Isaiah 51:22Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Such is the fate prepared by God for those who do not know Him, and a dreadful judgment awaits them because those who metaphorically imbibe fire and brimstone are destined for relentless and everlasting punishment. In contrast, every righteous person ought to declare, “I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord” (Psalm 115:4); for consistently knowing and invoking the Lord of all is a life-giving drink for those accustomed to it. Therefore, God, who judges with righteousness, asserts that Jerusalem was made drunken, not by wine, but by unhealed affliction and unbearable suffering. With just judgment, He determines the fate of the virtuous and reproves those lacking righteousness so they may improve, turn from every form of impurity, and transform their spirits to align with His divine will.

But take the cup of calamity from Your hand, and do not offer it to Xenus to drink: as I have said, he shall be called to the knowledge of Christ, enjoying with us the highest blessings; he himself will partake in the sacred gifts and receive divine riches. This is confirmed by the prophet, who states, “In the days of many days the children of Israel shall sit down, not to the king, nor to the prince, nor to the sacrifice, nor to the altar, nor to the priesthood, nor to the appearing: and therefore the children of Israel shall turn back, and shall call upon the Lord their God, and David their king, and shall rejoice in the Lord, and in his goodness in the last days” (Hosea 3:4, 5). The prophetic message through David points to Christ, who descended physically from his lineage. This is evidently shown by the fact that the prophecy was made long after the death of divine David, many generations later. Thus, while he has yet to be called to grace through faith, and while the cup of wrath is not yet removed from him; when he honors Christ through faith, that cup will be completely lifted from him, and he will rejoice alongside other righteous individuals, of whom it is written, “they shall forget their former sorrow, and it shall not come upon their heart” (Isaiah 65:16), rather, everlasting joy and gladness shall rest upon their heads: sickness, sorrow, and sighing shall flee from them (Isaiah 51:11).

But when this cup is removed from him, it will be handed to those who have wronged him. How have they transgressed against him? By providing the chance to do what is right and walk the path of purity that leads to a life pleasing to God, so that, adorned with the brilliance of the Gospel, they may ascend together with those who have faith in Christ to the highest city. Who can be interpreted as those who have offended him? In the most direct sense, it should be noted that primarily those who governed the synagogue drank deeply from the cup of indignation: for the greater the joys they experienced than others, the more grievous the consequences of their downfall, stripping them of honor, glory, wealth, and the comforts of existence, and even life itself. However, if it is important to explore hidden meanings (and I deem it necessary), we affirm that the synagogue of the Jews suffered not only from their leaders but also from the malice of the devil, who blinded them from recognizing the divine light with their hearts, failing to see Him who calls to salvation, who justifies the unrighteous, liberates from punishment, and delivers from the bonds of death, this being Christ. Paul attests to this when he wrote: “But if our gospel be covered, in them that perish it is covered: in them shall the god of this age blind the minds of the unbelievers, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ should shine unto them” (2 Corinthians 4:3, 4).

Moreover, the Son Himself addressed the assembly of Jews, stating that this condition existed among them, openly rebuking them for becoming violent and disobedient under an unclean spirit’s influence, led into all sorts of wickedness: for He said, “When the unclean spirit departs from a man, it passes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none: then it says, I will return to my house from which I came out. And when it comes, it finds it empty, swept and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it be with this wicked generation” (Matthew 12:43-45).

In Egypt, they served the gods of Egypt, and an unclean spirit was within them. But when they were liberated through Moses and received the law as a guide for their actions (they heard the clear directive, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only” (Deuteronomy 6:13)); hence, the unclean spirit was cast out from their hearts. Yet, as they lacked the fear of God and did not receive Jesus in their hearts through faith (for He dwells in our hearts through faith, as stated in Ephesians 3:17), the unclean spirit, seeing that old place vacant, invaded it again and dwelt within them, making their last state worse than the former. It is well known that the architect of evil even appointed a traitor among the disciples; for it is written, “Satan entered into him by bread” (John 13:27). Thus, the Jewish synagogue faces judgment because Satan obscures it and prevents them from seeing with spiritual clarity the Light of the world, namely Christ. After being called to repentance, the cup of wrath and the vessel of downfall were placed into the hands of those who had wronged them; for the evil and hostile forces were punished by Christ, the Savior of all, who cast them into hell, binding them in chains of darkness, and delivering them to judgment (2 Peter 2:4 cf. Jude 1:6). They urged Jerusalem, “Bow down, let us go down.” However, it (Jerusalem) extends itself before those who traverse it, lying down for those who seek to trample over it. Such is the behavior of malevolent powers when they perceive a soul weakened and neglecting its reasoning to the point of easily succumbing to their wicked and God-hating accusations.

Recognize that you are poor and debased, intoxicated, not by wine, but by the wrath of the Lord. Therefore, if you repent and rise, understand that the cup of intoxication and despair—known by Symmachus and Theodotion as a cup of torment and distress—will be removed from your grasp, and the vessel described in this context as a container for mixing wine will be given to your oppressors. They mocked your soul, saying, “Bow down so we may pass over,” and you willingly bent down, rendering your body, your backbone, or as the Seventy put it, your middle and garments, as if they were ground for those who tread upon you.

This can be interpreted in light of history; had Jerusalem chosen to rise, she would not have tasted the cup of the Lord's fury and would not have suffered as she has. Yet, to grasp a spiritual understanding through the Seventy, it is addressed to the soul weighed down by vices and filled with passions, that she might realize she stands before the Lord as her judge and will account for all her actions. If she turns and improves, the cup of her downfall will be lifted from her hands, and the vessel holding the Lord’s fury—representing the punishments that Ezekiel mentioned when he said to Jerusalem, “You shall drink from the cup of your sister Samaria, deep and wide, overflowing with drunkenness” (Ezekiel 23:32)—will be handed over to those who brought her low. This clearly refers to the oppressive authorities who said to her soul, “Bow down so we may pass over.”

It is noteworthy that they did not force her to bow or oppress her in any way; rather, she who had previously stood erect chose to stoop down. Yet she did not humble herself from within but allowed it to happen from external pressures. We find a similar account in the Gospel (Luke 13:11-13), where Satan had bound a woman for eighteen years until the Lord restored her to her former state, allowing her to lift her gaze to the mountains, declaring that her help comes from no other source (Psalm 120:1), and to You I lift my eyes, O You who dwell in heaven (Psalm 122:1).