Fathers

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What the Fathers say

Isaiah 42:1

Eastern Fathers

Athanasius of Alexandria

It is possible, with the help of God, easily to distinguish the presence of the good and the bad; a vision of the holy ones is not agitated. "He shall not protest and cry out; none will hear his voice." It occurs so quietly and gently that joy and gladness and confidence are at once born in the soul.… The soul's thoughts remain untroubled and calm, so that, enlightened of itself, it contemplates those who appear. LIFE OF ST.

Life of St. Anthony 35 ↗

Western Saints

Augustine of Hippo

The passage reads, "Jacob, my son, I will uphold him; Israel, my elect, my soul has assumed him." … It is true, indeed, that the Vulgate text has "my servant" in place of "Jacob" and "Israel," but the Septuagint translators preferred to make the meaning more explicit, namely, that the prophecy concerns the "Highest" insofar as he became the "lowliest," in the form of a servant. Hence they placed the name of that man from whose stock the "form of a servant" was assumed. It was to him that the Holy Spirit was given.

City of God 20.30 ↗

Jerome

Behold my servant, I will uphold him: my chosen one, my soul is pleased with him. I have put my spirit upon him: he will bring justice to the nations. LXX: Jacob my servant, I will take him: Israel my chosen, my soul has received him. I have put my spirit upon him: he will bring forth justice to the nations. Jacob and Israel are not mentioned in the current chapter, nor did Matthew the Evangelist include them, following Hebrew truth. We say this as a rebuke to those who despise us. …

Commentary on Isaiah ↗

Thomas Aquinas

817. Behold my servant. Here he shows divine love from the Son, whom he promised: God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son (John 3:16). And first, from such a benefit, he shows the love of God; second, the perversity of the Jews: these things have I done to them (Isa 42:16). …

Commentary on Isaiah ↗