Isaías 4
Jerome · Comentário Patrístico (catena)
Isaías 4:1
(Chapter IV, Verse 1) And in that day, seven women will take hold of one man, saying: We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothing, only let us be called by your name; take away our reproach. When the most beautiful of the city of Jerusalem fall by the sword and the strong ones perish in battle, and its gates mourn and lament; and it becomes desolate due to the scarcity of people, with the warriors being killed, seven women will take hold of one man, desiring to have offspring in Zion and descendants in Jerusalem. They say that they have food and clothing, only so that they will not appear without a husband and be subject to the curse that is written: Cursed is the barren woman, who does not bear children in Israel (Deuteronomy 7). Zacharias also agrees with this interpretation: In those days, ten men from all the languages of the nations will seize the hem of a Jewish man, saying: We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you (Zech. VIII, 23). The number seven and ten are familiar to the Jews due to the Sabbath and the Ten Commandments of the law, and therefore they often use them; although according to the ambiguity of the Hebrew language, which interprets the word Saba () as both seven and several or an oath, it may not mean seven in this passage, but rather several. This according to the letter. However, in the coming of the Lord and Savior, the seven women, that is, the seven graces of the Holy Spirit, of whom the same Prophet will speak in the following words: A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. (Isaiah 11:1-2) They will lay hold of Jesus, whom they have long desired, for they could find no other in whom they could find eternal rest. And John the Baptist confirms in the Gospel: And he who sent me said to me: Upon whom you see the Holy Spirit descending and remaining upon him, he is the one (John 1:33). In Zachariah, we also read about a stone with seven eyes, and in a golden candlestick, seven lamps and seven tubes, and two olive trees on either side of the lampstand, firmly rooted (Zechariah 3). However, the grace of the Holy Spirit, possessing all things, does not need explanation. But because he always suffered reproach among men, while no one living was seeking the gifts of the Holy Spirit, therefore they desire to invoke the name of Jesus, so that what was imperfect in the Law may be fulfilled in the Gospel. — Commentary on Isaiah
Isaías 4:2-3
When the daughters of Zion will have destroyed every adornment on account of pride, her gates will also be mourning and weeping, she herself will die alone, and so many of her soldiers will be killed in war that a number of women will hardly be able to find one man. At that time the branch that bears the Christian name will arise, and the earth will give its fruit, and there will be exultation for those from Israel who will be saved, concerning whom it was also said above: "If the Lord of Hosts had not left us a seed, we would have become like Sodom and Gomorrah." Observe also that not all of Israel will be saved, but only the remaining people in Zion and a remnant in Jerusalem, everyone who was written for life in Jerusalem, to whom the Lord said: "Rejoice because your names are written in heaven." This signifies the apostles and those who would believe through the apostles. — COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:4.2-4
Isaías 4:2-3
(Verse 2, 3) On that day, the Lord's shoot will be in splendor and glory, and the fruit of the earth will be exalted, and those who have been saved from Israel will rejoice. And it will be, everyone who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who is recorded in life in Jerusalem. When the daughters of Zion have lost all their pride and all their adornment, and her gates have mourned and she herself is desolate, and all her warriors have perished in battle, to the point that many women can hardly find one man: then the shoot of the Christian name will arise, and the land will yield its fruit. And there will be rejoicing for those who have been saved from Israel, of whom it has been said before: Unless the Lord of hosts had left us a seed, we would have been like Sodom, and similar to Gomorrah (Isa. 1:9). And note that not all Israel will be saved, but the remnant of the people of Zion and the remainder in Jerusalem; all who are enrolled in life in Jerusalem, to whom the Lord also spoke: Rejoice, because your names are written in heaven (Luke 10:20). It signifies the Apostles and those who believed through the Apostles. — Commentary on Isaiah
Isaías 4:4
"When the Lord will have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the blood of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of burning," then the remnant from Jerusalem will be saved—when their sins will be forgiven in the baptism of the Savior, and they will be cleansed by the blood of him whom the people invoked: "May his blood be upon us and upon our children." Hence we read above: "When you raise your hands, I will not hear you, for your hands are covered with blood." And later he attempts to move them to repentance, saying, "Wash, be clean." Observe also that he will cleanse the filth of the daughters of Zion by a spirit of judgment, but the blood of Jerusalem by a spirit of burning, for what is light will be washed, but what is more heavily soiled will be scalded. John the Baptist spoke about this spirit of judgment and spirit of burning in the Gospel, when he said, "I baptize you with water, but the one who comes after me will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." From this we learn that man provides only water, but God provides the Holy Spirit by whom both the filth is cleansed and the sins are purged in blood. — COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:4.2-4
Isaías 4:4
(Verse 4.) When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the blood of Jerusalem from its midst with the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning, then the remnant of Israel shall be saved when their sins are forgiven in the baptism of the Savior and that blood is cleansed, the blood that the wandering people invoked upon themselves saying: His blood be upon us and upon our children (Matthew 27:25). Hence, we read above: When you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood (Isaiah 1:15-16). And afterwards, provoking them to repentance, he brings forth this: Be washed, be made clean. And take note that the filth of the daughters of Zion will be washed away by the spirit of judgment, but the blood of Jerusalem will be washed away by the spirit of burning. For what is light is washed away, but what is heavier is burned up. Concerning this spirit of judgment and spirit of burning, John the Baptist spoke in the Gospel: I baptize you with water, but he who comes after me will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire (Matthew 3:11). From this we learn that while man gives only water, God gives the Holy Spirit, by which both filth is washed away and the sins of blood are cleansed. — Commentary on Isaiah
Isaías 4:5
(Verse 5) And the Lord will create (or created) over every place of Mount Zion, and where he is invoked, a cloud by day, and smoke and the brightness of a flaming fire at night. For in Christ there is a new creation, of which we read elsewhere: The old things have passed away: behold, all things have become new (2 Corinthians 5:17). Regarding this, the Septuagint translated: And he will come, and there will be every place of Mount Zion, and all the things that are around it, a cloud will cover during the day, and the light of a flaming fire at night. But who will come except him, of whom it is written: He will come from Zion to free them (Isaiah 59:20, according to the Septuagint). And of whom another prophet mentions: Yet a little while, and he who is to come will come, and will not delay (Habakkuk 2:3). When he comes, the people will be restored to their former happiness, which they once had in the desert; the Lord will lead them during the day with a pillar of cloud, and during the night with a pillar of fire (Exodus 13): so that they may not be disturbed either in prosperity or in adversity. And in the psalm it is said: By day the sun shall not scorch you, nor the moon by night (Ps. CXX, 6). But in this place smoke signifies not error and ignorance, but glory, according to what we shall read in the same prophet, according to the opinion of some: And the house was filled with smoke (Isaiah 6). And in Joel, concerning the grace of the Holy Spirit which descends upon the apostles, it is said: I will pour out my spirit, and they shall prophesy (Joel II). And I will show wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and clouds of smoke (Acts 2:17). I think this signifies that which is said in the Psalms: He touches the mountains, and they smoke (Psalm 104:32). — Commentary on Isaiah
Isaías 4:6
(Verse 6) But protection is above all glory. And it will be a tabernacle for shade from the heat during the day, and for security and hiding from the whirlwind and rain. The Jews interpret this place as referring to Antichrist, whom they believe will be defended by the Lord from a mighty adversary represented by the whirlwind and storm. However, we refer everything to the first coming of Christ, of whom we also read in the Psalms: He protected me in the hiding place of His tabernacle; on a rock He exalted me (Psalm 27:9-10). On this rock, the Church is founded and is not shaken by any storm or overturned by any wind. The majority of the Jews understand both these things and all the things which are associated with them, concerning the captivity in Babylon and the return to Jerusalem under Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah. — Commentary on Isaiah