Isaiah 64

This power is present to you, that of which we did not hear from all time, nor were we able to say (which would be bearing false witness) that someone else was such a God, in the way that our eyes have now seen the effects in such works. We have neither seen God nor divine deeds except from you—to those waiting to see, you provide vision and understanding, which coming from outside ourselves is set in place.… "For no one can see God," and "no one can see my face and live." But it seems that the Christ of God is praised through these things, he who talked with Moses in the desert and was made visible to all people through his glory appearing to all, about which was said, "we have beheld his glory."

O that you would rend the heavens and come down! At your presence the mountains would flow down. As the burning of fire they would melt away; the waters would burn with fire, so that your name might be made known to your enemies; at your presence the nations would be troubled. When you do wonders, we shall not endure them; you came down, and at your presence the mountains flowed down. LXX: If you open heaven, trembling will seize the mountains because of you; and they will melt as wax melts before the fire, and fire will burn up the adversaries; and your name will be manifest among the adversaries; at your presence the nations will be troubled. When you do glorious things, trembling will seize the mountains because of you. Since our enemies have trodden down your sanctuary, and we have become as in the beginning, when your name was not called upon us, therefore we entreat and say: O that you would rend the heavens and come down, and that you who are always promised would at some time fulfill your promises. This was said at the time when the Savior had not yet come, nor had yet assumed from the virgin's womb, out of our nature and substance, the man whom he would save; so that, as we have borne the image of the earthly, we may bear the image of the heavenly (1 Cor 15). If you did this, they say, and the heavens, or heaven, were opened, at the coming of your majesty the mountains would flow down, or trembling would seize the mountains, and they would be consumed as wax is consumed before the fire. To Ezekiel too the heavens were opened, and he saw a great vision (Ezek 1). And Moses as well, in the blessings of Deuteronomy, prays: May the Lord open to you his good treasure, the heaven, to give you blessing (Deut 28). And in the Gospel (Matt 3) John the Baptist is related to have seen the heavens opened, and the Holy Spirit coming down upon the Lord in the form of a dove. The mountains which at the coming of the Lord, of whom it is written, God is a consuming fire (Deut 4:24), will be consumed and melt like wax, are the adverse powers and all who raise themselves up against the knowledge of God. Of them it is sung in the ninety-sixth psalm too: He saw, and the earth was shaken. The mountains melted like wax at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of the whole earth (Ps 96 [97]:4, 5). For if you came down and fulfilled your promises, the waters of the sea would melt away (according to Symmachus), and that fire would consume all their saltness. Of this it is written in another psalm too: As smoke vanishes, so let them vanish; as wax is consumed before the fire, so let sinners perish before the face of God (Ps 67 [68]:2). And this is to be noted, that when the waters of the sea have been consumed by the divine fire, then the name of the Lord Savior will be made known to his enemies; of whom it is said in the sixty-seventh psalm: The tongue of your dogs, from the enemies, by him; so that him whom they had not perceived through his benefits they may come to know through the overthrow of their city and their own captivity. And at his presence the nations will be troubled, or, as is said more expressively in the Hebrew, will be moved: so that those which before were immovable may come to salvation. And when he has done wonders, and shown in the Gospel the signs which he once showed in Egypt and in the wilderness, they will confess that they cannot bear the glory of his coming, or that trembling has seized the mountains. And beautifully, according to the Hebrew, as though those who above had entreated, O that you would rend the heavens and come down! At your presence the mountains would flow down, had been heard, they afterwards add: You came down: you, the Word, were made flesh and dwelt among us, truly Emmanuel, which means God with us. And therefore at your presence all the mountains flowed down, of which we spoke above. The Hebrews expound this passage thus: The fire will burn up the wicked just as the waters boil with the heat of fire; for by AMASIM (חמסים) they wish to be understood not consumption and melting, as the others translated, but the wicked.

David also said "Lord, bend the skies and come down," and Moses said, "Show me your face that I might see you clearly." For no one saw more closely than Moses when receiving the law of God. God was speaking from the clouds, and [Moses] witnessed that same presence of his majesty. How, since no one saw God closer than he did, could [Moses] demand a view that was closer still when he said, "Show me yourself, that I might see you clearly"? Indeed, we can pray the same thing to happen that the apostle declared already occurred; the Lord openly revealed himself in the flesh and clearly appeared in the world, was openly assumed into glory; the saints saw the things with their physical eyes that they had previously seen with their spiritual sight.

1113. Here he offers a petition. And first, he asks for the presence of the judge; second, he asks for mercy: "behold you are angry" (Isa 64:5). Concerning the first, he does two things. First, he sets out the petition; second, the fulfillment of the petition: "you didst come down" (Isa 64:3). Concerning the first of these, he does two things.

First, he asks for the coming of the judge: "O that you wouldst rend the heavens." He speaks figuratively, as though to one living above the heavens; or: that you would empty yourself, putting aside your majesty, and would assume flesh: "bow down your heavens and descend" (Ps 144:5).

1114. He sets out the effect of the coming of the judge in insensible creatures, namely in the mountains: "the mountains would melt away at your presence," as if to say: they would not endure your presence, if it pleased you; or the mountains, the powerful and the proud, above: "the mountains shall be melted" (Isa 34:3) with their strength.

In the waters: "the waters would burn with fire," because you are all fiery, if you should wish: "at another time the fire, above its own power, burnt in the midst of water" (Wis 16:19); or, by the waters are signified peoples: "the many waters are many peoples" (Rev 17:15).

The effect on men, and first, on the gentiles: "that the nations might tremble at your presence": "the Gentiles shall be troubled" (Ps 65:7-8); literally, they will be shaken; or this refers to the conversion of the gentiles after the coming of Christ.

These things we suffered were not on account of your weakness but on account of our transgression. For when you make your personal appearance from heaven, the mountains will melt and dissolve like wax too near to the fire. For fire will feast on our enemies, and your power will become obvious to all.

The effect on the Jews: "when you shall do wonderful things, we shall not bear," that is, we, who are accustomed to see and hear, because of our stupor, as they were terrified in Exodus 20:18, thus: "they that had excused themselves" (Heb 12:19); or we shall not bear his coming, even having seen his miracles.

1115. Here he sets out the fulfillment of the petition. And first, as to his coming: "you didst come down," to judge us: using the past tense for the future; or, into the womb of the virgin. Or better, according to the literal sense, he sets out the proof of the effect, as if to say: if you should come down now, the same things would happen, which happened when you came down to free your people from Egypt (Exod 4); "he bowed the heavens, and came down, and darkness was under his feet" (Ps 18:9).

1116. As to the effect, first, in wonders: "at your presence the mountains," the rocks of Arnon, "melted away," Numbers 21:14-15; "the mountains skipped" (Ps 114:4); mystically: the Jews, or the demons.

Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. [Isaiah 64:4] But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

The divine is invisible in nature. "For no one has ever seen God," as it is written. But God can be seen by the eyes of faith from those things that happen without explanation and beyond speech. For the invisible things, since the foundation of the world, are clearly understood by the things that are made, that is, his heavenly power and godhead. For he is often recognized through those in whom he works the good and makes a sign of the serenity dwelling in him, marvelously saving those deprived of all hope, and he extends a saving hand from the ground to those lying on the earth. In like manner, they who make this prayer speak, "From the foundation of the world we have not heard nor have we seen such a God, except now for you and you alone. For you give mercy to those who wait for you and put their hope in you, refining and making them to fit together, those who work for your justice and who are mindful of your paths, that is, all who carry out the things you want. For we say that his commandments are the ways of the Lord."

But it may be argued that the Apostle was not inspired by the Spirit of prophecy when he borrowed these prophetic words; that he was only interpreting at random the words of another man, and though, no doubt, everything the Apostle says of himself comes to him by revelation from Christ, yet his knowledge of the words of Isaiah is only derived from the book. I answer that in the beginning of that utterance in which it is said that the servants of the true God shall bless Him and swear by Him, we read this adoration by the prophet: "From everlasting we have not heard, nor have our eyes seen God, except Thee, and Thy works which Thou wilt do for them that await Thy mercy." Isaiah says that he has seen no God but Him. For he did actually see the glory of God, the mystery of Whose taking flesh from the Virgin he foretold. And if you, in your heresy, do not know that it was God the Only-begotten Whom the prophet saw in that glory, listen to the Evangelist: "These things said Esaias, when he saw His glory, and spake of Him." The Apostle, the Evangelist, the Prophet combine to silence your objections. Isaiah did see God; even though it is written, "No one hath seen God at any time, save the Only-begotten Son Who is in the bosom of the Father; He hath declared Him," it was God Whom the prophet saw. He gazed upon the Divine glory, and men were filled with envy at such honour vouchsafed to his prophetic greatness. For this was the reason why the Jews passed sentence of death upon him.

From of old they have not heard, nor perceived with their ears; the eye has not seen, O God, besides you, what you have prepared for those who wait for you. You have met him who rejoices and does righteousness in your ways; they will remember you. LXX: From of old we have not heard, nor have our eyes seen a God besides you, and your works, which you will do for those who wait for mercy; for he meets those who do righteousness, and they will remember your ways. A paraphrase of this testimony the apostle Paul, as a Hebrew of the Hebrews, takes from the authentic books in the Epistle which he writes to the Corinthians, not rendering word for word, which he altogether disdains to do, but expressing the truth of the sense, which he uses to support what he wished (1 Cor 2). Let the ravings of the apocrypha, then, fall silent, which on the pretext of this testimony are thrust upon the churches of Christ. Of them it can truly be said that the devil sits in ambush with the rich in the apocrypha, to kill the innocent. And again: He lies in wait in the hidden place like a lion in his den; he lies in wait to seize the poor (Ps 9 [10]:8). For the Ascension of Isaiah and the Apocalypse of Elijah contain this testimony. And on this pretext, and through many things of this kind, silly women of the Spains, and above all of Lusitania, laden with sins, led away by various desires, always learning and never coming to the knowledge of the truth (2 Tim 3), were deceived into taking up the monstrosities of Basilides, of Balsamus and Thesaurus, of Barbelo too and Leusibora, and of the remaining names. Of these the apostolic man Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons and martyr, writes most carefully, explaining the origins of many heresies, and above all of the Gnostics, who through Mark the Egyptian deceived noble women, first of the Gauls about the Rhône, then of the Spains, mixing pleasure with fables and claiming for their ignorance the name of knowledge (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, book 1). What the people says in the present passage is this: that they have never come to know, either by ears or by eyes, what God prepares for his saints in the future; that he meets those who do righteousness and remember his ways. Further, according to the Seventy, they say that they have never known any other God besides him who is truly God, nor seen such and so great works of another, which he will do for those who wait for his mercy and do righteousness and remember his ways. And how is it written, No one has ever seen God (John 1:18), and again, No one sees my face and lives (Exod 33:20)? God, then, is by no means set forth in words, nor is he visible to the eyes; but he is seen by those of whom it is written: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God (Matt 5:8).

Let us scrutinize those who enjoy the good things of the world in this present life, I mean wealth and power and glory. Exulting with delight, they reckon themselves as no longer being on the earth. They act this way even though the things that they are enjoying are acknowledged not to be really good and do not abide with them but take to flight more quickly than a dream. And even if these things should even last for a little time, their favor is displayed within the limits of this present life and cannot accompany us further. Now if these things uplift those who possess them to such a pitch of joy, what do you suppose is the condition of those souls that are invited to enjoy the countless blessings in heaven, blessings that are always securely fixed and stable? And not only this, but also in their quantity and quality heaven's blessings excel present things to such an extent as never entered even the heart of the human being.

The brightness of the true light will not be able to be seen by the unclean sight, and that which will be happiness to minds that are bright and clean will be a punishment to those that are stained. Therefore, let the mists of earth's vanities be shunned, and let your inward eyes be purged from all the filth of wickedness, that the sight may be free to feed on this great manifestation of God. For to the attainment of this we understand what follows to lead.

Do not thou then, O thou who hast denied the things which are seen, ask what kind of riches thou wilt receive in exchange for thy poverty, but be thou in earnest only to forsake thy poverty, and to hasten to possess them. Now what these riches are, and unto what they are like, Paul explaineth not unto thee, nor of what kind they are, for there is nothing which can be compared with them, nor how much they are, because they cannot be measured. "That which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, and what hath not gone up in the heart of man, is what God hath prepared for them that love Him"; and the greatness of the reward is made manifest by these and such like words.

He has shown the justice of mercy. For the mercy of God is not without judgment, nor is his judgment lacking in mercy. On that account he adds the provision of his mercy to those who are patient and acting justly.… He compares not their sin but their righteousness with an unclean rag. Now if it is their righteousness that is compared with this, it is because their sin does not have anything with which it can be compared.

In benefits, he sets out the greatness of his benefits: "from the beginning of the world they have not heard," for never has anything been seen or heard, like what God did for the Jews, and will do for the saints in glory: "eye has not seen, nor ear heard: neither has it entered into the heart of man, what things God has prepared for them that love him" (1 Cor 2:9).

1120. Note on the words, "what things you have prepared for them that love thee" (Isa 64:4), that God prepares for the saints, first, a place of eternal rest: "if not, I would have told you: because I go to prepare a place for you" (John 14:2); second, a kingdom of eternal dignity: "come, you blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matt 25:34); third, a table of divine refreshment: "you have prepared a table before me" (Ps 23:5); fourth, a lamp of eternal light: "I have prepared a lamp for my anointed" (Ps 132:17).

"You were angry, and we sinned." This is a sentence with reversed terms, that is, since we have sinned, you were angry and had us deported; and this is analogous to the words "and they made his grave with the wicked." "Some day we will be saved." With the same mercy through which you saved us once from Egypt, we will be saved from Babylon as well.

Behold, you are angry, and we have sinned; in them we have always been, and we shall be saved. And we have become as one unclean all of us, all our righteousnesses as the cloth of a menstruous woman. And we have all fallen like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have carried us away. LXX: Behold, you are angry, and we have all sinned; therefore we have gone astray, and we have all become as unclean, all our righteousness as the cloth of a woman who sits apart; and we have fallen away like leaves because of our iniquities; as the wind will carry us away. The order is inverted. It is not because you are angry that we have sinned, but because we have sinned that you are angry. And because we have sinned, you are angry with us, O Lord; therefore we have gone astray and left the right way. Or, according to the Hebrew: we who have always been in sins shall be saved only by your mercy, we who of ourselves are unclean; and whatever righteousness we seem to have is compared to the cloth of a woman who sits apart, or of a menstruous woman. For this Theodotion set down the Hebrew word itself, EDDIM (עדים), which Symmachus translated κυουσῶν, that is, of women in childbirth; Aquila μαρτυριῶν, that is, of testimonies: when in the first marital union the blood proves a bride a virgin. And we have fallen away, he says, like leaves from the trees, which because of our iniquities are scattered by the blasts of the winds. Here it must be considered that the righteousness which is in the Law is called uncleanness in comparison with the purity of the Gospel. For what was formerly glorified has not been glorified, because of the surpassing glory. Hence the apostle Paul too, who had fulfilled everything according to the righteousness which is in the Law, says that he counted all things as loss, that he might gain Christ (Phil 3), and because of the surpassing knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, for whose sake he reckons all things as dung, that he may gain Christ and be found in him, not having his own righteousness, which is from the Law, but the righteousness which is from God through the faith of Christ. For there is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness (Eccl 7), if after the truth of the Gospel he wishes to practice the shadows of the Law, and not to pursue justly what is just. Hence, according to the most wise Solomon, every man seems righteous to himself when he lives in the Law; to whom the Lord says in the Gospel: You are those who justify yourselves before men (Luke 16:15). Fleeing this, Paul says: I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this (1 Cor 4:4). But out of sin, the righteousness of God, of which the same Solomon speaks: Understand true righteousness. There is, then, another righteousness which has no truth, and this is the true righteousness, of which again it is said in the Gospel: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matt 5:6); which many prophets and righteous men desired to see, and did not see (John 8). But Abraham saw this righteousness and was glad, by no means following the letter that kills, but the spirit that gives life. Nor is it surprising to say this of men, when even the stars, compared with the righteousness of God, are not clean, and he has found out something perverse in his angels (Job 4:18; 15:15). If anyone, then, after the Gospel of Christ and the coming of the Son of God, observes the ceremonies of the Law, our tutor, let him hear the people confessing that all that righteousness is compared to a most filthy cloth; to which Esther too compares her diadem, which was the badge of royal power, and which she wore by no means willingly but of necessity: You know my necessity, that I detest the sign of my pride, which is upon my head in the days of my display; I abhor it like a menstruous cloth, and I do not wear it in the days of my quiet (Esth 14:16).

As to the promptness of his benefitting them: "you have met him that rejoices," to help him, while he was still petitioning or coming to you; "him that rejoices," in you: "wisdom goes about seeking such as are worthy of her" (Wis 6:17). Mystically: Simeon (Luke 2).

1117. "Behold you are angry." Here he sets out mercy. And first, he shows the need of the petitioner; second, he offers the petition: "and now, O Lord" (Isa 64:8). Concerning the first, he does two things. First, he shows his need from the eminence of evil, as to their fault; then from the committing of evils: "behold you are angry, and we have sinned": the order is reversed: for this reason you are angry, because we have sinned, and, nevertheless, we shall be saved, by your mercy, above: "our wicked doings are with us" (Isa 59:12).

Some translators try to alter the meaning of this passage.… For it is not, they say, that the divine anger was the cause of their misdeeds, but that because they misbehaved, God was angry. For they are afraid lest God's anger be thought of as the effector of sins. I think it ought to be said that there is no condemning the divine anger, if those receiving it were insufficiently motivated to flee the attack of sin. As long as the Savior is pleased in us, let us flee sin and forcefully leave the filth of vices and with increase be crowned in spiritual success.… For God is the Lord of powers.… Just as the kind clemency from above shows us how to be strong and brave for the resistance of evil, by the same reason when we fall under divine wrath, it is necessary that we bow in servile fashion.

It is hence that Isaiah laments bitterly, saying, And we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities like the wind have taken us away. And there is none that calleth upon Thy Name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of Thee. Now any of the righteous may sometimes be able to resist the visitations of a present judgment, by the merits of a derived innocency, but they have no power by their own goodness to rid mankind of the woes of the death to come. Therefore let the holy man bethink himself whereunto the human race has run out, let him cast his eye on the woes of eternal death, which it is plain that human righteousness can never withstand, let him see how frowardly man has offended, let him see how severely the wrath of the Creator is directed against man, and let him call for the Mediator between God and man, God and Man in one, forasmuch as he beholds Him destined to come long after. ... For the Redeemer of Mankind, who was made the Mediator between God and Man through the flesh, because that He alone appeared righteous among men, and yet, even though without sin, was notwithstanding brought to the punishment of sin, did both convict man, that he might not sin, and withstand God, that He might not smite; He gave examples of innocency that He took upon Him the punishment due to wickedness.

Finally, just as our goodness with regard to the goodness above becomes like evil, so our righteousness compared with divine righteousness is like menstrual rags. This is considered to be so by Isaiah the prophet: "All our righteousnesses are like menstrual rags." For although there is much of good works of the saints, nevertheless they are preoccupied with earthly endeavor and this holds them back and stops them from the contemplation of that higher good.

And as to the imperfection of their good deeds: "and we are all become as one unclean, and all our justices," because they are wrapped up in other sins: "if I be washed, as it were, with snow waters, and my hands shall shine ever clean, yet you shall plunge me in filth, and my garments shall abhor me" (Job 9:30-31).

And as to their punishment: "and we have all fallen," killed, or from our state of worthiness; "and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away," from our land: "against a leaf, that is carried away with the wind, you show your power" (Job 13:25).

1121. Note also on the words, "all our justices as the rag of a menstruous woman" (Isa 64:4), that a work of justice is defiled by filth, first, of mortal stain: "you have stained your glory" (Sir 47:20); second, of negligence committed: "cursed be he that doth the work of the Lord negligently" (Jer 48:10); third, of perverse intention: "if your eye scandalize you" (Matt 5:29); fourth, of rising pride, above: "the wind shall carry them all off" (Isa 57:13).

"There is no one who calls on your name." Since they worshiped the idols, they did not remember your name. "There is no one who bestirs himself to take hold of you." They certainly put all their faith in the idols.

There is none who calls upon your name, who rises up and takes hold of you. You have hidden your face from us, and have dashed us down in the hand of our iniquity. LXX: And there is none who calls upon your name, and who, remembering, lays hold of you. For you have turned away your face from us, and have handed us over because of our iniquities. Because we have fallen away like leaves from the trees, which the wind scatters when they are dried up, therefore no one has been found who would call upon your name, and, rising from the ruin of his iniquities, would lay hold of you or take hold of you, and say with the bride: I have found him whom my soul sought; I will hold him and will not let him go (Song 3:4). The wind is put in the Scriptures in three ways: either for the greatness of temptations, or for perversity of doctrine, or simply for the wind by which the clouds are gathered and the air is driven together into clouds. Of temptations there is that saying of the Gospel: The rivers came, the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and they could not overthrow it, for it had been founded upon rock with a firm mass (Matt 7:27). Of perversity of doctrine: That we may not be carried about by every wind of doctrine in the wickedness of men (Eph 4:14). Of the wind simply: And they could not sail, for the wind was against them (Mark 6:48): not that this too cannot be understood tropologically, but that it only provides a likeness for the present sense. For when the Lord turns his face away from us, we are dashed down in the hand of our iniquity, or we are handed over to temptations because of our sins. From this we learn that iniquity too has hands, and so have all sins, which desire to hold us tightly bound. Hence too death and life are in the hand of the tongue (Prov 18); and the holy man prays: Let not the foot of pride come to me (Ps 35 [36]:12). But we, since the Lord has turned his face away from us, knowing what is written, Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved (Joel 2:32), let us call upon his name and say: I have made my sin known to you, and I have not covered my iniquity. I said, I will declare my iniquity against myself to the Lord; and you forgave the impiety of my heart (Ps 31 [32]:5). And at once we shall have the Lord answering: I have blotted out your iniquities like a mist, and your sins like a cloud (Isa 44:22); and we shall say: Show your face, and we shall be saved (Ps 79 [80]:4), so that we may by no means be slaves of sin, but your servants. For everyone who commits sin is its slave (John 8).

1118. He shows the need of the petitioner as to lack of help. And first, lack of human help: "there is none that calls upon" and "takes hold of you," with prayers: "I held him: and I will not let him go" (Song 3:4); second, lack of divine help: "you have hid your face," of your mercy, "and have crushed us in the hand," that is, the work, of our iniquity; according to what it says in Proverbs 18:21: "I will hide my face from them" (Deut 32:20).

And now, O Lord, you are our father, and we are clay; and you are our fashioner, and we are all the works of your hands. Do not be angry, O Lord, exceedingly, and do not remember iniquity any longer. Behold, look: we are all your people. The city of your Holy One has become a desert; Zion has become a desert, Jerusalem desolate. The house of our sanctification and of our glory, where our fathers praised you, has been made a burning of fire, and all our desirable things have been turned into ruin. Will you hold yourself back over these things, O Lord, will you be silent, and afflict us exceedingly? LXX: And now, O Lord, you are our father; but we are clay, we are all the works of your hands. Do not be angry with us, O Lord, too much, and do not remember our sins in time. And now look, for we are all your people; the city of your Holy One has become a desert, Zion; Jerusalem as a wilderness, for a curse; the house of our sanctuary and glory, which our fathers blessed, has been burned with fire, and all our glorious things have fallen. And over all these things you have held back, O Lord, and you have been silent, and have humbled us exceedingly. If we consider our merits, we must despair. But if we consider your mercy, you who scourge every son whom you receive, we dare to pour out prayers (Heb 12). For you are our father, who deigned to say: Israel is my firstborn son (Exod 4:22). And although we are clay, and the works of your hands, and you are our fashioner, and the vessel cannot answer the potter as to why it was made thus or thus, yet, knowing that we are sons, we dare to say: Do not be angry, O Lord, exceedingly. We do not forbid wrath, nor do we seek any further your patience, through which we have stored up for ourselves wrath on the day of wrath. But this we ask: that you be not angry with us exceedingly, that in the time of vengeance and punishment you do not remember our iniquity, but rather look upon your people, which was once called your people.

1119. "And now, O Lord." Here he sets out mercy. And concerning this, he does two things. First, he asks for mercy, assigning the reason: "you are our father": "as clay is in the hand of the potter, so are we in the hand of God" (Jer 18:6); "remember, I beseech you, that you have made me as the clay" (Job 10:9).

They entreat God insistently concerning his removal from friendship with them. Since they had come to this situation through their many sins, they wove their prayers with great skill. For since they are unable to mollify the one who could save them with their own works and blameless lives, they now take another route. They ask him as the creator of his own work to be reasonable and sparing with those who were brought into being and life by him.… "We are not unaware that we have offended you; we confess that we showed ourselves to deserve judgment and acted savagely towards the Son."

The Lord gives to each person according to his deeds; against those who sin greatly and often he is very angry indeed, but he is angry in a mild way against those who do wrong in a few things and only for a short time. He has also said concerning the instruments of his wrath that are his punishments, "I was not all that angry, but they insisted on doing evil." And they who charge themselves with transgressions make a loud cry to the merciful and compassionate Lord, "Do not be exceedingly angry with us." For as he "judges with justice, strength and magnanimity, without extending his wrath from day to day," he moderates his anger against those he judges, not counting up all their faults.

And now, O Lord. Here he sets out mercy. And concerning this, he does two things. First, he asks for mercy, assigning the reason: you are our father: as clay is in the hand of the potter, so are we in the hand of God (Jer 18:6); remember, I beseech you, that you have made me as the clay (Job 10:9). And he offers the petition: be not angry enough, that is, exceedingly, or according to what our merits demand: remember not our former iniquities: let your mercies speedily prevent us (Ps 78[79]:8). Second, he sets out their misery: behold, Lord, see we are all. The city of your sanctuary, that is, the sanctuary of the temple, namely, Jerusalem: the enemy has put out his hand to all her desirable things (Lam 1:10). And he wonders at his patience: will you refrain yourself, O Lord, upon these things? Why look you upon our iniquities? (Hab 1:13).

We can refer these things to the Church, or to the soul of a holy man, which can rightly be called a watchtower and vision of peace when the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit have dwelt in it. But if, through our fault or that of the people, such a Zion has been forsaken by the Lord, it will at once lie open to the burning of the fiery arrows of the devil; for all who commit adultery, their hearts are like an oven. And when the coolness of chastity has been driven out, the flame of lust will rage in the temple of God, so that whatever in us was formerly glorious and renowned may collapse, be destroyed and perish. And then is fulfilled what is said in the Psalms: They have burned your sanctuary with fire; they have profaned on the earth the tabernacle of your name. This he alone can quench out of whose belly flow rivers of living water.

And have mercy on the city of your sanctuary, in which your name has been called upon. This city is called Zion and Jerusalem, which the rush of the river makes glad, and in which there was once the watchtower of the virtues and the vision of peace (Ps 43 [44]). Your house too, that is, the Temple of our sanctification and glory, in which our fathers praised you, has fallen into ruins and ashes, and has been destroyed by devastating fire; so that no victims are offered in it, no Passover is celebrated, nothing is done of the ceremonies which you commanded to be done; but all our desirable things have been turned into ruins. Since, then, this is how things stand, will you, O Lord, hold back your mercy over these things, and be silent toward the adversaries who blaspheme, and afflict and humble us, not in the usual manner but exceedingly? All this the Jews think was fulfilled in the times of the Assyrians and the Babylonians. But we, in accordance with what follows in the person of the Savior, I appeared to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me (Isa 65:1), refer everything to the time of the Roman victory, which Josephus, the writer of the Jewish history, sets forth in seven volumes, to which he gave the title The Capture of the Jews, that is, περὶ ἁλώσεως. And it is superfluous to discuss in words what lies open to the eyes, since all their desirable things have been turned into ruins, and the Temple, celebrated throughout the whole world, has become the dunghill of the new city, which was called by its founder Aelia, and has passed into a dwelling-place of owls; and in vain they say daily in their synagogues: Over all these things, O Lord, you will hold back, and you will afflict us and humble us exceedingly.

"The city of your sanctuary" (sancti), that is, the sanctuary of the temple, namely, Jerusalem: "the enemy has put out his hand to all her desirable things" (Lam 1:10).

The defendants speak of the damage in the soul and that they have been caught in their sins; they are like leaves blown about by every wind and, scattered all over, now remember the external misfortunes that came on them. And the destruction of Jerusalem is deplored along with the temple's burning. For after the Savior's crucifixion, these things were fulfilled.

If we who bear the name of "your people," he says, are unworthy of your goodwill, judge the city worthy to be spared by reason of its founder, for it has become a desert. And he makes mention of his name [David] in order to evoke mercy.… As for the passage, "the house, our sanctuary has become a curse," the other translators have rendered this by "[it has gone] into disappearance." However, the term "curse" offers just as well a meaning that is in accord with the misfortune suffered; for it is usual to say, "May you suffer what such a person suffered!" So the famous temple, the temple full of holiness, the temple praised by all, has been burned by the enemy's fire, and it now only serves as a formula to curse those who mock.

And he wonders at his patience: "will you refrain yourself, O Lord, upon these things?" "Why look you upon our iniquities?" (Hab 1:13).