Commentary on Isaiah 1 part 1/23

ON THE PROPHET ISAIAH: PROOEMIUM. "Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath."

It must be noted, then, that God did not make winter, or the Sabbath, something blameworthy;

"Summer and spring—you formed them."

But we are in winter whenever the passions of the flesh have dominion over us,

and thus, then, the Gospel saying must be understood: that our flight should not take place when the worse things hold sway in us, or when we pass our life away in idleness.

For this is what it suggests we understand by "the Sabbath", that we may obtain that blessing:

"Blessed is that servant whom, when the Lord comes, he shall find watching."

"Be wise as serpents."

Perhaps this is because it wisely and prudently sheds its old age;

for indeed, whenever it must slough off its old skin, it gives itself over to a narrow place that grips its body tightly, and thus, by squeezing itself through, it sheds its old age.

Perhaps, then, the word means that we too, walking by the narrow and afflicted way, should strip off the old man and put on the new, so that our youth also may be renewed, like the eagle's.

It is a great and primary gift (and one requiring a soul thoroughly purified) to be able to receive the divine inspiration for prophesying the things of God.

"He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

And the prophet Joel too says:

"Who is wise, that he may understand these things? And who is prudent, that he may know them?" And the Apostle, in the passage concerning the gifts, says that one gift is prophecy, and another the discerning of spirits.

For he who presents himself as a worthy instrument for the working of the Spirit is a prophet;

while he who intelligently apprehends the force of the things declared has the gift of the discerning of spirits.

"Let two or three prophets speak," it says, "and let the others judge."

And so great a thing is it, that it is set forth as a threat, that the Lord will take away from Judea the prophet, and the diviner, and the admirable counselor, and the prudent hearer.

We, however, must pray to receive the gift of wisdom, and that of knowledge, and that of teaching, so that all of them together, converging upon our ruling faculty, may imprint upon it the form of the whole truth that is prophesied.

Now the word of knowledge is needed for beholding the ineffable things of the Spirit;

while the word of wisdom is needed to construct and elaborate what has been delivered compactly in brief sayings;

for it is proper to wisdom to extend discourse.

"For I stretched out my words," it says, "and you did not attend."

Then there is the gift of teaching, for the edification of those who hear.

It is necessary, then, that fitness be laid down beforehand in the soul of one who is about to prophesy, arising from that motion which lies in our own power, so that the Word who pervades all things, choosing out the more harmonious souls—in which not even the slightest motion of the passionate part of the soul is discordant with the Word, in proportion to the concord already inherent within—may bring upon them the working that comes from the divine Spirit.

But also the measure of one's disposition regarding faith, and what is advantageous both for the very one who receives the grace, and for those who hear it at that time, or who will later share in the benefit derived from the Prophets.

"According to the proportion of faith."

It is, however, beyond the reach of human nature to set forth in full the reason for the diverse working that comes to be in the worthy from the divine Spirit,

according to which one is entrusted with prophecy, and this to a certain degree;

and another receives gifts of healing, and these to a certain extent;

and yet another the working of miracles, whether greater or lesser.

For these things only He knows, who gazes intently upon the worth of each soul, and who, by the invisible measures of righteousness, apportions to each what is fitting according to worth.

How, then, did the pure and translucent souls prophesy? Becoming, as it were, mirrors of the divine working, they exhibited a reflection that was clear and unconfused, and in no way clouded by the passions of the flesh.

For the Holy Spirit is present to all, but to those who are pure from the passions He manifests His own power;

but to those whose ruling faculty is confounded by the stains of sin, He no longer does so.

For he who is inconsistent with regard to self-control is not pure;

but rather he is pure who has subjected the mindset of the flesh to the Spirit.

For just as reflections of faces do not occur in every material, but only in those possessing a certain smoothness and transparency, so too the working of the Spirit does not occur in every soul, but only in those having nothing crooked or knotted.

but it does not show the images of those who peer into it, because it is rough, being composed of congealed foam.

but it does not receive images, because it too has certain small bubbles.

But in water, and in ink, a shape is reflected, on account of their smoothness.

Thus, then, an uneven manner of life is unfit for the reception of the divine working.

Whenever, then, a soul, giving itself over entirely to the practice of virtue, continually preserves, through its intense love toward God, the remembrance of God imprinted upon it, and in this way makes God dwell within it as it were an indweller—being borne along by God, out of its most intense gazing toward God and its ineffable love—it becomes worthy of the gift of prophecy, God granting divine power and opening the eyes of the soul unto the understanding of whatever visions He wills.

in that it foresees future things as though they were present.

We shall, however, be brought closer to seeing the prophetic movement by means of the phantasms that occur in dreams.

For just as, in the fantasies that occur during sleep, when the ruling faculty of our soul is being impressed, we become spectators of cities or places extraordinary in size and beauty, or of creatures beyond nature, and often we retain the memory of certain words that have fallen upon our hearing—and though so many wondrous sights and sounds surround us, we in truth neither saw nor heard anything by bodily sense—so also the mind of divine and blessed men, being impressed sometimes while awake, and at other times in a dream, is filled with divine words and visions;

neither impressing upon itself, through the eyes, the images of things seen, nor receiving, through the ears, a striking of the air arising from vocal organs.

For there was no external substrate—no high and lofty throne, nor the one seated upon it, which Isaiah saw;

nor was there a humanlike figure, amber-colored from the loins upward and fiery from the loins downward, such as Ezekiel saw;

but rather their mind, by a superior power, came to be engaged in the contemplation of these things, the Spirit setting forth the divine nature through enigmas.

The Prophets see not only future things, but also the hidden things of what is present, as Paul says:

"the secrets of his heart become manifest."

How then did Pharaoh also, and Nebuchadnezzar, prophesy? Because, concerning worldly affairs, it was necessary for rulers to foresee, so that they might be believed.

And how did Balaam also prophesy, and Caiaphas? Because they too had those who would be persuaded by them;

the one as high priest, the other as a diviner.

For here it is not purity of soul, nor the translucence of a mind that beholds God and draws power from that source;

but rather the word works in them by way of dispensation, not according to worth, but in accordance with the occasion.

You will inquire, however, whether the things in Isaiah and Ezekiel are visions, seen through such phantasms, or theologies, proclaiming to us, through enigmas of the Spirit, the properties of the Godhead.

Some say that they prophesied while in ecstasy, their human mind being overshadowed by the Spirit.

But this is contrary to the purpose of the divine visitation—to make the one possessed by God beside himself, and, precisely when he has become full of divine teachings, then to be beside his own understanding, so that, while benefiting others through himself, he himself is left without the benefit of his own words.

In general, what consistent sense does it make that, from the Spirit of wisdom, one should become like a madman, and, from the Spirit of knowledge, should cast off the faculty of comprehension? But light does not produce blindness; rather, it arouses the power of sight naturally inherent within.

nor does the Spirit produce darkness in souls; rather, He awakens, unto the contemplation of intelligible things, the mind that is pure from the stains of sin.

That there should be, then, an evil power that confuses the understanding, plotting against human nature, is not implausible;

but to say that the presence of the divine Spirit works this very same thing is impious.

Furthermore, if the saints were wise, how did they not follow along with what was being prophesied? For "the wise man," it says, "will understand the things from his own mouth;"

"and upon his lips he bears discernment."

as in the saying, "The heaven was astonished, and the earth shuddered."

One must, however, setting out from the common notions, confess, as far as the wording goes, the things that seem contradictory concerning God, without actually conceiving them as such.

For example, it is according to the common preconceptions to confess the divine nature as good, and free from wrath, and just.

If, then, Scripture speaks of God as being angry, or grieved, or repenting, or dealing with someone not according to his worth, it is fitting to seek out the intention of the wording, and to be concerned with how we might be able to restore [the proper sense], and not to overturn the noble conceptions concerning God.

And thus we shall meet with the Scriptures without stumbling, being helped by the parts that are easily grasped, and not being harmed by the more obscure ones.

But if anyone should accuse the divine Scripture of not being instructive, nor effective for those who are able to be benefited, let him carefully consider the whole ordering of human affairs, not only in spiritual matters, but also in lesser things and the affairs of daily life;

that to irrational creatures He gave an easy means for living;

spontaneous food and natural covering, and clothing made of hair and feathers, the power that administers all things graciously bestowed on them;

but having brought forth man naked, it gave him reason instead of all these things, through which the provisioning arts were established—building, weaving, farming, metalworking—the soul, by the presence of reason, supplying what is lacking to the body.

having made his [bodily] faculty weaker, He so contrived it,

first, so that by being occupied with these things he might be drawn away from worse things;

and next, because things acquired through labor are somehow loved the more, and things that come about over a long time remain more lastingly;

whereas of things whose acquisition is easy, the enjoyment is not highly esteemed.

For the presence of things readily at hand is easily despised, and is deemed by those who have them worthy of no safeguarding.

And there is much kinship between the riddles that come from dreams and the things indicated by concealment in Scripture.

For this, then, purity of life is needed, so that what is veiled in the Scriptures may also be discerned in the pursuit of moral virtue.

But besides purity of life, there is also need of engagement with the Scriptures, so that the solemn dignity and mystical character of the divine sayings may, through continual study, be impressed upon the soul.

That the study of the divine words requires a whole lifetime, the life of Moses establishes: he, during the first forty-year period, was educated in the things of the Egyptians; and during the second forty-year period, having withdrawn to the wilderness under the pretext of shepherding, devoted himself to the contemplation of the things that are.

And thus, at last, having been deemed worthy of God's manifestation after the second forty-year period, though unwilling, he was brought down, by the loving-kindness of God, to the care of mankind.

And even then he did not remain continually in the active life, but often returned also to the contemplative.

Whence also the whole multitude fell into Egyptian idol-madness, while the holy man was with God on the mountain.

Such also was Elijah, who fled from the crowd of men and loved to dwell in the wilderness.

If, then, the search for truth was labored at by the saints with all the steadfastness of their ruling faculty, how is it not unreasonable to seek the fruits of countless labors without any effort of one's own? For observe also Elijah—after how many withdrawals, and periods of quiet, and labors, he was deemed worthy to see God.

The subject-matter of the book is evident and readily grasped of itself.

Since the Prophet lived in times in which wickedness had increased, he recounts the magnitude of the evils laid up in store for them, and sets forth beforehand the cause of God's wrath, in order to lead them to repentance.

First he begins with the oracles against Judea,

since (according to Peter) 'the time had come for judgment to begin from the house of God.'

For by nature we are most severe with those closest to us, whenever they sin against us.

And in Ezekiel the Lord, commanding that those who had sinned be punished, says, 'Begin from my sanctuary.'

fifth, [the oracle] concerning Egypt; then that concerning the desert; then that concerning Idumea; then that concerning the Valley of Zion; then that concerning Tyre; then that concerning the four-footed beasts.

Following these are the things that took place around the fourteenth year of the reign of Hezekiah;

after which there are prophecies, without any heading, foretelling the sufferings of Jerusalem and of Judea, and the things concerning those in the dispersion, and concerning their return, after the sentence of justice has been fulfilled;

and the things concerning Christ, sown throughout the whole prophecy, the mystical [sense] being interwoven with each of the things spoken according to the historical [sense].

...of Judah.—Of the senses that we possess, the one having the most active apprehension of sensible things is sight.

For fearful things cannot be known through hearing as they can through sight;

nor does any other faculty apprehend desirable things as sight does.

Whence also the prophet was called 'the one who sees,' and 'the one who sees beforehand.'

For in Amos we have learned that Amaziah said:

'Seer, go, withdraw into the land of Judah, and prophesy there.'

And Samuel is said to have been called 'the one who sees beforehand' in the Book of Kingdoms.

For (it says) the prophet used to be called 'the one who sees beforehand.'

For insofar as they were observant of what was to come, they were designated 'those who see beforehand';

but insofar as they were contemplators of the divine will, they were called 'seers.'

It is, then, our task to take care of the mind, that it may become keen-sighted, being perfected through fitting exercises;

but it is God's gift that the Spirit should shine upon us for the understanding of His mysteries.

Having placed 'vision' first, he then added the report of 'words,' in order to show that he did not receive them through hearing, but declares the meaning of the word as it was impressed upon his mind.

For indeed we ourselves need speech in order to signify our thoughts;

but God, touching the very ruling faculty of those who are worthy, impresses upon them the knowledge of His own will.

What is the meaning of the addition of 'father'? It is to show that the gift of prophecy was for him a paternal one.

which he saw concerning Judea.

What does the repetition intend? That through the first [instance], the common aspect of the vision [is indicated];

while through the second, it now signifies the particular—what kind of vision it is, and in what it differs.

'Words,' then, that are 'visible,' that is, contemplated by the mind, which the Prophet saw, according to what is said in Exodus, that 'all the people saw the voice.'

Other prophets, too, made their preface in a similar way.

'Thus says the Lord God to Idumea:'

'I have heard a report from the Lord, and He has sent forth a summons to the nations.'

'The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.'

'The burden which Habakkuk the prophet saw.'

And Malachi spoke of a 'burden' without the word 'vision,' saying thus:

'The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel, by the hand of His messenger.'

And by the word 'burden' they seem to indicate that they do not have the power of prophecy from themselves, but have received it;

so that 'burden' is equivalent in force to 'a gift from God.'

These, then, say that their books are of 'vision';

while the rest of the prophets say that they have heard 'words' from God.

'The word of the Lord' (it says) 'that came to Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah and Jotham and Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah,'

'and in the days of Jeroboam, son of Joash, king of Israel.'

'The beginning of the word of the Lord to Hosea.'

And in Amos: 'The words of Amos, which came [to him] among the herdsmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.'

Here the order is reversed, as compared with Isaiah;

for there 'vision' is placed first, and 'words' are added afterward;

but here, with 'words' set first, 'vision' follows.

For it is 'the words of Amos,' not 'the vision of Amos';

not 'which he heard,' but 'which he saw.'

And the word of the Lord came to Micah the Morasthite, in the days of Joatham, Achaz, and Ezekias, kings of Judah, concerning what he saw regarding Samaria and Jerusalem.

The word of the Lord, which came to Joel, the son of Bathuel.

The word of the Lord came to Jonah.

The word of the Lord, which came to Sophonias, son of Chusi, son of Godolias, son of Amorias, son of Ezekias, in the days of Josias, son of Amos, king of Judah.

But the marking of the times and the reception of the word in Haggai are stated in a peculiar manner:

In the days of Ozias, Joatham, Achaz, and Ezekias.

The observation of the times is necessary, so that it may be shown after how long a time the things foretold long before came to pass, and that when weakness increased, the care that comes from God abounded all the more.

For nearly all of them coincided with one another in time:

Hosea, in the days of Ozias and in the days of Jeroboam;

Micah, in the days of Joatham and Achaz;

Sophonias, in the days of Josias, son of Amos.

But as for the rest, some recorded the prophecies without reference to time, while others noted the reigns of the foreign kings, as being better known, since these were then in power.

Haggai and Zechariah, Obadiah, Nahum, and Habakkuk, Jonah and Malachi did not mention the times, nor indeed did most of the fathers.

And perhaps those who came from notable fathers could more easily be readily received,

for the more well-known are the more trustworthy;

but those of obscure parents were passed over in silence.

This Amos, however, whom we have listed among the Twelve, is not the father of Isaiah;

for neither is the pronunciation the same, nor what is signified by the sound.

For the one is pronounced with a rough breathing, the other with a smooth one;

and the things signified are different:

for the name of Isaiah's father, and the distinctive character of that sound, signifies firmness, power, and strength;

but by that of the Prophet, a "hard word" is signified.

But before Isaiah, the prophecy of [Hosea] seems to be placed:

"The beginning of the word of the Lord to Hosea."

One must know, however, that this Ozias is the same person who is also called Azarias;

for in the first book of Paralipomenon he is called Ozias, but in the second book of Kingdoms he is called Azarias — yet his father and mother are the same.

And the time of his reign is the same:

Under Ozias, Isaiah, Hosea, and Amos prophesied. But since it is written, "The beginning of the word of the Lord to Hosea," was it perhaps he who first began to prophesy? And since Amos prophesied two years before the earthquake, was it perhaps before the vision of Isaiah, in which he says:

"And the lintel was lifted up." "Hear, O heaven, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken."

Since the prophecy came in an evil generation, and had among men no one to listen, it addresses heaven and earth.

For it was before these witnesses that the law was given, Moses having said:

"Give heed, O heaven, and I will speak;

and let the earth hear the words of my mouth."

It was fitting, therefore, that the same witnesses who were called upon when the law was given should also be summoned for the reproof of the transgression of the law.

"Assemble to me" (he says) "your tribal leaders and your elders and your judges and your scribes, that I may speak into their ears, and I call heaven and earth to witness against them."

But it has been observed that the wording here is the opposite of that in the Ode:

"Give heed, O heaven" (or, according to the other editions) "Give ear, O heaven;"

"Hear, O heaven, and give ear, O earth."

For whenever the people think lofty thoughts, and do not depart from God, it summons heaven as being near, and exhorts them to lay up its words in their ears;

for this is what "give ear" means.

But when it is removed far from the things of heaven, it speaks to heaven as to one who is far away;

whereas Isaiah, since the people were in sins and thinking earthly things, commands the earth, as being near, to receive the words into its ears.

For this is what "to give ear" means:

[namely,] to regard heaven and earth accordingly:

For thus heaven, too, is called the throne of God, because the heavenly powers have the knowledge of God firmly established within themselves.

And the earth is called a footstool, because men who are upon the earth are scarcely able to grasp even the very least of the things concerning God.

"A shrewd man is a throne of understanding;

but a throne of dishonor is a woman who hates what is right."

Just as the throne of understanding is the one who is perceptive and sensible, so also the throne of God is the one who has room to receive the highest discourse concerning God.

It is a fearful thing to disregard the words of God.

"I have begotten and raised up sons, but they have rejected me."

Man is composed of soul and body:

Since, then, his kinship extends to both, the prophet reproves the sin by appealing to what is most proper to him.

The one, namely the formation according to God, is accomplished through works and the acceptance of doctrines;

as Paul begets through the Gospel, and travails in birth for those who have fallen away, and forms them anew, remolding them unto piety.

The other is what is the entrance into life, as in, "This is the book of the generation of heaven and earth."

He brings forward both of these against them, and reproaches them, that though they were brought from non-being into existence, and came to be according to the image of God (for this is what it means both to be begotten and to be exalted), they neither gave thanks as to a Creator, nor made themselves like him as a father;

but through their turning to the worse, they rejected God, but made the devil their father.

"For everyone who commits sin has been begotten of the devil."

And the Lord also says to those who do evil:

"You are of your father the devil."

It is, then, a great accusation for one who is a son, and has received bodily generation, to be ungrateful toward the one who begot him;

but worthy of unbearable hatred is the one who, even after being exalted by being made a partaker of heavenly things, does not even so continue in love toward his benefactor.

"The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's manger;

but Israel has not known me, and my people has not understood."

He who has rejected God is compared to an ox and a donkey.

For since, "being in honor, he did not understand,"

"he was compared to the senseless cattle, and became like them."

Such are those who live not according to reason, but according to passion, being carried down by their irrationality toward a beast-like life.

But he took as his image things that are familiar and well known to men, so that we might be ashamed — being more senseless than these creatures, and not even giving back to our Creator that goodwill which we ourselves receive from irrational animals.

For the ox, given to us as a fellow-worker for farming, both perceives the voice of the one who feeds it and recognizes the one who customarily brings it food.

But the donkey instinctively hastens to the accustomed places of its lodging.

If, then, irrational animals have such familiarity with the one who cares for them, how great a measure of love toward God will be required of rational nature? Observe, moreover, that the ox is testified to have greater understanding than the donkey;

for the one knows the very one who acquired it, while the other knows only the manger — the text showing that the gluttonous animal recognizes only the place of pleasure;

whereas the ox has some understanding also of that which is good and beneficial in itself.

that is, do not yoke together the noble and industrious quality of the soul with what is pleasure-loving and passion-prone.

For it is not oxen that God is concerned about;

but it was written entirely for our sake.

But elsewhere again they are yoked together;

For blessed is he who sows beside every water, where the ox and the donkey tread — that is, the one who by his teaching both stirs up the industrious part of the soul and tends to its pleasure-loving part.

And the ox knew the one who acquired it, but Israel did not know me, the Creator;

and the donkey recognized its master's manger, but Israel did not understand me.

And there are many mangers, yet still the donkey does not miss the manger of the one who owns it.

But God is one, and the ungrateful people go astray after gods that do not exist.

They did not understand me, who am made known through heaven;

who is displayed through earth and sea, who is shown through sun and moon, who is declared through the stars, who is made manifest through the whole of creation.

Fittingly, Israel is assigned to the image of the ox, while the people in general are assigned to that of the donkey.

For as great as the difference between ox and donkey, so great is the difference between Israel — which is interpreted 'the one who sees God' — and the people simply so called.

Woe, sinful nation, people full of sins, evil seed, lawless sons.

'Nation' and 'people' are often spoken together as a pair;

as in, 'In a numerous nation is the glory of a king, but in the failing of the people is the ruin of the ruler.'

And, 'Why did the nations rage, and the peoples meditate on empty things?' But now, having begun from being a sinful nation, by the growth of wickedness they become a people full of lawlessness, and from being an evil seed, they proceed to becoming lawless sons.

For just as progress in virtue has its growth from lesser things toward greater, so the outpouring of wickedness proceeds from the lesser beginnings toward that which is incurable.

And 'seed' has a close consequence with 'sons,' even according to nature itself;

for from seed there is progress to becoming sons, not only in bodily generation, but also in the growth that occurs in the soul: from the seeds of teaching, those who have received the teachings progress toward likeness to those who taught them, and for this reason are called sons — indeed, sons of the kingdom, whenever, having received the saving seeds, they are brought to perfection according to them;

or sons of Gehenna, if from wicked teachings they are made akin to destruction.

It is a grave accusation for an entire nation to be called sinful, as though no one among it were living rightly;

and to be a people 'full of sins,' as though every kind of lawlessness were practiced by them — indeed, that even the mutual contradictions of wickedness against itself are found among them, as it is said:

'Filled with all unrighteousness;'

and, 'For the sins of the Amorites are not yet full;'

'Fill up, you also, the measure of your fathers.'

That is the tare sown upon the pure wheat by the enemy man, which, having come to full growth, became a lawless son, being a son of destruction and a son of Gehenna.

and instead of remaining in the more divine birth, they became evil seed.

Except that their habitual wickedness is destructive first of all to those who possess it;

for the extreme in wickedness is even at variance with itself.

'You have forsaken the Lord and provoked the Holy One of Israel.'

What greater proof of wickedness is there than the forsaking of the Good? And what exceeding degree of evil, than to provoke the one who is good and gentle? For the same thing they are accused of also in Jeremiah:

'For they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water.'

And according to the degree of forsaking, each one lays up for himself the corresponding measure of wrath in the requital.

'They were alienated, turning backward.'

This was added from Theodotion, being, as it were, an interpretation of 'forsaking' — that is, becoming estranged from God through a falling away toward what is worse.