John Chrysostom — Commentary on Scripture

Isaiah 11:6

The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.

When he says, “Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the rough ways shall be made smooth,” he is signifying the exaltation of the lowly, the humiliation of the self-willed, the hardness of the law changed into easiness of faith. For it is no longer toils and labors, says he, but grace and forgiveness of sins, affording great facility of salvation. Next he states the cause of these things, saying, “All flesh shall see the salvation of God,” no longer Jews and proselytes only, but also all earth and sea and the entire human race. Because by “the crooked things” he signified our whole corrupt life, publicans, harlots, robbers, magicians, as many as having been perverted before afterwards walked in the right way: much as he himself likewise said, “Publicans and harlots go into the kingdom of God before you,” because they believed. And in other words also again the prophet declared the selfsame thing, thus saying, “Then wolves and lambs shall feed together.” For similarly here by the hills and valleys, he meant that incongruities of character…

When he says, “Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the rough ways shall be made smooth,” he is signifying the exaltation of the lowly, the humiliation of the self-willed, the hardness of the law changed into easiness of faith. For it is no longer toils and labors, says he, but grace and forgiveness of sins, affording great facility of salvation. Next he states the cause of these things, saying, “All flesh shall see the salvation of God,” no longer Jews and proselytes only, but also all earth and sea and the entire human race. Because by “the crooked things” he signified our whole corrupt life, publicans, harlots, robbers, magicians, as many as having been perverted before afterwards walked in the right way: much as he himself likewise said, “Publicans and harlots go into the kingdom of God before you,” because they believed. And in other words also again the prophet declared the selfsame thing, thus saying, “Then wolves and lambs shall feed together.” For similarly here by the hills and valleys, he meant that incongruities of character are blended into one and the same evenness of self-restraint, so also there, by the characters of the brute animals indicating the different human dispositions, he again spoke of their being linked in one and the same harmony of godliness.

Isaiah 11:9 · 2 passages

They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

We all are blended into one and the same evenness of self-restraint, so also there, by the characters of the brute animals indicating the different dispositions of men, he again spoke of their being linked in one and the same harmony of godliness.

The successful spread of the gospel message all over the world was also predicted.

Isaiah 13:9

Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.

For there will be none to stand by, none to rescue, nowhere the face of Christ, so mild and calm. But as those who work in the mines are delivered over to certain cruel people and see none of their friends but those only that are set over them, so will it be then also: or rather not so, but even far more grievous.

Isaiah 13:21

But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there.

There are people who are even worse than wild donkeys, living in the wilderness and kicking. In fact, most of the young people among us are like this. They have wild desires and jump around, kicking and going around unbridled. They spend all their energy on unbecoming behavior. The fathers are to blame. While they hire horse breakers to discipline their horses and do not let the young colt stay untamed for long, they overlook their own young people. The youth are unbridled and have no self-control. They disgrace themselves through their sexual sins, through gambling and through going to the wicked theater.

Isaiah 14:13-14

For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

There were some who dared in the opinion of the multitude to immortalize themselves and, notwithstanding that the very sense of sight bore witness to their mortality, were ambitious to be called gods and were honored as such; to what a length of impiety would not many people have proceeded, if death had not gone on teaching all humanity the morality and corruptibility of our nature? Hear, for instance, what the prophet says of a barbarian king, when seized with this frenzy: “I will exalt,” he says, “my throne above the stars of heaven; and I will be like unto the Most High.”

Isaiah 14:27 · 2 passages

For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?

What God has reared up and wishes to remain, no one can tear down. In the same way, what he has destroyed and wishes to stay destroyed, no one can rebuild.

For their part they plotted to hand him [Joseph] over to death, distress, slavery and the worst of evil fates; but God who is skillful in devising good used the wickedness of the plotters for the credit of him whom they had plotted to sell. Lest anyone think that these things happened through some coincidence or reversal of circumstances, by the very men who opposed and hindered them God brings about the events that they tried to prevent, using Joseph’s enemies as servants for his credit. From this you may learn that what God has planned no one will scatter, and no one will turn aside his lofty hand, so that when people plot against you, you may not fall or be annoyed but may keep in mind that the plot leads to good at the end, if only you endure nobly whatever happens to you.

Isaiah 19:1 · 2 passages

The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.

[At the Mount of Transfiguration] the Father uttered a voice out of the cloud. Why out of the cloud? Because this is how God appears. For a “cloud and darkness are around him.” “He sits on a light cloud,” and “He makes clouds his chariot.” “A cloud received him out of their sight.” “As the Son of Man coming in the clouds.”14His voice comes from a cloud so that they might believe that the voice proceeds from God.

That it was Jesus himself [at the ascension] they knew from the fact that he had been conversing with them (for had they seen only from a distance, they could not have recognized him by sight), but that he is taken up into heaven the angels themselves inform them. Observe how it is ordered, that not all is done by the Spirit, but the eyes also do their part. But why did “a cloud receive him”? This too was a sure sign that he went up to heaven. Not fire, as in the case of Elijah, nor fiery chariot, but “a cloud received him”; which was a symbol of heaven, as the prophet says, “Who makes the clouds his chariot”; it is of the Father himself that this is said. Therefore he says, “on a cloud”; in the symbol, he would say, of the divine power, for no other power is seen to appear on a cloud. For hear again what another prophet says: “The Lord sits upon a light cloud.”

Isaiah 22:4 · 2 passages

Therefore said I, Look away from me; I will weep bitterly, labour not to comfort me, because of the spoiling of the daughter of my people.

It is, after all, the practice of the prophets and the just to grieve not only for themselves but also for the rest of humankind.

Grief is often capable of refreshing distressed souls and of rendering a burdened conscience light: consider how often women, when they have lost their most beloved children, break their hearts and perish if they are forbidden to mourn and to shed tears. But if they do all which those who are sad are apt to do, they are relieved and receive consolation. And what wonder that this should be the case with women, when you may even see a prophet affected in a similar manner? Therefore he was continually saying, “Leave me alone. I will weep bitterly. Do not try to comfort me over the destruction of the daughter of my people.” So oftentimes sadness is the bearer of consolation; and if it is so with regard to this world, much more with regard to spiritual things.

Isaiah 26:9

With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

[In monasteries] at the crowing of the rooster their leader comes, and gently touching the sleeper with his foot, rouses them all. For there are none sleeping naked. Then as soon as they have arisen they stand up and sing the prophetic hymns with much harmony and well-composed tunes. And neither harp nor pipe nor other musical instrument utters such sweet melodies as you hear from the singing of these saints in their deep and quiet solitudes. And the songs themselves too are suitable and full of the love of God. “In the night,” they say, “lift up your hands to God. With my soul have I desired you in the night; truly with my spirit within me will I seek you early.”

Isaiah 26:10

Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD.

Our Lord Jesus Christ came on this account, too, that we might see not only his glory here but also the glory to come. Therefore he said, “I will that where I am they also may be, in order that they may behold my glory.” Now, if this glory here has been so bright and splendid, what could one say of that other? It will not appear on this corrupt earth or while we are in our perishable bodies but in that immortal and everlasting creation, and with so much brightness that it is impossible to put it into words. Oh, blessed, and thrice-blessed, and blessed many times over, they who are deemed worthy to become beholders of that glory! With reference to it the prophet says, “Away with the impious, that he may not behold the glory of the Lord.”

Isaiah 26:12 · 2 passages

LORD, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us.

When you see a person living in wickedness and enjoying great prosperity without suffering any misfortune, you should mourn particularly for this reason, because although he is afflicted with a very serious disease and ulcer, he aggravates his illness, making himself worse by his luxury and self-indulgence. For punishment is not evil, but sin is evil. The latter separates us from God, but the former leads us toward God and dissolves his anger. How do we know this? Hear what the prophet says, “Comfort, comfort my people, O priests, speak tenderly to Jerusalem … that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.” And elsewhere he says, “O Lord our God, give us peace; for you have given us all our due.”

But I say all this now, and select all the histories that contain trials and tribulations and the wrath of kings and their evil designs, in order that we may fear nothing except offending God. For then also was there a furnace burning; yet they derided it but feared sin. For they knew that if they were consumed in the fire, they should suffer nothing that was to be dreaded; but that if they were guilty of impiety, they should undergo the extremes of misery. It is the greatest punishment to commit sin, though we may remain unpunished; as on the other hand, it is the greatest honor and repose to live virtuously, though we may be punished. For sins separate us from God; as he himself speaks: “Have your sins separated between you and me?” But punishments lead us back to God. As one says, “Give peace; for you have recompensed us for all things.” Suppose anyone has a wound; which should we most deservedly fear, gangrene or the surgeon’s knife? The steel or the devouring progress of the ulcer? Sin is a gangrene; punishment is the surgeon’s knife. If someone has gangrene and does not have su…

But I say all this now, and select all the histories that contain trials and tribulations and the wrath of kings and their evil designs, in order that we may fear nothing except offending God. For then also was there a furnace burning; yet they derided it but feared sin. For they knew that if they were consumed in the fire, they should suffer nothing that was to be dreaded; but that if they were guilty of impiety, they should undergo the extremes of misery. It is the greatest punishment to commit sin, though we may remain unpunished; as on the other hand, it is the greatest honor and repose to live virtuously, though we may be punished. For sins separate us from God; as he himself speaks: “Have your sins separated between you and me?” But punishments lead us back to God. As one says, “Give peace; for you have recompensed us for all things.” Suppose anyone has a wound; which should we most deservedly fear, gangrene or the surgeon’s knife? The steel or the devouring progress of the ulcer? Sin is a gangrene; punishment is the surgeon’s knife. If someone has gangrene and does not have surgery, he does not merely remain ill, he gets worse. In the same way the sinner, though he is not punished, is the most wretched of people; and he is then especially wretched when he has no punishment and is suffering no distress.

Isaiah 26:19

Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.

Isaiah made it clear that Christ will raise up all people when he said, “The dead shall be raised up again; even those in the tombs shall be raised up. For the dew from you is healing for them.” That was not all. After his cross, after his slaughter, his glory will shine forth more brightly; after his resurrection, he will advance the message of his gospel still more.

Isaiah 28:11

For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.

Someone might well ask how the apostles drew to themselves all these people. How did men who spoke only the language of the Jews win over the Scythian, the Indian, the Sarmatian and the Thracian? Because they received the gift of tongues through the Holy Spirit. Not only did the apostles say this but also the prophets when they made both these facts clear, namely, that the apostles received the gift of tongues and that they failed to win over the Jews. Hear how the prophet showed this when he said, “ ‘In foreign tongues and with other lips I shall speak to this people, and in this way they shall not hear me,’ says the Lord.”

Isaiah 29:9 · 2 passages

Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.

Yes, it is possible to be drunk without wine; it is possible for a sober person to act as if he is drunk and to revel like a prodigal. If one could not get drunk without wine, the prophet would never have said, “Woe to those who are drunk not from wine”; if one could not get drunk without wine, Paul would never have said, “Do not be drunk with wine.” For he said this as if there were a possibility of getting drunk some other way. And it is possible. A person can be drunk with anger, with unseemly desire, with greed, with vainglory, with ten thousand other passions. For drunkenness is nothing other than a loss of right reason, a derangement and depriving the soul of its health.

Since you are reasonable, I know that after my exhortation you will not permit yourselves to go beyond the bounds of what you need. But now it is appropriate for me to urge you not only to turn aside from drinking to excess but also to avoid the drunkenness that comes without drinking wine. For this kind is more dangerous. Don’t be astonished at what I say, for it is possible to be drunk without wine. That you may know that this is possible, listen to the prophet, who said, “Woe to those who are drunk not from wine.” But what is this drunkenness that does not come from wine? It takes many and varied forms. For anger makes us drunk; so too, vainglory, haughty madness, and all the deadly passions that spring up in us produce a kind of drunkenness and satiety that darkens our reason. For drunkenness is nothing more than the distraction of our minds from their natural ways, the straying of reason and the loss of our understanding.