Isaiah 41

Scripture correctly says: Be renewed, O islands. For we are surrounded by the waves of sin, like islands in the sea of this world. Therefore, these islands were renewed by the coming of the Lord through the forgiveness of sins, that is, men were immersed in the water as if placed in the midst of the sea like islands, they were struck by the waves like islands, resounding with the waves of sins as if they were islands, in which, before, there were frequent shipwrecks for the simple reason that there was deceit in their hearts and flattery on their lips.

Let the islands be silent before me, and let the nations change their strength; let them approach, and then let them speak; let us draw near together to judgment. Who raised up the Righteous One from the East, called him to follow him? He will give the nations before him, and he will hold kings. He will give them as dust to his sword, as stubble swept off by the wind to his bow. He will pursue them; he will pass on in peace; the path will not appear in his feet. Who has wrought and done these things, calling the generations from the beginning? I the Lord, I am the first and the last. The islands saw and were afraid; the ends of the earth were astounded; they drew near and came. Each will help his neighbor, and will say to his brother Be strong. The coppersmith strengthened the one who was forging at that time, striking with the hammer, saying, It is good for gluing; and he strengthened it with nails, so that it should not be moved. LXX: Be renewed toward me, you islands, for the princes will change their strength; let them draw near and speak together; then let them declare judgment. Who raised up righteousness from the East, called it to his feet, and it will go? He will give before the nations, and will cast kings into amazement, and will give their swords into the earth, and their bows like stubble cast away; and he will pursue them; the way of his feet will pass over in peace. Who has wrought and done these things? He will call it, he who calls it from the beginning of the generations. I God am first, and for the things that are to come I am. The nations saw and were afraid; the ends of the earth were astounded and drew near; they came together, each judging to help his neighbor and his brother; and he will say: The craftsman and coppersmith has prevailed, striking with the hammer, at the same time drawing out; at one time indeed he says, The soldering is good. They strengthened them; they will fix them with nails; and they will not be moved. The nations, that is, the islands, which are beaten by the false and bitter waves of this world, are bidden to listen and to close their mouths, and to know what was said to Israel: Hear, Israel, and be silent; and to change their strength, lest through their former weakness they be unable to hear the word of God, so that they may first approach the Lord, and not be content with their own salvation, but teach others what they have learned, and dispute with the Lord whether the God of all has kept what is just.

He calls the churches "islands," because they receive the assault of the waves of persecutors and because they are founded on the rock. He gives the title of "princes" to the heralds of truth, who have become changed from their [previous state] after their call: "Follow me," says [the Scripture] and I will make you fishers of men." They have consequently taken on new strength: it was no longer fish drawn from a single lake, but humans drawn from the entire world that they made their catch.

804. Let the islands keep silence before me. Here he begins to strengthen them toward firm expectation from the love of God who promises. And this is divided into three parts:

in the first, he shows divine love from the benefits which he gave to their fathers;

in the second, from the Son, whom he promised to them: behold my servant (ch. 42);

in the third, through the consolations which he foretells among various difficulties: and now thus says the Lord (ch. 43).

Now, by the benefits first given to them, he intends the strengthening of the Jews and the confutation of idols, which did not give such things to their worshippers; and therefore the first part is divided into two:

in the first, he disputes against the worshippers of idols;

in the second, against the idols themselves, where it says, bring your cause near (Isa 41:21).

The first of these is divided into two:

first, by the benefits given to the Jews, he convicts their adversaries;

second, by the same benefits, he strengthens the Jews: but you Israel, are my servant (Isa 41:8).

805. Concerning the first, he does three things.

First, he calls the nations to judgment, following the order of judgment, that being silent they might hear, and thus they might respond; let the nations take new strength, that is, let them strengthen themselves as though renewed in strength to dispute with me: let the mountains hear the judgment of the Lord (Mic 6:2).

The wonder of God is not only found rightly in the magnificent work he did in the creation. For he has done nothing less than save the inhabitants of the earth, delivering the human race from death and destruction and the devil's snare. For he has condemned the sin that had become master through our sins, so that he has justified through faith those who are able to be with him. He became for us righteousness and redemption and sanctification before God the Father.

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

And he so questions them and challenges them to answer, as to teach by questioning what they do not know: Who raised up the righteous one from the East, or righteousness? For he is not the God of the Jews only, but also of the nations, who called Christ the Lord, the Savior, who was made for us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption (1 Cor 1); in whom, according to the same Apostle, the righteousness of God is revealed (ibid.). And he called him to follow him in all things and to do the works of the Father, and to fulfill that which he says: O God, I have willed to do your will (Ps 39 [40]:9). In his sight kings and nations will bow their necks, and to his sword and arrows the adverse powers will be made subject like stubble and dust.

Some of the Hebrews think it is said of Abraham, who was called righteous from the East, that is, from the Chaldeans, because he alone was found righteous; and he followed him, going out of his native land into a land he did not know; and God delivered into his hand the kings who had come against Sodom and Gomorrah, and before his sword and bow made them like stubble and dust; and he pursued them and returned in peace, and did not feel the course of the long journey; and this he did not by his own strength but by the mercy of the Lord, who from the beginning knew that these things would come.

What we have interpreted of the person of Christ, and the calling of the nations, and the preaching of the Gospel, and the condemnation of idols, some refer to Cyrus king of the Persians: that God raised him up from the East against the Babylonians and made him obey his command, laying many nations low before him and subjecting all things to his sword and bow; and they refer what follows to his person, namely that their idols, made by human effort and called into being by the coppersmith's art, did not profit the Babylonians.

The prophet declares that "righteousness" is a living thing and alive, and we used to think that it had been said by the Apostle alone that Christ is "righteousness and sanctification and redemption and wisdom". But perhaps the Apostle too, instructed by the prophets, knew "righteousness" to be a living being and alive. What is this "righteousness"? "The only-begotten God". But that it did not originate with the Apostle that Christ is "righteousness", and a living and subsisting "righteousness", but rather that, finding it in the prophetic words, he set forth this mystery for us, is certain from the chapter at which our reading has now come to rest. For it says: "Who made righteousness rise up from the east, and called it to his feet?". He "called" "righteousness"; it is plain that it is a living being, if it walks when "called". And the Father "called" Christ, because for our salvation he had made his way to us and had "come down from heaven" to us: "for no one has ascended into heaven except him who came down from heaven, the Son of man". He "called" him "from the east", not from this sensible east, but "from the east" of the true light. Wherefore it is written: "Who made righteousness rise up from the east, and called it to his feet?". The Father "called" the Son — or rather, to speak truly, God called man — he "called righteousness to his feet", that is, the incarnation of his Son. Therefore also "we adore the footstool of his feet", according to what is written: "Adore the footstool of his feet, for it is holy", since indeed the flesh of the Lord takes on the honor of the Godhead. But because the beginning of the reading requires a loftier exposition, let us pray to the highest King, that the word, which had gone away "called", may return to us again, and let us set forth a few things according to our ability.

Of this righteousness, the blessed Paul has said in his turn: "It is from God that we have been given wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption." When this righteousness arose and pervaded the world, kings were dismayed, tyrants were conquered, all kinds of torments were suppressed; the persecuted overcame their persecutors, and, as if rejoicing in great peace, they ran the course that was set before them. However, the words "it will not come" are not to be found in the Septuagint.… They show clearly that righteousness will not come for all but [only] for believers; for the ungodly did not even desire to pay attention to divine messages.

Second, he tells of the benefits given to them: who has raised up the just one, where he tells of the multitude of benefits as to divine election; the just one, Abraham, from the east, namely, Chaldea (Gen 12); my foot has followed his steps (Job 23:11); as the girdle sticks close to the loins of a man, so have I brought close to me all the house of Israel (Jer 13:11); I saw their fathers like the first fruits of the fig tree in the top thereof (Hos 9:10); and as to power granted them: he shall give the nations in his sight, namely, when he liberated Lot, fighting against the four kings (Gen 14); not so the wicked, not so: but like the dust, which the wind drives from the face of the earth (Ps 1:4).

He will pursue them, namely the kings and princes of the several nations; and he will pass through in peace, calling all to peace, so that they may be reconciled to God. The path will not appear in his feet, that is, he will not feel the labor of the way, nor any weariness of human weakness, but will drink of the brook in the way, and therefore will lift up his head (Ps 109 [110]).

As to ease of pursuing, he shall pass in peace, namely, without labor, no path shall appear in his feet, as one who walks lightly, so that he leaves no footprints behind; or because labor, the sign of the way, was not left behind in his feet, above: they shall run and not labor (Isa 40:31).

813. Christ passed in the peace, of the flesh toward the spirit, which he had: you shall know that your tabernacle is in peace (Job 5:24); of man toward his neighbor, which he taught, below: how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that brings good tidings, and that preaches peace (Isa 52:7); of the world toward the Lord, which he made: making peace, and reconciling both to God (Eph 2:15).

[Where] do you get those fortresses of yours, "ingenerate" and "unoriginate," from—or where the term "immortal"? Show us the express words, or we cross them out as unscriptural, and you will be dead as a result of your own principles, since the words, the wall of defense you trusted in, will have been destroyed. Is it not plain that these terms derived from passages that imply, without actually mentioning them? Which passages? What about "I am the first, and I am hereafter," and "Before me there is no other God and after me there shall be none," "for everything that exists" [God is saying] "is mine, without beginning or ending"? You have taken the truths that there is nothing before God and that he has no prior case, and you have given him the titles "unoriginate" and "ingenerate." The fact that there is no halt to his ongoing existence means he is "immortal" and "indestructible."

The great Isaiah thus speaks of the Divine nature with reference to these doctrines, in his exalted utterance,—who speaks in the person of the Deity, "I am the first, and hereafter am I, and no God was before Me, and no God shall be after Me." … Since, then, neither is that God which was before God, nor is that God which is after God, (for that which is after God is the creation, and that which is anterior to God is nothing, and Nothing is not God;—or one should rather say, that which is anterior to God is God in His eternal blessedness, defined in contradistinction to Nothing;)—since, I say, this inspired utterance was spoken by the mouth of the prophet, we learn by his means the doctrine that the Divine Nature is one, continuous with Itself and indiscerptible, not admitting in Itself priority and posteriority, though it be declared in Trinity. Since, then, the saying is the saying of God, whether you grant that the words are the words of the Father or of the Son, the orthodox doctrine is equally upheld by either. For if it is the Father that speaks thus, He bears witness to the Son that He is not "after" Himself: for if the Son is God, and whatever is "after" the Father is not God, it is clear that the saying bears witness to the truth that the Son is in the Father, and not after the Father. If, on the other hand, one were to grant that this utterance is of the Son, the phrase, "None hath been before Me," will be a clear intimation that He Whom we contemplate "in the Beginning" is apprehended together with the eternity of the Beginning.

Who, he says, has wrought and done these things? Who raised up the righteous one, or righteousness? Who delivered nations and kings to him? Who subjected all things to his sword and bow? Surely he who from the beginning of the world foretold that these things would come, who is the Founder of all. And because he had said, with the feeling of one inquiring, Who raised up the righteous one from the East, and so on, while all were silent he answered himself: I am the Lord, I am the first and the last. It is he who speaks also in the Apocalypse of John: I am the alpha and the ω, the beginning and the end (Rev 1:8; and 22:13).

I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: [Isaiah 41:4] I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter; The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

From the beginning, [Isaiah] says, God has made announcements concerning righteousness. He made the covenant with Abraham in these terms: "All the nations of the earth shall be blessed in your seed," and he [renewed] the covenant with Isaac, Jacob, Moses and David. This is what he has likewise announced through other prophets. "I, God, I AM the first, and I AM the future." The One who gave the Old Testament, he says, is not different from the One who established the New. The divine nature is one, always the same and unchanging.

He seeks the author: who has wrought and done these things, and who was calling the generations from the beginning, in eternal foreknowledge, below: the Lord has called me from the womb (Isa 49:1); and he sets out the response: I the Lord: I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end (Rev 1:8). This is explained otherwise literally of Cyrus, and mystically of Christ.

The islands saw, that is, the nations, or the Churches gathered from the nations, which endure the storms of this world; and they feared the Lord: For the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov 9:10). All the ends of the lands trembled at the words of the Apostles, drawing near and coming together to the Gospel of Christ.

Saw, he says, the islands, that is, the nations round about, and were terrified by his power: and the ends of the earth: namely Shem the son of Noah, who at the furthest time of the lands had escaped from the Flood with his father and his brothers, and had been preserved until that time (Gen 14). Him they want to be understood as Melchizedek, and that he came to meet Abraham as he returned from the battle, and received him, and blessed him, and strengthened him with the blessings of God; and that he is the coppersmith who forged Abraham and with the hammer of his art brought him out into better things, and said to him: It is good that you be glued to the fear of the Lord and joined to him. And he strengthened him, or made him solid, with the nails of the Lord's precepts, so that he should not be moved but should abide in his fear,

Third, he sets out the response as though from the gentiles, in which they believed that they were defended by idols; and first, he touches on their stupor at wonders recounted or seen: the islands saw it: the waters saw you, O God, the waters saw you: and they were afraid (Ps 76:17[77:16]); they drew near, to resist.

The meaning of this is as follows: They have approached and come together, no longer staying apart, not alienated from each other through sin but as if brought close through spiritually taking possession, are joined into one faith and a common spirit. For once they tasted of the Lord and understood that he is good and began to wonder at the beauty of his truth, they did not only keep the gift for themselves but each one generously came to the aid of his brother and his friend.

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

And when they saw that they themselves were saved, they fulfilled in deed what they had heard above: let them approach, and then let them speak, so that they helped their neighbors and wished to strengthen their brothers in the Lord, and said to them: Depart from idols, despise the ancient images of demons, which a human hand fashioned, which were produced by the beating hammer, which were joined with glue, which were made fast with nails so that they should not be moved, and which, when they stand, cannot walk.

Those who formerly have been in error, as soon as they have benefited from the light of the knowledge of God, cannot bear to hide his glory but call all people to participate in it. "And one will say," that is to say, one who is removed from the darkness of ignorance.

Second, he sets out mutual strengthening: every one shall help his neighbor: they stick one to another (Job 41:8).

By mocking those who make the idols, [Isaiah] says, "The craftsman encourages the goldsmith, who strikes with the hammer." That is, even though they know that their hands have made them and that "they fasten them with nails," they are not ashamed to adore them.

Look, [Isaiah] says, what the newcomers to the truth say to those who are still held prisoner to the error of idols, to show them their impotence: idols can neither walk nor hold themselves up without being fastened with nails. As for the phrase "it is a piece well joined," the three interpreters have rendered it, "it is a joint well made"; that is to say, the joints are well fitted. It has been put together by craftsmanship.

Third, he sets out the making of idols: the coppersmith striking the iron with the hammer encouraged him that forged, that formed the figure of the idol, saying: it is ready for soldering, to solidify the idol: setting it in a wall, and fastening it with iron (Wis 13:15–16).

Abraham, styled "the friend," [Isaiah 41:8] was found faithful, inasmuch as he rendered obedience to the words of God. He, in the exercise of obedience, went out from his own country, and from his kindred, and from his father's house, in order that, by forsaking a small territory, and a weak family, and an insignificant house, he might inherit the promises of God. For God said to him, "Get you out from your country, and from your kindred, and from your father's house, into the land which I shall show you. And I will make you a great nation, and will bless you, and make your name great, and you shall be blessed. And I will bless them that bless you, and curse them that curse you; and in you shall all the families of the earth be blessed." [Genesis 12:1-3] And again, on his departing from Lot, God said to him, "Lift up your eyes, and look from the place where you now are, northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see, to you will I give it, and to your seed forever. And I will make your seed as the dust of the earth, [so that] if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall your seed also be numbered." [Genesis 13:14-16] And again [the Scripture] says, "God brought forth Abram, and spoke unto him, Look up now to heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them; so shall your seed be. And Abram believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness." [Genesis 15:5-6] On account of his faith and hospitality, a son was given him in his old age; and in the exercise of obedience, he offered him as a sacrifice to God on one of the mountains which He showed him. [Genesis 22:9]

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

And you, Israel my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, seed of Abraham my friend. In whom I took hold of you from the ends of the earth, and called you from its far places, and said to you: You are my servant; I have chosen you and have not cast you off. Do not fear, for I am with you; do not turn aside, for I am your God; I have strengthened you and have helped you and the right hand of my righteous one has upheld you. Behold, all who fight against you will be confounded and will blush; they will be as though they were not; and the men who contradict you will perish. You will seek them and will not find them; the men who rebel against you will be as though they were not; and the men who war against you, as a thing consumed. For I the Lord your God have taken hold of your hand, saying to you: Do not fear, I have helped you. Do not fear, worm Jacob, you who are dead out of Israel. I have helped you, says the Lord, and your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. I have made you like a new threshing wagon, having sawing teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and you will make the hills like dust. You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them off, and the whirlwind will scatter them; and you will exult in the Lord, you will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. LXX: But you, Israel my child, Jacob whom I have chosen, seed of Abraham whom I loved, whom I took up from the ends of the earth, and from its heights I called you, and said to you: You are my child; I have chosen you and have not forsaken you. Do not fear, for I am with you, lest you go astray; for I am your God, who have strengthened you, and I have helped you, and have made you firm with my righteous right hand. Behold, all your adversaries will be confounded and will blush; for they will be as though they were not; and all your enemies will perish. You will seek them and will not find them, the men who will rage against you. For they will be as though they were not, and those who fight against you will not be. For I am the Lord your God, who hold your right hand, who say to you: Do not fear, Jacob, little Israel. I have helped you, says God, I who redeem you, the Holy One of Israel. Behold, I have made you like the new wheels of a threshing wagon, in the manner of saws; and you will thresh the mountains and crush the hills, and you will make them like dust and winnow them, and the wind will carry them off, and the tempest will scatter them. But you will rejoice in the Lord and in the holy ones of Israel. That there is a fleshly Jacob and Israel and a spiritual one, the Apostle Paul teaches: Behold Israel according to the flesh (1 Cor 10). From this we understand that there is also another according to the spirit; and to the fleshly Israel it is said: If you were sons of Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham. To them also it is said above (cf. Isa 40:27): Why do you say, Jacob, and speak, Israel: My way is hidden from the Lord, and my judgment has passed away from my God? Now, on the contrary, God speaks to the spiritual Israel, which received the coming of its Lord, which he calls first servant, then chosen, and finally the seed of Abraham. For first we received the spirit of bondage in fear (Rom 8); and afterward, being chosen, we are joined in friendship with God. So after the calling of the nations, when the islands saw and feared, the ends of the earth were astounded, drew near and came, the remnant according to the election of grace is called, of whom the Gospel also writes: These twelve Jesus chose, whom he also named Apostles (Luke 6); who, after the bondage of the Law as tutor, were chosen in the Gospel, and were found worthy to be the seed of Abraham the friend of God.

To Israel [Isaiah] awards praise at one time, then later addresses accusations. Far from acting in a contradictory manner, he does things in consonance. For those who believe are descendants of Israel, as are also those who crucified Jesus. It is, therefore, natural that [Isaiah] should praise one and accuse the other. Here, in any case, he has recalled his promises and his benefits of former times: he led their patriarch [Abraham] out of the land of the Chaldeans. He delivered their whole race from the domination of the Egyptians; and he deemed them worthy of all kinds of attention.

806. But you Israel. In this part, he strengthens the Jews by the same benefits.

And first is set out the repetition of past benefits in the election of their fathers Jacob and Abraham, in whom they were distinguished from others universally: Jacob whom I have chosen: O you seed of Abraham his servant; you sons of Jacob his chosen (Ps 104[105]:6); that the purpose of God according to election might stand: not of works, but of him that calls, it was said to her: the elder shall serve the younger. As it is written: Jacob I have loved: but Esau I have hated (Rom 9:11–13).

For in him he took hold of them from the end of the earth, and from its far-off borders he called Israel out of all the nations, gathering first the people of the Jews, of whom the Apostle Paul also says: It was necessary that the word be preached first to you; but since you turn us away, we go to the nations (Acts 13:46).

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

For to none other than to God does it belong to implant courage in the fearful, saying to the faint-hearted, "Fear not, for I am with thee, be not dismayed," as says the Psalmist, "Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me." Nay, the Lord Himself says to the fearful,—"Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid," and, "Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?" and, "Be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid," and again, "Be of good cheer: I have overcome the world."

To you, therefore, who are both my servant and my chosen one, who are to preach among the nations and to suffer very many persecutions, I say: Do not fear, for I am with you, to whom I speak in the Gospel: Behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the age (Matt 28:20). Do not go astray, nor turn aside from the truth, nor deceive yourself with a false persuasion that by your own strength, unskilled and naked, you will penetrate the forest of the nations and call the fiercest peoples to gentleness. It is I who have strengthened you and have helped you; and the right hand of my righteous one has upheld you, or protected you, that is, of the Lord the Savior; or my right hand, as the Seventy translated.

Second, the promise of future benefits is set out; and first, as to freedom from evils, he excludes fear, because of the presence of God: fear not, for I am with you: be not afraid at their presence: for I am with you (Jer 1:8); because of the justice of their fathers: I upheld you, as the promised seed, of my just one, Abraham; or: I upheld you, to defend you, my just one, Cyrus: in their hands they shall bear you up: lest you dash your foot against a stone (Ps 90[91]:12).

815. Christ upheld us, as a conqueror upholds a captive to liberate him: to the prey, my son (Gen 49:9); bring my soul out of prison (Ps 141:8[142:7]); as a physician upholds a sick man to heal him: who forgives all your iniquities: who heals all your diseases (Ps 102[103]:3); as an advocate upholds a defendant to plead to excuse him: we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ (1 John 2:1); as a strong man upholds a weak man to defend him, below: I, that speak justice, and am a defender to save (Isa 63:1); the Lord will fight for you (Exod 14:14); as a husband upholds his wife to rejoice with her: I will espouse you to me (Hos 2:19).

For behold, your adversaries, the people of the Jews, and all who fight against you, and your persecutors, will be turned into nothing, and you will seek your adversaries and will not find them. And the reason is given why he does not find his adversaries: Because they will be as though they were not. These adversaries are said to rage against the Apostles, or, according to the Hebrew, to be consumed.

This is what already happened figuratively in the epoch of the Babylonians, since the God of the universe destroyed their empire, liberated the Jews from bitter servitude and brought them back to the land of their ancestors. However, this deliverance applies properly and truly to the holy apostles and to the victorious martyrs: their enemies are covered with shame, their persecutors have today disappeared and are unknown, whereas the defenders of the truth attract all the attention and are known by all.

And he sets out also the removal of enemies as to their confusion: behold all that fight against you shall be confounded: let them be confounded that persecute me (Jer 17:18); as to their destruction: they shall be as nothing, above: to destroy the nations unto nothing (Isa 30:28).

And the impossibility of restoration: you shall seek them: I have seen the wicked highly exalted. And I passed by, and lo, he was not (Ps 36[37]:35–36).

There are many who think of the holy mysteries and the saving message in disrespectful ways, but they amount to nothing, and such impious adversaries will perish. For those who oppose the divine agents of preaching are doing no less than fighting against the teachings of godliness.… For thousands will make war against God's ministers, but these will end up as though they never existed and will clearly be brought low, falling under the machinery of the wrath of God. [Isaiah] tells them to quit relying on human strength and their own foolhardiness, saying, "I am your God who strengthens your arm," that is, I am the one who supports you and makes you prevail in any test. I say to you, "Do not be afraid, O little Israel."

And for this reason you ought not to fear, because I have taken hold of your hand, I who say to you: Do not fear, I have helped you; do not fear, worm Jacob, you who are dead out of Israel, or, as the Seventy have it, very few out of Israel. What we have set down, I have helped you: do not fear, worm Jacob, is not found in the Seventy. Now the worm, which in Hebrew is called THOLATH (תולעת), is the name given, for its lowliness and contempt, to the choir of the Apostles, imitating the Savior, who speaks in the psalm: I am a worm, and no man, a reproach of men, and the outcast of the people (Ps 21 [22]:7). For as a worm penetrates the earth, so the apostolic word penetrated the cities of the nations, and entered first into the hardest hearts. And rightly they are called few out of Israel, because in comparison with the whole world very few of the Jewish nation believed, to whom the Lord says in the Gospel: Do not fear, little flock (Luke 12:32). Or, according to the Hebrew, dead out of Israel, who say with the Apostle: I die daily (1 Cor 15:31); and elsewhere: I am crucified with Christ. Yet I live, not I; but Christ lives in me (Gal 2:20).

When we hear the prophet say, "You, Israel, my child, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, whom I have loved," we do not think, do we, that the Jews are only flesh and not complete human beings composed of bodies and rational souls?… And [don't we think] that the seed of Abraham is not without a soul and not without a mind but that it possesses everything that belongs to Abraham's nature?… We confess one Son, who, according to the divine apostle, took hold of the seed of Abraham and brought about the salvation of human beings.

He also shows the reason for their destruction: for I am the Lord your God: put forth your hand from on high (Ps 143:7[144:6]).

The Spirit described his generation as a worm that was without meaning. The type that the Holy Spirit shaped attains its meaning.

Therefore, you will subdue kings and kingdoms with your frailty and will overturn their schemes and proud designs. So [Isaiah] calls the Jews, about whom he is speaking here, "worm," in order that they may understand that they cannot rely on their strength; nonetheless, their weakness will not hinder them, since worms are able to consume hard wood, so that, in the future, they will destroy the pride and power of very strong kingdoms.

This shows clearly that the prophetic text applies to those who have believed in the Lord. It is a small part of Israel that believed, while the major part refused to. That is why Paul said that even at the present time there remains a remnant according to God's gracious election.… As for the name "worm," it fits very well. In the first place, this remnants' appearance was contemptible. In fact, this is what the divine apostle meant when he said, "God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise." But Isaiah calls them worms for another reason. The worm that lodges in wood of poor quality will in a short time wear it down. Similarly, those who are athletes of the truth will, while hidden and imperceptible, destroy the error of the idols.

807. Second, as to abundance of goods; and first, against slavery, he sets out the very yoke of slavery: fear not, you worm, as if to say: you who were thought vile and trampled on as a worm, and were reckoned for dead: I am a worm, and no man (Ps 21:7[22:6]); he also sets out divine help, below: I have helped you (50).

And what follows, I have made you like a new threshing wagon, having sawing teeth, signifies this: that the preaching of the Gospel crushes the adverse powers and the spiritual wickedness that lifts itself up against the knowledge of God, which, according to the variety of their pride, are called mountains and hills; and when these are carried off and scattered after the manner of a whirlwind, let Israel exult and rejoice in the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. We can also say that the churchman, having the sawing teeth of the Gospel preaching on a new wagon, which works not in the oldness of the letter but in the newness of the spirit, crushes the hardest hearts of unbelievers, separating the wheat from the chaff and crushing the mountains and hills, that is, all the chiefs of the heretics, so that, crushed and ground down, they are reduced to dust and are taught that they are nothing, so that those who had been wrongly gathered together may be divided for their own good.

He also sets out the benefit of exaltation as to the subjugation of enemies: I have made you as a new thrashing wain, above: Moab shall be trodden down under him, as straw is broken in pieces with the wain (Isa 25:10); which perhaps was fulfilled in the time of the Maccabees.

And as to their exaltation: and you shall exult: we will exult and rejoice in you (Song 1:3[4]).

The needy and the poor seek water, and there is none; their tongue is parched with thirst. I the Lord will hear them; I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers on the sloping hills, and fountains in the midst of the plains. I will make the desert into a pool of waters, and the trackless land into streams of waters. I will put in the wilderness the cedar and the thorn, and the myrtle, and the olive tree. I will set in the desert the fir, the elm and the box together, that they may see and know and consider and understand together that the hand of the Lord has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it. LXX: And the poor and the needy will exult; for they will seek water, and there will be none; their tongue has dried up for thirst. I the Lord God will hear them, the God of Israel, and I will not forsake them; but I will open rivers on the mountains, and fountains in the midst of the plains; I will make the desert into marshes, and the thirsty land into watercourses. I will put in a land without water the cedar, and the box, and the myrtle, and the cypress, and the poplar, that they may see and know and think and understand together that the hand of the Lord has done these things, and the Holy One of Israel has shown it. The people of the nations, poor and meager, which did not have the knowledge of the truth, seeks wholesome waters through various teachers and the diverse doctrines of the philosophers, and does not find them, because there are none; their tongue is parched with thirst, without the Law and the Prophets. For, according to the faith of the Gospel, it had spent all its substance on physicians (Luke 8), and could not be freed from the gore of idolatry and the blood of victims.

Second, against poverty, he first sets out the disadvantage of poverty: the needy and the poor, above: their nobles have perished with famine (Isa 5:13); second, the divine intention: I the Lord will hear them: he shall call upon me and I will hear him (Ps 90:15).

Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, did not wholly forsake them, nor let them perish for ever, but opened rivers on the sloping hills, or on the mountains, and fountains in the midst of the plains. These rivers took their beginning from that river which is read of in the Psalms: The rush of the river gladdens the city of God (Ps 45 [46]:4); and in another place: The river of God is filled with waters. These waters and fountains flowed from that fountain who speaks through Jeremiah: They have forsaken me, the fountain of living water (Jer 2:13). And above in this same Prophet it is said: They will drink waters from the fountains of the Savior. Of these also it is sung in the Psalms: Bless the Lord God from the fountains of Israel (Ps 67 [68]:27). And he made, he says, the desert into a pool of waters, and the trackless land into streams of waters. Of these waters the Savior too spoke in the Gospel in mystical language (John 4:13-14): Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will not thirst for ever; but the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life. And again: If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water (ibid. 7:37-39). But this, says the Evangelist, he spoke of the Holy Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive.

God is not offering his services as a water manager or a farmer when he says, "I will open rivers in a dry land; I will plant in the wilderness the cedar and the box tree."

He refers in this way to those who have been entrusted with the grace of instruction. For he has said in the holy Gospels: "He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." "I will make the desert pools of water and a parched land springs." He gives the name "desert" to the Gentiles; this promise had been made to them similarly in the preceding passages.

808. Third, he sets out the benefit as to abundance of waters in mountainous places: I will open rivers in the high hills, above: there shall be upon every high mountain rivers of running waters (Isa 30:25); and in desert places: I will turn the desert, that is, your land formerly desert: he has turned a wilderness into pools of waters (Ps 106[107]:35).

816. There is the water, of tears poured out: who will give water to my head, and a fountain of tears to my eyes? (Jer 9:1); of baptismal purity: unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God (John 3:5); of spiritual grace: he that believes in me: out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water (John 7:38); of divine wisdom: I, wisdom, have poured out rivers (Sir 24:40); of internal joy: drink water out of your own cistern (Prov 5:15).

The water was not life-giving. For they were not able to satisfy those who longed for truth from their teachings. Their tongues remained parched from thirst. But I will hear them, says the God of Israel, and I will not abandon them. For he had mercy on the mass of those who strayed and did not leave them without gifts from above, but rather he gave to them in fullness, and this in such a way as is finely described in the verses that follow.… The desert and the land short of water is the region of the Gentiles. The desert that will run dry and barren of any flowering growth, meaning spiritual growth, is the way of shriveling, where the wild trees are those useful only for burning in fire. The water allows the nations to bear fruit. To those who were once thirsty he says, "I will make rivers flow on the mountains," that is, holy people who are enriched by the divine word from above and pour out like flowing streams to the thirsty.

Since, then, the multitude of the Church, once a desert, had been watered with life-giving waters, therefore, according to the Seventy, there spring up in it the cedar, and the box, and the myrtle, and the cypress, and the poplar; according to the Hebrew and the other translators, the cedar, the setta, and the myrtle, and the olive tree, and the fir, and the elm, and the box together. These varieties of trees signify the diversity of spiritual grace. And because the nature of the others is known to all, let us discuss only the Hebrew SETTA (שטה), which Theodotion translated thorn. It is a kind of tree growing in the desert, resembling the white thorn, of which all the wood of the ark and the furnishings of the tabernacle were made, which are called Settim (Exod 37): a wood that does not rot and is very light, and that surpasses all woods in solidity and beauty, as much in strength as in sheen. The cedar, too, and the cypress and the myrtle are of the finest fragrance and do not rot. The elm also and the poplar, or the box, are either joined to vines to wed them, or are most fit for various works. And all these are set together in the wilderness, so that not even one string of the Lord's lyre, and no power of the graces of the Church, may seem to be lacking: so that all may understand, and together know in their mind, that the hand of the Lord has accomplished all these things, so that in the dryness of the nations streams of virtues should be found, and in a land once deserted and full of salt the cedar and the cypress and other trees should spring up, whose loftiness and crown hastening toward heavenly things the olive tree should illuminate, which is the nourishment of light and the rest of those who labor.

And as to the beauty of the trees: I will plant in the wilderness: his branches were multiplied (Ezek 31:5).

809. Fourth, he sets out the fruit of the benefit: that they may see: that they may know that there is no God beside you, and that they may show forth your wonders (Sir 36:2).

Bring your judgment near, says the Lord; bring forward whatever you may have, said the king of Jacob. Let them approach and tell us whatever things are to come; tell the former things that have been, and we will set our heart on them and we will know their last end; and show us the things that are to come. Declare the things that are to come hereafter, and we will know that you are gods. Do good also, or evil, if you can, and let us speak and see together. Behold, you are of nothing: and your work is of that which is not; an abomination is he who has chosen you. LXX: Your judgment is near, says the Lord God; your counsels have come and drawn near, says the king of Jacob. Let them draw near and declare to us the things that are to come; or tell the former things that were, and we will apply our mind, and we will know what the last things are. Tell us also the things to come, and declare the things that are to come at the last, and we will know that you are gods. Do good and evil, and we will marvel, and we will see together whence you are and whence your work is: from a land of abominations they have chosen you. As we said above that there are two Jacobs and two Israels, of those who do not believe and of those who believe in the Lord the Savior, so, when the nations have been called, and rivers and fountains have burst forth in the once desert Church, and it is wonderfully leafy with a variety of trees, all of them full of abundance, those of the nations who refused to believe in Christ are summoned to judgment, to answer why they refused to see and know and consider and understand that the hand of the Lord has done these things and the Holy One of Israel has created all things. Let your idols approach, he says, which you think most mighty. Or bring forward whatever you may have in yourselves, and lay open your counsels: on what ground, with what mind, you refused to receive the manifest truth.

To the expression "your judgment draws near," Symmachus has given the following interpretation: "Present your case, the Lord has said; bring up your solid supports, the king of Jacob has said." Become judges, he says, between myself and the idols; produce your solid props or, according to Theodotion, "your firm supports," that is to say, the idols. Let them reveal the future; let them inform us of [the things] that have happened from the beginning. I, for my part, have not ceased to do the one and the other. Through my servant Moses, I have even taught what took place before the creation of humanity. As for the future, I have revealed it through [Moses] and through the other prophets.

810. Bring your cause near. Here he sets out the disputation against the idols themselves; and first, he sets out the disputation; second, the determination of the sentence: and I saw, and there was no one (Isa 41:28).

Concerning the first, he does two things: first, he disputes against the idols with universal reasons; second, by a reason taken from a particular fact: I have raised up (Isa 41:25).

Concerning the first, he does three things.

First, he calls them to judgment: bring your cause near, that is, come near to me that we may be judged together; you, idols or idolaters, bring hither, that is, allege, if you have any thing, that you might prove that you are gods: God has stood in the congregation of gods: and being in the midst of them he judges gods (Ps 81[82]:1).

And at the same time an apostrophe is made to the idols themselves, which are without sense and possess the faculty neither of hearing nor of answering. Tell us, he says, either things past or things to come, and show your power by the outcome of events. Now this signifies that after the coming of Christ all the idols fell silent. Where is Delphic Apollo, and Loxias, and the Delian, and the Clarian, and the other idols that promised knowledge of the future, which deceived the most powerful kings? Why could they foretell nothing of Christ, nothing of his Apostles, nothing of the ruin and abolition of their temples? If, then, they could not foretell their own destruction, how could they announce what concerned others, whether evil or good? But if anyone says that many things were foretold by idols, it must be known that they always joined falsehood to truth, and so tempered their sentences that whether something good or something evil happened, either could be understood. Such is that oracle to Pyrrhus king of the Epirotes: I say that you, son of Aeacus, the Romans can conquer. And to Croesus: Croesus, having crossed the Halys, will destroy the greatest kingdoms. There is also another sign that idols are not gods: that they can do neither good nor evil. Not that idols, or the demons that sit by idols, have not often done evil; but that, unless power has been granted to them by the Lord, they cannot do it. Indeed, in the Gospel they beg to have power over the herd of swine (Matt 8). And in Job we read that without the Lord's command he [the devil] could not destroy even the beasts and possessions of the holy man (Job 1). Nor is this to be wondered at in God's case, since even the Apostle Paul delivers some to Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme (1 Tim 1).

If you do not want to demonstrate your personal strength from your knowledge or prescience, then do so through a demonstration of your power. Demonstrate your power, whether it be kind or punishing. "It is I who will put to death and I who will bring to life, I who will strike down and I who will heal. There is no one who can deliver out of my hands." But because you are lacking in knowledge and in power, I will now expose your emptiness. "They have dug you from the ground as an abomination." For whether they are wooden or from gold, silver or bronze, they all have their origin from the earth.

Second, he sets out a twofold argument: one is taken from divine knowledge, which knew all things fully, past and future, and which the idols do not have: tell us the former things what they were: for all things were known to the Lord God, before they were created (Sir 23:29[20]).

Or else it must be said that mute images of men, without sense, can do neither good nor evil, nor know things past nor things to come, because they are of nothing and of that which is not, and it is not so much they as he who worships them that is worthy of abomination. For the idols of the nations are silver and gold, the works of men's hands. They have a mouth, and will not speak (Ps 113 [115]:13). How then can they know and announce things to come, or relate things past, and do good or evil, when they have neither the sense of men nor that of brute animals? Nor does it matter of what material they seem to be made, since all are earthly.

The other is taken from divine power, which can punish and impart benefits: do also good or evil, if you can: and whether it be evil that one doth unto them, or good, they are not able to recompense it (Bar 6:33).

Third, he deduces their defect as to material cause: behold, you, idols, are of nothing, created out of matter; as to formal cause, your work, that is, the artificial form, which fashioned in you a divinity, which does not exist; and as to efficient cause: an abomination, that is, abominable. Or: you, artists, your work, namely, the idols, he that has chosen you, worshippers: we know that an idol is nothing (1 Cor 8:4); every artist is confounded in his graven idol (Jer 10:14).

I have raised up from the North, and he will come from the rising of the sun; he will call upon my name, and he will bring on rulers as mud, and as a potter treading the ground. Who has announced it from the beginning, that we may know; and from the first, that we may say: You are righteous? There is none announcing, nor foretelling, nor hearing your words. The first will say to Zion: Behold, they are here; and to Jerusalem I will give a bearer of good tidings. And I looked, and there was not even any of these who would enter into counsel, and, when asked, would answer a word. Behold, all are unrighteous, and their works are vain; their images are wind and emptiness. LXX: But I have raised up him who is from the North, and him who is from the rising of the sun; they will be called by my name. Let princes come, and as the clay of the potter, and as a potter treading clay, so you will be trodden down. For who will announce to you the things that are from the beginning, that we may know the things that are in the future, and we will say that it is true? There is none who foretells , nor who hears your words. I will give a beginning to Zion, and I will comfort Jerusalem on the way; for of the nations there is none, and of their images there was none who announced; and if I ask them, Where are you from? they will not answer me; for they are your makers, and they lead you astray in vain. He still speaks against the idols, and against those who after the coming of Christ refused to forsake them. And while they remain in error, he says that he himself has raised up the people of the nations from the North. For from the North evils will blaze forth upon all the inhabitants of the earth. And to Jeremiah it is said: What do you see, Jeremiah? And he answered: A pot set on fire, and its face from the face of the North (Jer 1:13). But they are raised up from the North, so that they may believe in him who has come from the rising of the sun, of whom we read above: Who raised up the righteous one from the East, or righteousness? And in another place: Behold a man, the Dayspring is his name (Zech 6:12). He will call them by my name, so that, forsaking their images, they may worship the one God. For he himself says in the Gospel: I have come in the name of my Father, and you did not receive me; another will come in his own name, and you will receive him (John 5:43). He will tread down the princes and rulers and all the pride of the world, and they will be made subject to him as clay to the potter, so that from them he may make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor (Rom 9).

The Hebrews interpret the one raised up from the North and coming from the rising of the sun as the Assyrian and the Persian, who came to Jerusalem and trod down all its princes; and none of the idols which they worshiped knew that this would come, but the Lord alone, who punished them for their sins.

He threatens the idols with destruction. He calls "the one who comes from the east" the righteousness that has awakened, concerning which he had earlier said, "Who has roused righteousness from the east?" And he calls the one from the north the church drawn from the nations, toward which came the one from Theman or from the "rainy country," according to the other translators. For God came from Theman, that is, from the south. It is to this church that the Master Christ has revealed himself, finding it scattered by the deceit of the idols. He warmed [the church] with the southern rays and led it to life. Its leaders, priests and teachers have trampled the idols under their feet.

811. I have raised up. Here he takes up a certain particular fact to argue against idols.

And first, he foretells something to come: from the north, Chaldea; from the rising of the sun, Persia, which subjugated to itself various lands and princes, potter (plastes)—plasma, a thing produced; mystically: he who comes from the north signifies the gentile; he who comes from the rising of the sun, Christ: I shall bring them to naught, like the dirt in the streets (Ps 17:43[18:42]).

These things, which, according to prophetic custom, I say that I have done as though they were already past, or, according to Symmachus, which I promise as future, none of the demons and idols can foretell. Hence all the oracles fell silent, because there is no one who announces, no one who hears, while the once brutish hearts of the Gentiles have understood their error and forsaken false prophecies.

And what has been accomplished confirms the text: the oracles spread through all parts of the earth and of the sea have ceased to speak, and those who used to attend to them openmouthed have now turned away from them to learn the truth.

Second, from this, he sets out an argument under the form of a question: that he who can foretell this is justly called God; and he who cannot, is not: who has declared, below: assemble yourselves together, all you, and hear (Isa 48:14).

Third, he excludes proof of divinity from the idols: there is none, any of you gods, that shows nor, any of your worshippers, that hears, etc., they have eyes and see not; they have ears and hear not (Ps 113:13–15[115:5–6]).

"I will give a leader to Zion, and I will console Jerusalem as I go." … Again the multitude of those going astray is promised the revealing of the Savior, through whom each one under heaven has been saved and is summoned to the recognition of the truth. So that we could have a guide who would be able and skilled to lead us along the path of salvation, the only-begotten Son of God became a human being. And though he was King by nature in that he is considered to be God and from God the Father and ruler of all things with all creation under his feet, he is said to be elected king among us.

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

And the Lord will speak first to Zion, that is, to his Church, and will say to her: Behold, here are your sons, whom I have given to you through faith in me. And he means the Apostles, who preached the Gospel in the whole world. Zion and Jerusalem differ in name; but as there is one city, so also there is one Church.

Fourth, he shows the sign of divinity in the true God: the first, that is, the only one, our God; behold I am here to help, evangelists, announcing things to come: verily, your God is the God of gods (Dan 2:47); or: the first, prophet of the Lord, in the person of God; or the first, the firstborn Son of God: he gave some apostles, and some prophets, and other some evangelists (Eph 4:11).

Let all the nations, therefore, which follow the error of idols, be questioned by us, so that they may answer whence they are. And this will be the answer of them all: that all follow vanity and the winds, and worship the works of their own hands. Whatever we have said of the idols and the nations, let us refer to the doctrines of perversity, and to their chiefs, the heresiarchs: that while Christ announces the peace of the Church and shows them the way of truth, they follow error and are likened to wind and whirlwind.

812. And I saw. Here from the disputation set out above, he deduces the determination of the sentence, and it is self-evident: they are vain things, and a ridiculous work (Jer 10:15 and 51:18).

It is in a perfectly appropriate way that he both shows the stupid nature of the idols and accuses of impiety those who have fashioned them. For if the idols are inanimate, their makers are full of stupidity and impiety.