Commentary on Isaiah 4.3.19–4.4.1

you did not know,” that is, you did not understand, nor did you become wise. For this, we say, is the truth. For it would have been the work of understanding and prudence, when things were foretold, not to wait for the gloomy things to reach their end, but to get clear of all wrath and penalty. “So I have made new things heard by you from now on, which are about to happen.” For the predictions came from God when the things had not yet happened or occurred. “Do not say, then, that … and not long ago, and not in former days … do not say: I know them,” plainly through the false diviners and liars. “For you neither knew them nor understood, nor indeed did I open your ears from the beginning”; that is, before my words came, I did not make this known to you through anyone else; but I brought on the end of what was foretold. “For I knew that you would surely deal faithlessly, and you will still be called lawless from the womb.” And those who were accustomed to deal faithlessly and act lawlessly, and that from the womb (for they were taught from infancy to serve foreign gods), had to have the penalties that befitted them hung over them. “I showed you my wrath for my name's sake; and I will bring my glorious things upon you, so that I may not destroy you utterly.” … to Israel, which had come to the end of all wickedness and thought the honour due to God worth no account at all, the wrath had to be shown; but, so that the greatness of his love for mankind might again be seen, wonderful things too were brought upon them after the gloomy ones, so that they might not be destroyed utterly. For he saved them from the hand of their enemies, and when they had fallen into the net of punishment he rescued them again and freed them from the nooses of captivity, so as not to destroy Israel utterly. “Behold, then, I have sold you,” he says, “not for silver,” that is, not for the sake of money. For I sought nothing of the kind from you, nor have I been in need of anything earthly, or of the slaughter of calves or lambs or goats; but I did it since you sinned and were careless about the honour and glory you owed me. “Yet even so I rescued you,” he says, “from the furnace of poverty”; for they were slaves to the Babylonians, and the evils of slavery are surely followed by being in want of every good thing. “For my own sake I will do it for you, because my name is profaned.” For the captors thought that, although God wished to save them and protected them, they had still won, and had got the better of the one he helped against his will. “So my name is profaned,” he says, “since they hold such opinions about me. But I will give my glory to no other.” And the glory of God is to save, to have mercy, and to fulfil whatever he chooses to accomplish.

“Hear me, Jacob, and Israel whom I call. I am the first, and I am for ever; and my hand founded the earth, and my right hand made firm the heaven.”

He brings them again to remember the honour and glory given to them, and besides this his sparing and his love. For they were granted the highest privileges, since they alone of all the nations were called to close fellowship with him and became his portion and lot. At any rate the divine Moses once addressed those of Israel thus: “Behold, the heaven of heaven belongs to the Lord your God, and the Lord chose you out of all the nations to be his people”; and again: “When the Most High divided the nations, as he scattered the sons of Adam, he set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the angels of God, and Israel became the Lord's portion.” Those so honoured, then, ought indeed, they ought, having received a glorious and chosen name, being assigned to God's lot and rich in being among the chosen, not to turn aside at all to what is unlawful, away from their benefactor, the giver of all their honour and the provider of such choice and longed-for goods. But the wretches, taking none of these things to mind, were stuck fast in the bogs of idolatry, and, leaving the true God, they served the elements of the world. Yet even so he pities them again; for he calls them to a good disposition by crying, “Hear me,” and bids them accomplish at least late what it would have been better to choose to fulfil at the beginning, so that they might have unshaken prosperity, so that they might set their foot outside punishment and loose the bonds of the servitude brought on them. But since they worshipped the host of heaven and, leaving the Creator, … the things brought into being by him. For as the blessed Paul said: “Though you ought … to be teachers by reason of the time, you have need again of someone to teach you the elements of the beginning of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.” (Displaced in the OCR between these words are a few words of Cyril's own: “… being able to rule over all things, and being able without effort ….”)

That he himself is “the one who is,” is before all things, and has a being without end, being God by nature, he shows by saying: “I am the first, and I am for ever.” And who could be conceived as prior to the first? For just as no beginning could be conceived prior to the real and first beginning, so no other first could be conceived before the first. So the God of all is always, and before all things, and into endless ages. For what has no beginning, into what end will it ever cease? So much for the divine glory in these words. But the swarm of the falsely named gods, that is, the elements of the world, could neither be thought of as first nor can they remain for ever in the same way and the same state. For the stars, sun and moon, and besides them the heaven itself, were brought into being, having received a beginning and origin, and will one day run to the end of their being; and one could see nothing in them that is not in every way and entirely beneath the glory of the divine and pure nature. That his word on this point would not miss the truth he showed at once by saying: “My hand founded the earth, and my right hand made firm the heaven.” How then will what was made compete on equal terms with its maker, and vie with the glory of the one who fashioned it? He shows, then, that it is most outlandish, or rather liable to the charge of every impiety, to choose to worship the creation rather than the Creator, and, leaving the one who is always and first, to assign the name and reality of the true Godhead to things made in time, and to bestow this on their own handiwork. For they worshipped what their fingers made, as it is written. And the God and Father calls the Son his own hand and right hand. For so we shall find him called very often by the divinely inspired Scripture. At any rate the divine Moses said:

“Your right hand, O Lord, has been glorified in strength; your right hand, O Lord, shattered enemies.” And the blessed David: “Let your hand be strengthened, let your right hand be exalted.”

“I will call them, and they shall stand together, and they shall all be gathered and shall hear. Who …”

He bids us put a question to them, and indeed to ask clearly whom they think was in truth the one who knew beforehand, that is, who foretold, what came upon them unexpectedly, plainly the calamity of the war. For of … they claimed to be inspired by a god, and that some were in labour with it and possessed by demons. But there is no foreknowledge of the future in unclean spirits, nor in lifeless materials shaped into gods. So none at all of the reputed gods is the one who announced it. “But I revealed each thing in detail through holy prophets; then, though it was possible to slip away from …, … waiting for the experience of the evils to confirm the truth of my words. What need, then, do you have of sorcerers? What benefit from false prophets? And what could the workshops of those accustomed to take auguries know? They take over the precincts of the idols and … sell the lie from their own heart as though from God, and belch out to those who come to them whatever seems good, for a handful of barley and a crumb of bread,” as was said through the voice of Ezekiel.

“Loving you, I have done your will upon Babylon, to take away the seed of the Chaldeans. I have spoken, I have called; I have brought him and prospered his way. Draw near to me and hear these things: not from the beginning have I spoken in secret; when it came about, I was there; and now the Lord has sent me, and his Spirit.”

He again does not allow them to be carried away to untrue suppositions. For it was very likely that, having an untrained mind, very easily led away to apostasy and easily caught in the nooses of deceit, they would think and say that they had suffered the evils of the war perhaps from the anger of the falsely named gods, because the worship fitting and owed to them had been neglected and their sacrifices were no longer offered, and that these gods had again taken pity and measured out to those who suffered the effects of their anger; and the argument is not at all unlikely. For we showed before that, when Jerusalem was sacked and the whole of Judaea burned together with the temple, the women who were left said that they would sacrifice to the queen of heaven. So that they may know the Redeemer, and attribute the grace of their salvation not to other gods but rather to him, he says most clearly that, moved by sparing and love for them, he also brought to its end what they longed for and prayed for so much, namely that the seed of the Chaldeans be taken away, since the Chaldeans had captured them, had displayed every kind of inhumanity, and had surrounded them with evils to the utmost. “Moved, then, by love for you, I accomplished what seemed good to you regarding the Babylonians, so as to take away the seed of the Chaldeans.” Then he speaks of Cyrus, that by his nods he was brought and called to lay waste the land and take it by force. “I brought him and prospered his way. And I have spoken these things from the beginning,” he says, “and not in secret; I announced them clearly beforehand through holy prophets: Thus says the Lord to my anointed, Cyrus, whose right hand I have held, that nations may obey before him; and I will break the strength of kings.” “So not secretly, nor in a corner, have I made my word about him; but I brought him and called him and prospered his way. And I have not only spoken, but also, as he acted, … the things dear to you, and in accordance with your prayer I was present with him …

… turning back the strength of the Chaldeans, and making the one who laid them waste all-powerful and hard to withstand, so that what was done was not rather the work of the hand of Cyrus but of my all-powerful right hand, as I brought penalties on them for their outrage against you, or rather …. For he said: “I gave them into your hands, but you did not give them mercy.” Then, in the midst of such words, he sets the words of Cyrus himself, confessing that it was God who sharpened him, made him most invincible, and stronger than the might of the Babylonians. “And now,” he says, “the Lord has sent me, and his Spirit.” He puts “and now” in the sense: even if you did not recognize any of the things that happened as coming from God, see, now Cyrus has confessed that it was God who raised him up and crowned him with renown to the utmost, by making him great …. For Cyrus learned from the Jews living in Babylon that God had spoken about him in the holy prophets, that he would come in due time and take the land of the Chaldeans by force, and that he himself would release Israel; then, as the writer says, they even showed him the books themselves, and so brought him to such a mind that in his own proclamations he named the God of Israel Lord and Most High. It is written thus in the first book of Ezra: “In the first year of the reign of Cyrus over the Persians, for the fulfilment of the word of the Lord in the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of the Persians, and he made a proclamation in all his kingdom, and also in writing, saying: Thus says the king of the Persians, Cyrus: The Lord of Israel, the Most High, has made me king of the world, and has signified to me that I should build him a house in Jerusalem in Judaea. If, then, there is anyone of you of his nation, let his Lord be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem in Judaea and build the house of the Lord God of Israel. This is the Lord who dwelt in Jerusalem.” “So when you understand,” he says, “that what has happened became known among you before it happened, not through the falsely named gods but rather through me, hear Cyrus saying: The Lord has sent me, and his Spirit.”

“Thus says the Lord who redeemed you, the Holy One of Israel: I am your God; I have shown you how to find the way in which you shall walk. And if you had heard my commandments, your peace would have become like a river, and your righteousness like a wave of the sea; and your seed would have become like the sand, and the offspring of your womb like the dust of the earth; nor now will you be utterly destroyed … my …. Go out from Babylon, fleeing from the Chaldeans.”

He again works in them a firm mind and a well-grounded understanding, so that they may know the one who is God by nature and in truth; and he reveals his own glory to them, so that they may not be carried off by the voices of the deceivers to ruin, that is, to thinking and supposing that the falsely named gods, who do not exist at all, helped them. For that reason, as I suppose, he says, “I am your God,” “I am” signifying “I exist.” He declared this also to the all-wise Moses, saying: “I am the one who is.” For the God of all is the one who is, properly and truly; the things brought into being by him might also be called existing, but only in that they came to be and were allotted a beginning of being. “Thus,” then, “says the Lord who redeemed you, the Holy One of Israel: I am your God.” “But, O Master,” one of the blood of Israel might say, I think, “you redeemed us and saved us; you rescued us from fire and punishment, from the yoke and slavery, from the barbarian hand, since you are plainly all-powerful and accomplish by mere nods whatever you choose. How, then, were we, who are under your sparing and love and always boast of you as our helper, brought down to such misery as to fall under the feet of our enemies, and, though free men born of free men, to serve as slaves against all reason?” What, then, does God say to this? “I have shown you how to find the way in which you shall walk.” “I laid down the law for you,” he says, “to define what is to be done, a law that knows how to direct you to everything most pleasing to me, a guide to righteousness, a teacher of piety, leading on to a straight road; by it, if you had been willing to act, … you would have been established as a genuine and true worshipper, well crowned with the boasts that come from virtue. But you went off the straight path, and, leaving the highway, you turned aside, as it were, to what is unlawful: you served the host of heaven, sacrificed to idols, worshipped those that are not gods, forgot your Creator, thought nothing of the law that was given. For if you had been obedient to my commandments, your peace would have become like a river, and righteousness like a wave of the sea.” What he wishes to show is this. Torrents, they say, swollen by rain …, rush on unbearably, so that nothing at all can withstand their onrush. And this too is plain, I think: the onsets of the waves of the sea are terrible and hard to withstand, not only for sailors, that is, for merchant ships, but sometimes even for the … of the waters breaking. “So if you had listened to my words,” he says, “if you had brought an obedient mind, your peace would have become like a river and waters, invincible to your enemies, that is, to those who wish to oppose you.” Or perhaps in another way: to show that the gift of peace would be abundant and continuous for them, he compares it to a river and to waves: to a river always flowing abundantly and rushing on, and to waves that are always arching and, as it were, running continually to the shore. “And your seed would have become like sand, and the offspring of your womb like the dust of the earth.” As if he said: with no one raising a sword, with no hand of enemies destroying any of you, you would have been numerous … and countless, so that your children would be compared to sand and dust. “But since you behaved outrageously toward God and offended not a little in every way, you do not have the increase of your race into a broadening multitude; yet not even now will you be utterly destroyed.” For the remnant of Israel has been preserved everywhere; and God said that it would nowhere fall uprooted, because of the promise given to the fathers. Then he says: “Go out from Babylon, fleeing from the Chaldeans.”

This is a royal decree releasing Israel from captivity. For just as those who rule over affairs on earth and hold the thrones of kingdoms sometimes grant release from exile to those under them, signifying the matter by a kindly nod and word, so too the God of all bestowed a kindly decree on those who had suffered, and says clearly, “Go out,” so that they might know the Redeemer and the provider of all their good cheer.

“… let this be made heard; announce it to the end of the earth. Say: The Lord has delivered his servant Jacob. And if they thirst, he will lead them through the desert; he will bring water …, and my people will drink. There is no rejoicing for the ungodly, says the Lord.”

… what God does. But those works of his that surpass the others and have received the highest glory, when they are unknown, wrong those who are perhaps deprived of knowing them; but when they are known, they benefit not a little. For from them one may see his unspeakable glory, his pre-eminence over all, his mighty hand and all-powerful glory. For he redeemed Israel from Egypt; but so that he might be seen as a doer of great works, and his glory might become manifest to those throughout the whole earth, Pharaoh was taken in between as a kind of vessel, so that by resisting the words spoken through Moses he might call on God to manifest his own glory to all thereafter and to show the greatness of his measureless power. For it was said to him: “For this very purpose I raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” And those things happened to those of old, but they took place for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. The redemption from Babylon of those of Israel, then, ought indeed, it ought not to be passed over in silence, but rather to be proclaimed, as it were, to people everywhere. That is why he says: “Announce a voice of gladness.” By a voice of gladness we mean the doxology that one might offer in hymning him for such great and splendid achievements. This is gladness properly and truly, a voice fitting for the righteous, to whom it also belongs to give glory. The divine David at any rate sings and says: “A voice of rejoicing and salvation in the tents of the righteous.” He wishes the voice to contain an account of the redemption of those of Israel, such as is in the book of Psalms. It runs thus: “You have been favourable, Lord, to your land; you have turned back the captivity of Jacob; you have forgiven the iniquities of your people; you have covered all their sins.” For these words, even if they contain the declaration of spiritual things, are nonetheless also useful for the history. And he promises that, if they thirst as they walk through the desert, he will bring them water out of a rock: “A rock will be split and water will flow, and my people will drink.” And we say that he shows in these words that it was no other God who freed Israel from the perversity of the Egyptians, led them through the midst of the sea, gave them food in the desert, and brought water out of a rock, but the same, always in the same state and the same way, and able to work wonders equal to those of old. “For if they come through the desert,” he says, “and then are in want of drink and water, that ancient sign will be shown to them; for water will be brought out of the rock.” And one would not find that this happened when those of Israel went up from Babylon to Judaea. But it was said, as I said, with wise design, so that they might know that the God of old is also God now, able to use equal power and rival wonders, and having unchangeable strength; and he cries out, as it were, and brings forth a general law: “For there is no rejoicing for the ungodly, says the Lord.” This too is true. For the face of the impious is always downcast in some way, since the heart is naturally stricken and the mind is weighed down by the reproofs of conscience. For it expects not crowns nor the honour of praise, but rather fire and punishment, which are prepared for those who offend. Or perhaps the saying might also fit the Babylonians. For they rejoiced at having captured the people of God, and thought that they had conquered Judaea by prevailing even over his right hand. But they missed the truth. For the one people, because they were caught offending, came outside his sparing; the other, because they were harsh and pitiless and did not know how to show mercy, paid the penalties fitting them and were deprived even of rejoicing, their brow punished and their pride already chastised. For once they had conquered those of Israel, they no longer had a share in rejoicing; but because, wicked as they were, they perished wickedly and their land was destroyed, they received the bitterness of grief.

“Listen to me, islands, and pay attention, nations; after a long time it will stand, says the Lord. From my mother’s womb he called my name; he made my mouth like a sharp sword, and under the shelter of his hand he hid me. He made me like a choice arrow, and in his quiver he sheltered me; and he said to me: You are my servant, Israel, and …”

Having benefited Israel with very many exhortations and counsels, he transfers the initiation into the mysteries to the flocks of the nations, and indeed the mystery of … that, having let go of their beastlike and accursed life, they should be brought back to the way of life most dear to him and receive the true light into their minds, so as to know clearly who is God by nature and in truth, the nature that holds sway over all things. He addresses the islands, which we say are the churches of Christ, lying as it were in a sea, plainly the surge of the present life, and surrounded by the unbearable onsets of the waves, that is, by persecutions and the troubles which the enemies of the truth, those who fight against the calling of God, bring upon them. About islands of this kind much is said in very many places of the divinely inspired Scripture. The blessed David too sings somewhere and says: “The Lord has reigned; let the earth rejoice; let many islands be glad.” For when Christ reigned over all that is under heaven, taking it all under his hand and tearing it away from the tyranny of the demons, then the churches throughout the whole earth rejoiced, that is, they became full of gladness. That the prophet in these words names as islands the churches from the nations will become clear from what follows. For he immediately added “Listen to me, islands,” and “Pay attention, nations.” Then he says: “After a long time it will stand, says the Lord.” He promises, as I said, the manifestation of the Saviour of us all, Jesus Christ, and that the Word, being God, lives among those on the earth in a form like ours. But that the time then was the time of prophecy, and not yet of the manifestation of the events themselves, he shows by saying: “After a long time it will stand,” plainly the thing promised, that is, what is prophesied. What is this? The very person of the Saviour is brought in, saying: “From my mother’s womb he called my name.” Here he has at once put together the deep and great mystery, one that needs initiation from above; for it was revealed in this way to the divine Peter. The Word was and is God, equal in glory and sharing the throne with God the Father, coexisting and coeternal with him. The names that belonged to him before the incarnation are in some way proper to his nature: God, Wisdom, Light, Life, and Power, and others besides these which are found in the sacred writings.