Letter 18. To Pope Damasus

This (written from Constantinople in a.d. 381) is the earliest of Jerome's expository letters. In it he explains at length the vision recorded in the sixth chapter of Isaiah, and enlarges upon its mystical meaning. "Some of my predecessors," he writes, "make 'the Lord sitting upon a throne' God the Father, and suppose the seraphim to represent the Son and the Holy Spirit. I do not agree with them, for John expressly tells us [John 12:41] that it was Christ and not the Father whom the prophet saw." And again, "The word seraphim means either 'glow' or 'beginning of speech,' and the two seraphim thus stand for the Old and New Testaments. 'Did not our heart burn within us,' said the disciples, 'while he opened to us the Scriptures?' [Luke 24:32] Moreover, the Old Testament is written in Hebrew, and this unquestionably was man's original language." Jerome then speaks of the unity of the sacred books. "Whatever," he asserts, "we read in the Old Testament we find also in the Gospel; and what we red in the Gospel is deduced from the Old Testament. There is no discord between them, no disagreement. In both Testaments the Trinity is preached."

The letter is noticeable for the evidence it affords of the thoroughness of Jerome's studies. Not only does he cite the several Greek versions of Isaiah in support of his argument, but he also reverts to the Hebrew original. So far as the West was concerned he may be said to have discovered this anew. Even educated men like Augustine had ceased to look beyond the LXX., and were more or less aghast at the boldness with which Jerome rejected its time-honored renderings.

The letter also shows that independence of judgment which always marked Jerome's work. At the time when he wrote it he was much under the sway of Origen. But great as was his admiration for the master, he was not afraid to discard his exegesis when, as in the case of the seraphim, he believed it to be erroneous.

The below translation made by ChatGPT 3.5 from this Latin text.

The prophet explains the vision of the sixth chapter of Isaiah, and after some things about the history and death of King Uzziah, he expertly deals with the Seraphim and Trisagion according to his custom.

"And it came to pass in the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple" (Isaiah 6:1). Before we speak of the vision, it seems necessary to discuss who Uzziah was, how long he reigned, and who were his contemporaries in other nations. As for his character, as we read in the books of Kings and Chronicles, he was a just man who did what was right in the sight of the Lord by building the Temple, constructing aqueducts, offering vessels, and defeating his adversaries, and the greatest testament of his piety was having many prophets in his kingdom. As long as the priest Zechariah, also known as Understanding, lived, he pleased God and entered his temple with great reverence. But after Zechariah died, Uzziah, desiring to offer gifts himself, usurped the priestly order not so much piously as audaciously. And when the other Levites and priests objected, saying, "Are you not Uzziah the king and not a priest?", he would not listen and was immediately covered in leprosy on his forehead, according to the word of the prophet, who said, "Fill their faces with shame, Lord" (Psalm 83:17). The part of the body that the priest covered with a gold plate, which the Lord commanded to be marked with the letter Tau in the book of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 9), on which David exults, saying, "The light of your countenance has shone upon us, Lord" (Psalm 4:7), where an insolent foreigner was killed by a sling stone. Uzziah reigned for fifty-two years (2 Kings 17), during which time Amulius ruled the Latins and Agamestor the Athenians. After Uzziah's death, the prophet Isaiah saw this vision, which we now try to explain, that is, in the year when Romulus, the founder of the Roman Empire, was born, as can be seen by those who wish to read the Book of Times, which we have translated into Latin from the Greek language. "And it came to pass in the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up" (Isaiah 6). The aforementioned history is followed by spiritual understanding, for which reason the history itself is repeated. While the leprous king, and as far as he himself was concerned, dissipated the priesthood, Isaiah could not see the vision. As long as he held the kingdom in Judah, the prophet did not lift up his eyes to the heavens (Isaiah 6). Heavenly things were not revealed to him, the Lord of hosts did not appear to him, nor was the holy name heard in the mystery of faith. But when he died, everything that the following discourse will reveal was manifested in the light. Something like this is also written in Exodus (Chapter 2), when Pharaoh lived, the Israelites, oppressed by mud, bricks, and straw, did not sigh unto the Lord, and as long as he reigned, no one sought the God of their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But when he died, the children of Israel sighed, as the Scripture says, "And their cry went up to the Lord" (Exodus 2:23). They should have rejoiced more according to the history, and sighed less while he was alive. Likewise, when Ezekiel prophesied, "Phaltias the son of Banaiae died, and after the wicked leader's death, 'I fell upon my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, 'Ah, Lord God, will you make a full end of the remnant of Israel?'" (Ezekiel 11:13). Therefore, if you understand in Uzziah, and Pharaoh, and Phaltia, and other such opposing powers, you will see how, while they lived, none of us saw and sighed, and repented. "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace." (Romans 6:14). While sin reigns, we build cities for the Egyptians; we are covered in ashes and dirt; we follow bandages for wheat, and mud works for solid rock.

3. It follows: I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne (Dan. 7). Even Daniel saw the Lord seated, but not on a high and lofty throne. Elsewhere, the divine voice promises, saying: 'I will come and sit in judgment on the people in the valley of Jehoshaphat, which means the Lord's judgment' (Joel 3:12). The sinner, who is like me, sees the Lord seated in the valley of Jehoshaphat, not on a hill or a mountain, but in the valley of judgment. But the righteous, like Isaiah, sees Him seated on a high and lofty throne. Moreover, when I consider with my mind how He reigns over Thrones, Dominations, Angels, and all other Virtues, I see His lofty throne. But when I consider how He governs the human race and often descends to earth for our salvation, I see His humble throne, near the earth.

4. It follows: I saw the Lord sitting on a high and lofty throne; and the house was full of his majesty, and seraphim stood around him (according to the Septuagint). Some, both Greeks and Latins, explaining this passage, say that the Lord sitting on the throne is God the Father; and the two seraphim, which are said to stand on either side, are interpreted as referring to our Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. However, I do not agree with their authority, though they are very learned. For it is much better to speak the truth simply than to express falsehood eloquently, especially since in this same vision, John the Evangelist wrote that it was not God the Father who was seen, but Christ. For when he spoke of the unbelief of the Jews, he immediately explained the causes of their unbelief, saying, "Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said: 'You will indeed listen, but never understand, and you will indeed look, but never perceive.' For this people's heart has grown dull, and their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; so that they might not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn - and I would heal them" (Isaiah 6:9-10; John 12:40-41). Therefore, in the present volume of Isaiah, the one who sits on the throne commands that he should say, "You will indeed listen, but never understand." But as the Evangelist understands it, the one who commands this is Christ. From this it is now inferred that the seraphim cannot refer to Christ, since Christ is the one who sits. And although in the Acts of the Apostles, in opposition to the Jews who dispute among themselves, Paul says: "The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers, saying: 'Go to this people and say, You will indeed listen, but never understand, and you will indeed look, but never perceive. For this people's heart has grown dull, and their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; so that they might not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn - and I would heal them'" (Acts 28:25 and following), for me, however, it does not raise any question of different persons, since I know that both Christ and the Holy Spirit are of one substance; nor are the words of the Spirit different from those of the Son, nor did the Son command anything different from the Spirit.

5. It follows: "And the house was filled with his majesty. The house of God, which is above, is seen in full glory; but as for this one which is below, I do not know whether it is full of glory unless, perhaps, according to the sense of the Psalmist who says: 'The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof' (Ps. 23:1). Let us also say that those who can say, 'We have all received from his fullness' (John 1:16), are full of glory on earth. Wise women build this house, and foolish ones tear it down with their own hands (Prov. 14). Isaiah also speaks of this house: 'And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared on the top of mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills' (Isa. 2:2). This is the house of which Paul testifies elsewhere with sacred words: 'But Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant for a testimony of those things which were to be said. But Christ as the Son over his own house, which house we are, if we hold fast the confidence and glorying of hope firm unto the end' (Heb. 3:5-6). He also speaks of this house to Timothy: 'But these things I write to thee, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to comport thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God' (1 Tim. 3:14-15)."

6. It follows: And the seraphim stood round about him, each one had six wings: and with two they covered his face, and with two they covered his feet, and with two they flew, and they cried one to another, and said: Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God of hosts, all the earth is full of his glory." We want to know what the seraphim are, standing in a circle around God, with six wings attached to one another; how with two wings they cover their face, with two their feet, and with two they fly, when they are said to be standing above God in a circle; or how they can stand in a circle when there are only two of them and they fly elsewhere. What is it that they shout to each other, repeating the name Holy three times? How can the house above be full of glory, and now the earth is said to be full of it?

It is necessary to pray for the interpretation of Scriptures. As they raise a considerable amount of dust and immediately present difficulties in interpretation, let us pray to the Lord that I will also be sent coal from the altar so that, cleansed of all filth of sin, I may first be able to see God's sacraments and then describe what I see. As we find in the interpretation of Hebrew names, seraphim are interpreted as ardor, fire, or the beginning of their speech. We ask, what is this fire? The Savior says, 'I have come to cast fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled' (Luke 12:49). Two disciples, to whom the Lord had opened the Scriptures on the way, beginning with Moses and all the prophets, after their eyes were opened and they recognized him, said to each other, 'Was not our heart burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?' (Luke 24:32). In Deuteronomy (chapter 4), God himself is written as a consuming fire, and in Ezekiel (chapter 8), he is seen to be fiery from his kidneys to his feet; 'the words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times' (Psalm 12:6). And many other things that, if I wanted to repeat them about all of the Scriptures, it would be too long. Therefore, we ask where this saving fire can be found? There can be no doubt that it is in the sacred books, through the reading of which all human vices are purged. However, I am afraid that when we begin to say this, we may be seen not so much as interpreting but as imposing meaning on the Scriptures.

The Hebrew language is the first and most common language. Victorinus the Latin author said, 'The beginning of speech and common language, and all the words we speak, were handed down by ancient times in the Hebrew language in which the Old Testament is written. But when the diversity of languages was attributed to the tower of Babel by offending God, the variety of speech was dispersed among all nations. Therefore, the beginning of speech and the fire are observed in two Testaments, which are not surprising since the Lord himself is learned through them. Six wings belong to one [cherubim], and six wings to the other. Our Victorinus interpreted the twelve apostles. We can also accept the twelve altar stones that have not touched iron, and the twelve gems from which the priest's insignia is constructed (Exodus 28:51), which Ezekiel (chapter 28) mentions and Revelation (chapter 21) does not hide the truth of, but God knows what is true. As for what is likely, we will explain in the following.

7. It follows: And two covered their face, and two covered their feet, and two flew. They covered not their own face or feet, but God's. For who can know His beginning, what was in eternity before He created this world, when He founded the Throne, the Dominions, the Powers, the Angels, and all the heavenly ministry? It follows: And two covered their feet, not their own, but God's. For who can know His end? What will happen after the end of the age, after the judgment of the human race, what will follow in life? Will another earth come again, and after the transition, will other elements or another world and sun be created? Tell me the past and the future, and I will say that you are gods, says Isaiah (chapter 41 verse 23), indicating that no one can declare what was before the world and what will happen after the world. And two flew. We only know what is revealed to us through the reading of the Scriptures, when the world was created, when man was formed, when the flood came, when the law was given: that from one man all the earth was populated: and in the end times, the Son of God took on flesh for our salvation. But these two Seraphim covered, that which we have said, over their faces and feet. And they cried out to one another. It is beautifully arranged, one to the other.

There is nothing discordant between the Old and New Testaments. For whatever we read in the Old Testament, we find the same thing in the Gospel. And what is read in the Gospel is derived from the authority of the Old Testament. There is nothing in them that is discordant, nothing different. And they said, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts. The Trinity is preached in both Testaments. And what is said to be the Lord of Hosts and our Savior, take the example in the 23rd Psalm verse 52. The powers that minister to the Lord proclaim to other heavenly fortitudes to open the door to the Lord returning. Lift up your gates, O ye princes; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in. Again, those who see him clothed in flesh marvel at the new mystery and ask, Who is this king of glory (Psalm 23:9)? And they receive the answer, "The Lord of hosts is the king of glory," which is written in Hebrew as "The Lord Sabaoth." And it should be known that wherever the Seventy Interpreters express the Lord of Hosts and the Lord Almighty, it is written in Hebrew as "The Lord Sabaoth," which is interpreted by Aquila as "The Lord of armies." The Lord himself is also here with four letters, which are properly placed in God, Yod He, Yod He, which makes up the ineffable and glorious name of God. "The whole earth is full of his glory." This is still said by the Seraphim about the advent of the Lord Savior, how his preaching will spread throughout the earth, and the sound of the Apostles will penetrate the boundaries of the world.

8. It follows: "And the threshold shook at the voice of those who cried out." We read in the Old Testament that the Lord always spoke to Moses and Aaron at the door of the Tabernacle (Leviticus 1 and 4, Numbers 10), as if before the Gospel had not yet introduced them into the Holy of Holies: just as the Church of God was later introduced, saying, "The king has brought me into his chambers" (Song of Solomon 1:3). Therefore, when our Lord descended to the earth, that threshold, which was like an obstacle to those who wanted to enter, was lifted up, and the whole world was filled with smoke, that is, with the glory of God. And where in Latin we read "elevatum," in Greek it is "epērthē," which means removed. But since this ambiguity can be interpreted in either way, our interpreters have understood it to mean "removed" instead of "lifted up." "And the house was filled with smoke." God, as we have said above, is a fire. When He descended on Mount Sinai to Moses, at His coming, lamps appeared to run and the whole mountain was covered with smoke. Hence in the Psalms it is said: "Who touches the mountains and they smoke" (Psalm 103:32). Therefore, from the fire, since we cannot grasp its entire substance, a somewhat lighter and (so to speak) more rarefied nature of smoke is dispersed throughout the whole world, which, as we receive, we say: "We know in part and we prophesy in part" (1 Corinthians 13:9). And: "Now we see through a mirror in a dark manner" (1 Corinthians 13:12).

9. And the seraphim stood around him, each one with six wings: and with two they covered his face, and with two they covered his feet, and with two they flew. A certain Greek, highly learned in the Scriptures, explained that the seraphim are certain virtues in heaven who stand before the tribunal of God, praising Him, and are sent on different ministries, especially to those who need purification and deserve to be partly purified by punishment for their past sins. As for the lifting up of the threshold and the house being filled with smoke, it is a sign of the destruction of the Jewish temple and the burning of all Jerusalem, which we now see destroyed. However, some agree on the former points, but disagree on the latter. For they claim that the lifting of the threshold occurred when the veil of the temple was torn and the whole house of Israel was confused by a cloud of error (Matthew 17; Mark 15; Luke 23): and when Josephus reports that the priests heard a voice of heavenly virtues from the innermost part of the temple, saying, 'Let us depart from these seats.'

10. There is a man from whom I am glad to have learned many things, and who has mastered the Hebrew language to such an extent that he is considered a Chaldean among their scribes. He has taken a far different path; for he says that no prophet has seen Seraphim standing around God except for Isaiah, and that not even Seraphim are mentioned elsewhere. Then he says that the destruction and captivity of Jerusalem under Nebuchadnezzar was a prefiguring sign. For there were eleven kings from Uzziah, under whom he began to prophesy, to Zedekiah, who was the last to reign and who was led blindfolded to Babylon, and twelfth was Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylon had made ruler over the land, but who was killed by Ishmael son of Nethaniah in the midst of a feast, a parricide of the remnants of his country (4 Kings 25; 2 Chronicles 36; and Jeremiah 41); and there are twelve wings, four of which cover their face, as is found in some versions, four cover their body, and four cover their feet. Of these twelve kings, only four were just: Uzziah, Jotham, Hezekiah, and Josiah, who, in each captivity, dared to glorify God, Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of Hosts, with lofty words. The others, however, covered their faces because of their sins, and others who were led into captivity covered their footprints. Indeed, the removal of the lintel and the house filled with smoke, as we have said above, indicated the destruction of Jerusalem and the burning of the temple.

11. And since I have begun to relate his opinion, let us touch on those things which I have not yet mentioned. The forceps with which the coal from the altar was taken, and the lips purified, he claimed as an allusion to Isaiah's own suffering and death, when he was killed under King Manasseh, and then, with his lips truly purified, he said to the Lord: 'Here I am, send me', and I said, 'Woe is me, for I am cut off' (according to the LXX)! As long as Uzziah lived, Isaiah, you did not realize that you were miserable; you were not moved to contrition; but when he died, you recognized that your lips were not clean, and then you realized that you were unworthy to see God. But may I also be contrite, and after contrition become worthy to see God, even though I am human and have unclean lips, and even though I dwell among a people who also have unclean lips. Isaiah had only sinned with his speech, for he was just; that is why only his lips were unclean, not his conscience. But I, since I also look with my eyes to lust, and am scandalized by hand and foot, and sin in every part of my body, have all things unclean; and since I have been baptized with the spirit once, I need to be purified again by a second baptism, that is, by fire (Matt. 3:11).

12. In Scriptures, words are not simple. There is much hidden in them. One thing is meant by the letter, another by mystical speech. Behold, in the Gospel the Lord is girded with a towel, prepares a basin to wash the disciples' feet, and performs the service of a servant (John 13) to teach us humility and to minister to one another. I do not deny, I do not refuse. What does he say to Peter, who refuses: "Unless I wash your feet, you have no part with me"? And he answered, "Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head" (John 13:8-9). Therefore, when the Lord ascends into heaven (because the apostles, as earthly men, still had feet polluted by the filth of sin), he wants to free them completely from their sins so that the prophetic word may apply to them: "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace" (Isaiah 52:7). And they may be able to imitate the words of the Church, saying, "I have washed my feet; how can I soil them?" (Song of Solomon 5:3). So that even if someone adheres to this dust after the resurrection, they may be driven out of the impious city as a testimony of their labor, which they have contended for the salvation of all, becoming Jews to Jews and Gentiles to Gentiles, so that they may have in part also polluted their own footsteps. Therefore, returning to the point, just as the apostles needed to have their feet cleansed, so Isaiah, who had sinned only in speech, had unclean lips. And as far as I can tell, because he did not rebuke Oziah when he entered the Temple, nor, following the example of Elijah, did he openly call out the wicked, he had unclean lips. I live in the midst of a people who have unclean lips. Isaiah, who is remorseful and testifies that he is wretched, becomes worthy of purification. But the people not only do not repent, but they do not even know that they have unclean lips, and therefore do not deserve the remedy of purification. We must, therefore, take this example and not only be just ourselves but not dwell with sinners, because the Prophet leads us also in the part of sin and misery.13. How God is seen. The following follows: And I saw the Master, the Lord of hosts 56. The Jews say that Isaiah was killed by their elders because, whereas Moses saw the latter things of God, this man has written that he saw the Lord of hosts with his bodily eyes. On this point God says: "No man shall see my face and live." (Exodus 33:20) If they are asked how God in the Law and in other Prophets says that he showed himself in visions and dreams, but spoke to Moses face to face, and how this statement, "No man shall see my face and live," stands when He admits that he spoke to Moses face to face, they will answer that God appeared as a vision that was possible for man to see, not as He truly is, but as He wished to be seen. We say that Isaiah was seen in the same way, always provided that Moses saw God or did not see Him. If he saw God, then Isaiah also saw Him, and it was impious of you to slay him, since God can be seen. If he did not see Him, kill Moses and Isaiah both for lying when they said they saw Him who cannot be seen. Whatever interpretation they give of this passage concerning Moses, we also relate to Isaiah's vision.

13. How God is seen. — It follows: And I saw the Lord of hosts, the king. The Jews say that Isaiah was killed by their forefathers because, whereas Moses had seen the latter things of God, this man claimed that he had seen the Lord of hosts with his bodily eyes, in spite of the fact that God says: No one shall see My face and live. If we ask them how it is that God in the Law declares that He has appeared to other prophets in visions and dreams, but to Moses face to face, and how that saying, No one shall see My face and live, can be true when He admits to speaking to Moses face to face, they will answer, according to human possibility, that God was seen, not as He is, but as He wished to appear. And we say the same about Isaiah, leaving the question open whether Moses actually saw God or not. If he did, then Isaiah also saw Him when he claimed that he did, and was wrongly put to death by you, for God can be seen. But if he did not, then kill Moses as well as Isaiah, since he too is guilty of lying, claiming to have seen the One who cannot be seen. Whoever has understood the account of Moses in that passage must apply the same interpretation to Isaiah's vision.

14. It follows: And one of the Seraphim was sent to me, and in his hand he held a coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar, and he touched my mouth, and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips, and your iniquities shall be taken away, and your sins shall be purged." According to all the editions that we have presented above, whether you wish to understand two Testaments, or some angels in heavenly powers acting as intermediaries, or in a sign of future captivity, a certain shadow prefigured by future truth, now receive the Seraphim. Because we follow the first sentence, we assert that the Gospel was sent to the Prophet: which having both in itself, that is, its own and the Old Testament, the fiery word of God, comprehends with a double edge of commandments; and having touched our lips, whatever ignorance there was, this, indeed, we interpret as unclean lips, it banished by the truth of its cleansing. Jacob saw this tong on a ladder (Gen. 28): this is the double-edged sword: this is the two mites that the widow woman gives as a gift to God (Mark 12): this is the stater having two coins, which are found in the fish's mouth, and are given for the Lord and for Peter. (Matthew 17); with this double tong which is held by the power of unity, the coal is sent to the Prophet, whom in the 119th Psalm, when the Prophet asked God, said: "Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue," and after the question of the Holy Ghost: "What shall be given to you or what shall be added to you for a deceitful tongue?" it is said: "Sharp arrows of the mighty with coals of desolation" (Ps. 119.2 ff.), we know that they belong to the Prophet. Truly, it is the desolating coal, which makes the pure tongue free from sin, that is the divine word, of which it is said in Isaiah: "You have coals of fire, sit upon them, they will be your help." (Isaiah 47.14, 15, according to the LXX).

15. It follows: And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said, Here am I; send me. And He said, Go and tell this people: “Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.” The Prophet easily responds to the questioning of the Lord's words, not commanding whom to send and who will go for the people, saying: Here am I; send me. After the promise, he is ordered to say, Go and tell this people: “Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving;” and the rest of what his prophecy contained. I heard in this place a not insignificant dispute among my Hebrew people, of which I will mention a few things so that you may understand the human perspective. He said, let us ask who did better between Moses and Isaiah. Did not Moses, who was sent by God to the people, say: "Please, Lord, I am not worthy; please, send someone else" (Exod. 4:13)? Or Isaiah, who, not having been chosen, offered himself, saying, "Here am I; send me." "I do not ignore," he said, "that it is dangerous to discuss the merits of the saints, and to want to say something more or less about the one whom the Lord has crowned; but because He Himself said, “Seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (Matth. 7 and Luke 11), we too, not to detract from anyone, but as those who understand the sense of Scripture, should inquire into what can raise the question. He who advocates for Moses, he says, preaches his humility and meekness, that he, considering himself unworthy of God's ministry, became greater: but Isaiah, who offered himself, began to prophesy, and began with curses: "Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving." Therefore, having suffered many evils from that, and having been considered insane by all the people, when the divine voice spoke to him again, "Cry out," knowing what he had endured by offering himself with previous ease, he did not say, "Here I am, send me," but he asked what he should cry out, and said, "What shall I cry?" Similar to that in Jeremiah: "Take the cup of wine from my hand and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. They will drink, vomit, go insane, and fall by the sword, which I will send among them" (Jeremiah 25:15-16). When the Prophet heard this, he did not refuse. He did not say, as Moses did: "Please, Lord, I am not worthy. Send someone else" (Exodus 4:13), but as a lover of his people, and thinking that the enemies of the people would be killed and destroyed by the cup of wine, he accepted the cup willingly, understanding that even Jerusalem was included among all the nations. Finally, among other nations: "So I took the cup from the Lord's hand and made all the nations drink to whom the Lord sent me, including Jerusalem, the towns of Judah, its kings and officials, to make them a ruin and a desolation, an object of scorn and cursing" (Jeremiah 25:17-18). Regarding this prophecy, although the order is reversed in most codices, listen to what he says in another place: "You have deceived me, Lord, and I was deceived; you seized me and prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me" (Jeremiah 20:7). And on the other hand, he who is an advocate for Isaiah (said) he will say this: the prophet, relying not so much on his own merit as on God's mercy, after he heard from the Seraphim, "Behold, this has touched your lips, and your iniquities shall be taken away, and your sins shall be cleansed," did not want to become idle, but voluntarily offered himself to God's ministry, as if freed from sins by zeal for the faith. But because Moses had been educated in secular disciplines and his conscience had been somewhat sullied by the killing of the Egyptian (Exod. 2), and he knew that there would be a fierce struggle against the magicians and the wicked king Pharaoh, he excused himself, saying, "I pray thee, Lord, I am not worthy"; for which, in the Hebrew, it is written "I have uncircumcised lips," the Seventy Interpreters rendering the sense rather than the word for word. From which it can be clearly understood that Isaiah rightly offered himself for God's ministry after having his lips circumcised, whereas Moses, with still uncircumcised lips, refused such a great ministry.

16. You will hear but not understand; you will look but never see. The whole place, as the Savior says in the Gospel, refers to the time when he chose to descend to the earth and perform miracles for the Jews who did not understand. And since there follow many diverse explanations to the end of the Chapter; and we have already explained the receiver of the candles, let this suffice in this place. For a prayer, which is not polished by one's own hand, both when it is uncultivated in itself and when it is repeated at inordinate length, becomes much more wearisome, so that, tormented by the pain of my eyes, we may devote ourselves only to our ears and tongue.

17. Septuagint: And one of the Seraphim was sent to me; Aquila, and Theodotion, And one of the Seraphim flew to me; Symmachus, And one of the Seraphim flew to me. Every day a Seraphim is sent to us, and every day those who groan and say: Woe is me, for I am pricked, are purged, and when they have been freed from sins, they prepare themselves for the service of God. But as for the other interpreters, when they say 'was sent,' understand the speedy arrival of the divine word upon those who are judged worthy of his fellowship. There is also a difference in gender. Septuagint, Aquila, and Theodotion translated "Seraphim" in the neuter gender, while Symmachus used the masculine gender. And it should not be thought that there is gender in the Virtues of God, since even the Holy Spirit itself is presented in the Hebrew language properties as feminine gender, Ruha: in Greek, in the neuter gender, τὸ πνεῦμα; in Latin, in the masculine gender, Spiritus. From which it is to be understood that when discussing superior beings and something is presented in masculine or feminine gender, it signifies the language rather than sex. For God Himself, invisible and incorruptible, is presented in almost all languages in the masculine gender, although sex does not apply to Him. Those who dare to say in their prayers and offerings, "Who sits upon the Cherubim and Seraphim," should also be rebuked, even if they are pious. For it is written that God sits upon the Cherubim, as it says, "Thou that sittest upon the Cherubim, shine forth" (Psalm 80:1). However, Scripture does not mention anywhere that God sits upon the Seraphim, nor do we find any reference to the Seraphim standing around God, except in the present passage in all the Holy Scriptures.

18. Septuagint: "And he had in his hand a coal, which he had taken from the altar with tongs, and he touched my mouth." Aquila and Theodotion: "And in his hand was a stone in tongs, which he had taken from the altar, and he touched my mouth." Symmachus: "And in his hand was a stone in tongs, which he had taken from the altar, and he brought it to my mouth." As for the history, it seems that God is sitting in the Temple of Jerusalem, and before him a coal is brought from the altar, according to the Septuagint to Isaiah: but from the altar of incense or burnt offerings. But as for mystical understanding, that fire is sent to us, which Jeremiah could not bear: so when it penetrates the secrets of our souls, it dissolves us, so that we are cooked from the old man into the new, that we may be able to break out into that voice: "And I live, now not I; but Christ lives in me." (Galatians 2:20) Tongs, too, although they were always in the priestly equipment, according to the other Interpreters, we owe various graces, by which God spoke in many ways and in many ways to our fathers in the prophets of old. Because in Hebrew the word for coal is read as "calculus," it seems to me that the divine speech is signified by the appellation of "stone". For just as a calculus is a type of stone, the hardest and roundest, and smoothest of all purity, so the word of God, which cannot yield to the contradictions of heretics or any adversaries, is called a calculus. Sephora circumcised her son with this stone, and Jesus purges the people of their sins, and in the Apocalypse the Lord promises to those who overcome that they shall receive a stone and on it a new name written. And it seems to me that the Septuagint, in translating it as ἄνθρακα, meant the same thing as the others. For ἄνθραξ, which we interpret as a carbuncle, is a type of shining and glittering stone, which we also find among the twelve stones. Therefore, whether we accept it as a calculus or a carbuncle stone, in the calculus of divine discourse there is truth and rigor, and in the shining carbuncle, doctrine is shown and revealed. "The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace on the earth, purified seven times" (Ps. 12:6). And elsewhere: "The commandment of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eyes" (Ps. 19:8). As for what is said, "He had a coal in his hand," we should understand the work of his hands, as in "In the hand of the tongue is death and life" (Prov. 18:21); and in the Psalm: "They will fall by the sword in their hands" (Ps. 63:10). Or indeed, a hand appeared truly, so that the Prophet would not be afraid, by the likeness of a human form, when he sees the hand reaching out: in the same way we have seen God himself and the Angels change into human forms, so that fear would be removed from those who saw them.

19. Septuagint: And he said, behold your lips have touched this, and your iniquities shall be taken away, and your sins shall be cleansed. Aquila: Behold, these lips have touched you, and your iniquity shall depart, and your sin shall be propitiated. Other translators agree with Aquila's words. First, it is necessary for our lips to be touched; then, when they have been touched, iniquity is driven away; and when iniquity has been driven away, the Lord will be propitiated, because there is forgiveness with Him, and according to the Apostle: He himself is the propitiation for our sins. But with our sins having been cleansed, we will hear the voice of the Lord saying: Whom shall I send? And we will answer: Here I am, send me.

20. Septuagint: And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go to this people? Aquila, Theodotion, and Symmachus: And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send? and who will go for us? We have discussed elsewhere the comparison between Isaiah and Moses, how one refused the ministry and the other offered himself voluntarily and endured hardships. But lest we seem to have omitted anything from those which the Jews call the "second books" and in which they place all knowledge, we will briefly touch upon why it is written in Hebrew, "who will go for us?" For just as it is said in Genesis, "Let us make man in our image and likeness" (Gen. 1:26), so here, I think, it is said, "who will go for us?" But for whom else should we consider ourselves, if not for the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, to whom everyone goes who follows their will? And in this, in that the voice of one speaker is proposed, there is a unity of divinity. But in that which is said 'to us,' a diversity of persons is indicated. We read in the Song of Songs the voice of the bridegroom saying to the bride: Arise, come, my love, my fair one, my dove: for winter is now past, the rain is over and gone. (Cant. 5.2). For when the soul feels tranquility in thought, when it is founded upon a rock, and its faith is fixed with deep roots, all the waves of temptation pass over it, and do not pass over him who is tempted. Note, however, how the Prophet responded in part to what the Lord had said, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Behold, I, send me," and was silent about the following, understanding that no man was worthy to go to God and make all his way his own, who sent him. The Lord, observing this humility, that he regarded himself as unworthy of the second place, commanded the following, saying: Go.

21. Septuagint: And he said, "Here I am, send me." Aquila and Theodotion: "Here I am, send me." Symmachus: Behold, send me. God, who calls those things that are not as though they were, and who said, "I am who I am"; and elsewhere, "He who is sent me" (Exodus 3.14), whoever he calls, he immediately causes to exist. This is sufficiently clear from the examples in the living Matthew the Evangelist and in Lazarus, who was dead for four days: as soon as they are called by the Lord, he left the tomb of greed, and the latter left his death (Mark 2, Luke 5, and John 11). For everything that is not with him is not. Wherefore, the Prophet, having been purged of faults, dared to say, "Behold, I am"; although in Latin codices, because of the variation of interpreters, "I am" is not added. Some think it should be noted to whom the speech of the sender or the sent is directed, which in Greek is called "Apostle." And they want this to be the difference: that whoever is sent is equally a Prophet and an Apostle; but those to whom the sender's speech is not given are only Prophets: which I think is superfluous. And because we once came to treat of this word, it should be known that Silas, a colleague of Paul, is called an Apostle in the Hebrew language, who writes some Epistles with him. And it is mistakenly read Silvanus for Silas, since we do not read Silvanus in the Acts of the Apostles.