Gregory the Dialogist — Commentary on Scripture

Isaiah 27:1

For who is described by the designation of the “serpent” but our old enemy, at once slippery and crooked, who for the deceiving of humankind spoke with the mouth of a serpent? Of whom it is said by the prophet, “Leviathan the serpent, the crooked one”; who was for this reason allowed to speak with the mouth of a serpent, that by Leviathan’s vessel humanity might learn what he was that dwelt within. For a serpent is not only crooked but slippery as well; and so because he stood not in the uprightness of truth, he entered into a crooked animal.… He spoke to man by means of a slippery animal because if one does not resist him, he secretly slips into the interior of the heart. Now “the dens” of this serpent were the hearts of wicked people.

MORALS ON THE BOOK OF JOB 4:17.51

Isaiah 27:1

For “Leviathan” is interpreted to be “their addition.” Whose “addition,” then, but the “addition” of people? And it is properly styled “their addition,” for since by his evil suggestion he brought into the world the first sin, he never ceases to add to it day by day by prompting to worse things.Or indeed it is in reproach that he is called Leviathan, that is, styled “the addition of men.” For he found them immortal in Paradise, but by promising the divine nature to immortal beings, he as it were pledged himself to add somewhat to them beyond what they were. But while with flattering lips he declared that he would give what they did not have, he robbed them cunningly even of what they had. And hence the prophet describes this same Leviathan in these words, “Leviathan, the serpent: even Leviathan that crooked serpent.” For this Leviathan crept near to people with tortuous windings through the false promise of what he would give them; for while he falsely promised things impossible, he really stole away even those which were possible.

MORALS ON THE BOOK OF JOB 1:4.15

Isaiah 28:19

Now righteous people conceive a dread of God before his indignation is stirred up against them; they fear him at rest, lest they should feel him as moved. But, on the other hand, the wicked then for the first time fear to be smitten when they are under the rod, and terror then rouses them from the sleep of their insensibility when vengeance is troubling them. And hence it is said by the prophet, “And only the vexing alone shall supply understanding to the hearing.” For when they have begun to be stricken in vengeance for the contempt and neglect of God’s precepts, then they understand the thing that they heard.

MORALS ON THE BOOK OF JOB 3:11.41

Isaiah 28:21

Hence Isaiah, contemplating our salvation and [Christ’s] passion, well said: “That he may do his work, his strange work; that he may perform his work, his work is strange to him.” For the work of God is to gather the souls that he created and call them back to the joys of the eternal light. But it is not the work [of] God in his essence to be flogged, to be smeared with spittle, to be crucified, to die and to be buried, but this is the work of a sinful person who deserved all these things for his sins. But [Jesus] himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree. And he who in his own nature always remains incomprehensible deigned to be comprehended in our nature and to be flogged, because if he had not assumed the attributes of our weakness he could never have raised us to the power of his fortitude.… And he does his strange work that he might do his proper work, because insofar as he bore our sins in infirmity he led us who are his creatures to the glory of his fortitude in which he lives and reigns with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, through ages of ages. Am…

Hence Isaiah, contemplating our salvation and [Christ’s] passion, well said: “That he may do his work, his strange work; that he may perform his work, his work is strange to him.” For the work of God is to gather the souls that he created and call them back to the joys of the eternal light. But it is not the work [of] God in his essence to be flogged, to be smeared with spittle, to be crucified, to die and to be buried, but this is the work of a sinful person who deserved all these things for his sins. But [Jesus] himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree. And he who in his own nature always remains incomprehensible deigned to be comprehended in our nature and to be flogged, because if he had not assumed the attributes of our weakness he could never have raised us to the power of his fortitude.… And he does his strange work that he might do his proper work, because insofar as he bore our sins in infirmity he led us who are his creatures to the glory of his fortitude in which he lives and reigns with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, through ages of ages. Amen.

HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL 2:4.20

Isaiah 30:20

He has seen us sinning and has borne with it. He who forbade us to sin before we did it does not stop waiting to pardon us even after we have sinned. The one we have rejected is calling us. We have turned away from him, but he has not turned away. Hence Isaiah said, “Your eyes shall see your teacher, and your ears shall hear the voice of a counselor behind you.” A person is counseled to his face, so to speak, when he is created for righteousness and receives the precepts of rectitude. When he despises these precepts, it is as if he is turning his back to his Creator’s face. But he still follows behind us and counsels us that we have despised him, but he still does not cease to call us. We turn our backs on his face, so to speak, when we reject his words, when we trample his commandments under foot; but he who sees that we reject him still calls out to us by his commandments and waits for us by his patience, stands behind us, and calls us back when we have turned away.

FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES 34

Isaiah 30:21

We are truly repentant if we weep bitterly over the actions we have committed. Let us consider the riches of our Creator’s attitude toward us. He has seen us sinning, and has borne with it. He who forbade us to sin before we did it, does not stop waiting to pardon us even after we have sinned. The one we have rejected is calling us. We have turned away from him, but he has not turned away. Hence Isaiah said, “Your eyes shall see your Teacher, and your ears shall hear the voice of a Counselor behind you.” A person is counseled to his face, so to speak, when he is created for righteousness and receives the precepts of rectitude. When he despises these precepts, it is as if he is turning his back to his Creator’s face. But he still follows behind us, and counsels us that we have despised him but that he still does not cease to call us. We turn our backs on his face, so to speak, when we reject his words, when we trample his commandments under foot; but he who sees that we reject him, and still calls out to us by his commandments, and waits for us by his patience, stands behind us, and c…

We are truly repentant if we weep bitterly over the actions we have committed. Let us consider the riches of our Creator’s attitude toward us. He has seen us sinning, and has borne with it. He who forbade us to sin before we did it, does not stop waiting to pardon us even after we have sinned. The one we have rejected is calling us. We have turned away from him, but he has not turned away. Hence Isaiah said, “Your eyes shall see your Teacher, and your ears shall hear the voice of a Counselor behind you.” A person is counseled to his face, so to speak, when he is created for righteousness and receives the precepts of rectitude. When he despises these precepts, it is as if he is turning his back to his Creator’s face. But he still follows behind us, and counsels us that we have despised him but that he still does not cease to call us. We turn our backs on his face, so to speak, when we reject his words, when we trample his commandments under foot; but he who sees that we reject him, and still calls out to us by his commandments, and waits for us by his patience, stands behind us, and calls us back when we have turned away.

FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES 34:17

Isaiah 30:21

God opens the bosom of his loving kindness to us if we return to him after sinning, for he says by the prophet, “If a man puts away his wife, and she goes from him and marries another man, shall he return to her any more? Shall not that woman be polluted and defiled? But you have prostituted yourself to many lovers; nevertheless return to me, says the Lord.” Note how the plea of justice is proposed in regard to the wife who commits fornication and is deserted, and yet, for us who return after our fall, it is not justice but loving kindness that is shown. The inference is obvious, namely, that if our sins are spared with such great love, how great would be our wickedness if we sinned but failed to return after our sin, and what pardon can the wicked expect from him who does not cease to call them after they have sinned! This mercy of God in calling us after our sin is well expressed by the prophet, when it is said to him who turns away from him: “And your eyes shall see your teacher, and you ears shall hear the word of one admonishing you behind your back.”

PASTORAL CARE 3:28

Isaiah 31:9

Of this love that is begun here to be perfected from the sight of the Lord in the eternal kingdom Isaiah rightly speaks, saying, “The Lord lives, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem.” It is, however, greater to be a furnace than a fire because a fire can also be small, but a larger flame is kindled in a furnace. Zion truly is said to be speculation but Jerusalem the vision of peace. Truly we sometimes catch a glimpse of our peace here in order there later to see it fully. Therefore through the Lord’s love the fire is in Zion and his furnace in Jerusalem because here we burn in some measure with the flames of his love when we glimpse him, but there we shall burn totally when we shall fully see him whom we love.

HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL 2:9.10

Isaiah 32:13

If those very persons, who amid the darkness of the present life shine bright by virtuous attainments—if they also cannot be void of contagion, with what guilt of wickedness are those bound, who still live after the flesh? If those persons cannot be free from sin who are already walking in the way of heavenly desires, what about those who still lie under the loads of sinful habits, who, abandoned to the gratifications of their fleshly part, still bear the yoke of rottenness? So Peter says, “And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” And it is said by Isaiah, “Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briars; how much more upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city.” The “house of joy in the joyous city” is the mind of the wicked, which neglects to regard the punishments that are destined to come, in the gratification of the flesh, and going away from itself, it revels in empty mirth.

MORALS ON THE BOOK OF JOB 4:17.23

Isaiah 32:17

It is the practice of the impertinent ever to answer by the opposite to what is said rightly, lest if they assent to the things asserted, they should seem inferior.… When wisdom reprimands sins by the mouth of the righteous, it sounds like superfluity of talkativeness to the ears of the foolish. For assertive people deem nothing right except what they themselves think, and they consider the words of the righteous to be idle to the degree that they find them to be different from their own notions.… As long as any one lets himself go in words, the gravity of silence being gone, he parts with the safekeeping of the soul. For this reason it is written, “And the work of righteousness, silence.” So Solomon says, “He who has no rule over his own spirit in talking is like a city that is broken down and without walls.” And he says again, “In the multitude of words sin is not lacking.” … the value of a true sentence is lost when it is not delivered under the keeping of discretion.… A true sentence against the wicked, if it is aimed at the virtue of the good, loses its own virtue and bounds bac…

It is the practice of the impertinent ever to answer by the opposite to what is said rightly, lest if they assent to the things asserted, they should seem inferior.… When wisdom reprimands sins by the mouth of the righteous, it sounds like superfluity of talkativeness to the ears of the foolish. For assertive people deem nothing right except what they themselves think, and they consider the words of the righteous to be idle to the degree that they find them to be different from their own notions.… As long as any one lets himself go in words, the gravity of silence being gone, he parts with the safekeeping of the soul. For this reason it is written, “And the work of righteousness, silence.” So Solomon says, “He who has no rule over his own spirit in talking is like a city that is broken down and without walls.” And he says again, “In the multitude of words sin is not lacking.” … the value of a true sentence is lost when it is not delivered under the keeping of discretion.… A true sentence against the wicked, if it is aimed at the virtue of the good, loses its own virtue and bounds back with blunted point.… But the wicked cannot hear good words with patience, and, neglecting to amend their life, they brace themselves up with words of rejoinder.

MORALS ON THE BOOK OF JOB 2:10.2

Isaiah 32:17

One addicted to much speaking fails entirely to keep on the straight path of righteousness, so the prophet testifies, saying … “The service of justice shall be quietness,” that is, he indicates that the righteousness of the mind is lacking where there is not restraint on immoderate speaking.

MORALS ON THE BOOK OF JOB 2:7.58

Isaiah 32:20

What else is meant by “seed” but the word of preaching? It is as the truth says in the Gospel, “A sower went forth to sow”; and the prophet says, “Blessed are you who sow upon all waters.” What else but the church ought to be understood by the threshing floor? Of this it is said by the voice of the forerunner: “And he will thoroughly purge his floor.”

MORALS ON THE BOOK OF JOB 6:31.9

Isaiah 32:20

By water, peoples are denoted, as it is said by John, “Now the waters are peoples.” By water likewise, not only the tide of peoples drifting away, but also the minds of good men who follow the preachings of faith are denoted, as the prophet says, “Blessed are you who sow upon all waters.” And it is said by the psalmist, “The voice of the Lord is upon the waters.”

MORALS ON THE BOOK OF JOB 19:6

Isaiah 33:15

We must bear in mind also, that there are three ways in which deceit itself is practiced. Its aim is either the secret interest of our fellow creatures’ feelings; or the breath of applause; or some outward advantage. Contrary to this, it is rightly said of the righteous man by the prophet: “Blessed is he who shakes his hands clear of every favor.” … Now every righteous man “shakes his hands clear of every favor” if in whatever he does right, he neither aims to win vainglory from the affections of his fellow creatures, nor applause from their lips, nor a gift from their hands.… Therefore, because our very good actions themselves cannot escape the word of ambushed sin unless they are guarded every day by anxious fear, it is rightly said in this place by the holy man, “I was afraid of all my works.”

MORALS ON THE BOOK OF JOB 2:9.53

Isaiah 33:15

There are indeed some who do not receive a price in money from an ordination, and yet they bestow holy orders as a human favor and only seek the recompense of praise for it. Undoubtedly these are not granting freely what they have received freely, because they seek payment in esteem for the holy office they have conferred. Hence the prophet, when he was describing the righteous man rightly, said that “he is one who keeps his hands clean of every gift.” He did not say that he is one who keeps his hands free of a gift but added “every,” because a gift given from deference is one thing, a gift from the hand another, and a gift from the tongue still another. A gift from deference is submission conferred without being deserved, a gift from the hand is money, a gift from the tongue esteem. Therefore whoever grants holy orders “keeps his hands free from every gift” when he not only demands no money but not even human favors for the sacred gifts.

FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES 17

Isaiah 33:16

“Bread” signifies perfection, as Paul attested while exhorting the weak to conversion: “I gave you milk to drink, not food, for you were then and still remain unable to eat.” If milk is for children, then bread is only for the perfect. Consequently, it was said about the strength of the perfect man: “He will live upon the heights, a fortress of rocks will be his dwelling, bread will be given to him.”

SIX BOOKS ON 1 KINGS 6:67 (16:1)

Isaiah 33:21

For the plainly spoken words of these interpretations have made the views of the ancient fathers clear to us. If we view the words of the text according to the plain meaning of the words and not according to the obscured meaning of allegory, then we will see that Isaiah exclaimed (as interpreted by the holy church), “The place of rivers, the broadest and open streams.” For the sayings of the Old Testament were as narrow and close streams, which brought together the various views in their culture. But the teachings of the holy church are broad and open streams, because its declarations are at once many in number to those who find them and are plain to those who seek them.

MORALS ON THE BOOK OF JOB 4:18.39

Isaiah 34:8

It [sacred Scripture] has a dreadful appearance when, describing hell, it says, “The day of the vengeance of the Lord, the year of recompense of the judgment of Zion. And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the ground thereof into brimstone: and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. Night and day it shall not be quenched … forever.”

HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL 1:6.18

Isaiah 34:13

Which conduct the Lord by the prophet well reproves, under the character of Babylon, saying, “Thorns and nettles shall spring up in her houses, and the bramble in their fortresses.” For what do we understand by “nettles” but the irritations of thoughts, and what by “thorns” but the piercing of sins? Nettles therefore and thorns spring up in the houses of Babylon, because in the disorder of a reprobate mind there arise longings of thoughts that exasperate and sinful deeds that wound.

MORALS ON THE BOOK OF JOB 6:33.10

Isaiah 34:15

It is rightly said by the prophet, under the similitude of Judea, against the soul that sins and excuses itself, “There has the hedgehog had its hole.” Here the term hedgehog symbolizes the duplicity of the insincere mind that craftily defends itself. For when the hedgehog is discovered, its head is seen, its feet are obvious, its whole body revealed; but the moment it is captured, it gathers itself up into a ball, draws in its feet, hides its head, and the thing disappears in the hands of him who holds it, whereas before all the parts were visible.Such, indeed, is the case of insincere minds when detected in their transgressions. The head of the hedgehog is seen in that one perceives from what beginnings the sinner approaches his crime. The feet of the hedgehog are visible, because one sees by what steps the evil was done. Then by quickly giving excuses, the insincere mind gathers up its feet, inasmuch as it tries to hide every vestige of its sin. It withdraws its head, because it claims through strange pleas that no evil ever began. The thing [i.e., the sinner] remains, as it were…

It is rightly said by the prophet, under the similitude of Judea, against the soul that sins and excuses itself, “There has the hedgehog had its hole.” Here the term hedgehog symbolizes the duplicity of the insincere mind that craftily defends itself. For when the hedgehog is discovered, its head is seen, its feet are obvious, its whole body revealed; but the moment it is captured, it gathers itself up into a ball, draws in its feet, hides its head, and the thing disappears in the hands of him who holds it, whereas before all the parts were visible.Such, indeed, is the case of insincere minds when detected in their transgressions. The head of the hedgehog is seen in that one perceives from what beginnings the sinner approaches his crime. The feet of the hedgehog are visible, because one sees by what steps the evil was done. Then by quickly giving excuses, the insincere mind gathers up its feet, inasmuch as it tries to hide every vestige of its sin. It withdraws its head, because it claims through strange pleas that no evil ever began. The thing [i.e., the sinner] remains, as it were, in the hand of him who holds it like a ball. The one who reproves the evil suddenly no longer sees the sins that he had known earlier and holds the sinner enfolded in his own mind. The one who had seen everything at the moment of capturing the sinner (like a hedgehog) loses all knowledge of the sinner, being deluded by the subterfuges of his wicked pleas. Therefore the hedgehog has its nest in the wicked, that is, the duplicity of a malicious mind that conceals itself in the obscurity of its self-defense by drawing itself into a ball.

PASTORAL CARE 3:11