以賽亞書註釋 第 1 章 第 20/23 段

Before all others, the fornicator outrages himself as well, through corruption;

the adulterer, through the deed of shame;

the thief, through his base, shameful, and servile act;

the liar, through denying the truth;

the perjurer, through his estrangement from God.

So that every sin is an outrage, and is a shoot springing from outrage, touching first of all the one who commits the outrage.

"And He will humble also the insolence of the arrogant," because arrogance too is the sister of lawlessness.

For the unjust man treats righteousness with arrogance and exalts himself over it;

and the licentious man speaks against temperance, when he spits contemptuously upon the man who observes himself precisely in all things and disciplines even the movement of his eyes.

The prodigal mocks the man moderate in his manner of life; the fool derides those who excel in wisdom and diligently gather learning for themselves from every quarter.

The Lord, then, who resists the proud and humbles sinners to the ground — He it is who promises to humble the insolence of the arrogant.

He, then, who humbles the arrogant delivers them from their likeness to the devil, who is the father of arrogance, and leads them to become disciples of Him who said:

"Learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart."

"And those who are left will be more precious than unfired gold;"

"and man will be more precious than the stone that is from Sophir."

having been tested by countless trials and proving-grounds, having given exact proof of their own moral resolve, they will be more precious than all unfired gold, and than every most precious stone that is thought to be found in Sophir.

It seems that Sophir refers to a certain region in the Indian nation, around which the most precious of stones are naturally found.

"Unfired gold" is that which has in itself no doubt of any foreign material, but as soon as it appears, persuades the sight of those who behold it that it is genuine and unmixed with copper or any other admixture.

"For heaven will be enraged, and the earth will be shaken from its foundations, because of the fury of the wrath of the Lord Sabaoth, in the day on which His wrath shall come."

For just as heaven is astonished and shudders at the unexpected transgressions of the people, when they forsake the Lord, so also, when the sins of those who have apostatized are completed and the time of retribution comes, heaven is said to be enraged and to rise up together with the wrath of God.

By "the wrath of heaven" one must understand the terrifying things that fall from it upon those being punished, when there occurs a darkening of the stars, and the sun is without light, and the moon is no longer illuminated;

when thunderbolts race across the sky and thunders break forth terribly;

when the air above their heads is darkened, so that from every side the torment is beyond consolation for those handed over to wrath.

For creation, serving its Maker, is intensified for punishment against the unjust, but relaxed for benefit on behalf of those who trust in Him.

These things happen on account of the fury of the Lord's wrath.

It is customary for Scripture to speak of "the fury of wrath" as meaning the exhalation, and as it were the kindling, of the punishment that occurs in requital for evil deeds.

"And the earth shall be shaken from its foundations."

But the foundations of the earth are unknown to human nature, as we have learned in the book of Job, where the Lord says:

"Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding."

"Who set its measurements, if you know? Or who stretched a measuring line over it? On what are its rings fastened? And who is it that laid a cornerstone upon it?" Or perhaps, according to the supposition held by those outside [the faith], the Lord founded the earth at the center of the sphere that encloses the world, so that, because of its equilibrium — being everywhere equidistant from the heaven — it stands securely and is fixed unwaveringly.

But if the earth is thus firmly fixed, then obviously, were it moved from its foundations, it would be displaced from its existing base.

But such a thing is a mythical fabrication;

for Scripture often, by metonymy, calls the heavenly beings "heaven," just as it is also our custom to say:

"and the city asked such-and-such from the ruler";

for instead of [naming] those who dwell in the city, we say [the city].

So also, then, heaven is enraged, when the heavenly powers assent to the righteous wrath of God.

For just as there is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, so also there is provocation and grief over those who apostatize from their Creator through sin.

"And those who are left will be like a fleeing gazelle, and like a wandering sheep; and there will be no one to gather them, so that each one will turn back to his own people, and each one will flee to his own land."

For whoever is caught will be defeated;

"and whoever are gathered together will fall by the sword."

"And their children will be dashed to pieces before their eyes, and their houses will be plundered, and their wives will be taken."

they fell in the very battle line itself;

but those who escaped are fleeing like a gazelle.

Now this animal is easily startled and timid, and because of the swiftness of its feet flees a great distance, and does not stop.

They will therefore be like a gazelle, and like a wandering sheep.

For indeed the sheep has no understanding of its own by which to set out toward nourishing pastures, or to lodge in safer places, or to seek out drink for itself, unless there is someone shepherding it and leading it to these.

Those [people] at that time, then, will be fleeing like gazelles, yet helpless like wandering sheep, because they have no ruler.

And there will be no one to gather them, but the timid will be scattered by their pursuers, while those who are left behind will be overcome by their enemies;

even if they should be able to band together and form some mutual assistance, still they will fall by the sword.

Then he tells of the pitiable sufferings of those being carried off into slavery.

"Their children they will dash to pieces before the eyes of their parents, and they will plunder their houses, and they will carry off their wives for their own violation."

"Behold, I will stir up the Medes against you, who do not value silver, nor have need of gold."

"They will shatter the bows of the young men, and they will show no mercy at all on your children;"

"nor will their eyes have pity on your children."

[Many years later, as history has recorded, the Medes attacked the empire of the Assyrians and overthrew Babylon;

the prophecy of Isaiah, then, is many generations before the captivity of Israel;

and again, many years after Israel [was carried off], the Medes appear, having made war against the Assyrians].

The consolation, then, of those being taken captive is the expectation that vengeance will soon overtake the people who mistreated Israel.

"I will stir up," he says, "the Medes against you, who will be persuaded neither by silver nor by gold."

Nor will you Babylonians be able, by abundance of wealth, to buy from them exemption from suffering.

For they are not agitated over money, since they themselves are exceedingly rich as well.

But they will shatter the bows of your young men, and will show no pity nor sparing toward the infants.

Now the name "Medes," when translated, signifies "from the Sufficient One."

It is, then, He who is Sufficient in all things and able to bring upon [men] what is their due, who stirs up the Medes.

Or perhaps, since Madai is the founder of Media, and this name is interpreted "a measuring out," the Medes might be said to be brought in to punish, in due measure, those who have lived wickedly, because with the measure that each of us has measured — whether in doing right, or in sinning — in that same measure he will receive back either reward or punishment.

they will not pity the children of the Babylonians, nor will they consent to spare them.

But perhaps Scripture here means by "children" the fruits and offspring of the Babylonian soul.

Such, I think, are also the children of the one who is called blessed in the Psalm, in which the wife is Wisdom, whom the Lord, having sought her out, took as bride and made to dwell with himself, becoming a lover of her beauty;

and the sons are the offspring brought forth when mind and wisdom come together.

Concerning these children, I think, it is spoken in the 136th Psalm:

"O wretched daughter of Babylon;"

"blessed is he who will repay you your recompense, which you paid back to us."

"Blessed is he who will seize your infants and dash them against the rock."

For he foresees this day of recompense, on which the Medes, having overpowered the Babylonians, will show no mercy, nor will their eyes spare their children.

But observe that the Psalm does not call blessed the one who kills a Babylonian child in just any manner whatsoever; rather, first, it wills that their infants be destroyed while newly born, not permitted to come to maturity, so that they might not advance further into wickedness;

and secondly, that they not be destroyed in just any manner.

For it calls blessed the one who seizes and overcomes, by his own wisdom, the child-bearing of the confused mind — which is called "Babylonian" — and then dashes them against the rock.

And the rock, here too, is Christ;

for he who shatters worthless doctrines by the word of truth is the one who dashes the Babylonian infants against the rock.

If, then, the children of Babylon are the doctrines of the heterodox (which confound the soul of the one who receives them), then the Babylonian child, once seized, would rightly be dashed against the rock.

"And Babylon, which is called glorious by the king of the Chaldeans, will become like when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah;"

"it will not be inhabited forever, nor will they enter it for many generations, nor will Arabs pass through it, nor will shepherds rest in it."

"And wild beasts will rest there, and the houses will be filled with howling."

"And sirens will rest there, and demons will dance there;"

"and donkey-centaurs will dwell there, and hedgehogs will nest in their houses."

"It comes quickly and will not delay, and her days will not be prolonged."

In these words he relates the humiliation of Babylon.

And since the recollection of her former glory renders the effect more forceful, he shows from what condition into what condition the change came about.

"And Babylon, which is called glorious, will become," he says

as though this had become her own proper epithet, and everyone named her with this addition;

The king of the Chaldeans made her renowned, by overthrowing many nations and transferring into her the strength of those he had conquered, by casting great walls around her, by equipping a vast military force, and by exalting her with splendid buildings.

This city, then, will be overthrown in the manner in which God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and it will not be inhabited forever.

But perhaps he limits her overthrow and desolation to a certain period of time, wherefore he did not say simply, "it will be destroyed forever," but added:

"For they will not enter it for many generations," as though the desolation would last through many generations, but after that it would be inhabited again.

Neither shall the Arabians pass through it, nor shall shepherds rest in it.

The text describes a grim desolation, in that it will be so desert-like that not even shepherds will find shelter in it, nor the Arabians who dwell in the desert.

These men, who plunder everything and, as robbers, search out cities and villages, do not enter into it, on account of its desperate condition—since there are neither inhabitants there, nor is anything found there needed for life.

"But it will be," he says, "a lodging-place of wild beasts, and the houses shall be filled with sound."

The sound signifies the extremity of the desolation.

For an echo is a voice that is bent back, returning again from solid and resistant surfaces to the one who sent it forth.

In desert places this returns with a clear resonance.

But in inhabited cities or villages, being broken up—both by objects being carried about that cut through the air, and by voices intruding from the side—it is not permitted to be completed.

There, then, the houses shall be filled with echo.

The echo is a symbol of desolation.

"And sirens shall rest there, and demons shall dance there."

"And donkey-centaurs shall dwell there, and hedgehogs shall make their nests in their houses."

Now secular literature has handed down that sirens are certain singing women.

But here it appears to be a name for demons.

Wherefore Aquila called the sirens "ostriches."

This creature is a lover of the desert, and for the most part makes its lair in the most barren sands.

The text, then, conveys the extremity of the desolation through the dwelling of ostriches there.

The donkey-centaurs, which the Seventy spoke of, Aquila called "shaggy ones."

signifying their instability, and that they never stand firm either on their feet, or in their mind.

"And donkey-centaurs shall dwell there."

And this too Scripture seems to present as another kind of demon, which the other translators, transliterating the Hebrew word itself, called "Siim."

"And there also hedgehogs," he says, "shall make their houses for themselves."

The passage describes every manner of desert-loving creature, as being made native to Babylon after its desolation.

"It comes quickly and shall not delay, and her days shall not be prolonged."

He speaks of the destruction of Babylon as imminent, and that there will be no postponement of what has been threatened.

Now since it has been threatened that Babylon will be overthrown like Sodom, we must know that there are many interpretations of the name "Sodom."

For this same name is interpreted both as "blindness" and "barrenness," and as "standing silence" and "likeness," and as "summoning" and "their foundation."

"Gomorrah," on the other hand, is translated as "measure" and as "sedition."

I do not think, however, that one who wishes to explain how Babylon will be overthrown like Sodom has need of all of them.

For it seems that God, benefiting those who are overthrown, overthrows blindness as a physician does.

And the overthrow of blindness is the beginning of sight.

And He overthrows barrenness, so that, having driven out the sterility, He may grant them the offspring of works of righteousness.

And He overthrows the standing silence, so that He may implant a word in their hearts, unto the glorifying of God.

And so, in overthrowing Gomorrah too (since "Gomorrah" is interpreted as both "measure" and "sedition"), He abolishes the sedition and turmoil that is in it, so that those who are seditious, and who are in a condition opposed to peace, may be made better.

Now everyone who accepts the doctrines of astrological nativity, and advocates necessity and fate and destiny, and who—so far as it lies in him—by upholding these things turns men away from faith in God and from piety, this man calls the doctrines of the Babylonians glorious.

For astrology is a discovery of the Chaldeans.

who say that existing things depend upon themselves, and not upon God.

and, subjecting all things to the motion of the stars, they cast out the providence which orders the affairs of men.

so that neither prayer nor piety can accomplish anything, but even if these seem to occur, they too are subject to the principle of fate.

Now he who glorifies worldly riches and honors and nobility according to the flesh, and whatever else is similar to these, calls this a kind of glorious Babylon.

For all these things are confusing to the mind, and deserve to bear the same name as Babylon.

This the Lord overthrows, and it becomes a dwelling-place of savage demons—whether you wish to understand this of the city, or of a confused soul.

For it is necessary that whatever has been made desolate of the indwelling of God should become a dwelling-place of evil spirits.

There, then, no shepherd lodges.

For it is not the mark of a good shepherd to lodge the flock entrusted to him in a place that has been overthrown.

"But sirens," he says, "and demons and donkey-centaurs and hedgehogs."

Whenever, then, you see a soul that is confused, know that it has been filled with echo, because no utterance in it is clear or articulate, but rather a meaningless clamor, raised up by the passions, holds sway over the governing faculty of that soul.

It seems, then, that certain evil powers, by their alluring call through the voice, produce pleasure in the souls of those over whom they sing their fatal melody, and thus hunt down those who pass by, to their destruction.

Whether the pleasure comes by means of the voice, or whether the incitements and provocations to sin brought about by those demons occur in some other manner, is unclear.

except that those who are charmed by luxury forget the return to their true homeland.

being deceived by fair speech and flattering words.

And the demons too, who work various sins in us, are said to "dance," because dancing is a motion of the limbs in every direction.

And just as dancers, wearing different masks at different times, occupy the stage, so also the demons, using us as their masks, at one time dance the part of the angry man, at another the man consumed by desire and infatuated with the enjoyment of the flesh, and at another time the man who lies.

and thus we become receivers of the varied workings of the demons, altering our own heart and the members of our body according to their will.

Whenever, then, you see someone now overcome by uncontrolled laughter, and now cast down by grief, torn apart with lamentations and weeping and wailing, consider that someone is dancing within him, taking on one form after another.

and now the drama of avarice enters in, now that of vainglory, and at another time that of pride.

In short, he leaps and gambols over the whole human race, dancing and reveling among souls that are pliable and easily changed toward sin.

The name "donkey-centaurs" signifies a certain composite and monstrous constitution of an animal; nevertheless it too is a kind of demon, at one time causing us to look toward human things, at another dragging us down toward brutish passions.

The hedgehog is an animal clothed with spines instead of hair, hard to catch and cunning.

All these things shall come quickly upon the confused soul, and there will be no prolonging of the days.

Chapter 14. "And the Lord shall have mercy on Jacob, and shall choose Israel."

I think there is good reason that the word "shall have mercy" is set with reference to Jacob—which was the name he bore up until the wrestling-match concerning Jacob—while "shall choose" is set with reference to Israel, which was given to the patriarch as the prize of that wrestling-match.

For the one who receives mercy signifies the lowlier state, while the one who is chosen signifies the more excellent.

"Jacob my servant, I will help him."

"Israel my chosen one, my soul has accepted him."

For "Jacob" is taken with reference to the one still being instructed in the elements and still bodily, while "Israel" is taken with reference to the one who is more advanced and spiritual.

In sum, Jacob and Israel "shall rest upon their land"—that land concerning which it has been said:

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."

which is not a part of this earth, the one that has come under a curse, from which he who tills it eats in sorrow all the days of his life.

"And the sojourner also shall be added to Jacob and to Israel," resting upon his own land.

He who labors about the land, the proselyte — this is the geiōras.

Perhaps this is the people from the nations who is added to Jacob, whom Scripture calls geiōras, as being a sojourner and proselyte.

It is a benefit to those who are inferior and do not know how to govern themselves, to serve those who rule by knowledge.

"And you shall serve your brother."

This, then, is [the meaning of]: "And they shall be multiplied upon the land of God as menservants and maidservants."

In place of benefaction, servitude is imposed upon them.

"And those who took them captive shall become captives."

For some led people into captivity tyrannically, subjecting those they held to the slavery of the devil;

while others, in a humane manner, lead them in turn into a captivity of their own, bringing them from the tyranny of the devil into the servitude of Christ.

having suffered things worthy of pity and mercy.

"In the way that a garment soaked in blood is not clean, so neither shall you be clean."

These are still portions of the lament concerning the ruler of Babylon and his affairs.

For since he who fell from heaven, the Daystar, said in his heart:

"I will ascend into heaven, I will be like the Most High" — so that it might be shown how far he who is defiled with every impurity and bloodshed stands from likeness to the Holy One, he is compared to a garment;

inasmuch as, by its own nature, it was made for the adorning of man, but because it has been soaked in blood, it can no longer be accepted for human use.

From this it is clear that the evil one does not have his impurity in his own constitution, but because he was soaked in blood, having destroyed the land of the Lord and killed his people through sin.

We have already learned elsewhere that human nature is likened to a garment by the Prophet himself, who says to those grown old through wickedness:

"Behold, all of you shall grow old like a garment, and the moth shall devour you."

For he who is stained with some sin loses his purity for the present, but he is not deprived of the future purification hoped for through repentance.

But here the sentence is absolute, that he will never be clean even hereafter, since he is soaked in the blood of the people of God, whom he put to death through disobedience, dragging them down into wickedness.

For perhaps, before man was created, some place for repentance was still left even to the devil, and pride (though it was a more ancient malady) might still, having been healed by repentance and having healed itself, restore him to his original state.

But from the time when the fashioning of the world, and the planting of paradise, and man placed in it, and the commandment of God, and the envy of the devil, and the murder of the one who had been honored [took place], the place of repentance was also shut off to him.

For if Esau found no place of repentance, having sold his birthright, what place is left for repentance to him who killed the first-formed man and through that brought in death? And they say that the stain arising in a garment from human gore can in no way be washed out, but the alteration once wrought in it by the dye of blood grows old together with it;

so neither is it possible for him, having laid aside the stain of blood, to become clean.

Observe the wording, which vividly represents the filth arising from bloodshed.

For he did not say "dyed in blood" but "soaked," in order to show him wallowing in the murder of those who were slain.

This one destroyed the land of God and killed his people.

Now Nebuchadnezzar laid waste the land, cutting down its fruit-bearing plants, and handing its villages over to destruction by fire;

he also, as for the people of Israel, killed some by the sword, and led others away captive to Babylon.

But already the one mystically called king of Babylon is the World-ruler of this present world.

For one might fittingly call the confusion of this world "Babylon";

for he made the people of God captive, transferring them from life into death;

and he laid waste the land, corrupting the flesh of each one through sin, as it is written, "For all flesh had corrupted its way."

"Evil seed, prepare your children to be slain for the sins of your father, lest they arise and fill the land with cities."

"And I will rise up against them, says the Lord Sabaoth, and I will destroy their name and remnant and seed."

Not only will he himself not be clean, but the succession of the evil one shall also be blotted out together with him, through the goodness of the loving God, who permits the destruction of the children — not so much of fleshly childbearing, as of the deeds accomplished from an evil disposition.

having received its origin from another who first began the wickedness, and having acted according to the wickedness of the one who sowed it, it is called "evil seed."

"Prepare your children to be slain for the sins of your father."

Sometimes "evil seed" is said of something not because it necessarily arose from a preceding sowing, but because that very thing, by giving rise to another's generation, is itself called seed.

For just as in the creation of the world, the things that first sprouted were seeds of others, yet were not themselves from others (for they were older than the things brought to completion by seed), so also perhaps here the text calls "evil seed" the one who becomes, for others, a pattern of wickedness, and who, as it were, becomes seed through their imitation — not as having his existence from things that preceded him, but as furnishing the origin for those who come after.

and again, he who has been discipled by evil teachers is likewise called [seed].

That sinner was called "seed of Canaan, and not of Judah," not because he had a bastard and mixed lineage of flesh from Canaan;

but he is called "seed of Canaan" because of his imitation of Canaan.

For hear Paul, who says:

"For in Christ Jesus, through the Gospel, I have begotten you."

And, "As many as received him, to them he gave authority to become children of God."

And, "Everyone who commits sin has been begotten of the devil."

But what does the text intend when it commands the evil seed to prepare its children for slaughter for the sins of the father? We have observed in many places that each one's deeds and the fruits of the soul are called children.

"For she shall be saved," (it says,) "through childbearing, if they continue in faith and love and holiness with self-control."

For the soul is saved, like the wife of a bridegroom who was not deceived, whenever it, through the word, causes children — that is, good deeds — to bear fruit, provided it continues in its good disposition and is not darkened by any sins that afterward arise.

Thus we also, (hearing, according to the spiritual and divine law of blessing, which says:

"Blessed are the offspring of your womb") consider this to be nothing other than the fruits of the soul.

"For from fear of you, O Lord, we conceived in the womb, and were in labor, and brought forth the spirit of salvation, which we have wrought upon the earth."

The destruction of evil deeds, then, is called the slaughter of children, which occurs for the benefit of the father who begot them.

So the tropological interpretation at this place holds a hidden loving-kindness, commanding the evil seed (as far as possible) to lighten itself of the weight of its own evils.

For those who have been conformed to the evil one and have become sons of wickedness ought, because of their sins, to slay all the offspring of their own soul.

For if we do not die to sin, how shall we live to righteousness? For, "that they may not arise" (it says) "and fill the land with cities."

For the resurgence of wickedness is an evil thing;

therefore it must remain dead, and not be permitted to arise into a body and multitude.

For it is fitting for the Lord Sabaoth to destroy the name and remnant and seed of wickedness.

Blessed is the condition of soul and human conduct in which the very name of wickedness is not even mentioned, according to the Apostle, who said:

"But fornication and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints."

For many, having turned away from evil deeds, yet still retaining, as it were, the memories of their old deeds, often through these very memories revive the sin that had fallen quiet.