Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Christ declares that He was anointed by the Holy Spirit, to console and liberate the afflicted and mourning in Zion. Then, in verse 6, He asserts that the Apostles, and similar priests of the Lord, will possess the strength of the nations, and will be the seed whom the Lord has blessed. Finally, in verse 10, Zion herself, that is the Church, rejoicing and congratulating herself on this benefit of salvation received from Christ, and of her betrothal, exults and gives thanks to God.
Vulgate Text: Isaiah 61:1-11
1. The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me: He has sent Me to announce good tidings to the meek, to heal the contrite of heart, and to preach release to captives, and opening to those who are shut up: 2. to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God: to comfort all who mourn, 3. to grant to those who mourn in Zion, and to give them a crown instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of the spirit of grief: and they shall be called in her the mighty ones of justice, the planting of the Lord unto glorification. 4. And they shall build up the places deserted from of old, and shall raise up the ancient ruins, and shall restore the desolate cities, laid waste from generation to generation. 5. And strangers shall stand, and shall feed your flocks: and the sons of foreigners shall be your farmers and vine-dressers. 6. But you shall be called the priests of the Lord: Ministers of our God, it shall be said to you: you shall eat the strength of the nations, and you shall pride yourselves in their glory. 7. Instead of your double confusion and shame, they shall praise their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess double, everlasting joy shall be theirs. 8. For I am the Lord who loves judgment, and hates robbery in a holocaust: and I will make their work in truth, and I will make a perpetual covenant with them. 9. And their seed shall be known among the nations, and their offspring in the midst of peoples: all who see them shall know them, that these are the seed whom the Lord has blessed. 10. Rejoicing I will rejoice in the Lord, and my soul shall exult in my God: for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation: and with the robe of justice He has covered me, as a bridegroom adorned with a crown, and as a bride adorned with her jewels. 11. For as the earth brings forth its growth, and as a garden causes its seed to spring up; so the Lord God will cause justice and praise to spring forth before all the nations.
Verse 1: The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me. — In the preceding chapter, the Prophet described the wondrous conversio...
1. The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me. — In the preceding chapter, the Prophet described the wondrous conversion, betrothal, confluence, and joy of the Church of the Gentiles toward Christ; now he sets forth the cause of it, namely her bridegroom Christ the Lord, who is to bring about this conversion and betrothal. He therefore introduces Him here as speaking, and giving the reason for His mission and sending into the world, namely that He was anointed and inaugurated as king of Zion and the Church, for the purpose of healing and refreshing all the afflicted of Zion.
Therefore, the opinion of St. Thomas and certain others, who think that Isaiah speaks here of himself, saying that he was sent to the Jews to announce to them liberation from the Babylonian captivity — and that Isaiah was a type of Christ, who freed men from sin and hell — does not appear to be true. For Christ explains this passage of Himself, Luke 4:18; for reading this passage of Isaiah in the Synagogue before the Jews and Rabbis, He said: "Today this prophecy is fulfilled in your hearing;" because, namely, I, Christ, am the one of whom Isaiah speaks. "Upon Me" indeed, that is, upon My humanity, the Spirit of the Lord has rested. For insofar as I am God, just as I have the same deity, so I have the same common and essential Spirit with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
And hence He is called in Hebrew Messiah, in Greek Christos, in Latin the Anointed One; for by this anointing He was consecrated king and redeemer of the world, and head of the Church Militant and Triumphant.
Note: Where the Septuagint translates, "on account of which," St. Luke renders it, "because of which," which can be taken in two ways. First, so that it signifies the final cause of the preceding anointing, as if to say: The Holy Spirit descended upon Me in baptism, and impelled Me to the actual execution of the office of the Messiah; because for this purpose He had already from the beginning anointed and appointed Me, as I have already explained. Second, the phrase "because of which" can be taken for "therefore" or "for this reason," to signify not the cause, but the effect of the descent of the Holy Spirit, as if to say: The Holy Spirit descended upon Me; therefore with His gifts, as with effects, He anointed and filled Me. For this, note that the Holy Spirit is the cause of His gifts, and therefore is prior to them in the genus of efficient cause; because He Himself causes and produces these gifts in the soul of Christ and of Christians: but in the genus of material and final cause, He is, as it were, posterior to them. For materially, so to speak, the soul of Christ, and of every Christian, receives the Holy Spirit only through His gifts; hence in a certain way it first receives the gifts, and through the gifts the Holy Spirit Himself. Similarly in the genus of final cause, the Holy Spirit is given to the soul as if for this end, that He may communicate His gifts to it: hence these gifts in the genus of final cause are, as it were, prior to the Holy Spirit. Both therefore are truly said, namely that the Holy Spirit descended upon Christ, because He anointed Him; for through the anointing, and through the gifts, He descended and came into Christ. Conversely, the Holy Spirit descended upon Christ, to anoint Him, or therefore anointed Him with His grace and His gifts; for He Himself is the efficient cause of His own gifts. There is therefore no tautology here, but a fitting reciprocity. For rightly from the gifts inhering in Christ, it is inferred that the Holy Spirit, the author of the gifts, is present in Him, and conversely from the Holy Spirit dwelling in Christ, it is rightly inferred that the gifts and effects of the Holy Spirit inhere in Him.
Add that this descent of the Holy Spirit upon Christ is chiefly understood as the visible one, which occurred at His baptism, as I have said; and then the meaning is, as if to say: Because Christ was anointed with the grace of the Holy Spirit invisibly at His incarnation; hence the Holy Spirit, the author of grace, was always with Him; and He showed this visibly at His baptism, descending upon Him bodily in the form of a dove; for in Scripture something is often said to happen, when it is publicly shown and demonstrated to be such, or to have been such.
Moreover, the Holy Spirit descended invisibly upon Christ from the first instant of His conception, but visibly upon Him at His baptism; whence immediately after His baptism, fasting, and temptation, He came into the synagogue, and said that this oracle of Isaiah concerning Himself had then been fulfilled. Then He healed the sick, and did those things which Isaiah here foretells He would do. Whence the Fathers — St. Jerome, Irenaeus, Athanasius, Augustine, Bede, and from them Toletus on Luke 4:18 — indeed St. Peter himself, Acts 10:38, assert that these things were fulfilled at the baptism of Christ, when the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove upon Christ, and the voice of the Father was heard: "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: hear Him." For by this visible sign, as well as by the voice, Christ was outwardly declared and consecrated before the people as doctor, Prophet, lawgiver, and redeemer of the world, and appointed to evangelize the poor; whence immediately from His baptism, the operation and effect of this Spirit showed itself in Christ. For, as St. Luke says, chapter 4, verse 1: "Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan; and was led by the Spirit into the desert." And when the forty-day fast and the temptations of the devil were finished, verse 14: "And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee. And He Himself was teaching in their synagogues. And He came to Nazareth, to the synagogue," where He read and explained this passage of Isaiah, and said it was fulfilled. The meaning therefore is, as if to say: The Spirit of the Lord descended upon Me, both secretly at My birth, and more openly and publicly at My baptism, when I was about to begin the office imposed on Me by the Father, namely of teaching and preaching, and this Spirit impelled Me to teach, preach, and console, and to heal the afflicted and mourning in Zion, as follows.
Because the Lord has anointed Me. — He gives the reason why the Holy Spirit came upon Him, namely because the same Spirit had already from His birth anointed Him for this office. So Theophylactus, Maldonatus, Jansenius, on Luke chapter 4. Note: This anointing of Christ was made at the incarnation, first, through the grace of the hypostatic union; second, through the fullness of created and infused graces, flowing from the said union. Whence St. Peter, explaining this passage of Isaiah and the anointing of Christ, Acts 10:38, says: "You know what happened throughout all Judea: beginning from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached, Jesus of Nazareth: how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit, and with power." For Christ received grace, not of some private individual faithful and holy person, but the grace of the Head, that is, the fullness of graces, which as redeemer and head of the Church He would pour out into all His members. On which account other Saints are said to be anointed with the grace and gifts of the Holy Spirit, but Christ is said to be anointed with the Holy Spirit Himself, and with the fullness of all graces. So St. Basil, in his book On the Holy Spirit, chapter 26.
The Holy Spirit therefore is said to have descended upon Christ at His baptism, because this descent was openly shown through the dove, although long before He had secretly descended upon Him through the grace both of the union and of habitual grace.
To announce good tidings to the meek. — Note: These words must be connected with the preceding, and the passage should be punctuated thus: "Because He anointed Me to announce good tidings to the meek, He sent Me to heal the contrite of heart." So the Septuagint, Forerius, Vatablus, Jansenius, Maldonatus, and others connect and punctuate it; for here the purpose of Christ's anointing is signified, as if to say: Christ was anointed for this, that He might announce to the meek, that is, as the Septuagint and St. Luke have it, that He might evangelize the poor. So Irenaeus, book 1, 10; Hilary, on Psalm 52; Tertullian, book 4 Against Marcion, 14; Ambrose, Theophylactus, and Bede on Luke 4. Here therefore the Prophet describes the offices and duties of the Messiah, for which He was anointed, and from which He was called Christ, namely these are: to evangelize the poor, to heal the contrite of heart, to liberate captives, etc.
Note first: "To announce" here is the same as to evangelize, that is, to bring glad tidings to the afflicted, concerning liberation, grace, and salvation: for this is the Hebrew word bissar; whence Besora Matthai is what the Gospel of Matthew is called.
Second, the Hebrews call the meek "the poor," because poverty forces them to bow their necks, to endure adversities, to pray, and through all things it tames and makes them gentle.
You ask, who are these poor? I respond, first, St. Ambrose, Origen, and Theophylactus, on Luke 4, understand by the poor those people, especially the Gentiles, who on account of sins had been impoverished, that is, deprived of grace and salvation; especially those who recognized themselves to be such. For to these Christ evangelized, that is, He consoled them. Second, St. Jerome here, Tertullian, book 4 Against Marcion chapter 14, Eusebius, book 3, Demonstration 1, understand the poor in spirit; for to these Christ evangelized, saying: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
Third, and most plainly, by the poor are here properly understood the destitute, and those of slender fortune (for this is what the Greek ptochoi signifies), such as the Apostles were, and the crowd of common people, who followed Christ, and eagerly received His words and admonitions; while the rich and powerful, such as the Scribes and Pharisees, spurned them, and even opposed them. See what was said at 1 Corinthians chapter 1, 26. This is what Christ, Matthew 11, verse 2, responded to the disciples of St. John the Baptist who were asking whether He was the Messiah, saying among other things: "The poor are evangelized," as if to say: From the fact that I teach the poor crowds, and evangelize them, as from a certain sign which Isaiah assigned to the Messiah, gather and know that I am Christ and the Messiah. The reason why Christ especially evangelized the poor was that His preaching was and is about contempt for riches and the world, about mortification, the cross, etc., which the poor eagerly seize upon, to console and encourage themselves in their poverty, but which the rich, who delight and pride themselves in their riches, flee from and hate. So we see even now that the poor are more capable of virtue and holiness than the rich. Whence St. James says, chapter 2, 5: "Has not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom, which God has promised to those who love Him?" See here how different the spirit of God is from the spirit of the world: for the spirit of God seeks the poor, the spirit of the world the wealthy and splendid; the spirit of Christ establishes life and glory in the cross, poverty, and endurance, which the spirit of the world assigns to riches and pleasures.
To heal the contrite of heart. — "The contrite," that is, sinners pricked in conscience by the awareness of their crimes and penitent. So Tertullian and Bede in the cited passage, and St. Basil on Psalm 33, and Toletus on Luke 4. Second and better, the contrite here are called the Jews and Gentiles, who, pressed and almost crushed under the burden of sins, of the Mosaic Law, of unbelief and ignorance of divine things, and, as Tertullian reads, ground down, were in the most afflicted state of heart and soul. So Hilary, Theophylactus, and Jansenius in the cited passages. For Christ freed them from this burden and affliction; since they, though feeling their affliction, did not recognize it, nor seek a physician.
For "to heal" the Hebrew is lachabosh, that is, "to bind up" or "to bandage." So Symmachus and Theodoret. Whence Forerius translates: "That I might apply bandages to the contrite of heart;" Vatablus: "That I might bind up the wounds of the broken-hearted." The metaphor is taken from surgeons who bind fractured and bruised limbs with their bandages. Christ therefore was not only our physician, but also our surgeon, who with His own hand treated our bruises, fractures, and foul wounds, pressed out the pus and corruption, cleansed them, poured in oil and wine like the Samaritan, poulticed and bandaged them, and so healed and restored them to wholeness. For this is what the Messiah or Christ means, that is, the anointed and the anointer; indeed the one who pierces and anoints in order to heal, "when," as Isaiah says in chapter 30, 26, "the Lord shall bind up the wound of His people."
And I would preach to the captives (under the power of the devil and of sin), release, — that is, as St. Luke has it, "remission" and liberty. For the Hebrew word deror properly signifies liberty. He alludes to the liberty from the Babylonian captivity, granted by Cyrus; for this was a type of the spiritual liberty given by Christ. Indeed St. Thomas and Hugo take these words literally of Cyrus. But not rightly. For first, Christ, in Luke 4:18, literally explains these things of Himself before the Jews. Second, because Cyrus did not restore sight to the blind, but Christ did: of which presently; the remaining things also are too exalted to apply to Cyrus.
And to those who are shut up (the Hebrew is asurim, that is, bound, chained, such as are those shut up in prison)
Opening, — namely of the prison. The Septuagint and from them St. Luke translate with the same meaning: "And sight to the blind." For those who are enclosed in a dark prison live in darkness like the blind. So the Chaldean, Sanchez, and others. Better, with Maldonatus and Forerius, one may say that the Septuagint, as most expert in the Hebrew language, learnedly explain the Hebrew, when for "opening to those shut up," they translate, "sight to the blind." For the Hebrews call those shut up, namely in their eyes (as the Poet said: "Moles blinded in their eyes"), blind: whence they call opening, illumination and restoration of sight; otherwise "shut up" would not be distinguished from "captives," which preceded; for blindness, whether it be intrinsic, that is in the eyes, or extrinsic, such as fog and darkness, as it were binds and shuts the eyes. For so the Wise Man says of the Egyptians groping blindly in the darkness, chapter 17, 2: "Bound with the chains of darkness and long night;" and verse 17: "For they were all bound together with one chain of darkness." Hence also the Hebrews call pikuchim, that is "opened," namely in their eyes, those who see and have strong sight: because on the contrary asurim, that is "shut up," they call the blind. Whence Vatablus here, as well as the Septuagint, translates, "sight to the blind." Perhaps also the Septuagint read ivverim, that is "to the blind," instead of asurim.
Note: St. Luke adds paraphrastically, for fuller explanation and emphasis: "And to set at liberty those who are bruised." For these words are not in the Hebrew, nor in the Septuagint, but are implied in the preceding. For instead of what we have: "And to heal the contrite of heart," from the Hebrew you may translate: "And to heal the broken" (for this is lenishbere) "of heart." The broken of heart, then, St. Luke calls those whom shortly before he called the contrite, namely those who were bound and almost crushed by the prison and slavery of the devil and sin, whom Christ set free and liberated, both spiritually and corporally, that is when He cured and freed the sick and demoniacs, miserably agitated, shattered, and broken by the devil.
Forerius takes it differently. For he thinks these words were added to the text from the margin, as in the Septuagint version we read many things sewn onto the text from the margin. For this seems to have been an alternative rendering of the same clause.
Verse 2: To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. — In Hebrew scenat ratson, that is, the year of divine benevol...
2. To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. — In Hebrew scenat ratson, that is, the year of divine benevolence, propitiation, of God's favorable will and liberality toward men, such as was the jubilee year; in which all slaves were made free, and all debts and burdens were forgiven. He designates therefore here the jubilee year; for this was the type of this Christian year, that is, the Evangelical time, of which Christ was the herald. On which account, from this passage of Isaiah, certain persons, according to Irenaeus, book 1, chapter 28, thought that Christ preached for only one year, an error which Irenaeus refutes in the same place. The whole time, therefore, of Christ's preaching, and thenceforth the whole time of the new law, for the faithful who obey Christ and accept His liberality, was and is the jubilee year, that is, the year of mercy and remission, of reconciliation, peace, salvation, liberality, joy, and jubilation; in which, after God's long wrath against men, we are restored to His grace, acceptance (whence Luke, from the Septuagint, translates, "the acceptable year," that is, most pleasing and delightful to God and men), benevolence, inheritance, glory, and all the ancient goods which we had in paradise and the state of innocence. See what I said about the jubilee in Leviticus chapter 25. St. Paul alludes to this, 2 Corinthians 6:2: "Behold, now is the acceptable time, behold, now is the day of salvation."
Let princes and Prelates learn here from Christ how fitting courtesy and compassion are for them. Truly Seneca in the Octavia:
"It is a noble thing to stand out among illustrious men, To care for one's country, to spare the afflicted, To abstain from savage slaughter, to give time to anger, To give rest to the world, peace to one's age. This is the highest virtue; by this path heaven is reached."
And Cicero, in the oration for Ligarius: "In nothing do men more closely approach God, than in giving salvation to men." And Tacitus, book 11 of the Annals: "Let the prince seek love among the people, fear among enemies." And Homer, Odyssey B, of the true prince: "He was gentle, like a father." And Sallust, to Caesar: "Those who tempered their rule with kindness and clemency found all things bright and joyful, even enemies more favorable than other men's citizens." And as Bias, who was of such character: "The subjects fear not him, but for him."
And the day of vengeance of our God. — This year and Evangelical time is for Christians the jubilee year, but for the enemies of Christ it is the year and day of vengeance, in which God avenged the human race against its enemies, namely the demons, by expelling them from men, and overthrowing them from their dominion and tyranny. So Cyril, Adamus, Forerius, and others. St. Jerome, however, and Eusebius, book 9, Demonstration chapter 13, refer these words also to the vengeance which God took upon the enemies of Christ through Titus and the Romans. He alludes to the year of the Jews' liberty from the Babylonian captivity; for the same year was the year of vengeance upon the Chaldeans, in which Babylon and the kingdom of the Chaldeans were overthrown by Cyrus. Moreover, this vengeance began in this life in the time of Christ, but will be completed on the day of judgment; for then God will subject all demons and the reprobate to the feet of Christ, and will cast them down into hell. Whence Cyril here and Bede, and Toletus on Luke 4, refer these words to the day of judgment.
Finally, for "the day of vengeance" the Septuagint and Luke translate, "the day of recompense," in which He will repay to enemies what they deserve, and will turn back their injuries and disasters upon their own heads; recompense therefore means the same as vengeance. Therefore it is not correct that some explain "recompense" as compensation, by which God gave men, in compensation for the evils they suffered, peace, liberty, and other gifts and charisms of the new law. In the Hebrew there is an elegant wordplay between nakam, that is, vengeance, and nechama, that is, "He has consoled," of which above, as if to say: This year for the faithful will be nechama, that is, consolation; but for the unfaithful it will be nekama, that is, vengeance.
To comfort all who mourn. — Christ accomplished this by going about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, saying: "Come to Me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you," Matthew 11.
Verse 3: To grant to those who mourn in Zion. — What? Many manuscripts read, "strength": but the Romans rightly dele...
3. To grant to those who mourn in Zion. — What? Many manuscripts read, "strength": but the Romans rightly delete this word, for it is not in the Hebrew, Greek, or Chaldean. I respond therefore, "to grant," namely "a crown instead of ashes," etc., as follows; "to grant" therefore, that is, to restore and repay to those who mourn, in just and fair measure, joy for mourning, praise for groaning.
And to give them a crown instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of the spirit of grief. — In the Hebrew there is an elegant paronomasia: And I would give them peer (a turban) instead of epher (ashes), that is, a diadem instead of ashes, as if to say: As easily as the letters of epher are transposed into peer, so easily can God change ashes into a diadem, mourning into merriment, weeping into laughter and joy. The Hebrews were accustomed in mourning to sprinkle ashes on their heads; in joy, as at weddings, festivals, and triumphs, to place crowns on their heads: similarly, those who were joyful used to anoint themselves with oil compounded from fragrant substances, which is therefore called "the oil of gladness." Third, He promises "the mantle of praise," that is, a festive, beautiful, and precious garment (it is called "of praise" because it was worn on festive days to praise God and give Him thanks for victory or some other benefit received), instead of "the spirit of grief," that is, the garment of grief, or dark and mournful clothing, by which they testified to the sorrow of their minds and spirits. So to the patriarch Joseph, instead of the squalid garment of prison, a linen robe, a golden chain, and a ring were given by Pharaoh, Genesis 41:42. By these three antitheses the same thing is signified: namely the change of sorrow into joy, and of abasement into glory: which anyone will easily detect and discern in himself, if he considers what he was like with his spirit darkened, troubled, and anxious, when he was living in sins; and what he is like after conversion through the grace of Christ, when now, as if equal to the Angels, walking before God, he exults with spiritual joy, rejoices in hope, gives thanks in tribulations, and in penitence sheds the sweet tears of consolation; because instead of mourning and tears he awaits everlasting joy, and the robe of immortality and heavenly glory, in which these things will be most perfectly fulfilled. So Rupert, Forerius, Sanchez, and others. Procopius, Jerome, and Cyril take it differently; for they refer these things to the mourning of the Apostles over the unbelief of the Jews, which was turned into joy through the conversion of the Gentiles.
Note: By oil, that is, ointment, consolation and joy are rightly signified; because this affects the soul as a sweet-smelling and refreshing ointment affects the body. So Vatablus.
Again, "the mantle of praise" can be taken thus, as if to say: Praise itself will be the mantle, or like a mantle will gird, overwhelm, and cover them. So Vatablus. For thus, in chapter 59, verse 17, "the mantle of zeal" is called zeal itself covering God like a mantle; and "the helmet of salvation" is called salvation itself, surrounding His head like a helmet.
Symbolically note that Christians formerly abstained from crowns, and did not wear them: first, because the Gentiles crowned their idols; hence, lest they seem to adopt Gentile rites, they avoided crowns; second, because in this life it is the time of ashes, penance, and mourning; third, because Christ was crowned with a crown of thorns; fourth, because the crown will be given to us in heaven after the cross, and after victory and triumph; for thus Christ "tasted honeycomb after gall." Tertullian wrote a book on this subject, On the Crown of the Soldier; for when soldiers were receiving a donative from the Emperor Severus, a Christian soldier approaching the Tribune, who was distributing the donative to each in order, carried his military laurel in his hand, while the others wore theirs on their heads. Asked the reason, when he answered that he was a Christian, and that it was not lawful for him to go about crowned, he was dragged, red with his own blood, to prison: and since there were various opinions about this, Tertullian wrote this book, in which he defends his deed and statement. Whence in chapter 7, he demonstrates by examples that crowns were invented and introduced into use by idols and idolaters: Pandora's head was crowned by the Graces; Saturn was crowned before all; Jupiter after conquering the Titans; ribbons are ascribed to Priapus, a garland of gold and Indian gems to Ariadne; Juno was crowned with vine; Hercules wears poplar on his head, or wild olive, or parsley; Apollo, after killing the Delphic serpent, put on laurel; Bacchus is written as wreathed now in ivy, now as the first to wear the golden crown in which he triumphed from the Indies; Isis carried discovered ears of grain around her head. And finally, concluding the book: "Keep, he says, the thing undefiled for God; He will crown it. He who shall overcome, He says, I will give him the crown of life. Be you also faithful unto death; fight also the good fight, the crown of which the Apostle also confidently trusts is laid up for him. The Angel too receives the crown of victory, riding before on a white horse to conquer, and another is adorned with the heavenly circuit of the rainbow. Moreover, the elders sit crowned, and the Son of Man Himself gleams with the same gold. If such are the images in the vision, what must be the realities they represent? Behold them, breathe in their fragrance. Why do you condemn to a headband or serpent-brooch the head destined for the diadem? For Christ Jesus has made us kings to God and His Father."
Tropologically, these and the following words in this chapter and the next are easily applied to the sinful and penitent soul, whose conversion, joys, beauty, and happiness the Prophet here vividly depicts.
And they shall be called in her (Zion, that is, the Church) the mighty ones of justice.
— That is, mighty and outstanding in justice, especially its leaders and princes, namely the Apostles; for these by their preaching will so gloriously and powerfully celebrate God, that they will spread His faith and justice throughout the whole world, and in it will build up the cities of the Gentiles that had been deserted from of old. The Gentiles boast of such champions of justice. First, Aristides, surnamed the Just, who shrank from all faction and friendship, lest he be driven to do something that was not just, or be forced to abstain from what he had judged would benefit the republic, says Plutarch in the Apophthegms of the Greeks. Second, Pompey, who replied to Phraates, king of the Parthians, when he demanded through ambassadors that Pompey agree that the Euphrates be the boundary of Roman dominion: "Rather, what should be demanded is that justice, not the Euphrates, divide the boundaries of the Romans from the kingdom of the Parthians." So Plutarch in the Roman Apophthegms. Third, the Emperor Trajan, who publicly handed his drawn sword to the Prefect of the City, saying: "Take this steel, and if I govern the empire rightly, use it for me; but if otherwise, use it against me." So Nicephorus, book 3 of the History, chapter 23. But these were mere shadows, if compared with the faithful.
Second, Forerius says: "The mighty of justice" are so called because justice has them as its servants, just as the mighty men of David are called the valiant soldiers of David, through whom he waged wars: for justice never had stronger leaders or soldiers than the Apostles, who subdued the whole world to it. For "mighty" the Hebrew is ele, which can be translated "gods of justice." For the Apostles, as gods of a sort, not only overthrew the dominion of the devil, but also subjugated kings, nations, and the whole world to themselves and to the justice of Christ. Moreover, they converted the deep-rooted, unjust, and impious customs of the nations into pious and just ones. Second, Vatablus translates ele as "trees of justice," namely men who, like trees, produce good fruits of justice. Whence the Septuagint translates, "generations of justice."
The planting of the Lord unto glorification. — Those who were first called "the mighty of justice" are here called "the planting," that is, plants, namely sprouts or trees planted by the Lord, for celebrating His glory everywhere. See what was said at chapter 60, verse 21. The word "planting" denotes that they are well rooted, established, and firm. He alludes to Exodus 15:17: "You shall plant (them) on the mountain of Your inheritance." See what was said there.
Verse 4: And they shall build up the places deserted from of old, — as if to say: The Apostles will build up in the ...
4. And they shall build up the places deserted from of old, — as if to say: The Apostles will build up in the worship and religion of Christ the provinces and cities of the Gentiles that had been deserted for many ages and abandoned by God. So Procopius. This is what was said in chapter 58, verse 12: "The places deserted from of old shall be built up in you; you shall raise up the foundations from generation to generation." See what was said there.
Anagogically, the Apostles and the faithful will build the heavenly Jerusalem, through the resurrection of bodies; which they will bring into it; and they will restore all the ruins that arose from the fall both of the Angels and of our first parent. So St. Augustine on Psalm 110 and Psalm 111.
Verse 5: And strangers shall stand, and shall feed your flocks, — as if to say: From among the Gentiles and foreigne...
5. And strangers shall stand, and shall feed your flocks, — as if to say: From among the Gentiles and foreigners converted to Christ by the Apostles, Bishops and Pastors will be chosen, who will feed and cultivate the Church that arose in Zion among the Jews, so that by its origin it can properly be said to belong to the Jews. He therefore calls these Bishops from among the Gentiles pastors, farmers, and vine-dressers of Zion, that is, of the Jews, that is, of the Church, whose first pastors and faithful were Jews. So Procopius, Forerius, Vatablus, Adamus, and generally others. Indeed even St. Jerome, who says: "How rare is it for any leader of the Churches to be from the Jews, and not from foreigners, and from men of foreign nations?" This is what Christ foretold to the Jews, Matthew 21:41, that God would transfer His vineyard from the Jews, and hand it over to other farmers.
This sense seems symbolic and mystical. On which account Sanchez rightly takes these words at face value literally, as they sound, as if to say: The Jews and Gentiles, who formerly oppressed you, O Apostles and Christians, with hard service in quarries, sand-pits, mines, agriculture, and stalls for feeding beasts (as Pope Marcellus, condemned to these, wasted away and perished from the stench), and other servile works; these will be subject to you, and then will stand as your servants, to render you such service as they demanded from you, to feed your flocks, to cultivate your fields and vineyards. Whence he adds: "But you, O Apostles, shall be called the Priests of the Lord," who namely continually attend upon God, and cultivate fields and vineyards not by yourselves, but through your servants, as the Aaronic priests did: for they were supported by the people, so that they might be wholly free for God. The same is here promised to the priests and pastors of the new law. Whence he adds: "You shall eat the strength of the nations," And this is what he said in the preceding chapter, verse 7: "All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered to you, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you."
Verse 6: But you (O Apostles, says St. Jerome, and your followers!) shall be called the priests of the Lord. — By an...
6. But you (O Apostles, says St. Jerome, and your followers!) shall be called the priests of the Lord. — By antonomasia, namely, as hierarchs and chiefs of sacred things, and mediators between God and the people. Calvin wrongly says "priests," that is, preachers of the Gospel, who do not convert and offer victims, but nations to God. For he denies that there is a properly so-called priesthood and sacrifice in the new law. This is a heresy, on which see Cardinal Bellarmine's treatise On the Sacrifice of the Eucharist. Moreover, that properly so-called priests are here understood and foretold by Isaiah is clear, both from the very word "priest," which signifies not a preacher, but one who offers sacrifice; and from the fact that he adds in verse 8: "Hating robbery in a holocaust." Therefore by priests here he understands those who offer holocausts.
Second, "priests," that is, the intimates and familiars, and those privy to the secrets of King Christ, inasmuch as you have spent the whole time of His preaching with Him, and have beheld and heard those things; and therefore, as in the Church, so also in heaven you will attend most closely upon Him as His ministers and the first in the kingdom of Christ.
For thus the sons of David are called priests, 2 Samuel 8:18, that is, princes of David's court; and "the first at the hand of the king," as is explained in 1 Chronicles 18:17. Thus in 2 Samuel 20:26, after saying: "Zadok and Abiathar were priests," he adds: "And Ira the Jairite was David's priest," through whom namely David particularly offered his sacrifices, as we say: Such a one is the first and most intimate Chaplain of the king, and his confessor. Or, as the Chaldean and more recent interpreters have it, priest, that is, prince, or intimate Counselor and Secretary of David.
You shall eat the strength of the nations. — The Chaldean: You shall eat the riches of the nations; for having these offered at their feet, the Apostles used them as they wished. The Hebrew chel signifies wealth, strength, industry, glory, as I said at chapter 60, 5.
Mystically, St. Jerome says: "The strength of the nations is the triumph of the Martyrs;" for by this fortitude of the Martyrs the Apostles were wonderfully refreshed and nourished.
And you shall pride yourselves in their glory. — That is, you will be glorious, and, as the Septuagint translates, you will be admirable. For the nations will assign all their glory to you; and so their glory will be your glory. Aquila translates: In their glory you shall be clothed in purple, as if to say: You will be kings, illustrious with royal adornment. Thus the Popes wear a triple crown on their head, which is therefore commonly called the tiara in Rome.
Verse 7: Instead of your double confusion and shame, they shall praise their portion. — So all the Bibles, even the ...
7. Instead of your double confusion and shame, they shall praise their portion. — So all the Bibles, even the Roman one, connect these words. St. Jerome, Haymo, Forerius, Vatablus, Adamus, and others generally, give the meaning as follows, as if to say: Although the Apostles suffer double, that is, great and manifold, insults, reproaches, plundering, and beatings from the Jews; nevertheless they will praise their lot, that is, their own and that of their ministry, and will congratulate themselves, and give thanks to God, that as the firstborn of Christ, they have received the first-fruits of His spirit and charisms, as well as the communion and fellowship of the cross; because, namely, they are counted worthy to suffer reproach for the name of Jesus. It is a Hebraic enallage: for the second person is changed to the third; instead of "you shall praise" it says "they shall praise," which is frequent among the Hebrews. See Canon 16.
Sanchez connects and punctuates these differently, namely thus: "In their glory you shall pride yourselves instead of your double confusion and shame." Then a period. "They shall praise," namely the Gentiles and foreigners, "their portion," that is, their own, because they have been admitted by them into the fellowship of the Church and the Apostles. This punctuation is clear, but novel.
Therefore in their land (in the Church) they shall possess double (that is, the greatest and most excellent gifts of the Holy Spirit). — For thus "double" often means what is great and manifold, as I showed at Jeremiah 17:18, and 1 Timothy 5:17. He alludes to Elisha, who asked of Elijah as he was being taken up to heaven: "I beseech you, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me," so that as your firstborn son, I may receive a double portion and inheritance of your spirit; and he obtained it. For in a similar way the Apostles, as the firstborn of Christ, received a double, that is, an extraordinary portion of the Holy Spirit beyond other faithful, indeed beyond the Patriarchs and Prophets.
The Septuagint translates, "a second time they shall possess the land," which St. Cyril and Procopius explain thus, as if to say: Just as Joshua first divided the land of Canaan for the faithful Hebrews, so a second time Jesus, his antitype, will distribute not only Canaan, but the whole world to believers.
Anagogically, the Blessed will possess double, that is, extraordinary glory, and that twofold, namely both in body and in soul in heaven. So St. Augustine, sermon 4 On the Innocents, Gregory, book 35, Morals 9, and Haymo: for there "they shall praise their portion, and everlasting joy shall be theirs," as follows.
Christ seems to have alluded to this when He promised the Apostles and their followers a hundredfold in this life; for these are the double, that is, the manifold. Matthew 19:29: "Everyone, He says, who has left house, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall possess eternal life."
Everlasting joy shall be theirs. — For the joy of the Apostles will begin here on earth, and will be perfected in heaven, where it will last for eternity.
Verse 8: For I am the Lord who loves judgment, and hates robbery in a holocaust. — By robbery, understand every dece...
8. For I am the Lord who loves judgment, and hates robbery in a holocaust. — By robbery, understand every deceit, fraud, violence, iniquity, impiety, and all crimes: for these, as well as the goods acquired through them, displease God, even if they are turned into a holocaust for Him. He censures the avarice and impiety of the Pharisees and Priests in the time of Christ, who under the pretext of sacrifice and offering to God, plundered widows, orphans, and the poor, and even commanded sons to deprive their parents of due sustenance, as if to say: I will bestow these things on My Apostles, because I have chosen them as pious and just, and have appointed them leaders of the Church, in place of the impious and wicked Pharisees: for I abhor and detest their robberies, and their avaricious and impious gains in my offerings and holocausts; and, as St. Jerome says, "I love more the offerings of those just men, though poor, than the offerings of these rich men, which come from robbery and iniquity."
Symbolically, Leo Castrius says: God hates robbery in a holocaust, that is, the seizure of the innocent Christ for the cross.
And I will make their work in truth. — The Hebrew emeth, that is, truth, signifies both truth, sincerity, fidelity; and firmness and constancy; for truth is firm, and always consistent with itself. Whence, first, He opposes the truth of the Apostles to the robbery of the Pharisees, which preceded, as if to say: I will make it so that the Apostles not only
outwardly not deceitfully, not avariciously and graspingly, not hypocritically, as the Pharisees, but inwardly sincerely with truly just and holy works, in spirit and truth, they may worship and honor Me, so that their outward works may correspond and agree with their inner ones, and the signs with the things signified. So St. Jerome, Forerius, Vatablus.
Again, as if to say: I will make it so that the Apostles will be truthful in their work, that is, constant; and will not desist from their pious undertaking of preaching through any fear or terror of enemies or difficulties. So Forerius.
Third, as if to say: I will make it so that their work, that is, the fruit, as well as their reward, will be true, that is, firm and stable, so that the Church, which they will found, will always endure, and so that they, together with those whom they have converted, will be gifted with eternal reward and glory. So Sanchez. On which account Leo the Hebrew translates: "I will make their work firm;" hence also what follows: "I will make an everlasting covenant with them," that is, the new covenant or testament, which God established with the Apostles and the Church: from which it follows that neither can its faith and grace ever fail, nor can God abandon it.
Verse 9: And their seed shall be known among the nations, — as if to say: Conspicuous, noble, and illustrious even a...
9. And their seed shall be known among the nations, — as if to say: Conspicuous, noble, and illustrious even among the Gentiles will be the seed and offspring, that is, the spiritual children of the Apostles, namely the faithful converted by them: for they will be among the nations, and will shine before them like luminaries and mirrors of virtues: for they will see them living soberly and chastely, despising riches and honors, striving for heavenly things, patient in tribulation, meek and humble with all, steadfastly undergoing martyrdom, fervent in spirit, and driven by zeal for God. Whence they will say in admiration: "These are the seed whom the Lord has blessed." These are the saints, the children of saints, whom God heaps with His grace and beneficence: these are Angels in mortal flesh: these are the children of God, fellow citizens of the saints, emulators of the Patriarchs and Prophets. He alludes to the blessing of Isaac given to his son Jacob: "Behold the smell of my son, as the smell of a full field, which the Lord has blessed," Genesis 27:27; for the faithful are the children and heirs of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Verse 10: Rejoicing I will rejoice in the Lord. — Note with St. Jerome, St. Cyril, Procopius, Rupert, and others, tha...
10. Rejoicing I will rejoice in the Lord. — Note with St. Jerome, St. Cyril, Procopius, Rupert, and others, that from this passage to the end of the chapter there is a thanksgiving hymn, and as it were the chorus of the Church rejoicing and exulting in God, because she has been gifted by Him with the greatest salvation, justice, and grace, and surrounded on all sides as with a garment, and wondrously adorned and decorated with it as with a royal robe, like a bride who is united to her royal bridegroom. See Canon 14.
Thus Anna, become the mother of Samuel, exults, saying: "My heart has exulted in the Lord," 1 Samuel 2:1. And the Virgin Mother of God, having already conceived the Word: "My spirit has exulted in God my Savior," Luke 1:47. St. Bernard says beautifully, in his sermon On St. Magdalene: "There is a joy, he says, most firm in its continuous delight, by which the mind, purely and thoroughly cleansed of the spray of this world, and fixing the whole affection of its desire on the sharp point of divine contemplation, rejoicing, rejoices in the Lord."
For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation (that is, He has clothed and covered me with salvation as with a garment. Whence, repeating and explaining the same in the manner of Hebrew parallelism, He adds): and with the robe of justice (that is, with the justice infused in me at justification, and with its acts and works as garments) He has covered me. — This salvation, therefore, is justice, which is the beginning of salvation, and the way to eternal salvation. Thus in chapter 59, verse 17, "the mantle of zeal" is called zeal itself, as a mantle clothing God, and in this chapter, verse 3, "the mantle of praise" is called praise itself, full and abundant. This meaning, as simple and plain, is also the genuine one.
Hence St. Jerome, by salvation and justice, understands our Savior and Justifier: for He Himself clothes us with His salvation and justice. Whence the Apostle, alluding to this, Galatians 3:27, says: "As many of you as have been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ, who has been made to us wisdom from God, and justice, and sanctification, and redemption," as the same says in 1 Corinthians 1:30.
Sanchez takes it differently: Salvation, he says, is the same as victory and triumph, as if to say: He has clothed me with triumphal or nuptial garments: or salvation is peace, as if to say: He has clothed me with the garment of tranquility and peace, namely a garment that is accustomed to be worn in time not of war, but of peace: so by the garments of justice he understands those things which are justly rendered by the just judge God to the merits and works of justice. Whence the Septuagint translates for justice, delight and joy; for justice in mystical language is the same as salvation. Whence Christ is called by Malachi, chapter 4, 2, "the sun of justice," that is, the sun of salvation, the most salutary sun. Psalm 132:9: "Let your priests be clothed with justice," that is, as verse 16 explains: "I will clothe its priests with salvation," namely with the salvation and Savior Christ.
As a bridegroom adorned with a crown, and as a bride adorned with her jewels. — Here the Church compares herself and her beauties and ornaments to the ornaments of the bridegroom and bride at a wedding. First, because she received the ornaments of both from God, namely both the beauty of the bride, and the prudence and fortitude of the bridegroom. For this reason she is compared not only to the sun and the moon, but also to an army in battle array, Song of Songs chapter 6, verse 9: "Who is she who comes forth like the rising dawn, beautiful as the moon, chosen as the sun, terrible as an army set in battle array?" Namely the moon denotes the beauty of the Church, the sun her understanding and prudence, the army her fortitude.
Second, because the Church is a bride with respect to Christ; the same is a bridegroom, with respect to the new Gentile Churches, which she united to herself, indeed generated in Christ.
Third, St. Jerome and Haymo say: The bridegrooms are the manly and perfect in the Church; the brides, the weak and imperfect. Cyril adds to this, who holds that saints are called bridegrooms because of their strength and constancy; brides because of their fruitfulness, beauty, and glory, which are begun here and will be perfected in heaven. Whence
Fourth, the word "bridegroom" denotes the Apostles and Prelates of the Church. For thus Bishops at their consecration are given a ring, as bridegrooms who betroth to themselves this or that Church; the remaining faithful and the people and assemblies of Christians are called the bride: for the latter, as it were, gives birth to the faithful; the former, as bridegrooms, beget and generate them, both by the word of God, and by Baptism and the Sacraments. On which account these bridegrooms are called priests in Hebrew: for the priesthood, in the Church, is the highest dignity and beauty. For thus the Hebrew reads: As a bridegroom iecahen, that is, "he made me a priest" (made me a priest) with a mitre. So the Septuagint, Vatablus, and Pagninus. Aquila also adds, who translates: As a bridegroom bearing the crown of priesthood. And the Chaldean translates: Like a bridegroom who prospers in his bridal chamber, and like a high priest who is adorned with his vestments. For in the old law, Priests and Pontiffs were formerly bridegrooms and married, to signify that the Apostles and Bishops of the new law would be spiritual bridegrooms, that is, Priests and Pastors of the Church. Moreover, he alludes to the vestments and adornment of the Pontiff, which was wonderful, as it also is among Christians, as is clear from Exodus 28, Leviticus chapter 8. These things, mystically applied to the holy soul, represent its wondrous beauty.
Finally, Tertullian, book 4 Against Marcion chapter 11, and St. Augustine, epistle 120 to Honoratus, Rupert, and Origen on Genesis chapter 26, think that this hymn and these words are those of Christ, giving thanks to the Father, because He adorned Him with the highest graces and ornaments as bridegroom and bride, and as the supreme Priest and Pontiff. For the voice of Christ was in verse 1 and following. You will say: How then do these words apply to the Church? They respond that these things also apply to the Church, because Christ and the Church are one, and constitute one political and mystical body. Whence St. Augustine on Psalm 30: "The Church speaks, he says, in Christ, and Christ in the Church; for the body is in the head, and the head in the body." See Canon 40. For that crown or mitre of the priesthood properly belongs to Christ as much as to the Apostles and their vicars. But by participation and metaphorically it belongs to all the faithful: for they are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, offering to God the sacrifices of their lips, namely praises and prayers; and of their hands, namely holy works and virtues; and of their hearts, namely internal devotion, religion, and love.
Do you want an example? It is the illustrious one we read in the Life of St. Stephen, the first king of Hungary, namely that both crowns, of the kingdom as well as of heavenly blessedness and glory, were decreed for him by God before he was born, and revealed and promised to his parents. For to his pregnant mother appeared St. Stephen the Protomartyr, saying: "Take heart, woman, in the Lord, and be certain that you will give birth to a son, to whom the kingdom and crown of this nation are first owed. And you shall give him my name." The mother therefore, giving birth to a son, called him Stephen, that is, Crown (for this is what stephanos means in Greek), who, created the first king of the Hungarians, converted the whole nation to the faith of Christ. On which account the Pope sent him a crown as a king, and a cross as an Apostle, and commanded that it be borne before him as the insignia of his apostolate. Having therefore suffered much from his own people, so that four Palatines conspired for his death, and afflicted and consumed for three years by continual illnesses, at last commending his kingdom and soul to the Queen of Heaven, he breathed forth his spirit into her hands, in the year of the Lord 1034, on the very feast of her Assumption: for this he himself had desired and prayed for. From her therefore, in exchange for the crown of an earthly kingdom, by the merit of his virtues, he received the crown of glory and of heaven; and therefore he shone with many miracles after death, and his right hand, with which he used to give most abundant alms, remained for many years afterwards unharmed and incorrupt. So his Life records, written by Bishop Chartuitius and dedicated to Coloman, who was the eighth king of Hungary.
Verse 11: For as the earth brings forth, etc., so the Lord God will cause justice and praise to spring forth. — The w...
11. For as the earth brings forth, etc., so the Lord God will cause justice and praise to spring forth. — The word "springing forth" signifies abundance and plenty. For just as in spring the shoots cover and clothe the earth on all sides, which in winter was squalid, bare, and parched: so too God, through Christ, clothed the nations, previously deserted and bare, with every grace and virtue: which are here called justice and praise; because they made them worthy of praise and renowned among the Gentiles. For these marveled at the change of morals in their fellow citizens through faith in Christ, namely their sobriety, chastity, modesty, patience, charity, devotion, etc. In the word "garden" he alludes to the earthly Paradise: for this was the garden of God, constantly blooming with every leaf, flower, and fruit; from which we were expelled through Adam's sin, but brought back through Christ, indeed ourselves made into a paradise. For example, Saints Andrew, Thomas, Philip were one stock or tree of paradise, which, transplanted to Achaia, India, Phrygia, etc., sowed itself and made the whole region a paradise of virtues and a garden of God, with God causing the growth, that is, giving the sap and vigor of grace, and making it fruitful. So Forerius.
Again, in the word "praise" there is a metonymy, or metalepsis: for praise is put for the virtue which produces praise. As the Poet says: "There are also their own rewards for praise," that is, for laudable virtue.
Finally, he adds, "before all the nations:" because "praise" (laus) is derived from laon (peoples), since praise properly belongs to the nations, that is, to the people speaking rightly and honorably about someone.