Isaiah 54:11 Kommentar

The death of Christ is the life of the church and of all that truly belong to it; and therefore very fitly, after the prophet had foretold the sufferings of Christ, he foretels the flourishing of the church, which is a part of his glory, and that exaltation of him which was the reward of his humiliation: it was promised him that he should see his seed, and this chapter is an explication of that promise. It may easily be granted that it has a primary reference to the welfare and prosperity of the Jewish church after their return out of Babylon, which (as other things that happened to them) was typical of the glorious liberty of the children of God, which through Christ we are brought into; yet it cannot be denied but that it has a further and principal reference to the gospel church, into which the Gentiles were to be admitted. And the first words being understood by the apostle Paul of the New Testament Jerusalem (Gal 4:26) may serve as a key to the whole chapter and that which follows. It is here promised concerning the Christian church, I. That, though the beginnings of it were small, it should be greatly enlarged by the accession of many to it among the Gentiles, who had been wholly destitute of church privileges (Isa 54:1-5). II. That though sometimes God might seem to withdraw from her, and suspend the tokens of his favour, he would return in mercy and would not return to contend with them any more (Isa 54:6-10). III. That, though for a while she was in sorrow and under oppression, she should at length be advanced to greater honour and splendour than ever (Isa 54:11, Isa 54:12). IV. That knowledge, righteousness, and peace, should flourish and prevail (Isa 54:13, Isa 54:14). V. That all attempts against the church should be baffled, and she should be secured from the malice of her enemies (Isa 54:14-17).

Very precious promises are here made to the church in her low condition, that God would not only continue his love to his people under their troubles as before, but that he would restore them to their former prosperity, nay, that he would raise them to greater prosperity than any they had yet enjoyed. In the foregoing chapter we had the humiliation and exaltation of Christ; here we have the humiliation and exaltation of the church; for, if we suffer with him, we shall reign with him. Observe, I. The distressed state the church is here reduced to by the providence of God (Isa 54:11): "O thou afflicted, poor, and indigent society, that art tossed with tempests, like a ship driven from her anchors by a storm and hurried into the ocean, where she is ready to be swallowed up by the waves, and in this condition not comforted by any compassionate friend that will sympathize with thee, or suggest to thee any encouraging considerations (Ecc 4:1), not comforted by any allay to thy trouble, or prospect of deliverance out of it." This was the condition of the Jews in Babylon, and afterwards, for a time, under Antiochus. It is often the condition of Christian churches and of particular believers; without are fightings, within are fears; they are like the disciples in a storm, ready to perish; and where is their faith? II. The glorious state the church is here advanced to by the promise of God. God takes notice of the afflicted distressed state of his church, and comforts her, when she is most disconsolate and has no other comforter. Let the people of God, when they are afflicted and tossed, think they hear God speaking comfortably to them by these words, taking notice of their griefs and fears, what afflictions they are under, what distresses they are in, and what comforts their case calls for. When they bemoan themselves, God bemoans them, and speaks to them with pity: O thou afflicted, tossed with tempests, and not comforted; for in all their afflictions he is afflicted. But this is not all; he engages to raise her up out of her affliction, and encourages her with the assurance of the great things he would do for her, both for her prosperity and for the securing of that prosperity to her. 1. Whereas now she lay in disgrace, God promises that which would be her beauty and honour, which would make her easy to herself and amiable in the eyes of others. (1.) This is here promised by a similitude taken from a city, and it is an apt similitude, for the church is the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. Whereas now Jerusalem lay in ruins, a heap of rubbish, it shall be not only rebuilt, but beautified, and appear more splendid than ever; the stones shall be laid not only firm, but fine, laid with fair colours; they shall be glistering stones, Ch1 29:2. The foundations shall be laid or garnished with sapphires, the most precious of the precious stones here mentioned; for Christ (the church's foundation), and the foundation of the apostles and prophets, are precious above any thing else. The windows of this house, city, or temple, shall be made of agates, the gates of carbuncles, and all the borders (the walls that enclose the courts, or the boundaries by which her limits are marked, the mere-stones) shall be of pleasant stones, Isa 54:12. Never was this literally true; but it intimates, [1.] That, God having graciously undertaken to build his church, we may expect that to be done for it, that to be wrought in it, which is very great and uncommon. [2.] That the glory of the New Testament church shall far exceed that of the Jewish church, not in external pomp and splendour, but in those gifts and graces of the Spirit which are infinitely more valuable, that wisdom which is more precious than rubies (Pro 3:15), than the precious onyx and the sapphire, and which the topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal, Job 28:16, Job 28:19. [3.] That the wealth of this world, and those things of it that are accounted most precious, shall be despised by all the true living members of the church, as having no value, no glory, in comparison with that which far excels. That which the children of this world lay up among their treasures, and too often in their hearts, the children of God make pavements of, and put under their feet, the fittest place of it. (2.) It is here promised in the particular instances of those things that shall be the beauty and honour of the church, which are knowledge, holiness, and love, the very image of God, in which man was created, renewed, and restored. And these are the sapphires and carbuncles, the precious and pleasant stones, with which the gospel temple shall be enriched and beautified, and these wrought by the power and efficacy of those doctrines which the apostle compares to gold or silver, and precious stones, that are to be built upon the foundation, Co1 3:12. Then the church is all glorious, [1.] When it is full of the knowledge of God, and that is promised here (Isa 54:13): All thy children shall be taught of the Lord. The church's children, being born of God, shall be taught of God; being his children by adoption, he will take care of their education. It was promised (Isa 54:1) that the church's children should be many; but lest we should think that being many, as sometimes it happens in numerous families, they will be neglected, and not have instruction given them so carefully as if they were but few, God here takes that work into his own hand: They shall all be taught of the Lord; and none teaches like him. First, It is a promise of the means of instruction and those means authorized by a divine institution: They shall all be taught of God, that is, they shall be taught by those whom God shall appoint and whose labours shall be under his direction and blessing. He will ordain the methods of instruction, and by his word and ordinances will diffuse a much greater light than the Old Testament church had. Care shall be taken for the teaching of the church's children, that knowledge may be transmitted from generation to generation, and that all may be enriched with it, from the least even to the greatest. Secondly, It is a promise of the Spirit of illumination. Our Saviour quotes it with application to gospel grace, and makes it to have its accomplishment in all those that were brought to believe in him (Joh 6:45): It is written in the prophets, They shall be all taught of God, whence he infers that those, and those only, come to him by faith that have heard and learned of the Father, that are taught by him as the truth is in Jesus, Eph 4:21. There shall be a plentiful effusion of the Spirit of grace upon Christians, to teach them all things, Joh 14:26. [2.] When the members of it live in love and unity among themselves: Great shall be the peace of thy children. Peace may be taken here for all good. As where no knowledge of God is no good can be expected, so those that are taught of God to know him are in a fair way to prosper for both worlds. Great peace have those that know and love God's law, Psa 119:165. But it is often put for love and unity; and so we may take it. All that are taught of God are taught to love one another (Th1 4:9) and that will keep peace among the church's children and prevent their falling out by the way. [3.] When holiness reigns; for that above any thing is the beauty of the church (Isa 54:14): In righteousness shall thou be established. The reformation of manners, the restoration of purity, the due administration of public justice, and the prevailing of honesty and fair dealing among men, are the strength and stability of any church or state. The kingdom of God, set up by the gospel of Christ, is not meat and drink, but this righteousness and peace, holiness and love. 2. Whereas now she lay in danger, God promises that which would be her protection and security. (1.) God engages here that though, in the day of her distress, without were fightings and within were fears, now she shall be safe from both. [1.] There shall be no fears within (Isa 54:14): "Thou shalt be far from oppression. Those that have oppressed thee shall be removed, those that would oppress thee shall be restrained, and therefore thou shalt not fear, but mayest look upon it as a thing at a great distance, that thou art now in no danger of. Thou shalt be far from terror, not only from evil, but from the fear of evil, for it shall not come near thee so as to do thee any hurt or to put thee in any fright." Note, Those are far from terror that are far from oppression; for it is as great a terror as can fall on a people to have the rod of government turned into the serpent of oppression, because against this there is no fence, nor is there any flight from it. [2.] There shall be no fightings without. Though attempts should be made upon them to insult them, to invade their country, or besiege their towns, they should all be in vain, and none of them succeed, Isa 54:15. It is granted, "They shall surely gather together against thee; thou must expect it." The confederate force of hell and earth will be renewing their assaults. As long as there is a devil in hell, and a persecutor out of it, God's people must expect frequent alarms; but, First, God will not own them, will not give them either commission or countenance; they gather together, hand joins in hand, but it is not by me. God gave them no such order as he did to Sennacherib, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, Isa 10:6. And therefore, Secondly, Their attempt will end in their own ruin: "Whosoever shall gather together against thee, be they ever so many and ever so mighty, they shall not only be baffled, but they shall fall for thy sake, or they shall fall before thee, which shall be the just punishment of their enmity to thee." God will make them to fall for the sake of the love he bears to his church and the care he has of it, in answer to the prayers made by his people, and in pursuance of the promises made to them. "They shall fall, that thou mayest stand," Psa 27:2. (2.) That we may with the greatest assurance depend upon God for the safety of his church, we have here, [1.] The power of God over the church's enemies asserted, Isa 54:16. The truth is they have no power but what is given them from above, and he that gave them their power can limit and restrain them. Hitherto they shall go, and no further. First, They cannot carry on their design without arms and weapons of war; and the smith that makes those weapons is God's creature, and he gave him his skill to work in iron and brass (Exo 31:3, Exo 31:4) and particularly to make proper instruments for warlike purposes. It is melancholy to think, as if men did not die fast enough of themselves, how ingenious and industrious they are to make instruments of death and to find out ways and means to kill one another. The smith blows the coals in the fire, to make his iron malleable, to soften it first, that it may be hardened into steel, and so he may bring forth an instrument proper for the work of those that seek to destroy. It is the iron age that is the age of war. But God has created the smith, and therefore can tie his hands, so that the project of the enemy shall miscarry (as many a project has done) for want of arms and ammunition. Or the smith that forges the weapons is perhaps put here for the council of war that forms the design, blows the coals of contention, and brings forth the plan of the war; these can do no more than God will let them. Secondly, They cannot carry it on without men, they must have soldiers, and it is God that created the waster to destroy. Military men value themselves upon their great offices and splendid titles, and even the common soldiers call themselves gentlemen; but God calls them wasters made to destroy, for wasting and destruction are their business. They think their own ingenuity, labour, and experience, made them soldiers; but it was God that created them, and gave them strength and spirit for that hazardous employment; and therefore he not only can restrain them, but will serve his own purposes and designs by them. [2.] The promise of God concerning the church's safety solemnly laid down, as the heritage of the servants of the Lord (Isa 54:17), as that which they may depend upon and be confident of, that God will protect them from their adversaries both in camps and courts. First, From their field-adversaries, that think to destroy them by force and violence, and dint of sword: "No weapon that is formed against thee (though ever so artfully formed by the smith that blows the coals, Isa 54:16, though ever so skilfully managed by the waster that seeks to destroy) shall prosper; it shall not prove strong enough to do any harm to the people of God; it shall miss its mark, shall fall out of the hand or perhaps recoil in the face of him that uses it against thee." It is the happiness of the church that no weapons formed against it shall prosper long, and therefore the folly of its enemies will at length be made manifest to all, for they are but preparing instruments of ruin for themselves. Secondly, From their law-adversaries, that think to run them down under colour of right and justice. When the weapons of war do not prosper there are tongues that rise in judgment. Both are included in the gates of hell, that seek to destroy the church; for they had their courts of justice, as well as their magazines and military stores, in their gates. The tongues that rise in judgment against the church are as such as either demand a dominion over it, as if God's children were their lawful captives, pretending an authority to oppress their consciences, or they are such as misrepresent them, and falsely accuse them, and by slanders and calumnies endeavour to make them odious to the people and obnoxious to the government. This the enemies of the Jews did, to incense the kings of Persia against them, Ezr 4:12; Est 3:8. "But these insulting threatening tongues thou shalt condemn; thou shalt have wherewith to answer their insolent demands, and to put to silence their malicious reflections. Thou shalt do it by well-doing (Pe1 2:15), by doing that which will make thee manifest in the consciences even of thy adversaries, that thou art not what thou art represented to be. Thou shalt condemn them, that is, God shall condemn them for thee. He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, Psa 37:6. Thou shalt condemn them as Noah condemned the old world that reproached him, by building the ark, and so saving his house, in contempt of their contempts." The day is coming when God will reckon with the wicked men for all their hard speeches which they have spoken against him, Jde 1:15. The last words refer not only to this promise, but to all that go before: This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord. God's servants are his sons, for he has provided an inheritance for them, rich, sure, and indefeasible. God's promises are their heritage for ever (Psa 119:111); and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord. God will clear up the righteousness of their cause before men. It is with him, for he knows it; it is with him, for he will plead it. Or their reward for their righteousness, and for all that which they have suffered unrighteously, is of God, that God who judges in the earth, and with whom verily there is a reward for the righteous. Or their righteousness itself, all that in them which is good and right, is of God, who works it in them; it is of Christ who is made righteousness to them. In those for whom God designs a heritage hereafter he will work righteousness now.

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 54 As the former chapter is a prophecy of the humiliation and exaltation of Christ, of his sufferings and death, and the glory that should follow; this is a prophecy of that part of his glory which relates to the flourishing estate of his church, as the fruit of his death, and explains and enlarges upon the promise of his having a numerous seed. The prophecy reaches from the death and resurrection of Christ to his second coming; and describes the state of the church during that time, which had been like a barren woman, but now fruitful, which was matter of joy; and would increase, and have yet a more numerous issue, through the conversion and accession of the Gentiles; and therefore is bid not to fear, since she should not bear the shame and reproach of widowhood, Isa 54:1, the reason confirming which is, because Christ was her husband, who was her Maker and Redeemer, the God of Israel, and of the whole earth, Isa 54:5, and though she might for some time be under some dark providences, and seem to be forsaken of God, and lie under his displeasure; yet she is assured of the love of God towards her, that it is constant and perpetual; which is illustrated by the oath and covenant of God with Noah, and by its being more immovable than mountains and hills, Isa 54:6, and though she would sometimes be in a very afflicted and uncomfortable condition, yet should be raised again to a state of great honour and splendour, of spiritual knowledge, peace, and safety, Isa 54:11 and that all her enemies, that gathered together against her, should perish, and all their attempts be unsuccessful, since the Lord was on her side, and would defend her cause, and protect her, Isa 54:15.

O thou afflicted, tossed with tempests, and not comforted,.... Or, "O thou poor" (s) church; for the first Christian churches chiefly consisted of poor persons, not many mighty and noble being called; and which were greatly "afflicted" with false teachers, who broached errors and heresies, and made schisms among them; and "tossed with tempests" like a ship at sea; or "stormed" (t) with the rage and fury of violent persecutors, such as the Roman emperors were; and not "comforted", having none to administer any external comfort or relief to them; none of the kings or princes of the earth, or any civil magistrate to protect and defend them; what comfort they had was internal and spiritual; what they had from Christ and his Spirit, and by the word and ordinances; or rather this may describe the state of the church under Papal tyranny and persecution, which brings it nearer to the times of peace and prosperity after promised: behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours; or, "with paint" (u); such as women used to paint their faces or eyes with, Kg2 9:30. The Targum is, "behold, I will lay with paint the stones of thy pavement;'' and the words seem plainly to design the stones of a pavement, and perhaps by an hypallage or transposition may be rendered, I will lay thy pavement with glistering stones; so the word is translated Ch1 29:2 or, "with stones of paint" (w); which are of the colour of the "stibium", or paint before mentioned, and which was of a black colour; and Aben Ezra says the word here signifies a precious stone of a black colour; perhaps black marble is meant, a stone fit for pavements; but, be these stones what they will, they design in the spiritual sense the materials of a Gospel church, those "lively stones" which are built up a spiritual house, and which are beautified with the gifts and graces of the Spirit of God; and may also denote that the lowest and meanest of the Lord's people, pointed out by stones of the pavement, should be thus adorned: and lay thy foundations with sapphires; a precious stone of a white colour, according to R. Saadiah Gaon; but, according to Aben Ezra, of a red colour; though the sapphire is usually said to be of a sky colour, shining with specks of gold. The Targum renders it, "with precious stones"; and so the foundation of the wall of the New Jerusalem is said to be garnished with all manner of precious stones, Rev 21:19, this may respect Christ, the sure foundation God has laid in Zion, the foundation of the apostles and prophets; the one and only foundation of the church of Christ, and all true believers, who is more precious than sapphires, or all the most precious stones; he always has been the foundation of his church in all ages; but the meaning is, that he shall now appear most clearly and manifestly to be the foundation, and to be a firm, rich, and glorious one; see Exo 24:10. (s) V. L. Munster, Pagninus; "O paupercula", Tigurine version; "inops", Cocceius. (t) "tempestate obruta"; Munster, Vatablus, Forerius. (u) "in fuco", Tigurine version; "in stibio", Sanctius. (w) "Stibinis lapidibus", Forerius.

We should understand all these things of which Isaiah speaks as worthy and precious souls, with whom God commits himself to build the heavenly citizenry. He compares them with sapphire on the grounds of its likeness to the color of heaven. Their intercourse is heavenly and angelic, as Paul teaches, saying, “Our citizenship is in heaven.” In Ezekiel the place under the throne of God is said to be like sapphire.… And the parapets of this new Jerusalem would be of jasper or, in Symmachus’s translation, karchēdonion, a special, shining stone. This means those who belong to the church, whom in a spiritual manner strengthen their faith and are like the battlements of the heavenly citizenry, destroy “every obstacle raised against the knowledge of God” and refute any false opinion contrary to the truth. Since parapets are designed to resist the enemy, those who in the church are equipped with wisdom may be rightly called “parapets.” Alongside these others is a comparison drawn with crystals, with which he foretells that the gates of the city will be built and denotes the clarity and purity of sure faith of those who believed the foundational and elementary doctrine. Isaiah also declares that the wall of the new city of God will be made from special stone. Such are they who through their prayers surround and confirm, just like an enclosure, the city’s edifice and its great, precious and worthy building.

(Verse 11, 12.) The poor thing, torn apart by the storm without consolation. Behold, I will lay your stones in order: and I will lay your foundations in sapphires. And I will make your battlements of jasper, and your gates of carved stones, and all your boundaries of desirable stones. I will make all your children taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children. And you shall be founded in righteousness. LXX: Humble and unstable without consolation. Behold, I will prepare for you your carbuncle gem and your foundations sapphire. And I will set your battlements with jasper, and your gates with crystal stones, and your walls with chosen stones. And all your children shall be disciples of God, and there shall be much peace for your sons, and you shall be built in righteousness. When we said: I will lay your stones in order, it is written in Hebrew, 'Baphphuch,' which all others translated similarly to 'I will lay your stones in stibium,' in the likeness of a adorned woman, who paints her eyes with stibium, to symbolize the beauty of the city. And when we said above that the jasper, following the LXX, has the Hebrew word Chodchod (), which only Symmachus translated as χαλκηδόνιον (chalcedony). For the crystal too, in the place where it is read among the Hebrews as Ecda (), Symmachus and Theodotion put sculpting, that is, γλυφῆς (glyphēs), and Aquila put τρυπανισμοῦ (trupanismou) which means the sense of bore and engraving of gemstones. We have spoken about the diversity of translations, let us come to the meaning. Still speaking to the Church, previously humble and poor, which did not have the Law, nor the Prophets, nor the word of God, and was convulsed or unstable by the storm, which had endured many whirlwinds of ages and fluctuated among various errors of idols, which had no comforter, and in vain lost all its substance in physicians; He Himself should come, should descend, and should build in the earth the heavenly Jerusalem, which is called bride and wife of the Lamb in the Apocalypse of John, having a light similar to a precious stone, such as jasper and crystal, and a great wall, and twelve gates inscribed with the names of the tribes of Israel, of which three were from the East, and three from the North, and three from the South, and three from the West of the sun (Apoc. XXI): and the wall supported by twelve foundations, and its entire construction of jasper stone, and each foundation of the walls had individual stones, the first jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius ((Al. sardius)), the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst; which as we read, we exclaim and say: O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? (Romans 11:33-34) And again: Who is wise and will understand these things, prudent and will know them? (Hosea 14:10) Let the lovers of western letters answer, those who prepare exquisite foods for their gluttony and luxury in a thousand years, whose god is their belly and whose glory is in their shame. (Philippians 3) They hope for marriage after the second coming of the Savior, and for children of one hundred years, and for the injury of circumcision, and for the blood of sacrifices, and for the perpetual Sabbath. They say with Israel in a perverse way: Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall reign. What is this heavenly Jerusalem, to which it is now said: Behold, I will lay your stones in order, or according to the Septuagint Version: Behold, I will prepare a carbuncle for you, your stone, so that the whole city will be filled with carbuncles, and will have sapphire foundations and jasper ramparts, or chalcedony, and crystal gates, or engravings, and a wall encircling it with precious stones. And all its children will not have human teachers, but God, and they will be called disciples of God. And let there be in it everlasting peace, and the building up of justice. From this it is clear that under the occasion of justice, which is the name of virtue, we ought to seek the other virtues for the building up of the Church and not to follow Jewish delusions. For let them explain what is meant by that which is said in Proverbs about wisdom: 'She is more precious than all precious things' (Prov. 3:15). For if Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:24), it is foolish to compare Christ to insensible stones. And again we read about the judgments of God: The judgments of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: more to be desired than gold and much precious stone (Psalms 19:10-11). From which it is clear that this stone is compared to other stones, about which it is said earlier in the same Psalm, speaking in the person of God: Behold, I will lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste (Isaiah 28:16). The builders rejected this stone (Psalm 118), namely, the scribes, Pharisees, and Jewish leaders, which has become the cornerstone (Matthew 21). Concerning this, the Apostle Peter says: Therefore, to us who believe, it is an honor, a precious and chosen stone. But to those who do not believe, it is a stumbling stone and a rock of offense (1 Peter 2:7-8). He also speaks to the chief priests in the Acts of the Apostles, saying: This is the chosen, precious stone which you rejected (Acts 4:18), which has become the cornerstone and embraces two peoples, the Gentiles and Israel. He built a city, of which God is the architect and creator. Concerning this, the Apostle writes to the Corinthians: You are God's building. And: Like a wise architect, I have laid the foundation, and another builds upon it. But let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ (I Corinthians 3:9-10). Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done (I Corinthians 3:12-13). Concerning this foundation, he also speaks in another letter: built on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20); and again: You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (I Peter 2:5). Concerning these stones, it is said mystically: Holy stones roll upon the earth (Zech. IX, 16), by which Christ builds the Church upon the rock, saying in the Gospel: Upon this rock I will build my Church (Matt. XVI, 18). The one who is worthy to enter this city speaks joyfully to the Lord: As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God: God has established it forever (Ps. XLVII, 9). The great builder of this city, and in another place it is said: 'He shall build my city and bring back the captivity of my people' (Isaiah 45:13). But it is not for this time to speak of the nature of twelve stones and gems, since many Greeks and Latins have written about it. Of these, I will mention only two: the man of holy and venerable memory, the bishop Epiphanius, who left us a remarkable volume of his genius and erudition, which he titled 'On Stones'; and also Pliny the Elder, the same esteemed as an orator and philosopher among the Latins, who completed in his most beautiful work of natural history the thirty-seventh book, which is also the last, with a discussion on stones and gems. Hello, twelve stones are written in order in Exodus and in Ezekiel, that is in the treasury of the high priest, and in the crown and diadem of the prince of Tyre. Let's first talk about Exodus: Four woven orders of stones were there (Exod. XXVIII). The first order had the stone sardius, topaz, emerald. The second order, carbuncle, sapphire, jasper. The third order, ligure, agate, amethyst. The fourth order, chrysolite, beryl, onyx, surrounded by gold; and they were inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. In which it should be noted that the second order of stones is also mentioned in the present Scripture, carbuncle, sapphire, and jasper. For we have not yet attained perfection, nor have we reached the beginning, because now we see through a glass, darkly. Moreover, in Ezekiel it is written as follows: You are the seal of semblance and the crown of beauty, in the delights of God's paradise you were. You were adorned with every first stone, sardius, topaz, and emerald, carbuncle and sapphire and jasper, also with silver, gold and onyx, and agate, and amethyst, and chrysolite, and beryl, and chrysoprase, and onyx; and you filled your treasures and your vaults with gold as well. From the day you were created, when I placed you with the cherubim on my holy mountain, you were in the midst of fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, until iniquity was found in you. (Ezekiel 28:12 et seqq.). For who is so foolish and of such a dull mind to think that in the paradise of God, the prince of Tyre, whoever he may be, was placed, and conversed among the cherubim and the fiery stones (which undoubtedly we understand to be the celestial angels and virtues), and that he was made with earthly stones and had resemblance and sign? Therefore, it is not the time to speak about the nature of all stones and each part of them; for not everything must always be said. Now let us discuss only about the carbuncle, sapphire, and jasper. The carbuncle, which is obtained or placed in order, appears to me as the fiery speech of doctrine, which, by dispelling the darkness of error, illuminates the hearts of believers. This is the one that was taken by one of the Seraphim with a pair of tongs, to purify Isaiah's lips (Isa. VI): who is born, according to the faith of Genesis, in the land of Havilah, where the finest gold (Gen. II) and the carbuncle and the emerald are. Moreover, the sapphire, which is placed in the foundations, has a resemblance to the sky, and is above the air: such that it can say that Aristophanic phrase with Socrates: Ἀεροβατῶ καὶ περιφρονῶ τὸν ἥλιον; which we can translate into Latin as: Scando aerem, solemque despicio (See Suidas in περιφρονεῖν). Or as Paul the Apostle said: Nostra autem conversatio in coelis est (Philipp. III, 20). The Scripture of Ezekiel also mentions that the place where the throne of God is located has a resemblance to sapphires, and the glory of the Lord is in this color, which carries the image of the heavenly above us. But even the fortresses of the city of God, that is, the walls, are strengthened with jasper, which can destroy and prove false every height that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and subject falsehood to truth (Ezekiel 1; 1 Corinthians 15). Therefore, the strongest in disputing and bolstered by the testimonies of the Holy Scriptures, is the fortress of the Church. There are many kinds of jasper: for there is another kind called emerald, which is found in the springs of the river Thermodon, and is called 'Grammarian,' by which they believe that all phantasms are driven away. Another greener man, and tinted as if with flowers; it is said to be born on Mount Ida in Phrygia, and in its deepest caves. Another, however, is found near the Iberians, the Hyrcanians, and the Caspian Sea, and especially near the lake Neusin. There is also another jasper that is similar to snow and the foam of sea waves, and it sparkles like mixed blood. We have said this so that we may recognize all spiritual graces in the defenses of the Church; whoever has them drives away vain fears and can say with the bride: 'My brother is white and ruddy' (Song of Songs 5:10). But the gates of this city are made of crystal stone, which is carved in various ways, and with this stone nothing is purer. Finally, they say that water freezes into crystal in the strongest cold of the Alps and in inaccessible caves: and the touch is stone, but the sight is water. By this it is shown that those who are at the gates of the Church should not be stained by any impurity, but should have the purest faith and say with the prophet: From your commandments I have gained understanding (Ps. 119:104). And this to hear: Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God (Matt. V, 8). But the walls of the city, or the boundaries and enclosure, are built with chosen stones, which we can understand as the remaining stones, and all his children are taught, or disciples of God: which testimony the Lord uses in the Gospel of John, saying: No one can come to me, unless the Father who sent me draws him, and everyone who hears and learns from the Father, comes to me (John VI, 44, 45). And after a little while, it is written in the prophets: They will all be taught by God. He also speaks through Jeremiah, saying: I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. And they will no longer teach each other, saying: Know the Lord. For they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more (Jeremiah 31:33-34). But the doctrine of the disciples of God has a multitude of peace, which has been abandoned by the Lord: and the building up of the most beautiful city is completed through justice; so that God may not be of one nation, but of the entire world, calling His servants and children, Greeks and Barbarians, the rich and the poor, the noble and the lowly, men and women, children and the elderly, and all things that appear to be contrary in the world (John XIV). We have exceeded the limit of brevity, which is useful in everything that needs to be said: by no means are we seeking the city of God on earth, as the Hebrews and our Semijudaeos (( Al. by seeking)), but rather in heaven, which cannot be hidden on the mountain of Christ.

“I will place you as a carbon stone.” It is fitting to want to signify Jesus through this stone that was set, the Scriptures say, as the foundation of Zion. If anyone trusts in this foundation, he will not be ashamed. He calls him a foundation stone among them. And he is also mentioned by the holy prophets. For he says through the voice of Amos, “Look, I am setting a diamond in the middle of my people Israel.” And through the voice of Zechariah, “Behold, I will bring my servant the sunrise.” “I have placed a stone before the face of Jesus; on the one stone there are seven eyes.” For the all-seeing one is Christ who is able to survey all things everywhere. For the carbon is placed to be a stone and a fixed foundation of the holy city. On it are the stones of sapphire, which perhaps signify the ranks of the apostles who are set. For they were very close to Christ, and when they followed him they became foundations in the earthly realm.

Some think that Jesus is here called “coal” since he was placed as a foundation in Zion and those who believe in him will not be ashamed. Similarly Amos calls him “adamantine” in these words, “I will place adamantine in the middle of the people of Israel.” And Zachariah, “Look, I will give the dawn over my servant. And the stone that I will give before the face of Joshua, on that stone there are seven eyes.” For Christ is the all-seeing one. This coal, he says, is also the support and the foundation stone, to which, since they approximate to it, the apostles, too, are here called “foundations” and are spoken of as marked out by the name of sapphire, as in the seventeenth psalm, which says, “The springs of waters are uncovered and the foundations of the earth are revealed at your chastisement and from the breath of your Spirit, O Lord.” For those in Israel were shaken by what the apostles dared to do through Christ, when purification through water first appeared. The disciples of the Savior receive this title, but the prophets are also called foundation, as Paul says, “building on the foundation of the apostles and prophets.” Sapphire is the color of heaven, and again Paul tells us that this denotes the citizenship of heaven. … But “anthracite” [coal], according to another interpretation that has been handed down, refers to stones that adorn, just as the sainted martyrs who have been tested by fire adorn with stimei [a type of eyeliner] the eyes of the bridegroom of Christ.

“Behold, I will transform your stones into beryl,” that is, the place is stony, and God will transform the ordinary stones into beryl, both in reality and for the fact that this is imagined as a consequence of their great joy.

986. O poor little one. Here he promises prosperity as a remedy against adversity. And first, he recalls their former adversity: O poor little one, Jerusalem despoiled of goods; tossed with tempest, of adversity, above: to a nation rent and torn in pieces (Isa 18:2). I will send you. Second, he promises future prosperity. First, as to abundance of goods, setting out a metaphor: behold I will lay, as though in a pavement, your stones, precious stones, signifying men eminent in the virtues, in order, with each one in its order: the gates of Jerusalem shall be built of sapphire, and of emerald, and all the walls thereof round about of precious stones (Tob 13:21).

Some suppose this chapter to have been addressed to the Gentiles; some, to the Jewish Church; and some, to the Christian, in its first stage. On comparing the different parts of it, particularly the seventh and eighth verses, with the remainder, the most obvious import of the prophecy will be that which refers it to the future conversion of the Jews, and to the increase and prosperity of that nation, when reconciled to God after their long rejection, when their glory and security will far surpass what they were formerly in their most favored state, vv. 1-17.

Behold, I will lay thy stones "Behold, I lay thy stones" - These seem to be general images to express beauty, magnificence, purity, strength, and solidity, agreeably to the ideas of the eastern nations; and to have never been intended to be strictly scrutinized, or minutely and particularly explained, as if they had each of them some precise, moral, or spiritual meaning. Tobit, in his prophecy of the final restoration of Israel, describes the New Jerusalem in the same oriental manner: "For Jerusalem shall be built up with sapphires, and emeralds, and precious stones; thy walls, and towers, and battlements, with pure gold. And the streets of Jerusalem shall be paved with beryl, and carbuncle, and stones of ophir." Tob. 13:16, 17. Compare also Rev 21:18-21.

THE FRUIT OF MESSIAH'S SUFFERINGS, AND OF ISRAEL'S FINAL PENITENCE AT HER PAST UNBELIEF (Isa 53:6): HER JOYFUL RESTORATION AND ENLARGEMENT BY JEHOVAH, WHOSE WRATH WAS MOMENTARY, BUT HIS KINDNESS EVERLASTING. (Isa. 54:1-17) Sing--for joy (Zep 3:14). barren--the Jewish Church once forsaken by God, and therefore during that time destitute of spiritual children (Isa 54:6). didst not bear--during the Babylonian exile primarily. Secondarily, and chiefly, during Israel's present dispersion. the children--the Gentiles adopted by special grace into the original Church (Isa 54:3; Isa 49:20-21). than . . . married wife--than were her spiritual children, when Israel was still a married wife (under the law, before the Babylonian exile), before God put her away [MAURER]. So Paul contrasts the universal Church of the New Testament with the Church of the Old Testament legal dispensation, quoting this very passage (Gal 4:27). But the full accomplishment of it is yet future.

not comforted--by anyone; none gave her help or comfort. lay . . . with fair colours--rather, "lay . . . in cement of vermilion" [LOWTH]. The Hebrew for "fair colors" means stibium, the paint with which Eastern women painted their eyelids and eyelashes (Kg2 9:30). The very cement shall be of the most beautiful color (Rev 21:18-21).

After the "Servant of God" has expiated the sin of His people by the sacrifice of Himself, and Israel has acknowledged its fault in connection with the rejected One, and entered into the possession and enjoyment of the salvation procured by Him, the glory of the church, which has thus become a partaker of salvation through repentance and faith, is quite ready to burst forth. Hence the prophet can now exclaim, Isa 54:1 : "Exult, O barren one, thou that didst not bear; break forth into exulting, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for there are more children of the solitary one than children of the married wife, saith Jehovah." The words are addressed to Jerusalem, which was a counterpart of Sarah in her barrenness at first, and her fruitfulness afterwards (Isa 41:1-3). She is not תלד לא עקרה (Job 24:21), but ילדה לא עקרה (Jdg 13:2); not indeed that she had never had any children, but during her captivity and exile she had been robbed of her children, and as a holy city had given birth to no more (Isa 49:21). She was shōmēmâh, rendered solitary (Sa2 13:20; the allusion is to her depopulation as a city), whereas formerly she was בּעוּלה, i.e., enjoyed the fellowship of Jehovah her husband (ba‛al). But this condition would not last (for Jehovah had not given her a divorce): she was therefore to exult and shout, since the number of children which she would now have, as one desolate and solitary, would be greater than the number of those which she had as a married wife.

"O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, not comforted, behold, I lay thy stones in stibium, and lay thy foundations with sapphires; and make thy minarets of ruby, and thy gates into carbuncles, and all thy boundary into jewels." At the present time the church, of which Jerusalem is the metropolis, is sunk in misery, driven with tempest like chaff of the threshing-floor (Hos 13:3), without comfort; because till now it has waited in vain for any act of consolation on the part of God, and has been scorned rather than comforted by man (סערה is a part. kal, not pual; and נחמה 3rd pers. praet. like נעזבה, Isa 62:12, and רחמה, Hos 1:6; Hos 2:3). But this will be altered; Jerusalem will rise again from the dust, like a glorious building of God. Jerome makes the following apt remark on Isa 54:11: "in stibio, i.e., in the likeness of an elegant woman, who paints her eyes with stibium; referring to the beauty of the city." Pūkh is eye-black (kohl, cf., kâchal, Eze 23:40), i.e., a sooty compound, the chief component of which was powdered antimony, or else manganese or lead, and with which oriental women coloured their eyebrows, and more particularly the eyelids both above and below the eyes, that the beauty of the latter might be all the more conspicuous (Kg2 9:30). The classic φῦκος, fucus, has a meaning foreign to the Hebrew word, viz., that of rouge for the cheeks. If, then, stibium (antimony), or any blackening collyrium generally, served the purpose of mortar in the rebuilding of Jerusalem, the stones of its walls (not its foundation-stones, אדניך, which is the reading adopted by Ewald, but, on the contrary, the visible stones of its towering walls) would look like the eyes of a woman shining forth from the black framework of their painted lids, i.e., they would stand out in splendour from their dark ground. The Beth in bassappı̄rı̄m indicates the means employed. Sapphires serve as foundation-stones, for the foundation of Jerusalem stands as immoveably firm as the covenant of God. The sapphire blue is the colour of the heaven, of revelation, and of the covenant. The shemâshōth, however, i.e., the minarets which stand out like rays of the sun, and also the gates, have a red appearance. Red is the colour of blood, and hence of life and of imperishableness; also the colour of fire and of lightning, and hence of wrath and victory. Jehovah makes the minarets of "ruby." The Sept. and Jerome adopt the rendering iaspidem (a jasper); at any rate, כּדכד (which is the proper way of writing the word: Ewald, 48, c) (Note: The first כ is dagessatum, the second raphatum: see Norzi. The word forms one of the eighteen which have a dagesh after a word ending with a vowel sound (בלא מבטל בתר יה וא דגשין): see Masora Magna on Dan 5:11, and Heidenheim's הטעמים משפטי, 41a. The object is to secure greater euphony, as in ככרכמישׁ (הלא), Isa 10:9, which is one of the eighteen words.) is a red sparkling jewel (from kidkēd; cf., kı̄dōd, scintilla). The arches of the gates He forms of אקדּח אבני, stones of fiery splendour (from qâdach, to burn: hence qaddachath, πυρετός), that is to say, or carbuncle stones (from carbunculus, a small red-hot coal), like ruby, garnet, etc. Jerome has adopted the false rendering lapides sculptos, after Symm. λίθοι γλυφῆς (from קדח = קדד, findere?). The accusative of the predicate כדכד is interchanged with עקדח לבני, and then with לאבני־חפץ, to denote the materia ex qua. The whole territory (precinct) of Jerusalem is turned by Jehovah into precious stones, that is to say, it appears to be paved with such stones, just as in Tobit 13:17 the streets are said to be "paved with beryl, and carbuncle, and stones of Ophir," i.e., to be covered with a mosaic formed of precious stones. It is upon the passage before us that Tobit 13:16, 17, and Rev 21:18-21, are founded. The motley colours of the precious stones, with which the new Jerusalem is adorned, are something more than a mere childish fancy. Whence, then, do the precious stones derive their charm? The ultimate ground of this charm is the fact, that in universal nature everything presses to the light, and that in the mineral world the jewels represent the highest stage of this ascending process. It is the self-unfolding process of the divine glory itself, which is reflected typologically in the several gradations of the manifold play of colours and the transparency of the precious stones. For this reason, the high priest wore a breastplate with twelve precious stones, upon which were the names of the twelve tribes of Israel; and for this same reason, the author of the Apocalypse carries out into detail in chapter 21 the picture of the new Jerusalem, which is here sketched by the prophet of the Old Testament (without distinguishing time from eternity), adding crystals and pearls to the precious stones which he there mentions one by one. How can all this be explained, except on the ground that even the mineral world reflects the glory of those eternal lights from which God is called the "Father of lights," or except on the assumption that the saints in light will one day be able to translate these stony types into the words of God, out of which they have their being?