Commentary on Chapter 1

(1) "A vision when Isaiah the son of Amoz saw, when he saw Judah and Jerusalem, into the kingdom of Uzziah, and Jetham, and Ahaz, and Hezekiah, who was the kingdom of Judah."

Of our sensory organs, sight has the clearest idea of what is felt. And it is impossible to know the terrible by hearing as sight knows, and the desired is not perceived by any faculty as sight. For this reason, the contemplation of the true, in its clarity and certainty, is called vision. And for this reason the Prophet is called seer and seer. For we learn from Amos what Amaziah said: "Behold, come, and go to the land of Judah, and there shalt thou prophesy" (cf. Amos 7:12). In the books of Kings, Samuel is called the seer. For it is said: "The prophet is called by the people who see before them" (cf. 1 Samuel 9:9). Since they foresaw the future, they were called "in the past," and since they saw the counsels of God, they were also called seers. Therefore our task is to take care of the mind, so that it, having been perfected through appropriate exercises, may become clairvoyant; but to be illumined by the Spirit to the understanding of His mysteries is a gift of God.

The prophet first called it "vision," and then added a verbal explanation, wishing to show that he had received it by hearing, but was announcing the meaning of the word imprinted in his mind. For we need words to express our thoughts, and God, touching in those who are worthy of their souls the most sovereign, imprints in them a vision of His own purpose.

Why was the name of the father added by the Prophet? To show that his prophetic gift is a paternal heritage.

"And when I saw Judea." What does this repetition mean? The prophet expresses the commonality of the vision with the first word, and with the second word he means the peculiarity, that is, what kind of vision is it, what is it and how is it different?

Thus, the words were visible, that is, contemplated by the mind, and it was they that the Prophet saw, according to what is said in the Book of Exodus: "And all men beheld the voice" (Exodus 20:18). Other prophets began their prophecies in a similar way. "The Vision of Avdiah. This saith the Lord God of Idumea: I have heard a hearing from the Lord, a tidings in the tongues of the ambassador" (Obed. 1:1). And in Nahum: "Prophecy" (entrustment, commission), "about Nineveh; the book of the vision of Nahum the son of Elkeseite" (Nahum 1:1). And in Habakkuk: "Vision" (το λημμα), "Habakkuk saw the prophet" (Hab. 1:1). Malachi also used the word "commission" without adding the word "vision": "Prophecy" (το λημμα) "the word of the Lord against Israel by the hand of His angel" (Mal. 1:1). And it seems that the Prophets, by the word "commission" (το λημμα), express what they did not have of themselves, but received the power of prophecy, so that the word "commission" can be equivalent to the word "gift of God." Some of the prophets claim that there are books of vision, while others say that they have heard words from God. For it is said, "The word of the Lord came to Hosea the son of Beiriah, in the days of Uzziah, and of Jotham, and of Ahaz, and of Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel. The beginning of the word of the Lord to Hosea" (Hos. 1:1-2). And in Amos: "The words of Amoz, which were in Kariathiarim from Thecuah, which was seen of Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam king of Israel, before the two years of cowardice" (cf. Amos 1:1). Here the order is changed against Isaiah. There a vision is set up in advance and the words "Hear, O heaven" (Isaiah 1:2) are added, and here the proposed words were followed by a vision. For it is said, "The words of Amos," and not the vision of Amos; "words", not "as I heard", but "as I saw". And Micah says: "And the word of the Lord came to Micah Morasphitine, in the days of Jotham and Ahaz and Hezekiah the kings of Judah, of whom Samaria and Jerusalem came" (cf. Micah 1:1). And "the word of the Lord came to Joel the son of Bethuel" (Joel 1:1). "And the word of the Lord came to Jonah" (Jonah 1:1). And "the word of the Lord, when it came to Zephaniah the son of Hushaiah, the son of Gedaliah, Amoriah, Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amun, king of Judah" (Zeph. 1:1). Haggai, on the other hand, expresses both the meaning of time and the acceptance of the word in a special way. For it is said: "In the second year, in the time of Darius, kings, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to pass by the hand of Haggai the prophet" (Haggai 1:1). But it seems to me that the expression "by hand" used here is equivalent to the word "commission" (το λημμα) written in others. And in Zechariah: "In the last month, of the second year, in the time of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah Barachiah, the son of Addob, the prophet" (Zech. 1:1).

"Into the kingdom of Uzziah, and of Jotham, and of Ahaz, and of Hezekiah." The remark about time was necessary so that everyone could see how much time was predicted and how long it took to be fulfilled, and to understand that with the increase of infirmity, God's care also abounded. Almost most of the prophets converged in time. Hosea was in the days of Uzziah, and in the days of Jeroboam; Micah — in the days of Jotham and Ahaz; Zephaniah in the days of Josiah the son of Amon. Of the other prophets, some wrote prophecies without indicating the time, others designated the reigns of the barbarians, as more famous at that time for their power. Haggai and Zechariah, Obadiah and Nahum, Habakkuk, Jonah and Malachi did not mention time. And many of the prophets did not mention the fathers either. And perhaps those who descended from famous fathers could thereby attract more attention, because they have more confidence in famous people. And those who came from noble parents kept silent about them. However, the father of Isaiah is not the same Amos who is among the twelve lesser prophets, for the pronunciation of the names is not the same, and the signification of them is not the same. One is pronounced with a thick breath, and the other with a subtle aspiration. Likewise, the meanings are different: the name of the father of Isaiah and the quality of this word mean firmness, strength and strength, and the name of the Prophet expresses a cruel word.

It seems that before Isaiah's prophecy there was a prophecy of Hosea, according to what is said: "The beginning of the word of the Lord to Hosea" (Hos. 1:2). It must also be known that the same Uzziah was also called Azariah. In the First Book of Chronicles he is called Uzziah, and in the Second Book of Kings he is called Azariah, though the son of the same father and the same mother, for his mother was Caliah, and his father was Amaziah, and the reign was the same, fifty-two years. In the time of Uzziah, Isaiah, Hosea, and Amos prophesied. But since "the beginning of the word of the Lord was to Hosea," was he not the first to prophesy? And since Amos prophesied "before two years of cowardice," was it not before the vision of Isaiah, in which it says: "And he took up the door" (Isaiah 6:4)?

(2) "Hear, O heaven, and inspire, O earth, as the Lord has spoken."

Since the prophecy was of an evil generation and did not find listeners among people, the Prophet speaks to heaven and earth. In the presence of these witnesses the law was also given, as Moses says: "I testify unto you this day in heaven and earth" (Deuteronomy 4:26), and again: "Hearken, O heaven, and I will cry out, and let the earth hear the words of my mouth" (Deuteronomy 32:1). And it was proper that those who were used as witnesses, when the law was given, should also be called as witnesses when they were convicted of breaking the law. For it is said: "Gather together to me your tribesmen and your elders, and judges and guides, that I may speak in their ears, and bear witness to them in heaven and earth" (cf. Deuteronomy 31:28). It is noteworthy that Isaiah's speech is in the opposite order to the song of Moses. For it says: "Hearken, O heaven," or according to other publications: "Inspire, O heaven, and let the earth hear"; and here: "Hear, O heaven, and inspire the earth." When the people reason loftily and do not depart from God, then the Prophet calls upon heaven as something near, and asks him to put words in his ears — such is the meaning of the word "inspire." When the people became far from heaven, the Prophet said to heaven as to something far away: "Hear, heaven." The same should be understood about the earth. For this reason Moses, because of the success of the people, as it were, having heaven close to him, says: "Hearken," or, like other interpreters, "Inspire heaven." But Isaiah, since the people were in sin and reasoned about earthly things, commands the earth, as it is near it, to receive the word in its ears, for this is the word "to inspire." Or, through the change of names, those who dwell in heaven are called heaven, as we call those who dwell in the city and the earth all who dwell in it; in this case, from the words of the Prophet, we will not derive a reason to consider heaven and earth animate. In the same way, heaven is called the throne of God, because the Heavenly Powers have the knowledge of God firmly planted in them. In the same way, the earth is called a footstool, because the people who live on it are hardly able to contain within themselves the lower knowledge of God. That is why it is said: "A man who understands the throne of feeling" (Proverbs 12:23); but the throne of dishonor is the woman who hates righteousness. As a sensitive and wise man is the throne of feeling, so he who understands the highest in the story of God is the throne of God.

"As the Lord has spoken." It is terrible to be inattentive to the words of God.

"Sons born and exalted, but they have rejected Me."

What philanthropy! The Lord enters into judgment in order to prove His rights and render what He deserves. "Sons begotten and exalted." Man is composed of soul and body; the flesh is taken from the earth, but the soul is heavenly. Thus, since man has an affinity with both, God convicts sin in that which is most characteristic of man. "Sons begotten and exalted." Birth is twofold. One is education according to God, accomplished by works and the acceptance of dogmas: thus, Paul gives birth by the gospel, is sick with the fallen, and transforms them, recreating them into godliness. Another birth is an entry into life, as, for example: "This is the book of Genesis in heaven and earth" (Gen. 2:4). For this reason God points out to them both births and reproaches them that those who were brought from insignificance into existence and created in the image of God (for this means "to beget" and "to exalt") did not thank Him as the Creator and did not become like Him as the Father, but, turning to the worst, they rejected God, and made the devil their father. "For everyone who commits sin is born of the devil" (cf. 1 John 3:8). And the Lord says to the wicked: "Ye are the devil of your father" (John 8:44). Great is the guilt of being a son, receiving a bodily birth and being ungrateful to the one who begat him, but he is worthy of unbearable hatred who is so exalted that he has become a partaker of the heavenly things, and yet does not abide in love for the benefactor.