Jerome : (Verse 28.) In the year that King Ahaz died, this burden came. We read in the Book of the Prophets that four kings of Judah held the title of Prophet: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, each succeeding the other in order and lineage. We have read earlier about the death of Uzziah, as recorded by Isaiah: In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a high and lofty throne. From this, we understand both the vision of the Lord sitting and the things that are commanded to the Prophets, up to the point where it is written (Chapter VI): "As a terebinth and as an oak that spreads its branches, so shall be the holy seed, it shall be the germ under King Jotham prophesied" (Ibid., VII). Achaz, the son of Joatham, the son of Ozias, succeeded as the third king of Judah. During his reign, Rasin, the king of Syria, and Phacee, the son of Romelia, the king of Israel, came to Jerusalem to fight against it, as the Scripture recounts. Therefore, from Achaz up to the present point, which we now endeavor to explain, we know all the things that are placed in the middle, prophesied: after his death, Ezechias, the fourth and final king, succeeded, under whom the entire book is woven together until the end. — Commentary on Isaiah Jerome : (Verse 28, etc.) In the year in which King Ahaz died, this burden occurred. Do not rejoice, all you Philistines, for the rod of your oppressor is broken. From the root of the snake will come forth a ruler, and his offspring will swallow up the flying creatures. The firstborn of the poor will be fed, and the needy will rest securely. I will cause the root to die by famine, and I will slay your remaining ones. According to the LXX: In the year in which King Ahaz died, this word was fulfilled: Do not rejoice, all you foreigners, for his yoke that oppressed you is broken. Indeed, from the seed of the serpent, offspring of asps will come forth, and from their offspring, winged serpents will come forth. And the poor will be fed by them, and poor men will rest in peace. But your seed will be killed by famine, and your remnants will be destroyed. After the death of Ahaz, which means κατάσχεσις, that is, possession or occupation, whom we read is the most impious king, this burden falls upon the Philistines, or word. For while he was living and reigning among sinners, neither the weight against foreigners nor the word of God could come to the Prophet. Indeed, I remember having said this before, when Uzziah died, Isaiah saw the Lord sitting on a high and exalted throne. And in Exodus we read (Exodus 22) that after the death of the king of Egypt, the sons of Israel groaned because of their labors, and they cried out, and their cry rose up because of their labors, and the Lord heard their groaning. For if what was said was not mystical, they should have shouted all the more when he was reigning, when they were serving with mud and bricks. — Commentary on Isaiah