Author: Denis the Carthusian (1402–1471) was one of the most prolific writers of the late Middle Ages. His commentary style is characterized by exhaustive citation of authorities (Scripture, Fathers, Scholastics) and a focus on both literal and spiritual senses. The translation was done by Qwen.
Denis the Carthusian, Commentary on Isaiah 42:1-7
Introduction
It is not necessary to dwell at this length on how the present scripture is to be understood, since the most blessed evangelist and apostle of Christ, Matthew, says these things were predicted concerning Christ, though with somewhat varied words. For, as I have said often, Christ and the Evangelists and Apostles sometimes cite the sense rather than the words of Scripture. Hence, Matthew cites it thus (Matthew 12): "Many followed Jesus, and all of them, and he commanded them not to make him known, that what was spoken by Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, saying: Behold my boy whom I have chosen, my elect in whom my soul is well pleased." I say this so that we may understand this passage better.
The Commentary on Isaiah 42:1-4
Is 42:1: "Behold my servant... I will uphold him... My chosen... in whom my soul is well pleased... I have put my Spirit upon him... He shall bring forth judgment to the nations."
"Behold my servant": The Father, speaking of the incarnate Son, begins thus: "Behold my servant," referring to the assumed nature. For in this respect, he is less than the Son, concerning whom the Apostle says to the Philippians: "He emptied himself, taking the form of a servant" (Philippians 2:7). Hence in Ezekiel, God says concerning Christ: "I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them" (Ezekiel 34:23-24). And in Zechariah: "Behold, I will bring forth my servant, the Orient" (Zechariah 3:8), that is, Christ.
"I will uphold him": That is, I will accept all his works and prayers. For which reason Christ says: "I knew that you always hear me" (John 11:42). Or: "I will uphold him," that is, I will unite his human nature to the divine nature. For although only the person of the Word assumed human nature, nevertheless the whole most blessed Trinity was the cause of this assumption, since their works are indivisible.
"My chosen one": Nay rather, most chosen and beloved, even regarding the assumed nature, above the whole universe of the elect or the machinery of the world. Hence in the Canticles it is written concerning Christ: "My beloved is white and ruddy, chosen out of thousands" (Canticles 5:10).
"In whom my soul is well pleased": That is, in Christ I have delighted as in my dearest Son, and he in all things has pleased me supremely. Hence, at Christ's baptism, a voice was made from heaven: "You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17). And a similar voice was made to Christ when transfigured before the disciples (Luke 9:35), when Elias and Moses appeared with him and spoke of his decease which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem.
Finally, these things are not to be understood as if there were a soul in God according to his proper nature. For Scripture speaks of God with human affection and manner, so that the intimate charity of the Father for the Son may be designated. Just as we say concerning one whom we love affectively and cordially: "My soul loves you."
"I have put my Spirit upon him": For Christ, from the beginning of his conception in the Virgin, was full of the Holy Spirit with incomparable perfection. For which reason it is read in Luke: "Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan" (Luke 4:1). And John the Baptist says concerning Christ: "God gives not the Spirit by measure" (John 3:34). Indeed, the grace of Christ's soul was in a way infinite, because the whole capacity of a rational creature was filled in it by the grace of God.
"He shall bring forth judgment to the nations": That is, discretion between good and evil, between true and false, he shall bring forth to the nations through himself and his disciples in his first coming. But in his second coming, he shall bring forth the judgment of remuneration, saying: "Come, you blessed of my Father... Depart, you cursed, into eternal fire" (Matthew 25:34, 41).
Is 42:2: "He shall not cry out... nor accept persons... nor shall his voice be heard outside."
"He shall not cry out": The Apostle says to the Hebrews that Christ "with a strong cry and tears offered up prayers" (Hebrews 5:7). And in Luke, Jesus is introduced saying this, he cried out: "He who has ears to hear, let him hear" (Luke 8:8). Similar things are written in John. How then is it now said: "He shall not cry out"? Unless it is understood of a passionate, contentious, and irrational clamor, concerning which the Apostle warns in Ephesians: "Let all bitterness, and anger, and indignation, and clamor be taken away from you" (Ephesians 4:31). Hence Matthew says: "He shall not contend" (Matthew 12:19). Therefore, the clamor of Christ emanated from the most ardent charity of God and neighbor.
"Nor shall he accept the person of man": This even the Jews confessed: "Master, we know that you are true... and you care not for any man; for you do not regard the person of men" (Matthew 22:16). Which indeed shines forth clearly from this, that he rebuked the chief priests, Scribes, and Pharisees so confidently. But also Peter in Acts says: "In truth I perceive that God is not a respecter of persons" (Acts 10:34).
"Nor shall his voice be heard outside": Doctors commonly expound this to mean that Christ did not preach outside Judea or Galilee, or as others add, outside Samaria, saying the Samaritans were partly Jews. But this seems to be contradicted by what is said in the Gospel: "Jesus came into the parts of Cæsarea Philippi" (Matthew 16:13) and "Into the parts of Tyre and Sidon" (Matthew 15:21), where he also preached. However, this can be solved since Christ himself testified: "I was not sent but to the sheep that are lost of the house of Israel" (Matthew 15:24). Hence, what he preached to others was so little and so rare that it is not counted.
Nevertheless, the evangelist Matthew allegorizes this saying, "Nor shall his voice be heard outside," thus: "Nor shall any man hear his voice in the streets" (Matthew 12:19). But this also seems to suffer an objection, since elsewhere Christ says: "I have spoken openly to the world... and in secret I have spoken nothing" (John 18:20). Moreover, in John 12 it is clear that Jesus, coming from Bethany to Jerusalem, spoke many things in the way or middle of the street to the crowds as well as the disciples.
By this that is said, "Nor shall his voice be heard outside," or "Nor shall any man hear his voice in the streets," I opinion nothing else is designated but what the Savior himself teaches his disciples, saying: "Take heed that you do not your justice before men, to be seen by them" (Matthew 6:1). Therefore, the sense is that Christ spoke nothing on account of vain ostentation and glory, according to what he says: "I seek not my own glory" (John 8:50).
Is 42:3: "A bruised reed he shall not break, and smoking flax he shall not quench..."
"A bruised reed he shall not break": That is, he will not utterly abandon or lose the Gentile people, worn down and torn by various vices and errors, but he will call them to penance and to mercy, and mercifully repair them. Concerning these he says: "Other sheep I have, that are not of this fold, and them I must bring" (John 10:16).
"And smoking flax he shall not quench": That is, the people of the Jews, having little light and now near to spiritual blindness, he will not extinguish; that is, he will not permit them to be deprived of all light of mind, but he will illuminate some of them. For therefore in the Gospel he speaks: "I came not to call the just, but sinners" (Matthew 9:13); likewise, "The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10).
"In truth he shall bring forth judgment": That is, he shall make a just judgment concerning every matter. This he also commands us, saying: "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge just judgment" (John 7:24). How Christ in his first coming made a judgment of discretion, not of remuneration, has been said most fully above, where concerning this judgment of our King many things were adduced.
Is 42:4: "He shall not be sad nor turbulent, until he establishes judgment in the earth..."
"He shall not be sad": This is true concerning inordinate, secular, and vicious sadness, which according to the Apostle "works death" (2 Corinthians 7:10). Concerning which it is written in Proverbs: "Whatever shall befall the just, it shall not make him sad" (Proverbs 12:25), and in Ecclesiasticus: "Give not sadness to your soul, for sadness has killed many, and there is no profit in it" (Ecclesiasticus 30:25).
Nevertheless, there was a twofold sadness in Christ. One which is a natural passion, concerning which he says: "My soul is sorrowful even unto death" (Matthew 26:38). And another which is an act of virtue, namely sorrow for the evil of another's fault, concerning which it is written: "Jesus being angry, looked round about on them with grief, being grieved for the blindness of their hearts" (Mark 3:5). Concerning which sadness Solomon asserts: "The heart of the wise is where there is sadness" (Ecclesiastes 7:5).
"Nor turbulent": Turbulence hindering reason. Nevertheless, there was in Christ a voluntarily assumed disturbance, that is, a certain vehement affection, concerning which it is read in John: "Jesus, when he saw Mary weeping... groaned in the spirit and troubled himself" (John 11:33). Similarly at the Supper, after he said: "One of you shall betray me," he troubled himself (John 13:21).
"Until he establishes judgment in the earth": That is, in men, a judgment of discretion, concerning which he says: "Now is the judgment of the world" (John 12:31); or a judgment of strictness and remuneration, which shall be done on the last day. This word "Until" does not denote that after this judgment established in the earth he will be sad or turbulent, but that after it is accomplished he will never be saddened nor troubled.
"And the islands shall await his law": Namely, the evangelical law, not the Mosaic. This we see fulfilled in many islands which believed the Gospel: "Adore him who made heaven and earth" (Revelation 4:10).
The Commentary on Isaiah 42:5-7
Is 42:5: "Thus says the Lord God, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who established the earth and the things that spring from it, who gives breath to the people who are upon it, and spirit to those who tread upon it."
"Thus says the Lord God": Creating the heavens and stretching them out. Establishing the earth: That is, keeping it stably in the middle of the world, or locating it there. Concerning which it is said in the Apocalypse: "The sea and the fountains of waters" (Revelation 8:10). And the things that spring from it: That is, the nascent things of the earth. For once God said: "Let the earth bring forth the green herb" (Genesis 1:11), and behold, up to the present the earth obeys God, since he established its germs by conserving the seminal reasons in the earth.
"Giving breath to the people who are upon it": That is, respiration or soul, just as he gave to Adam, concerning which it is read in Genesis: "He breathed into his face the breath of life" (Genesis 2:7). And spirit: Namely, to men dwelling on the earth. Hence in the Psalm it is had: "Who fashions the hearts of them all" (Psalm 32:15). And in Zechariah: "The Lord says, stretching out the heaven and founding the earth and forming the spirit of man in him" (Zechariah 12:1). By which those are condemned who say the soul of man is from traduction, or educed from the potency of matter, or who assert all rational souls were created simultaneously. Rational and vital: To those treading upon it.
Is 42:6: "I the Lord have called you in justice... and given you for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles."
"I the Lord": That is, God the Father, or the Trinity, have called you, my servant, namely Christ, concerning whom in the beginning of the chapter it is said: "Behold my servant, I will uphold him." In justice: That is, in the fulfillment of my promises, calling you and saving the world through you, just as I promised through the Prophets. Or: In justice, that is, in just satisfaction and obedience, by which through the way of justice you saved the world.
"And I have taken hold of your hand": That is, I was with you in all things, and I directed and led you. This is what the Savior says: "The Father has not left me alone" (John 8:29). And I have preserved you: That is, I have confirmed you immovably in good, so that you could not fall into fault nor be separated from divinity.
"And I have given you for a covenant of the people": That is, I have placed you as a peacemaker, confederator, or mediator between God and men. For which reason it is introduced in Romans: "We are reconciled to God by the death of his Son" (Romans 5:10). And John says: "We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the just, and he is the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 2:1).
"And I have given you for a light of the Gentiles": That is, I have made you their illuminator. That you may open the eyes of the blind: That is, illuminate the hearts of the Gentiles. Therefore Christ says: "I am the light of the world" (John 8:12). And may bring out from confinement the bound: That is, absolve sinners from the captivity of the devil and the chains of fault. For concerning this confinement it is written in Proverbs: "His own iniquities catch the wicked, and he is held fast with the ropes of his own sins" (Proverbs 5:22).
"And may bring out from the house of prison those sitting in darkness": That is, you might rescue the holy fathers from the limbo of hell, just as it was predicted by Zechariah: "You also, by the blood of your testament, have sent forth your prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water" (Zechariah 9:11).
CONTINUE.
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