Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
He promises Christ, who will be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, whose modesty, mercy, and equity He describes. Whence secondly, at verse 10, He invites all the Gentiles, for whom so great a salvation has been prepared, to the praises of God. Thirdly, at verse 13, He announces that He will destroy idols and sacred groves. Fourthly, at verse 18, turning to the Jews, He sets before them the recent disaster and destruction of the ten tribes, and warns them to turn from their sins to God, lest they experience a similar divine punishment.
Vulgate Text: Isaiah 42:1-25
1. Behold My servant, I will uphold Him: My chosen one, My soul has been well pleased in Him: I have put My spirit upon Him, He will bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. 2. He will not cry out, nor accept persons, nor will His voice be heard abroad. 3. A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not extinguish: in truth He will bring forth judgment. 4. He will not be sad, nor turbulent, until He establishes judgment on the earth: and the islands will await His law. 5. Thus says the Lord God, who creates the heavens and stretches them out: who establishes the earth and what springs from it: who gives breath to the people upon it, and spirit to those who walk upon it. 6. I the Lord have called You in justice, and I have taken Your hand, and preserved You. And I have given You as a covenant of the people, as a light of the Gentiles:
7. that You might open the eyes of the blind, and bring forth the prisoner from confinement, from the prison house those sitting in darkness. 8. I am the Lord, this is My name: My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to graven images. 9. The things that were first, behold they have come: new things also I announce: before they spring forth, I will make them heard by you. 10. Sing to the Lord a new canticle, His praise from the ends of the earth: you who go down to the sea, and its fullness; the islands, and their inhabitants. 11. Let the desert be lifted up, and its cities: Cedar shall dwell in houses: praise, you inhabitants of Petra, they shall cry from the top of the mountains. 12. They shall give glory to the Lord, and shall declare His praise in the islands. 13. The Lord shall go forth as a mighty one, like a man of war He shall stir up His zeal: He shall shout, and cry out: He shall prevail against His enemies. 14. I have always been silent, I held My peace, I was patient; like a woman in labor I will speak: I will lay waste, and swallow up at once. 15. I will make the mountains and hills desolate, and will dry up all their grass: and I will turn rivers into islands, and will dry up the pools. 16. And I will lead the blind into the way which they know not: and in the paths which they were ignorant of I will make them walk: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight: these things I have done for them, and have not forsaken them. 17. They are turned backward: let them be confounded with confusion who trust in a graven thing, who say to a molten thing: You are our gods. 18. Hear, you deaf; and you blind, look to see. 19. Who is blind, but My servant? and deaf, but he to whom I sent My messengers? who is blind, but he that is sold? and who is blind, but the servant of the Lord? 20. You who see many things, will you not observe? you who have open ears, will you not hear? 21. And the Lord was willing to sanctify him, and to magnify the law, and to exalt it. 22. But the people themselves are robbed and wasted: they are all the snare of young men, and they are hidden in the houses of prisons: they are made a prey, and there is none to deliver them; a spoil, and there is none to say: Restore. 23. Who is there among you that will hear this, and attend, and listen to things to come? 24. Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the wasters? Was it not the Lord Himself, against whom we have sinned? And they would not walk in His ways, and they have not heard His law. 25. And He poured out upon him the indignation of His fury, and a strong war, and burned him round about, and he knew it not: and He set him on fire, and he understood not.
Verse 1: Behold My servant, I will uphold Him. — Some take "servant" to mean Jacob, others Isaiah, others Cyrus: but it is certain from Matthew XII, 18 that Christ is meant, who is the servant of God inasmuch...
1. Behold My servant, I will uphold Him. — Some take "servant" to mean Jacob, others Isaiah, others Cyrus: but it is certain from Matthew XII, 18 that Christ is meant, who is the servant of God inasmuch as He assumed the form of a servant, being made man. For although the same, as man, is the natural Son of God, inasmuch as that humanity subsists in the Person of the Word, who is the natural Son of God; nevertheless the same is also a servant by reason of the nature itself, namely the humanity which He assumed: for this is a creature, and therefore the servant of its Creator. See St. Thomas and the Scholastics, III part., Question XX. Note: the Hebrew עבד ebed does not signify a slave who serves slavishly from a servile condition, as are bondservants; but a minister who serves his lord and ministers to him in an ample office and dignity, as generals and princes serve and minister to a king, Cardinals to the Pontiff, Apostles to Christ. For thus St. Paul calls himself a servant, that is, an Apostle of Christ, as I said at Philippians I, 1.
Furthermore, these things are connected to the preceding chapter for this reason: that there He said at verses 2, 4, 23, and 27 that He announces and brings about future things equally with prior and past ones; and since He demonstrated that there concerning past things through the benefits He conferred on Abraham and the Hebrews, now He demonstrates the same concerning future things, namely Christ and His posterity, of whom Abraham and the Hebrews were the type. For this is what He says at verse 9: 'The things that were first, behold they have come: new things also I announce.' Again, He had said at the preceding chapter, verse 27, that He would give Zion an Evangelist; hence in this chapter He promises Christ, the founder of the Gospel and the chief of the Evangelists.
The Seventy translate: Jacob My child, I will uphold him: Israel My chosen one: Jacob, that is, a Jacobite; Israel, that is, an Israelite, namely Christ who was to be born from Jacob. Thus it is said of Him in chapter XLIX, verse 3: 'You are My servant, Israel, for in You I will be glorified.' See Canon XXXIV. The Blessed Virgin alluded to this when she sang: 'He has helped Israel His servant, remembering His mercy. As He spoke to our fathers,' Luke I, 54. For 'I will uphold' and 'He has helped,' in both cases, the same Greek verb ἀντιλαμβάνω is used.
I will uphold Him. — In Hebrew אתמך etmach, that is, I will sustain, I will support Him as a father his dearest son; with the greatest love and equal care and zeal I will cherish and uphold Him. The Chaldean renders: I will be present to Him, as a companion, protector, indeed a leader and pedagogue. Thus Christ said to St. Ignatius, the founder of the Society of Jesus, when he was going to Rome: 'I will be favorable to you at Rome.' He said it, and He made it good.
My chosen one, My soul has been well pleased in Him. — "Chosen" both as the leader and general of the spiritual war which He would wage against the devil and sin, and as His most beloved Son: for God the Father alluded to this when He thundered over the baptized Christ: 'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,' Matthew III, 17.
I have put My spirit upon Him. — "Spirit," namely the sevenfold Spirit, concerning which see chapter XI, verse 2. As a symbol of this, the Father sent upon Him, while He was being baptized by John, the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove.
He will bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. — "Judgment," that is, what is just, namely just laws; secondly, the true and just worship of God; thirdly, true justice and holiness, namely the Evangelical law, which embraces these three things — He will teach and promulgate it throughout all the Gentiles. The word 'judgment' therefore signifies that Christ would be the new teacher and lawgiver of justice, that is, of the Gospel. Hence in what follows His equity, modesty, gentleness, mercy, and clemency are described. So the Fathers and interpreters commonly explain this passage, and Matthew chapter XII, except for Theodoret and Eusebius, book IX of the Demonstration, chapter XV, who explain it thus: Christ will foretell to the Gentiles the coming general judgment of God, so that all may look to their own interests and prepare themselves for it. This is true, but in the anagogical sense.
Procopius notes that Christ's Gospel is called "judgment" because the Jews used to call their old law "judgment": but to the old law, as to its type and shadow, the Gospel succeeded, as the truth. Whence with greater reason the truth of the Gospel is called "judgment," that is, justice and the judging of what is right, than the shadow of the Mosaic law: for it teaches a greater, more divine, and more sublime justice and perfection than that law. Again, Christ was a far greater lawgiver than Moses. This is what "He will bring forth judgment" means, that is, He will render justice. For this is a periphrasis of royal and imperial power. Hence even now in the Church Christ renders justice through His Pontiffs and ministers. Whence, since princes and kings have taken the name of Christ for themselves, they should not think they can exercise judgments, judge cases justly, and render just law, as is fitting, unless they have first fulfilled the law of Christ. Again, when Christian kings have disputes among themselves, they should seek judgment from Christ, that is, from His vicar on earth, and stand by it and obey, rather than declare their own right by arms. For to this end Christ left a head of the Christian Church after Himself on earth.
Verse 2: He will not cry out — He will not be clamorous, nor contentious: whence Matthew, XII, 19, translates, 'He will not contend.' The Prophet here teaches that Christ would be most gentle, and would teach...
2. He will not cry out — He will not be clamorous, nor contentious: whence Matthew, XII, 19, translates, 'He will not contend.' The Prophet here teaches that Christ would be most gentle, and would teach and rule His own in the most gentle manner. For this is what the threefold repetition of the same thing in St. Matthew signifies, when he says: 'He will not contend, nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.'
Nor will He accept persons. — Note that there can be several versions of the same passage of Sacred Scripture, not only literal explanations, but also translations, as I have shown elsewhere. Thus here in Hebrew אלו ישא lo iissa, that is, 'He will not lift up.' St. Matthew, supplying 'voice,' that is, His voice, translates, 'He will not contend.' Our translator, here supplying panim, that is, face, meaning 'person,' translates, 'He will not accept persons.' Both of these versions, therefore, are canonical and intended by the Holy Spirit.
Thirdly, Symmachus, according to St. Jerome, translating 'He will not be deceived,' read: ישא iusscha with shin, from the root nascha, that is, 'he deceived.'
Fourthly, the Seventy, translating 'He will not forsake,' namely the Jewish people, read ישא issca with sin, from the root נשא nassa, that is, 'he forgot.' Furthermore, according to our version, in Christ the judge there is here commended, along with gentleness, also sincerity and rectitude, by which without respect of persons He will render justice to each one.
Verse 3: A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not extinguish. — St. Jerome by 'reed' understands a pipe, or flute, which was formerly melodious but when bruised produces a discordant soun...
3. A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not extinguish. — St. Jerome by 'reed' understands a pipe, or flute, which was formerly melodious but when bruised produces a discordant sound and is therefore cast aside. But it is better to take 'reed' here generally in any sense: for St. Matthew renders 'calamus' as 'arundo' (reed).
Again, Delrio aptly explains at adage 772 that by 'flax' is meant the wick, or linen lamp-wick that gives off smoke, the flame not yet prevailing or already fading. Hence also the Syriac for 'flax' translates 'lamp,' namely the linen wick of a lamp. For it renders: 'and a smoking lamp (which is about to be extinguished) He will not extinguish;' and the Arabic: 'a lamp that gives light He will not extinguish.' For thus often the material is put for the thing made from it, as 'linen' for nets, 'iron' for fetters, 'wood' for stocks, 'gold' for a golden ring, 'silver' for money, 'stones' for weights.
Thus the ancients, especially the Romans, did not extinguish the lit wicks of their lamps, but allowed them to languish and fail on their own. Plutarch investigates and assigns the reasons for this in Problems of the Romans, chapter LXXV: 'Is it,' he says, 'as if they were honoring something akin and related to that inextinguishable and immortal fire? Or is this also a sign that one should not destroy or kill what is alive, unless it does harm, as if fire were a living thing? And not without reason. For fire needs nourishment, moves on its own, and when extinguished, emits a sound. Or are we taught by this custom that we should not waste or consume water, fire, or any of those things that serve daily use, even if they are abundantly available, but should leave them for the needy to use, since we ourselves no longer have need of them?'
Here, then, is a twofold proverb, signifying Christ's supreme gentleness: for men cast aside a bruised reed because it is useless, and because it pricks and injures the holder with its fractures and splinters. Similarly, flax, or a wick that is not burning and scarcely gives light but only smokes, which harms both eyes and nostrils (for it stinks), they quickly extinguish. But Christ will be of such great patience that He will do neither, as if to say: Christ will be so patient and gentle that the bruised reed and the smoking flax —
— in which some light and fire still remains, that is, those who are weak and feeble in faith, hope, and charity, He will not cast aside, nor contentiously nor clamorously rebuke and oppress, but by His gentleness He will sustain them, cherish them, heal them, and rekindle them. So St. Jerome, Procopius, Cyril, and Hilary, on Matthew XII. Hence also St. Chrysostom interprets: 'Christ will not take vengeance on His enemies.'
Maldonatus explains somewhat differently, as if to say: Christ will walk so gently, quietly, and attentively that even if He walked upon a bruised reed, He would not break it; or if He trod upon smoking flax and tow, He would not extinguish it. That this is the sense is clear from Matthew XII, 18. For when the Pharisees, envying the miracles of Christ, took counsel to destroy Him, Christ withdrew from there and healed very many of those who followed Him, whom He commanded not to make Him known, 'that it might be fulfilled,' says Matthew at verse 17, 'which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: Behold My child whom I have chosen, etc., He will not contend, etc., a bruised reed He will not break.' The Pharisees, therefore, were a bruised reed, but one that still retained the appearance of integrity: wherefore Christ did not wish to drive them, thus provoked, into fury and utterly destroy them — which He would have done had He persisted in His work when He saw them growing angry and not departed from there, says Forerius. But departing and unmindful of the injury, He went on to heal the sick (who themselves were also a bruised reed). So St. Gregory, book XXXIII of the Morals, chapter III: 'The bruised reed,' he says, 'is the royal house, which had already failed among the Jews; for a foreigner (Herod) possessed their kingdom. And what is expressed by the flax, but their priesthood, which indeed used linen garments? Because at the coming of the Lord it had lost the ardor of charity, as if having already lost the fire of faith, it was not burning but smoking. Christ did not break the one nor extinguish the other: because He struck neither with the power of judgment, but tolerated both with the long-suffering of patience.'
Morally, let the Christian learn here from Christ to bear patiently the habits, weaknesses, and vices of his neighbors, indeed to return good for evil, just as Christ here, when the Jews were plotting His death, nevertheless did not cease to cure their sick. Therefore, when the flax, that is, weak people, smoke against you, endure and patiently bear it: give way to the smoke, that is, to anger: for it will extinguish itself by its own heat most quickly. For all human virtue, even royal virtue, is the tail of a smoking firebrand, as Isaiah says of Rasin king of Syria and Phacee king of Samaria in chapter VII, 4. Hear St. Basil in the Shorter Rules, Response 291: 'Who,' he says, 'is the bruised reed, or the smoking flax? and how does one not break the one nor extinguish the other?' He answers: 'Certainly I think by the bruised reed is meant the one who does not carry out the commandment of God with the sincerity of soul that is required —
— whom it is fitting not to crush nor cut off, but rather to heal, as the Lord taught when He said: Take heed that you do not perform your almsgiving before men, to be seen by them. And in another place: Nothing through contention or vainglory. The smoking flax, however, is whenever someone carries out the commandment, but not with burning desire or full zeal, but somewhat sluggishly and slowly; who therefore should not be frightened off, but rather roused by the continual reminder of God's judgments and His promises.'
Again, let Prelates, Pastors, and Princes learn from Christ that their proper virtue is clemency and mercy. The Emperor Justinian says splendidly in the last book of the Code, On Donations between husband and wife: 'Nothing else,' he says, 'is so peculiar to imperial majesty as clemency and humanity, through which alone the imitation of God is preserved.' Pliny in his Panegyric to Trajan: 'It belongs to the prince,' he says, 'to test our characters with benefits rather than with remedies.' Seneca, book I On Clemency: 'In bees,' he says, 'we see that the king has no sting. For nature did not wish him to be cruel, nor to seek a vengeance that would cost him dearly: she drew out his weapon and left his anger unarmed. This is a great example for great kings.' Solomon, Proverbs chapter XX, 28: 'His throne is strengthened by clemency,' namely the king's. Ennodius in his Panegyric to Theodoric: 'Let your spirit be flexible, always inclined toward pardon.' And Ovid:
Let the prince be slow to punish, swift to reward.
Julius Caesar, in his letter to Oppius, book IX To Atticus: 'This is a new method of conquering: to fortify yourself with mercy and generosity.' Do you want examples? Julius Caesar pardoned Brutus and the others who had supported the party of Pompey against him. Likewise, when conspiracies against him were detected, he did not prosecute them further than to show by edict that they were known to him, and regarding those who spoke bitterly against him, he thought it sufficient to announce publicly that they should desist. 'Hannibal,' says Livy, book XXI, 'in the beginning of his enterprises applied himself to one thing above all: to gather a reputation for clemency.'
Charlemagne decreed that all lords should treat their subjects with clemency: 'Knowing,' he said, 'that they are their brothers, and that they have the same Father as Lord, to whom all cry out: Our Father who art in heaven.'
Nero, clement at the beginning of his reign, when asked by the Prefect to sign the condemnation of two men, exclaimed: 'Would that I did not know how to write!'
Alexander Severus, when his mother Mammea and his wife Memmia reproached him for excessive clemency, saying: 'You have made your power softer and more contemptible;' replied: 'But safer and more lasting.' So Spartianus relates.
Titus, as Suetonius testifies, bore with two patricians convicted of aspiring to the empire, and merely warned them to desist, saying only this: 'The principate is given by fate.'
Marcus Antoninus, when his wife Faustina demanded the punishment of the accomplices of the conspiracy of Avidius Cassius, wrote back to her thus: 'I will indeed spare both his children, and his son-in-law, and his wife; for nothing commends an Emperor to the nations better than clemency. This made Caesar a god; this consecrated Augustus; this especially adorned your father. Be secure, therefore: the gods protect me; my piety is dear to the gods.'
In truth He will bring forth judgment. — That is, He will bring forth just judgment; or "judgment," that is, He will establish and sanction the true and solid Evangelical law. Forerius translates: He will cause judgment to go forth into truth (that is, He will bring forth and promulgate it), as if to say: He will pronounce sentence for truth, or in cases He will bring it about that truth is the end, and that truth may shine forth and conquer, which He will bring forth into the world as a queen and place upon her rightful throne, as I will say shortly.
Verse 4: He will not be sad, nor turbulent. — In Hebrew לו יכחה ולו ירוץ lo tiche velo taruts: which Aquila and Theodotion translate literally as 'He will not grow dim, or dark, and He will not run,' that is,...
4. He will not be sad, nor turbulent. — In Hebrew לו יכחה ולו ירוץ lo tiche velo taruts: which Aquila and Theodotion translate literally as 'He will not grow dim, or dark, and He will not run,' that is, as St. Jerome says, Christ will frighten no one with sadness of His countenance, nor will He hasten to punishment, because He reserved the truth of judgment for the last time. Secondly, St. Jerome translates: He will not have a dark countenance, that is, He will not be sad, nor will He rush headlong, that is, He will not be carried along like a whirlwind; He will not be turbulent, but with the greatest maturity and prudence He will judge all matters and causes, as if to say: Christ will never be gloomy, sad, morose, or sluggish; neither will He ever be too cheerful, frivolous, or hasty, but as master of Himself and His passions, He will preserve equanimity of countenance and the tranquility of all His movements at all times — which the Gentiles falsely boast of Socrates, says St. Jerome.
Thirdly, the Chaldean translates: He will not be weary, nor will He toil, as if to say: Christ will not become exhausted from excessive zeal or labor, but will accomplish all things easily and as it were without labor, until He establishes His judgment on the earth.
Fourthly, Vatablus translates: He will not hallucinate, or He will not smoke, that is, He will not be extinguished; nor will He be headlong, or He will not be shattered (so that taruts is the future from רצץ ratsats, that is, to crush), that is, Christ will not die, He will not suffer until He has published His Gospel.
Fifthly, the Seventy translate, as if to say: He will not smoke, but ἀναλάμψει καὶ οὐ θραυσθήσεται, that is, He will shine forth and will not be broken, meaning, as Hilary says in his Prologue to the Psalms: Christ will not smoke, that is, He will not remain long extinguished, but just as lamps that are extinguished, lest they smoke for long, are immediately relit, so Christ on the third day will revive and shine forth again, that is, He will again irradiate the whole world with a light more brilliant than before. For in the Greek it is not λάμψει but ἀναλάμψει, that is, He will shine again, as Procopius notes. So also St. Jerome and Cyril.
Somewhat differently, St. Augustine, book XX of the City of God, chapter XXX: 'His face shone,' he says, 'on the mountain; His fame in the world, and He was not broken or crushed; because neither in Himself nor in His Church did He yield to the persecutors so as to desist.' These words could also be referred to the smoking flax and the bruised reed. For Christ will not break the one nor extinguish the other, but will cause it to shine forth, that is, to be kindled and give light again.
Finally, the Seventy can be reconciled with our translator so that they say the same thing: for a serene and shining face indicates cheerfulness of spirit and that a person is not sad. Again, for the face not to be crushed, the countenance not to fall nor be distorted, signifies that a person is not turbulent but composed in spirit.
In sum, by these words it is signified that Christ would have a calm and constant countenance, which would neither be contracted by adversity of events nor dissolved by prosperity, but persevering always in the same tenor, would signify a tranquil state of mind and constancy of spirit in the same gentleness and modesty. Christ, therefore, was not sad, that is, gloomy: yet He did assume sorrow and grief of spirit in His passion for our sins. Hence He Himself says: 'My soul is sorrowful even unto death,' Matthew XXVI, 38. Therefore Cleon spoke wrongly in Thucydides, book III: 'Three things are most harmful to empire: pity, fair-speaking, and leniency.' For, as Claudian says in the Panegyric of Mallius:
Tranquil power accomplishes What violent power cannot: and commanding repose Urges mandates more forcefully.
So placid, serene, and shining was the countenance of the most gentle Moses, as is clear from Exodus XXXIV, 29. Much more so Christ, whose face in the transfiguration 'shone like the sun,' Matthew XVII, 2. So also St. Anthony, as Athanasius testifies, from prayer, tranquility, and joy of mind, had a countenance radiant like the sun, so that among three thousand monks, Anthony alone could be recognized by those who had never seen him, solely by these rays and the constant cheerfulness of his countenance.
Similar rays in the countenance were seen in St. Francis while praying, in our Holy Father Ignatius, and in other Saints. For these rays were the symbol and effect of the serenity, joy, and interior light with which their minds were flooded by God.
These words, 'He will not be sad, nor turbulent,' St. Matthew omitted at chapter XII, 18, when citing this passage, because they seem to be sufficiently contained in the preceding and following words; although St. Jerome thinks they were omitted through the carelessness and error of copyists.
Until He establishes judgment on the earth — that is, Christ will not cease throughout His entire life, even unto death, with His patience, gentleness, and constancy to instruct and teach men, until He establishes on earth the Evangelical law of humility, patience, and holiness, and teaches how one must live from it humbly, piously, justly, and holily. St. Matthew translates: 'Until He casts forth judgment unto victory,' that is, until He brings judgment, that is, justice, or Evangelical faith and holiness, to victory, so that it may reign over the whole world. And so our translator can be understood: until He establishes judgment on the earth, that is, until He places judgment on earth as in its kingdom and on its throne, as a queen and mistress; this is what Christ says, John XII, 31: 'Now is the judgment of the world; now the prince of this world shall be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to Myself.' It seems that St. Matthew wrote in Hebrew, or rather Syro-Hebrew, זכיתא zekita, which signifies both purity (and truth) and victory: which the translator in Matthew took as victory, while in Isaiah it is 'truth,' says Maldonatus; but the sense comes to the same thing. Again, Irenaeus, book III Against Heresies, chapter XI, reads thus: Until He sends forth judgment unto contention. He seems to have read in St. Matthew, instead of נצח, that is, victory, the word דין, that is, contention, as if to say: Christ with His Evangelical law will contend with the law of Solon, Lycurgus, Pythagoras, and the other laws of the Romans, Greeks, and Gentiles —
— which natural light, or rather blindness, partly introduced into the world, and partly ambition, avarice, and lust: all of which He Himself will overcome, overthrow, and abolish, and will bring it about that His judgment, that is, His law, His Gospel, may everywhere conquer and triumph.
See here by what arms Christ introduced His kingdom and His law into the world, namely patience, gentleness, long-suffering: by these He subjected all nations to Himself. Had He been arrogant, headlong, impatient, He would have turned all away from Himself and His law. In like manner the Romans possessed every place by their counsel and patience, 1 Maccabees VIII, 3. With the same arms the Apostles propagated this kingdom and law of Christ, as St. Paul teaches, 2 Corinthians VI, 4: 'Let us exhibit ourselves,' he says, 'as ministers of God, in much patience.'
Let those, then, who now and henceforth desire to recall and restore Christian discipline, consider with what arms they should proceed equipped.
The islands will await His law. — He calls islands 'islanders,' that is, even the most remote nations, dwelling across the sea and on islands, as if to say: The law of Moses was confined to one corner of Judea; but the judgment and law of Christ will be propagated even to the islands, that is, to all nations and to the ends of the earth. Hence the Seventy, whom St. Matthew follows at chapter XII, verse 21, translate: 'In His name the Gentiles will hope.' The name of God is God Himself. It is a Hebraism. Forerius notes that in these words the word 'until,' which preceded, can be repeated, as if to say: Until or so long as the islands await His instruction, and the whole world becomes subject to God. I will say more about this at chapter LI, verse 5.
Verse 5: Thus says the Lord God, who creates the heavens. — Here the Prophet breaks out into praises and declarations of divine power, because he is still disputing with idols and idolaters, as will be evident...
5. Thus says the Lord God, who creates the heavens. — Here the Prophet breaks out into praises and declarations of divine power, because he is still disputing with idols and idolaters, as will be evident at verse 9, and because he promises great and mighty salvation through Christ, as if to say: Do not marvel that I promise great things to Christians; for I am omnipotent, 'giving breath to the people and spirit.' First, St. Athanasius, in his disputation Against Arius at the Council of Nicaea, takes 'spirit' as wind; second, St. Basil, in his book On the Holy Spirit, chapter XXI; Irenaeus, book V, and St. Jerome, St. Thomas, Haymo, and Procopius here take 'breath' as the soul and the respiration by which man breathes and lives; but by 'spirit' they understand the Holy Spirit; for this is given 'to those who tread upon the earth,' that is, to those who trample earthly things, who are above the earth, whose conversation is in heaven. This sense is more subtle, and is symbolic and moral rather than literal.
Thirdly, therefore, and in the genuine sense, 'breath' here is the same as spirit, namely the soul. For it is the same thing to say: 'Giving breath to the people who are upon it,' as 'and spirit to those who walk upon it.' So St. Cyril, Hugo, and Dionysius.
Verse 6: I the Lord have called You in justice — that is, unto justice. He speaks of Christ, as will be evident from what follows. Therefore Hugo wrongly takes these words of Cyrus in this sense, as if to say:...
6. I the Lord have called You in justice — that is, unto justice. He speaks of Christ, as will be evident from what follows. Therefore Hugo wrongly takes these words of Cyrus in this sense, as if to say: Cyrus was called by God 'in justice,' namely to justly punish the Chaldeans; and 'as a covenant,' to liberate the Jews. Furthermore, 'in justice,' that is, with justice and endowed with the highest justice, or unto justice, as the Seventy translate, as if to say: I have raised You, O Christ, for this purpose, that You might raise up and restore the justice that had collapsed in an impious and unjust land, and that You, being just, might justify and sanctify others. Hence it follows: 'I have given You as a covenant,' etc. So the interpreters commonly explain. And this is the genuine sense.
Secondly, 'in justice,' that is, so that My justice and faithfulness might appear to the whole world, by which, just as I promised You, O Christ, to the Patriarchs, so also I have in reality presented You, say St. Thomas and Adam.
Thirdly, 'in justice,' that is, with the goodness with which I am endowed I raised You up and caused You to be born on earth. So Forerius.
I have taken Your hand (that is, I favored, sustained, and led You through all hardships) and preserved You — unharmed among enemies, amid so many dangers, indeed even in death, lest You remain in it, but that You might soon rise as the conqueror of death, and through it save and free many from eternal death.
I have given You as a covenant of the people, as a light of the Gentiles. — Christ was given to the people of God, that is, to the Jews, 'as a covenant,' because He had been promised to them. Hence the Septuagint Complutenses translate: I have given You as a covenant of the race of Israel; but to the Gentiles He was given 'as a light,' because He had not been promised to them. A similar passage is chapter XLIX, verse 6. This is what Simeon sings: 'The salvation,' that is, Christ the Savior, was given as 'a light for the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel,' Luke II, 32.
Furthermore, Christ was given to the Jews 'as a covenant,' that is, to fulfill the pact and promise of God concerning the sending of the Messiah. Again, 'as a covenant,' that is, as Forerius explains, for reconciliation, so that the Jews —
— and thence might reconcile all the Gentiles to God, and between them and God might sanction a new covenant, namely the New Testament, and establish that most joyful inheritance to be given to those who are faithful and obedient to Him and His Gospel. See what was said at 1 Corinthians XI, 25, and Jeremiah XXXI, 31.
Wherefore by the people of Israel can be understood all the faithful, both Gentiles and Jews; for these are the spiritual Israel and the race, that is, the children of God. For to all these Christ established this new covenant and testament, so that it is practically the same thing: 'I have given You as a covenant of the people,' as 'I have given You as a light of the Gentiles,' namely that You might illumine all the Gentiles and teach them the true faith in God, the true religion, and the way to eternal salvation and beatitude. For this is the sum, scope, and end of the entire New Testament.
Verse 7: That You might open the eyes of the blind. — These are the marks and signs of the Messiah, which Christ accordingly brought forth, and from them demonstrated to the disciples of St. John that He was t...
7. That You might open the eyes of the blind. — These are the marks and signs of the Messiah, which Christ accordingly brought forth, and from them demonstrated to the disciples of St. John that He was the Messiah, Matthew XI, 5. Furthermore, these things are to be understood of the blind, the bound, etc., more spiritually than corporally; for it explains the phrase 'I have given You as a light of the Gentiles,' namely that You might open the eyes of the mind of the Gentiles, blinded by the darkness of unbelief and ignorance, so that they might see and know God and Christ. This is what Zechariah sings: 'To illuminate those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,' Luke I, 79. For unbelief and sin are darkness and the shadow of death; they are also a prison and chains by which sinners are miserably held bound by the devil. This is what is meant by: 'That You might bring forth from confinement,' that is, from the prison in which he is enclosed, 'the prisoner.'
Verse 8: I am the Lord, this is My name. — In Hebrew: I am Jehovah, this is My name. 'Jehovah' is the proper name of God, the same as: 'I am who I am.' See what was said at Exodus III, 14, and chapter VI, vers...
8. I am the Lord, this is My name. — In Hebrew: I am Jehovah, this is My name. 'Jehovah' is the proper name of God, the same as: 'I am who I am.' See what was said at Exodus III, 14, and chapter VI, verse 3.
Therefore God here, having already recounted the benefits and miracles He had formerly promised and bestowed upon Abraham and his posterity; and secondly, having predicted what He was most recently about to bestow upon the whole world through Christ, the son of Abraham — which two things He had proposed in the preceding chapter as seals and invincible proofs of His divinity — as if after a victory won in a trial against idols and idolaters, with no one contradicting, joyfully ascribes to Himself the glory of Divinity and the name of God, Jehovah, not to permit this glory and this name to be given to another. So Forerius. This is what He adds: 'The things that were first,' etc.
My glory I will not give to another (He does not say 'to anyone,' lest He exclude the Son; for the Father communicated His glory to Him, as He Himself says, John XVII, 1; but 'to another,' namely one who is of another essence and nature, e.g., to idols; hence explaining He adds): nor My praise to graven images. — So St. Jerome. See St. Bernard, sermon 13 on the Song of Songs, throughout which he teaches that glory belongs to God alone, where among other things he says: 'My glory I will not give to another. What then will You give us, Lord, what will You give us? Peace, He says, I give you; peace I leave you. It suffices me: I gratefully accept what You leave, and I leave what You retain; thus it pleases me, thus I do not doubt it is in my interest. I utterly renounce glory, lest perhaps if I usurp what is not granted, I lose what is rightfully offered. I want peace, I desire peace, and nothing more. He for whom peace does not suffice, for him You do not suffice. For You are our peace, etc. To You, Lord, to You may Your glory remain inviolate. All is well with me, if I have peace.'
Verse 9: The things that were first, behold they have come: new things also I announce, before they spring forth. — This is the conclusion of the disputation with idols and idolaters, as if to say: What I form...
9. The things that were first, behold they have come: new things also I announce, before they spring forth. — This is the conclusion of the disputation with idols and idolaters, as if to say: What I formerly promised to Abraham, Moses, and the other Prophets, and foretold through them, has now come to pass; whence you can conjecture that those things which I foretell and announce through Isaiah and the other Prophets, as My Evangelists, concerning Christ the son of Abraham, and concerning His glory, Gospel, testament, calling of the Gentiles, etc., will likewise come to pass, and I will bring it about that they do. What then remains, except that, abandoning idols, you worship Me alone as God, and believe in My Christ when He comes, and submit yourselves to Him? So Forerius and Sanchez. Wherefore, as if after the victory and triumph of God, the Prophet bursts forth into His song of triumph, and at the same time into praise and thanksgiving, because through Christ He has already destined salvation and such great benefits for the world, saying:
Verse 10: Sing to the Lord a new canticle — as if to say: I announce to you new and unheard-of benefits through Christ, O Gentiles! namely liberation from the yoke of sin and the devil, remission of sins, recon...
10. Sing to the Lord a new canticle — as if to say: I announce to you new and unheard-of benefits through Christ, O Gentiles! namely liberation from the yoke of sin and the devil, remission of sins, reconciliation with God, grace and eternal glory: therefore it is fitting that with me you sing a new and most joyful canticle from the depths of your heart.
His praise (supply: let it be heard, celebrated, and resound) from the ends of the earth. — The Seventy translate: His principality is glorified, and His name from the summit of the earth. For so St. Jerome reads, although the Roman edition of Caraffa reads: His principality; glorify His name from the summit of the earth.
You who go down to the sea (Repeat by zeugma 'Sing to the Lord,' which preceded. Those who go down to the sea are called sailors and islanders; they are said to descend because the land, especially at the shore, is higher than the sea). And its fullness (namely of the sea, that is, as follows) the islands. — For these fill the sea, just as cities and villages fill the land; not entirely, nor completely, but as a gem in a ring fills its setting, and is thus said to fill the ring; for from this it is called in Hebrew מילו melo, as it is here in the Hebrew, that is, fullness. So Sanchez.
Furthermore, the islands praise God with a mute voice, as do all inanimate creatures. Again, through their inhabitants they praise God; hence 'islands' can be taken as islanders, so that the 'and' which follows is exegetical, meaning, that is, their inhabitants.
Secondly, for 'its fullness,' the Seventy translate 'those who sail upon it,' as if to say: You who fill the sea with your ships and merchandise.
Thirdly, 'the fullness of the sea' can be taken simply for the full and vast sea itself, with its fish, pearls, and other things it contains. For thus inanimate things are invited to the praise of God by the Psalmist, Psalm CXLVIII, and by the three youths, Daniel chapter III.
Verse 11: Let the desert be lifted up. — Judea has the sea to the West, and the desert to the South — both of Palestine and of Arabia. Therefore, just as shortly before he invited the sea and islands, that is,...
11. Let the desert be lifted up. — Judea has the sea to the West, and the desert to the South — both of Palestine and of Arabia. Therefore, just as shortly before he invited the sea and islands, that is, the Western nations crowded with cities and inhabitants, so here he invites the Southern desert peoples to the praise of God. He says therefore: 'Let the desert be lifted up,' as if to say: the Kedarenes, Arabs, and other nations dwelling in the desert, and indeed the entire Gentile world hitherto desolate and depressed, let it now raise itself up, leap and exult with joy, and, as Forerius and Vatablus translate, lift up and raise its voice, and shout for joy to God. He adds the reason:
In houses Cedar will dwell. — Just as we call a barbarous man a 'Scythian,' so the Hebrews called him 'Cedar' or 'Kedarene.' For 'Cedar' were the wild Arabs, brigands and barbarians, who did not dwell in houses in a fixed place, but living in tents wandered about everywhere and devoured everything, as I will discuss at Jeremiah XLIX, 28. By these, therefore, he means all uncultivated, rustic, and barbarous nations, who are also called 'Pagans,' because they come πρὸς τὰς παγάς (for in Doric παγάς is said for πηγάς), that is, to springs, as wild beasts do, who generally live alone but when pressed by thirst come together at springs. Pagans, then, were so called as those drinking from the same spring. So Perottus from Festus and Baronius in the Martyrology, January 31, where he also adds that from this the heathens were called Pagans in the time of the Emperor Constantine, because when the idolaters were excluded from the cities by him, they withdrew to villages and country estates, and there secretly worshipped their idols. The sense, therefore, is as if to say: Through Christ the Pagans will cease to be Pagans; they will dwell not in tents but in houses. This we see literally fulfilled today in Brazil and all the West Indies.
Again, as if to say: The barbarous and wandering nations, living through all manner of idols and vices in the darkness of unbelief ('Cedar' also signifies darkness, as being blind, dreadful, and therefore dark and black; hence the Poet: 'He hid them in dark caves;' for he calls 'dark' what is deep, by metalepsis; for deep places seem to be dark: so St. Jerome), will dwell permanently in houses, that is, in Churches, indeed in one house, that is, in the same common Church. So St. Jerome.
Praise, you inhabitants of Petra. — 'Petra,' that is, of rocks, says Sanchez. Hence Vatablus translates: let those who inhabit the heights of rocks rejoice, as if to say: The barbarians who dwell in cliffs and mountains, as well as in Cedar and desert places, removed from men, rustic and wild — these will be converted to the Church and will praise God. Secondly, 'Petra' here can properly be taken as the city and capital of Arabia, from which Arabia Petraea takes its name. Now by synecdoche through Petra he means all of Arabia. So Cyril, Haymo, and Hugo. For Arabia is threefold, namely Desert, Felix, and Petraea. He predicts its conversion because it was near Judea, uncultivated and barbarous, as if to say: No region, however wild and barbarous, such as Arabia, will be inaccessible to the Gospel, nor not subject to it; and because in it the Christian religion flourished. For in Arabia St. Paul preached, Galatians I, 17; from Arabia the three Magi came to the newborn Christ. There also the Homerite Martyrs distinguished themselves in constancy of faith under the tyrant Dunaan in the time of the Emperor Justin and Pope Hormisdas, concerning whom see Baronius, volume VII — until Mohammed, born in Arabia Petraea and buried there in Mecca, drew the Arabs to his sect.
They will cry from the top of the mountains. — It could be more congruously translated, to match the 'praise' which preceded, with Vatablus and Forerius: Let them cry out and applaud — just as in what follows, one could read 'let them give' instead of 'they will give.' For he invites and rouses them to the praise of God. But prophetically our translator more aptly renders it in the future tense, 'they will cry out.' For the Prophet foresaw that the Gentiles, roused by this voice of his as well as by the heralds of the Gospel, would actually cry out and give applause to Christ and the Gospel; this is what he says:
Verse 12: They will give (that is, render) glory to the Lord, and will declare His praise in the islands (that is, among remote nations) — as if to say: Not only will they themselves praise God in their own lan...
12. They will give (that is, render) glory to the Lord, and will declare His praise in the islands (that is, among remote nations) — as if to say: Not only will they themselves praise God in their own land, but throughout the whole East and South they will carry the knowledge and proclamation of God, and will be as it were Apostles and Evangelists of Christ.
Verse 13: The Lord shall go forth as a mighty one (Forerius translates, as a giant). — He gives the reason why the Gentiles will give glory to the Lord: namely because He Himself, as a mighty warrior and triump...
13. The Lord shall go forth as a mighty one (Forerius translates, as a giant). — He gives the reason why the Gentiles will give glory to the Lord: namely because He Himself, as a mighty warrior and triumpher, will go forth to war, namely to overthrow idols and every kind of sin and vice, as well as the Jews, tyrants, philosophers, and all His enemies. Therefore, here is signified the admirable and magnificent victory of God and the Gospel through Christ, who exulted and ran as a giant to overthrow the kingdom of sin and the devil; so that He, the stronger one, coming upon the strong armed man who was the prince of this world, might drive him from the world, and either confound, destroy, or convert all his followers. More aptly, St. Cyril and Procopius take 'the mighty one' as God, who accomplished this very thing through Christ. The sense, therefore, comes to the same.
Anagogically, St. Cyprian, in his book On the Good of Patience, at the end, and St. Augustine on Psalm LXVIII, refer all these things to the last judgment; for then Christ will drive all His enemies — demons, tyrants, and the reprobate — into hell.
Like a man of war He will stir up His zeal. — The redemption of Christ is attributed in Scripture to the zeal of God and of Christ, and signifies Their indignation against the devil, arising from love toward men. For God was indignant that men, such
— noble creatures of His, whom He had created in His own image, were torn from Him and tyrannically possessed by the devil. This is what is said in Joel II, 18: 'The Lord was zealous for His land;' Zechariah I, 14: 'I am zealous for Jerusalem and Zion with a great zeal;' and chapter VIII, 2: 'With great indignation I have been zealous for her;' Isaiah IX, 7: 'The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.' For during so many past centuries the zeal of God seemed to grow cold, as if He did not care for the salvation of men, nor for His own affairs and His own honor, when everywhere impiety and the kingdom of Satan prevailed. Therefore the Lord stirred up His cry, His zeal, and His indignation when He sent His Son, and the Son Himself when He descended to us, says Forerius. Do you wish to know who, and of what kind, and how powerful zeal is in God, the Angels, and the Saints? Hear: 'By zeal,' says St. Ambrose on Psalm CXVIII, sermon 18, 'Jerusalem is vindicated, by zeal the Church is gathered, by zeal faith is acquired, by zeal chastity is possessed;' and again: 'Zeal is charity; strong as death is charity, hard as hell is zeal. Hard is the zeal which no allurement of this life can overcome. Hard as hell, through which we die to sin that we may live to God. The Angels also without zeal are nothing, and they lose the prerogative of their substance unless they sustain it by the ardor of zeal;' and Hugo: 'Zeal,' he says, 'is a fervor of the soul inclined toward compassion of nature, vengeance for sin, and the devotion of grace; zeal therefore profitably scourges the slave, wholesomely corrects the son, carefully and faithfully preserves the marriage bond: the slave by vengeance, the son by compassion, the marriage by devotion;' St. Augustine, tract 10 on John: 'Let the zeal of God,' he says, 'consume every Christian, so that as far as it lies in him he may suffer nothing perverse. You see a brother running to the theater: forbid him, admonish him, grieve, if the zeal of God's house consumes you. You see others running, wanting to get drunk, and wanting to do this in holy places, which should be done nowhere: forbid those you can, be gentle with those you can, do not be quiet; yet, if he is a friend, let him be admonished gently; if it is a wife, let her be restrained most severely; if it is a handmaid, let her even be chastised with blows;' but more divinely, St. Dionysius, On the Divine Names, chapter IV: 'More divine,' he says, 'is the name of love than of affection. And the divine Ignatius writes: My Love is crucified. Moreover, divine love is ecstatic, not allowing the lovers to be their own, but to belong to the beloved. Such was the love Paul had when he said: I live, now not I, but Christ lives in me.' He teaches that from this love and ecstasy God is called 'the Zealous One,' 'as having a great love for existing things, and as the arouser of His loving desire' — that is, spiritual desire and holy longing, or for the desired thing which He Himself loves and desires — 'and as showing Himself zealous, and zealous for the things He desires.' And St. Thomas, I-II, Question XXVIII, article 4: 'Zeal,' he says, 'arises from the intensity of love. For it is manifest that the more intensely a power tends toward something, the more strongly it repels everything contrary or
opposing. Since, therefore, love is a certain motion toward the beloved, as St. Augustine says in book LXXXIII of the Questions, intense love seeks to exclude everything that opposes it; and this is zeal, just as a husband is zealous for his wife, lest through the companionship of others the exclusiveness which he seeks in his wife be hindered.'
He shall shout and cry out. — Soldiers are accustomed to shout in battle, to encourage one another and to strike terror into the enemy: so God through Christ and the Apostles will cry out against idols and sins and overthrow them, and when they are overthrown, He will shout and sound the cry of triumph. So St. Cyril, Procopius, and others; although St. Jerome and St. Thomas refer these things to the destruction of the Jews by Titus. This cry, therefore, signifies the efficacy of the preaching of Christ and the Gospel, but without strife and mental agitation. For he took this away from Christ when he said at verse 2: 'He will not cry out.'
Verse 14: I have always been silent. — This is a mimesis and prosopopoeia. For the Prophet imitates the words of God and introduces Him speaking, as if to say: I, God, for many centuries have permitted demons t...
14. I have always been silent. — This is a mimesis and prosopopoeia. For the Prophet imitates the words of God and introduces Him speaking, as if to say: I, God, for many centuries have permitted demons to rage against men, and idols and vices to dominate the nations: no longer will I bear it, no longer will I endure it, no longer will I be silent; but I will speak like a woman in labor, who from the force of the pain with which she strains to bring forth her child, groans and roars. So also I, roaring, will thunder against My enemies, and will rebuke them, condemn them, and strike them with lightning. Hence it follows:
I will lay waste, and swallow up — that is, I will desolate and devour all My enemies at once. It can, secondly, be translated with Vatablus and Forerius: I will gasp and swallow up together, that is, panting, and with frequent gasps I will breathe out and breathe in, exhale and inhale — which is the manner of those who are wearied, either by labor or by grief and anguish of spirit, as if to say: I will inflict such slaughter upon My enemies that from sheer exhaustion, panting, I must breathe out and breathe in at once. Forerius takes these words yet another way and translates in the past tense: I was gasping and breathing in, as referring to the time that preceded the vengeance and redemption, as if to say: I was silent for a long time, though indignant, and therefore sighing, groaning, and panting — which is the same as what the Apostle says, Romans IX, 22: 'He endured in much patience vessels of wrath fitted for destruction.' And therefore, no longer able to bear it, I will speak like a woman in labor and burst forth into fierce vengeance. For, as Cicero says: 'A strong man never groans, except perhaps to brace himself for firmness,' namely to strike more forcefully and deliver a more powerful blow. Therefore, just as the timid but boastful 'are lions in peace, deer in battle,' so on the contrary the truly strong 'are deer in peace, lions in battle.'
Verse 15: I will make the mountains desolate (on which were the high places, that is, altars and temples of idols), and I will turn rivers into islands — that is, into dry land, as if to say: I will dry up the...
15. I will make the mountains desolate (on which were the high places, that is, altars and temples of idols), and I will turn rivers into islands — that is, into dry land, as if to say: I will dry up the rivers and pools. For the Gentiles worshipped their gods on mountains, in forests, and by rivers because of their pleasantness and delights, having erected altars. Indeed, they adored mountains, springs, and rivers as gods and sacrificed to them. Just as Aeneas sacrificed to the Tiber, Aeneid VIII. So Horace testifies that a kid used to be sacrificed to the spring of Bandusia, book III, ode 13. And Cicero teaches that temples were dedicated to springs, book III On the Nature of the Gods. And Herodotus testifies that the Magi used to offer white horses to the river Strymon, book VII. Finally, Maximus affirms that the Phrygians sacrificed to the Meander, the Massagetae to the Tanais, sermon 18. So Sanchez. Therefore this verse is a catachresis, signifying the overthrow of the kingdom of Satan, of impiety and sin — namely of shrines, sacred groves, idols, etc. Again, it signifies that the very kingdoms of the idolaters and of the Jews who are enemies of Christ must also be overthrown, say St. Jerome and Procopius, so that nothing may be an obstacle to the Gospel and the kingdom of Christ; but that the blind nations may eagerly hear and receive it, and eagerly join themselves to it, and be illuminated by its heavenly light. For this is what he says:
Verse 16: And I will lead the blind into the way — as if to say: To the Gentiles who, given over to their desires, followed neither the light of faith, nor of reason, nor of law, I will impart this threefold li...
16. And I will lead the blind into the way — as if to say: To the Gentiles who, given over to their desires, followed neither the light of faith, nor of reason, nor of law, I will impart this threefold light through Christ, who is the light of the world, the way, the truth, and the life, so that henceforth they may walk not along the crooked paths of passions and vices, but along the straight paths of virtues that lead to heaven.
These things I have done (that is, I will do) for them; — for it is a prophecy, as is clear from the preceding.
Verse 17: They are turned backward — that is, they will be turned backward, meaning they will be frustrated in their hope and desire. It is an antithesis, as if to say: My worshippers I will preserve; the idola...
17. They are turned backward — that is, they will be turned backward, meaning they will be frustrated in their hope and desire. It is an antithesis, as if to say: My worshippers I will preserve; the idolaters I will put to shame by the splendor of the Gospel shining throughout the whole world. So Vatablus. This sense is required by what follows: 'Let them be confounded with confusion who trust in a graven image.' Secondly, Forerius explains: The idolaters, convicted by the arguments of God, abandoned their cause and, turning their backs, departed. Thirdly, Procopius and Sanchez take these words of the Gentiles who were converted to Christ but again apostatized from Him and returned to their former idols and vices.
Verse 18: Hear, you deaf; and you blind, look to see. — These things are said to the Jews, as if to say: When with the shining Gospel I illumine the Gentiles who were formerly blind and deaf in matters of salva...
18. Hear, you deaf; and you blind, look to see. — These things are said to the Jews, as if to say: When with the shining Gospel I illumine the Gentiles who were formerly blind and deaf in matters of salvation, then you, O Jews, who were formerly seeing and eloquent, will become blind, because you refuse to perceive the light offered by the Prophets and Christ; and deaf, because you refuse to hear His voice — just as now you refuse to hear the oracles of me and the other Prophets, but mock and hiss at them. This is clear from what follows; for He adds:
Verse 19: Who is blind, but My servant? — namely the Jewish people, who refused to receive the Prophets and Christ. So St. Jerome, Procopius, Theodoret, Justin, Chrysostom, and others commonly writing against t...
19. Who is blind, but My servant? — namely the Jewish people, who refused to receive the Prophets and Christ. So St. Jerome, Procopius, Theodoret, Justin, Chrysostom, and others commonly writing against the Jews.
19. The Jews and Vatablus explain these words in the opposite way, as if Isaiah himself and Christ are here called blind and deaf by the Jews: for instead of מלאכי malachai, that is, 'My messengers,' as our translator reads, they, reading with different vowel points מלאכי malachi, that is, 'My messenger,' translate thus: Who is blind but My servant; and deaf as My messenger, whom I am about to send? and so they explain: O faithless Jews! in your opinion My servant Isaiah is blind and ignorant of divine things: but you are rather blind, you who think he cannot see, who sees most clearly, and is therefore called 'the Seer.' And who is deaf in your opinion as is My legate, Christ? as if to say: You will say the same about Christ, whom I am about to send, as you say about Isaiah.
The Seventy, for malachai with aleph, that is, 'My messengers,' reading without aleph מלכי melachai, translate κυριεύοντες αὐτῶν, that is, 'those who rule over them.' Who is blind, but he that is sold? — For 'sold' in Hebrew is משלם mescullam: which first Vatablus translates as 'perfect,' as if to say: Israel ought to see perfectly, and know and worship God; but now he is blind.
Secondly, Forerius translates 'fully repaid,' as if to say: God has fully paid Israel everything He promised him; why then does he turn away from his God?
Thirdly, reading with different vowel points משלם meschalem, it means 'retributor,' as if to say: Israel, who ought to be grateful to God for so many benefits and repay Him, is now most ungrateful.
Fourthly, our translator renders it 'sold,' which some explain thus, as if to say: Who has wholly given himself up and sold himself to the devil and to sin. But it is better to take 'sold' from the Hebrew mescullan with Forerius and Sanchez as meaning 'fully repaid, recompensed, requited.' It is an epithet of a servant who has received so many gifts from his Lord that he is not equal to repaying them unless he gives himself in return and devotes himself as a slave and, as it were, sells himself. For Israel was so loaded and overwhelmed with benefits from God that he owes Him his soul; indeed, even if he were to sell himself to Him as a slave a thousand times, he would still not make an adequate return. Much more so, every Christian is mesculam, that is, a purchased slave of Christ, whom the Arabs call a mamluk; hence the origin of the Mamluks and their empire among the Egyptians, as I said on 1 Corinthians VI, 20: 'You have been bought at a great price.' This sense is striking and pricks sinners with a sharp goad.
Verse 20: You who see many things — as if to say: O servant! O My people! You have seen many things, many visions, revelations, and prophecies; you have received many wonders and miracles from your God through...
20. You who see many things — as if to say: O servant! O My people! You have seen many things, many visions, revelations, and prophecies; you have received many wonders and miracles from your God through the Prophets, and you received them with open ears, and you will hear yet more from Christ and the Apostles, through whom you have known and will know the will and commandments of God; but you do not care, you do not keep, you do not carry out what you understand through them must be done: wherefore I rightly called and call you blind in the full light of the sun, and deaf amid so many voices of God. So St. Jerome and Theodoret.
This is what He said at chapter VI, 9: 'Hear, you who hear, and do not understand: and see the vision, and do not perceive.' Let preachers press these same things upon Christians who to the words and threats —
— as well as to the benefits of God are blind and deaf.
Note here that deafness and blindness are twofold: one partial, such as that of the hard of hearing and the dim-sighted; the other complete, such as that of those who were born deaf and blind, or had been so for many years. The former is curable naturally, the latter incurable. Again, the cause of deafness and blindness is threefold: the first is external, when, for instance, a fleshy growth attaches itself to the organ of hearing, namely the eardrum, and a membrane grows over the eye, namely the corneal tunic. The second is when the organ itself, in which sensation resides, namely hearing and sight, is corrupted, impaired, or out of balance. The third is when an excess of fluid in the brain, namely bile or phlegm, flows down to the organ of hearing (exciting there a sound and ringing that impedes the perception of other sounds) or of sight, and obstructs and fills it. The method of curing each is to remove the cause and apply contraries. The first, therefore, is cured if the fleshy growth or membrane is eaten away by some sharp and mordant substance, or drawn out or cut away with a needle or other instrument. The second, if the organ is corrected and strengthened. The third, if the bile and phlegm are removed by purges, by abstinence, by bloodletting from the nostrils, etc. So teach Galen, Paul of Aegina, and other physicians generally.
All these things can be easily applied tropologically to spiritual deafness and blindness; for some are not fully blind and deaf, but dim-sighted and hard of hearing, who hear the admonitions of superiors and the inspirations of God, but slowly and with difficulty. Hence they must be roused by the cry of penances, reproofs, and tribulations so that they may hear, just as stubborn horses that are not guided by the bridle must be driven with spurs. And this is the benefit, and a great one, of tribulation: that it makes the deaf hear those things that are necessary for salvation. The threefold cause of spiritual deafness and blindness is similar to the bodily. The external cause (which was assigned to the first) is avarice, which so fills the ears, eyes, and mind with external things, and with desire and care for them, that one cannot hear or see anything else. This must be cured by cutting away entirely from the soul the desire for riches and comforts of this life. The second, of the impaired organ, is when one labors under fantasies and false worldly principles contrary to God's law and one's vocation. This must be cured by rooting out from the mind these fantasies and principles. The third, of bile and phlegm, is pride and gluttony and lust. This must be cured by abstinence, prayers, penances, confessions, and bloodletting, that is, the lowering of spirit, and by frequent humiliations: which being done, one will begin to hear and see the things that pertain to salvation.
Verse 21: And the Lord was willing to sanctify him. — As if to say: That Israel is deaf and blind is not the fault of God, but of Israel himself, who by closing his eyes and ears made himself deaf and blind. Fo...
21. And the Lord was willing to sanctify him. — As if to say: That Israel is deaf and blind is not the fault of God, but of Israel himself, who by closing his eyes and ears made himself deaf and blind. For God willed to sanctify him, and therefore gave him holy Teachers, Prophets, Sacred Scripture, sacrifices, and a holy law, which He magnified, exalted, and declared with so many beautiful ceremonies, with such great majesty of Levites, priests, and pontiffs, with so many and so great miracles and victories. But Israel, by all these made not holier but worse, deafer and blinder, brought upon himself the just punishment of God, namely enemies who would plunder and devastate him, as follows. So Procopius, Adam, and others, and the Chaldean supports this.
Secondly, Forerius explains it thus: 'The Lord willed,' that is, He consented to this blinding of the Jews, indeed was as it were glad that Israel thus revealed the stubbornness of his heart: 'to sanctify him,' in Hebrew, 'on account of His justice,' or 'to justify Himself,' namely to make known His justice, since He does not spare His people on account of their crimes and takes away from them the kingdom of God and gives it to a nation producing its fruits. For the justice, or holiness, of God has two aspects: namely, to punish the impious and to do good to the pious and just. Paul commands us to consider both: namely, the severity of God toward those who fell, that is, the Jews; but the goodness toward those who have been grafted into the trunk, namely the Gentiles who believe in Christ. Thus far Forerius.
Furthermore, by doing this God magnified the law, because He fulfilled it and inflicted upon them the threats which He had made through Moses in the law against the Jews. So Vatablus, who for 'willed' translates 'He had an excellent will toward you,' namely εὐδοκίαν, that is, gratuitous benevolence and beneficence toward the unworthy.
Verse 22: But the people themselves are robbed and wasted — as if to say: Israel himself, so loved, sought, and exalted by God, whom God in so many ways willed to sanctify and bless, because of his sins and his...
22. But the people themselves are robbed and wasted — as if to say: Israel himself, so loved, sought, and exalted by God, whom God in so many ways willed to sanctify and bless, because of his sins and his obstinacy against God, made himself a prey both to the devil and to Titus and the Romans, say St. Jerome and Leo Castrius (although some of the ancients refer these things to the destruction of the Jews by the Chaldeans); whence he will fall into the snare of the strongest young men and will be held in prison, as follows.
A snare of young men, all of them. — St. Jerome and St. Thomas take 'snare' in the active sense, as if to say: The scribes and Pharisees with their wicked traditions and doctrines, as with snares, ensnared the young men, that is, the younger and more unlearned among the people. So Hosea says, chapter V, 1: 'You have become a snare to the watch-tower, and a net spread over Tabor;' and chapter IX, 8: 'The prophet has become a snare of ruin upon all his ways.'
Secondly, and more accurately, from the Hebrew idiom one should take 'snare' passively, that is, 'ensnared.' Hence Angelus Caninius, and his disciple Forerius, translate literally from the Hebrew: A snare — the young men, all of them — or, all of them themselves, as if to say: All the vigorous and strong young men in the wars will be a snare, that is, ensnared, and captured by the arms and stratagems of the Romans as by snares. Our translator renders it 'a snare of young men,' as if to say: The Israelites were a snare for their own young men, because on account of their sins their sons and young men were captured and ensnared in war by the Romans. So Cyril, Adam, Vatablus, and others.
Therefore the abstract is put for the concrete, 'snare' for 'ensnared.' See Canon XXXVIII.
Somewhat differently Sanchez: He is called, he says, 'a snare' or chain of young men, that is, a strong and most powerful one, which is cast not upon the old and feeble, but upon the young and robust, who can break even strong bonds and ropes, or with which vigorous young men are bound and chained.
Nor is there anyone to say: Restore — as if to say: No one thinks about liberating the Jews from captivity, no one cares for them; they have been handed over to oblivion both by men and by God; they will live in perpetual exile and captivity.
Verse 23: Who is there among you? — This is the voice of the Prophet lamenting that the Jews do not believe these oracles of his, but rather despise them, as if to say: Would that among you there were even a fe...
23. Who is there among you? — This is the voice of the Prophet lamenting that the Jews do not believe these oracles of his, but rather despise them, as if to say: Would that among you there were even a few who would weigh these things with themselves as is fitting! For this is not a small matter, but concerns your eternal liberty and salvation.
Verse 24: Who gave Jacob for a spoil? — He takes 'Jacob' and 'Israel' generally for all the posterity of Jacob, both of the two and the ten tribes, as will be evident from the following chapter, verse 1, and ch...
24. Who gave Jacob for a spoil? — He takes 'Jacob' and 'Israel' generally for all the posterity of Jacob, both of the two and the ten tribes, as will be evident from the following chapter, verse 1, and chapter XLIV, verse 1. So Adam, as if to say: Do you not see, O Jews, that your fathers were often devastated by the Philistines, Moabites, Edomites, and Assyrians; and that just recently, in the sixth year of Hezekiah, the ten tribes were utterly destroyed and carried off to Assyria? And why? Was it not because they sinned against God, and spurned His warnings and prophecies, just as you too sin and spurn them? See therefore that you do not undergo the same judgment and vengeance of God. For I predict that these things certainly threaten you, unless you receive the oracles of God, and especially Christ the Lord and His Gospel. Let this be said also to the faithful even now, as to the Belgians, afflicted by long war: 'Who gave Belgium to plunder, to slaughter, to fire?' etc.
And they would not. — This is an enallage of person, meaning: And we would not. So Forerius. Secondly, more simply, Sanchez refers it to the ten tribes, as if to say: God, against whom we have sinned, gave Israel for a spoil. 'And,' that is, because they would not walk in the ways of His commandments.
Verse 25: And He burned him round about, and he knew it not. — He speaks of Israel as of a republic, now in the singular, now as of a people and multitude in the plural. The sense is, as if to say: God through...
25. And He burned him round about, and he knew it not. — He speaks of Israel as of a republic, now in the singular, now as of a people and multitude in the plural. The sense is, as if to say: God through the Assyrians devastated and burned all the ten tribes and all of Samaria round about, 'and,' that is, because he 'did not know,' that is, did not believe the Prophets who threatened him with these things from God. Or more simply, as if to say: Israel was so obstinate, so stupid, that even when he was being devastated he did not understand that these things were being inflicted upon him by God on account of his sins. The same thing happens to Christians today.
Forerius takes it differently, understanding all these things from verse 24 as referring to the destruction not of the ten tribes but of the two tribes by the Romans, as if to say: Who, I ask, gave the beloved people of God into captivity — not of seventy years, as formerly, but now of one thousand six hundred years? Surely Jehovah, because they despised His Messiah: wherefore He sent upon them a fierce and hard war and the siege of the Romans, which brought them to this continuous devastation. 'And he did not know,' as if to say: Even after so dire a disaster he did not understand that he was being punished for his unbelief in the Lord's Christ; indeed, even after he has been completely consumed by fire, he does not reflect, does not return to his heart, to see that he suffers these things on account of the Christ whom he killed; but he persists obstinately in Judaism and in hatred of Christ. But the former sense is more fitting. For he stimulates the Jews by the example and recent disaster of their brothers, namely the ten tribes or Samaritans.