John Chrysostom, On Isaiah

and to give themselves to foreign kings. Since, then, they do not want, he says, the gentle and mild one, but Rezin and the son of Remaliah, I bring, he says, the Babylonian; and he calls the torrential water of his army a great and strong river.

8.3 Then, interpreting the metaphor, he says: *The king of the Assyrians*. Do you see how the statement previously made by us appears unfailing: that everywhere in its metaphors, Scripture is accustomed to interpret itself? Which is indeed what it has also done here. For having said "river," it did not remain in the metaphor, but said what river it means: *The king of the Assyrians, and all his glory. And he shall come up over all your ravines, and shall go over all your wall. And he shall take away from Judea a man who will be able to lift up his head or to accomplish anything of power. And his camp shall be so as to fill the breadth of your land.* Showing that what is happening will come about not by human power, but by a divinely sent wrath, he does not describe him as an enemy drawn up for battle, but as one coming for prepared plunder. For he will not stand, he says, and draw up for battle, but with the multitude of bodies he will cover the face of the earth and will prevail with ease. Then, even in the wrath, there is much philanthropy. For he does not threaten to destroy their city, but foretells a certain captivity and deportation, wishing to make the remaining ones more temperate by the punishment of those taken. For *he shall take away from Judea*, he says, *a man who will be able to lift up his head.* Those in power, he says, those who plunder everything, those who harm the multitude, he will make captives and slaves, so that then the humbler ones might breathe a little and become better by the fear of those led away and by the security of their own freedom. For this reason he says, *to accomplish anything of power*; that is, the strong man, the one able to act, the one having strength to do anything whatsoever. And even before the deportation, by the mere sight he will sufficiently terrify you, he says, the barbarian, filling the whole land with barbarian bodies. For this reason he added: *And his camp shall be so as to fill the breadth of your land. God is with us. Know, O nations, and be vanquished; give ear, unto the end of the earth, and you who are mighty be vanquished. For if you are mighty again, you shall again be vanquished. And whatsoever counsel you shall take, the Lord shall scatter it; and whatsoever word you shall speak, it shall not abide in you, because God is with us.* It seems to me that here he foretells the victory of Hezekiah and that brilliant trophy, and the cause of the victory itself. For even if they have weapons, he says, and innumerable armies and military experience, yet the mightiest alliance of all is with us, that is, God. For the barbarian came, as he had threatened before, and after taking many cities he departed; but after this, when he marched against them, he suffered the opposite. And so the prophet foretells these things and proclaims the cause of the victory and addresses his word to the barbarians themselves. For do not take courage from the former victory, he says; for in the present assault the greatest alliance was with us. Know this, therefore, and desist, as you are attempting impossible things. Then, indicating the cause of that victory, and that the report carrying the news of the successes will reach the ends of the earth, he says: *Give ear, unto the end of the earth.* For no one remained unheard of what then happened in Jerusalem. For this reason he says: *Give ear, unto the end of the earth, and you who are mighty be vanquished.* For the barbarian at that time possessed great glory for his strength. And by "mighty" here he means not those great in bodily health, but also those in abundance of wealth and in the splendor of glory. *For if you are mighty again*, he says, *you shall again be vanquished, and whatsoever counsel you shall take, the Lord shall scatter it, and whatsoever word you shall speak, it shall not abide in you, because God is with us.* For since their counsels were wicked, and they expected the city itself to be uprooted from its foundations and

καὶ ἀλλοτρίοις ἑαυτοὺς διδόναι βασιλεῦσι. Ἐπεὶ οὖν οὐ βούλονται, φησί, τὸν ἥμερον καὶ ἐπιεικῆ, ἀλλὰ τὸν Ῥασὴν καὶ τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ Ῥωμελίου, ἐπάγω, φησί, τὸν Βαβυλώνιον· καὶ τὸ ῥαγδαῖον αὐτοῦ τῆς στρατιᾶς ὕδωρ ποταμοῦ φησι πολὺ καὶ ἰσχυρόν.

8.3 Εἶτα ἑρμηνεύων τὴν μεταφοράν φησι· Τὸν βασιλέα τῶν Ἀσσυρίων. Ὁρᾷς πῶς ἀδιάπτωτος ὁ λόγος ὁ ἔμπροσθεν ἡμῖν λεχθεὶς φαίνεται· ὅτι πανταχοῦ ἐν ταῖς μεταφοραῖς ἑαυτὴν ἑρμηνεύειν εἴωθεν ἡ Γραφή; Ὃ δὴ καὶ ἐνταῦθα πεποίηκεν. Εἰποῦσα γὰρ ποταμόν, οὐκ ἐναπέμεινε τῇ μεταφορᾷ, ἀλλ' εἶπε τίνα φησὶ ποταμόν· Τὸν βασιλέα τῶν Ἀσσυρίων, καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ. Καὶ ἀναβήσεται ἐπὶ πᾶσαν φάραγγα ὑμῶν καὶ περιπατήσει ἐπὶ πᾶν τεῖχος ὑμῶν. Καὶ ἀφελεῖ ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰουδαίας ἄνθρωπον, ὃς δυνήσεται κεφαλὴν ἆραι ἢ δυνατὸν συντελέσασθαί τι. Καὶ ἔσται ἡ παρεμβολὴ αὐτοῦ, ὥστε πληρῶσαι τὸ πλάτος τῆς χώρας σου. ∆εικνὺς ὅτι οὐκ ἀνθρωπίνῃ δυνάμει, ἀλλ' ὀργῇ θεηλάτῳ συμβήσεται τὰ γινόμενα, οὐχ ὡς πολέμιον αὐτὸν παραταττόμενον ὑπογράφει, ἀλλ' ὡς ἐπὶ παρεσκευασμένην ἁρπαγὴν ἥκοντα. Οὐ γὰρ στήσεται, φησί, καὶ παρατάξεται, ἀλλὰ τῷ πλήθει τῶν σωμάτων καλύψει τῆς γῆς τὴν ὄψιν καὶ μετ' εὐκολίας περιέσται. Εἶτα καὶ ἐν τῇ ὀργῇ πολὺ τὸ τῆς φιλανθρωπίας. Οὐ γὰρ ἀνασπάσεσθαι αὐτῶν τὴν πόλιν ἀπειλεῖ, ἀλλ' αἰχμαλωσίαν τινὰ καὶ ἀπαγωγὴν προλέγει, τοὺς λειπομένους βουλόμενος τῇ τῶν ληφθέντων τιμωρίᾳ σωφρονεστέρους ποιῆσαι. Ἀφελεῖ γὰρ ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰουδαίας, φησίν, ἄνθρωπον, ὃς δυνήσεται κεφαλὴν ἆραι. Τοὺς ἐν δυναστείᾳ, φησί, τοὺς πάντα ἄγοντας καὶ φέροντας, τοὺς τῷ πλήθει λυμαινομένους αἰχμαλώτους ποιήσει καὶ δούλους, ὥστε τότε τοὺς καταδεεστέρους ἀναπνεῦσαι μικρὸν καὶ τῷ φόβῳ τῶν ἀπαχθέντων καὶ τῆς οἰκείας ἐλευθερίας τῇ ἀδείᾳ γενέσθαι βελτίους. ∆ιὰ τοῦτό φησι· ∆υνατὸν συντελέσασθαί τι· τουτέστι, τὸν ἰσχυρόν, τὸν ἐνεργεῖν δυνάμενον, τὸν ὁτιοῦν πρᾶξαι ἰσχύοντα. Καὶ πρὸ τῆς ἀπαγωγῆς δέ, δι' αὐτῆς τῆς ὄψεως ἱκανῶς ὑμᾶς καταπλήξει, φησίν, ὁ βάρβαρος, πᾶσαν πληρῶν τὴν γῆν τῶν βαρβαρικῶν σωμάτων. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἐπήγαγε· Καὶ ἔσται ἡ παρεμβολὴ αὐτοῦ, ὥστε πληρῶσαι τὸ πλάτος τῆς χώρας σου. Μεθ' ἡμῶν ὁ Θεός. Γνῶτε, ἔθνη, καὶ ἡττᾶσθε· ἐπακούσατε ἕως ἐσχάτου τῆς γῆς καὶ ἰσχύοντες ἡττᾶσθε. Ἐὰν γὰρ πάλιν ἰσχύσητε καὶ πάλιν ἡττηθήσεσθε. Καὶ ἣν ἂν βουλὴν βουλεύσησθε, διασκεδάσει Κυρίος· καὶ λόγον ὃν ἐὰν λαλήσητε, οὐ μὴ ἐμμείνῃ ἐν ὑμῖν, ὅτι μεθ' ἡμῶν ὁ Θεός. Ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ τὴν τοῦ Ἐζεκίου νίκην ἐνταῦθα προλέγειν καὶ τὸ λαμπρὸν ἐκεῖνο τρόπαιον καὶ τῆς νίκης αὐτῆς τὴν αἰτίαν. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ ὅπλα παρ' ἐκείνοις, φησί, καὶ στρατόπεδα ἄπειρα καὶ ἐμπειρία πολεμική, ἀλλ' ἡ πάντων δυνατωτέρα συμμαχία μεθ' ἡμῶν, τουτέστιν ὁ Θεός. Ἦλθε μὲν γὰρ ὁ βάρβαρος, καθὼς ἠπείλησεν ἔμπροσθεν καὶ πολλὰς λαβὼν πόλεις ἀπῆλθε· μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ἐπιστρατεύσας, τἀναντία ἔπαθε. Καὶ ταῦτα τοίνυν ὁ προφήτης προλέγει καὶ τὸν τῆς νίκης αἴτιον ἀνακηρύττει καὶ πρὸς αὐτοὺς τοὺς βαρβάρους ἀποτείνει τὸν λόγον. Μὴ γὰρ δὴ τῇ προτέρᾳ νίκῃ θαρρήσητε, φησίν· ἐν γὰρ τῇ νῦν ἐφόδῳ μεγίστη παρῆν ἡμῖν ἡ συμμαχία. Γνῶτε τοίνυν τοῦτο αὐτὸ καὶ ἀπόστητε, ὡς ἀδυνάτοις ἐπιχειροῦντες. Εἶτα τὸν αἴτιον τῆς νίκης ἐκείνης ἐμφαίνων, καὶ ὅτι πρὸς τὰς ἐσχατιὰς ἀφίξεται τῆς γῆς ἡ φήμη τὰ κατορθώματα φέρουσα, φησίν· Ἐπακούσατε ἕως ἐσχάτου τῆς γῆς. Οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἀνήκοος τῶν τότε συμβάντων ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις γέγονε· ∆ιὰ τοῦτό φησιν· Ἐπακούσατε ἕως ἐσχάτου τῆς γῆς καὶ οἱ ἰσχύοντες ἡττᾶσθε. Μεγάλην γὰρ ἐπὶ ῥώμῃ δόξαν ὁ βάρβαρος τότε ἐκέκτητο. Ἰσχυροὺς δὲ ἐνταῦθα οὐ τοὺς ἐν τῇ τοῦ σώματος εὐεξίᾳ μεγάλους φησίν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ἐν τῇ τῶν χρημάτων περιουσίᾳ καὶ τῇ τῆς δόξης περιφανείᾳ. Ἐὰν γὰρ πάλιν ἰσχύσητε, φησί, πάλιν ἡττηθήσεσθε καὶ ἣν ἂν βουλεύσησθε βουλήν, διασκεδάσει Κύριος καὶ λόγον ὃν ἐὰν λαλήσητε, οὐ μὴ ἐμμείνῃ ἐν ὑμῖν, ὅτι μεθ' ἡμῶν ὁ Θεός. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ πονηρὰ παρ' αὐτοῖς ἦν βουλεύματα καὶ προσεδόκων τὴν πόλιν αὐτὴν ἐκ βάθρων ἀνασπᾶσθαι καὶ