14 But now the LORD hath spoken, saying, Within three years, as the years of an hireling, and the glory of Moab shall be contemned, with all that great multitude; and the remnant shall be very small and feeble.
(Verse 14.) And now the Lord has spoken, saying: In three years, like the years of a hired worker, the glory of Moab will be taken away from all the multitude of people, and only a few will be left, small and insignificant. This prophecy, as we have said before, is directed against the Moabites after the death of Ahaz, during the reign of Hezekiah, when the ten tribes were taken into captivity by Sennacherib, the king of Assyria. Therefore, just as a hired worker eagerly awaits the end of the day and night to receive his predetermined wage, so after three years, when the Assyrians come, Moab will be destroyed and only a few will be left in the land to rebuild the ruined cities and cultivate the deserted fields. It is also possible to predict about the Babylonian captivity, that after the capture of Jerusalem and the passage of three years, Moab will be devastated by the Chaldeans, either because no rest will be given to them within a period of three years.
(Verse 14) And now the Lord has spoken, saying: In three years, like the years of a hired worker, the glory of Moab will be taken away from all its people, and only a few will be left, not many. The three years, in which the glory of Moab will be taken away from all its people, whether many in number or rich in wealth, as translated by the LXX, are to be understood mystically. For just as the mercy of the Lord is in weights and measures, so too do the torments and punishments have their measure. After these three years have passed, in which only a few will be left, not many, then the ingloriousness will cease. And this should be noted, that according to the prophecy of Ezekiel, when the days are counted for years for the Israelites (Ezek. IV), that is, the ten tribes which had sinned grievously, they are reckoned as three hundred and ninety years, as it is written in Hebrew, not one hundred and ninety years, as the Vulgate edition has it: and for the Jews, in which there was the Temple of God, forty years. For he who is small deserves mercy, but the powerful endure torment forcefully (Wis. VI). And the servant who knows his master's will and does not do it, will be beaten severely (Luke XII). Therefore Moab, because he was a foreigner, not of the people of God, but having turned away from error, will be left small and humble, and inglorious, not for many years, but only for three. These are the years that we read about elsewhere: Remember the days of old (Isaiah XLVI), and again: I have considered the days of old, and have kept the eternal years in mind (Psalm LXXVI, 6). For if he served the shadows and copies according to the flesh of Israel, and all their solemnity was a type of future things, why do not the present times of this year also foreshadow future times? Concerning which, we read in another place: What will you do in the days of the assembly, and in the days of the feast of the Lord? And what is joined, Like the days of a hireling (Hosea 9:5), shows that false teaching does everything for profit and gain. For every hireling, and he that is not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep, and flees: and the wolf snatches them, and scatters the sheep: and the hireling flees, because he is a hireling: and has no care for the sheep (John 10). Therefore, I think that strangers and hirelings should not eat of the saints, nor be partakers of the servants of the saints. For they do all things not out of love for the Lord, but for reward, who devour the houses of widows, and bring their own flocks to be clothed in their wool, and milk them (Matthew 23). Let us apply what we have said about teaching for hire to other things. If I give alms in order to be praised by men, I have received my reward, and I am to be called a hireling. If I pretend to be chaste, but have something else in my conscience, I have not the glory of a hireling, but the punishments of a sinner. And in comparing two evils, it is a lesser evil to openly sin than to feign and pretend sanctity. Indeed, in this respect, Moab has made progress, so that one who previously had many companions in his error is reduced to few; or one who previously had much wealth in the sins, after repentance becomes small and poor in wickedness.
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 16:14