Thomas Aquinas Commentary Isaiah 5:25-30

"Therefore is the anger of Jehovah kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them; and the mountains tremble, and their dead bodies are as refuse in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss for them from the end of the earth; and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly. None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken: whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent; their horses` hoofs shall be accounted as flint, and their wheels as a whirlwind: their roaring shall be like a lioness, they shall roar like young lions; yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and carry it away safe, and there shall be none to deliver. And they shall roar against them in that day like the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, behold, darkness [and] distress; and the light is darkened in the clouds thereof." — Isaiah 5:25-30 (ASV)

1. For after this his anger is not turned away. Here he presents the common and ultimate punishment regarding their captivity by the Romans. Concerning this, three things are described:

   1. The preparation of the army.
   2. The deployment of the army, where it says, and behold they shall come with speed swiftly (Isaiah 5:26).
   3. The infliction of the punishment, where it says, and they shall keep fast hold of it (Isaiah 5:29).

   Regarding the first point, three things are described.

   1. The indignation of the one who gathers the army together: for after this, as if to say: just as you add sins to sins, so he will add punishment to punishment, as it says later: no man shall spare his brother. And he shall turn to the right hand, and shall be hungry: and shall eat on the left hand, and shall not be filled (Isaiah 9:19–20).
   2. The raising of the standard, and he will lift up a sign, that is, a banner: set up the sign in Zion. Strengthen yourselves, stay not: for I bring evil from the north, and great destruction (Jeremiah 4:6).
   3. The calling together of the army, and will whistle, that is, he will blow upon, as it says later: and it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall whistle for the fly, that is in the uttermost parts of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. And they shall come, and shall all of them rest in the torrents of the valleys (Isaiah 7:18–19). And to frighten them more, he adds the foreignness of the people—regarding their religion, to the nations, so that they do not revere your holy things; regarding their language, afar off, so that they are not appeased by words; and regarding their customs, from the ends of the earth, so that they do not make an alliance with them.

2. Behold they shall come with speed swiftly. Here the deployment of the army is described.

   1. He shows that they are unhindered in their advance.
   2. That they are armed for battle: their arrows (Isaiah 5:28).
   3. That they are cruel in their punishment: their roaring (Isaiah 5:29).

   Regarding the first point, two things are described.

   1. Their swiftness: behold, for certainly, they are swift: our persecutors were swifter than the eagles of the air (Lamentations 4:19); for their horsemen shall come from afar, they shall fly as an eagle that makes haste to eat (Habakkuk 1:8); behold he shall come up as a cloud, and his chariots as a tempest: his horses are swifter than eagles (Jeremiah 4:13).

3. Second, the cause of their swiftness, by removing a threefold impediment:

   1. The one that might arise from physical weakness, against which he says: there is none that shall faint, who might have to stay behind, nor labor among them, who might arrive late, as it says later: but they that hope in the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall take wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint (Isaiah 40:31).
   2. Against the impediment that might arise from their own will, he says: they shall not slumber, out of laziness, meaning they would not advance lazily, nor sleep, to recover their strength: slothfulness casts into a deep sleep, and an idle soul shall suffer hunger (Proverbs 19:15).
   3. He removes the impediment that arises from material needs: neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed. He describes those things by which travelers are usually hindered from their journey, as if all these things will last longer than usual: I have brought you forty years through the desert: your garments are not worn out, neither are the shoes of your feet consumed with age (Deuteronomy 29:5).

4. Their arrows are sharp. Here he shows that they are armed for battle.

   1. Regarding the quality of their weapons, he describes the weapons that are customary in those lands: their arrows are sharp, which notes the quality of their arrows, and their bows are bent, which notes the readiness of their weapons, so they are not delayed by having to prepare: the sharp arrows of the mighty (Psalms 120:4).
   2. He describes their transport: the hoofs of their horses shall be like the flint, which does not break easily, and their wheels like the violence of a tempest, making a great noise because of their multitude and great speed: behold he shall come up as a cloud, and his chariots as a tempest (Jeremiah 4:13).

5. Their roaring. Here he shows that they are cruel in their punishment.

   1. Regarding their ferocity: roaring: they shall walk after the Lord, he shall roar as a lion: because he shall roar, and the children of the sea shall fear (Hosea 11:10).
   2. Regarding their rapacity: they shall roar like young lions: the young lions roaring after their prey (Psalms 104:21).
   3. Regarding their cruelty, they shall gnash their teeth, which is a characteristic of a boar: they gnashed upon me with their teeth (Psalms 35:16); the boar out of the wood has laid it waste: and a singular wild beast has devoured it (Psalms 80:13).

6. And take hold. Here the infliction of punishment is described, and finally, the despair of those being punished, where it says, we shall look (Isaiah 5:30).

   Regarding the first point, he describes three things.

   1. He threatens capture, take hold of the prey, as if to say: they will capture you like prey: the lion caught enough for his whelps, and killed for his lionesses: and he filled his holes with prey, and his den with rapine (Nahum 2:12).
   2. Secure detention: and they shall keep fast hold of it, so that you cannot escape through their carelessness, and there shall be none to deliver it, due to their lack of power: the Lord has delivered me into a hand, out of which I am not able to rise (Lamentations 1:14).
   3. Harsh domination, and they shall make a noise, with threats and terror: behold a people comes from the land of the north, and a great nation shall rise up from the ends of the earth. They shall lay hold on arrow and shield: they are cruel, and will have no mercy. Their voice shall roar like the sea (Jeremiah 6:22–23).

7. We shall look towards the land. Here he describes their despair.

   1. Regarding help from the earth: we shall look towards the land, everywhere, and behold darkness, because everyone persecutes them.
   2. Regarding help from heaven: and the light of divine hope is darkened with the mist thereof: I beheld the earth, and lo it was void, and nothing: and the heavens, and there was no light in them (Jeremiah 4:23). And the prophet includes himself among them out of compassion.