Ambrose of Milan : Hear, for the flesh of the Lord was a shadow: Behold, the Lord sits upon a light cloud, and will come to Egypt. And David says: Protect me under the shadow of your wings. Therefore, he became a shadow emptied for us, whom the sun of iniquity had burned. We saw him in the shadow when faith first advanced. But now he illuminates the whole world: and yet we still see him through the shadow of his body, which is the Church, not yet face to face; for the eyes of the body are unable to receive the brightness of divinity. This shadow also protects the entire world every day. Therefore, the conclusion is beneficial; For God has concluded all in unbelief, that he may have mercy upon all. — Exposition on Psalms 118, 19.6 Augustine of Hippo : It is relevant to recall that holy Isaiah uttered a particular prophecy concerning Egypt: "And the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt within them" and the rest.In the same class with these prophets were those who rejoiced because they knew he had come whom they had been expecting. Such were Simeon and Anna, who recognized Jesus when he was born, and Elizabeth, who, in the Spirit, realized that he had been conceived, and Peter, who, by revelation of the Father, affirmed, "You are the Christ, the son of the living God." — City of God 8.23 Bede : The psalmist spoke of this solemnity [when he said], "God has ascended with a shout of jubilation, and the Lord with the sound of the trumpet." He ascended with a shout of jubilation, since he sought heaven as the disciples rejoiced in the glory of his being lifted up. He ascended with the sound of the trumpet, since he went up to the throne of his heavenly kingdom as the angels heralded his return to judge the living and the dead.How God, who is present always and everywhere and does not change from place to place, ascended, the same [inspired writer] declares elsewhere, saying, "He who makes a cloud his stairway and walks upon the wings of the winds." He calls the substance of human weakness with which "the sun of righteousness" clothed himself, that [the sight of him] might be borne by human beings, a cloud. Hence Isaiah says, "Behold, the Lord will ascend upon a swift cloud and will enter Egypt, and the idols of Egypt will be shaken before his face." The Lord ascended upon a swift cloud so that when he entered Egypt he might overturn its idols when "the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." He took upon himself a body immune from all stains of iniquity and entered the world in it, so that he might destroy the cult of idolatry and make clear the true light of divinity to the shadowy and dark hearts of the Gentiles. He who is not enclosed in a place willed to go from place to place by means of this cloud, his human nature; in it he who always remains invisible in his divinity willed to suffer mockery, scourging and death; by means of it he who fills the heavens in the power of his divinity ascended into heaven, crowned with the power of his resurrection. — Homilies on the Gospels 2:15 Bede : Such brief downpours are rightly compared with the shallow, inflated boasting of secular teaching which often seems to pour forth an endless, deep river of eloquence and broad learning but soon dries up entirely, as though it had never existed at all, where the sun of justice and the summer of evangelical radiance shine. The Lord himself laments this state of affairs through the prophet: "They abandoned me, the fountain of living water, and dug for themselves broken cisterns which cannot hold water." Isaiah also says, "Behold, the Lord will ascend upon a light cloud and will come to Egypt," and again, "The water of the sea will dry up and the river will be desolate and arid." "A well of living waters," he said, "which flows from Lebanon," that is, from the church, whose life is both clear and deep. For Lebanon, which means "clarity," fills its camps with saving streams of wisdom for its subjects, as though they were an audience, like the Lord promises in the Gospel: "Whoever believes in me, as Scripture teaches, 'rivers of living water will flow from his heart.' " Explaining this, the Gospel adds, "He said this about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him would receive." — Commentary on the Song of Songs 3:4.15 Bede : The blessed Virgin, being purely human, was unable to receive bodily all the plenitude of divinity. But the power of the Most High overshadowed her, that is, her body received the incorporeal light of divinity. The prophet comments on this beautifully: "Behold, the Lord will ascend upon on a light cloud and will come to Egypt," which is to say, Behold, the coeternal Word of God the Father, the light from light who was born before the ages, will receive at the end of the age a flesh and soul not burdened with any sin, and he will enter the world from a virginal womb, like a bridegroom from his chamber. Therefore, what will be born will be called holy, the Son of God. In distinction from our holiness, Jesus alone is said to be born holy. — On the Gospel of Luke 1:1.35 Bede : But if the entire world is divided against itself with respect to faith in Christ, each home contains both infidels and believers. A good war is waged, therefore, to disrupt an evil peace. Isaiah also announced prophetically under the figure of Egypt: "Behold, the Lord will ascend upon a light cloud and will come to Egypt, and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence and the hearts of the Egyptians will melt within them, and I will cause Egyptians to attack Egyptians." Clearly this refers to a struggle between proponents of the faith and its enemies. — On the Gospel of Luke 4:12.51 Chromatius of Aquileia : But Isaiah announced the Lord's future trip to Egypt some time ago when he said, "Behold, the Lord will be seated upon a light cloud and will come to Egypt." By this saying, the mystery of the Lord's incarnation is clearly shown. For because the Lord himself, "dawning from on high," is called "the sun of justice," it is not without merit that he was foretold to be coming "upon a light cloud," that is, in a holy body which no sin was able to weigh down. It was under the veil of this corporeal cloud that he concealed the light of his majesty. — TRACTATE ON Matthew 6:1 Chromatius of Aquileia : To make himself visible, the "sun of justice" assumed a human body like a cloud, according to which it was said, "Behold, the Lord will come upon a light cloud." What is the cloud upon which the Lord, the sun of justice, was predicted to arrive if not the cloud of the human body, through which the appearance of his divine radiance was shielded? But just as the sun is less visible to us when covered by a cloud, even though its nature remains unchanged, so also the Son of God did not cease to retain the glory of his divinity when he covered his radiance with the cloud of a human body. The Gospel said that "his face shone like the sun and his clothing was made as white as snow" to show the power of his divine radiance, through which even his clothing was made white like snow. "And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared and spoke with them," it continues. The Lord had already promised the glory of this vision long ago to the same Moses, saying, "You will see my back [posteriora mea]." He used "posterior" here to indicate that he would reveal himself to Moses at a posterior time, after his assumption of the body. "But Peter responded and said to him, 'Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you like, let's pitch three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.' " — TRACTATE ON Matthew 54A.3 Eusebius of Caesarea : This prophecy says that the one who is begotten after the God and Lord of all things, meaning the Word of God, will come into Egypt, and not undercover or invisibly or without a body but riding on a light cloud, or better "on thick light." This is the meaning of the Hebrew word. Let the Hebrew children tell us when after the time of Isaiah the Lord visited Egypt, and which Lord it was. The God over all is one. Let them tell us how he is said to ride on "thick light" and to come to any particular place on the earth. Let them interpret "thick light" and explain why the Lord is not said to visit Egypt without it. Let them also say when the prophecy that the Egyptian idols made with hands would be shaken and Egyptians would fight Egyptians by the coming of the Lord is to have been fulfilled. — PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 6:20 Eusebius of Caesarea : Now one can consider that the prophecy has not been fulfilled if the following are true: if the Egyptians in our own time cannot be seen to have abandoned the gods of their fathers and calling on the God of the prophets; throughout every town and city in the country of Egypt there are not altars built to the God that previously only the Hebrews acknowledged; the idols have not been shaken.… How can we deny that the prophecies of ages past have been fulfilled? They promised beforehand that the Lord would not come to Egypt in an incorporeal manner but on a light cloud, or better "on a thick light," which is the meaning of the Hebrew word. This figuratively speaks of his incarnation. The prophecy continues by calling him a human being who is the Savior, saying, "And he shall send to them a man who is a savior." The Hebrew here is, "And he shall send to them a savior who will save them." This clear demonstration leads me to conclude that there is no doubt of the time of the promise of the appearing of the Lord. — PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 8:5 Eusebius of Caesarea : I suppose that the reason why it is foretold that the Lord would come to Egypt is this: The Egyptians are said to have been the first to practice the errors of polytheism.… And Holy Scripture witnesses that they were the enemies of God's people from the very beginning, for it is written that their ancient king confessed that he did not know the Lord, when he said, "I do not know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go." So, then, it is because Scripture wishes to show the great marvel of the divine power of Christ that it foretells his going to Egypt, in predicting that the Egyptians will undergo an extraordinary conversion, when it goes on to say, "And the Egyptians shall know the Lord, who before knew him not, and shall pray to the Lord," and so on.… Here it is predicted of Egypt and its people that they will not acknowledge idols any more but will acknowledge the Lord revealed by the Jewish prophets. Now if we cannot see this actually fulfilled before our eyes, we must not say that the Lord's coming to Egypt has taken place. But if beyond all need of argument the truth is shown by facts and reveals clearly to the most unobservant the Egyptians rescued from hereditary superstition, and followers of the God of the prophets who foretold that this would take place, serving him only and greeting every form of death for their duty to him, to what else can we attribute it but to the Lord coming to Egypt, as the prophecy before us predicted? — PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 9:2 Hippolytus of Rome : Under Egypt he meant the world, and under things made with hands its idolatry, and under the shaking its subversion and dissolution. And the Lord, the Word, he represented as upon a light cloud, referring to that most pure tabernacle, in which setting up His throne, our Lord Jesus Christ came into the world to shake error. — Hippolytus Exegetical Fragments Jerome : Appreciate what that means: The Lord comes, the Lord and Savior, into the Egypt in which we live; the Lord comes into the land of darkness where Pharaoh is. But he does not come save riding on a swift cloud. Now what is this swift cloud? I think it is holy Mary with child of no human seed. This swift cloud has come into the world and brought with it the Creator of the world. What does Isaiah say? "The Lord will enter into Egypt upon a swift cloud; and the idols of Egypt shall be shattered." The Lord has come, and the false gods of Egypt tremble violently, crash together and are destroyed. — HOMILIES ON THE Psalms 24 (Psalms 96) Jerome : We must think of that swift cloud as befitting either the body of the Savior, because his body was light, not weighted down by any sin; or certainly holy Mary, who was heavy with child by no human seed. Behold the Lord has entered the Egypt of this world on a swift cloud, the Virgin. — HOMILIES ON THE Psalms 11 (Psalms 77) Jerome : Behold, the Lord has entered the Egypt of this world on a soft cloud, the Virgin. "He led them with a cloud by day." Beautifully said, by day, for the cloud was never in darkness but always in light. "And all night with a glow of fire." "For you darkness itself is not dark, and night shines as the day." "And all night with a glow of fire." "The Lord our God is a consuming fire." A consuming fire. The psalmist did not say what the fire is consuming; he left that to our intelligence. — HOMILIES ON THE Psalms 11 (Psalms 77) Jerome : "The Lord is riding on a swift cloud on his way to Egypt." Appreciate what that means: the Lord comes, the Lord and Savior, into the Egypt in which we live; the Lord comes into the land of darkness where Pharaoh is. But he does not come save riding on a swift cloud. Now what is this swift cloud? I think it is holy Mary with child of no human seed. This swift cloud has come into the world and brought with it the Creator of the world. What does Isaiah say? "The Lord will enter into Egypt upon a swift cloud; and the idols of Egypt shall be shattered." The Lord has come, and the false gods of Egypt tremble violently, crash together and are destroyed. This is the cloud that in Alexandria destroyed Sarapis; no general did it, no mortal man, but this cloud that came into Alexandria. — HOMILIES ON THE Psalms 24 (Psalms 96) Jerome : (Chapter 19, Verse 1) The Burden of Egypt. Behold, the Lord will ascend upon a light cloud, and will enter into Egypt, and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst thereof. It is the custom of the Scriptures to connect the clear with the obscure, and to openly declare with a clear voice what was previously expressed in enigmas. Therefore, in the present passage, because He had pronounced woes against Egypt before, saying, 'Woe to the land overshadowed with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia,' and other things which the prophetic discourse has woven together, He now makes the understanding more clear, and threatening Egypt itself, He speaks, not that the Angels, but the Lord Himself, shall come upon a light cloud, that is, a swift one, and shall enter into Egypt, and make the idols of Egypt tremble, and cause the heart of the mighty to melt, and fulfill the prophecy of Ezekiel (or Jeremiah): 'I will destroy the idols, and I will cause the idols of Memphis to cease' (Ezekiel 30:13). Some refer this whole prophecy to the time of the Savior, when he entered upon a light cloud, that is, a human body, which he had assumed from the Virgin, not burdened with any mingling of human seed: or because he was carried on a light cloud, that is, a Virginal body, and at his entrance all the demons trembled, and then the first downfall of idols occurred, unable to bear the presence of the Lord. — Commentary on Isaiah Jerome : (Chapter 19, Verse 1) The Burden of Egypt. Symmachus and Theodotion: The Assumption of Egypt. Septuagint: The Vision of Egypt. Where in Hebrew it is written Massa Mesraim (), which we have interpreted as the Burden or Weight of Egypt: for which Aquila translated ἄρμα Αἰγύπτου, we can say that because the prophet carries and bears the yoke of the Lord, it is fitting for him to carry the burden of Egypt and see or bear the prophecy of Egypt. Hence, I wonder that the Septuagint translated it as Vision in Babylon; and as Word in Philistia, Moab, and Damascus; and now as Version in Egypt; when in Hebrew it is not Word and Vision in all these cases, but Massa (), that is, Burden, weight, that is placed. But what Symmachus and Theodotion have always translated as λῆμμα, that is, assumption, we must understand that the prophet received spiritual grace from the Lord to know the sacraments of Egypt, or to see with the eyes of the mind, as the Septuagint translated. However, this Egypt is not the same as the one the Jews think, as Josephus believed, who relates in the book of Antiquities: that Onias the priest fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah by building a temple in the region of Heliopolis, which the Egyptians call νομὸν, according to the likeness of the Temple of God, and an altar. For let us grant that these things were said about Onias, and about the altar that he built in Egypt, which will be five cities that speak the Canaanite language in Egypt, of which one is called ἀσεδὲκ according to the LXX; according to other interpreters, the city is called Ars or Ares, or city of the sun? And who will be this savior who was sent to the Egyptians to save them, and so that the Egyptians may know the Lord? When they worshiped him with sacrifices and gifts, and fulfilled their vows? When did the Lord strike Egypt and heal it? At what time can we teach that there was a way from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians entered Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria; and the Egyptians served Assyria? When Israel was in Egypt for the third time; and among the Assyrians, it was like a blessing in the midst of the land, so that the Lord said: Blessed is my people in Egypt, and the work of my hands in Assyria? It is clear that these things do not pertain to the Egypt that the Jews estimate. Therefore, we can call this place in which we live, and the world which is situated in evil: Egypt, especially because Mizraim, which is called Egypt, is interpreted as ἐκθλίβουσα, that is, troubling or bringing into distress. However, it should be known that many Egyptian burdens or visions pertain to the province of Egypt, which is inhabited and seen even today. But both in this and in other places of Scripture, many things are stated which cannot stand according to history, so that by necessity we are compelled to seek a deeper understanding. — Commentary on Isaiah Jerome : I have diligently examined many of the prophecies of Egypt, which Isaiah raised up or saw, in a historical explanation. Therefore, now according to tropology, the most important things are to be taken. The Lord ascends upon a light cloud, the body of the holy Virgin Mary, which is not burdened by the weight of any human seed: or certainly His own body, which was conceived of the Holy Spirit. And he entered into Egypt of this world; and immediately all the Egyptian idols were moved, so that the divinations and all the fraud of idolatry, which possessed and deceived the whole world, felt that it had been broken: to such an extent that the wise men from the East, who were taught by demons, or according to the prophecy of Balaam (Num. XXIV), understanding that the Son of God had been born, who would destroy all the power of their art, came to Bethlehem and, with the star guiding them, adored the child (Matt. II). Then the heart of Egypt trembled. — Commentary on Isaiah John Chrysostom : What then? He Himself speaks nothing, nor Moses, nor Elias, but He that is greater than all, and more worthy of belief, the Father, uttereth a voice out of the cloud. Wherefore out of the cloud? Thus doth God ever appear. "For a cloud and darkness are round about Him;" and, "He sitteth on a light cloud;" and again, "Who maketh clouds His chariot;" and, "A cloud received Him out of their sight;" and, "As the Son of Man coming in the clouds." In order then that they might believe that the voice proceeds from God, it comes from thence. And the cloud was bright. — Homily 56 on the Gospel of Matthew John Chrysostom : That it was Jesus himself [at the ascension] they knew from the fact that he had been conversing with them (for had they seen only from a distance, they could not have recognized him by sight), but that he is taken up into heaven the angels themselves inform them. Observe how it is ordered, that not all is done by the Spirit, but the eyes also do their part. But why did "a cloud receive him"? This too was a sure sign that he went up to heaven. Not fire, as in the case of Elijah, nor fiery chariot, but "a cloud received him"; which was a symbol of heaven, as the prophet says, "Who makes the clouds his chariot"; it is of the Father himself that this is said. Therefore he says, "on a cloud"; in the symbol, he would say, of the divine power, for no other power is seen to appear on a cloud. For hear again what another prophet says: "The Lord sits upon a light cloud." — Homily 2 on the Acts of the Apostles Origen of Alexandria : Consider also, in the vision of Egypt, Isaiah saying: "behold the Lord sits upon a light cloud, and he will come into Egypt", whether he means this Egypt which is commonly understood, or the whole world. For according to John himself, the place "in which their Lord was crucified" "is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt", whether the whole world or Judea is called Sodom and Egypt. But he who upon a light cloud will come into Egypt, will first make his ascent into Judea (for it is according to reason that, when he comes again, it should first happen there). But it is called "Sodom" "where their Lord was crucified", just as also once it was said to that people and their princes: "hear the word of the Lord, princes of Sodom; attend to the law of God, people of Gomorrah". — COMMENTARY ON Matthew 50 Tertullian : Egypt is sometimes understood to mean the whole world in [Isaiah], because of superstition and malediction. — AN ANSWER TO THE JEWS 9 Theodoret of Cyrus : Therefore all the human qualities of the Lord Christ, hunger, I mean, and thirst and weariness, sleep, fear, sweat, prayer, and ignorance, and the like, we affirm to belong to our nature which God the Word assumed and united to himself in effecting our salvation. But the restitution of motion to the maimed, the resurrection of the dead, the supply of loaves and all the other miracles we believe to be works of the divine power. In this sense I say that the same Lord Christ both suffers and destroys suffering; suffers, that is, as touching the visible, and destroys suffering as touching the ineffably indwelling Godhead. This is proved beyond question by the narrative of the holy Evangelists, from whom we learn that when lying in a manger and wrapped in swaddling clothes, he was announced by a star, worshiped by magi and hymned by angels. Thus we reverently discern that the swaddling bands and the lack of a bed and all the poverty belonged to the manhood; while the journey of the magi and the guiding of the star and the company of the angels proclaim the Godhead of the unseen. In like manner he makes his escape into Egypt and avoids the fury of Herod by flight, for he was man; but as the prophet says, "He shakes the idols of Egypt," for he was by nature God. — LETTER 151