The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.
Read Chapter 11
Eusebius of Caesarea
AD 339
[Isaiah] continues prophetically to show the transformation of all different races of humanity, barbarian and Greek … through the teaching of Christ.… The irrational animals and wild beasts in the passage represent the Gentiles, who are naturally like animals. One who comes from the seed of Jesse will rule over the Gentiles. This is the genealogy of our Savior and Lord, in whom the Gentiles now believe and hope. - "Proof of the Gospel 3.2"
Wolf. Some explain this of the Millennium. (apud St. Jerome) (Lactantius vii. 24.)
But the more intelligent understand, that the fiercest nations shall embrace the gospel, and kings obey the pastors of the Church. (Calmet)
Lead. Or "drive "as the word is used by Festus. (Haydock)
For behold, we who appear clothed in a religious habit have come together from various states of life in the world for the sake of faith in the omnipotent Lord and for hearing his word. We were gathered from many kinds of iniquity into the concord of holy church to make it seen clearly that what was said through the prophet Isaiah about the promise of the church has been accomplished: “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the kid.” For it is through the organs of holy charity that the wolf will dwell with the lamb, since those who were plunderers in the world now rest in peace with the meek and the tame. And the leopard will lie down with the kid because the person who was stained with the multitude of his sins now agrees to be humbled with the person who despises himself and confesses himself to be a sinner. Isaiah also adds, “and the calf and the lion and the sheep will remain together.” One who prepares himself as a daily sacrifice to God through a ...
I am aware that some try to refer these [prophecies] to fierce people of diverse nations and of different kinds of behavior, who have believed, and when they have believed have come to agree with the righteous. But although this is now true of various kinds of people who have come from different nations to the one conviction of the faith, nevertheless [it will also be true] in the resurrection of the just with reference to these animals. - "Against Heresies 5"
“And I will strike for you a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the air and with what crawls on the ground; and I will destroy the bow, the sword and war from the earth; and I will make them sleep in safety.” According to the Septuagint, “And I will arrange for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the air and with what crawls on the ground; and I will destroy war from the earth; and I will make them live in hope.” When all talk of false religion is removed from the people who confess the Lord and, he said, when they call me “my husband,” no longer daring to cry to “Baal” (which means “my idol”), then I will strike for them a covenant and an agreement with the beasts of the field and with the birds of the sky and with what crawls on the ground. Of this moment Isaiah also speaks: “The wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the kid, and the calf, the lion and the lamb will remain together, and a smal...
The others are easy to understand according to the vivifying spirit. For Paul the wolf, who first persecuted and lacerated the church, about whom it was said, “Benjamin is a rapacious wolf,” lived with a lamb—that is, either with Ananias, by whom he was baptized, or with the apostle Peter, to whom it was said, “Feed my lambs.” And the leopard, which first did not change its spots, once it was washed in the fountain of the Lord lay down with the kid—not the goat on the left but the one that is sacrificed at the pasch of the Lord. It is also to be noted that the lamb and the kid will not dwell and recline with the wolf and the leopard, but the wolf and the leopard will imitate the innocence of the lamb and the kid.
The lion, previously most ferocious, and the sheep and the calf lingered together. We also see in the church today that the rich and the poor, the powerful and the humble, kings and peasants, remain together and are ruled in the church by small children, whom we understand to ...
When he says, “Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the rough ways shall be made smooth,” he is signifying the exaltation of the lowly, the humiliation of the self-willed, the hardness of the law changed into easiness of faith. For it is no longer toils and labors, says he, but grace and forgiveness of sins, affording great facility of salvation. Next he states the cause of these things, saying, “All flesh shall see the salvation of God,” no longer Jews and proselytes only, but also all earth and sea and the entire human race. Because by “the crooked things” he signified our whole corrupt life, publicans, harlots, robbers, magicians, as many as having been perverted before afterwards walked in the right way: much as he himself likewise said, “Publicans and harlots go into the kingdom of God before you,” because they believed. And in other words also again the prophet declared the selfsame thing, thus saying, “Then wolves and lambs shall fe...
The prophet also foretold the kinds of people from whom the church would be established. Not only the meek and the mild and the good would form the church. The wild, the inhuman and men whose ways were like those of wolves and lions and bulls would flock together with them and form one church. Hear how the prophet foretold the diversity of this flock when he said, “Then a wolf shall feed with a lamb.” And by this he showed the simplicity of the way of life the church’s rulers would live. - "Demonstration Against the Pagans 6.8"
I have heard many saying, “The threats of a king are like the wrath of a lion”; being full of dejection and lamentation. What then should we say to such? That he who said, “The wolves and the lambs shall feed together; and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox,” will be able to convert the lion into a mild lamb. - "Homilies Concerning the Statues 3.5"
The promise will be fulfilled when kings, peasants and the poor all gather equally around the one table of Christ (believed and seen by us); according to the prophet Isaiah: “Then the wolf will dine with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the kid, and the cow, the lion and the lamb will eat straw together, and a small child will feed them.” - "The Book of Promises and Predictions of God 3.39.46"
