Isa 49:1 "Listen, O islands; pay attention, peoples from afar." By the name “islands” the Prophet understands the Gentiles. And explaining what these islands are, he immediately adds: “And pay attention, peoples from afar,” that is, those who are far off; or, as the Septuagint translates, “Attend, O Gentiles.” In this same chapter, near the end, where our Latin version has, “To the peoples I will raise my signal” (Isa 49:22), the Septuagint reads, “Over the islands I will lift up my standard.” From this you see that by “islands” the peoples are signified. The Gentiles are called “islands” because, before receiving the Gospel, they lay open to the waves of the sea of this world and were tossed on every side by vices and errors. Or, by “islands,” he understands island-dwellers. And so he says: Listen to me, even you very remote nations who live in hidden and far-distant islands. I do not speak only to the Jews, but even to the most remote Gentiles.
“The Lord has called me from the womb; from the womb of my mother he has remembered my name” (Isa 49:1). These are the words of Christ, whom God the Father appointed and destined from the womb of his mother to be our Redeemer. These words show that Christ is truly man, whose very name God remembered. So the angel said to Joseph in Matthew 1:21: “You shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.” And likewise to the most blessed Virgin Mary in Luke 1:31: “Behold, you shall conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.”
Isa 49:2 “And he has made my mouth like a sharp sword.” This means: with the breath of my mouth I shall slay the wicked. This sword is the word of God, of which the Apostle says in Ephesians 6:17: “And the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” And John in the Apocalypse: “From his mouth came a sword, sharp on both sides” (Revelation 1:16). Scripture recalls this sword in many other places.
“In the shadow of his hand he protected me” (Isa 49:2). The Septuagint has: “In the protection of his hand he hid me.” Here you see that “shadow” signifies protection. Thus in Psalm 57:2: “In the shadow of your wings I will hope until iniquity pass away.” And in the Psalm where the Vulgate reads: “He who dwells in the aid of the Most High shall abide in the protection of the God of heaven,” some render: “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High shall lodge in the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1). Where our version here says “He protected me,” the Septuagint puts “He hid me,” for God hides the just, as is said in Psalm 31:21: “You will hide them in the secret of your face from the disturbance of men.”
“And he has made me like a chosen arrow” (Isa 49:2). All holy preachers are called “arrows” running throughout the world. Some interpret in reference to them that word of the Psalm: “Your sharp arrows, peoples will fall beneath you” (Psalm 45:6). Not only the mouth of the preacher is called an arrow; the preacher himself is an arrow if he is truly a preacher, for his whole life must pierce the hearts of men. He must preach not only by words but also by deeds. The sermon is compared to a sword because it wounds only those nearby—those who hear. But the example of a well-lived life is an arrow that pierces not only the present but even the absent. The Apostles, martyrs, and other saints were such arrows: adorned with faith, girded with hope and charity, enriched with the ornaments of other virtues, they preached Christ by word and example. But among all the arrows there is one chosen arrow without any comparison the most excellent—Christ, the Only-Begotten Son of God, our Lord, who speaks this of himself. He taught the truth; he set himself forth as the example; he endured death for the truth, a death inflicted by perfidious Jews whose hatred burned beyond measure because his life reproved their crimes. By his death he destroyed the tyranny of the ancient Enemy and expiated the human race with his blood.
By this arrow the Bride—namely, the soul devoted to God—was wounded, when she said in the Canticle of Canticles: “They struck me and wounded me” (Song of Songs 5:7). By this arrow Peter was wounded and wept bitterly (Matthew 26:75). By this arrow Mary Magdalene was pierced and poured forth rivers of tears (Luke 7:38), for her tears were the very blood of a wounded heart flowing through her eyes. How blessed it is to be transfixed by this arrow! Would that, Lord Jesus, you would pierce my soul with this arrow, so that, wounded by your love, it might say with the Bride: “I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, tell him that I languish with love” (Song of Songs 5:8). This divine arrow was hidden in human flesh, which is the quiver of which he says here: “In his quiver he hid me” (Isa 49:2). He calls himself an arrow and, above, had compared his mouth to a sharp sword, because his spoken word was heard only by those present, but he himself was the arrow that ran through the whole world and pierced with love even those Gentiles who were most remote from the holy land.
Isa 49:3 “You are my servant.” God the Father calls Christ his servant with respect to his humanity. So the Apostle says in Philippians 2:7: “He emptied himself, taking the form of a servant.”
“For in you I will glory” (Isa 49:3). In the Psalm, the Father addressing his Son says: “Awake, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp,” that is, the harmony of all virtues (Psalm 57:9). It can be explained thus: “In you I shall appear glorious.” Or: “You seek my glory.”
Isa 49:4 “I have said, ‘I have labored in vain.’” The Father sent me that I might call men and lead them to him. And he said to me: “You are my servant, Israel, for in you I will be glorified” (Isa 49:3). Yet I did not bring back a great part of men to him. I called them, but they did not want to depart from their unbelief. I am yours for the salvation of the world, but they display the freedom of their will. For if they were necessarily destined for damnation, why would Christ call them and labor for them to draw them to himself? Christ called them and they did not come because they willed not; for they had free choice. If they would do what lay within their power, God—who was calling them—would give them grace. But they preferred to love the creature rather than the Creator and did not dispose themselves to grace. And since Christ did all that he ought to do on their behalf, he says: “Therefore my judgment is with the Lord and my work with my God” (Isa 49:4).
Isa 49:5 “And Israel will be gathered to him.” In the Hebrew it reads: “And Israel will not be gathered to him.” And thus the version to which Jerome added his commentary has it. Correct Latin manuscripts of the Vulgate place the particle “not” in the margin. Pagninus translates: “Israel shall not gather itself.” Christ wished to gather the dispersed and erring Jews, but they refused to be gathered. This place shows the stubbornness of the Messiah's own (Jn 11:11), who would not be won over nor converted by so many miracles of Christ and by so many divine benefits, but remained in their hardness.
Note: The commentary on Isaiah 49:5 highlights a textual variant ("Israel will not
be gathered") to underscore the historical rejection of Christ by many
Jews despite His miracles, portraying their "stubbornness" as a refusal
to be gathered (cf. Matt 23:37; John 11:47–48). St. Paul in Romans 9–11 provides the fuller theological context: not all physical descendants of Israel constitute the true "Israel" of promise (Rom 9:6–8), as God's election depends on faith, not flesh. Paul acknowledges a partial hardening
of Israel (Rom 11:7, 25), which allows for Gentile inclusion (Rom 11:11–24), but
insists this is temporary, with a faithful remnant now (Rom 11:1–5) and a
future fullness: "all Israel will be saved" (Rom 11:26), as mercy
extends universally (Rom 11:30–32). Thus, the commentary captures the mystery of unbelief (as divine permission amid human resistance, not compulsion),
but Paul's teaching tempers it with hope: rejection is neither total
nor permanent, fulfilling Isaiah's Servant prophecy through Christ's
universal light (Isa 49:6).
Isa 49:6 “I have given you as a light to the Gentiles.” The Jews of our time say that they await a Messiah promised to them who will deliver them from the captivity in which they are held and will lavish upon them the abundance of earthly goods. They maintain that their Scriptures say the Messiah will come for them alone, not for the Gentiles, whom they think blind and destined to remain forever in darkness. But their Scriptures show the contrary in almost countless places. These blind men do not see God here speaking through Isaiah to the Messiah: “It is too little for you to be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to turn back the remnants of Israel; I have given you as a light to the Gentiles, that you may be my salvation to the end of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6). The Prophet here says two things: first, that only a few Jews would be converted; second, that from the beginning to the end of the earth innumerable Gentiles would be enlightened through Christ. This we see with our own eyes: for while most of them remain blind and surrounded by thick darkness, the Gentiles through Christ have received the light of the soul, true salvation, and immortality.
The same Messiah says in Isaiah 45:22: “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth.” He does not say, “And you, O Judah, shall be saved,” but declares that all the ends of the earth will obtain salvation if they turn from their vices and receive the true Christ, the Savior of the human race. Seeing this, the royal Prophet sang in Psalm 98:2: “The Lord has made known his salvation; he has revealed his justice in the sight of the Gentiles.” And shortly after: “All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God” (Psalm 98:3). Isaiah foresaw this truth and proclaimed with joy in Isaiah 55:5: “Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and nations that did not know you shall run to you because of the Lord your God.” And Zechariah in Zechariah 2:15: “Many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and they shall be my people.” Hosea in Hosea 2:25: “And I will say to the not-my-people: ‘You are my people,’ and he will say, ‘You are my God.’” St. Paul cites this in Romans 9:25-26, and St. Peter in his first canonical epistle (1 Peter 2:10).
Isa 49:7 That only a few Hebrews would be converted is shown by Isaiah in Isaiah 1:9 and Isaiah 10:21-22 where he calls them a “seed” and “remnant”; and in Isaiah 17:6 and Isaiah 65:8 he says they would be as few as the grapes left after the vintage or as the grain remaining in a cluster. And here he says Israel was not gathered to the Messiah, although the Gentiles were to be enlightened by him. A little later he calls the Hebrews “a contemptible, abominable people, a servant of masters” (Isa 49:7), whom he foretells will remain in their unbelief, but that kings and princes of the Gentiles would recover the sight of the mind and, awakened from the sleep of sin, would adore Christ.
Isa 49:8 “In a favorable time I heard you.” These are the words of God addressing Christ. St. Paul applies this time foretold by the Prophet to the time of grace. Thus he says in 2 Corinthians 6:1-2: “Working together with him, we exhort you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says: ‘In a favorable time I heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you.’ Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” And in Hebrews 5:7, speaking of Christ: “Who in the days of his flesh offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.” You see here that Christ was heard “at the favorable time,” as Isaiah foretold, and that those err who refer all this not to the time of Christ’s coming but to the time of Isaiah.
“I have preserved you” (Isa 49:8). That is: having overcome death, I raised you from the dead. “I have given you as a covenant for the people” (Isa 49:8). Here you see that Christ is our reconciler, as we said earlier in Isaiah 42:6 and elsewhere.
“That you might raise up the earth” (Isa 49:8). That is, that you might awaken sinners from the sleep of sin and from the death of the soul. Scripture is accustomed to call sinners “earth,” as we have noted elsewhere.
Isa 49:9 “And that you might say to those who are bound,” that is, bound with the chains and fetters of sins, “Go forth,” namely, from sins and from the prison of the demon. Here you see that sins bind with their own chains.
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