Thomas Aquinas Commentary Isaiah 54:1-17

"Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith Jehovah. Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations; spare not: lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes. For thou shalt spread aboard on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall possess the nations, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth; and the reproach of thy widowhood shalt thou remember no more. For thy Maker is thy husband; Jehovah of hosts is his name: and the Holy One of Israel is thy Redeemer; the God of the whole earth shall he be called. For Jehovah hath called thee as a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, even a wife of youth, when she is cast off, saith thy God. For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In overflowing wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting lovingkindness will I have mercy on thee, saith Jehovah thy Redeemer. For this is [as] the waters of Noah unto me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah shall no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I will not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains may depart, and the hills be removed; but my lovingkindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall my covenant of peace be removed, saith Jehovah that hath mercy on thee. O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will set thy stones in fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy pinnacles of rubies, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy border of precious stones. And all thy children shall be taught of Jehovah; and great shall be the peace of thy children. In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression, for thou shalt not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near thee. Behold, they may gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall because of thee. Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the fire of coals, and bringeth forth a weapon for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy. No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of Jehovah, and their righteousness which is of me, saith Jehovah." — Isaiah 54:1-17 (ASV)

1. Give praise, O you barren. Here, against the dejection of their circumstances, he promises the remedy of exaltation.

   First, he promises a multitude of people as a remedy for their small numbers.

   Second, he promises the restoration of honor to counter their shame: fear not (Isaiah 54:4).

   Third, he promises prosperity to counter their former adversity: O poor little one (Isaiah 54:11).

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

   First, he predicts a multitude of children, calling for thankful praise: O you barren, Jerusalem, that bear not, because you are forsaken and desolate, give praise to God for the benefits granted to you. He speaks of the joy of those who give praise: sing forth praise, for a song is the exultation of the mind bursting forth into voice. He also speaks of the greatness of their joy: cry out with joy, like a neighing horse, from the greatness of joy, being unable to form words to express it. Rejoice in joy, Jacob, and neigh before the head of the Gentiles (Jeremiah 31:7); to our God be joyful and comely praise (Psalms 147:1).

   And he promises a multitude of children: for many are the children of the desolate, more than of her that has a husband. It is as if to say, though you may be desolate, your children will be multiplied more than the children of cities that have husbands to father them: so that the barren has borne many: and she that had many children is weakened (1 Samuel 2:5).

3. Second, he exhorts them to enlarge their space, using the metaphor of a tent: enlarge the place, meaning the ground the tent covers; and stretch out the skins, with which it is covered; lengthen your cords, with which the stakes are tied; and strengthen your nails, meaning the pegs with which the boards are joined, or the stakes themselves. We read that these things were in the tabernacle of the covenant (Exodus 26 and 36). Because of this great multitude of people, it is necessary to seek a dwelling larger than the promised land, as stated above: the children of your barrenness shall still say in your ears: the place is too strait for me, make me room to dwell in (Isaiah 49:20).

4. Third, he predicts that they will fulfill this exhortation: for you shall pass on to the right hand, and to the left. This is as if to say: you will increase in every direction. This was fulfilled in the time of the Maccabees, when certain cities in the region of Samaria and other regions were added to the kingdom of the Jews: may your seed possess the gates of their enemies (Genesis 24:60).

5. Fear not. Here he promises the restoration of their former honor as a remedy for the shame they had previously endured.

   Second, he establishes the firmness of the promise: this thing is to me as in the days of Noah (Isaiah 54:9).

   Concerning the first point, he does two things.

   First, he promises the forgetting of their former shame: you shall not be confounded, inwardly, nor blush, outwardly; you shall not be put to shame by considering your disgrace. Because of the abundance of your glory, you shall forget the shame of your youth, when you sinned in the wilderness, and shall remember no more the reproach of your widowhood, when you were separated from God in the Babylonian captivity. As it is written above: you shall not be confounded, and you shall not be ashamed (Isaiah 45:17); in that day you shall not be ashamed for all your doings (Zephaniah 3:11).

6. Second, he promises the restoration of their former honor.

   First, he establishes this restoration regarding dominion: for he that made you shall rule over you, as stated above: O Lord, other lords besides you have had dominion over us (Isaiah 26:13). He also establishes it regarding marriage: for the Lord has called you as a woman forsaken. If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and marry another man, shall he return to her any more? (Jeremiah 3:1).

   Second, he promises an increase of honor, both in its magnitude—said your God, for a small moment, you have suffered, compared to the things that I, taking pity, will grant you: for that which is at present, is momentary (2 Corinthians 4:17)—and in its duration. In a moment, as if to say: for a short time you have felt my wrath compared to the time in which I will have mercy on you, as stated above: hide yourself a little for a moment (Isaiah 26:20). All these things that have been said are mystically explained as the calling of the Gentiles, for paganism was at first barren but later gathered many children, according to the Gloss.

7. This thing is to me as in the days of Noah. Here he shows the firmness of the promise.

   First, he does so by a comparison to an earlier promise: to whom I swore, which I firmly established, provided you remain in my commandments: I will establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you (Genesis 9:9); the covenants of the world were made with him, that all flesh should no more be destroyed with the flood .

   Second, he does so by the working of stable created things: for the mountains shall be moved. It is as if to say: it is easier for mountains and hills to be changed than for my words to become void. Alternatively, mountains and hills signify the powerful of the earth: we will not fear, when the earth shall be troubled (Psalms 46:2).

8. Note on the words, give praise, O you barren (Isaiah 54:1), that there is:

   1. The barrenness of perverse action: for the congregation of the hypocrite is barren (Job 15:34);
   2. The barrenness of holy contemplation: Rachel was barren (Genesis 29:31);
   3. The barrenness of temporal tribulation, as stated above: the children of your barrenness shall still say in your ears (Isaiah 49:20).

9. Note also on the words: enlarge the place of your tent (Isaiah 54:2), that the heart is to be enlarged:

   1. Because of the greatness of its guest: do not I fill heaven and earth, says the Lord? (Jeremiah 23:24);
   2. Because of the multitude of his gifts, as stated below: then shall you see, and abound, and your heart shall be enlarged (Isaiah 60:5);
   3. Because of the completion of the way: I have run the way of your commandments, when you enlarged my heart (Psalms 119:32).

10. Note also on the words, with great mercies (Isaiah 54:7), that the mercies to come are great:

    1. Because they are internal: for I reckon that the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come that shall be revealed in us (Romans 8:18);
    2. Because they are eternal: for the things which are seen are temporal: but the things which are not seen, are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18);
    3. Because they are perfect: for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed (Luke 1:48);
    4. Because they are extended to many: a certain man made a great supper and invited many (Luke 14:16);
    5. Because they are complete: God shall wipe away all tears from the eyes of the saints (Revelation 21:4).

11. O poor little one. Here he promises prosperity as a remedy for adversity.

    First, he recalls their former adversity: O poor little one, Jerusalem, stripped of its goods; tossed with tempest, of adversity, as stated above: to a nation rent and torn in pieces (Isaiah 18:2). I will send you.

    Second, he promises future prosperity.

    First, regarding the abundance of goods, he uses a metaphor: behold I will lay, as if in a pavement, your stones, precious stones, signifying men eminent in the virtues, in order, with each in its proper place: the gates of Jerusalem shall be built of sapphire, and of emerald, and all the walls thereof round about of precious stones .

    And he explains the metaphor regarding the teaching of divine knowledge, all your children shall be taught of the Lord: I will give my law in their bowels, and I will write it in their heart (Jeremiah 31:33); regarding the abundance of peace, and great shall be the peace of your children: much peace have they that love your law (Psalms 119:165); and regarding the justice of their works, and you shall be founded in justice, as stated above: Zion shall be redeemed in judgment, and they shall bring her back in justice (Isaiah 1:27).

12. Second, regarding freedom from evils:

    First, by promising deliverance from dangers: depart, that is, you will depart, for you will not suffer slander: he shall humble the calumniators (Psalms 72:4).Calumniatores. Vg.: calumniatorem. DR: “oppressor.”

    Second, by the joining of foreigners: behold, an inhabitant shall come, for many from the Gentiles joined them when they came out of captivity, as stated below: let not the son of the stranger, that adheres to the Lord, speak, saying: the Lord will divide and separate me from his people (Isaiah 56:3).

    Third, he promises the destruction of their enemies: behold, I.

    First, he shows the power of the one who promises, using a comparison: I have created the smith (the persecutor), who blows on the fire of tribulation and brings forth instruments (adversaries) for his work: his breath kindles coals (Job 41:21). And he explains this: I have created the killer to destroy: the Lord kills and makes alive (1 Samuel 2:6).

    Second, he states the promise: no vessel that is formed against you shall prosper, that is, he will scatter every plot, regarding those who attack with deeds, and every tongue, regarding those who attack with words, as stated above: they shall be as nothing (Isaiah 41:11).