Bible Verses and Early Church Commentary | Historical Christian Faith

[AD 339] Eusebius of Caesarea on Isaiah 25:1

The “wonders” of Isaiah were the promises to the Gentiles, and not to Israel, of anointing with sweet-smelling oil and myrrh. They naturally received the name of Christian from this anointing. In addition he promises the “wine of joy” to the Gentiles, using a shadow to allude to the sacrament of the new covenant of Christ, which is now openly celebrated among the Gentiles.

Source: PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 1:10

[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 25:1-5

(Chapter 25 — Verse 1 and following) O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for you have done marvelous things, faithful and true are your ancient thoughts. Amen. For you have made a city into a heap, a fortified city into ruins, a palace of foreigners, so that it is no longer a city and will never be rebuilt. On this the strong people will praise you, the city of the mighty nations will fear you. For you have been a stronghold for the poor, a stronghold for the needy in their distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat. The breath of the strong is like a whirlwind driving against a wall. Just as the tide quells the thirst, you will humble the uproar of strangers; and like heat under a torrential cloud, you will cause the offspring of the strong to wither. LXX: O Lord my God, I will glorify you; I will praise your name, for you have done wondrous things, an ancient true counsel, let it be done. For you have laid cities in ruin; strong cities, so that their foundations may fall. The cities of the wicked will not be built forever. Therefore, the people of the poor will bless you, and the cities of those who sustain injustice will bless you. For you have been a helper to every humble city and a protection to the sorrowful due to their poverty. You will free them from the worst men: a shade for the thirsty, and the spirit of men who endure injustice as weak and thirsty men in Zion from wicked men, whom you have delivered us to. There are two possible interpretations of this place. The Jews believe the voice of the saints to be that of the believing people: when God has done what was said against the whole world, and the prophecies of all the prophets have been fulfilled; and they interpret the city that has been overthrown as Rome, which should be completely destroyed, and they refer the strong people who praise the Lord and for whom the Lord has become their strength in their tribulation and distress to Israel, who has been freed from the persecution of the nations as if from the most intense heat and thirst. But others understand that it is said more truthfully and rightfully in the person of the prophet, giving thanks to the Father for the suffering of the Lord and Savior, because he did wonders and fulfilled ancient thoughts with truth, when they stand at the right hand and hear: Come, you blessed of my Father, take possession of the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world (Matt. XXV, 34). And Paul also, understanding, was speaking: Just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless (Ephes. I, 4). And desiring to become what he prophesied, he adds the word in Hebrew Amen, for which the Septuagint translated it as 'let it be so.' And the Lord often uses this word in the Gospel: Amen, amen, that is, truly, truly I say to you (John VI, 54). But why does he praise and confess the name of the Lord, and what are these wonders, and the ancient thoughts that he has truly demonstrated in his works, follows: For you have made the city a heap, the fortified city a ruin, the house of strangers, so that it is no longer a city and will not be built forever. The once strong city of Jerusalem is understood, which has become a house of strangers; concerning them, the Savior says in the psalm: The sons of strangers have lied to me, the sons of strangers have grown old and have stumbled in their paths (Ps. XVII, 46). When this city has been destroyed, it will never be rebuilt, so that the kingdom of a thousand years and the golden Jerusalem and the jewel-adorned dreams may rest. But the people of the strong will praise the Lord, when Jerusalem has been destroyed for its impiety. However, the following verse shows who the strong people are: The city of strong nations will fear you. While they blaspheme, the people of the nations will fear you. For the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. IX, 10). The strong people will praise you, and the city of mighty nations will fear you; this is the Church gathered from the nations. For you have become the strength of the poor, your Christ, of whom we also read in the Psalms: Blessed is he who understands the needy and the poor (Ps. 40:1). And in Zechariah according to the Hebrew truth, the poor, that is, the Ebion, is described as sitting on a donkey's colt (Zech. 9). Strength for the needy in the tribulation of his passion, hope from the whirlwind of the gallows, and shade from the heat, when he spoke: Father, into your hands I commend my spirit (Luke 23:46). For just as the wind, if it were to strike against a wall and pass through it, was unable to harm the blasphemous Jews, so too, using another comparison, just as a branch is scorched by intense heat and withers, in the same way you will cause the commotion and shouting of those who have become strangers to you to wither away and perish. According to the Septuagint translators, I was unable to find, not to mention the meaning, but even the arrangement of words and continuity, in this place. And in that place where we have interpreted, like the heat in thirst, for which in Hebrew it is written Basaion (), which among them means impassable, or thirst; therefore, they have translated it as impassable and in thirst, to Sion; the error is clear, because of the similarity of the words Saion and Sion (both), which are signified by the same elements.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on Isaiah 25:3

Israel was called to the knowledge of God through the tutoring of the law and was richly endowed with the things of God. It was delivered [from Egypt] and inherited the Promised Land. Although there were many other peoples living in other parts of the world, all were alien to spiritual matters and heavenly things. They had not tasted the gifts that come from God. They were, as it were, naked and unclothed, enjoying neither divine protection nor shelter from on high, nor the spiritual wealth that comes from virtue nor other things worthy of praise or admiration.When Christ appeared, destroying the arrogance of the devil, he led the nations to God the Father, and they basked in the splendor of the true light and shared in his glory. Enjoying the splendor of the way of life according to the gospel, they offered hymns of thanksgiving to the God and Father for these gifts. Thus the text says, you have carried out a “faithful plan formed of old,” O Lord, recapitulating all things in Christ and enlightening those in darkness, destroying the mighty powers of this age. That is, like “fortified cities the impoverished people will bless you” and whole cities will “glorify you.” Having become a “help to all” and “protection” to those whose ancestral traditions were impoverished, you have saved them from wicked people.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 3:1.25

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on Isaiah 25:5

Perhaps this is what the prophet is referring to, that is, those in Israel who were thirsting for the coming of the Savior. They desired to see the Savior and Redeemer of all. One such person was the righteous Simeon. When he took the infant Jesus in his arms, he said, “Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for mine eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 3:1.25

[AD 386] Cyril of Jerusalem on Isaiah 25:6

Having been counted worthy of this holy chrism, you are called Christians, verifying the name also by your new birth. For before you were deemed worthy of this grace, you had properly no right to this title but were advancing on your way toward being Christians.Moreover, you shall know that in the old Scripture there lies the symbol of this chrism. For at the time Moses imparted to his brother the command of God and made him high priest, he anointed him after bathing him in water. And Aaron was called Christ or anointed, evidently from the typical anointing. So also the high priest, in advancing Solomon to the kingdom, anointed him after he had bathed in Gihon. To them, however, these things happened in a figure, but to you not in a figure but in truth; because you were truly anointed by the Holy Spirit. Christ is the beginning of your salvation. He is truly the first fruit, and you are what follow. If the first fruit is holy, obviously its holiness will pass to the remainder also.
Keep this teaching unspotted, for it shall teach you all things, if it abide in you.… For this holy thing is a spiritual safeguard of the body and salvation of the soul. Of this the blessed Isaiah prophesying of old time said, “On this mountain shall the Lord make for all nations a feast; they shall drink wine, they shall drink gladness, they shall anoint themselves with ointment.”

Source: Catechetical Lecture 11:5-7

[AD 411] Tyrannius Rufinus on Isaiah 25:6

Moreover, this same Isaiah foretells that while those who were engaged in the study of the law from childhood to old age did not believe, to the Gentiles every mystery should be transferred. His words are, “And the Lord of hosts shall make a feast on this mountain for all nations.” … This was the counsel of the Almighty respecting all the nations.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOSTLES’ CREED 19

[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 25:6-8

(Verses 6-8.) And the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples on this mountain a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. LXX: And the Lord of hosts will make all nations drink joy on this mountain, they will drink wine. They will be anointed with an oil on this mountain. Give all these things to the nations, for this counsel is over all nations: the prevailing death has devoured. And again: the Lord God has taken away every tear from all faces, and he has taken away the disgrace of his people from all the earth. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. Because we have turned, the face of a bound captive over all people, the Eagle has interpreted, the face of darkness over all people. And when the eagle has twice spoken of darkness, Theodotius once named darkness, and similarly with the rest. For which Symmachus translated, the face of the Lord who rules over all peoples. But what the Seventy wanted to say about this place is clear to the reader, that they did not put the words of Scripture, but their own interpretation, because all the mysteries of the Law and the Temple are to be transferred to the Churches of the nations. After the passion of the Lord, when He will have freed Him from thirst and heat, and whirlwind, the Lord will make a rich feast not for the Jewish people, but for all nations on Mount Zion, with fatty delicacies and wine from the choicest vineyards, so that He may cause the face of death and the bonds by which all people were bound to be precipitated and swallowed up; He will break the net of death and the web that had captured all nations. And according to the Apostle, death will be swallowed up forever (I Cor. XVI). And the Lord shall wipe away every tear from their faces, when death is overcome and the kingdom of Christ arrives. And the reproach of the human race, which was created in the image of the Creator, shall escape the bondage of the devil and death. It is no wonder that, according to Symmachus, death is called the mistress, since the blessed Apostle said, 'Death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam' (Rom. 5:14). They understand by the word "Antichrist" the one who is the ruler of all peoples, or the face of darkness over all peoples, and the web that is woven over all nations, and who is to be consumed on the Mount of Olives, as we have said in the last vision of Daniel. According to the Septuagint, a feast of gladness is prepared for all nations on Mount Zion, where they will drink the wine that the Lord promised to drink with his saints in the kingdom of his Father (Matt. 20 and Luke 22); and they will be anointed with oil, so that they may become a new people born again in Christ. Therefore it is said: "Give all these things to the nations, which Israel once celebrated in type and image. For this is the counsel of the Lord, that all things be transferred to the nations, because death has been swallowed up (1 Cor. 15) and every tear wiped away, and the reproach of the whole earth, with the command of Christ succeeding, has been erased.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on Isaiah 25:6

Having said that the Lord will reign in Zion and Jerusalem, Isaiah leads us to the mystical meaning of the passage. Thus Zion is interpreted as a high place that is good for surveillance, and Jerusalem is the vision of the world. In fact, the church of Christ combines both: it is high and visible from everywhere, and is, so to speak, located on the mountain. The church may be understood as high also in another way: there is nothing low in it, it is far removed from all the mundane things, as it is written, “I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” Equally elevated are its orthodox and divine doctrines; thus the doctrine about God or about the holy and consubstantial Trinity is true, pure and without guile. “The Lord of hosts will make for all people,” not just for the Israelites elected for the sake of their patriarchs but for all the people of the world. What will he make? “A feast of wines on the lees; they will drink joy, they will drink wine. They will be anointed with myrrh on the mountain.” This joy, of course, means the joy of hope, of the hope rooted in Christ, because we will reign with him, and with him we will enjoy every spiritual joy and pleasure that surpasses mind and understanding. By “wine” he points to the mystical sacrament, that of the bloodless sacrifice, which we celebrate in the holy churches.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 25:6-7

[AD 560] Primasius of Hadrumetum on Isaiah 25:6

They will not hunger because they will feed upon living bread, for he said, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven.” Neither will they thirst, because they will drink from a cup so splendid as to enact in them the truth he spoke: “Whoever believes in me will never thirst”; and again: “Whoever drinks from the water I give him will receive in himself a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.” Neither will the sun strike them, nor will they be burned by the deadly fire of its heat. God made a similar promise to his church through Isaiah, saying that he would be “a shelter from the storm, a shade from the heat.” Here he declares the purity of his sacraments to thrive in his own and that none of them will be oppressed by the heat of temptation. “For the Lamb in the midst of the throne governs them.” Previously it had said that the Lamb seated on the throne received the scroll, but now it says that the Lamb in the midst of the throne governs them. It does so to teach that there is one throne for the Father and for the Son, since the Father is in the Son and the Son is in the Father, that is, in the midst of the church, which the one, whole, triune God inhabits through faith.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 2:7

[AD 55] 1 Corinthians on Isaiah 25:8

But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. [Isaiah 25:8] O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

[AD 339] Eusebius of Caesarea on Isaiah 25:8

Now the laws of love summoned him even as far as death and the dead themselves, so that he might summon the souls of those who were long time dead. And so because he cared for the salvation of all for ages past and that “he might bring to nothing him that has the power of death,” as Scripture teaches, here again he underwent the dispensation in his mingled natures: as man, he left his body to the usual burial, while as God he departed from it. For he cried with a loud cry, and said to the Father, “I commend my spirit,” and departed from the body free, in no way waiting for death, who was lagging as it were in fear to come to him. No, rather, he pursued him from behind and drove him on, trodden under his feet and fleeing, and he burst the eternal gates of his dark realms and made a road of return back again to life for the dead there bound with the bonds of death. Thus too, his own body was raised up, and many bodies of the sleeping saints arose and came together with him into the holy and real city of heaven, as rightly is said by the holy words: “Death has prevailed and swallowed people up; but again the Lord God has taken away every tear from every face.” And the Savior of the universe, our Lord, the Christ of God, called Victor, is represented in the prophetic predictions as reviling death and releasing the souls that are bound there, by whom he raises the hymn of victory.

Source: PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 4:12

[AD 379] Basil of Caesarea on Isaiah 25:8

For eternal rest lies before those who have struggled through the present life observant of the laws, a rest not given in payment for a debt owed for their works but provided as a grace of the munificent God for those who have hoped in him. Then, before he describes the good things there, telling in detail the escape from the troubles of the world, he gives thanks for them to the liberator of souls, who has delivered him from the varied and inexorable slavery of the passions. But what are these good things?“For he has delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from falling.” God describes the future rest by a comparison with things here. Here, he says, the sorrows of death have compassed me, but there he has delivered my soul from death. Here the eyes pour forth tears because of trouble, but there, no longer is there a tear to darken the eyes of those who are rejoicing in the contemplation of the beauty of the glory of God. “For God has wiped away every tear from every face.”

Source: HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 114

[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Isaiah 25:8

In the Old Testament the jaw of death is bitter, since it is said, “Strong death is all devouring.” In the New Testament the jaw of death is sweet, for it has swallowed death, as the apostle says: “Death is swallowed up in victory! O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

Source: LETTER 50 (6:31.9)

[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Isaiah 25:8

Stricken by the indecency of this act [the golden calf], Moses broke the tablets and shattered the head of the calf and beat it to powder in order to destroy all traces of impiety. The first tablets were broken so that the second ones might be repaired whereon, through the teaching of the gospel, faithlessness, now utterly destroyed, vanished. Thus Moses shattered that Egyptian pride and by the authority of the eternal law checked that loftiness overreaching itself. Therefore David says, “And the Lord will break the cedars of Lebanon, and shatter them like the calf of Lebanon. Thus the people swallowed all faithlessness and pride, so that impiety and haughtiness might not swallow them. For it is better that each person be master of his flesh and its vices, that it may not be said of him that all-powerful death has devoured him, but rather, “death is swallowed up in victory!”

Source: LETTER 87 (7:78.5)

[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 25:8

“Where, O death, is your strife? Where, O death, is your sting?” Commenting upon the power of this testimony, Paul infers “the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. Yet thanks be to God, who gave us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Because he interpreted the resurrection of the Lord in this way, we dare not nor are we able to interpret it differently. Death can be understood as hell and as the devil, who was strangled by the death of Christ. In this connection, Isaiah also said, “Growing stronger, he devoured death,” and again, “the Lord has wiped every tear from every face.” The two brothers who divided from one another at death, according to the history of that time, are understood to be Israel and Judah, that what was then partially prefigured might now be known fully and that Israel and Judah might be liberated and redeemed along with every human family.

Source: COMMENTARY ON HOSEA 3:13.14-15

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Isaiah 25:8

The apostle said, “With the mind I serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin,” not by giving my members over to committing iniquities but only by feeling lust, without however giving a hand to unlawful lust. So when he said, “With the mind I serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin,” he went on to add, “There is therefore no condemnation now for those who are in Christ Jesus.” For those who are in the flesh there is condemnation; for those who are in Christ Jesus no condemnation. In case you should assume this is going to be the case after becoming a Christian, that is why he added “now.”What you must look forward to afterward is not even to have any lust in you which you have to contend with, which you have to combat, which you must not consent to, which you have to curb and tame; look forward to its simply not being there afterward. I mean to say, if what is now contending with us from its base in this mortal body is going to be there afterward, the taunt “Where, death, is your striving?” will be untrue. So let us be quite clear about what it is going to be like afterward. Then, you see, will come about the word that is written: “Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, death, is your striving? Where, death, is your sting? For the sting of death is sin; but the power of sin, the law.” Because desire was increased, not extinguished, by being forbidden. The law gave sin power by simply commanding through the letter without assisting through the spirit.

Source: SERMON 155:2

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on Isaiah 25:8

It is appropriate and necessary that at the time the “mystery” is handed over, the “resurrection of the dead” is included. For at the time we make the confession of faith at holy baptism, we say that we expect the resurrection of the flesh. And so we believe. Death overcame our forefather Adam on account of his transgression and like a fierce wild animal it pounced on him and carried him off amid lamentation and loud wailing. Men wept and grieved because death ruled over all the earth. But all this came to an end with Christ. Striking down death, he rose up on the third day and became the way by which human nature would rid itself of corruption. He became the first born of the dead, and the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.We who come afterward will certainly follow the first fruits. He turned suffering into joy, and we cast off our sackcloth. We put on the joy given by God so that we can rejoice and say, “Where is your victory O death?” Therefore every tear is taken away. For believing that Christ will surely raise the dead, we do not weep over them, nor are we overwhelmed by inconsolable grief like those who have no hope. Death itself is a “reproach of the people” for it had its beginning among us through sin. Corruption entered in on account of sin, and death’s power ruled on earth.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 3:1.25

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on Isaiah 25:8

And since the holy Virgin brought forth as man God united personally to flesh, we say that she is the mother of God. [This is] not because the nature of the Word had a beginning of existence from the flesh, for “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”; he is the Creator of the ages, coeternal with the Father and Creator of all things. As we have stated before, having united humanity to himself personally he even endured birth in the flesh from the womb. He did not require because of his own nature as God a birth in time and in the last stages of the world. He was born in order that he might bless the very beginning of our existence and in order that, because a woman bore him when he was united to the flesh, the curse against the whole race might be stopped. The curse was sending our bodies from the earth to death, and by him abolishing the saying, “in pain shall you bring forth children,” the words of the prophet might be shown to be true, “strong death has swallowed them up,” and again “God has taken away every tear from every face.”

Source: THIRD LETTER TO NESTORIUS 17:18

[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 25:9-12

(Verse 9 and following) And they will say on that day: Behold, our God, we have waited for him, and he will save us; this is the Lord, we have endured him, we will rejoice and be glad in his salvation. For the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain; and Moab shall be crushed under him, as straw is crushed on a threshing floor. And he will stretch out his hands under him, as a swimmer stretches out to swim, and his glory will be humbled with the buffeting of his hands. And the fortifications of your lofty walls will fall, and they will be humiliated and brought down to the ground, even to dust. Swallowed up by death forever, the people of God, who have been delivered from the hand of death, will say to the Lord: Behold, this is our God, whom the unbelievers thought so little of; and we have waited for him, that is, we have believed in his words, because he will fulfill his promises and save us. Therefore, having been rescued from the jaws of death by his help, we will rejoice and be glad in him; and his hand and power will rest on this mountain. Regarding what we read above: When the Lord of hosts reigns on Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and is glorified in the presence of his elders (Isaiah 24:23). But Moab, which means 'from the father', will be crushed like straw is crushed by a wagon. This is spoken according to the custom of Palestine and many provinces of the East, which, due to a shortage of meadows and hay, prepare straw for the feeding of animals. These are iron wagons, with wheels that rotate in the middle like saws, which crush and break the straw into pieces. Therefore, just as wagon wheels crush straw, so Moab would be crushed under him, either under God's power or in itself, so that nothing remains intact in it. And just as a person who swims tends to stretch out their whole body, so he will collide with the ground from his own power and make a crashing sound. All the fortifications of those mighty men, both the walls as stated in Hebrew, will collapse, be humiliated, and be brought down to the ground, shattered into dust. Therefore, although the prophetic discourse generally refers to the consummation of the world, it does not entirely neglect the present. It mentions Moab, who was an enemy of Israel, to such an extent that they committed fornication with the Midianites and consecrated themselves to the idol Beelphegor, which is interpreted as Priapus. Against this idol Jeremiah speaks: Chamos will go into captivity, along with its priests and princes (Jeremiah 48:7). And again: Moab will be confounded with Chamos, just as the house of Israel was confounded with Bethel (Ibid., 13), and similar things can be found throughout. And from one idol and the demon that presided over this idol, it indicates that all opposing strengths are to be humiliated and led into Tartarus, and crushed like dust. But if this is the case, where is the devil's repentance?

Source: Commentary on Isaiah

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on Isaiah 25:9

You recognize the one who gives you joy to drink and wine in addition, anointing those in spiritual Zion with myrrh. You recognize that he is true God and Son of God by nature, and although he appeared in the form of a servant, by becoming man he became the source of salvation and life for all, being in all things like those on earth though without sin. The prophet indicates that they are all but pointing [to Christ] with their finger when they say, “Behold our God in whom we have hoped, and we will rejoice in our salvation.” I think that this text applies especially to the Israelites who were nurtured in the words of Moses and were not ignorant of the predictions of the holy prophets. They waited for the time of the coming of the Savior and Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, as I have already said, Zechariah the father of John [the Baptizer] when he prophesied in the Spirit said of Christ, “He has raised up a horn of salvation.” And Simeon when he took the holy child in his arms said, “Behold, my eyes have seen the salvation which you have prepared before the face of all people.” Recognize then what had been announced of old, the one who is the hope of all, the Savior and Redeemer, they said, according to Isaiah, “Behold our God.”They confess that God will give rest on this mountain. And it seems to me that mountain here refers to the church, for it is there that one finds rest. For we heard the words of Christ: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 3:1.25