Behold, I [am] against thee, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions: and I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard.
Ver. 13. Behold, I am against thee] Ecce me conira te (Hoc ecce non excitat mode sed perterrefacit). Behold, I, who am of myself a whole army of men, van and rear both, Isaiah 52:12. I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts (Deus serierum) God of order, who have all creatures at command, if need were, as auxiliaries; and can arm your forces against you, sheath your own swords in your own bowels. Woe be to those that have God against them! The Tigurine rendereth it, En me tibi hostem, &c.
And I will burn her chariots in the smoke] That is, saith Danaeus, I will burn all their munition and furniture for war, with a most bitter and soft fire, that they may be the more grieved and the more tormented thereby. Others by smoke understand the suddenness of the judgment, q.d. No sooner shall my wrath begin to kindle, but I will consume them; primo impetu, on the first assult, so soon as ever the flame beginneth to break forth, or rather before. By chariots may be also meant those that were carried in them. The Hebrew gloss here is, By smoke, that is, by a fire whose smoke is seen afar off, see Judges 20:40. Such shall be the fire of the last day, as A Lapide here noteth out of Jerome; when all the lions and lions' whelps, that is, all tyrants and oppressors, shall be burnt, together with all their chariots, pomps, and messengers, ac imprimis eorum dux et princeps Antichristus, and especially antichrist, their captain and chieftain. He and his Jesuits shall doubtless then be cast "alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone," Revelation 19:20. Let A Lapide note that.
And the sword shall devour thy young lions] Thou shalt bring forth children to the murderer, and those that have taken the sword (though never so young) shall perish by the sword, Matthew 26:52. As a nettle stings quickly, an urchin is rough while young, and a crab soon goes backward; so sanguinary dispositions will soon discover themselves.
And I will cut off thy prey from the earth] Thou shalt be no further terrible and troublesome to the nations, whom thou hast vexed and spoiled. Of Baldwin, that apostate, one saith, that when he died, desiit simul maledicere et vivere, he ceased at once to live and to rail. And of our Henry II the chronicler writeth, that in a great distemperature against his rebellious sons he departed the world, which so often himself had distempered. Nineveh, the great huntress, was now under that woe, Isaiah 33:1 .
And the voice of thy messengers] Thy heralds, by whom thou hast proclaimed war, or made unreasonable demands, or laid hard laws upon other nations, or exacted grievous tributes, or published thy new victories, to keep people in awe; or lastly, blasphemed my great name, as Rabshakeh, one of thy messengers, will do, 2 Kings 18:19. These shall all be silenced, an end shall be put to them and thee.