Commentary on Isaiah 1.2.16–1.3.5

“[And the people will fall upon one another, man against man], and a man against his neighbour; the child will strike against the old man, and the dishonoured against the honoured.”

The word has foretold to us that the strength of bread and the strength of water will be taken from Judea, the giant and the strong man, the warrior and the judge, and the captain of fifty and the admirable counsellor, and also the wise master builder and the intelligent hearer. Then it makes plain where the matter will end for them and to what harm it will come: “[And the people will fall upon one another, man against] man”; that is, they will be in disorder and will live a life full of tumult. [No longer] will the one who has received the lower rank think fit to honour the one who surpasses him; but with no one rebuking or directing each to what befits him, everything among them will be in confusion, all good order and knowledge having been removed. For where the divine law, the umpire of what is to be done, does not preside, how or whence could anyone be able to live in order? It is just as if someone wanted [to steer] a ship [without] rudders or helmsman.

“[For a man will take hold of his brother] or of one of his father’s household, saying: You have a cloak; become our leader, and let my food be under you. And he will answer in that day: I will not be your leader; for there is no bread in my house, nor a cloak; I will not be the leader of this people.”

The prophetic word marks for us the greatness of the misery of the Jews and of their extreme wretchedness. In their times those of the tribe of Judah reigned in Jerusalem; they were brilliant and conspicuous, abounding in wealth and well crowned with every renown. And in another way those of the tribe of Levi led, according to the order of Aaron, the high priest presiding and presbyters and Levites ministering; and such men were revered by those throughout the whole land of the Jews. But since they did what was not lawful, and there was no form of impiety toward Christ that they left untried, they slipped from that ancient brilliance and distinction in wealth and [power], and their affairs [came] to such a state that they cannot have over them any leader at all who is brilliant in the pre-eminence of old, nor one who has wealth and power, or knowledge of the law. And he teaches this very thing, saying: “A man will take hold of his brother or of one of his father’s household, saying: You have a cloak; become our leader, and let my food be under you.” For when affairs are confused and suffer great disorder, so that they fall upon one another and there is no honour or respect for old or young, that is, for the dishonoured or the glorious, each by himself, he says, will seek a leader, and will choose him by closeness of kinship, barely shaming him into it and calling him to pity. And he will choose him, he says, not as having wealth but as not being naked, and he will be glad to be fed by him and to serve a poor man.

Yet even such a one will not seize the leadership, though he asks nothing of those who wish to be subject to him [except clothing] and the cheapest food, and they would offer him their service in return. What, then, is his excuse? Poverty, surely. For he will say, it says, “There is no bread in my house, nor a cloak; I will not be the leader of this people.” Do you see that what was of old most highly prized among them, I mean leading many, was sometimes pursued by contrivances by those who wished for it? But since the affairs of all are in terrible and helpless poverty, this too will become something to flee from. We can see, then, from the facts themselves, from what to what the affairs of the Jews have changed. For the wretches offended against Christ, who richly distributes all good things to us, crowns with glory those who love him, and enriches the souls of the genuine with spiritual gifts.

“For Jerusalem has been abandoned, and Judea has fallen, and their tongues are with lawlessness, [disobeying the Lord].”

He says that Judea has fallen together, just like one house. And for what cause does he insist that it suffered this? And what is “has been abandoned”? That is, it was let go, or left, having become without share in the care of Christ. For they heard him saying plainly, “Behold, your house is left to you.” It has fallen, then, having no one to raise it up, no one who knows how and is able to save. For Christ is the foundation, and upon him we are all built up as living and spiritual stones, fitted together and joined spiritually into a holy temple, into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit, and we rest upon him. Those who have obtained him as their base have an unshakable foundation and standing in all good things; but those who do not have him are very rotten and easily carried off to anything outlandish. Judea, then, has fallen, and Jerusalem has been abandoned. Another of the holy prophets also cried this out beforehand, saying, “The house of Israel has fallen; there will be no one to raise it up.” And it befell them to suffer such things because, besides their disobedience, they had an impious and most lawless tongue. For what shameful thing is there that we shall not find they said against Christ, the Saviour of us all? A Samaritan and demon-possessed, a glutton and a drinker of wine, and born of fornication. So with their [impiety] toward Christ … One might say of them too: “For not unjustly are nets spread for birds. For those who have a share in murder store up evils for themselves; and the overthrow of lawless men is evil.”

“Therefore now their glory has been humbled, and the shame of their face has stood against them, and they have proclaimed their sin like that of Sodom [and made it manifest].”

He marks the time of the Jews’ humbling, and says, “Now their glory has been humbled,” assuring us that it was above all at that time, when [they raged against] Christ, that every kind of misery was brought upon them and they fell into ill repute. And how their tongue was impious with disobedience the prophet himself makes plain to us, passing over the other things and recalling only their last impiety. For they were always at odds with Christ, and, wounded by the arrows of envy, they plotted against him in many ways. But when they brought him before Pilate, then above all they proclaimed and made manifest their sin like that of Sodom. For as the inhabitants of Sodom, savagely sick with incontinence in their desires and overcome by pleasures against nature, pressed upon the blessed Lot, demanding the men who had come in to him in order to abuse them, all shame having been trampled and an unbroken shamelessness at last prevailing, in the same way, I think, the Jews proclaimed their lawlessness when they cried out and said to Pilate about Christ, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him.” This cry of theirs he accused through one of the prophets as well, saying: “I have forsaken my house, I have left my inheritance; I have given my beloved soul into the hands of her enemies. My inheritance has become

to me like a lion in a forest; she has given her voice against me; therefore I have hated her.”

“Woe to their soul, for they have counselled an evil counsel against themselves, saying: Let us bind the righteous one, [for he is troublesome to us. Therefore they will eat the] fruits of their works. Woe to the lawless one! Evils [will befall him] according to the works of his hands.”

Now too the prophet laments the peoples of the Jews and gives the causes of the lamentations over them. For they said, he says, among themselves: “Let us bind the righteous one, for he is troublesome to us.” For they did not receive through faith Christ, the Saviour of all, but continued to dishonour him, and thought [useless] the one who had come for this, that all things concerning us might be made new in him, and that he might transfer those who are Israel by blood from the way of life of the law to the spiritual one. So, supposing that he would be of no use, they bound him to death, as far as it lay with them, even though he came to life again as God, having emptied Hades and destroyed the power of corruption. For he is Life and gives life. But they took counsel against themselves in wanting to bind the righteous one; and they will eat the fruits of their works. “For whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” Those who are gentle in character and have a God-loving mind will find good fruits from this; but those who turn away, the disobedient, who fight against the divine glory, will eat the fruits of their works, that is, fire and penalty and punishment and all that comes from wrath. For such evils will surely follow those who choose to fight against God. It is true, then, that “woe to the lawless one; evils will befall him according to the works of his hands.” For as they brought Jesus to Pilate [and handed him over to the hands of the soldiers, so they] will be handed over, he says, to the armies of the Romans. And we shall find this said clearly through the voice of Ezekiel too. For it is said to the unholy, Lord-slaying Jerusalem: “As you have done, so it will be done to you; your recompense will be repaid upon your head.”

“My people, your exactors glean you, and those who demand payment rule over you.”

Having foretold most clearly and very plainly that the land of the Jews will suffer the lack of every good, and [what will happen to those who …] to keep away from their offences, he turns them to what is better and teaches them to refuse those who had become the causes of all their evils. For I do not think one ought to be content to submit to those allotted to lead, if they do not try to teach any of the things that make for our benefit; nor would it rightly be thought to deserve blame [to refuse them]. For it is the virtue of [teachers to bring] those being instructed to the knowledge of what is profitable, to reject as counterfeit what by nature does harm, and to bid them refuse what is wont to do wrong. And those who are counted among the disciples would deserve all praise if they look not simply at the reputations of their teachers but at the nature of things, and admire their teachers if they are right and [blameless, but refuse] those whose aim is not such. For some pasture flocks of sheep on mountains and in glens; but if a pit lies beside the flock, or a cliff of the mountains, the sheep go round it and do not throw themselves down to death; for they are taught, as by an inborn law, to spare their own life. Then how is it not absurd if this is seen to prevail among the irrational animals, while in us, though we are rational, there is no knowledge of what is useful and necessary for life? We must therefore, if any of those appointed as teachers and leaders choose to lead us to what is not fitting, not simply be content to put up with them, nor follow them without examination to whatever seems good to them, but test each thing to be done and go to what is most beneficial. The leaders of the Jews, then, that is, the scribes and the Pharisees, were clever at collecting the gains of money and gathering the contributions from the peoples: first fruits, tithes, and everything the law gave as a portion to those allotted the priesthood. And their aim, pursued with all zeal, was [gain] …; [the rest] counted for very little among them. Therefore the Saviour himself said to them: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe dill and mint and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, judgment and mercy and faith.” They were, then, lovers of gain and of money, and sometimes they imposed bitter penalties on offenders, so that by terrifying those accused of anything they might persuade them to bring them things sometimes even beyond their means. Therefore he says to those wronged by them: “My people, your exactors glean you, and those who demand payment rule over you.” By saying “people” he still lets Israel be understood as his, so that if they chose to pass over to what seemed good to him, they would obtain what comes from his gentleness and love, and an affectionate closeness with him. And by saying that the exactors “glean,” he shows the greatness of their insatiability and greed.

For in the harvest fields some cut off the ears with iron, while others, gathering those that fall from the reaper’s hand, leave nothing in the fields. Those who gather grapes in the vineyards do this too. “Your exactors,” then, he says, “glean you.” It is as if he said: they have stripped your possessions, and their insatiability does not stop there; but now they glean too, that is, they lay hands even on what is still left. And very well and fittingly he says that they are not leaders, not teachers, nor anything else of the kind, but calls them exactors and demanders of payment. He teaches that they lord it over the people, not as teachers who treat their disciples gently, but like harsh and savage masters, forcing them to think what seems good to themselves and carrying them off to anything at all, sometimes even against their judgment. But the aim of those in Christ was not such. The divine Peter, at any rate, writes to those called to the office of oversight and allotted to lead the rational flocks: “not as lording it over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.” And the mystical sense knows other exactors too, whom those [who wish to be saved] must refuse: [the evil] powers [that urge] each person on earth, as it were demanding zeal for what is evil, and collecting from us, like a tax, the inclination of the mind toward the passions. And so the holy word calls blessed those who have not heard the voice of the tax collector. For those who rise up against the desires of the flesh, and with youthful spirit push away and trample on the beginnings of sin, and conquer the spirits of wickedness, have become stronger than the voice of the tax collector. We must, then, refuse such exactors and allow them neither to reap in us their harvest of sin nor to glean. We shall do this when we are strengthened through Christ and send out of our understanding evil reasonings, shameful desires and every form of wickedness.

“My people, those who call you blessed lead you astray, and disturb the path of your feet.”

He again rouses them to sobriety and to be testers of [the words they hear, lest they be led away] to laziness. For the Pharisees, going round the houses of the Jews, tried to speak fair words, and called them a blessed people and the portion of God. And perhaps they cried out to them what was said through the voice of Baruch: “Blessed are we, Israel, for what pleases God is known to us.” So that they might bring the gift offerings appointed for them by the law, and tithes or first fruits, they often wished [to flatter them] and practised an appearance of gentleness; but for the sake of gains and profits they taught the peoples under their hand to undo the law itself. Our Lord Jesus Christ, at any rate, accused them of making void the commandment of God for the sake of their own tradition. For they do not let them walk straight, but, leading them aside from the straight road, they carry them down cliffs and into pits.

The straight and level road is close union with Christ through faith. But since the leaders of the Jews knew that when the commandment given through Moses was abolished they would be shut out from gains and profits, they disturbed, as it were, the path of the people’s feet, rejecting the word of Christ as counterfeit and bidding them cling to the shadows of the law. For the wretches dared to say, “We know that God has spoken to Moses; but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from”; and again, “If this man were from God, he would not break the Sabbath.” And what is still more impious than these, to those who wished to listen to Christ and to cling to his words they impiously said, “He has a demon and is mad; why do you listen to him?” I also take it in another way, that the spiritual person, the worker of virtue, must firmly refuse the thoughts within mind and heart that call him blessed. For Satan, being terrible in mischief, when he cannot bring down those who are approved from the life and conduct dearest to them, tries to undo them in another way, as he pleases. For he praises them as having succeeded, welcomes them as saints already, and calls them blessed as having already become friends of God and as having ascended to the summit of all virtue. Then, implanting in them the passion of arrogance, he prepares them to offend against God, and at last shakes them like a tree from its roots. For he knows well that the God of all gives grace to the humble but opposes the proud. We must refuse, then, as I said, the thoughts within mind and heart that call us blessed. For they do not let us travel the straight road, by which one would very easily come to God.

“But now the Lord will stand up for judgment, and will set his people for judgment. The Lord himself will come to judgment with the elders of the people and with its rulers. But you, why have you set my vineyard on fire? And the plunder of the poor is in your houses. Why do you wrong my people, and [shame] the faces [of the poor]?”

The prophet says that the multitude of the wronged will not be without help, nor bereft of all care, but he strongly insists that the God of all will contend for them. For he will go to law on their behalf, he says, against those who glean them and call them blessed. He will go to law against the elders of the people, and besides against the rulers, or leaders. For he redeemed his people from the house of slavery and rescued them from the perversity of their masters, raising the whole creation against them: changing waters into blood, striking with hail and with deep darkness for three days, and all the rest. It would take long to tell each … [he fed them] in the desert. He brought them into the land of promise, removing great and most warlike nations like thorns. And the divine David made this plain to us, saying to the Saviour and Redeemer of all: “You brought a vine out of Egypt, [you drove out nations and planted it; you prepared the way] before it; you stretched out its branches to the sea and its shoots to the rivers.” For Israel became, as the prophet Jeremiah says, a vine with fine branches, and its fruit abundant. But those allotted to lead were appointed as its farmers; and they so wronged the Master’s vineyard that it seemed already wholly burned.

He himself, then, will make this the charge, saying, “But you, why have you set my vineyard on fire?” For those who ought to have made that spiritual vine with its fine branches, that is, Israel, more fruitful, brought it to utter desolation … It was set on fire by those through whom it might reasonably have been rich in grapes and weighed down with fruit and beyond all harm. And in what way are they said to have set the spiritual vineyard on fire? How is it not worth seeing? Those who had the calling of teachers and knew the law, which leads to everything that pleases God, ought before all others to have lived most lawfully themselves and to have been richly adorned with the honours of righteousness, so that their life might become a kind of type and image of excellent living for the peoples under their hand. Then besides this, they ought to have wished to lead those under their yoke by the schooling of the law to every good thing, to convict those who offended and correct those who stumbled, to show them the way of piety, to lead them toward better things, and to persuade them to look to the end of the law, I mean Christ: “For Christ is the end of the law and the prophets.” And Moses spoke of him through shadow and types, proclaiming beforehand to those of old the venerable and great mystery. But disregarding all these things, they themselves were wicked in character, unbridled toward greed, without self-control in their love of gain, thinking right judgment worth very little account; and in the very things over which they should rather have blushed, they boasted. The vineyard, then, was set on fire, neither benefited by the life of those allotted to lead it, nor schooled by the teachings of the law toward an upright and blameless life, that is, toward the knowledge of Christ; and this even when he had already shone upon those on earth and was saying plainly, “I am the light of the world; I am the way, and I am the truth.” Let them hear, then: “But you, why have you set my vineyard on fire? And the plunder of the poor is in your houses. Why do you wrong my people and shame the faces of the poor?” For [they did not lead] those poor in understanding to what seemed good to [God], and they prepared their faces to be ashamed. For as those who care for righteousness stand in the eyes of God with, as it were, a bright face, full of much boldness, so we say that the lovers of wickedness have the face of the heart gloomy and unsmiling, full of shame and confusion. But as he who schools others to understanding and introduces them to the finest things benefits them, so, I think, anyone appointed as a teacher does wrong if he does not make the one he teaches a lover of better things. For he shames, as it were, his face, and him who is poor in understanding he all but forces and snatches away to what is more shameful. And the leaders of the Jews were unjust and rapacious in another way too, shaming the faces of the poor and favouring the rich, although the law says, “Judge with just judgment,” and everywhere enjoins, “You shall not show partiality in judgment.”

“[Thus says the Lord: Because] the daughters of Zion were exalted and walked with lofty neck and with winks of the eyes and in the gait of their feet, at once trailing their tunics and at once playing with their feet, God will also humble the ruling daughters of Zion, and the Lord will uncover their form in that day.”

The word has shown us before that to the [leaders] of the Jews [it seemed good] to be rich and to have a glory conspicuous in this. And they were full of injustice and greed, so as to make brilliant processions in the city and in the fields, riding on horses and not a little puffed up by the outward show of those wont to escort them. For he accused them above, saying: “And the land was filled with horses, and there was no number of their chariots; and the land was filled with silver and gold, and there was no number of their treasures.” Then it happened that the wives of the wealthy, living in luxury, sought to [be adorned], and to take delight in ornaments of gold and stones, and to rejoice greatly in embroidered robes and costly clothing. For the female sex is always somehow fond of glory and display in great prosperity. She is most pleased to be well dressed, wears gold, and, raising her brow high, boasts of the beauty of her body. And on this very account the pride of their husbands is very often puffed up, and some make the extravagance of their wives their own glory. This perhaps the notables of the Jews suffered, disregarding piety toward God. For so that they might always have the supplies of wealth remaining, as the peoples brought what was due by the law, they did not accept faith in Christ, nor did they want others to believe, shutting the kingdom of God, as it is written, neither entering themselves nor allowing those who wished to enter. Therefore they were given over to the Roman armies for desolation and plunder, and perished, together with their wives and dearest ones, their houses and their wealth. For what they had gathered with so much zeal became the property of others; and they themselves are seen pitiable and wanderers, in extreme misery. The word, then, runs down the women among them, or daughters, especially those of the ruling and more conspicuous families, who belonged to the powerful, and says: “Because the daughters of Zion were exalted and walked with lofty neck and with winks of the eyes,” and what follows. They were exalted not in virtue, but in a fleshly and most earthy mind. For it seemed a great thing to them, as I said, to be proud of wealth and glory and outward ornaments, which they gather from stones and gold and embroidered robes. And here the prophetic word describes for us the mind and the bearing of a pleasure-loving and immodest woman, conspicuous in her finery, showing from one woman, as it were, the haughtiness of every woman among them.