TRV
Cyril of Alexandria
Nicene & Post-Nicene · AD 325–500
2,177 passages across 38 books of the Bible · Who was this?
On Isaiah
20 of 139-
Isaiah 49:1
He calls to “the islands,” which we take to be the churches of Christ, just as they are lying in the sea or the waves of this present existence and surrounded by the insulting attacks of “the waves,” or the persecutions and afflictions that the enemies of the truth inflict on the churches as they war against the divine call. Concerning these islands the divinely inspired Scripture often speaks. There the blessed David sang a psalm and said, “The Lord reigns, and let the earth be glad and many islands rejoice.” So when Christ taking all things in his hands reigned over it from heaven and ejected the demons’ tyranny, then did they rejoice, that is, the churches over all the earth were filled with happiness.… [Isaiah] promised that our Savior Jesus Christ would be revealed to everyone and that God as the Word would come on the earth among them in a form “after our likeness.” … That this is so, the person of the Savior himself attests, “Out of my mother’s womb he called my name.” Mixed into these words is a deep and great mystery that requires mystical understanding from above.… For he w…
He calls to “the islands,” which we take to be the churches of Christ, just as they are lying in the sea or the waves of this present existence and surrounded by the insulting attacks of “the waves,” or the persecutions and afflictions that the enemies of the truth inflict on the churches as they war against the divine call. Concerning these islands the divinely inspired Scripture often speaks. There the blessed David sang a psalm and said, “The Lord reigns, and let the earth be glad and many islands rejoice.” So when Christ taking all things in his hands reigned over it from heaven and ejected the demons’ tyranny, then did they rejoice, that is, the churches over all the earth were filled with happiness.… [Isaiah] promised that our Savior Jesus Christ would be revealed to everyone and that God as the Word would come on the earth among them in a form “after our likeness.” … That this is so, the person of the Savior himself attests, “Out of my mother’s womb he called my name.” Mixed into these words is a deep and great mystery that requires mystical understanding from above.… For he was and is God the Word, equal and sharing the throne with God the Father, coexisting and coeternal. -
Isaiah 49:2
The name Christ is not appropriate for God the Word before the generation that, as I said, was according to the flesh. If he was then not yet anointed, how could he be called “Christ”? But when the man came forth from his mother’s womb, then he received the name at the same time as the generation according to the flesh. For it says that he “set his mouth like a sharp sword” … for no one can overcome his all-powerful right hand, but the Word is kept distinct from the dimensions of the humanity. For he is the Word from the Father and himself is the Lord of hosts. When he became man, the Father did not remove the power of the mystery but confirmed him in the economy of salvation.… There have been several arrows of God hidden in his quiver, in his foreknowledge, and brought out at the time prepared for each, but the chosen arrow above all others is the Christ hidden in the quiver or foreknowledge of God. For he was known before the creation of the world and brought forth in the middle of time when it was necessary that the earth be visited as it was falling into destruction.… This chosen…
The name Christ is not appropriate for God the Word before the generation that, as I said, was according to the flesh. If he was then not yet anointed, how could he be called “Christ”? But when the man came forth from his mother’s womb, then he received the name at the same time as the generation according to the flesh. For it says that he “set his mouth like a sharp sword” … for no one can overcome his all-powerful right hand, but the Word is kept distinct from the dimensions of the humanity. For he is the Word from the Father and himself is the Lord of hosts. When he became man, the Father did not remove the power of the mystery but confirmed him in the economy of salvation.… There have been several arrows of God hidden in his quiver, in his foreknowledge, and brought out at the time prepared for each, but the chosen arrow above all others is the Christ hidden in the quiver or foreknowledge of God. For he was known before the creation of the world and brought forth in the middle of time when it was necessary that the earth be visited as it was falling into destruction.… This chosen arrow, as I said, got rid of Satan and the evil powers with him … yet he wounds in another way, for benefit and salvation. Thus it says in the Song of Songs, “I am wounded with love.” -
Isaiah 49:4
For it was a labor for the Word to come among us and to surrender himself to human fragility. But “my judgment” is the punishment of the Father that I [the Savior] have turned into a feast for their salvation. For that reason the judgment was taken away from him [the servant]. Just what sort of judgment was that? [Sinners] have been cast out of his company, to be placed outside the people of God, no longer sharers in the salvation wrought by him, and they have no longer any taste of the hope of the saints, to which many of the nations have been called in their place.
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Isaiah 49:5
For a lowly appellation is given to the Word whose origin is from God, that he is called slave, that is, a household member. For such a title can sometimes indicate "son," and at other times, as we have said, "household member." In the economy of the flesh, it is appropriate to consider the Son as a slave. For he is God by nature and free as being from God the sovereign Father, yet he took the shape or form of a slave. For no one with right understanding could say that he was a slave by nature who was then able to be brought into the form of a slave. Rather, he was outside of slavery and constraint, but for the sake of a sign, in the freedom of his nature, he received the shape, that is, the form of slave.… For he was Emmanuel, and he revealed to us no less in this way his freedom which was real and by nature.… For he who was God the Word dwelled in them and among us for no other reason except so that he could save Israel and gather Jacob. For he had scattered all others who were on the earth, every inventor of wickedness, into their many-colored and multifaceted vices.
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Isaiah 49:6
But when Christ appeared in the world they were gathered though faith in the one straight and blameless opinion, those whom Satan once had scattered and who formerly had deserted their love for God. They had run toward the enemy who produces and pursues sin. Those who had thrown away God's providence of good things are now with Christ at peace.… So he reveals the ministry of his incarnation, that he was formed as a slave by the Father from the womb so as to gather Israel and Jacob. If anyone says that these are the Jewish people that are meant, he has not strayed from the intention of the text. For Christ said, "I have come to save the lost sheep of Israel." But if anyone decides it is all those saved by faith who are called Israel and Jacob, he is right to do so.
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Isaiah 49:7
For it is clear that Christ caused the salvation of the flesh for all those on the earth. Through his resurrection, death was destroyed and destruction was stamped out, and we are brought springing back to life, we who through Adam had been driven into opposition. So we do not say that the Savior prayed out of a sense of failure but rather on account of the plan [economy] that he carried out in order to inspire our following.… For he stands as an example for us in the way he showed courage before the cross.
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Isaiah 49:7
For any powers and rational beings and also human beings on the earth who are holy—only through participation in the holy One by nature and who alone is truly holy are they called holy … and he who is alone holy together with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit has given from his own fullness to those sharing the holiness with him.
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Isaiah 49:8
It seemed right to some of the previous exegetes to make this the head of the chapter that follows. For thus says the Lord: “In due season I heard you and on the day of salvation I helped you.” And they say that this is what was said by the God and Father of all to Christ our Savior. For they weave in such a sense to the words. For he prayed, saying before the precious cross, “Father, if it is possible, take away this cup from me.” But he was not heard, and he drank it. When he had suffered death with the Father permitting it, then the Father said to him what was necessary, “In due season I heard you, and on the day of salvation I helped you.”
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Isaiah 49:10
After they were called to the light of truth, they were provided with pastures and forests that nurtured their spiritual strength and satisfied them with every good thing. God made the abundance of his grace, help and spiritual consolation available to them. "For they shall not hunger or thirst." For once they were without spiritual consolation and did not have godly law or prophet or schoolmaster or tutor or teacher, or any spring of water of understanding. After God took mercy on them, however, a feast has been prepared for them in the choir school of spiritual good things. The food there will profit their souls. For they will eat bread from heaven and drink living water, of which the Christ himself said to the Samaritan woman: "Anyone who drinks from this water will thirst again. But whoever drinks the water I give will never be thirsty."
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Isaiah 49:13
We say that those humble ones who submit their necks to Christ and who do not despise the yoke of a kingdom under him, in that they welcome faith, will be fit to worship him in spirit and in truth. [They will] fulfill the worship of those who did not receive faith, those who were not humble but raised their proud horns in the air and spoke unrighteousness against him and his holy prophecies and who exulted in stretching out the neck of their understanding. These were not worthy of spiritual consolation, for they were not deserving. “For what share has faith with unbelief?” as it is written.
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Isaiah 49:16
He bore our sins in his body on the cross, and as he lay there, we were saved, and his sufferings became for us like a safe place and a protecting wall. He suffered outside the city so that he could sanctify the people with his own blood. Therefore … the suffering of Christ and his precious cross and the nailing of his hands became safety and an impregnable wall without any breach for those who believe in him. Thus he says, “I have painted your walls on my hands.” … And if one wants to understand this in another way, I think it makes sense to understand it that all who believe in Christ are in the hands of the Father.… The walls of the spiritual Zion are the holy prophets and apostles as ones written on his hands, set there by God and having the knowledge of him that does not fade. For their names were written in the heavens and included in the book of life.
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Isaiah 49:18
What, then, is the message promised by the divine words? Namely, the calling and assembling of those who were scattered and a return in the spirit for those who were lost and a way back for those who fled, and a return and a reawakening as well as the reward of love for Christ.… “And I have put them on” says the Lord, “to be the ornament of a bride.” Such is the beautiful order of the churches. For it is customary in the divinely breathed Scriptures to decorate the church with gold and colors.
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Isaiah 49:19-20
This means that he is teaching here about the ones who were swarming and absorbing it, those who had taken it over. For almost like wild beasts they had reduced and absorbed it. He shows here that the number of those called are so many that they are without number. For his children, it says, that you have lost have pleaded in your ear, “Make room for me.”
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Isaiah 49:25
Our Lord Jesus Christ came into the house of the strong man … he raided it and, throwing away the broken chains and the bonds of dark hell, he gave him over to the judgment of the great day to be kept for punishment.… Then Christ has conquered, and he has passed the victory on to us.… For he is the sole cause of our salvation. Therefore, he is the boast of the might of the saints, as Paul the most wise says: "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." …For Christ gave us the ability to overcome the murderous dragon so that we can take spoil from it, and we are saved from it as he sends us the victory to everlasting life for glory, praise and the kingdom of heaven.… For Christ said, "I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy." … This is just what we take from the strong one, that is, from Christ. Since he is the Lord of powers, we have been saved and have the victory.
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Isaiah 49:26
Whoever suffers anything on account of me obtains help from me, the One who gives strength to you, Jacob, that is, all of you from the seed of Jacob. I have said how he sends them prophetic words in the mouth of the holy apostles and evangelists that they are from Jacob, which clearly relates to the flesh. And it is small wonder that Jacob was called the supplanter, that is, the supplanter of Satan and of those who casually and with youthful neglect rush into the noose of sins.
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Isaiah 50:1-2
God never sends away anyone who makes his home with him, and he rejects none of those who walk uprightly. He allows them to be forever associated and firmly joined to him as a way of obtaining help. However, everyone who opposes or fights against his divine teaching falls completely away from the glory of God and shows that he is a lover of pleasure rather than a lover of God. Therefore, like one who lived with the mother of the Jews God says, “What kind of bill of divorce did your mother have when I sent her away?” For no one could prove that I hated her and despised her. Instead, he would rather have to accuse her of deserting me.… It says, “I came,” that is, I took human form and appeared to those in Israel, and there was no man among them, that is, no one with a heart who was able to recognize the season of redemption. “I called, but no one listened.” … For he was in a form like ours, and yet he was God the Word, having become man by taking on flesh born of a woman. But those who knew this and were not ignorant of the depth of the mystery of his divinity knew that he was able to…
God never sends away anyone who makes his home with him, and he rejects none of those who walk uprightly. He allows them to be forever associated and firmly joined to him as a way of obtaining help. However, everyone who opposes or fights against his divine teaching falls completely away from the glory of God and shows that he is a lover of pleasure rather than a lover of God. Therefore, like one who lived with the mother of the Jews God says, “What kind of bill of divorce did your mother have when I sent her away?” For no one could prove that I hated her and despised her. Instead, he would rather have to accuse her of deserting me.… It says, “I came,” that is, I took human form and appeared to those in Israel, and there was no man among them, that is, no one with a heart who was able to recognize the season of redemption. “I called, but no one listened.” … For he was in a form like ours, and yet he was God the Word, having become man by taking on flesh born of a woman. But those who knew this and were not ignorant of the depth of the mystery of his divinity knew that he was able to do all things because he was God by nature and suitable for the redemption of everyone under heaven. -
Isaiah 50:2
No one who views things correctly thinks God possesses a physical body. It is only that the holy Scriptures speak in a human fashion about him. For those of us in simple and crass bodies can think in no other way, except that these things are adapted for us by a range of metaphors, so that in the perception of visible things we are able to know in part about the divine and higher being, which is higher than all bodily imaginings. Observe how in these words the message is adapted to human understanding.
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Isaiah 50:4
[Ministers] who sing thankful hymns say that they have been given a tongue of discipline; that is, they are able to speak in a trained manner and expound the divine mysteries without fault and are able to speak fittingly to those who need words of encouragement.… On us the sun of righteousness has arisen and has shed its light on our mind so that we are and are known as children of light and of the day. For we, having faith in Christ, are enriched with illumination from him; that is, we have our hearing enhanced and are thus enabled to hear.
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Isaiah 50:7
And the Father was Christ’s helper. For he did not allow or concede that his own Son should be completely shamed or overwhelmed. For they were punished, those who sought to take their punishment out on me as those who dare to fight with God.… For though being with us, he was the only-begotten Word of God. He put on an identical human likeness, by which reason alone he was believed to be of a nature with us. For every human being is subject to faults and sins, and no one alive is completely blameless. He alone in becoming man retained the divine dignity.… And being Word and God, his flesh was able to shoo away destruction. Thus, the Son became a man who was fit to be accepted by the Father. For all that human beings have is God-given. For the one God and Father, through him, undid the power of death through his resurrection from the dead.… He was the servant of God, who while being human was yet truly the Son of God and the Father. And to hear his voice means no transgression of the law but a confirming of the law through types and shadows discerning the truth which is Christ and the…
And the Father was Christ’s helper. For he did not allow or concede that his own Son should be completely shamed or overwhelmed. For they were punished, those who sought to take their punishment out on me as those who dare to fight with God.… For though being with us, he was the only-begotten Word of God. He put on an identical human likeness, by which reason alone he was believed to be of a nature with us. For every human being is subject to faults and sins, and no one alive is completely blameless. He alone in becoming man retained the divine dignity.… And being Word and God, his flesh was able to shoo away destruction. Thus, the Son became a man who was fit to be accepted by the Father. For all that human beings have is God-given. For the one God and Father, through him, undid the power of death through his resurrection from the dead.… He was the servant of God, who while being human was yet truly the Son of God and the Father. And to hear his voice means no transgression of the law but a confirming of the law through types and shadows discerning the truth which is Christ and the prophecies of him, as Paul notes. … His voice is the evangelical and divine preaching that calls us to the redemption that is through faith in Christ. He also calls us to a proper behavior that lives in a way that is, by far, more consistent than the way of the law. The law was given in the shadows. Faith was given in the bright and shining light. -
Isaiah 51:1
“Righteous,” he says, instead of “righteousness,” which is through Christ through faith in him, a faith that justifies the ungodly and removes all stain from those who have been filthy, and cleanses them in the Spirit and prepares for them the shining honor of sonship. They pursue righteousness, not in the sense of driving it before them and so away from their minds, but of running toward it to take hold of it. As David said, “Seek peace and pursue it.” … The speech of the holy prophets always draws figures from the visible and the tangible things. For it has expressions that transcend reference, the senses and even the mind. In this way “Zion” is mentioned—not that we think of the earthly city but rather take it to be the spiritual one, that is, the church of the living God. Or how else would we see the words of the prophet coming true?…“Worship in spirit and truth,” and the power of spiritual worship gave off the pleasant spiritual fragrance and joy in the hope that is in Christ. For if we trust that our body of lowliness will be transformed into the body of his glory, so we shall…
“Righteous,” he says, instead of “righteousness,” which is through Christ through faith in him, a faith that justifies the ungodly and removes all stain from those who have been filthy, and cleanses them in the Spirit and prepares for them the shining honor of sonship. They pursue righteousness, not in the sense of driving it before them and so away from their minds, but of running toward it to take hold of it. As David said, “Seek peace and pursue it.” … The speech of the holy prophets always draws figures from the visible and the tangible things. For it has expressions that transcend reference, the senses and even the mind. In this way “Zion” is mentioned—not that we think of the earthly city but rather take it to be the spiritual one, that is, the church of the living God. Or how else would we see the words of the prophet coming true?…“Worship in spirit and truth,” and the power of spiritual worship gave off the pleasant spiritual fragrance and joy in the hope that is in Christ. For if we trust that our body of lowliness will be transformed into the body of his glory, so we shall be with him and reign with him, assembled among the children of God and enriched with his divine and life-giving Spirit. We too bring forward the spiritual harvest to him—the confession and hymns of thanksgiving. For with such sacrifices is God well pleased.