Basil of Caesarea — Commentary on Scripture

The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.

If even among the barbarians harmony is maintained through subjection to a single leader, what should we think of the disharmony among us and our failure to be subject to the Lord’s commands? We should realize that our good God gives us examples to teach us and lead us to conversion. On the great and awesome day of judgment he will use them as a demonstration of the shame and condemnation of those who have not heeded his instruction. He has already said, and he continues to say, “The ox knows his owner and the donkey his master’s manger; but Israel has not known me, and my people have not understood.”

Isaiah 1:11 · 2 passages

To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.

Observe that God does not say that he does not wish for any blood, but for this particular blood from these particular animals. For he would not say that he does not wish for the blood that was poured out “in the last times for the annulment of sins,” “which speaks more effectively than that of Abel,” but he changes the sacrifices to the spiritual plane, since “the change of priesthood” is about to happen. For if he rejects the physical sacrifices, he manifestly rejects the high priest according to the law.… They of the stock of Aaron are cast out, therefore, so that he [Christ] according to the order of Melchizedek might enter instead. The “continuous sacrifices” are no more, no more the sacrifices of the Day of Atonement, no more “the ashes of the heifer which purify those that partake.” For the sacrifice is one, the Christ, and the mortification of the saints according to him; the sprinkling is one, the bath of regeneration;14 the absolution of sins is one—the blood poured out for the salvation of the world. Because of this God renounces the former things, so that he may establish…

Observe that God does not say that he does not wish for any blood, but for this particular blood from these particular animals. For he would not say that he does not wish for the blood that was poured out “in the last times for the annulment of sins,” “which speaks more effectively than that of Abel,” but he changes the sacrifices to the spiritual plane, since “the change of priesthood” is about to happen. For if he rejects the physical sacrifices, he manifestly rejects the high priest according to the law.… They of the stock of Aaron are cast out, therefore, so that he [Christ] according to the order of Melchizedek might enter instead. The “continuous sacrifices” are no more, no more the sacrifices of the Day of Atonement, no more “the ashes of the heifer which purify those that partake.” For the sacrifice is one, the Christ, and the mortification of the saints according to him; the sprinkling is one, the bath of regeneration;14 the absolution of sins is one—the blood poured out for the salvation of the world. Because of this God renounces the former things, so that he may establish the latter.

How do you hope to find any redemption for your souls through sacrifices that are offered in quantity but with no repentance worth mentioning? For God is merciful not through the blood of animals or through slaughter on the altar but upon the contrite heart. For “the sacrifice to God is a contrite heart.”It is fitting for the same to be said to those who are lavish in their expiations but do not repent through their deeds.… Scripture says, “What is the multitude of your sacrifices to me?” So it dismisses the multitude and seeks after the single sacrifice.

Isaiah 1:15

And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.

Let those who do nothing right in life and think they are justified by the length of their prayer listen to these words. For the words of the prayer are not useful by themselves but only when they are offered up with earnest intent. Now the Pharisee also seemed to multiply his supplication. But what does the Scripture say? “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus to himself,” not to God, for he turned back toward himself, since at all events he was in the sin of arrogance.

Isaiah 1:18

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

The great physician of souls is ready to cure your suffering; he is the ready liberator, not of you alone, but of all those enslaved by sin.

Isaiah 2:3

And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

Ask a man of circumcision, a Jew after the flesh, which law and which word the prophet is talking about. About the law given through Moses? Let them show how this law comes “out of Zion.” For Moses did not enter the land of possession, whereas Zion is in Judea. The Scripture was mistaken then, according to them, using one name instead of another, for it said Zion instead of Sinai or Horeb. But it refers to the holy law. Which one? When was it given? Where was it written? And “the word out of Jerusalem” as well? The Jew after the flesh says that Isaiah means preaching of the prophets. Yet the preaching of the prophets took place everywhere across Judea, not only in Jerusalem and throughout Israel but also in captivity, in Nineveh and throughout the earth. Let them restrain themselves then before the truth and receive the law giving of the Lord that comes from the watchtower, the God-bearing flesh from which he watched over human actions. “And the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem.” Having started from there, the preaching of the gospel has been sown around the whole world.

Isaiah 5:1-2

Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:

[God] calls us to produce much fruit so that we will not be cast into the fire because we do not. He constantly compares human souls with vines. He says, “My beloved has a vineyard on a hill in a fruitful place.” And, “I planted a vineyard and put a hedge around it.” Obviously he called human souls the vineyard, around which he puts the security of his commandments and his angels as a hedge.… He desires that we also hold fast to our neighbors with love like vines, and to rest on them, with the highest desires, in order that we may reach the greatest heights of lofty teachings, like climbing vines.… Our soul is “dug around” when we lay aside the cares of the world that burden our hearts. Therefore, the one who has laid aside carnal love and the desire of possessions and has deemed desire for small glory of greatest contempt has been dug around and liberated from the vain burden of the spirit of the world.

Isaiah 7:9

And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.

Certainly one must have faith in the Scriptures as containing the divine mind, and thus one must proceed to the understanding of what is written in them. For one must go beyond the types and thus apprehend the truth of what has been shown to us. First one must believe in the Scriptures with the simple faith that they are “inspired by God and useful” and then go on to examine subtly and enquiringly the meaning contained in them.

Isaiah 22:2

Thou that art full of stirs, a tumultuous city, a joyous city: thy slain men are not slain with the sword, nor dead in battle.

Now is the time to utter aloud those words of the prophet who said, “Who will give water to my head and a fountain of tears to my eyes, and I will weep for the slain of the daughters of my people?” For, even if deep silence enfolds them and they lie dispossessed once and for all of their senses by the horrible deed (for by the deadly blow they have been deprived already of the very awareness of their condition), still we must not tearlessly disregard so great a fall. For, if Jeremiah judged those whose bodies were smitten in war worthy of innumerable laments, what should be said regarding so terrible a disaster to souls? “Your slain,” it is said, “are not slain by the sword, and your dead are not dead in battle.” But I bewail the sharp sting that causes real death, that is, grievous sin, and the fiery darts of the evil one, barbarously burning soul and body alike.

Isaiah 22:4

Therefore said I, Look away from me; I will weep bitterly, labour not to comfort me, because of the spoiling of the daughter of my people.

Remember the compassion of God, how he heals with olive oil and wine. Do not despair of salvation. Recall the memory of what has been written, how he that falls rises again, and he that is turned away turns again, he that has been smitten is healed, he that is caught by wild beasts escapes, and he that confesses is not rejected. The Lord does not wish the death of the sinner, but that he return and live. Be not contemptuous as one who has fallen into the depths of sins.There is still time for patience, time for forbearance, time for healing, time for amendment. Have you slipped? Rise up. Have you sinned? Cease. Do not stand in the way of sinners, but turn aside; for then you will be saved when turning back you bewail your sins. In fact, from labors there is health; for sweat, salvation. So take heed, lest, in wishing to keep your contracts with others, you transgress your covenants with God that you confessed before many witnesses. Do not, therefore, because of certain human considerations, hesitate to come to me. For, receiving my dead, I shall lament; I shall care for him, “I shall…

Remember the compassion of God, how he heals with olive oil and wine. Do not despair of salvation. Recall the memory of what has been written, how he that falls rises again, and he that is turned away turns again, he that has been smitten is healed, he that is caught by wild beasts escapes, and he that confesses is not rejected. The Lord does not wish the death of the sinner, but that he return and live. Be not contemptuous as one who has fallen into the depths of sins.There is still time for patience, time for forbearance, time for healing, time for amendment. Have you slipped? Rise up. Have you sinned? Cease. Do not stand in the way of sinners, but turn aside; for then you will be saved when turning back you bewail your sins. In fact, from labors there is health; for sweat, salvation. So take heed, lest, in wishing to keep your contracts with others, you transgress your covenants with God that you confessed before many witnesses. Do not, therefore, because of certain human considerations, hesitate to come to me. For, receiving my dead, I shall lament; I shall care for him, “I shall weep bitterly for the devastation of the daughter of my people.” All welcome you, all will aid you in your sufferings. Do not lose heart; be mindful of the days of old. There is salvation; there is amendment. Have courage; do not despair. There is no law that passes sentence of death without pity, but grace, exceeding the chastisement, awaits the amendment. Not yet have the doors been closed; the Bridegroom listens; sin is not the master. Again take up the struggle; do not draw back, but pity yourself and all of us in Jesus Christ, our Lord, to whom be glory and might, now and forever, for ages of ages. Amen.

Isaiah 25:8

He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.

For eternal rest lies before those who have struggled through the present life observant of the laws, a rest not given in payment for a debt owed for their works but provided as a grace of the munificent God for those who have hoped in him. Then, before he describes the good things there, telling in detail the escape from the troubles of the world, he gives thanks for them to the liberator of souls, who has delivered him from the varied and inexorable slavery of the passions. But what are these good things?“For he has delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from falling.” God describes the future rest by a comparison with things here. Here, he says, the sorrows of death have compassed me, but there he has delivered my soul from death. Here the eyes pour forth tears because of trouble, but there, no longer is there a tear to darken the eyes of those who are rejoicing in the contemplation of the beauty of the glory of God. “For God has wiped away every tear from every face.”

Isaiah 27:1

In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.

Let us earnestly endeavor, therefore, to flee every crooked and tortuous act, and let us keep our mind and the judgment of our soul as straight as a rule, in order that the praise of the Lord may be permitted to us since we are upright. In the same way the serpent, which is the author of sin, is called crooked, and the sword of God is drawn against the dragon, the crooked serpent, which makes many twists and turns in its progress.… Therefore one who follows the serpent shows that his life is crooked, uneven and filled with contrarieties; but one who follows after the Lord makes his paths straight and his footprints right.

Isaiah 28:17

Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

The Judge wishes to have mercy on you and to share his own compassion, but on condition that he finds you humble after sin, contrite, lamenting much for your evil deeds, announcing publicly without shame sins committed secretly, begging the brothers to labor with you in reparation. In short, if he sees that you are worthy of pity, he provides his mercy for you ungrudgingly. But if he sees your heart unrepentant, your mind proud, your disbelief of the future life and your fearlessness of the judgment, then he desires the judgment for you. [This is like] a reasonable and kind doctor [who] tries at first with hot applications and soft poultices to reduce a tumor. But, when he sees that the mass is rigidly and obstinately resisting, casting away the olive oil and the gentle method of treatment, he prefers henceforth the use of the knife. Therefore [God] loves mercy in the case of those repenting, but he also loves judgment in the case of the unyielding. Isaiah says some such thing, too, to God: “Your mercy in measure.” For he compares the mercy with the judgment of him who gives compensa…

The Judge wishes to have mercy on you and to share his own compassion, but on condition that he finds you humble after sin, contrite, lamenting much for your evil deeds, announcing publicly without shame sins committed secretly, begging the brothers to labor with you in reparation. In short, if he sees that you are worthy of pity, he provides his mercy for you ungrudgingly. But if he sees your heart unrepentant, your mind proud, your disbelief of the future life and your fearlessness of the judgment, then he desires the judgment for you. [This is like] a reasonable and kind doctor [who] tries at first with hot applications and soft poultices to reduce a tumor. But, when he sees that the mass is rigidly and obstinately resisting, casting away the olive oil and the gentle method of treatment, he prefers henceforth the use of the knife. Therefore [God] loves mercy in the case of those repenting, but he also loves judgment in the case of the unyielding. Isaiah says some such thing, too, to God: “Your mercy in measure.” For he compares the mercy with the judgment of him who gives compensation by scale and number and weight according to the deserts of each.

Isaiah 40:6 · 2 passages

The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:

“The voice of the Lord is on the waters.” In many places you might find the word voice occurring. Therefore, for the sake of understanding what the voice of the Lord is, we should gather, as far as we are able, from the divine Scripture what has been said about the voice; for instance, in the divine warning to Abraham: “And immediately the voice came to him: He shall not be your heir.” And in Moses: “And all the people saw the voice and the flames.” Again in Isaiah: “The voice of one saying, Cry.” With us, then, voice is either air that has been struck or some form that is in the air against which he who is crying out wishes to strike. Now, what is the voice of the Lord? Would it be considered the impact on the air? Or air, which has been struck reaching the hearing of him to whom the voice comes? Or neither of these but that this is a voice of another kind, namely, an image formed by the mind of people whom God wishes to hear his own voice, so that they have this representation corresponding to that which frequently occurs in their dreams? Indeed, just as, although the air is not st…

“The voice of the Lord is on the waters.” In many places you might find the word voice occurring. Therefore, for the sake of understanding what the voice of the Lord is, we should gather, as far as we are able, from the divine Scripture what has been said about the voice; for instance, in the divine warning to Abraham: “And immediately the voice came to him: He shall not be your heir.” And in Moses: “And all the people saw the voice and the flames.” Again in Isaiah: “The voice of one saying, Cry.” With us, then, voice is either air that has been struck or some form that is in the air against which he who is crying out wishes to strike. Now, what is the voice of the Lord? Would it be considered the impact on the air? Or air, which has been struck reaching the hearing of him to whom the voice comes? Or neither of these but that this is a voice of another kind, namely, an image formed by the mind of people whom God wishes to hear his own voice, so that they have this representation corresponding to that which frequently occurs in their dreams? Indeed, just as, although the air is not struck, we keep some recollection of certain words and sounds occurring in our dreams, not receiving the voice through our hearing but through the impression on our heart itself, so also we must believe that some such voice from God appeared in the prophets.

I want the marvel of creation to gain such complete acceptance from you that, wherever you may be found and whatever kind of plants you may chance on, you may receive a clear reminder of the Creator. First, then, whenever you see a grassy plant or a flower, think of human nature, remembering the comparison of the wise Isaiah, that “all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of humanity as the flower of the grass.” For the short span of life and the briefly enduring pleasure and joy of human happiness have found a most apt comparison in the words of the prophet. Today he is vigorous in body, grown fleshy from delicacies, with a flowerlike complexion, in the prime of life, fresh and eager, and irresistible in attack. Tomorrow that same one is piteous or wasted with age or weakened by disease.

Isaiah 40:13-14

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

“Who has known the mind of the Lord or who rather has been his counselor?” This passage is not merely a rhetorical question. If it were, “who” could not possibly refer to anyone. Rather, the use of “who” indicates a rare personage.… All these questions … have the same answer: “For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing.”

Isaiah 40:22-23

It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:

“He that stretches out the heavens as a vaulted ceiling.” These same thoughts, let us also recommend to ourselves concerning the earth, not to be curious about what its substance is; or to wear ourselves out by reasoning, seeking its very foundation; or to search for some nature destitute of qualities, existing without quality of itself; but to realize well that all that is seen around it is related to the reason of its existence, forming an essential part of its substance.

Isaiah 42:14

I have long time holden my peace; I have been still, and refrained myself: now will I cry like a travailing woman; I will destroy and devour at once.

Still, the saying of Isaiah has come to my mind: “I have kept silence; I shall not always keep silence and endure, shall I? I have been as patient as a woman in labor.” May it be that we both receive the reward for our silence and acquire some power for refuting, so that, when we have given our proofs, we may dry up this bitter torrent of falsehood poured out against us. May we say, “Our souls have passed through a torrent,” and, “If it has not been that the Lord was with us, when people rose up against us, perhaps they had swallowed us up alive, perhaps the waters had swallowed us up.”

Isaiah 42:18

Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see.

It is evident, indeed, that some possess ears better able to hear the words of God. But to those who do not have those ears, what does he say? “Hear, you deaf, and, you blind, behold.” Also, “I opened my mouth and panted,” and “You have broken the teeth of sinners.”4 All these things were said in reference to the faculties that render service for spiritual food and spiritual doctrine.

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.

If we count, we do not add, increasing from one to many. We do not say, “one, two, three,” or “first, second, and third.” God says, “I am the first, and I am the last.” We have never to this present day heard of two gods.… How does one and one not equal two gods? Because we speak of the emperor and the emperor’s image—but not two emperors.… The image of the emperor is an image by imitation, but the Son is a natural image.