Among the four prophets called major because their prophecies are manifold and contain much writing, the first is Isaiah. He describes the mysteries of Christ’s Incarnation and Passion so openly that, according to Jerome, he appears to compose the Gospel’s history rather than prophetically announce future things. As he was noble by birth because he came from royal seed, so he maintained urbane eloquence in his prophetic discourse without any rusticity mixed into it.
He had a wife and sons and prophesied at Jerusalem in the times of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, and Manasseh, kings of Judah. Because he rebuked the idolatry and other crimes of the last of these, although Manasseh was his kinsman, Manasseh cut him into two parts with a wooden saw so that he would suffer more greatly, according to Jerome. As is said in the Scholastic History, when Isaiah, thirsty from the distress of his punishment, asked for water to refresh his mouth, the exceedingly cruel Jews refused to grant it to him, but God sent water from heaven into his mouth.
From chapter 13 through chapter 23 Isaiah prophetically describes the burdens of the Jews, that is, the judgments and future destructions of the nations near them, which he names: Babylon, Moab, Damascus, Egypt, the desert of the sea, the valley of vision, Tyre, and others.
§ I
Isaiah also prophesied about the destruction and scourging God carried out against many cities through Nebuchadnezzar as the instrument of His justice. For this reason the Lord said, “Assur is the rod of My wrath,” because through him, the king of the Assyrians, He scourged many people. He adds, “But he,” namely Assur, “did not know Me,” because he attributed that power and victory not to God but to his own strength. He did these things not as a minister and executor of the divine will, but to satisfy his ambition and greed.
At last he himself was scourged by God when, according to his own and others’ imagination, he was turned into a beast. Of him it is also said in Isaiah 14, “How have you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,” and so forth. These words have a twofold literal sense. One concerns the devil falling through pride and is thus a prophecy about the past. The other concerns the proud Nebuchadnezzar, and from these words he appears to be damned in hell.
But since Augustine says in Cause 23, question 4, that Nebuchadnezzar merited fruitful penance, and Gratian says the same in On Penance, distinction 1, it is necessary to say that this is understood of his grandson Belshazzar. Or, if it is understood of the great Nebuchadnezzar, it must be said that he afterward relapsed into sins of idolatry or other sins.
§ II
The Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying, “Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God,” and so forth. To explain this, it should be known that this Ahaz, king of Judah, was impious and idolatrous. The Lord therefore delivered him into the hands of the king of Syria and the king of Samaria the first time they came against him in battle, for they captured a large part of his army, as is related in the Fourth Book of Kings.
When the aforesaid two kings came against Ahaz a second time to depose him from the kingdom, the Lord consoled Ahaz, who feared them, by promising his deliverance from them. Because he did not firmly believe, Isaiah said to him on God’s behalf, “The Lord spoke: Ask a sign for yourself.” That is: If you do not believe my words, to confirm the truth I have told you—namely, that you will be delivered—ask whatever sign you wish so that you may be compelled to believe.
“Into the depth of hell,” that is, let the earth be split and hell’s mouth open, as the earth opened and swallowed Dathan, or let Samuel be recalled from below at Saul’s request. “Or into the height above,” that is, from heaven, as Hezekiah asked and obtained a sign in the sun, which moved backward ten lines.
But Ahaz, as an evil man, answered, “I will not ask,” namely for a sign from God. As if excusing himself under the appearance of piety, he added, “I will not tempt the Lord,” as though to say that asking would be to tempt God, which is not lawful.
He did not refuse to ask for this reason, however, but in truth because he was evil, turned away from God, and given to idolatry. He did not wish to ask for a sign because he feared that God would be glorified in it and his idols, in which he trusted, would be debased. Hence another text reads, “Nor will I exalt the Lord.” Or it was because he trusted in his kingdom, his own power, or the king of the Assyrians and not in God, and thus cared nothing for God’s aid.
Isaiah said to him, “Hear, therefore, O house of David.” He did not say, “Hear, Ahaz,” but “house of David,” either because everyone of his house consented to him in his wickedness or because Christ had been promised to David, and Christ was therefore given to the house of David as a sign.
“Is it a small thing for you,” so as to merit divine anger, “to be troublesome to men,” whom you have despoiled, or to the prophets, whom you have not believed? “For you are also troublesome to my God” by abandoning Him and serving idols. “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign” of your coming deliverance. That is: Even if because of your wickedness you do not wish to ask for a sign lest God be exalted through it, He Himself will nevertheless give one.
He will give the greatest sign: the universal deliverance of the world from sin and the devil. Through this greater deliverance you can perceive that He can also accomplish the lesser, namely deliver us from the temporal power and wickedness of those two kings. This sign is: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son,” and so forth.
Here it should be known that the Jews, obstinate in their unbelief, raise many objections about this prophecy to deny or obscure the mystery of the Incarnation contained in it.
Their first objection is this: the Lord intended to give a sign of Ahaz’s deliverance from the hands of those two kings, as was said, but Christ’s Incarnation has no correspondence with that deliverance. It must be answered that the Incarnation signifies that deliverance through an argument from the greater: if God will give His Son for the salvation of the whole world, He will much more be able to save them from that particular and temporal affliction.
Second, they object that the sign given concerning the virgin who would give birth was given to people then present, but the Incarnation did not occur in their time, and thus it appears to be no sign. The response is that although the Incarnation did not occur while the people of that time were present, it nevertheless occurred while the house of David remained. Hence the prophet pointedly says, “Hear, therefore, O house of David.”
Third, they object that the Hebrew text does not have “virgin” but almah, which among them signifies a young woman. But even if “young woman,” which among them signifies a virgin, is read, it is not necessary that she conceived while remaining a virgin; she could first have been a virgin and afterward conceived from Joseph’s seed. Yet let the unbelieving Jew who says that Christ was born from Joseph’s seed blush. If this were so, it would have been no sign or wonder, because it happens naturally, whereas the Lord wished to signify something great when He said, “Ask a sign for yourself.”
Fourth, they object by saying that the prophet speaks of Hezekiah. But this cannot stand, because, as is clear in chapter 18 of the Fourth Book of Kings, when Ahaz began to reign Hezekiah was already nine years old. He had therefore already been born when Isaiah said this to Ahaz.
Moreover, how can the other things said below about this child to be born be verified of Hezekiah? Chapter 8 says, “Before the child knows how to call upon father and mother, the strength of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria will be taken away.” But Hezekiah was thirty-one years old when Samaria and Damascus were devastated by the king of the Assyrians.
In a certain sermon Augustine shows that this was spiritually fulfilled in the Virgin’s Son when He was worshiped by the Magi, who were powerful kings but unbelievers. Through the faith they had in the child Christ, who then appeared not to know how to call upon His putative father Joseph and His true mother the Virgin, although He knew all things, the souls of those strong, unbelieving gentile Magi were taken from the devil’s power, offered to Christ, and stripped of vices.
Fifth, others say it is understood of Isaiah’s son, because chapter 8 says that Isaiah approached the prophetess, namely his wife, and she bore a son. But that would not have been a sign, because it was natural for Isaiah to have a son by his wife. Nor can the things said there be verified in any manner of Isaiah’s son.
Isaiah’s approach to the prophetess is instead wonderfully expounded of the Virgin, who possessed the spirit of prophecy and every kind of holiness. Isaiah approached her through the faith and understanding of the mystery given to him by God. This Virgin conceived Jesus from the Holy Spirit, and the name of the child to be born was called, “Hasten to take the spoils,” namely human beings; “quickly seize them,” namely by drawing them away from the devil; “hurry to plunder,” namely hell. All these effects of the Incarnation are included in the name Jesus imposed upon Him.
Chapter 8 says that for this Isaiah took two faithful witnesses, namely Uriah the high priest and Zechariah, son of Barachiah. This does not seem capable of being understood well according to the surface of the letter, because that Uriah was not a faithful witness and Zechariah had long been dead. Likewise, it appears absurd that these two were introduced as witnesses of Isaiah’s carnal approach to his wife, as though he had known his wife in their sight.
Rather, by those two witnesses the prophet intended to bring forward the law and the prophets as testimony to that mystery, namely Christ conceived and born of the Virgin prophetess. The law is designated by the priest Uriah, for it pertained to priests to explain the law to the people, while prophecy is designated by Barachiah. Each frequently renders testimony concerning Him.
It should be known that, as was said, the Hebrew does not have “virgin” but almah. According to the Hebrew language this word has a twofold meaning. In one manner it means the same as “young woman,” and perverse Jews so understand it. According to another meaning, almah is the same as apocrypha, that is, hidden, closed, or concealed, which is principal among virgins. Hence the Blessed Virgin was enclosed and hidden in a private room when the angel came to her. In the Punic language as well, the word almah signifies a virgin, while in Latin it sounds like “holy.” The Jews use nearly all languages.
A certain learned Jew once said that here in Isaiah almah is written with a closed letter mem, by which almah, that is, a virgin, is indicated. It is therefore expounded according to Catholic teachers: “Behold, a virgin,” remaining a virgin, “shall conceive,” which is a miraculous work and a wondrous sign, “and shall bear,” remaining a virgin, which is miraculous.
“And His name shall be called Emmanuel.” Matthew the Evangelist interprets this name when he introduces this authority of Isaiah and says, “God with us,” that is, God in human nature, so as to signify the divinity in the Virgin’s Son. “He shall eat butter and honey,” that is, He will be fed with infants’ food, with the sweet milk from the Virgin’s breast filled from heaven, so as to signify true humanity.
Or it may be understood thus: from human nature He will not take the whole, namely penalty and guilt, but He will take butter, which is the flower of milk, namely innocence from guilt. He will nevertheless take every penalty by which our sins may be purged, because butter is purgative. He will also take the sweet honey of benignity, according to the Apostle’s words to Titus, “The benignity and humanity of God our Savior appeared.”
Hence, as if explaining, Isaiah adds, “That He may know how to reject evil,” namely the evil of guilt, by not assuming it or by making Himself immune from it, “and to choose the good” of grace and punishment, through which He may make satisfaction for us. That punishment is therefore good.
§ III
In chapter 9 there is a singular prophecy concerning Christ’s Nativity, His divinity, and the fruits of the Incarnation, when it is said, “A child is born to us, and a son is given to us,” and so forth. A little before these words Isaiah says, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light,” and so forth. Matthew the Evangelist introduces this prophecy in chapter 4, showing it fulfilled when Christ, after His Baptism and temptation in the desert, began to preach and become renowned in the regions of Galilee through doctrine, miracles, and holiness of life.
But because the literal sense is sometimes twofold, as was said elsewhere, beyond the preceding sense it may also be said that from the beginning of chapter 9, where Isaiah says, “At the first time,” and so forth, down to the place “A child is born,” he first denotes the captivity of three tribes from Israel, and after it, under Shalmaneser, king of the Assyrians, the captivity of the other seven tribes.
Second, he denotes the great tribulation of the kingdom of Judah under Hezekiah from Sennacherib’s siege of Jerusalem. This affliction is called darkness and the shadow of death because of the very great danger that the city would be captured, when no human means could resist the power of a man who had one hundred and eighty-five thousand fighting men in his army.
In that darkness a great light is said to have arisen for them because a luminous angel of the Lord appeared in one night and killed that entire army of Sennacherib, who returned to his own country in confusion. The people were enriched and gladdened by the plunder their enemies left behind.
The prophet touches very briefly and obscurely upon this history of things truly done so that it might be a figure of the thing to be accomplished: the liberation of Jerusalem, that is, the Church and the faithful, from the hands of Satan and his armies of demons, who besieged the human race and sought to subject it entirely to themselves.
We were virtually freed from this oppression through the Nativity of Christ, who is called the Angel of Great Counsel. An angel appeared on the night of His Nativity amid a great light and announced to the shepherds the world’s salvation through the child who had been born, singing with the other angels of peace to men. Hence, after narrating the aforesaid history, the prophet adds, “For a child is born to us,” as though to say: I relate these things because they signify the liberation to be accomplished through Christ who was to be born.
The prophet uses a verb of past time for the future according to the prophets’ custom. Because of the certainty of the things they announce, since they see them in the book of God’s foreknowledge, which is infallible, they speak of the future with verbs of past time. Thus the Psalm says, “They have pierced my hands and my feet,” that is, they will pierce them, for Christ’s Passion was then still a thousand years or a little less in the future.
Thus, “A child is born to us” means that a child will be born, small in body but greatest in holiness, power, and wisdom. He was born temporally from the Virgin Mary. Hence Isaiah himself says in his final chapter, “Before the time of her delivery came,” that is, the opening and breaking of the virginal seal, “she bore a male,” Jesus, wholly virile. For the Lord entered through the closed gate of the virginal womb, taking flesh from her, and went forth through it closed when He was born.
Because Jesus’ birth from the Virgin is beyond nature, Ambrose says in On Consecration, distinction 2, that just as He truly went forth from the tomb when it was closed after He rose, so Isaiah adds, “Who has ever heard such things?” as though to say: no one.
“He is born to us,” that is, for our benefit, so that “a son,” namely the Son of God by excellence, “is shown. A son is given to us,” namely by grace alone and not by our merits. Because this person is God and man, He must therefore be exalted. Hence the prophet indicates that very exaltation which appeared shameful, namely upon the cross, but was nevertheless glorious in power, adding, “And the government was placed upon His shoulder,” that is, the cross upon which He principally triumphed.
Because of the cross the Lord exalted Him and gave Him the name above every name, for upon the cross He conquered the world and the devil, and through the preaching of the cross the apostles subjected the whole world to Christ. It was “upon His shoulder” because He carried the cross itself upon His shoulders and was stretched upon it.
“And His name shall be called,” and so forth. Through the following six names His divinity, humanity, and magnificence are indicated. The first name indicates His wondrous divine wisdom. For it is wondrous and most worthy of all wonder that God became man. Maximus says in a sermon: “Our venerable fathers saw God’s great and innumerable wondrous works, but it was granted to none of them to see this: that the Only-begotten of the Most High, whom the powers of the archangels receive with trembling, should receive humanity and present Himself to human beings.
The second name is “Counselor,” in which His human wisdom is shown in His teaching. He adds most useful counsels to the commandments and does not compel people, because the counsels are more difficult.
The third name is “God,” expressing divine power, because He is the Creator of all. It belongs to God alone to make something from nothing. Hence Genesis 1 says, “In the beginning God created heaven and earth,” and John 1 says, “All things were made through Him,” the Word whom he had called God.
The fourth name expresses human endurance, because He is “Strong.” Through this strength in His humanity He endured so many reproaches and afflictions so manfully. The Psalm says, “The Lord is strong” in enduring “and mighty” in conquering “in battle,” namely the battle He waged against the devil upon the cross. Augustine says, “With an unarmed hand fastened to the cross He defeated the powers of the air.”
The fifth name, “Father of the Future Age,” contains the abundance of goodness with respect to the divine nature, because the Lord alone begets children for heavenly felicity.
Sixth, He is named “Prince of Peace,” expressing the abundance of goodness with respect to human nature, insofar as He is the mediator of God and men and our peace, because He made both one.
The seventy translators did not dare to say of this child that He was to be called God. In place of these six names they therefore put one: “Angel of Great Counsel.” They did this lest Ptolemy, at whose request they translated the Old Testament from Hebrew into Greek, believe that the Scripture posited several gods, and lest they give what is holy to dogs, namely unbelievers, if they disclosed the mystery of the Incarnation so openly. According to this translation, the Church places this authority in the entrance chant of the Mass of the Lord’s Nativity.
“His empire shall be multiplied,” for all nations and kings will serve Him. Through the preaching of the apostles and their successors, the faithful subject to His empire were multiplied in merit and number. “And there shall be no end of His peace” in this world, namely of interior peace, because the Church will never fail and the good, namely the faithful, always possess interior peace. Although external wars sometimes exist and rise against her, the peace of Christ that is in His servants always remains. Or His peace will have no end with respect to the peace of the heavenly homeland that the truly faithful will possess.
“He shall sit upon the throne of David and over his kingdom.” The nobility of the kingdom is expressed in this, because He shall rest and reign over the congregation from David’s people and from the gentiles, which congregation, the Church, is signified in David’s house. Because the promise was made to Abraham that Christ descends from the house of David, it appears that when the kingdom is treated it ought to be referred to David. If all nations come and worship Him, then those nations are blessed in Abraham’s seed and consequently He ought to reign over them.
“That He may confirm it” for restoring it against unbelievers and heretics until the end, “and strengthen it” by fighting against demons and vices, “in judgment and in justice,” that is, through judgment, so that He may give to everyone according to merits or demerits, “from now and forever,” from the time of the Incarnation into eternity.
Finally, the prophet sets forth God’s motive for giving us His Son to become man, saying, “The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this,” that is, God’s most intense love. Hence in Jeremiah 31 God says, “I have loved you with an everlasting charity; therefore, taking pity, I have drawn you.” John 3 says, “God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son.” And the Apostle says, “Because of the exceedingly great charity with which He loved us, God sent His Son.”
Here it should also be carefully noted that where our translation reads, “His empire shall be multiplied,” the Hebrew has lemenbre, which in Latin means “for multiplying.” This letter mem, as Jerome says, is shaped or formed differently when placed at the beginning or middle of a word and when placed at the end. At the beginning it is formed open, but at the end it is formed closed.
In this place, however, in lemenbre, mem is placed in the middle of the word and is nevertheless written closed. This is contrary to the nature of the letter and the Hebrew manner of writing, so as to indicate that the Christ of whom the prophet speaks was to be born from a closed, that is, unviolated, virgin and contrary to the manner of nature, and that the mystery of the Incarnation itself was closed and secret.
For just as poets signify something to subtle readers through grammatical figures, so prophets sometimes designated hidden mysteries through such an unusual manner of writing. Thus Moses, to designate the mystery of the divine Persons in the unity of essence, joined the word Elohim, which is plural in number from Eli, to a singular verb, saying, “In the beginning Elohim created,” that is, the gods, meaning the divine Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, “heaven and earth,” and so forth.
Modern Jews, however, corrupt the letter of Scripture. In place of what was said, “His name shall be called Wonderful,” and so forth, they have in their books, “And he”—namely, He who is the Wonderful Counselor, God, and so forth—“shall call his name,” namely the name of that child who was born, “Prince of Peace.” For in place of our nominative “Prince of Peace,” they have the accusative “a prince of peace.”
They say that these things spoken of this child are understood of Hezekiah, king of Judah, whom God called a prince of peace because under him He gave peace to the people when Sennacherib’s army was destroyed. Or, if they understand these things of Christ, they say that His divinity is not apparent from them. This is one of their errors, for they do not concede that the Christ whom they still mistakenly await is God.
Because, as has been said, the Hebrews corrupt the text, recourse must be had to the translations of others. According to the translation of the Seventy made into Greek, the text does not say “he shall call,” as the Hebrews have, but “he shall be called,” as we have. In place of our six names, however, they put “Angel of Great Counsel” for the reason already given. This signifies implicitly and in a veiled manner the same thing that those names expressing the divinity signify explicitly and manifestly, because before it was fulfilled the mystery of the divine Incarnation was the greatest secret and divine counsel. It therefore cannot be understood of Hezekiah.
That they put “Prince of Peace” in the accusative ought instead to be in the nominative. The following words also show such an exposition concerning Hezekiah to be false, when it is said, “His empire shall be multiplied, and there shall be no end of peace,” for the peace under Hezekiah lasted only a short time.
The falsity of the Hebrew Scripture as corrupted by them is also evident from the Chaldean translation, which is authentic among them. For it says there, “His name shall be called,” not “he shall call the child’s name,” “Wonderful Counselor, mighty God, enduring forever, the Messiah, in whose days peace shall be multiplied.”
§ IV
In chapter 53 Isaiah speaks so openly of Christ’s Passion that he appears more an evangelist recounting the history of something accomplished than a prophet announcing the future. Because in the beginning few believed this mystery, namely a crucified Christ who is God and man, Isaiah begins the chapter thus: “Lord, who has believed?” that is, who believes “our report,” meaning the things we have heard from You or those the Jews hear from us? As though to say: few. He adds what those few believe, namely matters concerning Christ’s Incarnation and Passion.
“And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” The Son of God is called the Lord’s arm because all things were made through Him and God sustains all things by His Word, just as one works and holds things with an arm. Just as a man embraces another with his arm and draws him close, so through the Son we have been embraced by the Lord, reconciled, made like the Son, and united through grace.
He leads us in this arm like sheep. Isaiah 40 says, “In His arm He will gather the lambs.” In this arm God made such an anointing with blood that He healed the Church’s whole body. “To whom has it been revealed?” As though to say: this arm was covered with assumed flesh and therefore must be revealed. Isaiah wishes to indicate that faith comes from revelation, not acquisition. Hence in the preceding chapter he says, “The Lord has prepared His holy arm in the eyes of all nations, and all flesh shall see the salvation of our God,” which the gloss expounds of the Son of God revealed to the gentiles.
First Isaiah treats Christ’s Incarnation, saying, “He ascended like a shoot before Him.” The place and manner of His conception are indicated here. The place is indicated because He was conceived at Nazareth, which is interpreted “shoot” or also “flower,” and because He was conceived in March, when flowers begin.
The manner is indicated because He was conceived and born of a virgin without human work, just as a shoot springs from the earth without human work. “Before Him,” that is, before God, because He was born of the Virgin to fulfill the Father’s will.
“And like a root.” A root is hidden from sight but shows its power in its effect. Thus Christ’s divinity lay hidden in His flesh. Isaiah 45 says, “Truly You are a hidden God.” But when He supplies the moisture of grace to His branches, that is, His members, and displays the fruit of glory, He shows His power.
Just as a root is the more despised part of a tree but nevertheless sustains the tree, so Christ is called the last of men by reason of His shameful Passion and yet is the foundation of the Church. From this root every tree, that is, every human being, receives fruit. This root ascended “from a thirsty land,” that is, from the Blessed Virgin, whose womb was not moistened by male seed; or from a thirsty land, that is, from the Blessed Virgin thirsting and hungering for the salvation of the human race.
After the prophet has set forth Christ’s Nativity, he immediately descends to the Passion. Gregory says, “His being born would have profited us nothing had His dying not profited us.” “There is neither form nor comeliness in Him,” namely in the Passion. Hence few among the Jews believe what we preach, namely Christ the Son of God, because there was no form or visible comeliness showing divinity in Christ as a man so dishonored and dead.
“And we saw Him, and there was no sight,” namely of the divinity in Him when He was so treated with contempt. During the Passion He especially concealed the power of His divinity. Hence the Jews said in mockery, “If He is the Son of God, let Him come down from the cross,” while He remained fixed upon it as though powerless.
Because the prophet by the light of grace saw that shameful Passion would free the world, he adds, “And we desired Him, despised,” and so forth—not by rejoicing in or desiring His afflictions, but by attending to the fruit of the Passion. “And His face was as though hidden,” that is, the manifestation of His divinity. He says “as though,” not simply, because even during the Passion His face did not lie entirely hidden, as appeared in the darkening of the sun, the prostration of the betrayer, and other signs. “Hence we did not esteem Him,” namely to be God. He says this in the person of the unbelieving Jews.
The prophet further shows that Christ suffered these things not for His own sins but ours, adding, “Truly He took our infirmities,” that is, removed from us our inveterate sins, for an infirmity means an inveterate sickness, “and He carried our sorrows,” that is, carried them away. Thus “infirmity” may be referred to original sins and “sorrow” to actual sins.
Or, “He took our infirmities and carried our sorrows” insofar as He bore all our sins in His body upon the wood of the cross, as Peter says in his canonical epistle. That is, He endured in Himself the punishment owed to us for sins. He did this truly, not in appearance.
“And we esteemed Him as though a leper and struck by God.” The prophet says this in the person of unbelieving Jews, who considered Him a leper, that is, a sinner struck by God for His own sins. Hence they said, “If this man were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered Him to you.” Thus they cast Him outside the camp, that is, the city, as though a leper.
Or the prophet can be said to speak in the person of those who first judged Him condemned in this way because of His own sins, but afterward, converted by the signs, said: We thought thus, but now we know that He suffered this not because of His own sins but because of ours.
Hence it follows, “He was wounded for our iniquities,” namely by the lance and nails, and “He was bruised” by scourges and blows “for our crimes,” namely that they might be purged. “Iniquities” are referred to lesser offenses and “crimes” to greater ones.
“The discipline of our peace was upon Him.” War existed between God and human beings because of the sins of those human beings rebelling against God, according to Isaiah’s words, “Our sins have divided,” that is, made a division, “between us and our God.” This peace could not be made except through divine justice, which is called “discipline” in the text.
To establish this peace, therefore, God disciplined the incarnate Son, who held the place of the entire human race because He is our head. By this peace was made. Hence He is called “our peace, who made both one.” From this it followed that “by His bruise we are healed.”
We are healed in three ways. First, by way of provocation to charity, which is the cause of the remission of sins, because by enduring the Passion for us He provokes us to love Him above all things. Second, by way of redemption. Because Jesus is our head, through His Passion, which He endured from charity and obedience, He freed us as His members from sins, as though by the price of His blood.
Third, we are healed through Christ’s Passion by way of efficiency or instrumentality. Insofar as Christ endured the Passion, it is the instrument of the divinity. Thus all His sufferings and actions operate by divine power to expel sin.
This discipline of the Passion was necessary for everyone so that all might be led back from the way in which they walked, namely transgressions, into the way of salvation and the virtues. Hence he adds, “All we like sheep have gone astray,” for all sinned in Adam as in the first sheep. “Each one turned aside into his own way” of his proper will and sensuality. “And the Lord laid upon Him the iniquity of us all,” namely when the shepherd seeking the sheep that had strayed found it and placed it upon His shoulders, that is, by sustaining the burden of its sins, namely their punishment.
Modern Jews falsely say that those who lived rightly in the Old Testament went directly to glory. But since it is said here that “all we have gone astray,” namely by sinning, and since no one can go to glory with such an error before this common error is purged—a purgation accomplished only through Christ’s Passion—no one went to glory before the Passion.
For even if sins were removed through animal sacrifices ex opere operante, that is, by the devotion and compunction of those offering, they were nevertheless not removed fully. Vitiated nature still remained to be purged completely through the true sacrifice, Christ, the immaculate sheep and lamb figured in those sacrifices.
He voluntarily endured this immolation, that is, the Passion. This is what follows: “He was offered because He Himself willed it.” He willed to suffer for our liberation, but He did not will the evil intention of the Jews who killed Him. That He appeared voluntarily is evident in His patience during the Passion, which he shows by saying, “He shall be led like a sheep to slaughter and like a lamb,” and so forth, neither defending Himself nor murmuring, but permitting everything.
“From distress,” namely the Passion, “and from judgment,” namely Pilate’s unjust judgment against Him, “He was taken away,” namely in the Resurrection.
The prophet next sets forth His greatness, saying, “Who shall recount His generation?” Christ’s generation can be spoken of in three ways. The first is eternal, by which the Word is eternally begotten from the Father. The second is temporal, by which the Word became flesh temporally from His mother. Not only is the first indescribable and incomprehensible to us, but so also is the second: how that union of the Word with flesh occurred and how He was conceived and born of the Virgin.
The third is active generation, by which He begets adopted sons from faith. Who will recount even this generation—how many faithful sons of His were multiplied from the Passion, and how this generation occurs in the human mind? As though to say: no one.
This was accomplished through the Passion, as the prophet shows by adding, “Because He was cut off from the land of the living,” namely removed through His death from the society of human beings. Because this generation of spiritual children cannot occur unless their sins have been purged, a purgation virtually accomplished through the Passion, he adds, “For the crime of My people I struck Him,” speaking in the Father’s person. I, the Father, struck Him, that is, permitted Him, My incarnate Son, to be struck by Jews and others for the crime of the people, namely that it might be erased.
Because God did not permit the wickedness of those striking Christ to go unpunished, the prophet adds, “He shall give the impious for His burial.” Christ will give the impious Jews to the Romans under Titus and Vespasian “for His burial,” that is, because they persecuted Christ even to the death from which He was buried. He will give them captive and afflicted. They persecuted Him even after death by fortifying the stone of the tomb with guards.
“And the rich for His death,” that is, He will give to death the scribes, Pharisees, and chief priests who gloried in the ways of the law’s teaching, because they delivered Him to death. The reason they unjustly delivered Him to death is assigned: “because He committed no iniquity, nor was deceit found in His mouth.” This can be said of no one else, because no one is clean from stain, at least original stain.
Because the prophet said above, “All we like sheep have gone astray,” while Christ was without sin, he sufficiently shows from this that Christ is not a mere man but God and man, by reason of which union He is without sin. Yet although He was without guilt, “the Lord willed to bruise Him in infirmity,” that is, permitted Him to be bruised in that part in which He was weak, namely in the flesh He assumed.
“If He shall lay down His soul for sin,” that is, if He voluntarily gives His life to death to erase human sin, “He shall see a long-lived seed,” that is, His spiritual sons, the faithful, down to the end of the world; or He shall see His seed, that is, the Gospel or the Gospel’s teaching, remain until the end.
Hence the Jews argue that these things cannot be understood of Christ the Nazarene, since He had no sons but remained a virgin. Yet because they savor and understand the Scriptures carnally, they therefore take this as referring to carnal sons, although the prophet speaks of spiritual sons and spiritual seed.
“And the will of the Lord”—namely, that will by which He wills all men to be saved—“shall be directed in His hand,” that is, it shall be fulfilled in His work, namely His Passion, because, as regards merit, that Passion is sufficient to save all. The reason for this is “because His soul has labored.” Behold the fruit of His labor: “He shall see,” namely Christ Himself, that for which He labored—the Church gathered and converted from the Gentiles throughout the whole world. He hungered and thirsted for this conversion of men, and therefore “He shall be satisfied” by their conversion, delighted by it.
And because the just man lives by faith, Christ therefore justifies men by it. Hence it follows: “In His knowledge shall My just servant justify many.” In the knowledge of His teaching and in the faith infused into men—which knowledge is from God—He shall justify, that is, He shall make the unjust just. It says that the just one shall justify because God alone is He who justifies; therefore our Christ is God. The Son of God is called the servant of God because He assumed the form of a servant. It says “many,” not all, because many are called but few are chosen, owing to a defect in men.
“And He shall bear their iniquities,” namely those of the persons to be justified: as regards the efficient action of cleansing, He shall bear the penalty by making satisfaction for them. Divine justice required this, for Christ, as head of human nature, made Himself a debtor to God by reason of the union and on account of the defects of human nature; and for it He willed to sustain in Himself the penalty that divine justice required. In this way He appeased divine justice and consequently justified many by bearing the penalty of their sins—not all, but those who are joined to Him through the sacraments devoutly received, in which their power has remained.
And because Isaiah had said that the Father had given the Jews to the Romans as spoil and unto death, he consequently shows how God the Father will compensate Him among the Gentiles, saying, “I will distribute to Him very many.” These are the words of God the Father speaking of Christ, as if to say: If the Jews are negligent and do not come through faith to Christ, in place of those Jews “I will distribute,” that is, I will compensate for the ruin of the Jews with the multitude of Gentiles coming to the faith of Christ. “And I shall divide the spoils of the strong,” that is, of the demons: the human race, which the devil had seized for himself by deceiving it, shall be snatched from the devil and entrusted to the apostles and their followers as a dominion, for the apostles were the first to preside over the converted Gentiles.
This shall happen “because He has delivered His soul,” that is, His life, “unto death, and was reputed with the wicked,” namely with the thieves by the Jews; “and He has borne the sins of many,” that is, He has taken them away, or sustained their penalty. “And He prayed for the transgressors,” saying, as is found in Luke 22, “Father, forgive them.” At this utterance, according to the Gospel of the Nazarenes, many of the Jews were converted.
From this prophecy Isaiah clearly shows that Christ was and is true God and true man, contrary to the Jews who refuse to assent that Christ ought to suffer, whom they still await as one to come in their error. Rather, they say that He ought temporally to possess great power in the world as a great temporal lord. They also deny that He is true God and say that He is a mere man.
§ V
How God would bear witness to Christ through the fruit of His Passion, after the Jews had been abandoned because of their faithlessness, by means of the conversion of the Gentiles, Isaiah declares in the following chapter, namely chapter 54, saying: “Praise, O barren one who bears not; sing praise, you who did not travail, because the children of the deserted woman are more numerous than those of her who has a husband.”
For an explanation of this, it must be known that according to the prophets and in Scripture mention is made of two congregations or peoples, namely the Israelite and the Gentile, and each people took its origin from Noah. At that time Gentility, instructed by Noah in his sons, adored the one God, Creator of all, and this nation was the bride of the one true God, to whom it was joined through faith.
At the time of the building of Babel, however, the Gentility whom the Lord had espoused to Himself in Noah and his sons, as though fornicating in her youth, withdrew from God and adhered to the devil through idolatry. She was deserted by her bridegroom, God, until the Incarnation; and the Jewish people alone were chosen as though as a bride by God when men were dispersed through the various regions of the world and through various rites of idolatry, while true faith in the one God and His worship remained in the house of Heber alone, afterward in the family of Abraham, and finally in the house of Jacob and those descending from his twelve sons.
Thus Gentility became as a widow by withdrawing from God, whence neither could she bear spiritual children for God, which is done through faith. The Jewish people, on the other hand, were as though married to God through true faith and bore for God spiritual children who were to be saved in faith in the Christ to come, and this continued until the time of Christ.
But after Christ’s Passion, through the preaching of the apostles, Gentility was converted to the faith and espoused to God through faith, and she generated very many children, namely all those converted from her to the faith. Jewry also generated some, but only those who believed in Christ. And because these were few in comparison with those converted from Gentility, Isaiah therefore says: “Praise, O barren one,” that is, you, Gentility, who formerly were barren after deserting God your bridegroom; “and deserted,” that is, abandoned by God because you had abandoned God—praise God. For many children have been born spiritually through faith, that is, far more than to “her who has a husband”: the congregation of the Jews, who had God as husband or bridegroom until the time of Christ, and afterward insofar as concerns those converted from Judaism, who nevertheless were fewer than the converted Gentiles.
§ VI
Concerning the luminous advent of Christ through His teaching, miracles, and holiness of life—an advent by which the Jews were darkened by the shadows of errors and faithlessness and covered by the gloom of vices, but the Gentiles were illuminated, whose firstfruits were the holy Magi who came from distant parts to adore the newborn Christ and venerate Him with gifts, which sufficiently openly signified the true faith they had concerning Him—Isaiah speaks in chapter 60, where he says: “Arise and be illuminated, Jerusalem, because your light has come,” and so forth.
Concerning the fullness of sevenfold grace bestowed upon Christ insofar as He is man, the prophet Isaiah speaks in chapter 11: “A rod shall come forth from the root of Jesse,” that is, the Virgin Mary from the lineage of Jesse, who was David’s father; for he was called by two names, Jesse and Isai. “And a flower from his root,” that is, Christ, descending according to corporeal substance from that lineage, not propagated carnally, but conceived and born without human operation like a flower from a rod, that is, from the Virgin Mary.
“And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him.” It says that He shall rest because He will find in Him no restlessness or goad of sin, something that occurs in no one else, at least as regards original sin: “the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and fortitude, the Spirit of knowledge and piety; and the Spirit of the fear of the Lord has filled Him.”
Concerning His preaching it is said in chapter 61: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me; He has sent Me to announce to the meek, to heal the contrite of heart, and to preach release to captives,” and so forth. The prophet speaks in the person of Christ, who insofar as He is man was anointed with the anointing of grace by the Holy Spirit and sent to preach. Hence, as is read in Luke 4, when Christ once entered the synagogue of the Jews at Nazareth and the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him, He began to read what first met His eye in it. It was this: “The Spirit of the Lord,” and so forth, as was said. When He had read it, He said, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your ears.”
Concerning His miracles Isaiah says in chapter 35: “The Lord shall come and save us. Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the mute shall be opened,” and so forth. We do not read that anyone in the Old Testament worked all these miracles, but the Lord Jesus Christ did them all.
§ VII
Concerning the angels’ wonder and their inquiry at Christ’s Ascension, it is said in chapter 63: “Who is this who comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah?” The lower angels, seeing Christ ascend in such glory, ask in wonder. Edom is interpreted “earthly” or “bloody” and signifies the world. Bozrah is interpreted “fortified” or “firm” and signifies hell, which was so firm that no one could escape. As though seeing Christ ascend by His own power and with the souls of the saints, the angels therefore said in wonder: “Who is this who comes from the world, because He is man, and from hell so fortified, with beatified souls?”
For although all the angels, from the beginning of their creation or glorification, knew in the Word the mystery of the Incarnation, nevertheless not all knew all the particulars concerning that mystery; rather, they knew them as they were fulfilled. Thus the higher angels, as being enlightened in greater detail concerning a mystery of this kind, answer: “This beautiful one in His robe,” that is, in the habit of humanity, “walking in the multitude of His strength,” that is, coming to heaven by the way of the cross, where He exercised His strength in conquering the devil.
Or it can be said that this entire speech belongs to the lower angels, and Christ Himself answers them, saying: “I, who speak justice,” that is, I who, as justice requires, render to each one according to his works. I redeemed the human race by justice, not by power, sustaining the penalty for the sin of men so that satisfaction might be made for the offense against God. It was also just that the devil, who tyrannically possessed deceived man and incited the Jews to inflict death upon Him who was not liable to death, should lose men who were liable to death. “And I am a defender,” that is, one fighting against the devil and the world, conquering on behalf of men “to save,” namely, them.
Either the angels or Isaiah himself asks, “Why then is Your garment red?” that is, whence do You have the signs of the Passion by which Your garment, that is, Your body, was made red in blood? He answers them: “I have trodden the winepress alone,” that is, I sustained the cross. He was alone because no one among the Jews, the disciples, the friends, or the angels helped Him. “I have trodden” the demons by subjugating them, and the world “in My fury,” that is, being greatly angered against vices and demons, and finally against the Jews, and so forth.
Concerning the apostles and those sent to preach, chapter 63 says: “I will send of those who have been saved,” namely, disciples and others converted to the faith, “going to the sea, to Africa, to Libdia, bearing arrows,” namely the words of God, “to Italy and Greece and to the distant islands,” such as Sicily and England, “who have not heard of Me,” namely through the prophets, “and have not seen My glory; and they shall announce My glory to the Gentiles.” Libdia is in Asia; Italy and Greece are in Europe.