“Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth, their idols were upon the beasts, and upon the cattle: your carriages were heavy loaden; they are a burden to the weary beast.”
Bel; perhaps Nimrod, (Calmet) or Saturn, to whom they sacrificed their children. (Worthington) — Nabo, “the oracle” of Belus. The Chaldeans adored statues and beasts. But the Persians worshipped the elements. (Calmet) — Xerxes destroyed the tomb of Belus, after his expedition into Greece. (Arrian vii.) He had there demolished the temples, (Herodotus viii. 109.) pretending (Haydock) that “the world is the house of the gods.” (Cicero, Leg. ii.) — Weariness. The priests affected to be weighed down, as if the god were present. (Baruch vi. 25.) (St. Cyril)
“They stoop, they bow down together; they could not deliver the burden, but themselves are gone into captivity. themselves: Heb. their soul”
They. Literally, “their soul.” (Haydock) — The pagans must have supposed they had one. (Calmet) — Captivity. “There are as many triumphs over the gods as over men.” (Tertullian) — The former shared the fate of their adorers. Their statues were plundered.
“Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are borne by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb:”
By my. Vulgate may have read a me ab, (Calmet) instead of a meo. Hebrew and Septuagint, “taken from the womb,” (Haydock) and treated with the utmost tenderness. (Calmet)
“Remember this, and shew yourselves men: bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors.”
Ashamed. Septuagint, “groan.” Protestants, “shew yourselves men.” (Haydock)
“Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it. that: Heb. of my counsel”
Bird; Cyrus, whose rapid conquests are thus denoted. (Calmet) — He chose a golden eagle, with wings expanded, for his standard. (Xenophon vii.) — Christ came from heaven to redeem the world, Psalm xviii. 6., and Malachias iv. 2. (Calmet) — He was the orient, adored by the eastern sages, to whom the prophet refers. (St. Jerome) (Worthington)
“Hearken unto me, ye stouthearted , that are far from righteousness:”
Israel. It shall no longer be a reproach. Cyrus shall restore my people to their own country. But Christ more full accomplished what is here declared respecting the establishment of his Church. (Calmet)