ANCIENT CHRISTIAN
COMMENTARY ON SCRIPTURE
Old Testament
X
ISAIAH 1-39
EDITED BY
STEVEN A. MCKINION
GENERAL EDITOR
THOMAS C. ODEN
InterVarsity Press
P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove, IL 60515-1426
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2004 by the Institute of Classical Christian Studies (ICCS), Thomas C. Oden and Steven A. McKinion
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Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1946, 1952, 1971 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.
Selected excerpts from Fathers of the Church: A New Translation, copyright 1947-, used by permission of The Catholic University of America Press. Full bibliographic information on individual volumes may be found in the Bibliography of Works in English Translation.
Selected excerpts from The Syriac Fathers on Prayer and the Spiritual Life, translated by Sebastian Brock, Cistercian Studies 101, 1987; Bede the Venerable, Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, translated by Lawrence T. Martin, Cistercian Studies 117, 1989;. Bede the Venerable, Homilies on the Gospels, translated by Lawrence T. Martin and David Hurst, Cistercian Studies 110 and 111, 1991; Gregory the Great, Forty Gospel Homilies, translated by David Hurst, Cistercian Studies 123, 1990; Pachomian Koinonia: The Lives, Rules, and Other Writings of Saint Pachomius, translated by Armand Veilleux, Cistercian Studies 45, 46 and 47, 1980-1982; used by permission of Cistercian Publications, Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Selected excerpts from John Cassian, Conferences, translated by Colm Luibheid, The Classics of Western Spirituality, 1985; John Cassian, The Conferences, translated and annotated by Boniface Ramsey, Ancient Christian Writers 57, 1997; Cassiodorus, Explanation of the Psalms, translated by P. G. Walsh, Ancient Christian Writers 51, 52 and 53, 1990, 1991; Ephrem the Syrian, Hymns, translated by Kathleen E. McVey, Classics of Western Spirituality, 1989; Firmicus Maternus, The Error of the Pagan Religions, translated and annotated by Clarence A. Forbes, Ancient Christian Writers 37, 1970; Gregory the Great, Pastoral Care, translated by Henry Davis, Ancient Christian Writers 11, 1950; John Chrysostom, Baptismal Instructions, translated by Paul W. Harkins, Ancient Christian Writers 31, 1963; Origen, An Exhortation to Martyrdom, Prayer and Selected Works, translated by Rowan A. Greer, The Classics of Western Spirituality, 1979; Pseudo-Dionysius: The Complete Works, translated by Colm Luibheid, The Classics of Western Spirituality, 1980; The Sermons of St. Maximus of Turin, translated and annotated by Boniface Ramsey, Ancient Christian Writers 50, 1989; Theodoret of Cyr, On Divine Providence, translated and annotated by Thomas Halton, Ancient Christian Writers 49, 1988 by Paulist Press, Inc., New York/Mahwah, N.J. Used with the permission of Paulist Press, www.paulistpress.com.
Selected excerpts from The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century. Copyright 1990-. Used by permission of the Augustinian Heritage Institute.
Cover photograph: Interior of the Apse, 6th century (photo)/San Vitale, Ravanna, Italy/Giraudon/The Bridgeman Art Library.
Any internal page references refer to page numbers in the print edition.
ISBN 978-0-8308-9735-3 (digital)
ISBN 978-0-8308-1480-0 (print)
This digital document has been produced by Nord Compo.
ANCIENT CHRISTIAN COMMENTARY
PROJECT RESEARCH TEAM
GENERAL EDITOR
Thomas C. Oden
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Christopher A. Hall
OPERATIONS MANAGER
Joel Elowsky
TRANSLATIONS PROJECTS DIRECTOR
Joel Scandrett
RESEARCH AND ACQUISITIONS DIRECTOR
Michael Glerup
EDITORIAL SERVICES DIRECTOR
Warren Calhoun Robertson
ORIGINAL LANGUAGE VERSION DIRECTOR
Konstantin Gavrilkin
GRADUATE RESEARCH ASSISTANTS
Jeffrey FinchSergey Kozin
Steve FinlanHsueh-Ming Liao
Alexei KhamineMichael Nausner
Vladimir KharlamovRobert Paul Seesengood
Susan KipperBaek-Yong Sung
Elena Vishnevskaya
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
Judy Cox
PUBLISHERS NOTE REGARDING
THIS DIGITAL EDITION
Due to limitations regarding digital rights, the RSV Scripture text is linked to but does not appear in this digital edition of this Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture volume as it does in the print edition. Page numbering has been maintained, however, to match the print edition. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
The Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (hereafter ACCS) is a twenty-eight volume patristic commentary on Scripture. The patristic period, the time of the fathers of the church, spans the era from Clement of Rome (fl. c. 95) to John of Damascus (c. 645-c. 749). The commentary thus covers seven centuries of biblical interpretation, from the end of the New Testament to the mid-eighth century, including the Venerable Bede.
Since the method of inquiry for the ACCS has been developed in close coordination with computer technology, it serves as a potential model of an evolving, promising, technologically pragmatic, theologically integrated method for doing research in the history of exegesis. The purpose of this general introduction to the series is to present this approach and account for its methodological premises.
This is a long-delayed assignment in biblical and historical scholarship: reintroducing in a convenient form key texts of early Christian commentary on the whole of Scripture. To that end, historians, translators, digital technicians, and biblical and patristic scholars have collaborated in the task of presenting for the first time in many centuries these texts from the early history of Christian exegesis. Here the interpretive glosses, penetrating reflections, debates, contemplations and deliberations of early Christians are ordered verse by verse from Genesis to Revelation. Also included are patristic comments on the deuterocanonical writings (sometimes called the Apocrypha) that were considered Scripture by the Fathers. This is a full-scale classic commentary on Scripture consisting of selections in modern translation from the ancient Christian writers.
The Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture has three goals: the renewal of Christian preaching based on classical Christian exegesis, the intensified study of Scripture by
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