Gregory the Dialogist — Commentary on Scripture

Isaiah 30:21

And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.

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.”

Isaiah 31:9

And he shall pass over to his strong hold for fear, and his princes shall be afraid of the ensign, saith the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem.

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.

Isaiah 32:13

Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city:

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.

Isaiah 32:17 · 2 passages

And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.

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.

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.

Isaiah 32:20 · 2 passages

Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass.

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.”

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.”

Isaiah 33:15 · 2 passages

He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;

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.”

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.

Isaiah 33:16

He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.

“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.”

Isaiah 33:21

But there the glorious LORD will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby.

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.

Isaiah 34:8

For it is the day of the LORD'S vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion.

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.”

Isaiah 34:13

And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons, and a court for owls.

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.

Isaiah 34:15

There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate.

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.

Isaiah 35:7

And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.

The Lord makes a promise about holy church through another prophet, saying, “The reed and the rushes will become green and luscious.” I remember explaining elsewhere that reeds must be interpreted as scribes and rushes surely as hearers. But because both rushes and reeds are apt to grow beside the moisture of water and both benefit from the same water, and a reed is indeed used for writing while it is impossible to write with a bulrush, what must we understand by the bulrush and the reed except that there is one doctrine of truth which nourishes many hearers?

Isaiah 39:1-2

At that time Merodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had been sick, and was recovered.

Often the care of government when undertaken distracts the heart in many different directions. The ruler finds himself unequal to the task of dealing with particular things when his mind becomes confused, having its attention diverted by so many different things.… When one, because of this, neglects the business of self-examination, that person does not even consider the losses it is suffering or know how great they are. For neither did Hezekiah believe himself to be sinning when he showed to the strangers who came to him his storehouses of spices. He fell under the anger of the judge, however, and his future offspring were condemned because of what he supposed himself to be doing lawfully. Often, when means are abundant and many things can be done for subordinates to admire, the mind exalts itself in thought. But in so doing, it also provokes the anger of the judge, even though the acts of iniquity may have not been overt. For the one who judges us is within, as is that which is judged. When, then, in our hearts we transgress, what we are doing within ourselves is hidden from men. A…

Often the care of government when undertaken distracts the heart in many different directions. The ruler finds himself unequal to the task of dealing with particular things when his mind becomes confused, having its attention diverted by so many different things.… When one, because of this, neglects the business of self-examination, that person does not even consider the losses it is suffering or know how great they are. For neither did Hezekiah believe himself to be sinning when he showed to the strangers who came to him his storehouses of spices. He fell under the anger of the judge, however, and his future offspring were condemned because of what he supposed himself to be doing lawfully. Often, when means are abundant and many things can be done for subordinates to admire, the mind exalts itself in thought. But in so doing, it also provokes the anger of the judge, even though the acts of iniquity may have not been overt. For the one who judges us is within, as is that which is judged. When, then, in our hearts we transgress, what we are doing within ourselves is hidden from men. And yet in the eyes of the Judge we sin.

Isaiah 40:3 · 2 passages

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.

"I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord, as Isaiah the prophet said." You know, dearest brothers, that the only-begotten Son is called the Word of the Father, as John testifies when he says: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." And from your own manner of speaking you recognize that the voice sounds first, so that the word may afterward be heard. Therefore John asserts that he is the voice, because he precedes the Word. And so, going before the coming of the Lord, he is called a voice, because through his ministry the Word of the Father is heard by men. He also cries out in the wilderness, because he announces the comfort of the Redeemer to abandoned and forsaken Judea. But what he cries out he indicates when he adds: "Make straight the way of the Lord." The way of the Lord is made straight to the heart when the word of truth is humbly heard. The way of the Lord is made straight to the heart when one's life is prepared according to his commandment.

It is well said that he sent them before his face into every city and place where he himself was about to come. For the Lord follows his preachers, because preaching comes first, and then the Lord comes to the dwelling place of our mind, when words of exhortation run ahead, and through these truth is received in the mind. For thus Isaiah says to these same preachers: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God.

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.

All flesh, that is, every man can not see the salvation of God in Christ in this life. The Prophet therefore stretches his eye beyond to the last day of judgment, when all men both the elect and the reprobate shall equally see Him.

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!

The high mountain is the summit of doctrine and practice. Let one rise up who hurries to anoint the king. Let him reach into the heights. Let him rise up in lofty practice, in lofty contemplation, in the wisdom of the Word, in the power of love. He who is the One anointed by preaching is so great that he can be scarcely reached, even by the highest places.… The highest heights are the power of perfect conversation, and this is achieved by many perfectly.