Commentary on Isaiah 3.3.9–3.3.17

[righteous]ness? We say that Israel has not wholly fallen from its close relation to God, but the remnant has been saved, and those of them who believed are gathered into one flock with those from the nations. And Christ, who is righteousness and judgment, has come to dwell in both these and those. For we have been justified in him, sin having been abolished by a just and right judgment and Satan having been destroyed. What, then, will Christ, who is righteousness, do when he has come to dwell in the desert? He declares it plainly, saying: “And the works of righteousness will be peace.” For “our Lord Jesus Christ came,” as Paul says, “and preached peace to those far off and peace to those near,” that is, to Greeks and to Jews. And among us righteousness took firm hold of rest. For having made peace with God and put an end to the enmity, we are in cities of rest and of delight for ever. And we have come to be in the city of peace, that is, in the church of God, and we have rested with wealth. For we who of old were in want of every good thing and of all virtue, godless in the world and having no hope, are now rich through Christ, and shall be still more so, having received the most abundant bestowal of the gifts from above and from God.

“And if the hail comes down, it will not come upon you; and those who dwell in the forests will be confident like those in the plain.”

Since the Jews committed impiety against our Lord Jesus Christ, and went to the very limit of unholiness, … all but a most violent hail, that is, the effects of … ; for … to desolation; they were captured and sacked, and scattered to every wind, according to the voice of the prophet. So when the hail is brought down, he says, that is, the effects of divine wrath, it will not come upon you who have believed and who dwell in the city of peace; it will not destroy the produce of our righteousness, nor ravage our good labours; and those who dwell in the forests will be confident in the same rank as those in the plain. And what is this? Land thickly covered with dense trees is in a way rough and not easily ploughed, while flat and level land is suitable for those who till it to grow food crops. So, by God's assent, everything will be fruitful, and the land that was once rough will be shown a nurse of cultivated crops. For through Christ everything bears fruit, plainly in an intellectual and spiritual sense.

And no one sows on thorns. But breaking up new ground, according to the prophet's voice, let us sow for righteousness, no longer living according to the flesh and …

“Blessed are those who sow beside every water, where ox and ass tread.”

The discourse having been carried over to the works of farming and to the fruitfulness of the fields, he keeps to the metaphor and calls blessed those who sow beside water, where ox and ass tread. For the inspired Scripture calls the divine and heavenly word “water,” and so too the word of the holy initiators into the mysteries; for they too speak in the Spirit. And the Saviour himself will confirm it, saying: “It is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.” For since the word of God gives life, it is for this reason very fittingly compared to water; for water gives life and brings about all fruitfulness. Having, then, the spiritual supply of such waters, we are accustomed to cultivate what makes for virtue, and we are eager to labour hard in the toils of godliness. In these waters ox and ass tread, that is, the people from the Jews and also the people from the nations. For God has justified circumcision by faith and uncircumcision through faith. And as Paul says: “Having broken down the middle wall of the partition, and having abolished the law of commandments in decrees, he created the two into one new man, making peace. And he reconciled them to God, putting one yoke on both and joining them into one mind through faith and love and sanctification.” He compares the nation from the Jews to an ox, for the ox is a clean animal according to the law, and it was offered to God for an odour of sweetness; but the ass is unclean. Indeed, when he commanded that the firstborn of the cattle be brought to God (“for you shall sanctify to me,” he says, “every firstborn that opens the womb”), … Even if the people from the nations was perhaps unclean because it had gone astray, yet it was sanctified through faith. For it has been justified in Christ, has washed away the filth of its old charges through holy baptism, and, mingled, as I said, with those from Israel, …

“Woe to those who make you wretched; but no one makes you wretched, and he who sets you at nought does not set you at nought. Those who set you at nought will be caught and handed over, and like a moth on a garment, so they will be defeated.”

He calls blessed those who sow beside every water, where ox and ass tread; and we said that by these are meant those from the Jews and also those from the nations called through faith to the knowledge of Christ. But it was likely that some would reason, and indeed say: How then are such people blessed, when those who think otherwise persecute them and often bring them even to death? So the discourse rouses itself to comfort the believers and says: “Woe to those who make you wretched; but no one makes you wretched.” For to suffer for Christ is glorious for the saints, but for those who bring the persecutions the thing brings destruction. It is themselves, then, that they show to be wretched, and not those who suffered, since those who suffer with Christ will reign with him. But even if someone sets you at nought, he says, he too sets himself at nought.

For those who are used to doing this will be caught, that is, they will not escape the effects of the divine wrath; and they will be, so to speak, devoured by the penalties brought on them, just as a garment is by a moth. So for the saints, as I said, toil brings about good things for ever; but choosing to harm those dedicated to God is not without loss for those who do it; rather, it will be the occasion of the last penalty of all.

“O Lord, have mercy on us, for we have trusted in you. The seed of the disobedient has come to destruction, but our salvation is in a time of affliction.”

When God has said to the saints, “Woe to those who make you wretched, but no one makes you wretched,” they themselves, all but leaping for very great joy, say that every toil of those who chose to disobey will be without profit, and that, sick with great barrenness, they will go on to destruction; but of the salvation to be given to them there will surely be, at the right time, … the manifestation. For all their power is in Christ. Even if they should seem at times to be wholly weak, I mean through being persecuted by enemies, yet it is then most of all that he who knows how to save shows the greatness of his gentleness toward them and of his help from above. So the salvation in a time of affliction belongs most of all to the holy initiators into the mysteries. And the all-wise Paul will show this when he writes: “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” And indeed the Saviour of all said to him: “My grace is sufficient for you; for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

“At the sound of the fear of you, peoples were beside themselves; from the fear of you and from your exaltation they were scattered among the nations. But now your spoils will be gathered, of small and great; as one gathers locusts, so they will mock you.”

That those of Israel, who chose wholly and altogether to disobey and did not accept faith in Christ, would come to suffer the most shameful things of all — so the law through Moses cried out, and no less do the words through the holy prophets make it plain. And indeed Christ himself said: “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies,” then “you will say to the mountains, Cover us, and to the hills, Fall on us.” So at the sound, he says, of the fear of you, that is, the sound that terrifies into fear, peoples were beside themselves. “Were beside themselves” he says in place of “were struck with amazement.” And they suffered this amazement. In what way? From the greatness of the calamity, I think.

For unbearable evils put one out of one's mind and make the sufferer, as it were, senseless. But if someone should choose to understand “were beside themselves” in another way too, the word would signify “they have come to be outside their native land.” And so they were scattered among all the nations. Up to this point is the voice of the holy prophets; but the person of God is brought in immediately, saying to them, plainly to those … “your spoils will be gathered, of small and great.” For not long hence, he says, you will be handed over to your enemies, nor will what is threatened go off into delays; rather, you will be sacked at once, small and great. And those who ravage you will collect you as if someone in the fields should gather a multitude of locusts, accomplishing the thing without toil, rather without effort and as in play. One might say that Israel has suffered this very thing spiritually too, handed over to Satan and the unclean spirits, as to enemies, for plunder, and to be mocked like locusts …

“Holy is God, who dwells on high; Zion has been filled with judgment and righteousness. They will be handed over in the law; in treasures is our salvation; there are wisdom and knowledge and godliness toward the Lord; these are treasures of righteousness.”

The saints cry out again, and … the Saviour God who dwells on high, either plainly in the heavens, or also in rational creatures, whose height would be, as it were, in the spiritual greatness of manifold virtue. So they glorify God, astounded at Zion, that is, the church of Christ, seeing it filled with judgment and righteousness. For the earthly Jerusalem falls short of so bright a glory; for it in no way accepted the righteousness from God the Father, that is, Christ. But the church from the nations, the spiritual and truer Zion, has become full of judgment and righteousness. “Judgment” here means just discernment in every matter. For it is the custom of the saints to live rationally and lawfully and to rejoice in the evangelical oracles. Then they marvel at those from Israel, that they have a law, though it was given by God for their help, yet have perished through it. For as the blessed Paul writes: “Being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” For the law lay in shadows until the time of reformation. But when the new preaching and the truth shone forth, the types had surely to cease and the shadow to become idle. Yet contentious Israel, though wishing to plead for the law, insisting on the commandments of Moses and thinking to be godly by this, has been handed over to its enemies. For it ought not to have dishonoured the truth by such long disobedience. So they will be handed over in the law. But for us from the nations who have believed, even the law spoken of old through angels, with Moses as mediator, has been found a treasure of salvation.

For there, that is, in it, are wisdom and knowledge and godliness toward the Lord. For the law of Moses cries out the mystery of Christ, and we shall find the power of the evangelical way of life in it as in shadows, if we bring a subtle mind to what is written. Indeed, the Saviour said to the crowds of the Jews: “If you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote about me.” So the law is a treasure of righteousness to those who do not attend to the shadow but rather peer through it and are eager to search out the beauty of the truth.

“… those whom you feared will be afraid of you … weeping [bitterly], begging for peace. For their ways will be made desolate; the fear of the nations has ceased, and the covenant with them … men.”

Here again the Lord of hosts is seen encouraging the holy initiators into the mysteries, freeing them from all fear, and showing in advance the breadth of the good things that will be theirs. For the wretched Jews persecuted the holy apostles, beating them with rods, and making their godliness toward Christ, and their zeal and eagerness for the divine preaching, an indictment against them and counting it as the force of a charge. For they said: “We strictly charged you not to speak in this name. And behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching.” And we shall find the holy apostles themselves fearing the attack of the Jews, falling down before the all-holy God and saying: “And now, Lord, look upon their threats, and grant your servants to speak your word with boldness.” Behold, then, he says, they will rather fear you, and not you them: those whom you feared will be afraid of you. And in time they will send messengers asking for peace and weeping bitterly. For their ways will be made desolate, that is, they will not prosper, having chosen to fight against God and to oppose the Master's will. For of old, while, I mean, the divine preaching was in its beginnings, Israel was unbearable to the holy initiators into the mysteries. But when the multitude of believers had grown beyond number, the madness of those men was from then on overcome in every city and country, and they are under the feet of the believers, defeated and weeping, and thinking it enough for their contentment if they might at least be granted peace with them. This, I think, is the sense of the prophecy. For the fear of the nations has ceased, he says, plainly of the Jewish ones, and the covenant with them is taken away. For they have become estranged from close relation with God, and strangers to the promises; for “not all who are of Israel, nor because they are the seed of Abraham, are all children; but the children of the promise are counted as seed,” that is, those who are of faith in Christ. For the forefather Abraham was justified through faith. So, he says, when the covenant with them has been taken away, you will not count them men, that is, you will consider them worthy of no account.

“The land has mourned, Lebanon has been put to shame, Sharon has become marshes; Galilee and … will be manifest.”

Lebanon is a mountain in Phoenicia, among the most conspicuous of all, thickly covered with cedars and other trees. The inspired Scripture is accustomed to compare the synagogue of the Jews to this mountain, since it had a multitude of inhabitants beyond number, as indeed through the voice of another prophet he says to it: “Open your doors, O Lebanon.” So the land mourned — not simply all of it, but only the land that suffered the ravaging by the Romans, the land of the Jews — perhaps also as abandoned by God and by the … from him … that is, Jerusalem. For she who was of old renowned and celebrated, and … by the favours from above, and had invincible strength against all, has fallen under the feet of enemies, has been burned and made desolate, and has been deprived of the sparing that comes from God. Sharon has become marshes. There is a district in Judea whose name is Saronas, with fields easy to plough and very well suited to farming. But the land so fruitful and most productive, he says, has become marshes, that is, overgrown, with a great deal of thorn grown up in it. Again it admits a spiritual sense, by likeness from the more evident things. For Israel was, as it were, laid waste, and she who was once a nurse of cultivated fruits and like a good and rich land, that is, the synagogue of the Jews, has become thorn-bearing. “For I waited,” he says, “for it to produce grapes, but it produced thorns.” But these things will befall the Jews, for they committed impiety against Christ. But Galilee and Carmel will be manifest, that is, visible and seen from all sides. By Galilee he means the land of the nations, which he also sees fit to compare to Carmel. Carmel is a thick-wooded and high mountain. And such, in a way, is the church of Christ. For very many have flourished in it, having a mind dear to God; and it is full of every good, lifted on high, and … that is, the nations. And perhaps the church from the nations … settled above earthly affairs. For it is written that “the mighty ones of the earth belong to God; they were greatly exalted.” And the inspired Scripture is accustomed to liken the church to mountains.

“Now I will arise, says the Lord, now I will be glorified, now I will be exalted. Now you will see, now you will perceive; the strength of your spirit will be vain; fire will devour you. And nations will be burned up, like a thorn thrown away in a field.”

The only-begotten Word of God, being in the form and equality of God the Father, as begotten from him by nature and ineffably, emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, and, being made in the likeness of men, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.

But when, having endured the cross for the life of all, he came to life again as God, then, then indeed, on those who had dared … to him, who was calling them to life, but rather with insults and outrages, and even to encompass him with death itself, he hung the penalty that fitted them. For there they perished miserably, … their cities. And when the land had been ravaged altogether, then, then indeed, they learned the glory of him who suffered; and, having slipped into such terrible and inescapable calamities, they barely recognized that their unholy deeds of ungodliness had been done not against one of the prophets but against the very Saviour and Redeemer of all. As though the divine wrath was about to fall on them at once, he says: “Now I will arise, says the Lord.” For having been patient with evil, as God, before the precious cross, now, having already suffered what was done to him, he all but rises up against his enemies. And he was glorified and exalted, handing over to destruction those who had fought him to the end, and calling the nations through faith, and with the spiritual … and illuminating with the divine light those who were of old in darkness and had the mist of ignorance over mind and heart. Now, then, I will be glorified, now you will see, now you will perceive; for the strength of your spirit will be vain, that is, it will end in nothing. For I will prevail, even against your will, and you will be food for fire, like a thorn in a field, burned and thrown away. For they have been consumed, as I said, having fallen, as it were, into an all-devouring flame, the movements of the divine wrath. For as the blessed Moses says: “Our God is a consuming fire.”

“… Those far off will hear what I have done; those who draw near will know my strength. The lawless in Zion have departed; trembling will seize the ungodly.”

Our Lord Jesus Christ was sent by God the Father to the lost sheep … the giving of the law and the covenant, and of whom are the fathers; and he continued showing himself openly to those throughout all Judea, now using teachings beyond the law, now … beyond reason … altogether to the Jews through great dullness of mind. For the Lord taught, but the scribes and Pharisees rebuked his hearers and said: “He has a demon and is mad; why do you listen to him?” He rebuked evil and unclean spirits, and this with authority, as God; but they, slandering so truly supernatural and ineffable a power, dared to say: “This man does not cast out demons except by Beelzebul, the ruler of the …” … rightly without share in hope in him. But the nations have been initiated into the mysteries and have received the saving and evangelical preaching. This, I think, is what he teaches in saying: “Those far off will hear what I have done.” As far …

For Israel, having come to be instructed by the law, became near; but the nations had stood far off from close relation to God, plainly the spiritual relation, … having worshipped the creation rather than the Creator. But these, he says, will hear what I have done, though Israel would not hear. Those who draw near will know my strength. For Israel has not perished altogether; very many of them too have believed, and, being as it were near to God because they had already received the instruction in the law, they knew the strength of Christ. For they believed when he worked miracles as God. But these, he says, will know. But the lawless in Zion have departed and have gone wholly outside the hope of the saints. And trembling will seize them, though they are exceedingly ungodly. For the experience of the calamities brought upon them will suffice to make even their insolence finally abate.

“Who will tell you that a fire is burning? Who will tell you of the eternal place?”

[That they will be] food for fire at the time of judgment, those who were impious toward Christ, he shows in these words. For he himself said somewhere: “Amen I say to you, he who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” So to those who are hard-hearted, he says, and have chosen to disobey, he will announce the eternal place, and that a fire … and is kindled, and that continually. For as the prophet himself says again somewhere concerning those who have died in their offences: “Their worm will not die, and their fire will not be quenched, and they will be a spectacle to all flesh.”

“… way, hating lawlessness and injustice, and shaking his hands free from gifts, stopping his ears so as not to hear judgment of blood, closing his eyes so as not to see injustice: he will dwell in a high cave of strong rock; bread will be given him, and his water will be sure. … a land from afar; your soul will meditate …”

That, then, they will go down to dwell in Hades, those who ought to have partaken of life, … and will delight in due time in the gifts from him, plainly divine and spiritual ones. For he, he says, who walks in righteousness, that is, who … of righteousness … excellent, and who speaks a straight way, that is, … having on his tongue everything that leads to what is straight; and he who hates injustice, and everyone who is a lover … turning away from his own hearing the judgment concerning blood, and turning away his eyes too, so as not to see … any of the unjust things: he will dwell in a high cave of strong rock. For he will be in safety, he says, and, having as it were his dwelling unshaken on a rock, he will find permanence in all that is to be prayed for. It is likely … that something is named “rock” for us in these words, I think, … and the cave, or fold of sheep, is understood as the church, which has a safe and unshaken permanence in well-being. “For you are Peter,” says the Saviour, “and on this rock I will found my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” To him, then, he says, who has come to dwell in such a rock …

… sure. For to those who dwell in the church the bread of life is given, Christ, from God the Father; and indeed also sure water, that of holy baptism, which plainly makes those counted worthy of it sure and steadfast. For the grace of holy baptism has been given to those cleansed through holy baptism. And those who have received … will see a king with glory … from afar; for we have not yet beheld the land of which the Saviour says: “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.” With the eyes of the mind we still behold it, as being far off. Therefore we are accustomed to meditate on the fear of God, so that we may come to be in it and, together with the other saints, filled with the gifts that come through Christ, may glorify him.

“Where are the scribes? Where are the counsellors? Where is he who counts those who gather together, small and great people? … a despised people; and there is no understanding in him who hears.”

Having made plain the rewards of those who have chosen to live godly, he passes again to what must grieve, reproaching, fittingly, the guides of the Jews as having sinned through ill counsel … the power to prosper through the grace from above, and … accepting faith as their zeal for virtue. This the wretches did not do, but rather, slipping down, they were caught in many ways in more shameful things. For though they were used to reciting the law and busied themselves with the words of the holy prophets, and so should have known God the Word who appeared to them in human form and shone upon those on earth, they did not know him; or perhaps, understanding the mystery, they set upon him bitterly. For, recognizing the Son sent from God the Father after the servants, they said: “This is the heir; come, let us kill him and have his inheritance for ourselves.” And indeed they killed him, so far as the force of their attempts went, even though he was not held fast by the gates of Hades, inciting against him the peoples under their hand, who cried out against him to Pilate himself, saying: “Away, away, crucify him.” And for this reason, as guilty of the highest impieties and weighed down by Lord-slaying, they have become strangers to the hope in Christ and have lost their close relation to God. And so … to them: “Where are the scribes?” in place of “Into what evils have they fallen?” By “scribes” (γραμματικοί) he means the scribes (γραμματεῖς). “Where are the counsellors?” And who would these be? Again, those appointed to the sacred ministry, concerning whom the law of Moses says: “The lips of a priest will guard judgment, and they will seek the law from his mouth.” For by the admonitions of the