Commentary on Isaiah 1.2.1–1.2.8

“The word that came from the Lord to Isaiah son of Amos concerning Judea and concerning Jerusalem.”

One would see that the present text is akin to what went before and moves through similar thoughts, if one fixes the mind’s attention closely on the contemplations. For the words of old from God came to the divine prophet concerning Judea and concerning Jerusalem. And in saying “concerning Judea and concerning Jerusalem” the vision seems somehow to be expressed in a middle way, and not very clearly. But … bringing it to mind briefly, as it were. Since we are making plain the very force of the vision, [he] tries to speak of the ravaging of the Judea and Jerusalem perceived by the senses, but of the manifestation of the spiritual one, the one in Christ, and of its appearing in this world; for this reason he says that he saw the vision not on behalf of Judea, nor against Jerusalem, but concerning Judea and concerning Jerusalem. By the Judea and Jerusalem perceived by the senses we mean the very land in which Israel dwelt, and the body of the synagogue of the Jews itself. But the spiritual Jerusalem, or Judea, we shall consider to be the Church, that is, the circumcision in spirit: those in Christ who have the circumcision not made with hands in mind and heart. And so to the Jews [the prophet says: “Be circumcised] to God, and circumcise your hardness of heart, men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem.” And the divine Paul knows another Jew, not the one according to the flesh but rather the one in spirit. For he writes thus: “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart, in spirit, not in letter; his praise is not from men but from God.” We must, then, watch soberly when the prophet speaks against Jerusalem, or Judea, and when concerning the spiritual one in Christ, which is truly perfect and blameless. What, then, does he say?

“For in the last days the mountain of the Lord will be manifest, and the house of God on the tops of the mountains, and it will be exalted above the hills, and all the nations will come to it. And many nations will go and say: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will declare to us his way, and we will walk in it. For out of Zion will go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from [Jerusalem].”

The [first] vision had come to an end for him, and the end of the prophecy already given was: “For they will be ashamed of their idols, which they themselves [wanted, and of the gardens] which they desired.” In what way those of Israel were ashamed of their idols we have said already. But since the prophecy concerning them has been recorded, the prophet, beginning a neighbouring and second vision in sequence, marks the time in which the power of the devil will be [destroyed], not in some part of the earth, nor in one country and city, while the worship of idols and its profane apparatus are wholly pulled down; rather, this sickness and the tyranny of the unclean demons will be taken away from the whole world under heaven. And this was accomplished for those on earth in the last days, that is, in the final times of the present age, in which the only-begotten Word of God shone forth, born of a woman.

when he also presented to himself the spiritual Judea, or Jerusalem, that is, the Church, as a pure virgin, “having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing,” as it is written, but rather holy and blameless. And concerning her he says that in the last days the mountain of the Lord will be manifest, and the house of the God of Jacob on the tops of the mountains. Now the Zion in Judea is said by us to lie and be built on a mountain. But here the Church would be understood not in a sensible way but spiritually, and she too is likened to a mountain. For she is truly high and seen from all around, and best known to people everywhere. And she is high in another way too: for she thinks nothing of earthly things but is above them, and surveys the glory of God, as far as possible, with the eyes of the understanding, and boasts in very lofty doctrines about him. For the chosen men of the Greeks, though they raise their brows high for wisdom, make the creation into gods and attach their reverence to the elements of the world. For they have a mind that lies low and contemplations that crawl on the ground, and a darkened heart; claiming to be wise they became fools, as it is written. But the spiritual Zion, that is, the Church, flies above all creation, visible and invisible, and reaches the very nature that is beyond all things. For she is filled with the divine light, and, recognizing that nature as both maker and craftsman of all things, she assigns to it alone the power over all, and with such glory she crowns the King of all, and … she would justly be called [the house] of God. And she is conspicuous, as raised upon the hills. One might very fittingly say of her what was said through the Saviour’s voice as a vivid example: “A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.” One could gather very many passages, and very easily, from which it can be seen in the divinely inspired Scriptures that the stature of the spiritual Jerusalem, that is, the height of the Church, is likened to both hills and mountains. But we shall go on to what follows, leaving it to lovers of learning to collect such things, if they choose to do so. Let us see, rather, what tends to the benefit of those on earth from the house of God becoming so visible to people everywhere that it now seems in a way to be raised upon hills and set on the tops of the mountains. The prophet will assure us at once, saying: “And all the nations will come to it; and many nations will go and say: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will declare to us his way, and we will walk in it.” That all the nations were gathered and ran together through faith into the Church will not need long words from us to prove. But [the manner] of the events itself … is worth marvelling at. For the multitude of the nations was called not through the schooling of the law, not through holy prophets; rather a divine and ineffable grace gathers them, shining upon them spiritually and implanting in them the longing for the salvation through Christ. For see how, with no one proclaiming it to them, they call out to one another: “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will declare to us his way, and we will walk in it.” First they go up, and then they ask that the word of God be announced to them. And they undertake to walk in the way of the Lord, clearly the way of the gospel, whose entrance is the cleansing through faith. And in seeking to learn the way of the Lord they seem [to have condemned] that ancient [error] … For the longing for better things will not arise in us in any other way unless we have first condemned the

… “It was necessary that the word of the Lord be spoken [first to you]; since [you thrust it from you and judge yourselves unworthy] of eternal life, behold, we turn to the nations” … how, boasting in the grace of Christ, they say that the law and the word of the Lord have gone out. Who is it that leads them up to the knowledge of the truth and persuades them to think the first things laughable and to run to the second? Is it not clearly God, who shone upon them, as I said, in mind and heart, and persuaded them both to say and to think that “out of Zion will go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem”? This carries a twofold sense within it. For either they say this: We shall receive the word from the house of God, and when we have come there we shall know the word of God; or else that the law has left Zion and as it were gone out of it, and the Word of God has departed from Jerusalem. For since they behaved outrageously toward Christ and denied his kingdom, he left them and let them be orphans. And this was what was said through the prophet: “And I said, I will not shepherd you; what is dying, let it die, and what is failing, let it fail, and let those who are left each eat the flesh of his neighbour.” The law, then, went out from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. For vision and prophecy were sealed after the Saviour’s cross, and the law and the word of God are no longer among them. And so the divine Paul, as one all but giving up and seeing the multitude of the Jews beyond correction, says: “It was necessary [that the word of God be spoken first] to you; but since you thrust it from you and judge yourselves unworthy [of eternal life, behold, we turn to the nations]; for so the Lord has commanded us.” Understand, then, you nations. For from [Zion the law has gone out] and from Jerusalem [the word], to pass over wholly to [the nations]. For the grace passed over from those who chose to disobey to those who were called through faith.

“[And he will judge between the nations], and will convict many peoples; and they will beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into sickles; and nation will not take up sword against nation, and they will no longer learn to make war.”

Having said beforehand that the power of the devil will fall and come to nothing, and that the making of idols will cease, as the nations eagerly call out to one another, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will declare to us his way, and we will walk in it,” he makes plain to the hearers the time in which what was foretold will come to fulfilment, and makes it most recognizable from the very state of affairs. For of old, when the earth was not under one yoke, but the nations were divided by countries and cities and each had its own ruler, there was separation and battles and wars, as those on earth everywhere ravaged one another and always seized what belonged to others, each counting as the highest glory greed and savagery against whomever they could.

So they did not have a secure dwelling either, always moving to another and being pushed out of the one they had taken by those who were stronger. But since the God of all brought the world under heaven under the sceptres of the Romans, and one kingdom at last extends over all, the wars have ceased, battle and discord have stopped, and righteousness has prevailed, and the security of good order, with no one seizing or ravaging any longer, or overrunning cities or countries, and with greed not going unpunished. And not this only, but the use of arms is given only to the most warlike, who hold military rank and are under the emperor’s hand. And many of the nations have been shown to be weak, those that shake off the yoke of Roman rule and savagely attack cities and countries. For they cannot overrun them freely as they would wish. For the arms of the Romans rise against them, force them to keep still, terrify them like wild beasts, and by their own strength prove them unmanly. The blessed prophet, then, as I said, defines the time of the calling and conversion of the nations. And what is this time? When, he says, the God of all, the King of all and Lord, will judge between the nations, that is, will bring righteousness and judgment to all the nations. For injustice prevailed, as I said just now, while the nations plundered one another and brought every kind of savagery and greed. But since these things have been removed, righteousness and judgment have been given by God, and many nations, as I said, have been convicted, conquered by the arms of the Romans. So those under the emperor’s hand no longer fear anyone’s attacks, and their affairs have now come to such a state of peace and prosperity that they no longer need experience in war, but rather choose, and very gladly, to busy themselves with the works of peace, to take up the labours of farming and to give their care to the fields. For they reshape the instruments of war, so that the sword is taken for the use of the plough and the spear is made into a sickle; and they wholly unlearn war and beg off from fighting one another. For since Christ, who is peace, began to reign over the nations, all discord and strife, battles and every form of greed have been removed; the harms of war and the fears that come from it have been taken away; and his will has prevailed, as he says to them: “My peace I give you, my peace I leave with you.”

“And now, O house of Jacob, come, and let us walk in the light of the Lord. For he has abandoned his people, the house of Israel.”

… [though they deserved] terrible things, he does not allow them to perish in despair; he will be God [to those who choose]; and to those willing to unlearn what is shameful and to long for what is better he will widen again the way of salvation, and he will receive them without bearing a grudge, though they have committed very many and unbearable offences. Therefore he says, skilfully weaving the word of exhortation into his reproofs: “And now, O house of Jacob, come, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.” It especially suits the prophet, I think, to use this word to urge those of Israel to obey Christ, who says, “While you have the light, walk in the light, lest darkness overtake you.” And he himself is the light. And so he said plainly: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not remain in darkness, but will have the light of life.” And his preaching, that is, the gospel, would very fittingly be called the light of the Lord. It is as if he said: Let us live piously; let us honour the splendour of the gospel way of life; let us cease from what is in types; let us put an end to the shadow; let us transform the writings of Moses into truth; let us receive the saving light. But since those according to

… they used to raise their brows high, as being loved for their own sake, styled the portion and lot of God, a holy and chosen people; and then they foolishly thought that they lay wholly and in every way in God’s care and love, even if they did many things hateful to him, even if they counted [the Lord] as nothing … he shows, saying, “For he has abandoned his people, the house of Israel.” Something of this kind the God of all says through another prophet too, overturning the pride of the Jews and convicting them of being without understanding. “For they coveted fields,” he says, “and plundered orphans, and oppressed households, and they exalted themselves against the Lord, saying, Is not the Lord among us? No evil will come upon us. Therefore, because of you, Zion will be ploughed like a field, and Jerusalem will be like a watchman’s hut, and the mountain of the house like a grove in a forest.” If, then, you do not choose, he says, to walk with us in the light of the Lord, that is, if you make the preaching through Christ unacceptable to you and turn away from the illumination that comes from him, he too will by all means abandon his own people. And this is plainly what our Lord Jesus Christ said to them: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I wanted to gather your children together as a bird gathers her young under her wings, and you would not! Behold, your house is left to you.” And through the voice of Jeremiah he says, “I have forsaken my house, I have left my inheritance.”

“For their land was filled, as at the beginning, with divinations, like that of the foreigners, and foreign children were born among them.”

Now too the prophet in a way makes a defence for the judgments of God, and gives the reasons why the house of Israel, that is, his people, was very justly abandoned by God. He recalls, as I said, both the old and the new offences of Israel, convicting them of not loving God, of looking much toward harshness, and of going without bridle toward contempt of the law. For before the coming of our Saviour they cared little for reverence toward God and for the [law] given them through Moses …; but [after it they did] the worst of all things, against Christ himself, the Saviour of all. So at times he sets out the charges of their madness against the law and the penalties they justly paid for it, when the Persians and the nations made war on them at that time; and at times he brings charges against the ways of their madness against Christ, and all that they suffered for this cause, when Vespasian and Titus made war on the whole multitude of Judea under their hand. The present passage, then, sets out for us the offences of the synagogue of the Jews before the coming. For this reason, he says, his people was abandoned, that is, given over by God to its enemies, because it chose again to be sick with its first ills and ran back to its former impiety. For in Egypt they served the gods of the country, or rather demons; then they were redeemed through Moses, God having pity on them, and were freed at once from slavery both of soul and of body. For as they shook off the yoke of the greed of the Egyptians, so they were freed from the perversity of the demons, no longer serving the falsely named gods, but rather being schooled by the law through Moses toward the truth, and recognizing one God, who is God by nature and in truth. For they heard him giving the law and saying at Horeb: “You shall not make for yourself an idol, nor a likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or on the earth below, or in the waters under the earth. You shall not bow down to them; for I am the Lord your God.” And it is written in Deuteronomy too: “When you enter the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to act according to the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you one who purifies his son or his daughter in fire, one who practises divination, one who reads omens, a ventriloquist, a watcher of portents, or one who inquires of the dead. For it is an abomination to the Lord your God

… everyone who does these things. You shall be perfect before the Lord [your God]. For these nations, whose land you are taking as your inheritance, will listen to omens and divinations; but the Lord your God has not given it so to you.” So much the law. But since they were easily led astray and very ready for apostasy, that is, from God, he gave a further law, saying: “When the Lord God brings you into the land which you are going there to inherit, and you remove great nations, many and strong, before you (he names them one by one), and the Lord your God delivers them into your hands, and you strike them, you shall utterly destroy them; you shall not make a covenant with them … nor shall you intermarry with them. Your daughter you shall not give to his son, and his daughter you shall not take for your son. For he will turn your son away from me, and he will serve other gods; and the Lord will be angry with you in wrath and will destroy you quickly.” For God devised every means of safety for them, and, as the holy Scripture says, he gave the law as a help. But they, disregarding such venerable [commands], turned without reason to every [kind of divination and] omen and false prophecy, and were eager to seek knowledge of the future from those devoted to idols, while they rebuked the holy prophets, saying, “But speak to us and announce to us another deception.” And they lived with the daughters of the neighbouring nations, though the law had forbidden it. Bringing into their homes, against the law, wicked and God-hated women reared in the customs of idolatry, they became [fathers] of foreign children, who were also brought up in their mothers’ [customs], not pretending to know the law of Moses even so much as to speak of it. Therefore he says, “Their land was filled, as at the beginning, with divinations, like that of the foreigners, and foreign children were born among them.” And it was most absurd, and truly utterly shameful, that their sons, born of foreign women and living in the holy city, conducted themselves by Greek customs and lived outside the law. And when God commanded that every male child be circumcised on the eighth day, and that “three times a year every male of yours shall appear before me,” they did not do this, but carried off their offspring to the demons and performed sacrifices over them in the precincts of the idols. Do you see how they trampled on the law everywhere? Then how was it consistent that those who had come to such impiety that they did not even wish to know their Redeemer should be called his people?

So the vote against them is a just one, and the ground for turning away from them is not ignoble. “For the Judge of all shows no partiality.”

“For their land was filled with silver and gold, and there was no number of their treasures; and the land was filled with horses, and there was no number of their chariots.”

Again he says that two things, the most shameful of all evils, are present in them: love of money and arrogance. That love of money is the root of all evils, the wise [Paul] has plainly testified; [and how hateful arrogance is] to God is clear to everyone. For it is written, “The Lord opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” What form of wickedness would one not see present in those who wish to be rich? For such people gather their money from interest and usury, from greed and injustice, from robbery and false accusation. Wealth also brings with it haughtiness and a mind very ready [for pleasure]. For where there is luxury, there are surely revels and drunkenness, debauchery and licentiousness and every form of intemperance. And who among those used to thinking rightly does not [know the rich man, despising] the weaker, raising his brow high, looking down on those in poverty, not enduring to grieve with those in misery, not deigning to pity those in need and toil, and forgetting at last that he is dust and ashes? Our virtue-loving God, then, accuses them, and very rightly, as having a mind insatiable for gain, as riding upon horses, and as caught in [the charges] of vainglory. He says their land was filled with horses, as though not one or two were sick with arrogance, but as though their whole land had been seized by the passion and the evil was going against all. But by this he also convicts them of having offended against the law and of having chosen to disobey God, who had said clearly: “When you enter the land that the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, I will set a ruler over myself, like the other nations around me, you shall surely set over yourself a ruler whom the Lord your God chooses.” Then he says of the one so set: “For he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor turn the people back to Egypt, in order to multiply horses for himself.” And besides this: “Nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself.” He accuses them, then, of amassing wealth, and insatiably, and of multiplying horses for themselves. And the blame for this touches, as is likely, above all those allotted to lead, as transgressors of the commandment, who ought to have been seen before all others honouring [the law].

“And the land was filled with abominations, the works of their hands, and they bowed down to what their fingers made. And man bowed down, and a man was humbled, and I will not forgive them.”

He again charges them with spiritual fornication, and with choosing to worship many of the falsely named gods. And he shows that they advanced to such a measure of impiety as to drive on to the limit of every evil, and to practise the most complete apostasy from God, who knows all things, upholds all by his nod, and brought them into existence. He seems in a way also to grieve exceedingly for human nature, which has been insulted. For the God of all honoured man by making him with his own hand. For he was not produced offhand by a word along with the other creatures, as was the case with “Let there be a firmament, and it was so”; but he took dust from the earth and made man, according to the words of the all-wise Moses. And he was made according to the image and likeness of God, and was appointed as a kind of ruler over those on earth. Besides this he was honoured also with the spirit of life; for he breathed into his face the breath of life. So “man, being in honour, did not understand,” as it is written, … for he served carved images; and, as the prophetic word said, “They bowed down to what their fingers made. And man bowed down, and a man was humbled.” This is an insult both to God himself and to human nature. For although it was possible from the beauty of creatures to see by analogy their Craftsman (“for his invisible things are clearly seen from the creation of the world, being understood through the things that are made, both his eternal power and divinity”), this they did not do; but assigning reverence to stones and bowing down to the stone, the wretches offended against the One who is by nature Master and God and Creator of all. And they did not notice, as is likely, that they were also insulting their own nature, if indeed man is better than wood and stones. Therefore the Creator of all, justly indignant, says: “Man bowed down, and a man was humbled, and I will not forgive them.” By this he shows how unswerving his wrath is, since it was stirred against them, as is likely, for both reasons: that they grieved the divine glory, and that they made their own nature utterly dishonoured. And he says that their land was filled with abominations, showing that those caught in the charges of apostasy were not few, nor easily counted; and that their object of reverence was not one, but each worshipped what seemed good to him, and a manifold swarm of idols filled their whole land. And so it was said through the voice of Jeremiah: “According to the number of your cities were your gods, O Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem you set up altars to burn incense to Baal.” The making of idols, then, is wicked and hateful to God, both of those perceived by the senses and of those in the mind. For Satan plunders the souls of men terribly and in many ways by fantasies in mind and heart, sometimes bringing them down into sins by forming idols there and carrying them off to shameful and outlandish pleasures.