Commentary on Isaiah 5.4.23–5.5.5

For the sons of those who once humbled it, that is, those who hold power over earthly affairs, and who come as it were from them in the successions of sceptres … one may name those who come after, who now hold the church venerable with honour and awe, and approach it in fear, that is, with reverence and with the divine fear in mind. “For it has been called the city of the Lord, Zion of the Holy One of Israel.” For the church is the city of God; and the inspired David teaches this, saying as to it: “Glorious things have been spoken of you, O city of God.” And the Lord of all himself says somewhere through the lyre of the Psalmist: “Here I will dwell, for I have chosen it; I will bless its door, I will satisfy its poor with bread, I will clothe its priests with salvation.” And if anyone should wish [to take] the sons of the kings who once persecuted the church [as those who] now come to it and honour it as a divine city, he would not be carried wide of the mark. For we see that the outcome of events has turned out so.

“Because you became forsaken and hated, and there was no one to help, I will make you an everlasting exultation, a joy for generations of generations. And you shall suck the milk of nations, and eat the wealth of kings. And you shall know that I am the Lord who saves you, and God who delivers you …”

“For you became”, he says, “forsaken and hated, and there was no one to help.” This was the occasion of your humbling: you raged drunkenly against him who was able to exalt you and to keep your prosperity unshaken, and there was no one to hold out a helping hand, since you were hated by God. For you raged drunkenly, not against one of those placed in the rank of household servants and having a servant's ministry, but against the King and Lord of all himself. But since you have once suffered humbling, the troubles will pass, and he will win you back by what comes after. For as when you disobeyed you had to be punished by God's just sentence, so when you have turned back it is fitting that you receive mercy. “I will make you, then”, he says, “a joy for generations of generations.” For there is nothing gloomy in the church of Christ; and where there is the hope of incorruption, of endless life, of boundless glory and of the kingdom of heaven, what dejection could there be? “And you shall suck the milk of nations, and eat the wealth of kings.” To some the sense of the prophecy seems to teach something like this: that many from the Greek herd, having made their mind wise in the divinely inspired Scriptures, … will become teachers of the synagogue of the Jews. But for the present the saying does not seem to me to go this way of thought; rather it perhaps wishes to indicate that it will be filled with the fruits offered by the gentiles and with royal gifts.

For the experience of events shows this too to be true. And when these things have been accomplished in this way, he says: “I am the Lord who saves you.” For as the prophet Isaiah says: “Unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us seed, we would have become like Sodom, and been made like Gomorrah.” For by the grace and love for humankind of God the remnant of Israel has been saved, so that the nation sprung from holy fathers did not perish entirely.

“And instead of bronze I will bring you gold, and instead of iron I will bring you silver, and instead of wood I will bring you bronze, and instead of stones iron. And I will make your rulers in peace, and your bishops in righteousness.”

He takes these materials as examples, since they differ very greatly from one another, but obliquely he signifies something spiritual and deep. For he means that all things will be changed for the better, and the later will surpass the first. For the instruction in the law will wholly give way to that through Christ, that is, to the decrees of the gospel, and the difference will be as great as that between bronze and gold. For bronze looks like gold, but is not gold; and iron looks like silver, for it has some brightness, but it is not silver; rather it falls far short of what excels it. So one might liken the instruction in the law to bronze, and that through Christ to gold; and again one might liken the force of the way of life in the law to iron, whose brightness is limited, but that in Christ and in the gospel rather to silver; for it has the most perfect brightness, in a spiritual sense. That is why the all-wise Paul too, though he says he had very great ground for boasting through his life in the law and the knowledge it gives, counted all things refuse, and wanted to gain Christ and the surpassing worth of the knowledge of him. And wood and stones are useful for building; and we shall find the all-wise Paul likening the force of some people's teaching to these materials: “For if anyone”, he says, “builds on the foundation wood, hay, stones, stubble.” This being so, we say that the teaching of the scribes and Pharisees, or in short the guidance of the unbelieving Jews, who do not understand the mystery of Christ at all, since they did not even believe in him, might perhaps be likened to wood and stones; but that in Christ and in the gospel is as much better as bronze is than wood, and iron than stone. For their teachings and reasonings were easily broken, but those of the people in Christ are solid and as it were unbreakable, as well as bright and precious. For the Jews fall into genealogies and endless myths when they expound to the peoples under their hand, weaving in nonsense and old wives' chatter; but those who bear Christ in mind teach those under their hand every way of good skill, and make those who come to them lovers of doctrinal exactness and workers of every virtue. And what follows at once shows in a way that the sense of the prophecy has this aim. “For I will make”, he says, “your rulers in peace and your bishops in righteousness.” For as though the first had been expelled, he says, the Saviour of all raises up other rulers and bishops of the peoples, who excel in peace and righteousness. For those who … are at peace with God … you shall be called a city of righteousness, crowned with the boast of righteousness. The prophet Isaiah said something like this again elsewhere, or rather God through the prophet said it to the mother of the Jews, I mean Jerusalem: “And I will bring my hand upon you, and refine you by fire to purity, and destroy the disobedient, and take away all the lawless from you, and humble all the proud; and I will establish your judges as at the first and your counsellors as at the beginning; and after this … a faithful mother-city, Zion.” And indeed the Saviour himself rebuked the leaders of the Jews, saying: “Truly, truly, I say to you, the kingdom of heaven will be taken from you and given to another nation, producing its fruits.”

“And injustice shall not be heard in your land, nor destruction and misery within your borders; but your walls shall be called Salvation …”

And the saying is very reasonable. For if its rulers are in peace, and its bishops excel in the boasts of righteousness, then surely among those under their yoke too the eagerness to live in all righteousness and in godliness according to Christ will prevail. “And there is not”, he says, “even destruction within your borders.” By “destruction” he means overreaching, that is, against those in humble estate and weakness. For such people are easily run down and lie ready as prey for those who wish to plunder. And at times the leaders of the synagogue of the Jews became unjust and overreaching, and, setting themselves against the divine laws, made their judgements in each matter … The sacred writing accuses them in very many places of having gone to such a measure of unholiness that they are seen to be guilty of unbearable charges. At one time it says that its leaders judged for gifts, and its prophets divined for silver. And the inspired [Psalmist] sings: “Destruction and misery are in their ways, and the way of peace they have not known; there is no fear of God before their eyes.” And the God of all rebuked them when they fasted, saying: “For in the days of your fasts you find your wishes, and you goad all those under your hand; you fast for lawsuits and fights, and strike the humble with fists”; and besides these, through the voice of Isaiah: “And they coveted fields and plundered orphans, and oppressed houses, and plundered a man and his house, a man and his inheritance.” But since their [rule] has ceased, and the choir of the holy apostles has been raised up in their place, and those after them who still strive to follow in their footsteps rightly divide the word of truth and have become the best tutors of those under their hand, for this reason he says, very fittingly, that injustice will no longer be heard in their land, nor destruction and misery, but rather that its walls will be called Salvation and its gates Carving. And by walls, I think, he means the holy tutors, [who guard] the church, so that it cannot be taken by enemies, whether visible or invisible. The same would also be gates, since they use the word that brings in, and through faith bring into the knowledge of truth those hitherto outside it. And “Carving”, because their word was exceedingly beautiful, and as it were turned on the lathe to the truth; for everything carved is comely. The Seventy gave this rendering, but the other translators have put “Jesus” instead of “Carving”. And this too is true. For he has been named, and is, “fair in beauty beyond the sons of men”, and we have gained him as walls and gates. For he secures us by unspeakable power and by the help of the holy angels: “For he will command his angels concerning you, to guard you in all your ways”, and: “The angel of the Lord will encamp round about those who fear him, and will deliver them.” And through him we come to the knowledge of the Father, and for this he has become door and gate and way. So he said: “I am the door, and the way, and no one comes to the Father except through me.” And he is also the Carving, that is, the form and likeness of him who begot him, and the stamp of his substance, and image, and radiance of his glory.

“And the sun shall not be for you as light by day, nor shall the rising of the moon light your night; but the Lord shall be your everlasting light, and God your glory. For your sun shall not set, and the moon shall not fail. For the Lord shall be your everlasting light.”

Some wish, through the sense of the words before us, to lead us to think something like this: in the last times of the age, when those who lie in the earth have been raised, and the Saviour of us all, Christ, has come down from heaven with the holy angels in the glory of the Father, the brightness of the elements will cease to work, and we look for new heavens and a new earth, and his promises, according to what is written. And the Saviour himself said something like this: “In those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light.” For the glory of the Saviour himself will be enough to give light to the saints. But so that the words before us may seem in some way to follow the sense of those above, while we approve this interpretation, we say that something else too is shown through the verses before us. The light of the sun, and that of the moon as well, is useful and necessary to the eyes of the body; but at night the sun's light is withdrawn, and by day the moon's, for they yield the shining to one another in turn. But the divine and spiritual light, which the Saviour of all, he says, puts into the hearts of believers through the Holy Spirit, … is unceasing and ever-shining, so that no one's mind needs sun or moon for its enlightenment or recovery of sight. For the mind is not lit by sensible light, but is content rather with the guiding light and brightness of the Holy Spirit, so as to be able to behold the glory of Christ and how great is his likeness to him who begot him, a likeness plainly in essence, and indeed to know without straying the road of the best life. So the Saviour has become everlasting light for us, and he makes this clear to us, saying: “I am the light of the world”, and again: “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” “Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

“And the days of your mourning shall be fulfilled, and your people shall all be righteous, and they shall inherit the land for ever, guarding the plant, the works of his hands for glory. The fewest shall become thousands, and the least a great nation. I the Lord will gather them in due time.”

Those who say that the time of the consummation is indicated by the light of the sun or moon no longer working, but rather being withdrawn so that our Lord may become everlasting light, say that for those who mourn now, whom the Saviour says will be comforted, there will be an end of mourning at that time; for they will cease from toiling and being worn down, and will obtain the everlasting rewards. For this, I think, … But [holding that the sense of the words] must follow those above, we say this: dejection is proper and most fitting to those who remain in their offences. For they expect not honours and crowns, not comfort from God, but rather punishment and fire and darkness; whereas those who are given to good works rejoice in hope, as the all-wise Paul says, for their goodness is followed by glory and delight for endless ages. But when even someone held fast by very many sins turns to the Lord, and is then justified through faith and receives the forgiveness of his charges, he will expect to receive the honours made ready for the saints as well. Then indeed the days of his mourning will cease, and he will be done with sweat and dejection. And what comes next as it were confirms this sense: “For all your people”, he says, “shall be righteous”, that is, all the people who follow you will be justified; and the saying is addressed as to the church. And Christ justifies the ungodly by grace and love for humankind, and releases from every charge those who have been caught. And who will supply such things he has made known, saying: “Guarding the plant, the works of his hands, for glory.” For we are a plant among the plants of the Saviour of us all, Christ, and his work. For, being wild olives, we were grafted into the good olive, Christ as it were working on us with his own hands; for not an elder, not an angel, but the Lord himself saved us. So he himself said: “I who speak am here.” “And the fewest”, he says, “shall become thousands, and the least a great nation.” For now, that is, in this age, the glory of the saints is hidden, and as far as worldly pretensions go they seem to be among the least, having no glory to show. But when Christ shines forth again from heaven, then he who was thought to be the least and fewest will become a great nation. For he will lead peoples and govern many, as one who has finished the approved course in this life. And one can see this from what Christ said; for, addressing the apostles, he says: “When the Son of Man sits on the throne of his glory, then you too will sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” And in the distribution of the talents too he is found saying: “Be over ten tribes”; and to others he gives the smaller portion: “Be”, he says, “over five cities”, surely holding out a reward equal in weight to their virtues, and weighing out the honour fitting to each. And rejoicing at this very thing the saints say: “He subjected peoples to us, and nations under our feet.” And those who were thought to be least in this life, and then have become thousands and a great nation, “I”, he says, “the Lord of all, will gather in due time”, plainly the time of his coming from heaven. For then the saints will enjoy every good; and they will be caught up, as the all-wise Paul says, in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord in endless honours.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me; he has sent me to preach good news to the poor, to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim release to captives and [recovery of sight] to the blind, to call the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of recompense, to comfort all who mourn, that there be given to those who mourn in Zion glory instead of ashes, the oil of gladness to those who mourn, a garment of glory instead of a spirit of weariness.”

He who said above about those called in faith, “[I will gather] them”, as though the time had already come at which he promised to gather them, and as one already become man, having undergone likeness to us and lowered himself into emptying, says: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me”; although the Only-begotten, being God by nature, is Holy of holies and himself sanctifies the whole creation, since he is born of a holy Father, and puts the Spirit that is poured forth from him into the powers above as his own, and besides into those who have recognized his appearing. How, then, was he sanctified? Being at once God and man, the same one, he gives the Spirit to creation as God, and receives … This, we say, is the anointing. And he makes the cause of the incarnation plain. For having said that [he was anointed] by the Father, he necessarily added: “Because he anointed me, he has sent me to preach good news to the poor, to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim release to those in captivity, and to grant recovery of sight to the blind, and besides this to call [the acceptable year of the Lord] and the day of recompense”: many glorious achievements of the incarnation of the Only-begotten together. For in order to win the earth under heaven, and to bring to God the Father those in all the inhabited world, changing all things for the better and as it were renewing the face of the earth, he took the form of a servant, though he is Lord of all. So he preached good news to the poor; he says he was sent for this. And the poor would be, or would be understood as, those who once were sick with the want of every good, having no hope and without God in the world, according to what is written. These would be those from the gentiles who have become rich in faith in him, having gained the divine and heavenly treasure, plainly the saving preaching of the gospel, through which they have become sharers in the kingdom of heaven, partners of the saints, and heirs of things beyond mind and word. “For eye has not seen”, he says, “nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love him.” Or perhaps the saying here says that the abundant supply of the gifts through Christ has been given to the poor in spirit. And by the broken-hearted he means those who have a weak and easily shattered mind, and [are subdued] by the passions, … by them so that they seem to be captives. To these he promises healing and release, and to them, being blind, he also gives recovery of sight. For those who serve the creation, and say to the wood, “You are my father”, and to the stone, “You begot me”, and so have not recognized him who is God by nature and truly, how would they not be blind, with a heart bare of the divine and spiritual light? Into these the Father puts the light of the true knowledge of God. For they have been called through faith and have known him, or rather have been known by him; and though they were sons of night and darkness, the Sun of righteousness has risen [on them], and the bright Morning Star has dawned. And nothing prevents applying all that has been said to those of the blood [of Israel] too. For they were poor, and broken-hearted, and as it were captives, and darkened. “For there was no one on the earth who did good, not even one; but all turned aside, together they became worthless.” And Christ has come, preaching good news to those of Israel before the others of the achievements of his coming; and besides this, to call the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of recompense. And the acceptable year is that in which Christ was crucified for us. For then we became acceptable to God the Father, and were borne as fruit through him; and he himself taught us this, saying: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless the grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears

much fruit.” And again: “When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all to myself.” And so he came back to life on the third day, having trampled on the power of death. Then he addressed the holy disciples, saying: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me; go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” That year, then, was surely the acceptable one, in which we were received and obtained fellowship with him, having washed off sin through holy baptism, and having become partakers of his divine nature through participation in the Holy Spirit. Or the acceptable year is the one in which he manifested his glory through divine signs beyond reason; for we [received] gladly the time of the salvation that comes from him, which the all-wise Paul too made known, saying: “Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” And the day of recompense, we say, is no less the very time of his coming, in which the recompense was given by him to those who believed in him, through the promise held in hope. I mean something like this. The way of life according to the law of Moses, when it was praised, brought prosperity here to those who wished to accomplish it blamelessly, but it had no promise of rewards for the future; perhaps it mentioned only prosperity in this life. For it commanded abstaining from offences, exclaiming, “that you may not die before your time”; and it exclaimed to children: “Honour your father and mother, that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.” And at times it promised abundance of fruits, an end of war, breadth of peace and the good cheer that goes with it. So he said through the voice of Zechariah: “… of men and cattle in it; and I will be to it, says the Lord, a wall of fire round about, and I will be for glory in the midst of it.” And again: “… each holding his staff in his hand because of the multitude of days; and the squares of the city shall be filled with boys and girls playing in its squares.” So the law through Moses promised the ancients the enjoyment of temporary rewards, but the divine and saving preaching [promises] recompenses for the future. “For blessed”, it says, “are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”; and [whoever reads] the beatitudes that follow will find the [rewards] promised, bright and great, [given] by … the recompense made by Christ at the time of his coming, he would not be throwing wide of the mark. For long ago the utterly profane Satan boasted over those on earth. For he overreached the earth under heaven, driving it astray like cattle from the true knowledge, I mean that of him who is God by nature, and, casting it as it were into the pits of sin, made it a worshipper of himself and of the wicked powers with him. So he said: “I will seize the whole world in my hand like a nest, and like abandoned eggs I will take it up, and there is no one who will escape me or speak against me.” But he was caught with his hopes on this very point empty. For Christ rose up against him and spoke against him on our behalf, and exacted from him the penalty for his impiety against us. For he pulled down all his strength; he has been cast out of his tyranny over us; “and committing them to Tartarus with chains of gloom”, according to what is written, “he handed them over to be kept for punishment at the judgement of the great day”, both him and the others who became fellow-apostates with him.