Jerome : (Verse 1, Line 2) Just as whirlwinds come from the South, it comes from the desert, from a dreadful land. A harsh vision has been announced to me. The voice of the Babylonian people is introduced, fearing that it, or rather Babylon itself, may hear that the Medes and the Elamites are preparing an army against them and are coming from the wilderness, and it sets forth an example of comparison. Just as, he says, a violent storm usually comes from the South wind: so to me comes desolation from the wilderness, from a dreadful land, of which I cannot even hear the name without fear. A harsh vision has been announced to me: for what is harder than present captivity? Whoever is unbelieving, acts unfaithfully; and whoever is a destroyer, devastates. It can be read in Hebrew as follows: If you kill, kill; and if you devastate, devastate, so that the prophecy of Elamite and Median, encouraging him to fulfill what he has begun, may be directed to him, daring to ascend without fear, to besiege the most powerful city. But if it is read as we have translated, as if it is said from a third person perspective, "Whoever is unbelieving, acts unfaithfully; and whoever is a destroyer, devastates," it must be connected with the previous statements, in which Babylon declares a harsh vision revealed to her. Rise up, O Elam, besiege the Medes: I have caused all their groaning to cease. Do not be afraid, says the Persian and the Mede, of the multitude of Babylon, nor be in awe of its former power: I have caused all their groaning and the weight with which it used to press you to cease: either because no one now laments and grieves under the power of Babylon, or because Babylon itself is so oppressed by such great evils that it does not even have free groaning. — Commentary on Isaiah Jerome : (Chapter 21—Verse 1 and following) The burden of the desert of the sea. As hurricanes come from the south, it comes from the desert, from a fearful land. A harsh vision has been revealed to me: he who is unbelieving acts unfaithfully, and he who is a plunderer lays waste. Rise up, Elam, besiege Media: I have caused all their groaning to cease. Therefore my loins are filled with pain: distress has gripped me, like the distress of a woman in labor. 70: Vision of the desert of the sea. Just as a storm passes through the desert, coming from the desert. A vision of horror has been announced to me from the land of distress: the transgressor transgresses, and the unjust acts unjustly. The Elamites are against me, and the messengers of Persia come: now I groan and console myself: therefore my loins are filled with anguish, sorrows have seized me, like a woman in labor. What seems to us according to History we have said briefly: now let us grasp the summary of tropologies. A vision, or a burden against this world, is seen as the sea: and it is seen by the Prophet, how great temptations this world is full of. However, as to why the sea is called a world (not to mention many other things), I am content with one testimony from the Psalms: Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do business on great waters, they have seen the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep (Psalms 107:23). For those who work in this world do the work of God, and with the Prophet they say: Come into the deep sea, they themselves see his wonders in the deep; and having been delivered from temptations and distress, they say they have heard a terrible and harsh vision. But this very storm comes from the desert, in which the Lord was tempted (Matthew IV), and Israel suffered from the bites of serpents and the stings of scorpions (Numbers XXI). And when it comes, it passes through and goes by; and then he who endures understands that only the transgressor transgresses and only the wicked acts wickedly. Therefore, if we are overwhelmed by the waves of the sea and if a fierce storm overtakes us, it is because of our own vice, for we were transgressors and wicked before the storm. And what he says is this: Against me the Elamites and the ambassadors of the Persians come, here the meaning is: the Elamites interpret with contempt, the Persians try. Therefore, let those come who are accustomed to despise, to scorn, and to try; but I will lament, and my groaning will be my consolation. But even my loins are filled with distress, and I have been seized by pains like a woman in labor, so that I may conceive and give birth from the fear of the Lord, and make his spirit of salvation come upon the earth. But according to the Hebrew, the whirlwinds and storms come from the desert and from the dreadful land, where there is no inhabitant, God is not present, and everything is earthly. And whoever is unbelieving acts in accordance with his unbelief, and the devastator lays waste. Therefore, he speaks boldly against his adversaries, saying, 'Ascend, Elam; lay siege to the Medes!' I have caused every groaning of the desert sea and the dreadful land, and the harshest vision that was announced to cease. Because my loins are filled with repentance, not with pleasure as before, but with sorrow, and I will say no more: My loins are filled with illusions. (Ps. XXXVII, 7). For anguish and tribulation have taken hold of me, as it is wont to hold a woman in labor. The Vulgate edition and the Hebrew text differ greatly in this place; therefore, we will briefly examine both, lest we leave ourselves an opportunity for captious fault-finding. — Commentary on Isaiah Jerome : (Chapter 21, Verse 1) The burden of the desert of the sea. Unless I were to read the following in the subsequent part of this chapter: Babylon has become a beloved wonder to me. And again: Babylon has fallen, has fallen, and all the carved images of her gods are shattered on the ground. And above: Go up, O Elam, lay siege, O Media: I would doubt that this weight, which is imposed on the deserted sea, is what is meant. Therefore, it is clear that the deserted sea is called Babylon, as Jeremiah says on behalf of God: I will make her sea a desert, and I will dry up her land, and Babylon will become heaps of sand (Jeremiah 51:36, 37). But the sea is called such because of the multitude of creatures living in it. Therefore, above, the multitude of Egypt is compared to the sea. The Lord will make the sea of Egypt a desert. And as for the Medes and Persians warring against Babylon, and overthrowing it, we read in the aforementioned Jeremiah: Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers. The Lord will raise up the spirit of the kings of the Medes against Babylon, and his thoughts will be against her, to destroy her, for it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance of his Temple. Raise a banner on the walls of Babylon, increase the guard, elevate the watchmen, prepare ambushes; for the Lord has planned and done what he spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon. And again: Raise a signal on the earth, blow the trumpet among the nations, consecrate the nations against her, announce to the kings of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz; summon against her the kings of Media, bring up horses like bristling locusts. Sanctify against her the nations, the kings of Media, their leaders and all their officials, and the whole land under their dominion. The earth will quake and tremble, for the Lord has a plan against Babylon to make it a desolation, a place where no one lives (Jeremiah 51:11, following). — Commentary on Isaiah