Ephrem the Syrian : "Lift up your eyes round about, and see; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from far, and your daughters shall be carried in the arms. Then you shall see and be radiant, your heart shall thrill and rejoice." He says these words with regard to the righteous ones of the synagogue, who gather from every land and come to it; however, in a figurative sense, these words signify the children of the holy church, the dispersed peoples, I mean, who were quite far away and distant from God. The gospel of Christ, preached to them by the holy apostles, gathered them, so that the apostles carried them as if in their arms and introduced them into the sheepfold of the church, their mother. — COMMENTARY ON Isaiah 60:4-5 Jerome : (Verse 4.) Lift up your eyes all around and see: all these gathered together have come to you. Your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried at your side. LXX: Lift up your eyes all around and see: all your sons have gathered together. Your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried on shoulders. It is said to the Church, which was first gathered in Zion by the Apostles, of whom we read in the Acts of the Apostles, that religious men from the whole world were in Jerusalem, who received the word of God in their own and foreign tongues, either hearing others speaking or speaking to others themselves (Acts II). And it is commanded that they lift up their eyes around: which the Lord also commanded the Apostles, saying: Lift up your eyes, and see, for the fields are already white for harvest (John 4:35). For out of Zion, and not out of Mount Sinai, shall the law come forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And it is commanded that with lifted eyes he see his gathered children, who come from afar. To whom it is also said in another place: Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, proclaim, O daughter of Jerusalem: Behold, I come, and I will dwell in your midst, says the Lord (Zephaniah 3:17); and, Many nations shall come to the Lord: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God (Zechariah 2:11). But we are the sons who have come from afar to the Lord, once pilgrims from the Testament of God and His promises, having no hope and without God in the world. But what does the Apostle say? You who were once far away, have now been made near (Ephesians 2:13). And what follows: 'And your daughters shall be nursed at your side,' signifies that souls nurturing in Christ, and in the baptism of infants, of whom also the Apostle Peter speaks, 'As newborn babes, desire the genuine milk of the word, that you may grow thereby' (1 Peter 2:2), shall suckle the milk of the Apostles. He spoke to them as little children and infants, saying: My little children, for whom I am in labor again until Christ is formed in you (Galatians 4:19). And in another place: Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, so we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of Christ but also our own lives (1 Thessalonians 2:7-8). It should be noted that the statement in the Septuagint, 'your daughters will be carried on their shoulders,' is especially important. For the sons, who are strong, they themselves come from afar and gather to the faith of the Lord. But the daughters, who are weaker, and because of the fragility of their sex, have not yet come to maturity as women, are carried on the shoulders of the Apostles, in order to be brought into the bosom of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. — Commentary on Isaiah Theodoret of Cyrus : This does not easily apply to the Jews. For those who were captives did not all return.… But the church of God gathers its children from all the nations. And [they are] to be seen running toward Jerusalem from all the world, not in order to worship God in the temple of the Jews but that they might see the well-known places of the cross and the resurrection and the ascension.…This does not apply to the Jews. Of what sort of nations and peoples are riches brought forth for them? But the church of God receives the gifts once offered to the demons, and the sea that was once bitter is now sweetened by the wood of the cross of the Savior, and having thus received a wonderful change it brings forth the church of God—it is especially to the city of Jerusalem they bring these, running from all lands. — COMMENTARY ON Isaiah 19:60.4-5