Ambrose of Milan — Commentary on Scripture

Isaiah 35:10

And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

[God] is the same one who said to Jeremiah, “Behold, I place my words in your mouth as a fire.” David, therefore, also received this tongue of fire, so that he could speak of divine knowledge while enkindled with zeal: “Make known to me my end, O Lord.” He was not here asking about his own death or about the final resurrection. He was inquiring into that end of which the apostle spoke: “For the end will come when the Lord Jesus hands over the kingdom to God the Father and when he destroys every principality and power and when death is the last of all things to be destroyed,” such that evil is defeated and eternal goodness is ignited. Therefore it was said, “Pain and wailing will flee.”

Isaiah 40:2

Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD'S hand double for all her sins.

There is also another type of consolation for those who have paid heavy penalties, as it is written in the book of Isaiah: 'Comfort, comfort my people,' says the Lord. 'Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins.' Even if faith was lacking, punishment was satisfied. The penalties are mitigated for those who are acquitted by commendation of their merits.

Isaiah 40:3

The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

God, indeed, never descends from any place, for he says, “I fill heaven and earth.” But he seems to descend when the Word of God enters our hearts, as the prophet has said, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” We are to do this, so that, as he himself promised, he may come together with the Father and make his abode with us.

Isaiah 40:5

And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

He [Christ] was a reproach but at the same time also the majesty of the Lord, as it is written, “And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh together shall see the salvation of God.” What had he lost if he had nothing less? He had neither comeliness nor beauty, but he had not ceased to be the power of God. He appeared a man, but the divine majesty and glory of the Father shone on earth.

Isaiah 40:9

O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!

Therefore, let us transcend the works of the world, so that we may be able to see God face to face. Ascend to the mountain that proclaims Zion. If the one who proclaims Zion ascends to the mountain, how much more the one who proclaims Christ and the risen Christ? Perhaps many will see him in the body; for we have known Christ according to the flesh: but now we no longer know him.

Isaiah 40:12

Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?

Who would deny that God has made these things, who spoke through the Prophet, saying: 'Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance, who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or who has been his counselor or instructed Him?' We also read elsewhere: Because it holds the circuit of the earth and has made the earth as nothing.

Isaiah 40:13-14

Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him?

“Yet to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we to him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through him.” … The apostle says according to the prophecy of Isaiah, “Who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” And he added, “For him and through him and in him are all things,” which Isaiah said of the artificer of all, as you have it. “Who has measured the water with his hand, and the heaven with his palm?” And the apostle has added, “For of him and through him and in him are all things.” What is “of him”? That the nature of all things is of his will, and he is the author of all things that come into existence. “Through him” means what? That establishment and continuance are seen to have been bestowed on all things through him. “In him” means what? That all things by a certain wonderful desire and ineffable love look on the Author of their lives and the minister of their graces and functions, according to what is written: “The eyes of all hope in you,” and “You open your hand and fill every living creature wit…

“Yet to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we to him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through him.” … The apostle says according to the prophecy of Isaiah, “Who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” And he added, “For him and through him and in him are all things,” which Isaiah said of the artificer of all, as you have it. “Who has measured the water with his hand, and the heaven with his palm?” And the apostle has added, “For of him and through him and in him are all things.” What is “of him”? That the nature of all things is of his will, and he is the author of all things that come into existence. “Through him” means what? That establishment and continuance are seen to have been bestowed on all things through him. “In him” means what? That all things by a certain wonderful desire and ineffable love look on the Author of their lives and the minister of their graces and functions, according to what is written: “The eyes of all hope in you,” and “You open your hand and fill every living creature with your good pleasure.”

Isaiah 40:15-18

Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.

Therefore, it is enough to mention the qualities and substance of the heavens that we find in the writings of Isaiah, who expressed the nature of the celestial sphere in ordinary and familiar language, saying that God has made the heavens firm like smoke, not wanting to reveal its subtle and immaterial nature. And he also speaks of its appearance, saying that God has made the heavens like a vault, within which all things in the sea and on land are enclosed. It is similarly signified when it is read: Because the Lord has stretched out the heavens. For it is extended like a skin to the dwellings and abodes of the saints; or like a book, so that the names of many who have deserved the grace of Christ by faith and devotion may be written, to whom it is said: Rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

Isaiah 41:1

Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment.

Scripture correctly says: Be renewed, O islands. For we are surrounded by the waves of sin, like islands in the sea of this world. Therefore, these islands were renewed by the coming of the Lord through the forgiveness of sins, that is, men were immersed in the water as if placed in the midst of the sea like islands, they were struck by the waves like islands, resounding with the waves of sins as if they were islands, in which, before, there were frequent shipwrecks for the simple reason that there was deceit in their hearts and flattery on their lips.

Isaiah 42:5

Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:

The Son is both sent and given, and the Spirit also is both sent and given; they have assuredly a oneness of Godhead who have a oneness of action.

Isaiah 43:2

When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

We are wayfarers in this life; many walk, but it is needful that we walk aright, for then is the Lord Jesus with us, as we read, When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee, and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; when thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burned. But if a man take fire in his bosom, the fire of lust, the fire of immoderate desire he walketh not through, but burns this clothing of his soul. A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour than silver and gold! Faith is sufficient for itself, and in its own possession is rich enough. And to the wise man nothing is foreign, but what is contrary to virtue; wherever he goes, he finds all things to be his own. All the world is his possession, for he uses it all as if it were his own.

Isaiah 43:19-20

Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

But He, although He took on Him our flesh, although He was made man that He might redeem man, and recal him from death, still, as being God, came upon earth in an extraordinary way, that as He had said, 'Behold I make all things new,' so also He might be born of an immaculate virgin, and be believed to be, as it is written, 'God with us.' But from their perverse ways they are induced to say 'She was a virgin when she conceived, but not a virgin when she brought forth.' Could she then conceive as a virgin, and yet not be able to bring forth as a virgin, when conception always precedes, and birth follows?

Isaiah 43:25

I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.

You have blotted it out, indeed, in your hearts and minds, but the Word of God is not blotted out, the Holy Spirit is not blotted out but turns away from impious minds. It is not grace but iniquity that is blotted out; for it is written, “I am he, I am he who blots out your iniquities.”

Isaiah 44:3

For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:

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.

Isaiah 44:6

Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.

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.

Isaiah 45:2

I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:

Nevertheless, I assert according to the Scriptures that He was able to spread out lowly places and open fields, just as He Himself says: 'I will walk before you and make mountains plain.' The force of the water itself could also make deeper things, which had settled, more turbulent: with such a movement of waves and such a surge of a more agitated element, which daily twists the depths of the sea and turns the sands out of the deep.

Isaiah 48:18 · 2 passages

O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea:

This water is good, then. I mean here the grace of the Spirit. Who will give this Fountain to my heart? Let it spring up in me, let that which gives eternal life flow on me. Let that Fountain overflow on us and not flow away. For Wisdom says, “Drink water out of your own vessels and from the fountains of your own wells, and let your waters flow abroad in your streets.” How shall I keep this water so that it does not seep out or glide away? How shall I preserve my vessel, lest any crack of sin penetrating it should let the water of eternal life exude? Teach us, Lord Jesus, teach us as you taught your apostles, saying, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures on the earth, where rust and moth destroy and where thieves break through and steal.”8Our rust is wantonness, our rust is lust, our rust is luxury, which dim the keen vision of the mind with the filth of vices. Again, our moth is Arius, our moth is Photinus, who rend the holy vesture of the church with their impiety, and desiring to separate the indivisible unity of the divine power, gnaw the precious veil of faith with sacrilegious t…

This water is good, then. I mean here the grace of the Spirit. Who will give this Fountain to my heart? Let it spring up in me, let that which gives eternal life flow on me. Let that Fountain overflow on us and not flow away. For Wisdom says, “Drink water out of your own vessels and from the fountains of your own wells, and let your waters flow abroad in your streets.” How shall I keep this water so that it does not seep out or glide away? How shall I preserve my vessel, lest any crack of sin penetrating it should let the water of eternal life exude? Teach us, Lord Jesus, teach us as you taught your apostles, saying, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures on the earth, where rust and moth destroy and where thieves break through and steal.”8Our rust is wantonness, our rust is lust, our rust is luxury, which dim the keen vision of the mind with the filth of vices. Again, our moth is Arius, our moth is Photinus, who rend the holy vesture of the church with their impiety, and desiring to separate the indivisible unity of the divine power, gnaw the precious veil of faith with sacrilegious tooth. The water is spillled if Arius has imprinted his tooth, it flows away if Photinus has planted his sting in anyone’s vessel.…
If you seek Jesus, forsake the broken cisterns, for Christ did not make it his custom to sit by a pool but by a well. There that Samaritan woman found him, she who believed, she who wished to draw water. Although you ought to have come in early morning, nevertheless if you come later, even at the sixth hour, you will find Jesus wearied with his journey. He is weary, but it is because of you, because he has long looked for you, your unbelief has long wearied him. Yet he is not offended if you only come now. He asks to drink who is about to give. But he drinks not the water of a stream flowing by, but your salvation. He drinks your good dispositions. He drinks the cup, that is, the passion that atoned for your sins, that you, drinking of his sacred blood, might quench the thirst of this world.

Set before yourself any river. It springs from its fountain but is of one nature, of one brightness and beauty. And you assert rightly that the Holy Spirit is of one substance, brightness and glory with the Son of God and with God the Father. I will sum up everything in the oneness of the qualities without any dispute over degrees of greatness. For in this point also Scripture has provided for us. For the Son of God says, “Whoever shall drink of the water that I will give him, it shall become in him a well of water springing up unto everlasting life.” This well is clearly the grace of the Spirit, a stream proceeding from the living Fountain. The Holy Spirit, then, is also the fountain of eternal life.You observe, then, from his words that the unity of the divine greatness is pointed out and that Christ cannot be denied to be a fountain even by heretics, since the Spirit, too, is called a fountain. The Spirit is called a river, too, just as the Father said, “Behold, I come down on you like a river of peace, and like a stream overflowing the glory of the Gentiles.” And who can doubt th…

Set before yourself any river. It springs from its fountain but is of one nature, of one brightness and beauty. And you assert rightly that the Holy Spirit is of one substance, brightness and glory with the Son of God and with God the Father. I will sum up everything in the oneness of the qualities without any dispute over degrees of greatness. For in this point also Scripture has provided for us. For the Son of God says, “Whoever shall drink of the water that I will give him, it shall become in him a well of water springing up unto everlasting life.” This well is clearly the grace of the Spirit, a stream proceeding from the living Fountain. The Holy Spirit, then, is also the fountain of eternal life.You observe, then, from his words that the unity of the divine greatness is pointed out and that Christ cannot be denied to be a fountain even by heretics, since the Spirit, too, is called a fountain. The Spirit is called a river, too, just as the Father said, “Behold, I come down on you like a river of peace, and like a stream overflowing the glory of the Gentiles.” And who can doubt that the Son of God is the river of life from whom the streams of eternal life flowed forth?

Isaiah 49:2

And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me;

Make for yourself, O man, a case; stripping off the old man with his actions, put on the new. Your case, your sheath, is Christ, who protects and hides you in the evil day. Do you want to know why the case is protection? My quiver, He says, protected him. Therefore, your case is faith: fill it with the good scents of your virtues; that is, chastity, mercy, and justice, and in it, enter completely fragrant with the sweet scent of excellent deeds of faith.

Isaiah 49:6

And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.

It is one thing to be named Son according to the divine substance; it is another thing to be so called according to the adoption of human flesh. For, according to the divine generation, the Son is equal to God and Father, and, according to the adoption of a body, he is a servant to God the Father. “For,” it says, “he took upon him the form of a servant.” The Son is, however, one and the same.… According to his glory, he is Lord to the holy patriarch David but David’s son in the line of actual descent, abandoning nothing of his own but acquiring for himself the rights that go with the adoption into our race. Not only does he undergo service in the character of man by reason of his descent from David, but also by reason of his name, as it is written: “I have found David my servant”;4 and elsewhere: “Behold, I will send to you my Servant, the Orient is his name.” And the Son himself says, “Thus says the Lord, that formed me from the womb to be his servant and said to me: It is a great thing for you to be called my servant. Behold, I have set you up for a witness to my people and a light…

It is one thing to be named Son according to the divine substance; it is another thing to be so called according to the adoption of human flesh. For, according to the divine generation, the Son is equal to God and Father, and, according to the adoption of a body, he is a servant to God the Father. “For,” it says, “he took upon him the form of a servant.” The Son is, however, one and the same.… According to his glory, he is Lord to the holy patriarch David but David’s son in the line of actual descent, abandoning nothing of his own but acquiring for himself the rights that go with the adoption into our race. Not only does he undergo service in the character of man by reason of his descent from David, but also by reason of his name, as it is written: “I have found David my servant”;4 and elsewhere: “Behold, I will send to you my Servant, the Orient is his name.” And the Son himself says, “Thus says the Lord, that formed me from the womb to be his servant and said to me: It is a great thing for you to be called my servant. Behold, I have set you up for a witness to my people and a light to the Gentiles, that you may be for salvation to the ends of the earth.” To whom is this said, if not to Christ? Who, being in the form of God, emptied himself and took on him the form of a servant. But what can be in the form of God, except that which exists in the fullness of the godhead?