Isaiah 51

"Righteous," he says, instead of "righteousness," which is through Christ through faith in him, a faith that justifies the ungodly and removes all stain from those who have been filthy, and cleanses them in the Spirit and prepares for them the shining honor of sonship. They pursue righteousness, not in the sense of driving it before them and so away from their minds, but of running toward it to take hold of it. As David said, "Seek peace and pursue it." … The speech of the holy prophets always draws figures from the visible and the tangible things. For it has expressions that transcend reference, the senses and even the mind. In this way "Zion" is mentioned—not that we think of the earthly city but rather take it to be the spiritual one, that is, the church of the living God. Or how else would we see the words of the prophet coming true?…"Worship in spirit and truth," and the power of spiritual worship gave off the pleasant spiritual fragrance and joy in the hope that is in Christ. For if we trust that our body of lowliness will be transformed into the body of his glory, so we shall be with him and reign with him, assembled among the children of God and enriched with his divine and life-giving Spirit. We too bring forward the spiritual harvest to him—the confession and hymns of thanksgiving. For with such sacrifices is God well pleased.

Hear me, you who pursue what is just, and seek the Lord. Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the cavern of the pit from which you were cut out. Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who bore you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and multiplied him. The Lord therefore will comfort Zion, and will comfort all her ruins, and will make her desert like delights, and her wilderness like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness shall be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of praise. LXX: Hear, you who pursue what is just, and seek the Lord. Look to the strong rock which you hewed out, and to the hole of the pit which you dug. Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who bore you, for he was one, and I called him, and blessed him, and loved him, and multiplied him: and now I will comfort you, Zion. And I have comforted all her deserts like a paradise, and the things that are toward the west like the paradise of the Lord: they shall find exultation and gladness in her, confession and the voice of praise. While those who kindled a fire for themselves and made the flames most strong sleep in grief and everlasting sorrow, you who pursue righteousness and seek the Lord (and he means the choir of the Apostles and of those who believed through the Apostles), look to the rock, that is, to Abraham your father, from whom you were hewn, and to the cavern of the pit from which you were cut out, that is, to Sarah who bore you. And consider this: that when he was a hundred years old and one, and had a barren wife, I multiplied his sons like the stars of heaven, so that their multitude surpassed number. If, then, from one man so many thousands of peoples were born, what great thing is it for me to restore the ruins of Zion, and to change her deserts into a paradise of pleasure, and into the garden of the Lord which God planted in Eden toward the East; and that there should be found in her, in place of the various trees, joy and gladness, confession and the voice of praise? The Jews refer this to the times of Zerubbabel, because after the devastation of Babylon Zion was restored, the Temple built, and the ancient religion given back. But just as above (Isa 49:22, 23) it is said to Zion: They shall bring your sons in their arms, and carry your daughters upon their shoulders. And kings shall be your foster fathers, and queens your nurses; and: Behold, these shall come from afar, and those from the north and the sea, and these from the land of the south; when Zion shall say: The place is too narrow for me: make room for me that I may dwell: things which exclude the meanness of those times, and are not known to have been fulfilled in the earthly Jerusalem: so here too the Lord speaks to those who pursue what is just, according to what is said elsewhere: Seek peace, and pursue it (Ps 33 [34]:15); and again: Pursuing hospitality (Rom 12:13). And they seek the Lord, so that one may infer things present from things former: since far more difficult things have already been done, let them not doubt that these things which are promised will come to pass. Further, according to the Seventy it is said to the pursuers of righteousness that they should look to the most strong rock which they hewed out, and the hole of the pit which they dug, that is, to the Lord the Savior, of whom the Apostle speaks: And the rock was Christ (1 Cor 10:4). And elsewhere it is written: He set my feet upon a rock (Ps 39 [40]:3). And again: On a rock he exalted me. For they pierced his side with a lance, and from it came out blood and water; and they dug his hands and feet, as the Lord the Savior himself says: They dug my hands and my feet, they numbered all my bones (Ps 21 [22]:18). We can call the hewn rock the tomb of the Savior, in which he was laid, and, rising from the dead, he begot innumerable sons. And he was called Abraham, that is, father of many nations. Just as Sarah, at first barren, is understood as the Church, which by another name is called Zion, whom the Lord has comforted, and whose deserts he has made like a paradise. For more are the children of the desolate than of her who has a husband. And what is said, And the things that are toward the West I will make into the paradise of the Lord, or into the garden of God, signifies that on those sitting in darkness and the shadow of death a sudden light has arisen. For paradise, in whose place we rendered delights, the Hebrew has EDEN (עדן), of which it is written at the beginning of Genesis. And this is to be noted, that in Zion, which is compared to the paradise of God, there ought to be nothing else but joy and gladness, confession and the voice of praise, so that what the saints will do in heaven with the Angels of God, this they may practice on earth too in the unceasing praise of the Lord.

921. Give ear to me, you that follow. Here he excludes the second impediment to their liberation, which could be believed from the oppression and humiliation of the Jews. And this is divided into three parts:

in the first, the impediment of dejection from their fewness in number is excluded;

in the second, dejection from the power of their oppressors: hearken to me (Isa 51:7);

in the third, from the weight of their punishment: but I am the Lord your God, who trouble the sea (Isa 51:15).

922. Concerning the first, he does three things.

First, he stirs up attention, setting out their fitness: you that follow, by good works, and you that seek, by right intention: the rich have wanted, and have suffered hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not be deprived of any good (Ps 33:11[34:10]).

Second, he excludes fear of fewness in number;

third, he sets out the firmness of the promise, lift up your eyes to heaven (Isa 51:6).

For the divine voice says somewhere in the prophecy of Isaiah, "Consider Abraham, your father, and Sarah, who gave you birth." Scripture gives this admonition to those who wander outside virtue. Just as at sea those who are carried away from the direction of the harbor bring themselves back on a course by a clear sign, on seeing either a beacon light raised up high or some mountain peak coming into view, in the same way Scripture by the example of Abraham and Sarah may guide again to the harbor of the divine will those adrift on the sea of life with a pilotless mind.

He is leaving aside the unbelievers here in order to address those who have believed: it is to them that he gives the name of enamored with God and with righteousness. He comforts them because they are few in number and invites them to turn their eyes toward their ancestors: he reminds them of Abraham and Sarah and the many thousands of descendants who came from them. This is similar to the term expressed in the divine Gospels: "Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." It is the same here.

Nothing made is an obstacle to my power: not the fact that I called just one man or that old age was on him, or that Sarah lacked the physical capability; yet his race was [indeed] increased, just as I had wished. Be unbelieving no longer, therefore, even though you are [now] easy to count; I will make you too many to number.

923. Concerning the second, he does three things.

First, he gives an example: look unto the rock, namely, Abraham, because of his old age, whence you are hewn, as though violently, not according to the course of nature; and to the hole of the pit, namely, Sarah, to whom it had ceased to be after the manner of women (Gen 18:11): neither did he consider his own body, when it was already dead (Rom 4:19), in which is shown that God has power to make fertile; for I called him alone (cf. Gen 12:1): Abraham was one (Ezek 33:24).

It is not a question of inhabited places but of desert places, not of regions situated in the east but of those in the west. Those who have seen the city with their own eyes know that the temple of the Jews was in the eastern part of the city, whereas the cross and the [place of] the resurrection were in the western part. Moreover, these places were formerly situated outside the walls. The divine apostle was witness to this when he said, "Jesus … suffered outside the gate. Therefore let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach." He makes this prediction accordingly: all the places of the city that were deserted and all those that were in the west will be as the garden of the Lord, for they truly possess the tree of life. "They shall find in it gladness and exultation, thanksgiving and the voice of praise." This also we still see fulfilled in our day: in place of the smoke, of the odor of fat that rises from the victims and of the cult rendered according to the law, which the Lord of the universe, even in former days, did not find agreeable, night and day Zion raises hymns in honor of the God of the universe, for it is filled with [worshipers] who chant hymns.

924. [Second,] he deduces the benefit of divine comfort: the Lord therefore will comfort, as to the rebuilding of cities, all the ruins: you are comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, in all things (Ezek 14:22); as to the cultivation of fields: and he will make her desert, that is, your land, which formerly was desert: their soul shall be as a watered garden (Jer 31:12); and as to the gladness of men: joy, above: you shall have a song (Isa 30:29).

928. Note on the words, he will make her desert as a place of pleasure (Isa 51:3), that the saints have twofold pleasures.

First, those of glory, which consist

first, in the full vision of God: then shall you abound in delights in the Almighty (Job 22:66);

second, in perfect love;

third, in abundant refreshment;

fourth, in eminent authority.

Second, those of grace, which consist

first, in the perception of divine light: night shall be my light in my pleasures (Ps 138:11);

second, in the intention or the solicitude for good works: he shall not much remember the days of his life (Eccl 5:19);

third, in the adornment of the virtues: how beautiful are you, and how comely, my dearest, in delights (Song 7:6);

fourth, in peace of heart, below: you will call the sabbath delightful (Isa 58:13).

But when the time of his incarnation unexpectedly arrived, then the shadows made way for the truth. And he said, "Listen to me, O my people." … He is speaking here not only to those who are numbered among the people but also to the kings, because he wanted the rulers, the leaders of the people, to receive his message as well.… "The law will go forth from me, and my judgment will be a light to the nations." He refers to the divine and evangelical preaching as "law" here; it is just that it is in a different form now, just as the oracles and salvation also are new. For just as the old law was changed to something better, there has also been a transfer from those things that were provisional types to that which is the truth. For Christ said, "Do not think I have come to destroy the law." … The law in letters was given by Moses, but the preaching of salvation, which is the gospel, came through Christ.… He calls his "judgment" here something that is both sanctioned by the law of God as well as a benevolent accounting; it is the grace from him that went out to illuminate the Gentiles; they were amazed at his judgment, which was both righteous and just—truly the righteousness that is clearly made known in the gospel.

"Listen to me, my people, and give ear to me, my nation; for a law will go forth from me." And how could it go forth now, if it were the same law that went forth in the days of Moses? But it is evident that here he mystically signifies the spiritual law, which is the New Testament. "And my justice is a light to the peoples," that is, my sacrament. He also means that the conscience of the Gentiles, which is now clouded by idolatry, will be enlightened after all their gods are condemned by the divine sentence.

Attend to me, my people, and my tribe, hear me: for a law shall go forth from me, and my judgment shall rest for a light of the peoples. Near is my righteous one, my savior has gone forth: and my arms shall judge the peoples. The islands shall wait for me, and shall wait upon my arm. LXX: Hear me, hear me, my people, and kings, attend to me: for a law shall go forth from me, and my judgment for a light of the nations. My righteousness draws near swiftly, and my salvation shall go forth like a light: and in my arm shall the nations hope. The islands shall wait for me, and in my arm they shall hope. Once in the Hebrew it is said, Attend; twice according to the Seventy, hear me, hear me: to teach us that we ought to hear both with the ears of the body and with the sense of the soul. And the multitude of the nations, which is the people of God, is called to listen carefully to what is said; of which Zechariah says: Many nations, he says, shall flee to the Lord, and shall be his people (Zech 2:11). Or, as some will have it, the remnant of believers from Israel is called the people; and the tribe, or nations, are those who believed from the multitude of the nations, as Moses says to the nations in the Song of Deuteronomy: Rejoice, you nations, with his people (Deut 32:43). For tribe, as we have translated, Theodotion translated race, Symmachus nation, the Seventy kings. For we are the tribe, and the nation, and the royal and priestly race of the Lord, such as Abraham also was, who was called a king, and the other saints, of whom it is written: Do not touch my anointed ones (Ps 104 [105]:15). What is it that they are bidden to hear? For a law, he says, shall go forth from me, and my judgment for a light of the peoples, or of the nations. Here is shown the spiritual law of the Gospel, which shall go forth from Zion, not that of Moses, which was given of old on Sinai; and my judgment shall go forth for a light of the nations, by which he established and decreed that all nations are to be saved.

For the law promulgated on Horeb is now old, and belongs to yourselves alone; but this is for all universally. Now, law placed against law has abrogated that which is before it, and a covenant which comes after in like manner has put an end to the previous one; and an eternal and final law-namely, Christ-has been given to us, and the covenant is trustworthy, after which there shall be no law, no commandment, no ordinance. Have you not read this which Isaiah says: "Hearken unto Me, hearken unto Me, my people; and, ye kings, give ear unto Me: for a law shall go forth from Me, and My judgment shall be for a light to the nations. My righteousness approaches swiftly, and My salvation shall go forth, and nations shall trust in Mine arm?" And by Jeremiah, concerning this same new covenant, He thus speaks: "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand, to bring them out of the land of Egypt." If, therefore, God proclaimed a new covenant which was to be instituted, and this for a light of the nations, we see and are persuaded that men approach God, leaving their idols and other unrighteousness, through the name of Him who was crucified, Jesus Christ, and abide by their confession even unto death, and maintain piety. Moreover, by the works and by the attendant miracles, it is possible for all to understand that He is the new law, and the new covenant, and the expectation of those who out of every people wait for the good things of God. For the true spiritual Israel, and descendants of Judah, Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham (who in uncircumcision was approved of and blessed by God on account of his faith, and called the father of many nations), are we who have been led to God through this crucified Christ, as shall be demonstrated while we proceed.

925. Third, he sets out the manner of execution: hearken unto me.

And first, he sets out the divine intention: a law, the precept of Cyrus concerning the liberation of the people; my judgment, promulgated from the justice of the Lord; to be a light, comfort, above: to them that dwelt in the region of the shadow of death, light is risen (Isa 9:2).

If we want to know the meaning of these words in the person of God and Father, then we say that he calls the Son "his righteousness." For we are saved in him … through his great mercy.… He is called "righteousness" and "salvation" and rightly so. For he has removed all evil from us and, freeing us from the chains of death, has led us into eternal life.… Those who were once weak and prostrate on the ground grasp his right hand and gain the hope of an unexpected salvation. For the holy Scriptures often call the Son the right arm of the Father. For he is his power.

And lest perhaps we should think that what he promised would come after a long time, he adds: near is my righteous one, or righteousness. For Christ has been made for us by the Father wisdom and redemption (1 Cor 1), holiness and righteousness, and all the names by which virtue is called. And it is beautifully said that righteousness will go forth, so that not one nation only but the whole world may be saved. And that the Son of God, who was sent by the Father, is called Savior, or salvation, which in Hebrew is said Jesus, Simeon declares, holding the child in his arms: Now you dismiss your servant, O Lord, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light for the revelation of the nations (Luke 2:29ff.). And as for what follows, And my arms shall judge the peoples, or according to the Seventy, and in my arm shall the nations hope: it signifies either that all are judged by his power, or that all the nations will believe in Christ, who is the arm and strength of God. It is said also in another place: Your arm is with might. Let your hand be strengthened, and your right hand exalted (Ps 88 [89]:14). And again: Sing to the Lord a new song: his right hand will save for him, and his holy arm (Ps 97 [98]:1, 2). For the right hand and arm of the Lord is he himself who saved for himself those who were formerly lost, so that none should perish of those whom the Father had given him (John 17). And that the islands are said to be either the souls of the Saints, which in the persecutions of this world have been made solid by a firm faith in God, or the multitude of the Churches from the nations, we have often explained. And just as by the arm of the Lord we can understand the Savior, so by his arms which judge the peoples we can understand all the saints, in whom God will judge the world.

He calls his power "arm": that which constitutes the greatest proof of divine power is to have conquered the world by the cross, by ignominy and by death; it is to have given fishermen, publicans, shoemakers as masters to philosophers and to rhetoricians; it is to have, thanks to a dozen men, cultivated the whole world and, thanks to an equally small number of men, filled the entire earth and sea with the divine message.

Second, he sets out the nearness of the judgment: my just one is near at hand, namely, Cyrus, or Christ; my savior is gone forth, already in my foreknowledge, above: I have brought my justice near (Isa 46:13).

Third, he sets out the usefulness of the judgment: arms, powerful men, by my power, Cyrus and Darius; the islands shall look for me, various peoples will hope in me, seeing the liberation of the people, above: he will set judgment in the earth (Isa 42:4).

The Son is called "salvation" and "righteousness," as we often say, and thus his quality is declared that he has in himself, by which and in which he is Son by nature. Indeed, he is eternal and does not "wear out." Such is the difference between creator and creation, the made from the maker, which is clearly seen in this verse.

Again, as to their malignantly asserting that if heaven is indeed the throne of God, and earth His footstool, and if it is declared that the heaven and earth shall pass away, then when these pass away the God who sitteth above must also pass away, and therefore He cannot be the God who is over all; in the first place, they are ignorant what the expression means, that heaven is [His] throne and earth [His] footstool. For they do not know what God is, but they imagine that He sits after the fashion of a man, and is contained within bounds, but does not contain. And they are also unacquainted with [the meaning of] the passing away of the heaven and earth; but Paul was not ignorant of it when he declared, "For the figure of this world passeth away." In the next place, David explains their question, for he says that when the fashion of this world passes away, not only shall God remain, but His servants also, expressing himself thus in the 101st Psalm: "In the beginning, Thou, O Lord, hast founded the earth, and the heavens are the works of Thy hands. They shall perish, but Thou shalt endure, and all shall wax old as a garment; and as a vesture Thou shalt change them, and they shall be changed: but Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not fail. The children of Thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established for ever;" pointing out plainly what things they are that pass away, and who it is that doth endure for ever—God, together with His servants. And in like manner Esaias says: "Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath; for the heaven has been set together as smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they who dwell therein shall die in like manner. But my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not pass away."

Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath: for the heavens shall melt away like smoke, and the earth shall be worn away like a garment, and its inhabitants shall perish like these. But my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not fail. LXX: Lift up your eyes to heaven, and look upon the earth beneath, for heaven has been made firm like smoke. But the earth shall grow old like a garment, and its inhabitants shall die like these. But my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not fail. This is what the Lord says in the Gospel: Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away (Matt 24:35). And David sings in the psalm: In the beginning, O Lord, you founded the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands. They shall perish, but you remain; and they shall all grow old like a garment; and like a cloak you shall roll them up, and they shall be changed (Ps 101 [102]:26). From this it is shown that the perishing of the heavens signifies not destruction but a change for the better. Of these it is said: There shall be a new heaven and a new earth, which I will make to remain in my sight (Rev 21:2). For if it is written of the saints, We shall all indeed sleep, but we shall not all be changed (1 Cor 15:51), and in the titles of four psalms we read, For those who shall be changed: how much more is this to be believed of heaven and of the sun and the stars, when the moon shall receive the light of the sun, and the sun shall glow with sevenfold brightness? Hence the whole creation too groans and travails, awaiting the revelation of the sons of God, that it may be changed for the better (Rom 8). And not only the souls of men, which are immortal, but their bodies too are to be changed into a glorified substance. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal put on immortality (1 Cor 15:53). And since heaven and earth grow old, it follows that the things contained within the circle of heaven, and men, who are the inhabitants of the earth, also die like these: not unto their destruction, but unto the abolishing of their old baseness and the renewal of the glory to come; when the righteous shall shine like the sun (Matt 13:43), and, the past and old things departing, all things shall have been made new. Some take perishing and growing old for abolition and death, according to what we read in the catholic Epistle: The heavens that now are, and the earth, have been reserved for fire by the same word. And again: The elements, burning, shall be dissolved (2 Pet 3:7). This is indeed also the opinion of the philosophers of the world, that all the things we see will perish by fire. Hence the Apostle too: Passes away, he says, the fashion of this world, while we look not at the things that are seen but at the things that are not seen. For the things that are seen are temporal, but the things that are not seen are eternal (1 Cor 7:32). Something of the kind the apostle John also writes: The world passes away, and its desire (1 John 2:17). And in the Hebrew it is said, The heavens shall melt away like smoke; or, according to Aquila and Symmachus, they shall be ground to nothing, and be crumbled and vanish in the manner of salt; of whom the former said ἡλίσθησαν, the latter ἁλίσουσιν, which plainly draws its etymology from the crumbling and dissolving of salt. In place of this I wonder what the Seventy meant to say, heaven has been made firm like smoke: for if firmness is taken for strength, how is what is firm compared to smoke? Unless perhaps we can say this: that all the firmness and strength and might of the heavens is made equal to the emptiest wind and to smoke, which dissolves into the air, according to Ecclesiastes: Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity (Eccl 1:2). And this must be said: if heaven and earth shall perish and grow old, by what consequence should its inhabitants die and perish like these, when we know that souls are everlasting, and that bodies will rise again? From this it is plain that heaven and earth do not perish and are not reduced to nothing, but are changed for the better.

But if our opponents say, How then is it, if the universe is not destroyed, that the Lord says that "heaven and earth shall pass away," and the prophet, that "the heaven shall perish as smoke" and "the earth shall grow old as a garment"; we answer, because it is usual for the Scriptures to call the change of the world from its present condition to a better and more glorious one destruction, as its earlier form is lost in the change of all things to a state of greater splendor, for there is neither contradiction nor absurdity in the Scriptures. For not "the world" but "the fashion of this world" passes away, it is said. So it is usual for the Scriptures to call the change from an earlier form to a better and more comely state "destruction"; just as when one calls by the name of "destruction" the change from a childish form into a perfect adult, as the stature of the child is turned into mature size and beauty.

From the sky and the earth, from the things on high and those below, learn of my power. I produced these elements with great ease and, conversely, I can make them disappear. "But my salvation shall be for eternity, and my righteousness shall not fail." This is what the Lord has likewise said in the holy Gospels: "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words will by no means pass away."

926. Lift up your eyes to heaven. Here he shows the firmness of the divine promise by comparison to the changing of creatures.

Hence he first sets out the changeableness of creation: the earth shall vanish, as to shape and as to substance (1 Cor 7:31); and the same thing is to be said concerning the others: in the beginning, O Lord, you founded the earth: and the heavens are the works of your hands (Ps 101:26[102:25]).

Second, the firmness of the divine promise: but my salvation shall be for ever, because I promise it, or because I will never lack, so as to not be prepared to save and do justice: heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away (Luke 21:33).

Hear me, you who know what is just, people: my law is in their heart. Do not fear the reproach of men, and do not be afraid of their blasphemies. For as a garment, so shall the worm eat them; and as wool, so shall the moth devour them. But my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness to generations of generations. LXX: Hear me, you who know judgment, my people, of whom my law is in their heart. Do not fear the reproach of men, and do not be overcome by their contempt. For like a garment they shall be consumed by time, and like wool they shall be eaten by the moth. But my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation to generations of generations. He who had said above, A law shall go forth from me, and my judgment for a light of the nations, now speaks to the same people, who know his judgment and have his law in their hearts, that they may do all things with judgment, and have the law which the Lord promises through Jeremiah, saying (Jer 31:31ff.): I will establish a new covenant, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers; but I will establish a covenant, putting my laws in their minds, and upon their heart I will write them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people: so that they may live by no means according to the letter but according to the spirit, restoring the natural law in their hearts, of which the Apostle also writes: For when the nations, which do not have the law, do by nature the things that are of the law, these, not having the law, are a law to themselves; who show the work of the law written in their hearts (Rom 2:14). Of this law it is signified in the psalm: The mouth of the righteous shall meditate wisdom, and his tongue shall speak judgment. The law of his God is in his heart, and his steps shall not be supplanted (Ps 36 [37]:30, 31). And because the prophetic spirit knew that many persecutions would come upon believers, he exhorts them to fortitude, nay rather to contempt of those who are going to persecute them. Which the Lord also said in the Gospel: Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; but rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna (Matt 10:28). And in another place: Rejoice when they speak all evil against you, lying (ibid. 5:11).

This is what the Lord has also said in the divine Gospels: "Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul," and again: "Do not fear them," and: "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and shall say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven." Similarly, here, the prophetic text has shown that people who revile and trample underfoot the heralds of truth are like garments and like wool that is eaten away by the moth, while the salvation and the righteousness of those who are being insulted has no end and escapes death. After having made the prediction here concerning the new people, [the prophet] passes to another subject and prophesies to Jerusalem the return from exile in Babylon. One should know, however, that these announcements were not made at the same time as the others, but that the first dates from one epoch, the second from some other time, and that they were put together later to form a single book.

927. Hearken to me. Here he excludes the impediment which could be feared from oppression, so far as pertains to the power of their oppressors. And concerning this, he does two things:

first, the consolation of the Lord is set out;

second, the discussion of the prophet: arise (Isa 51:9).

Concerning the first, he does four things.

First, he stirs up attention: you that know what is just, that is, the justice which I have revealed in my judgments: he has not done in like manner to every nation: and his judgments he has not made manifest to them (Ps 147:20); in your heart, in your understanding: let them not depart from your eyes, keep them in the midst of your heart (Prov 4:21).

Second, he excludes fear: fear not the reproach of men, who hold you in contempt, glorying in their own power: but I am a worm, and no man: the reproach of men, and the outcast of the people (Ps 21:7[22:6]).

For as a garment is consumed by the worm, or by time, and as wool is devoured by the moth, so all the reproach of the persecutors will pass away with the persecutors. Hence the Apostles too gloried that they had been counted worthy to suffer insults for the Lord (Acts 5). And they gloried because the salvation and righteousness of the Lord, which had promised them victory and rewards, that is, the Lord and Savior, abides for ever, or in each generation, of the former people and of the later, who received his coming; of whom it is also said above: Near is my righteous one, my savior has gone forth.

Third, he shows their fragility: for the worm shall eat them up as a garment: who am as a garment that is moth-eaten (Job 13:28).

Fourth, the firmness of divine help: but my salvation shall be for ever, above: Israel is saved in the Lord with an eternal salvation (Isa 45:17).

According to the Hebrew, it is not Jerusalem but the arm of the Lord that has to put on strength. This relates to what we spoke about above [v. 5], about the nations hoping in "my arm." For we have said that the divinity of the Word is signified here, since he urges the people not to fear the rebuke of human beings or to be affected by their filth, and in the same way here it is right to see in the person of the people a prayer being sent to the "arm of the Lord" to rouse himself and overcome the enemies of his people. For we confess we are nothing unless you rise up and overcome on our behalf.

Arise, arise; put on strength, O arm of the Lord. Arise as in the days of old, in the generations of ages. Was it not you who struck the proud one, who wounded the dragon? Was it not you who dried up the sea, the water of the mighty deep, who made the depth of the sea a way, that the freed might pass over? And now those who have been redeemed by the Lord shall return and come into Zion praising; and everlasting gladness shall be upon their heads: they shall hold joy and gladness; sorrow and groaning shall flee. LXX: Rise up, rise up ÷ Jerusalem ⁚ and put on the strength of your arm. Rise up as in the beginning of the day, as an everlasting generation. Are you not she who cut down the breadth, who undid the dragon? Are you not she who made the sea a desert, the many waters of the deep; who made the depth of the sea a way of passage for those who had been freed and redeemed? For by the Lord they shall be led back, and shall come into Zion with gladness and everlasting exultation. For on their head praise and gladness shall take hold of them. Sorrow and grief and groaning shall flee. The name Jerusalem, which was added here by the Seventy, is neither found in the Hebrew nor did any of the three Translators put it; hence it is to be marked beforehand with an obelus, and so the following little chapter is to be joined with the sense of the preceding. The Lord had exhorted those who believe in him, saying: Do not fear the reproach of men, and do not be afraid of their blasphemies. And he had promised them, as their help, his salvation and everlasting righteousness, which is none other than Christ, the arm of the Lord, of whom he had said above: And in my arm shall the nations hope. Hence the people speak to the arm of the Lord, and pray for his coming, and implore the promised help, saying: Arise, arise: put on strength, O arm of the Lord. Arise as in the days of old, and exert all your strength, so that you who through many ages delivered your Saints from dangers may protect us too by your strength. For you are he who struck the proud one, who wounded the dragon, namely Pharaoh king of Egypt, who in Ezekiel too is called the great dragon (Ezek 29). You dried up the Red Sea, so that through the most mighty waters and the depths of the sea your people might find a way and escape the pursuing Egyptians. You, then, who did these things, now too lead back into Zion those redeemed and freed by your blood, into the heavenly Jerusalem, or into the Church which you have prepared for yourself by your blood: and when they are in it, they shall rejoice with everlasting gladness, and shall say: Lord, as with the shield of your good will you have crowned us (Ps 5:13). For they shall have joy and gladness, sorrow and groaning fleeing away. This is according to the Hebrew. But according to the Seventy, Jerusalem, that is, the sinful soul, is called to put on the strength of her arm, and to take up her former works, as she had been before she fell, when she dwelt in the day and in the light. For you are she, he says, who overcame the broad and spacious way that leads to death, and broke up the dragon, the crooked serpent, of which we also read in the Psalms: You crushed the heads of the dragons in the waters (Ps 73 [74]:13). Remember your former strength, that you trod down the sea of this world and made it a desert, and found a way in the midst of the waves. Hence the Apostle Peter too passed over the sea of this world to the Lord, and he who was walking by faith began to sink through unbelief, except that he was held up by the right hand of the Lord. As, then, the former victory was granted with the Lord's help, so also to those who return after repentance and hear, Shall he who falls not rise? says the Lord (Jer 8:4), and, Turn to me, you sons that turn, and I will heal your bruises (ibid. 3), he himself will stretch out his hand, and lead them back into Zion, the watchtower and summit of virtues, with joy and everlasting gladness, and will set praise and gladness upon their head. For the eyes of the wise man are in his head; and they shall have this crown and be protected by this diadem, so that they always rejoice and praise the Lord, because joys have taken the place of sorrow, grief and groaning.

He addresses these words as if [Jerusalem] had fallen and were prone on the ground, and he invites it to take up again its power of other times. "Awake as in the early time, as the ancient generation." Renew yourself, he says, and become again such as you were when your splendor attracted all eyes.

929. Arise. Here the discussion of the prophet with God is set out, as if to say: I have not contended that the enemies of the people are confounded or consumed otherwise than by divine strength.

Thus, first, the petition of the prophet is set out;

second, the response of the Lord: I myself (Isa 51:12).

930. Concerning the first, he does two things.

First, he sets out his petition, in which he calls upon the arm of divine power: O you arm of the Lord, that is, the power of God, arise, as if from sleep: arise, why sleep you, O Lord? (Ps 43[44]:23); put on strength, like soldiers put on arms of war, to fight our enemies: the Lord is clothed with strength, and has girded himself with power (Ps 92[93]:1); and have you an arm like God? (Job 40:4). He also alleges a sign of divine strength in the killing of Pharaoh: have not you struck the proud one, and wounded the dragon?, Pharaoh, about whom it says in Ezekiel 29:3: behold, I come against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, you great dragon.

The great number of the Egyptians he calls the "sea." If, however, one wishes also to see the Assyrians under this name, the explanation would hardly stray from the truth. "[Are you not the one] who made the depths of the sea a way of passage for the delivered and redeemed?" He has said that of the Red Sea: because it was parted in two, Israel enjoyed salvation. So he is recalling these events in order to invite them to have confidence relating to future events. The ensuing passage makes this quite clear.

And in the division of the sea: have not you dried up the sea: by his power the seas are suddenly gathered together (Job 26:12).

"They will be gathered by the Lord, and they will arrive in Zion full of joy and an eternal cheerfulness; and on their head praise and joy will take hold of them; sadness, pain and grief will have gone." He has declared in advance the return of cheerfulness and joy, which take hold of believers after the coming as man of our Savior.… Then by the expression of the face he inspires confidence.… It is the Lord who strengthens him, the One who worked these paradoxes in former times, who delivered Pharaoh with his army into the sea, who killed the many thousands of Assyrians through one angel. … He says, "You have worked with the enemies and have carried out their aims—you were afraid of them and forgot me who am the Creator of all things, among whom he gave a thousand pledges of power. Yet you feared a mortal and corruptible man while you have not paid attention to your own dignity and you have not sought my help."

931. Second, he announces to his people that the Lord has heard his petition: and now, as it was when they came forth from Egypt, they that are redeemed, from captivity in Babylon: for the Lord will lead them back (Bar 4:23).

I, I myself will comfort you. Who are you, that you should have feared a mortal man, and the son of man, who shall wither like grass? And you have forgotten God your maker, who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth; and you have been in dread continually all the day at the face of the fury of him who afflicted you and had made ready to destroy. Where now is the fury of the afflicter? He shall come quickly, walking, to open, and he will not kill unto utter destruction, nor shall his bread fail. But I am the Lord your God, who trouble the sea, and its waves swell: the Lord of hosts is my name. I have put my words in your mouth, and in the shadow of my hand I have protected you, that you may plant the heavens and found the earth, and say to Zion: You are my people. LXX: I am, I am he who comforts you. Know who you were, and that you feared a mortal man, and the son of man, who have withered like grass; and you have forgotten God your maker, who made heaven and founded the earth; and you feared always, all the days, the face of the fury of him who afflicted you, as he planned to take you away; and now where is the fury of him who afflicts you? For when you have been saved, he shall not stand nor remain ※ and he will not kill unto corruption, and his bread shall not fail ⁚ for I am your God who trouble the sea and make its waves resound. The Lord Sabaoth is my name. I will put my words in your mouth, and in the shadow of my hand I will protect you: by which I set up heaven and founded the earth; and Zion shall say, You are my people. The people of believers had prayed to the arm of the Lord, who himself is the power of God and the wisdom of God, to arise and give them help, so that, with him fighting for the saints, they might possess joy and gladness, sorrow and groaning being put to flight. So either the arm of the Lord or the Lord himself answered: I am, I am; and not at all through the Prophets, but I myself will comfort you: the God of mercies and the Father of all consolation. And I wonder how, when I said above, Do not fear the reproach of men, and do not be afraid of their blasphemies, you feared the rage of the persecutors, and did not know that they are mortal, who like grass suddenly wither and perish. And surely at the time when you feared them, you forgot the Lord your maker. For if the memory of me had always dwelt in your heart, you would never have feared men, who are to be dissolved into ashes. And whom did you forget? God, who hung the heavens by incredible power, and founded the earth as a stable mass. And you feared your adversaries not for a short while, which could in some measure have been granted you, but continually and all the day, so that, though you had the light of faith, the darkness of dread possessed you, and dread of him who thought you would perish. Where then now is the pride of the persecutors? Where is the worldly power with which they raged against you with rabid mouth?

According to the Seventy it is said to every believing soul that, though created in the image and likeness of God, she did not know her own dignity, but feared man and the son of man, who can kill only the body, and did not know that she is immortal, nor say with the Prophet: The Lord is my light and my savior, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the protector of my life, of whom shall I be afraid (Ps 26 [27]:1, 2)? And again: The Lord is my helper, I will not fear what man may do to me. The Lord is my helper, and I shall look down upon my enemies (Ps 117 [118]:6, 7). And what man is, is shown by another verse: In the Lord I will hope: I will not fear what flesh may do to me (Ps 55 [56]:5). Hence it is now said too: You feared a mortal man, and the son of man, who have withered like grass. For all flesh is grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass (Isa 40); and, terrified by the power of the judge, you forgot that he himself was your protector, who made heaven and earth and all the elements we see; or those heavens that bear the image of the heavenly one, and that earth which multiplies the Lord's seed.

932. I myself. Here is set out the response of the Lord speaking to the people.

And first, he promises comfort: I will comfort: blessed be the God and Father of our Lord, and below this, and the God of all comfort: who comforts us in all our tribulation (2 Cor 1:3–4).

933. Second, he excludes fear of their enemies, setting out their fragility: who are you, that you should be afraid of a mortal man, and of the son of man, who shall wither away like grass, above: all flesh is grass, and all the glory thereof as the flower of the field (Isa 40:6).

And David being taught this, and knowing that the Lord's hand was nothing else than Wisdom, he says in the psalm, "In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creation." Solomon also received the same from God and said, "The Lord by wisdom founded the earth." And John, knowing that the Word was the hand and the Wisdom, preached, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God … without him was not anything made."

And the power of God protecting them: and you have forgotten the Lord your maker? You have forsaken the God that begot you, and have forgotten the Lord that created you (Deut 32:18); and the mockery of the enemy: where is now the fury of the oppressor?, Nabuchodonosor or Sennacherib: if your pride mount up even to heaven (Job 20:6).

My son will come quickly, walking and trampling your adversaries, to open to you the way of victory; or to unbar the underworld; who will not kill unto utter destruction, but wills to save those who turn. Then too his bread, which, as the Gospel proves, means doctrine, shall never fail, but shall always lie open to those who wish to eat.

And what is said above, And he will not kill unto corruption, and his bread shall not fail, was added from Theodotion's edition out of the Hebrew.

Symmachus, in the place where we said, He shall come quickly, walking, to open, and he will not kill unto utter destruction, translated thus: Quickly the underworld shall be opened, and he shall not die unto corruption, Christ being understood, who speaks in the fifteenth psalm: You will not leave my soul in the underworld, nor will you give your holy one to see corruption. In that place too where we, according to the Hebrew and Aquila, rendered, I have put my words in your mouth, and in the shadow of my hand I have protected you, that you may plant the heavens, and found the earth, and say to Zion: you are my people, he translated thus: I will put my words in your mouth, and in the shadow of my hand I will protect you, by which I planted heaven and founded the earth, and that I may say to Zion: you are my people.

"And his bread will not fail because I am the Lord your God, who stirs up the sea and its waves, the Lord of hosts is my name." The phrase "and his bread will not fail" appears in the Septuagint with an asterisk. The text means that in very captivity they will enjoy the divine concern since God provides generously for their need.

934. Third, he shows the order of comfort: he shall quickly come, namely, Cyrus, that is going to open, the prison for the captives, and he shall not kill you, like the other kings of the Chaldeans, neither shall the bread of his sustenance fail you, above: bread is given him (Isa 33:16), above: and I have given you for a covenant of my people (Isa 42:6).

He troubles the sea and makes its waves resound, he to whom it is also sung in the Psalms: You rule the strength of the sea, and the tossing of its waves you calm (Ps 88 [89]:10). In Jeremiah too it is written: Will you not fear me, says the Lord, and will you not tremble before my face, who set the sand as a boundary for the sea, an everlasting decree which it shall not pass (Jer 5:22)? The seas were troubled when the Lord's dragnet drew out a multitude of fish (Matt 13).

And at the same time he makes an apostrophe to the Son, whom he promises will come quickly, and whose bread he says is everlasting: that he himself, according to the dispensation of the flesh he assumed, is his Lord God, who makes the sea troubled and its waves swell, so that the pride of the persecutors is puffed up against his servants, and then, with the Lord's help, grows calm again. And he says that he has put his words in his mouth. For whatever the Son speaks are the words of the Father; and that he protected him in the shadow of his hand; and that he was protected for this reason, that he might plant new heavens and found a new earth, and say to Zion, that is, to the Church: You are my people. Therefore Zion is nothing other than the people of God.

935. But I. Here he excludes the impediment which could be believed to come from their dejection as pertains to the magnitude of their punishment.

And first, he sets out the power of God strengthening them: I am the Lord your God, who trouble the sea, against various sinners sending tribulation against you: they know that the Lord is just, and has loved justice (Ps 10:8[11:7]).

And the Lord put his words in the mouth of the believer, and protected him in the shadow of his hand. He also says in the Gospel: When they hand you over, do not think how or what you are to speak; for what you are to speak will be given you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the spirit of your Father who speaks in you (Matt 10:19, 20). And in another place he says to the righteous man: Open wide your mouth, and I will fill it (Ps 80 [81]:12). And again: Open your mouth to the word of God: For the Lord will give the word to those who preach the good news with great power. Hence God speaks to the inner man of Jeremiah, after he touched his mouth: Behold, I have put my words in your mouth (Jer 1:9). He could sing with the Psalmist: He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn to our God (Ps 39 [40]:4). And who has wrought all these things but the Lord and Savior, who made heaven and earth, and says to Zion, You are my people? Which properly suits the Church gathered from the nations. And in Hosea he promises to believers, saying: I will call not my people, my people; and he shall say to me: You are my God (Hos 2:24).

It is by means of actions that I will teach you the truth of my words. "And I will shelter you under the shadow of my hand, with which I fixed the sky and founded the earth: and the Lord shall say to Zion, you are my people." It suffices to recall the creation to show the capability of his dynamic force that he has promised to convey to them; for he has indicated his dynamic force by the name "hand."

Second, the authority granted to the prophet: I have put my words in your mouth, O Isaiah; that you might plant the heavens, that is, that you might foretell that the great of the people are to be planted, and found the earth, the lowly; or that you might plant, by your teachings.

Anger, which is called "the cup in the hand of the Lord" and "the cup of falling that is drained," is in proportion to transgressions, even though he abates to all some of what is their due and dilutes with compassion the unmixed draught of his wrath. For he inclines from severity to indulgence toward those who accept chastisement with fear, and who after a slight affliction conceive and are in pain with conversion and bring forth the perfect spirit of salvation. But he nevertheless reserves the dregs, the last drop of his anger, that he may pour it out entire on those who, instead of being healed by his kindness, grow obdurate, like the hardhearted Pharaoh.

Lift yourself up, lift yourself up, arise, Jerusalem, who have drunk from the hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath: you have drunk to the bottom of the cup of stupor, and have drained it to the dregs. There is none to sustain her, of all the sons whom she has borne; and there is none to take her by the hand, of all the sons whom she has brought up. Two things there are that have befallen you; who shall be grieved over you? devastation and destruction, and famine, and the sword: who shall comfort you? LXX: Rise up, rise up, lift yourself up, Jerusalem, who have drunk from the hand of the Lord the cup of his fury. For the cup of ruin, the κόνδυ of fury, you have drunk off and emptied: and there was none to comfort you of all your sons whom you bore; and there was none to take you by the hand, nor of all your sons whom you raised up. These two things are against you: who shall be grieved with you? ruin and destruction, famine and the sword: who shall comfort you? That Jerusalem and Zion are δυώνυμον I have often taught: of which Zion, which means watchtower, because it is set upon a mountain, is called the citadel; while the rest of the city is called Jerusalem, which was formerly called Jebus and Salem. Her the Prophet now exhorts to arise, she who had earlier fallen by denial, saying in the passion of the Lord: Crucify, crucify such a one: we have no king but Caesar (John 19:15); and to do penance, and to feel through the evils of captivity why she offended her Creator. Physicians are accustomed to give to a nauseated stomach a most bitter antidote, which took its name from its taste, so that it may vomit up the harmful humors and be able to pass on into the bowel the food cooked and digested, which the great quantity of phlegm did not allow to be digested. So Jerusalem too, who drank from the cup of the Lord's fury, and from his κόνδυ, which Symmachus translated bowl, and which, according to the book of Genesis, Joseph ordered to be hidden in the sack of his brother Benjamin (Gen 44), is bidden to arise from her drunkenness, because she drank it, and emptied it, and drained it to the dregs: which the three expressed by a single word, Ἐξεστράγγισας. This is the cup of which we read in the Psalms: A cup in the hand of the Lord, full of pure wine mixed. And he has poured from this into that; yet its dregs are not emptied out: all the sinners of the earth shall drink (Ps 74 [75]:9, 10). Of it God also speaks to Jeremiah: Take the cup of pure wine from my hand, and you shall make all the nations drink of it, to whom I shall send you. And they shall drink and vomit, and go mad before the face of the sword which I shall send among them (Jer 25:15, 16). And when he says that he gave it to drink to the other nations and to Jerusalem and the cities of Judea, he adds: Thus says the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel: Drink and be drunk, and vomit, and fall before the face of the sword which I shall send among you (Jer 25:27). And it is to be noted that this cup of the Lord's fury is his sword, which is sent into the midst of sinners. Here a question arises: how, after the drinking, the drunkenness and vomiting and the fall, it is said in Jeremiah that Jerusalem cannot arise, and now he speaks to her through Isaiah: Lift yourself up, lift yourself up, arise, Jerusalem. It is resolved thus: as long as someone drinks the cup, and is drunk, and raves, and vomits, and falls, he cannot arise; for he has not yet drained the cup of the Lord, nor come to the dregs, so as to have drunk it to the bottom. But now he speaks to Jerusalem in the past tense: who have drunk from the hand of the Lord the cup of his fury, and not, who are drinking.

We can understand these things according to the anagogy also of the sinful soul, which, not wishing to drink the cup of the Lord's fury, says in the psalm: O Lord, do not rebuke me in your fury, nor chastise me in your wrath (Ps 6:1). But if she has drunk it, it is good for her to feel her punishments, and to hear the Lord saying: When the wrath of my fury has passed, I will heal again. And elsewhere: Shall he who falls not rise again, says the Lord (Jer 8:4)?

He calls chastisement "the cup," because it is stupefying like drunkenness. Of this cup, the blessed David has likewise made mention in the following terms: "For there is a cup in the hand of the Lord, full strength, full of a mixture [of aromatics]; and he has turned it from side to side"—for he chastises some, now others—"but its dregs have not been wholly poured out; all the sinners of the earth shall drink them." The divine Jeremiah, in turn, has mentioned this in these terms: "Thus the Lord God said, Take the cup of this undiluted wine from my hand, and you shall cause all the nations to drink, to whom I send you. And they shall drink and vomit and become mad." And to teach what he means by the name "cup," he has added, "from the face of my sword, which I shall send in the middle of them." Then he adds, "I took the cup out of the Lord's hand and caused the nations to whom the Lord sent me to drink: Jerusalem and the cities of Judea, and the kings of Judea and their princes, to make them a desert place, a desolation and a hissing," as is the case today and so on. Here also, God has therefore declared through the prophet: "You have drained the cup of calamity and emptied it," that is to say, you have endured a very great chastisement, and you have had no help from the kings, the generals and the multitude of soldiers in whom you continued to put your trust.

Third, he promises liberation from punishments: arise; and concerning this, he does two things:

first, he shows their past affliction;

second, he promises liberation.

936. Concerning the first, he does three things.

First, he shows the sum of their punishment: you have drunk even to the bottom, as if to say, you have endured unto the last of your punishments; sleep, that is, death: in the hand of the Lord there is a cup of strong wine full of mixture (Ps 74:9[74:8]).

And at the same time we must consider that from then on there was no prophet, no Apostle in Judea to comfort her, and take her by the hand, and lift her up as she lay. From this it is plain that these things are said of the time after the last captivity: otherwise, history relates that in Babylon and after Babylon she had Ezekiel and the other Prophets.

937. Second, he excludes every human remedy, namely, of defense: there is none that can uphold her; of liberation: there is none that takes her.

"These two things have befallen you," that is, they have befallen you because of your sins. You have abandoned God, and you have followed the idols; that is why two punishments have come over you, "famine and sword," because "devastation" comes from the sword and "destruction" from famine.

And as for what he says, Two things there are that have befallen you, or these two things are against you: who shall be grieved over you?, and in place of two he names four, devastation and destruction, famine and the sword: like this is what is sung in the Psalter: Once God has spoken, these two things I have heard: that power belongs to God, and to you, O Lord, mercy: for you will render to each according to his works (Ps 61 [62]:12, 13). For there too God speaks once, that he is almighty, and the Prophet hears two things, that his omnipotence prevails on both sides, so that he both grants mercy to the penitent and renders to those who persist in sin the punishments they deserve. In the same way in this other place two things befell Jerusalem, each of which has two parts. For destruction follows ruin, or devastation; and death follows famine and the sword.

By "two," he means the bravery of the adversaries and the desertion of the auxiliaries: while the former attack with courage, the others flee in a cowardly fashion. "Downfall and destruction." He has again presented two calamities: that of falling and that of being crushed. For sometimes a person falls without being struck. "Famine and sword." Again a double chastisement: if the first make a siege from the city of the outside, even harder to endure than the enemies was the famine that was within, annihilating them.

Of compassion: there are two things; in goods, desolation, the effect of which is famine; in persons, destruction, the end of which is the killing sword: such as are for the sword, to the sword (Jer 15:2); and of comfort, who shall comfort you? There is none to comfort her among all them that were dear to her (Lam 1:2); I saw the oppressions that are done under the sun, and the tears of the innocent, and they had no comforter (Eccl 4:1).

Your sons have been cast out, they have slept at the head of all the ways, like an ensnared oryx: full of the indignation of the Lord, of the rebuke of your God. LXX: Your sons, in want and sleeping at the head of all the ways, like a half-cooked beet, full of the fury of the Lord, and failing from the Lord God. For half-cooked beet the other translators rendered an oryx caught and ensnared, which in Hebrew is called THO (תוא), a kind of beast born in the desert, which is placed among the clean animals in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. For this the Seventy supposed the Syriac word thoreth, which means beet. From the name let us pass to the sense. Your sons, like an oryx caught in the snares of the hunters, have slept at the crossroads and in the streets, and, laying their naked limbs upon the naked ground, have shown by their own miseries the indignation of the Lord and the rebuke of their God. Further, according to the Seventy: those who would not have spiritual riches in every word, and knowledge, and good works, but were poor who do not endure threatening, shall by no means dwell in houses that are built of virtues, but at the beginnings of the ways and at their outlets, touching all things and leaving all things. They are rightly said to sleep that sleep of which it is written: They have slept their sleep, and found nothing (Ps 75 [76]:6); with which sleep the king of Assyria lulled them. And they are compared to a half-cooked beet, which is a kind of vegetable most cheap and most fragile. Of such vegetables I think it is said in the Psalms: Do not be jealous of evildoers, nor envy those who work iniquity. For like grass they shall swiftly wither, and like green herbs they shall quickly fall (Ps 36 [37]:1, 2). For it is the food of the sick. He who is once and for all unbelieving is called a raw beet. But he who, content with simple faith, does works of righteousness without reasoning and the truth of doctrines, can be called a cooked beet. Further, he who wavers in the middle between vices and virtues, and approaches the service of God with a double heart, is most rightly called a half-cooked beet; to him too God speaks in the Apocalypse of John: Would that you were either hot or cold: but now, because you are lukewarm, I will vomit you out (Rev 3:15, 16). These, lukewarm and sleeping, are full of the fury of the Lord, and dissolved, or failing, through the Lord God: not that the Lord, who did not make death and does not delight in the destruction of the living, is the cause of their dissolution; but in that those who have sinned under the Law are judged through the Law, which works the wrath of God for those who are its transgressors.

By the slumber, he has indicated their indolence, and by the cooked vegetables their laxness. But what he adds is even harsher than what he has said before: "They that are full of the anger of the Lord are caused to faint by the Lord God." By their iniquity they draw my anger, and by reason of my anger, they are deprived of my kind attention and despoiled of every kind of strength.

938. Third, he shows the reason for this: your children are cast forth, from their land, they have slept at the head of all the ways, resting on the way, when they were led in captivity. As the oryx, "orix, oricis," an unclean animal, the water mouse, or an animal that sleeps a lot, namely, the lira, or a certain bird which is in Africa; or "orix, origis," a clean animal similar to a goat, about which, see Deuteronomy 14:5; according to the Septuagint: the beta, which is a certain plant that fades quickly in the heat of the sun, or a kind of common vegetable: her young children were dashed in pieces (Nah 3:10).

Therefore hear this, poor little one, and drunk, but not with wine. Thus says your ruler, the Lord, and your God, who fought for his people: Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of stupor, the bottom of the cup of my indignation: you shall not drink it again any more. And I will put it in the hand of those who humbled you, and said to your soul: Bow down, that we may pass over; and you made your body like the ground, and like a road for those passing over. LXX: Therefore hear, you who are humbled and drunk, but not with wine. Thus says the Lord God who judges his people: Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of ruin, the κόνδυ of my fury: and you shall not drink it again any more: and I will give it into the hands of those who unjustly oppressed you and humbled you; who said to your soul, Bend down that we may pass over; and you made your middle parts level with the ground for those passing outside. O Jerusalem, to whom I said, Lift yourself up, lift yourself up, arise, and do penance, because you have drunk from the hand of the Lord the cup of his fury and drained it to the dregs; and your sons, who are scattered through the whole world, and led away captive, have lain in the streets and at the heads of the ways: know that you are poor and humbled, and drunk, not with wine, but with the fury of the Lord.

But to come, according to the Seventy, to the spiritual understanding: it is said to the soul humbled by vices and drunk with passions, that she may know that she has the Lord as her judge, and that she will render account for all things. And if she has been turned to better things, the cup of ruin is to be taken from her hands, and the bowl of the Lord's fury, which held punishments, of which Ezekiel also says to Jerusalem: You shall drink the cup of your sister Samaria, deep and wide, that you may be drunk (Ezek 23:32), is to be handed over into the hands of those who had humbled her. There is no doubt that he signifies the adverse powers, which said to her soul: Bow down, that we may pass over. Here it is likewise to be noted that they did not bend her down, nor use force so that she who was formerly upright should be bowed to the ground, but left it to her own choice. And she of her own will laid down her neck, or her back, or her whole body, not inside but outside, for those who trampled her. Something of the kind we also read in the Gospel (Luke 13): that for eighteen years Satan had bent a woman down, whom the Lord raised up to her former stature, so that she could say: I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains, whence my help shall come (Ps 120 [121]:1); and: To you I have lifted up my eyes, who dwell in heaven (Ps 122 [123]:1).

939. Therefore. Here he promises liberation; and concerning this, he sets out two things:

first, their liberation: you that are drunk but not with wine, but with the bitterness of your punishments: he has filled me with bitterness, he has inebriated me with wormwood (Lam 3:15).

For it is the function of the blood of the Lord that as it makes drunk it heals the mind, shielding it from fancies, not leading it toward sins. This wine makes them sober; this fullness empties them of evils. One who does not become full with this cup will be rendered hungry with an eternal lack … Anyhow, when God bestows such things, he does so that they may draw them to the kingdom of heaven. And about this cup it is said in the Gospel, "Whoever drinks from the water that I give will never thirst and will become in them a source of water springing up for eternal life."

Therefore, if you do penance, and, lifted up, arise, you will know that the cup of stupor and of ruin, or according to Symmachus and Theodotion, of tearing and of commotion, is to be taken from your hand; and that you will no more drink the condy, for which in this place too Symmachus translated bowl; but that it is to be handed over to your adversaries, who said to your soul, Bow down, that we may pass over: and when they said it, you bent down of your own will. And you made your body like the ground, or your back; or according to the Seventy, your middle parts and your necks for those passing outside. Let this be said according to the history: that Jerusalem, if she is willing to lift herself up and arise, shall by no means drink the cup of the Lord's fury, nor suffer any more what she endured before.

Who has fought for his people, in their escape from Egypt: for the Lord will fight for you (Exod 14:14).

Why does he not know, unless because, bending himself down to these lowest and earthly things, he heaps up earth for himself? Assuredly he does not know, concerning those things which he commits to the earth, for whom he gathers them: whether for the moth that destroys, or for the thief that digs through; for the enemy that plunders, or for the fire that devours. And thence that lamentable voice from the psalm belongs to the wretched man bending himself down and brooding over the things that are upon the earth: "I am made wretched and bowed down utterly; all the day long I went about in sadness." In himself indeed he experiences the truth of that sentence of the Wise Man: "God made man upright, but he has entangled himself in many sorrows." And immediately the voice of mockery comes to him: "Bow down, that we may pass over."

Of these enemies, indeed, it is said through the prophet: "They say to your soul: Bow down, that we may pass over." For the soul standing upright is sublime, bowed down it is lowly, because through the height of virtues and through heavenly desire it is raised to lofty things; but when it falls away to vices or to love of the world, it falls to that place where the enemy, rushing in, easily tramples it. They say therefore to your soul, "Bow down, that we may pass over," because if they do not humble it to doing or thinking earthly things, they neither penetrate it with malign persuasions nor disturb it with the warfare of vices. From this, therefore, we can gather how far we ought to distance ourselves from the world in deed, word, and thought.

Hence another prophet says concerning unclean spirits: Who said to your soul, Bow down that we may pass over. For the soul stands upright when it desires heavenly things, and is by no means bent toward the lowest things. But when malign spirits see it standing in its uprightness, they cannot pass through it. For their passing through is to scatter unclean desires upon it. Therefore they say, Bow down that we may pass over, because if the soul does not cast itself down to desiring the lowest things, their perversity by no means prevails against it; and they cannot pass through her whom they fear standing rigid against them in heavenly intention.

He has indicated both the arrogance of the enemies and the distress of the city. He says, If you had requested my alliance, you would have prevailed over those who waged war on you; but since you did not want to do this, you have been abased even to the level of the ground.

Second, the punishment of their enemies: and I will put it in the hand of them that have oppressed you, and have said to your soul: bow down, under our power, treating you so basely, as mud that is trod upon: your people, O Lord, they have brought low: and they have afflicted your inheritance (Ps 93[94]:5); behold they whose judgment was not to drink of the cup, shall certainly drink (Jer 49:12).