Ishodad of Merv — Commentary on Scripture

Isaiah 50:1

“Did my hand reap the crop? And did it drop?” that is, Is it tired and weakened? He is inspired by what happens to the harvesters, from whose hands the ears escape. For he teaches, through these words, that it is from them that the cause of their afflictions derives and not from him.

COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 50:2

Isaiah 51:19

“These two things have befallen you,” that is, they have befallen you because of your sins. You have abandoned God, and you have followed the idols; that is why two punishments have come over you, “famine and sword,” because “devastation” comes from the sword and “destruction” from famine.

COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 51:19

Isaiah 52:15

“Kings shall shut their mouths because of him.” He means that they will be troubled, after examining [his miracles]. Or, he alludes to what happened at the time of the crucifixion; the sun became obscure, and everybody stood up, being struck by stupefaction.

COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 52:15

Isaiah 53:2

“For he grew up before him like a child,” like a child dear to his Father, he says, because he will be dear to God. But “like a root out of the ground,” which is deprived of water, he will also be deprived of life at the moment of the passion. In fact, God wanted these evil things to befall him. Others have seen these words as referring to the apostles who, like candid and young children, believed in him and did not refrain from knowing him, as the scribes and the Pharisees did. According to Qatraya, this points to the fact that Simeon had already blessed him in the temple before God when he was yet an unborn child. Or this: The Son offered our nature before God, like a child, and made it pleasing before God.

COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 53:2

Isaiah 54:11

“Behold, I will transform your stones into beryl,” that is, the place is stony, and God will transform the ordinary stones into beryl, both in reality and for the fact that this is imagined as a consequence of their great joy.

COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 54:11

Isaiah 55:1

“Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters,” that is, you, who are deprived of any kind of good, run to the fear of God, because you will be educated through the doctrine that comes from me; even though you possess nothing better, at least pay “the price,” which is repentance, and buy the virtue of the fear of God thanks to the generosity that [comes] from his mercy. This is what the words “without money and without price” mean.

COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 55:1

Isaiah 56:10

“They are all stammering dogs” who stutter the praise of God and “cannot bark” against the idols, as against strangers. “They dream, lay down and love to slumber,” that is, they love to sleep in the graves and in the places where sacrifices are offered to demons, and there they expect from them visions, dreams and ghosts.

COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 56:10

Isaiah 57:18

“Creating for his mourners the fruit of the lips,” that is, at this stage they will not use anymore their outrages and blasphemies against me, but praises, which are convenient to these facts. Others assert, I made them live in perfect security, and this is the reason why they will be led to holiness.

COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 57:18-19

Isaiah 58:13

“If you call the sabbath a delight,” in other words, you honor it for the banquets and the drinks, finding your joy on that day as if it were a party. “If you honor it, not following your will or speaking any word.” Indeed, it was not forbidden to them to speak but it was forbidden to lie. And by the word will he does not prohibit them from doing their own will, but from acting according to a will that is contrary to the will of God. By mentioning the sabbath, he alludes to all the commandments of the law.

COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 58:13

Isaiah 59:5

“They will hatch adders’ eggs.” Also the children, whom they have generated, are evil and want to be even more harmful than their parents. “And they have woven a spider’s web.” As the threads woven by the spider catch the flies, so their schemes catch the poor amid the trials, which they organize arbitrarily. According to Qatraya, he calls “spider’s web” their faith in the idols, which is of no use for the [spiders] on the day when they are caught. Through the words “adders’ eggs,” he shows their venomousness and iniquity, and through “spider’s web,” their weakness.

COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 59:5

Isaiah 60:8

“Like doves to their windows.” With these words he speaks of the return. As the doves, he says, know their nests, so the people hasten to Jerusalem and to their prosperity.

COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 60:8

Isaiah 61:1

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,” etc. These words are manifestly said with regard to Zerubbabel but actually with regard to our Lord, as he has testified by himself. “Today,” he said, “that Scripture has been fulfilled at your ears.”

COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 61:1

Isaiah 62:4

“Married,” since on the days of the captivity [your land] had become a widow, without kings or children; now, on the contrary, because of the return, it will be a married woman and a mother of children. “Your land shall be married,” that is, it will be sowed and made fertile, or it will now cooperate in its tilling and germination.

COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 62:4

Isaiah 63:1-2

“Who is this that comes from Edom?” It seems that the prophet sees God under the aspect of a warrior who marches at the head of his people, and, after destroying the Edomites, has come back and arrives; and the prophet asks who is this that comes from Edom and Bozrah, their royal cities.

COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 63:1

Isaiah 64:5

“You were angry, and we sinned.” This is a sentence with reversed terms, that is, since we have sinned, you were angry and had us deported; and this is analogous to the words “and they made his grave with the wicked.” “Some day we will be saved.” With the same mercy through which you saved us once from Egypt, we will be saved from Babylon as well.

COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 64:5

Isaiah 65:20

“For the child shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.” Some authors understand these words as referring to the time after the return from exile. For a hundred years their prosperity lasted, and then the Macedonian kings rose against them. This is clearly explained in the book of the Maccabees.

COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 65:20

Isaiah 66:5

“Your brothers who hate you.” Consider them as your brothers, he says, even though they hate you because of your faith, and lead them to the fear of God, so that “the Lord may be glorified in you.” According to Henana, consider them to be execrable and evil, he says, even though they are your brothers by nature. “When they are cast out for my name, the Lord will be glorified” in you, “and they will be put to shame,” and maybe, he says, they will be put to shame because of that and will abstain from evil actions.

COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 66:5

James 1:1

The opening resembles the titles of St. Paul’s letters, and perhaps James is the author of it, whoever he may be. He was unacquainted with Paul’s custom of writing to one particular nation and city, and for a particular reason. Instead, this author writes to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations because of the captivity, and not to the churches in every place, because he had no particular reason to be so specific.

COMMENTARIES, PROLOGUE

James 3:1

James is not trying to limit the number of teachers but rather to warn them against the dangers of false doctrines.

COMMENTARIES

James 5:9

James means that we should stop mocking the poor and doing them harm, complaining about them at the same time, because we shall be judged according to our cruelty and condemned by the righteous judge.

COMMENTARIES