The following was translated using Cluade.
Is 2:1: The word that Isaiah the son of Amos saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
About to begin a new discourse, he places first a new title, that he may distinguish what follows from what precedes. He says that he by no means heard the word but saw it, because when the Lord speaks not through a subject creature but through himself, the heart of the hearer is taught concerning his word without words and syllables. For God, to speak words to us as it were, is to intimate by hidden power the things that must be done, and to render the heart of man knowing, taught by the discourse of eternity without applied clamor, suddenly instructed about hidden things.
For because hearing does not comprehend at once all things said to itself together—since it perceives causes through words and words individually through syllables—but sight in that to which it directs itself apprehends the whole suddenly and at once, the speech of God made to us inwardly is seen rather than heard, because while it insinuates itself without delay of discourse, it illuminates the darkness of our ignorance with sudden light.
Well therefore did the prophet testify that he saw the word, since in the secret of heavenly visions, with the most lucid intuition of mind, he knew at once the whole of what he could not speak forth all at once outwardly. Moreover, he saw "concerning Judah and Jerusalem," because he knew divinely what things were to come either to the Synagogue or to the Church. For Judah is understood first as the people of the Jews and then of Christians, and Jerusalem signifies first the Synagogue, then the Church.
The prophet, however, beginning to narrate what he had seen, adds:
Is 2:2: And it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared on the top of mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills.
But it must be asked why he begins saying "And it shall come to pass" and not rather "It shall come to pass." For "and" is a copulative conjunction, and we know that subsequent speech is not joined except to preceding speech. But this which he now speaks at the beginning of this narration cannot be continued to what was said before, because it is separated from them by the interposition of a title. Why therefore does he begin saying "And it shall come to pass" when there is no speech to which this may be joined?
But in this matter it must be known that just as we look upon corporeal things, so the senses of the prophets look upon spiritual things, and to them those things are present which seem absent to our ignorance. Hence it happens that in the mind of prophets, interior things are so joined to exterior things that they see both at once, and at once there is made in them both inwardly the word which they hear and outwardly what they say.
Therefore the reason is clear why he began saying "And it shall come to pass," because he joined the word which he brought forth outwardly to that word which he had heard inwardly. Therefore he continued the words which he brought forth outwardly to the intimate vision; for this reason he began saying "And it shall come to pass in the last days." For he adds this which he begins to speak outwardly as if that also is outward which he sees inwardly.
Moreover, he calls "the last days" the time of evangelical preaching. "For we are they upon whom the ends of the ages have come" (1 Corinthians 10:11).
"It shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared on the top of mountains." The house of the Lord was the Israelite people. Therefore that one is called the mountain of the house of the Lord who deigned to be incarnate from the Israelite people. Moreover, there were in the same people holy men who might rightly be called mountains because through the merit of life they drew near to heavenly things. But the incarnate Only-begotten was not equal to these mountains, because he transcends the merits of all by his divinity.
Hence also he is rightly called the mountain above the top of mountains, because by his divinity he was found even above the summits of the saints, so that those who accomplished much in God could scarcely have touched his footsteps with the summit of thought. Therefore he was prepared on the top of mountains because he appeared among men above all the loftiness of prophets and apostles, "and was exalted above the hills," because he also designated seventy-two other disciples (Luke 10:1), who were indeed sublime but nevertheless inferior to the apostles, as hills to mountains. For he himself is elevated above those who received faith. Also all excellent saints who followed the apostles can be called hills in comparison to them.
It follows: "And all nations shall flow to him."
Is 2:3: And many people shall go and say: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths.
Because through the aforesaid mountains and hills the whole world was to be converted to Christ, it is rightly added: "And nations shall flow to him, and many people shall go." Because truly very many of those who were converted mutually exhorted each other to conversion, they are fittingly remembered to be about to say: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob," that is, to Christ and to the Church. "And he will teach us his ways."
His way, however, is peace; his way is humility; his way is patience. For he came into the world to reproaches and to insults and to the passion, and bore adversities with equanimity, strongly avoided prosperity, and invited to the rewards of eternal life. Therefore he taught these ways of his to those who afterward came to the faith, that they might follow his footsteps. "For he who says he abides in him ought himself also to walk as he walked" (1 John 2:6).
But whence this sense was to be future to the nations that they might flow together to Christ, it is added: "For the law shall come forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." For the law of Moses and the word of evangelical preaching went forth from Jerusalem through the apostles into the whole world and taught all nations his ways.
It follows:
Is 2:4: And he shall judge the nations and rebuke many peoples.
The word of the Lord judged the nations because it condemned their malice that they might be converted to good, and rebuked peoples for their unbelief that they might come to their senses. Or therefore he says the nations are to be judged because they were to believe. "For he who does not believe is already judged" (John 3:18). But peoples, that is, the Jews, [are] to be judged but to be rebuked because they did not receive the Son of God sent to them.
It follows: "And they shall turn their swords into ploughshares and their spears into sickles." We see this in those who for Christ desert arms and, leading a religious life, cultivate the earth that from just labor they may acquire sustenance.
It follows: "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they be exercised any more to war." The unity of faith and charity has pacified all nations in Christ. The Church of the just, which is through all nations, is forbidden to lift the sword against anyone; it hears from the Lord: "To him that strikes thee on the one cheek, offer also the other. And from him that takes away thy coat, forbid not thy tunic also" (Luke 6:29). "But to him that asks of thee, give, and from him that takes away thy goods, ask them not again" (Luke 6:30).
Is 2:5: O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.
Therefore nation does not lift sword against nation, because [the Church] of the saints keeps these precepts in all nations; indeed the saying is brought forth only about the elect, who "walk worthy of the vocation in which they are called, with all humility and mildness, with patience, supporting one another in charity, careful to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Ephesians 4:1-3).
For to the perverse who seem to have Christianity and make discords and fights, James reproaches: "You covet and have not; you kill and are zealous and cannot obtain; you contend and fight" (James 4:2). But the Church of the elect, which is gathered from all nations, knows not how to fight among themselves, for whom the Savior prayed saying: "That they all may be one, as thou, Father, in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me" (John 17:21). Of whom also the Psalmist says: "Much peace have they that love thy law, and to them there is no stumbling block" (Psalm 119:165).
Therefore it was said to the nations called to Christ that "nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they be exercised any more to war." After these things he invites the people to the newness of this grace, adding: [O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord], that is, let us place the steps of good works in the Gospel.
But seeing them persevere in oldness with obstinate minds, suddenly turned to the Lord, he indicates why he admonished them to come to the light, saying: [For thou hast cast off thy people, the house of Jacob], that is, the nation of the Jews on account of perfidy you have expelled. And he adds the causes of their casting off, saying: "Because they are filled as of old, and have had soothsayers as the Philistines, and have adhered to strange children."
They are filled now with riches as of old their fathers. Or they are filled with iniquities and the filth of idolatry as of old before the law. "And they have had soothsayers" as the nation of the Philistines was accustomed to have, because they consulted magicians and diviners just as nations which had not received knowledge of God. "And they have adhered to strange children," because they also sought foreign boys to commit that abominable crime.
How those understood to be filled with riches are filled now is explained when it is added:
VERSE 7: Their land is filled with silver and gold, and there is no end of their treasures.
VERSE 8: And their land is filled with horses, and their chariots are innumerable.
"And there is no end of their treasures," because the mind of the possessor is not filled, so that what is possessed against God's command is not worthy of number. For the law prohibited the kings of Israel from multiplying horses and chariots (1 Samuel 8:11).
But how they are filled with iniquities and idolatry as of old is shown by the speech added, where it is said: "And their land is filled with idols; they have adored the work of their hands which their fingers made."
VERSE 9: And man has bowed down himself, and man has been humbled.
For just as of old in Egypt they served idols, so also now they did, and they bowed themselves before images—which nevertheless is to be referred not to the coming of the Lord but to the earlier times. For when he appeared in the flesh, they did not worship idols, but in [earlier] times they had worshiped them, just as the other things written are perpetrated.
For when he had said them cast off by God, he began to show what they themselves had already done and the works to which they were devoted when they were cast off, that he might declare them to have been cast off on account of the merit of their great [sin]. And after the description of so many iniquities, he adds, speaking to the Lord to whom he has spoken up to now: "Therefore forgive them not." For it is impossible, because it is said of Christ: "He shall give to him the throne of David his father, and he shall reign in the house of Jacob forever" (Luke 1:32). Therefore that people offended in such a way that they can no longer obtain remission of sins, because [they rejected] Christ, who alone [can free] from sins. For it is impossible that "the blood of goats and oxen" takes away sins (Hebrews 10:4). Hence the Lord himself also says to them: "I have said to you that you shall die in your sins. For if you believe not that I am he, you shall die in your sin" (John 8:24).
But we can understand by the house of Jacob the people [in which] evil are mixed with good, and all are commonly called by the same name of Christianity. What is now said of the house of Jacob must be understood not of the just but of this multitude of sinners who still confess the name of Christ. To whom it is rightly said: "O house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of the Lord," because "the light came into the world, and men loved darkness rather than the light. For everyone that does evil hates the light and does not come to the light, that his works may not be reproved. But he that does truth comes to the light, that his works may be made manifest, because they are done in God" (John 3:19ff).
Therefore he says to sinners: "Come and let us walk in the light of the Lord." As if to say: "Let us cast off the works of darkness" (Romans 13:12) and "let us walk as children of light. For the fruit of the light is in all goodness and justice and truth" (Ephesians 5:8-9). He says "let us walk" because he speaks to Catholics, and therefore he exhorts them with himself to do well.
Is 2:6 But because they, scorning to follow his admonition, pertinaciously persevere in the darkness of evil works, he deserts them and, turned to the Lord, soon brings forth a terrible sentence concerning them: "Thou hast cast off thy people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled as of old." They are filled with riches which they greedily gathered and retain, as of old before they came to Christ, and therefore they have been cast off by him. For he himself, casting them off, says: "Every one of you that does not renounce all that he possesses cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:33).
Other causes are also added for which he cast them off: "For they have had soothsayers as the Philistines," that is, they consulted mathematicians and diviners like the pagans. "And have adhered to strange children," that is, they are delightfully joined to unclean spirits in the perpetration of evils as in fornication. Hence the Lord says to Ezekiel: "Oholah has played the harlot against me and doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbors, princes and magistrates, all youths of desire" (Ezekiel 23:5).
For Oholah [means] Samaria. And what is expressed by Samaria except this [multitude] of sinners? What by the Assyrian lovers except malign spirits? For Assyrians are interpreted as "reproaching" or "convicting," and demons are called Assyrians because those whom they now associate with themselves in malice, they accuse and convict in the future judgment. Therefore Oholah has played the harlot above her husband and doted with concupiscence on her lovers, because this people who were espoused to Christ despise the commands of Christ and most willingly do the desires of spirits.
Who are the princes and magistrates of the adverse part, because "our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness" (Ephesians 6:12). Who are also called youths of desire because they burn for the corruption of souls, and while they suggest depraved pleasures, they show themselves as if beautiful to the interior eyes of the deceived mind. For "Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:14).
Therefore the malign spirits whom Ezekiel calls Assyrians, youths of desire, Isaiah now calls strange children, and what is said there "she doted on her lovers," this is what is said here "and they have adhered to strange children."
What he had said, "they are filled as of old," he consequently opens, saying: "Their land is filled with silver and gold, and there is no end of their treasures. And their land is filled with horses, and their chariots are innumerable." And it is manifest that the people who pursue such things do not seek heavenly things. "For you cannot serve God and mammon" (Matthew 6:24), that is, riches.
Where also mystically is added: "And their land is filled with idols." For what is designated by the name of idols the Apostle shows, saying: "And covetousness, which is the service of idols" (Colossians 3:5). Because therefore this people gathers the aforesaid riches through avarice, it is rightly said that "their land is filled with idols."
It follows: "They have adored the work of their hands, which their fingers made." They adored the work of their hands, because the evil which anyone especially works, this he worships as if his own God, like gluttons "whose god is their belly" (Philippians 3:19).
It follows: "And man has bowed down himself, and man has been humbled." Man had been created to gaze upon the supernal light, but, sins exacting, sent forth, he carries the darkness of his mind; he does not desire supernal things; he attends to the lowest; he does not long for heavenly things; he always turns over earthly things in his mind. Therefore man has bowed down himself and man has been humbled. For every sinner, thinking earthly things, not seeking heavenly things, has spontaneously been bent, because while he follows lower desires, he is inclined from the rectitude of his mind. For he always gazes upon the earth who is bent, and he does not remember at what price he was redeemed, because he seeks the lowest.
On account of all these things is added: "Therefore forgive them not." For all these things are damnable, and upon those who do such things, the day of eternal vengeance will suddenly supervene. Hence also follows:
Is 2:10: Enter into the rock and hide in a pit of the earth from the face of the fear of the Lord and from the glory of his majesty.
The rock truly designates the hardness of our heart. For we enter the rock when we penetrate the hardness of our heart, and we are hidden from the face of the fear of the Lord in a pit of the earth if, having cast out earthly thoughts, we are concealed in the humility of our mind from the anger of the strict Judge. For the more the earth is cast forth by striking, the more the pavement is always shown lower. Hence also we, if we more studiously eject earthly thoughts from ourselves, find more humbly [a place] where we may be hidden within ourselves.
Behold, because the day of divine judgment is imminent, as if the very face of his fear already appears, it is all the more necessary that each one fear him more terribly the more the glory of his majesty now approaches. What therefore must be done, or where must one flee? For where will anyone be able to hide from him who is everywhere? But behold, we are commanded to enter the rock and be hidden in a pit of the earth, that, breaking the hardness of our heart, we may decline his invisible anger there where we withdraw ourselves in heart from the love of visible things, so that when the earth of depraved thought is cast out, the mind may be hidden within itself all the more safely the more humbly.
But after the prophet gave counsel on how anyone could be hidden from the anger of that day, he now adds concerning those who thus neglect to hide themselves from it:
Is 2:11: The eyes of the lofty man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.
The judgment is still awaited as future, and yet it is said as if of the past: "The eyes of the lofty man have been humbled." But with God the judgment has already been made. "For he who does not believe is already judged" (John 3:18). Although therefore anyone lofty in earthly power still appears outwardly, yet the impulse has already been humbled inwardly before the eyes of God and cast down.
Or what he says, "The eyes of the lofty man have been humbled," can be understood to have said for "they shall be humbled." And this lofty man can be taken especially as that son of perdition "who opposes and is lifted up above all that is called God or that is worshiped, whom the Lord Jesus shall kill with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming" (2 Thessalonians 2:4).
"And the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down," because "everyone that exalts himself shall be humbled" (Luke 14:11). "But the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day," because then shall be perfectly fulfilled what was said: "Thou hast subjected all things under his feet. But now we see not yet all things subject to him" (Hebrews 2:8).
The prophet, however, who said that the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, proves it by enumerating in parts, adding:
Is 2:12: Because the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon everyone that is proud and highhearted and upon everyone that is arrogant, and he shall be humbled.
Is 13: And upon all the cedars of Lebanon lofty and high, and upon all the oaks of Bashan.
Is 2:14: And upon all the high mountains and upon all the elevated hills.
Is 2:15: And upon every high tower and upon every fortified wall.
Is 2:16: And upon all the ships of Tarshish and upon all that is fair to behold.
The day of the Lord's vengeance, he says, [shall be] upon everyone proud in mind and lofty in power, that is, everyone who swells from excellence of power, upon everyone who pursues the boasting of arrogance.
Cedars, truly, are of such height that they transcend all the height of other trees by their loftiness. Lebanon, moreover, means "whitening." And by Lebanon, what is expressed except the glory of this age? What truly by the cedars of Lebanon, lofty and high—those are figured who, placed in the most excellent dignities of the age, [raise] the neck of the mind in pride. Hence it is written: "I have seen the wicked highly exalted and lifted up like the cedars of Lebanon" (Psalm 37:35).
Oaks, however, are huge and robust trees. Bashan, truly, means "bruchus" or "fatness." And what can be understood by bruchus, which is almost all belly, except gluttony and the greed of the belly? But also fatness is born from constant abundance of food. What therefore [are] the oaks of Bashan except they designate those who, on account of secular power and the firmness of heart's elation, are great and rigid and fatten the flesh through the greed of the belly? Justly therefore will the day of vengeance come upon all the cedars of Lebanon lofty and high and upon all the oaks of Bashan.
But also by the high mountains can be understood kings and proud emperors, and by the elevated hills, consuls and other haughty princes, upon whom due vengeance will supervene. What truly by the high tower except any proud soul is expressed, which surpasses others in this world by strong power? And what by the fortified wall except the rich who are fortified by their riches and fortify and protect others acting evilly? And therefore upon these the day of the Lord is to come.
Moreover, he designated proud powers of the age by many appellations, because there are many dignities in this world through which many acquire perdition for themselves. Tarshish, however, means "the sea." And what is the sea except this age? What therefore are the ships of Tarshish except the minds of men which are led through the bitter sea of this age by various desires?
Again, Tarshish is interpreted "exploration of joy." And what are the ships of exploration of joy except human minds which in this world experience the joys of present pleasures by satisfying their concupiscences? What moreover is fair to behold except all that is coveted in the world while it deceives the eyes of beholders by false or vain beauty? Therefore the day of the Lord shall come upon all the ships of Tarshish and upon all that is fair to behold.
Where also the aforesaid sentence is repeated when it is added:
Is 2:17: And the loftiness of men shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be humbled, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.
Then they shall be bowed down who now are proudly raised up, and the Lord shall then be exalted whose humility is now despised by them.
It follows:
Is 2:18: And the idols shall be utterly abolished.
The idols shall then be broken because the sin of avarice will be punished with eternal torments. For as the wise man says: "The transgression shall be broken with the transgressor" (Sirach 27:3).
Or thus: The Lord shall be exalted and man shall be bent down and the idols shall be broken. For human discourse seems to have reason as long as it has not been compared to divine knowledge. But when falsehood has approached truth as stubble to fire, it is quickly consumed and fails, and all the dogmas of falsity which are now called idols—because they are simulated and fabricated—shall be utterly broken.
And when anyone has been terrified by fear of the Lord, first in the cave of his breast and in the chasms of the earth, he will hide these idols, not daring to bring forth what he had badly fashioned. For God is so perfect that he first casts out these hidden things and does not suffer them to be in himself.
It follows:
Is 2:19: And they shall go into the caves of rocks and into the holes of the earth, from the face of the fear of the Lord and from the glory of his majesty, when he shall rise up to strike the earth.
This is also read thus in the Apocalypse of John: "The kings of the earth and the princes and tribunes and the rich and the strong, and every bondman and every freeman hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of mountains. And they say to the mountains and the rocks: Fall upon us and hide us from the face of him that sits upon the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of their wrath has come, and who shall be able to stand?" (Revelation 6:15-17).
Therefore, when the near coming of the strict Judge is imminent, when great and horrible signs frequently appear, "men withering away for fear and expectation of what shall come upon the whole world" (Luke 21:26), they shall enter into caves and holes of the earth, wishing to hide themselves from the face of supervening evils.
Therefore he calls the coming of the Judge his rising, just as also blessed Job says when he speaks: "For what shall I do when God shall rise to judge?" (Job 31:14). For now he sits at the right hand of majesty on high, but then he shall rise to strike the earth when he comes to judge the age.
These things, however, can also be taken concerning the destruction of the nation of the Jews made by the Romans. For he says that "the day of the Lord of hosts [shall be] upon everyone that is proud and lofty," etc. For the proud and arrogant, the cedars of Lebanon and oaks of Bashan, can be understood by the mountains and hills—both the Pharisees and all who held primacy in that people; by the towers and walls, their cities and fortresses; by the ships of Tarshish, those who then fought against the Romans in the waters, as in the sea of Galilee; by all that is fair to behold, generally whatever in them seemed beautiful or honest. For upon all these things the wrath of God came.
But the Lord alone was exalted in that day, that is, in that time, because "God also has exalted him and has given him a name which is above all names: that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow" (Philippians 2:9). And with the nations coming to faith, the idols were utterly broken. But the Jews entered into the caves of rocks and into the holes of the earth from the face of the fear of the Lord when he rose up to strike their land through the Romans, because, with the cities captured, they were hidden in caves and underground, as Josephus himself with his companions.
And because then every Gentile, converted by truth, turned to penance, it is rightly added:
Is 2:20: In that day a man shall cast away his idols of silver and his simulacra of gold which he had made for himself to adore moles and bats.
Is 2:21: And he shall enter into the clefts of rocks and into the caverns of stones from the face of the fear of the Lord and from the glory of his majesty, when he shall rise up to strike the earth.
For "day" is placed for that time when the light of truth irradiated the world through the apostles. Man, moreover, is usually called one who transcends bestial sense by reason. Man therefore, that is, anyone thinking rationally, in that time cast away the idols. For he was adoring in them moles and bats.
For moles are blind and, remaining under the earth, dig the interior of the earth and expel [it] outward. And what is figured by moles except demons, who, lacking the light of intimate vision, dig the hearts of carnal people like earth with illicit suggestions and cause what they badly suggest to burst forth into speech and into work?
Bats, truly, fly in encroaching darkness and at night, and very often walk through the earth. So also the malign spirits, lovers of darkness, because they are proud of the subtlety of nature, fly; because truly, cast down from the heights, they no longer raise themselves by any breathing to the hope of heavenly things, they crawl through the earth.
But also they deceive the minds of men to whom internal light is lacking especially by these two vices, because they deceive some through pride and others through lust. For in those whom they elevate as if knowing lofty things in the pride of haughtiness, they fly; but in those whom they prostrate through lust, they crawl through the earth.
Therefore the Gentiles were adoring these moles and bats in their idols, and therefore anyone thinking rationally cast them away from when he heard the preaching of truth, and entered into the clefts of rocks and caverns of stones from the face of the fear of the Lord.
And it was said to Moses in Exodus: "I will put thee in a hole of the rock and will cover thee with my right hand" (Exodus 33:22). "The rock, moreover, was Christ" (1 Corinthians 10:4). The hole of the rock is the wound of the side of Christ, in which whoever faithfully flees to it is most safely protected.
Therefore, just as Christ is understood there by the rock, so in this place by the rocks and stones the saints [are understood], and just as by the hole the wound of the Lord's side, so by the clefts of rocks and caverns of stones the wounds of the holy martyrs. Therefore he enters into the clefts of rocks and caverns of stones from the face of the fear of the Lord and from the glory of his majesty which will be revealed when he shall rise up to strike the earth—whoever, conscious of sins and timid of future reckoning, faithfully and humbly seeks the patronage of those whom he knows suffered for Christ, and implores to be protected from the wrath to come by their merits and interventions.
Or then the Lord rose up to strike the earth when he shook the hearts of Gentiles to penance. And daily he himself strikes the earth as often as he disturbs the mind of a sinner that he may be converted. And then man, that is, one wisely rational, enters the aforesaid clefts of rocks.
Or silver and gold [can be] taken in speech and sense, from which are made idols of perverse dogmas, which whoever has cast away enters into the clefts of rocks and caverns of stones, and [dwells] not in the dust of earth and vile mud, but that he may be versed in firm reason and find for himself diverse openings of virtues through which he may be able to arrive at truth.
The prophet, however, has spoken a little while ago about the destruction of the Jews. Hence now, considering that they were to suffer these things because of the killing of the Savior, he admonishes them to desist from him, saying:
Is 2:22: Cease therefore from man, whose breath is in his nostrils, for he is accounted high.
What moreover [is signified] in the nostrils except foreknowledge, and in the breath except knowledge? For often what we do not see we comprehend by smell, so that some things, even when they lie far off, make known to us their quality; and while we draw through the breath, we very often foreknow some things even unseen.
Therefore the breath of our Redeemer is said to be in his nostrils, that his knowledge may be designated to be foreknowledge, because whatever he made known to himself in the nature of humanity, these things he surely foreknew through ages by divinity.
Why he had [breath] in his nostrils the prophet immediately adds, saying: "For he is accounted high." As if to say: He foreknew the lower things from above who came to the lowest from the heavenly. "Cease," he says, "from this man on account of the evil which you inflict on him. Hear what follows":
CONTINUE
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