61:6-7
(Vers. 6, 7.) But you will be called priests of the Lord, ministers of our God. It will be said to you: You will devour the strength of the nations, and in their glory you will boast. Instead of your shame, you will have a double portion, and instead of disgrace, they will rejoice in their inheritance; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs. For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and wrongdoing. LXX: But you will be called priests of the Lord, ministers of our God. You shall devour the strength of nations, and in their riches you shall be admired. Thus they shall possess the land a second time, and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads. For I am the Lord, who loves justice, and I hate robbery and injustice. The builders of desolate cities and the shepherds of flocks, who themselves are the plowmen and vintners, that is, the sons of strangers, they too are the priests of God, to whom the Prophet now says: But you shall be called the priests of the Lord, and ministers of our God, it shall be said to you: doubtless it signifies the leaders of the churches. Certainly, it is to be understood about the Apostles that there is an order: When builders, shepherds, plowmen, and vine-dressers were appointed over the Churches from the Gentiles, you, about whom it is said: The remnants will be saved (Rom. IX, 27). And: Unless the Lord of hosts had left us a seed, we would have been like Sodom, and similar to Gomorrah (Isai. IV, 9), you will be called priests and ministers of God, just as the sons of David were. Of whom the Scripture says: But the sons of David were the priests of God (2 Kings 8:18). They shall devour the strength of the nations, and on their riches they shall be admired. For the glory of children are their fathers, and the profit of the people, the feasts of the priests (Proverbs 17). Concerning such riches, Paul wrote to the Corinthians: I give thanks to my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because in everything you have been enriched in Him, in all speech and in all knowledge, as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you lack no gift in any grace (2 Corinthians 1:4-5). But the courage of the nations is the triumph of the Martyrs: and we are proud in their glory, not with the pride that is a vice, to which God resists, in order to give grace to the humble; but with the pride that is received for power and glory. Therefore, Moses had a horned face, who could say: With you we will scatter our enemies with a horn. And for the pride of glory, the Eagle interprets it as 'and you will be clothed in purple with glory', that is, you will be dressed in purple to show the insignia of royal beauty. And what follows: For their double confusion and shame, they shall praise their own part, which is not found in the Septuagint, seems to me to be explained as follows. Because you had a double confusion, both over the people of Judah, who had turned away from God, and over the nations, who served idols, you will see them converted to the fear of God, praising their own part. Without a doubt, the Lord, of whom he was speaking, is holy: The Lord is my portion (Ps. 73:26). However, no one can say this except those who do not have the other side. Therefore, since you have had double the confusion and shame of their sin, on which they themselves were not ashamed, for this reason, in their own land, that is, in the land of the meek and living, they will possess double: both for the present, and for the future. And they will have eternal joy. For which it is read in the Septuagint, they will possess the land a second time. And there will be eternal joy upon their heads, so that those who possessed the land in the narrowest boundaries of Judaea, afterwards may possess the entire world. Concerning this land, the Father speaks to the Savior: Ask of me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as your possession (Ps. 2:8). But the Lord, who loves the truth of justice, has granted this, and he hates robbery in the burnt offering. For this reason, the Seventy translated it as 'robbery from injustice,' as if there is any robbery that does not consist of injustice. Therefore, what he says is this: God loves the poverty of the righteous more than the gifts of the wealthy, which are obtained through plunder and injustice.
61:8-9
(Vers. 8, 9.) And I will give their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. And their seed will be known among the nations, and their offspring in the midst of the peoples. All who see them will recognize them, that they are the offspring whom the Lord has blessed. LXX: And I will give their labor to the righteous, and I will establish an eternal covenant with them. And their seed will be known among the nations, and their descendants in the midst of the peoples. Everyone who sees them will recognize them, that they are the blessed offspring of God. O God, who loves justice and judgment, and detests violent holocausts (for whatever is stolen is considered as the wages of a prostitute, and the price of a dog), you will give labor to those who possess the land secondly and whom you will crown with double joy, to the righteous, or as it is better understood in Hebrew, in truth: so that it may not be like the shadow of truth in the Law, but that it may be the truth itself. And you will make an everlasting covenant, not like the one Moses gave, which has passed away, but the covenant of the Gospel, about which Christ speaks: Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away (Matthew 24:35). And then the Apostolic seed will be known among the nations, and all future generations will receive the seed of the doctrine of God, not saying at all in which the people of circumcision previously erred, saying: For what else, except for the seed, does God seek? Anyone who sees them will recognize from the first appearance that they are the seed to whom the Lord has blessed. For who, from the order of life, gentleness, self-control, hospitality, and all virtues, does not understand the people of God? And who does not detest the bloody hands of the Israelis, against whom the Prophet curses, saying: Fill their faces with shame, O Lord (Ps. LXXXII, 17).
61:10-11
(Vers. 10, 11.) I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, and my soul shall exult in my God: for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, and with the robe of justice he hath covered me, as a bride adorned with her jewels. For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth her seed to shoot forth: so shall the Lord God make justice to spring forth, and praise before all nations. LXX: They shall be glad in the Lord, and shall rejoice in God. For he has clothed me with the garment of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of joy. Like a bridegroom adorned with a crown, like a bride adorned with her jewels, like the earth bringing forth its flower, like a garden with its seeds germinating: so the Lord God brings forth righteousness and praise in the sight of all nations. The beginning of the chapter according to the Septuagint, which says: They shall rejoice with joy in the Lord, is connected to the end of the previous chapter. But according to the Hebrews, the beginning of another chapter is introduced, in which the Church, responding to the words of Christ, says: I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God. Not at all among the fathers, as the Jews used to boast, saying: We are the seed of Abraham and have never been in bondage to anyone (John 8:33); but in God, as Scripture says: The multitude of believers had one heart and one soul (Acts 4:32). And he gives the reasons for joy: Because he has clothed me with the garment of salvation, and with the robe of righteousness and joy, which is called Mail in Hebrew, he has adorned and surrounded me. For as many as have been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ, and have the garment of righteousness: who has become sanctification, righteousness, and redemption unto us (Gal. I). And he sets forth the likeness of two groups in the Church, the perfect and the beginners (I Cor. I). He compares the perfect to the beauty of the bridegroom; he likens the beginners to the adornment of the bride. Paul was perfect, who, as a decorated bridegroom or, as Aquila translated, crowned priest, bearing the crown, spoke by the authority of Christ in himself, saying: I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: from now on there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness (II Tim. IV, 7). And in another place: Therefore, let us be wise in how many soever are perfect (Philippians 3:15). But he begins by drawing a comparison of maturity, when speaking in the person of beginners: When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child (1 Corinthians 13:11). And again: For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away (ibid., 9). And for this reason, the bride is likened to adornment, which adorns the female world, whether, as others have translated, with vessels or with her jewels. And he sets forth examples of the comparison of each, the former of which refers to the bridegroom, the latter to the bride. Just as the earth brings forth its fruit, and is watered by the heavenly rains; and as a garden germinates its seed, which longs for the waters of fountains and rivers: so, he says, the Lord will bring forth righteousness and joy before all nations: not before Israel, so as to shake off the brow of the Jews; but before all nations, who are gathered in the Church.
62:1-3
(Chapter 62, verses 1 and following) For the sake of Zion I will not keep silent, and for the sake of Jerusalem I will not rest, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch. And the nations shall see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory; and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will name. You shall be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. (Chapter 70) For the sake of Zion I will not keep silent, and for the sake of Jerusalem I will not rest; until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch. And the nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory, and you will be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD will name. You will be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. This is what the Lord and Savior said, 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me' (Luke 4:18), until the place where it is written: 'All who see them shall acknowledge, that they are the seed which the Lord has blessed' (Isaiah 61:1). After the promise, the Church responded: Rejoicing, I will rejoice in the Lord, who in the third psalm of the degrees, sung with joy from the perspective of the repentant people, said: I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: We will go into the house of the Lord (Ps. 121:1); now the prophet is introduced as saying: For the sake of Zion, I will not keep silent, and for the sake of Jerusalem, I will not rest. Day and night, he says, I will not close my mouth, and my prayer will never be silent; I will cry out for as long as it takes, and I will join prayers with prayers, until the promised one comes and illuminates the whole world with his splendor. He makes it more clear who this person is that he seeks, whom he desires to come: Until his righteous splendor goes forth, and his savior is kindled like a lamp. Or according to the Septuagint: Until his righteousness goes forth like light, and his salvation is kindled like a lamp. This is what was said in the Gospel: I am the light of the world (John 8:12): when it is kindled in Zion and in Jerusalem, it will not shine only in Judea, but it will be said to her: The light that is in you, is kindled; the one that has come forth from the Father, it begins to burn in your borders, and it will illuminate all nations (Matthew 6). And all kings shall see your famous city, O Jerusalem and Zion: he who was born of your lineage, who was exalted on the cross, drew all people to himself, so that the nations may see his justice, by which he, the Creator of all, showed mercy to the nations; and kings shall see his glory, by which he was glorified on the cross, and he subjected all kingdoms to his authority. Ultimately, Jerusalem and Zion shall no longer be called by their name, but they shall receive a new name which the Lord shall give them, as He said to the Apostle Peter: You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18). The word 'Dominicus' is derived from the name 'Dominus', so that it may be called 'Dominicum'. And the people of that land should not be called by the old name 'Israel', but by a new name, that is, 'Christian'. And it will be like a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and like a diadem of the kingdom in the hand of their God, when the crowd of believers crowns it, and the diadem of the empire, which the Martyrs have distinguished by the variety of their gems, will be in the hand of God to crown their son with victories. Wherefore also the apostle Paul was speaking to the Saints: My joy and crown.
62:4
(Verse 4.) You will no longer be called forsaken, and your land will no longer be called desolate; but you will be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land will be inhabited, for the Lord takes pleasure in you; and your land will be married. LXX: And you will never again be called forsaken, and your land will not be called deserted anymore. Indeed, you will be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land will be inhabited. For Zion and Jerusalem, you will be called the Church, and the Lord's: for the Jews, they will be called Christians. Nor will you be content with this end of the words; but what was previously called Azuba in Hebrew, you will be called Epesi-Ba, which means my will in it; and your land, which was previously called Semema, desolate or deserted, will later be called Bula, which Aquila interpreted as formed; Symmachus and Theodotion interpreted it as inhabited; Septuagint as established, which all signify inhabited and possessed. This is indeed a Hebrew custom, that names are always given to things based on their outcomes: like Abram, who was previously called 'father of heights', when he heard the promise: 'And in your seed all the nations shall be blessed' (Gen. XII, 3), was called 'father of many nations', that is, Abraham. And to the Lord the Savior a name is given above: 'Quickly take plunder, swiftly seize spoil' (Isa. VIII, 1). Also, the sons of Zebedee, one of whom could emit the voice of thunder (Mark III): 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God' (John I, 1), were called 'Sons of Thunder', which means 'sons of thunder'. But what follows is omitted by the Septuagint, and it provides reasons why it is called Ephsi and why it is called Bula, because the Lord has been pleased with it in Zion, and has made its land habitable, which was previously deserted due to Jewish error. Whether we apply this to the Church, which was previously possessed by idols and deserted by God.
62:5
(Verse 5.) For a young man shall dwell with a virgin, and your sons shall dwell in you. And your God will rejoice over you as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride. LXX: And as a young man dwells with a virgin, so shall your sons dwell in you. And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall the Lord rejoice over you. And the Apostle says: Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the Church (Ephesians 5:25). And when he had given an example in another place: For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they shall be two in one flesh, he added, This is a great mystery: but I speak in Christ and in the Church (Ephesians 5:31, 32). If, therefore, due to the brevity of time, which is limited, men ought to have their wives as if they did not have them, how much more holy will be the union between the bridegroom and the bride? This is the bridegroom of whom it is sung in the twelfth psalm: 'And he, like a bridegroom, comes forth from his chamber' (Psalm 18:6). And this is the bride who is frequently mentioned in the Song of Songs, who has no wrinkle or blemish (Song of Songs 4). How Paul desires to offer a chaste virgin to one man, so that she may be holy in body and spirit (I Cor. 7). Concerning her, and under the name of the beloved, the 44th Psalm sings: The queen stood at your right hand, clothed in golden garments, surrounded by variety. (Verse 10). Therefore, just as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride, and a young man with a virgin, in whom there is a holy union: so the Lord will rejoice in her, whose names have been changed.
62:6-7
(Verse 6, 7.) I have set watchmen upon your walls, O Jerusalem, who shall never hold their peace day or night: you who make mention of the Lord, keep not silence, and give him no rest, until he establishes, and until he makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. LXX: And upon your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen, who shall never hold their peace day or night, remembering the Lord: there is no one like you, if he corrects you, and he will make Jerusalem rejoice upon the earth. The Prophet said: 'For Zion I will not be silent, and for Jerusalem I will not rest, and so on until that place where the chapter is now completed: The bridegroom will rejoice over the bride; your God will rejoice over you.' And he had promised that he would pray day and night, so that the Savior and the Just One who had been promised would come, and like a lamp illuminate the whole world. After this, the person of God speaking to Jerusalem is introduced, that is, the Church of the early Christians, and the one that was built up in the Apostles and through the Apostles: 'I have set watchmen on your walls, who we can understand to be either angels or apostles, and all its rulers and teachers.' Those who guard the walls of the Church, lest our adversary the devil, who prowls around like a roaring lion, may seize an opportunity to devastate the flock of the Lord. The guardians should not be silent, neither during the day nor at night, neither in times of joy nor in times of sorrow; but should always pray for the mercy of the Lord, so that His flock and the walls of Jerusalem may be guarded and strengthened by His help. Therefore, a speech is directed to the same guardians and teachers: O you who remember the Lord and tirelessly pray for His mercy day and night, be careful never to let prayer be silent in your mouth. Do not give silence to him, I imply, O Lord; but always be annoying, opportune, importune, and imitate the interruption of a harsh judge. For if he has put aside the fierceness of his mind by constant supplication, how much more will the Heavenly Father give good things to those who ask? However, you should pray for a long time, until Jerusalem, which has fallen among the Jews and is both an example and a curse, is praised throughout the whole world. And why did the Seventy wish, because of what is contained in Hebrew, that you do not remain silent about it until she establishes and places praise in Jerusalem on the earth, saying, the meaning of which does not agree with what was said before: For there is no one like you, if she corrects and makes Jerusalem rejoice over the earth. Unless perhaps by this skillful eloquence we may add, that it may be said to the guardians of the Church, that none of them will be like those who have made it through their preaching, so that she may be corrected, and all the earth may rejoice in Jerusalem.
62:8-9
(Vers. 8, 9.) The Lord has sworn by his right hand and by the strength of his arm: If I give your wheat beyond food to your enemies, and if the sons of aliens drink your wine, in which you have labored: for those who gather it will eat it and praise the Lord, and those who carry it will drink it in my holy courts. LXX: The Lord has sworn by his right hand and by the strength of his arm: If I give my wheat beyond food to your enemies, and if the sons of aliens drink your wine, in which you have labored: but those who gather it will eat it and praise the Lord, and those who gather it will drink it in my holy courts. Almighty God, who said to the Church, 'I have set watchmen on your walls who shall never hold their peace day nor night. You who make mention of the Lord, do not keep silent, and give Him no rest till He establishes and till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.' Now He swears by His right hand and by the arm of His strength. Concerning whom we frequently say that He is our Lord and Savior, who, according to the Apostle, is the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1). He swears that the grain and wine of Jerusalem shall never be given as food to the enemies, nor shall aliens devour the labor of it; but those who sow in tears shall reap in joy, and those who reap, with joyful shouting, and with the chaff removed, they shall gather the pure grain into the barns. They themselves shall eat the labor of their hands, and shall lift up the Lord with eternal praise, and shall drink wine in His holy courts. Because either we understand many dwellings with the Father, if we accept them as the future blessedness in the kingdom of heaven, or certainly the Churches divided throughout the whole world, in which we are planted, and afterwards we will flourish in the house of the Lord. But when He says: I will no longer give your wheat to your enemies, and foreigners will not drink your wine, in which you have labored, He shows the previous labor of the Jews, and that all their works were possessed by demons when they were wavering between God and idols, when Elijah said to them: How long will you limp with both feet? if the Lord is God, follow him (III Kings XVIII, 21). And according to the typical history narrated in the book of Judges, the Midianites came and devastated their crops as far as Gaza, so that the food of men was turned into fodder for animals (Judges VI). This is the wheat and this is the wine that they will not eat unless they praise the Lord, and they will not drink unless in his holy courts, of which the Lord said during his passion: Amen, amen I say to you, I will not drink from the fruit of this vine until I drink it new in the kingdom of my Father (Mark XIV, 25). Which part of the Church is fulfilled when the Lord says to His disciples: Drink, my friends, and be intoxicated, my brothers, for wine gladdens the human heart (Psalm 104). And it is drunk in broad daylight by Joseph and his brothers (Genesis 44). And it will be fulfilled more fully when the earth is intoxicated with the blessings of the Lord. The wheat from which the heavenly bread is made, that is what the Lord speaks of: My flesh is truly food. And again regarding wine: And my blood truly is drink (John VI).
62:10-12
(Vers. 10-12.) Go through, go through the gates, prepare the way for the people, make the road smooth, and choose stones, raise a signal for the people. Behold, the Lord has made his message heard to the ends of the earth: say to the daughter of Zion, Behold, your Savior comes: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. And they shall call them the holy people, redeemed by the Lord. But you shall be called a sought-after city, and not forsaken. LXX: Go through my gates and make a way for my people. Cast stones out of the way. Lift up a sign among the nations. For behold, the Lord has made his hearing reach to the ends of the earth. Say to the daughters of Zion: Behold, your Savior comes, having his reward with him, and his work before his face. And he will call them a holy people, redeemed by the Lord. But you will be called a sought-after city, and not forsaken. He commanded the keepers of the walls of Jerusalem, to whom he had previously commanded not to keep silent, not to cease praying, so that they may pass through the gates of Jerusalem and make a way for the people. The statement argues that in the last days, when Israel is to be saved after the fullness of the Gentiles, the semi-Jews believe that they will return to the Lord. However, others think that it will be fulfilled in the kingdom of heaven, when there will be true joy and each person will receive according to their merit. They will not see the Lord in humility, but will feel His judgment when He comes on the clouds with a multitude of angels to render to each person according to their works. But according to the explanation given, we can understand these things at the first coming, so that we may say that the Apostles and the men who succeeded them, should enter and pass through the gates which hell cannot prevail against, and remove all obstacles from the path, so that the people may enter the Church of the Savior without any stumbling block. Therefore, John cried out in the wilderness: I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, as Isaiah said: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths: every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be brought low (John 1:23, Isaiah 40:3-4). And in other words, the man of the Church has chosen stones that soften the hardness of the hearts of the believers. Of these stones, John the Baptist said: God is able to raise up children of Abraham from these stones (Matthew 3:9). Or according to the Septuagint, he throws stones from the path that separate the unbelievers from the believers. So that the Jews would not think that this is about them, it is added: Raise a sign to the nations, and to the peoples of the nations, so that the narrowness of salvation is not provoked only in the land of Judea, but let it be heard in the ends of the earth, so that the whole world may hear the passion of the Creator. Say, he says, to the daughter of Zion. She is called the daughter of Zion because she was first born from the Jews, as it says in the Song of Songs: The sons of my mother fought against me (Song of Songs 1:5); or certainly because she received the name of daughter from God through adoption. For as many as received him, he gave them power to become children of God (John 1). But what is it that the teachers and doctors of the daughter of Zion are commanded to announce? Behold, your Savior comes, who is called Jesus in Hebrew. Thus Gabriel said to Joseph: And you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins (Matt. 1:21). This Savior is the judge of all believers, to render to each according to their works: rewards to the righteous, and eternal punishments to the sinners (Matt. 16). And he shall call them Lord and Savior himself. Or, according to the Hebrew, the Apostles and Apostolic men shall call them, the holy and redeemed people of the Lord, who are redeemed by the blood of Christ. Moreover, the city itself will not be called abandoned, as it had been previously, either among the Jews due to commerce, or among the Gentiles due to idolatry, but rather sought after, as it is said in Hebrew, Drusa (); so that for the increase and variety of virtues, they always receive new names.
63:1
(Chapter 63, Verse 1) Who is this that comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? This one is glorious in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength. (Chapter 70) Who is this that comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? This one is beautiful in his attire, strong and mighty. From the place where it is said in the Septuagint: "Arise, shine, Jerusalem, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you" (Chapter 60, Verse 1), to the present chapter where it says: Who is this that comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bosrah? Many of our own refer to the end of the world, in which, whether in a physical or spiritual sense (for there are various opinions of many), they strive to fulfill. But we, because we have also read earlier in this same chapter: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor: he has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free (Luke 4:18). And now it is said of the same, that after his passion he ascended to the Father in a bloody manner, we are compelled by necessity to understand all that is said in reference to the first coming of the Savior. For it cannot happen, as many of our people strive to do, that things which are connected in the works should be varied in time; nor do we deny that it requires great effort to unite all these things to be fulfilled in a spiritual way in the consummation, so that we may teach that they have already been accomplished in Christ, both according to the flesh and according to the spirit. Therefore, since the Savior of the daughter of Zion has come, whose reward is with Him, and His work before Him; and the righteous One has gone forth as brightness, and the Savior has been kindled as a lamp, and the bridegroom has rejoiced over his bride the Church, indeed his God has exulted over her, who is Himself both bridegroom and Lord: therefore, according to the assumption of the flesh and the passion of the cross, it is said to Him: Let Your foot be dipped in blood (Ps. 68:24). And under the name Judah in Genesis it is prophesied: Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the necks of your enemies. Your father's sons shall bow down to you. Judah, you have ascended as a lion's cub; you lie down and rest like a lion, and like a lioness; who shall rouse you? And again: He binds his foal to the vine, and his donkey's colt to the choice vine; he washes his garments in wine, and his robe in the blood of grapes. This is the one whom the angelic powers, seeing him ascend to the Father, command the other angels, and they hear from them: Lift up your gates, O princes, and be lifted up, eternal gates, that the King of glory may enter. Who is this King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle (Psalm 24:7-8). And again: The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory (ibid., 10). We have said this as a prelude, so that we may show that this chapter agrees with other testimonies as well. And in the Song of Songs it is said: My beloved is ruddy and white (Song of Songs 5:10); ruddy in passion; white in resurrection. Therefore, the angels ask, terrified by the novelty of the matter (for the mystery of the passion and resurrection of Christ, according to the apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 2), had been unknown to all previous generations). Who is this coming from the land of Edom, with garments stained crimson? Indeed, Edom is expressed in our language as both earthly and bloody. With dyed garments from Bozrah? Many, in their pious error, think that it refers to the flesh of the Lord: that is, Basar (בשר), which word, if it signified flesh, would be written with the middle letter Sin, but is now written with the letter Sade, and is interpreted as firm and fortified: which we either understand as referring to Jerusalem (Psalm 59:11), which was surrounded by very strong walls, in which the Lord suffered; or to hell, of which it is written in Psalm 59:11 and Psalm 107:10: 'Who will bring me into the fortified city?' In which the souls of the dead are closed, and they are surrounded by the strongest custodies. It should also be known that according to the history of Bosra, it is not in Edom but in Moab. It follows: So beautiful in his robe, walking in the multitude of his strength. Of which the forty-fourth psalm also sings: Beautiful in beauty above the sons of men. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty. With thy comeliness and thy beauty, proceed prosperously and reign (Psalm 44, 3-5). Why they translated the Septuagint, violence with strength. A wise reader will inquire into the meaning.
I am the one who speaks of justice, and I am a champion for salvation. LXX: I am the one who speaks of justice, and the judgment of salvation. The Lord replied to the questioning Angels: Do you ask who I am, who will ascend to the bloody heavens, and the blood with which I am covered will not give me ugliness, but beauty? I am the one to whom the Father has entrusted all judgment (John 5). Of whom the Psalmist also said: Grant your judgment to the king, O God, and your justice to the king's son (Psalm 72:1). I speak justice: to give evil to the wicked, and to repay good to the righteous; to come and fight against opposing powers, and to preach freedom to the captives, and to release those in prison, so that both adversaries may feel punishment and captives may experience freedom.
63:2
(Version 2.) Why then is your garment red, and your clothing like one who treads in the winepress? LXX: Why are your garments red, and your clothes like those who tread the winepress, full of trampled grapes? Where it is now spoken of as red, in Hebrew it is read as Edom (). Therefore, even above where Edom is written, it is not a place name, but the name of blood. Again, the Angels inquire and say: We have learned that you are the one who speaks of justice, and salvation for all is established in your judgment. Now we want to know why your clothes are stained as if with wine, or what could have caused the tunic, which is woven from above and cannot be torn, to have such whiteness from the virgin womb, as no fuller could achieve on earth, reddened with bloody blood? For mercy is more fitting for you than cruelty: whiteness is more fitting than blood. To these the Lord responded, not with one verse as before, but with many words, in order to teach all those who are ignorant, so that they may not be compelled to seek again.
63:3-6
(Verse 3 and following) I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the peoples there was no man with me. I have trodden them in my anger, and trampled them in my fury: and their blood has stained my garments, and all my clothing is polluted. For the day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my redemption has come. I looked around, and there was no helper: I sought, and there was no one to assist. So my own arm brought salvation to me, and my own wrath supported me. And I have trampled upon the peoples in my anger, and I have made them drunk in my indignation, and I have brought down their strength to the earth. Seventy times because of what we said, I alone have trampled the winepress, they have interpreted, a full trampling, which is more to be read with the previous chapter than as the beginning of the following one. The rest they have translated thus. And there is no one among the nations with me, and I have trampled upon them in my anger, and I have crushed them like the ground, and I have poured out their blood upon the earth, and I have defiled all my garments. For the day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my redemption has come. I looked, but there was no one to help; I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold; so my own arm brought me salvation, and my wrath upheld me. I trampled down the peoples in my anger; I made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth. For the press is called Geth in Hebrew, as Theodotion has translated the Hebrew word in Greek. But Symmachus, whom we also follow, renders it better in this place. For the word Phura is ambiguous, and usually signifies both a winepress and a jug. It must be said, therefore, about the winepress, that according to the custom of Holy Scripture, sometimes it is used for vengeance and punishments of sins, sometimes for the gathering of new fruits. It is used for punishments and torments, when Jeremiah, lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem, speaks: The Lord has trodden the virgin daughter of Judah with the winepress, therefore I mourn (Lam. 1:15-16). The psalms for those who are assigned to the winepresses are written in a favorable light in the eighth and eighty-third. Concerning them, if life accompanies them, with the Lord's help, they will be said. This winepress, in which both punishments for the wicked and rewards for the good are trampled on by the Savior himself, he alone trampled on, and he had no helper. For neither an Angel, nor an Archangel, Thrones, Dominions, or any celestial powers assumed a human body and suffered for us, and he trampled on opposing forces and shattered them, except for the one who speaks in the psalm: Save me, O Lord, for the holy one has failed (Psalm 11:1); to such an extent that even the most confident and firmly established in the truth of faith, the apostle Peter, afraid, fled, rather denied the Lord (Matthew 27). And what follows: And their blood was sprinkled upon my garments, and all my raiments are defiled, should not be understood in such a way that we believe that demons and adversarial powers have blood. But everything should be understood tropologically, when the most merciful God is compelled to strike enemies in order to instruct His people and liberate them from the bonds of captivity. For He says: "The day of vengeance is in my heart, the year of my redemption has come. About which we also read above (In chapter LXI), to preach in a favorable way the accepted year of the Lord, and the day of retribution to our God; both now in the bad and in the good. In the bad: For the day of vengeance is in my heart. In the good: The year of my redemption has come; so that at the time when the adversaries are punished, the people of God may be liberated, or rather redeemed by the precious blood of the lamb who is said to be slain in the Apocalypse of John. Moses prophesied about this day of retribution by the Holy Spirit: And he will repay vengeance to his enemies, and will restore to those who hate him. I looked around, and there was no helper; I sought, and there was no one to assist. (Deuteronomy XXXII, 41). He also said in the psalm: And I waited for one who would grieve, but there was none; and for one who would comfort, but I found none. (Psalm LXVIII, 21). For even though he was in the form of God, he did not consider equality with God as something to be seized, but emptied himself (Philippians II), taking the form of a servant, and being obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. And because of this, God exalted him and gave him the name above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Whether he extirpated believers in his arm, and did not delay his fury beyond: and he led their blood unto the ground, whether in a figurative sense of demons, or certainly the blood of the Jews: for this reason, other interpreters have transferred the dispute; who were exerting every effort to release the captive people.