Commentary on Isaiah 3.2.8–3.2.15

… no one would doubt that it [bound] those convicted of being liable for transgressions. Hence, I think, the blessed prophet David very rightly counsels those of Israel to go swiftly to the grace through faith, saying: “Let us burst their bonds, and cast away their yoke from us.” For there were, there were those who [ruled over] them as subjects, laying on them the heavy yoke, plainly that of the commandments of the law, and binding them tight as with unbreakable cords. This is why the prophet says to them: “Let not your bonds be strong; for I have heard from the Lord of hosts of things completed and cut short, which he will do upon all the earth.” And what things? The gospel preaching, the grace through faith, the justification in Christ, the sanctification through the Spirit. For the law was neither cut short nor completed; for, as I said, it made nothing perfect. Its teachings were as it were in circles and long circuits of the letter. But the saving preaching has a most perfect and short way; for it leads through faith to righteousness and sanctification. And the law was given to those of Israel alone, Moses ministering it; but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ, and no longer to those of Israel alone, but to those throughout the whole earth under heaven. For the inspired Moses addressed those of Israel, speaking thus: “Hear, O Israel”; but our Lord Jesus Christ, through the lyre of the Psalmist: “Hear these things,” he says, “all you nations; give ear, all you who dwell in the …”

“Give ear, and hear my voice; attend, and hear my words.”

Here again the person of the Saviour himself is brought in, all but charming those of Israel, and persuading them very clearly to accept the word of the gospel preaching, and not to cast his words behind the commandment through Moses. And that one must not approach the divine and gospel words carelessly or negligently he makes plain by saying, “Attend, and hear my words.” For attention is needed, and obedience too, for those who have come to this point of good reasoning, so as to seek to fill the breadth of their own mind with the teaching that is above the law, plainly that through Christ. For that, once he was revealed, [turning back to the law is useless] and harmful, Paul will confirm, saying to those who, after faith in him and the cleansing through holy baptism, out of very great foolishness went back to the things of Moses, that is, those in the law: “You have been severed from Christ, you who are justified by the law; you have fallen from grace. For we through faith eagerly await the hope of righteousness.” And it is likely that something else too is hinted at when Christ says, “Attend, and hear my words.” For if …

… [you are willing to apply] your mind and to give the types the attention they deserve, you will certainly hear my words. For I am written of in types, and the force of my decrees has brought in nothing foreign, if indeed the law is understood spiritually. “For if you believed,” he says, “Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote about me.”

“Will the ploughman plough the whole day? Or will he prepare seed before he works the ground? When he has levelled its face, does he not then sow a little black cummin and cummin, and again sow wheat and barley and spelt in your borders?”

The riddle is very deep, and the sense of the passage is quite hard to see into; but I will speak as far as I can, and as far as possible. The wretched Jews rejected the Saviour's word, and their pretext was their habit of clinging obstinately to the commandment through Moses. For they thought that they were perhaps being godly, claiming the things in types while as it were spitting on the beauty of the truth. This is why they persecuted Jesus too, as diverting the force of the commandment of the law elsewhere and leading them to another worship, I mean that of the gospel. He takes, then, an example from the farming they had in hand, and says, “Will the ploughman plough the whole day?” And what he wishes to indicate is this. The hearts of idolaters are hard and unsoftened, and like some wild ground [they need the] plough, the word that opens them up, plainly that of catechesis, so that they may receive the seed from above and from heaven, and so at last bear fruit to God, the desire and eagerness for every good thing. Something of this sort happened to those of Israel. They were in Egypt among those who worshipped the gods there; but they were called through the all-wise Moses, and the law was given to them, able like a plough to cut open their tightly closed hearts and their mind gone to waste. But it was necessary that they should not only be called to the beginnings of spiritual farming, but, when Christ the Saviour of us all had now shone forth, bear to God the fruit of the power of worship in the Spirit. Since, then, as I said, they rejected the word through Christ, he moves them from such a mind, saying: “Will the ploughman plough the whole day?” Does one who opens up the unploughed, wild, thorn-bearing ground, he says, so that it may be ready to receive the seeds, plough continually? And does one who wishes to work the ground, he says, prepare seed before taking this in mind? “When he has levelled its face, does he not then sow a little black cummin and cummin, and again sow wheat and barley and spelt in your borders?” For it was necessary, it was necessary, he says, that the heart of those being trained should first be levelled by the commandment in types, and as it were …, so that, by the more solid food of spiritual interpretation, it might have what is profitable, that

is, for the face of the land to be made ready, so as to be seen most ready to be fit at last for bearing fruit. But the farmer, he says, even when he has levelled the face of the land, does not at once nor first of all … but whatever are meanwhile small and weak, that is, …; [when] the land [is ready] for bearing fruit, then at last he sows, he says, both wheat and barley and spelt. For this is the manner of skilful farming in your borders. So the law became of old all but the leveller beforehand; and, like a most skilful farmer, sowing in those being trained … small things and as in shadows, and such seeds as are by themselves and alone in no way edible, but certainly need combining with others in order to be seen to be useful too. For if they are added to wheat and barley, that is, to bread made from wheat or barley, then they seem somehow very useful. And such somehow is the force of the worship according to the law too. For unless it can be seen to agree … with the gospel worship, alone and by itself it would [profit] nothing.

“And you shall be instructed by the judgment of [your] God, and shall rejoice. For black cummin is not cleaned with harshness, nor does a wagon wheel go round over the [cummin, but black cummin is beaten out with a rod], and cummin shall be eaten with bread. [For I will not be angry with you for ever], nor shall the voice of my bitterness trample you. And these wonders came forth from the God of hosts.”

Since the law was powerless, he says, for the cleansing of sins, the shadow has been removed, the things in types have been shown useless, and the life-giving and truly most profitable judgment has been brought in. And what is this? Since it was not possible for man to be justified in the law, the only-begotten Word of God appeared to us, … setting before us, that is, justification in faith. You, then, O Israel, he says, having submitted your neck docilely to Christ, the Saviour of all, will be instructed by the judgment that comes from him, that is, to learn [what comes] from [him, and you will rejoice in] gladness. And since he has once made mention of black cummin and cummin, he takes something useful from them, and says, “For black cummin is not cleaned with harshness,” and what follows. For Israel was liable for transgressions, and was found to have been slack even in keeping the law itself. The God of all at any rate said: “This people honours me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” Would it not, then, very reasonably have paid the penalty for its slackness toward the law? Yes, he says. But the lawgiver's purpose is loving to humankind. For just as black cummin, he says, is not cleaned harshly, nor does a wagon wheel go round over cummin, plainly threshing it and grinding it fine, as is done with grain, but it is rather cleaned with a rod, that is, beaten out, so will the lawgiver deal with those who have sinned against the law, not exacting harsh penalties, but rather cleansing them with a rod and measured blows.

By adding that cummin will be eaten with bread, he showed that the outward part of the worship of the law, by itself and alone, is useless for profit; but it will be useful and necessary if it is joined to the solid food, that is, to the gospel decrees. And interpreting the riddle, I mean that about the cummin and the black cummin, and showing what it means, he says: “For I will not be angry with you for ever, nor shall the voice of my bitterness trample you.” For I will not be one who holds a grudge, he says, nor will I decree the final penalty against you, nor bring a bitter judgment on you, so that you become trampled by what comes from wrath. And that here again the God of all is seen to have gone to the height of forbearance, he shows besides, saying: “And these wonders came forth from the Lord of hosts.” For it is truly a wonder and a sign not to be wondered at lightly that Israel, being in so many trespasses, should be shown mercy and gain forgiveness of countless charges, God …. Having promised them forgetfulness of their drunken outrages, and having said very well that he will not be too bitter against them, he bids them lay hold of good counsel; but he blames them because, thinking a vain comfort something great and lofty, they are carried beyond what is reasonable. And what was the comfort they thought great but which was profitless? Surely that one. For they said: “We will make a covenant with Hades, and agreements with death; if a rushing storm comes, it shall not come upon us; we have made falsehood our hope, and by falsehood we shall be sheltered.” But those who thought these things and had an empty hope, supposing that they would die before the terrible things came, heard clearly: “If a rushing storm comes, you shall be trampled by it. When it passes, it shall take you.”

“Woe, city of Ariel, which David warred against. Gather produce year upon year; for you shall eat with Moab. For I will afflict Ariel, and its strength and its wealth shall be [mine]. And I will encircle you like David, and I will cast a rampart about you, and set towers about you; and your [words] shall be humbled to the ground, and your words shall sink into the ground. And your voice shall be like those who speak from the ground, and your voice shall grow weak toward the earth.”

He takes something of what happened historically in the time of the reign of the blessed David, and makes it … by the synagogue of the Jews. For the things that [happened] as in shadows to the ancients are types of the true things. So the present Jerusalem was once Jebus. This the blessed David besieged. And for what cause we shall learn from the sacred writings themselves. For it reads thus in the Second of Kingdoms: “And David and all his men went to Jerusalem, to the Jebusite who inhabited the land; and it was said to David, David shall not enter here; for the blind and the lame stood up, saying that he shall not enter here. And David took the stronghold of Zion; this is the city of David. And David said on that day: Everyone [who strikes] … the blind and the lame who fight against …” [Those] of Jerusalem, or Jebus, the blind and lame resisted, and having done this they perished miserably.

For he took it. And at the time of his coming the inhabitants of Jerusalem, lame and blind, resisted Christ the Saviour of all; for they did not [know how] to walk straight. Nor did they receive the divine light into their minds, those who did not admit the faith, especially the scribes and Pharisees. Indeed he said through the voice of David: “Foreign sons lied to me; foreign sons grew old, and limped away from their paths.” And Paul too writes to them, saying: “Therefore lift up the drooping hands and the weakened knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.” And that they were blind as well the Saviour himself will confirm, saying: “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” For the nations recovered their sight, though they had never seen; but the peoples of the Jews were blinded, though they saw the mystery of Christ as far as the initiation through the law goes. He pronounces Jerusalem wretched, then, and says, “Woe, city of Ariel,” using the name customary among the many. For Ariel is interpreted “lion of God.” And since Jerusalem made unbearable attacks against all the other lands and nations, conquering through God, and like a lion seizing and tearing those who rose against her, she obtained such a name. Woe, then, he says, O wretched city, who once roared like a lioness against the nations, but afterwards fell into such bitter and incurable calamities. For David warred against her of old, and after him he who came of his seed, that is, Christ. Then he says to them: “Gather produce year upon year; for you shall eat with Moab.” For during two whole years our Lord Jesus Christ went about all Judaea, using most wise teachings, and set before them the divine and gospel preaching. Since the time, then, he says, is present, and allows you to gather spiritual food and heap it up as in a storehouse, in mind and heart, do not be sluggish about this, but rather [shake off] all hesitation; [for you shall eat] with Moab. The land of the Moabites was once most superstitious, and there was no one at all in it who would consent to worship him who is God by nature and truly. So, as from one idolatrous land, he takes the whole person of those in error, and says, “For you shall eat with Moab.” For the nations too [have been called], and the gospel and saving preaching became common food both for those of the blood of Israel and for those once in error. Then … to this first saying. For he said, “Woe, city of Ariel.” Then, having inserted in between the counsel, he keeps again to his purpose, and says: I said, Woe, city of Ariel; for I will afflict it, and its strength and its wealth shall be mine; that is, I will take all its wealth and all its strength. And you will understand this both perceptibly and spiritually. For their earthly [wealth] has been emptied out; the strength that was once great and famous has been shattered, for they were conquered by the hand of the Romans. And besides this they have become bare of the glories of virtue, and, sick with poverty of every good, they have lost together with the rest the wealth of wisdom in the law too. And saying, “I will encircle you with a rampart, I will set towers against you,” he indicates the siege that took place against Jerusalem after the Saviour's cross. And since the Pharisees became boasters, and belched out terrible and exalted words against Christ (for they said, “We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from”), this is why he says, “Your words shall be humbled to the ground.” And it is not at all the words themselves that will truly suffer this, but those who dared to speak them will be cast down, those who once were wont to speak burdensome and swollen things, brought down by the evils of war. They will have a small and very weak voice, and will utter it like those who speak from the ground, that is, the necromancers, who, when

they pretend to bring up a soul, utter barely a thin squeaking sound, as though the soul itself were speaking quietly and from the ground.

“And the wealth of the ungodly shall be like dust from a wheel, and like chaff carried along, and it shall be like a moment, suddenly, from the Lord of hosts.”

He calls ungodly those who behaved with drunken insolence toward Christ, handed the Redeemer over to the cross, and put the Giver of salvation to death, though he came to life again as God in the flesh. Their wealth, he says, will vanish like dust, and fly off like chaff from a wheel; and not over a length of time, but in a short while, and as it were in a moment. And that it comes from the Lord of hosts he has necessarily made known, so that no empty hope may mock them as they expect that they will even escape.

“For there shall be a visitation with thunder and earthquake and a great voice, a rushing storm, [and a flame of devouring fire].”

What “from the Lord of hosts” is meant to show he makes clear by saying that there will be a visitation upon them. For God the Father will by no means overlook the charges of impiety toward the Son. But he will bring, he says, like a thunder and earthquake, a storm and a devouring flame of fire, the onset of war.

“And the wealth of all the nations, as many as marched against Jerusalem, and all who gathered against it and afflicted it, shall be like one who dreams in his sleep; and they shall be like those in sleep who hunger and eat, and when they rise their dream is vain. And as the thirsty man dreams that he is drinking, and when he rises is still thirsty, and his soul hoped in vain, so shall the wealth of all the nations be, as many as marched against Mount Zion.”

Having said that the wealth of the ungodly, plainly of those who behaved with drunken insolence toward Christ, will be like dust and like chaff from a wheel, [he shows that] it will not be a safe and secure possession even for those who ravaged them …, he says, just as if some … in a night vision …, nothing at all. For when they wake they will recognize the deceit of the dreams, and what they thought true they will certainly find to be a shadow and a seeming. Something of this sort may be seen also in those held by hunger or thirst. For the nature of the body necessarily craves what belongs to it, even when sleep has sometimes charmed the mind; nonetheless nature [imagines that it] is in possession of whatever it may wish. From this, I think, some vapours and thin images of the thing run about the mind; but the seeming will be vain and altogether profitless when sleep at last departs from the eyes. So, he says, let the wealth of all the nations be, as many as marched against Mount Zion. And when or how these things came about …

“[Be faint, and be amazed, and reel], not from strong drink, nor from wine; for the Lord has made you drink a spirit of stupor, and he will close their eyes, and those of their prophets and their rulers, who see the [hidden] things.”

He converses again with those who despised the divine decrees and made it their practice to count as nothing the divine and heavenly preaching, I mean that of the gospel. For though it was present to them, and very readily …, to gain the grace of the salvation through Christ by bringing the docile [neck] of the mind …, [but] resisting and thinking great things of themselves they said unrestrainedly: “We are disciples of Moses; we know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” But they heard Christ saying clearly: “I am the light of the world.” And again: “While you have the light, walk in the light, so that darkness may not overtake you.” But since, though [hearing] such venerable words, they became in no way better or wiser than themselves, but were found at last to be hard and unbending, then at last they were very reasonably overtaken by the darkness; they were undone in a way, and were beside themselves, out of their right mind, and as though reeling from wine [fell into] every kind of outrage. [This is why] he says to them: “Be faint, and be amazed, and reel, not from strong drink, nor from wine.”

For it knows, it knows how to make the mind drunk, not at all only perceptible wine, or the intoxicating mixture, that is, strong drink. Rather calamities do this more violently, and a kind of hardening that comes upon the understanding from the divine wrath; for this, I think, he teaches when he says: “And he will close their eyes, and those of their prophets and their rulers, who see the hidden things.” For those who of old were made wise through the tutelage of the law, and still beheld the beauty of the truth as in faint shadows, and understood in part the words of the holy prophets, will be deprived even of this. For he will close the eyes of their understanding, though they once saw the hidden things, he says, ruler and prophet, that is, leader and priest. For they called prophets those who busied themselves with the writings of the holy prophets. And there were among the Jews some teachers and instructors with a reputation for learning in the law, as for example Gamaliel, of whom there was much talk among them.

“And all these words shall be to you like the words of this sealed book, which, if they give it to a man who knows letters, saying, Read this, he will say, I cannot read it, for it is sealed. And this book shall be given into the hands of a man who does not know letters, and he will say to him, Read this, and he will say, I do not know letters.”

Our Lord Jesus Christ said somewhere to the Jews: “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, and you do not want to come to me that you may have life.” So those of Israel toiled in vain, always reciting the commandment through Moses up and down, and pretending to have gained no ignoble understanding of the writings of the law in mind and heart, yet not seeking Christ, though the law speaks of his mystery. They heard … in vain. This the wretches did not do … “[For if you believed Moses, you would believe] me; for he wrote about me.” So since the word of the law did not count for much with them, but rather they killed the one foretold through it, and disregarded the honour due to Moses, the inspired Scripture was in a way sealed by God like one book. For it is all one, and has been spoken through the one Holy Spirit. And in what way was it sealed? Neither can those able to read and who know letters understand anything of what is in it, nor, if anyone does not know letters, will he come to know what is hidden in it; but the law will be sealed for all in equal measure, so that the force of its meaning is altogether beyond the grasp even of those who know the wording. And this … “Let their eyes be darkened so that they do not see, and bow down their back always.”

“And the Lord said: This people draws near to me with their mouth, and with their lips they honour me, but their heart is far from me. In vain

they worship me, teaching the commandments and teachings of men.”

For the Jews, pretending to see the depth of the commandments of the law, and having on their tongue the commandment given long ago to the fathers, measured the force of the worship of God by this alone. For they did nothing at all of what was decreed, but, as it were dishonouring the lawgiver's will, turned to teachings and the commandments of men. For, devising some idle traditions for themselves, they thought that they loved God and were good, but were convicted by the facts themselves of having senselessly leapt away from love toward God. So, as regards having the law on the tongue, they thought themselves near to God; but by not consenting to fulfil it they went off departing, and came to be somewhere outside him. For that … would become plain: “For the scribes and Pharisees once came to the Saviour, saying: Why do your disciples transgress the commandment of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread. And to this the Lord said: Why do you too transgress the commandment of God? For God said: Honour your father and your mother; and, He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him die the death. But you say: Whoever says to his father or his mother, Whatever you would have gained from me is a gift, shall not honour his father or his mother; and you have made void the commandment of God because of your tradition.” And he added to these the saying before us; for he said: “Hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: This people honours me with their lips.” So since, dishonouring the tutor and counting the law from God of no account, they turned [to the commandments of men], the book of the inspired Scripture was for this reason very reasonably sealed. For it was not fitting that those who [despised it] should be enriched with the understanding that comes through the inspired Scripture.

“Therefore, behold, I will proceed to remove this people, and I will remove them, and I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will hide the understanding of the prudent.”

The people of the Jews was as it were removed, I think, in many ways. For it was called the portion of God, his share and measured lot; but it was removed, as it were. For it is no longer called his portion, but has become a portion for foxes, and has been given to Satan and the unclean spirits for food; and it was removed also from right thinking to a base mind, from glory to dishonour, from strength to weakness, from being wise to the utmost foolishness. For I will destroy, he says, the wisdom of the wise, and I will hide the understanding of the prudent. For the scribes and the Pharisees seemed to be wise and of much judgment, having a reputation for learning in the law; but the understanding of the wise was hidden by God and all but shrunk, that is, the law, or rather the inspired [Scripture].

“Woe to those who take counsel deeply, and not through the Lord; [woe to] those who take counsel in secret, and their works shall be in darkness, and they shall say: Who has seen us? And who shall know us, or what we do?”