Commentary on Isaiah 1.5.9–1.5.16

power of Syria. That the worshippers of idols too have all their hope of salvation in him … and that Christ despoiled Satan as soon as he was born is easy to see. For Matthew writes: “When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, magi from the east came to Jerusalem, saying: Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” And indeed they worshipped him and brought gold and frankincense and myrrh. Do you see how he despoiled Satan and plundered swiftly? And that the aim of his coming looks to the redemption of those who had fallen into spiritual captivity, Christ himself would indicate, saying through the voice of Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because of which he anointed me; he has sent me to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind.” And the blessed David too [sings] somewhere about him: “Having gone up on high he led captivity captive.” And he himself taught this, saying: “When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all to myself.”

“And the Lord spoke to me further: Because this people does not want the water of Siloam that goes softly, but wants to have Rezin and the son of Remaliah as king over you, therefore behold, the Lord brings up upon you the water of the river, strong and abundant, the king of the Assyrians and his glory; and he will go up over every ravine of yours and walk over every wall of yours, and will take away from Judea any man who can raise his head or is able to accomplish anything; and his camp will be such as to fill the breadth of your country.”

Having said very well that the birth of Emmanuel through the holy Virgin would be strange and admirable, beyond what is usual among men, and that very many … in due time, he now reveals to the prophet the madness of the Jews that would be directed against him at the time of his becoming man. The only-begotten Word of God came into this world in the likeness of sinful flesh, not having the glory of his God-befitting pre-eminence manifest and visible, nor dwelling, as was his wont, in light unapproachable, nor openly escorted by the angelic powers, nor even perhaps in the glory of an earthly king, but very modestly and humbly and very quietly. God the Father showed us this through the voice of the saints, saying: “Behold, my beloved servant will understand, in whom I am well pleased; he will bring forth judgement to the nations; he will not quarrel or cry out, nor will his voice be heard in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoking wick he will not quench.” Such was the manner of the Only-begotten's dispensation with the flesh. But the wretched Jews, not understanding at all the mystery concerning him, … and sought to kill him, saying: “We do not stone you for a good work, but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.” And they continued hard and unruly to the end. For they led him to Pilate, saying: “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” And when he, all but smiling at this, said, “[Shall I crucify] your king?” [they answered: “We have no] king but Caesar.” See how they refused to be ruled by him and enrolled Caesar and men as their kings. God, then, makes this very thing plain to the prophet in a riddle. And since I suppose it fitting to give the account befitting the events of that time … [he likens the water of Sil]oam to the kingdom under God, which the Jews dishonoured, and came under another and were given over to their enemies. This is why he says: “Because this people does not want the water of Siloam that goes softly, but wants to have Rezin and the son of Remaliah as king over you, therefore behold, the Lord brings up upon you the water of the river, strong and abundant, the king of the Assyrians.” That the water of Siloam flows thus

gently, they say, so as to go along without any noise at all. Siloam is interpreted “sent.” He takes it, then, as an image and type of the coming of our Saviour, which happened quietly, as I said just now. And Christ is truly the one sent; indeed the wise Paul too names him the Apostle and High Priest of our confession. He likewise takes Siloam, quite simply, as a type of the kingdom under God. Since, then, this unbending and unruly people does not want to have the water of Siloam that goes gently (for it shakes off the yoke under God and desires rather to be under the kingdom of men, and that those who wish to take advantage, I mean Rezin and Pekah, should prevail over it), for this reason I will let loose upon them the water of the river, that is, of the Euphrates. And since the saying was somewhat obscure, he adds immediately and says: the king of the Assyrians and his glory, that is, all who are under him and every nation that has bowed its neck to him. He likens the multitudes to water; and this is the custom of the God-breathed Scripture. Indeed, concerning Nineveh and the countless multitude in it, he says: “[Like a pool] of waters are her waters.” He keeps to the figure, and says, as of water and a river: “And he will go up over every ravine of yours, and walk over every wall of yours, and will take away from Judea any man who can raise his head or is able to accomplish anything; and his camp will be such as to fill the breadth of your country.” All these things were brought to fulfilment while Jeremiah was prophesying, when Nebuchadnezzar campaigned against the country of the Jews, overthrew the renowned Jerusalem, burned the temple, killed the notables of the Jews, and carried off to his own land, together with the sacred vessels, all the rest of the multitude left from the war. It is evident, then, that upon those who do not wish to have the water of Siloam that goes gently, that is, Christ, or the kingdom under God, the king of the spiritual Assyrians, that is, Satan, will surely leap, and having taken them captive will put them under his own yokes and make them slaves, binding them tight with the cords of manifold sins.

“God is with us. Know, nations, and be defeated; listen, to the end of the earth. Having become strong, … the Lord will scatter; and whatever word you speak will not stand, for the Lord God is with us.”

The prophet's mind leaps up for joy, having clearly recognized the mystery of Christ. Then, taking on the person of the holy evangelists and apostles of that time together with their word, he all but solemnly testifies to Greeks and Jews that … a weapon for those who have made him [their own], and nothing will withstand them.

To the nations, then, he commands that they accomplish these two things: to recognize the mystery of Christ, and to yield to those who teach it. “Know,” he says, and receive the word about him, “and be defeated,” that is, give way and do not resist the holy initiators into the mystery; rather listen to them, “to the end of the earth,” that is, those in every city and country, as far as the very bounds of the world under heaven. And those who are defeated and are willing to yield the victory to the teachers of the truth will readily receive the word about him, and, having believed in Christ, will walk straight toward every good, and, [pursuing] the virtue most dear to him, will inherit a bright and enviable glory. This the prophet says to the multitudes, as from the person of the holy apostles and evangelists. But you, O Jews, having become strong, be defeated. For as far as the purpose of the Jews went, the wretches prevailed over Christ, handing him over to the cross. But they planned a plan which they cannot establish, as it is written. For it was not possible to put the Author of life into the power of death. So even if you thought, he says, that you prevailed by killing the Lord, yet be defeated now, and yield in obedience by accepting the faith; or else know this, that even if you again prevail by not tolerating the teaching, but rebuking savagely those who proclaim the Gospel, you will again be defeated when the Judge at last punishes and exacts the penalty for such long madness. This was indeed done. For after Christ returned to life and went up into heaven, they plotted against the holy apostles themselves, and bringing them into the councils they beat them, accusing them and saying: “We strictly charged you not to speak to anyone in this name, and behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching.” So they seemed to prevail in this too, but all was useless to them, plan, design, and word; for the divine disciples conquered, saying: “For the Lord God is with us.” And they paid a bitter penalty, being defeated, against their will, by the armies of the Romans.

“… the course of the way of this people, saying: Lest they say, Hard; for whatever this people says is hard.”

I said that the blessed prophet, putting on the person of the holy apostles and evangelists, counselled nations and Jews to yield to Christ, and those to the ends of the earth to obey him. Then God, all but marvelling to him at the perversity and great ignorance of Israel, says: “With the strong hand they disobey.” For the all-powerful, unbreakable and all-mighty right hand of God the Father is the Son, through whom are all things and in whom are all things; who abolished death, crushed Satan, despoiled Hades, and [restored] all things to incorruption as in the beginning. So too, through the voice of the psalmist, those saved in Christ say: “The right hand of the Lord has exalted me; the right hand of the Lord has done mightily.” And it is said also in the Odes: “Your right hand, Lord, has been glorified in strength; your right hand, Lord, [has shattered the enemies].” … and they reached such a degree of mental damage that they chose lightly to disobey the strong hand that saves, and to count the matter as nothing. They disobey … likewise the course of this people, he says; whose …

… taking up the person [of the apostles], he said at once: “God is with us.” And what is the course of the people? The faith in him of those who have Emmanuel, the Gospel way of life, the one under the law, as in shadows, being set aside. And they disobey the course of this people, saying: “Lest you say, Hard; for whatever this people says is hard.” For the word of the holy apostles seemed somehow hard to the Jews, because, putting away the shadow as at the due time, they did not allow them to live according to the law of Moses, but rather in the Gospel way and spiritually.

“But do not fear their fear, nor be troubled; sanctify the Lord himself, and he will be your fear. And if you trust in him, he will be to you for a sanctuary, and you will not meet him as a stumbling of a stone, nor as a fall of a rock.”

Having first charged those of Israel with choosing to disobey the course of the people, plainly the people in Christ, and the initiations of the holy apostles, he turns the word of exhortation to them [the apostles], and works an unbreakable mind in them, saying that they must not fear those who disobey them, nor at all admit the [fear] that comes from their perversity …, [but be strong] against their enemies, knowing well that he will be a weapon for them and a tower of strength, and that they will easily overcome those who resist them. This is why he says: “But do not fear their fear, nor be troubled.” If anyone should wish to bring a keen mind to the sense of the passage, he will understand it in another way also. It is as follows. The Jews were afraid … not a little, lest they should somehow offend God, [abandoning] the road of the way of life under the law and accepting the word of the Saviour, who removed them from the types and commanded them to count the shadow as nothing. Indeed they said of him: “If this man were from God, he would not break the Sabbath.” That, then, although the divine disciples were of the Jews, they ought to reject the [fear] of those … in the law, by choosing rather to live in the Gospel way, he charges, saying: “But do not fear their fear, nor be troubled”; rather let the Lord of glory, he says, that is, Christ, be sanctified by you, honoured by faith and feared among you. For so he will be a sanctuary for you, and you will not meet him as a stumbling of a stone, nor as a fall of a rock. He sets two great and choice things in him. First, he will sanctify, he says, you who believe, and will make you partakers of his divine nature through the Holy Spirit; and besides this you will gain not falling upon him as a stone or as a rock of offence. This the wretched Jews suffered through very great ignorance, saying: “We know that God has spoken to Moses; but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” Since, then, they neither sanctified him nor were willing to trust in him, they remained wholly without share in sanctification, and, stumbling as on a stone, they fell and came into every evil.

“… who sit in Jerusalem [in a hollow]. Therefore many among them will be powerless, and will fall and be crushed, and will draw near, and men who are in safety will be taken. Then those who are sealed, so as not to learn the law, will be manifest.”

The wise writer of Proverbs said: “Son, let not your heart envy sinners, but be in the fear of the Lord all the day.” For it would befit those who are truly sound of mind to become imitators, not of the perversity of the wicked, but of the goodness of the good. Since, then, he counselled the holy disciples to make Christ their sanctuary, to trust rather in him, and to count as nothing the madness of their persecutors, he necessarily added how many and what sort of things … the house, he says, of Jacob, that is, the Jews, sick with very great and unceasing madness against Christ, will be like those caught in a snare and hunted to destruction; or like those in hollows, that is, those who have slipped into a pit. For this reason many among them will be powerless, and will fall and be crushed, and will draw near, that is, will be near and not far from being destroyed. For they will be without strength and crushed, and easy for their enemies to take. And this was what was said about them by God through the voice of a prophet: “Behold, I bring weakness upon this people, and they will be weak among them, … his [neighbour] will perish”; although for those called in Christ the Lord is [strength and] song, as it is written. And the divine Paul will confirm it, saying: “I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me.” Those who disbelieve, he says, men who are in safety, will be taken. For as far as the help from above, which always belonged to those of Israel, was concerned, they were in a way impregnable and hard to fight for their enemies, visible and invisible. For God said somewhere about Jerusalem: “And I will be to it, says the Lord, a wall of fire round about, and I will be for glory in its midst.” [But now] they continue in the world bereft of all safety, spiritual and of the senses. For the grace of the Saviour has passed over to others, that is, to those from the nations. And then, he says, those who are sealed, so as not to learn the law, will be manifest. And who would these be in turn? Plainly those justified in Christ and sanctified through the Spirit, to whom it would fit to say: “The light of your face has been signed upon us, Lord.” For the image and likeness and, as it were, the face of God the Father is the Son; and the light sent from him to us is the Holy Spirit, through whom we have been sealed, being re-formed to the first image through sanctification. For we were made according to the image and likeness of God who created us. They will be manifest, then, he says, that is, distinguished and very well known to God and eminent in the world, those who [are sealed] by the Holy [Spirit] … Shall we, then, abstain from the readings of the law?

Yet how is it not ignorant to think so, when Christ says plainly: “Therefore I tell you that every scribe who has been made a disciple for the kingdom of heaven is like a rich man who brings out of his treasure new things and old”? So we do not refuse to know the law; but to know it in such a way as to choose to live by the law, that is, in the Jewish way, is to be shunned. For we shall not sacrifice oxen, nor honour the God of all with sacrifices of blood; rather we shall offer him spiritual worship for a fragrant odour. For as the Saviour says: “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” And that for those sealed by the Holy Spirit for newness of life it is great loss still to wish to conduct themselves and live in the Jewish way, that is, according to the shadow of the law, the blessed Paul will confirm, saying to those who after faith were going back, as it were, to the worship in shadows: “Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?” And again: “I say to you that if you are circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you. You have been severed from Christ, you who live by the law; you have fallen from grace. For we by faith await the hope of righteousness.”

“And he will say: I will wait for God, who has turned away his face from the house of Jacob, and I will trust in him.”

By these words the prophet tries to assure us. For the God of all had called to them concerning Emmanuel: “Sanctify the Lord himself, and he will be your fear. And if you trust in him, he will be to you for a sanctuary.” And they, accepting very gladly the word of initiation into this, promise obedience without any delay, and, setting all their hope on him, say: “I will wait for God, who has turned away his face from the house of Jacob, and I will trust in him.” And what would “I will wait” mean? Surely that which the divine David also said: “I waited patiently for the Lord, and he attended to me.” He waits for the Lord who has chosen to think what seems good to him, follows his nods, and very gladly endures the contests for the sake of piety toward him. For to this the Spirit urges them through the psalmist's voice, saying: “Be manly, and let your heart be strong, and wait for the Lord.” I will wait, then, he says, for God, who has turned away his face from the house of Jacob. See, see then, how much good sense they have besides their obedience. For from the things by which others offended and indeed suffered the turning away of the divine face, by these very things they make their own hearts more secure in their inclination toward what is better. For they fear the turning away of the divine eyes. For the judge does not respect persons, and fittingly and reasonably, according to the ways of each, he will either bestow [praise] … No one would doubt that he will wholly and entirely … bestow praise or bring on punishment. And those who have outraged him by disobedience he will put out of his presence and count hateful. As for those who have honoured him by faith, he will count them dear while they keep the faith, but will turn away from them if they let go their sincerity, and will count them equal to those who have not believed at all, or perhaps even worse. For it is written about some: “For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of truth than, having known it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.”

“Behold, I and the children whom God has given me; and they will be for signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord Sabaoth, who dwells on Mount

Zion.”

When they had very well made the good confession (for they said: “I will wait for God, who has turned away his face from the house of Jacob, and I will trust in him”), he immediately brings in the person of Emmanuel himself, granting to those who have set their hope on him a kinship, plainly the one through the Spirit. For the Son has put his own Spirit into us, and we have become his kin; and in him we cry, “Abba, Father.” He names us, then, children of the Father, as having rebirth through the Spirit, so that we may also be called brothers of the one who is truly [Son] by nature … “I will announce your name to my brothers.” Yet even if he became a brother and was called our firstborn because of the human, although he is God and only-begotten Son, we have not been ignorant of his glory and his pre-eminence over all creation. We know that we have been given to him by God the Father. And he himself is found saying this to the Father and God in the heavens: “Those whom you have given me out of the world were yours, and you gave them to me.” For the Son is by nature Lord of all, and rules together with God the Father over everything that has come into being. Since he also became man, to whom all things are said to be God-given and allotted, he is said to receive what he possessed as Lord, as God. “For ask of me,” he says, “and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as your possession.” He rejoices, then, in those who trust in him, that is, those called through faith to the knowledge of the truth; and, all but stretching out his hand, he points them out, saying: “Behold, I and the children whom God has given me.” Who, then, says this? Plainly Emmanuel. Who will be, he says, for signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord Sabaoth, who dwells on Mount Zion. For so that those throughout all the earth might believe that, being God by nature, he became man, and, being Lord of all, bore the form of the servant by the dispensation for our sake, he worked very many signs throughout Judea and made a most effective proof of his divine pre-eminence by the things done beyond expectation and beyond reason: now raising the dead, now rebuking unclean spirits, and giving sight to the blind with authority. The prophetic word will be an indictment of the perversity and impiety of the Jews. For he says that the signs and the wonders came from the Lord Sabaoth who dwells on Mount Zion; but they, leaving no outrageous deed or word untried, dared to blaspheme, saying: “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.”

“And if they say to you: Seek those who speak from the earth, and the ventriloquists who speak empty words, who speak from the belly, … will not a nation [seek] its God? Why do they seek the dead concerning the living? For he gave the law as a help, so that they may not speak like this word, concerning which there are no gifts to give for it.”

Emmanuel himself weaves an instructive word for those who have set their hope on him, who have been reckoned among the children and have been given to him by God the Father, as to a Saviour and Redeemer and Life-giver, able to enlighten and to free from every evil; and he wholly removes them from their ancient customs and their former madness. For the worshippers of idols are accustomed to love attaching themselves to … diviners from the demons, who say nothing true, but belch out, as it were, whatever simply comes into their mind. But you, he says, even if someone should come to you and say, “Seek those who speak from the earth,” that is, those who pretend to bring up the dead and to make their divinations as from Hades, or the ventriloquists, who pretend to have certain gods in their belly and so to tell those who come to them what those gods say, do not accept the counsel. For they speak from their own belly alone, and they are not an understanding nation, so as to seek God and learn something from him. And say to those who counsel those things: “Why do they seek the dead concerning the living?” Do you see how he makes them most sensible? Not [only free] of … and madness, but he also commands them to become good counsellors for those who have gone astray. For say, he says: “Why do they seek the dead concerning the living?” For the reasoning is common and human. What sense would it make to wish to ask about those still living those who lie in the earth, or souls that have perhaps come to Hades? And in another way too, it is utterly ignorant to attend to necromancies and the lying speech of sorcerers, who have a dead mind and, as it were, a heart grown cold. For they do not know the Creator of all; they do not have in themselves the life-giving word of God. Besides this, they also busy themselves with dead works. How, then, should the living, that is, those who have in themselves the giving of life from above and are enriched with the living Word of God, ask the dead about themselves? Say these things, then, he says, adding that he gave the law as a help, that is, the Gospel law, so that those who attend to it may say: “Not like this word, concerning which there are no gifts to give for it.” For those who speak only from their own heart sell falsehood; but the saving and true law of God, that is, the Gospel ordinance, which has been given for the help of those on earth, is not like this word, that is, the word of the false diviners. Nor are there gifts to give for it. For, as I said just now, some buy with silver the lying speech of sorcerers. But the heavenly ordinance lies open to those who wish it, through which we have learned about all that is to come. For to whom is it not plain that if we do good things and keep our love for Christ sincere, everything will be as we would wish? For it makes us blessed both in this world and for the age to come. The knowledge of the law given by Christ for our help, then, lies open, without silver and without any gift, to those who wish it. And this was what was wisely said through the voice of Isaiah: “You who thirst, go to the water, and you who have no silver, go and buy without silver and [without price].”

“And a harsh famine will come upon you, and it will be that when you are hungry you will be grieved, and you will speak evil of the ruler and of the ancestral things. And they will look up to heaven above, and they will look down to the earth; and behold, affliction and distress and darkness, narrow perplexity, and darkness so as not to see; and the one who is in distress will not be at a loss until a time.”