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*H The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds come from the south, it cometh from the desert from a terrible land.
Ver. 1. The desert of the sea. So Babylon is here called, because from a city as full of people as the sea is with water, it was become a desert. Ch. — After its fall, it was mostly inundated. C. xiii. 20. — Land. Media and Persia, which lay to the south, and were not so beautiful as the environs of Babylon.
*H A grievous vision is told me: he that is unfaithful dealeth unfaithfully: and he that is a spoiler, spoileth. Go up, O Elam, besiege, O Mede: I have made all the mourning thereof to cease.
Ver. 2. Spoileth. Baltassar is incorrigible, or his opponents must proceed. C. — Elam; that is, O Persia: (Ch.) Cyrus, and Darius, the Mede. C. — The former nation was weak, and the latter strong. W. — Cease. The enemy will shew no pity; nor shall I; as Babylon did not heretofore. H.
*H Therefore are my loins filled with pain, anguish hath taken hold of me, as the anguish of a woman in labour: I fell down at the hearing of it, I was troubled at the seeing of it.
Ver. 3. Pain. He bewails the crimes and the fall of Babylon, which at this time was in amity with Ezechias. v. 10. C.
*H My heart failed, darkness amazed me: Babylon my beloved is become a wonder to me.
Ver. 4. Babylon. Prot. "the night of my pleasure hath he turned into fear unto me." Sept. "My soul is turned into fear." H.
*H Prepare the table, behold in the watchtower them that eat and drink: arise, ye princes, take up the shield.
Ver. 5. Drink. Persians refresh yourselves. — Take up. Heb. "anoint." He may also allude to the Babylonians, who were feasting.
*H And he saw a chariot with two horsemen, a rider upon an ass, and a rider upon a camel: and he beheld them diligently with much heed.
Ver. 7. Camel. These two riders are the kings of the Persians and Medes. Ch. — The sentinel, placed by Isaias, in spirit, or rather by the king of Babylon, brings these tidings. C.
* Footnotes
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Habacuc
2:1
I will stand upon my watch, and fix my foot upon the tower: and I will watch, to see what will be said to me, and what I may answer to him that reproveth me.
*H And a lion cried out: I am upon the watchtower of the Lord, standing continually by day: and I am upon my ward, standing whole nights.
Ver. 8. Out. Lit. "He cried, a lion." H. — Cyrus appears like one. Sept. "And call Urias to the watch-tower," &c. C. viii. 2.
* Footnotes
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Jeremias
51:8
Babylon is suddenly fallen, and destroyed: howl for her, take balm for her pain, if so she may be healed.
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Apocalypse
14:8
And another angel followed, saying: That great Babylon is fallen, is fallen; which made all nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
*H Behold this man cometh, the rider upon the chariot with two horsemen, and he answered, and said: Babylon is fallen, she is fallen, and all the graven gods thereof are broken unto the ground.
Ver. 9. Horsemen, drawn by the ass and camel. v. 7. This was verified long after.
*H O my thrashing, and the children of my floor, that which I have heard of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I have declared unto you.
Ver. 10. Floor: you who must shortly be reduced to the utmost distress. Baladan was friendly to Ezechias. But Assaradon having seized Babylon, took Manasses prisoner; and the city thenceforward continued to fill up the measure of its sins. C.
* Summa
*S Part 3, Ques 171, Article 1
[II-II, Q. 171, Art. 1]
Whether Prophecy Pertains to Knowledge?
Objection 1: It would seem that prophecy does not pertain to knowledge. For it is written (Ecclus. 48:14) that after death the body of Eliseus prophesied, and further on (Ecclus. 49:18) it is said of Joseph that "his bones were visited, and after death they prophesied." Now no knowledge remains in the body or in the bones after death. Therefore prophecy does not pertain to knowledge.
Obj. 2: Further, it is written (1 Cor. 14:3): "He that prophesieth, speaketh to men unto edification." Now speech is not knowledge itself, but its effect. Therefore it would seem that prophecy does not pertain to knowledge.
Obj. 3: Further, every cognitive perfection excludes folly and madness. Yet both of these are consistent with prophecy; for it is written (Osee 9:7): "Know ye, O Israel, that the prophet was foolish and mad [*Vulg.: 'the spiritual man was mad']." Therefore prophecy is not a cognitive perfection.
Obj. 4: Further, just as revelation regards the intellect, so inspiration regards, apparently, the affections, since it denotes a kind of motion. Now prophecy is described as "inspiration" or "revelation," according to Cassiodorus [*Prolog. super Psalt. i]. Therefore it would seem that prophecy does not pertain to the intellect more than to the affections.
_On the contrary,_ It is written (1 Kings 9:9): "For he that is now called a prophet, in time past was called a seer." Now sight pertains to knowledge. Therefore prophecy pertains to knowledge.
_I answer that,_ Prophecy first and chiefly consists in knowledge, because, to wit, prophets know things that are far (_procul_) removed from man's knowledge. Wherefore they may be said to take their name from _phanos_, "apparition," because things appear to them from afar. Wherefore, as Isidore states (Etym. vii, 8), "in the Old Testament, they were called Seers, because they saw what others saw not, and surveyed things hidden in mystery." Hence among heathen nations they were known as _vates,_ "on account of their power of mind (_vi mentis_)," [*The Latin _vates_ is from the Greek _phates_, and may be rendered "soothsayer"] (ibid. viii, 7).
Since, however, it is written (1 Cor. 12:7): "The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man unto profit," and further on (1 Cor. 14:12): "Seek to abound unto the edification of the Church," it follows that prophecy consists secondarily in speech, in so far as the prophets declare for the instruction of others, the things they know through being taught of God, according to the saying of Isa. 21:10, "That which I have heard of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I have declared unto you." Accordingly, as Isidore says (Etym. viii, 7), "prophets" may be described as _praefatores_ (foretellers), "because they tell from afar (_porro fantur_)," that is, speak from a distance, "and foretell the truth about things to come."
Now those things above human ken which are revealed by God cannot be confirmed by human reason, which they surpass as regards the operation of the Divine power, according to Mk. 16:20, "They . . . preached everywhere, the Lord working withal and confirming the word with signs that followed." Hence, thirdly, prophecy is concerned with the working of miracles, as a kind of confirmation of the prophetic utterances. Wherefore it is written (Deut. 34:10, 11): "There arose no more a prophet in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, in all the signs and wonders."
Reply Obj. 1: These passages speak of prophecy in reference to the third point just mentioned, which regards the proof of prophecy.
Reply Obj. 2: The Apostle is speaking there of the prophetic utterances.
Reply Obj. 3: Those prophets who are described as foolish and mad are not true but false prophets, of whom it is said (Jer. 3:16): "Hearken not to the words of the prophets that prophesy to you, and deceive you; they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord," and (Ezech. 13:3): "Woe to the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and see nothing."
Reply Obj. 4: It is requisite to prophecy that the intention of the mind be raised to the perception of Divine things: wherefore it is written (Ezech. 2:1): "Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak to thee." This raising of the intention is brought about by the motion of the Holy Ghost, wherefore the text goes on to say: "And the Spirit entered into me . . . and He set me upon my feet." After the mind's intention has been raised to heavenly things, it perceives the things of God; hence the text continues: "And I heard Him speaking to me." Accordingly inspiration is requisite for prophecy, as regards the raising of the mind, according to Job 32:8, "The inspiration of the Almighty giveth understanding": while revelation is necessary, as regards the very perception of Divine things, whereby prophecy is completed; by its means the veil of darkness and ignorance is removed, according to Job 12:22, "He discovereth great things out of darkness." _______________________
SECOND
*H The burden of Duma calleth to me out of Seir: Watchman, what of the night? watchman, what of the night?
Ver. 11. Duma. That is, Idumea, or Edom. Ch. — It was a city of that country, twenty miles from Eleutheropolis. S. Jer. — Assaradon desolated Idumea the year following. v. 16. The Jews absurdly apply to Rome what is said of Edom. S. Jer. C.
*H The watchman said: The morning cometh, also the night: if you seek, seek: return, come.
Ver. 12. Night. Instead of joy, I must announce dreadful things. H.
*H The burden in Arabia. In the forest at evening you shall sleep, in the paths of Dedanim.
Ver. 13. Arabia. This sentence is not in the Rom. (C.) or Alex. Sept. (H.) and Dedan is a city of Idumea. C. — The Ismaelites are threatened. W.
*H Meeting the thirsty bring him water, you that inhabit the land of the south, meet with bread him that fleeth.
Ver. 14. Water. To neglect this was to be accessary to another's death, in those dreary regions. C. xvi. 3. Deut. xxiii. 2.
*H For thus saith the Lord to me: Within a year, according to the years of a hireling, all the glory of Cedar shall be taken away.
Ver. 16. Hireling; counting precisely. C. xvi. 14. C. — Cedar: Arabia, (Ch.) near to Edom. C.