Thomas Aquinas Commentary Isaiah 58:1-14

"Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and declare unto my people their transgression, and to the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways: as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God, they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near unto God. Wherefore have we fasted, [say they], and thou seest not? [wherefore] have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find [your own] pleasure, and exact all your labors. Behold, ye fast for strife and contention, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye fast not this day so as to make your voice to be heard on high. Is such the fast that I have chosen? the day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a rush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to Jehovah? Is not this the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy healing shall spring forth speedily; and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of Jehovah shall by thy rearward. Then shalt thou call, and Jehovah will answer; thou shalt cry, and he will say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking wickedly; and if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul: then shall thy light rise in darkness, and thine obscurity be as the noonday; and Jehovah will guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in dry places, and make strong thy bones; and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places; thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, [and] the holy of Jehovah honorable; and shalt honor it, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking [thine own] words: then shalt thou delight thyself in Jehovah; and I will make thee to ride upon the high places of the earth; and I will feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it." — Isaiah 58:1-14 (ASV)

1. Cry, do not cease. Here he excludes a useless remedy by which they wished to prepare themselves for salvation.

2. First, he commands the duty of announcing, setting out the manner of announcing. It must be loud, without fear suppressing it: cry, as it says, lift up your voice with strength, you who bring good tidings to Zion (Isaiah 40:9). It must be continuous: do not cease, as it says elsewhere, upon your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen; all the day and all the night, they will never be silent (Isaiah 62:6). It must be clear and open: like a trumpet, as in, Set the trumpet to your mouth! (Hosea 8:1). And the message of the announcement is: declare to my people their transgression, regarding greater sins, and their sins, regarding common sins, as it says, to them that rejoice upon the brick walls, declare their wounds (Isaiah 16:7).

3. Second, the prophet, speaking for the Lord, excludes the useless remedy: for they seek me day by day. Concerning this, he does two things:

   First, he excludes the remedy in which they trusted.

   Second, he exhorts them to those things in which they were lacking: Is not this the fast that I have chosen? (Isaiah 58:6).

4. Concerning the first point, he does two things.

   First, he shows the presumption of their confidence regarding three things in which they trusted. They trusted in the inquiry of sacred knowledge: for they seek me in the Scriptures, and desire to know my ways, my precepts and desires, as if they were a nation that did righteousness, that is, as if they were prepared to do them: they speak one to another (Ezekiel 33:30).

   They also trusted in prayer: they ask of me the judgments of justice, meaning that I might judge for them against their adversaries; they delight to draw near to God with their mouth, as it says elsewhere: this people draw near me with their mouth (Isaiah 29:13).

   Finally, they trusted in the observance of fasts: Why have we fasted, and you see it not?, as if asking why God is not grateful. Have we humbled our souls, and you take no notice?, referring to the circumstances of their fasts in outward humiliation, and God does not notice with approval. As it is written, It is vain to serve God. What profit is it that we have kept his ordinances? (Malachi 3:14).

5. Second, he shows the rejection of these good works.

   First, the cause of rejection is the fault of the will: behold, in the day of your fast you find your own pleasure, in things which please the flesh. As it is said, Go not after your lusts . It is also the fault of cruelty: and you demand payment from all your debtors, literally, so that they could persist for a long time in litigation, or in its consequences. It is also the fault of vanity: you do not fast as you have done until this day, to make your cry heard on high, for the sake of human praise. As Christ said, but when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father (Matthew 6:6). Alternatively, to make your cry heard on high means that you wish for your prayer to be heard by God: Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come to you (Psalms 102:1).

6. Second, he shows the insufficiency of these good works: Is this the kind of fast I have chosen? God does not choose your punishment for its own sake, neither the affliction of the flesh, which he addresses when he says, for a man to afflict his soul for an entire day; nor the abasement of exterior humiliation, which he addresses when he says, to wind his head about like a circle. This means bending the head all the way to the feet, or in a circle as monks do, not insofar as it is ordered toward virtue of the mind. As it is written, And when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance (Matthew 6:16); and, rend your heart and not your garments (Joel 2:13).

7. Is not this the fast that I have chosen? Here he introduces useful counsel.

   First, regarding the zeal of piety toward one’s neighbor.

   Second, regarding the worship of religious duty toward God: If you turn away (Isaiah 58:13).

   Concerning the first, he does two things. First, he sets out the counsel of piety, that false accusations should cease: loose the bonds of wickedness—the false lawsuits by which, like usurers, they cunningly bound the poor; undo the oppressive bundles, referring to the same thing; let those who are broken go free, from long servitude; and break every burden of servitude. As it is written, They bind heavy and unbearable burdens, but they themselves are not willing to move them with one of their fingers (Matthew 23:4).

   He also counsels that they extend mercy, exhorting them to be merciful to the hungry: share your bread with the hungry, that is, if you have little; to the homeless: and bring the needy and the homeless into your house; and to the naked: when you see the naked, to cover him. As Job said, if I have withheld from the poor what they desired (Job 31:16). He then sets out the reason for his exhortation: and do not despise your own flesh, namely, because your neighbor is of the same species as you: visiting your species (Job 5:24).

8. Second, he shows the fruit of this counsel: Then your light shall break forth.

   First, regarding the efficacy of their merits, then as to the works of their virtues: Then your light shall break forth like the morning. This means your merits will appear clearly in the rewards, about which you now complain to the Lord because they are not yet seen. The glory of the Lord shall gather you up, from captivity, or in the protection of his mercy. As it is written, He will bring forth your righteousness like the light, and your justice like the noonday (Psalms 37:6). Then, regarding the intercessions of prayer: Then you shall call, as it says elsewhere, at the sound of your cry, as soon as he hears it, he will answer you (Isaiah 30:19).

9. Second, regarding the attainment of goods.

   First, he returns to the meritorious work: if you take away the chain, by which you oppress the poor, and stop pointing the finger, disparaging and threatening. When you pour out your soul to the hungry, through compassion, and satisfy the afflicted soul, through assistance in necessities.

10. Second, he promises the reward: Then your light shall rise.

    First, regarding the multiplication of goods, he sets out liberation from evils: Then your light shall rise in the darkness. That is, adversity will be turned into the light of prosperity, ignorance into the light of knowledge, or sin into the light of righteousness, with respect to spiritual evils. And the Lord will give you rest always, with respect to temporal evils. As it is written, God, who commanded light to shine out of darkness (2 Corinthians 4:6).

    He promises a multiplication of interior, spiritual goods: He will fill your soul with brightness, namely, virtues or consolations, and will deliver your bones, with respect to bodily goods: a cheerful and good heart . And he promises a multiplication of exterior goods: and you will be like a watered garden, because of your prosperity, or an unfailing supply of all goods: How beautiful are your tents, O Jacob (Numbers 24:5).

11. Second, regarding the rebuilding of their homeland: and the places that have been desolate for ages, that is, the cities of the desert in former times, will be built after their return from captivity. You will raise up, rebuilding upon the old foundations, as it says elsewhere: who says to Jerusalem, ‘You shall be inhabited,’ and to the cities of Judah, ‘You shall be built’ (Isaiah 44:26).

12. Third, regarding the restoration of their reputation: and you will be called the repairer of the fences, that is, impediments to sin, turning the paths of sin into rest. As it is written, I will hedge up your way with thorns (Hosea 2:6).

13. If you turn away your foot from the sabbath. Here he sets out counsel regarding the worship of religious duty in the observation of the sabbath.

    First, he sets out the counsel: if you turn away your foot, so that you do not do prohibited works; and call the sabbath delightful, that is, celebrating this kind of sabbath, with respect to the exercise of good works: Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy (Exodus 20:8). Other versions have called instead of call, and the sense is the same.

    Second, he sets out the fruit: then you will take delight in the Lord, regarding spiritual goods; and I will lift you up above the high places of the earth, leading you back to your land, which is mountainous; and will feed you with the inheritance of Jacob your father, regarding the enjoyment of the goods of the land: then you will have your delight in the Almighty (Job 22:26).

14. Note on the words, lift up your voice like a trumpet (Isaiah 58:1), that preaching is a trumpet:

    1. First, because it rouses to life: for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible (1 Corinthians 15:52).
    2. Second, because it exhorts to battle: if the trumpet gives an uncertain sound, who will prepare for battle? (1 Corinthians 14:8).
    3. Third, because it announces an approach: a noise will be made with great trumpets (Isaiah 27:13).
    4. Fourth, because it calls to counsel: Set the trumpet to your mouth! (Hosea 8:1).
    5. Fifth, because it invites to a feast: Blow the trumpet at the new moon (Psalms 81:3).

15. Note also on the words, if you take away the chain from your midst (Isaiah 58:9), that there is a chain:

    1. First, of piety: for which I am an ambassador in a chain (Ephesians 6:20).
    2. Second, of iniquity: for they were all bound together with one chain of darkness .
    3. Third, of poverty: if they are bound (Job 36:8).
    4. Fourth, of servitude: you have broken chains of wood (Jeremiah 28:13).
    5. Fifth, of prison: out of prison and chains a man sometimes comes forth to a kingdom (Ecclesiastes 4:14).