Isaiah 28:6Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

The prophet Isaiah further proclaims, "And thou shalt be a crown of goodness, and a diadem of the kingdom in the hand of thy God" (Isaiah 62:3), affirming that Christ will envelop those who believe in Him with eternal glory and immeasurable joy. The remnants of Israel, referring specifically to the Jewish believers, will partake of these blessings, alongside another group—namely the Gentiles—who, recognizing their significance in Christ, approach their heavenly Father fervently, exclaiming, "Lord, as a weapon of favour hath crowned us" (Psalms 5:13).

When the Father revealed His goodwill towards us, Christ emerged as our unassailable defense against the adversary's onslaught, shielding His people from harm and his malevolence. It seems he refers to those who remain faithful, justified by their belief; they are safeguarded by a spirit of discernment, meant for both judgment and protection against those who would not be saved. In antiquity, it can be said that Satan brought ruin upon humanity, leading them deep into sin, for as the Psalmist writes, “All have gone astray, all have been consumed together: there is none that doeth good, no, not even one” (Psalm 52:4). However, when the only-begotten Word of the Father took on humanity, He enacted judgment, pronouncing His verdict not only upon us but also on the one who once dominated us—Satan. He determined the destroyer's fate and stripped him of power, saving those he had ensnared. He taught this truth, declaring: "Now is the judgment of this world: now the prince of this world shall be cast out: and if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all things unto myself" (John 12:31, 32), affirming that the purpose of His coming was not to condemn the world but to bring salvation (John 3:17).

How, then, does He speak of judgment upon the world? For we would cry out through the prophets, "Arise, O Lord, and cry out my judgement, O my God and my Lord, to my people" (Psalm 34:23). Once His righteous judgment was enacted upon us, we respond with gratitude, proclaiming, "Let us confess to thee, O Lord, with all my heart; let us sing all thy wonders, let us sing to thy name above" (Psalm 9:2, 3). Why do we do this? Because You have delivered my judgment and heard my plea; You have sat on the throne, executing righteousness. You have silenced the wicked, leading them to destruction (Psalm 9:5, 6). Thus, the hosts of demons faced judgment, perishing alongside that evil being, Satan. Those who remain will be kept safe by the spirit of discernment, as He judged and justified through both righteousness and divine power, preventing the destruction of those who place their faith in Him.

The Lord Himself shall be the triumphant crown for the remnant of Israel, specifically for Judah and Benjamin. He will embody the spirit of discernment for the rightful judge, certainly applicable to King Hezekiah of Judah, and will be a fortress for those forced to retreat from the devastation, taking refuge in the city. This is illustrated in the prophecy when one hundred and eighty-five thousand Assyrian soldiers fell to the sword of the angel. Nevertheless, Judah and Benjamin also became intoxicated with idolatry; having scorned the worship in the temple, they turned to the worship of images of demons, failing to recognize the Lord who sees all. Their altars and services were tainted with impurity, and idolatrous abominations filled the high places and forests, leaving the Lord with no sanctuary among them. This can be understood in a literal sense. Concerning its allegorical interpretation, we will adhere to the former insights while also acknowledging the Greek translations of the interpreters. After the adversary has ensnared the heretics who have ascended the lofty heights of pride, the Lord will become a glorious crown for those who remain within the Church, a small remnant in contrast to the many who have gone astray. In the spirit of discernment, the Lord will cleanse the daughters and sons of Zion from their defilements through this spirit of judgment. Yet those stained with blood will not find cleansing through judgment but through the purifying fire. He will be a stronghold for the people, protecting them from those intoxicated by the venom of serpents and led astray by their folly. We have often remarked that wine is derived from grapes, while sikera, which Aquila translated as intoxication, encompasses any beverage that can disturb the mind, whether from grains like wheat or barley, fruits, or the sap of palms. The priests and prophets of the heretics were enraptured by sikera and consumed by wine, similar to Iriska, Maximilla, and their leader Montanus, who spoke without truth. Wine is consumed when the scriptures are misinterpreted, while sikera represents secular wisdom that ensnares with dialectics, best understood as not merely bonds but phantoms—shadows that vanish and decay. Such endeavors invite a curse upon those who forsake godliness and act solely out of greed. The Apostle warned against such deceitful spirits, stating that those who heed flattering voices and the doctrines of demons are hypocritical liars.

Furthermore, in time, the Lord will bring low the scribes, Pharisees, and Judas the betrayer, who from the outset was a thief responsible for managing the poor’s funds; then He will be the hope and crown of glory for the Jewish believers. He speaks of the apostles, whom He will safeguard for the proclamation of the Gospel, protecting them from immediate martyrdom. All the priests and false prophets were intoxicated with the wine and affliction mentioned previously. Their schemes were hollow, as even Judas's betrayal was motivated by greed, and the priests who bribed him acted out of fear of being discarded. The Lord, having fashioned a whip from cords, expelled the merchants of cattle and sheep from the temple, overturning the tables of those selling doves and declaring, It is written, My Father’s house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.

The profound meaning of the Hebrew expression regarding their tables being full of refuse and corruption can be equally applied to the heretics and the scribes and Pharisees, whose doctrines and rules we deem filled with corruption and impurity. Without rectifying their distortion of the Holy Scriptures, they emit undigested waste, leaving no sanctity that God can inhabit. I express my confusion over Theodotion’s choice of the term έμετον ουσαλίας instead of the Hebrew term for vomit; his translation does not appear elsewhere in Greek texts, perhaps indicating a coined term for a novel object. Indeed, in Hebrew, vomit is denoted by two components—ci meaning vomit and soa indicating unclean. Thus, anything that invokes nausea and vomiting may be categorized appropriately as δοσαλία.