Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Just as in chapter 12 he concluded the benefits of Christ's first coming with a canticle, so here he concludes the gifts of the second coming with a hymn of thanksgiving. This is therefore a praise of God the glorifier, which Isaiah takes up in the person of those to be saved through the Passion of Christ, who, though few amid such a great number of the damned, will marvelously exult and congratulate God and themselves. St. John in the Apocalypse often imitates these praises and jubilations of the Blessed.
Vulgate Text: Isaiah 25:1-12
1. O Lord, You are my God, I will exalt You and give praise to Your name, for You have done wonderful things, counsels of old that are faithful, amen. 2. For You have made the city a heap, the strong city a ruin, the house of strangers: so that it is no city, and it shall never be built. 3. Therefore the strong people shall praise You, the city of mighty nations shall fear You. 4. For You have been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a hope from the whirlwind, a shade from the heat; for the blast of the mighty is like a whirlwind driving against a wall. 5. Like heat in drought, You shall bring down the tumult of strangers; and as heat under a scorching cloud, You shall make the branch of the mighty to wither. 6. And the Lord of hosts shall make for all peoples on this mountain a feast of fat things, a feast of vintage, of fat things full of marrow, of vintage well refined. 7. And He shall cast down on this mountain the face of the bond that binds all peoples, and the web that He has woven over all nations. 8. He shall cast down death forever; and the Lord God shall wipe away tears from every face, and the reproach of His people He shall take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. 9. And it shall be said on that day: Behold, this is our God, we have waited for Him, and He will save us; this is the Lord, we have endured for Him, we shall exult and rejoice in His salvation. 10. For the hand of the Lord shall rest on this mountain; and Moab shall be threshed under Him, as straw is threshed in the wain. 11. And he shall stretch out his hands under Him, as a swimmer stretches out to swim; and He shall bring down his glory with the dashing of his hands. 12. And the fortifications of your high walls shall fall, and be brought low, and cast down to the earth, even to the dust.
Verse 1: O Lord, You Are My God
1. YOU HAVE DONE (that is, You will certainly do, and in Your foreknowledge and decree You have already done) COUNSELS OF OLD THAT ARE FAITHFUL (meaning: You have accomplished the counsels which You planned from eternity) — namely to save the elect and to damn the reprobate; or to destroy pagan Rome and convert the world to Christ. These counsels of God are most faithful and certain, because God is most faithful and true.
Second, Vatablus and Sanchez translate the Hebrew emuna amen as: "You have done counsels of old which are faithfulness, faithfulness," that is, most faithful and certain, for the doubling of "faithfulness" (amen, amen) conveys emphasis and certainty, meaning: You have most certainly and most faithfully fulfilled everything You promised.
Verse 2: You Have Made the City a Heap
2. FOR YOU HAVE MADE THE CITY A HEAP. — He calls the whole world a city, which for the most part is the city of the wicked; hence he gives thanks to God for destroying this city of vanity and replacing it with the city of truth, namely heaven and heavenly glory.
Verse 3: The Strong People Shall Praise You
3. THEREFORE THE STRONG PEOPLE SHALL PRAISE YOU — namely of the saints and the elect, who bravely conquered themselves and their desires, the allurements of the devil, the temptations of the world and the flesh.
THE CITY OF MIGHTY NATIONS (that is, the Church gathered from powerful nations) SHALL FEAR YOU — shall revere You, as children observe and revere their father.
Second, Vatablus translates: the city of violent and tyrannical nations (for these in Hebrew are called aritsim, verses 4 and 5, where likewise the Vulgate translates "mighty") shall fear You — that is, the wicked themselves, seeing the just glorified and themselves condemned, shall fear and tremble.
Verse 4: A Hope from the Whirlwind
4. A HOPE FROM THE WHIRLWIND, A SHADE FROM THE HEAT — meaning: God was for the Saints in every whirlwind, that is, persecution, and heat, that is, temptation, a hope and a shade, that is, a refuge and protection.
The second sense is that these words pertain not to the wicked but to Christ, as if the Prophet were explaining how great will be the whirlwind and heat of the last judgment, namely that the breath of the mighty, that is of Christ the Judge, will be like a whirlwind driving against a wall, overthrowing and crushing everything.
Third, most fittingly, our version according to the Roman edition, and the Chaldean, punctuate these words so that the first part pertains to the wicked and their punishment, and the second to the just and their reward; as if to say: The blast of the mighty is like a whirlwind driving against a wall — God will strike the wicked like a whirlwind that batters a wall to ruin.
Verse 5: You Shall Make the Branch of the Mighty Wither
5. AND AS HEAT UNDER A SCORCHING CLOUD YOU SHALL MAKE THE BRANCH OF THE MIGHTY (in Hebrew aritsim, that is, of the violent) TO WITHER. — Pagninus translates: The tumult of strangers You shall bring low; as heat in the shade of a cloud, so the branch of the violent shall be humbled.
Again, for "branch" the Hebrew is zamir, that is, pruning, the produce of vines — namely the grapes that are pruned and the wines that come from the pruning; meaning: Just as the prunings of the vine are cut off and burned, so the wicked shall be cut off and burned.
Therefore Sanchez aptly and piously notes the striking difference between the heat, that is, the tribulation, of the just and of the unjust. The just, because God is their shade and protection, are like those who walk in the heat under the shade of a cloud, that is, under God's protection, and therefore do not feel the heat but rather are refreshed by it. But the unjust, who have no shade, that is, no protection of God, are scorched and consumed by the heat of tribulation.
Verse 6: A Feast of Fat Things on This Mountain
6. AND THE LORD SHALL MAKE, etc., ON THIS MOUNTAIN A FEAST OF FAT THINGS, A FEAST OF VINTAGE. — He contrasts this feast of vintage of the Saints with the mournful vintage described in the preceding chapter, verse 7. As if to say: While the vintage of the wicked shall mourn and be trodden down, the Lord will prepare for the Saints on this mountain, that is on Mount Sion, that is in heaven, a feast of fat things and wine.
Now first, Eusebius, Book 1 of the Demonstration of the Gospel, last chapter, Cyril, Procopius, Cyprian — or rather Rufinus in the Exposition of the Creed — take this literally of the Eucharist, as if to say: Christ will institute the Eucharist, which is the most excellent feast, on this mountain, that is in Sion, that is in Jerusalem, in the upper room. Therefore Christ seems to have alluded to this at the Last Supper, Luke chapter 22:16, and Matthew chapter 26:29, saying: "I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I shall drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom."
But I say that literally here the subject is the delights of the Blessed. For he mentions both species — namely bread and flesh, when he calls it a feast of fat things full of marrow; and wine, when he calls it a feast of vintage well refined — to signify, under the figure of the most delightful earthly food and drink, the superabundant delights of the heavenly feast.
Note: The delights of this heavenly banquet are denoted by two things. First, by fat things (that is, well-fattened) full of marrow; for the marrow of bones is the choicest part of the animal, and signifies the most exquisite delights. Second, by vintage well refined: for wine that has been well refined and purified from its lees is the most excellent and delicious.
The Prophet implies that wine, that is, consolation, even spiritual, sent by God in this life is not altogether refined, but is always mixed with some sediment of bitterness and tribulation; but in heaven the wine, that is the joy and consolation, will be altogether refined and free from all mixture of sorrow.
Xenophon relates that Cyrus used this stratagem to rouse his Persians to war and its labors: he ordered them to go into a forest and there spend the whole day in the most laborious work of cutting wood; the next day he prepared a magnificent feast for them and asked which day they preferred. When they all cried out that they preferred the feast, he said: "This then, O Persians, is the way to that feast: through labor and war."
Verse 7: He Shall Cast Down the Bond
7. AND HE SHALL CAST DOWN ON THIS MOUNTAIN THE FACE OF THE BOND THAT BINDS — that is, the oppression of the devil, the bonds of errors, diseases, persecutions, and all the miseries with which the devil and his ministers bind and oppress mankind — all these God shall destroy on this mountain, that is, in heaven.
AND THE WEB THAT HE HAS WOVEN OVER ALL NATIONS. — What he previously called a bond, he here calls by another metaphor a web. For from a web are made webs and cloths, with which the head and face are veiled and covered. So the devil, through the veil of ignorance, errors, concupiscence, and the darkness of sin, veils and blinds the minds and faces of all nations, so that they cannot see the light of truth and salvation.
Second, Haymo translates: He will cast down the face of the Ruler. Second, St. Jerome says: He will cause the face of death to be absorbed, and the bond of sins to be removed from all peoples.
Verse 8: He Shall Cast Down Death Forever
8. HE SHALL CAST DOWN DEATH FOREVER. — Behold, here he names and explains the chief part of the bond and the web, namely death. St. Paul cites this passage, I Corinthians xv, 54, and applies it to the general resurrection: "Death is swallowed up in victory."
AND THE LORD GOD SHALL WIPE AWAY TEARS. — Behold another part of the bond, namely weeping, groaning, and tears in the many tribulations and afflictions of this life. All these God will wipe away in heaven. This is cited in Apocalypse vii, 17, and xxi, 4.
Verse 9: This Is Our God
9. AND IT SHALL BE SAID ON THAT DAY: BEHOLD, THIS IS OUR GOD (namely Christ Jesus, that is, our Savior, to which the Hebrew ioscienu alludes, that is, He will save us), WE HAVE WAITED FOR HIM, AND HE WILL SAVE US; THIS IS THE LORD, WE HAVE ENDURED FOR HIM, WE SHALL EXULT AND REJOICE IN HIS SALVATION. — Behold the song of triumph of the Blessed, when they see Christ their Judge and Glorifier face to face: they will exult with ineffable joy, recognizing that this is He whom they long awaited and patiently endured for through so many labors and persecutions.
Verse 10: The Hand of the Lord Shall Rest on This Mountain
10. THE HAND OF THE LORD SHALL REST ON THIS MOUNTAIN. — "Hand," that is, the power of God, meaning: God will display His riches, His delights, His magnificence, and all His power on this mountain, that is in heaven, to adorn and beatify the Saints.
AND MOAB SHALL BE THRESHED UNDER HIM. — St. Thomas takes Moab properly as the Moabites, as if Isaiah here were predicting that they would be subjugated by the Jews. But more fittingly and genuinely, "Moab," that is the Moabites, who were the inveterate enemies of the Jews, signify all the reprobate and enemies of God and the Saints, who on the day of judgment shall be threshed, that is, most grievously punished.
AS STRAW IS THRESHED IN THE WAIN. — He alludes first to the peoples of the East, who for lack of hay give straw to their draft animals: "They have carried the silver of the merchants, and the straw of the army." The straw is threshed, that is, beaten and chopped, in the wain, that is, in the threshing cart.
For "wain" the Hebrew is madmena, which descends from the root dama, that is, to cut down, and signifies a cart fitted with saws and cutting instruments, as the Vulgate translates. For the ancients threshed grain with such carts, which crushed and separated the grain from the chaff and straw.
Verse 11: As a Swimmer Stretches Out to Swim
11. AND HE SHALL STRETCH OUT HIS HANDS UNDER HIM, AS A SWIMMER STRETCHES OUT TO SWIM. — For "under Him" the Hebrew has "in his midst." Whence Vatablus and others translate: God will stretch out His hands in the midst of Moab, that is, in the midst of the reprobate, to strike them on every side, as a swimmer stretches out his hands on every side to swim.
But the Vulgate, the Septuagint, and others refer these words to Moab, meaning: The demons and all the wicked will be so trampled by Christ the Judge that, as they sink into the depths of hell, they will stretch out their hands, like swimmers trying to save themselves from drowning, but in vain.
AND HE (Christ) SHALL BRING DOWN HIS GLORY — namely, of "Moab," that is, of the reprobate. For the Hebrews often silently change persons, as here there is a change from "he" (Moab) to "his" (the glory of Moab).
Verse 12: The Fortifications Shall Fall
12. AND THE FORTIFICATIONS — meaning: O Moab! O you reprobate! Christ on the day of judgment will overturn all things in which you now trust. There is no power, no wealth, no fortress that can stand before the face of the angry Judge.
Morally, St. Augustine — or whoever is the author of the book On the Soul and the Spirit, tome 3 of St. Augustine's works (he is certainly not unlearned) — beautifully describes in chapters 37 and 38 the joys of heaven, which the Prophet has here depicted under the figure of a feast:
First, the mutual charity of all, and the mutual joy arising therefrom: "Let us contemplate," he says in chapter 37, "what the society of the blessed will be, what the rejoicing over God, what the mutual love."
Second, the abundance and overflow of all goods: "Whatever is useful," he says, "and whatever delights, is there — namely all riches and delights, all beauty and all good."
Rejoice and exult, you just, for you see Him whom you loved; you possess Him whom you desired for so long; you hold Him whom you never fear to lose: He fills you with His presence, He satisfies you with His beauty, He illuminates you with His light.
O he who will enjoy this good, what will he be, and what will he not be! Certainly whatever he wills, will be; and whatever he does not will, will not be. Sixth, the possession of beauty, health, wisdom, melody, honor, riches, and all goods which we can here either taste or conceive: "In heaven," he says, "is whatever you love, whatever you desire. If beauty delights you, the just shall shine like the sun. If swiftness, or strength, or freedom of body, which nothing can resist, they shall be like the Angels of God. If long and wholesome life delights you, there is healthy eternity and eternal health. If fullness, they shall be satisfied when the glory of the Lord appears. If melody, there the Angels shall sing to God without end. If wisdom, all shall be taught by God. If power, they shall enter into the powers of the Lord. If honor and riches, God will set His good and faithful servants over many things, heirs indeed of God, but co-heirs with Christ. If true security, they will certainly be as sure that that good will never fail them, as they will be sure that they will not lose it of their own accord, nor that God, who loves them, will take it away from His lovers against their will."
Seventh, that each one will rejoice not in his own blessedness alone, but in that of every other person, and will be blessed not once but a hundred thousand times.
Ninth, the endowments of the glorified body: speaking of these endowments he says: "Our earthly body will have immortality, so that it need not fear being reduced to dust again. It will also have impassibility, so as not to be subject to miseries. For there will be such agility in it that the Blessed, if they wish, will be able without any delay or difficulty to follow even the swiftness of our thoughts to any place."
The same author earlier, in chapter 36, says: "Love is a sense: for just as the outer man is affected by these temporal things through a fivefold sense — that is, sight, hearing, taste, and the rest — so the inner man in the blessed life will be affected with ineffable love regarding the five ineffable things of God. For when he loves his God, he will love a certain light, a certain voice, a certain fragrance, a certain food, and a certain interior embrace. For there shines what no place contains; there sounds what time does not snatch away; there is fragrant what the wind does not scatter; there has flavor what eating does not diminish; there clings what satiety does not tear away."
From all of which St. Gregory rightly concludes, Homily 37 on the Gospel: "Great rewards cannot be reached except through great labors; whence also Paul says: 'No one is crowned except he who strives lawfully.'"