Commentary on Isaiah 1.6.2–1.6.9

“And he took it at the end of three years, in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is, the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel. And Samaria was taken, and the king of the Assyrians deported Samaria to the Assyrians, and settled them in Halah and in Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the mountains of the Medes, because they did not listen to the voice of the Lord their God, and transgressed his covenant, all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded; and they did not listen, and did not do it. And in the fourteenth year … of the Assyrians … against the fortified cities of Judea, and took them.” These things, then, are from the sacred Scriptures. That Sennacherib laid waste Samaria when he was going up against Jerusalem is shown by what the blessed prophet Isaiah himself wrote: Rabshakeh said to those sitting on the wall, “Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, saying, ‘Your God will deliver you.’ Did the gods of the nations each deliver his own land from the hand of the king of the Assyrians? Where is the god of Hamath and Arpad? And where is the god of the city of Sepharvaim? Were they able to save Samaria out of my hand?” Sennacherib, then, first destroyed Samaria together with other cities and lands, and then besieged Jerusalem. And since he babbled against the divine glory, an angel went out from the Lord and slew from the camp of the Assyrians in one night a hundred and eighty-five thousand. Since, then, Sennacherib came against Jerusalem but first destroyed Samaria, God having handed it over because it chose to do worse than those in Jerusalem, he necessarily says: “The Lord sent death upon Jacob, and it came upon Israel.”

Samaria, in which Israel dwelt (that is, the ten tribes), was burned and perished completely. It would have been wise, I think, for those who were caught in it to consider that offending God is truly very grievous; then, having recognized this, to see that they ought surely to appease the one they had grieved and to be stirred to changes for the better. But they did not do this, nor did it ever enter their minds. Instead, losing their senses still further, they said: “The bricks have fallen, but let us hew stones, and cut down sycamores and cedars, and build ourselves a tower.” What great ignorance! For how should they not rather have said: “We have offended in our folly the God who is mighty over all, and for this reason our cities and villages have perished. Come, by repentance …” But rather, insulting the help that comes from God, they said that their safety lay in this: the walls of the cities around Samaria had been made of rotten brick; “but if we hew stones and take the woods that do not rot (sycamores, I mean, and cedars), we shall be … to our enemies and shall remain unsacked.” Those, then, he says, who say these things “in insolence and with a high heart” will know, that is, will learn again where their plan will lead them, and that their counsel will end in destruction.

One should know that after the sack by Sennacherib, in the times of Jeremiah, Nebuchadnezzar made war on Judea and took all of it by force, and laid waste Samaria, both it and Jerusalem. So the prophet Jeremiah says: “Cursed is he who has his hope in man, and supports on him the flesh of his arm.” For no one will save the one who has come under the divine wrath. “For the high hand, who will turn it back?” as it is written.

“… Mount Zion against them, and he will scatter their enemies: Syria from the rising of the sun, and the Greeks from the setting of the sun, who devour Israel with the whole mouth.”

When God strikes because of many sins, he brings healing on those who have suffered, so that he may be seen calling them in every way to repentance, through pain, I mean, and through comfort. Something of this kind he now promises to those who suffered the ravaging. The passage before us has its explanation in history, which, as I said, must be told briefly. The last war against all Judea together, and against Samaria too, was the one waged by Nebuchadnezzar, and they were carried off … seventy years. When the time of wrath had been completed for them, the God of all had pity on them again and arranged for them to be released, Cyrus … And when those who had suffered arrived at the holy city, they wanted to rebuild its walls. And indeed they did so, and erected their divine temple. But no less, though they had suffered so much, … the ancient … the neighbouring nations, out of envy; for they did not want Jerusalem to grow strong. Most bitter of all in pressing on them were those from neighbouring Syria and from Damascus. But they were defeated, God saving and defending those who … In the course of time Antiochus surnamed Epiphanes, king of Asia, was angered against Ptolemy, who was then ruling the land of the Egyptians, … and barely got away safe. So as not to run home with nothing at all done and no memorial of victory, he marched against Judea, took Jerusalem, seized all the holy vessels, and … ordered … to keep the government for him. When the said Antiochus had gone off to his own kingdom, the Jews made war on Lysias the general and won. When Antiochus learned this, he died of grief.

He promises, then, … by Nebuchadnezzar, and who had barely escaped the captivity, saying: “And God will strike those who rise up against Mount Zion against them.” Do you hear how the one who struck also heals? Who, then, are those who rise up? Syria from the rising of the sun, and the Greeks from the setting of the sun. For Antiochus was a Greek by race, setting out from Macedonia, which lies to the west; for the land of the Macedonians is part of the West, especially when it is considered by position in comparison with the lands of the sunrise. Those, on the other hand, are the Syrians and the Damascenes. And since he says of the Greeks “who devour Israel with the whole mouth,” one should know that Antiochus behaved savagely and inhumanly toward the Jews and killed countless people pitiably and lamentably, when the Maccabees too contended and those men's noble victories were won. Josephus tells this in his book about them.

The children of the Greeks devour Israel in another way too, and it is necessary to say how. Their poets and men of letters, who reached the height of eloquence and of skill in speaking, being clever and wise, sometimes carry off the spiritual Israel, that is, the mind that sees God, and deceive those who have already believed in Christ, so that they choose with them to worship the creature instead of the Creator. These devour Israel with the whole mouth; we must pay no attention to them.

For brilliance of speech, if it is seen joined with good works, will be acceptable and pleasing to God. But bare and alone, what else would it be than, as the most wise Paul says, “a sounding brass, or …”?

“In all these things his wrath was not turned away, but his hand is still high. And the people did not turn back until they were struck, and they did not seek the Lord.”

The God of all saved Israel even when it sinned, and granted it help, so that they became stronger than those from neighbouring Syria and those from the setting of the sun, who devoured it with the whole mouth. But the wrath of the Lord against them, he says, was not turned away, that is, it did not cease; rather, the hand of the one striking remained high, ready, of course, to bring other blows on them too. For what reason? Because the people, he says, did not turn back, nor did it abstain from its own offences. It did not seek out the Lord, because it wanted to think and to do what seemed good and pleasing to itself. And they remained of that mind until the high and all-powerful hand was brought against them. And what, again, was the later blow? Is it not worth telling? Last of all, as I said, Nebuchadnezzar took all Judea, and he also moved Ephraim to the mountains of the Persians and the Medes. But when, as I said, the times of the captivity were finished, they were brought back to Judea and settled in Jerusalem, the tribes no longer divided in two but all now come under one king. For this was what had been said through one of the holy prophets: “And they will go up from the land, and appoint for themselves one rule.” After all had returned from captivity to Judea, then, those from Syria and those from the rising of the sun made war on them; but these too were defeated. And they spent the time between until the coming of our Saviour neither living prosperously nor yet altogether … but God, through the means he knew, benefited them even though they were not good; for they lived outlandishly and lawlessly and with great carelessness. But when Christ shone on all who are under heaven (for “God appeared to us,” according to the psalmist's voice), they kept to their unruliness and did what is not lawful, neither receiving his word nor honouring him by faith. And why do I say this? Insulting him impiously, they were carried to such impiety and unholiness of conduct as even to hand him over to the cross, to deny the holy and righteous one, and to try to encompass with death the author of life, who justifies the ungodly and who for this reason shone on all who are over the whole earth, to abolish death and render the sting of sin powerless. Because of all these things the hand of the one striking remained high, and the wrath was not turned away. For they were given over to desolation when Vespasian and Titus and the whole Roman force made war on them, when the wretched people were utterly … and the temple itself was shaken down and fell completely, so that no stone was seen lying upon a stone, according to the Saviour's word.

Since, then, the God who is full of compassion bears with our offences, to act in senseless despair is very grievous; rather, I say, we must appease him by every means when he is grieved. He does good even to those who sin; he saves even those who have chosen to disobey, because of the gentleness that befits him. Let no one among us, then, be hard, nor slow to perceive his gifts. But coming through these very things to the knowledge of the love for humankind that is in him, let us repent of what is past, reshape our own will so as to serve him, and choose instead the ways of gentleness.

“And the Lord will take away from Israel head and tail, great and small, in one day: the elder and those who admire persons, this is the head; and the prophet who teaches lawless things, this is the tail. And those who call … blessed …”

… that the hand of the one striking remained high, he declares plainly that the divine wrath against them will never cease, and what the manner of the torment to be brought on them will be in its time. For there will be taken away from Israel, he says, in one day (that is, at one time, and clearly, I think, the time of the war waged by the Romans) head and tail. And he interprets the riddle, saying “great and small,” that is, the prominent and the obscure. And who these would be, he showed further by adding: “the elder, and those who admire persons.” By these, I think, he means the tribe that was allotted the priesthood, that is, those of the blood of Levi, whom the peoples under their hand called elders. So those who said: “Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a sick man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you and to all the people that it is in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene.” For these elders, who had the authority to judge, did not cast right votes in each of the cases judged among them, but took bribes insatiably and admired the persons of the rich, although the law proclaimed through Moses: “Judge righteous judgment,” and laid down everywhere: “You shall not show partiality in judgment.” This, then, he says, is the head: it is reckoned as the head. For the priest is the head of the peoples, when they are thought of as one body.

Together with the elder, he says, will also be taken away the prophet who teaches lawless things, and this, he says, is the tail, that is, what follows. For there were some among the Jews who interpreted the law given through the all-wise Moses; but they did this perversely, adding wrongly to the words of Moses unwritten traditions, “commandments and teachings of men.” These led the people of the Jews astray and made them lift a proud neck against Christ. Since these too followed the opinions of the priests, who had been placed in the rank of the head, he called them the tail. For, as I said, when we think of it as one body, the tail always follows the head. And since he called them prophets, we will not reckon them holy and true; for he added that they teach lawless things. But that … at the times, that is, when the true prophets lived. After the times of the captivity no one could say with certainty that others arose in those days, unless perhaps one means those whom Gamaliel recalls, who was a teacher of the law and held in honour by all the people, as it is written in the Acts of the holy apostles. For he addressed those in the council thus about the holy apostles: “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody great, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him; he was slain, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away people after him. He too perished, and all who obeyed him were scattered.”

He says, then, that head and tail will be taken away, according to what we have just … he says they will be leading this people astray, “and they lead them astray in order to swallow them up.” For the leaders of the Jews, who had been entrusted with the holy and divine tabernacle and charged with performing the sacrifices according to the laws, urged those under their hand to bring gifts, so that they might offer abundantly. They did this harshly, not out of reverence for God or out of forethought, but looking to their own love of gain. In this way, he says, “they lead them astray in order to swallow them up.” For being insatiable, as I said, in their wish to grow rich, not as is fitting, through the

law, to choose to fulfil it and to gladden the God of all, did they teach the peoples; rather, they urged them to honour him even with offerings beyond their means. … For this reason they did not themselves accept faith in Christ, and, as it were shutting the kingdom of heaven, did not allow others to enter it either. For they knew that once the shadow of the law became idle, and the gospel … the worship by blood …, and the sacrifices would become idle, once worship in the spirit had been brought in. And this would be the complete removal of their insatiable …

“… and he will not have mercy on their widows …, because all are lawless and wicked, and every mouth speaks unjust things.”

Here too the word carries us from plain examples to what is beyond the senses and is grasped by the mind. For by “young men” here he does not of course mean those in bodily vigour, or those in the prime of fleshly age; rather, he means those who have spiritual strength in mind and heart, so as to be able to accomplish, and very vigorously, the things by which they will be brilliant and well known to God and renowned for every goodness. To those of this condition he says: “I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and …” … the coming of our Saviour some arose, even among …, who had practised …, by choosing to fulfil blamelessly the commandment handed down and being able to excel very richly in the boasts of the law. And they were not rejected by God. For it was still the time of the shadow in the law, and since the way of life of the gospel and in Christ had not yet been revealed, those things were praised by many. So it is written of Zechariah and Elizabeth: “In the days of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah, and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before … the ordinances of the Lord, blameless.” In this way, I think, the holy prophets themselves also lived. And indeed the divine Paul, though saying openly that he had been blameless as to the righteousness that is in the law, says: “But what gain was it to me? These things I have counted loss because of Christ.” Before the coming of Christ, the Saviour of us all, then, some who were well esteemed for the boasts of the law were manly and young in strength. But after his appearing and the preaching of the gospel, … truth, and the true worship in spirit was brought in. So God does not rejoice over the young men of the Jews, that is, over those who still play the man by choosing to live according to the law. The sacrifices by blood are unacceptable, and circumcision of the flesh … But we have been taught, as I said, the way of the life that pleases God. Rightly, then, after the shadow came to an end, the young men who belong to it are rejected; and orphans and widows are far from being pitied. By orphans he means those who need, as it were, spiritual upbringing and instruction from teachers; and widows likewise we say are souls that have come to lack the power to bear fruit, because they do not have the sower and provider of all good things and teachings. That we shall find those of Israel without a share in true instruction because of their drunken outrage against Christ, no one would deny. For “their eyes were darkened so that they do not see,” according to the voice of the psalmist, “and their backs were bent.” And this “always,” so that they cannot see the things above but, as though bent down, are fixed on earthly things. They will suffer this, he says, not in vain, but because all have become lawless and wicked, and every mouth speaks lawless things.

For how are they not lawless and full of every wickedness, who were eager to encompass with death the one who calls to life, who knew no sin, though the law says clearly, “The innocent and the righteous you shall not kill”? How has not every tongue of the Jews spoken unjust things? For they cried out against Christ to Pilate, saying, “Away, away, crucify him!” And, “If you do not kill this man, you are not Caesar's friend.”

“In all these things the wrath was not turned away, but the hand is still high. And lawlessness will burn like fire, and like dry grass it will be devoured by fire; and it will burn in the thickets of the forest, and will devour together everything around the hills. Because of the fury of the Lord's anger the whole land has been burned up together, and the people will be like those burned by fire; a man will not have mercy on his brother, but he will turn aside to the right, because he will be hungry, and will eat from the left, and a man will not be satisfied eating the flesh of his own arm. For Manasseh will eat of Ephraim, and Ephraim of Manasseh, because together …”

While the divine wrath is still at its height, and the very hand that brings the scourge and the torments on them is still poised, he … each of the things that will happen clearly, … the hearers with fears. For this was the reason why God announced the terrors in advance: so that, fearing to offend him, they might not be brought under the evils that come from wrath but might rather be carried clear of the terrors. Lawlessness, then, will burn like fire. By lawlessness he means not … but those who have been weighed down by acts of lawlessness and have now come to such perversity of conduct that they must no longer be called lawless but rather lawlessness itself. These, then, will burn like fire, he says; that is, they themselves will become fire against themselves. For no one else will bring the flame to them; they will be enough for one another for this. And they will burn like dry grass and like forest thickets. For flames always rage when they fall on material that kindles easily: dry grass, I mean, and the wood in forests. I myself think that the prophetic word means to show us here the following. When Vespasian and Titus, as I said before, were ravaging Judea and besieging its cities, there was very great turmoil in each of them: on the one side famine wasted them; on the other, the rebels in each city plundered houses and fastened on those who seemed more distinguished, so that the outrages of the inhabitants became more grievous than the war from outside. Josephus tells this plainly.

So he says that it will burn in the thickets of the forest, calling, I think, the herd-like multitude dry grass and forest thickets. For the common people were divided against one another into dissensions and factions. And that the evil will also touch those who seem to be something, he shows further, saying: “And it will devour together everything around the hills,” calling hills, I think, those who stand above the others and are prominent, whether in reputation or in wealth or in some other way. I said just now that the factiousness usual in each city fastened terribly on those who seemed distinguished, as men in despair do what at times not even the hand of the enemy would have done. And these things, he says, are “because of the fury of the Lord's anger.” For in this way the whole land of the Jews was burned up together. And making plain to the hearers what he had said in riddles, he adds at once: “And the people will be like those burned up by fire. A man will not have mercy on his brother.” For just as those who put fire to bullocks goad them to rage, and … so, he says, each of the people will be like those … by fire, without pity and not knowing their brothers; all will be fierce and savage against one another, like beasts sharpened by hunger to savagery against someone. “They will turn aside to the right, and will eat from the left”: that is, they will turn this way and that, biting those on the right and those on the left, sparing no one at all, and having an insatiable longing to attack one another. “For a man will not be satisfied,” he says, “eating the flesh of his own arm.” What a strange thing! They will not spare even themselves, he says, as if from unmixed madness. For once they have despaired, they will go boldly to any of the most outlandish deeds whatever. Then he says: “For Manasseh will eat of Ephraim”; and they were two brothers, sons of Joseph. But not even … to those joined by blood in affection, he says, will nature then award peace; the laws of kinship will be idle. For brothers of the same seed will rise up against one another, one against one, and two against another. For Manasseh, he says, will eat of Ephraim, and Ephraim of Manasseh, “because together they will besiege Judah.” Everything, then, was filled with confusion, and the effects of the wrath fell on all without distinction, both on those on whom it was not right and by the hands of those by whom it was not right.

These things, as I said, the herds of the Jews suffered historically. But we too must be on guard ourselves. For disobedience is punished, and if anyone falls into it, he will be burned as by fire, when fleshly pleasure and hot desire set him ablaze. He will have in mind and heart an unbearable … battle; for the flesh will rise up against the spirit, and he will be in great turmoil. Therefore, as the

divine Paul says: “Walk by the Spirit, and you will not fulfil the desire of the flesh.” For if we are subject to God we shall walk by the Spirit, we shall be stronger than fleshly desires, we shall conquer the flames within the mind, and we shall keep our heart free of strife. For “the peace of God,” as it is written, “which surpasses every mind, will guard our hearts and our thoughts.”

“In all these things the wrath was not turned away, but the hand is still high. Woe to those who write wickedness; for when they write, they write wickedness, turning aside the judgment of the poor and seizing the rights of the needy of my people, so that a widow becomes their prey and an orphan their plunder. And what will they do in the day of visitation? For affliction will come to you from afar; and to whom will you flee to be helped? And where will you leave your glory, so as not to fall into …”

When the prophetic word has set out for us at greater length the calamities of the Jews and the harms that will come through the hand of the enemy, then, very wisely and fittingly, it adds the causes for which the God of all was grieved, and tries to teach that a holy verdict was passed on them, summoning them to justice. For “not unjustly are nets spread for birds,” as it is written. Woe, then, he says, to those who write …, “turning aside the judgment of the poor and seizing the rights of the needy of my people.” There were among the Jews those called scribes. Their work was to make clear to those who wished to learn the intent of the law on each matter, and … It is written: “The lips of a priest will guard judgment, and they will seek the law from his mouth.” Overcome, then, by shameful gains, they made unjust writings, impiously peddling what seemed right to the divine law, as if mixing the wine with water and making the pure silver base … of the needy, and in the evils of greed they treat the orphan as plunder, thrown down ready for those who want to grow rich. But these, he says, “what will they do in the day of visitation?” He calls the day of visitation the time of the war, in which God visited those who write wickedness and pervert the right judgments of the law. For what wealth will help you, he says? In what way will what you have gathered through greed, contrary to the lawgiver's intent, profit you? Then where will you go? What will you do or say to escape the day of visitation? “For affliction will come to you from afar.” The Jews very often fought against the surrounding nations, Idumeans, I mean, and Elamites, Moabites and Syrians, and those called Philistines; and it happened that they were superior.