Commentary on Isaiah (Super Isaiam)

The burden of Damascus. Here he begins to threaten those who were preparing an occasion of sinning for the people of God, in that, through confidence in their help, they did not care to trust in God.

And it is divided into two parts. In the first, against the Syrians, who brought help to the people of the ten tribes; in the second, against the Egyptians, who helped the two tribes. Chapter 18: Woe to the land.

The first is divided into three. In the first he threatens the destruction of the Syrians who promised help; in the second, of the ten tribes who trusted in the aforesaid help, and it shall come to pass in that day; in the third, of the Assyrians who destroy both, woe to the multitude.

Concerning the first he does two things. First he threatens destruction; second he describes the effect of the destruction, and it shall cease.

Now he threatens destruction, first as to the royal city: it shall cease to be a city, through the depopulation of its people; it shall be as, through the destruction of its walls. Micah 3: Sion shall be as a field.

Second, as to the neighboring region, Aroer — that is, of that region of Syria in which there are many cities; or Aroer means a tamarisk-thicket; as if to say: just as places where tamarisks abound are barren and left for the pasture of flocks, so are the cities of Syria. There shall be none to frighten them away: because, on account of the solitude, even robbers will not be there; or because they will not be useful for any other produce, in the way that flocks are driven off from vineyards and cultivated places. Below, 34: nettles shall grow up in their houses.

And it shall cease. Here the effect of the destruction is set down: first in the ten tribes, from Ephraim; second as to the royal city, and the kingdom from Damascus — it shall cease, and there will no longer be a head of the kingdom; third as to the whole region, and the remnant of Syria, spoken ironically, that is, they will be as ignominious as the children of Israel. Below, 31: the Lord shall bow down his hand, and the helper shall fall.

And it shall come to pass in that day. Here he threatens the destruction of the ten tribes who trusted in that help: first as to the oppression of the people; second as to the desolation of the cities, in that day the cities; third as to the barrenness of the fields, therefore thou shalt plant.

Concerning the first he does two things. First he threatens the punishment; second he shows the fruit of the punishment, in that day it shall be bowed down.

Now he threatens punishment upon the people, first against the glory of their pride: it shall be attenuated, that is, the glory shall be brought down to a little, and, as it were, reduced to nothing, when the things in which they gloried are destroyed. Second, against the opulence of their riches, and the fatness — that is, the riches with which they nourished their flesh delicately. Above, 10: the Lord the ruler shall send. Third, against the abundance of the people he threatens the scarcity of men, which he describes under a threefold metaphor, according to the three things in which the blessing of Jacob's abundance consisted. Genesis 27: abundance of corn, wine, and oil.

As to the first, he sets down the scarcity of ears of grain after the harvest, which are either gathered by the reaper himself — and so, and it shall be, the scarcity of the remnants of the ten tribes shall be as when someone is gathering in the harvest what remained after the first reaping — and his arm, of the things gathered, shall glean the ears, that is, shall collect them. And this gatherer was Hezekiah, who called together the remnants of the ten tribes, as is read in 2 Paralipomenon 30; or else, the ears that are gathered by some poor person, as Ruth said, in chapter 2: I will go into the field and gather the ears of corn. And as to this he says: like one seeking ears of corn in the valley of Raphaim, a certain most fertile valley.

Against the abundance of wine he sets down the scarcity of grapes after the vintage. And there shall be left — Micah 7: woe is me, for I am become as one that gathereth the clusters of the vintage in autumn.

Against the abundance of oil he sets down the scarcity of olives after the beating: of olive-trees. Olea, as Papias says, is the fruit of the olive-tree; but here, according to the exposition of the Gloss, it seems to be put for the tree itself, on whose top a few fruits remain which the gatherer could not reach; concerning this scarcity, Deuteronomy 28: ye shall remain few in number.

Note, on that word, and the fatness of the flesh, that riches are called fatness: first, on account of barrenness. Matthew 13: the deceitfulness of riches. Second, on account of windiness. 1 Timothy, last chapter: charge the rich of this world not to be high-minded, nor to trust in the uncertainty of riches. Third, on account of uselessness. Ezekiel 16: this was the iniquity of Sodom, etc.; Ecclesiastes 5: riches kept to the hurt of their owner.

In that day. Here he sets down the fruit of the punishment. It shall be bowed down, by rendering the due worship of servitude, man — whoever of the ten tribes shall come over to Hezekiah. They shall look, awaiting some help, to the shrines — the temples in which there were fonts, as it were for washing; below, 31: in that day I will strike.

In that day. Here he threatens the desolations of the cities. And first he threatens the desolation itself, like ploughshares. Here is touched what is found in Joshua 6 and 7, that at the coming of the children of Israel the Amorites fled, leaving everything in the fields. Above, 1: your land is desolate, your cities are burnt with fire. Second he sets down the reason for the desolation. And thou shalt be desolate — Deuteronomy 32: thou hast forsaken the God who begot thee, and hast forgotten the Lord thy creator.

Therefore thou shalt plant. Here he threatens the barrenness of the fruits: and concerning this he does three things. First he shows the useless labor of cultivation, as to the vineyards: an unfaithful planting, because it will not render fruit in proportion to the labor; or faithful, ironically — as if to say: shall thy planting be faithful, on account of the evils thou hast done? As to the fields: a strange increase, which others will gather. Above, 5: ten acres of vineyard shall yield one small flask.

Second, as to the loss of the fruits: in the day of thy planting, that is, when thou oughtest to take fruit from the planting — and this as to the vineyards; as to the fields, in the morning thy seed shall flourish, that is, at first it will be beautiful, so that thou mightest grieve the more; or because it will flourish before its time, and will be useless. Proverbs 20: the inheritance that is hastened in the beginning shall lack a blessing at the last. It is taken away, by enemies, in the day of inheritance, when it ought to have been stored in the barn, as it were the fruit of the inheritance. Jeremiah 12: they have sown wheat, and reaped thorns.

Third he threatens grief for the loss: he shall grieve, who sowed; or, thou shalt grieve.

Woe to the multitude. Here he threatens destruction to the army of the Assyrians: and concerning this he sets down three things.

And first he describes the multitude of the army: as to the din of those marching, woe to the multitude of the peoples, who came with Sennacherib; as to the tumult of those speaking together, a tumult, which is confused speech, especially of many; as to the clamor of those fighting, the peoples shall sound, in battle. Above, 8: behold the Lord will bring upon them the strong and many waters of the river. Jeremiah 6: her voice shall sound like the sea. Apocalypse 17: many waters, many peoples.

Second he threatens destruction: concerning which, first the destruction itself is set down, and he shall rebuke, killing the army through an Angel, and he shall flee far off, into his own land with a few; as above, 10, is found; Psalm 9: thou hast rebuked the nations. Second a comparison is set down corresponding to his condition: since he was proud, he shall be carried away like dust — Psalm 1: like dust which is cast forth from the face of the wind; and corresponding to the time, like a whirlwind, because his army was struck by night, which he calls a tempest, whose forerunner, in the dust, is a whirlwind from the winds, which are the cause of rain. 4 Kings 19: in that night the Angel came and struck the army.

Third the completion of the destruction is set down: and he shall not stand, because he himself was slain. Ezekiel 29: thou art become nothing.

Fourth the reason for the destruction is set down. This is the portion of them that have wasted us — possessions; and of them that have plundered — movable goods. Psalm 10: fire, brimstone, and the storm of winds shall be the portion of their cup.

Note, on that word, and his eyes shall be to the Holy One of Israel, that the eyes ought to be bent toward God: first, through the adherence of faith. Below, 30: thy eyes shall see thy teacher. Second, on account of the expectation of hope. Psalm 144: the eyes of all hope in thee, O Lord. Third, on account of the contemplation of love. Job 39: from thence she beholdeth her food, and her eyes look from afar. Fourth, on account of the enjoyment of glory. Matthew 13: blessed are the eyes.

Note, on that word, unfaithful planting, that this belongs first to the covetous. Ecclesiastes 5: he that loveth riches shall reap no fruit from them. Second, to the luxurious. Romans 6: what fruit had you then in those things of which you are now ashamed? Third, to the proud. Wisdom 5: what hath our pride profited us?