Isaiah 57

1–2

The peace of the righteous Man is coming, who, when departing from the apostles and ascending to the Father, said, “My peace I give to you, my peace I bequeath to you.” And when the peace of Christ that surpasses every bodily sense arrives, his apostles will be resting in their beds, and death will become their rest. This shows that martyrs do not perish but conquer and take their rest on an eternal throne. But the Man of peace, whose apostles rest in their beds, walks his own direction, a victor ascending to the Father by the upright path. Then there is what we read in the Septuagint: “The Righteous Man is removed from the face of evil and there will be peace at his grave, which is set apart,” all referring directly to the Messiah, without any admixture from the apostles. For Christ’s grave is in peace and set apart, nor did his body either see corruption or remain in the tomb. He is “free among the dead,” as the angel said to the women: “Jesus whom you seek is not here.”

Commentary on Isaiah 15:25

1–2

(Chapter 57, Verses 1-2) The righteous perish, and there is no one who takes it to heart; the men of mercy are gathered, but there is no one who understands; for the righteous is taken away from the face of evil. Let peace come; let him rest in his bed who walks in his integrity. Look, how the righteous perishes, and no one takes it to heart; the upright are taken away, and no one considers. For the righteous is taken away from the presence of iniquity; his burial will be in peace; he is taken away from among us. Because of blind spies and mute dogs, who themselves are shepherds, lacking understanding, nor are they satisfied with present pleasures, but always prepare themselves for future ones, the righteous one perishes, concerning whom the wife of Pilate says: 'Have nothing to do with that righteous man' (Matthew 27:19). With washed hands, innocent am I, says she, from the blood of this righteous one. In which it should be considered that the word "perdition," concerning which heretics often make false accusations, signifies destruction and abolition forever, and is applied to Christ, whose perdition demonstrates the magnitude of persecution and not an end of substance. And no one, he says, is there who reflects in his heart, or ponders. For it could not be that the blind and mute, seeing vain and loving dreams, and ignorant of understanding and wisdom, would think those things which belong to God. And what follows: And the men of mercy, or the just, are gathered and taken away, signifies the Apostles, who are killed by the wicked, and are gathered by the Lord. And he gives the reasons why the just one is killed and taken away, saying: For the just one was collected from the face of evil, so that he would not see the evils of the world. Whether due to the wickedness of humans, whose sins he himself bore, he ascended to the Father as the victor. Now, concerning what is said in Hebrew: Let peace come, let it rest in its own dwelling; let it walk in its own direction, the meaning is indeed clear, but the coherence of the words, which stands in its own idiomatic language, seems to be disturbed among us. Now, concerning what he says, this is it: Let the peace of the Just One come, which he left to the Apostles when ascending to the Father, saying: My peace I give to you, my peace I leave with you (John 14:27). And when the peace of Christ, which surpasses all understanding, comes, his apostles will rest in their beds, and their death will rest. From this it is shown that the martyrs do not perish, but conquer, and rest in an eternal dwelling. And he, whose peace it is and whose apostles rest in their beds, walks in his own direction, ascending to the Father as a victorious one on a straight path. Furthermore, what is read in the Septuagint: The righteous one was taken away from the presence of evil, his burial will be in peace, he was taken away from among us, everything is referred to Christ without the mingling of the apostles' person, whose burial is in peace and taken away from among us. For His flesh did not see corruption, nor did it remain in the tomb, which is the place of the dead, as the angel said to the women: 'Whom do you seek, Jesus? He is not here; come and see the place where the Lord was laid.' (Matthew 28:5-6). The Jews understand these and the following things, either in a general sense concerning all the righteous, whose blood Manasseh shed and filled Jerusalem from one end to another, or certainly concerning Isaiah's prophecy of his own death, that he would be sawn in two by a wooden saw, which is a most certain tradition among the Jews. Hence many of our people refer that which is written in the Epistle to the Hebrews about the sufferings of the Saints to the suffering of Isaiah: They were sawn asunder (Heb. XI, 37).

Commentary on Isaiah

1–2

He foretells here the cross of the Master; for he calls the Master Christ “righteous,” he who committed no sin and in whose mouth no deceit was found.… “His grave shall be in peace.” For the righteous has been removed out of the way of injustice. He says this about Christ our Master and simultaneously lets us see the injustice of the murder and the victory that followed the death. For the death effected for us the reconciliation with God. He himself left his grave to ascend to the heavens.

Commentary on Isaiah 18:57.1-2

1–2

The malice and wickedness of them that remain behind in the world deserveth that those should quickly be taken away, who by their life might much help us: and for as much as the world draweth towards an end, God's chosen servants are taken out of it, that they fall not into more wicked times: and therefore from hence it cometh that the prophet saith: "The just man doth perish, and there is none that doth ponder it in his heart: and men of mercy are gathered together, because there is none that hath understanding." And yet do I not think that all God's elect servants are so taken out of the world, that none but the wicked remain behind: for sinners would never be converted to the sorrow of true penance, if they had not the examples of some good people to provoke them forward.

Dialogues, Book 3, Chapter 37

The just perishes. Here he shows the difference between those who obey divine counsels and those who do not obey, as to deliverance from dangers.

And first, he assigns the difference,

second, he sets out the confirmation of each part: but he that puts his trust in me (Isa 57:13).

Concerning the first, he does two things:

first, he promises rest from dangers to the just;

second, he takes away from the impious hope of deliverance: but draw near hither (Isa 57:3).

Concerning the first, he does two things.

First, he sets out the tribulation of the just, because they are killed without any reckoning: men of mercy are taken away, from the present life and from their land they are taken captive as if they were not just, from before the face of evil, that is, from the presence of the wicked: why look you upon the scorners, and hold your peace when the wicked devours the man that is more just than himself? (Hab 1:13); or, from before the face of evil, that is, lest they be changed to evil: he was taken away, lest wickedness should alter his understanding (Wis 4:11).

Note on the words, the just perishes, and no man lays it to heart (Isa 57:1), that in the passion of Christ, man ought to lay to heart

first, love, so as to love him in return: put me as a seal upon your heart (Song 8:6);

second, bitterness, so as to sympathize with him: remember my poverty, and transgression, the wormwood and the gall (Lam 3:19);

third, fortitude, so as to suffer bravely: for think diligently upon him that endured for you such opposition from sinners against himself that you be not wearied, fainting in your minds (Heb 12:3);

fourth, its benefit, so as to give thanks: I will go up into the palm tree, and will take hold of the fruit thereof (Song 7:8).

Commentary on Isaiah

Second, he promises them rest: let peace come, let him rest in his bed, that is, he will be secure in his own home, or in the repose of his own heart: you shall know that your tabernacle is in peace (Job 5:24).

Commentary on Isaiah

3–4

(Vers. 3, 4.) But you come here, sons of a fortune teller: whose seed have you played with? Whose mouth have you opened wide, and whose tongue have you cast out? LXX: But you come here, wicked sons, seed of adulterers and prostitutes, with whom have you played? Whose mouth have you opened: and whose tongue have you cast out? By removing the just one, whose burial is in peace, indeed by removing from the midst, you who are sons of wickedness, come to me, and hear what I say (John 8). For just as he who does wickedness is called a servant of wickedness, so anyone who betrays like Judas, is called a son of perdition, and can be called a son of wickedness. Finally, it is written about the Lord and Savior: And a son of wickedness shall not be able to afflict him (Ps. LXXXVIII, 23). For wickedness, or the wicked, which the LXX translated, Theodotion put the Hebrew word 'Onena' (Ps. LXXXVIII, 23), which according to Symmachus, we translate as an augur, meaning that Jerusalem, which is always the mother of those who listen, has been devoted to idolatry. Therefore, He calls them offspring of adulterers, or adulterers themselves (of whom it is said: They committed adultery with wood and stone (Jeremiah III, 9))) and prostitutes: there is no doubt that it signifies the same, of whom we read above: How the faithful city Sion has become a prostitute (Isaiah I, 21) ? Whom, he says, have you mocked, spitting in His face and pulling His beard; and whom have you enlarged your mouth at and opened your lips against, saying to Him: You are a Samaritan, and have a demon (John VIII, 48) ? And again: He does not cast out demons, except by Beelzebub the prince of demons (Matt. XII, 24). And then during the Passion: Crucify, crucify him (Luke XXIII, 21). And again: His blood be upon us and our children (Matt. XXVII, 25). And elsewhere: Woe to you who destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. He saved others, but he cannot save himself. Come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him (Ibid. 40).

Commentary on Isaiah

But draw near hither. Here he takes away from the unjust hope of deliverance.

And first, he alleges their sin;

second, he takes away their confidence of deliverance: I will declare your justice (Isa 57:12).

Concerning the first, he does two things:

first, he alleges the perversity of their sin,

second, their obstinacy in sin: you have labored in the multitude of your ways (Isa 57:10).

Concerning the first, he does two things.

First, he accuses them of blasphemy, setting out the custom of sin, inasmuch as they imitate their fathers in this: you sons of the sorceress, who tended to auguries against my commandment, the seed of the adulterer, inasmuch as they abandoned me and adhered to idols: judge your mother, judge her (Hos 2:2).

Commentary on Isaiah

4–5

(Verse 4, 5.) Are you not wicked children, a deceitful seed, who console yourselves in gods beneath every leafy tree, sacrificing little ones in the torrents under threatening ((Vulg. lofty)) rocks? LXX: Are you not sons of perdition: an unjust seed, who call upon idols beneath leafy trees, sacrificing your sons in the valleys amidst the rocks? You, he says, have done these things that the preceding discourse narrated. Who are you, wicked sons of perdition, like Judas the betrayer, who is called the son of perdition (Jn. 17): and offspring of wickedness or deceit and falsehood, who delight in gods under every leafy tree, and sacrifice your children in the rivers (Acts 8). This is also recounted in the history of the Kings and Chronicles, that they sacrificed their sons to the gods, and consecrated them in fire (2 Kings 16 and 17). Indeed, it is without a doubt that both Achab, the king of Israel, and Manasseh, the king of Judah, committed, who went from the murder of their own children to the blood of the Prophets, as also mentioned in Hosea: 'Sacrifice,' he says, 'men, for the calves have failed' (Hosea 13:2).' Or, as it is written in Hebrew: 'Sacrificing men, you worship calves.' And in the Psalms it is written more fully: 'They were mingled with the nations, and they learned their works, and they served their idols, and it became a stumbling block to them.' And they sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons, and shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, and sacrificed to the idols of Canaan. And the land was contaminated with blood, and was defiled in its works (Psalm 105, 35 et seqq.). Therefore, since it is evident from history that the sons are the murderers of Christ, the question arises as to how the sons are called sons of perdition, against those who wish to be different natures: one that is lost and evil, and cannot be saved; and another that is good, and cannot perish. For if, as they believe, the sons of perdition are of the most wicked nature: how is it that what was lost has been found? In the parables of the repentant, the lost sheep out of a hundred sheep and the lost coin out of ten are found, and the lost son is found, of whom the father had said to the older son: Your brother was lost, and is found: he was dead, and he has come to life again (Luke 15:32). For nothing perishes unless it was first safe, and nothing dies unless it had lived before. Therefore, those who are now called sons of perdition, or of wickedness and crime, have abandoned the Lord through their own fault, and have begun to be sons of perdition from among the sons of the Lord, as the same Prophet says to them: You have forsaken the Lord, and have provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger (Isaiah 1:4). We can understand these words according to the allegorical sense, and apply them to heretics, who are sons of perdition and of the most wicked seed, or of falsehood. For from the beginning they are liars, like the devil, who is their father, who is the father of all lies. They call those whom they have deceived to idols, or to the images of their doctrines, under leafy and wooded trees, promising pleasures and delights to them, or hiding their impurities. Therefore, after Adam sinned, he hid himself in paradise under a tree, so that he would not be revealed to the sight of God (Genesis 3). There is no doubt that the children of such destruction, and the wicked seed, have many offspring wherever they deceive and kill in deep valleys, and under the looming rocks of impiety, which always threaten ruin, which, due to the diversity of lies and the variety of perverse teachings, are called many rocks. But we have one rock, which always follows the people of God, from which the people of Israel once drank, when they enjoyed the intimacy of the Lord.

Commentary on Isaiah

Since, therefore, history is clear that those who killed Christ were the children of those who did these things, the question occurs as to how they are called “children of perdition,” in opposition to those who wish to be of a different nature. The former are evil and lost, unable to be saved, whereas the latter are good, unable to perish. For if, as they think, the children of perdition are worse by nature, how is it possible that one of them could be found who was previously lost? In the parable of the prodigal, moreover, both the one sheep lost out of one hundred and the one silver coin lost out of ten were found again, as was the son, about whom the father said to his elder brother: “This your brother was lost and is found again; he was dead, and now he lives!” For no one perishes unless previously healthy, and no one dies unless previously alive. Therefore, those who are now called children of perdition, or children of iniquity and crime, have failed the Lord by their own fault and thus began to be children of perdition when they were still children of the Lord, as the prophet says to these very people: “You failed the Lord and provoked the holy One of Israel to wrath.” We can receive this, according to the tropological sense, as applying to heretics who are children of perdition and the seed of the worst, or liars. For they were liars from the beginning, just like the devil, who is the father of their lie and the father of every lie. … Nor is there any doubt but that such children of perdition and wicked seed will themselves have many children whom they will deceive and murder in deep valleys and in the abyss of impiety, under overhanging rocks that continuously threaten destruction, rocks that are called “many” on account of the diversity of their lies and the variety of their false doctrines. We, by contrast, have one Rock that the people of God continuously follow and from which the people of Israel formerly drank, when they enjoyed familiarity with the Lord.

Commentary on Isaiah 16:3

He also sets out the species of sin: upon whom have you jested? As if to say: upon God, blaspheming him, above: whom have you reproached? (Isa 37:23).

Second, he accuses them of idolatry.

And first, he sets out the custom: are not you wicked children, above: woe to the sinful nation, a wicked people, ungracious children (Isa 1:4);

Commentary on Isaiah

This shows them to be those who detest God, having a sick hatred for him and ready to eat blood. There was nothing new in this; it was a long established custom. For you are the ones who have from long ago called on idols under a leafy tree.… Your guilt is that you first think to kill your firstborn and then offer libations to impure demons and soulless idols; so slaying will also be your portion and your lot.… Should I not be angry with these people? Is there not a good cause for my anger?

Commentary on Isaiah 5:3.57:5-7

second, he sets out the species of sin: who seek your comfort in idols.

And he adds to the weight of their sin of idolatry from three things:

first, from the variety of places;

second, from the violation of the divine covenant: you have discovered yourself near me (Isa 57:8);

third, from their eagerness for sinning: you have loved their bed (Isa 57:8).

Now the variety of places in which they sacrificed is shown in three ways:

first, as to pleasant places;

second, as to lofty places: upon a high and lofty mountain (Isa 57:7);

third, as to familiar places: and behind the door (Isa 57:8).

Concerning the first, he does four things.

First, he describes the pleasantness of the places, either from the shade of trees, who seek your comfort in idols under every green tree: for on every high hill, and under every green tree you didst prostitute yourself (Jer 2:20); or from the abundance of waters: sacrificing children in the torrents, that is, sacrificing your own children: you have taken your sons, and your daughters, whom you have borne to me: and have sacrificed the same to them to be devoured (Ezek 16:20); they shed innocent blood (Ps 105[106]:38).

Commentary on Isaiah

(Verse 6.) In the parts of the torrent is your portion: this is your fate, and you have poured out libations for them, you have offered sacrifices. Shall I not be angry with these things? LXX: This is your portion, this is your fate: and for them you have poured out libations and prepared sacrifices. Shall I not be angry with these things? They fit with the times of Isaiah, who says: For all the mountains, valleys, and torrents were full of the worship of demons, of which Jeremiah speaks: They make idols of wood, and kindle fire to worship them, to make the heavenly powers angry, with women kneading dough and mixing fat, to provoke the Lord to anger (Jeremiah 7). There is no doubt that pancakes, or small crusts prepared by the hand of the artisan, are delightful. For in our language, they are called chavonas. Concerning these, Moses, as the mouthpiece of the Lord, foretold in the Song of Deuteronomy with prophetic spirit: They stirred me to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations they provoked me to anger; they sacrificed to demons, not to God (Deut. XXXII, 16, 17). And they did this of their own accord, for it lies within our power to choose between good and evil. Finally, those who offer themselves to God with virtues are said: He has chosen his inheritance for us: the beauty of Jacob, which he has loved (Psalms 46:5). And in another place: The people of Jacob have become the portion of the Lord, his inheritance is Israel (Deuteronomy 32:9). And it is reported in the Acts of the Apostles that many have given themselves as part and portion of Paul and Silas. Therefore, those who are the portion and inheritance of the Lord, like the Levites, will have a share of the Lord and can say with David: The Lord is my portion (Psalms 73:26). Which things we are able to receive and, regarding the person of the heretics themselves, they indeed, having set aside the worship of God, worship the images of their errors, and offer sacrifices and pour out libations to them, doing secretly those things which are shameful to even speak of, and leading away captive weak-willed women loaded with sins, who are led on by various lusts, always learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth (2 Timothy 3). Therefore, since the wicked do these things in both impieties, is it not just for God's wrath to be provoked against them?

Commentary on Isaiah

Second, their love of sin: in the parts of the torrent is your portion, as if to say: you have reckoned this to be your lot: let none of us go without his part in luxury: let us every where leave tokens of joy: for this is our portion, and this our lot (Wis 2:9).

Third, their offering of sacrifice: and you have poured out libations, as to moist things, you have offered sacrifice, as to dry things, above: you shall be confounded for [your] idols (Isa 1:29).

Fourth, the just anger of God: shall I not be angry at these things? Shall I not visit for these things, says the Lord? (Jer 5:9).

Commentary on Isaiah

(Verse 7.) You have placed your dwelling on a high and lofty mountain, and there you ascended to offer sacrifices. And behind the door and beyond the threshold, you have set up your memorial. The Septuagint says the same. The sacred history tells that on high mountains and hills, the gods of the nations offered sacrifices to Israel, and like a shameless prostitute, spread her legs for all the demons. There was no place that was not polluted by the filth of idolatry, to the extent that they would place idols after the doors of their houses, called domestic Lares, and even shed the blood of their own souls, both publicly and privately. Many cities of various provinces struggle with this error and the worst habit of antiquity: even Rome itself, the mistress of the world, venerates Tutela's image with wax and lamps in each island and house, which they call by that name for the protection of their homes, so that both those entering and exiting their houses are always reminded of their unfamiliarity. The heretics as well, whose hearts are lifted up in pride, and who, despising Ecclesiastical humility, promise themselves lofty things, ascend the highest mountains of their own doctrines, and there they prostitute their couch to demons. And because, according to the Prophet, they turned back, imitating Lot's wife (Gen. XIX), they are transformed into a pillar of salt, having the image of Ecclesiastical condiment, and not having any taste at all: who are thrown out and are useful for nothing, except to be trampled under the feet of all. Therefore, the Lord warns in the Gospel, that whoever holds the plow's handle, should not look back (Luke VIII).

Commentary on Isaiah

Upon a high and lofty mountain. Here he sets out the lofty places in which they sacrificed: your bed; he says this in likeness to a harlot, who prostitutes herself to lovers: they made them statues (2 Kgs 17:10) and committed fornication in them.

Commentary on Isaiah

First we will discuss the Hebrew, which differs greatly in this location from the Septuagint. As for what it said above [Is 57:7], “You have set your bed on a high and lofty mountain,” it also accuses her of behaving like a prostitute, standing behind the door to the entrance of houses and in other shadowy places, such that whoever wished to enter a room would have temptation before his eyes. Now, it blames and insults the same adulterous wife, who, while sleeping with her husband, will secretly receive an adulterer and uncover herself to him and extend her bed for him and forge an agreement with him, as though she were signing a contract.

Commentary on Isaiah 16:6

Rightly does God through the prophet reproach the sinful soul that goes whoring away from him and say, “You thought, if you withdrew from me, you would have more?” But like that younger son, why, you have ended up feeding pigs; why, you have lost all things; why, you have remained in want and left it very late before you grew tired and came back. Now at last realize that what the Father gave you, he could keep for you more safely.… O sinful soul, filled with harlotries, turned foul and faded, turned unclean, and still loved like that! So go back to the beautiful one, in order to return to beauty; go back and speak to him who alone suffices you.… So lift your heart up, do not leave it on the ground, or in those beggarly treasures or in a place to rot. In Adam, too, the root of all evils was avarice. You see, he wanted more than he had received, because God had not been enough for him.

Sermon 177:9

“You have made a bargain for yourselves with them” means, “You have united with many demons, and you have followed their laws, and you have covenanted to serve each one.”

Commentary on Isaiah 18:57.8

And behind the door. Here he designates familiar places, for they would place idols next to the entrance of their houses, so that they might better hold them in memory: he brought me in the vision of God into Jerusalem, near the inner gate, that looked toward the north, where was set the idol of jealousy to provoke to jealousy (Ezek 8:3).

For you have discovered yourself near me. Here he adds to the weight of their sin from their violation of the divine covenant, by which they were joined to God like a bride. And he says this under the likeness of an adulteress, who enlarges her bed to receive an adulterer along with her husband, and makes an agreement to marry him when her husband has been sent away; in this is signified that they worshipped idols in the temple: you were as an adulteress, that brings in strangers over her husband (Ezek 16:32).

You have loved their bed. Here he adds to the weight of their sin from their eagerness to sin.

And first, as to their propensity to sin: with open hand, that is, without any hindrance: you had a harlot's forehead, you wouldst not blush (Jer 3:3); you were not yet satisfied (Ezek 16:28).

Commentary on Isaiah

Whoever walks along the one royal way does not labor. Indeed, God issued a commandment about this through Moses: “You shall walk along the royal way and not deviate to your right or to your left.” The one way is the way of truth, as it says in the Gospel: “I am the way, the truth and the life.” But there are various ways of deception, along which Jerusalem is now demonstrated to have walked. God, who knows the difference between such ways, said earlier to those who were wandering: “Your ways are not like my way.” And those who trust in the Lord said, “You have caused our ways not to depart from your ways.” With knowledge of the one royal way, then, let us beware of deviations to the left and right, along which we are forbidden to walk. The royal way is temperance, having neither too little nor too much. For example, the royal and right way entails prudence; we deviate to the right if we understand more than is proper for us to understand and if we prefer cleverness above prudence, by which measure the serpent was more prudent than all the animals in paradise and the children of darkness are more prudent than the children of light. We deviate to the left, however, when we are foolish and have less understanding than is necessary. Concerning such people, it is said, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ ”

Commentary on Isaiah 16:7

The royal road also involves fortitude and constancy, from which the impulsive and rash deviate to the right and the timid and fearful deviate to the left. Hence, a holy person desiring to walk along the right way prays, “Lead me, Lord, on the right path,” and, in another passage, “Make known to me, O Lord, the way in which I should walk, for to you I lift my eyes.” … Then it continues, according to the Hebrew: “You found life by your own hand, so you did not beseech” [Is 57:10], which has the following sense and meaning: Because you were abounding in all things and flowing in riches, you neglected the Lord, whereas Solomon refused such riches precisely so that he would not forget God.… For not only riches but poverty also tests a person, which is why it was written above: “I tested you on the road of poverty,” the same road on which Lazarus the poor man was tested, who sustained debilitating illness as well as poverty.

Commentary on Isaiah 16:7

(Verse 9.) Because you uncovered yourself beside me and took in an adulterer, you spread your bed and made a covenant with them. You loved their bed openly and adorned yourself with royal ointment and multiplied your perfumes. You sent your messengers afar and lowered yourself even to the depths. You thought that if you would depart from me, you would have more. You loved those who slept with you and multiplied your adultery with them, and you made many far from you and sent messengers beyond your borders, and you humbled yourself even to the depths. First, let us discuss the Hebrew text, which differs greatly from the LXX in this passage. As mentioned above, to the place where it says: 'You have set your bed on a high and lofty mountain,' and it accuses and rebukes her as a prostitute, in the entrance of houses and in dark places, a harlot behind the doors, so that anyone who wished to enter the house would have the pleasure exposed before their eyes. Now it accuses and refutes her as an adulterous wife, because while she was sleeping with her husband, she secretly received an adulterous man and uncovered his cloak, or even widened her bed and made an agreement, composing instruments of deception with adulterers. But he says this to show that not only in the fields and houses did they worship idols, but also in the Temple they placed the image of Baal, which Ezekiel also says he saw when the wall was pierced. 'You loved their bed,' he says, 'with an open hand' (Ezek. VIII), so that you would not be ashamed of your sin and desire to hide the shame of your fornication, but rather sin freely. And you adorned yourself with royal ointment and multiplied your idols. And the meaning is this: You sought various ornaments, so that you could attract adulterers both by sight and by smell. But what is said, 'You have adorned yourself with ointment for a king,' is understood in two ways: either for the king God, when you adorn yourself with those things which he has given you and prostitute yourself to idols; or certainly for the idol king of the Ammonites, who is called Moloch, and in our language, 'king sounds': which we read as Melchom in other places according to the LXX (Zephaniah 1). And you sent your ambassadors far away, so that you would have an inclination for fornicating not only with the idols of nearby nations but also with those of distant nations. But the Babylonians and Egyptians have their own meaning. And you have been humbled, it says, even to the underworld. Not the humility that is praiseworthy, but the one in which Ammon humbled his own sister Thamar (2 Kings 13). And truly great is this humility, or rather a descent even to the underworld, from the light and pinnacle of chastity into the darkness of a brothel, or rather a plunge into the abyss of lust. To whom it is said in another place: You will be led even to the underworld. According to the Septuagint, in those things which differ, this seems to me to be the meaning: You thought, O harlot, that if you had left me and joined yourself to your lovers, you would have found something more. To whom also God speaks through Ezekiel: Every harlot receives wages; but you, on the other hand, have given wages, and that act has become perverse for you (Ezek. 16:33). For not only did you receive nothing from your lovers, but you also lost what you had received from your husband. And what follows: You have enlarged your bed, and made a covenant with them; you love their bed where you see their blind spies and mute dogs dreaming vain dreams while they sleep. And you have multiplied your prostitution, so that you have not only slept with one, but frequently and with many. Because of this, you have caused many to withdraw from you: angels who were in your protection, or holy men who have departed from the company of such a harlot. Indeed, we can say the same about heretics who, having abandoned God, follow their own errors and believe they have something more when they embrace falsehood. They have lost the truth and multiplied their fornication, not in one doctrine, but in many. They have even caused the leaders of the Churches, who were like angels, to depart from themselves. Not satisfied with the fornication in their own vicinity, they send messengers beyond their own borders to spread the doctrines and errors of barbarian nations, in order to deceive those who listen with the novelty of their words.

Commentary on Isaiah

Second, as to eagerness to please, because they adorned themselves: and you have adorned yourself for the king with ointment, and have multiplied your perfumes, that is, using my incense for worshipping them: I have perfumed your bed with incense (Prov 7:17).

Third, as to eagerness to invite: you have sent your messengers far off, for they brought in various idols even from far off lands, and thus you were debased even to hell, that is, to the depths of sin: she doted upon them (Ezek 23:16).

Commentary on Isaiah

(Verse 10) In the multitude of your ways you have labored, and you have not said: I will rest. You have found life in your hands, therefore you did not ask me to be silent (Vulgate: you remain silent). LXX: In many journeys you have labored, and you have not said, I will cease: you have made these strengthen. Therefore, you did not ask me. He who walks in one royal path does not labor, as God commanded through Moses: You shall walk in the royal path and you shall not turn aside to the right or to the left (Deuteronomy 5:32). There is one way of truth, which is said in the Gospel: I am the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). And there are many paths of lies, through which Jerusalem is now accused of having walked, of which paths God, knowing the difference, speaks above to those who stray: Not like my paths, your paths (Isaiah 55:8), which those confessing say to the Lord: You have made our paths turn aside from your paths (Psalm 44:19). Therefore, having known the one royal way, let us see which paths are on the right and on the left, through which we are prohibited from walking. The middle way is temperance, having neither too much nor too little. For example, prudence is the straight and royal way. We deviate to the right if we know more than we should know, and we value cunning for prudence: because the serpent was wiser than all the beasts in paradise (Genesis 3): And the children of darkness are wiser than the children of light (Luke 16). We turn to the left when we are foolish and know less than is necessary. Of which it is said: The fool has said in his heart, there is no God (Ps. XIII, 1). Piety and true religion are also the royal way. He who is superstitious turns to the right and deserves to hear, Do not be overly righteous (Eccles. VII, 17). To the left, is he who neglects the worship of God and is counted among the goats and the rams. Generosity and giving are also the greatest virtues, from which he turns to the right, who is frugal and does not give to others, nor even to himself, what is necessary. On the left, he who consumes his substance with prostitutes and says with Israel: Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we shall die (Isaiah 22:13). Strength and steadfastness are also the royal road, from which the reckless and stubborn turn aside to the right, the fearful and timid to the left. Therefore, the holy man, desiring to walk on the straight path, prays: Lead me, O Lord, in the straight path (Psalm 139:24). And in another place: Make known to me, O Lord, the way in which I should walk; for I have lifted up my eyes to you (Psalm 142:8). Scripture also speaks about this kind of way in other places: Seek the good way, and walk in it, and you will find the purification of your souls (Jeremiah 6:16). Therefore, Jerusalem was humbled to the depths because it labored in many ways, and did not say, 'I will amend my error through repentance,' but on the contrary, 'I will be strengthened in my beginnings, and I will not heed the judgment of the person who warns me: Turn your foot from the rough way, and your throat from thirst' (Jeremiah 2:25). Finally, it follows: But she replied, 'I will act like a man,' that is, 'I will act bravely,' which is now expressed by another word: 'I will be strengthened.' And because she did these things that the previous discourse narrated, that is why she did not implore the Lord, having more confidence in her own strength rather than in God. Furthermore, the phrase that is placed next to the Hebrew: 'You have found life in your hands,' therefore implies this meaning and understanding: 'Because you have abundance in all things and have become rich, you have neglected the Lord.' These are the riches that even Solomon detests, lest he forget God (Proverbs 30 and 31). And it is said concerning Sodom in Ezekiel: 'Because she was satisfied with bread, she became proud' (Ezekiel 16). Not only wealth, but also poverty tests a person. Hence it is written: I have tested you in the furnace of poverty (Isaiah 48), in which Lazarus, the poor man, was also tested, who endured both poverty and weakness (Luke 15).

Commentary on Isaiah

But how could it not have been necessary to act as a suppliant and ask God for mercy when you had dared to commit such shameful and foul deeds? For he receives those who wish to repent. He is good by nature, and he knows our substance, as it is written. For he has spoken through one of the holy prophets: "Return, my sons, return and I will heal you from what oppresses you." Therefore this is a sin of their extreme lawlessness and of their total turning away and being fixed in evil things, that they refuse to seek mercy from God by confessing their sins.

Commentary on Isaiah 5:3.57:10

You have been wearied in the multitude of your ways. Here he shows their obstinacy in sin.

First, because they were not recalled by the labor of sin: you have been wearied in the multitude of your ways, that is, in the manifold cult of idols: we wearied ourselves in the way of iniquity and destruction (Wis 5:7).

Second, because they were not recalled by temporal prosperity: you have found life of your hand, that is, you had at hand what you needed to be able to live, and therefore you have not asked me, but have been solicitous, for your riches, and afraid of your idols, having forgotten me: they spend their days in wealth, and in a moment they go down to hell (Job 21:13).

Commentary on Isaiah

“Of what are you so afraid that you would lie and neither remember me nor think of me in your heart? For I am silent, as if I do not see, and you forget me.” Because you put your trust in the gods whose storehouses are full, you refused to ask me and were thus fearful of many things. For you were unable to say, “The Lord is my help, and I am therefore unafraid of my enemies,” or “The Lord is my light and my savior, so whom shall I fear?” If at any time you chose to speak against what was in your own mind, you lied. For how would you be able to invoke me, who remember neither me nor any of my precepts, such as: “Honor the Lord and you will be strong and will fear nothing”? For, according to Symmachus and Aquila, I am he who continually remained silent about your sins and pretended to ignore the crimes you committed, as though I had not seen them at all, this so that you would return to me at least for the sake of my patience, if not because you fear me.… The word mind, which is associated with the heart in the Septuagint, is not written in the Hebrew text but is added here as though it were a gloss on how the mind ought to be identified with the heart in Scripture.

Commentary on Isaiah 16:8

(Verse 11.) For what reason did you fear anxiously? Because you lied and did not remember me, nor did you think in your heart? For I was silent and as if not seeing, and you forgot about me. LXX: Whom you feared, you were greatly terrified, and you lied to me, and you did not remember me. Nor did you place me in your mind and in your heart. And I, seeing you, despise you, and you did not fear me. Because you have confidence in riches with full granaries, you did not want to ask me, therefore you feared many. For you could not say: The Lord is my helper, and I will despise my enemies (Ps. CXVII, 7); And again: The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear (Ps. XXVI, 1)? And even if you ever wanted to say this against the conscience of your mind, you have lied. For how could you invoke me, when you did not have any memory of me, nor did you ever consider the precepts of the one who says: Honor the Lord, and you will be strengthened, and without him you will have no fear (Eccles. XXXVIII)? For I am the one who, like Symmachus and Aquila, always remained silent about your sins, and whatever crimes you committed, as if I did not see them, I disregarded with dissimulation, so that if not out of fear of me, at least out of patience, you would return to me. I do not question with my eyes, but with my eyelids I interrogate the sons of men. But on the contrary, you have forgotten about me, and you deserved to hear: You have forgotten the law of your God, and I will forget your children (Hosea 4:6). And again: They have walked against me in perversity, and I will walk against them in furious perversity. What is associated with the mind in the Septuagint, not written in Hebrew, but as if an interpretation has been added, what the heart should be understood as in the Scriptures.

Commentary on Isaiah

Third, because you were not recalled by divine awaiting: nor thought on me in your heart; for I am silent, overlooking your sins, waiting for you, to show you mercy: you overlook the sins of men for the sake of repentance (Wis 11:24), above: I have always held my peace, I have kept silence (Isa 42:14).

Commentary on Isaiah

(Verse 12.) I will proclaim your righteousness, and your deeds will not benefit you. When you cry out, let your congregations deliver you. LXX: I will proclaim your righteousness and your evils, which will not benefit you. When you cry out, let them snatch you out of your tribulation. I have always remained silent and as if I did not see your sins, I have ignored them, but I will no longer remain silent, but rather speak what I have already said: Have I always been silent? And I will proclaim your righteousness, and your deeds. It is to be read as irony, as if someone caught in wrongdoing were to say: 'Look at your good deeds.' Therefore, if a time of trouble comes upon you and you begin to reach out not to the idols you worshiped, but to heaven and implore the help of God, may they hear you and deliver you from the danger you embraced without concern. This is also spoken by God through Jeremiah: 'Where are your gods, the ones you made? Let them rise up and save you in your time of trouble' (Jeremiah 2:28). On account of the fact that the seventy translated it as 'May they deliver you in your tribulation,' and we have said, 'May your congregations deliver you,' Symmachus translated it as 'May your synagogues deliver you.' Therefore, it speaks specifically to the Jews, that the multitude of their synagogues is not able to deliver them in the time of siege.

Commentary on Isaiah

I will declare your justice, which you do, or which you ought to receive; your works, idols: the works of those who trust in idols shall not profit them.

Commentary on Isaiah

13–14

(Verse 13, 14.) And the wind will carry them away: the breeze will lift them. But those who have confidence in me will inherit the land and possess my holy mountain. And I will say, Make a way, offer a path, turn aside from the path, remove stumbling blocks from my people's way. LXX: For the wind will carry away all of them, and the tempest will take them away. But those who hope in me will possess the land and inherit my holy mountain, and they will say: Make his ways clean and remove stumbling blocks from my people's way. The Jews of Babylon assert that these things are prophesied: that, by the power of God, after overcoming their enemies, the people will return to Judah and possess Mount Zion, and all obstacles of the journey will be removed, and they will not suffer any ambush from any nation, because the Lord will make a straight path for His people. And they claim that these things were fulfilled under Zerubbabel and Ezra. But we, joining what has been said before, assert that the wind and storm will remove all the idols that could not save them, and they will be like dust that the wind blows away from the face of the earth. But those who have trust in the Lord will possess the land which we will read about in this same Prophet: He will exalt you to the good things of the land. From which it is clear that this land is not below, but above. To which the holy one, lifted up by the Lord, will ascend, of which we have often said: Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the land (Matthew 5:4); and I believe to see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living (Psalm 27:13). But the holy mountain of God, that is to be understood, is the one about which he speaks to the Hebrews, who wrote the Letter: You have come to Mount Zion and to the heavenly city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to the countless angels and the assembly of the firstborn who are written in heaven (Hebrews 12:22). We can understand the land and mountain of the Lord, which the saints will possess, and the holy Scriptures, which were to be carried from the Jews, the Lord threatens, saying: The kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation producing its fruits (Matt. XXI, 43); so that they may find in them that same mountain, of which we read in this same Prophet (Isaiah II), and in Micah: In the last days, the mountain of the Lord will be made manifest (Micah IV, 5). And the Lord himself commanded the Apostles and all the teachers of the Church to dissolve with their interpretation whatever seemed harsh and difficult, and to provide the way of understanding, and to remove all scandals from among them so that the people of the Lord may understand what they read without any impediment, and may progress in the fear of God. Concerning these ways, John the Baptist said: Prepare the way of the Lord, etc. (Matthew 3:3). Where we have taken the place of God, and I will say, the 70 translators have put and will say: namely those who will possess the land, and inherit the holy mountain of God. They will not be content with their own salvation, but they will also challenge others to teach the people. Symmachus interpreted this passage as follows: But whoever trusts in me will possess the land and will inherit my holy mountain, and will say: Make the way straight and the rest. Because he, who possesses the land and the mountain himself, should instruct others, so that they may obey the way of the Lord.

Commentary on Isaiah

This, as I have said, is obscure: “shall possess the land and inhabit my holy mountain.” After all, if we take it literally and materialistically, we won’t be cleansing ourselves from every defilement of flesh and spirit; and God will have procured for us to no purpose the conjunction of the end of the reading from the prophet with the beginning of the reading from the apostle, if to possess some earthly mountain we start getting ourselves ready for avarice, not for godliness. Well, but what should we understand by the mountain? It is obscure what [Isaiah] meant by “mountain.”Yes, but if God had really let us down, he would nowhere say what mountain means. Where he does tell us openly, that is where you must love the mountain. Where he openly recommends a mountain to you, and Scripture opens itself up to say what mountain means, that is where you must love it. Yes, wherever you hear such a mountain promised you, set your sights on it.… What sort of mountain really has been promised us?… The church itself is the mountain … we are going to rise again, and we shall be the holy mountain of God. On this mountain dwells whoever has given himself to God. “But those who have given themselves to me shall possess the land and inhabit my holy mountain.”

Sermon 45:3-5

Your companies, gathered from various nations: let them arise and help you, and protect you in your distress (Deut 32:38).

But he that puts his trust in me. Here he confirms the difference between the just and the unjust.

And first, as to the just;

second, as to the unjust, but the wicked are like the raging sea (Isa 57:20).

He confirms the deliverance of the good from dangers from three things.

First, from divine gentleness, promising deliverance as to the restoration of their homeland: the promised land: but the meek shall inherit the land (Ps 36[37]:11).

Commentary on Isaiah

“And it shall be said, ‘Remove every obstruction from my people’s way.’ ” Probably he said these words with regard to the Jewish Zealots, who killed their fellow citizens, because they had lapsed into idolatry and had been an obstacle for their fellows in the days of the Greeks.

Commentary on Isaiah 57:14

And as to the expediting of their way: and I will say, namely, to the princes of the Medes: make a way, freeing them, give free passage, giving them liberty to return to their land, turn out of the path, so that you will not impede us, take away the stumbling blocks, so that others will not do so either: take the stones out of the way (Jer 50:26).

Commentary on Isaiah

By these names the kindness of God shows that he is supreme. For those sharing in these titles have made him to be low, consorting with idols and demons. Although he is holy, these people blaspheme his name with evil desires and deeds that are not honorable. He says, I am holy, and I rejoice with the holy as I sanctify them, stirring up their power and rousing them in their attitudes, providing they show themselves to be worthy and demonstrate their wills to be contrite and penitent. For to such I will grant eternal life.Revenge is meant in the sense that God will give sinners over to troubles so that they receive discipline. God does these things, yet also he spares our race in his compassion. God shows his compassion in these instances of recompense by only disciplining us a little, given the large amount of our sins.

Fragments on Isaiah

Thus says the Lord, who is exalted and sublime, who dwells in the heights and is holy in the saints, though not as in a locality but in the merit of those in whom he lives, one of whom said in the Psalms: “I will exalt you, O Lord, for you have raised me.” … It is not to be understood from this that God is elevated by human speech but that God can be exalted also in the humble, according to what was said elsewhere: “God has become my salvation.” … Moreover, just as wisdom does not enter a wicked soul, neither does it dwell in a body subjected to sins. In this way does the holy One dwell in saints. And wherever there is filth, purity cannot live.… For Christ does not dwell in earthly places but in regions above the heavens, which proclaim the glory of the Lord.

Commentary on Isaiah 16:11

(Verse 15) For thus says the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite. LXX: Thus says the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite. The prophetic speech began against the people of the Jews, whose leaders he accused of being blind spies, mute dogs, ignorant shepherds, wicked sons, and the offspring of adulterers and prostitutes. After this, he came to Jerusalem, to which he reproached for its immorality, because it had spread its bed to its lovers, and had openly welcomed and adorned itself with all idols, and had sent envoys far away, in order to enjoy foreign lovers as well. With the rebuke finished, he came to those who trust in the Lord, and to whom he had promised to possess the land and the mountain, and for whom he had commanded the journey to be prepared for their return; undoubtedly the Apostles, in whose preaching they believed from both peoples. Hence he begins with the praises of God and testifies in the following discourse what he promised concerning the return of his people. For thus says the exalted and sublime Lord, who dwells in the highest places and is Holy in the Holy, not by place, but by the merit of those in whom he dwells, of whom one says in the psalm: I will exalt you, Lord, for you have upheld me (Ps. 29:1). And again: Exalt Yourself, O Lord, You who judge the earth (Ps. XCIII, 2); not so that God is lifted up by human words, but according to what is said elsewhere: The Lord has become my salvation (Ps. CXVII, 21), let Him also be exalted by the humble. He resists the proud and gives grace to the humble (James IV): so that He may lift them up and make them dwell in the heights. For the Lord is exalted, and He looks upon the lowly (Ps. CXXXVII, 6). And in the Gospel the angels cry out: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace (Luke II, 14). And again in the Psalms: Praise the Lord from the heavens: praise him in the highest. And not only does the Most High dwell in the highest, but the Holy One also dwells in the holy. As it is said elsewhere: Be holy; for I am holy. And just as wisdom does not enter into a perverse soul, nor does it dwell in a body subject to sin: so the holy one dwells in the holy; and wherever there are impurities, purity cannot dwell, as the holy one says to the Lord: But you inhabit the holy place, the praise of Israel. And we also dare to say in prayer: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. And in the second psalm we read: He who dwells in heaven shall laugh at them, and the Lord shall mock them (Ps. II, 4). For Christ does not dwell in those who are earthly, but in those who are supercelestial, who proclaim the glory of the Lord, of whom it is said: He shall hear him from his holy heaven (Ps. XIX, 7). And again: The heavens are the Lord's heavens (Ps. XIII, 16): in which sense even Moses, the servant of God, agrees with the same voice: Behold the heavens of the Lord thy God, and the heaven of heavens (Deut. X); which we must certainly not understand in the Jewish manner, that God is confined to any place and dwells only in heaven, for he is everywhere present and all things are contained by him: but by heavens, let us rightly understand the highest ones, the Saints and the Virtues. For this is the one who dwells in heaven, of whom it is written in the Gospel: No one ascends to heaven unless he descends from heaven, the Son of Man who is in heaven (John 3:13). This one finds rest in the holy and dwells with the humble and those who are contrite in spirit. Of them, it is said: A crushed spirit is a sacrifice to God; a contrite and humbled heart, O God, you will not despise (Psalm 51:19). He himself gives patience to the weak, so that they may endure tribulation while being placed in narrow circumstances, with hope for the future. He himself gives life, especially to those who were dead by sin. Of whom it is said: With you is the fountain of life (Ps. XXXV, 10) . He who speaks in the Gospel: I am the way, the truth, and the life (John XIV, 6) .

Commentary on Isaiah

The blessed prophets, when the Lord of the universe promises what is great and godly to them, were filled with much wonder at his glory and clemency and, as if responding from excitement, they run to give praise. We find the prophet doing precisely that here. The Lord says these things but has to add, “the exalted,” that is, he who is by nature over and above all things that have come to be. “I dwell in the high places” means again that he is in the unshakeable upper reaches and that this divine and lofty nature is in the ineffable transcendence that is above. However, I think that this, the divine nature’s dwelling in the exalted places, is forever. For it exists without change in these places by itself, and there is nothing in better conditions than it is, but rather the being that is in these conditions unchangingly exists unceasingly.

Commentary on Isaiah 5:3.57:15-16

Who dwells in the high and holy place: but you dwell in the holy place, the praise of Israel (Ps 21:4[22:3]). And as to divine love: and with a contrite and humble spirit: a contrite and humbled heart, O God, you will not despise (Ps 50:19[51:17]).

Commentary on Isaiah

We certainly ought not to agree, after the Jewish custom, that God is enclosed in any place and dwells only in heaven. For God, by whom all things are held together, is present everywhere. Instead, we should understand correctly the meaning of heights and heavens and saints and virtues.…Because I strike in order to correct, therefore do I kill in order to bring to life. For I have mercy on my creatures, nor will I allow those whom I have established to perish eternally. And my Spirit that proceeds from me, or, according to the Hebrew of Aquila and Symmachus and Theodotion, that “encompasses all things” (for this is what the Greek words perieilēthēsetai and periballei signify), is the animator of all that exists. I also created the breath, or plural breaths (this is what “nasamoth” indicates), about which it is written elsewhere: “May every breath, or everything that breathes, praise the Lord.” … Some among us say that this is the Spirit whereby all the world is inspired and ruled.… But others understand it to be the Holy Spirit who was borne above the waters in the beginning and vivified everything, the Spirit who proceeds from the Father and, because of the union of natures, is sent by the Son, on account of which he said: “It is expedient for you that I go away, for unless I depart, the Paraclete will not come to you. If I go, however, I will send him to you.” … Let no one be scandalized, though, if the Spirit is said to proceed from the Father, for the Son also says this about himself: “I proceeded and came from the Father; I did not come on my own, but he sent me.”

Commentary on Isaiah 16:11-12

(Verse 16.) I will not contend forever, nor will I be angry to the end: for the spirit will go forth from my presence, and I will make breath. LXX: I will not take vengeance on you forever, nor will I be angry with you always. For the spirit will go forth from me, and I have made every breath. The Lord, who dwells on high and looks upon the lowly, whose name is holy and who finds rest in the holy ones: who sustains the afflicted and gives life to the oppressed (Ps. CXII), has spoken these words: I will not always be angry, nor will I be indignant forever. I strike in order to correct, I kill in order to give life. I have pity on my creature; and those whom I have created, I will not allow them to perish forever. My spirit, which emanates from me or, according to the Hebrew, Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion, encompasses all things (for this is the meaning of περιειληθήσεται and περιβαλλεῖ), is the life-giver of all. And the breath, or in the plural breaths (for this is what Nasamoth signifies), I have made, about which it is written elsewhere: Let every breath, let everything that breathes, praise the Lord (Ps. 150:6). Regarding the spirit and breath that is written in the beginning of Genesis: God breathed the breath of life, and man became a living soul. Job also speaks of such a thing: The spirit of the Lord is in my nostrils, and the breath of the Almighty teaches me (Job 27:3). Therefore, when my spirit goes out and by my breath and inspiration all things are invigorated and live, it is not right for those who are sustained by my breath and spirit to perish forever. Some of us say that this is the spirit by which the whole world is inspired and governed; and all things have knowledge of God, whom the renowned poet, according to the Stoics, writing in the Aeneid (Book 6), says:

In the beginning, the spirit nourishes the sky and the earth and the flowing fields, the shining globe of the moon, and the stars of Titania. It infuses the whole through all its limbs, the mind moves the mass, and mingles itself with the great body. And so on. But others understand the Holy Spirit, who in the beginning was carried upon the waters and gave life to all things: who proceeds from the Father, and, because of the fellowship of nature, is sent by the Son, who says, 'It is expedient for you that I go.' For if I do not go, the Paraclete will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. (John 16:7) And again he says of him: When the Paraclete comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father. (John 15:26) Let no one be scandalized if it is said that the Spirit proceeds from the Father, when the Son himself has also said: I came forth from the Father, and I have come; I did not come of myself, but he sent me. (John 16:28) About this Spirit, he spoke: I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Paraclete, that he may be with you always, the Spirit of truth (John 14:16). This is the Spirit of whom Moses also wrote: Would that all the Lord's people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them (Numbers 11:29). And Joel, speaking on behalf of God, said: I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and daughters will prophesy (Joel 2:28). And Zacharias: Nevertheless, receive my words and my laws, which I command in my Spirit, to my servant the Prophets (Zach. I, 6). And again: I will pour out upon Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and of mercy (Zach. XII, 10). And many other things from both the Old and New Testaments that it is now too long to repeat. We only say this, that the same Prophet has spoken about this Spirit and breath in the same way: Thus says the Lord God who made the heavens. And afterwards a little: He who gives breath to his people, who is above her, and spirit to those who trample on her (Isaiah 42:5).

Commentary on Isaiah

He has shown the variety of types of care; although he dwells in the heavens, [God] considers lowly things, and though as holy he resides among holy ones he gives spiritual comfort to those who are spiritually weak. Those who are heartbroken he leads back to life. For he does not concern himself only with the righteous but also with those who have let themselves draw near to the abyss of evil, and he brings healing in various ways to those afflicted in soul.

Commentary on Isaiah 18:57.15

It is easier for the Lord to restrain his anger, which we know is remote from his tranquility; but we should believe that he is more inclined to mercy, which is never detached from his majesty.… So he will not restrain his mercy in anger, but rather he will refrain from anger in mercy, as long as devoted conversion is forthcoming in this world. Remember too that in the case of the Lord anger is mentioned in a loose rather than a precise sense.

Exposition of Psalm 76:10

Second, he assigns the reason from the purification of sin, promising forgiveness: for I will not contend for ever: he will not always be angry: nor will he threaten for ever (Ps 102[103]:9).

Commentary on Isaiah

Because of the wickedness of his greed, I became angry and struck him; I hid myself and was indignant, and he went on his way grieving (Vulgate: he went astray). LXX: Because of sin I have afflicted him for a little while, and struck him: and I turned my face away from him, and he was saddened and walked sadly in his ways. After the rejection of the people of Judah and those who refused to believe in the Savior, God had promised those who had confidence in Him a gentle land and a holy mountain, and He commanded the Apostles: Make a way for the people who are returning and remove all stumbling blocks from their path. And lest it seem unbelievable, He reveals His power, that the lofty and great God can easily grant forgiveness to the repentant, and it is just that the Creator should have mercy on His creatures. Therefore, because of those things, He joined together, because He was angry and saddened His people: therefore, He made Himself, because He sinned, and He had greed for iniquity, and He was not satisfied with one iniquity, but He always added sins to sins. And I struck Him for a little while, He says, in order to heal, and I hid, it is understood, My face, so that He would desire Me more, and would say: Show Your face and we shall be saved (Psalm 79:4). And I was indignant; which He sensing, He approached sadly, saying: I walked sad all day long (Psalm 38:7). And he walked in sorrow, whether turned towards the way of his heart, so that he did not act for the appearance of men, but in his heart he performed repentance.

Commentary on Isaiah

Some understand this passage specifically about the Savior, that he was deeply grieved for the sins of the world, saying: My soul is sorrowful even to death (Matthew 26:38). And the Father who speaks through Zacharias says: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered (Zech. XIII, 7); and he himself says of himself in the sixty-eighth psalm: Because it is you who have struck, they have persecuted (Psalm LXVIII, 27). And God turned his face away from him, so that he might assume the appearance of a servant for a short time, walk in sadness, lamenting the sins of the people, mourning and weeping over Jerusalem.

Commentary on Isaiah

And he adds the reason, setting out justice fulfilled in punishing: for the iniquity of his covetousness I was angry, and I struck him: I hid my face, that I might not give help, and he went away wandering, like a sheep without a shepherd: shall he reprove you for fear, and come with you into judgment, and not for your manifold wickedness and your infinite iniquities? (Job 22:4–5).

Commentary on Isaiah

For such is the loving-kindness of God; he never turns his face away from a sincere repentance, but if any one has pushed on to the very extremity of wickedness and chooses to return afterwards toward the path of virtue, God accepts and welcomes and does everything so as to restore him to his former position.

Letter to the Fallen Theodore 1:6

I saw his ways and healed him; I led him and gave him comfort to him and to those who mourned for him. LXX: I saw his ways, and healed him: and I comforted him and gave him true consolation. Therefore, seeing the ways of his conversion, I healed the wounds with which I had previously struck him. And I brought him back to me, whom I had previously expelled, and I gave him true consolation. For many consolations are false, by which the human race is deceived. Whether I have comforted his mourners, saying in the Gospel: Blessed are the mourners, for they will be comforted (Matthew 5:5).

Commentary on Isaiah

Some understand this passage specifically about the Savior. And whoever saw the Father's ways, therefore healed him, who was free among the dead: and his flesh did not see corruption, so that he, who was struck on the cross, might be healed in the resurrection. And I consoled him, he said, giving him for the one nation of the Jews, the whole world. And those who mourned him, it is understood, he consoled. There is no doubt that he refers to the Apostles.

Commentary on Isaiah

“Creating for his mourners the fruit of the lips,” that is, at this stage they will not use anymore their outrages and blasphemies against me, but praises, which are convenient to these facts. Others assert, I made them live in perfect security, and this is the reason why they will be led to holiness.

Commentary on Isaiah 57:18-19

And he promises mercy in saving them, I saw his ways, with eyes of mercy, and restored comforts to him, as to the princes, and to them that mourn for him, as to the people; or to him, as to the Jews, or as to foreigners joined to them; or as to the land and its inhabitants: who forgives all your iniquities: who heals all your diseases (Ps 102[103]:3).

Commentary on Isaiah

It is our duty to be at peace in our own minds, for the person who does not find any disorder in himself will not quarrel with another but will be peaceable, friendly, gathering the Lord’s people and a fellow worker with him, in order to increase the number of those who shall be saved in unanimity. For those who contrive enmities, and strifes, and contests and lawsuits are wicked and aliens from God.

Constitutions of the Holy Apostles 2:7.54

But let us humble our own souls by almsgiving and forgiving our neighbors their trespasses, by not remembering injuries or avenging ourselves. If we continually reflect on our sins, no external circumstances can make us elated, neither riches, nor power, nor authority nor honor; no, even should we sit in the imperial chariot itself, we cry bitterly.

On the Epistle to the Hebrews 9:9

Some understand this passage to be about the Savior in particular, because he was deeply saddened for a while over the sins of the world, saying, “My soul is sorrowful to the point of death.” And the Father struck him, who said through Zechariah, “I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.” … God also averted his face from the Savior, so that he could accept the “form of a servant” for a time and walk in sadness, mourning the sins of the people and deploring and lamenting Jerusalem. Because the Father saw the road he was traveling, he healed him who was “forsaken among the dead.”

Commentary on Isaiah 16:13

I produced the fruit of lips, peace, peace to him who is far off and to him who is near, says the Lord, and I healed him. LXX: Peace to those who are far away and those who are near, says the Lord, and I will heal them. And what follows: I have created the fruit of the lips, this has meaning, I have fulfilled what I promised, saying: As I live, says the Lord, I prefer the repentance of the sinner to death (Ezek. 33:11). Or, I have granted all that I previously promised. What, then, is the promise of the Lord? My peace I give to you: My peace I leave to you (John 14:27). And this is what he now says: Peace upon peace; not only to one nation, but to the whole world: specifically to those who were far away and to those who were near, that is, first to the Gentiles, and then to those who wanted to believe from Israel. About whom the Apostle says: 'It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first; but because you have judged yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we now turn to the Gentiles' (Acts 13:46). Writing to the Ephesians and discussing at length the people of the Circumcision and the Gentiles, he declares: 'But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of partition, abolishing in his flesh the enmity' (Ephesians 2:13-14); and again: 'He came and preached peace to you who were far off, and to those who were near' (ibid., 17). Since through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father: giving peace upon peace to those who were far away, and to those who were near and to those who did not have the Law and the Prophets; and to those who had received it before, He received them and healed them.

Commentary on Isaiah

Some understand this passage specifically about the Savior. And he fulfilled the fruit of his lips, who said to him: Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession (Ps. 2:8): peace upon peace, reconciling the world to God, so that both peoples may be called to him, and be healed by the Father.

Commentary on Isaiah

Through love of this true life you ought, then, to consider yourself desolate in this world, no matter what happiness you enjoy. For, just as that is the true life in comparison with which this other, which is so much loved, is not to be called life, however pleasant and prolonged it may be, so that is their true comfort that God promised by the prophet saying, “I will give them true comfort, peace on peace.” Without this comfort there is no more grief than consolation to be found in earthly comforts, whatever they may be.… Not by such goods do we become good, but having become good otherwise, they make these things good by their good use of them. Therefore, there is no true comfort in these things; rather, it is found where true life is. A person’s happiness necessarily must come from the same source as his goodness.

Letter 130

Symmachus and Aquila, instead of saying, “to the afflicted,” have said “to those who weep for him.” God our Master has shown the power of repentance. For he has seen their regret and their change of thinking and the sadness of their expression, and he has deemed them to be worthy of encouragement, they and those who weep for them. Now it is the heralds of truth who weep for them, while the blessed Paul prayed that he might be cut off for their sake. These things he has done, God who created fruit of the lips, that is, he who established the sacrifice of praise, rather than the cult appointed by the law.

Commentary on Isaiah 18:57.17-19

Third, he confirms their deliverance from the predictions of the prophets: I created, as though restoring them from nothing; the fruit of the lips, of the prophets who foretold these things, peace to him that is far off, dispersed in captivity: and coming, he preached peace to them that were nigh: and to them that were afar off (Eph 2:17).

Commentary on Isaiah

20–21

But the wicked are like a boiling sea that cannot rest, and its waves churn up mire and filth. There is no peace, says God, for the wicked. LXX: But the wicked will waver and cannot rest. There is no joy for the wicked, says the Lord God. But the wicked and the unjust will be tossed like a boiling sea and will never be able to rest. Although this can be understood of every wicked person, it is especially applicable to the Jewish people, who with one voice cried out and persisted in their impiety, saying: Crucify him, crucify such a person. We have no king except Caesar (John 19:15). Therefore, just as a boiling sea cannot become calm, but its waves overflow and roll back to the shore, and when broken, they become mud that is trampled by the feet: so the wicked will be subjected to eternal trampling, having no joy and finding no peace in their persistence in wickedness.

Commentary on Isaiah

20–21

Some understand this passage specifically about the Savior. But the impious, about whom we have spoken above, he compares to the sea, which can never be at rest, but even in the greatest calm, is tossed with broken waves onto the shores, and its end is mud and trampling.

Commentary on Isaiah

But the wicked are like the raging sea. Here he confirms what he had said about the wicked through a certain similitude.

And first, he sets out the similitude itself: raging, that is, always fluctuating; and the waves thereof cast up dirt and mire, to the shore, where they make mire and are trampled: he shall make the deep sea to boil like a pot (Job 41:22).

Commentary on Isaiah

For that joy that is after the fashion of the world is not true joy. Hear the prophet Isaiah: “There is no joy, says my God, to the wicked.” What the wicked call joy is not joy, such as he [David] knew, who made no account of their joy; let us believe him, brothers. He was a man, but he knew both kinds of joy. He certainly knew the joys of the cup, for he was a man; he knew the joy of the table, he knew the joys of marriage, he knew those joys worldly and luxurious.… But you say, I don’t see that light which Isaiah saw. Believe and you shall see it. For perhaps you do not have the eye to see it. For it is a certain type of eye by which that beauty is discerned. For just as there is an eye of the flesh by which this light is seen, so there is an eye of the heart by which that joy is perceived. Perhaps your eye is wounded, dimmed, disturbed by passion, by greed, by indulgence, by senseless lust. Your eye is disturbed. You cannot see that light. Believe before you see. You shall be healed, and then you will see.

Explanations of the Psalms 97:16

And he deduces a proposition: there is no peace to the wicked, namely, that they may be saved, above (Isa 48:22) has the same.

Commentary on Isaiah