This will be the plague with which the LORD will strike all the peoples who have fought against Jerusalem: their flesh will consume away while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will consume away in their sockets, and their tongue will consume away in their mouth.
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 12. Consume. Such judgments as these have often fallen upon the persecutors of God’s Church, as appears by many instances in history. Challoner.—This has partly been verified in persecuting emperors, (Saint Jerome) and in others, and will befall the wicked when the day of judgment shall draw near. Worthington.—Herod, who made war on Christ, and Agrippa, who attacked his Church, ( Calmet.) were both devoured by worms. Jos. Ant. xvii. 9. and xix. 7. Acts 12:13.—Nero slew himself; Maximian was eaten to death by an inward ulcer; and his colleague’s (Maximinus) eyes fell from his head. Eus. in Constant. i. 57. and 59.—It would seem as if Zacharias beheld them. He may also speak of the attempts of God, and of Epiphanes. Calmet. 2:8 and 12:9.