Thomas Aquinas Commentary Isaiah 50:1-11

"Thus saith Jehovah, Where is the bill of your mother`s divorcement, wherewith I have put her away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities were ye sold, and for your transgressions was your mother put away. Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? Behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stink, because there is no water, and die for thirst. I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering. The Lord Jehovah hath given me the tongue of them that are taught, that I may know how to sustain with words him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as they that are taught. The Lord Jehovah hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away backward. I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I hid not my face from shame and spitting. For the Lord Jehovah will help me; therefore have I not been confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame. He is near that justifieth me; who will content with me? let us stand up together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me. Behold, the Lord Jehovah will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? behold, all they shall wax old as a garment, the moth shall eat them up. Who is among you that feareth Jehovah, that obeyeth the voice of his servant? he that walketh in darkness, and hath no light, let him trust in the name of Jehovah, and rely upon his God. Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that gird yourselves about with firebrands; walk ye in the flame of your fire, and among the brands that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of my hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow." — Isaiah 50:1-11 (ASV)

1. Thus says the Lord: What is this... Here the prophet begins to address the obstacles to Israel's liberation. He proceeds in two parts:

1. First, he removes the obstacles.
2. Second, he applies the remedies, beginning with, who has believed our report? (Isaiah 53).

Regarding the first part, he removes three obstacles:

1. The perceived lack of divine benefits.
2. The dejection of the people: give ear to me, you who follow (Isaiah 51).
3. Their poverty of possessions: arise, arise (Isaiah 52).

Concerning the first of these points, he does three things:

1. He dismisses the obstacle.
2. He presents himself as an example: the Lord has given... (Isaiah 50:4).
3. He draws from this a beneficial counsel: Who is there among you that fears the Lord... (Isaiah 50:10).

Regarding the first of these actions, he does two things:

1. He refutes the idea of a lack of divine benefits based on God's will.
2. He refutes it based on God's power: Is my hand shortened...? (Isaiah 50:2).

2. Regarding the first point, he does three things.

1. First, he refutes any lack of divine will, as though God, of His own accord, did not wish to benefit them. He does this by ruling out two ways of alienation. The first is the way a husband alienates a wife, which occurred through a bill of divorce, as stated in Deuteronomy 24:1. This was permitted to them because of the hardness of their hearts (Matthew 19:8). He asks, What is this bill of the divorce of your mother?

   However, an objection might be raised from Jeremiah 3:8, which says, because Israel had played the harlot, I had put her away.

   The response to this is that the Lord, considered in Himself, did not reject them; rather, they, through their sins, "put God away." He also rules out the second way of alienation, that of a possession: or who is my creditor, to whom I sold you? It is as if to say: If I were to sell you, who are my inheritance (Isaiah 19:25), to a creditor, what debt would I be repaying, since I owe nothing? Thus it is clear that because I did not remove you from my dominion, I am ready to benefit you of my own accord.

2. 3. Second, he shows the sin of the human will: behold you are sold for your iniquities. As Paul says, but I am a carnal man, sold under sin (Romans 7:14).

3. Third, he presents the argument for this: because I came, through inspiration, and I called, through the prophets, yet you did not respond. As it is written, I called, and you refused (Proverbs 1:24).

4. Is my hand shortened? Here he refutes any lack on the part of divine power. First, he dismisses the idea of a lack of power itself. The word shortened implies an inability to subject them to Himself even from afar, or that His hand is too little to act against the powerful, as it says later: behold the hand of the Lord is not shortened (Isaiah 59:1).

Second, he presents a sign of His divine power, showing it first in the waters and then in the heavens.

1. In the waters: behold, at my rebuke—that is, my command—I will make the sea a desert, if I wish, as I did when Israel came out of Egypt (Exodus 14:15–31). I will turn the rivers into dry land, like the Arnon (Numbers 21:13–20) and the Jordan (Joshua 4). The fishes shall rot, as in Exodus 7:16–21, when the waters were turned into blood. As the Psalm says, He rebuked the Red Sea and it was dried up (Psalms 106:9).
2. In the heavens: I will clothe the aerialCf. ST I.68.4, resp. heavens with darkness, as in Egypt (Exodus 10:21). As it is written, Who covers the heaven with clouds (Psalms 147:8).

5. The Lord has given me... Here he presents himself as an example. First, regarding the grace of the benefit he received, he speaks of both eloquence and wisdom.

• Eloquence: a learned tongue, so that I would know how to uphold with words of encouragement. As Job says, your words have strengthened those who were staggering (Job 4:4).
• Wisdom: he awakens my ear to listen in the morning—that is, from the beginning of my preaching, or from the beginning of his life, or because he was then alone to pray. As the Psalm says, I will meditate on you in the morning (Psalms 63:6). The Lord God has opened my ear to understand, for I will hear what the Lord God will speak in me (Psalms 85:8), and one is your master, Christ (Matthew 23:10).

6. Second, he presents himself as an example regarding obedience. He describes his perfect obedience: and I do not resist; instead, I receive and accept His inspiration. I have not gone back from my good intention, as it says above, woe to him that contradicts his maker (Isaiah 45:9). He also presents the constancy of his obedience, showing that he did not abandon it for any danger: I have given my body—that is, I exposed myself to suffer such things. Or perhaps the prophet literally suffered these things, but this was completely fulfilled in Christ (Matthew 26 and 27). As Jeremiah says, I have given my dear soul into the hand of enemies (Jeremiah 12:7).

7. Third, he gives himself as an example regarding the trust he had in God. He does this in three ways:

1. He presents his ready defense: The Lord God is my helper. As Jeremiah says, the Lord is with me as a strong warrior (Jeremiah 20:11).
2. He shows the security of his trust: and I set my face as a most hard rock, so that I might be moved by neither fear nor shame. As Ezekiel was told, I have made your face like an adamant and like flint (Ezekiel 3:9).
3. He gives the reason for this security, based first on the power of the One who helps him and second on the weakness of his attackers.
   • The reason from God's power: He is near who justifies me—namely, God. Who will contend with me in words? Let us stand together. As Job says, set me beside you, O Lord, and let any man’s hand fight against me (Job 17:3). Who is my adversary in deeds? Who is he that will condemn me with false judgments? As Paul writes, God is he that justifies: who is he that shall condemn? (Romans 8:33–34).
   • The reason from his attackers' weakness: behold, they will all be destroyed like a garment by old age, which signifies natural decay, and by the moth, which signifies the violent man. As Job says, who am to be consumed as rottenness, and as a garment that is moth-eaten (Job 13:28).

It is as if to say: Because of all these things, just as I obey God and trust in Him after the benefits I received, so should you also.

8. Who is there among you? Here he draws beneficial counsel from his own example. First, he presents the counsel, and second, he describes their contempt for it: behold all you... (Isaiah 50:11).

He counsels them to trust in God, and in doing so, he does three things:

1. He considers the proper basis for trust, which comes from fear and obedience: that fears the Lord, that hears the voice of his servant—Isaiah, or any other servant. As the Psalm asks, who is the man that fears the Lord? (Psalms 25:12).
2. He shows the necessity of trust, especially for one that has walked in darkness—whether of error or adversity. As Jesus said, he who walks in the night, stumbles (John 11:10).
3. He presents the counsel itself: let him hope in the name of the Lord, as it says above regarding the remnant of Israel (Isaiah 10:20).

9. Behold all you... Here he describes their contempt for this counsel, presenting three things:

1. Their fault: you that kindle a fire by your sins, deserving it for yourselves, and are girded, as though bound by your sins or ready for sin. As it says above, and your strength shall be as the ashes of tow (Isaiah 1:31).
2. The punishment: walk in the light of your fire, as if to say, "Receive your punishment." As the Psalm says, the sinner has been caught in the works of his own hands (Psalms 9:16).
3. The power of the one who punishes: by my hand—namely, by the power of God—you shall sleep in the sleep of death.

10. A note on the words, you are sold for your iniquities (Isaiah 50:1). A person sells many things for sin:

1. The virtue of his soul: they have given all their precious things for vile thingsVili. Vg.: cibo. DR: “food.” (Lamentations 1:11).
2. His heavenly inheritance: the Lord be merciful to me, and not let me sellVendam. Vg.: dem. DR: “give.” the inheritance of my fathers (1 Kings 21:3).
3. The freedom of his soul: there is not a more wicked thing than to love money .
4. The honor of divine love: the Lord loves the children of Israel (Hosea 3:1).

11. Also, on the words, and I do not contradict (Isaiah 50:5), note that people contradict God in several ways:

1. Those who are unfaithful to divine truth: in no way contradictContradicas. DR: “speak against.” the truth (Ecclesiastes 4:30).
2. Those who are impatient with divine correction: who has contradictedContradicit. Vg.: restitit. DR: “ hath resisted.” him, and has had peace? (Job 9:4).
3. Those who are unrepentant toward the divine goodness: they will be as nothing, and the men who contradict you will perishContradicunt. DR: “strive against.” (Isaiah 41:11).
4. Those who are disobedient toward divine authority: your people are like those who contradict the priest (Hosea 4:4).

12. Note also on the words, you shall sleep in sorrows (Isaiah 50:11), that sinners are sorrowful in death for four reasons:

1. Because of the loss of physical things: the rich man, when he sleeps, will take away nothing with him (Job 27:19).
2. Because of the accusation of their conscience: repenting, and groaning for anguish of spirit .
3. Because of the despair of future glory: the crown is fallen from our head: woe to us, because we have sinned (Lamentations 5:16).
4. Because of the fear of punishment: there were pains as of a woman in labor (Psalms 48:6–7).