Thomas Aquinas, on Isa 13:12

“A man shall be more precious than gold, yea a man than the finest of gold.”

“Third, he sets out the moderation of the punishment. And he sets out four things: first, the small number of defenders: more precious, that is, more rare: the word of God was precious (1 Sam 3:1), and a man, who can defend by power, yea a man, who can defend by counsel, the finest of gold, that is, red gold, which is the best, above: they that remain of the trees of his forest shall be so few, that they shall easily be numbered (Isa 10:19).”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.