“The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.”
Jerusalem. Many particular prophecies are blended with the general one, which regards Christ. (Calmet)
“And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. established: or, prepared”
Days. The whole time of the new law, from the coming of Christ till the end of the world, is called in the Scripture the last days; because no other age, or time shall come after it, but only eternity. (Challoner) — It is therefore styled the last hour, 1 John ii. (Worthington) — Mountains. This shews the perpetual visibility of the Church of Christ: for a mountain upon the top of mountains cannot be hid. (Challoner) — This evidently regards the Church, Matthew v. (Worthington) — The Jews can never shew the fulfillment of this prophecy in any material temple. Micheas (iv. 1.) copies this text.
“And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.”
Jerusalem. Our Saviour preached there, and in some sense the religion established by him, may be esteemed a reform, or accomplishment of the old law.
“And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. pruninghooks: or, scythes”
War. Ezechias enjoyed peace after the defeat of Sennacherib, as the whole world did at the birth of Christ. (Calmet) — Claudentur belli portæ. (Virgil, Æneid i.)
“O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.”
Lord. Ezechias, or rather Christ and his Church, invite all to embrace the true faith. (Calmet)
“Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers. from: or, more than the please: or, abound with the”
Jacob. Thus the converts address God, (Haydock) or the prophet gives the reasons of the subversion of the ten tribes. — Filled. Consecrated as priests. — Children. Imitating idolatrous nations, (Calmet) and marrying with them, (Calmet; Septuagint; Theodoret) or even giving way to unnatural sins. (St. Jerome) (Menochius) — The Jews were not utterly cast off till they had put Christ to death. His Church shall never perish. (Worthington)
“Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made:”
Horses. Which the kings were forbidden to multiply, Deuteronomy xvii. 16. Great riches often precede the ruin of states.
“And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not.”
Forgive. Septuagint, “I will not dismiss them.” Hebrew, “and thou hast not pardoned them.”
“Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty.”
Rock. Screen thyself if thou canst. He alludes to the kingdom of Israel, which was ruined by idolatry, ver. 18, 20.
“And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan,”
Basan. Israel; or Syria and the Ammonites, (Calmet) whom Nabuchodonosor subdued, five years after he had taken Jerusalem, (Josephus, [Jewish Antiquities?] x. 11.) as the Idumeans, (ver. 14.) Philistines, and Egyptians, (ver. 15.) and Tyrians, (ver. 16.) who felt also the indignation of the Lord, Jeremias xxv. 15.
“And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures. pleasant: Heb. pictures of desire”
Tharsis. In Cilicia, denoting large ships for merchandise. — Fair. Hebrew, “desirable pictures.” Septuagint, “ships.” (Calmet)
“And the idols he shall utterly abolish. he: or, shall utterly pass away”
Destroyed. This was verified by the establishment of Christianity. And by this and other texts of the like nature, the wild system of some modern sectaries is abundantly confuted, who charge the whole Christian Church with worshipping idols, for many ages. (Challoner) — Yea, for above a thousand years, while she still professed the name of Christ. (Worthington)
“In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; his idols of silver: Heb. the idols of his silver, etc each: or, for him”
Bats. The Egyptians adored all sorts of animals. (Herodotus ii. 65.) — Ægyptus portenta colat. (Juvenal xv.) — Omnigenumque Deum monstra. (Virgil, Æneid viii.) — The mole was much esteemed by magicians, who promised any the art of divination and success, who should eat the heart of one still warm. (Pliny, [Natural History?] xxx. 3.) The Israelites were always ready to embrace such superstitious practices. (Calmet)
“Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?”
High. Adhere to Jesus Christ. (Origen) (Menochius) — Septuagint omit this sentence, and St. Jerome thinks they did it perhaps for fear of shocking their brethren. In Jeremias xvii. — It is supplied from Aquila’s version, “how must he be esteemed?” (Calmet) — Protestants, “for wherein is he to be accounted of?” Jesus will kill the wicked one with the spirit of his mouth, 2 Thessalonians ii. 8. (Haydock) — No dependence must be had in man. The Israelites vainly trusted in Egypt. (Calmet)