Eusebius of Caesarea — Commentary on Scripture

Isaiah 49:11-12

If some come “from the north” and some “from the sea,” that is, from the western parts, and others come “from the land of the Persians” (meaning the highlands), then those in the first clause who are from the land far away are called “of the midday,” since the uncircumscribable southern country lies among the midday people. These people are the ones who “shall come from a distance.” But the word prophesies that they will come from all over, from the four latitudes to God and will receive the promises spoken to them.

COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:35

Isaiah 49:11-12

According to one interpretation, this refers to the lowly and Jewish people. According to another, this is the entire gathering of souls that make up the godly spiritual commonwealth. According to a still further interpretation, this is the angelic order about which the apostle says, “She is the free Jerusalem of above that is our mother,” and “you have come to Zion, the mountain and city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.” The present word is addressed to the godly communion that formerly comprised the Jews. But they were brought down and suffered a fall, forfeiting their place to the church of the Gentiles.

COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:35

Isaiah 51:9

According to the Hebrew, it is not Jerusalem but the arm of the Lord that has to put on strength. This relates to what we spoke about above [v. 5], about the nations hoping in “my arm.” For we have said that the divinity of the Word is signified here, since he urges the people not to fear the rebuke of human beings or to be affected by their filth, and in the same way here it is right to see in the person of the people a prayer being sent to the “arm of the Lord” to rouse himself and overcome the enemies of his people. For we confess we are nothing unless you rise up and overcome on our behalf.

COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:39

Isaiah 52:5

For he said, “I found nothing here among them,” as was made clear in the earlier passage, “Why did I come, and there was no one? Why did I call, and there was none to hear?” However, earlier they were violently led away as captives, first by the Egyptians and then by the Assyrians, and were given over on account of their sins. But now they have been taken away for nothing, “as a gazelle caught in a net,” by hunters of souls who trap them with nets of wickedness.

COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:40

Isaiah 52:7

Zion and Jerusalem, that here have the good news told them, the apostle knew to be heavenly, when he said, “But the Jerusalem that is above (that is, our mother) is free,” and, “You have drawn near to Mount Zion and the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem and to an innumerable company of angels.” Zion might also mean the church established by Christ in every part of the world, and Jerusalem the godly citizenship (politeuma) that, once established long ago among the ancient Jews alone, was driven out to the wilderness by their impiety and then again was restored far better than before through the coming of our Savior. Therefore, the prophecy says, “Let the waste places of Jerusalem break forth into joy together, for the Lord has pitied it and saved Jerusalem.”Nor would you be wrong in calling Zion the soul of every holy and godly person, so far as it is lifted up above this life, having its citizenry in heaven and seeing things far beyond the world. For it means “a watchtower.” And insofar as such a person remains calm and free from passion, you could call him Jerusalem—for Jer…

Zion and Jerusalem, that here have the good news told them, the apostle knew to be heavenly, when he said, “But the Jerusalem that is above (that is, our mother) is free,” and, “You have drawn near to Mount Zion and the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem and to an innumerable company of angels.” Zion might also mean the church established by Christ in every part of the world, and Jerusalem the godly citizenship (politeuma) that, once established long ago among the ancient Jews alone, was driven out to the wilderness by their impiety and then again was restored far better than before through the coming of our Savior. Therefore, the prophecy says, “Let the waste places of Jerusalem break forth into joy together, for the Lord has pitied it and saved Jerusalem.”Nor would you be wrong in calling Zion the soul of every holy and godly person, so far as it is lifted up above this life, having its citizenry in heaven and seeing things far beyond the world. For it means “a watchtower.” And insofar as such a person remains calm and free from passion, you could call him Jerusalem—for Jerusalem means “vision of peace.”

PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 6:24

Isaiah 52:7

Here [Isaiah] says very particularly that it is the feet of those who publish the good news of Christ that are beautiful. For how could they not be beautiful, which in so small, so short a time have run over the whole earth and filled every place with the holy teaching about the Savior of the world?

PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 3:1

Isaiah 53:4

We did not reckon him to be much or wonder who he was then. He was, however, the Savior of our souls, the healer and purifier of all sin. Therefore it continues, “He bore our sins … though we reckoned him struck down by God and humiliated,” as Aquila has it.… We like babes had this opinion of him while he suffered these things for us, so as to save us from all disgrace … he was wounded and became a curse for us … he became a peace offering … who was through all his life a sin offering in word and deed.

COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:42

Isaiah 53:5

Alone did he assume the penalties of our wicked deeds, not when we were half dead but even when already altogether foul and stinking in tombs and graves.

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 10:4

Isaiah 54:11

We should understand all these things of which Isaiah speaks as worthy and precious souls, with whom God commits himself to build the heavenly citizenry. He compares them with sapphire on the grounds of its likeness to the color of heaven. Their intercourse is heavenly and angelic, as Paul teaches, saying, “Our citizenship is in heaven.” In Ezekiel the place under the throne of God is said to be like sapphire.… And the parapets of this new Jerusalem would be of jasper or, in Symmachus’s translation, karchēdonion, a special, shining stone. This means those who belong to the church, whom in a spiritual manner strengthen their faith and are like the battlements of the heavenly citizenry, destroy “every obstacle raised against the knowledge of God” and refute any false opinion contrary to the truth. Since parapets are designed to resist the enemy, those who in the church are equipped with wisdom may be rightly called “parapets.” Alongside these others is a comparison drawn with crystals, with which he foretells that the gates of the city will be built and denotes the clarity and purity o…

We should understand all these things of which Isaiah speaks as worthy and precious souls, with whom God commits himself to build the heavenly citizenry. He compares them with sapphire on the grounds of its likeness to the color of heaven. Their intercourse is heavenly and angelic, as Paul teaches, saying, “Our citizenship is in heaven.” In Ezekiel the place under the throne of God is said to be like sapphire.… And the parapets of this new Jerusalem would be of jasper or, in Symmachus’s translation, karchēdonion, a special, shining stone. This means those who belong to the church, whom in a spiritual manner strengthen their faith and are like the battlements of the heavenly citizenry, destroy “every obstacle raised against the knowledge of God” and refute any false opinion contrary to the truth. Since parapets are designed to resist the enemy, those who in the church are equipped with wisdom may be rightly called “parapets.” Alongside these others is a comparison drawn with crystals, with which he foretells that the gates of the city will be built and denotes the clarity and purity of sure faith of those who believed the foundational and elementary doctrine. Isaiah also declares that the wall of the new city of God will be made from special stone. Such are they who through their prayers surround and confirm, just like an enclosure, the city’s edifice and its great, precious and worthy building.

COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:43

Isaiah 54:14

I promised to you by grace beforehand—if you no longer struggle with these promises—that no fear of attack by war would touch you. Therefore rejoice in my commandments, for if you do so, these kinds of fears will not affect you—unless you do not guard the commandments and fall into the fear of human reproach. And so, I testify to you and say, “You will be far from oppression, and you will not fear. Terror shall not come near you.” Rather, you will remain close to me and will act in a godly way according to the following words of Isaiah: “the proselytes will come to you.” But they will not come apart from my will, for it says they also will come “through me.”

COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:43

Isaiah 55:1

Aquila translates “like wine and milk” so as to say not only water but also wine and milk are promised to the thirsty. “Water” is clearly the gospel message that flows from the spring of the Savior, but “wine and milk” hymn the mystery of the rebirth in Christ.… One should be mindful of the fact that according to the old covenant mystical milk is given to those reborn in Christ along with the body and blood of the new covenant. It is said to be kept even now as a custom in some churches, if not in a bodily at least in a spiritual way, in that the mystical blood is provided for those deemed worthy of the new life in Christ in the form of wine and milk. If with the Septuagint we read “and suet”—the fat and richness and nourishment of the spiritual food that is in Christ is here praised, just as our Savior revealed, saying, “Unless you eat my flesh and drink of my blood, you shall not have life in you.” So just as in Isaiah his body is called “suet” and as the blood is called wine, we understand the suet to mean his incarnate economy and the wine to mean the mystery of his passion.

COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:44

Isaiah 55:8

He speaks these words clearly to the believers in the gospel that he delivered to the godless and lawless ones who were turning to him from the nations, presenting the word that was there in the beginning and is now coming down from the Father above like rain and snow in its descent to human beings, inasmuch as he makes their souls watered and fruit-bearing.… It is as though these words come out of Christ’s own mouth, so that there is no need to think of the spoken word reexpressed among us, since here is a physical mouthpiece for God.

COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:44

Isaiah 56:9

We have often seen the mass of the other nations called “the woodlands.” These are the beasts of God’s calling worthy to be called up due to their fear. Aquila has instead, “all the beasts,” “all his living beings,” and then, the second time, “all his living things.” Do they belong to someone or to God? For he does not call them simply “beasts” but “his.” Isaiah made mention of the nations of other tribes and the forest of beasts, and he saw in the Spirit that these would obey the call; yet so many of the Jews were persistent in unbelief.

COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:45

Isaiah 60:9

It is possible to contemplate the fulfillment of the divine word when one sees, in consequence of the conversion of the nations, such souls dedicating themselves to the message of godliness and being diligently busy in the ministry of the altar of God. It is then especially on account of the conversion of such souls and their salvation that the church of God receives glory.

COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:50

Isaiah 60:16

Instead of “salvation,” the Hebrew reading has “Jesus” in its marks and letters, by which our Savior is written there. This is the origin of the power of the name of our Savior Jesus, which serves as a partition or strong wall to those worthy of these things. Such is seen now in part, but with the new age it will come into being with the perfection of presence.… See how the message stops us from a more physical understanding and from falling into the obvious, literal Jewish understanding. For it calls the gates of this new Jerusalem hymn singing and praising. Thus we are instructed that the entries of the revered citizenship is to consist of those who enter singing hymns and praising God.

COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:50

Isaiah 61:1

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me.” Clearly this happened to those who thought that the Christ of God was neither a mere man nor an unfleshed and unembodied Word who did not take on a mortal nature. Instead they say he is both God and human, God in that he is the only-begotten God who was in the bosom of the Father, and man … from the seed of David according to the flesh. Thus, God the Word, who through the prophecy has been called Lord, speaks out this prophecy that is preeminent among other promises: “I am the Lord, and in the right time I will draw them together.” … Taking the chrism in the Holy Spirit, he, chosen from among all, appears as the only-begotten Christ of God. And the verse “he has sent me to proclaim good news to the poor,” he fulfilled in that time when he “was preaching the kingdom of heaven” and explaining the beatitudes to the disciples by saying, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.” … And for those nations then imprisoned in their souls by the invisible and spiritual powers he preached release to his newly…

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me.” Clearly this happened to those who thought that the Christ of God was neither a mere man nor an unfleshed and unembodied Word who did not take on a mortal nature. Instead they say he is both God and human, God in that he is the only-begotten God who was in the bosom of the Father, and man … from the seed of David according to the flesh. Thus, God the Word, who through the prophecy has been called Lord, speaks out this prophecy that is preeminent among other promises: “I am the Lord, and in the right time I will draw them together.” … Taking the chrism in the Holy Spirit, he, chosen from among all, appears as the only-begotten Christ of God. And the verse “he has sent me to proclaim good news to the poor,” he fulfilled in that time when he “was preaching the kingdom of heaven” and explaining the beatitudes to the disciples by saying, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.” … And for those nations then imprisoned in their souls by the invisible and spiritual powers he preached release to his newly encouraged disciples.… Therefore, he preached release to the prisoners and to those suffering from blindness who were those enslaved by the error of polytheism, and he creates a year that is acceptable, through which he made all time his own year. And from the passing years of humanity he provides days of created light for those close to him. He never kept hidden the age that is to come after the perfecting of the present. For that age will be a time much on the Lord’s mind, being an age and day of requiting. For he will grant a change of fortune or a year of favor to those struggling in the present life.

COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:51

Isaiah 61:10

After these promises that the Son of God has made concerning his first advent, it is extremely fitting that the word here addresses the church of God as receiving good and blessed things in those in whom he labored. As if receiving the appropriate items to wear, she takes the fullness of those being saved and like a bride she is said to consist of one fine and fair body and to have clothed around her the beauty of her groom. She is a monument of light, flashing forth a body of divine resurrection that is called the body of the Savior. For it is no longer a body of death, as Paul confirms: “Who will save me from this body of death?” For this is salvation, to put a cloak of salvation on one’s soul and a tunic of righteousness. For each one by his deeds that are done according to righteousness puts on his own fine apparel.… For she who is the bride of the Word receives seeds from him and returns splendid and fresh fruit.

COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:52

Isaiah 62:3

For the crown is really all those of Christ who, being set right through him, receive the diadem of the kingdom—those who sustained the struggle because of him, the holy martyrs whom the Father hand-picked to circle the crown for his son along with the royal “diadem” of honor, which is filled with the great number of those who have been saved by him.

COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:52

Isaiah 62:6-7

Instead of “there is none like you, until he sets Jerusalem right and makes it a shining example on the earth,” Symmachus has, “do not be silent and do not let him be silent until he prepares and makes Jerusalem to sing on the earth.” … For with the prophetic choir asking such questions, the Holy Spirit is encouraging them and exhorting them to continue in those prayers on behalf of those mentioned. So he says, “Don’t be silent and give no silence, that is, to the Lord who promises these things, until he has prepared and makes Jerusalem to sing on the earth.” He provides for the intercession made by the powers of all the people, that it should not be quiet or ever fall silent, but with shouts and unrestrained cries rouse him. The people’s intercession should never give God peace.

COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:52

Isaiah 62:8

He promises those crying out and who give unceasing praise to the Lord, “While you are still speaking, behold, I am here.” … Now to those who will be worthy of the new age and involved in the things the Lord promises, he will no longer give their fruit to their enemies, but they will profit from these themselves. For they are correcting their lives in the direction of virtue and in godly manner are pursuing righteousness and enjoying their own harvest.

COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:52