Isaiah 40

God did not approve of Hezekiah’s proposal. The fact that he mentioned only himself in his prayer and not the people was blameworthy. That is why the prophet says in what follows, “Comfort my people, says the Lord.”

Commentary on Isaiah 2:15

Hezekiah offered prayers to God because he had been told that death was imminent, but he failed to pray that evil should be averted from his descendants. Hence Isaiah says, “Comfort, comfort my people, you priests.”

Commentary on Isaiah 40:1

Observe, you who are our beloved sons, how merciful yet righteous the Lord our God is; how gracious and kind to me. And yet most certainly “he will not acquit the guilty,” although he welcomes returning sinners and revives them, leaving no room for suspicion to those who wish to judge sternly and reject offenders entirely, refusing to promise exhortations to them that might otherwise bring them to repentance. In contradiction to people like this, Isaiah says to the bishops, “Comfort, comfort my people, you priests. Speak comfortably to Jerusalem.” It therefore behooves you, on hearing those words of his, to encourage those who have offended and lead them to repentance. Give them hope that it is not in vain that you enter into their situation of sin, because you love them. Readily receive those who are penitent and rejoice over them. Judge the sinners with mercy and compassion. For if somebody was walking beside the river and ready to stumble, and you pushed him and threw him into the river, instead of offering him your hand to help, you would be guilty of murdering your brother or sister. Instead, you should lend a helping hand when they’re ready to fall. Otherwise they will perish without anyone to help. And you do this so that the people watching are warned and so that the offenders may not utterly perish. It is your duty, O bishop, neither to overlook the sins of the people nor to reject those who are penitent so that you may not unskillfully destroy the Lord’s flock or dishonor his new name, which he has imposed on his people. And you yourself should also be above reproach as those ancient pastors were of whom God speaks to Jeremiah and others.

Constitutions of the Holy Apostles 2:15

1–2

(Chapter 40, Verses 1 onwards) Console, console my people, says your God: Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and call out to her; for her wickedness is complete, her iniquity is forgiven. She has received from the hand of the Lord double for all her sins. LXX: Console, console my people, says God. O priests, speak to the heart of Jerusalem; console her, for her humility is fulfilled. His sin has been forgiven, for he has received from the hand of the Lord double for all his sins. According to other interpreters, others are commanded to console the people of God and Jerusalem together. According to the Hebrew text, the people themselves are commanded to console, speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and advocate for her. Speaking to the heart of Jerusalem is the language of the Scriptures. For one who speaks to the mournful and soothes is called a consoler who speaks to the heart. Let us be taught by Sichem, the son of Hemor, who spoke corruptly to his heart about the defiled Dinah, and comforted her (Genesis XXXIV). And wherever you find something similar, it has this meaning. The reason for consolation is the forgiveness of sins, and the cause of forgiveness is that he received double from the hand of the Lord for all his sins. For whoever knows the will of his Lord and sins, will be beaten with many stripes (Luke XII). And everyone who has the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, whom the Savior promised to the Apostles, saying: I will ask my Father, and he will give you another Comforter, that he may be with you forever, the Spirit of truth (John XIV, 16); and again: But when the Comforter comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes forth from the Father, he will bear witness about me (John XV, 26); and: It is profitable for you that I go away: for if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you (John XVI, 7); the Comforter is the one now commanded to console the people of God. Wherefore also the Apostle Paul was speaking to believers: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God: for as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ (2 Corinthians 1:1-6); and again: And our hope of you is steadfast, knowing that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation (2 Corinthians 1:7). But who is this people, who through the Apostles and Ecclesiastical men is consoled, not Israel, and Jacob and Juda, as the Scripture mentions in other places, but the people of God, as the Prophet Zacharias testifies saying: Rejoice and be glad, daughter of Zion, for I will come and dwell in your midst, says the Lord. And many nations will flee to the Lord in that day, and they will be His people, and they will dwell in your midst, and they will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you (Zach. II, 10, 11). By this testimony, it is clearly demonstrated that many nations are to be turned into the people of God. And this is what the Lord, sent by the Lord, whose name is Almighty, says. And it should be noted that our sins are not forgiven unless we receive them from the hand of the Lord. And it is not the same thing to have sins forgiven as to have them pardoned. For those to whom they are pardoned, there is no need for forgiveness, as it is written in the Gospel: Believe, my child, your sins are forgiven you (Matthew 9:2). But those who are released are released because they have been cleansed and freed through punishments. According to history, Jerusalem received its sins twice from the hands of the Babylonians and secondly from the Romans. And what is added by the Seventy, the Priests, must be noted.

Commentary on Isaiah

Hezekiah was at a loss for a defense. Since he could offer no excuse for his crimes, he said that God’s word was good, even though it foretold things that should have made him shed tears. Then he asks for peace in his own days, bidding goodbye, as it were, to those who were to come after him and thereby neglecting his native land, his own city and his own race. But it would have been better for him to be sorry for the things that had been predicted and to ask God for mercy and happiness (not temporary and restricted) on behalf of those to come after him.

Commentary on Isaiah 3:4.40:1

This the second principle part of this book, in which he principally intends the comfort of the people through many promised benefits. And it is divided into two parts: in the first, he leads them to the expectation of promises; in the second, he describes the promise of divine benefits, below: thus says the Lord to my anointed (Isa 45:1). The first of these is divided into three parts: in the first, he comforts them with the power of the one who promises; in the second, with his love: let the islands keep silence (Isa 41:1); in the third, with the weakness of the idols who might be believed to resist: and now hear, O Jacob (Isa 44:1). Concerning the first, he does three things: first, he leads them to comfort; second, he promises the comforter: the voice of one crying in the desert (Isa 40:3); in the third part, he shows the power of God who comforts: who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand? (Isa 40:12).

First, he leads the people to comfort: be comforted, in spiritual goods, be comforted, in the temporal goods granted you: he comforted the mourners in Zion (Sir 48:27); and the Lord answered the angel, that spoke in me, good words, comfortable words (Zech 1:13).

Commentary on Isaiah

How is it that some receive at the Lord’s hand double for their sins and the measure of their wickedness is doubly filled up, as in the correction of Israel, while the sins of others are removed by a sevenfold compensation? What is the measure of the Amorites that is not yet full? And how is the sinner either acquitted or chastised again, acquitted perhaps, because reserved for the other world, chastised because healed thereby in this?

On His Father’s Silence, Oration 16:5

There is also another type of consolation for those who have paid heavy penalties, as it is written in the book of Isaiah: 'Comfort, comfort my people,' says the Lord. 'Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins.' Even if faith was lacking, punishment was satisfied. The penalties are mitigated for those who are acquitted by commendation of their merits.

Exposition On Psalm 118, Sermon 18

The God of the universe has left the king aside to invite the priests to give courage back to Jerusalem, as if the chastisement with which it had been threatened had already occurred. This is made clear in the passage to follow: “Comfort [Jerusalem], for its humiliation is accomplished.” The words of the threat have received a perfect accomplishment. “[Its] sin is put away: for it has received of the Lord’s hand double the amount of its sins.” It is worthwhile to admire the kindness of the Master at this point: because he is good and his compassion is unfathomable, and although he inflicted a punishment less than equal to the sin, he says, by reason of great benevolence, that this lesser punishment is double the amount of the sin. Now that the chastisement was less than the sin, the same prophet has cried in testimony: “Your chastening was to us with small affliction.” Nevertheless, because he tempers his justice with infinite mercy, the lesson that the victims of the chastisement call small, the judge has called double [the amount of the sin]. Then he teaches the comforters the means of comfort.

Commentary on Isaiah 12:40.1-2

He orders the prophets and priests to announce comfort: speak to the heart, namely, by comforting, and call them from sadness, from idolatry: I will lead her into the wilderness: and I will speak to her heart (Hos 2:14).

He assigns the reason as to the remission of their fault: for her evil is come to an end, above: and this is all the fruit, that the sin thereof should be taken away (Isa 27:9); as to the end of punishments: she has received; he speaks according to the time after the captivity: with a double destruction (Jer 17:18).

On the contrary, it says in Nahum 1:9: there shall not rise a double affliction; and to this is to be said that they are called double as to the punishment of body and soul, as the fault is in both.

Commentary on Isaiah

As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. [Isaiah 40:3-5] John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins. And John was clothed with camel's hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey

In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. [Isaiah 40:3-5] And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.

3–5

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene, Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins; As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God. [Isaiah 40:3-5]

And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. [Isaiah 40:3-5]

Since even then by Isaiah it was Christ, the Word and the Spirit of the Creator who prophetically described John as “the voice of one crying in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord.” And [he] was about to come forth for the purpose of terminating from that point onwards the course of the law and the prophets: by their fulfillment and not their extinction.

Against Marcion 4.33

The Lord wants to find in you a path by which he can enter into your souls and make his journey. Prepare for him the path of which it is said, “Make straight his path.” “The voice of one crying in the desert”—the voice cries, “prepare the way.”

Homilies on the Gospel of Luke 21:5

Now the way of the Lord is made straight in two ways: by contemplation, which is clarified by truth unmixed with falsehood, and by activity, which follows sound contemplation of the appropriate action to be taken, which is conformed to the correct sense of these things to be done.

Commentary on the Gospel of John 6:103

While the heavenly powers rejoice, let the souls that are to be united to the spiritual bridegroom make themselves ready. For the voice is heard of one crying in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord.” For this is no light matter, no ordinary and indiscriminate union according to the flesh but the all-searching Spirit’s election according to faith.

Catechetical Lecture 3:1

God, indeed, never descends from any place, for he says, “I fill heaven and earth.” But he seems to descend when the Word of God enters our hearts, as the prophet has said, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” We are to do this, so that, as he himself promised, he may come together with the Father and make his abode with us.

Exposition of the Christian Faith 5.7.98

Do you see that both by the words of the prophet and by his own preaching, this one and only thing is manifested, that he came, making a way and preparing beforehand, not bestowing the gift, which was the remission, but ordering in good time the souls of such as should receive the God of all?

Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew 10:3

3–5

(Verse 3 onwards) The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. LXX: The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God, for the Lord has spoken. When the scribes and Pharisees and Jewish leaders heard John preaching in the wilderness and baptizing with a baptism of repentance, they sent messengers to ask him if he was the Christ, or Elijah, or a prophet. And when he answered that he was none of these, they asked him again, 'Then who are you?' So that we may give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself? And he answered: I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, as Isaiah the Prophet said (John 1:22-23)'. In which it should be noted that the straight paths of the Lord and the ways of our God: the filling of valleys and mountains, the humbling of hills and the correction of the wicked, and the rough places made level: and the glory of the Lord and the salvation of our God, will not be proclaimed in Jerusalem, but in the solitude of the Church, and in the deserted multitude of the nations, of which we read above (Isaiah 35:1): 'Rejoice, O desert, and let the wilderness exult, and let it blossom like the lily.' For this knowledge of God was unknown and humbled by idols, lowly in confession, exalted in pride, rough and unyielding in wrath. But after the glory of the Lord appeared, and all flesh saw the salvation of God, everything suddenly changed, and the way of the Lord was prepared, so that the glory of God would appear in the wilderness. When the Lord was baptized in the Jordan and the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove and remained in him, and the voice of the Father from above was heard, saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; listen to him. (Matthew 3:17). And all flesh saw the salvation of God. Which is why it was called flesh, because it did not have the Holy Spirit before. Concerning this, the Lord says: My spirit will not remain in these people, because they are flesh (Gen. VI, 3). But that flesh will see the salvation of God, of which the same Joel spoke: I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and they shall prophesy (Joel. II, 28). This is not only what John proclaimed at that time, who was the precursor and forerunner of the word of God, rightly called the voice (Matth. III); but even to this day in the wilderness of the Gentiles, the teachers of the Churches cry out: that we may make straight paths and ways for God in our hearts, that we may be filled with virtues, and may be inclined with humility; that we may change what is evil into what is right, and what is rough into what is gentle: and thus we may deserve to see the glory of the Lord and the salvation of God.

Commentary on Isaiah

In that the Word has now become flesh and dwelled among us, now there will not be in any way the voice of a prophet in the desert but the voice of the archangel, preparing the way for the one coming not in the humility of the flesh but for him who is with the Father. And in those days they were going out into the desert, so as to hear the forerunner of the assumed man and to see the sand perturbed by the wind.

Letter 119.10

They were not reborn, those who were baptized by John’s baptism, by which Christ himself was baptized. Rather, they were “prepared” by the ministry of a forerunner, who said, “Prepare a way for the Lord”—for him in whom alone they could be reborn.

Enchiridion 14:49

John [the Baptist] was filled with the Holy Spirit; and he had a baptism from heaven, not from human beings. But how long did he have it? He said, “Prepare the way for the Lord.” But when the Lord was known, he himself became the way; there was no longer need for the baptism of John, by which the way was to be prepared for the Lord.

Tractates on the Gospel of John 5:15.4

There it is written, “a voice of one crying in the wilderness,” the Word is conceived in the virgin’s womb. If the voice is not the Word, it is then a loud clanging of metal. For one then would not be able to say that every word is a sound but not every sound is a word. For it is not unfitting to take “the way” as that which came up to the very heart and filled us inwardly. Indeed, the heart became his place to which he comes and remains.

Sermon 289

The true consolation, the genuine comfort and the real deliverance from the iniquities of humankind is the incarnation of our God and Savior. Now the first who acted as herald of this event was the inspired John the Baptist. Accordingly, the prophetic text proclaims the realities that relate to him in advance, for that is what the three blessed Evangelists have taught us and that the most divine Mark has even made the prologue of his work. As for the inspired John, whom the Pharisees asked whether he himself was the Christ, he declared on his part: “I am ‘the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord’ ” as the prophet Isaiah said; I am not God the Word but a voice, for it is as a herald that I am announcing God the Word, who is incarnate. Moreover, he refers to the Gentiles as the “untrodden [land]” because they have not yet received the prophetic stamp.

Commentary on Isaiah 12:40.3

“I am the voice of one that cries out in the desert.” This means, I am not the Word that was with God from the beginning and that was God, but I am rather a voice; in other words, I am a minister of the Word, in order that through me he may reach the hearing and senses of [people]. For this reason the blessed Baptist exclaimed with equal humility, “He must increase, while I must decrease.”

Sermons 217:2

"I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord, as Isaiah the prophet said." You know, dearest brothers, that the only-begotten Son is called the Word of the Father, as John testifies when he says: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." And from your own manner of speaking you recognize that the voice sounds first, so that the word may afterward be heard. Therefore John asserts that he is the voice, because he precedes the Word. And so, going before the coming of the Lord, he is called a voice, because through his ministry the Word of the Father is heard by men. He also cries out in the wilderness, because he announces the comfort of the Redeemer to abandoned and forsaken Judea. But what he cries out he indicates when he adds: "Make straight the way of the Lord." The way of the Lord is made straight to the heart when the word of truth is humbly heard. The way of the Lord is made straight to the heart when one's life is prepared according to his commandment.

Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 7

It is well said that he sent them before his face into every city and place where he himself was about to come. For the Lord follows his preachers, because preaching comes first, and then the Lord comes to the dwelling place of our mind, when words of exhortation run ahead, and through these truth is received in the mind. For thus Isaiah says to these same preachers: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God.

Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 17

The voice of one crying in the desert. Here he promises the comforter. And concerning this, he does three things: first, he sends ahead the preparation; second, he shows the firmness of the prophecy: the voice of one, saying (Isa 40:6); third, he foretells the coming of the comforter: get you up upon a high mountain (Isa 40:9).

Concerning the first, he does three things. First, he orders preparation: the voice of one crying in the desert, namely, the voice of John the Baptist, will be this: prepare, by conversion from evils, in the wilderness, of vices: be prepared to meet your God (Amos 4:12).

Some explain these verses thus: the voice, of God, crying, is this: in the desert, prepare, that is, in the land of Judah, formerly a desert, the way of the Lord, namely, for going to the temple; or in the desert, which is between Babylon and Judah.

Commentary on Isaiah

It is said that the valleys are filled, because the Lord has entered the world, and has redeemed all the peoples from the bondage of the devil, and brought them back to the faith and adoration of their Creator and has taught them to hope in eternal salvation. This is also said, because he has filled the deep valleys and the horrible and inhospitable caves with ascetics, who, after abandoning the cares of this world, exclusively devote themselves to honor and praise God.

Commentary on Isaiah 40:4

According to the plain teaching of the Lord, the king’s highway is easy and smooth, though it may be felt as hard and rough. For those who piously and faithfully serve him, when they have taken on them the yoke of the Lord and have learned of him, that he is meek and lowly of heart, at once [they] somehow or other lay aside the burden of earthly passions and find no labor but rest for their souls, by the gift of the Lord. [To this] he himself testifies by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “Stand on the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, which is the good way, and walk in it: and you shall find refreshment for your souls.” For to them at once “the crooked shall become straight and the rough ways plain”; and they shall “taste and see that the Lord is gracious.” And when they hear Christ proclaiming in the Gospel, “Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you,” they will lay aside the burden of their sins and realize what follows: “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” The way of the Lord then has refreshment if it is kept according to his law.

Conference 24:25

He has clearly shown by these terms the facility of the evangelical proclamation: thanks to this facility, in a short time it filled the whole world. One should understand by “filled valleys” and “mountains and hills brought low” that literally it relates to a way that is level and cleared of all obstacles, but in a figurative sense, the souls of the unbelievers are the valleys, those who are lying in some way at the bottom of a pit and who do not have the intelligence to turn toward the heavens, while the mountains and the hills are the demons who are worshiped on the mountains and on the hills, whose deceit has been ended by the incarnation of our Savior.

Commentary on Isaiah 12:40.4

He foretells the fulfilment: every valley, following the metaphor of the evil way: if it is mountainous, it causes labor, and thus is said, every valley shall be exalted, so that it is made as high as the mountains and everything may be made level; if it is winding, it causes wandering, and as to this he says, the crooked shall become straight; if it is rocky, it causes pain in the feet, and as to this: the rough ways plain; through which is signified that faintheartedness will be turned into security, pride into humility, wickedness into uprightness and cruelty into meekness: direct your heart into the right way (Jer 31:21).

Others explain: every valley shall be exalted, by this all hindrances are shown to have been removed, so that the people return freely.

Commentary on Isaiah

But when he took on flesh, he took on the universal logos of flesh. For he triumphed over the powers of all flesh in the flesh, and thus he came to the aid of all flesh, as is said in Isaiah, “all flesh will see the salvation of God,” and in the psalms, “All flesh will come to you.”

Against Arius 3:3

He [Christ] was a reproach but at the same time also the majesty of the Lord, as it is written, “And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh together shall see the salvation of God.” What had he lost if he had nothing less? He had neither comeliness nor beauty, but he had not ceased to be the power of God. He appeared a man, but the divine majesty and glory of the Father shone on earth.

Letter 27

And this is the Lord of glory, and we too have come to know his glory. However, those of old did not see it when he showed himself during the dispensation in which he was made man, equal to God the Father in strength, operation and glory, bearing all things by the word of his power and with great tranquillity performing godly works, enhancing creation, raising the dead and performing other deeds of wonder effortlessly. For the glory of the Lord appeared, and all flesh saw the salvation of God, that is, of the Father. For he has sent us his Son from heaven to salvation and redemption. For the law brings no one to perfection, for the sacrifices in prefigurative form were unable to deal with sin. But we have been perfected in Christ and reconciled from every fault as we have been honored with the spirit of sonship.

Commentary on Isaiah 3:4.40:3-5

The one who has made these declarations, he says, is incapable of deceit. As for me, I am greatly astonished at those who think that the prophet has made these prophecies on the subject of the return from Babylon; for they should have considered that the prophetic text has clearly proclaimed in advance that the salvation of God would be evident for all people, whereas this return [from exile] was not evident for all, while the cross of the Savior and the sufferings of the Master have reached even to the ends of the earth.

Commentary on Isaiah 12:40.5

"And all flesh shall see the salvation of God." Because by "all flesh" is meant every person, not every person was able to see the salvation of God, namely Christ, in this life. Where then does the prophet direct the eye of prophecy in this statement except to the day of the last judgment? When, with the heavens opened, angels ministering, apostles seated alongside, Christ shall appear on the throne of His majesty, all—both the elect and the reprobate alike—will see Him, so that the just may rejoice without end in the gift of recompense, and the unjust may groan perpetually in the vengeance of punishment.

40 Homilies on the Gospels, Homily 20

He shows the utility of the preparation: and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, that is, the Son: I will cure them: and I will reveal to them the prayer of peace (Jer 33:6); all flesh together shall see, that is, he will make himself visible to all, or he speaks of the day of judgment: every eye shall see him: and they also that pierced him (Rev 1:7).

Others explain: the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, in the destruction of the Chaldees, through which he will appear glorious.

Commentary on Isaiah

6–8

Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. [Isaiah 40:6-8]

And [Christ] commanded all the multitudes to sit down on the grass because of what is said in Isaiah, “All flesh is grass.” That is to say, he commanded them to subjugate the flesh and to keep in subjection “the mind of the flesh,” so that one might be able to partake of the loaves that Jesus blesses.

Commentary on Matthew 11:3

This is the nature of all flesh and of the human who bears the image of the earthly; I mean the body-lover who lives according to the flesh. In like manner the grass of the earth and the beautiful flowers rise up and bloom for a short time, but soon they wither through their unstable nature.… The voice in the desert prophesying about God the Word is John teaching about Christ, as only from then on will it stand forever, and it guards those who stand with it and run with it as those who are becoming models of its salvation.

Commentary on Isaiah 2:16

What advancement, then, was it to the Immortal to have assumed the mortal? Or what promotion is it to the Everlasting to have put on the temporal? What reward can be great to the everlasting God and King in the bosom of the Father? Do you not see that this too was done and written because of us and for us, that the Lord, having become a human being, might make immortal us who are mortal and temporal and bring us into the everlasting kingdom of heaven? Do you Arians not blush, speaking lies against the divine oracles? For when our Lord Jesus Christ was among us, we indeed were promoted, as rescued from sin; but he is the same, nor did he change when he became man, but, as has been written, “the Word of God abides forever.” Surely as, before he became human, he, the Word, dispensed to the saints the Spirit as his own, so also when made human, he sanctifies all by the Spirit and says to his disciples, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

Discourses Against the Arians 1.12.48

“The voice of the Lord is on the waters.” In many places you might find the word voice occurring. Therefore, for the sake of understanding what the voice of the Lord is, we should gather, as far as we are able, from the divine Scripture what has been said about the voice; for instance, in the divine warning to Abraham: “And immediately the voice came to him: He shall not be your heir.” And in Moses: “And all the people saw the voice and the flames.” Again in Isaiah: “The voice of one saying, Cry.” With us, then, voice is either air that has been struck or some form that is in the air against which he who is crying out wishes to strike. Now, what is the voice of the Lord? Would it be considered the impact on the air? Or air, which has been struck reaching the hearing of him to whom the voice comes? Or neither of these but that this is a voice of another kind, namely, an image formed by the mind of people whom God wishes to hear his own voice, so that they have this representation corresponding to that which frequently occurs in their dreams? Indeed, just as, although the air is not struck, we keep some recollection of certain words and sounds occurring in our dreams, not receiving the voice through our hearing but through the impression on our heart itself, so also we must believe that some such voice from God appeared in the prophets.

Homilies on the Psalms 13:3 (psalm 28)

I want the marvel of creation to gain such complete acceptance from you that, wherever you may be found and whatever kind of plants you may chance on, you may receive a clear reminder of the Creator. First, then, whenever you see a grassy plant or a flower, think of human nature, remembering the comparison of the wise Isaiah, that “all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of humanity as the flower of the grass.” For the short span of life and the briefly enduring pleasure and joy of human happiness have found a most apt comparison in the words of the prophet. Today he is vigorous in body, grown fleshy from delicacies, with a flowerlike complexion, in the prime of life, fresh and eager, and irresistible in attack. Tomorrow that same one is piteous or wasted with age or weakened by disease.

Homilies on the Hexameron 5:2

6–8

(Verse 6 and following) The voice of one saying, Cry out. And I said, What shall I cry out? All flesh is grass, and all its glory is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower falls; because the breath of the LORD blows upon it. Truly the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower falls; but the word of our God will stand forever. (LXX: The voice of one saying, Cry out. And I said, What shall I cry out? All flesh is grass, and all the glory of man is like the flower of grass.) The grass withers, and the flower falls; because the breath of the Lord blows upon it. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower falls. But the word of our God remains forever. This portion marked with asterisks is added from the Hebrew and Theodotion's edition. From this it is clear that it was either omitted by the LXX or gradually lost through the error of scribes, since both the preceding and following verses end with 'flower'. Above we have read, the Prophet saying: And I heard the voice of the Lord saying: Whom shall I send, and who will go to this people? And I said: Here I am, send me; and he said: Go and tell this people: Hearing you will hear, and will not understand: and seeing you will see, and will not perceive, and so on. After enduring a harsh preaching, now the voice of the Lord saying, he asks what he should shout, fearing similar things; and starting from the general, All flesh is grass, and all its glory like the flower of the grass, he comes to the particular, so that he may still say about the people: Truly the people are grass. And in truth, if anyone were to consider the frailty of the flesh, and how we grow and decline in a matter of hours, and do not remain in the same state: and that which we speak, dictate, and write, passes quickly from our lives: he will not hesitate to call the flesh hay, and its glory as the flower of hay, or the meadows of the fields. For the one who was recently an infant suddenly becomes a child; the child suddenly becomes a young person; and throughout the uncertain passage of time, he is transformed into old age; and he realizes himself to be old before he marvels at no longer being young. A beautiful woman who drew after her flocks of young men, is contracted in her countenance: and she who was once for love, afterwards is for disdain. Which an excellent orator among the Greeks writes: The beauty of the body either fails with time, or is consumed by sickness. Therefore the flesh is withered, and the beauty is fallen off; because the spirit of the madness of God and of his sentence has blown upon her (that I may return from a general discourse to the order of the Scripture), of him who bears the image of the earthly, and serves vices and luxury; and he is like hay and a passing flower. But whoever has and keeps the image of the heavenly, that person is the flesh which sees the salvation of the Lord, which is daily renewed in knowledge according to the image of the Creator, and receiving an incorruptible and immortal body, changes glory, not nature. But the word of our Lord, and those who are associated with the word, endure forever.

Commentary on Isaiah

We are still alive, but part of us has already perished in old age. Even though our soul is the same, nevertheless, we who suffer the loss of the pristine vigor of youth are, in a real sense, other than we were.

Homilies on the Psalms, Alternate Series 67 (psalm 89)

Indeed, if anyone regards how weak the flesh is, that we wax and wane with the minutes of the clock and that we do not remain in the same state … there can be no doubt that flesh is rightly called “grass” and its glory like the flower of the grass or the rushes of the fields. The one who was once an infant is suddenly a boy; the boy is suddenly a youth and up to old age is changed through stages. A beautiful woman who carries a train of young men behind her becomes wrinkled, her brow all furrowed; she who before was fit for love is afterwards fit for loathing.… But the one who has and guards the image of the heavenly, such humanity discerns the Lord’s salvation, is renewed daily in knowledge after the image of the Creator and puts on an incorruptible and immortal body; it changes its glory but not its nature.

Commentary on Isaiah 11:23

Wonder not that you will be a sharer of [Christ’s] eternity. For he first became a sharer of your flesh, which is like grass. Will he who assumed from you what was lowly deny to you what is exalted with respect to you?… How great, then, is the hope of the grass since the Word has been made flesh? He who abides forever has not disdained to assume grass, that the grass might not despair of itself.

Explanations of the Psalms 103:19-21

So those flourishing, wicked people are like grass, sprouting in winter, drying up in summer. Take care that you, though, fix your roots in the Word of God, which abides forever, and that you are a tree living in a hidden way. “For you are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” That is where your root is; that is where you are alive. That, you see, is where you have placed your hope.… So do not let the winter time get you down. In the winter many prolific fruit trees lack the ornament of leaves and without the grace of fruit are like withered trees, and yet they are not in fact withered. When the grass is flourishing, they haven’t even got leaves … the summer is the judge … the sun of justice is the judge.

Sermon 25A.1

Both what is being thought of by intelligence and what is sounding out loud in speech is changeable and dissimilar. The first will not remain when you have forgotten it, nor will the second when you stop speaking. But “the Word of the Lord remains forever” and abides unchanged and unchangeable.

Sermon 187:3

The Word of the Father dwells in our hearts through faith. When we receive the riches of his divine Spirit, then we have him in ourselves as that which is most worth having, since he is the giver of eternal life. For when the Word dwells in us, he remains there forever, sustaining and enlivening us. Now if anyone wishes to know from the Word of God his commandment, then we say that this is immeasurably useful. For God guards both the commandment and those who observe it for the life which is yet to come. As was said by the Lord himself, “Truly I tell you, that if anyone keeps my word, he shall not see death.”

Commentary on Isaiah 3:4.40:6-8

Let all who long to be refreshed by the sweetness of the living bread, all who love to be renewed by the banquet of heavenly grace, sit down on the grass. Let them trample on the bloom of the grass. Let them chastise the body and subject it to slavery.

Homilies on the Gospels 2:2

The voice of one, saying. In this part, he shows the firmness of the prophecy by comparison to the frailty of men. Thus the Lord first orders a cry, which signifies an express and plain announcement: cry, below: cry, cease not (Isa 58:1); second, he orders human frailty to be cried out, with the prophet asking: and I said: what shall I cry, fearing that he will be ordered to cry something against his people, as above (Isa 6:9), and the Lord responding: all flesh is grass: the sun rose with a burning heat and parched the grass (Jas 1:11).

Commentary on Isaiah

7–8

Third, he shows the firmness of the divine word, indeed the people is grass: heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away (Luke 21:33).

Commentary on Isaiah

For in the power of the Holy Spirit, by the will of the Father and the Son, Peter stood with the Eleven and, lifting up his voice (according to the text, “Lift up your voice with strength, you who bring good tidings to Jerusalem”), captured in the spiritual net of his words about three thousand souls. So great was the grace that worked in all the apostles together, that, out of the Jews … this great number believed, were baptized in the name of Christ and continued steadfast in the apostles’ doctrine and in the prayers.

Catechetical Lecture 17:21

Therefore, let us transcend the works of the world, so that we may be able to see God face to face. Ascend to the mountain that proclaims Zion. If the one who proclaims Zion ascends to the mountain, how much more the one who proclaims Christ and the risen Christ? Perhaps many will see him in the body; for we have known Christ according to the flesh: but now we no longer know him.

Commentary on Luke, Book 7

9–11

(V. 9 and following) 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. Lift it up, do not fear; say to the cities of Judah, 'Here is your God!' See, the Lord God comes with might, and His arm rules for Him. See, His reward is with Him, and His recompense accompanies Him. He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart; He gently leads the nursing ewes. LXX: Go up on a high mountain, you who bring good tidings to Zion; lift up your voice with strength, you who bring good tidings to Jerusalem. Lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the cities of Judah, 'Behold your God! Behold, the Lord God shall come with a strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him. He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those who are with young.' The choir of the Apostles is commanded to ascend to the preaching of all flesh, which is going to see the salvation of God, and to dwell in high places, about to speak about great things. Moreover, the Hebrew and other interpreters put it in the feminine gender, so that they say, 'you who preach the gospel to Zion and you who preach the gospel to Jerusalem.' This word is ambiguous according to the Greeks, so that we can understand it as either the one who announces or the one to whom the announcement is made. Therefore, whether the word of God and the saving word of the Lord are announced to Zion and Jerusalem: for the law went forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem (Isaiah II, 3); or whether it is announced to them through the Apostles, they ought to ascend to the heights and pass over the mountains. And in a wondrous way, even though Zion itself is a mountain, as Scripture says: Mount Zion, in which you have dwelt (Psalm LXXIII, 3): it is commanded to ascend another, higher mountain, from which the prince of Tyre was wounded. And because the teachings of the Apostles were going to be greatly opposed, and they were going to be led before governors and tribunals, it is joined, exalt, do not be afraid: say to the cities of Judea, namely the synagogues and the people of the Jews, of whom the Lord spoke: I have come only for the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 15:24). And the Apostle Paul says: It was necessary for the word of God to be proclaimed to you first (Acts 13:46). But what is it that they are commanded to say? Behold your God, whom you have always awaited: Behold the Lord God shall come in strength, whom you have despised coming in humility. And his strength shall rule, who first took the form of a servant, being obedient to the Father even unto death (Philippines III). Behold his reward is with him, and his work before him (Isaiah XL, and LXII). According to what he himself says in the Gospel: For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of his Father and he shall render to every man according to his works (Matthew XVI, 17). As a shepherd, he will feed his flock. This one who will come later in majesty, first takes on the form of a shepherd, and he says about himself: I am the good shepherd, and I know my sheep, and they know me, and I lay down my life for my sheep (John 10:14, 15). About this, the Father speaks in Zechariah: I will strike the shepherd; and the sheep will be scattered (Zechariah 13:7). In his arm, he says, he will gather the lambs; not bulls, and rams, and goats, and large sheep, of whom through Ezekiel (Chapter 34) he threatens that they should feed on milk and be covered with wool, and crush the weak flock, but rather the still tender lambs, and those new to Christ's infancy, who have recently been reborn in baptism, of whom the Lord himself spoke to Peter: Feed my lambs (John 21:15). And in the same Ezekiel it is written: I will raise up for them a single shepherd, and he will feed them, my servant David; he will be their shepherd, and I the Lord will be their God, and David will be their prince in their midst. I the Lord have spoken, and I will establish a covenant of peace with David (Ezekiel 34:23-25). It should be considered that after many generations, David, in contrast to the greedy and unworthy shepherds, says that our Lord, who is of the lineage of David, will rise up, gather the lambs, and nurture them in his bosom, and he himself will carry the lambs or sheep on his shoulder. As we read in the Gospel, that he carried the wandering sheep and the one remaining from the usual flock on his shoulders to the sheepfold (Luke 15). We can say that the pregnant ewes are the Apostles and the Apostolic men and all the doctors of the Church, who give birth to the salvation of many, and they say with the Apostle: My little children, whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you (Galatians 4:19). The Hebrews assert, and there is no doubt among them about this matter, that the Holy Spirit is called in their language by the feminine gender, that is, the Shekinah. And that which is said in the sixty-seventh psalm: The Lord will give the word to the preachers with great power: they understand it thus: The Lord will give the word to the preachers with great power (Ps. 122:3): namely, to those souls who have received the Holy Spirit. Also this: As the eyes of a handmaid are in the hands of her mistress, so the soul is in the hands of the Holy Spirit, both a handmaid and a mistress. But also in the Gospel written according to the Hebrews, which the Nazarenes read, the Lord speaks: Now my mother took me up, the Holy Spirit. But no one should be scandalized by the fact that in the Hebrew language the Spirit is referred to as feminine, while in our language it is referred to as masculine, and in Greek it is referred to as neutral. For in divinity there is no gender. And therefore, in the three principal languages in which the title of the Lord's Passion is written, it is referred to in three genders, so that we may understand that there is no gender that is different.

Commentary on Isaiah

It is the chorus of the apostles that the prophetic text raises here. It is precisely for this reason that after expressing this exhortation in the singular the text shifts into the plural and says, “Lift up [the voice], do not fear.” In the same way, in his turn, Christ our Master said to the apostles, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” And again, after bringing them out from the prison, he bade them to proclaim quite freely the words of this life. Moreover, he calls “mountain” the summit of the knowledge of God.

Commentary on Isaiah 12:40.9

If the Lord admonishes a prophet to rise, does he dare to preach the Lord who lies fallen through the lapse of wickedness? For this is why every preacher is commanded through Isaiah: "Go up onto a high mountain, you who evangelize Zion" (Isa. 40:9). The high mountain is the perfection of teaching and of works. Let him therefore rise who is commanded to anoint the king; let him stretch himself toward lofty things. Let him rise in lofty work, let him rise in lofty contemplation, let him rise in the wisdom of the word, let him rise in the power of charity. Indeed, he who is anointed through preaching is so great that he can scarcely be reached even from the heights. And perhaps Paul was able to anoint him because he says: "Our conversation is in heaven" (Phil. 3:20). He was able to anoint him because he had raised himself to the secrets of the third heaven and heard hidden words in paradise. Because, therefore, the Lord Jesus ought to be preached sublimely by the sublime, the prophet is commanded to rise, because he is ordered to anoint the one through whom Christ himself is signified. Lofty indeed, nay most lofty, is this virtue of perfect conduct, yet it is perfectly accomplished by many. Great indeed is this sublimity, yet holy Church possesses many who are sublime.

Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 6, Chapter 3

Get you up upon a high mountain. Here he foretells the coming comforter. And concerning this, he does three things: first, the Lord orders the prophet to announce it; in the second part, he determines the promise of his coming: behold your God; in the third, he shows the condition of the one who comes: behold the Lord God shall come with strength (Isa 40:10).

Concerning the first, he determines who should announce, to whom, and how he should announce. Who, he determines to be he who has the office: you that bring good tidings: how shall they preach unless they be sent? (Rom 10:15).

He designates the manner by three things: by the height of the location, so that he who announces good things will be heard from afar: upon a high mountain, mystically, Christ, or heavenly conversation and contemplation, above: come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord (Isa 2:3); below: they shall cry from the top of the mountains (Isa 42:11); by the cry of the voice: lift up your voice with strength, so that many may hear, by preaching plainly and constantly, below: cry, cease not, lift up your voice (Isa 58:1); by security of heart: lift it up, fear not: be not afraid at their presence (Jer 1:8).

He determines to whom it should be announced as to three things: as to the province of the kingdom: say to the cities of Judah; as to the metropolis of the province: you that bring good tidings to Jerusalem; as to the rulers of the city: Zion, where the temple and the royal house were, below: the first shall say to Zion: behold they are here, and to Jerusalem I will give an evangelist (Isa 41:27); to you it behooved us first to speak the word of God (Acts 13:46).

Here he sets out the promise of the coming of God: behold, at hand, your God, will come, above: God himself will come (Isa 35:4).

Commentary on Isaiah

We must … be zealous in doing good, for all things are from him. [Isaiah] warns us, “Behold, the Lord comes, and his reward is before his face, to pay each person according to his work.” He therefore urges us who believe in him with all our heart not to be lazy or careless in any good work. Let our glorying and our confidence be in him. Let us be subject to his will.

1 Clement 34:2-5

For our Lord Jesus Christ showed himself to us having divine strength, and his arm with authority, that is, with power and dominion.

Letter 1:31

These words are a glimpse of the second coming of the Savior. It is then that he will give the laborers their reward. “He will reward each according to his works,” according to the word of the apostle. “For the Day,” he says, “will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.” This is the proclamation that the Lord has ordained to the holy apostles to make in their turn. “Go,” he has said, “to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ ” One can therefore see that the oracles of the prophet are thus in agreement with the words of the Gospel.

Commentary on Isaiah 12:40.10

“Behold, his reward is with him,” that is, Behold, the works of each person are conspicuous before God, and he judges according to what each of us has done, by granting a reward to the good and by abandoning the evil to punishment.

Commentary on Isaiah 40:10

Behold the Lord. Here he shows the condition of the one who comes. And first, he shows that he will come strong to liberate: with strength, and his arm, his strength on the day of judgment; or in the first coming of Christ, in the power of his miracles; or in the destruction of Babylon, have you an arm like God? (Job 40:4). Second, that he will come just to reward: behold his reward is with him and his work is before him, because it is in the ease of his will: but the just shall live for evermore: and their reward is with the Lord (Wis 5:16).

Commentary on Isaiah

And that He also calls us lambs, the Spirit by the mouth of Isaiah is an unimpeachable witness: "He will feed His flock like a shepherd, He will gather the lambs with His arm,"—using the figurative appellation of lambs, which are still more tender than sheep, to express simplicity.

The Instructor Book 1

Of this prophecy also let us observe the fulfillment in the exact way and in truth in the holy Gospels. In the first place, the Lord has said, “I am the good shepherd, and I know my sheep and am known by my own … and [I] lay down my life for the sheep.” Moreover, he has likewise gathered the lambs with his arms, [that is to say] by the power of his teachings. For soon he said to the fishermen, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men [people].” Presently he called the publicans and ate with them. Again, another time, he allowed even a woman who had led an evil life to shed tears at his feet. He has likewise comforted pregnant women with the thought that they would give birth for salvation. As they learned of the destruction of death and the hope of the resurrection, they possesed sufficient solace for their pains in the expectation of the benefits that had been announced. Finally, while the holy Virgin still carried him in her womb, he filled Elizabeth, who was with child, with joy.

Commentary on Isaiah 12:40.11

I say that these [lambs] are the souls of those who are truly made heavenly philosophers, rejecting the world with its delights and false show and who prefer to dwell in the desert rather than in royal palaces.

Exposition of Song of Songs 2:3

Third, he shows that he will come kind to comfort: like a shepherd; to feed the hungry: he shall feed his flock: I will feed them in the most fruitful pastures (Ezek 34:14): I will give you pastors who shall feed you (Jer 3:15); to gather together the dissenting: with his arm: other sheep I have (John 10:16); to carry the faltering: in his bosom: when he has found it, lay it upon his shoulders, rejoicing (Luke 15:5).

Commentary on Isaiah

[Christ] … is of no reputation in the world but of illustrious fame in heaven, being betrayed by those who are ignorant [of his perfections] to those who know him not, being accounted as a drop from a cask. We, however, [Isaiah] says, are spiritual, who, from the life-giving water of Eu phrates, which flows through the midst of Babylon, choose our own peculiar quality as we pass through the true gate, which is the blessed Jesus.

The Refutation of All Heresies 5:4

The words “I AM THAT I AM” were clearly an adequate indication of God’s infinity. But, in addition, we needed to apprehend the operation of his majesty and power. For while absolute existence is peculiar to him who, abiding eternally, had no beginning in a past however remote, we hear again an utterance worthy of himself issuing from the eternal and holy God, who says, “who holds the heaven in his palm and the earth in his hand,” and again, “The heaven is my throne and the earth is the footstool of my feet. What house will you build me or what shall be the place of my rest?” The whole heaven is held in the palm of God, the whole earth grasped in his hand.Now the word of God … reveals a deeper meaning to the patient student.… This heaven that is held in the palm of God is also his throne, and the earth that is grasped in his hand is also the footstool beneath his feet. This was not written that … we should conclude that he has extension in space, as of a body.… It was written that in all born and created things God might be known within them and without, overshadowing and indwelling, surrounding all and interfused through all, since palm and hand, which hold, reveal the might of his external control, while throne and footstool, by their support of a sitter, display the subservience of outward things to One who, himself outside them, encloses all in his grasp.… Being infinite, he is present in all things. In him who is infinite all are included.

On the Trinity 1:6

Let the great sea praise the hands of the Son that measured it, and was astonished.… Blessed be his noble act!

Hymns on the Nativity 13:15

Now this Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is not circumscribed to some place, nor is there heaven beyond him, but “the heavens are the work of his fingers,” and “the whole earth is held in the hollow of his hand.” He is in everything and yet nothing contains him.

Catechetical Lecture 4:5

For this cause [God] comprehends in himself all the intelligible creation, that all things may remain in existence controlled by his encompassing power.

Against Eunomius 2:11

Who would deny that God has made these things, who spoke through the Prophet, saying: 'Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance, who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or who has been his counselor or instructed Him?' We also read elsewhere: Because it holds the circuit of the earth and has made the earth as nothing.

The Six Days of Creation, Book 1, Chapter 3

12–17

(Verse 12 and following) Who measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills on a balance? Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or instructed him as his counselor? Whom did he consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge, or showed him the path of understanding? Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust. And Lebanon is not enough to burn, and its animals are not enough for a burnt offering. All nations are as nothing before him, they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness. Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord, or what man shows him his counsel? Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? Who has shown him the way of justice, and who has taught him knowledge? Behold, all the nations are as a drop in a bucket and are accounted as the dust on the scales. Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor all the animals enough for a burnt offering. All the nations are as nothing in his sight, and they are counted as worthless. Let no one think that the calling of the nations is difficult, and that all flesh will see the salvation of God. They are commanded to climb the high mountain, those who proclaim the good news to Zion; and the Lord himself will come in strength, and will reward each one according to his work; he will gather the lambs in his arms and carry the nursing ewes. His greatness is described, for nothing is impossible for him; and he who has created everything, and is the Creator of all, can accomplish even these things which are small in comparison. But he uses the words and measurements of human custom, that we may learn the power of God through our words. In the place where the Seventy translated: Who has measured the water with his hand? or as we translate: Who has measured the waters with a handful? Aquila translated: Who has measured the waters with the smallest finger? For this word λιχὰς signifies that the vastness of all the waters is weighed not with the whole hand but with the small finger, which is commonly called the taster: but σπιθαμὴ, that is, the palm, signifies the hand stretched out from the thumb to the extreme finger. But if we contract our hand, it becomes a fist, so that through the palm and the fist we might know the outspread heavens and the globe of the earth. For the fist, which they brought over to the comprehension of the earth as seventy, is written in Hebrew Salt (), which Symmachus interprets as threefold and Aquila as three-handed: and to make it more evident, we turn it into three fingers; so that, indeed, the mass of the earth and the lofty mountains and hills seem to hang by means of three little fingers and in a small moment from the balance; whereby the majesty of God and the power of the Creator is demonstrated. Who, he says, aided the spirit of the Lord, or who was his counselor and showed him? etc. For which Symmachus interpreted: Who prepared the spirit of the Lord, and who showed him the man of his counsel? with whom he entered into counsel, and gave him understanding, and taught him the way of judgment, and instructed him in knowledge, and showed him the path of prudence? By which it is shown more clearly that the spirit is prepared or established, of which it is read in the Apostle: But the Lord is the Spirit. And on whom the Spirit of God rested, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, etc. He says in the following: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me: because He has anointed me (Isaiah 61:1). He is truly the Spirit of the Lord and the man of His counsel, in whom the fullness of divinity dwelt bodily (Colossians 2). With Him entered into the counsel, of which we spoke above (Ad 11:6): Wonderful, counselor. And in Proverbs it is written: God by wisdom hath founded the earth, by prudence hath prepared the heavens (Prov. III, 19). Moreover, the LXX said: Who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been his counseller? They wish to understand that the mind, reason and understanding of God, by whom all things were made and without whom nothing was made, is the one of whom it is sung in the Psalms: By the word of the Lord the heavens were established, and all the power of them by the breath of his mouth (Ps. XXXII, 6). All peoples who did not know their Creator or the whole human race in comparison to God are like a drop from a bucket and like a speck of dust on a scale that tilts lightly to one side. And just as if a small drop falls from a bucket, it is ignored by the one carrying it; so too the entire multitude of nations, compared to the divine ministries and the multitude of angels, is considered as nothing. Even islands are considered like spit, or as Symmachus and Theodotion place it in their Hebrew translation, as 'leptos (a little thing)' which falls off, for which Aquila translated as 'leptos ballōmenon (a tiny thing thrown).' But the Hebrews say that this word signifies the finest dust, which, being carried by the wind, is often thrown into the eyes and is felt rather than seen. Therefore, the tiniest particles of dust, almost invisible, are called by this word: which perhaps Democritus, with his atom, calls them with Epicurus. There are many names which are read (or understood) in Greek in the same way as they are in Hebrew, because of the difficulty of interpretation, and for the comparison of the poverty of the Hebrew language, both in Greek and in Latin speech. At the same time, as he gradually withdraws people from idolatry, he abolishes the ceremonies of sacrifices; and he teaches that all the trees of Lebanon and the cattle that feed on them are not sufficient for his burnt offerings. But if all nations are in his sight as if they were not, and are considered as nothing and empty (though in all nations and in Israel also), therefore he himself is also as if he were not, and is considered as nothing and empty. We say this, so that his pride may be broken, and so that he may know that he is like the other nations.

Commentary on Isaiah

He [Christ], who … balances the universe, cannot be contained in a single sepulcher.

Homily 87, on John 1:1-14

(Verse 12) Who measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills on a balance? LXX: Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? Let no one think that the calling of the nations is difficult, and that all flesh will see the salvation of God. They are commanded to climb the high mountain, those who proclaim the good news to Zion; and the Lord himself will come in strength, and will reward each one according to his work; he will gather the lambs in his arms and carry the nursing ewes. His greatness is described, for nothing is impossible for him; and he who has created everything, and is the Creator of all, can accomplish even these things which are small in comparison. But he uses the words and measurements of human custom, that we may learn the power of God through our words. In the place where the Seventy translated: Who has measured the water with his hand? or as we translate: Who has measured the waters with a handful? Aquila translated: Who has measured the waters with the smallest finger? For this word λιχὰς signifies that the vastness of all the waters is weighed not with the whole hand but with the small finger, which is commonly called the taster: but σπιθαμὴ, that is, the palm, signifies the hand stretched out from the thumb to the extreme finger. But if we contract our hand, it becomes a fist, so that through the palm and the fist we might know the outspread heavens and the globe of the earth. For the fist, which they brought over to the comprehension of the earth as seventy, is written in Hebrew Salt (), which Symmachus interprets as threefold and Aquila as three-handed: and to make it more evident, we turn it into three fingers; so that, indeed, the mass of the earth and the lofty mountains and hills seem to hang by means of three little fingers and in a small moment from the balance; whereby the majesty of God and the power of the Creator is demonstrated.

Commentary on Isaiah

God sits in heaven and measures the heaven with his palm. Does the same heaven become broad when God sits in it and narrow when he measures it? Or, when God is seated, is he no wider than the palm of his hand? If this is the case, then God has not made us to his own likeness, for with us the palm of the hand is much narrower than the bodily part on which we sit. So, if God is just as broad in the palm of his hand as when he is seated, he has made our members quite different. Not in this does the likeness consist. For shame!

Sermon 53:14

Although these things seem illogical when heard by us according to our human capacity, nevertheless we are moved by them to think of spiritual things in an ineffable manner. Hence, even if we think that the body of the Lord, which when raised from the grave into heaven was not without human form and did indeed have bodily members, nevertheless he is not to be thought of as sitting on the right hand of the Father, as if the Father could be seen sitting on his left. In that blessedness indeed that surpasses all human understanding, “the right” is the name of that same blessedness.

Letter 120:3

Who has measured the waters. Here he shows divine power. And first, he establishes it against the errors of idolaters, who detracted from divine power by making the creature equal to the creator: they served the creature rather than the Creator (Rom 1:25); second, against the despair of the Jews, who detracted from divine power by distrust: lift up your eyes on high (Isa 40:26). Concerning the first, he does two things: first, he shows the power of God; second, he excludes error: to whom then have you likened God (Isa 40:18).

First, he shows divine power together with divine wisdom in the ease with which he measures and creates all things: for he makes all things in number, as to the multitude of principles; in measure, as to determination of each under its particular being; in weight, as to the inclination of each to its end (Wis 11:21). In the hollow, that is, easily, like what is measured by the hollow, which is a closed hand; with his palm, that is, easily, with the palm, which is an open hand; who has poised with three fingers the bulk of the earth, upon nothing (Job 26:7), for it is supported by nothing outside it, otherwise the repose of the earth would be forced, over the waters (Ps 136:6), as to the place, for it is surrounded by waters, upon its own bases (Ps 104:5), as to the proper cause of its repose, which is its own nature; with three fingers, that is, easily; or, with three properties: weight, dryness, and immobility; weighed, he makes each to be weighed by its proper weight.

Commentary on Isaiah

13–14

Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. [Isaiah 40:13-14]

13–14

As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counseller? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? [Isaiah 40:13-14] For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

13–14

“Who has known the mind of the Lord or who rather has been his counselor?” This passage is not merely a rhetorical question. If it were, “who” could not possibly refer to anyone. Rather, the use of “who” indicates a rare personage.… All these questions … have the same answer: “For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing.”

On the Holy Spirit 5:7

13–14

“Yet to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we to him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through him.” … The apostle says according to the prophecy of Isaiah, “Who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” And he added, “For him and through him and in him are all things,” which Isaiah said of the artificer of all, as you have it. “Who has measured the water with his hand, and the heaven with his palm?” And the apostle has added, “For of him and through him and in him are all things.” What is “of him”? That the nature of all things is of his will, and he is the author of all things that come into existence. “Through him” means what? That establishment and continuance are seen to have been bestowed on all things through him. “In him” means what? That all things by a certain wonderful desire and ineffable love look on the Author of their lives and the minister of their graces and functions, according to what is written: “The eyes of all hope in you,” and “You open your hand and fill every living creature with your good pleasure.”

On the Holy Spirit 2.9.85, 90-91

13–14

Symmachus translated, “Who has prepared the Spirit of the Lord and who has shown to him the man of his counsel? With whom has he entered into counsel and has given him understanding and has taught him the path of justice and instructed him in knowledge and has shown the way of wisdom to him?” In this translation it appears more clearly that the one whom the Spirit prepared or founded is he about whom the apostle says, “The Lord is the Spirit” and “On him the Spirit rested, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding.” And further on, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, wherefore he has anointed me.” For the same Spirit of the Lord is “the man of his counsel,” in whom “dwelled all richness of divinity in bodily manner.” With that one he entered into counsel about whom we said above, “wonderful counselor,” and in Proverbs it is written, “God founded the earth with wisdom; he prepared the heavens with foresight.” Moreover, the Septuagint said, “Who has known the mind of the Lord and who has been his counselor,” meaning it to be understood that the mind and reason and sense of God through which all things were made and without whom nothing was made is he about whom it is sung in the Psalms, “The heavens were prepared by the Word of the Lord, and all their power by the Spirit of his mouth.”

Commentary on Isaiah 11:25

13–14

(Verses 13-14) Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or instructed him as his counselor? Whom did he consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge, or showed him the path of understanding? LXX: Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord, or what man shows him his counsel? Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? Who, he says, aided the spirit of the Lord, or who was his counselor and showed him? etc. For which Symmachus interpreted: Who prepared the spirit of the Lord, and who showed him the man of his counsel? with whom he entered into counsel, and gave him understanding, and taught him the way of judgment, and instructed him in knowledge, and showed him the path of prudence? By which it is shown more clearly that the spirit is prepared or established, of which it is read in the Apostle: But the Lord is the Spirit. And on whom the Spirit of God rested, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, etc. He says in the following: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me: because He has anointed me (Isaiah 61:1). He is truly the Spirit of the Lord and the man of His counsel, in whom the fullness of divinity dwelt bodily (Colossians 2). With Him entered into the counsel, of which we spoke above (Ad 11:6): Wonderful, counselor. And in Proverbs it is written: God by wisdom hath founded the earth, by prudence hath prepared the heavens (Prov. III, 19). Moreover, the LXX said: Who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been his counseller? They wish to understand that the mind, reason and understanding of God, by whom all things were made and without whom nothing was made, is the one of whom it is sung in the Psalms: By the word of the Lord the heavens were established, and all the power of them by the breath of his mouth (Ps. XXXII, 6).

Commentary on Isaiah

Second, he shows the sufficiency of his power, that he needs no helper: who has forwarded, against the philosophers who posit that the last creatures were created by the mediation of the first creatures; of his wisdom, that he needs no counsel: or who has been his counsellor, that he would give the Lord counsel.

The Spirit of the Lord is helped not in creation, but in justification, Augustine: he who created you without you, will not justify you without you. By preaching: for we are God's coadjutors (1 Cor 3:9); by preparation: draw nigh to God: and he will draw nigh to you (Jas 4:8); by cooperation: looking diligently, lest any man be wanting to the grace of God (Heb 12:15).

Commentary on Isaiah

With whom has he consulted, that the Lord would ask counsel of him; who has instructed him, of the form of his work; the path of natural justice, which he set before all things, so that nothing exceeds the bounds of its nature; knowledge, of the knowledge of created things, both universals and particulars, against the philosophers; the way of understanding, as to the government of the world: whose helper are you? Is it of him that is weak? And dost you hold up the arm of him that has no strength? (Job 26:2).

Commentary on Isaiah

The central idea of the great part of the Old Testament may be called the idea of the loneliness of God. God is not the only chief character of the Old Testament; God is properly the only character in the Old Testament. Compared with His clearness of purpose, all the other wills are heavy and automatic, like those of animals; compared with His actuality, all the sons of flesh are shadows. Again and again the note is struck, "With whom hath He taken counsel?" All the patriarchs and prophets are merely His tools or weapons; for the Lord is a man of war. He uses Joshua like an axe or Moses like a measuring rod. For Him, Samson, is only a sword and Isaiah a trumpet. The saints of Christianity are supposed to be like God, to be, as it were, little statuettes of Him. The Old Testament hero is no more supposed to be of the same nature as God than a saw or a hammer is supposed to be of the same shape as the carpenter. This is the main key and characteristic of Hebrew scriptures as a whole.

Introduction to the Book of Job (1907)

(Verse 15) Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust. LXX: Behold, all the nations are as a drop in a bucket and are accounted as the dust on the scales. All peoples who did not know their Creator or the whole human race in comparison to God are like a drop from a bucket and like a speck of dust on a scale that tilts lightly to one side. And just as if a small drop falls from a bucket, it is ignored by the one carrying it; so too the entire multitude of nations, compared to the divine ministries and the multitude of angels, is considered as nothing. Even islands are considered like spit, or as Symmachus and Theodotion place it in their Hebrew translation, as 'leptos (a little thing)' which falls off, for which Aquila translated as 'leptos ballōmenon (a tiny thing thrown).' But the Hebrews say that this word signifies the finest dust, which, being carried by the wind, is often thrown into the eyes and is felt rather than seen. Therefore, the tiniest particles of dust, almost invisible, are called by this word: which perhaps Democritus, with his atom, calls them with Epicurus. There are many names which are read (or understood) in Greek in the same way as they are in Hebrew, because of the difficulty of interpretation, and for the comparison of the poverty of the Hebrew language, both in Greek and in Latin speech.

Commentary on Isaiah

Third, he shows its excellence, that it exceeds all the multitude of nations: behold the Gentiles are as a drop, a little spot, of a bucket, falling from a bucket, which is a vessel of water fit for the thirsty, which is accounted as nothing; the smallest grain, which is between the arms of a balance and is easily inclined to either: seeing we have heard scarce a little drop of his word, who shall be able to behold the thunder of his greatness? (Job 26:14).

Commentary on Isaiah

16–17

He teaches, therefore, that all of this service through blood and sacrifice is no longer appropriate for God. Neither someone offering all the four-footed creatures of the earth nor all of Lebanon and all the matter produced in it as sacrifices would be worthy before God. “All the nations are as nothing, and are reckoned as nothing.” What kind of clinging to idolatrous straying did God not know about?

Commentary on Isaiah 2:18

(Verse 16) And Lebanon is not enough to burn, and its animals are not enough for a burnt offering. LXX: Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor all the animals enough for a burnt offering. At the same time, as he gradually withdraws people from idolatry, he abolishes the ceremonies of sacrifices; and he teaches that all the trees of Lebanon and the cattle that feed on them are not sufficient for his burnt offerings.

Commentary on Isaiah

He also shows that it exceeds every fitting honor and especially as to offerings: and Libanus, that is, the trees of Libanus, in which it abounds, because it is wooded, nor the beasts, in which it abounds, because it is fit for pasture: what shall I offer to the Lord that is worthy? (Mic 6:6).

Commentary on Isaiah

(Verse 17) All nations are as nothing before him, they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness. LXX: All the nations are as nothing in his sight, and they are counted as worthless. But if all nations are in his sight as if they were not, and are considered as nothing and empty (though in all nations and in Israel also), therefore he himself is also as if he were not, and is considered as nothing and empty. We say this, so that his pride may be broken, and so that he may know that he is like the other nations.

Commentary on Isaiah

He also shows that it exceeds every perfection of creation: both natural, for the being of creatures is, in respect to God, non being; for Dionysius says, in his book on Divine Names 12.4, that so far as the participants surpass non-participants, and the participations surpass the participants, to such an extent, he who is the principle of the participants exceeds both the participations and the participants: all nations are before him as if they had no being at all; and as to superadded perfections, which are fulfilling in a certain way: and are counted to him as nothing. I beheld the earth, and lo it was void, and nothing (Jer 4:23).

Commentary on Isaiah

18–20

(Verse 18 and following) To whom then will you liken God, or what image will you set before Him? Can the craftsman make a graven image, or the goldsmith overlay it with gold, and the silversmith spread silver plates upon it? Or perhaps the skilled craftsman chooses a piece of wood that will not rot and seeks out a proficient artisan to fashion an image that will not move. Having described the greatness of God and shown His power in part, and having compared the nations and islands to a drop from a bucket and a speck of dust on the scales, and having refuted the use of ashes and sacrificial ceremonies, he teaches those who follow that all the nations before Him are as nothing and are counted by Him as less than nothing. To whom then will you liken God, or what image will you set before Him, who is a Spirit, who is in all things and is everywhere present, and who holds the earth in His hand as if it were a small container? At the same time, he derides the foolishness of nations, because the artisan, whether a blacksmith or a goldsmith or a silversmith, makes their own god and fastens it with nails and firmly establishes it so that it is not blown away by the gusts of wind. And this is what he introduces: a wise artisan has chosen a strong and incorruptible wood, which is called Amsuchan in Hebrew; this type of wood is incorruptible and is used especially for making idols. However, he says this so that, rejecting idols, the way of the Gospel may be followed, and all wrongs may be made right; the valleys may be lifted up, and the hills may be brought low; and the glory of the Lord may be revealed, so that all flesh may see the salvation of God. According to the tropology, we can say that the leaders of the heretics are rebuked for inventing diverse idols from their own hearts; either by the charm of eloquence, which is interpreted as silver; or by the brilliance of gold, which appeals to the senses; or by the incorruptibility of wood, which represents the baser doctrines: and they are considered permanent by the inventors, and are supported by dialectical skill, so that they may not be moved or fall, but may stand firm on a solid root.

Commentary on Isaiah

Here he excludes the error of the idolaters. And first, he mocks this error as to the intention of the worker, that they wished to make a god: then, consequently, he is so powerful, to whom have you likened God, he speaks according to the error of those who thought the likenesses themselves were gods, or what image, as to those who thought the things of which they were likenesses were gods, as the sun or the moon: who is like to you, among the strong, O Lord? (Exod 15:11).

Commentary on Isaiah

According to the moral sense we can say that the leaders of the heretics flourish, inventing different idols from their heart or by the charm of speech, which is what silver means, or by the splendor of gold, which appeals to the senses, or by the fine wood—these are the more vile teachings and are thought everlasting by those who invent them and are strengthened by dialectical skill lest they move and decay. Instead, they “stand fast” with a solid root.

Commentary on Isaiah 11:26

For if we consider the different nations in all the world, from ocean to ocean, that is, from the Indian Sea to Brittania, and from the Atlantic up to the northern ice cap where the waters congeal and fine amber is frozen, we see that every race of human being lives like locusts within it.… Are we not amazed at the relative smallness of human beings whose bodies are like locusts when you consider their minute movements in the grand scheme of things?… The Lord is the one who stretched out the heavens and increased them so that the multitude of angels could live above them and the human race could dwell below as a house fit to contain all the reasonable creatures he had made.… Greek and Roman history tells of so many kings. Where is that uncountable army of Xerxes? Where is the Israelite host in the desert? Where is the incredible power of kings? What shall I say about those long ago? For present examples teach us that leaders are next to nothing, and the rulers of the earth are considered empty. The princes and judges of the earth … are neither sown nor planted nor fixed with a stable root. They are carried off at the command of God in an instant and perish like the blade of grass taken by the wind and storm, just as it is written, “And I crossed over, and he was not there; I sought him, and his place was not found.”

Commentary on Isaiah 11:27

At the moment when he gave the law, the God of the universe transmitted his commands in these terms: “You shall not make for yourself an image or likeness of any thing, whether of things in the heaven above, and in the earth beneath, and in the waters under the earth … for I am the Lord your God.” That is to say, of the God whose appearance you have not seen. Here also the prophetic text, while denouncing the lack of sense of those who fabricate idols and who worship them, strives to show the infinite character of divine capacity; but in [Isaiah’s] inability to teach people another way, he sets out the creation to indicate [its] extraordinary measure; that which, he says, is a drop in the bucket, a turning of a balance, or spittle, so much is all the human race in relation to that ineffable and unlimited power. Then [Isaiah] teaches that the collection of all kinds of beasts is a small thing and not enough for an offering in honor of the divine magnificence, and that [even] all the forests of Lebanon are incapable of satisfying the fire lit [on the altar of sacrifice]. What image could you, therefore, fashion that would be equivalent in nature?

Commentary on Isaiah 12:40.18

What art can produce an imitation of him who precisely is boundless?

Commentary on Isaiah 12:40.19

And as to the foolish work, that they wished to introduce the noblest form into base matter: has the workman cast a graven statue? They gave the incommunicable name to stones and wood (Wis 14:21).

Commentary on Isaiah

On the subject of the God of the universe, [Isaiah] has expressed himself in the following manner: “Lebanon is not enough to burn,” while here, to mock the feebleness of idols, he makes it obvious that the artisan has a need for wood to give form to the pretended god. Not only, [Isaiah] says, does he borrow its essence and its appearance from an outside source, but he even calls for much artfulness in order to obtain an image and to keep it from being moved.

Commentary on Isaiah 12:40.20

21–26

(Vers. 21 seqq.) Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been announced to you from the beginning? Have you not understood the foundations of the earth? He sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like locusts. He spreads out the heavens like nothing, and expands them as a tent to dwell in. He makes secret things known as if they were not. He has made the rulers of the earth as nothing. They are not planted, nor are they sown, nor do their roots take hold in the earth. He blows on them and they wither, and the whirlwind carries them away like stubble. And to whom have you compared me and made me equal? says the Lord. Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these things: he who brings out their host by number, and calls them all by name. Because of his great power and strength, and because his power has no end. LXX: Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told to you from the beginning? Have you not understood the foundation of the earth? He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers. He who sets the heavens like a tent and stretches them like a dwelling place. He who makes princes rule for nothing, and reduces the earth to nothing. For they shall not be planted, nor shall they be sown, nor shall their root be established in the earth. He blows upon them, and they wither, and the storm carries them away like straw. So now to whom will you compare me? Or how am I equal? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who leads according to his ordered number, he will call all by name, from much glory and in the strength of fortitude: nothing escapes you. From the beginning, he said, I have taught you by the natural law, and afterwards I have testified through the written law of Moses, what idols are nothing, and that the Creator of the world himself is God, who has founded such a great mass of land upon the seas, and has placed it upon the rivers: so that the heaviest element hangs by the will of God upon the thin waters, who sits as a king upon the circumference of the earth: from which some contend that it is like a dot and a globe, and its inhabitants like locusts. For if we consider the various nations in the whole world, from the Ocean to the Ocean, that is, from the Indian sea to the British, and from the Atlantic to the harshness of the North, where the waters freeze and beautiful amber grows, we see that the entire human race dwells in the middle like locusts. So why does the earth and ash boast? Because the heavens, indeed, as I will use the authority of the Scriptures, are stretched out like a chamber; or, as it is contained in Hebrew, like a tent, of which we have spoken above: for which the LXX interpreted it as saliva there: and one word now translated as spit, now as chamber, that is, a vault; and its width extends above them like a tent and a canopy, so as to cover people like a roof and make them dwell as if in a very large house. Why should we be surprised if the small bodies of humans are considered like locusts and tiny creatures? Again, in this place, they argue that the semicircle is close to the earth (or rather, the heavens), and they claim that the sky is similar to a sphere. They use the term 'arch' because the middle part of the sphere covers the earth: when in Hebrew, we read not 'arch' but 'dust', that is, very fine powder. For the saliva that is thrown onto the ground and mixes with the dust and disappears, shows that the magnitude of all bodies should be regarded as nothing. But he who stretched out the heavens and spread them out, so that either above could dwell the multitude of angels, or below could dwell human beings, and as if he created a great house for reasonable creatures, he himself established princes according to the quality of the times, whether as secret scrutineers, so that they may be as if they are not; and he made judges of the earth as if they were nothing. For this reason, the Seventy translated it, but they translated the earth as if it were nothing; indeed, in the beginning of Genesis where it is written, 'But the earth was invisible and unfinished' (Gen. 1:1), others translated it as, 'But the earth was empty and nothing.' How many kings, both Greek and Barbarian, does Roman history narrate! Where is that countless army of Xerxes? Where is the multitude of Israel in the desert? Where is the incredible power of kings? What about the ancient ones? Let present examples teach us, that princes are considered as nothing, and rulers of the earth as empty. Those princes and rulers of the earth (or, as others suspect, of heaven) are neither satisfied, nor established, nor firmly rooted, and by the sudden command of God they are taken away and perish, as straw is carried away by the whirlwind and storm; according to what is written: 'I passed by, and he was not there; I sought him, and his place was not found' (Ps. XXXVI, 36). So with such great power and majesty of the Creator, how can you compare God to the likeness of a creature? And do you not rather understand the Creator from the magnitude of the creatures? If you do not believe in words, believe at least in your own eyes; and consider the power of the Lord from the service of the heavens and all the elements. He summons their army, that is, the heavens, in number; and he calls them all by name, and it is understood, the stars. Of which it is also sung in the Psalms: He counts the multitude of the stars: and he calls them all by name (Ps. 46:4). Whether we interpret the hosts of heaven as the army of angels and all the heavenly hosts of which Daniel speaks: Thousands of thousands ministered to Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him (Dan. VII, 10). Hence the Lord of hosts is called, which in our language is called the Lord of armies and forces, or powers. He brings forth his host according to the number of the heavens: so that the sun, and the moon, and the other stars, which Abraham could not number, are numbered by Him, and serve the assigned function (Gen. XV): while the same course of the heavens is completed by the sun in one year, by the morning star and the evening star in two years, by the moon in each month, and all the stars follow their appointed times, and some of them are called wandering, and we see their movements with our eyes, not with our minds, nor do we understand them as much as we marvel at them. For the magnitude of God's strength makes all things serve in its own order. Whether according to the Seventy, by the multitude of his glory and the power of his virtue, nothing can escape him; but he knows all the ways, plans, and courses of the Creator by his majesty.

Commentary on Isaiah

The divinely inspired Scripture was not silent. For the knowledge of the truth from above was veiled through the patriarchs, through the law and the prophets. But this was not the case when the only-begotten Word of God came among us as a man to illuminate those on the earth. This was the last days when the leader of those who oppose spiritual deception came. It was the first of the attacks on idolatry. For the choir of the saints never stops attacking such deception, showing how loathsome it is while at the same time making known the [true] Maker and Lord of the universe.

Commentary on Isaiah 3:5.40:15-21

From the beginning, [Isaiah] says, have I not taught you the weakness of the idols? Do you not know who it is who set the earth on its foundations with a view to assuring its stability?

Commentary on Isaiah 12:40.21

Second, he convicts the one who errs. And first, from the natural law, which prescribes: do you not know, by natural reason, that idols are not gods?; and from the written law, which prohibits: has it not been told you? Have they not heard? (Rom 10:18). He convicts also from the consideration of terrestrial creatures, as to their creation: have you not understood the foundations of the earth, to have been founded by him? That is, that part of the earth that is next to the center: when he balanced the foundations of the earth (Prov 8:29).

Commentary on Isaiah

22–23

“He that stretches out the heavens as a vaulted ceiling.” These same thoughts, let us also recommend to ourselves concerning the earth, not to be curious about what its substance is; or to wear ourselves out by reasoning, seeking its very foundation; or to search for some nature destitute of qualities, existing without quality of itself; but to realize well that all that is seen around it is related to the reason of its existence, forming an essential part of its substance.

Homilies on the Hexameron 1:8

Therefore, it is enough to mention the qualities and substance of the heavens that we find in the writings of Isaiah, who expressed the nature of the celestial sphere in ordinary and familiar language, saying that God has made the heavens firm like smoke, not wanting to reveal its subtle and immaterial nature. And he also speaks of its appearance, saying that God has made the heavens like a vault, within which all things in the sea and on land are enclosed. It is similarly signified when it is read: Because the Lord has stretched out the heavens. For it is extended like a skin to the dwellings and abodes of the saints; or like a book, so that the names of many who have deserved the grace of Christ by faith and devotion may be written, to whom it is said: Rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

The Six Days of Creation, Book 1, Chapter 6

22–23

When he spoke of the heavens, Isaiah said, “It is he who set up the heaven as a vaulted chamber and stretched it out as a tent over the earth.” And he said of the earth, “It is he that comprehends the circle of the earth and made the earth as if it were nothing,” even though the earth is so great and vast.… Despite the fact that the earth is so great and so vast, God made it with such ease that the prophet could find no fitting example. So he said that God made the earth “as if it were nothing.”

Against the Anomoeans, Homily 2:24-25

22–23

It is he, [Isaiah] says, who has caused the earth to appear; it is he who holds it in his hand and who directs it. As for human beings, they are no different from grasshoppers if one compares them with divine power. Then [Isaiah] teaches that God is not only the Maker of the earth but also the Creator of the heavens: “He that set up the heaven as a chamber and stretched it out as a tent to dwell in.” For since the earth is like the ground floor of a house and the sky simulates a roof in the form of an arch and dome, [Isaiah] has aptly compared it with a tent. And after having shown us the God of the universe as Creator, the prophetic text indicates to us his ineffable providence.

Commentary on Isaiah 12:40.22

22–23

It is thus he has brought down Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar and thousands of others. “And has made the earth as nothing.” For the power of the Creator does not even have the object of his creation as a measure, but only his will: “Our God has done in heaven and on earth whatsoever he has pleased,” not all that he has the power [to do] but all he pleases: for he would be capable [of accomplishing] works many times greater, but God has accomplished what he judges to be best.

Commentary on Isaiah 12:40.23

And as to their creator: it is he that sits upon the globe of the earth, for it is spherical, as though governing it, and the inhabitants thereof are as locusts, in respect to the magnitude of the earth, or of God himself; also from the creation of heavenly creatures: he that stretches out, as to the magnitude of heaven, as nothing, as to the subtlety of its substance, as a tent, for himself, as that in which his power first shines out among corporeal things, as to power; or as in the dwelling of the angels and saints, as to dignity; or also of the whole lower creation, as to their brightness: he prepares the world by his wisdom (Jer 10:3).

Commentary on Isaiah

Nevertheless the main characteristic remains: the sense not merely that God is stronger than man, not merely that God is more secret than man, but that He means more, that He knows better what He is doing, that compared with Him we have something of the vagueness, the unreason, and the vagrancy of the beasts that perish. "It is He that sitteth above the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers." We might almost put it thus. The book is so intent upon asserting the personality of God that it almost asserts the impersonality of man. Unless this gigantic cosmic brain has conceived a thing, that thing is insecure and void; man has not enough tenacity to ensure its continuance.

Introduction to the Book of Job (1907)

He convicts them as to the subjugation of the great, setting out the destruction of those who are great, either according to knowledge: he that brings the searchers of secrets, namely the philosophers; or according to power, the judges, that is, the princes: they have failed in their search (Ps 64:6).

Commentary on Isaiah

And he shows the ease of their destruction by a similitude of grass or of a tree, which does not have strong roots in the earth: and surely: against a leaf, that is carried away with the wind, you show your power, and you pursue a dry straw (Job 13:25).

Commentary on Isaiah

God is one thing, and what belongs to God is another thing.… How will you employ in a comparison with God an object as your example, [such as a king] which fails in all the purposes that belong to a comparison? Why, when supreme power among kings cannot evidently be varied but only unique and singular, is an exception made in the case of him (of all others) who is King of kings, and (from the exceeding greatness of his power and the subjection of all other ranks to him) the very summit, as it were, of dominion?

Against Marcion 1.4

To him who has performed works, to him who has accomplished these works and who continually goes on performing them, to whom do you compare him? What mark of respect do you offer to him that is worthy of him?

Commentary on Isaiah 12:40.25

He sets out the conclusion: and to whom have you likened me? Who in the clouds can be compared to the Lord? (Ps 89:6).

Commentary on Isaiah

"Lift up your eyes" occurs in many places in Scripture when the divine Word admonishes us to exalt and lift up our thoughts, to elevate the insight that lies below in a rather sickly condition, and is stooped and completely incapable of looking up, as it is written, for instance, in Isaiah: "Lift up your eyes on high and see. Who has made all these things known?"

Commentary on the Gospel of John 13:274

26–27

Since so great is the power and majesty of the Creator, to which likeness do you compare God, thus failing to understand the founder from the greatness of creation? If you do not believe the words, at least believe your eyes and recognize the power of the Lord from the service all heavens and elements give him, who “leads out their army by number,” that is, the heavens, about which in the psalms it says, “Who numbers the host of stars and calls them all by name.” Or we can call the army of heaven angels and all the companies of heaven.… For the greatness of the strength of God made all to serve him in order … but he knows their way and reasons and course in his majesty as the Creator.

Commentary on Isaiah 11:27

He says, look at the sun, the moon, the movement of the stars, the cycle of the year, the changing of the seasons, the regular succession of night and day. For this is what he has added: “He who brings forth by number the order of the cosmos.” For He calls the setting in order of creation “the cosmos.” “He shall call them all by names.” He is ignorant of nothing, he says, but He knows all things with clarity, since it is He who has given a name equally to each and everything. “By means of the greatness of Your glory and by the power of Your might nothing has escaped You.” He has power above all, He is able to do all, He is ignorant of nothing that exits and He knows the very thoughts of men. (Theodoret of Cyrus) God, whose knowledge is simply manifold, and uniform in its variety, comprehends all incomprehensibles with so incomprehensible a comprehension, that though He willed always to make His later works novel and unlike what went before them, He could not produce them without order and foresight, nor conceive them suddenly, but by His eternal foreknowledge. (St. Augustine City of God)

26–27

[Isaiah] says, look at the sun, the moon, the movement of the stars, the cycle of the year, the changing of the seasons, the regular succession of night and day. For this is what [Isaiah] has added: “He who brings forth by number the order of the cosmos.” For he calls the setting in order of creation “the cosmos.” “He shall call them by names.” He is ignorant of nothing, [Isaiah] says, but he knows all things with clarity, since it is he who has given a name equally to each and every thing. “By means of the greatness of [your] glory and by the power of [your] might nothing has escaped you.” He has power above all, he is able [to do] all, he is ignorant of nothing that exists, and he knows the very thoughts of people.

Commentary on Isaiah 12:40.26

26–27

Do not think that I ignore the designs of your souls, God says through Isaiah, and do not believe that you escape my view when you hold perverse reasonings. This passage lets [us] see clearly that he has also thrown the accusation of polytheism against Israel itself.

Commentary on Isaiah 12:40.27

Lift up your eyes. Here he establishes the same divine power against those who despair. And first, he establishes divine majesty from the creation of things: who has created these things, namely, heavenly things: he spoke, and they were made (Ps 148:5); from the perfection of his knowledge: who brings out, to fulfill his will, in number, determined in his knowledge, their host, namely, the stars or angels of the heavens, and calls them all by their names, determining for each its proper nature, from which it can be named: who tells the number of the stars: and calls them all by their names (Ps 147:4); from the fullness of his dominion: by the greatness of his might, for fighting, and strength, for resisting, and power, for working; not one of them was missing, from his dominion: is there any numbering of his soldiers? (Job 25:3).

Commentary on Isaiah

27–31

(Verse 27 and following) Why do you say, Jacob, and speak, Israel: My way is hidden from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over by my God? Do you not know, or have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not faint, neither is He weary, and there is no searching of His understanding. He gives power to the faint, and to them that have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. But those who hope in the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall take wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. LXX: Do not say, Jacob, and what you spoke, Israel: My way is hidden from the Lord, and my judgment is disregarded by my God, and now you do not know, and have not heard? The eternal God, the God who created the ends of the earth: he shall not hunger, nor shall he labor, nor is there any finding of his understanding. He gives strength to the hungry: and does not grieve the sorrowful. For the young will hunger, and the adolescents will labor, and the chosen ones will be weak. But those who wait for God will change their strength. They will take wings like eagles: they will run, and will not labor: they will walk, and will not hunger. The greatness of the Almighty God is so vast that nothing escapes him, and everything is governed by his will. So why do you say Jacob, that is, the two tribes that were called Judah; and you speak of Israel, the other ten tribes in Samaria, who have already been led captive into Assyria: My way is hidden from the Lord: and my just judgment will pass by my God? And this is the meaning: You say that earthly things do not pertain to God, nor does He consider what each of us does. Hence we are unjustly oppressed by our enemies, and, like the beasts and the fish, we are scattered without any governor, according to Habakkuk. To this God responds: Do you not know? Have the words of the preceding Scriptures not taught you, or do you not know according to the Septuagint, because you have not heard that the eternal God and Creator of all things knows all things, contains all things, and governs all things with His majesty? Does it not fail at any time, nor does it labor; so that it does not understand your judgement, and your ways are hidden from it? There is no investigation of his wisdom, about which place I think that saying of the Apostle is taken: His judgments are incomprehensible, and his ways are investigable (perhaps 'unsearchable') (Rom. XI, 33); or, as the LXX translated, he does not hunger, and he does not labor. For where there is food, there is often hunger if you remove the food: and where there is hunger, there is also labor. But since these things are not in God, why do you attribute human passions to him? Rather, he gives strength to the hungry and weary, and he multiplies virtue and strength to those who seem to be nothing in the world. According to the Septuagint, it is he who gives sorrow to those who do not grieve, for it is sadness that leads to death, and it is sadness that leads to life. Therefore, to those who have a hardened heart, he gives sadness so that they may understand their sins. And because many take pleasure in bodily health, and consider youth and childhood to be perpetual, he joins this and says that the flourishing age quickly falls, and strong bodies wither. But those who have confidence not in their own strength, but in God, and always await His mercy, let them change their strength and go from virtue to virtue: and let them take wings like eagles, and hear: Your youth will be renewed like the eagle's (Psalm 103:5); let them run to the Lord, and not grow weary of desiring Him; let them walk, and never grow faint. We have frequently said that the eagles' old age is rejuvenated by a change of feathers, and only those eagles can look upon the sun's rays and behold the splendor of its shining with sparkling eyes: and they should prove their noble offspring, by means of this experiment. And so even the saints are made young again, and with an immortal body, they do not feel the toil of mortals, but are caught up in the clouds to meet Christ, and never go hungry according to the LXX, because they have the Lord himself as food.

Commentary on Isaiah

He excludes their error. And first, he sets out the error: why say you: my way is hid from the Lord, he does not see what evils I suffer, otherwise, he would defend me; judgment, that is, the power to judge, which he formerly had: say not: I shall be hidden from God (Sir 16:17); they have said: the Lord has forsaken the earth, and the Lord sees not (Ezek 9:9).

Commentary on Isaiah

If they shall assign the toil of making all things as the reason why God only made the Son, the whole creation will cry out against them as saying unworthy things of God; and Isaiah, too, who has said in Scripture, “The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not faint, neither is he weary: there is no searching of his understanding.” And if God made the Son alone, as not lowering himself to make the rest but committed them to the Son as an assistant, this on the other hand is unworthy of God, for in him there is no pride. No, the Lord reproves the thought when he says, “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing?” … If then it is not unworthy of God to exercise his providence, even down to things so small, a hair of the head and a sparrow and the grass of the field, also it was not unworthy of him to make them. For what things are the subjects of his providence, of those he is Maker through his proper Word. No, a worse absurdity lies before the people who speak this way; for they distinguish between the creatures and the framing and consider the latter the work of the Father, the creatures the work of the Son; whereas either all things must be brought to be with the Son, or if all that is originate comes to be through the Son, we must not call him one of the originated things.

Discourses Against the Arians 2.17.25

Then he recalls the truths that he has often taught: "[I am an] eternal God." This is what the blessed Moses has also said: "I AM WHO I AM." As for the blessed David, he in his turn addresses himself to him in these terms: "But you, Lord, endure forever, and your remembrance to generation and generation." Or again: "But you are the same, and your years shall not fail."

Commentary on Isaiah 12:40.28

He sets out the reproof of the error; and first, the confirmation of the proof from the law: know you not, from the natural law, or have you not heard, from the written law, these things which follow? He sets out the reproof, first, showing the greatness of God from the things which he has in himself, namely, the eternity of his dominion: everlasting God; the Lord shall reign for ever and ever (Exod 15:18); unfailing power: he shall not faint, that he could not do all things, nor labor, that he could do them with difficulty: his power is an everlasting power (Dan 7:14); the incomprehensibility of his knowledge, neither is there any searching out of his wisdom: O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are his judgments, and how unsearchable his ways (Rom 11:33).

Commentary on Isaiah

This is what the admirable Hannah has also said: "The Lord makes poor and makes rich; he brings low, and he lifts up."

Commentary on Isaiah 12:40.29

Second, by the great things which he does in others. And first, in those whom he strengthens, he shows their original weakness: it is he that gives strength, as to him who first had been strong and then weakened; to them that are not, as to those who were not strong, above: you have been a strength to the poor (Isa 25:4); he calls those things that are not (Rom 4:17); the weak things of the world has God chosen (1 Cor 1:27).

Commentary on Isaiah

He shows the greatness of his strength by comparison to natural strength, which he shows failing first: youths shall faint, who are in the state of advancing; young men, who seem strong: no man shall prevail by his own strength (1 Sam 2:9).

Commentary on Isaiah

We have said that the old age of eagles is revived by a change of their wings and that they alone who see the brilliance of the sun and the radiance of its splendor are able to gaze with gleaming eyes; and they test their young ones to see whether they are of noble birth by this same test. In the same way the saints are made young again as they put on their immortal bodies so that they no longer feel the toil of mortals but are taken up into the clouds before the face of Christ, and in no way (following the Septuagint) do they hunger, since they have the Lord present to them as food.

Commentary on Isaiah 12:2-3

These things took place at the time of the Jews and the divine apostles. In fact, all those who did not believe were handed over to famine, disease, war and bondage. Those, however, who believed were renewed by the All-Holy Spirit and so imitated the swift flight of eagles. They flew over all the earth, struggling in bodies so foreign to them.

Commentary on Isaiah 12:40.30

The greatness of the strength given by God: but they that hope in the Lord shall change their strength, namely, from natural to divine, so that they are not tired in ascending: they shall take wings: they shall make themselves wings like those of an eagle (Prov 23:5); nor in swift progress: they shall run; nor in continuous advancing: they shall walk, above: there is none that shall faint, nor labor (Isa 5:27).

The saints are compared to eagles, because of the height of their flight: will the eagle mount up at your command, and make her nest in high places? (Job 39:27); in which is signified eminence of contemplation, above: his eyes shall see the king in his beauty (Isa 33:17); because of the subtlety of their odor: wheresoever the body shall be, thither will the eagles also be gathered together (Luke 17:37); in which is signified the fervor of love: we will run after you to the odor of your ointments (Song 1:3); because of the loftiness of their place: three things are hard to me, and the fourth I am utterly ignorant of. The way of an eagle in the air (Prov 30:18–19); in which is signified zeal for heavenly conversation: but our conversation is in heaven (Phil 3:20); because of the swiftness of their motion: our persecutors were swifter than the eagles of the air (Lam 4:19); in which is signified promptness of good works: have you seen a man swift in his work? (Prov 22:29); because of their renewal: your youth shall be renewed like the eagle's (Ps 103:5); in which is signified zeal for amendment and progress: though our outward man is corrupted, yet the inward man is renewed day by day (2 Cor 4:16); because of the beauty of their members: a large eagle with great wings, long-limbed, full of feathers, and of variety, came to Libanus (Ezek 17:3); in which is signified the beauty of the virtues: you are all fair, O my love (Song 4:7); because of their solicitude for their children: as the eagle enticing her young to fly, and hovering over them, he spread his wings (Deut 32:11); in which is signified solicitude for the saints: who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is scandalized, and I am not on fire? (2 Cor 11:29).

Commentary on Isaiah

The soul runs swiftly to God and touches Him again and again; and it runs without fainting by reason of its hope. For here the love that has made it strong makes it to fly swiftly. Of this the prophet Isaiah speaks thus: ’ The saints that hope in God shall renew their strength;'