Isaías 63
Jerome · Comentário Patrístico (catena)
Isaías 63:1
(Chapter 63, Verse 1) Who is this that comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? This one is glorious in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength. (Chapter 70) Who is this that comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? This one is beautiful in his attire, strong and mighty. From the place where it is said in the Septuagint: "Arise, shine, Jerusalem, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you" (Chapter 60, Verse 1), to the present chapter where it says: Who is this that comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bosrah? Many of our own refer to the end of the world, in which, whether in a physical or spiritual sense (for there are various opinions of many), they strive to fulfill. But we, because we have also read earlier in this same chapter: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor: he has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free (Luke 4:18). And now it is said of the same, that after his passion he ascended to the Father in a bloody manner, we are compelled by necessity to understand all that is said in reference to the first coming of the Savior. For it cannot happen, as many of our people strive to do, that things which are connected in the works should be varied in time; nor do we deny that it requires great effort to unite all these things to be fulfilled in a spiritual way in the consummation, so that we may teach that they have already been accomplished in Christ, both according to the flesh and according to the spirit. Therefore, since the Savior of the daughter of Zion has come, whose reward is with Him, and His work before Him; and the righteous One has gone forth as brightness, and the Savior has been kindled as a lamp, and the bridegroom has rejoiced over his bride the Church, indeed his God has exulted over her, who is Himself both bridegroom and Lord: therefore, according to the assumption of the flesh and the passion of the cross, it is said to Him: Let Your foot be dipped in blood (Ps. 68:24). And under the name Judah in Genesis it is prophesied: Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the necks of your enemies. Your father's sons shall bow down to you. Judah, you have ascended as a lion's cub; you lie down and rest like a lion, and like a lioness; who shall rouse you? And again: He binds his foal to the vine, and his donkey's colt to the choice vine; he washes his garments in wine, and his robe in the blood of grapes. This is the one whom the angelic powers, seeing him ascend to the Father, command the other angels, and they hear from them: Lift up your gates, O princes, and be lifted up, eternal gates, that the King of glory may enter. Who is this King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle (Psalm 24:7-8). And again: The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory (ibid., 10). We have said this as a prelude, so that we may show that this chapter agrees with other testimonies as well. And in the Song of Songs it is said: My beloved is ruddy and white (Song of Songs 5:10); ruddy in passion; white in resurrection. Therefore, the angels ask, terrified by the novelty of the matter (for the mystery of the passion and resurrection of Christ, according to the apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 2), had been unknown to all previous generations). Who is this coming from the land of Edom, with garments stained crimson? Indeed, Edom is expressed in our language as both earthly and bloody. With dyed garments from Bozrah? Many, in their pious error, think that it refers to the flesh of the Lord: that is, Basar (בשר), which word, if it signified flesh, would be written with the middle letter Sin, but is now written with the letter Sade, and is interpreted as firm and fortified: which we either understand as referring to Jerusalem (Psalm 59:11), which was surrounded by very strong walls, in which the Lord suffered; or to hell, of which it is written in Psalm 59:11 and Psalm 107:10: 'Who will bring me into the fortified city?' In which the souls of the dead are closed, and they are surrounded by the strongest custodies. It should also be known that according to the history of Bosra, it is not in Edom but in Moab. It follows: So beautiful in his robe, walking in the multitude of his strength. Of which the forty-fourth psalm also sings: Beautiful in beauty above the sons of men. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty. With thy comeliness and thy beauty, proceed prosperously and reign (Psalm 44, 3-5). Why they translated the Septuagint, violence with strength. A wise reader will inquire into the meaning. I am the one who speaks of justice, and I am a champion for salvation. LXX: I am the one who speaks of justice, and the judgment of salvation. The Lord replied to the questioning Angels: Do you ask who I am, who will ascend to the bloody heavens, and the blood with which I am covered will not give me ugliness, but beauty? I am the one to whom the Father has entrusted all judgment (John 5). Of whom the Psalmist also said: Grant your judgment to the king, O God, and your justice to the king's son (Psalm 72:1). I speak justice: to give evil to the wicked, and to repay good to the righteous; to come and fight against opposing powers, and to preach freedom to the captives, and to release those in prison, so that both adversaries may feel punishment and captives may experience freedom. — Commentary on Isaiah
Isaías 63:1-2
Similarly, in Isaiah, "who is this that comes from Edom, in radiant garments?" Notice what the angels do; they proclaim his beauty but are silent about his essence. — HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS, ALTERNATE SERIES 69 (PSALM 91)
Isaías 63:2
(Version 2.) Why then is your garment red, and your clothing like one who treads in the winepress? LXX: Why are your garments red, and your clothes like those who tread the winepress, full of trampled grapes? Where it is now spoken of as red, in Hebrew it is read as Edom (). Therefore, even above where Edom is written, it is not a place name, but the name of blood. Again, the Angels inquire and say: We have learned that you are the one who speaks of justice, and salvation for all is established in your judgment. Now we want to know why your clothes are stained as if with wine, or what could have caused the tunic, which is woven from above and cannot be torn, to have such whiteness from the virgin womb, as no fuller could achieve on earth, reddened with bloody blood? For mercy is more fitting for you than cruelty: whiteness is more fitting than blood. To these the Lord responded, not with one verse as before, but with many words, in order to teach all those who are ignorant, so that they may not be compelled to seek again. — Commentary on Isaiah
Isaías 63:3
Edom is by interpretation either "earthy" or "bloody"; Bosor either "flesh" or "in tribulation." In a few words, [Isaiah] shows the whole mystery of the resurrection, that is, the reality of the flesh and the growth in glory. And the meaning is, Who is he that comes up from the earth, comes up from blood? According to the prophecy of Jacob, he has bound his foal to the vine and has trodden the winepress alone, and his garments are red with new wine from Bosor, that is, from flesh or from the tribulation of the world, for he himself has conquered the world. And, therefore, his garments are red and shining, because he is beautiful in form, more than the sons of humankind, and on account of the glory of his triumph they have been changed into a white robe; and then, in truth, as concerns Christ's flesh, were fulfilled the words, "Who is this who is coming up all in white, leaning upon her beloved?" And there is also that which is written in the same book, "My beloved is white and ruddy." — AGAINST JOHN OF JERUSALEM 34
Isaías 63:3-6
(Verse 3 and following) I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the peoples there was no man with me. I have trodden them in my anger, and trampled them in my fury: and their blood has stained my garments, and all my clothing is polluted. For the day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my redemption has come. I looked around, and there was no helper: I sought, and there was no one to assist. So my own arm brought salvation to me, and my own wrath supported me. And I have trampled upon the peoples in my anger, and I have made them drunk in my indignation, and I have brought down their strength to the earth. Seventy times because of what we said, I alone have trampled the winepress, they have interpreted, a full trampling, which is more to be read with the previous chapter than as the beginning of the following one. The rest they have translated thus. And there is no one among the nations with me, and I have trampled upon them in my anger, and I have crushed them like the ground, and I have poured out their blood upon the earth, and I have defiled all my garments. For the day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my redemption has come. I looked, but there was no one to help; I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold; so my own arm brought me salvation, and my wrath upheld me. I trampled down the peoples in my anger; I made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth. For the press is called Geth in Hebrew, as Theodotion has translated the Hebrew word in Greek. But Symmachus, whom we also follow, renders it better in this place. For the word Phura is ambiguous, and usually signifies both a winepress and a jug. It must be said, therefore, about the winepress, that according to the custom of Holy Scripture, sometimes it is used for vengeance and punishments of sins, sometimes for the gathering of new fruits. It is used for punishments and torments, when Jeremiah, lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem, speaks: The Lord has trodden the virgin daughter of Judah with the winepress, therefore I mourn (Lam. 1:15-16). The psalms for those who are assigned to the winepresses are written in a favorable light in the eighth and eighty-third. Concerning them, if life accompanies them, with the Lord's help, they will be said. This winepress, in which both punishments for the wicked and rewards for the good are trampled on by the Savior himself, he alone trampled on, and he had no helper. For neither an Angel, nor an Archangel, Thrones, Dominions, or any celestial powers assumed a human body and suffered for us, and he trampled on opposing forces and shattered them, except for the one who speaks in the psalm: Save me, O Lord, for the holy one has failed (Psalm 11:1); to such an extent that even the most confident and firmly established in the truth of faith, the apostle Peter, afraid, fled, rather denied the Lord (Matthew 27). And what follows: And their blood was sprinkled upon my garments, and all my raiments are defiled, should not be understood in such a way that we believe that demons and adversarial powers have blood. But everything should be understood tropologically, when the most merciful God is compelled to strike enemies in order to instruct His people and liberate them from the bonds of captivity. For He says: "The day of vengeance is in my heart, the year of my redemption has come. About which we also read above (In chapter LXI), to preach in a favorable way the accepted year of the Lord, and the day of retribution to our God; both now in the bad and in the good. In the bad: For the day of vengeance is in my heart. In the good: The year of my redemption has come; so that at the time when the adversaries are punished, the people of God may be liberated, or rather redeemed by the precious blood of the lamb who is said to be slain in the Apocalypse of John. Moses prophesied about this day of retribution by the Holy Spirit: And he will repay vengeance to his enemies, and will restore to those who hate him. I looked around, and there was no helper; I sought, and there was no one to assist. (Deuteronomy XXXII, 41). He also said in the psalm: And I waited for one who would grieve, but there was none; and for one who would comfort, but I found none. (Psalm LXVIII, 21). For even though he was in the form of God, he did not consider equality with God as something to be seized, but emptied himself (Philippians II), taking the form of a servant, and being obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. And because of this, God exalted him and gave him the name above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Whether he extirpated believers in his arm, and did not delay his fury beyond: and he led their blood unto the ground, whether in a figurative sense of demons, or certainly the blood of the Jews: for this reason, other interpreters have transferred the dispute; who were exerting every effort to release the captive people. — Commentary on Isaiah
Isaías 63:7
(Verse 7) I will remember the mercies of the Lord; I will praise the Lord for all the good things the Lord has done for us, and for the abundance of blessings to the house of Israel that he has bestowed upon them according to his mercy, and according to the multitude of his mercies. LXX: I have remembered the mercies of the Lord, I will remember the virtues of the Lord in all the things he has done for us: The Lord, a good judge to the house of Israel, will repay us according to his mercy, and according to the abundance of his justice. Finished, as we believe at first, as many think at second, with the coming of the Savior, in which is implied the voice of the judge, or rather of the combatant, slaughtering his own people and the adversaries of his people, described as bloody and victorious: another section begins, in which the Prophet speaks from the perspective of the people, recounting the benefits of God upon himself and the hardness of his own heart, because of which Jerusalem was set on fire and Israel was handed over to captivity. What the Jews report about the Babylonian times. However, we have shown in order and reason the present time, in which they serve the Romans, and with Israel excluded, a throng of nations has succeeded. Let us therefore run through each part of the speech, and in order to avoid a long-winded explanation, let us briefly expound on them. Crushed by the weight of evils, I have hope in nothing else but in the mercy of God, who shows mercy to thousands of those who love him, and extends his mercy to those who know him. From this it is shown that the mercy of the Lord comes to those who love and know God. It is not of the one who wants or the one who runs, but of the one who has mercy from God (Rom. IX). Unless the Lord builds the house and watches over the city, the one who builds and watches over it does so in vain (Ps. CXXVI). For He will give strength, so that we may have courage and be able to say: My strength and support, and my refuge in the day of my troubles (Jerem. XVI). In the present context, we should understand virtues not as vices and sins, but as difficulties. As it follows in the Septuagint: I will remember the Lord's virtues in all the things He has rewarded me, which in Hebrew are contained as praises to the Lord, let us understand signs and miracles, for which virtues are often mentioned, as in the following passage: I will not give my glory to another, nor my virtues to idols (Isaiah 42:8). And elsewhere: His virtues will be announced in the islands, or among the nations of the whole world, or among the churches which are firmly founded and are more struck than overthrown. Sometimes virtue is not accepted for fortitude and miracles, but for good conduct, as it is said by the Apostles, Peter: Serve with virtue in your knowledge (1 Peter 1:5); and Paul: Whatever is true, whatever is honorable (Philippians 4:8). According to this, it is also said in another place: Better is sterility with virtue. The first understanding of virtue belongs to God, the second is fitting for humans. However, what we have interpreted is this: Above all that the Lord has given us, which can be taken in both a good and bad way, Symmachus more clearly placed it in the retribution of good, saying: For all the things in which He has done us good, and for the multitude of goodness which He has shown upon the house of Israel. Why did they translate the Seventy: The Lord is a good judge to the house of Israel, he has repaid us according to his mercy, and according to the multitude of his justice. But this can only be said by one who understands justly how to endure what he suffers. Finally, in the seventy-second psalm, whose beginning is: How good is God to Israel, the prophet speaks in the person of those whose hearts are upright, who are disturbed by the judgments of God: But my feet were almost shaken: my steps were almost scattered, seeing the peace of sinners, and so on, until the end of the psalm. Therefore, the holy law is good, and the holy commandment is good, just and good, so that goodness is understood in general, and justice is understood in particular. Therefore he writes to the Romans: For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die (Rom. III. 7). — Commentary on Isaiah
Isaías 63:8-9
(Verses 8-9) And He said: Yet My people are; sons not denying: and He became a Savior unto them. In all their affliction He was not afflicted, and the Angel of His presence saved them: in His love and in His pity He redeemed them, and He bore them, and carried them all the days of the age. 70: And he said: Not my people, the children will never reject. And he became for them salvation from all their tribulation: not a messenger, nor an angel, but he himself saved them because he loved them, and spared them, he himself redeemed them, and received them, and exalted them all the days of the world. Where we have interpreted: In all their tribulation he was not troubled, which in Hebrew is said Lo, and is a denying adverb, for not, it can also be read itself, so that the meaning is: In all their tribulation he himself is troubled, that is, God: so that he himself might bear not only our sins, but also our tribulations. For he himself carries our weaknesses, and he suffers for us. Moreover, the Seventy put another thing that is not found in Hebrew, not an envoy, nor an angel, but he himself saved them: of which we will speak in its proper place. Therefore God, who is a just judge to the house of Israel, and mitigates the severity of justice with mercy in judging: Indeed, I have begotten sons and exalted them, and they have despised me. However, because they are my people, and once named sons, they will not perish forever; if they stop rejecting and denying me, they will recognize the Savior: because he himself was troubled in all their tribulations. Whether he was not troubled, so that he could temporarily abandon them and force them, stripped of his help, to plead. Indeed, He did not afflict them, but on the contrary, while others pursued them, He was their helper and sent His Angel to deliver them from danger. Or according to the Septuagint, He did not want to save His people through angels and prophets and other holy men; rather, He himself descended to the lost sheep of the house of Israel to carry the sick sheep on His shoulders and to find the lost coin, and joyfully welcome the prodigal son upon his return. For this reason, the Bride says in the Song of Songs: Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. Not through the patriarchs, Moses, and the prophets, but let him take my body, let him dwell in my flesh, let the Word become flesh, and thus let him kiss me dwelling in me, so that he may be Emmanuel. Therefore, not as a messenger, nor as an angel, but he himself will save those who have received salvation: not by the merit of works, but by the love of God. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. — Commentary on Isaiah
Isaías 63:10
(Verse 10) But they provoked Him to anger, and vexed the spirit of His Holy One; and He turned Himself against them as an enemy, and He fought against them. 70: But they did not believe, and they provoked his Holy Spirit: he turned against them as an enemy, he himself fought against them. But if the perceptive reader answers with silent thought, why are many not saved, if he himself saved them, and loved them, and spared his sons, and redeemed them with his own blood, and received and exalted those who were assumed? The clear reason is inferred. But they did not believe, and they provoked his Holy Spirit, or his holy ones, which in Hebrew is called Cadeso. Therefore, God wanted to save those who desired it, and he provoked them to salvation, so that the will might have its reward; but they did not want to believe. Otherwise, it is written about John: There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came to bear witness to the light, so that all might believe through him (John 1:6). And it is not immediately to be blamed if many did not believe, but the intention of the one coming was that all would believe and be saved. But if anyone shall have provoked and afflicted the Holy Spirit, or His Holy Ones, that is, Christ, he provokes God: the same Holy Spirit is of the same nature as the Father and the Son. Therefore, the Apostle commands: Do not grieve the Holy Spirit, in whom you have been sealed (Ephesians 4:30). The Holy Spirit withdraws from a body subject to sin, and does not enter a perverse soul (Wisdom 1). Therefore, David, in order not to lose the Holy Spirit, prayed saying: And do not take away your Holy Spirit from me (Psalm 51:11). And so, that we may know that anyone who vexes the Holy Spirit offends God, and becomes an enemy and foe of a friend, the Apostle Peter speaks more significantly in the Acts of the Apostles: Why have you agreed to lie to the Holy Spirit? You have not lied to men, but to God (Acts V, 9). This is the Holy Spirit, of whom the Lord said in the Gospel: If you love me, keep my commandments: and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Comforter, that he may be with you forever, the Spirit of truth (John XIV, 15, 16). We also find this in the Book of Wisdom, which is written under the name of Solomon: For the Holy Spirit of discipline will flee deceit and will withdraw from foolish thoughts (Wisdom I, 5). — Commentary on Isaiah
Isaías 63:11-14
(Vers. 11 seqq.) And he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people. Where is he who brought them up from the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put his holy Spirit in the midst of them? He who caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to make for himself an everlasting name. He led them through the depths like a horse in the desert, they did not stumble. Like a beast going down into the valley, the Spirit of the Lord was their guide. So you led your people, to make for yourself a glorious name. LXX: And he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people, saying: Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put in the midst of them the spirit of his Holy One? He led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, dividing the waters before them, to make himself an everlasting name. He led them through the deep, as a horse in the wilderness, they stumbled not. As a beast goeth down into the valley, the spirit of the Lord caused him to rest: so didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious name. The Lord, who became the protector of the adversaries of the people of Judah, who provoked his Holy Spirit to anger, and he defeated them: he remembered the ancient days, when Moses interceded for them in the wilderness, saying: Either forgive them this sin, or if you do not, blot me out from the book which you have written (Exodus 32:31-32). So Isaiah, recalling the story of old, says: Where is the Moses who led them out of the Red Sea? Where is the shepherd of the sheep? Where is he who labored with the other shepherds of the flock of the Lord? Who obtained and bestowed the Spirit of God through his prayers and supplications on the flock of the Lord? Or surely should it be understood this way: Where is that mercy of the Lord, by which he once had pity on his people, so that he would also grant them the grace of the Holy Spirit? He who led Moses, his servant, with the arm of his majesty to the right side, not to the left; he who split the waters before them, to make for himself an everlasting name, so that his power would be spoken of even to this day? For He led His people through the immense depths of water, like a horse through a wilderness, and beasts through a plain, and the Spirit of the Lord was their guide, that is, the flock of the Lord. (Exodus 14). Now by this Spirit we must understand the Angel, who was the guide of the people of Israel, according to what is written: He makes His angels spirits, and His ministers a flaming fire (Psalm 104:4). And in the Letter to the Hebrews: Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation? (Hebrews 1:14). Let us consider that which is written in the Acts of the Apostles: The Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, and the eunuch saw him no more (Acts 8:39). Should we understand this as referring to an angel? There are those who testify that it was an angel working through the Holy Spirit. We are exploring the obvious in order to dwell on the obscure. — Commentary on Isaiah
Isaías 63:15
(Verse 15) Look down from heaven and see, from your holy and glorious habitation. Where is your zeal and your might? The stirring of your inner parts and your compassion are held back from me. LXX: Return from heaven and see, from your holy dwelling and your glory. Where is your zeal and your might? Where is the multitude of your mercies and the compassions you have shown us? You have granted such great things to the people, as the higher discourse has related, that you might lead us worthy of your spirit's companionship. Now also, pay attention from heaven and see our works, if indeed they are worthy of you. Why do you turn your face away from us? But heaven is called the holy dwelling place, and the house of his glory (Psalm 43), according to this: Heaven is my throne: and the earth is my footstool (Isaiah 66:1); and in another place: He who dwells in the heavens shall laugh at them; and: Unto you I lift up my eyes, O you who dwell in heaven (Psalm 113:1). Not that the omnipotent God, who holds heaven in the palm of his hand and the earth in his fist, is confined to any place; but rather that those things which are holier may be said to be his place and dwelling. Finally, Solomon, who built the house of God, speaks to him in prayer, 'The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you' (Sirach 16:18). And in the Lord's Prayer it is said, 'Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven' (Matthew 6:10). Therefore, wherever God's will is done, that is His dwelling place and the house of God. As for what follows, 'Where is your zeal and your might?' We can explain this with the testimony of God through Ezekiel to Jerusalem, which had followed her lovers: 'I will no longer be angry with you, for my jealousy has turned away from you' (Ezekiel 16:42). And the meaning is this: Because we have sinned and you have begun to hate us, your zeal has departed from us, which does not depart when speaking through Zachariah: I am zealous for Zion and Jerusalem with great zeal (Zech. I, 14). Therefore, in the following, he says: And I will be angry with the nations that have gathered against it all around. But as zeal departs, so does the strength of God, and the affection of the father's womb is overcome, while the incredible mercy of God is defeated by the greatness of sins, so that it may hold itself above my help, who could not see me overwhelmed. — Commentary on Isaiah
Isaías 63:16
(Verse 16) For you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name. LXX: For you are our Father, because Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. But you, Lord our Father, free us: from the beginning your name is upon us. For you are our father, the creator of all, says he. Neither Abraham knows us, nor does Israel recognize us, because we have offended you, nor do they know the children who they understand are not loved by their God. A sudden question arises, why did Abraham and Israel, that is, Jacob, receive their names, while Isaac's name remained silent (Gen. XXXII)? To which we will respond, with the beginning and end stated, even the middle shall be named. Or thus: Abraham, called from the Gentiles to faith, underwent a change in his name according to the quality of the preceding and succeeding condition. Jacob, too, worked hard to be called Israel. Hence Abraham had three wives and Jacob had four. But Isaac, from the beginning to the end, possessed an ancient name, indicating the chastity of the Church, content with one wife. Therefore, those who pray for sinners, assume their semblance, to whom joy followed after sorrow. However, this is everything they request, that because He is their father, and He has dignified them with this name, He does not forget His children; lest through them the name of God be blasphemed among the nations. — Commentary on Isaiah
Isaías 63:18-19
(Verse 18, 19.) Why have you made us err, O Lord, from your ways: you have hardened our heart, so that we would not fear you? Turn again for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your inheritance. Your holy people have possessed nothing: our enemies have trampled upon your sanctuary. We have become like in the beginning: when you did not rule over us, neither was your name invoked upon us. LXX: Why have you led us astray, O Lord, from your holy way: you have hardened our hearts, so that we would not fear you? Convert for the sake of your servants, for the sake of your inheritance, so that we may possess a little of your holy mountain: our adversaries have trampled your sanctuary: we have become as those who were not ruled by you from the beginning: nor has your name been invoked upon us. The letter that Paul writes to the Corinthians, when it is written to the people of a certain city, by reason of the diversity of its inhabitants, that is, of saints and sinners, now praises them, now corrects them, now teaches them, now rebukes them, provokes them to continence; he does not refuse marriage; he refrains from idolatry; he instructs them about the resurrection; he extends his hand to the divorced, so that he does not give a place to fornication. We have said this, so that we may understand that the present chapter, which is entirely covered by the prayer of the people, may be understood either as of the just or of sinners: and now to praise the Lord, now to bring a question to the Lord, and to attribute one's own guilt to God. Hence, even afterwards they speak of this: Why have you made us err, O Lord, from your ways, or have led us astray from your path: you have hardened our heart that we should not fear you? Not that God is the cause of error and hardness, but so that his patience, waiting for our salvation, may seem to be the cause of error and hardness by not punishing the wrongdoers. Being extremely angry with certain people, he refrained from striking them and said: 'I will not visit your daughters when they have committed fornication, and your wives when they have committed adultery' (Hosea IV, 14). He chastises every son whom he receives, and he strikes in order to correct (Hebrews XII). Finally, regarding those who have not lost the title of children but are drawn back to repentance through punishment, he says about them: 'I will visit their iniquities with a rod, and their sins with stripes; but I will not take away my mercy from them' (Psalm LXXXIX, 33). For there is a sorrow that leads to life, and there is a sorrow that leads to death. Hence the sinner speaks in the psalm: You have made our paths turn away from your way, and you have humbled us in a place of affliction (Psalm 44:19). And for forty years the people wander in the desert, so that they may not find the former way, nor return to the Egyptians (Numbers 32). Also in Hosea, the paths of Jerusalem are separated and closed with thorns, so that she may not follow her lovers, and being compelled by need, she may return to her former husband (Hosea 2). And it is said that the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, so that he would not let his people go, and that he would be afflicted with ten plagues (Exodus IV). This question was discussed in great detail by Paul to the Romans (Romans IX). And we have briefly addressed it in a certain work. Turn, O Lord, or turn us on account of your servants, Abraham and Israel, who do not know us, or whom we believe to be among the people. For our adversaries have possessed your holy people as if it were nothing and without any effort. Whether convert us, so that according to the Septuagint, we may possess a little of your holy mountain, because we cannot possess your whole mountain, so that when we have a part, we may come to its fullness and contemplate the glory of the Only Begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1). Concerning this, it is said in the same prophet: In the last days, the mountain of the Lord shall be revealed (Isaiah 2:2). But concerning what is stated above: Why have you made us stray (Isaiah 63:17)? Jeremiah teaches in the fullest sense in what meaning it is to be understood: You have seduced me, Lord, and I have been seduced: you have taken hold of me, and you have been able to ((Al. you have placed)) (Jeremiah 20:7). For while you promise me mercy, and as a merciful father you hide your severity, and as a skilled doctor you hide the sharpest iron, lest you frighten the sick before you cure them, you have made me negligent; therefore, God says about Jerusalem: Behold, I will seduce her, and I will make her like a desert, and I will lay her waste like a land without water, and I will speak to her heart: and I will give her belongings from there, and the valley of Achor for opening understanding (Hosea 1:14, 15). Let us consider the order of these things: he seduces her and makes her a deserted and without water, so that she suffers from thirst for virtues. After she has said: My soul thirsts for you, how greatly my flesh longs for you (Psalm 41:2), then he will speak to her heart and console her in mourning. And he will give her possession, that is, of repentance and sorrow that works salvation. And the humility of her troubled heart (for this is what the valley of Achor signifies) opens understanding, so that she may not ignore her Creator. The enemy, he says, have trampled upon your sanctuary. There is no doubt that it signifies the Temple, which the victorious Romans trod upon. And we have become as in the beginning before we were called in Abraham, and while we were in Egypt, having neither God, nor kings, nor princes, nor prophets, nor the Law of God's commandments (Ose. III), all of which were completed after the passion of the Lord, and are fulfilled even to this day. For when they said: His blood be upon us and upon our children (Matth. XXVII, 25), there remains an everlasting curse, and their God does not reign, nor is his name invoked above, since he is not at all called the people of God. — Commentary on Isaiah