Theodoret of Cyrus, on Isa 51:3

“The Lord therefore will comfort Sion, and will comfort all the ruins thereof: and he will make her desert as a place of pleasure, and her wilderness as the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of praise.”

“It is not a question of inhabited places but of desert places, not of regions situated in the east but of those in the west. Those who have seen the city with their own eyes know that the temple of the Jews was in the eastern part of the city, whereas the cross and the [place of] the resurrection were in the western part. Moreover, these places were formerly situated outside the walls. The divine apostle was witness to this when he said, "Jesus … suffered outside the gate. Therefore let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach." He makes this prediction accordingly: all the places of the city that were deserted and all those that were in the west will be as the garden of the Lord, for they truly possess the tree of life. "They shall find in it gladness and exultation, thanksgiving and the voice of praise." This also we still see fulfilled in our day: in place of the smoke, of the odor of fat that rises from the victims and of the cult rendered according to the law, which the Lord of the universe, even in former days, did not find agreeable, night and day Zion raises hymns in honor of the God of the universe, for it is filled with [worshipers] who chant hymns.”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.