and A furthermore, he instilled in them skill in philosophical and astronomical matters. For what contributes to holiness and the sincerity of morals more than the knowledge of this subject? But this matter has been treated at greater length in the preface to the *Christian Topography* of Cosmas of Egypt. For he not only defends, with all his might, the opinion of the Fathers and attempts to vindicate it against the efforts of outsiders; but he also explains and reveals, as far as human capacity allows, how the courses of the sun, the eclipses of the moon, the motions of the stars, and all other things can be understood according to the opinion of the holy Fathers. You may see this there. These things we have deemed necessary to premise for the benefit of the learned. You, however, B candid reader, farewell and enjoy these.
EUSEBIUS' COMMENTARIES ON ISAIAH
CHAPTER I
VERS. 1, 2. "The vision which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw, which he saw concerning Judaea and Jerusalem, in the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, who reigned over Judaea. Hear, O heaven, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken. I have reared sons and exalted them, but they have rejected me." C Man is constituted of soul and body; the flesh is from the earth, the soul is celestial. Since, therefore, man has a relationship to both of them, he convicts him through that which is most proper to him, by his own testimony: "I have reared sons and exalted them." There are two kinds of generation: one is the form according to God, which is completed out of works and the reception of the commandments: in which manner Paul begets his disciples through the Gospel.
VERS. 3. "The ox knows his owner, and the ass his master's crib; but Israel has not known me, and my people have not understood." D An ox and an ass, indeed, know those who provide them with food by natural instinct; but those who were deemed worthy of such great providence from God, that they were not only made rational, but also counted worthy to be called the people of God and decorated with the name of sons, did not, in the same manner as the brute beasts, acknowledge the Lord who begat and fed, honored and exalted them. Furthermore, I believe it to be prophetically indicated by these words that it would come to pass that the Jews would not receive him who is the Christ of God and the Lord himself—who, among them before all other nations, lived as a stranger—nor would they know him, nor would they understand, nor would they perceive him.
VERS. 4. "Woe to a sinful nation, a people full of sin,"
A a seed of evil-doers, corrupt children. You have forsaken the Lord and provoked the Holy One of Israel; they are turned away backward." For this reason the Holy Spirit rebukes the Jewish nation and censures them as being worse than all the gentiles, and as having gained nothing either from their adoption as sons or from the honor they were deemed worthy to receive from God; although they were exalted and had attained from Him so many exceptional gifts, they were not even brought to their senses by the blows and chastisements which they frequently suffered for the sake of their impiety, by God moved by the force of His love. For, "whom the Lord loves He chastens, and He scourges every son whom He receives." And who was the one they forsook, if not Christ, having provoked and forsaken whom, they have suffered the things which follow?
VERS. 5, 6. "Why will you still be stricken, adding iniquity? Every head is in pain, and every heart in sorrow; from the feet even to the head there is no soundness in it. Wound, bruise, a festering sore. It is not possible to apply a poultice, nor oil, nor bandages." For how was it possible for them to find a different remedy for the restoration of health and salvation, having denied the Lord—having neither known nor understood that the Physician of souls had arrived for them, who alone was able to heal every disease and every infirmity of both souls and bodies?
VERS. 7, 8. "Your land is desolate, your cities are burned with fire; your land, strangers devour it before you, and it is desolate, overthrown by strange peoples, as a B tabernacle in a vineyard, and as a hut in a cucumber field, as a city besieged." Tents are pitched for the guarding of produce springing up in vineyards. When, therefore, a vineyard is well-prepared with its own fruits, the tent is diligently cared for and afforded every attention, so that the guard may carefully watch that those who pass by on the road do not pick its fruit. But when the vineyard is unfruitful, the guard's protection is for that reason neglected. Wherefore, He threatens that the Israelite people will be forsaken, inasmuch as they do not bring forth the appropriate fruit. We must fear, therefore, lest we be unfruitful, so that we may not be forsaken by the wrath of God. The Holy Spirit is that which guards us. When, therefore, the soul brings forth fruits worthy of the C eternal storehouses, that guardian remains and watches, and drives away from afar the insidious traps of the wild beast; but when it produces a grape of gall and a cluster of bitterness, He forsakes the unfruitful soul, and then it falls into every bestial thought and every irrational desire. Furthermore, Scripture frequently calls Israel "a vineyard" in a figurative sense; as for example: "You brought a vine out of Egypt," and, "A vineyard was made for the beloved," and "I planted you a fruitful vine, all true." But if the D [index: entries preserved]
A Israelite vineyard was such, then the tabernacle of this vine is perhaps that of the temple; for it was called the tabernacle of glory, and, "the tabernacle where he dwelt among men." Therefore, as long as it brought forth much fruit, the tabernacle remained for the protection of the fruits; but because he who planted it expected it to make grapes, and it made thorns instead — with which they crowned the Lord — it was entirely turned into bitterness; for it made an "uvas fellis" and a "botrum amaritudinis," and for this reason they gave gall for the Lord to drink. For this cause the tabernacle of the vineyard was forsaken. "For behold," he says, "your house is left to you desolate." Then that threat was fulfilled, for "it is left as a tabernacle in a vineyard." From that time forward he commanded the clouds not to rain upon the vineyard. Therefore, there are no longer prophets among them, nor heavenly grace; but it has been turned into dry land and a trampled place, and the hedges of that temple have been torn down, and the bulwark of the holy powers; and even if they do something according to the law, it turns to their destruction. "And as a lodge ('opōrophylakion')," he says, "in a cucumber patch." By this he signifies their complete lack of fruit; for as long as it was filled with good fruits, it had a guard and keeper who, having pitched it as a tabernacle, would look down from above and keep watch and protect the vineyard. But if its fruit is taken away, then the guard, so as not to labor in vain, leaves the tabernacle desolate and departs from his watch.
C VERS. 9, 10. "And if the Lord of Sabaoth had not left us a seed, we would have been as Sodom, and we would have been made like unto Gomorrah. Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; attend to the law of God, you people of Gomorrah." Since they were prideful based on the virtue of their fathers, and thought great things of themselves—as being the seed of Abraham and the descendants of Israel—the Word justly humbles their haughtiness and removes their vain opinion, while he calls the distinguished rulers of that Israel the rulers of Sodom, and calls that D people of God the people of Gomorrah; inasmuch as they had, through similar practices, become like those who had sinned in times past. He compares them to the rulers of Sodom and the people of Gomorrah on account of the destruction about to come upon them, just as it happened to the men living in Sodom and Gomorrah, who are remembered as having been the most impious of all men in those days.
VERS. 11, 12. "What is the multitude of your sacrifices to me, says the Lord? I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of lambs, and the blood of bulls and goats I do not want, neither do you come to appear before me. For who has required these things from your hands?" The discourse is therefore directed toward those who, having dared to commit atrocious acts against the Lord, think that they can appease God with sacrifices and libations and other bodily ministries according to the law; and he says: "What is the multitude of your sacrifices to me, says the Lord?" and the rest.
A Vers. 13-15. "Trample my court no more. If you bring fine flour, it is vain incense; an abomination to me. Your new moons, and Sabbaths, and the great day I do not tolerate; fast and cessation and your new moons and your solemnities my soul hates. You have become a sufficiency to me; I will no longer endure your sins. Whenever you stretch out your hands to me, I will turn my eyes from you; and if you multiply supplication, I will not hear you; for your hands are full of blood." But because they did not know the Lord, and because they did not understand him, because they abandoned him and provoked the Holy One of Israel; and in addition to all these, because their hands were full of blood on account of the murder of Christ, which they perpetrated after six hundred prophets had been slaughtered, and they were filled with blood; with all these mentioned, as well as the dissolution of the law, the destruction of the temple, and all manner of punishments; he teaches the species of the sin for which they have suffered these things; and he accuses them, not of the worship of idols, not of adultery and avarice, but of murder. For the madness of the Jews against the Lord is worse than all impiety and lawlessness; for theirs is the voice: "His blood be upon us and upon our children." This blood deprived them of their ancient and best possessions; this blood made them tenants of the whole world. B Vers. 16, 17. "Wash yourselves, be clean, take away the evils from your souls from before your eyes; cease from your evils, learn to do good." Quite consistently, after God had spoken the first things, he continues to address these things to the mentioned rulers of Sodom and the people of Gomorrah, summoning them and transferring them into good hope, if, setting aside their malice and departing from that voluntary worship according to the bodily law, they should become obedient to the New Testament and the new law and word. Therefore, after he briefly touched on those things which were of the Old Testament, he introduces the mysteries of the New Testament. Which he himself delivered in the Gospels, saying: "Unless one is born again of water and the Spirit, he shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." — "Seek judgment, liberate the oppressed, judge for the orphan, and justify the widow." That is, having been moved from malice, do not stop there; but take up a life adorned with virtue. C Vers. 18. "And come, and let us reason together, says the Lord; and if your sins be as purple, I will make them white as snow; and if they be as scarlet, I will make them white as wool." Then, as if in a tribunal, he says: "Let me and you reason together; I indeed enumerating how much I have suffered from you, and how many gifts I have bestowed upon you; and how, after such outrages, forgetting all your evils, I have cleansed your souls, which had been stained by the aforementioned blood, and through the laver of regeneration made them brighter
A 7 and if any of you has a word to say against such grace, bring it into the open.
“And if you are willing and hear me, you shall eat the good things of the land; but if you are not willing, neither hear me, the sword shall devour you; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things.” Here the discourse, as though speaking to Jews, as if they were infants, urges them to be persuaded by physical promises; but according to the true meaning, with the earth being understood as the soul, according to the Savior’s parable, which is said to receive the heavenly seed, it follows that the “good things of the soul” should be understood as either the advancements and perfections in virtue that are received, or the blessings promised to it in the kingdom of heaven. Wherefore, according to the letter, the outcome of the events immediately followed the words; for instantly, and not long after, those who disobeyed were handed over to the sword of the enemy, when the Romans invaded and subdued everyone by the law of war; but if it is also a diabolic sword, to this too have they been surrendered, because they did not obey the calling of the grace of God.
“How did the faithful city of Zion, full of judgment, become a harlot? In which justice slept, but now are murderers. — Which of the prophets did not your fathers and you kill?” The discourse therefore teaches that in former times faithful men inhabited the city, on account of whom it was called a faithful city, as if one were to say, “a city of the faithful”; but it was also full of judgment and justice, as one that had been the dwelling place of virtuous souls; wherefore it is said that justice “slept” in it, that is to say, it resided and rested therein. For in ancient times it was full of such men, as perhaps in the time of David, who first took the city from the hands of the foreigners, and established the ark of God and the tabernacle there, and he himself dwelt in it, having made it his royal residence, so that it came to be called the city of David.
“Your silver is dross; your wine is mixed with water.” Their silver was indeed dross, because after they became fornicators and murderers, they pretended to proclaim the word of true religion and to interpret the divine Scriptures and to compose mythical deuteronoses of the readings. And their teachers themselves, bartering their teaching, were aptly named “wine-merchants,” mixing wine with water, by a discourse that diluted the pure and astringent sense of the divinely inspired Scriptures through their mythical and foolish deuteronoses.
“Your princes are disobedient, partners of thieves.” Thus called by the Savior, they did not obey; but to speak simply, they disobey God, turning away from Him and not remaining in the things commanded by Him, “loving gifts, chasing retribution, not judging for the orphan, and not attending to the cause of the widow.”
A And so, while conspiring with the traitor Judas as he stole, they were bartering the righteousness of justice for gifts.
VERS. 24-26. “Therefore thus says the Lord, the Master Sabaoth: Woe to the mighty of Israel! For my anger shall not cease against my adversaries, and I will execute judgment against my enemies. And I will bring my hand against you, and I will burn you unto purity, and I will destroy the disobedient, and your counselors as at the beginning.” I will burn you B unto purity, that is, in order to cleanse and distinguish the base from the noble. Therefore, according to Symmachus, it is said: “And I will burn unto purity your dross”; but according to Aquila: “And I will burn unto purity your grape-stone.” For just as those who purify copper or iron by fire cast away the dross, and those who press the clusters of the vine in wine-presses cast out the grape-stone and the dregs of the trampled grapes; in the same way, He says, I also will burn unto purity your grape-stone.
VERS. 27. “And after these things you shall be called a city of justice, a faithful metropolis, Sion; for with judgment her captivity shall be saved.” He addresses the common city that is to be established later, which He calls a city of justice and a faithful metropolis, Sion, adorning with this name the institution and assembly of the God-loving polity. That which was formerly wise among the Jews had fallen away; but now it has been raised throughout the whole earth through the Church of Christ, founded upon the rock. And the leaders of this beautiful city—judges and counselors—who received their beginning from the apostles and disciples of our Savior, they indeed, through their succession even still now, as if sprung from good seed, shine C forth, established as presidents of the Church of God. For those who are judged by God to be worthy of salvation, He says, they alone shall obtain the promise, while the Jews imagine in vain that there will be a conversion of their whole nation. But by the liberation from captivity, one must understand the change of souls from error to the true knowledge of God: which the Savior also demonstrated, when, having taken the book of Isaiah in the synagogue and read the passage speaking in his person: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me; He has sent me to preach good news to the poor,” etc., He folded the book and said: “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your ears,” teaching thereby that He Himself is the redeemer of human souls.
VERS. 28. “And the lawless and the sinners shall be crushed together, and those who have abandoned the Lord shall be finished.” But He says that the teachers of wickedness must be removed from the midst. Who these were, the Word has taught through what was said before, declaring: “Woe to the sinful nation, a people full of iniquity.”
VERS. 29. “For they shall be confounded because of their idols, which they themselves desired, and they shall be ashamed because of their gardens, which they coveted.” D Furthermore, the shame for the foul deeds...
born of the realization of their own impudent and shameless disposition was about to be brought upon them.
A VERS. 30. “For they shall be as a terebinth casting off its leaves, and as a paradise without water,” they who were once the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts and a shady olive tree. For if anyone should look upon the promises concerning them which are held in the divine Scriptures—the readings of the legal and prophetic writings, the sequence of the historical and poetic books, the modes of hymnody and psalmody—he would truly see a paradise and a pasture filled with all good things. But if anyone were to seek among them for the living, fertile, and life-giving Word, from which anyone who drinks shall have a spring of living water leaping up into eternal life, he would by no means find it.
VERS. 31. “And their strength shall be as a stalk of tow, and their works as a spark; and the lawless and sinners shall be burned together, and there shall be none to quench them.” It is not a stalk of grain or any other necessary thing, because the strong and sturdy, the strength of bread, and so forth, have been taken away from them. Therefore, they cannot say like the disciples of Christ: “I can do all things through God who strengthens me” (Phil. iv, 13); and: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress?” (Rom. viii, 35), and the rest. B Thus, their strength has become as a stalk of tow, so that they not only lost the freedom in which they formerly flourished, using their own laws and kingdom by their own right, but also had to serve any chance Roman soldier.
For their works, moreover, were causes of fire, seeing that they built not with gold, nor silver, nor precious stones, but only with wood and stubble. Do you see how the Word threatens them with conflagrations and burning? And this is the end of the present prophecy against them; which indeed came to pass literally in a short time, and not long after the crime perpetrated against our Savior, when their metropolis was surrendered to the flames, and the impious men dwelling in it stored up for themselves, from their own sparks, an unquenchable and eternal fire, and the wrath of God in the day of wrath. C
CHAPTER II
Vers. 1-4. “The word that came to Isaiah the son of Amoz concerning Judea and Jerusalem: Because it shall be in the last days that the mountain of the Lord shall be conspicuous, and the house of God upon the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall come to it. And many peoples shall go and say: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will declare to us his way, and we will walk in it. For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall reprove many people.” D He himself has judged among the nations, separating those who were worthy for himself, and choosing those who were called from those who were not. Thus, therefore, the evangelical law, judging in the midst of the nations, has reproved many people; whether those who believed in him, having been convicted of their former error, or those who were not...
A believers in him, who perish for their own cause.
«And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: and nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.» For they are no longer taught the art of war, which they previously practiced from childhood in fields and cities as a necessity, moved by the fear of neighboring enemies. But even those who have received our Lord Jesus Christ, exempt from all desire for fighting, finally live in peace, so that they are no longer attacked by opposing powers, nor are they subject to the demons that once held dominion over them. To these the Savior himself, procuring his own peace, says: «My peace I give unto you.»
VER. 5. «And now, O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.» Consequently, then, the prophet, after having recounted the calling of the nations and the peace poured out upon all men, demonstrates his own affection toward his own people; reminding his people to receive the grace of Christ given to all nations and the evangelical light; and he counts himself among them, in order to excite and urge on the people, and is an advocate that they should approach the light of the Lord. Furthermore, he calls the law of the New Testament coming forth from Sion the light of the Lord, and the salutary and evangelical word.
VER. 6. «For he hath forsaken his people, the house of Israel: because their land is filled, as from the beginning, with divinations, as the land of the aliens: and many strange children have been born to them.» B Here, as if preparing a defense for God, he brings forward the cause why he has forsaken them, using these words: «Because their land is filled, as from the beginning, with divinations,» and the rest; by which he shows that he did not forsake them without cause.
VER. 7-9. «For their land is filled with silver and gold, and there was no number of their treasures: and their land is filled with horses, and there is no number of their chariots: and their land is filled with the abominations of the works of their own hands, and they worshipped that which their own fingers have made: and the man is bowed down, and the man is humbled.» C Of whom then, if not of the alien inhabitants who worshipped what their own fingers had made? These things all signify the alien nations that were to inhabit both Jerusalem itself and the region of Judaea. These things were fulfilled after the coming of our Savior, and after the sending forth of the evangelical light which illumined all nations; because they did not listen to the prophet who was calling them, saying, «Come, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.»
VER. 10-12. «And I will not forgive them: and enter ye into the rocks, and hide you in the D earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty: when
A he shall arise to crush the earth. For the eyes of the Lord are lofty, but man is lowly. And the loftiness of men shall be humbled, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day; for the day of the Lord of Hosts is upon every one that is injurious and proud, and upon every one that is high and lifted up, and they shall be humbled.» This, I believe, is spoken concerning the day of judgment. Wherefore, the discourse does not prophesy these present things of the Jews alone, but generally of all men of this sort. It proclaims, therefore, that there shall be an overthrow of idolatry among men, and that the Lord alone among all men shall be exalted, while every height that is raised up against the knowledge of God shall be brought low.
VERS. 13-17. «And upon all the cedars of Libanus that are high and lifted up, and upon every oak of Basan, B and upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, and upon every high tower, and upon every high wall, and upon all the ships of the sea, and upon all the sight of the beauty of ships: and every man shall be humbled, and the pride of men shall fall. I will cast my net upon them, as the birds of the air I will draw them down.» Perhaps this also prophesies that in the expected day of the Lord’s judgment, there shall be a destruction of all such things; here obscurely hinting at those who rule this age, and the heights, and the dignities, and the principalities and powers, and the world-rulers in this life who have not known God.
VERS. 18, 19. «And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. And all the works of their hands they shall hide, bringing them into the caves and into the clefts of the rocks, and into the dens of the earth, from before the fear of the Lord, and from the glory of his power, C when he shall arise to crush the earth.» Moreover, when the Lord’s day is at hand, the ungodly shall hide their own glories—which they previously held in their souls regarding the error of polytheism—within their own rent and divided minds, and shall cast out and fling away from their own intellect every false assumption concerning idols.
VERS. 20-22. «For in that day man shall cast away his abominations, his silver and his gold, which he made to worship with vanity and with bats, to enter into the dens of the solid rock, and the clefts of the rocks, from before the fear of the Lord, and from the glory of his power, when he shall arise to crush the earth.» When Jerusalem was idolatrous—or rather, when the whole of Judaea was being consumed by fire—the war of the Babylonians in a certain sense spread over Judaea; and they, having laid everything waste, slew those who were caught, but carried away the women and children into their own land. D However, when such an irruption had been announced as about to take place, such great fear came upon the Jews, and they fell into such straits, that they hid themselves in caves and in the clefts of the mountains, and took to impassable places, since every hand of theirs was powerless to resist the invaders.
CHAPTER III.
Verses 1-2. "Behold, the Lord of Sabaoth will take away from Judea and from Jerusalem both the strong and the strong woman, the stay of bread and the stay of water, the giant and the strong man, the warrior and the judge, and the prophet, and the soothsayer, and the elder." A This, moreover, will happen to them, not because of idolatry, nor because of other certain crimes, but solely because of a counsel truly impious, nefarious, and wicked, initiated against the Lord. Observe, therefore, how, after all those threats leveled against them, he adds in these words: "Their sin has been declared and revealed like that of Sodom. Woe to their soul, because they have taken evil counsel against themselves, saying: Let us bind the just man, because he is troublesome to us." This, indeed, was the cause of all the threats. Hence, further, I deem it proven without controversy that these things reached their fulfillment after the advent of the Savior. B Therefore, all things together and at once, according to the prophecy, failed and were taken away from Jerusalem and from Judea, at no other time than the time of the plots formed against our Savior. And first, the strong and the strong woman were taken away—or, according to Aquila, "the fulcrum and the support"; or, according to Symmachus, "the stay and the upholding." You may understand this according to the apostolic word, which called men adorned with a holy life pillars and ground. And indeed, there were also among that ancient people some who could be considered the stay of their whole nation: these the Word threatens to take from their midst.
"The stay of bread and the stay of water." C Taking these in a spiritual manner, I would have you note that it is not said that bread or water is to be taken away, but the strength of bread and the strength of water; which you may understand from the words of another prophet: "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, and I will send a famine upon the land; not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the word of the Lord." The bread of the soul, therefore, is a certain word endowed with the power of nourishment, and likewise, a reasonable drink. Even though the children of the Jews think they are partakers of these, while they run through the divine Scriptures and are studiously engaged in their doctrine and promises, D yet no one among them finds the strength of the nourishing word and the nourishment of the life-giving earth. Therefore, he by no means mentions sensible bread; nor, likewise, waters that are for common and daily use; but rather that bread of which David says: "He gave them the bread of heaven; man ate the bread of angels." We say that he also makes mention of spiritual waters, concerning which the prophet Isaiah speaks elsewhere in such terms: "And you shall draw water with joy from the fountains of the Savior"; and indeed, the Savior Himself says: "Everyone who drinks from this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks from the water that I will give him shall become in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life." Understand, then, precisely the [words] concerning these things of the
the voices of the prophet on this matter accurately, for he did not say simply that bread and water were to be taken away from the Jews, but A “the strength of bread and the strength of water”; and it is right for us to think that he wishes to teach us something similar. For we, in handling the sacred discourses and reading the divine Scriptures, and then understanding them, receive the strength of the intellectual bread: “For man shall not live by bread alone,” he says, “but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Similarly, you should understand this regarding intellectual waters. The Jews, indeed, have bread and water thus far, for they curiously study the writings of Moses, and they read the Law; but since they understand nothing, they do not have the strength of the bread, nor do they obtain the strength of the water. For the bare and empty letter alone is given to them, which possesses the notion and opinion of bread and water, but which in no way feeds them for good spiritual health. B And Paul, writing, testifies to this: “For until this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies upon their hearts,” which is not unveiled, because it is nullified in Christ. And in another way we say that the strength of bread and the strength of water have been taken away from the synagogue of the Jews; and the account is mystical. For we who have been called through faith to sanctification have the bread from heaven, that is to say Christ, or rather his body. And if anyone should ask what its strength is, we say that it is life-giving; for he gives life to the world. We approach likewise the grace of holy baptism, and we say that the strength of the water that sanctifies us is the putting off of sins, spiritual regeneration for conformity C into Christ himself; and in addition to these, the boldness of entrance into the kingdom of heaven. For if anyone, he says, “is not born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven.” But the Jews are deprived of such goods; for there is no strength of bread among them, that is to say the life-giving that is in Christ, nor do they possess the strength of the water; for sin has remained in them unwashed; they do not enter into the kingdom of heaven, dishonoring the one who brings them in, Christ. For they did not believe the one saying: “I am the way,” and, “I am the door.”
“And a captain of fifty, and a wonderful counselor, and a wise architect, and a clever listener. And I will appoint young men as their princes, D and mockers shall rule over them.” (7) Who then, seeing those who are called patriarchs among the Jews—truly young men, not in the stature of their bodies, but in their souls being immature and lacking in wits—and the rest of their teachers, would not say that they are mockers, and such as the prophecy indicated?
“And the people shall rush, man against man, and man against his neighbor;” neither
was it in order, nor was the word of God abiding in them. A
Verses 6-8: “For a man shall take hold of his brother, or of the domestic of his father, saying: You have a garment, be you our leader, and let my food be under you. And answering in that day he shall say: I will not be a leader; for there is no bread in my house, nor garment. I will not be a leader of this people; because Jerusalem is forsaken, and Judea has fallen.” Wherefore he says that they would come into such poverty of mind and indigence, that they would possess neither garment nor bread; B so that “garment” may be taken spiritually for the seemly and orderly discourse that covers the turpitude of their soul, and “bread” can be understood as that which nourishes the mind.
“And their tongues with iniquity, not obeying the Lord: because now their glory is humbled.” Did they not sharpen their tongues against the Lord, when they uttered these impious voices: “Away, away with him; and his blood be upon us and upon our children”? Then, indeed, their tongue and their pursuits were, according to Aquila, against the Lord, and to provoke him, according to Symmachus.
Verses 9-12: “And their tongues are iniquitous: they do not believe what is of the Lord. Therefore now their glory is humbled, and the confusion of their faces has stood against them. They have proclaimed and published their sin as that of Sodom. Woe to their soul, because they have taken evil counsel against themselves, saying: Let us bind the just, for he is unprofitable to us. Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their works. Woe to the wicked, evil things shall happen to him for the works of his hands. O my people, your exactors strip you, and those who demand rule over you. O my people, those who declare you blessed deceive you, and disturb the path of your feet.” C When the princes of the Jewish people wished to collect for themselves the goods of the Jews through first-fruits and tithes, and other things offered to them as princes and teachers, they did not allow them to come to the knowledge of Christ. Since, therefore, they exacted the aforementioned profits, they did not rebuke the sinners; but, tempering all their conversations with adulation, they declared them blessed; and, averting them from the straight path that leads to the saving word, they caused the steps of their souls to deviate. D
Verses 13-14: “But now he shall be set for judgment, he shall stand in judgment for his people: the Lord himself shall come into judgment with the elders of the people and with his princes.” Very consistently, after he has prophesied the first coming of the Savior and the subversion of the princes of the people, he delivers the knowledge of his second coming with these words: “The Lord himself shall come into judgment with the elders of the people and with his princes.”
A “But you have kindled my vineyard, and the robbery of the poor is in your houses.” He rebukes them as if they were standing at the Lord’s tribunal, and he convicts them to their faces. He calls them his people and his vineyard that has been burned—those who have been deceived by the robbery and perversion of the teachers, whom he is now calling back and turning to himself, deterring them from the perverse teaching of those previously mentioned.
“Why do you wrong my people and shame the face of the poor?” It is the custom of those who do wrong and rob others, when they are called to account by the injured parties, to shame them with insults and abuse, treating them with contempt and threatening them with blows. Therefore, he says this: The shame that is fitting for you because of the injustice committed, you—using tyrannical force—pour out upon the poor. B
“Thus saith the Lord: Because the daughters of Sion are lifted up, and have walked with a stretched-out neck and with wanton glances of their eyes, and in the gait of their feet, at the same time dragging their tunics, and at the same time playing with their feet; the Lord God will humble the ruling daughters of Sion, and the Lord will uncover their shame.” These things can be said not only of women, but also of soft and effeminate souls.
CAPUT IV.
“And seven women shall take hold of one man, saying: We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel; only let thy name be called upon us.” For they say nothing is lacking to them except his name only, and that they may seem to have a protector. Therefore, as he is a rare individual, many having been given over to destruction and but few left, they address him in this way: “Only let thy name be called upon us,” and the rest. C
“In that day God shall shine forth in council with glory upon the earth, to exalt and glorify that which is left of Israel. And it shall be that what is left in Sion, and what is left in Jerusalem, shall all be called holy, even those who are written unto life in Jerusalem.” It is possible to perceive by the very work how the first from Israel who believed in Christ—the apostles, disciples, and evangelists of the Savior—were exalted and glorified, so that they became conspicuous everywhere on earth and throughout the whole world; and even now, among all peoples, both Greeks and barbarians, their name and teaching are celebrated. These, therefore, alone shall be called holy who have been counted worthy to be written into the eternal life of the heavenly Jerusalem. And compare to these the voice of our Savior sent forth to the apostles, by which it is said, “Because your names are written in the heavens.” D
“For the Lord will wash away the filth of the sons and daughters of Sion, and will purge the blood of Jerusalem from the midst of them, by the spirit of judgment and the spirit
of burning. And it shall come to pass, and the whole place of Mount Sion shall be, and everything round about it, a cloud of day shall overshadow it, and as it were smoke, and as it were the light of a fire burning by night, it shall be covered with all glory. And it shall be for a shadow from the heat, and for protection and a hiding place from A hardness and rain. He clearly promises here the laver of regeneration, which he previously declared with these words: “Wash yourselves, and be clean,”—a promise made even now. He says these things regarding those who, though they had been partakers in the murder of the Savior, yet a little later turned around and acknowledged His Gospel. He then proceeds to the daughters of Sion, who were accused in the preceding passage regarding the words: “Because the daughters of Sion are exalted, and have walked with a stiff neck,” and what follows these. B Indeed, he calls the blood of Jerusalem in a wondrous manner the murder perpetrated in it against the Savior; for this was the cause of the extreme desolation of that place. And I would wish you to consider whether this discourse does not most aptly harmonize with that evangelical testimony concerning our Savior, where it is thus written: “He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire.” For that phrase, “in the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning,” differs in no way from “in the Holy Spirit and fire.” For the fiery discourses applied to them brought about the cleansing of their sins. Likewise, our Savior is said in the Gospel to baptize not in water, but in Spirit and in fire. For John taught this, saying of himself: “I indeed baptize you in water,” but of the Savior: C “He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire.”
CHAPTER V
VERS. 1. “I will sing to my beloved a song of my beloved concerning my vineyard. My vineyard was made for my beloved in a horn, in a fat place.” Thus, in this canticle, He enumerates the works He performed in His vineyard, and He convicts the vineyard of its wickedness; and He prophesies what is to happen to it. It is said, therefore, to be “in a horn,” because in those very parts the royal metropolis of Jerusalem is established; for it is customary for Scripture to refer to the horns D of a kingdom.
VERS. 2. “And I set a hedge and walled it in, and planted the vine Sorec; and I built a tower in the midst of it, and dug a winepress in it.” For he set a hedge about it, that is to say, about the whole people, having surely fenced it round about with angels. But he also walled it in another way, supporting and sustaining it with prophets and holy men. Moreover, he also planted it as a vine, Sorec, which Symmachus interprets as “choice.” And what is this vine, if not clearly the divinely inspired Scripture, and the discourse of pious religion, or even the Word of God Himself, who in the Gospels teaches these things concerning Himself and says: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman”? For from Him indeed the former people also received the planting of divine teachings. He digs a winepress in it, that is to say, the altar placed before the temple.
A “And I waited for it to produce grapes, and it produced thorns. And now, you who dwell in Jerusalem, and the man of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What shall I do yet to my vineyard, and have not done to it? For I waited for it to produce grapes, and it produced thorns. Now therefore I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall be for plunder; and I will pull down its wall, and it shall be for trampling; and I will abandon my vineyard, and it shall not be pruned, nor shall it be hoed, and thorns shall grow upon it, as upon uncultivated land. And I will command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.” By “clouds,” He signifies the prophets. He calls them clouds because of the purity and splendor of their life; for through them the heavenly word was ministered to them—a word which the Lord B threatens to take away from them.
“I waited for it to produce justice, but it produced iniquity, and not righteousness, but an outcry.” For every sin unto death emits an outcry, the action itself crying out; thus indeed it is said, “The voice of the blood of Abel thy brother cries to me.”
“For where ten yokes of oxen are ploughing, it shall produce one jar; and he who sows six artabae, shall produce three measures.” He hints at the few men to be found among them who are worthy of salvation.
“Woe to those who rise up in the morning, and follow strong drink; who stay until the evening; for wine shall burn them.” This part of the prophecy contains the explanation of the apostolic saying; for, he says, “Drunkards shall not inherit the kingdom of God”; that is, those who have C not yet put off the folly of youth, and who, when they ought strenuously to fight against the turbulent motions of the soul, are instead subverted by them, and pursue, as a kind of drunkenness, the diseases of the soul. It is likely, moreover, that the Jews, even after the daring deed against our Savior, when it was their duty to mourn because of the wrath they were about to suffer, gave themselves over to carousals, drunken bouts, and other pleasures. Therefore, they are declared wretched by the Scripture, as being those who have no sense of the evils soon to seize them.
“For with harp and psalter and timbrels they drink wine; but the works of the Lord they do not look upon, and the works of His hands they do not consider.” But it was not possible for those who embraced a lascivious life, and were D given to drunkenness and dancing, to attend to divine oracles and derive benefit from them.
“Therefore my people has become captive, because they did not know the Lord; and a multitude have become dead because of famine and thirst for water.” The Latin narrative relates the history. What this signifies spiritually, they suffer even today, etc.
A being deprived of the rational bread of life, their souls still famished for heavenly nourishment, according to the Scripture which speaks thus concerning them: “They shall return at evening, and shall hunger as a dog, and shall go round about the city.” And having denied the Author of life, they have fallen into the death of the soul; and having turned away from the Redeemer of the captivity of souls, who came to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, they were delivered to their spiritual enemies and endured the captivity of their souls.
Vers. 20. “Woe to them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter.” These things also follow upon what was said before, as if spoken of the time of Christ. For although they heard many instructive discourses from the Savior, and later from His apostles, they attained no benefit from them, but persevering in unbelief and in the absurdity of their deeds, they added to their sins. In another way also, these things apply to those previously accused: for these same persons, turning away from sound doctrine and uttering blasphemies against the light of the saving Gospel, thinking the sweet and nourishing discourses of our Savior to be bitter, contrariwise embraced B wicked and malignant thoughts as if they were good, and set the darkness of error, which occupied their minds, in the place of light. Indeed, they pursued the bitter and destructive nature of malice as if it were some sweet pleasure. You might see even to this day such children of the Jews, turning away from the truth of the Gospel, but pursuing old wives’ fables and the darkness of ignorance. By this disposition they denied Christ, but chose Barabbas, placing their lot with robbers and evildoers. Nay, even by associating with atheistic and impious nations, they welcome idolaters, while they turn away from and persecute the upright and temperate people of Christ.
Vers. 21, 22. “Woe to them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight. Woe to your strong ones, who drink wine, and to the mighty who mingle strong drink.” C According to another interpretation, the teachers of the Jews, not applying their minds to the words of the Savior, used themselves as their own wicked teachers, being wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight. Then, as if they were strong and possessed great authority among the people, they enveloped their souls in drunkenness, lulled to sleep by the darkness of ignorance. Now, furthermore, they mixed a treacherous drink for others, which is called “strong drink,” which other interpreters have called “drunkenness.” And this they did, peddling the word of God.
Vers. 24. “Their root shall be as dust, and their flower s
A shall rise as dust.” The beauty, he says, of the body, and the glory of riches, and the splendor of the whole nation, will soon be scattered like dust. “For they would not have the law of the Lord of Sabaoth, but provoked the word of the Holy One of Israel.” What law, unless the one of which he spoke above: “For out of Sion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem”? Because, he says, they would not accept the law of the New Testament; indeed, they even provoked the living Word of God.
For this cause the Lord was angered against His people, whom He Himself wished to be His own people, and to be called by His name; but they did not wish it. By these things He signifies the incursion of enemies and the multitude of the slain; so that the mountains as well are filled with dead bodies, and the whole land becomes full of their corpses. All these things shall happen to them from the incursion of the enemies, which they did not cause of their own accord, but God was leading them, all but dragging and pulling them toward the siege of those accused.
“But still His hand is high; therefore He will lift up a sign to the nations from afar, and will hiss at them from the end of the earth.” High, therefore, was the hand of God against them because of the persistence of their unbelief. For the worse thing is that, as he says, even when these things were happening, they did not become more reasonable, but persisted in the same things.
“And He shall cry out for them in that day as the voice of the sea raging.” Here, therefore, it is fitting C to fix the mind upon the fact that He likens the multitude of the enemies to the voice of the sea.
CHAPTER VI
“And it came to pass in the year that king Ozias died.” Why did he not see the vision set before him while Ozias was still alive, but in the year that he died? I think that, because he had been puffed up in spirit, and had dared to offer a sacrifice not at all appropriate for him, so that leprosy even broke out upon his face, it was likely that the grace of God had withdrawn for the whole time of his life, while he, as a leper, D inhabited Jerusalem. For as long as a leprous king inhabited the place, the glory of God had reasonably withdrawn. But when he had died, and Joatham his son had succeeded to the kingdom, of whom it is written: “And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord,” [IV Reg. xv, 34] it was fitting that in that very year, in which the leper had ended his life and the man pleasing to God had succeeded to the kingdom, the glory of the Lord should return to the house, namely, to the temple of the Lord. And this is exactly what the prophet relates, saying: “And it came to pass in the year that king Ozias died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, and the house was full of His glory.” And I think that it is also signified through these things who that Lord of Sabaoth is, who is revealed throughout the whole prophecy. But who is this? The Only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, who descending from His own greatness, from there makes Himself visible and comprehensible to men. For as
He was seen also by Abraham, when He said to him: "To your seed I will give this land" A (Gen. XII, 7). Therefore the Scripture adds: "And he built there an altar to the Lord who appeared to him" (Gen. XII, 7); and again: "Abraham was ninety years old, and the Lord appeared to him" (Gen. XVII, 1); and again: "And the Lord appeared to Abraham by the oak of Mamre" (Gen. XVIII, 1). And concerning Isaac it is said: "And he journeyed and went up to the well of the oath, and the Lord appeared to him in that night" (Gen. XXVI, 23). And again concerning Jacob it is said: "I am God, who appeared to you" (Gen. XLVIII, 3); but also when he came to Bethel, he and the people who were with him, he built there an altar, and called the name of the house Bethel; for there God appeared to him (Gen. XXXV, 7). And again it is said: "And God appeared to Jacob yet again in Luz" (Gen. XXXV, 9); and at another time he spoke to him, appearing in the likeness of a man: "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name" (Gen. XXXII, 28); when he also called the name of the place, The Look of God, saying: "For I have seen God face to face, and my soul is saved" (Gen. XXXII, 30). And Moses also besought God who B gave him oracles, saying: "If I have found grace in your sight, show me Yourself, that I may see You clearly" (Exod. XXXIII, 13). But He answered him, saying: "And this word which you have spoken I will do; for you have found grace in my sight" (Exod. XXXIII, 14). Likewise, Ezekiel saw Him who sits upon the cherubim, as a likeness of a man; from his loins and downward there was fire, and from his loins and upward, the appearance of amber (Ezek. I, 26-27). From all these things we learn that the visions experienced by the aforementioned men were not similar, but diverse. For to Moses it was said: "You will not be able to see my face; for no man shall see my face and live" (Exod. XXXIII, 20); for the countenance of God the Word, and the divinity of the Only-begotten Son of God, could in no way be comprehensible to mortal nature. But to Ezekiel, the glory of the Word was seen C through enigmas. To Abraham, however, He appeared figuratively in the form of a man, so that He even stood under the oak, washed His feet, and partook of a meal. Likewise, and with Jacob, a man is introduced struggling, whom the Scripture calls indeed a man, yet He who gave the oracle said: "Your name shall not be called Jacob, it says, but Israel shall be your name, because you have been strong with God" (Gen. XXXII, 28); whence Jacob also said: "For I have seen God face to face, and my soul is saved" (Gen. XXXII, 30). But this prophet also testifies that he himself saw His glory. Therefore, he beheld the glory of our Savior Jesus Christ, as he narrates in the present text; not at all with the eyes of the body, but with those of the mind, illuminated by the Holy Spirit. For just as the eyes of the body are helped toward seeing sensible things by the ray of light supplied from without, in the same way the eyes of the purified mind, D irradiated by the intelligible light, can contemplate divine things. Wherefore the Savior
A taught this: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."
Vers. 2. "And the seraphim stood in his circuit; each had six wings, and six wings of the other." B These are certain incorporeal, divine, and supramundane powers, which Daniel also revealed, saying: "A thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him." Hence others have supposed there to be two seraphim; but I, having examined with my mind the sense of the Scripture which says that the seraphim stood in his circuit, judge that they encompassed him on every side like a crown, as if guarding a great king. They are said to be endowed with six wings, meaning that each one is adorned with innate and sublime virtues as if with wings, by which, flying through the heaven and the air, they are borne along, employing certain intelligible operations which bring about for us things that are ineffable. For just as among men the saints of God shared in superior charisms, such as to prophesy things to come, to heal diseases, to raise the dead, to speak with tongues, and to share in wisdom and knowledge; or just as we use five natural senses according to the body, so also it is likely that the nature of the angels employs certain divine powers and operations that produce miracles—things unknown to us—which the Scripture calls wings. Since it is also said of the winds: "Who walks upon the wings of the winds," where we do not have recourse to bodily shapes, as if the winds were equipped with wings like birds.
"And with two they covered his face, and with two they covered his feet, and with two they flew." C They covered their face, then, not the Lord's—as someone might think—but their own, because they dared not gaze fixedly upon the Object presented to them. "For no one knows the Son, except the Father who begat him." They covered their feet also, that is, the very ends of their own progression, or, as one might say, the steps of their life, concealing their actions so that they might not stand before their King with uncovered feet.
Vers. 3. "And one cried to another, Holy, holy, holy, Lord Sabaoth; the whole earth is full of his glory." D For they did not send forth one voice, nor did they all together emit this in common, but one to another, showing their own wonder and the amazement conceived from such a spectacle; or rather, they were astonished by the descent of the Word of God from the highest to the lowest. They cried out, therefore, not once for his sanctification, nor merely more often, but rather into infinite time and always, smitten with wonder, they shouted; for out of the foreknowledge of the future the seraphim were exceedingly amazed at that which, according to the prophecies, was completed after the advent of our Savior to men. From that
A point it was truly made known to all nations, and across the whole earth was proclaimed not only the knowledge, but also the glory of the theology concerning Him.
VERS. 4. "And the lintel was lifted up at the voice of those who were crying out, and the house was filled with smoke." The Word B thus implies that, as the earth was being filled with His glory, He who stood in that place was destined to be revealed, so that, with the lintel removed, He might be grasped; and that the place was to be filled with smoke and given over to fire, for smoke is a sign of fire. The Scripture, therefore, obscurely indicates by these things the conflagration that would occur in this place; after which had been completed, the whole earth was filled with the glory of the Lord, with not just one house, as before, but with countless ones, much more excellent than that one, having been raised up throughout the whole earth.
VERS. 5. "And I said, O wretched am I, because I am pricked; because, being a man and having impure lips, I dwell in the midst of a people having impure lips; and I have seen the King, the Lord Sabaoth, with my eyes." He confesses C himself to be impure, not in soul, nor in his whole body, since he was conscious of no impure action in himself; but he says that only his lips were impure, as if his remaining body and soul were pure, in accordance with the text, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." He did not have impure lips from anywhere else than from the conversation he had entered into with impure men. For because he lived amongst impure men, he was compelled to utter words worthy of their wickedness, by which his lips were defiled.
VERS. 6, 7. "And there was sent to me one of the seraphim, and in his hand he had a live coal, which he had taken with tongs from the altar; and he touched my lips. And he said, Behold, this has touched thy lips." Such is the coal of the altar; and perhaps that merciful Lord fills His own altar with such saving and purifying coals. Wherefore it is said somewhere, "Coals were kindled from Him." And God Himself is called at the time of Moses a consuming fire; and the Savior, in the Gospels, is testified to as baptizing in the Holy Spirit and in fire. By all these things we are taught that no one can attain the remission of sins except through the divine fire. With good reason, therefore, does such a great prophet get cleansed by the coal of fire. For what iniquities and sins are taken away from him, if not those with which he confesses his lips to be filled? After the completion of their purgation, he is consequently D deemed worthy of the voice of Him who sits on the throne, which says:
VERS. 8. "Whom shall I send? And who will go to this people? And I said, Behold me, send me." By this voice, which is placed in the middle, He tested the prophet's alacrity, so that he might receive the reward for at least a good intention. Therefore, He did not order him to go away in the manner of one commanding, but asks in the middle of the discourse who might be ready to do this.
VERS. 9. "And he said, Go, and say to this people: By hearing you shall hear and not understand; and looking"
A you shall look, and not see." What they see and will see, and by whose hearing they will hear—He does not declare, leaving it for us to consider from the sequence of the discourse, which goes as follows: "The Lord whom you behold, and whom you see with your own eyes, O prophet, this Lord this people also will one day see; but also the voice which you have heard in the present, he himself will hear at some time, yet he will not understand, nor know, nor will he wish to accept His grace." He clearly indicated through these things His own advent to men.
VERS. 10. "For the heart of this people has been made fat, and they have heard heavily with their ears, and they have closed their eyes, lest they should see with their eyes." For our Savior, since He was the light, illuminated the souls of all, B so as even to grant sight to the blind; but they closed their eyes, so as not to see; and thus, while seeing, they did not see. For whenever one, having looked and examined a thing diligently, despises and scorns the object seen, and closes his eyes, pretending not to have seen, then, while looking, he has not seen. What they saw, therefore, was from the grace of Him who was seen, which was present to them; but that they did not see came from the fact that they closed their own eyes and pretended not to see. Thus, also, with hearing, one hears, and yet does not hear; whenever he does not understand the things being said, or when he disregards and scorns what is said. This happens when someone makes his own ears heavy, as if stopping them up and making them deaf. This, then, was what the voice of the Lord prophesied would come to pass for the Jewish C people. And that fact was fulfilled at the advent of our Savior, in which, while they saw Him present before their eyes, they did not see, and while He taught the mysteries of the kingdom, they did not understand.
VERS. 11. "And I said, How long, O Lord? And He said, Until cities shall be desolate," and so forth. And until when will the infirmity continue? He asks, saying, "How long, O Lord?" for what will be the end of such "blindness" of theirs? Through these words, then, He signifies the first siege of that place which was to come under the Romans, after the crimes they committed against the Savior, in which many Jewish cities were ravaged under the Emperor Vespasian and became completely D reduced to nothing, so that not even a memory or a name of them was left behind. In this way did the discourse foretell a complete desolation, and this also was fulfilled at the time of Hadrian, during which the Jews, having endured a second siege, came to such a state of calamity that, by the laws and imperial decrees, they were not even permitted to behold the desolation of their own metropolis from afar.
VERS. 12. "And after these things, God will remove the men, and those who have been left will be multiplied upon the earth. And yet there is a tenth part upon it." Symmachus published, "The Lord will make the men far off." For the discourse signifies through this interpretation, "He will remove," or "He will make far off," that captivity which the multitude of the Jewish nation endured at that very time.
A And those who were left behind will be multiplied upon the earth, being different from the former ones. And these will be so many in number, that when compared to the first, they will be thought to be a small fraction of that former multitude.
CHAPTER VII
VERS. 1-3. "And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Aram, B and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to war against it; but they could not besiege it." And it was reported to the house of David, saying, "Aram has confederated with Ephraim." And his heart and the heart of his people were moved, as a tree in the forest is moved by the wind. And the Lord said to Isaiah, "Go out to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-jashub your son." For it was indeed fitting that the prophet's son, who had not been corrupted together with the multitude, but remained tenacious of his father's teaching, should be present here, being instructed by his father, as he approached with confidence and carried out what was commanded.
VERS. 4. "And you shall say to him: Take heed to be quiet, and fear not, and let not your heart grow faint because of these two stanchions of smoking firebrands," in which there is no light at all, but which are like only to a quenched firebrand. Such, indeed, are those two kings by whose fear and trembling you are held. For even if that power of mine, which distributes chastisement—which the divine oracles are accustomed to call anger—has C attacked you often before, for the confutation of those who among you were called gods, in whom you indeed trusted, but who were proven to be nothing when your enemies took you subject and captive; yet because my anger is not unjust, as I am a good God, who previously corrected you for your own benefit, now again I will cure all your infirmity, if, repenting of your former error, you truly learn to act piously.
VERS. 8. "But yet sixty-five years, and the kingdom of Ephraim will collapse from the people." Ahaz also learns this from the prophet: that not long afterwards, the kingdom of Samaria will be dissolved, the people being subjected and taken into captivity together with their kings, and transferred to the Assyrians because of their nefarious deeds. But if, he says, you desire to know the time, know that within sixty-five years the king of the Assyrians will come D and will take them all captive and transfer them into his own land. God commanded the prophet to proclaim these things both to Ahaz himself and to the people under him, urging them to turn back to Him, and to believe and not deny faith in what was said. Furthermore, the children of the Hebrews say that these sixty-five years are fulfilled with precision, if one begins the computation of the times from the twenty-fifth year of the reign of Uzziah.
VERS. 10, 11. "And the Lord added to speak to Ahaz..."
saying, Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God, either in the depth, or in the height." For the words, "in the depth, or in the height," Symmachus says, "Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; go deep into Hades, or to the height above"; Aquila, "Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; go deep into Hades, or mount up to the height"; Theodotion, "Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; go deep into Hades, or lift up on high." Ahaz is therefore bidden to ask for a sign, by which both he himself and the people with him were to be saved. God grants him the power of choosing the sign, as if to say that if he should ask for one from the deep—from no other place, of course, than Hades—He would grant it; or if from the height or from the regions above, He promises to give it. A
VERS. 12. "And Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord." He refuses, evidently, as one who is impious and does not obey God's command, nor does he wish to take an experience of the wondrous power of God.
VERS. 13. "And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?" Pitying the man's foolishness, the prophet speaks out in his own person the things that follow. Aquila translates this in this way: "Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing to weary men, that you weary also my God?" Theodotion, "Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing to provide molestation to men, that you provide molestation also to my God?" Symmachus, "Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it not enough for you to weary men, that you weary also my God?" B The sense of the present statement is this: Will you never cease to provide labors, toils, and struggles to the men of God—I mean the prophets—who are working for your salvation? But will you also provide vexations, toils, and struggles to my God Himself, whom you ignore and deny, given over to the error of many gods, by not wishing to have faith in His promises, nor to perform the things commanded?
VERS. 14. "Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign: Behold, a virgin shall conceive in the womb, and shall bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Emmanuel." What, he says, is the salutary sign which He shall provide to you even if you are unwilling? A certain stupendous miracle shall one day be in men, and a sign never heard of in all the ages. A virgin shall conceive without common union with a man, and shall bring forth God, the Savior of the human race. C This same God, who is to have such a birth, God now presents to you as a salutary sign from this time forth; which shall extend both into the depth and into the height: into the depth, through His descent even unto Hades; into the height, through His return to the heavens. Do you, therefore, O house of David, even now in the time of your encounter with the present enemies, call upon Him, naming Him Emmanuel, which by its interpretation displays the power of the Word; for this name signifies "God with us." D Trusting, therefore, in the sig-
Anal of the name, have confidence, and no longer call upon the gods of Damascus, nor attribute to those who do not exist the role of your helpers; but call upon Emmanuel, as He who will one day dwell with men, hoping with perfect assurance and having faith in the power of the name.
But, having arrived at this point, it is fitting for us to observe how accurately the prophecy commands the house of David to call Him who is to be born of the Virgin "Emmanuel." For you yourself, O house of David, who are now present with the prophet and hear his words, will call Him who is announced in the prophecy "Emmanuel." It is as if he were saying more clearly: "Constantly call upon Him as your helper, frequently naming Him Emmanuel," and calling out to Him as God who is present with you. For although it will be after a B truly long time that the Virgin will conceive and bear Him—when the fulfillment of the prophecy will come to pass, and when the Savior of the whole human race will be revealed, He will use another name derived from salvation—nevertheless, even from this moment, you, O house of David, having received a good pledge from God, call upon Him, naming Him Emmanuel; for this name will bring salvation to you, as you believe and obey what is said.
If it had been said, "And they shall call His name Emmanuel," it would have seemed to defer the entire prophecy to a future time; for in this way the statement would have had a cause for doubt and ambiguity. Since it is not "Emmanuel," but "Jesus," that the name of our Savior who was born of the holy Virgin is called, according to the angelic instruction given to Joseph in these words: C "Do not fear to take Mary your wife; for that which is begotten in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus; for He will save His people from their sins." If, therefore, our Lord and Savior took the name Jesus, and not Emmanuel, when He was born of the Virgin according to the prophecy, how could the oracle have been true in saying, "And they shall call His name Emmanuel"? Therefore, it is not spoken in that way—for He was not to be called by this name by everyone—but the prophetic word accurately contains: "And you shall call [Him]."
For you yourself, O house of David, for whose sake this prophecy is uttered, having received the pledge of salvation, D at the time when you engage with your enemies, call upon Him as Emmanuel, and attribute to Him the cause of victory over your enemies: for He is one who, although He was to be born of a Virgin at some future time, is already God, and is with us, and is already bestowing upon you great things for your salvation. Having faith, therefore, in the divine command, frequently call upon Him as your helper, naming Him Emmanuel. For there is need of a kind of incantation of this sort, so that you might not pay attention to demon-helpers, but call only upon Emmanuel, and through Him attain salvation. Some, however, not understanding these things, have written in the Gospel according to Matthew, instead of "and you shall call," "and they shall call." But the prophetic reading does not have it so; for the Hebrew reading [original-script column: see facsimile]
and all the interpreters, have published "you shall call."
Vers. 15. "Butter and honey he shall eat, before he knows, or chooses to reject A evil, to choose the good." If, therefore, you marvel when you hear of God being born, believe that He will also use the food of infants. For He will not appear as a man according to some fantasy, nor will that which is born be merely an appearance; but He will truly undergo such a birth, so as to share in the food of infants, using butter and honey, just like other babies. B This, then, is human; but that which declares His deity is this, that before He either knows or chooses to reject evil, He will choose the good, and the rest. Furthermore, the Word signifies that even at the very birth, Immanuel was possessed of a discerning power and a capacity for good, having acquired the critical faculty from that time, and rejecting what is evil, while accepting only what is good. For of such a nature, he says, He will be from the very birth.
Vers. 18. "And it shall be in that day, the Lord shall hiss C to the flies which rule over part of the river of Egypt, and to the bee which is in the land of the Assyrians." Through these things the Word signifies the incursion of the Egyptian men, whom he says will come into the land of the Jews not without God, the Lord stirring them up by His mere nod, and as it were by a hiss, urging them on from Egypt; and not from all of it, but from a part thereof. Or, because the Egyptians delighted in the gore and blood shed in their unclean idolatry, he compares them to flies; but he likens the warlike power of the Assyrians to D a bee, because they used a hostile sting and at that time ruled over the other nations. These things were fulfilled during the times of the first siege of Jerusalem, during which the Egyptians, called flies, when their king Pharaoh attacked the Jews, slew Josiah the king of Jerusalem, who was second to none among the prominent and God-loving men. Not long after, however, the king of the Babylonians, Nebuchadnezzar, coming up with a great army, took the city itself from its foundations, having burned the temple; and having enslaved the whole nation and devastated the rest of the cities, he established Assyrians as inhabitants of the land of the Jews.
Vers. 20. "In that day the Lord shall shave with a great and drunken razor, which is beyond the river of the king of the Assyrians." He will not, therefore, shave only the head, formerly long-haired when the Assyrians ruled the world, but also the hair of the feet, that is to say, the virile form, and the beard; that is, the ornament naturally becoming to men. The prophetic word calls the razor inebriated by the Lord another kind of enemy, through whose work he announces that God will shave the king of the Assyrians, or rather their entire kingdom and power, so that it might appear humble, unwarlike, unkempt, and deformed. But in another, instead of "drunken razor," another interpreter has "razor for hire."
Ver. 21, 22. "And it shall be in that day, a man shall nourish a heifer of oxen, and two sheep. And it shall be from the abundance of milk which they yield, that everyone who has been left upon the land shall eat butter and honey." A By these things he hints at extreme poverty and need; indeed, even at the scarcity of grain for the provision of food. For that a man should not possess herds of oxen, but one single heifer, and not a sheepfold, but should nurture only two sheep, would be a symbol of the utmost destitution. Moreover, the fact that all the people left upon the earth are to be nourished on butter and honey indicates a famine of bread. This was the people under Gedaliah, whom he foretells—because of the lack of grain—would be nourished on the very little milk and butter of their cattle, as the whole region had been transformed into a wasteland and thorns due to the dearth of men. B
Ver. 23. "And it shall be in that day, every place wherever there shall be a thousand vines, for a thousand shekels, it shall be for a wasteland and for thorn." Since, therefore, the land is uncultivated and filled with thorns, it shall lack grain; nor shall a man who remains be nourished by food congruent to his nature, nor with wine, but rather with milk, butter, and honey; and these, not gathered from a numerous herd of oxen or from sheepfolds, but from wretched and miserable creatures. For one man will obtain this from a single heifer, another from two sheep.
Ver. 25. "And every mountain that is plowed shall be plowed, and fear shall not come there: for it shall be from wasteland and thorn into pasture for a sheep." C
CHAPTER VIII
Ver. 1. "And the Lord said to me, Take to thyself a great new book, and write in it with the stylus of a man." Having completed his account of the things that are to happen in the days previously mentioned, the discourse resumes the narrative concerning the birth of Emmanuel. Regarding this, the house of David had been commanded to invoke the name of Emmanuel in place of an incantation, and to do so with the hope and confidence that, through his aid, they were to be delivered from the two kings hanging over them. But since he taught that this Emmanuel would have a stupendous birth, alien to human nature—for he was to be born of an incorrupt maiden and a virgin who was a stranger to marriage—it was most necessary that the Lord should reveal the mystery of the secret birth of Emmanuel, not to Ahaz, nor to the house of Judah, but to the prophet alone: namely, how the virgin should conceive in the womb and bring forth a son. D Therefore, so that the things pertaining to Emmanuel might not reach the ears of all, but might rather be guarded in a certain secret writing, he commands the prophet to take for himself a new and great tome, or "book," or "parchment," or "volume" according to the others; "with the stylus of a man," that is, in the writing familiar and known to men. For there is another writing of God, not inscribed with the stylus of a man, but by the power of the Word of God, inscribing those who are worthy in the book of the living.
COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH — CHAPTER VIII
A VERSE 3. "And I went to the prophetess, and she bare a son. And the Lord said to me: Call his name, 'Make haste to plunder, hasten to spoil.'" Since it has been said above, "Behold, a virgin shall conceive in the womb and shall bear a son," it is necessary in the present passage that the Lord himself should clarify how this might come to pass by these words: "And I went to the prophetess," as if to say: I myself shall come upon the prophetess. He calls her a prophetess, indeed, because she is to bear Emmanuel, as she will be a partaker of the Holy Spirit, according to that word: "The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee." B This power of the Most High, therefore, which speaks through the prophecy, "And I went to the prophetess," recounts things which are to come as if they had already occurred, according to a certain prophetic custom. "Make haste to plunder." It was, therefore, He Himself, who long ago bound the powerful devil and despoiled his spoils.
VERSES 5, 6. "And the Lord added yet to speak to me, saying: Forasmuch as this people refuses the waters of Siloam, that go with silence, but chooses to have Raassin and the son of Romelia to reign over you." What was that water of Siloam? That Emmanuel promised to them, who is the "fount of water springing up into life everlasting," and a fountain of water flowing into life quietly. For at that time He was also proceeding secretly and quietly with the people, in order to irrigate them and to watch over their souls, since He had not yet been preached to all the nations. Wherefore, it is aptly called water "going in silence," and a fountain of Siloam, which signifies "sent." C But this people, here accused by the Lord, when they were unwilling to obey the command and to summon Emmanuel, who was that water flowing in silence, were deserted by Him. Because, therefore, being faithless, they preferred to subject themselves to the king of Damascus and the king of Samaria, their enemies, rather than to execute what was commanded, for this reason does the Scripture threaten that they would not be subject to them, but to the king of the Assyrians.
"Therefore behold, the Lord will bring upon you the water of the river, strong and many, the king of the Assyrians, and all his glory; and it shall come up into all your valleys, and shall walk upon all your walls, and shall take away from Judea man." D For in contrast to the water of Siloam, which goes in silence, He set in opposition the water of the river, "strong and many"—which was the king of the Assyrians. For He prophesies that such a multitude of enemies will come that it will fill all the breadth of the Judean region, and that from it shall be taken away man, who would be able to lift up his head or to accomplish anything: so that henceforth they would have no head, that is, leaders and kings. Which things truly came to pass in the time of the prophet Jeremiah, at which time Nabuchodonosor, king of the Assyrians, breaking in, put an end to the aforesaid things. "And his camp shall be, so as to fill"
A the breadth of your land, "God is with us." And these things also persist in the same argument concerning Emmanuel: for they begin from Emmanuel, which signifies, "God with us," saying, "Know, O nations;" and again at the end of the sentence: "And the word which you speak shall not remain in you, because God is with us," for Emmanuel is again mentioned. After the prophet, therefore, had convicted the aforementioned men, because they would not, by invoking Emmanuel, become superior to their enemies, he himself, from his own person and that of those like him, invokes Emmanuel, saying:
VERS. 9, 10. "God is with us. Know, O nations, and be vanquished, and hear even to the end of the earth: you who were strong, be vanquished: for if again you are strong, you shall again be vanquished: and if you enter into counsel, the Lord shall dissipate it: and the word which you speak shall not remain in you, because God is with us." Whom, however, shall you know? Emmanuel himself: for the people of the circumcision neither knew him, nor understood him, nor wished to believe the prophecy; but neither were they vanquished B nor did they submit themselves to the commandment. But you, O nations, take knowledge of him who is spoken of in the prophecy, and understanding these things, be not stubborn; but be vanquished by being overcome. Hear the commandment, all you who inhabit unto the end of the earth: and if there be any among you strong and powerful, yield to the word, being vanquished and overcome; and do this willingly, knowing that, even if you do not wish it, you shall be overcome against your will. But if, resisting the counsel of God, you construct certain machines and ambushes against the word by which you are called, you shall be convicted as having undertaken vain things. We say these things, moreover, because Emmanuel is with us.
VERS. 11. "Thus says the Lord to the strong hand: They do not follow the journey in the way of this people." He passes, therefore, to the Jewish people, and censures it as disobedient to the strong hand. For, being called by it, when they ought to have obeyed, they, on the contrary, did not comply but spoke against it. Do not say, he says, that the word is hard, because it is necessary to depart from the way of this people: for this people indeed esteems it hard; but you who have departed from the C way of this people, do not say that this is hard: but if those from that people who are incredulous construct ambushes for you, as for those who have defected, do not fear their fear, nor be disturbed by being driven by them: but only, piously worshipping the Lord of hosts, ascribe to yourselves that he is to be feared: for "the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord" (Ps. CX, 10), by which every fear of men is driven away.
VERS. 12. "Sanctify the Lord himself, and he shall be your fear; and if you trust in him, he shall be to you for a sanctification." If, therefore, he says, you trust in him, he shall be to you for a sanctification, so that you shall no longer have need of a corporeal sanctification. Now, "sanctification" D was the term used among the Hebrews for the temple that existed of old among them, and its inner parts. To you, therefore, driven away by them, but trusting in the Lord, it shall be a sanctification, not a corporeal
A temple; but the Lord Himself, who makes you holy, if, however, you trust in Him. Therefore, fearing nothing from this temple, depart from it; believe, and trust in your own fear; for you shall have Him as a sanctification. “And you shall not meet Him as a stone of stumbling, nor as a rock of downfall.” Do you see how he names the Lord Himself a “stone of stumbling” and a “rock of scandal”? And indeed, he says that He will be such to those sitting in Jerusalem and to the two houses of Israel; but to those who have believed in Him, he teaches that He will be a sanctification. How, then, did the aforementioned Emmanuel become a stone of stumbling and a rock of scandal? Through His birth from the Virgin. Wherefore the divine Apostle also, teaching these things, said, “To the Jews indeed a scandal, but to the Gentiles foolishness.” Those, therefore, who were disobedient to the strong hand of the Lord had Him as a stone of stumbling and a rock of downfall, although He was not such by nature; for to those who believe in Him, He happens to be a sanctification. And who are these? The houses, he said, of Jacob, and not that [one] house. For there were two houses of Israel; one was that of the rulers among them, and the other was that of the subjects. And to these two houses—that is to say, to the whole nation altogether, both rulers and subjects—he says that the Lord will be for a snare and for a scandal. B
VERS. 16. “Then they shall be manifest who seal the law so as not to learn.” For those who have received the Gospel, and have learned to live according to the New Testament, as if placing a seal upon the law, lay it aside, as it is no longer useful because of the introduction of what is better; these very people, evidently those who have received the Gospel, awaiting the grace to be brought through Christ, will say: C
VERS. 17. “I will wait for the Lord, who turns His face away from the house of Jacob, and I shall trust in Him.”
VERS. 18. “Behold, I and the children whom God has given me.” The Jewish children indeed are corporeal, from man and woman; but the children of the Lord who pours forth these oracles “are born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, but of God,” the Father bestowing such sons upon Him; [sons] who no longer pay attention to the law through Moses, but know how to wait for the Lord and to trust in Him. “And there shall be many signs and wonders in the house of Israel from the Lord of Hosts, who dwells in Mount Sion.” Or, in another way, he says, not only are these children miraculously given to me by God, but also many other signs and wonders shall happen in the house of Israel at the times prophesied. D
VERS. 19, 20. “And if they say to you, Call those who call from the earth and the ventriloquists who speak from the belly; shall not a nation inquire of its God, from the living concerning the dead? For He gave the law for an aid, so that they might say, ‘Not as this word, concerning which it is not permitted to give gifts.’” Having therefore spoken beforehand of the children of Christ, [that is to say, of his apostles and disciples, and concerning the signs and wonders . . .]]
that were performed through them—through whom also the calling of the nations has taken place—he consistently instructs the new and recent people formed from the nations through Christ, addressing them as follows: “Hear these things, my students, you who have translated yourselves from the polytheistic error of the nations. If any of those who were once known and familiar to you, whether parents or kinsmen, should invite you to return to your former error, and to admire the divinations and oracles performed by demons among them, and such-like things—do not obey their counsel. Do not marvel at demons speaking from the belly of men, who are called Pythons, nor at those who are thought to rise from the earth through certain sorcerous arts; but worship only your own Lord.” For if each nation, although deceived, nevertheless clings to its own god, what else should those do who have received the unerring knowledge, but to seek their own God, and not to be busy-bodies with the dead, nor to ask for information regarding the affairs of the living from those who are deprived of all life? Having then received the word of God and the evangelical law as a help unto you, learn from it whatever you might desire, and follow it; for it is not possible that it should be turned aside from the truth by means of gifts. B
Vers. 21. “And there shall come upon you a dire famine: and it shall be that when you are hungry, you shall be grieved, and you shall speak evil of the ruler and of the ancestral laws: and they shall look up towards heaven above.” When, therefore, anyone becomes a transgressor of the divine law and a deserter of it, having been ensnared by those who pretend to oracles and demonic divinations, a famine of rational food shall take hold of him, along with a derangement of mind and anger; and he shall fall into blasphemous thoughts, cursing his former king, whom he also termed his god. “And he shall not be perplexed who is in distress, even until the time.” C
CAPUT IX.
VERS. 1. “Drink this first; make haste, O region of Zabulon, and land of Nephthalim, and the rest who are by the sea-coast and beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.” For he desires that those who have been deemed worthy of the great light of the saving theophany of God should render the fruit of the rational drink through their works. First, therefore, he brings the good news to those in Galilee. D For it was fitting not to pass over in silence the region in which Emmanuel was to spend his time when he appeared to men. The region was Galilee; but this Galilee, in which Christ spent most of his time, happens also to be beyond the Jordan; wherefore he first announces to its inhabitants the saving drink and the great light. The Savior provided a sensible image of this life-giving drink when, at the wedding being celebrated in Cana of Galilee, he performed his first miracle, the changing of water into wine.
VERS. 2. “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: you who dwell in the region and shadow of death, a light shall shine upon you.” And in another sense, they were in darkness, those who, before the dawn of Christ, were in ignorance of the
A true light; and those who committed sins unto death were in the shadow of death, according to the saying, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” But so long as he who sins unto death exists in the present life, he is not totally swallowed up by death in such a way that he cannot repent and attain salvation, yet neither is he entirely freed from death, wherefore he is said to be in the shadow of death. Nevertheless, having shone upon these first, He who is foretold in the preceding scriptures bestowed the grace of the great light. In this region, He first acquired a great multitude of people, such that He chose the apostolic choir from among them. Who, therefore, were those dwelling in darkness and the shadow of death, if not those who were previously held captive by ignorance of God and were addicted to the service of the death of the soul?
“The multitude of the people, whom Thou hast brought down in Thy gladness, and they shall rejoice before Thee, as those who rejoice in harvest, and in the manner that they shall rejoice who divide the spoils: because the yoke laid upon them shall be taken away.” B Since many believed, but more remained in unbelief, it is rightly said that a large portion of the people partook of the saving gladness. By these words, as to the obvious literal sense, He signifies that region where He once fed a multitude of five thousand men with five loaves, and at another time four thousand men, besides women and children, with seven loaves. For this reason it is said according to Symmachus, “With gladness they rejoiced before Thee, as gladness in harvest.” Thus, indeed, those who are nourished at harvest are accustomed to feast together in the same place. According to the spiritual understanding, however, the apostles of our Savior and their successors, and those who have been the prelates of His churches up to this time, were partakers of the divine gladness before our Savior, working like reapers; for they were the laborers of the harvest of the nations, filled with joy at the abundance of the fruits in each church. C “Because the yoke laid upon them is taken away, and the rod upon their neck.” They cast off the heavy yoke of him who had subjugated them to the slavery of sin and was bowing down their neck with a rod, so that, by establishing the apostolic preaching in their soul, they might not yield to the slavery of sin. Or perhaps, he says, the yoke that was once laid upon the spoils is taken away, as well as the rod imposed upon the neck of these same spoils. For it was a heavy yoke laid upon souls subjugated to the slavery of the devil, and a deadly rod that bowed down their neck and compelled them to look downward; these having been taken away, those who were dividing these spoils rightly rejoiced. D
“For the rod of the exactors the Lord has dissipated, as in the day of Midian.” Theodotio, however, interpreted it as “the exactor” [singular], individually expressing the exactor and the one who demands payment, clearly the devil, who continued to demand the souls of men and their tributes, as if demanding the sins that were supplied to them.
A The history regarding Madian is set out in the Book of Judges, containing how in the time of Gideon B the enemies were not defeated by a line of battle, but by an occult, invisible, and divine power. Thus, just as happened to the Madianites, the enemies were overcome by an occult hand. And now he says that the rod of the demanding devil has been shattered, as well as [that of] those who, together with him, were exacting the souls of men. But someone else said "not of those demanding, but of those disobeying," he said.
"For every garment gathered by deceit, and the robe with change, they shall pay back, and they shall wish, if they had been burnt by fire." Since the devil, having plundered the world of the soul and its garment, and the tunic of authority with which it was clothed, had taken it captive, he left it naked and foul. Likewise, his companions, the adverse powers, were demanding tribute from it, acting against it with deceit and falsehood. With justice, the prophetic Spirit says those exactors will pay everything back, saying: "Every garment gathered by deceit, and the robe with change, they shall pay back." And these same ones, who once were demanding tributes from the souls of men, are said to be paying everything back at the indicated time.
Vers. 6. "For a child is born to us, and a son is given to us, whose authority has been placed upon his shoulder. And his name shall be called the Angel of Great Counsel. For I will bring peace upon the princes, peace and health to him." C Which princes does he mean, if not those established by him to exercise authority in his Church? I mean his disciples and apostles, and those who received their succession throughout the whole world, to whom it was given to be of sound mind and to cultivate peace among themselves, when he said to them: "My peace I give to you, my peace I leave with you." "Great is his authority, and of his peace there shall be no end." According to Theodotion, however, "There shall be no limit to his peace." You will understand how great has been the authority of him who is prophesied if you consider his Church established throughout the whole world; and even more so if you apply your mind to these testimonies of the Apostle concerning him, in which he says: "According to the working of the power of his might, which he wrought in Christ, raising him from the dead and D setting him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above every principality and power, and might and dominion, and every name that is named." So great is the authority of our Savior, and of his peace there is no end; for it is interminable, exempt from old age, and uncircumscribed. Therefore it is said: "Justice shall rise in his days, and an abundance of peace."
Vers. 7. "Upon the throne of David and his kingdom, to direct it, and to protect it in judgment and in justice." From now and unto eternity, the
A zeal of the Lord of Hosts shall perform this. Observe carefully how it is not said simply that he would sit upon the throne of David, but also over his kingdom, to direct it; for we are to understand that he would come to restore the throne of David and his tabernacle, which had fallen. For since the kingdom of David had been overturned and destroyed from the time of the people's captivity in Babylon, and there were prophecies predicting that the throne of David would shine forth like the light of the sun over the whole world, he has come to fulfill this very promise. Born of the seed of David according to the flesh, he illuminates the souls of men and confirms his kingdom among all the nations throughout the world. For in these things he restored the throne of David, which had been removed by the Jews. And this he has achieved from now and unto eternity; the words "from now" signify a definite beginning of time, by which the season of his advent among men is indicated; but the words "unto eternity" declare his infinite and perpetual kingdom. We must observe that the first prediction concerning him who is spoken of in the prophecy declares that he would be born of a Virgin; the second brings in the Lord himself, speaking as if in answer to the question of how this could be, and saying, "And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son;" the third no longer mentions the virginal birth, nor the manner of that wondrous conception according to God—as we have already been taught these things—but speaks of his Son and instructs us in the mysteries of his theology. Yet I do not know how those of the circumcision can maintain that these things are spoken of an ordinary child, refusing to accept our Savior, to whom his very works bear witness, and the outcome of events sets its seal upon the words. "The zeal of the Lord of Hosts shall perform this." What zeal, if not that good and becoming zeal B with which he was inflamed to procure salvation for all who were held under the dominion of the devil and dragged into impiety?
Vers. 8-10.
"The Lord sent death upon Jacob, and it came upon Israel, and all the people of Ephraim shall know, and they who sit in Samaria in contumely and with a high heart, saying, 'The bricks have fallen, but come, let us hew stones and cut down sycamores and cedars, and build C for ourselves a tower.'" That is, they who dwell in Samaria, named Israel and called the people of Ephraim because they were subject to the kings of the tribe of Ephraim, mocking and disparaging Jerusalem, said that it was built of bricks and had roofs of sycamores, or, according to other interpreters, sycamores or sycomores. Then, as if they themselves were about to build a superior city, they promised that they would build with hewn stones and cedars, and instead of the temple that stands in Jerusalem, they would raise up a tower for themselves in Samaria; therefore, because D they have dared such thingsthe Word A next threatens them, saying:
VERS. 2. *And God will bring down [literally: break] those who rise up against Mount Sion, and he will scatter their enemies.* According to the history, since, he says, those who inhabited Samaria had dared such things, and were acting insolently against Mount Sion and against the God worshipped there, he threatens that he will humble them from the great height of their pride and will break them down. For it happened that those who rose up against Mount Sion were acting impiously against God himself. He says that he will humble and break down those who rise up against him, and not only them, but he will also scatter all his enemies—signifying those in Damascus who were allies of Israel, as declared before. He promises further that he will scatter all the rest who rise up against Mount Sion and the God worshipped therein; of whom some were from the east, others from the setting sun, and those in between were Greeks. For all these, devouring the aforementioned Israel with a full mouth and falling away into their own error of idolatry, promised to help and to be allies B to those rising up against Mount Sion.
VERS. 14-15. *And the Lord took away from Israel head and tail, great and small in one day, the elder and those who admire faces, this is the beginning; and the prophet who teaches lawless things, this is the tail.* Instead of "The Lord took away from Israel," Aquila says, "And the Lord will destroy"; and Symmachus, "And the Lord will utterly destroy"; and Theodotion, "And he will take away," speaking in the future, as if God C were about to do these things. He predicts them before they happen, turning his hearers toward repentance, so that they might not suffer the things threatened. He says he will do all the aforementioned things in one day, which is clear enough—that is, at one and the same time. But when he says head and tail, he hints at a brute animal; for it is not peculiar to men to have a tail, but to brute animals, to which he likens the people. He calls the head and tail the rational and irrational, or the ruler and the ruled, and the last—which he also clarified by saying, "great and small." Instead of "those who admire faces," D Symmachus interpreted it as "and the venerable." This venerable man and elder, therefore, can be the head; the tail, however, is the prophet who teaches lawless things, being as it were the last limb of a brute animal. He threatens, therefore, that these will be taken from the midst and exterminated at one time.
VERS. 18. *And iniquity shall be kindled as a fire, and as dry grass shall be eaten by the fire. And it shall be kindled in the thickets of the forest, and everything round about the hills shall be consumed.* As a good farmer of souls, the Lord threatens that he will do these things, so that the iniquity within them may be effaced, like brambles that are consumed by fire.
VERS. 19-21. *Because of the fury of the Lord’s wrath the whole earth has been burned up,*
and the people will be as if consumed by fire. A man shall not spare his brother; but he will turn to the right, because he will be hungry, and he will eat from the left, and a man will not be satisfied eating the flesh of his own arm. For Manasseh will eat Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh, because they will together besiege Judah. For all these things the anger is not turned away, but the hand is still lifted high. A Thus it comes to pass that brother rises against brother, and no one spares his neighbor; rather, all act toward one another as enemies, to the extent that the sedition and civil war kindled between them reaches such a point that those two tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh—though sprung from one father, Joseph, degenerating under the same kingdom, and inhabiting one and the same city, Samaria—rise up against one another and devour each other’s arms. No longer having leisure for the war against Judah, nor for the siege of Jerusalem, they sharpen their swords against each other, in order to finish off and destroy themselves with wounds.
CHAPTER X
VERS. 1-2. *Woe to those who write wickedness: for they write wickedness, turning aside the judgment of the poor, robbing the judgment of the needy of my people; so that the widow may be to them a prey, and the orphan a spoil.* B By that "Israel," namely, the Jewish people subjected to the kingdom of Samaria, the Scripture accuses them here, beyond what was mentioned above, saying that because of the contention and disputation of those who adulterated the true prophecies of God, they concocted false predictions. Thus, there were many false prophets in Israel, speaking and writing things contrary to those which the true prophets of God handed down. Moreover, they themselves produced wicked writings, filled with every kind of depravity; they exercised dominion over the wretched poor, and acted violently and proudly toward orphans and widows who lacked protection. You might also call those people "such as these" who, even now, through wicked writings, corrupt the souls of the more simple-minded.
VERS. 3-4. *And what will you do in the day of visitation? For tribulation C will come to you from afar. And to whose help will you flee? And where will you leave your glory, that you may not fall into captivity?* The prophetic word therefore threatens them, saying: "And what will you do in the day of visitation," in which the tribulation and wrath will come upon them from afar? For although it is far off, because it is removed by me, God, yet you—you to whom these things are said—have, as it were, used force against yourselves and attracted it. And when it arrives, to whose help will you flee? *For all these things his anger is not turned away; but his hand is still lifted high.* For since those who are accused in the present remain in the same absurdities, it was a necessary consequence that the wrath should also remain. D
VERS. 5-6. *Woe to the Assyrians, the rod of my anger: and the wrath is in their hands. I will send my wrath against an unrighteous nation, and I will command my people to do...*
A spoil and depopulation, and to trample the cities, and put them into dust.» Up to this point the accusation of the people has continued; after which, as a consequence of the threats announced by the prophecy, the Assyrians, breaking in not long afterward, besiege Samaria and depopulate their entire region, and lead nine tribes of the Jewish nation captive into the land of the Assyrians. Therefore, after the captivity of the people called Israel has been recounted, the discourse transfers to those who had led them into captivity. These, furthermore, were the Assyrians, to whom this present passage threatens judgment. That, when these things were said, the people had already been carried off by the Assyrians and Samaria had been besieged, is evident from the fact that it is said among them in the person of the king of the Assyrians: «Have I not taken Arabia and Damascus and Samaria? As I took these, so also will I take all the principalities;» B and again: «As I have done to Samaria and all its manufacts, so will I do to Jerusalem.» History also teaches that in the days of Ahaz the king of the Assyrians went up against Samaria and besieged it; and at that time he led a part of the population captive: but under Hezekiah, who succeeded Ahaz, he carried away all the people into Assyria.
VERS. 7-9. «But he did not so think, and in his soul he did not so judge; but his mind will turn to exterminating not a few nations. And if they say to him, You alone are prince: he will answer, Have I not taken the region above Babylon and Chalan, where the tower was built? And have I not taken Arabia and Damascus and Samaria?» Having received my power, he says, he did not think in this way, but was C puffed up in his mind, as if he had overcome my people by his own strength. And not content with that destruction, he threatens to invade countless other nations, as if he had overcome one who was superior and under the protection of God. Wherefore, to those who had become his subjects, wondering at him and saying: «You alone are prince,» he answers them and says: «Do not yet call me prince or lord, since I have not yet taken all the regions throughout; but, as I took these, so also shall I take all the principalities. Howl, ye graven things in Jerusalem and in Samaria.» He directs the discourse to the Assyrians themselves and their prince, who was uttering these things so arrogantly: Woe to the Assyrians, he says, because D they did not understand that it was my wrath against those who transgress that gave them the power of such great vengeance; but they supposed that they had overcome the nations by their own strength.
VERS. 11. «For as I have done to Samaria and its manufacts: so will I do to Jerusalem and its idols.» He threatens that Jerusalem will suffer the same things as Samaria. He predicts these things, moreover, inciting those who hear to conversion and repentance, and inviting them to come to their senses through the fear of this example. For not the Assyrian, he says, wrought these things against Samaria; but I, God, and that because of the impiety of its inhabitants.
Therefore, according to the laws of equity, it is right that those who dwell in Jerusalem should be delivered to the same siege and destruction, because they themselves have perpetrated the same things as those who have already suffered what was foretold. A
Vers. 12. And it shall be, when the Lord hath performed all his work upon mount Sion and Jerusalem, I will visit the great mind, the prince of the Assyrians, and the height of the glory of his eyes.
Consistently, he teaches through what is set before us that although the Assyrians and their prince have acted with such arrogance as has already been declared, having made Samaria and Damascus subject to them, nevertheless they will have the use of time only until a certain limit; when this has elapsed, their empire will no longer endure, that long-lasting and flourishing empire being utterly overthrown. BVers. 13. For he said, In might I will do it, and in the wisdom of my understanding I will remove the boundaries of nations, and I will plunder their strength.
For not giving glory to God, nor considering that the God of all was Himself the one who had delivered to him both Israel and Judah, and all those worthy of punishment, he thought great things, conceiving in his heart and saying to himself, according to Symmachus, "By the strength of my hand I have done this," and what follows. CVers. 14–16. And I will shake the inhabited cities, and I will take the whole world with my hand as a nest, and as eggs that have been left I will carry them off; and there is none who shall flee from me, or speak against me. Shall the axe boast itself without him who hews with it? Or shall the saw be exalted without him who draws it, as if some one should raise a rod or a piece of wood? Therefore, not so, but the Lord of Sabaoth shall send insult upon thy honor, and a burning fire shall be kindled upon thy glory. Against this proud thought—whether it concerns some opposing power, such as the prince of the kingdom of the Persians, and the prince of the kingdom of the Medes, and the prince of the kingdom of the Greeks (for thus one might also speak of the prince of the kingdom of the Assyrians having been arrogant and uttering the words set before us)—whether, therefore, to this one, or to the king of the Babylonians who besieged Jerusalem and burned the temple, and took all its holy vessels and votive offerings, and consecrated them to his own idols in Babylon itself, as one who dared to say grievous and insane things, the prophetic word answers, saying: Then, D O most foolish of all, do you not perceive that neither an axe would ever move itself for the cutting of wood, did another not work it, nor would a saw cut things placed before it for sawing, with no one drawing it, nor would a rod strike anyone, nor would wood strike, moving of its own accord? For it was necessary to consider that not even to you, being a minister of the wrath of God, was there present such power as to master ten thousand nations, and to hew some, and to strike others, and to take whole cities captive, and to lay low countless multitudes, being worse than any saw, and axe, and rod, unless God was the one who, in your hand, [had delivered those worthy of such punishments. Now, however, thinking nothing of these things, you have taken high spirits; so that you]
A have imagined yourself to be the great mind. For you have not set before your eyes the peace of God which surpasses all understanding; and having considered yourself to be the greatest of all, and being puffed up with proud eyes against God, you have intended to confuse the boundaries of the nations, which God defined and ordered well, “When the Most High divided the nations, as He dispersed the sons of Adam, He set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the angels of God.” But you, in your own wisdom and erring understanding, thought that you could transfer the boundaries properly set by God, and subject the world to your own control. For you thought that no one oversees or cares, and that God does not concern Himself with the people on earth; wherefore, just as one would deem to capture abandoned chicks or forsaken eggs, you supposed that you would gain control of the nations on the earth. It is necessary, therefore, to think with right reason that even those whom you have conquered, you did not subdue without the nod of God. For whence could such power have come to you, unless God had permitted it, and had used you as an instrument for the punishment and chastisement of those who needed correction and conversion?
VERS. 17, 18. “And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and it shall B sanctify him in a burning fire; and it shall devour like hay the forest. In that day the mountains and the hills and the woods shall be extinguished.” God Himself, who formerly enlightened His people and sanctified them, has become a fire to you who are proud. Instead of “And it shall sanctify him in a burning fire,” Symmachus says, “And His holy one [shall be] into a flame.” For He says to you, O Assyrian, who have dared to think impiously and arrogantly, the Holy One of Israel, who was once His light, shall become a flame and a fire. He aptly compares that multitude of the Assyrians to hills, mountains, and woods; and he calls their leaders, and those who presided over others, hills or mountains. But these indeed shall be extinguished—that is, those formerly terrible and burning, even if against their will, they shall become cold. For death shall devour them, consuming all but the souls along with the bodies. That the souls C are not taken away together with the bodies, is manifest to everyone; this indicates the strength of the soul. By saying “wood,” He denotes the multitudes who were with the king of the Assyrians; and by Carmel, as Symmachus says, He names his wealth and pleasures, all of which He says shall be consumed by the avenging violence of the aforementioned fire.
VERS. 19. “And it shall devour from the soul even to the flesh; and it shall be that he who flees shall be as one fleeing from a burning flame. And those who are left of them shall be few in number, and a child shall write them.” When these things, he says, happen to the Assyrian, he shall betake himself to flight, and all who are with him shall do the same. If, however, some few were to be left, they shall be so few that even a mere child might be able to comprehend their number and commit it to writing, the rest of the multitude D having perished. These things are spoken both according to the letter and according to the
internal meaning: according to the letter, if they are referred to Nebuchadnezzar, who burned the temple and the city; but according to the meaning, if they are referred to the opposing power, which, having suffered what is mentioned in the prophecy, the power of the opposing Assyrians was immediately A destroyed.
Vers. 20, 21. « Et erit in die illa, non ultra adjicietur residuum Israel, et qui salvi fuerint ex Jacob non ultra fiduciam habebunt in illos qui se injuria affecerunt; sed fiduciam habebunt in Deo sancto Israel in veritate. Et erit residuum Jacob in Deum fortem. » At the time, he says, when all the things previously mentioned against the aforementioned prince of the Assyrians shall have been accomplished in deed, those who are left of the captive people of the Jews, having become free from the enemy country and returned to their own land, will no longer pay attention to the evil demons to whom they once paid attention, who had harmed their souls and had been the cause of all evils for them; but at length they will pay attention to God alone, inasmuch as He became their Redeemer and Savior. And these things were fulfilled to the letter in the time of Cyrus, the King of the Persians, who released all the Jews who were in captivity; at which time those with Zerubbabel, and Joshua the son of Jozadak the High Priest, and those who were with Ezra and Nehemiah, having returned from Babylon, raised up the temple and restored the city itself. B
Vers. 22. « Et si fuerit populus Israel sicut arena maris, residuum ejus salvabitur. » The prophetic word indicates the indiscriminate and useless multitude of the nation, which inhabited the region after the return from Babylon up to the Roman times; for these were as the sand of the sea, from among whom alone the remnant was saved; they were those among them who believed in Christ, His disciples, apostles, and evangelists. For the sand of the sea possesses a multitude that is uncountable; yet it is useless for agriculture. Since therefore the people, he says, Israel, shall be poured out into an uncountable multitude, but shall become useless in the fruit-bearing according to God, then their multitude shall perish; only their remnant shall be saved. C
Vers. 23. « Quia verbum abbreviatum faciet Dominus in universa terra. » It clearly hints at the Gospel of the New Testament, having been preached in the whole world. For the evangelical word was abbreviated, in that it does not contain all the ordinances that belong to Moses. The Apostle also makes mention of the scriptures set before us, speaking in this manner: « Isaiah however says concerning Israel: If the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, the remnant shall be saved. For the Lord will make a word consummating and abbreviating upon the earth. » D
Vers. 24. « Propterea hæc dicit Dominus Sabaoth, Noli timere, popule meus, qui habitatis in Sion, ab Assyriis, quia in virga percutiet te: pla-
- A gam enim inducam super te, ut videas viam Ægypti. » He exhorts them, therefore, not to fear the Assyrians; for he says their king will indeed come and campaign against Jerusalem, so that those dwelling in it may experience a brief blow, being struck as though with a rod; but he will return without success, having resorted to flight. And these things were fulfilled when Ezechias, the son of Achaz, was reigning in Jerusalem—a man who was not like his father, but was righteous and pious in every way. Even if, he says, by my permission their king attacks you, he will nevertheless strike you only with a corrective rod, and will not overrun you in the manner of war with swords and spears. And this blow inflicted upon you by a rod will not be without reason; for you must not be ignorant of the cause why it was permitted for the Assyrian to use a controlled blow against you. Since you have again committed yourself to the way of Egypt, having become addicted to idolatry during the times of Achaz, for this reason I have delivered you to the rod of the Assyrian for your correction and conversion.
Vers. 25, 26. « Adhuc enim paululum, et cessabit ira: furor autem meus super consilium eorum. Et suscitabit Deus super eos secundum plagam Madiam in loco tribulationis: et furor ejus in viam ad mare, in viam Ægypti. » If indeed you, with your king Ezechias, return to a better state and acknowledge God, my indignation kindled against you will cease; and as I defend your safety, the Assyrian will flee shamefully through your region and through your cities, withdrawing himself from place to place in his flight.
VERS. 27-33. « Et erit in die illa: auferetur jugum ejus ab humero tuo, et timor ejus super te, et corrumpetur jugum ab humeris vestris. Veniet enim in civitatem Angæ, et transibit in Maggedo, et in Machmas ponet vasa sua. Et transibit vallem, et veniet in Angæ. Timor apprehendet Rama civitatem Saul. Fugiet filia Gallim, audietur in Laisa: audietur in Anathoth. Et obstupuit Madebena, et habitatores Gibbir. Consolamini hodie in via ut maneat. Consolamini manu montem, filiam Sion, et colles in Jerusalem. Ecce dominator Dominus Sabaoth conturbabit gloriosos cum fortitudine, et excelsi injuria conterentur, et humiliabuntur. » C You, he says, speaking to his people, will be free and rid of every fear; but he who was fleeing will first come to the city of Angæ; then from there he will pass on to another place, and being weary there, he will set down his baggage; then he will cross from there elsewhere, and from there to the city called of Saul; then to another place; and thus, acting shamefully, he will disappear. You, however, shall be comforted and shall receive consolation, being no longer subject to the yoke of the Assyrians. For in order that they might not flee but endure the discipline coming upon them for a little while, « Comfort, » he says, D « the daughter of Sion, » that is, those dwelling in Jerusalem.
A And the high ones shall fall by the sword; and Libanus shall fall with the high ones. D See how often and how many he calls "high": he likens their structure to Libanus and its very high cedars. Therefore it is said elsewhere: « I saw the ungodly exalted and lifted up as the cedars of Libanus. » And in another place again: « The voice of the Lord breaking the cedars, and the Lord breaks the cedars of Libanus; and he shall crush them as the calf of Libanus. »
CHAPTER XI
B Verse 1. « And there shall come forth a rod from the root of Jesse, and a flower from the root shall ascend. » How the crushing and ruin of all the aforementioned things shall come to pass, he next explains, prophesying that a rod shall come forth from the root of Jesse; which rod, having crushed all the high ones, shall humble them. Wherefore it is added: « And there shall come forth a rod from the root of Jesse. » For that phrase "from the root," all the remaining translators have rendered as "from the trunk." For the tribe and family from which the Savior came forth was as a certain trunk which had not yet sent forth branches, because after the captivity in Babylon, the kings in succession from David had failed; therefore it seems to me that the lineage of David according to the flesh, whose father was Jesse, is called a trunk. Therefore, pointing out the time in which the aforementioned things shall be, he joins to it, very opportunely, the advent of Christ to men. For since in the preceding passages he had taught regarding the birth from the Virgin, and had brought forward names indicating His intelligible powers, C consequently in the present passage he announces from what race and from what tribe He shall come forth, and what things His advent to men shall accomplish.
Verses 5, 4. « And the Spirit of God shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and piety; he shall fill him with the spirit of the fear of God. D He shall not judge according to opinion, nor shall he reprove according to speech. » For those who wish can easily discover how our Savior and Lord did not judge according to opinion. For, accepting no man's person, He reproved with great boldness now the Scribes and Pharisees, now the chief priests inside the temple, to whom He also said: « The kingdom shall be taken away from you, and it shall be given to a nation bringing forth its fruits. » Neither did He reprove according to speech; for some approached Him saying: « Master, we know that thou art true, » and so forth. But He did not reprove according to their speech; wherefore, knowing their wickedness, He said: « Why do you tempt me, ye hypocrites? »
« But he shall judge judgment for the humble, and shall reprove the humble of the earth, and shall strike the earth with the word of his mouth. » And you shall understand the phrase, « He shall strike the earth with the word of his mouth, » also in another way, by attending to
A the words of him who says: « Do not think that I came to send peace upon the earth; I did not come to send peace, but a sword. » Now the sword was the word of his mouth, by which he slew the earth and the earthly dispositions of those who believed in him. « And in the spirit through his lips he shall slay the wicked. » He shall slay the wicked, therefore, by rebuking the godless and impious demons with his spirit and driving them far away by the word uttered through his lips; so that they cry out and say, « What is between us and you, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time? We know who you are, the Holy One of God. »
B VERSE 5. « And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and truth the belt of his sides. » For just as a king is girded with a golden belt and precious stones, so too the prophecy assigns righteousness and truth as a girdle to him who is being prophesied. By these things, the divinity of the Word can also be understood; for he himself was righteousness, as the Apostle teaches, saying: « Who was made for us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. » And the Savior himself is also written to have said in the Gospels: « I am the light, and the truth, and the life. » Therefore, this truth and his righteousness, which had come forth from the root of Jesse, were binding his sides and loins in a royal and military habit, the word indicating his apparatus against the hidden and invisible enemies.
C VERSE 6. « And the wolf shall feed together with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf, and the bull, and the lion shall feed together, and a little child shall lead them; and the ox and the bear shall feed together, and their young ones shall be together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. » Now wolves among men are rapacious men; but they will repent of their wickedness, so that with gentle and tame lambs, their souls will dwell under one sheepfold of the Church. But others, men far more savage and vehemently ferocious, differing in no way from leopards, laying aside the wildness of a beast, shall lie down together with the simpler and milder kids. And others, who are very similar in character to the lion, changing their cruel and voracious disposition, shall feed together with the infants recently born in the Church, just as the bull and the calf, using the same food sought from the Divine D Scriptures. And if you should see men of royal status, adorned in this life with dignity and excellence, gathered in the Church of God with the poor and those of the lowest rank, do not hesitate to say that the Scripture is fulfilled in this way also. Therefore, it is said that an infant child shall lead all the aforementioned wolves, lambs, leopards, kids, lions, calves, and bulls. Moreover, that word « lead » is spoken as if it meant « shall gather. » That this is fulfilled by the fact itself, one may observe in those who see many of the prelates in the Church of Christ, who, by reason of the simplicity and innocence of their minds, differ in nothing from infants, although they are nevertheless the superiors of those who are gathered into one from every rank. For when he says, « And the ox and the bear shall feed together, »
of those gathered at the same place. Having said, A “And the ox and the bear shall feed together, and their young shall be together,” here he describes the communion of both those who are gentle and suitable for the cultivation of the soul, and others who are brutal in their ways. You, therefore, seeing the children of rich and poor, of evil and good, assembled in the Church, shall bear witness to the prophecy which says, “And their young shall be together.” The lion, then, which by nature is carnivorous, being nourished on straw like a herbivorous animal, would be a man who is again brutal and fierce, delighting only in the bare letter of divine Scripture. For the mind lying hidden in secret would itself be the grain and the Word that is food for souls; but the letter enfolding it would be the straw.
B “And a young child shall put his hand on the dens of asps, and on the lair of the offspring of asps.” Perhaps the dens and lairs of asps and their offspring might be the bodies of those troubled by demons, in whom creeping and venomous spirits make their nest, using the senses of the body as dens. But the child of Christ—any man who is simple and childlike in malice—casting them out by the power of the Savior, places his hand upon them, for they are unable to do any harm because of Him who came forth from the root of Jesse; He who gave power to His children to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy.
“And they shall not do evil, nor shall they be able to destroy anyone on my holy mountain.” This is the mountain previously mentioned, and is nothing else than the heavenly and evangelical Word, on which the house of God and His Church have been built. Lest anyone, therefore, should think that the mountain spoken of here is that which is supposed by the Jews to be in a corner of Palestine, he clarifies the meaning by adding next: “Because the whole earth is filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as much water as would cover the seas.” By this he indicates the Church of God established throughout the whole world, and the pious knowledge preached in it, which floods the entire saltiness of the wickedness of this life as if with a great deluge of water, and cleanses every malice of the soul.
D “And it shall be in that day, there shall be the root of Jesse, and he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him the Gentiles shall hope; and his rest shall be honor.” On that day, then—it is clear that this refers to the prophesied time—this same One who will rise from the root of Jesse, after He has risen, clearly meaning after the resurrection from the dead, will not be the king of the Jews, nor will He rule over some small corner, as did David himself and his successors, but He will hold dominion over the entire earth. Therefore, nowhere does he describe His death; rather, he calls it rest, and glory, and honor. For this was the end of the dispensation of our Savior toward men; which our Savior Himself, showing, said in the prayer to the Father: “Father, glorify
Me with the glory which I had with You before the world was.” B
Vers. 11. “And it shall be in that day, the Lord shall add to show His hand, to make jealous the remnant of the people, which shall be left from the Assyrians, and from Egypt, and from Babylonia, and from Ethiopia, and from the Elamites, and from the rising of the sun, and from Arabia.” Since, therefore, the prophet has prophesied of Him who shall rise from the root of Jesse to rule over the nations, and has added that “in Him shall the nations hope,” he of necessity mentions the Jewish race in the passage before us, so that no one might suppose that He who is prophesied of would bring no benefit to the people of the circumcision. He teaches, then, how in “that day”—that is, in the time of the advent which is announced in the prophecy—the Lord C “will add to show His hand, to make jealous the remnant of the people.” For which Aquila says: “The Lord will add a second time His hand, to make jealous the remnant of His people”; and Symmachus: “The Lord will add a second time His hand to possess the remnant of His people.” For just as He once liberated the Jewish people, when they were suffering under oppression in Egypt, by stretching out His miracle-working hand through Moses, by which hand He produced those stupendous prodigies in the region of Egypt; in the same way He will again add His hand, as if moving it a second time by producing miraculous works, in order to possess and zealously take care of the remnant of the people. For whether any were dispersed from the Jewish race in the region of the Assyrians, or in Egypt, or in Babylon, or in Ethiopia, or in the land of the Elamites, or in the rest of the inhabited world: out of their number, those who believed in Christ, and who were made a remnant according to the election of grace, were those of whom it is said that He would glorify and zealously preserve them. Which, indeed, has been declared by the works themselves: for through His disciples and apostles, and through others from among the Jews who accepted the word of Christ, the Church of God was established; and through them the Church of all the nations was joined together, and the Gospel was delivered to all nations, D while God added His own testimony through signs, and wonders, and various powers, and distributions of the Holy Spirit. And God made those who accepted the word preached by them both zealous and glorious before all.
Vers. 12. “And He shall lift up a sign to the nations, and will gather the lost of Israel, and will gather the dispersed of Judah from the four wings of the earth. And the jealousy of Ephraim shall be removed, and the enemies of Judah shall perish. Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah, and Judah shall not afflict Ephraim.” For the disciples of Christ, first preaching to those of the circumcision, gathered those of them who believed into the Church of Christ, who indeed had long been lost, as the Savior declares in these words: “Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” These things, moreover, they did in the four wings or quarters
of the earth: traversing the East and the West, the North and the South. To them, therefore, they first imparted the evangelical word, and then they preached to the remaining nations. Wherefore it is written: “And He shall gather the lost of Israel, and the dispersed of Judah.” For who shall gather them, if not the apostolic choir, or He who is proclaimed by them, the one sprung from the root of Jesse? They were gathered into one Church, no longer scattered, nor separated from one another, as before.
VERS. 14. “And they shall fly in the ships of the foreigners, they shall plunder the sea together.” It was necessary, therefore, that they, while traveling around to the nations, should surely also make use of travel by sea. For as if flying, they completed their journey across the sea with such speed, so that in a short time they preached the Gospel to a very great number of nations. And sometimes they traveled on foot, and sometimes across the sea; not using Jewish pilots, but men who had not yet received Christ. By this B means indeed they plundered even the sea, the Word thus signifying the islands, the inhabitants of which they subdued to the saving doctrine while passing through them in their course.
“And they shall lay their hands first upon those from the rising of the sun, and upon Idumea, and upon Moab. The sons of Ammon shall first obey.” They shall plunder, he says, the disciples of Christ shall even plunder those who are from the rising of the sun; for it is told that some of them penetrated as far as the region of the Persians and the Indians. But because, in the times of the prophet, the Idumeans, the Moabites, and the Ammonites—those Arabian nations situated around Judea—seemed to be enemies and foes to God as worshipped by the Jews, on account of the absurd idolatry which they fostered; rightly and deservedly are they mentioned by name, as those who were to receive the pious religion to be announced by the apostles.
VERS. 15. “And the Lord shall lay waste the sea of Egypt, and shall lay his hand upon the river in a violent spirit.” It is necessary to acknowledge that Egypt is that sensible region of the Egyptians; but its sea and river are to be understood allegorically; which he says will be laid waste in the times indicated by the prophecy, at which time the Lord is said to be about to add [to His former deeds], in order to show His hand. For an addition signifies that to things already accomplished, other similar things are to be added. C Formerly, indeed, in the time of Moses, the hand of the Lord led the sons of Israel out of Egypt, brought them across the Red Sea, and led them into the land of promise, which was previously that of the foreigners. But now, through Him who came forth from the root of Jesse, the same hand of the Lord, bringing an accession of good things, made the apostles of the Savior and the heralds of the saving Gospel—being Jews and sprung from the Jews—glorious and worthy of emulation throughout the whole world; and indeed even in Egypt itself, where they travelled freely, with no one hindering them, and moved back and forth for the overthrow of Egyptian idolatry. And those who were in the time of Moses went out, fleeing from Pharaoh and the Egyptians; but the disciples of Christ entered into Egypt
A as voluntary heralds of the saving word. And whereas at the time of Moses the sea was divided in a sensible manner, and the water of the Egyptian river was turned into blood, the addition of good things in the times indicated threatens the Egyptian sea with desolation, and their river with total drying up, so that the heralds of the Gospel might traverse the regions of the Egyptians without any obstacle, and work the overthrow of their polytheistic superstition, and deliver the knowledge of the God who is above all, and of his Christ, who came forth from the root of Jesse.
It is to be observed, however, how it is not said that the Lord will desolate the land of Egypt, but its sea, the multitude of idolatry being thus signified. In place, however, of "The Lord will make desolate the sea of Egypt," the three agreed in interpreting it thus: "And the Lord will anathematize the tongue of the sea of Egypt." If, therefore, the mass of the malice of this life is compared to the sea, look to see if it is with good reason that the tongue of the godless and impious men, who of old knew not God, as Pharaoh declared when he said, "I know not the Lord, and I will not let Israel go," is said on that account to be anathematized by the Lord according to the three interpreters; so that they might no longer confirm the superstitious error by the Egyptian tongue, but might learn to utter the oracles of God, and to swear in the name of the Lord Sabaoth, which the discourse declares will come to pass in the following passages. B Thus, moreover, the tongue of the Egyptian sea has been anathematized, so that the oracles and divinations of the evil demons formerly honored by it have fallen entirely silent; and their wicked arts, which were practiced by the works of sorcerers, have ceased altogether: all of which was fulfilled after the evangelical preaching was proclaimed to the Egyptians. From those times, the whole power of those deemed gods among the Egyptians has been extinguished even for us; and for all the godless and impious men who throughout the whole world followed a custom of idolatry similar to that of the Egyptians, that sea, which once overflowed and was agitated by waves, has suffered/ C the ultimate desolation.
"And he will cast his hand upon the river in a violent spirit, and will strike seven channels, so that he may pass through it in sandals." By "violent spirit" he denotes the ruler of the Romans who first overthrew the kingdom of the Egyptians. If you apply your mind to the seven channels with care, you will understand how of old indeed there was the greatest bed of one river, by which the kingdom of Egypt was indicated, which ruled over all the nations in those parts; but when that was struck and dissolved, certain petty rulers governed it in parts according to the times: some administering the parts of the Libyans, others separately the regions of the Thebans, others Egypt itself and Alexandria. D And of these, some were honored with prefectures, to whom the care of public and political affairs was entrusted; others, however, were appointed as leaders of the military ranks: and all these, having been promoted to the mentioned dignities by the greater power, and afterwards reduced to a private condition, have been rightly compared to channels, for
A a comparison of the river among them overflowing, I say, of the royal one, which was flooding its entire surrounding Egypt at once, and the nations around it, in a single stream, with one royal power holding dominion over all.
Vers. 16. « And there shall be a passage for my people that is left in Egypt; and it shall be for Israel as the day when it went out from the land of Egypt; » so that henceforth, Egypt might be passable for the heralds of Christ’s Gospel, with no one standing in their way or preventing their entry. Wherefore, as the kingdom of the Egyptians no longer stood, and the demonic operation among them had been extinguished, the evangelical preaching was announced in peace.
CHAPTER XII
Vers. 1. « And thou shalt say in that day, I will bless thee, O Lord. » B For just as the people of Moses once crossed the Red Sea as if through dry land; and then after the crossing, they were singing the song, saying, « Let us sing to the Lord, for he is gloriously glorified » (Exod. xv, 1); in the same manner also, the evangelists of our Savior who are spoken of in the prophecy, being the very same who had been left from the whole of the Jewish nation, making their course unimpeded, and traversing the whole region of the Egyptians, and preaching the Gospel to the Jews in their synagogues, while establishing churches of Christ from the conversion of the Gentiles, were teaching a new song, similar to those in the time of Moses, to those who had received the fruit through them. And this was what had been foretold by the Lord, saying through the prophetic word: « And thou shalt say in that day, I will bless thee, O Lord, because thou wast angry with me, and hast turned away thy fury from me, and hast had mercy on me. Behold my God, my Savior, I will be C confident in him, and I will not fear; for the Lord is my glory and my praise, and he has become my salvation, » and the things that follow below here, he will go through. Thus, the « thou wast angry with me » represents a confession of former sins, for which the Egyptians were deserving of the wrath of God before the saving call; but the « thou hast turned away thy fury from me, and hast had mercy on me » signifies the remission of sins granted to them after the call. For grace and truth, which came through Jesus Christ, granted to the Egyptians themselves, as well as to all who have received the Son of God, a release from bonds and the forgiveness of sins.
Vers. 3. « And draw water with joy from the fountains of the Savior. » Again, the water and the fountains of the Savior are to be received here allegorically. And you will understand these things from the Savior himself saying: « If any man thirst, let him come to me, and drink. He that believeth in me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of D living water » (John vii, 37). The fountains, therefore,
A of salvation are evangelical, showered down from the Holy Spirit.
Vers. 4, 5. « And you shall say in that day, celebrate the Lord with hymns, call upon his name: declare his glorious works to the nations. Remember that his name is exalted. Sing to the name of the Lord, for he hath done excellent things: declare these things in all the earth. » The word « say » addresses the choir of the evangelists of our Savior. In that day, he says, namely, in the time signified by the prophecy, you, the herald of the salutary Gospel, shall say to the Egyptians who have received the preaching: « Celebrate the Lord with hymns, call upon the name of the Lord; declare his glorious works among the nations; remember that his name is exalted. » For these things you, the apostolic choir, while teaching your disciples, shall declare, commanding them not to be silent; but that they should proclaim to all, and cry out so that they may be heard, the grace of the salutary benefit.
Vers. 6. « Exult and rejoice, you who dwell in Zion, for the holy one of Israel is exalted in the midst of her. » It has already been stated by many that Zion is the evangelical word, upon which the Church of God has been built. Since, therefore, the holy one of Israel is exalted in the midst of the Church, rightly, he says, exult and rejoice, you who are in it; inasmuch as you have the holy one of Israel in your midst, according to the promise made by him in these words: « Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them » B.
CHAPTER XIII.
Vers. 1, 2. « The vision which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw against Babylon. Upon a plain mountain lift up a sign, exalt the voice to them: fear not, call with the hand, open, you princes. » Having prophesied those things which were to come to pass at the advent of Christ, he begins another subject against Babylon: then next in order he places the second, which is about the Philistines; after which the third is that against Moab; then also that against Damascus, and after these the vision of Egypt; then the sixth, the vision of Idumea; then the burden of Arabia; which is followed by the vision of the valley of Zion; and above all, the vision of Tyre. These C ten prophecies are joined together concerning the foreign nations, with which he also includes the valley of Zion, calling together the Jewish people along with the foreigners. Why, then, does he mention only these as if by a certain lot, and not the other nations? We shall reply that no others at that time were hostile to the Jewish people except those enumerated above, who were constantly rising up against them: sometimes plundering Jerusalem, sometimes devastating their land. Wherefore, the Scripture necessarily taught those who were being besieged the things that were to happen to their own besiegers. But to them, it announces both the knowledge to be attained through Christ and the promises of good things: and to all men universally it speaks words concerning the judgment of God, exhorting all men D to live piously, mindful of the judgment seat of God. Therefore, the first [vision]
A he sets forth against Babylon, having foretold at the beginning of the whole book the [vision] against Jerusalem. For because there is no respect of persons with God, He began with His own kinsmen, and to them again He turns the discourse; but for the alien nations, He puts Babylon first. Now that city of the Assyrians was royal, the greatest and most powerful. It is said that the Assyrians were the first of all to rule the world for a full one thousand three hundred years, until those who besieged Jerusalem and led the people of the Jews captive into their own land. For on account of this deed of the Assyrians, their empire was dissolved not long afterward.
B «Open, you rulers.» This the divine Spirit in the prophet brings forth from the person of God the Word. He, therefore, is the one who commands the angels attending Him to open the closed gates and to command those who are within to come forth, to arrive, and to hasten toward the punishment of the ungodly. I believe that by these are meant the powers set apart for the adverse forces, in which they happen to be confined as if in a prison. And perhaps this is what is called the abyss, which the scripture teaches us is filled with dragons when it says, «Dragons and all abysses»? From which also the demons entreated the Savior not to send them away, when they said, «You have come before the time to torment us.» For they were not ignorant that there would be a time for their confinement in the abyss.
«I command, and I bring them.» Who these are, He next sets forth, clarifying and saying: «Giants are coming to fulfill my wrath, rejoicing at once and committing insults.» Theodotion interpreted it in agreement with the Seventy, saying, «And I called my giants;» but Aquila and Symmachus, instead of «giants,» interpreted it as «mighty ones.» C Thus He calls the punitive powers, through whom the matters of the wrath against the ungodly are fulfilled. Certain evil ones, these so-called giants, rejoice, as if doing things according to their own will; they rejoice in insulting and punishing the ungodly, inasmuch as they have no bowels of mercy.
«Voice of many nations on the mountains, like those of many nations. Voice of kings and nations gathered together.» Those who are about to be delivered to punishment then will let out voices, confessing their own evils; and at the same time, the nations all together, and their kings, will give one and the same voice, lamenting their own calamities. The above-mentioned giants are here called armed men, who were formerly far away, and as it were enclosed in the foundations D of heaven; whom, when the time calls, the Judge of all commands to come, in order that they might destroy the whole world of evils, after the separation of the righteous. Since indeed in the Gospels the Son of man, sitting on the throne of His glory, [bids] those who are on the right to [enter] the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation...
of the world; when they have been taken and brought into the promise, the threat of fire is brought forth against the remaining nations found on the left.
Vers. 6, 7. “Howl; for the day of the Lord is near, and destruction from the Lord shall come. Therefore every hand shall be weakened, and every soul of man shall be afraid: ambassadors shall be troubled, and pangs shall seize them, like a woman in travail.” The things threatened, he says, have not yet arrived, but they are about to come, as it were, at any moment. Therefore, anticipating them, appease your own evils with weeping, lamentation, and howling; for the aforetold Day of the wrath of God is about to be upon you. Here, perhaps, he calls those ambassadors who defend the arguments of the godless, and those who act as ambassadors for the error of idolatry, as well as the teachers of godless and impious doctrines, whom all that has been recounted shall overtake. B
Vers. 10-12. “For the stars of heaven, and Orion, and all the host of heaven, shall not give their light, and it shall be darkened at the rising of the sun, and the moon shall not give her light. And I will command the whole world to bring evils upon them, and upon the impious their sins; and I will destroy the insolence of the lawless, and I will bring low the pride of the arrogant.” For at the time of the consummation, neither the sun, nor the moon, nor the stars shall give their light to the impious who are being given over to chastisement and punishment. But the luminaries, being removed from their service, shall pass to another and better lot, as if to attain a certain regeneration, no longer serving the vanity of bodies, but freed from the slavery of corruption, according to the apostolic word. Thus, he calls the heaven either the heavenly powers or creation itself, indignant with God against [the world's] madness, arrogance, and impiety. C
Vers. 13, 14. “And they will be as a fleeing gazelle, and as a straying sheep, and there shall be no one to gather them, so that a man shall turn back to his own people, and a man shall flee to his own land.” For they will indeed flee, seeking to attain some advantage, or to find refuge with some acquaintance, but they shall not find it: “For there shall be no one to gather them.” For whoever is caught shall be overpowered, and those who have been gathered shall fall by the sword. Although, he says, some of them may try to achieve salvation by flight, these too shall be easily caught, not resembling perfect, leaping gazelles, which have a light and swift course, but rather small or sluggish ones. D
Vers. 16. “And they shall dash their children before them, and their houses they shall plunder, and their wives they shall have.” Just as the men are afflicted with punishment, so they shall subject the irreligious and impious women, who had birthed their offspring, to equal tortures, just as also their impious children, whose souls, in regard to their character, are similar to their parents in wickedness.
A Ver. 17: "Behold, I will stir up against you the Medes, who do not value silver, nor do they have need of gold; they will shatter the bows of the young men." For great is their boasting regarding their archery, and they consider their skill in these matters to be of great value; but they will be inferior to their enemies. And the victors will be so harsh and unmerciful that they will not even spare the pitiable age. To this statement, "Behold, I will stir up against you the Medes," the outcome of history itself adds testimony, a history that is recorded by those among the Greeks who have written the Chaldean, Assyrian, and Median accounts, from whom we have also collected many testimonies in the Chronicles we have edited. Thus, the Medes overthrew the empire of the Assyrians; but Cyrus, the first king of the Persians, subjected them to himself—he who also released the captivity of the Jews and gave permission to those of them who wished to return to their own land and to raise up the temple of God.
B Ver. 19: "And Babylon, which is called glorious by the King of the Chaldeans, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah; it shall not be inhabited forever." And Babylon is seen to this day to be uninhabited and utterly desolate; witnesses to these things are those who come to us from those regions. "Neither shall they enter into it through many generations, nor shall the Arabs pass through it, nor shall shepherds rest there." By this are signified, as I suppose, those called by us Saracens, who, carrying on their trades, used to pitch their tents in Babylon of old. But it was so shunned both by those nearby and by those from distant nations traveling through it, that not even the shepherds of the Arabs would lead their own flocks to graze there, because it was completely desolate and uncultivated. It should be known, however, that the nations of the Saracens, which reach even to the land of the Assyrians and inhabit the innermost desert, are here called Arabs; for they have the land of the Arabs as their neighbor.
C Ver. 21, 22: "And wild beasts shall lie down there; and the houses shall be filled with noise; and sirens shall rest there, and demons shall dance there, and onocentauri shall dwell there; and hedgehogs shall make their nests in their houses; it comes quickly, and will not delay." Having made Babylon empty of mild and rational animals, he prophesies that it will be inhabited by no one; but he says that certain wild beasts unknown to us, and certain demons and cruel and savage spirits, will exist there. Wherefore, in place of "wild beasts," the other interpreters have issued "sirens"; and in place of "sirens," they have said "ostriches"; and in place of "onocentauri," they have translated "siim," using the Hebrew word itself because of the obscurity of the meaning. Indeed, even for "hedgehogs," the three translators likewise rendered it "sirens"—perhaps because of the deceptive nature of such demons. For among the Greeks, the Sirens are recounted as having been sweet-voiced and deceitful. "It comes quickly, and will not delay." Any time, even if it be considered the longest among men, D
is reckoned as very brief before God, the Judge. For a thousand years in His sight are reckoned as yesterday, and as a watch in the night. Yet the prophecy reached its fulfillment not long after these cycles of years, since Babylon suffered A what was mentioned above under the empire of the Medes.
CHAPTER XIV
VERS. 1, 2. "And the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and they shall rest upon their own land, and the sojourner shall be added to them; and he shall be added to the house of Jacob. And the nations shall take them, and bring them into their place, and they shall inherit B them, and they shall be multiplied upon the earth into menservants and maidservants; and they who took them captive shall be captives, and they who lorded over them shall be subject to their dominion." Consequently, therefore, after what was said against Babylon, by these words he signifies the return of the Jewish people from the hostile land to Jerusalem, which took place under Cyrus, teaching that they would rest having returned to their own country, and that the sojourner would be added to them. Instead of "the sojourner," the rest of the interpreters translated "the proselyte." Thus, he says, they C will prosper in their own land, such that even foreigners will embrace their religion, and become proselytes, and be added to the house of Jacob.
VERS. 3, 4. "And it shall be in that day, God will give you rest from your pain and from your wrath and from your hard bondage, in which you served them; and you shall take up this lamentation over the king of Babylon." For the Persians and Medes, having taken the entire empire of the Assyrians and the Babylonians themselves into servitude, subjected them to their own power.
VERS. 5-8. "And you shall say in that day, How has the taskmaster ceased, and the D exactor ceased? The Lord has broken the yoke of sinners, the yoke of the princes, having struck the nation in wrath with an incurable blow. Striking the nation with a blow of wrath, he did not spare, he rested confidently. All the earth cries out with joy. And the trees of Lebanon rejoiced over you, and the cedar of Lebanon: since you have fallen asleep, no one has come up to cut us down." Cedars and pines, therefore, according to Symmachus, again allegorically signify certain arrogant tyrants, besieged by Babylon and cut off from their own country; over whose fall it was natural for those mentioned to rejoice.
VERS. 9. "Hell from beneath was provoked to meet you; all the giants who ruled the earth were aroused for you, who raised from their thrones all the kings of the nations." We too may rightly say this to Satan, we who were once devastated by him, but who have finally secured our resolve in Christ, and a mind secure and rooted in piety, and a most flourishing heart: "Since you have fallen asleep, no one has come up to cut us down."
VERS. 10-12. "All shall answer and say to you: And you have been captured as we are; and among us you have been reckoned,
A your glory has descended into Hades, and your great gladness. Beneath you they will lay out rot, and your covering shall be a worm. How has Lucifer, who rose in the morning, fallen from heaven? The one who sent to all the nations has been crushed to the ground!" Those who are upon the earth, he says, will speak the things mentioned above; but those who have departed from human life, and are left behind as if in bonds in the regions of Hades, they too will declare the things that follow concerning his destruction. For Hades, having reached all those who are there, and the power that is set over the souls of the dead—being as it were a guard of the prison—will rise up against you from the dark chambers below with fury and wrath. And with this ruler, who held sway there, being roused from his throne, all the rest of the giants—or, according to other interpreters, the "Rephaim"—rose up together. And he explains who these are, saying: "The princes of the earth, who raised all the kings of the nations from their thrones," and did the same things as the accused king of Babylon. Seeing the soul of the one who once ruled Babylon—naked and stripped of its body—they will address it thus: "Has even death proven stronger than you, such that it has proven you to be like us? Was your life upon the earth, therefore, nothing, and your wealth, and glory, and such great power? But for all those things, the end will be earth and dust, worm and the rot of flesh. We, indeed, B did not think you were mortal; but deceived by the glory surrounding you, we compared you to the brightest luminary in heaven, the Lucifer that calls upon the sun. But you, in your pride, thought even greater things than these, reveling and boasting in the insanity of your mind, to the point of comparing yourself to the Most High God, and imagining that you would set your throne above the heavenly vaults." Thus, we indeed thought these things about you, deceived by mortal reasoning; and such were the things you also thought about yourself in your mental derangement. But the time in which you were captured and defeated was the manifest proof of your end; nor did you meet a death similar to other men. For they, indeed, paid their debt naturally, quietly, and peacefully at their own hearth; but you, stripped of life by the sword of enemies, shall be cast out unburied, lying as food for beasts and birds of prey. As long as Babylon stood, it was a kingdom and a great power for those ruling from there; perhaps the power placed over them was also assisting in their great works. But when the kingdom of the nation was destroyed, and the prince set over it—as if having fulfilled his time—was received into the place of those like him, there met him all those called Rephaim, or giants; and these too are certain powers, which, as is likely, had improperly ruled over other nations in times past. Was this ruler of Babylon, then, the one who once corrupted his own land, being thought of as a god among them, and in this way also slew his own people and gave his own sons to the slaughter, bringing to destruction those ruled by him because he had been considered by them to be a god? But if this C is the case, it remains for us to refer the entire meaning of the prophecy, which was uttered concerning the king of Babylon, to that power: which, because it had usurped God's glory among its subjects,
A is justly reproached by what the Word says: “But thou saidst in thy mind: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of heaven, and I will be like the Most High.” And you shall further attribute the remaining things to that interpretation, after you have applied what is indicated in the prophecy, in the obvious sense, to the sensible king.
Vers. 24, 25. “Thus saith the Lord of hosts: As I have spoken, so shall it be; and as I have purposed, so shall it remain: to destroy the Assyrians in my land and upon my mountains. And they shall be for a trampling, and their yoke shall be taken away from them, and their glory shall be taken away from their shoulders.” When He says, “To destroy the Assyrians in my land and upon my mountains,” B He teaches that the region of the Babylonians and its mountains were not alien to Him: for “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof.” Therefore, He says, the Assyrians shall be for a trampling, having become subject to those who are about to conquer them. Furthermore, the yoke shall be taken away, which, while their empire stood, they imposed upon those subject to them; a yoke certainly heavy and hard for them: and their glory, or the honor once placed upon their shoulders, shall be taken away. For just as it was said concerning the Savior, “Whose government is upon his shoulder,” so in this place the glory of the Assyrians is said to be upon their shoulders, which the discourse threatens shall be taken away from them.
Vers. 26, 27. “This is the counsel that the Lord hath purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the high hand upon all nations. For what the holy God hath purposed, who shall dissipate it? And his high hand, who shall turn it away?” That is to say, such judgment as has been passed concerning Babylon and its inhabitants, C such also shall be passed concerning all godless and impious men who have held the world in their power. For according to the principle of equity, those who have fallen into similar impieties shall suffer similar things. Where it is necessary that we should understand peoples filled with godless and impious men: for these things are not to be accepted without any discrimination concerning the pious and those devoted to God. Therefore, in the same manner as He began, He also concludes by commemorating the universal judgment of God to be passed over all, so that He may invite all who read the Scripture to conversion.
Vers. 28, 29. “In the year that King Achaz died, this word came to pass: Do not rejoice, ye foreigners all: for the yoke of the one striking you is broken: for from the seed of serpents shall come forth the offspring of asps, D and their offspring shall come forth as flying serpents.” You are not yet permitted to rejoice, although the impious king, over whom you once rejoiced, is dead, and a pious man has assumed the rule, as is testified concerning Hezekiah in the second book of Chronicles, and in the fourth book of Kings. For just as under the impious Achaz
A a cause for rejoicing and gladness was present for the foreigners, so under the righteous man Hezekiah, the prophecy is opportunely addressed to them, saying: "Do not rejoice, O foreigners." For of old, while Achaz was still alive and performing deeds hateful to God, it was natural that you should rejoice, since the yoke of Achaz had been shattered, so that he was unable to subjugate you or place the yoke of his authority upon you; wherefore evils were multiplied, and, as if there were no one to strike, the creeping and venomous power of evil spirits increased. But now, since a religious man has received the kingdom, do not rejoice as before; for there stands over you one who strikes and beats and brings you to a sound mind.
These things were also fulfilled literally under Hezekiah, concerning whom it is said in the fourth book of Kings: "He himself struck the foreigners even to Gaza, and to its borders, from the watchtower even to the fortified city." B And let this also be the meaning of what was said: "Do not rejoice, foreigners, thinking great things of those whom you consider to be gods, as if there were no one to crush you because of the wickedness of the present time." For even if the yoke of the one striking you was indeed shattered, this did not happen for your benefit, but to your detriment. For with no one striking you, nor humbling you, nor correcting you, a great multiplication of evils grew up within you. For the evil demons who once dwelt in your souls like serpents, and occupied your shrines and temples as if they were gods, brought forth a terrible brood and evil seed; so that from them, vipers were born, which are the most deadly of all venomous creatures; and from these very ones, other serpents sprang up that fly through the air. C And these things, for the present time, are abundant not only among you foreigners, but now even among the people who are called by the name of God; so that the air is completely filled with flying serpents and the offspring of vipers, namely, certain evil and destructive spirits. But when the One who is to destroy all these things shall come in his own time, and appear, then the serpents, the vipers, and their evil offspring shall depart, so that they no longer exercise power over men.
VERS. 30. "For," he says, "poor men shall be fed by him; and needy men shall rest in peace; and he shall destroy thy seed with famine, and he shall destroy thy remnant." D This creeping and venomous race, therefore, the one prophesied shall destroy with famine, no longer permitting the customary food, namely that which is offered through sacrifices to demonic superstition, to be provided. But his own poor he shall nourish, and cause to rest in peace, no longer harassed by the aforementioned reptiles. However, these things may also be fulfilled in another way with regard to Hezekiah; for those who had formerly been poor according to God throughout the whole Jewish nation, he refreshed with rational foods and doctrines; whom he also set upon the good pasture of the [index: entries preserved]
law, making them to be nourished by divine thoughts and sacred doctrines and to be reared thereon.
A Ver. 31. “Howl, O gates of cities; let cities be troubled, all you foreigners, for smoke comes from the north, and there is none who shall remain.” He signifies, as we have said, the king of the Assyrians, who, having invaded from the northern regions at the time of Hezekiah, brought those foreigners dwelling in Palestine under his dominion; so that he indeed besieged their cities, led away the multitudes within them as captives, and burned the gates of the cities.
Ver. 32. “And what shall the kings of the nations answer? That the Lord has founded Zion, and through Him the humble of the people shall be saved.” For it shall be the greatest proof to them that God is the guardian of His own city, in that it suffers nothing like the other cities. B
CHAPTER XV
Ver. 1. “The word against Moab: By night Moab shall perish, for by night the wall of Moab shall perish; be grieved within yourselves.” At the beginning, he called their prevailing ignorance of God “night” and “darkness,” and in that very night he threatens that their destruction shall come to pass, saying: “By night Moab shall perish.” Then, concerning the place where their idolatry was established, he adds:
Ver. 2. “For Dibon shall also perish, where your altar is; there you shall ascend to weep.” At the end of the prophecy, however, he mentions those same altars again with these words: “For Moab is wearied,” and the rest.
Ver. 3. “Howl over Nabo of Moab; upon every head is baldness, all arms are cut; in its streets be girded with sackcloth.” By these, he signifies the evil demon or prince of the nation that was lying in wait for the people, C as is said after this; just as the prince, the king of the Greeks, and the prince of the Babylonians were. Such, therefore, was the demon described as sitting upon the city of the Moabites, from whom they hoped to obtain help in engagements against their enemies; and he says that he was destroyed because he was trampling down their souls and causing them to gaze downwards to the earth, so that no one could lift his head and look upwards. Therefore he says: “For your alliance has been taken away, and the prince has perished who was walking upon the earth.”
CHAPTER XVI
Ver. 1-5. “I will send as it were reptiles upon the earth. Is the desert rock the mountain of the daughter of Zion? For you shall be as a bird fleeing, you shall be a nest taken away, O daughter of Moab. Then deliberate more concerning Arnon; make a tent of mourning for yourself always. In midday darkness they flee, they are astonished, lest you bear it heavily. D The fugitives of Moab shall dwell with you. They shall be a covering to you from the face of the pursuer, because your alliance has been taken away, and the prince has perished who was walking upon the earth. And the throne shall be restored with mercy, and one shall sit upon it with truth in the tabernacle of David, judging and seeking judgment, and hastening righteousness.
A Do you see the marvelous economy of the word contained in the conclusion of the prophecy? For after having predicted the destruction, at the same time he announces good hopes, saying that the tabernacle of David and the throne of God are to be established among them; and that these things will be, no longer through any human effort, but through the mercy and loving-kindness of God. Wherefore it is said according to Aquila, "And a throne shall be prepared in mercy"; and according to Theodotion, "And a throne shall be prepared with mercy." But for whom shall it be prepared, if not clearly for Christ, who was born from the seed of David? He says, therefore, that there will be a throne of Christ among the Moabites, in which shall sit, with truth, he who is to be born in the tabernacle of David. Thus, however, the prophetic Spirit is accustomed to call the Church of God; since it is also customary to call Christ himself David, because he was born according to the flesh from the seed of David. Wherefore, he calls the Church the tabernacle of David, but the throne he calls the president of the Church, who occupies the bodily throne, holding the place as it were of Christ. These things, as it were in mysteries, have been inserted in the midst of the prophecy, the Holy Spirit reserving the knowledge of these matters only for those who were to understand and were to be deemed worthy of the vision of these things.
B "We have heard the pride of Moab; he is very arrogant, and his pride and his wrath are great; not so is your divination, not so. Moab shall howl; for in the land of Moab all shall howl; you shall meditate for the inhabitants of Seth, and you shall not be put to shame." The deeds are not similar to the words of arrogance; or, since they thought highly of their own god and the divinations of this one, "Not so," he says, "will it be, as the demon among them prophecies, nor as it promised by oracles to those who were deceived and thought it was God himself." For the coming time will refute the falsehood of these very things.
C "The plains of Heshbon shall mourn, the vine of Sibmah, which swallowed up the nations; trample its vines, until you reach Jazer, wander in the desert; those who were sent were abandoned, for they have crossed to the sea. Therefore I will weep with the weeping of Jazer, for the vine of Sibmah. Heshbon and Eleale cast down your trees, because I will trample upon your harvest and upon your vintage, and all things shall fall. And joy and gladness shall be taken away from the vineyards, and in your vineyards they shall not rejoice, and they shall not tread wine into the presses; for it has ceased." D By autumn and harvest, and by the oft-mentioned vine, he indicates the flourishing, luxuriant, tender, and beautiful life of those described, in which they lived, as though intoxicated, rejoicing and reveling in their impious transgressions.
"Therefore my belly shall sound like a harp for Moab, and my inward parts like a wall which you have renewed, and it shall be for you to be put to shame." According to a deeper rationale of understanding, he now speaks to Him to whom he says, "as a wall which you have renewed," namely, God.
A What, then, is the meaning of what seems to have been said boldly: "It shall be, that they may revere you"? "For this reason," he says, "you have bestowed upon me inner, powerful thoughts, so that those who do not yet turn to you may revere you, through the arguments brought to them from the strength of the thoughts given to me." It is lacking, therefore, that "and it shall be so that they may revere you." B For just as those who stand face-to-face in wars, so long as they seem to be evenly matched, do not turn nor give ground, but when the other side prevails, they turn and flee; so also the soul, arrayed in impudence, stood not feeling shame, but being convicted by the word that laid hold of it, it turns toward shame. And because this turning, or confusion, occurs in the hidden part of the human, it has been called "turning" (entrope). For this reason, then, the belly will sound, and the inward parts, as a wall which God renewed to the prophet, so that they might change and be put to shame, and learn to revere God, lacking before the useful shame. C Through that, indeed, VERS. 12. "Because Moab is wearied on the high places, and shall enter into the things made by hand to pray, and they shall not be able to deliver him," perhaps Isaiah prophesies the destruction of all idolatry, in the end, from the advent of the Word: because all the labors spent in constructing temples are vain, and the hope placed in things made by hand is fruitless. "For," he says, "they shall pray, and they shall not be able to deliver him." D But this has now been fulfilled at the advent of Christ: those once famous temples are considered sights, and the deceits of the demons persist no longer, that opposing power having been put to flight by the mystery of the cross announced in the whole world. VERS. 13, 14. "This is the word which the Lord spoke regarding Moab, when He spoke. And now I say, in three years of a hireling shall the glory of Moab be dishonored, in all its great wealth; and it shall be left very small, and not honored." A In place of that which is said among the Seventy Interpreters, "In three years of a hireling shall the glory of Moab be dishonored," the distinction placed among the other interpreters makes the meaning clearer; for according to Aquila it is said, "In three years of a hireling," B and according to Symmachus, "From that time and now the Lord has spoken, saying, 'In three years as a hireling,'" and according to Theodotion, "From that time and now the Lord has spoken, saying, 'In three years, as the years of a hireling.'" C Then, by taking up a new beginning, it is said among the other interpreters, "And the glory of Moab shall be dishonored with all the great multitude." For the conjunction 'and,' which is placed in the middle, presents a different meaning from the words, "And the glory of Moab shall be dishonored"; but the things placed before indicate that the Lord spoke all the things predicted about Moab in three years through the prophet, as if He had hired him and had commanded him to be occupied with the service of the prophecy concerning these things. D For not as we, connecting the whole lesson at once, pass through it, so too did the
the prophet proceeded rapidly through the whole discourse of the prophecy in conjunction, yet also distinctly and according to time, in different intervals of time, so that the three years in which it was said to him that the things mentioned would be fulfilled were all completed. In those three years, therefore, the Lord spoke through the prophet. The end of the words of the Lord was: A “And the glory of Moab shall be disgraced with all the great multitude. And a small fragment shall be left, and it shall be dishonored.” This has been fulfilled to the letter, as it is easy for all who travel to those places to perceive with their own eyes.
CHAPTER XVII
B “The word against Damascus. Behold, Damascus shall be taken away from cities.” He hints at the destruction of the royal power, of which this city was previously a participant. For it alone at that time held sway over all of Syria, when the cities in Syria that are prominent in our own day—I mean Antioch and others—had not yet been built.
“And it shall be for ruin, and forsaken forever into a C bed for flocks, and for a resting place; and there shall be no one to pursue. And it shall no longer be a stronghold for Ephraim to flee to.” Just as the Lord threatened things appropriate to Babylonia, and appropriate things to the foreigners inhabiting Palestine, and likewise other things peculiar to the region of Moab, in the same way the prophetic word concerning Damascus also threatens that it would meet its own end; for he says that it shall be removed from cities. According to Theodotion, he says it shall be “transferred” from cities. Damascus suffered this in the time of the Assyrians, as the Scripture in hand previously indicated, when it introduced the king of the Assyrians saying: “And I have taken Arabia and Damascus and Samaria; in the way that I took these, I shall take all the principalities.” History also testifies to this statement; for it is written in the fourth book of Kings: “And D the king of the Assyrians went up against Damascus, and took it, and deported it.” And these things also reached their final end under the Roman empire, in whose time Damascus indeed survived, but as for its ancient and royal dignity, it was utterly destroyed. In this way, also, the city that we see today exists just as the prophecy foretold: it is so far from retaining royal dignity or ruling over the nation of the Syrians that it has fallen completely from the power it previously held, and has been left, so to speak, as a bed for flocks and a resting place for herds—for that is how the divine Scripture habitually refers to common crowds and base populations.
The phrase “forever” is said only according to the version of the Seventy Interpreters; for it is not found in the Hebrew nor in the other interpreters. Therefore, it is not necessary to think that the ruin of Damascus is predicted to be eternal; since its destruction was only for a time, when it was besieged by the Assyrians, at the time when Jerusalem was also captured. But just as the Jews later returned and rebuilt Jerusalem, and the land
A became filled again with inhabitants, in the same way Damascus, after suffering the consequences foretold by the prophecy, was rebuilt in subsequent times, so that a royal seat was established in it again.
‹ And there shall no longer be a kingdom in Damascus, and the remnant of the Syrians. › For it is said as though it were going to exist, yet not be fortified as it was of old, nor would it be a seat of kings. But there is another way to apply these places, as though the prophecy were announcing beforehand the humiliation and private life of the inhabitants of Damascus. For this is how we are accustomed to say that a rich man has fallen when he has been driven into extreme poverty, and an honorable man when he has been stripped of the rank he once enjoyed. For you are no better than the children of Israel and their glory. For if that people, which was of old called the people of God, is at the mentioned time to fall from its own rank, and be stripped of the autonomy and kingship which once prevailed among them, you, Damascus, have no reason to be indignant at suffering the same things. B
VERS. 4. ‹ Thus saith the Lord of Sabaoth: It shall be in that day that the glory of Jacob shall fail, and the fat of his glory shall be shaken. › And I would have you observe that he does not signify the total destruction of the nation, but only the loss of its former glory. Now, the "fat" of the glory of that former people was their priesthood and kingdom, the sacred song and the worship performed according to the Law, the gift of prophecy, the freedom of the nation, and whatever else was held by the Jewish nation; all of which the discourse predicts will be shaken all at once and will completely fail. C
VERS. 5, 6. ‹ And it shall be as when one gathers the standing harvest and reaps the seed of the ears. And it shall be as when one gathers an ear in a hard valley, and a stalk is left behind in it. › For just as in a harvest the ears are indeed gathered, yet a slender stalk is left on the land, so he says it will be with the Jewish people, among whom the ears that once stood will be cut down, and only the stalk will be left among them. But if anyone should be found among them worthy of note, this one will be compared to an ear growing not on the plain, but in a dry and hard valley. And I think that by the "ear" is signified the company of the disciples and evangelists of our Savior, of whom it was said earlier: ‹ And if the Lord of Sabaoth had not left us a seed, we should have become as Sodom, and we should have been made like unto Gomorrah. › D
‹ Or as when two or three olive berries are left at the very top of a lofty branch, or four or five on its boughs. › For he says there will be such a scarcity of those from Israel who are saved at the times the prophecy signifies, that all of them can be compared to one ear; but those among them who are preeminently distinguished will be such as two or three olive berries at the very top of a lofty branch, hinting at
the chief of the apostles, whom at one time the Savior would call by pairs, and at other times by threes—those whom the Scripture of the Gospel introduces as more elect than the elect—I mean Peter and James and John, whom He alone led up into the mountain, that they might be spectators of His transfiguration; whom also He took with Him when He raised the daughter of the archisynagogue. And those who remain besides these three are four and five; and taking the four and the five, He will make fourteen in all, of whom you might say twelve were the first apostles, and A Paul, who was no less in virtue than them, and was himself a called apostle, and James, who came to be the brother of the Lord, who is remembered as the first to be appointed by the Savior Himself as bishop of the Church of Jerusalem. All these, found at the tip of the olive tree—I mean, the succession of the Jews—are remembered through the things now in hand. And the divine Apostle also knows to compare the succession of Judah to an olive, and calls it a holy root, and first-fruits, and a good olive tree.
Verses 7-10. Thus says the Lord God of Israel: In that day, man will be confident in Him who made him; his eyes shall look unto the Holy One of Israel; and they shall not be confident in the altars, nor in the works of their hands, which their fingers have made; but they shall be confident in the Holy One of Israel. And they shall not look to their trees, nor to their abominations. In that day, your cities shall be left deserted, in the manner that the Amorites and the Hivites left them from the face of the sons of Israel. And they shall be desolate, because you have forsaken God your Savior, and you have not remembered the Lord your helper. B Therefore you shall plant an unfaithful planting, and an unfaithful seed. In the day that you plant, you shall go astray. But in the morning if you sow, it shall blossom for the harvest, in the day that you shall enter into your inheritance; and as a father of a man, you shall assign it to your sons. For, he says, just as when those were perishing, others coming in took possession of their cities and regions, so also shall your cities be filled with other inhabitants, you having been driven out and thrust away. C ‹And they shall be desolate, because you have forsaken God your Savior, and you have not remembered the Lord your God.› Here, truly, the Hebrew voice commemorates Jesus our Savior Himself: for the name Jesus, translated into the Greek tongue, signifies Savior. And he says this is the cause why all the aforementioned things will happen to them, because they forsook God their Savior, and did not remember the Lord, who was always their helper. When, therefore, he says, you have sown this unfaithful seed and this unfaithful planting in your own soul, then you shall go astray; but if, having changed your mind upon the dawning in the world of the morning light of the evangelical, you should cast D another seed into your own understanding, of which it has been spoken in the Gospels: ‹Behold, the sower went out to sow;› and, ‹The kingdom of heaven is like a man sowing good seed in his field;›
› A and when you have been in the proper light of the morning sun of justice, it will blossom in you for the harvest, so that you may distribute a good lot even to all those who have been born to God through the saving teaching.
Verse 12. ‹Woe to the multitude of many nations. As the sea fluctuating, so shall you be troubled.› After he prophesied concerning the conversion of the nations to God, and concerning the incredulity of the Jewish nation toward Christ, the Word passes over to the multitude of the nations, which, both in Damascus itself and in the other regions, was to remain in incredulity, and was to vex and assail the Church of God.
Verse 13. ‹And the back of many nations shall sound like water. As much water, many nations: as water driven by force.› For just as the backs of the sea, swelling and raised on high, while they are agitated and troubled by the winds, produce a very great sound and strike fear into those sailing; in the same way, the crowd of peoples, whether in Damascus or in the remaining regions, remaining in infidelity and idolatry, being agitated by invisible nations, will sound like the waves of the sea, rising up against the Church of God. B ‹And he will drive them away, and will pursue them far off;› even if they, almost like the sea, lift up waves against their adversaries. He calls them here the "backs of many nations," because many nations are pressing on, following them. But those who pursue, run entirely behind and at the back of those who flee. ‹And he will drive him away, and will pursue him far off.› That is, he will send him back, and will pursue him. According to Aquila, however, ‹He will rebuke him, and he will flee far away;› according to Symmachus, ‹And he will roar at him, and he will flee afar.› But upon whom will he roar or rebuke, if not upon the aforementioned nation of unbelieving peoples, and upon the devil who incites them? But who will rebuke them, if not He of whom it is said:
Verse 14. ‹The Lord will rebuke in you, He who chose Jerusalem. At evening there shall be mourning, before morning, and it shall not be. This is the portion of those who ravaged you, the inheritance of those who possessed you as an inheritance.› C For to those who, like the fluctuating sea, have exalted themselves against the Church, at the setting of their life and at the very end, there shall be mourning, because they shall no longer exist. For in the future age, the new light of the sunrise and the morning will then shine forth to bring punishment.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Verses 1, 2. ‹Woe to the land of ships, wings beyond the rivers of Ethiopia; who sends hostages into the sea, and papyrus letters upon the water.› Whence has it happened that all the Jews everywhere, equally and with one consent, should contradict the teaching concerning Christ? D I found in the writings of the ancients that those who inhabit Jerusalem...
of the Jewish nation, the priests and elders, wrote letters and sent them to all the nations to the Jews everywhere, slandering the teaching of Christ as a new heresy alien to God, and charging them by letters not to receive it. A This, therefore, is what the prophecy at hand seems to signify, where it says: "Woe to the land of ships, wings beyond the rivers of Ethiopia; he who sends hostages on the sea," instead of which Symmachus says "apostles," saying, "He who sends apostles on the sea," and Aquila issued "elders," saying, "He who sends elders on the sea." Do you see how the discourse chides the aforementioned rulers of the Jews, and their land, the wickedness of which reached even to the Ethiopians? Therefore it is also said by Symmachus, "Woe to the land, the sound of the wing, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia," by which he signifies that even beyond the Ethiopian region, or the extremities of the earth, the sound of the wickedness of those who inhabit the land of Judea B has come, as if carried by certain flying ships, and their apostles, carrying papyrus letters and sailing over the waters and traversing the sea, ran throughout the world, slandering the discourse concerning our Savior. And even now it is the custom for the Jews to call those who carry circular letters from their rulers "apostles."
"For light messengers shall go to a high nation and a strange people and a cruel. Who is beyond it? A nation (22) hopeless and trodden down."
It is as if this were the beginning of the matter; and it seems to me that this command was given to the disciples of our Savior, whom—because they are heralds of good things to all people—He called "angels" and "light" in distinction to the Jewish apostles. C He says then to them, the angels of good things: "You, the disciples of Christ, go, just as the Savior Himself commanded you, saying, 'Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel' (Matt. x, 6), and, 'Go, make disciples of all nations in my name' (Matt. xxviii, 19)." Going, He says, be light and well-equipped so that you may make your journey easily; which also He urged upon them again, saying, "Take nothing for the road; possess neither gold nor silver, nor copper in your belts" (Matt. x, 9), and so forth. He commands them to go to a high and strange nation, and to a cruel people. For they were not being sent to acquaintances or D domestics or brothers, but to certain strangers, unknown men, and foreigners, among all
A the nations; among whom they were in truth unstable, standing upon nothing firm, wandering and being carried about by every wind of polytheistic error. But these same individuals were also a cruel nation, disposed with hostility and enmity toward the word of piety. Nevertheless, he encourages the swift messengers to go to them and to preach to these, and to pass even unto the ends of the earth. Wherefore he adds, "Who is beyond him?" or according to Symmachus, "After whom there is no other." This was that estranged and unstable nation, and it was hopeless; as the Apostle says: "We were at one time having no hope, and godless in the world."
B VER. 3. "Now the rivers of the earth all as a land inhabited: their land shall be inhabited." It seems to me he gives a hint by "rivers" of the multitude of the nations which are to know God; and by their "lands," the churches: for just as earlier he compared the multitudes of the unbelieving nations to waves of the sea and to troubled billows, so now he likens the peoples of Christ to sweet and peacefully flowing rivers, indicating by their "land" the Church. Previously, therefore, these rivers were uninhabited and alien to God; and their land was empty and desert of piety; but now, he says, through our preaching, the mentioned rivers and their land have been turned C into an inhabited land. This, moreover, Christ’s sign shall procure for them: "As a sign from a mountain shall it be raised."
VER. 4. "As a trumpet’s voice shall it be heard: for thus the Lord said to me: Security shall be in my city." The aforementioned land is my city of the Lord; and therefore security shall be in it, inasmuch as I am keeping it and protecting it from all sides; so that it is rightly said concerning it, "Glorious things have been spoken of thee, O city of God," and "The onrushes of the river make glad the city of God. As the light of the heat of midday, and as a cloud of dew in the day of harvest." From such light, which is poured forth like midday heat in D my city, no harm, he says, is brought upon my city, nor grief to those who are bathed in such light. That light, therefore, is the Word of God Himself, who always illuminates His Church; but the cloud of dew is the Holy Spirit, who imparts the supreme theology of the only-begotten Son of God to those who are unable to grasp it, as if shading it, that something tempered might be elicited, folding together the deep and highest theology concerning Christ; and this happens by the approach of a certain cloud of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, he predicts that these things will be before the harvest: signifying in this way the fruits growing in the Church of God, which bloom like ears of corn: concerning which he declared earlier: "And they shall rejoice before thee, as those who rejoice in the harvest." And the Savior similarly, when He said: "Lift up your eyes, and look at the fields, for they are white for the harvest." There shall be, therefore, the light of the divinity of the Word in His city, not tempered as if vigorous and meridional; for truly
A it cannot be grasped by men, intervening as a cloud of the Holy Spirit, full of dew, which will overshadow the same city, so that, just as in the days of harvest, which precede the harvest itself, both the light may shine and the cloud may overshadow it.
B VERSE 5, 6. "It shall be before the harvest, when the flower is finished, and the unripe grape shall put forth its flower; and he shall remove the small clusters with sickles, and he shall take away the branches and cut them off." For just as, he says, in the vineyards, when the grapes are unripe, the vine-dresser coming by cuts off the superfluous and useless parts of the shoots, and not only that, but also the unfruitful and as it were dead ones—indeed, he removes even these by the skill of husbandry, as they have no strength, nor do they leave any hope for the perfecting of the fruit, lest the superfluous and useless parts harm the vigorous grapes—wherefore he indeed removes those, and casts them as food C for "the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth"; but he cultivates and guards with the greatest care those that preserve the perfect fruit; so he says it will come to pass in the time of the harvest, that the superfluous shoots of the vine and its useless grapes being removed and cut off, and delivered as food to the punishing powers, the good grapes, which are the fruit-bearing souls, shall attain the good hope from God. In these things the Savior Himself said He was the vine; and the disciples, the branches; and it is logical to understand the grapes of the branches to be those who have been discipled by the apostles; whose clusters, as if dead and useless and deprived of vital power, He teaches will be cast away at the time of judgment; and the branches likewise that bear no cluster, such as was the traitor Judas, in the same way as the useless grapes, will be cut off for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, namely, for the opposing and punishing D powers.
"In that time shall gifts be brought to the Lord of Hosts from a people afflicted and torn, and from a great people, from this time and unto the age." This would be he who walks the narrow and afflicted way which leads unto life; and he is also "torn," as if alienated from the common life of men, and he is great and much before God: wherefore it is said, "from a great people." For in the present life and in the life to come, the aforementioned people never ceases to send up rational gifts and bloodless sacrifices to God.
"A nation hoping and trodden down, which is in a part of the river of its land to the place where the name of the Lord of Hosts is, on the holy mount." For this nation was in a part of the river of the land of God when it was living in the Church of God; as it says: "In part we know and in part we prophesy." For that region did not contain the whole river, that is to say, the Word of God: wherefore in [1 Cor. xiii, 9]
part the nation designated is said to have become the river's region. A
CHAPTER XIX
VERS. 1. "The vision of Egypt. Behold, the Lord sits upon a light cloud, and will come into Egypt." One must attentively consider how it is said, "The vision of Egypt." For it was not said as it was concerning Babylon, "A vision against Babylon"; nor as concerning Judea and Jerusalem, "The vision which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw, which he saw against Judea and Jerusalem"; nor as concerning Damascus and the land of Moab, in the same way concerning Egypt. For it is not said, "A vision against Egypt"—as if Egypt itself were about to see and behold with eyes endowed with the power of discernment the things that are proclaimed in the prophecy—or as if the prophet had seen a vision that proclaimed the most excellent things to the Egyptians. For what could have been more beautiful, or what more blessed, for the Egyptians than that the Lord should deign to visit them with his presence, and should bestow upon them the knowledge of himself, and should do all other things that would result in the good of the Egyptians? B
"And the idols of Egypt shall be moved from his face, and their heart shall be overcome within them." This, one might say, was fulfilled according to the truth of history when the Lord himself, who in the beginning was with God, God the Word, did not dwell in the region of the Egyptians in an incorporeal or invisible manner, but arrived sitting upon that light cloud, as it is considered—that is, in the body which Christ had assumed, fashioned from the Holy Spirit and the holy Virgin. For if it had not been written that he would come sitting upon a cloud, one might have been able to say that God the Word, being incorporeal and present everywhere by divine power, inasmuch as he fills all things—for "He was in the world, and the world was made by him" (John 1, 10)—exhibited that same presence in Egypt, since he extends his inspection and providence even unto them. But in that way he would not be said to be in Egypt more than in any other part of the world. C Now, however, it is specifically and distinctly said that he would come into Egypt sitting upon a light cloud, by which a certain specific and corporeal advent of his is signified. To this, someone insisting upon this same explanation might say that the prophetic utterance reached its fulfillment when he who is born of the Virgin as God, whom the prophecy calls Emmanuel, came to men. For just as a cloud has its constitution from nowhere else but from the air and the vapor of the earth, so also the body which he assumed, having been composed of the Holy Spirit and earthy substance, is rightly compared to a light cloud, upon which Christ sat while he journeyed into Egypt, while he was still an infant. D This, indeed, was sufficient for the Egyptians, who, by an ineffable power, derived great benefit from the Savior's arrival. But according to a deeper understanding, Egypt had a special need of the Lord's presence, provided that they were the most superstitious of all men;
A so that they attributed the cause of the universe not only to fate and the stars of heaven, but fell away even to the point of deifying irrational animals, wild beasts, birds, and reptiles. Indeed, they deemed the universe to be devoid of governance and providence, so that one of their kings impudently said, "I do not know the Lord," and, "Who is He whose voice I shall obey?" These things, however, reached their end by the very works of the time when churches of God were being established throughout all Egypt, and the Lord himself journeyed to the Egyptians, visiting his churches according to that word, "Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them." Thus, then, his churches shone with his grace, while the error of the demons dwelling there was destroyed. B
VERS. 2. "And Egyptians shall be stirred up against Egyptians, and man shall fight against his brother, and man against his neighbor." And this was being fulfilled after the evangelical preaching which spread through all Egypt, at which time the inanimate idols were shaken from their station—which they had held from an age-old duration—so that they were no longer able to stand firm from the frequent crowd of the people, nor could they subsist as solid entities; and the evil demons who lurked in them as if in hiding places were proven to be nothing in these circumstances. For just as civil discord was stirred up throughout all Egypt, with peoples dissenting and divided in their zeal, bickering mutually through their houses—because, of the citizens living in the region, C some, having abandoned the diabolical and Egyptian error, were approaching the evangelical preaching, while others, persisting in the same error, were raising up an inexpiable war against them—so, then, were the Egyptians rising up against the Egyptians.
VERS. 3, 4. "City against city, and nome against nome. And the spirit of the Egyptians shall be troubled within them, and I will dissipate their counsel. And they shall ask their gods and their idols and those who speak from the earth and the ventriloquists. And I will deliver Egypt into the hands of harsh lords, and harsh kings shall rule over them." Among the Egyptians, their regions are called "nomes" even to this day, which also dissent from one another for the same reason. D Moreover, the life of the godless was at variance with the life according to God, and nome was rising up against nome, with the evangelical law subverting the legal ordinances of the Egyptians, and, in turn, the law of idolatry attacking the saving Word. Now, these things were all coming to pass as the Lord, who had arrived among them, confounded the agreement and concord of the Egyptians concerning their error of many gods. Wherefore, it is said according to Aquila, "And I will place sedition between Egyptians and Egyptians," and according to Symmachus, "I will set Egyptians against Egyptians." Furthermore, our Lord himself spoke kinship and brotherhood to these things—or rather, the very same things in different words—in the Gos-
Apels, saying, "Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth: I have not come to bring peace, but a sword," and so forth. And when these things come to pass, the Word says that the spirit of the Egyptians will be troubled. According to Symmachus, "And the spirit of Egypt shall be broken within it"; according to Theodotion, "And the spirit of Egypt shall be rent within it"; but Aquila says, "And the spirit of Egypt shall be delivered into its inward parts." Now, when this is rent and cast out from the Church, for the advancement of the Egyptians who were devising wicked counsels, "I myself," says the Lord, "will dissipate their counsel. And they will inquire of their gods, and their images, and those who speak from the earth, and the ventriloquists." Since none of these will appear as they usually do, they will fall into extreme distress: "And I will deliver Egypt into the hands of men, harsh lords, and harsh kings will rule over them." B Here, I think, is indicated the time when the things foretold in the prophecy are to come to pass: for it signifies that there will be a change in the kingdom of the Egyptians at the time when the Lord will come into Egypt. And who would not be astonished, if he were to compare the time of the saving proclamation and of the overthrow, occurring at that time, of the kingdom in Egypt, how from thence even to this day, their former rulers—I mean the Ptolemies—no longer rule them, but Romans have been revealed as their masters?
But in place of "harsh kings," Aquila says, "And a king strengthened will reign over them"; Symmachus says, "And a harsh king will have power over them"; Theodotion says, "And a strong king will rule over them." You would say that this is the emperor who held the monarchy of the Romans at the time of the birth of our Savior. For then Augustus, truly strengthened and ruling powerfully, first subjected Egypt C to the Romans, having removed the long-ruling succession of the Ptolemies who reigned among them.
VER. 5. "Thus says the Lord Sabaoth: And the Egyptians will drink water that is by the sea." For which Aquila says, "And waters shall be drawn up, he says, from the sea"; but Symmachus says, "And the waters shall be destroyed from the sea." Here, figuratively, the Word hinted at the turbulent multitude of the Egyptians by "seas."
VER. 6. "But the river will fail and run dry. And the rivers will fail, and the channels of the river, and all the gathering of the waters will be dried up." So that you may receive a new drink for them: for since neither the river nor any other Egyptian water remains, and not D even the sea water is suitable for drinking, he says that they will drink a new and strange water; and this was that which was provided to them by the Lord from the fountains of salvation. But indeed, also when the Jewish waters fail, the hunters of fish—that is to say, of human souls—are said to be about to mourn.
A Understand that the fishermen and net-casters mentioned by the prophet are from the other fishermen and those using drag-nets; I mean the apostles and disciples of our Saviour, to whom it was said, "Come, and I will make you fishers of men." 4 For if they, by their teaching, fished for the souls of men, drawing them toward salvation, why would you not say that those who are called the fishermen and net-casters of the Egyptians were, of old, the teachers of the philosophy practiced among them, who, through Egyptian sorcery, snared and, as it were, baited those who were caught by them?
"And in every marsh of reeds and papyrus, and the green achi, everything around the river, and everything that is sown by the river, shall dry up and perish in the wind. And the fishermen shall groan, and all who cast a hook into the river shall groan, and those who cast drag-nets and casting-nets shall mourn." B I believe this signifies a total drought of waters, such that not even a trace of moist waters appears in the river, nor in the marsh, nor about the rivers, nor in their midst, nor in the canals, nor in standing waters; but that there will be a sudden leaving behind of all these, so that nowhere in the land of Egypt do waters subsist.
But this discourse compels even the unwilling to move toward a figurative contemplation; so that, of necessity, one must understand the Egyptian rivers and waters to be either the multitudes of the Egyptian power, or their kingdom, which in ancient times overflowed like a river—or, according to another interpretation, the philosophy that flourished among the Egyptians of old, of which it is said, "And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians." 5 For it was quite extensive, and the river flowing among them—the discourse of that wisdom which was admired among them—was great. And there were many parts of this river, broken up into many channels, and into many students of the individual doctrines among them, from which grew not vines nor olives, nor any of the necessary fruit-bearing trees, but papyrus, reed, and the green achi.
As for their drag-nets, you shall understand them from the parable of our Saviour in which it is said, "The kingdom of heaven is like a drag-net that was cast into the sea and gathered of every kind of fish." 6 Just as in the parable men are called fish, and the drag-net is the evangelical discourse concerning the kingdom of heaven, so also here, the complex subtlety of the Egyptian discourse would be the drag-net, and the casting-nets likewise. And the fish caught by them would be those who are dragged down by deceptive sophistries into every form of godless superstition. Therefore, the fishermen of Egypt are said to groan and mourn, no longer having work because of Christ who came to them and destroyed all their wisdom, according to the text, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will reject the discernment of the discerning."
A Ver. 9. "And confusion shall take hold of those who work the frayed flax, and those who work the fine linen." You should understand those who work the flax not as that which is robust and unbreakable, but rather as the frayed, that is, a discourse disjointed and torn; and likewise the fine linen, since these also partook of the Egyptian river, being irrigated by it. Therefore, the Word says that the workmen of these things shall lament, when the threads of their own wisdom are no longer available to them for clothing and adornment. For through the flax and the fine linen they devised for themselves an adornment and a covering, concealing their own falsehood with certain plausible and deceptive words.
Ver. 10. "And those who work them shall be in pain; and all who make barley-beer shall be sorrowful, and their souls shall fail." He says that those who make not wine from the vine, but Egyptian barley-beer, shall lament—which itself was spurious and turbid, which the Egyptians used as a drink before the Lord came to them. And as this decays, it is rightly said that its makers shall lament and their souls shall be pained. He threatens that these things shall be suffered by the sophists of Egypt, the makers of beer, and the workmen of the frayed flax and fine linen, the hunters of fish, who were solicitous for the Egyptian river and the discourse of Egyptian wisdom.
B Ver. 11. "And the princes of Taneos shall be fools, the wise counselors of the king; their counsel shall be made foolish." For he says that here especially the various sorceries of diabolical idolatry had stood fast before, and that here those who ruled over Egypt in the time of Moses had their seat. Therefore it is said that the signs were performed in the field of Taneos, both in the time of Moses and in the present. Accordingly, when the Lord visited Egypt, he says that, along with the Egyptian river, those aforementioned ruling demons would also be made foolish, even if, when the Lord was absent, they loudly boasted of wisdom. But he brought a refutation against them, showing that they possessed no wisdom, but were truly fools in the presence of the Lord.
C Vers. 12, 13. "How will you say to the king, We are the sons of the wise, the sons of the kings who have been from the beginning? Where now are your wise men? And let them declare to you, and let them say what the Lord of Sabaoth has determined against Egypt. The princes of Taneos have failed, and the princes of Memphis have been exalted, and they shall lead Egypt astray according to their tribes." For when you no longer have a king, how can you pride yourselves on prudence? How can you call yourselves the sons of ancient kings, holding up Horus, and Isis, and Osiris, and Typhon, and claiming that the races of gods, heroes, and the dead ruled in Egypt of old—of whom you, the princes of Taneos and Memphis pointed to in the prophecy, claim to be sons and descendants? By what reasoning could you be gods or the possessors of all wisdom, who are unable to foresee or predict your own refutation?
A to foretell your own refutation and the overthrow of the kingdom of those whose counselors you happened to be, whom you also afflict by wrapping them in all manner of errors?
"For the Lord has mingled among them a spirit of error, and they have caused Egypt to err in all their works, as a drunken man errs and vomits at the same time." From this one may infer the excess of that drunkenness, in that they were not merely given over to idolatry like other men, but had fallen so far into impiety as to fashion images of irrational beasts; wherefore it is said: "As a drunken man errs and vomits at the same time." By such a drunkenness did the aforementioned princes of Tanis and Memphis lead astray the souls of the Egyptians, to whom the Lord himself mingled spirits of error. For they were evil demons and opposing powers, thinking things contrary to God and attempting to fight against God. Therefore they were delivered up to error, God judging it worthy of their wickedness that they should be delivered up to error. They in turn poured their own malice upon the Egyptians like some deadly venom, and caused Egypt to err, "As a drunken man errs and vomits at the same time." But for the sake of these very people, the Lord sojourned in Egypt, so that, having made them recover from their error, He might scatter the nations far away from them.
"And there shall be no work for the Egyptians that shall make head and tail, beginning and end." For the many works performed among them are useless, so that there is no work among them that has either beginning or end, the Lord, as He is good, having brought this to pass. For many works in the polytheistic error of the Egyptians indeed had a beginning and an end in the sequence that was reputed among them. But at the designated times of the Lord's coming among them, He says there will no longer be among them any work of such a kind, full and complete and perfect; but if any such thing should be found, it will be headless and beginningless, unfinished and inconclusive—which indeed is B truly the case in practice; for their idolatry has failed entirely. Such things are said to have neither head nor end.
"In that day the Egyptians shall be as women in trembling and fear from the face of the hand of the Lord of Hosts, which He Himself shall lay upon them." During the appointed times of the Lord's arrival in Egypt, He prophesies that there shall no longer be a manly spirit in the Egyptians, but that they shall live their lives like women in fear and trembling because of the hand of God rising up against them. And what hand of the Lord could be understood other than that which is called His right hand, namely the Roman power, which subdued the Egyptians and made them subject through the coming of the Lord? For thus, indeed, it is written that the devil once spoke to God concerning Job: "But stretch forth Thy hand, and touch all that he has, and see if he will not bless Thee to Thy face." C He, therefore, [who acts] according to the will of God to subjugate the Egyptians... D
and this power was the Roman army—is called a hand. How the Egyptians serve the Romans like women, with fear and trembling, there is no need to tell.
VERS. 17. "And the land of the Jews shall be into terror. Everyone who names it to them shall be afraid because of the counsel which the Lord of Sabaoth has counseled against it." You would not be wrong to say that the land of the Jews is the divine Scripture, which those who have known the Lord approach with fear and trembling and reverence, because of the excess of piety and faith—no longer speaking blasphemies against it as before, but honoring and revering it because of the Lord who is proclaimed therein; wherefore everyone who names it to them instills in them the fear of God, for "The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord." B
VERS. 18. "In that day there shall be five cities in the land of Egypt, speaking with the language of Canaan, and swearing by the name of the Lord of Sabaoth: the city of Asedek shall one city be called." If five cities are spoken of in the prophecy, one must not be ignorant that these five happen to be one. Therefore, one name is added for all of them, Asedek, which Symmachus translated as "of the sun." But what could you say this is, if not the holy Church of God, which according to the Septuagint is called Asedek, which means "of justice," but according to Symmachus "of the sun"—concerning which it is said: "But to those who fear me the sun of justice shall arise, and healings are in his wings"? C According to an accurate way of arguing, it is called a city of the earth, which could be translated: "The city of the earth shall one city be called." For she alone is established as a city for God in all the earth, so that it is said of her: "Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God." Five cities in the Church would be the different modes of life; five, moreover, are the distinct orders—you may count them thus: the first is the order of bishops, the second of presbyters, the third of deacons, the fourth of those enlightened in Christ, and after these, the order of those who are being initiated. It should be known that five orders D reside in the Church of God; wherefore they are said to be five cities under one, speaking the language which was once reputed to be Canaanite among the Egyptians, and swearing not by the ancestral gods whom they imagined, but by the name of the Lord of Sabaoth, the God formerly known to the Jews. This was He who was upon the light cloud, and this was Christ who came to them.
VERS. 19. "In that day there shall be an altar to the Lord in the land of the Egyptians, and a pillar at its border to the Lord." The Word, having prophesied concerning the city of God being established in Egypt and the different orders within the city, consequently mentions an altar in the city of God.
and declares that this will come to pass in a wondrous manner. For when the gods formerly reputed among the Egyptians have perished, and their river has failed, and the princes of Tanes and Memphis have been rendered foolish, he says that an altar, called the Lord’s by the Jews, will be established there—a thing which the outcome of events places before our own eyes, so that we do not wait for the fulfillment of the word in some future time. A For just as there is said to be one faith, one baptism, and one Church, so too must the many altars established throughout all of Egypt be accounted as one single altar established in the churches of God; and one pillar, or monument, stands with the altar in the city mentioned, separating and dividing the faithful Egyptians from the infidels. That land of the Jews, then, which is said to be a source of terror to the Egyptians, indicates the Jewish Scripture and the word of the Old Testament; but the pillar joined to the altar of Christ would be the Gospel of the New Testament, separating those of the Egyptians who believe in Christ from those who are faithless.
B Ver. 20, 21. "And it shall be for a sign forever unto the Lord in the land of Egypt, for they shall cry unto the Lord because of those who oppress them. And He shall send them a man, who shall save them; judging, he shall save them. And the Lord shall be known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, and shall make sacrifice and gift, and shall vow vows unto the Lord, and shall perform them." Wherefore, having learned to be sealed by this sign, the Egyptians who have received the Lord use it as this protective guard; so that even in tribulations they use the same sign as a helper, crying out and calling upon the Lord against those who oppress them. But who were these, if not the Egyptians who remained in the destruction, of whom it was said at the beginning of the prophecy: "And Egyptians shall rise up against Egyptians, and man shall wage war against his brother, city against city, and district against district."
C Ver. 22. "And the Lord shall strike the Egyptians with a plague and shall heal them; and they shall turn unto the Lord, and He shall hearken to them, and shall heal them with a healing." For since "whom the Lord loves, He disciplines, and scourges every son whom He receives" (Heb. XII, 6), He justly strikes the Egyptians, even though He loves them, whenever they have need of discipline and conversion; but He will not do this for a long time, and delaying nothing, He applies healing and remedy.
D Ver. 23. "In that day there shall be a way from Egypt to the Assyrians, and the Assyrians shall enter into Egypt, and the Egyptians shall go to the Assyrians, and the Egyptians shall serve the Assyrians." By the Assyrians here, I think the Scripture calls those now named Syrians; for formerly they were called Assyrians, who inhabited Syria and Mesopotamia. [alt-version omitted]
A The Egyptians and Assyrians were enemies, and they remained at war with one another throughout all time. But now the present discourse proclaims a communion and intercourse for them, such as has never happened at any other time. For before the empire of the Romans, the Egyptians and the Assyrians had their own separate kings; the Egyptians had the Ptolemies, and the Syrians had those descended from Antiochus and Demetrius—in the midst of whom lay Judea, which was also governed by its own princes. The Jewish nation, lying in between, was sometimes attacked in war by the Syrians and sometimes by the Ptolemies. Moreover, the Syrians were hostile to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians were at war with the Assyrians, so that travel from one people to the other was practically impossible. Such was the state of affairs in ancient times.
But after the coming of the Lord into Egypt, the present discourse B proclaims a most profound peace, and a communion and intercourse for them. He truly reconciles those who were once enemies—I mean the Syrians, the Assyrians, and Israel—and says that they will all receive one blessing from God, so that Israel might no longer think highly of itself, nor exalt itself against others as if it alone were blessed. Who, then, seeing the Roman armies of Syrian men poised over the heads of the Egyptians, and the Egyptians serving them, would not marvel at the outcome of the prophecy? And who would not be astonished at seeing Egyptians passing freely into the land of the Syrians, and Syrians entering Egypt without hindrance, being subject to them by the power of the ruling authority?
But the most paradoxical thing of all is that the prophecy C declared that at the same time there would be peoples for God among the Syrians, among the Egyptians, and in the land of Israel, and that these would be blessed—so that Israel would no longer differ from the Egyptian or the Syrian, nor would the Syrian be considered of greater value before God than Israel or the Egyptian, nor, conversely, would the Egyptian be considered less before God than Israel or the Syrian.
VERS. 24. "In that day shall Israel be the third among the Egyptians and among the Assyrians, blessed in the land which the Lord of Hosts blessed, saying, Blessed is my people that is in Egypt, and that is in Assyria, and my inheritance, Israel." D If it is said that Israel will be third among the Egyptians and among the Assyrians, being blessed in the land which the Lord of Hosts blessed, let us not think this land is any other than the Church of God. By Israel, moreover, may be understood the whole chorus of holy and God-loving men who have departed from life out of the Jewish nation. Wherefore it is said, "And my inheritance, Israel." For "when the Most High divided the nations, the Lord's portion became his people Jacob, the cord of his inheritance, Israel." But now the Egyptians are also called his people, and his blessed people, and the Assyrians likewise. And the phrase, "In the land which the Lord of Hosts blessed," may also have reference to the heavenly land, regarding which the Savior says, "Blessed are the meek, for they"
shall possess the earth, where also is the heavenly Jerusalem and the heavenly Mount Sion of God.
CAPUT XX.
A Vers. 1, 2. *In the year that Tharthan came unto Ashdod, when he was sent by Sargon the king of Assyria, and fought against Ashdod and took it: at that time the Lord spoke unto Isaiah, saying: Go and take off the sackcloth from off thy loins.* It is right to marvel at the prophetic life, which the Apostle described with these words, *They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented.* But the present Scripture introduces Isaiah clothed in one garment, namely sackcloth, mourning and weeping over those who, on account of their own impieties, had fallen far away from God.
C Vers. 3. *And loose thy sandals from off thy feet. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot. And the Lord said, As my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years, three years shall be for a sign and wonder upon the Egyptians and Ethiopians.* That he was commanded to walk naked and not delay, but to do this immediately before the eyes of those present with him, would be a demonstration of greatest obedience and readiness toward God, and of a stature and mind that is exalted, setting at naught all human glory. When the prophet had done these things, God says that the Egyptians, once conquered by the Assyrians, would suffer the like, in the form of the prophet, that they would be led away naked and barefoot; and not they alone, but also the Ethiopians, whom they hoped would come to their help and join in the battle. For the Egyptians, trusting in the multitude of the Ethiopians and in their power, as they were very mighty at that time, looked upon the Assyrians with contempt; but God reveals the future, saying, *As my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot,* and the rest.
D Vers. 4. *For so shall the king of Assyria lead away the prisoners of Egypt and of Ethiopia, young and old, naked and barefoot, uncovering the shame of Egypt.* The things set before us might appear to be contrary to what has been said just now, through which the word said there would be an alliance and commerce between the Egyptians and the Assyrians; but now it says that the king of the Assyrians will take the young and old of the Egyptians as captives, naked and barefoot. A solution to the problem could be found if we should pay attention to the manner of the prophetic spirit. For as it fixed its attention upon Egypt, it indeed perceived the things that were soon to happen to the Egyptians in the prophet’s own time, but it also foresaw the good things that were to come to pass in the land of the Egyptians after a long time. Having therefore first prophesied the good things through what went before, it passes over to those that were soon to happen. These things, however, were sorrowful for the Egyptians; which were also fulfilled not long after, in those very times in which the prophet was known. It is necessary, however, that the divine Spirit [of the Lord's arrival in Egypt...]
and the good things that would happen to the Egyptians on account of Him, should connect things that were soon to reach their end; so that from the outcome of present events, those things which would happen after long periods of time might be believed by those who, at that time, were listening to the prophetic words. The things set forth were therefore not contrary to those prophesied beforehand; for the one heralded things for the times of the prophets, while the other heralded those things that were to happen in the immediate future. A
Verse 5: "And the Egyptians, being overcome, shall be ashamed because of the Ethiopians, in whom the Egyptians trusted: for they were their glory." They shall blush, that is, for those in whom they trusted; so as to condemn and reproach themselves.
Verse 6: "And they who dwell in this island shall say: Behold, we were trusting to flee to them for assistance, who could not be saved from the king of the Assyrians; and how shall we be saved?" B
Chapter XXI
Verses 1, 2: "The vision of the desert. As a storm passing through the desert, coming from the desert, from a land: a terrible and hard vision is announced to me. He who despises, despises, and he who acts wickedly, acts wickedly. The Elamites and the ambassadors of the Persians come to me." The Persians, therefore, not long after taking over the Median empire, destroyed the remains of Babylon. With good reason, then, do I consider these hostile acts to be spoken of Babylon. But what does the phrase mean when it says, "The vision of the desert"? From this point on, he calls Babylon a desert because of the things prophesied concerning its desolation. For this reason, I think that these words are spoken from the person of Babylon herself, as if she had heard with her own ears the evils that were about to befall her, and was praying that the report of them might pass away, and that the things expected might not come to pass. C
Verse 3: "Now I will groan and comfort myself. Therefore my loins were filled with loosening, and pains took hold of me as a woman in labor." But as is fitting, I now groan, which I did not do before, because I was proud and exalting myself against the other nations, so as to be a cause of mourning for others. Now, however, I, Babylon, and the people in me, will groan and comfort myself through groaning; because the report concerning the things mentioned has touched me, for which reason my loins, formerly girded and reveling, were filled with loosening. Also, grief and labors have taken hold of me, so that I, Babylon, who was once terrible to others, am no different from a woman in labor. These things have happened to me, moreover, because I confess that I have acted wickedly, since I would not listen to any of those admonishing me, and since I made it my business to see nothing right. Wherefore, he says, confessing now I say: D
Verse 4: "I have acted wickedly in that I did not see: my heart is wandering, and my iniquity drowns me: my soul is in fear." I truly think these things were spoken by the prophet, assuming the person of Babylon, and as if these words were uttered in her name, or in the name of the nation dwelling in her.
Verse 5: "Prepare the table, eat, drink..."
A Rising up, ye princes, take your shields. The prophetic spirit is directed toward the Medes and the Elamites, and toward the ambassadors of the Persians, rousing and impelling them to war against the Babylonians. Therefore, as if addressing them, he says, "Prepare the table, eat," and the rest.
VERSE 6-8. "For so the Lord hath said unto me: Go, set a watchman, and what he seeth, let him declare. And I saw two horsemen riding, and a rider on an ass, and a rider on a camel. Hearken, hearken to the report, and call Urias unto the watchtower." Now these were signs and symbols of the enemy's battle array, of whom some came riding in chariots, and others on beasts of burden, carrying what was necessary for their needs. "Hearken, hearken to the report, and call Urias unto the watchtower"—that is, the vision that is to be spoken of hereafter; call it either the lioness or Ariel, so that he, too, coming, might be seen by the watchman, the prophet looking on together with the watchman. And the watchman, giving a sign, speaks as follows. I believe that by these things is signified the complete destruction of the Assyrian kingdom, which came about by the judgment of God. But for the word "Urias," Aquila put forth "a lion," Symmachus "a lioness," and Theodotion "Ariel." No one, therefore, named Urias, since the Hebrew word does not designate Urias. B
VERSE 9. "And he said: I have stood all the day, and I have stood in the camp all the night." The prophet, therefore, stood together with the watchman, awaiting that future vision of the lion, or the lioness, or Ariel. And when he had persisted through the whole time of the day and of the night, he adds, "And behold, he cometh." But who is this, if not clearly Ariel riding in a chariot? Wherefore he says: "And behold, he cometh, and a rider in a chariot." And who was that one, if not a certain avenging angel, by whose work the siege of Babylon was to be completed? Perhaps he is called Ariel as being the same one who, like a roaring lion, goes about seeking whom he may devour. And indeed, having beheld him, the prophet perceived that he, being an avenging angel, was accomplishing the destruction of Babylon; wherefore he cries out with these words: "Babylon has fallen, has fallen, and all her idols and her handiwork have been dashed to the ground." For as if Ariel had been commanded to do these things, the prophet uttered this voice: C "Hear, ye who are left and who are troubled, hear what I have heard from the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel has declared unto us." For what he revealed to me, these things he also revealed to you, with me as an interpreter.
VERSE 11.
The vision of Idumea. To me call out of Seir. Keep the watchtowers.
God seems to address his own acquaintances, saying: "To me call out of Seir"; for he says, "call unto me those who are fleeing from Seir," according to the other interpreters. Now Seir was the mountain of Esau in Arabia, where his kingdom resided; and it is known to the local inhabitants even to this day by that name. Therefore, to those of the Idumeans who were laboring under fear, he says: "Hasten and come to me, and when you have come to me, keep your own watchtowers." DA If any among you requires help, let him seek help from me; and if any has cared for his salvation, let him come to me. These things seem to me to have been spoken to those who were terrified by the fear of the Idumeans, whom God calls to himself, promising them his own help if they would remain in him.
Vers. 13-15. "In the forest you shall sleep in the evening, or in the way of Dedan; bring water to meet him who is thirsty, you who inhabit the land of Teman: meet the fugitives with bread, because of the multitude of the slain, and because of the multitude of the wandering, and because of the multitude of the sword, and because of the multitude of the bent bows, and because of the multitude of those who have fallen in war." B For now, as the enemies who are cutting you down are pressing upon you, the greater part of those among you are being destroyed; but if anywhere one or two, or very few, should have escaped and are procuring their salvation by flight, I myself command these very people—as they are fugitives, and already exhausted and undone by their flight, and no longer having a city to dwell in—at least that they shall sleep in the forest and in desert places when evening has overtaken them. But so that they might not perish from hunger, I command that water and bread be offered to those who are weary and thirsty from their toil. I say these things to you who inhabit the region called Teman, whom it befits to receive and treat the fugitives with humanity. I think, however, that since they cannot dwell in a city, they will dwell in the ways and the forests. Wherefore do not despise those who are perishing so miserably from hunger, who have escaped safe from the sword of the enemies; C for it is a great thing that out of such a multitude they have been able to escape, while the rest are perishing or wandering in other desolate places.
Vers. 16, 17. "For thus the Lord said to me: Yet a year as the year of a hireling, the glory of the sons of Kedar shall fail: and the remnant of the arrows of the strong sons of Kedar shall be small, because the Lord God of Israel has spoken." That destruction is near, and has as it were entered within the gates of Idumea, and that they will utterly go to destruction, as the Babylonians burn their cities and devastate the whole region, he clearly foretells. For one year, he says, will intervene, and the archers of Kedar—even if, he says, they might have entertained in themselves a suspicion of this thing—shall fail and perish. And the prediction is true; for the Lord God of Israel has spoken. But truth will not lie in any way.
CHAPTER XXII
Vers. 1. "The vision of the valley of Sion. What has happened to you, that now you have all gone up to the empty rooftops?" D The present vision of the valley of Sion is not spoken concerning Sion itself, but concerning the valley lying before it. Wherefore he says afterward: "And your choice valleys shall be, they shall be filled with chariots; and the horsemen shall block your gates." I think, furthermore, that God by these [words] signifies the rejection of Israel and the extreme
A fall, wishing to rank them in the order of foreigners, having been taken into the midst of the writings concerning the foreigners. But I also believe the ruin of Jerusalem is declared, and for this reason he calls it the valley of Sion. For God reproves those of the Jewish nation who have fallen from the height of a godly manner of life, as if they had fallen into the valleys and abysses of the depths of wickedness. For Sion is a high mountain, upon which the temple of God was built; wherefore it is said: "Go up for the high mountain, you who bring good news to Sion," and, "You have approached Mount Sion, and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem." And the evangelical discourse was shown previously to be signified by Mount Sion. But those who have fallen from this hope have fallen into the valley adjacent to Sion; for wickedness again follows virtue, into which he who slips from virtue falls. Thus, those who err from the faith are turned toward unbelief. The people, therefore, from the circumcision, having fallen from the evangelical height and become alienated from the heavenly Sion, have been cast down into the precipice of unbelief; wherefore they are also reckoned among the foreigners. B Whence the prophecy, shadowing forth their extreme rejection, recorded the word concerning the valley. And since there is no favoritism with God, for this reason the discourse concerning Sion has been inserted in the midst of the reproofs against the foreigners. Wherefore God also ranks the inhabitants of Jerusalem as though they were among foreigners, and pronounces judgment against them.
"The city is filled with those shouting; your wounded are not wounded by sword, nor are your dead the dead of war." Beholding by the Spirit their shouts against the Savior and the godless blasphemies against Him, for which they were rejected, the prophet adds:
"The city is filled with those shouting. All your princes have fled, and those who were captured are bound harshly, and they who are powerful in you have fled far away." Wherefore there are no longer, as of old, kings, leaders, or high priests among them, nor prophets, nor even Pharisees, nor Sadducees, nor those who were honored in olden times with authority among them. C Perceiving these things in his spirit, and the fall of the Jewish people from such great height into extreme wickedness, as it were a certain valley, the prophet laments, saying:
"Therefore I said, Let me be, I will weep bitterly; do not labor to comfort me over the breaking of the daughter of my people." For I know accurately, he says, and I foresee in the Spirit, and because of all the things previously spoken, that the city dedicated to God shall be captured, and all who are in it shall be given over for the joy of their enemies. Wherefore from this point I already mourn, and I weep as if for the genuine bowels of my own flesh. D
VERS. 2. "The city is filled with those shouting: your wounded, not wounded by sword; nor your dead, dead by war." Having seen by the Spirit their clamors against the Savior, and the impious blasphemies against Him, on account of which they were rejected, he subjoins that:
VERS. 3. "The city is filled with those shouting. All your princes have fled, and those who were captured are bound harshly, and they who are powerful in you have fled far away." Wherefore there are no longer among them, as of old, kings, leaders, or priests; nor prophets; nor Pharisees, nor Sadducees, nor others, as many as in times past held their magistracies. Seeing these things with the Spirit, and the fall of the Jewish people from such great sublimity into extreme wickedness, as if into a certain valley, the prophet torments himself with grief, saying:
VERS. 4. "Therefore I said, let me be, I will weep bitterly, you shall not be able to comfort me over the contrition of the daughter of my people." For I know accurately, he says, and in the Spirit I foresee, even from all the things that have been said above, that the city dedicated to God will be captured, and all who are in it will be given over to the joy of their enemies. Wherefore I mourn already from this moment, and I deplore them as if they were my own genuine bowels.
A
VERS. 5. “For it is a day of confusion and destruction, and of trampling; and error is from the Lord of Hosts. They wander in the valley of Sion; from the small to the great they wander upon the mountains.” I believe these words also are spoken concerning those who gathered together in the conspiracy against our Savior.
VERS. 6. “But the Elamites took up quivers, and men who ascend horses, and a gathering of battle order.” He indicates hidden and hostile powers, to whom they have been delivered by God. Therefore, the Elamites are interpreted as “those who overlook,” by reason of their disregarding the salvation of those who are perishing, and sparing no one; it is likely that the military throngs which besieged them were called so for this reason. But having arrayed themselves with great might in the valley of Sion, which was being besieged by them, they brought it to the ultimate state of desolation. B
VERS. 7. “And your chosen valleys will be, they will be filled with chariots, and the horsemen will block your gates.” Not now, nor in the present time, but on that day; meaning, in the time declared by the prophecy.
VERS. 8, 9. “And they will uncover the gates of Juda, and they will look in that day upon the chosen houses of the city. And they will uncover the hidden things of the houses of the citadel of David. And they saw that they are many, and that he turned the water of the ancient pool into the city.” Now these were the symbols of the mysteries of the kingdom, and the things laid up in the sanctuary; which it was permitted for no one to behold except the high priest alone; and he says that even these will be delivered to the enemies. For this reason, he censures the inhabitants of the valley of Sion, because they turned away the waters of the ancient pool that were in the city, and devised for themselves another water between the two walls. The water of the ancient pool in the city was the word of C the ancient and divinely inspired Scripture, which, having turned away from, they devised for themselves alien water, namely, the traditions of the elders, teaching doctrines and commandments of men; for which the Savior also censures them, saying: “And you have invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.”
VERS. 10, 11. “And that they tore down the houses of Jerusalem into a fortification of the wall for the city. And you drew together for them water between the two walls, inside of the ancient pool.” You might see them still even now doing this, since, having taken up the sayings of divine Scripture, they wall around their own mythologies, as if surrounding their own fables with a sort of hedge and security and wall. For just as they devised a strange place for themselves, and built an own wall around it, using the words of divine Scriptures as stones; so also have they turned away the water of the ancient pool which was in the city, and devised for themselves strange water between the two walls, I mean, the Old and New Testament; D for these two are the walls of the city of God, that is, of the life lived according to God; in the middle of which, those who are accused [have devised] for themselves alien and strange water.
A They have devised for themselves water, that is, the traditions of the elders, in which they who are called "Deuterotai" among them think themselves wise. «And you have not looked upon Him who made it from the beginning, and you have not seen its Creator.» I speak, indeed, of the ancient pool of the divinely inspired Scriptures, which emanates from the fountains of the divine Spirit.
A VERS. 12, 13. «And the Lord Sabaoth called in that day for weeping, and lamentation, and shaving, and the girding of sackcloth; but they were glad and rejoiced, slaying calves and sacrificing sheep, so as to eat flesh and drink wine, saying, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die.» God, therefore, who does not desire the death of the sinner, but rather his repentance, commands those who have engaged in great transgressions to mourn and to weep for their own destruction; but they, being examined in such evils, as if despairing of their own salvation, plunged into madness, B giving themselves over to drunkenness and revelry, as though the judgment of God would not at all overtake them after the end of this mortal life.
B VERS. 14. «And these things have been revealed in the ears of the Lord Sabaoth.» Wherefore, to them who are bound by sin as if by a chain of God, this sentence is brought forth against them, saying: «This sin of yours shall not be forgiven, until you die.»
B VERS. 15-19. «Thus says the Lord Sabaoth: Go into the store-chamber unto Somnas the steward, and say unto him: What have you here? And what have you here, that you have hewn out for yourself a memorial here? And you have made for yourself a memorial in a high place, and have written for yourself a tabernacle in the rock? Behold surely the Lord Sabaoth will cast out and crush a man, and will take away your garment, and your glorious crown, and will cast you into a great and immeasurable region; C and there you shall die; and He shall set your fine chariot unto dishonor, and the house of your prince unto trampling, and you shall be removed from your stewardship and from your standing.» The Hebrew says, therefore, that Somnas had become high priest, a man of pleasure and of an unseemly life, D insomuch that he even betrayed the people and deserted to Senacherim, king of the Assyrians, whom the prophet is commanded to approach in the store-chamber, or according to Symmachus, «to the tabernacle-maker,» or according to Aquila, «to the tent-fixer,»—for thus they interpreted the store-chamber of God—and to say unto him: "Vainly, O man, and rashly have you hewn out for yourself here by the high rock a memorial, hollowing out within it the symbols of your own judgment in letters; not knowing that a decree has been brought forth against you from the Lord Sabaoth, which commands you, once stripped of the honor which you presently enjoy, and divested of the raiment with which you are clothed, of the crown and of the remaining glory, to die far away from this land, in a strange and remote region." Vainly, therefore, did you strive to gather those great riches, the chariots, and the rest of the pomp with which you are even now clothed. Some also fit these things conveniently to the time of the passion of our Savior. But because this is of Hebrew tradition, and the Scripture does not speak [of it], etc.
A Someone might also fit the things proposed to the time of the passion of our Savior, saying that Semna, who fell from the priesthood, is an image of those among the Jews who were priests in a bodily manner according to the law of Moses; and he prophesies that they, after the saving passion, would suffer the things foretold, as the priesthood ceases. But Eliakim, which is translated "the resurrection of God," is a symbol of the new and fresh priesthood, which the resurrection of our Savior established in His Church throughout the whole world.
"And it shall be in that day, I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Chelcias, and I will clothe him with your robe, and your crown I will give to him, and your power and your dispensation I will give into his hands. And he shall be as a father to those dwelling in Jerusalem, and to those dwelling in Juda. And I will give him the key of the house of David upon his shoulder; and he shall open, and there shall be none to shut; and he shall shut, and there shall be none to open. And I will give the glory of David to him, and he shall rule, and there shall be none to contradict. And I will establish him as a prince in a sure place; and he shall be for a throne of glory to the house of his father. And every glorious one in the house of his father shall be trusting in him, from the small even to the great. Every small vessel from the vessel of the aganoth. And there shall be those hanging upon him in that day." To you [Semna], indeed, He will bring these things; but the other, different from you, Eliakim, His child and servant, having tested him, He will clothe with your robe, and will adorn with the crown of the priesthood, and will hand over to him that dispensation which was already entrusted to you. For he is worthy of these things, because, having been brought forth and selected by God, he is not like you, proud and arrogant. He will be in the place of a father to those who will live under his administration; therefore, he will give to them the glory of the king David, the most meek and righteous, as to one mild and gentle, so that he may rule the people with great authority, and no one may contradict the things ordered by him. He shall be established, firmly set in his own ministry; so that whoever is glorious among the people may not be anxious, nor suspect any envy or malice to arise from him at any time, but trust in him as in a father. All, therefore, from the small to the great, shall be hanging upon him, trusting in his care for all. D "Thus says the Lord Sabaoth: The man who is established in a sure place shall be moved, and he shall be taken away and shall fall, and the glory shall be destroyed upon him; because the Lord has spoken." Because he did not administer the stewardship entrusted to him rightly or faithfully, he shall be demoted and deprived of his honor, and his glory shall fall upon him; and all these things shall happen to him, God having condemned him to suffer this calamity. The word encourages us by these things to temperance, and teaches us not to become soft in prosperous circumstances, nor to be proud of authority, nor to forget the judgment of God.
CHAPTER XXIII
"The word of Tyre. Howl, ships of Carthage, for it has perished." The word, therefore, of Tyre, in the firstA place signifies the siege that came upon Tyre; at the time when the Assyrian, having descended with other nations, took both it and Sidon, as is recorded even in external histories. At that time, then, when the city of the Tyrians suffered such a great desolation, it was likely that they would no longer employ themselves in their accustomed commerce, being sailors and always spending their time in business by sea. Once Tyre was destroyed, there were no longer those who would transport goods from it, who were accustomed to sail over from Carthage to Tyre. "And they no longer come from the land of the Kittians; he is led away captive." By this, Cyprus is said to be indicated, and that the city of the Kittians exists there, by which those who set sail from Tyre used to pass. B VERS. 2-4. "To whom are they made like, who inhabit the island, the merchants of Phoenicia, crossing the sea in much water? The seed of merchants is as a harvested crop; the merchants of the nations. Be ashamed, Sidon, said the sea. And the strength of the sea said, I have not travailed, nor brought forth, nor reared young men, nor raised virgins." Now, however, that they have been suddenly deprived of all things, and stripped of the goods they counted as their own, it is fitting for them to be covered with shame—not only them, but also the Sidonians who dwell in their neighborhood; inasmuch as the sea itself, as it were, utters a voice and mourns for them, because it no longer has young men and virgins to rear. For in the past, as if they were offspring of the C sea itself, they were nurtured by it, when the affairs of the Tyrians were flourishing; but now, when they are no more, the sea justly mourns for them, and its strength is lamented, mourning over children who have perished. VERS. 5-9. "And when it is heard in Egypt, pain shall take hold of them concerning Tyre. Depart to Carthage, howl, you who inhabit this island. Was this not the insult from the beginning, before she was delivered up? Who has devised these things against Tyre? Is he weaker, or does he lack power? Her merchants are the glorious ones, the princes of the earth. The Lord of hosts has devised to dissolve all the insult of the glorious ones, and to bring disgrace upon everything glorious on the earth." But Egypt, too, situated in the neighborhood, will be placed D in pain, he says, being anxious and struggling on her account, lest she suffer the same things as the Tyrians. With these things thus having come to pass, he says: "If you are able, you who remain in Tyre after others have perished, cross over and flee to your colonists who dwell in Carthage; and having stayed there, mourn for your own fatherland, finding fault not with others in whom you trusted, but with your own arrogance and the insult with which you tried to clothe them all. As for the events that have befallen you, O Tyrians, do not ascribe them to the necessity of fate; but seek within yourselves who has devised these things, who has judged your fatherland to suffer these things. For if you seek, you will find in just judgment that such things have happened; for the Lord of hosts, who is worshipped as God only among the Hebrews, has brought forth this decree."
A VERSE 10, 11: "Work your land; for ships come no longer from Carthage. Your hand no longer has strength at sea, which provokes kings." Do not, therefore, exalt yourself any longer, as if you were boastful of the wealth you acquire from the sea; but, having been humbled, occupy yourself with cultivating your own land and be nourished by the fruits produced from the earth. For your gains from the sea have ceased. Indeed, while you enjoyed these, you did not bear your prosperity [well]; rather, you behaved insolently, provoking all the neighboring kings. Furthermore, it will no longer be permitted for you to do these things, neither against any others, nor against your neighbor, Sidon, whom you also have attempted to wrong. "And [your] hand no longer has strength," that is to say, the royal power by which you were strengthened of old.
B VERSE 12-16: "The Lord of hosts has commanded concerning Canaan, to destroy her strength. And they shall say: You shall no longer continue to insult and wrong the daughter of Sion. And even if you depart to the Kittians, there will be no rest for you there; and to the land of the Chaldeans, which itself has been laid waste by the Assyrians, there will be no rest for you there, because her wall has fallen. Wail, you ships of Carthage, because your stronghold has perished. And it shall be in that day that Tyre shall be left for seventy years, like the time of a king, like the time of a man. And it shall be after the seventy years, Tyre shall be as the song of a harlot. Take a harp, go about, O harlot city, forgotten; play the harp well, sing much, that there may be a remembrance of you."
All that is prophesied against Tyre will be finished in a few years, during which even the city dedicated to God [Jerusalem] was made desolate. For God judged [a period of] the lifespan of one man, or I should say seventy years, to define the desolation that was to befall Tyre, or the reign of one long-lived king. In these seventy years, all men who formerly knew you well will sing a song and a ditty about your desolation, just as they might about a woman who has fallen from her own honor. But you, throughout the whole time of your desolation, wander about, C roaming and moving from place to place, playing the harlot among the remaining nations. But if you have the strength, having taken your harp, [use it] no longer in a harlot-like, but in a prudent manner, using your own instrument well; play the harp much and sing much, and [offer] prayers and supplication to God. For thus there will be memory of you before God, if you use the song's melody and its senses in the manner of a harp, skillfully and prudently living, and singing that which is pleasing to God—for so there will be a remembrance of you, God deigning to remember you.
VERSE 17: "And it shall be after [the] seventy years, God will visit Tyre, and she shall be restored again to her former state, and she shall be an emporium for all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth." Immediately, after the aforementioned time has elapsed, you will obtain a visitation from Him, and you will again be restored to your former state; so that an emporium will again be established in you, and those from everywhere will hasten to flow [into you], bringing their own wares to you. D
A Ver. 18. "And her negotiation and her hire shall be holy to the Lord." This we certainly see fulfilled in our own time. For since the Church of God has been established in the city of the Tyrians, just as also in the rest of the nations, many of the gains from its commerce are consecrated to the Lord as offerings dedicated to His Church; which those who bring, offer with reverence. "It shall not be gathered for them, but for those that dwell before the Lord." All her merchandise [is] to eat, and to drink, and to be filled, and for a supply, a memorial before the Lord; namely, for the ministers of the altar: for thus the Lord commanded those who preach the Gospel to live from the Gospel, and that those who attend the altar should partake of the altar. To these very persons, therefore, as to priests of God dwelling before the Lord, the aforementioned men, offering first-fruits, fulfill by deed and work the prophecy which says, "And it shall be an emporium for them, and their hire," and the rest. B
CHAPTER XXIV
Ver. 1. "Behold, the Lord will lay waste the whole world, and will desolate it, and will reveal its face." For since "the earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof," as if caring for all men, He explains to the world the things pertaining to the judgment of God which concerns all mankind, on the day when God will judge the hidden things of men, "and will disperse those that dwell in it." Or, according to Aquila and Theodotion, "He dissipates others elsewhere," according to the proportion of each man’s deeds: for "there are many mansions with the Father," and great and vast is the world of God, so that it can contain all the souls that have lived on earth from the age; the impious having obtained hell and the subterranean dwelling, namely, the dark and invisible recesses, according to that saying, "They shall enter into the lower parts of the earth; they shall be delivered into the hands of the sword, they shall be portions for foxes"; C but the pious being snatched up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so being always with the Lord.
Ver. 2. "And it shall be as the people, so the priest; and as the servant, so his master; and as the maid, so her mistress. He that buyeth shall be as he that selleth; and he that lendeth as he that borroweth; and he that oweth as he to whom he oweth." The prophetic word signifies the manner of the resurrection of the dead. For when the bodies hidden in the earth are revealed, all who are to be judged will stand equally before the tribunal of the great Judge, so that those who in mortal life once seemed to have had something more—whether in dignity, or in lineage, or in wealth—shall not differ at all from the needy. For all shall then stand equally before the tribunal of Christ; and as the priest, so the people, and likewise D
A all others, since there is no respect of persons with God. For this reason it is said in Job: “Small and great are there, and the servant who does not fear his master.”
VERS. 3, 4. “With corruption shall the earth be corrupted, and with plundering shall the earth be plundered: for the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things. The earth has mourned, and the world is corrupted; the high places of the earth have mourned.” For when the definitive sentence of God has been brought forth through the prophet, these things shall happen to those who have obtained the worse lot; whom, because of their earthy mindset, He calls “earth.” For just as it was once said to Adam, “Earth you are, and to earth you shall return,” so too He threatens the punishment of corruption to those who, at the time of God’s judgment, are found to be lovers of pleasure, lovers of the body, and consequently earthy and carnal. And as for what the mourning earth is and which world is corrupted, He clarifies by adding: “The high places of the earth have mourned”; for it is upon these especially that the wrath of God shall come, since B “He resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
VERS. 5. “The earth has acted impiously because of its inhabitants; because they have transgressed the law of the Lord and have scattered and changed His precepts, an everlasting covenant.” For all men who have inhabited the world from the beginning, Greeks and barbarians alike, having received the natural law and holding the precepts of God inscribed in their own souls, and having accepted the covenant given from the beginning in their common reasonings—having then surrendered themselves to sins against nature, they have become transgressors of the natural law. Therefore, it is with reason that they shall stand before the divine tribunal, about to be judged as those who are to render an account C for their own transgression.
VERS. 6-10. “Therefore a curse shall devour the earth, because they have sinned who inhabit it. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth shall be poor, and few men shall be left. The wine shall mourn, the vine shall mourn, all who were joyful in spirit shall groan. The joy of the drums has ceased, the voice of the lyre has ceased. They were put to shame, they did not drink wine; the strong drink became bitter to those who drank it: every city has been made desolate; he shall close the house so that there may be no entrance.” Just as at the beginning of the creation of the world, while sin had not yet come into being, God blessed man, so [He shall judge] at the consummation of the ages. For He does not say that all who live in the present life shall groan, but only those who have walked the broad and spacious way, who have wasted all their own things in carousings and luxury; who no longer enjoy pleasures, but even being convicted D of the shameful and forbidden deeds they have committed, are suffused with shame. Frequently, moreover, when the Theologian mentions wine, he hints at the luxury of men, or the reward of malice and the languor of the soul, which overturns the reason of upright and natural thoughts; from which intoxication, those who are then punished shall, as if waking up, pour forth mournful voices and cries.
A Vers. 11-13. "Howl for the wine everywhere; all joy has ceased, all joy of the earth has departed. And cities shall be left desolate, and houses left behind shall perish." All these things shall be on the earth, in the midst of the nations. "As if someone were to glean an olive tree, so shall they glean them; and if the vintage ceases." So that not one of the impious is left behind, but even to the very last they undergo the judgment of God. For just as those who gather the fruit of the olive are accustomed to strike them with poles and cast them down to the very last, if any should have been left behind, and just as after the vintage some, returning, gather certain small, remaining berries or grapes, in the same way they shall also gather the impious even to the last, so that no one may escape the judgment of God.
"These shall lift up a voice." B But who are these, if not those of the superior rank? And these would be those who have been deemed worthy of the majesty that is with God. "But those who are left upon the earth shall rejoice together with the glory of the Lord; the water of the sea shall be troubled." But those who have come to be of the portion of God shall rejoice together with the glory of the Lord; for then the Lord himself shall come in the glory of his Father with power and great glory. In this glory of their Lord, therefore, shall those who have formerly hoped in him rejoice. Instead of "The water of the sea shall be troubled," Theodotion interpreted it as "Waters of the sea sounded," signifying the magnitude of the life which those who glorify their own Lord shall enjoy; for their voice shall be compared to the roaring of the sea.
C "Therefore the glory of the Lord shall be in the isles of the sea." In the Churches, that is to say, which were formerly shut in among the unbelieving nations as if in the midst of the sea, upon which the glory of the Lord shall then shine forth. "The name of the Lord shall be glorious. O Lord God of Israel, from the wings of the earth we have heard wonders, hope to the pious." But according to Symmachus and Theodotion, "From the wings of the earth we have heard psalms," and according to Aquila, "melodies." For those who are of the portion of God, admiring his just judgment, rejoice together with the glory of the Lord, and, rejoicing, send up to him hymns and thanksgiving psalms. Then he adds, "Hope to the pious." For since he had gone through the things threatened against the impious, D next he brought forward concerning the portion of God, as "They shall rejoice together with the glory of the Lord," and as "The glory of the Lord shall be in the isles." Thus, having set forth the just judgment of God, he consequently added that: "Hope to the pious"; for to every just and pious man a good hope of salvation is laid up.
"And they shall say: Woe to those who break the law, those who break the law!" According to Aquila it is said, "Oh, woe to me, ye breakers; thou hast broken the law." Do you see how those of God's people suffered with those who were perishing, and felt excessive grief for them on account of their love for humanity, so that they turned the lamentation of their misery upon themselves, and said, "Woe is me for those who have broken the law," the transgressors!
A Vers. 17, 18. "Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon you who inhabit the earth. And it shall be that he who flees from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that comes out of the pit shall be taken by the snare: for the windows of heaven are opened, and the foundations of the earth shall be shaken." He indicates the inspection of God and His power, which provides for all things and observes all, looking upon the universe as if through the windows of heaven. These windows are seen to be closed when God traverses the earth looking upon sinners, but does not yet punish them; for then, as if He had turned away, He seems not even to see those who are sinning. But when He has determined to take vengeance upon those who have sinned, the windows of heaven are as it were opened wide.
B Vers. 19, 20. "The earth shall be troubled with confusion, and shall be in distress; the earth shall be bent and moved like a lodge, like a drunken man and one overcome with wine." The earth shall suffer all these things, the former inhabitants as they were called being so designated; and He says they shall suffer such things as to resemble those who are drunk and overcome with wine from the excess of their evils. "And it shall fall, and shall not be able to rise again: for iniquity has prevailed over it."
C Vers. 21. "And it shall be in that day, that God will bring His hand upon the host of heaven." For once the earth has fallen at the end of mortal life, that is, the earthly flesh and the soul that loves the body, those who once inhabited the earth will afterwards attain the resurrection, so as to stand before the judgment seat of Christ, and each one shall receive according to what he did in the body, whether good or evil. But when, after the broad judgment, they have fallen from good hope and have been handed over to the punishments previously announced, then, having fallen from God, they will no longer be able to rise. In these things He declared the consummation of all, in which the heaven and the earth shall pass away. Moses is accustomed to call the sun, moon, and stars "the host of heaven." "God will bring His hand upon the host of heaven," I mean according to the mentioned time of God's judgment.
D Vers. 22. "And upon the kings of the earth, and they shall gather their congregation into the prison, and shut them up in a stronghold; for many generations their visitation shall be." It seems to me that by the "kings of the earth" He signifies the princes of this age; for thus Gabriel also declared to Daniel, when he delivered oracles to him with these words: "And the prince of the kingdom of the Medes came to meet me." After mentioning here these invisible kings of the nations, He says they are to be gathered by the hand of God, and cast into prison, and shut up in a stronghold. For since the kingdom of God was then about to shine forth, and the new age to prevail, it was consistent that the principalities, and powers, and world-rulers of this darkness, and the spiritual hosts of wickedness, should be cast into the place they had dug for themselves. For every ungodly man has dug and excavated a pit, and shall fall into the ditch which he made.
A And the brick shall melt, and the wall shall fall, because the Lord shall reign out of Sion and out of Jerusalem, and shall be glorified before the elders. For it was necessary for us, in the discourse concerning the consummation, to learn also those things which related to the heavenly kingdom of our Saviour that is proclaimed to us, which shall be after the overthrow of the principalities and powers. We have already shown from apostolic testimony that Sion and Jerusalem are oftentimes heavenly places, where the kingdom of Christ shall be established.
CHAPTER XXV.
B A Ver. 1. «O Lord my God, I will glorify thee, I will sing praise to thy name, for thou hast done wonderful things, a counsel of old, true: so be it, O Lord.» He says these things as though hurrying and desiring the end of good things to arrive with speed. We shall understand how this counsel was of old, if we attend to the voice of the Saviour, which says to those standing on his right: «Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.» And the Apostle, taking his starting point from this, wrote: «According as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by himself.» This counsel, then, was of old. And these were truly the wonderful things which were predestined C for me before the foundation of the world, but were to be fulfilled at the consummation of the ages. This counsel, therefore, was of old because of the foreknowledge and predestination of God; but it was true because of the outcome of the end. A Ver. 2. «For thou hast laid cities in a mound, strong cities, for their foundations to fall. The city of the ungodly shall not be built for ever. Therefore the poor people shall bless thee, and the cities of men suffering injustice shall bless thee.» And of these things, he says, I will glorify thee, because thou hast removed the cities of the ungodly, having brought to nothing their unholy polities and impious buildings. Those, however, who were saved out of those very ones will bless thee, or, according to the other translators, will glorify thee. These are the people who, for thy sake, became poor in the former age, and the cities of those who were oppressed of old, whom D the persecutors of piety were oppressing. These shall bless thee in thy Church, having been tested in various ways of life, and shall rightly and deservedly bless thee. A Ver. 4. «For thou hast become a helper to every humble city, and a shelter to those who were downcast because of need; thou shalt deliver them from evil men: a shelter for the thirsty, and a spirit of men suffering injustice.» Ver. 5. «They shall bless thee, as men thirsty in Sion, because thou shalt deliver them from ungodly men to whom thou didst deliver us.» And because they were humble and in despondency and in need of every luxury, dwelling in the midst of the wicked, thou thyself wast their helper and shelter;A and moreover, as the souls of those thirsty at that time said, «My soul hath thirsted for the mighty and living God,» thou again wert a fountain, refreshing them and watering them by the shedding of the holy Spirit, and thou thyself, sustaining them from their faint-heartedness, strengthened them by the power of thine only-begotten Word. And that the children of the Jews might not suppose that these things were spoken concerning them, he necessarily adds, concerning the grace of Christ poured out upon all nations, saying:
VERS. 6. «And the Lord of Sabaoth shall make for all nations upon this mountain.» But what shall he make? According to the other interpreters, «a drink» is what is mentioned; but according to the Seventy, «They shall drink,» he says, «gladness, they shall drink wine.» Therefore, he prophesies that the Lord will prepare a banquet, not for Israel, nor for the Jewish people, but for all nations; not in the valleys, nor in the plains, nor yet in many mountains, nor just any mountain, but in that one which, in explaining, he mentioned, saying: «For the Lord shall reign in the mountains, and shall be glorified in the presence of his elders.» For on the mountain of his own kingdom, where he will show his glory to his own elders, he will also prepare a banquet for the nations, and will bestow upon them B the drink of immortality. The Apostle points out this mountain, saying, «Ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, and to the Church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven.» Being established in this place, therefore, not Israel, but as many as from all nations are counted worthy of the promises, shall drink gladness, and shall drink that wine expressed from the true vine, concerning which the Saviour said, «I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.»
VERS. 7. «They shall be anointed with ointment on this mountain. Deliver all these things to the nations; for this counsel is over all nations.» C Furthermore, the evangelical word has delivered to us the images and symbols of these things in the mysteries of the New Testament through the mystical chrism and the saving blood; so that, having been tested in these, we might also partake of the better things: for Israel is not worthy of these. But just as one delivers a deposit by measure, so, he says, deliver the mystical discourse concerning the things mentioned to all nations; for this counsel is indeed over all nations.
VERS. 8. «Death having prevailed hath swallowed up, and again God hath taken away every tear from every face: the reproach of the people hath he taken away from all the earth: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.» Then, therefore, when the saints D shall reign together with the Son of God, death itself, which formerly swallowed them up, shall be utterly swallowed up. And in its place shall be the anointing with which all nations shall be anointed. For being anointed with that ointment, they shall no longer be subject to death, but partakers of immortality and eternal life
partaking in it, will render death powerless and as if dead. A Nevertheless, that compassionate Savior of men, having snatched the souls of men from death and from the error of polytheistic and demonic religion, wiped away every tear from every face. Now the reproach of the people from the nations was the idolatry prevailing among them: which reproach, and the tears resulting from it, God took away from those who were mourning the ruin of such souls on account of human feeling. For it was no small reproach to those who were created in the image of God, that they should fall away from eternal life and be subjected to death. But the reproach shall be taken away, with death abolished and darkness vanished; and as the kingdom of Christ shines forth in eternal life, those from all the nations who have been delivered from their former evils shall enjoy it, and shall be deemed worthy of the promises of God.
B Vv. 9, 10. “And they shall say in that day, Behold our God on whom we hoped, and he shall save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him, and we will exult and be glad in our salvation. God shall give rest upon this mountain.” With death swallowed up at the time of the resurrection, the children of the new age will on that day sing a song of thanksgiving, seeing their Savior in glory, and they shall say, “Behold our God on whom we hoped.” For at one time we had him in hope, having faith in the divine teachings concerning him; but now we see him with our very eyes, wherefore we long endured the evils that were coming upon us. And they indeed shall say these things; but he shall give them rest upon the aforementioned mountain of his kingdom.
C Vv. 11, 12. “And the Moabite shall be trodden down, as they tread a threshing floor in wagons. And he shall let loose his hands, as even he humbled them to destroy them. And he shall bring low his pride, on which he laid his hands, and the height of the refuge of the wall he shall bring low; and he shall descend even to the ground.” I think that here Moab is spoken of as the wicked demon, and the opposing power, which was formerly honored as a god among the Moabites; which, because it thought high things, being proud against the God of Israel, and corrupting the nation subject to itself, so that even in the time of Moses it dared such things as to seduce the people to fornication and to the initiation of Beelphegor—now this was the idol of the Moabites—for this reason these things that we are now treating are prophesied as if concerning some grievous and God-opposing power.
CHAPTER XXVI
D V. 1. “In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Juda, saying.” After which day, when our Savior has received his kingdom on the heavenly mountain, those who are worthy of the promises shall on that day sing the heavenly song, having been placed in the heavenly Jerusalem, which the word currently calls Judaea, in consideration of the region in which the earthly Jerusalem is situated. For thus at the same time it offered to the children of the Jewish people who were hearing it a certain gladness and an incentive toward the hope of the things set before them; at the same time it also portrayed the true Judaea, of the heavenly...
A Jerusalem, the region, and by this means significs its great breadth; so that the place is understood to be Judea, but the religious conversation which godly and evangelical spirits maintain therein is to be considered the city of God. In which place those who are indicated in the prophecy, having been established, will sing on that day the song which follows.
“Behold a fortified city, and he shall place salvation for us as a wall and an outer wall.” Since that low and earthly city was not fortified and firm, inasmuch as it had frequently been captured by enemies; but this is truly the fortified city of God, and this is our salvation. According to Symmachus, however, “Those singing the song shall say, We have a strong city,” and according to the same Symmachus, “a city of power, [is] salvation to us.” But the Hebrew reading for that [word] “salvation,” and for “savior,” clearly and explicitly carries the name of Jesus; for our Savior is written in the very same letters in Hebrew. Therefore, our Savior Himself is the city of the blessed; He Himself is their wall and outer wall. B
Vers. 2. “Open the gates, let a people enter that guards righteousness and guards truth.” For with no one now standing in the way, the road became empty, free, and straight for them. And for these things the just judgment of God is the cause.
Vers. 3-5. “Defending truth and guarding peace, because we have hoped in You, O Lord, forever. The great and eternal God, who, after You humbled [them], cast down the inhabitants in the high places, You shall overthrow fortified cities and bring them down to the ground.” For these things are worthy of that hope stored up with You, and I say these things to You, O desire of my soul. For You, O Lord, are my desire and the divine love of my soul. Wherefore my soul has desired You, for the very memory of Your name ravishes our soul into an ecstasy, and inflames it toward Your love. C
Vers. 6-9. “And the feet of the meek and the footsteps of the humble shall trample them. The way of the pious has been made straight, and the way of the just has been prepared. For the way of the Lord is judgment. We have hoped in Your name, and in the memory which our soul desires. From the night my spirit watches toward You, O God; because Your commandments are light upon the earth.” For we are not able to sleep during the times of the night, but even then, watching in spirit, we hold You, our desire, in our mind. Thus, therefore, our nights also are illuminated like the days, since Your commandments and Your words have been given to us who are still living on the earth, for both night and day, in the likeness of light. Having spoken these things with vehemence of affection, the prophet, calling upon God, passes on to us, admonishing us to walk in the same way as he himself [walked]. D
Vers. 10, 11. “Learn righteousness, you who inhabit the earth. For the impious man has ceased; everyone who does not learn righteousness on the earth shall not do the truth.”
A Let the impious man be taken away, that he may not see the glory of the Lord. Lord, your arm is exalted, and they did not know it; but those who know it shall be ashamed. For the impious, being lowly and standing far off from the knowledge of God, were wallowing in the darkness of their own ignorance. But when that universal knowledge arrived, those who had previously blasphemed against him as though he did not exist, seeing that high arm, shall cease from their madness, seized by shame.
B “Zeal shall seize an unlearned people.” He alludes to those from the circumcision who did not accept the grace through Christ. “And now fire shall devour the adversaries,” as those who are about to be subjected to the judgment which says: “Depart into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” Because they did not accept the light, they shall be handed over to fire and darkness.
Vers. 12, 13. “Lord our God, give us peace; for you have given all things to us. Lord our God, possess us. Lord, apart from you we know no other; we call upon your name.” For while the other things from the One who is all are indeed good, the greatest gift from you is the peace that comes from yourself, so that we may be without sedition, and our soul may be guarded, abiding in you forever. This would come to pass if you would deign to have us as your own possession, since we also know no one else but you, and have trusted in your name alone. Since, therefore, we have possessed no one else in this life but you, we rightfully entreat to be deemed worthy to be your portion and your inheritance.
Vers. 14. “But the dead shall not see life, nor shall physicians raise them up. Therefore you have led away, and destroyed, and taken away every male of them.” We indeed, he says, are yours, Lord, and you are our property; but those who have given themselves over to sins that lead to death, and for this reason have become dead in their souls—for “the soul that sins, it shall die”—shall not see the eternal life promised to the saints, nor will physicians, from wherever they may come, be able at the time of judgment to offer them help for salvation, nor to raise up their downfall. For those whom you, the great and terrible and just Judge, have handed over to destruction, what physician will be able to save?
C “Therefore you have led away and destroyed, and taken away every male of them.” But for the phrase, “and you have taken away every male of them,” Symmachus translated, “every memory of them,” and Aquila and Theodotion translated, “every memorial of them.” D For it was fitting that at the mentioned time of judgment, every memory of wickedness should be removed from the midst. But if one were to say, “every male of them,” the Word introduces great philanthropy, as if the sinners themselves were not to be obliterated or destroyed entirely, but the offspring—those things which their soul has brought forth, that is, evil thoughts—were to be removed from the midst.
A VERSES 15, 16. "Add evils to them, O Lord, add evils to the glorious of the earth. O Lord, in tribulation we remembered you; in a small tribulation is your discipline for us." Since the prophet contemplates the place of the universal judgment—as if present at the judgment and standing at the tribunal of God—he acts according to the condition of the things he sees: sometimes he confesses, sometimes he prays, sometimes he gives thanks, and sometimes he recounts the retributions to be bestowed by God upon the worthy according to their merit. Furthermore, he offers all these things to us through his Scripture, so that we might be instructed, having been taught all that he himself perceived from the illumination of the divine Spirit. And now, he says, O Lord, when the time arrived, walking on the narrow and straitened way, we struggled for the sake of piety; but in that affliction, we were not unmindful of you; rather, strengthened by the remembrance of you, we endured patiently, so that we might say: "We are troubled, yet not distressed; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed." By this calamity, therefore, we are instructed, knowing that whom the Lord loves, He chastens.
VERSES 17, 18. "And as a woman with child draws near to give birth, and in her pain cries out: so have we been to your Beloved. For fear of you, O Lord, we conceived in the womb, and travailed, and brought forth the spirit of your salvation, which we have brought about on the earth. We shall not fall, but all the inhabitants of the earth shall fall." Therefore, enduring every labor, we were like a woman in labor, emitting cries because she is about to bring into the light that which is moving within the womb. For so indeed were we regarding your Beloved; for having your only-begotten Word within our soul, and the godly fear implanted in us by you, and truly steadfastly enduring, we did not fall from hope, but brought forth the spirit of salvation. For the end of the gestation of your Beloved and of fear of Him was the salvation of our spirit. Having brought this forth, we made it manifest to all men dwelling upon the earth, so that they too, having learned, might be benefited by zealously striving to conceive from fear of you, and to bring forth the same spirit. For those who have not received this nor brought forth the spirit of salvation, but have otherwise become barren and unfruitful, shall fall from the hope placed in you; but those who are of your portion, and who for your sake endure every kind of misery, even if they have struggled against sin unto death, shall in no way fall away from the life which is with you.
VERSE 19. "The dead shall rise, and those who are in the monuments shall be stirred to life, and those who are in the earth shall rejoice: for the dew that is from you is a healing for them: but the land of the impious shall fall." The dead shall indeed rise; or according to Aquila, "Your dead shall live," or according to Symmachus and Theodotion, "Your dead shall live." But who would his dead be, if not his holy martyrs, who are others than the aforementioned dead, concerning whom it was said, "We
A have been dead, those who have sinned unto death, but the dead of the Lord are those who for his sake have endured every affliction even unto death. Regarding the words, "they shall rise," the others explained it as if they had fallen asleep and were not truly dead. Therefore, the death of the saints is called a slumber. And consistently with this slumber, the resurrection might be called an awakening. Therefore, according to the other interpreters, it is first said that those in the tombs will be awakened; and secondly, "they shall rejoice," or "they shall praise," according to Aquila, or "they shall shout for joy," as Theodotion translates. Just as dew falling upon the earth gently and mildly nurtures and makes to grow the seeds laid up within it, in the same way the dew from you will provide healing, life, and salvation to your dead, whose bodies were sown in the earth at various times. And you would not be wrong to call the only-begotten Word of God himself this dew, who, by distilling his life-giving drops upon his dead, will provide at once the healing of sins (if anything was missed by them in a human way), and at the same time will grant them resurrection, salvation, and eternal life; but the state of the ungodly is not like this.
B "Go, my people, enter into your chambers, do not be over-curious about the things that are very far from your chambers. Shut your door; hide yourself for a little while, until the wrath of the Lord passes by." After the teaching concerning the resurrection of the dead, the prophetic Spirit, having seen the saints of God as standing before Him, and gathered together in one place after the resurrection, and then, on the other hand, having contemplated the wrath about to come upon the ungodly, exhorts the order of the saints to withdraw for a short time and to hide themselves far away, so that they might not even be spectators of the destruction of the ungodly. And you should understand the chambers of the people of God to be the many mansions with the Father, assigned to each order of the saints according to the just judgment of God. "Into these chambers, then, prepared for you," He says, "my people, enter, and shut your door."
"For behold, the Lord is bringing wrath from his holy place C upon those who dwell on the earth." When it has passed, after opening the doors of your chambers at last, come forth with much power and confidence, to behold the new age and the kingdom of God promised to you. "And the earth shall reveal its blood, and shall no longer cover the slain," so that no one should remain hidden of those who were long ago slain within it through sins leading to death; for it is for this reason that God is said to be about to bring wrath; "wrath" here being the name given to the angels who minister to the punishments. D This signifies through these things the slaying of the saints of God and the blood of the martyrs, concerning which Moses also, writing in the great song, said: "For the blood of his sons he will avenge and will requite,"
A and he will requite vengeance upon the enemies, and upon those who hate him he will requite.
CHAPTER XXVII.
VERS. 1. "In that day God will bring the holy sword, the great and strong, upon the dragon, the fleeing serpent, upon the dragon the crooked serpent, and he will slay the dragon." The rod of God, therefore, being upright and meant for instruction, according to the text, "A rod of uprightness is the rod of thy kingdom," is reserved for those who have sinned in matters admitting of healing, for their instruction, emendation, and benefit. But he who possesses nothing upright or straight, but is altogether and entirely bent and crooked, and who crawls upon his breast and belly on the ground, and who lies in wait for the feet of all to trip them up and cast them down, will, after all the impious, be delivered to the harsh, great, and strong sword which that great Judge has reserved and kept for him alone. B By "sword" he here denotes the execution of justice. But he also calls it "holy," at once tempering the fearfulness of the threat and showing that those who are to be punished are not destined for destruction, but that to those who repent it will be a cause of holiness. For God, when He chastises, does not wish to destroy, but rather strives to purify and sanctify those who turn back.
Vers. 2-4. "In that day, a vineyard of beauty: a desire to excel against it. I am a fenced city, a city besieged; in vain will I give drink to it: for it shall be taken by night, and by day its wall shall fall. There is none that hath not seized it. Who shall set me a guard of stubble in the field? For the sake of this enemy I have rejected it. Therefore the Lord hath done all things which he purposed. I am burned." The meaning of the saying is this: Did those who preached peace to the nations C render evil for evil? For they pursued them, even adding stripes to them; but they, for their part, announced to them the most beautiful things, namely, peace. Did those from the Gentiles then suffer the equal of what they inflicted, wronging the heralds of peace? For they were striking, but were not struck in return; they were slaying, but were not slain in return; and while fighting and heaping reproaches, they harassed them and drove them away, but they, not ceasing, announced to them peace and good things. Wherefore he adds:
VERS. 5-8. "Its inhabitants shall cry: Let us make peace with him, let us make peace: they who come, the children of Jacob, shall sprout, and Israel shall blossom: and the world shall be filled with his fruit. Shall he himself, as he struck, be in like manner struck? And as he slew, shall he be slain? Fighting and reproaching, he will drive them out. Wast thou not the one who wert meditating in a hard spirit to kill them in a spirit of fury?" For the faithless ones from among the Gentiles were meditating these things against the apostles of Christ, D being possessed by a "hard spirit" and thinking of nothing else than how they might kill them with the spirit that was in them. But since those who were afflicted with such hardships, sprouting from Jacob and blossoming from Israel,
all bore everything bravely for Christ’s sake; for this reason he adds:
A “Therefore the iniquity of Jacob shall be taken away, and this shall be his blessing, when I shall take away his sin, when they have set all the stones of the altars broken in pieces, as fine dust, and their trees shall not remain, and their idols hewn down, as a wood far off.” These things, he says, will be the cause of the remission of the sins of Jacob, and for this reason the blessing will come upon him, his sin being removed. For he shall be saved through the procreation of children, if they remain in faith and love and holiness with sobriety, according to the Apostle; it is consistent that Jacob also, “sprouting” children and in such fruit “blossoming,” B should share in their blessing through the virtue of these children. The discourse signifies that many will be saved through the apostolic grace and those who are near to them in the flesh.
“The inhabited fold shall be forsaken, as a fold left behind. And it shall be for pasture for a long time, and flocks shall rest there.” Since they were unwilling to accept the good shepherd, who laid down his own life for the sheep; therefore the field of their soul shall be for a long time for pasture, so that this saying is fulfilled in them: “The boar out of the wood hath laid it waste, and the strange wild beast has fed upon it.”
“And after a time there shall not be in it any green thing, because it is dried up.” C “There,” he says, “flocks shall rest,” that is, clearly, those who graze upon and ravage it. It shall fall into such great desolation that nothing green shall exist in it; wherefore it is said, “And there shall not be green in it. Women coming from the sight, come; for it is not a people having understanding.” He calls out to the women, as if men were not found among them worthy of salvation. Therefore, he exhorts the women to hasten and come to give testimony from the sight of the paradoxical and miraculous works, that they, having come, might enlighten the people sitting in darkness and their city which has been forsaken. Wherefore, according to Aquila, it is said: “Women coming, they enlighten it”; D and according to Symmachus: “Women coming and declaring it.” But what is “it,” if not the aforementioned city, regarding which it was said, “For the fortified city is alone beautiful, and it is let go and abandoned as a desert”? But these things were fulfilled according to the letter and history at the time of our Savior’s resurrection, when, according to Matthew: “There were many women there looking from afar, who had followed him from Galilee, ministering to him: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary of James, and the mother of Jose, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee”; and according to Luke: “And certain women who had come with him from Galilee followed,” etc. “Therefore shall not
A he who made them have compassion, nor shall he who fashioned them show them mercy.” I believe that by these words is signified the war brought upon the Jews in the land of the Palestinians, after the crime committed against Christ.
VERS. 12. “And it shall be in that day, God shall enclose from the ditch of the river unto Rhinocorura. But you, gather the sons of Israel one by one.” This is a town situated at the mountain between Egypt and Palestine. Wherefore, according to the other translators, it is said: “within the torrent of Egypt,” by which is covertly indicated, as I have said, the war to be brought upon the Jews situated in the land of the Palestinians.
VERS. 13. “And it shall be in that day, they shall sound with a great trumpet, and they shall come who had perished in the land of the Assyrians, and who had perished in Egypt; and they shall worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.” For it is to be desired that either one of them, or two, or some small number from each city or each nation should obtain salvation. These, therefore, gather one by one; but to the remaining nations, a great trumpet shall sound, and shall speak with a cry, with all men hearing. Under the name of the Egyptians, he indicates all idolaters; but by the Assyrians, the enemies of Israel, who besieged the land of the Jews: for by the preaching of that truly great evangelical trumpet, proclaimed to those who were idolaters among the nations, and were formerly B enemies and foes of the Israelite religion, they, converted, will approach God; so that those who were formerly lost in the worship and error of idols, repenting and hastening to the knowledge of God, may obtain the salvation offered through Christ.
CHAPTER XXVIII
VERS. 1. “Woe to the crown of pride, the hirelings of Ephraim.” This indicates the council of the Pharisees and chief priests and the rest of the princes of the Jewish people: whom, being gathered together from various ranks and dignities into one, he compares to a crown, not of honor or glory, but of insolence and disgrace. Wherefore he says, “Woe to the crown of pride,” or according to the other translators, “to the crown of arrogance.” For they were certain proud men, arrogant and insane, in whose number the hirelings of Ephraim were reckoned. Judas, the traitor, is certainly reported to have been of the tribe of Ephraim; whom he calls a hireling, because he was induced by a pact of money to betray the Master. “The flower falling from the glory upon the head of the fat mountain, you who are drunk C without wine.” For he, being a participant in the glory of the apostolic choir, his mind having inclined to a most evil deed, became a flower of glory falling. But "flower" and "germ" were just a little before called the apostles of the Savior, where it was said, “The sons of Jacob shall germinate, and Israel shall flourish, and the world shall be filled with his fruit.” But having fallen from these, the prophet is called the flower of glory falling. By these, furthermore, those are signified who are burdened in soul, of whom D the tribe of Ephraim to have been, from Eusebius, as it seems, he borrowed. And similarly what is said below concerning Gethsemani, Jerome brings forward. But the Hebrew word is [original-script column: see facsimile].
Gethsemani. A Which I heard one of our beloved ones explaining and saying that the place is that which in the Gospel is called Gethsemani, where the traitor, having approached the Savior with that crown of ignominy, committed the act of betrayal.
B VERSE 2. "Behold, strong and hard is the wrath of the Lord, like hail rushing down not having a covering, rushing down with violence; like a great multitude of water dragging a country, he will make rest in the land for the hands." For thus, he says, the wrath of the Lord will come against these very people who are drunk without wine; so that it is compared to hail, rushing down upon the heads of men having no covering. In such a way he says that the wrath of God is to be brought upon those indicated.
C VERSE 3. "And with feet shall be trampled the crown of pride, the hirelings of Ephraim." For formerly they were a crown of pride, arrayed for the purpose of committing outrages; wherefore they were also called the crown of arrogance; but such an end will seize them, so that they will be trampled; wherefore they were also trampled by the enemies who enslaved them, who also took care that their city should be crushed by their heels.
VERSE 4. "And it shall be the flower which falls from the expectation of glory on the top of the high mountain; like as the early fig; he who has seen it, before he takes it into his hand, will desire to devour it." Such a one was Judas, who indeed had been a flower, but had fallen at once from expectation and glory. And formerly indeed he was upon a high mountain, about which the prophet says in what follows: "Go up upon a high mountain, you who bring good news to Zion." But he became of such a kind as to be likened to an early fig, to fruit failing to mature, D beautiful indeed and lovely to behold, but otherwise useless because of the imperfection of the fruit, which was not suitable for food. Wherefore, the envious one of all good things, having perceived him as he became an early fruit, snatched him away in haste, so that he wished to devour him even before he could take hold of him with his hand; and thus, indeed, he also devoured him, because he prevailed over him.
VERSES 5, 6. "In that day the Lord of Sabaoth shall be the crown of hope, which is woven of glory, to the remnant of the people. And they shall be left in the spirit of judgment into judgment, and for strength to those who hinder them from killing." Manifestly it is to those who were left from the destruction of the whole people; and these were the Apostles and disciples of the Savior; for He promises that the Lord Himself will be the crown of hope.
A
Ver. 7. "For they have erred through wine; they have wandered because of strong drink," which other interpreters have called "drunkenness." But lest someone should suppose that wine and drunkenness are understood here in the vulgar sense, He has previously taken caution by saying, "You who are drunk without wine." Therefore, this was one kind of wine, and the other was what is called "strong drink," or drunkenness, through which their error came to be. "The priest and the prophet have wandered because of strong drink; they were swallowed up by wine; they were shaken by drunkenness; they have wandered": this is a phantom.
Ver. 8. "A curse shall devour this counsel: for this counsel was because of covetousness." For it was truly a phantom and a ghost that they all together, because they were of such a disposition, should have entered upon a grave and impious counsel, which the curse of God is to invade. Judas, therefore, for the sake of money and covetousness, betrayed the Savior; but the others, wishing to claim the emoluments which they received from the people, and moved by the suspicion that the Word of Christ might remove them from their authority, conspired against Him; wherefore it is said, "For this counsel was because of covetousness." B
Ver. 9. "To whom have we announced evils? And to whom have we announced the message? Those who are weaned from the milk, those who are drawn from the breast." After the Word had described the prophecy concerning the crown of pride and the rest that follows, He turns again to the apostolic order, of which the Lord Sabaoth Himself was said to be the "crown of hope" and the "tiara of glory." Moreover, the Lord Sabaoth teaches this apostolic choir to prepare themselves for the hardships to be brought upon them for the sake of the Word of Christ. Therefore, as if calling out to them, He says, "To whom have we announced evils? And to whom have we announced the message?" as if He said more openly: "Who indeed is eager and ready to undergo the announced evils?" He calls "evils," in common speech, hardships and the other things that are thought to be sad—that is, labors and afflictions undertaken for the sake of piety. For the discourse concerns you, the apostles, and we promise these things to you as future. For when you were infants, nourished by the milk of the breasts, nothing similar threatened you, on account of the immaturity of your spiritually accepted age; and such you were then, C dwelling under the Law of Moses as a pedagogue, or as if refreshed with milk by the first teaching of doctrine; but now, when you have progressed in age and have been led away from the care of the pedagogue, you have approached a more perfect Master, having been weaned from the legal milk and drawn away as if from the bosom of a mother, namely the Jewish and corporeal worship.
Ver. 10–12. "Expect tribulation upon tribulation, hope upon hope: a little yet, a little yet; because of the contempt of lips, through another tongue, because they will speak to this people, saying to it, 'Rest for the hungry,' and this is the destruction, and they would not hear." D These things are said to the apostolic choir, and he announces them in a like manner, but with fewer words.
A to all who have been instructed in the salutary Gospel. But one ought not to despair of one's own salvation in tribulations, as if expecting always to remain in the same state in tribulation; for it will be but a short time before the tribulation ceases, and the rewards of it will receive you, when, having been declared victors, you shall be crowned with the crown of hope, which is interwoven with glory. Therefore he adds "hope upon hope," not after a long interval of tribulation; for the time between will be short; wherefore he says, "Yet a little while," for "tribulation works patience; and patience, probation; and probation, hope; and hope does not put to shame." For those who afflict you, scorning, mocking, reviling, and blaspheming, continue to use a strange tongue. These you ought to despise because of the hope that will shortly receive you.
B "And the word of the Lord shall be to them, tribulation upon tribulation, hope upon hope; yet a little, yet a little; that they may go backward, and be in danger, and be broken, and be taken." The word points out the unbelievers from the circumcision, who will not want to listen. Wherefore it says, "The word of the Lord shall be to them, tribulation upon tribulation." For those who are unwilling to be afflicted for the sake of Christ, and who are unwilling to travel the narrow and afflicted way, but have gone onto the broad and spacious way, will fall backward and be broken, and will be in danger, and be taken. For all these things will befall those who have willed not to accept the aforementioned word of the Lord, becoming for themselves the causes of their own fall and destruction.
C "Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you afflicted men, and you rulers of this people that is in Jerusalem." For since there were other scoffing men among the Greeks who were bringing contempt upon the word of Christ, in order that no one might suppose that the things set forth were spoken of others, he accurately and necessarily added, "the rulers of this people." And since beyond Jerusalem there were many others throughout all Judea and Galilee who were leaders of the people, he signifies accurately to which rulers and authorities of the people these things might apply.
D "For you said, 'We have made a covenant with hades, and with death agreements. If a rushing tempest passes by, it shall not come upon us; we have placed falsehood as our hope, and by falsehood we shall be covered.'" Since, therefore, the aforementioned scoffers thought these things and spoke to one another, mocking and disparaging the word of Christ, by which they were being taught that they ought to expect tribulation upon tribulation, and consequently hope upon hope; but they, on the contrary, having been brought by their own will to strike up a friendship with death and hades, and having established such a refuge for themselves, they expected that they would never fall into a sad and unpleasant event, nor would they experience tribulation; but if it should happen that some impetuous, opposing power should come from somewhere, they assumed that it would not arrive upon them because, as friends
to the opposing power and to death itself, they—"hear ye," He says, "the word of the Lord." A
VERS. 16. "Therefore thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will place in the foundations of Sion a stone of great price, elect, a corner-stone, honorable, into its foundations; and he that believeth in it shall not be put to shame." You indeed did not first accept the grace preached to you; but I, having set My own precious and honorable stone in the corners, shall make Him lofty and manifest and clear to all others, so that everyone who believes in Him may not fail of his hope. He promises to set this stone in the foundations of Sion, which He also accomplished in deed, when He said and fulfilled the statement, "Upon this rock I will build my Church." For we have often understood Mount Sion to represent the evangelical preaching, and the Church founded upon it. He promises that He will place this stone—precious, elect, and honorable—into the foundations of the Church; hence it is called a corner-stone and the head of the corner. This could be what is called the human body of our Savior; since also according to Daniel, the "stone cut out without hands" was seen, so that the stone is understood as His human body, and the mountain, as the divinity of the Savior. B
VERS. 17, 18. "And I will set judgment for hope; but My mercy for weights; and you who trust in falsehood in vain, because the tempest shall not pass you by." According to the other interpreters, "He that believeth shall not make haste." For he who believes will act with perseverance, awaiting the promise of the Word. This would be the stone, and the very rock of which the Savior said, "Upon this rock I will build my Church." This stone, even when He judges, will bring great hope to those who are being judged, because mercy is joined to it with the most righteous weight and measure; wherefore it is said: "And My mercy for weights. And it shall not take away from you the covenant of death; and your hope toward Hades shall not remain; a tempest coming, if it should pass over, you shall be to it for treading down." Do not deceive yourselves, He says, by saying: "Since we have been made friends with death, the tempest will not come upon us, nor will we experience anything painful." Hear, then, and learn, O you who trust in falsehood and say, "We have made a lie our hope, and by a lie we shall be protected"; for a tempest, passing over, will not pass you by, but will take away your covenant with death, and your hope toward Hades shall not remain. For you have entrusted yourselves to a weak thing, having hung your own hopes upon death and Hades. C D
VERS. 19, 20. "When it passes over, it shall take you; morning by morning it shall pass over in the day, and in the night there shall be evil hope. Learn to hear. Being narrowed, we cannot fight; but we are weak, that you may be gathered. For if you had willed, even in the portion of God would you have been gathered—
but since you have willingly surrendered yourselves to death and to hades, know that the Lord Himself shall now come upon you, bringing upon you wrath because of all the things previously mentioned. A
Verse 21. As the mountain of the ungodly the Lord shall rise, and shall be in the valley of Gabaon: with fury He shall do His works, the work of bitterness.
Works of bitterness he inflicts upon those who, because of an inherent malice, have need of a harsh remedy, as it were. Moreover, bitterness, wrath, and furor, and like terms applied to God, signify nothing other than the punishments from the divine tribunal about to come upon the impious. "And his furor shall be used in a strange manner, and his rot shall be strange." BVerse 22. And do not you rejoice, neither let your bonds be strengthened: for I have heard of the Lord God of hosts a consummation and abridgment: which He shall make upon all the earth.
And let not your feet be strengthened, with which you have bound yourselves, having made a covenant with death and a compact with hades. But if there is any hope of salvation left to you, break the bonds toward death; withdraw from the joy you imagine, and put an end to your fleeting pleasure; for you have learned what the end of these things shall be. And do not think that I, the prophet, am saying these things of my own accord; for what I have heard with the ear of the soul, the Lord Sabaoth speaking, these things I have delivered to you; for He desired that you should not be ignorant of the things hidden, ordained, and decreed by Him. CVerse 23. Give ear and hear my voice: hearken and hear my speech.
By "to give ear" through the voice carried through the air, he signifies the giving of the ears; by "to hear," he implies listening and obeying the things said; and by "perceiving in mind" the meanings indicated, he signifies attention and contemplation.Vers. 24-27. Numquid tota die arabit, qui arat? aut semen praeparabit, antequam operetur terram? Nonne cum aequaverit superficiem ejus, tunc seminabit parvum papaver, aut cyminum? et rursum seminabit triticum, et hordeum, et milium, et speltam in finibus tuis? Et erudieris judicio Dei tui, et laetaberis. Non enim cum duritia purgatur papaver, neque rota plaustri volvetur super cyminum; sed virga excutitur papaver: cyminum autem cum pane comedetur. He then employs a natural example; for just as in agriculture there is one season for plowing the field, and another for sowing seeds suitable to the underlying soil; in the very same way, the husbandman of souls, the Word of God, desires that the souls of men be plowed, and that the thoughts hidden in the depth of the heart be furrowed by the plow of the Word through rational teaching. Wherefore He commands, saying: "Novate nobis novalia, et ne seminate supra spinas." When that surface, as it were, of the soul has been leveled, with all the wickedness that formerly grew upon it like thorns having been removed; then, with a distinction being made regarding those who receive the seed, He casts the seeds; into others
[He casts] those that are weaker and small, appearing comparable to poppy and cumin; but into others the more important and necessary ones, those to be compared with wheat and barley, millet and spelt, on account of the great and varied power implanted even in these. For there are "divisions of gifts and divisions of operations"; and to one these things are given through the Spirit, to another others, and yet to others those that are appropriate. Since, however, the time of the harvest has arrived—and the Savior taught that the harvest is the consummation of the world—then each one will be required to return the fruit according to the merit and proportion of the seeds he has received. Those who have received mediocre seeds, yet have not used them as was fitting, will experience a moderate trial of discipline and punishment, being struck as it were by a rod; but those who have been deemed worthy of greater seeds and more perfect gifts, and have not returned any fruit worthy of the power bestowed upon them, will be delivered over to greater and more fiery whirlwinds of punishment. B
VERS. 28, 29. "For I will not be angry with you forever, nor will the voice of my bitterness trample you. And these wonders have come forth from the Lord of Sabaoth. Take counsel, exalt a vain consolation." For He says, "I will not so take vengeance on the impious that I might utterly destroy their substance and utterly destroy their souls; since, according to the example brought forward, the wheels of a chariot constructed of iron do not destroy the wheat, but remove all the straw around it, in order to save the wheat and render it pure." C
Chapter XXIX.
VERS. 1. "Woe to the city Ariel, which David besieged: gather fruit year upon year: for you shall eat with Moab." That Ariel, whom He proclaims as miserable here, the Jews themselves admit to be Jerusalem; and they relate that the altar which had been built before the temple was called Ariel; and they say this is plain from Ezekiel, who toward the end, in the description of the city, has it thus: "And these are the measures of the altar cubit by cubit, and the palm of the bosom is a cubit deep," and further down he adds: "And the Ariel four cubits; and from the Ariel four cubits, and from the Ariel and above the horns a cubit. And the Ariel twelve cubits long by twelve cubits wide, square at its four sides." D They say that Ariel is interpreted as "Lion of God"; for since the altar was God's, and devoured all the animal sacrifices offered upon it, for this reason it obtained this name. But the phrase, "city which David besieged," they say does not exist in the Hebrew exemplar; but as Aquila interpreted it, "little city of David’s life," or "of the circumvallation." For since it had previously belonged to foreigners, David, having expelled them, subjected it to his own dominion; so that we might also be able to adapt this same meaning to the version of the Seventy Interpreters; for thus it might aptly be said, "the city which David besieged," when it was under foreigners. This can also be said to signify...
"for which David fought." And the phrase, "Gather the fruits," means this: for you will soon be deprived of all rational food. While there is time, therefore, use these years for the benefit of your souls; and it seems to me that he hereby implies the time of the saving proclamation, during which the Savior, having sojourned among them, preached the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of requital. It appears, too, that he conversed with them for a second year, or perhaps a third. Therefore, pointing to that very year in which He provided them the teachings concerning the kingdom of heaven, He says: "Gather the fruits, year after year you shall eat." A
VERS. 2–5. "For I will distress Ariel, and its strength and wealth shall be mine. And I will encircle you as David did, and I will place a rampart, and I will build, and I will set towers against you. And your words shall be humbled, and your words shall sink into the earth. And your voice shall be as those speaking from the earth, and your voice shall fail toward the ground. And the wealth of the ungodly shall be as dust from the wheel, and the multitude of those who oppress you shall be as chaff carried away, and it shall be as a moment suddenly from the Lord Sabaoth." For just as David once surrounded the camp around you, Jerusalem, when you were under foreigners, and fought you as a city of foreigners, so I, the Lord who says these things, will now surround you. For you have become a dwelling place for foreigners, filled with wicked princes. These things were fulfilled after the outrages committed by the inhabitants of Jerusalem against our Savior—in accordance with what the Savior Himself is recorded as having said when weeping over Jerusalem at that time: "If you had known, even you, the things that make for your peace! For days will come upon you, and your enemies will set up a rampart around you, and will surround you, and will dash you to the ground." C
VERS. 6. "For a visitation will be with thunder, and with earthquake, and with a great voice, a storm rushing, and a flame of fire devouring." Through these words, He implies that the city would be consumed by fire, with God sending thunder, earthquake, and a storm upon it from above. D
VERS. 7, 8. "And the wealth of all the nations, as many as have campaigned against Ariel, and all who have campaigned against Jerusalem, and all who have gathered against it, and who afflict it, shall be as he who dreams in his sleep. And they shall be as those who drink and eat in their sleep, and when they have arisen, their dream is vain. And in the way that a thirsty man dreams he is drinking, and when he has arisen, he is still thirsty; yet his soul has hoped in vain. So shall be the wealth of all the nations, as many as have campaigned against Mount Sion." By these words, He implies the enjoyment of the pleasure found in this life by the Roman princes. For these were the ones who brought the final siege upon Jerusalem. For it was necessary that we should also learn something about them, and be instructed as to what their end would be. He says, therefore, that...
A their wealth and luxury, which exist only in the present life, are like those things that occur in dreams, and are considered by sleepers to be held securely—for such is the phantasy of the riches of the present world. For after the present life, the dream will be found by them to be hollow, as will the end of the luxury which they thought they were enjoying.
Vers. 9, 10. “Faint and be amazed, and be drunk, not with strong drink nor with wine, because the Lord has made you drink with a spirit of compunction; and he will close their eyes, and those of their prophets, and of their rulers who see the hidden things.” Because when the Lord was present with them, having become man, they heard Him by hearing but did not understand, and though they saw Him with their eyes, they did not behold Him with the vision of the soul; and they made their ears heavy so as not to hear, the Lord will make them drunk with a spirit of compunction.
Vers. 11. “And these words shall be to you all as the words of this sealed book, which if they give to a man who knows letters, saying: Read this, he will say: I cannot read; for it is sealed.” He proceeds to prophesy concerning those who, after these events, were to preside over the people of the circumcision: “And all the words of the book shall be to you,” yet without their understanding them; for they differ in no way from things sealed with seals, so that none of the Jewish people could read the things written. Thus he says that the prophetic words would be unknown to them, whether they were pronounced to them by word of mouth or they were altogether unlearned in them.
Vers. 12. “And this book shall be given into the hands of a man who does not know letters; and he will say to him, Read this; and he will say, I cannot read, I do not know letters.” Such, he says, will the prophetic meaning be, not to all men, but only to those C concerning whom these things were prophesied. For note carefully how it is said: “And these words shall be to you”; for he says “to you,” to those who were present and seeing and hearing. He was addressing the Jews, to whom he teaches that the meaning of the prophecy is unknown under these conditions, when he adds, “And the deaf shall hear in that day the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see, and they shall rejoice.”
Vers. 13, 14. “And the Lord said: This people draws near to me with their mouth, and with their lips they honor me; but their heart is far from me. And in vain they worship me, teaching the commandments of men, and doctrines. Therefore, behold, I will proceed to remove this people, and I will remove them.” And since they hold up the wisdom of men, turning away from My wisdom and My word, and follow certain other traditions of their elders, as if they were those of wise men, for this reason they will not understand My Scriptures. “I myself will destroy D the wisdom of their wise men, and I will set aside the understanding of the prudent.”
Vers. 15. “Woe to those who take deep counsel, and not through God. Woe to those who take counsel in secret, and it shall be in dark-
- A ness, and their works shall be; and they shall say, Who has seen us? and who will know us, and what we do?” Then, because while professing to worship God with their lips, they practiced the worst things in secret, wallowing in sorceries and impurities and ten thousand other unlawful deeds; and because they attempted all these things as if God were not looking on, He justly denounces them, saying these things: B
Vers. 16. “Shall you not be accounted as the potter’s clay? Shall the thing formed say to him who formed it, You did not form me? Or the work to the workman, You did not make me wisely?” For since all men are like the potter’s clay because of our earthen body, how does it not follow that we must understand that it is impossible for the Creator to be unaware of what work is produced by Him? Who can, or who will dare to say, that God did not form him? But if the clay subject to the potter would never say such things about the potter, it is manifest that all those are empty and vain who conceive deep counsel within their soul, and think that God is ignorant of the works performed by them in the darkness.
Vers. 17. “Is it not yet a little while, and Lebanon shall be changed as Mount Carmel, and Carmel shall be accounted as a thicket?” He calls the people from the nations Lebanon, and the Jewish race Carmel C (35). He prophesies, therefore, that the Jewish race will be like a certain thicket of wild and fruitless trees, but that Lebanon, which was formerly like a thicket—that is, the people from the nations—will become what the Jewish people once were, filled with good trees and all sorts of plants and fruits.
Vers. 18. “And in that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, and those who are in darkness and in the mist; the eyes of the blind shall see.” Of what book, if not this very one we have in our hands, concerning which it was said above: “To you all these words are as the words of this sealed book”? But for Carmel, having been changed into a thicket, the words of the book of the prophecy shall be sealed; D but to those who were formerly blind and accounted as being in the thicket of Lebanon, having been changed to a gentle and fruitful state, the words of the divine Scriptures shall become audible; and those who were formerly in darkness and the mist, so that they could not see, nor understand, nor think, because their eyes were blind—these, having been deemed worthy of a paradoxical change, shall become beholders of the mysteries stored up in the sacred scriptures.
Vers. 19. “And the poor shall exult in the Lord with joy, and the desperate among men shall be filled with joy.” For who ever thought that those who from their ancestors were idolaters, being atheists and impious and estranged from the knowledge of God, would come to such a hope? Nevertheless, He says, even the men who were “desperate” shall be filled with joy.
Vers. 20. “The lawless one has failed, and the proud has perished, and all who act lawlessly for malice have been utterly destroyed.” All these shall enjoy these things, because he who formerly held sway and...
A tyrannidem over them held, an unrighteous and impious prince—the devil, I mean—has failed and perished, driven far away, he who formerly brought them into servitude, that proud one. Indeed, even those who acted impiously and unrighteously under him were destroyed; they are, of course, the wicked demons.
Vers. 21. « Who make men sin in word, and place a stumbling-block for all who reprove them in the gates; for they have turned aside the just for unjust causes. » For they would lay snares for the prophets who reproved them to their face and sought to turn them from their habit of sinning, watching for opportunities against them so that they might destroy them.
Vers. 22, 23. « Therefore, thus saith the Lord concerning the house of Jacob, whom He separated from Abraham: Jacob shall not now be ashamed, nor shall he now change his countenance; but when they see their children doing my works, they shall sanctify my name for my sake, and they shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel. » I say to you, you who are called the house of Jacob: whom God separated, as unworthy of that God-beloved Abraham, and alienated them because they did not show themselves worthy of Abraham by their deeds. For the children of Abraham are known by their deeds, as the Savior taught, saying: « If you were the children of Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham. » B And what time could this possibly be, if not the time of the fulfillment of my words, in which your children shall see those of other nations and alien to your race glorifying my name? For then those very children of yours shall be confounded and put to shame, beholding the wondrous transformation of the nations, and seeing men who are of another race sanctifying the Holy One of Israel and the God of Jacob, and receiving into themselves the fear of the God of all things.
Vers. 24. « And they that err in spirit shall know understanding, and they that murmur shall learn obedience, and stammering tongues shall learn to speak peace. » The stammering tongues, which could speak nothing clearly or truly, having returned to their natural state, shall speak most clearly, having been taught the words of peace, as they who have been delivered from all war and have embraced peace with God.
CHAPTER XXX
Vers. 1-5. « Woe, rebellious children, saith the Lord. You have taken counsel, but not through me; and made covenants, but not by my spirit, that you may add sin to sin; who go down to Egypt, and have not asked of me, that they might have help from Pharaoh, and be protected by the Egyptians. For Pharaoh’s protection shall be to your shame, C and to them that trust in Egypt it shall be a reproach: for in Tanis there are princes, wicked angels. They shall labor in vain for a people that will not profit them for help, but to their shame and reproach. » He clearly states that there were at that time demons among the Egyptians; he calls them wicked angels, who were especially active in that city of Egypt which is called Tanis, where the kingdom of Pharaoh was established at that time.
A Moreover, these too, he says, the princes of Tanes, the wicked angels, will not help those who flee to them and implore their aid in any way. And this was fulfilled in deed at the time when the king of the Babylonians, having taken Egypt, made war upon not only the Egyptians but also the fugitive Jews themselves and led them away as captives. For the hope which the Jews then placed in Pharaoh was turned for them into shame and reproach.
VERS. 6. B « A vision of the four-footed beasts in the desert. (Symmachus, The taking up of the beasts of the South.) In tribulation and distress, a lion and a cub of a lion, thence also asps and offspring of flying asps, which were carrying their wealth upon assess and camels to a nation which will not profit them. » This is because the whole land was empty of God and filled with four-footed beasts which they worshipped as gods, and with the demons acting among them. This vision of the four-footed beasts roaming in the Egyptian desert was therefore revealed to the prophet, to which the Jewish refugees were carrying their own wealth; for they had surrendered the storehouses of their own souls to the Egyptian error.
VERS. 7-9. C « The Egyptians shall help you in vain and to no purpose. Declare to them, that this your comfort is vain. Now therefore sit and write these things on a box-tree, and in a book, that they may be for a time in days to come, and even unto eternity: for it is an unruly people, lying sons, who would not hear the law of God. » Thus their folly and madness is described. For neither those sensible Egyptians, nor those who were considered gods among them, were about to help the Jewish people fleeing to them. For because of the great anguish of their soul and the excess of their affliction, they celebrated those who were called gods among them; but they were in fact those same wicked demons who throw their souls into distress and tribulation; among whom were lions and asps, and their offspring, and serpents, and ten thousand other crawling things and beasts; whose images, and indeed the actual sensible animals themselves, were worshipped as gods throughout all of Egypt. D For they truly honored lions and asps, and serpents and ten thousand other such things as gods. Indeed, they have even named their cities after the names of those they suppose to be their gods; from the lion, Leontopolis; from the dog, Cynopolis; and from another beast, yet another city.
VERS. 10, 11. « Who say to the prophets, Tell us not; and to those who see visions, Speak not to us: but speak to us and declare to us another error, and turn us away from this way. Take away from us this path, and take away from us the oracle of Israel. » For these were the things which those who did not believe the voices of Jeremiah said to him and to those who thought the same things as he did.
VERS. 12-16. « Therefore thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel: Because you have disobeyed these words, and have hoped in a lie, and because you have murmured and have trusted in this word; therefore this sin shall be to you as a falling wall of a fortified city which has been captured, the ruin of which comes suddenly; and its
A breaking shall be as the smashing of an earthen vessel, small enough that not a sherd is found among them, within which you might take up fire, or with which you might draw a little water. Thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: When you return and lament, then you shall be saved, and you shall know where you were, when you trusted in vanities; your strength has become vanity, and you were not willing to listen; but you said, "We will flee upon horses; therefore you shall flee; and upon swift riders will we mount." You shall indeed flee; but where will you be able to escape the hand of the Babylonians, which will seize you and hold you within itself? Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift.
VERS. 17. "At the voice of one, a thousand shall flee, and at the voice of five, many shall flee, until you are left as the mast of a ship upon a mountain, and as a banner upon a hill." Just as the mast of a ship that has been lost and sunk in the sea is placed as a sign on the top of a mountain, there being no further use for it, so he says the destruction of the men mentioned will be conspicuous. Yet he does not say that all will perish utterly, but that a few in number will be left behind, whom God, having had mercy and pity, will save, being to be praised and celebrated for the mercy shown to them; for thus he is a just judge, such that he punishes those worthy of punishment, but deems those who are able to obtain mercy worthy of his salvation. Therefore he says:
VERS. 18. "And again God waits to have mercy on you; and therefore he will be exalted, that he may have mercy on you; for the Lord your God is a judge. Blessed are those who abide in him." For since he is a just judge, he handed over those worthy of captivity; but those whom it was right to pity, he saved; whence it is blessed to abide in him, or as Symmachus published, "to endure him." For it is fitting not to desert one's post, nor to despair of the help of God in the calamities that occur. As a just judge, therefore, and as one who is good, he will have mercy; so that Zion and Jerusalem may be rebuilt, and the people may dwell in it again.
VERS. 19. "For the holy people shall dwell in Zion, and Jerusalem has not wept with weeping. Have mercy on me; he will have mercy on you. When he saw the voice of your cry, he heard you." For thus the Hebrew reading goes around; wherefore Symmachus has it thus, "Jerusalem, you shall not weep with weeping"; and likewise it is said according to Theodotion, "In Jerusalem there shall be no weeping." For it was no longer a time of weeping for those who, through the mercy of God, had recovered their ancestral soil, and upon this they rejoice and are gladdened, according to that which is said: "But they shall come with rejoicing, carrying their sheaves." He calls those "holy" who have drawn sanctification to themselves through repentance. The prophet introduces Jerusalem as weeping, having prefigured her as being such in his own mind with the bowels of compassion. But for that, "When he saw the voice of your cry, he heard you," Symmachus says, "The voice of your cry, as it shall have been heard, he will hear you."
A In a similar vein is that which is customary to be said by the Savior: "According to your faith, be it done unto you." For now, he says, she has not wept, but at another time she shall bring this to pass. Furthermore, here she is warned that she must always cry out to God. "At your voice," he says, "God will answer you."
VERS. 20, 21. "And the Lord will give you the bread of affliction, and the water of narrowness: and those who make you err shall no longer draw near to you: for your eyes shall see those who make you err: and your ears shall hear the words of those who have led you astray behind you, saying: This is the way, let us walk in it, whether to the right or to the left." By these words he teaches that, at the beginning of the return, those who returned from the enemy's land shared in much affliction, as those in the surrounding regions harassed them, to the point that they even halted the work of building the temple. This is indeed taught in the history in the book of Ezra. Therefore, they shall no longer lead you astray; for even if some should attempt to do this, your eyes shall see them. And when you have seen and understood them, you will not be led astray. And again, if they should attempt to speak perversities to you with other deceitful words, your ears shall not receive the reports of these men; and even if the deceivers should say: "This is the way, let us walk in it, whether to the right or to the left," B you will not be persuaded by them in saying these things; but you shall walk in the royal road, treading the middle path, and not turning aside either to the right or to the left.
VERS. 22-25. "And you shall defile the idols that are overlaid with silver, and you shall beat fine those that are overlaid with gold, and you shall scatter them like the water of a menstruous woman, and you shall cast them away like dung. Then shall there be rain for the seed of your land, and the bread of the produce of your land shall be plentiful and fat." All things among you shall be filled with great abundance, and you shall pass your life in the deepest peace; so that your animals, and especially those which are useful for cultivating the fields, shall abound in food suited to their nature. C "And your cattle shall feed in that day on a fat and spacious place. Your bulls and your oxen that work the land shall eat chaff mixed with winnowed barley. And upon every high mountain and upon every lofty hill there shall be running water in that day, when many shall perish, and when towers shall fall," or according to Symmachus, "in the day of many killings, when the great shall fall." When will this great slaughter be, and when shall the great fall, if not at the time of the general judgment which occurs after the consummation of this age? Therefore it is said according to the Seventy, "When towers shall fall, and when many shall perish." For many shall perish at that time in which the things promised shall be rendered to those who are worthy. Here, D moreover, he does not mention Israel, nor the Jews at all, but his own people; so that, the promises being fulfilled, all who shall be worthy may be called the people of God.
A Ver. 26, 27. “And the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold in the day, when the Lord shall have healed the breach of his people, and shall heal the pain of thy stroke. Behold, the name of the Lord cometh from afar, burning anger with glory. The utterance of his lips is an utterance full of wrath, and the wrath of his fury shall consume as fire.” For that saying, “from afar,” the other interpreters have rendered “from a long time.” And observe how he says that not the Lord himself comes, but the name of the Lord, hinting at Christ, of whom it is said: “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; God is the Lord, and he hath shined upon us.” But when he shall have come and manifested his second glorious appearing, there shall follow avenging powers, by which punishments shall be brought upon the impious, which this Scripture calls fury and wrath; for indeed, after the sentence has been passed, vengeance shall be brought upon those worthy of punishment. B
Ver. 28. “And his spirit as water drawing in a valley shall come even to the neck, and shall be divided.” And this avenging spirit shall be divided into many parts, because there is a great distinction among those who are to be punished. “To trouble the nations for a vain error, and error shall pursue them, and shall seize them before their face.” This declares the divine inspection extended to all; for the wrath shall not consist in these [the Israelites] alone, but the vengeance shall pervade the nations. And in order that the Israelites might not be able, being rebuked by God alone, to say that God punishes only their sins, and not also those of the nations, he necessarily predicts that the retribution will pass over to the nations as well, and declares that the vengeance for their error shall invade them.
Ver. 29–32. “Must you always rejoice, and enter into my sanctuary continually, as if keeping a feast, as if rejoicing to enter with the flute into the mountain of the Lord, to the God of Israel? And the Lord shall make the glory of his voice to be heard, and the fury of his arm, to show with fury and wrath and devouring flame: he shall thunder violently, and as water and hail carried down by force. For by the voice of the Lord the Assyrians shall be defeated by the stroke with which he shall strike them; and it shall be for him round about.” Then, he says, those who were striking and beating them shall pay the penalty; for demons, surrounding them on all sides, shall inflict the punishments. C But who these are, he immediately reveals, saying: “From whence was their hope of help, in which he himself trusted? They shall fight with timbrels and harps.” To the impious, the hope of help was from their gods—that is, from the opposing powers and evil spirits. For they clung to these as if they were gods, and hoped that the expectation of assistance would be theirs from them, not knowing that these would be their tormentors. For the wrath and fury sent against the impious shall be brought about through evil angels. D “They shall fight with timbrels and harps.”
A from a change of heart; inasmuch as they are those who rejoice in evil; for instead of friends they shall become enemies.
“For you shall be demanded before the days. Is a kingdom prepared for you also?” These things, he says, await you, who were formerly voluptuous and proud; unless perhaps, deceiving yourself, you expect that a kingdom is prepared for you also, just as for those who have trodden the narrow and crushed path, having become poor for the sake of God and for the sake of righteousness. For the kingdom is prepared for all those, but not for you, who walk on the broad and spacious way. “A deep valley, wood lying, fire and much wood. The fury of the Lord is as a valley ignited by sulfur.” Sulfur and fire they kindle B for the punishment of those who are to be condemned there. Having said so much in the intermediate passage, he resumes the prophecy concerning those who flee to Egypt.
CHAPTER XXXI
A “Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who trust in horses and chariots.” For they are many, and there is a very great multitude in horses. And they did not trust in the Holy One of Israel, and they did not seek the Lord. And he himself wisely brought evils upon them, and his word shall not be set aside, and he will rise up against the houses of wicked men, and against their vain hope, the Egyptian man and not God, the flesh of horses, and there is no help. The Lord brings his hand upon them, and those who help shall labor, and all together C shall perish by the sword.” The word reproves them because, not trusting in the Holy One of Israel, they fled to the Egyptians; for which reason he threatens that evils they did not expect will overtake them even in Egypt itself. The word teaches through the whole of the proposed history that, in times of persecution, if it should ever seem good to God to deliver his people or his Church to those who persecute piety, we must not depart from the divine faith, nor withdraw from trust in God, nor despair of his reconciliation, nor decline to the Egyptian life—I mean, that of the idolaters. For many in such times, departing from the doctrine of piety, have hung their hopes upon the help of idolaters.
D “For thus the Lord said to me: As when the lion roars, or the young lion, over the prey which he has seized, and shouts over it until the mountains are filled by his voice, and they are overcome, and have been terrified by the vehemence of his fury; so shall the Lord Sabaoth descend to war upon Mount Sion, upon its mountains as birds flying; so C will the Lord protect, and deliver, and preserve, and save. Turn back, you who have taken deep and iniquitous counsel, O sons of Israel: for in that day men shall deny their handiwork, the silver and the gold, which their hands have made.” For it is allowed even now for them, if
they repent, to return into their own land, having learned what things God has promised concerning it. And history A demonstrates this; for after their return from Babylon, and after they had raised up a second time the temple in Jerusalem, they are no longer seen to have used idols.
Vers. 8. “And Assur shall fall, not by the sword of a man; nor shall the sword of a man devour him: and he shall flee, not from the face of the sword: and the young men shall be for a defeat.” It signifies the destruction of the kingdom of the idolaters, and their ruin, as if cast down from the height of former royal dignity into a low place. And this, he says, will happen to them, not from human assault, but from the wrath of God inflamed against them. For even if men might seem most of all to be the ministers of their destruction, yet it was God himself who, through the hands of men, utterly overthrew them.
Vers. 9. “For they shall be surrounded with a rock, as with a rampart, and they shall be conquered.” He calls “the rock” the formerly solid and firm and strong power of the Assyrian, which he says B the Word is to pass beyond. “And he who flees shall be taken. Thus saith the Lord: Blessed is he who has seed in Sion, and domestics in Jerusalem.” By this he exhorts those who had rushed into Egypt not to depart from the place where the temple of God was; but he also calls blessed those who are to have seed in Sion and domestics in Jerusalem, because it was about to be restored and to recover its former glory, or even greater than that which it had obtained before. Wherefore it was said to others: “And the glory of this house shall be the last above the first.” And you ought to know that the word “blessed” was spoken by none other of the interpreters; but for the words, “who has in Sion seed and domestics in Jerusalem,” Symmachus has, “fire in Sion and an oven in Jerusalem”; while Aquila C and Theodotion have said, “Light for him in Sion and an oven for him in Jerusalem.” By this the Word teaches that the God and Lord of all, who brought forth these threats against the Assyrians, has fire in Sion and an oven in Jerusalem; so that, when He wills, He may with this fire and oven burn and roast those who have need of combustion. Wherefore the city of God is not to be held in contempt.
Moreover, these things may rightly be said also of the Church, since it is that glorious city of God, of which it is said: “Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God.” There is also in it fire and an oven, to burn and consume the wood and hay and D stubble in each soul. But if it be said, “Light for him in Sion, and an oven for him in Jerusalem,” we must understand “light” for those in the assembly who are worthy of the light, but “the oven in Jerusalem” for those who have need of burning and purification.
CHAPTER XXXII
Vers. 1. “For behold a just king shall reign, and…”princes shall rule with judgment. And a man shall hide his words, and he shall be hidden as water flowing. And there shall appear in Sion as a river flowing, glorious in a thirsty land.” B He prophesies concerning the theophany of Christ; for this King alone appeared just among men. And His apostles, with the judgment of their own King, took the lead of His Church. Christ, therefore, reigned unto righteousness, this being a new kind of kingdom; for He did not base His kingdom on human rank, nor on the honor and glory that comes from men, but on righteousness; just as His princes also ruled not by being promoted to worldly dignities, but unto judgment. Wherefore, according to the other interpreters, it is said: “And princes shall rule unto judgment.” As for the phrase, “And a man shall hide his words,” Symmachus says: “And there shall be a man, he says, as a covering from a spirit and a storm.” Who, therefore, will be the man, if not the one named just above? For this very person will be a man, not indeed *only* a man by nature, but greater than the nature of a man. Yet He will be a man hiding His divinity. For the multitude of the Jewish people was like flowing and lost water; wherefore He hid Himself from them, and covered His words from them, but revealed them to His own disciples. Who, then, shall appear, if not the just King Himself? For He Himself shall offer Himself to be seen, as a glorious river flowing. And what is this Sion, if not that which publicly received Him who was hidden from them? For that which was formerly the desert and thirsty Church from the Gentiles, this is truly Sion. C
Vers. 3, 4. “And they shall no longer be trusting in men, but they shall give ears to hear, and the heart of those who are infirm shall attend to hear, and the stammering tongues shall quickly learn to speak peace.” Sion, therefore, and the thirsty land that was formerly a desert, would be the Church; and the heart of the infirm and the stammering tongues would be the [hearts and tongues of the] nations, who formerly neither knew God nor spoke rightly, to whom He promises the conversion to better things. To these He adds:
Vers. 5. “And they shall no longer say to the fool, Rule;” just as they formerly did, when they entrusted their own souls to teachers who were truly fools; and these were the wise of this world, whose wisdom God hath made foolish. Such was everyone who professed the wisdom of this world. “And your servants shall no longer say, Be silent.” D
Vers. 6, 7. “For the fool shall speak foolish things, and his heart shall think vain things, to accomplish lawlessness, and to speak error against the Lord, to scatter hungry souls, and he shall make the thirsty souls empty. For the counsel of the wicked shall deliberate lawless things, to destroy the humble with unjust words, and to scatter the words of the humble in judgment.” For all these foolish things those formerly foolish princes of men used to perform; and their counsel was wicked, [plotting] lawless deeds.
A Ver. 8. “But the pious have devised prudent counsels; and this counsel shall stand.” By these are signified the apostles of our Savior at the beginning of His salvation; and for the leading of it, a righteous King has been given.
Ver. 9. “Rich women, arise, and hear my voice; daughters, hear my words in hope.” Through the things set before them, He addresses them, exhorting them to weep, to wail, and to mourn, as if they had fallen away from the grace of God through their unbelief toward God; and rebuking the unmanly and effeminate character of their soul, he calls them women. Furthermore, they say that their synagogues are indicated by this prophecy. Therefore, the Word exhorts them not to attend to what is said listlessly or perfunctorily, but with a wakeful and composed mind. Perhaps you might say that by those former women are signified those ancient assemblies of the Jews and the multitude gathered there; but by the daughters, those arising in later times, their synagogues.
Ver. 10. “Make mention of the days of the year in grief with hope; the vintage is consumed, the seed has ceased, and it shall come no more.” The prophetic word calls the year the time of the evangelical preaching, during which our Savior and Lord, while dwelling and teaching among men, preached. And B this He declares next, when He speaks thus from the person of God: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me; He hath sent me to preach good tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to call the acceptable year of the Lord.”
Ver. 11. “Be disturbed, be grieved, ye that are confident; strip yourselves, become naked; gird your loins with sackcloth.” That sorrow, he says, which is according to God, let it sting you, and depart from your former unbelief, and give yourselves to repentance. For godly sorrow worketh repentance unto salvation, not to be repented of.
Ver. 12, 13. “And smite upon your breasts, for the field of desire, and for the vine of fruit; the land of my people shall bring forth thorns and grass, and from every house joy shall be taken away.” This, indeed, He declared above with these words, “I C expected it to make grapes, but it made thorns,” and explaining these thorns, He added, saying: “I expected it to do judgment, but it did iniquity, and not justice, but a cry.” Therefore, concerning these things, He commanded them to wail, especially because of the threats that have been brought upon them.
Ver. 14. “A wealthy city, houses abandoned, they shall leave the wealth of the city, the desirable houses. And the villages shall be caves forever, the joy of wild asses, the pastures of shepherds.” For who, seeing foreign men dwelling in Jerusalem, and idolaters gathered from different nations, would not D justly say
that wild asses and various herds feed upon it? Therefore it is said: “The joy of wild asses, the pastures of shepherds.” For these reasons, therefore, the Word commands you to make a great lamentation and to persevere in mourning B until the Spirit comes upon you from on high. This is what the Savior was speaking of when He declared: “Behold, I go, and I will send to you the Paraclete, the Spirit of truth,” and again: “Until you receive power from on high.” Since, therefore, “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted,” and “Blessed are they that weep, for they shall laugh,” He rightly brings a good promise through the Spirit to the aforementioned women who, by mourning, tears, and lamentation, demonstrated their repentance.
VERS. 16. “And the desert shall be Chermel, and Chermel shall be accounted into a forest; and judgment shall rest in the desert, and justice shall dwell in Carmel.” Libanus, the mountain hanging over Phoenicia, signifies the nations; but Carmel, the mountain that was previously under the Jews, signifies the people from the circumcision, whence Chermel—that is, Carmel—is translated “knowledge of circumcision.” The Word, therefore, says that Libanus, the foreign and strange people converted from the nations, will be such as that people from the circumcision once was, honored before God; but that the people from the circumcision itself, who are called Chermel or Carmel, shall be accounted as a forest. This is what the interpretation of the present passage according to Symmachus implies, when it says: “And the wilderness shall be Carmel.” For just as Libanus was said to be transformed into Carmel, so here the wilderness—so that the wilderness is the same as Libanus, indicating the Church from the nations, which has been changed into Carmel. For just as formerly, “The portion of the Lord was His people Jacob, the lot of His inheritance, Israel,” and Carmel had come into the knowledge of this, so also Libanus and that wilderness of old, transformed into a better condition, became the portion of God; whereas, conversely, Carmel was accounted as a forest. C Now, a forest is a place full of wild and barren trees; therefore, it is the custom of divine Scripture to call the nations that do not know God a “forest,” as we have often shown.
VERS. 17, 18. “And the works of justice shall be peace, and justice shall hold rest, and they shall be confident even unto the age. And His people shall dwell in a city of peace, and shall dwell confident, and they shall rest with riches.” For in place of that great and proud city which has been destroyed, He prophesies that another city will be established for God—namely, the Catholic Church reaching from the ends of the earth to the ends, and the pious way of life within it. For the mind of those who believe in God is steadfast. He calls that city of peace the one which is in the heavens: for “that which is above,” He says, “is Jerusalem, which is free, and is the mother of all of us.” D
A And he calls it a city of security and [mentions] the various mansions: for, “There are,” He says, “many mansions with my Father,” which keep riches that are never to be plundered. For, “Lay up for yourselves treasures,” He says, “where neither rust nor moth consumes, and where thieves do not break through and steal.”
VERS. 19, 20. “But the hail, if it comes down, shall not come upon you. And there shall be those who dwell in the thickets, confident, as those in the plain. Blessed are you that sow upon all waters, where the ox and the ass tread.” By these words He declares blessed the apostles of our Savior and the first heralds of the Gospel, who preached both to Jews and Greeks, and cast their seed upon every person, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For the ox, B as a clean animal, is called the people from the circumcision, because of their fathers; but the ass, as an unclean animal, is called the people sprung from idolatrous fathers. Since, therefore, the apostles of our Savior were casting the evangelical seed first among the Jews, and then among the Greeks, it is rightly said: “Blessed is he that sows upon all waters, where the ox and the ass tread.” And by “water” he here signifies the divinely-inspired Scripture, which is trodden upon by the people of the Jews and of the nations.
CHAPTER XXXIII
VERS. 1. “Woe to those who make you miserable, but no one makes you miserable; and he who rejects you, does not reject: those who reject shall be caught and surrendered, and as a moth in a garment, so shall they be overcome.” C Akin to these are the things by which the Savior was speaking to His own disciples: “He who rejects you, rejects Me,”—but you shall not be injured—“and he who rejects Me, rejects Him who sent Me.” For there being two orders, as one might say, in the times of persecution, he who suffers but does not act is blessed; but he who acts but does not suffer is miserable.
VERS. 2. “O Lord, have mercy on us; for in You have we trusted. The seed of the disobedient has come to destruction; but our salvation [is] in the time of tribulation.” He sends forth the prayer from the person of the apostles: for the seed of those indeed who did not believe in the evangelical preaching was surrendered to destruction; but You Yourself are our salvation, O Lord, who are present with us in the time of tribulation. D
VERS. 3. “By the voice of Your fear the peoples were stirred from Your fear, and the nations were scattered,” concerning those who did not have faith in the holy preaching. He signifies the siege of the Jewish nation, and that, when a multitude of enemies came upon them, they were driven from their own land and scattered among the nations.
VERS. 4. “But now your spoils shall be gathered, small and great, as if one should gather locusts; so shall they mock you.” By this he declares how weak and how easy to be conquered the Jewish people would be; and by comparing their multitude to locusts, he signifies that the enemies
shall have them for a plaything—not only plundering their spoils, both small and great, but also mocking them. Having said these things concerning them, he proceeds to the rank of the Church of God, upon which he glorifies God, saying: A “Holy is God who dwells on high; Zion has been filled with judgment and justice.” You will understand what Zion is from the fact that it is said to have been filled with judgment and justice. In the preceding [verses] it was said: “And judgment and justice shall rest in the desert.” Therefore, what was previously called the desert, he now calls Zion, thus signifying the Church of God. For this was the former desert, in which judgment and justice had come to rest; and for this reason God is now blessed, because it has been filled with judgment and justice.
“They shall be handed over in the Law, in the treasuries is our salvation; there is wisdom and knowledge and piety toward the Lord. These are the treasuries of justice.” For they were handed over in the Law—the evangelical law, that is—in this common Zion; for good things are laid up in hope for the saints. And in what treasuries, if not in those laid up in the heavens?
“Behold, in your fear these will fear, whom you used to fear; they shall cry out from you.” These things are spoken to the apostles; for he says that your fear will fall upon the unbelievers.
“Angels shall be sent weeping bitterly. For their ways shall be deserted; the fear of the nations has ceased, and the covenant with them is taken away, and you shall not reckon them as men. The land has mourned, Lebanon has been ashamed, Saron has become a marsh, Galilee and Carmel shall be manifest.” B The philanthropic God, therefore, sent angels of peace to the people of the Jews, weeping bitterly and exhorting them to receive the evangelical peace. But since they did not receive them, he adds, saying:
“Now I will arise, says the Lord; now I will be glorified; now I will be exalted”; by this word he clearly indicates that God will appear to them. But to which of them, if not to those who have treasured up for themselves the treasures of justice and of wisdom? For to these, he says, I will appear. And these were the disciples and apostles of our Savior, to whom I indeed appeared; but they cried out earnestly, being C angels of peace; and for this reason they wept bitterly, crying out in earnest prayers for the destruction of the former people. For the apostles of our Savior were angels who wept bitterly, mourning because those who were called by them to the peace of Christ did not obey, nor did they believe them.
“Now you shall see, now you shall perceive; vain shall be the strength of your spirit,” which had been handed down to them through Moses, and that no one any longer shall reckon them as men. “Fire shall devour you,” promising his second and glorious coming, at which they shall see. D
A And the nations shall be burnt up, as a thorn cast into a field and burnt. Those who are far off shall hear what I have done; those who are near shall know my power. The wicked in Sion have departed; trembling shall take hold of the ungodly. Even if this prophecy does not foretell these things concerning those of the Jewish people who accepted the grace heralded to them, you, hearing these prophetic words, do not understand, knowing that these things which are spoken and written to you in the Hebrew tongue, and all those other wonders which I performed among you—and which I spoke among you, and which you yourselves saw performed—will be heard of by those dwelling far off and even at the ends of the earth. But how will they hear, unless they draw near to God, and, having approached him, learn his power? These very men, namely, the ungodly dwelling in Sion, shall know how they have departed from me; for which reason, because of their apostasy, trembling shall take hold of them.
VERS. 15. “Who shall announce to you that fire is kindled? Who shall announce to you the eternal place? One who walks in justice, who speaks a straight path, hating iniquity and injustice, and shaking his hands free from gifts, closing his ears that he may not hear the judgment of blood, shutting his eyes that he may not see iniquity.” He says, then, “Who shall announce to you that fire is kindled,” [the fire] prepared for the devil and his angels? Who, therefore, is he who knows these things, and testifies of them to those who do not know, if not he who walks in justice, and who hates impiety and injustice; they who reject gifts, and stop their ears so as not to hear the judgment of blood, and shut their eyes so as not to see an B unjust deed? Such was the choir of the prophets of God, and any religious man; the choir, moreover, of the apostles and disciples of our Saviour. Whoever, therefore, they say, shall be of this kind, he shall announce to us that the fire prepared for the ungodly is kindled; and he himself shall point out to us the place of eternal judgment, testifying that we must be on our guard so as not to fall into it.
VERS. 16. “This man shall dwell in a high cave of a firm rock: bread shall be given to him, and his water shall be trustworthy.” This same man, having removed himself far from the fire and the aforementioned eternal place, shall dwell in a high cave and on a firm rock. But according to Symmachus, “He shall dwell in the heights, as if the height of the rocks were his fortifications”; so that through these things we may understand the exercise of the blessed, and their way of life set in the highest philosophy; wherefore it is added, “Bread shall be given to him, and his water shall be trustworthy.” Such a man, having used bread and water in this present life for sustenance, shall obtain as the end and fruit of his exercise the glorious contemplation of the King; wherefore he says:
VERS. 17-19. “You shall see the King with glory, your eyes shall see the land from afar: your soul shall meditate on fear. Where are the scribes? Where are the counsellors? Where is he who counts those who nourish the small and the great people? To whom he gave no counsel, nor did he know a high-sounding voice; so that D there was no...
A understanding for him who hears.» Where are the scribes who champion the letter of the law, and who know how to understand nothing other than the declamation of the wording? The Saviour denounced these wretches in the Gospels, saying: «Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites.» For where will these appear in the day of judgment, since they were flatterers who corrupted those who flattered them?
B VERS. 20. «Behold Sion the city, our Salvation our eyes shall see, Jerusalem; a wealthy city, tabernacles that shall not be shaken, nor shall the stakes of its tabernacle be moved for all time, nor shall its ropes be broken.» By these things the Word signifies that the Salvation is Christ of God, and the city of festivals is the Church of God. For the tabernacles of the Jewish Jerusalem were often shaken, having been besieged in various ways and brought to the ground by those who fought against it from time to time; but of this new city he says the stakes will be unmoved. For even if you think that you are sometimes driven and besieged in persecutions, yet it stands upon the rock and remains unshaken for ever; for He who said was truthful: «On this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.»
VERS. 21, 22. C «For the name of the Lord is great to you, a place for you there shall be, rivers and canals broad and spacious. This way you shall not travel, nor shall a swift ship pass. For my God is great; the Lord shall not pass me by, our judge, the Lord our ruler, the Lord our king, this Lord shall save us.» This very name, he says, of the Lord shall be a place for this new city, unshaken and unable to fall; therefore, as having been built upon the Lord, who is its place, it remains unshaken. Through which D the Word says that the Lord shall be the place of the aforementioned city, possessing streams of rivers and broad canals; so as to say: «The streams of the river make glad the city of God,» and, «The river of God is filled with water,» because the Lord Himself is their place. Whence these rivers are inaccessible to enemies and foes, surrounding and walling in the aforementioned city of God instead of a rampart, so that there is no ingress for any strangers; since the Lord, being its place, is great; for He Himself was the rock upon which it was built.
VERS. 23, 24. «Your ropes were broken, because they did not have strength; your mast has leaned, it shall not lower the sails; he shall not raise a standard, until it is surrendered for spoils. Therefore many lame shall make spoil, and the people who dwell in them shall not say, I am weary; for their sin has been forgiven.» By these things he signifies the fall of the corporeal Jerusalem, whose ropes were broken; and its mast, like that of a ship having foundered in storms and waves, reclined as it fell, when the ropes that held them together were torn apart.
A
CHAPTER XXXIV
VERS. 1-5. "Draw near, O nations, and hear, O princes; let the earth hear, and those who dwell in it, the world and the people who are in it; for the fury of the Lord is upon all nations, and wrath upon all their number, to destroy them and deliver them to slaughter. And their wounded shall be cast out, and their dead; and their stench shall rise." To whom does He deliver them to slaughter, if not to the avenging powers? Having been chastised by these, some shall be wounded, and others dead, namely those who have sinned unto death, whose crimes, committed in the mortal life, shall emit a stench at the time of judgment; wherefore, according to Symmachus, it is said, "And the stench shall rise."
B VERS. 4. "And the mountains shall be drenched with their blood. And all the powers of the heavens shall vanish." These were the mountains of which it was said, "And the mountains shall vanish from the blood." For the powers of the heavens, which are signified by the mountains, are said to vanish, inasmuch as they were the cause of destruction for the aforementioned men. What, then, could these be, if not those of whom the Apostle says, "We do not wrestle against blood and flesh, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places"? For these powers, which occupy the aerial region, are called powers of the heavens, since divine Scripture is accustomed to call those things which are carried through the air "birds of the heaven," saying, "The birds of the heaven and the fish of the sea." C But since that phrase, "And all the powers of the heavens shall vanish," does not appear in the version of the Seventy Interpreters, it was added with asterisks from the interpretation of others. Because it was necessary for us to know when these things would be, the prophetic word teaches us this, declaring that the aforementioned things will occur after the consummation of this world. Wherefore it adds: "And the heaven shall be folded up like a scroll, and all the stars shall fall like leaves from a vine, and as leaves fall from a fig tree." The Savior also, in the Gospels, handed down these things concerning the consummation: "and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken; and then the sign of the Son of Man shall appear in heaven." D Aquila, however, says, "And all their host shall flow away, as a leaf flows from a vine, and as what falls from a fig tree," while according to Symmachus, "And all his power shall fall, as a leaf falls from a vine, and as what falls from a fig tree." We have observed these things to show that those which are called "stars" by the Seventy Interpreters are termed "powers of the heavens" by the other interpreters. And what powers, if not those of which it was just spoken? These, therefore, are said to fall like the leaves of a vine at the time of judgment, when the heaven shall be folded up like a scroll. Here, truly, it must be noted that these things signify not the corruption, nor the ruin, nor the destruction of the heavens
as indicated by the words; but just as when a book is unrolled and opened, the things written therein come into view without the book itself being destroyed, so too, when that book which encompasses the judgments and deeds of the entire age is unrolled and opened, the opposing powers will flow down from that place where they dwell in the air. A Then those same opposing powers, which had previously harmed many like stars, will fall; since even Satan himself, transforming himself into an angel of light, has fallen like lightning from heaven.
VERS. 5. « My sword is intoxicated in heaven, and it shall descend upon Idumea, and upon the people of perdition with judgment. » Idumea signifies the earthly, into which the sword, descending, is filled with blood and is fattened, as it were, with the fat of those being slaughtered.
VERS. 6. « The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is fattened with fat, with the blood of goats and lambs, and with the fat of goats and rams: for it is a sacrifice to the Lord in Bosor, and a great slaughter in Idumea. » Who are these lambs and goats and rams, he says? By the name of lambs, or according to the other interpreters, kids, are signified those who lead a common and private life; but the goats and rams are those who are powerful in commands and authority, whom the sword of God will invade, performing a sacrifice, as it were, by slaughtering and sacrificing the aforementioned lambs and goats and rams. B C
VERS. 7. « And the robust shall fall with them, and the rams and the bulls: and the earth shall be intoxicated with blood, and filled with their fat. » Bosor represents the flesh, and by these things the resurrection of the flesh is declared. Wherefore, D teaching that such slaughter will take place in the flesh, he says: « For it is a sacrifice to the Lord in Bosor, and a great slaughter in Idumea: » for it will invade every earthly soul. For Edom is interpreted as the earthly; just as elsewhere this same prophet, proceeding in the subsequent passages to speak concerning the Savior and the judgment to be brought about by Him, says: « Who is this who comes from Edom, with red garments from Bosor? » For in this way he declared His fleshly advent upon the earth. I think, however, that the Divine Spirit uses these threatening words to indicate the vengeance to be taken by God upon the wicked; and so that the hearers might be deterred by the more frequent and repeated voice, and so that no one might be able to understand the punishments to be inflicted upon the wicked in any other way, nor yet be able to devise the mode of the punishment. For this reason, He uses cruder language and more common words that strike terror, so that those who hear these things, being terrified, might turn back.
VERS. 8. « For it is the day of the Lord’s judgment, and the year of recompense for the judgment of Sion. » And in the previous passages also He was saying
« Wealthy women, rise up, make remembrance of the day of the year in sorrow with hope. » Who, then, was this year, upon which He commands one to lament with sorrow, the present prophecy reveals, saying the things set before us: « To call the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of recompense to our God, to comfort all who mourn, to give to those who mourn for Sion glory. » You see how in these words it is phrased as « the year of the Lord, » and « the day of recompense, » seeing that it is similar to the saying, « For it is the day of judgment of Sion. » Therefore, it is one and the same year, and one and the same day, upon which the poor are evangelized, and those who mourn for Sion are comforted at the coming of Christ, and the women called wealthy are summoned to lamentation, and the things mentioned through the preceding words were destined to happen to Sion. Now all these things were fulfilled at the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ, at which those who had believed in Him, and had received the grace through Him, enjoyed those most excellent promises; but those who had severed themselves from His grace, having fallen from every good hope, experienced the threats of more gloomy things. And their own conspicuous and royal city itself suffered such things as the present prophecy foretells. B
VERS. 9. « And her valleys shall be turned into pitch, and her land into brimstone. And her land shall be as burning pitch night and day. » By which the Word C clearly signifies the extreme desolation to be brought upon both the place and the nation.
VERS. 10. « And it shall not be quenched for an eternal time: and her smoke shall ascend upwards: from generation to generation she shall be desolate, and for a long time. » This is a sign of the punishment which they suffer in the depths, offering a sight to those situated above, because of the wickedness ingrained in them, which, because it is shadowy and dark, is compared to pitch.
VERS. 11. « Birds, and hedgehogs, and ibises, and ravens shall dwell in her: and a measuring line of the desert shall be cast over her, and onocentaurs shall dwell in her. » By these He signifies unclean souls, such as were the souls of those who, from foreign and alien nations, dwelt in that place afterwards, the worshippers of idols.
VERS. 12. « Her princes shall not be. For her kings and her magnates shall be for destruction. » He hints at certain demons who dwelt in their idols and statues as if in hiding places. D
VERS. 13, 14. « And in her cities thorny wood shall grow, and in her fortifications. And it shall be the lairs of sirens, and a stable for ostriches. And demons shall meet with onocentaurs, and one shall call to the other: there shall onocentaurs rest, having found for themselves rest. » Signifying their fruitless teaching. Wherefore also He declared above that their vineyard had brought forth thorns, with these words: « I waited for it to make grapes, but it made thorns. » But where there has been an extreme desolation in their souls,
and their territory has been filled with thorns, he rightly prophesies that the impure spirits will find rest among them.
A VERS. 15. « There the hedgehog has nested, and the earth has preserved her young in safety. There the hinds have met, and seen each other’s faces. » The divine Scripture acknowledges the hind to be a clean animal, and teaches many good things concerning hinds, as when it says: « As the hind longs »; and again: « The voice of the Lord preparing the hinds »; and again: « Let the hind of friendship and the foal of thy graces converse with thee »; and in the book of Job: « Hast thou observed the months of the hinds, and wilt thou send out their birth pangs? » And the beloved himself of the bride, in the Song of Songs, is compared to a hind: « He is like a gazelle or a young hind upon the mountains of spices. » Since, therefore, even the bridegroom himself is compared to a hind, whom would you say the hinds are here, if not the disciples and apostles? And the animal is also a slayer of serpents. B Therefore, the present text describes how from the wilderness of the Jewish nation certain hinds went forth, namely the disciples of our Savior: « For there, he says, the hinds met, and saw each other’s faces. » For they recognized themselves, and perceived in one another the characters of their souls made according to the image of God. But because they did not remain in a single city, but rather ran about, one here and another there, fulfilling the Gospel; for this reason it is said:
VERS. 16. « The one did not seek the other, because the Lord commanded them, and his Spirit gathered them. » For he who said to them, « Teach all nations in my name, » he himself commanded that they should not establish the foundations of their churches in one and the same place.
« And he himself shall cast lots for them, and his hand has divided the pastures. For an eternal time you shall inherit, for generations of generations you shall rest upon it. » C Therefore, he provided both food and pasture for them, as well as lots for generations of generations, so that they might rest in their own lots, namely, in the nations assigned to them by lot; where, in the churches founded by them, their memory is rekindled for generations of generations.
CHAPTER XXXV
VERS. 1. « Rejoice, thirsty wilderness: let the wilderness exult, and bloom as the lily. » This wilderness, therefore, must be different from the previously mentioned Sion, in which it was said that hedgehogs, ibises, ravens, demons, and onocentaurs would dwell, and that its valleys would be filled with pitch and brimstone. Since these things are said concerning Sion and Jerusalem, it remains for us to understand that the things now being discussed are spoken of a different wilderness. D For that wilderness was truly thirsty in former times, bereft of the heavenly stream, but the Word commands it to rejoice and exult for the reasons mentioned, and furthermore even to bloom as a lily; so that it may say: « The fragrance of Christ »
we are to God in every place. » A And he says that young shoots and beautiful flowers will also bloom, concerning which it is said in the Song of Songs: « The flowers have appeared in the land; the mandrakes have given their fragrance. »
VERSE 2. « And the desert of Jordan will bloom and exult. The glory of Lebanon has been given to it, and the honor of Carmel; and my people will see the glory of the Lord and the height of God. » Here he clearly signifies the evangelical Scripture through the Jordan; for at the Jordan river John was the first to preach the kingdom of heaven: and because that worship, formerly held in honor according to the law of Moses, was no longer flourishing in Jerusalem, that same prophet delivered the baptism of repentance and the washing of regeneration in that B very river; and our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ confirmed the preaching of John as if with his seal, when he was baptized by him in the Jordan river, and through himself ratified the mystery of regeneration.
« The glory of Lebanon has been given to it, and the honor of Carmel. » Lebanon, that is, incense, signifies in the preceding words both the altar and the temple, in which sacrifices along with the incense itself, and legal worship, were wont to be offered; but Carmel, as has been shown many times, indicates the people from the circumcision. Therefore, the honor of the ancient people and the glory of the temple of Jerusalem are prophesied to be given to that ancient desert, that is, to the Church from the Gentiles. He adds afterwards: « And my people, » no longer Israel; « but my » people, he says, « will see the glory of the Lord; » granting this promise of the Word to the new people, inasmuch as it C has received the first coming of the Savior; for which reason it will also behold his second and glorious appearance, as well as his height.
VERSE 3. « Be strengthened, you slack hands and loosened knees, be comforted. » Here the disciples and apostles of our Savior are commanded to confirm the slackened souls among the Gentiles, and to strengthen the knees of the weak.
VERSE 4. « Be comforted, you who are faint-hearted in mind, fear not. Behold, your God renders and will render judgment; he will come and save us. » For even if some persecute you, and inspire you with threats and terror, and also inflict blows and torments; yet you, he says, who were once faint-hearted, being now D instructed in strength and fortitude, do not fear, since you have God dwelling with you at all times. Being instructed in these things, therefore, you who were once faint-hearted, be comforted and do not fear.
VERSE 5, 6. « Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear. Then the lame shall leap as a deer, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be clear. » Those who were once deaf and blind, who had not heard the divine doctrine, now, through his grace, having perceived the divine utterances with their hearing, have become learned: nay, even they,
A whose souls’ steps had been slack and relaxed, have now leaped forth like harts, becoming like their own teachers, whom the prophecy called harts a little before. And the tongue of the stammerers, which Satan had bound so that it might not confess the true God, has learned to speak clearly and distinctly. And you would not be wrong if you called the wise men of this world stammerers, who have scarcely ever dared to think or say anything upright concerning God.
VERS. 7. «For water has broken forth in the desert, and a valley in the thirsty land. And the waterless place shall be into marshes, and in the thirsty land shall be a fountain of water. There is the joy of birds, enclosures of reed and marshes.» The water, then, was that very water of the Jordan; wherefore it was said a little before: «And the deserts of the Jordan shall exult.» By which was also hinted the laver of regeneration and the mystery of the New Testament; by the streams, however, he denotes the evangelical discourses. «The joy of the birds,» that is, of souls—winged and soaring, and of others, mild and of good disposition—which are governed by the good Shepherd, so that they are able to say: «The Lord shepherds me, and I shall lack nothing.» B
VERS. 8. «There shall be a clean way, and it shall be called a holy way; and the unclean shall not pass by there.» This, surely, would be that which leads to the thrice-blessed end of the heavenly city of God, which the Savior, making it manifest, said: «I am the way.» «And there shall not be an unclean way there; but they that are dispersed shall walk upon it, and shall not go astray.» Who are these, if not they who were once scattered by God and had wandered far from the truth? For these, having turned back and having found the straight and unerring way, shall walk upon it. C
VERS. 9. «And there shall not be a lion there, nor shall any of the evil beasts go up into it, nor shall it be found there.» For how, indeed, was it possible that in him who said, «I am the way,» anything evil could be found? Nor was it possible, according to Solomon, to find the ways of a serpent upon a rock.
VERS. 10. «But the redeemed and those gathered by the Lord shall walk in it;» whom, clearly, he redeemed with his own blood. And those who are gathered by the Lord—not by a prophet, nor by any human concern, but by the Lord himself—those who have been redeemed and gathered by him, these shall walk in the path declared. «And they shall turn back, and come to Sion with joy.» For it is by no means possible to accept here that Sion D of which it has been said: «And the year of the retribution of judgment of Sion; and her valleys shall be turned into pitch,» and what follows. Wherefore, it is necessary to understand in various ways those places called by the same name, Sion. «And everlasting joy upon their head.» For those who are victors in this great struggle shall be crowned with a crown of joy. «For upon their head shall be praise and exultation, and joy shall encompass them;"" pain, sorrow, and sighing shall flee away,""" namely from them
who, walking in the way of salvation, without turning aside to the right or to the left, have reached a most happy end: where, being adorned with the crown of God, they shall enjoy eternal life in the kingdom of the heavens, where "pain, sorrow, and sighing have fled away." B
CHAPTER XXXVI
Verses 1-3. "And it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Ezechias, that Sennacherim king of the Assyrians came up against the fenced cities of Juda, and took them. And the king of the Assyrians sent Rabsaces from Lachis to Jerusalem unto king Ezechias with a great power. And he stood by the aqueduct of the pool of the upper pool, in the way of the fuller's field. And there went out to him Eliacim the son of Helcias, who was over the house, and Somnas the scribe, and Joach the son of Asaph, the recorder." This history and narrative of events which took place in the time of Ezechias is indeed wonderful. It is recounted among the other histories in the fourth book of Kings and in the second book of Paralipomenon. However, it was inserted into this prophetic book because, toward the end of the history, both a prophecy and a certain wonderful and unexpected event that occurred in the time of Ezechias are narrated.
Verses 4. "And Rabsaces said to them: Say to Ezechias: Thus saith the great king, the king of the Assyrians: What is this confidence wherein thou trustest?" For as if it were a power contrary to the prophetic discourse which says, "Thus saith the Lord," he also shouted: "Thus saith the great king, the king of the Assyrians."
Verses 5, 6. "Behold thou trustest in this broken reed staff, in Egypt; upon which if a man lean, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharao king of Egypt to all that trust in him." Being a sycophant, the enemy slanders Ezechias, saying, "Behold, thou trustest in Egypt and in C Pharao king of Egypt," who is worse than any enemy to those who trust in him and hope in him, being unable to keep treaties with those who flee to him. Therefore, he says he is like a reed staff, which is at once fragile by nature and harmful to those who lean upon it.
Verse 7. "But if you say: In the Lord our God we trust: is it not he, whose high places and altars Ezechias hath taken away, and hath said to Juda and to Jerusalem: You shall worship before this altar?" For the enemies were not ignorant that Ezechias and those who were with him were accustomed to rely on prayers and pious words for their victory. The commander of the Assyrians mentions these very things in a accusatory manner, addressing Ezechias as if he were present; to whom Ezechias and those who were with him might rightfully have replied: "Some in chariots, and some in horses: but we will call upon the name of the Lord our God."
Verses 8-10. "Now therefore make a truce with my master the
A king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able to set riders upon them. And how can you stand in the presence of the toparchs? They are house slaves who rely on the Egyptians. And now, have we come up to this land without the Lord? The Lord said to me: Go up against this land, and destroy it." He states that it is a clear proof that these things have come to pass by the command of God, namely, that he captured Samaria and led away all Israel captive. For he says, "Just as I captured those who were your brothers, [doing so] in no other way than by the will of God, in the same way, by His nod, I shall also take you." Whether he was saying this based on probability—forming a conjecture from the fact that he had conquered the people who were called God's people, I mean Israel—or whether he truly believed that God was prompting his thoughts to attack the land of the Jews on account of the evils and transgressions they had committed, B is unclear.
Verse 11. "And Eliakim, and Shebna, and Joah said to him: Speak to your servants in Syrian, for we understand it; and do not speak to us in the Jewish language. And why do you speak in the ears of the men who are on the wall?" It should be noted that the prophet made mention of these same men, namely Eliakim and Shebna, in the preceding [part of the work] when the discourse was about the valley of Sion. Here, furthermore, it is necessary to apply the words of that prophecy to this present history. The Hebrews say that this Shebna later defected to the Assyrian and, moved by fear of him, gave his right hand to him along with others; and for this reason, what was prophesied about him previously was said.
Verses 12-20. "And Rabshakeh said to them: Has my master sent me to your master or to you to speak these words? Is it not to the men who are sitting on the wall, so that they may eat their own dung and drink their urine with you?" And Rabshakeh stood, and C cried out with a loud voice in the Jewish tongue, and said: "Hear the words of the great king, the king of the Assyrians. Thus says the king: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you with his words; he will not be able to deliver you. And do not let Hezekiah say to you that God will deliver you, and this city will by no means be delivered into the hand of the king of the Assyrians. Do not listen to Hezekiah. Thus says the king of the Assyrians: If you wish to be blessed, come out to me, and eat each one of his own vine and fig tree, and drink water from your own well; until I come and take you to a land that is like your own land, a land of grain, and wine, and bread, and vineyards. Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, saying: D God will deliver us. Did the gods of the nations deliver, each one his own territory from the hand of the king of the Assyrians? Where is the god of Hamath and Arpad? And where is the god of the city of Sepharvaim? Were they able to deliver Samaria from my hand?" He thinks that the God worshipped in Jerusalem is no different from those who were thought by other, deluded nations to be gods. And thus, little by little, that barbarian constructed his own language of enmity against God; and at first indeed [alt-version omitted]
A he lied about the holy man, saying that he placed his trust in Egypt; then he attempted to dissolve the exhortations by which he was preparing the multitude to place their trust in God, disparaging his power on the grounds that he possessed no cavalry; then he claimed to have ascended by the command of God, so as to terrify the multitude as though they had been betrayed by God; then he used promises of fruitful vineyards and other things which are deemed good; finally, perceiving that all such things were useless to him, he opened his detestable mouth, uttering words of impiety. But he paid the penalty for his impiety, being destroyed by the hand of an B angel with his entire army.
VERS. 21, 22. "And they were silent, and no one answered him a word, because the king had commanded that no one should answer him. And Eliakim the son of Hilkiah the steward, and Shebna the scribe of the army, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, came to Hezekiah, their garments torn, and reported to him the words of Rabshakeh." For it is not fitting for a pious man to converse with a blasphemer, lest he be provoked to fall into further blasphemies; rather, it is necessary that men should be armed, as it were, with certain weapons, and should protect themselves on all sides with silence, keeping within themselves the true words, and awaiting the judgment of God against the blasphemers. When the king had given these instructions wisely, those stationed over the multitude carried out what was commanded; which is also what we must do in times of persecution, or in common and profane conversations with blasphemers.
CHAPTER XXXVII
VERS. 1. "And it came to pass when King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his garments, and put on sackcloth: and he went up into the house of the Lord." In addition to the other excellent deeds of Hezekiah, God provided him with an exercise in virtue and a demonstration of greater piety through the engagement with the enemy, in which he shone; for while he prepared everything strategically for war, as befitted a distinguished leader, yet he entrusted all things to God, and delivered the precepts of religious instruction to the people under him. "And he put on sackcloth," assuming the signs of mourning C and humiliation; and in this habit he went up through the middle of the city from the royal houses to the temple of God, and, showing himself humble before God, even by this very habit he sought to provoke His mercy.
VERS. 2. "And he sent Eliakim the steward, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, clothed in sackcloth, to Isaiah the son of Amoz the prophet." For he sent other priests of God, clothed in sackcloth instead of priestly vestments, to the prophet Isaiah, and commanded them to say, "Thus says Hezekiah"—he did not add "the king," for the condition of the time, as he was cast down by the present calamity, did not permit him to say that.
VERS. 3, 4. "And they said to him: Thus says Hezekiah: This day is a day of affliction and reproach, and of rebuke and wrath, for pain has come to the woman in labor, and
A she has not the strength to bring forth. May the Lord your God hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of the Assyrians has sent to reproach the living God, and to reproach the words which the Lord your God has heard, and may you offer prayer to your Lord for these who are left." For this reason we have sent to you, the man of God, begging that through you our God might be present as a helper for us at this time—whom we do not even dare to name as our own God, but we know well that He is your Lord and God. Him, therefore, we beseech not to look upon our transgressions, and not to keep in memory our sins, but to attend to the ungodly voices of the enemy and to such haughty arrogance.
VERS. 5-7. "And the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, and Isaiah said to them: Thus shall you say to your lord: Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid of the words which you heard, with which the envoys of the king of the Assyrians have reproached Me. Behold, I will send a spirit upon him, and having heard a report, he shall return to his own land, and he shall fall by the sword in his own land." As soon as they arrived B, Isaiah, anticipating the words from them, commanded the prophecy to be delivered which was being brought; by which, he says, He will send a spirit into him; by which spirit being deceived he will return to his own land, where he will end his life by the sword.
VERS. 8-16. "And Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of the Assyrians besieging Libnah. And he heard that he had departed from Lachish, and Tirhakah, king of the Ethiopians, had come out to besiege him; and hearing it, he turned back. And he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying: Thus shall you say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Let not your God deceive you, in whom you trust, saying: Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of the Assyrians. Have you not heard what the kings of the Assyrians have done? How they have destroyed all the land, and shall you be delivered? Have the gods of the nations delivered them, whom my fathers destroyed, Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, which are in the land of Thelassar? Where are the kings of Hamath? and of Arpad? and of the city of Sepharvaim, [and] Hena and Ivah?" And Hezekiah took the scroll from the messengers, and read it, and went up to the house of the Lord, and opened it before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, saying: Lord of Sabaoth, God of Israel, who sits upon the cherubim. C Hezekiah, just as he did before, hastened now also to the house of God, and showed the letter to Him alone as God. Then he offered up a supplication, saying in his prayer that He alone was God, and no other.
VERS. 17-21. "You are the God, the only one, of every kingdom of the inhabited world; You have made the heaven and the earth. Incline, O Lord, Your ear; hearken, O Lord; open, O Lord, Your eyes; look, O Lord, and see the words of Sennacherim, which he sent to reproach the living God. For in truth, O Lord, the kings of the Assyrians have desolated D the inhabited world.
A and their land, and they cast their idols into the fire. For they were not gods, but works of men's hands, wood and stone; and they thrust them away. But now, O Lord our God, save us from his hands, that every kingdom of the earth may know that Thou art the one God. And Isaiah the son of Amoz was sent unto Hezekiah.
The king, Hezekiah, as being God-fearing, went up to the house of God and sent forth the prayer that has been written down; but God answers him, having sent His prophet Isaiah to him; and He gives him a second oracle, teaching that He had heard the word of his prayer.
VERS. 21, 22. B *And he said to him: Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: I have heard what you prayed to Me concerning Sennacherim, king of the Assyrians. This is the word which God has spoken concerning him: The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and mocked you.* But I say to you, do not deceive yourself, for it is not by your own power that you have overcome all these. I am He who had ordained these things against them, even if you did not know it, or had not heard of My counsel from the beginning. For I myself had decreed from ancient times and from days of old that these things should be brought about through you against the godless and impious nations. But now by my works I have revealed My counsel, having raised you up for the destruction of those who were worthy of punishment, and having used you as a sign to desolate nations, and to uproot those dwelling in fortified cities—cities which I formerly protected and preserved; but since they acted impiously, not recognizing their own Savior, I loosened My hands, delivering them to you for punishment; and they, bereft of My oversight, suddenly became desolate. Wherefore He adds:
VERS. 23-25. *You have shaken your head at them, O daughter of Jerusalem. Whom have you reproached and provoked? Or against whom have you raised your voice? And you have not lifted your eyes to the Holy One of Israel, that you have reproached the Lord through messengers. For you have said: In the multitude of my chariots I have ascended to the height of the mountains, and to the ends of Lebanon, and I have cut down the height of its cedar, and the beauty of its cypress, and I have entered into the height of the part of the forest.* C By these things He signifies the kingdoms in other nations that were exalted and prosperous. For that great multitude of Lebanon, with its highest cedars and cypresses, or—according to Symmachus—D "junipers," or—according to Aquila—"firs," implies the image and figure of the nations that were then prospering.
VERS. 26-29. *I have made a bridge, and I have made waters desolate, and every gathering of water. Have you not heard of old what I have done? From ancient days I have ordained; but now I have shown that I should desolate nations in strongholds, and those dwelling in fortified cities. I loosened my hands, and they withered, and became as dry hay on the rooftops, and as grass. But now I know your rest, and your going out, and your coming in. And your wrath, wherewith you have raged, and your bitterness has come up to Me. And I will put a hook in your nose,
A and a bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way that you came in it; that you may not go wherever you wish, but may be compelled, even against your will, to return: for you shall have to depart by the self-same way by which you came hither, that you may not dare to speak such things again. But although, for the reason mentioned, he did not perish along with the multitude—the same reason for which Pharaoh was reserved as a spectator, while the rest of the Egyptians were suffering punishment—yet, when he returned to his own land, he found his own sons to be his murderers.
Vers. 30, 31. “And this shall be a sign to you: eat this year what you have sown; and in the second year what is left; and in the third, sow and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.” If you need a sign for the confirmation of my words, know that this year you shall live on the fruits that spring up from the earth spontaneously, because the region, through the incursion of the enemy, could not be cultivated in the usual manner.
B Vers. 32, 33. “And the survivors in Judea shall strike root downward, and shall bear fruit upward; because from Jerusalem there shall be survivors, and those who are saved from Mount Zion. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts shall do this. Therefore, thus says the Lord concerning the king of the Assyrians: He shall not enter into this city, nor shall he shoot an arrow at it, nor shall he bring a shield against it, nor shall he cast a rampart around it.” Knowing that you, having been left in Judea after the captivity of the multitude in Samaria, will live in peace if, according to my will, striking a firm root of godliness in your own souls, you shall bring forth fruit worthy of my husbandry, looking toward Me. C
Vers. 34, 35. “But by the way he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not enter into this city. Thus says the Lord: I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake, and for the sake of David my servant.” For this is fitting for Me, being God. Therefore I will do these things for my own sake, and not because those who are helped are worthy.
VERS. 36-38. “And the angel of the Lord went out, and struck down from the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand; and rising in the morning, they found all the bodies dead. And Sennacherib, king of the Assyrians, departed and returned, and dwelt in Nineveh; and as he was worshipping in the house of Nasarach his god, Adrammelech D and Sarasar, his sons, struck him with the sword. And they escaped into Armenia, and Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.” Not long after these words were uttered, a terrifying thing happened by divine power, not of human faculty: myriads of men were found suddenly dead, cast down by the hand of one angel. For such was he, that he served in the judgment of God and slew so great a multitude of foes, so that their king might learn by experience that he had uttered blasphemies against God. For this reason, while so many were perishing, he himself did not perish along with them, that, becoming a spectator of the deed, he might curb his impious tongue.
CHAPTER XXXVIII
A Vers. 1-3. "And it came to pass in that time, that Hezekiah was sick unto death; and Isaiah the son of Amos the prophet came to him, and said to him: Thus saith the Lord: Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live. And Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the Lord, saying: Remember, O Lord, how I have walked before thee in truth with a sincere heart, and have done that which is pleasing in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept with a great weeping." He who said, O God, "I will kill, and I will make to live; I will strike, and I will heal," having struck the enemies by just judgment through one angel, now restores to safety and life the religious king, and by Himself snatches him from death. Well, therefore, does the narrative relate this, saying, "In that time Hezekiah was sick unto death,"—or as Aquila has it, "to dying," or as the other interpreters have it, "unto death." For at that time, when the Assyrians had suffered what has already been recounted, the time of death arrived for Hezekiah. Since, however, God wished to save him, He did not leave in obscurity what the B end of his illness would be. Wherefore, providing him an occasion for obtaining salvation, He declared to him the outcome of his illness through the prophet, so that, having received the report of the matter, he might pray, and by his prayers might obtain an addition to his life, even after his time of death had been defined for him; that we might herein be taught that human life is not led by necessity and fate, nor is a time of death unalterably appointed for men. For God, who moderates all things and is the cause of both life and death, knows in what way He brings each of those who enter into life forward at this or that time, assigns the years of life as He chooses, and removes them by one kind of death or another. And it is within His power alone even to recall to health those who have reached, so to speak, the very gate of death, just as He has now rescued Hezekiah from a mortal sickness and brought about an addition of fifteen years of life: He who has also caused others to revive from the dead after they had died, as the divine Scripture testifies. C Hence, therefore, the theory of fate and necessity is utterly dissolved, since the God of all moderates necessity, and every substance, and every nature. Having observed these things, Hezekiah, when he was healthy in body, used to hasten to the temple of God, and there he would call upon God to be the savior of himself, the people, and the city. But since the sickness prevented him from doing this at the present time, he sent up his prayer to God from his very bed, being persuaded that God is everywhere and is the listener of every religious man.
Vers. 4, 5. "And the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying: Go, and say to Hezekiah: Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father." God called David his father, bearing the highest testimony regarding him, that because of the similarity of their character, he was worthy to be inscribed with such a religious father D for the sake of the likeness of their ways. "Hear the"
A prayer of yours, and I have seen your tears. Behold, I add to your time fifteen years. »
VERS. 6. ‹ And from the hand of the king of Assyria I will deliver you and this city. › Because the words were not those of a prayer preferring verbosity that were worthy of the divine ears, and because the force of his tears, shed at a fitting and necessary time, drew the eyes of divine inspection toward him, therefore God assented to him, granting an accession of life, and demonstrating by his work that death is not decreed for men by an unordered law of nature, nor by unavoidable necessity. And not only does he promise him years of life, but also, out of munificence, as God, he promises him a tranquil and peaceful life, and pledges that he will deliver both him and his people and the city from the hands of the enemies: and in order to add faith to his words, he provided him with a sign of another stupendous thing.
VERS. 7, 8. ‹ And this shall be a sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this word. Behold, I will turn back the shadow of the degrees which the sun has gone down on the house of your father, by ten degrees. I will turn back the sun ten degrees; and the sun went up ten degrees, by which the shadow had gone down. › Indeed, that sign was also marvelous, that Hezekiah should migrate from the sunset of life to another life.
VERS. 9. The prayer of Hezekiah, king of Judah, when he was sick and recovered from his illness.
VERS. 10. ‹ I said in the height of my days: I will go to the gates of hell; I will leave the remaining years. › Knowing that I was now henceforth approaching the gates of death, I despaired and gave up on my life among men. C
VERS. 11. ‹ I said: I shall no longer see the salvation of God in the land; I shall no longer see man. › Anxious about the things that follow departure from this life, he rightly recalls to God his own piety toward God; by his weeping he prayed that he might not fall out of the region of the living. This also, beyond other matters, afflicted Hezekiah, that no successor from his seed existed, since at the time he was uttering these things, he had not yet begotten a son. Since, therefore, he was about to die childless, and would leave no successor from whom the salvation of God was expected to come to men, justly bereaved of the birth of Christ from the seed of David, he lamented. D
VERS. 12. ‹ It has failed from my kindred: the remainder of my life has failed. It has gone and departed from me, as he who constructs a tabernacle pulls it down. My spirit has become in me like the web of a weaver, about to be cut off by the weaver. › He calls the body a tabernacle, and the soul the inhabitant: when it departs, the body is like a collapsed tabernacle. He calls the body a tabernacle because the divine Apostle also called it a tabernacle. But also, just as a web which is cut off by the weaver, so too the texture of my life verges toward the end, and will soon be cut off. Therefore, each of men through
his own deeds.
VER. 13. "In that day I was delivered until morning as a lion, so he crushed all my bones. For from day until night I was delivered." He was delivered like some man-devouring lion, which, as if through the infirmity inflicted upon me, crushed all my bones throughout the whole day and night; and it lacked but little that it should devour me entirely.
VER. 14. "Like a swallow, so I shall cry, and like a dove, so I meditate. For my eyes failed from looking to the height of heaven toward the Lord." Nevertheless, while being in these things, I did not grow weak, nor did I depart from my God, but strengthening myself with faith and good hope, I B gave myself over to weeping and prayer. For while I was praying, he says, perseveringly, and persisting in my entreaty toward God, he delivered me, and took away the pain of my soul. He it is, I say, who without hesitation delivered me, and took away the pain of my soul: as if, of course, adding fidelity to the promises which he gave to his saints with these words: "While you are yet speaking, I will say: Behold, I am here."
VER. 16. "Lord, for concerning this it was announced to you: and you roused my spirit, and I was comforted, and lived." Not that I was worthy of these things: for I was full of many sins; but through your mercy C and your loving-kindness these things came to pass.
VERS. 17-19. "For you have delivered my soul, that it should not perish, and you cast all my sins behind me. For neither those in Hades will praise you, nor will the dead bless you, nor will those in Hades hope for your mercy: but those who live shall bless you, as I also do. For from this day I will beget children, who will announce your righteousness." Hades is indeed the place of the ungodly: wherefore, since my soul has been snatched from it, I joyfully return thanksgiving to God. But the region of those who live with God will receive those who praise him: where I trust that I also shall finally be, upon your grace granting this to me. D
VER. 20. "God of my salvation, and I shall not cease to praise you with the psaltery all the days of my life in the sight of the house of God." Always standing before you, and never departing from your sanctuary, I shall unceasingly praise you.
VER. 21. "And Isaiah said to Hezekiah: Take a mass of figs, and crush it, and apply it as a plaster to the wound, and you shall be whole." Teaching that those things which are devised by men for the healing of the body are not to be altogether rejected: and furthermore that they should be used, since the prophet himself advised that this be done. And all the others called it an ulcer, which was healed by the mass of figs: but it was not an ulcer at the first, but an infirmity and sickness unto death. Wherefore for that...
VERS. 15. "And he himself made instruction for all my years."
A ...and from that sickness, tears, prayers, and the visitation of God were adopted as a remedy; but specifically for the ulcer, a certain bodily cure, which the prophet provided.
"And Hezekiah said: This is the sign unto Hezekiah, that I shall go up into the house of God."
CHAPTER XXXIX
VERS. 1. "At that time, Merodach-Baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and delegates and gifts to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had been sick unto death, and had recovered." And Hezekiah rejoiced over them, and showed them the house of Nechotha, and of silver, and of gold, and of stacte, and of incense, and of myrrh, and all the houses of the vessels of the treasury, and all things that were in his storehouses. And there was nothing that Hezekiah did not show them in his house, and in all his power.
B While we were inquiring and investigating the matters pertaining to these passages, the teacher of the Jews said that Hezekiah had fallen ill because he had not sung a song of thanksgiving to God for the overthrow of the Assyrians, in the way that Moses sang upon the destruction of the Egyptians, and Deborah over the slaughter of Sisera, and Anna for the birth of Samuel; and that because Hezekiah did not do this, he fell into sickness. And that the Babylonian, having learned of his restored health, had sent envoys to him, not without cause, but because that day on which the turning back of the sun occurred had doubled its hours; nor did this escape the notice of the Babylonians, who were most skilled in the science of astronomy. C For since they regarded the sun as a god, they observed that it had been compelled to move backward by a certain more powerful virtue; for this reason, they had come to inquire and learn the cause of this. Then, having searched diligently, they learned that the God of the Hebrews is great, being the Creator of the whole world; and they learned of the illness of king Hezekiah, on whose account such a miracle had been performed. Struck by so great a prodigy, as was fitting, they wished to enter into a pact and friendship with Hezekiah, as with a man dear to God.
This is what that Hebrew said. But I am convinced that all these things happened in one and the same year; I mean the invasion of the Assyrian against Judea, and the blow struck by the angel of God against the Assyrian, and the flight of Sennacherib, and the rebellion of his own sons, and the hushed D death of the son who succeeded him. That these things happened in one and the same year, you may learn if you observe that the invasion of the Assyrian occurred in the fourteenth year of the reign of Hezekiah; yet he died having reigned in all twenty-nine years, of which fifteen years were added to him after his sickness. Hence it follows that both the sickness and the other things that preceded the sickness occurred in that same fourteenth year. Therefore, the report of all these things…
A moved the king of the Babylonians toward friendship with Ezechias, so that he himself sent both gifts and ambassadors and letters.
VERS. 3-8. « And Isaias the prophet came to King Ezechias, and said to him: What do these men say? And from where have they come to you? And Ezechias said: They have come to me from a far country, from Babylon. And Isaias said: What have they seen in your house? And Ezechias said: They have seen all that is in my house, and there is nothing in my house that they have not seen, but also what is in my treasuries. And Isaias said: Hear the word of the Lord of Sabaoth: Behold, days are coming, and they shall take B all that is in your house, and as much as your fathers have gathered unto this day shall come into Babylon, and they shall leave nothing. But God said, that even of your sons, whom you shall beget, they shall take, and they shall make them eunuchs in the house of the king of the Babylonians. And Ezechias said to Isaias: Good is the word of the Lord which he has spoken: Let there be peace and justice in my days. » Having heard these things, Ezechias, reverently and piously, replied that every word which God has spoken is good, however sad it might appear to men. On account of which, again, the Hebrew said that the intention of Ezechias was not pleasing to God. For because he prayed only for himself, and had no regard for the people, that indeed seemed not to be free from fault C before God; which is the reason why the prophet immediately adds: « Console my people, says God. » For even if this man, he says, being self-loving, prayed having concern only for himself, and made no mention of the people; yet God, taking thought for his own people, commands those who are equal to this task to console his people.
CHAPTER XL.
VERS. 1, 2. « Console, console my people, says God. Priests, speak to the heart of Jerusalem: console her. » It would be worth the effort to accurately inquire who these are, who are commanded to console the people: and also what the heart of Jerusalem is, and what kind of Jerusalem this must be considered to be, which, like some animal, has a heart. For the word D that says: « Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, » clearly sets her forth as animate and rational. And it might be said, perhaps, that Jerusalem signifies the very people dwelling within it, as the city is often named in place of the inhabitants; but here the people themselves are also mentioned by these words: « Console my people; » and afterwards he separately adds: « Speak to the heart of Jerusalem. » Therefore who they are who are commanded to console, and who that people is whom they console, and what item the heart of Jerusalem is, must now be weighed. The consolers are surely those who have received the consoling Spirit, that is, the apostles, the disciples of our Savior, the evangelists, and those like them, to whom the Savior was saying: « I will ask my Father, and he will give you another Paraclete, that he may be with you forever, the Spirit of truth; » and again: « But when the Paraclete shall come… »the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom my Father will send, he will teach you everything, and so forth. All, therefore, who have received the comforting Spirit are commanded to comfort the people of God, yet not Israel, nor Jacob, nor Judah. But A as it has been demonstrated that the people of God is to be understood, so too must the heart of Jerusalem be understood as the people's orderly and more excellent part. For just as the heart is the most vital part of the whole body, so too in the body of the Church the most vital order may rightly be said to be that of those who excel others in reason, prudence, mind, and the power of thought. When, therefore, it is said, "Speak to the heart of Jerusalem," the saying should be taken as if it were speaking more clearly: "Speak to those among the people of God who are more intelligent and rational." To these, then, the priests are commanded to speak, while they are instructed to comfort the rest of the people, as being in need of consolation and encouragement.
"Because her humiliation is accomplished: her sin is pardoned, for she has received from the hand of the Lord double for her sins." It is fitting that she should finally obtain consolation, on account of the advent of the new Savior, which has shined upon the entire human race. You could say that a double punishment B was inflicted upon the heart of Jerusalem: first, because according to history the aforementioned men, oppressed by foreign nations, came to share in the calamity of the people; and second, because according to the mind, they mourned over the abjection of the multitude and wept for the ruin and destruction of many, tormenting themselves. Moreover, when Jerusalem was besieged a second time, so that its temple was leveled to the ground, it suffered a double punishment for the impieties perpetrated within it.
VERS. 3. "The voice of one crying in the desert, Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God." He clearly shows that the things prophesied are not to take place in Jerusalem, but in the desert; namely, that the glory of the Lord is to appear, and the salvation of God to come to the knowledge of all flesh. And these things, indeed, according to history and the letter, were fulfilled when John the Baptist preached the saving advent of God in the wilderness C of the Jordan, where the salvation of God was seen. For then Christ and his glory became known to all, when, as he was being baptized, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descended and remained upon him, and a paternal voice was borne to the Son, giving testimony: "This is my beloved Son, listen to him." For these things were said because God was about to arrive into the desert, which from of old had been impassable and inaccessible to God. Furthermore, all the nations were devoid of the knowledge of God, and all of God's just men and prophets were kept from approaching them. Wherefore that voice commands that a way be prepared for the Word of God, and that the impassable and rough way be made level, so that arriving, our God may proceed. "Prepare the way of the Lord"; this is the evangelical preaching, and the new consolation,
A seeking that the salvation of God be made known to all men.
Then he rouses the souls depressed in the depths of wickedness, adding these words: VERS. 4. "Every valley shall be filled." But to those proud souls which were rising up against the knowledge of God, he teaches that the opposite will happen with these words: "And every mountain and hill shall be brought low"; but he also says, "all crooked things shall be made straight, and the rough into plains." He commands the rough soul to be made level, that it may be able to receive the advent of God.
VERS. 5. "And the glory of the Lord shall be seen, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God, because the Lord has spoken." For all men were flesh, who were merely carnal, and were in no way participants of the Holy Spirit. "Because the Lord has spoken": for He who promised cannot lie.
VERS. 6-8. "A voice of one saying, Cry out. And I said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withered, and the flower fell: but the word of our God remains for the ages." This, indeed, is the B nature of all flesh, and of man who bears the image of the earthly one, that is to say, one who loves the body and lives according to the flesh: for just as the grass of the earth and its beautiful flowers flourish and shine for a short time, not long after, because of its unstable and fleeting nature, it withers: which the Scripture teaches with these words: "The grass withered, and the flower fell."
VERS. 9. "Go up upon a high mountain, you who bring good tidings to Zion. Exalt your voice with strength, you who bring good tidings to Jerusalem." These things strictly follow the meaning of the preceding sections, and opportunely make mention of the evangelists, and announce the advent of God to men, after the discourse had been C held concerning the voice crying in the desert. For the word concerning the evangelists of the Savior follows appropriately upon the prophecy concerning John the Baptist. What, therefore, is this Zion, if not that which was previously called Jerusalem? For it itself was a mountain, which that Scripture declares when it says: "This mount Sion, in which you have dwelt"; and the Apostle: "You have drawn near to mount Sion." Does perhaps the apostolic choir, chosen from the ancient people from the circumcision, seem to be signified in this way? For this is Zion and Jerusalem, which has received the salvation of God, which is itself placed high upon the mountain of God, namely His only-begotten Word: whom He commands, having ascended the high mountain, to announce D the saving word. Who then is he who brings good tidings, if not the evangelical choir? What is it to bring good tidings? To preach to all men, and before all, to the cities of Judah, the advent of Christ upon earth.
VERS. 10. "Lift up, do not fear. Say to the cities"
A of Judah: "Behold our God." I say, then, to the Jewish synagogues, that He who was of old proclaimed by the prophets as destined to come and visit men, has arrived—God Himself, and the Lord who was long expected by them. "Behold, the Lord, the Lord comes with strength, and His arm with dominion," as if He were saying more openly: with imperial power and authority. "Behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him." These things refer to the second advent of Christ, in which He shall come in glory to render to everyone according to his works. This, therefore, as Lord and Master, He shall perform with strength and with His so-called arm.
VERS. 11. "He shall feed His flock like a shepherd." This was fulfilled at His first advent, wherein, "emptying Himself and taking the form of a servant," He shepherded His flock, or, according to Symmachus, "He fed His herd." For He did not come as a Lord with strength, nor as an arm furnished with its own dominion and authority; but, he says, as a shepherd, He shall feed His flock. This also He Himself testified in the Gospels, saying: B "I am the good shepherd, and I know My own, and Mine know Me; and I lay down My life for the sheep."
"And He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and shall comfort those that are with young." By "lambs," He signifies those who are newly born and regenerated in Christ. In another way, the souls of His apostles, pregnant and travailing over those who were reborn in Christ through their work, had Him as their Comforter; which you may understand from the testimony of the one who says: "My little children, of whom I am again in travail, until Christ be formed in you." C See how Paul suffered the pangs of childbirth for those instructed by him; and so too did the other apostles. For just as mothers carry in the womb, so they were in travail with those who were reborn in Christ through their work, struggling exceedingly lest anyone should become an abortion, having slipped away and been miscarried from the conformation and perfection in Christ. Wherefore, that aforementioned shepherd is said to be about to comfort them.
VERS. 12. "Who has measured the water with his hand, and the heaven with a span, and all the earth with a handful? Who has weighed the mountains with scales, and the valleys with a balance?" For since the wise men of this age attribute all things to a spontaneous D motion of things and to some fortuitous natural chance and fate, the present discourse necessarily declares that no thing exists by fortuitous chance, but that all things were established by measure and number by the Lord, who is preached as God. Tropically, however, He has used the measures familiar to us, so that through names known and customary to us, we might be led to an understanding of the doctrine being taught. Then, since the Creator is contemplated proportionately from the greatness and beauty of created things, it is fitting that those things above us...
A diminish when compared to the greater, calling us to a realization of Him who arranged all things.
"Who has known the mind of the Lord? And who has been his counselor, who shall instruct him? Or with whom did he take counsel, and who instructed him? Or who showed him judgment? Or who showed him the way of understanding?" Since He had asked who it was that brought these things into existence, and who had arranged them by measure and weight, He consequently declares that no one exists except the one Mind, which is incomprehensible to all. Wherefore He adds: "Who has known the mind of the Lord?"—the creator of all the aforementioned things, who, neither needing a counselor nor having received an opinion from anyone, brought out of nothing into being, by His own wisdom, things which had no existence whatever.
B "If all nations are as a drop from a bucket, and are counted as the turning of a balance, they shall be considered as spittle. But Lebanon is not sufficient for burning, and all the four-footed beasts are not sufficient for a burnt offering." What nations are these, if not those who have not known God, but have become addicted to the error of idolatry? These are those which are said to be accounted as a drop from a bucket, and as the turning of a balance, and as spittle.
"And all nations are as nothing, and they are accounted as nothing. To whom have you likened the Lord? And with what likeness have you likened him?" C These things He consequently brought in after He had introduced the theology concerning God, and after He had proclaimed to the nations how great He is who has measured the water with his hand, and the heaven with a span, and all the earth with his fist, and who has established the mountains by weight and the valleys by a balance. With these, therefore, He aptly compares the error by which the nations were held, and, turning them away from it, calls them to the knowledge of Him who is preached as God.
"Has not the workman made an image? Or has the goldsmith, having melted gold, gilded it? Has he fashioned a likeness of it?" For the workman chooses wood that does not rot, D and will wisely seek how he may set up his image, so that it may not be shaken. "Will you not know? Will you not hear? Has it not been announced to you from the beginning? Have you not known the foundations of the earth? He who holds the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants therein are as locusts; he who has set up the heaven as a vault, and has stretched it out as a tent to dwell in; he who gives princes as nothing to rule, and has made the earth as nothing." Even if you have not been taught by your fathers, at least now, having been brought to your senses, be helped, and learn who it is that holds the foundations of the earth. For if you are not able, He says, to raise your mind to heaven, at least, He says, bend your thoughts and reasonings to the earth, and dwell upon them. Seek in what it is founded, who that is who holds such an element, immovable and unshaken. Who, He says, is He who scattered such great nations upon the earth, so that they are compared for their bodily smallness to locusts? Then, rising again from the earth in discourse, He calls upon all to marvel at the heavenly vault, and the hemisphere above the earth, suspended like an arch, and the
A admiration of the One who founded the heaven (as if to contemplate how great His power is), and invites them to consider that it was not without cause that the heaven was established by Him like a tabernacle, spread out above everything contained within the heaven, and acting as a base for a dwelling-place for those who are above the heaven. And just as He made provision for the tabernacle, so too for those who are within the tabernacle. For this reason, in various times and seasons, He sets over those human beings living on the earth, leaders, providing for those subject to them suitable governors. Wherefore He adds, "Giving leaders to signify nothing." By "nothing," He designates mortal life, or even the earth itself; just as He teaches, saying next, "But He made the earth for nothing." All these things are said concerning those who at various times have ruled and played the tyrant upon the earth, seeing as they have brought about such an end.
"For they shall not plant, nor shall they sow, nor shall their root take hold in the earth. He blew upon them, and they withered, and a storm shall take them away like chaff. Now therefore, to whom have you likened Me, and I shall be exalted?" says the Holy One. "Lift up your eyes on high, and see, who has shown all these things? He who brings out their array by number, He shall call them all by name because of the greatness of glory, and in the power of His strength; nothing has escaped You." B Therefore, He directs His speech to them, saying: "Why do you ponder such things to yourself, and dare to say that your way is hidden from God, and that you shall not undergo judgment, because He is unaware of the things done by you?"
VERS. 27-30. "For do not say, Jacob, and what have you spoken, Israel? My way is hidden from God, and my God has taken away my judgment, and has departed. And now do you not know? Have you not heard? The eternal God, the God who fashioned the ends of the earth, will neither hunger, nor will He grow weary, and there is no searching out of His wisdom; who gives strength to the hungry, and pain to those who are not pained. For the younger ones shall hunger, and the young men shall grow weary, and the elect shall be weak." C Incomprehensible and unattainable is the wisdom which is with Him, by which He governs all things; and thus He cares for things individually and in their particulars, so that by His looking upon and distinguishing by divine Reason the affairs of men, those things which are proper for life are distributed to each individually; so that to those who labor with hunger due to a lack of food, strength and the natural health of the body are often present; while to those who do not hunger, but abound in riches, there are present anxieties and pains, by which their luxury is chastened. For the same reason, He makes young men and youths, whom it is fitting to be vigorous and strong, weak, subjecting them to sufferings and diseases. Many, flourishing in youth, He has caused to depart from life most quickly. Vise versa, however, those who in times of persecution wait for God, being weak and miserable in the present life, were deemed worthy of a divine transformation, so that they might not only attain release and liberty, but also to sprout wings like D eagles; so as to ascend and be exalted and fly aloft,
A and in the end to set out on the journey to heaven. For such is the nature of eagles.
VERS. 31. “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” Having passed through immense sorrows, and at last being deemed worthy of God’s visitation, they led their lives in peace, furnished with wings like eagles, and raised on high. And if it has happened that those who have struggled and conquered for the sake of piety have been perfected by martyrdom, much more would the aforementioned promise be appropriate for them.
CHAPTER XLI.
VERS. 1. “Keep silence before me, O islands, for the rulers shall renew their strength; let them draw near, then let them speak together; then let them announce judgment.” He commands the islands, indeed, to B hold their peace and be silent, according to Theodotion, so that they might be able to hear the divine discourse and the saving proclamation. He frequently calls the Churches constituted from all the nations "islands," because the brine of the depravity of this life flows around them like the sea. “For the rulers shall renew their strength,” so that they might change their own character, and make a transformation from the worse to the better. “Let them draw near, then let them speak together”; that is, he says, let the nations draw near to me, God, and let them speak my words, coming together at the same place, namely, in my Church.
VERS. 2. “Then let them announce judgment. Who raised up righteousness from the east, and called it to follow at C his feet, and it shall go?” For he desires that the nations, once they have learned the word concerning judgment, should announce it to others as well. For it was a work of righteousness that not only those of the household, but also the remaining nations should be called to the knowledge of God. “He shall deliver before the nations, and shall strike down kings; and he shall give their swords to the earth, and their bows as driven stubble.” He subjected many to him, that he might justly overthrow Babylon. For it was he who was known to those ancient, religious men of old, and who, after the former people, had the Church of the nations entrusted to him.
VERS. 3, 4. “And he shall pursue them: the way of his feet shall pass by in peace. Who has wrought and done these things? He called it, who calls it from the generations D of the beginning.” The word testifies that no common utility will come to the nations, if, having been translated from their former blindness and polytheism, they see him who said, “I am God, the first, and unto the coming ages I am.” And when they saw it, they were afraid, having arrived at the beginning of wisdom; for “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”
VERS. 5-7. “The ends of the earth have drawn near and come together, judging each one for his neighbor, and to help his brother. And he will say: The craftsman has prevailed, and the smith that smites with the hammer; at the same time he will say, The joining is good. They have strengthened them with nails, they will set them up, and they shall not be moved.” For the most paradoxical
A thing is that even barbarian nations, dwelling at the furthest distance from the Jewish region—in which alone God was thought of old to be known—have attained a knowledge of piety and the fear of God, so that they might be struck with wonder at the grace of God’s justice, and might hasten and come, obeying the preaching which says, “Let them draw near, and let them speak together.” For those who are called ought not to provide for their own salvation only, but also for that of their neighbor, according to the laws of philanthropy. There was B once a time when even we ourselves were overcome by a man who was a carpenter—one who wrought idolatry—and a metal-worker, striking his own gods with a hammer; but now we have come to know that those things are nothing, and we have condemned the error of our fathers, which it is fitting for you also to learn and profit from. A proof of the weakness of the gods deemed for us to be such of old is the fact that they cannot even stand unless they are fastened with certain dowels and nails.
VER. 8. “But you, Israel, my child, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, whom I have loved.” He calls him “child” first, then “elect,” and afterwards “beloved.” He calls him “child” as one existing in the first beginnings and being nurtured in the fear of servitude, such as was the apostolic company, which in the first period of its life was under the Law as if under a tutor; but he calls the same person “elect,” as one who has made progress and has been deemed worthy of the saving calling and election. The “seed of Abraham,” however, is a different order from the elect, such as would be the multitude of the Jews, to whom the Savior, speaking to them, said: “I know that you are Abraham’s seed.” C But these were distinct from the children of Abraham, concerning whom he was teaching, saying: “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham.” Abraham, therefore, was beloved of God and a friend; wherefore it is said: “Seed of Abraham, whom I have loved,” or, according to Symmachus, “Seed of Abraham my friend,” or according to Aquila, “My beloved seed.” Yet his seed is not said to be loved in the same way as Abraham. Nevertheless, through his elect he calls [the others] his seed, saying to them: “Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
VERS. 9. “Whom I took from the ends of the earth, and from its watchtowers I called you, and said to you, You are my child; I have chosen you, and have not abandoned you.” By these things he signifies those in the dispersion of the Jewish people, whom he first deemed worthy D of his calling. For in the apostolic times, many of the Jews accepted the word of Christ, not only those who inhabited the land of Judea, but also those who dwelt among the rest of the nations.
VERS. 10. “Do not fear; for I am with you; do not stray.” He encourages this election so that they might preach the Gospel without fear to all nations; which same thing the Savior was declaring in the Gospels, saying: “Behold, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age. For I am your God, who has strengthened you, and helped you.”
A
VERS. 11. “For they shall be as if they are not, and all your adversaries shall perish.” Beware, he says, lest you think that you were able to minister such preaching by your own power. For you were nothing, nor could you have performed anything, had I not been with you, walking alongside you, and strengthened you among all nations, and endowed you with patience, and perseverance, and power; so that no obstacle might arise to hinder you as you preached the Gospel to all.
VERS. 12. “You shall seek them, and shall not find the men who rage against you. For they shall be as if they are not, and those who fight against you shall not be.” For even if, at the time they were attacking and persecuting you, some seemed to exist for a brief space of time; yet you shall indeed subsist and remain, and shall see their ruin; but they shall not be, as they quickly vanish from this life. Therefore it behoves you to persevere, and to endure the afflictions brought upon you by them.
VERS. 13, 14. “For I am your God, who holds your right hand, who says to you: Fear not, Jacob, very small Israel.” For the disciples of our Savior were very few in number indeed; namely, the twelve apostles, and after them seventy others. B
VERS. 15. “Behold, I have made you as new threshing carts, saw-like.” For thus the power of Him who strengthened them was displayed, when they themselves differed nothing from a worm, but were also very few, and appeared as dead and as corpses of Israel. Yet being of such a sort, like wheels and a chariot, they would winnow, as it were, a sort of chaff, threshing and sawing asunder the demonic idol-worship of the impious nations. “And you shall thresh the mountains, and beat the hills small, and make them as dust.” C
VERS. 16. “And you shall winnow them, and the wind shall take them, and the storm shall scatter them. But you shall rejoice in the holy ones of Israel.” By mountains and hills, he implies the opposing powers that once rose up against the knowledge of God; so that this diabolical error might no longer subsist among the nations. These mountains and hills being then removed and destroyed from the midst, you yourself, My chosen servant, through whom these things are to be accomplished, shall rejoice in the Lord, and shall be praised in the holy one of Israel.
VERS. 17. “And the poor and needy shall rejoice. For they shall seek water, and there shall be none: their tongue has dried up from thirst. I, the Lord God, will hearken, I, the God of Israel, and I will not forsake them.” D That these things have reached their fulfillment, and are even now being brought to pass in the churches of God which were founded everywhere by the disciples of our Savior, you will understand if you apply your mind. For those souls which were once destitute among the nations and lacking in the knowledge of God, and possessed not even a drop of a life-giving draught, so that their tongue and the speech uttered by it had dried up, because they shared in no moisture of the saving word; these same souls have received an unexpected benefit through the heavenly grace, being filled with fountains, rivers, and...
A waters of every kind, enjoying the water of which it was said above: «And they shall drink water from the fountains of salvation»; whether from the fountains of Israel, which the discourse mentions when it says: «In the churches bless God the Lord from the fountains of Israel». This would be the Holy Spirit, which springs up in the Church of God and rains down living waters, sometimes from the Old Testament, and sometimes from the new and evangelical teaching.
Vers. 18, 19. «But I will open rivers upon the mountains, and fountains in the midst of the plains. I will make the desert into pools of water, and the thirsty land into watercourses. I will place in the waterless land the cedar and the box tree, the myrtle and the cypress, and the white poplar.» All these things, which are nourished and grow only in a B multitude of waters, are taken as an image of the flourishing souls in the Church of God, which have grown to a height from the abundance of divine and rational waters. When, therefore, the Word wishes to represent the fruits of the Church, it uses the image of the olive, or of the palm, or of the vine; but when it indicates the flourishing, lofty, fresh, and vigorous state of those who progress in the Church, it uses the image of the aforementioned plants, which by nature are accustomed to be constituted only from a multitude of waters and from firm and stable ground. And this He has adopted as a paradox, if in the waterless and dried up and miserable land He promises that such a supply of waters will come to pass, as to make such plants grow as have been enumerated. In the same way He says that it will happen also in the C formerly desert and waterless land of the ancient strange and godless nations; for in order to express the saving benefit, He prophesies that such a change will occur in it.
Vers. 20. «That they may see and know, and consider and understand together, that the hand of the Lord has done these things, and the Holy One of Israel has shown them.» For if it were not God and the hand of the Lord, which through His apostles brought about such a change among the nations, how could the Church of God have been established in such a desert of nations, and its rational waters have flowed abundantly everywhere on earth, so that the formerly desert and savage souls of the nations could be cultivated by the word of piety and put forth high and lofty D growths? Some are rooted on earth—I speak of mortal and human life—while others are raised up to such a height that they extend even to the kingdom of heaven, and there anchor their own hopes. Wherefore they are compared to fragrant and towering trees.
Vers. 21. «Your judgment approaches, says the Lord God; your counsels have approached, says the king of Jacob.» For you are without excuse, He says, O idolaters, who after such grace, which has wrought such things, have remained in the error of polytheism, not considering that it was truly the hand of God which accomplished such things, and which, before they came to pass, testified that these things would be.
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Vers. 22-23. "Let them approach and announce to you what shall come to pass, or what were the former things. Tell us, and we will apply our mind, and we shall know what are the last and future things. Announce to us the things to come at the last, and we shall know that you are gods." For the prophets of God, having shared in the divine Spirit, foretold the last things, explicitly prophesying the transformation of the waterless, barren, and fruitless land of the nations into a better state, as well as the coming of Christ, the preaching of his apostles, and all other things contained in their prophecies; from which it is recognized that He who is in them and who predicted these things through them is truly God. But how could the wicked demons have known the counsel and thought of the God over all, or the things determined by Him concerning the coming of Christ and concerning their own overthrow and destruction? Therefore, since they were ignorant of the things to come and of those things which were destined to happen in the last times concerning the calling of the nations and their own desolation, consequently they did not know the former things either; wherefore none of them was able to suggest to their own prophets those things which those who were deemed worthy of the Spirit of God have consigned to writing.
"Do well and do evil, and we shall be amazed and we shall see together." Even if you are capable of inflicting evils, being as you are wicked demons, yet you will not have from this a sign of divine power; for it is necessary for you to demonstrate first that which is proper to God, that is, to do good: and then, as a result, to use righteous judgment and punish those who are worthy of evil. So that it is clearly demonstrated from this that those operations—or the oracles, as they themselves think—are the deceptions of fraudulent men who abuse the simplicity of the many. B
Vers. 24, 25. "For where are you from, and where is your work? They chose you from the earth in abomination. But I raised him up who is from the North, and him who is from the rising of the sun; they shall be called by my name." By these things, he signifies by him who comes from the rising of the sun, Christ and his righteousness; this he indicated above with the words, "Who raised up righteousness from the east?" which he testified was given to the nations themselves; but by him who is from the North, he signifies the people from the nations, who formerly dwelt in the North, according to the verse, "From the face of the North, evils shall be kindled upon all the inhabitants of the earth." This people from the nations, therefore, he says, "I raised up from the North," so that it may no longer remain there; and I shall call him who comes from the rising of the sun, that is to say, Christ. C
"Let the princes come, and as the clay of the potter, and as the potter treading the clay, so shall you be trampled." Thus he calls those who, like satellites, surround his kingdom—namely, the angels, by whom he declares the impious error is to be removed—or the princes and prelates of his Church. You, namely, to whom it was said, "Where are you from, and where is your work? They chose you from the earth in abomination." D
Vers. 26. "For who will announce to us the things from the beginning, that we may know, and the former things, and we will say that they are true?"
A These things can be understood in a twofold way: that neither those have any word to utter, because they are worth nothing and know nothing; nor do those who once erred in these matters remain in error, but, aided by the word of truth, they no longer lend their ears to them, because they have perceived and condemned the ancient deceit.
"I will give to Zion a beginning, and I will comfort Jerusalem on the way." The meaning of what is said is this: Know, O men, that to my Church, which was previously called Zion and Jerusalem, I myself will give the primacy over all, and I will comfort my Church and will place it on the way.
Vers. 28, 29. "For from the nations, behold, there is no one; and from their idols there was none who announced. And if I ask them, 'Whence are you?' they will not answer me. For they are those who make you, and in vain those who lead you astray." It has been proven that they are nothing, and therefore can do nothing; wherefore, if I ask them whence they are, none of them will give an answer.
CHAPTER XLII
Vers. 1. "Jacob is my servant, I will uphold him; Israel is my elect, my soul has received him. I have given my Spirit upon him." You might find these things consonant with what was previously prophesied concerning him who was to spring from the root of Jesse. But he is "elect" not in the same way as the apostles, since it is said of him alone, "My soul hath chosen him"; but also because the Spirit of God rested upon him alone. For "in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." B Wherefore, as one who alone has received the paternal Spirit into himself, he performs all the things related hereafter, announcing to the nations the things that pertain to that universal judgment, so that all may be prepared for the coming judgment of God.
Vers. 2, 3. "He shall not cry out, nor will he remit, nor will his voice be heard abroad; he shall not crush a bruised reed, and he shall not quench smoking flax; but he shall bring forth judgment in truth." It is customary for divine Scripture to use the "eye of the soul" when speaking of God, just as it is accustomed to express the feet, hands, fingers, and eyes of God in a more human manner. But these things are said concerning Christ himself, because he lived his human life quietly and gently, so that he did not even permit those whom he healed to make him known to all. C Thus, he says, he will pass through the life among men so silently and quietly that he will not cause annoyance to even the least of men, even if he be the most humble and weakest of all, and on account of his infirmity is likened to a reed. But you might say that the "smoking flax" is he who is puffed up in vain, exalted and conceited by the mind of his flesh, whom he who is announced in the prophecy is said not to hinder or stop from his arrogance. And this Christ indeed fulfilled in his work while tabernacling in this mortal life; for neither any humble and weak person D
A ever caused him grief among men, nor did he attack any of those who were puffed up and arrogant; but he was gentle and humble in heart toward all men, and with truth and boldness declared to all the things concerning the judgment of God. And he did not cease beforehand, until he shone forth like light through the resurrection from the dead, which the prophetic word hinted at by saying: "He shall shine forth and shall not be broken." For they who plotted death for him indeed attempted to break and extinguish him; since every mortal race is naturally destined to be broken by death. But it did not break him; he alone, of all who have been from the ages, is proven superior to death, and is rightly testified to by the prophecy, saying: B
VERS. 4. "He shall shine forth, and shall not be broken, until he set judgment on the earth; and in his name shall the nations hope." Wherefore, even after the resurrection from the dead, shining forth like light into the whole world, he did not cease beforehand, until he ordained upon the earth the administration and judgment regarding his Church, which he also delivered to his disciples.
VERS. 5. "Thus says the Lord God, who made the heaven and fixed it, who established the earth and what is in it, and gives breath to the people upon it, and spirit to those who walk upon it." Very consistently; for we must learn from whose person the things previously spoken concerning Christ were said. For since the prophetic word had spoken together in the beginning, saying, "Jacob my servant, I will take hold of him; Israel my chosen, my soul has accepted him: I have given my spirit upon him," C and had not indicated who had said these things, it now necessarily declares the author of this prophecy; wherefore it adds, "Thus says the Lord God:" for he himself it was who spoke the first things, and who adds the things that follow. For although you, O men, are not able to behold the invisible and incorporeal substance of God; yet, beholding the magnitude of this great heaven, consider with yourselves how great and what kind of a being is he who fixed such a mass; and looking also upon the earth itself, how great it is, and how immovably it is established and rooted from the age, and founded, so as in no way to be moved; consider of what ineffable power he is who established it, and made it so fruitful and productive of fruits, as to bring forth so many animals and plants. D He, therefore, who constructed such beauties and magnitudes, the Lord and God of all, he himself prophesied the things previously mentioned concerning Christ.
VERS. 6-7. "I the Lord God have called you in righteousness, and I will take hold of your hand, and will strengthen you; and I have given you as a covenant of the race, for a light of nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to lead the bound out of bonds, and out of the house of prison, and those sitting in darkness." He addresses these things to his servant mentioned above, to whom he said he would give his own spirit. First, he calls him in righteousness, performing his calling according to his dignity and according to justice; then, that he will take hold of his hand, and strengthen him,
A and that he will bestow upon him a third gift as a kind of great light, promising it to all the nations, saying: "And I gave thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles." Now, indeed, he gave the Old Testament to the Jewish people through Moses; but here he says that he has granted him who is prophesied as a covenant of the human race and as a light of the Gentiles, so that those whose eyes were formerly blinded in mind might be illuminated by him and be opened, and upon receiving their sight might attain the knowledge of God, so that they might no longer bestow the honor of God upon wood and stones and the substance of inanimate things. For he was about to count those who were bound by the chains of their own sins and shackled in darkness and wickedness worthy of the forgiveness of sins through the grace of God, and to release them as if from prisons, free, and to deliver them from the prison of the devil.
B VERS. 8-9. "I am the Lord God: this is my name: my glory will I not give to another, neither my praises to graven images. Behold, the things from the beginning have come, and new things do I announce, and before they are announced they have been declared to you." It is worth noting that it is not said, "I will give my glory to no one," for the Son is shown to have the glory of the Father; for that which is given to no one excludes everyone, but that which is not given to *another* indicates that it has been granted to one alone, namely to him who is spoken of in the prophecy. And this was the one to whom it was said: "I called thee in righteousness, and will hold thy hand, and will strengthen thee, and I gave thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles." By these words, I think, he instructs all the nations not to venerate any god of those who were formerly called gods among them, but to glorify only the Christ of God and the Father who sent him.
C VERS. 10. "Sing unto the Lord a new song; his beginning." He says that all men must do this. "Glorify his name from the end of the earth, you who descend into the sea and sail upon it, the islands and those who dwell in them," so that from the name of Christ, the whole earth might be filled with Christians. By this he clearly signifies the apostles of our Savior, whom he saw at the seashore casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen, and similarly the others. D These same men, sailing our sea, at one time preached the Gospel in the islands; at another time they crossed over beyond Spain and Italy, so that in a short time they filled even the ruling city itself with the doctrine of Christ. And in another way, those who sail the sea of human life and preach the Gospel to all nations in the midst of the churches are signified by the things set forth; since they themselves also announced the new hymn to all the earth, preaching and teaching to men in the midst of the churches. "And those who dwell in them," he means by this the way in which those who assemble in the churches act.
VERS. 11. "Rejoice, O desert, and its villages," or according to the other interpreters, "and its cities."
Commentary on Isaiah — Chapter XLI
For many cities A according to their different modes of life are conceived of in the Church of God, as was demonstrated also in the vision of Egypt, where it was said that there would be five cities in Egypt speaking the Canaanite tongue. "Villages and inhabitants of Kedar. They who inhabit Petra shall rejoice; from the top of the mountains they shall shout." Kedar happens to be beyond Arabia at the edge of the desert, and they say the race of the Saracens occupies it. By these, the Word wished to signify all those who dwell in the deserts and the ends of the earth, as the rational joy of God is destined to reach even to us through the grace of Christ. Now, Petra is a certain city of Palestine, full of superstitious men and immersed in the depths of diabolical error; yet he says that its inhabitants too will become partakers of grace, saying: "They who inhabit Petra shall rejoice." The outcome of events itself confirmed the truth of these words, when in the city of the Petraeans itself, and in its territory, and also in the solitudes of the Saracens, churches of Christ were founded in our own times. But Kedar also signifies darkness, on account of those who have been transferred from darkness to the light announced to the nations. He says that those who inhabit Petra are to be made joyful with equal gladness; "and the Rock was Christ." B
VERS. 12, 13. "They shall give glory to God; they shall announce his virtues in the islands." Thus it was also said above: "Ascend a high mountain, you who bring good tidings to Sion; exalt your voice with strength, you who bring good tidings to Jerusalem." "The Lord God of hosts shall go forth, and shall crush war, he shall stir up zeal, and shall shout over his enemies with strength." For it is not without cause that he is about to wage war upon them; but after he has brought forth that cause, he will declare it with a great shout, as he teaches with these words: "I have kept silence; shall I always keep silence?" For while they were acting wickedly and impiously, he, bearing them patiently and tolerating them with his own long-suffering, and not straightway bringing wrath and vengeance upon them, kept silence. And otherwise, at the time of his passion, while he was attacked by calumnies, he kept silence, and when he heard false testimonies, he answered nothing.
VERS. 14, 15. "I have kept silence; shall I always keep silence, and endure? As one who brings forth, I have acted patiently. I shall move and I shall dry up at once; I shall make mountains and hills desolate, and I shall dry up all their hay. And I shall turn rivers into islands, and I shall dry up the pools;" C that is to say, the doctrine which was formerly supplied to them like rivers.
VERS. 16. "And I will lead the blind in a way that they have not known, and I will make them walk in paths which they were ignorant of. I will change darkness into light for them, and crooked things into straight. These words I shall perform, and I will not forsake them." Who these are he taught above, saying in the person of Christ: "I have given you for a covenant of the race, for a light of the nations, that you might open the eyes of the blind." D Therefore, he promises that he will make those who were formerly blind among the nations to walk in a way that they have not known.
For how were we to know the way according to God, except by his divine grace? A "I will make the darkness of them into light," he says; by this, I mean the prophetic Scriptures and the lives that are suggested by divine teaching, which he says we shall come to understand. For he promises that the ignorance of God, which formerly covered our souls, will be changed into the light of knowledge, and that those things which were formerly thought by us to be twisted and obscure, he will make plain. Then, pointing to those who are of the circumcision, he says:
VERS. 17. "But they have turned back." Then, as if showing them the transformation of the nations, and from what error they have been turned when they came into the light out of darkness, he adds, in a reproachful manner toward those who practice idolatry: B "Be ashamed, you who trust in graven images, who say to the molten things: You are our gods." But lest anyone might think that these things were said about the nations who were formerly blind and deaf, he necessarily clarifies and interprets the meaning, adding:
VERS. 18-21. "And who is blind, but my servants; and deaf, but they that rule over them? And the servants of God have been blinded. You have seen often, and have not taken heed: the ears are opened, and you have not heard. The Lord God has deliberated that he might be justified, and may magnify his praise." You see that all these things have been said concerning the people from the circumcision. "But the Lord deliberated that he might justify him, and might magnify his praise; but they gloried in those who were warring against their souls."
VERS. 22. "And they have seen, and the people have become spoiled and plundered; for the snare is in the inner chambers everywhere, and in the houses at the same time, where they hid them. They have become a prey, and there was none to deliver the spoil, and there was none saying, Restore." For as they were devising in those very thoughts, which they were concealing, things against Christ, in those same things they found a snare for themselves; and there was none to deliver them, nor anyone saying, Restore. C
VERS. 23. "Who is there among you that will give ear to these things? Hearken to the things that are coming." But if any man should seek who it is that has done these things, he would find that no other has given them up to plunder than he against whom they have sinned, and in whose ways they were unwilling to walk. For when called to the evangelical ways, they did not obey; nay, they did not even wish to hear the law of the New Testament.
VERS. 24. "Who has given Jacob to plunder, and Israel to them that spoil him? Has not God, against whom they have sinned, and in whose ways they were not willing to walk, nor to hear his law?" For formerly, indeed, when they were assailed by war for a certain time, they would again recover themselves; so that Jerusalem and the kingdom established therein would remain upright; but now the war has prevailed against them: not the exterior war alone, but also that of those who are besieging their very souls. D
VERS. 25. "And he has brought upon them the anger of his fury, and the war has prevailed against them, and they that were burning
that of those who are besieging their very souls. For even if those among you who are infidels, having become blind and deaf, and having brought about such things, have been delivered to the wrath of God, yet do you, even now at last, listen; I speak to you who have not remained ignorant of your creator and maker, but have also kept safe and unharmed the work and creation formed within you.
CHAPTER XLIII
VERS. 1, 2. "And now thus says the Lord God who made you, Jacob, and who formed you, Israel. Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are mine." I am the Lord God who made and formed you; I made you according to your soul, which was created in the image of God; I formed you according to the body, which was taken from the earth and fashioned by me; and by handing over my own blood as a price for your salvation, I have redeemed you and called you, and moreover I have made you my own possession, so that you might be my people, and I myself might be your God. Have confidence, therefore, having been deemed worthy of so many good things from me, and walk in the way in which you have been commanded, and full of confidence, preach the evangelical word to the nations everywhere on earth. For even if burning fire should break out, even if waters, even if rivers should overflow, these things shall in no way hurt you, because I am with you everywhere. For without lying I have proclaimed: "Behold, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." A
VERS. 3. "And if you pass through water, I am with you, and rivers shall not overwhelm you; and if you pass through fire, you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not burn you; because I am the Lord your God, the holy one of Israel, who saves you. I have made Egypt and Ethiopia and Syene B an exchange for you." For so precious have you become to me, and so glorified have you been in my sight, and so much have I loved you, that the divine salvation, which for your sake has been procured for all men, might reach even to the ends of the earth, and that those most superstitious of men, the Egyptians, might be deemed worthy of the calling through you. By the Egyptians, therefore, he designated all the superstitious and idolaters; by the Ethiopians and Syene, those who inhabited the ends of our habitable world. Nor should it be ignored that there is a certain nation of Sabaeans, whence the queen of Saba came forth in the time of Solomon. C
VERS. 4, 5. "From the time you became honorable in my sight, you were glorified, and I have loved you. And I will give men for you, and princes for your head. Fear not, for I am with you. I will bring your seed from the east, and I will gather you from the west." Many sons brought forth by me according to God I will gather into my heavenly city, and I will lead them on high through the air like birds, as if supported by the winds—that is to say, by the angelic powers. D
VERS. 6. "I will say to the north, Bring; and to the south, Do not hold back; bring my sons from far away, and my daughters from the ends of the earth." For I shall command the angelic powers to do this, because they are my sons and my daughters, born through you A and regenerated in my Church.
VERS. 7. "All those who are called by my name." For from what other source was the name "Christian" established than from the designation of Christ? And He himself was the one who was prophesying these things through the prophet. "For in My glory I have formed him, and I have fashioned him, and I have made him," being unfeigned in his ways.
VERS. 8, 9. "And I brought out a blind people, and their eyes are likewise blind, and they have ears that are deaf. All the nations were gathered together, and the rulers from among them shall be gathered." For through the apostolic seeds and their teaching, those who were formerly blind and deaf were changed and gathered into the Church of God; and now, rulers from among these very nations have been set over the people of God. B
VERS. 9-11. "Who will declare these things? Or who among you will declare the things from the beginning? Let them bring their witnesses, and let them be justified, and let them hear and speak what is true. Be witnesses to me, and I am a witness, says the Lord God, and my servant, whom I chose." Since I, even I, the God, will be their witness, and my servant whom I chose—of whom it was said above: "Behold my servant, whom I chose, my elect, my soul has received him." I, therefore, God himself, and this servant of mine, my elect, shall bear witness to my own witnesses; which, indeed, the Savior also revealed C in the Gospels, saying: "Whoever confesses me before men, I will also confess him before my Father who is in heaven." "So that you may know and believe, and understand, that I am."
VERS. 12. "Before me there was no other God, and after me there shall be none." For the advent of Christ and the testimony exhibited through his apostles to all the nations was for no other purpose than to preach the knowledge of God, and faith in him, and the understanding concerning him to those who were previously senseless, and unarranged, and faithless, and were dwelling in ignorance of him; so that for this reason they were blinded in the eyes of their mind, and were wallowing D in the error of impious idolatry. "I am God, and there is no Savior besides me." For as there is one principle, so the divinity might be one, with which is also included the theology of his Only-begotten.
VERS. 13. "I have declared and saved; I reproached, and there was no stranger among you. You are my witnesses, and I am the Lord God even from the beginning; and there is none who can deliver from my hands. I will do it, and who shall avert it?" For just as he was spoken of as a witness, and the servant whom he chose, so also he himself would be the God who saves. And if he says, "And there is no Savior besides me,"
A he does not deny that the child whom he chose is the Savior. For the present prophet knows him to be the Savior in those places where he says, "And the Lord will send to them a Savior, who will save them." Instead of the word "I reproached," all the other interpreters have said, "And I caused to hear."
VERS. 14-17. "Thus says the Lord God, who redeems you, the Holy One of Israel: For your sake I will send to Babylon, and will stir up all who are fleeing, and the Chaldeans will be bound in ships. I am the Lord your God, the Holy One, who showed Israel your king. Thus says the Lord, who gives a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty water: who brought out chariot and horse and a mighty multitude; but they slept, and shall not arise; they have been extinguished like an extinguished wick." The meaning of what is set before us is as follows: Formerly, indeed, I provided my benefits to the Jewish nation, and when I had delivered them to the Babylonians to discipline them and bring them to a sound mind, not long afterward I released them from the Babylonian captivity, being God and Lord of all. And the Babylonians themselves, who had rushed against Jerusalem, I made displaced persons, so B that the Chaldeans who were among them turned to flight, and some of them, bound by others stronger than they, were thrown into ships upon the sea adjacent to them. For these things I, being God, performed, showing my kingdom to men.
VERS. 18, 19. "Remember not the former things, and do not consider the ancient ones. Behold, I do new things, which shall now arise, and you shall know them." He indicates once again the Church to be established among the nations, which was void of the knowledge of God before the coming of Christ the God, who said, "I am the way. And I will make a way in the desert, and rivers in the waterless land." But in that, he says, which was formerly a desert, I will make a way, just as I previously did at the Red Sea. And rivers of divine oracles flow from the teaching of the Holy Spirit C into that which was formerly waterless, just as also in the time of Moses rivers flowed in the desert. But there, indeed, they were of bodily water, being of a flowing and corruptible substance, but now, by the divine supply, rivers of rational and spiritual water flow.
VERS. 20. "The beasts of the field will bless me, the sirens, and the daughters of ostriches: because I gave water in the desert, and rivers in the waterless land, to give drink to my elect race." Souls that have become wild will be changed from that beastly state, being altered by the power of the river, so that the beasts themselves will again bless me. And if there were also Sirens, charming the souls of men with pleasure and demonic songs, adorned with elegant language in the fictions of poets, even these, being changed, will bless me; and furthermore, the daughters of ostriches—or, according to the other interpreters, D "and ostriches," a creature living in wildernesses and uninhabited places—and it itself, being brought to tameness, will be taught to bless me, God. The cause of these things will be the water given by me in the desert, and the power and abundance of the rivers flowing in the desert.
A VERS. 21, 22. "My people whom I acquired to tell of my virtues: not now have I called you, Jacob, nor did I make you labor, Israel." For even if wild beasts, sirens, and ostriches were to bless me, you, Jacob, have done nothing of the kind; indeed, you did not even deign to call upon me, but you were "wearied" in me, according to Symmachus, even though I did not cause you to labor.
VERS. 23. "You have not brought me the sheep of your burnt offering, nor in your sacrifices have you glorified me; I did not make you serve with victims, nor did I cause you labor with incense." Just as here he announces the hope of good things to the wilderness and the wild beasts inhabiting it, he convicts the people of the circumcision for their impiety, whom he now calls Jacob and Israel; thus, simply uttering his name, he calls him neither servant nor elect, which he nonetheless observes when speaking of the more excellent order.
VERS. 24-26. "Neither did you buy me incense with silver, nor did I desire the fat of your sacrifices; but you stood before me in your sins, and in your iniquities. I am, I am he who blots out your lawlessness for my own sake, and your sins, and I will not remember them. But you, remember, and let us be judged together." B FOR THE MEMORY OF PAST SINS JOINED WITH CONFESSION IS GOOD: wherefore he adds, "You, say your sins first, that you may be justified"; for by doing this you shall be justified; since a just man in the beginning of his discourse is his own accuser.
VERS. 27, 28. "Your fathers were the first, and your princes have transgressed against me. And the princes polluted my holy things. And I gave Jacob to destruction, and Israel to reproach."
CHAPTER XLIV
VERS. 1. "But now hear, Jacob my servant, and Israel, whom I chose." By these words, he calls the apostolic choir again.
VERS. 2, 3. "Thus says the Lord God, who made you and formed you from the womb: You shall yet have aid; do not fear, my servant Jacob, and beloved Israel, whom I chose. For I will give water in thirst to those walking in the waterless land; I will put my spirit upon your seed, and my blessings upon your children." For through the Holy Spirit, he was about to provide rational, fruitful, and spiritual water to the waterless and desert land. The seed of the apostles are the Churches of God; C and their children are all those throughout the earth and in all nations who have been regenerated through the Holy Spirit: these also—
VERS. 4. "They shall spring up," he says, "like grass in the midst of water, and as a willow by flowing water." D Here, too, he takes the willow for its greenness and the tree’s youth, to declare the abundance of the rational waters flowing in his Church.
VERS. 5. "This one shall say, I am God's; and this one shall call upon the name of Jacob, and another shall write on his hand, I am God's, and shall call upon the name of Israel."
A And he honors himself by saying he is Israel. Indeed, it is possible for one to wonder and be truly struck by the power of the prophetic words, the fulfillment of which we have perceived in the things themselves. For in the persecutions that have been stirred up in our own time, we have seen many from foreign nations who usurped the names of holy men; for one called himself Jacob, and another Israel, another Jeremiah, and another Isaiah, and yet another Daniel. Having thus inscribed these names upon themselves, they approached the trial for God with great boldness and confidence. The prophecy signifies these things, saying: "This one shall say, I am God's, and this one shall call upon the name of Jacob, and another shall write on his hand, I am God's, and another shall call upon the name of Israel."
Vers. 6, 7. "Thus says God, the King of Israel, and the One who delivered him, God of Hosts: I am the first, and I am after these things, and apart from Me there is no God. Who is like Me? Let him stand, and call, and announce, and prepare for Me, since I made man for the eon; and let them announce to you the things that are coming before they happen." For let anyone who claims to be a god say what sort of work he displays for himself in the universe. For if the world is one, and it is of the same nature and entirely joined to itself, then its Creator must also be one. But He is seen from the greatness and beauty of things created as the Maker of the universe. But if anyone introduces another god, let him show a similar world for him; but there is no other world besides that which we see; therefore, there is no other God. But if there is any such, B "Let him stand," He says, first; that is, let him show his own existence, both that he is in the subsistence of his essence, and that he remains and stands in himself; then, emitting a rational voice worthy of God, let him announce what things shall be hereafter in the world, or what things have come to pass of old from the beginning, from the time when I placed man upon the earth up to the present time. For from this we shall know that He established these things by His word.
Vers. 8-10. "Do not be hidden, do not err. Did you not hear from the beginning, and did I not announce it to you? You are witnesses if there is a God besides Me." And those who fashion and carve did not hear then: all are vain, who make their desires, which shall not profit them. But those who fashion a god, and carve all useless things, shall be confounded. "Not from the beginning," He says, was it so; that is, before the times of the flood, when the craftsmen of inanimate idols did not yet exist. And you are witnesses that not yet, that is, at the beginning of mortal life, had the casters and sculptors of gods existed; since the art of sculpture and craftsmanship was not yet found among men.
Vers. 11-17. "And all from whence they were made have withered, and let all the deaf be gathered together from men, and let them stand together, and let them be confounded and ashamed together: because the craftsman sharpened iron, D and worked it with an adze, and brought a drill to it, and he worked it in..."
his arm of strength; and he shall be hungry, and shall be weakened, and shall not drink water. The craftsman having selected wood, he set it by a rule, and smoothed it with glue, and made it as the form of a man, and as the beauty of a man, to set it in a house. He cut wood from the forest, which the Lord planted, a pine, and the rain made it grow, that it might be for men to burn: and having taken of it, he was warmed, and having kindled it, they baked loaves upon it; and of the rest they made gods, and they worship them: half of which he burned in the fire, and upon half of it he baked loaves on the coals, and having roasted meat upon it he ate, and was filled, and being warmed he said, "It is sweet to me, that I am warmed, and have seen the fire." But the rest he made into a graven god, and he worships and prays saying, "Deliver me, for thou art my god." B But you, to whom this present discourse is directed for the time being, why do you not reason with yourselves what is the nature of these things, which are thought to be gods by you in inanimate images? For is it not plain to all to perceive, that they are the works of craftsmen, prepared with axes and drills and such tools, the invention of a poor and needy man, who, for the lack of food and the leisure of preparing bread, devised a mechanism of error?
"They did not know nor understand, because they were blinded from seeing with their eyes, and from understanding with their heart. And he did not reason in his soul, nor did he know by his understanding, that half of it he burned in the fire, and baked loaves upon its coals, and having roasted meat he ate, and the remainder of it he made into an abomination, and they worship it." As for those who were forgetful and needed such reminders through the swiftness of reason, he says these things. Therefore, you ought to be mindful of your own dignity, and being the creature of God, do not insult yourself by preferring inanimate material, fashioned into a likeness by the hands of base men, to yourself, and rendering it divine worship. C
"Know that their heart is ash, and they are led astray, and no one can deliver his soul. See and do not say that there is a lie in my right hand. Remember these things, Jacob and Israel, for thou art my child. I formed thee my child, and thou, Israel, do not forget me." As to one who has turned away and surrendered himself to enemies.
"For behold, I have blotted out as a cloud thy iniquities, and as darkness thy sin. Turn back to me, and I will redeem thee. Rejoice, O heavens, because God has had mercy on Israel." As if there will be joy in heaven over those who are about to repent of their evils.
"Sound the trumpet, ye foundations of the earth; cry out, ye mountains, with joy, ye hills and all the woods that are in them, because God has redeemed Jacob, and Israel shall be glorified." For if there are any divine powers that support the earth, let them too send up acclamation and a hymn to God. It is likely, however, that the foundations of the earth are called the prophets themselves and all just and God-loving men; for the Apostle teaches this by these D
words: A “Built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets.” Cry out, O mountains, to gladness. Similarly, let them glorify God for the repentance and salvation of those mentioned. By mountains, he indicates lofty and high-minded souls; by hills, those of more moderate status; and by trees, those that are fruitful. And in another way, he commands the whole world and its parts to praise God, adding, “For God has redeemed Jacob, and Israel shall be glorified.”
VER. 24. “Thus says the Lord, who redeemed you and formed you from the womb.” Having B set forth above a refutation of idolatry, the Word makes promises to those who had received fruit from prophetic instruction, as to those who had now put an end to idolatry; namely, the return from the Babylonian captivity. For because they had been delivered to the Babylonians on account of idolatry, and Jerusalem itself, because of the audacity of its citizens, had been besieged and utterly destroyed in the time of the Assyrians, he prophesies an escape from evils for those who have suffered such things, if they would only cease from their error. These things were fulfilled in the times of Cyrus, the first king of the Persians. Wherefore, he mentions Cyrus himself by name, which is truly most marvelous, for he existed about two hundred years later, and he liberated the Jewish people from captivity and ordered the Jerusalem temple to be rebuilt.
“I am the Lord who accomplishes all things: I extended the heaven alone, and I firmly established the earth.” For “all things were C made through him, and without him nothing was made.” He extended the heaven alone and established the earth by the will of the Father; “For he himself spoke, and they were made; he himself commanded, and they were created.” The earth, therefore, being firm and solid, as it was established, is said to be fixed and immovable for all time; but the heaven, insofar as it is spread out, is declared to have been extended entirely; for which reason it is said elsewhere, “Who extends the heaven as a curtain.” What those things are which such a Lord teaches, he subsequently introduces with these words:
VERS. 25, 28. “Who else will dissipate the signs of ventriloquists and divinations from the heart? Turning the wise backward, and making their counsel foolish, and establishing the word of his servant, and making the counsel of his angels true, saying to Jerusalem, You shall be inhabited; and to the cities of Edom, You shall be built, and its deserts shall sprout: saying to the abyss, You shall be D desolate, and I will dry up your rivers: saying to Cyrus to be wise, and he shall do all my wills: saying to Jerusalem, You shall be built, and I shall found my holy house.” These things, therefore, I shall thus establish; but I shall confirm the words of my beloved and elect servant—I mean of my Christ, concerning whom very many things have been said previously—and I shall also cause the counsel of his angels, that is to say, of his apostles and disciples and evangelists, to be true. I, however, being about to do these things, from this point on proclaim and promise that Jerusalem, after the first
A destruction by the Babylonians, will be restored, so that the cities of Judea may be inhabited, and the places in them that were desolate may again be established as they were from the beginning. And I shall also make the polytheism, which is called an abyss of wickedness, a wilderness, and I shall dry up the rivers of the polytheism of the enemy—so that Babylon may no longer exist, nor its rivers, which were so mighty in their powerful multitudes. All these things I shall do by using as my minister a man of the Persian race who will be their first king. And if it is necessary to prophesy even his name, Cyrus is the name of him who is being predicted, whom I shall set up as a minister of my own words, having bestowed upon him a pious mind, so that he may do all things pleasing to me, and may command B Jerusalem to be built and its temple to be established from its foundations.
Chapter XLV.
A• Thus says the Lord God to my Christ Cyrus, whose right hand I have taken hold of, to subject nations before his face, and I will break the strength of kings. I will open doors before him, and cities shall not be closed. • Good, however, have I found the aforementioned man to be as a minister of my counsel; hence I promise from this point on that I will hold his right hand, so that he may not be turned aside nor overcome by anyone stronger. I will subject to him a great many of those who reign over other nations; and through him I will shatter the power of all that is in the other nations; and having made everything smooth and level before his feet, I will deliver to him the gates of cities and the entire cities themselves under his hand, so that no one may be in opposition to him.
• I will go before you, and level the mountains; I will shatter brazen doors, and cut asunder iron bars. • And someone might say that the things which happened historically in the time of Zerubbabel, or in the time of Cyrus, contain images and symbols of the truth; but that those things which relate to the time of the true Lord and Christ were spiritually fulfilled; so that the word which says, • Thus says the Lord to my Christ Cyrus, • is more truly verified in him. For, according to the literal expression, the Persian king who built Jerusalem does not appear to have been Christ of God; D nor did the work of building progress at all during his lifetime; for they only began the foundations at that time; then, the work having been stopped, the place remained desolate until the reign of Darius. And the things that are added afterward would apply better to Christ than to the king of the Persians; and more to our Savior than to Zerubbabel.
• And I will give you hidden treasures, the unseen will I open to you; that you may know that I am the Lord thy God, who calls your name, the God of Israel. For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I will call you by your name, and I will accept you; but you have not known me. • And the treasures stored within these, which were invisible and unseen by former kings, I shall open to you; that
A you may learn by these very works who I am, I who so many years ago inscribed your name in my prophetic Scriptures, as upon eternal tablets. I am the God of Israel, which you also must not ignore, O Cyrus; for I will grant you all that has been foretold, not for any other reason, but for the sake of my people, whom I have chosen for myself out of all the nations because of the honor I hold for their fathers.
VERS. 5-7. “For I am the Lord God, and there is no other God besides me. I have strengthened you, and you have not known me; that they may know from the rising of the sun and from the setting, that there is no God besides me. I am the Lord God, and there is no other. I who B prepared light, and who made darkness, who make peace, and create evils. I am the Lord God, who does all these things.” From these very works they shall learn; for when it was necessary to inflict hardships upon my people for their conversion and discipline, I delivered them to their enemies, as if handing them over to darkness and wrath on account of their impieties. But when, he says, it is necessary to bring them back once they have turned again and are returning to a better life, it follows that the light of peace and of all good things ought to dawn upon them. For from me are both light and all things pertaining to peace supplied; and by my judgment, vengeance is also brought in. Wherefore receive this doctrine from me; namely, that I am the creator of light and the bestower of peace, and likewise of darkness and of those things considered sorrowful, which are regarded by many as evils, of which I might be called the maker, bringing upon each what is fitting for them by a just judgment. C If therefore I am God, and there is no other besides me who does all these things, even if they seem opposite, they are not by their nature opposite. For the things which are considered to be brought by me as evils do indeed contribute most to the utility and salvation of those who are brought to a sound mind by them.
VERS. 8. “Let heaven rejoice from above, and let the clouds pour down justice: let the earth open, and let it sprout mercy, and let justice spring up together. I am the Lord, who created you.” For just as there was a time once, when I commanded the clouds “not to rain upon the vineyard,” so now, according to my time, I command my clouds, which are rational, not to pour down sensible water, but justice from on high D upon those who inhabit the earth.
VERS. 9, 10. “What better have I prepared as potter’s clay? Shall he who plows plow the earth all day? Shall the clay say to the potter, What are you doing, since you are not working, nor have hands? Shall the thing molded answer its molder? He who says to his father, What will you beget? and to the mother, What will you bring forth?” As if addressing those who contradict that universal providence and administration, he says: “Woe to him who contradicts his molder.” For when there was need of correction and conversion, I crushed Jerusalem like a potsherd, and delivered the temple to enemies and foes; but when, after the sufficient penalty had been inflicted, it was necessary to show humanity; then both the temple and the city I restored to a better condition than
that which had been destroyed, like the clay of the potter, bringing it back to a better form and renewing it.
Ver. 11. "For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, who hath made the things that are to come: Ask me concerning my sons, and concerning the works of my hands command ye me." Therefore let every man, taken from the earth and clothed with an earthly body, needing nothing more than clay if he be compared with his Creator, be instructed not to dare to contradict the dispensations of God, nor to find fault with the reasons of Providence. For there are many querulous men who are wont to complain and argue with these words: "What necessity was there from the beginning to pass into life? Why are these things fashioned in such a way? What need was there for such things?" For it was fitting that it should be done in this way. But unto them that "Woe" is addressed. "Ask me concerning my sons, and concerning the works of my hands command ye me." By the name "sons" is signified an intellectual and rational substance; but by the "works of his hands," the parts of the world are declared.
B Ver. 12. "I have made the earth, and man upon it: I with my hand have established the heaven, I have commanded all the stars." What cause for blame, then, is there in this? What beauty does it not surpass, or what magnitude does it not cover and exceed? And why should these things not be compared to the adornment of the present world and to the life profitable to men? For I did not fashion the earth as a desert, nor as a useless element, but as a dwelling-place for men. Wherefore I also prepared the remaining animals and plants for the use and ministry of men; and I established the heaven, and adorned it with stars; to which I gave, command C that they should proceed in a rhythmic and harmonious motion, so that at one time they should shine for those upon the earth, and at another time be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and months, and years.
Ver. 13. "I have raised him up with justice as a king, and all his ways are straight. This man shall build my city, and he shall turn back the captivity of my people, not for price, nor for gifts, saith the Lord Sabaoth." Whom or what sort of person does he mention here? One might say Cyrus the king of the Persians, of whom the Word made mention in the preceding, so that it might be said of him, "All his ways are straight," or according to Symmachus, "And I will make all his ways straight. And this D man shall build my city." For he was the one who, by his power, built the city of Jerusalem, by permitting those who so desired to depart from Babylon and to restore the place. This the aforementioned king of the Persians fulfilled according to history. Another might say that these things are spoken concerning Zorobabel, who, being sprung from the royal line, was of the tribe of Judah and the succession of David. But in truth, Christ alone brought back the captivity of souls, and liberated them from the error and servitude of the demons; and this He did, not for price nor for gifts, which the Apostle also teaches, saying: "By grace you are saved."
Ver. 14. "Thus saith the Lord Sabaoth: Egypt hath labored..."
and the merchandise of the Ethiopians, and the Sabeans, men of stature, shall pass over to thee, and shall be thy servants; and they shall walk after thee bound with manacles; and they shall pass over to thee, and shall worship thee; and they shall make supplication to thee, because God is in thee, and there is no God besides thee." A He says that Egypt had labored in the error of idolatry, when it was subjected to the devil and his ministers, the demons; yet He promises that Egypt will be recovered from its labor: by which he alludes to the whole genus of idolatry. "And the Sabeans, men of stature." By these he seems to signify certain barbaric and savage peoples, inhabiting the extremities of the earth, whom he prophesies will be subject to Christ; therefore he adds:
VERS. 15, 16. "And they shall walk after thee bound with manacles. For Thou art God, and we knew it not, the God of Israel the Saviour. Let all His adversaries be confounded and ashamed, and let them walk in confusion. Be renewed unto Me, O islands." How all those who were at various times adversaries have been filled with confusion and shame—both those from the circumcision and all from the nations who incited persecutions against His churches—is declared more by the deeds themselves than by words. B
VERS. 17. "Israel is saved by the Lord with an eternal salvation: they shall not be confounded, nor ashamed even to eternity." These things, moreover, are subsequently said in connection with the apostles, disciples, and evangelists of our Saviour; for they were that Israel who is gifted with salvation; and by their works the aforementioned islands were often renewed. These, however, were the churches of God which are surrounded, as if by the sea, by the malice of life.
VERS. 18, 19. "Thus saith the Lord, who made heaven: this is God, who showed the earth, and made it, He Himself set it apart. He did not make it in vain, but He formed it to be inhabited. I am the Lord, and there is no other." By these the Word teaches that we should not be ignorant that the human race is held in great honor by God, the Lord of all; wherefore He deigned to grant it a saving calling, and all those things that are promised in the present prophecy. C For just as I established the heaven out of necessity for the dwelling of angels and holy spirits, and for the adornment of the universe; so also I did not frame the element of the earth in vain nor uselessly; but I adorned it as a dwelling place and a temporary residence for those who were to live there in a rational manner, who were indeed able to know God and live religiously, inasmuch as they were created in the image of God. Therefore, as the angels are ministers of God in heaven; so also men dwell on earth under the care of God. D
VERS. 20. "I have not spoken in secret, nor in a dark place of the earth. I said not to the seed of Jacob, Seek ye in vain. I am, I am the Lord, who speak justice, and announce truth." For since all the earth, and those who are in it, are Mine, because
A this, he says, is why I did not leave my words to be hidden, nor lying as if in darkness; but bringing them out into the open, I spread them for all, so that the saving Gospel might be preached to all nations. And these things would apply precisely to the evangelical proclamation alone. For if one were to wish to examine the oracles of Moses, one would find them spoken in secret—in the Hebrew tongue, with characters distinct and not known to all. But even if one were to consider in what wilderness and pathless, waterless place the law of Moses was given, one would find it to have been delivered in a dark place of the earth. In no wise is the Gospel of Christ the same. For "into all the earth their sound went out, and into the ends of the world their words." And it has been handed down in every manner of tongue, in every voice, and in the scripts peculiar to each nation, so as to be heard by all nations.
B "Assemble yourselves and come; take counsel together, you who are saved from the nations. They have not known those who carry the wood of their carving, and who pray to gods that do not save. If they will report, let them draw near, that they may know together." For first, he says, I called those ones through the evangelical preaching, and to them first I promised the kingdom of heaven, promising it almost as a reward for their faith in me, so that they might not think they were practicing piety in vain. Therefore I also promised eternal life, and good things "which eye has not seen," and so forth. But since I am God, speaking justice and announcing truth, according to the reason of justice, after those I called to myself all mankind; and from that point forward I now proclaim to all, saying: "Assemble yourselves and come; take counsel together, you who are saved from the nations." Do you see how he invites those from the nations who wish to be saved? "Who has made these things heard from the beginning?" For they will know, having drawn near, the true God, of whose divinity a great proof is that He foretold these things through His own prophets, and announced these things into our ears from the beginning. "Then it was reported to you, I am God, and there is no other besides me." C Setting traps for those on earth, the wicked demons strove to build up the workshops of their own deception, pretending both to know the future and to be able to announce it to those wishing to learn, and they continued for a time to carry men away. Thus there were oracles throughout cities and regions, and false divinations everywhere, and auguries, and necromancers, and those speaking from the earth, and ventriloquists and meal-diviners, and, in a word, the world was filled with liars and impostors. "A just man and a savior there is not besides me." But I prophesied and foretold, since I am just and a Savior, wherefore according to the reason of justice I call all nations to the salvation that is with me. Do you see how he proclaims a universal preaching to all nations? In these things, one might rightly see D the greatness of the grace through Christ, as it extends to all who are upon the earth;
for the whole earth has been caught by the net through faith in Him, unto salvation and life.
Vers. 23, 24. A *“By myself I swear, if righteousness shall not go forth from my mouth: my words shall not turn back.”* B What words, if not those by which He said: *“Turn to me, and you shall be saved, you who are from the end of the earth: for to me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear by God”*? This refers not to the Jews only, but also to the rest of the nations, than which nothing would be more blessed. And the fulfillment of this prophecy took place at the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ; after which, in His Church throughout the whole world, all the gathered peoples learned to bow the knee to God in prayers, although the Jews knew not that this was to be done. *“And shall swear.”* For those who have acknowledged me, God, among all nations, through every language and speech, both barbarian and Greek, shall take me as a witness in their oaths, confirming their own professions of faith.
Vers. 25. *“Saying, Righteousness and glory shall come to him, and all who set themselves apart shall be put to shame.”* All the virtues of men will obtain such an end; and all the strength of men who have contended for the sake of piety shall come to Him, and they shall then receive the fruit of their labors and the reward of virtue.
VERS. 26. C *“By the Lord they shall be justified, and in God shall all the seed of the children of Israel be glorified.”* And observe, I pray, the precision of the statement; for He did not say “Israel,” nor “the seed of Israel,” but “the seed of the children of Israel.” Now, the children of Israel were the first heralds of the saving Gospel, whose seed and succession it is said shall be justified and glorified.
CHAPTER XLVI
ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΜΓ'
VERS. 1. *“Bel fell, Dagon was broken. Their carved images came to be beasts and cattle.”* Bel was an idol, thus named by the Greeks; they interpret it as being the one they call Saturn, regarding whom the ancients were so foolish that they would slaughter their own dearest ones, and offer countless other human sacrifices to him in every place. Dagon also was an image of the foreigners, namely, of the Ascalonites and Gazaeans; and when the word mentioned these specifically, next it adds more generally concerning all the gods D everywhere worshipped: *“Their carved images came to be beasts and cattle.”* And this can be seen throughout all of Egypt, where they are accustomed to worship every kind of wild beast and cattle as gods.
VERS. 2. *“You carry them bound, as a burden to one laboring, and weary, and thirsty, and not able at the same time: who shall not be able to be saved from war. But they themselves were led away captive.”* These things truly came to pass in our times to the very letter; and according to the interpretation, it is a heavy, hard, and unbearable, and devilish burden to the...
A souls of those who were long ago under the influence of the error of idolatry.
“Hear me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are borne by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb, even to old age.” But he neither calls them Jacob, nor names them Israel, but only the house of Jacob because of the kinship of the flesh, and the remnant, as it were, the surplus and dregs of Israel. “I am, and even until you grow old I am; I will bear you, I have made, and I will carry, I will take up, and I will save you. To whom have you likened me?” See, you who are deceived, you who contribute gold from your purse and silver in a balance; they place it in the scales, and having hired a goldsmith, they have made idols, and bowing down they worship them. They lift it upon the shoulder and walk. But if they place it in its spot, it remains, it will not be moved; and if one cries out to it, it will not hear; from evils it will not save him. But you, consider into what kind of enmity against God and impiety you have fallen, having dared to liken me to those who are not gods, and in no way to esteem my divinity; and you have imagined me to be equal to inanimate matter, gathering gold and silver by contract, and fashioning idols by the hands of men, which you are not ashamed to worship, B though they are unable to walk or move, but are carried upon shoulders and pushed about by others, and having neither the power to hear nor to save themselves. You have thought me to be similar to these, being blinded in your souls.
“Remember these things, and groan. Repent, you who are deceived; turn with your heart, and remember the things of old from the beginning; for I am God, and there is no God besides me; announcing from the beginning the things that are yet to come before they happen, and they were accomplished together.” I have set forth this as the greatest testimony to men through my own prophets, having foretold things that were to come, and having said what would occur in times long after, which I have also carried out in deed. “And I said: All my counsel shall stand, and all things that I have resolved I will do.” And again I will fulfill them in the times to come. And all things whatsoever I have resolved and decreed shall come to pass firmly, I myself putting an end to my own words; whensoever I wish, by calling my ministers who are borne through the air like birds and winged creatures; I mean the angelic powers and the ministering spirits, who are sent C forth for service. “Calling from the east a bird, and from a land far off; concerning the things which I have resolved I have spoken; and I brought, I created, and I made. I brought him, and I made his way prosperous. Hear me, you who have lost your heart, who are far from my justice. I have brought my justice near, and the salvation which is from me I will not delay. I have given in Sion salvation to Israel for glory.”
CHAPTER XLVII
“Descend, sit upon the ground, O virgin D daughter of Babylon.” In these things he portrays their kingdom, daughter...
of Babylon, naming it so. He calls it also a virgin, because it sparkles and is adorned like a maiden, and wishes to appear and be thought a young woman. Then, as if it were sitting in a high place, he commands it to rise and descend from its throne, and to sit upon the ground, and to reveal its shame, which it will suffer from being changed for the worse.
VERS. 2, 3. “Sit on the ground, daughter of the Chaldeans; take a mill, grind meal. Reveal thy covering, uncover the grey hairs, uncover the legs, pass over the rivers.” Having laid aside, he says, that royal luxury, prepare thyself to serve thy masters after the manner of a miserable maidservant and a grinder of grain. Having taken the mill, grind there, having exchanged this hard and laborious servitude for thy former luxury.....
VERS. 6. “I was angry with my people, thou hast polluted mine inheritance. I gave them into thine hand: thou didst not show them mercy.” For this was thy training, by which thou wert being educated from the beginning of time, and from thy youth.... B
CHAPTER XLVIII
CHAPTER XLVIII
VERS. 1, 2. “Hear these things, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and are come out of Judah, you who swear by the name of the Lord God of Israel, but do not remember it with truth, nor with righteousness; and who cleave to the name of the holy city, and stay yourselves upon the God of Israel: the Lord of Sabaoth is his name.” After the Word has foreannounced the things that are to come upon Babylon, and its inhabitants and its kings, he convicts the Jewish people with the preceding words, saying that it is because of the justice that is with me that I will bring these things upon the Chaldeans, not because thou art worthy of help. And I took the lead in predicting these things, before the events should come to pass, vaticinating by divine foreknowledge; so that when they are brought to an end, and those things foretold against the Chaldeans proceed to be fulfilled in deeds, thou mightest not ascribe the cause to those whom thou thinkest to be gods. C
VERS. 3-5. “I have declared the former things, and they went forth from my mouth, and they were heard: suddenly I did them, and they came to pass. I know that thou art stubborn, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow is brass. And I have declared to thee the old things, before they should come upon thee; I have made them heard to thee, lest peradventure thou say, ‘My graven things and my molten things commanded me.’” Lest peradventure, when the events have come to pass, deceiving thyself, thou mightest think that those whom thou erroneously thinkest to be gods have brought these things to pass. But even this does not escape my foreknowledge, that thou wilt not draw any benefit even from these words. Nevertheless, moved by my clemency, even now I bear witness and forewarn thee of the things that are to occur to Babylon and the Chaldeans who are to make war upon thee. D
A "You have heard all these things, and you have not understood. Yet I have made new things heard to you from this time, things that are about to happen; and you have not said, 'Now it comes to pass, and not long ago,' and you have not heard them in former days. Do not say, 'Yes, I know them.' You neither knew, nor understood, at the time when from the beginning I opened your ears; for I knew that you would act treacherously, and you shall be called a transgressor even from the womb." Do not deceive yourself; do not say that even before my prophecy you knew these things; for whence had you the knowledge to know these things? Yet I am persuaded that you will derive no profit from these words. "For the sake of my name I will show you my wrath, and I will bring my glorious deeds upon you, that I may not destroy you." Nevertheless, not for your sake, but for the sake of my own philanthropy, I have even from here both foretold and shown you the things to come, and the destruction that is to come upon your enemies, eager by every pretext to save you.
"Behold, I have sold you not for money; but I have delivered you from the furnace of poverty; for my own sake I will do this for you, because my name is profaned, and I will not give my glory to another." It was not for money that I sold you; but I did these things for your own benefit, so that in this way you might be brought to your senses, since you did not accept the instruction given through words and exhortations. To your enemies, however, I did not sell you for the sake of money, but on account of your sins and impieties; for because of your sins you were sold. And yet, not even so will I allow you to be enslaved to your enemies; but I will redeem you again, and just as from the furnace of poverty, so will I again deliver you from the affliction under the Babylonians.
B "Hearken to me, Jacob, and Israel whom I call. I am the first, and I am unto the age, and my hand founded the earth, and my right hand made the heaven firm; I will call them, and they shall stand together." In these words He calls upon those who act rightly, having in the preceding passages mentioned others who were reproached among them; but here He speaks to the better ones, whom He calls "called." For at that time also there were many called, but few chosen; however, those denoted were not chosen, but only called.
"And all shall be gathered together, and shall hear. Who has announced these things to them?" For the aforementioned powers obey the commanding Lord as if He were master; but they are also gathered together into one place, standing to hear his words. The Word indicated this also at the beginning of the book, saying, "Hear, O heaven, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken."
"Loving you, I have done your will concerning Babylon, to take away the seed of the Chaldeans. I have spoken, I have called; I have brought him, and I have made his way prosperous. Draw near to me and hear these things: Not from the beginning have I spoken in secret; when it was coming to pass, there I was. And now the Lord, the Lord has sent me, and
A His Spirit. Thus says the Lord, who redeems you, the Holy One of Israel: I am your God; I have shown you how to find the way in which you shall walk. And if you had hearkened to my commandments, your peace would have been as a river, and your righteousness as the waves of the sea; and your seed would have been as the sand, and the offspring of your belly as the dust of the earth. Even now you shall not be utterly destroyed, nor shall your name perish before me. Go forth from Babylon, fleeing from the Chaldeans. Announce with a voice of gladness even to the end of the earth; say, The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob.
Inasmuch as from this point I promise not to destroy you, nor to blot out your name, I have told you to go forth from Babylon, dismissed and freed from the fear of enemies. Having received the power to return to your own lands, do not take the journey supinely or slothfully, but with all diligence. For a voice of gladness will meet you, which you may hear even from now; moreover, all who have heard my words will rejoice together with you at your salvation. And these things, according to history, were not fulfilled at the time of the return from the Babylonian captivity, when those who had been granted liberty by Cyrus and Darius, the kings of the Persians, returned. B But according to the deeper understanding, since one cannot find in the history according to the letter a rock that poured forth waters during the return of the people, we shall say that in those who are forever freed from the spiritual captivity—concerning whom Christ said, "He has sent me to preach the gospel to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives"—the promise is truly discovered. For to these very ones, the apostolic drink is instilled from the true rock: "And the rock was Christ," according to the Apostle.
Ver. 21. "And if they shall thirst, he will lead them through the desert: he will bring forth water for them out of the rock. The rock shall be cleft, and water shall flow, and my people shall drink. There is no joy for the ungodly, says the Lord." For to the godly, every pleasure, joy, and gladness from God is present, as well as all other things that are held in the promises; but for the ungodly, there is no consideration of the things promised.
CHAPTER XLIX
Vers. 1. "Hear me, O islands, and attend, O nations." He clearly indicates that he is not addressing the Jews in the present, nor is he speaking to any islands that happen to be meant in a readily understood sense, but to the nations and to the Churches of God placed in the midst of the nations. Wherefore, according to Symmachus, it is read thus: "Hear me, O islands, and hearken, O nations." What, then, does he seek to declare to his Church? He adds: "After a long time, the Lord shall stand." And first it must be observed that these things and those which follow hereafter are spoken in the person of the Lord. Where the Lord himself, who has begun the discourse, declares that the things which are added are spoken as if concerning another; indeed, he even confesses that he was born, and names himself a servant, D and reveals many other things in what follows. Do not now, he says, while I utter these words, expect that you will see the effect of the
of those things which follow. Do not now, he says, when I am unfolding these things, expect to see the results of the words; for a long time will elapse between, in which the things prophesied will be established through deeds. "From my mother’s womb he called my name." You, A O nations, and you, O islands, be instructed in this. And what is this, but that the Lord, the master of all, even before I, the Lord, entered among men, while I was yet being formed, called me from the womb, and himself granted me a name? That it is known to him alone is certain; but in due time it will become manifest B to you yourselves, I mean to all nations.
"And he made my mouth as a sharp sword." But the same God and Father also made the mouth of me, the Lord who speaks these things, as a sharp sword, being cutting, for the purpose of dividing and separating those who are worthy of God from those not such; which the same one indeed testified in the Gospels, saying, "Think not that I am come to send peace upon the earth," and what follows. "And under the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me as a chosen arrow, and in his quiver he hid me." He here in some way hints at the hidden economy, C which lies concealed from most men, of his incarnate presence. And just as he called his tongue a sharp sword, so he says he himself was placed by the Father as a chosen arrow, that whenever he willed, he might wound those worthy of his stings; such as was that soul which said, "Because I am wounded with love." But nevertheless, God and Father hid this arrow as in a quiver and a case of arrows; so that not all might see it, nor deem themselves worthy of it, if they were not alone the worthy ones. And suitably he has used the name of a quiver for the metaphor of the arrow. And you would not be in error if you said that the quiver and the D case for arrows is the flesh which the Word of God assumed while sojourning among men. Furnished with such things, God and Father spoke to me, who speak these things, the Lord:
"You are my servant, Israel, and in you I will be glorified." For because you came forth from the mother’s womb, and endured birth from the seed of Israel, you did not perform the incarnation in another race, nor among alien nations; but becoming within Israel from the seed of David according to the flesh, and from the tribe of Judah, with good reason you are called Israel himself, and a servant, because you assumed the form of a servant, although you are the only-begotten God; but indeed, as in what went before, so here too: he conceals the name of the Son, and calls him servant, reserving the appellation of the Son for his advent and for the grace revealed to all men through him. Then, what has never happened to any of the servants, this, he says, will be done through you: for in you I will be glorified. These things, then, the God and Father said; but I, the Lord who speak these things, having heard these words, answered and said: And how, O Father, will you be glorified in me, since after many labors and sorrows endured for the salvation of men, I have accomplished nothing? For many of them in in-
incredulity remained; and first of all I say: A
VERS. 4-5. "I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for naught and in vain. Therefore my judgment is with the Lord, and my work before my God. And now thus says the Lord, who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, and Israel; I shall be gathered and glorified in the sight of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength." For even if men do not act rightly, nor receive worthy benefit from my labors which I endured for their sake; yet I, having performed what was in my power, have fulfilled the Father’s will before my God: wherefore to those who are of the circumcision, I first preached the saving and paternal grace. For He who formed me from the womb to be His servant, and fashioned my body out of Israel, willed that to them first I should preach my grace, in order to gather Jacob to Him, and Israel. Rightly therefore He hands down these instructions: "Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter you not: but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." It pleased the Father, therefore, that for the gathering of Jacob and Israel, I should make my transition to men, whence He says: "In you I will be glorified." But I, beholding the incredulity and hardness of heart of Israel, had already said before: "I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for naught and in vain." And in other places He declares the same by saying: "What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to corruption?" For only the glory which is from Him is kept for me, and He Himself is my strength. For the marvelous and stupendous works were evidences of His power. B
VERS. 6. "And He said to me, It is a great thing for you that you should be called my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the dispersion of Israel." For indeed it was truly the greatest work of our Savior, that He accepted the form of a servant, and endured the human birth. The reason, moreover, why the Savior was made a servant was this, namely, that He might raise up the tribes of Jacob, and convert the dispersions of Israel. Therefore, to them first He preached, to those who were captives in their souls, remission, and to the blind, restoration of sight. Since those people did not receive the grace, it is consequently said afterwards: "Behold, I have given you for a covenant of the people, for a light to the Gentiles; that you may be for salvation unto the end of the earth." C
VERS. 7, 8. "Thus says the Lord, who redeems you, the God of Israel." For He Himself, he says, the one who of old redeemed Israel from the hand of the Egyptians, He Himself also announces these things to you Gentiles, and commands, saying: "Sanctify him who despises his own soul;" for the more He humbled Himself even unto death, and death D
A of the cross, the more should you celebrate Him. "Who is an abomination to the nations, and to the servants of princes." Kings shall see Him, and princes shall arise and worship Him, for the sake of the Lord; because the Holy One of Israel is faithful, and "I have chosen thee from the servants of princes" — that is to say, from the evil demons; for those who have been reduced to slavery by them utter blasphemies against the Christ of God. They hold Him in abomination, slandering, mocking, and despising His death. But you, to whom the discourse calls, do you sanctify and glorify this same One, since "every knee shall bow to Him, of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father," when He comes in the glory of His Father with His angels, and shall sit upon the throne of His glory judging the living and the dead. For then all shall worship Him for the sake of the Lord His Father, because the Holy One of Israel, who chose Him, is faithful. B Instead of "And I have chosen thee," Symmachus says, "He has chosen thee." These things, then, have been delivered to the nations; but the things which follow are predicted concerning the Person of the Savior, to whom the prophetic Spirit also speaks in the Person of the Father: "In an acceptable time I have heard thee, and in a day of salvation I have helped thee." It is said in a most wondrous way, "In an acceptable time I have heard thee;" for this was the time of His resurrection. For during the time of the Passion, the Savior cried out, saying: "Eli, Eli, lima sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why has Thou forsaken Me?" Moreover, He also prayed in these words: "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me;" then, as He saw the Father refusing, He added: "Father, if it cannot pass away, Thy will be done." The Father, therefore, receiving this prayer at its proper time, after the Passion and after the descent into hell, C showing the time of His resurrection, says to Him: "In an acceptable time I have heard thee," and the rest. "And I have formed thee, and given thee for a covenant of the nations, to establish the earth, and to possess the desolate heritages." Such were the souls of the godless and polytheistic, desolate of God and truly "destroyed," according to the other translators.
"Saying to those in bonds, Go forth, and to those in the darkness, to be revealed." "For we were sometime children of wrath, and we were sometime darkness; but now are we light in the Lord." He brings good tidings to those who have been liberated from their former bonds and former darkness, saying: "In all the ways they shall be fed, and in all the paths shall be their pasture." The ways and paths which the men of God of old traversed D are the divinely inspired Scriptures, in which those who have attained to the promise, being fed, enjoy the divine and rational food, having found this good pasture, and the rest. "They shall not hunger, neither shall they thirst, neither shall the heat nor the sun smite them. But He who has mercy upon them
shall comfort them, and lead them by the fountains of waters." A He calls the burning of the mortal life heat and sun, as well as the temporary enjoyment of that light which is deemed such among men. But not even these, he says, shall assail them. Now there are many fountains of Israel, and fountains of the Savior; some of the Old Testament, others of the New. "And I will make every mountain into a road," he says, "so that nothing may be steep for them, nor difficult to traverse, or rugged." Yet he also promises to make every path into pasture for them, saying:
VERS. 11. "And I will make every mountain a way, and all my paths into pasture for them." It has already been said to us previously that one should understand Sion and Jerusalem in three ways: in one, lowly and Jewish; in another, the entire religious institution understood by the harmony of souls; and finally, in that which is above, for the heavenly and angelic commonwealth, regarding which the Apostle says: "But the Jerusalem which is above is free, which is our mother," B and, "You have approached Mount Sion, and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem." Since these relations exist in this manner, the present discourse prophesies regarding the institution of true religion—which formerly existed among the Jews, but having been destroyed and reduced to ruin among them, was transferred to the Church from the nations—the things that have been set forth. Therefore, it commands even the mountains, as rational beings, to rejoice and exult at the salvation of men. Now, the mountains would be souls, still living on earth yet greatly exalted in height through the practice of virtues; or perhaps divine and heavenly powers, whom it urges to rejoice and be glad. C
VERS. 12. "Lo, these will come from far away; these from the North and the sea; and others from the land of the Persians." Who would these be, if not those mentioned above, namely, those who have been called from the four quarters of the whole world?
VERS. 13. "Rejoice, O heavens, and let the earth exult; let the mountains break forth into joy: for God has had mercy on His people, and has comforted the humble ones of His people." For it is not possible for God to be forgetful of that heavenly commonwealth; and He uses a natural example: for just as it is impossible for a mother to forget her own child, and as it is not possible for her who has given birth not to have mercy on the offspring of her womb, so it is impossible for Me, having established reasonable human souls as My children, to forget the religious institution established among men. Therefore He says: D
VERS. 14, 15. "Sion said, The Lord has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me. Shall a woman forget her child, so as not to have mercy on the offspring of her womb? But even if a woman were to forget these, yet I will not forget you, says the Lord." By these words He openly signifies that the true Sion is not subject to ruin or destruction, but always remains and endures. So if anyone desires to behold it, let him not look downward, nor toward the land of the Palestinians’...
A region; but let him hear God speaking to her thus:
VERS. 16. "Behold, I have graven your walls upon my hands, and you are before me always." For the hands of God truly build such a city, or rather they delineate and depict it, as if on a tablet that is being painted, and they mark out with lines the position and places of the divinely established polity in the souls of men. This the Founder and Maker of his own city, the Word of God, taught using these words: "Upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
VERS. 17. "And you shall be built quickly by those by whom you were destroyed, and those who laid you waste shall depart from you." Just as the Jews were the authors of this destruction, so again B from among them came forth the new architects: namely, the apostles of our Savior, his disciples and evangelists, by whose work the Church of God was raised.
VERS. 18, 19. "Lift up your eyes round about, and see all: behold, they are gathered and have come to you. As I live, says the Lord, you shall clothe yourself with them all as with an ornament, and you shall put them on as a bride's adornment. For your desolate and ruined and fallen places shall now be too narrow because of those who dwell in them, and those who swallow you up shall be far from you." It is C wonderful to consider how these things were fulfilled, both in their spiritual sense and in their history, when the Jewish nation, after the Church was founded from the Gentiles, was expelled from that sensible city situated in Palestine, because it had fallen away from the worship of pious religion.
VERS. 20, 21. "For your sons, whom you have lost, shall say to your ears: The place is too narrow for me; make room for me, that I may dwell. And you shall say in your heart: Who has begotten these for me? I am barren and a widow; and who has brought these up for me? I was left alone, but where were these for me?" A great multitude of the people from the circumcision shall be introduced D into the Church throughout the whole world, from all the nations. For they were once in perdition, those who ran toward the polity of God through the saving grace; seeing them, the Church of God will marvel, saying: "Who has begotten these for me?" Stunned at the strange calling of the nations, she will acknowledge the childlessness brought upon her by the Jewish nation.
VERS. 22. "Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I lift up my hand to the nations, and I will raise my signal to the islands, and they shall bring your sons in their bosom, and your daughters they shall carry on their shoulders," teaching that He will bring to the Church, from the election of the nations, her sons and daughters, about whom she had said, "But where were these for me?" And who would do this, if not those who lead by the hand others who are coming into the Church of God because of the infancy of their minds?
A Ver. 23. "And kings shall be your foster-fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers." This we see fulfilled literally before our own eyes, while those who hold supreme authority carry and cherish the Church of God like foster-parents. Moreover, the queens of the nations—that is, the prefects and magistrates of individual nations and provinces, ministering to the heavenly kingdom—like nursing mothers, provide provisions to the Church’s poor by imperial command. For this reason, they are called her "nursing mothers," or, according to Symmachus, "those who provide milk," for he puts it thus: "And their queens shall provide milk." Who, moreover, seeing these aforementioned prefects in the Church of God bending the knee and bowing their foreheads down to the ground, would not confess that this prophecy has been fulfilled literally, which explicitly says, "They shall worship you upon the face of the earth, and shall lick the dust of your feet. And you shall know that I am the Lord, and those who wait for me shall not be ashamed"? For it is right not to fall into sluggishness, nor to lose the hope of what is promised before the fruition of the events.
Ver. 24. "Shall anyone take spoils from a giant? And if anyone has taken a captive unjustly, will he be saved?" It calls the devil and the opposing power a "giant." Is it possible, then, it asks, for just anyone to take on a giant and snatch spoils from a man of such strength? And if someone were to attempt to lead away such a man as a captive, even if he were acting justly, would he be held innocent? Would he not, having been seized by the giant as by one stronger, be in danger of his life? But instead of "unjustly," the Hebrew text holds "justly." For he who takes a giant as captive to be sure acts justly, and likewise he who despoils him.
Ver. 25. "For thus says the Lord: If anyone takes a giant, he shall take spoils: but he who has taken them from a strong man shall be saved. But I will judge your judgment, and I will rescue my children." C Clearly declaring to us that this alone can occur, that the aforementioned man’s spoils be taken away. By "his children," it signifies his [the giant's] own, for which reason it adds, "I will rescue my children"; and when these are rescued, those who had violently carried them off shall eat their own flesh. For since they can no longer eat the flesh of others, they shall eat their own; and since they are not able to drink the blood of the souls of men, they shall drink their own blood, so that they may be inebriated by it.
Ver. 26. "And those who afflicted you shall eat their own flesh, and shall drink their own blood as new wine, and shall be inebriated." These things can be referred to the persecutors of the Church of God who have been throughout time, and by these is described the end and outcome of them, namely, how it will be that they shall eat their own flesh and drink their own blood.
"And all flesh shall perceive that I am the Lord who rescued you, and who helps the strength of Jacob." The Divine is incorporeal, immaterial, intangible, and simple; and no one, if they behave as they ought, would imagine a corporeal form of it. Nevertheless, Holy Scripture, addressing us, speaks of Him in a human manner. For it was not—
≫ A possible for those who dwell in bodies—bodies which are themselves gross and material—to understand Him in any other way, unless the things which are among us were employed as examples; so that from things which fall under sense and sight, we might at least in part be able to conceive of things concerning the divine substance.
CHAPTER L.
VERS. 1-7. “Thus saith the Lord: What is this bill of your mother's divorce, with which I have put her away? Or to what creditor have I sold you? Behold, you have been sold for your sins, and for your iniquities I have sent away your mother. Why, when I came, was there no one to obey? Is my hand not able to deliver? Am I not able to rescue? Behold, at my rebuke I will make the sea a desert, and I will make the rivers a wilderness, and their fish shall dry up for there is no water, and they shall die of thirst. I will clothe the heavens with darkness, and I will make sackcloth their covering.” The Lord, the Lord gives me a tongue of discipline, to know when it is fitting to speak a word. He has set it for me in the morning; He has added for me an ear to hear, and the discipline of the Lord, the Lord, opens my ears. And I do not disobey, nor do I contradict. I gave my back to scourges, and my cheeks to buffets; and I did not turn my face away from the shame of spitting; and the Lord, my Lord, became my helper. Therefore I was not put to shame, but I made my face like a hard rock. B And therefore I have set my face like a hard rock, convinced that my obedience toward the Father will not be a disgrace to me; and I saw Him always standing near me, and as it were presiding over what was being done, and justifying my patience at all times. And if anyone could justly prove that the insults and the very death itself were brought upon me because of certain offenses, let him come forward into the midst and show if there is any cause or occasion given by me for such an insult against me; let him come forward into the midst, I say, and stand, and rebuke me. But since no one can bring a charge against me, neither concerning my teaching nor the works performed by me, with justice will the Lord be a helper to me.
VERS. 8. “For He who justifies me is near. Who is he who will contend with me? Let him stand against me together. And who is he who will contend with me? Let him draw near to me.” For, he says, with God and Father avenging, and taking away all the vexation brought upon me by you, and establishing my glory, who among you will there be who can withstand His immutable counsel and will, and oppress one who is helped by Him? C And so, if there had been any prudent men in the gathering of the Scribes and Pharisees, they would have abstained from the machinations and conspiracies plotted against Him, since they perceived by the testimony of the holy prophets that they would not be able to harm Christ, who was God and Lord, and the true Son of the Father.
VERS. 9. “Behold, the Lord, the Lord will help me: who will harm me? Behold, all of you shall grow old like a garment, and the moth shall eat you up.” By which he signifies that the corporeal worship performed according to Him is destined to become antiquated; for everything that is becoming old and aging is near to D dissolving.
A For it signifies also Him who consumes them, namely the conscience of the deeds they have dared to commit, like a worm consuming the soul. For seeing the conversion of the Gentiles to God, and their own downfall, which they endured on account of their impieties, they are wounded and consumed by their conscience.
“Who is among you that fears the Lord? Let him hearken to the voice of His child. You who walk in darkness, and there is no light for you, trust in the name of the Lord, and stay yourselves upon God.” For I do not desire the death of the sinner, as I do his repentance. Wherefore even now I call you back, who are spending your time in the darkness of ignorance. By calling Himself the child of God, B He gives us to understand that, having become man, He is the true Son of God and the Father; and that to hearken to His voice was not a transgression of the Law, but a confirmation of the Law, which through type and shadow pre-delineated the truth, which is God and His oracles.
“Behold, all you who kindle a fire, and strengthen the flame: walk in the light of your fire, and in the flame which you have kindled. Because of Me these things have come to pass for you, and in sorrow you shall sleep.” Only come, and hearken, and believe in Him who promises you salvation. But as I see, you are cutting yourselves off from all good hope, while you increase and strengthen your own fire in your unbelief, and persisting in blasphemies against Me, you are kindling all the more the fire of eternal punishment that awaits you; wherefore also “you shall sleep in sorrow,” or C according to Symmachus, “you shall sleep in pain.”
CHAPTER LI
“Hearken, you who pursue what is just, and who seek the Lord.” Since through great and excessive foolishness the multitudes of the Jews, seeing the only-begotten Word of God in a form like our own, that is, having become man, did not understand the mystery concerning Him; but being led by madness, they for the most part impudently assailed Him with blasphemous words. For, as I said just now, He clearly declares to them His most august glory and power, and deters some of those who wanted to have low thoughts of Him, saying, “Trust in the Lord.” Most clearly, therefore, does He say that He Himself is the Lord and God, deterring, as I said, men D from wishing to think and speak of Him in a lowly manner.
“Look to the solid rock which you have hewn, and to the pit of the cistern which you have dug.” The Word seems by these things to hint at that very rock which received the body of the Savior, in which Joseph dug the cave in his new tomb.
“Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who bore you: for he was one, and I called him, and I blessed him, and I loved him, and I multiplied him.” Just as, then, I have done in the case of Abraham, so do not despair that even from this rock, which you yourselves have hewn, there shall be some hope of salvation for all men, so that they may not be deprived of the promise made to Abraham, and through Me to all nations by the means of this
A grace to be given from the rock. The rock, therefore, was this, and the cave which Joseph hewed out for a monument. But the divine Apostle also knows how to call Christ Himself a rock, saying, “And the rock was Christ.” Because those who plotted His death deformed the body of Christ by laying hands upon Him at the time of the passion, it is deservedly said to them, “Look to the solid rock which you hewn out, and to the pit of the cistern which you have dug.” Does not “pit of the cistern” also hint at the wounded side of His body, from which blood and water came forth?
Ver. 3. And now I will comfort Sion, and I have comforted all her deserts; and I will make her deserts as a paradise, and those things that are toward her west as the paradise of the Lord. Joy and gladness shall be found in it, confession and the voice of praise.
As if in contrast to her who formerly had the husband, the Church from the nations is again called a desert; just as the prophet himself also foretells, saying: “Rejoice, O barren one, who dost not bear; break forth and cry, who dost not travail; for many are the children of the desert, more than of her who has a husband.” For who was she who had the husband, if not she who made the bill of divorce?Ver. 4. Hearken to me, hearken to me, my people, and you kings, attend to me.
B For it was necessary for a new people, and one to be constituted from the nations, that a new law be given. For that which was given through Moses was unsuitable to the polity of the nations, since it confined all bodily worship to one place, namely, to Jerusalem; wherefore, C indicating the New Testament and the evangelical preaching, he says of necessity, “For a law shall go forth from me, and my judgment for a light to the nations;” here again promising light to the nations, and not to Israel.Ver. 5. My justice draws near speedily, and my Salvation shall go forth as a light, and the nations shall hope in my arm; the isles shall wait for me, and in my arm they shall hope.
He doubles the word for the confirmation of the promise; for the grace which is gifted equally to all nations was full of justice; D this was the Christ of God, whom Symeon, having received into his arms, is recorded to have said, “Now Thou dost dismiss Thy servant, O Lord, for my eyes have seen Thy Salvation,” and the rest.Ver. 6. Lift up your eyes to heaven, and look down to the earth below; for heaven has been established as smoke, and the earth shall grow old like a garment; and they who dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my Salvation shall be for ever, and my justice shall not fail.
The prophecy signifies the deity of the Word; for just as by that word, “Salvation,” it indicated His humanity, so in this way it adumbrates His deity.Ver. 7. Hearken to me, you who know judgment, O people, whose law
is in your heart.A For He saw that those who desire to live piously in Christ will suffer persecution, will be insulted, and will be held in contempt by men, and will endure all kinds of vexations and temptations. Wherefore, in order to fortify and strengthen them, He commands them from this point on: “Fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be overcome by their contempt.” For, He says, one must look to the end that awaits them.
Ver. 8, 9. “For the garment shall be consumed by time, and as wool shall be eaten by the moth; but my righteousness shall be for the age, and my salvation unto generations of generations. Awake, awake, Jerusalem, and put on the strength of your arm. Awake as in the beginning of the day, as a generation of the age.” This addition, “Jerusalem,” as it is in the Hebrew reading, does not appear in the other translators; but all have edited it thus: “Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord.” According to all, therefore, the discourse does not address Jerusalem, but the arm of the Lord; hence it is consequently fitting that we also should refer the address of the Lord to the arm of the Lord, concerning which it was said above, “And on my arm shall the Gentiles hope.”B
Ver. 10, 11. “Art thou not it that driedst the sea, the waters of the great deep? that hast made the depths of the sea a way of passage for the delivered and the redeemed? For they shall be turned back by the Lord, and shall come unto Zion with joy and everlasting gladness. For praise shall be upon their head, and joy shall take hold of them; sorrow and mourning and sighing have fled away.” Since, when they are entirely void of fear, they will no longer fear enemies or adversaries.C
Ver. 12. For “out of heavenly Zion has fled sorrow, mourning and sighing. I, even I, am He that comforts you. Know who you are, that you have feared mortal man and the son of man, who are withered like grass.” For He Himself is our propitiation, who comforts the humble. For you, having been made by Me according to My image, have been deemed worthy of the greatest honor, because you have Me as your comforter; wherefore I say, “I am He who comforts you.” But I do not know how, unmindful of your own dignity, you have become subject to fear and terror. He says these things as though addressing the more cowardly and weaker ones who are in the Church; for those who have been perfected, and who have been adorned with the crowns of martyrdom, have attained to His glory. For although it would have been fitting for you to remain free from fear and agitation, as being My people, looking to the end of the corruptible life of men, and to rescue those very ones whom you feared from future destruction; you, on the contrary, fearing them,D
Ver. 13. “have forgotten God, who made you, who made heaven and founded the earth; and you have feared always all the days the face of the wrath of one who afflicts you.”
A And therefore I permit the persecutions against my Church to be stirred up for the testing of my athletes.
“For as he planned to take you away, so now where is the fury of him who afflicts you? For when you are saved, it shall not stand, nor shall it last long; for I am your God, who troubles the sea, and makes its waves roar, the Lord Sabaoth is my name. I will put my words in your mouth, and under the shadow of my hand I will protect you, in which I established the heaven and founded the earth.” B So that you might not suffer anything from the adversaries at the hands of those fighting against you, but that you might become even more courageous and calm and unfallen, learn that in my hand, in which I established the heaven and founded the earth, and brought the whole world from nothing into being, in this I promise to protect you. Why then must you be anxious or fear human dread, when you ought to take refuge under my shadow, and not withdraw from it, but also keep my words always in your mouth?
“And Sion will say, You are my people. Awake, awake, arise, Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord the cup of his fury; for the cup of ruin, the bowl of fury, you have drunk and drained.” C By these things he seems to signify her final ruin, which she suffered after the outrages committed therein against our Saviour; wherefore she experienced the wrath of God. But since this word is full of gentleness and humanity, and God does not desire the death of the sinner, as he desires his repentance, he exhorts them to hasten to repentance, writing for them good hopes if they should repent. Therefore, Jerusalem is the one who drank the cup of the wrath. And there is another Jerusalem, about which he most often prophesies. Therefore, it is not right to mix them up and confuse them, nor to think that contrary things are said about the same one. For one is in heaven, of which God is said to reign, over which neither wrath nor fury reaches; for pain and sorrow and groaning have fled from it. The other is the city of God existing on earth, by which we have shown is signified the religious way of life among men; and there is another besides these, which has experienced the wrath of God on account of the iniquity of its inhabitants.
“And there was no one to comfort you from among all your children whom you have borne; and there was no one to take your hand, not even from among all your children whom you have exalted. Therefore these things are against you; who will grieve with you? Ruin and destruction, famine and sword; who will comfort you?” D Now, someone drinks the cup of wrath and ruin, and drinking it, drains it, when he undergoes all the punishments and torments brought upon him for the transgressions he committed. [alt-version omitted] Just as the servants of physicians bring bitter antidotes to those who are in a bad state, for the sake of cleansing the injury present in the body; so also it is said concerning God, “A cup in the hand of the Lord, of unmixed wine,” and the rest.
A
VERS. 20. “Thy needy sons, sleeping at the corners of all the ways, like a half-cooked beet, full of the wrath of the Lord, failing because of the Lord God.” According to the other interpreters, instead of “like a half-cooked beet,” it is read as “like an oryx caught in a net.” Now the oryx is a bird so named, to which he compares the sons of Jerusalem, who have been caught in the nets of the devil; wherefore they have been delivered to wrath.
VERS. 21, 22. “Therefore hear, thou humiliated and drunken, not with wine: thus says the Lord God, who judges His own people: Behold, I have taken from thy hand the cup of destruction, the cup of My wrath, and thou shalt no more drink it.” He promises Jerusalem that He will take away from her the cup of wrath, provided that she does penance; for that which is said, “Behold, I have taken,” is meant for “I will take.” B
VERS. 23. “And I will give it into the hands of them that have wronged thee and humbled thee; who said to thy soul: Bow down, that we may pass over: and thou hast laid thy middle parts as the ground to them that walk over.” It is likely, moreover, that these things are spoken also concerning the opposing powers, to which every soul that has turned away from God submits itself. For the soul that approaches God is upright and looks upwards, and is lifted up towards Him; but the soul that joins itself to wicked demons is, of course, subjected to them. C
CHAPTER LII.
VERS. 1. “Awake, awake, Sion: put on thy strength, O Sion: and thou, put on thy glory, Jerusalem: the holy city. No longer shall the uncircumcised and the unclean continue to pass through thee.” For the rational soul possesses some very great power and strength, and a great glory, as one fashioned according to the image of God; and it desires to recover this and to become a holy city, so that the uncircumcised and the unclean may no longer pass through it. By the uncircumcised, therefore, he signifies the alien and the stranger, and by the unclean, the idolater.
VERS. 2. “Shake off the dust, and arise: sit, Jerusalem, loose the bond of thy neck, O captive daughter of Sion.” For it was within her power to shake off the dust with which she was sprinkled on every side, and to rise up from the fall that had befallen her, and to loose the bond imposed upon her neck, by which the opposing powers had bound the soul as with a noose, with the chains of sins. D
VERS. 3, 4. “For thus says the Lord: Ye were sold for nothing, and ye shall not be redeemed with silver. Thus says the Lord: My people went down to Egypt in former times, to dwell there, and they were forcibly led away to the Assyrians.” For that was not a bodily captivity, so that they might obtain freedom through bodily ransoms, since they had been sold as to their souls. Wherefore, not with silver...
A were they to be redeemed, but clearly with the precious blood of Christ.
VERS. 5. “And now what do you have here?” says the Lord: “Because my people were taken for naught, wonder and howl. Thus says the Lord: Because of you, my name is continually blasphemed among the nations.” By these words, the prophecy indicates the blasphemies against Christ, which the rulers of the Jewish nation daily spew forth.
VERS. 6. “Therefore my people shall know my name in that day, for I am; the one speaking is here.” What day is this, if not when I myself, he says, who now speak these things through my prophets, shall make my own coming to men?
VERS. 7. “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of one bringing tidings of the hearing of peace, as one bringing tidings of good, saying: O Sion, your God shall reign.” This refers to those announcing the beatitudes, which the Savior gave through his evangelical teaching. The proclamation was addressed to Sion, that is, to the God-fearing community and the apostolic choir; therefore they preached the kingdom of heaven to all men.
VERS. 8. “For the voice of those who guard you was lifted up, and they shall rejoice together with the voice; because eye to eye they shall see, when the Lord has had mercy on Sion.” But according to Theodotion: “The voice of your watchmen has lifted up a voice; they shall rejoice together, because they shall see eye to eye.” By watchmen here, the Word refers to the disciples and apostles of our Savior. For just as the prophets who were among the people of the circumcision were called watchmen, so also now, of that new and modern Sion, namely the Church of God and the God-fearing community, the apostles of our Savior have become watchmen and guardians. Being eyewitnesses and ear-witnesses of the Savior himself, they lifted up their voice so that it might be heard by all the nations. They themselves were being filled with all spiritual joy, because God had had mercy on that Sion mentioned above, and because those places of hers that were formerly desolate had obtained salvation through the saving redemption. Therefore he says:
VERS. 9, 10. “Let the desolate parts of Jerusalem break forth into joy simultaneously, because the Lord has had mercy on her, and has rescued Jerusalem. And the Lord shall reveal his holy arm before all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation that is from our God.” Do you see how, through these words as well, he promises and pledges the evangelical preaching to the nations? For by his holy arm—which was the Word of God himself—he declares that he will reveal God to all the nations. Since, then, he addresses Sion and Jerusalem in this way, these things must be referred to the calling of the nations.
VERS. 11. “Depart, depart, go out from there, and touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of her”; D clearly, that is, from the unbelieving and unclean people. “Be separated, you who bear the vessels of the Lord.” The vessels of the Lord
were the bodies of those chosen by the Lord, set apart for God in holiness and honor; or the Gospels of the New Testament A were the vessels of the Lord, which He commands those who carry them to keep far from the unbelief of the Jewish people and to separate themselves from them.
VERS. 12. “For you shall not go out with tumult, nor shall you go by flight: for the Lord shall go before you, and the God of Israel who gathers you.” For the apostles did not approach the circuit of the nations as if driven, but with all readiness and voluntary choice, having been commanded to teach all nations in His name.
VERS. 13. “Behold, my servant shall understand, and shall be exalted, and shall be glorified exceedingly.” By these words, He signifies the resurrection from the dead, and the assumption into heaven, and the exaltation. He calls Him “servant,” according to Aquila, justly, because of the form of a servant which He took upon Himself. B For God the Word “emptied Himself, being in the form of God,” as the holy Apostle says, “taking the form of a servant, and being found in appearance as a man.” But this servant and boy of God was filled with all wisdom and knowledge, because He contained the Word of God within Himself.
VERS. 14, 15. “As many shall be astonished at you, so shall your appearance be inglorious to men, and your glory from the sons of men. So shall many nations marvel at Him, and kings shall shut their mouths: for those to whom it has not been announced concerning Him shall see, and those who have not heard shall understand.” For this was what moved the kings, namely, that the evangelical word should run even C to the most remote nations. And these things were indeed prophesied long ago by word, but they were fulfilled in deeds upon the coming of our Savior to them; whom, when the children of the Jews saw with their eyes and heard His voice, they neither understood nor opened their ears to Him as He spoke; so that even that prophecy already sent before was fulfilled in them, which says, “By hearing you shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing you shall see, and shall not perceive.”
CHAPTER LIII
VERS. 1. “Lord, who has believed our report? and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” As is the custom of those who marvel, the prophets of God, seeing the unbelief of the Jewish nation and beholding the conversion and obedience of the nations, said these things. D We have frequently shown that by the “arm of God” is meant the only-begotten Son; who, in consequence, became known to the nations who believed in Him, in accordance with the prophets. “We announced: as a child before Him, as a root in a thirsty land. There is no form to Him, nor glory: and we saw Him, and He had no form, nor beauty.” By “untrodden land” He hints at the Virgin, whom no one has approached; and by “root,” that very one of whom it was said, “There shall come forth a rod from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise from his root.” For there, too, it was declared that He would rise, but from the root of Jesse; whereas here, from the mentioned untrodden land.
A “But his appearance is dishonored, and failing beyond the sons of men. A man being in a blow, and knowing how to bear infirmity, because his face is turned away, he was dishonored and not reckoned.” He bears our sins, and suffers pain for us; and we reckoned him to be in pain, and in a blow, and in affliction. The prophet speaks in common, numbering himself also out of philanthropy with those who did not reckon the Savior: “We did not reckon him, nor did we admit him to ourselves, nor did we consider who he ever was.” But he was in fact the Savior of our souls, healing them and cleansing them from every sin. But we, as infants, had this opinion about him; but he suffered all these things for us, that he might free us from every sin. B
Vers. 5. “But he was wounded for our sins, and was made infirm for our iniquities. The discipline of our peace was upon him; by his stripe we are healed.” Then, therefore, he was crushed and profaned, according to Aquila, and endured all the worst things, not through any sin of his own, but through ours. And the discipline of our peace came to be upon him; for what we ought to have suffered, being disciplined for our own sins, these things came upon him for the sake of our peace with God. Since it is also likely that he bore stripes and wounds upon his body, being struck and scourged, and having his face beaten, and being struck on the head with a reed. But these stripes were our saviors. “For by his stripe we were healed.” For who are we but those who once wandered, and did not reckon him, nor understand who he ever was? C
Vers. 6, 7. “All we like sheep went astray; man went astray in his own way. And the Lord delivered him up to our sins; and he, because of being afflicted, does not open his mouth; as a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is voiceless, so he does not open his mouth.” For one went one way of error, another another, thinking various and contrary things about him; but to Him, the things that were happening were not without a purpose. For the Lord himself delivered himself up for our sins, that he might become our replacement-soul and our ransom. For thus he also became the Lamb of God, taking away and cleansing the sin of the world. Symmachus says, “He was offered, and he himself obeyed.” But to whom was he offered if not to Pilate? And because, being accused, he was silent, and being falsely witnessed against, he answered nothing, D
Vers. 8. “In his affliction his judgment was taken away. Who shall tell his generation? Because his life is taken from the earth; from the iniquities of my people he was led to death.” Having gone through his sufferings, he sends the mind of the hearers back to the contemplation of his generation, adding: “Who shall tell his generation?” For then especially will anyone receive a greater wonder at the patience of such things, when
A one considers who He is, of what quality, and that the only-begotten born of God underwent all these things.
VERS. 9. “And I will give the wicked for his burial, and the rich for his death: because he did no iniquity, neither was guile in his mouth.” Who shall give them, if not the Judge of all? And whom shall he give, if not those who committed the previously mentioned deeds, whom He straightway and not long after delivered to enemies, foes, and besiegers? And it happened immediately that the memory of those who lately prevailed much in authority among the Jews was blotted out from among men—the Pharisees, namely, the Scribes, and the Sadducees; and in addition to these, the priests and high priests, and those who were honored with royal dignity among them. For these are they who are here called “rich,” upon whom not long after the wrath of God descended, because they had subjected the sinless Christ to such a punishment. “Because he did no iniquity, neither was guile in his mouth.” I speak B of his entire life being sinless in word and deed. “No one therefore has become clean from filth, though his life be but one day,” except Him alone.
VERS. 10. “And the Lord wills to cleanse him from the stroke.” Therefore He died for all, that He might purge and take away the sin of the world; wherefore God and His Father deemed it right to cleanse him from the stroke, that is, from the passion brought upon him. “If you shall give for sin, your soul shall see long-lived seed.” The meaning of what is said is such: After all that we have mentioned, if any of those who acted impiously against him should wish to offer a sacrifice for his own sin—that is, to show confession and repentance for his sins—he will not fall away from the good hope laid up in Him. For even though it has been strictly said: “I will give the wicked for his burial, and the rich for his death,” C nevertheless, if you who have dared such things offer the gift for sin, you shall obtain forgiveness, your soul shall obtain salvation; yes, and it shall see long-lived seed—this very seed, namely, which was sown by him among men, concerning which, teaching in parables, he said: “A sower went out to sow;” and again: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man sowing good seed in his field.”
VERS. 11. “And the Lord wills to take away from the labor of his soul, to show him light, and to form him with understanding, to justify the righteous one who serves many well.” This is fit to be said only of our Savior; for the will of the Father always prospered in his hand. And He gave him light, that he might illumine those who attained to righteousness through him; D and He bestowed understanding upon him; for the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding rested upon him, that he might make those who were worthy of being justified, prudent and righteous.
VERS. 12. "And he shall bear their sins. Therefore he shall possess the many, and shall divide the spoils of the strong: because his soul was delivered unto death, and he was reckoned among the wicked: and he himself bore the sins of many, and was delivered for their iniquities." For by taking upon himself the measure of those who were formerly sinners, and the impiety of the ungodly, and by stripping them of the garment of sin, he makes them righteous. For because he took upon himself the sins of the many, for this reason he was also able to make them all his own lot and inheritance. For had he not been able to forgive sins, they would have remained in their own transgressions, and would not have attained salvation. But now, because he himself has taken upon himself their sins, for this reason he has received them from the Father as an inheritance; having snatched them, that is to say, from the hands of the opposing powers and evil demons, he turned those souls, who were formerly captive to them, into his own spoils; which spoils he distributed to his own disciples, so as to constitute various Churches from them. For he had received this from the Father as a certain reward; namely, the power to forgive sins to those who had previously sinned, and to bring them under his own lot. And the Gospel teaches how he was "reckoned among the wicked," at the very time when the robbers were crucified on either side of him, at which time I say the prophecy was fulfilled.
CHAPTER LIV.
VERS. 1. "Rejoice, O barren, thou that dost not bear: break forth and cry, thou that dost not travail: for many are the children of the desolate, more than of her that hath an husband." Through what is set before us, the Word brings good tidings of the Church established by him throughout the whole world, which was formerly desolate, barren, and unfruitful, and therefore he calls her barren. For such were at one time the souls of the unbelieving nations. For the Church from the Gentiles was formerly vanished and desolate, as not yet having obtained the heavenly bridegroom. Yet he promises to her greater fruitfulness and a greater multitude of children than [to her] that hath an husband. And who was this but the Jewish nation, and that which was formerly held in honor among them as the city of God, Jerusalem? Which, while having a husband, that is, the heavenly Word, is proven to have given him a bill of divorce. Therefore, in comparison with her who formerly had a husband, that soul which was once desolate of God among the Gentiles is endowed with an excellent promise, while fruitfulness and a multitude of children are announced to her; so that in the number of her children she far surpasses the people of the circumcision, to whom she is compared.
VERS. 2. "For the Lord said: Enlarge the place of thy tabernacle, and fix the curtains of thy halls: spare not; lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes." These things are said as if about the tabernacle constructed by Moses: for the Word, using that as an image, proclaims to the Church from the Gentiles that she should not make her own structure narrow after the manner of that one, but should stretch out her tent-making, extending it into an immeasurable length and breadth. For the tabernacle built by Moses
A was a hundred cubits in length and fifty in width. Here, however, He says: "Spare not, nor narrow yourself to those dimensions; but extend yourself far, and build," and so forth. You will understand the length, the breadth, and the magnitude of this new tabernacle, which the Lord pitched and not man, if you consider how large the tabernacle constructed under Moses was, and how great the temple of Jerusalem was, having a length of forty cubits and a width of twenty. And if that temple was worthy of admiration in a single city of Palestine, how much more wonderful [is] the multitude, the magnitude, and the beauty of the churches of God raised up in every place! For the whole world is full of churches.
B VERSE 3. "Extend further to the right and left, and your seed shall possess nations, and you shall inhabit deserted cities." Now the seed of the Church of God would be the evangelical message, of which it is said: "A sower went out to sow," and, "Did you not sow good seed in the field?" Again, the seed of the Church can also be the teaching of the apostles and disciples of our Lord, through whose labors the pious religion was established in those regions that were once desolate and empty of God.
VERSE 4. "Do not fear, because you were confounded: nor blush, because you were reproached: for you shall forget your everlasting confusion, and shall not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore." For when she was barren, and not bearing, nor in labor, nor having a husband, she was exposed to insults and full of confusion; but now He says to her: Even if formerly you practiced things worthy of shame and reproach, take heart; "For you shall forget your everlasting confusion, and shall not remember the reproach of your widowhood." Here C He calls the privation of the bridegroom, the Word, "widowhood," which, He says, you shall not remember.
"For the Lord of hosts is He who makes you, the Lord is His name, and He who delivers you; He shall be called the God of Israel for the whole earth." For these things of the establishment were not done from men, nor through man, but through the Lord Himself.
VERSE 6-10. "The Lord has not called you as a woman abandoned and faint-hearted, nor as a woman hated from her youth, says your God. For a little time I left you, and with great mercy I will have mercy on you, says the Lord who delivers you. As in the water that was under Noah, this is to me, as I swore to him at that time, no longer to be angry with you, nor in my threatening are the mountains to be moved, nor my D hills to be shaken. So neither shall my mercy fail you, nor the covenant of your peace be taken away: for the Lord says: The Lord is merciful to you. For mountains shall sooner be removed from their own places, and hills shall be shaken, than my mercy shall be moved from you." And these things are for the pious polity
A promised, or rather, they were once among the Jews, but fell away from them, and have been transferred to the Church gathered from the Gentiles.
Vers. 11. "Humilis and unstable, not having received consolation. Behold, I will prepare for you your carbuncle stone, and your foundations as sapphire." For there was in truth among the Jews that lowly bodily worship, consisting in the circumcision of the body, and in the substances of animals and their sacrifices, and in other similar things; wherefore he calls it humble and unstable. Then he adds, "Not having received consolation"; for there was no one among the prophets, nor B among the godly men, who was able to take it up and restore it. "Behold, I will prepare for you your carbuncle stone, and your foundations as sapphire." For which Symmachus says: "Behold, I, he says, adorn your stones with stibium"; Theodotion, however: "Behold, I am placing stibium on your stones." For just as when a woman, in order to add beauty to her form, tints her eyes with stibium; so I myself, he says, will make the stones of your structure more beautiful than all form and adornment.
Vers. 12. "And I will set your battlements as jasper, and your gates as stones of crystal, and your wall as choice stones." Such in the Church of God would be those who are C strengthened in faith by a rational apparatus of structure, inasmuch as they are battlements of the pious polity, capable of casting down every height that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and of refuting every false word that is an enemy to the truth. For just as battlements on walls are defensive works prepared for the array against enemies, so also those in the Church who are powerful in word and in wisdom might justly be called battlements. "And your gates as stones of crystal," by which stones—used for constituting the gates of the city—he prophesies the brilliance and purity of sound faith, and sets forth the first and elementary D and introductory teaching of things that pertain to faith. "And your wall as choice stones." Such would be those who provide the fencing, and who, instead of every other barrier, secure the whole structure of the city through prayers sent up to God; truly great, precious, and honorable structures.
Vers. 13. "And all your sons as disciples of God, and in much peace your children." He calls the sons of her who was once barren disciples of God; and says that her children will live in much peace, for this is what he promised them by saying: "My peace I give to you, my peace I leave to you."
Vers. 14. "And you shall be built in righteousness. Abstain from injustice, and you shall not fear, and trembling shall not draw near to you." For indeed those human contrivances, produced by human endeavor, are of such a kind; wherefore they go toward corruption and destruction. But my work
A is naturally incorruptible; and nothing of such a kind will be found in my work, as to corrupt and destroy it.
VERS. 15-17. "Behold, proselytes shall approach you through me, and they shall be sojourners with you, and they shall flee to you. Behold, I created you, not like a coppersmith blowing on the coals, and bringing forth a vessel for a task; but I have created you, not, through destruction, to perish. Every vessel fashioned against you, I shall not cause to prosper; and every voice shall rise against you in judgment. You shall overcome them all; and those who are guilty shall be found in it." You might say that the proselytes, after the aforementioned matters of the Church, are those who are not genuine, nor do they advance in purity among the multitudes: regarding whom He says they shall sojourn in her, but shall not dwell, because their entry is made as if in passing. "This is the inheritance for those who serve the Lord, and you shall be righteous to me, says the Lord." And this is most B fitting; for after all that has been mentioned, it was necessary to make mention also of the inheritance laid up in the world to come. And what could this be, if not the kingdom of heaven and eternal life?
CHAPTER LV
VERS. 1-3. "You who are thirsty, go to the water, and you who have no silver, go and buy, and eat without silver, wine and fat. Why do you spend silver, and your labor, not for satiety? Listen to me, and your soul shall live in good things, and I will establish for you an everlasting covenant, the holy things of David, the faithful ones." You are applying your zeal to other things, from which it is not possible C for the soul to be nourished, nor to enjoy food unto satiety. For besides what has been said above, He speaks of the hope of good works and divine food being stored up for the souls of those who are obedient. For He does not set forth the gift of future good things for bodies, but, as is clear, for souls.
VERS. 4, 5. "Behold, I have given him as a testimony among the nations, a prince and a commander to the nations. Nations that did not know you will call upon you; and peoples who do not understand you will flee to you because of the Lord your God, the holy One of Israel, because He has glorified you." Who would not be amazed at the outcome of the word, seeing that throughout the whole world they are named Christians from Christ the God? And this will be for them an eternal D sign of salvation from God, that they inscribe the name of the Lord upon themselves, which remains for them forever and will never cease; for the gifts of God are without repentance.
VERS. 6-12. "Seek the Lord, and when you find Him, call upon Him. But when He draws near to you, let the ungodly man abandon his ways, and the lawless man his counsels; and let him turn to the Lord, and he will obtain mercy; for He will abundantly forgive your sins. For my counsels are not as your counsels, nor are my ways as your ways, says the Lord. But as far as heaven is distant from the earth, so distant is my way from your ways, and your thoughts from my thought. For just as when the rain descends from heaven, and will not return until
it has watered the earth, and it brings forth, and buds, and gives seed to the sower, and bread for eating: so shall my word be, which, if it goes out of my mouth, will not turn back until all things that I have willed are accomplished. And I will make your ways and my commandments prosperous. For you shall go out in gladness, and in joy shall you be instructed. For the mountains and the hills shall leap, receiving you with joy. A By these I believe are signified the powers that rejoice together with those on earth who repent. « And all the trees of the field shall applaud with their branches. » Trees of the field applauding with their branches, perhaps, are the fruitful souls which are filled with joy over the souls of the wicked turning back to the Lord.
VERS. 13. « And for the stoebe shall come up the cypress, and for the conyza shall come up the myrtle. And the Lord shall be for a name, and for an everlasting sign, and it shall not fail. » By these things he allegorically intimates the fruitfulness of souls returning from the worse to the better; for all of them were once in godlessness, and they bore nothing fruitful nor nourishing; as in a desert and arid and uncultivated region, they brought forth stoebe of useless matter and most ungodly conyza, and altogether useless herbs. But now that they have partaken of the divine grace, they have brought forth the most fragrant myrtle, and also, besides that, a lofty and fragrant cypress. According to Symmachus, however, it is said: « For the stoebe shall come up the bramble, and for the nettle shall come up the myrtle; » as if it were said more clearly: For wickedness shall come up justice, and for licentiousness temperance, and for boldness virtue, and for foolishness prudence; and, in sum, for wickedness, virtue. B
CHAPTER LVI
VERS. 1, 2. « Thus says the Lord: Keep judgement, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my mercy to be revealed. Blessed is the man that does these things. » For who would not be blessed, having received such promises? « And the man who adheres to them, and keeps the Sabbaths so as not to profane them, and keeps his hands from doing evil. » For he who does these things would indeed be worthy of the blessedness that is from God. Along with these, it is also necessary not to profane the Sabbaths: which will indeed be the case if you keep your hands pure from every improper action; but if you do not do these things, and you pass the day of the Sabbath in leisure and idleness, know that you are doing nothing. C
VERS. 3. « Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say: Will the Lord then separate me from his people? » teaching the children of the Jews not to be high-minded regarding their lineage, nor to boast of their ancestors. « And let not the eunuch say, I am a dry tree. »
VERS. 4, 5. « Thus says the Lord to the eunuchs: Whoever shall keep my Sabbaths, and choose what I will, and hold fast to my Covenant, I will give them in my house and within my wall a named place, better than sons and daughters: an everlasting name I will give them: and it shall not fail. » Since even the Jews... D
A believed a large family to be a blessing from God, and considered it a great reward and fruit of piety, the Word, by restraining this opinion of theirs and proving it to be false, offers the same promise to those who are barren and unable to beget children because they have been emasculated, saying that there is no hindrance for eunuchs to obtain the good things from God, provided they intend to live according to God. For if there are many mansions with the Father, and there is a city of God, the heavenly Jerusalem, there is also for them a place within the house of God among those many mansions, and mansions shall be given to them, and a portion within the wall of the heavenly city of God.
VERS. 6, 7. « And the strangers, who are joined to the Lord to serve him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants and handmaids: and all who keep my Sabbaths, not profaning them, and who observe my covenant, I will bring them into my holy mountain. » For he declares that his house is not such that it would look upon these while ignoring others, but that by the power of his benevolence it is open to all nations, so that even eunuchs and the palsied are received there. « And I will make them joyful in my house of prayer. Their holocausts and their sacrifices shall be acceptable upon my altar. For my house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations. » I think that through these words, according to the literal meaning, God is saying that He is gathering together the people through the return from Babylon which occurred under Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes; wherefore He subjoins:
VERS. 8. « The Lord saith, who gathers the scattered of Israel, I will gather a congregation to him. » At which time it is likely that a multitude of foreign nations also flocked to him; the Word calls them « beasts of the field » because of their former state and because of their alien and strange customs.
VERS. 9. « All you wild beasts, come, eat, all you beasts of the forest. » Those B beasts which are gathered along with Israel would be those from the nations who approached the Word, whom He summons with these words, « Come, eat, all you beasts of the forest. » We have frequently observed that the "forest" is said to signify the multitude of alien nations. These beasts, then, He deems worthy of God's calling and invites them to the banquet.
VERS. 10. « See that they are all blinded: they have not known: they are dumb dogs, they will not be able to bark, dreaming on their bed, loving to slumber. » And such indeed were the princes of the Jews toward those outside, toward whom they ought to have been watchful and vigilant and to have barked against enemies; but toward their own people they were shameless, devouring the flocks placed under their rule.
VERS. 11. « And the dogs are shameless in soul, not knowing fullness. And they are evil, not knowing understanding: all have followed their own ways, each one according to what his own was. » Not in the ways of God, but in their own, because they did what was pleasing to them.
CHAPTER LVII
A Ver. 1. « See how the righteous perishes, and no one takes it to heart; and righteous men are taken away, and no one considers. For the righteous is taken away from the face of iniquity.» And how were those whose souls were blind to understand? For if they had not been so, they would have seen the righteous and understood their own stewardship. But since they were blind and shameless dogs, they dared to do such things against the righteous; but the righteous were received in peace by God.
Ver. 2. « His burial shall be in peace, he is taken from the midst.» One might say that these words apply both to the Savior and to his disciples who were plotted against by the Jewish nation; but it also intimates the resurrection of our Savior, the passage saying: his death is signified by his burial, but his resurrection by the words, « His burial is taken from the midst.» He has disappeared B because he did not remain in the place of his burial; whence the angel standing by the women said: « Whom do you seek? Jesus? He is not here; come, see his place.»
Ver. 3, 4. « But you, draw near here, you sons of the lawless, offspring of adulterers and a harlot. Against whom have you insulted? And against whom have you opened your mouth, and against whom have you let loose your tongue? Are you not children of destruction, seed of the lawless?» For it is not fitting to call you children of Abraham and Sarah; for if you were children of Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham. The word «adulterers» is used in Scripture for those who were once given to idolatry, of whom it is said: « And they committed adultery with wood and stone;» while the prophet here earlier called Jerusalem C a «harlot.» He especially accuses their tongue and mouth because of the words uttered against the Savior, and the blasphemies which they still utter against him to this day. Wherefore he says: « Against whom have you opened your mouth? And against whom have you let loose your tongue? Are you not children of destruction?»
Ver. 5, 6. « You who call upon idols under thick trees, sacrificing your children in the ravines among the rocks. This is your portion, this is your lot; and to them you have poured out libations, and to them you have brought sacrifices. Therefore, shall I not be angry at these things?» By these things it is clearly shown that the present prophecy is D appropriate to the idolaters who lived in the times of Isaiah the prophet.
Ver. 7. « Upon a high and lofty mountain, there is your bed, and there you have brought up your sacrifices.» In this way, he says, you acted, not committing impiety in secret, but openly and confidently; so that you even performed diabolical sacrifices upon the very highest of mountains.
Ver. 8, 9. « And behind the doorposts of your door you have placed your memorials. You thought that if you turned away from me, you would have something more. You loved those who slept with you, and multiplied your fornication with them, many
A of those who are dedicated to God fled from Jerusalem because of the godless deeds being performed therein. «And you sent ambassadors beyond your borders, and were humbled even to hell.» He speaks all these things as if of a harlot who used to study her beauty and adornment, and did nothing that was not for the pleasure of those who lived with her.
Vεrs. 10. «In your many journeys you have labored, and you did not say, I will stop.» For you were not traveling along one royal road, but many and straying ones. «You grew strong, because you did these things; therefore you did not entreat me:» but as if strong and vigorous in youth, you committed worse things than these, persisting in your shameful deeds.
Vers. 11-13. «Whom fearing were you terrified? And you lied to me, and did not remember me, nor did you place me in your mind, nor in your heart? And I, seeing you, overlook you, and you did not fear me. And I will declare my righteousness and your evils, and they shall not profit you. When you cry out, let them deliver you in your tribulation.» For all these the wind shall take away, and the storm shall carry off. «But they who adhere to me shall possess the earth, and shall inherit my holy mountain.» B All those, therefore, who are accused, the wind shall take and the storm shall carry away. And such an end shall befall those who are blamed for the aforementioned things; but as for those who have chosen the good portion—namely, me, God, and those genuine men who purely adhered to me—my reward shall receive them.
Vers. 14. «And they shall say: Purge the ways from his face, and take away the stumbling blocks from the path of my people.» For he who behaves rightly before God will not only have care for his own salvation, but will also prove himself useful to the people of God, commanding them to level the path of piety for him, and to remove whatever appears to be a stumbling block.
Vers. 15. «Thus says the Highest, who dwells in the heights forever, Holy among the holy is his name: The Highest, who rests among the holy, and gives patience to the faint-hearted, and gives life to those contrite in heart.» To those in the people who were endowed with piety and the fear of God, and who had repented of their sins—whom this Scripture calls contrite in heart and faint-hearted—he brings consolation and comfort. For, even if few in number, C some of this kind were present. Yet they were men dedicated to God; not only the prophets, but others also who were their imitators, who were instructed by the prophets, and applied their minds to their teachings.
Vers. 16. «I will not take vengeance on you forever, nor will I be angry with you always. For a spirit shall go forth from me, and I have made every breath.» For I care for that spirit which, having gone forth from me, dwelt in you; since, being the creator of every breath that is able to praise me, according to that which D is written: «Let every breath praise the Lord,» and in the creation of the world, having breathed the...
A breath of God, man became a living soul.
VERS. 17-21. «For a little sin I grieved him, and I struck him, and I turned my face from him, and he was grieved, and walked sadly in his ways. I have seen his ways, and I healed him, and I comforted him, and I gave him true consolation, peace upon peace to those who are far and who are near. And the Lord said: I will heal them. But the wicked shall be tossed, and shall not be able to rest. There is no joy for the impious, saith the Lord.» Even if for a brief time, on account of certain sins springing from human infirmity, I have afflicted and struck those who sinned, as a father chastising his children—for «whom the Lord loves, he chastises; and he scourges every son whom he receives»—but because, coming into the sense of my chastisement, they gave themselves over to sadness according to God, and led by repentance walked in sorrow; for this reason, having beheld your conversion and repentance and your subsequent deeds, and the ways of life which you have entered, I have healed you and comforted you with true consolation: for all things granted by me to my own are true. Wherefore to those who have come to their senses through my chastisement, I have given true and peaceful consolation, not some common and temporary one, but most abundant; so that those near and those far removed may enjoy it. C
CHAPTER LVIII.
VERS. 1. «Cry out with strength, and do not spare, lift up your voice like a trumpet, and announce to my people their sins, and to the house of Jacob their iniquities.» To the preachers of the saving word it was previously said: «Get thee up upon a high mountain, thou that bringest good tidings to Jerusalem: lift up, fear not:» here, however, the prophet is not commanded to ascend a high mountain; for they to whom he was announcing these things were not on a height: but he is commanded only to cry out with strength and not to spare, as if speaking to the ears of the deaf, and to lift up his voice like a trumpet. A trumpet is a military signal: wherefore he commands him to use a cry against the impious and the sinner, as against an enemy, so that it might reach the mind of the hearers and pierce and wound it with the very force of the voice. DVERS. 2. «They seek me day by day, and desire to know my ways, as a people that has done justice, and has not forsaken the judgment of their God. They ask of me now just judgment, and desire to approach God.» He calls the sinner his people for his own condemnation: whom I, he says, adopted, and did not disdain to call my people; but they, given over to their own malice, have removed themselves far from me.
A
COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH
VERS. 3. "Saying: Wherefore have we fasted, and thou hast not seen? have we humbled our souls, and thou hast not taken knowledge?" B Since they dare to speak such things impudently, do you, my prophet, using a loud voice, answer them and refute them, because they have abandoned my judgment and because all things that they profess, they do not affirm truthfully. "For in the days of your fasts you find your own wills, and afflict all your subjects." If, therefore, they boast of such a fast, it would have been far better for them to have occupied themselves with feasts and not to commit such things. Wherefore at the beginning of the prophecy it was said to them: "My soul hates your fasting and idleness and solemnities." For you do not turn the leisure of fasting into an occasion for repentance; but you use it to exact and demand repayment from your debtors.
VERS. 4. "If you fast for debates and strifes, and strike the humble with fists, why do you fast unto me?" It seems that such a thing happened at the very time of the prophecy; for the discourse indeed implies this: "That your cry may be heard this day in clamor."
VERS. 5. "Is this such a fast as I have chosen, a day for a man to humble his soul? Is it not even if you wreathe your neck like a hoop, and spread sackcloth and ashes, will you call this an acceptable fast?" But if anyone wishes to learn the manner of a true fast that is pleasing to me, God, let him do these things: let him compose his countenance for gladness, and anoint his head with oil according to the saving precept, let him keep his fast in secret, and show the humility of his soul only to the Father who sees secret things: but in public let him, by his works, show the fruits of piety to all who see, by loosening every bond of iniquity. Wherefore he says:
VERS. 6. "Is not such a fast as I have chosen, says the Lord? But break every bond of iniquity; dissolve the obligations of violent contracts; send away the broken in remission; and tear up every unjust document"; fulfilling by his work that saying of the Savior: "If you offer your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has anything against you, leave there your gift before the altar, and go first, be reconciled to your brother, and then coming offer your gift." C
VERS. 7. "Deal thy bread to the hungry, and bring the needy who are without shelter into thy house. If you see one naked, cover him, and you shall not despise those of your own seed." For there are not wanting among men those who are in need of food; and thus indeed fasting will not be a profit to you, but you shall feed your soul in another way, when you will refresh the needy and him who labors under a penury of food with your own bread.
VERS. 8, 9. "Then shall your morning light break forth, and your healings shall speedily arise: and your justice shall go before you, and the glory of God shall surround you. Then shall you call, and God will hear you: as you are yet speaking, he will say, Behold, I am here." D
A "If you take away from you the bond, and the stretching forth of the hand, and the word of murmuring." For God, the Lord of all, has established some to be wealthy in food and money, and others to be needy and poor, for the testing of both; that the former might reap the fruit of their own wealth through the provision given to the needy, and the latter, exercised by poverty, might enjoy the bounty of the wealthy as if it were a most fertile field.
"And if you give your bread to the hungry from your soul, and fill the humbled soul; then your light shall rise in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday." For the first things must be distributed bountifully to all, but the special things are to be dispensed to those of the household of faith. For this is also what the apostolic instruction commanded, saying to be kind to all.
"And your God shall be with you always; and you shall be filled as your soul desires, and your bones shall be made fat: and it shall be as a watered garden, and as a fountain that water has not failed." This means that the faculties of the soul itself shall be made fat by spiritual and divine food. And there shall be a garden evergreen, adorned with the fruits of the holy Spirit; and the things that were once deserts of the soul shall be built up in you, and shall be filled with teachings and divine words, so that you become a builder of yourself, constructing the thoughts in your own mind with divine teachings. And furthermore, you shall cast a hedge around your own soul, fencing it in on every side, and securing it from outward disturbances. B The "bones" of the people would be those who are powerful and robust within it, sustaining the whole body.
C "And your perpetual deserts shall be built, and your foundations shall be for generations of generations. And you shall be called a builder of hedges, and you shall cause your paths that are in the midst to rest." Now, he builds hedges who defends and protects ecclesiastical dogmas on every side with dialectical demonstrations; but he who removes what appear to be stumbling blocks from the divine readings by explaining the things that are said, he is the one who removes the stones placed in the midst of the paths. For because he blocks the ways of error, and protects and defends such barriers, and fortifies and hedges himself in from every side, he is rightly called a builder of hedges.
D "If you turn away your foot from the Sabbaths, so as not to do your own wills on the holy day; and you shall call the Sabbaths delicate, holy to God; you shall not lift your foot to work, nor shall you speak a word in anger from your mouth. And you shall have confidence in the Lord; and he shall lift you up upon the good things of the earth, and will feed you with the inheritance of Jacob your father. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things." The Word suggests that individuals ought not to act according to their own will—as if they were giving themselves over to drunkenness and lewdness—but that they must live in holiness and purity, and thus that it is necessary to sanctify the day, and to keep it glad and without sadness, through the leisure [σχολή] spent in it according to God, and neither even slightly to move the foot
to other deeds, nor to defile the lips even by a word; but to give heed entirely to the leisure of divine things throughout the whole day.
CHAPTER LIX
VERS. 1. «Is the hand of the Lord unable to save? Or has he burdened his ear, so as not to hear?» Having in the preceding sections prescribed what was to be done by the Jewish people, and having set forth the appropriate promises to those who fulfilled what was to be done, while threatening the deserved punishments to those who chose the contrary, the Word here offers them a rebuke, as ones who had chosen things contrary to the will of God, for which cause they have fallen into calamities. He says, therefore, to them: It was by no means impossible for me, God, to restore you even when lost, nor is my hand weak, so that I could not save you, however unworthy; nor was my ear, which hears all things, so burdened that I could not hear you as you cried out.
VERS. 2. «But your sins make a division between you and God; and because of your sins he has turned his face from you, so that he may not show mercy.» Your wicked life does not allow you to enjoy divine providence, because God abominates sin as a putrid, base, and infamous thing. Thus, He teaches that there was no other cause for the ruin of the people and their removal from C God than their sins; and he proceeds to enumerate the forms of these.
VERS. 3. «For your hands are polluted with blood, and your fingers with sins; your lips have spoken iniquity, and your tongue meditates injustice.» And I would have you observe that they are not accused here of idolatry, or of any other wicked conduct, but of slaughter committed by their lips, and of the iniquity of their mouth. By which He indicates their conspiracies against the Savior, and the snares laid by them against righteous men. Even if they did not slay the Savior with their own hands, yet since they sought his blood upon themselves and upon their children, and used impious shouts, they declared in deed that they had hands tainted with blood, that their lips had spoken iniquity, and that their tongue had uttered impiety. For, deceiving themselves, they expect another Christ, telling certain human and fabulous tales about him.
VERS. 4, 5. «No one speaks what is just, nor is there true judgment. They trust in vain things, and speak empty words, because they conceive pain, and bring forth iniquity. They have broken the eggs of asps, and weave the web of a spider; and whoever wishes to eat of their eggs, upon breaking one finds a basilisk, and in it a viper.» Having conceived within themselves the seeds of the opposing powers, it was therefore said to the sons of their malice and wickedness: «Brood of vipers.» And, by a certain proportion held to the divine seed, He called the seed of the opposing powers D eggs, following the example of the reptilian kind: for asps, serpents, and such like are of the egg-laying species.
A Since after such great wickedness they profess the doctrine of the divine Scriptures, but fall away into old-wives' tales and the traditions of men, which contain nothing sound or useful, he naturally adds: "And they weave the spider’s web," comparing that putrid and shameful zeal of theirs to the spider’s web. And what eggs does he mention, if not those of which it is written: "The eggs of asps were broken"? Now those who have reached the pinnacle of wickedness, having broken these eggs, have received their offspring into themselves; but the simpler ones, before they are broken and produce their offspring, eat of them and perish. Therefore, according to the other interpreters, it is said: "He who eats of their eggs shall die." But if any prudent man should be found, who can crush them with refutative and convicting logic, he would find in them the wind-egg B and the damp, and the foul and putrefying odor, and in all these things wallowing and hiding the most terrible of all reptiles, and deadly even by the mere sight—I mean the basilisk.
"Their web shall not be for a garment, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity; and their feet run to wickedness, swift to shed blood, and their thoughts are thoughts of slaughter. Destruction and misery are in their ways, and the way of peace they have not known." For they did not accept the Prince of peace, concerning whom it is said: "For He is our peace." Wherefore He provides this for His own disciples, saying: "My peace I give unto you, My peace I leave with you." C — "And there is no judgment in their ways. For their paths are crooked, which they traverse; and they have not known peace." For while they grope at the divine Scriptures, they do not understand the meaning hidden in the depth of the words; but, busying themselves only with the word itself, they seem like those who are groping at a wall.
Therefore judgment has departed from them, and righteousness shall not overtake them; having expected light, it became darkness to them; having waited for brightness, they walked in gloom. They shall grope like the blind for a wall, and shall grope as though they had no eyes. And they shall fall in the noonday as in the midnight, and as dying men shall they groan. D At the time of the meridian light of the Gentiles, when the Church of God is illumined by the saving and evangelical rays, these alone, inasmuch as they have sinned unto death, have fallen, and they spend their time as if in the midst of the night.
"They shall walk together as a bear or as a dove. We have waited for judgment, and there is no salvation; it has departed far from us. For our iniquity is great before Thee, and our sins have stood against us; for our iniquities are within us, and we have known our unrighteousness." For if their groaning had occurred for the reason of those things which they dared against the Savior, it might have been profitable. For it is fitting that they ...
A mourn, groan, lament, and weep for the sake of the blood which they shed. But since they do not pretend to do this, but rather mourn for the sensible city—I speak of Jerusalem—and foolishly lament its ruin, they are duly compared to a wild beast. For this reason it is said: "And they shall groan as a bear;" and in other places it is said: "As a bear bereaved of her young." They are called bears because this beast devours men; for they themselves also devoured men, being intent upon slaughter and killing the prophets; and they are likened to a bear bereaved of her young on account of the loss of their own children.
VERS. 13. "We have acted impiously, and lied, and departed from our God. We have spoken wickedly, and have been disobedient. We have conceived and meditated from our heart wicked words." The prophet says these things in the person of the people, teaching them to confess their sins to God and to accuse themselves, so that even in this way, being struck in their soul, they might retrace their steps and, having been taught repentance, might turn back. B
VERS. 14-20. "And we have turned judgment backward, and righteousness hath stood far off; for truth hath been consumed in their ways, and they could not walk by a straight path. And truth has been taken away, and they have changed their mind so as not to understand. And the Lord saw, and it did not please Him, because there was no judgment. And He saw, and there was no man; and He considered, and there was no one to help; and He defended them with His arm, and established them with His mercy. And He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and placed upon His head a helmet of salvation, and put on a garment of vengeance; and His covering, as one who will render retribution, was a reproach to the adversaries. And they shall fear the name of the Lord from the west, and the glorious name from the rising of the sun. For the wrath of the Lord shall come as a violent river; it shall come with fury, and the redeemer shall come for the sake of Zion, C and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob." Here again, through Zion, the pious way of life is signified, which has been shown in various ways to be the Church of God. Therefore, it is said that the redeemer, the kinsman, will come for the sake of this city of God, and he is already near. And what will he do? He will forgive the sins of those who come to him.
VERS. 21. "And this is for them the covenant from me, saith the Lord. My Spirit that is upon thee, and the words which I have put in thy mouth; and they shall not fail from thy mouth, nor from the mouth of thy seed. For the Lord hath said, from now and unto the age." Thus, this Spirit was the covenant; wherefore our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ gave the Spirit to his own disciples, saying, "Receive the Holy Spirit; whose sins you shall remit, they are remitted to him." This, therefore, is the New Covenant, and the head of the mystery, the Holy Spirit. D "And the words which I have put in thy mouth, and they shall not fail." For all these things remain, both in the present and in the future age, according to our Savior's
A teaching handed down in the Gospels, where He says: "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away."
CAPUT LX.
VERs. 1. "Shine, shine, O Jerusalem; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee." Since, therefore, Christ Himself was the light, the truth, and the life—that is to say, light for those who are in the world—it is reasonable that the Word should announce to Jerusalem that it would enjoy His presence, saying: "Shine, shine, O Jerusalem; for thy light is come." He affirms that the light is hers, because the promises concerning Christ were preached to her by the prophets. If, therefore, obeying the command, she had participated in the light by receiving the Christ of God, she would certainly have remained in peace until the end. For lo, the light that was promised to you long ago through the prophets has now come. Therefore do not delay, but shine, shine, and partake of the grace; for these things and those shall be yours once you are enlightened.
VERs. 2. "For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gloom the nations. But the Lord shall appear upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee." It is possible for these things to have been fulfilled at the first coming of our Savior; indeed, they will also attain their final end through His second B and glorious manifestation.
VERs. 3. "And kings shall walk in thy light, and nations in thy brightness." For you will not rise upon all, but only upon the worthy. For the outer darkness and the eternal fire, and all other things threatened against the impious, shall seize those who are not such. But those who are to see His glory have need first of the light and the rising, so that, having become children of the divine light, they may be spectators of the glory of the only-begotten Son of God.
VERs. 4. "Lift up your eyes round about, and see thy children gathered together." For all those from among the nations who have believed in God through Christ have received the promise that they shall rest in the bosom of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as the Savior Himself taught. And in many other places the Church from among the nations is called the daughter of Sion and the daughter of Jerusalem. "All thy sons have come from afar, and thy daughters shall be carried on shoulders." For we were once somewhere far off and distant from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants, having no hope of the promise, and being godless in the world. C For souls that are tender and still infant, like newborn babes, desire the rational and sincere milk; and having become sons of Abraham through the regeneration in Christ, they are supported on shoulders, carried and lifted up by the masters who guide them—such as Paul was, when he said, "As if a nurse would cherish her own children, so, being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you..." and so forth.
VERs. 5. "Then you shall see, and fear, and be amazed in your heart, because the wealth of the sea shall be transferred to you, and D
of the nations and of peoples." Here too, one might observe how he compares that great multitude of those who attain salvation to the waves of the sea. The strength of the nations, moreover, would be those who succeed and do not weaken in the intensity A of the spiritual life.
VERS. 6, 7. "And herds of camels shall come to you, and the camels of Midian and Ephah shall cover you. All from Sheba shall come, bringing gold, and they shall bring incense, and they shall announce the salvation of the Lord. And all the sheep of Kedar shall be gathered together, and the rams of Nabaioth shall come, and they shall be offered as acceptable gifts upon my altar." In these things, I think, those who abound in riches and wealth in the Church are signified; for thus the Savior, comparing the rich man to a camel, said, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven." But this was a wonderful thing, that what is impossible for men is possible to God. B Wherefore Jerusalem, seized with admiration, is filled with joy, while she beholds souls compared to camels being changed, and, as if through the eye of a needle, entering into eternal life through the narrow and constricted way. These camels, however, did not come empty and without a burden, but, as is fitting, bringing gifts to God for the redemption of their own souls. Therefore, the camels shall announce the salvation of the Lord after they have offered the aforementioned gifts; incense representing the spiritual and sweet fragrance of theology, and gold, the bodily riches. Now Midian and Ephah are regions of barbarians that are productive of camels, as is also Sheba, situated above Arabia, among which peoples the genus of camels exists in great numbers; C wherefore the discourse uses them as an example. And it seems to me that by these words the Scripture seeks to allure and soothe the youthful and infantile ears of the corporeal Jews, so that it may draw them and exhort them to enter early upon that life and religion which is according to God.
"And all the sheep of Kedar." He here indicates that such souls are alien and foreign: since by the camels, wealthy and rich men are judged; by the sheep, those who are more gentle and simple; and by the rams, those among the nations who are especially powerful in leadership are converted—those whom the discourse declares will bring gifts D to the altar of God. And it is possible to see the oracle being fulfilled, when, through the conversion of the nations, one sees such souls having dedicated themselves to the word of piety and attending upon the ministry of the altar of God. For then especially, through the conversion and salvation of such people, the Church of God is glorified; wherefore it is said immediately after: "And the house of my prayer shall be glorified."
VERS. 8. "Who are these? As clouds they fly, and as doves with their young toward me." This, furthermore, we shall understand if we weigh the voice of Paul, which stands thus: "We who are alive, who re main until the coming of Christ, shall be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord
to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the LordA; joined, that is to say, and enrolled in the choir of those who conducted themselves well among that former people. Therefore, marveling at the grace of Christ poured out upon men, and at the multitude of the Gentiles obtaining salvation, and at their flight into the heavens after the departure from life, they say: "Who are these? They fly like clouds, and as doves with their young ones toward me."
VERS. 9. "Me the islands waited for, and the ships of Tharsis in the first place, to bring thy sons from afar, and their silver and their gold with them, for the sake of the holy name of the Lord, and because the Holy One of Israel is glorious." The Word previously hinted at the churches by B calling them islands. Now, since the churches of God, scanning the prophecies, were looking forward to the promises made to the fathers, it rightly says: "Me the islands waited for." By "ships of Tharsis," it indicates the bodies in which souls, established in this mortal life, sailed forth. Tharsis, moreover, was a region of foreign nations; hence it is said somewhere concerning faithless foreigners: "In a powerful spirit thou wilt crush the ships of Tharsis." But that was crushed; here, however, the sons of that ancient Jerusalem who come to her from the Gentiles from afar shall reach her on ships—that is, on bodies changed for the better. They will come, therefore, in these very bodies, bringing with them their works of virtue, which are called silver and gold; for the Apostle knows works as gold and silver.
VERS. 10, 11. "And foreigners shall build thy walls, and their kings shall stand by thee. For because of my wrath I smote thee, and because of my mercy I have loved thee. And thy gates shall be opened continually; by day and by night they shall not be closed, to bring unto thee the power of the Gentiles, and their kings as leaders." You may see this fulfilled in deeds, if you pay close attention—that men from foreign and alien nations, placed as leaders of C the Church of God, fortify it with teachings, protecting the word of piety as if with certain enclosures and walls, so that those who are alien to the faith may not creep in, nor have room to prepare traps against the dogmas of the truth. Indeed, the fear of the commanders of the Roman legions and of the ruling kings contributes greatly to the turning back of those who attempt to plot against the Church of God. D And what would the gates of the City of God be, if not the elementary and introductory teachings? "By night and by day," he says, they are opened to all men, that they may take in all those from every nation who have purposed to worship God. The "powers of the Gentiles," then, are those who are able to say: "I can do all things in Him who strengthens me"; and their kings are those who are considered preeminent and worthy of the heavenly kingdom. Now, indeed, when one sees even the carnal Roman emperors and kings running to the gates of the Church of God and being made participants in the mysteries that are performed within those gates, how can one not confess the truth of the prophecy?
A *For the nations and the kings, whoever shall not serve thee, shall perish, and the nations shall be laid waste with desolation. And the glory of Lebanon shall come to thee, in the cypress, and the pine, and the cedar together, to glorify my holy place.* For it is necessary to serve the saving and most beautiful service to the city of God, that is to say, to the Church, and for the pious religion which is cultivated in it, the most beautiful and lofty trees of Lebanon shall be brought, so that by them my holy place may be glorified. Such indeed are the learned men from the nations, imbued with the wisdom of this age, whom, when you see them flourishing in the Church of God and adorning it with the splendor of their discourse, you would not be straying from the truth if you were to say that they are, in an allegorical manner, called the woods of Lebanon, the cypress, the pines, and the cedars; by whom the holy place of God and the place of his feet, that is to say, the Church, is glorified.
B *And the sons of them that afflicted thee shall come to thee, fearing, and them that provoked thee, and thou shalt be called the city of Sion, the holy One of Israel.* And indeed, we know many of those who once uttered blasphemous words against the Church, and provoked her, and persecuted her, who have now changed their mind, and have come to worship the God who is adored in her.
*Because thou hast been forsaken, and hated, and there was none that helped. And I will make thee an everlasting pride, a joy from generation to generation, and thou shalt suck the milk of the nations, and shalt eat of the riches of kings. And thou shalt know that I am the Lord who savest thee, and I deliver thee, the God of Israel. And for the brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood I will bring brass, and for stones iron. And I will make thy princes peace, and thy bishops justice.* What could this be if not the new mystery of the evangelical teaching, and that foundational doctrine of the New Testament, of which those who are reborn in Christ are partakers, becoming better than their former selves and more useful for the building of God, just as the former ones did, who in place of brass and iron obtained gold and silver in exchange? C
*And iniquity shall no more be heard in thy land, neither wasting nor destruction in thy borders; but thy walls shall be called Salvation, and thy gates, Graving.* Instead of "Salvation," the Hebrew reading presents "Jesus," in the very same elements and characters as the Savior himself is written; so that the very power of our Savior Jesus shall be for a hedge and a firm wall to those who are worthy of God.
*And the sun shall be no more thy light by day, neither shall the brightness of the moon light up thy night; but the Lord shall be to thee an everlasting light, and thy God, thy glory.* But there shall be a certain pillar of divine light shining forth, namely the resurrecting body, which is called the garment of Salvation. For there shall no longer be a body of death, such as Paul declared in these words, "Who shall deliver me from the body of this death D
A That shall also be salvation. And a garment of salvation shall be placed upon the soul, and a tunic of gladness; for each one shall be clothed in his own adornment according to the deeds he has performed in righteousness.
"For your sun shall not set for you, and your moon shall not fail; for the Lord shall be your eternal light, and the days of your mourning shall be fulfilled. And your people shall all be righteous, and they shall inherit the land forever, keeping the plantation, the works of His hands, for His glory. He who is least shall become thousands, and the smallest, a great nation. I, the Lord, in due time will gather them."
CHAPTER LXI
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me; He has sent me to preach good tidings to the poor..."
CHAPTER LXII
"For Zion's sake I will not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her righteousness goes forth as light; and my salvation shall burn as a lamp. And the nations shall see your righteousness, and all kings your glory. And He shall call you by a new name, which the Lord shall name. And you shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a diadem of the kingdom in the hand of your God." B Which she shall then receive, saying: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness." And she herself, being a bride of the bridegroom Word and having received seeds from Him, brings forth beautiful and fragrant fruits. Here, again, He signifies the pious religion that formerly existed among the Jews. For truly, all who perform good works through Him are a crown of Christ, and those who have undertaken struggles for His sake are the diadem of His kingdom—the holy martyrs, whom the Father, having chosen with His own hand, places around His Son, crowning Him and adorning Him with a royal diadem, the multitude of those who have been saved by Him C and through Him.
"And He shall call you by a new name, which the Lord shall name;" that is, it shall be named according to My will.
"And you shall no longer be called 'Forsaken,' and your land shall no longer be called 'Desolate'; for your land shall be called 'My Will,' and your land 'Inhabited'; for the Lord has taken pleasure in you, and your land shall be inhabited. And as a young man dwells with a virgin, so shall your sons dwell. And as a bridegroom shall rejoice over a bride, so shall the Lord rejoice over you."
In the new age of Christ's kingdom, it shall be established, having as inhabitants only those who have been deemed worthy of the promises of God, who shall dwell in such delight and gladness D as resembles a young and holy man living with a pure virgin—not in any way defiling her virginity, but rejoicing with the whole house in virginal purity and pure companionship. And your sons shall thus rejoice;
A for the Lord Himself, having taken His bride, you the holy Church, composed of perfect members, both from the former people and from the new one gathered from the nations. Then He addresses the Church itself: the divine disciples, who preserved the highest love toward her, have become her sons according to the flesh; so that the affection which arose seems like that of a young man living with a virgin. Thus the Lord shall rejoice over you, just as, indeed, a bridegroom rejoices over his bride. For the only-begotten Word of God descended from heaven, that He might show the Church to be fruitful, whom He Himself set apart for Himself as a chaste virgin, having no spot or wrinkle, but rather holy and blameless. Having therefore received from Him the seeds of the evangelical life, she showed the bride shining forth with spiritual sacrifices and holy deeds.
B Vers. 6–8. «And upon your walls, Jerusalem, I have set watchmen all the day and all the night, who shall never be silent, mindful of the Lord. For there is none like you, if He shall correct, and make Jerusalem a rejoicing in the earth. The Lord has sworn by His glory, and by the strength of His arm.» For these things took place of old, when they offered their own fruit as food to the enemies of God, acting and working in such a way that their deeds became food for demons. But now, for those who are to be deemed worthy of the new age and are to receive the promised things, the Lord affirms by an oath that He will no longer give their fruits to their enemies, but that they themselves shall enjoy them. For as they lead a life according to virtue and conduct themselves with piety, it is just that they should enjoy their own fruits. «If I shall still give your wheat and your food to your enemies, and if foreigners shall still drink your wine, for which you have labored:
Vers. 9. But those who have gathered them shall eat them, and shall praise the Lord; and those who have collected them shall drink them in my holy courts.» Now these shall be those many mansions with the Father.
Vers. 10. «Go through my gates.» Furthermore, through these He offers for our consideration the heavenly city of God and its gates: all of which shall be opened to those worthy in that promised age, and it shall be said: «Go through my gates, and make a way for my people, and cast the stones out of the way. Lift up a standard for the nations.» For, He says, there shall be no hindrance, no obstacle, no envy, no malice, no pretext of any kind, no demon, no evil spirit, no opposing power that shall prevent my people from entering into the kingdom of heaven. And these things shall be said to certain angelic powers.
D Vers. 11, 12. «For behold, the Lord has made heard until the end of the earth, Say to the daughter of Sion, Behold, your Savior has come having His reward, and His work before His face. And He shall call it a holy people, redeemed by the Lord. But you shall be called a sought-out city and not forsaken.» For let no one think, He says, that these things are spoken concerning the Jewish
A people, since He commands the sign to be lifted up for all nations, and proclaims the things foretold to all even unto the end of the earth. Long ago, then, in His first advent, the same Savior was working—by the things He did and suffered for the sake of the human race—the salvation that is from God for those who believe in Him, from which He was also named Jesus, according to the testimony of the angel.
CHAPTER LXIII
B VERSE 1. «Who is this that comes from Edom, with red garments from Bosor? So beautiful in his robe, with might and strength. I speak justice and judgment of salvation.» The Word introduces the persons of certain ones who see Christ viewed in a warlike guise and with His apparel stained. Being struck by the strangeness of the appearance, they say to one another: «Who is this that comes from Edom, with red garments from Bosor?» Since Edom and Bosor were regions of foreigners, and were always hostile to Israel, by these names He appropriately signifies the opposing powers, and states that His vestment is, as it were, reddened by the blood of those who have been slaughtered and butchered. But since they see Him quite changed from the punishment inflicted upon the ungodly, they do not even seem to recognize Him, knowing Him to be bright, tranquil, and gentle; for this reason they inquire, saying: «Who is this that comes from Edom, with red garments from Bosor?» — For, being a defender, according to Symmachus, of those who were unjustly oppressed by the opposing powers, He attacked the latter as enemies, while He saved the former, delivering them from the tyranny under the enemies.
VERSE 2. «Why are your garments red, and your clothes as though from a trodden winepress? Full of trampled things.» Observe how it is said that He alone has trodden the winepress. For the Father has given judgment to Him alone, and He is wont to call the exaction of sins a winepress; wherefore in Lamentations Jeremiah says: «The Lord has trodden C a winepress for the virgin daughter of Judah; for these things I weep.» Just as the collective reckoning of sins, and the rebuke for them, and the exaction and punishment are called a winepress, so also are winepresses of good fruits gathered from the good vine acceptable to God and pleasing to God, for which the «Pro torcularibus» hymns are spoken in the Psalms. «Why are your garments red, and your clothes as though from a trodden winepress? Full of trampled things.» He stains His garments, so that it is said that they become red by a vivid personification; just as when He speaks concerning the blood of the enemies: «And I brought down their blood to the earth.» For one should not think that there is physical blood in the case of the opposing powers.
VERSE 3. «And of the nations there is no man with me. And I have trampled them in my fury, and I have crushed them as the D earth, and I have brought down their blood into the earth.» For because they previously seemed to be, as it were, unconquered and not yielding the victory,
he rightly alludes to their defeat and humiliation, saying that he has brought their victory down to the ground. B «And I trod them down as earth, and I brought down their blood into the earth.»
VERS. 4. «For the day of retribution has come to them, and the year of redemption is present.» For at one and the same time he will redeem his own, while to others he will render retribution, according to what was said by Moses: «And he will render vengeance to his enemies, and will render it to those who hate him.» Just as the Savior is said to have come with his own reward to those who have cultured piety, in order that he might pay the recompenses and the prizes of the heavenly calling to those who have struggled for the sake of piety; so too for the impious and for those who have traversed the contrary path, he himself is both fear and that which is prophesied to bring vengeance. «And he will render vengeance to his enemies, and will render it to those who hate him.»
VERS. 5, 6. «And I looked, and there was no helper; and I considered, and there was none to assist. And my arm rescued them, and my fury was present. And I trod them down in my anger, and I brought down their blood into the earth.» We shall understand why these things are said if we weigh how he himself alone emptied himself, having taken the form of a servant, and humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, even the death of the cross. For what no one of men, nor of angels, nor of the divine powers ever endured, he alone exhibits for our salvation; and to him alone the Father gave the name which is above every name, and handed over to him the judgment of all things. He, indeed, having received authority from the Father, rescued some, whom he favored with salvation, but put to flight his enemies and adversaries.
VERS. 7, 8. «I have remembered the mercies of the Lord, the virtues of the Lord in all things which he has rendered to us. The Lord is a good judge to the house of Israel, he brings upon us according to his mercy, and according to the multitude of his justice. And he said: It is not my people, my people; they will in no way repudiate children. And he became their salvation.» All these things, he says, I will remember, recounting the magnitude of his goodness; and this grace most of all he has bestowed, that he deigned to call the people his own children, if only they have not repudiated his grace.
VERS. 9-16. «From all their tribulation, not a legate, not an angel, but he himself saved them, because he loved them and spared them. He himself redeemed them, and took them up, and exalted them all the days of the age. But they disbelieved, and provoked his holy spirit: and he turned into enmity for them: he himself fought against them. And he remembered the days of old. Where is he who led out from the sea the shepherd of the sheep? Where is he who placed in them the holy Spirit? Who led out Moses with his right hand, the arm of his glory? The water prevailed from his face, to make for himself an everlasting name. He led them through the abyss, as a horse through the desert, and they did not labor, and as cattle through a plain he descended.
A *Spirit from the Lord guided them.* So you led your people, to make for yourself a name of glory. Return from heaven, and look from your holy house. Where is your zeal and your strength? Where is the multitude of your mercy and of your compassions, that you have endured us? For you are our Father, because Abraham did not know us, and Israel did not acknowledge us. But you, O Lord, are our Father, deliver us; from the beginning your name is upon us.» For having already endured us many times before when we sinned, it is no wonder, since you once deigned to say: «My people are offspring, and my people are sons.» As then you endured them as a father does children, so now again you have endured; for Abraham was not our father, even if he seemed to serve our carnal generation. But in truth you are our Father, as being the Father of all spirits and of souls made after your likeness. Therefore we entreat you to deliver us: «From the beginning your name is upon us.»
«Why have you made us wander, O Lord, from your way? You have hardened our hearts, so that we might not fear you. Return for the sake of your servants, for the sake of the tribes of your inheritance.» The prophet refers everything to God; not as if God became the cause for us of sinning, but as permitting and allowing those things to be done which anyone might choose—so that the cause of sin remains with us, yet the reference is made to God. «That we may possess for a little while your holy mountain—» as if they had been abandoned, and were not rising up on account of the blows which prevented them from sinning. B
VERS. 19. «We have become like as from the beginning, when you did not rule over us, and your name was not called upon us.» He says these things as if in the person of the people. For just as you always hardened the heart of Pharaoh, so too now, he says, you have hardened us, judging us unworthy of your fear; but you yourself have also made us wander, O Lord, that we might not know your way. Nevertheless, even if we are such, do you at least, as God, for the sake of your servants (for it is likely that in the multitude there are some of this sort), turn back. And because we were counted worthy to be called your inheritance, therefore we pray: «Return for the sake of your servants, and for the sake of the tribes of your inheritance.» May we also, unworthy as we are, be able to attain some little hope in the holy mountain promised by you, from which we have now utterly fallen; since our adversaries have trampled your sanctuary, and they did this because you turned your face from us. Thus, having been abandoned and deprived of your visitation, we are now such as we were before you ruled over us. For just as there was once a time when we had neither prophets, nor priests, nor kings, nor any of your gifts, in the same manner now too we have fallen into that same desolation. All these things appear to refer to the time following the coming of our Savior; in which they were utterly abandoned because of the crimes dared by them against our Savior. For now they have truly become such as they were from the beginning, in that God did not rule over them, so as to be able to say C D
We have become as from the beginning, when you did not rule over us, and your name was not called upon us.
Chapter LXIV
VERS. 1. A «If you open the heaven, trembling will take hold of the mountains from you, and they will melt.» But we know well and are persuaded that if you should wish to open the heaven, being God and Almighty, trembling will take hold of the mountains from you, that is, the opposing powers which are lifted up against the knowledge of you.
VERS. 2, 3. «As wax melts from the face of fire, and fire will burn your adversaries, and your name will be manifest to your adversaries. From your face the nations will be troubled.» And yet, «No one has seen God at any time,» and, «No one will see my face and live.» But here he seems to intimate the God who gave oracles to Moses in the desert, and who was seen by the entire people through the glory apparent to all, of which it is B said: «And all the people saw the glory of the Lord.»
VERS. 4-6. «When you perform glorious deeds, trembling for you will invade the mountains. From the ages we have not heard, nor have our eyes seen a God besides you, and your works, which you will perform for those who wait for mercy.» For it will meet those who perform justice, and they will remember your ways. Behold, you were angry, and we sinned. Therefore we went astray, and we all became as unclean: all our justice as the garment of a menstruous woman. And if any justice and righteous action is thought to be found among us, it is found to be filthy and unsightly.
VERS. 7-12. «And we have drifted like leaves because of our iniquities: in this way the wind will carry us away; and there is no one who calls upon your name, nor who remembers to take hold of you: because you C turned your face away from us, and surrendered us because of our iniquities. And now, Lord, you are our Father, but we are clay, all of us the work of your hands; do not be angry with us exceedingly, nor remember our iniquities for a time. And now look, for we are all your people. The city of your holy one has become a desert; Sion has become as a desert, Jerusalem has become a curse; our house, our sanctuary, and the glory which our fathers blessed, has been burned with fire, and all our glorious things have fallen. And in all these things you endured, Lord, and were silent, and you humbled us exceedingly.»
Chapter LXV
VERS. 1-3. «I appeared to those who did not ask for me: I was found by those who did not seek me. I said: Behold, I am here for a nation that did not call upon my name. I spread out my hands all the day to a D disobedient and gainsaying people, walking in a way that is not good, but after their own sins. This is the people who provokes me to my face always: they sacrifice in the gardens, and burn incense upon
bricks to demons, which do not exist." A If anyone wishes, with a truth-loving mind, to contemplate my benevolence, he will find that I have always anticipated even those who were far removed from my knowledge with acts of kindness. Immediately, therefore, I manifested myself to those outside who had never asked for me, because of my surpassing benevolence; so that now even those of other races and alien nations have attained the knowledge of me, although they contributed nothing toward this. Nay, I even imparted my grace to those who did not seek it, anticipating the requests of others; before they even prayed, before they supplicated, I said, "Behold, I am here."
B "In tombs and in caves they sleep for the sake of dreams, who eat swine's flesh and broth of sacrifices, and all their vessels are polluted. They who say, 'Keep away from me, do not touch me, for I am pure.' This is the smoke of my wrath. Fire burns in it all the days. Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silent until I repay into their bosom their sins and the sins of their fathers," says the Lord. "They who offered incense upon the mountains and reproached me upon the hills, I will repay their works into their bosom." Thus says the Lord: "Just as a grape will be found in the cluster, and they shall say, 'Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing in it'; so will I do for the sake of him who serves me." But if anywhere among them there should be found, like a dry yet healthy and robust grape in a cluster, it shall not fall before the Judge, nor shall it perish with those who are perishing, because it participates in the blessing. And this grape will be as much more precious in my sight as it is rare. C According to this example I will also deal with the entire nation, if anyone should be found among them worthy of salvation.
"For this reason I will not destroy all, and I will bring forth a seed from Jacob and from Judah; and he shall inherit my holy mountain; and my elect and my servants shall inherit it, and dwell there." The good and rare seed, namely the apostolic choir, separated from the multitude of those perishing. Here again he calls his elect and servants the apostles, who have been found like grapes; whom he also, having chosen, keeps safe from the others, and has named it a holy and elect seed.
"And there will be in the forest folds of flocks, and the valley of Achor for a resting place of herds for my people who searched for me." D Now, Scripture is accustomed to call the multitude of the Gentiles and alien nations a forest; in which it prophesies that there will be folds of flocks, alluding to the churches of the sheep of God. But the people who searched for him was the grape and the seed mentioned above, his elect servants: through whom he prophesies that the folds of herds and the sheep-folds are to be established not in Israel, nor in the land of the Jews, but in the forest and in the aforementioned valley of Achor.
"But you who have abandoned me, and have forgotten my holy mountain, and prepare a table for the demon, and fill a mixture for Fortune. I will deliver you to the sword; all of you will fall in slaughter because I called you, and you did not hearken; I spoke
A and you disobeyed, and you did what was evil before me, and you chose those things which I did not want. For since I myself counted you worthy of my own presence, I called you first through myself; but you did not obey—for even before this I brought accusations, saying: "Because I came, and there was no human; I called, and there was no one to hearken." Again, he makes the aforementioned accusations against the people, teaching that as God, who does everything according to the scale of justice, he will by no means neglect those who serve him in any place whatsoever, from whatever nation they may be. For he simply bestows salvation upon all who have resolved to serve him. He will therefore welcome them and provide for them the heavenly nourishment, the saving Word, who said: "I am the bread that came down from heaven." These, then, will be nourished and satisfied by the aforementioned bread; but you, he says, who have not accepted my grace, will hunger for want of rational food. And again, those who serve me will be filled B with the drink of immortal life, concerning which it was said: "Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will have in him a fountain of water leaping up into eternal life."
VERS. 13-15. "Therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, those who serve me shall eat, but you shall be hungry; behold, those who serve me shall drink, but you shall be thirsty; behold, those who serve me shall be glad, but you shall be put to shame; behold, those who serve me shall exult in gladness, but you shall cry out because of the pain of your heart, and you shall howl from the contrition of your spirit. For you shall leave your name for a satiety to my elect; but the Lord will slay you; but a new name will be called for those who serve me." C But if you should curiously wish to learn who they are who are about to serve, and what their name is, know that God does not yet wish to bring their name out into the open; but he signifies only this much: that they will be called neither Israel, nor Jacob, nor Jews, nor anything at all known to men. For a new and most recent name will be placed upon them—a strange one, never heard before—which will be blessed upon the earth, increasing and multiplying beyond every bodily blessing. For if there is any other blessing from God apt for the increase of a multitude, the name to be bestowed upon those who serve me will attain this as well.
VERS. 16, 17. "For they shall bless the true God; and those who swear on the earth shall swear by the true God. For they will forget the first affliction, and it shall not ascend into their heart. For there shall be a new heaven and a new earth, D and they shall not remember the former things, nor shall they come into their heart." For whereas they once, looking up at the heaven, used to worship the creation instead of the Creator, and similarly used to deify the earth and the fruits that sprouted from it, now, when they see the new heaven and the new earth, they confess them to be the works of the hands of God, and no longer think them to be gods.
A "But they shall find joy and exultation in her. For behold, I create Jerusalem for an exultation, and my people for joy; and I will exult over Jerusalem, and I will be glad over my people; and there shall no longer be heard in her the voice of weeping or the voice of a cry, and there shall no longer be there an untimely birth or an old man who does not fulfill his time.” For all who obtain the resurrection from me at the time of the promises shall come to a perfect man, to the measure of age; and all shall be vigorous in their souls, so that neither an untimely infant and an imperfect one, nor one who has exceeded and grown old is to be found among them; but all shall be of equal age, as having obtained the resurrection at one time, and being partakers of one regeneration.
"For the young man shall be a hundred years old, and the sinner who dies shall be a hundred years old, and he shall be accursed." He declares the equality of time and age in the resurrection. Therefore, even the sinner shall be a hundred years old, and he shall be accursed, vigorous and as if perfect in malice, dying in his own sin; and the young man, in turn, shall be a hundred years old, and he himself perfect among the perfect, being taken up into salvation.
"And they shall build houses, and they themselves shall inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and they themselves shall eat the fruits of them." For by their own works and their own deeds they procure for themselves those mansions which are with the Father; but they shall also eat the fruits of their labors; for those things which, while tilling the earth, they gathered, these they shall find, and they shall be nourished by them.
B "They shall not build, and others inhabit; and they shall not plant, and others eat. For according to the days of the tree of life shall be the days of my people; for the works of their labors shall grow old." But they shall spend their time in an immortal, happy life for ages without end; wherefore it is said, "For according to the days of the tree of life shall be the days of my people." Now the tree in the paradise of God is said to have been planted; it is shown, therefore, that the promises do not happen outside of God. By all of which he clearly introduces for himself another people besides the Jewish nation. For these shall grow old, nor shall they leave their labors to others, being about to be removed from life again; but these shall take the works of their labors unto themselves, and shall delight themselves in their own fruits.
"My elect shall not labor in vain, nor shall they beget children for a curse; because it is a seed blessed by God, and their offspring with them." For even if there shall be, at the time of the promises, some salvific and good and pleasant labors, such as the angelic order also undergoes, yet their works shall not be in vain for them; for a worthy reward is stored up for them. Now by the procreation of children let us understand the thoughts of the soul and the fruits of the mind, which he foretells shall be far from a curse and worthy of a blessing. I suppose that these things can also be taken in the present life, so that these apostolic
A labors, as will be plain even to the eyes themselves, were not undertaken in vain, which will be argued from the Church founded by them throughout the whole world; and their children will be seen to have been born in Christ through the washing of regeneration.
Vers. 24. « And it shall be, before they call, I will answer them; while they are yet speaking, I will say, What is it? » This, moreover, you may find fulfilled in the Acts of the Apostles, for with God standing by them, many signs and wonders were performed. And while the Apostles were doing these things, the conversion of the foreign nations followed therefrom.
VERS. 25. « Then the wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and the serpent shall eat earth as bread. They shall not hurt nor destroy in my holy mountain, saith the Lord. » For those who were formerly rapacious and fierce, so that they could be compared to wolves, were changed into a mild manner and were driven in herds with lambs and oxen, so that they might use one and the same rational food excerpted from the divine readings. And those who in their ways differed nothing from lions, no longer resembling carnivorous and bloodthirsty beasts, like oxen, themselves also ate the grass of divine doctrine. And the man who once bore a likeness to the serpent, and was full of black venom, having cast off his malice, shall eat bread, using rational and human food instead of the earth which he formerly ate. To such a degree, moreover, will beasts of this kind be tamed, that they will hurt or destroy no one in the C mountain of God.
CHAPTER LXVI
VERS. 1-3. « Thus saith the Lord, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me? and what is the place of my rest? For my hand has made all these things, and all these things are mine, saith the Lord. But upon whom will I look, but upon the humble and quiet man, and him that trembles at my words? But the wicked man who sacrifices a calf to me, is as if he killed a dog; he who offers fine flour, is as if he offered swine’s blood; he who gives frankincense for a memorial, is as if he were a blasphemer. And they have chosen their own ways, and their soul has willed their abominations. » For these, he says, are not my will, nor are these ways mine, but they are according to their own desire and pleasure.
VERS. 4. « And I will choose their illusions, and I will recompense their sins to them: because I called them, and they did not hear me; I spoke, and they did not listen: and they did evil in my sight, and chose those things which I did not want. » When, indeed, did they not understand the one calling them, except when he who was present cried out to them, « Come to me, all you that labor, and are burdened, and I will refresh you »?
VERS. 5. « Hear the words of the Lord, you that tremble at D
A his word. Say, you our brethren, to those who hate you and despise you, that the name of the Lord may be glorified, and it may be seen in their joy, and they shall be ashamed. » He delivers to them an evangelical commandment, differing in no way from that which says, « Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that persecute you, that you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven. » In this same way the prophecy also commands and teaches.
VERS. 6. « A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the Lord that rendereth recompense to his enemies. » For if these things are observed, your joy, with the arrival of the time of rewards, shall be manifest to all; but they, beholding your end, shall be confounded, and shall learn their own destruction by their works at the time of God’s just judgment. « A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple »: for some voices are those of the citizens crying out from the city, and others are those sent forth from the temple itself, of the priests and the rest of the ministers who are B lamenting, as they are about to be shut out.
VERS. 7, 8. « Before she was in labor, she brought forth; before her pain came, she escaped and brought forth a man child. Who hath heard such a thing? and who hath seen the like to this? Shall the earth bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once, because Sion hath been in labor and hath brought forth her children? » The godly polity, and the new and young Sion, that is to say, the Church of God, which is to be established by you, shall bring forth such a great multitude of nations and peoples all at once, as to stun the one who hears it. For just as a woman who is pregnant and with child, without any labor pain occurring, should suddenly bring forth, and that a man child; in the same way, the new Sion shall produce a new people and an entire nation all at once and together; so that the whole thing shall be most paradoxical, such as was never before heard of. For the Jewish C nation, and Israel himself, did not appear all at once; but first there was their progenitor, and of this man there were twelve children; then from each one, sons and daughters; from whom sons and grandsons and descendants came to be; and thus, through the succession of parents, over many years and in different generations, their entire nation was constituted.
VERS. 9. « Shall not I that make others to bring forth children, myself be unable to bring forth, saith the Lord? Shall I, that give generation, be barren, saith the Lord thy God? » In the same way, one might find that the other nations also increased in number and multitude over time; but the people of the Church of God, all at once and in one season, and as it were in a single day, filled the greatest parts of the inhabited world; a thing truly strange and existing beyond all wonder, which neither eye has ever seen, nor ear has heard.
VERS. 10, 11. « Rejoice, O Jerusalem, and assemble together in her, all you that love her. Rejoice with her in joy, all you that you mourn for her; that you may nurse, and be filled from the breast of her consolations; that you may suck, and be delighted with the entrance of her glory. » Rejoice and be glad, D as those about to enjoy
A who at one and the same time has brought forth a male people for God, and is prepared to be filled with milk for the nourishment of her own infants. And this is the rational milk that will flow from her two breasts, namely, the Old and the New Testament. For from both of these breasts of hers, concerning which it is said in the Canticle, "Thy breasts are better than wine," she will irrigate her own little children with the rational and guileless milk, and thus will produce perfect men.
VERS. 12. "For thus saith the Lord: Behold, I incline towards them as a river of peace, and as a torrent overflowing with the glory of the Gentiles. Their little ones shall be carried upon their shoulders, and shall be comforted upon their knees." Therefore, the consolatory and soothing discourses arranged for simpler souls are appropriately called milk; for solid food is understood to be the mystical doctrines and the contemplations stored up in the divine Scriptures.
VERS. 13. "As one whom a mother comforteth, so will I comfort you, and you shall be comforted in Jerusalem." Here again, ascribing the glory of the Gentiles to the aforementioned new Sion and Jerusalem, he compares the peace that is to be given to the nations to an overflowing river. But he has also used these promises above, signifying that those who are still infants in the Church, being nourished by milk, must be carried by certain nurses; whether by the sincere doctors and leaders of the Church, or by divine and heavenly angels. Those, therefore, who are stronger shall carry the weaker upon their shoulders and comfort them upon their knees, even as if a mother were to coax her own children; and I myself, the Lord, as the Father of them all, will comfort the comforters of the weaker ones.
VERS. 14. "And you shall see, and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall sprout like grass." This shall be the end of the promises, namely, "You shall see God." Wherefore the Savior pronounced these blessed, saying, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matt. v, 8). "And the hand of the Lord shall be known to those who fear him, and he will threaten the disobedient."
VERS. 15. "For behold, the Lord shall come as fire, and his chariots as a storm, to render his vengeance in wrath, and his rebuke in the flame of fire." To the previously mentioned men he promises what was said above; but to those who have walked the opposite path, he threatens vengeance. And consequently, he teaches the manner of the threat, declaring the second and glorious advent of the Savior, when he shall come with the glory of the Father and with his angels, to judge the living and the dead.
VERS. 16. "For in the fire of the Lord shall all the earth be judged, and by his sword all flesh: many shall be wounded by the Lord." His wrath is usually understood to be the avenging powers, and he will send his rebuke in a flame of fire against the same. He names a sword in a bodily manner, and the wounded...
A similarly. For they, as Jews, could not understand in any other way, since they were unable to follow the meaning of the words. The Apostle certainly makes clear the sense of what we are discussing with these words: "But according to thy hardness and impenitent heart, thou treasurest up to thyself wrath, against the day of wrath, and revelation of the just judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his works."
Vers. 17. "They that are sanctified and purified in the gardens, and in the thresholds, eating swine's flesh, and the abominations, and the mouse, shall be consumed together." So that they would no longer be purified according to the law which Moses delivered—by the ashes of a heifer and the sprinklings of seven days, or by the purifications of sacrifices; but instead of these, after they had been occupied in these things, they thought that purification by water was sufficient for them, imagining that they could be washed and cleansed by the waters of certain gardens, and that they no longer had any need of any of the things ordained by the law. For they judged that their souls could be cleansed by simple water, even after committing base deeds and after illicit and shameful actions. B
Vers. 18. "And I know their works, and their thoughts; I come to gather all nations and tongues, and they shall come and see my glory." The Savior teaches these things more clearly in the Gospels, saying: "When the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, and all his holy angels with him, and he shall gather all nations before him, and he shall separate them as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats," and so on. And this again is promised to the nations, that they shall be deemed worthy to see his glory. C
Vers. 19. "And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that are saved of them to the nations, to Tharsis, and Phud, and Lud, and Mosoch, and Thobel, and to Greece, and to the islands afar off, which have not heard my name, nor seen my glory. And they shall declare my glory among the nations." It was also said before: "They to whom it was not reported concerning him shall see, and they who have not heard shall understand." And again: "I was made manifest to them that asked not for me; I was found by them that sought me not. I said: Behold I am here, to them that did not call upon my name." These prior words are akin to these, by which he promises that he will send his own apostles to the nations foreign to Israel, and those most remote from Judea. D
Vers. 20. "And they shall bring your brethren out of all nations, a gift to the Lord." They shall bring them, procuring for them this good end, when they shall be taken up, carried like Elijah in an angelic chariot, with heavenly light shining round about them. "With horses and chariots, in litters of mules, with canopies into the holy city Jerusalem, saith the Lord." You will understand the horses and angelic chariots if you apply your mind to the prophet Zechariah, where he speaks of swift horses, [da-
A variegated and white, and describes certain chariots, thereby indicating the angelic powers. The lamps of the mules seem to signify the resurrected bodies, by which the souls, once mounted, will be taken up into the heavenly city. And it is well said "lamps," on account of the glory that shines upon them.
VERS. 21. "As the children of Israel brought their sacrifices to me with psalms; and from them I will take priests and Levites," saith the Lord. Just as, therefore, those who performed the worship at that time according to the bodily law in the earthly Jerusalem did these things, in the same manner, according to that earthly example, those who ascend into the heavenly Jerusalem shall come with their own fruits, which each will carry as a gift and offering in his soul, brought from the fruit-bearing of the virtues.
VERS. 22. "For in the same way as the new heaven and the new earth, which I make, remain before me," saith the Lord; "so shall your seed and your name stand." For if there is a new heaven and a new earth, and a new Jerusalem, it would follow that the priests and Levites also will be new; wherefore it was said above: "They shall not remember the former things, nor shall they come into their heart." The former things, therefore, were not permanent; wherefore it was said: "Heaven and earth shall pass away," and again: "The heaven shall be folded up like a scroll, and the earth shall be corrupted by corruption." Christ is the first-fruits of the world to come; then those who are Christ’s at his coming.
VERS. 23. "And it shall be month from month, and sabbath from sabbath. All flesh shall come to worship before me in Jerusalem," saith the Lord. It is consistent C with the mind to understand the "sabbath of Christ" as the feasts celebrated in heaven, and the true sabbaths there, to be celebrated according to the months that are there. Concerning these, a long and difficult discourse would have to be instituted, which would require much leisure and its own proper argument. He calls "all flesh" all the nations; for so it was said above: "And all flesh shall see the Salvation of God," and elsewhere: "I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh, and they shall prophesy in Jerusalem." He indicates the heavenly Jerusalem, where the kingdom of our Savior shall be established.
VERS. 24. "And they shall go forth and see the members of the men who have transgressed against me. For their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be extinguished, and they shall be a sight to all flesh." Who these were, He revealed at the beginning of the prophecy, saying: "I have begotten and exalted sons; but they have rejected me." By these, therefore, He indicates those from the Jewish nation who rejected the saving grace. This end of the impious our Savior confirms in the Gospels, addressing those who shall stand on his left in this way: "Depart into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." Just as, therefore, the fire is called "eternal" there, so here it is called "inextinguishable," one and the same