Is 60:1. Arise, be enlightened (or shine), 192, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
“Arise,” he says, “you, Zion,” that is, the Church, “for now is the hour for us to rise from sleep” (Rom 13:11). And be enlightened, since the darkness has passed and the true light now shines. Therefore be enlightened, because the light is the Lord Jesus, who says: “I have come as light into the world, that everyone who believes in me may not remain in darkness” (John 12:46). And the glory of the Lord has risen upon you, because “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory, glory as of the Only-begotten from the Father” (John 1:14).
Is 60:2 follows. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples.
On the day of judgment darkness shall cover the earth, that is, earthly men, and gloom shall come upon the peoples of the reprobate. “The day of the Lord shall come, for the day is near, a day of cloud and whirlwind.” But upon you the Lord shall arise, that is, the Lord shall appear in his splendor, just as he promised through Malachi: “My name shall arise, the sun of justice” (Mal 4:2). And his glory shall be seen upon you, “when he comes,” according to the Apostle, “to be glorified in his saints and to be marveled at in all who have believed” (2 Thess 1:10).
But at the beginning what was to be done is added next.
Is 60:3. And the nations shall walk in your light, and on a festal day they shall be gathered (cf. Acts 11:5); and kings shall come in the brightness of your rising.
The nations shall walk by the way of righteousness and in the light of the Gospel by which you are enlightened. And kings shall walk in the brightness of your rising—that is, the apostles, who from the beginning saw the radiance of the Savior’s miracles and the dawn of the newborn Church. For the apostles are kings, since they are established as rulers of the peoples.
Is 60:4 follows. Lift up your eyes round about and see: all these are gathered together, they have come to you.
“Lift up,” he says, “your eyes in all directions over the whole world, because all these who are around you are gathered into the sheepfold of the faithful and have come to you for help.” Or this could be said of the first fruits of the Church on the day of Pentecost, because those who came to you from the whole world receive the preaching of the apostles.
Your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall rise from the side.
“From afar,” that is, from great iniquities, as Jeremiah warns: “You who have fled the sword, come, do not stand still; remember the Lord from afar, and let Jerusalem come up upon your heart” (Jer 51:50). For to flee the sword is to forestall by repentance the impending sentence of future judgment. But whoever flees this sword ought not to stand still, but hasten swiftly to Christ by the merit of good action.
And your daughters shall rise from the side. From the side of the Redeemer, wounded on the cross for us, because the weak derive more profit from his humanity and passion than from his divinity and the other mysteries. Hence to such the Apostle says: “I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (1 Cor 2:2). Or from the side, that is, from lesser sins, your daughters shall rise. And it must be noted that sons, that is, the strong, are said to come from afar, and daughters, that is, weaker souls, are said to rise from the side; because according to the saying, that debtor loves the creditor more to whom more is forgiven, but he to whom less is forgiven loves less (Luke 7:47). Or from afar means from distant lands the sons are said to come, and from the side means from neighboring regions the daughters are said to rise.
Is 60:5. Then you shall see and abound, and your heart shall marvel and be enlarged, when the multitude of the sea is turned to you, and the strength of the nations comes to you.
“When the multitude of the sea,” that is, of the world, “is turned to you; when the strength of the nations comes to you, so that everything that is in the age or in the whole world becomes yours.” Then you shall see the conversion of them which I promised to you, and you shall abound in spiritual delights like an overflowing river; and your heart shall marvel at so great a change of things, and it shall be enlarged when you see them converted to the love of truth.
Is 60:6 follows. A flood of camels shall cover you, Midian and Ephah.
What is signified by camels if not the twisted minds of the Gentiles? Dromedaries also are camels, swift ones. For there is a kind of camel of smaller size but greater speed, from which it has taken its name: dromos (δρόμος), for dromos in Greek means running and speed. For they can travel a hundred miles and more in a single day. Now Midian is interpreted “iniquity.” And what is signified by the dromedaries of Midian if not Gentiles, twisted and swift in the course of perverse action? Ephah is also interpreted “dissolute.” And who was dissolute if not the Gentile people, bound by no law, but left to themselves? Therefore the dromedaries of Ephah are those who in that people roamed about with harmful freedom, wandering freely toward whatever evils they wished.
Thus a flood of camels covered the Church—the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah—because now in this age nothing is seen except Gentiles converted; for the multitude of Gentiles who have believed surpasses the number of those who came from the circumcision.
Of these it is further said: All from Sheba shall come, bringing gold and frankincense, and proclaiming the praise of the Lord.
Sheba is interpreted “captivity” or “net.” By Sheba, Gentility or unbelief is signified, where the human race was held captive in the net of the ancient enemy. Therefore they came from Sheba, because all the nations have been converted from Christ. Gold belongs to the king; frankincense to the sacrifice of God. Therefore even the Gentiles bring gold to Christ when they confess in him divinity and divine majesty. Yet by gold may also be understood the splendor of religion and the brightness of innocence, which Jeremiah lamented had been turned into the blackness of guilt when he said: “How has the gold become dim!” (Lam 4:1). By incense, which is burned, the virtue of prayer is signified, as it is said: “Let my prayer be directed like incense in your sight, O Lord” (Ps 140[141]:2). Therefore the Gentiles bring incense when, leading a precious life, they hasten to Christ, that they may be pleasing to him in his kingdom. They also bring incense when, through holy exercises of prayer, they offer something sweet to God on the altar of the heart by heavenly desire. And they proclaim the praise of the Lord, because together with others they preach his glory.
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