Isaiah 1:22Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

They assert that the distinguished prophet Isaiah would not discuss the dishonesty of traders and the corruption of tavern owners, suggesting instead that the silver represents God's messages and the wine signifies the doctrine, which they perverted by infusing their own interpretations. While I do not reject this interpretation, I contend that the former view has greater validity. Addressing such topics is not unbecoming for a prophet; rather, it aligns beautifully with the purpose and humanity of God.

There is little need for extensive elaboration on this point. When the only-begotten Son of God descended to earth with the aim of imparting a lofty doctrine and establishing a divine way of living, He too addressed matters of measure and similar topics, which might appear even less significant—such as greetings, social seating arrangements, and the priority of reclining. These seemingly minor issues, when overlooked, become substantial sources of sin. If such matters warrant attention in the new covenant, they certainly deserved it even more in the old, when the people were less refined, and their lives improved significantly as they learned to avoid all forms of injustice, to refrain from deceiving their neighbors, and not to exacerbate the plight of the poor through harmful indulgences. The negligence of these aspects frequently led to the downfall of cities, the downfall of rulers, and relentless conflict; conversely, adherence to these principles fostered peace, prosperity, and safety, directing individuals toward virtue.

We shall not emulate the false apostles who boast excessively about themselves. This is reflected in the term kaphleusai, which indicates the act of diluting wine or selling what should be offered freely. It seems to me that in this context, he both mocks them in relation to money and hints at their mixing their own with God's teachings, as I previously mentioned. This is Isaiah’s charge: Your merchants mix wine with water (Isaiah 1:22). Should this be said of wine, attributing it to doctrine would not be mistaken. The prophet asserts, we do not do this; instead, we present to you what has been faithfully transmitted to us, offering the pure, undiluted word.

Our Lord Jesus Christ illustrates this by comparing the Kingdom of Heaven to a householder preparing for a journey who entrusts his servants with talents—the first receiving five and the second one—before departing. Upon his return, he commends those who have labored wisely, saying, 'Well done, good and faithful servant.' However, to the servant who buried his talent and yielded no return, He reproaches, 'You wicked and lazy servant! You ought to have invested my silver with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest' (Matthew 25:14-29). Similarly, the psalmist David proclaims, 'The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace' (Ps. 11:7). Therefore, the unrefined and worthless silver possessed by the Jews represented the teachings propagated by the scribes and Pharisees. They acted like merchant traders, attempting to dilute the clarity of the law with their own self-serving interpretations, thereby introducing confusion and error. When the scribes and Pharisees approached Jesus with a complaint about His disciples not adhering to the elders’ tradition of handwashing before eating, He responded firmly, challenging them on how their traditions undermined God’s commandments. He reminded them, 'Honor your father and mother, and he who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.' But you say, ‘If someone tells his father or mother, 'Whatever I have that could help you is a gift for God,' then he need not honor his father or mother’ (Matthew 15:2-6). These words unmistakably condemn the deceit of the Jewish leaders, who, in their zeal to uphold their traditions, rendered divine laws ineffective, offering instead a distorted and hollow interpretation.

Therefore, examine the treasures within your hearts, scrutinize all that resides in your innermost being, to ensure there isn't a counterfeit coin—an erroneous doctrine not established by the Spirit through His sacred writings delivered to us via the Prophets and Apostles, but rather ordained by the wicked, grounded in their own fabrications, subtly bearing their seal, akin to those who introduce foreign pieces of silver into the royal treasury, resembling the likeness of the adversary, damaging great riches and causing uncertainty among many. For there are few honest merchants, and not many who can thoroughly test all things, holding onto the good while shunning every form of evil. Your maidens blend wine with water. Understand the literal implication of this statement, you who sell wine, and do not deceive the creation. This subject is not trivial, but rather an evil deserving of the utmost condemnation. Yet, the word quickly moves towards its spiritual connotation. There is a wine that brings joy to the heart of man—his mind—and reigns within the soul; it is the wisdom of the Scriptures, imparted to us by the Holy Apostles and Prophets from the cupbearer, the Spirit, for everlasting delight. Many who partake dilute the word with water, infusing it with their own thoughts, harming the listeners in the process. In catering to their own desires and gratifying their audience with soothing words, they stir their passions toward destruction. By diminishing what Scripture firmly, profoundly, and beneficially restricts, and by permitting an ignorant human rationale for sin, along with such distractions that please the multitude, they lead the hearers toward ruin, further loosening the hold on the souls of the indulgent.

Your merchants dilute wine with water. In contrast, Simmachus interpreted this as your wine being mixed with water. The implication is clear: the pure and untainted law of God is being compromised by the Pharisaical traditions, which Jesus addressed in detail within the Gospel, indicating that they abandon the commandments of God to adhere to human doctrines (Matthew 15). Every teacher who softens the rigorous truth of Scriptures to appease their audience and fails to offer necessary correction distorts the essence of the sacred texts. Likewise, heretics warp the truth of the Gospel through misguided interpretations and serve as deceitful purveyors, transforming wine into water, while our Lord miraculously transformed water into wine (John 2), the quality of which astonished the steward. The Queen of Sheba, at Solomon’s banquet, admired such fine wine, lauding his attendants (2 Chronicles 9). Ecclesiastes, through veiled language, also speaks of provisions for wine and feasting.

Therefore, instead of translating "wine," Aquila uses the term for "feast," which the Greeks derive from the word for "to drink," while we more appropriately refer to it as stemming from "cohabitation." Simmachus offers the term for retribution or vengeance, indicating that those who repay evil for evil—an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth (Exod. 21)—are guilty. This contrast highlights David’s approach of responding with kindness to those who wrong him: "Let the evil that is done to me return upon my own head" (Ps. 7:5), mirroring Jeremiah’s view of the righteous person: "He gives his cheek to the one who strikes him; he is filled with insults" (Lamentations 3:30). This aligns with the exhortation given to the evangelical individual, as Jesus taught: "If someone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also" (Luke 6:29).

In this framework, they nullify certain commandments, impose others, and reinterpret others to align with their own preferences, which their individual teachers uphold. In their attempt to justify these traditions, they resisted the obedience required by God's Law, which was intended to prepare them for the arrival of Christ. They even criticized the Lord for performing healings on the Sabbath, although, as previously stated, the law did not prohibit such actions. They themselves managed to perform healings through the act of circumcising a man on the Sabbath, yet they did not hold themselves accountable for violating God's commandment in favor of tradition and the aforementioned Pharisaic law, nor did they adhere to the essential commandment of the Law, which is love for God.

Numerous times, I have found myself astonished by individuals who seek to reinterpret Sacred Scripture, often prioritizing their own ideas over the intended meaning of the text. They audaciously pervert the Divine by adulterating the pure and life-giving thoughts of Scripture with the impure and murky waters of their teachings. This resonates with the phrase, "Thy tavern-keepers mix wine with water." While some may believe this refers merely to those who dispute over wine in a literal sense—which is an inappropriate quarrel—I contend that it actually pertains more to those who contend against the Word of God. The phrase does not say, "Thy tavern-keepers mix water with wine," as one would expect of tavern keepers; rather, it states, "Wine with water," highlighting how they corrupt the clear and sacred truths of Holy Scripture by intertwining them with their cloudy doctrines, thus distorting the very essence of the teachings.