Isaiah 30:7Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Furthermore, he refers to others (the Jews) as aspids, indicating those who are wicked, venomous, and steeped in deep deceit. When he mentions "hovering," it is to portray those who are quick to engage in immoral acts. Indeed, all who turn away from the love of God and proclaim to the tree, ‘You are my father,’ and to the stone, ‘You gave birth to me’ (Jeremiah 2:27), and who honor the creations of their hands, are profoundly wicked. Their attempts to carry their remaining wealth on donkeys and camels to those who would not aid them served only as a source of chastisement and disgrace. This proved utterly futile, as the hope for consolation and assistance was in vain. As mentioned, they perished alongside the inhabitants of the land of Egypt, which Nebuchadnezzar also conquered. Truly, it is a dreadful fate to be at odds with God; when He unleashes His wrath upon anyone, no counsel can help them—nothing will save those who incur His anger. For who can divert His mighty hand? As it is written (Isaiah 14:27).

r than simply "animals" in our translation of those bearing treasures, it should specifically denote “asses.” This land of oppression symbolizes an expansive wilderness where the remnant of those from Jerusalem, along with John the son of Kareah and the daughters of King Zedekiah, fled to Egypt, having gathered all their possessions.

Metaphorically speaking, the lion and the lion cub represent Jerusalem and its people, echoing Balaam's words in Numbers: “This people shall rise like a lion, and like a lion shall be lifted up; he shall not rest until he devours the prey and drinks the blood of the slain” (Numbers 23:24). Ezekiel similarly portrayed the lamentation against the prince of Israel: “Why has your lioness lain among the lions, and multiplied your lionesses in the den of the lions?” (Ezekiel 19:1-2). The Scriptures convey a message that defies natural expectation; it is absurd to suggest that echidnas or flying asps could emerge from lions and lionesses—illustrating that from bad progenitors, the most wretched offspring arise, paralleling the warning of the Gospel concerning the brood of vipers: “Who warned you to flee from the impending wrath?” (Matthew 3:7).

Regarding Israel, it is declared: “You are the land of the unhealable; rain will fall upon you in the day of wrath. Your leaders are like roaring lions, tearing at the prey, pouring forth their souls with violence” (Ezek. 22:24-25). These viles—whether echidnas or flying asps—represent the princes and the entirety of the wicked who reach out to a people from whom they could not expect aid, underscoring the words of Jeremiah: “The Lord has given Pharaoh Baphra, king of Egypt, into the hands of his enemies, and all the men of Judah who were in the land of Egypt have perished by sword and famine” (Jeremiah 46:25-26). The Jewish people also assert that prior to Nebuchadnezzar's conquest of Egypt, Jeremiah and Baruch managed to escape the imminent captivity.

One interpretation suggests that the lion and the lion cub symbolize the heavenly Jerusalem and its deceived inhabitants. The flying asp, echidnas, and spawn of asps signify that squirming serpent mentioned previously (Isaiah 4 and 27), of which the Savior spoke when He said, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” (Luke 10:18). In the Book of Revelation, this being is referred to as a dragon, who led a third of the stars to the earth, resulting in their loss of former glory, leaving behind an Egypt of this present age. This is why I cried out: “It is only pride, be still.” I am unclear about the intention behind the LXX’s use of “raise it up”; such comfort is futile. Simmachus offered a translation of “confusion to dwell,” while Aquila rendered a term suggesting “attack and pride,” with Simmachus again noting confusion, the Seventy referring to it as futility, and Theodotion calling it vastness. This term, constructed from the letters resh, ge, and bet, is notably similar to the one in the Psalms: “I will remember Raab and Babylon leading me” (Psalms 86:4). The implication is that since reliance on the Egyptians proves useless, I declared that Jerusalem has proclaimed that the Egyptians possess only the illusion of authority and pride devoid of true strength, and that Israel ought to remain in their own land rather than seek assistance in vain from the powerless.