:
1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. 2 He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. 3 A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. 4 He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law. 5 Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: 6 I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; 7 To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. 8 I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. 9 Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them. 10 Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof. 11 Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains. 12 Let them give glory unto the LORD, and declare his praise in the islands. 13 The LORD shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies. 14 I have long time holden my peace; I have been still, and refrained myself: now will I cry like a travailing woman; I will destroy and devour at once. 15 I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the pools. 16 And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them. 17 They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to the molten images, Ye are our gods. 18 Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see. 19 Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the LORD's servant? 20 Seeing many things, but thou observest not; opening the ears, but he heareth not. 21 The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honourable. 22 But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore. 23 Who among you will give ear to this? who will hearken and hear for the time to come? 24 Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? did not the LORD, he against whom we have sinned? for they would not walk in his ways, neither were they obedient unto his law. 25 Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle: and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart.
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[AD 60] Matthew on Isaiah 42:1-4
And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue: And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him. And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days. Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other. Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him. But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all; And charged them that they should not make him known: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall show judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. And in his name shall the Gentiles trust. [Isaiah 42:1-4]
[AD 235] Hippolytus of Rome on Isaiah 42:1
As the Word shows his compassion and his denial of all preferential treatment among all the saints, he enlightens them and adapts them to that which is advantageous for them. He is like a skillful physician, understanding the weakness of each one. The ignorant he loves to teach. The erring he turns again to his own true way. By those who live by faith he is easily found. To those of pure eye and holy heart, who desire to knock at the door, he opens immediately. For he casts away none of his servants as unworthy of the divine mysteries. He does not esteem the rich person more highly than the poor, nor does he despise the poor person for his poverty. He does not disdain the barbarian, nor does he set the eunuch aside as no man. He does not hate the female on account of the woman’s act of disobedience in the beginning, nor does he reject the male on account of the man’s transgression. But he seeks all and desires to save all, wishing to make all the children of God and calling all the saints to one perfect human person. For there is one Son (or Servant) of God, by whom we too, receiving the regeneration through the Holy Spirit, desiring to come all into one perfect and heavenly human person.

Source: ON THE ANTICHRIST 3
[AD 339] Eusebius of Caesarea on Isaiah 42:1
Although this very great person is not the one who was in the mind of those hearing the prophecy the first time, he is not here called “Jacob” or “Israel” or “the seed of Abraham,” so clearly the Christ of God is meant here, just as the Evangelist paid witness: “I have set my Spirit on him, and he will execute judgment on the nations.” And after many things have taken place in the nations, which were not made fit to be counted in the apostolic chorus, the nations will hope in him. But in Isaiah’s prophecy the names of Jacob and Israel are missing. Who else could this be, the one called servant of God and his chosen one? Therefore it continues, “My soul delights in him.” For only he is the chosen one of God, and the so-called soul of God was delighting in him. In a manner similar to referring to the feet, hands, fingers and eyes of God, Scriptures make use of the term “soul” in relation to God.… He is “chosen,” not in the same way as the apostles, since it is to him alone that it is said, “whom my soul esteems,” but also “the Spirit of God was dwelling in him alone.” “For in him the fullness of the deity dwelled bodily.” For the Spirit is given to the one coming forth “from the root of Jesse,” the unique Word of God, whom the apostle revealed saying, “The Lord is the Spirit.” For he alone, pouring out the Spirit of inheritance, worked all things outwardly concerning the worldwide judgment on the nations, so that all would be prepared for the coming of God’s verdict.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:22
[AD 373] Athanasius of Alexandria on Isaiah 42:1
It is possible, with the help of God, easily to distinguish the presence of the good and the bad; a vision of the holy ones is not agitated. “He shall not protest and cry out; none will hear his voice.” It occurs so quietly and gently that joy and gladness and confidence are at once born in the soul.… The soul’s thoughts remain untroubled and calm, so that, enlightened of itself, it contemplates those who appear. LIFE OF ST.

Source: Life of St. Anthony 35
[AD 390] Gregory of Nazianzus on Isaiah 42:1
Next is the fact of his being called Servant and serving many well, and that it is a great thing for him to be called the Child of God. For in truth he was in servitude to flesh and to birth and to the conditions of our life with a view to our liberation, and to that of all those whom he has saved, who were in bondage under sin. What greater destiny can befall humanity’s humble state than that it should be intermingled with God and by this intermingling should be deified, and that we should be so visited by the Dayspring from on high, that even that holy thing that should be born should be called the Son of the Highest, and that there should be bestowed on him a name that is above every name? And what else can this be than God?—and that every knee should bow to him that was made of no reputation for us, and that mingled the form of God with the form of a servant, and that “all the house of Israel should know that God has made him both Lord and Christ”? For all this was done by the action of the Begotten and by the good pleasure of him that begat him.

Source: ON THE SON, THEOLOGICAL ORATION 4(30).3
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 42:1-4
What does it mean that it is written in Matthew: 'A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench' (Matthew 12:20). For the explanation of this passage, the whole testimony that Matthew takes from the Prophet Isaiah must be set forth, even the words of Isaiah (Isaiah 42): according to the Septuagint interpreters and the Hebrew itself, to which Theodotus, Aquila, and Symmachus agree. Thus of the four Evangelists, only Matthew relates: "And Jesus knowing it, retired from thence: and many followed him, and he healed them all. And he charged them that they should not make him known. That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaias the prophet, saying: Behold my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom my soul hath been well pleased. I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles." (Chapter 12, verses 15-18) He will not strive, nor cry out, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and smoking flax he will not extinguish, until he brings forth judgment unto victory. And in his name the Gentiles will hope" (Matthew 12:15 and following). For which in Isaiah, according to the Septuagint interpreters, it is thus written: "Jacob my servant, I will uplift him. My chosen one, my soul has received him. I have given my spirit upon him, he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor have respect to person, neither shall his voice be heard abroad. The bruised reed he shall not break: and smoking flax he shall not extinguish: but he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall shine, and shall not be broken, until he set judgment in the earth: and the countries shall wait for his law." However, we translate it from Hebrew like this, "Behold my servant, I will uphold him; my chosen, my soul has delighted in him. I have given my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. "He will not cry out, nor raise his voice, nor make it heard in the street. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In truth he will bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice on the earth; and the islands will put their hope in his law." This shows that the Gospel writer Matthew, not bound by authority of the old interpretation, dismissed the Hebrew truth and brought forth to the nations, educated in the Law of the Lord, the things he had read in Hebrew as if he were a Hebrew among Hebrews. For if it is to be taken thus, as the Seventy Interpreters have given it: Jacob is my servant, I will receive him; Israel is my chosen, my soul has received him, how do we understand that it has been fulfilled in Jesus, what has been written concerning Jacob and Israel? We read that Blessed Matthew did this not only in this testimony, but also in another place: Out of Egypt I called my son (Hosea 11:2): for which the Seventy translated: Out of Egypt I called his sons. Certainly, if we do not follow the Hebrew truth, it is evident that it does not pertain to the Lord and Savior. For it follows: but they sacrificed to Baalim. And that which is less in the assumed testimony in the Gospel: it shall shine and not be shaken, until he shall place judgment upon the earth, seems to have happened by the error of the first writer who, reading the higher sentence to be finished in the word judgment, thought that the final word of the lower sentence was judgment, and he omitted a few words which were in the middle, that is, between judgment and judgment. And again, that which is read among the Hebrews: And in his law shall the islands hope, Matthew, interpreting the sense rather than the words, put for law and islands, a name and nations. And not only in the present place, but wherever the testimonies of the Evangelists and Apostles from the old Instrument have been brought forth, it should be observed more diligently: not that they followed words, but the sense: and where they differ from the Hebrew in the Septuagint, they expressed the Hebrew sense in their own words. Therefore, the Child of the almighty God, according to the dispensation of assumed flesh, which is sent to us, is called the Savior. To whom and in another place the Father says: It is great for you to be called my child, to gather the tribes of Jacob (Isai. 49.3). This is the vineyard of Sorec, which is interpreted as chosen. This is the beloved son, in whom the soul of God is pleased; not because God has a soul, but because every affection of God is shown in the soul. And it is not surprising if the soul is named in God, when all the members of the human body, according to the laws of tropology, and various intelligences, are said to have it. He also placed his spirit upon him: the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding, the Spirit of Counsel and Strength, the Spirit of Knowledge and Piety, and the Spirit of the Fear of the Lord (Isaiah 11): He who descends upon him in the form of a dove, about whom John the Baptist narrates having heard from God the Father: "The One upon whom you see the Holy Spirit descending and remaining upon, He is" (John 1:33). And He will announce judgment to the Gentiles; concerning whom it is also written in the Psalms: "Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the son of a king" (Psalm 71:1). He Himself speaks about it in the Gospel: "For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son" (John 5:22). He will not contend: like a lamb led to the slaughter: He will not argue in the hearing. Nor will he cry out, in accordance with what the Apostle Paul writes: Let all clamor, and anger, and bitterness be taken away from you (Ephesians 4:31). He will not cry out: because Israel did not do justice, but cry out. Nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets or outdoors. For all the glory of the daughter of the king is within (Psalm 44:14): And, Narrow, and cramped is the way that leads to life (Matthew 7:14). Therefore his voice is not heard in the streets, where wisdom confidently acts, not entering a broad and spacious way, but accusing and condemning. And so he spoke to those who were outside, not in his own voice, but in parables: 'The reed, he said, shaken does not break; or, as the Septuagint translated, the broken reed not to be crushed. The broken reed that was once vocal, and sang in praise of the Lord, is called Israel, who, because he stumbled on a corner stone and fell on it, was broken in it; therefore it is said of him: Rebuke, O Lord, the beasts of the reed (Ps. 67. 31): and in the volume of Jesus he is called the torrent of the cane, that is, of the reed; who has turbid waters, which Israel chose, despising the purest streams of the Jordan: and turning his mind back to Egypt, and desiring the marshy and swampy region, and pumpkins, and onions, and garlic, and cucumbers, and the pots of Egyptian flesh, is rightly called a broken reed by Isaiah: he who wants to lean on which, his hand will be pierced. For whoever, after the advent of the Lord and Savior and leaving behind the spirit of interpreting the Gospel, rests in the death of Jewish literature, all the works of that person are harmed. Even smoking linen will not extinguish a people gathered from the nations who, with the ardor of natural law extinguished, are wrapped in the bitter smoke, which is hurtful to the eyes, and enveloped in the darkness of errors. He who not only did not restrain and reduce to ashes, but on the contrary, from a small spark, and almost dying, raised the greatest fire; so that the whole world burned with the fire of the Lord and Savior, whom he came to send upon the earth, and in all desires to burn (Luke 12:49). According to the tropology, what we see in this place, we have briefly noted in the Commentaries of Matthew. But he who has not broken the bruised reed, and has not extinguished the smoking flax, has also brought judgment unto victory (Isai. 42:3), whose judgments are true, justified in themselves (Psalm 18), so that he may be justified in his words and may overcome in judgment (Psalm 50), and so that the light of his preaching may shine in the world, not be crushed by anyone, and may overcome all snares, until he establishes judgment on earth and that which is written may be fulfilled: 'Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven' (Matthew 6:10). And, in his name shall the Gentiles hope (Isaiah 11:10); or the islands shall hope in his law (Ibid. 42:4). For just as the islands are struck by the blast and rush of winds and frequently buffeted by storms, but they are not overturned, as an example of the Gospel house built on a sturdy foundation of rock (Matthew 7; and Luke 6), so the Churches, which hope in the law and in the name of the Lord and Savior, speak through Isaiah: I am a strong city, a city that cannot be taken (Isaiah 27:3, LXX).

Source: Letter 121, Chapter 2
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 42:1-4
(Chapter 42, Verses 1 onward) Behold my servant, I will uphold him: my chosen one, my soul is pleased with him. I have put my spirit upon him: he will bring justice to the nations. He will not cry out or raise his voice: his voice will not be heard in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break: a smoldering wick he will not put out: he will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not be sad or discouraged, until he establishes justice on earth: and the coastlands will wait for his law. LXX: Jacob my servant, I will take him: Israel my chosen, my soul has received him. I have put my spirit upon him: he will bring forth justice to the nations: he will not cry out, nor raise his voice, nor will his voice be heard in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and smoking flax he will not extinguish: he will bring forth justice in truth: he will shine and not be broken, until he establishes justice upon the earth: and the nations will hope in his name. Jacob and Israel are not mentioned in the current chapter, nor did Matthew the Evangelist include them, following Hebrew truth. We say this as a rebuke to those who despise us. This matter was discussed in more detail in the little Commentary on Matthew, and in the book we recently wrote to Algasia. And in the meantime, it should be noted that when the chorus of the Apostles is mentioned, both Jacob and Israel are called the seed of Abraham: to whom, as if to men and servants, it is subsequently said: Fear not, you worm Jacob, and you little one of Israel. But when it comes to Christ's prophecy, it is read without Jacob and Israel: Behold my servant, I will uphold him; my chosen, my soul is pleased with him. And in the following: I have given you as a testament to the race, as a light to the nations: to open the eyes of the blind, and to bring out prisoners from confinement, and those who dwell in darkness from the house of the prison. It is not surprising if he is called a servant, being made from a woman, and being made under the law (Galatians 4); who, although being in the form of God, he humbled himself, taking the form of a servant, and being found in human form (Philippians 2). In whom the soul of God was pleased, seeing in him all the virtues: indeed, seeing him as the power and wisdom of God. He said: 'I will send my Spirit upon him, who will come down in the form of a dove. He will bring judgment to the nations, which they did not know before. He will not cry out, for he will be gentle and meek. He will not show favoritism in judgment, nor will he raise his voice in the streets. According to Symmachus, he will not be deceived, understanding all the schemes of the devil. Or according to the Septuagint, he will not leave the people of the Jews, but will call them to repentance.' Nor will his voice be heard outside of Galilee and Judea, for he did not preach the Gospel among the other nations. And if we read that he was in the region of Tyre and Sidon (Matt. XV), or in the vicinity of Caesarea Philippi, which is now called Paneas, it should be understood that it is not written that he actually entered those cities. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. For he will be merciful to all and will grant forgiveness to sinners, saying to the woman: Have confidence, daughter, your sins are forgiven (Luke VII, 48). And the smoking flax, or as the others have translated it, dim and gloomy, will not be extinguished: those who were near to being extinguished were saved by the mercy of the Lord (which we have discussed about the Jews and the nations in the aforementioned writings); but with truth He will judge all things; not fearing the Scribes and Pharisees, whom He boldly called hypocrites (Mat. VII, XV, XXII, XXIII throughout, and Luc. VI, XII): But what follows: It will shine, and will not be crushed, until He establishes judgment upon the Earth, the Evangelist Matthew did not include (Mat. XII): or perhaps between judgment and judgment, they were omitted due to an error by the writer. But it signifies that, rising from the dead, he enlightened all, and was not crushed by death, until he placed judgment upon the earth: of whom it is spoken in the Gospel: I have come into this world for judgment, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind (John 9:39). Concerning which we have interpreted: He will not be sad, nor troubled; but will always maintain an equal countenance: which they falsely boast about Socrates the Philosopher, that he was never, more than usual, either sad or joyful. For which reason Aquila and Theodotius are interpreted: It will not hide, and it will not run, until it establishes judgment on earth. And the meaning is: no sadness will deter the face, nor will it hurry to punishment, who has reserved the truth of judgment for the last time. What follows: and the law of that island they will expect, the nations, clearly, put hope in its name: which in the Scriptures are called islands, because they are open to incursions of persecutors from every side. But let us understand his law, not the one given through Moses, but the Gospel: For from Zion a law shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem (see above, II). Concerning this law, Jeremiah also prophesies: Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, and I will establish a new covenant, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt (Jeremiah 31:31, 32).

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Isaiah 42:1
The passage reads, “Jacob, my son, I will uphold him; Israel, my elect, my soul has assumed him.” … It is true, indeed, that the Vulgate text has “my servant” in place of “Jacob” and “Israel,” but the Septuagint translators preferred to make the meaning more explicit, namely, that the prophecy concerns the “Highest” insofar as he became the “lowliest,” in the form of a servant. Hence they placed the name of that man from whose stock the “form of a servant” was assumed. It was to him that the Holy Spirit was given.

Source: City of God 20.30
[AD 532] Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite on Isaiah 42:1
The goodness of the Deity has endless love for humanity and never ceased from benignly pouring out on us its providential gifts. … It made it possible for us to escape from the domain of the rebellious, and it did this not through overwhelming force, but, as Scripture mysteriously tells us, by an act of judgment accomplished in all righteousness. Beneficently God’s goodness wrought a complete change in our nature. It filled our shadowed and unshaped minds with a kindly, divine light and adorned them with loveliness suitable to their divinized state. It saved our nature from almost complete wreckage and delivered the dwelling place of our soul from the most accursed passion and from destructive defilement. Finally, it showed us a supramundane uplifting and an inspired way of life in shaping ourselves to it as fully as lay in our power. - "Ecclesiastical Hierarchy 3.3.11"
[AD 202] Irenaeus on Isaiah 42:3
By such means was the prophet—very indignant, because of the transgression of the people and the slaughter of the prophets—both taught to act in a more gentle manner, and the Lord’s advent was pointed out, that it should be subsequent to that law that was given by Moses, mild and tranquil, in which he would neither break the bruised reed nor quench the smoking flax. The mild and peaceful repose of his kingdom was indicated likewise. For after the wind that rends the mountains, and after the earthquake and after the fire come the tranquil and peaceful times of his kingdom, in which the Spirit of God does, in the most gentle manner, vivify and increase humankind.

Source: AGAINST HERESIES 4:20.10
[AD 339] Eusebius of Caesarea on Isaiah 42:3
He does not say, “Jacob my son and Israel my beloved,” but simply “Behold my son and my beloved.” Hence, the names of Jacob and Israel are marked with an obelisk in the Septuagint, as if the prophecy were not in the Hebrew. And it is silently omitted by the other translators, as it is not found in the Hebrew.… Therefore, the prophecy does not apply either actually or figuratively to the Jews but only to the Christ of God, to whom clear evidence and the results bear witness. For Christ alone prophesied the future judgment to the Gentiles, quietly sojourning in human life and setting judgment on the earth. And not only did he not break the bruised reed, but so to say he bound it up, setting up and strengthening the weak and the bruised in heart. And just as Christ did not neglect the sick and the corrupt, who needed his medicine, or bruise the repentant with harsh judgment, so he did not quench those who continued in evil and were smoking under the fire of passion by preventing their following their own choice; nor did he punish any of them before the time, reserving the time of their due chastisement for the general judgment.

Source: PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 9:15
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 42:3
It appears that Matthew the Evangelist did not by preferring the authority of the old interpretation ignore the truth of the Hebrew text. Rather, as a Hebrew among Hebrews and deeply taught in the law of the Lord, Matthew distributed his Hebrew learning to the nations. For if the Septuagint translators are accepted when they write, “Jacob my son, I will lift him up; Israel my chosen, my soul has lifted him up,” then how can we understand the text fulfilled in Jesus, since it was obviously written about Jacob and Israel? We read that the blessed Matthew, not only in this verse but in another, has done this: “Out of Egypt I have called my son,” while the Septuagint translated, “Out of Egypt he has called his sons.

Source: LETTER 121.2
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 42:3
For after the coming of the Lord and Savior, who gave the spirit of the gospel interpretation, [Christ] rested in the death of the Jewish letter, with which all works are bruised. Christ did not snuff out the smoking wick, reducing it to ashes. Instead, he ignited a great flame from this little spark, a spark that had almost gone out. The result is that the whole earth was ablaze with the fire of the Lord and Savior.

Source: LETTER 121.2
[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Isaiah 42:3
[Isaiah] calls him “servant” or “slave,” according to the other interpreters, in connection with his humanity. It is in relation to this that he has [also] given him the name of Jacob and Israel, seeing that it is from Jacob, who is also Israel, that [Christ] descended according to the flesh. In the same way he also receives the most Holy Spirit, not insofar as [he is] God—for he lacks nothing—but as man for the purpose of becoming the model for those who have believed in him. Of this gentleness both his words and his deeds give witness: “Learn from me,” [Christ] says, “for I am gentle and lowly of heart.” Even when he received a blow to the face, he said to the one who struck him, “Friend, if I have spoken evil, bear witness to the evil; but if well, why do you strike me?” Although he could destroy those who unleashed rage against him by having lightning strike them immediately, he breaks them like a bruised reed and snuffs them like smoldering flax; he has borne their folly. For [Christ] was aware of the outcome of these events, and he knew that the truth would be manifested through them. It was likewise even after he had been delivered over to death; he shone forth anew, filled the earth with truth and had invited the Gentiles to put their hope in him. It is this that the prophetic text has said: “In his name the nations put their trust.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 12:42.4
[AD 548] Benedict of Nursia on Isaiah 42:3
[The abbot] must be aware of his own frailty and remember that it is forbidden to break the already bruised reed. We do not mean that he should countenance the growth of vice but that he use discretion and tenderness as he sees it expedient for the different characters of his brothers. He is to endeavor much more to be loved than to be feared. RULE OF ST.

Source: BENEDICT 64
[AD 850] Ishodad of Merv on Isaiah 42:3
“A bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench,” that is, [Christ] will not be hard or angered with those who have a feeble spirit. He will not render powerless that strength that is left to them, but he will lead them back to virtue with kindness. [Isaiah] calls a “dimly burning wick” the one whose oil is finished and where there is no greasy matter left. This means, when the people are about to be extinguished because of the affliction of captivity, he will make them shine against their hope. This is clearly said with regard to Zerubbabel but is evidently accomplished by our Lord, the Savior.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 42:3
[AD 339] Eusebius of Caesarea on Isaiah 42:4
With truth and boldness to all, he proclaims the judgment of God, which has not ceased to operate. Rather, God’s judgment is like light shining through the resurrection of the dead, which the prophetic word announced, saying, “He will give light and not be crushed.” For those who planned Christ’s death tried to crush him and extinguish him. For it is the nature of all mortal species to be crushed by death. But it did not crush him. Christ was the only person of all time who was shown to be stronger than death.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:22
[AD 202] Irenaeus on Isaiah 42:5
The breath of life, which also rendered man [a person] an animated being, is one thing, and the vivifying Spirit another, which also caused him to become spiritual. And for this reason Isaiah said, “Thus says the Lord, who made heaven and established it, who founded the earth and the things therein, and gave breath to the people on it and the Spirit to those walking on it”; thus telling us that breath is indeed given in common to all people on earth but that the Spirit is theirs alone who tread down earthly desires.

Source: AGAINST HERESIES 5:12.2
[AD 220] Tertullian on Isaiah 42:5
And again, “who gave breath to the people on the earth and spirit to those walking on it.” For at first the soul, that is, “breath,” was given to the people who go around on the earth, that is, to those acting in flesh in a fleshly manner; then later the Spirit was given to those who walk on the earth, that is, those who subdue the works of the flesh, as the apostle affirms, “Not that which is spiritual first, but that which is animal and then that which is spiritual.” For although Adam from the beginning prophesied that great mystery in Christ and the church, “this is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh, on which account a man will leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife and they two will become one flesh,” he was subject to a falling of the spirit.

Source: ON THE SOUL 11:3-4
[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Isaiah 42:5
It says, “He who gives spirit to the people who are on the earth, and spirit to them who walk on it.” For undoubtedly every one who walks on the earth, that is, every earthly and corporeal being, is a partaker of the Holy Spirit that he receives from God.

Source: ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 1:3.4
[AD 339] Eusebius of Caesarea on Isaiah 42:5
The name by which he will be praised as the Lord and God of all, [Isaiah] says, “I will give to no other” but to you alone, whom I shall grant to be light to the nations. Hence, in the promise the Christ of God is called Lord and God by all the nations, the Father having granted him alone that glory. Next comes “nor will I give my powers to the carved images,” or, according to Aquila, “my worship to carved images,” or, with Symmachus, “my praise to carved images.” … According to this, Christ alone is called God since to him alone and to no other has God, who is above all things, given his glory and power.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:22
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Isaiah 42:5
The Son is both sent and given, and the Spirit also is both sent and given; they have assuredly a oneness of Godhead who have a oneness of action.

Source: On the Holy Spirit 3.2.10
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 42:5-9
(Verse 5, 6 and following) Thus says the Lord God: He who creates the heavens and stretches them out, who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it: I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness. I am the Lord, this is my name; I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to idols. The things that were first, behold they have come, and new things I declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them: It was uncertain who has said before: Behold my servant, I will take him: my chosen, my soul has pleased him. I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. After the condemnation of idols, a sudden speech had burst forth. Behold my servant, and the rest, which we have interpreted from the Father's perspective on Christ. Therefore, to not leave it ambiguous who said the previous things, he adds and says: Thus says the Lord God, creating the heavens and stretching them out. Or as the Septuagint translated: He made the heaven and fixed it. Therefore, the Creator and Lord of the universe himself promised the coming of his Christ, who not only stretched out and fixed the heavens, but also established the earth with its lofty mass, and everything that springs forth from it, so that the invisible things of him may be understood and seen from the things that are made (Rom. I); as well as his everlasting power and divinity. He who gave breath to all who dwell on earth, the first law of mortals. For God breathed into the face of Adam the breath of life, and he became a living soul (Gen. II). But the Spirit properly belongs to those who tread upon the earth; and the wisdom of the flesh subjects itself to its own power. Therefore, he to whom such great praises are sung has spoken these words to him, whose law the islands await and the nations: I am the Lord who called you in righteousness; of whom he himself speaks in the Gospel, Father, the world does not know you (John XVII, 25); so that he may be not only the God of the Jews, but also of the Gentiles. And I took hold of your hand, for whatever the Son does, the Father does also. And I saved you, who preserves all things yourself. And I gave you into a covenant with the people of Israel, to whom I had promised that you would come. And into the light of the Gentiles, who were sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death, so that you would open the eyes of the blind who had not seen God before. And you would bring out those who were bound in confinement (Prov. 2:16); for each one is bound by the cords of their own sins. And in the Gospel, which Satan had bound, the Lord set free (Matt. VIII). Those sitting in the darkness of the prison house, who were dwelling in the night of error and darkness. And He declares: I am the Lord, this is my name; I will not give my glory to another, nor does He exclude the Son, to whom He said in the Gospel: Father, glorify me with the glory which I had with You before the world was (John XVII, 5), He Himself answered; And I have glorified, and will glorify. For He did not say, 'I will not give My glory to anyone,' for if He had said this, He would have excluded the Son as well, but He said, 'I will not give My glory to another, except to You, to whom I have given it, and to whom I am going to give it.' Therefore, I greatly admire the uniqueness of the holy Scripture, that the phrase 'another' all interpreters have translated consistently, unlike the many other instances where they differ. And so that we may know that the Son is not excluded by this statement, but rather idols are, the following words testify: 'And My praise to carved images.' Pro quo LXX: nec virtutes meas simulacris. Cum enim Christus Dei virtus sit, Deique sapientia, omnes in se virtutes continet Patris. Sequitur, Quae prima fuerunt, ecce venerunt. Et est sensus: Quae locutus sum, quae per Moysen, Prophetasque pollicitus sum, universa completa sunt. Nunc autem annuntio vobis Evangelium, vocationem gentium, passionem Christi, novitatem fidei: ut quomodo priora cernitis rebus expleta, sic et ea quae nunc polliceor, credatis esse ventura.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 62] Acts on Isaiah 42:6
And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God. But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. [Isaiah 42:6] And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region. But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts.
[AD 132] Epistle of Barnabas on Isaiah 42:6
Moses received it, but they were not worthy. But how did we receive it? Learn! Moses received it as a servant, but the Lord himself gave it to us, that we might become the people of inheritance, by suffering for us. And he was made manifest in order that they might fill out the measure of their sins and we might receive the covenant through the Lord Jesus who inherited it, who was prepared for this purpose, in order that by appearing in person and redeeming from the darkness our hearts, which had already been paid over to death and given over to the lawlessness of error, he might establish a covenant in us by his word. For it is written how the Father commands him to redeem us from darkness and to prepare a holy people for himself. Therefore the prophet says, “I, the Lord your God, have called you in righteousness, and I will grasp your hand and strengthen you; and I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, to open the eyes of the blind and to release from their shackles those who are bound and from the prisonhouse those who sit in darkness.” We understand, therefore, from what we have been redeemed.

Source: EPISTLE OF BARNABAS 14:4-7
[AD 325] Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius on Isaiah 42:6
Since, therefore, we were as though blind before, and when we sat as though enclosed by the prison house of foolishness in the darkness, not knowing God and his truth, we were enlightened by him who adopted us by his gracious treatment (his will in our favor). And when he had freed us as from evils and bonds and brought us into the light of wisdom, he recognized us as the heirs of his heavenly kingdom.

Source: DIVINE INSTITUTES 4:20
[AD 215] Clement of Alexandria on Isaiah 42:7
“The opened eyes of the blind” means [Christ] provided clear knowledge of the Father through the Son.

Source: STROMATEIS 1:19.92:2
[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Isaiah 42:7
He calls “blind” here those who are impaired in their intellectual vision; he calls the same people imprisoned by the bonds of sin and held by the darkness of error. After having delivered them from the murk of ignorance and having broken the bonds of sin, he has led them to the light of truth.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 12:42.7
[AD 390] Gregory of Nazianzus on Isaiah 42:8
The same thing applies to the word Lord, which is also used as a name of God. “I am the Lord your God,” he says. “This is my name,” and “The Lord is his name.” But we are making deeper enquiries into a nature that has absolute existence, independent of anything else. The actual, personal being of God in its fullness is neither limited nor cut short by any prior or any subsequent reality—so it was, and so it will be.

Source: ON THE SON, THEOLOGICAL ORATION 4(30).18
[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on Isaiah 42:8
[Eunomius says,] Receiving glory from the Father, not sharing glory with the Father, for the glory of the Almighty is incommunicable, as [the Lord] has said, “I will not give my glory to another.” Who is that “other” to whom God has said that he will not give his glory? The prophet is speaking of the adversary of God, yet Eunomius refers the prophecy to the only-begotten God himself! For when the prophet, speaking in the person of God, had said, “I will not give my glory to another,” he added, “neither my praise to graven images.”

Source: AGAINST EUNOMIUS 2:10
[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on Isaiah 42:8
If he is properly and truly the only God, he may be said by us to be the Creator of all things. As the most wise Paul says, “Although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many ‘gods’ and many ‘lords’—yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.” And since he has introduced himself to us as the author of great and marvelous things, he says that his glory, that is, the sum of virtues appropriate to God, is not to be given to lifeless idols or to any other created thing but is to be retained for himself alone. It follows from this that the glory of the Godhead may not fittingly be attributed to any other being that differs from him in essence but only to the ineffable and transcendent nature itself. Although he said that his own glory is to be given to nobody, however, he gave it to the Son. For the Son has been glorified in the same way, indeed, as the Father too who is worshiped in heaven and on earth. How then did God give his glory to him, as to one who was not different from him in virtue of the consubstantiality, even though each was divided off into his own hypostasis? The nature of the supreme deity is one in three distinct hypostases, conceived of and worshiped as such by those who hold orthodox views. - "Commentary on Isaiah 3.5.42.8"
[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on Isaiah 42:8
Since he is the only God, in a proper and true sense, he is the Creator of all, and so he is confessed to be by us; as the most wise Paul says: “Even though there may be many so-called gods and lords in heaven or on earth, yet for us there is one God and Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we exist.” And since he presented himself to us as the author of great and marvelous things, he says that his glory, which is the virtues proper to God, is not to be given to lifeless idols or to any other created thing, but to be retained for himself alone. It follows, therefore, that the glory of the divinity cannot be attributed to any of the beings that differ from him in essence, but only to the ineffable and transcendent nature itself. Even though he says that his own glory is to be given to no one, he gave it to the Son who, of course, has been glorified in the same way as the Father who is worshiped in heaven and on earth. How, then, did [God] give [his glory] to someone who is not different from him, at least on the basis of consubstantiality, even though each is distinguished into his own hypostasis? For there is a single nature of the divinity on high in three distinct hypostases, and it is so understood and worshiped by right-minded people.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 3:5.42:8
[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on Isaiah 42:8
There was no other way to honor the slave [i.e., humanity] except by making the characteristics of the slave his very own so that they could be illumined from his own glory. What is preeminent will always conquer, and the shame of the slavery is thus borne away from us. He who was above us became as we are. He who is naturally free took on the limitations of our life. This was why honors passed even to us, for we too are called the children of God, and we regard his own true Father as our Father also. All that is human has become his own. And so, to say that he assumed the form of a slave expresses the whole mystery of the economy in the flesh. So, if [my opponents] confess one Lord and Son, the Word of God the Father, but say that a simple man of the line of David was conjoined as a companion of his sonship and his glory, then it is time for you to speak to people who choose to think like this.… It seems that they argue as though there are two sons unequal in nature and that a slave is crowned with the glory that is proper to God, that some bastard son is decked out with the selfsame dignities as the one who is really God’s natural Son, even though God says quite clearly, “I will not give my glory to another.” How can someone who has only been honored with a mere conjunction fail to be “other” to the true and natural Son when he has just been assumed for the office of servant, given the honor of sonship, just like us, and sharing in another’s glory that he attains by grace and favor?So the Emmanuel must not be separated out into a man, considered as distinct from God the Word? On no account. I say that we must call him God made man, and that both the one and the other are this same reality, for he did not cease to be God when he became man, nor did he regard the economy as unacceptable by disdaining the limitations involved in the self-emptying.

Source: ON THE UNITY OF CHRIST
[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Isaiah 42:8
It is the Son who possesses the glory of the Father, and it is in the glory of the Father that he will manifest himself, for the divinity of the Son and of the Father is one. Thus, if God says that he will not give his glory to another and if the Son manifestly possesses the glory of the Father, it is evident that he is not another according to the essence but that [the Son] has the same nature as the Father.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 12:42.8-9
[AD 339] Eusebius of Caesarea on Isaiah 42:9
“Behold, the first things,” he says, “came to pass. But I proclaim new things, and before they arise, I will cause these things to be heard by you.” Just as he says “the first things” would be fulfilled through my works, as I promised Abraham concerning his “seed,” so indeed I acted. I fulfilled also those things foretold by Moses and the rest of the prophets; “now I promise to everyone what was proclaimed before” and to make them come to light through the prophecies, for “I caused these things to be heard by you.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:22
[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on Isaiah 42:9
When the prophet says, “See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them,” he does not allow for us to disbelieve the word of the Savior in any respect. In fact, he is saying that, just as what was said from the beginning about his coming has been fulfilled, so also what he calls the “new things” will be shown to be true and will be revealed before they are made manifest. And what are these things? Our Lord Jesus Christ promised life in the age to come, namely, the life of incorruption, and holiness, and righteousness, the kingdom of heaven, the glorious participation in the spiritual goods, the fruits of gentleness, the reward of piety, the crown of love for him. May it be that we, too, attain this through his grace and loving-kindness.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 3:5.42:9
[AD 215] Clement of Alexandria on Isaiah 42:10
Inasmuch as the Word was from the first, he was and is the divine source of things. But inasmuch as he has now assumed the name Christ, consecrated of old and worthy of power, he has now been called the New Song. This Word, the Christ, the cause of both our being at first (for he was in God) and of our well-being, this very Word has now appeared as man. He alone is both God and man. He is the Author of all blessings to us. By him, we, being taught to live well, are sent on our way to life eternal.… This is the New Song, the manifestation of the Word that was in the beginning and before the beginning. The Savior, who has existed before, has in recent days appeared.

Source: EXHORTATION TO THE GREEKS 1
[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Isaiah 42:10
You descend into the water and come out unimpaired, the filth of sins having been washed away. You ascend “a new person” prepared to “sing a new song.”

Source: HOMILIES ON EXODUS 5:5
[AD 373] Ephrem the Syrian on Isaiah 42:10
Here [Isaiah] speaks again about the Gentiles and invites them to sing a new song to the Lord. Indeed, if the Jews, redeemed from captivity after seventy years, had to sing a new hymn to the Lord, their liberator, why should not the Gentiles do the same? And should they not burst out into a new song with much more good reason, since they have been delivered from a bondage of many centuries?“His praise from the end of the earth,” that is, it happens in a wonderful way that the salvation given by Christ to humankind is celebrated by the remotest nations with hymns and songs.
“The coastland and their inhabitants”: those nations who submit to the waves of the sea with their ships will praise the Lord. Those who have considered the sea as a divinity and sacrifice to it will recognize, after being enlightened by faith, their true God, and they will consider and preach him as the Lord of the sea.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 42:10
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 42:10
Even as islands have been set in the midst of the sea, churches have been established in the midst of this world, and they are beaten and buffeted by different waves of persecution. Truly these islands are lashed by waves every day, but they are not submerged. They are in the midst of the sea, to be sure, but they have Christ as their foundation, Christ who cannot be moved.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 24 (PSALM 97)
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 42:10-17
(Verse 10, 11 and following) Sing to God a new song: his praise from the ends of the earth: you who descend into the sea, and its fullness; islands and their inhabitants. Let the desert and its cities lift up: in the houses shall Cedar dwell, praise you inhabitants of Petra, they shall shout from the top of the mountains. They shall give glory to the Lord, and his praise in the islands they shall declare. The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, as a warrior he shall stir up zeal: he shall shout and cry out: he shall strengthen himself against his enemies. I have always kept silent, I have been quiet, I have been patient: like a woman in labor, I will speak. I will scatter and devour together. I will make mountains and hills desolate, and I will dry up all their vegetation, and I will turn rivers into islands, and I will dry up ponds. And I will lead the blind on a path they do not know, and I will make them walk on paths they have not known. I will turn darkness into light in front of them, and I will make crooked paths straight. These are the things I will do for them, and I will not abandon them. They have turned back: let them be confounded with confusion, that trust in idols, that say to molten things: You are our gods. Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle: his praise is in the church of the saints. Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: and let the children of Sion be joyful in their king. Let them praise his name in choir: let them sing to him with the timbrel and the psaltery. For the Lord is well pleased with his people: and he will exalt the meek unto salvation. The saints shall rejoice in glory: they shall be joyful in their beds. The high praises of God shall be in their mouth: and two-edged swords in their hands. To execute vengeance upon the nations, chastisements among the people. To bind their kings with fetters, and their nobles with manacles of iron. To execute upon them the judgment that is written: this glory is to all his saints. Alleluia. They will give glory to God, his virtues will be proclaimed in the islands. The Lord God of hosts will go forth and crush the battle, he will stir up zeal, and he will cry out against his enemies with strength. Have I been silent from the beginning, will I always be silent and endure? As one in labor, I have acted with patience; I will burst forth and dry up together, I will lay waste the mountains and hills, and I will dry up all their grass. And I will turn rivers into islands, and I will dry up marshes. And I will lead the blind along a way they do not know, and I will make their paths uneven; I will turn darkness into light for them, and crooked things into straight paths. I will speak these words to them, and I will not abandon them, but they have turned backward; you will be confused with confusion, you who trust in idols, who say that they are gods. He who had said: what was first, behold, it has come; I also announce new things: before they arise, I will make them heard to you; and he had promised that he would say what they did not know: what are those new things, he states in the following discourse, commanding the Apostles and the Apostolic men to sing a new song, not in the antiquity of the letter; but in the novelty of the spirit. Not only in the old Instrument, but also in the new; and His praise reaches to the ends of the earth. For He has come forth from the highest heaven and His circuit is to the highest point of it (Psalm XIX). The sound of the Apostles has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. Or according to the Septuagint: Glorify His name in the ends of the earth, that the name of Christ may be announced to the nations in the whole world. But who are those who should sing a new song, the following words declare: You who go down to the sea and sail upon it, or the fullness of the sea. For seeing the apostles, Jesus by the sea of Galilee, mending their nets, called and sent them into the great sea (Luke 5); to make fishermen of fish, who preached the Gospel from Jerusalem to Illyria and Spain: taking the power of the Roman city itself in a short time. Or certainly they descended into the sea and sailed it; enduring the storms and persecutions of this age. Also the islands and their inhabitants, whether understanding the diversity of nations or the multitude of churches. Let the desert and its cities raise their voices, as we mentioned earlier. Whether the desert and its villages rejoice, and Cedar, which was once an uninhabitable region beyond Arabia of the Saracens. And the inhabitants of Petra, which is also a city of Palestine. But this signifies that the deserted people of the nations, previously bound by the ignorance of God and the errors of idolatry, should be converted to the praises of the Lord. Whether because Cedar is interpreted as darkness, and according to the Apostle (I Cor. X) Christ is the rock, it is commanded to all believers, that those who were previously in darkness, and now believe in the Lord Savior, shout from the top of the mountains, and openly proclaim Christ, to whom it is also said above (Ad cap. XL, 9): Ascend to the high mountain, you who proclaim the good news to Zion. Lift up your voice with strength, you who proclaim good news to Jerusalem. And I will set his glory among the islands, of which we have spoken before. And the prophetic discourse describes the glorious advent of the Savior, about which even the Apostle Paul speaks: According to the illumination of the glory of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4; 2 Timothy 1:10); and he compares him to a mighty man who will fight against his adversaries, arousing zeal. Of whom it is also prophesied in the Song of Deuteronomy: They have made me jealous with what is not a god; they have provoked me with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are not a nation; I will provoke them with a foolish nation (Deuteronomy 32:21). He will also shout and cry out against his enemies, openly condemning their faithlessness, and with loud voice proclaiming: I have been silent, I have always kept silent, I have been patient, or as the Septuagint translated: I have been silent, will I always be silent? (Ecclesiastes 3:7) That which is said through Solomon may be fulfilled: A time to keep silent, and a time to speak. And the meaning is: I have often borne with you as you have transgressed for a long time; but because I remained silent before, I will by no means keep silent any longer. And just as a woman giving birth brings forth a child into the light and makes what was previously hidden in the depths of her womb open and visible, so too I will reveal my pain and the deceit that I have always harbored regarding your crimes, and I will expose your plans. And at once I will devour the entire nation and all the pride of your mountains and the swelling of your hills. And the grass, of which it was said: Truly the grass is the people, that is, both the leaders and the common people, I will reduce to a desert. What is added in the edition of Theodotion of the Septuagint, who had omitted these words (See above, Chapter IV, 7). And when I have dried you up from head to toe and wiped you out, then I will make the rivers of my teaching flow in the islands of the nations, and I will turn your lakes or marshes into dry land, so that there may be knowledge of the Scriptures among the nations and dryness of teaching among you. And I will lead the blind along a path they did not know, of whom we have also read above: I have made you a covenant of the people, a light of the nations, to open the eyes of the blind. They will be led along the way by which Christ speaks. I am the way, that is, the way of the knowledge of God, and I will make them walk on the prophetical paths. Then their darkness will be changed into light, and their faults will be turned into righteousness, so that they may understand what they read and with the eyes of their hearts may gaze upon the clear light of Christ in the Old Testament. At the same time, he adds: These words that I have spoken or will speak to them do not promise anything further in the future, but fulfill what I promised before. But when this was said, the Jewish people turned backward so as not to believe the promise, and in their errors they were confused and neglected the pledge of God, whom they had believed in before idols. Or when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, then also the people of Israel will be converted (Rom. II), and they will repent of their error, by which they had served idols before. Or certainly after the calling of the Gentiles, they will return to the beginning: so that it may be said, all the Gentiles who did not want to believe in the Gospel will be confounded in their idols.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on Isaiah 42:10
The word of the holy apostles and Evangelists about the Savior made visible the message of the glory of the Savior. At that time they wrote words concerning his ineffable divinity, and they hymned his transcendent virtue, not placing him among the things that are born but above those things that have been called into being and in such a nature he was placed beside God the Father. At that time their words set forth the divine signs that are beyond wonder and its explanation.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 4:1.42:11-12
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 42:13
Also in Isaiah it says, “the Lord of powers will come out and wage war, and will rouse his zeal and will shout in triumph over his foes with strength.” For God will come out from his place, once he is compelled to break his peace and gentleness and kindness for the sake of putting sins right, who, although by his nature is sweet, has been made bitter by our flaw, not in himself but in those suffering, to whom the torments are bitter. It is he who elsewhere spoke by the prophet, “I am God, and I do not change.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON ZECHARIAH 3:14.3-4
[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Isaiah 42:13
It is [Christ] who has destroyed the power of death; it is he who has crushed the way of sin; it is he who has made the tyranny of the devil to cease; it is he who has put an end to the error of idols.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 12:42.13
[AD 328] Alexander of Alexandria on Isaiah 42:14
Christ suffered shame for humanity’s sake in order to set people free from death. This he exclaimed, as in the words of the prophet, “I have endured as a woman in childbirth.” In very deed Christ endured for our sakes sorrow, ignominy, torment, even death itself, and burial. For thus he says himself by the prophet, “I went down into the deep.” Who made him thus to go down? The ungodly.… They suspended him on the tree—the One who stretches out the earth. They transfixed him with nails who laid firm the foundation of the world. They circumscribed him who circumscribed the heavens. They bound him who frees sinners. They gave him vinegar to drink who has enabled them to drink of righteousness. They fed him with gall who has offered to them the bread of life. They caused corruption to come on his hands and feet who healed their hands and feet. They violently closed his eyes who restored sight to them. They gave him over to the tomb who raised their dead to life both in the time before his passion and also while he was hanging on the tree.

Source: EPISTLES ON THE ARIAN HERESY 5:5
[AD 379] Basil of Caesarea on Isaiah 42:14
Still, the saying of Isaiah has come to my mind: “I have kept silence; I shall not always keep silence and endure, shall I? I have been as patient as a woman in labor.” May it be that we both receive the reward for our silence and acquire some power for refuting, so that, when we have given our proofs, we may dry up this bitter torrent of falsehood poured out against us. May we say, “Our souls have passed through a torrent,” and, “If it has not been that the Lord was with us, when people rose up against us, perhaps they had swallowed us up alive, perhaps the waters had swallowed us up.”

Source: LETTER 223
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Isaiah 42:14
The one who speaks is now keeping quiet. He speaks in commandments; he keeps quiet in judgment.… How has he kept quiet, seeing that he spoke to say this very thing? He says, “I have kept quiet,” and yet he does not keep quiet, because just by saying “I have kept quiet,” God has not kept quiet. So then, Lord, I hear you speaking in so many commandments, as many sacred signs, so many pages, so many books. And then I hear you saying this, “I have kept quiet, will I keep quiet always?” So how have you kept quiet? Because I am not yet saying, “Come, you blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom.” And I am not yet saying to the others, “Go into the eternal fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels.” And while I am not yet saying these things, I am already warning you that I am going to say them.

Source: SERMON 47:4
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Isaiah 42:14
“Sweet and righteous is the Lord.” You love [him] because he is sweet. You fear [him] because he is righteous. In a gentle voice, he said, “I have kept silence.” But as a just person, “shall I always be silent?” “A Lord compassionate and merciful.” Yes, indeed. Yet add, patient; yet add, and very compassionate.

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 33:7
[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Isaiah 42:14
“I spoke as if giving birth.” For as we already have said, giving birth with pain expels that which was developing deep within for a long time. The one who was always silent speaks out now like one giving birth, for the coming judge withheld revenge from being inflicted on humans for a long time; for he shows the extent to which he kept contained within the pressure of endurance, like a headache. So no one, when God hides this light, should despise him or criticize him when God flashes down from heaven to burn up those who have contempt for him. For the one who does not long for pardon then without a doubt he will burn as punishment. So we accept the time of calling through heavenly grace, while indulgence still prevails, and may we flee the wrath that is all around, making an improvement in our lifestyle.

Source: MORALS ON THE BOOK OF JOB 10:31
[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Isaiah 42:16
Again, God calls the people who suffer from unbelief and who are devoid of intellectual acuteness “the blind.” He promises to guide their steps on the way they do not know, for they failed to recognize the path of the truth but followed on the paths of error. “I will turn darkness into light for them.” After freeing them from their previous ignorance, I will deem them worthy of the knowledge of God, for ignorance is like darkness, whereas knowledge is analogous to the light. “And crooked things into straight.” For the difficult course of wisdom, of the governing of oneself and of justice, he has made an easy course, since he has attached the hope of future benefits to the efforts to claim virtue. “These are the words that I will fulfill for them; and I will not forsake them.” I will not cease to judge them worthy of these benefits, and I will lavish all kinds of care, even to the future.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 12:42.16
[AD 461] Leo the Great on Isaiah 42:16
The apostle John teaches how this is fulfilled: “We know that the Son of God came and gave understanding to us, that we might know the truth and be in his true Son.” And again, “Let us love, therefore, since God first loved us.” By loving us, God restores us to be his image, so that he might find the form of his own goodness in us. He grants that we ourselves might work what he works, indeed setting light to our minds and causing us to burn with the fire of his love, in order that we love not only him but also the things that he loves.

Source: SERMON 12:1
[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Isaiah 42:18
Now the blind see when they see the world, and from the exceedingly great beauty of things that have been created they contemplate the Creator corresponding in greatness and beauty to them. And when they see clearly “the invisible things of God from the creation of the world, which are perceived through the things that are made,” [then] they see and understand with attentiveness and clarity.

Source: COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 11:18
[AD 379] Basil of Caesarea on Isaiah 42:18
It is evident, indeed, that some possess ears better able to hear the words of God. But to those who do not have those ears, what does he say? “Hear, you deaf, and, you blind, behold.” Also, “I opened my mouth and panted,” and “You have broken the teeth of sinners.”4 All these things were said in reference to the faculties that render service for spiritual food and spiritual doctrine.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 16.13. (PSALM 33)
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 42:18-25
(Verse 18, 19 onwards) The deaf, hear! And the blind, look to see. Who is blind, if not my servant? And who is deaf, if not the one to whom I send my messengers? Who is blind, if not the one who has been sold? And who is blind, if not the servant of the Lord? You who see many things, will you not observe? You who have open ears, will you not hear? And the Lord desired to sanctify him, and to magnify the law, and to exalt it. But the people are plundered and devastated: all the youth are trapped in snares, and hidden in prison houses. They have become a prey, and there is no one to deliver them; a spoil, and no one says, 'Restore them.' Who among you hears this, pays attention, and listens to the future? Who has given Jacob over to plunder, and Israel to the plunderers? Is it not the Lord himself, whom we have sinned against? And they have refused to walk in his ways and have not listened to his law. So he poured out his wrath on them, and the fierceness of battle: and he set them on fire all around, but they did not understand; and he burned them, but they did not comprehend. LXX: Hear, you deaf! Look, you blind, that you may see. Who is blind, but my children? And deaf, but those who rule over them? Who is blind (According to the Complutensian edition of the Septuagint) but he who receives: and the servants of God were made blind. You have seen many things, but you have not observed them: your ears are open, but you do not hear. The Lord God was pleased for the sake of his justice, that he might magnify his law. And I saw, and behold a people is destroyed and taken captive. For there was a snare in the hidden places, and a net over their houses. They have become a prey: and there was no one to deliver the spoil: and there was no one to say, Restore. Who is among you that will hear this, and will consider the future? Who hath given Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to robbers? hath not the LORD, he against whom we have sinned? and they would not walk in his ways, neither would they hearken to his law. And he hath poured out upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle: and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not, and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart. Lest anyone think that what is said, 'Hear, you deaf; look, you blind,' applies to the Gentile people, who were previously deaf and blind (as the Jews foolishly claim to approve by interpretation), the prophetic speech itself shows that the deaf and blind should be understood. 'Who is blind but my servant, and deaf like the messenger I send? Who is blind like the one in covenant with me, blind like Israel?' Who is blind, but the one who was previously a servant of the Lord? To whom it is said: O Israel, who sees many things, and has many prophets through whom you may know the commandments of God, will you not keep the precepts that have been given to you? You who have open ears, will you not hear what is being said, of which we also read above: You will hear with your ears, and will not understand; and seeing you will see, and will not perceive: for the heart of this people has grown dull (Isa. VI, 9). The Lord, he said, wanted to sanctify him, and magnify his Law, and lift up and comfort his suffering people. But he did not want to do God's will: and therefore he was plundered and devastated by his adversaries, whom we should understand as either demons or enemies. The snares of young men, and those hidden in the houses of prisons. Or as the LXX translated, snares in every hiding place, and in the houses where they concealed them: signifying the scribes and the Pharisees, who deceived the miserable people, and everywhere set traps against the Lord Savior and his Apostles (Luke 11): having the key of knowledge, neither entering in themselves, nor allowing others who wanted to enter. Their beautiful hearts in which they lived were called prisons of evil thoughts. Therefore, they became a prey and a plunder: and there was no one to deliver them, and to speak for them. At the same time, the Prophet encourages them, so that if everyone cannot hear, at least a few would know and understand what they have endured. And they would recognize the reasons for their desolation, who neither wanted to hear nor to do what was commanded by the Law. Therefore the Lord poured out upon them all his wrath and the fury of his anger; uttering also against them exceeding hard words, behold how he incenses them with the Roman Empire he newly built. He burns them completely and leaves nothing healthy in them, yet they do not understand the reason for their punishment, that they have not received the Son of God.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 435] John Cassian on Isaiah 42:18
“Who is deaf but my servant?” And who is blind, but the one to whom I have sent my messengers?” And so that no one might ascribe their blindness to their nature instead of to their own will, he says elsewhere: “Bring forth the people that are blind and have eyes, that are deaf and have ears.” And again he says, “You have eyes, but do not see, ears but do not hear.”

Source: CONFERENCE 13:12
[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Isaiah 42:18
Who is as blind as the one who has moved away? Symmachus translates, “Who is as blind as the perfect and as blind as the servant of the Lord?” He says that although the nations are just as much in error, they do not deserve the same accusation. For they did not have the prophets guiding them toward the truth and were not deemed worthy of such attention. “The one who is far off” has the same meaning; he who has been called by God has left the service of God, preferring the worship of idols.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 13:42.19
[AD 339] Eusebius of Caesarea on Isaiah 42:19-21
He reports how they became the blind and dull by saying, “They see many things but do not observe.” These things were previously communicated [in Isaiah]: “Keep listening, but do not comprehend; keep looking, but do not understand. Make the mind of this people dull.” … You see that all these things he says about the people, he means concerning those of the circumcision. But “the Lord was pleased, for his righteousness’ sake, to magnify his praise.” And they surrendered to those who made war on their souls and became “a people who have been torn in pieces, plundered and trapped in a secret room” of their souls, “and in their own homes as well.” For these very reasons those who plotted with these thoughts that they hid from Christ were themselves caught in a “trap from which they could not be delivered,” there being no “rescuer” and none to say, “Release them.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:23
[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Isaiah 42:22
He has taught us both the divine object and the free will of the human creature. Although he desires, he says, that you be justified by choosing godliness, you have, on the contrary, taken the opposite way and reaped death. “For there is a snare in the secret chambers everywhere, and in the houses also, where they have hidden them.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 13:42.22
[AD 258] Cyprian on Isaiah 42:24
In this part of the Lord’s Prayer, [Christ] shows that the enemy is powerless against us without God’s prior permission. During temptation, consequently, all our fear and devotion and attention should be focused on God, since evil has only such force as he himself permits. … Moreover, evil is given power over us according to our [willful] sins. As Isaiah writes, “Who gave Jacob up to the looters and Israel to the ponderers.” It was the Lord, against whom we sinned, in whose ways we would not walk and whose law we refused to obey. So he unleashed the fury of his anger against us. And again, when Solomon strayed from the precepts and paths of the Lord, it was recorded, “The Lord stirred up Satan against Solomon himself.”

Source: Treatise IV. On the Lord's Prayer 25
[AD 339] Eusebius of Caesarea on Isaiah 42:24
Since God had been addressing people who could not hear him, he now speaks of them as helpless and weak.… For the outcome of the matter was no longer an issue but would be accomplished very soon.… He sent on them the fury of his anger, and battle overtook them. Those who were already wearied by war once more took it on themselves so as to hold on to Jerusalem and their rule over it. But war was unleashed on them, and not only in an external sense but also in that which afflicted their souls.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:23
[AD 397] Philastrius of Brescia on Isaiah 42:24
But Scripture declares that these evils are not by nature made by God but rather come from causes dwelling within humans. Sins against the Lord are the source of trials and pressures of various persecutions that with God’s permission rise up against those sinning, as it is written, “who gives Israel up to the spoil.” Is it not the Lord against whom they sinned and his ways in which they did not want to walk? For Scripture elsewhere states that God did not make evil things. In the book of Genesis, which speaks of the creation of the world, it states that all God made was very good.… So evils are not naturally caused by God’s creating but by human will.

Source: BOOK OF HERESIES 79:2-5