Thomas Aquinas Commentary Isaiah 48:1-22

"Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah; who swear by the name of Jehovah, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness (for they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; Jehovah of hosts is his name): I have declared the former things from of old; yea, they went forth out of my mouth, and I showed them: suddenly I did them, and they came to pass. Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass; therefore I have declared it to thee from of old; before it came to pass I showed it thee; lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them. Thou hast heard it; behold all this; and ye, will ye not declare it? I have showed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, which thou hast not known. They are created now, and not from of old; and before this day thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them. Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from of old thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou didst deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb. 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. Behold, I have refined thee, but not as silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. For mine own sake, for mine own sake, will I do it; for how should [my name] be profaned? and my glory will I not give to another. Hearken unto me, O Jacob, and Israel my called: I am he; I am the first, I also am the last. Yea, my hand hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spread out the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together. Assemble yourselves, all ye, and hear; who among them hath declared these things? He whom Jehovah loveth shall perform his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm [shall be on] the Chaldeans. I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him; I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous. Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; from the beginning I have not spoken in secret; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord Jehovah hath sent me, and his Spirit. Thus saith Jehovah, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am Jehovah thy God, who teacheth thee to profit, who leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. Oh that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea: thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the grains thereof: his name would not be cut off nor destroyed from before me. Go ye forth from Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans; with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth: say ye, Jehovah hath redeemed his servant Jacob. And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts; he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them; he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out. There is no peace, saith Jehovah, to the wicked." — Isaiah 48:1-22 (ASV)

1. Hear these things, O house of Jacob. Here he promises the liberation of the people. This is divided into two parts.

   In the first part, he promises liberation. In the second, he describes the order of liberation, beginning in Isaiah 49:1: give ear, you islands.

   The first part is itself divided into two. First, he stirs up their attention by recalling three things in which they gloried: the dignity of their race, because they came from holy fathers (out of the waters—that is, the seed—of Judah), against which it is said in Matthew 3:9, and think not to say within yourselves, we have Abraham for our father; the privilege of divine knowledge (you who swear, invoking His name, and remember Him, but not in truth of heart, nor in justice of works), as it says above: this people with their lips glorify me, but their heart is far from me (Isaiah 29:13); and the worship of holy religion (the holy city, namely, Jerusalem, where the worship of sacrifices took place), for they are called Jerusalemites. As it is written, God did not choose the people for the place’s sake, but the place for the people’s sake .

2. Second, he promises liberation: the former things of old. Concerning this, he does three things.

   First, he shows the majesty of God who promises it.

   Second, he shows the prosperity of Cyrus who executes it, beginning with, assemble yourselves together, all you, and so on.

   Third, he promises liberation, beginning with, come near to me (Isaiah 48:16).

   Concerning the first of these points, he does two things.

   First, he shows the majesty of God from the foretelling of future events. Second, he shows it from the creation of all things, beginning with, hearken to me, O Jacob (Isaiah 48:12).

3. Concerning the first point, he does three things.

   First, he gives the reason for foretelling certain future events, presenting the foretelling itself: the former things—which have already passed—of old—when they were still to come—were declared suddenly, in regard to others by whom they were not foretold. He declares the things that are past, and the things that are to come .

   He then presents the reason for this, which is taken from their condition. He first describes this condition: For I knew, from eternity, that you are stubborn in turning from evil. Your neck—that is, the stiff-necked obstinacy of your own understanding—is an iron sinew, which cannot be bent. Your forehead is as brass because of your shamelessness. As it is written: you stiff-necked (Acts 7:51); for I know your obstinacy, and your most stiff neck (Deuteronomy 31:27); you had a harlot’s forehead (Jeremiah 3:3).

   From this, he then draws the reason: I foretold it. This is as if to say: Because you were prone to idolatry, I foretold these things, so that you would not ascribe my benefits to idols. I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread (Hosea 2:5). He also presents the manifestation of what was foretold: The things which you have heard, foretold to you by me, now see them fulfilled. As we have heard, so have we seen (Psalms 48:8).

4. Second, he gives the reason for concealing other future events. He first presents the concealment itself: As was said, I foretold certain future things, but other future things are kept—that is, in my foreknowledge—which you know not, because I have not revealed them to you. Now, in time, they are created—that is, brought into effect—and not of old, when I foreknew them. And before the day of their fulfillment, you heard them not, neither from me nor from the idols. The Lord has hid it from me, and has not told me (2 Kings 4:27).

   He also gives the reason for this: lest you should say, “Behold, I knew them.” This is as if to say: I have not revealed them so that you may perceive your own weakness and that of your gods, in that you cannot foreknow future events except what I reveal to you. You would claim, “I knew them,” by your own skill. You have neither heard from idols, nor was your ear opened by me. Man shall come to a deep heart (Psalms 64:6–7).

   He also describes their condition, from which this reason is drawn: For I know... from the womb—that is, from the time when I carried you through the desert as if in the womb. I see that this people is stiff-necked (Exodus 32:9). As it says above: with the prevarication of transgressors (Isaiah 24:16).

5. Third, he addresses a certain objection, beginning with, for my name’s sake. For someone may ask: Since they are so stubborn, why do you promise and do good things for them?

   He first presents the response to this objection, recalling three benefits shown to them. First, for my name’s sake—not because of your merits—I will remove my wrath far off (or, I have removed it), freeing you from punishment. It is not for your sake that I will do this, O house of Israel, but for my holy name’s sake (Ezekiel 36:22). Second, and for my praise I will bridle you; that is, I have bound you to my ceremonies and praises, so that you would not perish by offering sacrifices to idols. With bit and bridle bind fast their jaws (Psalms 32:9). Third, I have refined you—wishing to cleanse you through trials—but not as silver, which is cleansed; yet you were not corrected. The founder has melted in vain (Jeremiah 6:29). I have chosen you, namely, by cleansing you through poverty and punishing you by the plundering of your goods. As Gregory says, “Those whom the sickness of habits wounds, the medicine of poverty heals,”Compare to Homilies on the Gospels 40.10 (PL 76, 1307D). and this is a paternal correction.

   Second, he presents the explanation for the response: for my own sake, that I may not be blasphemed, as though I were powerless to save the people I have chosen for myself. And I will not give my glory to another, so that idols would not be thought to be more powerful than I am. As it says above: I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to graven things (Isaiah 42:8).

6. Hearken to me. Here he shows the divine majesty from the creation of all things. I shall call them, placing on each its proper work, and they shall stand, ready to obey. As it says above: who has poised with three fingers the bulk of the earth? (Isaiah 40:12).

7. Assemble yourselves. Here he foretells Cyrus’s prosperity.

   First, he shows the concealment of this fact from others: Who among them—namely, the idols? As if to say: None of them. As it says above: who has declared from the beginning? (Isaiah 41:26).

   Second, he foretells his prosperity: The Lord has loved him—namely, Cyrus—advancing him to kingship. He will do his pleasure in Babylon by capturing it, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans, killing them by my power. And truly doing you shall do, and prevailing you shall prevail (1 Samuel 26:25).

   Third, he gives the reason for his prosperity, which comes from divine help: I, even I... his way is made right—not absolutely, but so that he might destroy Babylon. Otherwise, as Jerome says, this cannot be explained as being about Cyrus, who was an idolater, but only about Christ.In Isaiam (461C; 530). And he led them into the right way (Psalms 107:7).

8. Come near to me. Here he promises liberation. Concerning this, he does three things.

   First, he stirs up their attention by presenting divine authority: I have not spoken in secret, but all the people saw the voices (Exodus 20:18). From the beginning of the law being given, from the time, in the past, before it was done—that is, what I foretell—I was there. This means He was present to those future events, remaining through the same “now” of eternity in the whole succession of time. Alternatively, this is in the person of the Son: I was there, namely, in the Father according to His divinity. When he balanced the foundations of the earth (Proverbs 8:28). He then presents the truth of the prophet, who was sent by God: And now... me (Isaiah), or me (Christ made man), the Lord GOD (the Father) has sent, and his Spirit. Thus the three persons are designated. As it says below: the spirit of the Lord is upon me (Isaiah 61:1).

9. Second, where it says, Thus says the Lord, he presents the reason for their captivity. He shows, on God’s part, ready help: that teach (against their ignorance) and that govern you in the way of works (against the weakness of their efforts). I will give you understanding, and I will instruct you in this way, in which you shall go (Psalms 32:8). He also shows the harm that came from the fault of the Jews: O that you had hearkened to my commandments, by keeping them! Then your peace would have been as a river, abounding, and your righteousness as the waves of the sea. If my people had heard me: if Israel had walked in my ways: I should soon have humbled their enemies, and laid my hand on them that troubled them (Psalms 81:13–14).

10. Third, where it says, Come forth, he foretells their liberation. Concerning this, he does three things.

    First, he proclaims their departure from captivity, so certain of their liberation that it is spoken of as if it were present: Come forth. Go out from her (Revelation 18:4). He commands that they should declare the benefit from God: Declare... the voice of them that flee, and of them that have escaped out of the land of Babylon: to declare in Zion the revenge of the Lord our God (Jeremiah 50:28).

    Second, he points out to the liberated the past benefit of consolation: They thirsted not. That is, the Lord will so provide for them in all things, as when they came out of Egypt. He struck the rock, and the waters gushed out (Psalms 78:20), Numbers 21:16.Compare to Numbers 20:13.

    Third, he removes the comfort of peace from the wicked: There is no peace, as it says below (Isaiah 57:21). What have you to do with peace? (2 Kings 9:18).

11. Poverty confers :

    • Recognition of sins: if they are bound, etc.Compare to Job 36:13.
    • Preservation of virtues: the poor man is glorified by his discipline and fear .
    • Peace of heart: our poverty was sufficient for us .
    • Fulfillment of desire: the Lord has heard the desire of the poor (Psalms 10:17).
    • Participation in divine sweetness: in your sweetness, O God, you have provided for the poor (Psalms 68:10).
    • Exaltation: he raises up the needy from the dust (1 Samuel 2:8).
    • A heavenly inheritance: blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3).

12. The words of God are profitable :

    • For the illumination of the intellect: the commandment is a lamp (Proverbs 6:23).
    • For the delight of the affections: how sweet are your words to my palate (Psalms 119:103).
    • For the kindling of love: there came in my heart as a burning fire (Jeremiah 20:9); the word of the Lord inflamed him (Psalms 105:19).
    • For the uprightness of works: direct me in your truth (Psalms 25:5).
    • For the attainment of glory: keep the law (Proverbs 3:21).
    • For the instruction of others: all divine doctrine (2 Timothy 3:16).