Francisco Foreiro, O.P. (c. 1510–1581) was a Portuguese Dominican theologian and one of the most accomplished Hebraists of the Council of Trent, where he served as a peritus. His Isaiae Prophetae Vetus et Nova Expositio (Venice, 1563) is a monumental commentary on the book of Isaiah, providing both a new Latin version from the Hebrew alongside the Vulgate, with an extended theological and philological exposition. Throughout the work, Foreiro offers extensive commentary on the relationship between the Old and New Testaments, the rejection and dispersion of the Jews, the passing of their privileges to the Church, and the errors of Rabbinic tradition.
The passages below are selected from the Latin text and translated into English. References are to line numbers in the digitized transcriptions.
I. On Confuting the Perfidy of the Impious Through Scripture
Latin (Preface):
“locos omnes, quibus impiorum perfidia conuinci possit, qui in prauum sensum omnia detorquent, illustrant; atque ita interpretandos esse, ex similium collatione confirmant, ex quo, aut quantumuis refragantes, veritatem fateri compellimus, aut eo detrudimus, ut cum omnium hominum tanti sceleris detestatione dicant, a spiritu sancto pugnantia afferri.”
English Translation:
“They illuminate all those passages by which the perfidy of the impious may be refuted — those who twist everything into a perverse meaning — and they confirm by comparison of similar texts that these passages must be so interpreted, so that either we compel them to confess the truth, however much they resist, or we drive them to the point where, to the detestation of all men for so great a crime, they must say that contradictions are alleged from the Holy Spirit.”
(Preface, line 291)
II. On the Rabbinic Traditions Devised in Hatred of Christ
Latin (Commentary on Isaiah 4):
“liceat ergo viris Christianis non adeo addictis esse Rabinorum traditionibus, & distinctionibus, (quas saepe in odium Christi excogitarunt) ut non interdum hac in re libertatem amplectantur propter gloriam Christi.”
English Translation:
“Let it therefore be permitted to Christian men not to be so enslaved to the traditions and distinctions of the Rabbis — which they have often devised out of hatred for Christ — that they may not sometimes embrace freedom in this matter for the glory of Christ.”
(Commentary on Isaiah 4, line 4438–4441)
III. On the Jews as Deicides
Latin (Commentary on Isaiah 4):
“Non tamen hic de vocatione gentium agi existimo, sed (si mysterium latet) de Iudaeorum conversione; qui dum patriam vastatam viderent, suo iam malo edocti, intellexerunt tum ob incredulitatem suam, tum etiam quod heredem vineae occidissent, illa se mala perpetsos; illi (inquam) dolentes ob opprobrium, quo sese obrutos, gentemque suam videbant, quod dominum suum occidissent, ad dominum reuersi, & religionem Christianam amplexati, paenitentiamque agentes, Christiani dici volunt, ut non de numero deicidarum sint, neque eos opprobrium infidelitatis attingat.”
English Translation:
“Yet I do not think that the calling of the Gentiles is treated here, but rather — if a mystery lies hidden — the conversion of the Jews; who, when they saw their homeland laid waste, now taught by their own misfortune, understood that they had suffered those evils both on account of their own unbelief and also because they had slain the Heir of the vineyard. Those, I say, grieving over the reproach under which they saw themselves and their nation buried — because they had slain their Lord — turning back to the Lord and embracing the Christian religion and doing penance, wish to be called Christians, so that they might not be numbered among the deicides, and the reproach of unbelief might not touch them.”
(Commentary on Isaiah 4, lines 4444–4453)
IV. On the Pertinacity of the Jews and the Calling of the Gentiles
Latin (Commentary on Isaiah 2):
“valde mirum est, si homines Christiani ac bonis litteris non mediocriter instructi malint cum perfidis Iudaeis iudaizare, quam cum orthodoxis Christianis recte sentire & interpretari… de vocatione gentium, & pertinacia Iudaeorum sermonem instituit propheta.”
English Translation:
“It is quite remarkable if men who are Christian and not without a decent literary formation would rather Judaize with the faithless Jews than think rightly and interpret correctly together with orthodox Christians… The prophet has undertaken a discourse on the calling of the Gentiles and the pertinacity of the Jews.”
(Commentary on Isaiah 2, lines 3343–3350)
V. On the Jews Stumbling Upon Christ the Stone
Latin (Commentary on Isaiah 8):
“Hoc autem, & quae sequuntur, explicant statum illum rerum in Iudaea, quando scilicet impegerant Iudaei in lapidem Christum. tunc enim ablata est illis lux, & quo se verterent, nesciebant… significantur gravissima flagitia, in quae prolapsi sunt infideles Iudaei, cum noluissent per Christum sanctificari, nec non ingentes calamitates, quas experti sunt propter ipsa scelera, quae dominus etiam significavit in evangelio, quando dicebat, quod qui ex eis impegissent in illum lapidem ab ipsis reprobatum, a Deo autem electum confringerentur; super quos autem lapis caderet, comminueretur.”
English Translation:
“This and what follows explain that state of affairs in Judea, when the Jews had stumbled against Christ the Stone. For then their light was taken away, and they did not know whither to turn… The most grievous crimes are signified into which the unbelieving Jews fell, since they had not wished to be sanctified through Christ, as well as the immense calamities which they suffered on account of those same crimes — which the Lord himself also signified in the Gospel when He said that those among them who had stumbled against that stone which they had rejected but which God had chosen would be shattered; and upon whomever the stone should fall, he would be ground to dust.”
(Commentary on Isaiah 8, lines 8928–8941, 8653–8667)
VI. On the Jews Seeking Oracles from the Dead, Having Lost the Light
Latin (Commentary on Isaiah 8):
“tunc enim ablata est illis lux, & quo se verterent, nesciebant. tunc scripturas habentes, ac si non haberent, coeperunt veritatem aliunde quaerere… modo non consulat lector hoc in loco, aut similibus eos, qui luce destituti sunt, & somnia sectantur, nempe Rabinos.”
English Translation:
“For then their light was taken away, and they did not know whither to turn. Then, having the Scriptures as though they had them not, they began to seek truth from elsewhere… Let the reader not consult, in this or similar passages, those who are destitute of light and chase after dreams — namely, the Rabbis.”
(Commentary on Isaiah 8, lines 8930–8942)
VII. On Those Who Refuse to Understand: Blind Jews and Half-Christian Interpreters
Latin (Commentary on Isaiah 10):
“has transitiones in prophetis qui Iudaei nolunt intelligere, caeci. & interpretes, qui Rabinos, tanquam oraculum, sequuntur in suis interpretationibus, parum Christiani sunt.”
English Translation:
“Those Jews who refuse to understand these transitions in the prophets are blind. And those interpreters who follow the Rabbis as though they were an oracle in their expositions are but little Christian.”
(Commentary on Isaiah 10, lines 10471–10473)
VIII. On the Jews Persevering in Their Crimes
Latin (Commentary on Isaiah 9):
“perseverantibus enim Iudaeis in sceleribus suis, dominus quoque in indignatione perdurat.”
English Translation:
“For as the Jews persevere in their crimes, so the Lord also persists in His indignation.”
(Commentary on Isaiah 9, line 9705)
IX. On the Destruction of the Jews Arising from Contempt for the Word of God
Latin (Commentary on Isaiah 28):
“nam ex contemptu verbi Dei orta est perditio Iudaeorum; perditio autem significatur verbis, quae lapsum, confrationem, illaquaeationem, ac captionem significant.”
English Translation:
“For from the contempt of the word of God arose the ruin of the Jews; and that ruin is signified by words which mean a fall, a shattering, an ensnaring, and a capture.”
(Commentary on Isaiah 28, lines 22836–22839)
X. On the Talmud and Its Superstitions
Latin (Commentary on Isaiah 29):
“nec dubium quoque est, quin de traditionibus Rabinorum sit sermo, quibus plenus est liber Talmud ipsorum, quarum licet non nullae praesertim antiquae sanctitatem redoleant, pleraeque tamen superstitiosae sunt.”
English Translation:
“Nor is there any doubt that the discourse concerns the traditions of the Rabbis, with which their book the Talmud is filled — traditions of which, although not a few, especially the ancient ones, may breathe a certain sanctity, yet the greater part are superstitious.”
(Commentary on Isaiah 29, lines 24140–24143)
XI. On the Rabbis‘ Contentious Impostures Regarding Scripture
Latin (Commentary on Isaiah 2):
“In hoc ultimo versu magna est varietas, & quidem Iudaei satis a multis, doctisque viris extortis imposuerunt hoc loco…”
English Translation:
“On this last verse there is great variety [of opinion], and indeed the Jews have through many learned and twisting men sufficiently imposed upon [the exposition of] this passage…”
(Commentary on Isaiah 2, lines 3337–3339)
XII. The Impious Jews Confuted by the Words of Isaiah 53
Latin (Commentary on Isaiah 53):
“Manifestiora sunt viris Christianis, quae hoc capite continentur, quam ut expositionem requirant; neque in tota scriptura video, quibus plus Iudaei torqueantur, nam quo se vertant, nesciunt… quare consilium mihi fuit, scribere nihil eorum, quae impij Iudaei hic somniant, & suo more fingunt, apponere: nam quidquid dicunt, ab ipsis prophetae verbis mendacii convincuntur.”
English Translation:
“The things contained in this chapter are more manifest to Christian men than that they should require exposition; nor in all of Scripture do I see passages by which the Jews are more tormented, for they do not know which way to turn… Wherefore it was my resolution to set down nothing of those things which the impious Jews dream up here and fabricate in their accustomed manner: for whatever they say, they are convicted of falsehood by the very words of the prophet himself.”
(Commentary on Isaiah 53, lines 43172–43198)
XIII. On the Pertinacity and Scandal of the Jews at the Cross of Christ
Latin (Commentary on Isaiah 53):
“quia vero quam pertinaces essent, & quantum in cruce Christi scandalizandi forent, prauvidit Isaias: iccirco sic auspicatur de passione domini sermonem… verbum enim crucis Iudaeis est scandalum.”
English Translation:
“But because Isaiah foresaw how obstinate they would be, and how greatly they would be scandalized at the Cross of Christ, he therefore opens his discourse on the Passion of the Lord in this way… For the word of the Cross is a scandal to the Jews.”
(Commentary on Isaiah 53, lines 43201–43208)
XIV. The Jews Deny That the Crucified Man Is the Arm of the Lord
Latin (Commentary on Isaiah 53):
“negant ergo illi hominem crucifixum esse, brachium domini; nos vero vel propter hoc illi fidem adhibuimus, illi extra vineam cum eiecerunt: nos extra vineam positi, cum vel mortuum suscepimus, & salutem, quam operatur brachium sanctitatis Dei, laeti experti & celebravimus, & misericordias in aeternum cantabimus.”
English Translation:
“The Jews therefore deny that the crucified man is the arm of the Lord; but we, for this very reason, gave Him our faith. They cast Him outside the vineyard; we, placed outside the vineyard, received Him even as one dead, and have rejoiced to experience and celebrate the salvation wrought by the arm of the holiness of God, and we shall sing His mercies forever.”
(Commentary on Isaiah 53, lines 43233–43239)
XV. The Jews Guilty of the Blood of Christ
Latin (Commentary on Isaiah 64):
“iustitias Iudaeorum post adventum Christi: erant enim rei sanguinis Christi, quem sibi imputari, & filiis suis, magnis vocibus petierunt.”
English Translation:
“The righteousnesses of the Jews after the coming of Christ: for they were guilty of the blood of Christ, which they had demanded with loud voices to be imputed to themselves and to their children.”
(Commentary on Isaiah 64, line 52038)
XVI. On the Dispersion of the Jews Among All Nations
Latin (Commentary on Isaiah 64):
“nullus Iudaeis sobinde decor, neque vigor, neque ullus intus succus divini gratiae, quo consistere in terra sua possent, aut sub Dei protectione; sed huiusmodi humore destituti, & Deo aperiente manum, ut a se vvellerentur, statim in omnes gentes divisi sunt, quemadmodum ventus folia arida, & quisquilias dispergit. neque solum corpore vagi, & dispersi sunt in omnes provincias orbis, sed errorum, & opinionum variarum tempestatibus iactati, huc, atque illuc fluctuant.”
English Translation:
“The Jews thenceforth had no comeliness, no vigor, no inner sap of divine grace by which they could stand firm in their own land or under God’s protection; but destitute of this moisture, and God opening His hand so that they might be torn away from Him, they were at once scattered among all nations, as the wind scatters dry leaves and chaff. Nor were they dispersed and made wanderers through all the provinces of the world in body only: tossed by the storms of errors and various opinions, they drift hither and thither.”
(Commentary on Isaiah 64, lines 52045–52055)
XVII. On the Reprobation of the Jews and the Election of the Gentiles
Latin (Commentary on Isaiah 30):
“de iudiciis Dei in populi Israelis reprobatione, & gentium electione dissereret… Vide Iudaeorum epitheta: defectores, mendaces, contumaces: qui nolunt auscultare, quae Deus per suos praecones eis denuntiat. hae sunt causae reprobationis Iudaeorum: & in quibuscunque reperiantur huiusmodi mores, non illis parcet agricola, qui naturalibus ramis ob eadem vitia non pepercit.”
English Translation:
“…he [Paul] was discoursing on the judgments of God in the reprobation of the people of Israel and the election of the Gentiles… Observe the titles of the Jews: deserters, liars, contumacious — those who refuse to hear what God denounces to them through His heralds. These are the causes of the reprobation of the Jews; and wherever such conduct is found, the Husbandman will not spare, He who did not spare the natural branches for the same vices.”
(Commentary on Isaiah 30, lines 25142–25160)
XVIII. On the Jews‘ Contumacy, Pride, and Unbelief Made Permanent Testimony
Latin (Commentary on Isaiah 30):
“Ergo testatam hominibus in futurum, atque adeo tempore Messiae voluit dominus Iudaeorum contumaciam, rebellionem, superbiam, & infidelitatem, ut cum eos abcisos, & deletos viderent, non solum Deum iniustitiae non arguerent, verum etiam longanimitatem eius admirarentur, qua per tot annorum millia eorum contumaciam toleraverit.”
English Translation:
“Therefore the Lord willed that the contumacy, rebellion, pride, and unbelief of the Jews should be made a witness to men for the future, and even more so for the time of the Messiah, so that when they saw them cut off and destroyed, they might not only fail to charge God with injustice, but even marvel at His long-suffering, by which He bore with their contumacy for so many thousands of years.”
(Commentary on Isaiah 30, lines 25124–25132)
XIX. On the Prayer That the Reprobation of the Jews Not Endure Forever
Latin (Commentary on Isaiah 64):
“(ni fallor) petit propheta, ne Iudaeorum reprobatio aeternum duret: quare esse Dei populum commemorat, & per hypotyposim indignissimarum rerum ad commiserationem provocare conatur.”
English Translation:
“Unless I am mistaken, the prophet prays that the reprobation of the Jews may not endure forever; and for this reason he recalls that they are the people of God, and by a vivid depiction of the most wretched things endeavors to provoke compassion.”
(Commentary on Isaiah 64, lines 52117–52121)
XX. On the Jews Having No True Reason for Interpreting the Scriptures
Latin (Commentary on Isaiah 30):
“Iudaei fingunt haec Ieremiae dicta: de quo vide D. Hieronymum, non enim habent veram rationem interpretandi scripturas, neque in illa protervia, quam in ipsis Isaias tunc temporis reprehendebat, nempe quod prudentiae suae innixi Deo non crederent, delineatam illam suam, quam Christi temporibus exhibuerunt, contumaciam intelligere possunt.”
English Translation:
“The Jews fabricate that these are the words of Jeremiah: concerning which see Saint Jerome, for they do not possess the true method of interpreting the Scriptures, nor can they recognize, in that insolence which Isaiah was then rebuking in them — namely, that, relying on their own prudence, they did not believe God — the outline of that same contumacy which they displayed in the times of Christ.”
(Commentary on Isaiah 30, lines 25116–25124)
XXI. On the Whole Decorum and Glory of the Synagogue Transferred to the Church
Latin (Commentary on Isaiah 35):
“REProbAtionem Iudaeorum, desolationemque Tcionis, & totius Iudaeae superiori capite cum praedixisset Isaias; electionem gentium, quae mox consecuta est, iam decantat; & in laudes novi populi totum spiritum effundit… quasi totum decorem cum tota gloria Synagogae, translatum esse ad ecclesiam significet. nam Libanus, & Carmel, ac Saron insigniora erant loca terrae illius promissae… illi ergo in solitudinem versi sunt, quorum erat lex, & promissiones, & gloria, & patres.”
English Translation:
“After Isaiah had foretold, in the preceding chapter, the reprobation of the Jews and the desolation of Zion and all of Judea, he now sings of the election of the Gentiles which immediately followed, and pours out his whole spirit in praise of the new people… as though to signify that all the beauty together with all the glory of the Synagogue has been transferred to the Church. For Lebanon and Carmel and Sharon were the most distinguished places of that promised land… Those therefore have been turned into a desert whose was the law, and the promises, and the glory, and the fathers.”
(Commentary on Isaiah 35, lines 28977–29013)
XXII. On the Infidel Jews Who Mock Christian Interpretation
Latin (Commentary on Isaiah 31):
“Ridebunt, scio, infideles Iudaei hanc interpretandi rationem, sed quid non boni, & veri illi rident?”
English Translation:
“The unbelieving Jews will laugh, I know, at this manner of interpretation; but what good and true thing do they not laugh at?”
(Commentary on Isaiah 31, line 26184)
XXIII. On the Temporal and Spiritual Desolation of Judea for Its Unbelief
Latin (Commentary on Isaiah 27, from File 2):
“estque sermo de vastatione Iudae tam temporali, quam spirituali: simul enim utraque contigit.”
English Translation:
“The discourse concerns the devastation of Judea, both temporal and spiritual; for both occurred simultaneously.”
(Commentary on Isaiah 27, File 2, line 6401)
XXIV. On the Desolation of Judea Arising from Unbelief — Leviathan Cast Down
Latin (Commentary on Isaiah 27, from File 2):
“sicut superiora de vastatione Iudae propter incredulitatem intelligenda sunt; ita haec de eiectione principis huius mundi accipienda existimo: qui praedicatione verbi Dei, quod est penetrabilius omni gladio ancipiti, post vastatam Iudaeam de imperio cecidit.”
English Translation:
“Just as the foregoing passages are to be understood of the devastation of Judea on account of its unbelief, so I judge that these are to be taken of the casting out of the prince of this world, who, through the preaching of the word of God — which is more penetrating than any two-edged sword — fell from his dominion after Judea had been laid waste.”
(Commentary on Isaiah 27, File 2, lines 6333–6338)
XXV. On Those Who Wish to Be Called Christians to Escape the Reproach of Deicide
Latin (Commentary on Isaiah 4, from File 2):
“qui dum patriam vastatam viderent, suo iam malo edocti, intellexerunt tum ob incredulitatem suam, tum etiam quod heredem vineae occidissent, illa se mala perpessos; illi (inquam) dolentes ob opprobrium, quo sese obrutos, gentemque suam videbant, quod dominum suum occidissent, ad dominum reversi, & religionem Christianam amplexati, paenitentiamque agentes, Christiani dici uolunt, ut non de numero deicidarum sint, neque eos opprobrium infidelitatis attingat.”
English Translation:
“Who, when they saw their homeland laid waste, now taught by their own evil, understood that they had suffered those things both on account of their unbelief and also because they had slain the Heir of the vineyard. Those, I say, grieving over the reproach under which they saw themselves and their nation buried — because they had slain their Lord — turning back to the Lord and embracing the Christian religion and doing penance, wish to be called Christians, so that they may not be of the number of the deicides, and the reproach of unbelief may not touch them.”
(Commentary on Isaiah 4, File 2, lines 1655–1658)
XXVI. On Judaizing: Anyone Who Does Not Read the Prophets Spiritually Must Judaize
Latin (Commentary on Isaiah 11):
“neque ab Assyria leguntur rediisse Israelitae, neque aliter redituri sunt, quam modo exposui, sicut neque ex Aegypto, neque enim rursus exsiccandum est illud mare, neque rursus suffocandi Aegyptii. Quam interpretandi rationem si in prophetis non adhibeas, aperte Iudaizare te passim oportebit.”
English Translation:
“Nor is it recorded that the Israelites returned from Assyria, nor will they return in any other manner than that which I have just explained — just as they have not [returned] from Egypt; for that sea need not be dried up again, nor the Egyptians drowned again. If you do not apply this manner of interpretation in the prophets, you will openly be obliged to Judaize throughout.”
(Commentary on Isaiah 11, lines 11413–11424)
XXVII. On the Causes of the Reprobation of Israel and the Blinding of the People
Latin (Commentary on Isaiah 43):
“Hic habes causas reprobationis Israelitarum, & vocationis gentium, ut perpetuo consideremus cum Paulo & bonitatem, & severitatem Dei.”
English Translation:
“Here you have the causes of the reprobation of the Israelites and the calling of the Gentiles, so that we may perpetually consider, with Paul, both the goodness and the severity of God.”
(Commentary on Isaiah 43, lines 35325–35328)
XXVIII. On the Blinding of Israel and God’s Demonstration of His Justice
Latin (Commentary on Isaiah 43):
“hanc Iudaeorum excaecationem, hanc indurationem populi sui Iehoua approbavit, ratam habuit, consensit, & quodam modo laetatus est, quod Israel sic sui proderet duritie animi, & ita innotesce ret universis eius caecitas, atque pervicacia… ostendit autem Deus, ubi Iudaei obcaecati sunt, iustitiam suam, dum populo suo non parcit, ob scelera eorum, & ab eis aufert regnum Dei, illudque dat genti facienti fructus eius.”
English Translation:
“This blinding of the Jews, this hardening of His own people, the Lord approved, held firm, consented to, and in a certain manner rejoiced in it, that Israel should so betray the hardness of its heart, and that its blindness and obstinacy should become known to all… And God showed, when the Jews were blinded, His justice, in that He did not spare His own people on account of their crimes, and took from them the kingdom of God and gave it to a nation that would bring forth its fruits.”
(Commentary on Isaiah 43, lines 34284–34307)
Sources
- Francisco Foreiro, Iesaiae Prophetae Vetus et Nova Expositio (Venice: Jordanus Zilettus, 1563).
- Vol. 1: Internet Archive
- Vol. 2: Google Books