Isaiah 13:19

(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.

(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.

(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?