Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
He passes from Israel to Judah, that is, from the ten tribes to the two, whose sins he rebukes, and threatens them with the Assyrian, namely Sennacherib: then, in verse 5, he censures the pride of the Assyrian; next, in verse 16, he predicts his ruin; and in verse 20, the salvation of the remnant of Israel and Judah through Christ.
Vulgate Text: Isaiah 10:1-34
1. Woe to those who enact unjust laws, and who writing, have written injustice: 2. to oppress the poor in judgment, and to do violence to the cause of the humble of my people: that widows might be their prey, and they might plunder orphans. 3. What will you do in the day of visitation, and of the calamity coming from afar? To whom will you flee for help? and where will you leave your glory? 4. That you not be bowed down under the bond, and fall among the slain? In all these things His anger is not turned away, but His hand is still stretched out. 5. Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger, and the staff, it is in their hands, of my indignation. 6. I will send him against a deceitful nation, and against the people of my wrath I will give him a charge: to take away the spoils, and to seize the prey, and to trample them underfoot like the mire of the streets. 7. But he himself will not think so, and his heart will not reckon so: but his heart will be set to destroy and to cut off nations not a few. 8. For he will say: Are not my princes as so many kings? 9. Is not Carchemish as Calno, and Hamath as Arpad? Is not Samaria as Damascus? 10. As my hand has found the kingdoms of the idol, so shall their graven images be treated, those of Jerusalem and Samaria. 11. Shall I not, as I have done to Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her images? 12. And it shall be, when the Lord shall have performed all His works on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, I will visit the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of the Assyrians, and the glory of the haughtiness of his eyes. 13. For he has said: By the strength of my own hand I have done it, and by my own wisdom I have understood. 14. And my hand has found as a nest the riches of the peoples: and as eggs are gathered that are left, so have I gathered all the earth: and there was none that moved a wing, or opened the mouth, or whimpered. 15. Shall the axe boast against him who cuts with it? Or shall the saw exalt itself against him by whom it is drawn? 16. Therefore the sovereign Lord of hosts shall send leanness among his fat ones: and under his glory a burning shall be kindled, like the burning of a fire. 17. And the light of Israel shall be as a fire, and his Holy One as a flame: and it shall be kindled and shall devour his thorns and his briers in one day. 18. And the glory of his forest and of his Carmel shall be consumed from the soul even to the flesh: and he shall flee in terror. 19. And the remnant of the trees of his forest shall be so few that they may easily be numbered, and a child shall write them down. 20. And it shall be in that day: the remnant of Israel, and they that shall escape of the house of Jacob, shall lean no more upon him that strikes them: but they shall lean upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. 21. The remnant shall be converted, the remnant, I say, of Jacob, to the mighty God. 22. For if your people, O Israel, shall be as the sand of the sea, a remnant of them shall be converted: the consumption decreed shall overflow with justice. 23. For the Lord, the God of hosts, shall bring about the consummation and the abbreviation in the midst of all the land. 24. Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of hosts: O my people who dwell in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall strike you with his rod, and he shall lift up his staff over you in the way of Egypt. 25. For yet a little while, and the indignation shall cease, and my wrath shall be upon their wickedness. 26. And the Lord of hosts shall raise up a scourge against him, according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and his rod shall be over the sea, and he shall lift it up in the way of Egypt. 27. And it shall be in that day: his burden shall be taken away from off your shoulder, and his yoke from off your neck, and the yoke shall decay at the presence of the oil. 28. He shall come into Aiath, he shall pass through Migron: at Michmash he shall lay up his baggage. 29. They have passed through in haste; Geba is our lodging: Ramah trembled; Gibeah of Saul fled. 30. Lift up your voice, O daughter of Gallim: attend, O Laish, poor Anathoth. 31. Madmenah has fled: the inhabitants of Gebim have gathered themselves together. 32. As yet it is day enough to stand in Nob: he shall shake his hand against the mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. 33. Behold, the sovereign Lord of hosts shall break the earthen vessel in terror: and the tall of stature shall be cut down, and the lofty shall be humbled. 34. And the thickets of the forest shall be cut down with iron, and Lebanon with its high ones shall fall.
Verse 1: Woe to Those Who Enact Unjust Laws
1. WOE TO THOSE WHO ENACT UNJUST LAWS. -- Others better interpret it of Judah: for thus everything in this chapter will be connected. He therefore rebukes the injustice of the Jews under Ahaz and Hezekiah, who by unjust laws and decrees oppressed the poor and widows.
Verse 3: What Will You Do in the Day of Visitation
3. WHAT WILL YOU DO IN THE DAY OF VISITATION (that is, of punishment, in which God will unsheathe the sword of vengeance and) OF THE CALAMITY COMING FROM AFAR (from Assyria and Babylon) -- TO WHOM WILL YOU FLEE FOR HELP? (from which judge will you seek protection? From God? But He Himself is the one who punishes you.)
4. THAT YOU NOT BE BOWED DOWN UNDER THE BOND. -- That is, take care lest you be led away as captives: for captives submit their necks to the yoke, and bowed down they walk before the conqueror.
Verse 5: Woe to Assyria, the Rod of My Fury
5. WOE TO ASSYRIA! -- In the literal sense he means Sennacherib and the Assyrians, who were like a rod and an axe, as he says in verse 15, which God used for punishing and correcting the Jews.
Symbolically, the proud Assyria is the devil, who afflicted Christians with calamities and persecutions.
Tropologically, Assyria the rod of God's fury is the Turk, and every tyrant. Thus Attila, when asked by St. Lupus, Bishop of Troyes, who he was, replied: "I am the scourge of God."
THE ROD OF MY FURY. -- The wicked are the rod and instruments with which God punishes and tries men, especially those He loves, by permitting and loosening the reins to the malice of the wicked against the pious.
6. AGAINST A DECEITFUL NATION. -- Against the Jews, who being entirely composed of hypocrisy, had so often broken the faith given to Me.
Verse 7: But He Himself Will Not Think So
7. BUT HE HIMSELF WILL NOT THINK SO -- namely that he is merely My rod for chastising the Jews and other nations; for he will wish to destroy them entirely, and to subjugate all nations to himself.
Verse 9: Is Not Carchemish
9. IS NOT CARCHEMISH? -- See how the proud man hurls out bombast, as if to say: Did not I, Sennacherib, bring destruction on all these cities? Is not Carchemish as Calno, and Hamath as Arpad? Is not Samaria as Damascus? That is: Just as I destroyed one, so I shall destroy the other.
AND AS ARPAD, SO HAMATH -- that is to say: Hamath as well as Arpad was subdued by me. Arpad is a city not far from Damascus.
10. AS MY HAND HAS FOUND THE KINGDOMS OF THE IDOL -- that is to say: Just as I have subjected to myself the kingdoms of the Gentiles devoted to idols, so shall I subject Jerusalem. Note the arrogance of the tyrant, when he says: "My hand has found," that is to say: I conquered kingdoms so easily that I do not deign to call it a conquest, but merely a finding.
Verse 12: When the Lord Shall Have Performed All His Works
12. AND IT SHALL BE: WHEN THE LORD SHALL HAVE PERFORMED ALL HIS WORKS -- When through the Assyrians He shall have besieged and afflicted Jerusalem, and taken from the Israelites what He intended to take, then He will punish the arrogance of the Assyrian king.
I HAVE PULLED DOWN. -- The Septuagint translates "I will shake, I will convulse."
Verse 14: My Hand Has Found as a Nest
14. AND MY HAND HAS FOUND AS A NEST -- that is to say: I conquered kingdoms as easily and quickly as a farmer gathers eggs or chicks in a nest, which, since they are abandoned, do not resist.
OPEN HIS MOUTH AND WHIMPER. -- To whimper (gannire) is properly the cry of foxes; yet it is also said of dogs, when with a loud howl they testify to some pain or injury.
Verse 15: Shall the Axe Boast Against Him Who Cuts with It
15. SHALL THE AXE BOAST AGAINST HIM WHO CUTS WITH IT? -- He rebukes the pride and stupidity of Sennacherib, who attributed so many victories to himself and his own power, when in truth he was merely an instrument of God.
Verse 16: The Sovereign Lord Shall Send Leanness
16. THEREFORE THE SOVEREIGN LORD OF HOSTS WILL SEND LEANNESS AMONG HIS FAT ONES -- that is, He will make the fat, muscular, and strong soldiers of Sennacherib lean and weak, and will destroy them through the Angel.
Verse 17: The Light of Israel Shall Be as a Fire
17. AND THE LIGHT OF ISRAEL SHALL BE AS A FIRE, AND HIS HOLY ONE AS A FLAME. -- The Light of Israel and His Holy One is God the avenger, who is called by Moses a consuming fire.
IT SHALL BE KINDLED AND SHALL DEVOUR HIS THORNS AND HIS BRIERS. -- That is, the Assyrian soldiers, both greater and lesser, shall be slain by the Angel.
18. AND THE GLORY OF HIS FOREST AND OF HIS CARMEL (that is, the handsome leaders and princes of the army), FROM THE SOUL EVEN TO THE FLESH (that is, entirely, or both soul and body) SHALL BE CONSUMED.
AND HE SHALL FLEE IN TERROR. -- For Sennacherib fled after this disaster received from the Angel, and shortly afterward was killed by his own sons Adrammelech and Sharezer.
Verse 19: The Remnant of the Trees
19. AND THE REMNANT OF THE TREES OF HIS FOREST SHALL BE SO FEW THAT THEY MAY BE NUMBERED, AND A CHILD SHALL WRITE THEM DOWN -- that is to say: So few soldiers will survive the slaughter of 185,000 by the Angel that even a child could count and list the survivors.
Verse 20: The Remnant of Israel Shall No More Lean
20. THE REMNANT OF ISRAEL SHALL NO MORE LEAN. -- "The remnant of Israel and Jacob" he calls the remaining Hebrews, the posterity of Jacob, whether they be Jews or Israelites.
Allegorically, which the Holy Spirit principally intends here, that is to say: I will bring about the consummation, that is, the end, and indeed shortly, of Judea and the Jewish people: for only a few Jews will believe in Christ and be saved.
Verse 22: As the Sand of the Sea
22. AS THE SAND OF THE SEA. -- He alludes to Genesis 22, where God promises Abraham offspring, that is, descendants, both according to the flesh and according to faith, as numerous as the sand of the sea.
THE CONSUMPTION DECREED SHALL OVERFLOW WITH JUSTICE. -- "Consumption," that is, consummation, for this is the Hebrew killaion; "decreed" (abbreviated), that is, determined and fixed by God.
23. FOR THE LORD, etc., WILL BRING ABOUT THE CONSUMMATION AND THE ABBREVIATION. -- The Septuagint, both here and in the preceding verse, and from them St. Paul, Romans 9:28, translate: "For the Lord will accomplish His word upon the earth, finishing and cutting it short."
Verse 24: Therefore, O My People
24. THEREFORE. -- Hence it is clear that the preceding statements about the consumption decreed also refer to the times of Isaiah and Hezekiah; for these things literally happened in those times.
26. AND THE LORD OF HOSTS SHALL RAISE UP A SCOURGE AGAINST HIM, ACCORDING TO THE SLAUGHTER OF MIDIAN AT THE ROCK OF OREB, that is to say: Just as God through Gideon slew the Midianites at the rock of Oreb, so He will slay the Assyrians through an Angel.
Verse 27: The Yoke Shall Decay at the Presence of the Oil
27. THE YOKE SHALL DECAY AT THE PRESENCE OF THE OIL. -- Understand the YOKE of the servitude of Sennacherib; for the Jews were subject to him and paid an annual tribute. By "oil" is signified the divine aid by which Hezekiah, the anointed king, threw off the yoke. The yoke is compared to oil because oil softens, penetrates, and dissolves hard things.
Allegorically, others from the Chaldean explain it thus: the yoke is the tyranny of the devil and of sin; the oil is Christ, the Anointed One, through whom the yoke is dissolved.
Tropologically, St. Gregory, book 19 of the Moralia: the oil is threefold. The first is the sweetness of love or charity, which softens the yoke of duty. The second is habit; for this softens all hard things. The third is divine grace and consolation. Hence St. Leo, sermon 5 On the Epiphany: "Nothing is arduous for the humble, nothing harsh for the meek; and all precepts are easy when grace helps."
Verse 28: He Shall Come into Aiath
28. HE SHALL COME INTO AIATH. -- With a beautiful word-picture he describes the journey of the proud Sennacherib, and the pomp of his return from Egypt -- with which he passed through many cities, terrifying and devastating them as he advanced toward Jerusalem.
29. THEY HAVE PASSED THROUGH IN HASTE. -- The victorious Assyrians, saying: Haste is needed; for in the evening we shall lodge in Gibeah. It is a mimesis, for he imitates the words of the rushing soldiers.
30. LIFT UP YOUR VOICE, O DAUGHTER OF GALLIM -- that is to say: O Gallim! Wail as much as you can, for the enemy is approaching.
31. MADMENAH HAS FLED -- namely, the inhabitants, out of fear, have abandoned the city.
32. HE SHALL SHAKE HIS HAND. -- Sennacherib from afar, from Nob, shaking his hand, will threaten the destruction of Jerusalem. So says St. Jerome.
Verse 33: The Sovereign Lord Shall Break the Earthen Vessel
33. BEHOLD, THE SOVEREIGN LORD OF HOSTS SHALL BREAK THE EARTHEN VESSEL IN TERROR, etc. -- that is to say: When you, O Zion, shall seem to yourself to be lost and about to perish, then behold, the Lord will suddenly appear and break and crush the forces of the Assyrians, which are like an earthen vessel, fragile and easily shattered.
AND THE TALL OF STATURE SHALL BE CUT DOWN -- the strongest and greatest soldiers of Sennacherib shall be slain by the Angel.
Verse 34: The Thickets of the Forest Shall Be Overturned
34. THE THICKETS OF THE FOREST SHALL BE OVERTURNED. -- He compares the numerous and strong forces of Sennacherib to a forest and the wooded Lebanon, in which the tallest and most splendid trees are cut down with iron axes by the strength of God.
Allegorically and tropologically, Gregory of Nyssa, homily 14 on the Song of Songs, notes that there are two Lebanons: one chosen and precious, whose elegance is mentioned in praise of the Bride; the other opposed to God and His people, which deserves to be cut down. The former Lebanon represents the Church and the souls of the just; the latter, the proud powers of this world, which God will overthrow.