Father Franciscus Forerius' Commentary on Isaiah 58:7-10

 

Is 58:7 (Vulgate) “Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry, and to bring the poor and homeless into your house? When you see one naked, clothe him, and do not hide yourself from your own flesh. 

(Hebrew)  “Break your bread for the hungry, and bring the needy and wanderers into your house; when you see one naked, clothe him, and do not despise your own flesh.

“Break”: because the Hebrew turned on the imperative, it omitted the interrogative particle Is it not to divide…, and so forth. Clothe him: the conjunction is rightly omitted, as often happens in Hebrew, or else it answers to another conjunction that follows—and clothe him, and do not hide yourself from your own flesh—for so the Hebrews have it word for word. Here God says this is the fast acceptable to Him, because by the virtue of self-restraint they both fast and provide something better than fasting itself. So much so that if one of the two had to be omitted, fasting should rather be omitted.

He said clothe, and your flesh—the one by attenuation for ease, the other by amplification to introduce necessity. For what is easy, who would not do when it becomes necessary? What if for this reason he called clothing a naked brother not hiding oneself from one’s own flesh, because whoever clothes his naked brother clothes himself, and is said to provide for himself, lest he appear naked before God?

Is 58:8 (Vul) Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall quickly spring up; your righteousness shall go before you, and the glory of the LORD shall gather you in.

(Heb) Then your light shall burst forth like the morning, and your health shall arise swiftly; your righteousness shall go before you, and the glory of the Lord shall gather you in.

“Then your light shall burst forth like the morning,” etc. Here the prophet recalls the rewards of humanity and mercy. They were asking why God did not come to the aid of those who were fasting; he replied that they were not fasting as they ought. This is similar to that saying, You ask and do not receive, because you ask badly (Jam 4:3). For when it was said, Ask and you shall receive (Mt 7:7), it was to be understood only if they asked rightly. Therefore he adds that if they changed the form of their fasting and joined mercy to fasting, they would receive far more and better things than they desired.

Thus shall burst forth—the Vulgate rightly translates with the neuter verb: your light shall break forth, that is, it shall begin to dawn upon you, and you shall begin to emerge from the midst of the darkness of calamities. Your inhumanity has scattered these darknesses; by it, as Scripture speaks, God rolls up the heavens like a scroll or folds them, takes away the day from the earth, stirs up storms, and disturbs the whole machinery of the world. From this you may see with what care God is concerned for His poor, and how greatly He values their salvation and consolation. For it is customary in Scripture for prosperity to be designated by the name of light, and adversity by darkness.

“And your health,” etc. This is the name by which physicians call their plasters; hence metaphorically it is taken for medicine, remedy, or restoration of any kind (cf. Neh 4; Jer 29–30). Here therefore it is taken for help or remedy. As long as inhumanity lasts, there is no remedy and no barrier or covering against the adverse storms that rush in. Thus above, when he had recalled their cruelties, he said: What will you do in the day of visitation?

“Your righteousness shall go before you,” that is, in all the situations you encounter it will be evident that you are just. For a widespread opinion had taken hold that misfortunes occur only on account of crimes; hence arose the expression to go before with righteousness, meaning to remove everything that could harm and to make everything smooth according to the merit of justice. Hence also that saying: My righteousness will answer for me, and the Lord will repay me according to my righteousness and according to my innocence, and so forth.

“And the glory of the Lord,” etc. The Vulgate supplies the conjunction and, rightly so. If you recall that history when the Israelites wanted to stone Moses and he fled to the Lord, and the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud and covered the place, you will understand this passage. From there, it seems, this expression arose: the glory of the Lord shall gather you in, that is, when enemies rise up against you, you shall be rescued from every danger by the Lord, just as the Lord protected Moses with His glory and cloud (Num 14:10). This is also what the Psalm refers to: You will hide them in the hidden place of Your face from the disturbance of men; You will protect them in Your tabernacle from the contradiction of tongues (Ps 31:21). Therefore understand that the cruel and unmerciful are exposed to the injury of all, and that in almost every step ruin is to be feared for them, since iniquity and hatred go before them, by which God pursues them.

Is 58:9 (Vul)  Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry out, and He will say: ‘Here I am.’ If you remove from your midst the yoke, the pointing of the finger, and wicked speech;

(Heb) Then you shall call, and the Lord will hear; you shall cry out, and He will say: ‘Here I am.’ If you remove from your midst the chain, and cease to stretch out the finger and to speak what is useless;

“The Lord will answer you.” They were saying that He did not see, did not look, that is, did not attend to prayers joined with much fasting. Here you already have what hardens God’s ears and makes Him turn away His eyes. He does not allow those who exercise mercy to labor long, for they themselves shall obtain mercy. Read the psalm: Blessed is he who understands the needy and the poor (Ps 41:2). Here I am—in Hebrew, Behold, I. What do you need? I am present to bring help.

If you remove—some join this with what precedes, but it is the beginning of the following verse. And if you pour out—for thus it stands in Hebrew—this makes us say that the sentence depends from this place up to the word shall rise. The chain: see above, verse 6 (see note 1 below). Cease to stretch out the finger: he supplied the verb for clarification; I rendered word for word so that it might be repeated in this following member. Stretching out the finger means to contend, to quarrel, taken from the gesture of those who dispute. Perhaps it is that saying in Proverbs about the impudent woman: she speaks with her finger (see note 2 below); or else it is like one who would tear out eyes, which is the sign of an angry and uncontrolled mind.

Note 1:  Bonds (Colligationes): The Vulgate says 'bonds' (Colligationes) where the Hebrew has $חרצבות$ (chartzubbot). Since this word has four letters, the root is uncertain. (1) If you say the $\text{ת}$ ($t$) is an addition, it comes from the verb $חרב$ (charab), because chains endure and exhaust the spirit and life. (2) But if it is from $חוץ$ (chutz), that is 'to sharpen,' from which comes $חריצים$ (charitzim), meaning 'threshing-sledges'; and thus they take their name from 'piercing.' (3) Or certainly, it is composed of two roots: $חוה$ (chawah), 'to be scorched,' and $צבה$ (tzabah), 'to swell,' because bonds and chains are painful and cause the limbs to swell. In this Forerius is exploring  the "hidden" meaning of the Hebrew word. He suggests it implies either exhaustion, piercing/sharpness, or swelling. He thinks the third possibility is the most likely, but overall his goal is to show that "wickedness" isn't just an abstract concept; it causes physical, agonizing pain to the poor. 

Note 2: Father Forerius seems to have confused, or rather conflated  passages in close proximity to one another. Proverbs 6:13 reads: He winketh with the eyes, presseth with the foot, speaketh with the finger. Clearly the reference is masculine. In Proverbs 6:24-26 the author begins to give warnings about adultery and being captivated by a seductive woman, such woman are described in Prov 7:13 as having an "impudent face" (Latin: procaci vultu)

Is 58:10 (Vul)  if you draw out your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall rise in the darkness, and your gloom shall be like midday.”

(Heb) when you pour out your soul to the hungry and fill the afflicted soul, then your light shall rise in the darkness, and your darkness shall be like midday.”

“When you pour out”—in Hebrew, when you pour out or, according to its proper meaning, when you draw forth. The Hebrews have certain peculiar expressions that greatly intensify and amplify a matter, which Latin speech cannot adequately express or match in force. To draw forth the soul therefore means to lay open the whole inward compassion, which one does not do who either does not help, or does not sympathize, or does not give as much aid as he is able—which the following clause indicates. For to satisfy the afflicted or needy soul is to supply abundantly what is needed so that he lacks nothing further. “Magnificently,” he says, “you shall exercise mercy.”

“Your light shall rise in the darkness.” The clouds of calamities shall be scattered, and the very gloom shall shine like midday, that is, it shall be turned into the greatest light—as for the days in which you were humbled, and so forth. What if he signifies that the very causes of mourning will bring joy, namely, that one will greatly rejoice in the very things for which he once grieved, and will gladly glory in weaknesses with Paul, having now come to the perfection of life? For when he did not know Christ or lived in sins, he reckoned poverty, insults, and injuries as the sum of evils. But the former sense is clearer.

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