Isaiah 65

How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you. But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me. [Isaiah 65:1] But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.

For this is that nation which God of old promised to Abraham, when He declared that He would make him a father of many nations; not meaning, however, the Arabians, or Egyptians, or Idumaeans, since Ishmael became the father of a mighty nation, and so did Esau; and there is now a great multitude of Ammonites. ... And along with Abraham we shall inherit the holy land, when we shall receive the inheritance for an endless eternity, being children of Abraham through the like faith. ... Accordingly, He promises to him a nation of similar faith, God-fearing, righteous, and delighting the Father; but it is not you, "in whom is no faith." Therefore we are not a people to be despised, nor a barbarous race, nor such as the Carian and Phrygian nations; but God has even chosen us and He has become manifest to those who asked not after Him. "Behold, I am God," He says, "to the nation which called not on My name."

Dialogue with Trypho, Chapter CXIX

[“I was ready to be sought by those who did not seek me.”] These words should be understood as about the Savior, who, sent by the Father’s love and coming with his own compassionate love, was revealed to all people. He became savior of those who had not made him welcome nor had invited him.

Fragments on Isaiah

Who then, one might say to the Jews, is he that was made manifest? For if it is the prophet, let them say just when he was hid, afterward to appear again. And what manner of prophet is this, who was not only openly made manifest from obscurity but also stretched out his hands on the cross? None surely of the righteous, save the Word of God only, who, incorporeal by nature, appeared for our sakes in the body and suffered for all.

On the Incarnation of the Word 38:2

But what is said in Hebrew, namely, that “they will seek me who previously did not inquire about me,” means that those who once had no knowledge of God later sought the Lord and came to know him by means of revelation. Indeed, the Lord revealed himself to Paul at a time when he was persecuting the church of believers. He also said to Peter the apostle: “Blessed are you, Simon bar Jonah, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you but my Father who is in heaven.” And Moses was seeking the same thing when he said to God, “If I have found favor with you, show yourself to me openly, that I may behold you.” Anticipating the opprobrium of Christ amid the greater riches of the treasures of Egypt, Moses longed for the just rewards of things to come and contemplated the invisible God with his soul, as though he could see him.

Commentary on Isaiah 18:2

(Chapter 65, Verse 1) They asked me who did not ask before me: they found me, who did not seek me. I said, behold me, behold me to a nation that did not call upon my name. 70: I appeared to those who did not seek me: I was found by those who did not ask me. I said, behold me in a nation that did not invoke my name. In the mixed prayer of the people, in which he had said: Why have you made us stray, O Lord, from your way: you have hardened our hearts, so that we do not fear you (Isaiah 63:17)? He replied, as the Jews would have it, God the Father; as we maintain, the Lord and Savior: to such an extent am I not harsh and cruel, that I prefer the repentance of a sinner to their death: nor do I reject penitent children, who, however, have preserved the dignity of their own name, so that I even desire to save strangers (Ezek. XXXIII). For those who did not seek me, nor were able to say: Whom Moses wrote about in the Law and the prophets, we have found Jesus (John I, 45); I appeared to them, of whom the Prophet testifies elsewhere: Those to whom it has not been announced about him will hear; and those who have not heard, will understand (Isa. LII, 15). But you who meditate on the law of God day and night, you boast in vain of repentance, the works of which you do not perform. Hence the evangelists and apostles, desiring to confirm the coming of the Lord with testimonies from the Old Testament, said: 'That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet' (Matt. 1:22). The centurion did not seek the Lord, and he heard from the Lord: 'I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel' (Luke 7:9; Matt. 8:10). The Syrophoenician woman did not understand the words of the Prophets, but she is praised by the voice of the Lord: O woman, great is your faith. Regulus (John 4), who is called βασιλικὸς in Greek, which we can more correctly interpret as palatinum from the royal court, found not only healing for his son, but for the whole of his household. And what is said in Hebrew: Those who did not ask of me have sought me, is referred to the same meaning: that those who did not previously have knowledge of God, later seek the Lord, and come to know him through revelation: as happened to Paul when he persecuted the Church of the believers, he was revealed (Acts 9). And to the Apostle Peter, he said: Blessed are you, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven (Matt. XVI, 17). This was what Moses sought when he spoke to God: If I have found grace in your sight, show yourself to me manifestly, so that I may see you (Exod. XXXIII, 13). Desiring the greater riches of the treasures of Egypt, he endured the reproach of Christ, looking forward to the recompense of the future, and he contemplated the invisible God as if he could see Him with his mind. Of whom it is read in the Psalms: 'The hope of all the ends of the earth, and of those who are far away on the sea' (Psalm 64:6). And in Genesis: 'He shall be the expectation of the nations' (Genesis 49:10). And what follows: 'I said: Behold me: to a nation that did not invoke my name' (Exodus 3:14), fits that sense: 'He who is, sent me to you.' Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, etc. (Philippians 2); but calling all the nations of the world, he made one nation of his own name, the Christians.

Commentary on Isaiah

They have sought me. Here the judge, namely, God, gives the sentence of the separation of the wicked from the good, in the reception of the promised salvation. And this is divided into two parts: in the first, he pronounces the sentence of separation; in the second, he determines the manner of execution: thus says the Lord (ch. 66). Concerning the first, he does two things. First, he promises a response, showing the opportunity of responding: they have sought me that before asked not for me, as if to say: thus far, you Jews have not sought after me, but idols; because you ask, I will respond. Mystically, this concerns the conversion of the gentiles: I was found by them that did not seek me (Rom 10:20). And he sets out the promise: I said: behold me, behold me, to a nation, I will respond, namely, to the Jews, or I will be turned to the converted gentiles, I to my beloved, and my beloved to me (Song 6:2).

Commentary on Isaiah

How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you. But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me. But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people. [Isaiah 65:2]

(Verse 2) I have stretched out my hands all day long to an unbelieving people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own thoughts. LXX: I have stretched out my hands all day long to an unbelieving and contradicting people, who have not walked in the good way but after their own sins. This, which is said above, 'I appeared to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me,' the Apostle Paul, writing to the Romans, after he had explained concerning the role of the Gentiles, added: But to Israel he says, 'I have stretched out my hands to an unbelieving and contradicting people' (Rom. 10:21), who, though overcome by the Lord's blessings and witnessing signs beyond human capability, said, 'This man does not cast out demons, except by Beelzebub, the prince of demons' (Luke 11:15). And again: You are a Samaritan and have a demon (John 8:48). And again: Though you are only a man, you make yourself out to be God (John 10:33). And elsewhere: This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath (John 9:10). And many other things that would take too long to tell. Finally, when he stretched out his hands to the unbelieving people from the cross and said, 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing' (Luke 23:34), those nearby said, 'Bah!' He who destroys the Temple, and in three days builds it up again: let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe him. He saved others, himself he cannot save. (Matt. XXVII, 40) . And Simeon, taking the child in his arms, prophesied about him: Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be spoken against. (Luke II, 34) . In Rome, the Jews speak to Paul: We have heard of this sect, that everywhere it is spoken against. (Acts XXVIII, 41) . We can extend our hands and receive in the generosity of the giver, because he denies nothing to those who ask: but immediately restores health to the leper when he asks (Matth. VIII): and receives eyes to the blind man from birth (John. IX): and the hungry, apart from children and women, were satisfied with thousands of people in the desert (Matth. XIV). They signify extended hands and the mercy of a parent who eagerly receives their children into their embrace. Those who walked in the wrong way and followed their own thoughts. To them the Lord speaks through the Prophet: Turn your foot away from the rough path (Prov. IV, 27). For they loved strangers and, like a prostitute, said: I will go after my lovers (Hos. II, 5). And leaving the good way, which is said in the Gospel: I am the way (John XIV, 6), they walked along the wide and spacious road that leads to death, and followed their own thoughts, which the Prophet, avoiding, implores the Lord: Cleanse me from my hidden sins, O Lord, and spare your servant from strangers. If the dominion had not dominated me, then I will be blameless (Ps. XVIII, 13, 14). And the Apostle teaches that those who did not have knowledge of God should be handed over to a reprobate mind and evil works, so that they do things that do not befit them (Rom. I). But let us, the Psalmist, say with our voice: Lead me in the right way (Ps. CXXXVIII, 24).

Commentary on Isaiah

It is the nations who did not have a prophet sent to them who recognize their maker and benefactor, whereas those who received all sorts of care gained no profit but continued in their sinful habits. The phrase “all day long I have held out my hands” refers to the care for them that he gave for all that time, but the saving suffering of the cross in which he stretched out his hands is also alluded to here.

Commentary on Isaiah 20:65.2

If, dearly beloved, we comprehend faithfully and wisely the beginning of our creation, we shall find that humankind was made in God’s image, to the end that he might imitate the Creator and that our race attains its highest natural dignity, by the form of the divine goodness being reflected in us, as in a mirror. And assuredly to this form the Savior’s grace is daily restoring us, so long as that which in the first Adam fell, is raised up again in the second. And the cause of our restoration is nothing else but the mercy of God, whom we would not have loved unless he had first loved us and dispelled the darkness of our ignorance by the light of his truth.

Sermon 12:1

Second, he sentences separation: I have spread forth my hands. And first, he sentences the separation of the wicked from the good, because of sins of transgression; second, because of sins of omission: and you, that have forsaken (Isa 65:11). The first of these is divided into two: in the first, he threatens punishment for the wicked; in the second, he promises rewards for the good: thus says the Lord (Isa 65:8). Concerning the first, he does two things: first, he denounces their fault of transgression; second, he threatens punishment: these shall be smoke (Isa 65:5). He denounces their fault from three things. First, from their ungratefulness for his benefits: I have spread forth my hands, giving many benefits, all the day, the whole time since I took them to myself; mystically, I have spread forth my hands, on the cross: every one walks (Jer 16:12) in a way that is not good.

Commentary on Isaiah

(Verse 3.) The people who provoke me to anger are always before my face: they sacrifice in the gardens, and offer incense upon bricks (Exodus XX, 4). LXX: This people who provoke me are always before my eyes, they always sacrifice in the gardens, and offer incense upon bricks to non-gods. ** The Lord says: You shall not make for yourself an idol or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath. And they provoked me with strange gods, and with abominations they provoked me to anger. They sacrificed to devils and not to God (Deut. 32:16, 17). They, by their eagerness to sin, as if they were provoking and challenging God, not only did what was not allowed, but continuously and always sinned in the sight of the Lord, whose eyes see everything, even in his temple, sacrificing victims to idols. So that nothing would indeed be lacking in sacrilege, they would sacrifice in gardens and burn incense on bricks, joining the luxury of idolatry with the pleasure of sacrifices, and instead of one altar built according to God's law from unpolished stones, they would smear cooked bricks and strips of land with the blood of the victims. Let it be said in a literal sense: otherwise, according to spiritual understanding, every heretic provokes the Lord to anger and offers impure sacrifices in the falsehood of their teachings, which are by no means firm and lasting forever, but rather like gardens that quickly wither, providing for the delights of the flesh. To whom it is said: All flesh is grass, and all its glory is like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls: but the word of the Lord, which is preached in the churches, remains forever (Isaiah 40:6-7). Not wanting his vineyard to become gardens, Naboth refuses to them to the impious king Ahab and he sheds blood (1 Kings 21). For it was not fitting for the paternal inheritance to perish: and so that the vineyards, which bring forth the fruit that gladdens the heart of man, would not be replaced with vegetables of virtue, delights, and vices. It is said that the most wise sentiment among the Greeks, rightly celebrated and praised, calls all the pleasures of the world, the pomp of the world and the quickly passing luxury, the gardens of Adonis. The heretics also sacrifice over stones, when they try to strengthen their errors and exquisite lies by the art of dialectic, and to construct them into a square, and to strengthen them with linear necessities, as they say, that is, they cover them with scattered dust and reinforce them with drawn lines. But what is read in the Septuagint, which is not found in Hebrew, is to be understood in the sense that, according to the letter and the spirit, demons do not exist, because they have already fallen from God, who truly is. Nor do heretical sects, which hold no truth, but pass away and perish like shadows. Hence Esther also speaks to the Lord: Do not give your inheritance to those who do not exist. And the saint prays in the psalm: Forgive me, so that I may be refreshed before I depart and no longer exist (Ps. XXXVIII, 14). For whoever, while living in this body, has not obtained the forgiveness of sins, and thus departs from life, perishes to God and ceases to exist, although they may continue to exist in punishment.

Commentary on Isaiah

Second, from the continuity of their sinning: a people that continually provoke me to anger before my face, for all things are naked and open to his eyes (Heb 4:13), or because they placed idols in the temple: they have provoked me with that which was no god (Deut 32:21). Third, from the variety or seriousness of their sins, as to four things. First, as to the worship of idols: that immolate, to idols, in gardens, for they worshipped idols in places of pleasure, upon bricks, upon altars constructed from bricks, so that they could sustain the fire of sacrifice, above: they shall be confounded for their idols (Isa 1:29).

Commentary on Isaiah

4–5

(Verses 4, 5.) Those who dwell in tombs and sleep in the temples of idols, who eat pork meat and unclean broth from their vessels, who say, 'Go away from me, do not come near me, for you are unclean.' LXX: They sleep in tombs and caves because of the nightmares, those who eat pork meat and the broth of sacrifices, all their vessels are profane. They say, 'Go far away from me, do not come near me, for I am clean.' There was nothing of sacrilege that the people of Israel would omit, not only sacrificing in gardens and burning incense on bricks, but also sitting or dwelling in tombs, and sleeping in the temples of idols, where they used to lie down on the skins of sacrificial animals to learn the future in dreams. This error is celebrated today in the temple of Aesculapius and in many other ethnic cults, which are nothing more than the tombs of the dead. They were not satisfied with this limit of impiety, but they also feasted on the flesh of pigs, which was prohibited by law, and they devoured yesterday's food, which the Greeks call 'ἕωλον', with greedy mouths (Leviticus 12). As a result, they and their vessels were unclean, and their audacity and arrogance grew daily to such an extent that anyone who did not share their error was considered unclean, and they would avoid coming into contact with them, just as the Samaritans and Jews do to us, and all heretics, like those that recently sprouted under the brainy master in Gaul, who veer away from the basilicas of the martyrs and flee from us, who perform prayers there in the customary manner, as if we were unclean. However, it is not they themselves who do this so much as the demons dwelling within them, not enduring the strength and punishments of the holy ashes. But who among the heretics does not rest in memories, does not sleep in the dens of the masters? What kind of people were Marcion and Valentinus, and more recently Eunomius, who, contesting the impurity of their mind with leprous flesh, abandon the light of the Holy Spirit and dwell in the darkness of the devil, and love the caves which Jeremiah condemns in mystical language: 'My inheritance has become to me like a cave of hyenas' (Jeremiah 12:8), which our people call a wild beast, as this animal always pursues carcasses and lives on the juice and pus of dead bodies. Against these, who dwell in caves, and Abacuc spoke with a lamentable voice, saying: Woe to him who gives his neighbor a drink of turbid potion and intoxicates him, so that he looks towards his caves. (Abac. II, 15). Concerning these caves, the Lord spoke: It is written, My Father's house shall be called a house of prayer; but you have made it a den of robbers. (Matth. XXI, 13), in which you slay the souls of the deceived, so that you do not see visions in them, of which the same Savior said: I have multiplied visions, and I have assimilated myself to the hands of the Prophets. (Ose. XII, 10). And another said to him: You have spoken, he said, in a vision to your children (Psalm 88:20), but you believe in dreams and illusions, which the Lord has commanded not to be believed. They feed on the flesh of pigs, of which it is said: Do not cast your pearls before swine (Matthew 7:6). And they consume profane law, which is hidden in their books by heretical art. All their vessels are unclean, both in body and in doctrine, and they have come to such madness that anyone who is not like them is detested as if lost.

Commentary on Isaiah

But what is read in the Septuagint, namely, “to demons that are not,” and is not included in the Hebrew text, must be taken to mean that no demons exist, either in the literal or in the spiritual sense; this because they have already fallen away from God, who truly is. Neither do sects of heretics that retain no truth exist, but they are transitory and die like shadows. For this reason did Esther say to the Lord, “Do not surrender your heritage to those who are not.” The holy one also prays in the Psalter: “Know me not, that I may find relief before I depart to exist no longer.” For whoever did not obtain the forgiveness of sinners while living in this body, leaving life in such a condition, also perished from God and therefore ceased existing, even though continuing in punishment.…Wrath, therefore, which is desire for retribution, is not the same in God as it is in people, for its material cause lies in our sins, not in God’s will. We are the ones who “store up wrath for ourselves on the day of wrath and the day of the revelation of the just judgment of God,” so that the thorns and thistles and briars, which we have produced from the seed of God, like the wood, hay and stubble with which we built on Paul’s foundation, should be consumed by flames of wisdom. And we read about this perpetual fire in the song of Moses: “A fire is kindled in my fury, and it will burn to the depths of hell and will devour the earth and its produce. It will set the foundations of the mountains ablaze, and my arrows will destroy them.” The meaning of this testimony is that the fire and vengeance of God will burn continually against sinners and that he will pursue them to hell.

Commentary on Isaiah 18:4, 6

Second, as to their enthusiasm for divinations: that dwell in sepulchers, that they might have answers from the dead; in the temples (delubris), temples of idols so called from diluendo ("washing"), for they thought all things were washed away there; or because of the fonts, which were there for washing the victims and priests; and sleep, upon the hides of the victims for the purpose of divination: your temples shall be destroyed (Ezek 6:6). Third, as to the uncleanness of their food: that eat swine's flesh, and profane broth, from pork, below: they that did eat swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse (Isa 66:17).

Commentary on Isaiah

Here is the power that avenges. It is said that he, hearing these things, is minded to comfort us in our ignorance. For since the memory is maintained for us from writings of actions in the past that encourage us to remember and almost bring to life in our minds those actions of long ago, this is what he teaches. Now all these things are known to God and before they happened. They were already in his mind.

Fragments on Isaiah

So insofar as they say, “Do not touch me, because I am pure,” they are like this Pharisee who had invited the Lord and who thought [the Lord] did not know the woman, just because he had not stopped her touching his feet. But in another respect the Pharisee is better, in that while he thought Christ was only a man, he did not believe that sins could be forgiven by a man. So the Jews appear to have a better understanding than the heretics. What did the Jews say? “Who is this who even forgives sins?” Does a mere man have the audacity to claim this for himself?” What … does the heretic say? “I forgive, I cleanse, I sanctify.”

Sermon 99:8

Fourth, as to their contempt for the just: that say, namely, to those who do not adore idols: he is grievous unto us (Wis 2:15); or that say, to God: who say to God: depart from us, we desire not the knowledge of your ways (Job 21:14). These shall be smoke. Here he threatens punishment. And first, the length of the punishment: smoke, that is, like smoke is consumed by fire, so shall they be burned by my anger: a fire is kindled in my wrath, and shall burn even to the lowest hell (Deut 32:22).

Commentary on Isaiah

6–7

(Verse 6, 7.) These people will be in my fury, a burning fire all day long. Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but I will repay and recompense into their bosom your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, says the Lord, who sacrificed upon the mountains and upon the hills, reproached me, and I will measure their work first into their bosom. LXX: This is the smoke of my fury: a fire burns in it all the days. Behold, it is written before me: I will not be silent until I repay and recompense their sins, and the sins of their fathers, says the Lord, those who burned incense on the mountains and on the hills have reproached me; I will repay their deeds into their bosom. Because of your deeds and your incredible arrogance of mind, thinking that the unclean are clean, you shall be smoke, a burning fire that is kindled by my fury. But we must understand fury, forgetfulness, anger, repentance in God in the same way as we understand feet, hands, eyes, ears, and other bodily members which are said to belong to an incorporeal and invisible God. Not in the sense that these perturbations are open to Him, Who, by His gift of grace, extinguishes them in us, but in the sense that we understand by our words the affection of God toward us. For anger is not defined in God as it is in men, who find its material in our vices rather than in the will of the Lord, Who will heap His anger on us on the day of wrath and of the revelation of His just judgment, to burn up our thistles, thorns, and tares, which we have brought forth instead of the seed of God, and also the wood, hay, and stubble which we have built on the foundation of Paul (I Cor. 3). We read of this perpetual fire in the song of Moses: A fire is kindled in my anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell. It shall consume the earth and its produce, and shall burn the foundations of the mountains, and my arrows shall pierce them (Deut. XXXII, 22). The meaning of this testimony is that the fire of God's wrath always burns against sinners and pursues them even to the depths of hell. Such was also the rich man in the Gospel (Luke XVI), clothed in purple, who, while Lazarus rested in the bosom of Abraham, was tormented by eternal fires. It will also burn the earth, that is, our flesh, and its offspring, that is, the desires of the flesh, with the same flame. And it will destroy the foundations that rise up against the knowledge of God. It will also scatter the arrows of God's mountains, so that humiliated in punishment, they cease to be mountains. Behold, it is written before me. For all our sins are open to the eyes of God, and they are written in these books, as we read in Daniel: Thrones were set up and books were opened (Dan. 7:10). Of these, it is said in another place: Let them be written above the earth (Jerem. XVII, 13). And he who had said previously will by no means remain silent any longer, I was silent: shall I always be silent? says the Lord (Isai. XLII, 14). But he will give to each one according to what he has done in his bosom, that is, in the secret of his heart, so that his own conscience may torment them. About which the prophet Hosea also prophesies: Their leaders will fall by the sword because of the insubordination of their tongue (Hosea VII, 16). This is their deviation within themselves, which proceeds from the heart of each individual. Something similar is written in Proverbs; All things are returned to the wicked in their own deviation. The term 'sinus' is also called 'caput' in another sense, relating to the ruling part of the soul (Greek: ἡγεμονικὸν). Their ways are directed towards their heads. And elsewhere: His pain will turn upon his own head, and his wickedness will descend upon the crown of his head. But there is also a good bosom, which enjoys the sanctity of conscience, of which the Psalmist said: And my prayer will be turned into my bosom (Psalm 34:13). Bosom here refers to any affection and love, such as when speaking to a husband, 'The wife that is in your bosom'; or to a parent, 'Bring your children into your bosom' (Luke 16). Therefore, all who have Abraham as their father and have deserved to be like him in virtues, find rest in his bosom. For we should not accept those fathers, whose injustices and sins are now being repaid to us, from whose seed our bodies are born. Otherwise, Moses himself, who said that the sins of the fathers are to be repaid to the third and fourth generation, interprets his own statement, saying: The children shall not die because of the sins of the fathers, but each one shall die in his own sin. With the approval of the same Ezekiel, it is said that the parable 'The fathers ate sour grapes, and the children's teeth were set on edge' (Ezek. XVIII, 2) should not be spoken in that way, but only the teeth of the one who eats are set on edge, and the sinful soul perishes without expiating external sins. From this we understand, either in a positive or negative sense, that each father to whom one is assigned is to be taken when he has departed from this life. But they sacrificed upon the mountains and hills of Israel, when they set up golden calves in Bethel and Dan. And they reproached God with their commandments, while neglecting His ceremonies, and they gave worship to demons instead of God: the works of which should be restored in their bosom (Hosea 4). And every heretic who despises the simplicity of the Church sacrifices on the mountains and reproaches God, while despising His commandments.

Commentary on Isaiah

Second, the certainty of punishment: behold it is written, for their sin is firmly in memory, and their punishment in preordination; I will not be silent, overlooking their sins: the sin of Judah is written (Jer 17:1), above: I have held my peace, always I have kept silence (Isa 42:14).

Commentary on Isaiah

For we are not obliged to accept as parents those whose iniquities and sins now return to us, but only those from whose seed our bodies were born. Elsewhere, Moses, who had said that the sins of the parents shall return to the third and fourth generation of those who hate God, interpreted the verse that we are considering: “It is not on account of the sins of their parents that the children will die, but each one will die for his own sin,” with Ezekiel confirming the same interpretation, saying that one should never repeat the proverb, “the parents ate sour grapes and the teeth of their children suffered,” but that only the teeth of those who do the eating are affected, meaning that the sinful soul itself dies; it is not punished for sins that it did not commit. From this we understand that when every individual departs this life, he or she must accept the parents who were assigned to them, either for good or otherwise.

Commentary on Isaiah 18:6

But Abraham was saved by the integrity of faith from the fire of the Chaldeans. Jeremiah agrees with this, speaking in the person of the Lord: “Like a hot spring in the desert, I found Israel with a deadly sword.” For … he said, All the world lay wounded by the deadly swords of idolatry. I found Israel in Abraham to have the heat of faith, like a medic after a war who senses that some among the bodies of the dead have a vital pulse and provides care for the wounded to restore their health. But what was written, ōs thermon, that is, “like a hot spring,” the Latin translator rendered “like a wolf,” deceived as he was by ambiguous words that cause errors also among the Greeks. Nevertheless, it should be noted that in Hebrew thoda, which means “grace,” is written in place of “heat.” Indeed, Israel shall be saved by the grace of God, not by its own works.

Commentary on Isaiah 18:7

Third, the multitude of the punishments, because they are for all the sins of their fathers: but I will render: I am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children (Exod 20:5). Who have reproached me, by adoring idols in the high places; and also for the sins of their youth: and I will measure back their first work, as if to say, I will make the punishment commensurate to the fault, above: she has received of the hand of the Lord double (Isa 40:2).

Commentary on Isaiah

Once again the richness of the loving nature of God is shown clearly in this simile. For just as mature wine is found on the vine for whose sake the whole is saved, spared and is not cut off by anyone, so too [God says], “If I find anyone serving me, I will spare them all, just as I swore to Abraham. When I was threatening judgment of Sodom, I showed my compassion even to five people.” He says this to establish his goodness.

Fragments of Isaiah

(V. 8) Thus says the Lord: Just as when a grain is found in the cluster, and it is said: do not destroy it, for there is a blessing in it; so I will do for the sake of my servants, that I will not destroy them all. LXX: Thus says the Lord: Just as when a grape is found in the cluster, and it is said: do not touch it, for there is a blessing in it; so I will do for the sake of my servant, that I will not destroy them all. The Lord declared that Israel would perish and all their sins would be revealed before their eyes, and He would repay them according to the works of each individual in their bosom. After this, he presents a similitude and example of comparison, in order to teach that everyone perishes in their own sin, and even if there is a great multitude of sinners, one righteous person does not perish due to the fault of all. If someone, he says, takes a cluster of grapes that could not ripen, and brings fruits that have turned sour, or is corrupted by some fault of the air or earth, they find one intact seed which has the hope of becoming even greater and reaching its usual ripeness. Let them say to another person, do not touch it, but let it grow, because it is the blessing of the Lord that in such a multitude of grapes, only one would escape dryness. Likewise, he says, with the countless multitude of Jews who have offended God, if I find a few righteous ones, I will deliver them from the destruction of the many. And I will do this for the sake of my servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to whom the promise was made, or for the sake of those who serve me among many sinners. We read something similar in Genesis, when from fifty down to ten the righteous are gradually sought after, who could free the city from sin (Gen. XVIII), and only the righteous Lot is saved from Sodom with his daughters (Gen. XIX). This is written about in the Catholic Epistle (II Pet. II), that his soul was tormented by witnessing abominable acts, and that the judgment of his soul demonstrated the character of his body. Enoch also, among the very numerous multitude of sinners, was alone taken up to God (Genesis 5). And Noah, with his children, because he turned away from the servitude of the Lord, could not destroy the Flood (Genesis 7). But Abraham, preserved from the fire of the Chaldeans by the integrity of his faith (Genesis 11). In this sense, the words of Jeremiah, spoken from the perspective of the Lord, agree: 'I have found Israel like a warm desert, with those slain by the sword' (Jeremiah 38:2 in the Septuagint; in the Vulgate, Jeremiah 31:2). For when, he says, the whole world lay wounded by idolatry as if slain by the sword, Israel was found to have the warmth of faith in Abraham, like a physician who, after a battle among the dead bodies, where he perceives some vital signs in the pulsing veins, applies care to the wounds in order to restore health. For it is written, ὡς θερμὸν, that is, like something warm, deceived by the ambiguity of the word, the Latin interpreter translated it as "lupinum," in which even many of the Greeks err. And yet it should be known that in Hebrew it is written as 'Thoda' (), which means grace; namely, that Israel is saved by the grace of God and not by the merit of their own works.

Commentary on Isaiah

If anyone finds one ripe grape in a bunch, he spares the whole bunch on its account, in order to present to God the firstfruits. In the same way, since I promised to Abraham to bless all the nations in his seed, I maintained the seed of all Israel when they sinned, and I did not overlook their slavery in Egypt. For this reason, I freed them from their Babylonian captivity.… The “valley of Achor” is an allusion to the contrition that is among the churches. For Achar or Achor, having stolen and broken the law of the ban, was thrown into a ravine, and through this tragic example they were filled with much contrition.

Commentary on Isaiah 20:65.8-10

Thus says the Lord. Here he promises rewards to the good. And first, as to their preservation from evils: as if a grain, of a grape; it is a blessing, that is, it pleases God for it to be reserved for a blessing; for the sake of my servants, your fathers; that I may not destroy the whole, people of the Jews, above: it shall be as when one gathers (Isa 17:5) clusters in the vintage.

Commentary on Isaiah

(Verse 9) And I will bring forth offspring from Jacob, and from Judah those who possess my mountains; my chosen ones will inherit it, and my servants will dwell there. They will pasture their flocks in the open fields and find rest in the valley of Achor, for my people who have sought me. He who above called the grape of the goblet, or the berry, or (as many wills) the cluster, now calls it the seed of Jacob and Judah, who possess the mountains or its mountain. Many understand the seed of Jacob and Judah to mean Christ, of whom it is said in Genesis: Judah, your brothers shall praise you (Gen. XLIX, 8), and so on. For no one doubts that the Savior was born from the lineage of Judah. Others, however, understand it to mean the Apostles, of whom we have often said: A remnant will be saved (Isai. I, 9). And: Unless the Lord of hosts had left us seed, we would have been as Sodom, and we would have been like Gomorrah (Rom. IX, 29). They have possessed the mountain of the Lord conscious of dwelling in Christ, saying: We have come to Mount Zion and the heavenly city of the living God, Jerusalem (Heb. XII, 22). Or its mountains, of which it is sung in the Psalms: Mountains surround it, and the Lord surrounds his people (Psalm CXXIV, 2). And: His foundations are in the holy mountains (Psalm 86:1). But the elect of the Lord shall possess Zion, and they shall dwell in it, his servants. Of whom it is written in the same volume: The seed of Abraham, his servants, the sons of Jacob, his elect (Psalm 105:6). Therefore, whoever is still seed, not yet formed into a son, is a servant of the Lord, to whom he says in the Gospel: I know that you are the seed of Abraham, but you are not yet sons (John 8). For if they were Abraham's seed, they would do the works of Abraham. But the one who is a son, he is also chosen by the Lord. Therefore the chosen one possesses Jerusalem, and the servants dwell in it, and it is said that there is a distinction between the sons and servants: You have not received again the spirit of bondage in fear, but the spirit of adoption (Rom. VIII, 15). And it shall be, he says, fields or forests for sheepfolds. In Hebrew, it is called Sharon for fields. Every region around Lydda, Joppa, and Jamnia is suitable for grazing flocks. Concerning this, it is written in the Acts of the Apostles: 'The wilderness will turn into pastures' (Acts 9), as it is also sung in the psalm: 'The voice of the Lord perfects the stags, and it reveals the pastures' (Psalm 28:9), or the dense forests, so that thieves may cease to lurk there, and venomous beasts and poisonous animals, and the once places of ambush and bloodshed, may be transformed into churches of the Lord, and the flocks may be grazed there by Him who laid down His life for His sheep. Concerning which it is written: He himself shall feed us forever (Psalm 45:15). This voice, fulfilling the deer, and revealing the depths of the forest, cries out through John in the wilderness: Now the axe is laid unto the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bring forth good fruit shall be cut down, and cast into the fire (Matthew 3:10). And again: Every valley shall be filled (Luke 3:5); concerning which it is also said now: and the valley of Achor for a fold of cattle, and for a resting place for my people who sought me. From which, in the book of Joshua son of Nun, we read that Acham, who stole from the ban and the spoils of Jericho, was killed there, along with all his household, because he had troubled the people. The place itself, where it happened, was called Achor, which means the name of trouble and tumult (Jos. VII). Therefore, the Valley of Achor, where there was once a curse and punishment, will be a resting place for cattle. Paul, explaining this, says: Is God concerned about oxen (I Cor. IX, 9)? That truly he speaks concerning us, for it is necessary that he who plows, plow in hope, and he who threshes the threshing floor, thresh in hope, so that he may partake. Concerning this valley, it is mystically written in Hosea: 'I will speak to her heart, undoubtedly Jerusalem; and I will give her vineyards from there, and the Valley of Achor, so that her understanding may be opened.' (Hosea 2:14) For this reason, the Valley of Achor is given as a possession of the cattle of the people of God, and the pastures are turned into sheepfolds, so that understanding may be opened, and the truth of the Lord may be known.

Commentary on Isaiah

The holy Scripture often calls the church “the holy mountain” whose lesser part came from Israel. For if Israel had received the faith that is in our Lord Jesus Christ, they would have formed the greater part of the church’s composition, and the multitude of the nations would have been added to them. But because they did not believe, they became the lesser of the two. The nations became greater, while Israel became quite small. For the remnant will be saved. Therefore they inherit a small portion in the holy mountain, that is, the church.

Commentary on Isaiah 5:5.65:18-19

Those who have attained the summit of perfection have as their harbor not life, or the resurrection or any of these admirable things but the desired One himself, for whose sake they counted misfortune a delight, and weary toil the sweetest repose, and time spent in the desert more desirable than city life, and poverty fairer than wealth and irksome slavery sweeter than any position of authority. This is the reward awaited by the doers of virtue. “It is an inheritance for those who serve God,” as the prophet Isaiah exclaims.

On Divine Providence 9:11

Second, as to their advancement in good things. And first, as to the multiplication of their seed: and I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, above: except the Lord of hosts had left us seed, we had been as Sodom (Isa 1:9). Second, as to the restoration of the inheritance of their fathers: and my elect shall inherit it: they shall possess you for their inheritance: and you shall be their inheritance (Ezek 36:12).

Commentary on Isaiah

Third, as to the fertility of their pastures: and the plains, and the valley of Achor, so called, because they stoned Achan there (Josh 7:24–26); I will give them the valley of Achor for an opening of hope (Hos 2:15).

Commentary on Isaiah

If a person, because he is too tenacious of life or too weak in the face of suffering, or because of the apparently convincing arguments of such as seek to induce us to accept the evil choice, has denied the one and only God and his Christ and borne testimony to demons or goddesses of fortune, then this person must realize that in doing this he is “setting,” as it were, “a table for the demon and offering libations” to Fortune, “forsaking the Lord” and “forgetting his holy mount.” He will incur the reproaches written in Isaiah.

Exhortation to Martyrdom 40

11–12

(Verse 11, 12.) And you who have forsaken the Lord, and have forgotten my holy mountain. You who set a table for fortune, and pour out libations upon it. I will number you for the sword, and you shall all fall in the slaughter. LXX: But you who have forsaken me, and have forgotten my holy mountain, and prepare a table for fortune, and fill a cup for the demon: I will deliver you to the sword; you shall all be killed. In the former wilderness and chaos. In the lands of the Gentiles there will be sheepfolds, that is, the Churches of all believers from the whole world. But you, O people of Israel, who have forsaken the Lord and have provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger, who have forgotten His holy mountain, of which we have frequently spoken, or the Lord Savior, who is the mountain of mountains, and all holy ones, or Mount Zion, and the heavenly city of the living God, Jerusalem, who do these things and these things, I will deliver you to the sword, so that you all may be killed together. If you ask what the sword is, we shall say later: You set out a table for Fortune, he says, and pour libations on it; or, according to the Seventy: You prepare a table for Fortune, and fill a cup for a demon, or κέρασμα, as all the translators similarly rendered it, that is, a mixed potion. Now, in all cities, especially in Egypt and Alexandria, there is an ancient custom of idolatry, that on the last day of the year and month, which is the last, they set out a table filled with various kinds of food, and a cup mixed with honeyed wine, either wishing for the fertility of the past year or that of the coming year. But the Israelites were doing this, venerating the monstrous images of all the idols at once, and not offering sacrifices on the altar, but pouring out this kind of offering on the table. And what the Seventy translated as 'Menni', in Hebrew it has 'absque me', which Symmachus interpreted to mean 'without me', so the sense is: 'The one who prepares a table for fortune, and fills the cup without me'; to teach that it is not done for oneself, but for the demon. And the sword with which they are killed is taken as a punishment. For not all the people of Israel were handed over by the sword, as we see how many thousands are scattered throughout the whole world; but by punishments and tortures, captivity and ultimate servitude, according to what is said elsewhere: 'All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword,' and in the Song of Deuteronomy: 'I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh— the flesh of the slain.' (Deut. XXXII, 42). It is not credible that the arrows of the Lord could be drunk with blood, and that his sword could be satiated with the flesh of the wounded. About these arrows that Job speaks of, which pierce him every moment of the hour. The arrows of the Lord are in my body: their fury drinks up my spirit; for when I begin to speak, they prick me. (Job 6:4). According to the allegory, it must be said that all those who abandon the Church and forget the holy mountain of God, and give themselves over to the spirits of error and the teachings of demons, prepare a table for their fortune, believing that nothing pertains to God but that everything is governed by the course of the stars or the variety of fortune: these are the ones whom Paul reproaches, saying: You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. You cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons (1 Corinthians 10:20-21): because they will be handed over to eternal punishments, so that none of them can escape death and destruction.

Commentary on Isaiah

We have frequently spoken of the Lord’s “holy mountain,” which the people of Israel are here said to forget, as either the Lord and Savior, who is the mountain of mountains and the saint of all saints, or as Mount Zion and the heavenly Jerusalem, city of the living God. … According to the tropological sense, it must be said that all who desert the church and forget the holy mountain of God and deliver themselves to the spirits of error and to the teachings of demons thereby “prepare a table for Fortune,” believing that everything is governed either by the vagaries of fortune or by the course of the stars but nothing by God. Paul rebukes these people, saying, “You cannot share in the table of the Lord and in the table of demons.”

Commentary on Isaiah 18:9

And you, that have forsaken. Here he separates the wicked from the consolation of the good, because of their sins of omission. And first, he threatens punishment for the wicked; second, he promises rewards for the good: because the former distresses are forgotten (Isa 65:16). Concerning the first, he does two things. First, he threatens them because they have abandoned God, and he sets out their fault: and you, Jews; that set for fortune, a god of the Egyptians, a table: he touches upon a ritual in which this god was worshipped, for, at the end of the year, a table was prepared for him, crammed with every food: they forsook God who made them, and departed from God their savior (Deut 32:15).

Commentary on Isaiah

(Verse 12.) Because I called and you did not answer, I spoke and you did not hear. But you did evil in my sight and chose what I did not want. LXX: I called you and you did not hear, I spoke and you despised, and you did evil in my presence and chose what I did not want. You have been handed over to the sword, for not only have you forsaken me and forgotten me, but you have also mixed the cup of fortune. But when I was Emmanuel, that is, God with us, about whom John also writes: The Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14), I called you in the present: Return to me, O returning children (Jeremiah 3:14). And: Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened (Matth. XI, 28), and you did not want to respond. I have spoken in parables, and I have done everything that I should do, and you did not hear me, rather you despised me. For I am the one who said before: I came and there was no man: I called, and there was no one who obeyed (Isai. L, 2). And it was not enough for you to show impiety by despising me while I am present, and to send the heir, sent to you, to be killed; but you did evil in my sight, and you chose what I did not want, and you blasphemed the Son of God, so that you would choose Barabbas the thief, the author of murder and sedition; and yet you dare to say: Why did you make us stray from your way (Isai. LXIII, 17)? If those who did not know me found me, and those who did not call upon me received me, to whom you are worthy of tortures, who rejected me when I was sent to you and saying: I have come only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 15:24), but instead you crucified me? Let us consider what it means when he says: And you chose what I did not want; or what is the will of the Son of God, who speaks in the Gospel: Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven (Matthew 7:21). About which God Himself says: 'I wanted to do Your will' (Ps. 39:9). This is the will about which the Lord Himself spoke: 'I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will' (Acts 13:22). Therefore the saint prays and says: 'Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God' (Ps. 143:10). For all things are lawful, but not all things are expedient. And the Apostle says about virgins that he does not have a command from the Lord, but he still wishes them to be as he is himself (1 Cor. 7). From this he shows that the indulgence of the master should by no means be followed, but rather his will (I Cor. VII); and that we should choose what is profitable, not what is permissible, as is the case with second marriage. I want young women to marry, to bear children, to be mothers of families (I Tim. V, 14). And he sets forth the reasons why he grants these things: For certain things have gone astray in the past after Satan. Therefore, the pure will of the second marriage is not to be belittled by a comparison to fornication.

Commentary on Isaiah

And he sets out the punishment: I will number you in the sword, as if to say: so that none remain who will not be crushed: they shall fall by the sword, and by the famine (Jer 44:12). Second, because they did not obey when they were called back, and he sets out the fault: because I called and you did not answer: I called, and you refused (Prov 1:24).

Commentary on Isaiah

13–14

(Verse 13, 14.) Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Behold, my servants will eat, and you will be hungry. Behold, my servants will drink, and you will be thirsty. Behold, my servants will rejoice, and you will be put to shame. Behold, my servants will praise with the exultation of the heart, and you will cry out because of the pain of the heart, and because of the brokenness of the spirit you will howl. LXX: Therefore, thus says the Lord: Behold, my servants will eat, but you will be hungry. Behold, my servants will drink, but you will be thirsty. Behold, my servants will rejoice, but you will be confounded. Behold, my servants will exult in joy, but you will cry out because of the pain in your hearts, and because of the brokenness of your spirits you will wail. Not only will you fall by the sword, you who have forsaken the Lord and done evil in his sight, and refused to listen to his words, but you will also see a great difference between yourselves and the multitude of the nations. For those who serve me will eat and drink, rejoice and praise with exultation of the heart. But on the contrary, you will hunger and thirst, you will be confused and cry out in pain of heart and contrition of spirit. They think that all these things will be accomplished in a thousand years, believing that food and drink are the kingdom of God, without understanding that which is written: Labor not for the food which perishes, but for the bread of life and truth (John VI, 27), desiring to eat the flesh of Christ and the fruit of the tree of life. About which the Savior speaks: I am the bread that came down from heaven (John 6:33). And the Ecclesiastes says: Open your eyes and be satisfied with bread (Proverbs 20:13). And the Psalmist says: I was young, and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be a blessing (Psalm 37:25). He was instructing his disciples about this bread and spiritual banquet: But you are those who have stood by me in my trials. And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom (Luke 22:28). But if we consider simple bread, how can we explain it: The Lord will not let the soul of the just perish by famine (Prov. 10:3). And again: The Lord knows the ways of the blameless, and their inheritance will be forever. They will not be put to shame in the time of distress, and in the days of famine they will be satisfied (Psalm 37:18, 19). For how many holy ones die in persecution, consumed by hunger and poverty; how many righteous ones go hungry, while the wicked are filled with their excesses! But that drink is to be received, which is drawn from the fountains of Israel; whoever drinks it, will have within themselves a fountain of water springing up to eternal life (John 4; Luke 22). This is the same drink that the Savior promises to drink with the Apostles in the kingdom of the Father: who gives joy to the heart of man (Psalm 103:14), so that those who drink it may say: You have given joy in my heart (Psalm 4:7). Of this food and drink, among the eight beatitudes it is said: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matthew 5:6). And the mother of the Lord, filled with the Holy Spirit, prophesied: He has filled the hungry with good things (Luke 1:53), those who previously did not have the food of the Lord; and he has sent the rich away empty, who were given for his burial; and they rejected the one whom the Prophets had promised. Of whom the Psalmist also sings in another place: The rich have become poor and hungry (Psalm 34:11), that is, the people of the Jews. But those who seek the Lord, that is, the crowd of Gentiles, will not lack any good thing. And when the servants of Christ, believing in Him, will have been joyful and praised God with exultation of heart and joy, then they will be confounded, seeing that others have taken their place; and they will cry out in sorrow of heart, fulfilling that which is written: There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13:50): when the lambs of the gentiles and the righteous stand on the right, and the goats of the Jews and the wicked on the left; some receiving eternal rewards, others eternal punishments. The contrition of the spirit, on account of the pain of the heart, is to be understood in the conscience of sins, according to what is written: 'They will know those who go astray in spirit, and there will be understanding' (Isaiah 29:24). And: 'A contrite and humbled heart, O God, you will not despise' (Psalm 50:19). The spirit is crushed when it is raised up; this is written about the enemy king of Israel: 'The Lord hardened his spirit' (2 Kings 17:14). And about the prince of Babylon, when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened, so that he would proudly say: 'This is Babylon, and I made it' (Daniel 4:27).

Commentary on Isaiah

I am not unaware of how much diversity of interpretation there exists among people. Yet, I do not speak here of the mystery of the Trinity, whose proper confession is apophatic, but of other ecclesiastical doctrines concerning the resurrection, certainly, as well as concerning the state of souls and human flesh, concerning how prophecies about the future ought to be received and by what principle the Apocalypse of John should be understood, which, if interpreted literally, would involve Judaizing.… But, in saying that it should be interpreted spiritually, this because the kingdom of God does not consist of food and drink, nor will there be marriage in the resurrection, among other reasons, I do not, thereby, remove the truth of the human body, which I profess to be raised incorruptible and immortal, changing its glory, not its substance. Our interpretation, therefore, must begin on the right path, to avoid departing to the right or to the left, so that we will not follow the errors of either the Judaizers or the heretics.…

Commentary on Isaiah 18:1

In all these things, whatever has been predicted only, not promised, pertains to the persons of the wicked. Nor should that which because of the merit of wickedness, severity threatens to be inflicted, be said to have been promised by the generosity of goodness. If there are things that pertain to the persons of those who serve God, these have been both predicted and promised.This is also the point of the words of our Savior where he says, “And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” He predicted and promised the reward that the just would enjoy, but he did not promise but predicted the torments with which the unjust would be punished. Not so he predestined the saints to receive justice, because the “merciful and just Lord” could freely deliver from depravity whomever he wished. But he was never the doer of the depravity, because no one was ever depraved except insofar as he went away from God. Nor did God predestine anyone to go away, even though by divine knowledge he foreknew that he would go away.

Letter to Monimus 1:25.3-4

And he threatens the punishment of separation. First, in satisfaction of the body: therefore thus says the Lord God: behold my servants shall eat, and you shall be hungry: the rich have wanted, and have suffered hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not be deprived of any good (Ps 33:11[34:10]).

Commentary on Isaiah

Second, in joy of heart: behold my servants shall rejoice, and you shall be confounded: repenting, and groaning for anguish of spirit (Wis 5:3).

Commentary on Isaiah

These things are predicted to warn those not fearing the Lord and who do not turn to him, whereas those who serve me will not only weave another kind of outcome, but just as with the patriarchs, they will receive a name and on account of their deeds new names. When the Jews were unrepentant, this name was given to the Gentiles, a name that will stand forever, that is, the name of Christians. They no longer glorify idols, singing hymns to them as if to gods. Now they sing to God, their creator. They worship him and enjoy his blessings.

Fragments on Isaiah

But even if we are clearly something new, and this truly recent name of Christians has only recently been known among all the nations, our life and manner of conduct in accordance with the very teachings of our religion have not been recently fashioned by us, but, as it were, from the first creation of humanity have been established by the natural concepts of the God-favored people of old.… And by deeds more manifest than words is Abraham’s manner of religion shown to be practiced at present among Christians alone.

Ecclesiastical History 1:4

With the ungrudging generosity of his godhead, Christ has granted to all of us to bear his name. For whereas as human sovereigns have some special title of sovereignty that they keep exclusively from use by other people, Jesus Christ, being Son of God, has deigned to bestow on us the title of Christians.… But some will say, “The name of ‘Christians’ is new and was not previously in use”: and new-fashioned phrases are often objected to on the score of strangeness. The prophet made this point safe beforehand, saying, “But on my servants shall a new name be called, which shall be blessed upon the earth.”

Catechetical Lecture 10:16

15–16

(Vers. 15, 16.) And you shall dismiss your name in the oath to my chosen ones, and the Lord God will kill you, and He will call His servants by another name, in which whoever is blessed on earth will be blessed in God, amen: and whoever swears on earth will swear in God, amen. LXX: For you shall abandon your name to my chosen ones. But the Lord will kill you, and to those who serve me, a new name will be called, to whom blessings will be given on earth: for they bless the true God, and those who swear on earth will swear by the true God. In reference to satiety, which is called Sabaa in Hebrew, others have interpreted it as an oath; a word that has many meanings and is varied according to the different accents. It is understood as both an oath and satiety, and fullness, and many, and seven. We have spoken about it in the book of Genesis, and in this volume (Chapter IV), where seven women took hold of one man. Again, because it is translated by the Septuagint, it is true, and in Hebrew it is called Amen; Aquila translates it as πεπιστωμένως, that is, faithfully. But what he says is this: as others succeed you, your name will be the oath of my chosen ones, so that they may have you as an example of evils and detest such endurance, and they may swear thus: I will not suffer what the people of the Jews have suffered. Whether your name will be in satiety, which is usually said of those whose remembrance and memory is odious, and who have come to the point of satiety and disgust. Or certainly this should be said, that they should abandon their own name for the chosen ones of the Lord, so that a crowd of nations may succeed them; and they themselves may be called sons of Abraham and Israel. About whom Paul speaks: Peace be upon them, and upon the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16). For neither are those who are of Israel, Israel; nor are those who are the descendants of Abraham all his children (Romans 9:7), to whom it is said: If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham (John 8:39). And because they are the descendants of Abraham, and not his children, as we explained above, John the Baptist reproaches them, saying: And do not presume to say, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham (Matthew 3:9). For how can they be his children, who said to wood and stone, you have begotten me: when, on the contrary, those who are from faith, are called the children of Abraham? But you, he says, will be killed by the Lord, so that you will not be called circumcision, but incision (Galatians III): so that you may lack eternal life, so that you may not have the one who says: I am the life (John XIV, 6). But he says that he will call his servants by another name, or a new one, which will be celebrated throughout the whole world. And it shall be blessed: to such an extent that whoever is called by that name shall be blessed in the Lord, and shall receive the sign of true Circumcision, amen: which the Lord often uses in the Gospel to affirm what has been said: Amen, amen I say to you (John 5:19). However, there is no new or different name, except one that is derived from the name of Christ, so that the people of God should no longer be called Jacob, and Judah, and Israel, and Ephraim, and Joseph, but Christian. For whoever swears on the earth, does not swear in idols and false gods, but in God; this statement is confirmed again by the seal of Amen. Moreover, according to the Septuagint, those who translated the true God as Amen, so that the true God may be blessed, and those who swear on the earth, may swear by the true God, we refer not only to the person of God the Father, about whom it is written: That they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent (John 17:3), but also to the Son, who is himself the true God, as the evangelist John says: The Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know the true one, and we are in his true Son, Jesus Christ (John 5:20). This is the true God and eternal life. For if the Savior speaks of himself: I am the truth (John XIV, 6), consequently he received the name true God from the truth, so that he would not be called God according to false gods, but according to the true God the Father, and he himself is the true God. Otherwise, if he is not true, he will be similar to an idol, which leads to the damnation of those who deny Christ as the true God. This is, however, a new name, which is written for him in the Apocalypse upon a stone (Chapter II), to which blessing is given in the whole world.

Commentary on Isaiah

All things have been made new in Christ—worship and life and the making of laws. For we no longer adhere to shadows and ineffective types, but rather we offer adoration and worship, in spirit and truth, to the God who is above all. We do not take our name like the physical descendants of Israel from one of the first ancestors or fathers, such as Ephraim, or Manasseh, or some other tribe; nor do we follow the path of the scribes and the Pharisees, who value the antiquity of the letter above all else; but we submit to Christ in the newness of the life of the gospel, and having been given his name, like a crown, we are called Christians. This celebrated and blessed name has spread throughout the world. And because we have been blessed by Christ, we, in turn, try to make him rejoice with blessings and ceaseless praises.

Commentary on Isaiah 5:6.65:15

He has already mentioned this name. It is new and not old. For after the appearance of Christ the master, those who believed were called Christians. They bore this in place of all approving words. When one wished to praise, they were accustomed to add after many kind words, “He is a true Christian.” And when on another occasion exhorting someone, they were accustomed to say, “Act as a Christian, do what befits a Christian.” So this name is full of eulogy and blessing.

Commentary on Isaiah 20:65.15-16

Third, in difference of name, and first, he sets out the sort of name the impious shall have: and you shall leave your name for an oath to my elect, that they might confirm their words thus: if it is not so, so shall it happen to me as happened to them: by the sword, and by the famine shall they die: and they shall be for an oath, and for a wonder, and for a curse, and for a reproach (Jer 44:12). And next he sets out the sort of name the good shall have: and call his servants; in which, namely, in which name, the name is Jesus; amen, faithfully, above: you shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name (Isa 62:2).

Commentary on Isaiah

For “abundance,” which is sabaa in Hebrew, others translate “oath.” But the word has many meanings, which vary in accordance with where the accent is placed, for it can be understood as “oath” or “abundance” or “sufficiency” or “plurality” or “seven,” concerning which we already indicated that in the book of Genesis, as well as in the current book, seven women take one man. Again, for that which the Septuagint translates as “true” and the Hebrew as “amen,” Aquila renders pepistōmenōs, that is, “faithfully.” But this is what it says: “Your name will be a curse for the benefit of my chosen who will follow in your place, that they may have you as an example of evil consequences and may detest enduring such things, and, therefore, swear this oath: ‘I will not suffer what the Jewish people suffered.’ ” Or, perhaps your name will be “abundant,” in as much as it will be spoken so frequently that the memory or mention of it will become odious to them and engorge them on it, such that they will grow nauseated.…And there will be blessing, insofar as whoever is called by that name will be blessed by the Lord and will receive a sign of true circumcision: “amen,” which the Lord often uses to indicate approval in the Gospel: “Amen, amen, I say to you.” But neither this new name nor another name is anything unless derived from the name of Christ, so that the people of God would never be called Jacob, Judas, Israel, Ephraim or Joseph, but “Christian.” For “whoever swears in the land” does so not by idols or by false gods but by God, as is confirmed by the “amen” at the end of the sentence. Furthermore, the Septuagint translates “true God” in place of “amen,” so that the true God may be blessed and that those “who swear in the land” would swear by the true God. But we do not follow the error of the Arians in referring this “true God” to the person of God the Father alone, of whom it is written, “that they may know you the one true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” But we refer also to the Son, who is himself the true God, as John the Evangelist testifies: “The Son of God came to give us understanding, that we would know the true one and exist in his true Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.”

Commentary on Isaiah 18:12

Because the former distresses are forgotten. Here he promises rewards seen. And first, in general, as to the removal of evils: because the former distresses are forgotten, not because of lack of knowledge, but because they have been succeeded by good things, above: you shall forget the shame of your youth (Isa 54:4).

Commentary on Isaiah

Isaiah also, declaring prophetically that there will be a new heaven and a new earth, undoubtedly suggests a similar view. For this renewal of heaven and earth, and this transformation of the form of the present world and this changing of the heavens will undoubtedly be prepared for those who are walking along and are tending to that goal of happiness to which, it is said, even enemies themselves are to be subjected and in which God is said to be “all in all.” And if anyone imagines that at the end, material, that is, bodily nature will be entirely destroyed, he cannot in any respect meet my view, how beings so numerous and powerful are able to live and to exist without bodies, since it is an attribute of the divine nature alone.… Another, perhaps, may say that in the end every bodily substance will be so pure and refined as to be like the ether and of a celestial purity and clearness. How things will be, however, is known with certainty to God alone and to those who are his friends through Christ and the Holy Spirit.

On First Principles 1:6.4

“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth.” These words point to the church, referring to the heavenly and spiritual gifts that have been granted to it. Indeed, if the Lord took care of the Israelites for the earthly things promised to them, how much more will he provide for the church, thanks to the joy that peoples have experienced in their conversion to it. Therefore, he also calls new heavens and new earth the new and spiritual life granted to the church by the advent of Christ.

Commentary on Isaiah 65:17

17–18

(Verse 17, 18.) Because the former troubles have been forgotten and hidden from my eyes. For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness. LXX: For they shall forget the affliction of the past, and it shall not come to mind. But there shall be a new heaven and a new earth, and they shall not remember the former things, nor shall they come to mind. But they shall find joy and exultation in it. The cause of joy and confession of the true God is that the eternal oblivion will follow the previous sorrows, so that they will not remember the idols and the former errors, but will pass from darkness to light, so that they may enjoy eternal blessedness. For they will forget the past evils, not by the forgetfulness of memory, but by the succession of good things, according to what is written: 'In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one side by side with the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.' (Eccles. 7:14). And elsewhere it is said: 'Affliction makes joy forgotten in an hour' (Eccles. 11:29): because while they are in distress, they will not enjoy the former pleasures, according to the mistaken mind of Epicurus. Although it can also be said, that in the new heaven and the new earth, all memory of previous conversations is erased, so that this very thing does not become a part of the evils, to recall the narrowness of the past. But those who believe that everything we see will perish interpret it according to the testimony of the Gospel: Heaven and earth will pass away (Matthew 24:35). And according to the testimony of the Apostle Paul: For the things that are seen are temporal, but the things that are not seen are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18). Moreover, those who embrace change, improvement, and do not consider the destruction of elements to be a demise, use this example: In the beginning, you established the earth, O Lord, and the works of your hands are the heavens. They will perish, but you remain, and all of them will wear out like a garment, and you will change them like clothing, and they will be changed (Psalm 102:26-27). This clearly demonstrates a transformation for the better, not an annihilation into nothingness, but a change. For the scripture that is written in another place, 'The moon shall shine as the sun, and the sun shall receive sevenfold light' (Isaiah 30:26), does not indicate the destruction of the former things, but their transformation for the better. In order to understand this, let us consider examples from our own condition: when an infant grows into a child, and a child into a youth, and a youth into a man, and a man into an old man, each age does not perish completely. It is still the same person as before, but gradually changes and is said to have perished from its former state. What the intelligent and Apostle Paul said: For the figure of this world passeth away (1 Cor. VII, 31). Let us consider what he said: The figure passeth away, not the substance. Peter also signifies the same: For this they are willfully ignorant of: that the heavens were before, and the earth out of water, and through water, consisting by the word of God: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished. But the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire (2 Pet. III, 5 seqq.): in what sense this is to be understood, he teaches afterwards: But we look for new heavens and a new earth, according to his promise (Ibid., 13): he did not say, we shall see other heavens and another earth, but the old and ancient ones changed for the better. We can say this also, that those who have turned away from idolatry and forsaken their former error, see new heavens and a new earth, not considering the elements as gods or as those things that are born from the earth. Now we confess that the heavens and the earth are the work of God's hands. But during that time, we worshipped as servants and creatures with reverence for God, which David also acknowledges in the psalm: 'I will see the heavens, the work of your fingers' (Psalm 8:4). Not that David did not see the heavens at that time when he said these things; but by each increase of virtues and knowledge of future things, he sees new heavens that he did not see before. But what is said at the end of this testimony: 'Which I create,' is omitted by the Septuagint.

Commentary on Isaiah

The new heavens and new earth are cause for rejoicing and for confessing the true God, because eternal amnesia follows on the former tribulations; this means that those who live therein will never be mindful of idols and previous errors but will pass from darkness into light for the enjoyment of eternal beatitude. For they will forget the former evils, not by having their memories destroyed but by receiving an inheritance of goods, in accordance with what is written: “On the day of good rewards, there will be no memory of evils,” and again: “an affliction of one hour destroys the memory of pleasures.” Thus, to the extent that the former desires were born in tribulation, members of the new creation will never enjoy them in the wayward manner of the Epicureans.

Commentary on Isaiah 18:13

Those who interpret the new heaven and earth to be a change for the better, rather than the destruction of the elements, cite this passage: “You founded the earth in the beginning, Lord, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will endure; they will grow old like a garment, and you will roll them up like cloth, and they will be changed.” In this psalm is demonstrated clearly a perdition and destruction that is not an annihilation but a transformation for the better. Neither does what is written elsewhere indicate that there will be a complete destruction of what was there at the beginning, but rather a transformation: “The moon will shine like the sun, and the sun’s light will be strengthened sevenfold.” And that this may be better understood, let us use an example from our own human condition: when an infant grows into a boy, and a boy into an adolescent, and an adolescent into a man and a man into an old man, the same person continues to exist throughout his succession of ages. For he remains the same man as he was, even though it can be said that he has changed a little and that the previous ages have passed away. Understanding this truth, the apostle Paul said, “for the form of this world is perishing.” Notice that he said “form,” not “substance.”

Commentary on Isaiah 18:13

And as to the restoration of goods: for behold I create new heavens, new help from heaven, and a new earth, new benefits from the earth; or this refers to the day of judgment, when the world will be renewed to the glory of the saints: the former things are passed away (Rev 21:4).

Commentary on Isaiah

18–19

Neither would it be congruous that in the city of Jerusalem and among the people of God, who will receive an eternal creation of exaltation and joy, there be heard any longer the voice of weeping and wailing, now that pain, sorrow and moaning have departed, for incompatible realities are surely unable to exist together.… In such a city, there is no difference in ages, as between the infant and the elderly, the young and the “old man who does not fulfill his days.” Instead, like children of the resurrection, all “attain to the perfect person, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,” such that none will either lack or exceed the life span, nor will it be the case that some persons retain their strength while others fail with age and cease to be what they were. Everyone, moreover, will reach one hundred years of age, as did Abraham, who received the promise that he would have his son Isaac at one hundred. It is not necessary to recount the many praises of this particular number, lest our argument run too long. This alone will we say, that ten decades are squared and square forms possess strength.

Commentary on Isaiah 13:15

Instead of the former affliction, the prophet says, “they shall find in her joy and exultation.” To what does “in her” refer? Without a doubt it can be said that it refers to the church of Christ. It must be noted that some commentators refer this passage not to the period of our earthly life but to the one that is to come after this present age. For the prophet says that the just will find joy and gladness and will enjoy endless delight, that is, spiritual delight, when this creation had been transformed and renewed. For one of the holy apostles said: “The day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up. But according to his promise we wait for new heaven and a new earth.” Choose, therefore, whichever of these interpretations appeals to you, the former or the latter. For one should not reject what brings benefit to us.

Commentary on Isaiah 5:6.65:18

18–19

Second, in particular: for behold I create Jerusalem. And first, as to cheerfulness of heart: Jerusalem, earthly Jerusalem, but more, the heavenly Jerusalem; rejoicing, emphatically, so that all things are absorbed in joy, above: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and mourning shall flee away (Isa 35:10).

Commentary on Isaiah

(Verse 19.) For behold, I am creating Jerusalem as a rejoicing, and her people as a joy; and I will rejoice in Jerusalem and delight in my people. Septuagint: For behold, I am making Jerusalem a rejoicing, and my people a gladness; and I will rejoice over Jerusalem and be glad over my people. You should rejoice and exult with everlasting joy in the creation of new heavens and a new earth, and not remember the former things. Let no remembrance of past sorrows arise in you; for I will not only create new heavens and a new earth, but also Jerusalem in rejoicing, and her people in joy. There is no doubt that the joy which was once exclusive to one nation is now a source of happiness for all nations. The rejoicing and joy over the city and the people of God will be so great that even I, their creator, will rejoice and be glad over Jerusalem and over my people who will eat, drink, and be joyful, and will rejoice in it, and those who are called by a new name.

Commentary on Isaiah

Long age will be given generously to them with nobody who died an untimely death … for he who has reached one hundred years will be just as the one who has died prematurely as a youth. But the sinner will be prone to judgment for his whole life and crosses into the lot of the cursed.

Fragments on Isaiah

(Verse 20) And there shall no longer be heard in her (in him) the voice of weeping, and the voice of crying. There shall no longer be an infant of days, nor an old man who has not filled his days. For the child shall die at a hundred years old, and the sinner at a hundred years old shall be accursed. LXX: And there shall no longer be heard in her the voice of weeping, and the voice of crying. Neither shall there be any more premature and old person who does not fulfill their time. For there shall be a child of a hundred years, and a sinner who dies at a hundred years old shall be cursed. For it will not be fitting that in the city of Jerusalem, the people of God, who will receive the eternal creature of exultation and joy, should any longer hear the voice of weeping and shouting; when pain, sorrow, and groaning have departed. For indeed, opposites cannot be present at the same time. And where there is exultation and joy, which are the fruits of the Holy Spirit, there can be no weeping and lamentation, which are suitable for those who lament and mourn, especially the shouting, which Paul expels from the Church of believers, so that we do not make a clamor resembling that of the Jews (Ephesians 4). In such a city, there will be no diverse ages: infant and old, small and great, who do not fulfill their days; but like children of the resurrection, all will reach perfect adulthood, to the measure of the fullness of Christ's age, so that no one lacks the span of years, nor exceeds it, and one who does not yet have solid strength may cease to be what he was, and with advanced age may wither away; and all will reach the number of one hundred years, such as Abraham was, who received the promise of his son Isaac at this age (Gen. XXI). Of the praises of which number, it is not necessary to mention many, lest the discussion be superfluous. We only say this, that the tens have equal sides and possess the firmness of square shapes. Also, in the promises for the things which we have consumed (rather despised), the Lord promises us a hundredfold, and falling into good soil for sowing, it first has the number of abundant crops, a hundredfold. Finally, Isaac also sowed one seed of faith, and his works were multiplied by this number of his labor. Therefore, at that time, when the age of all will be one, both the holy and the sinner will be perfected by a similar resurrection, and they will not be subject to change in time; but one will be drawn to rewards, another to punishment: and in that the sinner will be cursed, because he will suffer eternal punishment in an incorruptible body. Moreover, what we read in the Book of Revelation by John (Chapter 20), that after the resurrection the presence of the judge will show differences not of age, but of merits, for the small and the great. For whoever is small according to the opinion of Solomon is worthy of mercy: but the powerful endure torments powerfully (Wisdom of Solomon 6:7). The words of the Lord also agree with this sentiment: The servant who knows the will of his master and does not do it will be beaten with many blows (Luke 12:47). But the one who does not know and still does worthy things of punishment will be beaten with few blows. Blessed Apostle Paul, speaking of the Old Testament as Christ spoke to him, asserts that Abraham, the patriarch, is not only the father of circumcision but also of those without circumcision (Romans 4). That is, two peoples were generated from him, and the one who was born according to the flesh, at the age of a hundred because of Christ, who was born from the descendants of Abraham, to whom he extended his hand, will be subject to perpetual curse. The gospels teach this story (Mark 5), in which it is reported that a woman suffering from hemorrhage started when the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue was born, and when the woman was immediately healed, the daughter died. And within the same period of years, a new people persists in their youth, and the old people dies in disbelief, and is cursed. We have said this according to the Septuagint interpreters, whose edition is widely known throughout the world, so that we may not seem to resort to the fortress of the Hebrew language. Whether after the resurrection you understand in the second coming of the Savior, or after baptism in the first resurrection, it does not contradict the faith of the Church. The Hebrews argue that these things will happen before the resurrection in a kingdom of a thousand years on earth, and such long spaces of future life are promised that a hundred years are considered infancy; but a sinner will die in his hundredth year of age, so that he may not enjoy his accumulated wealth, but may know himself to be cursed because of his sin. But if this is so, where will perfect happiness be, which is violated and corrupted by sin, and sin is punished with premature death?

Commentary on Isaiah

It is usual for the prophets thus to mingle metaphorical and literal expressions. Yet, anyone with serious purpose and a little useful and salutary effort can discern the prophet’s spiritual sense; it is only a lazy and worldly person or one who is ignorant or uneducated who will rest content with the literal and superficial sense and refuse to penetrate the deeper meaning.

City of God 20.21

The heaven became new and the earth new for those who once erred and divinized these things. For they recognize the Creator of these things and learn that the things are not gods but the creations of God. They are new for those who see things completely differently. Now that their error has ceased, creation appears clearly as creation and Creator as Creator.

Commentary on Isaiah 20:65.17-18

“The young” means the people from among the Gentiles … and all will be mature, having grown into the measure of the fullness of Christ.

Commentary on Isaiah 65:13-25

“For the child shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.” Some authors understand these words as referring to the time after the return from exile. For a hundred years their prosperity lasted, and then the Macedonian kings rose against them. This is clearly explained in the book of the Maccabees.

Commentary on Isaiah 65:20

Second, as to length of life: there shall no more be an infant of days there, nor an old man that shall not fill up his days, dying before his time, but the child shall die a hundred years old, that is, when he will have reached such an age; and, if he be a sinner, although he will have lived to such an age, he shall be subject to a curse: Abraham died in a good old age (Gen 25:8). Mystically, in the heavenly Jerusalem, all will fill up their days, for none will die; the child shall die a hundred years old, that is, he who lived to old age childishly shall die, in eternal death: for venerable old age is not that of long time, nor counted by the number of years (Wis 4:8).

Commentary on Isaiah

21–22

(Ver. 21. 22.) And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat. LXX likewise. Concerning these houses, the prophetic psalm in the sixty-eighth chapter promises, saying: Because God will save Zion: and the cities of Judah shall be built, and they shall dwell there, and inherit it, and the seed of his servants shall possess it: and those who love his name shall dwell in it. All these things the Jews understand in a carnal manner, so that Jerusalem and the cities of Judaea may be restored to their former state. And if we were to give them this, they would not only hear that Jerusalem is promised, but also Sodom, as Ezekiel says: 'Sodom shall be restored to its former state.' Therefore, the houses in which those who build them will dwell must either be understood as virtues, or as various dwelling places with the Father, which whoever builds them will possess forever. In Exodus, those who are said to have built for themselves and were midwives were called obstetricians, who feared God: although it is written in Hebrew that God built houses for them because they feared Him (Exod. I). And Jacob, because he was simple, or as it is said in Greek ἄπλαστος, that is, not at all artificial; not like those condemned in Peter's Epistle, of whom he says: 'In covetousness they will make merchandise of you with fictitious words' (II Pet. II, 3); therefore they lived in a house that Esau, who delighted in wild beasts and forests, could not possess. Such words describe the house of the Savior in the Gospel: Everyone who comes to me, and hears my words, and does them, will be like a wise man who built his house upon a rock, (Matthew 7:24), and so on. Otherwise, according to the letter, many saints build houses and do not inhabit them, either due to pilgrimage, or the theft of another, or death. Such was Job, who, though rich in flesh and spirit, was brought to such poverty that he sat in the dung heap outside the city gate (Job 2). On the contrary, that rich man in the Gospel was clothed in purple and built a house, and he dwelt in it, of whom it could rightly be said: Fool, this night they will take your soul from you; and the things which you have prepared, whose shall they be (Luke XII, 20)? However, not only does He say that they will build houses and dwell in them, but they will also plant vineyards and they themselves will eat their fruit. According to what is said in Micah: Each one will rest under his own vine and under his own fig tree, and there will be no one to make him afraid (Micah IV, 4). This is the vine that spoke in the Gospel: I am the vine, and you are the branches, and My Father is the vinedresser (John 15:5). Every branch that does not bear fruit will be cut off and thrown into the fire (Matthew 3:10). Its fruits are eaten and drank, and they gladden the heart of man and intoxicates the friends of the bridegroom, and they are drank daily in the kingdom of God. But it rests under a fig tree and fears no one's treachery, who enjoys the sweetness of the Holy Spirit and is satisfied with its fruits: love, joy, peace, faith, continence, and patience. It is said about the planter: Whoever plants a fig tree, will eat its fruits (Amos 9:14). Whoever builds such houses and plants vineyards, about whom the Apostle also speaks: I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase (1 Corinthians 3:6), will eat the labor of his hands (Psalm 127); and sowing in the Spirit, will reap eternal life from the Spirit (John 4), and will not be thwarted by the tricks of the devil and his minions.

Commentary on Isaiah

Third, as to prosperity of goods, both as to security of their possessions: and they shall build: and they shall build houses (Ezek 28:26); they shall plant vineyards (Amos 9:14).

Commentary on Isaiah

If, however, as in the Septuagint, we read “the days of the tree of life,” which makes more sense than the Hebrew text, we should understand that it refers to the tree of life that was located in paradise, from which place Adam was expelled so that he would be unable to extend his hand to the tree and thus live. Paradise was then put under the custody of the cherubim, that is, “abundance of knowledge,” and a flaming sword was established to guard the way to the tree of life, lest sinful Adam, not yet recognizing his sin, eat of the tree and die the ultimate death in a desperate state of impenitence. Solomon offered an especially lucid interpretation of this tree of life when, speaking from the wisdom of God, he said, “The tree of life is for all who approach it and rely on it as upon the sure foundation who is the Lord.” Neither is there any doubt whom the Word of God signifies, who is Life and Wisdom himself, as he said: “I am the Life.” …And does it not seem to you that their works daily grow old who press ahead into the future while forgetting the past? For this reason, both the Old and the New Testaments say that it is not the old that perishes but that on which nothing new succeeds.

Commentary on Isaiah 18:17

“As in the days of the tree of life, so shall be the days of my people.” Now, anyone who has ever opened the Scriptures knows where God planted the “tree of life.” It was from the fruit of this tree that God excluded Adam and Eve.…Of course, it might be argued that those “days of the tree of life” mentioned by Isaiah are the days that are now being spent by Christ’s church, since the “tree of life” is simply a prophetic figure for Christ, for that Wisdom of God that Solomon had in mind when he said that Wisdom is “a tree of life to them that laid hold on it.”

City of God 20.26

For us the saving cross is the tree of life. For it received like fruit the life-giving body by which those who stretch out their hands and pick the fruit will live life eternally.

Commentary on Isaiah 20:65.22

And he assigns the reason: for as the days of a tree, that is, because they will live a long time just as the wood of a tree lasts a long time, the works of their hands shall grow old, that is, they shall remain in their use until old age: he shall be like a tree which is planted near the running waters (Ps 1:3).

Commentary on Isaiah

(Verse 23) For according to the days of a tree, the days of my people will be, and the work of their hands will grow old with my chosen. They will not labor in vain, nor bring forth children in trouble, for they are the offspring of the blessed of the Lord, and their descendants will be with them. LXX: For as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of my people: and the works of their hands shall be multiplied. My chosen ones shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth children for a curse: for they are the seed blessed by the Lord, and their offspring with them. The dwelling and plantation of the righteous will be eternal, so that the days of the life of my people may be compared to the days of the life of the tree, about which it is said in the Psalms: The righteous will flourish like a palm tree (Psalm 92:13), triumphing over their adversaries daily and displaying the emblem of victory. However, if we read it according to the Septuagint, we understand 'the days of the life of the tree,' which conveys more the meaning from the Hebrew rather than the words, and we understand it as the tree of life that was situated in paradise. So that Adam would not extend his hand to live, he was driven out of paradise (Genesis, III). In the custody of which, Cherubim, that is, a multitude of knowledge, and a fiery sword was placed to guard the way of the tree of life, so that Adam, who was in sin and not yet aware of his sins, would not eat from it and die from the death of impenitence, desperation, and pride. Solomon explains more clearly what this tree of life is, who, discussing the wisdom of God, says: The tree of life is for all who approach it, and who rely on it, as a firm foundation on the Lord (Proverbs III, 18); there is no doubt that it signifies the Word of God, who himself is the way and wisdom, and speaks of himself: I am the life (John XI, 25). And as the Prophet sings: You have made everything in wisdom: the earth is full of your creatures (Psalm 104:24); and the Apostle Paul: Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24). The works of the people of God will also not grow old, but will be renewed daily, so that they do not walk in the oldness of the letter, but in the newness of the spirit (Romans 7). Just as through the disobedience of one man, many were made sinners, so through the obedience of one man, many will be made righteous. Certainly, this must be said, that the works of those whose house is founded upon rock endure forever, and those who build upon the foundation of Christ with gold, silver, and precious stones (1 Corinthians 3): and on the contrary, the works of those whose house is founded upon sand perish in a sudden tempest; and those who build upon the foundation of Christ with wood, hay, and straw. Does it not seem to you that their works grow old every day, who, forgetting the past, extend into the future? Both the old and the new are called the Testament: not that the old one perishes, but that the new one does not succeed it. This can also be said in accordance with the Hebrew, that the works of the people and of those who believe in Christ are the fruits of the Apostles, that is, of the elect of God, and are stored in their treasuries. For many are called, but few are chosen (Matthew 20). These people will not labor in vain, as the Jews once labored; but they will eat the labors of their hands. They will not generate in confusion or in curse, and, as is more expressly put in Hebrew, into non-existence, which in their language is called Labala ( Al. Labaala), that is, that they should cease to be and have an end to their substance: for which reason Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion interpreted it as hastening: so that they should not believe without reason, but imitate Nathanael, who was praised by the voice of the Lord, Behold a true Israelite, in whom there is no deceit (John 1:47), who sought Christ by the authority of the Scriptures and desired to know about the prophets, saying, Can anything good come out of Nazareth? And the meaning is: How do you bring the Messiah to me from Galilee and Nazareth, when I know that he was promised to come from Bethlehem in Judah? Therefore, the apostles and apostolic men will generate children in such a way that they instruct them from the Holy Scriptures, so that they do not imitate the curse of the Jews, but rather say with the Prophet: From your fear, Lord, we have conceived in the womb, and have given birth and brought forth (Isaiah 26:18). For it was said of them: Blessed shall be the offspring of your womb (Deuteronomy 28:4). These are the sons of Abraham, who do his works: and in the old history they are called the sons of the Prophets (John VIII): such as in the new Testament the apostles begot (Acts XVI), Paul begot Timothy, Luke, and Titus, and many others; Peter begot Mark the evangelist, and the others, whose blessed seed is, and thus far blessed, and the sons remain of their sons. Concerning whom the Prophet says: Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, he will greatly desire his commandments. His descendants will be mighty on the earth; the generation of the upright will be blessed. (Psalm 112:1-2) And elsewhere: Your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord. (Psalm 128:4-5) On the contrary, it is said of Judas, the traitor, and all who are like him, Let his children be orphans, and his wife a widow. Let his children wander and beg; let them be driven out of their ruined homes. (Psalm 109:9-10) For the end of a wicked generation is the worst. They conceive sorrow and give birth to iniquity. Concerning them it is written: Behold, he travailed with injustice, he has conceived sorrow, and has brought forth iniquity (Psalm 7:15). But if this is said of the wicked, how then did Samuel, a blessed and righteous man, beget wicked sons who did not walk in their father's ways (1 Samuel 8)? And David, from whose seed Christ was born, begot two sons, Amnon and Absalom, one of whom became the murderer of his brother and the other the murderer of his father (2 Samuel 13, 15, and 16)? From all these things we learn that sons and grandsons should be understood according to what we have said. Therefore, Paul also begets sons until Christ is formed in them, and Onesimus is begotten in chains (Gal. IV).

Commentary on Isaiah

When God sees in us some beginnings of a good will, he at once enlightens it and strengthens it and urges it on toward salvation, increasing that which he himself implanted or which he sees to have arisen from our own efforts. In his goodness, not only does he inspire us with holy desires, but actually creates occasions for life and opportunities for good results, and shows to those in error the way of salvation.

Conference 13:8

And as to the peace of their children: nor bring forth in trouble, as though bringing forth children into servitude to their enemies: good things continue with their seed (Sir 44:11).

Commentary on Isaiah

24–25

The earth will freely give its produce, and all evil will be removed, just as Isaiah said … for God has refashioned such a world in his kingdom just as it had been made in the beginning before the first-made human being ruined it, who after he had disobeyed the word of God all things were spoiled and ruined and cursed by God’s word: “the earth will be cursed in your works.” The former shape of this world will become the kingdom of the saints and the liberation of the creatures.

Origen’s Tractates on the Books of Holy Scripture 5:36

24–25

Through all of these events is demonstrated the change of evil beings into good, who will be innocent once their old violence has been laid aside. This does not happen outside the holy mountain of the Lord, but on it, that is, in the church and within the profession of the mountain of him by whom the king of Tyre was wounded. He who was cast down from the mountain without hands “grew into a great mountain and filled the world.” Let us inquire of the Jews about this passage, along with all Christians who still feed on the chaff of the Scriptures, which, once separated from the grain by the Lord’s winnowing fork, will be given over to wind and fire. Let us ask them: what blessedness should be attributed in the thousand-year reign to Mount Zion, Jerusalem, the city of the presiding Messiah? What blessedness to the most holy temple, where the wolf and the lamb, the lion and the cow, serpents and people will eat and dwell together? Are these the only creatures that are to be judged harmless to those who will dwell on the holy mountain of the Lord? Are we to understand from this, therefore, that everything outside of the mountain is to be killed and that all the earth will be denuded of wolves, lions, bears, panthers, serpents, with other animals, and of the immense forest and the desert of Egyptian solitude, which is fertile with poisonous animals? Are we to understand that the holy city is not only for the ultimate happiness of man, but also will be a home for beasts and serpents, such that, according to the prophecy above, “the wolf will dwell with the lamb and the leopard with the goat, and the bull and the lion and the cow and the bear will rest together, and a small child will rule them and an infant recently weaned will put his hand in the den of the asp.”

Commentary on Isaiah 18:17

(Verse 24) And before they call, I will answer; while they are still speaking, I will hear. LXX: And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer them: while they are yet speaking, I will hear. When they cry out, they are immediately heard, and when they speak, the Lord will say, 'Here I am.' All these things we also see fulfilled according to the letter in the Acts of the Apostles. For all the nations could not have believed in such a short time unless their faith had been somehow forced out by the miracles of signs. For while the Apostles and apostolic men were speaking and shouting out, the Lord would respond with the greatness of signs, such as when Dorcas rose up at the prayers of Peter (Acts 9), when the father of Publius on the island of Melita, who was suffering from fevers and dysentery, which are diseases that are contrary to each other, was healed by the prayers of Paul (Acts 28), and when the whole world declared that gods were walking among men (Acts 28).

Commentary on Isaiah

24–25

This is a prediction Isaiah made previously after having announced the growth from the stem of Jesse. Now, we see the fulfillment of this prophecy as rulers and ruled, kings and servants, wise and foolish will share a common table—that is, the teaching of the Spirit. For he calls those who live in moderation lambs, whereas those with high ambitions are wolves. The lion is the one exalted to royal status, cattle are those worthy of the priesthood, and straw is the food of cattle. The lion will no longer be a carnivore but shall share the food of the cattle.

Commentary on Isaiah 20:65.25

24–25

“And the serpent shall eat dust as bread.” This is the food that the righteous Judge has assigned to it from the beginning: “On your breast and belly you shall go, and you shall eat earth all the days of your life.” And so Isaiah calls the common enemy of humanity a serpent. He has subjected him to the ancient curse. This is similarly indicated in the passage that follows: “They shall not injure or destroy on my holy mountains, says the Lord.” All strength had been removed from him, not only from the fact that he crept on the ground but also that the saints had trampled him under foot and the wood of the cross crushed him.

Commentary on Isaiah 20:65.25

Fourth, as to the hearing of their prayers: and it shall come to pass, that before they call, with their mouth, above: at the voice of your cry, as soon as he shall hear, he will answer you (Isa 30:19).

Commentary on Isaiah

The elders who saw John, the disciple of the Lord, related that they had heard from him how the Lord used to teach in regard to these times, and say: The days will come, in which vines shall grow, each having ten thousand branches, and in each branch ten thousand twigs, and in each true twig ten thousand shoots, and in each one of the shoots ten thousand clusters, and on every one of the clusters ten thousand grapes, and every grape when pressed will give five and twenty metretes of wine. And when any one of the saints shall lay hold of a cluster, another shall cry out, "I am a better cluster, take me; bless the Lord through me." In like manner [the Lord declared] that a grain of wheat would produce ten thousand ears, and that every ear should have ten thousand grains, and every grain would yield ten pounds (quinque bilibres) of clear, pure, fine flour; and that all other fruit-bearing trees, and seeds and grass, would produce in similar proportions (secundum congruentiam iis consequentem); and that all animals feeding [only] on the productions of the earth, should [in those days] become peaceful and harmonious among each other, and be in perfect subjection to man... Now these things are credible to believers... When the traitor Judas did not give credit to them, and put the question, 'How then can things about to bring forth so abundantly be wrought by the Lord.' the Lord declared, 'They who shall come to these [times] shall see.'

Against Heresies (Book 5, Chapter 33), Section 4

The predicted blessing, therefore, belongs unquestionably to the times of the kingdom, when the righteous shall bear rule upon their rising from the dead; when also the creation, having been renovated and set free, shall fructify with an abundance of all kinds of food, from the dew of heaven, and from the fertility of the earth: as the elders who saw John, the disciple of the Lord, related that they had heard from him how the Lord used to teach in regard to these times, and say: The days will come, in which vines shall grow, each having ten thousand branches, and in each branch ten thousand twigs, and in each true twig ten thousand shoots, and in each one of the shoots ten thousand clusters, and on every one of the clusters ten thousand grapes, and every grape when pressed will give five and twenty metretes of wine. And when any one of the saints shall lay hold of a cluster, another shall cry out, "I am a better cluster, take me; bless the Lord through me." In like manner [the Lord declared] that a grain of wheat would produce ten thousand ears, and that every ear should have ten thousand grains, and every grain would yield ten pounds (quinque bilibres) of clear, pure, fine flour; and that all other fruit-bearing trees, and seeds and grass, would produce in similar proportions (secundum congruentiam iis consequentem); and that all animals feeding [only] on the productions of the earth, should [in those days] become peaceful and harmonious among each other, and be in perfect subjection to man.

And these things are borne witness to in writing by Papias, the hearer of John, and a companion of Polycarp, in his fourth book; for there were five books compiled (συντεταγμένα) by him. And he says in addition, "Now these things are credible to believers." And he says that, "when the traitor Judas did not give credit to them, and put the question, 'How then can things about to bring forth so abundantly be wrought by the Lord.' the Lord declared, 'They who shall come to these [times] shall see.' " When prophesying of these times, therefore, Esaias says: "The wolf also shall feed with the lamb, and the leopard shall take his rest with the kid; the calf also, and the bull, and the lion shall eat together; and a little boy shall lead them. The ox and the bear shall feed together, and their young ones shall agree together; and the lion shall eat straw as well as the ox. And the infant boy shall thrust his hand into the asp's den, into the nest also of the adder's brood; and they shall do no harm, nor have power to hurt anything in my holy mountain." And again he says, in recapitulation, "Wolves and lambs shall then browse together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and the serpent earth as if it were bread; and they shall neither hurt nor annoy anything in my holy mountain, says the Lord." [Isaiah 40:6, etc.] I am quite aware that some persons endeavour to refer these words to the case of savage men, both of different nations and various habits, who come to believe, and when they have believed, act in harmony with the righteous. But although this is [true] now with regard to some men coming from various nations to the harmony of the faith, nevertheless in the resurrection of the just [the words shall also apply] to those animals mentioned. For God is rich in all things. And it is right that when the creation is restored, all the animals should obey and be in subjection to man, and revert to the food originally given by God (for they had been originally subjected in obedience to Adam), that is, the productions of the earth. But some other occasion, and not the present, is [to be sought] for showing that the lion shall [then] feed on straw. And this indicates the large size and rich quality of the fruits. For if that animal, the lion, feeds upon straw [at that period], of what a quality must the wheat itself be whose straw shall serve as suitable food for lions?

Against Heresies (Book 5, Chapter 33), Sections 3-4

(Verse 25) The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, and dust will be the serpent's food. They shall do no harm, neither shall they kill in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord. LXX: The wolf and the lamb shall feed together: the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and the serpent shall eat dust like bread. They will not harm or destroy on my holy mountain, says the Lord. At that time, the wolf and the lamb were grazing together, the persecutor Paul and the disciple Ananias (Acts 9). That wolf, of which it is written: Benjamin, a ravenous wolf, in the morning he will eat prey, and in the evening he will divide the spoils (Gen. XLIX, 27); or as it is said in Hebrew, he will divide the spoils. Whose teaching was the food of believers, and who triumphed over vanquished adversaries in the whole world. But all who believe are lambs, who follow the Lamb wherever he goes (Apoc. XIV), whom the Lord handed over to Peter to feed, saying: Feed my lambs (John XXI, 16). The lion also, like an ox, will eat straw, when the most eloquent men, once powerful in the world, submit themselves to rusticity, so that they may not feed on worldly eloquence, which trickles like honey from the lips of a harlot, but rather follow lowliness and straw in history until they earn the wheat of understanding with much labor and industry. Concerning these straw and wheat, Jeremiah speaks: 'What has straw to do with wheat?' says the Lord (Jeremiah 13:28). And it must be considered that it is not the ox that turns into madness, but the lion that is transformed into gentleness. The serpent that observed the heel of the man, and whose head was observed by the man, will by no means be nourished by the destruction of others, but will eat the earth, or rather dust, as bread (Genesis 3). Or certainly it must be understood that the devil, who previously fed on the deaths of men, will only devour those who are dust and earth: through which everything demonstrates the transformation of evils into good, those who are innocent will be, with the ancient ferocity abandoned: not outside, but on the holy mountain of the Lord, that is, in the Church, and in the confession of that mountain, from which the prince of Tyre was wounded, and having been cut from the mountain without hands, grew into a great mountain, and filled the world (Daniel 2). Let us ask in this place the Jews, and all those who still eat the chaff of the Scriptures under the name of Christian, which will be separated from the wheat in the Lord's winnowing fan and will be delivered to the wind and the flames, how the beatitude is to be estimated, namely in the thousand-year kingdom, on Mount Zion, the city of present Christ's Jerusalem; and in the most august Temple, will wolves and lambs, lions and oxen, serpents and humans eat together and live together in harmony? And will these (i.e. the holy ones) alone be harmless, who have dwelt on the holy mountain of the Lord? From which we understand that all who are outside the mountain are to be killed. Therefore, the entire world will be laid bare for wolves, lions, bears, leopards, and serpents, and all other beasts; and the vast forests, and the Egyptian wilderness, which is fertile with venomous animals, and the city of the holy ones will be a dwelling not only for humans, but also for beasts and serpents, as according to the earlier prophecy, the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard with the goat, the calf and the lion, and the sheep shall all die together. And a little child shall lead them, and an infant shall put his hand into the hole of the asp, and shall destroy the brood of the reptile in its lair. (Isaiah 11) And the cause of such great happiness is because the whole earth is filled with the knowledge of the Lord.

Commentary on Isaiah

Fifth, as to the tranquility of peace: the wolf and the lamb, for those who formerly were tyrants and evildoers will abide peacefully with others, above (Isa 11:6) has the same.

Commentary on Isaiah