Isaiah 45 · The Lantern

Hæc dicit Dominus christo meo Cyro, cujus apprehendi dexteram, ut subjiciam ante faciem ejus gentes, et dorsa regum vertam, et aperiam coram eo januas, et portæ non claudentur:

"Thus says the Lord God to my Christ [the] Lord, whose right hand I have held, that the nations may hear him, 'the powers of kings will I burst asunder; I will open before him the gates, and the cities shall not be closed to him.' " This very thing we see now fulfilled. For whose right hand does God the Father hold but Christ's, his Son?

The divine Scripture designates under the name "anointed" not only those who are brought forward for unction but also those whom the God of the universe has singled out with a view toward [fulfilling] a required function.

857. Thus says the Lord to my anointed. After he strengthened them to the firm expectation of divine promises, in this part, he begins to describe the divine promises for their consolation. And this is divided into two parts: in the first, he promises liberation from evils; in the second, he promises salvation in good things, thus says the Lord: keep judgment (ch. 56).

Ego ante te ibo, et gloriosos terræ humiliabo; portas æreas conteram, et vectes ferreos confringam:

Nevertheless, I assert according to the Scriptures that He was able to spread out lowly places and open fields, just as He Himself says: 'I will walk before you and make mountains plain.' The force of the water itself could also make deeper things, which had settled, more turbulent: with such a movement of waves and such a surge of a more agitated element, which daily twists th…

By all that is about to be said, he has taught that he has invested Cyrus as king, he has given him the necessary sovereignty to direct his empire with good will and so that the disposition of difficult matters is mitigated and facilitated. This is what the phrase means: "I will level mountains, and I will break to pieces brazen doors."

Or because of strength, and as to this he says: I will go before you, preparing the place of your victory, by sending terror of you among your adversaries, the great ones, powerful above others, like the Babylonians; the gates of brass, the most powerful cities: he has broken gates of brass, and burst iron bars (Ps 107:16).

et dabo tibi thesauros absconditos, et arcana secretorum, ut scias quia ego Dominus, qui voco nomen tuum, Deus Israël,

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…

"I will give you the treasures of darkness." … This is the way [Isaiah] referred to hell. Even if it was hell, it still preserved the sacred souls and precious vessels, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This is why Isaiah called it a place of treasures, even if in darkness, because the Sun of justice had not yet penetrated there with its rays or with any message on the resurrection.

Or because of hiding, and as to this, he says: and I will give you hidden treasures, of various kings, whose cities he took: he discovers deep things out of darkness (Job 12:22). 859. Second, he sets out the fruit of this benefit. And first, in himself, second, in others: that they may know who are from the rising of the sun (Isa 45:6).

propter servum meum Jacob, et Israël, electum meum; et vocavi te nomine tuo: assimilavi te, et non cognovisti me.

Ego Dominus, et non est amplius; extra me non est deus; accinxi te, et non cognovisti me:

ut sciant hi qui ab ortu solis et qui ab occidente, quoniam absque me non est: ego Dominus, et non est alter:

And inasmuch as this Son is undivided and inseparable from the Father, so is he to be reckoned as being in the Father, even when he is not named. The fact is, if he had named him expressly, he would have separated him, saying in so many words, "Beside me there is none else, except my Son." In short, he would have made his Son actually another, after excepting him from others.

(Verse 6) So that they may know, from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is no one besides me ((Previously it was added: God)). I am the Lord, and there is no other. And I have done these things so that from the East and the West the whole world may recognize that there is no other God besides me. I am the Lord, and there is no other.

860. That they may know. Here he shows the fruit in others. And first, he shows that in others he seeks the fruit of knowledge of him: who are from the rising of the sun, that is, living throughout the entire world; and this was fulfilled in that, in his epistles, Cyrus wrote the praise of God everywhere; or because everyone praised God together seeing the liberation of the Jew…

formans lucem et creans tenebras, faciens pacem et creans malum: ego Dominus faciens omnia hæc.

Now (like many other persons nowadays, especially those who have a heretical proclivity), while morbidly brooding over the question of the origin of evil, Marcion's perception became blunted by the very irregularity of his researches.

He calls this evil therefore which chastens them, which makes them purer, which renders them more zealous, which leads them on to love of wisdom; not that which comes under suspicion and is worthy of reproach; for that is not a work of God, but an invention of our own will.

Second, he sets out the proof of his divinity, which can be known from the fact that he can afflict and liberate: I am the Lord, etc. I form the light, the day or consolation; I create evil, of punishment: is there evil in a city, which the Lord has not done? (Amos 3:6); the Lord made all things double, one against another (Sir 42:24).

Rorate, cæli, desuper, et nubes pluant justum; aperiatur terra, et germinet Salvatorem, et justitia oriatur simul: ego Dominus creavi eum.

"Rejoice, O heavens, from above," that is, rejoice over the salvation of the nations. The angels are delighted at the repentance of a single sinner. "And the clouds will rain down righteousness." The clouds, which rain down righteousness, are the apostles and the priests who justify through the absolution, which they give by means of baptism.

"And let the clouds rain righteousness." On the occasion of making previous threats, he has said, "I will command the clouds to rain no rain on it," and … it was the prophets who were referred to in this way. Here, therefore, the text invites the prophets to present, as a kind of rain, the discourse dealing with righteousness.

861. Drop down dew. Here he describes the birth of Cyrus under the metaphor of the fruit of a tree, for whose generation the moisture of the earth and rain and dew from heaven are required; so in the birth of Cyrus, divine mercy, intending to liberate God's people through him, coincides with lower nature, which is signified.

Væ qui contradicit fictori suo, testa de samiis terræ! Numquid dicet lutum figulo suo: Quid facis, et opus tuum absque manibus est?

And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.

Likewise, the common Jewish people rejected the grace that was given them and found it unacceptable; for they resisted, as I have said, the teachings of Christ.… "For I desire to refashion you," he says, "into something better, to remake you into something superior through a spiritual birth which, of course, is the one through water and the Spirit; but you foolishly resist my p…

862. Woe to him that gainsays. Here he excludes the contradiction of the unbelievers. And first, under the metaphor of a craftsman who fashions clay; for as clay does not contradict the one who fashions it, so the Jews ought not contradict God, by not believing that anyone could arise who would conquer the Babylonians; earthen pots or samia, earthen vessels, so-called because t…

Væ qui dicit patri: Quid generas? et mulieri: Quid parturis?

Hæc dicit Dominus, Sanctus Israël, plastes ejus: Ventura interrogate me; super filios meos et super opus manuum mearum mandate mihi.

How do we think, except as in the way that the prophet also foretells of God, that he has done the things that are going to be? For he does not say, "Who will do the things that are going to be, but "who did the things that are going to be." Therefore, [God] both did them and is going to do them.

"He who made the things that will be," therefore, the things that were to be done, he willed them to be spoken of as if done, because these things which come about changeably in time, he has made firm with the unchangeable eternity of his plan.

863. Thus says the Lord. Here he sets out the utility of the liberator. And first, as to the liberation of the Jews; second, as to the conversion of the gentiles: for thus says the Lord (Isa 45:18). Concerning the first, he does three things.

Ego feci terram, et hominem super eam creavi ego: manus meæ tetenderunt cælos, et omni militiæ eorum mandavi.

Ego suscitavi eum ad justitiam, et omnes vias ejus dirigam; ipse ædificabit civitatem meam, et captivitatem meam dimittet, non in pretio neque in muneribus, dicit Dominus Deus exercituum.

[The Septuagint reads], "You are God, and we knew it not." The words "we knew it not," spoken in the person of those of old who did not know him, occur only in the Septuagint.

For taking into his hands the book of Isaiah he found as he read the section which contained the prophecy concerning himself; since Isaiah says in that section: Thus saith the Lord to his Anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden to subdue nations before him, and I will loose the loins of kings. I will open the doors before him, and the gates shall not be shut.

And the direction of its execution: I have raised, to worthiness, him, Cyrus, using the past tense for the future, to carry out justice concerning the Chaldeans: in all your ways think on him, and he will direct your steps (Prov 3:6); and he promises the liberation: he, namely, Cyrus, shall build, promising and paying the expenses for building, below: you were sold gratis, and…

Hæc dicit Dominus: Labor Ægypti, et negotiatio Æthiopiæ, et Sabaim viri sublimes ad te transibunt, et tui erunt; post te ambulabunt, vincti manicis pergent, et te adorabunt, teque deprecabuntur. Tantum in te est Deus, et non est absque te deus.

But consider this also in relation to the homoousion [that the Son is of the same essence as the Father], how the Spirit says to Isaiah, "God is in you, and there is no God outside of you."

(Verse 14 onwards) Thus says the Lord: The labor of Egypt and the trade of Ethiopia and the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over to you and be yours; they shall follow you; they shall come over in chains and bow down to you. They will plead with you, saying: Surely God is in you, and there is no other, no god besides you.

865. Third, where it says, thus says the Lord, he promises the exaltation of the liberated as to three things. First, as to the adherence of foreigners, setting out their adherence: the labor of Egypt, their riches, and they themselves, as to the many who had followed them: ten men of all languages of the Gentiles shall take hold (Zech 8:23); or he says this of those who adhere…

Vere tu es Deus absconditus, Deus Israël, salvator.

Confusi sunt, et erubuerunt omnes: simul abierunt in confusionem fabricatores errorum.

Israël salvatus est in Domino salute æterna; non confundemini, et non erubescetis usque in sæculum sæculi.

Quia hæc dicit Dominus creans cælos, ipse Deus formans terram et faciens eam, ipse plastes ejus; non in vanum creavit eam: ut habitaretur formavit eam: Ego Dominus, et non est alius.

Non in abscondito locutus sum, in loco terræ tenebroso; non dixi semini Jacob frustra: Quærite me: ego Dominus loquens justitiam, annuntians recta.

(Vers. 19) I did not speak in secret, in a dark place on the earth. I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, 'Seek me in vain.' I am the Lord, speaking truth, declaring what is right. LXX: I have not spoken in secret, nor in a dark place on the earth. I have not spoken in secret, in a place of a land of darkness: I have not said to the seed of Jacob: Seek me in vain.

[Isaiah] has said this to mock the delusion of idols. For their votaries used certain practices of sorcery. They took darkness as an auxiliary for deceit and, from the bottom of some secluded and obscure place, they said whatever they wished and deceived their listeners, all the while saying that it was the idols who uttered that voice.

Third, from the manifestation of truth foretold: I have not spoken in secret, as if to say, the things that natural reason prescribes are to be done, or of the preaching of the Christian faith: I have spoken openly to the world (John 18:20); fourth, from the utility of his precepts: I have not said to the seed of Jacob: seek me in vain: in keeping them there is a great reward (…

Congregamini, et venite, et accedite simul qui salvati estis ex gentibus: nescierunt qui levant lignum sculpturæ suæ, et rogant deum non salvantem.

(Vers. 20) Gather together and come, draw near, you who have been saved from the nations. They have no knowledge, those who carry about their wooden idols and pray to a god who cannot save.

But Emmanuel appeared who led with courage those who were snared. He endured for us the death of the flesh so that as Isaiah says in an evangelical way, the scattered children of God would be gathered into one … to gather, that is, to be bound together in one faith and like-mindedness.

867. Second, where it says, assemble yourselves, he enjoins upon the Jews the calling of the gentiles, recalling their salvation: assemble yourselves, as though to hear my precept, you that are saved, liberated from the captivity to the gentiles, below: I will send of them that shall be saved, to the Gentiles (Isa 66:19); he also sets out the necessity of the calling, namely, t…

Annuntiate, et venite, et consiliamini simul. Quis auditum fecit hoc ab initio, ex tunc prædixit illud? numquid non ego Dominus, et non est ultra deus absque me? Deus justus, et salvans non est præter me.

(Vers. 21) Announce, and come, and counsel together: Who has declared this from the beginning, and from then on predicted it? Is it not I, the Lord? There is no other God besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me. LXX: Tell ye, and come, and consult together: who hath declared this from the beginning, who hath foretold this from that time?

With these and innumerable other texts of the same kind, in which the Lord our God is proclaimed as merciful and just, is shown how much his mercy must be loved and how much his justice must be feared.… Therefore, if there are those whom the pious goodness of God does not free from the domination of sin in this present world, his just severity condemns them in the future.

He enjoins the declaration of his praise: tell, in which he enjoins the office, consult together, how you ought to convert others: declare his glory among the Gentiles (Ps 96:3); who has declared, in which he teaches them the proof of his divinity for converting others, namely from his foreknowledge of future things.

Convertimini ad me, et salvi eritis, omnes fines terræ, quia ego Deus, et non est alius.

In memetipso juravi; egredietur de ore meo justitiæ verbum, et non revertetur: quia mihi curvabitur omne genu, et jurabit omnis lingua.

Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him. Who art thou that judgest another man's servant?

(Vers. 23) By myself I have sworn, from my mouth has gone forth in righteousness a word that shall not return: 'To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.' LXX: By myself I swear: righteousness will go out of my mouth, my words will not be turned away, for every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will swear and confess to God, saying.

Second, he foretells their conversion, setting out the sign of adoration: I have sworn by myself, for I have nothing greater by which I might swear (Heb 6:13); it shall not return, without effect, below: so shall my word be, which shall go forth from my mouth: it shall not return to me void (Isa 55:11).

Ergo in Domino, dicet, meæ sunt justitiæ et imperium; ad eum venient, et confundentur omnes qui repugnant ei.

In Domino justificabitur, et laudabitur omne semen Israël.

Isaiah45