Fathers

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What the Fathers say

Isaiah 49:1

Eastern Fathers

Cyril of Alexandria

He calls to "the islands," which we take to be the churches of Christ, just as they are lying in the sea or the waves of this present existence and surrounded by the insulting attacks of "the waves," or the persecutions and afflictions that the enemies of the truth inflict on the churches as they war against the divine call. Concerning these islands the divinely inspired Scripture often speaks. …

Commentary On Isaiah 4:4.49:1-3 ↗

Cyril of Jerusalem

Consider how he who was not yet born could have a people, unless he were in being before he was born. The prophet says this in his person, "From my mother's womb he gave me my name"; because the angel foretold that he would be called Jesus. Again, concerning the plots of Herod, he says, "He … concealed me in the shadow of his arm."

Catechetical Lecture 10:12 ↗

Western Saints

Jerome

Listen, O islands, and pay attention, O peoples from afar: The Lord called me from the womb; from the body of my mother he remembered my name. He made my mouth like a sharpened sword; in the shadow of his hand he protected me. He made me like a polished arrow; in his quiver he hid me away. And he said to me: You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified. …

Commentary on Isaiah ↗

Thomas Aquinas

896. Give ear, you islands. In this part, he describes more particularly the order of liberation. And concerning this, he does two things: first, the people confess the benefits they received; second, they receive the promise of future benefits, where it says, and I said: I have labored in vain (Isa 49:4). Concerning the first, they confess four benefits. …

Commentary on Isaiah ↗