Bible Verses and Early Church Commentary | Historical Christian Faith

[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 44:1-5

(Chapter 44, verse 1 and following) Now listen, my servant Jacob, and Israel, whom I have chosen. Thus says the Lord, your maker and shaper from the womb, your helper. Do not fear, my servant Jacob, and you, whom I have chosen. For I will pour water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. They will sprout among the grass, like willows by flowing streams. He will say, 'I am the Lord's,' and another will name himself by the name of Jacob, and another will write on his hand, 'The Lord's,' and adopt the name of Israel. LXX: But now hear, Jacob my servant, and Israel whom I have chosen. I am the Lord your God, who created you and formed you from the womb; you will still have my help. Do not fear, my servant Jacob, and beloved Israel whom I have chosen. I will pour water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessings on your descendants.' And they shall spring up as among the grass, and as willows by the water courses. One shall say, I am the Lord's: and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob: and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel. When the people of Judah are accused of unbelief and blasphemy, they are called by simple names without any dignity: You have not called upon me, O Jacob, neither have you labored about me, O Israel; and again: I have given Jacob to utter destruction, and Israel to reproaches. But when he speaks to the choir of the Apostles, who are from the Jews, the privileges of their names are also joined. Listen, Jacob my servant, and Israel whom I have chosen: that servitude be first, election second. Thus says the Lord, your maker and your creator, who aided you in the womb (Gen. XXV): that even in the womb of your mother you would grasp the heel of your brother. Or who, at the beginning of the nascent Church, preserved you from persecutors. Do not fear their cruelty, my servant Jacob, whom I have chosen. He is also called Israel; Isurun in Hebrew, and the others, the most upright or the straightest. Only the LXX called him the most beloved, combining it with their own, Israel. Specifically, according to the Hebrews and the faith of the scriptures, Israel is called the upright one of God. But a man who sees God is not in the elements, but in the sound of his voice. And the book of Genesis is called εὐθεῖς, that is, the book of the righteous: Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. Therefore, do not be afraid, Jacob and Israel, for I will pour out water on the thirsty and the dry land, of which it has often been said: 'I will pour out, or I will put my spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing upon your descendants, who will be born again in water and the Holy Spirit in baptism. This promise was also made by the Savior in the Gospel, when he said: 'Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.' And immediately he brings in: Now he said this about the Holy Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive (John 7). He also compares those who are reborn in baptism to evergreen herbs and willows that grow by flowing waters, and he brings forth fruits against nature, which was previously barren, or whose seed, when consumed as food, renders them barren. This is indeed read in the first psalm: And he shall be like a tree planted beside the running waters, which shall yield its fruit in due season, and its leaf shall not fall. Others among the herbs and the growing willows understand a twofold calling: that the people of the nations be in the herbs; in the willows, those who believed from Israel. And at the same time it describes the variety of believers: One will say, 'I am of the Lord', who trusts in the works of righteousness within himself; another will call, it is understood, 'sinners to repentance in the name of Jacob', so that they themselves may uproot vices and sins. Another will write with his own hand, 'I belong to God'. Or as they translated it in the Septuagint, he will write in his hand: I am of God, so that he may boast in the new apprenticeship of the service of Christ. And he will be assimilated in the name of Israel. For not all from Israel, but a great part from the multitude of the Gentiles, will be assimilated in the name of Israel, so that he may receive the Law and the Prophets, and all the graces of the Holy Spirit that were promised to the Israelite people.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah

[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 44:2

For “Jeshurun,” a Hebrew word, the other translators translate euthytaton or euthē, that is, “most right” and “right,” and only the Septuagint had “most loved” and connected it to “Israel.” For according to the Hebrew and the faith of the Scriptures, “Israel” means “the sight of God,” that is, a person who sees God, not in the natural things but in the sound of his voice.… Isaiah also compares those being reborn in baptism with flourishing plants and with the willow, which rises up near flowing water. Against the nature of things the willow bears fruit, although it was previously barren or became barren because its seed was taken for food.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 12:17

[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Isaiah 44:3

God himself testifies that the Holy Spirit presides over his blessings, saying, “I will put my Spirit on your seed and my blessings on your children.” For no blessing can be full except through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Source: On the Holy Spirit 1.7.89

[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Isaiah 44:3

He does not cease to make mention of the creation and of his kindness after the creation.… You will not be alone in enjoying my benefits, he says, for the thirsty nations will also drink from the streams of salvation, thanks to your descendants.… He is addressing those who are in Babylon, yet it is not to them but to their descendants that he promises to give the grace of the Spirit.… Here the prophetic text, having promised to give water to those traveling through a dry land, has shown through whom he will give it. “I will set my Spirit on your seed and my blessing on your children.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 13:44.1-3

[AD 311] Methodius of Olympus on Isaiah 44:4

For everywhere the divine writings take the willow as the type of chastity, because when its flower is steeped in water, if it is drunk, it extinguishes whatever kindles sensual desires and passions within us, until it renders completely barren and makes every inclination to the begetting of children without effect, as also Homer indicated, for this reason calling the willows destructive of fruit.… For as it is the nature of this tree to bud and grow to maturity when enriched by words, so it is the nature of virginity to blossom and grow to maturity when enriched by words, so that one can hang one’s body5 on it.If, then, the rivers of Babylon are the streams of voluptuousness, as wise people say, which confuse and disturb the soul, then the willows must be chastity, to which we may suspend and draw up the organs of lust that overbalance and weigh down the mind, so that they may not be borne down by the torrents of incontinence and be drawn like worms to impurity and corruption.

Source: SYMPOSIUM OR BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS 4:3-4

[AD 585] Cassiodorus on Isaiah 44:4

The willow is a type of saintly and faithful persons. As Isaiah puts it, “There shall spring up, as it were, grass in the midst of water, and the willow in ever-flowing water.” So it is on people like these that we hang our instruments, when we bestow them by sharing the grace from reading from the divine Scriptures. Our instruments are the means of bestowing the grace of psalmody and the cause of our joy when it is bestowed on us in turn.

Source: EXPOSITION OF PSALMS 136:2

[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Isaiah 44:5

The reality comes to confirm the prophecy: it is with total freedom of language that each of the believers calls herself a Christian and derives glory from this name.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 13:44.5

[AD 528] Procopius of Gaza on Isaiah 44:5

We have seen many of the saints themselves latch on to names of certain men. One calls himself Jacob, another Israel, others even call themselves Jeremiah and Isaiah and Daniel. Encouraged by these names, they give themselves over to martyrdom with enthusiasm. “Another will write with his hands, ‘the Lord’s.’ ” This signifies the marking that many have on their hands or arms, or it refers to those marked with the sign of the cross or the name of Christ. The portion or the inheritance of the name of God is implied by the use of the name derived from “Jacob” [i.e., “Israel”]. It signifies that those who have acted in a godly way will not be allowed to go to utter ruin, for he does not want to destroy the whole of Israel but turn them totally toward God. And he provides the way of salvation to those who believe in him.He calls himself Lord and God, Creator and Framer—this is intended to show that they were in error when Israel gave the name of “god” to others who were not gods and forgot the one who was from the beginning the creator of humanity. They were honoring their parents as the ones who were responsible in the beginning and ignoring the Maker, as one of the prophets said: “The son gives glory to the father and the slave to his master,” and “If I am the Father, then where is my glory?” and “If I am the ruler of all, where is the fear of me?” says the Lord. For [the Son] is the Lord who rules the creation by hand, but the Father is the one who made it.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 44:1-5

[AD 96] Revelation on Isaiah 44:6

I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: [Isaiah 44:6] I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter; The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

[AD 373] Athanasius of Alexandria on Isaiah 44:6

For God is one and only and first. But this is not said to the denial of the Son; perish the thought. For he is in that One and First and Only, as being of that One and Only and First the only Word and Wisdom and Radiance. And he too is the First, as the fullness of the godhead of the First and Only, being whole and full God.

Source: Discourses Against the Arians 3.23

[AD 379] Basil of Caesarea on Isaiah 44:6

If we count, we do not add, increasing from one to many. We do not say, “one, two, three,” or “first, second, and third.” God says, “I am the first, and I am the last.” We have never to this present day heard of two gods.… How does one and one not equal two gods? Because we speak of the emperor and the emperor’s image—but not two emperors.… The image of the emperor is an image by imitation, but the Son is a natural image.

Source: ON THE HOLY SPIRIT 18:45

[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on Isaiah 44:6

“I am the first, and hereafter am I, and no God was before me, and no God shall be after me.” For knowing more perfectly than all others the mystery of the religion of the gospel, this great prophet foretold even that marvelous sign concerning the virgin, and gave us the good tidings of the birth of the Child and clearly pointed out to us that name of the Son. He, in a word, by the Spirit includes in himself all the truth, in order that the characteristic of the divine nature, whereby we discern that which really is from that which came into being, might be made as plain as possible to all. [Isaiah] utters this saying in the person of God: “I am the first, and hereafter am I, and before me no God has been, and after me is none.”

Source: AGAINST EUNOMIUS 5:1

[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Isaiah 44:6

I have not read of, or heard of or found any varying degree in God. Never have I read of a second, never of a third God. I have read of a first God; I have heard of a first and only God.

Source: Exposition of the Christian Faith 5.9.116

[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 44:6-20

(Verse 6 and following) This is what the Lord, the king of Israel and his redeemer, the Lord of hosts, says: I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides me. Who is like me? Let him call and declare, and lay out the order for me, since I established the ancient people: what is coming and what will happen, let them declare to them. Do not be afraid, nor be troubled: from that time I have made you hear and announced it; you are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me, and a creator whom I do not know? All the idols of the nations are worthless, and the things they love do not profit them. They themselves are witnesses to their own worthlessness, for they do not see or understand, so that they may be put to shame. Who formed a god or cast an idol that is profitable for nothing? Look, all his companions shall be put to shame; the craftsmen are mere men. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together. The blacksmith takes a tool and works it with the coals; he fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He will be hungry and will become weak, he will not drink water, and he will grow weary. The carpenter extends the rule (or the form), he shapes it on the plane, he forms it with angles, and rounds it off with a compass. And he makes an image of a man, like a handsome man dwelling in a house. He cuts down cedars, he takes an oak, and a tree that stood among the woods. He plants a pine, which the rain nourishes, and it becomes fuel for men. He takes from them, and warms himself; he kindles it, and bakes bread. But the rest of it he made into a god and worshipped; he made an idol and bowed down to it. He burned half of it in the fire and cooked meat on it; he roasted a stew and ate it, and then he was satisfied. He warmed himself and said, 'Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.' The rest of the wood he made into a god, his idol. He bows down to it and worships; he prays to it and says, 'Save me, for you are my god.' They do not know, nor do they understand; for their eyes are too dim to see, and their hearts too dull to perceive. They do not recognize in their mind, nor do they know, nor do they feel to say: I burnt its middle with fire, and I baked bread on its coals. I cooked meat, and I ate, and from the rest of it I will make an idol, I will prostrate before the trunk of a tree, a part of it is ashes: the foolish heart worshipped it: and it did not save its soul, nor will it say: perhaps there is a lie in my right hand. After the preaching of the Apostles, the calling of the Gentiles, the coming of the Savior, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which he promised to give to all who believe, when another will say, I belong to the Lord: another will call himself in the name of Jacob: another will write with his own hand that he belongs to the Lord, and when he has arisen from the unbelieving crowd of the Gentiles, he will be likened to Israel, so that having abandoned idols, he may be a worshipper of one God: it begins another section, which we have presented in its entirety, so as not to divide the unity of its meaning. And because the Septuagint in this chapter, with the exception of a few words, does not differ from the Hebrew, we are satisfied with our edition, by understanding which, the others will be understood as well. And this is a discourse against the idolaters of that time, to whom the prophet Isaiah proclaimed the coming things for the people, and he reproves those who, despising the religion of Almighty God, incline to wooden idols and worship the works of their own hands. Let us therefore run through each point. Thus says the Lord, the king of Israel, who is to be believed in me, and his redeemer, who will receive the coming of my Son: The Lord of hosts and virtues, and Almighty. For in Hebrew, it means Sabaoth (). I am the first and the last, I am Α and Ω; and there is no God without me, for the child whom I have chosen is God in me. Of whom I said above: Behold my child, whom I have chosen: my chosen one, whom my soul has received: he will bring judgment to the nations: and in his name the nations will hope. He does not say that he alone exists, but that apart from his own virtue and wisdom there is no external God, and condemns the belief in many gods and images: Who, he says, is like me? Let him call those things which are not as though they were, and explain the order of my creation, which I have balanced with reason, since I made man upon the earth. And not only do I desire this, but I also seek knowledge of the future. Therefore, you, Israel, of whom I am both king and redeemer, do not fear the images that you have learned are nothing on Mount Sinai. Is there perhaps another Creator, whom I do not know? Or is there another world beyond this one, which reveals the power of an unknown God? And not only the things that are made, but also those who make them, will be considered worthless. And when the time of vengeance comes, they will not be able to free themselves from the works of their own hands, which blind and senseless artisans confuse. For who can believe that God is formed by an axe, file, drill, or hammer? And are there statues made of thorns; or do the plumb-line, plow, and corner-squares, and the compass suddenly rise up into gods? Especially since the poverty of the artist is shown by hunger and thirst. For a wooden statue is made, representing human form, and the more beautiful it is, the narrower is the God thought to be. It is placed in a shrine, and is enclosed in eternal prison, which grew for a long time in the woods, and depending on the variety of trees, was either a cedar or an oak or a pine. And in a wondrous manner, its segments and scratches are thrown into the hearth, so that they may warm the artisan of God and cook different dishes. But the other part is fashioned into a god, so that, with the work complete, the creator may adore it and seek assistance from his own creation. Yet he does not understand or consider, indeed, he does not even look upon it with the eyes of the flesh or the mind, that it cannot be God, whose part has been consumed by fire, nor can the divine majesty be made by the hand of man. Moreover, the prophetic language is more fully covered with ridicule, which is easily understood and does not require a verbose, rather superfluous commentary. This is what Horace also writes about in his Satire, mocking the idols of the nations (Satire VIII, Book I).

Once I was a fig tree trunk, useless wood: When a craftsman was unsure whether to make a bench or Priapus. He preferred it to be a god: I became a god, the greatest fear of thieves and birds. . . . . . . . . . . . . Whatever is said about idols can also be applied to the leaders of heresies, who create images of their doctrines and lies with cunning hearts and worship things that they know are made by themselves. And their own error is not enough for them, unless they deceive even the simplest of their followers with their worship. Those who think that gain is godliness and devour the homes of widows (I Tim. VI), taking advantage of the ignorance of the common people, in this way, with dialectic art, as if with an axe and drill, they shape their own god, and they forge with a hammer, and they gild with the elegance of rhetorical language: of whom their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame (Philipp. III).

Source: Commentary on Isaiah

[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Isaiah 44:6

“Thus says the Lord, the king of Israel, the God of hosts who has saved them: I am the first, and I remain after these things. Apart from me there is no God.” If there is no God apart from him, the Son is not consubstantial with the Father, as the blasphemy of Arius and Eunomius teaches. How, then, can they call him God? If the Son is God and the prophetic word is true that openly states there is no other God, the divinity of the holy Trinity is one, even if they do not admit this.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 13:44.6

[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 44:7-8

Who is like me? Let him call the things that are not as if they are and let him explain the order of my creation, by which reason I have set humans free in motion as I made them on the earth. And this is not all I will to do, but I also seek out for them knowledge of things to come. So you, Israel, whose king and redeemer I am, do not fear idols, which you have learned on Mount Sinai to be nothing.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 12:18

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on Isaiah 44:7-8

Having made mention of the knowledge in Christ, recapping things for our benefit, he now turns his address to something else that is very necessary. For at the time when the godly prophet Isaiah composed the words about such things, offensive and irresistible temptations ruled over them. For what “God” and “honor” meant seemed to be up to the judgment of each individual. So God needs to provide them with some rousing encouragement and arguments tailored to their situation. He turns them away from polytheism and the sicknesses that troubled them and summons them through a change of mind to a knowledge of the truth and of his glory and brings them back to the awareness of his incomparable power.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 4:2.44:6-7

[AD 339] Eusebius of Caesarea on Isaiah 44:9-10

Isaiah sees that in the ensuing time a very great number of people will arise who all “will be ashamed” and who will cease from their continual error. They will be ashamed and hide their faces. If they persist in their error, however, they will be given over to destruction at the time of judgment. But this word is also for those of us now in the present.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:26

[AD 202] Irenaeus on Isaiah 44:11

When, however, the Scripture terms them [gods] that are not gods, it does not declare them as gods in every sense but with a certain addition and signification, by which they are shown to be no gods at all, as with David, “The gods of the heathens are idols of demons” and “You shall not follow other gods.” For in the fact that he says “the God of the heathen,” yet the heathen are ignorant of the true God, and he calls them “other gods,” he thereby bars their claim [to be looked on] as gods at all. But as to what they are in their own person, he speaks concerning them, “for they are,” he says, “the idols of demons.” And Isaiah says, “Let them be confounded, all who blaspheme God and carve useless things; even I am witness, says God.” He removes them from [the category of] gods, but he makes use of the word alone, for this [purpose] that we may know of whom he speaks.

Source: AGAINST HERESIES 3:6.3

[AD 373] Athanasius of Alexandria on Isaiah 44:11

How could he fail to pity them in this also, seeing that they worship them that cannot see. In hearing, they pray to them that cannot hear. Born with life and reason, people, as they are, call gods things that do not move at all but do not even have life. Strangest of all, do they serve as their masters beings whom they themselves keep under their own power?

Source: Against the Heathen 13:4

[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Isaiah 44:12

[Isaiah] has demonstrated that the production of these so-called gods relies on contributions. Their creator needs the blacksmith to prepare the tools and the whetstone for sharpening them; for his part, the bronzesmith needs coal and fire, while the constructor of the objects needs food and drink! It takes all this to prepare a god who is worshiped by these ignorant people. Isaiah is not finished mocking them. After choosing a log, the artisan immediately measures the so-called god. whereas the true God is immeasurable. He then shapes it with the appropriate tools, whereas the real God has no form or shape.… He does not copy divine characteristics but human ones; he shapes his human image and adores his own image as if it were divine.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 13:44.12

[AD 850] Ishodad of Merv on Isaiah 44:12

“He becomes hungry, and his strength fails.” The first reason for the making of idols is the need of their makers. They are hungry and thirsty and have no food, and, therefore, they make idols, so that their need may be satisfied, thanks to what they themselves do. According to Henana, it is with regard to the weakness of the idols that the prophet says that they cannot deliver anybody from these needs, when they hunger and thirst, not even the person who makes them and believes he has made a god.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 44:12

[AD 165] Justin Martyr on Isaiah 44:15

We do not honor with many sacrifices and garlands of flowers such deities as humans have formed and set in shrines and called gods. For we see that these are soulless and dead and do not have the form of God (for we do not consider that God has such a form as some say that they imitate to his honor). These are names and forms of those wicked demons that have appeared. For why need we tell you who already know, into what forms the artisans, carving and cutting, casting and hammering, fashion their materials? And often out of vessels of dishonor, by merely changing the form and making an image of the requisite shape, they make what they call a god; which we consider not only senseless but to be even insulting to God, who, having indescribable glory and form, thus gets his name attached to things that are corruptible and require constant service.

Source: The First Apology 9:1-3

[AD 339] Eusebius of Caesarea on Isaiah 44:15

What do you think of them, and what is the nature of those who make gods from inanimate statues? For it is easy to see in the latter that they are works of artisans, prepared by axes and drills and such tools, the invention of skillful and industrious people, who through a need of food have found an instrument of leisurely falsehood. What do you think of the nature of God and about whether God needs our sacrifices and whether God is weak, as if according to Symmachus he is hungry and weak and feeble and cannot even drink water. The statement that God cannot drink water implies that he desperately needs liquid, while in fact God shares in no such thing, as though he were a dumb creature.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:26

[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Isaiah 44:15

The prophet proceeds to teach that the Creator gave the forests and woods on the mountains to supply food and fuel and for the sake of human bodies. They, however, take a holm oak, an oak or a cedar that God has planted and watered by providing rain for the benefit of human bodies and use these trees to create gods.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 13:44.13

[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 44:18

Whatever is said about idols can also be referred to the leaders of heresies, who form likenesses of their teachings with a heart of deceitful artifice and worship those things that they know to be facsimiles … and abusing the untrained minds of the common people with dialectical skill, just as with axes and files, with lines and planes they form their gods. The sweet talkers beat with a hammer and embellish with the fineness of their speech.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 12:18

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on Isaiah 44:18

The wise and eloquent people among the pagans are full of admiration for a well-turned phrase. One of their main preoccupations is with elegance of expression. They are filled with the greatest enthusiasm for good style and take great pride in verbal dexterity. The base material of their poets is merely lies fashioned in rhythms and meters for grace and harmony, but for truth they have little if any regard. I would say that they are sick from the lack of any true or proper notion of the nature and reality of God.… And God said of them through the voice of Isaiah, “Know that their hearts are dust and that they have erred.” … As for the inventors of impure heresies, those profaners and apostates who have opened their mouths against the divine glory, “those who have uttered perverted things,” we could accuse them of having slipped in their madness as low as the foolish pagans; perhaps they have slipped even lower, for it would have been better never to have known the way of sacred truth than once to have known it, to have turned away from the sacred commandment that was handed on to them.

Source: ON THE UNITY OF CHRIST

[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Isaiah 44:19

If it is a god, [Isaiah] says, the whole of the wood should be divine. Why, therefore, do you burn leftover parts of the wood and avail yourself of the fire to provide for your food, since at one time you bake bread, at another you boil and roast meat, and both eat and warm yourself and enjoy its light? Is not the wood that is put into the fire of the same kind as that which you worship? How, therefore, can you cast aside the one and adore the other?

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 13:44.17

[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Isaiah 44:20

Foolishness has mastered them; they have lost the faculty of reasoning and are slaves to folly. This is why I will put my Spirit on your descendants, so that they will be delivered from error, for in no other way can they receive the truth. “See, you will not say, There is a lie in my right hand.” The other interpreters join this passage to the one that precedes: “[Know] that no one is able to deliver his soul and no one says, is it a lie that you have in your right hand?” [Isaiah] has, therefore, said about the people who are in error that they do not recognize as a lie that which they are holding. But according to the Septuagint, this phrase, which is put into the mouth of God, should be understood thus: “Are my works,” he says, “like those of a whetstone? Has a human made me? Am I an idol? Am I fabricated by cutting wood or stones of gold or silver?”

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 13:44.20

[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 44:21-23

(Vers. 21 seqq.) Remember these things, Jacob, and Israel, for you are my servant: I have formed you, you are my servant, O Israel, do not forget me. I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you. Praise, O heavens, for the Lord has shown mercy: rejoice, O ends of the earth, let the mountains resound with praise, the forests and every tree in it: for the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and Israel will be glorified. LXX: Remember these things, Jacob and Israel; for you are my servant: I have formed you, my servant: and you, Israel, do not forget me. Behold, I have blotted out your iniquities as a cloud, and your sins as a mist. Return to me, and I will redeem you. Rejoice, heavens, for the God of Israel has shown mercy. Sound the trumpet, foundations of the earth, cry out, mountains, with joy: hills and all the trees in them, for God has redeemed Jacob: and Israel will be glorious. When these things are thus, and know that idols of men are figments, O Jacob and my Israel, do not forget your Creator, and do not do injury to yourself, so that you bow down to the work of your hands. Because these things are completely destroyed in the coming of my chosen child, therefore with all the eagerness of your mind, understand that just as a cloud and darkness, and mist, either dissolve in the heat of the sun, or are weakened by the wind that carries them away: so I will dissolve your iniquities and all the sins by which you have previously offended me. Just return to me and repent, for you are to be redeemed by precious blood. If you do this, know that in your salvation, the heavens and the earth will rejoice, and all the elements will harmonize. Whether it be the angels who reside in the heavens, and other powers that support the foundations of the earth. Or certainly the Apostles and Prophets, of whom the Apostle spoke: 'Built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets' (Ephes. II, 20). The mountains and forests, or hills, which, for the variety of their virtues, possessed the first and middle and last places, are commanded to rejoice and sound the trumpet, knowing that the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and in Israel there is joy in the conversion, or that Israel himself, having turned from error, may become illustrious.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Isaiah 44:22

It is as though a malicious painter brought together colors to paint an image of the earthly that God did not make in you. So you must now beg God, as the prophet says, “Blot out your iniquities as a cloud, and your sins as a mist.” And when [God] has blotted out all those colors in you which have been taken up from the reddish hues of malice, then that image that was created by God will shine brightly in you. You see, therefore, how the divine Scriptures bring in forms and figures by which the soul may be instructed toward knowledge and cleansing of the soul.

Source: HOMILIES ON GENESIS 13:4

[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Isaiah 44:22

God pardoned Israel’s sins when he brought them out of the Babylonian captivity. But, really and truly, it was only after the incarnation that God forgave the sins of those who believed in him. He removed the cloud of their sins and supplied them with eternal life.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 13:44.22

[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Isaiah 44:23

Again, the prophetic text has made use of a personification. Just as when [Isaiah] accuses Israel, he has invited the heavens and the earth to serve as witness, so also when he announces benefits, he invites creation anew to partake in the joy; it is not as though the elements are animate, but when we are depressed, they seem somber to us, and when we are happy, they naturally seem more radiant. It is not the elements that have changed, but it is to us that they present this appearance. If, however, one desires to apprehend the celestial powers by the phrase “the heavens” and the holy prophets by “the foundations of the earth,” with the thought that they are the ones who sustain [the benefits], one will not be far from the truth. For the Lord has said, “There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” One can understand the mountains, hills and the woods in a similar fashion. After the return of Israel, they flourished again because they were cultivated and were the source of rejoicing on the mountains.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 14:44.23

[AD 528] Procopius of Gaza on Isaiah 44:23

He calls “depths” what he once called “mountains.” They excel in works and words.… For there is a great difference between grace and the law, since the law threatens punishments to those who transgress and calls out a command for repentance. Yet these heralds of grace, rejoicing, cry out proclaiming to the world the forgiveness of sins and justification by faith and the imparting of the Holy Spirit and the radiance of sonship [adoption], as well as the kingdom of heaven and the hope which will not pass away—good things beyond imagining.…The heralds of grace rejoice because Israel has been redeemed and the Son of God glorified. He is their kinsman by nature yet truly God. This moves the earth and its parts to praise. God, who has redeemed Jacob and Israel, will be glorified, or, as in the other translations, “He will be glorified in Israel.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 44:6-23

[AD 373] Athanasius of Alexandria on Isaiah 44:24

And when the prophet says concerning the creation, “That stretches forth the heavens alone,” and when God says, “I only stretch out the heavens,” it is made plain to everyone that in the “Only” is signified also the Word of the Only, in whom “all things were made” and without whom “was made not one thing.” Therefore, if they were made through the Word, and yet he says, “Only,” and together with that Only is understood the Son, through whom the heavens were made, so also then, if it is said, “One God,” and “I Only,” and “I the First,” in that “One” and “Only” and “First” is understood the Word co-existing, as in the Light the Radiance. And this can be understood of no other than the Word alone. For all other things subsisted out of nothing through the Son and are greatly different in nature, but the Son himself is natural and true offspring from the Father. And thus the very passage that these insensate have thought fit to adduce, “I the First,” in defense of their heresy, does rather expose their perverse spirit. For God says, “I the first, and I the last”; if then, as though ranked with the things after him, he is said to be first of them, so that they come next to him, then certainly you will have shown that he himself precedes the works in time only; which, to go no further, is extreme irreligion. But if it is in order to prove that he is not from any, nor any before him, but that he is Origin and Cause of all things and to destroy the Gentile fables that he has said, “I the first,” it is plain also that when the Son is called firstborn, this is done not for the sake of ranking him with the creation but to prove the framing and adoption of all things through the Son. For as the Father is first, so also is [the Son] both first, as image of the First, and because the First is in him, and also offspring from the Father, in whom the whole creation is created and adopted into sonship.

Source: Discourses Against the Arians 3.24.9

[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 44:24-28

(Verse 24 and following) Thus says the Lord, your redeemer, and your creator from the womb: I am the Lord, the maker of all things, stretching out the heavens alone, establishing the earth, with no one beside me. Making the signs of the diviners void, and driving the soothsayers mad; turning the wise men backward, and making their knowledge foolish. Fulfilling the word of my servant, and performing the counsel of my messengers. I say to Jerusalem: you shall be inhabited, and to the cities of Judah: you shall be rebuilt, and its desolate places I will restore. I say to the depths: be desolate, and I will dry up your rivers. I say to Cyrus: you are my shepherd, and you will fulfill all my desires. I say to Jerusalem: you will be rebuilt; and to the temple: you will be founded. LXX: Thus says the Lord who redeemed you, and formed you from the womb. I am the Lord, who fills all things: I alone stretched out the heavens, and established the earth. Who else has dispersed the signs of the pythons, and the divinations from the heart? Who turns wise men backward, and makes their counsel foolish. And I establish the word of my son, and I approve the true counsel of the Angels. I say to Jerusalem, you will be inhabited: and to the cities of Judah: you will be built, and its desolate places will be restored. I say to the abyss, you will be desolated, and I will dry up your rivers. I say to Cyrus, so that he may understand, and do all my will; I say to Jerusalem, you will be built: and I will establish my holy house. With the idols and injustices of Israel destroyed, and sins cleansed, when every creature will rejoice together; and according to the faith of the Gospel (Luke 15), the Angels will rejoice in heaven for the repentance of sinners, the power of God is described, that it is not great for him to redeem Jacob, and to restore Israel, whom he formed from the womb. And if this seems significant to someone, let it not be difficult for them who alone stretches out the heavens. As it is written elsewhere: He who stretches out the heavens like a skin (Ps. CIII, 2). Not that the Son is excluded from the stretching out of the heavens: For all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made (John I, 3), but so that, as we have often said, idols may be excluded by this understanding. For even in the Proverbs of Solomon, from the person of Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God is said: When he established the heavens, I was with him (Prov. VIII, 27). For he himself spoke, and they were made; he himself commanded, and they were created (Psalm 148:5; Psalm 33:9). And: By the word of the Lord the heavens were established, and all the power of them by the breath of his mouth (Psalm 33:6). We frequently proclaim these things so that no occasion is given to the heretics to blaspheme Christ. In the stability of the earth, when he was establishing its foundations, there was no one with God except him who was in it. Therefore, when the appointed time of the predetermined mystery arrives, so that all idols are destroyed and the knowledge of the one true God is preached in the world, he will destroy and overthrow all the prophecies of the divine, the pythonesses, and the soothsayers, along with the signs and wonders by which they have deceived the human race. And he will show that the wisdom of the philosophers, which is itself the greatest part of error, is foolish, since by no means can human thoughts comprehend the wisdom of God. And furthermore, the word of the boy, or his servant, about whom we spoke earlier, and the advice of his messengers, will accomplish these things: namely, the Apostles and all the teachers, who will proclaim the will of their master to the nations. Therefore, he himself, who will accomplish such great things, whose power I have described in a few words, also says to Jerusalem, which will be destroyed by the Babylonians, before it is destroyed, that it will be inhabited again by the people, and to the cities of Judea, that they will be restored, and he will raise up its desolations, so that all may be filled with cultivators. Therefore, whoever says that Jerusalem, and Judah, and its deserts should be inhabited, and built, and restored, he is saying that Babylon, which is the deep or abyss, should be made desolate and your rivers should be dried up, along with all the power of kings. And because he had said the deep and abyss, he appropriately added the translation of rivers, about which even the Psalmist sings: By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept (Psalm 137:1). And he who restores Jerusalem, destroys Babylon. He also says to Cyrus, the king of the Persians, who first destroyed Babylon and the Chaldeans: you are my shepherd, or as the Septuagint translated, so that you may understand. The reason for this difference is clear. For the Hebrew word Roi, if we read it with the letter Res (ר), it is understood as my shepherd; if we read it with the letter Daleth (ד), it means my knowing or understanding, which are distinguished by a small apex, and therefore are often confused. It is written at the beginning of Ezra, that by the edict of Cyrus, the king of the Persians and Medes, the captivity of the people of Israel was released, and those who wanted to return were sent back to Jerusalem under Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua, the son of Josedech the high priest. For to him the Lord inspired to do his will, and to fulfill his commandments. Significantly, he added, I say to you Jerusalem, you shall be built, and to the Temple, you shall be founded. For under Cyrus, it was commanded to build Jerusalem and the Temple, of which only the foundations were laid while he was alive. However, under Darius, in his second year, with the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, the building of the Temple was begun.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah

[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Isaiah 44:24

The text has presented, at the same time, a triple teaching: God is the creator, the master and the protector. For the term “Lord” demonstrates his sovereignty; the idea of “redemption,” God’s protection; and that of “formation,” the creation. “I am the Lord who performs all these things.” It is I who have sent you the sorrows and who will obtain the joys for you. Then God shows, by the events that have already happened, what he is able to do. “I alone stretched out the heaven and established the earth.” This again serves to refute completely the madness of Arius and Eunomius, for who is the one who alone has created the elements? Is it the Father? Then the Son is not the Creator. Or is it the Son? Then the Father is not the Creator. But if it is the Father and the Son, how should we understand the term “alone”? Surely it is evident that we must understand it of the one divinity of the Trinity.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 14:44.24

[AD 220] Tertullian on Isaiah 44:25

Remember that the “heart of humanity is ashes,” according to the estimate of God, and that “the very wisdom of the world is foolishness.” … Then, if the heretic seeks refuge in the depraved thoughts of the vulgar or the imaginations of the world, I must say to him, “Part company with the heathen, O heretic!” For although you are all agreed in imagining a God, yet while you do so in the name of Christ, so long as you deem yourself a Christian, you are a different person from a heathen. So give the nonbeliever back his own view of things, since he does not himself learn from yours. Why lean on a blind guide, if you have eyes of your own? Why be clothed by one who is naked, if you have put on Christ?

Source: ON THE RESURRECTION OF THE FLESH 3

[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Isaiah 44:26

Here he calls “servant” the very prophet who is exercising the ministry of these words. “And verifying the counsel of his messengers.” Not only of this messenger, he says, but also that of all the others who transmit the divine word. Thus, it is not without forethought that he has made this declaration here but to give force to what is going to be said, for he prophesies in the next passage the royalty of Cyrus, who was the first to reign over the Persians, and the return of the people, the reconstruction of Jerusalem and the total defeat of Babylon. This is why he has prefaced it with “And confirming the word of his servant.” “Who says to Jerusalem, you shall be inhabited; and to the cities of Judea, you shall be built, and its desert places shall spring forth.” The text has shown the tremendous power of the Creator: I only have to speak, he says, and my will is accomplished; for it is by a word that I likewise effected the creation.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 14:44.26

[AD 373] Ephrem the Syrian on Isaiah 44:27

“I will dry up your rivers,” that is, he will extend his hand over the Euphrates. In a different way, we may intend that the Lord will destroy the devil and his frauds, into which he plunges people as into a sea. And the rivers, which he dries up, are the armies of his iniquity.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 44:27

[AD 379] Basil of Caesarea on Isaiah 44:27

Yet there will be a time when all things will be burned up by fire, as Isaiah says when he addresses the God of the universe: [You] “who say to the deep, ‘Be thou desolate, and I will dry up all your rivers.’ ” Casting aside, therefore, the wisdom that has been turned into foolishness, receive with us the teaching of truth, homely in speech but infallible in doctrine.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE HEXAMERON 3:6

[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 44:28

And he who attacks Jerusalem and destroys Babylon, says also to Cyrus the king of the Persians, who first destroyed Babylon and the Chaldeans, “You are my shepherd,” or as the Septuagint translates, “that you might be wise.” The cause of this difficulty is clear. For the Hebrew word ro’i, if we read a letter res (r), means “my shepherd,” if with a letter daleth (d), then “knowing or understanding,” whose similarity is only distinguished by a little apex, and on account of this the two words are often confused. It is written at the start of Ezra, the prophet, that at the edict of Cyrus, the king of the Persians and Medes, the captivity of the people of Israel was ended and those who wanted to return were sent back to Jerusalem under Zerubabel son of Salathihel and Hiesu the son of Iosdech the high priest. The Lord inspired Cyrus to do his will and carry out his orders.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 12:20