Commentary on the Prophet Isaiah

INTERPRETATION OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH

^A The excellence of this prophet may be perceived most especially from his own work, but that excellence is declared still more perfectly by Paul, who knew his virtues more accurately than anyone else, seeing that he spoke with such fullness of the Spirit. For, in demonstrating his freedom of speech, his mind that was in no way servile, his lofty spirit, and the great clarity in his prophecy concerning Christ, he embraced all these things in one word, saying: *But Isaiah is very bold and says* (Rom. 10:20): *I was found by those who did not seek me; I became manifest to those who did not ask for me* (Isa. 65:1).

He was also full of much commiseration. For he did not only rise up against the madness of the people, nor did he only, with a free tongue and a more sublime spirit, announce with great confidence the sorrows hanging over them, but even in their very calamities he was no less grieved and bitten than those who had fallen victim to them, and he lamented more bitterly than those who were themselves oppressed by the evils. And such was the custom of all the prophets and saints, if I may so speak, that they surpassed even the love of fathers in their affection for their fellow countrymen ^B, whom they ruled, and they preceded the tyranny of nature by a long way. For no one, no one surely, burned with such an affection of love for their offspring as they did, even unto death, for those whom they governed, weeping, mourning, beseeching God for those suffering dire things, being simultaneously carried away into a fellowship of miseries; doing and suffering everything, so that they might rescue them from divine wrath and from the onrushing sad events.

For there is nothing more apt for taking up the management of a republic than a soul filled with philosophy and addicted to mercy. Therefore, God raised that great Moses to the throne of public administration, because he had previously exhibited his love for the people by his deeds, and afterward said: *If you forgive them their sin, forgive it; but if not, blot me out of the book which you have written* (Exod. 32:31-32). And he who was himself [Isaiah], seeing them perishing, said: *Let me alone; I will weep bitterly. Do not labor to console me for the ruin of the daughter of my people* (Isa. 22:4). Jeremiah indeed, after the destruction of the city, published long lamentations. Ezekiel, furthermore, went with them, and he deemed it more tolerable to dwell in a foreign land than in his own, thinking it would be of the greatest advantage if he were present for their consolation to those oppressed by calamity, and took care of and directed the affairs of others. Daniel, moreover, for their return, for twenty and more days ^C remained fastidious, and showed every diligence, beseeching God that they might be released from their bitter servitude. ^D Likewise also David, seeing that divine-sent wrath being brought against the people, called the blow upon himself, saying: *I have sinned, and I the shepherd have done wickedly; but these, the sheep, what have they done? Let your hand be against me, and against my father's house.* And Abraham the patriarch also, far from the evils...

^B and having nothing in common with the calamities that were to seize those in Sodom, as if he had stepped into the very midst of the terrible things, so he entreated and begged of God, and he would not have desisted from doing and saying everything to loosen that grievous conflagration, had not God dismissed him and departed. But those in the New [Testament] displayed a virtue even greater than this, having enjoyed a greater grace and been called to harder contests. For this reason Peter also, hearing Christ saying that for the rich the entrance into heaven is very difficult, was in agony and trembled, and brought forward a question saying: Who then can be saved? (Luke 18. 26), even though he was confident regarding his own affairs. For they did not consider their own things, but cared for the world. And Paul also indicates this to us through all his Epistles, who did not even endure to see Christ before the salvation of men, saying thus: To depart and be with Christ, it is better; but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you (Phil. 1. 23, 24). Such is the character this prophet keeps for us, both stating the sentences of God with much ^C boldness, and rebuking those who sin, and constantly and through long discourses soothing Him who is provoked against them; and this is especially to be seen toward the end of the prophecy; but for the present it is necessary to begin from the very prefaces.

CHAPTER I. The vision which Isaiah saw.

1. He calls the prophecy a "vision," either because of the many things that were to come to pass being before his sight; just as Micah saw the people dispersed (Mic. 4. 10; cf. 3. 12), and Ezekiel [saw] the captivity and the transgression of those who worshipped the sun and Tammuz (Ezek. 8. 14); or because the hearing of the prophets, which came to them from God, had no less ^D [authority] than sight; for to convince [others] was just as necessary, which is impossible in secular matters. For that they heard differently from the rest of men, he says: He added an ear for me to hear (Isa. 50. 4). And he makes the word trustworthy by saying "vision," and rouses the hearer, and sends him to the One who showed the things. For it was a custom for all who served to relay the things said by God, to construct this through the others, that they speak nothing from themselves, but that what is said are certain divine oracles, and writings that had descended from the heavens. Thus also David: My tongue is the pen of a ready writer (Ps. 44. 2). Do not think, therefore, that the writings are of the pen, but of the right hand that held it; that is, not of the tongue of David, but of the grace that moved him. And another prophet showing this same thing said: I was a herdman, he says, nipping sycamores (Amos 7. 14); so that no one might account the things said to human wisdom. And he was not content with this alone, but added another thing, saying: But I was filled with power in the Spirit of the Lord, and with judgment, and with might (Mic. 3. 8). For grace did not render them wise only, but also strong, not by the constitution of the body, but by the mind. For since they had a people that was headstrong and shameless, thirsting for the blood of prophets and studious in the slaughter of the holy, they needed much power, so as not to be struck with fear at their unspeakable violence. For this reason He says to Jeremiah, I have set thee as an iron pillar, and as a wall of brass (Jer. 1. 18); and to Ezekiel, Thou dwellest in the midst of scorpions, be not afraid of their face, nor be dismayed (Ezek. 2. 6). And Moses also, when he was being sent, it seems to me that he was drawing back not only fearing Pharaoh, but especially the people of the Jews themselves. For in conversing with God, having dismissed the barbarian, with much earnestness he sought to learn what he ought to say to them when they were disbelieving, [to convince them] that he had arrived from God; and he received the signs for the sake of their conviction; and very naturally so. For if they had so feared Him, and this even after having been beneficiaries, what was it likely he would suffer thinking upon that unruly people? For this reason he received the Spirit not only of wisdom, but also of power, and said: I was filled with power in the Spirit of the Lord, and with judgment, and with might (Mic. 3. 8). And another again: The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah (Jer. 1. 1). And another again: The burden of Nineveh. A book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite (Nahum 1. 1). For this man also indicates the same thing to those [who heard] the earlier ones by another word, having called the possession of the Spirit a "burden." Since because they were possessed by the Spirit they spoke thus, he named the energy of grace in this way. For this reason Paul also everywhere puts the name of apostleship before his Epistles, which the prophets did by saying, "vision," and "word," and "burden," and "utterance," constructing this through the name of apostleship. For just as he who says "vision" and "word of God" does not utter his own things, so also he who calls himself an apostle does not teach things from himself, but what the One who sends him commanded. For it is the dignity of an apostle to add nothing of his own. Wherefore Christ also said: Do not call yourselves teacher upon the earth; for One is your teacher who is in heaven (Matt. 23. 10); showing that every source of the dogmas among us had its root from above, from the Master of the heavens, even if men be [those] ministering to the things spoken. Which Isaiah saw. It is not possible for us to explain the mode of the vision; but He alone knows clearly, who learned by experience. For if the works and passions of nature often no one could represent by word, much more the mode of the energy of the Spirit. If, however, one must cut through it using dim images, not so as to represent the clear reality, but so as to provide it in a riddle, it seems to me that the same thing happens in the case of the prophets, as if the nature of pure waters having received solar rays were to be illuminated; so also the souls of the prophets, being cleansed first by their own virtue, receive the gift of the Spirit, and being made like to that radiance, thus receive the knowledge of things to come.

^A Son of Amoz. Why does he mention his father? Either to remove ambiguity, or so that we might learn that a father’s lowliness does not obscure the son’s virtue, and that true nobility does not come from having illustrious ancestors, but from one's own greatness. This man, certainly, though born of an ignoble father, became more illustrious than all others, shining with the excellence of his own virtue.

What I saw concerning Judea and Jerusalem. Because the punishments were inflicted separately and at different times, God wisely dispensing this so that all might not perish at once, but rather gradually and little by little, so that through the punishment of those who were taken away, the others might become more sober-minded. But if they did not use the remedy as they ought, the fault will be not the physician’s, but the patients’. He does this always and in every generation, not striking everyone at once who has fallen into the same sins—for otherwise our entire race would have long ago been wiped out—but from some he exacts punishment here, preparing a lighter torment for them in the other life, and providing a great opportunity for their equals to amend for the better. But those who wish to gain nothing, neither from their own impulse nor from such a dispensation, He reserves for the inevitable and dreadful day of judgment.

In the reign of Uzziah and Jotham, and Ahaz and Hezekiah, who reigned in Judea. He opportunely adds the time, sending the diligent listener back to the history of the events that occurred. For thus prophecy will be more easily understood and clearer, if we learn in what condition of affairs and in what state of Judean wounds the prophets prepared their remedies.

^B 2. Hear, O heaven, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken. This opening is full of much wrath. For if the indignation were not vast and ineffable, he would by no means have dismissed men and turned his speech to the elements. He does this, in truth, not only to declare his anger, but to overwhelm those who were to hear with great shame, showing that those who were adorned with reason have fared worse than elements devoid of sense. This is a custom also with the other prophets. Therefore, he who had been sent to Jeroboam, having omitted the king to whom he was being sent, discourses with the altar. And Jeremiah called upon the earth, saying: Earth, earth, earth, write this man, a proscribed man. And another again said: Hear, O valleys, the foundations of the earth. I have raised sons. He does not here posit a benefit common to all men, that is, that they had been created, but some singular one, that they had been made sons. For God always begins by bestowing benefits. And just as when He created man, who had not been before, He honored him in the beginning by saying, Let us make man to our image and likeness; but in the New Law He adorned us with a greater benefit—for not only did He honor those who had not yet performed any work, but also those laden with countless evils, through the laver of regeneration—so also it is to be seen here; for He honored those who had not only done nothing good in their adoption, but had even fallen away. ^C Nor, because He is accustomed to honor before labors, does He deprive them of their reward after their labors, but then He confers greater prizes. And I have exalted. What He achieved in Egypt, what in the desert, what in Palestine, He touched upon briefly in one word. For it is the custom of God, because of the abundance of His benefits, not to dwell minutely on the narration of deeds. But they have despised me. They have transgressed, He says, my law, they have abandoned my commandments.

3. The ox has known its owner, and the ass its master’s crib. Comparisons add weight to an accusation, especially when they are fashioned from unequal things; as also Christ says: The men of Nineveh shall rise in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it; and again: The queen of the south shall rise in the judgment, and shall condemn this generation, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And again Jeremiah says: Go to the isles of Kittim and see in Kedar. Send and know if the nations will change their gods: but my people have changed their glory, from which it will profit them nothing. He teaches that the law is not hard, and what a measure it demands from men, which brute beasts, and the most stupid of all brute beasts, are able to fulfill. But someone might say, "Those have it in their nature to know." But we are able to fulfill through the purpose of our will the things which brute beasts do by their nature. The ox has known its owner. He does not bring this forward from the excellence of the gift, but from the redundancy of their wickedness He increases their reproof. For as He calls upon the elements for their shame, so He compares them not to men but to brute beasts, and to the most stupid of brutes, and shows them to be worse than those. ^D And Jeremiah... and Solomon, sending him who lives idly to the ant, now to the bee. But Israel did not know me. This is an increase of malice, when those who were familiar, after such honors, all flee together to malice of their own will. He did not say, Jacob, but Israel, that from the virtue of the progenitor he might better show the ungrateful spirit of the descendants. For he earned by the virtue of his soul the blessing expressed in his name, but they, because of their iniquity, betrayed the very thing. And my people did not understand me: Me, he says, who am clearer than the sun.

4. Woe to the sinful nation. This also was a custom among the prophets, to mourn those who were suffering from an incurable disease. Thus also Jeremiah in many places; thus also Christ when He says: Woe to thee, Chorazin, woe to thee, Bethsaida. For this is also a type of teaching. For whom speech could not reform, mourning has very often amended. To a people full of sins. Another addition to the accusation, that all [are sinners]. To a wicked seed. He does not revile their origin, but shows them to have been wicked from their earliest age. Just as John, when he says, You serpents, generation of vipers, does not disparage their nature, for if they were worthy of repentance, they could be good by birth even if they were of such a sort; so also here, saying, A wicked seed, he does not disparage their birth. Lawless sons. He did not say, lawless men, but, lawless, who in no wise...

held better dispositions even after receiving the law. But he indicates the difference in their moral choice. You have forsaken the Lord, and provoked. He speaks this with emphasis. For the very name of God was sufficient for an accusation; which Jeremiah brings forward, saying, Because they departed even from Him, and were joined to idols. The Holy One of Israel. And this is an intensification of the accusation: that He, who was the common Master of all, was known to them at that time. They have gone away backward. What further, being stricken, are you adding lawlessness? It is a very great condemnation when [men] do not become better even through punishments. And this is also a kind of benefit: to punish. For they could not have said that He only honored and benefited them, but let them go when they sinned; but He drew them through honors, and sobered them with the fear of punishments, and in both they remained persistently diseased. He exhibited every kind of healing, cutting, cauterizing; but the ailments did not yield even so, for the sign of a disease that is most incurable is that it is not even able to receive therapy. Every head is to pain, and every heart is to grief. From the feet even to the head there is no soundness in it, neither wound, nor bruise, nor festering sore. Then he recounts the torments and punishments; for this is no less a kind of benefit than the honor which had been done to them. For everyone, he says, have I afflicted, and cast them into grief. If every head is to pain, how is there neither wound, nor bruise? A wound, when the rest of the body is in health, is then seen as a wound; but if it should happen that the whole is ulcerated, the ulcer would no longer be apparent. This, therefore, he wishes to demonstrate: that the whole body was ulcerated, and it was not that one part was healthy and another swollen, but all was inflammation, all was one bruise. There is no mollifying salve to apply. This is more grievous than the former. For it is not so difficult to be diseased, as [it is] to be unable to be healed while diseased, and especially when the physician is of such a sort. Neither oil, nor bandages. In order to make the discourse emphatic, he persisted in the metaphor; for this is its excellence. Your land is desolate. He does not proclaim these things as having happened, but foretells them as about to happen. And the prophets are accustomed to this habit, at once frightening the listener and demonstrating the power of their own truth. For just as things that have passed cannot be undone, so those things which are to be spoken by the prophets cannot be prevented from coming to pass, unless perhaps those who are about to be punished should repent. Your cities are burned with fire. For He did not utterly annihilate them, but let the remnants of the barbarian conflagration remain, being more able to reach the sight of those who see them. Your country, strangers devour it before you, and it is made desolate, having been overturned by foreign peoples. It is an intensification of calamity when they also become spectators of their own disasters, and do not learn of them only by report. The daughter of Sion shall be left as a booth in a vineyard, and as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers. 4. There is something great also in the images, and especially those in Scripture, for the extension of what is said. He calls Jerusalem the daughter of Sion, because of its being subjected to the mountain. As a booth in a vineyard, and as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers. For the fruit having been removed, and the laborers having been taken away, the building of the city is henceforth superfluous. As a besieged city. This is an enigma of their weakness and abandonment. For when there is no one assisting, then it is necessary to be shut up, awaiting safety from the walls alone. And unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we would have become as Sodom, and been likened to Gomorrah. It is always the custom of the prophets not only to foretell those terrible things which offenders are about to suffer, but also what they deserved to suffer, so that even in the very time of punishment they might see many thanks [due] to God, as they are paying a penalty not according to the merit of their transgressions, but far less. This, at any rate, is what he says here: that their sins were not these things which have been mentioned, but required total destruction and the complete annihilation of the entire race—which indeed happened in the case of the Sodomites. But the loving-kindness of God did not allow this to happen, inflicting a punishment far less than the sin. And since there is much affinity between the Old [Testament] and the New, naturally Paul also made use of this, and he spoke it more fittingly than the prophet. For just as in that time, if the great mercy of God had not occurred, all would have been snatched away, so also in the time of Christ’s presence, if the things of grace had not appeared, all would have suffered things more grievous than these. He left us a seed: he speaks of those who were saved from the captivity. Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom, attend to the law of our God, O people of Gomorrah. Since he said that they deserved to suffer the things of Sodom, he shows that they also dared the things of Sodom. Therefore he names them by the common appellation. For if this were not so, the discourse would have no occasion. For that he is not leveled at Sodomites now, but at Jews, calling them by the communion of the appellation, is shown by the things said after this. For he mentions sacrifices and offerings and the other legal worship, of which there was not even a trace among the Sodomites. To the law of our God, he says, to the reproof. What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? 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. The fortieth-ninth Psalm is entirely similar to this passage, being woven through other words, but through the same thoughts. For what is in the Psalm, He shall call upon the heaven above and the earth, to judge his people, is equal to, Hear, O heaven, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken; and the things following are like it. For just as David says, Not for your sacrifices will I reprove you, your burnt offerings are before me always; so also Isaiah says, What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord. And again, David says, I will not accept calves from your house, nor goats from your flocks; and Isaiah, The burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of lambs, and the blood of bulls and goats I do not want. For since they were being accused constantly regarding the...

lack of other virtues, they were offering these sacrifices as their greatest defense, as if they were performing them regularly, and ^A thus each of the prophets, or rather all of them, drive them away from this defense. From this it is clear that they were not primarily ordained, but so that they might lead them to a proper way of life and to other virtues through this discipline. But because they were neglecting the necessary things and were preoccupied with these, God says that He no longer accepts even these.

"If you come," He says, "to appear before me." For who asked these things from your hands? And yet the entire book which is called Leviticus lays down laws concerning the exactness of sacrifices. In Deuteronomy, too, and in many other places, many laws regarding sacrifices are scattered. Why, then, does He say: "Who has required these from your hands"? So that you might learn that this was not the primary will of God, that such things should be ordained, but that these laws took their beginning from their weakness. For just as He did not desire that a woman once joined to a man be turned away, yet by cutting off greater evils, lest those forbidden to repudiate should slay those hated wives within, He permitted the lesser evil; so too did He do in this matter, that he might forbid sacrificing to demons; He permitted what He did not wish, so that He might accomplish what He desired. This very thing, then, the prophet Amos declares again: "Have you offered victims and sacrifices to me for forty years?" says the Lord. And Jeremiah says: "These are not the things that I commanded your fathers."

^B 5. Since, then, demons were cherished by them in this way, and this was their way, so that no occasion for ruin might arise from this among the weaker ones, He constantly declares these things through all the prophets. Because these were not granted, they were indignant, and they were constantly pressing, demanding the savor and the smoke and saying: "For this is the honor that fell to us."

He, for His part, neither sought these from the beginning, and when He commanded them, He showed that He did not permit them willingly; and this is manifest not only from this, but also because He quickly ended them, and because when they were performing them, He did not accept them: and by one word He signified through all things that such worship and rite is far unworthy of His majesty. This, therefore, He says: "I endured these things for your sake, and I had no need of them. You shall not trample my atrium." He predicts either the captivity or even forbids this, because they were not entering with an upright intention.

13. "If you offer me fine flour, it is vain." For some of the commandments were established for their own sake, others for another reason; as to know God, not to kill, not to commit adultery, and whatever things are such, they were ordained because of the utility resulting ^C from them; but sacrificing, offering incense, keeping the Sabbath, and such again, were not so that these things should be done simply, but so that by the practice of these they might be led away from the worship of demons. Since, therefore, they were performing these things, but were perceiving no benefit from them, but were still addicted to demons, rightly are these things also cast out: since one would rightly cut down a tree adorned with leaves and branches, but empty of fruit. For the husbandman applies all care to the tree, not for the sake of the bark or the trunk, but so that he may pluck the fruit. "Incense is an abomination to me." Do you see that He was pleased not with the nature of the things which were offered to Him, but that He explored the mind of the offerers? Therefore, He called the smoke and the savor rising from the sacrifice of Noah a sweet-smelling odor, but incense an abomination. For, as I was saying, He does not require the nature of the gifts, but the affection of those who offer.

14. "Your new moons and your sabbaths." It must be noted that He excludes nothing of those things which are necessary, but these, which even Christ, upon coming, abrogated. Wherefore Paul, having used a more vehement discourse when he was fighting against the Jews, bringing forward not only these, but many other things besides these, said that those who exhibited nothing from themselves (of virtue) derived no profit from these things, with these words: "But if you are named a Jew, and rest in the law, and boast in God, and know His will, and approve the more useful things, being instructed through the law." And again: "Circumcision indeed profits if you observe the law; but if you are a transgressor, your circumcision has become uncircumcision." And he said that they perceived no fruit from the fact that the law was entrusted to them, because they did not believe: which David, sub-indicating in another way, said: "But to the sinner God said: Why do you declare my- ^D -justices?" For because they were thinking haughtily of the heard reading of the law while they were void of works, from this boasting Paul also drove them away, saying: "You therefore who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one should not steal, do you steal?" And David similarly saying: "If you saw a thief, you ran with him, and set your portion with the adulterers." And "I do not endure the great day." He means Pentecost, the feast of Tabernacles, the Passover, and the remaining festivities. "Your fasts and vacation from work, and your festivities, my soul hates." He addresses them in a human manner. "You have become to me a satiety, to fastidiousness, to hatred." This shows His ineffable patience, that He bore them while they were often sinning, and did not take vengeance before the magnitude of their iniquity provoked Him. "I will no longer forgive your sins." I will no longer endure. This is the same thing as that which is said by David: "These things you did, and I was silent." Prayer is useless when one persists in sins.

15. "When you stretch forth your hands to me, I will turn away my eyes from you: and if you multiply your prayer, I will not hear." From this it is clear that there is no utility in prayer, however long it may be, when he who prays persists in sins. For nothing is equal to virtue, and to a voice which is confirmed through works. For "Your hands are full of blood," that is, murders; and they are not only murderers, but full of blood, showing

that they made sin their meditation, and were addicted to it everywhere with vehemence.

6. It is an indication of His gentleness, that when He calls them to account, He offers reasons. For He puts forward the causes, why He does not admit their prayer. "Wash yourselves, be clean." How is it that, having said, "I will not forgive your sins anymore," He gives counsel, and having shown them suffering from incurable diseases, He induces a remedy? It is the custom of God, even when He threatens, to forbid salvation, so as to increase fear, and not to bring the discourse to a close there, so that He may hold out good hopes, and thereby bring them back again to repentance. And one may see this done everywhere. But in the case of the Ninevites, He did this not by words, but by deeds. For having promised nothing good in His words, but having left the punishment to lie bare in the threat, as soon as all the barbarians showed their repentance, He quickly loosed His anger. So also in the Psalm, David says again: for I have already said that the whole preface is entirely similar to this; and just as He says, "Wash yourselves, be clean," after the threats; so also that one, after saying, "I will convict you, and set your iniquities before your face" (Ps. 49: 21, 23), added, "A sacrifice of praise shall glorify me," and that there is the path, "by which I will show them the salvation of God"; calling praise that thanksgiving which is offered through works, and the knowledge of the divine. And in order that, hearing "Wash yourselves, be clean," they might not think of their customary cleansings, He added, "Take away your wickednesses from your souls from before my eyes, cease from your wickednesses." He showed the ease of virtue, and the freedom of the will, that it was in them to be changed. Learn to do good. So great was the wickedness that had cast out the knowledge of virtue. So also the prophet David says: "Come, you children, hear me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord" (Ps. 33: 12). For this is superior to all knowledge, and needs greater diligence, because it has greater obstacles: the tyranny of nature, the sloth of the will, the stratagems of demons, and the crowd of affairs. So also Baruch: "This is our God; none other shall be accounted in comparison of Him: He has found out every path of knowledge" (Baruch 3: 36, 37). "Seek judgment." That is, to champion those who are wronged, which needs much labor and a vigilant soul. Therefore He said, Seek. For there are many things which shade the truth: bribery, and ignorance, and power, and shame, and fear, and respect of persons; and there is need of much wakefulness. "Rescue the wronged." This is more than the former; for it does not demand just the judging of the right, but also the bringing it to an end. "Judge for the orphan, and justify the widow." God has much concern that no one should suffer evil, and even more, when along with suffering evil, they are also clothed with some other disaster. For widowhood and orphanhood are in themselves unbearable; but when they are also abused by others, the shipwreck is double. "And come, and let us reason together, says the Lord." It must be observed that nowhere among the prophets does God seek anything so much as to champion those who are wronged. Thus, at least, elsewhere, as in Micah, where the Jews were saying: "If I shall give my firstborn for my impiety, the fruit of my belly for the sin of my soul," he added, saying: "I will tell you, O man, what is good, and what the Lord seeks from you, but to do judgment, and to love mercy, and to be ready to walk after the Lord your God" (Micah 6: 7, 8). And again the prophet David said: "I will sing of mercy and judgment to you, O Lord" (Ps. 100: 1). "And come then." Having first armed them with the ordinances, then He draws them to the judgment-seat; and having taught how they might strip off their indictments, He then demands the accounts, in order that He might not, by having caught them naked of an apology, condemn them. "And let us be convicted." Let us be judged, he says. The One being judged becomes a defender and a physician. Then, showing that even if we perform great things, we still need His philanthropy for the removal of sins, He says: "If your sins be as scarlet, I will make them white as snow; having taken the opposite qualities from the opposite side, and promising to change it to the contrary. If they be as crimson, I will make them white as wool." Great is the power of the protection of widows, if it not only frees the soul which has been so defiled, as to have even received a dye of wickedness, from malice, but also makes it so bright. "And if you be willing, and hear me, you shall eat the good things of the land. But if you be not willing, and hear me not, the sword shall devour you." For the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things. Since for those who are duller, the removal of sins is not so desirable and obvious, as is the enjoyment of those things which seem to be good in the present life, He promises these things along with those; for indeed this also depends on that.

7. Then, showing that virtue is easy, He places it in the will alone. But in order not to relax them by the benefits, he again concludes the discourse into the fearful, making it worthy of belief by the power of Him who has declared these things. "How has the faithful city Zion become a harlot?" Both the pain of the speaker, and the great senselessness of the Jews is the questioning, and Paul is perplexed concerning the Galatians, saying: "I marvel that you are so quickly changing" (Gal. 1: 6): which is in the order of accusations, and is a kind of exhortation, calling them back to virtue. For even if what is said is marvelous, and mixed with praises, it makes the accusation more grievous than the accusation. For we do not so blame those who are nothing, and pursue a base life, as those who were thought to be diligent before, and show the things of the wicked afterward. He calls her a harlot here, not hinting at bodily lasciviousness, but at the ungratefulness toward God, which is more grievous than that harlotry. For there a man is insulted, but here it is God who is set at nought. And this one does, as do all the other prophets; since God also deigned to be held in the order of a man.

^C It is not that they are showing a lack of moral restraint, but rather an ungrateful soul toward God—and this fornication is more grievous than that. For there, a man is insulted; here, God is despised. Both he and all the other prophets do this because God deigned to be held in the place of a husband to this city, showing His ineffable love for them. And those prophets spoke often as though of a man and a wife, not to drag the discourse down to human coarseness, but to lead them through things familiar to them unto the knowledge of the love of God; at the same time, they desired to reproach them with the name of turpitude. "Faithful"; that is, pious and full of every virtue, whence it is also plain that he is not speaking of bodily fornication; for otherwise he would have said, "a chaste city," as that would have been the opposite of a harlot. But now, showing that he signifies impiety by the word "fornication," he set "faith" as its adversary. ^D "Full of judgment"; that is, full of justice. Again, a most serious crime: not that they had fallen short of [some] general wickedness, but that they had betrayed total virtue, and had cast away all the wealth of [their] goods from their hands collectively, cast down into the extreme poverty of evils. "In which justice dwelt in it": it remained, he says, it inhabited; that is, it was planted, it took root, it was exercised by all the citizens with alacrity. He lingers on the earlier praises, at once increasing the accusation concerning the change and placing beneath it a good hope, showing that it is easy for them to be restored to their former state. But now, "murderers." Homicides, he says.

22. "Your silver is reprobate." That is, poorly stamped, illegitimate, false. "Thy tavern-keepers mix wine with water." Because in the beginning he did not list their wickedness by its species, but said that they had despised Him, that they were a wicked seed and iniquitous sons—which seemed to be a reproach rather than an accusation—here he declares the accusations by their species: and first, that which is the first, middle, and end of evils, namely avarice, and the tavern-keeping art regarding contracts. But some, not understanding the ineffable wisdom of God, have taken this as said by anagoge. For they say that the great and sublime Isaiah would not have spoken of the craftiness of money-changers and the corruption of tavern-keepers; but by "silver" he here means the oracles of God, and by "wine," doctrine, which they mixed by adding their own disciplines. I, however, do not condemn this explanation, but I say that another is truer. For not only is it not unworthy for a prophet to speak of such things, but it is highly worthy of both him and the benignity of God. And what need is there to say much? For when the only-begotten Son of God arrived bringing sublime doctrine, and was about to sow the angelic way of life, He Himself discoursed not a little about measures, and about things that seemed to be more base, about salutations, about the middle seat

(a)

^A ...and the princes were cast down from their throne, and implacable wars were stirred up; just as, by these things being observed, there was much peace and tranquility, as well as security leading unto virtue.

23. "Thy princes are disobedient." It is a sign of the greatest sickness and perversity when physicians increase the diseases

(b)

^A that He might not cast them into despair, but by increasing their fear, He might call them to repentance. For the saying, "My fury shall not cease against those who oppose Me," is much more terrifying. For there is nothing that usually Provokes God so much as the injustice committed against the poor by those in power. ^B He said, "Woe to the mighty," not simply attacking power, but power used for wickedness. By "might" here, he does not mean physical strength, but the authority that comes from being surrounded by affairs. "And I will execute judgment on My enemies." I will punish My enemies, calling those who are the enemies of the poor His own enemies because they are injurious; and He said this so that you might learn the magnitude of the injustice. "And I will stretch out My hand over you, and I will burn you for a pure end." So that you may learn that whatever the wrath of God and the punishment may be, it does not come to pass only for the sake of wickedness and for the rendering of retribution, but for the sake of the punished themselves becoming better. "And I will burn you," He says, "for a pure end." Therefore, it is right to grieve not when we are punished, but when we sin; for the former produces a purification, but the latter creates filth. ^C And what is, "For a pure end"? That there might not be even a trace of a stain upon you. For what fire is to gold, this punishment is to the slothful. "But the disobedient I will destroy, and I will remove all lawless ones from you, and I will humble all the proud." For those who suffer from incurable diseases, He says, and who do not yield even to punishments, will be destroyed. For what is the benefit of their life, when they plot against both themselves and others while they live? But those who are able to become better from their punishment will remain. And it seems to me that here he also hints at the captivity. "And I will restore your judges as before, and your counselors as at the beginning." 9. Here he speaks of the return. For with the incurably ill removed, and those who were not able to show ^D care having been corrected, the remaining type of healing is added opportunely: the oversight of approved rulers and a supply of good counselors, so that with the body yielding to the medicines and the physicians being the best, the parts of the city might recover unto health from every side. For it is no small form of blessing to attain to good rulers. "And after these things you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful Zion metropolis." And yet we nowhere find this name given to the city of Jerusalem. What, then, should we say? That he speaks here of the appellation that comes from the facts themselves. This will contribute not a little to us when the Jews demand of us the interpretation of Immanuel. For since Isaiah said that Christ would be so named, and He was nowhere so named, we could say to them that he said the meaning derived from the facts was a name; just as, therefore, here. "For her captivity shall be saved with judgment, and with alms." "With judgment," that is, with justice and with the punishment and retribution of the enemies. "With alms," that is, with much philanthropy. He promises two greatest gifts to them here: both for those who brought the evils to render satisfaction, and for themselves to enjoy much prosperity, each of which is enough by itself to provide the greatest pleasure; but when both concur, the joy would be unspeakable. And he also wished to show that even after the long captivity, it is not because they had rendered due satisfaction and because they had sheared away their sins, but because of His philanthropy toward His own that they are being brought back, and it is more a matter of mercy than of repayment and exchange, that He added, "And with alms." "And lawless ones and sinners shall be broken together." This is also a third type of blessing: that there be no one to lure and drag them into deception, but that the teachers of wickedness be removed from the way. "And those who abandon the Lord shall be consumed." The ungodly, he says, shall perish. "Because now they shall be ashamed of their idols, for which they themselves desired." Some try to adapt the things said to the present time; but we will neither blame those, and we will follow the sequence. For these are the things which he says will happen at the time of the incursion of the enemies. For when the barbarian is overrunning the country and encamping around the city and holding everyone as if in nets, there being no one to defend or to push back that cloud because of the abandonment of God, naturally, from the very experience of the facts, the shame of those worshiping the idols will be greatly prepared. "For which they desired," that is, for the things they had busied themselves with, he says. "And they shall be ashamed of their carved images, for which they have done." In the order of the narrative he places the accusation. For it was sufficient that, even before the outcome of the wounds, the very way of such idol-making shame them. For what is more shameful than for one to make a god for himself? "And they shall be ashamed of their gardens, in which they desired." For they did not only worship images, but they also tended trees in gardens. "For they shall be as a terebinth having cast its leaves." Either the idols, or they themselves who inhabit the city. He brought forward the image of this tree both because it is a plant especially native and common among them, and because of its blooming and flourishing exceedingly when it is in its prime, and showing the ultimate deformity when it casts its leaves. "And as a garden not having water." And the second image is clearer than the former, and confirms the things said in the former argument; for there is nothing more pleasant than a flourishing garden, nor anything more unpleasant than one that has been left desolate, both of which have happened to that metropolis. For it was always better and more brilliant, adorned with myriads of ornaments; and it has become more common and more shameful than all things, having at once lost such a wealth of beauty. "And their strength shall be as the straw of tow." The former images were taken for the sake of the unpleasant, but this one for the sake of the weak; and all are very manifest, and have great clarity and emphasis. "As the straw of tow," that is, weak. And the

^B Here he shows that the evils come from themselves, and they themselves have brought upon themselves the captivity, and have kindled the furnace. For just as sparks falling down kindle a fire, so their sins, being gathered together, have kindled the wrath of God. And the ungodly and the sinners shall be consumed together, and there shall be none to quench it. Again, he denies salvation for this same cause, not that they may despair, but that, being struck by a healthy fear from this, they may cast off their great sloth. Another thing also he hints at here, namely, the invincible power of his own, and that when he is punishing and taking vengeance, no one shall be able to resist and to undo the evils.

CHAPTER II

The word that came to Isaiah son of Amoz.

^A From this it is clear that they have not spoken all the prophecies under one set of conditions, but, being inspired at different times, they announced certain parts, which, being collected together later, made up the whole book. Therefore, it begins in this way. And not from this alone is it clear to us, but because he indicates the times in what follows, now saying, "In the year when Nathan came to Ashdod" (Is. 20:1); and now, "And it came to pass in the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up" (Is. 6:1). For not as the Epistles of Paul and the Gospels were collected into one, so also were the prophecies, but, as I said, at different times. Whence he begins his present discourse from another starting point. Nor for this reason alone, but because the subject matter about which he is going to speak is far removed from the preceding, and is loftier. For he speaks of the calling of the nations, of the coming of the preaching, of the knowledge of God extended throughout all the world, and of the peace that is to possess the world. But if, intending to discuss such doctrines, he mentions Judea and Jerusalem, it is nothing strange. For that which was spoken was prophecy, veiled for a time by these appellations of names. Since David, being about to compose the seventy-first Psalm, inscribed it for Solomon, and in proceeding, saw things far greater than the dignity of Solomon, or rather, than the whole of human nature. ^B For that, "His name abideth before the sun," and, "His throne before the moon" (Ps. 71:17, 5), and such like, no one, even among the most foolish, would say were uttered concerning human nature. Jacob also, when he was prophesying these things which Isaiah is now about to say, and even more than these—for along with the calling of the nations he spoke of both death and resurrection, and the time at which Christ was to be present—yet he did not utter these things nakedly, but by covering what he was about to say with the person and name of his son, he thus prophesied, as though recounting the things that were to happen to Judah; but as the event of the things testifies, he was predicting the things which Christ was to perform excellently. For neither was Judah the expectation of the nations, nor did that tribe shine forth then, when their commonwealth failed; but all these things were accomplished when Christ came. ^C And so, while these are the proofs showing us that many of the things said are spoken of others while they come to pass in others, and that the prophets have used names in this way, what wonder is it if now the prophet, usurping the name of Judea and Jerusalem, should prophesy concerning the Church? For because he was speaking to the ungrateful, to those who slay the prophets, who burn the books, who undermine the altars, by right the veil was laid upon them in the reading of the Old Testament, according to the blessed Paul (2 Cor. 3:14). Otherwise they would have destroyed the books, if they had understood the power of the prophecy concerning Christ. For since they did not revere him when he was present, performing miracles and exhibiting a perfect demonstration of his power and his consubstantiality and concord with the Father, and did not rest until they had crucified him, they would hardly have spared those who spoke about him, whom they nevertheless frequently stoned. Therefore, making free use of names familiar and well-known to themselves, through this person…

they cast a shadow over the prophecies. For we shall know with precision, by bringing each word into the open, that the discourse is not about Judea and Jerusalem. *And it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lord shall be manifest.* Observe the precision of the prophet, who not only speaks of the events, but also signifies the time. For what Paul says, *But when the fullness of time had come*, and elsewhere again, *For the dispensation of the fullness of times*, this is what the prophet says, *In the last days*. He calls the Church a mountain, and the invincibility of its doctrines. For just as if one were to advance against mountains countless armies, stretching bows, shooting spears, and bringing up engines of war, they would not be able to do them any damage, but would depart having wasted their own strength, so indeed all those who have waged war against the Church have not shaken her, but have been put to shame having lost their own power, being dissolved as they strike, growing weak as they shoot, and being conquered as they act by those who suffer; which is a paradox of victory, and not possible for men, but for God alone. For the wonderful thing about the Church is not that she conquered, but that she conquered in this way. For being driven, persecuted, and cut down in countless ways, not only was she not diminished, but she even became greater, and by the very act of suffering she destroyed those who undertook to do these things; just as a furnace does with iron, destroying the strength of the striker simply by being struck; and like goads against those who kick, which in no way become blunter because of it, but draw blood from the feet of those who kick. ^A For this reason he called it a mountain. But if the Jew does not accept the metaphor, let him accept the rebuttal from his own side. For this very prophet said that wolves and lambs would share the same pasture, and that by flies and bees God would hiss, and would bring a violent river upon the Jews, because they did not wish to have the water of Siloam. If one were to take these things according to the letter, there is much that is unintelligible; but one must accept what is signified by these things and thus vary the sequence of the thoughts. What then is signified by these things? Through the wolves and the lambs, the bestial and the gentle habits of men; through the flies, the shamelessness of the Egyptians; through the river, the violence of the barbarian campaign; and through Siloam, the gentleness and mildness of the ruler of that time, the king of the Jews. And no one, not even those who are very foolish, will gainsay us on these points. For just as those things were indicated by other names, so also the firmness, the immobility, the loftiness, and the invincibility of the Church were signified by the appellation of the mountain. And ^B for another prophet compares those who trust in God to a mountain, indicating their invincibility. *Manifest.* This no longer requires interpretation from discourse. Thus the very nature of the events emits a sound clearer than a trumpet, indicating the glorious nature of the Church. For the sun is not so manifest, nor the light that comes from it, as are the events of the Church. For the house of God is on the tops of the mountains.

3. How would the Jew interpret this? For nowhere is the temple on the tops of the mountains; yet the power of the Church touched the very heavens. And as a house positioned above the summit of mountains is manifest to all, so also she has become much more manifest to all men. *And shall be exalted above the hills.* He interpreted this same thing again, which never happened to the temple, not even when it seemed to be faring best. For how, since it was often dishonored by the Jews themselves, and was eradicated by barbarian hands? But the strength of the Church was warred against more harshly and more intensely than that, yet she never yielded to the hands of those warring against her, but became higher and more manifest especially by the enemies. At that time, then, the choirs of martyrs, the multitudes of confessors, then the souls firmer than iron were proven to be, and they shone more clearly than the stars themselves, while their bodies were being cut to pieces, but their judgment was not conquered, but winning and being crowned. Who saw, who heard of murder bearing a crown, and slaughter producing victory, and the camp becoming more glorious then, when more were seen being slaughtered by the enemies? *And all the nations shall come to it.* The prophet becomes clearer as he proceeds, and reveals the discourse more plainly, and shows the prophecy more clearly, and stitches up the mouths of the Jews more precisely. For this, even if they were exceedingly shameless, they would not be able to adapt to their temple. For indeed, it was forbidden, and with great exaggeration prohibited, for nations to enter into the temple. And why do I say to enter into the temple, when the law forbade the intermingling of nations even to them with great threat, and demanded the final penalty for these things. The prophet Haggai, at any rate, spent his whole prophecy on this, rebuking, threatening, and demanding accounts for the illicit intermarriages. But our things are not like that, but with all freedom the Church, having opened wide her bosom, receives all the nations of the world every day with outstretched hands. For this was what the first teachers of the doctrines were commanded by the Only-Begotten, having heard this voice immediately: *Go, make disciples of all nations*. Observe for me how the prophet not only hinted at the calling of the nations, but also their obedience with readiness. For he did not say, they shall be led, but, *They shall come*; which another prophet, signifying more clearly, said: *And they shall not teach each man his neighbor, and each man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for all shall know me from the small to the great of them*. For in the case of the Jews, even creation was changed, and ^C order was being changed by them, and there were frequent miracles, the discourse of the prophet, the fear of the lawgiver, the threats of war, ^D barbarian incursions, a …

^A divine retribution sent from God, and punishments brought upon them because of their sins; and they remained stiff-necked and uncircumcised, as Stephen said, headstrong and slow to yield; but for the Gentiles, it was sufficient to have heard a single, thin word, and all ran together immediately. David, hinting at this, said: "A people whom I have not known has served me" (Ps. 17. 45), and marveling at the manner of their obedience, he added: "In the hearing of the ear, he has obeyed me."

Jacob, too, declaring this same thing in an enigmatic way, said: "Binding his foal to the vine, and the foal of his ass to the branch" (Gen. 49. 11). Yet who has seen the foal of an ass bound to a branch and standing by a vine, not destroying the fruit? Among brute beasts, this is certainly not the case; but among men, it occurs truly and in reality. For the Jews, bound by countless chains, shattered the yoke and broke the bond, as the prophet says; but the Gentiles, bound by no such necessity, ^B obeyed promptly, as a foal bound to a branch, and they destroyed nothing of the precepts, but stood by, showing great obedience.

"And many peoples will go and say: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob." See them dancing and celebrating, and urging one another, and all becoming teachers; not one, or two, or three, but many nations coming together. For "many peoples shall come," he says, "and from different places," which never happened among the Jews; but if any did draw near, they were few and were proselytes, and they did so with much effort, and they were never called "nations," but proselytes. "Proselytes shall pass over to you, and they shall be your servants" (Is. 60. 10).

Do not be surprised, dear friend, that the prophet calls it a mountain and the house of the God of Jacob. For the only-begotten Son of God was the God of Jacob. For He Himself gave the law, and He performed all the miracles among them; this is what is most visible from the Old Testament itself. For there is no reckoning of a New Testament among the Jews. Jeremiah therefore says: "I will establish a new testament with you, not according to the testament which I established with your fathers" (Jer. 31. 31, 32), showing that He is the lawgiver of both. And because He Himself delivered them from Egypt, He added: "In the day that I took hold of their hand, to lead them out of the land of Egypt" (Ibid.). And if He led them out, He Himself also performed those miracles in Egypt and in the desert. "And He will announce to us His way, and we will walk in it." Do you see how they seek another law? ^C For Scripture is accustomed to call the commandments of God "the way"; if He were speaking of the former Testament, He would not have said, "He will announce to us"; for that was manifest, plain, and known to all.

Another notable argument against the Jews. And that we do not say these things captiously, what has been said is enough to convince even the most shameless. But that we may not appear to speak without purpose, let us see the proof. Because He mentioned the "way," He says what that way is, and sets forth many of its signs. He therefore adds: "For of Sion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." To this, the Jews, who are shameless beyond measure, will not be able even to mutter. For that these things were said of the New Testament is visible from the place, and from the time, and from those who received the law, and from the deeds after the law, and, in short, from every aspect.

First, from the place, namely, from Mount Sion. For the law given through Moses was given to their ancestors on Mount Sinai. Why, then, does He say here, "From Sion"? Nor was this enough for Him, but He also added the time. He did not say, "The law went forth," but, "The law shall go forth," which is of the future time, of a thing not yet done. When the prophet said these things, the law had already been given for many years; but the law of the New Testament was to be given after very many years. Therefore, He did not say, "It went forth," but, "It shall go forth," that is, afterward. And again He has recourse to that same place, saying: "And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." He accurately places before us the mark of the New Testament. For at one time, sitting on the mountain, He was decreeing high and heavenly ^D precepts, and at another time, while dwelling in Jerusalem, He was doing the same. Having therefore stated both the place and the time, He adds those who were to receive that law, sewing up the mouths of the contradictors on every side. Who, then, were to receive it? Rather the people of the Hebrews and the Jews? By no means, but those from the Gentiles. Therefore, He added:

4. "And He shall judge between the nations." For that belongs most to the law, to judge those who oppose it. And that this is not a discourse about the Old Testament is evident from the things themselves. For we do not observe the Sabbath, we have not admitted circumcision, not their feasts, nor anything else of the old observances. For we have heard Paul saying: "If you are circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing" (Gal. 5. 2); and, "You observe days, and months, and times, and years? I am afraid of you, lest perhaps I have labored in vain among you" (Gal. 4. 10). Whence it is clear that the discourse is about the New Testament, because He "judged between the nations," just as Paul also says: "In the day when God will judge the hidden things of men" (Rom. 2. 16). How will He judge? Tell me, according to the Old Testament? In no way, but "according to my Gospel." Do you see different words, but sentiments that agree with one another? Isaiah says: "He shall judge between the nations"; Paul says: "He shall judge according to my Gospel." And "He will reprove many people; those waging wars and transgressors." And Christ, declaring this, said: "I will not judge you, but the word which I have spoken, the same shall judge you" (John 12. 48). "And they shall cut their swords into plows, and their spears into sickles. And nation shall not take up sword against nation, and they shall not learn to war any more." The former signs given by the prophet were not sufficient. Truly, the power of truth is great. Therefore, He added another sign of the New Testament, shining throughout the world. What is this? The removal of peace and wars—

at least, so they say; when these things happen, such great good order will seize the inhabited world that even the weapons of war themselves will be hammered into agricultural tools. This is something one would not see having happened in the times of the Jews, but quite the contrary. For throughout the entire time of their commonwealth, they never ceased making war and being made war upon, whether the enemies approached them from afar or from near. And indeed, those living within Palestine itself often caused them grievous trouble and kept them in danger of their lives. ^B 5. The history of the Kingdoms declares this clearly, as it is woven throughout with wars. All the prophets also declare it, reporting these events and proclaiming them before they came to pass; and from the very day, so to speak, that they were delivered from the tyranny of the Egyptians, they lived for all time in wars. But now, it is not so; rather, there is great peace throughout the inhabited world. If some wars do break out, they are not like those of before. For at that time, cities contended against cities, regions against regions, and peoples against peoples, and one nation was divided into many parts. And if anyone reads the book of Jesus and of the Judges, he will know how many wars Palestine suffered in that short time. And it was not only this that was grievous, but that the law commanded everyone to take up arms, and no one was exempt from this duty. And this law prevailed not only among the Jews, but everywhere in the world; to the extent that even orators and philosophers, having nothing more than a mantle, when war called, would take up a shield and stand in the battle line. Socrates, son of Sophroniscus, who shone most among the Athenians for his quiet life and philosophy, stood in the battle line once and twice. And Demosthenes, the chief of their orators, went out from the assembly to war many times. If no law exempted orators and philosophers from fighting, then hardly any other of the people enjoyed such an exemption. But one would see nothing of this happening now. For since the sun of justice has shone, cities and peoples and all nations are so far from living in such dangers that they do not even know how to handle any of the instruments of war, but sitting within cities and walls, they learn of the facts of war from afar, and the whole people lives in liberty and in exemption from this most bitter duty. And if even now wars occur, it is somewhere far away and at the extremities of the Roman empire, not city by city and region by region as before. For then, as I said, there were countless uprisings and manifold wars within a single nation; but now, as much of the earth as the sun looks upon, from the Tigris to the British islands, all of it—and with it Libya, Egypt, and the Palestinian nation, or rather all that lies under Roman rule—you know that these cities enjoy complete security, learning of wars only by report. ^C It was indeed possible for Christ to remove the remnants, but He left the cause of some chastisement for the slothful, who, by the peace, were becoming soft, so that there should be the incursions of the barbarians. And the prophet himself, to those able to discern exactly, hinted at this very thing which I have already said, that the uprisings do not occur at intervals as they once did. For he did not say, "There will be no war at all," but what? "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation," and he added the freedom of the peoples by saying, "They shall no longer learn to make war," except for a few soldiers designated for this. 6. "And now you, O house of Jacob, come, and let us walk in the light of the Lord." For He dismissed His people, the house of Jacob. Having finished the prophecy concerning the Church, he passes back again to history, as if holding to the sequence of words. For it is their custom not only to rely on the certainty of what has been said, but also to overshadow the prophecy with the form of the sequence. Therefore, he does not make the discourse complete, but as if drawing a single chain, he thus passes back again to the admonition of the Jews, and says: "And now you, O house of Jacob, come, and let us walk in the light of the Lord"—that is, in His commandments, in His law. For the commandment of the law is a lamp, and light and life, and reproof and instruction; and David again says: "The commandment of the Lord is bright, enlightening the eyes" (Ps. CXVII, 20); and, "Thy law is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my paths" (Ps. 118. 105). And one might see the law called this everywhere. Thus also Paul says: "And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them that are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish" (Rom. 2. 19. 20). For the sun's rays do not guide our bodily eyes as the commandments of the law illuminate the eyes of the soul. ^D Therefore, the prophet showing that even before the reward, and before the recompense, in the very act of being fulfilled the commandments provide for us, he called them light. For just as an eye gains in the very act of being illuminated, so also does the soul receive the greatest fruit in the very act of obeying the law, being cleansed and delivered from wickedness, and ascending to virtue itself; just as, on the contrary, those who transgress pay the penalty in the very act of transgressing, even before the punishment, being in a worse state than those sitting in darkness, filled with fear and trembling and an evil conscience, and in the middle of midday fearing and trembling before everyone, both those who know and those who know nothing. For He dismissed His people, the house of Jacob; that is, He left, He let go, He overlooked, He stripped them of His providence. Then, having caused fear, he tells also the cause, so that they might correct what has happened. What, then, is the cause? "Because their land was filled with omens, as that of the foreigners." For earlier he reproached them for trafficking and love of money and despising widows; but here also for evil doctrines, and the remnants of impiety, drawing them little by little towards the error of the demons. Then, reaching into them, he did not simply say that they are using omens, but that "Their land was filled." Their wickedness, he says, was again growing with much excess. As he was saying above, "A people," not simply

sinful, but full of sins; thus also in this place, "It was filled." Then, again amplifying the reproach, he added, "As from the beginning." From the beginning, when? When they did not yet know God, when they had not yet received the law, when they did not yet have the experience of his benefits, when they were living with the nations, which was of an extreme condemnation, because they did not conduct themselves better even now, after such providence and such solicitude, than those who had attained none of these things. But he did not stop there, but again striking them with terror, he added: "As the land of the aliens"; preparing a graver accusation by this comparison. ^A This is what Paul is also accustomed to do, as when he says, "But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, that you may not sorrow as others who have no hope" (1 Thess. 4:13); and again, "That each one of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of desire" (1 Thess. 4:4). And he was not content with this, but added, "Just as the rest of the nations who do not know God" (1 Thess. 4:5). For this manner of speech is wont to sting even those who have fallen exceedingly. But if the Jews are accused concerning such things, what pardon shall we obtain, what defense, we who, after such grace and ineffable honor and immortal hopes, fall into a destitution similar to theirs? For already there are many who labor with this disease, who ruin their own life, who deliver themselves to the madness of augurs and offend God, and gain for themselves superfluous sorrows, and grow faint in the labors they ought to undertake for virtue. For the devil strives to persuade the most foolish through all this, that neither virtue nor wickedness lies within them, nor are they honored with any freedom of choice; wishing to accomplish these two most disgraceful things: to dissolve the labors one ought to undertake for virtue, and to take away that greatest gift of freedom. Through auguries, through omens, through the observation of days, through the evil dogma of fate, he has introduced this grave disease into life in many other ways, moving every machine to this end. For which reason the prophet presses on vehemently, accusing, so that he may pull the disease up by the roots. "And many alien children were born to them." ^B For, because of the fragility of the soul and a mind susceptible to fraud, so that they might not contract affinity with any of the rest of the people, lest such affinities be an occasion of impiety for them. For because they were not only unable to correct others, but were not even able to ward off the damage imported to them by others—whoever they might be—by fencing them in with the law and leading them away from affinity with others, He was shaping and instituting them separately; for it was desirable and difficult that, even so led, they might be able to preserve the discipline handed down to them by God. But just as they transgressed other commandments, so also with this ignored, they passed over to contracting affinity with neighbors, and having taken wives thence—from the Moabites, that is to say, from the Ammonites, and from other impious nations—and having embraced other kinships, they accepted teachers of wickedness and ruined the purity of their nobility. The prophet brings this charge against them along with others. ^C 7. "For their land was filled," he says, "with silver and gold, and there was no number of their treasures." 8. "And their land was filled with horses, and there was no number of their chariots." But what charge is this, perhaps someone might say, to possess riches and to hold horses, especially in that age, when there was not so much study of philosophy? What then shall we say? Clearly he was not disapproving of the use, but of the mind not using them as it ought. For just as when he says, "Woe to you who are powerful" (Isa. 5:22), he does not blame power, but those who use power badly: so also in this place, [it is] not that they possessed money, but that they gathered it with huge abundance, and beyond necessity. There was, he says, no number of their treasures. And not only this, but because, blown up by wealth and the abundance of horses, they were gradually drawn away from the hope in God, which the prophet also said to them elsewhere: "Woe to those who trust in their power and boast in the multitude of their wealth" (Ps. 49:6). And again elsewhere: "A king is not saved by much power, and a giant will not be saved by the multitude of his strength" (Ps. 33:16). And again in another psalm he says, "He will not have pleasure in the strength of a horse, nor will he be well-pleased in the legs of a man. The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him" (Ps. 147:10-11). "And their land was filled with the abominations of the works of their own hands, and they worshipped what their fingers made" (Isa. 2:8). As a wise physician, the prophet tells the cause of the disease and the fountain of the malady. For when he was about to accuse their impiety, he said the occasions of the disease first—avarice, arrogance, illicit marriage affinities—declaring that they, having been supplanted from hence little by little, had fallen into the abyss of perdition and worshipped idols. Then, mocking their worship, he adds, "The works of their own hands." For what would be more laughable than when man is made the creator of his gods? Scripture is accustomed to call idols "abomination," and thence the statue erected in the temple is called the "abomination of desolation." For when you see, he says, the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place, let the reader understand (Matt. 24:15). For because he led them away to sense-perceived objects, he forbade them from making any image, and called this an abomination, calling them away from afar from impiety; for to abominable is to hate with excess, as something unclean, as something cursed. Therefore, the abomination that is hateful

is also called such in Scripture. And every idol is of this sort. And they worshipped what their fingers had made. And man bowed down, and a man was humbled. For just as the worship of God elevates one to the heights, so the worship of these lowers and casts one down. For what is more abject than a man who has fallen from salvation, and having God as the God of all as his enemy, submits himself to inanimate things and treats stones with respect? God has brought us to such great honor as to make us higher than the heavens; but the devil has exerted himself to bring the obedient down to such great vileness as to make them even more senseless than the senseless things themselves. Therefore the prophet says: A man was humbled. This accusation alone is sufficient to lead a man of intelligence away from the malady. But since many people do not fear sins as much as they fear punishments, he added also the chastisement, saying: I will not let them go. I will not forgive, he says, I will not let pass, I will not overlook, but I will demand justice and accountability for the committed trespasses. And now enter into the rocks, and hide yourselves in the earth from before the face of the fear of the Lord. Having sufficiently mocked the madness of those who worship idols, and having shown from the manner of their creation the dementia of those people and the weakness of the idols, he fights through the argument again, entrusting the examination of what has been said to the experience of the events, and he says: It is enough for me even that this very thing should be generated among men, to show the madness of the deceived; since, however, they are like those drugged by the drunkenness of impiety, blinded to the clear and evident state of affairs, such evils shall overtake the city as to teach even the most insensible how great is their weakness and how great is the power of God.

S. John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople

18 "And they shall hide all the works of human hands," 19 bringing them into the caves and crevices of the rocks, and into the pits of the earth, from the face of the fear of the Lord, and from the glory of his might, when he shall arise to strike the earth. So far removed, he says, will their gods be from being able to provide any help, that they themselves will be in need of the help of men and the protection of places, lest they be captured, "from the face of the fear of the Lord, and from the glory of his might, when he shall arise to strike the earth." For that no one might attribute these things to the incursion of the barbarians, nor think that the fear comes from their power, he refers the discourse to the God of all, saying that He will be the commander of this war, and that it is by His power that vengeance is taken for the crimes already committed.

20 "For in that day man shall cast away his abominations, the silver and the gold, which they made for themselves to worship their inanities and the bats," 21 "to enter into the solid rocks and into the crevices of the rocks from the face of the fear of the Lord, and from the glory of his might, when he shall arise to strike the earth." He has sufficiently exposed them, showing that they and their gods have hidden away and buried themselves in the earth, and that the value of the materials could not offer any help when the disaster was imminent. He called the idols bats—whether because of their weakness, or because of the darkness of the error, and because everything done by the demons is done in secret. For just as to bats the sun is an enemy, and light as well, while night and darkness are friendly; so too to the demons, and to those whom they have led into error, wickedness and all iniquitous things are familiar and friendly, while virtue and the works of light are their enemies; and when these shine, they are immediately darkened, whereas he who lives endowed with virtue has no need of much labor or sweat. For it is sufficient just for him to appear, and all those things are dissolved.

22 "Cease you from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for in what is he valued?" Here he seems to me to suggest Hezekiah, who out of fear and anguish was breathing his last. Since, therefore, the barbarians held them as if caught in nets, and thought they held the prey prepared for them, and that there was no need of labor for them to capture the city, and since they were to be led away as captives, the opposite happened to the barbarians. Therefore he says, "Cease from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for in what is he valued?" That is, he is valued as nothing. For, indeed, they hoped to carry everything off as if on an excursion; but the exact opposite happened; and he who by you was reckoned as nothing and easy to conquer, relying on the help of God, will appear the most splendid of all.

CHAPTER III

"And from Jerusalem a strong one and a strong woman." Just as an excellent physician, now cauterizing, now bringing in bitter remedies, provides for the health of the sick with his art; so also the kind God, with various and diverse punishments, constraining those things that were flowing away and had slipped among the Jews, now terrifies the ungrateful with the incursion of the barbarians, now, before their invasion, restrains them with other interdictions, constantly striking them with the fear of imminent threats through the variety of his warnings. Now, therefore, he threatens them with infirmity, and famine, and drought—not indeed of necessary things, but of those which are no less suited for preserving life. For it is not only famine that is grave, but it is also grave when there is no one present to administer the commonwealth; a fact which is accustomed to make an abundance of things more oppressive than famine. For what utility is there when, as if from springs, all things flow, if civil wars arise, and the sea swells, and with the waves raging, neither a captain, nor one sitting at the prow, nor anyone else is present who could manage the tempest of affairs and reconcile them to tranquility? But when famine also is present along with these things, consider how great the mass of evils is.

God, therefore, threatens all these things: and the first is the most serious of all. "For behold," he says, "the Lord God of Sabaoth." Prophets often use this utterance, "Behold," when they wish to make the listener certain of the things they are saying. Not here only, but also above and from the beginning, one can see that bodily infirmities have often preceded sins—as in the case of Cain: for because he did not use his bodily strength rightly, he justly fell into paralysis. So also the one who was sitting at the pool: because the origin of the paralysis was sins, Christ says: "Behold, you are made whole, sin no more" (John 5.14). Paul also says: "Therefore many among you are infirm" (1 Cor. 11.30); because they were sinning, for they were not partakers of the mysteries with a pure conscience. He also hands the fornicator over to the infirmity of the body, exacting these punishments for sins. Yet, infirmity is not always the retribution for sins, but sometimes it is the matter of a crown, as in the case of Lazarus and Job. And not only infirmities, but also other bodily discomforts have arisen from sins, as Uzziah’s leprosy, because of the impudence of his mind, as King Jeroboam’s hand suffered wasting away, because of his arrogance and pride. The tongue of Zacharias, too, was bound for no other reason than the sin of his soul. Since, therefore, for the Jews good health and the strength of the body, and prosperous affairs, had been an occasion for arrogance, God removed the root of arrogance, admonishing them and leading them back to a better state, giving them greater things than what He was taking away from them. For what harm was it to be sick in body, if the soul were thereby instructed? Then, lest they think that this proceeded from the infirmity of nature, the prophet predicted that this would come to pass, and he did not terrify the men only with threats, but transmitted the punishment to the women as well, because each sex was corrupt, and in proceeding, he directs his discourse to the women themselves, and, because of their most absurd behavior, he levels against them accusations which razed the city itself from its foundations. Therefore, he afflicts them with pestilence: for he seems to me to suggest pestilence when he says: "I will take away the strong man and the strong woman"; or some other bodily disease that does not yield to the art of physicians. For such are the stripes of God. "The strength of bread and the strength of water." This is the gravest vengeance, when he does not take away the substance itself, but removes from it its innate power, so that…

one is punished even by the eating, never being filled, and perceiving from that very fact that the wrath was sent by God. "A giant and a strong man." Scripture is accustomed always to call the strong man a giant, or one who excels the multitude in the proportion of his limbs. For even in the creation, when it says, "These were the giants, the men of renown" (Gen. 6.4), it does not mean to explain that there was any other race, but it alludes to those who were strong, robust, and vigorous. "And a man of war and a judge." The punishment is intolerable, and the things mentioned are a proof of the ultimate ruin, as even with walls and towers standing, it could deliver the city to the enemy, with all its people. For the security of cities is not in stones, woods, and enclosures, but in the understanding of those who inhabit the city; for when they are present, even if enemies exist, they fortify it more securely than anything; but when they are absent, even if no one is harassing, they show it to be more wretched than one under siege.

2. Therefore, the prophet instructed not a small lesson of philosophy through these things to them and to all who hear, persuading them never to trust in the size of a city, nor in ditches and machines, but in the virtue of prudent men. Therefore, he terrifies them, saying that he will strip it of its security, not only snatching away those who know how to wage war, but also those who know how to judge, who contribute no less to cities than those who fight, both by settling peace well and by repelling wars that often approach. For since these arise constantly from the root of sins, it is possible for the guardians of the laws, and those who preside over justice with precision, to repress the majority of sins and remove the cause of war. Why then does God remove them? Because they did not use them for the intended purpose when they were present. For just as his saving teachings brought much benefit to those who heard them—but when he spoke to the Jews, he obscured his words with lack of clarity, because they did not attend to what was said—so too these great gifts of his, which bring us much salvation, he often removes from our midst when those who receive them do not wish to gather any fruit from them. "And a prophet and a diviner." It is no small form of wrath for prophecies to fail. For when God turned away from the people of the Jews because of the sins of the sons of Eli, and because of the great wickedness of the multitude, prophecy failed; for he says, "The word was precious, and there was no vision distinguishing" (1 Kings 3.1). "Precious," that is, rare. And this same thing happened in the case of Ozeas; for no small fruit was gathered from this source, if they had only wished. For learning the things from God, and preparing for future evils, and inquiring about uncertain things, and when it is necessary to attack enemies, and when to be quiet, and how it is fitting to ward off all grievous things, brought them much ease of salvation. But since they did not do it while learning, for this reason he took away even their learning: which was a sign of the great philanthropy of God, that even knowing beforehand that they would not use his gifts for the intended purpose, he nonetheless provided everything from himself. And he says he will take away the diviner along with the prophet. Here it seems to me that he calls a "diviner" one who divines future things from great understanding and from the very experience of events. For conjecture is one thing, and prophecy is another: for the one speaks by the Divine Spirit, contributing nothing from himself; the other, taking the occasions from things that have already happened, and stirring his own understanding, perceives many future things, as it is natural for a prudent man to foresee. But there is a great distance between this and that, as much as the difference between human understanding and divine grace. And that I may make the argument clear by an example, let us consider Solomon and Elisha: for both brought hidden things into the open, and revealed concealed things; but both did not do so by the same power; but the one, having taken occasions from nature through human understanding in the case of those harlot women; the other, using no calculation (for what calculation could have revealed the theft of Gehazi?), but knowing the things that happened from afar by divine grace. "And an elder and a captain of fifty." And with these he says he will take away an elder and a captain of fifty: not calling an elder simply one who has aged, but one who maintains with his gray hairs the understanding appropriate to old age. And when he says "captain of fifty," he does not mean one specific captain of fifty, but alludes to all rulers by this name. For nothing, nothing is more grievous than anarchy, just as nothing could be more dangerous than a ship that has no pilot. And he does not stop even here, but threatens to remove another great security as well: those who know how to counsel best, who bring no less a benefit to cities than weapons. "For I will take away," he says, "a wonderful counselor and a wise architect," not calling him a builder, but one who is experienced in affairs, and wise in many things, and who knows how to arrange all the affairs of the city with understanding.

3. And with these, "And a prudent hearer." For if this is absent, even if all other things are present, there is no advantage to cities; even if there be prophets, if there be counselors, if there be rulers, yet if there is no one to hear, all is in vain and for nothing. It seems to me that he says here "I will take away" meaning "I will allow and leave be," just as Paul says: "He gave them over to a reprobate mind" (Rom. 1.28); not showing that he cast them into folly, but that he left and allowed them to be foolish. "And I will set youths as their rulers." This is worse and far more grievous than anarchy. For the one who has no ruler is deprived of a guide; but the one who has a wicked one has someone to cast him into precipices. And here he did not say "youths" simply to disparage their age, but he shows their folly from what is common. For it is possible for the young to be prudent, and for those who have aged to live in folly; but because this rarely happens, and the opposite is what usually prevails, he called the foolish "youths."

so that he might not blame their age, but rather to show their ignorance more clearly. For it happens that the young are prudent, and the old have lived in ignorance—but because that rarely happens, and the opposite is generally the case, he therefore called them ignorant. For Timothy also was a young man; yet he administered the Churches more wisely than countless old men. And Solomon, when he was twelve years old, spoke with God and was instructed with great confidence in speaking; he was proclaimed and crowned king, and had barbarians as spectators of his wisdom. And not only men, but even women, coming from distant regions, had this as the only cause for their journey: namely, that they might learn and hear something from his voice. But when he reached old age, he diminished much of his virtue. His father, the blessed David, committed that grave sin not when he was a youth and a boy, but when he had passed that age. But when he was a little boy, he erected a marvelous trophy, struck down the barbarian, and displayed every philosophy; and his youth was no impediment to his performing these illustrious deeds. Jeremiah, too, who put forward the objection of his age in order to refuse, God did not accept, but brought him forth to the Jewish people, saying that he was not hindered in any way by that, if he were endowed with a firm mind. And at this age, or even a much younger one, Daniel judged the elders. And Josiah, when he was not even ten years old, ascended the throne of the kingdom and flourished at that time. But later, having slid a little into sloth, he undermined the strength of his soul. But what of Joseph? Was he not young, even very young, when he undertook that grave war—not struggling against men, but against the tyranny of nature itself—and escaped from the midst of the furnace and the flame, which was much more severe than that Persian one, remaining unharmed, no less than those three boys, without suffering? For just as those boys showed their bodies unharmed along with their hairs after emerging, coming out of a fountain rather than a furnace, so too this one in the struggle, having slipped out of the hands of the Egyptians, departed; and he was not affected by the touch, nor by the words, nor by the sight, nor by the garments, nor by the ointments which kindled the flame of desire more hotly than twigs and pitch; nor did he experience anything of that sort because of his age, such as a human being might be seen capable of suffering. And those three boys, in the very flower of youth, both mastered their belly and trampled upon the fear of death, and overcame such a great army and the king’s fury—which was hotter than the furnace itself—and nothing terrified them, but they remained constantly endowed with an unconquered mind. Therefore, it is not because he is disparaging youth ^A that he says these things—for even Paul, when he says, "Not a neophyte, lest he be puffed up and fall into the judgment of the devil," means one newly planted, that is, instructed. For he calls teaching and catechizing "planting," as when he says, "I have planted, Apollos watered" (1 Cor. 3:6). Christ also calls this planting, saying, "Every plant which my heavenly Father has not planted shall be rooted up" (Matt. 15:13). For if he had called a young man a "neophyte," he would surely not have brought forward Timothy, who was young—and so young that he [Paul] would say, "Let no one despise your youth"—nor would he have permitted him to bear the care of so many Churches. "And the mockers shall rule over them." ^B You see that he is not simply disparaging age, but the corrupted soul? For by this addition he makes it clearer. For by "mockers" he here calls the deceivers, the cavillers, the flatterers, those who, capturing favor with words, would deliver the people themselves to the devil.

5. "And the people shall rush, man against man, and man against his neighbor." For just as when the timbers that supported the buildings are rotted or removed, it is necessary that even the walls be torn down, with nothing further holding them together, so with those who have been mentioned above removed—princes, counselors, judges, prophets—nothing prevented the people from splitting into factions, and great disturbance from arising.

4. "The child shall rage against the elder, and the base against the honorable." He will be opposed, he says, by the young man toward the elder; he will despise and scorn him. These things, even before the war threatened, were more grievous than any war. For when old age is dishonored by youth, and base and abject men trample upon those who were previously honorable, a city of this kind is in no better state than if it had soothsayers.

6. "Because a man shall lay hold of his brother or his father's house, saying, You have a garment, be you our prince, and let my food be under you." 7. "And he shall answer in that day, saying, I will not be a prince: for there is neither bread nor clothing in my house. I will not be a prince of this people." This seems to me to indicate some very grave siege, which reduced them to extreme necessity, or, without a siege, some intolerable famine and great penury of necessities. ^C He uses common parlance: and just as many say, "If it were to happen that the whole city were sold for an obol, I could not buy it," thus showing extreme poverty, so also the prophet says, "If the principality were sold for a single garment, or for bread alone, there will be no one to buy it: such will be the penury of necessities."

8. "Because Jerusalem is dissolved": that is, it is forsaken and deserted, stripped of God’s providence. "And Judea has fallen": filled, he says, with disturbance and tumult, with confusion and sedition. "And their tongues are with iniquity, not obeying the Lord." Then the cause of the evils is subjoined: the intemperance of the tongue. This is what Hosea rebukes, saying, "Ephraim have gone into destruction in the days of rebuke; in the tribes of Israel I have proved things worthy of faith" (Hosea 5:9); and Malachi says the same thing again: "The prophets reproaching those who have provoked God in words." And he said, "In your saying, 'Who have we provoked?'" Good in the sight of the Lord, if you were to prosper in them. And God himself also blames them, putting forth a double charge, that not only are they disobedient, and not only do they transgress the

law; whereas they ought to have been ashamed of this and to blush, to hide themselves and look downward, they instead heap up [prior] transgressions, and not only do they not perform the things commanded, but they even utter heavy words; just as some mindless servant, abandoning the commands of his master, would even be insolent. ^A Therefore now his "glory is brought low," and the "shame of his countenance" has stood up against them. He speaks again of future things as if they had passed, using the customary mode of prophecy. By "lowering of glory" he calls it captivity. For it was not a common shame that those who were in the rank of rulers of the world should be made subject to profane and barbarian men. By "shame of countenance" here he means that which is produced from sin. For such was their life. Since, therefore, they had beforehand disgraced themselves by the things they were doing, for this very reason God cast them out of their glory, handing them over to a punishment lesser than that which they had brought upon themselves. For they were not so disreputable while living in a foreign land as when they were transgressing while holding the metropolis. For then, indeed, the things of their wickedness were also being checked; but in their own country they were rising toward something greater. The prophet, therefore, was teaching them a great doctrine, persuading them everywhere to flee from wickedness before the punishment arrives, and to hide and be ashamed—not when barbarians take them as slaves and lead them away, but when the tyranny of sin holds them captive. "And their sin, like that of Sodom, they declared and made manifest." What I have often said, I say even now: that the prophet, in showing the philanthropy of God, does not foretell what they are about to suffer, but also [shows] what they were worthy to suffer. For their sins were equal to those of Sodom, but the things of their punishment were more moderate. For he did not snatch them away [in the manner of Sodom], nor did he tear up the city from its foundations, nor did he wipe out the remnants of the race. ^B And the words, "they declared and made manifest," are spoken more anthropomorphically. For God does not then learn what has happened when it occurs (for how could He, who knows all things before they come into being?), but he says this in order to show the magnitude of the calamity.

5. For just as he says elsewhere, "The cry of their wickedness has come up to me" (Gen. 18:20), giving voice to this not to remove God to some place far off and to enclose Him in heaven, but to declare the magnitude of the sin; so also here, "they declared," he is speaking to show the excess of the wickedness. For the lesser of the sins one might even take for granted, but the excessive and great ones are known and manifest to all, even if there is no one to accuse or convict. For they proclaim themselves and make themselves clear. The prophet, wishing to show here the magnitude of the evils, says, "they declared and made manifest," that is, with great excess, with great arrogance, they were doing the evils, not even being ashamed, nor covering themselves, but making wickedness an object of study. "Woe to their soul, because they have counseled an evil counsel against themselves, saying: Let us bind the just, because he is useless to us." An intensification of wickedness, when they not only sin, and not only sin with boldness, but when they even drive away those who are able to correct such things. For just as those possessed by frenzy often struck the physician, so indeed these were exhibiting this as the greatest sign of being ill beyond remedy: the casting out of the righteous. For such is virtue; even merely appearing, it is enough to grieve the one living in vice. Such is vice; even when often convicted, it is burdened by the very presence of those who choose to live in gentleness. And the accusation here is twofold: both to bind the just, and to bind him as if he were useless. When, therefore, someone not only does not admit beneficial things, but even considers them to be harmful, what pretext for correction is left? Therefore, also, the prophet, seeing them have run off to the extreme, begins again with lamentations, not with accusations and charges, saying: "Woe to their soul; and what follows with much wisdom: Because they have counseled an evil counsel against themselves." And yet, the things that occurred seem to have been dared against the just; but if one were to examine it precisely, the counsel does not turn against the one suffering, but [against] those who are doing it. Here we learn that the good man, even if he suffers ten thousand terrible things, will not be harmed *at all* by those who do them; but those who plot against them, these are rather the ones who are pushing the sword against themselves, just as these also were. For they were harming the just man in no way by binding him, but they were establishing themselves in greater darkness and desolation, snatching the lamp out of the way. "Therefore they shall eat the fruits of their own works." For such is vice; it has the punishment within itself. ^C And he says this here, which is: They shall enjoy the fruits of their works, establishing themselves in greater desolation, and making the precipices many. "Woe to the lawless one; for evil things will happen to him according to the works of his hands." Do you see the measures of punishment and the origins being made by us always? For this reason, then, the prophet again laments and grieves and is broken, because the Jews were plotting against themselves, and in a way more grievous than any enemy, they were damaging their own salvation; than which what could be more wretched? "My people, your exactors are stripping you." This belongs to an excellent teacher, to vary the discourse, and neither to make it only harsh, nor only gentle, but now the one, and now the other kind to manage, so that much benefit might come from the mixture. For this reason also the prophet does not only accuse, but also laments, which is more heavy than the accusations, but provides a lesser pain; and this is the wonderful thing, that in the deeper incision the pain is more gentle. And he does not only lament, but also heals, and again rouses another wonderful mode of teaching. Which one is this? To not rebuke all under one heading, but to cut off the common people from the rulers, and to turn the accusations upon the head of those [the rulers]. For so great is the profit of this kind, that even Moses did this with more excess. For this man, although all were liable for the accusations, turns the discourse upon the rulers; but Moses, having found the...

that the people were for the most part the authors of the transgression, while Aaron was not deserving of so much rebuke, left those ^A who were truly responsible and turned the accusation to the one less responsible, giving over to that man’s conscience the cause of his own greater punishment through the crimes laid against him—and that is indeed what happened. For he no longer needed to address the people with many words, but those few words spoken to Aaron were sufficient to compress so many thousands as if they were one man, and to lead them from such boldness and audacity into extreme fear and anxiety. ^B And Moses, foreseeing this, having descended, immediately cast down the tablets and said to Aaron: “What has this people done to you, that you have made it a mockery to its enemies?” (Exod. XXXII, 21).

6. This the prophet also does, imitating that holy man in a twofold way. For Moses not only accused at that time, but also assumed the mask of one grieving, and thus instituted the accusation. Thus he too imitated both, saying: “My people, your exactors strip you.” For he both accused them and spoke these things as if grieving with the people. And by “exactors” here he seems to mean those who demand; but I think he is hinting at the rapacious and the greedy among them—or if not this, at least the tax collectors. See his prudence here also. For he does not condemn the thing itself, but the lack of moderation. He did not say, “They collect,” but “They strip”; that is, they denude you of your resources, and under the pretext of an exaction, they plunder you of everything. He brought forth this word from the metaphor of those who reap. For “reaping” is said of those who, after the harvest, gather the ears that have fallen from the hands of the mowers, and leave nothing at all on the field—which is what these men were doing at that time, snatching away all resources, and leaving those people bare. And “the exactors dominate you.” And what was more grievous, even here the limits of greed did not hold, but they advanced the tyranny further, making those who were free into slaves. “My people, those who call you blessed, they deceive you.” Here he seems to hint at the false prophets, or those who spoke to them for favor—which is the cause of extreme corruption everywhere. Therefore, to declare the harm arising from there, he added: “And they disturb the path of your feet”; that is, they do not suffer you to walk straight, subverting, dissolving, and making you sluggish.

God is introduced by Isaiah deciding in judgment. To the stupid, to be accused is not grave; to be punished is terrible. The sins of the princes and elders are greater than the sins of private citizens. 13. “But now the Lord shall stand in judgment, and shall stand his people in judgment: 14. the Lord himself shall come in judgment with the elders of his people, and with their princes.” He still persists in the same manner of correction, turning the rebuke from the people to the elders and to the princes, and making his discourse more terrible; and he introduces God himself judging and condemning, and charging those who were harming the people with the sins committed against the people. Wherefore he said: “And now the Lord shall stand in judgment.” For because he had exhausted his discourse in accusation, and because to those who are of a ^C stupid mind, being accused is not particularly grave, but being punished is terrible, he says that the matter will not consist in accusation alone, but vengeance will follow the sins, with the One who is to judge finally demanding satisfaction and rendering judgment against the transgressors. This certainly shows the great attemperation of God, who is willing to undergo judgment even with them, and turns the discourse toward stirring up shame—a thing which is certainly accustomed to cast those endowed with intelligence into extreme anxiety. And he does not convert the discourse to the princes and elders only for the reason I said above, but to teach all men that princes shall pay heavier penalties than their subjects. For the subject gives an account for himself alone, but the prince for himself and for the people, to whom imperial power has been entrusted; and from the elders also, not undeservedly, is so much diligence required. For what an empire is for them, that very thing age is for these. For even a young man is worthy of correction if he sins gravely; but the man who has attained immunity through age, and is not besieged by so many waves of passions, to whom it is easier to live temperately and who is able to abstain from other worldly affairs without trouble, and who has attained greater prudence through the experience of things; he is by right deserving of condemnation more than all others, as one who has exhibited the licentiousness of the young at a mature age. “But you, why have you set fire to my vineyard, and why is the plunder of the poor in your houses?” Everywhere God has great providence for those who are treated with injury, and He is indignant not less, but rather sometimes more, about sins toward fellow-servants than about sins toward Himself. For He allowed one who had a harlot wife to cast her off (Matt. V, 32), but a Gentile wife ^D differently; although this sin was against Himself, He commanded him who had offended his neighbor to leave the gift, and not to offer it before he had been reconciled with his brother (Matt. V, 23-24). And when He judged him who had devoured ten thousand talents, when he was accusing him of the sins committed against Himself, He did not call him a wicked man, but was quickly reconciled with him, and forgave him the whole debt; but when it was a question of a hundred denarii, He both calls him a wicked servant, and delivers him to the torturers, and said He would not release him before he had rendered the whole debt (Matt. XVIII). He did not requite the servant who struck Him with any evil, but even answered with a gentle testimony: “If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but if well, why do you strike me?” (John XVIII, 23). And when he sought to apprehend the prophet who was rebuking Him at that time, He made his hand withered (3 Reg. XIII, 4), teaching you to bear with gentleness injuries inflicted upon you, but to take vengeance most vehemently upon those inflicted upon the Lord. Therefore, even though when He was establishing the law He placed the love toward one’s neighbor in the second position, nevertheless He said that it was like the first; and just as He exacts that one most accurately, so also this one. For of that one He says, “From all your heart, and from all your soul”; but of this one, “As yourself.”

^A If some barbarian enemies, cruel and fierce, had done these things, this is how you have treated your own kin. He calls the people a vineyard, because of the great care he had for it and his providential oversight from above. And increasing the accusation, he did not say, “Why did you destroy your fellow servants, your neighbors, your brothers?” but, “My things,” he says, “you have ruined, my things you have destroyed!” Then, revealing the nature of this conflagration, he says: *The plunder of the poor is in your houses.* For hail is not by nature so wont to ravage vineyards as the injustice toward the poor and destitute is wont to burn the soul, afflicting it with a despondency worse than any death. Everywhere, indeed, plunder is a wicked thing; but especially so when the victim is in the most extreme poverty. He does not only rebuke this by speaking, but he also seeks to correct them, leading them to visualize the plunder itself. For after this pronouncement, the very sight placed before their eyes is sufficient to prick the conscience of one not entirely insensible. *What do you mean by doing injury to my people?* He persists again in the same mode of discourse; just as there he said, “My vineyard,” so here he says, “My people.” *And why do you put to shame the faces of the humble?* Those whom they ought to have set upright, they pushed down; those whom they ought to have raised up, these they were tearing apart. For along with their plunder, they would spit upon the humbler ones, treating them more cruelly than slaves, adding arrogance to their greed, and acquiring much audacity from the injustice of this wealth. For the malady of pride is yoked to greed; and the more one increases his wealth, the more this malady wears him down. ^B This says the Lord, the Lord of Hosts. What is the meaning of "Hosts"? He speaks of the angels, the archangels, the powers above—leading the listener from earth up to heaven, casting him into the contemplation of His great kingdom, so that at least by this he might strike him with fear, make him more sober-minded, and show that such great forbearance is not a matter of weakness, but of long-suffering. ^C *Thus says the Lord: Because the daughters of Zion were lifted up, and they walked with an outstretched neck, and with winking of their eyes, and with the march of their feet, dragging their tunics along, and playing with their feet; and the Lord will humble the leading daughters of Zion, and the Lord will uncover their condition on that day. And the Lord will take away the glory of their attire, and their ornaments, and their braided hair, and the clusters, and the lunulae, and the necklace, and the ornament of their face, and the beauty of their attire, and the armbands, and the bracelets, and the headbands, and the rings, and the necklaces, and the earrings, and the bordered robes, and the wraps for the house, and the transparent Laconian garments, and the fine linens, and the hyacinthine and scarlet stuffs, and the linen with gold and hyacinth woven together, and the veils embroidered with gold. And there shall be instead of a sweet scent, dust; and instead of a belt, you shall gird yourself with a rope; and instead of the ornament of your head, you shall have baldness because of your works; and instead of the tunic with purple stripes, you shall gird yourself with sackcloth. These things shall be yours instead of adornment. And your most beautiful son, whom you love, shall fall by the sword; and your mighty ones shall fall by the sword, and shall be humbled. And the caskets of your adornments shall mourn, and you shall be left solitary, and you shall be leveled to the ground.*

The prophet has done something unusual here, extending such a long discourse toward the women, a thing which we see done nowhere else in the Scriptures in such a manner. What, then, is the reason for this unusual action? ^D 8. It seems to me that the silliness of the women at that time was great, and that they contributed the greater part to the wickedness of the men. For this reason, he addresses them specifically, charging them with the more grievous crimes, and he brings the discourse back to the beginning, speaking again from the person of God. *Thus says the Lord: Because the daughters of Zion were lifted up, and they walked with an outstretched neck.* He charges them with the head of all evils—audacity and arrogance. For this is everywhere a grievous thing, but it is especially so when it is born of the female nature. For a woman filled with high-mindedness, being as she is lighter and more irrational, is easily overturned, and submerged, and suffers shipwreck from every evil spirit, as arrogance and pride submerge her. He seems to be addressing those in Jerusalem; which is why he called them “daughters of Zion.” *And they walked with an outstretched neck.* Here he mocks them, and shows the female disposition—not even able to remain quiet in their thoughts, but bursting forth, and showing itself through the movements of the body. He accuses them not only of audacity, but also of licentiousness, saying this and revealing it from what follows. He added, therefore: *And with winking of their eyes.* This is a trait of women who act as harlots, to distort the pupils of their eyes, and to signify from this their great silliness and effeminacy; for there is no sign of being delicate and effeminate that is as clear as this. *And with the march of their feet, dragging their tunics along.* This is no small crime, even if it seems small, but is proof of the utmost depravity, and of being effeminate, and broken, and dissolute—this dragging of tunics. This is, in fact, what one of the outside comic poets also posited about his adversary, saying: “Having let his cloak hang down to his ankles.” *And playing with their feet.* This too is a proof of the same indecency. For through all things—through the eyes, through the garments, through the feet, through the manner of walking—both modesty and licentiousness are made apparent. For the movements of the senses are, as it were, certain heralds of the soul sitting within. And just as painters, blending colors, express the images they desire; so too do the movements of the members of the body bring the hallmarks of the soul to light, and place them before our eyes. Therefore, another wise man also said: “The attire of a man, and the smile of his teeth, and the gait of his feet, announce what kind of person he is” (Eccl. 19. 27).

^A And the Lord will humble the ruling daughters of Sion; and the Lord shall reveal their habit in that day. And the Lord will take away the glory of their attire. Having posited two crimes—arrogance and wantonness—He applies to each the appropriate medicine: to the first, the first; to the second, what follows upon arrogance, namely humiliation; and as for the adornment of their attire, the stripping away of it. In war, He says, when it presses hard, all things will be taken away. For those who were swelling and prideful, once struck with fear, will be delivered from this disease; those who were melting away in softness and luxury, once they fall into the yoke of captivity, will be rescued from all such softness.

^B To make His discourse more burdensome to them and to prick the minds of his hearers, he enumerates the adornment of the women’s garments bit by bit—what is for the eyes, what for the rest of the body—and from there he proceeds to the adornment of the house. For they did not only decorate their bodies with ornaments, but extended this insult even to the walls with superfluous expenditures; and by curling their hair with the hair-pin, they were spreading the wings of deception of this kind everywhere. Therefore, He strikes them with an accusation when He says: “He will take away the glory of their attire, and their ornaments, and their curls, and their clusters.” He calls “clusters” either some adornment of the head or the form of a band binding the head. And the crescents: an ornament about the neck in the shape of the moon. And the necklace. Perhaps he calls it a head-covering. And the adornment of their face. Here it seems to me he implies face paint and pigments. And the composition of the ornament of glory. He says this is surrounded by gold. And the bracelets: that is, the golden ornament about the arms. And the wristlets: about the joints of the hands. And the mesh: a golden ornament about the head. And the rings, the wristlets, and the garments of purple, and the embroidered purple, and the cloths throughout the house, and the transparent Laconian garments. For such was their passion for wantonness that they not only used what was in their own region, but even took care to have them brought from a foreign land through transoceanic voyages. For the space is great and the sea immense between Palestine and Lacedaemon.

^C He does not simply put forward these things, abandoning the garments, but to demonstrate their immense luxury. And the fine linens, and the hyacinthine, and the scarlet, and the fine linen interwoven with gold and hyacinth, and the head-coverings bound with gold. For they left no species of adornment in their garments or in anything else; but they attempted every path of luxury, acting like those crazed by the tyranny of wantonness.

^D Furthermore, if these accusations were brought forward before grace and before such great philosophy, what pardon could those obtain who are now called to heaven and to longer contests, and who are drawn to the imitation of the angels, and are able to overcome this wantonness by far, and yet are overcome by the wantonness of those who occupy the stages and theaters? And what is more grievous, they do not even consider themselves to be sinning. Therefore, the voice of the prophet must be set against them. For not only against those of old, but even against these shall it be proclaimed, that which follows: “Instead of a sweet smell, there shall be dust.” Do you see how He rejects even the anointing of perfumes, and ascribes a great punishment to it? He calls “dust” here that which is stirred up after the city is overturned and the barbarians make their incursion. For they destroyed that city then with fire and sword, overturning one thing and delivering another to the fire. Predicting these things, therefore, He said: “Instead of a sweet smell there shall be dust, and instead of a girdle, you will be girt with a rope”; putting before their eyes the form of captivity and the abduction into the land of the barbarians. And instead of the adornment of your head, you will have baldness; whether from hair falling out due to misery, or because the enemies do this, or because they themselves cut their hair. For it was the custom of old, in mourning and calamity, to shear and shave themselves. Indeed Job, having heard of the calamity of his children, shaved his head (Job 1:20). And the prophet also threatens such shearing in mourning (Is. 22:12). And another says again: “Shave and shear yourself for your delicate children.” And instead of a purple-embroidered tunic, you shall be girt with sackcloth (Mic. 1:16). Do not these things seem terrible and intolerable? Yet with us, retribution will not stop at this point, but a venomous worm and endless darkness will receive us. For if captivity, slavery, and extreme evils met them, and that for the sake of their adornment—for when He was about to exact due punishment for this, and to punish this sin specifically, hear how, having enumerated these things, He added the cause: “This is for you instead of adornment.” If, therefore, the Judean women underwent such great punishments for such adornment, their homeland being uprooted from the foundations, and after such great luxury, being made slaves, captives, and exiles, led away into a foreign region, and delivered to famine, pestilence, and a thousand deaths, is it not clear that we will suffer more grievous things, who fall into the same sins? For just as honors are greater, so too are punishments heavier. God does not always punish those who commit similar sins in a similar way.

But if no woman attempting such adornment has yet suffered anything of the kind, let her not for that reason be confident. For it is the custom of God to determine punishments for one or two, and through them to remind all the rest of the punishments that are to befall them. But that this may become clearer: those who inhabited Sodom committed a grave sin of old, and were given extreme punishments, when those lightnings were sent, and the cities, peoples, and the very earth were burned together with their bodies. What then? Did no one after them dare such things? Many, certainly, and in many places throughout the world. Why then did they suffer nothing of the sort? Because they are reserved for a far more grievous punishment. For this reason, God, after doing this once, desisted, so that those who might dare such things, even if they do not pay the penalty here, might know for certain that they will never escape. For how would it be consistent with reason that, before grace and before the law, those who had heard neither the prophets nor anyone else should have suffered such things for the sins they committed, but those who are after...

^A grace, having received such great providence, and having not been made more temperate by the example—which is what makes the sin far more serious—why have they not suffered the punishment destined for them until now? So that you might learn that they are reserved for a far more serious punishment.

10. For what more atrocious things could be inflicted than what happened to the Sodomites? Hear Christ saying: "It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city" (Matt. 10:15). So that even if women who are adorned now do not suffer what those who were adorned then suffered, let them not take heart. For this forbearance and long-suffering piles up a more ^B grievous furnace of fire, and makes the flame greater. This also happened in the case of Ananias and Sapphira. For even they, in the beginning and threshold of the preaching, having embezzled from those funds, were suddenly snatched away, but after them many who dared such things suffered nothing. How then could it be consistent with reason for the just judge, who dispenses equality to all, to punish those who sinned less and yet to release those who committed more grievous transgressions? Is it not manifest that because He has appointed a day in which He is about to judge the world, for this reason He has deferred the punishment, so that either through long-suffering they might become better, or, by persisting in the same things, they might suffer ^C more atrocious things? When, therefore, we commit the same sins as those who have already transgressed and been punished, let us not have the same things happen to us, and let us not take heart, but rather let us be afraid. For just as God brought forth the punishment upon them as a law, admonishing all, and saying that "for this reason I punished the one who sinned from the beginning, so that you also, who transgress after them, may await the same things, so that you may change and become better." For such punishments lie in store for such sins, even if they do not come immediately.

I have not lingered on these things without cause; but because that harmful disease, the love of adornment—which also increased the trickle of money ^D into an exorbitant torrent—entered into the homes of men through the effeminacy of women, casting the men into untimely expenses, and becoming a cause of war and sedition and daily strife, and stretching the bellies of the poor. For when a woman forces her husband to spend all her substance, or even more than she has, on the humiliation of the body (for the gold that is worn about the body is a humiliation of the body), it is necessary for the hand to be drawn back from the generosity of almsgiving. And it is possible to see many other forms of sins born from this. But leaving these things to be known clearly by the experience of those who suffer, let us touch upon what comes next.

For after having set forth the form of the captivity, and saying, "Instead of adornment I bring this on you," he intensifies the calamity, saying: "And your son, the most beautiful, whom you love, shall fall by the sword, and your mighty men shall fall by the sword." For this is more grievous than captivity. For there is a life more bitter than death. For when, along with slavery, they are forced to mourn untimely deaths, consider how great the magnitude of the calamity is, with things that are bitter in themselves being joined to one another. For if captivity were the only thing, the evil was unbearable; and if such mourning occurred while living in freedom, the life was more bitter than death. But now both will be, he says, accumulated together. Or rather, one must call this a double, and triple, and quadruple calamity, when both a son, and one most beautiful, and beloved, and by barbarians, rather than by the common law of nature, concludes his life; and along with this all those in the prime of life, so that there is not even a good hope for them, as far as human help and alliance goes.

"And your ornaments shall be humbled and shall mourn, and you shall be left alone, and you shall be leveled to the ground." Through all these things he increases the lamentation, intensifies the fear, renders the anguish acute, brings the terrible things before the eyes, expands the narration of the calamity, running everywhere, gathering the mournful things from every side because of the insensibility of the hearers. For it was desirable that they, being shaken by such threats, might regain their senses and receive a perception of the mournful things that were about to happen. For this very reason he also added what seems to be extremely pitiable: to see the container of gold emptied, a memorial of the former prosperity, maintaining the pain acute through the sight. For, indeed, calamities are accustomed to bite you most when we compare them with former prosperities; and the comparison makes the wound more grievous. This, at least, Job also once said while lamenting: "Who would set me according to the month of the days of the past?" And he relates all the wealth, and the goods flowing as if from fountains, the honors, the revenues, all the splendor, so as by the comparison of these to show that the present things that had overtaken him were far more grievous.

This is what the prophet has now also done, having reminded them of the containers, and not having been content with these, but also having brought them in mourning. For this form of speech is more emphatic when it produces such personifications. For instance, he even brings in vines lamenting, and wine, so as to touch the hearers more, and to strike at their callousness. And what is, "You shall be left alone"? And bereft of allies, he says, and of the providence of God, and stripped of all other splendor, and encircled on every side by enemies, and caught in the midst of barbarians. Then, wishing to set forth the excess of the humiliation, he says: "And you shall be leveled to the ground." He did not say, "You shall fall," nor, "You shall be brought down," but he used another word that more clearly indicated all her worthlessness.

CHAP. IV.

1. And seven women shall take hold of one man in that day, saying: "We will eat our own bread, and wear our own garments: only let your name be called upon us, to take away our reproach."

1. He wishes to show the smallness of the population that resulted from the war, and how the people of the Jews had been reduced to a minimum number. For they did not say they were in need of the support that is proper to be provided by men to women, but that they would release him from the obligation of this duty, and be content and glad if they could just simply, and as it happened, be freed from the name of widowhood. For this is what is meant by, "Take away our reproach"; since this seemed to be an old reproach. "In that day God shall shine forth in counsel with glory upon the earth, to exalt and to glorify that which is left of Israel."

^A Since he has greatly shaken their minds with the threat of sorrowful things, and has sufficiently dramatized the disaster, and has spoken at length describing the terrible things, he now turns to what is agreeable. This is the best method of healing: not only to cut and to cauterize, but also to soothe with sweeter remedies the pains that arise from these things; and this is what he is doing now. For he does not say that everything will end in dismal things, but that after the evils are removed from the midst, ^B better things will ensue; and he does not say that there will be only a release from distress, but also much splendor and great brightness. For he calls this the "illustration" of God, which dissolves the darkness of despondency, produces a cheerful day, and makes them more illustrious. But the phrase "in counsel" signifies that He does everything prudently and with the wisdom that befits Him.

"And it shall be that what is left of Israel in Sion, and what is left in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, all who are written unto life in Jerusalem." ^C That you may know that those who escaped the danger did not obtain their salvation by some fortuitous chance, but were fortified by the decree of a heavenly judgment, he says: "All who are written unto life in Jerusalem shall be called holy." Those who are separated, he says, those who are proven, those who are marked, that they might suffer nothing evil. He justly calls them holy, showing that the separation was not aimless, nor without cause did the decree of God preserve them, but that their virtue contributed something to this outcome, whether it preceded or followed after. For even if they were good and righteous, yet from the things that happened they became better and more diligent. For just as gold handed over to the fire puts off all slag, so also do the zealous become more zealous in temptations, ^D washing away all slothfulness.

"For the Lord shall wash away the filth of the sons and daughters of Sion, and shall purge the blood from their midst with a spirit of judgment and with a spirit of burning." He seems to me to be speaking here of a twofold purification: both that they pay the penalty for their sins, and that they become more diligent for the future. He calls the slaughters of Jerusalem "blood," and unjust slaughters at that. Then, increasing the accusation, he says, "From their midst." For they did not attempt these murders in secret, but—worse than robbers and those who lie in wait on the public highways—they committed the same crimes in the middle of the forum, in the middle of the city, and in the very courts of justice. But the war that is coming on will consume the stain that arose from them. For, at a time of good things, he defends the evils previously brought upon them, namely that those things happened in order that they might be washed, that they might put off their filth, that they might be cleansed by fire, that they might wipe away every stain, that they might wash off the shame born of their sins and slaughters. But what is it that he says, "with a spirit of judgment and with a spirit of burning"? He uses the metaphor of the smelting of metallic ore. For just as there, air blown into a smelting furnace fans the flame and makes the coals hotter, and consumes all the slag, so also here the wrath sent by God, and the incursion of enemies that falls upon them, has become like fire for the city—a fire not bringing destruction, but burning, purging, punishing, and correcting. For this is the meaning of the phrase "with a spirit of judgment," that is, of punishment, of vengeance, and of retribution.

"And the Lord shall come." He calls His advent an "operation." "And every place of Mount Sion, and all things that are in its circuit, shall a cloud overshadow by day, and as it were the smoke and as it were the light of a burning fire by night, and with all glory it shall be protected." "And it shall be for a shade by day from heat, and for a covering and a hiding place from harshness and rain." Here he calls the consolation given in evils a "cloud," but he calls His advent combined with consolation a "pyre." For what a cloud is in heat, that is the pyre of brilliant fire kindled in darkness and deep night. For that dispels the heat, while this dispels the gloom. Therefore, he compared His advent to the brightness of a pyre, and the remission and recreation to the shade of a cloud. Then, showing that these things will not happen by the gradual dissolution of sorrows, but that the change will happen suddenly and in the very peak of distress, in order that they may learn even from this that the change for the better was not made by some revolution or chance, but that the whole was accomplished by supernal power. "As a burning fire in the night," he says, "so will the transformation happen, and it shall be for a shade by day." What is this shade? The aid and help of God, he says, like a shade in the heat, and like a roof or the hiding place of a cave, keeping in safety him who has fled thither while a violent rain is falling; thus also the co-militancy of God will permit those whom He has willed to save from the beginning to suffer no detriment, even while so great a war is invading.

CHAPTER V

"I will sing to my beloved a song of my beloved concerning my vineyard."

[a] He comforted them with the promise of good things, and applied a varied remedy, and he leads the discourse back to another beginning—a beginning, I say, that might seem to be the exordium of the prophecy. For just as from the beginning he immediately recounted the benefits bestowed upon them by God, saying, "I have begotten and exalted sons" (Isai. 1:2), and brought forward and set forth the crimes they had committed—namely, "They have set me at naught," and "Israel did not know me, and my people did not understand me" (Isai. 1:3)—so also here, he expresses different words with the same meaning, the very things he set forth before. But for what reason does he, who is about to rebuke, call his rebuke a "song"? For Moses rightly did this with Maria, as one about to modulate a triumphal song, and he deservedly begins thus: "Let us sing to the Lord; for He has been gloriously magnified; the horse and the rider He has cast into the sea" (Exod. 15:1). And Deborah, after that marvelous trophy and the unexpected victory, justly wove that triumphal song, offering praise to God (Judg. 5). But this one, about to accuse, and needing an intense discourse, and not with an unrelaxed but with a composed soul, promises to sing, and calls his accusations a song.

^A And not only he himself, but that great Moses then sang his triumphal song; when rebuking the Jews, he made that long song full of reproofs, saying: "Do you thus repay the Lord? This is a foolish and unwise people" (Deut. 32. 6); and having collected many accusations, he decreed that they should sing these things; and even today, singing, do we also say these things.

Why then do they make the accusations a song? Because they used spiritual wisdom, and wished to bring great benefit to the souls of the hearers. For since nothing is as useful as to remember transgressions constantly, and nothing makes a memory as permanent as melody, that they might not, through the excess of the accusations, be reluctant and draw back and shun the constant remembering of their own sins, by the melody of the song he steals away the shame that comes from the memory and alleviates the intolerable despondency. He made these songs so that, being compelled by the desire for melody to utter them constantly, they might constantly be mindful of them, and might have a certain instruction of virtue in this constant memory of sins. You know, at any rate, that even now other books are not known to the many even by name; but everyone carries the exposition of the Psalms on their lips, and these very songs; thus, by the things themselves, it is shown how much profit there is from melody. For this reason he himself also says: "I will sing to my beloved a song of my beloved concerning my vineyard" (Is. 5. 1). A song to the beloved, he says, about the vineyard; I will sing concerning the beloved himself. For I sing to him, he says, and the subject of the song is about him and his affairs. But if, being about to accuse, he calls him beloved and well-beloved, do not wonder. For this is also the greatest help to an accusation: that, having been loved, and having enjoyed such favor from God, they still did not become better. This was what another prophet also hinted at when he said: "I found Israel like a grape in the wilderness, as a first-ripe fruit in a fig tree I saw their fathers" (Osee 9. 10), indicating their desirable and beloved nature by these fruits; but desirable and beloved not because of their own virtue, but because of God’s goodness. And what he says is this: that "I loved them as one might having found a grape in the wilderness, or as one might a first-fruit in a fig tree" (for even if the examples are unworthy of God, yet they are appropriate to their gluttony). "But they," he says, "having enjoyed such love, were alienated and went in to Baal-Peor." So here too he calls him beloved and well-beloved, showing that God displayed all the things from Himself, not they having started, but God having led the way. But they, not even after this, showed themselves worthy of the benefit, but showed all the opposite things. ^B "My vineyard was made for the beloved, in a horn, in a fertile place." By the name of the vineyard, he revealed all his providence and the care concerning them.

He does not stop here, but also enumerates the other benefits. ^C And first, he does this from the position of the place; for that which he said, "In a horn, in a fertile place," he said partly praising the nature of the land, and partly the position; which David, also singing, said: "Jerusalem, mountains are around her, and the Lord is around his people" (Ps. 124. 2). For he fenced her in, he says, also by the position of the place; but he was not satisfied with this, but the greatest wall himself became for her: which this person also hints at, saying "In a horn," denoting the indomitable and invincible nature of the place, and before this, the help from God, by a metaphor of the horn of an ox. For a common proverb is also current about those fleeing into some safe place. Because the bull is stronger than all, and the strongest part of the animal itself is the horn—for it uses it as a weapon—because of its invincibility, the many are accustomed to saying this; and Scripture also often calls those who are in safety "the horn of the unicorn." "In a horn" therefore, he says here, in safety, in height, which he said at the beginning: "I have begotten sons and exalted them" (Is. 1. 2). "In a fertile place": which Moses said, "A land flowing with milk and honey" (Ex. 3. 8). "And I put a hedge around, and I dug a trench." He calls the hedge either the wall, or the Law, or His providence. For the Law stood around them more safely than a wall. "And I dug a trench," that is, I made the safety strong. Since a hedge is often easy to break through, he says he cast another alliance around them. "And I planted a vineyard, Sorek." He persists in the metaphor, which one must not interpret literally, but knowing the goal, be content with this. And "Sorek" he says here means true, noble, not of the worthless plants, nor of the inferior ones, but of the approved and primary ones. For there are many kinds of vines. "And I built a tower and a winepress in the midst of it." Some interpret this as the Temple, and the winepress as the altar, as the fruits of each person's virtue were gathered there, and the offerings, and all the sacrifices. I, however, this which I have said before, I will also say now, that one must pay attention to the goal of the metaphor. For through everything he wishes to say this, that "I fulfilled all the things from Myself, I displayed all care. I did not weary them with toils, I did not crush them with labors, I did not order them to build, I did not order them to dig, I did not order them to plant, but I handed over the finished work." And he did not stand only so far in his philanthropy, but also waited to produce a grape, and I awaited the proper time of fruit-bearing, having used great patience. For "I waited," this signifies. "And it produced thorns." He indicates their fruitless life, the rough, the hard. Who then would be worthy of forgiveness after such care, having given back these things to the cultivator instead of the fruits? "And now, man of Judah and dwellers of Jerusalem, judge between me and my vineyard" (Is. 5. 3–4). Great is the abundance of the justice, when he seats the very defendants as judges of the things done by him and of the things done by them. "And now." I do not speak of old things, he says, but today also I am ready to be judged. Thus I never cease fulfilling my parts, neither do you fulfill your parts. "What shall I do more to my vineyard? For I waited that it might produce grapes, but it produced thorns."

^A Its structure seems somewhat obscure, which is why it is necessary that we render it clearer. What he is saying is this: "What did I need to do, which I have not done?" Clearly, that such sins should be committed. But what objection can they raise? That by leaving some things undone, they fell into such transgressions? "What shall I do more to my vineyard, and I have not done to it?" What I have done, he says, is this; but I am not content with what has been done, nor do I say that I have bestowed many benefits. Rather, if there is anything I have not done—after which nothing remained to be done—I ask you to tell me, you who have attained these things and are witnesses of my deeds; for I am questioning those who have experienced this, not strangers and outsiders. 5. "But now I will declare to you what I will do to my vineyard." Because he has reported the victory and demonstrated their ungrateful heart, he finally brings forth the sentence and speaks of what he is about to do—not to condemn them, but to make them more moderate out of fear induced by his threats. "I will take away its hedge, and it shall be for plunder; and I will destroy its wall, and it shall be for trampling." I will give it up, and will render it devoid of such providence, and through the experience of opposing things they shall know what great benefits they formerly enjoyed when they stood exposed to plunder for all. 6. "And I will let go my vineyard, and it shall not be pruned, nor shall it be dug." I say again that he is using a metaphor. If, however, anyone wishes to investigate it more accurately, he is speaking of the solicitude for doctrine and commandments. For they will not enjoy the same things as before; they will not have teachers, nor princes, nor prophets as they once did, who might correct them or have care for them. For just as those who farm vineyards dig and prune them, so those who amend souls warn, terrify, instruct, and rebuke. But, he says, they will be deprived of these things, having been carried off into an alien land. "And there shall rise upon it, as if on untilled land, thorn; and I will command the clouds not to rain rain upon it." He is either mentioning the desolation of the city or the desolation of them and of each one's soul. Some say that the clouds here are the prophets, for they were wont to receive rain from above and transmit to the people what had been said. But even these will not do what they were accustomed to do. For even if one or another prophet had gone along with them, the multitude of the prophets was silent at that time. ^B 7. "For the vineyard of the Lord of Sabaoth is the house of Israel, and the man of Juda is his beloved plant." "I waited that it might produce judgment, but it produced iniquity, and not justice, but a cry." Because he used a metaphor of many names—mentioning the vineyard, the tower, the winepress, the hedge, the digging, and the pruning of the vineyard—that no one of the foolish might think these things were spoken about a physical vineyard, he suddenly interprets the whole thing at the end. "For the vineyard of the Lord of Sabaoth is the house of Israel." For my discourse is not about plants, nor about inanimate nature, nor about stones and walls, but about our people. Therefore he added, "And the man of Juda is his beloved plant" (Ezech. 17:3), because, forsooth, Judah possessed more than the other tribes; and the temple was situated nearby, as well as the rest of the worship; and that one flourished more than all the others, and being closer to the royal line, it was more powerful. He called it "beloved," again prickling them, because they had shown themselves to be so very loving toward him. For this is the law of those who love: not to hide their great love even when charges are brought forward. From this we learn something else not to be despised. What is that? Namely, when and in what places of the Scripture it is appropriate to interpret allegorically; and that it is not in our power to invent these laws at will, but that we ought to follow the mind of the Scripture itself, and thus use allegory. What I say is to be understood thus: Scripture here spoke of a vineyard, a hedge, a winepress; and it did not leave it to the hearer to adapt these to certain things or persons at his own pleasure, but in the following lines it interpreted itself, saying, "For the vineyard of the Lord of Sabaoth is the house of Israel." Ezekiel, in turn, when he makes mention of a great eagle with great wings entering into Lebanon and plucking off the topmost summit of the cedar, does not leave the interpretation of this allegory to the judgment of the hearers, but he himself explains what eagle he speaks of, and what cedar (Isai. 8:7). And here, too, in the following parts, where he introduces a certain violent river into Judea, so that it might not be permitted for a listener to adapt these things to any person at will, he said it was the king whom he had called a river. This law is observed everywhere in the Scripture: that when it speaks allegorically, it brings the interpretation of the allegory, so that the covetous mind of those who love allegories may not wander rashly and by chance, and be carried off wherever it wills. And why do you marvel if the prophets do this? The author of Proverbs certainly observes this. For when he had said, "Let the crow of friendship and the colt of thy graces converse with thee, and let the fountain of thy water be for thee alone" (Prov. 5:19), he interpreted why he said these things—namely, to speak of a legitimate and free wife, so as to turn one away from a harlot and a stranger. In the same way here he explained in this place what he meant by the vineyard. ^C Then, when he had announced their crimes and mentioned their punishments, again at the end he prepares a defense, saying: "I waited that it might produce judgment, but it produced iniquity, and not justice, but a cry." I demand the penalty, he says, justly. For I looked that it might produce judgment—that is, justice—but they displayed the opposites: iniquity, injustice, and a cry. By "cry" he means here the desire for acquisition, unjust rage, irrational anger, fights, and contentions. 8. "Woe to those who join house to house, and adapt field to field, that they may take something away from their neighbor." When he had said that they had made a "cry," that is, a desire for acquisition and plunder, he adds the species of iniquity that is full of much wickedness; and again he begins with laments, showing the magnitude of the sins and insinuating those who were suffering from an incurable disease.

^A These things even now one might see being dared by those who use their wealth badly, who devise neighbors—not for security, but for the entrapment of their neighbors—just as fire walking along a road, in this way devouring all who are of the neighborhood. Will you not dwell alone upon the earth? For these things were heard now in the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. He demonstrates that they labor in vain and to no purpose. For since punishments and retributions are not accustomed to bringing such men around as much as the learning accurately that they will not enjoy their plunder, he applies this threat to them, saying that they will labor and suffer, and they will harvest the sin, but they will fall away from the enjoyment 56. For, he says, the unsleeping eye does not remain silent regarding the things that are happening. And the phrase, "It was heard now," does not mean that these things were then known to Him, but that the justice was finally at their heels and the recompense was taking place. For if there be many houses, they will be great and beautiful in a desert, and there will be none inhabiting them. For such is avarice: when it gathers more for those who have, it even casts them out of what they previously had. This is also what he hints at here, saying: "When you build splendidly and make all things your own, then you will also depart from your former things." And the houses will stand, having no inhabitants, but emitting a sound louder than any trumpet against those who originally plundered them, the intense desolation appearing instead of any trophy. There shall not be ten yokes of oxen working, he shall make one vessel; and he who sows six bushels, shall make three measures. ^B From the city he leads the discourse to the desolation of the country, so as to strike the auditor with awe on every side. For, he says, neither will the houses hold their inhabitants, nor will the earth demonstrate its own power. For even from the beginning, on account of Adam's sin, it brought forth thorns and thistles; and after him, on account of Cain's lawlessness, it showed the burden of pain being much lower than what his was, and it showed the produce of its own strength. And one might see it being punished in many other places on account of the sins of men. And why do you marvel if lawlessness makes its offspring and the birth-pangs of men useless, where it even became corruptible on our account, and again becomes incorruptible on our account? For since it received its very being on our account and for our service, likewise its state of being this way or that way also receives its beginning and root from thence. So it was indeed in the time of Noah. Because human nature had slid toward extreme wickedness, all things were in confusion, and seeds, and plants, and kinds of irrational creatures, and the earth, and sea, and air, and mountains, and dales, and hills, and cities, and walls, and houses, and towers; and all things simply were then hidden by that terrible deep. And because the race had to flourish again, the earth regained its own order and returned again to its former beauty. One might see this also happening in part on account of the honor shown to men. For the deep appeared, and again it appeared, and the sun was reined in with the moon, and it left its own course, and fire displayed the properties of water, and earth those of the deep, and the deep those of the earth; and all things, to put it simply, are transformed for the benefit of men. And since man is more precious than all things, and all things that have been made exist for his sake, for this very reason even now, 57 since the people of the Jews have sinned, God holds back the birth-pangs of the earth, and after many labors and sweats he does not permit its wombs to bear their accustomed produce, so that from this also they might learn that it is not the art of agricultural hands, nor oxen and plow, nor the nature of the earth, nor any other of such things, but the Lord of all these is He who also pours out all things with a liberal hand, and again, whenever He wills, draws all things back. Woe to those who rise up in the morning, and follow after strong drink, those who wait until evening. For wine will burn them up. For with harp and psaltery and timbrels and flutes they drink wine; but they do not look upon the works of God, and they do not consider the works of His hands. Having accused them of much covetousness, he also places the root of the evil. And this was drunkenness, which becomes the basis of ten thousand evils, and especially when it is dared with such excess. ^C Observe, then, how he mocks them precisely. For he says that their whole day is spent on this. For they do not do this when the time comes to dine, he says, but they make the whole time a time of drunkenness, and from the beginning of the day, when it was most necessary for them to be attentive, giving themselves over to much undiluted wine, and remaining unwillingly until evening in the disease. For once they have managed to be drowned in the abyss of dissipation, and have fallen away from their natural senses, and have surrendered their soul captive to the wicked tyranny of drunkenness, just like a ship without ballast, and deprived of both pilot and sailors, it is carried simply and at random, driven everywhere by the disorderly rush of the waters; in the same way, these also, having been submerged by drunkenness, are carried along. Therefore he says: Woe to those who rise up in the morning, and follow after strong drink. For they were not satisfying a need, nor were they waiting for desire to arise to satisfy a want, but they made this their work and exercise, to be drunk continuously. Therefore he says: those who follow after strong drink. And he calls the palm-sap "strong drink" (a) here, which they practiced, crushing the fruit and kneading it, transforming it into the nature of wine. And such a thing is intoxicating and productive of drunkenness. But they suspected none of these things, following after pleasure everywhere, remaining until evening. For wine will burn them up. For such is the nature of drunkenness; it increases as it proceeds, and makes the thirst more severe. Then he also adds another charge no less than the former, saying: For with harp and psaltery and timbrels and flutes they drink wine. Another prophet brings this same charge, saying: Those who drink the filtered wine, and are anointed with the first ointments, who make music to the sound of instruments. They counted it as permanent, and not as fleeting. For this is a sign of extreme insensibility and of a demoralized soul, to make one's own house a theater, and to give themselves over to such songs. What drunkenness does by making them dark, this music does by softening the tension of the mind, and breaking the courage of the soul, and leading them into greater debauchery. And the works of

(a) [original-script column: see facsimile] This is a singular term for "strong drink," an interpretation. No one, indeed, is ignorant that this word is Hebrew: derived from being intoxicated, it has the force of making one drunk; whence other interpreters render it as drunkenness. Hesychius interprets it as a mixture of condiments. Perhaps Chrysostom meant that a liquor made from palm juice is called strong drink. One should not suppose this interpretation to be his commentary.

^A they do not look at, and the works of His hands they do not consider. He refers either to His miracles or to the contemplation of nature. But how could they be spectators of these things when they turn day into night, and by night are no better off than the dead? How will they be able to see the sun rising, the shining beauty of the heaven, the evening dance of the stars, and the order and service of the rest of creation, when they are deprived of their inner and outer eyes? They are not a little injured, therefore, in that they depart from this life never having contemplated the wonders of God, having been buried for all time in the darkness of drunkenness. ^B *Therefore my people has been made captive, because they have not known the Lord.* Again, he announces what is to be as if it were a past event, and he brings punishment upon this transgression. For indeed, even drunkenness itself equals any punishment, causing turmoil in the soul, filling the mind with gloom, rendering it captive, and overwhelming it internally and externally with countless diseases. Paul knew this, knowing that malice itself acts as a punishment; hence he says: *And receiving in themselves the recompense which was fitting for their error* (Rom. 1:27). But since it is a peculiarity of their senselessness that they are punished but do not perceive that they are being punished, that they are ill but do not know they are ill, he brings in punishment from without as well, saying: *Therefore my people has been made captive, because they have not known the Lord. And a multitude has become dead because of hunger and thirst for water.* See how much admonition is contained within the punishment, and that the most severe excision is not brought on immediately. For he did not bring captivity suddenly, but hunger and thirst first, so that they, remaining at home, might become better and not draw upon themselves the army of barbarians due to an incurable disease. But because they did not yield and gained nothing from this, he finally brings the ultimate punishment upon them. Yet before that, he praises and amplifies the calamity of hunger with his words, saying: *Hades has stretched wide its soul.* Not that Hades has a soul, but he uses personification to threaten, so that he may speak with greater emphasis and strike the souls of the hearers with immense fear. Therefore he persists ^C in the prosopopoeia, saying: *And it has opened its mouth, so that it does not cease,* as if speaking of a wild beast and bringing the image of events close to them. And what is more serious, not only did it open its mouth, but it remains with gaping jaws and is not sated by what has already been swallowed. *And there shall descend to it the glorious, and the great, and the rich, and its pestilences.* Subsequently, so that you may know that these things do not happen according to the order of nature, but that the scourge was sent from God and the decree brought down from heaven, he says that those established in dignity and power, who were disordering everything and overturning the affairs of the Jews, would descend there; they would not keep the wickedness to themselves, but would transmit the disease to others. For such is the nature of a pestilence: when it begins from one body, it spreads gradually into the multitude. *And exulting in it.* He who is given to luxuries, who exults, who thinks he possesses immovable goods, he too shall fall and be caught. *And man shall be humbled, and the man of rank shall be dishonored; and the lofty eyes shall be humbled. And the Lord Sabaoth shall be exalted alone in judgment.* See again the providence of God. For He does not bring about destruction, nor does He allow the whole people to be snatched from the midst, but He leaves some so that they might recover at the punishment of those who depart. This, therefore, he hints at, saying: *They shall be humbled*, that is, those who remain, who have been left behind. *And the Lord Sabaoth shall be exalted in judgment, and God the holy one shall be glorified in justice.* He sets forth two blessings: that they themselves will cast off their fear and become better, and that God will be an object of admiration to all. For that is what this means, *shall be exalted* and *shall be glorified*; through punishment, that is, and through the very act of retribution. But what is "in judgment"? Through retribution. ^D *And the scattered shall graze like bulls, and the waste places of those who have been taken shall lambs eat.* By these words he indicates the paucity of those who remain and the immense desolation of the region. *Woe to those who draw their sins as with a long rope, and their iniquities as with the leather strap of a yoke-harness for a heifer. Who say: Let that which God will do hasten, that we may see; and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel come, that we may know.* Because the prophets frequently threatened and foretold terrible things, the false prophets, speaking to please and dissolving the vigor of the people, kept saying that their own words were true and the others' false. Many, therefore, being seduced, did not believe their words. Furthermore, because the prophecies did not come to pass immediately upon being announced—for the nature of prophecy was to announce long in advance the things that were to happen—since the prophets frequently predicted famine, pestilence, and wars, yet did not show them in actual reality, meanwhile many of those who had been deceived, taking occasion from the delay to disbelieve, used to say: "Let those things come which are spoken of; if you are telling the truth, let the events themselves arrive; show us the counsel of God from the deeds themselves." Because, therefore, they were making His patience an occasion for disbelief, and were adding this to their sins—both that they did not believe, and that because of their disbelief they became more sluggish—the prophet rightfully laments them, saying: "As with a long rope, thus do you drag the wrath of God against yourselves, and increase your own wickedness." Because you do not believe the words, the only thing left is for the experience of the events to be brought to you. So that you yourselves draw evils upon yourselves, you who have no faith in the words. Therefore he says: *Woe to those who draw their sins*; that is, the retribution for their sins. As with a long rope, you drag from afar, he says, the vengeance determined for your sins, and like the leather strap of a yoke-harness for a heifer, so that you may express their eagerness and concern for sinning. Just as if someone were to drag something along with a strong thong, so you through disbelief draw the wrath of God against yourselves. Then he says how they drag it. *Woe to those who say: Let that which God will do hasten...*

that we may see.* This is what the other prophet complains of, saying: *Woe to those who desire the day of the Lord. And what is the day of the Lord to you? It is darkness and not light, and darkness that has not its own radiance.* For they too, in their disbelief, said: *When will the day of chastisement and punishment come?* ^A *Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put light for darkness, and darkness for light; who put sweet for bitter, and bitter for sweet.* He discourses again about the same people. Since they used to insult the prophets and call them deceivers, while honoring the false prophets, and overturn the order of things, he laments them for their corrupt judgment. *Woe*, he says, *to those who call evil good* (that is, false prophecy), *and good evil* (prophecy); *who put light for darkness, and darkness for light; who put sweet for bitter, and bitter for sweet.* Even if the words, he says, are burdensome, yet nothing is sweeter than the prophets, who by the threatening of their words ward off the experience that comes through [the actual] events. Even if the words of the false prophets are sweet, yet nothing is more bitter than they, who by the grace of their language bring on through [evil] deeds the threatened penalty.

7. Behold the wisdom of the prophet, how he turned their opinion around. Since they paid no heed to those who spoke as if they were most bitter, but rather to those who appeared most gentle and possessed of great sweetness, he said that it is, on the contrary, the opposite: great is the honey of the prophets, and great is the bitterness of the false prophets. Thus we must also handle the discourse concerning light and darkness. For the latter led them toward error, while the former guided them toward the truth; and the latter, by the gloom of captivity, all but bound their hands and delivered them over, while the former did everything so that they might lead them in the light of freedom. Since, therefore, they held opposite and inappropriate opinions concerning these matters, he rightly corrects them, saying: *who put light for darkness, and darkness for light. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight.* This is no small defect, for one to consider himself wise and to entrust everything to his own reasonings. For from this arises that—I mean, the calling of evil good, and good evil, and so forth. Paul also, blaming the philosophers outside, said: *Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools* (Rom. 1. 22). And the proverbial saying again says: *I saw a man who seemed to be wise in his own eyes; there is more hope for a fool than for him* (Prov. 26. 12). Paul also makes this same charge again, saying: *Be not wise in your own opinions* (Rom. 12. 16); and again: *If anyone seems to be wise among you in this age, let him become a fool, that he may become wise* (1 Cor. 3. 18). Let him not, he says, trust in his own wisdom, nor in his own reasonings, but having calmed those, let him surrender his soul to the teaching of the Spirit. Since, therefore, among the Jews there were some who despised the prophets as shepherds and goatherds, wishing to be wise from their own resources—which became a cause of arrogance for them, and of contempt for what was said—he rightly laments them, saying: *Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight. Woe to your mighty ones, those who drink wine, and those who are powerful, those who mix strong drink.* Do not marvel if, having said so many things a little before, he repeats the same argument. For because the wound is serious and hard to treat, for this reason it was necessary to drain it continuously. And it is serious and hard to treat because it does not appear to the many to be a sin, although it is more serious than all sins and brings forth myriads of diseases. Therefore he says: *Those who drink wine, and those who are powerful, who mix strong drink.* The precipice is double: the tyranny of drunkenness and the excess of power. For all men need reasoning, especially those who are in positions of dignity and power, so that they might not, as by the rush of unbridled waters, be driven headlong by the weight of their own authority. *Who justify the impious for the sake of bribes, and take the justice of the just from him.* Double again is the charge: of letting the accountable go, and condemning the unaccountable. The root of both sins is bribery. *Therefore, in the way that stubble will be burned by a coal of fire, and will be burned together by an ignited flame.* He shows the swiftness of the punishment, the ease of the chastisement, indicating by the image their total destruction.

8. For all these things the flame, and the coals, and the stubble, and what follows, have made clear to us. *Their root shall be as dust, and their flower shall go up as dust.* Fixed and firm things shall perish, and the brilliant things will be dispersed, and the bright things will depart and flow away. *For they did not wish to do the law of the Lord of Sabaoth, but provoked the utterance of the Holy One.* He calls the law an utterance. *And the Lord of Sabaoth was angered with wrath against His people; and He laid His hand upon them, and struck them. And He was provoked against the mountains, and their dead bodies became as dung in the midst of the street. And in all these things His wrath did not turn away, but His hand is still high.* Here He hints at a grievous war, which will not even permit the bodies to be surrendered to burial—not so that they [the dead] might receive punishment, but so that the living, seeing [the bodies in] strange calamities, might cut away something of their own wickedness. And see how he made the statement more grievous. For he did not say that they were not buried, but that the departed were cast away as more worthless than any dung, which seems to the living more chilling than anything, and more grievous than death itself. And what is worse, he says that even when these things happen, they have not become more reasonable, but persist in the same things. Since, therefore, they became no better, he threatens them again with that most grievous blow, that of the barbarians. Therefore he also adds, saying: *Therefore He shall lift up a signal to the nations from afar.* So that the length of the road might not cast them into sloth, he says that it is so easy for God to bring them, as it is for one who raises a signal and leads out those who are prepared and ready for battle, which also happens in the case of racehorses. For together with the signal being raised for the release, they immediately spring from the starting gates. Therefore the prophet hints at two things here: that it is easy for them to come when God calls, and that they would have come long ago, had not His great long-suffering held them back. Then by the explanation he shows the greater ease, saying: *And He shall whistle to them from the end of the earth.*

^A And *behold, quickly, swiftly they shall come.* They shall not hunger, nor shall they labor, nor shall they sleep. These things are said hyperbolically. For how could it be that, being human and sharing the common condition of nature, they should neither hunger nor sleep? But by all these things he demonstrates the speed, the facility, and the swiftness of the army, as I said before. They shall not loose their belts from their loins, nor shall the thongs of their shoes be broken. Their horses' feet are reckoned like hard rock, and the wheels of their chariots like storms. They shall rage like lions, and they shall stand like lion's whelps. And he shall lay hold and shall cry out like a wild beast, and he shall cast out; and there shall be none to deliver them. And he shall cry out for them in that day like the voice of a sea surging. And they shall look up to heaven above, and to the earth below; and behold, darkness is hard, darkness in their distress. ^B By all these things he has amplified the discourse and heightened the fear, detailing each thing minutely—about the decree, the strength, the weapons, the horses, the chariots—so that by the multitude of what is said he might bring great anxiety and, through the clarity of the images, bring the events almost before their eyes. Therefore he compares them to lions, and he does not stop at this example, but he fashions the voice and the impulse of the beast, and insists upon the metaphor and makes much use of figurative language. From there he transfers the discourse to the sea, saying that the tumult and the agitation shall be as great as that which would arise from a raving and surging sea; and he endeavors in every way to increase the fear, so that they might not need the experience of the events themselves. And what is more grievous: there shall be no one present, he says, neither from the earth nor from the heavens; but destitute of help from above and of the aid of the earth, they shall be given over to the enemy. He calls those things darkness here which are brought upon them by the calamity—not that the beams of the sun were removed, but that according to the disposition of the sufferers, they see darkness instead of light in the midday; which is wont to happen to those who are pressed by grief and tribulations. And that you may learn that the darkness did not arise from the nature of the air, but from their disposition, he added: *Hard darkness in their distress.*

CHAPTER VI.

*And it came to pass in the year that king Uzziah died.*

a’. Why does the prophet characterize the present time by the death of the king, when he does not do so with the others? For he did not say, *It came to pass in the days of Uzziah,* nor, *In the reign of Uzziah,* but, *It came to pass when he died.* Why then does he do this? He does not do it haphazardly or by chance, but he hints at some mystery for us. What is that? This Uzziah, having become drunk from his successes and inflated by his prosperity, sought something greater than his own dignity ^C allowed. And because he was king, he thought it fitting for himself to exercise the priesthood; he leapt into the temple, entered into the Holy of Holies, and, when the priest resisted and forbade him from entering there, he did not bear it, but persisted in his madness, having little regard for the priest. On account of such impudence God sent leprosy upon his forehead. For since he sought honor greater than what was appropriate for him, he fell even from that which he had. For not only did he not receive the priesthood, but having become unclean, he was driven even from the kingdom, and for the whole time he lived hidden in a certain house, because he could not bear the shame. All the people also were called into a share of such vengeance, because they had despised the laws of God and had not avenged the priesthood that was treated with contumely. How then were they called into a share of the vengeance? Because the prophecy was withdrawn: for God, being angry, did not answer anything about the matter. But He did not do this for all time, but defined the measure of the vengeance according to the measure of the king's life. Therefore as soon as he departed from life, God unloosed the wrath and opened the doors of prophecy again. The prophet, therefore, hinting at this, recalled to us the memory of the king's passing.

God, how He might be seen. For this reason he begins the prophecy thus: *It came to pass in the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting.* Yet Christ says: *No man hath seen God at any time. The only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him* (John 1:18). And again: *Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God: he hath seen the Father* (John 6:46). And He said to Moses: *No man shall see my face and live* (Exod. 33:20). How then does he say here that he saw the Lord? For he says, *I saw the Lord.* ^D He does not say things contrary to what Christ said, but things very much in harmony. For Christ is speaking about the accurate cognition, according to which no one has seen: for no one has seen the naked divinity and the pure substance except the Only-begotten; but the prophet narrates that he saw Him to the extent that it was possible. For he could not see God Himself as He is, but he contemplated Him under a certain figure, which had descended only as far as the infirmity of the observer could ascend. For that neither he nor anyone else saw the naked divinity is clear from what they narrate. *For I saw,* he says, *the Lord sitting.* But God does not sit: for this is indeed a figure of bodies. But not only *sitting*, but *on a throne*. But God is not contained: for how could He be contained, who is everywhere present and fills all things, *in whose hand are the ends of the earth* (Ps. 94:4)? Whence it is manifest that what was seen was by a certain attemperation. Thus, therefore, another prophet, pointing out from the person of God, was saying: *I have multiplied visions* (Osee 12:10), that is, I have appeared in various ways. If indeed the naked substance itself were appearing, it would not be seen in various ways; but because, descending, He showed Himself to the prophets now in one way, now in another, assuming a figure appropriate to the times in which He was seen, therefore He says: *I have multiplied visions, and I have been assimilated in the hands of the prophets.* I did not appear, he says, as I was, but I was assimilated to that form which the observers could see. You see, therefore, Him now sitting, now armed, now with white hair, now in air, now in fire, now appearing from behind, now upon the Cherubim, and according to the brilliance of the metallic materials the appearance is depicted...

^A Why, therefore, he appears now armed and bloodstained, now in fire, now showing his back, now in heaven, now on a throne, now upon the Cherubim, would not be for the present occasion to say, lest the secondary work become greater than the work itself. For the moment, it is necessary to discuss the vision before us. Why, then, does he appear thus sitting on a throne, and with the Seraphim? He imitates human custom, since his discourse was also directed to humans. For because he is about to deliver a decision concerning great matters and the whole inhabited world—and moreover, concerning Jerusalem—he sets down a double decree: one bringing punishment to the city and the entire nation, the other bringing a benefaction to the world and promising great hopes and immortal honors.

2. But it is the custom of those who judge not to do these things in secret, but to sit on an elevated tribunal, with all standing by, and the curtains drawn back. Himself imitating these, he brings the Seraphim to stand by him, and he sits on a high throne, and thus he pronounces this decision. And that you may learn that this is not a suspicion, but a custom of his, I will attempt to make this clear from another prophet. For in the case of Daniel, since he, too, was about to deliver a great decision concerning the punishments and avenges of the Jews and the goods about to be given to the world, there also a throne appears, bright and conspicuous, and a multitude of angels standing by, and a company of archangels, and the Only-Begotten sitting with them, and books are opened, and rivers of fire are drawn out, and from everywhere the pattern of a tribunal is constituted ^B (Dan. 7). And all those things are related to what is told here, or rather, he announces them even more clearly, insofar as the times were becoming closer, and the prophecy was now arriving at the very doors. But leaving these things to those who are diligent to collect and set them side by side, and to learn the communion of each prophecy, we shall, as I said, take hold of the one before us with precision, explaining each phrase as far as is possible. For thus the things said will be clearer both to us and to you. What then does he say? "I saw the Lord sitting." The sitting on a throne is always a symbol of judgment, as David says: "You have sat on the throne, you who judge righteousness" (Ps. 9.4); and Daniel: "Thrones were set, and a judgment sat" (Dan. 7.9). But the prophet says that the simple sitting is a symbol of something else. Of what, then? Of the firm, the permanent, the established, the immutable, the unending, of the endless life. For this reason he says: "You are sitting forever, while we perish forever." You, he says, abiding, existing, living, always existing in the same way. For that he was not speaking of a seat, the contrast made clear. For he did not say, "We standing," but, "Perishing." But the sitting on the throne is ^C the judging. For this reason he sees him thus sitting on a throne high and lifted up, or perhaps this signifies one thing, and that another. For the throne was high, that is, great and of great length; and lifted up, that is, also appearing in an unspeakable height, and soaring. "And the house was full of his glory." Which house, tell me? The temple. For because the enmity was from there, for this reason, in this wonderful vision, it appeared that the house was full of his glory. What house? I say, the temple. For because thence came forth the hostilities, rightfully even in this wondrous vision there the throne is seen. But by "glory" he here means radiance, unapproachable light, which, being unable to explain in speech, he called glory, and not simply glory, but the glory of God. "And the Seraphim stood round about him." What does he mean by these Seraphim? Incorporeal powers of the upper hosts, whose virtue and blessedness it is possible to see even from their title. For in the Hebrew tongue, "Seraphim" is interpreted as "fiery mouths." What then do we learn from this? The purity of their essence, the wakefulness, the alertness, the quickness, the energetic quality, the stainlessness. ^D Thus, at least, the prophet David also, wishing to demonstrate to us the unsullied ministry of the powers above, and the speed of their service and its exceedingly energetic quality, was saying: "Who makes his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire" (Ps. 103.4); indicating to us through these elements the speed, the lightness, the active quality. Such are those powers themselves, praising the Master with clean mouths, having this as their work continuously, carrying up expressions of praise, an uninterrupted ministry. He shows their dignity by their being near the throne. For just as with kings on earth, those who are in greater dignities stand by the royal throne itself, so indeed these powers, on account of their surpassing virtue, encircle the throne above, perpetually enjoying the unspeakable blessedness, and delighting in the blessed lot of this ministry. Six wings to the one, and six wings to the one. And with two they covered their feet, and with two they covered their faces, and with two they flew. And one cried to another, and said: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord Sabaoth. The whole earth is full of his glory." What do these wings mean for us, and what do the wings hint at for us? For surely there are not wings upon those incorporeal powers; but again, through coarser shapes, the prophet hints at certain unspeakable things for us, condescending indeed to the weakness of those who were then hearing, yet nevertheless, even through that condescension, precisely showing us thoughts that surpass every intellect.

^A And he uses the same words again, wishing to exhibit therefrom his aid and security, saying thus: Under the shadow of your wings you will protect me (Ps. 16.8). In this place, however, he indicates through the wings not only his loftiness and speed, but also something else that is terrifying. For he shows that, even if what was seen was on account of accommodation, as indeed it was, the heavenly powers themselves could certainly not grasp it even in that measure. For that they covered their feet, and that they likewise veiled their backs, was the act of those struck with awe and trembling at the lightning, unable to bear the radiance leaping forth from the throne. Therefore, by the screen of their wings, as if by a certain wall, they overshadowed their faces; a thing we are accustomed to do when either lightning descends or flashes are emitted, bending ourselves toward the ground; this, too, they were doing.

If the Seraphim, those great and marvelous powers, were unable to behold God sitting, I say, sitting on the throne without fear, but were veiling both their faces and their feet, what speech will be able to declare the madness of those who say they clearly know God himself, and who curiously inquire concerning that immortal substance? They were flying with two, and were crying out. What is this, "They were flying," and what does it wish to signify? That they are themselves ceaselessly around God, and do not withdraw from Him, but that this is the manner of life for them, that they should perpetually chant to Him, that they should always celebrate their Maker. ^B For he did not say, "They cried out," but, "They were crying out," that is, they have this as a work done perpetually. "One to the other, and were saying: Holy, holy, holy." This indicates their harmonious and modulated symphony, and the praises celebrated with great consensus. This hymn is not only a praise, but also a prophecy concerning the good things that are about to fill the whole world, and also an accurate discipline of doctrines. But why did they not say it once and keep silent, neither a second time and thereafter cease, but added even a third? Is it not plain that they did so in order to offer the hymn to the Trinity? For this reason John says it was spoken concerning the Son, Luke indeed concerning the Spirit, and the prophet finally concerning the Father.

The things that follow, however, insinuate this meaning to us. For after the hymn they added: "The whole earth is full of his glory." This was a matter of accurate prophecy, announcing future knowledge, through which the whole world was filled with the glory of God: when on the contrary, formerly, and when these things were spoken, not only the remaining parts of the world, but even the very land of the Jews was full of much impiety, and no one anywhere was glorifying God. And the prophet himself is a witness, saying: "Because of you my name is blasphemed among the nations" (Is. 52.5). When, therefore, was the earth filled with his glory? When this hymn was brought down to earth, and men placed on earth were joined to the choir of the heavenly powers, and returned one melody, and jointly celebrated God. But if a Jew should shamelessly oppose these things, let him point out when the whole earth was filled with his glory; with this glory, indeed, that proceeds from knowledge. But he will never show it, even if he exposes his own impudence six hundred times. ^C You have seen the ease of prophecy, the events themselves cohering with one another? For after this hymn, when the earth was filled with his glory, all things Jewish ceased, which he shows himself through the lifted-up lintel of the temple; but with the temple removed from the midst, all other things besides ceased. But so that you may learn that the New Testament has abrogated the Old, "From the voice," he says, "it was lifted up," the lintel; that is, because this glorification has arrived, and grace has shone forth, and glory has been poured out through the whole world, the shadows have been dissipated. And the house was filled with smoke. This also seems to me to be a sign of its future destruction, and of the barbarian fire, and of the cruelest conflagration.

5. "And I said: Woe to me, a wretched man! Because I am pricked, because I am a man, and have unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people having unclean lips, and I have seen the King, the Lord Sabaoth with my eyes." This vision terrified the prophet, awakened him, cast him into great fear, pushed him toward confession, and brought it about that he should better acknowledge the vileness of his own substance. Such, indeed, are all the saints: when they enjoy greater honor, then they are the more humbled. Thus also Abraham, when addressing God, called himself earth and ashes (Gen. 18.27); thus also Paul, when he was deemed worthy of that vision, then named himself an untimely birth (1 Cor. 15.8); so also here he declares himself wretched, firstly from nature, saying: "Woe to me, because I am pricked, because I am a man"; then from the state of his soul, "And since I have impure lips." He called his lips impure, as I suppose, in comparison with the ignited mouth of those pure powers, and that most accurate ministry. Nor did he stop here, but confesses for the whole people, adding these things: "In the midst of a people having unclean lips I dwell." But for what cause does he blame his lips here? Showing himself bereft of the boldness of speech. For those three youths were saying this same thing, when they were in the furnace: "It is not allowed for us to open our mouth" (Dan. 3.38). And now when it was the time of hymns and praises, and he was seeing the heavenly powers doing this, he rightly turned the discourse to the lips, which are most of all called to this office. Truly he called his own lips impure; the people's lips, however, not in the same way, but because they were filled with much iniquity. "And I saw the King, the Lord with my eyes." I groan and lament, he says, because though unworthy I have obtained such great honor, which exceeds my dignity, and surpasses my nature. When, however, he says, "I saw," do not think it an exact cognition, but that of which he was capable. ^D And consider how great is the gain of confession. He accused himself, and was immediately cleansed. For because he had uttered these words, 6. "There was sent to me," he says, "one of the Seraphim, and in his hand he had a coal, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7. And he touched my mouth, and said: Behold this has touched your lips, and shall take away your iniquities, and shall purge your sins." Some say these are symbols of future mysteries: the altar, indeed, the fire placed upon it, the power that is being ministered, the coal given into the mouth, which cleanses sins. We, however, know the history, and say for what reason this has happened. It is about to be sent to the people...

^A of the Jews, announcing things that are fearful and unbearable. The Seraphim are therefore sent so as to fill him with both fear and boldness. And so that he might not put forward excuses, as Moses did—saying he was slow of speech, and Jeremiah, that he was too young—and so that this man might not say he had unclean lips and could not minister to what was being commanded, the Seraphim come to cleanse his sins away, not by their own power (for this belongs only to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit), but by command, and by giving the coal. For it did not say, "Behold, I take away," but, "Behold, this removes your iniquities, and shall purge your sins," due to the order of the One who sent them. And why did the Seraphim take the coal with tongs? For clearly, the incorporeal power was not about to be burned by the coals. Why did these things happen? On account of great condescension. It is for this reason that he takes it from the altar, where the sacrifices were offered and the purifications of sins took place. But if you were to say, "How was the mouth of the prophet not burned?" primarily it is because it was not even a sensible fire that was appearing; furthermore, when God is working something, do not inquire too curiously, nor be meddlesome.

5. For indeed, even when an active and sensible fire touched the bodies, it did not manifest the properties of fire. If, where there are grapevine twigs and pitch, the flame forgot its own nature, why do you wonder if now, such a great display of paradox having occurred, this fire purified and did not burn? "And I heard the voice of the Lord saying: Whom shall I send, and who will go to this people?" Do you see how much the vision accomplished? How much fear achieved? And yet, something of this sort happened in the case of Moses, too; for even if a Seraph did not appear, and He was not sitting upon a throne, still, another paradoxical spectacle was then shown to the prophet, and such that no one could look back at the vision. For the bush was burning, he says, and was not consumed. Yet, even after those things, and God’s great exhortation, the great Moses hangs back, and makes excuses, and invents ten thousand pretexts of refusal, saying, "I am slow of speech and slow of tongue," and, "Send someone else, whom you will send." And Jeremiah also puts forward his age. And Ezekiel, too, after being commanded, spent seven days by the river, hanging back and procrastinating. For this reason, God added that parable, saying, "I have made you a watchman to the house of Israel," and that He would require their soul from your hand. But Jonah not only refused, ^B but even fled. What then? Is Isaiah bolder than everyone, and than the great Moses? And who would say that? From where, then, did that man hang back when commanded, while this man leaped forward without being explicitly commanded? For He did not say, "Go," but when God said, "Whom shall I send?" he snatched the commission.

Some say, therefore, that because he had sinned by not rebuking Uzziah when he audaciously entered the Holy of Holies, wanting to apologize for that sin, he leaped forward with the subsequent zeal of obedience so as to propitiate God. For it is for this reason that he kept saying his lips were unclean, on account of his lack of boldness. But I would not tolerate those who say these things; for Paul is more trustworthy than them, calling him daring and saying, "Isaiah indeed dares and says." For this reason, he did not even end his life by the common law, as they say, but suffered the most grievous punishment, the Jews not bearing his lack of boldness. Apart from these things, Scripture nowhere says that he was present when the events regarding Uzziah happened, and that he was silent while present, but those who speak thus base this on their own conjecture. What, then, is to be said? That the situation of Moses and this was not equal. For the one was being sent to a foreign land, and to a barbarian country, and to a tyrant, and to one raging and foaming with madness; but this man was sent to his own people, who had heard often and had been instructed over much time; and it was not a matter of the same courage to obey there as it was here.

Some say that something else made him have this zeal. Because he had confessed on behalf of both himself and the people, and saw the Seraphim sent, and having cleansed his lips, he expected that these things would happen to the people, and that he would go off announcing them, so he zealously snatched the order. For just as the saints were God-loving, so were they, more than all other men, full of love for their fellow men. Expecting, therefore, to announce some release from their evils, he leaped forward, and says, "Behold, I am here; send me." Otherwise, he also had a soul strongly strained toward dangers, and this character of his is evident throughout the entire prophecy. Since, therefore, he had promised to go, and could no longer dare to refuse, then he hears the sorrowful things. For indeed, God also dealt with him wisely. For He did not say from the beginning, "Go and say," but first made the command pending, and the manner of the mission unclear. Since he yielded easily, He tells the evils that were to seize the Jews. And what were these? "Go," He says, "and tell this people: You shall surely hear and shall not understand; ^C and seeing you shall see and shall not perceive. For the heart of this people has been hardened, and they have heard heavily with their ears, and they have closed their eyes, lest they see with their eyes, and hear with the ears, and understand with the heart, and turn, and I heal them." I think these do not need interpretation, those who have carefully known these things having already anticipated and explained them: John, the son of thunder, and Paul, who knew the old and the new with accuracy. For the one, while in Rome to those who had gathered but had jumped away and would not tolerate what was being said, speaking publicly said: "The Holy Spirit spoke well: You shall surely hear and shall not understand." But the son of thunder, when they saw miracles and did not believe, and heard doctrines and did not pay attention (for Christ raised Lazarus, and they took counsel to kill Him because of this), they did not believe.

had stirred up, and were trying to kill him; He had cast out demons, and they called Him demoniac; He had presented them to the Father, and they called Him a deceiver, and were receiving contrary opinions): he remembers this prophecy, saying: "Well did Isaiah the prophet speak, that: By hearing you shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing you shall see, and shall not perceive" (John 12:40). ^B For since the eyes of their mind were blinded, they derived no benefit from their external eyes, as the judgment of their mind was corrupted. Therefore, "seeing they did not see, and hearing they did not hear," and he adds the cause, that it was not that their senses were depraved, nor their nature crippled, but their heart was blinded. "For the heart of this people has become hardened," he says; and the thickness of the mind is caused by sins and by worldly desire. And explaining this thickness, Paul said: "I could not speak to you as to spiritual people; for you were not yet able, and neither are you able yet" (1 Cor. 3:1). And he adds the cause, saying: "For whereas there is envy and strife and divisions among you, are you not carnal?" (1 Cor. 3:3). Since, therefore, they were consumed by great envy and malice, and were besieged by ten thousand other passions, they made the eye of their mind thick, and were no longer able to see clearly. Therefore, regarding the things they saw, they received foreign and contrary opinions. When the prophet saw this with precision, he foretold the cause of the disease. But you, note here with me, how, though there were two prophecies, the Seraphim received the one that was about the Church and the benefits of the whole world, saying: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord Sabaoth, the whole earth is full of His glory," while they left to this prophet the other, which was about the destruction and punishments of the Jews, so that from this also you might learn the preeminence of the Church. And did we not correctly conjecture regarding the obedience of the prophet, which was full of much eagerness? Since, therefore, he heard things contrary to what he expected—devastation, total ruin—he asks to be taught the measure of the punishment to be inflicted; for he did not dare to rescue them entirely from wrath, because God had already anticipated by showing that their sins did not deserve pardon. For their acts of daring were not mere robbery, nor a mind intending to harm a neighbor, but a mind deliberately disobedient, and a contentious spirit, which stood against the things done by God as if with meditation and study. This, therefore, hinting at, he said: "Lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and I heal them." As if fearing, he says, that they might learn any of the things it was necessary to know, they had thus blinded their own mind with great study. Since, therefore, the accusation is most grave, and the punishment is such that it cannot be pardoned, he desires to learn what remained, and, as if wishing to learn, he introduces a supplication. But since he did not even dare to supplicate openly for this matter, he devises an interrogation as if to learn, saying: "Until cities are desolate because they are not inhabited, and houses because there are no men; and the land ^C shall be left deserted. And after these things God will remove men far away, and those who have been left upon the earth shall be multiplied, and there is still a tithing in it. And again it shall be for plunder, like a terebinth and like an acorn when it falls from its husk. A holy seed is its station." Having completed that prophecy, he brings the discourse back to the history, foretelling the captivity of the ten tribes, and also the patience of God, which He showed toward the two tribes because of that captivity; then the abduction of these also, because that patience had been of no profit to them, and the subsequent prosperity of the remnants. For when he says, "Until cities are desolate because they are not inhabited," he gives a hint of the captivity of the ten tribes. For they were all pulled up by the root, and abducted with much violence, and all were transferred into a foreign land, so that all the cities stood empty of men, and the land was abandoned by the men who would cultivate it, for the benefit of those who had been left behind. When, therefore, he says, "Until cities are desolate because they are not inhabited, and houses because there are no men," he remembers that captivity. But when he says, "After these things God will remove men far away," he hints either at the total happiness of all, or at the prosperity which, after the ten tribes were abducted, was granted to the two tribes. For, having been liberated from Sennacherib and his barbarian army, and enjoying an unexpected victory, they were again increased in multitude, and progressed to a long life, with no war disturbing them. When, however, he says, "He will remove far away," he hints at either a multitude of men or a length of years. And that you may learn that he is saying this about the two tribes, he subjoined, "In it there is a tithing." They call "tithing" that which was over and above those ten, and what was remaining after those ten—and that was the two tribes. Paul uses this expression, saying: "To more than five hundred brothers" (1 Cor. 15:6); that is, more than five hundred. "And again it shall be for plunder, like a terebinth." That is the two tribes. "And like an acorn when it falls from its husk." For just as that fruit, when it falls from its husk, is unpleasant, so these also will be exposed to laughter and reproach when they have fallen from their city, and all have been stripped of that glory. "A holy seed is its station." Not incurable, he says, will be the evils, nor immortal; but its seed shall be holy, and a station; that is, it shall be firm, fixed, immovable, awaiting a change of things. For they shall fall from prosperity; they themselves, however, shall not suffer total ruin, but shall remain and stand, until they regain ^D the previous way of life again, and…

return to their former holiness. ^A

CHAPTER VII

1. *And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah.*

1. *The reason for prophecies.* As I have often said, I will say again now: the prophecies of old were not delivered simply so that the Jews might learn about the future, but so that by learning, they might profit from it; that they might become more temperate through the fear of the threats, and more eager in the practice of virtue through the promise of good things, learning from both sides the power of God and His providence over them. For it was for this reason that such things were foretold, and—so that they might not think that things happened by chance, but rather according to a certain order of nature or a sequence of events—that they might see that these things took place from above and by the decree of God. This greatly profited them for the knowledge of God. But since, as I said before, the prophecy did not have its fulfillment at that very time—for the words indeed were uttered then, but the events were to come to pass at a much later time, while some of those who heard them would often pass away, unable to judge by the sequence of what was spoken what God is doing and accomplishing—He joins prophecy unto prophecy, the more distant to the more immediate, providing the one that occurred in their own generation as the greatest proof of those that would come to pass long after. In the Gospels, however, He manages this type of benefit in another way, by joining miracles to prophecies, and confirming the one by the other. For what am I saying? A leper once approached Him, and was cleansed; and after that, the centurion’s child was delivered from that grievous infirmity, and these were great signs. Yet He did not stop at the signs, but added a prophecy as well. For since the centurion ^B displayed that marvelous and great faith through which he released his child from the infirmity, Christ added, saying: *Many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out* (Matt. 8:11). By saying this, He was foretelling the calling of the Church of the nations and the rejection of the Jews; which indeed has now come to pass in deeds, and is shown to all more clearly than the sun. But at that time, it was still obscure and not easily accepted by the unbelievers. For this reason, He anticipated it with a sign that had occurred at that time, depositing beforehand much faith for what would happen thereafter; just as this prophecy itself, appearing now in deeds, provides much confirmation by the sign that occurred then. For what could an unbeliever say? That the leper was not cleansed? Let him behold the truth of the prophecy, and from that let him also believe in the sign. What would the Jews of that time say? That what is foretold is not true? Let them see the leper being cleansed, and from what happened in that case, let them not be faithless regarding the things to come, since those men received the greatest pledge of the prophecy—and now those who are present receive the prophecy of the sign, while those who were then present received the sign of the prophecy. Do you see how the one is established through the other? One might see this also taking place in the Old Testament. For since Jeroboam was suffering from that grievous madness and set up golden calves, the prophet came and foretold future events, and immediately gave a sign. So that no one might be faithless regarding the things that were to happen three hundred years later, he shattered the altar, and poured out the fat, and withered the hand of the king, providing a clear proof of the things that would come to pass after a long time from the things happening before their very eyes. And one might see many such things occurring both in the New and in the Old Testament, with God managing our salvation in diverse ways. This is what happened here, and with even greater abundance; for He did not just join a sign, but joined both prophecy and sign together. But in order that what is said may become clearer, let us go through the history itself with accuracy. *And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Aram, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up against Jerusalem to war against it, and could not besiege it.* 2. *And it was reported to the house of David, saying: Aram has agreed with Ephraim.* The things mentioned are history and an account of events; but one who has understanding, and sees sharply, will derive much profit even from this, discerning the great wisdom of God and His providence on behalf of the Jews. For He neither cut off the war at the beginning, nor allowed them to prevail when they attacked the city, but by letting the threat through the words occur, He hindered the trial, both awakening those who were asleep and freeing them from sloth, and at the same time demonstrating His own power—that it is possible for Him, even when things have reached the extreme end, to keep those who are falling into them unharmed, just as if they had not even received a beginning. One can see Him doing this in many places; such as in the case of the furnace of Babylon, in the case of the lion’s den, and in a myriad of other things. For they did come, and they did besiege, and they touched the walls, and they shook the minds of those dwelling within, yet they could do nothing further. ^C

2. From this it is also possible to see the lawlessness of the ten tribes, in that they not only chose a civil war, and not only made sedition against their brothers, but that they also joined themselves to foreigners and aliens, and those who were not permitted to have fellowship with them at all, they also called allies, and colluded with them, and stood against the city. For they raised Rezin, who was an alien, against the metropolis. And the battle was unequal. For among them there was an infinite multitude, and cities, and nations, and peoples; but here there was nothing of this sort, but one city, the metropolis, so that the strength of God might shine forth in abundance. For with no one brandishing weapons, nor going out or lining up in battle array, those evil designs of theirs failed. For they could not, he says, besiege it. And yet what was the hindrance? Nothing other than the hand of God, invisibly repelling them. Nevertheless, as I said, He repelled the war, but He did not immediately take away the fear. For it is reported, it says, to the house of David, that Aram has agreed with Ephraim. And his soul was shaken, and the soul of his people. ^D When God is about to do something paradoxical, He does not immediately bring about the wonder, but first He humbles those who are about to receive it; they who are now [giving] the prophecy of the sign, while they [then]...

^A were still being agitated in their senses by the evils, will dismiss them, so that after the deliverance from the evil things, they might not show any lack of gratitude. For because many people—whether through pride or through listlessness—as soon as they have been freed from the pains, forget them, or, if they do not forget, wish to attribute to themselves the things that were well-achieved, He first leaves them to be shaken by the things that are painful, and then finally gives them freedom from those things that trouble them. And He has done this even here. He allowed their hearts to be terrified and to be in great distress, and then brought the resolution. He has done this also in the case of the great David. For as He was about to lead him out into the battle, and to raise that brilliant trophy through his hands, He did not do this from the beginning of the war, but after He had allowed them to be finished off with fear for forty days, ^B when they were despairing of their own salvation, and the barbarian was pouring out countless insults, and no one dared to rise up and accept [the challenge of] the adversary—then, precisely then, when they were already admitting their defeat, and their weakness was clearly evident, He led the lad out to the battle, and wrought that miraculous victory. For if even after these things, after such a demonstration of weakness, the king who had been saved, being overcome by spite and envy, plotted against David, having become entirely full of the passion, and appeared ungrateful toward his benefactor, if he had not given such a great proof of his own and the entire army's cowardice, he would not have done [what he did]. One can see that God does this also in other places, and this is what happens here as well. For as He is about to untie the war, and to release them from the painful things, He allows them first to feel the evils. “For his soul,” He says, “and the soul of his people, was shaken, just as a tree in the woods is shaken by the wind” [Isa. 7:2]. This also is proper to prophecy, to bring secret things into the open. For it explains to us the affection of each person's mind, and for the sake of clarity adds a comparison, so as to show the intensity of the anxiety. Their soul, He says, was agitated; their mind was dejected, they despaired of their salvation, they thought they were at their last end, they looked for nothing good; each was betrayed by his own ^C reasonings. What then does God do? He foretells the deliverance, and then works it, so that they might not attribute the freedom of the city to someone else; and He sends the prophet to herald the future. For He says, “Go out to meet Achaz, you and the one left behind, Jasub your son, at the pool of the ascent of the fuller's field” [Isa. 7:3]. “And you will say to him: See that you are at rest, and do not fear, neither let your soul be weakened, nor fear before these two pieces of smoking wood. For when the wrath of my anger comes, I shall again heal” [Isa. 7:4]. What is, “Go out to meet”? Because of fear and anxiety the king was not at rest, nor did he endure remaining at home, but, as those who are besieged are accustomed, he was going out frequently, looking about the walls, approaching the gates, curiously inquiring, and investigating the state in which the enemies’ affairs were. For this reason He says, “Go out to meet.” But what does that mean, “who is left behind, Jasub your son”? Jasub in the Hebrew tongue is called conversation, and a turning point. ^D Therefore also Jesse, sending David, said, “And you shall take their Jasub” [1 Kings 17:18], that is, you will announce to me their conversation, and what they are doing. And in this case too, therefore, it seems the prophet is commanded to take with him a multitude, so that when the matter had its outcome, the king might be unable to act ungratefully, as if he had heard nothing of these things from the prophet. That, therefore, which He says, is this: Go out to meet [him], you and those who are with you, who have been left behind from the people. And do not wonder if he calls the people his children; for in the following [chapter] he says: “Behold I, and the children whom God gave me” [Isa. 8:18]. For the saints held the order of fathers, who through love and concern for that people surpassed all those who were fathers by nature. But he says “those left behind,” because many had been carried off by the enemies. “In the way of the fuller's field.” This seems to me to be of great difficulty, if those who were enclosed and besieged, not daring even to look outside the gates, were yet showing themselves. For this path now appears to be outside the walls. What, then, is the solution to this difficulty? The city was of old encased by a double wall; for there were two walls of the city; and this it is possible for those wishing to attend to it to prove from another prophet. Having gone out, therefore, he raises up their dejected mind, and commands them to be confident concerning things to come. “Be at rest,” he says, “and do not fear”; and he calls the kings pieces of wood, declaring at once their vehemence and their weakness. For he added, “smoking,” that is, those about to be extinguished. From this, declaring that the invasion was not from their power, but by God’s permission, he says: “For when the wrath of my anger comes, I shall again heal.” “And the son of Aram, and the son of Romelia, because they have devised a bad counsel, Ephraim and the son of Romelia against you, saying: We will ascend into Judea and we will afflict it, and having reached an understanding we will turn them to us, and we will appoint over it the king, the son of Tabeel. This shall not be, nor shall it be: but the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rasin. And sixty-five years yet, and the kingdom of Ephraim will fail from the people; and the head of..."

Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. And if ye do not believe, ye shall not understand.” Again the prophet provides a great proof of his prophecy. For since fear had shaken them, and terrors were before their eyes, while good things were in hope and beyond all expectation, and his hearers were not very disposed to believe, mark what he does. He gives a most excellent sign of things about to happen, bringing the counsels of the enemies into the midst. For he tells their intent, with which they marched against the city, and what they had discussed with one another, and what they had resolved upon when they returned; and he reveals whether the matter was a betrayal (for he says, “Having conferred with them, we will turn them to ourselves”), or whether they were drunk with much madness, and thought that they had no need of weapons, nor of battle array and conflict, to take the city. “It suffices for us,” they say, “to appear only and to parley, and to take everyone captive and depart.” Then, as befalls the arrogant, puffed up by this hope, they even take counsel concerning a king, as if the city were already taken, and concerning whom they ought to set over the metropolis.

And their affairs are such, he says; but the works of God are the overthrowers of all those things. Therefore he added: “Thus saith the Lord;” and he did not stop, but added, “Sabaoth.” For whenever he is about to announce something great, he reminds them of the power of God, and of the kingdom above, and of that wonderful and paradoxical authority. What, then, does God say? “This counsel shall not stand, nor shall it be; but the head of Aram is Damascus.” His rule, he says, his power, shall stand in Damascus, and shall not proceed further. “And the head of Damascus is Rasin.” And the ruler of Damascus, he says, and he who controls it, shall be Rasin; that is, he shall remain in his own, and he shall add no more power to himself. “And sixty-five years yet, and the kingdom of Ephraim shall fail from the people.” The prophets proclaim times, providing those who wish to examine with accuracy the power of the prophecy. For now, he says, they shall depart from the city; but after sixty-five years the nation shall be destroyed, and the enemies shall take them and drive them all away. Now, however, before that capture, they shall take nothing more than their own. For lest the king, hearing that after sixty-five years they shall be destroyed, say to himself, “What then? If they take us now, and then are destroyed, what profit is it to us?” he takes courage, even concerning present things. For they shall be captured utterly then; but now, however, they shall possess no more than their own. ^A But the head of Ephraim, that is, of the ten tribes, shall be Samaria; for there was their kingdom; and it shall not be extended further; and the head of Samaria is the king of Israel; just what he said concerning the Damascene, he signifies here also, that they shall have nothing more than these which they now possess.

Then, since he spoke of things exceeding human reason, and higher than the sequence of human thoughts, and the statement was a prophecy, he reasonably added: “If ye do not believe, neither shall ye understand.” Do not seek, he says, how and in what manner these things shall be; for it is God who is working, and you need only faith, and you will understand the power of the One who does it; you have received the whole proof of the things spoken. ^B Therefore the prophet David also said: “I believed, therefore have I spoken.” And Paul, naturally laying hold of this utterance, drew it to greater matters, saying: “Having the same Spirit of faith, according to what is written, I believed, therefore I also spoke; and we believe, therefore we also speak.” For if the old things needed faith, being as far removed from those in the New as the earth from the heavens, how much more the knowledge of such high doctrines, and those which never came into anyone’s mind? Which he himself also signifying said: “Eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and there has not ascended into the heart of man, what things God has prepared for those who love Him.”

And the Lord added to speak to Ahaz, saying: “Ask for thyself a sign from the Lord thy God, in the depth or in the height.” And Ahaz said: “I will not ask, nor will I tempt the Lord.” And Isaiah said: “Hear now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men? And how do you weary the Lord? Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive in the womb and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel.” ^C Great is the condescension of God, and the perversity of the king. For it was his duty, having heard the prophet, to doubt nothing concerning the things spoken; but if he even doubted, he should have believed when he received a sign, which many among the Jews have done. For God, being a lover of mankind, did not even refuse to provide this often to the more dull and crawling on the ground, and nailed to the earth, such as he did in the case of Gideon. For since he was the most lacking of all and the dullest, see how God descends again. He himself draws him, and urges him to ask for a sign; although this was not a small sign, to convict his secret things, and to bring into the midst his whole intent, and to convict all his hypocrisy. For since the prophet said, “Ask for thyself a sign,” and he, pretending to be very faithful, said, “I will not ask, nor will I tempt the Lord,” see with how much intensity ^D the prophet directs the rebuke, rightly making the accusation heavier after the proof of the hypocrisy. For this reason he does not deem him worthy of an answer, but turns to the people, saying: “Hear, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men? And how do you weary the Lord?” The statement is obscure; therefore it is necessary to unfold the saying with accuracy. For what he says is this: “Are my words my own? Is the decision mine?” If to disbelieve men, simply and without reason, is burdensome and deserving of accusations, much more to God. Therefore, “to weary” is nothing else than to disbelieve. “Is this, then,” he says, “not a small crime? Is it a common accusation to disbelieve men?” If this is heavy, much more so toward God.

^A And he said this so that all might know that the prophet remained undeceived, and that he did not reason from the words spoken, but passed judgment based on what was in the mind of Ahaz. Christ also did this frequently in the Gospels. For before providing a demonstration from signs, he brought the malice of the Jews, which they were turning over in their minds, into the open, and in doing so, he offered this as no small sign; as he did in the case of the paralytic. For when he had said to him, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven,” and they were saying within themselves, “This man blasphemes” (Mt 9:2-3), he said to them, before he restored the paralytic: “Why do you think evil in your hearts?” (ibid. v. 4), providing this as the greatest proof of divinity, that he knew the secrets of the heart. “For you,” he says, “alone know the hearts” (1Kgs 8:39). And David says again: “God who searches hearts and reins” (Ps 7:10). ^B And God frequently granted this to the prophets so that they might know, in order that those who heard might learn that nothing of what was said was human, but that every decree was brought down from above and from the heavens. Therefore, this most magnificent Isaiah, after he had spoken with the king with all gentleness and had delivered him from evils, and had commanded him to take courage regarding the present circumstances, and had provided proofs of this to him—that he had revealed the plot of those warring against him, had exposed their treachery, had foretold the complete destruction of Israel, and had added the time—not content with these things, he proceeds further, and does not wait for him to ask for a sign, but urges on the one who, out of excessive unbelief, did not wish to; and he does not do this simply, but leaves the power of choosing the sign to him. For he does not say, “this or that sign,” but says, “as you wish.” The Lord is rich, his virtue is omnipotent, his power is ineffable. If you wish from the heavens, nothing hinders; if from the earth, nothing forbids. For this is what “into the depths or into the heights” means. ^C When, however, he had not even thus drawn him in, he did not remain silent even then, but with a rebuke added—done for the correction of the hearer, and to show that he had not deceived him nor circumvented him with words—he reveals an arcane prophecy, future for the salvation of the world and for the correction of all things, and says that the sign is not given henceforth for Ahaz, but for the whole people of the Jews. For at the beginning he was addressing the king himself; but because he rendered himself unworthy, he addresses the gathering of the people. Therefore, he says, he will give the sign not to you [singular], but to you [plural]. To whom? To those who are in the house of David. For from there the sign has sprung forth. What, then, is the sign? “Behold, a virgin shall conceive in the womb and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel.” ^D It should be noted, as I said before, that the sign was not given to Ahaz. And that this is not said by way of conjecture, the prophet himself rebuked and accused, saying: “Is it a small thing for you to weary men?” and he added: “Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall have in her womb.” If it were not *the* virgin, it would not be a sign. For a sign must exceed the common sequence of nature, and surpass the habit of nature, and be new and unexpected, so that it may be a mark for each of those who see and hear. For it is called a sign because it is a mark. But it would be no mark if it lay hidden in the commonality of other things. Therefore, if the discourse were about a woman giving birth according to the law of nature, why would he call that a sign which is wont to happen daily? Therefore, at the beginning of the discourse, he did not say simply, “Behold, a virgin,” but, “Behold, *this* virgin,” with the addition of the article, signifying to us that this was a certain particular one, and this one alone. For that this addition signifies this, we can learn from the Gospels. For when the Jews sent to John, asking, “Who are you?” they did not say, “You are the Christ,” but, “Are you that Christ?”; nor did they say, “You are the prophet,” but, “Are you that prophet?” (Jn 1:19, 25), for both were extraordinary. Therefore, John, beginning his Gospel, did not say, “In the beginning was the Word,” but, “In the beginning was *that* Word, and *that* Word was with God” (Jn 1:1). Thus, in this place, he did not say, “Behold, a virgin,” but, “Behold, *this* virgin”; and with the dignity befitting a prophet, the “Behold” is placed before. For these were almost the words of one seeing and having the image in his mind, and having in himself much evidence of the things being said. For those eyes saw things that do not fall under our vision more clearly than we do. For sense perception can be deceived; but the grace of the Spirit provided a judgment susceptible to no fallacy.

5. Why did he add, “through the Holy Spirit”?

from the virtue). We must say the same thing, therefore, concerning Christ, that he gave Him a name from the events. For then did God most truly become with us, when He was seen upon the earth, and conversed with men, and manifested His great providence toward us. For it was no longer an angel, nor an archangel with us, but the Lord Himself who descended and undertook our entire restoration, speaking with harlots, reclining with publicans, entering ^A into the houses of sinners, giving boldness of speech to robbers, traversing all places and correcting them, and uniting human nature to Himself. All these things, therefore, the prophet proclaims, speaking at once of the birth and of that ineffable and infinite gain of His pangs. For when God is with men, there is no longer need for fear, nor for trembling, but to be bold in all things; which is exactly what happened. For those ancient and immovable evils were dissolved, and the sentence against the common race was revoked, and the nerves of sin were cut, and the tyranny of the devil was destroyed; the paradise that was inaccessible to all was first opened to a murderer and a robber, the heavenly arches were thrown open, man was mingled with the angels, our nature was led up to the royal throne, the prison of Hades was rendered useless, and death remained thereafter only a name, emptied of its sting—and the choirs of martyrs, and the women, broke the stings of Hades. Seeing all these things, the prophet leapt and danced, and in a single utterance indicated them to us, prophesying to us Emmanuel: *Butter and honey shall he eat, before he know or prefer evil, he shall choose the good* (Isai. 7. 15). *Because before the child knows good or evil, he is disobedient to wickedness, to choose the good.* Since the child who was to be born was neither mere man, nor God alone, but God in man, the prophet rightly varies his discourse, now saying this, now saying that, setting forth paradoxes, and not allowing the economy to be disbelieved because of the greatness of the miracle. For having said that the virgin shall bring forth—which was above nature—and that He shall be called Emmanuel, which was also greater than expectation, that no one hearing of Emmanuel might suffer the malady of Marcion or succumb to that of Valentinus, he explicitly added clear proof of the economy, confirming it by the table. For what does he say? *Butter and honey shall he eat.* This would not be of divinity, but of our nature. For this reason, He did not simply create a man and dwell in him, but He even submitted to conception—and that a nine-month one—and to birth pangs and swaddling clothes, and to the food of early infancy, so that in all things He might seal the mouths of those attempting to deny the economy. The prophet, therefore, seeing these things from above, does not speak only of the pangs and the wondrous birth, but also of the food in early infancy, the food in the swaddling clothes themselves, which differed in nothing from that of other men and had nothing strange in this regard. For not all things in Him were different, nor were all things common. For the fact that He was born of a woman is common; but that it was from a virgin is greater than our condition. To be nourished again by the common law of nature and the same one as the many is common; but that that temple should become inaccessible to wickedness, and that He should not even come to the trial of wickedness, this is strange and paradoxical, and unique to Him alone. Therefore he has set down both this and that. For He did not, he says, depart from wickedness after the trial of wickedness, but from above and from the very outset He manifested every virtue. This is what He Himself also said: *Which of you convinceth me of sin?* (John 8. 46) and, *The prince of this world cometh, and he hath nothing in me* (John 14. 30).

7. And this same prophet, proceeding further, says: *He did no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth* (Isai. 53. 9). This certainly, and in this place, he says: that before He knows or prefers evil, from that age which is ^B inexperienced in evil, from the very outset He will manifest virtue, and will have nothing in common with wickedness. *Because before the child knows good or evil, he is disobedient to wickedness, to choose the good.* Again, with the same words He hints at the same meaning, and lingers upon the point. For since what was said was very lofty, he confirms it by the continuation of the narrative. For what he signified above by saying, *Before he know or prefer evil*, this he hinted at later by saying, *before the child knows*; and he has used an explanation again, saying: *good or evil, he is disobedient to wickedness, to choose the good*. For this alone was His prerogative. And therefore Paul also constantly dwells on this, and John, seeing Him, proclaimed this, saying: *Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world* (John 1. 29). But He who takes away the sins of others was Himself far more sinless. And Paul, as I said before, constantly cries this out. For because He was about to die, lest any of the unbelievers think that He was paying the penalty for His own sins, he frequently brings forward His sinlessness, so that he might show that His death was the solution to our sin. Wherefore he was saying: *Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more. For in that he died, he died unto sin* (Rom. 6. 9, 10). He does not say that He died that death as one liable, according to the reason of sin, but for the common transgression of all. If, therefore, He was not liable according to the former, it is proved out of abundance that He will no longer die. *And the land shall be left, which thou fearest, from the face of the two kings.* What the prophet does constantly, he has done here. After the prophecy, he leads the discourse to history. We have clearly demonstrated that he does this also in the case of the Seraphim, and he has worked this here as well. For having spoken of the good things that are to happen to the world, he thereupon turns the discourse to the king. Therefore he also added, saying: *The land shall be left.* What is *shall be left*? It shall be untouched, it shall be free, it shall suffer nothing unpleasant, it shall not undergo the things of war. *And the land shall be left, which thou fearest*, for which thou art afraid, for which thou tremblest, *from the face of the two kings*, both of the Damascene and of the Israelite. Then, lest he become more sluggish by the prophecy of good things, nor more slack through peace, he tightens his soul again, saying: *But there shall bring upon thee...*

and upon thy people, and upon the house of thy father days which have not yet come, from the day that Ephraim took away from Judah the king of the Assyrians.* By these things he indicates the incursion of the barbarians, by which they razed the city from its foundations, and having taken them into captivity, they departed. He predicts these things, not that they may happen, but so that by becoming more sober through fear, they might ward off the threat. Since they were neither made better by the good things which they received beyond their merit (for the king’s spirit and his immense disbelief showed that they received these things beyond their merit), nor were they changed by the threat of terrible things, but strongly resisted the salutary medicine against both, he finally inflicts a deeper incision, cutting away the putrid ulcer and severing those laboring under an incurable disease. What satisfies the text, *From the day that Ephraim took away from Judah the king of the Assyrians?* The barbarians burst in to take all those away; but leaving Judah and the two tribes, they turned against Israel. Therefore what he says is this: From that day on which the ten tribes will draw the army of the barbarians to themselves and turn them away from you, due to the magnitude of their own sin, and will be carried off by having provoked them against themselves: from that day, I say, it is necessary to fear and dread at last. For having advanced, they will come even to you, unless you repent. And he says: *From that day* he will bring them. For they were not captured at the same time as the Israelites were carried off, but a short period intervened.

^B What he says is this, that he would have brought the days at that time; but God was waiting and was patient, even though the sins were already worthy of punishment; which he is often accustomed to do, so that when the appointed day has arrived, he still procrastinates and delays; which is the greatest indication of his clemency and a conspicuous argument of their ungrateful spirit, who do not wish to use his indulgence as is fitting. This, therefore, he says in this place, that the threat—that the divine wrath—was present even then, so that with the punishment brought to the doors, he might rouse them to repentance, make them better, and after their destruction, place them in distress, and not cause them to become more sluggish because they had escaped while the others had been carried off.

*And it shall be in that day, the Lord shall whistle to the flies which will rule over the part of the river of Egypt.* Do you see that I did not say in vain that, wishing to increase the fear, he brought in the threat from that day? The things which follow, therefore, indicate this, by which he strikes fear with his word, declaring to them the armies which were formidable to them, and demonstrating the ease of the invasion—a thing which struck them down greatly—indicating the multitude of the army, which most terrified their spirits. And he hinted at all these things in what follows. But pay attention: *And it shall be in that day,* he says, *the Lord shall whistle to the flies.* He called the Egyptians flies here, because of their impudence and shamelessness, and because though often repulsed, ^C they would often press on and not allow them even a little to breathe, but would often cause them a thousand troubles, insisting upon their calamities just as flies do upon wounds. These, therefore, God will lead; yet he did not say, "He will lead," but *He shall whistle*, showing the ease of the ascent and the unconquerable power of God, and that his nod is enough for all things to follow. And rightly he initiates the threat from these things which they had already experienced. *And the bee which is in the land of the Assyrians.* The Syrian and the Hebrew, as they say, do not say "Bees," but "Hornets." Because they had not yet fully experienced them, he was casting them into great anxiety by the image of this insect, hence declaring their vehemence, the power of stinging and of fighting, the bitterness of the wounds, the speed of the arrival, and the difficulty of defending oneself from them.

*And they will come and rest all of them in the valleys of the region, and in the holes of the rocks, and in the caves, and in every fissure, and in every tree.* Having recounted the terror of the nations and the speed of the army, he finally enumerates the multitude. He did not say, "They will encamp," but *They will rest*, as if they were not coming to a hostile region, but as if they were going to give themselves over to delights in their own, as if they needed no effort or exhaustion, but as if they were coming to a certain victory and ready plunder. Therefore he says, *They will come and rest*, which indicates the victors erecting a trophy and resting after much sweat and many slaughters. Nor will they rest only in a level place; but because the multitude is immense, the region will not be capable of holding the number of bodies, but the valleys, rocks, mountains, woods, and everything will be covered by the barbarian bodies. Although even if they had not been so ferocious, they were not easy to overcome; for the multitude was sufficient to terrify them. But when both were present—both such a multitude and such an immense power—and what is gravest of all, the wrath of God leading the army, what hope of safety was left? But the phrase, *In every fissure, and in every tree*, is said hyperbolically. For they were not going to take rest in the trees; but at the same time, as I said, he ^D obscurely used a hyperbole and remained in the metaphor of the hornets.

*In that day the Lord will shave with a razor that is drunken.* He again amplifies the fear increased by the armies, transferring the discourse to heaven, and showing that it is not certain barbarian Egyptians or Persians, but God who is waging war against the Jews. He calls his intolerable wrath a "razor" here, which no one could bear, easily invading and consuming. For just as the hairs of the body do not sustain the edge of a razor, but immediately yield and depart; so too, he says, the Jewish affairs will never sustain that wrath sent by God. He declares for us the wrath of God and the completed sentence. But the fact that he says: *Beyond the river of the king of the Assyrians,*

all that was Judea and all Palestine will return from Persia. These things, therefore, he says, he will utterly destroy. By the "head, and the hairs, and the beard, and the feet," he means the entire land, using the metaphor of the body, encompassing their whole country in his discourse, just as he also said at the beginning: *Every head is for pain, and every heart for grief. From the feet even to the head there is no soundness in it.* He is not speaking about one man, but comparing the whole country to one body. He says this here too, that the whole land will suffer a grievous punishment. And he indicates this partly by the razor and partly by the image of the body, revealing that the decree sent by God will consume both the people and the produce of the earth more cruelly than any razor, and will leave it naked and desolate. Then he indicates this desolation by another image. He does this so that the fear might remain intense through everything, and the anxiety not fade by the length of the discourse. And it seems to those who do not pay attention that what is said is a promise of good things, but those who examine it accurately know that it is a demonstration of extreme desolation. For what does he say? *And it shall be in that day, a man shall raise a heifer of the herd, and two sheep. And it shall be, because of the abundance of drinking milk, he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left upon the earth.* This, as I have said before, indicates great desolation. For the land that bore wheat and barley, once depopulated of men, will provide abundant pasture for the sheep, and so abundant that, because of the fertility of such a table, two sheep and one heifer will suffice to provide the owner with springs of milk. So the fertility of the feasting of the brute animals is the greatest proof of the desolation of men. And he hints at this honey, too; for bees are accustomed to dwell in deserts, and wherever they might enjoy much forage, and where there is no one to disturb them. And that you may learn that he is hinting at the extreme desolation, what follows makes it clear: *And it shall be in that day, wherever there were a thousand vines of a thousand silver pieces, they shall be for dry land and for thorns. With arrow and bow they shall enter there, because all the land shall be dry land and thorns.* This also is a sign of great adversity, that not only the mountains and the wooded glens, but even the deep soil itself, which enjoyed much cultivation, bears thorns. For he did not fix the price of the vines without reason, but to show both the nature of the land and the great diligence of the farmers. Yet he says that those things which were so prosperous, and enjoyed the hands of the cultivators, will turn into such great desolation as to bear thorns instead of vines, and to cause such fear to those who enter that no one would dare to go in naked and unarmed. He says this to reveal the desolation of the place and the great dwelling of wild beasts there. Having therefore shaken their mind, and having meticulously worked upon them with fear, he relaxes a little again, having mixed in good things, and the change for the better, so that they might learn the strength of God from both sides. But he dwells on the fearful things and departs having spoken the good things immediately. Why so? Because they were in most need of the medicine of rebuke at that time; wherefore, after having applied it with abundance that he might allow them to take a breath for a little while, and by this to call them back again to virtue, he mixes in the good things, saying: *Every mountain shall be plowed with the plow.* For just as in the wrath of God even the deep soil will be desolate, so also in the reconciliation, even the rough ground will show the grace of the earth, receiving the plow and seed. And when these things have happened, all things that come from these will be too—peace, and security, and confidence, and not being afraid, as before. For he says, *Fear shall not come there.* And it shall be from the dry land and the thorn for the grazing of a sheep and the treading of an ox. And through these again he hints at prosperity, just as he also says further on: *Blessed is he who sows upon all water, where the ox and the ass tread.* For just as when he wishes to represent desolation, he brings Sirens and Onocentaurs into the middle of his discourse; so, when he wishes to represent peace and security, he shows the tame and gentle animals, those which take part in our agricultural labors, appearing everywhere, indicating from these the things that come from them, agriculture and their other service.

CHAPTER VIII

1. *And the Lord said to me: Take to yourself a new, large scroll, and write in it with the stylus of man, for the making of swift plunder. 2. And take as witnesses for me faithful men, Urijah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Berechiah. 3. And I approached the prophetess, and she conceived in the womb, and bore a son. And the Lord said to me: Call his name, Swiftly plunder, quickly despoil. 4. For before the child knows how to call father or mother, he will take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria before the king of the Assyrians.*

1. These two commands seem at the letter to be completely distinct, and to have nothing in common with one another; but if anyone examines the power of the thoughts accurately, he will see much kinship, and one goal. It is necessary, however, first to say for what reason the form of prophecy was introduced into the life of men. Why, then, was it introduced? It is the custom of God to be slow toward the punishments of those who sin, just as he is quick and sharp toward the good deeds of those who act rightly. This prepares the more slothful to fall away, because vengeance does not follow immediately at the heels of transgressions. In order, therefore, that God might both show his own long-suffering, and that those people might not become any more slothful on account of this, he prepares the medicine of prophecy, instructing the sinners beforehand not by the experience of punishments, but by the foreknowledge, so that if they were to become better by hearing the threats, they might ward off the punishment through experience; but if they remain insensitive, then he might bring the punishment upon them. The devil, having perceived this, and considering how great the profit is, sent forth the false prophets, who spoke against the prophets who threatened famines, plagues, wars, and the incursion of barbarians, announcing good things. For just as God wished to avert the punishment through experience by the fear of the words, so also the devil worked the opposite; weakening the discourse by grace and causing sloth.

^A For since afterwards, having faith in the pseudo-prophets and caring nothing for the practice of virtue, but persisting in their own sins, they drew punishment upon themselves, and since the truth was demonstrated by the outcome of the prophets, and the lie of the pseudo-prophets was exposed, he prepares another machine again for the ruin of those who allow themselves to be caught. For he persuaded those who were easily deceived that these calamities which were happening came from the anger of demons, because they were neglected and held in contempt by them. Therefore, God, in order to do away with this bait, foretells the evils that were coming upon them from a long time before—or rather, the evils that would seize them—so that those who were deceiving them, the demons, could not claim that these events were the result of their anger.

And that I do not say this by conjecture, hear Isaiah saying: *I know that thou art stubborn, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow is brass. Therefore I have spoken to thee from the beginning, that thou mightest not say, The idols have made these things for me, and my graven and molten images have made them for me. Thou didst not know, nor heard (Is. xlviii, 4, 5, 8).* Therefore, since, as I was saying, and as may be seen from the testimony, they were attributing these things to demons, prophecy comes to remove this fraud, predicting these things a long time before.

But since even so, it was likely that they, being ungrateful, would say: "You did not foretell it; we did not hear it before; now you are inventing this after the event—for you do not know the things that are about to happen"—how then will it be clear that this was indeed said? Look at how he clearly prepares for them an inescapable argument, stitching up the mouths of the impudent. For he does not permit them to simply speak; rather, he commands that what is said be written on a sheet; and not just written—so that they might not say, "He fashioned this afterwards"—but he also calls as witnesses of the writings men worthy of faith, both by their station and by their character. For he says: *Make for me witnesses, faithful men, Uriah the priest and Zachariah,* so that when the outcome of events comes, and they say, "These things were not told a long time ago," the produced document and the witnesses who were present might shut the mouths of those who are impudent. ^B Therefore he says: *Take for thyself a new tome of a book,* so that it might not perish quickly if it were already old, but might remain for a long time and accuse them through its writings. *And write with the pen of a man,* that is, with a stylus, the things that are to be.

What are the things to be? War, the victory of the barbarians, the plundering of spoils, the carrying off of booty. All these things, therefore, he says, write, *In order to make speed to take the spoils. For it is at hand.* What is intended by "For it is at hand"? It signifies two things: that even then the magnitude of their sins sought vengeance, and the retribution was already at the doors; that He himself, however, delays, wishing in his forbearance to make them better, and to remove the punishment; and that it is easy and light for him to bring everything to pass in a single moment, even from the ends of the earth, even if they be many, to bring them at once and place them ^C before you. *And make for me witnesses, faithful men, Uriah the priest and Zachariah the son of Barachiah.* Witnesses of what? Of the time: so that if the writings are attacked with calumnies, the men who are still living, who were present when these things were written and knew clearly the time when these things were being said, might be able to shut the mouths of those who bark impudently.

The following argument adheres to the same theme, bringing in a clearer proof of the matter. How and in what way? Let us hear the very words. *And he approached,* he says, *to the prophetess.* He called his own wife so, perhaps because she too had been deemed worthy of the prophetic Spirit; for these gifts were not given only to men, but had passed also into the female sex. For neither in secular affairs are duties distinguished, such that there are others for men and others for women, nor can these functions be exchanged between them; so the matter stands in spiritual things as well, but the struggles are equal, and the crowns are common. And this is indeed to be seen in the Old and New Testaments, as it happens in the whole human race. Having dwelt with her therefore according to the law of marriage, he made her pregnant. And after the boy was born, he placed upon him a new and wondrous name, which would comprise the history of things to come.

For what does he say? *Call his name, Speedily strip, Hastily plunder,* so that even if there were no faith in the things placed in the tome, the calling of the boy, which comprised the history of things to come, and was imposed before the outcome of events, and was frequently uttered at every time, might sew up even the mouths of the most impudent. For that this prophet did not invent these things after the event, but fore-saw them long before, even those who were ungrateful and stupid by choice could be led to believe from this, having seen this boy called thus before the event of the matters, and thus proclaiming the doctrine of future calamities. And so he interprets the power of the prophecy, and accurately signifies the time with these words: *For before the child knows how to call father or mother, he will take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria before the king of the Assyrians.* What he says is of this kind. In the time, he says, of immature age, when he is not yet able to speak, the victory and the trophies will occur—not because the boy can draw up a battle line and put the enemies to rout, but because that age, or that time elapsed before the boy could speak, hands everything over to the enemies.

5. And the Lord spoke to me again: 6. *Because this people is not willing to take the water of Siloam which flows quietly, but wishes to have Rasin and the son of Romelia as king over you,* 7. *on account of this, behold, the Lord brings upon you the water of the river, strong and much, the king of the Assyrians.* God, according to his custom, not only predicts the punishments but brings forward the causes, so that in this way he might instruct the hearers; and he does this also in this place. Where he has predicted the devastation that will be through the foreigners, and has foretold the taken spoils and the incursion of the barbarians, he states the cause of the war. What is this? The ungrateful soul of those who inhabit the city. For since, he says, though they have a moderate, mild, and gentle king, they fell away from him and desired tyrants, and strove to flee toward foreign rule, not bearing their own happiness, I will fulfill their desire more abundantly, bringing in a certain barbarian and inhuman one. ^D [alt-version omitted]

^A He uses words metaphorically, describing both the character of the indigenous king and the power of the barbarian; he does this, as I have always said, to make the discourse more emphatic. For this reason he says: *Because they were not willing [to have] the water of Siloam*; not speaking of water, but because the spring flows quietly and without noise, he compares with the quiet passage of waters the undisturbed and gentle manner of the one who was then reigning, and calls him Siloam, on account of [his] being burdenless and calm—which brings the greatest accusation upon the subjects, that not having a heavy yoke, they attempted to stir up revolution, and give themselves over to foreign kings. Since, therefore, he says, they do not wish for the gentle and mild one, but for Rasin and the son of Romelia, I will bring in, he says, the Babylonian; and the violent [nature] of his army he calls the water of a river, much and strong.

3. Then, explaining the metaphor, he says: *the king of the Assyrians*. Do you see how the argument stated before us appears unshakable, that everywhere in metaphors Scripture is accustomed to interpret itself? This is also what it has done here. For having said *river*, it did not remain in the metaphor, but said what river it means: *The king of the Assyrians*, and all his glory. *And he shall ascend upon every canyon of yours, and shall walk upon every wall of yours. And he shall take away from Judea a man who shall be able to lift up his head, or to effect something powerful. And his encampment shall be so as to fill the breadth of thy country.* Showing that not by human power, but by divine wrath will what is said come to pass, he does not depict him as an enemy preparing for battle, but as one coming for an already-prepared plunder. For he will not stop, he says, and draw up in array, but with the multitude of bodies he will cover the face of the earth, and will overcome with ease. Then, even in the anger, there is much philanthropy. For he does not threaten to uproot their city, but predicts a certain captivity and abduction, wishing to make those who remain more sober-minded by the punishment of those taken. For *he shall take away from Judea*, he says, *a man who shall be able to lift up his head*. Those who are in power, those ^B who conduct and carry all things, those who commit outrage with their multitude, he will make prisoners and slaves, so that then the lesser ones might breathe a little, and by the fear of those abducted, and by the freedom from their own [leaders], they might become better. For this reason he says: *Able to effect something*; that is, the strong man, the one able to act, the one powerful to do anything whatever.

And before the abduction, by the very sight of it, the barbarian will sufficiently strike you with terror, he says, filling the whole earth with the barbarian bodies. For this reason he added: *And his encampment shall be so as to fill the breadth of thy country. God is with us.* ^C Know, ye nations, and be defeated; listen even to the furthest part of the earth, and [you] strong ones be defeated. For if you should again be strong, you will again be defeated. And whatever counsel you devise, the Lord shall scatter it; and whatever word you shall speak, it shall not abide in you, because God is with us. It seems to me he is predicting here the victory of Hezekiah, and that illustrious trophy, and the cause of that very victory. For if even there be armor with them, he says, and countless armies, and military experience, yet the alliance more powerful than all is with us, that is, God. For the barbarian did come, just as he threatened before, and having taken many cities, he departed; but after this, having marched again, he suffered the opposite. These things, therefore, the prophet predicts, and declares the cause of the victory, and directs the speech to the barbarians themselves. For do not, he says, rely on your former victory; for in the present incursion, the alliance with us was very great. Know this very thing, therefore, and depart, as attempting impossibilities. Then, showing the cause of that victory, and that the report carrying the achievements will arrive at the ends of the earth, he says: *Listen even to the furthest part of the earth.* For no one was unaware of what happened then in Jerusalem. For this reason he says: *Listen even to the furthest part of the earth, and [you] strong ones be defeated.* For the barbarian then possessed great glory for his strength. And by "strong ones" here, he does not mean those who are great in physical vigor, but also those in the abundance of wealth and the splendor of glory. *For if you should again be strong*, he says, *you will again be defeated, and whatever counsel you shall devise, the Lord shall scatter it; and whatever word you shall speak, it shall not abide in you, because God is with us.* Since their counsels were evil, and they expected that the city itself would be uprooted from [its] foundations, and that thus [the inhabitants] would depart homeward, ^D the prophet brings their counsels into the open, and says: All things shall stand only as far as the words. Then, since he announced matters surpassing human nature, making the discourse worthy of belief, he takes refuge continually in the dignity of *God is with us*, and that He is the one who brings all these things to pass, saying: For He is the one who will scatter the machinations. For His is the glory.