Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
This chapter is the third part of the prophecy of Isaiah (for the second extends from chapter vii to this point), and it continues up to chapter xxv, and contains threatening oracles about the Babylonians, Edomites, and other nations; both lest the Gentiles insult the Jews, upon hearing or reading in Isaiah the oracles about their destruction; and so that the calamity of the Jews may be consoled by the calamity of others, especially of their enemies. Therefore this chapter and the following ones graphically depict the destruction of Babylon, and under its type the day of judgment, the destruction of the world, the damnation of Lucifer (whom he also names in chapter xiv, 12) and of the reprobate. Jeremiah treats the same subject in chapters l and li.
In this chapter, therefore: first, God, as a commander of war raising a standard, calls forth Cyrus and the Persians against Babylon. Second, verse 6, he predicts how horrible that day of destruction will be; so that the sun, moon and stars will seem to fall from the sky. Third, verse 12, he predicts that not only men, but also infants will be killed, and women violated. Fourth, verse 19, he says Babylon will be overthrown like Sodom; so that not men, but wild beasts and demons will dwell there.
Vulgate Text: Isaiah 13:1-22
1. The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amos saw. 2. Upon the dark mountain lift up a sign, exalt the voice, lift up the hand, and let the leaders enter the gates. 3. I have given command to My sanctified ones, and have called My mighty ones in My wrath, those who exult in My glory. 4. The noise of a multitude in the mountains, as it were of many peoples: the noise of the sound of kings, of nations gathered together: the Lord of hosts has commanded the army of war, 5. coming from a far country, from the end of heaven: the Lord, and the instruments of His wrath, to destroy the whole land. 6. Howl, for the day of the Lord is near: for destruction from the Lord shall come. 7. Therefore shall all hands be feeble, and every heart of man shall melt, 8. and shall be broken. Pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman in labor: every one shall be amazed at his neighbor, their faces shall be as faces burnt. 9. Behold, the day of the Lord shall come, a cruel day, full of indignation, and of wrath and fury, to lay the land desolate, and to destroy the sinners thereof out of it. 10. For the stars of heaven, and their brightness, shall not unfold their light: the sun shall be darkened in its rising, and the moon shall not shine with its light. 11. And I will visit the evils of the world, and against the wicked their iniquity, and I will make the pride of infidels to cease, and will bring down the arrogance of the mighty. 12. A man shall be more precious than gold, and a human being more than the finest gold. 13. For this I will shake the heavens: and the earth shall be moved out of its place, for the indignation of the Lord of hosts, and for the day of His fierce wrath. 14. And it shall be as a doe fleeing, 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. 15. Every one that shall be found, shall be slain: and every one that shall come to them, shall fall by the sword. 16. Their infants shall be dashed in pieces before their eyes: their houses shall be pillaged, and their wives shall be violated. 17. Behold I will stir up the Medes against them, who shall not seek silver, nor desire gold: 18. but with their arrows they shall kill the children, and shall have no pity upon the nursing wombs, and their eye shall not spare the sons. 19. And that Babylon, glorious among kingdoms, the famous pride of the Chaldeans, shall be even as the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. 20. It shall no more be inhabited forever, and it shall not be founded unto generation and generation: neither shall the Arab pitch his tents there, nor shall shepherds rest there. 21. But wild beasts shall rest there, and their houses shall be filled with serpents: and ostriches shall dwell there, and hairy ones shall dance there: 22. and owls shall answer there in its buildings, and sirens in the temples of pleasure.
Verse 1: First, there precedes a preparatory exposition of events
First, there precedes a preparatory exposition of events, through the divine summoning of enemies against the city, verses 1, 2; through the expedition of hostile forces, undertaken at God's command, 4, 5; through the presage of the devastation, consternation and affliction that will follow, 6-9. Second, there follows the narration of divine vengeance, shining forth from the disturbed order of nature and the slaughter of men, 10-13; of the Babylonians exhausted, their army routed, and both armed and unarmed killed, 14-18; of Babylon overthrown and reduced to complete and lasting desolation, 19-22.
1. The burden of Babylon. — A sad and calamitous prophecy is called a 'burden' by the Prophets, both because it hangs over these or those persons as a heavy burden and weight of punishment, and is imposed by God; and because the Prophets with reluctance and painfully lift it as a weight to their mouth, announce it, and impose it upon their hearers, and burden them with it. So St. Jerome, the Seventy and others. Secondly, for 'burden,' the Hebrew is massa, which means various things, namely burden, weight, assumption, elevation. Hence the Seventy translate it lemma, that is, 'assumption,' because a prophecy is received by the ear and mind of the Prophet as a command of God, so that he may deliver it to those to whom it is directed by God. Again, a prophecy is called 'assumption' and 'elevation,' because the mind of the Prophet is elevated in it to God, so as to hear His oracles. The Syrians translate it maskelo, that is, 'carrying away, departure,' because the mind of the Prophet seems to depart from itself, and to be carried away by God to see things that are remote and future: although in Syriac maskelo has several meanings, namely all those that the Hebrew massa has.
Morally, see how great is the burden of sin, which draws with it so great a burden of punishment.
Mystically, St. Bernard in the sermon On the Eleven Burdens of Isaiah expounds them one by one, and says: 'Holy Isaiah describes for us eleven burdens in his prophetic discourse: the first, the burden of Babylon; the second, the burden of the Philistines; the third, the burden of Moab; the fourth, the burden of Damascus; the fifth, the burden of the desert of the sea; the sixth, the burden of Egypt; the seventh, the burden of Dumah; the eighth, the burden in Arabia; the ninth, the burden of the Valley of Vision; the tenth, the burden of Tyre; the eleventh, the burden of the beasts of the South. And what is a burden but a certain weight pressing down the soul, and inclining it toward the earth, making it look to things below and neglect things above? Such a burden sometimes comes to us from the delight of the world, and this is the burden of Babylon; sometimes from the assault of unclean spirits, and this is the burden of the Philistines; sometimes from a certain natural and inevitable necessity, and this is the burden of Moab; sometimes from the darkness of ignorance, and this is the burden of Egypt; sometimes from our innate weakness, and this is the burden of Damascus; sometimes from the evils of persecution, and this is the burden of the desert of the sea; sometimes from a hidden vexation of the soul, and this is the burden of Dumah; sometimes from the fear of death, and this is the burden in Arabia; sometimes from vanity, when we make progress, and this is the burden of the Valley of Vision; sometimes from distress over the things we endure, and this is the burden of Tyre; sometimes from charity, when we desire to benefit others, and this is the burden of the beasts of the South.'
Then he pursues each one in order, which I will weave into their proper places, and finally, assigning individual remedies to each burden, he concludes thus: 'Let each one examine himself, and see what burden he bears, and what burden he fears to bear in the future. If he is under the burden of Babylon, let him detest it and cast it off, lest if he has been conformed to its works, he not be immune from its punishments. Under the burden of the Philistines, let him take care lest he be made drunk by their drinking bouts, and become like them in fault, destined to be like them in punishment. But if he has felt himself laboring under the burden of Moab, let him take care so to indulge the necessities of the body that Nebuzaradan does not destroy the walls of Jerusalem; nor let him so satisfy it that he burn with it forever. But if the burden of Damascus has weighed upon his shoulder, let him beware lest he lay hands upon himself; and so sowing in the flesh, reap corruption from the flesh. Indeed, if the burden of Egypt has pressed upon him, let him cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light; lest if here he willingly surrenders his mind to interior darkness, he someday unwillingly be tormented in exterior darkness. Furthermore, if the burden of the desert of the sea has beset him with the evils of persecution, let him not fail or be broken; lest what they inflicted through malice, he suffer through impatience. But if the burden of Dumah, that is, of silence, has made him impatient, or shame and confusion have blocked confession, let him beware the weight of punishment which the Prophet threatens against those who keep such silence. But if, pressed by the burden of Arabia, he has feared death, let him compose himself according to nature, so as not to fear it on account of conscience; lest he be pressed not only by Arabia, but moreover be crushed with Arabia by the burden of eternal damnation. Moreover, if sighing under the burden of the Valley of Vision he has struggled against vanity, let him beware lest he fall from the mountain of contemplation into the valley of error, to be overwhelmed by that very burden which the Prophet describes in the burden of the Valley of Vision. But if, under the burden of Tyre, fainthearted on account of present labors and sorrows, his spirit has been cast down into despair, let him beware above all of the narrowness of his own will; so that, with heart enlarged, he may walk gratefully through all the straits of this life, and thus escape the eternal weight of misery with which Tyre is threatened. Finally, if under the burden of the beasts of the South, overcome by weariness, his affections have failed, let him consider and know that, if he has cast off the burden of charity, he will deservedly bear the burden of damnation.'
Finally St. Bernard teaches that Christ frees us from all these burdens, through grace partially in this life, through glory perfectly in the next. His help, therefore, must be constantly implored by one who is burdened. All of this is quite fitting, except that in the last burden he takes the beasts of the South to mean the pious and compassionate, when literally they refer to the impious and impatient Jews.
Verse 2: Upon (that is, against) the dark mountain
2. Upon (that is, against) the dark mountain. — By a trope he thus calls Babylon, although it was situated in a flat place, namely a 'mountain,' on account of the magnificence and splendor of its palaces, towers, walls, etc. 'Dark' indeed, first, on account of the dark confusion of all things in it, on account of which it was called Babel in Hebrew. So St. Jerome. Second, because it was enveloped in the darkness of idolatry and errors. Third, 'dark,' that is, calamitous; for darkness is a symbol of calamity, especially because that famous Babylon was captured by night in darkness, when a darkness no less great was spread over the city from the night than over the minds of the citizens from disturbance and drunkenness. So Sanchez. Fourth, and more literally, 'dark,' because Babylon, situated in a humid and marshy place near the Euphrates, had a cloudy and dark atmosphere on account of the dense vapors and fogs rising from it, especially with the addition of the hanging gardens which Nebuchadnezzar built for the pleasure of his wife Nitocris. For these gardens were a wonder of the world; they were tall, and by their height cast shade and darkness over the city, especially with the addition of the fogs already mentioned, and the smoke from the hearths and fires of so many houses and families.
About these gardens, hear Josephus, book X of Antiquities, chapter xiii: 'He (Nebuchadnezzar) suspended stone masses on arches resembling mountains, covered above with various kinds of trees; and thus he completed those celebrated hanging gardens, because his wife, educated in Media, had desired a certain likeness of her homeland.' See also Curtius, book V, on the same subject.
For 'dark,' the Hebrew is nishpeh, meaning high, elevated; the Seventy translate it as 'flat'; the Syriac as 'trodden, worn, level, flat'; the Arabic as 'bald, stripped, without trees.' St. Jerome derived nishpeh from nesheph, that is, 'twilight,' which Pagninus wrongly criticizes. For in Jeremiah xiii, 16, they are called the mountains of nesheph, that is, of twilight, dark mountains. So Forerius.
Lift up the sign. — God here sounds the war trumpet, as it were, and by it summons Darius and Cyrus with the Persians and Medes to the destruction of Babylon, as if saying: You, O Darius and Cyrus! lift up the sign, that is, as it is in Hebrew, a standard against Babylon, that you may storm it; 'exalt the voice,' as soldiers are accustomed to raise shouts when they invade a city: 'lift up the hand' against the city, devoted by your sword to plunder and triumph: 'Let the leaders (of Cyrus) enter the gates' of Babylon, which I will open for them.
Verse 3: I have given command to My sanctified ones
3. I have given command to My sanctified ones. — He calls the Persians and Medes His sanctified ones, that is, those destined by Him, and as it were consecrated soldiers for this holy war, and for carrying out the holy vengeance of God; on which see more in Jeremiah vi, 4. Hence the Syriac and Arabic translate, 'I have given command to my holiness, my sanctity, or my sanctification,' that is, to most holy soldiers, to the most holy Cyrus, as one destined for the war of most holy vengeance.
Others explain it differently: The sanctified, they say, that is, bound by a sacred oath, as if to say: sworn soldiers.
Exulting in My glory. — Because, that is, I gave them glorious victories; for through them I punished and conquered nations, on account of their crimes. Glory here therefore signifies glorious vengeance and victory.
Verse 4: The noise of a multitude
4. The noise of a multitude, — as if to say: I seem to myself in the spirit to hear the crowds and tumults of the Persians and Medes, advancing in troops against Babylon.
The Lord of hosts has commanded. — It can be translated with Vatablus: The Lord of hosts reviews or musters the army of war, namely of the Persians, just as a commander is accustomed to conduct a levy and review his forces; for God is here introduced as, so to speak, the commander of a holy war.
Verse 5: From the end of heaven
5. From the end of heaven, — as if to say: The forces of the Persians will come from the extremity of the earth, where the earth seems to touch the sky. Scripture accommodates itself to the common parlance of the people, who think that the sky is hemispherical like an arch, and ends where sight terminates, and there joins the earth. Nor is this surprising; for St. Chrysostom and Lactantius, and others whom our Acosta cites, book I of On the New World, chapter i, hold (and St. Augustine, book II of On Genesis Literally, chapter ii, is doubtful) that the sky is not spherical, nor does it surround and embrace the whole earth; but like a semicircle it encircles half the earth, and is joined to it at its boundaries.
The Lord (namely is present to avenge the crimes of Babylon), and the instruments of His wrath, — that is, the instruments of His anger, namely Darius and Cyrus with their forces, arms and chariots, fly up like the lictors of God.
The whole land, — namely that subject to Babylon, for that is what is being discussed here. Similar is verse 10.
Allegorically, these things will be more truly fulfilled on the day of judgment, of which this is a type.
Verse 6: Howl, for the day of the Lord is near
6. Howl, for the day of the Lord is near. — For although this destruction of Babylon was 150 years distant, yet this time is small in respect to eternity, indeed in respect to any kingdom; though in respect to the life span of one person it is much. See Canon iv.
Destruction from the Lord shall come. — The word 'as' here is a mark of truth, not of comparison, as if to say: So great and so horrible a devastation will press upon Babylon, as great as befits an offended and angry God. Hence in Hebrew there is a forceful paronomasia: shod missaddai, that is, 'destruction from the destroying God will come.' On the name of God Shaddai, see what was said on Genesis chapter xvii, verse 1, and Exodus vi, 3.
Verse 7: All hands shall be feeble, and every heart of man shall melt
7. All hands shall be feeble, and every heart of man shall melt. — When the heart fails, from which vital spirits are diffused to the limbs, and through them motion and sensation, all the limbs collapse, tremble, are deprived of strength, and are dissolved as if by paralysis. Therefore the Seventy for 'all hands shall be dissolved' elegantly translate, 'they shall be loosened as if by paralysis, and become like paralytics.' The meaning is, as if to say: God will cast upon the Babylonians, as Cyrus approaches, such great terror, despair and stupor, that their hands tremble and grow languid, and cannot hold weapons, that the mind, bereft of counsel, is stupefied, and that their spirits collapse and waste away. Daniel writes that this happened thus to Belshazzar, chapter v, verse 6.
Verse 8: Every one shall be amazed at his neighbor
8. Every one shall be amazed at his neighbor. — For thus men, thunderstruck when all is lost, are accustomed to look at one another, as if stupefied and speechless.
Their faces shall be as faces burnt. — In the Hebrew manner, the word 'as' is understood, as if to say: Like faces that are burnt, namely dry, wan, black and earthy (for such is the color of things that have been burned), so shall their faces be. Thus Joel, chapter ii, says of the Jews besieged and pressed by the Chaldeans: 'All faces shall be reduced to the color of a pot,' that is, as Nahum says, chapter ii, 'they shall be like the blackness of a pot.' Burnt faces therefore are wan, bloodless and grim from terror, sorrow and anxiety.
In Hebrew it is 'faces of flames,' which Vatablus and Sanchez explain, as if to say: They will be suffused with a redness as of flame from shame, as happens to those who are caught unexpectedly in a crime and shameful act. Thus Virgil sings of Lavinia, Aeneid xii: 'Her cheeks suffused with a fiery glow, upon whom abundant blush cast fire, and ran through her heated face.' For the face is accustomed to redden and as it were burn with the blood which shame summons to the cheeks.
Our Translator rightly takes 'faces of flames' as faces burned by flames, so that it is a metalepsis. Others interpret it of the color of flames, that is, of pallor, such as not so much the flames themselves have, but also blacksmiths working at the fire before dawn; whose faces thus appear pale and wan, as if they had been made entirely bloodless.
Verse 9: Behold, the day of the Lord shall come, cruel
9. Behold, the day of the Lord shall come, cruel. — Some take these words literally of the day of judgment, but it is clear from the preceding and following that literally these things are said of the destruction of Babylon, which nevertheless was a living image of the consummation of the age, and of the day of judgment. So St. Jerome.
To lay the land (of the Babylonians) desolate.
You will say: Babylon also flourished after Cyrus, in the time of Alexander the Great, who devastated it again. I respond that this devastation of Babylon was begun by Cyrus, but perfected by Alexander and others, as I will explain on Jeremiah l, 39.
Verse 10: For the stars of heaven
10. For the stars of heaven. — This is a hyperbole and hypallage, by which the Prophets customarily signify extreme disaster, calamity and affliction. For to the afflicted, on account of the weakness of their vital and animal spirits, and their return to the heart, and on account of the faintness and dizziness of the head, all things seem to be dark, indeed to be revolving and overturned. The opposite happens in joy.
Allegorically, these things, as they sound, will truly come to pass on the day of judgment, as also those things which are said in verse 13. See chapter xxxii.
Verse 11: The evils of the world
11. The evils of the world. — He calls Babylon 'the world' because, on account of the multitude of people, artisans and goods, it was like a small world. Thus we call Rome, Paris, Venice, Constantinople a small world. The Hebrew word tebel, that is 'the world,' alludes to Babel.
Verse 12: A man shall be more precious than gold
12. A man shall be more precious than gold, — as if to say: The Median soldier, by the nod and impulse of God the avenger, will spare no Babylonian, even if he offers the greatest ransom and price of gold; because, proud and fierce, he will prefer glory and lives to riches, as is said in verse 17. So Vatablus and Sanchez.
Adam explains it differently, as if to say: A precious, that is, a rare man will scarcely survive; for very many will be killed by the Chaldeans.
Than the finest gold. — The Hebrew and Chaldean have, 'the gold of Ophir,' that is, the best. See what was said on Jeremiah x, 9.
Verse 13: The earth shall be moved
13. The earth shall be moved. — This is a hyperbole and hypallage; for to those most afflicted, the earth and sky seem to be moving, revolving and confounded. Thus we commonly say: 'Heaven and earth are mixed together, or sea and sky,' that is, all things are mixed up and confounded.
Verse 14: And it shall be as a doe fleeing
14. And it shall be as a doe fleeing, — as if to say: The army of the Chaldeans will flee at the coming of Cyrus, just as a doe and an unarmed and defenseless sheep flees at the roar of a lion or wolf.
Every one shall turn to his own people. — He speaks of the foreign and auxiliary forces, which had come from other subject or allied provinces to aid Babylon against the Persians; for these, seeing the camp of Cyrus, fled and returned to their own people.
Verse 16: Their (the Babylonians') infants shall be dashed in pieces
16. Their (the Babylonians') infants shall be dashed in pieces. — This is a sign of extreme hatred and cruelty, and it was done by the just judgment of God, who avenged the crimes of the parents even upon their innocent infants. The same was predicted in Psalm cxxxvi, 9: 'Blessed is he who shall take and dash your little ones (O Babylon) against the rock.'
Verse 19: And that Babylon, glorious
19. And that Babylon, glorious. — Supply: shall be so destroyed and overthrown, 'like Sodom.' Babylon is here called 'glorious among kingdoms,' in Hebrew tsebi, that is, the beauty, delight, glory, magnificence of kingdoms.
The famous pride of the Chaldeans. — For so read St. Jerome in the Commentary, the Complutensian, the Plantin and other editions generally; in Hebrew it is, 'the glory of the pride (that is, magnificence) of the Chaldeans,' that is, in which the Chaldeans are accustomed to glory and take pride, says Vatablus; so also Pagninus. The Zurich Bible has, 'the ornament of the splendor of the Chaldeans.' Babylon is the famous, proud and magnificent city of the Chaldeans. Nevertheless the Roman reading seems both more forceful and more genuine. For Babylon is called 'the famous pride,' that is, the famous glory and magnificence of the Chaldeans, in which indeed, as in a most proud and magnificent city, they are accustomed to take pride and glory among all nations; that is, it was 'the dwelling place of pride, and the seat of luxury,' as Cicero says, book II of On the Laws. Thus also Virgil says, Aeneid ii: 'The doorposts, proud with barbaric gold and spoils, have fallen.' Thus cities are called proud, fields proud, a marriage proud, beauty proud, fortune proud, honor proud, scepters proud, and 'the proud ensign of war,' Aeneid viii. 'Babylon, the greatest of all cities the sun has looked upon,' says St. Jerome, 'now has nothing left but its walls.'
Verse 20: Nor shall the Arab pitch his tents there
20. Nor shall the Arab pitch his tents there, — who is accustomed to dwell in tents and wander through common pastures (as many now are in Africa, who migrate from place to place, and are called Scenite Arabs, or Nomads), for the sake of the flocks and herds which they feed; and this because on account of the ruins of Babylon there will be many caves and dens, in which lions and wild beasts hostile to flocks are accustomed to lurk; and because Babylon, burned, will be a dry mound, and will produce neither grass nor herbage.
He mentions the Arabs above others, both because the Arabs are shepherds of flocks, as I said; and because Arabia Deserta is near Chaldea. This prophecy still endures to this day, and is evident from experience. A learned and religious man narrated to me at Rome, who had recently traveled through those places, that the ruins of Babylon are still visible, and that they are enormous and immense, and extend for three days' journey, and are utterly deserted and desolate. I asked, he said, the reason, and especially why the Arabs and shepherds did not at least pasture their flocks in places so empty and open to common grazing? They immediately answered me that those places are full of the spectres of wild beasts and demons, which Isaiah here enumerates, and therefore no one dares to approach them more closely. Therefore the demons possess Babylon, owed to them by so many titles and vices, and so justly given to them by divine judgment, in order to strike terror into men, lest they follow the crimes of Babylon, and know that, if they do so, they will likewise become the dwelling place of demons, and the mockery as well as the food of hell, according to that saying of Psalm xlviii, 13: 'They are placed like sheep in hell: death shall feed upon them.'
so called because it always moans and hoots. So it happened to Babylon; for, as St. Jerome says: 'We have learned from a certain brother hermit, who, departing from those regions, now leads the life of monks at Jerusalem, that the king's hunting grounds are in Babylon, and that wild beasts of every kind are contained within the circuit of its walls alone.' Mystically, Babylon is the world, the owls are worldly and secular people, who on account of the cares, troubles, quarrels and a thousand afflictions of the world, constantly moan and hoot, but yet like owls refuse to come out of their dens in Babylon: indeed, if you try to pull them out, they resist: so worldly people, whose miseries they desperately love, refuse to be removed from them, to pass over to a quiet and religious life, but desire to live and linger in them. This is the curse of Babylon, that is, of the world.
Sirens. — The Chaldean has 'dragons'; the Seventy, 'hedgehogs'; in Hebrew it is tannim, that is, as St. Jerome says, demons, or monsters, or great dragons, crested and flying; for these truly exist in desert places, and demons often assume their appearance. Our translator rendered the species for the genus. For a siren is a species of aquatic and marine monster, a virgin from the mouth and to the waist, a fish below; such a one was captured in our age in Frisia, lived among humans for many years, and learned to spin. Under this appearance also the devil deludes men. Less correctly the Greek Scholiast on Isaiah xxxiv, 23: 'Sirens,' he says, 'are called those among the flying creatures that emit a querulous voice at night, and hoot nearby, like the owl, and similar creatures.' Note: By this phrase the Prophet signifies the extreme desolation of the place, namely that it is to be so desolated that it becomes a dwelling place of demons and monsters, so that no one dares to go there.
Tropologically, the Siren, says St. Basil, is a demon that entices and deceives the soul with pleasure. Hence on the fable of the Sirens of Ulysses, and its mystical mythology, and the victory through the cross, see St. Ambrose, book IV on Luke, at the beginning.
Verse 22: And owls shall answer there
22. And owls shall answer there. — The Seventy have 'onocentaurs.' The owl is a nocturnal, moaning bird, so called because it always moans and hoots.
Hairy ones. — Fauns and Satyrs, about which Pliny writes, book vii, chapter ii, that is, as the Chaldean and the Seventy have it, demons, namely those who appear in woods and desert places, hairy in the form of goats, as gods of the groves, about which see more in chapter xxxiv, verse 14.
This is what St. John says, alluding to this passage, Apocalypse xviii: 'Babylon the great has fallen, has fallen: and has become the habitation of demons, and the hold of every unclean spirit.'
Shall dance. — He alludes to the sport in which frolicking kids, let loose after a military fashion from various stations, meet with opposing foreheads, leap upon and butt each other.
In the temples of pleasure. — Vatablus, in the luxurious palaces. For Babylon was built and arranged for every pleasure and pomp; but after its destruction, instead of delights there will be dragons in it, instead of harpists owls and horned owls, instead of servants and attendants horrible Fauns and Satyrs.
Mystically, St. Bernard, in the treatise On the Eleven Burdens of Isaiah, sermon 1: 'The first,' he says, 'is the burden of Babylon, which must be taken from our shoulders. Babylon signifies the world, whose love is cupidity; therefore a heavy burden, pressing many down and bending them toward lower things. It burdens the wretched in three ways: with labor, with fear, with sorrow. With labor a man arrives at what he desires, with fear he possesses it, with sorrow he loses it. Come now, brothers, what king acquires what he desires without labor? What king is so secure that he fears no one? Who does not lose something with sorrow? But let us turn this parable to ourselves. Does none of us sigh under the weight of this burden? Have no worldly delights taken up residence in us? What of the fact that
those who have left their own possessions do not fear to seek what belongs to others, for which they are wearied by labors, tortured by sorrows, crushed by fears? Is even he free from this burden, who, having brought nothing or little into the monastery, nevertheless does not cease to take away from the monastery whatever he can to give to others; who asks importunately; who gets angry if he does not receive; grieves if he is reproved; rages if he is denounced? What of those who are so bound by affection for their parents, that they do not hesitate to undergo damage to their Religious life and the greatest labors for them, and on this account also spend empty days and sleepless nights? What shall I say of those who pursue honors? What burden do they not bear? Now they flatter, now they detract, now they go mad for the advancement of others; now, frustrated in their hope, they rise up even against their own fathers with curses. And so, brothers, all these are conformed to this world. Hence they are reckoned under the name of Babylon, to be miserably crushed by that burden of punishments which the Prophet describes upon Babylon.'
Apply therefore to these all the individual judgments and threats of Isaiah in this chapter and the next against Babylon, and especially that one in chapter xiv, 11: 'Your carcass has fallen, the moth is spread under you, and worms are your covering. Your pride has been dragged down to hell. How have you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, who did rise in the morning,' etc.