Commentary on Isaiah, Discourses 20–30

Commentary on Isaiah, Discourses 20–30

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Discourse 22

1 The Lord has appeared among us, being God, according to the Scriptures, and has been drawn by him to the grace that is through faith, the flock of the wandering. For he was the expectation of the nations, and God the Father called through him those in mist and darkness to the light of truth. And he made this clear to us by what went before, saying briefly: "I the Lord God have called you in righteousness, and I will take hold of your hand, and I will strengthen you, and I have given you as a covenant of the race, for a light to the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out from bonds those who are bound, and from the prison house those who sit in deep darkness. For our Lord Jesus Christ has been set by God the Father as a covenant for the race according to the flesh, I mean of those from Israel, to whom God also long ago promised through one of the prophets, saying: "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, and 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. For the divine Moses was a minister of shadow and type, existing in suppliant measures. But Christ, as Son and Lord, has become the giver of a new covenant.

2 And I say new, which reforms man into a newness of holy life, and through an evangelical way of life renders him an acceptable and true worshipper; "For God, he says, is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth. Therefore he has been set as a covenant of the race, and for a light to the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, and to bring out from bonds those who are bound. For the arch-evil Satan darkened the hearts of the nations; "For they became futile in their thinking, and professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and of four-footed animals, and of reptiles. But the true light, that is, Christ, rose for us as a spiritual morning star, and as the sun of righteousness, spreading the ray of the true knowledge of God, the one from he scattered the darkness of diabolical deception that had come upon those on earth; he freed from bonds those who were caught in inescapable chains of their own transgressions. That therefore those who of old worshipped the creation rather than the Creator, those who had darkness in their minds, those who were persuaded to worship the works of their own hands, those who were far from God, will be called through faith in Christ, and will come to know the King and Lord of all, the word of the prophecy shows very well.

3 For it commands those who have received mercy through God to glorify him, and so it says: Sing to the Lord a new hymn, his beginning, glorify his name from the end of the earth; you who go down to the sea, and sail on it; the islands, and those who dwell in them. The hymn is new, and fitting for the newness of the events. "For if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, according to what is written, and the old things have passed away, and all things have become new. For the blood-descendants of Israel were redeemed from the greed of the Egyptians, with the all-wise Moses mediating at that time, and they were delivered from brick-making, and from the empty toils of earthly pursuits, the work of the savagery of their masters, and from the inhumanity of the ruler; they were brought through the middle of the sea, they ate manna in the desert, they drank water from the rock, they crossed the Jordan with dry feet, they were brought into the land of promise. For us all these things are new, and incomparably better than the old. For we have been delivered not from a carnal, but rather a spiritual slavery, and instead of earthly pursuits, we have been freed from the pollutions of the love of the flesh;

4 we fled not Egyptian taskmasters, nor a tyrant who was impious, and savage, yet a man like us, but rather the wicked and unclean demons who push us into sin, and the one who is set over their hordes, that is, Satan. We have crossed as it were a sea, the surge of the present life, and the turmoil in it, and its truly vain distractions. We ate the spiritual manna, the bread from heaven, which gives life to the world; we drank water from the rock, delighting in the streams of Christ, spiritual streams, that is. We crossed the Jordan, having been deemed worthy of holy baptism, we entered the land promised and fitting for the saints, of which the Savior himself makes mention, saying: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Therefore, for new achievements, the hymn had to be new from his dominion; that is, from those who have come under him and are ruled by him; and the hymn, that is, the doxology fitting for him, was to be not only in the land of the Jews, but indeed from one end of the earth to the other, that is, the whole world under heaven. For of old God was known in Judea, and his name was great in Israel alone. But since we have been called through Christ to the knowledge of truth, heaven and earth have become full of his glory. For thus also the Psalmist says somewhere, that "The whole earth shall be filled with his glory.

5 Who then are they who command his name to be glorified from the end of the earth, who establish singers for him, and persuade them to lead the chorus, and call them together into a spiritual company, those who go down to the sea, and sail on it, the islands, and those who dwell in them? He is referring, as I think, to the holy apostles. For they did not preach Jesus and the grace through him in Judea alone, but also crossing the sea they evangelized the lands of the gentiles. Indeed they reached as far as Illyricum, and beyond, so that even the islands in the sea did not remain without hearing the sacred proclamations, nor yet those who inhabited them. And historically you might approach what has been said in this way. But you will understand, if you please, the words of the prophecy also in another way. For the God-inspired Scripture often compares this world to the sea, that is, human life, according to what is sung in the Psalms: "This sea, great and wide; there are creeping things, of which there is no number, living things small with great. He maintains that our life resembles the sea, perhaps because of the instability of the things in it, and the up and the down, and the great confusion. But those sail through such a sea who are not submerged by it, but swimming up, as it were, and freeing themselves from worldly distractions.

6 These, having obtained help from God, and always mindful of the gifts through Christ, glorify him, and the islands, that is, the Churches, saved, so to speak, in the intelligible sea, and receiving those who are tempest-tossed by an evil spirit, these glorify Christ, that is, those who dwell in them. For when we say, or name, Churches, we mean the holy worshipers who are in them. And yet that must also be known; for as many villages or cities as are lying in the midst of a great and wide desert are also called islands. Be glad, O wilderness, and her villages, the courts, and the inhabitants of Kedar. The inhabitants of Petra shall rejoice, they will shout from the tops of the mountains. They will give glory to God, they will declare his virtues in the islands. The blessed prophets, weaving their discourses about the coming of our Savior, make mention in many places of the calling of the gentiles. For Christ was, as I said, the expectation of the gentiles. But they apply the discourses concerning such things not simply to all the nations and peoples throughout the whole world. For it was not likely, with an innumerable multitude filling the world under heaven, to choose to speak so sparsely as to make mention of all both by name and by race, but often taking the lands bordering on Judaea, and which were very idolatrous, then saying that these would be called in due time, they made a declaration of the whole from a part.

7 Since, therefore, the wide desert lying to the south, which the nations of the Saracens and Arabs inhabited, was bordering on the land of the Jews, they say that those who dwell in it will obtain in due time the grace and salvation through Christ. And the names for the villages, or rather the towns, which are, I say, in the desert, are courts, and Kedar, and Petra, lying in the land of the Arabs even to this day, and so named. But most superstitious, as I said, are those of whom this account is given, that is, their inhabitants, and they have completely turned aside into apostasy from God. For they have served the unclean spirits. But since they were about, as I said, to come to share in both the calling and salvation which is through the evangelical preachings, and the faith which is in Christ; for this reason and very fittingly, the prophet, as having beautiful feet—for he proclaims good tidings in these things—so to speak, raises his voice on high, and says: "Be glad, O wilderness, and her villages, the courts, and the inhabitants of Kedar; the inhabitants of Petra will rejoice. And this matter is a great and admirable demonstration of the power and pre-eminence of our Savior, who easily softened such hard and unadmonished hearts, and persuaded them on the one hand to depart from the ancient deceit, and on the other hand to choose the better things, and to conform to the truth.

8 And this he has foretold to us through the voice of Ezekiel, saying that "I will take away their heart of stone from their flesh, and I will give them a heart of flesh, that is, a tender one, so that they may know me, that I am the Lord. Therefore, that they also would be called, he signified, saying: Be glad, O wilderness, and the things that follow this. But who those might be, who cry from the tops of the mountains, giving glory to God, and declaring his virtues in the islands, is worthy to see. Therefore it does no harm, for them to be understood as the called, those who inhabit Petra, so high and lofty a country and city, no longer indeed hymns and they weave odes to the falsely-named gods, but they rather glorify the God who enlightened them, and drew them into the net of truth. That is, those crying from the tops of the mountains, would be said to be, and quite correctly, the divine disciples. To whom the prophet also says somewhere else: "Go up to a high mountain, you who bring good tidings to Zion; lift up your voice with strength, you who bring good tidings to Jerusalem. Lift it up, be not afraid. For they proclaimed with great boldness, and they did not wish to be hidden from anyone, but they were conspicuous to all everywhere, like a city set on a hill;

9 and their word was not in a corner, and secretly, but with great boldness, as I just said. For this the Savior Himself also commanded them, saying: "What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light, and what you hear in the ear, proclaim on the housetops. Therefore they gave glory to God, and they declared His virtues in the islands. For the word of the holy apostles and evangelists is seen to have become the announcer of the Savior's glory. For at one time they make discourses concerning His ineffable divinity, and they hymn His supermundane virtue, not placing Him among created things, but beyond everything that is called into existence, and in natural identity with God the Father; and at another time, in turn, they relate His divine signs which are beyond wonder and reason. For to raise the dead from tombs, and to use the sea as dry land, making it walkable for his own feet, and to rebuke the winds, and by a word to crush Satan, achieves for Him a glory befitting God. The Lord God of hosts will go forth, and will crush the war; He will stir up zeal, and will cry out against his enemies with strength; I have been silent, shall I also be silent forever and forbear? I have endured like a woman in labor. And now the word proceeds in great order, and has a disposition that is not unwonderful.

10 For the ministers of the decrees of our Savior were about to proclaim his virtues to all everywhere, and with great boldness to make discourses concerning these very things. But it was necessary to understand, that in every way and altogether there would rise up against their so venerable zeal and eagerness the enemies of the truth, and those who plot in many ways against the glory of the Savior, namely, corrupt and superstitious men, and instruments of diabolical malice, and champions of his wickedness, or perhaps with them also the very hordes of demons, since indeed their glory was being shaken down, and the dominion procured by greed. For they have held dominion by deceit under heaven. That they will therefore be inconsumable to their enemies, and that no one will prevail over them as God is their defender, the prophet demonstrates in these things, saying, that the Lord of hosts will go forth, and will crush the war, and he says, "will go forth," as of one of the kings on earth falling irresistibly upon the phalanxes of the enemy together with the armies under his scepter. And that the Lord of hosts will in every way prevail, he has revealed by saying, that he will crush the war.

11 For the power from God is not easily encountered by anyone, or rather, it is bearable by none of the things that exist, when it rises up against and falls upon them, whether we think of wicked powers, or the apostate and destructive Satan himself, or certain earthly ones, who care for those things instead; but they will be taken, and this indeed without toil and without a struggle. "For the high hand, who will turn it back? according to what is written. That therefore for those who oppose the choir of the holy apostles, the war was and is until now not against only holy angels, but indeed also against the Lord of hosts Himself, the prophet has fully assured us, saying that He will go forth, in order to crush the war. He will stir up zeal, he says, that is, indignation, or that from Himself against enemies, according to what is written in the words of Zechariah: "I have been jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy; that is, from those who contend for His glory, and it is clear that of the of those who worship him, of whom we say that the most holy Paul was one and elect, who indeed also says: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?; again, "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

12 In this way, we say, the holy martyrs also became zealous, who became stronger than Satan, and have fought against his power, for the sake of piety toward Christ. For they have kept the faith, and the genuineness of their love for him; Therefore he will stir up zeal, it says, and will cry out against his enemies with strength; putting "will cry out" instead of "will shout. And this cry is most fitting for the victors, dancing in a way over the vanquished. Then he says: I have been silent, shall I also be silent forever, and restrain myself? I have been patient like a woman in labor. From this one might see very well that at that time, when the multitude of nations was in error, with Satan plundering them, and blackening them with the darkness of sin, and carrying them away also from even knowing who the God of all is by nature and in truth, the God who is above all wished to help them; but he delayed the matter, and clearly persevered, waiting for the fitting time for his aids; and this was when his only-begotten Word was incarnate and became man. For then, then he waged war against those who had conquered us, and rescued us from their wickedness, and he took hold of and saved us, and brought us under his own yokes. Therefore, in the past time, when those on earth were being plundered, and Satan was devouring everyone like a lion; I have been silent, he says;

13 shall I also be silent forever, and restrain myself? I have been patient like a woman in labor. See then how much forbearance the God of all showed for those on earth; and yet, as the Psalmist says, with no one doing good; but with all having turned aside, and to a man, and being utterly corrupted, almost. And having birth pangs over this, and if he were to endure and be susceptible to grief, he would have suffered, and for our sake he has kept this, as I said, for the fitting time for his aids. I will displace, and dry up at the same time, and I will make rivers into islands, and I will dry up marshes. What "I will displace" might signify in these things, it is necessary to investigate. For either it says this, that "I will cast out those who now rule over those on earth, and I will cause them to be outside the dominion that they have procured over all," according to what was said by Christ: "Now the ruler of this world will be cast out; or you will understand "I will displace" instead of, "I will cause those who see my achievements to wonder," and the ways of my economy, and the excess of my ineffable power; just as indeed the prophet Habakkuk was astonished at these very things, saying: "O Lord, I have heard your report, and was afraid; I considered your works, and was amazed.

14 Or if it seems so to anyone, you will understand "I will displace" in another way. For those now wandering, those in darkness and diabolical mist, I will transfer to a knowledge of truth, and to the divine and intelligible and heavenly light. those now polluted, and having a loathsome and unpurified mind, I will change to an incomparably better disposition, so as to depart from their ancient filth, and to choose rather to do good. And the phrase "I will dry up at the same time" signifies again something of this sort, which indeed the force of what follows will make clear. For "I will make," it says, "rivers into islands, and I will dry up marshes. Who might be the rivers made into islands, and the marshes that are dried up? We say, then, that they are the poets and orators among the Greeks, who have become heralds of polytheistic error. For they have deified creation, and introduced innumerable gods into life. And they were like certain rivers, watering the deceived with a turbid overthrow, as it is written, and with the streams of elaborate words inundating the mind of those who admire them, and through this holding them fast to error, and setting before them as a kind of nourishment of their own the sweet and charming quality of fine speech. Therefore, they would reasonably be compared to rivers and marshes, that is, to thickets, or rather groves, that have obtained the most abundant and flourishing grass.

15 God therefore promises to turn such rivers into islands, that is, to show them to be dry and waterless, and to make the marshes as if dry, which indeed has happened. For henceforth the fine speech of their eloquence is ineffective. And absolutely no one adheres to them, but kicking away, as it were, the unsound and profane, and the old-womanish little myths of those who lead astray, those who were once led astray seize upon the wisdom that is in Christ. For Paul writes: "Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? Therefore we say the rivers turned into islands are the words of the wise among the Greeks that contribute to Hellenic deceit. Or rather, in what has been said before, we have granted that other islands are the Churches of Christ, which receive those who are sailing—intellectually, that is, and spiritually—and who put in at safe anchorages, as it were, with the teachers in them, escaping the wicked spirit that always storms upon those who go down to the sea in ships and do business in great waters. The sea, as I said, must be compared to the surge of this life of ours, and the turmoil of earthly affairs. And the marshes are also dried up, that is, the pastures of the things once under the hand of Satan, so that henceforth they might be under the Chief Shepherd of all, I mean, Christ.

16 Who does not, like those false shepherds, lead his own flock away into thorns and thistles, but rather pastures them among lilies; for intellectually, the divine and holy things, and His own ordinances, are most fragrant. And I will lead the blind in a way they have not known, and in paths they have not known I will make them walk. I will make darkness light before them, and the crooked things straight. These words I will do, and I will not forsake them, says the Lord God. For when the Lord of hosts came to shatter war, and the enemies were overthrown, and the rivers were turned into islands, and the marshes were dried up, according to the arguments of contemplation we have just made, those who were in the rank of captives, and subjected to the depravities of the devil, being blind—for the apostate blinded their hearts—are henceforth led by Christ, clearly into ways which they did not know before. And these are surely the evangelical ordinances and the life according to understanding and virtue, and the beauty of a holy life. For the divine Paul also addressed those from the Gentiles: "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Therefore their darkness became light; that is, matters have changed to the complete opposite. For the ignorant have become wise; those who once went astray have known the straight ways of all righteousness;

17 those who knew nothing of good things have been shown to be experts in all virtue, and curators of the studies that lead to piety. The crooked things have become straight for them, that is, the difficult and impassable things have become passable, and fit for horses, level and cleared. Something of this sort is also hinted at in the preachings of John the Baptist. For every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough way into smooth paths. For hills and hollows show that the road is uneven. But when there is no bank, nor indeed a hollow, the road is surely straight and easy to travel, and free from all difficulty. The blessed prophet Isaiah himself also says this somewhere else: "For the way of the pious," he says, "has become straight, and the way of the pious has been prepared. For truly the way of the evangelical life is not rough and difficult to travel, but rather smooth, and as it were level for those who love the excellent life. He promises, therefore, these words, or rather the God brings promises to completion, and does not abandon them, that is, is with them always, according to, "Behold, I am with you all the days, until the end of the age. But they shall be turned back. Be utterly ashamed, you who trust in graven images, who say to the molten images, "You are our gods.

18 Very opportunely he shifts his words to the nation of the Jews, who, having the law through Moses that leads them to the knowledge of God and to the need to desire to accomplish those things for which it was likely they would be well-pleasing, have turned to apostasy, and having entered the mire of polytheism, they went down into the pit of destruction. And for this reason they have struck against, and very rightly so, the God who bestowed upon them all forbearance and love. So then, the word having proclaimed that the Gentiles will be called in due time, and will tread paths they did not know, and darkness will become light, and crooked things straight, it reveals the ignorance of those of the blood of Israel, saying: But they have turned back. The word "they" must be taken emphatically; that is, those who were instructed in the divine law, and came under my hand, and had Moses as a mediator, who heard explicitly: "The Lord your God, the Lord is one; and you shall have no other gods besides me. These, while the multitude of the Gentiles was in good hope, turned back, having unholily returned to the defilements in Egypt, and having taken up the blame for the ancient deceit. And for them the true proverb has come to pass: "A dog returning to its own vomit, and a sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. Our Lord Jesus Christ also said something of this sort, showing Israel relapsing into its ancient impiety.

19 "For when," he says, "the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding it, it returns to the place from which it came out. And when it comes, it finds it empty and swept. Then it takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. For they had served the gods of the Egyptians, but the demon was cast out when they were called to the knowledge of God, I say, through the law; but they have fallen sick with the slander of having gone astray, and even more grievously, when, knowing the God by nature, they became apostates, honoring gods who are not gods. Be utterly ashamed, then, he says, you who trust in graven images, and attach the revered name of the divinity that is above all, that is, the glory, to things hewn by hand and made by hand. You who are deaf, hear, and you who are blind, look up to see. And who is deaf, but my children? and who are blind, but those who rule over them? And the servants of God were blinded. You have seen many times, and you have not kept watch; your ears were open, and you did not hear. He very rightly calls deaf and blind those who have served idols. For as the all-wise Paul writes:

20 "The god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, so that the light of the Gospel of Christ might not shine. The power of the word would be most fitting for those from Israel, to whom it was indeed given to be enriched in their mind with the divine light, as the law sent forth to them the radiance of the knowledge of God, they foolishly loved to walk in darkness and to be let down into the snares of deceit. And they are blind in another way as well. For with nothing preventing it, one can see the Creator of these things by analogy from the beauty of created things; for as the all-wise Paul writes: "For his invisible attributes, since the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood through what has been made; both his eternal power and divinity; they have slipped into such ignorance, that they say to the molten images: "You are our gods. For that the prophet's word is not now about the multitude of the Gentiles, but about those of the blood of Israel, he has shown by saying: And who is blind, but my children? and deaf, Or are they their rulers? For the multitude under their hand have been blinded, having fallen into this through the indolence of their guides. For they themselves were the cause of their ignorance, and the guides of their wandering. And their rulers were fickle; that is, those who had been appointed to lead.

21 For although they saw the glory of God, and had passed through long experience, they turned to apostasy. For they did not wish to obey God, who said clearly: "You shall have no other gods but me. But since, being knowledgeable of my ordinances, they, along with those under their yoke, went off to apostasy, he is, as it were, astonished, saying: "The servants of God were blinded. And what was the occasion of their blindness? Willingly, he says, you were led astray to this. For although it was possible for you who had seen many times to be on your guard, and for you who knew how to hear, that is, to understand the things written, you did not guard against suffering the sentence, nor indeed did you practice well-doing, widening, as it were, your hearing to the sacred laws. Therefore, the accusations against the Jews are without excuse. For although it was possible for them to know the truth, having received the law as a guide to this, they have become equal to those who have no eyes and whose ears are set uselessly on their head, because of their unwillingness to listen to the sacred laws. The Lord God wished that he might be justified, and might magnify praise. I delivered them, he says, from the greed of the Egyptians; I freed them, contrary to expectation, who were serving strangers; I instructed them through the law toward the knowledge of God; I gave them Moses as a director of good order.

22 For my purpose, I the Lord of all, was to make Israel a worker of righteousness and a steward of the best works, so that, having been brought to an awareness of the gifts given to him by me, he might magnify praise, that is, he would unceasingly glorify me, clearly the one who is the author of all their prosperity, and has become the provider of what they have been enriched with. But not having been brought to an awareness of any of such things, they have rendered evil things instead of good to the Master, and having loosed their neck from his yokes, they have been enslaved to Satan, and wallowing in the mire of polytheistic error they have become abominable, and hated by the God who loves virtue. This is clearly what he also said somewhere else about them, as about a vine: "I waited for it to produce grapes, but it produced thorns. And I saw, and the people became plundered. For the snare was in the storehouses everywhere, and in the houses at the same time where they hid them, they became plunder, and there was no one to rescue the spoil, and there was no one to say: Give it back. He brings them to the remembrance of what happened to their fathers, because of their being caught in the snares of accursed polytheism. And he has done this not in vain, but that he might make more prudent those who fear suffering the same things as their ancestors.

23 For since, he says, they have become blind and deaf, having rejected the worship of God, they kindled reverence for wood and stones. Therefore I saw this, and the people became plundered and ravaged. For when God visits the crimes of the intolerably impious, then he also brings punishments that are in proportion to the accusations. Therefore the people were ravaged, and became plunder for their enemies; and for what reason? For the snare was in the storehouses everywhere, and in the houses at the same time they hid them. But whom? Molten gods, clearly. For the leaders of the Jews, feigning piety, and submitting their neck to the lawful ordinances as far as outward appearance was concerned, hid the disease of apostasy in their mind and heart, worshipping gods that are not; and shutting these up in the storehouses of their own homes they made offerings of sacrifices secretly. For it is written in Ezekiel: "Son of man, dig. And I dug indeed in the wall. And I saw, he says, and behold every likeness of reptile and beast, and all the idols of the house of Israel inscribed on it all around. And he said to me: Have you seen, Son of man, are the things which each one does in his secret chamber a small thing to the house of Israel? See, then, how each of them, having in his secret chamber the snare that was set for him, that is, idolatry lying there, feigned reverence for the laws. For this reason he says:

24 They became plunder, and there was no one to deliver them, a spoil, and there was no one who said, 'Give it back.' For when God did not defend them, who delivered them from so heavy and incurable a disaster? and when He did not rebuke the plunderers, who would have said to them, 'Give it back'? For God no longer sought them as His own inheritance, but rather gave them over as having become estranged from him by their turning to those who are not gods. And by these things he seems to indicate the time of captivity, which those of Israel endured, having fallen into the hands of enemies. For until the seventieth year there was no one to deliver them, nor to say to the plunderers, 'Give it back.' And very providentially, after the calling of the nations was mentioned, the reasons for which those of Israel were cast out from their fellowship with God have been clearly stated, so that God might be seen everywhere to have used a just decree. For it was necessary, necessary for those who honored impiety towards God to be outside of his forbearance and love; but for those who out of ignorance were caught in the pits of sin, and who fell into the devil's hand, to be pitied by the Creator of all, being called to the knowledge of him, and to the light of truth.

25 For this, somewhere, he is also found saying through the all-wise Moses: 'They have made me jealous with what is no god, they have provoked me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are not a nation; with a foolish nation I will provoke them to anger.' And the divine Psalmist also says somewhere that, "They provoked him to anger with their carved images, and with their practices they made him jealous ; and the Lord God saw, and looked upon them, and utterly despised Israel. And if it is necessary to apply some spiritual contemplation to what has been said, let us be on guard against having a diabolical snare in our mind and heart, and the wicked idols in the fantasies of our thoughts, which call us to licentiousness and to perverse pleasures, so that we may not belong to Satan, and a spoil for demons. For it is written that, "If the spirit of the ruler rise up against you, leave not your place; for yielding pacifies great offenses. Who among you will give ear to these things? listen to the things that are coming. It is the custom of the divinely inspired Scripture to speak of 'hearkening,' in the sense of not receiving the word on necessary matters carelessly or negligently, but rather soberly, so as to have what was announced stored up in the mind and heart. Such as what is said through the voice of the Psalmist:

26 "In my heart I have hidden your words, that I might not sin against you. For it is also written in the forty-eighth psalm: "Hear this, all you nations; give ear, all you who dwell in the world. For 'to hear' is common to all who have once received a sound in their ear, or any other noise; but 'to give ear' is to house in the mind, as I said, something of what has been decreed. Therefore, the prophetic word in these things seems to seek those who listen more reasonably, or rather, more prudently, so as to speak of what happened in the past for the security of those to come. For as Paul says: "These things happened to them as a type, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. For we must not read the narratives about him in vain, but receive these things for the benefit of the soul, and strictly refuse to be caught by the same offenses, so that we may not fall into their misfortunes. Who gave Jacob up for spoil, and Israel to those who plunder him? Was it not God, against whom they sinned, and they were not willing to walk in his ways, nor to listen to his law? And he brought upon them the anger of his wrath, and war prevailed against them, and those who burned them round about; and they did not know, each one of them, nor did they take it to heart.

27 He seems to name both Jacob and Israel very emphatically in these words. And what we might understand the power of the emphasis to be, we will state briefly. For at times those from Israel served the Egyptians; but they were redeemed by God with Moses mediating, but with a mighty hand and a high arm, as it is written. For with countless and unbearable plagues he afflicted the oppressors. But when they ran out of the land of the Egyptians, they crossed the sea on foot, they ate the bread of angels, they drank water from a rock, they were brought into the land of promise, they conquered kingdoms, they prevailed over their enemies, they had a terrible and irresistible hand and on this account, renowned glory. And their weapon was the God of all, who stopped the course of the sun and moon over Gibeon, and sent hailstones from heaven upon the foreigners, and raised his own people to the summit of all glory. Who then, he says, has given the renowned Israel, the enviable Jacob, the unconquered by enemies, the strong and most warlike, and the one always accustomed to conquer, over to plunder, and to the spoilers? How did he who knew not how to be conquered grow weak? How was he brought under, and come under the feet of his adversaries, he who was high above all, and raised an unbreakable horn?

28 But since it was necessary for us who come after them not to be ignorant of the reasons for the handing over of so glorious and chosen a people, he necessarily added: Was it not God, against whom they sinned, and they were not willing to walk in his ways, nor to hear his law? The question about these debatable matters contains a clear confession of the fact. For it was certainly God who gave him up, and who brought upon him the wrath befitting his crimes. For this reason, then, war prevailed against them. And this was unusual for those from Israel, for they had always prevailed with God as their shield-bearer. But since they have transgressed against his divine laws, they have been bereft of their former boasts. They have fallen into inactivity, they have been brought down into weakness; around them have been those who set them on fire, and as if with a fire consuming them with the magnitude of the things brought upon them, that is, burning their cities, according to what is clearly stated elsewhere: Your cities are burned with fire. Yet they did not know, he says, each one of them, nor did they take it to heart; in this they endure a charge of insensibility. For those would be perfect in understanding who refuse to offend God, and keep their foot away from suffering anything from his wrath, by submitting their neck to him tenderly.

29 But as for those who, having even come to suffer because of human failings, if they should not perceive the things brought upon them, such people would be far from all good hope. And that those from Israel became liable to such charges, one might observe from Jeremiah saying to the God of all: "O Lord, your eyes look for faithfulness, you have scourged them, and they were not willing to receive correction. We remember that after Jerusalem was captured, and Israel was carried away captive, the prophet Jeremiah spoke to those who were left behind the things from God, saying not to go down to Egypt. Then their women shamelessly said, or rather, not having even been brought to a sense of the wrath, that, The Lord has not sent you. And to this they added things from utter madness. For since, they said, we stopped sacrificing to the queen of heaven, all these evils have come upon us. True, then, is what was said, that They did not know, each one of them, nor did they take it to heart, when war prevailed against them, and those surrounding them completely burned them. And now thus says the Lord God, who made you, Jacob, who formed you, Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you, I have called you by your name. You are mine. And if you pass through water, I am with you, and the rivers will not overwhelm you; and if you pass through fire, you shall not be burned;

30 the flame shall not burn you; for I am the Lord the God, the holy one, Israel, who saves you. And now it is necessary to marvel at the merciful God. For being good by nature, and the Creator of all, even if there should be some necessity for some to fall under the movements of just wrath for the sobering up from their crimes, He turns to mercy, and not for long, and He who strikes binds up, and takes away the scourge, and reclaims those who repent, and raises us who have slipped, and to those caught in suffering He gives a saving hand, drawing them out of every misfortune, and transferring them to well-being. For observe how He comes as it were to a forgetfulness of the sins that have been committed, and promises to make the crimes disappear with God-befitting amnesties, setting before them as it were another beginning of a time that brings them to cheerfulness. And so we say that which is said in the book of Psalms is of such a kind: "Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as in the provocation. For just as there the ‘Today’ defines a beginning of other times, so also here the ‘Now’ has the basis of an amnesty for what has already been said before. And it leads up to the beginning of a way, and of other things that will be from God.

31 Therefore He does not allow them to be withered away by cheerfulness forever, nor indeed does He make His turning away endless, but He removes all fear, and gives courage, that one will obtain every good thing, as God transfers the nature of their affairs to that which is incomparably better. For I have redeemed you, he says; and in what manner the all-wise Paul will make clear when he says concerning the Savior of us all, Christ, that it pleased God the Father to sum up all things in him, both the things in the heavens, and the things on the earth. For in him is the redemption of all, both the forgiveness and amnesty of past things, and the manner of spiritual kinship, I mean that toward him, accomplished through sanctification, bringing us up into the communion of God the Father. For this reason he says: I have called you by your name; and what is it? that is, You are mine. For we are said to be of Christ, and this is the good name that has been called upon us. But it must be known that it is also stated in another Scripture: I have called you by my name; however, by positing and saying, You are mine, he dissolved the alienation, which those held fast by sins are accustomed to endure. For they are not of God, although He has dominion over all, but the disposition toward evil things removes them from kinship with him.

32 In this way we say that those who are in defilements are not of God. Therefore, You are mine, would be an emphasis of spiritual kinship. And he promises him invincible aid, so that he becomes unconquerable by any temptation. For rivers, and water, and flames signify the manifold assaults of temptations. For it is written that "All who want to live piously in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. And Christ himself said somewhere to those who had believed in him: In the world you have tribulation. But if you pass through water, he says, I am with you. For with Christ present, nothing could harm those who are his. But they will attain to such spiritual strength, that they will take no account of anyone who has the power to overwhelm them. But even if a persecution should ever come on like the flow of a river, even if it has the sharpness of fire, and of flame, even so to conquer, provided one knows that it is God who saves. For it is a custom in the divine Scripture to compare the assaults of temptations to both rivers and waters. The Savior himself will also show this by speaking as in the form of a parable, or rather, an example: "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock, and the rain came down, and the rivers came, and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and it did not fall.

33 For it had been founded on the rock, and the rock is Christ. I have made Egypt and Ethiopia your exchange, and Syene for you, since you became honored in my sight. You were glorified, and I have loved you, and I will give many men for you, and rulers for your head. Do not fear, because I am with you. The meaning of the things set forth is quite hard to reach, but I will make the narration as possible with God guiding, for He Himself gives wisdom and knowledge. Therefore, before Christ, who is the true light, shone upon the world, the whole earth had gone astray, and was darkened by the deep and most intense shadow of ignorance, and there were very many forms of worship everywhere, according to regions and nations. But more superstitious than the others were the Chaldeans, and the Phoenicians, and all who possess the land of the Egyptians, as far as Syene and Ethiopia. For they dwell in a land bordering that of the Egyptians. But the chosen lot of God was Israel alone, and the portion of the Lord, according to what is written. But since they have acted impiously toward our Lord Jesus Christ, and have become slayers of the Lord, they have no longer remained God's lot at all; but they have slipped from their kinship with Him, and the Gentiles have been received, and have become the exchange for Israel; even those who were formerly the most superstitious of all others, and had in this an indelible stain.

34 And I said that the Egyptians have become terrible and bitter, especially concerning the inventions of idols, and deep in false worship, and proud of devising superfluous things concerning both the worship and the invocations of idols. Therefore, "of you the beloved," he says, "who was allotted to me as a portion, I have made Egypt an exchange, and Ethiopia," that is, again Egypt; for it is the custom in the divine Scripture to call the Egyptians Ethiopians. For so he said through one of the holy prophets, "And you, Ethiopians, are the slain of my sword. Therefore I received in your stead, he says, those who are in terrible pollutions, and have an impurity that is all but irremovable. But from the time you became honorable, you were glorified in my sight. For Israel did not remain in perpetual turning away and dishonor. For he himself also will be called through faith in Christ, and will be a sharer and partaker of the glory of the saints. For "you were glorified," he says, "and I loved you. But the saying, "I will give many men for you, and rulers for your head," seems to make clear that when those from Israel are called from time to time to the knowledge of Christ, there will be very many who know how to initiate them, wise and most eloquent men. For acting for your sake, he says, "I will give many men. And I will give rulers speaking for your head;

35 and the head of the believers is Christ, to whom every initiation looks from those who are brought from time to time to lead the peoples, that is, by a vote from him. Therefore, "for your sake," would signify "for the sake of what is useful and leads to your benefit as you learn the august and great mystery of your head," that is, of Christ. Or you will understand in another way the saying, "I will give many men for you, and rulers for your head. "For you have become," he says, "cast off and banished, and entirely foreign to my friendship and kinship. For this reason, I also received in exchange for you those of the nations who have reached the extremes of diabolical wickedness. But from the time you became honorable in my sight, that is, by believing and finding glory in this, I loved you. And I loved you so, that if the time should come, or the need for many men and rulers to be given for your head, I would give them. For the saying is hypothetical, and having the greatest possible emphasis that Israel has been honored by God, it yet gives firm courage, as God is with them in every good thing, in every way and in every case; "For I am with you. And this is sufficient for them for all prosperity;

36 for with God present, evil things will be out of the way, and every kind of good cheer and delight or rather joy is brought in to us in its place. I will bring your seed from the east, and gather you from the west. I will say to the North, Bring; and to the South, Do not hinder; bring my sons from a land far off, and my daughters from the ends of the earth, all who are called by my name. He appeared to those on earth in a form like ours, That is, the only-begotten Word of God, having become man, in order that He might drive together Greeks and Jews, who through many and various slips had been brought down into apostasy, I mean, from the Creator of all things, to the true and blameless knowledge of God, and might gather them into spiritual unity through faith and sanctification, with the intimacy with Him being well accomplished, He might then declare them to be worthy, and thus might join them through Himself to God, even the Father. For that Christ became incarnate also for this reason, it is not at all difficult to perceive through the holy evangelical Scriptures. For Lazarus was miraculously brought back to life from the dead; but the multitude of the unholy Jews, or the God-hated workshop of the Pharisees, were sitting in council and said: "What are we doing? For this man performs many signs.

37 If we let him go on like this, the Romans will come and take away both our nation and our country. But one of them, Caiaphas, said to them: You know nothing at all, that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation should not perish. Then to these things the divine evangelist immediately added: "He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was about to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who were scattered abroad. For as far as it concerned the creation of man in the beginning, and the purpose for him of the one who brought him into existence, all were his children. But Satan, as I said, scattered all into manifold sin, and beguiled them away from intimacy with him, bringing them down into error; but Christ gathered all together. For he came to seek that which was lost. This, to be sure, is also signified by the preceding words. For he promises to the assembly gathered from both gentiles and Jews, that is, the church, to gather all from east to west, and from the North, and Libs, that is, the South, so that from this you might understand [it means] from every region under heaven. For east and west, north and south, would certainly signify this very thing to us; saying:

38 Bring, to the North, and to the Libs, Do not hinder, he somehow gives us to understand that he does not permit the resistance of savage and wicked spirits to be brought spiritually against those who come to him. Just as also long ago, like some cruel and arrogant tyrant, the accursed Satan lorded it over those on earth together with his own shield-bearers, not allowing them to look up to the truth, that is, to go to God through repentance. But this too has ceased through Christ, who smoothes the way to salvation for those who have been called, and causes every obstacle in their path to be removed from the way. And by naming sons and daughters running from the four regions, he makes manifest the time of Christ's coming, at which the grace of adoption has been given to those on earth through sanctification in the Spirit. That the call was not of one nation, but became common and one for all, he indicated by saying, All, who are called by my name. For we have been named Christians, that is, the people of God. For thus somewhere Peter also writes to those called through faith and says: "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood; a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, who once were not a people, but now are the people in the Lord.

39 For in my glory I have prepared him, and formed him, and made him. And I brought out a blind people, and their eyes are likewise blind, and they have deaf ears. All the nations were gathered together, and rulers will be gathered from them. All things have become new in Christ, and the most holy Paul will confirm this, writing: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things have passed away. And he also writes to those called to newness, clearly meaning the spiritual kind: "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you may prove you, what is the will of God, the good, and perfect, and acceptable. For we were renewed in Christ, having returned through sanctification to the ancient beauty of our nature, that is, according to the image of the * having cast off the oldness from sin, and all wickedness; and we have put off the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and we have put on the new, which is renewed in the image of him that created him. But in Christ has come the re-creation and what is called the new creation, which we have not received from corruptible seed, but through the living and abiding word of God. Therefore, the people gathered from the four corners under heaven and called by my name, not someone else, but I rather in my glory have prepared, and formed, and made;

40 and one might say the Son is the glory of God and the Father, for through him and in him he is glorified, and according to that which was clearly spoken by him, I have glorified thee on the earth. For we are assured, as I said, that those who have believed in him have been formed through him, having the beauty of the divine nature shining forth in their souls in conformity to him. The divine Psalmist also said something of this kind: "The generation to come shall be declared to the Lord, and a people that is being created shall praise the Lord. Adding to these things, that I have also brought out a blind people, he makes clear the truly admirable pre-eminence of his own power beyond all expression. For those who formerly had in their mind and heart the mist and deceit from diabolical wickedness, he has rendered brilliant and illuminated, like a morning star, and the sun of righteousness rising upon them, and has declared them to be sons, no longer of night and darkness, but rather of light, and indeed of day, according to the voice of the most wise Paul. Therefore, that he brought out a blind people is not unclear to any of those who exist; but as if someone were resisting such words and saying: And yet, one might still see their eyes as blind, and indeed that they have deaf ears, he makes a defense, saying: All the nations were gathered together, and rulers shall be gathered from them.

41 For you do not simply receive the words of prophecy, O you people; the time for the events has not yet arrived; however, all the nations will in every way and entirely be gathered together in due time. For 'were gathered', instead of 'shall be gathered', he says, as this is the custom in the divinely-inspired Scripture. For it sometimes sets down things that will in every way and entirely happen as if they have already happened. For instance, it is said as from the person of Christ through the voice of Isaiah: I gave my back to the scourges, instead of, I will give. And through the one who Psalms: "They parted my garments among them, and for my vesture they cast lots," which also happened at the time of his sojourning. Therefore, he says, all the nations will be gathered together, and not only this, but there will also be rulers from them, that is, leaders of peoples, and mystagogues, and those who once were wandering, and lying in deep darkness, will be agents of the divine light for those initiated by them. The Melodist said something of this sort concerning the church from the Gentiles: "As her darkness, so also is her light. For just as she was sick with an immeasurable and deep darkness in the time of error, so again she has become exceedingly brilliant, and preternaturally whitened. For it is true that, as the divine Paul says: "Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. Who shall declare these things?

42 Or who shall declare to you the things from the beginning? Let them bring forth their witnesses, and let them be justified, and let them speak truth, and let them hear. Having once made mention of the nations, that is, of those called through faith to the knowledge of the truth, he weaves a certain manner of initiation for them, denouncing not a little the deceit of demons, and showing that the making of idols is absolutely nothing; for to know all things from the beginning to the end would be fitting only for him who is God by nature. For all understanding is from him, and he is of all knowledge a fountain, and in him are all the hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge, according to what is written. But if anyone is found to have knowledge of future things, he is seen to have received the gift from a revelation from him. He is conversing, therefore, as I said, with those from the nations, and indeed he says: I have announced and spoken to you all future things, and that you will be called in due time to the knowledge of the truth; but who else will announce these things to you, or is seen to have declared them? Let them bring forth their witnesses, and let them be justified, and let them speak the truth, and let them hear. For I, he says, have spoken through prophets;

43 I have proclaimed future events in due time, through holy men, and I have as witnesses of my foreknowledge of the future those who ministered to my words. But who would testify for the demons, or for the lifeless idols, that they had spoken such a thing through them? For there are very many orators and poets among the Greeks, but absolutely none of them said, as from their own gods, that these things would happen to them in due time; nor indeed would one find any of the wise men among the Greeks who had foretold that Satan would in due time be cast out from the glory he had acquired for himself through greed, or that the world under hea- ven would be enlightened through faith in Christ, and the nations would be called to the knowledge of him, or that the darkness of idolatry would depart, and the truth would prevail under heaven. Let them, therefore, bring forth their witnesses, and show that they spoke the truth. And if this should happen, let them hear them, that is, let them follow them, and agree that the herd of demons also abounds in the knowledge of future things. But there is no one who has testified for them, nor indeed a messenger of future things. Therefore, those who considered them to be gods have admittedly been deceived; for they are profane, and impostors and buffoons.

44 Be my witnesses, and I am a witness, says the Lord God, and the servant whom I have chosen, that you may know, and believe, and understand that I am. And before me there was no other god, and after me there will be none. Having said that nothing could testify for the unclean demons, that is, for the works of human hands, to know the future, he converses with his own prophets, and says: Be my witnesses. For I have spoken through you, and my Spirit has shone in you the knowledge of future things. Therefore, I will bring forth witnesses of my own glory and divine pre-eminence. And I will testify for myself, and the Servant whom I have chosen. Similar to this is what was said to the Jews through the voice of our Savior: "If I bear witness of myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I am from and where I am going. And again: "I bear witness of myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness of me. For the voice of God is worthy of belief for whatever he may wish to say concerning his own glory and pre-eminence. Secondly, it follows logically, both the vote of the saints, and the understanding which ascribes to him all that is fitting to the nature that is beyond all things. For this reason, having taken the holy prophets as witnesses, he proceeds to what is greater and admittedly true, himself, I say, and his own Son.

45 For, as I said, the voice of God is sufficient for all belief for those of sound mind. "These things I have spoken to you, he says, not in vain, but that you may know, and believe, and understand that I am. For through knowledge comes faith, and through faith comes understanding. For if you do not believe, you will not understand, he says; but believe that before me there was no other God, and after me there will be none. For neither was there another God before him, but he himself is the beginning of all things and beyond all mind, and after him there will be none. For he remains the same, and has an unchangeable nature, and an unshakable pre-eminence over all things, and a perpetual kingdom. For he who has no beginning of being, to what end will he run? I am God, and besides me there is no savior. I have announced, and I have saved. I have reproached, and there was no stranger among you. You are to me witnesses, and I am a witness, says the Lord God, that [or, yet] from the beginning, and there is no one who can rescue from my hands. I will do it, and who then will turn it back? Bear witness, he says, that I alone am the God of all, with none having been before me, nor indeed will there be any after me.

46 For I alone am the one who saves, and this I proclaimed to you long ago, and what was spoken I brought to completion. For I saved in Christ; I reproached, and there was no stranger among you. For from time to time those of Israel forgot the sacred ordinances, those given, I say, through the all-wise Moses, and were lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Then, making pretexts for indolence, they were sometimes endangered by enemies being sent against them. But in the time of affliction, they would attempt to call upon the one who always saves for aid. And this I reproached them for, saying through the voice of Jeremiah: "And in the time of their evils they will say: 'Arise, and save us.' And where are your gods, which you made for yourself? Will they arise and save you in the time of your affliction? Therefore, I have reproached you of the blood of Israel many times, and you have learned by experience that there was no god among you, that is, a strange one. For none of them has saved you. Therefore, I alone am the one who saves. Therefore, bear witness, and I will be a witness to myself, says the Lord God. That is, according to that: "Everyone therefore who confesses me before men, I also will confess him.

47 Bear witness, therefore, that I am still from the beginning, that is, the one from the beginning until now who both foretells the things that will be, and is able to save without effort those who thirst for fellowship with me. Saving in such a way, that absolutely no one is able to snatch from my hands one who has once been taken. For there is no one, he says, who can rescue from my hands. I will do it, and who will turn it back? For I have made the calling of the nations, he says, that is, I have saved those who were wandering. And who will change this, or rather, alter it so that it is not so. For that no one will snatch from the hand of God those who have been saved by him, the Savior himself will confirm, saying: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand. This is clearly what is written: "There is no one who can rescue from my hands. Thus says the Lord God who redeems you, the Holy One of Israel: For your sake I will send to Babylon, and I will stir up all who are fleeing, and the Chaldeans shall be bound in ships.

48 Through the things just said to us, having woven a not ignoble exhortation for those called from the nations to the knowledge of him, and having shown that he alone has the knowledge of things in the beginning, and in the middle, and at the end, and indeed that besides him there is absolutely no other who is able to save, and through these things having established in them a firm faith, he shifts his words to those of the blood of Israel, and attempts to assure them that he is all-powerful, and a worker of wonders, and that the natures of things yield to his commands; and the very elements of the world serve him, and whatever he himself may wish, this is indeed accomplished in every way, with no one standing in the way. For it was necessary, it was necessary for those of Israel to have the greatest possible enlightenment and exhortations and reminders that would establish them in steadfastness of mind, since they had slipped into what is not lawful, and having inclined to other gods, they have sacrificed to idols, and to the host of heaven, as it is written; therefore, he makes for them the prediction of things to come, and reveals beforehand the misfortunes of the Babylonians, very artfully, showing that they themselves will be captives by them; but also proclaiming beforehand that they will suffer the most shameful things of all on account of them, as I said.

49 Since, however, concerning the greatest matters the [discourse] to the message was for them, he necessarily shows the incomparable glory of his own power, and indeed the excess of his strength, saying: Thus says the Lord God, who redeems you, the Holy One of Israel. For in order to bring them to a remembrance of old things, I mean of the redemption which happened out of Egypt, when also a great multitude of wonders testified to his glory, for this reason, having named himself Lord God, he also confirmed that he is the redeemer. And so much for these matters. But what then is to be? For your sake I will send, he says, to Babylon. For the Babylonian took Israel captive, and having raised it up from its homeland, or rather having burned the whole land of the Jews along with the famous temple, he removed it to the mountains of the Persians and Medes. But when the seventieth year of hardship was being completed for those who had fallen into this, God pitied them, and indeed he raises up against the Chaldeans Cyrus the son of Cambyses with the allied Persians and Medes; these took by force the land of the Chaldeans, that is, of the Babylonians, although long fearing them and avoiding their overpowering hand. And tradition has it that Cyrus, having seized some of the magnates in it, then binding them with iron, sent them out through the Caspian Sea to impassable and uninhabited lands.

50 And Cyrus was roused up against the Babylonians by God who urged him on and had granted him the ability to prevail. For He said somewhere to him through the voice of Isaiah: "Thus says the Lord to my anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held, that nations might hearken before him. And again: "I will go before you and level mountains; I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut asunder the bars of iron; and I will give you the treasures of darkness, hidden, unseen, I will open for you. For since the Babylonians, using terrible and unrestrained wrath against those of Israel, have offended God, for this reason they themselves have been given to the Persians and Medes, who also used unbearable inhumanities against them. At any rate, it was said to Babylon through one of the holy prophets: As you have done, so shall it be to you; your recompense shall be returned upon your own head. For your sake, therefore, he says, O Israel, I will send to Babylon, but whom will I send? Or surely the renowned Cyrus and the army under him? And "I will send" means "I will send against. And I will also stir up against them all who formerly fled, yielding to them and fearing them as fighters and stronger men. And the Chaldeans will be bound in ships. For as I have already said, they themselves were also resettled into remote and impassable lands, having sailed across the so-called Caspian Sea.

51 But it must be known that another reading is also offered. For the Chaldeans, it says, will be bound not so much in ships, but in collars. And the Savior and Lord of all has also saved spiritually all those on earth, having abolished the hordes of demons, and having raised up his invincible and transcendent power against them, that is, Christ. For thus he redeemed us when we were captives, and made us free who were, as it were, serving his will, and having removed us as from a barbarian land, he brought us back to the spiritual Judea, which is the Church that he acquired for himself, having freed it from every spot and defilement, declaring it holy and blameless. I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One, who has appointed Israel your king. Great and exceptional things are often disbelieved when they are foretold to happen. For this very reason and very appropriately, the God of all, whenever he promises some such thing, to build the faith of the hearer, making his own glory manifest, names himself both Lord of all and God. For what could stand against one who is of such nature and glory? Therefore, when I foretell to you, he says, I myself am not one of the falsely named gods, who being nothing at all, could not do anything small or great; but I am rather the Lord God, the Holy One among you, that is, revered, and set apart from all others, and by irresistible nods achieving whatever I wish.

52 I am the one who appointed Israel your king. This must be understood in two ways; for either it says this: As I am the one who showed myself by many signs, and by strength and authority beyond description, to be your king; or else something else must be supposed to be indicated by this: Our Lord Jesus Christ is called Israel and indeed Jacob in the divine Scriptures, just as also David; because according to the flesh He is from the seed of those who were so named. I am therefore, it says, the one who appointed him from the blood of Jacob and Israel to be your king. And the saying has the greatest possible economy. For since it made mention of a partial redemption; for, as I said, Israel was brought back from Babylon to Judea, it necessarily raises the promise to something incomparably greater, and makes mention of the redemption that will come through Christ, and no longer a partial one, and for one nation, as before, but rather a more general one, going out to every nation under heaven. And that the mystery of Christ is not unwonderful, on account of the excess of the economy, and the greatness of his gentleness toward us, no one who has once known it would doubt.

53 For being God by nature, and the Only-Begotten who shone forth from God the Father, He came to an emptying, and took the form of a servant, in order that, having freed those lying under the tyranny of the devil, He might bring them under His own scepters. The saying, therefore, in these things, mentions a partial redemption that will come in due time, which is given only to those of the blood of Israel, and a universal, and most general one, clearly through Christ, by which God the Father has saved those throughout the whole world. Thus says the Lord: Who makes a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty water, who brings out chariots, and horse and a strong host. But they lay down to sleep, and they will not rise again; they were extinguished like a quenched flax. Good and profitable things, even if spoken many times by both God and men, would in no way be troublesome to the sound-minded, but rather necessary for salvation. For this reason also the all-wise Paul writes to some: "To say the same things to you is not troublesome to me, but for you it is safe.

54 For since from excessive carelessness the human mind is sometimes corrupted into forgetfulness of the things gifted to each by God, for this reason the divine word brings us to remembrance of them in many places, not allowing us to grow entirely cold towards carelessness, but rather rekindling us to the love of God, and to the desire for every good thing. Therefore, since Israel was redeemed, while very many wondrous things were accomplished on its behalf, then, forgetting these things, they turned to apostasy, and have inclined to gods that are not, God necessarily brings them to a remembrance of His own power, saying that He had given a way in the sea, and in the mighty water a path. For they were brought across through the midst of the sea, departing the land of the Egyptians, and they also crossed the Jordan on foot. And this we say is the path in the mighty water. And astonished at these things, the divine David sings: "What is it to you, O sea, that you fled? And you, O Jordan, that you were turned back? And again, speaking of God: "Who turns the sea into dry land, they will go through the river on foot. Therefore, He has given a way in the sea, and in the mighty water a path. And He brought out chariots, and a horse, and a strong host.

55 For Pharaoh pursued those of the blood of Israel with chariots and horses, and using the irresistible hand of his allies, yet in no way did he conquer, or harm the redeemed. For they lay down to sleep, it says, and they will not rise again, but they were extinguished like a quenched flax. For they were drowned in the waters, and have perished together with their horses, and like easily flammable flax they have been consumed by the divine wrath, and they were effortlessly extinguished, that is, they have passed into nothingness, and as it were have been reduced to ashes. For flax is indeed ready for destruction by fire, but it is also extinguished by the touch of a hand, and a most inactive travails with flame. But if someone should say, Since they pursued Israel by the private will of the ruler of the land of the Egyptians, how is the God of all said to have led out the horses, and chariots, and the army under them? We say that it was said to Pharaoh by the God who rules over all: "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show in you my power, and that my name might be declared in all the earth. And let these things, then, be said again historically.

56 But we say that the evil one persecutes those who have chosen to live well, and who renounce slavery under the devil, and who depart from earthly pursuits, and who, as it were, wish to depart from all impurity, but God miraculously saves them, making the surge of the present life passable for them, and carrying them across by ineffable power, and not allowing the distractions of the present life to overwhelm them, but preparing them to be beyond the waves of the flesh, and taming for them, as it were, a certain sea, the manifold temptations that occur; so that having been in a desert land, they might be strong enough, that is, in a pure and leisurely state of mind, to eat the bread from heaven, and drink water from the rock, that is, to be in communion with Christ, and to be carried across the Jordan, and so to drive into the land of promise, the spiritual man will surely understand what I say. Remember not the former things, and consider not the things of old. Behold, I am doing new things, which now spring forth, and you will know them. And I will make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the waterless place. The beasts of the field will bless me, sirens, and daughters of ostriches, because I have given water in the wilderness, and rivers in the waterless place, to give drink to my chosen race, my people whom I have acquired, to declare my virtues and mighty deeds.

57 Just as in the things before, he briefly set forth for their knowledge the future redemption for those of Israel, which was partial, but leading the narrative of events up to what is better, he made mention of the salvation through Christ as incomparable, saying he would show our king, Israel; so also here, having usefully made mention of both the Red Sea, and the streams of the Jordan, and the crossing of those from Israel, he returns again to the mystery of Christ. For this reason he says: Remember not the former things, and consider not the things of old. For the introduction of things incomparably superior sometimes gives the lesser thing to oblivion, and the brilliant things somehow blunt those that are not so by nature, even if they come first in time. Such a thing also the all-wise Paul says, that "Now we know in part; but when that which is perfect has come, that which is in part will be done away. For great and beyond all speech are the things accomplished by God through the all-wise Moses, but transcendent and sublime are those through the might and pre-eminence of our Savior. For through him, and by him, the multitude of nations throughout the whole world has been saved. For this reason, he all but commands to forget the former things. But the mind should rather apply itself [alt. be fixed upon] to those things that are incomparably superior, and have a brilliant glory. I will make, therefore, he says, a way in the wilderness.

58 And indeed, in these things the wilderness is understood as the multitude of the nations, formerly dry and fruitless, and as it were, thorn-bearing, because there was in it absolutely no one who was pious, and well-pleasing, and who knew how to do good wisely. For as the psalmist says: "They have all gone out of the way, they have together become unprofitable, and there was none among them that does good, no, not one. In this wilderness, therefore, a way has appeared, leading those who come through it to the true knowledge of God, and to a holy and undefiled life, and to all knowledge of every good thing. And we say that this way is either the divine and evangelical and saving proclamation, or perhaps even Christ himself. For we have heard him saying clearly: "I am the way. But not only has a way come to be in the wilderness, but rivers also have been shown forth, able to inebriate those in it with intelligible and soul-profiting streams. And we say that also these ministers of the evangelical and apostolic decrees, of whom the divine David also makes mention, saying: "The rivers have lifted up their voices. For as he himself somewhere says again: "Their sound has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.

59 And in addition to the named rivers, one might also understand the leaders of the peoples, who know how to initiate into the mysteries rightly and blamelessly, and are able to irrigate with words of piety those who approach Christ through faith. But he calls the multitude of the nations waterless. For there was not among them a teacher of truth, possessing the stream of salvation. "For professing to be wise, they became fools," according to the voice of the blessed and divine Paul; "And they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and of four-footed animals, and of creeping things. A way, therefore, having been revealed, he says, in the desert, and the waterless land having received rivers, the beasts of the field will bless me, sirens, and daughters of ostriches, because I have given water in the desert, and rivers in the waterless land, to give drink to my chosen race, a people whom I have acquired to declare my virtues; and beasts of the field seems to signify those who have been made beast-like in a way from excessive ignorance and live wildly. And thus lived the nations. And by sirens and daughters of ostriches he means those among them who know how to speak well, and are practiced in elegant speech. But it is a custom for the divinely-inspired Scripture to call sirens the most talkative of sparrows, and those accustomed to cry out something melodious and rhythmical.

60 And somehow the teachers of the Greeks' superstition have become such, both poets and prose writers. For there is in them the sweet and the grandiloquent, as far as it pertains to words. But they teach nothing of what is necessary. But all these will glorify me, he says, as having given the spiritual water, and shown rivers in the waterless land. So that they may give drink to my chosen race; and what is this, if not those surely, to whom. the all-wise Peter also addressed, saying: "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the virtues of him who called you out of darkness to his marvelous light, you who were once not a people, but are now a people in the Lord? Not now have I called you, Jacob, nor have I made you to labor, Israel. You have not brought me the sheep of your whole burnt offering, nor have you glorified me in your sacrifices, nor have you served in your sacrifices. Nor have I wearied you with frankincense, nor did you acquire for me incense with silver, nor have I desired the fat of your sacrifices. But in your sins, and transgressions and injustices and such like things I have stood over you. Through the things already examined before, that is, read before, he made the prediction of the covenant in Christ and of the gifts from him.

61 For he said he would make a way in the desert, and rivers in the waterless land; for this reason he would be blessed by all the beasts of the field; and the doxology might be understood as a type of spiritual sacrifice, and the fruit of the new covenant in Christ. But in the present text he tries to assure Israel that he was redeemed from Egypt, and was delivered from servitude there, and was freed from such grievous labors, not in order that he should bring calves to him, and make his approach through blood and smoke. For such things are refuse before God, and are shadow rather than truth. He says therefore, Not now have I called you, Jacob. And the 'now' is to be understood as, not when you are sacrificing, that is, I have not called you while you were sacrificing oxen and slaughtering sheep, lest you should perhaps think that you have received the redemption as a kind of requital for your offering, but rather while you were in sins, and liable to defilements—for you served the gods of the Egyptians—I deemed you worthy of mercy and love. The gift, then, is of gentleness, and the grace is the fruit of loving-kindness, and the redemption is as from love. For, he says, the sheep of your whole burnt offering are nothing to me, nor indeed in your sacrifices have you glorified me. The For what is wholly unacceptable and offered in vain, how could it be for my glory?

62 But you have not served in your sacrifices. For he who practices some of the good things, he says, and becomes an accomplisher of the boasts that lead to virtue, who has submitted his neck to my commands, and is a worker of the sacred ordinances, would be said to serve God who is over all. But the one who perfumes the holy tent with incense, and offers oxen or sheep, or has achieved some of the best things, will not carry away the glory of genuineness; For such a one has done nothing at all of what pleases me; therefore, to serve is not in sacrificing, but in being willing to submit one's neck, gentle and as it were intangible, to his will. For as far as it concerned what seemed good to me, he says, I would not have made you weary with frankincense, nor would you have acquired for me incense for silver, nor indeed did I desire the fat of your sacrifices. This resembles what was said to them through another prophet: "Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat meat, for I did not speak to your fathers concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices on the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt. And somewhere else again the same prophet Jeremiah said: "To what purpose do you bring me frankincense from Sheba, and cinnamon from a far country? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, and your sacrifices have not pleased me. And indeed, also through the voice of the Psalmist:

63 "I will not take calves out of your house, nor goats out of your flocks. And he makes the worship in shadows rejected everywhere, drawing them away from the types, and as it were driving them together towards justification in Christ, and teaching them to partake of the evangelical way of life, through which alone it would be possible to please God, and what is truly blameless and sincere for worship, it is clear that it is the spiritual one. "For God is Spirit, he says, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth. I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, and I will not remember them. But you, remember, and let us be judged. You tell your transgressions first, that you may be justified. Observe for me again, how God has not granted to the power of the worship according to the law the ability to deliver some from the impurity that is in them. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins, and in these matters the shadow of the law is useless. For no one is justified by the law, according to the voice of the divine Paul. For he writes, and says concerning both himself and the other apostles, that is, of those who have believed from the circumcision: "We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles; but knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ;

64 we also have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified in him. Do not therefore think, he says, that you will ever be able to show yourself free from the charges of wickedness through sacrifice and smoke. But know rather that I am he who blots out your transgressions, and I will not remember them. For we have been justified not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his great mercy, of him who is willing to not remember our faults. For this alone saves those upon the earth, who have a mind that is inactive and easily led away to anything whatever of the things condemned by the law. For diligently, he says, the mind of man is set on evil things from his youth. For this reason, and very fittingly, the divine David makes mention of human failings, saying: "If you, Lord, should mark iniquities, who shall stand? For with you there is forgiveness. Therefore, the God of all pities, and indeed using favorable decrees and amnesties befitting God, he puts those who have been caught by them outside of accusation and their failings. However, he does not allow those who have been shown mercy to be ignorant of the grace of him who justifies them. And we will find this to be beneficial and a matter of great concern to the saints. For so the blessed David psalms and says, at one time, that "The I know my iniquity, and my sin is ever before me;

65 and again, that "I will declare my iniquity, and I will be sorry for my sin. I therefore, He says, will not remember the accusations. But you remember, and let us be judged; But you confess, and have a firm amnesty. For it is written that, "A righteous man is his own accuser in the first instance. And again; "Do not be ashamed to confess your sins. The arrogant Pharisee did not keep such a commandment, whom the Savior portrays praying in the synagogue in the evangelical parables, then being very sick with ignorance, and saying from a vain conceit: "God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, or even as this tax collector; I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I possess. This man did not bear to speak of his own sins. He is condemned therefore as a boaster and a liar, for no one is clean from filth, and we all stumble in many things. But the tax collector knew and confessed his own sins. For he stood beating his breast, and saying: "God, be merciful to me a sinner. He was justified therefore, having confessed his failings, and not hiding the filth of the abomination that was in him, so that he might be cleansed. Your first fathers, and your princes have transgressed against me. And the princes have defiled my holy things; and I have given Jacob to destruction, and Israel to reproach. Having said:

66 I am he who blots out your iniquities, and I will not remember them, he understood that perhaps some would rise up against what had been said, and would indeed say: If you have honored Israel with an amnesty, if a very great calm has come upon it, if it has been cleansed from filth, and has washed away the defilements of ancient accusations, how or for what does he demand justice, being consumed by the swords of enemies; then having been taken captive, and having left the land that bore him, and having come under the hand and yoke of his captors? For he was given to the warriors who came from Babylon. He therefore defends the saying, "Let us be judged," saying, and he states, that they themselves have become, and are the cause and originators of this for their own heads. For your fathers, he says, and your princes have transgressed against me. And in saying these things, he does not simply accuse our forefathers. But he seems rather to want to imply something of this sort. For indeed those chosen for sacred ministry, wise and learned in the law, and accustomed to instruct the people under their hand, would be called fathers of those under their yoke, and rulers and leaders. Therefore, when some of the absurdities are committed not by the common herd, but rather by those who were likely able to correct even the faults of others, the matter is grievous, and the judgment difficult to escape, and is then owed to the impious.

67 Therefore, those who are placed in the rank of fathers, he says, and who were allotted to rule you, have transgressed against me. And in saying, "against me," he shows that the things committed by them improperly and unholily were not done against one of us, but against the very glory of the God who is above all. I mean something like this: for when someone wrongs some of his neighbors, either by encircling them with greed and arrogance, or in some other way, he sins indeed, but against a fellow human being, and not at all against God. But he who rejects the worship due to him, and subjecting himself to the deceits of demons and worshipping them, raises himself against God, and as far as it is in him, he removes him from the thrones of the Godhead, and tries to shake him from the pre-eminence and glory that befit him alone. The people of Israel have done this at times. For they have worshipped idols, and indeed, having bid farewell to the sacred ordinances, they were willing to raise a stiff and haughty neck to God. He therefore accuses them, and says: The priests did not say, Where is the Lord? And those who held to the law did not know me, and the prophets were impious against me. And again: Why do you speak to me? All of you have transgressed, and all of you you have acted impiously against me, says the Lord Almighty. The rulers, therefore, he says, have defiled my holy things.

68 For they have dared to erect the pillars of demons not only in Jerusalem, but they would even be caught having impiously done this in the divine temple itself. For the God of all said concerning the synagogue of the Jews: Why has the beloved wrought abomination in my house? calling an abomination the statue and image skillfully made in the form of God. But holy things are defiled in another way as well, if the things commanded to be performed reverently and holily for the glory of God are despised by some, and if some consider the transgression of his divine law as nothing. Therefore, since your fathers, he says, have transgressed against me, and the rulers have defiled my holy things, I have given this to the enemies so as to destroy Jacob, and with reproaches for these things I have clothed Israel. But now hear, my servant Jacob, and Israel whom I have chosen. Having recalled the former things, and having stated very well the reasons for which the apostate Israel was given over to destruction and reproach; he again promises them forgiveness, and wishes to renew them to a complete and blameless obedience. Having passed over, as it were, the time of ignorance, during which the one who had become a lover of God, the one having the law, has been exposed, he again sets another time for them, saying Now; I say that this is like, "Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.

69 For during the time that has already passed, he says, the outcry against you has been very great and certainly just; for you cast yourself into apostasy, you have offended not moderately, thrusting aside the law that tutors, turning to what is not right, and immersing yourself in the crimes of disobedience. But let those things be passed over, he says. Now hear, that is, Lower your haughty spirit. Know your own Master; come under the yoke of obedience, considering that you were named my servant. And I made you chosen from all, that is, from the nations that are on the earth. For when the Most High divided the nations, when he scattered the sons of Adam, he set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the angels of God. The people of the Lord became his portion, Israel the lot of his inheritance. Therefore, he shames, and as it were, convicts those who have transgressed and offended not moderately, those who have been in the order of children to him, and who are in the lot of the chosen.