Isaiah 27
Commentary from 7 fathers
In that day [there shall be] a fair vineyard, [and] a desire to commence [a song] concerning it.
τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ἀμπελὼν καλὸς ἐπιθύμημα ἐξάρχειν κατ᾿ αὐτῆς.
Въ то́й де́нь вїногра́дъ до́брый, жела́нїе пѣ́ти над̾ ни́мъ:
2–3(Verse 2, 3.) On that day, the vineyard of wine will sing for him. I am the Lord who tends it, and I will suddenly water it, lest anyone harm it. LXX: On that day, her desire will be a good vineyard, that she may be a prince. I am a strong city, a city that is besieged: in vain will I give her drink. For they will be captured at night, but the wall will fall during the day. There is much disagreement between the Hebrew and the LXX edition in this passage, therefore we will discuss each one separately. The vineyard about which Isaiah speaks: The vineyard has become a beloved one in a fertile place, which should be understood, let us learn from the Teacher himself (or, rather, let us say): For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel (Isaiah 5:1), of which it is sung in the psalm: You have brought the vineyard out of Egypt, etc. (Psalm 80:8). To this vineyard also, through Jeremiah, the most bitter cup is given (Jeremiah 25). For when he had sent him to intoxicate all the nations, and the Prophet had willingly offered himself for this task, he is first ordered to make Jerusalem drunk. Where it says: You have deceived me, O Lord, and I was deceived (Jeremiah 20:7). Therefore, Jerusalem will drink and be made to drink a bitter potion, so that she may learn lamentation and weeping. And the Lord says that He has kept her for a long time and given her a place for repentance, but because she refused to return, she will suddenly be made drunk. For the Scripture says that the Lord has acted in this way day and night, always preserving her with His help. And the same beautiful vineyard is called the Seventy by the LXX, in which there was the Law and the Prophets, the priesthood and the pontificate, and the knowledge of God, as the Scripture says: God is known in Judah, His name is great in Israel (Psalm 75:1). What others think, according to their edition, pertains to the Church, which is nothing more beautiful. And of which it is said: Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God (Ps. LXXXVI, 3): which is the mother of her offspring, and says in the Song of Songs: The sons of my mother fought against me (Cant. I, 5). And he speaks: I am a firm city, a city that is besieged. He said that it is beautifully besieged, not conquered. And immediately he connects it with the Synagogue, which has been turned from head to tail: In vain do I impart the drink of my teachings to her, for she will be taken in the darkness of her error. And because it does not receive clear light, its wall collapses during the day, that is, everything that it believed to be help for itself, and there will be no opponent who does not understand that we must grasp power from opposites.
Commentary on Isaiah
621. In that day. Here correction by their own scourges is set out. Hence he first describes the chastisement; second, the consolation: and it shall come to pass, that in that day (Isa 27:13). Concerning the first, he does two things: first, he foretells the chastisement; second, the manner is examined: there is no indignation in me (Isa 27:4). Concerning the first, he does three things. First, he foretells the song of sorrow: the vineyard, formerly, in the prophets and patriarchs, of pure wine, above: for the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel (Isa 5:7).
Commentary on Isaiah
I am a strong city, a city in a siege: in vain shall I water it; for it shall be taken by night, and by day the wall shall fall.
ἐγὼ πόλις ὀχυρά, πόλις πολιουρκουμένη, μάτην ποτιῶ αὐτήν· ἁλώσεται γὰρ νυκτός, ἡμέρας δὲ πεσεῖται τὸ τεῖχος.
а҆́зъ гра́дъ крѣ́пкїй, гра́дъ вою́емый, всꙋ́е напою̀ є҆го̀: плѣне́нъ бо бꙋ́детъ но́щїю, въ де́нь же паде́тсѧ стѣна̀ є҆гѡ̀: нѣ́сть тогѡ̀, и҆́же не во́зметъ є҆гѡ̀.
It is the soul, too, that says, “I am a strong city, a city besieged.” The city is besieged through Christ, the city is that heavenly Jerusalem, in which there are interpreters of God’s law and men skilled in doctrine in great abundance; through them one seeks the Word of God.
On Isaac and the Soul 5.39
Therefore let us flee these evils and elevate our soul to the image and likeness of God. The flight from evils is the likeness of God, and the image of God is gained through the virtues. And so, like a painter, he has painted us with the colors of the virtues. “See, I have painted your walls, Jerusalem.” Let us not wipe away with the brush of neglect the props of the painted walls of our soul. And so “I have painted the walls,” with which we can turn away the enemy. The soul has its walls; from them it stands forth and concerning them it says, “I am a strong city, a city besieged.” By these walls it is guarded, and by them it is protected under siege. And truly the soul is a wall, which stretches forth over the camp. And therefore the bride says in the Song of Solomon, “I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers.” The wall that the Lord painted is good, even as he says: “On my hands I have painted your walls, and you are always in my sight.”
On the Death of Satyrus 2.17-18
You have in Isaiah the speech made by the soul of a just man or of the church: “I am a strong city, I am a city besieged,” defended by Christ and besieged by the devil. But one whom Christ aids ought not to be fearful of a siege. [Such a person] is defended by spiritual grace and is besieged by the perils of this world. Hence also it is said in the Song of Songs, “I am a wall, and my breasts are as a tower.” The wall is the church, and the towers are her priests, who have full power to teach the natural and the moral sciences.
The Six Days of Creation 6.8.49
Second, he sets out the intention of the one who punishes: I am the Lord that keep it, below: you have drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath (Isa 51:17). Third, he sets out the benefit, for which they were ungrateful: lest any hurt come to it, I keep it night and day: your word, O Lord, which heals all things (Wis 16:12).
Commentary on Isaiah
There is no woman that has not taken hold of it; who will set me to watch stubble in the field? because of this enemy I have set her aside; therefore on this account the Lord has done all that he appointed.
οὐκ ἔστιν ἣ οὐκ ἐπελάβετο αὐτῆς· τίς με θήσει φυλάσσειν καλάμην ἐν ἀγρῷ; διὰ τὴν πολεμίαν ταύτην ἠθέτηκα αὐτήν· τοίνυν διὰ τοῦτο ἐποίησε Κύριος πάντα ὅσα συνέταξε. κατακέκαυμαι,
Кто́ мѧ приста́витъ стрещѝ сте́блїе на ни́вѣ; ра́ди вражды̀ сеѧ̀ ѿри́нꙋхъ и҆̀. Оу҆̀бо сегѡ̀ ра́ди сотворѝ гдⷭ҇ь бг҃ъ всѧ̑, є҆ли̑ка совѣща̀.
4–5(Verse 4, 5.) Indignation is not mine: who will give me a thorn and a thistle in battle? I will march over it: I will set it on fire together. Or rather, shall I hold onto my strength? It will bring me peace, it will bring me peace. LXX: There is nothing that does not seize it. Who will appoint me as a keeper of the straw in the field? Because of this adversary, I have repelled it. Therefore, the Lord has done all that He has planned: I am consumed; its inhabitants will say, we will make peace with it: we will make peace with him. According to the Hebrew, the meaning here is: I who, day and night, have always kept my vineyard, so that the boar from the forest would not destroy it, nor the beasts devour it. Do I not have indignation? And do I not know how to strike the sinner and give to each what he deserves? Where the eagle placed a thorn and a bramble, in Hebrew it is written 'Samir' and 'Saith', which means adamant and places full of thorns. Therefore, he says: Who will teach me to be firm and overcome my mercy, and to proceed fiercely in battle: so that I may walk over the vineyard which I kept, and burn it down which I enclosed with my wall? Or should my courage rather do this, that I postpone anger and save those who are not saved by the authority of the Law, with the mercy of the Gospel? But emphatically, according to the Hebrew reading, it is said: Who will make me hard and cruel, that I may overcome my nature? This is indeed signified in the desert and in thorns: that I may crush and burn it as if in battle, which I have always kept guarded by my diligence. Or should I hold onto my courage, which is undoubtedly Christ, and of which we read: Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24), so that it may itself make peace for me and reconcile the world? According to the Septuagint, here is the meaning: Let us understand it from the perspective of the Church: I am a strong city, a city surrounded by many enemies, to whom I have given in vain the cups of my enemy, the Synagogue. For she will be captured at night, and her wall will fall, and there will be no power of adversaries that will not seize her. Again I will say: What profit is it for me to guard her, which has straw in herself, not grain: which is so uncultivated, that it is full of disgrace and thorns, which I wanted to save? But because she treats me hostilely, I have departed from her. And the Apostles born in me and from me have said: Indeed, it was necessary for you to speak the word of God first, but since you have rejected it and deemed yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles (Acts 13:46). Therefore, the Lord will do what He has threatened, so that all may burn in it surrounded by Roman fire. Or certainly let them burn with vices and sins, lest they be able to extinguish the burning darts of the devil. For all those who commit adultery are like an oven whose hearts are burning. And those who formerly dwelled in it, after they cry out, the city is captured and burned, and they leave it, and reconciling the world (or unclean) to God, they say: Let us make peace to her, let us make peace to Him, which is Christ, always writing in their Letters: Grace be with you and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord (1 Corinthians 1:3). Of whom we read in this same Prophet: How beautiful are the feet of those who announce peace (Isaiah 52:7)! Some refer this place to the Churches, because they are indeed guarded by God; but many of them do not bear fruit; and therefore the fervor of a good teacher should succeed, so that they may proclaim and confess their error, and afterwards make peace with God, who are truly called the children of Jacob.
Commentary on Isaiah
622. There is no indignation in me. Here he examines the manner of punishment, and first, the deliberation of the judge is set out; second, the execution of the result of deliberation: for the strong city shall be desolate (Isa 27:10). Concerning the first, he does three things. First, he sets out severe judgment, setting out the wrath of rage: there is no indignation in me, as if to say: indeed, I am justly indignant, for they are ungrateful for my benefits, below: full of the indignation of the Lord (Isa 51:20); and out of wrath he determines a severe punishment: who shall give to me a thorn and a brier, as to the preceding difficulties that arose together among them, above: briers and thorns shall come up over it (Isa 5:6); in battle, as to the attack of the enemy: I myself will fight against you (Jer 21:5–6); shall I set it on fire, as to the destruction of homes and cities: my indignation goes forth like a fire (Jer 21:12).
Commentary on Isaiah
I am burnt up; they that dwell in her shall cry, Let us make peace with him, let us make peace,
βοήσονται οἱ ἐνοικοῦντες ἐν αὐτῇ, ποιήσωμεν εἰρήνην αὐτῷ, ποιήσωμεν εἰρήνην.
И҆ сгорѣ́хъ, возопїю́тъ живꙋ́щїи въ не́мъ: сотвори́мъ ми́ръ є҆мꙋ̀, сотвори́мъ ми́ръ,
623. Second, he sets out the moderation of the sentence: or rather shall I take hold of my strength? As if to say: I will restrain my wrath; by way of contrast: the Lord will not turn away the wrath of his indignation (Jer 30:24). And he sets out the fruit of the moderation of the sentence as to the good, which all will bear in relation to God: shall it make peace with me, as if to say: will he make peace with me by good works? Below: the work of justice shall be peace (Isa 32:17).
Commentary on Isaiah
they that are coming are the children of Jacob. Israel shall bud and blossom, and the world shall be filled with his fruit.
οἱ ἐρχόμενοι, τέκνα ᾿Ιακώβ, βλαστήσει καὶ ἐξανθήσει ᾿Ισραήλ, καὶ ἐμπλησθήσεται ἡ οἰκουμένη τοῦ καρποῦ αὐτοῦ,
приходѧ̑щаѧ ча̑да і҆а̑кѡвлѧ: прозѧ́бнетъ и҆ процвѣте́тъ і҆и҃ль, и҆ напо́лнитсѧ вселе́ннаѧ плода̀ є҆гѡ̀.
(Verse 6) Those who come out from the root of Jacob will flourish and grow Israel: and they will fill the face of the world with their offspring. LXX: The sons of Jacob who come: Israel will flourish and bloom, and its fruits will fill the earth. After the Apostles, preaching the Gospel in the whole world, have said: We will make peace for Christ, peace will be made for you, those who come from the seed of Jacob and have reached the Apostolic dignity will be called sons of Jacob. Then Israel will sprout and flourish, seeing that the teachings of its children have filled the entire world, and have brought forth abundant fruits that it had not brought while remaining in Judaea.
Commentary on Isaiah
In relation to himself, Israel shall blossom, in faith, or in good intention, and bud, in completion of the work, below: Jerusalem shall flourish like the lily (Isa 35:1); and in relation to his neighbor: they shall fill the face of the world with seed, who shall rush in, namely, the Apostles, above: the law shall come forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem (Isa 2:3); their sound has gone forth into all the earth: and their words unto the ends of the world (Ps 18:5[19:4]).
Commentary on Isaiah
Shall he himself be thus smitten, even as he smote? and as he slew, shall he be thus slain?
μὴ ὡς αὐτὸς ἐπάταξε, καὶ αὐτὸς οὕτως πληγήσεται, καὶ ὡς αὐτὸς ἀνεῖλεν, οὕτως ἀναιρεθήσεται;
Є҆да̀ ꙗ҆́коже то́й поразѝ, и҆ са́мъ си́це ᲂу҆ѧзви́тсѧ; и҆ ꙗ҆́коже са́мъ ᲂу҆бѝ, та́кожде ᲂу҆бїе́нъ бꙋ́детъ;
(Verse 7.) Did he strike him according to the blow of the one striking himself: or as he killed his killers, so was he killed? This place is understood in two ways. Either against Jerusalem, so that he may say that she was not struck by God in the same way that she struck Christ and his Apostles: or against the multitude of the Gentiles, so that the Apostles and apostolic men, despite being persecuted and shedding Christian blood, nevertheless had care for their salvation and reconciled them to God.
Commentary on Isaiah
624. And he sets out the supplementing of the punishment as to the ungrateful: has he struck him according to the stroke of him that struck him? Here he reproaches the benefit of the moderated punishment: he has not dealt with us according to our sins (Ps 102[103]:10).
Commentary on Isaiah
Fighting and reproaching he will dismiss them; didst thou not meditate with a harsh spirit, to slay them with a wrathful spirit?
μαχόμενος καὶ ὀνειδίζων ἐξαποστελεῖ αὐτούς· οὐ σὺ ἦσθα ὁ μελετῶν τῷ πνεύματι τῷ σκληρῷ ἀνελεῖν αὐτοὺς πνεύματι θυμοῦ;
Сварѧ́сѧ и҆ ᲂу҆корѧ́ѧ ѿпꙋ́ститъ ѧ҆̀: не ты́ ли бы́лъ є҆сѝ помышлѧ́ѧ дꙋ́хомъ же́стокимъ, ᲂу҆би́ти ѧ҆̀ дꙋ́хомъ ꙗ҆́рости;
(Verse 8) When it has measured out against the measure, you shall judge it. LXX: He will send them out, quarreling and reproaching. According to the Hebrew sense here: As Jerusalem has done, so she will receive, and according to the measure with which she has measured, it will be measured to her in return. And then she will receive a full measure, when the time of judgment comes and God has rejected her. According to the LXX, it depends on what was said earlier. For Israel will not be struck as she has struck, nor will she be killed as she has killed. He argued against the Apostles, and reproached his teachers, and commanded them not to speak in the name of Christ. Therefore the Lord will reject them and cast them out from his flock.
He meditated in his hard spirit during the heat of the day. LXX: Were you not the one who meditated on destroying them with a hard spirit, with a spirit of fury? According to the Hebrew, it is said, 'In the measure that the table is, Jerusalem will receive.' Therefore, God meditated in his hard and vehement spirit, whether speaking against her during the heat of the day, that is, in the time of persecution, when there is a more intense day of indignation and punishment. According to the Septuagint, it is said of Jerusalem, or of Israel: Were you not the one who in your most stubborn and cruel spirit, and in the fury of your blasphemies, desired to kill the Apostles of the Lord and the teachers?
Commentary on Isaiah
In measure: here he threatens judgment adequate to their sin; when it shall be cast off, from the worship of God through faithlessness, not believing in Christ: according to the measure of the sin shall the measure also of the stripes be (Deut 25:2); he has meditated: here he shows the support of the sentence, with his severe spirit, because it cannot be placated, above: cease therefore from the man, whose breath is in his nostrils (Isa 2:22).
Commentary on Isaiah
Therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be taken away; and this is his blessing, when I shall have taken away his sin; when they shall have broken to pieces all the stones of the altars as fine dust, and their trees shall not remain, and their idols shall be cut off, as a thicket afar off.
διὰ τοῦτο ἀφαιρεθήσεται ἡ ἀνομία ᾿Ιακώβ, καὶ τοῦτό ἐστιν ἡ εὐλογία αὐτοῦ, ὅταν ἀφέλωμαι τὴν ἁμαρτίαν αὐτοῦ, ὅταν θῶσι πάντας τοὺς λίθους τῶν βωμῶν κατακεκομμένους ὡς κονίαν λεπτήν· καὶ οὐ μὴ μείνῃ τὰ δένδρα αὐτῶν, καὶ τὰ εἴδωλα αὐτῶν ἐκκεκομμένα ὥσπερ δρυμὸς μακράν.
Сегѡ̀ ра́ди ѿи́метсѧ беззако́нїе і҆а́кѡвле, и҆ сїѐ є҆́сть блгⷭ҇ве́нїе є҆гѡ̀, є҆гда̀ ѿимꙋ̀ грѣ́хъ є҆гѡ̀, є҆гда̀ положа́тъ всѐ ка́менїе тре́бищъ сокрꙋше́но а҆́ки пра́хъ дро́бный: и҆ не пребꙋ́дꙋтъ древеса̀ и҆́хъ, и҆ кꙋмі́ры и҆́хъ бꙋ́дꙋтъ посѣ́чени, а҆́ки дꙋбра́ва дале́че.
(Verse 9) Therefore, because of this, the iniquity of the house of Jacob will be forgiven, and all this fruit will be removed, so that its sin may be taken away. For they have set up all the stones of the altar like scattered ashes; neither the lights nor the shrines will stand. LXX: Therefore, the iniquity of Jacob will be taken away, and this will be his blessing when I remove his sin, when I set up all the stones of the altars shattered like crushed ash, and their trees and idols will not endure. The reason why they suffer no harm even after the Jews laid hands upon the Lord is that they may obtain forgiveness if they choose to repent, so that the prayer of the Savior may be fulfilled: Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34). Therefore, it is said, the iniquity of the house of Jacob will be pardoned, and its sin will be taken away, so that it may deserve the blessing of God, which had been cursed upon it when it said: His blood be upon us, and upon our children (Matthew 27:25). Because through the Apostles, the Gospel will be sown from the stock of Israel throughout the whole world, and idolatry will be destroyed, and altars will be crushed to dust, lights will be cut down, temples will fall, and the knowledge of the one God under the mystery of the Trinity will be proclaimed.
Commentary on Isaiah
625. Third, he explains the motive for moderating the punishment, so that he would not destroy them entirely at that time, namely, because Christ and the Apostles were to descend from that people, and through their preaching the worship of idols was to be abandoned; and this is what is meant by, when he shall have made all the stones of the altar, as burnt stones broken in pieces, above: man shall bow down himself to his Maker, and his eyes shall look to the Holy One of Israel (Isa 17:7).
Commentary on Isaiah
The flock that dwelt [there] shall be left, as a deserted flock; and [the ground] shall be for a long time for pasture, and there shall flocks lie down to rest.
τὸ κατοικούμενον ποίμνιον ἀνειμένον ἔσται, ὡς ποίμνιον καταλελειμμένον καὶ ἔσται πολὺν χρόνον εἰς βόσκημα, καὶ ἐκεῖ ἀναπαύσονται ποίμνια.
Ѡ҆бита́ющее ста́до ѿпꙋще́нно бꙋ́детъ, а҆́ки ста́до ѡ҆ста́вленое: и҆ бꙋ́детъ мно́го вре́мѧ въ па́жить, и҆ та́мѡ почі́ютъ стада̀.
(Verse 10) The fortified city will be deserted; the beautiful city will be abandoned and left like a wilderness. There the calf will graze, and there it will lie down and consume its branches. Their idols will be cut down like groves, and the flock that dwells far away will be left like a deserted flock, and it will be a long time in the pasture, and there the flocks will rest, and after a long time there will be no green in it, for it is dried up. Jerusalem, once a strong and fortified city, because it did not receive its masters but said: Come, let us kill him, for this is the heir and our inheritance (Matthew 21:38), will be deserted. And that which was once beautiful, of which it is said in Ezekiel: You ate fine flour, honey, and oil, and you became exceedingly beautiful (Ezek. 16:13), and in which dwells He of whom it is written: You are fairer than the sons of men (Ps. 45:3), will be left and abandoned like a desert, as the Lord says to the Apostles: Arise, let us go from here (John 14:31). There the calf, the Roman army, will graze, of which it is also said in another place under the name of boar: The boar from the forest will ravage it, and the singular wild beast has grazed on it (Ps. 80:14). And there he will lie down and consume its branches under the metaphor of a vine and its shoots, so that nothing green remains in it, nothing of the branches, but the enemy consumes everything. According to the Septuagint, because they did not receive a good shepherd: therefore they will be like a forsaken flock, and will be open to the bites of beasts; and nothing green will remain in them, because drought will possess everything.
Commentary on Isaiah
626. The strong city, namely, Jerusalem: how doth the city sit solitary that was full of people? (Lam 1:1); as to the power of the enemy: there the calf, the army of the enemy, shall feed, as though resting without fear; branches, metaphorically, that is, ears of wheat, which signify princes, above: wild beasts shall rest there (Isa 13:21); or literally, it may be a sign of desolation: they saw the chambers joining to the temple thrown down (1 Macc 4:38).
Commentary on Isaiah
And after a time there shall be in it no green thing because of [the grass] being parched. Come hither, ye woman that come from a sight; for it is a people of no understanding; therefore he that made them shall have no pity upon them, and he that formed them shall have no mercy [upon them].
καὶ μετὰ χρόνον οὐκ ἔσται ἐν αὐτῇ πᾶν χλωρὸν διὰ τὸ ξηρανθῆναι. γυναῖκες ἐρχόμεναι ἀπὸ θέας, δεῦτε· οὐ γὰρ λαός ἐστιν ἔχων σύνεσιν, διὰ τοῦτο οὐ μὴ οἱκτειρήσῃ ὁ ποιήσας αὐτούς, οὐδὲ ὁ πλάσας αὐτοὺς οὐ μὴ ἐλεήσῃ.
И҆ по вре́мени не бꙋ́детъ въ не́мъ всѧ́кагѡ ѕла́ка, зане́же и҆́зсхнетъ: жєны̀ грѧдꙋ́щыѧ съ позо́рища, прїиди́те: не сꙋ́ть бо лю́дїе и҆мꙋ́ще смы́сла, сегѡ̀ ра́ди не ᲂу҆ще́дритъ сотвори́вый ѧ҆̀, нижѐ созда́вый и҆̀хъ поми́лꙋетъ.
The women, returning from the sepulcher and from this vision of the angels, were foreseen by Isaiah, when he says, “Come, you women, who return from the vision,” that is, “come” to report the resurrection of the Lord. It was well, however, that the unbelief of the disciples was so persistent, in order that to the last we might consistently maintain that Jesus revealed himself to the disciples as none other than the Christ of the prophets.
Against Marcion 4.43
That the women were to see his resurrection, while the scribes and Pharisees and the people disbelieved, this also Isaiah foretold in these words, “You women, who come from beholding, come: for it is a people that has no understanding.”
Commentary on the Apostles’ Creed 30
(Verse 11) In the dryness of its harvest, women who come and teach her will be crushed. For the people are not wise; therefore, the one who made them will not show them mercy, and the one who formed them will not spare them. LXX: Women coming from the spectacle, come: for the people do not have understanding; therefore, the one who made them will not show them mercy, and the one who formed them will not spare them. This is what is said, 'In the dryness of its harvest, they will be crushed,' for which it is interpreted by the Seventy, there will be nothing green in it because it has withered, according to the Hebrew, it is joined to the following; according to the LXX, it is joined to the previous meaning. Let us therefore speak first according to the Hebrew. When the time of drought and harvest of Jerusalem comes, and to speak more clearly, the time of desolation will come, a multitude of synagogues from all over the world will come together to lament for Jerusalem and to console its evils. Whether he speaks openly about women, who, with their breasts exposed, strike their bleeding arms, and the prophecy of the Lord will be fulfilled: Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children (Luke 23:28). And a great unhappiness of the people is to learn the songs of lamentation from women; just as the people of Israel were rebuked when, in the book of Judges (Judges 4), the Lord brought salvation through the hand of the woman Deborah, and during the nearby captivity, when the men were silent, the woman Holda prophesied (2 Kings 22). Therefore, the women will be worn out by a long journey, weakened by frailty, hunger, and filth, and they will teach the pitiful people, because they are not a wise people, nor have they understood their Creator, who, neglected and despised by them, will not show mercy to their deeds, and will not spare his creation. According to the LXX, it is said of Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, and the other women, who first saw the Lord rising, and held his feet, and deserved to hear from him: Do not be afraid: Go, tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me (Matt. XXVIII, 10). Concerning these women, long before they were born, the prophetic word foretells and calls them from the sight of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection, to preach the Gospel and, according to the Hebrew, to teach Jerusalem or the land of Israel, that he is the Lord and God. For at that time the people of Israel did not have wisdom, when the Lord suffered, and the prophetic prophecy was fulfilled: Save me, O Lord, for the holy one has failed (Psalm 11:1). And: They have all gone astray, they have become useless together, there is no one who does good, not even one (Psalm 13:4), the women are called from the show, so that they may announce to the Apostles what they themselves saw. But Israel, of whom it was said (above, 1:3): Israel did not know me, and my people did not understand, provoked their most merciful Creator and Maker to bitterness, so that he would not show them any mercy. These things are indeed said piously; but how they agree with the others, and how they are adapted to the times of the consummation of the world, is a difficult interpretation.
Commentary on Isaiah
And the destruction of men: its harvest shall be destroyed with drought; this is a metaphor: that is, as ears of wheat are crushed in the drought of summer; women shall come and teach it, by whom the people were thrown greatly into sin, above: as for my people, their oppressors have stripped them, and women have ruled over them (Isa 3:12); or because the women themselves taught them, as Deborah (Judg 4), and Holda (2 Kgs 22:14).
627. Second, he sets out the fairness of the punishment in relation to their guilt: for it is not a wise people, above: therefore is my people led away captive, because they had not knowledge (Isa 5:13).
Commentary on Isaiah
And it shall come to pass in that day [that] God shall fence [men] off from the channel of the river as far as Rhinocorura; but do ye gather one by one the children of Israel.
καὶ ἔσται ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ συμφράξει ὁ Θεὸς ἀπὸ τῆς διώρυγος τοῦ ποταμοῦ ἕως Ῥινοκορούρων, ὑμεῖς δὲ συναγάγετε τοὺς υἱοὺς ᾿Ισραὴλ κατὰ ἕνα ἕνα.
И҆ бꙋ́детъ въ то́й де́нь, загради́тъ гдⷭ҇ь ѿ рове́нника рѣчна́гѡ, да́же до рїнокорꙋ́ры {Є҆вр.: водоте́чи є҆гѵ́петскїѧ.} (гра́да): вы́ же собери́те сы́ны і҆и҃лєвы по є҆ди́номꙋ.
(Verse 12) And it shall be on that day, the Lord shall strike from the channel of the river to the torrent of Egypt. LXX: And it shall be on that day, the Lord shall shut off from the channel of the river to Rhinocorura. If it had not joined together, on that day, through which we are taught, the things that are to be connected with the things that were said earlier, we could have explained it as the proper sense of this chapter; but now all things must be referred back to the earlier ones. For the fortified city shall be desolate, and the beautiful city shall be forsaken like a desert, and there the calf shall lie down, and it shall devour the branches of the vine, and all things shall become dry, because there is no people who have understanding, and because of their foolishness, they have not obtained any mercy from their Creator. Therefore, the Lord will strike or close off from the channel or stream of the river to the torrent of Egypt, so that in all of Judaea, which was once the promised land, no teaching may be found, no knowledge of the Scriptures, of which the Apostle speaks: In order that we may not pay attention to Jewish myths and commandments of men who turn away from the truth (Titus 1:14); and again: For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers, and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision (Ibid., 10). But the riverbed, or the stream of the river, next to the Euphrates, we can call it, as it is written in the seventy-first psalm: He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth (Psalm 71:8). Others think it is the Jordan. And it should be noted that in the borders of Judea, it is called a river; in the borders of Egypt, a torrent, which has turbid waters and is not permanent. Instead of the torrent of Egypt, the seventy translators translated it as Rhinocorura, which is a town on the border of Egypt and Palestine, expressing not so much the words of the Scriptures as the meaning of the words. But what we said, he will strike, for which the LXX translated συμφράξει as concludet: Aquila and Theodotion interpreted as ῥαβδήσει, which can be understood as either he will strike with a rod or he will count the number of his flock with a rod, so that it is not taken in a bad but in a good sense.
And you shall be gathered one by one, O sons of Israel. LXX: But you, gather together one by one, O sons of Israel. O sons of Israel, for whom Symmachus has interpreted, the house of Israel: striking your enemies from the river stream, even to the river of Egypt, that is, from the Euphrates to the Nile, you yourselves shall be gathered to the faith of the Lord one by one, because the crowd of Jews did not believe, by which it signifies that only a few of the Jews will believe in the Savior Lord. Certainly, O Apostles and apostolic men, when the multitude of Jews did not believe, you, from the whole world, whom you were able, bring back like sick sheep to the folds of the Lord, and gather them with the people of the nations, so that what the Apostle Paul and Barnabas speak to the Jews may be fulfilled: For it was necessary for the word of God to be announced to you first; but since you judged yourselves unworthy of salvation, behold, we turn to the Gentiles (Acts 13:46).
Commentary on Isaiah
628. Third, the magnitude of the destruction, both as to universality of place: and it shall come to pass, that in that day the Lord will strike from the channel of the river even to the torrent of Egypt, that is, from one end to the other, above: from the sole of the foot unto the top of the head, there is no soundness therein (Isa 1:6); and as to the small number of men who will remain: and you shall be gathered together one by one: you shall remain few in number (Deut 28:62).
Commentary on Isaiah
And it shall come to pass in that day [that] they shall blow the great trumpet, and the lost ones in the land of the Assyrians shall come, and the lost ones in Egypt, and shall worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.
καὶ ἔσται ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ σαλπιοῦσι τῇ σάλπιγγι τῇ μεγάλῃ, καὶ ἥξουσιν οἱ ἀπολόμενοι ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ τῶν ᾿Ασσυρίων καὶ οἱ ἀπολόμενοι ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ καὶ προσκυνήσουσι τῷ Κυρίῳ ἐπὶ τὸ ὄρος τὸ ἅγιον ἐν ῾Ιερουσαλήμ.
И҆ бꙋ́детъ въ то́й де́нь, вострꙋ́бѧтъ трꙋбо́ю вели́кою, и҆ прїи́дꙋтъ погꙋблѧ́емїи во странѣ̀ а҆ссѷрі́йстѣй и҆ погꙋблѧ́емїи во є҆гѵ́птѣ, и҆ покло́нѧтсѧ гдⷭ҇еви на горѣ̀ ст҃ѣ́й во і҆ерⷭ҇ли́мѣ.
(Verse 13) And it shall be in that day: the great trumpet shall sound, and those who were lost from the land of Assyria and those who were cast out into the land of Egypt shall come, and they shall worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem. LXX: And it shall be in that day, a great trumpet shall sound; and those who perished in the region of Assyria and those who perished in Egypt shall come; and they shall worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem. In this place, the Jews make empty vows to themselves, that at the end of the world, when their Antichrist, as it is said, shall come, the dispersed people from Assyria and the land of Egypt shall gather together and come to Jerusalem, and having built the temple, worship the Lord their God. That which cannot stand completely according to the letter. For it does not only refer to the Assyrians and Egyptians, but to the whole world, which will believe in Christ. Therefore, this signifies that in the last trumpet, according to the Apostle Paul (1 Cor. XV), all those who perished in Assyria and Egypt will come to the Lord. He did not say all the children of Israel, but all those who perished, indicating the multitude of the Gentiles, who, bound by idolatry, magic, and the arts of philosophy, will come to the faith of Christ and worship Him in the Church. The great trumpet can be understood as the Gospel message, of which we also read in the same Prophet: Ascend to the high mountain, you who bring good news to Zion; lift up your voice with strength, you who bring good news to Jerusalem (Isaiah 40:9). Therefore, that mountain is holy and that Jerusalem is the one of which we have often spoken: You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven (Hebrews 12:22). Up to this point, we have spoken about the end of the world starting from the place where we began: Behold, the Lord will scatter the earth and make it bare (Above, XXIV, 1), which is contained in the present volume. Now, with the help, or rather inspiration, of Christ, let us move on to the ninth, which will have the beginning of another prophecy.
Commentary on Isaiah
629. And it shall come to pass. Here he sets out the consolation, through return to their land. A great trumpet, the precept of the king, above: he shall set up a sign unto the nations, and shall assemble the fugitives of Israel (Isa 11:12).
Commentary on Isaiah
In that day God shall bring [his] holy and great and strong sword upon the dragon, even the serpent that flees, upon the dragon, the crooked serpent: he shall destroy the dragon.
ΕΝ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ἐπάξει ὁ Θεὸς τὴν μάχαιραν τὴν ἁγίαν καὶ τὴν μεγάλην καὶ τὴν ἰσχυρὰν ἐπὶ τὸν δράκοντα ὄφιν φεύγοντα, ἐπὶ τὸν δράκοντα ὄφιν σκολιὸν καὶ ἀνελεῖ τὸν δράκοντα.
Въ то́й де́нь наведе́тъ гдⷭ҇ь ме́чь ст҃ы́й и҆ вели́кїй и҆ крѣ́пкїй на дра́конта ѕмі́а бѣжа́ща, на дра́конта ѕмі́а лꙋка́ваго, и҆ ᲂу҆бїе́тъ дра́конта сꙋ́щаго въ мо́ри.