Isaías 33
Jerome · Comentário Patrístico (catena)
Isaías 33:1
(Chapter XXXIII - Verse 1) Woe to those who plunder: will they not be plundered themselves? And to those who despise: will they not be despised themselves? When you have finished plundering, you will be plundered; when you have grown weary of contempt, you will be scorned. LXX: Woe to those who make you miserable: for no one makes you miserable. And those who condemn you, do not condemn you: they will be condemned, and handed over, and be consumed like moths in clothing. He had spoken about the Apostles, and about the leaders of the churches: Blessed are those who sow over all water, where ox and donkey tread: now he directs his curse against their persecutors; in fact, against their ruler, who possesses the hearts of the wicked, that whatever they do, they may receive; and by his present power, let it be the material of future torments. Wherefore, according to the Septuagint it is said: 'Woe to those who make you miserable; for no one makes you miserable. And the meaning is this: as much as is in them, when they persecute you and afflict you with various tortures, they consider you miserable, killed and tortured. But no one can make you miserable, for they do not have power over your soul, but over your body. And he who reproaches you, does not reproach you, but him who sent you, according to that which the Savior speaks to the disciples: 'He who reproaches you, reproaches me; and he who reproaches me, reproaches him who sent me' (Luke 10:16). Therefore, the persecutors will be captured and handed over to eternal fires. And just as a moth consumes clothing, so will the flame devour them. This is also written in the end of this prophecy. Their worm will not die, and their fire will not be extinguished. — Commentary on Isaiah
Isaías 33:2-6
(Verse 2 and following) Lord, have mercy on us: for we have waited for you: be our strength in the morning, and our salvation in time of trouble. At the voice of the Angel, the people fled; at your exaltation the nations were scattered. And your spoil will be gathered, as the locust is gathered, as when the ditches are full of it. The Lord is magnified, for he dwells on high: he has filled Zion with judgment and justice. And there will be faith in your times: wealth of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge: the fear of the Lord is its treasure. LXX: Lord, have mercy on us, for we trust in You: the seed of the unbelievers has been brought to destruction, but our salvation is in the time of tribulation: because of the voice of fear, the peoples are astonished by your fear, and the nations are scattered. But now your spoils, both small and great, will be gathered together: when someone gathers locusts, they will mock you: O holy God who dwells on high. Zion is filled with justice and righteousness, salvation is stored in the law: wisdom, discipline, and piety come from the Lord, these are the treasures of justice. This is a chapter from the Hebrews, in which it is read: Woe to those who plunder, will they not be plundered themselves? and so on until the end. They believe that this is a statement against King Sennacherib of the Assyrians, who, after overthrowing the ten tribes known as Israel and capturing the cities of Judah, will himself be defeated and his army destroyed by the Angel. Now, from the perspective of the people, giving thanks to God and saying, 'Lord, have mercy on us, we have waited for you,' these words contend, which are contained in the present (or following) chapter, that His arm and strength were the protection for the people besieged in the morning, and salvation in their time of need and distress. For by the voice of the Angel, whom Symmachus translated as it is written in Hebrew, Amun (whom the Hebrews consider to be Gabriel) and has the etymology of the people; the Assyrian fled, and the nations that came with him were scattered here and there from the exaltation of God. As they fled, the spoils were gathered by the Jews, just as a multitude of caterpillars and locusts are collected when they have been heaped into pits. In their victory, the Lord was magnified, and Zion was filled with justice and righteousness, and the faith of the besieged people was proven. And they possessed all riches in wisdom and knowledge of God and fear of the Lord, who alone was their treasure. They said these things according to the history, striving in every way to undermine the sacraments of Christ and his Apostles. But after the happiness of the Apostles, about whom it has been said above (Ad. cap. XXXI, 20): Blessed are those who sow upon all waters, where the ox and the donkey tread, and the lamentation and mourning of those who persecute them, about whom it is said in what follows: Woe to those who make you miserable; but no one makes you miserable; and like moths on clothing, they will wear away, from the person of the same Apostles, we confirm these words for all believers. And this is the sense: Lord, we have hoped in your help, and have trusted in you. The seed of the unbelievers has perished forever, and our salvation has appeared in the time of tribulation. For with your assistance, the multitude of nations has been scattered, and those who sought to conquer and deceive have been defeated. And this has happened because the holy Lord dwells on high, and Zion is filled with judgment and justice, as it is written: Justice and judgment will rest in the wilderness. Therefore, she is Zion, which was previously called a desert, and whoever dwells in her will receive the law of the Gospel, in whose treasure our salvation is, and the wisdom of the believers, and discipline and piety, or faith, which is specifically of the Christians, and the fear of the Lord, in which the treasures of wisdom are contained. — Commentary on Isaiah
Isaías 33:7-12
(Verse 7 and following) Behold, those who see will cry out: The angels of peace will weep bitterly. The roads are abandoned, the passer-by has ceased on the path, the pact has become void, cities have been thrown down, men have not been regarded. The land has mourned and languished, Lebanon is confused and darkened, Sharon has become like a desert, and Bashan and Carmel have been shaken. Now I will arise, says the Lord: now I will be exalted, now I will be lifted up. You will conceive chaff, you will give birth to stubble; your spirit will devour you like fire. And the peoples shall be like ashes from a fire: thorns gathered together shall be burned with fire. The Hebrew word Arellam (), which Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion interpreted, I will reveal to them, dividing the final syllable and reading it as Are Lahem (), the Hebrews believe it signifies Angels, and is a prophecy concerning the calling of the Gentiles, and the wealth of the Church, and the destruction of the Temple, which the Angels shall lament, not dwelling within but departing from it: and those who were previously messengers of peace shall bitterly weep. Whether the apostles themselves who were sent to announce peace to Jerusalem, to which the Lord spoke, 'If you also knew the things that are for your peace' (Luke 19:42): at which the Lord appeared to them, in order to comfort them with His presence, Jerusalem will weep, because it did not receive His preaching, because the ways have been scattered, and the one passing by the righteous path has ceased, according to what is said in the Lamentations of Jeremiah: The ways of Zion mourn, because there are none who come to the solemnity (Lamentations 1:4). The covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was also made void: He cast out the cities of Judah: He did not consider the people, who by their own fault wanted to be beasts. The land mourned and grew weak for those who lived in it (Genesis XV and 22). Lebanon is confused and darkened, undoubtedly signifying the Temple, as we read in Zechariah. Open, Lebanon, your gates, so that fire may devour your cedars (Zechariah XI, 1). Or Jerusalem, which is called Libanus in Ezekiel, the Prophet saying: A great eagle, with great wings, which has the ability to enter into Lebanon (Ezekiel II, 3); which afterwards, the divine word interpreting, says: when Nebuchadnezzar came to Jerusalem, he clearly referred to the eagle as the king of Babylon, and to Lebanon as Jerusalem. Sharon became like a desert, and Bashan and Carmel were shaken. As for Bashan, the Seventy translated it as Galilee, a province, for one place of the province. But the region around Joppa and Lydda, also called Saron (or Saronas), is a place where wide and fertile fields extend. There is also the region of Basan beyond the Jordan, which was possessed by two and a half tribes and is interpreted as the most fertile and abundant (Deut. III): and Carmel, of which we have spoken above. Therefore, the once fertile lands of Judea will be turned into desolation, through which metaphorically the entire wealth of the Jews will be exchanged for poverty and scarcity. Therefore, since they refused to accept the words of the Apostles, Lebanon was confounded, and Sharon became a wilderness; and Bashan and Carmel were shaken. Therefore, the Lord says that either because of his excessive patience or because he will rise from the dead, he will be exalted among the nations and lifted up on the cross. And he addresses the Jews themselves, saying, 'You will conceive burning anger and bring forth stubble, and your breath will ignite a fire that will devour you as the flames consume what is conceived and born.' And there shall be, he said, the people of the Jews showing the magnitude of their misfortune through the ashes remaining from the fire. For the thorns of their sins, which have been gathered in great numbers, shall be consumed by the fire, which many interpret as referring to the ultimate captivity and destruction of Jerusalem. Others affirm that it shall happen more fully and completely in the time of judgment. — Commentary on Isaiah
Isaías 33:13-19
(Ver. 13 et seq.) Hear, you who are far away, what I have done, and know the strength of my neighbors. Sinners are terrified in Zion, hypocrites are trembling. Who among you can dwell with devouring fire? Who among you can endure everlasting burnings? The one who walks in righteousness and speaks truth, who rejects greed by slander, and keeps his hands away from every gift, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed, and shuts his eyes from seeing evil. He will dwell on high, the height of his fortress of rocks; bread is given to him, and his waters are faithful. His eyes will see the king in his beauty; they will behold the land from afar. Your heart will meditate on fear. Where is the scribe? Where are those who weigh the words of the law? Where is the teacher of the little ones? You will not see an ignorant people, a people of deep speech beyond your comprehension, in whom there is no wisdom. LXX: Let those who are far away hear what I have done; let those who are near acknowledge my power. The wicked in Zion are afraid; trembling grips the godless: 'Who can live with the consuming fire? Who can dwell with everlasting burning?' The one who walks in righteousness and speaks with integrity, who rejects gain from extortion and keeps his hand from accepting bribes, who stops his ears from listening to murderous plots and shuts his eyes against contemplating evil— this is the man who will dwell on the heights, whose refuge will be the mountain fortress. Bread will be given to him, and his water will be faithful: your eyes will see the king with glory, they will see the land from afar; your soul will meditate fear. Where are the grammarians? Where are the counselors? Where is he who counts those who nourish both the small and the large population? To whom he did not give counsel: nor did he know the deep voice of him, so that the despised people would not hear, and the one who is listening would not have understanding. For the paths are scattered, the one passing through the pathways has ceased, the covenant with the people of Judah has been voided, God has cast away their cities, he has not considered them among men; therefore, you who are far away, hear what I have done, and approach to recognize my strength. They were terrified, or those who were sinners or wicked withdrew from Zion, and trembling possessed the hypocrites, to whom the Lord spoke in the Gospel: Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites (Matthew 23:14)! Who among you can dwell with the devouring fire? Who among you can dwell with everlasting burnings? Or according to the LXX: Who will declare to you that eternal fire burns, which God has prepared for the devil and his angels? So who then can dwell with God, or declare the coming punishments? Everyone who is of this kind, as the prophetic discourse describes, who walks in many justices, and not once, but always loves justices, and not just once, but constantly speaks the truth: who rejects greed, which is the mother of slander. For money is not heaped up for one's own gain at the expense and harm of another. And he withdraws his hands from every gift. Indeed, gifts blind the eyes, even of the wise. He who stops up his ears does not hear the judgment of blood. Every wickedness and oppression and injustice is a judgment of blood: and although it does not kill with a sword, it kills by will. And he closes his eyes so as not to see evil. Blessed is the conscience that does not hear, nor see evil. Therefore, whoever is such, he himself shall dwell in the highest, that is, in the kingdom of heaven, or in the lofty cave of the strongest rock, in Christ Jesus: which rock followed the people of Israel, so that they might drink of it and be protected by its strength. Bread will be given to him, and its waters are faithful: which the fables of the Gentiles understand as ambrosia and nectar. But we, the most faithful breads and waters, will interpret the law of God. Therefore, whoever is such, will see the king Christ in his glory, of whom it is said above (Ad cap. XXXII, 1): Behold, a just king will reign, and princes will preside in judgment. And his eyes will see the earth from afar, which they have desired for a long time, the land of the gentle and meek, of which it is written in the Gospel: Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth (Matth. V, 4): whether they are placed in heaven, they despise earthly things. Your heart will meditate on fear: so that when you have accomplished all things, you may say with the Apostle: I am not worthy to be called an Apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God (1 Corinthians 15:9). For the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Where is the scribe? Where is he who weighs the words of the law? Where is the teacher of children? Where, it is said, are the scribes and Pharisees, who weighed the words of the Law, deceiving the unhappy people? whom Scripture now calls little children, little in understanding, little in intelligence. But when the eyes of the believer behold the king in his majesty, and his heart is filled with awe, then he will not see the foolish people, the people of the Jews, or the philosophers and orators of the world, who applaud themselves in secular knowledge and eloquence, about whom he now says: They are a people of high speech, so that you cannot understand the eloquence of their language; their allurement is in words, which have only the foliage and shadow of discourse, and do not possess the fruit of truth. Finally it follows: In this there is no wisdom, about which it is said in another place: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the understanding of the prudent I will reject (1 Corinthians 1:19). Why? because God has made the wisdom of this world foolish. — Commentary on Isaiah
Isaías 33:20-24
(Verse 20 and following) Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnity: your eyes shall see Jerusalem, a wealthy habitation: a tabernacle that cannot be moved, and its nails shall not be taken away forever, and all its cords shall not be broken. For our Lord is only magnificent there: a place of wide and open rivers, no ship of rowers shall pass through it: nor shall any great trireme pass over it. For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king, he will save us. Your ropes are loosened, and they will not prevail; so will be your evil, that you cannot extend your sign. Then the spoils of many spoils will be divided: the lame will plunder the prey. And the neighbor will not say: I am faint: the people who dwell in it will be taken away by iniquity. LXX: Behold, Zion is a city of our salvation: your eyes will see Jerusalem. A wealthy city, immovable dwellings: its tent pegs will not be taken away forever, and its cords will not be torn apart. For the name of the Lord is great for you: your place will be wide and spacious rivers and streams: no ship propelled by oars will enter through it. For my God, the Lord, is great: the Lord our judge will not pass over me, the Lord our leader, the Lord our king, the Lord Himself will save us. Your cables have been disrupted (or plundered), because they did not prevail: your evil is bent, to let out the sails: it will not raise the sign, until it is delivered into desolation. Therefore, many will make booty of the closed goods: and the people who inhabit them will not say, I will labor, their offense will be forgiven. O just one, to whom it has been said above: your heart will meditate fear; and you will not see the unwise (or impudent) people; and those whom you have heard before, your eyes will see the king in his beauty, contemplate the city of our solemnity, see the Church of Christ, in which the true solemnity is; your eyes will behold the vision of peace, and the unexpected riches, which the eye has not seen, nor the ear heard, nor have they ascended into the heart of man, and the tabernacle that cannot be transferred. For first the tabernacle which had the people of the Jews was translated and lifted up. Neither shall the nails thereof be moved forever, and all the cords thereof shall be strong; so that the Lord may dwell in it, who is the place of all flowing rivers and running streams, through which no one of the adverse party shall be able to sail: neither shall the great trireme, which is interpreted the devil, be able to pass over it: for the Lord himself is the judge, and prince, and king, and our Savior, and under his protection we shall fear no ambushes of any kind. These things are said about the city of our solemnity, about Jerusalem, the richest dwelling place, which the Lord himself will surround and fortify with his rivers. But now he speaks to earthly Jerusalem, because the cords of her tent have been loosened and they are unable to support the tent, and her mast, on which once hung the most beautiful sails, has fallen with the cords broken, so that she is not only unfit for sailing, but also marked by a mutilation. But after their ship has been destroyed and their tent scattered, so that the ropes are torn on both sides, the spoils will be divided to the victors: those who are so weak in their own strength that they are called cripples; and yet, with God's wrath giving them strength, they will not feel any weakness, nor will they say 'I have labored.' For whoever is among them, injustice and sin will be taken away from him, for he has carried out God's will. — Commentary on Isaiah