Commentarii in Isaiam

...they have heard his kingdom: "Behold, your house is left to you desolate." Now "seraphim" is interpreted as "burners," that is, those who heat. For nothing cold exists among the highest powers, and the one who cleaves to the Lord is made boiling in the Spirit, and hot in love toward God. And Daniel also made clear the powers that surround God, saying: "A thousand thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him." But the statement that they are around God and encompass his throne—by being given life and light from him, through which powers he is also called Lord Sabaoth, signifying "Lord of the powers," or "Lord of hosts"—does not allow, as some have supposed, that the seraphim are to be understood as two. He says that each has six wings, which are certain innate virtues, through which they are exalted so greatly as to have their mind near to God in secret heights of thoughts. For just as there are certain natural senses of bodies, so it is fitting that those beings employ divine powers that are effective of certain wondrous things, but unknown to us. But perhaps one should suppose them to be powers of choice rather than natural. For the fallen Lucifer gives us to understand it thus. The wings would not be bodily, just as neither in the case of "He who walks upon the wings of the winds." Of the wings so spoken of, then, two covered each one's own face; indeed Symmachus rendered it "his own face," so as not to dare to look intently at what was being seen.

For no one knows the Son except the Father who begot him." And they covered their own two feet—the extremities, so to speak, of their own course, the steps of their life, overshadowing their deeds—so that they might not stand before their own King with uncovered feet. But while hiding the course of their life, they allowed only their middle state to be seen. And they marveled exceedingly at the wisdom of the Only-Begotten himself in his middle providence and governance, not daring to gaze upon the face of the Godhead, nor upon the boundless magnitude of the endless and incomprehensible nature, which he called "feet." For, struck with amazement at these things, they cried out each according to his capacity, often sending this hymnic voice to one another; for they neither sent forth a single voice, nor indeed did all send it forth together, but one after another made the wonder manifest. But most of all they were exceedingly astonished at so great a descent of the glory of God the Word from the highest things to the lowly, so that not only did heaven have his glory, but it reached even to the earth and filled it—which is an excess of love for humanity. When, then, the vision of these things came to pass, the house in Jerusalem alone among the things on earth was full of his glory. For this is what the prophet said. But when by foreknowledge of what was to come they learned that the whole earth would be full of his glory, then the lintel was also lifted up, and the house was filled with smoke.

For through these things the removal of security was shown, when the temple was stripped bare, since the conflagration was about to come upon the house, when Christ was made known to the nations, when also the glory of his divinity was displayed to all, when no longer one house but many better houses had been established throughout the whole inhabited world. For since the "Holy, holy, holy" did not fit the Synagogue of the Jews (for the hymn was reserved for the Church throughout the whole inhabited world), the grace from above is taken away. Of necessity, then, the doorposts also are easily shaken, and for this reason every hand shakes the Jewish things. Therefore a certain prophet said: "I will make Jerusalem like shaken thresholds." And this has come to pass, since the whole earth was filled with his glory. This was also foretold to Moses, who appeased God concerning the people's making of the calf: "But as I live, and as my name lives, that all the earth shall be filled with my glory." And in the first and seventy-first psalm he says: "And all the earth shall be filled with his glory. So be it, so be it." Just as now also the Seraphim cried aloud, seeing his glory about to shine forth upon the earth, not diminished in any way by earthly substance, and they uttered the sanctification not once but many times, or rather even countless times, one to another each his own

Declaring the wonder—that is, responding to one another in alternation, not because they grow weary, but because they yield honors to one another and give glory in return; for all things above are in order. And saying "Holy" three times, they conclude the doxology with "Lord Sabaoth," placing the holy Trinity in one nature of divinity. But the prophet, having learned of the desolation that was about to overtake them, feared lest he too perish along with the multitude. And setting human nature beside the vision that appeared, he says, "Woe is me," and confesses the uncleanness of his own lips—not of his soul, nor of his whole body, except insofar as he indicates his entire nature by a part; rather, the rest and his heart had been cleansed. For he would not have seen the Lord, yet he says his lips are unclean—from where, if not from association with the unclean, with whom he was compelled to converse and to utter things worthy of their wickedness? For he was so pure that he was pricked with compunction even over a small matter and called himself wretched. For the righteous man is his own accuser in the first place; and Abraham too, when he beheld the Lord, called himself earth and ashes, not having said this before, just as Isaiah does not now say "Woe is me" before perceiving the Lord. Nor did Moses, while being educated in the wisdom of the Egyptians and, as is likely, surpassing them in natural ability and understanding, perceive himself to be of feeble voice or slow of tongue; but when he heard the one who spoke to him, he blamed his own voice. However, the law of Moses commanded that the profane should not mingle with the holy; and this they observed with great care.

Therefore Peter too, in the abundance of the catch, having had experience of Jesus' power, when at his command he let down the net, says, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord." For otherwise he would not have thought the Christ worthy to depart from him. And the Gergesenes too, after the experience of so many wonders, begged him to depart from their borders, although they ought rather to have held fast the one who drives out demons and becomes the healer of every disease. Hence also the Pharisees, when Matthew was called to salvation and invited Jesus into his own house, since many sinners and tax collectors were present, said to his disciples: "Why does your teacher eat with sinners and tax collectors?" And God also accuses the leaders of the Jews, saying, "They did not distinguish between the holy and the profane." For which reason the prophet too is now pricked to the heart by conscience, saying that, while the holy powers with all-holy lips were hymning the Lord, he could not sing praise together with them, knowing that praise is not comely in the mouth of a sinner. Therefore Symmachus rendered it: "Woe is me, that I kept silent." For Israel was unclean in lips, having blasphemed the Lord Jesus Christ. But the prophet, for the reasons we have stated, humbling himself, mingles himself with the people; and perhaps he also confesses the sickness of human nature, which spoke through David: "But I said in my ecstasy: Every man is a liar." For nature is sick with falsehood, even if a few, being sober, have been able to flee it.

That one must hymn God with pure lips, one of the disciples makes clear when he says concerning the tongue, "With it we bless the Lord, and with it we curse men who have been made in the likeness of God." But Symmachus brought it out still more clearly, saying: I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, and the things at his feet filled the temple; seraphim standing above. For since heaven is his throne, and the earth the footstool of his feet, and the temple on earth stood in his footstool, reasonably the things filling the house on earth were said to be at the feet of God. And the seraphim stood above the house. For they were not at the Lord's feet, nor even inside the house (for then they too would have been at the feet of God), but they were above the house, circling the royal throne. And let us not be ignorant that some said the house is the whole system of the intelligible and sensible creation, and the throne that is lifted up is the rule over all things. But these men ought also to have added how the one thus understood

The house was filled with smoke. 13. And one of the Seraphim 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, etc. To Jeremiah, when he had said, "O Lord, who are, behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am young," the Lord stretched out his hand and touched his mouth, filling it with the prophetic grace, since it did not need cleansing. But now, to him who needs this cleansing, it is not the Lord but one of the Seraphim who brings the cleansing coal; hence they fittingly received the name "burners," that is, those who set on fire. For which reason it has been said concerning the angelic power: "Who makes his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire." For they are purifiers of those who need cleansing. And God fills his own altar with cleansing coals, wherefore he says somewhere: "Coals were kindled from him." And Moses called God a consuming fire. The Savior also baptizes with the Holy Spirit and fire. For it is not possible to be cleansed except through the divine fire. For what sort of work each one's is, the fire itself will test. And he will be saved, it says, as through fire. But perhaps the coal is to be taken as a symbol of Christ, which is wood by nature, yet wholly and entirely filled with fire, whose power and energy it also has. And the divine Scripture is accustomed to compare God also to fire. "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us." For in Christ the whole fullness of the Godhead has its dwelling, according to the manner of the union.

From this, the flesh of the Savior is also wonder-working. At any rate, he touched the bier and raised the son of the widow. And having spat, he grants sight, he who purifies the lips by coming to be in them, whenever we confess the faith in him. Therefore Paul also says: "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart; that is, the word of faith which we proclaim," and what follows. For through him the filth of sin is melted away, and we become boiling in the spirit. For his flesh bore the sin of the world. And David also says: "Your oracle is exceedingly purified by fire, and your servant has loved it," having perceived the activity that comes from it. Kindred to this is the fire at the bush and at Horeb; with such fire the heart of Cleopas and Simon was burning when the Lord opened the Scriptures to them. Such fire Jeremiah received, on account of which he also said: "And it became fire in my inward parts, and I am utterly consumed from every side." This the Savior also came to cast upon the earth. "And what do I wish," he says? "But it is already kindled." This fire the Seraphim takes from the altar. And this is a heavenly place of purification of souls, from which the purifying fire is sent out to the powers that are being sanctified. These, indeed, enjoying the honor that is fitting for each from God, exist under one yoke; for they serve the master's nod, receiving servitude as a share of honor. Therefore even now the Seraphim ministers to the purification of the prophet, taking the coal with the tongs, displaying the reverence which it has toward the altar, not having dared to touch it with the hand.

For the fire was true, not alien, by which Nadab and Abihu were consumed. For this fire, as not burning, is brought to the lips of the prophet. Here now, because of its burning property, it is the tongs, but it signifies the fitness that exists in each person, in proportion to the affinity toward the good that is present in each. Or, that we receive faith and knowledge in Christ as if by a kind of tongs, through both legal and prophetic teachings, by whose testimonies the apostles, sealing their own words, persuaded their hearers, bringing the coal to their lips and preparing them to confess the faith; which the prophet, having received, takes courage, no longer saying, "Wretched am I," but hastening of his own accord at the commission from the one who appeared. So great is the power of the ministering powers sent to those who are about to inherit salvation, not coming of their own authority nor by their own free choice.

For their primary and natural life is to gaze always upon the beauty of God and to glorify him continually; but their circumstantial activity is the care and turning toward us humans. Such is also the one now bringing the coal. Let us understand this as the true word, which purifies falsehood with fire and refutation, in whomever it is brought by the active power. For the hand of the Seraph must be understood as the energy that supplies good things. The Lord, then, did not send the prophet away with a command once he was purified, but says, "Who will go?" Such a voice tests him and calls forth his eagerness, so that he might receive the reward of his good choice.

But he seems also to censure Israel exceedingly, as always becoming disobedient to those who are sent, and punishing them in various ways. Therefore God also says to Ezekiel: "But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, because they are not willing to listen to me, for all the house of Israel are contentious and hard-hearted." Hence he seems to be at a loss: Who will be able to persuade Israel? But he, having partaken of the divine coal, is pure, and eager and vigorous for the mission, of which the disciples of Christ, having partaken more, became the more fervent for it. But God did not ask Moses, as now Isaiah; but as having him ready, he says: "Come, I will send you to Pharaoh king of Egypt." And yet he declines, but he, carried by the greatest love, having heard the word indefinitely, gives himself over, reckoning nothing of what he was about to suffer. But Moses did not have a disposition contrary to this. But he knew the undertaking to which he was being sent, and that Pharaoh is unyielding, and the people Israel disobedient, having learned this by experience. For having been well treated, they made ready to flee from their benefactor, and by the pretext of shepherding he avoided the tumults of men. But he makes his meaning clear in what follows. For since by his entreaties they escaped the penalty for the making of the calf, when God said to him: "Go and lead this people, and I will send my angel before you," he says at once: "I beseech you, Lord, if you yourself do not go before us, do not lead us up from here." For what reason? Because the people, being sinful, need the one who forgives sins, which is impossible for angels.

For the angels are punitive against those who sin, but they are no longer forgiving of these. Therefore also from the beginning he said, "Appoint another whom you will send." That is, let the true lawgiver come, the mighty Savior, the only one having authority to forgive sins. But he was not heard, because the fullness of the times was not yet present, and it was necessary that humanity be accustomed beforehand in the types. But Isaiah, having been forgiven of his sins when he said, "I dwell in the midst of a people having unclean lips," then now having heard, "Who will go to this people?" and thinking that the one being sent was sought for the benefit of those like them, out of great joy he offers himself, so that their sins might be forgiven as well; yet he has made his answer safe, as one already benefited by the purification of the coal. For to two statements he has made one answer: "Whom shall I send?" and "Who will go?" "Behold, I am here, send me," no longer adding also, "I will go." For to receive the sending is in our power; but to be empowered for the journey is from God who gives the grace; therefore he left this to God, promising nothing in the weakness of nature... which he did not take for himself, the Lord grants, saying, "Go, and speak to this people." But "Behold, I am here," he said with confidence, as one already having partaken of the One who is, and counting himself among those who are after the purification. Since God appointed first apostles, second prophets, for this reason Isaiah first receives the grace of apostleship; and Moses hears, "Come, I will send you;" and Jeremiah:

Because you shall go to all to whom I send you." The one whose ruling faculty was formed by him hears the voice of the Lord, and because of the purity within him he listens to the resounding Word, which engraves the divine thoughts upon the soul as upon a book. What then is Isaiah commanded to say? "Hearing you shall hear, and you shall not understand; and seeing you shall see, and you shall not perceive." But what will they see, or whom will they hear? He has left this for us to consider from the sequence of the discourse, which says: This Lord whom you, O prophet, have beheld, this people too will one day see; and him whom you have heard, they also will hear—but they will not understand, nor will they know, since they do not wish to receive his grace, as though he were a mere man appearing on the earth. Therefore, proceeding further, he says, "By your sins you were sold, and by your lawless deeds I sent away your mother. For I came, and there was no man; I called, and there was none who obeyed." And showing the manner of their seeing, he says, "They have shut their eyes." For he, being light, was enlightening the souls of all, so as even to grant sight to the blind. But they, having shut their eyes, seeing did not see—that is, being able to see, they did not wish to. And this happens either when, out of contempt for the one seen, they turn their eyes away, or when they pretend not to have seen what they have seen. So then, the seeing was present to them from the grace of the one seen; but the not seeing came about because they loathed their eyes. In this way one who hears does not hear, unless he understands, hearing amiss; and these things indeed happened to them at the coming of the Savior.

For seeing him present with their eyes, they did not see, and while he taught the mysteries of the kingdom, they did not endure it. For thus Paul also, understanding, said in the Acts to the Jews who were in Rome: "Well did the Holy Spirit speak through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers, saying: Go, and say to this people," and the rest, referring the word to the coming of the Savior. And this was indeed very clearly what Christ said to those from Israel who were said to disobey: "Do not murmur among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him." And again: "Everyone who has heard from the Father and learned comes to me." They were not, then, called to the knowledge of the Son through the revelation of God and the Father, because they were not even worthy of his salvation and life; and in this the reasonableness of God's judgment is made manifest. For when Isaiah said: "Because I have unclean lips," and again similar things about the people, to him the grace of forgiveness was given through the coal; but to them, no longer. For he, having seen the Lord Sabaoth, believed what he beheld; but they, seeing the Lord present among them, did not believe. And he, having heard the doxology, understood; but they, having heard the Savior, did not receive him. And he, pricked to the heart, perceived his own sin, and said to himself, wretched man; but their heart was made dull, so as not to perceive their own evils, and to come to the one who grants forgiveness. Therefore the Lord says to them:

Because you will die in your sins." But it will seem to hinder these things from being referred to the times of the Savior, that "I said to this people" is spoken demonstratively. For who of the people being pointed out was going to hear the Savior, or see his wonders? But we shall understand this from a similar case. For it has been said to one of the twelve: "My people, what have I done to you? Answer me. Because I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and from the house of bondage I redeemed you, and I sent before you Moses, and Aaron, and Miriam." For just as then the people according to the prophet did not see Egypt, nor were they guided by those who were spoken of, and yet, as if acting ungratefully in these matters, they are reproached; so also now those living at that time were being pointed out; but the things of the prophecy were coming to pass at the coming of the Savior. And this manner of speech is also customary to us, which some have called "alteration." For we call the same chorus, even when, each one of those who fill it having departed one by one, others succeed to their places. And this is exactly what cities experience, being filled up by the succession of those who come after in place of those who die in turn. Thus also the people, the present

Being pointed out by the prophet, the same man could be said to be present in the time of the Savior, not by the continuance of individuals, but by the common name of the nation. Having heard these things, then, the prophet asks, "Until when, Lord?" For what will be the end of their great blindness? And God, by what he adds, makes clear the evils that came upon the Jews in the time of Vespasian, after the cross of the Savior, when very many cities became invisible, so that not even their name remained, as Josephus related. And how very many houses were emptied of their inhabitants by the sword, and by famine, and by flights and captivity those who were destroyed. But instead of "And after these things God will remove men far away," Symmachus gave a clearer rendering, saying: "The Lord will make men far away." This indicates the captivity and the scattering of flight. But some say this indicates the alienation of the Jews from God, upon whom the partial blindness came, so that the fullness of the nations might enter. And they were made far away by having killed the saints, and by adding also the very author of life. But even those left behind, he says, will be multiplied, though they are so few that they seem to be a tenth part of those destroyed. And what will be the end even of these, he added: "And again it will be for plunder," and the rest; in place of which Symmachus gave: "And again it will be for grazing, as an oak, and as an acorn, which, having cast off its fruit, stands alone," the passage foretelling the complete desolation that came about by Hadrian the emperor, when by royal decrees and laws it was not permitted them even from afar to see the desolation of their own mother city.

At that time certain foreigners of another race took possession of the place after it had been Hellenized, and the city received a new name, being named after the one who last besieged it. The examples are very apt: as a terebinth, or as an oak, or as an acorn, when it falls from its husk. For no longer, he says, shall they be a vineyard of the Lord Sabaoth, nor as a paradise of God, nor as a beautiful olive tree, nor as a palm according to the righteous man, nor any other of the cultivated and necessary plants, but as an acorn—not even standing firm, but fallen from its husk. And as a terebinth, or according to the other translators, as an oak and an acorn, and a thicket, and the rest of the trees, as many as are unfruitful and wild, Scripture is accustomed to call the foreign nations. He says that the nation of the Jews shall be like this, differing in no way in manner or life, except for the worse: that the others hold their own lands and bring forth their natural fruits, while these have fallen from their own and do not even act like them, so that for this reason it seems to be compared to a wild plant and to the fruit of an acorn, which is food for irrational animals. In addition to these things, with the addition of asterisks, he adds concerning the holy seed from them, about which the passage "Unless the Lord Sabaoth had left us a seed" was spoken beforehand. For Theodotion said, The holy seed is its stump. But Aquila said stumps. And Symmachus, its standing. For the standing of the fallen people is the holy seed from them, which did not undergo the same fall as the rest—those who received the saving grace, and understood the report, and seeing, beheld.

Those whom the Savior was blessing when he said, "Blessed are the eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear." But some have taken the phrase "And those who are left shall be multiplied" as referring to those who have believed in Christ. And if he says, "And they shall be for a spoil," and what follows, they say this indicates the gradual change from Jewish customs to the way of life according to the Gospel. For again these shall become a spoil when gathered, as the fruit of the terebinth is gathered, and as the acorn already ripe for collection. For then it is loosed from its bond to the husk, having already ripened and been brought to perfection by time. And perhaps, they say, it is also because they have fallen out and come to be in the dispersion that they were compared to an acorn fallen from its husk. And these are gathered, as both terebinth and acorn, in that they become a holy seed in their standing and firmness, according to the addition of Theodotion. But some have understood it thus. The prophet asked: "Until when shall the hardening be?" And God, indicating the consummation of the present life, brought in what follows. For it is necessary that we first hear of wars, and rumors of wars, and that nation rise against nation, and that cities and houses be laid waste, and then the end. After which they are thereafter removed far off, evidently after the time of the resurrection, living a continuous life, all corruption and every sin having been done away with. But the now-hardened Israel, the divine Scripture says, shall be called in the last times of the age. Chapter 7, 19.

And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin king of Aram went up, and Pekah son of Remaliah, king of Israel, against Jerusalem, to fight against it, and they could not besiege it, etc. The first parts of the prophecy had been spoken in the days of King Uzziah. After him came Jotham, at the beginning of whose reign the vision of the Lord Sabaoth and the Seraphim occurred, declaring the divinity of the Only-Begotten. But when sixteen years had passed (for so many years Jotham reigned), Ahaz, the most impious, succeeds him, in whose time the present oracles are delivered, prophesying concerning the fleshly generation of the Only-Begotten. For it was fitting that this should follow in order after what had been said about the divinity. The subject of the prophecy is this: because Ahaz was impious together with his subjects, by divine judgment two kings, of Damascus and of Samaria, attacked him—Rezin the first, and Pekah the second. Accordingly they slay a hundred and twenty thousand of them and take twenty thousand captive; after such a blow, they campaigned a second time, wishing to take Jerusalem by siege, to kill Ahaz, and to set up in his place as king one Tabeel. When these things were reported to the house of David (for so they called all those descended from David together with his subjects), all these are shaken in soul, fearing the future from the experience of what had gone before. The second book of Paralipomenon declared these things with accuracy. And he likens their shaking to a tree of the forest, not now taking a tree that is noble and cultivated.

But he who does not desire the death of the sinner, that he should repent and turn back and live, now pursues with loving-kindness those whom previously he pursued with punishment. For he sends the prophet to Ahaz, together with the son who was left remaining out of many. And he calls him Jashub. And he was left remaining either from the death of his brothers, or because he did not share in the error of the many Jews. For it was necessary that those who had been saved from error be made disciples of their father by their boldly drawing near to God as he came, and by doing what was commanded. And he commands him to say: Take heed to be quiet. Symmachus indeed says, Take heed, and be quiet. But Theodotion: Pay attention, and be quiet. And the smoking firebrands he has called the two kings, as having neither light nor burning power, now already extinguished. For even if, he says, with a disciplinary power he came against you—which the Scripture knows to call wrath—handing you over to your enemies, yet having struck I will heal, calling you to piety through both, on account of which now the counsel of the kings is unprofitable. And Aram he calls Syria, and Samaria the present Sebaste. For it is enough, he says, for Samaria to have Damascus as its head, and for Rezin to be king of it; and for Ephraim of Samaria. For thus they called the ten tribes of Israel, because of the one from Ephraim who reigned over them, and that the son of Remaliah leads it. And know this also besides the other things, Ahaz, that within sixty-five years the kingdom of Samaria will be destroyed by the Assyrians, the king together with his subjects being handed over to captivity.

God commanded the prophet to say these things to Ahaz, having met him at a place that he knew to be opportune for encountering Ahaz. And when the time was fulfilled, Damascus and Samaria, both their kings and their subjects, were captured by the Assyrians, as the fourth book of Kings makes clear. For Tiglath-pileser captured Damascus and Rezin, and Shalmaneser captured Hoshea and Samaria. And in common, the [prophecy] "it shall fail" is in the [phrase] "and the head of Samaria." Indeed, the sixty-five years are shown to be accurately reckoned as children of the Hebrews, if one makes the beginning from the twenty-fifth year of the reign of Uzziah. For Isaiah prophesied at the same time as Amos; and Amos first foretold the capture of Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, two years before the earthquake that occurred, they say, when Uzziah entered the sanctuary and was struck with leprosy, and the fatness of the altar was poured out. And the remaining years of Uzziah are twenty-seven. For he reigned fifty-two years in all, of which in the twenty-fifth, Amos first foretold the things concerning the capture of Israel; after which, sixteen years of Jotham, and another equal number of Ahaz, and six of the reign of Hezekiah. These things, when added together, complete the sixty-five. For in the sixth year of Hezekiah, Israel endured its final captivity. These things God foretells. But seeing that Ahaz and the people under him were unbelieving toward what had been said, he added, "If you do not believe, neither shall you understand." For to those who by their unbelief insult the word of God, understanding from him could not even come to be.

The phrase "Go out," spoken to the prophet, must be understood in a lofty sense. For a soul that gathers itself toward the contemplation of things that are is said to "go out" from its entanglement with the body. But when it has come to be occupied with human affairs—whether for the necessary care of the body, or because it has not been able to extend itself further toward the things that matter more—it is, as it were, entering from the outside toward the inside. It was necessary, then, for one who was about to hear a word of God to "go out" to the prophet. Thus it says to Abraham, "Go out from your land." For one must go up from the land—that is, from bodily things—by departing from it. Then also "from your kindred," which is the senses, and "from your father's house," which is the attachment to base pursuits. After these things it is written that God brought him outside, perfecting his eagerness for the departure. For this reason Moses also pitches his own tent outside the camp. For having crossed over from human affairs, he pitched his own tent outside, establishing his own life unshaken. And Iasoub is translated "returning," the word showing that those who wish to return can, together with the prophet, accomplish the departure, going out from the passions of the flesh. But some say that Iasoub is translated "remnant" and "one left behind," the type signifying that the remnant of Judah will be saved, having remained with God; for the prophet is taken as a type of God. And he is commanded to go up to the ascent that is toward the pool. For the place was, even according to the history, notable.

For it is written that the king of the Assyrians sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem with a great force, and he stood at the conduit of the upper pool, in the way of the fuller's field. At the same time he teaches us to stand aloof from things lowly and lying on the ground. For to those who have become things above, water is for purification, and the fuller's field belongs to him who cleanses away the filth, as the Preacher enjoins: "At all times let your garments be white." And the Lord also commands Moses to wash the garments of those who are about to hear God. Where a man has arrived at this, he will also have the wedding garment ready, so that, not bound hand and foot, he may not be cast out of the bridal chamber. But some have declared the pool to be a type of divine baptism. And this is useful for us too: "Be careful to be at rest," with a view to keeping the heart with all vigilance. For if the strong man guards his own courtyard watchfully, all his possessions are in peace, he who also keeps quiet, not bearing the tumult of the crowd, nor fearing a passive fear in a soul made strong by the spirit of strength. And through the two smoking firebrands we receive a command not to be cowardly before the plausible arguments of the Greeks, nor before the blasphemies among the heterodox. For the firebrands have destroyed both the vital principle of the plant and the strength of the wood, and the light they did not

of fire, they blacken only those who touch them. And they cause the eyes of those who look to weep. Therefore Solomon says: "As a sour grape is harmful to the teeth, and smoke to the eyes, so is lawlessness to those who use it"—indicating by the sour grape the sinful action, and by the smoke the harm that comes from falsely named knowledge, which confuses the discerning faculty of our soul. Then he says: After the corrective blows, I relieve you of your gloom, as a physician after cauterization or surgery heals the wounds. 117. And the Lord added to speak to Ahaz, saying: Ask for yourself a sign from the Lord your God, in the depth or in the height. And Ahaz said: I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord. And he said: Hear now, O house of David, etc. In order that he might be convinced concerning the salvation given to him, God wishes to confirm the grace even by a sign, since he was also devoted to idols, and it is ever dear to such people to busy themselves about the outcomes of future events through oracles and sorcery, especially when they are in the greatest danger. Wishing to turn them away from these things, God commands him to ask for the sign from himself. Above, then, Ahaz was being taught to be quiet and not to be afraid; but now, having become obedient to the prophet's teaching, he is immediately deemed worthy of the divine voice; for obeying those who minister to God conduces to being able also to hear God himself. But those like Abraham, and Moses, and Elijah, and Jeremiah from the beginning, being pure, can receive the impressions of the Spirit even without an intermediary. And by the words "he added," he joins the present account to the preceding ones.

And it was fitting that, after the prophecy concerning the eclipse of Ephraim—that is, of apostate Israel—there should be prophesied the things concerning Emmanuel. Or, also in this way: since Achaz had refused the request for the sign, and did not endure either to honor or to know the truly existing God, he shows that the Lord will not be altogether unknown to Israel, but in due seasons they will recognize him. Therefore, no longer deeming Achaz worthy of speech as an unbeliever—even though under the pretext, ostensibly, of piety he disobeyed—he conversed with the house of David, from which Christ was to arise in the flesh, and to which he came first. For that he declines to ask for the sign not on account of piety, nor seeking what is advantageous, is clear from the fact that the Lord would not have commanded it to him if it were in fact disadvantageous—which he, thinking so, avoided. But others adapt the meaning concerning Christ to the present words thus: The prophet, they say, speaks in his own person: Hear now, O house of David. God, as a lover of humanity, wished to provide for you a saving sign, by which you will conquer the two kings. But when you disobeyed, not even so did he overlook you as you perished. For he grants you the sign even against your will—a paradox, and such as nature does not know. For God will be born of a Virgin, apart from marital union. Him, then, call upon as you fight against the kings, trusting in the power of the name. For it makes clear that God is with us, and that he will put an end to the gods of Damascus, and he calls back those who are not. And say, in accordance with the symbol, continually, Emmanuel.

For this reason, "you shall call"—which it has—but not "they shall call," as was mistakenly written in the Gospels. For neither the Hebrew nor any translator rendered it thus. For the calling of Emmanuel is not about the future. Nor did he say that all would call him thus. For then the angel who appeared to his mother would also have called him thus, but not Jesus, the name meaning salvation. So it is not "they shall call," but "you now call him thus," invoking him as God who is with you—he who will later appear in the last times, but now is able to save you by his own salvation, being spoken of in place of an incantation against demons. For it is impossible that your seed should fail, even if you are so disposed through fear, until a Virgin conceives. Having said this much about the aim of the prophecy concerning the Savior, let us henceforth go back over the details from the beginning, first setting out the interpretations of the others. For instead of "into the depth, or into the height," Symmachus says, "Go deep into Hades, or lift up on high." Aquila says, "Go deep into Hades, raise up to the height." Theodotion says, "Go deep into Hades, lift up on high." A sign, then, is a manifest thing having within itself the indication of something hidden and unseen—as the sign of Jonah, indicating the descent into Hades and the return from there. The sign must be contemplated in the present, while the thing signified is sometimes divided among the three times: the present, as the smoke issuing from a house is a sign of the fire within; the future, as the convergence of the visible clouds is a sign of the rain that will come upon the earth; the past, as the remnants of the charcoal are a sign of the pyre previously burned upon it.

Scripture, however, calls signs paradoxical and indicative of some mystical meaning. And from the signs in Egypt we shall understand "to the height" or "to the depth," concerning which it is said: "He sent signs and wonders in the midst of you, O Egypt." For from the earth were frogs, and locusts, and lice, and dog-flies; but from heaven, hail, fire, and three days' darkness, such as the turning back of the sun in the time of Hezekiah, and, as they say, the ascent of Samuel from Hades for the conviction of Saul. And from the depth was the sign of Jonah, who ran up from the belly of the sea-monster. Therefore Ahaz is commanded to ask a sign from wherever he wishes—or rather, the most paradoxical and most divine of all things, and one that has both in itself. But this is for God alone to provide. Therefore he says: "Ask from the Lord your God." Now of creation, heaven is the highest, and earth the lowest. Since, then, the Word became flesh, the depth signifies the earth, from which the flesh was taken; and the height, the one above every principality and authority, the Word who in the beginning was with the Father and God. And perhaps the depth signifies the lowest parts of Hades, and the height the region above the heavens. According to the saying: "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'"—that is, to bring Christ down—"or, 'Who will descend into the abyss?'"—that is, to bring Christ up from the dead. Since, then, the one who descended is himself also the one who ascended, the one signifies the Lord's descent, and the other, his being above the heavens. And necessarily, they say, words concerning such great matters are spoken to the king who then prevailed, so that through him the things prophesied might be spoken to all.

For Isaiah might perhaps have been disbelieved, through the envy of the men of his time, or through the rest of the lowliness of his life, as though he had fashioned from his own heart the oracle concerning the coming of the Savior. But Ahaz received it in this way, as Laban, as Abimelech, as Nebuchadnezzar, as Pharaoh, as Caiaphas did—not because of the worthiness of his life, but insofar as the credibility that came to him from his office. So then, whether the Lord or the prophet turns the word toward the house of David, and says: Is it a small thing for you to give men a contest? And how do you give the Lord a contest? Aquila interpreted this thus: Is it a little thing for a man to toil, that you toil even against God? Such is the meaning of what lies before us: Not only do you not cease, by plotting against the prophets of God, to provide toils for your own salvation, but also against God himself, the God of all, by attending to idols and not obeying him concerning the things he promised you? Now agony is fear of falling. But he does not speak of such a passion concerning God, but through this he makes clear the opposition of those who set themselves against his commandments. Nevertheless, he says, even if he does not find one worthy of the reception, he himself will give the sign, because of the foreordained economy of the birth of Christ through the flesh—that is, not through an intermediary and some servant, but himself through himself, making clear from this the greatness of what is given. For the law he ordered through angels in the hand of a mediator, Moses. But this he himself gives. And if you marvel when you hear of God being born, believe that he will also enjoy luxury like the other infants, like the rest of the babes.

For a man will not be seen according to imagination; this, then, is human. But what is demonstrative of his divinity is that he does not wait for a suitable age for the discernment of good and evil. For at the very birth itself, being a judge by nature, he will be productive of good things and a separator of evil things; which also demonstrates his universal judgment. When wickedness is cast away, and virtue attains what is fitting, he is old; but the Jews oppose the edition of the Seventy, because "virgin" has been said, and not "young woman," as the Scripture of the Hebrews has it, which signifies one in her prime, but not a woman entirely inexperienced in marriage. And how is it a sign, or rather a wondrous one, that a woman should give birth from a man? For the sign is a demonstration of something portentous and contrary to the custom of men. And how is he who was born from the will of the flesh called Emmanuel? For if what was given is a sign, the birth will also be paradoxical. How a sign? And how again is he called Emmanuel? But that the Scripture has also called the virgin a "young woman" in a peculiar sense is clear from what it says in Deuteronomy: "But if in the field you find the girl who is betrothed, and having forced her he lies with her, you shall kill the man only. And to the young woman you shall do nothing," and the rest. And in the second book of Kingdoms, the virgin Abishag who warmed David is called a "young woman," concerning whom it says: "And the king did not know her." From a holy virgin, therefore, is Emmanuel, of her who said: "And how will this be to me, since I do not know a man?" To whom the angel said:

The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. She herself is not liable to the law concerning purification. For it says in Deuteronomy: A woman who has been impregnated and bears a male shall be unclean for seven days. But the mother of Emmanuel, not having been impregnated, is both pure and undefiled. For since the first Adam came into being not from marital union, but was formed from the earth, having been taken from it, so too the last Adam, renewing his corruption, receives a body formed in the virgin mother, so that he might come to be in the likeness of the sin through the flesh. But so that the paradox of the birth might not become unbelievable to those who do not accept the divine economy: the Creator made certain of the animals from the female alone, born without males. For such things are recorded about vultures in the writing on animals. Again the Jews say that these things are spoken about Achaz's wife, indicating Hezekiah who was born from her. And who called him Emmanuel? How did he disobey in wickedness before knowing good or evil? How is this a sign? And we will say the same again: What was the point of speaking now about his birth? But he had already been born, if one considers the times both of the present prophecy and of that man's birth. Therefore Emmanuel is the Word of God made flesh, whom, it says, you also shall call, O house of David—that is, you shall confess that God has appeared in human form, restoring Adam. Accordingly, as he was before sin, in ignorance of the good and evil that is known by experience—

Thus Emmanuel also, in his childlike disposition, imitated what was still pure and unwounded in Adam. But in rejecting wickedness, he corrected the lawlessness that came from disobedience. Now, then, he says, take courage because of my love for humanity. For the kings will not take your land; rather, let them now receive a trustworthy pledge that the land for which you have feared will be set free, after the wonder concerning Emmanuel that is to come. For it is not possible that, once the Savior has been announced, freedom should not now come to you who are besieged. Moreover, the house of David will come upon you as never before, signifying the disasters brought by the Assyrians, and according to some, by the Romans, such as have not happened since those who dwell in Samaria drew the Assyrian attack upon themselves. For having committed greater impiety, they did not allow you to suffer first. But some have interpreted the leaving of the land thus: when the virgin has conceived in her womb and given birth, and you have called his name Emmanuel, then all who harass the holy land will leave it. For those who warred against the Church, seeing her invincible, desisted and left her, as by God

being saved. And the phrase, "From the time that Ephraim departed from Judah," some have understood thus: from the time Ephraim revolted from Judah, in the days of Jeroboam; from that time, therefore, such days have not come upon the house of David as those which the Lord will bring upon it. And what days does he mean? I mean the king of the Assyrians. 125. And it shall be in that day that the Lord shall whistle for the flies that rule over a part of the river of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of the Assyrians. And they shall come, and all shall rest in the valleys of the land, and in the caves of the rocks, etc. By these words he makes clear the invasion of the Egyptians, calling them countless, because they delight in the defilements and blood of idolatry; or because of their multitude, and because their voice is not very melodious. But by the nod of God he shows those who marched against Judea, summoned, as it were, by God's whistle, not from all of Egypt but from a part. And he says that the Assyrians will also come, whom he likened to bees, because they use a warlike sting, and then prevail over the remaining nations. Or, because the bee is varied and fair in color. Such are the Assyrians in their garments, who, having come into Judea, will occupy every hidden place, let alone the cities themselves; or, speaking as about flies, he persisted in the figure, indicating at the same time that they will search out their whole land, so that nothing hidden can escape them. These, he says, one must fear, and not those two smoking torches.

These things happened literally, when Pharaoh Necho killed Josiah as he was opposing him on behalf of the Assyrian territories, and taking his son Jehoahaz captive, he appointed Eliakim to rule, and made the Judeans tributaries to them; after him Jeconiah held power, then Zedekiah, in whose time Nebuchadnezzar came against Judea and subdued it, and having enslaved nearly all, he sent Assyrian settlers into the land. These, since the cities had been destroyed, dwelt in caves and ravines and glens. After these things, consequently, he also prophesies the destruction of the Assyrians, who for about a thousand three hundred years extended their rule over all Asia, and over all Egypt and Libya. But since, after taking Jerusalem and burning the temple, they dedicated the sacred vessels to their idols, they were not long after destroyed by the Medes. And Cyrus was the first to reign over the Persians, who, releasing the captives, commanded the temple to be rebuilt, and restored the sacred vessels again. Therefore he says: In that day the Lord will shave the king of the Assyrians, not only the head that of old was long-haired, when they ruled the inhabited world, but also the hairs of the feet, that is, the manly form, or the great and common people, and the beard, that is, the adornment that befits humans by nature, or the symbols of manliness. And this manner was judged to be the utmost dishonor: to shave the head and the beard. For some also, in mourning for the dead, disgraced themselves in this way. This the law of Moses forbade to the priests.

Jeremiah also says, when Jerusalem had been sacked by Nebuchadnezzar: "Men came from Shechem and from Salem and from Samaria, eighty men, with shaved beards and torn garments and cutting themselves." These things signify mourning and dishonor. He says, then, that the kingdom of the Assyrians will be shown to be lowly and unmanly and shameful. And he speaks of a drunken razor, the sword that cuts without sparing and is filled with the blood of those who fall. Some, however (as they say, since the expression has a hired meaning), show it to be a certain mercenary force, which will strip bare the kingdom of the Assyrians that is to come. After the capture of Jerusalem, then, the word declares an exceeding poverty for those who remain. For he says that someone scarcely possesses herds of cattle, nor a flock of sheep, but one heifer and two sheep. And being fed on butter and honey, he sets forth a famine of bread. The milk from these will seem to be very great, because of the very few that are fed. Thus those who disobey God will be consumed by the lack of spiritual goods, having become very few, and being at a loss for bread, he who knows how to feed them into the intellectual well-being, into a man

perfect, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; to whom God says: "Behold, those who serve me shall eat, but you shall hunger. Behold, those who serve me shall drink, but you shall thirst." But to those who think the things that are his, he says: "Eat, drink, and be drunk, you who are near." The word makes clearer the want of those who were left behind, saying that every vine is to be laid waste, even if it has the value of a shekel. And that the land bears only thorns, so that instead of bread and wine they have used butter and milk. The Scripture sets these things forth after the capture by the Babylonians, saying: And of the poor of the land the captain of the guard left some as vinedressers, over whom he appointed Gedaliah. Showing the waste and thorniness of the land, it says that one will not even be able to walk through it plainly, without arrow and bowshot. For like arrows the thorns will stand against those who pass by. And consequently, when the spiritual vine has failed us, every kind of wickedness springs up in us. And the end of the thorn is fire. Therefore Paul also says: "For the land that has drunk the rain that comes upon it," and the rest. Those few, then, who were left behind, he says, are held by such great fear that they make their dwelling in the mountains and hide themselves in woods and thickets, according to what was said by the Savior: "Then let those in Judea flee to the mountains." And they attempted to cultivate even those places, since the best land had been laid waste through desolation, so that they might have an abundance only of necessary food, reckoning the safety of their dwelling there. But the rest of the land, laid waste, shall be for the grazing of sheep and the trampling of oxen, that is, for the pastures of sheep.

Perhaps it is also for this reason that he said there would be an abundance of milk and butter. Some have interpreted the present passage as follows: "My people went down to Egypt to sojourn there, and they were led by force to the Assyrians." Therefore he prophesies concerning the birth of Emmanuel, that whether any of the people be in Egypt or among the Assyrians, these shall come out, and having arrived in the land of Judea, shall rest in the natural and quiet hiding places. He says, however, that flies rule over a part of the river of Egypt, and that bees are in the land of the Assyrians, indicating the cheapness of the opposing powers. For a fly is a creature troublesome to humans, and having a foul origin from dung. Their life is troublesome, and their death abominable. And they shall rule over the part of the river of Egypt. For the Nile, beginning from the Ethiopians above, has Egypt dwelling about a small part of itself near its outlets to the sea; in which place every kind of irrational animal has been deified. These flies, then, the weakness of the opposing power, the Lord will destroy by his own hissing, that is, by the spirit of his mouth. And the bee is a small and weak creature, in which it takes vengeance when it dies. For having planted its sting, it perishes together with the wound, suffering greater things than it inflicted. Such are the most wicked of humans. After the birth of Christ, therefore, when every opposing power has been scattered, the sons of Israel shall be gathered in the natural receptacles, and shall rest, having been delivered from captivity, when the king who plotted against them has been dishonored.

When such great abundance will come about in the land that a single calf and two sheep suffice the owner for adequate nourishment. Because all are fed on butter and honey—that is, each one will nourish the diligent and agricultural, the gentle and generous part of the soul. For from the sheep comes the material of our covering, just as from the garment of virtue the life of the zealous man is adorned. Since, then, he is both spiritually fed and adorned, for this reason he will nourish a calf and two sheep. And butter and honey he calls the introductory teachings of divine instruction; for this is infant-like and first nourishment, after which, having come to manhood, one gives himself over to spiritual lessons befitting a man. Then, indicating those of the circumcision, he speaks concerning the thousand vineyards: "For he brought a vine out of Egypt," and the rest. Which, having flourished before, was later neglected, having turned to bitterness. And it became a dry land, when the hostile army came upon them with countless missiles and arrows, bringing desolation. And the ploughed mountains are the souls that have believed in Christ, formerly desert and untilled, and overgrown with thorns before the coming of Christ; but since he came for the fall and rising of many, and called the things that are not in order that he might bring to nothing the things that are—for this reason, those of the circumcision, having lost their flourishing and fruitfulness, changed into a dry land; but the assembly from the Gentiles, the ploughed mountain, is ploughed, having been freed from all cowardice before the enemies. For the mountain is the soul exalted by the teaching of the Lord.

When he came, Israel was broken off, but the nations were planted, so that by their fall salvation might be dispensed to all, and without fear, on these mountains, both sheep and cattle graze and provide from themselves unfailing benefit. Sheep are those of gentler habits; cattle are those most diligent for the work of necessities. CHAPTER 8, 34. And the Lord said to me: Take for yourself a great new scroll, and write on it with a man's pen, to make swift plunder of spoils. For it is present. And make for me faithful men as witnesses, Uriah and Zechariah son of Barachiah, etc. Having spoken of the difficult things that were about to overtake them, he has taken up again the account concerning Emmanuel. For since the sign was paradoxical—a child born of a virgin—he no longer shows the manner of the mystery to Ahaz, nor to the house of David, but to the prophet himself. For teaching him what he would need to write in the new scroll, he speaks in his own person and says, "And I went in to the prophetess." That is, write these things. But since it was not for the hearing of all to proclaim it, he commands the prophet to take a scroll, either a volume, or a parchment, or a roll, according to the others. The scroll of the new and great covenant would be a type of the new and great covenant, since the first has grown old. For it was weak, and had no one to perfect it; "for yourself," he says, distinguishing believers from those said to disobey. For to those, the things in the new scroll are given, containing the mystery of Christ. And the scroll is also called great. For it does not have the lowliness of the legal history.

Therefore Paul also gladly suffers loss, because of the surpassing knowledge of Christ. For as he says, the new law was enacted with better sacrifices. And he says "with a man's pen," because the words of the Gospel were written in human language and accessible to the many. For there is another writing, not human, according to which those in the book of life are enrolled by the power of the Spirit. Perhaps, then, the things concerning the divinity of the Only-Begotten are not of a human pen, as are the things concerning his incarnation, about which the present discourse is. For that other is the reed, as also the divine David says: "My tongue is the pen of a swift-writing scribe." "For no one knows the Son except the Father, nor the Father except the Son, and he to whom God wills to reveal him." For John says with a human pen: "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us"—and all that follows from these things, spoken concerning matters according to the flesh. He writes, then, in order to make swift spoil. For the time is near in which these two kings must suffer at the hands of the king of the Assyrians, by the power of Emmanuel, whom he commanded the Jews to chant in battle. And at the very coming, the teaching of the Gospel became swift and swifter than any lightning, spoiling the ruler of this age throughout the whole inhabited world, and drawing the captives away to obedience to Christ. And let Uriah and Zechariah be witnesses of what is written, he says in the Gospel. For at that time Uriah was a priest, as is clear from the history, and Zechariah a prophet.

For it happened in the time of Hezekiah, as it is written in the Paraleipomena. Symbolically, he calls these as witnesses. For the priest signifies the law, which he taught; and the prophets are indicated through Zechariah.

The Gospel is established by the law and the prophets bearing witness. Hence at the time of the transfiguration on the mountain, Moses and Elijah were conversing about Christ, and about the departure which he was about to accomplish in Jerusalem, which signifies the consummation of the economy: the cross, the death, the resurrection, the ascension. Now Urias is interpreted as "illumination of God," and Zechariah as "remembrance of God." And "son of Barachiah" means "of the blessing of God." And what witness is more trustworthy than one illuminated by God, and having remembrance of God? In their presence, then, he writes: "I drew near to the prophetess, and she conceived in the womb, and bore a son." For the Lord says, "I myself will draw near to the prophetess." And he calls the Mother of Christ by this name because she partook of the Holy Spirit, according to the text: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you." For the prophet is taught that the birth of Christ will not be from blood of flesh, or the will of a man. "For Christ is the firstfruits," and of those regenerated into him; concerning whom these things have been said. And the Virgin, having received the Spirit that came upon her, prophesied, saying: "For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;" and the things that follow. "I drew near," he says, using the present tense in place of the future by scriptural custom. And the one born, he says, name quickly "spoil," swiftly "plunder.

Since even before his birth according to the flesh, and before he was registered with fleshly parents, he now brings down the two kings. And he will do this through the king of the Assyrians, as if using my power, he says, he will overthrow their kingdoms. And in another sense, he swiftly despoiled the strong one, the one who guards, as his own possession, those sold under sin and bound by death. And he took spoil beforehand, handing over the faithful to his own powers for safekeeping: "whose angels," as he says, "behold the face of my Father who is in heaven." And his swift spoil-taking is indicated by "Having ascended on high, he led captivity captive. He received gifts in heaven," which he did, "having entered into the house of the strong man and plundered his vessels," as he himself says in the parable. And the prophet also says elsewhere: "He has sent me to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives." And by saying "it is present," he indicates at once that the punishment of the kings will not be long in coming. And at the same time he says that the things of the Savior's visitation are near. And the one he called Emmanuel, he now called "Swiftly despoil, Speedily take spoil." For it is the custom of Scripture to name God from his various operations, as also Jesus, from the salvation given to us by God. And the power of Damascus is those who believe from the Gentiles. And the spoil of Samaria would be the unbelieving from the circumcision. For Damascus is the metropolis of Syria, and Samaria of Israel. How did he who was born immediately despoil these? Because he was going to do the same not long after.

Or also, because the magi came to him and worshiped him as God and brought gifts, having been despoiled for the sake of piety while he was still an infant, he having fought on their behalf, and of the others, against the intelligible king of the Assyrians. But the phrase, "and they came to the prophetess," some say was spoken not from the person of the Lord but from the prophetic person; who also say that "they came" is used instead of "I drew near in spirit and in foreknowledge of things to come to the prophetess." For I attained, and as it were drew near to the prophetic foreknowledge, and I saw the conception from afar, having looked ahead by the grace of prophecy; who also are at a loss as to how the prophet, having been commanded to take a scroll, does something else, entering in to the prophetess. But it is clear, they say, that the silence toward him indicated consent and action. For how would the prophet have disobeyed God? But with that, clearly, having been circumscribed, the matter of the prophetess is handed down from its own beginning. 85. And the Lord added to speak to me further: Because this people does not want the water of Siloam that flows quietly, but wants

to have Rezin, and the son of Romelius as king among you; therefore, behold, the Lord brings up against you the water of the river, the strong and the abundant—the king of the Assyrians, and his glory, etc. And these things belong to the same subject; saying these things not to the people but to the prophet, the Lord added that the people disobeyed when commanded not to fear the kings, but to take courage in the invocation of Emmanuel. Those who did not make them serve loved the kings, not receiving the water of Siloam—which signifies Emmanuel himself, who is a fountain of water living and leaping up to eternal life. Whom they did not receive either at the time of the war of the kings, nor at the time of his incarnation. And quietly, even according to the history, the water of Siloam is given forth. It signifies concerning Christ that even before his coming he went along with the people unnoticed, wishing to water their souls and to oversee them, and not yet proclaimed to all the nations; and without noise he made his own presence. And this also accords with the name of Siloam, which is interpreted as "sent." For Paul calls him an apostle and high priest of our confession. And the man blind from birth the Savior symbolically sent to Siloam. But he received his sight by receiving the water of Siloam. But the people now accused by the Lord, not having believed in Siloam, who is Emmanuel, becomes desolate of him.

And instead of the two kings whom they loved, they are handed over to serve the Assyrians, and to him who rules over them in a spiritual sense, because they were unwilling to have the water of Siloam—that is, they rejected it, according to Symmachus, in accordance with the saying, "The stone which the builders rejected, this became the head of the corner." In return for this, he says, he will bring upon them the abundant and strong water—the Assyrian—setting him in contrast to the quiet water. And his glory: he called the rulers under him and the peoples. And it is a custom of divine Scripture to liken a multitude to water. For he says through the voice of the prophets: "And Nineveh, like a pool of waters, her waters." But, he says, there shall not remain among them a man lifting up his head—that is, one able to rule. And the multitude shall cover the whole land. Which came to pass in the time of Jeremiah, when Nebuchadnezzar campaigned. 19. God is with us. Know, you nations, and be defeated; hear, even to the ends of the earth. You who have grown strong, be defeated. For if you grow strong again, you will be defeated again. And whatever counsel you may take, the Lord will scatter it, etc. These things too have been joined to the matters concerning Emmanuel; which also makes clear "God is with us," now spoken a second time by the prophet. By showing that others did not believe this, and freeing himself from their accusation, he cried out from himself and from those like him with the greatest pleasure, "God is with us," turning toward the nations. These things, then, he urges Emmanuel to know—he whom the people from the circumcision did not know, nor understand. But you, he says, have been defeated with the noble defeat, having been taken captive into obedience to Christ, through whom you will be made free from the slavery of the law of sin.

Listen, therefore, to the very ends of the earth, to those who proclaim the Gospel to you. "For their sound has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the inhabited world." And you who are mighty in word and powerful among you, be conquered by the proclamation of piety; for even unwilling, you will be defeated, being convicted by your vain counsels against God, and by words spoken in the way of threat. He would say also to put off bodily strength and to take up the weakness of the flesh, so that the power of God may be perfected in weakness. But if again the mind of the flesh rises up against you, again subject it to the spirit, and your counsel and word will be idle, because it threatens: He will set aside the wisdom of the wise and the understanding of the prudent. For the angel of the great counsel brings to nothing human counsel, and the God Word sets aside human word. It is useful to say these things to those who persecute the Church. But some, the first things indeed against the nations and

They say this was spoken to the Jews, and from the phrase "you who were strong" comes "you are defeated," addressed to the Jews; for they prevailed, as far as it depended on them, against Christ by handing him over to the cross. But "they took counsel, a counsel which they shall not be able to establish." For how could they have encompassed with death the author of life? Therefore, he says, you are henceforth defeated after so great a profitless audacity. But if you again resist those who proclaim the Gospel, you will again be defeated, henceforth paying the penalty to the judge who punishes. For after Christ was taken up, they even plotted against the apostles themselves: "With a command," they said, "we commanded them to speak nothing in this name." And: "Behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching." And by striking them they thought they were strong again, but the disciples prevailed, saying: "Because God is with us." In return for which they paid the penalty, being defeated by the Romans. 95. Thus says the Lord: With a strong hand they disobey the going of the way of this people, saying: "Never say a hard thing." For whatever this people says is hard. "But do not fear their fear, nor be troubled," etc. He says the present word to those who disobey: according to some, to the Jews; according to others, to the Gentiles. And the strong hand is the creative power of all things that exist, the one through whom all things came to be, the Son of God, who both abolished death and crushed Satan and despoiled Hades and renews the race to incorruption—the one whom those called Jews resisted and did not receive, namely Emmanuel. And moreover also all those of the Gentiles who remained unreconciled to the faith.

For we are led to the knowledge of God in two ways: either by using natural conceptions, knowing the Creator through created things, or through the teaching of the law given to us. But these men neither followed the works of the strong hand, concerning which it is said, "Your right hand, O Lord, has been glorified in strength," and, "I have established the heaven with my hand"; nor the way. For he himself says, "I am the way." Or he calls the way the lawful conduct of life, since the Lord calls the teachers of the law blind guides. And it is said: "And in the way of your testimonies I delighted." And: "In your way I shall live." And: "Blessed are the blameless in the way." These things, then, have been rightly spoken against the Greeks. But if it is against the Jews, it is by ellipsis; so that it may mean, and to those who walk the way, not the straight way and that of the Lord. That is, when this people was disobedient, he says, whose face he had just taken up and said, "God is with us"; so that he calls the way the evangelical way, since the shadow in the law was overlooked. But the edition of Symmachus bears witness to the interpretation by ellipsis. For it says these things: "The Lord spoke to me as in the strength of his hand, and he set me apart not to walk in the way of this people, saying: You shall not say, Conspiracy. Everything that this people says is conspiracy." And he says that the Lord, taking hold with his own hand, set apart his own prophet, me, from walking the same way as this unbelieving people, which did not believe the prophecy of calling upon Emmanuel. For these men regard your withdrawal from them as conspiracy. But you shall not say this. And according to the Seventy:

Do not say, he says, that the word is harsh, as these men think the word about the necessity of departing from the journey of this people; and even if they plot against you as those who have departed, fear not them at all, but God alone. For the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Through this every fear that comes from men is driven out. And then at last he shall be to you for a sanctification, since you no longer need any bodily sanctification. For thus they used to call the temple that stood among them, and the innermost parts of it. Therefore the Lord himself will sanctify you, if you shall be confident in him; but according to those who understood the people to mean the faithful and the one ranked with the prophet, where he said, God is with us, one must understand the phrase "lest you say it is harsh" as meaning that the word of the holy apostles seemed harsh to the Jews, since they could not endure to remain in the shadow of the law. Therefore he exhorts the apostles not to fear the fear of those under the law, but to be only God-fearing. That is, since they feared to stumble against God if they should reject the legal worship, obeying the Savior who abolishes the shadow. Therefore they said: "If this man were from God, he would not have broken the Sabbath." You, though being from among them, do not be carried away by the same fears. Rather, let the Lord of glory be sanctified by you, that is, Christ. But according to those who think the word is addressed to the unbelieving Gentiles, who are persuaded neither by natural law nor by written law:

He would say that they do not endure the commandments of the way of the people, not bearing the harshness of what has been ordained, just as the Jews too, being vexed at the teachings of the Lord, said, "This word is harsh; who can hear it?" For chastity is harsh to a prostitute, and the yoke of virtue is harsh to those in vice. For she [pleasure] entices with the smoothness of pleasure, while toils procure the other. Hence the one has the most lovers, the other very few indeed, who say, "Because of the word of your lips I have kept hard ways." These, as they went, went and wept, casting their seeds. For the present afflictions are the seed of the good things to come. The Gentiles, then, turn the people away, and hesitating to say harsh things to them, they shrink from approaching—formerly the law, now the faith—not enduring the yoke of the one nor the citizenship of the other. To whom he says, "Do not fear their fear," that is, of the virtues. Or, turning about, he addresses the people, saying that those men have conceived these things concerning you, fearing your union with them through the laws, but do not be disturbed by their plots against you. And let the Lord be your fear. It is a great thing for perfection to fear in a disciplined way and not to be terrified by every sound. Concerning which David says, "There they shall be afraid with fear where no fear was." Expect, then, his coming; fear his judgment, and his coming upon the earth with angels. For if you are confident in him, you will not stumble, as against a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.

For the blind stumble against stones, and those whose steps are unsteady slip on treacherous rocks; so too the man blind in soul, who has not recognized the Lord's coming through the teaching of the Scriptures, stumbles over the gospel proclamation and is scandalized, saying, "We know that God has spoken to Moses, but this man, we do not know where he is from." And these, having stumbled at the word, have fallen; but for those who have believed, Emmanuel becomes a sanctification, and not a rock of scandal, through the conception from the Virgin. Paul also taught these things, saying that he is a scandal to the Jews but folly to the Gentiles. And again, Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not attain to the law; why? Because it was not from faith, but as from works of the law, he stumbled at the stone of stumbling, as it is written: "To place in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of scandal, and everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame." The Apostle has taken "a stone of stumbling" and "a rock of scandal" from here, but "the one who believes in him will not be put to shame" from another part of the prophecy, where it is said: "Behold, I place in Zion a cornerstone, elect, precious. And the one who believes in him will not be put to shame." The same Lord becomes a sanctification for some, but a stumbling block for others. And perhaps a stumbling block to the Greeks who seek wisdom is the folly of the proclamation; but to the Jews who seek signs, he is a rock of scandal. But for us, who do not seek to subject the simplicity of the proclamation to rational demonstrations, nor test the truth through signs, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

But to the house of Jacob, he says—that is, to the Jews—those who have suffered great madness against Christ shall be like those who have fallen into a snare and been hunted down to destruction, and like those in hollows, that is, those who have slipped into a pit. And they shall draw near, he says, to every man who knows how to shake down, having acquired no strength, unable to say with the faithful: "The Lord is my strength and my song." For those from Israel shall be captured—as far as depended on help from above, they were in safety against visible and intelligible enemies. For God says concerning Jerusalem: "And I will be to her a wall of fire round about." But by their drunken insolence against Christ they have become easy to capture for their enemies, since grace has passed over to the Gentiles. And Symmachus says: For a stone of stumbling, and for a rock of falling, to the two houses of Israel, for a snare, and for a scandal to those who dwell in Jerusalem. And he calls them two houses—both that of the rulers and that of the ruled—indicating the whole nation. And the rest also rendered it as "the two houses." For this reason, he says, many shall be powerless among them, clearly because it has become for them a stone of stumbling. And instead of "they shall draw near," Symmachus rendered: And they shall be ensnared and shall be caught. And the phrase "men in safety" is superfluous, and has been marked as spurious. 18. Then those who seal the law so as not to learn shall be made manifest. And he shall say: I will wait for God, who has turned away his face from the house of Jacob, and I will trust in him, etc. The first line Symmachus rendered thus: Bind the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.

With which the version of Aquila also agrees. But then, he says, after the things spoken have befallen the two houses of Israel—then bind the law. For there is no longer need of the law of Moses, nor of the testimonies from it, since the new teaching is being handed over to his disciples, those called from the Gentiles, who will be manifestly sealing the law so as not to learn it, since it is no longer useful when the better thing is set beside it. Shall we then abstain from the legal readings, when Christ says: "Therefore I say to you, that every scribe who has been made a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a rich man, who brings out of his treasury new and old things." Not then absolutely, but we do reject its bodily interpretation. But some say that through these words those who shut their ears to the divine law are being maligned, who are also said to be sealed, having made themselves like the form of the adversary, not wishing Christ to be formed in them. But preferring the image of the earthly to the heavenly, the law has been sealed of itself by the obscurity of its words, having been handed down thus for the exercise of the mind. And he who does not attempt by study to loose the bond of ignorance is said to seal it. The teachers of the Jews also used to seal it, by pretext of keeping to the letter, not revealing the mysteries in the depth. Concerning whom the Savior says: "You have taken away the keys, and neither do you enter in yourselves, and those who are able to enter in you hinder." And such a one speaks in the Jewish manner: I will wait for God who has turned away, and the rest. And he says: I do not receive Emmanuel, even if I have now been forsaken;

But I shall one day await the visitation of God, who has now turned away from us. According to the earlier interpretation, those who have hoped in Christ say these things, turning away from the law and awaiting the grace of Christ, so that it may become their sanctification; according to the text: "Waiting, I waited for the Lord, and he attended to me." [But he waits for the Lord] who also endures what seems good to God, and bears up under the struggles for piety, making his stand in God secure, through seeing that God has turned away from those who disobeyed him. But some are those who say these things: the person of the Only-Begotten will teach, introduced and speaking concerning them: "Behold, I and the children whom God has given me"—which Paul also cited in the letter to the Hebrews. For the Jewish children are from a man and a woman; but those of the Lord who bears this title were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, but of God, the Father having bestowed such children on him according to the flesh. For insofar as he is God, he rules over all by nature, no longer attending to the law of Moses. And he calls the faithful children, as having been reborn in the spirit and having put off the old man—tender in character and inexperienced in evil, having now been weaned from the introductory teachings and advancing to the food of the more perfect mysteries. And having given us also to cry out in the spirit, "Abba, Father,

He called us brothers to the Father, as it were giving back in return those whom he had received; to whom he also says: "Those whom you gave me out of the world were yours, and you gave them to me." According to that: "Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance." And through these children, he says, there shall be signs and wonders; whence the rest also published thus: "Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me, for signs and for wonders in Israel." For he gave them to me, he says, to work wonders through them; to whom also the Savior said, when sending them to the lost sheep of the house of Israel: "Heal the sick, cast out demons, freely you have received, freely give." Through which signs the calling of the nations also came to pass. For to pass from ignorance to knowledge, and from wickedness to virtue, and for churches of God to be established everywhere on the earth, are manifest signs of the grace of God. These things are from the Lord of hosts. And who else is the Lord of the soldiers, than he who is called the commander-in-chief of the power of God, by whom the signs were given to the children who have believed in him? Concerning whom, when they were saying, "Hosanna in the highest," he says that this was spoken: "Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babes you have perfected praise." Concerning whom, giving thanks to the Father, he says that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and have revealed them to infants. Calling the mystical children infants, those who through discipleship have obtained the revelation of the mysteries, to whom he who dwells in Zion on the heavenly mountain revealed them. Concerning which the Apostle says: "You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.

And if they say to you: "Seek the ventriloquists, and those who speak from the earth, the babblers, who speak from the belly." Will not a nation seek after its God? Why do they seek the dead concerning the living? etc. Emmanuel weaves a catechetical discourse for those reckoned as children, leading them away from ancient superstition, as being taught by him. For if relatives or friends, he says, should urge you to return to the former error, do not be persuaded by the advice, on the pretext of foreknowledge. For the demons do these things for the destruction of what comes to be. For they are able both to heal passions and to foretell; the one, because they are more keen-sighted than the more material properties, such as the quality of plants and their combination with one another; the other, because they first see what has happened, and put it forward as if it were going to happen. For example, having learned the things decreed concerning Saul and made public by the judgment of God, they fashioned the person of Samuel and reported it as their own declaration. And he says that the ventriloquists speak from the earth. For they utter nothing heavenly; which the woman speaking to Saul also acknowledges: "I see gods ascending from the earth." For they promise to bring up the souls of the dead for the manifestation of the things sought; whom he also calls babblers and those who speak from the belly; whom they name pythons; perhaps also as speaking from their own heart. For falsehood fabricates, guessing at the will of those present. Thus one might also speak of those whose god is their belly, even if they should feign piety and teach, wishing to fulfill it.

For they babble, speaking not from a settled disposition. For one who does not do and teach is not trustworthy for benefit. And the phrase, "Will not a nation seek after its God?" is spoken as a question, and perhaps with an ellipsis of "say to them." For if each nation, even if in error, nevertheless cleaves to its own God. Should one not rather do something with those who have unerring knowledge, or seek their own God, and not inquire of those who are estranged from the whole of life about such matters? Either he is speaking about idols, or about those who have truly fallen away from life—such as the demons are through apostasy, not having in themselves the living word of God—or also that it is absurd to inquire about the living from those who lie in the earth. For all such sorcery revolves around tombs. And the phrase, "Why do they seek?" expresses indignation at their folly, because the rational being asks the dumb one, becoming a partaker of death through disobedience. For if you resort to an oracle, or use purifications, or such things, know that you have gone to the dead. But having the word of God and the evangelical law, do not busy yourself with the future; arrange present matters for what is useful. For you have received the law for help, having indeed a great natural aptitude for the good; and God, perfecting this, has added to you the guidance that comes from the law. But if you wish to be convinced about things to come, do what is ordained according to the law, and await the enjoyment of good things. But this is not the law, he says, as is this word of the ventriloquist.

For it was not devised for the deception of gain, but it is a teacher of truth, set forth freely for all, according to the voice of Isaiah that says: "You who thirst, go to the water; and as many as have no silver, go and buy without silver and without price." For there is one gift worthy of what is ours—the keeping of the law that was given. But there they often sell the oracles they fashion for deception. But if you do not attend to this law of God, a harsh famine will come upon you. For God thus disciplines toward conversion. For I afflicted you, he says, and made you hunger, that I might do you good. But famine is either of grain alone, or also of other foods. It is reasonably called harsh, being unconsoled, through which he wishes to produce grief unto a salvation without regret. And perhaps upon those who have fallen away from the divine law a harsh famine is brought, not of bread nor of water, but of hearing the word of the Lord. For this is the bread from heaven that gives life to the world. But Symmachus rendered it thus: "And the one who has been caused to stumble will pass from him, and he will hunger. And it shall be, when he hungers and is provoked, he will curse his own king." For someone who has transgressed the divine law and been caused to stumble by the deception of demons that promises foreknowledge will have a famine of rational foods, and ecstasy and provocation, so as to blaspheme his own king, like the king of old. But according to the Seventy, the ruler and the ancestral customs—

For it is as if they hold nothing venerable in the ecclesiastical ordinances handed down to us from the Fathers, and they will speak evil both of these and of Christ who led them, and the intelligible darkness will succeed them, since they have turned away from the light of the Gospels. But some, taking these men—those now under discussion—to have been benefited, turning from famine to conversion, say that they repent, blaspheming the ruler of this world, having received a consciousness of the harm that came from him. And the ancestral customs of those living in sins are the pursuits of life, the works of the flesh, living with which they turned away from the divine law. But such a one is blessed. For he will find the true ruler and his homeland Jerusalem, those who will also look up to heaven above, who long ago were bowed down and unable to contemplate the lofty things of the divine visions; but now, having dissolved the bond toward earthly things and contemplating the nature of intelligible things, and the place where it will be fitting to deposit the treasure. And they will look also upon the earth, [seeing] the cheapness of their own nature from their kinship with the earth, who until then were puffed up and thought highly of themselves. And in wonder at such great things they are at a loss, being constrained and disturbed by the astonishment of what has been grasped. "For when a man has finished," he says, "then he begins; and when he has ceased, then he will be at a loss." For no one knows how much he does not know, unless he has tasted of knowledge. According to, "I said, I will be made wise, and she herself was far from me." Nevertheless, the good God promises better things to these. For he who is in constraint will not be at a loss, he says, until the time.

That ignorance of mankind will not possess the race entirely. For the one now in travail for the discovery of the truth will one day see face to face, when the time of the restoration of all things arrives, which the phrase "until the time" indicates. But some, from the words "a grievous famine will come upon you," say this is a turning away toward the Jewish nation, who, having received the law from God, did not accept Christ; having fallen away from him, they have fallen into an intelligible famine. And at some point, coming to a perception of their own evils, they will speak evil of the ruler, of their leaders the Scribes and Pharisees, and of the legal customs on account of which they supposedly turned them away from believing in Christ and stirred them up to murderous violence against him—calling them not law at all, but ancestral ordinances, as it were, and teachings of men; therefore, being darkened, they will be at a loss. But the nations now in distress and famine will partake of the abundant table of Christ, when the time of their calling arrives. CHAPTER 9. 27. This first, quickly press, quickly do, O land of Zebulun, the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea. And the rest who dwell along the coast, and beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations, the parts of Judea. The people who walk in darkness: behold a great light, you who dwell in a land, and in the shadow of death, etc. These words also depend on the sayings about Emmanuel; but above the discourse was about those who disobeyed; here, however, it is about those who received him. And who were the first to receive Christ, John says in his Gospel:

Now when the Savior heard that John had been handed over, he withdrew into Galilee." Then, having blessed those who dwell there and having set out the present passage, he adds: "From that time Jesus began to preach and to say that the kingdom of heaven has drawn near." For it was necessary to state the region from which he began to preach and in which he made the majority of his stays; this region, then, he proclaims as good news, saying: Drink this first. Two tribes divided it by lot, Zebulun and Naphtali. Between these also dwelt foreigners, whom he mentions when he says, "and the rest who are along the coast, and beyond the Jordan," stating the distinguishing marks of the Galilee in Palestine, in contrast to that in Phoenicia. By "coast" he means the whole region around the lake of Gennesaret, which the Gospel calls a sea. "And passing along," he says, "by the sea of Galilee, Jesus saw two brothers." For the disciples were from there. Around this lake are also the villages of Capernaum and Bethsaida and Choroazin, and the others of which he made mention. Galilee is also beyond the Jordan, in which the Savior spent most of his time, on account of which he proclaims as good news to those in it first the saving drink and the great light. Of this life-giving drink the Savior provided an image perceptibly when at the wedding he changed the water into wine, which John says was also the beginning of signs, and that he manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in him. Whence the prophet says: Drink this first; do it quickly. For he wishes those who have been deemed worthy of the divine manifestation, and who have received the great light, to render the fruit of the rational drink through works.

He might say this also as proclaiming to a people thirsting the grace that was awaited. For such a one would drink down the draught with pleasure more quickly—that is, to receive the joy, the doctrine of salvation, preferring nothing to it. For what is older than the Creator, or more honored than the firstborn of all creation? Drink this, then, having learned that "In the beginning was the Word." Nothing is before the beginning, nothing before the one in the beginning. Do not drink down an age beforehand, nor a spatial or temporal interval; but first proceed to the reception of the work earnestly and with zeal. Therefore Paul at once drank the faith, and deferred no time for the proclamation, who indeed did not consult with flesh and blood; and being a good runner, at the signal he hastened to the goal, pressing on toward the prize of the upward calling. Those, then, who proclaim the good news, having walked before his coming in the darkness of ignorance—in the East of the light, which enlightens every man coming into the world, they saw a great light. And how is it not great, which shines upon both things intelligible and things perceptible? Which is both with the Father and enlightens all things? And they were in the shadow of death who "sin unto death," according to the saying, "The soul that sins, it shall die." But such a one, as long as he is in the present life

he happens to be, not yet swallowed up by death, able to repent, yet he has not been wholly released. Therefore he is said to be in the shadow of death. And in another way they were overshadowed by death. For a deep cloud of idolatry lay upon them. Henceforth the discourse turns to the very person of the Lord. The greater part of the people whom you brought down, in gladness. For in this land he gained the greater part of a people, and his apostles. But instead of "you brought down," the rest translated "you magnified." And these shall be gladdened as in a harvest. As for the wording, it refers to those for whom he blessed loaves in this land, seven and five, and fed so many. For at harvest too they are accustomed to feast gathered together and in the same place. As for the meaning, it is that the apostles, and those who are still their successors even now, are gladdened in the presence of the Savior, laboring like reapers, being workers of the harvest of the nations; to whom he said, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few," and how indeed are they not few, who, as is necessary, lead the way to the great and plentiful harvest of the nations? They who also divided among themselves the spoils of the polytheistic error, which the Savior gave them to plunder, he who is called "Spoil quickly, plunder swiftly"? For according to the parable, being stronger than the strong man, he took away his armor and distributed the spoils. The armor means the evil powers, through which he works idolatry. The spoils means the souls of men, which he had carried off and kept under himself, using both craft and force.

But the truly mighty one, having cast down idolatry and set free the souls that had been despoiled, distributed them to his disciples to care for and tend; and they rejoice as at the harvest of the Church, seeing the standing grain. And in another sense, what each one sows, this he will also reap. Therefore in the recompense, those who received the word and bore fruit, receiving their reward from the righteous Judge in proportion to what was laid down beforehand here, will rejoice, enjoying the fruits of their own labors. For those who grow rich from spoils receive the sudden occasion of wealth; therefore he mentions both, both the good things that come from recompense and those given by grace from the one who bestows great gifts. But let us return to where we departed from. So then the disciples of Christ rejoice even until now, because the yoke that long lay upon the spoils has been taken away, and the rod that was upon the neck of the spoils. For a yoke and a deadly rod bent their neck down. For the one who despoiled them for this purpose subjected their souls to the slavery of sin; for he stands over human life like an exactor, beating with a rod, and making them stoop to the earth by their attachment to the passions. Struck by this rod, David said: "My wounds have grown foul and festered." For the wicked rod produces foul-smelling wounds on the one struck. Consider how the man driven by various desires resembles one being beaten with a rod. For desire produces goads and pangs in the intemperate, until it smears a foul-smelling wound upon wretched souls, which the memory of shameful things works in them. This rod, then, he will scatter, as he scattered the beginning of Midian.

He mentions the historical account, either that in Numbers or that in Judges. In one place he says, "They arrayed themselves against Midian as the Lord commanded Moses, and they killed every male, and the kings of Midian." In another place he says of Gideon: "Arise, for the Lord has delivered the camp of Midian into your hands." And the passage seems rather to indicate this latter. For just as in the case of Gideon the enemies were conquered not by an array of weapons but by an invisible and God-sent blow, so too were the enemies of souls; and the rod of these has been scattered, those whose yoke lay upon them—both those from the nations through idolatry and those from Israel through the Pharisees. For in addition to the yoke from the law, about which the disciples say, "And now why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples, which neither you nor your fathers were able to bear?"—they themselves were laying on a heavier one, relentlessly maltreating the people. He might also mean by "rod" their greed for gain, who would most gladly have suffered anything at all rather than see the coming of Christ. The rod of the one who demands payment has been scattered, then—those who, once defeated, will demand back every garment gathered by deceit, and a cloak with reconciliation. For since the devil has plundered the world of the soul and its garment, and the tunic of virtue along with its own powers, displaying it naked and shameful—and he did this by deceit and deception against it—for this reason, he says, they shall pay it back; and they, fearing the time of repayment, would wish, if it had been possible, to be burned up by fire rather than behold the Savior of all things coming among them. For trembling at him, they said:

What have we to do with you, Son of God? Have you come before the time to torment us?" He speaks of a change with an addition. For we do not only receive back what we had lost, but we are also made better by the addition of faith in Christ. "For he has clothed me," he says, "with a garment of salvation and a robe of gladness." He says that it was gathered up and secretly taken away. And who was this whom they shuddered at, he added: that a child was born to us, a son; and he is the same as Emmanuel, the one now called son and child. This is the third time in the present prophecy that he is called son and child. For he said, "The virgin shall conceive a son, and you shall call his name Emmanuel"; to which he added, "Before the child knows good or evil." And again, "The prophetess," he says, "bore a son." And he added, "For before the child knows how to call father and mother." And now for the third time, that a child was born to us. Therefore this son and this child, the gift given by God to us who have believed, and born for our sake, not for his own, being one of many names, is at present called the angel of great counsel. For he himself, who announced the great counsel hidden from the ages, which was not made known to other generations, revealed his unsearchable riches among the nations, that the nations should be fellow heirs and of the same body, whose government came to be upon his shoulder. That is, the kingdom and the power are in the cross, on which being lifted up he drew all to himself. For he indicates strength by the shoulder. For all our strength is in shoulders and arms. For it is also said, the arm of the Lord, according to the text:

And "the arm of the Lord, to whom was it revealed?" He began, then, with those in the heavens through his own power. For he is the strength of God and the Father. But some said it was the cross, because he lifted this upon his shoulder. And how he is the messenger of great counsel, John made clear, saying: "For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God." And to the apostles the Savior says: "But I have called you friends, because all things that I heard from the Father I made known to you." But Symmachus rendered: "And his name shall be called wonderful, counselor, mighty." But Aquila: "Wonderful, counseling, mighty." But Theodotion: "Wonderful, counseling, mighty." For all agree with the reading of the Seventy—"God"—and rendered "mighty," as though they reverently shrank from assigning the name of God to a child being born. But the Seventy, gazing upon the things said of him in a God-befitting manner, reasonably interpreted the Hebrew El as "God." If indeed he is called ruler of peace, and ruler of the age to come, and has peace without end. But Scripture has often taken El for God. For even where it says, "And they shall pray in you, because God is in you," in place of "God" the Hebrew has El. And again where it is said, "For you are God and we did not know it," again El is contained. And again in what is said: "I am God, and there is no other." El is in place of "God." Therefore now also El gibbor is reasonably interpreted "God mighty." Since he himself, the Emmanuel born of the virgin, having El—"God with us"—is also interpreted by the others.

That he also now uses El for God, he himself makes clear as he proceeds. For he says, "And they shall be trusting in the holy God of Israel in truth, and the remnant of Jacob shall be upon a mighty God." For in place of "a mighty God," the Hebrew again has El gibbor. Looking to these things, the Seventy gave "God." Therefore, struck with amazement at the things joined to these concerning him, with a certain peculiar and different manner of understanding, they spoke summarily, and his name is called "angel of great counsel." And Paul shows how he is also Father of the ages, saying: "For just as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive." For in the new age the firstfruits is Christ; then those of Christ. And he has been called ruler of peace. "For he himself is our peace," having made peace both on earth and in the heavens, and having reconciled the world to his own Father. And just as by his workings he is addressed now one way, now another, so too he was called Jesus at the appointed time when he came to dwell in the world for salvation. For Jesus means "saving" or "Savior." Therefore Gabriel, having said, "And you shall call his name Jesus," added: "For he will save his people." Then he says, "For I will bring peace upon the rulers and health to him," calling the teachers of the churches "rulers," to whom he grants health of soul and to have peace with one another, saying: "My peace I give to you; my peace I leave to you." And the phrase "health to him" shows that the word concerns the Son from the Father because of the mystery of the resurrection.

For since he was crucified out of weakness, but lives by the power of God, for this reason, he says, he brings healing upon the weakness of the flesh, which he took up on our behalf. For he does not receive these things insofar as he is God, but becomes the provider of healing and peace. And what the Father here says, that he gives peace to the rulers, he himself says as one who has the Father's own things as his own: "My peace I give to you," he who also receives back the peace from those who have received it. Therefore Isaiah says, "Let us make peace with him; let us make peace, we who are coming." And he receives the healing, that is, the revival, having himself again worked this. For he says, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." For he himself is the power of the Father. He himself is the resurrection and the life. To these things is added, "Great is his rule." For he began to rule not over Judea alone, but rather over the whole inhabited world. And Paul sets forth the greater thing, saying, "According to the working of the might of his strength, which he worked in Christ, raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power, and dominion and every name that is named." And there shall be no end of his peace. For it is said, "In his days righteousness shall spring up, and abundance of peace," concerning which, having said, "My peace I give to you," he added, "Not as the world gives do I give to you." The gift, then, has no end, since it is beyond the world. For if it were from the world, it would have been completed together with the constitution of the world. It will therefore be with the one who has received it from him forever.

But the peace of Solomon is limited to the years that have been written. That Christ came to set the Jewish nation free is shown by the phrase, "upon the throne of David." It had also been said that no ruler shall fail from Judah, nor a leader from his loins, until he comes to whom it is reserved. For all are from the seed of David, but simply "upon the throne of David," and "upon his kingdom," to establish it—we supplying in thought that he will come to establish the throne of David, and the fallen tabernacle of David. For it had been overthrown from the time when Nebuchadnezzar brought it down. But the prophets foretold that it would shine throughout the whole world like the sun. Christ therefore came to fulfill the promise, being from the seed of David according to the flesh, and shining upon the souls of men, and strengthening his kingdom throughout the whole world, although it had been destroyed among the Jews. And to establish it in judgment and in righteousness. For "your judgments," he says, "are a great deep, and your righteousness is like the mountains of God." Therefore neither the judgments are comprehensible, nor the righteousness

...visible in accordance with the worth of its height. And these things he did "from now and forever": the "from now" signifying a defined beginning of time, through which the season of his visitation among men was made clear; and the "forever," his boundless kingdom. And observe how the prophecies proceed in sequence. The first said that he would be born of a virgin. But when the question arose, "How shall this be?" the second brought in the Lord saying, "And I drew near to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son." And when we had learned these things, the third sets forth concerning his child, teaching his ineffable theology. And at the end of the prophecy concerning him it says, "The zeal of the Lord Sabaoth will do these things." And the zeal is good and fitting for him, to save those held captive by the devil. Well did those of Israel provoke him to jealousy. Therefore Moses says in the song: "They provoked me to jealousy with what is not God, and I will provoke them to jealousy with what is not a nation." This is according to the Seventy. But according to Symmachus, whom the rest followed, the passage is spoken in this way from the beginning: "The first hastened the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and the last weighed down the way by the sea beyond the Jordan." Showing that the first, which hastened, is the apostolic choir, setting out from the region of the tribes mentioned. Concerning which David says: "In the churches bless God the Lord from the springs of Israel; there is Benjamin the younger in ecstasy, the rulers of Zebulun, the rulers of Naphtali." For Benjamin signifies Paul, who said he was of the tribe of Benjamin.

But the rulers of the two tribes are the remaining apostles. For setting out from their country, they were the first to receive Christ, and hence they are called rulers. Therefore he says now: "Zebulun first hastened, and the land of Naphtali." For when Jesus said, "Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men," they immediately left their nets and followed him. These hastened. But the last, he says, made the road heavy. For those called last after the first calling did not obey; and lamenting them he says, "Woe to you, Chorazin, woe to you, Bethsaida, because if in Tyre and Sidon," and the rest. But even now the Jews are held fast in their unbelief. For, he says, the heart of this people has grown dull, and the things that follow. And instead of "the boundary of the nations," which Symmachus rendered instead of "Galilee" in the Seventy, Aquila rendered "the shores of the nations," indicating the multitudes of the foreign nations, which previously were untilled and unfruitful. And instead of "upon you"—the greater part of the people—Symmachus says, "You have multiplied the nation which you did not magnify." For the nation once cast away because of impiety, this the saving Word now taking up filled with spiritual blessing, according to "Increase and multiply." And instead of "every garment gathered by deceit, and a cloak with reconciliation they shall repay. And they will wish, if they had been born, to be burned with fire"; Symmachus says, "Every violence was forced in an earthquake, and a covering was mingled in blood, and it shall be for burning and food for fire.

Showing that every human soul suffered violence before the visitation, at the hands of Satan, through whom the soul's garments and advantages were defiled, who will be for burning because of the one born for our sake, whom he calls a young man. And instead of "the beginning; and it shall be," he says, "his instruction upon his shoulder," showing his passion, through which we have been instructed. This is the end of the prophecy concerning Emmanuel. 93. The Lord sent death upon Jacob, and it came upon Israel. And all the people of Ephraim shall know, and those who dwell in Samaria, who say in insolence and haughtiness of heart: The bricks have fallen, etc. Having completed the theme concerning Emmanuel, he follows again the purpose set forth at the beginning, and recounts the pursuit of sin, saying: "The Lord sent death upon Jacob, and it came upon Israel"; but the rest have it, "he sent a word," and they so rendered it. A word of negation, clearly of wrath, against the two kings who came together against Judah, of whom, as being of another race and allied with Syria, he now passes over, and speaks concerning Samaria. For since Sennacherib had arrived against Jerusalem, but had first destroyed Samaria (for Israel had committed greater impiety than the Jews, and was delivered first by God), for this reason he says that the terrors sent against others the Israelites drew upon themselves. But when Samaria was captured, it was fitting that those left behind, having learned by experience how great an evil it is to offend God, should propitiate him through repentance; but on the contrary, becoming desperate, they said, "Let us build towers," no longer as before (for being of brick, they were reasonably captured), but of stones and incorruptible woods.

Instead of impiety, they blamed the bricks for the capture; and instead of divine assistance, trusting in the solidity of matter, he says these things of the insolent and arrogant, who will also know, that is, they will enjoy their own opinion. For after Sennacherib and the terrible things that happened through him, Nebuchadnezzar again campaigned in the times of Jeremiah, and captured Jerusalem and Samaria; and Jeremiah also says to those who are now self-willed: "Cursed is the one who has his hope in man, and who establishes the flesh of his arm, and whose heart departs from the Lord." But God, striking, heals, exhorting through both to piety, and he now promises to those who have suffered the devastation. For Nebuchadnezzar, having campaigned last against Judea and Samaria together, captured them. And they continued as captives until the seventieth year. But by the philanthropy of God they again received back their own land, and attempting to build the city and the temple, they were hindered by the nations round about, and especially by the Syrians, but by divine inclination they prevailed over them. Then, as time went on, Antiochus, surnamed Epiphanes, reigning over Asia, having made war against Ptolemy who ruled Egypt, thought it a consolation for the defeat he had suffered if he should dare something against Judea, and pitying their mother city, and having plundered the temple, he left Lysias, his general, as guardian of it. But he was defeated when the Jews rose up against him. And the king, learning what had happened, ended his life in despondency.

Now therefore God promises his own aid to those who escaped the captivity from the Assyrians, against those who rise up against Mount Zion. And who these are, he says immediately: Syria from the rising of the sun, when they were being kept from the building, and the Greeks from the setting of the sun. For Antiochus was Greek by race, from Macedonia, which lies in the more westerly region, and especially so if one judges in relation to Judea. He had been brought bitterly against the Jews, when the sufferings of the Maccabees also took place. And upon him too divine justice comes more swiftly, after the one from Syria who with whole mouth devoured the sacred people; but although the Jews suffered so many things, the hand is still raised for judgment, and most ready for the blow against them, because of the greatest impiety which they dared against the Savior, on account of which they were handed over to the weapons of the Romans for perpetual destruction. But some say thus, that the death sent upon Jacob, or the word of wrath that denies, having overtaken those among them who were thought to be better, as being worthy of wrath and death, bearing the name Israel, pursued these. For the patriarch had the name Jacob of his generation according to the flesh, but after he prevailed with God he became Israel. Against the more irrational, then, having been sent, he found those who seemed rational to be worthy. But some took the word in a good sense, and say that through mercy the word first condescends to the weaker. But those who are more discerning, having received a perception of the benefit from it, seize it, anticipating the sluggishness of those to whom it was sent.

For the Word who was in the beginning with God, the Father sent to Jacob; and the pure mind, having recognized him, received him. But such men were formerly insolent and proud, sitting in Samaria. For he says in the Acts, the apostles heard that Samaria had received the Word. And the former insolence of these men the prophet handed down, in that they were emboldened against those of Judah, bearing witness to weakness in those men but to strength in themselves. But some take it thus, as those now coming against Jerusalem, who dwell in Samaria and are called Israel and the people of Ephraim, because they were ruled by those from the tribe of Ephraim, mocking Jerusalem, saying that it was built with bricks, promising that they would make their own things better. And instead of the temple which Solomon built, they thought fit to construct for themselves a tower, devising things like those in Chalanē. For those men also said, "Come, let us make bricks for ourselves, and let us bake them with fire." And again: "Come, let us build for ourselves a city and a tower, whose head shall be up to heaven." But from what sort of men did the tower next become foolish, when God's wisdom of the world seemed to have a bare and slight sweetness? For such also, according to this name, are the sycamores. But such men are also called cedars according to another conception, being lifted up on account of falsely named knowledge, and possessing hard and inflexible characters. Therefore the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon. And on this account he says, "I saw the impious man exalted and lifted up exceedingly, like the cedars of Lebanon, whose destruction is swift." For they passed by, and behold, they were not.

These men also say that the buildings of the pious in their doctrines are fallen bricks. But the cedars of God are not such, but men who seek the things above, having their citizenship in heaven along with the fruit-bearing trees, being taken up into the hymn of God, concerning whom he says again: "The trees of the field shall be filled, the cedars of Lebanon which he planted." Since, then, those men had thus grown bold against Israel, what does he say? And God shall break in pieces those who rise up against Mount Zion against him. For those who exalt themselves against the God who is honored here shall be brought low. And he speaks of all the enemies, indicating those in Damascus together with those in Samaria, who also fought alongside Israel, and all those who rise up against Mount Zion (that is, he proclaims destruction for the God who is honored here), of whom some were from the east, others from the setting of the sun, and between these the Greeks, who, devouring Israel, through whom they prepared them to act impiously, promised to help. For with their whole mouth do those who through the wisdom of this world draw men away from piety devour them. Therefore the wrath of God, being the expression of just punishment, was prepared against them; but they did not turn back, according to their unrepentant heart, treasuring up wrath for themselves in the day of wrath; and since this people is healed not through word but through a blow, it is written: And all this people did not turn back until it was struck. We have, then, the reason for which gloomy things are brought upon men. For one must know altogether that they did not turn back from sinning. 14, 21.

And the Lord removed from Israel head and tail, great and small, in one day, the elder, and those who admire faces. This is the beginning, and a prophet teaching lawlessness. This is the tail. And those who bless this people shall be deceivers, etc. Theodotion renders "he removed" as "he will remove"; and the rest also in the future tense: Aquila, "he will destroy"; Symmachus, "he will utterly destroy." For before doing it, God in turning beforehand foretells it; and he says "in one day," meaning under one and the same time, namely of the Roman war. But some say that after it has come to pass, the word has been sent against them, and he says that their whole evil arrangement will be confounded. Having said "head and tail," he hinted at an irrational animal to which he likened the people—that is, the rational and the irrational, or the ruler and each of the ruled, which indeed he made clear by saying "great and small." And "elder," he says, "and those who admire faces," perhaps indicating those who have obtained the lot of the priesthood, to whom the disciples also, as they say, address themselves: "Rulers of the people and elders, if we today are being examined for a benefit done to a weak man"; who also, taking bribes in judgment, admired the faces of the rich; and in place of this, those who

Those who admire faces, Symmachus called "revered." Thus then the revered one and the elder can be the head. For the head of peoples is a priest, when it is understood as of one body. But the tail is the prophet who teaches lawlessness, having no rank at all among the people, but self-appointed and falsely claiming a prophetic spirit for himself, such as was Ananias in the time of Jeremiah, and in the time of Micah; among whom was the false spirit that deceived Ahab to join battle with the Syrians. But others say that he means certain ones who interpret the law of Moses, to which they brought unwritten traditions, the commandments of men, who also persuaded people to disobey Christ, whom he calls the tail, as following the opinions of the priests, whom he also calls prophets, and who teach lawlessness. For there were false prophets in Israel at the very time when the true prophets were. But after the capture of Jerusalem we could not say that any such arose, unless someone means Theudas and Judas, whom Gamaliel mentioned, those who speak contrary to these things and call the people blessed, he says are deceivers, so that they might swallow down the people by their gains. For they urged them to bring gifts to God for profit, not for piety. For this reason, they neither received Christ themselves, and they shut the kingdom out from others. Therefore the Lord will not rejoice over their young men. Young men in the Churches are those who have taken up spiritual strength; to whom John says, that you are strong and have overcome the evil one. And even before the coming there were some who played the man to fulfill the commandment.

But after the shadow in the law, the Lord does not rejoice in the young men who cling to the letter. He calls orphans those who lack spiritual nurture, and widows those in whom the divine Word, sowing, has left off. They will suffer these things as lawless and wicked, for they put to death the one calling them to life. But he foretells these things as good, so that the lawlessness in them may be destroyed, consumed by fire like a plant mad with matter; for this is what "his lawlessness will be burned up like fire" and what follows means. By "lawlessness" he indicates the lawless, showing that they are wholly made of lawlessness. But some say that "it will be burned up like fire" means that they themselves will become fire against themselves. For no other will bring the flame upon them, but they will suffice for one another for this, which is a worse flame. But others again took "grass" in a better sense, interpreting it physically. For as long as the soul is buried in earthly passions, its passions, sprouting from the flesh like some grass, creep through one another, having their generation from one another. For the plant is prolific, and its generation ends nowhere. But the end of the first generation becomes the beginning of the next. Such is the nature of sins. For fornication draws on fornication, and theft stirs toward theft, and falsehood follows falsehood. But if through confession we lay bare sin, we make it dry, worthy to be devoured by fire. And it is burned in the thickets of the forest. In the first book of Kingdoms, the people, being warred upon, entered the forest, and perishes without eating. And Absalom, being warred upon, enters the forest.

He might mean those who are deceitful and darkened in their understanding, and who keep very many evils in it. But some say that flames, when they fall upon easily kindled wood, feed more readily. Through this he sets forth the magnitude of their flame. And "grass," they say, he names the dry and dense herd-like multitude of the thicket, when the peoples rushed together in their assault against one another, as Josephus records. But the terrible thing will touch even those who seem to be something; which he makes clear through "and it shall devour all that is around the hill." For he calls "hills" those who stand out above others in some respect. For the seditious element in the cities naturally attaches itself to such men. But it must be understood more simply, that the wrath of God, having pursued the aforementioned according to these examples, will produce a great confusion among them, so that there is no sparing even of kindred. And a man will turn aside to the right when his brother approaches to obtain some help. For burning with famine they will turn here and there, biting those on the right and those on the left. But they will not spare even their own flesh, but brothers will rise up against one another, one against one, and two against another, as Ephraim and Manasseh biting each other and together Judah, through which he indicates the tribes. For both were under one kingdom, and they inhabited one city, Samaria, being descended from one man, Joseph, and yet they will rise up against one another, and he says that these, no longer having leisure for the war against Judah, will consume one another with swords.

And these things will happen to them by divine wrath, when it has cast upon them what is hostile to them for their benefit, just as it dissolved the agreement for evil between the woman and the serpent. To this the Savior also says that he did not come to cast peace upon the earth, but a sword. And he says that those who are evilly disposed will agree with one another in plotting against their neighbors. For at the same time they will besiege Judah, those who give thanks to God and remain in his worship. For Judah is interpreted as thanksgiving. For evil, being out of harmony with itself, agrees in the battle against virtue. For example, recklessness and cowardice are opposed to each other, but from both sides they besiege courage, which is in the middle. And one must also understand this: that he will hunger and eat from his left hand. For the one who does not labor with his right hand and do things worthy of acceptance will be filled from the forbidden and left-hand things. And throughout he has indicated the beastliness of the faction and their devouring of one another. CHAPTER 10, 1-4. Woe to those who write wickedness. For writing wickedness, they write it. Those who turn aside the judgment of the poor, snatching the money of the poor of my people, so that for them a widow is for plundering and an orphan for prey, etc. And these things are directed against those from Israel who were ruled in Samaria, among whom there were some who, through rivalry against the prophets, wrote false prophecies, and who also made unlawful contracts at the injustice of orphans and widows. But some say that these things were spoken concerning writings of those who misinterpret the law, so that they might gratify those who oppress orphans and widows.

But perhaps everyone who sins writes a handwritten record of debts; and he calls the day of visitation the time of war, in which he brings judgment upon them—he who oversees what is done by them. And he says "from afar," not from the neighboring regions, as formerly with the nations, but from Assyria itself, either because by the philanthropy of God it is driven and they force it to come against themselves. And again the hand is high. For divine wrath remains upon those who persist in their sins. When this has passed, he says, "Where will you leave the glory which you often had in prevailing over your enemies?" And he calls "bringing upon" the punishment brought upon them by God. And this is the end of the threats against the people, which came to fulfillment a little later when the Assyrians came upon them. 5:15. Woe to the Assyrians. The rod of my wrath and anger is in their hands. I will send my anger against a lawless nation. And with my people I will arrange for them to make spoils and plunder, and to trample the cities, and to make them into dust, etc. The prophet says these things after the capture of Samaria. Therefore the Assyrian has taken, he says, Arabia, and Damascus, and Samaria. God, then, having used this one as an instrument, was handing over to him the people that was thought to be his own—to kill the men and strip those lying dead, and to divide the spoils (for this he calls "plunder"), and to raze the cities to the ground. But he, not understanding that this was so, imagines himself greater, as though he had prevailed by his own power, diverting and settling his mind on this, while his subjects admired him as their only ruler. "Do not," he says, "call me Lord yet, until I have prevailed over the others.

For I have not yet subdued the regions above Babylon, nor Chalane, where God divided the tongues at the building of the tower. In the days of Ahaz, then, a part of the people in Samaria was taken by the Assyrians. But in the days of Hezekiah they took captive all the people, since they had in no way been brought to their senses by the first blow. Yet out of love for humanity he foretells again even to those in Jerusalem the things that are to come, charging their impiety as the cause. For these also practiced idolatry in the time of Ahaz and in the years after him. But how do the carved images wail? The senseless ones, in no way; but the demons dwelling in things named after them, enjoying the pleasure that comes from their pollutions. Therefore those who eat things sacrificed to idols are said to be partakers of the table of demons, which he makes clear, and then he says, "The Lord will come into Egypt, and the handiworks of Egypt will be shaken, and their heart will be defeated." For they were shaken and driven into the abyss at the coming of the Savior. Therefore, cursed is anyone who makes a carved or molten image and sets it in a secret place. For he treasures up for himself the evil demon that attends the carved image. 112. And it shall be, when the Lord has finished doing all things on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, he will bring upon the great mind, the ruler of the Assyrians, and upon the height of the glory of his eyes. For he said: By the strength of my hand I will do it, and by the wisdom of my understanding I will remove the boundaries of the nations, and so on. He says further: I still yield to the Assyrians, until they subdue even Jerusalem as they did Israel.

For after these things, he says, he will bring upon the great mind—indicating the one great in wickedness, either the one called so in his own estimation, or by his subjects flattering him. Properly speaking, a great mind is one who is perfect in virtue and knowledge, and thinks nothing small concerning God and His judgments. He says "he will bring upon," because he did not give glory to God for the things entrusted to him, having set his own strength before God, or that of the idols, to which he dedicated even the sacred vessels of God. But by the law of allegory, he calls the "great mind" either the originator of evil, who drew many away with himself, figuratively now called Assyrians; or simply the opposing power, ruling over the Assyrians, as it is said "the ruler of the kingdom of the Persians," or of the Medes, or of the Greeks. By his own understanding, then, and power, he attributed what was done to the Assyrians, thinking himself to be great, not setting before his eyes the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, but lifted up with arrogant eyes against God. He might also call him a "great mind" as cunning prudence for evil, as the serpent was wiser than the beasts upon the earth—which the divine Apostle, explaining to the Corinthians, says: "I fear, lest as the serpent deceived Eve in his cunning." And the Savior also says that the steward of unrighteousness acted wisely, and that the sons of this age are wiser than the sons of light. Since, indeed, they say that mind is concentrated prudence. This mind, then, since it knows that the eyes of the wise are on his head, glorifies his own eyes, as being superior to earthly things, looking upward and not bowing down to the earth.

For such were the wise men among the Greeks, living badly, while by the things they say about heaven and the celestial bodies they bestow a certain glory upon their own eyes. By "eyes," then, he means their thoughts. But the one who sees hearts and reins also brings hidden things to light, saying that he thought this in his confidence in all kinds of power and in strategic skill—namely, to remove the nations from one another by the boundaries he had set, and to make one single boundary of a single kingdom, subjecting to his own scepters those things which God had rightly divided, when the Most High divided the nations. For he thought that no one watched over him, nor that God would concern himself with the things upon the earth. For this is what the desolation of eggs and nestlings indicates. And the eggs, after the nestlings, he brought forward in intensification of the contempt. But you ought to have considered, he says, that you became an instrument of God, just like an axe, a saw, and a rod, which need the one who moves them. For they have no power of themselves for motion; but since you did not reason thus, nor recognize whence you have your strength, the Lord of hosts will replace your honor with dishonor. And by "honor," they say, he means the army subject to him, on account of which he had also been glorified. Which, he says, fire will consume. And according to some, glory differs in some respect from fame.

For the one is the praise that comes from the many. But "glory" is the praise that comes from the good. And "honor" is sometimes that which comes from ordinary people. But "a gift of honor" is a reward of virtue. Then to these things he added that the God who of old enlightened his own people and sanctified them will become fire for you, the proud one. For instead of "and it shall sanctify him upon a burning fire," Symmachus rendered "and his holy one into flames." And instead of "it shall devour the forest like grass," "it shall devour his stored things and his guarded things in one day. And the glory of his forest and of his Carmel; from soul even to fruit it shall be consumed. And it shall be as one cut down fleeing. But the remnant of the trees of his forest shall be numbered, and a child shall write them." By "forest" he means the multitudes with him; by "Carmel," his wealth and luxury; which he says shall be consumed by the punitive power of the fire previously mentioned. When these things happen to him, he will resort to flight and flee with those with him; and those left behind will be so few that even a child could commit their number to writing. And the dominion of the Assyrians was immediately brought down, according to the things foretold. But some say that "he shall sanctify him" means that he will show Israel as consecrated to God; for such is also the phrase, "Sanctify to me every firstborn that opens the womb, the males to the Lord," instead of "dedicate." For to be sanctified is not altogether to partake of sanctification, but also to be consecrated to God. For if he did not regard them as his own people, he would not have kindled the fire against their enemies.

By "hills" and "mountains" and "forests" he likens the multitude of the Assyrians together with their leaders, who will be extinguished, though long being terrible and hot; for the death of them will devour, as it were, both souls and bodies, when even what remains is small. Some think that the present punishment came upon Rabsaces, with whom those who were called by number reported to the king of the Assyrians. Since the operation of fire is twofold, he distributed the illuminating part to Israel, and the burning part to the Assyrians, because of the pride of a great mind, when affairs pass over to the opposite order. And they say that fire sanctifies when it consumes the material like grass. Since, therefore, God is a consuming fire, the passions that come from matter will be consumed, and then the mountains will cease to be burned. But the fire of these rational mountains and hills and forest, beginning from souls, will reach even to the flesh themselves. And, they say, the Scripture calls "mountains" those who have come to be in certain preeminences, as far as their constitution is concerned; and "forests," those who are unfruitful and have no husbandry of the true farmer. Yet the fire touches all things, beginning from the soul of the passions in the mind; if the evil should stop at these, it would consume the material only here. But if these should proceed also to the action of the flesh, it will reach even to the flesh themselves. For example, if adultery should stop at the soul, the fire also stops. For he only looked upon a woman to desire her, but did not corrupt the temple of God, having made the members of Christ members of a prostitute.

But if it should advance against the body, it proceeds into the fire only up to this point, and he is, he says, as one fleeing, as one fleeing from a blazing flame. Perhaps he who flees from the conflagration flees the punishing flame through conversion and repentance. But those who are left shall be a number, not only because they are easily counted, but because they are also worthy to be taken up into a divine number, like those numbered in the Book of Numbers. "For rejoice," says the Savior, "that your names are inscribed in the heavens." And the child who writes this inscription is the one about whom it was said, "A child was born to us, a son," whom the Magi worshiped, who went down into Egypt and again came into the land of Israel, who writes those who turn back to God through repentance. 223. And it shall be in that day, the remnant of Israel shall no longer be added. And those who are saved of Jacob shall no longer be trusting in those who wronged them; but they shall be trusting in the God, the Holy One of Israel, in truth, etc. When, he says,

when the Assyrians are overthrown, those left of the people who were taken captive, whom Cyrus sent away free, will not have trusted in the Assyrians who had wronged them—which Ahaz plainly did, sending the sacred and royal treasures to the king of the Assyrians, saying: I am your servant. Come up and save me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, when he also came up and took Damascus and turned back Rezin. So then, those who are saved will trust not in man but in God alone. He may also mean this: that they are no longer to give heed to the demons to whom they formerly clung, who had wronged their souls. But some say these things were spoken concerning those who through conversion have placed their hope in God. For sinners attach themselves to those who wrong them; but he alone has truly trusted in God who trusts in none of the things that appear, who does not divide his hopes, but assigns the whole to God. And the remnant, about which he adds that it will be saved, speaking indefinitely about it, is different from what was said, the remnant of Israel will no longer be added. For this refers to those who returned from the captivity; but the former is of this sort: and the sand of the sea is infinite in number, but useless for farming. When, then, Israel, having been multiplied, becomes useless in bearing fruit according to God, their multitude will perish, but the remnant will be saved. For after the return from Babylon up to the Roman times, they advanced into a useless multitude, from which those who believed in Christ were saved.

But this, he says, will happen when he makes a word that has been cut short upon the earth—such as the word of the Gospel, which does not contain the commandments found in Moses. Paul set these words before the Romans, with a slight variation; for he did not follow the translators as we do, but being a Hebrew, he translated the saying according to what seemed right to him. And the others too rather agreed with the apostolic rendering. He says: Do not wonder if those written by the child are few. For many are inscribed with Christ by name, but few by works. The manner of salvation is to encompass the grace of the law and the ordinance of the prophets within the brevity of the Gospel. For you shall love the Lord your God, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Therefore the one who fulfills the word and brings it to action, cutting it short and summing up its breadth in the briefest commandments—this is the remnant that is saved. All things, he says, whatever you wish that men should do to you, do also to them. For this is the law and the prophets. You see that in the natural understanding the whole word is both fulfilled and cut short. And what we said earlier concerning "Mighty God," that among the Hebrews El means God, this is confirmed now as well; for "mighty God" has the Hebrew El. 232. Therefore thus says the Lord Sabaoth: Do not fear, my people, you who dwell in Zion, from the Assyrians, because he will strike you with a rod; for I will bring a plague upon you, to see the way of Egypt.

For yet a little while, and the wrath will cease, etc. Having completed his account of Jerusalem—that it will suffer the same things as Israel—and having told what dreadful things await the Assyrian, and having spoken concerning those who will be devout in later times, which things indeed came to pass in much later ages, he now speaks concerning the time of Isaiah, when the Assyrian marched against Jerusalem in the reign of Hezekiah. For since those at that time were in anguish because of the impending invasion, lest they should unwittingly suffer the same things as those in Samaria had suffered, he exhorts them not to fear the Assyrians. For he will come, he says, and you will experience the blow only briefly, as it were struck with a rod; yet he will depart without effect, struck by a more divine blow. The cause of these things is Hezekiah, being devout—but not having become such as his father Ahaz was—and having turned his subjects to devotion. Therefore he says: Fear not, my people. For you will not be struck by war. And the rod against you becomes short-lived. Yet you will be struck, having delivered yourself up to the way of Egypt in zeal for idolatry in the reign of King Ahaz. But when they are devout, the Assyrian will flee swiftly, changing from place to place shamefully, through both your land and your cities. And he depicts the flight before the eyes, showing future things as present by God's power. But the phrase, For he brings a blow upon you, to see the way of Egypt, Symmachus interpreted thus: He will strike with a rod, and will lift up his staff against you, because of the way of Egypt. But others say that Hoshea the son of Elah, king of Israel, having been enslaved to Shalmaneser the king of the Assyrians, transgressed and called upon Sigor king of Egypt for alliance.

But the Assyrian, becoming indignant, made him a prisoner, as it says in the fourth book of Kingdoms. For God, they say, became indignant because, not having trusted in him, he hoped in the Egyptian. Just as also when Ahaz called upon the Assyrian against Damascus. But these things are nothing to those in Jerusalem, to whom the present discourse is directed, if Israel called upon the Egyptian. But against the Assyrian, he says, the Lord will rouse a scourge according to the plague of Midian. And in place of "in the place of affliction," Symmachus rendered "Shur Horeb," so that we cannot understand the plague against the Midianites in the time of Gideon, but rather that in the time of Moses. For the desert was called Shur. And the mountain was called Horeb, as we have learned from Numbers, when they also killed every male and the kings of Midian. But the Assyrians, struck by my scourge, will turn back on the road by the sea. For the Assyrian was leading away fleeing by the road toward Egypt, when the Ethiopians rose up against him, according to the history that says: "And Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of the Assyrians warring against Libnah, for he heard that he had departed for Lachish. And Tirhakah king of the Ethiopians heard, saying, Behold, I have come out to fight with you." But some say that the king of the Assyrians, becoming indignant against the king of Egypt, because he had promised to ally with Hoshea king of Israel, marched against the Egyptians, saying things in agreement with what has gone before. But we have said that these things are nothing to Jerusalem. And now the discourse foretells that there will be a flight of the Assyrians, but not such great prosperity as to march even against others.

But he, it says, will suffer these things. You, however, will obtain consolation, no longer being subject to the yoke of the Assyrians. For it says in the Books of Kingdoms that the Assyrian imposed a tribute of three hundred talents of gold on Hezekiah. And having stirred up both the sacred and the royal treasuries, he gave them to him. Reasonably, then, he called this a yoke. Therefore those able to do this are commanded to encourage the people. But to encourage them for what? For remaining, and not to practice flight out of fear. But some say: Encourage them to remain in this way of piety; and as one prophesying about things that will soon come to pass, he reasonably added "today," by way of distinction from the things that will happen later in time concerning both the Assyrian and the remnant of Jacob; which things were indeed spoken before those now set before us. Therefore he says: Encourage today, that is, not to flee the present and today's impending assault of the Assyrians in the time of Hezekiah. And he calls "hills" those who are set high in soul and in understanding—prophets and priests. Since also elsewhere he says: "Encourage my people, says God, you priests; speak to the heart of Jerusalem, encourage her." And "according to their counsel," he says, meaning that of the Assyrians—that is, they will swiftly suffer the things they counseled against you. 34. Behold, the Master, the Lord of Hosts, throws into confusion the glorious ones with might; and the lofty ones will be crushed in their insolence, and they will be brought low, and the lofty ones will fall by the sword; and Lebanon with its lofty ones will fall. Having spoken sufficiently about the arrogance of the Assyrians and their overthrow, he now goes through the matter of the many-ruled condition of the nations.

For they were ethnarchs, insulting the Creator with idolatry and lifting themselves up to a house of pride. And so he foretells their destruction. But some say that, intending to speak about the coming of the Savior, he promises to destroy those who formerly prided themselves on the shadow of the law.

For they truly became strong in insolence, not only having killed the prophets and saying shamelessly to the disciples who gave the best counsel, "Speak other things to us, and announce to us another deception," but also sharpening their tongue against Christ himself, upon whom God would bring the sharpest wrath, cutting them off from the priesthood, which he called a sword. One might also speak of the sword of the enemies that came upon them. But Lebanon also, it says, will fall with its high places, thus signifying the temple together with the exalted priests. And some call Jerusalem Lebanon. To which Zechariah says: "Open, O Lebanon, your doors, and let fire devour your cedars. Let the pine wail, because the cedar has fallen. Wail, you oaks of Bashan, because your dense forest has been torn down." According to the earlier interpretation, presenting the destruction of the kings of each nation and of the people themselves who lived according to the law, he joins the time at which these things will be, speaking of the coming of Christ to mankind.

For it was necessary that, having already taught the things concerning his birth from the Virgin, and the manner of the birth, and the namesake titles of the powers conceived in him, he should speak in order also of what sort of race he would be, of what tribe, and what sort of things his descent to men was going to accomplish, among which is also the cleansing of the rulers in each place, both perceptible and invisible, who wrought the error of idolatry for them. But he has often called them "the high ones," whose company he likens to Lebanon and the cedars in it, because of their height, in agreement with "I saw the impious one exalted above the cedars of Lebanon." And again, "The voice of the Lord crushing cedars; the Lord will crush the cedars of Lebanon, and will make them thin as the calf Lebanon," and signifying Jerusalem together with the priests and the teachers of the law in it, he says: "And Lebanon with its high ones shall fall." CHAPTER 11. And there shall come forth a rod from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up from the root. The Spirit of God shall rest upon him, a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and strength, etc. How this shall be, he sets forth, saying that a rod shall come forth from the root of Jesse, which shall crush all the high ones. But instead of "from the root," the rest translated in agreement as "from the stem." For the tribe and ancestral line from which Christ came was like a stem no longer having branches, since the kings succeeding from David had failed after the capture by the Assyrians. But the rod Aquila rendered as "little rod," indicating the modest and lowly character of Christ according to the flesh.

And it had been said to David: "From the fruit of your loins I will set upon your throne." With these things the prophets also speak in agreement, so that, being testified to from every side, it may be believed to have happened; looking to these things Paul also says, "Which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures concerning his Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh." The rod signifies either the royal dignity of the one prophesied (for the rod is a token of kingship), or his almighty power, through which he sustains the whole. Or that through which he sustains the weakness of men; according to, "Your rod and your staff, these have comforted me." For the Lord supports the righteous, according to what is written. And by the voice of the prophets he has been named a glorious rod, a rod of greatness. And a rod in another way also, since he is the good shepherd; to whom one of the prophets says: "Shepherd your people with a rod, the tribe of your inheritance, the sheep of your inheritance." And as a judge he might be called a rod, rendering to each according to his works; to whom it has been said concerning the disobedient of Israel, "You shall shepherd them with a rod of iron." To this as a type was taken also the rod of Aaron, which budded nuts; and they say this is a symbol of the Savior's brief sleep in death. For the tree is productive of wakefulness, through which rod, truly divine and intelligible, Moses, working wonders, led Israel out to freedom.

Therefore he also called this the rod of God. For it became for him a rod of power, according to what is written. But it is also called a flower. For in him our nature blossomed forth toward incorruption and into newness of life. And it is a flower also because of the intelligible fragrance. "For I," he says, "am the flower of the field, the lily of the valleys." And the divine Apostle also says, "But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and makes manifest through us the fragrance of his knowledge in every place, [because] we are the aroma of Christ to God." But the flower also signifies his visitation, gracious to all, because in a short time bestowing the grace of the incarnation, he makes his visitation swift and, as it were, passing. And he says that the Spirit of God, having many energies, will rest upon him; not that he was a mere man bearing the Spirit, but that God, having become man, appropriates the things proper to humanity. For man does not have the gifts of the Spirit from himself, but this very thing is a gift and a donation of God. "For what do you have," he says, "that you did not receive?" These things, then, he did not receive for himself, being God, but for us who are in need of every good thing. For he himself is the provider of the Spirit, and does not give by measure, but as from his own fullness. Therefore the receiving, in his case, is reckoned by the measure of the kenosis; but he will rest upon him, he says, whereas he did not rest upon Adam, who turned aside to sin, just as those after him also did. For all turned aside, together they became useless, but the Only-Begotten, although he became like us, was invulnerable to sins.

The Holy Spirit therefore rested upon the nature of man, so that, as in him first, and as in the second firstfruits of the race, so also he might rest in us who believe. For we inherit the gifts of Christ, as also the evils of the first-formed man. But that he did not have a partial participation in the Spirit, but was the fullness of the Godhead, dwelling as in his own temple in flesh animated by a rational soul, he makes clear when he says: And the Spirit of the fear of God shall fill him, and the things that follow. Nor is the Spirit one different gift after another, but to one and the same Spirit different operations come, according to Paul who says: "All these things works the one and the same Spirit, dividing to each one individually," as he wills, just as also the Word of God works in many ways. For he is life, and light, and power. And having said that Emmanuel will be born at the appointed times, he adds usefully the things by which he will be known, from the God-befitting virtue in him and from the splendor of his works, saying: He shall not judge according to appearance, nor reprove according to speech; which things Symmachus clearly rendered, saying: He shall not judge by the sight of his eyes, nor reprove by the hearing of his ears; in uprightness the poor of the earth. And the Gospels bear witness to these things. For with great boldness he reproved, now the priests, saying: The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation producing its fruits. And now the scribes and Pharisees, having often said woe to them. But neither did he reprove according to speech, but seeing into hearts he said:

Why do you test me, hypocrites?" he says to the Herodians (these were agents of the tax collectors), who ask whether it is lawful to give the census-tax to Caesar: "Show me," he says, "the coin of the census-tax," and the rest. And yet they were using fine words, saying, "Teacher, we know that you teach the way of God in truth"; and nevertheless he exposed them as evildoers. And he judged judgment for the lowly—"you were reproving the lowly of the earth," or according to Symmachus, "the poor in uprightness"—concerning whom he said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit," such as his disciples happened to be, whom he reproved, sometimes saying: "Are you also still without understanding?" And again, "Do you not yet understand, neither comprehend?" and sometimes to Peter, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" And by saying very many such things he reproved them. To which he adds: And he shall strike the earth with the word of his mouth. Similar to, "I did not come to cast peace upon the earth, but a sword." And the sword is the word of his mouth, by which he was destroying the earthly-minded thoughts of those who had believed in him. But some say that the divine power of the Savior through

From these things it is established. For he calls "earth" chiefly that which he curses. But what is said would be true also in the case of every [land]. For he cursed the whole nature of man, saying: "Earth you are, and to earth you shall return." And he drowned the world of the ungodly with water; and further, also [he spoke] to Judea because of its drunken insolence against him, saying: "Behold, your house is left to you desolate." And having been abandoned by him, it has been consumed by war and fire. But that it is his divine nature [that is present] to this end, the [passage] "In the spirit he shall slay the ungodly with the lips" establishes. For he was rebuking the unclean spirits. And as far as concerned the human [side], the voice was sounded forth through mouth and lips. But by the ineffable power of the Spirit the race of demons was crushed, so that they cried out and said: "What have we to do with you, Son of God? Have you come before the time to torment us? We know who you are, the Holy One of God." But also, he says, "righteousness shall be his belt about his waist, and truth taken up about his sides." And according to Symmachus: "And righteousness shall be the girding of his waist, and faith the girding of his loins." For to him the whole of what is in the world is no dignity at all. And instead of a royal belt, golden and set with gems, he says that righteousness and truth are girded about him. And these things also make clear the divinity of the Word, who became for us wisdom from God, both righteousness and sanctification and redemption, according to the divine Apostle. And the Savior also says: "I am the light," the truth and the life.

These things, in a manner, girded the one from the root of Jesse with a belt, the word signifying the equipment against the unseen and invisible enemies by royal and military array. It is likely that the evangelical proclamation is also signified through this, according to the saying, "Your righteousness is righteousness forever, and your law is truth." For the law was also a teacher of righteousness, but it did not remain forever, since the more perfect was introduced in its place. It was also a type of truth; but Christ said, "I am the truth." Having, as it were, depicted the prophesied one through so many things, he next describes his achievements, indicating that those of rapacious and beastly habits, having set aside such a manner, will be mingled with those of the opposite kind. And together the newborn in the Church, like a bull and a calf, will graze, partaking of the same food from the divine Words. And seeing royal men and those in authority associating in the Church with the poor and the common, you would say that the present passage is fulfilled. And you would not err in saying that by the beasts the Gentiles are signified, characterized by different forms of irrationality in different cases. And by the tame and clean animals the Israelites, who became tamer through the teaching of the law, the word signifying that one flock will be formed from both, wild and tame, sacred and profane, under the chief shepherd of all, who knows how to pasture, as the prophet says, in a good pasture and in a rich place. And he calls a calf the new people of those who have believed, the one infant in Christ. And a bull perhaps Israel, as advanced in age.