Commentary on Isaiah 2.5.24–3.1.6

has the Morning Star fallen from heaven, who rose in the morning!” And since he was once [called] Morning Star because of his ancient glory, the glory he had before his fall, the prophetic word here too names him the ornament of heaven. And he says that the hand will be brought not only on the ornament of heaven but also on the kings of the earth, that is, on those who by greed have ruled the earth under heaven, plainly the world-rulers of this age, the wicked and hostile powers. For they reigned over the earth, making those in it their own worshippers, and persuading them to neglect utterly the love of God. These, then, who ruled by deceit and lies and greed, the kings, … in a fortress and in a prison. For the power of the Saviour sent them down into the prison of punishment, into the fortress from which there is no escape. Indeed the demons, coming to him, besought him not to command them to depart into the abyss. And the prophet adds and says that after many generations there will be a visitation of them; for they have played the tyrant from the foundation of the world, and have not ceased making war on the divine and ineffable glory. Their madness stretched on until the time of the coming of Christ, the Saviour of us all. But when the visitation finally came upon them, they were shut up in prison. Yet they suffered this after many generations. And he says that the brick will melt and the wall will fall, likening Satan, perhaps, to a wall. For he was formidable in resistance, like a city well furnished with towers; but he was taken and fell when Christ overthrew him. For it was not possible [to withstand] his invincible [power] …; [when the might] of Satan [was broken], the playthings of idolatry were laid waste, and those who were of old in error were called through faith to the knowledge of the truth, the almighty right hand all but snatching them away; and the Saviour himself will teach this, saying: “Or how can one enter the house of the strong man and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his goods?” It is the custom of the inspired Scripture [to liken] the very mightiest to walls, and [it likened] even the blessed prophet Jeremiah to a wall. For God said somewhere: “Behold, I have made you this day as a fortified city and as a strong bronze wall to all the kings of the earth; and they shall fight against you and shall not prevail against you, because I am with you to deliver …” It is necessary [to recall] that Jesus the son of Nun, having overpowered the five kings of the nations and conquered them in a cave, also rolled stones against it, blocking their way out. This was an image of a true blocking. For the wicked and hostile powers that once held sway over the earth under heaven were shut up in a fortress and in a prison through the might of Christ. And together with them the great and once unspeakable wall, that is, Satan, was brought to nothing.

In this way those in error have been called through faith to know at last the one who truly and by nature is Creator and God and Lord of all. It should be known that some refer these words in another sense to the ornament of heaven, and say that at the time of the consummation the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. But I think it necessary to bring the meanings of the passages before us each time to completion consistently with the lines of contemplation and in close harmony with them.

“For the Lord will reign in Zion and in [Jeru]salem, and he will be glorified before the elders.”

Zion is interpreted “high” and “watchtower”, and Jerusalem “vision of peace”. The true watchtower, then, and also the vision of peace, would truly be the church of Christ. For in it … is wont to be practised, and also the vision of peace. And we say that peace is Christ, whom we come to know from the inspired Scripture, since the all-wise Moses wrote about him, and besides him the holy prophets. When, then, the profane and abominable idolatry has been removed, and the worship of the creation has been put out of the way, and those who by greed ruled the earth under heaven have been shut up in a fortress and in a prison, and the wall has melted and been overthrown from its foundations, according to the meanings already given, the Lord will reign in Zion and [will be glorified] before …; by these, I think, he means those perfect in mind, who have, as it were, a grey-haired understanding, so that they can behold with the eyes of the heart the depth of the mysteries concerning him. To these the wise John also writes, saying: “I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning.” But those who have known him marvel, and ascribe to him the glory fitting to God,

“O Lord my God, I will glorify you, and I will sing praise to your name, for you have done wonderful things.”

In the book just completed the prophet's discourse was long, proceeding through hidden meanings, about the devil's perversity and the punishment and penalty that will come upon him, and besides about the overthrow of the wicked and hostile powers. To these he added the proclamation of Christ's kingdom. For he said that “the Lord will reign in Zion and in Jerusalem, and he will be glorified before the elders.” Because of all these things, then, the prophet is filled with great joy and rejoices in praises. This is why he says: “O Lord my God, I will glorify you, and I will sing praise to your name”; you have accomplished an ancient and true counsel, and wonderful things. And since at that time he says “you have done” about things that had not yet happened, he indicates that they had not yet happened but would certainly come to pass, by adding “So be it, O Lord.” For with the eyes of the mind they beheld the time of his coming as though present, though they were by no means ignorant that it was not yet present; and he calls the mystery of the incarnation of the Only-begotten an ancient counsel and wonderful things, together with what was accomplished through it for those throughout the whole earth. For we have been saved in Christ, who was foreknown before the foundation of the world but manifested in the last times of the age, as the most wise Paul says: “For the mystery of Christ is not new or lately appeared, but was foreordained before the foundation of the world, and has been manifested in its own times.”

“… so that their foundations fall; the city of the ungodly shall never be built, for ever.”

This too belongs to the true counsel and the blameless designs of God who can do all things: that strong cities be shaken and become a heap, be heaved up as it were from their foundations, and be put beyond hope, from which they will never be able to recover. For “it shall never be built, for ever,” he says. By the cities that are shaken we do not mean, I think, the perceptible ones at all, or the men in them; rather we think that each of the wicked and hostile powers, and before the others Satan, has been called a city, and a strong one. For it is the custom of the inspired Scripture sometimes to liken the very mightiest to towers and walls or even cities, as indeed we said earlier, that even the blessed prophet Jeremiah was made by God as a strong city and as a [bronze] wall. … to the world of Emmanuel, the unholy throng of the hostile powers has been destroyed, and Satan has been shaken from his very foundations, and has fallen so as to sink into a weakness without end, and can at no time expect to recover and rise again.

“Therefore the poor people shall bless you, and cities of wronged men shall bless you. For you became a helper to every humble city, and a shelter to those who lost heart through want; from [wicked] men … and the breath of wronged men … as fainthearted men thirsting in Zion, from ungodly men to whom you handed us over.”

Israel was called to the knowledge of God through the tutelage of the law, and was enriched with the things of God; for it was saved and inherited the land of the promise. But the immeasurable multitude of the other nations, I mean those throughout the whole earth under heaven, stood utterly estranged from the spiritual good things from above, without taste of God's gifts, naked in a way and unclothed, not having the divine shelter, nor the covering from on high, nor the wealth of virtue in the mind, nor anything else of all that is full of praise and worthy of every admiration. But when Christ himself appeared, and, rescuing them from the greed of the devil, brought them to God the Father, and they were enriched with the light of the truth, the participation in his glory, the greatness of the gospel way of life …, they send up hymns of thanksgiving for these things to God the Father. So since, he says, O Master, you have accomplished an ancient and true counsel, summing up all things in Christ, enlightening those in darkness and putting down the world-rulers of this age, though they were like cities so strong, the poor people will bless you, and whole cities will glorify you. For you became a helper to all, and a shelter to those unbearably [afflicted] through poverty of the ancestral good things; and you rescued them from wicked men. For there were also in Zion some so fainthearted, like men who were thirsting. And perhaps by these words the prophet shows us this: there were, there were also in Israel those who thirsted for the Saviour's coming and longed to see the Saviour and Redeemer of all; such was Simeon the righteous, when, taking the newborn Jesus in his arms, he said: “Now you let your servant depart, Master, according to your word, in peace; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the nations and the glory of your people Israel.” And the blessed Zechariah too, the father of John, filled with the Holy Spirit, glorified God, crying out: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and made redemption for his people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of David his servant, as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; to show mercy with our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath which he swore to Abraham our father, to grant us that, rescued from the hand of our enemies, we might serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life.” You see how it was an ancient and true counsel of God the Father, promised to the holy fathers: I mean that Emmanuel should be revealed as salvation to the world, who became the breath of wronged men. For they breathed again, free of their enemies, and were rescued from ungodly men to whom they had been handed over. And if one takes such words of the nations, we say that the unholy demons who of old ruled over those on the earth are called men, their weakness being well indicated by their being named even men. And it is likely that their false teachers too, and the so-called initiating priests, or poets and orators and the inventors of the eloquence honoured among the Greeks, are called wicked men, as by the fluency in them casting those they deceived into the swamps of perdition.

But if these things are said of those of Israel, we say that the wicked men are those who were allotted to lead them, I mean the scribes and Pharisees, who, having the glory of the priesthood and the renown and power that came from it, took away the key of knowledge. And neither did they themselves believe, nor did they allow others to do so; and the peoples under their hand were handed over to the teachers of the law, while those in error were handed over to the unclean demons, God permitting them to suffer being handed over, just as some are handed over to a base mind, having shown themselves unworthy of his sparing and help.

“And the Lord of hosts shall make for all the nations; on this mountain they shall drink gladness, they shall drink wine; they shall anoint themselves with ointment on this mountain. Hand on all these things to the nations; for this counsel is upon all the nations.”

Having said before that the Lord will reign in Zion and in Jerusalem, he weaves a mystical sense from the likeness of perceptible and visible things. For Zion is “high” and “watchtower”, and Jerusalem is interpreted “vision of peace”. And in truth both of these are the church of Christ. For it is high and seen from all around, as though lying on a mountain. And in another way too it is understood by us as high: for nothing in it is low, and it has moved far away from earthly affairs. For it is written: “The mighty ones of the earth belong to God; they were greatly exalted.” And likewise the divine and true doctrines in it are high. For its teaching is about God, or rather about the holy … turned to the truth alone. And again Christ, who is peace, is seen in it. The Lord of hosts, then, he says, will make, and not for those of Israel alone, as beloved for the fathers' sake and chosen, but for all the nations, that is, for those throughout the whole earth under heaven. And what will he make? They will drink gladness, he says, they will drink wine; they will anoint themselves with ointment on this mountain. By gladness he seems to indicate cheerfulness in hope, plainly the hope in Christ; for we reign with him, and gaining what is beyond mind and speech we shall be within every delight. By the wine he seems to indicate the mystical blessing and the manner of the bloodless sacrifice which we are accustomed to perform in the holy churches. And the ointment would well signify to us the anointing of the Holy Spirit. For the wise John writes: “And you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you have no need that anyone teach you; but as his anointing teaches you about all things.” For we are anointed with ointment especially at the time of holy baptism, making the chrism a symbol of receiving the Holy Spirit. But all these things, he says, hand on to the nations; for this counsel is upon all the nations. For the law of old, and the worship under it, ministered through angels, was not given simply to all the nations, but to one alone, that of the blood of Israel. But the grace in Christ, and the calling through faith, and besides the sanctification through the Spirit, and the mystery itself, through the counsel of God the Father, came to be upon all the nations. For Christ is the expectation of the nations, according to the voice of the holy one.

“… God [took away] every tear from every face. He took away the reproach of the people from all the earth; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things.”

Very opportunely and necessarily, together with the handing on of the mystery, the word about the resurrection of the dead is brought in too. This is why at the time of holy baptism, when we make the confession of faith, we also expect that the resurrection of the flesh will come, and so we believe. Death, then, prevailed over our forefather Adam because of the transgression, and like some savage and [untamed] beast …, and lamentations and tears and mourning over the dead held sway over those on the earth. … have ceased in Christ. For he came to life on the third day, having trampled on death, and became a way for human nature to shake off corruption. For he became the firstborn from the dead and the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. And what comes after the firstfruits and first will certainly follow, that is, we. The suffering, then, was turned to joy, and the sackcloth was torn, and we have been girded with the gladness given by God, so that we say rejoicing: “Where is your victory, O death? Where is your sting, O Hades? The sting of death is sin,” he says. So every tear has been taken away. For believing that Christ will in every way and certainly raise the dead, we do not shed tears over them, nor do we sink into immoderate griefs, like the rest who have no hope. And by the reproach of the people he names … the transgression …, or perhaps sin, through which corruption entered and the might of death came to rule over those on the earth. And since the mystery of the resurrection is not easily accepted by most, and it was likely to be disbelieved because of the greatness of the work in it, the blessed prophet added, “for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Who then would dare to say that God will speak falsely, and will not in every way and certainly bring what was promised to its fulfilment in truth? “For heaven and earth,” he says, “will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”

“And they shall say on that day: Behold our God, in whom we hoped, and we rejoiced, and he will save us. This is the Lord; we waited for him, for our salvation; for God will give rest on this mountain.”

You will recognize, he says, the one who gives gladness to drink, and besides that wine, and who anoints with ointment those in the spiritual Zion; and you will recognize that he is God in truth, and the Son by nature from God, and that, even if he appeared in the form of a servant, he became man for the salvation and life of all, and was made like those on the earth in all things, except sin alone. For all but stretching out their hand, he says, they will say: “Behold our God, in whom we hoped, and we rejoiced in our salvation.” For my part I think that this saying is most fitting to be uttered by those of Israel who were [brought up] on the words of Moses and … the predictions of the holy prophets … the Saviour and Redeemer, our Lord Jesus Christ. Indeed, as I said before, Zechariah the father of John, prophesying in the Spirit, said of Christ that “a horn of salvation has been raised for the people.” And Simeon likewise, taking the holy Child into his arms, says: “My eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all the peoples.” Recognizing, then, the one foretold of old, the hope of all, the Saviour and Redeemer, they will say, he says, “Behold our God.” And they will confess besides that God will give rest on this mountain. And again understand, I pray, that the church is called a mountain, for rest has been given in it. For we have heard Christ saying: “Come to me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” For through faith in him we have put off the burden of …; and in another way too, freed from the fears, I mean, of having to be punished and to pay the penalties for our offences. And the grace of Christ, the Saviour of us all, toward us has not stopped at these things; there have been added also the good things in hope,

the possession of the kingdom of heaven, long and undefiled life, and the removal of everything that is wont to grieve. For it is written of the saints that “everlasting gladness is upon their head.”

“And Moabitis shall be trampled, as they tread a threshing floor with wagons, and in harvest. And he will let go his hands, just as he himself humbled to destroy. And he will humble the insolence on which he laid his hands. And the height of the refuge of your wall he will humble, and it shall come down to the ground.”

The word of the holy prophets is always somehow deep, and winds along an inward and hidden path. We must not, then, think that what is evident in the letter is in every way and entirely the truth, but rather look into the sense as it were buried in the letter. The Moabites, then, were neighbours of the Jews, and were most absurdly disposed toward deceit, and toward devotion to the worship of idols. That, then, when Christ shone forth, and the nations had been called to his venerable and divine mystery and sanctified through faith, the loathsome and unclean idolatry was in every way and certainly to be removed, Satan being put under the feet of believers (for he gave us power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy), he teaches by saying that Moabitis will be trampled as they tread a threshing floor with wagons. We say that by this he indicates the worship of Moab, or rather that the example is taken from one idolatrous land and applies to the whole, the word, as I said, extending to all idolatry. So, lying beneath …. “And he will let go his hands, just as he himself humbled to destroy.” Who will let go his hands? The inventor of idolatry, who holds the deceit together and led man away from God, that is, Satan. For he will let go his hands, that is, all his power and active energy will be undone; for the hands are taken as a figure of energy. For just as he humbled those on the earth so as to destroy them all, in this same way … [he will humble his insolence and] the greed which he exercised against all, all but laying his hands on them, and by greed bringing under his own sceptre those created by God for good works. Then the prophet's word passes again, as if to Moabitis herself, that is, to profane idolatry, and he says: “The height of the refuge of your wall [he will humble].” The wall that is humbled we say is the very one who presides over idolatry and deceit, who as it were walls it about and holds it together so that it stands. But it will fall, he says. For Christ will cast it down and bring it down to the ground, that is, utterly; and we see by the facts that what was foretold has come to fulfilment. For the sacred precincts have fallen, and everything in the shrines has been put out of the way. There are no longer altars and sacrifices and sorceries and those who practise the playthings of deceit. All has ceased because of Christ, and the light of the truth has dawned on those on the earth, and the sun of righteousness, rising, brightens the hearts of those who believe in him.

“On that day they shall sing this song in the land of Judaea, saying: Behold, a strong city, and he will make our salvation a wall and an outer wall.”

For when Moabitis has been trampled, that is, when the worship of idols has been wholly destroyed, according to the sense already given, those set free from deceit, having passed through to the light of the truth and opened wide the eye of the mind, [will recognize] … the Saviour and Redeemer, through whom are all things and in whom are all things, who for our sake came down into our condition. And [they will sing] a song and melody as from …: “a strong city, and our salvation.” For truly our Lord Jesus Christ, or rather hope in him, is like a city well furnished with towers and wholly impregnable. For he receives those who flee …; this is why he also said: “My sheep hear my voice, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand.” The Saviour of all, then, is a strong and saving city, a city having a wall and having an outer wall, that is, every security. For cities that are well walled do not have a single enclosure, but are fortified, besides the great wall, with another outwork as well. And it is likely again that those who sing the song say of the church of our Saviour, “Behold, a strong city, and our salvation.” For the gates of Hades will not prevail against it, according to the Saviour's word; for it is girded as with a double wall, by the help of the holy angels and also by that from above and from God, who is the outer wall. For he is the strength even of the holy spirits, since he himself alone is the Lord of all powers. It should be known that in the sacred writings Christ is sometimes named Judah, as having come from the tribe of Judah, according to the word of Jacob, who says: “Judah, your brothers shall praise you.” The song, then, is sung in the land of Judah. For of Christ …

“[Open the gates; let a people enter that keeps righteous]ness and keeps truth, laying hold of truth and keeping peace; for in you we hoped, O Lord, for ever.”

Since those throughout the whole earth have already come to know our Lord Jesus Christ and have confessed that he will be a strong and saving city, having a wall and an outer wall, at last the Holy Spirit, speaking through the voice of the prophet, necessarily gives the command to the holy teachers of the mysteries, I mean the apostles and evangelists: “Open the gates”; that is, open wide to those who wish the entrance through faith, the way through the blameless initiation, and let a people enter that keeps righteousness and keeps truth. For the divine and evangelical and saving preaching teaches believers the righteousness that is above the law, and to be steadfast in keeping the truth. For it no longer brings in the worship in types and shadows, as the old law did, but that in spirit and truth; and this is the truth. And he lays hold of the truth.