Origen of Alexandria — Commentary on Scripture

Isaiah 26:20

Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.

Therefore [Noah] constructs the ark and makes nests in it, that is, certain chambers in which animals of various kinds are received. The prophet also speaks of these chambers: “Go, my people, into your chambers, hide yourself a while until the fury of my anger pass away.” This people, therefore, which is saved in the church is compared with all those, whether men or animals, which are saved in the ark.

Isaiah 28:16

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.

And if in reading the Scripture you stumble on a good thought that is a “stumbling stone and a rock of offense,” blame yourself. For do not despair that this “stumbling stone and rock of offense” have meanings so as to fulfill the saying, “And the one who believes will not be put to shame.” Believe first, and you will discover much holy aid beneath the supposed offense. For if we ourselves receive the commandment not to speak a “careless word as we will render an account of it on the day of judgment,” and if we earnestly aspire, as far as possible, to make it so that every word coming out of our mouth works both on us who speak it and on those who hear it, what else is there need to understand about the prophets than that every word spoken through their mouth was one which works? And do not be amazed if every word spoken by the prophets works a work which is fitting for a word. For I think that every extraordinary letter written in the words of God works, and there is not “an iota or one dot” written in the Scripture which does not work in those who know to use the power of the Scrip…

And if in reading the Scripture you stumble on a good thought that is a “stumbling stone and a rock of offense,” blame yourself. For do not despair that this “stumbling stone and rock of offense” have meanings so as to fulfill the saying, “And the one who believes will not be put to shame.” Believe first, and you will discover much holy aid beneath the supposed offense. For if we ourselves receive the commandment not to speak a “careless word as we will render an account of it on the day of judgment,” and if we earnestly aspire, as far as possible, to make it so that every word coming out of our mouth works both on us who speak it and on those who hear it, what else is there need to understand about the prophets than that every word spoken through their mouth was one which works? And do not be amazed if every word spoken by the prophets works a work which is fitting for a word. For I think that every extraordinary letter written in the words of God works, and there is not “an iota or one dot” written in the Scripture which does not work in those who know to use the power of the Scriptures.

Isaiah 29:8

It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion.

And those who sleep are those who, when they ought to be taking heed and watching with the soul, are not doing this. But by reason of great want of attention they are nodding in resolution and are drowsy in their reflections, such as “in their dreaming defile the flesh, and set at nothing that which is highest in authority, and rail at dignities.” And these, because they are asleep, live in an atmosphere of vain and dreamlike fancies concerning realities. [They do not admit] the things that are actually true, but [they are] deceived by what appears in their vain imaginations. In regard to [them] it is said in Isaiah, “Like as when a thirsty man dreams that he is drinking, but when he has risen up is still thirsty, and his soul has cherished a vain hope, so shall be the wealth of all the nations, as many as have warred in Jerusalem.”

Isaiah 29:11

And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:

And clearly, if we hear negligently, if we bring no zeal to learning and understanding, not only are the Scriptures of the law and prophets but also of the apostles and Gospels covered for us with a great veil. I fear, however, lest by too much negligence and dullness of heart the divine volumes are not only veiled to us but also sealed, so that “if a book should be put into the hand of a man who cannot read to be read, he would say, ‘I cannot read’; if it should be put into the hands of a man who can read, he would say, ‘It is sealed.’ ” Whence it is shown that we must not only employ zeal to learn the sacred literature, but we must also pray to the Lord and entreat “day and night” that the Lamb “of the tribe of Judah” may come and himself taking “the sealed book” may deign to open it. For it is he who “opening the Scriptures” kindles the hearts of the disciples so that they say, “Was not our heart burning within us when he opened to us the Scriptures?”

Isaiah 35:6

Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.

That [Jesus] healed the lame and the blind, and that therefore we hold him to be the Christ and the Son of God, is manifest to us from what is contained in the prophecies: “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened.”

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.

Now the way of the Lord is made straight in two ways: by contemplation, which is clarified by truth unmixed with falsehood, and by activity, which follows sound contemplation of the appropriate action to be taken, which is conformed to the correct sense of these things to be done.

The Lord wants to find in you a path by which he can enter into your souls and make his journey. Prepare for him the path of which it is said, “Make straight his path.” “The voice of one crying in the desert”—the voice cries, “prepare the way.”

Isaiah 40:6

The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:

And [Christ] commanded all the multitudes to sit down on the grass because of what is said in Isaiah, “All flesh is grass.” That is to say, he commanded them to subjugate the flesh and to keep in subjection “the mind of the flesh,” so that one might be able to partake of the loaves that Jesus blesses.

Isaiah 40:26

Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.

"Lift up your eyes" occurs in many places in Scripture when the divine Word admonishes us to exalt and lift up our thoughts, to elevate the insight that lies below in a rather sickly condition, and is stooped and completely incapable of looking up, as it is written, for instance, in Isaiah: "Lift up your eyes on high and see. Who has made all these things known?"

Isaiah 42:5

Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:

It says, “He who gives spirit to the people who are on the earth, and spirit to them who walk on it.” For undoubtedly every one who walks on the earth, that is, every earthly and corporeal being, is a partaker of the Holy Spirit that he receives from God.

Isaiah 42:10

Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof.

You descend into the water and come out unimpaired, the filth of sins having been washed away. You ascend “a new person” prepared to “sing a new song.”

Isaiah 42:18

Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see.

Now the blind see when they see the world, and from the exceedingly great beauty of things that have been created they contemplate the Creator corresponding in greatness and beauty to them. And when they see clearly “the invisible things of God from the creation of the world, which are perceived through the things that are made,” [then] they see and understand with attentiveness and clarity.

Isaiah 43:2

When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

What kind of fire? “He stationed the cherubim and the fiery sword, which turns about to protect the way of the tree of life.” Where the tree of life is, where the paradise of God is, where God the gardener is, where the blessed and the elect and the holy ones of God reside, there the blessed await God’s own way of handling affairs.

Isaiah 43:25

I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.

For now the devil urges us to sin and also accuses us when we do sin. If, therefore, in this life we anticipate him and are ourselves our own accusers, we escape the wickedness of the devil, our enemy and our accuser.… Does he [the prophet] not evidently show the mystery that we are dealing with when he says, “you speak first” to show you that you ought to anticipate him who was prepared to accuse you?

Isaiah 44:22

I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.

It is as though a malicious painter brought together colors to paint an image of the earthly that God did not make in you. So you must now beg God, as the prophet says, “Blot out your iniquities as a cloud, and your sins as a mist.” And when [God] has blotted out all those colors in you which have been taken up from the reddish hues of malice, then that image that was created by God will shine brightly in you. You see, therefore, how the divine Scriptures bring in forms and figures by which the soul may be instructed toward knowledge and cleansing of the soul.

Isaiah 45:3

And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.

The higher and profounder spiritual meaning is the “hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge,” which the Holy Spirit speaking through Isaiah calls “dark and unseen and concealed treasures.” These treasures require for their discovery the help of God, who alone is able to “break in pieces the gates of brass” by which they are shut in and concealed and to burst the iron bolts and bars that prevent us from entering in and reaching all those truths written in veiled language in Genesis concerning the various races of souls and the seeds and generations named there, whether closely akin to Israel or widely separated from his posterity.

Isaiah 45:7

I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

In the same way also we explain the expressions, “I, who make peace and create evil”; for he calls into existence “corporeal” or “external” evils, while purifying and training those who would not be disciplined by the word and sound doctrine. This, then, is our answer to the question, “How is it that God created evil?”

Isaiah 46:12

Hearken unto me, ye stouthearted, that are far from righteousness:

The inner person has a heart. “Hear me, you who have lost heart.” They possessed a physical heart, that organ of the body. It was not that heart which they lost. But when a person neglects to cultivate his intellectual life, and in consequence of much idleness his thinking capacity has atrophied, he has lost his heart, and it is to such a person that the words are added, “Here me, you who have lost your heart.”

Isaiah 47:15

Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast laboured, even thy merchants, from thy youth: they shall wander every one to his quarter; none shall save thee.

And when God afflicts those who deserve punishment, how else is it intended except for their good? It is he who says to the Chaldaeans, “You have coals of fire; sit on them. They shall be a help to you.” Further, let them hear what is related in the seventy-seventh psalm, which is ascribed to Asaph, about those who fell in the desert. It says, “When he slew them, then they sought him.” It does not say that some sought him after others had been killed but that those who were slain perished in such a manner that when put to death they sought God. From all these illustrations it is plain that the just and good God of the Law and the Gospels is one and the same and that he does good with justice and punishes in kindness, since neither goodness without justice nor justice without goodness can describe the dignity of the divine nature.

Isaiah 48:9

For my name's sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off.

But we say that God brings fire on the world, not like a cook [pace Celsus] but like a God who is the benefactor of those who stand in need of the discipline of force. This is confirmed by the prophet Isaiah.… Now the Scripture is appropriately adapted to the multitudes of those who are to peruse it, because it speaks obscurely of things that are sad and gloomy, in order to terrify those who cannot by any other means be saved from the flood of their sins, although even then the attentive reader will clearly discover the end that is to be accomplished by these sad and painful punishments on those who endure them. It is sufficient, however, for the present to quote the words of Isaiah: “For my name’s sake will I delay my anger, and my glory I will bring on you, that I may not destroy you.”