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1 The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see. 2 Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles. 3 I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness. 4 The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the LORD of hosts mustereth the host of the battle. 5 They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land. 6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. 7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt: 8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames. 9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. 10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. 11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. 12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. 13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger. 14 And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land. 15 Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword. 16 Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished. 17 Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it. 18 Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children. 19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. 20 It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. 21 But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. 22 And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.
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[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:1
(Chapter XIII—Verse 1) The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah, son of Amos, saw. The Hebrew word 'Messa' can be understood as burden, load, or weight. And wherever it is mentioned, it signifies a heavy message. Hence, I wonder why the Septuagint translators wanted to use the word 'vision' in this sad context; but that is a topic for another time. Now let us proceed with what we have started: Babylon was the capital of the Chaldeans, whose king Nebuchadnezzar conquered all nations as far as Ethiopia. Among others, he devastated Judah and besieged Jerusalem for a long time until he captured it in the eleventh year of King Zedekiah's reign. He also captured Zedekiah himself and brought him to Antioch, which was then called Riblah. There, with Zedekiah's father and sons killed before him, he had Zedekiah's eyes put out, had him bound in chains, and sent him to Babylon, fulfilling the prophecy of Jeremiah which he had spoken: 'You will go to Babylon, but you will not see it.' (Jeremiah XXXIV, XXXIX, LII). Therefore, for the consolation of the people of Judah, the ruin of Babylon is foretold, just as Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrians, who had captured the ten tribes, Phul, and Theglathphalasar, and Salmanasar, and Sennacherib, was devastated by the Chaldeans, so too may this city, which has rebelled against God, be overthrown by the attack of the Medes and Persians.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:1
(Chapter XIII—Verse 1) The burden or vision against Babylon that Isaiah, son of Amos, saw. He saw not with the eyes of the flesh, but with the eyes of the mind, how great and weighty a burden is to be imposed upon Babylon. And because Babylon, which in Hebrew is called Babel (), signifies confusion; because there the speech of the builders was confounded, it is understood spiritually that this world, which is placed in evil, not only confuses languages, but also the works of individuals and their minds. The king of Babylon is the true Nebuchadnezzar, who rebels against the Lord, saying in his heart: I will ascend to heaven, I will set my throne above the stars of heaven. I will sit on the mountain of the Covenant on the sides of the North. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High. This is the one who shows the Lord all the kingdoms of the world, and said to him: All these things are given to me, and I will give them to you, if you fall down and worship me (Matthew 4:9). Finally, in the following statements, there is a threat not against Babylon, but against the whole world. The Lord of Hosts commanded the most warlike nation to come from a distant land, from the highest heavens, to destroy the world. And again: Behold, the day of incurable fury and wrath is coming, to make the world a deserted place, and to destroy sinners from it. And then: I will bring evils upon the whole world, and upon the wicked their own sins. From these things it is proved that everything that is said against Babylon pertains to the confusion and destruction of this world.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:2
Hence it is often said to sinners: give glory to God! But Babylon and the entire region of the Chaldeans are called dark or gloomy mountains, as in the beginning of Isaiah, where we find written against Babylon: “Raise the signal on a dark mountain,” which in Hebrew is called nishpeh.

Source: SIX BOOKS ON JEREMIAH 3:17.2-3
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:2
(Verse 2.) On the dark mountain, raise a sign, lift up your voice, raise your hand. The dark mountain, also called the mountain of darkness, which in Hebrew is called Nesphe, represents Babylon because of its pride. These are the dark mountains, which bring forth sadness and darkness, about which Jeremiah says: Give glory to the Lord your God before your feet stumble on the dark mountains (Jeremiah 13:16). And it is commanded either to the angels or to any ministers, that by the command of God and with their uplifted hands, the coming captivity to Babylon is preached.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:2
(Version 2.) On the dark or open plain, raise the sign. The Apostles and the Apostolic men and masters of the Churches are instructed to raise the sign of the Lord's cross when they are about to fight against Babylon, not in a lowly place or in sunken valleys, but on a dark or open mountain. The former signifies the hidden sacraments of the Church, which Moses entered into darkness and gloom in order to see and hear the voice of God. For God has set darkness as his hiding place: and clouds and mists surround him. (Psalm 17). The other teaches us that we should ascend to the heights of ecclesiastical teachings in such a way that, according to the Apostle Paul, we humble ourselves and say: 'I am not worthy to be called an Apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God' (1 Corinthians 15, 9). He himself raised a sign on the mountain plain, when, with inherent humility, he said: 'But I have judged myself to know nothing among you, except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.' But this sign he himself shall raise up in the previous days, who has arisen from the root of Jesse amongst the nations, in order to gather the lost of Israel.

Exalt your voice, raise your hand. Regarding which, the Seventy translated: 'Console his hand.' He who speaks of lofty matters raises his voice and despises present things as if they were brief and fleeting. He also hears from Isaiah: 'Ascend to the high mountain, O bearer of good news to Zion. Raise your voice with strength, O bearer of good news to Jerusalem; raise your hand, O bearer of good news.' And he is able, like David, to say: 'The raising of my hands is an evening sacrifice.' And he raises holy hands in every place, not only to raise his hands, but also to console with his hand, so that he does not say to the poor: 'Come back tomorrow and take it,' but rather to console his poverty and need with present mercy.


And let the leaders enter the gates. LXX: Open, O leaders. The leaders of the Church enter the gates of God's mysteries, and they understand the sacraments of the Scriptures, having the key of knowledge, so that they may open them to the people who believe in them. Therefore, it is commanded that the teachers open them, and the disciples enter.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Isaiah 13:2
And this covenant is well said to be a shady and thick mountain, because it is darkened by the thick obscurities of allegories. Again, by a mountain is designated the apostate angel, as is said to preachers concerning the ancient enemy under the character of the king of Babylon, “Lift you up a banner upon the gloomy mountain.” Holy preachers lift up a banner above the gloomy mountain when they exalt the virtue of the cross.

Source: MORALS ON THE BOOK OF JOB 6:33.2
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:3
(Verse 3) I have commanded my sanctified ones. Concerning this, in the Septuagint (LXX): I will command, and I will bring them. For he himself sanctifies his ministers, so that both the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified may all be one. He also speaks in another place to the believers: Be holy, for I am holy, he himself commands, and he will bring his princes to do what has been commanded (Leviticus 19:2).

And I called my strong ones in my anger: rejoicing in my glory. LXX: Giants come to fulfill my fury, rejoicing together and causing insult. According to the Hebrew, they adhere to the previous statements, that He Himself called His strong ones, rejoicing in His glory, those whom He had commanded to be sanctified. However, according to the LXX, the coming giants to fulfill the wrath of the Lord, rejoicing in the injury of others and rejoicing, must be understood as the reception of left-handed and contrary virtues, of which we also read in the Psalms: He sent upon them the rage of His anger, wrath and trouble, by the sending of the worst Angels (Psalm LXXVII, 49). Among these is the destroyer in Egypt, who dares not enter the dwelling of the blood-stained doorposts (Exod. XII), and that spirit who went forth and stood in the presence of the Lord, and said: 'I will deceive Ahab.' And the Lord said to him: 'You will deceive and prevail, go forth and do so' (III Kings XXII, 21, 22). From the same book of Kings, Michaiah said: 'I saw the Lord of Israel sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven stood around Him on His right hand and on His left' (Ibid., 9). The virtues of the angels who are sent for good are on the right, but those who are entrusted with punishing are on the left. Hence, the Apostle says: 'Those whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they may learn not to blaspheme' (I Tim. I, 20). However, the name of the giants, for which in Hebrew it is Geborim (), that is, the strong ones, is translated by the Septuagint and Theodotion into a likeness of the fables of the gentiles, just as they name the Sirens, and Titans, and Arcturus, the Hyades, and Orion, which are called by different names among the Hebrews. But if the giants are rebellious against God, and all heresies rebel against the truth contrary to God: all heretics are giants, who rejoice in their error, and especially glory when they have insulted the Church.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:3-4
(Vers. 3, 4.) And the leaders shall enter the gates: I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness. The princes, and the giants, according to the LXX Translators, Eusebius interprets as angelic powers, and the most wicked demons, who were sent for the overthrow of Babylon. But following the order of the story, we say they were the Medes. Of whom Scripture testifies more explicitly in what follows, saying: Behold, I will raise up against them the Medes, who shall not regard silver, and as for gold, they shall not delight in it. It is not surprising that he calls the Medes sanctified for the destruction of Babylon, since through Jeremiah he himself, Nebuchadnezzar, while destroying Jerusalem, a rebellious city, called them his servant and his dove. Furthermore, when he says, 'My mighty men and those who rejoice in my glory,' he shows that they did not overthrow the power of such a lofty kingdom by their own strength, but rather by the wrath of God.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:4-5
(Verse 4, 5.) The voice of the multitude on the mountains, like the voice of many people: the sound of the gathered kings of nations. The Lord of hosts has commanded the forces of war to come from afar, from the top of the heavens. The Lord and His vessels of fury, to destroy all the earth. The attack of the Medes and Persians is described: with many auxiliary forces gathered, their army led by their Lord, they come to lay waste to Babylon, to destroy all the earth: not that they have devastated the whole world, but all the land of Babylon and the Chaldeans. For language is indeed the Scripture's, so as to signify all the provinces of that land, concerning which the discourse is had: which some not understanding, draw down to the subversion of all lands.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:5-6
(Vers. 5, 6.) How has the tax collector ceased, the tribute rested? The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked: the rod of the rulers, smiting the people in wrath, with an incurable plague, subjecting the nations in fury, persecuting cruelly. In the Epistle of Peter we read: The time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God (1 Peter 4:17). And in Ezekiel it is said to the tormentors: Begin with my sanctuary (Ezekiel 9:6). For the diversity of sin, the order of judgment is established: so that those who have sinned less, may be purified first. But the final enemy to be destroyed is death. Therefore, when Israel has been liberated from harsh bondage, he will take up a parable against the king of Babylon, which we must understand as a parable. For if the speech is about Nebuchadnezzar and a simple explanation of history, how can it be called a parable, which is not compared to any other thing? So Israel wonders how the tax collector, who used to collect all the way to the last penny, has ceased. However, he is accustomed to pursue only debtors, who say in the Lord's Prayer: Forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors (Matth. VI, 12). These debtors are handed over to the collector by the judge, who sends them to prison and exacts from them up to the smallest sin. Moreover, the Apostle Paul also handed over to the collector the fornicator in Corinth, who had married his father's wife, as well as Phygellus and Hermogenes (I Cor. V; II Tim. I). And concerning these tax collectors, it is also said: My people, your tax collectors plunder you; and those who demand payment, they are your rulers. The eagle has interpreted hunger as tribute. For when our betrothed is taken away from us, we suffer hunger for the word of God, and continually fast from the body of the Lord. And so the rod and staff of the wicked, which are interpreted as a yoke of seventy, strike us or oppress us; because we did not want to bear the light yoke, the yoke of the Savior. However, with this staff and this rod, he would strike the people with incurable madness and cruelly pursue those who fled: not wanting to correct those who were handed over, but to kill them.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:5
(Verse 5) The voice of the multitude on the mountains is like the voice of populous nations, the sound of gathered kings of nations. This place is understood in three ways. First, that with a raised sign on a rural mountain, a multitude of nations may come, and they themselves, being situated on the mountains, are divided into two, namely, peoples and kings, disciples and teachers, of whom the Savior spoke in the Gospel: Many will come from the east and west and recline at table with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 8:11). Therefore, one voice is said to be consonant, so that the apostolic saying may be proved: 'You all say the same thing and there are no divisions among you, but you are perfect in the same mind and in the same judgment' (1 Corinthians 1:10). Secondly, the pride of heretics is described, who, believing themselves to be on mountains, rise up against the knowledge of God and speak iniquity on high, and they raise their mouths to heaven. They themselves also have people, they have kings, who devour the deceived people. The third interpretation is as follows: because, as mentioned before, the giants come to fulfill my wrath, rejoicing together and committing insults; the passage describes the arrogance of the giants themselves and their agreement to carry out punishment against those who have been handed over to them.

The Lord of hosts has commanded the army of war, coming from a far country, from the end of heaven: The Lord and his vessels of wrath, to destroy all the earth. LXX: The Lord of hosts has commanded the most warlike nation, to come from a distant land from the highest foundation of heaven. The foundation must be noted. We read in the Book of Kings and Chronicles (2 Kings 24; 1 Chronicles 21). The passage states that the anger of God was kindled against Israel when David numbered the people, which offended the Lord. In the Psalms, it is also written: 'O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath,' and so on with similar statements. It is mentioned in someone's (possibly Basil's) Commentaries that the anger of God can be understood as contrary to strength, which is given to us for punishment. This is also sung in the eighth psalm: 'To destroy the enemy and the avenger' (Psalm 8:3). Those can be called warriors who come from far away lands and from the highest heavens, even the ministering angels who are to be sent in the consummation of the world to gather the bundles of weeds and prepare them for eternal fire (Matthew 13). Likewise, the whole earth is destroyed when earthly works are overthrown. There are also other warriors of the Lord, armed like the apostles, who daily in the Church, which is called the inhabited world, fight against and kill those who rise up against the knowledge of God.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:6
(Verse 6) Howl, for the day of the Lord is near; it will come like destruction from the Lord. An apostrophe is made to the Chaldean people, that they may resound with weeping for the coming calamities; and let them not doubt the downfall of the city when the Lord the devastator comes.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:6-7
(Verse 6, 7.) Howl, for the day of the Lord is near; it will come as destruction from the Lord. Therefore all hands will be feeble, and every man's heart will melt, and be crushed. For the warriors of the Lord are coming to destroy all the earth, howl and repent, for punishment is coming. For the day of the Lord is near, the end of the world, and judgment, or the end of each person's life. For plunder comes from the Lord, which we call destruction, to keep the metaphor, because the warriors had been sent ahead. When the day of judgment or of death comes, all hands will be dissolved, as it is said elsewhere: Take courage, you who have dissolved hands. The hands will be dissolved because no work worthy of God's justice will be found, and in his sight, no living creature will be justified (Psalm 142:2). Therefore, the Prophet says in the Psalms: If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, who could stand? (Psalm 130:3). Every heart and every soul of man will waste away, and the conscience of their sin will cause fear. This is a day of fear and terror, about which even Zephaniah speaks: 'Fear before the Lord; for the day of the Lord is near' (Soph. I, 14). And again: 'The great day of the Lord is near, it is near and hastens quickly' (Zeph. I, 14). And Amos says: 'Woe to those who desire the day of the Lord! Why would you have the day of the Lord? It is darkness, and not light' (Amos V, 18). And that which is added in the Septuagint is: 'The messengers will be troubled and pains will seize them'. We can interpret those messengers as the citizens who sent against him who had gone into a far country to obtain a kingdom for himself' (Luke XIX, 27). But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:7-8
(Verse 7, 8.) Therefore, all hands will be loosened, and every man's heart will waste away and be crushed. There will be twisting and pain: they will be in agony like a woman in labor. Each person will be astonished at their neighbor; their faces will be burned with the expression of fear. This explanation is not necessary, but it is briefly indicated that such a great weight of evils will come upon them, that the hands of the fighters of Babylon will be loosened, and their hearts will grow weak with fear, and the agony of childbirth will twist their insides, and each person will seek help from another, their pale faces showing dread. For it is natural that in the face of impending disasters, we consider others to be more wise.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:7-11
(Verse 7 and following) The whole earth rested and was silent; it rejoiced and exulted. The fir trees also rejoiced over you, and the cedars of Lebanon. Since you have fallen asleep, no one will rise up to cut us down; the underworld below is troubled, and it has aroused giants in anticipation of your coming. All the rulers of the earth have risen from their thrones; all the rulers of the nations will respond and say to you: Are you also wounded like us? Have you become like us? Your pride has been brought down to the underworld, your body has fallen; below you shall be spread out maggots, decay, and worms shall be your covering. For the destruction of the impious king, who struck the nations with an incurable wound and cruelly pursued them, all the earth has rested and become silent, which previously was full of turmoil and sedition, to the extent that the firs and cedars of Lebanon rejoiced, of which it is written in the psalms: You have transplanted a vineyard from Egypt, you have driven out the nations, and you have planted it. His shade covered the mountains, and his cedars, the cedars of God (Ps. 79:9). These cedars of God, because they sinned at one time, the Lord handed over to be crushed by punishments. Hence it is said in another psalm: The Lord will crush the cedars of Lebanon (Ps. 28:5). However, the tall and lofty trees, which are exalted in the service of the Lord, should be understood as saying with a harmonious voice: Since you have slept. Note that even the death of death is called sleep. He who cuts us down will not ascend. For when the strong one is defeated and his vessels plundered, even the rest of his companions fall. Hence the Lord speaks in the Gospel (Matthew 25:41): 'Depart into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels.' How many of these woodcutters and tree fellers have cut down and made fall with their axes? The underworld also, disturbed and turned towards bitterness, at the approach of the true Nebuchadnezzar, is the place of punishments and tortures, in which the rich one clothed in purple appears: to whom the Lord descended, in order to release the prisoners from the prison. We can speak of the opposing inferno and the angel who is placed in charge of the punishments of the underworld, who raised all the giants: for which some call them Raphaims, others call them Titans. Giants, according to the custom of the Gentiles, are called those whom they consider to be earth-born, whom the earth has produced. However, we can call giants, according to the etymology of the Greek language, those who served earthly works. Finally, it follows: All the rulers of the earth rose from their thrones, in the coming of their former ruler: so that those whom they previously honored for their power, afterwards marveled at their punishments, and said: You have been wounded just like us: you have become like us. What words have this meaning: We thought that because of our weakness we could not resist the power of God, and that you were the only one who would remain in your greatness; but as it is evident, you were wounded and captured, like us; so that whom dignity separates on earth, punishment may unite in the underworld. The pride, or your glory, has been taken down to the underworld, and your corpse has fallen, or as the LXX translated, your great joy, with which you used to rejoice over the nations subject to you. Under you shall be strewn putrefaction, and worms shall be your covering. This is the resting place of the devil, this is the bed of the tempter, who was raised up in such pride that he dared even to tempt the Lord, saying: 'All these things I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.' (Matth. IV, 9). The putrefaction and worms, and the covering of vermin, signify the eternal punishments which the conscience itself gives birth to, or the material of punishments which arises from one's own sins. For just as long as the material of a corpse exists, and there is any moisture in the corpse, worms are born from the putrefaction; so from the same material the punishments of sins are produced. Therefore, the Apostle Paul, speaking of the death that Hosea prophesied about, saying, 'I will be your death, O death; I will be your sting, O grave' (Hosea 13:14), speaks to it, saying, 'Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O grave, is your sting?' (1 Corinthians 15:55). For when she is dead, there will be no one to cut us down: for there will be no sin that needs to be cut down, since the sting of death is sin.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Isaiah 13:8
The day of the Lord comes suddenly, it says, and in an unexpected way like the pains of childbirth, which forestall all one’s efforts to hide them.

Source: LETTER 32 (8:56.12)
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:8
(Verse 8.) They will be tormented with twists and pains. They will groan like a woman giving birth. Each one will be astonished at their neighbor. Their faces will be burned. When the warriors of the Lord come from a distant land, and all hands are loosened, and the heart is fearful and crushed, then the stomach turns, which we have interpreted as twists, and pains will torment them, similar to the pains of a woman in labor. Through this, it is shown that they are tormented by their own conscience and have faces burned by the fire they have kindled for themselves. Because they cannot say: 'The light of your face, Lord, has shone upon us' (Psalm 4:7); and: 'We all, with unveiled face, contemplate the glory of the Lord, and we are transformed into the same image' (2 Corinthians 3:18). Each one will be amazed to see their neighbor suffering in the same torments as themselves.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Isaiah 13:9
For there will be none to stand by, none to rescue, nowhere the face of Christ, so mild and calm. But as those who work in the mines are delivered over to certain cruel people and see none of their friends but those only that are set over them, so will it be then also: or rather not so, but even far more grievous.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW 43:5
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:9
(Verse 9.) Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel and full of indignation, wrath and fury, to make the earth a desolation, and to destroy its sinners. He calls it a cruel day, not because of its own merit, but because of the people. For he is not cruel who kills the cruel, but because he appears cruel to those who suffer. For even the thief hanging on the gallows considers the judge cruel. At the same time, the solitude and desolation of the land of Babylon are announced, and the cause of the desolation is explained, because all these things happen because of its inhabitants.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:9
(Verse 9) Behold, the cruel day of the Lord is coming, full of indignation, wrath, and fury, to make the earth a desolation and to crush sinners out of it. For the phrase 'the earth' the Seventy interpreted it as 'the inhabited world', that is, the globe. And for 'cruel' they translated it as 'incurable'. For when the day of judgment or death comes, that will be fulfilled which is read in the sixth psalm: 'For in death, who will give you thanks?' (Ps. VI, 6). For that time is not a time of repentance, but of punishment. And in another place it is said: How great is the multitude of your sweetness, Lord, which you have hidden for those who fear you! Therefore, much of God's mercy is hidden from those who are still in fear and do not have perfect love of God, so that when they hear of the cruel day of the Lord, and of the incurable and full of anger and fury, they may cease from sinning. The world or the earth will also be turned into a desert, and sinners will be crushed by it, which was previously burdened by the weight of sins, so that after wickedness is destroyed and lost, only justice may dwell and reign in the earth.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:10
(Verse 10) For the stars of the heavens and their splendor will not extend their light; the sun will be darkened at its rising, and the moon will not shine with its light. The Hebrew word Chisile () was translated as ὠρίωνα in the Septuagint. The Hebrews, with whom I studied, translated it as Arcturus. However, following Symmachus, we generally referred to it as a constellation. The meaning is that when the day of the Lord's cruelty comes and his fury devastates everything, due to the magnitude of fear, all things will become dark for mortals, and even the sun, moon, and shining stars will seem to deny their brightness. And so the sky is clad in darkness, which covers everything, and under the weight of evil, humans feel nothing but what their mind forces them to see.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:10
(Verse 10.) For the stars of heaven and their splendor will not expand their light: the sun will be obscured in its rising, and the moon will not shine in its brightness. LXX: For the stars of heaven and Orion, and all the adornment of the heavens will not give their light (or, will have it): and they will be darkened when the sun rises, and the moon will not give its light. Because we have interpreted the splendor of them, without a doubt the stars Aquila and Theodotion have placed the Hebrew word "Chisileem" (): for which reason the LXX translated it as Orion, adding from their own, and all the adornment of the heavens, which is to be marked with an obelus. The fables of the Gentiles say that Orion has twenty-two stars, of which four are of the third magnitude, nine of the fourth, and again nine of the fifth, and they are called Bootes by others. We also read in Job about the Hyades, the Evening Star, Arcturus, and the treasures or inner parts of the South (Job 9:9), about which will be said in their proper place. Nor should we think that these stars are called by these names among the Hebrews, which the Greek and Latin language sound forth, but they have their own proper names. For just as God called light, day; and firmament, heaven; and dry land, earth; and gatherings of waters, seas (Gen. I); so too he named each star with its own names, the properties of which our language does not express. It is written of God in another place: Who numbers the multitude of stars: and calls each of them by name. Therefore, when the day of the Lord comes to establish the barrenness of the earth and to completely remove sinners from it (Ps. CXLVI, 4); then, in comparison to the divine majesty, the stars of the sky and all their splendor will withdraw their light. And it is no wonder to say this about the lesser stars, since the sun itself becomes obscured at its rising, and the moon does not have its usual radiance. But that which the seventy translators rendered, that the stars and Orion, and all the adornments of the sky are obscured at the rising of the sun, does not have any significance or miracle; for this happens at all times, that when the sun rises, the stars that are in the sky do not appear. It is also not surprising to say this about the sun, since even during a full moon and when the entire night is shining, many stars do not shine. Moreover, it also proves the daily movement of the stars in the sky, as well as the eclipse of the sun, which, as philosophers argue, when the shadow of the earth and the orbit of the moon are obstructed, brighter stars are seen in the sky.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 99] Clement of Rome on Isaiah 13:11
You have opened “the eyes of our hearts” so that we realize you alone are “highest among the highest, and ever remain holy among the holy.” “You humble the pride of the arrogant, overrule the plans of the nations, raise up the humble and humble the haughty. You make rich and make poor; you slay and bring to life; you alone are the guardian of spirits and the God of all flesh.” You see into the depths: you look upon humankind’s deeds; you aid those in danger and “save those in despair.” You are the Creator of every spirit and watch over them. You multiply the nations on the earth, and from out of them all you have chosen those who love you through Jesus Christ, your beloved Son. Through him you have trained us, made us saints and honored us.

Source: 1 CLEMENT 59:3
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:11
(Verse 11.) And I will visit the evils upon the world, and against the wickedness of the ungodly I will execute justice: and I will cause the pride of the infidels to cease, and the arrogance of the mighty I will bring down. From this place and from the one above, where it is written, that the sun will be darkened in its rising, and the moon will be covered with darkness, and the stars will lose their brightness, and the iniquity of the whole world will be visited, some think that it is not about the fall of Babylon, but about the end of the world that is being prophesied; when surely according to the earlier and universal (which is called in Hebrew, Thebel, and in Greek, οἰκουμένη), Babylon must be understood. Indeed, the word 'oikoumenē' in our language signifies the inhabited world; and 'Babylon' is called so because of the huge multitude of people: for where previously there was an innumerable throng of peoples, there is now desolation and the dwelling place of beasts.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:11
(Verse 11) And I will visit the evils of the world, and against the wickedness of their iniquities. When God visits and strikes; He strikes in order to correct. Indeed, when He is greatly angered against those who do not repent: 'I will not visit,' He says, 'upon your daughters when they have committed fornication, and upon your daughters-in-law when they have committed adultery' (Hosea 4:14). On the contrary, concerning those who will believe in Christ, it is said (Psalm 88:33): 'I will visit with the rod their iniquities, and with stripes their sins: but I will not take away my mercy from them.'


And I will make the pride of the infidels rest, and I will humble the arrogance of the strong. LXX: And I will destroy the injustice of the wicked, and I will humble the injustice of the proud. The Hebrew word Gaon (), which clearly conveys arrogance and pride, has always been translated by Theodotion and the Septuagint as injustice, expressing the meaning rather than the word: because every proud person is ready for injustice. Therefore, the Lord visits the world's evils, and against the wickedness of the wicked, to suppress the arrogance of the proud, and to humble the pride of the strong. For God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5). And in Proverbs we read: Before destruction, the heart of a man is haughty, and before honor is humility (Proverbs 16:18). Pride always follows with a fall, and humility with glory: For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted (Luke 14). We read in another place: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the understanding of the prudent I will reject (1 Corinthians 1:19). Not that true wisdom and true prudence are lost by the Lord, but the knowledge of a false name: those who treasure up the language of falsehood, and fail in their searching, and find nothing, speaking iniquity on high and setting their mouth against heaven. Hence the pride of heretics is properly called an injury to truth.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:12
(Verse 12) The man will be more precious than gold, and the human being will shine like the world. The obvious reason why God visits the earth, that is, the evils of Babylon: so that the inhabited land will be turned into a desert. However, everything that is rare is called precious; just as above, according to the story, we read about seven women taking hold of one man due to the scarcity of men, saying: We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name and take away our reproach (Isaiah 4:1). And in the book of Samuel it is written: The word of the Lord was precious in those days (1 Samuel 3:1), that is, rare. Note that in Hebrew, instead of general gold, it is written Phaz (), and instead of fine gold, it is written Ophir ().

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:12
(Verse 12) A man will be more precious than gold and a human more adorned than the world. LXX: And those who have been abandoned will be honored more than refined gold, and a man will be more honorable than the sapphire stone. In the consummation of the world, when the globe will be reduced to desolation, and the sun will be darkened at its rising, and the moon will not give its brightness, there will be so many signs and wonders by the Antichrist, that with the increase of iniquity, the love of many will grow cold, even to deceive, if possible, the chosen ones of God (Matthew 24). Then the man will be more precious than gold, which in Hebrew is called Phaz, and Aquila translates as κιῤῥὸν, which is the color of the finest and blood-red; and the man is dressed in the finest purple, which in Hebrew is called Ophir, and Aquila translates as σπήλωμα ὀφεὶρ, which the translators of the LXX rendered as the stone from Sophir. And it is a place in India where the finest gold is born; as we read in Genesis about the river Phison: This is the one that goes around the whole land of Evila, where there is gold; and the gold of that land is the finest: and there is carbuncle and green stone. However, it is considered more precious because it is rarer. For everything that is rare is precious, as we also read in the book of Samuel: And the word of the Lord was precious in Israel (1 Samuel 3:1).

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:12
(Verse 12) How you have fallen from heaven, Lucifer, son of the morning! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! LXX: How you have fallen from heaven, Lucifer, son of the morning! You have been shattered on the earth, who once sent to all the nations. For Lucifer, which is translated in Hebrew as Elil (), Aquila rendered the howling son of dawn. Truly, he should have howled and lamented, for he was cast down to the earth and shattered due to his pride. And the Savior also speaks to the disciples: I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven (Luke 10:18). Not only do I see, but I saw beforehand when he fell. And if he fell because of his pride from such greatness, you also should not boast, because demons are subject to you: but because your names are written in heaven; so that as he fell through pride, you may ascend through humility. This is the prince of the world, who used to rise among the other stars in the morning, and by his fault became the evening star from Lucifer, and not rising, but setting: who wounded nations, or who sent his own satellites to nations, to deceive them all with his deceit. These are false Apostles, deceitful workers, who disguise themselves as Apostles of Christ, who sow tares among the good seed, while the shepherds of the Churches are asleep and unwilling or unable to resist their evil. But Jacob, whom the Lord has shown mercy to and chosen, is still speaking these things to the devil, or as the Seventy wish to say, about the devil, that is, not as referring to the second person, but to the third.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:13-14
(Verses 13, 14.) You said in your heart: I will ascend to heaven, above the stars of God I will exalt my throne; I will sit on the mount of the covenant on the sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High. Whether you said these things before you fell from heaven or afterwards, if you are still in heaven, how can you say, 'I will ascend to heaven' (Psalm 113:16)? But because we read, 'The heaven of heavens is the Lord's,' when he was in the sky, that is, in the firmament, in the heaven where the Lord's throne is, he desired to ascend, not out of humility, but out of pride. But if after he fell from heaven, he speaks these words, we should understand arrogance, because he not only does not rest having been cast down, but he still promises himself great things, not that he may be among the stars, but that he may be above the stars of God. And when the Lord speaks to the Apostles: It is enough for the disciple that he be like his teacher, and the servant like his master (Matthew 10:25), and he says to the Father: Holy Father, grant that as I and you are one, so they may be one in us (John 17:11): he boasts to such an extent that he places his throne above the stars of heaven, which have not fallen. And what it implies: I will sit on the mountain of the testament on the sides of the North; for which the Seventy translated, on a high mountain, over lofty mountains, which are towards the North, let us refer to that which is said in Jeremiah: From the North evil will burn upon all the inhabitants of the earth (Jer. 1:14). And that the pot kindled by the face of the North is ignited. This is the most severe wind of the North, from which the Lord wants to free His captive people and bring them back to the holy city, saying: I will say to the North, bring them in; and to the South, do not hinder, bring my children from a far country (Inf. 43:6). But that which can be contrary to this is easily resolved, O mountains of Zion, sides of the North, city of the great king. For those who were once the hardest on the sides of the North, through repentance have begun to be in the city of God. The devil always seeks to ascend over those who have the image of the heavenly, and who shine in the Church like the stars of God: and to sit on the mountain of the covenant or testament, that is, in the Church, which is placed in the high places, and possesses the inhabitants of the former North. He who is so forgetful of himself, that he desires to ascend above the clouds, to which the Lord commanded, so that they would not rain upon Israel, and to which the truth of the Lord reached, of which Obadiah speaks: 'Though you soar aloft like the eagle, though your nest is set among the stars, thence I will bring you down, says the Lord' (Obadiah, 4). Unfortunate Judas, who was sent along with the other Apostles like a cloud, so that he would rain upon Israel, and was like a star among the other stars, to whom the Lord spoke: 'Let your light shine before others' (Matthew 5:16), he accepted the devil as his partner in sin, who, in order to fulfill the words of pride, even dared to say: 'I will be like the Most High', so that just as Christ has His Prophets and Apostles, I too may have pseudoapostles. But all these things must be referred to the heretics, who, being beneath, boast themselves to be lofty with their leader.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:13
(Verse 13.) On account of this, I will disturb the heavens, and the earth will be moved from its place: because of the indignation of the Lord of hosts, and because of the day of His furious wrath. Take it in the sense that we explained above concerning the stars, the sun, the moon, and the world: or in an exaggerated sense, that both the sad heaven and the earth are moved by the indignation of God, and all the elements also recognize the anger of the Creator.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:13
(Verse 13.) On this, I will shake the heavens, and the earth will be moved from its place. LXX: For the heavens will rage, and the earth will be moved from its foundations. When a man shall be more precious than gold, and a human than a pure gold nugget, and it will fulfill what is written: Do you think that when the Son of Man comes, He will find faith on earth? (Luke XVIII, 8). Then both the heavens and the earth will be moved. For the heavens and the earth will pass away, not by their own will and choice, as many think, believing them to be living creatures. But because of the indignation of the Lord of hosts and because of the day of His fury, who looks upon the earth and causes it to tremble. Wherefore that which is said in the LXX, 'For the heavens shall rage,' is to be understood metonymically for those who are in heaven, just as if we were to say, 'The whole city shouted,' and 'The entire city went out to meet the judge.' But in Proverbs we read, 'God by wisdom hath founded the earth' (Prov. 3:19). And the Lord speaks to Job, 'Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?' (Job 38:4). Not that the earth has its foundations deep in a mass of fallen matter; but the will and power of God, by which all things are upheld, are to be called its foundations. For He founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. And He set it above nothingness.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 339] Eusebius of Caesarea on Isaiah 13:14
In this way the word [Scripture] clearly shows the few who will be saved in the day of the ruin of those who are evil. Therefore, one cannot expect that all those who are uncircumcised and all of the Jewish nation, without exception, will receive the promises of God.

Source: PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 2:3
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:14
(Verse 14) And it will be like a frightened doe, and like a sheep, and there will be no one to gather. It signifies the people of Babylon and the Chaldeans, who flee in fear from the invasion of the Medes and Persians, like a doe and a sheep fleeing from the roar of a lion and the howl of a wolf: they have no defender or ruler whose authority they can follow.

Each person will turn to their own people, and each will flee to their own land. After Babylon has been captured and the enemy army has entered through its gates, all the reinforcements and groups of different nations, by which the city was previously defended, will return to their own provinces.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:14-16
(Verse 14-16.) And it shall be like a frightened doe and like a flock of sheep, and there will be no one to gather them. Each one will turn to their own people, and they will each flee to their own land. Everyone who is found will be killed, and everyone who comes upon them will fall by the sword. Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses will be plundered, and their wives will be violated. With heaven and earth in turmoil, the devil will flee like a twisted serpent, or any doctrine contrary to the truth, which is divided among teachers and disciples, the former being called Dorcades, which means Fawns in the Greek language, and the latter are like brute animals, wandering here and there with no one to guide them. For they have lost the one about whom it is written: The steps of a man are established by the Lord (Prov. 20:24). Those who are freed from the worst teachers will turn to their own people, and they will each flee to their own land from which they came. But anyone who is found will be killed or slaughtered. However, this not only happened at the end of the world, but it still happens today in the Church: when the masters are overcome, the deceived flock returns to the people and to their own land; and in that which is found, it is killed so that it ceases to be a heretic, and whoever comes after will fall by the spiritual sword. Then their infants and little ones, who have not yet reached the age of perfected error, are blinded in the eyes of the masters, and their homes are plundered, and their wives are violated, with wicked wisdom and perverse teaching. Wherefore, for fathers of this kind, whose infants are to be killed, we ought to pray and say: Give them, O Lord. What shall you give them? A barren womb, and dry breasts (Hosea IX, 4). For they have brought forth iniquity, have conceived sorrow, and have brought forth injustice.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:15
(Verse 15.) Everyone who is found will be killed, and everyone who comes will fall by the sword. Those who do not flee will be struck with a sword, and anyone who tries to resist or return will not be of any help to the captured city, to the extent that they will shed their own blood as well.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:15
(Verse 15.) However, you will be dragged down to the depths of the lake. LXX: But now you will descend to the underworld, and to the foundations of the earth. You will not descend to the underworld willingly (or, by your own choice), for this is the work of the Lord and Savior, to free the bound from the depths. But you will be dragged down to the underworld against your will, for while you were able to ascend to the heights through virtues, you will be dragged down to punishment through vices. The saints have the wings of an eagle, and the wings of a dove, and they can say: I will fly and find rest (Psalm 54). But the wicked, like the Egyptians, were submerged as lead in the violent waters, and they were submerged into the depths like a stone (Exod. XV). Therefore, iniquity, or as is better understood in Hebrew, impiety, is seen sitting upon a talent of lead (Zach. V). Therefore, what we read elsewhere, 'Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled' (Luke XVIII, 14), even the king of confusion suffered, so that he would be cast down to the foundations of the earth, or as is more true in Hebrew, into the depths of the abyss. In Deuteronomy, it is written about the foundations of the earth: A fire is kindled in My anger, and it shall burn to the lowest hell. It shall consume the earth and its foundations, namely those who are earthly. Concerning the pit, which signifies the depths of hell, there are these testimonies: I am made like those who go down into the pit. And: You have laid me in the lowest pit. Just as a lake receives descending waters, so does hell receive souls: to this lake did Benaiah descend in the time of snow and cold, and he killed a lion there. And so the heretics forsake the fountain of the living water, the Lord, and dig for themselves broken cisterns that cannot hold water. Concerning these cisterns, which do not have the fervor of the Holy Spirit, they are not like the prophet Jeremiah, who spoke according to the Septuagint translators: 'I found warm water in the desert' (Jeremiah 2). But with charity growing cold, they have lost the heat of the Holy Spirit. That is the cistern of which Jeremiah also speaks: 'As a cistern cools the water, so does malice cool those who have it' (Jeremiah 6:7). Oh, would that they were either hot or cold (Apoc. III), that is, either believers or not believers at all, so that they would not be rejected by the Lord because of lukewarmness and feigned faith!

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:16-17
(Verse 16, 17.) Those who see you will bow down to you, and they will look at you. Is this the man who troubled the earth? who shook kingdoms? who made the world a desert, and destroyed its cities, and did not open the prison to those who were bound? Or as the Seventy translated: did he not release those who were led? Those who see King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, not with the eyes, but with the sight of the heart, falling from heaven to hell, will bow down with humility, which is contrary to pride, and they will look at him saying these things: Is this not the man, or the human, who troubled or stirred up the earth? Testimony of the senses: Whoever said, 'I will be like the Most High, and exalted himself as God,' is proven to be a man, as is stated in the ninth psalm, which is specifically against the devil: 'Arise, O Lord, let not man prevail' (Psalm 9:19). And in the Gospel: 'An enemy has sown weeds among the wheat' (Matthew 13:25). Therefore, we read that it was said to him and his companions: 'I said, You are gods, sons of the Most High, but you shall die like men, and fall like any prince' (Psalm 81:6). And to the same person under the figure of the prince of Tyre it is said: Because your heart is exalted, and you have said: I am God, I dwell in the heart of the sea, whereas you are a man, and not God, and have set your heart as if it were the heart of God (Ezek. 28:2). This man, and this man alone, has troubled the whole earth, namely those who heard with Adam: You are dust, and to dust you shall return (Gen. 3:19), and has shaken kingdoms and kings whose hearts are in the hand of the Lord (Proverbs 21). He struck, he says, but did not overthrow. And hence one of those who had been struck, and yet had not fallen, spoke: But my feet have almost stumbled (Psalm 73:2). And the Apostle speaks to the believers, that they should take up the armor of God, and stand against the wiles of the devil (Ephesians 6). But the house which is founded upon a rock is not shaken by any storm (Matthew 7). It follows: He who established the inhabited world, or according to the Hebrew, all others have translated it as 'desolate.' For by vice and sins the world, which is called Thebel in Hebrew, was made a desert, so that it had no virtue, or was subject to the same vices with which the wilderness is full of nations. He also destroyed the cities of the same world, so that he might make the synagogues of the devil out of the Churches of Christ, and pollute the purity of true faith with heretical filth. But he did not open the prison to his captives, that is, to the world. We were all bound and held captive in prison, to whom the Savior said, 'Come out,' and to those who were in darkness, 'Be revealed.' For he sets free those who are bound; those who are freed by him give thanks, saying, 'You have loosed my bonds' (Ps. CXV, 17; Jer. II, Prov. V). For each person is bound by the cords of their own sins, which cords and bonds the Apostles can loose, imitating their Master who had said to them, 'Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven' (Matthew XV). And the Apostles loose them by the word of God, and the testimonies of the Scriptures, and the exhortation of virtues.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:16
(Verse 16.) Their infants will be shattered before their eyes: their houses will be plundered, and their wives violated. This is what David prophesied in the Spirit: O daughter of Babylon, miserable one, blessed is he who will repay you according to what you have done to us. Blessed is he who will seize and shatter your little ones against the rock (Psalm 139:8). There will be such devastation of the city and savagery of the conquerors that not even innocent age will be spared, that the wealth of all homes will be plundered, and marital chastity violated in the presence of their husbands.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:17
Hence he was ordered by the prophet to speak to the sons of Ammon and to reproach them, for they would have to be captured, and he directed a word also to the sword.… But even more is said through Isaiah in his vision against Babylon: “Behold, I will raise the Medes up against them;” and shortly later: “This Babylon, glorious among the kingdoms, the proud possession of the Chaldeans, will be destroyed by God like Sodom and Gomorrah. It will remain uninhabited forever.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 7:21.28-32
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:17
(Verse 17) Behold, I will raise up the Medes against them, who do not seek silver and do not desire gold. What was hidden is now revealed: that the mighty and giant ones are not angels or demons, but rather the people of the Medes, whose leader Darius, the first king of the Babylonians, destroyed the empire after killing Balthasar, the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, who was the son of Evilmerodach. (Daniel 5) However, it is written about the cruelty of the Medes and Persians that they despise gold and silver in their burning desire to shed blood, considering wealth offered to them as worthless dirt.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:17-18
[Daniel 5:30-31] "On that same night Belshazzar, King of the Chaldeans, was slain, and Darius the Mede succeeded to his kingdom at the age of sixty-two." Josephus writes in his tenth book of the Jewish Antiquities that when Babylon had been laid under siege by the Medes and Persians, that is, by Darius and Cyrus, Belshazzar, King of Babylon, fell into such forgetfulness of his own situation as to put on his celebrated banquet and drink from the vessels of the Temple, and even while he was besieged he found leisure for banqueting. From this circumstance the historical account could arise, that he was captured and slaughtered on the same night, while everyone was either terrified by fear of the vision and its interpretation, or else taken up with festivity and drunken banqueting. As for the fact that while Cyrus, King of the Persians, was the victor, and Darius was only King of the Medes, it was Darius who was recorded to have succeeded to the throne of Babylon, this was an arrangement occasioned by factors of age, family relationship, and the territory ruled over. By this I mean that Darius was sixty-two years old, and that, according to what we read, the kingdom of the Medes was more sizable than that of the Persians, and being Cyrus's uncle, he naturally had a prior claim, and ought to have been accounted as successor to the rule of Babylon. Therefore also in a vision of Isaiah which was recited against Babylon, after many other matters too lengthy to mention, an account is given of these things which are to take place: "Behold I Myself will rouse up against them the Medes, a people who do not seek after silver nor desire gold, but who slay the very children with their arrows and have no compassion upon women who suckle their young" (Isaiah 13:17-18). And Jeremiah says: "Sanctify nations against her, even the kings of Media, and the governors thereof and all the magistrates thereof and all the land under the power thereof" (Jeremiah 51:28). Then follow the words: "The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing-floor during the time of its treading; yet a little while, and the time of its harvesting will come" (Jeremiah 51:33). And in testimony of the fact that Babylon was captured during a banquet, Isaiah clearly exhorts her to battle when he writes: "Babylon, my beloved, has become a strange spectacle unto me: set thou the table and behold in the mirrors those who eat and drink; rise up, ye princes, and snatch up your shields!" (Isaiah 21:4-5).

Source: St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER FIVE
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:17-18
(Vers. 17, 18.) Behold, I will raise up against them the Medes, who do not seek silver, nor desire gold; but they will kill the small children with arrows, and have no mercy on the infants in the womb, and their eyes will not spare the children. We find in Genesis (Gen. X) that Madai was the founder of the nation of the Medes, which means measure, or from a mighty or strong one. Therefore, against the Babylonians, who are confused in mind, ministers are raised up by the mighty and strong God to punish their strength: to render to each one according to their works. For in the measure that they measured out, it will be measured back to them. The measure they shook up and jumbled and filled to overflowing will be restored to their own bosom (Matthew 16 and Luke 6). Those who will not receive silver or gold, that is, the beauty of eloquence or the sharpness of wit, in which they used to take pride, but will rather suffer punishments, and will not show pity to little ones and infants in the womb, will receive pity themselves. And may we also be awakened by the Lord, and may we be granted this power, that we do not desire silver or gold, or the eloquence and wisdom of the secular world, but that we may slay the children of heretics, and all who have been deceived, with spiritual arrows, that is, with the testimonies of the Scriptures, and may those who are nourished with the milk of error be mercilessly slaughtered, so that they may perish with merciful cruelty, and may we have no pity for their infancy, and may we be worthy of that blessedness: Blessed is he who will hold and dash his little ones against the rock!

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:18-4
(Verse 18 and following) And Babylon will be glorious among the kingdoms, renowned in the pride of the Chaldeans, just as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It will not be inhabited forever, nor will it be founded to generation and generation: nor will the Arabs pitch their tents there, nor will shepherds rest there: but beasts will rest there, and their houses will be filled with dragons: and ostriches will dwell there, and shaggy creatures will dance there; and owls will respond there in its houses: and sirens in the temples of pleasure. (Chapter XIV, Verse 1) The time is near for it to come, and its days will not be prolonged. LXX: And Babylon, which is called the glorious and famous city of the Chaldeans, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall not be inhabited forever, nor shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation; neither shall the Arabian pass by it, nor the shepherds rest there, but wild beasts of the desert shall lie there, and their houses shall be full of howling creatures, and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there, and the wild asses shall dwell there, and hedgehogs shall make their lodgings in their houses. He will come quickly and will not delay. The following should be noted with asterisks, because they are additions from Theodotion. Stirring up the city of confusion against the Medes, who do not consider gold as valuable, nor silver; who kill young children with arrows, and show no mercy to infants, and do not spare the eyes of their children. Once a renowned city that was proud of the Chaldeans, who are interpreted as demons, it will be overturned just as Sodom and Gomorrah were overturned; so that no trace of its former glory remains: but after the new heaven and the new earth, and the passing away of the figure of this world (I Cor. VII), the city of confusion will not be inhabited forever; and it will never regain the same state. For he will not set up there, once he has ceased to be in his former glory, his tents, which are called 'Arabs', meaning 'western' and 'evening'; so that he desires to dwell in the place he sees as deserted. However, 'Arabs' is taken in a positive sense in this context: that he always strives towards the end, and forgetting the past, extends himself towards the earlier times. Nor will shepherds rest there, who usually feed the gentle flock of the Lord in Jerusalem; but on the contrary, beasts will rest there, which the Psalmist detests, saying: 'Do not hand over the life of your confessor to the beasts' (Ps. 73, 19). For which Aquila, and Symmachus, and Theodotion, have placed the Hebrew word Siim (). And their houses, that is, the houses of the Babylonians, will be filled with noise, that is, with sound and cries, according to the Septuagint and Theodotion; according to Aquila, with typhons, which we translate as dragons; according to Symmachus, with Oiim (), which word is contained in Hebrew. And ostriches will dwell there, a creature always desiring desolate places, about which more is written in Job: though it appears to have wings, it is not raised up higher from the earth; wherefore the Septuagint has interpreted it as sirens. However, those who are called Pilosoi in Hebrew (פִּלּוּש) were translated by Theodotion with erect and standing hairs. Symmachus and the Septuagint (LXX) translated it as demons. The Proonocentauri, whom only the LXX translated, imitating the fables of the Gentiles, who say that they were hippocentaurs, the three remaining translators put the Hebrew word יִם (Iim), which we translate as owls. But where the LXX said, 'Hedgehogs will make their dwellings in their houses,' and in Hebrew it is written תַּחֲנִים (Thannim), Aquila and Symmachus and Theodotion translated it as sirens; signifying either some sort of animals or demons, according to the error of the Gentiles, sweetly singing and deceiving people who cannot pass by the shipwreck of this world with closed ears. Furthermore, the name onocentauri, composed of donkeys and centaurs, seems to me to signify those who in part possess something human; and again, they are drawn away from virtues and into the pleasures and filth of vices. Therefore, according to the tropology, it is said that at the end of the world, or the death of each person, all the glory and pride of the Chaldeans, and the confusion of the world, should depart from us; and thus everything should be overturned, just as God overturned Sodom and Gomorrah; and there shall no longer be a future state of this world, but it shall perish eternally. And let not the Arabs pitch their tents there, of which it is said in the sixty-seventh psalm: Scatter them that delight in war. (Psalm 68:30). Nor let the shepherds rest there, namely the angels who preside over the human race, and daily behold the face of the Father: but let the beasts and dragons rest there, and the ostriches, and the shaggy ones, and the screech owls, and the sirens, all of which beasts we understand in the likeness of angels or demons, and those to whom we are delivered for punishment. And in the houses of former pleasure, where there was joy and happiness, there will be the lamentation of howling and the mournful voice of sirens, which leads its listeners to death. But those who daily see Babylon being overthrown through holy men among those who believe in the Lord, will not be amazed that the time of judgment is imminent and the day of Babylon's destruction is not delayed; and comparing it to eternity, they will consider all length to be near. We have briefly spoken about the different species of animals, or rather monsters, in the previous book, according to a partly detailed history. It is also worth considering that after the ecclesiastical discourse and teaching of the Savior overturned the city of confusion, so that it is compared to Sodom and Gomorrah, it is not inhabited by holy men, nor do shepherds rest there, who were accustomed to feed Christ's flock. Instead, it is inhabited by beasts, and dragons, and ostriches, and hairy creatures leap about in it. For whatever the heretics speak in the synagogues of Satan, it is not the doctrine of the Lord, but the howling of demons and the hairy ones, whom Esau imitated. And the sirens rest in the temples of pleasure, who draw souls into the depths with sweet and deadly song, so that, raging in a shipwreck, they may be devoured by wolves and dogs. Therefore, the time of the ruin of the heretics is near and imminent every day, and their overthrow is not delayed.

For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and will give them rest in their own land: and the stranger shall be joined with them, and shall cleave to the house of Jacob. And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord for servants and handmaids: and they shall make them captives that had taken them, and shall rule over their oppressors. And it shall come to pass in the day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve: That thou shalt take up this parable against the king of Babylon, and shalt say For a stranger, that is, a proselyte, they are interpreted as georas in the Septuagint, which in Hebrew is called Ger (). Hence I think also Moses' son, who was a stranger in the land, was named by his father, Gersham. (Exod. I). Therefore georas is a Hebrew word, declined according to Greek usage: although some unaware of the Hebrew language try to express a Greek etymology in it, from the fact that it has care for earthly things: for γῆ, he says, means earth, and ὤρα means care, that is, solicitude. Once again, Masal has translated the parable, which Aquila, Simmachus, and Theodotius have also translated. We have followed them and interpreted the lament as 70. However, the order is as follows: after Babylon has been deserted forever, so that it becomes a dwelling place for beasts, the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, namely the one who has overcome vices; and He will choose Israel, the one who sees God with his mind. And note the distinction of words: Jacob, who is still in struggle, will receive mercy; but Israel, who received his name after victory, is not fitted for mercy, but for rejection. He will also cause them to rest upon his land, of which the Savior speaks: Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth (Matthew 5:4), and I believe to see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living (Psalm 27:13). Also, the multitude of the Gentiles will be joined to the lords Jacob, who were chosen by the Apostles, and they will possess the remnants of the house of Israel and bring them to their place, so that they may dwell in their tabernacles; and the house of Israel shall possess them as servants and maidservants upon the land of the Lord. Indeed, it is advantageous for evil things to serve the good. Hence, it is said about Esau: 'You shall serve your brother.' And to Jacob: 'Your brother shall serve you.' (Genesis 27). And those who were previously deceived by sophisms will be received, and their exactors, who do all things for the sake of profit, will be reduced to servitude. But when Jacob and Israel rest from their labors, in which they had labored greatly against the world and heretics, and from their oppression and servitude, which they had previously served under malicious interpretations and false doctrines, then they will take up lamentation and parable against the king of Babylon, namely, the discourse of heretical error and confusion, and they will say the following. These Jews interpret that place in a carnal manner, because after they returned from Babylon, they will not be able to prove that it happened. For the Babylonians did not serve those who had previously captured them, nor did they possess the houses of the defeated Babylonians, nor did they have them as slaves or maidservants. Therefore, it remains that according to their fables, they think that this empire will become Roman: after they are conquered in the last times, the nations to which they were once slaves will serve them. But if those who follow the letter are deceived by false hope, who will allow them to be called Rome Babylon, and Nebuchadnezzar the king of the Roman empire?

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:18
(Verse 18.) But they will kill the small ones with their arrows, and they will have no pity on the infants of the womb, and their eyes will not spare the children. The small ones will be killed, and their wounds will be no smaller than their bodies, and the bellies of the pregnant women will be cut open, and the infants will be cast aside, and the cruel victor will kill the children pressed to their mothers' breasts.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:18-19
(Verse 18, 19.) All the kings of the nations slept in glory, each one in his own house. But you have been cast out of your tomb like a fetid liquid: defiled, wrapped up with the slain and those pierced by the sword, who descend to the depths of the pit. LXX: All the kings of the nations slept in honor, each one in his own house. But you will be cast down on the mountains like an untimely birth, abominable and wrapped up with the slain who descend to the foundations of the earth. The kings of the nations, to whom God had entrusted the governance of the nations according to the Song of Deuteronomy (Deut. XXXII), were shaken by Nebuchadnezzar, but not overthrown, because their sin did not reign over them; rather, because their hearts were in the hand of God, they did not fall. Indeed, just as the Savior is called the God of gods, so the Lord is the Lord of lords and the king of kings. Therefore, all these kings rested in their glory, each in his own house. For there are many mansions in my Father's house (John 14): and due to the variety of virtues, there are differences in dwellings. Moreover, Nebuchadnezzar was thrown out of his tomb and did not rest from torments in death. He was thrown out like a discharge, which in Hebrew is called Neser, which Aquila interpreted as ichor, i.e., decay and filth, which Symmachus called abortion, i.e., dead in the Septuagint, Theodotion germ: although this very word above (Chapter 11, verse 1) where we read about Christ: A shoot shall come forth from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit, in the Septuagint they translated it as flower, Theodotion germ, Aquila as sapling, i.e., twig. But Neser is properly called a sapling, which grows at the roots of trees and is cast aside by farmers as useless, hence we have transferred the useless stock. Therefore, let Nabuchodonosor, like a useless sapling, be prepared for fire, or like polluted blood, wrapped up with those who were killed by his sword and have descended to the depths of the lake, may he be dragged down into the abyss, and not even have the company of those whom he killed in burial. For the punishment of one is the act of the guilty, and of another who is compelled by the one who committed the act. This is the sword by which many were wounded and killed, of which we read in the seventh psalm: Unless you be converted, he will brandish his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready. And he hath prepared for him the instruments of death; he hath made ready his arrows for them that burn. Moreover, according to the Septuagint, the corpse of Nebuchadnezzar, along with many others who were killed, will be defiled and cast down on the mountains of pride, and they will be led to the underworld. But the foundations of the lake, interpreted by Symmachus as the stones of the lake, in other words, he meant the deep and abyss of the underworld.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:19
(Verse 19.) And Babylon will be glorious in kingdoms, renowned in the pride of the Chaldeans: just as the Lord overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah: it will not be inhabited until the end, and it will not be established until generation after generation. We have heard of the Medes, we have heard of Babylon, we have heard of the renowned in the pride of the Chaldeans: we do not want to understand what was, and we seek to hear what was not. And we say these things, not because we condemn a figurative interpretation, but because the spiritual interpretation should follow the order of history: that most ignorant people wander in the error of a deluded interpretation in the Scriptures. So, until the present day, the prophecy of Babylon is fulfilled: and just as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, so too will this be overthrown and not inhabited forever. For it was these cities, Seleucia and Ctesiphon, that made the famous cities of the Persians.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:20-22
(Verses 20-22.) Neither the Arabs will pitch their tents there, nor will shepherds rest there; instead, there will be beasts, their houses will be filled with dragons, and ostriches will dwell there, and hairy creatures will leap about. And owls will answer in her buildings, and sirens in the temples of pleasure. Babylon will be so devastated and deserted that it won't even be useful for pastures of cattle and flocks. For the Arabs and Saracens will not pitch their tents there, nor will shepherds rest after the footsteps of their weary flocks; but among the walls and narrow spaces of the old ruins, the Siim will dwell, which only the seventy translators have rendered as such; others, by the same word, which is written in Hebrew, want to be understood as types of demons or phantoms. And the houses will be filled, as we have said, with dragons: as the Eagle has transferred, with typhons, as Symmachus Ohim (), expressing the Hebrew word itself: but the LXX and Theodotion have interpreted them as shouts or sounds. And that which follows: The shaggy ones will dance there, or incubi, or satyrs, or certain wild men, whom some call Foolish Fruiterers, or understand them as types of demons. And for owls, all the LXX have transferred the Hebrew word itself Iim (), only Theodotion have rendered it as centaurs. The Thennim are called Sirens, which we interpret as either demons, or certain monsters, or certainly great dragons, which have crests and can fly. Through all these things, signs of desolation and wilderness are shown: that the destruction of a once powerful city is so great, that due to the multitude of demons and beasts, no shepherd, that is, a seeker of the deserted, dares to enter it. We learned from a certain Elamite brother, who, leaving those territories, now lives the life of a monk in Jerusalem, that the royal hunts in Babylon are, and all types of beasts are restrained only by the circumference of its walls.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:20
(Verse 20) You will not have the fellowship of a putrid corpse nor be buried with them. For you have destroyed your land and killed your people. LXX: Just as a garment mixed with blood cannot be clean, neither will you be clean, for you have destroyed my land and killed my people. Because there is a significant difference between the Hebrew and LXX translations, let us discuss them separately. Like a putrid corpse, or as Aquila translated, trampled, you will not have the fellowship of burial, nor even with those whom you have killed. For you are the master, they were the disciples: and to whom more is entrusted, more is required from him. For you have destroyed your land, you have killed your people, namely those who were entrusted to you for governance. Therefore, dare to say to the Savior: All these things have been entrusted to me, and I will give them to you, if you prostrate yourself and worship me (Matt. IV, 9). However, the putrid carcass of the devil cannot doubt due to the magnitude of sins, as one who reads that sin is the foulest, with the sinner himself saying: My wounds have become rotten and have festered because of my foolishness (Psalm XXXVII, 6). On the contrary, the virtue of good odor is: from which also the love of spiritual brothers is compared to an ointment, which descended upon the beard, the beard of Aaron, and upon the edge of his garment (Psalm 132). And the bridegroom speaks to the bride: Your fragrance is sweet, and your face is lovely (Song of Songs 2:14). But how the body of the devil is spiritually trampled, the Apostle teaches us: God will quickly crush Satan under your feet (Romans 16:20). And the Lord said: I will wipe them out like the mud of the streets (Ps. XVII, 43). Because he lost the land entrusted to him, and he crushed the people committed to him, not reserving them alive for God, but preparing partners for his own tomb: therefore he will not be, nor will he be called forever the seed of the wicked. Furthermore, according to the Septuagint, this has the following meaning: O Lucifer, you who rose in the morning, when you had the works of virtue and light, you were the garment of God, and it could be said of you: clothed with light as with a garment (Ps. CIII, 2): because you have killed many with the sword, who have descended to the underworld, and you are defiled by their blood, you will not be called the garment of God, but a garment mixed with blood, not stained and polluted, so that you appear to have something clean, but completely drenched in blood. And this should be noted, that concerning the devil it is said: just as a garment mixed with blood will not be clean, so you will not be clean. Where therefore are those who grant repentance to the devil, and say that he can be cleansed? Let us not immediately embrace the heresy that asserts there are diverse natures; and that there is another which will never receive healing. For this garment is not unclean in itself, and thus was ordained by God, by which God Himself was once clothed; but because it is mixed with blood, and has polluted itself entirely with its own vice, and with added evils, it will not be clean. And therefore it will not be clean, because it has lost the earth of the Lord, killing His people, destroying the land of Judah and the land of confession, and also killing and destroying the saints. And therefore it will not remain forever. Hence it is said in the Gospel: Go into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41). But just as the holy garment is of God, and the new garment, and is clothed in the robe of salvation and joy, saying: My soul shall rejoice in the Lord, for he has clothed me with the garment of salvation and has wrapped me with the robe of joy (Isaiah 61:10): so, on the other hand, the sinner, who bears the image of the old and earthly man, deserves to hear: Behold, all of you shall become like a worn-out garment, and the moth shall devour you (Isaiah 50:9). But whoever progresses in evil and does not desire to cleanse the old with newness, will be compared not to an old garment, but to the cloth of a menstruating woman, saying: We have erred, and we have all become unclean, like the cloth of a menstruating woman; all our righteousness is as the cloth of a menstruating woman.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Isaiah 13:21
There are people who are even worse than wild donkeys, living in the wilderness and kicking. In fact, most of the young people among us are like this. They have wild desires and jump around, kicking and going around unbridled. They spend all their energy on unbecoming behavior. The fathers are to blame. While they hire horse breakers to discipline their horses and do not let the young colt stay untamed for long, they overlook their own young people. The youth are unbridled and have no self-control. They disgrace themselves through their sexual sins, through gambling and through going to the wicked theater.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW 59:7
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:21-22
(Verse 21, 22.) The seed of the wicked, prepare your sons for the slaughter of the sins of their fathers: they will not rise nor inherit the land, nor fill the face of the cities of the world. And I will rise up against them, says the Lord of hosts: and I will destroy the name and remnants of Babylon, and its seed, and its offspring, says the Lord of hosts. LXX: The wicked seed, prepare your sons for the slaughter of the sin of your father: so that they will not rise and possess the land, and fill the land of cities. And I will rise up against them, says the Lord of hosts: and I will destroy their name and remnants and seed. For the evil seed, which the Septuagint translated, is written in Hebrew as Zera Mrim (), which others have interpreted as the seed of wicked men. Not that the seed itself is inherently evil: for God made all things good (Gen. I); but from those who are wicked by their own will, the seed has become evil, which is done by will, not by nature: Hence we read in Daniel: The seed of Canaan and not of Judah (Dan. XIII, 56). And of good sons it is said by the Apostle: In Christ Jesus through the Gospel I have begotten you (1 Cor. 4:15). And in the Gospel: To as many as received him, he gave them power to become the sons of God (John 1:12). For whoever commits sin is of the devil. Therefore, it is commanded to this seed, that is to say, his sons, to prepare for destruction all wicked thoughts and evil deeds, which are born from impious fathers, undoubtedly signifying contrary strengths. The worst sons are therefore slain in the wickedness of their fathers, so that they may not rise up anymore and possess the land which is to be possessed and filled by the saints, that the cities of the Lord may be built in it. And because there is no perfect victory for men: For unless the Lord keeps the city, those who guard it will watch in vain (Psalm 126:2): therefore the Lord himself will rise up against the sons of the worst, and he will destroy their name and remnants from their confusion, and every offspring and progeny, so that they may no longer sprout forth in the cities of the Lord. We read in the Gospel of John (VIII) that the devil is a liar from the beginning and that his father, that is, of lies, which many do not understand, they want the father of the devil to be the dragon who reigns in the sea, which the Hebrews call Leviathan. And they think that this agrees with the present passage according to the Septuagint interpreters, who have said: for the sins of your father: when clearly in Hebrew, it means not 'your father' but 'their fathers'.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:23
(Verse 23.) And I will make her a possession of hedgehogs, and of swamps of water: I will sweep her away with a broom of destruction, says the Lord of hosts. LXX: And I will make Babylon a desert, says the Lord, so that hedgehogs will dwell in it, and it will be nothing. And I will make it a pit of mud, for destruction. When the Lord of hosts has destroyed the name of Babylon, and its remnants, and its offspring, he will not be satisfied with its destruction unless he gives it as a possession to hedgehogs, and swamps of water, and sweeps it away not lightly, and accidentally: but thoroughly, so that nothing of ancient filth remains in it. In the Acts of the Apostles, it is written (Acts 10 and 11) that in that linen cloth, which was let down from heaven by four corners, all kinds of quadrupeds, and reptiles, and birds were contained, which afterwards, the Apostle, in his discourse, says, 'God showed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.' Therefore, the manners of men were represented in various animals, just as the Pharisees and Sadducees are called offspring of vipers on account of their wickedness, and Herod is called a fox on account of his deceit (Luke 3 and 13); and those who are given to luxury and inclined to pleasure are called horses, raging after women (Jeremiah 5): 'And do not be like horse or mule, which have no understanding' (Psalm 32). On the contrary, the innocent are called doves and sheep. Therefore, according to the teaching of the Lord and Savior, who referred to the cares of this world and the seduction of riches as thorns, the hedgehog seems to me to be someone who rejoices in the uncertainty of riches (1 Timothy 6) and trusts in being armed not with the armor of God, but with the thorns and sins of this world. To whom it is rightly said from the Gospel: Foolish one, tonight your soul will be taken from you, and what you have prepared, whose will it be? (Luke 12:20). The inhabitants of Babylon have deserts of virtues, where there is no irrigated field that brings fruits of different seeds, but unproductive marshes, and muddy and dirty, in which animals that delight in mud crawl. Therefore, the most merciful Lord swept it vigorously, and as it were with a broom, he cleaned it completely, so that the seeds of Babylon may perish, and be inhabited by only hedgehogs. When we see someone submerged in the mud of wealth, and as the Seventy have translated, in the pit, that is, in a deep abyss, and surrounded as if by a muddy swamp, let us not hesitate to call him a hedgehog, an inhabitant of deserted Babylon.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:24-25
(Verse 24, 25) The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying, 'Surely, as I have thought, so it shall come to pass, and as I have purposed, so it shall stand: That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders. Afterward his habitation will be desolate in Babylon, and marshes shall cover the land: so that no seed of hers and no abundance shall remain in Babylon. The oath of the Lord will be fulfilled, and as I have purposed, so it shall happen, that the Assyrian shall be broken in his land, and upon his mountains he shall be trodden under foot.' For indeed the reckless enemy not only hastens to occupy the land of God and lowly things, but also those who have advanced in the service of God, so that they may be compared to mountains and it may be said of them: Its foundations are on the holy mountains (Ps. 86:1). And note the property. On earth it is crushed: on the mountains of God it is trampled by the Lord himself. For when all the enemies have been placed under the feet of Christ, so that death may be destroyed at the last, then the holy ones will be freed from the heavy yoke of Assyria, with which they had been oppressed before, and the burden, or as the Septuagint translated it, κῦδος, that is, glory, will be removed from their shoulders, so that with the yoke of the Assyrians lifted, they may see rest, because it is good, and the land, because it is fertile, and they may submit their necks to the yoke of Christ for the purpose of laboring, and become men of the field. And Issachar, which means 'reward,' received his name from his virtues. And in the Prophet we read: 'There is a reward for those who serve the Lord' (Jeremiah 31:16); and in another place: 'Behold the Lord, and his reward is with him' (Isaiah 40:10), who will render to each one according to his works. And as for the Assyrians being crushed and trampled, which represents opposing forces, the Gospel teaches us: 'Behold, I have given you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy' (Luke 10:19). And the words of the Apostles testify: God will crush Satan under your feet quickly (Rom. XVI, 20).

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:26-27
(Verse 26, 27.) This is the plan that he has devised for the whole earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations. For the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who can annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back? For the whole earth has been interpreted as the entire world in the Septuagint, in the end of the oracle or vision against Babylon. What was hidden is revealed, that God has planned for the whole earth, that is, the world, and not just against the land of the Chaldeans and the king of Assyria and the Chaldeans: and his hand is stretched out or lifted up over all the nations, and not just over one nation, Babylon. From this it is shown that all the things that have been said pertain not specifically to one province, but generally to the whole world. And what is said, 'Who can weaken it, and who can turn it away?' should not be understood as difficult, as it is read, 'Who is wise and will understand these things?' (Psalm 106:43). And, 'Who do you think is the faithful and prudent steward?' (Luke 12:42), and similar things. But understood as impossible. For no one can thwart the plan of the Lord, nor can they turn away His outstretched or lofty hand from striking.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:28-30
(Verse 28, etc.) In the year in which King Ahaz died, this burden occurred. Do not rejoice, all you Philistines, for the rod of your oppressor is broken. From the root of the snake will come forth a ruler, and his offspring will swallow up the flying creatures. The firstborn of the poor will be fed, and the needy will rest securely. I will cause the root to die by famine, and I will slay your remaining ones. According to the LXX: In the year in which King Ahaz died, this word was fulfilled: Do not rejoice, all you foreigners, for his yoke that oppressed you is broken. Indeed, from the seed of the serpent, offspring of asps will come forth, and from their offspring, winged serpents will come forth. And the poor will be fed by them, and poor men will rest in peace. But your seed will be killed by famine, and your remnants will be destroyed. After the death of Ahaz, which means κατάσχεσις, that is, possession or occupation, whom we read is the most impious king, this burden falls upon the Philistines, or word. For while he was living and reigning among sinners, neither the weight against foreigners nor the word of God could come to the Prophet. Indeed, I remember having said this before, when Uzziah died, Isaiah saw the Lord sitting on a high and exalted throne. And in Exodus we read (Exodus 22) that after the death of the king of Egypt, the sons of Israel groaned because of their labors, and they cried out, and their cry rose up because of their labors, and the Lord heard their groaning. For if what was said was not mystical, they should have shouted all the more when he was reigning, when they were serving with mud and bricks. Therefore, it is commanded to the Philistines, whom they now call Palestinians, and always by the LXX called ἀλλόφυλοι, that is, foreigners; and it is said to them not to rejoice or be glad, because they have broken the rod or yoke of their oppressor (Heb. XII, 6). For whom the Lord loves, he chastises, and he punishes every son he receives. And as God instructs our children, when He visits our iniquities with a rod, and our sins with chastisements, so that He does not take away His mercy from us (Ps. 88). This is the rod about which it is written in another Psalm: Your rod and your staff, they comfort me (Ps. 23:4). This is the rod, and this yoke that the Savior wants to impose on the necks of all, so that having laid aside the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, they may carry the yoke of Christ. But if someone rejects and destroys it, immediately from the seed or root of the serpent, which is the winding serpent, little snakes and asps will come out, and from the asps flying serpents will come out, or those that devour birds. But when the yoke of God is rejected and the discipline of the Lord is destroyed, first the seed of the serpent takes root in our thoughts, secondly a little snake is born from the evil seed, which is the king of serpents, and it is said to kill men with its breath and sight: or the offspring of asps, of which it is said in the Psalms: The venom of asps is under their lips (Psalm 13:3, and 139:4), which are the various sins, and they burst forth from the wicked treasure of thoughts into evil deeds. And when they rule among alien men, who are strangers to God, immediately feathered serpents emerge; so that it is not enough for them to have thought and done evil things, unless they also seek the protection of evil works, and invent various heresies. I believe that these feathered serpents are those who exalt and rise up against the knowledge of God, and put their mouth in the heavens: or who swallow birds, that is, those who with their venomous mouth devour each one desiring to fly and rise to high places. And in the meantime, concerning the evils. Moreover, those who have not broken the rod and yoke of their oppressor, but have submitted their neck to the Lord, and are poor in spirit, will be nourished, and will say: The Lord feeds me, and nothing will be lacking for me (Ps. 122:1). And they will hear from the Lord: I will feed them in fertile pastures (Ezek. 34; John 10); and they will enter and leave, and will find pastures. And the poor will be nourished by Him who strikes them in order to correct them: and they will rest in peace, whether the shepherd is watchful, they will act confidently, and they will rest with Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham (Luke 16). But those who broke the yoke and the staff of their oppressor shall endure everlasting hunger, so that they may not be nourished by the word of God, but all their remnants shall perish, so that nothing may grow from the evil seed.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 13:31-32
(Verse 31, 32.) O gate, howl; O city, cry out; Philisthea is completely destroyed. For smoke comes from the north, and there is no one who can escape its ranks. And what will be the response of the messengers of the nations, when it is declared that the Lord has founded Zion and the poor of his people will hope in it? Concerning the messengers, that is, the angels, whom Symmachus alone translated, all the kings have been interpreted, deceived by the ambiguity of the word, because except for one letter Aleph, which is added in the word for angels, both kings and angels are called by the same name among the Hebrews, that is, Malache (kings, angels). In the book 'The Hebrew Names', I found that the word 'Philisthiim' is interpreted as 'falling down by a cup'. Therefore, those who are intoxicated by the cup of Babylon and drink wine in which there is debauchery, and among other vices, because of drunkenness, they have not attained the kingdom of God, as it is written by the Apostle (Ephesians 5). To them it is commanded that their gate howls and the city cries out. I consider the gate to be the mouth of heretics, where they blaspheme; and the city to be the soul, which is the treasury of evil thoughts. She should wail and lament, because everything is prostrated, cast to the ground, and there is nothing of sane intelligence and of God's wisdom in her. Why does the gate wail? For what reason does the city cry out? Because all of Philistia is prostrated. And why is it prostrated, the following verse shows: Smoke comes from the North, and there is no one who can escape its army. This smoke is kindled by the burning darts of the devil, which are harmful to the eyes and contrary to the light, and it arises from the North, from which the pot is kindled in Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:14), and from which evil is kindled upon all the inhabitants of the earth, who cannot say: I am a resident and a stranger, like all my forefathers (Psalm 119:19), but they dwell in the land. And in Proverbs it is read: Aquilo is a harsh wind (Prov. XXV, 23; Eccli. XLIII). However, by another name, it is called dexter, which, even though it is harsh and sinister in itself and does not want to receive the yoke of God with the hardest neck, is called dexter by those who regard the sweet as bitter and the bitter as sweet; those who regard darkness as light and light as darkness. And there is no one who can escape the smoke of this train; for no one is without sin, not even if his life were only one day long (Job. XXV). And when the Philistines fall and its smoke penetrates everything, so that no one can escape it, what will be said to the Angels, who oversee each nation, marveling and desiring to know why only Zion, placed in a watchtower and in high places, escaped the bitterness of this smoke? What, therefore, will be said to them? Surely what follows: Because the Lord has founded it, and He Himself is its foundation. And He has founded it upon the foundation of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance, under which names Christ is understood, about whom the Apostle also says: For no one can lay another foundation, except the one that is laid, Jesus Christ (I Cor. III, 11). But whoever is foolish, and speaks foolishly, and understands his heart in vain, builds his house upon sand, which has no foundation. In this Zion, which is founded by the Lord, the poor or meek will hope, and his humble people, of whom it is said: Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth (Matthew 5:4); and those who heard the Lord speaking: Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart (Matthew 11:29). Those who were humiliated before glory and heard the Apostle Peter saying: Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in the time of visitation. As for the poor, they are the ones of whom we read above: The firstborn of the poor shall be fed, and the poor shall rest securely.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah