Eusebius of Caesarea

In his own words on Isaiah

• Isaiah 1:1

  A "vision," he says, not ordinary or perceptible with physical eyes, but a prophetic vision of things to come in far distant times; for just as one sees in a great tablet the invasion of enemies, ravagings of countryside, sieges of cities and enslavements of people, represented with the brilliance of color, the same way he seems to see a dream, but not a vision in sleep, when the divine spirit enlightens the soul.

  COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 3:18-23

• Isaiah 1:1

  [The heading] indicated the ages of the kings, since there was a different state of affairs among the Jews, and events were to transpire in the distant future which never entered the mind or suspicion of the people of that time. Furthermore, it needs to be noted that the whole book, which only seems to be a single composition, was actually spoken over long periods of time, since there was need of extensive and precise understanding to discern the future, to determine the meaning of the events of the time and to suit the prophecy for the events that occurred in each reign. For the age of these kings covered fifty years in all, during which the things contained in this whole book were spoken.

  COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 4:1-3

• Isaiah 1:30

  In the beginning of his whole book, the prophet saw the "vision against Judah and against Jerusalem." After listing all the many transgressions of the Jewish people and warning them about the complete destruction of Jerusalem, he brought to an end the spiritual sayings concerning them.

  PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 2:3

• Isaiah 2:2

  One can take the time to learn in what manner the prophecies of the call of the Gentiles should be understood and that they were fulfilled only after the coming of our Savior. The beginning of the prophecy is consistent with the reality that the Lord descended not only for the salvation of the Jewish race but also for that of all people, in announcing to all peoples and all the inhabitants of the earth, "Hear, all peoples, and let the earth and all in it listen."

  PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 6:13

• Isaiah 2:3

  What can this law proceeding from Zion, which is different from what was made law by Moses in the desert at Mount Sinai, be but the word of the gospel through our Savior Jesus Christ which proceeds from Zion through all the nations? For clearly it was in Jerusalem and Mount Zion, where our Savior and Lord lived and taught, that the law of the new covenant originated and from which it proceeded to all people.

  PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 1:4

• Isaiah 3:9-10

  Immediately following, the prophet himself explains why he called them rulers of Sodom and people of Gomorrah: "Your hands are full of blood." Again a little later he says, "They have proclaimed their sin as Sodom and made it manifest. Woe to their souls, because they have taken evil counsel with themselves, saying, 'We will bind the just one, for he is a burden to us.' " Since he overtly speaks of blood and a plot against a just man, there is nothing else this could be than the plot against our Savior Jesus Christ.

  PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 2:3

• Isaiah 5:25

  "Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against his people." He wanted them to be a people of his own and to be called as such, but this is not what they wanted. Because of this he gives a sign of approaching war and of a multitude of the slain that would fill the mountains with dead corpses. The whole country would become full of their dead. All this would happen to them at the hands of the enemy invaders. The enemies did not do this on their own; rather, God himself brought them about, drawing and leading their enemies to the siege of the accused Israelites.

  COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 5:25

• Isaiah 6:1

  The prophet had seen Christ and the glory of Christ in the vision in which he said, "I saw the Lord of hosts sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up," and what follows.

  PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 9:16

• Isaiah 6:2

  Some think there are two seraphim, but I, based on the idea expounded by the sacred Scripture, which says, "the seraphim stood round about him," think there are many, and they are bodyguards, as it were, like a crown from all sides, surrounding his throne with light and enlivened by him.

  COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 6:2

• Isaiah 6:11

  See here that the rest of the earth is desolate, and those who remain on the earth alone are said to multiply. These must be the disciples of the Savior, going forth from the Hebrews to all people. Like a seed left behind they have brought forth much fruit, which are the churches of the Gentiles in every dwelling place. In addition, when he says that only those who remain from the falling away of the Jews will multiply, he also says that the Jews themselves are desolate. For he says of them, "Their land shall be left desolate." And this was said to them before by the same prophet, saying, "Your land is completely desolate, your cities burned with fire, before you strangers will devour your country."When was this fulfilled other than in the time of our Savior? Before they dared to do evil things to him, their land was not desolate, their cities not burned with fire, and strangers did not devour their country. Our Savior and Lord predicted what was to happen to them through that prophetic announcement, saying, "Your house is left to you desolate." It was not long from the prediction of that moment that the Romans laid siege to them and brought them to desolation. The prophetic word gives the reason for the desolation by showing the cause of their fall, making the understanding of it clear. When they heard our Savior teaching among them but would not listen with the ear of the mind and did not understand who he was, seeing him with their eyes and not with the eyes of their spirit, "they hardened their heart, closed the eyes of their mind, and made their ears heavy." As the prophecy says, their cities would become desolate such that no one would live in them because of this. In addition, their land would become desolate, and only a few would remain, being kept like fruitful seed who would proceed to all people and multiply on the earth.

  PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 2:3

• Isaiah 7:9

  It is essential to notice that the statement means that those who read it do not only need understanding but also faith; and not only faith but also understanding. Those of the circumcision who do not believe in the Christ of God, though even now they hear these words, do not have understanding of the subject of this prophecy because they do not hear with the mind. The only reason for their lack of understanding is their lack of faith, as the prophecy clearly reveals both about them and to them.

  PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 7:1

• Isaiah 7:14

  House of David, from this time on when you encounter your enemies, call upon the one who is named Immanuel. The meaning of the title, which is "God with us," reveals the power of the Word. Believe this sign, be courageous, and do not call upon the gods of Damascus. Do not enlist those who have no assistance to offer. Rather, call upon Immanuel, the God who will "be with" people at the appropriate time. Take heart with confidence, trusting in the power of the title.… If the prophet had said, "They will call his name Immanuel," he would have been speaking only of a future time. This would have caused doubt for some, because when the Savior was born of the virgin his name was not Immanuel but Jesus, as the angel had instructed Joseph, saying, "Do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." If the prophecy was "they will call his name Immanuel," then how would the Savior had fulfilled it, when his name was Jesus and not Immanuel? But this is not how it was written, because not everyone would call him by this title. The prophetic word says accurately, "You shall call." … Some scribes, because they did not understand this, wrote, "they will call" rather than "you shall call" in the Gospel of Matthew, even though the prophecy does not read this way. The Hebrew word translated in the passage is "you shall call," as is used by all the translations. Some translators translate the word for "virgin" as "young woman." There is no reason to think that the virgin was not also a young woman; in fact it is likely that the virgin who conceived the Savior was not fully grown but a young maiden.

  COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 1:44.56-105

• Isaiah 8:6

  Obviously the only way to preserve the understanding of this passage is to explain its spiritual meaning. By the softly proceeding water of Siloam it means the gospel teaching of the word of salvation, because Siloam means "sent with a message." This would be God the Word, who was sent by the Father, of whom Moses says, "A ruler will not fail from Judah, nor a prince from his loins, until the one for whom it is stored up comes, and he is the expectation of the nations." For rather than "for whom it is stored up" the Hebrew has "Siloam." The same word, Siloam, is used the same way in this passage for Isaiah, that is to say, "the one who is sent."

  PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 7:1

• Isaiah 10:13

  These are the words of God's antagonist, boasting in the strength of his wickedness, as he threatens to steal and obliterate the divisions of the nations delivered by the Most High to the angels. And loudly [he] cries that he will spoil the earth, and shake the whole human race, and change them from their former good order.

  PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 4:9

• Isaiah 10:34

  In this instance Lebanon means Jerusalem … which the Word warns will fall with all of the men of greatness and glory.

  PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 2:3

• Isaiah 10:34

  In this instance the birth of Christ from the seed of Jesse and David is joined with the destruction of Lebanon and the call of the Gentiles.

  PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 8:4

• Isaiah 11:1

  This shows in an obvious way that the birth of Christ would be from the root of Jesse, who was the father of David. This points toward the birth which the Gentiles would follow, having been prophetically announced by way of signs.

  PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 2:3

• Isaiah 11:1

  It is prophesied that one will come forth of the seed of Jesse, that is to say, of David, many years after the death of both David and Solomon.

  PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 7:3

• Isaiah 11:5

  "Righteousness shall be the girdle of his waist, and truth the girdle of his loins." As a king has a belt made of gold and precious stones, so in a prophetic manner, he speaks about the belt made of righteousness and truth. By the belt we may also understand the divinity of the Word, because he is righteousness, according to the apostle: "He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption." He is also the truth, according to Evangelist: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life." The Word being the righteousness and the truth that comes from the root of Jesse, his waist [belt] points out to his attribute as king and warrior as the Word who conquers the invisible powers and hosts.

  COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 11:7

• Isaiah 11:6

  [Isaiah] continues prophetically to show the transformation of all different races of humanity, barbarian and Greek … through the teaching of Christ.… The irrational animals and wild beasts in the passage represent the Gentiles, who are naturally like animals. One who comes from the seed of Jesse will rule over the Gentiles. This is the genealogy of our Savior and Lord, in whom the Gentiles now believe and hope.

  PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 3:2

• Isaiah 13:14

  In this way the word [Scripture] clearly shows the few who will be saved in the day of the ruin of those who are evil. Therefore, one cannot expect that all those who are uncircumcised and all of the Jewish nation, without exception, will receive the promises of God.

  PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 2:3

• Isaiah 14:12

  The Word clearly demonstrates many things in this passage: the lunacy of that spirit, his fall from what was good to what was bad, and the result of his fall. Having pronounced many terrible threats against humanity he realized that they had the possibility of falling into evil by virtue of their own free will. Therefore he turned them from a good state to a bad one, leading the many souls by the lure of desire to every fashion of evil. There was no device he did not attempt. With the myths of the gods and impure stories he tempted his victims with the things they loved and the things that gave them pleasure.… Soon, according to the blessed apostle, they no longer pondered the works of God that still illumined the heavens.

  PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 4:9

• Isaiah 16:5

  According to Aquila, "his throne will be established in mercy," or according to Theodotion, "the throne will be established with mercy." Who will establish the throne? Or how is Christ born from the posterity of David? The throne will be established by the Moabites, according to the text; and Christ who is born from the tent (tabernacle) of David will sit upon the throne. By "the tent of David" the prophet means the church of God. David himself is called christ because from his posterity Christ is born according to flesh. Therefore, the tent (tabernacle) of David is the church, and the throne belongs to the head of the church. It refers to the humanity of Christ. Therefore, one should contemplate on the mystery of Christ revealed in the prophecy only in the Holy Spirit; and in such a cautious contemplation curiosity and speculation must be tamed.

  COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 16:1-5

• Isaiah 17:4-8

  By this it is clearly promised that the glory of Israel and all her riches will be taken away, and only a few, who like the few berries on an olive branch can be counted easily, will be left. These are the ones who believe in the Lord. Just after this there is a prophecy of the entire human race turning away from the error of idolatry and recognizing the God of Israel.

  PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 2:3

• Isaiah 19:1

  I suppose that the reason why it is foretold that the Lord would come to Egypt is this: The Egyptians are said to have been the first to practice the errors of polytheism.… And Holy Scripture witnesses that they were the enemies of God's people from the very beginning, for it is written that their ancient king confessed that he did not know the Lord, when he said, "I do not know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go." So, then, it is because Scripture wishes to show the great marvel of the divine power of Christ that it foretells his going to Egypt, in predicting that the Egyptians will undergo an extraordinary conversion, when it goes on to say, "And the Egyptians shall know the Lord, who before knew him not, and shall pray to the Lord," and so on.… Here it is predicted of Egypt and its people that they will not acknowledge idols any more but will acknowledge the Lord revealed by the Jewish prophets. Now if we cannot see this actually fulfilled before our eyes, we must not say that the Lord's coming to Egypt has taken place. But if beyond all need of argument the truth is shown by facts and reveals clearly to the most unobservant the Egyptians rescued from hereditary superstition, and followers of the God of the prophets who foretold that this would take place, serving him only and greeting every form of death for their duty to him, to what else can we attribute it but to the Lord coming to Egypt, as the prophecy before us predicted?

  PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 9:2

• Isaiah 19:1

  This prophecy says that the one who is begotten after the God and Lord of all things, meaning the Word of God, will come into Egypt, and not undercover or invisibly or without a body but riding on a light cloud, or better "on thick light." This is the meaning of the Hebrew word. Let the Hebrew children tell us when after the time of Isaiah the Lord visited Egypt, and which Lord it was. The God over all is one. Let them tell us how he is said to ride on "thick light" and to come to any particular place on the earth. Let them interpret "thick light" and explain why the Lord is not said to visit Egypt without it. Let them also say when the prophecy that the Egyptian idols made with hands would be shaken and Egyptians would fight Egyptians by the coming of the Lord is to have been fulfilled.

  PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 6:20

• Isaiah 19:1

  Now one can consider that the prophecy has not been fulfilled if the following are true: if the Egyptians in our own time cannot be seen to have abandoned the gods of their fathers and calling on the God of the prophets; throughout every town and city in the country of Egypt there are not altars built to the God that previously only the Hebrews acknowledged; the idols have not been shaken.… How can we deny that the prophecies of ages past have been fulfilled? They promised beforehand that the Lord would not come to Egypt in an incorporeal manner but on a light cloud, or better "on a thick light," which is the meaning of the Hebrew word. This figuratively speaks of his incarnation. The prophecy continues by calling him a human being who is the Savior, saying, "And he shall send to them a man who is a savior." The Hebrew here is, "And he shall send to them a savior who will save them." This clear demonstration leads me to conclude that there is no doubt of the time of the promise of the appearing of the Lord.

  PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 8:5

• Isaiah 21:10

  Notice how in this passage he does not call those of the circumcision to hear the un-speakable words, but only those whom he calls "forsaken and tortured." These were those of the time of the apostles who regretted and lamented the evil of humanity.

  PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 2:3

• Isaiah 22:17-23

  For all these things will work for your destruction [i.e., Shebna's], since you have been deposed and rejected from the high priesthood, of which you showed yourself unworthy, God being a just judge who gives to each according to his worth. On you, then, he will bring these things; but on the other, Eliakim, whom he has assessed as his good servant and slave, he will invest with your robe and will honor by placing on him the crown of the high priesthood, whose ministry you had hitherto been entrusted with. For he is a man worthy of it. And since he has been promoted by God, unlike you he will not be proud and boastful. He will hold the place of a father toward all those who are going to be governed by him. Therefore, as to one who is soothing and gentle, [God] will give the glory of David, the most just and gentle king, in order to rule the people with great authority, so that none will gainsay his deeds. He will be rooted, established and placed securely at his ministry, so that no glorious member of the people shall contend or contrive envy, nor shall jealousy ever come into being on his account, but they shall "trust in him as in a father."

  COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 148:6-20

• Isaiah 23:18

  To seek out the exact form of the reading, I gave my attention to the translation of Aquila, which says, "And it will happen that its commerce and wages are consecrated to the Lord." Thus the Hebrew has, precisely, "commerce and wages" without the articles, not, according to the Septuagint, "the commerce and the wages," by which it appears to mean all the commerce and all the wages. According to Aquila, "Its commerce and wages are consecrated to the Lord." Not its whole commerce or its whole wages, but a part of the commerce and a part of the wages are consecrated to the Lord. And this is what has been fulfilled in our day. For the church of God is established in the city of Tyre, as indeed in the rest of the nations, and many of the wages in it and what is stored up for business are offered to the church and consecrated to the Lord. The things that people bring, they offer in piety, not for themselves in order to enjoy the gifts offered to God but "for those who dwell before the Lord." (Namely, [these gifts are] for those who serve at the altar, "for the Lord had enjoined that those who preach the gospel should live by the gospel" and "those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings.")

  COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 152:23-153:2

• Isaiah 24:6

  After he rebukes those of the circumcision who have trespassed the law of the covenant of God and warns them with what he has written, he prophesies that only a small number of them will be saved. These few are those whom the apostle calls "the remnant according to the election of grace."

  PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 2:3

• Isaiah 24:15

  "Therefore, the glory of the Lord is in the islands of the sea." That pertains obviously to the church, which is located in the midst of the godless nations as if an island in the sea. It is in that island that the glory of the Lord shines.

  COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 7:19

• Isaiah 25:1

  The "wonders" of Isaiah were the promises to the Gentiles, and not to Israel, of anointing with sweet-smelling oil and myrrh. They naturally received the name of Christian from this anointing. In addition he promises the "wine of joy" to the Gentiles, using a shadow to allude to the sacrament of the new covenant of Christ, which is now openly celebrated among the Gentiles.

  PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 1:10

• Isaiah 25:8

  Now the laws of love summoned him even as far as death and the dead themselves, so that he might summon the souls of those who were long time dead. And so because he cared for the salvation of all for ages past and that "he might bring to nothing him that has the power of death," as Scripture teaches, here again he underwent the dispensation in his mingled natures: as man, he left his body to the usual burial, while as God he departed from it. For he cried with a loud cry, and said to the Father, "I commend my spirit," and departed from the body free, in no way waiting for death, who was lagging as it were in fear to come to him. No, rather, he pursued him from behind and drove him on, trodden under his feet and fleeing, and he burst the eternal gates of his dark realms and made a road of return back again to life for the dead there bound with the bonds of death. Thus too, his own body was raised up, and many bodies of the sleeping saints arose and came together with him into the holy and real city of heaven, as rightly is said by the holy words: "Death has prevailed and swallowed people up; but again the Lord God has taken away every tear from every face." And the Savior of the universe, our Lord, the Christ of God, called Victor, is represented in the prophetic predictions as reviling death and releasing the souls that are bound there, by whom he raises the hymn of victory.

  PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 4:12

• Isaiah 28:16

  Who can the cornerstone be other than the one who is the living and precious stone supporting two structures with his teaching making them one? He established the building of Moses, which was to remain until his day, and then he joined on to one side our building of the gospel. This is why he is called the cornerstone.

  PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 1:7

• Isaiah 29:11

  For our Lord Jesus Christ did not come as it were to seal up the visions of the prophets. He rather opened and explained those that were of old obscure and sealed, tearing away so to say the seals impressed on them, and taught his disciples the meaning of the Holy Scriptures. Hence he says, "Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah has prevailed, and he has opened the seals that were set on the book," in John's Apocalypse. What are these seals but the obscurities of the prophets? Isaiah knew them well and definitely says too: "And these words shall be as the words of the sealed book." The Christ of God did not come then to shut up the vision and the prophet but rather to open them and bring them to the light.

  PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 8:2

• Isaiah 35:1

  This, too, was fulfilled, was clearly fulfilled, by our Savior's miraculous works after John's preaching. Notice therefore how he bears good tidings to the desert, not generally or to any desert but to one particular desert by the bank of the Jordan. This was because John lived there and baptized there, as Scripture says, "John was in the desert baptizing." … I think the desert here is a symbol of that which of old was void of all God's good things, I mean the church of the Gentiles. And the river by the desert that cleanses all that are bathed therein is a figure of some cleansing spiritual power, of which the Scriptures speak, saying, "The movements of the river make glad the city of God." And this means the ever-flowing stream of the Holy Spirit welling from above and watering the city of God, which is the name for life according to God. This river of God, then, has reached even to the desert, that is the Gentile church, and even now supplies it with the living water that it bears.

  PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 9:6

• Isaiah 35:1

  Here also the coming of God for salvation, bringing many blessings, is precisely foretold. The prophet says that there will be a cure for the deaf, sight for the blind, yes, even healing for the lame and tongue-tied, and this was fulfilled only at the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ, by whom the eyes of the blind were opened, and the deaf regained their hearing. Why need I say, how many palsied and deaf and lame also received physical cure by the hands of his disciples? And how many others, afflicted with various diseases and maladies, received of him healing and salvation, according to the inspired prediction of prophecy and according to the unimpeachable testimony of the holy Gospels? And the prophecy here disguises under the name of "desert" the church of the Gentiles, which for long years deserted of God is being evangelized by those of whom we are speaking, and it says that besides other blessings the glory of Lebanon will be given to the desert. Now it is customary to call Jerusalem Lebanon allegorically, as I will show, when I have time, by proofs from holy Scripture. This prophecy before us, therefore, teaches that by God's presence with men the glory of Lebanon will be given to that which is called "desert," that is to say, the church of the Gentiles.

  PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 6:21

• Isaiah 35:1

  Moreover, it is said in this prophecy that the glory of Lebanon and the honor of Carmel shall be given to this wilderness. What is the glory of Lebanon but the worship performed through the sacrifices of the Mosaic law, which God refused in the prophecy which says, "Why do you bring me Lebanon from Sheba? And of what service to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?" He has transferred the glory of Jerusalem to the desert of Jordan, since, from the times of John, the ritual of holiness began to be performed not at Jerusalem but in the desert. In like manner, too, the honor of the law and of its more external ordinances was transferred to the wilderness of Jordan for the same reason, namely, that they who need the healing of their souls no longer hastened to Jerusalem but to that which was called the wilderness, because there the forgiveness of sins was preached.

  PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 9:6

• Isaiah 35:2

  I believe the passage, "And my people shall see the glory of the Lord, and the majesty of God," refers to the presence of our Savior at the baptism, because it was there that the glory of the Savior was seen.

  PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 9:6

• Isaiah 35:3

  Now we have this prophecy fulfilled in the Gospels, partly, when they brought to our Lord and Savior a paralytic lying on a bed, who he made whole with a word; and partly, when many that were blind and possessed with demons, yes, laboring under various diseases and weaknesses, were released from their sufferings by his saving power. Nor should we forget how even now throughout the whole world multitudes bound by all forms of evil, full of ignorance of Almighty God in their souls, are healed and cured miraculously and beyond all argument by the medicine of his teaching. Except that now we call him God as we should, as one who can work thus, as I have already shown in the evidence of his divinity. Yes, surely it is right now to acknowledge him to be God, since he has given proof of power divine and truly inspired.For it was specifically God's work to give strength to the paralyzed, to give life to the dead, to supply health to the sick, to open the eyes of the blind, to restore the lame and to make the tongue-tied speak plainly, all of which things were done by our Savior Jesus Christ, because he was God. And they have been witnessed to by many throughout all the world that preach him—whose evidence unvarnished and truthful is confirmed by trial of torture, and by persistence even to death, which they have shown forth before kings and rulers and all nations, witnessing to the truth of what they preach.

  PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 9:13

• Isaiah 39:1-2

  Now, when the Babylonians heard about Hezekiah's healing from the sickness, they sent ambassadors to him, and not without reason. Indeed, on the day when the sun went backward, one extra hour was added to the duration of the day, which did not elude the Babylonians, who were skilled in their observation of the stars. And as they venerated the sun as divine, they perceived that it was turned back by a superior power. Therefore they were eager to investigate the cause of the phenomenon. Thus driven by curiosity, they learned that the God of the Hebrew people was great and that he was the Creator of the world. When Hezekiah was healed, through which also the miracle of the sun took place, they perceived what happened and strongly desired the friendship of Hezekiah as a man loved by God. That is the story of the Jewish teacher.However, I grasped that all of the following events happened the same year: the attack of the Assyrians against the Jewish people, the defeat of the Assyrians by the angel of God, Sennacherib's escape, the revolt of his subjects and the death of the son who succeeded him, which is not mentioned in this text. It is likely that the rumor about all those events reached the Babylonian king, who showed friendship toward Hezekiah and sent him gifts, an ambassador and letters.

  COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 39:1

• Isaiah 40:1

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

  COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:15

• Isaiah 40:6

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

  COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:16

• Isaiah 40:16-17

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

  COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:18

• Isaiah 41:2

  For it was a work of righteousness not only for the Jews but also for the other nations to be called to the knowledge of God. So who is raising up this righteousness from the dawn of the light? Who is calling all to follow him? Who is the one offering this to all the peoples so as to shock the kings of the nations and to confound the foremost among them? God resists and tames those who attack this work, sweeping away the fighters with a word of righteousness, as they are conquered by the righteousness of God. It also serves to win over those who follow this word. He makes a rough way for the feet of the enemies of righteousness. He makes smooth a path for the feet of those who walk in peace.

  COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:19

• Isaiah 41:6

  You, Jacob, now ponder such things, the Savior of everything did not privilege you over the salvation of other human beings but chose the things that suited you, while to the rest of the nations he announced an exchange, summoning them all to knowledge of him.… He calls "islands" the churches from all the nations, since those partially submerged under the evil of life are like those islands in the sea.…For it is not only those who are called who come to salvation, but also those nearby according to the laws of neighbor love (philanthropy). So they say these things to those worshiping God nearby, who would like to be their brothers and friends yet who are still "out of place." There was a time when our own craftsman prevailed, beating out idols, and the smith struck with a hammer his gods. But now we know that they are nothing and recognize the illusion of our forefathers.

  COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:19

• Isaiah 41:8-9

  Since the seed of Abraham is spread over all the earth, he speaks about this.… In the same way Paul the apostle shows the Jews, "first it was necessary that the word be proclaimed to you, but since you turn away, we are going to the Gentiles." Isaiah addresses those among them, therefore, who would obey the calling and the Gospel word that is handed on: "You whom I took from the ends of the earth and called from its farthest corners." Many from the Jews, during the apostolic times, handed on the word of Christ, not only to the land of Judah but also to the rest of the nations. For the seed of Abraham rises quickly, until the time when God remembers the election of the apostolic chorus, and he says to them, "you are my son," or, according to the other interpretations, "you are my servant; I have chosen you and not abandoned you." Probably the divine apostle equates the servant with himself, made present as one worthy of the honor of being a servant of the Savior, since also from the first the word proclaimed this, saying, "great to you are those called 'my servant.' "

  COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:20

• Isaiah 41:10

  He adds that he is to strengthen and sustain those undergoing afflictions at the hands of those [who oppose God] with the vision of the goal that awaits them. He encourages with good news of God speaking to you without deceit: "I am the Lord and God, and I strengthen your right arm," and I say to you, "Do not fear, I will help you." In the Septuagint, "I will help you, do not fear, you worm Jacob," does not appear. This one who was after the former people called "chosen" is now called worm through its worm-like subjection to the cities of the unbelieving nations and all of their polytheistic errors. In addition, what is perfect and special in the apostolic preaching will destroy and remove the demonic energies from the depth of human thinking. Indeed, the Savior called himself a worm, saying "I am a worm and no man," a disgrace among people and an object of their contempt. Since there were only a few who were the Savior's disciples, there being twelve apostles, therefore the Septuagint says, "Israel, the very few."

  COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:20

• Isaiah 41:27

  I want you to know, God is saying, I have intended from the beginning of everything to give authority to my church over all things, and the authority of my kingdom I shall give to my Zion. And I shall stir up my Jerusalem, preparing it as the road on which are all those who labor in it towards the thrice-blessed goal—to the God over all and his heavenly kingdom.

  COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:21

• Isaiah 42:1

  Although this very great person is not the one who was in the mind of those hearing the prophecy the first time, he is not here called "Jacob" or "Israel" or "the seed of Abraham," so clearly the Christ of God is meant here, just as the Evangelist paid witness: "I have set my Spirit on him, and he will execute judgment on the nations." And after many things have taken place in the nations, which were not made fit to be counted in the apostolic chorus, the nations will hope in him. But in Isaiah's prophecy the names of Jacob and Israel are missing. Who else could this be, the one called servant of God and his chosen one? Therefore it continues, "My soul delights in him." For only he is the chosen one of God, and the so-called soul of God was delighting in him. In a manner similar to referring to the feet, hands, fingers and eyes of God, Scriptures make use of the term "soul" in relation to God.… He is "chosen," not in the same way as the apostles, since it is to him alone that it is said, "whom my soul esteems," but also "the Spirit of God was dwelling in him alone." "For in him the fullness of the deity dwelled bodily." For the Spirit is given to the one coming forth "from the root of Jesse," the unique Word of God, whom the apostle revealed saying, "The Lord is the Spirit." For he alone, pouring out the Spirit of inheritance, worked all things outwardly concerning the worldwide judgment on the nations, so that all would be prepared for the coming of God's verdict.

  COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:22

• Isaiah 42:3

  He does not say, "Jacob my son and Israel my beloved," but simply "Behold my son and my beloved." Hence, the names of Jacob and Israel are marked with an obelisk in the Septuagint, as if the prophecy were not in the Hebrew. And it is silently omitted by the other translators, as it is not found in the Hebrew.… Therefore, the prophecy does not apply either actually or figuratively to the Jews but only to the Christ of God, to whom clear evidence and the results bear witness. For Christ alone prophesied the future judgment to the Gentiles, quietly sojourning in human life and setting judgment on the earth. And not only did he not break the bruised reed, but so to say he bound it up, setting up and strengthening the weak and the bruised in heart. And just as Christ did not neglect the sick and the corrupt, who needed his medicine, or bruise the repentant with harsh judgment, so he did not quench those who continued in evil and were smoking under the fire of passion by preventing their following their own choice; nor did he punish any of them before the time, reserving the time of their due chastisement for the general judgment.

  PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 9:15

• Isaiah 42:4

  With truth and boldness to all, he proclaims the judgment of God, which has not ceased to operate. Rather, God's judgment is like light shining through the resurrection of the dead, which the prophetic word announced, saying, "He will give light and not be crushed." For those who planned Christ's death tried to crush him and extinguish him. For it is the nature of all mortal species to be crushed by death. But it did not crush him. Christ was the only person of all time who was shown to be stronger than death.

  COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:22

• Isaiah 42:5

  The name by which he will be praised as the Lord and God of all, [Isaiah] says, "I will give to no other" but to you alone, whom I shall grant to be light to the nations. Hence, in the promise the Christ of God is called Lord and God by all the nations, the Father having granted him alone that glory. Next comes "nor will I give my powers to the carved images," or, according to Aquila, "my worship to carved images," or, with Symmachus, "my praise to carved images." … According to this, Christ alone is called God since to him alone and to no other has God, who is above all things, given his glory and power.

  COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:22

• Isaiah 42:9

  "Behold, the first things," he says, "came to pass. But I proclaim new things, and before they arise, I will cause these things to be heard by you." Just as he says "the first things" would be fulfilled through my works, as I promised Abraham concerning his "seed," so indeed I acted. I fulfilled also those things foretold by Moses and the rest of the prophets; "now I promise to everyone what was proclaimed before" and to make them come to light through the prophecies, for "I caused these things to be heard by you."

  COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:22

• Isaiah 42:19-21

  He reports how they became the blind and dull by saying, "They see many things but do not observe." These things were previously communicated [in Isaiah]: "Keep listening, but do not comprehend; keep looking, but do not understand. Make the mind of this people dull." … You see that all these things he says about the people, he means concerning those of the circumcision. But "the Lord was pleased, for his righteousness' sake, to magnify his praise." And they surrendered to those who made war on their souls and became "a people who have been torn in pieces, plundered and trapped in a secret room" of their souls, "and in their own homes as well." For these very reasons those who plotted with these thoughts that they hid from Christ were themselves caught in a "trap from which they could not be delivered," there being no "rescuer" and none to say, "Release them."

  COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:23

• Isaiah 42:24

  Since God had been addressing people who could not hear him, he now speaks of them as helpless and weak.… For the outcome of the matter was no longer an issue but would be accomplished very soon.… He sent on them the fury of his anger, and battle overtook them. Those who were already wearied by war once more took it on themselves so as to hold on to Jerusalem and their rule over it. But war was unleashed on them, and not only in an external sense but also in that which afflicted their souls.

  COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:23

• Isaiah 43:7

  If it is necessary for some to be marked by name, then I will make it clear to them all that they are now "those who have been called by my name." From where else did the name of Christians come than from the name of Christ? For it was he who foretold such a thing through the prophet.

  COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:24

• Isaiah 43:8-9

  If they seemed to have the eyes of the soul and a human mind, they were still nonetheless blind to the deceit of idolatry. But what then happened to them provides the basis for Isaiah's message. For the former blind and deaf were gathered together into the church of God even as the rulers of the nations opposed the people of God. The prophet is amazed and tries to make sense of the prophecy that he is speaking, and so he calls out, saying, "Who can announce these things?"

  COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:24

• Isaiah 43:16

  Although these things were done to the Babylonians and Chaldeans, prophetically speaking, the future things that are "not yet" shall be as if already accomplished. God has completed these by himself, comparing the present events with those that happened earlier: I showed my divinity to those in Egypt and led my people through the Red Sea. I made a way "in the mighty water" and a dry path through that same sea when I threw the chariots of Pharaoh and his forces into the sea to the bed prepared for them, sinking down to the abyss and no longer able to rise. They were like those of old who were bent like a snuffed wick in a burning flame. I worked such things among the ancients, who in turn passed on the memory of those wonders to those of old who followed. But for the present I command them no longer to be amazed at those deeds, neither those done in Babylon nor those in Egypt.

  COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:25