Thomas Aquinas Commentary Isaiah 2:4-9

"And he will judge between the nations, and will decide concerning many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of Jehovah. For thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they are filled [with customs] from the east, and [are] soothsayers like the Philistines, and they strike hands with the children of foreigners. And their land is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land also is full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots. Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made. And the mean man is bowed down, and the great man is brought low: therefore forgive them not." — Isaiah 2:4-9 (ASV)

1. And he shall judge. Here he promises peace to the converted. He addresses this in three ways:

   First, he sets out what brings about peace.

   Second, he shows the sign of peace: and they shall turn their swords into ploughshares.

   Third, he describes the fruit of peace: nation shall not lift up sword.

   What brings about peace is the judgment of a king. Therefore, he first says, he shall judge the Gentiles, giving them laws, and rebuke many peoples, correcting their faults. As it says below: he shall judge the poor with justice, and shall reprove with equity for the meek of the earth (Isaiah 11:4).

   The sign of peace is that the instruments of war are turned into tools for cultivating the field. Hence he says, and they shall turn their swords into ploughshares. He shall destroy the bow, and break the weapons (Psalms 46:9).

   The fruit of peace is the removal of enemies. Hence he says, nation shall not lift up sword against nation. As it says below: the old error is passed away: you will keep peace: peace, because we have hoped in you (Isaiah 26:3).

2. On the contrary, it could be argued that many wars occurred afterward. The Gloss responds that these were not as widespread as before. Thus, in the time of the Antichrist, no matter how great the future persecution of the saints, they will still have great peace among themselves, as it was in the time of Diocletian. Or, it may be better said that this refers to the peace made through Christ, which will be completed in the future.

3. O house of Jacob. Here he addresses the calling of the Jews after the conversion of the Gentiles has occurred. He speaks either in the person of the prophet or in the person of the Gentiles, so that those who were at the head may be at the tail: blindness in part has happened in Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles should come in (Romans 11:25).

   Let us walk, together and in agreement, so that there may be one sheepfold: and there shall be one fold and one shepherd (John 10:16). In the light. Walk whilst you have the light (John 12:35).

4. For you have cast off. Here he shows their guilt.

   He does this first in general, and second in particular, beginning with: and have had soothsayers.

   Regarding the first point, he does two things.

   First, he shows their separation from God when he says, for you have cast off. As the Gloss continues, "rightly are they to be called, because you have cast them off." Why are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not? (Jeremiah 22:28).

   Second, he gives the reason for their separation: because, namely, they are filled with iniquity, as in times past in Egypt. The land is full of adulterers (Jeremiah 23:10). For there is no cause of separation from God except sin. As it says below: your sinsPeccata. Vg.: iniquitates. have divided between you and your God (Isaiah 59:2).

5. And soothsayers. Here he details their particular fault, especially concerning idolatry, which he denounces in them in three ways.

   First, regarding their gentile way of life.

   Second, regarding the occasion for idolatry, where it says, their land is filled with silver and gold (Isaiah 2:7).

   Third, regarding their practice of worship, where it says, and their land is filled (Isaiah 2:8).

6. He censures them for their gentile way of life in two areas.

   First, regarding the diviners and soothsayers they had. Hence he says: soothsayers,Augures. that is, those who foretell the future from the cry and chirping of birds, as the Philistines, among whom this superstition flourished most. This was against what is commanded in Deuteronomy 18:9: beware lest you have a mind to imitate the abominations of those nations. And immediately below this, it says, let there be not found among you any one . . . that consults soothsayers, or observes dreams and omens (Deuteronomy 18:10).

7. But it seems that augury is not a sin. For birds have a better sense of estimation than fish, which are more aquatic; but sailors obtain predictions of a coming storm from the movement of certain fish. Therefore, something may also be foretold about the future through birds.

   To this, it must be said that God foresaw what was necessary for each thing to be preserved in its being, according to the capacity of its nature. Therefore, to man He gave reason, through which, by comparing, he is able to devise remedies for himself against harmful things. And because reason is lacking in brute animals, He ordained that nature should supply what reason lacks. Therefore, weapons and coverings, which man must acquire for himself through skill, are given to animals by nature.

   Similarly, a certain power of natural estimation was also created in them, impelling them to carry out the activities of their species. Hence, it is better to say that they are acted upon than that they act, as John DamasceneDe Fide Orth. 2.27 (PG 94, 960; ed. Buytaert, 41, 20). says. When a lower nature is regulated and moved by a higher nature, impressions of the higher movements are left in them. These impressions stir the lower nature to provide for its own necessities.

   Obtaining a prediction in such matters from birds, or from the movements of birds or other animals, is not a sin. It is a sin only when it concerns things that have their cause in free will, which does not operate by the necessity of the stars.

8. Second, he censures them regarding the unnatural passions to which they were subject. Hence he says: they have adhered to strange children—that is, foreign, or estranged from God—through filthy abuse. Men with men, working that which is filthy (Romans 1:27). In 2 Maccabees 4:13, it is said of this vice, now this was . . . an increase, and progress of heathenish and foreign manners, through the abominable and unheard of wickedness of Jason, that impious wretch, and no priest.

9. Their land is filled. Here he sets out the occasion for idolatry, which is avarice or something like it: or covetousness . . . which is a serving of idols (Ephesians 5:3–5).

   First, therefore, he shows their avarice regarding the multiplication of things that pertain to the necessities of life, when he says, their land is filled, which indicates an abundance of things. And there is no end indicates the insatiability of the covetous person, who is not satisfied with money. A covetous man shall not be satisfied with money: and he that loves riches shall reap no fruit from them (Ecclesiastes 5:9). And: I gave them corn, and wine, and oil, and silver, and I multiplied for them,Dedi eis frumentum, vinum et oleum et argentum, et multiplicavi eis. Vg.: dedi ei frumentum, vinum, et oleum, et argentum multiplicavi ei. DR: “I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver.” and gold, which they have used in the service of Baal (Hosea 2:8).

   Second, he shows their avarice regarding things that pertain to transportation, where he says, filled with horses. Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will call upon the name of the Lord, our God (Psalms 20:7).

10. Their land also is full of idols. Here he denounces the worship of idolatry in them, and he adds weight to this from three things.

    First, from its pervasiveness, where he says, also is full: Ephraim has made many altars to sin (Hosea 8:11); under every green tree, and on every high hill you didst prostitute yourself (Jeremiah 2:20).

    Second, from the worthlessness of the idols: for they are the work of their own hands, and still more, which their own fingers have made. The idols of the Gentiles are silver and gold, the works of the hands of men (Psalms 115:4).

    Third, from the dignity of humanity. Therefore he says: man, who was made in the image of God, has bowed himself down by putting himself under idols. Man, who seems powerful in regard to his acquired things, has been debased: man when he was in honor did not understand; he is compared to senseless beasts, and is become like to them (Psalms 49:12). As it says below: he bows down before it, and adores it, and prays unto it, saying: deliver me (Isaiah 44:17).