THEODORET OF CYRRHUS

ON ISAIAH 56:3-7

3. "Let not the foreigner who clings to the Lord say: Because of a sentence of exclusion, the Lord will exclude me from His people." In this passage he checks Jewish vanity. Since they make little of virtue, but have taken great pride in being the seed of Abraham, the God of the Universe teaches that He looks at virtue, not race. "And let not the eunuch say: I am a dry tree." Likewise in this passage, he also exhorts eunuchs to virtue, and breaks down the pride of those who glory in their many children.

4. "For thus says the Lord to the eunuchs who keep My sabbaths, and who choose what I desire, and who hold firm to My covenant. 5. I shall give them in My house and within My walls a place of fame, and a noble name better than sons and daughters; I shall give them an everlasting name that shall never cease." This promise is not false. And those who were with the divine are witnesses to it, Daniel, and Ananiah, and Azariah, and Misael - although they were deprived by their enemies of the ability to become fathers, they acquired a celebrity greater than that of the fathers of many children, and their fame remains unextinguishable. In the same way, Abdemalek, who was both a foreigner and a eunuch, being an Ethiopian, God made him illustrious due to his piety.

6. "As for the foreigners who cling to the Lord to serve him and to love the name of the Lord, and to be His slaves [masc.] and His slaves [fem.], all those who keep My sabbaths without violating them and who hold firm to My covenant, 7. I shall lead them to My holy mountain and I shall gladden them in My house of prayer; their holocausts and their sacrifices shall be accepted on My altar, for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations." The God of the Universe has shown that He is not only the God of the Jews, but also the God of the nations; since He is the Creator of all, He cares for all in the same manner. This is why, at the time when He gave the law, He also told the Jews to love "the foreigner, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt". Through the foreigners who conduct themselves according to the ancient law, He opens the door of salvation to all nations.