Commentary on Isaiah 1 part 14/65

Nevertheless they were defeated, since God saved and came to the aid of those returned from captivity.

For they prevailed over their enemies.

Then, as time went on, Antiochus surnamed Epiphanes, reigning over Asia, was aggrieved against Ptolemy, who at that time was reigning over the land of the Egyptians;

and having mustered war, he was defeated, and was scarcely brought off safe.

But, that he might not run home wholly empty-handed, having no memorial of victory, he marched against Judaea, took Jerusalem, and having brought it under his hand and plundered all the holy vessels, he set up a certain general named Lysias in Judaea, charging him to guard the dominion for him.

and when he had hurried off to his own kingdom, the Jews made war against Lysias the general, and conquered him.

When Antiochus learned of these things, he died of grief.

The God of all, therefore, promises His help to those who had been devastated by Nebuchadnezzar and had scarcely escaped captivity, saying:

And God shall dash in pieces those who rise up against Mount Zion, against them. Do you hear how He who smote also heals the wound? Who then are those that rise up? Syria from the rising of the sun, and the Greeks from the setting of the sun.

For Antiochus was a Greek by race, coming from Macedonia.

For the land of the Macedonians is a part of the West, especially when it is considered by way of comparison, in respect of its position, with the peoples from the rising of the sun.

And since he says concerning the Greeks, 'those who devour Israel with all their mouth,' one must know that Antiochus treated the Jews cruelly and inhumanely, and slew countless numbers piteously and pitiably, at which time the Maccabees also contended, and those men's august triumphs were achieved.

These things Josephus recounts in the book concerning them.

The sons of the Greeks, however, devour Israel in yet another way also, and how, it is necessary to tell.

For their poets and choice authors, having attained to the height of eloquence, and being formidable and clever in what pertains to discourse, sometimes carry off the spiritual Israel—that is, the mind that beholds God—and deceive those who have already believed in Christ, so that they even choose along with them to worship the creature rather than the Creator.

These devour Israel with all their mouth, to whom one must give no heed.

For if the brilliance of speech be seen running side by side with good works, it will be both acceptable and pleasing to God.

But bare and by itself, what else could it be henceforth than, as the most wise Paul says, sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal? Notwithstanding all these things His wrath was not turned away, but His hand is still uplifted.

And the people turned not back until they were smitten, and they sought not the Lord. For the God of all had indeed saved Israel even when he transgressed, and had bestowed His help, so that they became greater than their neighbours from Syria and than those from the setting of the sun, who devoured him with all their mouth.

'Nevertheless,' he says, 'the Lord's wrath against them was not turned away,' that is, it did not cease, but rather the hand of the Smiter remained uplifted, evidently ready to bring yet other blows upon them.

It sought not the Lord, because of its will to think and do the things that seemed good and pleasing to itself.

And they persisted in holding such a mind, until the uplifted and all-mighty hand was brought upon them.

And again, what is the blow that comes after—how is it not worth seeing? For last of all, as I said, Nebuchadnezzar took all Judaea.

And he removed Israel to the mountains of the Persians and Medes.

But when, as I said, the times of the captivity had already been completed, they were brought back to Judaea, and dwelt in Jerusalem, the tribes no longer being divided into two, but all henceforth being made subject to one king.

For this was what had been spoken through one of the holy prophets:

'And they shall come up out of the land, and shall appoint themselves one head.' After all had therefore returned from captivity into Judaea, those from Syria and those from the rising of the sun made war upon them; but they too were defeated, God shielding those who had been redeemed.

Then they continued through the intervening time until the coming of our Saviour, living neither auspiciously, nor indeed departing altogether from those ancient transgressions, but rather conducting themselves in a monstrous and lawless manner, and with exceeding negligence.

But when Christ shone forth upon those throughout all that is under heaven—

for 'God has appeared unto us,' according to the voice of the Psalmist—

they kept up their stubbornness, and did the things that are unlawful, not receiving the word that came from Him, nor honouring Him with faith.

Behaving with unholy insolence, they descended to such a pitch of impiety and unholiness of conduct that they even delivered Him to the cross, denied the Holy and Righteous One, and attempted to encompass with death the Author of life, who justifies the ungodly;

and for this very cause He shone forth upon those throughout all the earth, that He might abolish death and render powerless the sting of sin.

Since, therefore, the compassionate God bears long with our faults, to be presumptuous is a most grievous thing; and I say that we ought by every means to appease Him who has been grieved.

And He does good even to those who do not transgress;

yet He saves even those who have chosen to disobey, on account of the gentleness that befits Him.

Let none among us, therefore, be hard, nor slow to perceive the gifts that come from Him. But through those very means by which He knew how to do good even to those who were not good, coming thereby to the recognition of the loving-kindness that is in Him, let us repent of the things that are past.

And let us refashion our own will towards the duty of serving Him, and choose instead the ways of forbearance.

'And the Lord shall take away from Israel head and tail, great and small in one day, the elder and those who show partiality to persons;

both the prophet, and him that teaches lawless things.'

'And those who bless this people shall be those who lead astray, and they lead astray that they may swallow them up.' Saying that the hand of the Smiter remains uplifted, he clearly declares that the divine wrath against them will never cease, and of what sort will be, in due seasons, the manner of the punishment that is to be brought upon them.

'For it shall be taken away from Israel in one day,' he says, that is, at one season—and it is clear that this means, at all events, that of the war from the Romans—'both head and tail.'

And what the riddle is, he interprets, saying 'great and small,' that is, the illustrious and the obscure.

And who these might be, he further showed by adding:

'The elder, and those who show partiality to persons.'

By these words He signifies, as I think, the tribe that was allotted the priesthood, that is, those of the blood of Levi, whom the people under their charge also used to call elders.

And indeed the divinely inspired disciples addressed them in this way, saying:

'Rulers of the people and elders, if we this day are examined concerning a good deed done to an infirm man, by what means he has been made whole, be it known to you and to all the people, that it is in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.' For these elders, having the authority to judge, did not render righteous verdicts upon each of those tried before them, but took bribes insatiably and marvelled at the persons of the rich, although the Law which cried out through Moses declared:

'Judge righteous judgment'; and everywhere laying down the precept, 'Thou shalt not respect persons in judgment.'

This, then, He says, is the beginning [the head];

and it was reckoned also for a head.

For the priest is the head of peoples, whenever he is conceived of as of a single body.

And He says that together with the elder there shall be taken away also the prophet and the one who teaches lawless things.

And this one He says is the tail, that is, that which follows behind.

For there were certain men among the Jews who interpreted the Law given through the all-wise Moses;

but they did this in a perverse manner, adding to the words given through Moses, and that not rightly, unwritten traditions, commandments of men and doctrines.

These men led astray the populace of the Jews, and caused them to lift up a haughty neck against Christ.

Since, therefore, these also followed the opinions of the priests, who had been set in the rank of the head, He named them the tail.

But since He named them prophets, we are not to reckon them holy and true.

For He added this, that they teach lawless things.

For there were in Israel false prophets from time to time, clearly in those very times when there were also the prophets who spoke according to truth.

But after the times of the captivity, no one could say with certainty that any others of that sort arose in those days;

unless indeed one should mean those whom Gamaliel too made mention of, he being a teacher of the Law and honoured by all the people, according to what is written in the Acts of the holy Apostles.

For he addressed those in the council thus concerning the holy Apostles, saying:

'Men of Israel, take heed to yourselves concerning these men, what you intend to do.

For before these days rose up Theudas, claiming to be someone great, to whom a number of men, about four hundred, attached themselves;

and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing.'

'After this man rose up Judas the Galilean in the days of the census, and drew away people after himself.

And that man perished, and all who obeyed him were scattered.' He says, therefore, that head and tail shall be taken away, according to the meaning we have just now given.

Yet He says that those who call this people blessed shall be deceivers, and they deceive that they may swallow them up;

for the leaders of the Jews, who had been entrusted with the sacred and divine tabernacle and were appointed to perform the sacrifices according to the Law, incited the people under their charge to bring gifts, telling them that they were blessed if they made their offerings abundantly.

But they did this bitterly, not out of reverence and concern for God, but looking to their own love of gain.

For this reason, He says, they deceive, that they may swallow them up.

For being insatiable, as I said, in their desire to be rich, they did not teach the peoples to gladden the God of all things in a fitting way, namely by choosing to fulfil the Law;

but rather they urged them to do Him honour with offerings beyond their means.

For this cause they neither themselves received the faith that is in Christ, but, as it were, shut up the kingdom of heaven, nor did they suffer others to enter into it.

For they knew that, once the shadow according to the Law had ceased and the evangelical proclamations had been received, the worship in types and by means of blood would altogether come to an end, and the sacrifices would cease, since the worship in spirit had been brought in.

But this meant the utter destruction of the insatiable love of gain that was in them.

For by 'young men' here He surely does not mean altogether those who are in bodily vigour, or those in the prime and bloom of fleshly youth, but rather signifies those who might have in mind and heart the spiritual strength, so as to be able to accomplish, and that most vigorously, the things through which they shall be illustrious and most well known to God, and full of all fairness.

To those thus disposed in their state, the blessed John also addressed himself, saying:

'I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and you have overcome the evil one.' But before the coming of our Saviour, there were also among the Jews, in the manner I have just described, some who had made it their study to play the man, by both choosing to fulfil the delivered commandment blamelessly and being able to excel most richly in the boastings according to the Law.

And they were not rejected in God's sight.

For it was still the time of the shadow that is in the Law, and, since the evangelical polity in Christ had not yet been made manifest, those things were held in much praise.

Thus it is also written concerning Zacharias and Elizabeth:

'of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.' In this manner, I think, the holy prophets themselves also lived out their lives.

And indeed the divinely inspired Paul, although saying openly that he had become blameless as touching the righteousness which is in the Law:

'But what was gain to me? These things, he says, I have counted loss for Christ.' Therefore, before the coming of Christ the Saviour of us all, some who were of good repute in the boastings according to the Law were manly and vigorous.

But after His manifestation and the evangelical proclamation, the things in the Law have ceased, the shadow has passed over into truth, and the true worship in spirit has been brought in.

God, then, is not gladdened over the young men of the Jews, that is, over those who still play the man by choosing to live according to the Law.

And unacceptable are the sacrifices by means of blood, and circumcision of the flesh, teachings of baptisms, and the idle resting of Sabbaths.

Rejected, therefore, and that very reasonably, after the ending of the shadow, are the young men who belonged to it;

and far from being pitied are the orphans and widows.

By 'orphans' He means those who, as it were, are in need of spiritual conduct and of the tutelage that comes from teachers.

And 'widows' likewise we say are those souls that have come to be in want of the ability to bear fruit, through not having the sower and supplier of all good learning for them.

And that we shall find those of Israel to have been deprived of true instruction, because of their drunken insolence against Christ, no one would praise.

For their eyes were darkened that they should not see, according to the voice of the Psalmist.

And their backs were bowed together.

And this continually, so that they cannot look upward, but, as it were bent down, are fastened upon earthly matters.

But they shall suffer this, He says, not in vain;

but because all have become lawless and wicked, and every mouth speaks lawless things.

For how are they not lawless and full of all wickedness, they who were zealous to encompass with death the One who calls to life, the One who knew no sin, although the Law says plainly:

'Thou shalt not slay the innocent and righteous'? How has not every tongue of the Jews spoken unjust things? For they cried out against Christ to Pilate, saying:

'Away with him, away with him, crucify him.' And, 'If you do not put this man to death, you are not Caesar's friend.' For all these things His wrath was not turned away, but His hand is still lifted high.

'And the lawlessness shall burn as fire, and shall be devoured by fire like dry grass;

and it shall burn in the thickets of the forest, and shall consume together all that is round about the hills;

through the fierceness of the Lord's wrath the whole earth is burned up, and the people shall be as if burned by fire; a man shall not have pity on his brother, but shall turn aside to the right, because he shall hunger and eat of the things on the left, and a man shall not be satisfied though eating the flesh of his own arm.

For Manasseh shall eat Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh;

for together they shall besiege Judah.' While the divine anger was still at its height, and the very hand that brings on the scourge and the torments was hanging over them, He tries to foretell clearly each of the things that shall come to pass, rendering the hearers more prudent by their terrors.

For it was for this cause that God made prior proclamations of the dreadful things, in order that, fearing to offend Him, they might not be brought down by the evils that come of wrath, but might rather be carried away out of reach of the dreadful things.

The lawlessness, then, shall be burned as fire.

But by 'lawlessness' He does not mean the thing itself;

for it were simple-minded either to think or to say this;

but rather those who have been steeped in lawless deeds, and have already come to such a pitch of perversity of ways that they ought no longer to be named merely lawless men, but rather lawlessness itself.

These, therefore, shall be burned as fire, He says; that is, they themselves shall become fire against themselves.

For no other person will bring the flame upon them, but they themselves will suffice for one another to this end.

And they shall be burned like dry grass, and like thickets of woodland.

For flames always rage in a certain way when they fall upon combustible fuel; and by dry grass I mean the withered kind, and the timber that is in the woods.

By dry grass I mean the withered sort, and the timber that is in the thickets.

But I for my part think that the prophetic word wishes to signify to us the following things in these words.

For when Vespasian and Titus, as I have already said before, were laying waste Judaea and besieging the cities within it, very great was the tumult in each place.

On the one hand, famine wasted them away; on the other, the factious in each place plundered households and fastened upon those who seemed to be more distinguished, so that the reckless deeds of the inhabitants became more grievous than the battle from without.

These things Josephus clearly recounts. Therefore he says that they shall be burned in the thickets of the woodland, meaning, I think, by dry grass and thickets of the wood the promiscuous multitude.

For the populace was divided against one another into dissensions and factions.

And that the evil will lay hold even of those who seem to be somebody, he further declares, saying:

And it shall devour together all things round about the hills;

by hills, I think, meaning those who are exalted above the rest and stand out, whether by reputation, or by wealth, or in some other way.

I said just now that the factiousness customary in each city fastened terribly upon those who seemed to be illustrious, so that in their desperation they did such things as not even the hand of the enemy would ever have done at times.

And these things, he says, are because of the fierceness of the Lord's wrath.

For thus the whole land of the Jews has been consumed by fire together.

And the things he had spoken enigmatically, making them plain to his hearers, he immediately adds:

And the people shall be as one consumed by fire.

A man shall not have pity on his brother.

For just as those who bring fire upon young bullocks goad them to rage and make them prepare more vigorous charges against whatever they may attack,

so, he says, each of the peoples also shall be as one consumed by fire.

For they shall be impetuous and without compassion, knowing not brothers, and all shall be fierce and savage-tempered against one another, and, like wild beasts whetted by famine to ferocity against some,

they shall turn aside to the right, and shall eat of the left;

that is, they shall wheel about hither and thither, biting down those on the right and those on the left, sparing no one at all, and having an insatiable longing for the assault against one another.

For a man shall by no means be filled, he says, though he eat the flesh of his own arm.

Neither shall they spare themselves, he says, as though from unmixed madness.

For having once given themselves up to despair, they shall boldly proceed to anything whatsoever, however outlandish.

Then he says that Manasseh shall eat of Ephraim, and Ephraim of Manasseh.

Now Ephraim and Manasseh were two brothers, and the sons of Joseph.

But not even to those joined by blood in affection, he says, will He then award peace;

the laws of kinship shall lie idle.

For brothers and those of the same seed shall rise up against one another, one against one, and two against another.

For Manasseh shall eat of Ephraim, he says, and Ephraim of Manasseh, because together they shall besiege Judah.

So then all things were filled with confusion, and the deeds done from wrath were indiscriminate for all, both against those against whom it was not lawful, and from those from whom it was not lawful.

And these things, as I said, historically befell the herds of the Jews to suffer.

But we ourselves also must be on our guard.

For the disobedient is chastised, and if anyone should fall into this, he shall be burned as by fire, being consumed by fleshly pleasure and by burning desire.

And he shall have in mind and heart an unbearable warfare;

for the flesh shall rise up against the spirit, and shall be in many tumults.

Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall by no means fulfil the desire of the flesh. For if we submit ourselves to God, we shall walk in the Spirit, and shall be stronger than fleshly desires, and shall conquer the flames within unto the mind, and shall keep the heart free from faction.

For the peace of God, as it is written, which surpasseth all understanding, shall guard our hearts and our thoughts.

Woe to those who write wickedness.

For in writing they write wickedness;

turning aside the judgment of the poor, and seizing the causes of the needy of my people, so that the widow may be their prey, and the orphan their plunder.

And what will they do in the day of visitation? For your affliction shall come from afar;

and to whom will you flee for help? and where will you leave your glory, that you fall not into the calamity? When the prophetic word expounds to us more amply the calamities of the Jews and the harm that would come through the hand of the enemy, then indeed very wisely and providentially it brings in the causes on account of which the God of all was grieved, and it tries to teach that a holy verdict has gone forth against them, calling them to judgment.

For not unjustly are nets spread for the winged creatures, according to what is written.

Woe therefore, he says, to those who write wickedness.

For in writing they write wickedness, turning aside the judgment of the poor, and seizing the causes of the needy of my people.

For among the Jews there were those called scribes.

Now their task was to make plain to those willing to learn the aim of the law in each matter, and to submit such things to those entrusted with judging the peoples.

And it is written that The priest's lips shall keep judgment, and they shall seek the law from his mouth. Being overcome, therefore, by shameful petty gains, they made unjust records, unholily peddling for profit what seemed good to the divine law, and, as it were, mixing the wine with water and rendering the pure silver base, so that they might wrong the widow, and seize the causes of the needy, and subject the orphan to the evils of covetousness, as though he were some spoil carelessly cast aside for those wishing to grow rich.

But these, he says, what will they do in the day of visitation? And by day of visitation he means the time of the war, in which God visited those who write wickedness and pervert the right judgments of the law.

For what wealth, he says, will help you? And in what way will the heaping up of what you have gathered from covetousness profit you? You have done wrong, you have corrupted the law, you have trampled the aim of the lawgiver.

Then, whither will you ever go? And what, whether doing or saying, will you escape the day of visitation? For your affliction shall come from afar.

For the Jews often fought against the surrounding nations, I mean the Idumaeans and Elamites, Moabites, and Syrians, and those called Philistines;

and it also happened that they were seen to be superior, prevailing over many in battles.

But now, he says, your affliction shall come from afar;

that is, your fight is not against the Idumaeans, your war is not against the Moabites;

nor even against any of the neighbouring peoples, over whom at times you also prevailed, and, obtaining the better lot in battle, bound about yourselves the crown of good renown;

but now your affliction shall come from afar.

And by these words it seems either to hint at the assault of the Assyrians, or rather that of the Romans.

For both these and those came from afar.

And when the affliction has been brought upon you, where will you leave your own glory, that you fall not into the calamity? For you often played the man, he says, against your enemies, and, withstanding those who attacked, you saved your cities and countries.

But now where will you leave the glory that comes from this? For you shall all fall, the valour you showed against others in no way availing you.

For what will you do, that you fall not into the calamity? And by calamity he means what was brought upon them as from the divine wrath, and the disaster that comes from war.

For when God brings punishments upon transgressors, who is he that shall turn them away? or what manner of thing shall succour those under penalty and chastisement? There is none.

O Lord, rebuke me not in Thy fury, neither chasten me in Thine anger. And again:

Thou art terrible, and who shall stand against Thee? From that time is Thy wrath. No one, then, shall turn away the divine wrath.

But repentance, as it were, softens it;

since this seems good to the decrees that come from Him.

For all this his wrath was not turned away, but his hand is raised still.

Woe to the Assyrians, the rod of my wrath, and the anger is in their hands.

I will send my anger against a lawless nation, and I will charge my people to make spoil and plunder, and to trample the cities, and to make them as dust.

But he did not so intend it, and his soul did not so reckon it;

rather his mind will turn aside, even to the destroying of not a few nations.

And if they say to him, 'You alone are ruler,' then he will say: 'Did I not take the country above Babylon and Chalanne, where the tower was built?'

For he is wont to be provoked, if he sees any who have chosen to hold him in contempt, and who are eager to count as nothing what seems good to him, but who instead, as it were, slacken the rope, in order that they may swerve away toward the most outlandish courses.

He turns such men about, all but reining them in with a strong hand, so as to conduce to their utmost profit.

With bit and bridle you shall constrain the jaws of those who do not draw near to you.

Many are the scourges of the sinner. He brings chastisement upon those who transgress, handing over his own wrath, as it were a rod, into the hands of men who are not good, so that they themselves may become the chasteners of the impious.

But it happens that those taken up for this purpose think something great over against those who have been chastised, or rather over against him who delivered them up.

For they do not consider that they have prevailed over them because God permitted it, and because he brought against them the verdict that they must suffer;

but they suppose that they have prevailed even when he was willing to save.

He therefore transfers his wrath upon them, and very fittingly so.

And since he sets himself against the proud, he casts down their haughty brow, and subjecting them to the punishments befitting them, he seeks to convince them fully that the prevailing over those who were chastised was not the work of their own strength, but of the nods of his will.

The king of the Assyrians experienced something of this sort.

For when he had taken Judea and ravaged its cities, he became greatly puffed up in himself, and indeed even thought to prevail over the holy land as well, contrary to the will of God who presides over it and who promised to save it.

For this reason he says that the wrath has not yet been turned away, but that the 'woe' will be brought upon the Assyrians as well.

And what is the pretext for this? For the rod, he says, of my anger has been given into their hands, plainly by me, so that with it he may strike down those who have acted impiously against me.

I charged them to make my people spoil and plunder, and to trample the cities, and to make them into dust.

For unless I had withdrawn the saving hand, and made them stripped of the succour ever customary to them and given by me, they would never have been captured, having always through me become stronger than their enemies.

Yet the Assyrian himself did not so intend it, nor did he so reckon in his soul; but, so far as it lay in his own mind, he will turn aside;

that is, he will destroy not a few nations.