Commentary on Isaiah 4.4.9–4.4.16

… are called holy by [participation in] the one who is holy by nature and who alone truly is so. For just as he himself is the true light, yet has given the dignity to others too (for “you are,” he says, “the light of the world”), so also, being alone holy together with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, he gives sanctification, as from his own fullness, to those who share in him. So too we say in our prayers: “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.” And we do not at all mean that we ask for an addition of holiness to be made to the Father’s name (the thing would be quite foolish); rather we pray that it may be among all what it truly is, that is, holy and to be feared. So here too “Sanctify” is to be understood, even if, he says, he has held his life cheap, that is, even if he is said to suffer something human, and allowed his own flesh to taste death, and laid down his own life for many.

The passage runs on and recalls other things too, which might at times be a hindrance to believing in him for those who do not see the depth of the economy, but would do no harm to those of sound mind. For when Jesus had been handed over to Pilate, some of the soldiers treated him with loathing, now beating him impiously, now dishonouring him with spitting, insulting him with the crown of thorns and mocking him, saying: “Hail, King of the Jews.” That is why he says: “him who is abhorred by the nations, the servants of the rulers.” “Sanctify” will certainly follow on this too. But that, while he suffered in the way of the economy the mockeries of the nations, he will shine out after this and be glorified by all, both those in the highest eminences and those in the lower ranks of honour, he foretells by saying: “Kings shall see him, and rulers shall arise,” plainly from the thrones of their kingdoms, “and they shall worship him.” They will see him not with the eyes of the body but as by the contemplation of mind and heart; for that is how we see the glory of Christ. “They shall worship him for the Lord’s sake,” that is, for my sake; for he is glorified as Son of God the Father, and “because the Holy One of Israel is faithful.” “Faithful” here means the one who always remains; for the kingdom of God the Father cannot be shaken, and likewise that of the Son; whereas the falsely named gods are not faithful, for they are new-born and perishing and do not remain. But the Saviour and Lord of all, who is truly faithful, that is, sure, has himself chosen those called through Christ. “For those whom he foreknew,” it says, “he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son; these he also called,” and besides this he sanctified and glorified them. It was necessary, then, it was necessary that the chosen sanctify him who held his life cheap, and not, by looking at the things of his humanity, fall away from what is fitting and be carried away from accurate knowledge of him, but rather, understanding the wisdom of the economy, worship him and be firmly persuaded that he is by nature and in truth the Son of the faithful Lord, even if he appeared in the way of the economy in a form like ours, and the … of the self-emptying …, and he says: “In an acceptable time I heard you, and in a day of salvation I helped you.” Christ and his mystery were foreknown before the foundation of the world; but he shone out at the times the Sovereign willed, at which he helped us; and he says that the time of the incarnation is the day of salvation.

For so too, I think, the divine Paul says: “Behold, now … salvation.” And the prophet David also sings and says: “This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

“And I gave you for a covenant of nations, to establish the earth and to inherit a desert inheritance, saying to those in bonds: Come out; and to those in darkness: Be uncovered. And in all their ways they shall be fed, and in all the paths their pasture. They shall not hunger nor thirst, nor shall the burning heat strike them, nor the sun; but he who has mercy on them will comfort them, and through springs of waters he will lead them. And I will make every mountain a way, and every path a pasture for them. Behold, these come from afar, these from the north, and these from the sea, and others from the land of the Persians.”

Some of the earlier interpreters thought fit to make the beginning of the present chapter at: “Thus says the Lord: In an acceptable time I heard you, and in a day of salvation I helped you.” And they say these words were spoken by God the Father to Christ, the Saviour of us all. They weave in besides a sense of this kind: he prayed, they say, before the precious cross, saying, “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me,” and he was not heard, for he drank it; but since he trampled on death with the Father’s help, the words were necessarily spoken to him: “In an acceptable time I heard you, and in a day of salvation I helped you.” But this account seems to me to be very implausible. For he knew that he must drink the cup, and that the world under heaven could not otherwise be saved than through the death of his flesh and the resurrection from the dead; yet the form of the prayer was carried out with the greatest wisdom of the economy, so that his asking to be spared the passion might accuse the blood-guilt of the Jews. For in what way would Israel have become liable to the charges of impiety toward him, if suffering had not been unwelcome to him because of its shame? Yet even so it became willed, both to remove the sin of the world and to refashion our condition into newness of holy life. For so you will understand what he said: “I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me,” that is, the will of the Father who sent me, “that of all that he has given me I should lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.” For Christ appeared to the world, and the sacred preaching was directed to those of Israel. But since they were disobedient and hardened, unbridled and bold, they did not accept the faith but sinned against it in many ways, and at last they crucified him. Here, please, see the power of the ineffable wisdom. For what was brought on him by the perversity of the Jews, I mean death, plainly that of the flesh, he made an occasion of salvation for those throughout the whole earth; death was abolished through his resurrection, corruption has been trampled underfoot, and we who through the transgression in Adam had been brought down to the opposite have flourished again into life. So we do not say that the prayer of Christ our Saviour failed (far from it), but rather that it was an act of the economy, on which wonder ought to follow. And we say that the petition made, I mean, before the precious cross was wise in another way too. For it became for us a pattern and example of a necessary thing: in [the time] of temptation we must not be [careless] and slack, but rather watchful, and then intent on prayer, and must ask God who saves, so that, if it is pleasing to him, we may carry our foot out of the noose and the snare; but if he knows that suffering will be more beneficial for us, that this too may come to completion, he himself granting endurance. Since, then, the opinion of some has been shown to be implausible, come, let us take hold again of the matter in hand.

He says that he gave him “for a covenant of nations, to establish the earth and to inherit a desert inheritance, saying to those in bonds: Come out; and to those in darkness: Be uncovered.” For when Israel kicked against him and [turned away from] love for him through …, Christ [turned to the nations] and appointed for them the New Covenant, that is, the saving preaching of the gospel, and established the earth, which plainly was in turmoil and not in a good state of understanding. For it had gone astray worshipping the creation and was in subjection to the hordes of unclean spirits; it did only what seemed good to them, and they carried it off into every kind of uncleanness and ordered it to live a beastlike life. So the earth was in no small turmoil and confusion; but it was established through Christ, and passed, as it were, from storm and tempest into calm weather. For it became his portion and lot. And this, then, was what was said to him in the second psalm, as from God the Father: “Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession.” He calls the multitude of the nations a desert, likening it to a land without fruit and without water. But, as I said, it became the lot of Christ. How, and in what way? To those who were in bonds, tied fast with the cords of their own sins, he called out: “Come out.” And to those in darkness and in the mist of the mind, and as it were in deep night, … to come to the light, to open wide the eyes of the understanding, and to take the divine light that comes from him to dwell within them. And those found worthy of this, he says, “shall be fed in all their ways, and in all the paths their pasture.” The ways of goodness are very many, but for the nations none was passable; it was rough and steep, and they were held fast by … of their own, which made the good impassable for them. But when the grace of the Saviour shone forth, it loosed their bonds and enlightened their heart; then they were able to run along every way and gather spiritual nourishment, for this is what “they shall be fed” means … one may say this too, that the paths and ways which carry our minds to God, that is, to a pure and exceptional way of life, are the divinely inspired Scriptures. These were least known to those who had gone astray; but since they have been called to the light of the truth, the Scriptures have become pastures for them, and feeding grounds that nourish them to spiritual vigour and to the desire for every good. And God promises them the abundance of his grace, help, and spiritual comfort. For “they shall not hunger …” … for lack of spiritual comfort; for they had no divine law, no prophet, no tutor, no guide, no teacher, no spring of spiritual waters.

But since they have received mercy from God, the supply of spiritual goods from heaven has now become most abundant for them. They drank living water, of which Christ himself spoke when he talked with the woman in Samaria: “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him, it will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” And the prophet Isaiah too said somewhere of those justified in faith and bringing the … of their understanding under the gospel oracles: “… strong; bread shall be given him, and his water shall be sure.”

But “neither shall the burning heat strike them, nor the sun.” For Christ has become their shelter, he who of old also spread a cloud over the sons of Israel by day and led them in a pillar of fire by night. They will be out of the reach of the sun and the burning heat, he says, that is, they will gain the shelter that comes from God, so as to [suffer] nothing … The divine Paul too said something of this kind: “God is able, who will not let us be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also provide the way out, so that you may be able to endure it.” This, I think, is what is meant by “he who has mercy on them will comfort them.” For “he will lead them through springs of waters, and he will make every mountain a” [way] … By [springs] we mean here the holy prophets, apostles, and evangelists; consorting with them wisely and skilfully, we draw from them the life-giving and divine word, sufficient to brace our souls for godliness and to provide spiritual delight for us. For so it is written: “And you will draw water with gladness from the springs of salvation.” That none of the exceptional achievements of virtue is steep or hard to reach for those saved through Christ, [he signifies by] saying that every mountain will be made a way. For it seems somehow to be lifted up on high and inaccessible to many to become conspicuous in something, such as self-control, temperance, long-suffering, forbearance, gentleness, love, and the rest; but the Saviour has made every way smooth and easy to travel for us, so that [nothing] is hard to approach for those who wish to walk by him. And this, I think, is what was clearly said through one of the holy prophets: “Every ravine shall be filled, and all the crooked things shall become straight, and the rough into smooth ways.” And again: “The way of the godly has become straight, and the way of the godly is prepared.” That those called have become more than can be numbered, gathered from every part of the earth under heaven, he made known by saying: “Behold, these come from afar, and these from the north and the sea, and others from the land of the Persians.” “From afar” seems to suggest the southern parts, the north the northern, and the sea the lands toward the west; for so the Psalmist too mentions them, saying: “The north and the sea you created.” And those from the land of the Persians would be those caught in the net from the east, for the land of the Persians lies toward the sunrise. Or perhaps it is fitting to understand also the magi who worshipped him.

For they came to Judaea inquiring and saying: “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star in the East and have come to worship him.” And having worshipped, they also honoured him with gifts, I mean frankincense, gold, and myrrh. The Psalmist mentions this when he says of Christ, the Saviour of us all: “And he shall live, and there shall be given to him of the gold of Arabia.” For here he calls the country of the Persians Arabia.

“… let the mountains break forth gladness, because God has had mercy on his people and has comforted the humble of his people.”

He calls heaven and earth together into one company and bids them very well to keep a festival for those saved by him. By the heavens we may understand not the element itself but those who live in the mansions above and have heaven as their dwelling, the holy Powers, Principalities, Thrones, Authorities, and the Seraphim beyond these. And by the earth, likewise, those on it who were expecting his appearing and knew that he would come for the redemption of those of Israel and of all the nations throughout the whole earth, as, for example, Simeon the righteous, holding Jesus, still a little infant, in his arms, glorified God, saying: “Now, Master, you let your servant depart in peace according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all the nations,” and the rest. Or perhaps we should understand the saved themselves, keeping the festival over their own salvation. And the mountains that break forth gladness should be taken to be, as I said just now, the rational powers raised on high in virtue, that is, the ministers of the gospel preaching, who [proclaim] Christ … the earth. For they announce that God has had mercy on his people and has comforted the humble of his people. For Christ had mercy on all by shining on them, if indeed it is true that they have been rescued from the hand of the devil and of sin that formerly tyrannized over them, and besides this from the bonds of death; and they have been granted grace and a gift beyond this world, having become partakers of the Holy Spirit, made glorious with the glory of adoption, and enriched with a hope beyond understanding. But observe the precision of the prophet’s words. “The humble of his people,” he says, “he comforted.” We say that the humble are those who have yielded their neck to Christ with ready obedience and have not dishonoured the yoke of his kingdom, because they accepted …

… the faith, and were ready to offer him worship and service in spirit and in truth; whereas those who did not accept the faith are not humble, but lift up their horn on high and speak unrighteousness against him and his sacred oracles, stretching up the neck of their mind, as it were, in arrogance. These were not granted the spiritual comfort, for they were not worthy. For what portion has a believer with an unbeliever, as it is written?

“But Zion said: The Lord has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me. Will a mother forget her child, so as not to have mercy on the offspring of her womb? But even if a woman should forget these, I will not forget you.”

The Lord, the Saviour of all, set the grace that comes through faith before the children of Zion, that is, those of the blood of Israel, before the others, and urged them in countless ways, saying, as it were: “Seize the moment in which, by believing in him, you can gain the riches of the generous gifts promised to the fathers.” But they were unyielding and disobedient; and indeed, despising the laws given through the all-wise Moses and caring little for the preaching of the prophets, they slipped away from believing, and … and for this reason they were set far from close relation to him; yet the remnant has been saved, and Israel did not perish root and all. But they are very few compared with the multitude of the disobedient. So, very aptly, Zion, standing for the mother of the Jews, [speaks] as one neglected by the God who sustained her, and therefore as one left with very few children. For she said, he says: “The Lord has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me.” And what does God say to this? He shows his love for men to be beyond comparison, and promises the spiritual Zion the good things of his compassion, and tries to assure her that he would never forget his own creatures. For just as a woman who has borne children would not forget her own children, since she has the law of nature as arbiter of the highest kindness, or tender affection, so neither would I forget my own, he says; or perhaps God’s affection even surpasses the tender affection found in mothers. For it is not at all unlikely that she might fall into forgetfulness; but it is not right that I should suffer this. So the words are spoken as from the earthly Zion, that is, the mother of the Jews, who suffered childlessness, or the loss of most of her children; but the promise is made to the spiritual Zion, to which the all-wise Paul says the believers have come; [I mean] the one from the nations, which corresponds to the one above, which the all-wise Paul mentions when he says: “But the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.” For she is the city of the living God, the nurse of the firstborn, and the mother of the saints enrolled in heaven, and Christ would never forget her. For he loves the church, which he presented to himself, having created the two peoples into one new man and reconciled both in one body to the Father. How then could he forget his own body, that is, the church, of which he is the head?

“Behold, I have painted your walls on my hands, and you are before me continually; and you shall soon be built by those by whom you were pulled down, and those who laid you waste shall go out from you.”

The sense of these words is very hard to find. For what could one suppose the hands of God to be, on which it is right to think that the walls of Zion have been painted? The sacred writing very often calls God’s hands his active powers, through which he brought all things into being, whenever he also works any of the things he wills; for example, the Singer makes plain the coming into being of every man when he says: “Your hands have formed me and made me”; and: “For the sea is his, and he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.” And again: “And you, Lord, in the beginning founded the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands.” How, then, could anyone suppose that the walls of the Zion meant here are painted, as on a tablet, on God’s active powers? Or what walls at all does the passage mention? What, then, do we say? Nothing, I think, would prevent the disciple of Christ from fitting a sense of this kind to the words before us. Zion was accusing the Lord of having forgotten her. But that this is not true our Lord Jesus Christ tries to show from what belongs to the incarnation and from what he endured for our sake when he became like us. For although he could have remained in the form and equality of the Father, he did not count this a thing to be grasped, but rather came down into self-emptying. He took the form of a servant and became obedient to the Father unto death, even death on a cross. For he was hung on a tree, his hands nailed to it. But the saving passion overthrew the principalities, triumphed over the world-rulers of this age, freed all from the tyranny of the devil, and brought us to God. For by his bruise we were healed; he bore our sins in his body on the tree; he was weakened, and we have been saved; and his passion has become our safety and wall. For he bought us out of the curse of the law, having become a curse for us; and in that he himself suffered when tempted, he has helped those who are tempted; and he suffered outside the city, so as to sanctify the people with his own blood. So (I will say it again) the passion of Christ, the precious cross, and the nailing of his hands have become safety and a wall, unapproachable and unbreakable, for those who believe in him. Fittingly, then, he might say: “Behold, I have painted your walls on my hands.” You will understand the piercing of the hands, that is, the passion, as signified by this one thing. “I have painted” means “I have engraved.” “And you are before me continually.” For if he suffered for us, how could he forget us? Or how could those for whose sake he was nailed to the tree not be before his eyes? But if anyone should wish to apply himself to the sense of these words in another way too, it is not at all unlikely, I think, to understand something like this: all who have believed in Christ are in the hands of God the Father. One might say this, I think, and not miss the truth. For he himself said: “My sheep hear my voice and follow me, and I give them eternal life”; and besides this, that “no one will snatch them out of my Father’s hand,” since they are under shelter … fortified. Since, then, nothing prevents us from understanding that all are in the hands of God the Father, who as it were holds us up, keeps us safe by himself, and does not let us be carried off anywhere we should not go, nor become the prey of … of those who plot against us, [nothing prevents us from understanding] also that the walls of Zion are as it were painted on his own hands …

… that is, decked out for spiritual elegance, and having as their beauty that they are very well known for every virtue. And we say that the walls of the spiritual Zion are the holy apostles and evangelists, appointed to this by God and keeping their mind on him without ceasing. For their names were written in heaven, and they have been set in the book of the living. And do not be surprised that he says the saints are the ramparts and walls of the church. He himself is its wall and outer wall; but just as … being, and the whole safety of those who believe in him, he has given the holy initiators into the mysteries, as a rank of splendid dignity, to be called walls of his church.

“And you shall soon be built,” he says, “by those by whom you were pulled down.” The Jews, or rather the leaders of the Jews, pulled down the earthly Zion, that is, their own mother, carrying her away from Christ and teaching her to treat the faith as unacceptable. For they said: “We know that God has spoken to Moses; but as for this man, we do not know where he is from.” And having driven on to the limit of every evil and killed the heir, they became the cause of her fall. But just as Jews pulled her down, so again the divine disciples, who were Jews, raised her up, plainly when she had changed, not remaining what she was, that is, disobedient and Lord-slaying, but distinguished in faith, plainly faith in Christ. “And those who laid her waste went out from her.” For the first leaders were cast out, and others were set up in their place, whom we mentioned just now. For she could not otherwise change and love Christ and choose [the truth] in place of the shadow of the law, unless the first were thrust out from leading her lawlessly, and the choir of the holy initiators into the mysteries were raised up instead, of whom the divine David makes most excellent mention when he sings somewhere and says to Christ, the Saviour of all: “You will make them rulers over all the earth, and they will remember your name in every generation and generation.”

“Lift up your eyes round about and see them all. Behold, they have gathered and come to you. As I live, says the Lord, you shall put them all on, and put them around you like a bride’s ornament.”

Throughout the whole holy and divinely inspired Scripture it is clearly declared that those of the blood of Israel, or the children of the earthly Zion, are the portion and lot of Christ in the last times of the age. “For they will return,” it says, “to the Lord their God and to David their king,” and they will be amazed at the Lord and at his good things in the last days. For while they disobeyed, the church from the nations, which we also say is the spiritual Zion, came in alongside; but those too will be called, and they will be one flock, one shepherd, so that there are no longer two Zions named, but both belong to one church, having come under the hand of the one chief shepherd of all. And that this will certainly come about in every way he assures by saying to the mother of the Jews: “Lift up your eyes round about and see them all. Behold, they have gathered and come to you. As I live, says the Lord, you shall put them all on and put them around you like a bride’s ornament.”