Bede

In his own words on Isaiah

• Isaiah 1:3

  By the ox he designates the people of the Jews, who were accustomed to carry the yoke of the law and to ruminate upon its words; by the donkey he represents the people of the nations, who remained always unclean with the stains of idolatry. From both peoples a great many turned to the grace of the gospel and recognized the owner by whom they were created. [They] were seeking by means of his heavenly nourishing fare to grow toward perpetual salvation.

  Homilies on the Gospels 1:6

• Isaiah 1:16

  Now they ask wrongly who persevere in sins and ill-advisedly entreat the Lord to forgive them the sins they do not at all forgive [others]. He condemns such as these through [the mouth of] Isaiah.… Still, having regard for such as these, Isaiah shows in what way they can obtain what they plead for when he goes on.

  Homilies on the Gospels 2:14

• Isaiah 2:3

  It was opportune that the preaching of repentance and the forgiveness of sins through confession of Christ's name should have started from Jerusalem. Where the splendor of his teaching and virtues, where the triumph of his passion, where the joy of his resurrection and ascension were accomplished, there the first root of faith in him would be brought forth; [there] the first shoot of the burgeoning church, like that of some kind of great vine, would be planted. Just so, by an increase in the spreading of the word, [the church] would extend the branches of her teaching into the whole wide world.… It was opportune that the preaching of repentance and the forgiveness of sins, good news to be proclaimed to idolatrous nations and those defiled by various evil deeds, should take its start from Jerusalem, lest any of those defiled, thoroughly terrified by the magnitude of their offenses, should doubt the possibility of obtaining pardon if they performed fruits worthy of repentance, when it was a fact that pardon had been granted to those at Jerusalem who had blasphemed and crucified the Son of God.

  Homilies on the Gospels 2:15

• Isaiah 4:2

  The Lord indeed gave of his generosity in that he arranged to liberate the human race from the crime of its transgression through his only-begotten Son. He gave of his generosity because with the grace of the Holy Spirit he consecrated for his entry the temple of a virginal womb. And our earth gave its fruit because the same virgin who had her body from the earth bore a son who was coequal to God the Father in his divinity but by the reality of [his] flesh consubstantial with her. Concerning this, Isaiah also, looking toward the time of human redemption, said, "On that day the branch of the Lord will be in magnificence and in glory, and the fruit of the earth will be sublime." The branch of the Lord was in magnificence and glory when the undying Son of God, appearing temporally in the flesh as a bright light, poured out upon the world the greatness of his heavenly virtues. The fruit of the earth became sublime when the mortal flesh that God received from our nature, already rendered immortal in virtue of the resurrection, was raised up to heaven.

  Homilies on the Gospels 1:4

• Isaiah 5:18

  Our Lord shows what reward awaits hypocritical workers when he made a scourge of cords and drove them all out of the temple. They are cast out as sharers of the inheritance of the saints if, after they are chosen to be among the saints, they either perform good acts deceitfully or evil acts openly. He also drives out the sheep and oxen when he shows the life and teaching of such persons deserve condemnation. The cords with which he expelled the wicked persons from the temple by scourging them are the progressive development of [their] evil actions, which provide material to the strict Judge for condemning those who are to be rejected.… The person who heaps sins upon sins, for which he will be condemned more severely, is like one lengthening the cords with which he can be bound and scourged, adding to them little by little.

  Homilies on the Gospels 2:1

• Isaiah 7:14

  The Savior's name, because of which he is called "God with us" by the prophet, signifies both natures of his one person. For he who, born before time from the Father, is God himself in the fullness of time, became Emmanuel (that is, "God with us") in his mother's womb, because he deigned to take the weakness of our nature into the unity of his person when "the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." In a wonderful manner he began to be what we are, while not ceasing to be what he had been, assuming our nature in such a way that he himself would not lose what he had been.

  Homilies on the Gospels 1:5

• Isaiah 9:6

  Surely the entire divinely arranged plan of our Redeemer's [coming] in the flesh is the reconciliation of the world—it was for this purpose that he became incarnate, for this he suffered, for this he was raised from the dead—that he might lead us, who had incurred God's anger by sinning, back to God's peace by his act of reconciliation. Hence he was rightly given the name "Father of the world to come" and "Prince of peace" by the prophet; and the apostle, writing about him to those from among the nations who had believed, said, "And coming, he brought the good news of peace to you who were from far off and peace to those who were near, since through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father."

  Homilies on the Gospels 2:9

• Isaiah 9:6

  "Which will be to all people," not to all the people of the Jews, nor to all the people of the nations, but to all the people who, either from the Jews or from the nations of the whole world, are brought together in one flock to one confession of Christ. From one and the same partaking of the mysteries of Christ they are called "Christian." …The light of life rose for those of us dwelling in the region of the shadow of death.

  Homilies on the Gospels 1:6

• Isaiah 9:6

  Clothed in flesh, [Christ] descended into the water as "an angel of great counsel," that is, as a herald of the Father's will to Jewish people. By his deeds and his teaching he moved sinners, so that he would be killed—he who, by his bodily death, was able not only to heal those who were ailing spiritually but also to bring the dead back to life. The movement of the water, then, suggests the Lord's passion, which occurred by the Jewish nation being moved and stirred up.

  Homilies on the Gospels 1:23

• Isaiah 9:7

  In this verse, Solomon signifies the everlasting light by "length of days," the survival of death by "years of life" and the state of happiness to be discovered by "growth in peace." Isaiah refers to the same reality when he says, "His government will be increased, and there will be no end to peace." For when the people of God are obedient to God's law, both historically and at the present time, they are enabled to live for a long time in the repose of peace.

  Commentary on Proverbs 1:3

• Isaiah 9:7

  When Israel had been saved through the apostles, all the world flocked to the threshold of truth and of the peacemaker Solomon, of whom it was said, "His dominion will be increased and there will be no end of peace." For he [Christ] is "the stone broken off from the mountain," and in his earthly reign of faith, as he falls upon his enemy, he alone possesses a peaceful dominion throughout the earth.

  Commentary on Acts 3

• Isaiah 9:7

  And, indeed, just as in his divinity the Mediator between God and human beings foresaw the mother of whom he willed to be born when he should so will, so also in his humanity he chose the time that he wished for his nativity. Moreover, he himself granted that that [time] should be such as he willed, namely, that in a calm among the storm of wars a singular tranquility of unusual peace should cover the whole world.… He chose a time of utmost peace as the time when he would be born because this was the reason for his being born in the world, that he might lead the human race back to the gifts of heavenly peace.… Our Lord was born in a time of peace, so that even by the circumstance of the time he might teach that he was the very one of whom the prophecy sent before [him] spoke: "His sovereignty will be multiplied, and there will be no end of peace." … The very author of peace and the Maker of time sent before him a time of peace, and thus when he appeared in the flesh he opened an approach to light and proclaimed the joys of eternal peace first to the house of Jacob (that is, the Israelite people), and then to all the nations which came streaming to him. And we must not pass over the fact that the serenity of that earthly peace, at the time when the heavenly king was born, not only offered testimony to his grace but also provided a service, since it bestowed on the preachers of his word the capability of traveling over the world and spreading abroad the grace of the gospel wherever they wished.

  Homilies on the Gospels 1:6

• Isaiah 9:7

  All these things, as the apostle teaches, "were done as an example for us" and were written down for us, and so we must scrutinize them carefully for their spiritual meaning. King Solomon, whose name means "peaceful," typologically designates our Redeemer himself, of whom Isaiah says, "His sovereignty will be increased, and there will be no end of peace." The temple that he built is his catholic church, which he gathers into the one structure of his faith and charity from all the believers throughout the world, as it were from living stones.

  Homilies on the Gospels 2:24

• Isaiah 9:7

  This voice of repentance is that of the Jewish people and of all who found in Christ access to the salvation for which they were searching. I now know with certainty that you are the one concerning whom it was said "his government will be increased and there will be no end to peace" and that you govern the kingdom in which the pure of heart will see God with unceasing happiness. I beg you, therefore, to strengthen and increase the faith that you imparted to me through the bestowal of your sacraments and heavenly gifts. Thus, having received the pledge of the Spirit, may I remain confident that you will forevermore preserve from destruction the generation of works which were begotten by my heart after the washing of my body and that you will never remove my name from the heavenly home which you deigned to grant to my fathers who, through the law, faithfully and devoutly awaited your coming.

  Commentary on Samuel 4:24

• Isaiah 9:7

  What does the spiritual house or temple that King Solomon made for the Lord in Jerusalem signify? Solomon himself, whose name means "peaceful," is a fitting symbol of the one about whom the prophet sang, "His government will be increased, and there will be no end to peace." [This is] the same one concerning whom the apostle also wrote to the church of the Gentiles, "and he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, for through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father."That it took Solomon seven years to build the temple, which he completed and dedicated in the eighth year, was a sign that for seven years, or the entire span of the present age, the Lord would build the church as a heavenly dwelling for the gathered faithful. In the future life, however, when he appears in the glory of the resurrection, he will complete and perfect the church and raise it forevermore to the joy of life immortal in the vision of his beauty. Our resurrection, then, is rightly signified by the number eight, since the just will be raised from the dead on the eighth day, that is, after the seventh of the sabbath.

  Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah 1:14-30

• Isaiah 9:7

  Solomon gave the name "parables" or "metaphors" to this book [Proverbs] because he wanted us to understand it profoundly, not just according to the literal sense. He prefigures the Lord in this respect, who would speak to the crowds through parables. For just as Solomon's own name and peaceful reign foretold the enduring kingdom of Christ and of the church, concerning which it is written "his government will be increased, and there will be no end to peace upon the throne of David and his kingdom," so also did his construction and dedication of the temple artfully refer to the building of holy church, which will be dedicated for all eternity at the resurrection. The testimony of the crowds of people who greeted Christ with palm branches and praises at his entry into Jerusalem also declares him to be the son of David and the spiritual king of Israel.

  Commentary on Proverbs 1:1

• Isaiah 9:7

  Isaiah said, "His government will be increased, and there will be no end to peace upon the throne of David and his kingdom, to confirm and strengthen it in right judgment and justice."He did not say "to acquire the glory of worldly riches" or "to have victory over many peoples and cities" or "to conquer the powerful," but "to confirm it in right judgment and justice." For it is through this that the church is strengthened and the kingdom of Christ is extended both within each of the faithful and throughout the entire world.

  On the Gospel of Luke 1:1.33

• Isaiah 11:1

  The seven lamps are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, all of which remain in our Lord and Redeemer forever and are distributed in his members (that is, in all the elect) according to his will. Therefore the seven lamps are set upon the lampstand because upon our Redeemer, the firstborn "from the root of Jesse," rested "the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of fortitude, the Spirit of knowledge and of godliness," and he was filled "with the Spirit of the fear of the Lord." As he himself also says through the same prophet, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord has anointed me."

  On the Tabernacle 1:9

• Isaiah 11:1

  The prophet Isaiah testified that it was necessary that our Redeemer be conceived in Nazareth when he said, "There will come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a nazareus will go up from his root." Nazareus can be translated either as "flower" or as "pure." The Son of God who was made flesh for us can rightly be called by these names because he assumed a human nature which was pure of every vice and because he is the font and source of spiritual fruit for all who believe in him, to whom he also both showed an example and granted the gift of righteous and blessed living.

  Homilies on the Gospels 1:6

• Isaiah 11:1

  Now [Mary] saw that she herself, who had arisen from the stock of Jesse, had conceived God's Son of the Holy Spirit.

  Homilies on the Gospels 1:7

• Isaiah 11:1

  For it is history when something is reported as having been done or said in plain discourse according to the letter; for example, the people of Israel, after they had been delivered from Egypt, are said to have made a tabernacle for the Lord in the wilderness. It is allegory when the presence of Christ and the sacraments of the church are designated by mystical words or things; by words, certainly, as when Isaiah says, "A shoot [virga] shall come forth from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up from his root," which is to say openly, "The Virgin Mary will be born from the stock of David, and Christ will proceed from his lineage"; and by things, as when the people delivered from Egyptian slavery through the blood of the lamb signifies the church freed from the devil's domination by the passion of Christ.

  On the Tabernacle 1:6

• Isaiah 11:1

  The prophet Isaiah bears witness that our Redeemer had to be conceived in Nazareth when he says, "A nazareus will ascend from his root." The term nazareus has the meaning of "flower" or "clean." The Son of God made incarnate for us can properly be named by this term, both because he adopted the nature of a human being clean from all vices and because in him the font and origin of spiritual fruits came forth for all believers, since to them he both pointed out examples and granted the fruits of living properly and blessedly.

  Homilies on the Gospels 1:6

• Isaiah 11:2-3

  The seven lamps are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, all of which remain in our Lord and Redeemer forever and are distributed in his members (that is, in all the elect) according to his will.

  On the Tabernacle 1:9

• Isaiah 11:2-3

  Only of the mediator between God and humanity, the man Jesus Christ, can it be said truthfully, "And the Spirit of the Lord will rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and piety, and the Spirit of the fear of the Lord will fill him." Each of the saints, on the other hand, receives not the fullness of his Spirit but receives from his fullness only as the Spirit grants it, for "to one is given through the Spirit a word of wisdom, and to another a word of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith in the same Spirit, to another the grace of healing in the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another different kinds of languages, to another the interpretation of words. One and the same Spirit operates all of these gifts, dividing to each person as he wills."

  Homilies on the Gospels 1:2

• Isaiah 11:2-3

  In truth, not all the saints receive the fullness of his Spirit, but they receive from his fullness, insofar as he grants it.

  Homilies on the Gospels 1:2

• Isaiah 11:4

  Hence, when Isaiah said "he will judge the poor with justice," he was without doubt speaking of those very persons to whom it was said, "Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God."

  Commentary on Samuel 1:7.6

• Isaiah 19:1

  The blessed Virgin, being purely human, was unable to receive bodily all the plenitude of divinity. But the power of the Most High overshadowed her, that is, her body received the incorporeal light of divinity. The prophet comments on this beautifully: "Behold, the Lord will ascend upon on a light cloud and will come to Egypt," which is to say, Behold, the coeternal Word of God the Father, the light from light who was born before the ages, will receive at the end of the age a flesh and soul not burdened with any sin, and he will enter the world from a virginal womb, like a bridegroom from his chamber. Therefore, what will be born will be called holy, the Son of God. In distinction from our holiness, Jesus alone is said to be born holy.

  On the Gospel of Luke 1:1.35

• Isaiah 19:1

  Such brief downpours are rightly compared with the shallow, inflated boasting of secular teaching which often seems to pour forth an endless, deep river of eloquence and broad learning but soon dries up entirely, as though it had never existed at all, where the sun of justice and the summer of evangelical radiance shine. The Lord himself laments this state of affairs through the prophet: "They abandoned me, the fountain of living water, and dug for themselves broken cisterns which cannot hold water." Isaiah also says, "Behold, the Lord will ascend upon a light cloud and will come to Egypt," and again, "The water of the sea will dry up and the river will be desolate and arid." "A well of living waters," he said, "which flows from Lebanon," that is, from the church, whose life is both clear and deep. For Lebanon, which means "clarity," fills its camps with saving streams of wisdom for its subjects, as though they were an audience, like the Lord promises in the Gospel: "Whoever believes in me, as Scripture teaches, 'rivers of living water will flow from his heart.' " Explaining this, the Gospel adds, "He said this about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him would receive."

  Commentary on the Song of Songs 3:4.15

• Isaiah 19:1

  The psalmist spoke of this solemnity [when he said], "God has ascended with a shout of jubilation, and the Lord with the sound of the trumpet." He ascended with a shout of jubilation, since he sought heaven as the disciples rejoiced in the glory of his being lifted up. He ascended with the sound of the trumpet, since he went up to the throne of his heavenly kingdom as the angels heralded his return to judge the living and the dead.How God, who is present always and everywhere and does not change from place to place, ascended, the same [inspired writer] declares elsewhere, saying, "He who makes a cloud his stairway and walks upon the wings of the winds." He calls the substance of human weakness with which "the sun of righteousness" clothed himself, that [the sight of him] might be borne by human beings, a cloud. Hence Isaiah says, "Behold, the Lord will ascend upon a swift cloud and will enter Egypt, and the idols of Egypt will be shaken before his face." The Lord ascended upon a swift cloud so that when he entered Egypt he might overturn its idols when "the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." He took upon himself a body immune from all stains of iniquity and entered the world in it, so that he might destroy the cult of idolatry and make clear the true light of divinity to the shadowy and dark hearts of the Gentiles. He who is not enclosed in a place willed to go from place to place by means of this cloud, his human nature; in it he who always remains invisible in his divinity willed to suffer mockery, scourging and death; by means of it he who fills the heavens in the power of his divinity ascended into heaven, crowned with the power of his resurrection.

  Homilies on the Gospels 2:15

• Isaiah 19:1

  But if the entire world is divided against itself with respect to faith in Christ, each home contains both infidels and believers. A good war is waged, therefore, to disrupt an evil peace. Isaiah also announced prophetically under the figure of Egypt: "Behold, the Lord will ascend upon a light cloud and will come to Egypt, and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence and the hearts of the Egyptians will melt within them, and I will cause Egyptians to attack Egyptians." Clearly this refers to a struggle between proponents of the faith and its enemies.

  On the Gospel of Luke 4:12.51

• Isaiah 19:18

  The servant is "faithful in very little" who does not defile the word of God but speaks as though he were speaking from God and with God in Christ. For whatever gifts we receive at present are very little and very poor in comparison with those of the future, since "now we know only partially and prophesy only partially, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away." The ten cities are souls coming to the grace of the gospel through the word of the law. And because he must be glorified, the one who will invest the money of the word worthily for God is placed over them. Hence one successful investor addressed the cities over whom he presided, that is, the souls whose governance he had accepted, asking, "What is our hope or joy or crown of glory? Is it not you before the Lord Jesus?"20"And another came, saying, 'Lord, your mina has made five minas.' " This servant is representative of those who were sent to evangelize the uncircumcised. The Lord had given him one mina for preaching, which means one and the same faith which is also believed by the circumcised. He made five minas because people who had previously been enslaved to their bodily senses he converted to the grace of evangelical faith. "And he said to him, 'You will be over five cities,' " that is, you will shine greatly and on high with the faith and conversion of those souls whom you imbued. Isaiah also spoke mystically about this: "In that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt who speak the language of Canaan." The five cities in the land of Egypt are the five senses of the body we use in this world, namely, vision, hearing, taste, smell and touch. He who looks at a woman with concupiscence, he who shuts his ears not to hear the poor, he who gets drunk with wine, which is dissipation, he who delights in crowning himself with fresh roses, whose hands are covered with blood and whose right hand is filled with bribes, represents the five cities that speak the language of Egypt, that is, that perform the works of darkness with all of their senses, for Egypt sings of the darkness. But he who blocks his ears not to hear of blood and closes his eyes not to see evil, he who tastes and sees how sweet is the Lord, who castigates his body and makes it his slave, who is able to say with the apostle "we are the fragrance of Christ to God," represents the cities of those who speak the altered language of Canaan. And the one who delivered them from darkness by his teaching is rightly rewarded with the leadership of five cities because he is being honored not only for his own progress but also for that of those whom he called to the light.

  On the Gospel of Luke 5:19.17-19

• Isaiah 24:23

  The stars on the day of judgment will be seen obscurely, not because of a gradual waning of their own light but due to the overwhelming brilliance of the true light, who is the supreme Judge coming in majesty, and the light of the Father and the holy angels. Nevertheless, nothing should prevent us from understanding that the sun, the moon and other stars will be deprived temporarily of their own light, as happened to the sun at the Lord's passion. But because the moon, which should have been full at that time, lay hidden behind the earth, Joel's prophesy remains unfulfilled still today, for after he had said "the sun will be turned to darkness," he added, "and the moon to blood before the great and magnificent day of the Lord comes." Isaiah also spoke about the day of judgment, saying, "The moon will be ashamed and the sun confounded when the Lord of hosts reigns on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem and is glorified in the presence of Jerusalem's elders."

  On the Gospel of Mark 4:13.24

• Isaiah 26:12

  "A man's steps are directed by the Lord." Whoever walks a straight path composed of human steps does so not by the freedom of human judgment but by the governance of him to whom Isaiah said, "All of our works were accomplished by you." "What man can understand his way?" In this it becomes clear that whatever goodness anyone possesses from himself he does not have except through the grace of God, because no one is able to understand through the freedom of his own judgment either what kind of future he will have or the quality and duration of conquests to come.

  Commentary on Proverbs 2:20

• Isaiah 26:18

  "When a woman gives birth, she is sorrowful because her hour has come." He refers to holy church as a woman on account of her fruitfulness in good works and because she never ceases to beget spiritual children for God. He says also in another place about this, "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour until the whole [mass] was leavened." A woman took some yeast when the church, by the Lord's generosity, secured the energy of love and faith from on high. She hid this "in three measures of flour until the whole [mass] was leavened" when she performed her ministry of imparting the word of life to parts of Asia [Minor], Europe and Africa, until all the bounds of the world were on fire with love for the heavenly kingdom. The one who said sadly to those who were departing from the purity of the faith, "My little children, for whom I am again in travail, until Christ be formed in you," was indicating that he was among this woman's members. They testified that they were among her members who were enkindled with heavenly desires, who cried out in praise of their Maker, "It is out of fear of you, Lord, that we have conceived and been in travail and given birth to the Spirit."

  Homilies on the Gospels 2:13

• Isaiah 29:17

  Note that [Paul] taught Greeks in Jerusalem, and Jews in Damascus which is a Gentile city, even though this should signify that Gentiles were to be included in the city of God and Jews were to fall into the faithlessness of the Gentiles, in accordance with what Isaiah said, "Lebanon shall be changed into Carmel, and Carmel shall be regarded as a wasteland."

  Commentary on Acts 9

• Isaiah 29:18

  Neither was heaven created in any six-day period and the stars illuminated and the dry land separated from the water and the trees and vegetation planted. Rather, Scripture customarily uses "day" to denote an unspecified period of time, as the apostle did when he said, "Behold, this is the day of salvation." He was not referring to a particular day but to the entirety of the time of the present life in which we labor for eternal salvation. The prophet also spoke not of one specific day but of numerous moments of divine grace, saying, "In that day, the deaf will hear the words of this book." Moreover, it is difficult to understand how in one day God made heaven and earth and all the brush of the field and every plant of every region, unless we say that all creatures were created simultaneously in formless matter, according to which it is written: "He who lives forever created all things together."

  Commentary on Genesis 1:2.4-5

• Isaiah 30:26

  Moreover, when the day of judgment has been completed and the glory of the future life has become evident with the new heaven and the new earth, then will come to pass what the same prophet announced elsewhere: "The light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be increased sevenfold, like the light of seven days."

  On the Gospel of Mark 4:13.24

• Isaiah 30:26

  But when there will be a new heaven and a new earth after the judgment—which is not one heaven and earth replacing another but these very same ones which will shine forth, having been renewed by fire and glorified by the power of the resurrection—then, as Isaiah predicts, "The light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days."

  THE RECKONING OF TIME 6:70

• Isaiah 30:26

  Why should the lunar reckoning be calculated from the noontide hours, seeing that the moon had not yet been placed in the heavens or gone forth over the earth? On the contrary, none of the feast days of the law began and ended at noon or in the afternoon, but all did so in the evening. Or else perchance it is because sinful Adam was reproached by the Lord "in the cool of the afternoon" and thrust out from the joys of Paradise. In remembrance of that heavenly life which we changed for the tribulation of this world, the change of the moon, which imitates our toil by its everlasting waxing and waning, ought specifically to be observed at the hour in which we began our exile. In this way every day we may be reminded by the hour of the moon's changing of that verse, "a fool changes as the moon" while the wise man "shall live as long as the sun," and that we may sigh more ardently for that life, supremely blessed in eternal peace, when "the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days." Indeed, because (as it is written) "from the moon is the sign of the feast day," and just as the first light of the moon was shed upon the world at eventide, so in the law it is compulsory that every feast day begin in the evening and end in the evening.

  THE RECKONING OF TIME 3:43

• Isaiah 31:9

  If the breads of the furnace that were baked in secret signify the interior devotion of the mind of the faithful confirmed by the fire of charity, breads which were also commanded by the law to be offered in the sacrifice of the Lord, it is most fitting that the hearts which were made to burn constantly with the flame of intimate love and virtue and to beget words are symbolized through the furnaces in which the same breads were baked. The prophet spoke beautifully about these things when he referred to "the Lord whose fire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem." It is also written: "Did our hearts not burn within us when he spoke along the way and opened the Scriptures to us?"

  Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah 3

• Isaiah 33:6

  But "true wealth" signifies either the joy of eternal life itself, concerning which it is written, "the riches of his inheritance in the saints," or those spiritual virtues with which the fullness of life is attained, about which Isaiah said, "the riches of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; the fear of the Lord himself is its treasure.""And if you are unfaithful with goods that are not yours, who will give you something of your own?" The resources of this world are alien to us, that is, external to the nature of our habitat, "for we brought nothing into this world and we are without doubt unable to take anything from it." Our possession is the kingdom of heaven, our life is Christ, and our wealth consists in the fruitfulness of spiritual works, about which Solomon said, "The redemption of a man's soul is his wealth."

  On the Gospel of Luke 5:16.11-12

• Isaiah 33:7

  But if you want to see that the ancient prophets were terribly sad and aggrieved about the future blinding of their nation, which was the cause of our illumination, listen to Isaiah, for when he was sent to announce beforehand the grace of the Lord's coming, saying that "a light has arisen upon those who dwell in the region of the shadow of death," he responded immediately to the advent of the same light, saying "you have enlarged the nation; you have not increased its joy." And elsewhere, while commemorating the despondency of this people, Isaiah said, among other things, "the messengers of peace will weep bitterly, referring to the prophetic heralds of the divine word."

  Commentary on Samuel 3:16.1

• Isaiah 33:17

  Through the sacraments of his humanity with which we have been imbued, we may be able to attain the contemplation of the glory of his divinity, that contemplation which he himself in his faithful benevolence pledged to his faithful servants when he said, "One who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. One who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him." He says, "I will manifest myself"—that is, "Not in such a way that everyone can look at me, or in such a way that even the unfaithful can see me and crucify me, but in such a way that only the pure eyes of the saints can see 'the King of ages in his beauty.' " In this way I will show myself to those who love me, so as to reward them for their love. Therefore let us hope, as we have said, that through the visible nature of his humanity we may be able to ascend to see the beauty of his divinity, if we keep these sacraments as we have received them, unblemished in the worthy honor of justice and holiness and truth, if we follow his example in his human way of life, and if we humbly follow the words of the teaching which he ministered to us through his humanity.

  Homilies on the Gospels 1:19

• Isaiah 33:17

  The disciples indeed saw him coming in his kingdom, for on the mountain they saw him shining in that brightness with which he will be seen in his kingdom by all the saints when the judgment has been brought to completion. But since the eyes of the disciples were still mortal and corruptible, they were then unable to sustain what the whole church of the saints will have the power to look upon when she has become incorruptible through resurrection. Concerning this it is written, "Their eye will see the king in his beauty."

  Homilies on the Gospels 1:24

• Isaiah 35:1

  After John was killed, the Lord saw the time drawing near and withdrew to a deserted place called Bethsaida. This teaches mystically that a deserted Judah, which had beheaded its prophets by not believing them, would later become fruitful in the desert of a church that possessed no man of the Word. Hence, the beautiful Bethsaida means "house of fruitfulness." For it was about it that Isaiah said, "The desert and the dry land will rejoice, and the wilderness will exult and bloom like the lily," and again, "they will see the glory of the Lord and the beauty of our God."

  On the Gospel of Luke 3:9.10

• Isaiah 35:2

  Because a multitude of Gentiles followed it after Judah came to faith in the Lord's incarnation and an astonished partaker of the same grace hastened its own unexpected conversion, Judah exclaimed in surprise, "Who is this that ascends from the desert, flowing with delights, leaning upon my beloved?" The church of the Gentiles ascends from the desert because the one who was deserted by its Creator for a very long time now arrives at his grace by the incremental steps of faith and good works, thus fulfilling what the prophet Isaiah said: "The desert and the dry land will rejoice, and the wilderness will exult and bloom like the lily." Indeed, she is truly flowing with those delights about which the spouse spoke above: "How beautiful you are, and how lovely, my dear, with delights," that is, with the delights of heavenly life. "Leaning upon my beloved" means leaning upon him without whose assistance she would be able neither to ascend above nor to rise again, for we are unable to possess either advancement in the virtues or the beginning of faith itself unless the Lord bestows them upon us.Therefore, Judah was even more awestruck by this grace of the Gentiles' new conversion, a grace that it believed pertained only to itself and to those who were received in its rite through the mystery of circumcision, as the Acts of the Apostles made abundantly clear.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs 5:8.4-5

• Isaiah 40:6

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

  Homilies on the Gospels 2:2

• Isaiah 49:18

  If anyone asks what the Lord's garments, which became white as snow, represent typologically, we can properly understand them as pointing to the church of his saints. Of them Isaiah said, "You will be clothed with all of these as though with an ornament."

  Homilies on the Gospels 1:24

• Isaiah 61:11

  Therefore, those who had been scattered returned, preaching the word of God. Instead of "the dispersed," the Greek text has "disseminated," that is, scattered like seed, for they were those about whom Isaiah said, "their offspring in the midst of the peoples" and about whom the Lord in the parable of the Gospel said, "the good seed is those sons of the kingdom." For this seed was disseminated throughout many regions, so that the harvest of faith that started in Jerusalem filled first Judea and Samaria and then the whole world. About these same ones, dispersed or rather disseminated through the next generations, it is said that they spoke the word not only to Jews but also to Greeks, and the noblest foundations of the new church in Antioch were planted through these.

  Retractions on Acts 8:4