Is 8:23-9:3 At the first time the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali was lightened; and at the last time the way of the sea beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, was made heavy. The people who walked in darkness saw a great light; to those dwelling in the region of the shadow of death, a light has arisen.
Now, in order to know how these things were fulfilled at the coming of Christ, the sayings of evangelical truth must be recalled. Thus Matthew says in chapter 4: When Jesus heard that John had been handed over, he withdrew into Galilee; and leaving his city Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum by the sea, in the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali, that what was spoken by Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, saying: “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who sat in darkness saw a great light; and to those sitting in the region and shadow of death, a light has arisen.” From these things it is most clearly evident that the aforesaid prophecy was fulfilled at the coming of Christ.
Isa 8:23 The sense, therefore, is this: At the first time, that is, at the beginning of the evangelical preaching by Christ himself, the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali were lightened—that is, the inhabitants of those lands, namely those born of the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali, and others. For these tribes, which for the most part had been taken captive, were unburdened and relieved from the yoke of the devil and the slavery of sin, because many of them repented at Christ’s preaching. And Jesus began in those places to preach and to work miracles; for which reason Saint Matthew adds to the aforesaid words: From that time Jesus began to preach and to say: Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Finally, as John 2 relates, the first sign of Christ—namely, the changing of water into wine—was done at Cana of Galilee, that is, in the aforesaid land, and his disciples believed in him.
And at the last time, that is, toward the end of Christ’s preaching, the way of the sea was made heavy—that is, the people dwelling in the aforesaid land were hardened in heart and heard the faith and doctrine of Christ grievously, indeed unbelievingly, returning to their vomit and saying to one another: This saying is hard; who can hear it? Here the sea is called the Sea of Gennesaret, on whose shore were situated Capernaum, Tiberias, Bethsaida, and Chorazin—cities belonging to the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali, from whose tribe Tobias was. The men of these cities therefore at first, for the most part, attended to the doctrine of the Savior, but afterward they turned away. Hence it is read that Christ reproached these cities, as it is written: Then he began to reproach the cities in which most of his mighty works had been done, because they had not done penance: Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to hell.
That land is called the way of the sea because in it there is a common route by which goods are carried to the Mediterranean Sea. For this reason it is added: beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, through which one goes beyond the Jordan, beside which is Galilee of the Gentiles. It is read that Solomon gave King Hiram of Tyre twenty towns in Galilee; since Hiram was a Gentile king, that part of Galilee was called Galilee of the Gentiles.
Is 9:1 The people who sat in darkness—that is, the men of the land of Zebulun and Naphtali, who lived in the obscurity of ignorance and the gloom of vices—saw a great light, that is, Christ and his doctrine, of whom it is written: That was the true light, which enlightens every man coming into this world. To those dwelling in the region of the shadow of death—that is, in the aforesaid region or land filled with sins, which are the shadow of death—a light has arisen for them, namely Christ, who says: I am the light of the world. For among them he was seen and deigned to dwell with them.
Allegorically, however, these things can be understood not only of the people already mentioned, but of all the nations converted to the faith, who formerly walked in darkness, but, when Christ was announced to them, saw with the eye of faith the great light. And to those dwelling in the region of the shadow of death—that is, to the saints held in the limbo of the underworld—a light arose for them when Christ descended to the underworld, illuminating and leading them out.
Is 9:2 Then the Prophet turns his speech to the Lord, saying: You have multiplied the nation—that is, this people or race and the Jewish multitude—you have greatly increased in number; you have not increased their spiritual joy in the hearts of the prophets, apostles, and other preachers, because the Jews for the most part remained unbelieving and were lost, over which many holy men were saddened. Hence the Apostle says: I have great sorrow and continual pain in my heart for my brethren, the Jews. Micah also cries out: Would that I were not a man having the Spirit, but rather would speak lies. Nevertheless, the holy Apostles and your other disciples will rejoice before you with spiritual joy, as those rejoice at the harvest, as victors exult when the prey has been taken and the spoils are divided. They will rejoice exceedingly, just as reapers rejoice at harvest time and landowners rejoice when the sheaves are gathered, and as conquerors rejoice after battle or robbers after the prey when they divide the spoils among themselves. Thus the first shepherds of the Church exulted when they filled the threshing floor of Christ with fruits—that is, when they filled the Church with believers converted by them—whom they snatched away from the most wicked robbers, that is, the demons, stripping them of the prey of men whom they had subjected to their power through temptations. Hence Christ said: Now the prince of this world will be cast out.
Is 9:3 The cause of so great a joy is then given: for the yoke of his burden—that is, the yoke of subjection which the demon laid upon human beings and by which he weighed them down. For by whom a man is overcome, of him he is also the slave, and the rod of his shoulder—that is, the scourge with which the demons afflicted the human race, vexing them in various ways; and the scepter of his oppressor—that is, the dominion of the exactor, namely the devil, who exacts from men the penalty due for the sins into which he led them—you have overcome, by freeing human beings from all these evils and by subjecting them to your service, your yoke, and your rule. And this you did as in the day of Midian, without human assistance, namely by your own power and without the destruction of men, just as you formerly granted victory to Gideon against the Midianites, as is read in Judges, chapter seven. Hence the Savior says to the disciples: Behold, I have given you power over all the power of the enemy. And again: I saw Satan, he says, fall like lightning (Luke 10). And the Apostle says: Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through Jesus Christ.
Some, however, explain the yoke of his burden as the yoke of legal observances, of which it is said in Acts: Why do you test God by putting a yoke upon the necks of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? And the rod of his shoulder as the burdensome ordinances of the scribes and Pharisees, which they imposed upon others, as Christ bears witness: They bind heavy and unbearable burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but with their finger they are unwilling to move them (Matt.). And the scepter of his oppressor as the dominion of cruel rulers who exact many things from their inferiors. You have overcome these as in the day of Midian, namely by handing over the princes who persecuted the primitive Church of the Jews into the hands of the Romans, who slew them, just as Gideon slew the Midianites. To this are referred the words that follow: For every violent seizure with tumult—that is, the goods unjustly taken from the faithful by Jewish rulers, according to that saying of the Apostle to the Hebrews: You accepted with joy the plundering of your goods; and that of James: You yourselves and your garments are stained and dipped with blood—that is, the garments taken from the faithful who were killed by those rulers.
Yet it is better to understand by garment stained with blood a work of bloodshed or vice; for just as the just are clothed with virtues, according to that word of Job: I was clothed with justice, and it clothed me as with a garment, so the wicked cover themselves with vices as with a garment. It shall be for burning and fuel for fire, because the Romans burned cities, goods, and a large part of the Jewish people. Or thus: For every violent seizure with tumult—that is, every unjust act of the plunderer done with force, or committed with a multitude of demons—and the garment stained with blood, as explained above, shall be for burning and fuel for fire of Gehenna; so also the plunderer himself, the devil with his satellites, or the robber man with his associates, will be burned in hell for their crimes. For plunder or sin is said to be burned because on account of it the wicked is inflamed; it is also called fuel for fire because it is the cause for which the fire continually torments the sinner.
Moreover, since the Prophet previously spoke obscurely and mystically about the child called Emmanuel and his names, now he speaks of the same child and his names clearly; and for the certainty of the prophecy Isaiah speaks of the future in the mode of the past. Thus the most illustrious Isaiah says: For a child is born to us—a child indeed in age and bodily smallness, not in understanding or weakness; for he was a man and a giant, as Jeremiah and David testify, saying: The Lord will create a new thing upon the earth: a woman shall encompass a man; and he rejoiced like a giant to run his course. Thus, then, a most sweet child is born to us. Of no other is this said than of that blessed virgin Mother, of whom it was said shortly before in the Psalm: Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son. Of the birth of this child the angel said to the shepherds: I announce to you great joy, which shall be to all the people, for today a Savior is born to you, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David (Luke).
And a son is given to us—that is, he who is the natural and eternal Son of God is given to us for our salvation; he descended and gave himself for us. Hence Paul and John write: God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life (John 3). And the Apostle: I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. And the principality was made upon his shoulder—that is, God founded and established dominion upon the strength of the arm, or the power, of this child; for this child was constituted God over all, as it is read in John: The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. And in the Psalm he testifies of himself: But I have been appointed king by him upon Zion, his holy mountain. For he has subjected all things under his feet, says the Apostle, citing the Psalm.
Or thus: The principality was made upon his shoulder, that is, the cause or reason of his rule lay upon his bodily shoulder; for Christ, bearing the cross upon himself, went out to death, and by doing this he cast down the prince of this world, overthrew the glory of the world, and deserved to be constituted judge and God over all. And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, God the Mighty, Prince of the future age, Prince of Peace.
These names, according to Jerome, are not to be read by combining them, but separately. For the Prophet asserts that this child is to be called by six names. He shall be called Wonderful, on account of the reason of his miracles which he performed, or rather on account of the incomprehensibility of his divine nature, on account of the inestimable depth of his humanity, and on account of the ineffable union of both natures in himself. He is also called Counselor…
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