Chapter 45
45:1 Thus says the Lord to my anointed Cyrus, whose right hand I have taken hold of, to subdue nations before his face, and to turn the backs of kings, and to open the doors before him, and the gates shall not be shut.
45:2 I will go before you, and will humble the great ones of the earth: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and will burst the bars of iron.
45:3 And I will give you hidden treasures, and the concealed riches of secret places: that you may know that I am the Lord who call you by your name, the God of Israel.
45:4 For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my elect, I have even called you by your name: I have made you like, and you have not known me.
45:5 I am the Lord, and there is none else: there is no god besides me: I girded you, and you have not known me:
45:6 That they may know who are from the rising of the sun, and they who are from the west, that there is none besides me. I am the Lord, and there is no other god:
45:7 I form the light, and create darkness, I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord that do all these things.
45:8 Drop down dew, you heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the just: let the earth be opened, and bud forth a savior: and let justice spring up together: I the Lord have created him.
45:9 Woe to him that gainsays his maker, a sherd of the earthen pots: shall the clay say to him that fashions it: what are you making, and your work is without hands?
45:10 Woe to him that says to his father: why did you beget? And to the woman: why do you bring forth?
45:11 Thus says the Lord the Holy One of Israel, his maker: ask me of things to come, concerning my children, and concerning the work of my hands give charge to me.
45:12 I made the earth: and I created man upon it: my hand stretched forth the heavens, and I have commanded all their host.
45:13 I have raised him up to justice, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and let go my captives, not for ransom, nor for presents, says the Lord of hosts.
45:14 Thus says the Lord God: the labor of Egypt, and the business of Ethiopia, and of Sabaim, men of stature shall come over to you, and shall be thine: they shall walk after you, they shall go bound with manacles: and they shall worship you, and shall make supplication to you: only in you is God, and there is no God besides you.
45:15 Verily you are a hidden God, the God of Israel the savior.
45:16 They are all confounded and ashamed: the forgers of errors are gone together into confusion.
45:17 Israel is saved in the Lord with an eternal salvation: you shall not be confounded, and you shall not be ashamed for ever and ever.
45:18 For thus says the Lord that created the heavens, God himself that formed the earth, and made it, the very maker thereof: he did not create it in vain: he formed it to be inhabited. I am the Lord, and there is no other.
45:19 I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I have not said to the seed of Jacob: seek me in vain. I am the Lord that speak justice, that declare right things.
45:20 Assemble yourselves, and come, and draw near together, you that are saved of the Gentiles: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven work, and pray to a god that cannot save.
45:21 Tell, and come, and consult together: who has declared this from the beginning, who has foretold this from that time? Have not I the Lord, and there is no God else besides me? A just God and a savior, there is none besides me.
45:22 Be converted to me, and you shall be saved, all you ends of the earth: for I am the Lord, and there is no other.
45:23 I have sworn by myself, the word of justice shall go out of my mouth, and shall not return:
45:24 For every knee shall be bowed to me, and every tongue shall swear.
45:25 Therefore shall he say: in the Lord are my justices and empire: they shall come to him, and all that resist him shall be confounded.
45:26 In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified and praised.
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).
The first of these is divided into two:
in the first, he promises them the benefit of liberation;
in the second, he excludes every impediment to liberation, thus says the Lord: what is this bill of the divorce (ch. 50).
The first of these is divided into three:
in the first, he foreshadows their liberator;
in the second, he foretells the destruction of those who capture and detain them, Bel (ch. 46);
in the third, he promises the liberation of the Jews: hear these things, O house of Jacob (ch. 48).
The first of these is divided into two:
in the first, he foretells the liberator;
in the second, he shows the consequent utility: thus says the Lord the Holy One of Israel (Isa 45:11).
The first of these is divided into three:
in the first, he foretells the power of the liberator;
in the second, he describes his birth: drop down dew, you heavens (Isa 45:8);
in the third, he refutes the contradiction of the unbelievers, where it says, woe to him that gainsays (Isa 45:9).
858 . Concerning the first, he does two things.
First, he sets out the height of power to which he was exalted, against three things which tend to evade the hand of a king.
Either because of multitude, and as to this, he says: my anointed , that is, my king, not because of his anointing, but because of his royal dignity, because among them, kings were anointed; whose right hand I have taken hold of , as the helper of his works, to subdue the various nations : the Lord shall cause your enemies (Deut 28:7).
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 106[107]:16).
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).
Concerning the first, he does two things.
First, he sets out the fruit of power sought by God in Cyrus, namely, knowledge of him: that you may know that I am the Lord : he calls those things that are not (Rom 4:17). And the liberation of his people: for the sake of my servant Jacob , namely, that you should liberate him from captivity: who knows whether you are not therefore come to the kingdom (Esth 4:14).
Second, he shows that this benefit is partly frustrated on the part of Cyrus himself: I have even called you by your name , foretelling your name, I have made you like , other holy men in this, whose names were previously foretold by the Lord; you have not known me , to be the only true God, as you remain in idolatry; I girded you , with strength: I called, and you refused (Prov 1:24).
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 Jews: and let them know that the Lord is your name: you alone are the most High over all the earth (Ps 82:19[83:18]).
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 42:25[24]).
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. Thus he does three things:
he describes his springing up: drop down ;
the fruit of his birth, and let justice spring up ;
and the first principle of his birth, I the Lord .
Let the clouds rain the just , neuter or masculine. Or by heaven and the clouds is signified the prophets and the other just ones who by foretelling him and begging God for him with tears, in a certain manner rained him: he shall come down like rain (Ps 71[72]:6).
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 this art was invented in Samos; your work is without hands , as if to say: without the proper working of the hands, or as jugs have hands, above: as if the clay should think against the potter (Isa 29:16); shall the thing formed say to him that formed it: why have you made me thus? (Rom 9:20).
Second, under the metaphor of a father who begets: woe to him that says to his father , as if to say: I am a father begetting Cyrus and like a mother conceiving him in intention, and therefore you ought not contradict me in this, just as you ought not contradict the mother who gave birth to you, below: shall not I that make others to bring forth children, myself bring forth, says the Lord? Shall I, that give generation to others, be barren? (Isa 66:9);
or he speaks against those diviners who foretold that many bad things would come from the birth of Cyrus, saying it would have been better if he had not been born; or against those of the Jews who were saying: why should we beget children to be born in captivity?
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.
First, he shows his authority to foretell future things: his , namely Cyrus’s, maker ( plastes ) ; concerning my children , the Jews, to be liberated, or whatever others I will to be born, and not the idols, above: should not the people seek of their God? (Isa 8:19). But the Gloss reads this ironically.
864 . Second, he foretells their liberation, showing his power, who promises it: I made the earth ; all their , namely, the heavens’, host , I have commanded , fixing for each its office and nature, above: who brings out their host by number (Isa 40:26). 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 you shall be redeemed, without money (Isa 52:3).
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 adhered to Christ; labor , in idolatry will cease, the earthly business ; and the subjection of the adherents: they shall walk after you , subject to you, with hands bound with manacles , that is, chains for binding hands, as if to say: so humiliated before you like those who are bound in such a manner; or with the chains of the precepts of Christ, below: they shall come bowing down to you (Isa 60:14); and he sets out the confession of truth: only in you , namely, they will say this. Hidden , not visible like our gods; the savior , not weak: he made darkness his covert (Ps 17:12[18:11]).
Second, he shows their exaltation as to the confusion of their enemies: they are all confounded : the nations shall see, and shall be confounded at all their strength (Mic 7:16).
Third, as to the perpetual salvation of the Jews: Israel is saved for ever , unless he should sin, or of the spiritual Israel: the king of Israel, the Lord, is in the midst of you, you shall fear evil no more (Zeph 3:15).
866 . For thus says the Lord . Here he sets out the other utility as to the conversion of the gentiles. And concerning this he does three things.
First, he introduces five reasons leading to conversion,
the first of which is taken from the creation of things: God himself that formed the earth : who made heaven and earth (Ps 145[146]:6);
second, from his love for men, for he gave them the earth as a dwelling place: he did not create it in vain : the heaven of heaven is the Lord’s: but the earth he has given to the children of men (Ps 113:24[115:16]);
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 (Ps 18:12[19:11]);
fifth, from the equity of his precepts: I am the Lord that speak justice , below: I, that speak justice (Isa 63:1).
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, the error of the gentiles, they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven work : you shall see in Babylon gods of gold, and of silver, and of stone, and of wood borne upon shoulders, causing fear to the Gentiles (Bar 6:3).
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 95[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. And he sets out the reasoning and the conclusion, where it says, have not I , therefore, etc.; he declares the things that are past, and the things that are to come (Sir 42:19).
868 . Third, he invites the gentiles to conversion.
And first, the invitation is set out: be converted : be converted to me (Zech 1:3).
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). Every knee shall be bowed to me , by Christians, for this is the manner of adoring the Redeemer, according to John Damascene, in the name of Jesus every knee should bow (Phil 2:10); he also sets out the sign of swearing, every tongue shall swear , for everyone swears by his god: all they shall be praised that swear by him (Ps 62:12[63:11]). He also sets out the sign of true confession: therefore shall he say: in the Lord , that is, in the person of the Lord; my , namely, God’s, justices and empire : to him be glory and empire (Rev 1:6); or my , namely, the Church’s, justices , the figures of the law of the Jews.
Third, he foretells the confusion of the unbelievers: they shall come to him , as if to be judged, who will not come as believers, in the day of judgment.
Fourth, the salvation of the believers: in the Lord shall all the seed of Israel , not only according to the flesh, but according to faith, be justified : let them that rise up against me be confounded (Ps 108[109]:28).
869 . Mystically, drop down dew (Isa 45:8), concerns the birth of Christ. In which he sets out three things: the principle of the birth, the birth of the infant, and the fruit of the birth. The principle is threefold.
First, heaven dropping down dew, as the effective principle, namely, the operation of the three persons, because of which the plural, you heavens , is used: the Father, in sending the Son: but when the fullness of the time was come, God sent his Son (Gal 4:4); the Son, in taking flesh: he humbled himself (Phil 2:8); the Holy Spirit, in causing his conception: that which is conceived in her, is of the Holy Spirit (Matt 1:20).
The second principle is the clouds raining, which is the preparative principle, in which is understood the office of the angel who announces the birth: the clouds spread their light (Job 37:11–12); the prophecy of the prophets (Luke 1:11, 26): dark waters in the clouds of the air (Ps 17:12[18:11]); which he had promised before, by his prophets (Rom 1:2); the desire of the just: who makes the clouds your chariot (Ps 103[104]:3); presently the Lord, whom you seek, and the angel of the testament, whom you desire, shall come to his temple (Mal 3:1).
The third principle is the earth budding forth, which is the receptive principle, namely, the Blessed Virgin, about whom it says in Psalm 84:13[85:12]: our earth shall yield her fruit ; whose affections are opened to find the privilege of grace: fear not, Mary (Luke 1:30); many daughters have gathered together riches: you have surpassed them all (Prov 31:29); whose intellect is opened to believe the word of the angel: blessed are you that have believed (Luke 1:45); whose womb is opened to conceive the Son of God, behold you shall conceive in your womb and shall bring forth a son (Luke 1:31).
870 . But his birth is compared to the dew, the rain, and the bud, because Christ is the dew for refreshing, above: as a cloud of dew in the day of harvest (Isa 18:4); the rain for making fertile: he shall come down like rain (Ps 71[72]:6), below: as the rain and the snow come down from heaven (Isa 55:10); the bud for bearing fruit: I will raise up to David a just branch (Jer 23:5).
871 . The fruit is justice, which is born with him in three ways:
that which he fulfilled in his works: so it becomes us to fulfill all justice (Matt 3:15);
that which he taught in his words, below: I, that speak justice (Isa 63:1);
that which he gave as a gift: he is made unto us wisdom and justice (1 Cor 1:30).