Testimonia — Early Christian Bible Commentary

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Isaiah 65

1“I am inquired of by those who didn’t ask. I am found by those who didn’t seek me. I said, ‘See me, see me,’ to a nation that was not called by my name.

2I have spread out my hands all day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, after their own thoughts;

3a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens, and burning incense on bricks;

4who sit among the graves, and spend nights in secret places; who eat pig’s meat, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels;

5who say, ‘Stay by yourself, don’t come near to me, for I am holier than you.’ These are smoke in my nose, a fire that burns all day.

6“Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but will repay, yes, I will repay into their bosom

7your own iniquities and the iniquities of your fathers together”, says the LORD, “who have burned incense on the mountains, and blasphemed me on the hills. Therefore I will first measure their work into their bosom.”

8The LORD says, “As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one says, ‘Don’t destroy it, for a blessing is in it:’ so I will do for my servants’ sake, that I may not destroy them all.

9I will bring offspring out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains. My chosen will inherit it, and my servants will dwell there.

10Sharon will be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down in, for my people who have sought me.

11“But you who forsake the LORD, who forget my holy mountain, who prepare a table for Fortune, and who fill up mixed wine to Destiny;

12I will destine you to the sword, and you will all bow down to the slaughter; because when I called, you didn’t answer. When I spoke, you didn’t listen; but you did that which was evil in my eyes, and chose that in which I didn’t delight.”

13Therefore the Lord GOD says, “Behold, my servants will eat, but you will be hungry; behold, my servants will drink, but you will be thirsty. Behold, my servants will rejoice, but you will be disappointed.

14Behold, my servants will sing for joy of heart, but you will cry for sorrow of heart, and will wail for anguish of spirit.

15You will leave your name for a curse to my chosen, and the Lord GOD will kill you. He will call his servants by another name,

16so that he who blesses himself on the earth will bless himself in the God of truth; and he who swears on the earth will swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hidden from my eyes.

17“For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be remembered, nor come into mind.

18But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for, behold, I create Jerusalem to be a delight, and her people a joy.

19I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people; and the voice of weeping and the voice of crying will be heard in her no more.

20“No more will there be an infant who only lives a few days, nor an old man who has not filled his days; for the child will die one hundred years old, and the sinner being one hundred years old will be accursed.

21They will build houses and inhabit them. They will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

22They will not build and another inhabit. They will not plant and another eat; for the days of my people will be like the days of a tree, and my chosen will long enjoy the work of their hands.

23They will not labor in vain nor give birth for calamity; for they are the offspring of the LORD’s blessed and their descendants with them.

24It will happen that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.

25The wolf and the lamb will feed together. The lion will eat straw like the ox. Dust will be the serpent’s food. They will not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain,” says the LORD.

Early Christian commentary

c. 153–157 AD (date debated) | Justin Martyr

And how Christ after He was born was to escape the notice of other men until He grew to man's estate, which also came to pass, hear what was foretold regarding this. There are the following predictions:—"Unto us a child is born, and unto us a young man is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulders;" which is significant of the power of the cross, for to it, when He was crucified, He applied His shoulders, as shall be more clearly made out in the ensuing discourse. And again the same prophet Isaiah, being inspired by the prophetic Spirit, said, "I have spread out my hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people, to those who walk in a way that is not good. They now ask of me judgment, and dare to draw near to God." And again in other words, through another prophet, He says, "They pierced my hands and my feet, and for my vesture they cast lots." And indeed David, the king and prophet, who uttered these things, suffered none of them; but Jesus Christ stretched forth His hands, being crucified by the Jews speaking against Him, and denying that He was the Christ. And as the prophet spoke, they tormented Him, and set Him on the judgment-seat, and said, Judge us. And the expression, "They pierced my hands and my feet," was used in reference to the nails of the cross which were fixed in His hands and feet. And after He was crucified they cast lots upon His vesture, and they that crucified Him parted it among them. And that these things did happen, you can ascertain from the Acts of Pontius Pilate. And we will cite the prophetic utterances of another prophet, Zephaniah, to the effect that He was foretold expressly as to sit upon the foal of an ass and to enter Jerusalem. The words are these: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass."

Commentary · The First Apology, Chapter 35 · Original source · Justin Martyr; translated by Marcus Dods; T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh, 1870. Historical transcription supplied by Wikisource contributors. · Licence · Source revision · Whitespace normalized; source pagination and footnote reference markers removed. English wording unchanged.

c. 153–157 AD (date debated) | Justin Martyr

And when the Spirit of prophecy speaks from the person of Christ, the utterances are of this sort: "I have spread out my hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people, to those who walk in a way that is not good." And again: "I gave my back to the scourges, and my cheeks to the bufferings; I turned not away my face from the shame of spittings; and the Lord was my helper: therefore was I not confounded: but I set my face as a firm rock; and I knew that I should not be ashamed, for He is near that justifieth me." And again, when he says, "They cast lots upon my vesture, and pierced my hands and my feet. And I lay down and slept, and rose again, because the Lord sustained me." And again, when he says, "They spake with their lips, they wagged the head, saying, Let him deliver himself." And that all these things happened to Christ at the hands of the Jews, you can ascertain. For when He was crucified, they did shoot out the lip, and wagged their heads, saying, "Let him who raised the dead save himself."

Commentary · The First Apology, Chapter 38 · Original source · Justin Martyr; translated by Marcus Dods; T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh, 1870. Historical transcription supplied by Wikisource contributors. · Licence · Source revision · Whitespace normalized; source pagination and footnote reference markers removed. English wording unchanged.

c. 153–157 AD (date debated) | Justin Martyr

And again, how it was said by the same Isaiah, that the Gentile nations who were not looking for Him should worship Him, but the Jews who always expected Him should not recognise Him when He came. And the words are spoken as from the person of Christ; and they are these: "I was manifest to them that asked not for me; I was found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, to a nation that called not on my name. I spread out my hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people, to those who walked in a way that is not good, but follow after their own sins; a people that provoketh me to anger to my face." For the Jews having the prophecies, and being always in expectation of the Christ to come, did not recognise Him; and not only so, but even treated Him shamefully. But the Gentiles, who had never heard anything about Christ, until the apostles set out from Jerusalem and preached concerning Him, and gave them the prophecies, were filled with joy and faith, and cast away their idols, and dedicated themselves to the Unbegotten God through Christ. And that it was foreknown that these infamous things should be uttered against those who confessed Christ, and that those who slandered Him, and said that it was well to preserve the ancient customs, should be miserable, hear what was briefly said by Isaiah; it is this: "Woe unto them that call sweet bitter, and bitter sweet."

Commentary · The First Apology, Chapter 49 · Original source · Justin Martyr; translated by Marcus Dods; T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh, 1870. Historical transcription supplied by Wikisource contributors. · Licence · Source revision · Whitespace normalized; source pagination and footnote reference markers removed. English wording unchanged.

c. 190 AD | Irenaeus of Lyons

79. And, again, concerning His cross Isaiah says thus: I have stretched out my hands all the day long to a disobedient and gainsaying people. For this is an indication of the cross, And yet more manifestly David says: Hunting-dogs encompassed me: the assembly of evil-doers came about me. They pierced my hands and my feet. And again he says: My heart became even as wax melting in the midst of my body; and they put asunder my bones, and again he says: Spare my soul from the sword and nail my flesh: for the assembly of evil-doers hath risen up against me. In these words with manifest clearness he signifies that He should be crucified. And Moses says this same thing to the people, thus: And thy life shall be hanged up before thine eyes, and thou shalt fear by day and by night, and thou shalt not believe in thy life.

Commentary · The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching, Section 79 · Original source