| Isaiah 59:20 | *And there shall come a Redeemer to Sion, and to them that return from iniquity in Jacob, saith the Lord. Romans 11:26. | To Sion. Septuagint, "from Sion, and will turn away iniquity from Jacob. (21.) And this," etc. (Haydock) --- St. Paul hence proves that the Jews will at last be converted, Romans 11:26. The return of the captives prefigured this event. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 59:21 | This is my covenant with them, saith the Lord: My spirit that is in thee, and my words that I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth, and for ever. | Covenant. Note here a clear promise of perpetual orthodoxy to the Church of Christ. (Challoner) --- She hath still the spirit of truth. (Worthington) (Matthew 28:20.) --- None will apply this to the synagogue, which is visibly in the dark, and abandoned. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 60:0 | The light of true faith shall shine forth in the Church of Christ, and shall be spread through all nations, and continue for all ages. | |
| Isaiah 60:1 | Arise, be enlightened, O Jerusalem: for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. | O Jerusalem, is not in Hebrew or St. Jerome, but in the Septuagint. Some few things may refer to the terrestrial Jerusalem, though the prophet speaks chiefly of the celestial and of the Church. --- Lord, very great. Christ came to save us. (Calmet) --- God prevents by his grace, but man must co-operate to be justified. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 60:2 | For behold darkness shall cover the earth, and a mist the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. | People. Babylon shall suffer, while thou art relieved. (Calmet) --- The Gentiles continue in darkness till they embrace the faith, ver. 3. (Haydock) --- Only those who are in the Church receive the light of truth. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 60:3 | And the Gentiles shall walk in thy light, and kings in the brightness of thy rising. | Rising. The three wise men were the first. [Matthew ii.] |
| Isaiah 60:4 | *Lift up thy eyes round about, and see: all these are gathered together, they are come to thee: thy sons shall come from afar, and thy daughters shall rise up at thy side. Isaias 49:18. | Rise up. St. Jerome, "suck," as the Hebrew may imply. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "shall be carried on the shoulders." (Haydock) --- This may refer to the captives and to the Church. |
| Isaiah 60:5 | Then shalt thou see, and abound, and thy heart shall wonder and be enlarged, when the multitude of the sea shall be converted to thee, the strength of the Gentiles shall come to thee. | Wonder. Hebrew and Septuagint in St. Jerome, "fear." This sensation is often mixed with joy, Matthew 28:8. --- Thee. No such nations joined the Jews, as they did the Church. |
| Isaiah 60:6 | The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Madian and Epha: all they from Saba shall come, bringing gold and frankincense: and shewing forth praise to the Lord. | Epha. Abraham's grandson, who dwelt near his father, Madian, in Arabia, which was famous for camels. (Calmet) --- Saba. India mittit ebur, molles sua thura Sabaei? (Geor. i.) --- The Arabians embraced the gospel, but never brought their treasures to Jerusalem. (Calmet) --- The three kings came on swift beasts to adore Christ, and fulfilled his prophecy, Matthew 2:(Worthington) |
| Isaiah 60:7 | All the flocks of Cedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nabaioth shall minister to thee: they shall be offered upon my acceptable altar, and I will glorify the house of my majesty. | Cedar and Nabaioth sprung from Ismael, and dwelt in desert Arabia, under tents, feeding flocks. (St. Jerome) (Ezechiel 27:21.) --- They also were converted to Christ. |
| Isaiah 60:8 | Who are these, that fly as clouds, and as doves to their windows? | Clouds. They are thy children, accompanied by strangers. |
| Isaiah 60:9 | For the islands wait for me, and the ships of the sea in the beginning: that I may bring thy sons from afar: their silver, and their gold with them, to the name of the Lord thy God, and to the holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee. | Afar. All nations shall receive the gospel. Many made presents to the temple, after the return of the Jews. (Calmet) --- The islands, Great Britain, etc., embrace the faith. (Tertullian; Origen; Ven. Bede; St. Chrysostom, etc.) (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 60:10 | And the children of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister to thee: for in my wrath have I struck thee, and in my reconciliation have I had mercy upon thee. | To thee. The Persian monarchs (Calmet) were mostly favourable to the Jews. (Haydock) --- The Gentiles help to form the Church, which rejects no one, ver. 11. |
| Isaiah 60:11 | *And thy gates shall be open continually: they shall not be shut day nor night, that the strength of the Gentiles may be brought to thee, and their kings may be brought. Apocalypse 21:25. | |
| Isaiah 60:12 | For the nation and the kingdom that will not serve thee, shall perish: and the Gentiles shall be wasted with desolation. | Desolation. Though the Machabees conquered several nations, this can only be verified in the Church of Christ, to which God has subjected all; so that out of his faith none can be saved, Hebrews 2:8. |
| Isaiah 60:13 | The glory of Libanus shall come to thee, the fir-tree, and the box-tree, and the pine-tree together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary: and I will glorify the place of my feet. | Glory; cedar, which was chiefly used in building the temple, 1 Esdras 3:7. (Calmet) --- This must be explained of the saints, who founded the Church, etc. (St. Jerome) --- Emperors became Christians, with the most potent nations. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 60:14 | And the children of them that afflicted thee, shall come bowing down to thee, and all that slandered thee shall worship the steps of thy feet, and shall call thee the city of the Lord, the Sion of the holy One of Israel. | Feet. Protestants, "shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet." This posture is not then essentially idolatrous. (Haydock) --- Jerusalem shall be rebuilt by those who destroyed it, Isaias 49:17. It is not easy to prove this of the earthly city: but the pagans, who persecuted the Church, have embraced her communion, and begged to receive baptism. |
| Isaiah 60:15 | Because thou wast forsaken, and hated, and there was none that passed through thee, I will make thee to be an everlasting glory, a joy unto generation and generation: | |
| Isaiah 60:16 | And thou shalt suck the milk of the Gentiles, and thou shalt be nursed with the breasts of kings: and thou shalt know that I am the Lord, thy Saviour, and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob. | Kings. Thou shalt be treated like royal babes, Isaias 49:23. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "and thou shalt eat the riches of kings." (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 60:17 | For brass, I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver: and for wood, brass, and for stones, iron: and I will make thy visitation peace, and thy overseers justice. | Visitation. Septuagint, "give thy chiefs in peace, and thy bishops in justice." St. Clement of Rome (ad Corinthians) reads, "I will appoint their bishops in justice, and their deacons in faith." (Calmet) --- The Scripture thus specifies the name and duties of the pastors of the Church (St. Jerome) |
| Isaiah 60:18 | Iniquity shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting or destruction in thy borders, and salvation shall possess thy walls, and praise thy gates. | Gates. Jerusalem was not less corrupt after the captivity than before, if we except idolatry. (Calmet) --- Heaven alone enjoys a perfect peace and freedom from sin, (St. Cyril, etc.) though the Church is always holy. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 60:19 | *Thou shalt no more have the sun for thy light by day, neither shall the brightness of the moon enlighten thee; but the Lord shall be unto thee for an everlasting light, and thy God for thy glory. Apocalypse 21:23.; Apocalypse 22:5. | Thou shalt, etc. In this latter part of the chapter, the prophet passes from the illustrious promises made to the Church militant on earth, to the glory of the Church triumphant in heaven. (Challoner) --- Glory. St. John seems to have copied this, Apocalypse xviii., etc. |
| Isaiah 60:20 | Thy sun shall go down no more, and thy moon shall not decrease: for the Lord shall be unto thee for an everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. | |
| Isaiah 60:21 | And thy people shall be all just, they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hand to glorify me. | |
| Isaiah 60:22 | The least shall become a thousand, and a little one a most strong nation: I, the Lord, will suddenly do this thing in its time. | The least of the apostles shall bring many converts, (Calmet) or shall be spiritual (Haydock) governor of a great city, (Micheas 5:2.) in the Church militant. (Calmet) --- A small shoot, or family, in the Church, shall produce many others. (Menochius) |
| Isaiah 61:0 | The office of Christ: the mission of the apostles: the happiness of their converts. | |
| Isaiah 61:1 | The *spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me: he hath sent me to preach to the meek, to heal the contrite of heart, and to preach a release to the captives, and deliverance to them that are shut up. Luke 4:8. | Lord. Hebrew adds, "God." Adonai seems to have been inserted to prevent the pronunciation of Jehovah, (Kennicott) which alone occurs in the Septuagint, Arabic, and in St. Luke, 4:18. (Haydock) --- Thus Elohim may have been substituted for Jehovah, Genesis 22:8., as [in] [Genesis xxii.] ver. 14, "Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah jireh, because he had said that day on the mount: Jehovah will provide" a victim, even Jesus Christ in the same place. Perhaps no part of the Bible is "so absurdly translated" as this, (Kennicott) by Protestants. (Haydock) --- St. Luke follows the Septuagint in his quotation, only instead of to preach a, etc., he has an explanation, to set at liberty them that are bruised. Isaias may here speak of himself, (Chaldean) yet only as a figure of Christ. The Jews admit that the Messias is meant. Christ had received the Holy Spirit at the Jordan, John 1:32. He performed these works, (Luke 7:22.) particularly addressing his discourse to the meek and poor, Sophonias 3:12., and Zacharias 11:7., and 1 Corinthians 1:26. (Calmet) --- He was not anointed with oil, like Aaron, but with the Holy Ghost; so that of his fullness others must receive, Acts 10:39., etc. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 61:2 | To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God: *to comfort all that mourn: Matthew 5:5. | Year of Jubilee, (Jeremias 25:11.) when the Jews should be delivered, as a figure of Christ's redemption. --- Vengeance, when the Chaldeans, etc., should perish, (Calmet) and all obstinate sinners, at the day of judgment. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 61:3 | To appoint to the mourners of Sion, and to give them a crown for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, a garment of praise for the spirit of grief: and they shall be called in it the mighty ones of justice, the planting of the Lord to glorify him. | Glorify. The rulers shall act with justice, Isaias 60:17, 21. |
| Isaiah 61:4 | *And they shall build the places that have been waste from of old, and shall raise up ancient ruins, and shall repair the desolate cities, that were destroyed for generation and generation. Isaias 58:12. | Ruins, as the Jews did, Isaias 58:12. The apostles preached to the Gentiles, who had been long neglected. |
| Isaiah 61:5 | And strangers shall stand and shall feed your flocks: and the sons of strangers shall be your husbandmen, and the dressers of your vines. | Vines. Bishops were soon chosen from among the Gentiles. The Machabees subdued the neighbouring nations, 1 Machabees 15:28. |
| Isaiah 61:6 | But you shall be called the priests of the Lord: to you it shall be said: Ye ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and you shall pride yourselves in their glory. | Priests. They were greatly honoured, (Exodus 19:6.) so that the sons of David had the appellation. The Jews had still to labour as before. Christians become heirs to these promises, and are styled a royal priesthood, 1 Peter 2:9., and Apocalypse 1:6. They have received the Scriptures from the Jews, and employ human sciences for the advancement of religion. The wisest pagans yield to the force of truth. |
| Isaiah 61:7 | For your double confusion and shame, they shall praise their part: therefore shall they receive double in their land, everlasting joy shall be unto them. | Part: God, or the land. Converts shall bless God for having withdrawn them from the crowd of infidels, and they will rejoice in suffering for his sake, (Calmet) preferring their lot before that of unbelievers. Before this change the apostles grieved. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 61:8 | For I am the Lord that love judgment, and hate robbery in a holocaust: and I will make their work in truth, and I will make a perpetual covenant with them. | Holocaust. The pagans saw such things were improper victims. (Eusebius, praep. 4:14.) --- Septuagint, "hate unjust plunder." (Haydock) --- Therefore will I subject the strangers to you, ver. 5. --- Truth. I will grant a sure reward. --- Covenant. These of Nehemias and the Machabees were soon forgotten: but Christ's covenant shall abide for ever. |
| Isaiah 61:9 | And they shall know their seed among the Gentiles, and their offspring in the midst of peoples: all that shall see them, shall know them, that these are the seed which the Lord hath blessed. | Blessed. The Jews are visibly the reverse. The Church flourishes in spite of domestic and foreign enemies. |
| Isaiah 61:10 | I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, and my soul shall be joyful in my God: for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation: and with the robe of justice he hath covered me, as a bridegroom decked with a crown, and as a bride adorned with her jewels. | Jewels. Apocalypse 21:2. Jerusalem, or rather the Church, praises God. |
| Isaiah 61:11 | For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth her seed to shoot forth: so shall the Lord God make justice to spring forth, and praise before all the nations. | Nations, whose conversion is implicitly foretold. All behold the justice which God has treated both his people and their oppressors. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 62:0 | The prophet will not cease from preaching Christ: to whom all nations shall be converted: and whose Church shall continue for ever. | |
| Isaiah 62:1 | For Sion's sake I will not hold my peace, and for the sake of Jerusalem, I will not rest, till her just one come forth as brightness, and her Saviour be lighted as a lamp. | Rest, as long as God grants me life, or till I behold the Saviour; or Cyrus, the figure of Christ. (Calmet) --- True preachers will not be silent on account of any threats, but will labour for the Church, 2 Timothy 2:(Worthington) |
| Isaiah 62:2 | And the Gentiles shall see thy just One, and all kings thy glorious one: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name. | One. No profane historian mentions what Cyrus did for the Jews; but all the world knows how much Christ has favoured his Church. (Calmet) --- Name. Thou shalt be no longer the rebellious Jerusalem, but the spouse and chosen people, the Church of Christ. (St. Ignatius of Antioch, ad Magnesians) (St. Jerome) |
| Isaiah 62:3 | And thou shalt be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. | Hand. Chaldean, "before." Hebrew, "by the protection." |
| Isaiah 62:4 | Thou shalt no more be called forsaken: and thy land shall no more be called desolate: but thou shalt be called My pleasure in her, and thy land inhabited. Because the Lord hath been well pleased with thee: and thy land shall be inhabited. | Forsaken. Yet the synagogue was again rejected, at the death of Christ. The promises naturally relate to his Church. (Calmet) --- Inhabited. Protestants retain the Hebrew words Chephtsi-bah, "my delight in her," and Beulah, (marginal note) "married." (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 62:5 | For the young man shall dwell with the virgin, and thy children shall dwell in thee. And the bridegroom shall rejoice over the bride, and thy God shall rejoice over thee. | Dwell. Hebrew, "marry." They shall be attached to their country. --- Thee. He shall love thee as a bridegroom does one whom he has lately married. Christ never abandons his virgin spouse. (Calmet) --- Isaias speaks of some state of the Jews which has not yet taken place. (Houbigant) |
| Isaiah 62:6 | Upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen all the day, and all the night; they shall never hold their peace. You that are mindful of the Lord, hold not your peace, | Watchmen; priests and prophets, (Matthew 2:1., and Psalm 133:2.; Calmet) or angels. (St. Jerome; St. Bernard) --- The synagogue has been long destitute of guides, but the Catholic Church has an uninterrupted succession of watchful pastors. --- Mindful whose duty it is to remind him of his promises, and to recite the Church office. (Calmet) --- Hebrew mazcirim, monitors, 2 Kings 8:16. (Haydock) --- In these faithful watchman the Church is always visible. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 62:7 | And give him no silence till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. | |
| Isaiah 62:8 | The Lord hath sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength: Surely I will no more give thy corn to be meat for thy enemies: and the sons of the strangers shall not drink thy wine, for which thou hast laboured. | Hand; inviolably, Deuteronomy 32:40. The Persians deemed this oath most sacred. (Calmet) --- Darius, just expiring, said to Polycrates, "By thee I give this right hand to Alexander," (Plut.[Plutarch?]) that he may revenge my death. --- Wine. The Church cannot be deprived of her faith or of her God. |
| Isaiah 62:9 | For they that gather it, shall eat it, and shall praise the Lord: and they that bring it together, shall drink it in my holy courts. | |
| Isaiah 62:10 | Go through, go through the gates, *prepare the way for the people, make the road plain, pick out the stones, and lift up the standard to the people. Isaias 57:14. | People, that they may return to Judea, and be converted to Christ. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 62:11 | *Behold, the Lord hath made it to be heard in the ends of the earth, tell the daughter of Sion: Behold, thy Saviour cometh: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. Zacharias 9:9.; Matthew 21:5. | Work the redemption of mankind. (Haydock) --- Though Cyrus was a figure of Christ, he was as much beneath him as earth is below heaven, Zacharias 9:9. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 62:12 | And they shall call them, The holy people, the redeemed of the Lord. But thou shalt be called: A city sought after, and not forsaken. | |
| Isaiah 63:0 | Christ's victory over his enemies: his mercies to his people: their complaint. | |
| Isaiah 63:1 | Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bosra, this beautiful one in his robe, walking in the greatness of his strength. I, that speak justice, and am a defender to save. | Edom. Edom and Bosra (a strong city of Edom) are here taken in a mystical sense for the enemies of Christ and his Church. (Challoner) --- St. Jerome with reason finds it difficult to explain it of Christ, as it regards the Machabees. (Houbigant) --- The first six verses are applied to our Saviour's ascension, which excites the admiration of angels, Psalm 23:7. Judas, the Machabee, the glorious figure of Christ, is introduced speaking in this and the following chapter. He conquered Idumea, (1 Machabees 5:3., and 2 Machabees 10:10.) and fought to save the people, 1 Machabees 9:21. (Calmet) --- The highest order of angels asks this question, admiring the beauty of Christ, though imbrued in blood after his victory. (St. Dionysius, Hierar. vii.) (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 63:2 | *Why then is thy apparel red, and thy garments like theirs that tread in the wine-press? Apocalypse 19:13. | |
| Isaiah 63:3 | I have trodden the wine-press alone, and of the Gentiles there is not a man with me: I have trampled on them in my indignation, and have trodden them down in my wrath, and their blood is sprinkled upon my garments, and I have stained all my apparel. | Press. Christ suffered, (St. Cyril) and punished his enemies, Apocalypse 14:19. Judas received God's sword from Jeremias, (2 Machabees 15:15.) and liberated his people. |
| Isaiah 63:4 | *For the day of vengeance is in my heart, the year of my redemption is come. Isaias 34:8. | |
| Isaiah 63:5 | I looked about, and there was none to help: I sought, and there was none to give aid: and my own arm hath saved for me, and my indignation itself hath helped me. | Me. I depended on the goodness of my cause, and on God's aid, Isaias 59:15. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 63:6 | And I have trodden down the people in my wrath, and have made them drunk in my indignation, and have brought down their strength to the earth. | Drunk with the wine of my fury, Psalm 74:9., and Ezechiel 23:31. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 63:7 | I will remember the tender mercies of the Lord, the praise of the Lord for all the things that the Lord hath bestowed upon us, and for the multitude of his good things to the house of Israel, which he hath given them according to his kindness, and according to the multitude of his mercies. | I, Isaias; or rather the hero mentions what induced him to rise up, 1 Machabees 16:10. (Calmet) --- The Jews confess God's mercies. (St. Jerome) |
| Isaiah 63:8 | And he said: Surely, they are my people, children that will not deny: so he became their Saviour. | Deny, or prove degenerate. (Calmet) --- God approves the conduct of the Machabees. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 63:9 | In all their affliction he was not troubled, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love, and in his mercy he redeemed them, and he carried them and lifted them up all the days of old. | Presence, in high authority, Exodus 33:20. (Calmet) --- The angel guardian of the Church. Particular guardians also see God's face, Matthew xviii. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 63:10 | But they provoked to wrath, and afflicted the spirit of his holy One: and he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them. | One; Moses, Numbers 14:29., and 20:3, 12. |
| Isaiah 63:11 | And he remembered the days of old of Moses, and of his people: *Where is he that brought them up out of the sea, with the shepherds of his flock? where is he that put in the midst of them the spirit of his holy One? Exodus 14:29. | Flock. Psalm 76:21. --- One. Moses inspired by God. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 63:12 | He that brought out Moses by the right hand, by the arm of his majesty: that divided the waters before them, to make himself an everlasting name. | |
| Isaiah 63:13 | He that led them out through the deep, as a horse in the wilderness that stumbleth not. | Not, the road was so plain, Wisdom 19:7. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 63:14 | As a beast that goeth down in the field, the spirit of the Lord was their leader: so didst thou lead thy people to make thyself a glorious name. | |
| Isaiah 63:15 | *Look down from heaven, and behold from thy holy habitation and the place of thy glory: where is thy zeal, and thy strength, the multitude of thy bowels, and of thy mercies: they have held back themselves from me. Deuteronomy 26:45.; Baruch 2:16. | Back. This is spoken by the prophet in the person of the Jews, at the time when for their sins they were given up to their enemies. (Challoner) --- Judas uses the same language at Maspha, 1 Machabees 3:50. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 63:16 | For thou art our father, and Abraham hath not known us, and Israel hath been ignorant of us: thou, O Lord, art our Father, our Redeemer, from everlasting is thy name. | Abraham, etc. That is, Abraham will not now acknowledge us for his children, by reason of our degeneracy; but thou, O Lord, art our true father and our redeemer, and no other can be called our parent in comparison with thee. (Challoner) --- Abraham is not able to save us. (Calmet) --- The patriarchs may justly disregard us, as degenerate children; yet we hope in God's mercies. Thus St. Jerome, etc., explain the passage, which does not favour the errors of Vigilantius and of Luther, who maintain that the saints departed do not know what passes in this world. St. Augustine (Cura xv.) shews the contrary, from the example of Lazarus, Luke xvi. They know each other, though they had not lived together, (St. Gregory, Dial. 4:33.) and behold in the light of God what regards their clients. (St. Augustine, City of God 22:29.) We cannot decide how the martyrs do help those whom it is certain they assist. (St. Augustine, cura xvi., and contra Faust. 20:21.; St. Jerome, contra Vigil.; St. Gregory, 3 ep. 30., and 7 ep. 126., etc.) (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 63:17 | Why hast thou made us to err, O Lord, from thy ways: why hast thou hardened our heart, that we should not fear thee? return, for the sake of thy servants, the tribes of thy inheritance. | Hardened, etc. The meaning is, that God, in punishment of their great and manifold crimes, and their long abuse of his mercy and grace, had withdrawn his graces from them, and so given them up to error and hardness of heart. (Challoner) --- They had abused his patience, to sin the more. (Theodoret) --- The Jews are accustomed to attribute all to God, though they agree with us in reality God might prevent any sin. (Calmet) --- But he chooses to leave man to the free exercise of his liberty. He hardens (Haydock) "not by infusing malice, but by not shewing mercy; and those to whom he shews it not, are undeserving." (St. Augustine, ep. ad Sixt. CXCIV. 14.) --- God is never the author of error. Man takes occasion from his indulgence to become obdurate. (St. Jerome) (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 63:18 | They have possessed thy holy people as nothing: our enemies have trodden down thy sanctuary. | Nothing; holding them in the greatest contempt. Epiphanes thought he should make them easily change their religion. His persecution lasted only three years and a half. --- Sanctuary. 1 Machabees 1:23, 49, 57., and 3:45. |
| Isaiah 63:19 | We are become as in the beginning, when thou didst not rule over us, and when we were not called by thy name. | Name. We seem to have no distinction, temple, etc. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "We are thine. Thou never bearest rule over them. They were," etc. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 64:0 | The prophet prays for the release of his people: and for the remission of their sins. | |
| Isaiah 64:1 | O that thou wouldst rend the heavens, and wouldst come down: the mountains would melt away at thy presence. | Presence, as at Sinai, Exodus 19:16., and Judges 5:4. Judas [the Machabee] continues to pray. (Calmet) --- The faithful sigh for Christ's coming. (Haydock) --- All good people desired it most fervently. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 64:2 | They would melt as at the burning of fire, the waters would burn with fire, that thy name might be made known to thy enemies: that the nations might tremble at thy presence. | They. Septuagint, "As wax melts before the fire, so also fire will burn the adversaries, and thy," etc. (Haydock) --- Burn. Sparks of fire seemed to proceed from it. |
| Isaiah 64:3 | When thou shalt do wonderful things, we shall not bear them: thou didst come down, and at thy presence the mountains melted away. | Bear. Exodus 20:18. Hebrew, "expect." Judas [the Machabee] appeared victorious, when the nation was prostrate. |
| Isaiah 64:4 | From the beginning of the world they have not heard, nor perceived with the ears: *the eye hath not seen, O God, besides thee, what things thou hast prepared for them that wait for thee. 1 Corinthians 2:9. | Thee. Never was deliverance more unexpected or miraculous. St. Paul quotes this passage, to shew the wisdom manifested in the incarnation, 1 Corinthians 2:9. It is commonly applied to the glory of heaven. |
| Isaiah 64:5 | Thou hast met him that rejoiceth, and doth justice: in thy ways they shall remember thee: behold, thou art angry, and we have sinned: in them we have been always, and we shall be saved. | Thee. The little band of Judas was sincerely attached to the Lord, 2 Machabees 1:3. --- Sinned. This excited thy anger. Yet thou wilt shew mercy. Sin is often put for punishment. (Calmet) --- Vau means also, "for, and, yet." Protestants, "for we have sinned." But we follow St. Jerome and the Vulgate. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 64:6 | And we are all become as one unclean, and all our justices as the rag of a menstruous woman: and we have all fallen as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. | Unclean: leper. (Grotius) (Leviticus 13:45.) --- Justices. That is, the works by which we pretended to make ourselves just. This is spoken particularly of the sacrifices, sacraments, and ceremonies of the Jews, after the death of Christ, and the promulgation of the new law. (Challoner) --- The justice which is under the law is stated uncleanness, when compared with evangelical purity, Philippians 3:8. --- "If any one after the gospel....would observe the ceremonies of the law, let him hear the people confessing that all that justice is compared to a most filthy rag." (St. Jerome) --- The good works which are done by grace, and not by man alone, cannot be said to be of this description. They constitute the internal glory of man, and God will one day crown these his gifts. Of ourselves indeed we can do nothing, and the works of the Mosaic law will not avail, as St. Paul inculcates; but those works, point out the saint, which are preformed by charity with faith in Christ. This justice is not imputed only, but real; and shews where true faith exists, according to St. James. Thus the apostles explain each other. (Haydock) --- Woman. Septuagint, "of one sitting down;" like Rachel, Genesis 31:35. Symmachus, "lying-in." Aquila, "of proofs." Grotius, "like a plaster on a sore, which is thrown away." Such were Alcimus, etc. (Calmet) --- To practise (Haydock) the Jewish rites would now be sinful. (Menochius) |
| Isaiah 64:7 | There is none that calleth upon thy name: that riseth up, and taketh hold of thee: thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast crushed us in the hand of our iniquity. | Of thee; to remove thy indignation, like Moses, Jeremias 7:15., etc. See Ezechiel 13:5. |
| Isaiah 64:8 | And now, O Lord, thou art our Father, and we are clay: and thou art our Maker, and we all are the works of thy hands. | |
| Isaiah 64:9 | *Be not very angry, O Lord, and remember no longer our iniquity: behold, see we are all thy people. Psalm 78:8. | |
| Isaiah 64:10 | The city of thy sanctuary is become a desert, Sion is made a desert, Jerusalem is desolate. | Desolate, under Antiochus Epiphanes, 1 Machabees 1:31., and 4:38. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 64:11 | The house of our holiness, and of our glory, where our fathers praised thee, is burnt with fire, and all our lovely things are turned into ruins. | |
| Isaiah 64:12 | Wilt thou refrain thyself, O Lord, upon these things, wilt thou hold thy peace and afflict us vehemently? | |
| Isaiah 65:0 | The Gentiles shall seek and find Christ, but the Jews will persecute him, and be rejected, only a remnant shall be reserved. The Church shall multiply, and abound with graces. | |
| Isaiah 65:1 | They *have sought me that before asked not for me, they have found me that sought me not. I said: Behold me, behold me, to a nation that did not call upon my name. Romans 10:20. | Me. God answers the preceding prayer, and announces the rejection of the synagogue, alluding to the armies which prevailed in the days of the Machabees. --- Not. St. Paul explains this of the conversion of the Gentiles, Romans 10:20. (Calmet) --- It cannot regard the Jews, who are spoken of in the next verse. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 65:2 | I have spread forth my hands all the day to an unbelieving people, who walk in a way that is not good, after their own thoughts. | |
| Isaiah 65:3 | A people that continually provoke me to anger before my face: that immolate in gardens, and sacrifice upon bricks. | Gardens, to the impure Venus and Adonis. --- Bricks, to the Manes. (Calmet) --- Tegula porrectis satis est velata coronis Et sparsae fruges parvaque mica salis. (Ovid, Fast. x.) |
| Isaiah 65:4 | That dwell in sepulchres, and sleep in the temple of idols: that eat swine's flesh, and profane broth is in their vessels. | Idols: to have dreams, (Strabo xvi.) and commit impurities. --- Broth of swine's flesh, which was prohibited, Leviticus 11:7. |
| Isaiah 65:5 | That say: Depart from me, come not near me, because thou art unclean: these shall be smoke in my anger, a fire burning all the day. | Unclean. Thus acted the hypocritical Pharisees. --- Smoke. A just punishment of those who had sought the smoke of human applause. |
| Isaiah 65:6 | Behold it is written before me: I will not be silent, but I will render and repay into their bosom, | Bosom: good measure, Luke 6:38. Rewards and punishments will be eternal. |
| Isaiah 65:7 | Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, saith the Lord, who have sacrificed upon the mountains, and have reproached me upon the hills; and I will measure back their first work in their bosom. | Hills. Some offered sacrifices to God, others to idols; both unlawfully. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 65:8 | Thus saith the Lord: As if a grain be found in a cluster, and it be said: Destroy it not, because it is a blessing: so will I do for the sake of my servants, that I may not destroy the whole. | Whole. The good grain is preserved amid the general corruption. (Haydock) --- A few of the Jews were chosen to believe in Christ. |
| Isaiah 65:9 | And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Juda a possessor of my mountains: and my elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there. | Mountains of Judea, (Deuteronomy 3:25.) which the captives shall recover, as a figure of those who shall embrace the Christian faith. |
| Isaiah 65:10 | And the plains shall be turned to folds of flocks, and the valley of Achor into a place for the herds to lie down in, for my people that have sought me. | Plains. Hebrew Sharon, in the land of Basan. --- Achor, near Jericho, called after Achan, (Calmet) who perhaps was more correctly styled Achor, Josue 7:26., and Osee 2:15. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 65:11 | And you, that have forsaken the Lord, that have forgotten my holy mount, that set a table for fortune, and offer libations upon it. | Fortune. Hebrew, "Gad," the sun, Genesis 30:11. --- Upon it. Symmachus, "without me." Septuagint, "to fortune." Hebrew, "to Meni," the moon, or Queen of heaven, Jeremias 7:18., and 44:17. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 65:12 | I will number you in the sword, and you shall all fall by slaughter: *because I called, and you did not answer: I spoke, and you did not hear: and you did evil in my eyes, and you have chosen the things that displease me. Proverbs 1:24.; Isaias 66.; Jeremias 7. | Chosen. Free-will is clearly expressed, as rewards are, ver. 13. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 65:13 | Therefore, thus saith the Lord God: Behold my servants shall eat, and you shall be hungry: behold my servants shall drink, and you shall be thirsty. | Servants; Christians, (Calmet) particularly the elect. (Haydock) --- When the Romans approached Jerusalem, the Christians retired to Pella, and had plenty. (Houbigant) |
| Isaiah 65:14 | Behold my servants shall rejoice, and you shall be confounded: behold my servants shall praise for joyfulness of heart, and you shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for grief of spirit. | |
| Isaiah 65:15 | And you shall leave your name for an execration to my elect: and the Lord God shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name. | Execration. They can wish to be preserved from nothing worse. --- Name. The faithful shall be no longer called Jews. (Calmet) --- They shall be hated, while the name of Christian shall point out God's servants. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 65:16 | In which he that is blessed upon the earth, shall be blessed in God, amen: and he that sweareth in the earth, shall swear by God, amen: because the former distresses are forgotten, and because they are hid from my eyes. | Amen, or "of truth." False gods shall be neglected. They shall not swear by them, as formerly, Sophonias 1:5. --- Christ usually adopted the asseveration, Amen, Amen, to enforce his truths. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 65:17 | *For behold I create new heavens, and a new earth: and the former things shall not be in remembrance, and they shall not come upon the heart. Isaias 66:22.; Apocalypse 21:1. | New earth, in eternity, (Clarius) or here indeed, (2 Peter 3:3., etc.; Houbigant) having purified the former by the general conflagration, which many assert will take place at the end of 6,000 years. (St. Jerome; St. Augustine, etc.) At the return of the captives, the country flourished again under the Machabees; (ver. 18.; Grotius) or rather the gospel changes the face of the earth, Isaias 66:22. (Calmet) (Forerius) --- After the resurrection the qualities, and not the substance, of the world, will be changed. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 65:18 | But you shall be glad, and rejoice for ever in these things, which I create: for behold I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and the people thereof joy. | |
| Isaiah 65:19 | And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people, and the voice of weeping shall no more be heard in her, nor the voice of crying. | |
| Isaiah 65:20 | There shall no more be an infant of days there, nor an old man that shall not fill up his days: for the child shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner being a hundred years old, shall be accursed. | Fill up. To die soon was deemed a misfortune, Psalm 54:24., and Exodus 20:12. Virtue is the measure of the Christian's life, and God will reward those who labour even late, Matthew 20:13. --- Accursed. This age will not be spared. Both just and wicked shall be immortal in eternity. (Theodoret) |
| Isaiah 65:21 | And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruits of them. | |
| Isaiah 65:22 | They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of my people, and the works of their hands shall be of long continuance. | A tree. Septuagint, "of the tree of life," Jeremias 18:8. (Calmet) --- Continuance. Hebrew, "My elect shall long enjoy the works," etc. (Haydock) --- They shall not build for others to enjoy. |
| Isaiah 65:23 | My elect shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth in trouble: for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their posterity with them. | In. Hebrew, "for trouble." Chaldean, "death." Septuagint, "malediction." The children shall not be cut off; and baptism shall secure their salvation. |
| Isaiah 65:24 | *And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will hear: as they are yet speaking, I will hear. Psalm 31:5. | |
| Isaiah 65:25 | *The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion and the ox shall eat straw: and dust shall be the serpent's food: they shall not hurt, nor kill in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord. Isaias 31:6. | Straw. People of the most perverse tempers shall become mild by the influence of the gospel, and shall dwell together in perfect concord. (Calmet) --- Food, according to the sentence, Genesis 3:14. (Menochius) --- The devil's power is abridged, Isaias 11:6. (Calmet) --- The proudest Gentiles are converted, and adopt the mild manners of Christians, in fasting and mortification. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 66:0 | More of the reprobation of the Jews, and of the call of the Gentiles. | |
| Isaiah 66:1 | Thus *saith the Lord: Heaven is my throne, and the earth my foot-stool: what is this house that you will build to me? and what is this place of my rest? Acts 7:49.; Acts 17:24. | House. This is a prophecy that the temple should be cast off. (Challoner) --- Isaias alludes to the return of the captives, as to a figure of the Church. They had flattered themselves with the idea of building a magnificent temple. God regards it not, as long as they follow their own wills and cherish pride. (Calmet) --- He is pleased with the piety of his servants, which may be exhibited any where, though the temple is the most proper place. See Acts vii., and xiv. After the gospel, the sacrifices of the law became unlawful. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 66:2 | My hand made all these things, and all these things were made, saith the Lord. But to whom shall I have respect, but to him that is poor and little, and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at my words? | |
| Isaiah 66:3 | He that sacrificeth an ox, is as if he slew a man: he that killeth a sheep in sacrifice, as if he should brain a dog: he that offereth an oblation, as if he should offer swine's blood: he that remembereth incense, as if he should bless an idol. All these things have they chosen in their ways, and their soul is delighted in their abominations. | He. Septuagint, "the wicked who." (Haydock) --- Ox. This is a prophecy, that the sacrifices which were offered in the old law, should be abolished in the new; and that the offering of them should be a crime. (Challoner) --- Without the proper dispositions, sacrifice only displeases God. (Calmet) --- Brain, or slay. (Haydock) --- Incense. To offer it in the way of a sacrifice; (Challoner) or to remind God of his people. The expression is popular, but energetic, Leviticus 2:2, 9., and 6:15. --- Ways, to please themselves, and to bind me. But I will not have a divided heart, Isaias 1:11., and 58:3. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 66:4 | Wherefore I also will choose their mockeries: and will bring upon them the things they feared: *because I called, and there was none that would answer: I have spoken, and they heard not: and they have done evil in my eyes, and have chosen the things that displease me. Proverbs 1:24.; Isaias 65:12.; Jeremias 7:13. | Mockeries. I will turn their mockeries upon themselves; and will cause them to be mocked by their enemies. (Challoner) |
| Isaiah 66:5 | Hear the word of the Lord, you that tremble at his word: Your brethren that hate you, and cast you out for my name's sake, have said: Let the Lord be glorified, and we shall see in your joy: but they shall be confounded. | Brethren, the Idumeans, etc., or the Jews, who would not believe in Christ. |
| Isaiah 66:6 | A voice of the people from the city, a voice from the temple, the voice of the Lord, that rendereth recompense to his enemies. | Lord, who is about to quit the temple, and to abandon the Jews to their internal dissensions, and to the arms of the Romans. Many prodigies announced this judgment. (Calmet) --- One Jesus cried for seven years and five months, "Woe to the temple," etc. At last he cried, "Woe to myself;" when he was shot dead. (Josephus, Jewish Wars 7:12.) (Tacitus, Hist. v.) --- Angels were heard crying in the temple, "Let us go hence." (Josephus) --- There was contradiction in the city, Psalm liv. (St. Jerome) (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 66:7 | Before she was in labour, she brought forth; before her time came to be delivered she brought forth a man-child. | Before, etc. This relates to the conversion of the Gentiles, who were born as it were all on a sudden to the Church of God. (Challoner) --- Sion furnished the first preachers of the Gospel. (Haydock) |
| Isaiah 66:8 | Who hath ever heard such a thing? and who hath seen the like to this? shall the earth bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be brought forth at once, because Sion hath been in labour, and hath brought forth her children? | Day. Shall a whole nation be born at once? Twelve fishermen effect the most surprising change in the manners of the world. |
| Isaiah 66:9 | Shall not I, that make others to bring forth children, myself bring forth, saith the Lord? shall I, that give generation to others, be barren, saith the Lord thy God? | God. His grace converts the nations. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 66:10 | Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all you that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all you that mourn for her. | For her. Ye shall be comforted, (Haydock) when the captives return, and the gospel is propagated. |
| Isaiah 66:11 | That you may suck, and be filled with the breasts of her consolations: that you may milk out, and flow with delights from the abundance of her glory. | |
| Isaiah 66:12 | For thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will bring upon her, as it were, a river of peace, and as an overflowing torrent, the glory of the Gentiles, which you shall suck: you shall be carried at the breasts, and upon the knees they shall caress you. | You. St. Paul fed the weak with milk, 1 Corinthians 3:2., and Hebrews 5:12., and 1 Peter 2:2. |
| Isaiah 66:13 | As one whom the mother caresseth, so will I comfort you, and you shall be comforted in Jerusalem. | |
| Isaiah 66:14 | You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice, *and your bones shall flourish like an herb; and the hand of the Lord shall be known to his servants, and he shall be angry with his enemies. Ezechiel 37. | Herb, in baptism and the resurrection. --- Enemies, the Chaldeans, infidel Jews, and all the reprobate, ver 15. How many miracles were wrought by Christian preachers! Persecutors have come to an untimely end. (Calmet) --- Before judgment, the world shall be consumed. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 66:15 | For behold the Lord will come with fire, and his chariots are like a whirlwind, to render his wrath in indignation, and his rebuke with flames of fire. | |
| Isaiah 66:16 | For the Lord shall judge by fire, and by his sword unto all flesh, and the slain of the Lord shall be many. | Many. Few are chosen. (Haydock) --- All the wicked shall perish eternally. (Menochius) |
| Isaiah 66:17 | They that were sanctified, and thought themselves clean in the gardens behind the gate within, they that did eat swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse: they shall be consumed together, saith the Lord. | Within the court, or gardens, where they purified themselves, foolishly supposing that this would remove their crimes, as the pagans did. (St. Jerome) (Tertullian, Bapt. v.) --- Instead of gate, St. Jerome wrote unam, "one," moon or Hecate, which is obviously derived from Hebrew Achat, Isaias 57:8., and 65:11. Chaldean, Syriac, etc., "gardens, one after another with those who eat," etc. --- Mouse, or "field-rat," (Bochart) all declared unclean; (Leviticus 11:7, 29.; Calmet) or, "the dor-mouse," (St. Jerome) which was looked upon as a delicacy by the Romans. (Varro 3:15.; Pliny, [Natural History?] 36:1.) |
| Isaiah 66:18 | But I know their works, and their thoughts: I come that I may gather them together with all nations and tongues: and they shall come and shall see my glory. | Gather them, thoughts, etc. All is personified in poetry. The Gentiles shall witness my judgments. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 66:19 | And I will set a sign among them, and I will send of them, that shall be saved, to the Gentiles into the sea, into Africa, and Lydia them that draw the bow: into Italy, and Greece, to the islands afar off, to them that have not heard of me, and have not seen my glory. And they shall declare my glory to the Gentiles: | Sign; the cross, which Christ left to enlighten us, (Ezechiel ix.; St. Jerome; Worthington) or the gospel, with the power of working miracles. Some Jews shall be saved, and shall preach to others, as God's servants. --- Sea. Hebrew, "Tharsis, to Phul in Thebais, Lud, (Ethiopians.; Bochart) who were expert archers." Septuagint, "Mosoch." --- Italy. Hebrew, "Thubal;" denoting Italy, Spain, Iberia, etc. --- Greece. Hebrew, "Javan;" who peopled Ionia and the Archipelago. Islands, near Asia, (Calmet) and all distant places. (Parkhurst, p. 4.) (Haydock) --- Men of all nations shall be converted, and brought by angels to the Church. (St. Jerome) (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 66:20 | And they shall bring all your brethren out of all nations, for a gift to the Lord, upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and on mules, and in coaches, to my holy mountain, Jerusalem, saith the Lord, as if the children of Israel should bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord. | Brethren, as the converts may justly be styled. (Calmet) --- Coaches, (carrucis.) Hebrew circaroth, (Haydock) "dromedaries," (Bochart) "with songs of praise." (Chaldean, etc.) The precise import is unknown. Truth shall shew its sweet force. --- Offering; the first-fruits, brought by all with great solemnity, Deuteronomy 26:4., and 2 Thessalonians 2:12. (Calmet) |
| Isaiah 66:21 | And I will take of them to be priests, and Levites, saith the Lord. | Of them, Gentiles; (ver. 19.) some of whom alone will be properly priests, though all enjoy the title in a figurative sense, 1 Peter 2:9. The Jews strive in vain to elude this text. (Calmet) --- Under the law, one family alone enjoyed this honour: but Christ chooses the most deserving pastors. (Worthington) |
| Isaiah 66:22 | *For as the new heavens, and the new earth, which I make to stand before me, saith the Lord: so shall your seed stand, and your name. Apocalypse 21:1. | Name. The faith and morals of Christianity shall subsist for ever, like the gospel, which is termed the new heavens, Isaias 65:17., and Matthew 16:18. |
| Isaiah 66:23 | And there shall be month after month, and sabbath after sabbath: and all flesh shall come to adore before my face, saith the Lord. | Sabbath. Grotius explains this of the Gentiles, who should come to Jerusalem. But this was never realized before the propagation of the gospel. The Jews came thrice a-year. Christians shall attend the sacred mysteries every week, Exodus 13:14., and Malachias 1:11. |
| Isaiah 66:24 | And they shall go out, and see the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me: *their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched: and they shall be a loathsome sight to all flesh. Mark 9:45. | Men; rebellious Jews and persecutors, who perish miserably. --- Flesh. Josephus (Jewish Wars 6:16.) describes the horrors of the last siege of Jerusalem. The prophet may allude to the fires kept up in the vale of Hinnon; (chap. 30:33.) and our Saviour applies this text to the damned, Mark 9:43. All shall condemn them. (Calmet) Accedat lacrymis odium, dignusque puteris Ut mala cum tuleris plurima, plura feras. (Ovid in Ibin.) |