Thomas Aquinas Commentary Isaiah 14

409. Her time is near at hand. In this part, he promises liberation to the Jews through the destruction of Babylon, which he threatened above. This is divided into three parts:

• In the first, he promises liberation.
• In the second, he foretells the insults of the liberated against their oppressor: and it shall come to pass in that day (Isaiah 14:3).
• In the third, he sets out the confirmation of the insult: the seed of the wicked shall not be named (Isaiah 14:20).

1. Concerning the first part, he sets out three things:

   First, the shortness of time: near at hand is the day of the Lord, to whom all things are present. Or, it refers to the time after our subjugation, so that her days are the days of subjugation: the day of destruction is at hand, and the time makes haste to come (Deuteronomy 32:35).

   Second, he sets out the manner and order of liberation. This includes:

   • The relief of their misery: for the Lord will have mercy on Jacob. As it is written, he will turn again, and have mercy on us (Micah 7:19).
   • The recovery of divine favor: and will yet choose Israel, namely, some of them. The LORD your God has chosen you (Deuteronomy 7:6).
   • The restoration of their homeland: and will make them rest in their own land. I will bring them to their own land: and I will feed them in the mountains of Israel (Ezekiel 34:13).

   Third, he describes the dignity of the liberated. This includes:

   • The joining of strangers to them: the stranger shall be joined with them. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you (James 4:8).
   • Their honorable reception: the people among whom they were taken captive shall take them, namely, the Jews, as if to carry them in their arms. As it says later, and they shall bring your sons in their arms, and carry your daughters upon their shoulders (Isaiah 49:22).
   • Alternatively, it refers to the leading of those who joined them: the people, namely, the Jews, shall take, that is, retain, them, leading with them those who joined them. It also refers to the subjugation of the enemy or of those who joined them: and the house of Israel shall possess them, just as they once possessed Israel. I will return your recompense upon your own heads (Joel 3:7).

2. And it shall come to pass. Here the insult of the liberated people against their captor, who has now been destroyed, is set out.

   First, the title or inscription is set out, containing three things:

   • The time: when the Lord shall give you rest from your labor, in which you toiled waging war.
   • The release: and from your vexation of captivity, by which you were kept in prison.
   • The freedom: and from the hard bondage, by which you were oppressed in the land of your captivity.

   You shall take up this parable, that is, a sermon of likenesses, which says one thing and signifies another. The things spoken of in the parable signify the condition of Nebuchadnezzar regarding his power, his fault, and his punishment. Because of these, the events in the parable could have happened, even if they did not literally occur. This is spoken against the king of Babylon. In that day a parable shall be taken up against you, and a song shall be sung with melody (Micah 2:4). Shall not all these take up a parable against him? (Habakkuk 2:6).

3. Second, the insult itself is set out: How has the oppressor ceased.

   This is divided into the insult from the living and the insult from the dead: Hell from beneath is moved for you (Isaiah 14:9).

   The insult of the living contains three things:

   • His destruction, along with the fault he committed in demanding tribute: how is the exactor come to nothing. It also concerns his fault in inflicting punishments on people: The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, the rod of the rulers, that struck the people in wrath, as if in reply to a preceding question. It also concerns his fault in attacking kingdoms: that brought nations under in fury. How is the hammer of the whole earth broken, and destroyed! (Jeremiah 50:23).
   • The ensuing peace: The whole earth is quiet and is still, ceasing from that tumult and from weeping. It is glad and has rejoiced in your destruction and in its liberation. The just shall rejoice when he shall see the revenge (Psalms 58:10).
   • The taunt of the princes: The fir trees also have rejoiced, which signify those elevated in dignity. This is similar to what is found in Ezekiel 31:8: the cedars in the paradise of God were not higher than he. You have slept refers to the sleep of the dead. The phrase cut us down means "to kill us."

4. Hell from beneath. Here the insult of the dead against Nebuchadnezzar is set out.

   This is divided into the insult from the princes and the powerful, and second, from the others: They that shall see you (Isaiah 14:16).

   Concerning the first, he does two things.

   First, he sets out the meeting in the lower regions, regarding the ministers of punishment or officials: hell, that is, the devil, who is set over hell, from beneath was in an uproar—that is, thrown into tumult, as if this could happen—as discussed below (see chapter 30).Perhaps this refers to 30:12: “you have trusted in oppression and tumult,” as B. Spina conjectures. Likewise, regarding other powers rushing in: it will stir up the giants for you, as if to rise to meet you with them. They are called giants because they were strong in body. As it says later, Let not the dead live, let not the giants rise again (Isaiah 26:14).

   All the princes of the earth refers to kings, whose place it is to sit on thrones. The princes of the nations refers to other powers, but they have risen up from their thrones.

   All, namely, all the giants of hell, shall answer, as if you had summoned them, or as if they were crying out.

5. Second, he sets out their reproach. They reproach him for three things.

   First is the punishment he received, regarding his death: you also are wounded, in death, by the force of divine power. You have humbled the proud one, as one that is woundedVulneratum. DR: “slain.” (Psalms 89:10). Then, regarding the humiliation of the dead man, both in soul, your pride is brought down to hell, and in body, your dead body is fallen down. Then also, regarding the affliction of the dead man in hell: under you shall the moth be strewed, and worms shall be your covering. The worms designate all the punishments of hell: he will give fire and worms into their flesh, that they may burn and may feel for ever .

6. Second, they reproach him for the glory he has lost. This concerns both the dignity of the king: O Lucifer, beautiful among all other kings, who rose in the morning, a monarch before all others; and the power of war: how have you fallen to the earth. You, therefore, are the head of gold. And after you shall rise up another kingdom, inferior to you (Daniel 2:38–39).

7. Third, they reproach him for the pride of heart which he had, concerning three things:

   • His proud thought.
   • Second, his perverse intention: I will be like the most High (Isaiah 14:14).
   • Third, the frustration of his proposal: but yet you shall be brought down to hell (Isaiah 14:15).

   His thought was proud because he thought to usurp what belongs to God. This was according to the error of the Gentiles, who believed that men are turned into gods and that stars are made from princes, as it says in 2 Maccabees 11:23: our father being translated amongst the gods.

   He also thought to usurp the divine place: I will ascend into heaven, above the stars of God, as if to say, “Just as I am above other princes on earth, so I will be above the other stars in heaven.” He thought to usurp divine worship: I will sit, as if receiving sacrifice, in the mountain of the covenant—that is, in the temple of God on Mount Zion, which contained the testament of the law—on the sides of the north, meaning in Jerusalem, which was on the northern part of the mountain. And he thought to usurp divine action: above the height of the clouds, as if to say, “so that I might send thunder and lightning.”

   Alternatively, the clouds signify the prophets, heaven signifies the kingdom of the Jews, and the stars signify the Jews shining in the knowledge of God.

8. I will be like the most High. Here, his perverse intention is shown: Will you yet say before them that slay you: I am God? (Ezekiel 28:9).

9. But yet you shall be brought down. Here, the frustration of his intention is shown; into the depth of the pit means into the harshest punishments. They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment they go down to hell (Job 21:13).

10. They that shall see you. Here the insult of the other, common people is set out.

    First, he describes their encounter: all others that shall see you, being punished, shall bend down to you, as if to say, “You will be so far below these others that it will be necessary for them to bend down to see you.” The mighty shall be mightily tormented .

11. Second, he sets out their reproach, and they reproach him for three things.

    First, the fault which he committed: Is this the man that troubled the earth in wars, that shook kingdoms, changing dominions? That made the world a wilderness, exiling people, and destroyed the cities thereof, overturning their governments, that opened not the prison to his prisoners? They spread their terror in the land of the living (Ezekiel 32:25).

    Second, they reproach him for the grave he has lost, for he was exhumed by his son, who divided his corpse into two hundred pieces and bound the pieces to as many birds gathered from different lands, so that he might not rise again. He was defiled by the blood of those whom you killed. He shall be buried with the burial of an ass (Jeremiah 22:19).

    Third, they reproach him for the damage he inflicted on his own kingdom: you have destroyed your land, for the Chaldeans would have held the kingdom longer had it not been for the sins of Nebuchadnezzar. The people are punished for the fault of their prince, as is evident from Proverbs 31. The reason for this is that the people are accustomed to imitate the fault of their king: A prince that gladly hears lying words, has all his servants wicked (Proverbs 29:12).

12. All this is explained mystically about the devil: he shakes the kingdoms (Isaiah 14:16) as the minister of punishment and inciter of sin. His power was lessened by Christ, and on the day of judgment, he shall be pulled entirely into hell—he who wished to ascend to heaven and to achieve equality with the divine majesty, according to what is explained in the Gloss.

13. Note on the words, above the stars of God (Isaiah 14:13), that the saints are compared to stars for several reasons:

    1. Because of their number: who tells the number of the stars (Psalms 147:4); thousands of thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times a hundred thousand stood before him (Daniel 7:10).
    2. Because of their location: the beauty of heaven with its glorious show ; but our citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20).
    3. Because of their different degrees: star differs from star in glory (1 Corinthians 15:41).
    4. Because of the brilliance of their splendor: they that instruct many to justice shall shine as stars for all eternity (Daniel 12:3).
    5. Because of their orderly motion: the stars, remaining in their order and courses, fought against Sisara (Judges 5:20); let all things be done decently and according to order among you (1 Corinthians 14:40).
    6. Because of their appearance: as the morning star in the midst of a cloud ; it has not yet appeared what we shall be (1 John 3:2).
    7. Because of their circular shape, which signifies the perfection of their glory: a woman appeared in heaven... and on her head a crown of twelve stars (Revelation 12:1).

14. The seed of the wicked shall not be named for ever. Here he confirms the insult, first, through the prophecy of the prophet; second, through the divine purpose: And I will rise up against them (Isaiah 14:22); and third, through the support of the divine purpose: The LORD of hosts has decreed (Isaiah 14:27).

    Regarding the first point, he threatens three things:

    • The loss of his kingdom: the seed of the wicked, that is, the sons of Nebuchadnezzar and their sons, shall not be named for ever, meaning his name will not survive in the honor of his kingdom.
    • The killing of his sons by the Medes and Persians: Prepare his children for slaughter for the iniquity of their fathers.
    • The impossibility of recovery: they shall not rise up and possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities. The face of the world refers to Babylon, which above (Isaiah 13:11) was called the world. I am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children (Exodus 20:5); from the unlawful is born iniquity .Ex iniquis nascetur iniquitas. Vg.: ex iniquis enim somnis filii qui nascuntur. DR: “for the children that are born of unlawful beds.”

15. And I will rise up against them. Here the divine purpose to fulfill the prophecy is set out.

    First, he will destroy Babylon. This includes the destruction of its people: against them, namely, the sons of Nebuchadnezzar, I will destroy the name of Babylon, and the remains, and the offspring, and the progeny. The remains are his sons, and the offspring are his nephews and so on. His seed shall not subsist, nor his offspring among his people (Job 18:19). It will be inhabited by beasts: I will make it a possession for the hedgehog. As it says later, there has the hedgehog had its hole, and brought up its young ones, and has dug round about (Isaiah 34:15). This also includes the destruction of its walls: I will sweep it with the broom of destruction, so that nothing will remain but pavement, like a house that has been cleansed with a broom.

16. Second, he sets out the divine purpose to destroy the Assyrians, so that it might serve as an example.

    First, he sets out the oath: The LORD of hosts has sworn, that is, he has immovably established, saying: Surely as I have thought, so shall it be. The LORD has sworn, and he will not repent (Psalms 110:4).

    Second, the place of destruction: in my land, for the army of Sennacherib was destroyed near Jerusalem. As it says later, and the Lord of hosts shall make... in this mountain, a feast of fat things (Isaiah 25:6).

    Third, he describes the fruit of the punishment: his yoke shall be taken away from them. As it says above, for the yoke of their burden, and the rod of their shoulder, and the scepter of their oppressor you have overcome (Isaiah 9:4).

17. Third, he states the divine purpose to destroy all peoples: This is the counsel that I have purposed upon all the earth, to destroy it, regarding deliberation. And this is the hand that is stretched out upon all nations; his hand, that is, his power, regarding execution. Take the cup of wine of this fury at my hand (Jeremiah 25:15). Alternatively, the counsel that I have purposed upon all the earth is to protect it from the Assyrians, and this is the hand that is stretched out, which destroyed them. In this way, the fruit of the punishment will be in all nations.

18. For the LORD of hosts has decreed. Here he shows the support for the divine purpose, both regarding the decree of wisdom, He has decreed, and regarding the fulfillment of power: and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back? He is alone, and no man can turn away his thought: and whatsoever his soul has desired, that has he done (Job 23:13).

19. In the year that king Ahaz died. Here he threatens the enemies who were rejoicing over the affliction of the Jews.

    First, he threatens the Philistines, who were rejoicing over their advantage following the death of Hezekiah. Second, he threatens the Moabites, who were rejoicing over their destruction by the Assyrians or the Chaldeans: The burden of Moab (Isaiah 15:1).

    The first of these is divided in two. First, the time of the threat is set out: in the year that king Ahaz died, at the time when the Philistines had occupied certain cities of the kingdom of Judah, as it says in 2 Chronicles 28. Yet Ahaz resisted them, and therefore they were delighted at his death, as if they could more freely attack the Jews.

    Second, the threat is set out: Rejoice not, all you of Philistia. This is divided into the affliction they suffered from Hezekiah, and second, the destruction they suffered under the Assyrians, where it says, Howl, O gate (Isaiah 14:31).

20. Concerning the first part, he does three things.

    First, he forbids foolish joy: Rejoice not, all you of Philistia, over this, namely, that the rod of him that struck you is broken by death. Laughter I counted error (Ecclesiastes 2:2).

    Second, he threatens an increase of the punishment: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a basilisk, and his seed shall be a flying serpent. This is as if to say: Just as the basilisk does more harm than another serpent, for with its sight and breath it kills not just land animals but also flying birds, so Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz, will afflict you more than others. My father put a heavy yoke upon you, but I will add to your yoke (1 Kings 12:11).Onus. Vg.: jugum. DR: “yoke.”

    Third, he foretells the effect of the punishment. For the Jews, there will be fruitfulness of the land: And the firstborn of the poor shall be fed—that is, the Jews, about whom it says in Exodus 4:22, Israel is my firstborn. There will also be security and peace: and the needy shall rest with confidence. As it says later, my people shall sit in the beauty of peace, and in the tabernacles of confidence (Isaiah 32:18). The effect on the Philistines will be the opposite: famine, against the first point: I will make your root perish with famine. This means even those who ought to provide nourishment to others. And killing, against the second point: and I will kill your remnant, those left by Hezekiah, through the Assyrians and Chaldeans. As it says later, my servants shall eat, and you shall be hungry: my servants shall drink, and you shall be thirsty (Isaiah 65:13).

21. Howl, O gate. Here he threatens destruction by the Assyrians.

    First, he threatens their destruction, and second, the liberation of the Jews: And what shall be answered to the messengers of the nation? (Isaiah 14:32).

    Concerning the first, he sets out three things.

    First, he threatens universal destruction: Howl, O gate, that is, the judges sitting in the gates. A voice was heard on the highways, weeping and howling of the children of Israel (Jeremiah 3:21).

    Second, the multitude of the enemy: from the north there shall come a smoke, stirred up by the multitude of the army on account of the dust. It is from the north because of the Assyrians' location in relation to the Philistines. From the north shall an evil break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land (Jeremiah 1:14).

    Third, the impossibility of escape: and there is none that shall escape his troop. There was none in the day of the wrath of the LORD that escaped and was left (Lamentations 2:22).

22. And what shall be answered. Here he promises liberation.

    First, he sets out the inquiry: messengers of the nation—either angels placed over the different provinces or those asking anxiously about their state. Or it refers to messengers sent to consult with Isaiah, as we read in Jeremiah 37:3.

    Second, the response is set out: that the LORD has founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall hope in him. He has strengthened it by his protection. As it says later, Behold I will lay your stones in order (Isaiah 54:11).