In Isaiam

But the phrase "it has now been heard" he says not as though the matters had then become known to him, but as though justice were now following close on their heels and retribution were being exacted. For if many houses are built, great and beautiful, they will be desolate, and there will be none to dwell in them. For such is greed: when it surrounds those who possess with more, it has driven them out even of what they had before. This is what he hints at here as well, saying that when you build splendidly and make everything your own, then you will also lose what you had before. And the houses will stand with no inhabitants, sending forth a voice louder than any trumpet against those who seized them in violation of the beginning, the desolation that has been inflicted appearing like a kind of trophy. For where ten yoke of oxen labor, it will produce one jar; and he who sows six artabae will produce three measures. From the city he leads his discourse to the desolation of the countryside, so as to strike the hearer with amazement from every side. For neither will the houses, he says, hold their inhabitants, nor will the earth display its own power. For from the beginning, because of Adam's sin, it brought forth thorns and thistles; and after him, because of Cain's transgression, it displayed a yield far less than that man's labors and its own strength. And in many places one could see it punished because of the sins of men. And why do you marvel if transgression blinds its offspring and the pangs of men, when it has even become corruptible because of us, and again becomes incorruptible because of us?

For since being itself has wholly come to be on our account, and it receives its beginning and root from this source in the way it is, so too in the case of Noah. When the nature of human beings had lapsed into the utmost wickedness, all things were confounded—seeds and plants and the races of irrational creatures, earth and sea and air, mountains and glens and hills, cities and walls and houses and towers; and simply all things were hidden by that fearful flood at that time. And when it was again necessary for the race to increase, the earth received back its own good order and returned again to its former beauty. One might see this happening also in part because of the honor shown to human beings. For the sea was made to vanish and appeared again, and the sun was curbed together with the moon and abandoned its own course, and fire displayed the works of water and earth those of the sea and the sea those of the earth; and all things, so to speak, are transformed for the benefit of human beings. And since human beings are more honored than all things, and all things that have come to be exist for their sake, for this reason even now, when the people of the Jews sinned, God holds back the earth's birth-pangs and, after many labors and sweats, does not allow its womb to bring forth its customary produce, so that from this too they may learn that it is not the skill of farming hands, nor oxen and plow, nor the nature of the earth, nor any other such thing, but the Master of all these is the one who both pours out all things with a lavish hand and again, whenever he wishes, contracts them all. Woe to those who rise early and pursue strong drink, who linger until evening.

For wine will burn them up. For with lyre and harp and timbrels and flutes they drink wine; they do not look upon the works of God, and the works of his hands they do not consider. Having accused them of great greed, he also sets down the root of the evil. And this was drunkenness, which becomes the occasion of countless evils, and especially when it is dared with such great excess.

Consider, then, how he mocks them with precision. For he says that the whole day is spent on this. For they do not do this, he says, when it is time to take lunch, but making every season a season of drunkenness, and from the very prelude of the day—when they especially ought to be attentive—giving themselves over to much unmixed wine, and thereafter, even unwillingly, remaining in the disease until evening. For once they have been sunk into the depth of intemperance and have fallen out of their natural

senses and handed over the soul as a captive to the wicked tyranny of drunkenness, like a ship without ballast and deprived of both pilot and sailors, it is carried along simply and at random, driven everywhere by the disorderly rush of the waters; in the same way these too become submerged by drunkenness. Therefore he says: Woe to those who rise early and pursue strong drink. For they were not fulfilling need, nor were they waiting for desire to arise and fill their want, but they made this their work and study—to be continually drunk. Therefore he says: Those who pursue strong drink. And by strong drink here he means the juice of palms, which they practiced, crushing and pounding the fruit, to transform it into the nature of wine.

Such a thing is stupefying and productive of drunkenness. But those men suspected nothing of these things, pursuing pleasure everywhere only. Those who remain until late. For wine will burn them up. For such is the nature of drunkenness: as it advances it grows, and it makes the thirst more grievous. Then he adds another accusation no less than the first, saying: For with lyre and harp and timbrels and flutes they drink wine. Another prophet also brings this charge, saying: Those who drink the strained wine and anoint themselves with the finest perfumes, who clap to the sound of the instruments. They reckoned them as standing still and not as fleeing. For this is a sign of the utmost insensibility and of a slackened soul, to make one's own house a theater and to give oneself over to such songs. For what drunkenness does by darkening, music does by softening the tension of the mind and breaking down the courage of the soul and leading it out to greater licentiousness. And the works of God they do not look upon, and the works of his hands they do not consider. Either he means his wonders, or the contemplation of creation. But how could they be able to become spectators, making the day night, and passing the night no better than the dead? How will they be able to see the sun rising and the bright beauty of heaven and the varied dance of the stars in the evening and the rest of the order and service of creation, deprived as they are of both the outward and the inward eyes?

So this is no small penalty they have suffered—to depart from this present life without having seen the wonders of God, having been buried the whole time in the darkness of drunkenness. Therefore my people have become captive, because they did not know the Lord. Again he announces the future as though it had already happened, and he brings punishment upon this transgression. For drunkenness itself is sufficient to serve as every punishment, producing disturbances in the soul, filling the mind with gloom, making it captive, and filling them with countless diseases, both within and without. Paul also knows this, that vice becomes a punishment; therefore he says: And receiving in themselves the due recompense of their error. But since this too is part of their insensibility—to be punished and not even perceive it, to be sick and not even know that they are sick—he brings on the external punishment as well, saying: Therefore my people have become captive, because they did not know the Lord. And a multitude became dead through famine and thirst for water. Observe how even in the punishment there is much admonition, and the deepest cutting is not brought on all at once. For he did not immediately bring on the captivity, but first famine and drought, so that by remaining at home they might become better, and not, being incurably sick, draw the camp of the barbarians upon themselves. But since they did not yield, nor profit from this, he then brings the final punishment upon them. Yet even before those things he exalts and magnifies in his discourse the famine, saying: Hades has enlarged his soul.

Not as though Hades had a soul, but he personifies the threat, wishing to make the word more vivid and to implant the fear at its height in the mind of the hearers. Therefore he continues, saying: And he opened his mouth, so as not to pause—describing it as though of some wild beast and bringing the image of the events near to them. And what is even more grievous, that he did not open his mouth only, but also remains gaping and takes no surfeit of those buried within him. And there shall go down into him the glorious and the great and the rich and the pestilences of her. Then, so that you may learn that what was happening was not by a natural sequence, but the blow was God-sent and a vote brought down from the heavens, those in prominence, those in power, those who confound everything and turn the affairs of the Jews upside down and back again—these, he said, shall go down there. And with good reason he calls them pestilences, inasmuch as they do not keep their wickedness to themselves, but pass the disease on to others also. For such is the nature of a pestilence: once it has begun from one body, proceeding on its way it thereafter devours a multitude. And he who exults in her. He who lives in luxury, he who leaps for joy, he who thinks he has goods that cannot be moved—he too shall fall in and be captured. And man shall be brought low and a man shall be dishonored. And the eyes that are lifted up shall be brought low. And the Lord Sabaoth shall be exalted in judgment. Observe again God's care. For he does not work utter destruction, nor does he snatch the whole of their people out of the midst, but he lets some go, so that by the punishment of those who have departed they may become better.

Hinting at this, then, he said, "They shall be brought low," that is, those who remain, those who are left behind. "And the Lord Sabaoth shall be exalted in judgment, and the holy God shall be glorified in righteousness." He sets forth two good things: that those men will be delivered from the inflammation and will become better, and that God will be admired by all. For this is what it means: "He shall be exalted and glorified"—through the very punishment, through the very chastisement. And what does "in judgment" mean? Through the vengeance. "And the scattered shall feed as bulls, and the lambs shall eat the desolate places of those who have been taken." Here he hints at the fewness of those left behind and the extreme desolation of the land. "Woe to those who draw their sins after them as with a long rope, and their iniquities as with the strap of a heifer's yoke. Those who say, 'Let the swift thing draw near, which God will do, that we may see it; and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel come, that we may know it.'" Since the prophets were continually threatening and foretelling terrible things, the false prophets, speaking to please and slackening the tension of the people, kept saying that the former's words were false and their own true. Many, then, being deceived, disbelieved even the very words. Then, since the prophecies were not spoken and fulfilled at the same time—for it was the nature of prophecy to proclaim beforehand things that would come to pass a long time later—since, then, the prophets continually spoke of famines, plagues, and wars, but did not show these things in actual deeds, in the meantime the many who had been deceived, taking the delay of time as an occasion for disbelief, said, "Let what is spoken come.

If you speak the truth, let the matters be brought near; show us in deeds the counsel of God. Since, then, they made his long-suffering a ground for unbelief, and from this added to their sins both the unbelief itself and the becoming more slack because of the unbelief, the prophet rightly laments them, saying that like a long rope, so you drag upon yourselves the wrath of God, and you increase your wickedness. For since you disbelieve the words that are spoken, it remains henceforth for the trial through deeds to be brought upon you. So that it is you who draw evils upon yourselves, you who disbelieve what is spoken. Therefore he says: Woe to those who draw their sins to themselves; that is, the recompense of their sins. As with a long rope, he says, you drag from afar the punishment appointed for your sins, and as with the strap of a yoke the heifer's lawless deeds—a heifer being under a yoke—so as to express the tautness, the eagerness. As if one should draw something with a taut strap, so you through unbelief draw upon yourselves the wrath of God. Then he says also how they draw it: Those who say, Let the swiftness draw near of the things God will do, so that

Let us see. Another prophet also brings this charge, saying: Woe to those who desire the day of the Lord. And why is this day yours? It is darkness and not light, and gloom that has no brightness of its own. For they too, in their unbelief, were saying: When will the day of punishment and retribution come? Woe to those who call evil good and good evil; who put light for darkness and darkness for light; who put sweet for bitter and bitter for sweet. Again he speaks about the same people. Since they were insulting the prophets and calling them deceivers, while honoring the false prophets and overturning the order of things, he pronounces woe upon them for their corrupted judgment. Woe, he says, to those who call evil good—that is, false prophecy—and good evil—that is, prophecy; who put light for darkness and darkness for light; who put sweet for bitter and bitter for sweet. For even if, he says, the words are burdensome, nothing is sweeter than the prophets, who by the threat of their words drive off the experience that comes through deeds. Even if the words of the false prophets are sweet, nothing is more bitter than they, who by the charm of their words bring on the threat that comes through works. Do you see the prophet's wisdom, how he overturned their presumption? For since they paid no attention to those who spoke the harshest things, but to those who spoke most agreeably and had great sweetness, he said that the opposite is in fact the case: great is the honey of the prophets, and great is the bitterness of the false prophets; so too we must handle the account of light and darkness. For the one led people to error, the other guided them by the hand to the truth.

And some, having all but bound their hands with the darkness of captivity, were handing them over, while others did everything so as to lead them into the light of freedom. Since, then, they held contrary and improper opinions about these matters, he rightly corrects them, saying: Who put light for darkness and darkness for light. Woe to those who are wise in themselves and knowledgeable before themselves. This too is no small defect—for someone to think himself wise and to entrust everything to his own reasonings. For from this comes that very thing [I mean, the claiming that evil is good, and good evil, and the rest]. This is what Paul too said, charging the philosophers outside the faith: Claiming to be wise, they became fools. For from this they became fools, and the proverbial saying again says: I saw a man seeming to be wise in his own eyes; but the fool has more hope than he. This Paul also charges again, saying: Do not become wise in your own eyes; and again: If anyone thinks he is wise in this age, let him become a fool, that he may become wise. Do not, he says, take delight in one's own wisdom, nor in one's own reasonings, but having put those to rest, let him surrender his soul to the teaching of the Spirit. Since, then, among the Jews too there were some such persons, who looked down on the prophets as shepherds and goatherds, but wished to be wise on their own account—which also became for them a ground of folly and of despising what was said—he rightly laments them, saying: Woe to those who are wise in themselves and knowledgeable before themselves. Woe to you who are strong, who drink wine, and to the rulers who mix strong drink.

Do not be surprised if, having just now said so many things against drunkenness, he takes up the same argument again. For since the wound is severe and hard to heal, for this reason it was necessary to apply the remedy continually. And it is severe and hard to heal because it does not seem to most people to be a sin, though it is more grievous than all sins and sprouts countless diseases. Therefore he says: Those who drink wine and the rulers, those who mix sikera. The precipice is twofold: the tyranny of drunkenness and the excess of power. For all men have need of reason, but especially those in positions of honor and power, so that they are not, as it were, carried away by the rush of disordered waters and hurled down by the bulk of their authority. Those who justify the ungodly for the sake of gifts and take away the justice of the just man from him. The charge is twofold again: to release the guilty and to condemn the innocent. The root of each sin is bribery. Therefore, just as stubble will be burned by a coal of fire and consumed by a blazing flame. He sets forth the swiftness of the punishment and the ease of the chastisement, declaring through the image their utter destruction.

For all these things—the flame, the coals, the stubble, and the rest—have been made clear to us. Their root shall be as chaff, and their flower shall go up as dust. Things fixed and firm shall perish and be scattered; things bright and splendid shall depart and flow away. For they were not willing to do the law of the Lord Sabaoth, but provoked the oracle of the Holy One. He calls the law an oracle. And the Lord Sabaoth was angered with wrath against his people, and he laid his hand upon them and struck them. And he was provoked against the mountains, and their corpses became as dung in the midst of the road. And in all these things his wrath was not turned away, but still his hand is lifted high. Here he hints at a harsh war, which will not permit bodies even to be given over to burial—not so that those men might give punishment, but so that the living, amid others' calamities, might cut off something of their own wickedness. And see how he made the account harsher. For he did not say that they were not buried, but that the dead had been cast out more dishonored than any dung—a thing that seems to the living more dreadful than all else and harsher than death itself. And what is worse, he says that not even when these things happened did they become more reasonable, but they persist in the same things. Since, then, they became no better, he threatens them again with that most grievous blow—the one from the barbarians. Therefore he adds, saying: Therefore he shall raise a signal among the nations that are far off.

So that the length of the journey might not plunge them into slackness, he says that it is as easy for God to lead them as for one who raises the signal and leads out those who are prepared and ready for battle—which is exactly what happens with racehorses. For at the same moment the signal for the start is raised, and those horses leap from the starting gates at once. The prophet therefore hints at two things here: that it is easy for them to come when God calls, and that they would have come long ago, had not his great long-suffering held them back. Then by his further explanation he shows the ease to be even greater, saying, And he will whistle for them from the end of the earth. And do not be surprised if, when speaking about God, he uses such very coarse expressions; for he shapes his words to the dullness of his hearers, wishing to show through everything this one thing: that this is easy for God and that they will certainly meet together. Therefore he adds, saying: And behold, they come quickly, swiftly. They shall not hunger, nor grow weary, nor slumber, nor sleep. These things are said hyperbolically. For how could it be possible neither to hunger nor to sleep, being men and having received the common lot? But the speed of the army, the ease, the swiftness—as I said before—he shows through all of these. Nor shall they loose their belts from their waist, nor shall the straps of their sandals be broken. Whose arrows are sharp and their bows bent. The feet of their horses were reckoned as solid rock, the wheels of their chariots as a storm. They shall rage like lions and stand ready like lion cubs. And it shall seize and roar like a beast and cast forth;

And there will be no one to rescue them. And he will cry out on their behalf in that day, like the sound of a surging sea. And they will look up to heaven above and down to the earth below; and behold, thick darkness, darkness in their perplexity. Through all of this he magnified the account and heightened the fear, narrating each detail little by little—the matters concerning their resolve, their strength, their weapons, their horses, their chariots—so that by the abundance of what was said he might produce great anguish, and by the vividness of the images bring the events close to them. Therefore he also compares them to lions, and not even here did he stop with the example, but he also fashions the beast's voice and its onset and

persists in the metaphor and makes the turn of phrase extensive. And from there he leads the account on to the sea, saying that so great will be the uproar, so great the confusion, as would arise from a raging sea stirring up its waves; and he sets in motion every manner of thing, magnifying the fear, so that they would not need experience through actual events. And what is even harder, he says that there will be no one to stand by them—not from the earth, not from the heavens—but bereft both of help from above and of aid from below, they will be handed over to their enemies. And here he calls darkness the darkness that comes upon them from their calamity—not as though the sun's ray were being extinguished, but because the disposition of those who suffer sees darkness instead of light in the very middle of midday, which is accustomed to happen to those in pain and distress. And so that you may learn that the darkness was not from the nature of the air, but from their disposition, he added:

Harsh darkness in their helplessness.

CHAPTER 6. And it came to pass in the year in which King Uzziah died. Why is it that the prophet now marks other times by the lives of kings, but this one by the death? For he did not say, "It came to pass in the days of Uzziah," nor "in the reign of Uzziah," but "It came to pass when he died." Why does he do this here? Not casually, nor by chance, but he hints at something secret to us. What is this? This Uzziah, drunk with the prosperity of his successes and puffed up by his good fortune, thought more highly than he ought. And since he was a king, he supposed that it was fitting for him to serve as priest, and he rushed into the temple and entered the holy of holies; and when the priest hindered him and forbade him entry there, he did not endure it, but persisted in his madness, making little account of the priest's word. For this shamelessness God inflicted leprosy on his forehead. For wishing to receive more honor than was his due, he lost even what he had. For not only did he not obtain the priesthood, but also, having become unclean, he was cast out of the palace and dwelt hidden in a certain house the whole time, unable to bear the shame. And all the people likewise shared in this kind of wrath, because they overlooked the laws of God and did not avenge the priesthood when it was insulted. How then did they share in the wrath? By the prophecy being silenced; for God, being angry with them, answered nothing about anything. But he did not do this forever, but by the measure of the king's life he also set the measure of the punishment.

For when he had ended his life, God also ended his wrath and opened again the doors of prophecy. Hinting at this, then, the prophet reminded us of the time of the king's death; and for this reason he begins his prophecy thus, saying: It came to pass in the year in which Uzziah the king died, I saw the Lord sitting. And yet Christ says: No one has ever seen God; the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him. And again: Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. And to Moses he himself says: No one shall see my face and live. How then does this one say that he has seen the Lord? For he says, I saw the Lord—not speaking in opposition to Christ's words, but in full accord with them. For Christ speaks of the exact comprehension, which no one has seen; for no one has beheld the naked Godhead and the pure essence, except the Only-begotten. But the prophet reports the vision that was possible for him to see. For he himself was not able to see what God is, but he beholds him in a form, and having descended as far as the weakness of the beholder could reach up. For that not the naked

Neither he nor anyone else saw the Godhead, as is clear from the very things they report. For "I saw," he says, "the Lord sitting." But God does not sit, for that is the posture of a body. And not simply "sitting," but "upon a throne." But God is not contained or encompassed; for how could he be, who is present everywhere and fills all things, in whose hand are the ends of the earth? Hence it is clear that what was seen was a condescension. In this way, then, another prophet, hinting at it, said in the person of God: "I multiplied visions," that is, I appeared in various ways. But if the essence itself had appeared bare, it would not have appeared in various ways; but since, condescending, he showed himself to the prophets now in this way, now in that, fashioning the appearances in a manner suited to the times at hand, for this reason he says: "I multiplied visions and was likened in the hands of the prophets." Not as I was, he says, did I appear, but I was likened to what those who saw were able to see. You see him, then, now sitting, now armed, now having gray hair, now in a breeze, now in fire, now appearing from behind, now upon the Cherubim, and his appearance fashioned to the brightness of the most transparent of metallic substances. For what reason he now appears armed and bloodied, now in fire, now showing his back, now in heaven, now on a throne, now upon the Cherubim, it would not be the task of the present time to say, so that the incidental not become greater than the work. For now it is necessary to speak concerning the present vision.

For what reason, then, does he now appear thus sitting upon a throne and with the Seraphim? He imitates human custom, since his discourse was also directed to human beings. For since he is about to pronounce a sentence concerning the greatest matters and the whole inhabited world, and moreover also concerning Jerusalem, and he sets down a twofold verdict—the one bringing punishment to the city and to the entire nation, the other bringing beneficence to the inhabited world and promising great hopes and immortal honors. And it is the custom of those who judge to do these things not in secret, but sitting upon a lofty judgment seat, with all standing by and the curtains drawn back [to do this].

Imitating these, he too set the Seraphim beside himself and sits upon a lofty throne and thus pronounces this verdict. And so that you may learn that the matter is not a conjecture, but that this is his custom, I shall attempt to make this clear from another prophet as well. For in the case of Daniel, since there too he was about to pronounce a great verdict concerning punishments and Jewish chastisements and the good things that were to be given to the inhabited world, there too a throne appears bright and conspicuous, and a multitude of angels standing by, and ranks of archangels, and the Only-Begotten sitting with him, and books are opened and rivers of fire are drawn along, and from every side the form of a courtroom is established. And all those things are akin to what is said here, or rather he reports them more clearly, inasmuch as the times were coming nearer and prophecy was now arriving at its very doors.

But leaving these things to those who love labor, to gather and set side by side and to discern thoroughly the common ground of each prophecy—as I said—let us with accuracy take up the matter before us, explaining each utterance as far as possible. For in this way what is said will be clearer both to us and to you. What then does he say? I saw the Lord sitting. Sitting upon a throne is always a symbol of judgment, as David says: You sat upon a throne, you who judge righteousness; and Daniel: Thrones were set and a judgment seat sat. But the prophet says that simply sitting is a symbol of something else. Of what, then? Of the steadfast, the abiding, the established, the unchanging, the unending, of boundless life. For this reason he says: You are sitting forever, and we are perishing forever. You, he says, remain, exist, live, always being the same. For that he was not speaking about a seat, the contrast made clear. For he did not say, We are standing and you are sitting, but You are sitting and we are perishing. But to sit upon a throne is to judge. For this reason he sees him thus sitting upon a throne high and lifted up—or else this signifies one thing and that another. For the throne was high, that is, great and exceedingly long; and lifted up, that is, appearing in ineffable height and elevated. And the house was full of his glory. What house? Tell me. The temple. For since he was from there, reasonably also in this wondrous vision he is seen sitting there. And by glory here he means brightness, ineffable light.

Being unable to express it in words, he called it glory—and not simply glory, but the glory of God. And the Seraphim stood round about him. What are these Seraphim that he speaks of? Bodiless powers of the hosts above, whose excellence and blessedness can be seen even from their name. For in the Hebrew tongue, Seraphim is interpreted as "burning mouths." What then do we learn from this? The purity of their essence, their vigilance, their wakefulness, their swiftness, their activity, their undefiled nature. In this way, then, the prophet David also, wishing to show us the unimpeded service of the powers above—both the swiftness of their ministry and its great efficacy—said: "Who makes his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire," displaying to us through these elements the swift, the light, the active. Such are these powers too, hymning the Master with pure mouths, having this as their work continually, offering up praise, a ministry without ceasing. And he shows their dignity and their nearness to the throne. For just as among kings on earth, those who hold greater dignities stand beside the royal throne itself, so too these powers, on account of their surpassing excellence, encircle the throne above, enjoying the ineffable blessedness continually and delighting in the blessed lot of this ministry. Each one had six wings, and each one had six wings. And with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And they cried out, one to another, and said:

Holy, holy, holy, Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. What do these wings mean for us, and what do the wings hint at for us? For those bodiless powers certainly do not have wings; but again, through coarser forms the prophet intimates certain ineffable things to us, condescending to the weakness of those who heard him then, yet at the same time through this condescension showing us with precision thoughts that surpass every mind. What, then, do the wings hint at? The lofty and elevated nature of these powers. Thus Gabriel too is seen flying and descending from the heavens, so that you may learn the swift and light. And why do you marvel if he has used these words of the liturgical powers, when even of God himself, the God of all, he did not decline to employ this condescension? For wishing to show either his incorporeality or the swiftness of his presence everywhere, David says: He who walks upon the wings of the winds. And yet neither do the winds have wings, nor does he walk upon wings. For how could he who is present everywhere? But, as I said before, condescending to the weakness of his hearers, he led their mind up from things that are familiar. And again, wishing to show his help and the security that comes from it, he used the same words, saying thus: In the shelter of your wings you will cover me. Here, however, the prophet hints at for us not only the elevated and light through these wings, but also something else awe-inspiring.

For he shows that even if what was seen was a condescension, as indeed it was, not even the powers above were able to contain this measure. For to cover their feet and faces and backs was the mark of those struck with amazement, trembling [at the lightning], unable to bear the lightning that leaped from the throne. Therefore,

as though with a kind of wall, by the projection of their wings they overshadowed their own eyes; and what we are accustomed to suffer when thunders crash or lightnings flash, bending down to the ground, this indeed those powers also suffered. But if the Seraphim, those great and wondrous powers, were not able to see God sitting and seated upon a throne without fear, but covered both their eyes and their feet, what account could set forth the madness of those who say they know God himself clearly and pry into that pure essence? With two they flew and cried out. What ever is this, "They flew," and what does it wish to signify? That they are continually about God and do not depart from him, but this is their very way of life: to sing to him continually, to praise forever the one who made them. For he did not say, "They cried out," but "They kept crying out," that is, they have this as their continual work. One to another and they said: Holy, holy, holy. This makes clear their harmonious concord and their praise with great unanimity. This hymn is not only praise, but also prophecy of the good things that will take hold of the world and exactness of doctrines. And for what reason did they not say it once and fall silent, nor a second time and stop, but a third time and then add?

Is it not clear that they did this while offering the hymn to the Trinity? For this reason John says it was spoken concerning the Son, Luke concerning the Spirit, and the prophets concerning the Father. And what follows also makes this thought clear to us. For after the hymn they added: The whole earth is full of his glory, which was a mark of precise prophecy; they proclaim beforehand the knowledge that was to come, through which the inhabited world was filled with the glory of God. For in ancient times, when these things were being said, not only the rest of the inhabited world but even the country of Judea itself was filled with great impiety, and no one anywhere was glorifying God. And the prophet himself is a witness, saying: Because of you my name is blasphemed among the nations. When, then, did the earth become full of his glory? When this hymn was brought down to the earth, and humans below became fellow-dancers with the powers above, and they raised up one melody and made their praise common. But if the Jew is shameless toward these things, let him show when the whole earth became full of this glory that comes from knowledge. But he would not be able to show it, even if he were shameless ten thousand times over. And the threshold was lifted up at the sound of what they cried out. Did you see the ease of prophecy—how the events follow one another? For after this hymn and the filling of the earth with his glory, all the Jewish things ceased, which this very fact signified through the lifting up of the threshold. For this was a sign of desolation and of the overthrow of the temple; and when the temple was destroyed, all the other things were overthrown along with it. And so that you may learn that the New put an end to the Old—

From the voice, he says, the lintel was lifted up; that is, from the coming of this doxology and the shining of grace and the pouring out of glory everywhere throughout the inhabited world, the things of the shadow have been removed. And the house was filled with smoke. To me this too seems a sign of the capture that would overtake them, and of the barbarian fire and the most grievous conflagration. And I said: Woe is me, for I am pricked to the heart, for being a man and having unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people having unclean lips, and I have seen the Lord Sabaoth with my eyes. The vision astonished the prophet, roused him, cast him into great fear, moved him to confession, and prepared him to recognize more accurately the lowliness of his own nature. For all the saints are like this: whenever they enjoy greater honor, then they humble themselves more greatly. Thus also Abraham, conversing with God, called himself earth and ashes; thus also Paul, when he was deemed worthy of that vision, then called himself an untimely birth; thus indeed this man also bewails himself, first from nature, saying: Woe is me, for I am pricked to the heart, for being a man; then from the

of his disposition, and having unclean lips. He called his lips unclean, as I myself think, in comparison with those fiery mouths of the pure powers, that most exact liturgy. And he did not stop even here, but also confesses on behalf of all the people, adding and saying: I dwell in the midst of a people having unclean lips. And for what reason does he here blame the lips? Showing the lack of boldness. Since even the three children said almost this very thing, being in the furnace: It is not for us to open our mouth. And now, since it was a time for hymnody and praise, and he saw the powers above doing this, reasonably he turns his discourse to the lips, which are especially called to such a ministry. But his own lips he called unclean for this reason, while those of the people not so, but because they were filled with much lawlessness. And I saw the King, the Lord, with my eyes. For this reason, he says, I groan and lament, because I was deemed worthy of such honor though I am unworthy, it surpassing my worth, exceeding my nature. But when he says, I saw, do not think it was exact comprehension, but such as was possible for him. And consider how great is the profit of confession. He accused himself and was immediately cleansed. For because he spoke these words: One of the Seraphim, he says, was sent to me, and in his hand he had a coal, which he took with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: Behold, this has touched your lips and will take away your lawless deeds and will thoroughly cleanse your sins.

Some also say that these things are symbols of the mysteries to come—the altar, the fire laid upon it, the ministering power, the thing given into the mouth, the cleansing of sins. But for now we hold to the historical sense and ask for what reason this happened. He is about to be sent to the Jewish people, announcing certain fearful and unbearable things. The Seraphim, then, are sent so as to free him from fear and fill him with boldness. And so that he might not object, as Moses did, saying he was slow of speech, and Jeremiah, that he was too young, and this man likewise, that he had unclean lips and could not minister to what was being said, the Seraphim come, cleansing his sins—not by their own power (for that belongs to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit alone), but by the command and gift of the coals. For he did not say, "Behold, I take away," but "Behold, this takes away your iniquities, and will cleanse your sins," through the command of the one who sent it. And for what reason did the Seraphim take the coal with tongs? For surely the incorporeal power was not going to be burned up by the coals. For what reason did these things happen? Because of great condescension. For this reason he also takes it from the altar, where the sacrifices were offered and the cleansings of sins took place. But if you say, "How was the prophet's mouth not burned up?" In the first place, the fire that appeared was not perceptible fire; and besides, when God is working something, do not be busybodying nor prying. For even perceptible fire, when it is at work and has contact with bodies, has not displayed the properties of fire.

But if there, where there were vine-twigs and pitch, the flame forgot its own nature, why do you marvel if now, when so great a wonder was wrought, this fire cleansed and did not burn? And I heard the voice of the Lord saying: Whom shall I send, and who will go to this people? Do you see how much the vision accomplished, how much the fear set right? And yet something of this sort also happened in the case of Moses; for even if no Seraphim appeared, nor did he himself sit upon a throne, nevertheless another wondrous sight was then shown to the prophet, and such a one that no one was able to look it in the face. For the bush, it says, was burning and was not consumed. But nevertheless, even after those things and the great exhortation of God, the great Moses drew back and excused himself and devised countless pretexts for refusal, saying: I am weak of voice and slow of tongue; and: Appoint another whom you will send. And Jeremiah also pleads his age. And Ezekiel, after being commanded, spends seven days by the river, drawing back and hesitating. Therefore God also added that parable, saying: I have given you as a watchman to the house of Israel; and: Their soul I will require at your hand. But Jonah not only refused, but even fled. What then? Is Isaiah bolder than all, even than the great Moses? And who would say this? From where, then, did that one, when commanded, draw back, while this one, though not openly commanded, leaped forward? For he did not say: Go; but when God said: Whom shall I send? he seized upon the command.

Some say, then, that because Uzziah sinned and he did not rebuke him when he audaciously attempted the forbidden things, wishing to make defense for that sin, he leapt forward quickly with the subsequent zeal of obedience, so as to propitiate God. For this reason he also said that his lips were unclean, on account of his lack of boldness of speech. But I would not tolerate those who say these things; for Paul is more trustworthy than they, who calls him a daring man and says, "But Isaiah is bold and says." For this reason, then, he did not end his life by the common law, as they say, but underwent the most severe punishment, since the Jews could not endure his boldness of speech. Apart from these things, the Scripture nowhere says that he was present when the events concerning Uzziah took place, and being present kept silent; but those who say these things conjecture them from their own resources and of themselves. What then is one to say? That the case of Moses and this one were not equal. For the one was sent to a foreign and barbarous land and to a tyrant, raging and raving; but this one to his own people, who had often heard many things and been educated over a long time; and to obey there and here was not a matter of equal courage. But some say that something else also produced this zeal in him. For since he had confessed on behalf of himself and the people, and had seen the Seraphim sent and cleansing his lips, expecting that these things would also happen to the people and that he would go away announcing these things, he eagerly seized what was said. For just as they were lovers of God, so also the saints were especially affectionate beyond all men. Hoping, then, to announce some release from evils, he leapt forward quickly and says:

Behold, here I am; send me. But in another way also he had a soul very much drawn up in readiness for dangers; and this very character of his is evident throughout the whole prophecy. Since, then, he had promised to go and no longer dared to refuse, then he hears the painful things. For God also handled him wisely. For he did not say from the beginning, "Go and speak," but first made the command suspenseful and the manner of the mission unclear. Since he readily obeyed, he tells him the evils that will overtake the Jews. And what were these? "Go," he says, "and say to this people: You shall hear with hearing and you shall not understand, and seeing you shall see and you shall not perceive. For the heart of this people has grown dull, and with their ears they have heard heavily, and their eyes they have shut, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I heal them." These things, I think, do not even need interpretation, since those who know these things accurately have already gone before and expounded them—both John, the son of thunder, and Paul, who knew the old and the new accurately. For the one, in Rome, addressing those who had gathered but had leapt away and did not endure what was said, said: "Well did the Holy Spirit speak: You shall hear with hearing and you shall not understand." And the son of thunder, since they saw wonders and did not believe, and heard doctrines and did not attend—for Christ raised Lazarus and they attempted to kill him; he drove out demons and they called him demon-possessed—

He was bringing them to the Father, and they called him a deceiver and received the opposing opinions), he remembers this prophecy, saying: Well did Isaiah the prophet say, For hearing you shall hear and in no way understand, and seeing you shall see and in no way perceive. For since the inner eyes of the mind had been blinded, there was no benefit to them from the outward eyes, since the faculty of judgment of the mind was corrupted. For this reason, seeing they did not see and hearing they did not hear; and he adds the cause, that it was not the senses that were corrupted, nor nature that was maimed, but the heart that was blinded. For the heart of this people grew fat, he says; and fatness of mind comes both from sins and from worldly desires. And explaining this fatness, Paul said: I could not speak to you as to spiritual but as to carnal; for you were not yet able, but neither even now are you able. And he adds the cause, saying: For where there are among you strifes and jealousies and divisions, are you not carnal? Since, then, those men also, being consumed by great envy and malice and besieged by countless other passions, made the eye of their mind fat, they could no longer see clearly. Therefore they received other opinions concerning the things seen, and opposing ones. The prophet, then, seeing these things with precision, proclaimed beforehand also the cause of the disease. But observe for me, that while there are two prophecies, the Seraphim received the one concerning the Church and the good things of the inhabited world, saying: Holy, holy, holy, Lord Sabaoth, the whole earth is full of his glory;

But the things concerning the capture and the punishments of the Jews I have left to the prophet, so that even from this you may learn the superiority of the Church. And I said, Until when, Lord? Do you see that not in vain nor at random have we aimed at the obedience of the prophet, which came to be with much eagerness? Since, then, contrary to what he expected, he heard desolation, utter destruction, he asks at least to learn the measure of the punishment; for he did not dare to snatch them wholly from the wrath, because God had beforehand shown that they sinned unforgivably. For their audacious deeds were not of a sudden seizure, nor of a mind being spitefully influenced, but the work of a soul making obedience its business and of a contentious mind, as if from some study and zeal, opposing the things commanded by God. Hinting at this, then, he said: Lest they see with their eyes and understand with their heart and turn and I heal them. For as if they were afraid, he says, lest they learn any of the things they ought, so with much zeal they blinded their mind. Since, then, both the accusation is most heavy and the punishment inexorable, what was left over, this he seeks to learn; but in the place of learning he introduces a supplication. And since he did not dare openly to supplicate even for this, for this reason, under the pretext of learning, he devises a question, saying: Until when, Lord? And he said: Until the cities are made desolate for lack of being inhabited, and houses for lack of there being men; and the land shall be left desolate. And after these things God will remove men far away, and those left upon the earth shall be multiplied, and still upon it is the Tenth.

And again it shall be for a spoil as a terebinth and as an acorn, when it falls from its husk. A holy seed is its stump. Having completed that prophecy, he again brings the discourse back to history, foretelling both the capture of the ten tribes and the long-suffering that came upon the two tribes because of that captivity; then also the leading away of these very people, since they used the long-suffering for no good purpose; and again the prosperity that would be kindled for them from the remnant. For when he says, Until the cities be made desolate because they are not inhabited, he hints at the captivity of the ten tribes. For they were all utterly destroyed and, carried off with great violence, all were borne away into a foreign land, so that all the cities stood empty of men and the land was desolate of those who cultivated it for the benefit of those who would be left. When, then, he says, Until the cities be made desolate because they are not inhabited, and houses because there are no men, then he speaks also of the captivity. But when he says, And after these things God will make the men far off, he either hints at the complete prosperity of all, or the prosperity that came to the two tribes after the leading away of the ten tribes. For having been delivered from Sennacherib

And having enjoyed the barbarian army and the paradoxical victory, they again advanced into multitude and into length of life, with no war disturbing them. But when he says "Makrynei," he hints either at the multitude of men or at the length of years. And so that you may learn that he says these things about the two tribes, he added that "the tenth-part is upon it," calling "tenth-part" that which is above the ten, the excess of the ten, which the two tribes were. Paul also uses this expression, saying, "above five hundred brothers," that is, more than five hundred. And again, "it shall be for a spoil as a terebinth." That is, the two tribes. "And as an acorn, when it falls from its husk." For just as that fruit is unpleasant when it falls from its husk, so also these shall be ridiculous and reproachful, when they fall from the city and are stripped of that glory, all of them. "A holy seed is its stump." Surely, he says, the evils shall not be incurable, nor endless, but its seed shall be holy, and "stump," that is, firm, fixed, immovable, awaiting the change of things. For they shall fall from prosperity, but they themselves shall not undergo utter destruction, but shall remain and stand, until they receive again their former citizenship and return to their former sanctity.

CHAPTER 7. And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz, son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah. What I have often said, this I will say now also: that in ancient times the prophecies did not come about for this reason alone, that the Jews might simply learn what was to come, but that having learned, they might profit from it, and by the fear of the threat become more self-controlled, and by the promise of good things more eager for the working of virtue, learning from both sides the power of God and His care for them. For it was for this reason that the things spoken were foretold, and so that they might not think that what happened came upon them simply and at random, by some sequence of nature or the drift of circumstances, but that they might know that both of these come from above and from the decree of God—which was of the greatest benefit to them for the knowledge of God. But since, as I said before, the prophecy did not have its proof in that very time, but the words were spoken then, while the events were to come to pass in long ages afterward, and some of those who heard often departed beforehand and were unable to judge by the sequence of what was said—see what God does and contrives. He joins prophecy to prophecies, a nearer one to longer ones, providing as the greatest proof the prophecy that came about in their own generation of the things that would happen long afterward. But in the case of the Gospels He manages this kind of benefit in another way also, joining wonders to prophecies and establishing the one by the other. For example, what I mean is this:

The leper once came to him and was cleansed, and after him again the centurion's servant was released from that grievous illness, and these were great signs; but nevertheless he did not stop at the signs, but also added a prophecy. For since the centurion had displayed that wonderful and great faith, through which he released the servant from his illness, Christ added, saying: Many will come from the east and the west and will recline with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out. And he said these things, foretelling both the calling of the Gentiles and the rejection of the Jews; which indeed has now come to pass in deeds and is shown to all more clearly than the sun; but at that time it was for a while unclear and not easily acceptable to the unbelieving. For this reason the sign that came to pass then went before, storing up great faith beforehand for what would happen afterward; just as indeed this prophecy itself, now appearing in deeds, by the sign

He provides great confirmation by what then took place. For what would the unbeliever say? That the leper was not cleansed? Let him look at the truth of the prophecy, and from this let him believe the sign as well. But what would the Jews of that time say? That the things he foretells are not true? Let them see the leper being cleansed, and from the things that happened in his case let them not disbelieve concerning things to come, receiving the greatest pledge—those men, the sign of the prophecy; but people now, the prophecy of the sign. Do you see how each is established through the other? One might see this happening also in the Old Testament. For since Jeroboam also raged with that grievous madness and set up golden calves, the prophet came and both foretold things to come and immediately gave a sign. For so that no one might disbelieve the things that would happen after three hundred years, he shattered the altar and poured out its fatness and withered the king's hand, providing clear proof from things happening before the eyes of things that would come to pass after a long time. And one might see many such things happening both in the New and in the Old, God in various ways ordering our salvation. This indeed has happened here also, and with greater abundance; for he wove together not only a sign but prophecy and sign at once. But so that what is said may become clearer, let us go through the account itself with precision.

And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz son of Jotham son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up against Jerusalem to fight against it, and they could not besiege it. And it was reported to the house of David, saying, Aram has made an agreement with Ephraim. What has been said is indeed history and a narrative of events; but the one who has understanding and sees keenly will reap much profit from this as well, perceiving the great wisdom of God and his care for the Jews. For he neither checked the war from its beginnings, nor did he allow it, once it had come, to prevail over the city, but he let the threat come about through words, while he prevented the actual attempt—at once awakening them and rousing them from their negligence, and at the same time displaying his own power, that it was possible for him, even when dangers had come to their very end, to keep those who fell into them unharmed, just as if they had not even begun. One can see him doing this in many places: for instance, in the Babylonian furnace, and in the lions' den, and in countless other matters. For these men came and laid siege, and touching the walls and shaking the resolve of those dwelling within, they prevailed no further.

From this too one can see the lawlessness of the ten tribes, that they not only took up civil war, nor only that they rebelled against their brothers, but that they also joined themselves to foreigners and those of alien race, and those who were not even permitted simply to associate with them called them allies and conspired with them and stood against the city. For they roused Rezin, who was a foreigner, against the mother-city. And the fortunes of the battle were uneven. For on their side were a countless multitude and cities and nations and peoples; but here none of these, but one city, the mother-city, so that God's strength might be shown to be abundant. For when no one stirred weapons, nor went out and drew up for battle, those men fell away from these wicked undertakings. For they could not, it says, besiege it. And yet what was hindering? Nothing other than the hand of God invisibly driving them back. Nevertheless, as I said, He drove off the war, but He did not immediately remove the fear. For it was announced, it says, to the house of David, that Aram had made an agreement with Ephraim. And his soul was astonished, and the soul of his people. Whenever God is about to do something extraordinary, He does not immediately bring on the wonder, but first He allows those who are about to benefit to come into awareness of the dangers, so that after the removal of the dangers there may be no ingratitude

they might be displayed. For since most people, partly out of arrogance and partly out of negligence, forget their troubles after their deliverance from troubles, or, if they do not forget them, wish to credit the successes to themselves, he first lets them be shaken by distresses, and then gives them freedom from the things that trouble them; which indeed he has done here also. He let their hearts be thrown into confusion, he let them come into great agony, and then he brought on the release. This he also did in the case of the great David. For since he was about to lead him out into the battle line and to raise up that glorious trophy through his hands, he did not do this from the beginning of the war, but after letting them be worn down by fear for forty days, when they had despaired of their own safety and the barbarian was reproaching them countless times, and not even so did anyone dare to rouse himself and accept the opponent, then, yes then, when their defeat was acknowledged and their weakness had become evident, he brought the young man into the battle and wrought that astonishing victory. For if, even after these things and after so great a demonstration of their weakness, the king who was saved, consumed by envy and malice, plotted against David, having become wholly possessed by the passion, and showed himself ungrateful toward his benefactor, what would he not have done if he had not given so great a proof of his own cowardice and that of the whole army? This same thing one may see God doing in many other places as well; which indeed is happening here too.

For since he is about to end the war and release them from their distresses, he first allows them to feel their terrors. For he says, his soul was beside itself, and the soul of his people, in the manner in which a piece of wood in a thicket is shaken by the wind. And this is also proper to prophecy, to bring their secret thoughts out into the open. For it interprets to us the passion of each one's mind, both for the sake of clarity and to add an image, and so as to show the intensity of their agony. For he says, their soul was shaken, their resolve was cast down, they despaired of salvation, they thought they were in the last extremities, they expected nothing good, each one had been betrayed by his own reasonings. What then does God do? He foretells the deliverance and then brings it about, so that they might not again ascribe the city's freedom to some other, and he sends the prophet proclaiming beforehand the things that are to come. For he says, the Lord said to Isaiah: Go out to meet Ahaz, you and Jashub your son who is left, at the pool of the ascent of the fuller's field. And you shall say to him: Be careful to keep quiet and do not fear, nor let your soul be weak; nor be afraid of these two pieces of wood, these smoking firebrands. For when the anger of my wrath comes, I will heal again. What is "Go out to meet"? From fear and agony the king was not keeping quiet, nor could he endure to stay at home, but, as is the custom for those under siege to endure, he kept going out, inspecting the walls, coming to the gates, examining and busying himself with how the enemy's affairs stood. Therefore he says: Go out to meet. And what is it that

Are you and Jashub your son who is left? Jashub in the Hebrew tongue means conduct and manner of life. For this reason Jesse too, when sending David, said: And you shall take their Jashub; that is, you shall report to me their conduct and what they are doing.

And here, then, it seems to me, the prophet is commanded to take a multitude with himself, so that when the events come to pass, the king may have no excuse for ignorance, as though he had heard none of these things from the prophet. What he says, therefore, is this: go out to meet them, you and those who conduct themselves with you, those of the people who are left. And do not marvel if he calls the people his son; for going on he says: Behold, I and the children whom God has given me. For the saints also held the rank of fathers, by their love and their care for that people hiding all the fathers of nature. And he calls them left, because many had been carried off by the enemies. In the way of the fuller's field. This too seems to me to be a great difficulty, if indeed those who were shut in and besieged and not daring even to peek out were appearing outside the gates. For this way now appears to be outside the walls. What then is the solution to this difficulty? That in ancient times another wall had been thrown around; for the city's walls were double; and this is easy to observe from another prophet for those who wish to pay attention. Going out, therefore, he raises up their thoughts, which had fallen, and commands them to take courage concerning the things to come. For be quiet, he says, and do not fear;

And he calls the kings "firebrands of wood," at once showing both their vehemence and their ease of being subdued. For indeed he has added "of smoking" for this reason, that is, that they are now near to being extinguished. Then, making clear that the attack was not of their power but of his own permission, he says: For when the wrath of my fury comes, I will heal again. And the son of Aram and the son of Romelios, because they devised an evil counsel, Ephraim and the son of Romelios, saying against you: We will go up into Judea and afflict it, and having taken counsel together we will turn them back to ourselves and we will make the son of Tabeel king over it. Thus says the Lord Sabaoth: This counsel shall not remain, nor shall it be; but the head of Aram is Damascus and the head of Damascus is Rhasin. And yet sixty and five years and the kingdom of Ephraim shall fail from the people. And the head of Ephraim is Samaria and the head of Samaria is the son of Romelios. And if you do not believe, neither shall you understand. Again the prophet provides the greatest proof of prophecy. For since fear shook them and the terrors were before their eyes, while the good things were in hopes and surpassing all expectation, and those who heard were not very faithful, see what he does. He gives the greatest sign of what is to come, bringing the counsels of the enemies into the open.

For he speaks their mind, with which they campaigned against the city, and what they said to one another, and what they agreed upon and returned, and he shows that the matter is either treason (For having conferred together, he says, we will turn them back to ourselves) or that they were drunk with great folly and thought that they did not even need weapons, nor battle array and engagement, in order to take the city. For it is enough for us, he says, merely to appear and speak, and to take all as captives and depart. Then, as is the case with the arrogant, puffed up by this hope, they also deliberate about a king, as though the city had already been captured, and whom one ought to set over the metropolis. And their affairs are such, he says; but God's affairs are destructive of all those. Therefore he also added: Thus says the Lord; and he did not stop, but added, Sabaoth. For when he is about to announce something great, he reminds them of the power of God and of the kingdom above and of that wonderful and extraordinary rule. What then does God say? This counsel shall not remain, nor shall it be; but the head of Aram is Damascus. His beginning, he says, his authority shall stand in Damascus and shall not proceed further. And the head of Damascus is Rezin. And the ruler of Damascus, he says, and he who holds Rezin shall be; that is, he shall remain in his own domain and shall not add further power to himself. And yet sixty-five years and the kingdom of Ephraim shall fail from the people. And it is the greatest proof of truth, when the prophets also foretell the times, providing to those who wish it the power of the prophecy to examine with precision.

For now, he says, they will depart from the city; but after sixty-five years the nation will be utterly destroyed, and the kingdom of Israel will be gone, and the enemies will take them all and drive them away. For now, however, before that capture, they will take nothing more than their own possessions. For lest the king, having heard that they will perish after sixty-five years, say to himself, "What then? If they take us now and they will perish then, what benefit is it to us?" — take courage, he says, also concerning the present circumstances.

For they will then be captured completely; for now, however, they will have nothing more than their own possessions. But the head of Ephraim, that is, of the ten tribes, will be Samaria; for there was their kingdom; and it will not be extended further; and the head of Samaria is the king of Israel; declaring here the same thing that he said concerning the Damascene, that they will have nothing more than what they now possess. Then, since he has spoken things that surpass human reason and are above the sequence of our thoughts, and what was said was a prophecy, he reasonably added: If you do not believe, neither will you understand. Do not seek, he says, how and in what manner these things will be; for it is God who accomplishes them, and you need only faith, and you will understand the power of the one who does it; you have received the whole proof of what has been said. Therefore also the prophet David said: I believed, therefore also I spoke. And Paul, reasonably seizing upon this saying, drew it to greater matters, saying: But having the same Spirit of faith, according to what is written: I believed, therefore also I spoke, and we believe, therefore also we speak.

For if the ancient things needed faith, being as far removed from those in the New as earth is from the heavens, much more does the knowledge of doctrines so lofty, and which had never even entered anyone's mind at any time. This is what he himself was also declaring when he said: What eye has not seen and ear has not heard and has not ascended upon the heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love him. And the Lord added to speak to Ahaz, saying: Ask for yourself a sign from the Lord your God, either in the depth or in the height. And Ahaz said: I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord. And Isaiah said: Hear now, house of David; is it a bitter struggle for you to provide for men? And how do you provide a struggle for the Lord? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive in the womb and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel. Great is the condescension of God and the ignorance of the king. For he ought, upon hearing the prophet, to have doubted nothing of what was said; but if he did doubt, he should at least have believed upon receiving a sign, which many of the Jews did. For God, being a lover of mankind, did not refuse to grant this either, often to the coarser and those dragged along the ground and nailed to the earth, as he did in the case of Gideon. For since he was the least of all and the coarsest, see where God descends again. He draws him and urges him to ask for the sign; and yet this was not even a small sign, to expose his secret thoughts and bring his whole mind into the open and thoroughly refute all his hypocrisy. For since the prophet said:

Ask for yourself a sign, but he, feigning to be exceedingly faithful, said: I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord. See how with great vehemence the prophet brings the cutting rebuke, reasonably making the accusation heavier after the demonstration of his hypocrisy. For this reason he does not even deem him worthy of an answer, but turns to the people and says: Hear, O house of David; is it a small thing for you to strive with men? And how do you strive with the Lord? What is said is unclear; therefore it is necessary to unfold the saying with precision. For what he says is of this sort: are not my words mine? Is not my declaration mine? But if to disbelieve men simply and without reason is grievous and worthy of condemnation, much more is it so to disbelieve God. Therefore to strive is nothing other than to disbelieve. This, then, he says, is it not a small charge? Is disbelieving men no ordinary accusation? But if this is grievous, much more is it so toward God.

And he said this so that all might learn that the prophet remained undeceived, not being misled by the words that were spoken, but bringing his judgment from what was in the mind of Ahaz. This Christ also often did in the Gospels. For before providing the demonstration from signs, bringing the wickedness of the Jews into the middle—the wickedness that was being concocted in their mind—not a small thing

He provided a sign; as, for instance, he did in the case of the paralytic. For when he had said to him, "Take heart, child; your sins are forgiven," and those men were saying among themselves, "He blasphemes," he says, before the paralytic was bound fast: "Why do you plot evil in your hearts?"—thereby giving the greatest proof of divinity, namely, to know the unspoken secrets of the mind. For you alone, he says, know hearts. And David again says: God searches hearts and reins. God often granted even the prophets to know this, so that those who heard might learn that nothing in what was said was human, but that the whole verdict had been brought down from above and from the heavens. For this very reason this most mighty-voiced Isaiah also, since he had conversed with the king with great gentleness and had freed him from the terrors and had bidden him take courage concerning the present circumstances and had given him proofs of this—namely, to declare the counsel of those who had marched against him and to expose the betrayal and to foretell the complete and entire capture of Israel and to add the time—was not satisfied with these things, but goes even further and does not wait for him to ask for a sign, but even urges him when he does not wish it, out of an excess of unbelief; and not simply so, but he even makes him the master of the choice. For he does not say, "such and such a sign," but "wherever you wish," he says. Rich is the Master, all-powerful the might, ineffable the authority. If you wish it from the heavens, nothing hinders; if from the earth, nothing stands in the way. For this is what it means: "Either into the depth or into the height.

But since not even in this way did he draw him to himself, nor did he keep silent here either, but bringing a reproof—both for the correction of the hearer and to show that he had not deceived or misled him—he unveils a hidden prophecy, one that would come to pass for the salvation of the world and for the correction of all things; and he says that the sign is no longer given to Ahaz, but to the common people of the Jews. For at the beginning he directed his word to him; but since that man showed himself unworthy, he speaks to the people as a whole. For this reason, he says, he will give—not to you, but to you all—a sign. To you all—to whom? To those in the house of David. For from there too the sign sprang. What then is the sign? Behold, the virgin shall conceive in the womb and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel. It must be observed, as I also said before, that the sign is no longer given to Ahaz. And that it is not a conjecture, the prophet himself both charged and accused them, saying: Is it a small thing for you to cause trouble to men? And he added: Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive in the womb. But if she were not a virgin, it would not be a sign either. For a sign must depart from the common order of events and transcend the usual course of nature and be strange and paradoxical, so that each of those who see and hear may take note of it. For this reason it is called a sign, because of its being conspicuous. But it would not be conspicuous if it were going to be hidden by its sharing in the common lot of other things. So that if the word were about a woman giving birth by the law of nature, for what reason does he call a sign that which happens every day?

For this reason, even at the beginning he did not say simply "Behold, a virgin," but "Behold, the virgin," by the addition of the article hinting at a certain distinguished woman, the only one of her kind, who came to be for us. That this addition indicates this, it is possible to learn even from the Gospels. For when the Jews sent to John asking, "Who are you?" they did not say, "Are you Christ?" but "Are you the Christ?" nor did they say, "Are you a prophet?" but "Are you the prophet?"—each of which was something exceptional. For this reason John too, at the beginning, did not say, "In the beginning was Logos," but "In the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with God." So also here he did not say, "Behold, a virgin," but "Behold, the virgin," and with the dignity befitting a prophet, "Behold." For it was almost as if he were seeing the things that were coming to pass and envisioning them, and had great assurance concerning what was said. For those men saw the unseen things more clearly than our eyes. For the senses may well be deceived, but the grace of the Spirit made its declaration incapable of deception.

And why, they say, did he not add that the birth would be from the Spirit? What was said was prophecy, and it had to be announced in veiled terms, as I have often said, because of the ignorance of the hearers, lest, learning everything clearly, they burn up all the books as well. For if they did not spare the prophets, how much less would they have kept their hands off the writings. And that what was said is not mere conjecture, another king in the time of Jeremiah took the very books themselves and cut them in pieces and handed them over to fire. Did you see the unbearable madness? Did you see the unreasoning rage? It was not enough for him to destroy the writings, but he even burned them, wishing to satisfy his irrational passion. But nevertheless, even by speaking obscurely, this wonderful prophet indicated the whole. For a virgin, as long as she remains a virgin, from where else could she conceive than from the Holy Spirit? For to dissolve the law of nature belonged to none other than the craftsman of nature. So that by saying "the virgin shall conceive," he made the whole clear. Having therefore spoken of the birth, he also states the name of the one born—not the name given, but the one derived from the facts. For just as he calls Jerusalem a city of righteousness, although it was never anywhere called a city of righteousness, but it had this designation from the facts, because of the great change that came about in it for the better and the protection of the righteous one (for even when he calls it a harlot, it is not as though the city had ever been called so, but he assigns the name from its wickedness; and so also afterward from its virtue)—the same, then, must be said in the case of Christ, that he has assigned to him the name derived from the facts.

For then especially has God been with us, having appeared on earth and conversed with men and displayed his great care for us. For no longer is it an angel, nor an archangel, with us, but the Master himself, having descended, undertook the whole work of correction, conversing with prostitutes, reclining at table with tax collectors, entering into the houses of sinners, giving boldness to robbers, drawing the magi, going about everywhere and setting things right, and uniting our very nature to himself. All these things, then, the prophet proclaims beforehand, at once declaring the birth and the ineffable and boundless gain of the pangs. For when God is with men, there is no longer any need to fear or tremble, but to have courage concerning all things; which indeed came to pass. For those ancient and immovable evils were loosed and the sentence against the common race was abolished and the sinews of sin were cut and the tyranny of the devil was destroyed and the paradise impassable to all was first opened to a murderer and a robber and the vaults of the heavens were thrown open and men were mingled with angels and our nature was led up to the royal throne and the prison of Hades was useless and death remained thereafter only a name, deprived of its reality; and choirs of martyrs and women shattered the stings of Hades. All these things, then, the prophet foreseeing, he leaped and danced and by a single phrase showed them to us, prophesying to us the Emmanuel. Butter and honey he shall eat, before he knows or chooses evil he shall choose the good.

For before the child knows good or evil, he disobeys evil, so as to choose the good. Since the child born was neither a mere man nor God only, but God in a man, the prophet with good reason varies his speech, saying now this and now that, setting forth the paradoxes and not allowing the economy to be disbelieved because of the excess of the wonder. For having said that the virgin shall conceive, which was above nature, and that he shall be called Emmanuel, which was itself greater than expectation, lest anyone, hearing Emmanuel, should suffer the passions of Marcion and be sick with the disease of Valentinus because of the economy, he plainly added also the clearest proof of the economy, confirming it from the table. For what does he say? Butter and honey shall he eat. But this would not be of divinity, but of our nature. For indeed for this reason he did not simply form a man and dwell in him, but also endured conception, and that of nine months, and birth-pangs and swaddling clothes and nourishment from the first age, so that through all things he might stop the mouths of those who attempt to deny the economy. Therefore the prophet, foreseeing these things from above, speaks not only of the birth-pangs and the wondrous birth, but also of the nourishment in the first age, in the very swaddling clothes, differing in nothing from other men, nor having anything strange in this respect. For neither were all things in him altered, nor were all things common. For to be born of a woman is common, but to be born of a virgin is greater than according to us. And again, to be nourished by the common law of nature and the same as the many is common.

But that that temple became inaccessible to wickedness, and did not even come to an experience of wickedness—this was strange and paradoxical and belonged to him alone. Therefore he set down both that and this. For he did not, he says, depart from wickedness after an experience of evil, but from the very beginning and from its first preludes he displayed every virtue. This is what he himself also said: "Which of you convicts me of sin?" and, "The ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in me."

And this same prophet, proceeding, says that "he did not commit sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth." This then he also says here, that before he knew or chose evil, from that age which was inexperienced in evil, from its very first preludes he will display virtue and will have nothing in common with wickedness. For before the child knows good or evil, he disobeys wickedness, so as to choose the good. Again with the same words he hints at the same meaning and dwells on the statement. For since what was said was very lofty, he confirms it by the continuity of the narrative. For what he indicated above by saying, "Before he knows or chooses evil," this he hinted at as he proceeded by saying, "Before the child knows," and he has used exposition again, saying, "good or evil, he disobeys wickedness, so as to choose the good." For this very thing alone was his exceptional privilege. Therefore Paul also turns to it continually, and John, having seen him, proclaimed this, saying, "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." But he who takes away the sins of others was much more himself sinless. And Paul, as I said before, cries this out continually.

For since he was about to die, lest any of the unbelievers should think that he was paying the penalty for his own sins, he continually brings his sinlessness into the middle, so that he might show that his death is the release of our sin. Therefore he also said: Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. For in that he died, he died to sin. Nor did he die that death, he says, as one who was liable, according to the account of sin, but for the common transgression of all. If, then, in the former he was not liable in this respect, it has been abundantly demonstrated that he will die no more. And the land which you fear shall be left desolate by the face of the two kings. What the prophet does continually, this he has also done here. After the prophecy he brings the word out into the history. This we have clearly demonstrated that he also established in the case of the Seraphim, which he also did here. For having spoken of the good things of the world that were to be, he then turns the word to the king. Therefore he also added, saying: And the land shall be left. What is "shall be left"? It shall be untouched, it shall be free, it shall suffer nothing unpleasant, it shall not undergo the things of war. And the land which you fear shall be left, for which you are afraid, for which you tremble, by the face of the two kings, both the Damascene and the Israelite. Then, so that he might not become more slack by the prophecy of good things, nor more relaxed by the peace, he tightens his soul again, saying: But God will bring upon you and upon your people and upon the house of your father days which have not yet come, from the day when he took away

Ephraim from Judah, the king of the Assyrians. For through these barbarians he makes clear the attack, by which they dragged the city up root and branch and took them captive and departed. And he foretells these things, not so that they might happen, but so that, becoming more self-controlled through fear, they might ward off the threat. But since they became no better either under the good things which they enjoyed beyond their deserts (and that they enjoyed them beyond their deserts, the king's disposition and their exceeding unbelief showed), nor were they changed by the threat of fearful things, but against each remedy of benefit they stubbornly stood opposed, he applies thereafter the deeper cut, excising the putrefaction and cutting off those incurably sick. And what is this: From the day when Ephraim took away from Judah the king of the Assyrians? The barbarians came upon them, to snatch them all away; but leaving Judah and the two tribes, they turned against Israel. What he says, then, is this: from that day, from which the ten tribes will draw the camp of the barbarians to themselves, having separated them from you, and by the excess of their own sin having called them against themselves, they shall be carried off—from that day it is necessary thereafter to fear and be afraid. For advancing on their way they will come even against you, unless you change. And he says, from that day he will bring them upon them. For the Israelites were not carried off all at once, and then those men were captured, but a short time intervened.

What he is saying, then, is this: that from that time he would have brought the days upon them by his vote; but God waited and was long-suffering, although the worthiness of their sins demanded punishment from that time—which he is accustomed to do in many places: when the appointed day has come, to defer and shrink back; and this is both the greatest proof of his love for humanity and the clearest demonstration of the ingratitude of those unwilling to use his long-suffering as they ought. This, then, he says here also: that from then was the threat, from then the sentence, from then the God-sent wrath, so that by bringing the punishment to the doors he might rouse them to repentance and make them better, and after their capture might place them in agony, lest—since some were carried off and others escaped—they become more slack on that account. And it shall be in that day, the Lord will whistle for flies, which shall lord it over a part of the river of Egypt. Do you see that I was not speaking idly when I said that, wishing to increase their fear, he brandishes the threat from that day? At any rate, what follows makes this clear, through which he raises the fear by his word and makes plain to them the armies, which were most terrifying to them, and reveals the ease of the assault, which shook them exceedingly, and displays the throng of the army, which especially drove their mind out of its wits; all these things he hinted at through what follows. But consider. And it shall be in that day, he says, the Lord will whistle for flies.

He called the Egyptians "flies" here, because of their shamelessness and impudence, and because, being continually driven off, they continually came back and did not allow them even a little breathing space, but kept causing them countless troubles; often, just as flies do to wounds, so they settled persistently upon their calamities. These, then, he says, God will lead. But he did not say "will lead," but "will whistle," showing the ease of their advance and the invincibility of God's power, and that it is enough for him only to nod and all things follow. And reasonably he begins the threat first with those of whom they had already had experience through deeds. And with the bee, which is in the country of the Assyrians. The Syrian and the Hebrew, as they say, do not call them bees, but wasps. For since they were not very experienced with them, by the image of the wasp he cast them into great agony, indicating through this creature their vehemence, their stinging, their defensive power, the bitterness of their wounds, the swiftness of their arrival, and the difficulty of guarding against them. And they shall come and all shall rest in the valleys of the country and in the holes of the rocks and in the caves and in every cleft and in every tree. Having spoken of the fearful nature of the

of nations and the swiftest part of the army, he now speaks also of the multitude. And he did not say, "They will encamp," but "They will rest," not as those arriving in a hostile land, but as those luxuriating in their own, nor as those needing toil and labors, but as those who will meet with manifest victory and take the plunder ready at hand. Therefore he says: "They will come and will rest," which is the mark of those who have conquered and set up a trophy and rest after much sweat and slaughter. And they will rest not only in the plains; but since the multitude is boundless and the land is not sufficient to receive the number of their bodies, both ravines and rocks and mountains and glens and everything will be covered with barbarian bodies. And yet even if they were not fierce, nor so impetuous, their multitude alone was enough to terrify them; but when both are present—so great a multitude and so great a power, and, what is harder than all, the wrath of God leading the campaign—what hope of salvation is left thereafter? And the phrase "Into every cleft and in every tree" is said hyperbolically. For they were not, of course, going to rest on the trees, but at once, as I said, he both hinted at the hyperbole and persisted in the metaphor of the wasps. In that day the Lord will shave with the razor that is drunk. Having increased the fear from the armies, he intensifies it again, leading the discourse up to heaven, showing that it is not some barbarians, Egyptians and Persians, but God who wages war against the Jews. And by "razor" here he means his unbearable wrath, which no one will be able to withstand, coming upon them with ease and consuming them.

For just as the hairs of the body could not endure the sharp edge of the razor, but give way at once and yield, so too, he says, the affairs of the Jews could never withstand that God-sent wrath. A drunken razor, then, he sets before us—the wrath of God at its peak, the sentence fulfilled. And "beyond the river of the king of the Assyrians," he means beyond the Euphrates; this was Judea and all Palestine for those returning from Persia. All these things, he says, he will utterly destroy. "Head and hairs and beard and feet"—by the figure of the body he means the whole country, comprehending their entire land in his word, just as he also said at the beginning: "Every head is for pain and every heart for grief. From feet to head there is no soundness in it"—not speaking of one man, but comparing the whole country to a single body. This, then, he also says here: that the whole land will undergo severe punishment. And he has made this clear partly through the razor, partly through the image of the body, showing that the verdict borne from God will consume both the people and the produce of the land more grievously than any razor, and will leave it naked and desolate. Then he indicates this desolation through another image. And he does this so that through all of it the fear may remain at its peak and the anguish not wither away through the length of the discourse. And to those who do not pay attention, what is said seems to be a promise of good things; but those who examine it carefully know that it is a demonstration of intensified desolation. For what does he say?

And it shall come to pass in that day, a man shall nourish a heifer of cattle and two sheep. And it shall be, from the abundance of making milk he shall eat butter, because every one who is left upon the earth shall eat butter and honey. These things show a great desolation, as I said before. For the land that bears wheat and barley, having been made desolate of men, will provide abundant pasture for the sheep, and so abundant that, because of the plenty of such a table, two sheep and one heifer suffice to provide springs of milk for the one who possesses them. So that the plenty of the feasting of irrational beasts is the greatest proof of the desolation of men. And the honey also hints at this; for bees are accustomed to dwell in the wildernesses, both where they enjoy much pasture and where there is no one to trouble them. And that you may learn that he hints at the extreme desolation, what follows makes it clear. And it shall be in that day, wherever there are a thousand vines worth a thousand shekels, they shall become a dry land and thorns. With arrow and bow they shall enter there, because all the land shall be dry land and thorns. This too is a sign of great misfortune, when not mountains and glens, but the deep-soiled land itself, which enjoys much care, bears thorns. For he has not simply set down the price of the vines, but so as to display both the nature of the land and the great care of the farmers. But nevertheless, he says, those things so flourishing and enjoying the hands of farmers shall be brought down to such desolation, as to bear thorns instead of vines, and to provide such fear to those who enter, that no one dares to enter unarmed and without a weapon.

But he says this, indicating the desolation of the place and the great throng of wild beasts there. Having shaken their mind, then, and having worked them over with fear precisely, he again relaxes a little, mingling the good things and the change for the better, so that from both sides they may learn the strength of God. But he dwells on the fearful things, while the good things he says and straightway departs. Why ever so? Because at that time they especially needed the remedy of rebuke; therefore he applied it abundantly, so as to yield a little and breathe again, and by this means again to call them back to virtue, and he mingles the good things, saying: Every mountain that is plowed shall be plowed. For just as in the wrath of God even the deep-soiled desert shall be, so also in the reconciliation again even the rough land shall show the qualities of the rich land, receiving the plow and seeds. And when these things have come to pass, all that follows from them shall be: peace and security and confidence and not to fear, just as before. For fear shall not come upon it there, he says. And it shall be from the dry land and from the thorn for the grazing of sheep and the trampling of an ox. And through these things again he hints at prosperity, just as also going forward he says: Blessed is he who sows upon every water, where the ox and the donkey tread. For just as, when he wishes to set forth desolation, he brings Sirens and Onocentaurs into the midst by his word, so, when peace and safety, he everywhere shows these things appearing—the tame and gentle of the animals and those that join in our agricultural works—indicating from these the things that come from them, farming and their other service.

CHAPTER 8. And the Lord said to me: Take for yourself a new scroll of paper, a great one, and write on it with a man's pen, "to make spoil speedily." For it is at hand; and make for me faithful men as witnesses, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah son of Barachiah. And I went in to the prophetess, and she conceived in the womb and bore a son. And the Lord said to me: Call his name, "Speedily spoil, quickly plunder." For before the child knows to call father or mother, he shall take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria before the king of the Assyrians. These two commands seem, as far as the wording goes, to be disconnected and to have nothing in common with each other; but if one carefully examines the force of the thoughts, he will see great continuity and a single purpose. But it is necessary first to say for what reason the form of prophecy was introduced into the life of men. [For what reason, then, was it introduced? It is necessary to say.] God is accustomed to be about to act and to delay in regard to the punishments of those who sin, just as he is swift and quick in regard to the benefits of those who do right. This disposes the more careless to fall back—namely, that the penalty does not follow close upon the heels of transgressions. In order, then, that God may both display his own long-suffering and those men may not become more careless from this, he prepares the medicine of prophecy, training sinners for the time being not by the experience of punishments but by foreknowledge, so that, if they

they might become better by hearing the threats and avoid the punishment that comes through experience; but if they persist in their insensitivity, then indeed he brings the punishment upon them. The devil, perceiving this and understanding how great the gain is, let loose the false prophets, who contradicted the prophets when they threatened famines, plagues, wars, and the incursion of barbarians, announcing pleasant things instead. For just as God wished, by the fear of his words, to ward off the punishment that comes through experience, so too the devil worked the opposite: by the charm of words relaxing them and making them more slack, he brought them to the necessity of enduring the punishment that comes through deeds. Then, since after these things they believed the false prophets and made no account of virtue, but persisting in their own sins drew down chastisement upon themselves, and both from the outcome the truth of the prophets was clearly shown and the falsehood of the false prophets was refuted, he contrives yet another device for the destruction of those being caught. For he persuaded them, being easily deceived, that these dreadful things which happened came from the anger of the demons, who were being neglected and despised by them. Therefore God, abolishing this bait, foretold from many years beforehand the dreadful things that were going to overtake them, so that those who deceive them might not have the opportunity to attribute what happened to the anger of the demons. And that I do not say this by conjecture, hear Isaiah saying: I knew that you are stubborn, and your neck is a sinew of iron and your forehead bronze.

For this reason I spoke to you from the beginning, so that you might not say, "The idols did this to me, and the carved images and the molten images prepared this." You neither knew, nor did it come to your hearing. Since, then, as I said—as is also possible to see from the testimony—they were attributing these things to those idols, the prophecy comes beforehand, abolishing this deception and declaring these things many years in advance. But since even so it was likely that they, in their ignorance, would say, "You did not foretell it, we did not hear it beforehand; now you are fabricating after the outcome—for you did not know what would happen"—how then is it clear that this was spoken? See how clearly he makes the refutation inescapable for them and stitches shut their shameless mouths. For he does not permit them merely to speak, but commands that what is said be written on paper, and not simply written, so that it might not be possible for them to say that he fabricated it afterward, but he also calls as witnesses of the writings men trustworthy both in rank and in character. For he says, "Make me faithful witnesses, men"—Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Barachiah—"so that when they come out and say that these things were not spoken many years before, the book brought out and the witnesses present may silence them even in their shamelessness." For this reason he says, "Take a new roll of paper," so that it may not perish by growing old, but may remain, extended through time and accusing them through their own writings. "And write with a man's pen," that is, with a reed, the things that are to be. And what are the things to be? War, barbarian victory, distribution of spoils, seizure of plunder. All these things, then, he says, write: "For him to quickly make spoil of the plunder.

For it is present. What is "For it is present"? This statement makes two things clear: that even then the magnitude of their sins was demanding punishment, and the penalty was at the doors. But he delays, wishing by his long-suffering to make them better and to avert the punishment; and that it is easy and simple for him merely to nod and to bring all things to completion. For since the discourse was about barbarians who were about to march against them, do not suppose, he says, that the length of the journey and the multitude of the army produce any delay; things which naturally happen in the case of men.

For to God even what is far off is present; so easy and simple is it for him, in a single turn of time and in a moment, to bring them straight from the ends of the earth, even if they be more numerous, and to set them in place. And make for me as witnesses faithful men,

Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Barachiah. Witnesses of what? Of the time; so that, even if the writings are slandered, the living men who were present when it was written, and who clearly know the time when these things were said, may be able to stop the mouths of those who attempt to be shameless. The sequel belongs to the same subject, bringing the refutation more clearly. How and in what manner? Let us hear their own words. For he came, it says, to the prophetess. He called his own wife so, perhaps, because she too was deemed worthy of the prophetic spirit; for the gifts did not stand only among men, but passed over also to the female race.

For it is not as in the necessities of daily life, where the kinds are divided and some pursuits belong to men and others to women, and they could not exchange them with one another—so it is not thus also in spiritual matters; but the contests are equal and the crowns are shared. And this one may see with precision both in the Old and in the New, and happening throughout the whole of life. Having therefore conversed with this law of marriage, she was made ready to conceive. And when the child was born, he gives him a new and extraordinary name, containing the history of things to come. For what does he say? Call his name, Quickly Spoil, Swiftly Plunder—so that even if the writings lying in the book be disbelieved, the name of the child, containing the history of what will come to pass and given before the outcome of events and continually called throughout all the time, might stop the mouths even of those who attempt to be exceedingly shameless. For that the prophet did not fashion these things after the outcome, but foreknew them from above, even those who attempt to be exceedingly ignorant could be persuaded, who before the outcome of events saw the child himself being called and proclaiming the teaching of the calamities to come. For this reason he also interprets the power of the prophecy and marks the time with precision, saying thus: For before the child knows to call father or mother, he shall take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria before the king of the Assyrians. And what he means is this.

In the time, he says, of an age that is untimely and not yet able to speak, the things of victory and of trophies will belong—not because the child is able to array himself for battle and bring down the enemies, but because that age, that is, the time before the child's speech, delivers everything over to the enemies. And the Lord added to speak to me again: Because this people did not want the water of Siloam that goes quietly, but wanted to have Rhasin and the son of Romelios as king over you, for this reason behold, the Lord brings up against you the water of the river, the strong and the great, the king of the Assyrians. It is a custom with God not only to foretell punishments but also to set forth their causes, so as to instruct the hearers in this way as well; this he does here too. For having spoken of the distribution of the foreigners and the spoils, and foretelling the assault of the barbarians, he also states the cause of the war. And what is this? The ingratitude of those who dwell in the city. For since, he says, having a king who was equitable and gentle and mild, they revolted and desired tyrants and hastened to desert to a foreign rule, not bearing their own prosperity, I will fill their desire with greater abundance, bringing a certain barbarian and savage man. He has used the words figuratively, indicating both the character of the local king and the power of the barbarian; and he does this, as I always said, making his discourse more vivid. For this reason he says: Because they did not want the water of Siloam—

He is not speaking about water, but since the spring comes forth gently and without noise, he compares the calm and mild character of the king then reigning to the gentle passage of the waters, and calls him Siloam, because of his inoffensiveness and gentleness—which brings the greatest accusation against those who are ruled, that though they had no heavy yoke, they attempted to innovate and to give themselves over to foreign kings. Since, then, they do not want the gentle and mild one, he says, but Rhasin and the son of Romelias, I bring on, he says, the Babylonian; and he calls the rushing water of his army a great and mighty river.

Then, interpreting the metaphor, he says: The king of the Assyrians. Do you see how the statement made earlier by us appears unerring—that everywhere in metaphors Scripture is accustomed to interpret itself? This indeed it has also done here. For having said "river," it did not remain within the metaphor, but said what river it means: The king of the Assyrians, and all his glory. And he shall go up over every valley of yours and shall walk over every wall of yours. And he shall take away from Judea a man who is able to lift up his head or is able to accomplish anything. And his camp shall be such as to fill the breadth of your land. Showing that what happens will come about not by human power but by God-sent wrath, he depicts him not as an enemy drawing up for battle, but as one coming for a prepared plunder. For he will not, he says, stand and draw up for battle, but by the multitude of bodies he will cover the face of the earth and will prevail with ease. Then even in the wrath there is much of loving-kindness.

For he does not threaten that he will drag their city away, but foretells a certain captivity and deportation, wishing to make those who are left more prudent by the punishment of those taken. For he removes from Judea, he says, a man who will be able to lift up his head. Those in power, he says, those who carry and bear everything, those who ravage the multitude, he will make captives and slaves, so that then the weaker may breathe a little and, by the fear of those deported and by the security of their own freedom, become better. Therefore he says: A mighty one to accomplish something; that is, the strong one, the one able to act, the one able to do anything at all. And even before the deportation, he says, by the very sight the barbarian will sufficiently strike you with terror, filling the whole land with barbarian bodies. Therefore he added: And his camp shall be, so as to fill the breadth of your land. God is with us. Know, nations, and be defeated; listen to the ends of the earth, and you who are strong, be defeated. For if you are strong again, you will be defeated again. And whatever counsel you may counsel, the Lord will scatter it; and whatever word you may speak, it shall not remain among you, because God is with us. It seems to me that he here foretells the victory of Hezekiah and that brilliant trophy and the cause of the victory itself. For even if there are arms among them, he says, and countless camps and military experience, yet the alliance stronger than all is with us, that is, God. For the barbarian came, as he threatened before, and after taking many cities departed; but afterward, when he campaigned again, he suffered the opposite.

And the prophet foretells these things too, and proclaims the cause of the victory, and directs his speech to the barbarians themselves. For do not, he says, take courage from the former victory; for in the present assault our alliance was very great. Know this very thing, then, and stand away, as those who are attempting what is impossible. Then, showing the cause of that victory, and that the report carrying the achievements will reach the ends of the earth, he says: Hear to the end of the earth. For no one was uninformed of what happened then in Jerusalem. Therefore he says: Hear to the end of the earth, and you who are strong be defeated. For the barbarian then possessed great glory for his strength. And by "strong" here he does not mean those who are great in the good condition of the body, but also those who are great in the abundance of wealth and the splendor of glory. For if you are strong again, he says, you will be defeated again, and whatever counsel you may devise, the Lord will scatter, and whatever word you may speak, it shall not remain among you, because God is with us. For since their counsels were wicked, and they expected the city itself to be torn up from its foundations and

Thus they will return home, and the prophet brings their counsels into the open and says: everything will stand only as far as words. Then, since he has reported deeds that surpass human nature, making his account worthy of belief, he takes refuge in the dignity of the one who accomplishes it, saying continually, "For God is with us," and that he himself will scatter all these devices.