He calls them the house of Jacob as not being worthy of the name of their forefather. Rather, those called by the name Israel are not really Israel, and those bearing that name are not called such here. And he adds, and coming forth from the water of Judah. For they had nothing of the worthiness of the patriarchal soul, although they were descended from his fluid and bodily seed. For they were children only in the physical and carnal sense and not true children of the soul. But Judah through the water^[1] means the kingly race from David’s line that in the days of the prophets remained in Jerusalem. They were those who, being not truly worthy of these names, used Jacob and Israel and Judah falsely; for they were those who praised the name of the Lord and made mention of the God of Israel with only their lips and mouth. . . . For they did not take their oaths in truth if they were [at the same time] consulting oracles. But they even thought they were being loyal to the city which was dedicated to God when, in fact, they were resisting God and performing this hypocrisy.

The adversities that have come on you were announced by me well beforehand, in order that you would be frightened by threats and driven to repentance, so that you may steer clear of the dreadful events. But since you failed to believe my words, I will now proceed to demonstrate their truth by my actions. For you see what is added, I acted suddenly, and the events came to pass.

It is not in human nature to know things that are to come. I am the God who foretells them even now and who did so throughout former times. In addition, the predictions that previously came through the mouths of my other prophets as declarative of many things to come were reported by and complied with by those prophesying, to whom the events seemed to fit the words of the other prophets.

These words would not be of any help to you if you had not been already warned. Nevertheless, dwelling in my loving-kindness, I still bear witness and distinguish you from those assembled in Babylon and the Chal-deans about to attack you. Open your eyes! As you see the foretold destruction taking hold when the warriors come from Babylon, you will know with understanding that God has told you these things would happen and you can call on his help when the predicted end strikes. These things are available to you from my words.

Perchance he will say to me, who am not reformed even by blows, I know that you are obstinate and your neck is an iron sinew, the heedless is heedless, and the lawless person acts lawlessly, and for nothing comes correction from heaven and the scourges.^[1] The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed, as I once reprimanded you by the mouth of Jeremiah: The founder melted the silver in vain; your wickednesses are not melted away.^[2] . . . May it not be that I should ever, among other chastisements, be thus approached by him who is good, and yet by my own contrariness continue to walk against his goodness. This causes God to walk against me in fury.

Not, therefore, on account of your merit but through my mercy I have calmed my fury, lest you come near to death. For the sake of my name I will rein you in so that like a donkey you are made to follow behind the reins of a horse. Behold, I have dried you up, that is, I have tested you in the way one fires silver. Or it may be that I will test you, not in riches but in the furnace of poverty. . . . I predict to you that Babylon is to be overcome by the Medes and Persians. I will do quickly that about which I have given warning, lest when the events predicted take place, you think they have happened at the nod of the gods you worship or by fate. And I do not intimate mere knowledge of future things, but I speak for your benefit, whose heart I know to have been from the beginning unbelieving and whose neck is like iron and whose forehead like bronze. For look! You have heard all the things that are about to come, and yet you hide the truth by keeping quiet. So it does little good to relate things long gone by, like how I led you out of Egypt.

Instructed by this passage, the divine Stephen in his turn says to the Jews, You stiff-necked, uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your ancestors did, so do you.^[1] And also through the mouth of the prophet Jeremiah, the God of the universe has declared to them, You have had the appearance of a prostitute; you refuse to be ashamed.^[2] It is this shamelessness that [Isaiah] likewise alludes to by [the phrase] brazen forehead. The forehead of a brass statue does not blush. Similarly, you no longer blush when you commit evil or when you are confronted or chastised. . . . In this way he has described with greater clarity their spirit of disobedience. For they voluntarily refused to listen, because they did not even desire to hear the words of God.

In Symmachus’s translation: And you, though faithless to the covenant, were called from the womb,^[1] so that not through you but through my merciful love I foretold and showed to you the things that would come to destroy your enemies, hurrying to save you in every engagement with them.

But we say that God brings fire on the world, not like a cook [pace Celsus] but like a God who is the benefactor of those who stand in need of the discipline of force. This is confirmed by the prophet Isaiah. . . . Now the Scripture is appropriately adapted to the multitudes of those who are to peruse it, because it speaks obscurely of things that are sad and gloomy, in order to terrify those who cannot by any other means be saved from the flood of their sins, although even then the attentive reader will clearly discover the end that is to be accomplished by these sad and painful punishments on those who endure them. It is sufficient, however, for the present to quote the words of Isaiah: For my name’s sake will I delay my anger, and my glory I will bring on you, that I may not destroy you.

I will not give my glory to another. This means that the idols should not be thought to oppress the people of God. Or indeed when [Isaiah] says, I will not give to another [Christ], he shows that he has already given it to another. For another is used to distinguish from the first. Many of our translators . . . assert that he here prophesies about the advent of Christ that would come suddenly and unlooked for; that Christ would show his very stubborn people his presence, to those whose ears God never opened since their heart was coarse and they are hard of hearing, in that as soon as the Lord came from the virginal womb he was called sinner and unrighteous as the people sought to kill him.^[1]

It is a work that is necessary, and it is the fruit of admirable foresight to avoid these things that are announced and not to wait for the end of the unhappy times but to stand outside of all wrath and judgment. . . . I have restrained my wrath for the sake of my name, and I will establish my glorious deeds over you lest you be destroyed. . . . We see in this the greatness of God’s love; he mixes in with unhappy events glorious things lest they be totally destroyed.

It was not a need for money that caused me to deliver you to the Babylonians but the will to make you atone for your iniquity; nevertheless, I am going to make you a gift of freedom again. For Isaiah has called the bondage a furnace of poverty. In a furnace the fire itself remains hidden, and only the smoke released from the furnace can be seen. Likewise, prisoners of war do not dare to lament openly, but in their hearts. For they are consumed by the flame of discouragement, and their groan rises like a kind of smoke. . . . Since the enemies thought they had triumphed, not only over you but even over me, and that it was my weakness that had allowed them to dominate you, I will liberate you from this bitter slavery to the extent that even those who do not know me will hear of my might.