Commentary on Isaiah 1 part 21/24

'Behold, I am here'—this signifies not some voice, but the working that comes through deeds;

'for through the deeds themselves,' He says, 'you shall learn that the God whom you have called upon is present with you.'

'If you take away from yourself the bond, and the pointing of the finger, and the word of murmuring, and give your bread to the hungry from your soul, and satisfy the afflicted soul.'

By 'bond' he means unjust intrigues, and by 'stretching-out of the hand' the unjust movement of the hands, whether it is applied to blows or to written documents.

The murmuring, too, the blessed Paul forbids, saying:

'Do all things,' he says, 'without murmurings and disputings.' And this the prophetic word also expounded:

'If you give your bread to the hungry from your soul' — that is, not by force, not under compulsion, nor with reluctance, nor for the sake of empty glory, but out of tender affection toward one's neighbour —

'Then shall your light rise up in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as noonday.'

'For I will change your misfortunes, and in the very gloom I will show you pure light.'

'And your God shall be with you continually, and you shall be filled as your soul desires, and your bones shall be made fat.'

You shall have God as your helper, furnishing you with a share in good things.

I think that by 'bones' he has figuratively named the reasonings;

for these are what receive the gladness.

But if someone should take the divine promise as referring to the actual bones, he would not miss the aim of the prophecy;

for through the gladness of the soul the body too is made fat;

for 'A glad heart,' he says, 'makes the countenance flourish.' 'And you shall be like a well-watered garden, and like a spring of water whose water has not failed.'

By these images he showed more clearly the promise of good things.

'And your everlasting waste places shall be built up, and your foundations shall be everlasting, unto generations of generations; you shall raise them up.'

By 'building' he does not here mean the perceptible one, but the spiritual;

for how could a perceptible building be everlasting, when all visible things are to be changed at the time of the consummation? And this the phrase 'you shall raise up' also hints at;

for this building is shown forth after the resurrection.

So too the divine Apostle said:

'But if anyone builds upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, each one's work shall be made manifest;

for the Day shall declare it, because it is revealed in fire, and the fire shall test each one's work, of what sort it is.' 'And you shall be called a builder of fences,' or, according to the Other Translators, 'of the breach.'

'And you shall cause the paths between to cease.'

For he who blocks up the byways of error, and walls off such breaches, and fortifies and fences himself round on every side, is fittingly named a builder of fences.

'If you turn away your foot from the sabbaths, so as not to do your own will on the holy day, and call the sabbaths delightful, holy to God, glorious, and glorify them, and do not lift up your foot to your own work, nor speak a word in anger out of your mouth, then you shall trust in the Lord.'

Here we learn the contentious and quarrelsome character of the disposition of the Jews.

For when it was necessary to keep the law, they transgressed it without fear;

and this the word of the prophecy also censures;

for it commands them to keep the sabbath in this way, inasmuch as they do not honour it by rest.

But now that the law has been abolished, they are contentious to keep the law, as though even on this account both transgressing and keeping it, so as to provoke God.

For this reason God says through Ezekiel:

'But the house of Israel are contentious'; and through Hosea:

'Ephraim is a heifer taught to love strife' — that is, quarrelsome, contentious, not receiving the yoke.

He calls the sabbaths 'delightful' as being free from bodily labours.

'For you shall not,' he says, 'speak a word in anger out of your mouth, and you shall trust in the Lord';

so that he commands the sabbath to be honoured by resting from evils, but to give heed to the working of good things.

For this very reason he lays a double labour upon the priests as well;

for they offered the sacrifices in double measure;

and it was necessary both to slay the victims, and to wash the flesh, and to bring it to the altar, and to kindle fire, and to supply the fire with the fuel of wood.

And the reading of the divine oracles too was done in greater measure, and the hymnody and the prayer.

And through all this it is shown that the law, leading them away from perceptible things, brought them to spiritual things on the day of the sabbaths;

for they were not able to do this continually, since they lived in a more fleshly manner and were engrossed in the care of the body.

'And he will bring you up upon the good things of the land, and will feed you with the blessing of Jacob your father.'

And the confirmation of what has been said:

'For the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things.'

'He who has promised is without falsehood,' he says;

'he will assuredly give you a share in the good things, and you shall enjoy the ancestral providence.'

'Is the hand of the Lord not strong to deliver, or has he made his ear heavy so as not to hear? What do you suppose,' he says, 'that I am weak or harsh? Am I not able to help, or am I unwilling? But your sins separate between you and between God, and because of your sins he has turned away his face from you, so as not to have mercy.'

'Your lawless life does not permit you to enjoy the divine providence.'

Then he teaches the kinds of this:

'... with sins, and your lips have spoken lawlessness, and your tongue devises unrighteousness.'

For with their lips they devised the unjust murder — for 'they took counsel,' he says, 'how they might destroy him' — and with their hands they accomplished the plan — for having seized him they handed him over to Pilate.

'No one speaks just things, nor is there true judgement; they trust in vanities and speak empty things.'

They are destitute both of righteousness and of truth, and they are confident in insolence alone, and they employ empty words toward one another.

'For they conceive travail and bring forth lawlessness.'

By 'conception' he names the reasonings, and by 'birth' the deed.

Some of the copies, however, have it thus:

'For they conceive travail and bring forth vanities.' For plotting evils against you, they contrive destruction for themselves, and do not injure the one plotted against.

'They have hatched asps' eggs, and they weave a spider's web.'

These things too agree with the aforesaid rendering;

for by 'asps' eggs' he likens their reasonings, and by 'a spider's web' the feebleness of their wickedness.

'And he who is about to eat of their eggs, having crushed a wind-egg, found it, and in it a basilisk.'

For the Master Christ, against whom they brought forth this beastly plot, found the egg to be wind-filled and empty;

for from it he received no harm at all.

For according to their intention, that a most venomous beast, the basilisk, was to come forth from the eggs, but the power of the one plotted against both crushed the egg and showed it to be a wind-egg.

This he also makes clear through what follows:

'Their web shall not become a garment, nor shall they clothe themselves with the works of their hands.'

For just as spider-woven textures catch the tiniest of creatures, but are easily torn apart by the larger ones, so too their contrivances the one plotted against by them tore apart very easily.

'For their works are works of lawlessness, and an unjust deed is in their hands.'

'Their feet run to wickedness, swift to shed innocent blood, and their thoughts are the thoughts of fools; ruin and misery are in their ways, and the way of peace they do not know, there is no judgement in their ways;

for their paths, which they travel, are crooked, and they do not know peace.'

But their reasoning transgresses the law even before these things, for it has fallen into folly; and for this reason it did not recognize peace even when it was present.

For they became bereft of the divine care.

"While they waited, light became for them darkness; abiding for the dawn, they walked in the gloom."

For here he calls prosperity light, and names adversity darkness.

"They shall grope like the blind along a wall, and as though they had no eyes they shall grope about."

To these things the facts themselves also bear witness;

for reading the divine Scripture they do not see its truth, and they resemble the blind who indeed grope the wall but do not see it.

"They shall fall at noonday as though at midnight."

This is the most grievous thing of all;

for though the Sun of righteousness has enlightened the whole inhabited world, they themselves stumble and fall down as though in the midst of night.

"They groan as men dying."

Thus grievous is the life they shall pass through, so that even their living resembles death.

"Like a bear and like a dove they shall walk together"—imitating the flesh-devouring ferocity of the beast, and displaying in their laments the plaintive murmuring of the dove.

Then the loving God, summoning them to confession and repentance, through the prophetic tongue points out the manner of confession:

"We looked for judgment, and there is none;

salvation stands far off from us."

"For our lawlessness is great before you, and our sins have risen up against us."

"It is not you who neglected us," but our lawless manner of life deprived us of your care.

"For our lawless deeds are in us, and we know our unrighteous acts: we have been impious and have lied against the Lord, and have turned back from following our God; we have spoken unjust things and been disobedient; we have conceived and pondered from our heart unjust words, and have thrust justice far behind, and righteousness stands afar off."

These things the prophetic word sets forth, exhorting those who wish to be profited to propitiate the Master with these words: that we acknowledge our transgressions, we have recognized our impiety; we lied to you, the Master, having promised indeed to keep your laws, but transgressing them; we continued contradicting you, uttering unjust things, devising unjust things, not dreading your judgment, becoming far removed from righteousness.

Then he changes the form of the discourse and makes his accusation of these very people:

"Because the truth has been consumed away in the streets."

It has vanished, he says, since falsehood has hidden it away.

"And they could not come by the straight way."

For they persisted in traveling the opposite road.

"And the truth has been taken away, and they have removed their mind from understanding."

He showed how the truth withdrew:

for he says they were unwilling to perceive what was needful, but removed their mind from understanding what ought to be done and what was profitable.

"The truth has come to be lacking, and he who turns aside from evil is beset as by a siege."

For they became so far removed from the truth as openly to make war upon those who turned away from wickedness and chose good things.

"And the Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment; and he saw, and there was no man, and he took note, and there was none to help."

For unjust works are displeasing to the righteous Judge, nor does he call those who work them men;

"for man being in honor understood not; he was likened to the senseless beasts and became like them. And he defended them with his arm and established himself in his mercy."

Instead of "mercy" the Three Interpreters have put "righteousness";

he says he brought upon them a just punishment.

By "arm" he names the divine operation.

And "mercy" too teaches the usefulness of the chastisement;

for the God of all disciplines for our benefit.

"And he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and placed the helmet of salvation upon his head, and clothed himself with the garment of vengeance and the mantle of zeal, as one about to render recompense—reproach to his adversaries, requital to his enemies."

The prophetic word has portrayed for us the God of all as a kind of general armed against his foes.

But it prepares us to understand the character of the weapons spiritually, as things spoken figuratively;

for it showed the breastplate made not of iron but of righteousness, and likewise called the helmet salvation, and the garment of vengeance and the mantle of zeal—that is to say,

he will bring on the punishment justly and unto salvation.

For even his chastisement is saving;

for it frees those who are put to death from more numerous sins.

Then, marked with asterisks, there is added:

"To the islands he will render recompense."

For while chastising the Jews, he will thereafter bring the promised blessing to the nations, and will render what he promised to the patriarchs—and he had promised to bless all the nations in their seed.

And this the following words also signify:

"And those from the west shall fear the name of the Lord, and those from the rising of the sun his glorious name."

By "the risings" and "the settings" he has indicated all that is under the sun.

"For the wrath from the Lord shall come as a rushing river; it shall come with fury."

For when the men throughout the whole inhabited world behold what penalties the Jews paid for the things they dared against the Savior, they will fittingly worship him who displayed the divine power.

Then he teaches for what reason he brought the wrath upon the Jews:

"as a deliverer, and he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob, said the Lord."

For to them first the Savior came, and it was their ungodliness he wished first to abolish.

And this he himself also said:

"I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." And indeed he sent the apostles too to them first, for he said to them:

"Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans; but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Jacob. And this is my covenant with them, says the Lord."

"These things I both promised them and have fulfilled."

"My Spirit which is upon you, and the words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth and out of the mouth of your seed, said the Lord, from now and forever."

By "mouth" here he calls the apostolic mouth, and by the "seed" of the apostles, the teachers who spring from their teaching.

He therefore promises the grace of the Spirit to those who have believed in him,

to delight in the divine words until the consummation of the present age.

Since we too, then, enjoy this grace, let us praise the Giver of it, to whom belongs glory unto the ages of ages.

"for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you."

When once the holy apostles were marveling at the size of the stones of the temple, the Lord said:

"There shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down." When they again asked:

"When shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of your coming?" The Master teaches both together, not speaking of them by way of division but foretelling both at once—the things concerning the Jewish commonwealth and the things concerning the universal order.

So here also the prediction contains three subjects together;

And as in a picture painted from many colors, it displays the figures more exactly than the truth itself—namely, the splendor of the holy Church.

Yet at the same time it also foreshows the very archetype of the image; and this is the life to come and the commonwealth in the heavens.

This distinction the divine Paul also taught us;

for he says, 'The law has a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the realities.' And by 'the realities to come' he means that immortal and painless life, that ageless existence set free from all care;

and by 'the image of the realities' he means the ecclesiastical polity in this present life, which imitates the things to come as far as is possible;

and by 'the shadow' he means the law, which teaches these same things more dimly.

For indeed painters have the archetype which they copy in their painting, but first they sketch it in outline, and then they lay the colors upon the outline.

But if the Jews resist, attempting to draw the whole prophecy to themselves, we shall—with God's help—refute them as convicted of falsehood by that very prophecy.

These aforesaid oracles, then, fit in some measure the ancient Jerusalem also, which beyond all hope received its former splendor;

but they fit in a preeminent way the Church of God, which has received the light of the knowledge of God and is clothed about with the glory of the Savior.

'For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gloom the nations;

but upon you the Lord shall appear, and his glory shall be seen upon you.'

And this likewise carries a twofold meaning.

For he dissolved the dominion of the Babylonians and, as it were, delivered them over to a kind of darkness through the siege and the servitude; while in the affairs concerning Jerusalem he displayed his own power, raising her up and making her renowned.

And this very same thing he has done also concerning his holy Church;

for to shame and darkness he delivered over her persecutors, but her he rendered renowned.

And by all the invincibility of his power is proclaimed.

Let the Jews say which kings embraced the worship according to the law, and which nations were led by them to the God of all.

But those men could not point to any such thing, whereas among us the fulfillment of the prophecy is seen;

for the light of the holy Church of God has both illuminated the nations and led kings toward the truth.

'Lift up your eyes round about and see all your children gathered together;

all your sons have come from afar.'

'And your daughters shall be carried upon shoulders.'

Neither does this fit the Jews with any accuracy;

for not all who had been taken captive returned, but only those of the tribe of Judah, and not even all of these, but only as many as held fast to the piety of their forefathers;

for some remained, having embraced their manner of life among the Assyrians; others chose to dwell in Egypt; and others were scattered among all the nations.

But the Church of God gathers her children out of all the nations;

and one may see people from all the inhabited world running together to the city of Jerusalem, not that they may worship God in the temple of the Jews, but that they may behold the far-famed places of the Cross, the Resurrection, and the Ascension.

'Then you shall see and rejoice, and you shall fear and be amazed in your heart, because the wealth of the sea and of nations and of peoples shall be turned to you.'

Neither does this fit the Jews;

for the wealth of what nations and peoples was ever brought to them? But the Church of God receives the things that of old were offered to the demons; and the sea of the nations, once bitter, having been sweetened by the wood of the saving Cross and having received the marvelous transformation, brings its gifts to the Church of God—and in a preeminent way they bring these to the city of Jerusalem, running together from every land and sea.

'And droves of camels shall come, and the camels of Midian and Ephah shall cover you; all from Sheba shall come bringing gold, and they shall bring you frankincense, and they shall proclaim the good tidings of the salvation of the Lord; and all the sheep of Kedar shall be gathered to you, and the rams of Nebaioth shall come to you, and acceptable gifts shall be offered up to you upon my altar, and the house of my prayer shall be glorified.'

Midian and Kedar and Ephah are nations of barbarian nomads who trace their descent from Ishmael, while Sheba is an Ethiopian tribe;

for her whom the history of the Kingdoms names 'Queen of Sheba,' the Lord calls 'Queen of the Ethiopians,' and he speaks thus:

'The Queen of the Ethiopians shall rise up and shall condemn this generation;

for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, a greater than Solomon is here.' Of these was also the eunuch whom Philip, having initiated into the mysteries, baptized.

'He shall come down like rain upon a fleece, and like drops falling upon the earth; in his days righteousness shall spring up;

and he shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the rivers unto the ends of the inhabited world.'

'Before him the Ethiopians shall fall down, and his enemies shall lick the dust; the kings of Tarshish and the islands shall bring gifts, the kings of the Arabians and of Sheba shall offer gifts, and all the kings of the earth shall worship him, all the nations shall serve him.' And 'Arabians' are called also those of Kedar and those of Midian and Ephah and Nebaioth, who inhabit the deserts of Arabia;

and these ride upon camels and dromedaries.

And moreover they are accustomed to offer gifts from among these to the God of all;

and some, drawing near to this apostle, offer gifts to him, while others, dwelling in the neighborhood of that martyr, propitiate God through him, and bring as it were certain first-fruits, whatever they may have vowed.

And besides the camels they are accustomed to offer sheep also.

But if anyone should accurately learn the meaning of the oracles, he will find that the very men themselves are called sheep and rams and camels.

And indeed he said that the gifts to be offered up upon the altar are not irrational animals, but 'acceptable'—that is, pleasing.

'Sacrifice to God a sacrifice of praise. Who are these that fly like clouds, and like doves with their young toward me? It is Zion.'

The word 'Zion' some of the copies do not contain, nor does the Hexapla, nor the edition of Aquila and Symmachus and Theodotion, nor the Hebrew text itself; but nevertheless we shall interpret it as it stands.

For 'Zion,' as we have often shown, denotes not only that ancient one so named, but also the Church of God and the commonwealth of the heavens;

for he says, 'You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.' The Church of God, therefore, is amazed as she beholds the clouds of the peoples running together to her, who imitate doves flying with their young.

And if anyone wishes accurately to understand the passage, let him at the public festivals—whether those of the Lord or those of the holy martyrs—behold the multitudes streaming together, and the women carrying their daughters in their arms or leading them by the hand, and the men walking with their sons; and he will truly see spiritual doves flying with their young and coming to the new Zion.

'The islands wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish among the first, to bring your children from afar, and their silver and their gold with them, for the name of the Lord which is holy, and because the Holy One of Israel is glorified.'

'The kings of Tarshish and the islands shall bring gifts,' and again:

'He shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Arabia.' And by 'Tarshish' he calls Carthage, the metropolis of the land formerly called Libya but now named Africa.

For indeed when the same prophet said:

'Wail, O ships of Carthage, for it is destroyed,' we found in the Hebrew the word 'Tarshish' standing there.

'And sons of strangers shall build your walls, and their kings shall stand beside you.'

Cyrus indeed commanded that Jerusalem be rebuilt, but the work remained unfinished;

and under Artaxerxes Longimanus, Nehemiah—who was not of an alien race but a Jew—took charge of the building of the walls, having the expense not of royal funds but having gathered it from a collection;

yet after the dissolution of the Jews, the kings of the Romans built the enclosing walls of Jerusalem.

But one who wishes to understand more accurately might find that the teachers drawn from the Gentile nations both guard and preserve her by their prayers and their teachings.

And these things fit both the ancient Jerusalem, which was dissolved because of sin but rebuilt through loving-kindness alone, and the Church of God, which of old was likened to a wilderness, not being deemed worthy of divine care, but afterward enjoyed the providence of the Savior.

'And your gates shall be opened continually, day and night, and shall not be shut, that men may bring in to you the power of nations and their kings led as captives.'

What power of nations ever ran to the ancient Jerusalem for the sake of worship? And what kings, being led by others, worshiped the God of all there? But the gates of the Church of God stand open continually, welcoming those who draw near; and they receive the pious kings too, led by the teaching of the holy apostles.

'For the nations and the kings which will not serve you shall perish, and the nations shall be utterly laid waste.'

And this clearly convicts the drunken insolence of the Jews;

they came to be, but they shall not see the eternal life.

'And the glory of Lebanon shall come to you, with cypress and pine and cedar together, to glorify my holy place; and I will glorify the place of my feet.'

These things it is likely came to pass also with regard to the former temple, and that of old they brought timbers from Lebanon;

but I think that 'Lebanon' denotes the metropolis of the Jews;

for this I have often shown.

'For the glory of Lebanon,' he says, 'has been given to her'—that is, to the wilderness—'and the honor of Carmel.' Here too the prophetic word foretold that the glory of Lebanon, that is, the Jewish splendor which the grace of the Holy Spirit had bestowed upon them, would be transferred to the Church.

As for the cypresses, pines, and cedars, one would not err in naming them the holy prophets, who differ according to the measure of grace.

'And the sons of those who humbled you and provoked you shall come to you in fear, and all who provoked you shall bow down at the traces of your feet.'

The Babylonians did not worship Jerusalem; but the greater part of the nations worship the Church of God, and most of all the sons of those very peoples.

For when those forefathers had reached the end of their life, these their descendants, having learned the truth anew, offer worship to the Savior, performing their adoration in his houses of prayer.

'And you shall be called the city of the Lord, Zion of the Holy One of Israel, because you were forsaken and hated, and there was none to help you.'

And indeed Jerusalem received another name;

for the Roman emperors called it Aelia.

How then is the truthfulness of the prophecy shown, unless one understand Zion in a more spiritual sense? 'And I will make you an everlasting exultation, a joy for generations of generations.'

How does this fit the temple of the Jews, which received its desolation four hundred years ago or even more? 'And you shall suck the milk of nations, and eat the wealth of kings, and you shall know that I am the Lord who saves you, and your deliverer, the God of Israel.'

From what kings did old Jerusalem obtain wealth after the return from exile? Or from what nations did she suck, like milk, an abundance of good things? But I think it is plain even to those who are exceedingly shameless that it is the Church of God which displays the truth of the prediction;

for she continually receives both the royal gifts and those offered by the nations, and, receiving them, she praises the Author of these things.

Then he shows also the costliness of the gifts;

'And instead of bronze I will bring you gold, and instead of iron I will bring you silver, and instead of wood I will bring you bronze, and instead of stones, iron.'

And of this too one may see the truth of the prophecy in the buildings of the houses of prayer;

for they gleam, adorned with gold and silver—not that they might supply any need of God, but that they might display the generous devotion of the pious.

'And I will make your rulers to be in peace, and your overseers in righteousness, and injustice shall no longer be heard in your land, nor destruction and misery within your borders.'

A truer fulfillment of these things everyone will behold in the life to come;

for that life is free from injustice, that life is adorned with the highest righteousness, that life is truly without misery and delivered from all cares.