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On Isaiah

PROLOGUE

c.1 The excellence of this prophet can be seen most of all even at a glance, but Paul, who knew his virtues more accurately than anyone, shows it more perfectly, since he spoke by so great a Spirit. For showing his freedom of speech and his unslavish mind and his lofty thought and the great clarity in his prophecy concerning Christ, he presented all these things in a single saying: But Isaiah is bold and says: I was found by those who did not seek me; I became manifest to those who did not ask for me. And his sympathy was also great. For not only did he rise up against the madness of the people, nor with a free tongue and a loftier mind did he announce with much boldness the sorrows that were about to befall them, but also in the very circumstances of their affairs he suffered and was pained no less than those who fell into them, and he lamented more bitterly than those who were captured. And such, so to speak, was the character of all the prophets and the saints; they hid the affection of fathers in their disposition towards those they ruled and they overcame the tyranny of nature by a great margin. For no one, no father who loves his children was ever so consumed with love for his offspring, as these men were willing to die for those they ruled, lamenting, mourning, beseeching God when they suffered ill, being carried away with them, sharing in their terrible things, both doing and suffering all things, so as to deliver them both from the wrath from above, and from the assault of events. For indeed nothing is so suitable for the choice of a ruler, as a philosophic soul that knows how to suffer with others. For this reason God raised the great Moses to the throne of leadership, since he had previously shown through his deeds his affection for the people and after this said: If you will forgive their sin, forgive it; but if not, blot me out of the book you have written. And this man himself, seeing them perishing, said: Leave me, I will weep bitterly. Do not try to comfort me for the ruin of the daughter of my people. And Jeremiah composed long laments when the city was overthrown. And Ezekiel went away with them and considered exile lighter than his own home, having as the greatest consolation for the disaster to be present with those who were in distress and to set right the affairs of others. And Daniel for their return remained without food for twenty days and more and showed all zeal, supplicating God that they be released from bitter slavery. And each of the saints is seen shining from this. So also David, seeing that God-sent wrath being borne against the people, called the plague down upon himself, saying: I, the shepherd, have sinned, and I, the shepherd, have done wickedly; but these, the flock, what have they done? Let your hand be against me and against my father's house. And the patriarch Abraham, standing far from the evils and having nothing in common with the evils that were about to overtake those in Sodom, as though he had stepped into the very midst of the terrible things, so he entreated and begged God, and would not have desisted from doing and saying everything to stop that terrible conflagration, had not God left him and departed. But those in the New Testament showed a virtue even greater than this, since they had enjoyed greater grace and had been called to longer contests. For this reason Peter also, hearing Christ saying that the entrance to heaven is most difficult for the rich, was in agony and trembled, and put forward a question, saying: Who then can be saved? although he was confident about his own affairs. For they were not looking to their own interests, but were concerned for those of the whole world. And

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In Isaiam

ΠΡΟΛΟΓΟΣ

π.1 Τοῦ προφήτου τούτου τὸ ἐξαίρετον μάλιστα μὲν καὶ αὐτόθεν ἔστιν ἰδεῖν, δείκνυσι δὲ αὐτὸ ἐντελέστερον ὁ πάντων ἀκριβέστερον τὰς ἀρετὰς αὐτοῦ εἰδὼς Παῦλος, ἅτε Πνεύματι τοσούτῳ φθεγγόμενος. Τὴν γὰρ ἐλευθεροστομίαν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ φρόνημα τὸ ἀδούλωτον καὶ τὴν ὑψηλὴν γνώμην καὶ τὴν πολλὴν ἐν τῇ περὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ προφητείᾳ σαφήνειαν ἐνδεικνύμενος, ἅπαντα ταῦτα ἑνὶ ῥήματι παρέστησεν εἰπών· Ἡσαΐας δὲ ἀποτολμᾷ καὶ λέγει· Εὑρέθην τοῖς ἐμὲ μὴ ζητοῦσιν· ἐμφανὴς ἐγενόμην τοῖς ἐμὲ μὴ ἐπερωτῶσιν. Πολὺ δὲ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ συμπαθές. Οὐ γὰρ δὴ μόνον κατεξανίστατο τῆς τοῦ δήμου μανίας, οὐδὲ ἐλευθέρᾳ γλώττῃ καὶ ὑψηλοτέρᾳ γνώμῃ τὰ μέλλοντα αὐτοὺς καταλήψεσθαι λυπηρὰ μετὰ πολλῆς ἀπήγγειλε τῆς παρρησίας, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν αὐταῖς ταῖς τῶν πραγμάτων περιστάσεσιν αὐτῶν οὐκ ἔλαττον τῶν ἐμπιπτόντων ἐν αὐταῖς ἤλγει καὶ ἐδάκνετο καὶ πικρότερον τῶν ἁλόντων ὠδύρετο. Καὶ πάντων δέ, ὡς εἰπεῖν, τῶν προφητῶν καὶ τῶν ἁγίων τοιοῦτον τὸ ἦθος· πατέρων φιλοστοργίαν τῇ περὶ τοὺς ἀρχομένους ἀπέκρυψαν διαθέσει καὶ τὴν τῆς φύσεως τυραννίδα ἐκ πολλοῦ τοῦ περιόντος ὑπερηκόντισαν. Οὐδεὶς γάρ, οὐδείς ποτε φιλόπαις οὕτω τῶν ἐκγόνων περιεκαίετο, ὡς οὗτοι τῶν ἀρχομένων ὑπεραπέθνησκον, ὀδυρόμενοι, θρηνοῦντες, κακῶς πασχόντων αὐτῶν τὸν Θεὸν παρακαλοῦντες, συναπαγόμενοι, κοινωνοῦντες τῶν δεινῶν, πάντα καὶ ποιοῦντες καὶ πάσχοντες, ὥστε αὐτοὺς ἐξελέσθαι καὶ τῆς ἄνωθεν ὀργῆς, καὶ τῆς τῶν πραγμάτων ἐπιδρομῆς. Καὶ γὰρ οὐδὲν οὕτως ἐπιτήδειον εἰς ἀρχῆς αἵρεσιν, ὡς ψυχὴ φιλόσοφος καὶ συναλγεῖν ἐπισταμένη. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ Μωϋσέα τὸν μέγαν ἐπὶ τὸν θρόνον τῆς δημαγωγίας ἀνεβίβασεν ὁ Θεός, ἐπειδὴ προλαβὼν διὰ τῶν ἔργων ἐπεδείξατο τὴν ὑπὲρ τοῦ δήμου φιλοστοργίαν καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἔλεγεν· Εἰ μὲν ἀφεῖς αὐτοῖς τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, ἄφες· ἐπεὶ κἀμὲ ἐξάλειψον ἐκ τῆς βίβλου ἧς ἔγραψας. Καὶ αὐτὸς δὲ οὗτος ὁρῶν ἀπολλυμένους, ἔλεγεν· Ἄφετέ με, πικρῶς κλαύσομαι. Μὴ κατισχύσητε παρακαλεῖν με ἐπὶ τὸ σύντριμμα τῆς θυγατρὸς τοῦ γένους μου. Ὁ δὲ Ἱερεμίας καὶ θρήνους μακροὺς συνέθηκε, τῆς πόλεως κατενεχθείσης. Ἰεζεκιὴλ δὲ καὶ συναπῆλθε καὶ τὴν ἀλλοτρίαν τῆς οἰκείας κουφοτέραν εἶναι ἐνόμιζε, μέγιστον εἰς παραμυθίαν τῆς συμφορᾶς ἔχων τὸ παρεῖναι τοῖς κάμνουσι καὶ διορθοῦν τὰ ἑτέρων πράγματα. Καὶ ὁ ∆ανιὴλ δὲ ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀνόδου τῆς τούτων εἴκοσι καὶ πλείους ἡμέρας διέμεινεν ἄσιτος καὶ πᾶσαν σπουδὴν ἐπεδείξατο, τὸν Θεὸν ἱκετεύων ἀφεθῆναι τῆς πικρᾶς δουλείας αὐτούς. Καὶ τῶν ἁγίων δὲ ἕκαστος ἐντεῦθεν φαίνεται λάμπων. Οὕτω καὶ ὁ ∆αυῒδ ὁρῶν τὴν θεήλατον ὀργὴν ἐκείνην ἐπὶ τὸν δῆμον φερομένην, ἐφ' ἑαυτὸν ἐκάλει τὴν πληγήν, λέγων· Ἐγὼ ὁ ποιμὴν ἥμαρτον καὶ ἐγὼ ὁ ποιμὴν ἐκακοποίησα, καὶ οὗτοι, τὸ ποίμνιον, τί ἐποίησαν; Γενέσθω ἡ χείρ σου ἐπ' ἐμοί, καὶ ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ τοῦ πατρός μου. Καὶ ὁ πατριάρχης δὲ Ἀβραὰμ πόρρω τῶν κακῶν ἑστηκὼς καὶ οὐδὲν ἔχων κοινὸν πρὸς τὰ καταληψόμενα τοὺς ἐν Σοδόμοις κακά, ὡς ἐν αὐτοῖς μέσοις τοῖς δεινοῖς ἐμβεβηκώς, οὕτω παρεκάλει καὶ ἐδέετο τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ οὐδ' ἂν ἀπέστη πάντα ποιῶν καὶ λέγων, ὥστε λῦσαι τὸν χαλεπὸν ἐμπρησμὸν ἐκεῖνον, εἰ μὴ ὁ Θεὸς αὐτὸν ἀφεὶς ἀπῆλθεν. Οἱ δὲ ἐν τῇ Καινῇ καὶ μείζονα ἐπεδείξαντο ταύτης τὴν ἀρετήν, ἅτε καὶ πλείονος ἀπολελαυκότες χάριτος καὶ πρὸς μακρότερα κληθέντες σκάμματα. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ Πέτρος ἀκούων τοῦ Χριστοῦ λέγοντος, ὅτι τοῖς πλουτοῦσι δυσκολωτάτη ἡ πρὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν εἴσοδος, ἠγωνία καὶ ἔτρεμε, καὶ πεῦσιν προσῆγε λέγων· Τίς ἄρα δύναται σωθῆναι; καίτοι γε ὑπὲρ τῶν καθ' ἑαυτὸν θαρρῶν πραγμάτων. Οὐ γὰρ τὰ ἑαυτῶν ἐσκόπουν, ἀλλὰ τὰ τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐφρόντιζον. Καὶ