John Chrysostom, On Isaiah

he offered a sign; as he did in the case of the paralytic. For when he said to him: Take heart, child; your sins are forgiven, but they said within themselves: He blasphemes; he says, before strengthening the paralytic: Why do you think evil in your hearts? offering this as the greatest proof of divinity, to know the unspoken things of the mind. For you alone, it says, know hearts. And David again says: God who tries hearts and reins. This God also often gave the prophets to know, so that those who hear might learn that nothing of what was said was human, but the entire decree was brought down from above and from the heavens. For this very reason, this loud-voiced Isaiah, after he had spoken with the king with great gentleness and delivered him from dangers and ordered him to be of good courage concerning the present matters and offered him proofs of this, by announcing the counsel of those who had marched against him and exposing the betrayal and foretelling the complete and entire capture of Israel and adding the time, was not satisfied with these things, but goes even further and does not wait for him to ask for a sign, but urges him even when he is unwilling due to an excess of unbelief; and not just simply, but also makes him master of the choice; for he does not say, such and such a sign, but, where you wish, he says; rich is the Master, all-powerful is the strength, unspeakable is the authority. If you should wish for one from the heavens, nothing hinders; if from the earth, nothing impedes. For this is: Either into the depth or into the height. But since not even thus did he persuade him, he did not remain silent here either, but bringing on a refutation, this too for the correction of the hearer and to show that he had not deceived nor misled, he reveals a secret prophecy, which would be for the salvation of the inhabited world and for the correction of all things; and he says the sign is no longer given to Ahaz, but to the common people of the Jews. For in the beginning he directed his speech to him; but since he showed himself unworthy, he speaks to the community of the people. For this reason, he says, He will give, not to you, but to you all a sign. To you all, to whom? To those in the house of David. For from there the sign also sprang forth. What then is the sign? Behold, the virgin shall conceive in the womb and shall bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel. It must be observed, which I also said before, that the sign is no longer given to Ahaz. And that it is not conjecture, the prophet himself both challenged and accused, saying: Is it a small thing for you to weary men? and he added: Therefore the Lord will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin will conceive in the womb. But if she were not a virgin, it would not be a sign either. For a sign must depart from the common sequence and surpass the custom of nature and be strange and paradoxical, so that it may be marked by each of those who see and hear. For on this account it is also called a sign, because it is remarkable. But it would not become remarkable, if it were to be hidden in the commonality of other things. So that if the word were about a woman giving birth by the law of nature, for what reason does he call a sign that which happens every day? For this very reason, at the beginning he did not simply say: Behold a virgin, but behold, the virgin, hinting to us by the addition of the article that she was a certain remarkable one and the only one to have become so. For that this addition indicates this, it is possible to learn also from the gospels. For when the Jews sent to John, asking, Who are you? they did not say: You are a christ, but Are you the Christ; nor did they say, You are a prophet, but Are you the prophet; each of which was exceptional. For this reason also at the beginning John did not say: In the beginning was Word, but In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. So also here he did not say: Behold a virgin, but Behold, the virgin; and with a dignity befitting a prophet, the "Behold". For it was almost as if he were seeing the things that were happening and imagining them and having great assurance concerning what was said. For they saw the unseen things more clearly than our own eyes. For the

παρεῖχε σημεῖον· οἷον ἐπὶ τοῦ παραλυτικοῦ πεποίηκεν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ εἶπε πρὸς αὐτόν· Θάρσει, τέκνον· ἀφέωνταί σου αἱ ἁμαρτίαι, ἐκεῖνοι δὲ ἔλεγον ἐν ἑαυτοῖς· Βλασφημεῖ· φησί, πρὶν ἢ σφῖγξαι τὸν παραλελυμένον· Τί βουλεύεσθε πονηρὰ ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ὑμῶν; μέγιστον θεότητος τοῦτο παρέχων τεκμήριον, τὸ τὰ ἀπόρρητα εἰδέναι τῆς διανοίας. Σὺ γὰρ ἐπίστασαι, φησί, καρδίας μονώτατος. Καὶ ὁ ∆αυῒδ πάλιν φησίν· Ἐτάζων καρδίας καὶ νεφροὺς ὁ Θεός. Τοῦτο καὶ τοῖς προφήταις ἐδίδου πολλάκις ὁ Θεὸς εἰδέναι, ἵν' οἱ ἀκούοντες μανθάνωσιν ὅτι οὐδὲν ἀνθρώπινον τῶν εἰρημένων, ἀλλ' ἄνωθεν καὶ ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν ἡ ψῆφος ἅπασα κατενήνεκται. ∆ιὰ δὴ τοῦτο καὶ ὁ μεγαλοφωνότατος οὗτος Ἡσαΐας, ἐπειδὴ μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς ἐπιεικείας διελέχθη τῷ βασιλεῖ καὶ τῶν δεινῶν ἀπήλλαξε καὶ θαρρεῖν ἐκέλευσεν ὑπὲρ τῶν παρόντων καὶ τεκμήρια τούτου παρέσχεν αὐτῷ, τὸ τὴν βουλὴν ἐξαγγεῖλαι τῶν ἐπιστρατευσάντων καὶ τὴν προδοσίαν ἐλέγξαι καὶ τὴν ἅλωσιν τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ προειπεῖν τὴν παντελῆ καὶ ὁλόκληρον καὶ τὸν χρόνον προσθεῖναι, οὐκ ἠρκέσθη τούτοις, ἀλλὰ καὶ περαιτέρω πρόεισι καὶ οὐκ ἀναμένει σημεῖον αὐτὸν αἰτῆσαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ μὴ βουλόμενον δι' ὑπερβολὴν ἀπιστίας προτρέπεται· καὶ οὐδὲ ἁπλῶς, ἀλλὰ καὶ κύριον τῆς αἱρέσεως ποιεῖ· οὐδὲ γάρ φησι, τὸ καὶ τὸ σημεῖον, ἀλλ' ὅπου βούλει, φησί· πλούσιος ὁ ∆εσπότης, παναλκὴς ἡ δύναμις, ἄφατος ἡ ἐξουσία. Ἂν ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν βουληθῇς, οὐδὲν τὸ κωλῦον· ἂν ἐκ τῆς γῆς, οὐδὲν τὸ ἐμποδίζον. Τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν· Ἢ εἰς βάθος ἢ εἰς ὕψος. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ οὐδὲ οὕτως αὐτὸν ἐπεσπάσατο, οὐδὲ ἐνταῦθα ἐσίγησεν, ἀλλ' ἔλεγχον ἐπαγαγὼν καὶ τοῦτον ὑπὲρ διορθώσεως τοῦ ἀκούοντος καὶ τοῦ δεῖξαι, ὡς οὐκ ἠπάτησεν, οὐδὲ παρελογίσατο, ἀνακαλύπτει προφητείαν ἀπόρρητον, τὴν ἐπὶ σωτηρίᾳ τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐσομένην καὶ ἐπὶ διορθώσει τῶν πραγμάτων ἁπάντων· καί φησι τὸ σημεῖον οὐχὶ τῷ Ἄχαζ δίδοσθαι λοιπόν, ἀλλὰ τῷ κοινῷ τῶν Ἰουδαίων δήμῳ. Παρὰ μὲν γὰρ τὴν ἀρχὴν πρὸς αὐτὸν τὸν λόγον ἀπέτεινεν· ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἀνάξιον ἐκεῖνος ἑαυτὸν ἀπέφηνε, τῷ κοινῷ τοῦ λαοῦ διαλέγεται. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο γάρ, φησί, δώσει, οὐχὶ σοί, ἀλλ' ὑμῖν σημεῖον. Ὑμῖν, τίσιν; Τοῖς ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ ∆αυΐδ. Καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖθεν ἐβλάστησε τὸ σημεῖον. Τί οὖν τὸ σημεῖόν ἐστιν; Ἰδοὺ ἡ παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ λήψεται καὶ τέξεται υἱὸν καὶ καλέσουσι τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἐμμανουήλ. Παρατηρητέον, ὅπερ καὶ ἔμπροσθεν εἶπον, ὅτι οὐ τῷ Ἄχαζ δίδοται λοιπὸν τὸ σημεῖον. Καὶ ὅτι οὐ στοχασμός, αὐτὸς ὁ προφήτης καὶ ἐνεκάλεσε καὶ κατηγόρησε λέγων· Μὴ μικρὸν ὑμῖν, ἀγῶνα παρέχειν ἀνθρώποις; καὶ προσέθηκε· ∆ιὰ τοῦτο δώσει Κύριος ὑμῖν σημεῖον. Ἰδοὺ ἡ παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ ἕξει. Εἰ δὲ μὴ παρθένος ἦν, οὐδὲ σημεῖον ἦν. Τὸ γὰρ σημεῖον ἐκβαίνειν δεῖ τὴν κοινὴν ἀκολουθίαν καὶ τὴν τῆς φύσεως ὑπερβαίνειν συνήθειαν καὶ ξένον εἶναι καὶ παράδοξον, ὥστε ἕκαστον ἐπισημαίνεσθαι τῶν ὁρώντων καὶ ἀκουόντων. ∆ιὰ γὰρ τοῦτο καὶ σημεῖον λέγεται, διὰ τὸ ἐπίσημον. Ἐπίσημον δὲ οὐκ ἂν γένοιτο, εἰ μέλλοι κρύπτεσθαι τῇ κοινωνίᾳ τῶν ἄλλων πραγμάτων. Ὥστε εἰ περὶ γυναικὸς ὁ λόγος ἦν νόμῳ φύσεως τικτούσης, τίνος ἕνεκεν σημεῖον καλεῖ τὸ καθ' ἑκάστην γινόμενον ἡμέραν; ∆ιὰ δὴ τοῦτο καὶ ἀρχόμενος οὐχ ἁπλῶς εἶπεν· Ἰδοὺ παρθένος, ἀλλ' ἰδοὺ ἡ παρθένος, τῇ προσθήκῃ τοῦ ἄρθρου ἐπίσημόν τινα καὶ μόνην τοιαύτην γεγενημένην ἡμῖν αἰνιττόμενος. Ὅτι γὰρ ἡ προσθήκη αὕτη τοῦτο ἐνδείκνυται, δυνατὸν καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν εὐαγγελίων μαθεῖν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἔπεμψαν πρὸς τὸν Ἰωάννην οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι ἐρωτῶντες, Τίς εἶ; οὐκ ἔλεγον· Σὺ εἶ χριστός, ἀλλ' Εἰ σὺ εἶ ὁ Χριστός· οὐδὲ ἔλεγον, Σὺ εἶ προφήτης, ἀλλ' Εἰ σὺ εἶ ὁ προφήτης· ὧν ἕκαστον ἐξαίρετον ἦν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἀρχόμενος ὁ Ἰωάννης οὐκ ἔλεγεν· Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν Λόγος, ἀλλ' Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ Λόγος καὶ ὁ Λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν Θεόν. Οὕτω δὴ καὶ ἐνταῦθα οὐκ εἶπεν· Ἰδοὺ παρθένος, ἀλλ' Ἰδοὺ ἡ παρθένος· καὶ μετὰ ἀξιώματος προφήτῃ πρέποντος τὸ Ἰδού. Μόνον γὰρ οὐχὶ ὁρῶντος ἦν τὰ γινόμενα καὶ φανταζομένου καὶ πολλὴν ἔχοντος ὑπὲρ τῶν εἰρημένων πληροφορίαν. Τῶν γὰρ ἡμετέρων ὀφθαλμῶν ἐκεῖνοι σαφέστερον τὰ μὴ ὁρώμενα ἔβλεπον. Τὴν μὲν γὰρ