THEOSISJohn Chrysostom
This event occurred during the night in Egypt. If nothing else had taken place, could this alone not have led to their complete destruction?
Isaiah 50:3Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers
I will clothe the heavens with darkness, and will make sackcloth their covering.
אַלְבִּ֥ישׁ שָׁמַ֖יִם קַדְר֑וּת וְשַׂ֖ק אָשִׂ֥ים כְּסוּתָֽם׃
The Church Fathers on this verse
4 Church Fathers comment on this verse
Cyrill of Alexandria
This passage reflects on other miraculous events, stating, “I will darken the heavens and cover them like a garment.” The phrase about being clothed should be interpreted as a declaration of having been clothed. We should also recall the wise Moses, who noted that a profound darkness enveloped Egypt for three days, yet it was harmless to the children of Israel, who experienced daylight and illumination. Therefore, if I have indeed manifested in the flesh, the same One who once parted the sea and made it dry, also did so with the rivers, and has only clothed this vast heavens, demonstrating through tangible acts that I am the Sovereign over all and that nothing is outside my control; how could anyone dare to suggest, “My hand cannot provide sustenance?”
Jerome of Stridon
Has My hand become limited, rendering it unable to redeem, or is there a lack of power within Me to save? Observe, through My disdain I will render the sea desolate, and I will dry up the rivers; the fish will perish without water, succumbing to thirst. I will darken the heavens and drape them with a shroud. In response to those who doubted the Lord's ability to free His people from bondage, He offers evidence and various instances: He who made the Red Sea accessible for His people (Ex. 14), who dried up the waters of the Jordan, and during the desiccation of the Nile’s waters in Egypt, caused the fish to decay (Ex. 7), and who, for three days, shrouded the land in thick darkness, as if the sky were clothed in a garment of gloom—He certainly can also rescue His people from peril.
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Furthermore, as previously stated: I came and there was no individual, I called and there was no response, we may assert that He who performed such wonders and commands heaven, earth, and sea at His will could indeed avoid the cross, as He states in the Gospel: do you think I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will send more than twelve legions of angels (Matthew 26:53).
In a metaphorical interpretation, the Lord’s intercession empties the sea when all the bitterness of this world is dissolved, leaving only the rivers, concerning which the spiritual dragon declared in Egypt: ‘My rivers are my rivers, and I have created them’ (Ezek. 29:2). Additionally, in another passage it reads: ‘What is that to you and the path of the Assyrian, that you should drink the water of the river’ (Jer. 2:18). The fish that are removed from the good catch are twisted after the net is cast into the sea. Regarding the statement: I will envelop the sky in darkness, as if to shroud it, the sky may be understood as everything above us; thus, the birds soaring through the air are referred to as heavenly, while the opposing forces in the realm between heaven and earth are also termed heavenly. Alternatively, the heavens are regarded as enveloped in darkness when shrouded in clouds, aligning with the Scripture, He who covers the heavens with clouds, He who prepares the earth with rain (Psalms 146:8). In warning of drought, God states, ‘The heavens shall be like brass and the earth as iron’ (Deuteronomy 28:33)—not suggesting a transformation of elemental nature, but indicating the severity of the judgments. Philosophers maintain that clouds do not rise more than ten stadia above the earth, thus obscuring the sun’s brilliance. Therefore, it is not the heavens themselves that are covered in a veil; when the heavenly body is obstructed, the air below it is rendered dark by the cloud’s shadow. We can interpret the heavens being covered in darkness and veiled in this manner, acknowledging that all are under sin, and even the saints are in need of God’s mercy.
Theodoret of Cyrus
The Lord enshrouds the skies in darkness, wrapping them as with a veil (Isaiah 50:3). This is an action He has taken and will continue to take. It occurred during the crucifixion when darkness covered the entire land from the sixth hour (Matt. 27:45). Furthermore, it will be manifested once more in the end times when the sun will be darkened, and the moon will withhold its light (Matt. 24:29).
Cross references
Passages read together with this verse.
- Rev 6:12And I saw, when he had opened the sixth seal: and behold there was a great earthquake. And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair: and the whole moon became as blood.
- Ps 18 (17):11
- Ps 18 (17):12
- Ex 10:21And the Lord said to Moses: Stretch out thy hand towards heaven: and may there be darkness upon the land of Egypt so thick that it may be felt.
- Matt 27:45Now from the sixth hour, there was darkness over the whole earth, until the ninth hour.