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   Title: Commentary on Isaiah - Volume 1
   Creator(s): Calvin, John (1509-1564)
   (Alternative)
   (Translator)
   Rights: Public Domain
   LC Call no: BS491
   LC Subjects:

   The Bible

   Works about the Bible
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   COMMENTARY

   ON THE

   BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH


   BY JOHN CALVIN



   TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL LATIN

   BY THE REV. WILLIAM PRINGLE



   VOLUME FIRST



   CHRISTIAN CLASSICS ETHEREAL LIBRARY
   GRAND RAPIDS, MI

   [1]http://www.ccel.org
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   TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE

   All who take delight in the Holy Scriptures are familiarly acquainted with
   the writings of The Prophet Isaiah. Every variety of taste finds in them its
   appropriate gratification. Lofty conceptions, illustrated by splendid
   imagery, and clothed in language usually copious and flowing, some times
   abrupt, but always graceful, leave no room for hesitation to pronounce him,
   with Bishop Lowth, to be “the most sublime and elegant of the Prophets of
   the Old Testament.” He is regarded with peculiar veneration as an honest,
   fearless, and able messenger of the Most High God, boldly reproving nobles
   and monarchs, denouncing the judgments of Heaven against all transgressors,
   and asserting the claims of the Divine law and government above all human
   authority. In his Prophecies he takes a wide range, surveys those nations
   which power or wealth or learning or commerce had raised to the highest
   celebrity in those remote times, and describes their rise and fall, and
   wonderful revolutions, so eagerly traced by us in the page of history, as
   the execution of Jehovah’s counsels, and the arrangements of unerring
   wisdom. But chiefly does he pour out rich instruction concerning the
   Messiah, whose life and sufferings, and death and glorious reign, he
   delineates so faithfully, and with such thrilling interest, that he has
   obtained the appellation of “The Evangelical Prophet.” To the devout reader
   there is added a still more powerful attraction in his seraphic piety,
   which, breathing throughout all his communications, and kindling a holy
   flame in the hearts of the children of God, attests the important fact, not
   only that in the visions of God he reached the noblest heights of
   inspiration, but — which was far more valuable — that he enjoyed habitual
   and intimate fellowship with The Father of Spirits.

   The period during which he exercised the prophetical office is declared, in
   the inscription of his Prophecies, to have been during the reigns of Uzziah,
   Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Beyond this general indication
   nothing certain can be obtained; for dates were only beginning to attract
   the notice of civilized nations, and had not yet been examined with such
   carefulness, or denoted with such precision, as their importance demands.
   The Translator of “The Commentaries on the Twelve Minor Prophets” (volume 1,
   page 12) tells us that Isaiah flourished between 810 B.C and 698 B.C. This
   interval of 112 years leaves a large margin, which chronologers have filled
   up with considerable diversity of views.

   Assuming 763 B.C. to be the year in which the prophetic ministry of Isaiah
   is believed by some to have commenced, we are led to observe this remarkable
   coincidence, that about thirteen years earlier began the Grecian or Olympic
   era, which opens with the First Olympiad; and about ten years later began
   the Roman Era, which opens with the founding of the city of Rome. This
   reminds us to glance at the contemporary history of nations unlike in their
   origin and progress, and in the effects which they produced on the human
   race. Historians, to whom the name of despised Palestine was scarcely known,
   have traced the brilliant career of those gigantic empires by which it was
   overshadowed. While amidst a long list of warriors, and poets, and orators,
   and statesmen, who were supposed to have achieved a deathless fame, those
   empires hastened to decay, Isaiah and his brethren the prophets were laying
   the foundations of the universal dominion and glorious reign of Him who

   hath on his vesture, and on his thigh, a name written, King of kings, and
   Lord of lords. (Revelation 19:16.)

   During the season of highest prosperity, when the literature of Greece and
   Rome, which even now exerts a powerful influence on modern Europe, enjoyed
   its most exalted renown, that undisguised heathenism which disowned the
   government and denied the perfections of the Most High God, presented a
   humiliating contrast to those noble and affecting views of the Divine nature
   and attributes and works which prevailed in the land of Jehovah. The
   difference reminds us of one of the plagues of Egypt; for there was spread
   over the nations a moral darkness,

   a darkness which might be felt, but all the children of Israel had light in
   their dwellings. (Exodus 10:21, 23.)

   Rome was proud of having reduced that favored land to the rank of one of her
   provinces, and struck medals to represent Judea sitting under a palm-tree
   bewailing her captivity; but the religion of Judea, instead of being crushed
   and annihilated, assumed the more lovely aspect of the religion of Jesus,
   and went forth conquering and to conquer.

   Many of our Author’s published Commentaries were nothing else than reports
   of his public Lectures. Budaeus [1] has explained the manner in which these
   reports were prepared. The language was extemporaneous, and, had we not
   known his prodigious command of the Latin tongue, we might have wondered at
   the elegance with which he spoke on such occasions; but his slow and
   distinct utterance, as Scaliger assures us, was such as to enable an expert
   writer to take down the very words which Calvin used. Two or three scribes
   were usually employed, and a copy, drawn out by a comparison of their
   manuscripts, was submitted to the perusal of the Lecturer, who, after
   making, any corrections which appeared to be necessary, attested it as a
   faithful record of what had been uttered.

   This Commentary has come down to us in a still more authentic shape. Not
   only does the Author assert, in his Dedication to King Edward, which was
   prefixed to the First Edition, that it had been “faithfully and skillfully
   compiled from his Lectures,” [2] but in his Dedication to Queen Elizabeth,
   prefixed to the Second Edition, he pronounces the revision to have been so
   thorough and laborious, that “it ought justly to be reckoned a new work.”
   [3] It is highly gratifying to find that, in the exposition of a book so
   important and extensive as the prophecies of Isaiah, Calvin gave the fruits
   of his mature judgment, while he was in the full vigor of his age.

   Clement Cotton translated this Commentary into English from the French
   Version, in 1609. His translation, though not altogether suitable to modern
   taste, is faithful, vigorous, idiomatic, and not inelegant. To this volume
   is prefixed his Title-page and “Epistle Dedicatorie,” together with a
   curious “Epigram,” in which a physician of that period expresses his warm
   admiration of the great Reformer.

   In the concluding volume of this Commentary will be given a Literal
   Translation Of Calvin’s Latin Version, and copious Indices similar to those
   which have already appeared in the other Commentaries.

   Auchterarder, 17^th May, 1850.
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   [1] See Commentaries on the Twelve Minor Prophets —p. xxiv.

   [2] [2]See p. xix.

   [3] [3]See p. xvi.
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   TO THE HIGH AND MIGHTY PRINCE,

   HENRIE

   PRINCE OF GREAT BRITAIN,
   SON AND HEIRE APPARANT TO OUR

   Sovereign Lord, James King of Great Britain, etc

   AND TO THE MOST NOBLE AND
   VERTVOVS PRINCESS,

   THE LADY ELIZABETHS

   GRACE, His Highneffe moft deare Sifter; all honour and happineffe, with
   eternall glorie through Chrift Iesvs.

   Most gracious and renowned Princes, hauing translated out of French into our
   English tongue the booke of the prophecy of Isaiah, interpreted and
   expounded by Master John Calvin, of reverend memory: I humbly craue that it
   may be published under your most Princely names and protection. The reason
   of this my humble petition is, that the honour of so noble a work may not be
   imbased by the means of my endevours. This Prophet, by birth, was the son of
   Amos, esteemed by many to have been brother to Azarias King of Judah, and
   Father in law to King Manasses: which being so, this Prophet was by birth of
   the blood Royal, and descended of the house of David, which for the promise
   of Christ to come of him, was the most noble house of all the Kings of the
   earth. Being so borne, his education could not be but Princely, and his
   bringing up in all good learning, wisdom, virtue, and honour. His spiritual
   graces, not attained unto by ordinary means, but inspired into him
   immediately by the Spirit of God, were excellent. This appeareth
   particularly in the sixth Chapter of this Prophet, declaring that an Angel
   of God saith a burning coal taken from the Lords Altar, and laid to the
   mouth of the Prophet, refined his lips and his tongue, that they became pure
   and precious as the finest Gold. The same is manifest in all the book of his
   Prophecy; wherein both the light and the heat of that heavenly fire
   appeareth. For he not only declared the will of God sincerely, according to
   the law and testimony delivered to Moses, but also foreshewed the future
   events of the Kingdom of Judah, and of all the flourishing states and
   Kingdoms of his time.

   He Prophecied also of the birth of Jesus Christ, as if he had been taught by
   the Angel Gabriel; who brought the annunciation and message of it to the
   blessed Virgin his mother. Of his passion and death he spake, as if with the
   Apostle John he had stood by when he was crucified. His resurrection he
   described, as if with all the Apostles he had stood upon Mount Olive, where
   the Lord took the cloud of Gloria as his heavenly Chariot to ascend and goes
   up to his Father. His zeal and indignation against sin is evident every
   where, in his sharp reproofs of the offenses of all estates.

   Finally, the book of his Prophecy beareth written in the head of it the
   names of four Kings, in whose time he prophesied; and before whom as a
   vessel of gold he bare the name of God with great honour. All which things
   being royal, it seemed to me most convenient that his book should still bear
   in the front of it the names of Princes. And as he foreshewed that Kings
   should be Fosterfathers, and Queenes Nurces of the Church of Christ, so my
   desire was that his book might be published under the names and protection
   of Christian Princes.

   Moreover, I was led hereunto by the example of this Interpreter, whose
   exposition upon Isaiahs prophesie I translate; namely, of M. John Calvin, a
   man in his time of excellent piety and learning; and one of the great
   lights, whereby it hath pleased God both to chase away the errors of popery,
   as the darkness of the shadow of death; and to cause his marvelous and
   comfortable light of the Gospel to shine unto this present age. For he
   dedicated his first exposition of this book to the young Prince, King Edward
   the sixth, of famous memory, for the princely graces, for the zealous love
   of true religion, and of al heroical virtues, wherewith in his young years
   he raised an admirable expectation of future glory, if his precious life had
   long continued. He was also most worthily renowned with highest glory, for
   that gracious reformation in religion, which was established by his regal
   authority, and which our English Church at this day with great comfort doth
   enjoy, under the happy government of our Sovereign Lord the King, your most
   noble and renowned Father.

   Furthermore, the same Author setting out again this Commentary, amplified
   and enlarged, he dedicated this second edition to our late most gracious
   Queen Elizabeth, worthy of eternal memory in this Kingdom, for the
   reestablishing (after a few years alteration) of the zealous reformation of
   her most virtuous brother. Which example hath led me in most humble manner
   to seek for the same work, the high patronage and protection of such
   Princes, like those to whom he presented this his service.

   To whom I know none so like as your selves, both in regard of your high
   estate, and also in like most noble descent from the united houses of Yorke
   and Lancaster. Besides which resemblance, your Highness also is of like
   years to the young Prince King Edward, and in the eyes of all the kingdom,
   of like hope of excellent virtue and zealous proceedings in the advancement
   of Christian religion.

   In like manner your Grace resembleth the most gracious late Queen Elizabeth,
   both in her royal name, and also in the constant expectation of all men, to
   express in time all the princely virtues and graces that shined in that most
   renowned Princess, from this Western part of the world, to the furthest
   East, and to the rising of the Sun.

   In which respects, esteeming such a dedication, most like that which my
   author made of his own work, I have most humbly craved that this my
   translation of it might bee vouchsafed the honour to have your Princely
   names written in the beginning of it. For notwithstanding the great
   difference that is between a reverend learned writer and expounded of the
   holy Scriptures, and the translator of such all expositions yet this mean
   service hath also his good use in the Church of God; and is of long and
   tedious labour to such as take pains therein; which being graciously
   accepted, may encourage others to travel in this kind, and cause many to
   give thanks to God for you both, by whose most princely favours and
   protection, they are made partakers of such worthy writings. And I shall
   always pray Almighty God, with this new year, to multiply many more upon
   you, and daily replenish your hearts with all princely and heroical graces,
   that may enable and adorn Princes of so his estates, amongst this people.

   Your Highness, and Graces most humbly devoted, in all loyal and dutiful
   Affection,

   Clement Cotton
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   An Epigram upon the Translation

   of

   M. Calvin’s Commentary

   upon the Prophecy of Isaiah.


   Thrice happy (England) if thou knewest thy bliss,

   Since Christ’s eternal Gospel in thee shined

   Thou art. His beetle-blind that sees not this,

   Brutishly ingrate that with a thankful mind

   Doth not acknowledge Gods great Grace herein,

   And learn thereby for to forsake his sin.


   God’s word hath long in thee been soundly taught,

   The sound thereof hath rung throughout the Land,

   And many a Soul by Fishers net been caught,

   Which erst lay thrall in Satan’s cruel band:

   This favour great by none can be expressed,

   But such as have it felt in their own breast.


   Thy native sons in thine own bowels bred,

   Like faithful Shepherds have done worthily,

   And thee with store of heavenly Manna fed,

   Forcing the Wolves to leave their cruelty,

   To slink aside, and hide themselves in holes,

   In caves and dells, like pur-blind Backs and Moles.


   Tyndall, Frith, Philpot, father Latimer,

   The Gospel preached by word, by life, by death:

   Ivel, Fox, Reynolds, Fulk, and Whitaker

   To second them have spent their vital breath.

   In hot pursuit of that great Romish Bore,

   Who spoiled quite this English vine before.


   I spare to speak of Deerings silver voice,

   Of Greenhams zeal, of Perkins labours sound,

   Of hundreds more of Zion-builders choice,

   The like whereof can scarce elsewhere be found:

   Such ground-work they of Gods truth here have placed

   As never shall by Hels whole force be razt.


   Besides all these, of Sorrel Lights the chief,

   Beza, and Vrinus, many other more,

   Martyr, Musculus, for thy more relief

   Are seen in English weed abroad to go

   From place to place in every Shire and Torwne,

   To teach the Truth and throw all Errors down.


   And here presented is unto thy sight

   The Royal Prophet Esaias Evangel:

   For so me thinks I may it terme aright,

   That Prince of holy Prophets doth so well,

   So likely Christ’s whole history presage,

   As if h’ had lived in that same very Age.


   Whose Oracles great Calvin doth unfold

   In thine own native Tongue for thy Souls health.

   Here maist thou gather precious Stones and Gold,

   And store up heaps of Heavenly lasting wealth;


   Here maist thou find with very little Pain

   Which would’st not lose for thousand Worlds again.

   Here maist thou see the black-mouthed Atheists

   Confounded quite by Demonstration clear;

   The cunning Papist put unto his shifts,

   And made in his right Colours to appear;

   Here’s Christ, his Truth, and Life, thee set before,

   Heavens Gates set open wide: what would’st thou more?

   By Francnis Hering, Doctor in Physic.
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   TO HER SERENE HIGHNESS,

   NOT LESS ILLUSTRIOUS BY HER OWN VIRTUES THAN BY THE SPLENDOR OF ROYALTY,

   ELIZABETH, QUEEN OF ENGLAND ETC.

   Although, in making improvements on this Commentary, I have bestowed so much
   care and industry, most noble Queen, that it ought justly to be reckoned a
   new work, yet, as in the first edition it was dedicated to your brother King
   Edward, who, though a youth, greatly excelled the men of his age, and whom I
   wish to be held in remembrance by posterity, as he deserves, I had intended
   to make no change in that dedication. But since, amidst that wretched and
   lamentable dispersion of the Church and oppression of pure doctrine, which
   raged with prodigious violence for a short period, this book, together with
   the whole doctrine of true godliness, was banished from England for a time,
   but now, I trust, favored by your happy reign, will be restored to its
   former privileges, I thought that there would be no impropriety if to the
   name of a most excellent king I should join your own name, which is regarded
   by all good men with not less esteem and satisfaction. Not only was an
   opportunity offered, but necessity appeared to demand, that I should obtain
   your full protection to this Commentary, the banishment of which, I am
   aware, was beheld by a great number of your godly subjects with deep sorrow.

   Yet it is not so much my object to be favored with your countenance in my
   personal labors, as humbly to entreat, and by the sacred name of Christ to
   implore, not only that, through your kindness, all orthodox books may again
   be welcomed and freely circulated in England, but that your chief care may
   be directed to promote religion, which has fallen into shameful neglect. And
   if this is justly demanded from all kings of the earth by the Only-begotten
   Son of God, by a still more sacred tie does he hold you bound, most noble
   Queen, to perform this duty; for when even you, though a king’s daughters
   were not exempted from that dreadful storm which fell with severity on the
   heads of all the godly, by the wonderful manner in which he brought you out
   safe, though not unmoved by the fear of danger, he has laid you under
   obligation to devote yourself and all your exertions to his service. So far
   are you from having any reason to be ashamed of this deliverance that God
   has given you large and abundant grounds of boasting, by confirming you to
   the image of his Son, on whom the Prophet Isaiah bestows this among other
   commendations, that from prison and judgment (Isaiah 53:8) he was raised to
   the loftiest height of heavenly dominion.

   As it is no ordinary honor to resemble such a model, so whenever you
   recollect, what ought never to be forgotten by you, from what wretched and
   fearful trembling God rescued you, by openly stretching out his hand,
   remember also that it was done for the express purpose that you, on the
   other hand, should, with invincible determination and unshaken firmness of
   mind, acknowledge your obligation to your Protector and Redeemer, and,
   laying aside all other kinds of business, a vast number of which I have no
   doubt, will crowd upon you at the commencement of your reign, labor to have
   his worship, which for a time was basely and disgracefully corrupted in that
   kingdom, restored to its former splendor. And if Satan, by presenting many
   and powerful obstructions, endeavor to produce fear or slothfulness, you are
   well aware from whom you ought to ask boldness to go steadily forward and to
   vanquish all opposition; and God, who bestows his blessing on the actions of
   private individuals, will not fail to grant a happy and desirable issue to
   his work.

   You ought also to be stimulated, venerable Queen, by a sacred regard to
   duty; for the Prophet Isaiah demands not only from Kings that they be
   nursing-fathers, but also from Queens that they be nursing-mothers. (Isaiah
   49:23.) This duty you ought to discharge, not only by removing the filth of
   Popery, and by cherishing the flock which not long ago lay trembling and
   concealed, but by gathering the exiles who chose rather to part with the
   advantages of their native country than to remain in it so long as godliness
   was banished from it. This will be the crowning proof of your gratitude to
   God, and a sacrifice of most delightful savor, that the faithful worshippers
   of God, who, on account of their profession of the Gospel, were constrained
   to wander far and wide through distant countries, shall now, through your
   kindness, be restored to their native country. We, too, in whom that
   mournful spectacle awakened, as it ought to have done, the most poignant
   grief, have abundant cause for rejoicing, and for congratulating you, when,
   through the gracious exercise of your royal will, we see the way opened for
   the return of our brethren, not only to be at liberty to worship God in your
   Majesty’s dominions, but to render assistance to others.

   And now, most noble Queen, if you shall be graciously pleased, as I trust
   you will, not to disdain this testimony of my respect for you, which some
   would perhaps reckon to be trivial and of little value, I shall esteem it to
   be no ordinary kindness, and will endeavor through my whole life to testify
   my gratitude by every means in my power.

   May the Lord guide you, most illustrious Queen, by the Spirit of wisdom,
   uphold you with invincible courage, protect and enrich your Highness with
   every kind of blessings!

   Geneva, 15th January; the day which, it was reported, had been fixed for
   your coronation; on which account I more gladly set myself to write, having
   partially recovered from an attack of quartan ague.
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   TO HIS SERENE HIGHNESS,

   EDWARD SIXTH, KING OF ENGLAND, etc.

   A TRULY CHRISTIAN PRINCE.

   JOHN CALVIN.

   Though I acknowledge that this Commentary has been faithfully and skillfully
   compiled from my Lectures, yet, as it was drawn up by another person, I was
   at first afraid, most illustrious King, that if it should appear in public
   bearing your name on the Dedication, I might be thought not to have acted
   properly towards your Majesty. But this doubt was removed chiefly by one
   consideration, that as a Prophet who was of royal descent, and a most noble
   ambassador of Christ, the supreme King, is highly appropriate to your rank,
   so the labor which I had bestowed on the explanation of his Prophecies would
   be accepted and valued by your Majesty. His experience made him acquainted
   with five kings exceedingly unlike each other in their dispositions, to whom
   in uninterrupted succession he officiated as a teacher; and it is
   unnecessary to inform you which of these you should chiefly select for
   imitation, or to exhort you to that which you show that you are already
   sufficiently willing to do.

   Uzziah and Jotham were favorable to him, though they were not so courageous
   as they ought to have been in maintaining the worship of God. His chief
   contest was with Ahaz, not indeed as an open enemy, but as a cunning
   hypocrite full of fraud and dissimulation. The servants of God cannot have a
   more dangerous class of enemies. His successor, Hezekiah, not only treated
   the holy man with reverence, but modestly submitted to his doctrine like one
   of the common people, and, what is still more, endured patiently severe
   reproof when it was found necessary. Manasseh, who was the last of them, and
   whom a strongly supported Jewish tradition represents as having been his
   son-in-law, subjected him to a frightful kind of torture, and wickedly put
   him to death. But at the very time when he received assistance from those
   who were not bad kings, and even during the reign of Hezekiah himself, who
   was so valiant a supporter of godliness, he never ceased to be harassed by
   sharp and troublesome disputes, and to undergo severe conflicts, so hard and
   uncommon is it for men to assent to sound doctrine; and not only so, but
   they who resolve to discharge the prophetical office honestly and faithfully
   must carry on a continual war with the world. The more earnestly ought godly
   kings to labor to aid the servants of God by their countenance, that they
   may not be distressed beyond measure by the insolence of the ungodly.

   But as this virtue is excellent and truly heroic, so, if you search the
   history of all ages from the beginning of the world, it has been uncommon,
   and there have been very few by whom it was cultivated. Many have indolently
   and carelessly, as if it had been a matter with which they had no concern,
   allowed the truth of God to be crushed without making any resistance. But
   the greater part have been openly hostile, and have opposed it with violence
   and rage; and would that they who at the present day profess to be
   Christians were as earnest in upholding the doctrine of salvation as they
   are haughty in boasting of the name!

   Not to mention others, it may justly be regarded as no ordinary consolation
   amidst the present distresses of the Church, that God has raised you up and
   endowed you with such excellent abilities and dispositions for defending the
   cause of godliness, and that you so diligently render that obedience to God
   in this matter which you know that he accepts and approves. For although the
   affairs of the kingdom are hitherto conducted by your counsellors, and
   although your Majesty’s most illustrious uncle, the Duke of Sommerset, and
   many others, have religion so much at heart, that they labor diligently, as
   they ought to do, in establishing it; yet in your own exceptions you go so
   far beyond them all as to make it very manifest that they receive no small
   excitement from the zeal which they observe in you. Not only are you
   celebrated for possessing a noble disposition, and some seeds of virtues,
   (which at so early an age is usually thought to be remarkable,) but for a
   maturity of those virtues far beyond your years, which would be singularly
   admired, as well as praised, at a very advanced age. Your piety especially
   is so highly applauded, that the Prophet Isaiah, I am fully convinced, will
   have one that will regard him with as much reverence, now that he is dead,
   as Hezekiah did when he was alive.

   As to the advantage which you will derive from the work, it is better that
   you learn that from your own perusal, and I have made some observations on
   that subject in the Preface. There is only one point on which I have
   resolved to say a few words to your Majesty. After having proclaimed God’s
   just complaints against an ungrateful people, and threatened against the
   Jews such punishment as their base apostasy and inveterate rebellion
   deserved, that the time was at hand when they should be brought into a state
   of frightful desolation, the Prophet next speaks of a new and amazing
   restoration of the Church, and promises that henceforth God will secure
   that, in spite of enemies, it shall always be in a happy and flourishing
   condition.

   Such gladness and prosperity was tasted by those who, after their return
   from the captivity in Babylon, having set up their altars for sacrifices,
   could form the expectation of higher blessings than those which they at that
   time enjoyed; just as we, by beholding the dawn, are led to expect that the
   rising of the sun will soon follow. But when, in the brightness of his
   Gospel, Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, arose, all that had been so
   eloquently described by the revelations of the Prophet was far exceeded by
   the event. Within a short time the knowledge of the true God was spread
   almost throughout the whole world. Pure religion, which formerly lay
   despised in Judea, as in a dark corner, was circulated through all nations
   and provinces, and began to be honored in such a manner, that innumerable
   tongues, in harmony of faith, called on God.

   Having collected churches in various places, the Son of God erected his
   royal throne in a conspicuous situation, where it might be beheld from the
   rising to the setting of the sun. The churches, endowed with extraordinary
   gifts of the Spirit, not only obtained prodigious communications of the
   divine goodness, but were themselves striking exhibitions of astonishing
   power, which even the blind could perceive. And although the Son of God
   reigned under the Cross, yet, amidst the arduous conflicts of persecutions,
   his glory shone brighter, and his triumphs were more splendid than if the
   Church had enjoyed undisturbed prosperity. At length, the haughty loftiness
   of the Roman empire, yielding submission to Christ, became a distinguished
   ornament of the house of God.

   But the continuance of this prosperity was prevented by the malice and
   ingratitude of men; and thus the Spouse of Christ, deprived of so costly a
   robe, degraded from so high a rank, and stripped of such gorgeous raiment,
   was afterwards reduced to an unsightly and wretched condition. Some remains,
   indeed, God preserved, as it were in places of concealment; but, as to the
   external beauty of the Church, nothing but desolation, confusion, and
   dispersion, was to be seen for many centuries. And we see how, at this very
   day, the Roman Antichrist, far and wide usurping and tyrannizing over the
   sanctuary of God, tears, crushes, and tramples under his feet all that
   belonged to God. For since the purity of doctrine is there corrupted by
   monstrous errors, since shocking murder has come into the room of lawful
   government, since the sacraments are in part debased by gross corruptions,
   and in part exposed to disgraceful sale, what but melancholy ruin is left of
   the true and natural beauty of the spiritual building?

   Yet in our age, contrary to the expectation of all, the Lord hath again
   begun to raise up that which was fallen, (Amos 9:11,) that there might at
   least be left among us an outline of the true temple, in which God should be
   worshipped with purity, and according to the requirements of the Gospel.
   Some inconsiderable persons, taken from the common people, have been
   selected by him as his architects, to promote this work by pure doctrine. It
   is, indeed, an arduous and extensive work, though Satan should give us no
   annoyance. But now that he employs every expedient for breaking down the
   Church, as soon as any portion of it has been erected, what wonder is it if
   we have great and sorrowful toil, and make small and feeble progress?

   Accordingly, the haughty tyrants scorn us, as if, in our endeavors to
   overthrow the tyranny of the Roman See, we were laboring to overturn
   Olympus. Those clever and ingenious men (as they imagine themselves to be)
   indulge in ridiculing our perseverance, in laboring hard to restore the
   condition of the Church, as if anything fixed or permanent could be
   obtained. They imagine that they have so solid a foundation, and are so well
   defended on all sides, that it would be as difficult to destroy Popery as to
   mingle heaven and earth. But the opinions of those men are somewhat various.
   The refractoriness of the world being too great to admit of being placed
   under any restraint, they hold that we labor in vain when we seek to correct
   vices, and to promote a pure and faithful administration of the Church.

   The witticism of Erasmus is well known. “Whom does Capito expect to be his
   tenth successor?” He could not deny that Wolfgang Capito was a holy man, and
   labored with the purest motives to reform the Church; but being convinced
   that it is idle for the ministers of Christ to struggle to correct the
   wickedness of the world as if they were endeavoring to cause the rivers to
   run in a contrary direction, Erasmus, imitating the custom of lazy
   philosophers, represented all of us, in the person of one man, as chargeable
   with inconsiderate zeal. But on both sides they are greatly mistaken in not
   considering that, when we repair the ruins of the Church, we give our labors
   to the Lord, in obedience to his laws and injunctions, and yet the
   restoration of the Church is his own work. Nor is it without good reason
   that this is taught in every part of Scripture, and that it is so earnestly
   enforced by the Prophet Isaiah. Remembering this doctrine, therefore, and
   relying on the assistance of God, let us not hesitate to undertake a work
   which is far beyond our own strength, and let no obstacle turn aside or
   discourage us, so as to abandon our undertaking.

   And here I expressly call upon you, most excellent King, or rather, God
   himself addresses you by the mouth of his servant Isaiah, charging you to
   proceed, to the utmost of your ability and power, in carrying forward the
   restoration of the Church, which has been so successfully begun in your
   kingdom. First, you daily read and hear that this duty is enjoined on you in
   the kingdom over which you rule. More especially Isaiah, as I have said,
   calls Kings the nursing-fathers of the Church, (Isaiah 49:23,) and does not
   permit them to withhold that assistance which her afflicted condition
   demands. Nor ought your mind to be slightly affected by the consideration,
   that the Prophet pronounces a woe on all kings and nations who refuse to
   give her their support. Next, your Majesty sees plainly what is urgently
   demanded by the times. Though you may not have great success in your labors,
   yet, knowing that this worship is acceptable to God, and is a sacrifice of
   most delightful savor, you ought not to be turned aside from your purpose by
   any event, however calamitous. Seeing, therefore, that God exhorts you to be
   courageous, and at the same time promises success, why should you not
   cheerfully obey him when he calls?

   In another passage Isaiah says, Prepare the way, prepare the way for my
   people. (Isaiah 62:10.) It is well known how hopeless was the return of the
   captives to their native country. Nor did this event take place at that
   time; but the Prophet, beholding by the Spirit what posterity some time
   afterwards would actually enjoy, lest any of the godly should be
   disheartened by so sad a spectacle, meets them beforehand with the assurance
   that there would be no kind of obstructions so powerful and formidable that
   God would not break through them to deliver his Church. Not less do we need
   at this day to be cheered by consolation.

   It is of high importance, most noble King, that you should be stimulated to
   activity by the consideration of the duty enjoined on you; for Isaiah
   exhorts all kings and magistrates, in the person of Cyrus, to stretch forth
   their hand to the Church, when in distress, to restore her to her former
   condition. Yet there is this difference between your condition and that of
   Cyrus, that he who was a stranger to the Lord’s flock never was expressly
   taught freely and willingly to come forward and undertake to be a defender
   of the Church; but to you, to whom the Lord has not only given adoption, but
   has likewise assigned a distinguished place among his sons, the Prophet may
   be said to stretch out his hand and call you to this office. So much the
   more boldly and resolutely ought you, noble King, to proceed in this course.

   The matter is, as I have said, full of great difficulties; and still greater
   are the annoyances by which it is attended, and the dangers in which it is
   involved; for Satan never ceases to employ innumerable expedients, if in any
   way he may succeed in subverting or destroying the holy temple of God; and
   sometimes God intends to make trial of our steadfastness by such attacks.
   But if you lay it down as a settled principle, that there is nothing which
   you and your most excellent Council have hitherto undertaken, or are now
   performing, for restoring the condition of the Church, which is not
   supported by the authority of God, you will unquestionably feel how
   wonderfully he accomplishes all those things which he gives in charge to his
   servants. From this happy result England will derive inestimable advantage;
   and we, too, will congratulate you on your prosperity, and that of your
   whole kingdom. Meanwhile, I shall aid those holy exertions by my prayers, as
   it is my duty to do, since I have nothing better to offer you.

   Farewell, most illustrious King! may the Lord prosper and preserve your
   Majesty for a long period, aid and guide you by his Holy Spirit, and bless
   you in all things! — Amen.

   Geneva, 25th December, 1550.
     _________________________________________________________________

   THE PREFACE TO THE PROPHET ISAIAH

   BY JOHN CALVIN

   It is customary to make a great number of statements and dissertations about
   the office of the Prophets. But, in my opinion, the shortest way of treating
   this subject is to trace the Prophets to the Law, from which they derived
   their doctrine, like streams from a fountain; for they placed it before them
   as their rule, so that they may be justly held and declared to be its
   interpreters, who utter nothing but what is connected with the Law. Now, the
   Law consists chiefly of three parts: first, the doctrine of life; secondly,
   threatenings and promises; thirdly, the covenant of grace, which, being
   founded on Christ, contains within itself all the special promises. As to
   ceremonies, they were religious exercises which strengthened the attachment
   of the people to the worship of God and to godliness, and consequently were
   added to the First Table. The Prophets, therefore, enter more largely into
   the illustration of doctrine, and explain more fully what is briefly stated
   in the Two Tables, and lay down what the Lord chiefly requires from us.
   Next, the threatenings and promises, which Moses had proclaimed in general
   terms, are applied by them to their own time and minutely described. Lastly,
   they express more clearly what Moses says more obscurely about Christ and
   his grace, and bring forward more copious and more abundant proofs of the
   free covenant.

   To make this matter still more clear, we must go a little farther back, to
   the Law itself, which the Lord prescribed as a perpetual rule for the
   Church, to be always in the hands of men, and to be observed by every
   succeeding age. Perceiving that there was danger lest an ignorant and
   undisciplined nation should need something more than the doctrine delivered
   by Moses, and that the nation could scarcely be restrained without the use
   of a tighter rein, God forbids them to consult magicians or soothsayers,
   augurs or diviners; enjoins them to be satisfied with his doctrine alone;
   but at the same time he likewise adds that he will take care that there
   shall never be wanting a Prophet in Israel. He does this purposely, with the
   view of meeting an objection which the people might have brought forward,
   that their condition would be worse than that of the infidels, all of whom
   had their priests of various orders, their soothsayers, augurs, astrologers,
   Chaldeans, and such like, whom they had it in their power to visit and
   consult, but that they would have no one to aid them by his advice in
   intricate and difficult matters. In order, therefore, to deprive them of
   every pretense, and to hinder them from polluting themselves by the
   abominable practices of the Gentiles, God promises that he will raise up
   Prophets, (Deuteronomy 18:15,) by whom he will make known his will, and who
   shall faithfully convey the message which he has entrusted to them; so that
   in future there will be no reason to complain that they are in want of
   anything. There is an exchange (heterōsis) of the plural for the singular
   number, when he uses the word Prophet; for although, as it is expressly
   interpreted by Peter, (Acts 3:22,) that passage relates literally and
   chiefly to Christ, (because he is the head of the Prophets, and all of them
   depend on him for their doctrine, and with one consent point to him,) yet it
   relates also to the rest of the Prophets, and includes them under a
   collective name.

   When he promised to give them Prophets, by whom he would make known his will
   and purpose, the Lord commanded the people to rely on their interpretations
   and doctrine. And yet it was not intended to make any addition to the Law,
   but to interpret it faithfully, and to sanction its authority. Hence also,
   when Malachi exhorts the people to adhere to the purity of faith and to be
   steadfast in the doctrine of religion, he says,

   Remember the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded him in Horeb, for
   all Israel. (Malachi 4:4.) [4]

   He reminds them of the Law of God alone, and enjoins them to be satisfied
   with it. Does Malachi therefore mean that Prophecies should be despised? By
   no means; but as the Prophecies are appendages of the Law, and are all
   briefly summed up in the Law, that exhortation was sufficient; for they who
   understand that summary of doctrine, and its leading points, and carefully
   observe them, assuredly will not neglect the Prophecies. It would be absurd
   to boast of attending to the word, were we to disregard the divine
   interpretations of it; as many persons at the present day impudently boast
   of attending to the word, while they cannot at all endure the godly
   admonitions and reproofs which proceed from the doctrine of the word.

   Thus when the Prophets inculcate moral duties, they bring forward nothing
   new, but only explain those parts of the Law which had been misunderstood.
   For instance, the people thought that they had discharged their duty
   admirably, when they offered sacrifices and performed the outward services
   of religion; for the world measures God by its own standard, and renders to
   him a carnal and counterfeited worship. The Prophets sharply reprove this,
   and show that all ceremonies are of no avail, when sincerity of heart is
   wanting, and that God is worshipped by believing on him, and by actually
   calling on his name. This had indeed been plainly enough declared by the
   Law; but it was necessary that it should be earnestly inculcated and
   frequently brought to their remembrance, and likewise that there should be
   an exposure of that hypocrisy with which men cloak themselves under the
   guise of ceremonies. As to the Second Table, the Prophets drew their
   exhortations from it, for the purpose of showing that men ought to refrain
   from all injustice, violence, and deceit. All that they do, therefore, is
   nothing else than keeping up the people’s obedience to the Law.

   In threatenings and promises, the Prophets have something peculiar; for what
   Moses had stated in general terms they minutely describe. They have likewise
   visions which peculiarly belong to them, by which the Lord revealed future
   events, in order to apply the promises and threatenings to the use of the
   people, and to declare more fully the will of God. Moses threatens, “God
   will pursue thee in battle; thou shalt be harassed by enemies abroad and by
   internal quarrels at home. Thy life shall hang as it were on a thread; thou
   shalt tremble at the rustling of a leaf,” (Leviticus 26:36,) and such like.
   On the other hand, the Prophets say, “God will arm the Assyrians against
   thee, he will call for the Egyptians by a hiss, he will raise up the
   Chaldeans, Israel shall be carried into captivity, the kingdom of Israel
   shall be destroyed, the enemy shall lay waste Jerusalem and burn the
   temple.” Similar observations might be made about the promises. Moses says,
   “If thou keep the commandments, the Lord will bless thee;” and then gives a
   general description of blessings. But the Prophets enter into detail. “This
   is the blessing which the Lord will bestow upon thee.” Again, by Moses the
   Lord promises in this manner, —

   “Though thou be scattered and driven to the utmost parts of the world, yet
   will I bring thee back.” (Deuteronomy 30:4.)

   But by the Prophets he says, “Though I drive thee into Babylon, yet after
   seventy years will I restore thee.” [5]

   As to the free covenant which God established with the Patriarchs in ancient
   times, the Prophets are much more distinct, and contribute more to
   strengthen the people’s attachment to it; for when they wish to comfort the
   godly, they always remind them of that covenant, and represent to them the
   coming of Christ, who was both the foundation of the covenant and the bond
   of the mutual relation between God and the people, and to whom therefore the
   whole extent of the promises must be understood to refer. Whoever
   understands this will easily learn what we ought to seek in the Prophets,
   and what is the purpose of their writings; and this is all that seemed
   necessary to be stated here on that subject.

   Hence we may learn in what manner the doctrine of the word should be
   handled, and that we ought to imitate the Prophets, who conveyed the
   doctrine of the Law in such a manner as to draw from it advices, reproofs,
   threatenings, and consolations, which they applied to the present condition
   of the people. For although we do not daily receive a revelation of what we
   are to utter as a prediction, yet it is of high importance to us to compare
   the behavior of the men of our own age with the behavior of that ancient
   people; and from their histories and examples we ought to make known the
   judgments of God; such as, that what he formerly punished he will also
   punish with equal severity in our own day, for he is always like himself.
   Such wisdom let godly teachers acquire, if they would wish to handle the
   doctrine of the Prophets with any good result.

   So much for the Prophets in general. To come to the Prophet Isaiah, the
   inscription plainly shows who he was, and at what time he uttered those
   prophecies; for it mentions the name of his father, Amoz, who is supposed to
   have been the brother of Azariah, king of Judah. Hence it is evident that
   Isaiah was of royal descent, and on this point all the ancients are agreed;
   and yet neither his birth nor his near relationship to the king, (for the
   Jews assert that he was the father-in-law of Manasseh,) could prevent him
   from being slain through dislike of the word; and no greater regard was paid
   to him than if he had been a person of humble rank, or had belonged to the
   lowest condition of society.

   The time when he prophesied is here pointed out by mentioning the names of
   the kings. Some think that he began to prophesy towards the end of the reign
   of King Uzziah. They found their conjecture on the vision related in the
   sixth chapter, by which, Isaiah tells us, he was confirmed in his office.
   But that conjecture rests on very slight grounds, as will be shown at the
   proper place. From this description it plainly appears that he prophesied
   during the reign of Uzziah; and on that point I cannot entertain any doubt.

   However this may be, it is evident that, at the very least, he prophesied
   more than sixty-four years; for Jotham reigned sixteen years, (2 Kings
   15:33;) Ahaz as many, (2 Kings 16:2;) [6] Hezekiah twenty-nine, (2 Kings
   18:2.) This amounts to sixty-one years. Add the years that he prophesied
   during the reign of Uzziah, and afterwards during the reign of Manasseh, by
   whom he was put to death; and there will be, at least, sixty-four years
   during which Isaiah continued, without interruption, to discharge the office
   of a Prophet. There is indeed a highly probable conjecture, amounting almost
   to certainty, that he prophesied ten years beyond the period which has now
   been stated; but as this does not clearly rest on historical proof, I shall
   not debate the matter any farther.

   All the servants of God ought carefully to observe this, that they may
   consider how patiently they ought to submit to their condition, how hard and
   difficult soever it may be, and ought not to reckon it a disgrace that they
   must endure many and severe trials, while they have before their eyes
   examples of such patience. It is indeed a very severe trial when they
   perceive that by their manifold exertions they are doing no good, and
   imagine that it would be a thousand times better to relinquish their post
   than to labor so long in vain. Such examples, therefore, they ought
   frequently to set before them and call to remembrance; how Isaiah, whose
   labors were numerous and extensive, had little success, and how Jeremiah
   continued for fifty years to cry aloud to the people, though the result was
   that they became more and more rebellious, and how no difficulties could
   turn them aside from their course. We, too, ought to proceed in the
   discharge of our duty, and patiently to endure every kind of annoyances.

   It is proper to observe also the succession of kings, who are here
   enumerated; for amidst so great a diversity, it is impossible that the state
   of public affairs could remain unchanged, as we know that, whenever any
   change takes place in a public station, the greater part of men immediately
   adopt a new manner of life; and from this source many vexations must have
   arisen. The unshaken firmness and unbroken courage with which he persevered
   ought to excite all the servants of God to imitation, that they may never
   bend or turn aside from the right path.

   A question may arise, Was it Isaiah himself, or some other person, that
   wrote this inscription to his Prophecy? Not one of the commentators whose
   writings I have hitherto perused answers this question. For my own part,
   though I cannot fully satisfy my mind, yet I shall tell what I think. The
   Prophets, after having publicly addressed the people, drew up a brief
   abstract of their discourse, and placed it on the gates of the temple, that
   all might see and become more fully acquainted with the prophecy. When it
   had been exposed for a sufficient number of days, it was removed by the
   ministers of the temple, and placed in the Treasury, that it might remain as
   a permanent record. In this way, it is probable, the books of the Prophets
   were compiled; and this may be inferred from the second chapter of the book
   of Habakkuk, if it be properly examined, and likewise from the eighth
   chapter of this Prophecy. (Habakkuk 2:2; Isaiah 8:1.) Those who have
   carefully and judiciously perused the Prophets will agree with me in
   thinking that their discourses have not always been arranged in a regular
   order, but that the roll was made up as occasion served. That these writings
   have come down to us through the agency of the Priests, whose duty it was to
   transmit the prophecies to posterity, (though the Priests were often the
   bitterest enemies of the Prophets,) is a remarkable instance of the
   providence of God.
     _________________________________________________________________

   [4] Original text has:Mal. iv. 3. — fj.

   [5] In this comprehensive view of the writings of Moses, as compared with
   those of the later Prophets, our author does not quote the exact words of
   the sacred writers. More than one phrase shows that he had chiefly in his
   eye the promises and threatenings detailed in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy
   28 — Ed.

   [6] Original text has:2 Kings xvi. 3; — fj.
     _________________________________________________________________

   COMMENTARY ON THE PROPHET ISAIAH

   CHAPTER 1
     _________________________________________________________________

   Isaiah Chapter 1:1-31

   1. The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and
   Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of
   Judah.

   1. Visio Isaiae filii Amoz, quam vidit super Iudam et Ierusalem in diebus
   Usiae, Iotham, Achaz, Ezechiae, regum Iuda.

   2. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken, I have
   nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.

   2. Audite caeli, et ausculta terra; quia sic Dominus loquitur, Filios
   educavi et sustuli, ipsi tamen scelerate egerunt in me, (vel, rebellarunt
   contra me.)

   3. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth
   not know, my people doth not consider.

   3. Cognovit bos possessorem suum, et asinus praesepe dominorum suorum:
   Israel non cognovit, populus meus non intellexit.

   4. Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil-doers,
   children that are corrupters! They have forsaken the Lord, they have
   provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.

   4. O gens scelesta, populus onustus iniquitate, semen malignorum, filii
   degeneres! dereliquerunt Iehovam, spreverunt (vel, provocarunt ad iram)
   sanctum Israelis, alienati sunt retrorsum.

   5. Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more. The
   whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.

   5. Quorsum adhuc vos percuterem? Adjicietis praevaricationem. Totum caput
   languori, et totum cor dolori.

   6. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it;
   but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed,
   neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.

   6. A planta pedis usque ad caput nulla in eo sanitas. Vulnus, tumor, et
   saniosa plaga. Nec sunt emplastro curatae, nec circumligatae, nec oleo
   delinitae.

   7. Your country is desolate, your cities are burnt with fire: your land,
   strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by
   strangers.

   7. Terra vestra in vastitatem: Urbes vestrae igni succensae: terram vestram
   alieni devorant in conspectu vestro, redacta est in solitudinem, juxta
   subversionem exterorum.

   8. And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge
   in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.

   8. Et residua manebit filia Zion, sicut tugurium in vinea, sicut diversorium
   in cucumerario, sicut civitas vastata.

   9. Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should
   have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.

   9. Nisi Dominus exercituum residuas nobis fecisset reliquias vel tantillas,
   quasi Sodoma fuissemus, et similes Gomorrhae.

   10. Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of
   our God, ye people of Gomorrah:

   10. Audite verbum Domini, principes Sodomae: auscultate Legem Dei nostri,
   populus Gomorrhae.

   11. To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the
   Lord: I am full of the burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts;
   and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats.

   11. Quorsum mihi multitudo sacrificiorum vestrorum? dicit Dominus. Plenus
   sum holocaustis arietum, et adipe saginatorum animalium: nec sanguinem boum,
   aut ovium, aut hircorum desidero.

   12. When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand,
   to tread my courts?

   12. Quando venitis ut appareatis coram facie mea, quis hoc e manu vestra
   requisivit? nempe conterere atria mea.

   13. Bring no more oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the
   new-moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is
   iniquity, even the solemn meeting;.

   13. Ne pergatis adducere oblationem vanitatis. Incensum abominatio est mihi.
   Neomeniam, et sabbathum, et solennes indictiones non potero: vana res est,
   nec conventum.

   14. Your new-moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a
   trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them

   14. Neomenias vestras et solennia vestra odio habet anima mea: superfuerunt
   mihi loco oneris, fatigatus sum ferendo.

   15. And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you;
   yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of
   blood.

   15. Cum expanderitis manus vestras, abscondam oculos meos a vobis. Etiamsi
   multiplicaveritis orationem, ego non exaudiam. Manus vestrae sanguine plenae
   sunt.

   16. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before
   mine eyes; cease to do evil;

   16. Lavate, mundemini, auferte malitiam studiorum vestrorum a conspectu
   oculorum meorum, desinite mala facere.

   17. Learn to do well; seek judgment; relieve the oppressed; judge the
   fatherless; plead for the widow.

   17. Discite benefacere: quaerite judicium: restituite (vel, dirigite)
   oppressum: jus dicite pupillo: tuemini viduam.

   18. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: Though your sins
   be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like
   crimson, they shall be as wool.

   18. Venite, agedum, et disceptemus, dixit Dominus: si fuerint peccata vestra
   ut coccinum, quasi nix dealbabuntur: si rubicunda fuerint instar purpurae,
   quasi lana erunt.

   19. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:

   19. Si volueritis, et audieritis, bonum terrae comedetis.

   20. But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the
   mouth of the Lord hath spoken it

   20. Quod si nolueritis, et rebelles fueritis, gladio consummemini: quoniam
   os Domini loquutum est.

   21. How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment;
   righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

   21. Quomodo facta est meretrix civitas fidelis? plena judicio fuit: et
   aequitas pernoctavit (vel, habitavit) in ea; nunc autem homicidae.

   22. Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water:

   22. Argentum tuum versum est in scoriam, et vinum tuum est aqua mixtum.

   23. Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth
   gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither
   doth the cause of the widow come unto them.

   23. Principes tui perversi, et socii furum: unusquisque diligit munus, et
   inhiat mercedibus: causam pupilli non judicant, nec causa viduae pervenit ad
   eos.

   24. Therefore saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts, the mighty One of Israel,
   Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies:

   24. Propterea dicit Dominus, (vel, Dominator,) Iehovah exercituum, fortis
   Israel, Heu! consolationem capiam super hostibus meis, vindicabor de
   inimicis meis.

   25. And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and
   take away all thy tin:

   25. Convertam manum meam super te: purgabo ad liquidum scoriam tuam, et
   auferam omne stannum tuum.

   26. And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at
   the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness,
   The faithful city.

   26. Et restituam judices tuos sicut a principio, et consiliarios tuos ut ab
   initio. Tum dicetur de te, Civitas justitiae, urbs fidelis.

   27 Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with
   righteousness.

   27. Sion in judicio redimetur, et qui reducentur ad eam, in justitia.

   28. And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be
   together, and they that forsake the Lord shall be consumed.

   28. Contritio autem praevaricatorum et sceleratorum simul fiet; et qui a
   Domino defecerunt consumentur.

   29. For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye
   shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen.

   29. Nempe pudifient ab arboribus quas concupivistis, et ignominia
   afficiemini a lucis quos elegistis.

   30. For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath
   no water.

   30. Eritis certe sicut arbor cujus folium marcessit, et sicut lucus non
   habens aquas.

   31. And the strong shall be as tow, and the maker of it as a spark, and they
   shall both burn together, and none shall quench them

   31. Eritque fortis vester (alias, Deus) sicut stuppa; et fictor ejus quasi
   scintilla; et comburentur ambo, nec erit qui extinguat.


   1. The vision of Isaiah The Hebrew word חזון (chazon,) though it is derived
   from חזה, (chazah,) he saw, and literally is a vision, yet commonly
   signifies a prophecy. For when the Scripture makes mention of special
   visions which were exhibited to the prophets in a symbolical manner, when it
   was the will of God that some extraordinary event should receive
   confirmation, in such cases the word Tibet, (מראה,) vision, is employed. Not
   to multiply quotations, in a passage which relates to prophecy in general
   the writer says, that the word of God was precious, because חזון, (chazon,)
   vision, was of rare occurrence. (1 Samuel 3:1.) A little afterwards, the
   word מראה: (mar-ah) is employed to denote the vision by which God revealed
   himself to Samuel. (1 Samuel 3:13.) In distinguishing between two ordinary
   methods of revelation, a vision and a dream, Moses speaks of a vision (מראה)
   as the special method. (Numbers 12:6.) It is evident, however, that the
   seer, הראה, (haroeh,) was the name formerly given to prophets, (1 Samuel
   9:9;) but by way of excellence, because God revealed to them his counsel in
   a familiar manner.

   So far as relates to the present passage, this word unquestionably denotes
   the certainty of the doctrine; as if it had been said that there is nothing
   contained in this book which was not made known to Isaiah by God himself.
   The derivation of the word, therefore, deserves attention; for we learn by
   it that the prophets did not speak of their own accord, or draw from their
   own imaginations, but that they were enlightened by God, who opened their
   eyes to perceive those things which otherwise they would not of themselves
   have been able to comprehend. Thus the inscription of Isaiah recommends to
   us the doctrine of this book, as containing no human reasonings, but the
   oracles of God, in order to convince us that it contains nothing but what
   was revealed by the Spirit of God.

   Concerning Judah Were we to render it to Judah, it would make little
   difference, for the preposition על (al) has both significations, and the
   meaning will still be, that everything contained in this book belongs
   strictly to Judah and Jerusalem. For though many things are scattered
   through it which relate to Babylon, Egypt, Tyre, and other cities and
   countries, yet it was not necessary that those places should be expressly
   enumerated in the title; for nothing more was required than to announce the
   principal subject, and to explain to whom Isaiah was chiefly sent, that is,
   to Jerusalem, and the Jews. Everything else that is contained in his
   prophecies may be said to have been accidental and foreign to the subject.

   And yet it was not inconsistent with his office to make known to other
   nations the calamities which should overtake them; for in like manner Amos
   did not go beyond the limits of his calling, when he did not spare the Jews,
   though he was not sent to them. (Amos 2:4, 5.) A still more familiar
   instance is found in the calling of Peter and Paul, the former of whom was
   appointed to the Jews, and the latter to the Gentiles. (Galatians 2:8.) And
   yet Peter did not rush beyond the limits of his office, by preaching to the
   Gentiles; as, for example, when he went to Cornelius: (Acts 10:17:) nor did
   Paul, when he offered his services to the Jews, to whom he immediately went
   as soon as he entered into any city. (Acts 13:5; 14:1; 17:2, 10; 18:4,19.)
   In the same light ought we to view Isaiah; for while he is careful to
   instruct the Jews, and directs his labors expressly towards that object, he
   does not transgress his proper limits when he likewise takes a passing
   notice of other nations.

   Judah and Jerusalem He takes Judah for the whole nation, and Jerusalem for
   the chief city in the kingdom; for he does not make a distinction between
   Jerusalem and the Jews, but mentions it, by way of eminence, (kat '
   exochēn,) as the metropolis, just as if a prophet of the present day were to
   address the kingdom of France, and Paris, which is the metropolis of the
   nation. And this was of great importance, that the inhabitants of Jerusalem
   might not hold themselves exempted, as if they were free from all blame, or
   placed above the laws on account of their high rank, and thus might send the
   meaner sort of people to be instructed by homely prophets. It is a mistake,
   however, to suppose that Jerusalem is mentioned separately, on account of
   its being situated in the tribe of Benjamin; for the half of that tribes
   which was subject to the posterity of David, is included under the name of
   Judah

   2. Hear, O heavens Isaiah has here imitated Moses, as all the prophets are
   accustomed to do; and there cannot be a doubt that he alludes to that
   illustrious Song of Moses, in which, at the very commencement, he calls
   heaven and earth to witness against the people:

   Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my
   mouth. (Deuteronomy 32:1.)

   This is unquestionably a very severe protestation; for it conveys this
   meaning, that both turn to the elements which are dumb and devoid of
   feeling, because men have now no ears, or are bereft of all their senses.
   The Prophet, therefore, speaks of it as an extraordinary and monstrous
   thing, which ought to strike even the senseless elements with amazement. For
   what could be more shocking than that the Israelites should revolt from God,
   who had bestowed on them so many benefits? Those who think that by heaven
   are meant angels, and by earth men, weaken too much the import of those
   words, and thus destroy all their force and majesty.

   Almost all the commentators consider the clause to end with the words, for
   the Lord hath spoken; as if the Prophet had intimated, that as soon as the
   Lord opens his sacred mouth, all ought to be attentive to hear his voice.
   And certainly this meaning has the appearance of being more full; but the
   context demands that we connect the words in a different manner, so as to
   make the word hear to refer, not in a general manner to any discourse
   whatever, but only to the expostulation which immediately follows. The
   meaning therefore is, Hear the complaint which the Lord brings forward, I
   have nourished and brought up children, etc. For he relates a prodigy, which
   fills him with such horror that he is compelled to summon dead creatures as
   witnesses, contrary to nature.

   That no one may wonder at the circumstance of his addressing dumb and
   lifeless objects, experience very clearly shows that the voice of God is
   heard even by dumb creatures, and that the order of nature is nothing else
   than the obedience which is rendered to him by every part of the world, so
   that everywhere his supreme authority shines forth; for at his bidding the
   elements observe the law laid down to them, and heaven and earth perform
   their duty. The earth yields her fruits; the sea flows not beyond her
   settled boundaries; the sun, moon, and stars perform their Courses; the
   heavens, too, revolve at stated periods; and all with wonderful accuracy,
   though they are destitute of reason and understanding But man, endued with
   reason and understanding, in whose ears and in whose heart the voice of God
   frequently sounds, remains unmoved, like one bereft of his senses, and
   cannot bend the neck to submit to him. Against obstinate and rebellious men
   shall dumb and lifeless creatures bear testimony, so that they will one day
   feel that this protestation was not in vain.

   I have nourished Literally it runs, I have made them great; [7] but as he is
   speaking about children, we cannot obtain a better rendering than I have
   nourished, or, I have brought up; [8] for instead of the verb, to nourish,
   [9] the Latins employ the phrase, to bring up children [10] But he
   afterwards mentions other benefits which he had bestowed on them in rich
   abundance; as if he had said, that he not only had performed the part of a
   kind father, by giving them food and the ordinary means of support, but had
   labored to raise them to an honorable rank. For in every sort of kindness
   towards them he had, as it were, exhausted himself, as he elsewhere
   reproaches them,

   What could have been done to my vineyard that I have not done? (Isaiah 5:4.)

   A similar charge the Lord might indeed have brought against all nations; for
   all of them he feeds, and on all he confers great and multiplied benefits.
   But he had chosen the Israelites in a peculiar manner, had given them a
   preference above others by adopting them into his family, had treated them
   as his most beloved children, had tenderly cherished them in his bosom, and,
   in a word, had bestowed on them every kind of blessings.

   To apply these observations to our own times, we ought to consider whether
   our condition be not equal, or even superior to that which the Jews formerly
   enjoyed. Their adoption into the family of God bound them to maintain the
   purity of his worship. Our obligation is twofold; for not only have we been
   redeemed by the blood of Christ, but he who once redeemed us is pleased to
   favor us with his Gospel, and in this manner prefers us to all those whom he
   still allows to remain blinded by ignorance. If we do not acknowledge these
   things, how much severer punishment shall we deserve? For the more full and
   abundant the grace of God which hath been poured out on us, the higher will
   be the ingratitude of which it shall convict us.

   They have revolted. [11] Jerome translates it, they have despised; [12] but
   it is plain enough, from many passages, that פשע (pashang) means something
   more, namely, revolt. God declares, that by no acts of kindness could they
   be kept in a state of obedience, that they were utterly disaffected and
   estranged, like a son who leaves his father’s house, and thus makes manifest
   that there remains no hope of his improvement. It is indeed a monstrous
   thing that children should not be obedient to their father, and to a Father
   who is so kind, and who gives unceasing attention to his family. Lycurgus
   refused to enact a law against ungrateful persons, because it was
   monstrously unnatural not to acknowledge a benefit received. A child who is
   ungrateful to his father is therefore a double monster; but a child who is
   ungrateful to a kind and generous father is a threefold monster. For he
   employs the word children, not for the purpose of treating them with
   respect, but in order to exhibit that revolt in a more striking manner, and
   in more hateful colors.

   3. The ox knoweth his owner This comparison marks the more strongly the
   criminality of the revolt; for the Lord might have compared his people to
   the Gentiles; but he is still more severe when he compares them to dumb
   beasts, and pronounces them to be more stupid than the beasts are. Though
   beasts are destitute of reason and understanding, still they are capable of
   being taught; to such an extent, at least, as to recognize those who feed
   them. Since, therefore, God had not only fed this people at a stall, but had
   nourished them with all the kindness which is wont to be exercised by a
   father towards his sons, and had not only filled their bellies, but supplied
   them daily with spiritual food; having perceived them to be so exceedingly
   sluggish, he justly considers that they deserve to be taught in the school
   of beasts, and not of men; and therefore he sends them to the oven and asses
   to learn from them what is their duty. Nor ought we to wonder at this; for
   the beasts frequently observe the order of nature more correctly, and
   display greater kindness, than men themselves.

   Not to multiply instances, it will be sufficient to notice that which is
   here mentioned by Isaiah, that the beasts, though they are exceedingly dull
   and stupid, do, notwithstanding, obey their masters and those who have the
   charge of them. But if we choose to attend to other points in which they
   excel men, how many shall we discover? What is the reason why scarcely any
   animal is cruel to its own species, and that it recognizes in another its
   own likeness? What is the reason why all animals commonly bestow so much
   care in rearing their young, while it frequently happens that mothers,
   forgetful of the voice of nature and of humanity, forsake their children?
   What is the reason why they are accustomed to take no more meat and drink
   than what is sufficient for sustaining their life and their strength, while
   men gorge themselves, and utterly ruin their constitutions? In a word, What
   is the reason why they do not, in any respect, transgress the laws which
   nature has prescribed to them?

   The papists, who are accustomed to set aside the true meaning of the
   Scriptures, and to spoil all the mysteries of God by their own fooleries,
   have here contrived an absurd fable; for they have falsely alleged that the
   oxen and asses in the stall worshipped Christ when he was born; by which
   they show themselves to be egregious asses. (And indeed I wish that they
   would imitate the ass which they have invented; for then they should be
   asses worshipping Christ, and not lifting up the heel against his divine
   authority.) For here the Prophet does not speak of miracles, but of the
   order of nature, and declares, that those who overturn that order may be
   regarded as monsters. We must not contrive new miracles for the purpose of
   adding to the authority of Christ; for, by mingling the false with the true,
   there is danger lest both should be disbelieved; nor can there be any doubt
   but that, if such a miracle had been wrought, the Evangelists would have
   committed it to writing.

   Israel doth not know. The name Israel, which he contrasts with those beasts,
   is emphatic. We know how honorable it was for the posterity of Abraham to be
   known by this name, which God had bestowed on the holy patriarch, because he
   had vanquished the angel in wrestling. (Genesis 32:28.) So much the more
   dishonorable was it for bastard and rebellious children to make false
   boasting of that honor. First, there is an implied reproof, not only because
   those who do not at all resemble the holy mall do wrong in assuming his
   name, but because they are ungrateful to God, from whom they had received
   most valuable blessings. Secondly, there is also conveyed an indirect
   comparison; for the higher their rank was in being far exalted above all
   other nations, so much the greater disgrace is flow intended to be expressed
   by separating them from other nations under the honorable designation of
   Israel

   The Greek translators have added the word me [13] ; but I prefer to repeat
   what he had said before, Israel doth not know His Owner, that is, God; nor
   his crib, that is, the Church, in which he had been brought up, and to which
   he ought to be attracted; while those beasts, on the other hand, recognize
   the master by whom they are nourished, and willingly return to the place
   where they have been fed.

   4. Ah sinful nation! [14] Though he held already reproved their crime with
   sufficient severity, yet, for the purpose of exposing it still more, he adds
   an exclamation, by which he expresses still more strongly his abhorrence of
   such base ingratitude and wickedness. Some are of opinion that the particle
   הוי (hoi) denotes grief; Jerome renders it vae (Wo to); but for my part I
   reckon it sufficient to say that it is an exclamation, suggested partly by
   astonishment, and partly by sorrow. For we burst into loud cries, when the
   disgracefulness of the action is such as cannot be expressed in plain terms,
   or when we want words to correspond to the depth of our grief Where we have
   rendered wicked nation, the Greeks have translated hamartōlon that is, a
   sinner; and such is likewise the rendering of the Vulgate. But the Hebrew
   word denotes those who are given up to crime; and the Prophet unquestionably
   charges them with abandoned wickedness.

   A people laden with iniquity The force of the metaphor ought to be observed;
   for not only does he mean that they are sunk in their iniquity, as in a deep
   mire, but he likewise brings a charge against them, that they sin, not
   through mistake or thoughtlessness, as frequently happens with those who are
   easily led astray, but that they follow out their rebellion with a firm
   purpose of mind; as if he had said that they were the slaves of sin, or sold
   to act wickedly.

   When he adds, a seed of evil-doers, he means a wicked seed. Others, with
   greater ingenuity, consider this passage to mean, that they are declared to
   be unworthy of holding a place among the children of Abraham, because they
   are bastards, and not related to him; as they are elsewhere called the seed
   of Canaan, and are reproached with being uncircumcised, (Jeremiah 9:26,) as
   if they had been the descendants of heathens and foreigners. But it is
   customary with the Hebrews to employ the phrase, “children of the good” for
   “good children,” a mode of expression which has been imitated by the Greeks.
   [15]

   Degenerate children. The word משחיתים (mashchithim) literally means
   corrupting, and accordingly translators supply the word themselves, or,
   their pursuits. But I reckon that degenerate is a more appropriate
   rendering; for the Prophet means that they are so depraved as to be
   altogether unlike their parents. The four epithets which are here bestowed
   by him on his nation are far from being honorable, and are widely different
   from the opinion which they had formed about themselves. For this is the
   manner in which we must arouse hypocrites; and the more they flatter
   themselves, and the farther they are from being regulated by the fear of
   God, so much the more ought we to wield against them the thunderbolts of
   words. On such persons a milder form of instruction would produce no effect,
   and an ordinary exhortation would not move them. It is necessary, also, to
   remove that false conviction of their holiness, righteousness, and wisdom,
   which they commonly employ as a disguise, and as the ground of idle
   boasting.

   For they have forsaken the Lord He assigns the reason why he reproves them
   with such sharpness and severity. It is, that they may not complain, as they
   are wont to do, of being treated with excessive harshness and rigour. And
   first he upbraids them with that which is the source of all evils, their
   revolt from God; for, as it is the highest perfection of righteousness to
   cleave to God, agreeably to those words of Moses, Now, Israel, what doth thy
   God require from thee but that thou shouldst cleave to him? [16] so, when we
   have revolted from him, we are utterly ruined. The design of the Prophet is,
   not to convince the Jews that they are guilty of a single crime, but to show
   that they are wholly apostates.

   The following words, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel, whether the
   word be rendered provoke, or despise, the latter of which I prefer, are
   undoubtedly added in order to place their sin in a still stronger light; for
   it was shamefully base to treat with contempt the favor of him who had
   chosen them alone out of all the nations to be adopted into his family. This
   is also the reason why he calls himself the Holy One of Israel; because, by
   admitting them to alliance with him, he had at the same time adorned them
   with his holiness; for wherever this name occurs it is ascribed to him on
   account of the effect. What barbarous pride was there in despising so great
   an honor! If any one choose rather to render the word provoke, the meaning
   will be, that they rejected God, as if they expressly intended to provoke
   his anger; which shows how detestable their apostasy is.

   They are gone away backward The meaning is, that when the Lord laid down to
   them a fixed way and rule of living, they were hurried along by their sinful
   passions; but he confirms the statement which he had just now made, that
   their licentiousness was so unbridled that they utterly revolted from God,
   and deliberately turned aside from that course to which their life ought to
   have been directed.

   5. Why should ye be stricken any more? Some render it, Upon what? or, On
   what part? and interpret the passage as if the Lord had said that he had not
   another scourge left; because so various are the methods by which he has
   attempted to bring them back to the path of duty, that no other way of
   chastising them remains to be tried. But I prefer to render it Why? because
   this corresponds to the Hebrew word, and agrees better with the context. It
   is equivalent to phrases in daily use, To what purpose? For what object?
   [17] He means that the Jews have proceeded to such a pitch of wickedness and
   crimes, that it is impossible to believe that chastisements will do them any
   good; for when desperate men have been hardened, we know that they will
   rather be broken to shreds than submit to correction. He complains of their
   prodigious obstinacy, like a physician who should declare that every remedy
   had been tried, and that his skill was now exhausted.

   At the same time he charges them with extreme malice; for when ungodly men
   are not even humbled by punishments, they have arrived at the very height of
   wickedness; as if the Lord had said, “I see that I should do you no good if
   I were to chastise you;” for although chastisements and afflictions are the
   remedies which God employs for curing our vices, yet, when they are found to
   be of no advantage to us, we are past hope. True, indeed, God does not on
   that account cease to punish us, but, on the contrary, his wrath against us
   is the more enflamed; for such obstinacy God abhors above all things else.
   But he justly says that his labor is lost when he does not succeed in
   bringing us to repentance, and that it is useless to apply remedies to those
   who cannot be cured. Thus he does not fail to double their chastisements and
   afflictions, and to try the very utmost of what can be done, and he is even
   compelled to take this course until he absolutely ruin and destroy them. But
   in all this he does not discharge the office of a physician; but what he
   laments is, that the chastisements which he inflicts will be of no avail to
   his people.

   You will yet grow more faithless It is a confirmation of the former
   statement, and therefore I separate it from the former clause, though there
   are some who put them together. It is as if he had said, “Still you will not
   cease to practice treachery; yea, you will add to your crimes; for I
   perceive that you rush to the commission of iniquity as if you had leagued
   and banded yourselves for that purpose, so that we can no longer hope that
   you will slacken in your course.” The design of God is to exhibit their
   incorrigible disposition, that they may be left without excuse.

   The whole head is sick. Others translate it every head, and suppose that
   those terms denote the princes and nobles of the nation. I rather agree with
   the opinion of those who render it the whole head; for I consider it to be a
   plain comparison taken from the human body, to this effect, that the body is
   so severely afflicted that there is no hope of returning health. He points
   out two principal parts on which the health of the body depends, and thus
   shows the extent of the disease which, he tells us, has infected this
   wretched people to such a degree that they are wasting away; that the
   disease exists not in a single member, or in the extremities of the body,
   but that the heart itself has been wounded, and the head is severely
   afflicted; in short, that the vital parts, as they are called, are so much
   injured and corrupted that it is impossible to heal them.

   But here also commentators differ; for some of them view this state of
   disease as referring to sins, and others to punishments. Those who view it
   as referring to sins interpret it thus: “You are like a rotten and stinking
   body, in which no part is sound or healthy. Crimes of the worst description
   prevail amongst you, by the infection of which every thing is corrupted and
   debased.” But I choose rather to interpret it as referring to punishments;
   for unquestionably God still proceeds with this complaint, that the nation
   is so obstinate as to be incapable of being cured by any chastisements,
   because, though it has been beaten almost to death, or at least has been
   maimed and frightfully torn by repeated blows, still it is not reformed.
   Such too is the import of —

   6. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it
   Here he proceeds with the same comparison, and repeats the same statement;
   for certainly those who explain the former part of the verse, as referring
   to punishments, do not sufficiently consider the remaining part of the
   context. If we shall admit that a nation corrupted by vices is compared to a
   diseased body, what is the meaning of the words which immediately follow,
   that the wounds have not been bound up or mollified with ointment? It is
   plain that the Prophet speaks of afflictions by which the nation had almost
   wasted away, and that he adduces this long-continued weakness as a proof of
   hardened impenitence. He calls it a putrifying sore, from which diseased
   matter is continually flowing, as if some concealed fountain were
   perpetually sending forth an additional supply of venom. By this comparison
   he shows that the wound is incurable, because that supply cannot be stopped.
   All this is prodigiously heightened by affirming that no remedies have been
   applied; for the three metaphors which he joins together — they have not
   been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment — have all
   the same meaning that the nation, without any hope of relief, without
   comfort, without remedy, is reduced to such a state of distress, that in
   such punishments the utmost severity of God is openly displayed.

   7. Your country is desolate Literally, it is desolation; and thus Isaiah
   goes on to speak more fully and plainly of what he had already said
   figuratively about chastisements, that the country has been reduced to a
   frightful state of devastation: for I choose to interpret all those
   statements as relating to past occurrences, because the Prophet does not
   threaten the vengeance of God, but describes those heavy calamities which
   have already happened. He upbraids them with indolence and stupidity in
   remaining unmoved by their afflictions.

   Like the destruction of strangers [18] . This is added for the sake of
   heightening the picture; for the opinion that זרים (zarim) is here put for
   זרם (zerem), an inundation, is farfetched. That word might no doubt be
   applied to enemies, but it is better to take it as literally denoting
   foreigners. The calamity is more grievous when it is brought on by men who
   are unknown, and who have come from a distant country, who lay waste with
   far greater recklessness and cruelty than neighboring tribes. Such men
   destroy cities, burn houses, buildings, and villages, and spread desolation
   all around. In short, they rush forward with barbarous ferocity, bent on
   murders and conflagrations, and are more eager to inflict damage than to
   make gain. But neighbors, when they have subdued a country, can retain
   possession of it by having a garrison, and as soon as a revolt is attempted,
   or an insurrection takes place, can send additional troops; and therefore
   they are not so cruel; nor do they lay waste a country from which they hope
   to derive some advantage. It is therefore no ordinary calamity, but the most
   shocking of all calamities, that is here described.

   Hence we ought to learn that, when God begins to punish us, if we do not
   repent, he does not immediately desist, but multiplies the chastisements,
   and continually follows them up with other afflictions. We ought therefore
   to abstain from such obstinacy, if we do not wish to draw down upon
   ourselves the same punishments, or at least to deserve the same reproach
   which was brought against the Jews, that though they had received sharp
   warnings, and had felt the hand of God, still they could not be corrected or
   reformed.

   Moreover, we ought not to wonder that we are visited with so great an amount
   and variety of afflictions, of which we see no end or limit, for by our
   obstinacy we fight with God and with his stripes. It must therefore happen
   with us as with wincing and unruly horses, which, the more obstinate and
   refractory they are, have the whip and spur applied to them with greater
   severity. In the present day there are many who almost accuse God of
   cruelty, as if he always treated us with harshness, and as if he ought to
   chastise us more gently; but they do not take into account our shocking
   crimes. If those crimes were duly weighed by them, they would assuredly
   acknowledge that, amidst the utmost severity, the forbearance of God is
   wonderful; and that we may not think that in this case the Lord was too
   severe, we must take into consideration the vices which he afterwards
   enumerates.

   Here an objection will be started. Why does Isaiah declare that the nation
   endured such a variety of afflictions, while we have already mentioned that
   he began to prophesy under Uzziah, [19] during whose reign the kingdom of
   Judah was in a prosperous condition? (2 Chronicles 26:5-15.) For although,
   towards the end of his life, the kingdom of Israel met with some disasters,
   still this did not affect the kingdom of Judah. Accordingly, the Jews think
   that these words relate to the reign of Jotham, (2 Kings 15:32,) and not of
   Uzziah. Their opinion appears at first sight to have little weight; and yet,
   when the whole matter is examined, it is not destitute of probability; for
   we know that the prophets did not always attend to chronological arrangement
   in collecting their prophecies; and it is possible that this discourse of
   Isaiah was placed first in order for no other reason but because it contains
   a summary view of that doctrine which is afterwards to be delivered.

   Others think that they can easily get rid of the difficulty by interpreting
   the whole passage as a description of vice, and not of punishments; but what
   is said about the burning of cities and about the desolation of the country
   cannot easily be disposed of in that manner. If it is supposed that the
   Prophet speaks of the future and not the present condition of that kingdom,
   and that in the name of God he foretells approaching calamities, though they
   did not behold them with their eyes, I do not greatly object to that view,
   though it is probable that he treats of events which were known to them. It
   is a real narrative, and not a prediction, though in the next verse I
   acknowledge he announces the approaching result.

   8. And the daughter of Zion shall be left [20] as a cottage in a vineyard He
   alludes to a custom which exists in France, that the vinekeepers rear a
   cottage for themselves when the grapes begin to ripen. His next comparison,
   which is closely allied to the former, is taken from a custom of that nation
   of protecting also gardens of cucumbers [21] by means of men who kept watch
   during the night. He next explains what he intended to convey by both
   comparisons.

   Like a besieged city This may be explained in two ways; either that the
   whole country will be wasted, with the solitary exception of the city, which
   shall be left standing like a cottage, or that the city itself will be
   destroyed. The former interpretation is adopted by the Jews, and they
   understand this passage to relate to the siege of Sennacherib; but I think
   that it has a wider signification, and embraces other calamities which
   followed afterwards. This may indeed refer to the neighboring country, from
   the misery and devastation of which it was impossible but that the city
   should sustain much damage; but I consider the Prophet’s meaning to be, that
   the evils of which he speaks shall reach even to the city itself, until,
   broken and ruined, it shall wear the aspect of a mean cottage

   The daughter of Zion is the name here given to Jerusalem, in accordance with
   what is customary in Scripture to give the designation of daughter to any
   nation, in the same manner as the daughter of Babylon (Isaiah 47:1) and the
   daughter of Tyre (Psalm 45:12) are names given to the Tyrians and
   Babylonians. Zion is the name here employed rather than Jerusalem, on
   account of the dignity of the temple; and this figure of speech, by which a
   part is taken for the whole, is frequently employed.

   9. Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us Here he concludes what he had
   formerly declared concerning God’s chastisements, that the desolation which
   shall take place — or rather which is present, and which they now behold —
   may be compared to the destruction of Sodom, were it not that the Lord
   snatched as it were from the burning a very small remnant. And this verse
   confirms what I formerly said, that the Prophet’s description of the
   calamities which had already taken place is interwoven with those events
   which were immediately at hand, as if he had said, Be not deceived by
   flatteries; you would be in the same condition that Sodom and Gomorrah now
   are, were it not that God, in compassion on you, has preserved a remnant.
   This agrees with the words of Jeremiah,

   It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed. (Lamentations 3:22.)

   Hence we ought to observe two things. First, the Prophet here describes
   utter destruction; and yet, because God had to deal with his Church and his
   beloved people, that judgment is mitigated by special grace, so that out of
   the general ruin of the whole nation God rescues his people, whom he justly
   compares to a very small remnant. But if God punished the crimes of the Jews
   by such dreadful chastisements, let us consider that we may share the same
   fate if we imitate their rebellion: for God had set apart that nation for
   himself, and had distinguished them from the ordinary lot of other men. Why
   then should he spare us if we shall be hardened in our ungodliness and
   treachery? Or rather, what is likely to be the result of that mass and sink
   of crimes in which men throughout the whole world give way to their
   passions? Unquestionably it will be the same with the fate of Sodom and
   Gomorrah, unless his vengeance shall be restrained by a regard to that
   gracious covenant in which he promised that the Church shall be eternal; and
   this threatening, which is truly awful and alarming, is applicable to all
   obstinate and incurable men, whose vices no punishments can destroy or
   weaken.

   Again, we ought to observe that saying of Jeremiah, which I have already
   glanced at, that it must be attributed to the tender mercies of God that we
   are not altogether destroyed. (Lamentations 2:22.) For if We Shall Consider
   the vast amount Of wickedness which prevails among all classes, we shall
   wonder that even a single individual is left, and that all have not been
   removed from the land of the living; and in this way God withdraws his hand,
   (Ezekiel 20:22,) that there may be some Church preserved in the world. This
   is the reason assigned by Paul, who is the best interpreter of this passage,
   when, by quoting it, he represses the haughtiness of the Jews, that they may
   not boast of the mere name, as if it had been enough that they were
   descended from the fathers; for he reminds them that God could act towards
   them as he had formerly done towards the fathers, but that through his
   tender mercies a remnant shall be saved. (Romans 9:27.) And why? That the
   Church may not utterly perish; for it is through the favor which he bears
   towards it that the Lord, though our obstinacy lays him under the necessity
   of trying the severest judgments, still reserves some small seed. (Romans
   9:29.) This statement ought to yield us powerful consolation even in those
   heaviest calamities in which we are apt to think that it is all over with
   the Church; that, though everything should go into confusion, and the world,
   as we say, be turned upside down, we may persevere with unshaken fortitude,
   and may rest assured that God will always be mindful of his Church.

   A very small remnant This clause may be connected either with what goes
   before or with what follows, and accordingly some render it, We would have
   been almost like Sodom. But I prefer connecting it with the former clause,
   so as to deduce that the number which God had reserved out of the
   destruction is small. Some think that: כ (caph) is here used affirmatively,
   so as to express the matter more strongly; and I have no objection to that
   view, though we may take it in its natural and literal signification, as if
   he had said, “and that shall be a small number.” This declaration ought to
   be carefully observed; for if the Church does not spread far and wide, men
   are wont to despise her. Hence it comes that hypocrites are proud of their
   numbers; and weak men, terrified by the pompous display of those numbers,
   stagger. We also learn from it that we ought not to judge by the largeness
   of the number, unless we choose to prefer the chaff to the wheat, because
   the quantity is greater; but we ought to be satisfied with knowing that,
   though the number of the godly be small, still God acknowledges them as his
   chosen people; and we ought also to call to remembrance that consolatory
   saying,

   Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure
   to give you the kingdom. (Luke 12:32.)

   10. Hear the word of the Lord He confirms what he had formerly said, that
   the Lord’s vengeance is not cruel; because they deserved far more severe
   punishment. For although there was a difference between them and the
   inhabitants of Sodom as to punishment, yet their guilt was the same; so that
   equal punishment might have been inflicted, if the Lord had not spared them.
   It amounts to this, that, if they have received milder treatment, it is not
   because they have sinned less heinously than the inhabitants of Sodom, but
   it must be ascribed to the mercy of God.

   When he gives to the rulers the name of Sodom, and distinguishes the people
   by the name of Gomorrah, this does not point out that there is a difference,
   but rather that their condition is alike. But by repeating the same thing
   twice, the diversity of the names lends additional elegance; as if he had
   said, that there is no greater difference between the rulers and the people
   than there is between Sodom and Gomorrah. There is, no doubt, an allusion to
   the various ranks of men, by assigning to them, separately, as it were, two
   cities; but as Sodom and Gomorrah mean the same thing, we perceive that he
   throws them, as it were, into one bundle. In short, the meaning is, “If any
   one shall form an opinion about the people and the rulers, he will find that
   there is as close a resemblance between them as between Sodom and Gomorrah,
   or between one egg and another; for no one part is more sound than any other
   part.”

   The Prophet begins with stripping the Jews of their disguises, and justly;
   for while all hypocrites are accustomed to employ strange coverings for
   concealing themselves from view, that nation was particularly addicted to
   this vice, and on no subject did the prophets contend with them more keenly
   or fiercely. Along with their vaunting about pretended holiness pride also
   reigned, and they boasted of the grandeur and excellency of their nation as
   much as of ceremonies and outward worship. So much the more were they
   offended at the great harshness with which Isaiah addressed them. But it was
   necessary to drag their wickedness from their lurking places, and therefore
   the more haughty their demeanour, the greater is the vehemence with which
   the Prophet thunders against them. In the same manner ought we to deal with
   all hypocrites.

   The word of the Lord The Prophet takes the word and the law for the same
   thing; and yet I fully believe that he purposely employed the term law, in
   order to glance at their absurd opinion; because, by imagining that the
   offering of sacrifices, unaccompanied by faith and repentance, can appease
   God, they put an absurd interpretation on the law. By these words he
   reminded them that, by quoting Moses to them, he introduces nothing new and
   makes no addition to the law; that it is only necessary for them to hear
   what the will of God is; and that on this subject he will faithfully
   instruct them. Lest they should suppose that, by an unfounded belief of
   their own righteousness, they can deceive God, he likewise reminds them that
   the law gives no countenance to them in this matter.

   11. To what purpose is he multitude of your sacrifices to me? Isaiah now
   introduces God as speaking, for the purpose of making known his own meaning;
   for it belongs to a lawgiver not only to issue commands, but likewise to
   give a sound interpretation to the laws, that they may not be abused. Beyond
   all doubt, the former reproof was exceedingly unpalatable and oppressive to
   them; for what language expressive of stronger disapprobation or abhorrence
   could have been employed? They gloried in the name of Abraham, boasted that
   they were his children, and on this ground maintained a haughty demeanor.
   This is the reason why the Prophet arms himself with the authority of God
   against them; as if he had said, “Know that it is not with me but with God
   that you have to do.”

   Next he explains the intention and design of God in demanding sacrifices;
   that he does so, not because he sets a high value on them, but in order that
   they may be aids to piety; and, consequently, that the Jews were greatly
   mistaken who made all their holiness to consist of those services. For they
   thought that they had performed their duty admirably well when they offered
   sacrifices of slain beasts; and when the prophets demanded something beyond
   this, they complained that they were treated harshly. Now the Lord says that
   he rejects and abhors them, which may appear to be excessive severity, for
   it was by him that they were appointed. But it ought to be observed that
   some of the commandments of God ought to be obeyed on their own account,
   while others of them have a remoter object. For instance, the law enjoins us
   to serve and worship God, and next enjoins us to do good to our neighbors.
   (Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18.) These things are in themselves
   acceptable to God, and are demanded on their own account. The case is
   different with ceremonies; for they are performances which are not demanded
   on their own account, but for a different reason. The same thing may be said
   of fasting;

   For the kingdom of God does not consist in meat and drink; (Romans 14:17;)

   and therefore fasting is directed to another object.

   It follows, therefore, that ceremonies were not appointed in such a manner
   as if they were a satisfaction by which he should be appeased, but in order
   that by means of them the nation might be trained to godliness, and might
   make greater and greater progress in faith and in the pure worship of God.
   But hypocrites observe them with the most scrupulous care, as if the whole
   of religion turned on this point, and think that they are the most devout of
   all men, when they have long and anxiously wearied themselves in observing
   them. And that they may be thought more devout, they likewise add something
   of their own, and daily contrive new inventions, and most wickedly abuse the
   holy ordinances of God, by not keeping in view their true object. All their
   ceremonies, therefore, are nothing else than corruptions of the worship of
   God. For when their whole attention is given to the outward and naked
   performance, in what respect do their sacrifices differ from the sacrifices
   of the Gentiles, which, we know, were full of sacrilege, because they had no
   regard to a lawful end?

   This is the reason why the Lord rejects those ceremonies, though they had
   been appointed by his authority, because the nation did not consider the
   object and purpose for which they were enjoined. The unceasing contest
   between the prophets and the nation was to tear off these masks, and to show
   that the Lord is not satisfied with merely outward worship, and cannot be
   appeased by ceremonies. In all places godly ministers have experience of the
   same kind of conflicts; for men always form their estimate of God from
   themselves, and think that he is satisfied with outward display, but cannot
   without the greatest difficulty be brought to offer to him the integrity of
   their heart.

   All the perplexity of this passage will be easily removed by Jeremiah, who
   says,

   When I redeemed your fathers out of Egypt, I did not order them to offer
   sacrifices to me; I only enjoined them to hear me and to keep my
   commandments. (Jeremiah 7:22.)

   For he shows that the observance of ceremonies depends wholly on the word,
   and that it is as idle and unprofitable to separate there from the word as
   it would be for the soul to be parted from the body. To this also belongs
   the argument in Psalm 50:13, 14, —

   Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? Offer to God
   thanksgiving, and pay thy vows to the Most High.

   And in another passage the same Jeremiah says,

   “Trust not in words of falsehood, saying, The temple of the LORD, the temple
   of the LORD, the temple of the LORD are we.
   But rather excel in doing good, etc.” (Jeremiah 7:4.)

   The Prophet Micah likewise says, “Doth the LORD take pleasure in thousands
   of rams, or in ten thousand rivers of oil?” Immediately afterwards he adds,

   “I will show thee, O man, what is good, and what the LORD requireth from
   thee, namely, to do justly, to love mercy,
   and to walk humbly with thy God.” (Micah 6:7, 8.)

   From these passages it is evident that the reason why ceremonies are
   condemned is, that they are separated from the word as from their soul.
   Hence we see how great is the blindness of men, who cannot be convinced that
   all the pains they take to worship God are of no advantage unless they flow
   from integrity of heart. Nor is this vice confined to the common people, but
   is found in almost all men; and in those who in their opinion excel all
   others. Hence springs the notion of the efficacy which belongs to the mere
   performance of the outward act — or, as they call it, the opus operatum —
   which Popish doctors have contrived, and which at the present day keeps a
   firm hold of the minds of many. Now here it is not man but God himself who
   speaks, and who pronounces, by an unchangeable decree, that all that men do
   is in vain offered for his acceptance, is empty and unprofitable, unless
   they call upon him with true faith.

   12. Who hath required this at your hand? What an admirable confutation of
   false worship, when God declares that they will not come before him
   according to the appointed manner, and makes a general declaration, that in
   vain do they offer to him anything which he does not require; for he does
   not choose to be worshipped in any other way than that which has been
   enjoined! For how comes it that men are so highly delighted with those
   inventions, but because they do not consider that all their services are
   neither profitable to themselves nor acceptable to God? Otherwise they would
   immediately recollect that obedience is all that remains for them to do; (1
   Samuel 15:22;) and they would not so insolently vaunt of their exertions,
   which the Lord looks upon with scorn, not only because he derives no
   advantage from it, but because he does not wish that men should attribute to
   him what they have rashly undertaken without his authority, or suffer the
   caprice of men to pass for a law: Yet in order to express still stronger
   contempt, he immediately adds, that they improperly give the name of
   obedience to that which he considers to be labor thrown away; namely, that
   their close attendance at the temple amounts to nothing more than treading
   its pavements; as if, in reference to their hypocritical prayers, he had
   said, “Truly they lay me under deep obligations by stunning my ears.”

   13. Bring no more vain oblations This is a useful admonition for restraining
   the irregular desires of those who do not cease to follow inveterately
   unmeaning and hypocritical worship, that, warned by God, they may at length
   repent, if they would listen to any advice. But hence we learn how hard it
   is to shake the false confidence of hypocrites, when they have once been
   hardened, since they cannot even endure to hear God plainly warning them not
   to go on in losing their pains, and in the practice of such madness.

   Incense is an abomination to one To press them more closely, he proceeds
   farther, and declares that such worship is not only unprofitable, but even
   that he detests and abhors it; and justly, because the profanation of the
   worship of God, in which his name is falsely employed, is not free from
   sacrilege. For as nothing is more dear to God than his own glory, so there
   is nothing which he more strongly detests than to have it infringed by any
   kind of corruptions: and this is done, when any sort of unmeaning service is
   put in the room of true worship. The meaning of this passage has been
   mistaken by some, who have thought that the Prophet speaks of the repeal of
   the law; for that is not his object, but he recalls the people of his time
   to the right manner of observing ceremonies, and shows with what design and
   for what purpose they were instituted. For since the beginning of the world
   the worship of God was spiritual, and the diversity of our worship from that
   which prevailed under the Old Testament had a reference to men, but not to
   God. In God there is no change, (James 1:17,) but he accommodates himself to
   the weakness of men. That kind of government therefore was suitable to the
   Jews, just as a preparatory training [22] is needed for children. For what
   purpose they were instituted, and what is the right manner of observing
   ceremonies, he now describes.

   14. Your new-moons The Prophet adds nothing new to his former doctrine; but
   with respect to all ceremonies, in which there is no spiritual truth, but
   only the glare of a false pretense, he declares generally that they are not
   merely useless but wicked. Hence we ought to observe that we labor to no
   purpose, if we do not worship God in the right manner, and as God himself
   enjoins. In all things God delights in truth, but especially in the worship
   due to his majesty. Besides, not only do we lose our labor, but the worship
   of God (as we have already said) is perverted; and nothing can be more
   wicked than this. Now all superstitions are so many corruptions of the
   worship of God; it follows, therefore, that they are wicked and unlawful.

   Superstition may be viewed, either in itself, or in the disposition of the
   mind. In itself when men have the audacity to contrive what God has not
   commanded. Such are those actions which spring from will-worship,
   (ethelothrēskeia, Colossians 2:23,) Which is commonly called devotion. One
   man shall set up an idol, another shall build a chapels another shall
   appoint annual festivals, and innumerable things of the same nature. When
   men venture to take such liberties as to invent new modes of worship, that
   is superstition. In the disposition of the mind, when men imitate those
   services which are lawful and of which God approves, but keep their whole
   attention fixed on the outward form, and do not attend to their object or
   truth. In this manner the Jews earnestly adhered to the ceremonies which
   Moses had enjoined, but left out what was of the greatest importance; for
   they paid no regard to a pure conscience, never mentioned faith and
   repentance, had no knowledge of their guilt, and — what was still worse —
   separated Christ from them, and left no room for the truth. This plainly
   shows, as I have already stated, that it was a spurious and deceitful mask;
   so that their sacrifices did not at all differ from the sacrifices of the
   Gentiles. It is therefore not wonderful that the Lord calls them abomination

   I shall not stay to notice the phrases here used, which are various; and yet
   they ought not to be lightly passed over. For the Lord perceives how great
   is the wantonness of men in contriving modes of worship; and therefore he
   heaps up a variety of expressions, that he may more powerfully restrain that
   wantonness, and again declares that those actions are hateful to him.
   Moreover, because men flatter themselves, and foolishly entertain the belief
   that the Lord will hold in some estimation the idle contrivances which they
   have framed, he declares, on the contrary, that he regards them with
   detestation and abhorrence.

   15. When ye spread forth your hands The ancient custom of spreading forth
   the hands in prayer did not arise from superstition; nor did that practice,
   like many others, obtain currency through foolish and idle ambition; but
   because nature herself prompts men to declare, even by outward signs, that
   they betake themselves to God. Accordingly, since they cannot fly to him,
   they raise themselves by this sign. No injunction, certainly, respecting
   this sign, was given to the fathers; but they used it as men divinely
   inspired; and by this very sign all idolaters are convicted of gross
   blindness; for, while they declare by an outward attitude that they betake
   themselves to God, in reality they betake themselves to idols. In order to
   convict them more strongly, the Lord permitted the uninterrupted use of this
   custom to continue among them. The Prophet, therefore, does not condemn the
   spreading forth of the hands, but their hypocrisy; because they assumed the
   appearance of men who called on God, while in their heart they were wholly
   averse to him, as he elsewhere declares more fully that

   “this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honors
   me, but have removed their heart far from me”
   (Isaiah 29:13.)

   The Lord saith that he is nigh, but it is
   to those who call upon him in truth. (Psalm 145:18.)

   Where hypocrisy is, there can be no true calling on God. And yet this
   passage does not contradict what is said elsewhere, “When they shall spread
   forth their hands, I will hear.” [23] For in that passage the Lord speaks of
   that calling which proceeds from confidence in him. Faith is the mother of
   calling on God; and if that be absent, nothing is left but empty mockery.

   Yea, when ye make many prayers He amplifies the former statement by
   threatening that he will be deaf to their cries, to whatever extent they may
   multiply prayers; as if he had said, “Though you be constant in prayer, that
   diligence will be of no avail to you.” For this also is a fault which
   belongs to hypocrites, that the more their prayers abound in words, they
   think that they are more holy, and will more easily obtain what they wish.
   Thus their idle talkativeness is indirectly rebuked.

   Your hands are full of blood Here he begins to explain more fully the reason
   why he disapproves, and even disdainfully rejects, both their prayers and
   their sacrifices. It is because they are cruel and bloody, and stained with
   crimes of every sort, though they come into his presence with hypocritical
   display. Though he will afterwards add other kinds of crime, yet as he had
   mentioned the spreading forth of the hands, so he speaks of the hands, and
   says that in them they carry and hold out a testimony of their crimes, so
   that they need not wonder that he thrusts them back so harshly. For, on the
   other hand, the phrase, to lift up clean hands, was employed not only by
   prophets and apostles, (1 Timothy 2:8,) but even by profane authors, who
   were driven by mere instinct to reprove the stupidity of men; if it were not
   that God perhaps forced them to make this confession, in order that true
   religion might never be without some kind of attestation.

   And yet the Prophet does not mean that they were robbers or murderers, but
   reproves the tricks and deceit by which they obtained possession of the
   property of others. God judges in a different manner from men; for the
   hidden tricks and wicked arts, by which wicked men are accustomed to deceive
   and take advantage of the more simple, are not taken into account by men; or
   if they are taken into account, they are at least extenuated, and are not
   estimated according to their just weight. But God, dragging forth to light
   those very men of dazzling reputation, who under specious pretenses had been
   in the habit of concealing their unjust practices, plainly declares that
   they are murderers. For in whatever way you kill a man, whether you cut his
   throat or take away his food and the necessaries of life, you are a
   murderer. Consequently, God does not speak of men who are openly wicked, or
   whose crimes have made them openly infamous, but of those who wished to be
   thought good men, and who kept up some kind of reputation.

   This circumstance ought to be carefully observed; for on the same grounds
   must we now deal with wicked men, who oppress the poor and feeble by fraud
   and violence, or some kind of injustice, and yet cloak their wickedness by
   plausible disguise. But with whatever impudence they may exclaim that they
   do not resemble thieves or assassins we must reprove them with the same
   severity which the Prophet employed towards persons of the same stamp; for
   when we speak in the name of God, we must not judge according to the views
   and opinions of men, but must boldly declare the judgment which the Lord
   hath pronounced.

   16. Wash you, make you clean He exhorts the Jews to repentance, and points
   out the true way of it, provided that they wish to have their obedience
   approved by God. Hence we conclude that nothing can please God, unless it
   proceed from a pure conscience; for God does not, like men, judge of our
   works according to their outward appearance. It frequently happens that some
   particular action, though performed by a very wicked man, obtains applause
   among men; but in the Sight of God, who beholds the heart, a depraved
   conscience pollutes every virtue. And this is what is taught by Haggai,
   holding out an illustration drawn from the ancient ceremonies, that
   everything which an unclean person has touched is polluted; from which he
   concludes that nothing clean proceeds from the wicked. Our Prophet has
   already declared, that in vain do they offer sacrifices to God, in vain do
   they pray, in vain do they call on his name, if integrity of heart do not
   sanctify the outward worship. For this reason, in order that the Jews may no
   longer labor to no purpose, he demands that cleanness; and he begins with a
   general reformation, lest, after having discharged one part of their duty,
   they should imagine that this would be a veil to conceal them from the eyes
   of God.

   Such is the manner in which we ought always to deal with men who are
   estranged from God. We must not confine our attention to one or a few sores
   of a diseased body but if we aim at a true and thorough cure, we must call
   on them to begin anew, and must thoroughly remove the contagion, that they
   who were formerly hateful and abominable in the sight of God may begin to
   please God. By the metaphor washing, he unquestionably exhorts to remove
   inward pollution, but shortly afterwards he will also add the fruits of
   actions.

   When he bids them wash, he does not mean that men repent by their own
   exercise of free-will; but he shows that there is no other remedy but this,
   that they shall appear pure in the sight of God. Now, we know that the
   sacred writers attribute to men what is wrought in them by the Spirit of
   God, whom Ezekiel calls clean water, because to him belongs the work of
   repentance. (Ezekiel 36:25.)

   Put away the evil of your doings The Prophet now comes to describe the
   fruits of repentance; for not only does he explain without a metaphor what
   it is to wash and to be cleansed, but he enjoins them to exhibit in their
   whole life, and in every action, the evidence of their being renewed. Yet he
   confirms the former statement, that the pollution of the people is before
   the eyes of God, that it stains and debases all their actions, and thus
   makes it impossible that they shall be pleasing in his sight. And he
   particularly mentions the eyes of God, lest, when they employed a veil to
   hinder themselves from seeing, they should vainly imagine that God shared
   with them in their blindness.

   Cease to do evil He still proceeds to reprove their manner of life. This
   passage is commonly interpreted as if by doing ill the Prophet meant loving
   ill; but it ought strictly to be understood as denoting those crimes by
   which a neighbor is injured; so that in the exhortation, Learn to do well,
   which occurs in the next verse, the expression to your neighbor ought to be
   supplied; for he speaks of the injuries and kind offices which Eve perform
   to our neighbors. Now since repentance has its seal in the heart of man, he
   describes it by those outward appearances by means of which it is, in some
   measure, brought before the eyes of men. There is no man who does not wish
   to be reckoned a good man; but the true character of every man is manifested
   by his actions. He therefore calls them to the performance of those outward
   actions by which they may give evidence of their repentance.

   He comprehends under two heads the fruits of repentance, ceasing to do evil,
   and doing well. First, we must cease to commit every act of injustice; for
   we must not imitate those spendthrifts who wish to be thought bountiful, and
   fraudulently take from one person what they bestow on another. Again, we
   must not resemble those idle people who think that they have done enough, if
   they have kept themselves from doing harm, and from invading the property of
   their neighbors, but are not careful to perform acts of kindness. He
   intended, therefore, to include both; for under those two heads the keeping
   of the second table of the law is comprehended.

   17. Learn to do well As he had just now, ill enjoining them to cease to do
   evil, charged them with the continual practice of iniquity as if he had said
   that their whole life was a constant habit of sinning; so now he enjoins
   them to become skilled in acts of kindness, and in entreating them to learn
   this, he addresses them as scholars who had not yet learned their earliest
   lessons. And first he bids them seek judgment. Others render it, inquire
   respecting judgment, of which I do not approve; for by the word seek the
   Prophet meant more than this, he meant what we call the actual practice of
   it. By the word judgment he denotes what is good and right; as if he had
   said, “Aim at uprightness.”

   Relieve the oppressed The Prophet, after his wonted manner, adds to the
   general description the mention of particular classes; and although he has
   already given a special exhortation to kindness and justice, yet wishing to
   press them more closely, he enters into a more careful enumeration of
   certain classes, so as to present a more complete view of the subject. For
   otherwise men always wish to be reckoned good and righteous, and can
   scarcely be moved by general instruction; but when we come to particular
   cases, they are forced, as it were, to deal with the matter in hand, and are
   compelled to yield, or at least become more tractable, of which we have
   daily experience.

   Judge the fatherless, plead for the widow The Prophet here selects two
   classes, by means of which the wickedness of men is more fully exposed; for
   it seldom happens that the causes of the fatherless and widows are defended,
   because men do not expect from them any rewards. To such an extent are they
   exposed to every kind of injustice, that no man comes forward in defense of
   them, because there is no man who follows justice on its own account; and
   not only so, but there is a very great number of persons who are ready to
   plunder the poor and needy. This proves that there is no one who cares about
   exercising judgment; for we need not at all wonder that men of wealth and
   influence have friends to assist them, who are excited and allured by the
   expectation of reward. But the Lord declares that he takes charge of the
   fatherless and widows, and will avenge them if they shall sustain any
   injury.

   “Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child. If thou afflict then
   in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry: and
   my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives
   shall be widows, and your children fatherless.” (Exodus 22:22-24.)

   The same declaration is now extended to all others, who are oppressed and
   groan under the violence and lawless passions of men of rank and influence.

   This ought to yield the highest consolation to all the children of God, who
   are enjoined to possess their souls in patience. (Luke 21:19.) Whatever may
   be the haughty boasting of enemies, this will not prevent the people of God
   from glorying amidst their tribulations, while such considerations as these
   shall have an abiding place in their minds: “The Lord will be our avenger.
   Though men disregard us, he takes care of us. He will aid the destitute, and
   will defend their cause.”

   18. Come now, and let us reason together [24] The Hebrew word נא (na) is
   commonly translated I pray, or therefore; but I think that it denotes the
   confidence of a good cause, and thus is an exhortation, Come. For the Lord
   declares that the Jews will have nothing, to reply, and that, even though
   they obtain an opportunity of clearing themselves, they will still be
   speechless. And certainly this is the way in which hypocrites ought to be
   treated; for they boldly enter into disputes with God, and there is no end
   of their reasonings. Accordingly, he tells them that, if they choose to
   debate, he will be equally prepared on the other side.

   The question will perhaps be put, Why does the Prophet speak chiefly about
   the second table of the law, and not rather about the worship of God? For we
   know that there were good reasons why God assigned the foremost place to the
   first table, when he divided the law; and there can be no doubt that, as it
   comes first in order, so it is likewise of greater importance. I reply, when
   the Prophets reprove the hypocrisy of men, they employ various modes of
   address. Sometimes they complain that the Sabbath has been profaned;
   sometimes they say that men do not call on God; but for the most part they
   censure idolatry, and raise their voice against superstitions. But here
   Isaiah complains that their duties towards their neighbors have not been
   performed.

   Still in all these cases the object is the same, to show that our actions
   are of no value in the sight of God, when they do not proceed from a good
   conscience, and when we are destitute of the fear of God. This fear they
   sometimes denote by “calling on the name of God,” sometimes by “keeping the
   Sabbath,” and sometimes by other actions; but as the distinction between
   true worship and hypocrisy is most clearly and manifestly pointed out by
   means of the duties of brotherly kindness, there are good reasons why the
   mention of those duties is brought forward by Isaiah. For hypocrites are
   careful to perform outward worship and ceremonies; but inwardly they are
   full of envy, they swell with pride and contempt of the brethren, they burn
   with covetousness and ambition; and while they conceal themselves under
   those masks, they cannot easily be detected. They must, therefore, be tried
   by this rule, as by a touchstone, and thus it must be ascertained whether or
   not they fear God.

   We might, indeed, be deceived, were it from the second table only that we
   formed our judgment about the godliness of a man; but if any one discharge
   the duties of the first table, which are evidences of godliness and of the
   worship of God, he must then be brought to this standard, Does he act
   inoffensively towards other men? Does he abstain from every act of
   injustice? Does he speak truth? Does he live in the exercise of kindness to
   his brethren? This is the reason why Christ pronounces

   mercy, judgment, and faith, to be the weighty matters of the law, (Matthew
   23:23,)

   and censures the Pharisees because, in their eagerness about tithes and
   offerings, they attended only to smaller matters, and neglected true
   righteousness. By faith he means fidelity, or what we commonly call loyalty.
   [25] By judgment he means every kind of uprightness, when we render to every
   man what belongs to him, and do not allow others to be injured, but assist
   them, as far as lies in our power.

   But if these are the weighty matters of the law, in what order ought we to
   place the commandments of the second table? I answer, they retain their due
   importance and order; but by means of those duties which Christ so rigidly
   demands, and on which he dwells so largely, hypocrisy is more fully
   detected, and we are better enabled to judge whether a man sincerely fears
   God or not. In the same sense ought we to understand that passage, I will
   have mercy and not sacrifice; (Hosea 6:6; Matthew 9:13;) for mercy is an
   evidence and proof of true godliness. Again, it is pleasing to God, because
   it is a true demonstration of the love which we owe to our fellow-men; but
   sacrifices are pleasing to him for a different reason. It is now, I think,
   sufficiently plain why the Prophet Isaiah mentions kindness rather than
   faith or calling upon God; and why the prophets employ such variety in their
   modes of address, when they endeavor to bring back hypocrites to the true
   worship of God, and when they bid them show it by its fruits.

   Though your sins be as scarlet It is as if he had said, that he does not
   accuse innocent persons, and has no wish to enter into controversy; so that
   the charges which he makes against them are not brought forward or
   maintained without strong necessity. For hypocrites are wont to find fault
   with God, as if he were too severe, and could not be at all appeased. They
   go still farther, and discover this excuse for their obstinacy, that it is
   in vain for them to attempt to return to a state of favor with God. If every
   other expedient fail, still they fly to this, that it is not proper to make
   such rigid demands on them, and that even the very best of men have
   something that needs to be forgiven. The Prophet anticipates the objection,
   by introducing the Lord speaking ill this manner — “For my part, if it be
   necessary, I do not refuse to dispute with you; for the result will be to
   show that it is your own obstinacy which prevents a reconciliation from
   taking place between us. Only bring cleanness of heart, and all controversy
   between us will be at an end. I would no longer contend with you, if you
   would bring me an upright heart.”

   Hence we obtain a declaration in the highest degree consolatory, that God
   does not contend with us as if he wished to pursue our offenses to the
   utmost. For if we sincerely turn to him, he will immediately return to favor
   with us, and will blot out all remembrance of our sins, and will not demand
   an account of them. For he is not like men who, even for a slight and
   inconsiderable offense, often refuse to be reconciled. Nay, so far is he
   from giving us reason to complain of his excessive severity, that he is
   ready to cleanse us, and to make us as white as snow. He is satisfied With
   cleanness of heart, and if, notwithstanding of this cleanness of heart,
   there be any offense, he forgives it, and acquits those who have provoked
   him.

   19. If ye be willing and obedient Isaiah continues to plead the cause of God
   against the people, and states in a few words, that not only must the people
   bear the blame of all the calamities which they endured, but that it lies in
   their own power to regain immediately prosperity and happiness; because God
   is always ready to forgive them, provided that they do not harden their
   hearts. But because happiness appears here to be placed in the power of men,
   and at their disposal, the papists openly maintain that men, by the exercise
   of their own will, are free to choose either good or evil. When God charges
   men with obstinacy, we must not on that account believe that he describes
   the nature or extent of their ability.

   But it would be useless to say, if ye be willing, unless it were in the
   power of men to will. I answer, though the choice be not so free as they
   pretend that it is, yet sinners are justly chargeable with being the
   voluntary agents of their calamities, because it is of their own accord, and
   not by compulsion, that they provoke God to anger. It is therefore true,
   that it is a special gift of God when a man aims at what is good; but it is
   equally true that it is their own wickedness that hinders the reprobate from
   applying their mind to it, and, consequently, that the whole blame of their
   obstinacy rests with themselves. On this depends the reproach brought
   against the people, that they would have led a prosperous and happy life, if
   they had been submissive and obedient to God. For since God is by nature
   disposed to acts of kindness, nothing but our ingratitude and enmity hinders
   us from receiving that goodness which he freely offers to all. On the other
   hand, he adds a sharp and heavy threatening, that it is in his power to take
   vengeance; lest they should imagine that they who despise God will escape
   without punishment. It ought also to be observed, that the only rule of
   living well is to yield obedience to God and his word; for to will and to
   hear mean nothing else than to comply with the will of God.

   A change of the construction of the words (hypallage) has been admitted into
   this sentence; for the meaning fully brought out would stand thus: “if your
   mind be ready, and your will be disposed, to obey;” or, which amounts to the
   same thing, “if you render obedience to me, and lend an ear to my word.”
   since, therefore, God places the happiness of men in obedience, it follows
   that our life is properly conducted, when we hear God speaking, and obey him
   in all things. How great, therefore, is the wickedness of men, when they
   refuse to listen to God who is continually speaking to them, and reject the
   happiness which he has provided and offered! It was proper that their
   wayward dispositions should be subdued, lest those wretched men should draw
   down on themselves the wrath of God, and willingly throw themselves, like
   wild beasts, on the edge of the sword. We must likewise observe, that he at
   length threatens them with final destruction, if they shall obstinately
   refuse to submit themselves to God.

   Ye shall eat the good of the land He means the fruits which the earth yields
   for supplying the necessaries of life; for in some sense the earth may be
   said to be unkind when it does not produce its fruits, and keeps them, as it
   were, in its bosom. Yet I have no doubt he alludes to the promises of the
   law, in which God declares, that to those who fear him he will bless the
   earth and will cause it to produce a great abundance of all good things.

   The Lord shall make thee plenteous in the fruit of the ground, in the land
   which the Lord sware unto thy fathers to give thee. (Deuteronomy 28:11.)

   And yet, when he offers to us the conveniences of the earthly life, it is
   not because he wishes that our attention should be confined to our present
   happiness, which alone hypocrites value, and which entirely occupies their
   minds; but in order that, by the contemplation of it, we may rise to the
   heavenly life, and that, by tasting so much goodness, he may prepare us for
   the enjoyment of eternal happiness. More especially was God accustomed to
   act in this manner towards the ancient people, that, by tasting present
   benefits, as by a shadow, they might be called to the heavenly inheritance.
   This distinction ought to be carefully observed, that we may apply this
   instruction to ourselves, according to the degree of prosperity to which God
   has exalted us. The Prophet intended to show that true happiness, with its
   accompaniments, consists in obedience to God; and that the wicked, by their
   obstinacy, bring upon themselves every kind of calamities, and therefore
   that all our distresses ought to be ascribed to the sins and crimes which we
   have committed.

   20. But if ye refuse and rebel The wicked always think that the severity of
   the punishment is greater than their guilt, even though the Lord chastise
   them very gently; and although they do not venture to justify themselves
   entirely, yet they never cease, as I formerly said, to accuse God of
   excessive severity. But the Prophet threatens that there will be no end of
   their calamities till they be destroyed; and lest they should imagine that
   they had nothing more to fear than those slight and inconsiderable
   punishments which they had hitherto suffered, he declares that far heavier
   judgments of God are still awaiting them.

   The papists torture this passage to support the doctrine of freewill, and
   argue in the following manner: — “If men be happy whenever they are willing
   to obey God, it follows that this is placed in our own power.” The argument
   certainly is very childish; for the Lord does not inform us by the Prophet
   what is the nature or extent of our capacity for good or evil; but he
   reminds us that it is our own fault if we do not enjoy good things, and that
   the calamities with which we are afflicted are the punishments of our
   disobedience. The question, whether a man can make his bad will good, is
   altogether different from the question, whether, by the bad will, which is
   natural to him, he brings upon himself all the evils which he endures.
   Unjustly and falsely, therefore, do those skillful and ingenious doctors
   employ this passage to support their doctrine about a free choice of good
   and evil.

   For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it [26] Since men who are blinded by
   their lusts are little moved by threatenings, the Prophet, in order to
   arouse them from deep slothfulness, reminds them that this declaration is
   not uttered by a mortal man, but has proceeded from the mouth of God, who is
   not changeable like men, but adheres constantly to his purpose. [27] He
   therefore mentions the mouth of the Lord, in order to terrify them, that
   they who in their vices have fallen into a deep slumber may give earnest
   attention to his threatenings.

   21. How is the faithful city become an harlot! In order to make the rebuke
   more forcible, and the crime of the people more shocking, in having thus
   departed from God and from all uprightness, he cries aloud as if he had seen
   some monstrous thing; and certainly it was a change fitted to awaken horror,
   that a nation devoted to God, and chosen to a royal priesthood, (Exodus
   19:6,) had fallen from lofty piety to the lowest sink of wickedness. More
   especially he speaks of the city of Jerusalem, which was God’s sanctuary and
   royal abode. He complains that the city which had formerly been a guardian
   of justice is a den of robbers; that she who formerly was a chaste and pure
   virgin hath become a harlot, To strike the deeper shame into the degenerate
   Jews, who had departed widely from their holy fathers, he assumes the air of
   a person astonished, and asks himself how this could possibly have happened.

   The faithful city By the word faithful he alludes, in my opinion, to the
   conjugal fidelity which a wife ought to preserve to her husband. The
   signification is undoubtedly more extensive; but when I look at the
   connection of the passage I do not hesitate to say that faithful means
   chaste; for immediately afterwards he employs another term in contrast with
   it, calling her an harlot. Whereas she once was a virtuous wife, faithful to
   the marriage-contract, she has now become an harlot, and her base conduct
   brings not a blush on her countenance. The Scriptures frequently call the
   Church the wife of God. (Hosea 2:19, 20.) That honorable rank Jerusalem
   held, so long as she maintained spiritual chastity, and continued in the
   pure and lawful worship of God; but as soon as she departed from it she
   became an harlot.

   This astonishment of the Prophet was undoubtedly joined with the deepest
   grief; for we ought to look upon it as something monstrous when men revolt
   from God, and refuse that allegiance which they have promised to render; nor
   is it possible that right-hearted men, when they behold such a revolt, can
   fail to be affected with the most poignant grief. We read that the angels in
   heaven rejoice at the conversion of one sinner; (Luke 15:7, 10;) and
   therefore they cannot but mourn over the final ruin of any sinner. How much
   more then will they bewail the ruin and destruction of a whole state and
   Church!

   Besides, that astonishment conveys also a complaint; as if the Prophet had
   said, “O Jerusalem, from what a flourishing condition hast thou fallen! Into
   what distress hast thou plunged thyself! What shame and disgrace hast thou
   brought upon thee!” When the flourishing state in which she had been, and
   the respect that had been paid to her in former times, are called to her
   remembrance, it ought to produce a still deeper impression on her mind; for
   she who was at one time the respected mother of a family is naturally more
   careful about her honor and reputation than one who has spent her whole life
   in base and licentious conduct.

   It was full of judgment He shows what fruits were produced by that
   allegiance to God at a former period. We may take judgment as but another
   name for uprightness; or, if it be thought preferable, we may call it
   justice when men render to every man his own, and judgment when the cause of
   the innocent is defended, and the poor and needy are avenged; for such is
   the use of the words in Scripture when they are employed together; but as
   they are not perfectly connected in this passage, I consider judgment to
   denote uprightness; so that the same thing is twice expressed for the
   purpose of explaining it more fully.

   But now murderers He shows in what manner Jerusalem became an harlot. It
   was, that the city, which had formerly been distinguished for the love of
   justice and equity, was now full of murders. The meaning is, as we have
   formerly said, not that they were assassins or robbers, but that, by
   fraudulent and dishonest methods, under the pretense of justice, they had
   gained the property of others. In short, he means that they did not act
   fairly and justly towards their fellow-men, whatever might be the estimation
   in which they were held; for sometimes, and indeed very frequently, it
   happens that very wicked men are held in high esteem.

   The condition to which Jerusalem was reduced should lead us to consider how
   often Satan exercises what may be called unbounded tyranny over the Church
   of God; for if ever there was a Church, there was one at that time in
   Jerusalem; and yet Isaiah affirms that it was a den of robbers, or a
   slaughterhouse, where they cut men’s throats. But if Satan could freely riot
   in that Church, let us not wonder that the same thing takes place among us;
   but let us labor not to suffer ourselves to be corrupted by such wicked
   examples.

   22. Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water Isaiah speaks
   metaphorically, and by two comparisons shows here, that though the outward
   appearance of affairs was not openly overturned, yet their condition was
   changed and corrupted, so as to be widely different from what it had
   formerly been: for he says that dross now shines instead of gold, and that
   the wine, though it retains its color, has lost its flavour. “Though thou
   still make an empty show,” saith the Prophet, “yet nothing pure will be
   found in thee: that wine which was wont to be Stare in thee is corrupted;
   and though its color deceive the eye, its taste shows that it has been
   mixed.”

   All this means nothing more than that the Jews should lay aside hypocrisy,
   and should begin to confess their sins, and no longer flatter themselves
   after the manner of hypocrites. The comparisons here employed are
   exceedingly well adapted to this end, for dross bears some resemblance to
   gold; and in like manner, the color of wine mixed with water resembles that
   of pure wine; and yet both are very far from having that purity of which
   they make an outward show. In like manner hypocrites, by their hypocrisy,
   may be said to assume a false color of silver, though they are of no more
   value than dross, and indeed are the more detestable on this account, that,
   though they are exceedingly wicked, yet, with not less treachery than
   baseness, they present to God and to men those hollow pretensions by which
   they cloak their malice.

   23. Thy princes are rebellious There is here an elegant allusion or play on
   words. [28] He does not speak of princes in such a manner as if the common
   people were holy and needed no reproof, but he points out the source of the
   evil; for as no disease is more injurious than that which spreads from the
   head into the whole body, so no evil is more destructive in a commonwealth
   than a wicked and depraved prince, who conveys his corruptions into the
   whole body both by his example and by the liberty which he allows. Hence,
   too, comes the proverb, hopoia hē despoina, toiai kai hai therapainides,
   like mistress, like maids. The meaning, therefore, is as if the Prophet had
   said that there was no one vice more than another that reigned among the
   people, but that an unbounded commission of crimes prevailed among the
   nobles themselves, and that in this manner the whole body was stained with
   pollution. Something which gives additional force to the statement is
   implied in the word princes; for it is deeply to be lamented when an evil
   arises from that very quarter in which the remedy for it ought to be
   expected. He next mentions a particular instance.

   Companions of thieves By these words he means that they are so far from
   restraining theft and false dealing, that, on the contrary, they draw gain
   from them; and he justly calls those persons companions of thieves, who, by
   receiving part of the booty, grant permission to commit theft. And, indeed,
   when a judge is corrupted by a bribe, it is impossible but that crimes shall
   abound and pass unpunished, with the perpetrators of which we must consider
   him to be in collusion.

   Every one loveth a gift He next points out the reason why princes have made
   themselves companions of thieves, and have bound themselves by a wicked
   conspiracy to lend countenance to crimes. It is avarice. When judges are
   devoted to the love of money, justice is utterly destroyed; for if the
   acceptance of persons be a corruption of judgment, so that no room is left
   for justice, every man who is under the dominion of covetousness will
   assuredly regard the person rather than the cause. The consequence is, that
   he will not be able to perceive what is just and right, but, as one
   expresses it, will make laws and unmake them.

   This reminds us how great a virtue it is in a magistrate to disregard money;
   for unless he keep his mind, his hands, and his eyes under restraint, he
   will never be able to judge justly. It is absurd to say, as some men do,
   that they keep their heart pure and uncorrupted, even though they receive
   bribes. What the Lord saith must be true, that a gift blindeth the eyes of
   the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous. (Exodus 23:8.) No man
   is so upright, no man is so clearsighted and sagacious, that his mind shall
   resist the enchantment, and his eyes the blinding influence, of gifts. Such
   judges, therefore, he justly declares to be companions of thieves; for,
   hurried along by a blind desire of money, they overturn all law both of God
   and man, and leave no room for justice or modesty.

   We must likewise observe that the Prophet, in order to convince hypocrites,
   brings forward their actions which were open and universally known; for
   otherwise they would not submit. And yet there can be no doubt that there
   were at that time many who objected, when he thus called them thieves, as
   even in the present day most men impudently and obstinately exclaim that
   they are not thieves on account of receiving the rewards and gifts which are
   offered to them, because their do not prevent them from passing a just
   judgment. But these replies being frivolous, the Prophet, after having
   exposed their wicked actions, satisfies himself with the reproof which he
   has given, and argues with them no longer. And, indeed, nature declares that
   it is impossible to give just judgment, when judges are so eager for gain
   and regard; because they cannot but absolutely expose to sale their honesty
   and reputation.

   They judge not the fatherless As the Lord specially recommends to us the
   fatherless and widows, because they have been deprived of the protection of
   men, so we need not wonder if he is displeased when they are abandoned by
   the judges, who ought to have been their guardians and defenders; for since
   they have neither foresight, nor industry nor strength if no one comes
   forward to render assistance they must be exposed without redress to every
   kind of violence and injustice. Now, when no regard is paid to them, it
   follows that the sway is held, not by justice, but by covetousness and
   plunder.

   24. Therefore saith the lord, the LORD of hosts He first employs the word
   האדון, (haadon) which literally signifies lord, and expresses the relation
   to a servant. Next is added the word יהוה (Jehovah,) which denotes the
   eternal essence and majesty of God. After having laid open some kinds of
   crimes, which made it manifest that in that nation everything was corrupted,
   Isaiah, now wishing to threaten and to hold out to them the judgment of God,
   not only represents God as invested with the power and authority of a Judge,
   but at the same time reminds them that the children of Abraham are his
   peculiar people, and for this reason he immediately adds, the mighty One of
   Israel. There may also be implied in it a kind of irony, by which he stings
   the Jews, as if he had said that it was foolishness in them to boast of the
   name of God, seeing that they were worthless and unprincipled servants, and
   that it was vain for them to rely on his strength, which would immediately
   break forth against them. After this preface, he adds —

   Ah! I will take consolation on my adversaries [29] By these words he
   intimates that God will not be pacified until he has satiated himself with
   inflicting punishment. He employs the word consolation after the manner of
   men; for as anger is nothing else than the desire of revenge, so revenge
   gives relief to the mind, and he who has taken vengeance congratulates
   himself and is satisfied. By this course, which may be regarded as a kind of
   compensation, the Lord says that he will satisfy himself with inflicting
   punishment on his adversaries

   There are various ways, indeed, of expounding this passage; and I shall not
   undertake the task of examining all the interpretations and refuting those
   which I do not approve: it will be enough if we ascertain the true meaning.
   He does not here speak of Chaldeans or Assyrians, as some imagine, but of
   Jews, to whom, in the character of a herald, he proclaims war in the name of
   the Lord. This threatening sounded harshly in their ears; for they supposed
   that they were joined in such a confederacy with God, that he was an
   adversary to their adversaries. He declares, on the other hand, that he is
   their enemy because he had so often been provoked by their crimes. In this
   manner we must shake off the slothfulness of hypocrites, who are continually
   waging war with God, and yet do not hesitate to allege that they enjoy his
   protection. We need not wonder, therefore, if the Prophet sternly pronounces
   them to be adversaries of God, who had broken the covenant, and had thus
   carried on war against him.

   And yet, in order to show that he is unwillingly, as it were, constrained to
   inflict punishment on his people, God utters his threatening with a kind of
   groan. For as nothing is more agreeable to his nature than to do good, so
   whenever he is angry with us and treats us harshly, it is certain that our
   wickedness has compelled him to do so, because we do not allow his goodness
   to take its free course. More especially he is disposed to treat his own
   people with gentleness, and when he sees that there is no longer any room
   for his forbearance, he takes measures, as it were in sorrow, for inflicting
   punishment.

   Some would rather choose perhaps to explain the particle הוי (hoi) as of God
   made this exclamation when aroused by anger. For my own part, I rather
   consider it, in this passage, to be an expression of grief; because God,
   being mindful of his covenant, would willingly spare his chosen people, were
   it not that pardon was entirely prevented by their obstinacy.

   And avenge me of mine enemies In this second clause there is a
   reduplication, (anadiplōsis) a figure of speech customary with the Hebrews,
   who frequently express the same thing twice in one verse. Hence also we
   learn that the object of the statement is, that God cannot rest until he has
   taken vengeance on a wicked and treacherous people

   25. And I will turn my hand upon thee This is an alleviation of the former
   threatening; for though he still proceeds with what he had begun to state
   about his severity, he at the same time declares that, amidst those
   calamities which were to be inflicted, the Church would be preserved. But
   the principal design was to comfort believers, that they might not suppose
   the Church to be utterly ruined, though God treated them more roughly than
   before. The Spirit of God, by the Prophets, continually warns the children
   of God, who always tremble at his word, not to be overwhelmed and lose heart
   on account of terrors and threatening; for the more daringly that wicked men
   practice licentiousness and scoff at all threatening the more do those who
   are affected by a sincere fear of God tremble at them.

   Besides, the turning of the hands of God denotes generally a token of his
   presence, as if he should say, I will display my hand. This he is wont to do
   in two ways, either by chastising the wicked, or by delivering believers
   from their distresses. Since, therefore, it is evident from the context that
   God purposes, by applying consolation, to mitigate the severity of
   punishment, the turning of the hands must here be viewed as referring to the
   restoration of the Church; for although he declared in general terms that
   all were his enemies, he now modifies or limits that statement by addressing
   Jerusalem or Zion by name.

   When he adds, I will purge away thy dross, though he points out the fruit of
   correction, that believers may not be immoderately grieved or distressed on
   account of it, yet we learn from this expression that the purification of
   the Church is God’s own work. For this purpose he always lifts up his hand
   to punish transgressions, that he may bring back wanderers into the road;
   but rods would be of no avail, if he did not make them useful by touching
   their hearts inwardly. And, indeed, since he points out here a special favor
   which he bestows on his elect, it follows from this that repentance is a
   true and peculiar work of the Holy Spirit; for otherwise the sinner, instead
   of profiting in the smallest degree, would be more and more hardened by
   chastisements.

   The pure purging, so that no dross remains, must not, however, be understood
   as if God ever cleansed his Church entirely in this world from every stain,
   but must be regarded as spoken after the manner of men; as if he said that
   the condition of his Church will be such that her holiness will shine like
   pure silver. These words, therefore, indicate real purity, for the Jews had
   formerly been too well satisfied with their filthiness. This is a highly
   appropriate comparison, by which the Prophet declares, that though the
   Church was at that time polluted by many defilements, still some remnant
   would be left, which, after the removal of the pollution, would regain its
   brightness. In this manner he also connects both clauses; for when he
   formerly spoke of their crimes, he said that their silver had become dross.
   (Isaiah 1:22.)

   26. And I will restore thy judges as at the first He now speaks without a
   figure; and having said that the source and origin of the evils was in the
   princes, he shows that a divine hand will purify that rank, when the Lord
   shall be pleased to restore the Church to perfect health. And, indeed, when
   they who rule are good and holy men, public order is maintained; for when
   wicked men have power, everything goes to ruin. By judges and counsellors
   are evidently meant any kind of magistrates; and when he promises that they
   will be such as they were at the beginning, he brings to their remembrance
   the extraordinary goodness of God, of which they had been deprived. God had
   graciously raised up the throne of David, and in that government was pleased
   to give a bright resemblance of his own parental love. Though the authority
   of the family of David had degenerated into the grossest tyranny, yet they
   continued to boast of a false title; for they still vaunted of the reign of
   David in the same manner as the papists of the present day plume themselves
   on a false pretense of the Church. Justly, therefore, are the people
   reminded of the happiness from which they had fallen by their own fault,
   that they might not be displeased at a diminution of their numbers, by means
   of which they would again possess that order which God had established

   Then shalt thou be called He describes the fruit of that reformation, of
   which he has spoken, as extending to the whole body; for, having said that
   Jerusalem, before she revolted from God, was a faithful city, full of
   righteousness, the Prophet now says, that when she shall have been chastised
   the same virtues will be illustriously displayed in her. Here, too, is
   expressed the sum of true repentance; for by righteousness is meant
   uprightness, when every man obtains what belongs to him, and men live with
   each other without committing injury. The word faithful has a still more
   extensive meaning; for when a city is called faithful, it means not only
   that justice and honesty between man and man are observed, but that the
   purity of God’s worship is maintained and therefore the chastity and purity
   of the mind are included under that designation.

   It must also be observed, however, that from this faithfulness springs
   justice; for when we adhere to truth in our mutual intercourse, justice
   easily gains the ascendency. And, indeed, when I closely examine the whole
   passage, I think that the Prophet now employs the word faithfulness in a
   more limited sense than formerly, and connects the two virtues as leading to
   the same object, so that, while truth goes first as the cause, justice is
   the effect of it. Isaiah promises not only that she will be righteous and
   faithful, but that she will also be distinguished by these commendations; by
   which he means that the knowledge or reputation of it will be everywhere
   diffused. We know that hypocrites, too, are adorned with honorable titles;
   but Isaiah, having introduced God as speaking, takes for granted that the
   city will actually be righteous, as it is foretold that she shall be. In the
   meantime, as I have said, he describes the fruit of a true conversion; as if
   he had said,” When Jerusalem shall be brought Jack to true godliness, men
   will be persuaded that she is renewed.”

   27. Zion shall be redeemed with judgment He confirms the same doctrine; and
   because the restoration of the Church was hard to be believed, he shows that
   it does not depend on the will of men, but is founded on the justice and
   judgment of God; as if he had said, that God will by no means permit his
   Church to be altogether destroyed, because he is righteous. The design of
   the Prophet, therefore, is to withdraw the minds of the godly from earthly
   thoughts, that in looking for the safety of the Church they may depend
   entirely on God, and not cease to entertain good hopes, although instead of
   aids they should see nothing but obstructions. It is a great mistake to
   consider justice and judgment to refer to the Church, as if Isaiah were
   speaking about the well-ordered condition of a city; for the plain meaning
   is what I have stated, that though men yield no assistance, the justice of
   God is fully sufficient for redeeming his Church. And, indeed, so long as we
   look at ourselves, what hope are we entitled to cherish? How many things, on
   the contrary, immediately present themselves that are fitted to weaken our
   faith! It is only in the justice of God that we shall find solid and lasting
   ground of confidence.

   And they that return to her [30] This second clause points out the manner of
   their deliverance; namely that the exiles, who had been widely dispersed,
   will again be gathered together.

   28. And the destruction of the transgressors Lest hypocrites should imagine
   that any fruit of these promises belongs to them, and should indulge in vain
   boasting, he threatens that they shall perish, though God redeem his Church.
   For hypocrites have always been mingled with the Church, and indeed are
   connected with it in the closest manner; but they form their estimation of
   it from outward show. All that God promises they at once apply confidently
   to themselves. The apostle tears from them this trust, if indeed it deserve
   the name of trust, which springs from pride and the arrogance of a haughty
   mind. Here we ought to observe how great wisdom is needed by godly teachers,
   that, while they terrify the wicked by the judgment of God, they may at the
   same time support good men, and strengthen them by some consolation, that
   they may not be cast down and discouraged. On the other hand, when believers
   are encouraged be the promise of God, and when wicked men falsely apply it
   to themselves, and puff up their minds with vain confidence, the method and
   course which we ought to pursue is, that we neither give occasion to wicked
   men to become proud, nor depress and discourage the minds of the godly; as
   Isaiah does in this passage. For while he speaks of the redemption of the
   Church, he at the same time threatens that sinners, that is, wicked men,
   shall be destroyed, that they may not suppose that these acts of God’s
   kindness belong at all to them.

   And yet, while he pronounces destruction against the wicked, by this
   comparison he exhibits more fully the favor of God towards believers, which
   is far more distinctly seen, when God allows the reprobate to perish, but
   preserves his own in safety, as it is said,

   A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but
   it shall not come nigh thee. Psalm 91:7.

   Besides, he mitigates the grief and anguish which the diminution of the
   numbers of the Church might produce in godly minds; for he shows that there
   is no other way of imparting health to the whole body than by removing its
   corruption.

   29. For (or, that is) they shall be ashamed In the Hebrew the particle
   כי(ki) is employed, which properly denotes a cause, but frequently also
   denotes exposition. Now, since the Prophet does not here state anything new,
   but only explains the cause of the destruction which awaited the ungodly, to
   render כי (ki) by that is, appears to connect it better with the preceding
   word, כלה, (kalah,) consumed, They shall be consumed, that is, they shall be
   ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired; as if the Prophet had said that
   no evil will be more destructive to them than their own superstition. The
   idols, says he, which you call upon for your protection and safety will
   rather bring destruction upon you.

   The word אלים, (elim,) oaks, [31] has been sometimes rendered Gods; [32] but
   this meaning is set aside by the context; for immediately afterwards he adds
   the word groves: Ye shall be ashamed of the groves which you have chosen.
   Now, under the image both of trees and of groves, the Prophet, by a figure
   of speech, in which a part is taken for the whole, reproves every kind of
   false worship; for although among the Jews there were many forms of
   idolatry, the custom here mentioned, of choosing groves and forests for
   offering sacrifices, was the most common of all. Whether the word גנות
   (gannoth) in the second clause be translated groves or gardens, there can be
   no doubt that it means the altars and sacred buildings in which they
   performed their idolatrous worship. Although they did not intend openly to
   revolt from God, they invented new kinds of worship; and, as if one place
   had been more acceptable to God than another, they devoted it to his
   service, as we see done by the papists. Next follows a change of the person;
   for, in order to make the reproof more severe, those wicked men of whom he
   spoke in the third person are now directly addressed, Ye shall be ashamed

   Which you have desired By the word desired he reproves the mad and burning
   eagerness with which wicked men follow their superstitions. They ought to
   have been earnestly devoted with their whole heart to the service of one
   Gods but they rush with blind violence to false worship, as if they were
   driven by brutish lust. In almost every human mind there naturally exists
   this disease, that they have forsaken the true God, and run mad in following
   idols; and hence Scripture frequently compares this madness to the loves of
   harlots, who shake off shame, as well as reason.

   For the gardens that ye have chosen That the Prophet describes not only
   their excessive zeal, but their presumption, in corrupting the worship of
   God, is evident from this second clause, in which he says that they chose
   gardens, for this term is contrasted with the injunction of the law.
   Whatever may be the plausible appearances under which unbelievers endeavor
   to cloak their superstitions, still this saying remains true, that obedience
   is better than all sacrifices. (1 Samuel 15:22.) Accordingly, under the term
   willworship (ethelothrēskeia) Paul includes (Colossians 2:23) all kinds of
   false worship which men contrive for themselves without the command of God.
   On this account God complains that the Jews have despised his word, and have
   delighted themselves with their own inventions; as if he had said, “It was
   your duty to obey, but you wished to have an unfettered choice, or rather an
   unbounded liberty.”

   This single consideration is sufficient to condemn the inventions of men,
   that they have it not in their power to choose the manner of worshipping
   God, because to him alone belongs the right to command. God had at that time
   enjoined that sacrifices should not be offered to him anywhere else than at
   Jerusalem (Deuteronomy 12:13); the Jews thought that they pleased him in
   other places, and that false imagination deceived also the heathen nations.
   Would that it had gone no farther! But we see how the papists are involved
   in the same error, and, in short, experience shows that the disease has
   prevailed extensively in every age.

   If it be objected that there was not so much importance in the place, that
   God ought to have regarded with such strong abhorrence the worship which was
   everywhere offered to him, — first, we ought to consider the reason why God
   chose that at that time there should be only one altar, which was, that it
   might be a bond of holy unity to an uncivilized nation, and that by means of
   it their religion might continue unchanged. Besides, granting that this
   spiritual reason were but of temporary force, we must hold by the principle
   that commandments were given in the smallest matters, that the Jews might be
   better trained to obedience; for since superstition conceals itself under
   the pretense of devotion, it is hardly possible but that men will flatter
   themselves with their own inventions. But since obedience is the mother of
   true religion, it follows that when men exercise their own fancy, it becomes
   the source of all superstitions.

   It must also be added, that as Isaiah formerly complained of those crimes
   which were contrary to brotherly love and to the second table of the law, so
   he now complains of their having transgressed the first table. For since the
   whole perfection of righteousness consists in keeping the law, when the
   Prophets wish to reprove men for their sins, they speak sometimes of the
   first, and sometimes of the second, table of the law. But we ought always to
   observe the figurative mode of expression, when under one class they include
   the whole.

   30. Ye shall certainly be [33] as an oak whose leaf fadeth The Hebrew
   particle כי (ki) may be taken in an affirmative sense, as I have translated
   it; and the Prophet appears to allude to those groves to which they had
   improperly restricted the worship of God; for, having mentioned gardens, he
   reproaches them with the confidence which they placed in theme and threatens
   drought. “You take pleasure,” says he, “in your gardens and trees, but you
   shall be like withered trees that have lost their foliage.” God therefore
   mocks the vain boasting of idolaters, who marvellously flatter themselves
   with their contrivances, and think that heaven is open to them, when they
   are employed in their ceremonies. Just as at the present day, when the
   papists have lighted their lamps and adorned their temples, when they dazzle
   with gold and precious stones, when they have played on their organs and
   rung their bells, they imagine that they are the happiest of all men, as if
   there were now no reason to dread that any evil should come to them from
   God, who had received from them a hundredfold satisfaction.

   31. And your God [34] shall be as tow The Hebrew word חסן (chason) signifies
   strong: and though it is here applied to God, still it retains its
   signification, as if he had said, “That god who was your strength shall be
   turned into stubble.”

   And the maker of it By the maker he means the carver; but as he mentions an
   idol, we must explain it agreeably to the matter in hand. Some think that he
   expresses the repentance of idolaters, by telling us that they would
   acknowledge their folly, and, being covered with shame, would burn their
   idols. But I consider the meaning to be different; for as a fire is made of
   dry fuel such as tow, “in like manner,” saith the Prophet,” gather you and
   your idols into one heap, as when a pile of wood is built up, that you may
   be consumed together, so that the idols may be like tow, and the men like
   fire, and that one conflagration may consume the whole.”

   And there shall be none to quench them It ought to be observed that the
   Prophets, when they mention the wrath of God, describe it by outward
   representations, because it cannot be perceived by the eyes or by any other
   sense. Thus the wrath of God, by which the ungodly are destroyed, is
   compared to fire, which consumes all things. It is now evident enough what
   the Prophet means, namely, that all the ungodly shall be destroyed, whatever
   may be the nature of their confidence; and not only so, but that their
   destruction shall be the greater, because they have placed their confidence
   in false and deceitful things, and that utter destruction will overtake them
   from that very quarter from which they had vainly looked for deliverance.
   For the images and idols are excitements of the wrath of God, kindling it
   into a flame which cannot be quenched.
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   [7] Feci magnos. The term feci (I have made) exhibits the force of the Pihel
   form, גדלתי(giddalti,) which, as in other instances, approaches the meaning
   of the Hiphil form, הגדלתי, (higdalti.) — Ed

   [8] Educavi, vel sustuli.

   [9] Enutrire.

   [10] Tollere liberos.

   [11] Our Author, in his Latin version of the Prophet, ([4]see p. 33,) has
   rendered this word by “scelerate egerunt in me“ — “they have acted wickedly
   towards me;” and, in the margin, by “rebellarunt contra me,” — “have
   rebelled against me.” Without taking notice of either of these translations,
   he has here introduced a third, “defecerunt“ — “have revolted,” for which it
   would be easy to produce authorities. The participle, פושעים (poshegnim,) at
   Hosea 14:10, is defined by Aben Ezra (quoted by Buxtorff) to mean שיוצאים
   מהרשות, (sheyotzeim meharshoth,) those who withdraw from authority, who set
   at nought, or oppose, the authority of a lawful magistrate. — Ed

   [12] Spreverunt.

   [13] ‘Israēl de me ouk egnō, kai ho laos me ou sunōken — But Israel doth not
   know me, and the people doth not understand me

   [14] This comes very near the rendering of the Septuagint, ouai ethnos
   hamartōlon

   [15] Vigerus remarks, that paides, when construed with the genitives of
   nouns, denoting artists, nations, or any particular condition or profession
   of men, is put for the nouns themselves; and he adduces the following
   instances, rhētorōn, iatrōn philosophōn, grapheōn paides, which is far more
   elegant than rhḗtores etc.; and in like manner, Keltōn paides, sons of the
   Celts, or, Gauls, that is, Gauls; dustēnōn paides, sons of the wretched,
   that is, the wretched — Ed

   [16] Our Author, quoting from memory, has mingled two passages: And now,
   Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy
   God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God
   with all thy heart, and with all thy soul? (Deuteronomy 10:12.) Thou shalt
   fear the Lord thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave
   and swear by his name. (Deuteronomy 10:20.) — Ed.

   [17] A quel propos? Pour quelle fin?

   [18] In the English version it runs, as overthrown by strangers; and the
   marginal reading, adhering more closely to the Hebrew idiom, is, as the
   overthrow of strangers. The interpretation rejected by Calvin has been
   approved by some able critics; and Lowth, distrusting the philological views
   given by his predecessors, has resorted to a conjectural alteration of the
   Hebrew text: — “This reading, though confirmed by all the ancient versions,
   gives us no good sense; for your land is devoured by strangers, and is
   desolate as if overthrown by strangers, is a mere tautology, or, what is as
   bad, an identical comparison. Aben Ezra thought that the word, in its
   present form, might be taken for the same with זרם, an inundation. Schultens
   is of the same opinion, (see Taylor’s Concord;) and Schindler, in his
   Lexicon, explains it in the same manner, and so, says Kimchi, some explain
   it.” After enumerating the attempts of Abendana “to reconcile it to
   grammatical analogy,” he adds, “but I rather suppose the true reading to be
   זרם, and have translated it accordingly: the word זרים, in the line above,
   seems to have caught the transcriber’s eye, and to have led him into this
   mistake.” — Notes on Isaiah. — Ed

   [19] Called also Azariah, 2 Kings 15:1. — Ed.

   [20] Residua manebit.

   [21] A lively French traveler, Tavernier, who flourished about the middle of
   the seventeenth century, in describing the eastern shores of the
   Mediterranean Sea, gives the following account: — “There we see large beds
   of melons and of cucumbers, but especially of the latter, of which the
   inhabitants of the Levant are particularly fond. Most frequently they eat
   them without peeling, and afterwards drink a glass of water. Throughout the
   whole of Asia this is the ordinary food of the common people for three or
   four months. The whole family lives on it; and when a child asks for
   something to eat, instead of giving it bread, as in France and other places
   is the custom, in the Levant they offer it a cucumber, which it eats raw
   just as it has been fresh pulled. Cucumbers in the Levant have a peculiarly
   excellent flavour, and though they are eaten raw they never do any
   injury.” — Ed.

   [22] Poedagogia. In what sense our Author uses this term may be gathered
   from his [5]Commentary on Galatians 3:24. The law was our schoolmaster
   (paidagōgos) to Christ. — Ed

   [23] Our Author seems to allude to Isaiah 65:24, It shall come to pass that
   before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will
   hear. This conjecture is confirmed by the [6]remarks which immediately
   follow on the word call, as the leading word in the passage. It appears to
   have escaped his recollection, that in this instance the spreading forth of
   the hands is not mentioned, though it occurs in an analogous passage of
   Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the temple — What prayer or what
   supplication soever shall be made of any man, when he shall spread forth his
   hands in this house; then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling-place. 2
   Chronicles 6:29, 30. — Ed.

   [24] ונוכחה (venivvakechah), and let us settle our dispute. — Bishop Stock.
   “Both of us, I and you, that we may ascertain which of us has committed an
   offense against the other; and if you have sinned against me, still I hope
   to convert you.” — Jarchi.

   [25] Loyauté

   [26] This paragraph, which our Author had inadvertently inserted in his
   exposition of the nineteenth verse, is here restored to its proper place.
   — Ed.

   [27] “For Jehovah hath spoken, who fulfills his threatening as well as his
   promises, and does not rashly recall what he hath spoken.” — Rosensmuller.

   [28] Our author illustrates it by the alliteration of primi pravi. “The word
   סוררים (sorerim) is here equivalent,” says Jarchi, “to סרים, (sarim,) that
   is, persons departing from the right path.” “In this word סוררים,
   (sorerim,)” says his annotator Breithaupt, which our Commentator here
   explains by סרים, (sarim,) departers, “there is an allusion to the word
   שרים, (princes,) which we here find in the sacred text.” — Ed

   [29] In our English version it runs, Ah! I will ease me of mine adversaries.
   — Ed.

   [30] In the English version it is rendered, her converts; but the marginal
   reading is, And they that return of her. “That is,” says Jarchi, “those who
   are in her (in the city of Zion) that repent.” — Ed.

   [31] “The word אילים (elim) has, in the singular number, אלה, (elah,) a kind
   of tree, called, in the German language, ulme.” — Jarchi. For the purpose of
   proving that by אולמא, Jarchi means the elm, his annotator, Breithaupt,
   adduces not only the German ulme, but the Italian olmo, the French orme, and
   the Latin ulmus. — Ed

   [32] Evidently supposing that it is the plural of אל, (el,) God, and
   overlooking the medial radical Yod, which is sometimes expressed, but
   oftener left out, in this word. — Ed

   [33] For ye shall be. — Eng. Ver.

   [34] And the strong. — Eng. Ver.
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   CHAPTER 2
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   Isaiah Chapter 2:1-22

   1. The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

   1. Verbum quod vidit Isaias, filius Amos super Iuda et Ierusalem.

   2. And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the
   Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be
   exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.

   2. Et accidet in novissimo dierum, ut statuatur mons domus Iehovae in
   verticem montium, et erigatur supra omnes colles; et fluent ad eum omnes
   gentes.

   3. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the
   mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us
   of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth
   the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

   3. Et venient populi multi, ac dicent, Venite, et ascendemus in montem
   Iehovae, in domum Dei Iacob. Et instituet nos in viis suis, et ambulabimus
   in semitis ejus. Quoniam e Zion exibit lex, et verbum Domini e Ierusalem.

   4. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people; and
   they shall beat their swords into plow-shares, and their spears into
   pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall
   they learn war any more.

   4. Et judicabit inter gentes, arguetque populos multos: et concident gladios
   suos in ligones, et lanceas suas in falces: nec levabit gens in gentem
   gladium, nec consuescent ultra praelio.

   5. O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.

   5. Domus Iacob, venite, et ambulabimus in lumine Domini.

   6. Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they
   be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and
   they please themselves in the children of strangers.

   6. Certe deseruisti populum tuum, domum Iacob: eo quod impleti sint Oriente,
   (vel, antiquitate,) et auguribus, ut Philistaei: atque in filiis alienis
   acquieverint.

   7. Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of
   their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end
   of their chariots:

   7. Impletur est terra ejus argento et auro; nec finis thesauris ejus. Equis
   quoque repleta est terra ejus, nec quadrigis ejus finis.

   8. Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own
   hands, that which their own fingers have made:

   8. Impleta est etiam terra ejus idolis: et coram opere manuum suorum se
   incurvarunt, coram eo quod fixerunt digiti ipsorum.

   9. And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself:
   therefore forgive them not.

   9. Et inclinatus est homo, et humiliatus est vir: ideo, ne remittas, (vel,
   non remittes.)

   10. Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD,
   and for the glory of his majesty.

   10. Ingredere in petram, abscondere in pulvere a conspectu pavoris Domini,
   et gloria magnificentiae ejus.

   11. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men
   shall be bowed down; and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.

   11. Sublimitas oculorum hominis humiliabitur, et incurvabitur altitudo
   hominum, et exaltabitur Iehova solus in die illa.

   12. For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud
   and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up, and he shall be brought
   low:

   12. Quoniam dies Iehovae exercituum super omnem superbum et excelsum, et
   super omne elevatum, et humile erit.

   13. And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and
   upon all the oaks of Bashan,

   13. Super omnes, inquam, cedros Libani sublimes et elevatos, super omnes
   quercus Basan,

   14. And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted
   up,

   14. Et super omnes montes excelsos, et super omnes colles elevatos,

   15. And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall,

   15. Et super omnem turrim excelsam, et super omnem murum munitum,

   16. And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures.

   16. Super omnes naves Tharsis, et super exquisitas picturas.

   17. And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men
   shall be made low; and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.

   17. Et incurvabitur celsitudo hominis, et humiliabitur altitudo hominum, et
   exaltabitur Iehova solus in die illa.

   18. And the idols he shall utterly abolish.

   18. Idola autem in universum abolebit.

   19. And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the
   earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he
   ariseth to shake terribly the earth.

   19. Et ingredientur in cavernas petrarum, et in voragines terrae, a
   praesentia terroris Iehovae et gloria majestatis ejus: cum surrexerit ut
   concutiat terram.

   20. In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold,
   which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the
   bats;

   20. In die illa projiciet homo idola sua argentea, et idola sua aurea, quae
   fecerunt ei ad adorandum, in cavernam talparum et vespertilionum;

   21. To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged
   rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he
   ariseth to shake terribly the earth.

   21. Et ingredientur in scissuras petrarum, et cacumina saxorum, a facie
   pavoris Iehovae et gloria majestatis ejus, cum surrexerit ut concutiat
   terram.

   22. Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for wherein is he to
   be accounted of?

   22. Cessate igitur ab homine cujus in nare spiritus; qua enim in re (vel, ad
   quid, vel, quanti) ipse reputatur?


   1. The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw This prophecy is a confirmation
   of that doctrine which we had a little before, concerning the restoration of
   the Church. For since it is difficult to cherish the hope of safety, when we
   are, as it were, in the midst of destruction, while the wrath of God burns
   and consumes everything far and wide, or while his threatenings strike
   terror into our minds, at such a period the bare promises are hardly
   sufficient to support us and to allay our fears. For this reason the Lord
   determined that to the consolation which had already been proclaimed there
   should be added this special vision, by way of confirmation, in order to
   make it more certain and undoubted that, whatever calamities might arise,
   his Church would never perish. I have no doubt, therefore, but that this
   vision agrees with what is stated in the 26th and 27th verses of the former
   chapter.

   Hence we learn what was the advantage and design of visions; for since
   doctrine sometimes has not sufficient weight with us, God therefore adds
   visions, that by means of them he may seal his doctrine to us. Since,
   therefore, this vision is connected with the former promise, we learn from
   it this useful doctrine, that all visions of every kind which God formerly
   gave to his Prophets must be joined to the promises in such a manner as to
   be seals of them. And thus we perceive more and more the astonishing
   goodness of God, that, not satisfied with giving us his bare word, he places
   before our eyes, as it were, representations of the events.

   He has added a confirmation, that the restoration of the Church is a matter
   of very great importance, and necessary to be known. For where is the truth
   of the Lord, where is faith, if there be no Church? If there be none, it
   follows that God is a liar, and that everything contained in his word is
   false. But as God frequently shows, by striking proofs, that he preserves
   the Church by unknown methods and without the assistance of men, so he now
   declares by a remarkable prediction that he will do this.

   There were two purposes to be served by this prediction. First, since
   Isaiah, and others who came after him, were unceasingly to proclaim terror,
   on account of the obstinate wickedness of the people, until the temple
   should be burnt, and the city destroyed, and the Jews carried into
   captivity, it was necessary that such severity should be mitigated towards
   believers by some consolation of hope. Secondly, as they were to languish in
   captivity, and as their minds were shaken, even after their return, by a
   succession of varied calamities, and at length were almost overwhelmed with
   despair by the dreadful desolation and confusion, they might a hundred times
   have fainted, if they had not been upheld. As to those who had already
   fallen, they were raised up and confirmed by the promised restoration, to
   such an extent, at least, that they retained among them the practice of
   calling on God, which is the only and undoubted remedy for the worst of
   evils. הדבר, (haddabar,) the word, is rendered by some interpreters the
   thing, which accords with the general signification of this term; but it is
   better to view it as denoting a divine purpose. Isaiah says that it was
   revealed to him by a special vision.

   2. And it shall come to pass in the last of the days [35] When he mentions
   the end or completion of days, let us remember that he is speaking of the
   kingdom of Christ; and we ought also to understand why he gives to the
   kingdom of Christ this appellation. It was because till that time everything
   might be said to be in a state of suspense, that the people might not fix
   their eyes on the present condition of things, which was only a shadow, but
   on the Redeemer, by whom the reality would be declared. Since Christ came,
   therefore, if that time be compared with ours, we have actually arrived at
   the end of ages. It was the duty of the fathers who lived at that time to
   go, as it were, with outstretched arms to Christ; and since the restoration
   of all things depended on his coming, it is with good reason that they are
   enjoined to extend their hope to that period. It was indeed always useful
   for them to know, that under Christ the condition of the Church would be
   more perfect; more especially because they were held under figures, for the
   Lord was pleased to arouse them in various wavy for the express purpose of
   keeping them in suspense.

   But there was a peculiar importance attached to this prediction; for, during
   four hundred years or thereby, there were innumerable occasions on which
   they might have fainted, had they not called to remembrance that fullness of
   days, in which the Church was to be perfectly restored. During the various
   storms, therefore, by which the Church was nearly overwhelmed, every
   believer, when shipwrecked, seized on this word as a plank, that by means of
   it he might be floated into the harbour. Yet it ought to be observed, that
   while the fullness of days began at the coming of Christ, it flows on in
   uninterrupted progress until he appear the second time for our salvation.
   (Hebrews 9:28.)

   That the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established This vision might
   be thought to wear the aspect of absurdity, not only because Zion was a
   little hill of no extraordinary height, just as if one should compare a
   handful of earth to huge mountains; but because he had but a little before
   predicted its destruction. How, then, could it be believed that Mount Zion,
   after having lost all her greatness, would again shine with such lustre as
   to draw upon her the eyes of all the nations? And yet she is extolled as if
   she hail been loftier than Olympus.” Let the Gentiles,” says Isaiah, “boast
   as much as they please of their lofty mountains; for they shall be nothing
   in comparison of that hill, though it be low and inconsiderable.” According
   to nature, this certainly was very improbable. What! shall Zion be hung up
   in the clouds? And therefore there can be no doubt that wicked men scoffed
   at this prediction; for ungodliness has always been ready to break forth
   against God.

   Now the peculiarity which I have noticed tended to weaken the belief of this
   prediction; for when Zion, after the destruction of the temple, had fallen
   into the deepest disgrace, how could she rise again so suddenly? And yet it
   was not in vain that Isaiah prophesied; for at length this hill was actually
   raised above all the mountains, because from it was heard the voice of God,
   and sounded through the whole world, that it might lift us up to heaven;
   because from it the heavenly majesty of God shone brightly; and lastly,
   because, being the sanctuary of God, it surpassed the whole world in lofty
   excellence.

   The use of this prophecy deserves our attention. It was, that Isaiah
   intended to bring consolation, which would support the minds of the people
   during the captivity; so that, although there should be no temple, and no
   sacrifices, and though all should be in ruins, still this hope would be
   cherished in the minds of the godly, and, amidst a condition so desolate and
   so shockingly ruinous, they would still reason thus: “The mountain of the
   Lord is indeed forsaken, but there he will yet have his habitation; and
   greater shall be the glory of this mountain than of all others.” To prevent
   them, therefore, from doubting that such would be the result, the Prophet
   has here, as it were, sketched a picture in which they might behold the
   glory of God; for although the mountain was still in existence, yet a
   disgraceful solitude made it almost an object of detestation, since it had
   lost its splendor in consequence of having been forsaken by God. But it was
   the duty of the pious to look not at those ruins, but at this vision.
   Moreover, the reason why he speaks in such lofty terms concerning the
   exaltation of Mount Zion is sufficiently evident from what follows; because
   thence proceeded the Gospel, in which the image of God shines. Other
   mountains might excel it in height; but as the glory of God has surpassing
   excellence, so the mountain in which he is manifested must also be highly
   distinguished. It was not, therefore, on her own account that he extolled
   Mount Zion, but in respect of her ornament, the splendor of which would be
   communicated to the whole world.

   3. And many people shall go In the former verse he had slightly noticed the
   reason why Mount Zion would hold so high a rank. It was because all nations
   would flow to it, as if the rivers were overflowing through the great
   abundance of waters. He now makes the same statement, and assigns the
   reason; for it might be asked why various nations flocked to it in crowds
   from distant lands. He says, therefore, that the desire of serving God was
   their motive.

   The word רבים, (rabbim,) many, implies a contrast; for it means that there
   will not be, as formerly, but one nation which devotes itself to the worship
   of the true God, but that those who formerly were strangers and foreigners
   (Ephesians 2:19) will come into the same agreement with them about religion;
   as if he had said that the Church, which had formerly been, as it were, shut
   up in a corner, would now be collected from every quarter. By the word many
   he meant various; for unquestionably he did not intend to weaken the force
   of what he had said a little before about all nations. Now, though this was
   never fulfilled, that the nations of the whole world, each of them leaving
   their native country, made a journey into Judea; yet, because the doctrine
   of the gospel, by which God hath gathered to himself a Church
   indiscriminately out of all nations, proceeded from Mount Zion, he justly
   says that they will come to it who having, with one consent of faith,
   embraced the covenant of eternal salvation, have been united into one
   Church. We must also observe the harmony between the figures of the law and
   that spiritual worship which began to be introduced at the coming of Christ.

   And shall say, Come By these words he first declares that the godly will be
   filled with such an ardent desire to spread the doctrines of religion, that
   every one not satisfied with his own calling and his personal knowledge will
   desire to draw others along with him. And indeed nothing could be more
   inconsistent with the nature of faith than that deadness which would lead a
   man to disregard his brethren, and to keep the light of knowledge choked up
   within his own breast. The greater the eminence above others which any man
   has received from his calling so much the more diligently ought he to labor
   to enlighten others.

   This points out to us also the ordinary method of collecting a Church, which
   is, by the outward voice of men; for though God might bring each person to
   himself by a secret influence, yet he employs the agency of men, that he may
   awaken in them an anxiety about the salvation of each other. By this method
   he likewise strengthens their mutual attachment, and puts to the test their
   willingness to receive instruction, when every one permits himself to be
   taught by others.

   Next Isaiah shows that those who take upon them the office of teaching and
   exhorting should not sit down and command others, but should join and walk
   along with them as companions; as we see that some men are very severe
   instructors, and eager to urge others forward, who yet do not move a step.
   But here believers, instead of addressing to their brethren the command, Go
   up, rather lead the way by their own example. This is the true method,
   therefore, of profitable teaching, when, by actually performing what we
   demand, we make it evident that we speak with sincerity and earnestness.

   And he will teach us in his ways [36] He shows, first, that God cannot be
   worshipped aright until we have been enlightened by doctrine; and, secondly,
   that God is the only teacher of the Church, on whose lips we ought to hang.
   Hence it follows that nothing is less acceptable to God than certain foolish
   and erring services which men call devotion and likewise, that though he
   employs the agency of men in teaching, still he reserves this as his own
   right, that they must utter nothing but his word. Had this rule been
   followed by those who called themselves teachers of the Church religion
   would not have been so shamefully corrupted by a wide and confused diversity
   of superstitions. Nor is it possible that we shall not be carried away into
   various errors, where we are tossed about by the opinions of men. Justly
   therefore, does Isaiah, when he claims for God alone the power and authority
   to teach the Church, shut the mouths of all mortals; so that the office of
   teaching is committed to pastors for no other purpose than that God alone
   may be heard there. Let those who wish to be reckoned ministers of Christ
   allow themselves to be regulated by this statement, that they may take
   nothing away from his authority.

   The Hebrew words ויורנו מדרכיו (veyorenu midderachaiv) may be literally
   rendered, he will teach us OF his ways; which means, “He will show us what
   his ways are,” or, he will set before us his ways for a perfect instruction.

   Next he adds obedience, we will walk in his paths, by which he points out
   both the object and the result; for the instruction which is delivered to us
   from the mouth of the Lord is not mere speculation, but directs the course
   of our life, and leads us to obey him. But we ought also to observe, that
   the commandments of God are called ways and paths, in order to inform us
   that they go miserably astray who turn aside from them in the smallest
   degree. Thus every kind of unlawful liberty is restrained, and all men, from
   the least even to the greatest, are enjoined to observe this rule of
   obedience, that they keep themselves within the limits of the word of God.

   For out of Zion shalt go forth the law This is an explanation of the former
   verse, in which he said that Mount Zion will be placed above all mountains;
   that is, that she will be raised to the highest pitch of honor, when she
   shall become the fountain of saving doctrine, which shall flow out over the
   whole world. He calls it the law; but we have elsewhere spoken of the
   derivation and meaning of this word; for תורה (torah) means instruction, and
   the most complete of all kinds of instruction is contained in the law. He
   speaks, therefore, after the manner of the prophets; for since the rule of
   godliness was to be obtained from the law, they were wont, by a figure of
   speech, (synecdoche,) in which a part is taken for the whole, to include
   under the word law all the instruction which God has given; just as under
   the word altar they include the whole worship of God.

   Now, since we know that this prediction was fulfilled, when the preaching of
   the gospel began at that very place, (for Christ first taught at Jerusalem,
   and afterwards his doctrine was spread throughout the whole world,) we must
   not take the word law in a limited sense; for at that time, as to its
   figures and bondage, it was rather abolished. (Luke 2:46; Mark 16:10;
   Ezekiel 47:1; Luke 24:47.) Hence we conclude that the term is applied,
   without limitation, to the word of God. And when the prophets say that
   waters will spring out of the temple to water the whole world, (Ezekiel
   47:1,) they express metaphorically what Isaiah lays down in plain language;
   namely, that the source of saving doctrine will be from that place; for out
   of it the apostles and other teachers spread the gospel through the whole
   world.

   We must observe the reason why the Prophet made these statements. It was,
   that he might fortify the godly against various changes, which otherwise, on
   manifold occasions, might have crushed their minds; and therefore it was of
   great importance to provide against offenses, and to fortify the minds of
   the godly. “Whatever may be the condition of your affairs, and though you
   should be oppressed by afflictions on all sides, still continue to cherish
   this assured hope, that the law will go forth out of Zion, and the word of
   the Lord from Jerusalem; for this is an infallible decree of God, which no
   diversity or change of events will make void.”

   How much the godly needed this consolation may be easily inferred from the
   course of events which immediately followed; for when Judea had been
   forsaken, the temple destroyed, the worship of Goal overturned, and the
   comely order of the Church utterly defaced while tyranny became more and
   more oppressive, it was natural that their minds should be discouraged, and
   that all hope should be thrown away. On the other hand, after the return of
   the Jews from Babylon, when dreadful superstitions gradually obtained
   prevalence, and the priests, instead of discharging their office in a lawful
   manner, grasped at wicked tyranny, what else could have occurred to the
   minds of the goodly than that religion had fallen into neglect, and that the
   worship of Goal was entirely laid aside, if they had not been supported by
   this promise? For there can be no doubt that this temptation, which arose
   out of internal vices, was more injurious than their banishment into
   Babylon. So long as they were exiles, they had at least prophets, by whose
   instruction they were encouraged; but in that state of corruption the good
   effect of instruction had been lost, and no regard was paid to religion or
   godliness. But by the aid of this prediction alone the Lord granted to them
   the support which they needed. For why had the law, which God appeared to
   have consecrated for himself in his own habitation, been thrown down and
   basely trampled under foot? Who, then, would have thought not only that it
   would have a place there, but that it would also reign in all foreign
   places, and in the most distant regions? On the other hand, the Prophet
   declares not only that the law will remain in its place, but that it will
   travel further; by which he means that it will not be confined within its
   former boundaries, for it will be proclaimed to the Gentiles without
   distinction.

   And undoubtedly this had very great authority and weight with the Apostles,
   when they knew that they were appointed to perform those things which are
   here promised. Otherwise they would never have had courage enough to venture
   to undertake the office, and, in short, would not have been able to endure
   the burden, especially when the whole world furiously opposed them. But they
   knew that he by whom this had been promised, and from whom they had received
   authority to deliver this message, would easily remove every obstacle. It
   ought also to be observed that we obtain from it a strong confirmation of
   our faith, when we learn that the doctrine of the gospel came forth out of
   Zion; because we thence conclude that it is not new, or lately sprung up,
   but that it is the eternal truth of God, of which a testimony had been given
   in all ages before it was brought to light.

   We also infer that it was necessary that all the ancient ceremonies should
   be abolished, and that a new form of teaching should be introduced, though
   the substance of the doctrine continue to be the same; for the law formerly
   proceeded out of Mount Sinai, (Exodus 19:20,) but now it proceeded out of
   Zion, and therefore it assumed a new form. Two things, therefore, must be
   observed; first, that the doctrine of God is the same, and always agrees
   with itself; that no one may charge God with changeableness, as if he were
   inconsistent; and though the law of the Lord be now the same that it ever
   was, yet it came out of Zion with a new garment; secondly, when ceremonies
   and shadows had been abolished, Christ was revealed, in whom the reality of
   them is perceived.

   4. And he shall judge among the nations He means that the doctrine will be
   like a king’s scepter, that God may rule among all nations; for, by a figure
   of speech in which a part is taken for the whole, the Hebrew word שפט,
   (shaphat,) to judge, means to govern or to reign. since, therefore, God had
   not taken more than one nation to be subject to his reign, the Prophet here
   shows that the boundaries of his kingdom will be enlarged, that he may rule
   over various nations. He likewise notices indirectly the difference between
   the kingdom of David, which was but a shadow, and this other kingdom, which
   would be far more excellent. At that time God ruled over his chosen people
   by the hand of David, but after the coming of Christ he began to reign by
   himself, that is, in the person of his only-begotten Son, who was truly God
   manifested in the flesh. (1 Timothy 3:16.) The prophets sometimes employ the
   name of David when they are speaking about the kingdom of Christ, and they
   do so with propriety, that is, with respect to his human nature; for the
   Redeemer had been promised to spring from that family. (Jeremiah 30:9;
   Ezekiel 34:23; 37:24.) But here the Prophet extols his divine majesty from
   which it is evident how much more excellent is the condition of the new
   Church than that of the ancient Church, since God hath revealed himself as
   King in his Son. And again he confirms the calling of the Gentiles, because
   Christ is not sent to the Jews only, that he may reign over them, but that
   he may hold his sway over the whole world.

   And shall rebuke many nations The word יכח (yakach) sometimes means to
   expostulate, sometimes to correct, and likewise to prepare; but the ordinary
   interpretation is most suitable to this passage, in which the Prophet speaks
   of the reformation of the Church. For we need correction, that we may learn
   to submit ourselves to God; because, in consequence of the obstinacy which
   belongs to our nature, we shall never make progress in the word of God, till
   we have been subdued by violence. Accordingly, Christ makes the beginning of
   preaching the gospel to be, that the world be reproved concerning sin. (John
   16:8.) That the doctrine may not be without profit, Isaiah shows that the
   stubbornness of our flesh must be subdued; and therefore he attributes to
   God the office of a reproving judge, that he may try our life, and, by
   condemning our vices, may effect a reformation of our morals. And, indeed,
   we see how little effect is produced by the gospel unless where that power
   of the Spirit is exercised which leads men to repentance.

   And they shall beat their swords into ploughshares He next mentions the
   beneficial result which will follow, when Christ shall have brought the
   Gentiles and the nations under his dominion. Nothing is more desirable than
   peace; but while all imagine that they desire it, every one disturbs it by
   the madness of his lusts; for pride, and covetousness, and ambition, lead
   men to rise up in cruelty against each other. Since, therefore, men are
   naturally led away by their evil passions to disturb society, Isaiah here
   promises the correction of this evil; for, as the gospel is the doctrine of
   reconciliation, (2 Corinthians 5:18,) which removes the enmity between us
   and God, so it brings men into peace and harmony with each other. The
   meaning amounts to this, that Christ’s people will be meek, and, laying
   aside fierceness, will be devoted to the pursuit of peace.

   This has been improperly limited by some commentators to the time when
   Christ was born; because at that time, after the battle of Actium, the
   temple of Janus [37] was closed, as appears from the histories. I readily
   admit that the universal peace which existed throughout the Roman empire, at
   the birth of Christ, was a token of that eternal peace which we enjoy in
   Christ. But the Prophet’s meaning was different. He meant that Christ makes
   such a reconciliation between God and men, that a comfortable state of peace
   exists among themselves, by putting an end to destructive wars. For if
   Christ be taken away, not only are we estranged from God, but we incessantly
   carry on open war with him, which is justly thrown back on our own heads;
   and the consequence is, that everything in the world is in disorder.

   Besides, Isaiah promises that, when the gospel shall be published, it will
   be an excellent remedy for putting an end to quarrels; and not only so, but
   that, when resentments have been laid aside, men will be disposed to assist
   each other. For he does not merely say, swords shall be broken in pieces,
   but they shall be turned into mattocks; by which he shows that there will be
   so great a change that, instead of annoying one another, and committing
   various acts of injustice, as they had formerly done, they will henceforth
   cultivate peace and friendship, and will employ their exertions for the
   common advantage of all; for mattocks and pruning-hooks are instruments
   adapted to agriculture, and are profitable and necessary for the life of
   man. He therefore shows that, when Christ shall reign, those who formerly
   were hurried along by the love of doing mischief, will afterwards contend
   with each other, in every possible way, by acts of kindness.

   Neither shall they practice war any more [38] The word למד (lamad) signifies
   either to be accustomed to, or to learn. But the meaning of the Prophet is
   plain enough, that they will not train themselves in destructive arts, and
   will not strive with each other in acts of cruelty and injustice, as they
   were formerly accustomed to do. Hence we infer that they have made little
   proficiency in the gospel, whose hearts have not been formed to meekness,
   and among whom there does not yet reign that brotherly love which leads men
   to perform kind offices to each other. But this cannot be done before the
   consciences have been brought into a state of peace with God; for we must
   begin there, in order that we may also be at peace with men.

   Some madmen torture this passage to promote anarchy, (anarchian) as if it
   took away from the Church entirely the right to use the sword, and bring it
   forward for condemning with great severity every kind of wars. For example,
   if a prince defend the people entrusted to him, and protect them against
   injustice, those people say, “It is unlawful for Christians to use the
   sword.” But it is easy to reply to this; for the Prophet speaks
   metaphorically about the kingdom of Christ, which leads men, through mutual
   kindness, to become reconciled to each other. The Scriptures frequently
   employ a metaphor, in which the thing signified is denoted by a sign; as in
   that passage,

   He who hath not a sword, let him buy one. (Luke 22:36.)

   Christ certainly did not intend to induce his followers to fight, but
   intimated that the time of war was at hand. 0n the other hand, we are told
   that swords shall cease to exist, or shall be beaten down to serve a
   different purpose, when hatred and fighting shall be at an end, and when
   they who formerly were at enmity shall be reconciled to each other.

   It may be objected that, in a state of harmony and peace, the sword will no
   longer be needed. I reply, that peace exists among us just as far as the
   kingly power of Christ is acknowledged, and that these two things have a
   mutual relation. Would that Christ reigned entirely in us! for then would
   peace also have its perfect influence. But since we are still widely distant
   from the perfection of that peaceful reign, we must always think of making
   progress; and it is excessive folly not to consider that the kingdom of
   Christ here is only beginning. Besides, God did not gather a Church — by
   which is meant an assembly of godly men — so as to be separate from others;
   but the good are always mixed with the bad; and not only so, but the good
   have not yet reached the goal, and are widely distant from that perfection
   which is required from them. The fulfillment of this prophecy, therefore, in
   its full extent, must not be looked for on earth. It is enough, if we
   experience the beginning, and if, being reconciled to God through Christ, we
   cultivate mutual friendship, and abstain from doing harm to any one.

   5. O house of Jacob He sharply rebukes the Jews by holding out the example
   of the Gentiles; for since, in consequence of the spread of his kingdom, God
   would give law to all nations from Mount Zion, so as to ingraft them into
   the body of his chosen people, nothing could be more strange than that the
   house of Jacob should revolt from him, and that, when strangers were drawing
   near, the members of the household, who ought to have been foremost, should
   withdraw. This is, therefore, not only an exceedingly vehement exhortation,
   but also a heavy and sharp complaint. Accordingly, he addresses them by an
   honorable name, saying, O house of Jacob, come; that he may express more
   strongly their ingratitude, which appeared in twist that though they were in
   the Church God’s first-born, they utterly renounced that right of
   inheritance which they held in common with others.

   There is, therefore, an implied comparison, as if he had said, “Lo, the
   Gentiles flow together to Mount Zion, and every one exhorts and urges on his
   neighbor; they submit to receive instruction from God, and to be reproved by
   him and why do you, O Israelites, you who are the inheritance of God, why do
   you draw back? Shall the Gentiles submit to God, and shall you refuse to
   acknowledge his authority? Has so great a light been kindled in every part
   of the world, and shall you not be enlightened by it? Shall so many waters
   flow, and will you not drink? What madness is this, that when the Gentiles
   run so eagerly, you sit still in idleness?”

   And we will walk in the light of the Lord When he adds we will walk, he
   means that the light is placed before their feet, but that they disregard it
   by shutting their eyes, and even extinguish it as far as lies in their
   power; and yet its brightness draws to it distant nations.

   6. Surely thou hast forsaken thy people In these words he now plainly
   charges the people with having a perverse disposition; and he does this not
   in direct terms, but, as it were, bursting into astonishment, he suddenly
   breaks off his discourse, and, turning to God, exclaims, “Why should I waste
   words on a nation grown desperate, which thou, O Lord, hast justly rejected,
   because, giving itself up to idolatrous practices, it has treacherously
   departed from thy word?”

   It may also be a prediction of punishment still future which he foresaw by
   the Spirit; as if he had said, That it was not wonderful if ruin and
   desolation were about to overtake Mount Zion on account of the great crimes
   of the nation. His design may have been, that so mournful a spectacle might
   not be the occasion of despair, and that those who were capable of being
   cured might be moved by repentance, and turn to God ere this calamity
   arrived. For while the prophets are heralds of God’s judgments, and threaten
   vengeance against the ungodly, they usually endeavor, at the same time, to
   bring as many as they can to some kind of repentance. The servants of God
   ought never to lay aside this disposition, which would lead them to endeavor
   to do good even to the reprobate, if that were possible. (2 Timothy 2:25.)

   This passage ought to yield abundant consolation to godly teachers; for when
   we think that we are speaking to the deaf, we become faint, and are tempted
   to give up all exertion, and to say, “What am I about? I am beating the
   air.” Yet the Prophet does not cease to exhort those in whom he perceived no
   ground of comfortable hope; and while he stands like one astonished at this
   destruction of the people, he nevertheless addresses those whom he sees
   going to ruin. At the same time we must observe that, however obstinate the
   ungodly may be, we must pronounce vengeance against them; and though they
   refuse and gnaw the bridle, yet, that they may be left without excuse, we
   must always summon them to the judgment-seat of God.

   I consider the כי (ki) to mean surely; [39] for this signification is more
   suitable, because he breaks off the exhortation which he had begun, and
   addresses God. And when he again calls them the house of Jacob, this is
   added for the purpose of imparting greater vehemence, as is usually done in
   a moving discourse; as if he had said, “This holy nation, which God had
   chosen, is now forsaken.”

   Because they are replenished from the East As the Hebrew word קדם (kadem)
   sometimes denotes the east, and sometimes antiquity, it may be interpreted
   to mean that they were filled with ancient manners; because they had again
   brought into use those superstitions by which the land of Canaan was
   formerly infected. For we know that the prophets often reproach the nation
   of Israel with resembling the Canaanites more than they resembled Abraham
   and the rest of the holy fathers. And, indeed, because they had been brought
   into the possession of this land, when the ancient inhabitants had been
   driven out, in order that it might be cleansed from its pollution, and
   afterwards devoted to holiness, the refusal to change their wicked customs
   involved a twofold ingratitude. But as the other meaning — from the East —
   has been more generally adopted, I have chosen to retain it; though even in
   this view the commentators differ, for some consider the letter מ (mem) to
   denote comparison, and מקדם (mikkedem) to denote more than the inhabitants
   of thee East, while others adopt the simpler, and, as I think, the more
   correct view, that they were filled with the east, that is, with the vices
   which they had contracted from that quarter; for wicked imitation is
   amazingly contagious, and nothing is more natural than that corruptions
   should glide from one place into another more distant.

   And with divinations, like the Philistines This clause explains the former
   more fully; for under divinations he includes, by synecdoche, the impostures
   of Satan to which heathen nations were addicted. The Prophet therefore means
   that they now differ in no respect from the Philistines, though God had
   separated them from that people by the privilege of his adoption; and this
   was sufficient to bring upon them the severest condemnation, that they had
   forgotten their calling, and polluted themselves with the corrupted and
   ungodly customs of the Gentiles. Hence it appears that to sin by the example
   of another contributes nothing to alleviate the guilt.

   And have delighted in the children of strangers The last part of the verse
   is interpreted in various ways; because the phrase, the children of
   strangers, is viewed by some metaphorically, as denoting laws and customs;
   while others regard them as referring to marriages; because, by marrying
   indiscriminately women of foreign extraction, they had mingled their seed,
   so that there were many illegitimate children. Jerome gives a harsher
   exposition, that they polluted themselves by wicked lusts contrary to
   nature. For my own part, I have no doubt that by the children of strangers
   are meant foreign nations, and not figuratively the laws themselves. The
   crime charged against them by the Prophet therefore is, that, by endeavoring
   to please the Gentiles, they entangled themselves in their vices, and thus
   preferred not only mortal men, but wicked men, to God. He says that they
   delighted, because the desire or delight of wicked imitation effaced from
   their hearts the love of God and of sound doctrine.

   7. Their land is filled with silver and gold We must attend to the order
   which the Prophet here observes; for he now enumerates the reasons why the
   Lord rejected his people. In the former verse he began with divinations and
   the customs of strangers; he now comes down to silver and gold; and
   afterwards he will speak of horses and chariots. There can be no doubt that,
   having first condemned idolatry, he reproves them, secondly, for
   covetousness, and, thirdly, for sinful trust, when men depart from God, and
   contrive for themselves vain grounds of confidence. It was not a thing in
   itself to be condemned, that this nation had abundance of gold and silver;
   but because they burned with insatiable covetousness, and trusted to horses
   and chariots, he justly reproves them.

   The Hebrew particle ו (vau) is here viewed by some as denoting a contrast,
   supposing the meaning to be, and yet their land is filled with silver and
   gold. This would show the ingratitude of the people to be the greater,
   because, though they enjoyed an abundance of all good things, they betook
   themselves, as if their case had been desperate, to magical arts and to
   idols, which is much less excusable than if they had fled to them during
   their adversity; because, though they were fed to the full with an abundance
   of good things, yet they shook off the yoke of God. In this way he would
   aggravate the criminality of a nation that fled to idols freely and of their
   own accord, even though they were luxuriating in their abundance. But I do
   not receive this interpretation, for I think it too far-fetched. On the
   contrary, he includes in one continued enumeration the vices with which that
   nation was chargeable, covetousness, sinful confidence, and idolatry.
   Accordingly, though the opinion of those who explain it as a contrast be a
   true opinion, it does not harmonize with this passage.

   And there is no end of their treasures Isaiah proceeds to illustrate more
   clearly and forcibly what he has formerly said; for, though it be not in
   itself sinful or blamable that a person should possess gold or silver,
   provided that he make a proper use of it, he properly launches out against
   that wicked desire and mad eagerness to accumulate money, which is most
   detestable. He says that there is no end, because their eagerness is
   insatiable, and goes beyond the bounds of nature. The same opinion must be
   formed about horses and chariots, for false confidence is here reproved. To
   prevent this evil, the Lord had forbidden kings to gather together a great
   multitude of horses or chariots, lest, trusting to them, they should cause
   the people to return to Egypt. (Deuteronomy 17:16.) since, therefore, it is
   difficult for men to have resources of this kind in abundance without being
   also lifted up with pride, it was the will of God that his people should not
   have them at all, or at least should be satisfied with a moderate share.

   8. Their land is also full of idols He repeats what he had already noticed
   about idolatry, but enters into it more fully; and, having first mentioned
   the subject itself, he next speaks of the use of it, which almost always
   follows. It seldom happens that we do not abuse idols when they are set up
   among us, for it is as when fire has been applied to a pile of wood, which
   must immediately burn; and wood is not more ready to be set on fire than we
   are to follow superstition. In the Hebrew language idols are very properly
   denominated by the word אלילים, (elilim) which the Prophet here employs, for
   they are empty things, and of no value. [40] And undoubtedly the Holy Spirit
   intended by this word to reprove the madness of men who imagined that, by
   relying on such inventions, they approached nearer to God; as the papists of
   the present day, in order to plead for the usefulness of their idols, boast
   that they are the books of the unlearned: but we ought rather to believe the
   testimony of the Holy Spirit; and even the facts themselves plainly show
   what advantage the unlearned derive from them; for, led away by gross
   fancies, they imagine to themselves earthly and carnal gods. Hence Jeremiah
   justly declares not only that idols are useless, but that they are teachers
   of falsehood and lies. (Jeremiah 10:14.)

   And they have bowed down [41] before the work of their own hands We must
   also attend to this description, in which the Prophet relates that the
   people bowed down before the works of their own hands; for how stupid was it
   that men should not only worship wood and stone instead of God, but should
   honor their own workmanship with the appellation of Deity, which they cannot
   bestow on themselves! It is truly shocking and monstrous that, as soon as a
   block of wood which lay neglected has received the finishing-stroke from a
   mortal man, he presently worships it as if it had been made a God. Although
   the Prophet addresses the ancient people, the same reasoning applies to the
   papists, who acknowledge no majesty of God but in the works of their own
   hands.

   Before that which their own fingers have made The repetition is emphatic,
   and to the hands he adds the fingers, in order to exhibit more strongly the
   grossness of the crime. We must also attend to the mode of expression, which
   denotes adoration by means of outward gesture; not that it is unlawful among
   men to bend the knee or the head for the sake of paying public respect, but
   because he who bows down before an idol professes to render divine worship.
   Consequently, the silly talk of papists about that adoration which they call
   Dulia [42] (douleia) is a childish evasion; for when the Prophet speaks of
   religious worship he condemns universally every token of homage. [43]

   9. And the mean man boweth down Some commentators read these words in
   immediate connection with what goes before, as if the Prophet were
   proceeding still farther to show the extent of their criminality. If we
   adopt this meaning, then by the mean man and the mighty man we must
   understand all the Israelites; as if the Prophet said that no man is pure
   and free from this stain. Others not improperly are of opinion that he
   repeats in other words what he had said about punishment, and that in this
   way he expresses the destruction which awaits a people forsaken by God. This
   will agree best with the scope of the passage, that all, both small and
   great, will speedily be overtaken by the ruin which lays low a whole nation;
   because amidst so great wickedness there was no reason to expect deliverance
   from the vengeance of God.

   Besides, in those two expressions, bow down and humble, there is a rapid
   allusion to that bowing down which he mentioned a little before, as if he
   had said, “They have bowed themselves down before idols, therefore God will
   lay them low under a vast weight of calamities.” Yet I have no doubt that he
   likewise attacks their pride; for it was difficult to believe that a nation
   so abundantly supplied with wealth would, in a short period, be overwhelmed
   by calamities.

   Therefore forgive them not; or, thou wilt not forgive them. This latter
   clause is explained in two ways, though it does not much affect the real
   meaning which of the views you adopt; for the design of the Prophet is to
   show that towards such obstinate men God will not be appeased. If it be
   taken in the future tense, thou wilt not forgive them, the meaning will be
   more easily brought out; but if it be taken as a prayer, forgive them not,
   it will amount to the same thing; for we know that, when the prophets,
   inflamed by zeal for God, pour out prayers as under the dictation of the
   Spirit, they threaten just punishment against the ungodly: and we need not
   wonder that the Prophets offended by crimes so numerous and so shocking,
   kindles into such warmth that he consigns his countrymen to destruction; for
   nothing was more dear to him than the sacred honor of God. But at the same
   time it must be understood that he makes a tacit reservation of a remnant;
   because he does not here speak of every individual, but of the body of the
   people, which was so deeply infected by its vices that there was no hope of
   cure; otherwise it would have been unreasonable to give exhortations to
   repentance, and to hold out the hope of pardon to men who were incurable and
   thoroughly obstinate. The meaning therefore amounts to this, that the
   restoration of a new Church must not be expected till God has executed his
   judgments by destroying the temple.

   10. Enter into the rock As ungodly men, for the most part, lull themselves
   in excessive indifference about God’s threatenings, it is customary with the
   prophets, when they threaten sinners, with the view of producing terror, to
   add lively descriptions, as if for the purpose of bringing those matters
   under the immediate view of men. This is the reason why the Prophet now bids
   despisers of God enter into the rocks and caves, to conceal themselves under
   ground. And, first, he means that the judgment of God is more to be dreaded
   than a thousand deaths, and that for the sake of escaping that judgment it
   were to be wished that they should go down into the grave. But, by
   addressing men themselves, he gives a more impressive illustration of the
   weight of the divine vengeance.

   From the dread of the LORD, and from the glory of his majesty Although by
   the dread of God he means the scourges by which God would take vengeance on
   a wicked people, yet it is not without good reason that he immediately adds,
   his magnificent glory; as if he had said, “It is according to the measure of
   his own glory that God ought to be dreaded by the ungodly, in whose
   destruction he displays his boundless power.” But though the ungodly are not
   reformed or made to bow down by any punishment, they are forced to tremble
   when they feel the presence of the wrath of God. In quite a different manner
   do punishments instruct the elect to fear God; for, in consequence of being
   subdued by strokes, they learn to bear the yoke. Isaiah therefore declares
   that the glory of God will be more illustriously displayed when he shall
   come forth as a righteous judge; for when he conceals himself he is not
   observed, and they scarcely think of his existence.

   Hence let pastors learn how they ought to deal with drowsy consciences,
   which must be awakened by the judgment of God, that they may regard that
   judgment with actual dread. Though we often sing to the deaf, yet terror
   pierces even hearts of iron, so that they are without excuse. Frequently,
   too, it happens that some are healed; and in like manner believers gain
   advantage from it, when they learn the terrific forms of punishment which
   await the ungodly and reprobate.

   11 The loftiness of the looks of man [44] shall be humbled Wicked men,
   relying on the wealth and quietness and prosperity which they at present
   enjoy, regard the threatenings of the Prophets with haughty disdain, and
   thus harden their hearts against God, and are even led to indulge in
   wantonness. 0n this account, Isaiah here determines, as we have already
   said, to repress their arrogance; as if he had said, “The time will come
   when this pride of yours, by which you vainly and madly contend against God,
   shall be brought down.” For wicked men, though they pretend to have some
   religion, are yet so daring that they raze against God himself, and imagine
   that they are higher than God. On the other hand, by thundering against
   them, he lays low their haughtiness, that he alone may be exalted.

   And this is what we have already said, that when crimes are allowed to pass
   unpunished, it is a sort of cloud held before our eyes, which hinders us
   from beholding the glory of the Lord; but when he takes vengeance on men’s
   transgressions, his glory shines forth illustriously. This is also the
   reason which Solomon assigns why wicked men are hardened against God: it is
   because they think that bad and good men are equally happy in this world.

   Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore
   the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil, (Ecclesiastes
   8:11;)

   for all of them grow more insolent, and are more and more blinded.

   But here he shows that, when proud men shall have been brought to their
   proper level, there will be nothing to prevent God from being acknowledged
   to be what he is. It was indeed highly becoming that the people should, of
   their own accord, humbly behold the greatness of God, under whose shadow
   they were defended; and for this purpose the posterity of Abraham was so
   remarkably distinguished by numerous blessings, that it might be the mirror
   of the glory and holiness of God. Isaiah now threatens that, because the
   Jews have risen up against him, God will employ a new method of exalting his
   glory, that is, by their destruction. When he speaks of lofty looks and
   loftiness, he employs an outward gesture to denote the inward pride of the
   mind; for sinful confidence almost always betrays, by the very looks, a
   contempt of God and of men. In the same sense does David describe the man
   whose eyes are lofty. (Psalm 101:5.)

   12. For the day of the LORD of hosts will be on every one that is proud and
   lofty In this verse he confirms the same thing more fully and from the
   vehement manner in which he heaps up words, we may easily infer how bold was
   the wickedness which at that time abounded. But we shall not wonder that he
   labors so hard to subdue the arrogance of men, if we consider how difficult
   it is to bend the stubbornness of those who, relying on their wealth, are
   afraid of nothing, and who suppose that the design of their elevated rank
   is, that whatever they do shall pass unpunished. For even at the present day
   we experience how sensitive and passionate those men are who make arrogant
   claims for themselves, and how obstinately they reject all admonitions. And
   this is also the reason why the Prophet uses sharp language against theme
   instead of threatening vengeance, in general terms, against the whole
   nation.

   Yet it is not against the princes alone, whose high rank raised them far
   above other men, that his invectives are launched; for not only they, but
   even persons of the lowest rank, often swell with pride; and, as the common
   proverb runs, “Every man carries within him the heart of a king.” In like
   manner, we find that even the basest persons, if you do but prick them with
   a pill, vomit out the poison of intolerable arrogance. Since, therefore,
   this vice was so widely spread, Isaiah includes both the highest and the
   lowest of the people, declaring that in proportion to the forbearance which
   God had exercised toward them is the severity of the impending judgment;
   for, in consequence of their abundance, their hearts had swollen to
   fierceness.

   Moreover, though the letter ל, (lamed,) [45] which is the sign of the dative
   case, be sometimes superfluous, yet in this passage it retains its force;
   for it would appear that Isaiah appoints a fixed day, as usually happens in
   judicial trials. Accordingly, I interpret it to mean that God himself hath
   previously appointed a day on which proud men must be summoned to the
   judgment-seat of God, to receive a sentence of condemnation.

   We may also learn from these words that God avows himself to be the enemy of
   all the proud. This appointing of a day is therefore to the same effect as
   if God declared that he cannot endure men wickedly to indulge in pride, and
   that they who unduly exalt themselves cannot escape being crushed by his
   hand. And if our minds were sincerely convinced of this, who would not abhor
   pride, which provokes the anger of God against us? If any person choose
   rather to interpret (superbum et elatum) proud and lofty as in the neuter
   gender, meaning that which is proud and lofty, we must understand them to
   refer to the fortresses, bulwarks, and fortifications; but the rules of
   grammar do not admit of their being applied in any other way than to
   persons.

   13. Upon all the cedars of Lebanon The allegory which is here introduced,
   about the trees of Lebanon and the lofty mountains, instead of obscuring,
   sheds light on the subject; for however high may be the wishes or endeavors
   of a mortal man, yet he will never be able to reach the height of the
   mountains and the lofty trees, which it is as easy for God to throw down as
   for a breath of wind to scatter the fallen leaves. Accordingly, in what may
   be called a painting, Isaiah shows to proud men how idle and foolish they
   are in believing that their elevation will be their defense. There is also
   an implied exaggeration, which must have contributed to heighten the terror.
   It cannot be supposed that God is actually angry with the mountains and
   trees, or that, having changed his purpose, he throws down what he has built
   up; but in the harmless creatures Isaiah holds out to view the judgment of
   God, in order more fully to convince wicked and unprincipled men that their
   presumption will not pass unpunished. Thus we see the reason why he mixes up
   the metaphors of cedars, oaks, and mountains

   15. And upon every lofty tower What he adds about towers and walls is not
   figurative or metaphorical. We know how men, when they think that they are
   well defended, congratulate themselves that they no longer need the
   assistance of God. Accordingly, under the name of towers and walls Isaiah
   mentions the object of false confidence; for if any place seem to be
   impregnable, there do irreligious men build their nest, that they may look
   down from it on heaven and earth; for they imagine that they are placed
   beyond all the uncertainties of fortune. Isaiah therefore threatens that,
   when it shall please God to humble men, he will throw down all the defenses
   on which they place a false confidence. And although those things are not in
   themselves evil, yet because they receive too large a share of our
   attention, it is with great propriety that Isaiah sharpens his pen against
   them.

   To the same purpose is what he says about horses and chariots; for, as we
   are told by Micah, because men have improperly relied on earthly riches,
   they must be altogether deprived of them, that they may owe this
   preservation entirely to the hand of God. (Micah 5:10.) A little before, he
   had reproved them for the abundance of their horses (verse 7); he now
   addresses them about the judgment of God, and warns them that, as the only
   possible way of gaining the favor of God, he must take from the Jews all
   their horsemen, that they may no longer place sinful reliance on earthly
   support.

   16. And upon all ships of Tarshish Tarshish was unquestionably the Hebrew
   name for Cilicia; and as the Jews had much traffic with that nation,
   Scripture frequently mentions the ships of Tarshish, which are so called,
   because they sailed on that sea. Navigation cannot, indeed, be condemned on
   its own account; for, by importing and exporting articles of merchandise, it
   is of great advantage to mankind. Nor can any fault be found with this mode
   of intercourse between nations; for it is the will of God that the whole
   human race should be joined together by, mutual acts of kindness. But as it
   most frequently happens that abundance leads to pride and cruelty, Isaiah
   reproves this kind of merchandise, which was the chief source of the wealth
   of the land. Besides, in that merchandise which is carried on with distant
   and foreign nations, there is often a large amount of tricks and dishonesty,
   and no limit set to the desire of gain. First, then, Isaiah means that the
   Jews will be deprived of riches, that they may learn to submit to God.
   Secondly, he describes covetousness and unlawful gains by means of a sign,
   as if one were to express murder by holding out a bloody sword.

   And upon elegant pictures This second part of the verse shows still more
   clearly that the Prophet condemns navigation, which had brought many
   corruptions into the land. It is too frequent and common that riches are
   followed by luxury, effeminacy, and a superfluity of pleasures, which we
   commonly see in wealthy countries and commercial cities; for those who trade
   by sea in distant countries are not satisfied with the commodities obtained
   at home, but carry away new luxuries which were formerly unknown. Since,
   therefore, wealth is usually the mother of superfluity, the Prophet here
   mentions costly furniture, as if he had said that the Jews, by adorning
   their houses at great expense, draw down upon themselves the judgment of
   God; for he employs the word pictures, by a well-known figure of speech, to
   denote rich tapestry, and the productions of Phrygia, and vessels framed
   with consummate skill

   It is certain that the manners of men are corrupted, when they eagerly
   pursue, in every direction, superfluous enjoyments And we see how
   destruction was brought on the Roman Empire by delicacies of this nature;
   for before they traveled into Greece, the greatest moderation prevailed
   among them; and no sooner had Asia been vanquished than they began to grow
   soft and effeminate; and when their eyes were dazzled by pictures,
   furniture, precious stones, and tapestry and their nostrils regaled by
   ointments and perfumes, all their senses were immediately overpowered, and,
   by imitating the luxury of the East as a higher form of civilization, they
   began gradually to indulge in every kind of debauchery.

   17. And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down The Prophet declares that
   he had his eye on men, when he described the various kinds of loftiness; for
   God is not displeased saith the steep mountains or tall cedars, which he
   created, but informs us that the whole evil lies in men, who vainly trust to
   what is high and lofty. It may be objected, that it frequently happens that
   wicked men are not rendered more humble by chastisement, but, on the
   contrary, become more fierce and obstinate, as is evident from the case of
   Pharaohs whose hardness of heart no plagues could subdue, (Exodus 8:15, and
   9:34;) and consequently that what the Prophet here threatens does not always
   take place. I reply, he does not describe the effect of chastisement, as if
   God bent rebellious men to obey hills; but the meaning of this passage is,
   that, although the hearts of the reprobate be not changed, yet the Lord will
   not cease to inflict punishment upon them, till their haughtiness and
   presumption are brought low. For, trusting to their wealth and
   fortifications, they congratulate themselves, as we have said, on their
   safety, and do not fear God. But whatever may be the nature of their
   defenses, the Lord will easily subdue and lay them low, and that not only by
   one or another chastisement, but by chastisements so numerous and so severe,
   that they will at length be beaten down and subdued, will cease to rise up
   against him, and will acknowledge that they gain nothing by their insolence
   and presumption. The next clause, and the LORD alone shall be exalted, has
   been already explained.

   18 And the idols he will utterly abolish As he had formerly, in his reproof,
   joined idolatry with luxury and covetousness, and other views; so he now
   joins them in the threatening of punishment.

   19. And they shall enter into the holes of the rocks He had formerly used
   other words when addressing them in the second person, Enter into the rock,
   (verse 10,) that he might inflict a severer stroke on their minds. But now
   he declares what they will do, and says that they must enter; and hence it
   is evident that the former statement was not an exhortation, but a severe
   denunciation of the wrath of God, in order to terrify wicked and obstinate
   men, who despise all warnings and all threatenings.

   From the presence of the terror of Jehovah, and from the glory of his
   majesty What he adds about the terror of God must be understood to mean that
   terror which was thrown into them by the Chaldeans and Assyrians, whose hand
   he called a little before, and now also calls, the glory of God for God
   employed their agency to chastise his people. Although they were wicked and
   treacherous, yet they promoted the glory of God; for even the devil himself
   contributes in some way to the glory of God, though contrary to his wish.
   Thus he speaks of the Assyrians and Chaldeans, because in the punishments
   which the Lord will inflict on the Jews by their agency we may behold his
   glory

   The same thing is confirmed by the word Arise, which means to go before the
   judgment-seat. In the phrase which immediately follows, לערץ הארף, (laarotz
   haaretz,) to shake terribly the earth, there is an elegant allusion or play
   on words, which can hardly be conveyed in any other language. [46] He says
   that the Lord ariseth, because he appears to sleep so long as he delays his
   judgments. But he ariseth, when he comes forth as a judge to inflict
   punishments on the wicked; so as to make it evident to men that nothing
   escapes the knowledge, or is hidden from the eyes, of Him who permits no
   crime to pass unpunished.

   20. In that day a man will cast away his idols Idolaters are amazingly
   delighted with their own superstitions and ungodly worship; for although
   they abound in enormities and crimes, still they betake themselves to this
   refuge, that they imagine that their worship appeases God. Just as in the
   present day, if we should represent the crimes and lawless passions of every
   kind which abound among the papists, they certainly will not be able to deny
   our statements, but will flatter themselves on this ground, that they have a
   plausible form of worship, and will believe that this vail covers all their
   crimes. Accordingly, the Prophet deprives idolaters of this cloak, and
   threatens that they will no longer be able to conceal their pollution; for
   the Lord will compel them to throw away their idols, that they may
   acknowledge that they had no good reason for placing their hope and
   confidence in them.

   In short, they will be ashamed of their foolishness; for in prosperity they
   think that they enjoy the favor of God, as if he showed that he takes
   delight in their worship; and they cannot be convinced to the contrary,
   until God actually make evident how greatly he abhors them. It is only when
   they are brought into adversity that they begin to acknowledge their
   wickedness, as Hosea strikingly illustrates by comparing them to whores, who
   do not acknowledge their wickedness so long as they make gain, and live in
   splendor, but who, when they are deprived of those enjoyments, and forsaken
   by their lovers, begin to think of their wretchedness and disgrace, and
   enter into the way of repentance, of which they had never thought while they
   enjoyed luxury. (Hosea 2:5.) The same thing almost always happens with
   idolaters, who are not ashamed of their wickedness, so as to cast away their
   idols, until they have been visited by very sore distress, and made almost
   to think that they are ruined.

   Which they made; that is, which were made for them by the agency of workmen.
   Nor was this all unnecessary addition; for he means that pretended gods are
   not entitled to adoration: and what sort of gods can they be that have been
   made by men, seeing that God exists from himself, and never had a beginning?
   It is therefore highly foolish, and contrary to reason, that men should
   worship the work of their own hands. So then by this expression, he
   aggravates their criminality, that idols, though they are composed of gold
   or silver, or some other perishable material, and have been manufactured by
   men, are yet worshipped instead of God; and at the same time he states the
   reason why they are displeasing to God: it is, because they are worshipped.
   On what pretense will the papists now excuse their ungodliness? for they
   cannot deny that they render adoration to images; and wherever such worship
   is performed, there ungodliness is clearly proved.

   Into the holes of the moles and of the bats By the holes of the moles he
   means any filthy places in which they are disgracefully concealed.

   21. And they shall enter into the clefts of the rocks This repetition is not
   superfluous, though Isaiah again employs the same words which he had lately
   used; for what is so difficult as to impress on the minds of men sincere
   fear of God? Nor is it only in hypocrites that we perceive this, but in
   ourselves, if we bestow careful attention; for how many things are presented
   to us by which our minds ought to be deeply affected, and yet we are
   scarcely moved! More especially, it was necessary that this judgment of God
   should be earnestly placed before hypocrites, who took delight in
   wickedness. But now he points out the severity of God’s vengeance by this
   consideration, that the ungodly choose rather to be swallowed up by the
   deepest gulfs than to come under the eye of God. This, too, is the passage
   from which Christ borrowed the threatening which he pronounces on the Jews,

   In that day shall they say to the mountains cover us; and to the hills, Hide
   us. (Luke 23:30.)

   22 Cease therefore from man These words are clearly connected with what goes
   before, and have been improperly separated from them by some interpreters.
   For Isaiah, after having addressed the ungodly in threatenings concerning
   the judgment of God, exhorts them to refrain from deluding themselves by
   groundless confidence; as if he had said, “I see that you are blinded and
   intoxicated by false hope, so that no argument can prevail with you; and
   this you do, because you claim too much for yourselves. But man is nothing;
   and you have to do with God, who can reduce the whole world to nothing by a
   single act of his will.”

   Whose breath is in his nostrils The former part of the verse is explained in
   various ways; for some interpret it as referring to Christ, and view the
   word רוח, (ruach,) which we render breath, as denoting violence, by a
   comparison which is frequently used in other parts of Scripture; [47] and
   the nostril as denoting anger, because the outward sign of anger is in the
   nostrils. They bring out the meaning in this manner: “Beware of provoking
   the anger of Christ.” [48] But if we examine the passage closely, that
   exposition will be found to be at variance with the meaning of the words.

   Others understand it as relating to men in general, but explain it by that
   saving, Fear not them who kill the body. (Matthew 10:28.) But neither can
   this interpretation be admitted, which does not agree either with the time
   or the occasion, since there was no reason for dissuading them from the fear
   of men. But, as I have already said, the context will quickly remove all
   doubt; for the commencement of the following chapter clearly explains and
   confirms what is here stated; and he who made this division has improperly
   separated those things which ought to have been joined together. For the
   Prophet is about to add, “The Lord will take from you those things which so
   highly elevate your minds, and put you in such high spirits. Your confidence
   is foolish and groundless. “Such is the connection of what he now says,
   “Cease therefore from man, whose breath is in his nostrils.”

   But first we must see what is meant by breath in the nostril. It denotes
   human weakness, or, that the life of man is like a breath, which immediately
   vanishes away. And as David says,

   “If the Lord take away the breath, man returns to the dust.”
   (Psalm 104:29.)

   Again:

   “His breath will go out, and he will return to his earth.”
   (Psalm 146:4.)

   And again:

   “They are flesh, a breath that passeth away and cometh not again.” (Psalm
   78:39.)

   Since, therefore, nothing is more weak or frail than our life, what means
   that confidence, as if our strength were deeply rooted? We ought therefore
   to cease from man; that is, we ought to lay aside groundless confidence;
   because man has his breath in his nostril, for when his breath goes out, he
   is immediately dissolved like water. We speak here of the breath of life,
   for nothing is more frail.

   Besides, when we are forbidden to place confidence in men, let us begin with
   ourselves; that is, let us not in any respect trust to our own wisdom or
   industry. Secondly, let us not depend on the aid of man, or on any creature;
   but let us place our whole confidence in the Lord. Cursed. says Jeremiah, is
   he who trusteth in man, and who placeth his strength and his aid in flesh,
   that is, in outward resources. (Jeremiah 17:5.)

   For wherein is he to be accounted of? This is the true method of repressing
   haughtiness. Nothing is left to men on which they ought to congratulate
   themselves; for the meaning is as if the Prophet had said that the whole
   glory of the flesh is of no value. It ought also to be observed that this is
   spoken comparatively, in order to inform us, that if there be in us anything
   excellent, it is not our own, but is held by us at the will of another. We
   know that God has adorned the human race with gifts which ought not to be
   despised. We know, also, that some excel others; but as the greater part of
   men neglect God, and flatter themselves beyond measure; and as irreligious
   men go so far as to think that they are more than gods, Isaiah wisely
   separates men from God, which the Holy Spirit also does in many other parts
   of Scripture: for when we look at them in themselves, we perceive more fully
   the frail, and fading, and transitory nature of their condition.
   Accordingly, as soon as men begin to make the smallest claim for themselves,
   they ought to have an opportunity of perceiving their vanity, that they may
   acknowledge themselves to be nothing. This single expression throws down the
   pompous applauses of free-will and merits, by which papists extol themselves
   in opposition to the grace of God. That intoxicated self-love, in which
   irreligious men indulge, is also shaken off. Lastly, we are brought back to
   God, the Author of every blessing, that we may not suppose that anything
   excellent is to be found but in hilly for he has not received what is due to
   hilly until the world has been stripped of all wisdom, and strength, and
   righteousness, and, in a word, of all praise.
     _________________________________________________________________

   [35] In the last days. — Eng. Ver.

   [36] And he will teach us his ways. — Eng. Ver.

   [37] The temple of Janus was built by Numa Pompilius, whose wise and
   peaceful administration contrasts strongly with the bloody and ferocious
   wars by which many of the succeeding emperors endeavored to make themselves
   illustrious. It was expressly intended by its founder that this temple
   should repress the natural fierceness of the people by discouraging warlike
   operations. For this purpose the opening or shutting of its doors was made
   to indicate whether the Roman empire was in a condition of war or peace with
   the surrounding states. When war raged on all sides, all its doors stood
   open by night and by day; and the shutting of any one of them declared, that
   in that direction towards which it looked peace had been restored. Livy
   tells us, that so remarkable an event as the entire shutting up of this
   temple, which proclaimed that universal peace existed throughout the empire,
   had occurred but thrice during the long period of seven hundred years; once
   under the reign of Numa, next, during the consulship of Titus Manlius, and
   lastly, after the battle of Actium, in which the Emperor Augustus gained a
   splendid naval victory over Mark Antony and Cleopatra, queen of Egypt. (Liv.
   1:19.) Historians have fixed the date of the latter event with extraordinary
   precision; and, while their only object was to pronounce a lofty panegyric
   on Augustus as the peculiar favourite of heaven, they have unintentionally
   recorded that the temple of Janus was shut up when the Prince of Peace
   (Isaiah 9:6) was ushered into the world. So striking a coincidence could not
   fail to attract observation, as belonging to the fullness of the time
   (Galatians 4:4) at which the Messiah appeared, and as one of the beautiful
   arrangements of him who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working.
   (Isaiah 28:29.) Rarely has chronology proved to be so delightful and
   instructive. — Ed.

   [38] Neither shall they learn war any more. — Eng. Ver.

   [39] In the English Version it is rendered therefore. — Ed.

   [40] “So called,” says Buxtorf, “because they are absolutely nothing,
   agreeably to that saying of the Apostle, an idol is nothing in the world,”
   (1 Corinthians 8:4.) רפאי אלל, (rophee elil) physicians of no value, (Job
   13:4,) is an instance of the literal use of the word. — Ed

   [41] They worship. — Eng. Ver.

   [42] The popish distinction between an inferior kind of adoration, called
   douleia and a higher kind of adoration, called latreia, is illustrated and
   refuted by our Author, in the Institutes, vol. 1, p. 141, and in the Harmony
   of the Evangelists, [7]vol. 1, p. 221. — Ed

   [43] That is, of homage paid to idols. — Ed.

   [44] The lofty looks of man. — Eng. Ver.

   [45] ליהוה The natural rendering of “Quoniam dies Iehovae exercituum super
   omnem superbum et exelsum erit“ appears to be what I have given above, for
   the day of the Lord of hosts will be on every one that is proud and lofty.
   But if Jehovae be in the dative, and not in the genitive case, the ambiguity
   might have been partly removed by some such collocation as the following:
   — Quoniam Jehovae exercituum erit dies, which might have meant, For to the
   Lord of hosts there will be a day, or, the Lord of hosts will have a day;
   and such an emphatic meaning of the phrase must have been intended by our
   author. — Ed

   [46] The “play on words,” which turns entirely on the sound of the Hebrew
   noun and verb, cannot be expressed in a translation. Our author has
   illustrated it by ad terram terrendam, which again may be fully imitated by
   this alliteration, “to terrify the terrestrial globe.” — Ed.

   [47] In 1 Kings 19:11 רוח (ruach) signifies wind, which the accompanying
   epithets show to have been strong and violent. — Ed

   [48] Instead of rendering, Cease from man, whose breath is in his nostrils,
   they would render, Cease from the man who is terrible in his wrath. — Ed.
     _________________________________________________________________
     _________________________________________________________________

   CHAPTER 3
     _________________________________________________________________

   Isaiah Chapter 3:1-26

   1. For, behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem,
   and from Judah, the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the
   whole stay of water,

   1. Quoniam ecce Dominator Iehova exercituum, Ierosolymae et Judae vigorem et
   vim adimet, omnem vigorem panis, omnem vigorem aquae,

   2. The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the
   prudent, and the ancient,

   2. Fortem, et virum bellicosum, judicem et prophetam, et divinum et senem,

   3. The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the
   cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator.

   3. Ducem quinquagenarium, et conspicuum, senatorem, eximium quemque inter
   artifices et disertum, (vel, intelligentem arcani sermonis.)

   4. And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over
   them.

   4. Et constituam pueros illis principes, et parvuli dominabuntur eis.

   5. And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by
   his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient,
   and the base against the honourable.

   5. Violenter aget populus qisque in alium, vir in proximum suum; insolescet
   adolescens contra senem, contemptus adversus honoratum.

   6. When a man shall take hold of his brother, of the house of his father,
   saying, Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under
   thy hand:

   6. Cum apprehenderit quisque fratrem suum e familia patris sui, Vestimentum,
   dicens, est tibi: Princeps noster eris: ruina haec in manu tua:

   7. In that day shall he swear, saying, I will not be an healer; for in my
   house is neither bread nor clothing: make me not a ruler of the people.

   7. Is jurabit in illa die, dicens, Non ero curator; nam domi meae neque
   panis est, neque vestimentum; itaque ne me principem populi constituatis.

   8. For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen; because their tongue and
   their doings are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his glory.

   8. Certe corruit Ierusalem, et Iuda cecidit; quoniam lingua eorum et studia
   contra Iehovam, ad exacerbandos oculos gloriae ejus.

   9. The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare
   their sin as Sodom, they hide it not: woe unto their soul! for they have
   rewarded evil unto themselves.

   9. Probatio vultus eorum respondet in ipsis: (vel adversus iposos:) peccatum
   suum, sicut Sodoma, praedicaverunt, neque dissimularunt. Vae animae ipsorum,
   quia accersiverunt sibi malum.

   10. Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him; for they shall
   eat the fruit of their doings.

   10. Dicite justo, bene erit, quia fructus manuum suarum comedent.

   11. Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him; for the reward of his
   hands shall be given him.

   11. Vae impio, male erit; quoniam secundum opera manuum suarum rependetur
   ei.

   12. As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over
   them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the
   way of thy paths.

   12. Populi mei exactores sunt parvuli, et mulieres illi dominuntur. Popule
   mi, qui te gubernant seducunt, et viam semitarum tuarum depravant.

   13. The Lord standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people.

   13. Stat ad disceptandum Iehova, et praesto est ad judicandos populos.

   14. The Lord will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and
   the princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the
   poor is in your houses.

   14. Iehova in judicium veniet cum senibus populi sui, et cum principibus
   ejus; et vos perdidistis vineam, estque rapina pauperis in domibus vestris.

   15. What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of
   the poor? saith the Lord God of hosts.

   15. Quid vobis quod contunditis populum meum, et facies pauperum commolitis?
   dicit Dominus Iehova exercituum.

   16. Moreover, the Lord saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and
   walk with stretched-forth necks, and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as
   they go, and making a tinkling with their feet:

   16. Dicit quoque Iehova, Quoniam superbiunt filiae Sion, et porrecto collo
   incedunt, oculisque vacantibus, et ambulando plaudendoque ambulant,
   tinnitumque pedibus suis excitant:

   17. Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the
   daughters of Zion, and the Lord will discover their secret parts.

   17. Ideo decalvabit Dominus verticem filiarum Sion, et Dominus pudenda earum
   nudabit.

   18. In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling
   ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the
   moon,

   18. In die illa auferet Dominus ornamentum crepitaculorum, et reticula, et
   lunulas,

   19. The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers,

   19. Olfactoria, armillas, et mitras,

   20. The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the
   tablets, and the earrings,

   20. Tiaras, crurum ornatus, vittas, bullas, et inaures,

   21. The rings, and nose-jewels,

   21. Annulos et monilia narium,

   22. The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and
   the crisping-pins,

   22. Mutatorias vestes, palliola, pepla, et acus,

   23. The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails.

   23. Specula, et sindones, calyptras et theristra.

   24. And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be
   stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well-set hair
   baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning
   instead of beauty.

   24. Et erit pro suavi aromate putredo, et pro cinctura laceratio, et pro
   cincinnus calvitium; pro balteo cinctura sacci, adustio pro venustate.

   25. Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war.

   25. Viri tui in gladio cadent, et robur tuum in bello.

   26. And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she, being desolate, shall sit
   upon the ground

   26. Moerebunt ac lugebunt portae ejus; et ipsa desolata humi jacebit.


   1. For, behold. We stated, a little before, that this is the same subject
   which the Prophet began to treat towards the close of the former chapter;
   for he warns the Jews that their wealth, however great it may be, will be of
   no avail to prevent the wrath of God, which, when it has once been kindled,
   will burn up all their defenses. Hence it follows that they are chargeable
   with excessive madness, when, in order to drive away their alarm, they heap
   up their forces, strength, and warlike accoutrements, consultations, armor,
   abundant supply of provisions, and other resources.

   The demonstrative particle הנה, (hinneth,) “behold,” is employed not only to
   denote certainty, but to express the shortness of time, as if Isaiah caused
   wicked men to be eye-witnesses of the event; for it frequently happens that
   they who do not venture openly to ridicule the judgments of God pass them
   by, as if they did not at all relate to them, or were still at a great
   distance. “What is that to us?” say they; “Or, if they shall ever happen,
   why should we be miserable before the time? Will it not be time enough to
   think of those calamities when they actually befall us?” Since, therefore,
   wicked men, in order to set at naught the judgments of God, dig for
   themselves lurking-places of this description, on this account the Prophet
   presses them more closely and earnestly, that they may not imagine that the
   hand of God is distant, or vainly expect that it will be relaxed.

   The Lord Jehovah of hosts will take away from Jerusalem. This is also the
   reason why he calls God the Lord and Jehovah of Hosts, that the majesty of
   God may terrify their drowsy and sluggish minds; for God has no need of
   titles, but our ignorance and stupidity must be aroused by perceiving his
   glory. First, the Prophet threatens that the Jews will have the whole
   produce of the harvest taken from them, so that they will perish through
   famine. Immediately afterwards he speaks in the same manner about military
   guards, and all that relates to the good order of the state. Hence we may
   infer that the Jews boasted of the prosperity which they at that time
   enjoyed, so as to entertain a foolish belief that they were protected
   against every danger. But Isaiah threatens that not only the whole country,
   but Jerusalem herself, which was the invincible fortress of the nation, will
   be exposed to God’s chastisements; as if he had said, “The wrath of God will
   not only fall on every part of the body, but will pierce the very heart.”

   The power and the strength. [49] As to the words ומשענה משען, (mashgnen
   umashgnenah) which differ only in this respect, that one is in the
   masculine, and the other in the feminine genders, I have no doubt that the
   Prophet intended by this change to express more fully the certainty that
   supports of every kind would be broken; and therefore I have translated them
   the power and the strength [50] I do not agree with those interpreters who
   view it as referring to the persons of men, for it more appropriately
   denotes all supports, whatever may be their nature.

   Still it is doubtful whether the Prophet limits it to food, or extends it to
   all other kinds of support, which he mentions immediately afterwards. But it
   is natural to suppose that by משען ומשענה, (mashgnen umashgnenah) is
   included generally everything that is necessary to sustain the order of the
   city or of the people; and next that, for the sake of explanation, he
   enumerates some particulars. The first clause therefore means, “God will
   take away every help and assistance by which you think that you are upheld,
   so that nothing whatever may be left to support you.”

   Next, he adds, what will be their want and nakedness; and he begins, as we
   have said, with food and nourishment, which hold the first rank in
   sustaining the life of men. Now there are two ways in which God takes away
   the strength of bread and water; either when he deprives us of victuals, or
   when he takes from them the power of nourishing us; for unless God impart to
   our food a hidden power, the greatest abundance of it that we may possess
   will do us no good. (Leviticus 26:26.) Hence in another passage God is said
   to break the staff of bread (Ezekiel 4:16,) when the bakers deliver the
   bread by weight, and yet it does not yield satisfaction. And this comparison
   ought to be carefully observed, in order to inform us that, even though the
   belly be will filled, we shall always be hungry, there being nothing but the
   secret blessing of God that can feed or support us.

   Though the hunger which the Prophet threatens in this passage may be
   understood to mean that the fields will be unproductive, or, that God will
   take away from the Jews every kind of food, yet, since the Prophets are
   generally accustomed to borrow their forms of expression from the law, this
   interpretation will apply very well. For he might simply have said, “I will
   take away the bread and wine;” but he expresses something more secret when
   he speaks of the support of bread and water; as if he had said that, though
   the people be not reduced to famine, yet God will make them, even while they
   are rioting in gluttony, to pine with hunger; for when the blessing of God
   is withdrawn, all its usefulness will vanish away. We may sum it up in this
   manner, that the people will have no food to strengthen them; either because
   they will not have bread and water, or, if they have, will derive no
   advantage from them.

   2. The strong man, and the man of war He mentions other ends which
   contribute to the safety and good order either of nations or of cities. Of
   these he threatens that the Jews will be wholly deprived, so that they will
   neither have wisdom or bravery at battle, nor military forces abroad. He is
   not careful to attend to order, but is satisfied with giving a short
   abridgement, and mixes one subject with another. He begins with men of war,
   into whose hands was committed the defense of the country. God sometimes
   takes them away by death, and sometimes by making them soft and effeminate.
   The latter is more frequent, so that posterity degenerates from the bravery
   of ancestors, and those who were formerly courageous become, in process of
   time, cowardly and unfit for war. But we see also that the former sometimes
   happens, in consequence of which the boldest men suddenly lose heart.

   The judge and the prophet. We know that, in the Hebrew language, the word
   judge stands for every kind of governors; and it is certain that by prophets
   are meant every kind of teachers. Accordingly, he threatens that the civil
   government will be set aside, and that instruction will be at an end, and
   that thus the Jews will be destroyed; and, indeed magistrates and teachers
   hold the same place in the commonwealth that the two eyes do in the human
   body.

   Aged diviners and old men [51] I consider the same rank as before to be
   denoted by old men, who are more fit for governing, because age brings along
   with it prudence, wisdom, and gravity. As to the word diviner, though it is
   used in a bad sense in Scripture, yet here it appears to be used in a good
   sense, when Isaiah enumerates those things which contribute to preserve the
   good order of a city and of a kingdoms. The term might, therefore, be
   applied to a soothsayer, who divines or penetrates into dark matters, not by
   omens or superstitious arts, but by extraordinary acuteness and skill. But
   as God forbade them to consult magicians, soothsayers, and diviners,
   (Deuteronomy 18:20,) and as Balaam himself declares that there is no
   divination against Israel, (Numbers 23:23,) I do not quarrel with those who
   would prefer to use the word diviner as denoting magical divinations; nor
   will there be any absurdity in enumerating among the punishments of the
   nation, that it would be deprived also of those aids which were sinful and
   criminal; for along with the altar and sacrifices Hosea mentions teraphim.
   [52] (Hosea 3:4.)

   The captain of fifty. He employs this term agreeably to the custom which
   then prevailed; for as the Romans had centurions, or captains of hundreds,
   so the Jews had captains, or rulers of fifties, which the Greeks call
   pentēkontarchous, but as that custom did not exist among the Latins, so the
   name was unknown among them. By persons of venerable aspect [53] he means
   those whose reputation for bravery gave then influence among the people.

   The senator. [54] The word יועף (yognetz,) for which I have put senator, may
   be applied to men in private life who are eminent for prudence; but as it is
   strictly applicable to counsellors, who discharge a public office, I
   resolved not to depart from the common opinion.

   The sinful artificer. Because the mechanical arts are not less advantageous
   for upholding the prosperity of a nation, and for the support of animal
   life, Isaiah likewise mentions that, through the want of them, the
   destruction of the Jews is at hand.

   And the eloquent. [55] he word which is placed last in the enumeration has
   been variously explained by commentators. Literally it means, “skilled in
   muttering, or in a subdued tone of speech. “Now since the heathen oracles
   give out their replies by whisperings or in mutterings, some think that the
   word denotes enchantments. A better exposition is given by those who
   interpret לחש (lahash) to mean secret designs; but as a style which is both
   mysterious and weighty may be not inappropriately denoted by this word, I
   had no hesitation in rendering it by the word eloquent. Yet if it be thought
   preferable to view it as denoting wise and cautious men, who, though not
   qualified for public speaking, give private advices of what may profitably
   be done, I have no objection.

   We must attend to this comprehensive description of a well-regulated state.
   For Isaiah has placed first corn and other things necessary for bodily
   support; secondly, military forces; thirdly, skill in governing a nation and
   the various parts of civil government; fourthly, the prophetical office; and
   fifthly, the mechanical arts. With these ornaments does God adorn the
   nations which he intends to render safe and sound; and, on the other hand,
   he takes them from those nations which he intends utterly to destroy. Let
   us, therefore, know that everything which we find to be profitable for the
   support of life flows from the undeserved goodness of God. Hence also there
   follows another instruction, namely, that we ought to beware lest, by our
   ingratitude, we deprive ourselves of those excellent gifts of God.

   4. And I will appoint children to be their princes [56] That the vengeance
   of God may be more manifest, he now describes how sad and wretched will be
   the change, when competent and faithful rulers shall be taken from among
   them and God shall put cowardly and worthless persons in their room. By
   children are meant not only those who are so by age, but also by mind and
   conduct, such as delicate and effeminate persons, who are destitute of
   courage and cannot wield the sword entrusted to them. He does not here carry
   out the contrast, clause by clause; for he thought it enough to point out
   one way in which a commonwealth is speedily ruined; that is, when its rulers
   are weak and foolish men like children, who have no gravity or wisdom. But
   it must be laid down as a principle, that no man is qualified for governing
   a commonwealth unless he have been appointed to it by God, and be endued
   with uncommon excellence. Plato, too, understood this matter well: for
   though, being a heathen, he had no true knowledge of this kind, yet his
   quick sagacity enabled him to perceive that no man is fit and qualified for
   public government which has not been prepared for it by God in an
   extraordinary measure; for public government proceeds from God alone, and in
   like manner every part of it must be upheld by him. Besides, they whom the
   Lord does not govern have nothing left for them but to be children, or
   rather to be twice children, that is, destitute of all skill and of all
   wisdom.

   Now the Lord executes this vengeance in two ways; because it frequently
   happens, that when we appear to have those who are grave and skillful in
   business, no sooner do they come to action than they stumble like blind men,
   and have no more wisdom than children; for the Lord deprives them of that
   remarkable ability which they had formerly received from him, and stuns
   them, as if he had struck them with a thunderbolt. But sometimes the Lord
   proceeds more gently, and gradually removes men of extraordinary ability,
   who were fit for ruling, and commits the reins of government to those who
   were unable to govern a family, or even a single child liken these things
   happen, it is very certain that destruction is not far off.

   Besides, it deserves our notice, as I lately mentioned, that a
   well-regulated commonwealth is a singular gift of God, when the various
   orders of judges and senators, soldiers, captains, artificers, and teachers,
   aid each other by mutual intercourse, and join in promoting the general
   safety of the whole people. For when the Prophet threatens, and pronounces
   it to be a very severe punishment, that these things shall be taken away, he
   plainly shows that those eminent and uncommon gifts of God are necessary for
   the safety of nations. Accordingly, he here commends the office of
   magistrates, and captains, and soldiers, and likewise the office of
   teachers. This deserves our notice in opposition to fanatics, who endeavor
   to banish from the world the power of using the sword, together with all
   civil government and order. But the Prophet declares that these things are
   not taken away or removed unless when God is angry. It follows, therefore,
   that they who oppose, and, as far as lies in their power, set aside or
   destroy such benefits, are wicked men and enemies of the public safety.

   He likewise commends instruction, without which a commonwealth cannot stand;
   for, as Solomon says,

   where prophecy is not, the nation must be ruined. (Proverbs 29:18.)

   At the same time, he commends the mechanical arts, agriculture, manual
   occupations of every description, architecture, and such like, which we
   cannot dispense with; for all artisans of every kind, who contribute what is
   useful to men, are the servants of God, and have the same end in view with
   those who were formerly mentioned, namely, the preservation of mankind

   The same thing must be said about war; for, although lawful, war ought to be
   nothing else than an attempt to obtain peace; yet sometimes an engagement is
   unavoidable, that they who have the power of the sword may use it, and
   defend themselves and their followers by arms. War, therefore, is not in
   itself to be condemned; for it is the means of preserving the commonwealth.
   But neither must eloquence be despised; for it is often needed, both in
   public and in private life, that something may be clearly and fully
   explained and demonstrated to be true. This is also reckoned among the gifts
   and important blessings of God, when a state abounds in wise and eloquent
   men,

   who can contend with the adversaries in the gate.
   (Psalm 127:5.)

   This passage may be thus summed up, “When God takes away those gifts, and
   alters the condition of a people, in whatever way this takes place, either
   by changing the form of government, or by taking away the rulers, the anger
   of God ought to be acknowledged;” for, as Hosea says,

   He Taketh Away Kings In His Wrath,
   And Appointeth Them In His Indignation. (Hosea 13:11.)

   Let us not, therefore, ascribe these changes to chance or other causes.

   5. The people will oppress every man his neighbor He describes the utmost
   confusion, which was about to overtake the Jews, when order was destroyed or
   relaxed; and this will happen to all nations, as soon as government is
   removed or falls to the ground. We know how great is the wantonness of the
   human mind, when every man is hurried along by ambition and, in short, how
   furious the lawless passions are when they are laid under no restraint.
   There is no reason, therefore, to wonder if, when the judgment-seats have
   been laid low, every man insults his neighbor, cruelty abounds, and
   licentiousness rages without control. If we considered this wisely, we would
   set a higher value on the kindness of God, when he preserves us in any
   tolerable condition, and does not allow us to be lamentably ruined. Hence it
   is evident that they who direct or apply their minds to sap the foundations
   of civil government are the open enemies of mankind, or rather, they are in
   no respect different from wild beasts.

   But this confusion described by the Prophet is most disgraceful, that a
   child shall dare to insult an old man, that the dregs of a low and despised
   multitude shall rise up against nobles and men of high reputation; for it is
   the most preposterous of all things that modesty shall be thrown away, so
   that they who were worthy of veneration shall be treated with contempt. And
   yet this spectacle, so shameful and revolting, must unavoidably be exhibited
   when civil government has been overthrown. As to my rendering of the verb
   נגש (niggash) in an active sense, to oppress, I was forced to adopt it, for
   otherwise the meaning of the passage would have been imperfect.

   6. When every man shall take hold of his brother As this verse is closely
   connected with the former, and proceeds without interruption as far as the
   phrase he shall swear, the particle כי (ki) is evidently taken for an adverb
   of time. For Isaiah, intending to express the extreme wretchedness of the
   people, says that there will be no man who will undertake to govern them,
   though he were requested to do so. To such an extent unquestionably does
   ambition prevail among men, that many are always eager to contend for power,
   and endeavor to obtain it even at the hazard of their lives. In every age
   the whole world has been convulsed by the desire of obtaining kingly power;
   and there is not a villain so inconsiderable as not to contain men who
   willingly undertake to become rulers; and all this proves that man is an
   animal desirous of honor. Hence it follows that everything is in a
   deplorable condition, when that dignity is not only despised but obstinately
   rejected; for the mournful calamity has reached its lowest depth, when that
   which men naturally desire with the greatest ardor is universally
   disclaimed.

   Isaiah mentions other circumstances of an aggravating nature, tending to
   show that the Jews will rather lay aside every feeling of humanity and
   compassion than undertake the office of rulers. If one shall refuse to rule
   foreign nations, it will not perhaps be thought so wonderful; but when the
   preservation of brethren is in question, it is excessively unkind to decline
   the honorable office. It is therefore a proof that matters are utterly
   desperate, when the office of ruler is disdainfully rejected by that man to
   whom his kinsmen appeal, by entreating his support and throwing themselves
   on his protection. Now, since princes are commonly selected on account of
   their wealth, or, at least, kingly power is not usually bestowed on any who
   have not a moderate share of riches, lest poverty should lay them open to
   contempt and reproach, or drive them to unworthy means of gain, he likewise
   adds this circumstance, that though they are able to bear the burden, still
   they will not accept of it; as if he had said, “Not only the common people,
   but also the nobles and the wealthy, decline the task of government.”

   The phrase take hold is likewise emphatic, for it means to “lay hands” on a
   person; as if Isaiah had said that those who shall wish to obtain a prince
   will not employ flatteries and entreaties, but will proceed with disorder
   and violence to seize on some person, and endeavor to compel him to occupy
   the throne.

   Let this ruin be under thy hand. This last circumstance is not less weighty.
   The meaning is, “At least if you have any compassion or humanity, do not
   fail to aid us in our extreme wretchedness.” For when a multitude of men,
   like a scattered flock, bewailing with tears their ruinous condition,
   implore the protection of a shepherd, he who will not stretch out a helping
   hand must have a heart as hard as iron. Some translate it as if, by a figure
   of speech, (hypallage,) one word had been put for another, Let thy hand be
   under this ruin; that is, for the sake of upholding it.

   7. In that day shall he swear. The word swear expresses an absolute and
   vehement refusal; for frequently he who at first excuses himself, or
   declares that he will not do it, at length yields to entreaty; but he who,
   in refusing, employs an oath, shuts out all hope, because he gives them to
   understand that his purpose is firm and decided. Perhaps, too, the phrase in
   that day, means “immediately, without any delay, and without long
   consultation;” but as it may also be viewed demonstratively, (deiktikōs,) as
   pointing out more fully the time of the calamity, I do not express a strong
   opinion. The general meaning is obvious, that their ruinous condition will
   be past remedy.

   As to the word חבש, (chobesh,) though commentators differ in their
   interpretation of it, yet I cheerfully concur with those who think that the
   metaphor is here borrowed from surgeons; [57] for nothing can more fully
   meet the case. It is as if one, to whom application had been made to heal a
   sick man, should declare that he has no skill in the art of healing, or that
   the disease is too inveterate to admit of being cured.

   The next copulative ו, (vau,) means for; as if he had said, “And undoubtedly
   I have not ability to do so.” [58] His meaning therefore is, that the state
   of affairs will be so desperate, that no man, even when matters are at the
   worst, will venture to take measures for their defense.

   8. For Jerusalem is ruined. Lest it should be thought that God is
   excessively cruel, when he punishes his people with such severity, the
   Prophet here explains briefly the reason of the calamity; as if he had said
   that the destruction of that ungodly people is righteous, because in so many
   ways they have persisted in provoking God. And thus he cuts off all ground
   of complaint; for we know with what insolent fury the world breaks out, when
   it is chastised with more than ordinary severity. He says that they were
   ready, both by words and by actions, to commit every kind of crimes. In
   speaking of their destruction, he employs such language as if it had already
   taken place; though the past may be taken for the future, as in many other
   passages.

   To provoke the eyes of his glory. This mode of expression aggravates the
   crime, as denotes that they had intentionally resolved to insult God; for
   those things which are done before our eyes, if they are displeasing to us,
   are the more offensive. It is true that wicked men mock God, as if they were
   able to deceive him; but as nothing, however it may be concealed, escapes
   his view, Isaiah brings it as a reproach against them, that they openly and
   shamelessly, in his very presence, indulged in the commission of crimes. The
   word glory also deserves our attention; for it is a proof of extraordinary
   madness, if we have no feeling of reverence, when the majesty of God is
   presented to our view. If God had so illustriously displayed his glory
   before the nation of Israel, that they ought justly to have been humbled, if
   they had any remains of shame or of modesty. Whatever, then, may be the
   murmurings of wicked men against God, or their complaints of his severity,
   the cause of all the calamities which they endure will be found to be in
   their own hands.

   9. The proof of their countenance will answer in them, or, will answer
   against them [59] As the Prophet had to do with impudent and brazen-faced
   hypocrites, who impudently boasted that they were good men; so he says that
   their countenance testifies what kind of persons they are, and that it will
   not be necessary to bring witnesses from a distance, in order to prove their
   wickedness; for to answer means “to bear testimony,” or “to confess.”
   Although, therefore, they disguise their face and countenance, so that they
   frequently deceive others, yet God compels them to show and prove what they
   are; so that, in spite of themselves they carry, as it were, in their
   forehead a mark of their deceit and hypocrisy.

   Some explain it, that their crimes are so manifest that they cannot avoid
   seeing, as in a mirror, the baseness which they desire to conceal But the
   former meaning is confirmed by what immediately follows, that they declared
   their sin in the same manner as the inhabitants of Sodom. By these words he
   intimates that they devoted themselves to iniquity in such a manner, that
   they boasted of their transgressions without any shame; as if it had been
   honorable and praiseworthy in them to trample on every distinction between
   right and wrong, and not to indulge in every kind of wickedness. On this
   account he compares them to the inhabitants of Sodom, (Genesis 18:20; 19:5,)
   who were so much blinded by their lusts, that they rushed, with brutish
   stupidity, to everything base. So, then, this is the answer of the
   countenance, which he mentioned a little before, that they carry about with
   them plain tokens of impiety, which are abundantly sufficient to prove their
   guilt.

   Woe unto their soul! Here he declares what was formerly mentioned, that the
   whole cause of their calamities is to be found in themselves; for by their
   sins and iniquities they provoked the Lord; and consequently that they have
   no means of evasion, that it is useless to contrive idle pretenses, because
   the evil itself dwells in their bones; as if he had said, “God cannot be
   accused, as if he punished you unjustly. Acknowledge that it has been done
   by yourselves; give glory to a righteous judge and lay the whole blame on
   yourselves.”

   10. Say, it shall be well with the righteous Before quoting the opinions of
   others, I shall point out the true meaning As punishments so severe commonly
   present to pious minds an exceedingly sharp temptation, and especially since
   hardly any public calamities occur which do not involve good men along with
   the bad; so the Prophet — at least, in my opinion — reminds them of the
   providence of God, which never confounds anything, but even, when there is
   apparent confusion, never ceases to distinguish between good and bad men.

   But there are various ways in which this passage is explained; for some
   render it, “Say to the righteous man, because he is good, therefore he shall
   eat the fruit of his hands.” From that interpretation this meaning is
   obtained: “I wish and command the godly to be of good cheer; for with
   whatever severity I may punish the crimes of the nation, still it shall be
   well with the godly.” But a more suitable meaning is this: Say; that is,
   hold it to be a settled point; for in Scripture to say often means to think,
   and to be convinced; as David writes, I said, I will take heed to thy ways,
   (Psalm 39:1,) and in a thousand instances of the same kind; so that he does
   not bid them tell the righteous man, but he bids every man be fully
   convinced, that happy will be the condition of the righteous man, though he
   may only appear to be unhappy.

   Besides, I consider טוב, (tob,) to mean a happy and prosperous condition; as
   in the former verse he employed the word רעה, (ragnah) with which טוב is now
   contrasted; and thus I do not think that רעה, (ragnah,) means wickedness,
   but a miserable condition. Now since it literally runs, Say to the righteous
   man, כי טוב: (ki tob,) that it shall be well either the particle כי, (ki,)
   has an affirmative sense, as in many other passages, or it appears to be
   superfluous, though the probability is, that it is intended for
   confirmation. Surely it shall be well with the righteous man; that is, let
   every ground of doubt be removed, and let us be fully convinced, that the
   condition of the righteous man will be most excellent and prosperous. It is
   difficult to believe this, and therefore it is added, he shall eat the fruit
   of his doings; that is, he shall not be defrauded of the reward of his good
   conduct. Others consider to say as meaning to exhort, and render the two
   words, כי טוב (ki tob,) that he will do well; but I reject it as a forced
   interpretation.

   11. Woe unto the wicked! It shall be ill with him. He brings forward this
   clause as a contrast to the former one; from which it may be easily inferred
   what was the design of the Prophet, namely, to comfort the godly, and to
   terrify the wicked by the judgment of God. For when an uncommonly severe
   calamity occurs, which attacks all without discrimination, we doubt whether
   it be by the providence of God, or, on the contrary, by blind chance, that
   the world is governed. On this account godly men fear and dread that the
   same destruction which overtakes the wicked will ruin them also. Others
   think that it is of no importance whether a man be good or bad, when they
   see both classes visited by pestilence, war, famine and other calamities.
   And hence arises the wicked thought, that there is no difference between the
   rewards of the good and of the bad; and in the midst of these gloomy
   thoughts carnal appetites lead many to despair.

   Accordingly, the Prophet shows that the judgment of God is right, that men
   may continue to fear God, and may be aware that those who, in the
   expectation of escape of punishment, provoke God, will not pass unpunished.
   He likewise exhorts them to ascribe to God the praise of justice; as if he
   had said, “Think not that blind chance rules in the world, or that God
   punishes with blind violence, and without any regard to justice, but hold it
   as a principle fully settled in your minds, that it shall be well with the
   righteous man; for God will repay him what he hath promised, and will not
   disappoint him of his hope. On the other hand, believe that the condition of
   the wicked man will be most wretched, for he brings on himself the evil
   which must at length fall on his head.”

   By these words the Prophet, at the same time, charges the people with
   stupidity in not perceiving the judgment of God; for they suffered the
   punishments of their crimes, and yet hardened themselves under them, as if
   they had been altogether devoid of feeling. Now there cannot befall us
   anything worse than that we should be hardened against chastisements, and
   not perceive that God chastiseth us. When we labor under such stupidity, our
   case is almost hopeless.

   12. The oppressors of any people are children [60] Here also is reproved the
   madness and sottishness of the people, because they shut their eyes at
   noon-day. There is nothing which men are more reluctant to allow than to
   have a yoke laid on them; nor do they willingly submit to be governed by
   nobles. Feeble and cowardly, therefore, must be the minds of those who obey
   delicate and effeminate men, and permit themselves to be oppressed by them;
   nor can it be doubted that God has struck with a spirit of cowardice those
   who offer their shoulders, like asses, to bear burdens. The power of a
   tyrant must indeed be endured, even by men of courage; but the reproach
   which Isaiah brings against the Jews is, that while they obstinately shake
   off the yoke of God, they are ready to yield abject submission to men, and
   to perform any services, however shameful or degrading.

   For the Jews could not complain that they were compelled by violence, when
   of their own accord they obeyed those whose authority they would gladly have
   declined. Hence it is evident that they were struck by the hand of God, and
   were shaken with terror, so that they had no strength either of body or of
   mind.

   This is also the vengeance which God had formerly threatened by Moses; for
   the general doctrine of Moses, as we have already said, is continually
   alluded to by the prophets. [61] or how was it possible that men who had the
   power of resistance should of their own accord undergo a slavery from which
   they would willingly have escaped, had not God deprived them of
   understanding and forethought that he might in this manner take vengeance on
   their crimes? Whenever, therefore, anything of this kind shall befall us;
   let us not imagine that it came by chance. On the contrary, whenever it
   shall happen that we are governed by men who are of no estimation, and which
   are more insignificant than children, let us acknowledge the wrath of the
   Lord, if we do not choose that the Prophet shall charge us with the grossest
   stupidity.

   They who govern thee [62] He continues to teach the same doctrine, that when
   God lets loose the reins against the wicked, so as to disturb everything, he
   shows that he is highly offended at the Jews; for if they had enjoyed his
   favor, there was reason to hope that his government would be most holy and
   blessed. At the same time it is probable that the common herd of men were so
   foolishly devoted to their rulers, that they revered as oracles both their
   injunctions and their conduct; and hence arose all the corruption that
   everywhere prevailed. Since, therefore, the contagion was spreading farther
   without being perceived by the people, Isaiah cries aloud that they ought to
   guard against the governors themselves, who corrupt and destroy the people.

   Others explain it, they who bless thee; but as the participle which he
   employs may be taken from ישר, (yashar,) which signifies to rule, I shall
   rather adopt that interpretation, for it is more agreeable to the context.
   [63] I do acknowledge that the false prophets flattered the people, but I
   see no reason why their flatteries should be mentioned here. But it applies
   very well to the rulers and heads, that they were the cause of the
   destruction; for as princes are raised to their office for the sake of the
   public safety, so no plague is more destructive than when they are bad men,
   and rule according to their own caprice. He says, therefore, that they who
   rule are the causes of the evils, and that they corrupt everything, since it
   was their duty to correct other men, and to point out the way by their own
   example.

   13. Jehovah standeth up to plead So long as wickedness rages without
   control, and the Lord sends no relief from on high, we think that he is idle
   and has forgotten his duty. More especially, when the nobles themselves are
   spared, he appears to grant them liberty to commit sin, as if they were most
   sacred persons that must not be touched. Accordingly, after having
   complained of the princes, he adds that the Lord will do what his authority
   demands, and will not permit such flagrant crimes to pass unpunished. For
   there is hardly any conduct more offensive, or more fitted to disturb our
   minds, than when the worst examples of every sort are publicly exhibited by
   magistrates, while no man utters a syllable against them, but almost all
   give their approbation. We then ask, Where is God, whose glory, a great part
   of which, consisting in authority, is taken away, ought to have been
   illustriously displayed by men of that rank? Isaiah meets this difficulty by
   saying, “Though the nation is wicked, yet because the princes themselves are
   very greatly corrupted, and even pollute the whole nation by their vices,
   God sits as judge in heaven, and will at length call them to account, and
   assign to every one his reward.” Although he does not exempt the multitude
   from guilt, yet that the sources of the evils may be known, he particularly
   attacks the rulers, and threatens them with the punishment which they
   deserved.

   14. The Lord will enter into judgement with the ancients of his people.
   Formerly he had erected for God a throne from which he might plead. Now he
   says that he will enter into judgment. How? with the ancients. There might
   have been a slight allusion to lawful assemblies, in which older men sit as
   God’s deputies; but I assent to the opinion more commonly entertained, that
   God contends against the ancients of his people. This passage, therefore,
   corresponds to the saying of David,

   God will stand in the assembly of the gods (Psalm 82:1; [64] )

   that is, though it may now be thought that princes do everything with
   impunity, and though there be no one to restrain their caprice and their
   lawless passions, yet one day they will feel that God is above them, and
   will render an account to him of all their actions

   These reproofs, undoubtedly, the judges of that time were very unwilling to
   hear. They have no wish, and do not think that it is right, that any one
   should treat them with such sharpness and severity; for they wish that
   everything should be at their disposal, that their will should be held as a
   law, and that they should be allowed to do whatever they choose; that all
   men ought to flatter and applaud them, and to approve of their very worst
   actions. They think that no man is a judge of their actions, and do not
   yield subjection to God himself. Since, therefore, they are so unbridled
   that they neither endure any advices nor any threatening the Prophet summons
   them to the judgment seat of God.

   And with their princes They are honorably described, by way of
   acknowledgment, as the chosen princes of the people. This also deserves
   attention; for they thought that, on account of their rank, they enjoyed a
   kind of privilege which set them free from the restraints of law, and that
   though heathen kings and princes might give an account of their actions,
   they, on the contrary, were sacred persons. They thought, therefore, that
   they were beyond the reach of all reproof, and ought not to be addressed,
   like heathen men, by threats and terrors. On this account Isaiah expressly
   declares, that the Lord will not only call to account every kind of princes,
   but especially the proud hypocrites to whose care he had committed his
   people.

   And you have destroyed the vineyard [65] The metaphor of a vine is very
   common, where a nation, and especially the nation of Israel, is the subject.
   (Psalm 80:8; Jeremiah 2:21.) And by this word the Prophet now shows their
   crime to be double, because they paid no more regard to the people whom God
   had loved with extraordinary affection that if they had ruled over a heathen
   nation. The pronoun you is likewise emphatic; for he addresses the
   vine-dressers themselves, who, instead of devoting themselves, as they ought
   to have done, to the cultivation of the vine, devoured it like wild beasts.
   Accordingly, he represents this to be a great aggravation of their cruelty;
   for how treacherous was it to destroy what they ought to have preserved and
   protected? By this comparison the Lord shows how great care he takes of his
   own people, and how warmly he loves them; not only because the Church is
   called his vine and inheritance, but by declaring that he will not endure
   the treachery and wickedness of those who have ruled over it tyrannically.

   The spoil of the poor is in your houses. He adds one circumstance, by which
   the other parts of their life might be known, that they had in their houses
   the prey and spoil of the poor. Now the palace of princes ought to resemble
   a sanctuary: for they occupy the dwelling place of God, which ought to be
   sacred to all. It is, therefore, the grossest sacrilege to turn a sanctuary
   into a den of thieves. He represents still more strongly their criminality
   by adding of the poor; for it is the most wicked of all acts of cruelty to
   plunder a poor and needy man, who cannot defend himself, and who ought
   rather to have been protected.

   15. What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces? He mentions also other
   particulars, from which it is evident that they ruled in a haughty, cruel
   and oppressive manner. It was not necessary that the Prophet should describe
   minutely everything deserving reproof in the princes; for from these few
   circumstances it is evident with what injustice and cruelty and tyranny they
   ruled. But to whom shall the poor betake themselves but to the magistrate,
   who ought to be the father of his country and the protector of the wretched?
   On this account he employs a vehement interrogation, What? as if he had
   said, “What effrontery is this! What cruelty and barbarity, to abuse the
   mean condition of the poor, so as to have no compassion on them!” By two
   comparisons he describes their cruel oppression mingled with pride.

   Saith the Lord Jehovah of hosts. That the reproof may have all the weight
   that it ought to have, he brings forward God as speaking; for there is an
   implied contrast that these things should not be viewed as coming from the
   mouth of men, but that the accusation proceeds from God himself, and that he
   pursues those who are guilty of such injustice, and will at length take
   vengeance on them. Because those who have been exalted to any kind of honor
   conduct themselves so haughtily as to disdain every direction and advice, he
   therefore meets their pride by bringing forward the majesty of God, that
   they may not venture to despise his earnest and severe threatenings. Yet let
   us remember that this passage ought not to be understood as if the Prophet
   were speaking only about the mercy of God; for after having threatened
   vengeance indiscriminately on all, he particularly mentions those who are
   their heads, in order to show that no man can escape the arm of God: and
   here he employs what is called the argument from the greater to the less.”
   How would the Lord spare the lowest of the people, when he punishes even the
   princes themselves, because they have destroyed the vineyard?”

   16. Because the daughters of Zion are haughty. Next follows another
   threatening against the ambition, luxury, and pride of women. On these
   points the Prophet has not followed an exact order, but reproves sometimes
   one vice and sometimes another, as the subject appears to require, and
   afterwards sums up what he has said in a few words, as he did in the seventh
   verse of the first chapter. He therefore pronounces censure on gorgeous
   robes and superfluous ornaments, which were undoubted proofs of vanity and
   ostentation. Wherever dress and splendor are carried to excess, there is
   evidence of ambition, and many vices are usually connected with it; for
   whence comes luxury in men and women but from pride?

   And walk with stretched forth neck. First, then, he justly declares pride to
   be the source of the evil, and points it out by the sign, that is, by their
   gait; that the women walk with stretched-forth neck For as it is a sign of
   modesty to have a down-cast look, (as even heathen writers have declared,)
   so to have excessively holy looks is a sign of insolence; and when a woman
   lifts up her head it can betoken nothing but pride. The Prophet certainly
   acts wisely in beginning at the very fountain; for if he had begun by
   mentioning signs, such as dress, gait, and matters of that sort, it might
   have been easy to reply that still the mind was pure and upright; and that
   if their dress was somewhat too elegant and splendid, that was not a
   sufficient reason for approaching them with such bitter language, and
   summoning them to the judgement seat of God. Accordingly, in order to meet
   their unfounded accusations, he lays open the inward disease, which is
   manifested in the whole of their outward dress.

   And wandering eyes. [66] What he adds about wandering eyes denotes shameless
   lust, which for the most part is expressed by the eyes; for unchaste eyes
   are the heralds of an unchaste heart; but the eyes of chaste women are
   sedate, and not wandering or unsteady.

   And make a tinkling with their feet This is a part of the indecent gesture
   by which wantonness is discovered. But it is not easy to say whether the
   women wore on their sandals some tinkling ornaments which made a noise as
   they walked, or whether they imitated the dancing women by a measured step;
   for the form of dresses since that time has been greatly changed. Yet I
   readily adopt the interpretation that they made a noise in walking, for this
   is very plainly expressed by the word employed.

   17. Therefore will the Lord make bald [67] the crown of the head Here the
   particle ו, (vau,) which signifies and, is put for therefore; for he
   threatens that, since neither gentle advices nor any words can reform them,
   the Lord will deal with them in a very different manner, and will not only
   employ sharp and severe language, but will advance in dreadful array, with
   an armed band, to take vengeance. Accordingly, as they had manifested their
   obstinacy from head to foot, so he declares that the Lord will exhibit the
   marks of his vengeance in every part of their body. He therefore begins with
   the head, where ornament is chiefly bestowed, and afterwards takes notice of
   the other parts.

   It is worthy of notice that the Prophet had good reason for reproving, with
   so great earnestness and vehemence, the luxury of women; for while they are
   chargeable with many vices, they are most of all inflamed with mad eagerness
   to have fine clothes. Covetous as they naturally are, still they spare no
   expense for dressing in a showy manner, and even use spare diet, and deprive
   themselves of what nature requires, that their clothes may be more costly
   and elegant. So grievously are they corrupted by this vice, that it goes
   beyond every other.

   History tells us what vast crowds the women brought together on account of
   the Oppian Law [68] which some wished to maintain, and others to repeal; and
   that transaction was not conducted with any gravity or moderation in
   consequence of the crowds of women. But we need not go far to find examples;
   for they are innumerable in almost every nation, and it is a vice which has
   been very common in every age. As we are dexterous and sharp-sighted in
   contriving apologies for defending our luxury and extravagance, the Prophet,
   on that account, has pointed his finger at the source of all the evils,
   namely, that mad ambition by which men are hurried along to obtain public
   notice, and to arrive at eminence above others; for, in order that they may
   be better known, they wish to outshine their neighbors by the elegance of
   their dress, that they may draw the eyes of others upon them.

   Having pointed to the source of the evil, the Prophet descends to many
   particulars for the purpose of bringing to public view the fooleries of
   women, and enumerates a long catalogue of them, to show that, in gathering
   them together, nothing can exceed the curiosity which dwells in woman.
   Indeed there is no end to those contrivances; and it was not without reason
   that the ancients called the collection of a woman’s ornaments a world; [69]
   for if they were collected into one heap, they would be almost as numerous
   as the parts of the world. On this account the Prophet appears to search the
   women’s chests, and to bring into public view the gaudy trifles which they
   have treasured up in them, that their extravagant delight and boasting of
   these things may render their idleness and folly more evident to all. There
   is no superfluity, therefore, in this enumeration, though spread out in many
   words, by which their lawless desires are proved to be insatiable.

   As to the particulars, I shall not stay to explain them, especially as the
   best Hebrew scholars have doubts about some of them, and cannot distinguish
   with certainty the forms of those ornaments. It is enough if we understand
   the general import and design of the Prophet; namely, that he heaps up and
   enumerates these trifles in order that the prodigious variety of them may
   disclose their luxury and ambition, so as to leave them without any excuse.
   It would be the height of impudence to allege that the contrivances made by
   the childish vanity of women, beyond what nature requires, are necessary for
   protecting the body. How many things are here enumerated which are not
   demanded by nature or necessity or propriety! What is the use of chains,
   bracelets, earrings and other things of the same sort? Hence it is plain
   enough that a superfluous collection of such ornaments admits of no excuse;
   that it gives evidence of excessive luxury which ought to be suppressed or
   restrained; and that frequently they are unchaste contrivances for weakening
   the mind and exciting lust. We need not wonder, therefore, that the Prophet
   speaks so sharply, and threatens severe punishments, against this vice.

   24. Instead of a sweet smell there shall be stink. It is evident that the
   country here described abounds in aromatic herbs; and there is no reason to
   doubt that in pleasant smells, as well as in other matters, they were
   luxurious. We see that those nations which are farthest removed from the
   east are not prevented either by distance or by expense from indulging in
   that kind of luxury. What may be expected to happen in those places where
   they are abundant? That they will excite lust and promote luxury is beyond
   all doubt He means, therefore, that ointments and sweet smells were abused
   by them in a variety of ways; for the sinful desires of men are ingenious in
   their contrivances, and can never be satisfied.

   Instead of a girdle a rent. Others have rendered it a falling off; because
   the Lord will ungird them. He intends to contrast things which are
   exceedingly opposite to each other; that as the women formerly were most
   carefully girt and adorned when they walked, they shall henceforth be torn
   and naked. He likewise contrasts baldness with curls; because they arranged
   their hair not in a modest but an extravagant fashion. Again, a belt is
   contrasted with sackcloth. Whether it was a belt, or some other kind of
   binding, it is certain that the Prophet meant a girdle, which was held in
   high estimation. Again, burning is contrasted with beauty; because
   fashionable ladies hardly venture to expose themselves to the sun’s rays,
   for fear of being sunburned; and he tells us that this will happen to them.
   In short, both men and women are instructed to make a sober use of the gifts
   of Goal, both in food and in clothing, and in the whole conduct of life. For
   the Lord cannot endure extravagance, and absolutely must inflict severe
   punishment on account of it; for it cannot be restrained by a lighter
   chastisement.

   25. Thy men shall fall by the sword. He directs his discourse to Jerusalem
   and to the whole kingdom of Judah; for, after having demonstrated that the
   whole body is infected with a plague, and that no part of it is free from
   disease, and after leaving not even spared the women, he returns to the
   general doctrine. It would be improper that more than one husband should be
   assigned to one woman. Besides, what immediately follows applies exclusively
   to this nation. He particularly describes the punishment, that God will
   bring down by wars the whole strength of the people.

   26. Her gates shall mourn and lament. Hence arises the mourning of the
   gates, which, he threatens, will take place when they have met with their
   calamities; for he means, that where there were great crowds and multitudes,
   nothing but a dismal solitude will be found. We know that at that time
   public meetings were held at the gates; and, therefore, as the gates
   sometimes rejoice at the multitude of citizens, so they are said to mourn on
   account of their frightful desolation. And yet I do not deny that he
   compares Jerusalem to a woman who is sad, and who bewails her widowhood; for
   it was customary with mourners to sit on the ground, as that nation was in
   the habit of using ceremonies and outward signs to a greater degree than
   would be consistent with our customs. But the sum of the matter is that the
   city will have lost her inhabitants.
     _________________________________________________________________

   [49] “Heb, ‘the support masculine and the support feminine,’ that is, every
   kind of support, whether great or small, strong or weak. Al kenitz, wal
   kanitzan; the wild beast, male and female: proverbially applied both to
   fishing and hunting; that is, I seized the prey, great or little, good or
   bad. From hence, as Schultens observes, is explained Isaiah 3:1, literally,
   the male and female stay; that is, the strong and weak, the great and
   small.” Chappelow, quoted by Lowth.

   [50] Calvin has imitated the Hebrew phrase by the rendering vigorem et vim;
   employing two words, of which one is in the masculine and the other in the
   feminine gender, and both begin with the same letter, while each of them
   denotes strength. Our English version has imitated the alliteration by stay
   and the staff — Ed.

   [51] And the prudent and the ancient. — Eng. Ver

   [52] “The Prophet,” says Calvin, “seems to speak here of idols, for he
   afterwards adds teraphim; and teraphim were no doubt images, (Genesis 31:19,
   30) which the superstitious used while worshipping their fictitious gods, as
   we read in many places. The King of Babylon is said to have consulted the
   teraphim; and it is said that Rachel stole the teraphim, and shortly after
   Laban calls the teraphim his gods.” Com. on the Twelve Minor Prophets,
   [8]vol 1, p. 130.

   [53] The honourable man. — Eng. Ver

   [54] The counsellor. — Eng. Ver.

   [55] In a marginal reading of the text our author renders this phrase by
   skilled in mysterious discourse. “The powerful in persuasion.” — Lowth. “The
   expert dealer in charms.” — Bishop Stock. “לחש is to whisper or mutter
   certain words, by which jugglers pretended to charm noxious creatures, and
   to deprive them of their power of hurting.” — Parkhurst.

   [56] And I will give children to be their princes. — Eng. Ver.

   [57] חבש(chabash) literally signifies to bind I will not be a binder; that
   is, “I will not be one who binds up your wounds.” Jarchi renders it, “I will
   not be a binder, that is, I will not be one of those who bind up.” His
   annotator, Breithaupt, explains it thus: “that is, who employ any remedy, or
   apply a plaster, teaching in the school or synagogue what should be done,
   and what should be avoided.” This accords with the rendering, healer, as in
   the English version, which is supported by that of Lowth, “I will not be a
   healer of thy breaches.” — Ed

   [58] ובביתי(ubebethi,) and in my house; that is, for in my house is neither
   bread nor clothing. — Ed

   [59] [9]See p. 122.

   [60] As for my people, children are their oppressors. — Eng. Ver

   [61] Our author appears to have particularly in his eye, Leviticus 26:36,
   And upon them that are left alive of you I will send a faintness into their
   hearts in the lands of their enemies; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall
   chase them; and they shall flee as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall
   when none pursueth. — Ed.

   [62] They which lead thee. — (Eng. Ver.) The marginal reading is, they which
   call thee blessed. — Ed.

   [63] The reading of the Septuagint is, hoi makarizontes humas, they who
   bless you. Undoubtedly מאשרים comes from אשר, and not from ישר, which in the
   corresponding participle gives מישרים. From the Kal of אשר, to go, the
   Pihel, taking a Hiphil meaning, denotes to cause to go, or to lead. Not
   improbably our Author meant that the one verb borrows one of its meanings
   from the other; but this would need proof. — Ed

   [64] Like some other quotations of our Author, this is made from memory, and
   is not quite accurate. — Ed.

   [65] Ye have consumed my vineyard. — Lowth Ye have eaten bare my vineyard.
   — Stock ̔Umeis de ti enepurisate ton ampelōna mou; And why did you burn up
   my vineyard? — Sept. “בער (bagnar,) in its usual acceptation of burning,
   does not agree with the sense of a passage, which represents people making a
   profit of what they consume. Understand it, therefore, of clearing away the
   productions of the soil, as cattle do when they eat down the grass.” —
   Rosenmuller

   [66] Wanton eyes. Heb. Deceiving with their eyes. — Eng. Ver. “Leering with
   their eyes — Nictitantes oculis: from סקר, Chald., oculis vagari. This is
   Abarbanel’s interpretation, approved of by Parkhurst and Rosenmuller. Bishop
   Lowth derives משקרות from שקר, to falsify, and translates it, falsely
   setting of their eyes with paint, according to the eastern fashion of
   tinting the eyelids, on the inside, black with stibium, called by the
   natives al-cahol. But the object of the poet in this place is to describe,
   not ornaments, but affected motions of the body.” — Bishop Stock

   [67] Smite with a scab. — Eng. Ver.

   [68] “The Oppian Law,” so called from the tribune, Caius Oppius, who
   proposed it, was enacted during the disastrous wars with Hannibal, about 213
   years before the Christian era. It was to this effect, “That no woman should
   wear on her person more than half an ounce of gold, or use garments of
   variegated colors, or ride in a carriage in any city or town, or within a
   mile’s distance of one, unless when she was going to observe the public
   festivals.” This law, though extorted by the hard necessities of the state,
   was all along regarded by many persons as harsh and tyrannical, and, after
   producing extraordinary commotions, was overwhelmed by the tide of public
   opinion. Livy informs us (34:1) that “ladies, not restrained either by
   modesty or by the authority of their husbands,” and neglecting the privacy
   which belonged to the customs of that age, assembled in a tumultuous manner,
   and publicly solicited the votes of the consuls and praetors, and other
   persons in office, for the repeal of the law. Ultimately their chief
   opponent was Cato, who spoke with all his ability and eloquence, but with a
   sternness peculiar to his character, and increased by the nature of the
   question under discussion. He was overmatched by the tact and resources of
   Valerius, who brought to his aid a considerable amount of historical
   information, placed the popular arguments in an advantageous light, and
   succeeded in obtaining an almost unanimous repeal of the law, when it had
   been twenty years in force. Our Author immediately afterwards refers to the
   arguments employed on that occasion. — Ed

   [69] In the speech already mentioned, Valerius wittily alludes to this
   antiquated use of the Latin word mundus (a world.) “Our ancestors,” he says,
   “gave to it the appellation of a woman’s world.” Hunc mundum muliebrem
   appellarunt majores nostra — Ed.
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     _________________________________________________________________

   CHAPTER 4
     _________________________________________________________________

   Isaiah Chapter 4:1-6

   1. And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will
   eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel; only let us be called by thy
   name, to take away our reproach.

   1. Apprehendent itaque in die illa septenae mulieres viros singulos,
   dicentes, Pane nostro vescemur, vestimentis nostris induemur, tantum
   invocetur nomen tuum super nos, (vel, censeamur tuo nomine,) tollasque
   probrum nostrum.

   2. In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and
   the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are
   escaped of Israel.

   2. In die illa erit germen Iehovae in pulchritudinem et gloriam; et fructus
   terrae in praestantiam et decorem; nempe in liberatis Israelis.

   3. And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that
   remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written
   among the living in Jerusalem:

   3. Et eveniet ut qui reliquus fuerit in Sion, et residuus manserit in
   Ierusalem, sanctus vocetur, omnesque Ierosolymis inter vivos (vel, ad
   vitam,) asscripti erunt;

   4. When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion,
   and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof, by the
   spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.

   4. Cum scilicet Dominus eluerit sordes filiarum Sion, et sanguines Ierusalem
   expiaverit e medio ejus, et in Spiritu judicii, et in Spiritu incendii (vel,
   ardoris.)

   5. And the Lord will create upon every dwelling-place of mount Zion, and
   upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming
   fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence.

   5. Et creabit Iehova super totam habitationem montis Sion, et super omnem
   coetum ejus, nubem et obscuritatem interdiu; noctu vero splendorem ignis
   flammantis; quia super omnem gloriam erit protectio.

   6. And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the day-time from the
   heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.

   6. Eritque obumbratio per diem in umbram ab aestu, in refugium et latibulum
   a nimbo et imbre.


   1. In that day shall seven women take hold of one man He pursues the same
   subject, and unquestionably this discourse is immediately connected with
   what goes before. This verse certainly ought not to have been separated from
   the preceding. By this circumstance he describes more fully the nature of
   that desolation and calamity which he had formerly threatened against the
   Jews; for hypocrites; unless the threatening be conceived in strong terms,
   either disregard or palliate warnings, so that God’s severity never produces
   its proper effect upon them. From the effect, therefore, he describes the
   appalling nature of the approaching calamity, that they may not indulge the
   hope of making an easy escape. As if he had said, “Do not imagine that it
   will be of moderate extent, lessening your numbers in a small degree; for
   utter destruction awaits you, so that hardly one man will be found for seven
   women.”

   The phrase take hold of conveys the same meaning. It is, no doubt,
   inconsistent with the modesty of the sex that a woman should, of her own
   accord, offer herself to a man. But the Prophet says, that not only will
   they do this, but that seven women will, as it were, lay hands on a man, and
   keep hold of him; so small will be the number of men. The greatness of the
   calamity is likewise denoted by what immediately follows: we will eat our
   own bread, and wear our own apparel; for as it is a duty which belongs to a
   husband to support his wife and family, the women ask a husband for
   themselves on unreasonable conditions, when they release him from all
   concern about supplying them with food. Very great must, therefore, be the
   scarcity of men, when a great number of women, laying aside modesty, are not
   only constrained to solicit one man, but do not even shrink from the
   agreement to procure their own victuals, and request nothing more from a
   husband than to receive them within the bond of marriage.

   Let thy name be called on us. It may be rendered, Let us be called by thy
   name; for when a woman passes into the family of her husband, she is called
   by his name, and loses her own, because the husband is her head. (1
   Corinthians 11:3.) Hence the vail is a token of subjection, and Abimelech
   said to Sarah,

   Thy husband Abraham shall be a covering to thy head. (Genesis 20:16.)

   But if she remain unmarried, she is concealed under the name of her family.
   That this is the true meaning of that mode of expression is sufficiently
   evident from what Jacob says when blessing his grandchildren,

   Let my name, and the name of my fathers,
   Abraham and Isaac, be called on them; (Genesis 48:16;)

   that is, “Let them be reckoned as our descendants, and let them be partakers
   of the covenant, and never excluded from it, as were Esau and Ishmael.” In
   the same manner also do heathen writers speak; as, in Lucan, Marcia, wishing
   to return to Cato, says: “Grant me only the bare name of marriage; let
   permission be given that it may be inscribed on my tomb, Marcia the wife of
   Cato.” [70]

   And take away our reproach. Their reason for saying so is, that women are
   sometimes treated with disdain, when they do not obtain husbands, not only
   because they appear to be despised as unworthy, but because among the
   ancient people offspring was reckoned an important blessing, and therefore
   the Prophet says that they will be desirous to wipe away this reproach, and
   will employ every argument for that purpose. Lastly, he declares that the
   calamity will be so great, that almost all the men will be carried off.

   2. In that day shall the branch of the Lord be for beauty and glory. [71]
   This consolation is seasonably added; for the announcement of a dreadful
   calamity might have alarmed the godly, and led them to doubt as to the
   stability of God’s covenant being maintained amidst the destruction of the
   people. For there is a wide difference between the two statements, that the
   people will be like the sand of the sea, (Genesis 22:17; Isaiah 10:22,) and
   yet that they would be cut down by such a frightful massacre, that in the
   remnant there would be found no dignity, no magnificence, and hardly any
   name. Isaiah, therefore, according to the custom generally followed by
   himself and by the prophets, provides against this alarm, and, by adding a
   consolation, assuages their excessive terror, that believers may still rest
   assured that the Church will be safe, and may strengthen their hearts by
   good hope. As he spoke of the restoration of the Church in the second
   chapter, so he now promises that a new Church will arise, as a bud or shoot
   springs up in a field which was formerly uncultivated.

   This passage is usually expounded as referring to Christ; and the opinion,
   plausible in itself, derives additional probability from the words of the
   prophet Zechariah:

   Behold the man whose name shall be The Branch.
   (Zechariah 6:12.)

   It is still further strengthened by the consideration, that the Prophet does
   not barely name this Branch, but mentions it with a title expressive of
   respect, as if he had intended to honor the Divinity of Christ. When he
   afterwards adds the fruits of the earth, they consider this as referring to
   his human nature. But after a careful examination of the whole, I do not
   hesitate to regard the Branch of God and the fruit of the earth as denoting
   an unusual and abundant supply of grace, which will relieve the hungry; for
   he speaks as if the earth, barren and exhausted after the desolation, would
   hold out no promise of future produce, in order that the sudden fertility
   might render the kindness of God the more desirable; as if the parched and
   barren fields would yield unexpected herbage.

   This metaphor is frequently employed in Scripture, that the gifts of God
   spring up in the world.

   Truth shall spring out of the earth, and
   righteousness shall look down from heaven. (Psalm 85:11.)

   In like manner the Prophet afterwards says:

   Let the earth open and bring forth salvation. (Isaiah 45:8.)

   These words unquestionably denote a rich supply both of spiritual and of
   earthly blessings. That such is the meaning of the passage now under
   consideration is evident from the context; for Isaiah immediately afterwards
   adds, that it will be for honor and lustre to the delivered of Israel, [72]
   that is, to the number left, whom the Lord will rescue from destruction.

   The word פליטת (pheletath) is commonly translated escape, but here, as in
   many other passages, it is a collective noun, denoting those who have
   escaped. He declares that the elect will enjoy that happy fertility which he
   had promised, and therefore (verse 3) that those who shall be left will be
   holy. The meaning of the Prophet is, that the glory of God will be
   illustriously displayed when a new Church shall arise; as if he would create
   a people for himself out of nothing, and to enrich it with every kind of
   blessings.

   They who limit it to the person of Christ expose themselves to the ridicule
   of the Jews, as if it were in consequence of scarcity that they tortured
   passages of Scripture for their own convenience. But there are other
   passages of Scripture from which it may be more clearly proved that Christ
   is true God and true man, so that there is no need of ingenious glosses. Yet
   I acknowledge that the Prophet speaks here about the kingdom of Christ, on
   which the restoration of the Church is founded. But it ought to be observed,
   that the consolation is not addressed indiscriminately to all, but only to
   the remnant, which has been marvellously rescued from the jaws of death.

   Besides, as it might be deemed a cold consolation if he had only said that a
   small number would be saved, he discourses about the magnificent glory and
   dazzling brightness, to lead believers to hope that this diminution will do
   no harm; because the excellence of the Church does not consist in multitude
   but in purity when God bestows splendid and glorious communications of the
   Spirit of God on his elect. Hence we ought to draw a very useful doctrine,
   that though believers be exceedingly few, when they are like brands plucked
   out of the fire, (Zechariah 3:2,) yet that God will glorify himself amongst
   them, and will display in the midst of them a proof of his unspeakable
   greatness not less illustrious than amidst a large number.

   3. And it shall come to pass that he who is left in Zion. He follows out the
   same statement, that when the pollution of the people shall have been washed
   away, what remains will be pure and holy. The explanation given by some,
   that they who shall be found written in the book of life will be called
   holy, appears to me to be too limited. These two clauses ought rather to be
   read separately, that all who shall be left in Zion will be holy, and that
   they who shall be left in Jerusalem will be written in the book of life. And
   this repetition is very frequent and customary among the Hebrews, when the
   prophets set forth under various titles the same gift of God. Thus, when it
   is said,

   There shall be salvation in Jerusalem,
   and forgiveness of sins in Zion, (Joel 2:32,)

   both must be viewed as referring to the same subject; but the grace of God
   is more fully extolled when the cause of salvation is declared to consist in
   a free pardon. [73]

   In this passage the argument is of the same kind; for he says that, when the
   filth shall have been washed away, the Church will be clean, and that all
   who shall have a place in her will truly be the elect of God. Now, it is
   certain that this does not apply universally to the external Church, into
   which many have been admitted under the designation of believers who have
   nothing that corresponds to their profession, and who even exceed the small
   number of good people, as the chaff exceeds the wheat in the barn. And
   although the captivity in Babylon had been employed by God, as a sieve, to
   remove a large portion of chaff, yet we know that the Church was still very
   far from being as pure as she ought to have been. But as at that time there
   was displayed, in some measure, a resemblance of that purity which will be
   truly and perfectly manifested after that

   the lambs shall have been separated from the kids,
   (Matthew 25:32,)

   when Isaiah speaks of those beginnings, he includes, as his custom is, a
   period extending to the end, when God will bring to perfection that which he
   then began.

   It is the same thing which we see every day going forward; for although
   chastisements and punishments do not entirely remove all spots from the
   Church, yet when spots have been washed out, she recovers a part of her
   purity. Thus she suffers no loss by the strokes inflicted on her; because,
   while she is diminished, she is at the same time comforted by casting out
   many hypocrites; just as it is only by casting out the offensive or corrupt
   matter that a diseased body can be restored to health.

   Hence we obtain a most useful consolation; for we are wont always to desire
   a multitude, and to estimate by it the prosperity of the Church. On the
   contrary, we should rather desire to be few in number, and that in all of us
   the glory of God may shine brightly. But because our own glory leads us in
   another direction, the consequence is, that we regard more a great number of
   men than the excellence of a few.

   We ought also to learn what is the true glory of a Church; for she is truly
   prosperous when the saints have a place in her; though they be few and
   despised in the world, yet they render her condition prosperous and
   desirable. But as it will never happen in the world that the saints alone
   will hold a place in the Church, we ought patiently to endure a mixture,
   and, in the meantime, we ought to reckon it a most valuable blessing when
   she makes a near approach to the cleanness which ought to be found in her.

   And they shall all be written among the living [or, to life] in Jerusalem.
   We have already said that by those who are written in the book of life are
   meant the elect of God; as if he had said that the profane multitude, which
   have only a name on the earth, will be cut off. The Prophet alludes to a
   mode of expression which often occurs in the Scriptures, as when Moses
   desires that he should be blotted out of the book of life, (Exodus 32:32,)
   rather than that the whole nation should be destroyed. Christ also says to
   the Apostles,

   Rejoice because your names are written in heaven,
   (Luke 10:20;)

   and Ezekiel says, They shall not be written in the catalogue of my people.
   [74] Now, although God has no other book than his eternal counsel, in which
   he has predestinated us to salvation by adopting us for his children, yet
   this comparison is exceedingly suitable to our weakness, because in no other
   way could our mind conceive that God’s flock is known to him, so that none
   of the elect can ever be deprived of eternal life. Since, therefore, God has
   the names of his people in some manner written down, the decree of adoption,
   by which their eternal blessedness is secured, is called the book of life.
   The reprobate, though for a time they appear to be on a level with the sons
   of God, are excluded from this catalogue, as we see that they are cut off
   when he collects and separates his own people. This matter will not be fully
   completed before the last day; but as the children of God, by continually
   persevering, when the reprobate fall off, have their election made sure, it
   is no small consolation amidst their afflictions, when the temptations by
   which they are assailed do not cause them to fall from their steadfastness.

   4. When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion.
   He still follows out the same statement; for in consequence of its being
   generally believed that those calamities by which the Church is diminished
   inflict upon her grievous injury, the Prophet more zealously inculcates the
   opposite opinion. And now, for the purpose of refuting that error, he
   argues, on the contrary, that by this method God washes away the filth, and
   removes the corruptions, of his Church.

   The blood of Jerusalem. By blood I understand not only murders or other
   atrocious crimes, but defilements and stains of every description. This
   metaphor is a reduplication, (anadiplōsis,) by which he repeats the same
   thing twice; for, having formerly spoken of pollution in general, he now
   particularly mentions blood as one kind of ceremonial uncleanness. In short,
   he shows the fruits which spring from God’s chastisements. By them our spots
   are washed away. When abounding iniquity is not punished, we become
   corrupted along with others; and therefore it is necessary that God should
   earnestly warn us, and, like a physician, apply physic, and the lancet, and
   sometimes proceed to burning

   By the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning. Here judgment
   stands for uprightness from its effect; that is, when they who had deeply
   fallen are restored to their former condition. He adds, the spirit of
   burning, by which the filth must be burned and consumed. In this expression
   there are two things to be observed; first, that the purification of the
   Church is accomplished by the Spirit; and secondly, that from the effects
   which he produces the Spirit receives the name, sometimes of judgment and
   sometimes of burning; as if he had said, The judgment of the Spirit, The
   burning of the Spirit. Whenever, therefore, expressions of this sort occur
   in Scripture, “The Lord will do these things by the Spirit of truth, of
   power, of righteousness,” we may change the expression thus, “by the truth,
   by the power, by the righteousness, of the Spirit.” In this manner doth the
   Spirit of God work in us, from whom is both the beginning and the end of our
   salvation. From these terms, therefore, we ought to learn what are the chief
   effects which he produces. By his Spirit the Lord purifies our affections
   that he may renew and sanctify us. The word judgment explains what is of
   chief importance in the restoration of the Church; that is, when those
   things which were confused or decayed are restored to good order. Burning
   points out the plan and method by which the Lord restores the Church to her
   purity.

   5. And Jehovah will create on every dwelling-place of Mount Zion. As if he
   had said that “there will not be a corner of Mount Zion on which the grace
   of God does not shine.” Dwelling-place and assembly I understand to mean the
   same thing; for assembly does not here denote a congregation, but the place
   where men assemble. With the design to express a full blessing, he alludes
   to what Moses relates, when the Lord delivered the people from Egyptian
   bondage, and sent

   pillars of cloud by day and pillars of fire by night.
   (Exodus 13:21.)

   It was customary with the prophets, in describing any remarkable blessing,
   to remind them of that deliverance from Egypt as an extraordinary work of
   God; for on that occasion God made a remarkable display of the boundless
   treasures of his grace in establishing his Church, and left out no proof of
   his kindness, in order to make known the happiness of that nation. But what
   chiefly deserved to be commemorated was, that by the covering of a cloud by
   day he protected them from excessive heat, and that by night a pillar of
   fire went before them, to prevent them from wandering or going astray.

   It amounts to this, that when God shall bring back the Church from the
   captivity in Babylon, the deliverance will be of a kind not less striking
   and magnificent than when, at an early period, the nation went out of Egypt.
   Not that during their journey from Babylon to Judea they would be
   accompanied, as in the wilderness, by a cloud and a pillar of fire, but that
   he would display his grace and kindness by other methods not less
   remarkable. Just as if we were to say at the present day, “God will
   enlighten us by his Spirit of fire; He will give cloven tongues, (Acts 2:3,)
   to spread his Gospel throughout the whole world.” Such expressions ought not
   to be understood literally, as if the Spirit would be sent down from heaven
   under that visible sign; but by reminding them of the miracle, it would lead
   believers to expect that the same power of God, which the Apostles formerly
   experienced, will now be displayed in restoring the Church. Add to this,
   that the Prophet, by this mode of expression, points out an uninterrupted
   continuance of blessing; as if he had said, “Not only will God for a moment
   stretch out his hand for your deliverance, but as he always accompanied your
   fathers in the wilderness, so likewise he will deliver and protect you to
   the end.”

   For on all the glory shall be a defense. This is connected with what he
   formerly said, that the bud or branch which should afterwards spring up
   would be for glory. It is as if he had said, “on all who shall bear the
   proof and marks of their deliverance.” Perhaps also he alludes to the
   passage in which it is related that the destroying angel passed over the
   houses which were marked without doing them any injury, (Exodus 12:23;) for
   as the sprinkling of blood at that time protected and saved them, so Isaiah
   promises that believers, when God has marked them, will be safe. This must
   be carefully observed; for we are reminded that we shall not become
   partakers of the grace of God in any other way than by bearing his image,
   and by his glory shining in us.

   6. And a covering in the day-time shall be a shadow from the heat. Though
   the Prophet confirms what we have already noticed, that God will be our
   perpetual guide till he has brought us to the end of our journey, yet we are
   reminded that believers will always be exposed to numerous calamities.
   Scorching heat, and piercing cold, and still heavier distresses, press on
   them severely; when they escape from one danger, they meet with another. But
   the highest consolation is that against every inconvenience the shadow of
   the Lord will of itself be sufficient; for it will cover them in such a
   manner that nothing can injure or do them any harm. Although, therefore,
   various calamities and afflictions surround us on every side, still the Lord
   promises that he will assist us; as it is said in the Psalm,

   The sun shall not scorch thee by day, nor the moon by night; for the Lord
   will preserve thee from all evil. (Psalm 121:6, 7.)

   Nothing more is necessary than that we follow our calling, and perform our
   duty faithfully. It belongs equally to the condition of the good and of the
   bad that they suffer many inconveniencies; but bad men have no refuge, no
   place of concealment in which they may hide themselves, and they must be
   utterly overwhelmed. But blessed is the condition of the godly; for although
   they endure heat and cold, still they have a safe refuge in God. But that
   glory of which we formerly spoke must shine in us; otherwise we shall have
   no share in these things; and if we carry about with us God’s mark, whenever
   we shall be assailed by a tempest, let us rest assured that he will be our
   protection.
     _________________________________________________________________

   [70] Da tantum nomen inane Connubii: liceat tumulo scripsisse, Catonis
   Marcia. Luc. Phars. 2:342.

   [71] In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious. —
   Eng. Ver. The marginal reading is, beauty and glory. — Ed.

   [72] Excellent and comely [Heb. beauty and glory] for them that are escaped
   of Israel, [Heb. for the escaping of Israel.] — Eng. Ver.

   [73] There is a mistake here. In the verse quoted the prophet Joel does not
   speak of the forgiveness of sins; but our Author probably had his eye on the
   concluding clause, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call, as
   resembling a part of this verse, and he that shall be left in Jerusalem, and
   on this ground adduced it as a parallel passage, but was not successful in
   pointing out where the parallelism lies. — Ed.

   [74] He appears to refer to Ezekiel 13:9, where his version is, And they
   shall not be written in the writing, that is, in the catalogue, of my
   people. — Ed.
     _________________________________________________________________
     _________________________________________________________________

   CHAPTER 5.
     _________________________________________________________________

   Isaiah Chapter 5:1-30

   1. Now will I sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved touching his
   vineyard. My well-beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:

   1. Cantabo, agedum, pro dilecto meo, canticum dilecti mei ad vineam suam.
   Vinea fuit dilecto meo in cornu filio olei.

   2. And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it
   with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made
   a wine-press therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and
   it brought forth wild grapes.

   2. Eam sepiverat, et elapidaverat, et plantaverat, ut vineam electam; turrim
   aedificaverat in medio ejus, et torcular in ea construxerat. Itaque speravit
   ut produceret uvas, et producit labruscas.

   3. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you,
   betwixt me and my vineyard.

   3. Nunc igitur, habitator Ierusalem, et vir Iuda, judicate inter me et
   vineam meam.

   4. What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in
   it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it
   forth wild grapes?

   4. Quid faciendum fuit amplius vineae meae, quod non fecerim ei? Quomodo
   expectavi ut proferret uvas, et tamen produxit labruscas?

   5. And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take
   away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall
   thereof, and it shall be trodden down:

   5. Et nunc ostendam, agendum, vobis, quid ego facturus sim vineae meae.
   Auferam sepem ejus, ut sit in depastionem: interrumpam maceriem ejus, ut sit
   in conculcationem.

   6. And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned nor digged; but there
   shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they
   rain no rain upon it.

   6. Faciam ut sit deserta: non putabitur neque fodietur; et ascendet sentis
   et spina. Quinetiam nubibus praecipiam, ne super eam pluant.

   7. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men
   of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold
   oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.

   7. Sane vinea Iehovae exercituum domus Israel est; et vir Iuda palmes ejus
   delectabilis. Inde expectavit judicium, et ecce oppressio; justitiam, et
   ecce clamor.

   8. Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till
   there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!

   8. Vae qui conjungunt domum ad domum, agrum ad agrum copulant, donec non sit
   locus; ut collocemini scilicet vos soli in medio terrae.

   9. In mine ears said the Lord of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be
   desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant.

   9. Hoc in auribus Iehovae exercituum, Si non domus multae in solitudinem
   redigantur, magnae et pulchrae absque habitatore.

   10. Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of an
   homer shall yield an ephah.

   10. Quinetiam decem jugera vineae facient batum unum, et semen cori reddet
   ephi.

   11. Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow
   strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!

   11. Vae qui mane surgunt ad sectandam ebrietatem, et qui tempus ad noctem
   extrahunt, dum vinum accendit eos.

   12. And the harp and the viol, the tabret and pipe, and wine, are in their
   feasts: but they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the
   operation of his hands.

   12. Et est cythara, lyra, tympanum, tibia, et vinum, in conviviis eorum;
   opus autem Iehovae non respiciunt; nec opus manuum ejus considerant.

   13. Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no
   knowledge; and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried
   up with thirst.

   13. Propterea in captivitatem abiit populus meus; quia non fuit praeditus
   scientia; et gloria ejus, viri famis, et multitudo ejus aruit siti.

   14. Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without
   measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that
   rejoiceth, shall descend into it.

   14. Propterea dilatavit infernus animam suam, et os suum distendit absque
   modo descenditque gloria ejus; et multitudo ejus, et opulentia ejus, et qui
   laetatus est in ea.

   15. And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be
   humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled:

   15. Et incurvabitur homo, et humiliabitur vir; oculi inquam sublimium
   humiliabuntur.

   16. But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God, that is
   holy, shall be sanctified in righteousness.

   16. Exaltabitur autem Iehova exercituum in judicio, et Deus qui sanctus est
   sanctificabitur in justitia.

   17. Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of
   the fat ones shall strangers eat.

   17. Et pascentur agni secundum rationem suam; et desolata pinguium advenae
   comedent.

   18. Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it
   were with a cart-rope:

   18. Vae trahentibus iniquitatem in funibus vanitatis, et tanquam vinculis
   plaustri peccatum.

   19. That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it:
   and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we
   may know it!

   19. Qui dicunt, Acceleret, festinet opus ejus, et videamus; appropinquet ac
   veniat consilium Sancti Israel, ut sciamus.

   20. Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for
   light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for
   bitter!

   20. Vae qui dicunt malo bonum, et bono malum; qui faciunt lucem ex tenebris,
   et tenebras ex luce; qui vertunt amarum in dulce, et dulce in amarum.

   21. Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own
   sight!

   21. Vae sapientibus in oculis suis, et qui coram seipsis sunt prudentes.

   22. Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to
   mingle strong drink;

   22. Vae qui fortes sunt ab libandum vinum, et viris fortibus ad miscendam
   potionem:

   23. Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of
   the righteous from him!

   23. Qui justificant impium propter munus; justitiam autem justi tollunt ab
   eo.

   24. Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the
   chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up
   as dust; because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and
   despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

   24. Propterea sicut devorat stipulam lingua ignis, et palea a flamma
   dissolvitur; sic radix eorum quasi putredo erit, et germen eorum quasi
   pulvis vanescet. Quoniam abjecerunt legem Iehovae exercituum, et eloquium
   Sancti Israel aversati sunt.

   25. Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled against his people, and he
   hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the
   hills did tremble, and their carcasses were torn in the midst of the
   streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is
   stretched out still.

   25. Idcirca exarsit furor Iehovae in populum suum; et extendens super eum
   manum suam percussit eum; et contremuerunt montes, fuitque cadaver eorum
   mutilum projectum in medio viarum; et in omnibus istis non est aversus furor
   ejus; sed adhuc manus ejus est extenta.

   26. And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss
   unto them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with speed
   swiftly.

   26. Et levabit signum ad gentes e longinquo; sibilabit Genti ab extremo
   terrae; et ecce velox et levis veniet.

   27. None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor
   sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of
   their shoes be broken:

   27. Non erit lassus, neque impingens inter ipsos; nullus dormitabit neque
   dormiet; non solvetur ulli cingulum lumborum, neque rumpetur corrigia
   calceamentorum ejus.

   28. Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses’ hoofs
   shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind.

   28. Sagittae ipsorum acutae erunt, et omnes arcus extenti. Ungulae equorum
   quasi silex; et rotae ipsorum quasi turbo reputabuntur.

   29. Their roaring shall be like a lion, they shall roar like young lions;
   yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry it away
   safe, and none shall deliver it.

   29. Rugitus ejus sicut leonis; fremet instar leunculorum. Frendet atque
   apprehendet praedam. Spolia corradet, et nemo eripiet.

   30. And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the
   sea: and if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow; and the
   light is darkened in the heavens thereof.

   30. Fremet super eum in die illo, quasi fremitus maris; tum aspiciet ad
   terram, et ecce tenebrae tribulationis; et lux obtenebrata erit in coelis.


   1. Now will I sing to my beloved. The subject of this chapter is different
   from that of the former. It was the design of the Prophet to describe the
   condition of the people of Israel, as it then was, in order that all might
   perceive their faults, and might thus be led by shame and self-loathing to
   sincere repentance. Here, as in a mirror, the people might behold the misery
   of their condition. But for this, they would have flattered themselves too
   much in their crimes, and would not have patiently listened to any
   instructions. It was therefore necessary to present a striking and lively
   picture of their wickedness; and in order that it might have the greater
   weight, he made use of this preface; for great and memorable events were
   usually described in verse, that they might be repeated by every one, and
   that a lasting record of them might be preserved. In like manner, we see
   that Moses wrote a song, and many other compositions, (Exodus 15:1;
   Deuteronomy 32:1,) in order that all the events might be proclaimed in this
   manner, both in public and in private. The instruction becomes more widely
   diffused than if it had been delivered in plainer language. For the same
   reason Isaiah composed this song, that he might present to the people a
   clearer view of their wickedness; and, undoubtedly, he handled this subject
   with magnificent and harmonious language, for the highest skill is commonly
   exercised in the composition of poems.

   To my beloved. There can be no doubt that he means God; as if he had said
   that he would compose a poem in behalf of God, that he might expostulate
   with the people about their ingratitude; for it gave additional weight to
   his language to represent God as speaking. But a question arises, Why does
   Isaiah call God his friend? Some reply that he was a kinsman of Christ, and
   I acknowledge that he was a descendant of David; but this appears to be a
   forced interpretation. A more natural and appropriate one would be, to adopt
   the statement of John, that the Church is committed to the friends of the
   bridegroom, (John 3:29,) and to reckon prophets as belonging to that class.
   To them, unquestionably, this designation applies; for the ancient people
   were placed under their charge, that they might be kept under their leader.
   We need not wonder, therefore, that they were jealous and were greatly
   offended when the people bestowed their attachment on any other. Isaiah
   therefore assumes the character of the bridegroom, and, being deeply anxious
   about the bride entrusted to him, complains that she has broken conjugal
   fidelity, and deplores her treachery and ingratitude.

   Hence we learn that not only Paul, but all those prophets and teachers who
   faithfully served God, were jealous of God’s spouse. (2 Corinthians 11:2.)
   And all the servants of God ought to be greatly moved and aroused by this
   appellation; for what does a man reckon more valuable than his wife? A
   well-disposed husband will value her more highly than all his treasures, and
   will more readily commit to any person the charge of his wealth than of his
   wife. He to whom one will entrust his dearly-beloved wife must be reckoned
   very faithful. Now to pastors and ministers the Lord commits his Church as
   his beloved wife. How great will be our wickedness if we betray her by sloth
   and negligence! Whosoever does not labor earnestly to preserve her can on no
   pretense be excused.

   A song of my beloved. By using the word דודי, dodi, he changes the first
   syllable, but the meaning is the same as in the former clause. Though some
   render it uncle, and others cousin, I rather agree with those who consider
   it to contain an allusion; for greater liberties are allowed to poets than
   to other writers. By his arrangement of those words, and by his allusions to
   them, he intended that the sound and rhythm should aid the memory, and
   impress the minds, of his readers.

   My beloved had a vineyard. The metaphor of a vineyard is frequently employed
   by the prophets, and it would be impossible to find a more appropriate
   comparison. (Psalm 80:8; Jeremiah 2:21.) There are two ways in which it
   points out how highly the Lord values his Church; for no possession is
   dearer to a man than a vineyard, and there is none that demands more
   constant and persevering toil. Not only, therefore, does the Lord declare
   that we are his beloved inheritance, but at the same time points out his
   care and anxiety about us.

   In this song the Prophet mentions, first, the benefits which the Lord had
   bestowed on the Jewish people; secondly, he explains how great was the
   ingratitude of the people; thirdly, the punishment which must follow;
   fourthly, he enumerates the vices of the people; for men never acknowledge
   their vices till they are compelled to do so.

   On a hill. He begins by saying that God had placed his people in a favorable
   situation, as when a person plants a vine on a pleasant and fertile hill. By
   the word horn or hill I understand a lofty place rising above a plain, or
   what we commonly call a rising-ground, (un coustau.) It is supposed by some
   to refer to the situation of Jerusalem, but I consider this to be unnatural
   and forced. It rather belongs to the construction of the Prophet’s allegory;
   and as God was pleased to take this people under his care and protection, he
   compares this favor to the planting of a vineyard; for it is better to plant
   vines on hills and lofty places than on a plain. In like manner the poet
   says, The vine loves the open hills; the yews prefer the north wind and the
   cold [75] The Prophet, therefore, having alluded to the ordinary method of
   planting the vine, next follows out the comparison, that this place occupied
   no ordinary situation. When he calls it the son of oil or of fatness, [76]
   he means a rich and exceedingly fertile spot. This is limited by some
   commentators to the fertility of Judea, but that does not accord with my
   views, for the Prophet intended to describe metaphorically the prosperous
   condition of the people.

   2. And he fenced it. The incessant care and watchfulness of God in dressing
   his vine are asserted by the Prophet, as if he had said, that God has
   neglected nothing that could be expected from the best and most careful
   householder. And yet we do not choose to attempt, as some commentators have
   done, an ingenious exposition of every clause, such as, that the Church is
   fenced by the protection of the Holy Spirit, so that it is safe against the
   attacks of the devil; that the wine-press is doctrine; and that by the
   stones are meant the annoyances of errors. The design of the Prophet, as I
   have mentioned, was more obvious, namely, that by incessant care and large
   expenditure God has performed the part of an excellent husbandman. Yet it
   was the duty of the Jews to consider how numerous and diversified were the
   blessings which God had conferred on them; and at the present day, when the
   Church is represented under the metaphor of a vineyard, we ought to view
   those figures as denoting God’s blessings, by which he makes known not only
   his love toward us, but likewise his solicitude about our salvation.

   In the verb planted the order appears to be reversed, for one ought to begin
   with planting rather than with the fence; but my explanation is, that after
   having planted, he did everything else that was necessary. Justly,
   therefore, does he charge them with ingratitude and treachery, when the
   fruits that ought to have followed such laborious cultivation were not
   brought forth. There is reason to fear that the Lord will bring the same
   accusation against us; for the greater the benefits which we have received
   from God, the more disgraceful will be our ingratitude if we abuse them. It
   is not without a good reason, or to enable them to make any idle display,
   that the Lord blesses his people; it is, that they may yield grapes, that
   is, the best fruit. If he be disappointed of his expectation, the punishment
   which the Prophet here describes will follow. The mention of his benefits
   ought, therefore, to produce a powerful impression on our minds, and to
   excite us to gratitude.

   Besides, the word vineyard, and a vineyard so carefully cultivated, suggests
   an implied contrast; for so much the more highly ought we to value the acts
   of God’s kindness, when they are not of an ordinary description, but tokens
   of his peculiar regard. Other blessings are indiscriminately bestowed, such
   as, that he

   maketh the sun to shine on the evil as well as on the good, (Matthew 5:45,)

   and supplies them with what is necessary for food and clothing. But how much
   more highly ought we to esteem that covenant of grace into which he has
   entered with us, by which he makes the light of the Gospel to shine on us;
   for his own people are its peculiar objects! That care and diligence,
   therefore, which the Lord continually manifests in cultivating our minds
   deserves our most earnest consideration.

   Therefore he hoped that it would bring forth grapes [77] He now complains
   that the nation which had enjoyed such high advantages had basely and
   shamefully degenerated; and he accuses them of undervaluing the kindness of
   God, for he says that, instead of pleasant grapes, they yielded only wild
   and bitter fruits. It is undoubtedly true that God, to whose eyes all things
   are naked and opened, (Hebrew 4:13,) is not deceived by his expectation like
   a mortal man. In the Song of Moses he plainly declares that he well knew
   from the beginning what would be the wickedness of his people.

   My beloved, says he, when she fares well and becomes fat,
   will kick. (Deuteronomy 32:15.)

   It is therefore not more possible that God should be mistaken in his
   expectations, than that he should repent. Isaiah does not here enter into
   subtle reasonings about the expectations which God had formed, but describes
   the manner in which the people ought to have acted, that they might not lose
   the benefit of such excellent advantages. Thus God commands that the Gospel
   be proclaimed for the obedience of faith, (Romans 16:26,) not that he
   expects all to be obedient, but because, by the mere hearing of it,
   unbelievers are rendered inexcusable. Moreover, there is nothing that ought
   to excite us more powerfully to lead a devout and holy life, than to find
   that those duties which we perform towards God are compared by the Holy
   Spirit to fruits of exquisite flavour.

   3. Now, therefore, O inhabitant of Jerusalem! Those persons with whom he
   contends are made judges in their own cause, as is usually done in cases so
   plain and undoubted that the opposite party has no means of evasion. It is,
   therefore, a proof of the strongest confidence in his cause, when he bids
   the guilty persons themselves declare if this be not the true state of the
   fact; for immediately afterwards we shall find him declaring that the
   accusation is decided against those persons to whom he now commits the
   decision.

   4. What more ought to have been done to my vineyard? He first inquires what
   could have been expected from the best husbandman or householder, which he
   has not done to his vineyard? Hence he concludes that they had no excuse for
   having basely withheld from him the fruit of his toil.

   How did I expect that it would yield grapes? In this clause he appears to
   expostulate with himself for having expected any good or pleasant fruit from
   so wicked a people; just as, when the result does not answer to our
   expectation, we complain of ourselves, and are angry at having ill-bestowed
   our labor on ungrateful persons whose wickedness ought to have restrained us
   from doing what we did, and acknowledge that we are justly deceived, because
   we were too simple and easily imposed on. But a more natural interpretation
   will be this: “Since I discharged every part of my duty, and did more than
   any one could have expected in dressing my vineyard, how comes it that it
   yields me so poor a return, and that, instead of the fruit which was
   expected, it yields what is absolutely bitter?”

   If it be objected that God had the remedy in his hands, if he had turned the
   hearts of the people, this is an idle evasion as applied to those men; for
   their conscience holds them fast, so that they cannot escape by laying the
   blame on another. Though God do not pierce the hearts of men by the power of
   his Spirit, so as to render them obedient to him, yet they will have no
   right to complain that this was wanting; for every pretense of ignorance is
   fully and abundantly taken away by the outward call. Besides, God does not
   speak here of his power, but declares that he was not under any obligation
   to do more than he did.

   5. And now come, I will show you what I will do to my vineyard. Having held
   the Jews to be condemned, as it were, by their own mouth, he next adds that
   he will take vengeance for their contempt of his grace, so that they will
   not escape from being punished. The reproof would not have been sufficiently
   powerful to affect their minds, if he had not also threatened punishment;
   and therefore he now declares that the heinous offense, of having wickedly
   imposed on him, will not escape vengeance. Now the punishment to be
   inflicted on them amounts to this, that they will be deprived of the gifts
   which they had abused, when God shall not only withdraw his care of them,
   but shall give them up to be plundered by their enemies. At the same time he
   shows how wretched their condition will be, when God shall have ceased to
   bestow on them his multiplied favors.

   Hence it follows that it must have been owing entirely to the extraordinary
   goodness of God, that the vineyard remained safe and uninjured till that
   time. He goes so far as to point out the various supports by which it was
   upheld, and the vast resources which God possesses for destroying it both
   within and without; for when his protection has been removed, they must
   become a prey to all that pass by, whether men or beasts. “When the fence
   has been removed,” says he, “the cattle will tread on it and lay it bare,
   robbers will ransack and plunder it, and thus it will become a
   wilderness.”

   6. I will lay it waste. God will not take pains to dig and prune it, and
   consequently it will become barren for want of dressing; briars and thorns
   will spring up to choke its branches; and, what is more, by withholding
   rain, God will dry up its roots. Hence it is evident how manifold are the
   weapons with which God is supplied for punishing our ingratitude, when he
   sees that we despise his kindness. Isaiah is still, no doubt, proceeding
   with his metaphor, and, in order to obtain more eager attention, adorns his
   style by figures of speech. But we ought simply to conclude, that as God
   continually bestows on us innumerable benefits, so we ought to be earnestly
   on our guard lest, by withdrawing first one and then another, he punish us
   for despising them.

   So far as relates to the government of the Church, the more numerous the
   kinds of assistance which she needs, the more numerous are the punishments
   to which she will be liable, if she wickedly corrupt what was appointed by
   God for her salvation. Nor ought we to wonder, if at the present day so many
   distresses threaten ruin and desolation; for whatever calamity befalls us,
   whether it be that there is a deficiency of instruction, or that the wicked
   abound, or that foxes and wolves creep into the Church, all this must be
   ascribed to our ingratitude, because we have not yielded such fruit as we
   ought, and have been indolent and sluggish. Whenever, therefore, we are
   justly deprived of those great favors which he freely bestowed on us, let us
   acknowledge the anger of the Lord.

   7. Truly the vineyard of Jehovah of hosts is the house of Israel. Hitherto
   he spoke figuratively; now he shows what is the design of this song.
   Formerly he had threatened judgment against the Jews; now he shows that they
   are not only guilty, but are also held to be convicted persons; for they
   could not be ignorant of the benefits which they had received from God.

   Thou broughtest a vine from Egypt, says the Psalmist, and, having driven out
   the nations, plantedst it. (Psalm 80:8.)

   Their ingratitude was plain and manifest.

   Isaiah does not illustrate every part of the metaphor; nor was it necessary;
   for it was enough to point out what was its object. The whole nation was the
   vineyard; the individual men were the plants. Thus he accuses the whole body
   of the nation, and then every individual; so that no man could escape the
   universal condemnation, as if no part of the expostulation had been
   addressed to himself. Why the nation is called a vineyard is plain enough;
   for the Lord chose it, and admitted it to the covenant of grace and of
   eternal salvation, and bestowed on it innumerable blessings. The planting is
   the commencement, and the dressing of it follows. That nation was adopted,
   and in various respects was the object of Divine care; for the adoption
   would have been of no avail, if the Lord had not continually adorned and
   enriched it by his blessings.

   The same doctrine ought to be inculcated on us at the present day. Christ
   affirms that he is the vine, (John 15:1,) and that, having been ingrafted
   into this vine, we are placed under the care of the Father; for God is
   pleased to perform towards us the office of a husbandman, and continually
   bestows those favors which he reproachfully asserts that he had granted to
   his ancient people. We need not wonder, therefore, if he is greatly enraged
   when he bestows his labor uselessly and to no purpose. Hence that
   threatening,

   Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he will cut off,
   and cast into the fire. (John 15:2,6.) [78]

   He looked for judgment. He begins without a metaphor to relate how wickedly
   the Jews had degenerated, among whom equity and justice was despised, and
   every kind of injustice and violence abounded. The words contain an elegant
   play of language, (paronomasia,) for those which have nearly the same sound
   have an opposite meaning. משפט (mishpat) denotes judgment; משפח (mishpach)
   denotes conspiracy or oppression; צדקה (tzedakah) denotes righteousness;
   צעקה (tzeakah) denotes the cry and complaint of those who are oppressed by
   violence and injustice; sounds which are not wont to be heard where every
   man receives what is his own. He mentions two things which the Lord chiefly
   demands from his people as the genuine fruits of the fear of God; for
   although piety comes first in order, yet there is no inconsistency in taking
   the description of it from the duties of the second table. They are justly
   charged with having despised God, on the ground of having acted cruelly
   towards men; for where cruelty reigns, religion is extinguished.

   Let us now understand that the same things are addressed to us; for as that
   nation was planted, so were we. We should call to remembrance what Paul
   says, that we were like wild olive-plants, but that they were the true and
   natural olive-tree. (Romans 11:24. [79] ) since we who were strangers have
   been ingrafted into the true olive-tree, the Lord has cultivated and adorned
   us with unceasing care. But what kind of fruits do we bring forth? Assuredly
   they are not only useless, but even bitter. So much the greater is the
   ingratitude for which we ought to be condemned, for the blessings which he
   has bestowed and heaped on us are far more abundant. And justly does this
   expostulation apply to us, for violence and injustice abound everywhere. But
   since the general doctrine did not strike their minds so powerfully, the
   Prophet described chiefly these two kinds of wickedness; that he might point
   out with the finger, as it were, how far that nation was from the fruit
   which a good vineyard ought to have yielded.

   8. Woe to them that join house to house and field to field. He now reproves
   their insatiable avarice and covetousness, from which the acts of cheating,
   injustice, and violence are wont to arise. For it cannot be condemned as a
   thing in itself wrong, if a man add field to field and house to house; but
   he looked at the disposition of mind, which cannot at all be satisfied, when
   it is once inflamed by the desire of gain. Accordingly, he describes the
   feelings of those who never have enough, and whom no wealth can satisfy. So
   great is the keenness of covetous men that they desire to have everything
   possessed by themselves alone, and reckon everything that is obtained by
   others to be something which they want, and which has been taken from them.
   Hence the beautiful observation of Chrysostom, that “covetous men, if they
   could, would willingly take the sun from the poor,” for they envy their
   brethren the common elements, and would gladly swallow them up; not that
   they might enjoy them, but because such is the madness to which their greed
   carries them. All the while they do not consider that they need the
   assistance of others, and that a man left alone can do nothing: all their
   care is to scrape together as much as they can, and thus they swallow up
   everything by their covetousness.

   He therefore accuses covetous and ambitious men of such folly that they
   would wish to have other men removed from the earth, that they might possess
   it alone; and consequently they set no limit to their desire of gain. For
   what madness is it to wish to have those driven away from the earth whom God
   has placed in it along with us, and to whom, as well as to ourselves, he has
   assigned it as their abode! Certainly nothing more ruinous could happen to
   them than to obtain their wish. Were they alone, they could not plough, or
   reap, or perform other offices indispensable to their subsistence, or supply
   themselves with the necessaries of life. For God has linked men so closely
   together, that they need the assistance and labor of each other; and none
   but a madman would disdain other men as hurtful or useless to him. Ambitious
   men cannot enjoy their renown but amidst a multitude. How blind are they,
   therefore, when they wish to drive and chase away others, that they may
   reign alone!

   As to the size of houses, the same remark which we formerly made about
   fields will apply; for he points out the ambition of those who are desirous
   to inhabit spacious and magnificent houses. If a man who has a large family
   makes use of a large house, he cannot be blamed for it; but when men,
   swollen with ambition, make superfluous additions to their houses, only that
   they may live in greater luxury, and when one person alone occupies a
   building which might serve for the habitation of many families, this
   undoubtedly is empty ambition, and ought justly to be blamed. Such persons
   act as if they had a right to drive out other men, and to be the only
   persons that enjoyed a house or a roof, and as if other men ought to live in
   the open air, or must go somewhere else to find an abode.

   9. This is in the ears of Jehovah of hosts. Here something must be supplied;
   for he means that the Lord sits as judge, and as taking cognizance of those
   things. When covetous men seize and heap up their wealth, they are blinded
   by their desire of gain, and do not understand that they will one day render
   an account. Never, certainly, were men so utterly stupid as not to ascribe
   some judgment to God; but they flatter themselves so far as to imagine that
   God does not observe them. In general, therefore, they acknowledge the
   judgment of God: when they come to particular cases, they take liberties,
   and suppose that they are not bound to proceed to that extent.

   If many houses be not laid desolate. Having warned them that none of these
   things escape the eyes of God, lest they should imagine that it is a
   knowledge which does not lead to action, he immediately adds, that vengeance
   is close at hand. He likewise makes use of an oath; for the expression If
   not is a form of swearing that frequently occurs in the Scriptures. [80] In
   order to strike them with greater terror he breaks off the sentence with
   studied abruptness. [81] He might indeed have brought out this threatening
   with full expression, but the incomplete form is better fitted to keep the
   hearer in doubt and suspense, and is therefore more alarming. Besides, by
   this instance of reserve the Lord intended to train us to modesty, that we
   may not be too free in the use of oaths.

   But what does he threaten? Many houses will be laid desolate. This is a just
   punishment, by which the Lord chastises the covetousness and ambition of
   men, who did not consider their own meanness, that they might be satisfied
   with a moderate portion. In a similar manner the poet ridicules the mad
   ambition of Alexander the Great, who having learned from the philosophy of
   Anacharsis that there were many worlds, sighed to think, that after having
   worn himself out by so many toils, he had not yet made himself master of one
   world. “One globe does not satisfy the Macedonian youth. He writhes in
   misery on account of the narrow limits of the world, as if he were confined
   to the rocks of Gyaros, or to the puny Seriphos. But when he shall enter the
   city framed by potters, he will be content with a tomb. Death alone
   acknowledges how small are the dimensions of the bodies of men.” [82]

   Instances of the same kind occur every day, yet we do not observe them; for
   the Lord exhibits to us, as in a mirror, the absurd vanity of men, who spend
   a vast amount of money in building palaces that are afterwards to become the
   receptacles of owls and bats and other animals. These things are plainly
   before our eyes, and yet we do not apply our mind to the consideration of
   them. So sudden and various are the changes that happen, so many houses are
   laid desolate, so many cities are overthrown and destroyed, and, in short,
   there are so many other evident proofs of the judgment of God; and yet men
   cannot be persuaded to lay aside this mad ambition. The Lord threatens by
   the Prophet Amos:

   “You have built houses of hewn stones,
   but you shall not dwell in them.” (Amos 5:11.)

   And again,

   “He will smite the great house with breaches,
   and the little house with clefts.” (Amos 6:11.)

   These things happen daily, and yet the lawless passions of men are not
   abated.

   10. Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath. He foretells that the
   same thing will befall their fields and vineyards; that covetous men will
   not obtain the desired returns, because their greed is insatiable; that,
   like certain animals which, by their breath, scorch the branches, and wither
   the corn, those men destroy the fruits of the earth by their extortion. The
   fields will be so barren as scarcely to yield a tenth part of the seed: the
   vineyards will yield very little wine.

   A bath, as Josephus tells us, is a measure of liquids, and contains
   seventy-two sextaries; a very small measure, certainly, for ten acres,
   especially on a fertile soil. The cor (koros) or homer, is a measure of dry
   substances, and, according to the same author, contains thirty-one medimni
   [83] An ephah is the tenth part of it, and therefore evidently contains a
   little more than three medimni [84]

   Now, when the soil is productive, it yields not only tenfold, but
   thirtyfold, and in all cases goes beyond the quantity of seed, and gives
   back far more abundantly than it received. When the case is otherwise, it
   undoubtedly proceeds from the curse of God punishing the extortion of men.
   And yet men blame the niggardliness of the soil, as if the fault lay there,
   but all in vain; for we would not want abundant increase, if God did not
   curse the soil on account of men’s covetousness. When they are so eagerly
   employed in gathering and heaping up, what else are they doing than
   swallowing up the goodness of God by their greed? If this is not seen in
   all, because they want the power, still they do not want the disposition.
   Never was the world so much inflamed by this covetousness, and we need not
   wonder if God visit it with punishment.

   11. Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning to follow strong drink
   The Prophet does not aim at an enumeration of all the vices which then
   prevailed, but only points out some particular kinds of them, to which they
   were peculiarly addicted. After having handled the general doctrine, he
   found it necessary to come to particular vices; and the enumeration of those
   was more urgently needed, for there would have been no end of going through
   them all one by one. Having reproved covetousness, he now attacks
   drunkenness, which undoubtedly was also a prevailing vice; for the kinds of
   vices which he selects are not those which were found in one person or
   another, but those which universally prevailed; and indeed the vices are of
   such a kind as infect the whole body by their contagion.

   To rise early means to be earnestly employed in doing anything; as when
   Solomon says,

   Woe to the nation whose princes eat in the morning,
   (Ecclesiastes 10:16;)

   that is, whose chief care is to fill their belly and enjoy delicacies. This
   is contrary to the order of nature; for man, as David says,

   “riseth that he may go to his work, and may be engaged in business till the
   evening.” (Psalms 104:23.)

   Now, if he lay aside his labors, and rise to partake of luxuries, and to
   follow drunkenness, this is monstrous. He adds —

   And who continue till night. The meaning is, that from the dawn of the
   morning to the twilight of the evening they continue their drunken
   carousals, and are never weary of drinking. Abundance and luxury are closely
   joined together; for when men enjoy abundance, they become luxurious, and
   abuse it by intemperance.

   12. And the harp. He adds the instruments of pleasures by which men addicted
   to intemperance provoke their appetite. These might be different from ours,
   but they belonged to music. Now, Isaiah does not blame music, for it is a
   science which ought not to be despised; but he describes a nation swimming
   in every kind of luxury, and too much disposed to indulge in pleasures. This
   is sufficiently evident from what follows.

   And they regard not the work of the Lord As if he had said, “They are as
   constant in luxurious indulgence, and as much devoted to it, as if this had
   been the purpose for which they were born and reared; and they do not
   consider why the Lord supplies them with what is necessary.” Men were not
   born to eat and drink, and wallow in luxury, but to obey God, to worship him
   devoutly, to acknowledge his goodness, and to endeavor to do what is
   pleasing in his sight. But when they give themselves up to luxury, when they
   dance, and sing, and have no other object in view than to spend their life
   in the highest mirth, they are worse than beasts: for they do not consider
   for what end God created them, in what manner he governs this world by his
   providence, and to what end all the actions of our life ought to be
   directed.

   Having stated this meaning, which appears to me to be natural, I consider
   nothing more to be necessary; for I cannot adopt the ingenious expositions
   of some authors, such as, when they explain the work of God to mean the law;
   nor did I intend to state every opinion which others have maintained. It is
   enough to know that all who are addicted to gormandizing are here subjected
   by the Prophet to the reproach of voluntarily becoming like brute beasts,
   when they do not direct their minds to God, who is the author of life.

   13. Therefore my people are gone into captivity. I do not approve of the
   interpretation given by some commentators, that in consequence of the
   teachers having failed to perform their duty, the people, through ignorance
   and error, fell into many vices, which at length became the cause of their
   destruction. On the contrary, he charges them with gross and voluntary
   ignorance, as if he had said that, by their madness, they brought down
   destruction on themselves. The meaning therefore is, that the people
   perished because they despised instruction; whereas they might have been
   preserved if they had listened to good counsels: and therefore he expressly
   says, My people; that is, the nation which enjoyed the extraordinary
   privilege of being separated from the rest of the nations, that by relying
   on the guidance and direction of God, they might have a fixed rule of life.
   Thus it is said,

   “What nation is so eminent and so distinguished as to have gods nigh to it,
   as thy God draws near to thee this day? This shall therefore be your
   knowledge and understanding above all nations, to hear your God.”
   (Deuteronomy 4:6, 7.)

   This baseness heightens the criminality of the people, that they shut their
   eyes in the midst of so much light. It was therefore a very severe
   accusation, that a people which God had undertaken to govern possessed no
   knowledge: for the law might have given them abundant direction for the
   whole conduct of life; it was a light shining before them amidst the general
   darkness of the world; and therefore it was monstrous that the nation should
   refuse to follow that path which had been pointed out to them, and, on the
   contrary, should shut their eyes, and rush forward to destruction.

   Have gone into captivity. Some consider the word captivity to be used here
   in a metaphorical sense; but this is a forced interpretation; for the
   Prophet here describes the punishments which God had in part inflicted, and
   in part intended to inflict, so as to make it evident that the people were
   wretched through their own fault, as if they wished to draw down upon
   themselves the curses of God. When this discourse was delivered, some tribes
   of Israel had already been banished, and the destruction of both kingdoms
   was at hand. The Prophet accordingly speaks as if all had already been led
   into captivity

   And their glory are men famished [85] and their multitude are dried up with
   thirst. He now adds another punishment, namely, that they are wasted with
   hunger and famine, and not only common men, but some persons of the highest
   rank, in whom the vengeance of God is more clearly seen; for it was shocking
   to see wealthy men and nobles, on whom the respectability of the whole
   nation rested, wandering about and famished. And yet the severity of God’s
   vengeance did not exceed proper bounds; for we must always take into account
   that ignorance was the cause; that is, the Jews were rebellious, and
   obstinately rejected the light of heavenly doctrine; yea, shut their ears
   against God when he was willing to perform the part of a master in
   instructing them. Hence we draw a useful doctrine; namely, that the source
   of all our calamities is, that we do not allow ourselves to be taught by the
   word of God, and this is what the Prophet chiefly intended that we should
   observe.

   It may be asked, Is ignorance the cause of all calamities? Many persons
   appear to sin not so much through ignorance as through obstinacy; for they
   see what is right, but refuse to follow it, and the consequence is that they
   sin willingly, and not merely through inadvertency. I answer, ignorance is
   sometimes the near, and sometimes the remote cause; or, to use the common
   expressions, the one is immediate, and the other is mediate. It is the near
   cause, when men deceive themselves under any pretense, and intentionally
   blind their understanding. Again, it is the remoter cause, when men reject
   the principles from which they ought to frame the rule of their life; for it
   was their duty to look to God, and to attend to his will. When they
   disregard his will, they are indeed rebellious and obstinate; but they are
   ignorant because they refuse to learn, and on this rock they split: and yet
   ignorance does not excuse them, for of their own accord they bring it on
   themselves when they reject such a Teacher. So then it is a true statement,
   that the reason why the people endure such a variety of afflictions is, that
   they are ignorant of God, and will not allow themselves to be taught by him.

   14. Therefore hell hath enlarged his soul [86] In this verse the Prophet
   intended to heighten the alarm of men who were at their ease, and not yet
   sufficiently affected by the threatenings which had been held out to them.
   Though it was shocking to behold captivity, and also famine, yet the
   slowness and insensibility of the people was so great that they did not give
   earnest heed to these tokens of God’s anger. Accordingly the Prophet
   threatens something still more dreadful, that hell has opened his belly to
   swallow them all up.

   I said a little ago, that what is here stated in the past tense refers
   partly to the future. Nor is it without good reason that the Prophet speaks
   of the events as plain and manifest; for he intended to bring them
   immediately before the people, that they might behold with their eyes what
   they could not be persuaded to believe. Again, when he compares hell or the
   grave to an insatiable beast, by the soul he means the belly into which the
   food is thrown. The general meaning is, that the grave is like a wide and
   vast gulf, which, at the command of God, yawns to devour men who are
   condemned to die. This personification carries greater emphasis than if he
   had said that all are condemned to the grave.

   And her glory hath descended, and her multitude. He joins together the
   nobles and men of low rank, that none may flatter themselves with the hope
   of escape: as if he had said, “Death will carry you away, and all that you
   possess, your delicacies, wealth, pleasures, and everything else in which
   you place your confidence.” It is therefore a confirmation of the former
   statement, and we ought always to attend to the particle לכן (laken,)
   therefore; for the people ascribed their calamities to fortune, or in some
   other way hardened themselves against the Lord’s chastisements. On this
   account Isaiah says that these things do not happen by chance. Besides, men
   are wont to argue with God, and are so daring and presumptuous that they do
   not hesitate to call him to account. In order, therefore, to restrain that
   pride, he shows that the punishments with which they are visited are just,
   and that it is owing entirely to their own folly that they are miserable in
   every respect.

   15. And the mighty man shall be bowed down. This may be called the summing
   up, for it points out the end and result of those chastisements, that all
   may be cast down, and that the Lord alone may be exalted. We have formerly
   met with a similar statement, (Isaiah 2:11,17,) and on that occasion we
   explained what was the Prophet’s meaning; [87] which is, that he shows the
   design of the chastisements which God inflicts on us. Adversity is so
   hateful to us, that we can perceive nothing good in it. When he speaks of
   punishments, we detest and abhor them, because we do not perceive the
   justice of God. But the prophets remind us of another consideration, that so
   long as men go on in their sins regardlessly, the justice of God is in some
   degree smothered, and never shines so brightly as when he punishes our sins.
   This fruit is indeed very great, and ought to be preferred to the salvation
   of all men; for the glory of God, which shines in his righteousness, ought
   to be more highly esteemed than all things else.

   There is, therefore, no reason why we should so greatly dread the
   chastisements which God inflicts upon us, but we ought to embrace with
   reverence what the prophets declare concerning them. In this way, however,
   the Prophet has severely chastised arrogant hypocrites. who become the more
   insolent when they are not punished; as if he had said, “Do you imagine
   that, when God has endured you so long, you will at last be able to tread
   him under your feet? Assuredly he will arise, and will be exalted in your
   destruction.”

   As the Prophet has employed, first, the word אדם (adam) and next איש (ish),
   it is supposed that this denotes both the noble and the mean; as if he had
   said, “Not only will the common people perish, but likewise those who are
   eminent for riches, honor, and high rank.” I cheerfully adopt this opinion;
   for איש (ish) is derived from strength and אדם (adam) from earth. But if any
   one prefer a more simple interpretation, I leave it to his judgment. However
   this may be, the Prophet includes all men, both the highest and the lowest.

   16. But Jehovah of hosts shall be exalted in judgment. He expresses the
   manner, or, as it is commonly called, the formal cause, of the excellence of
   which he has spoken; as if he had said, “The God of hosts, whom ungodly men
   insolently tread under their feet, will be raised on high, when he shall
   show himself to be the judge of the world.” In this manner he ridicules the
   foolish confidence with which the ungodly vaunted; for if judgment and
   righteousness must at length come forth, it follows that they shall be cast
   down, since the only way in which those men rise is by overturning the order
   of nature. And it ought to be carefully observed, that it is not more
   possible for wicked men to continue in prosperity than for God to permit his
   glory to be set aside. Though judgment is not at all different from
   righteousness, still the repetition is not superfluous.

   And God, who is holy, shall be sanctified in righteousness. The language
   becomes more vehement, that wicked men may not, by a false imagination,
   assure themselves of uninterrupted happiness, which they cannot have, unless
   by setting aside the holiness of God. But since God is holy by nature, he
   must be sanctified. Hence it follows that destruction hangs over the wicked,
   that their obstinacy and rebellion may be subdued, for God cannot deny
   himself.

   17. And the lambs shall feed after their manner. Some render it according to
   their measure, or, in proportion to their capacity, but it means in the
   usual manner. There are various ways of explaining this verse; but we ought
   first of all to observe that the Prophet intended to bring consolation to
   the godly, who trembled at hearing the dreadful judgments of God; for the
   more powerfully a man is under the influence of religion, the more does he
   feel the presence of the hand of God, and the more is he impressed by the
   apprehension of his judgment. In short, fear and reverence for God cause us
   to be deeply moved by everything that is presented to us in his name.

   Accordingly, after having heard such dreadful threatenings, they must have
   fainted, if this consolation had not been added as a seasoning, to give them
   a taste of the mercy of God. It is customary with the prophets always to pay
   attention to the godly, and to support their minds. “Although, therefore,”
   says Isaiah, “it may seem as if God were about to destroy the whole nation,
   still he will show himself to be a faithful shepherd to his lambs, and will
   feed them in his usual manner.”

   This is one object; but it was also the intention of the Prophet to repress
   the haughtiness of the nobles, who oppressed with unjust tyranny the godly
   and poor, and yet boasted that they were the Church of God. He reminds them,
   therefore, that it is an idle and false boasting, when they assume the
   designation of God’s flock; for they are goats, not lambs. Not only will God
   have it in his power to feed his flock, when the goats have been cut off,
   but it will never fare well with the lambs till they have been separated
   from the goats.

   And the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat. There is a still
   greater diversity here among commentators; but I consider the true meaning
   to be, that the children of God, banished and treated as foreigners for a
   time, will regain their lost rights, and will then obtain those places which
   have been laid waste, or reduced to desolation by the fat ones, that is, by
   the proud and cruel men who had seized their property. For he calls the
   children of God strangers who would be exiles for a time, and by waste
   places, or forsaken places, he means those possessions which they had
   relinquished, and which others had seized. He refers to a custom well known
   and exceedingly common, which is, that if any one possess fields or houses,
   he keeps his hand, as it were, stretched over them, so that no one will
   venture to touch a clod; but if he forsake them they are seized. The people,
   therefore, had forsaken the possessions from which they had been expelled,
   so far as to despair of being ever able to regain them; so that they might
   justly be called forsaken places, with respect to themselves, and forsaken
   places of the fat ones, because they had been possessed by the mighty and
   powerful. We may, indeed, view the expression more simply as denoting
   forsaken fat places, but it is more probable that by the fat ones are meant
   tyrants.

   18. Wo unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity! After having
   inserted a short consolation for the purpose of allaying the bitterness of
   punishments as regards the godly, he returns to threatenings, and proceeds
   to launch those thunderbolts of words which are fitted to awaken some degree
   of alarm. By cords he means nothing else than the allurements by which men
   suffer themselves to be deceived, and harden their heart in crimes; for
   either they ridicule the judgment of God, or they contrive vain excuses, and
   allege the plea of necessity. Any concealment, therefore, which they employ,
   he calls cords; for whenever men are prompted to sin by the lust of the
   flesh, they at first pause, and feel that something within restrains them,
   which would certainly keep them back, if they did not rush forward with
   opposing violence, and break through all opposition. When any man is tempted
   to do what is sinful, his conscience secretly asks him, What are you doing?
   And sin never advances so freely as not to feel this check; for God intended
   in this manner to provide for the good of mankind, lest all should break out
   into unbridled licentiousness.

   How comes it, then, that men are so obstinate in doing what is sinful?
   Assuredly they permit themselves to be deceived by allurements, and stupify
   their minds, that they may despise the judgment of God, and may thus have
   some freedom to commit sin. They flatter themselves by imagining that what
   is sin is not sin, or by some excuse or idle pretense they lessen its
   enormity. These, then, are cords, wicked ropes, by which they draw iniquity.
   Hence it is evident that the Lord has good reason for threatening them; for
   they sin, not only of their own accord, but perversely and obstinately, and,
   in short, they bind themselves to sin, so that they are without excuse.

   19. Who say, Let him make speed. He specifies one class of sins, by means of
   which he shows that they draw sins as by ropes. When men not only lay aside
   all thought of the Divine judgment, but despise and treat as fabulous all
   that is said about it, nothing can be worse than this. He intended to say
   that the utmost contempt is manifested when men, to whom the judgment of God
   has been declared, say that it would give them joy to see it, and treat it
   with ridicule as a silly alarm; which is denoted by these words full of
   contempt and of wicked confidence: Let him come, let him make speed.

   Work, is here put, by way of eminence, (kat exochēn,) for judgment; for God
   appears to be doing nothing when he does not punish the crimes of the
   ungodly; but when he rises up to execute judgment, and inflicts punishment,
   his work is then seen, and becomes visible (as is commonly said) by action;
   because from the very fact we learn that the world is governed by his
   authority and power. Work, therefore, is taken specially for judgment;
   because by means of it we see that God is by no means unemployed, but
   performs his office. Now, ungodly men speak of him with reproach and
   contempt, and at this very day we have abundant instances of such wickedness
   and rebellion; and the same war which was formerly waged by the prophets is
   that which we also are called to maintain.

   The ungodly think that God does nothing, and cares not about the affairs of
   men; as Epicurus thought that God’s highest happiness consisted in his being
   free from all occupation. Though they imagine that there is some God, yet
   they do not at all acknowledge his judgment; and in the meantime they bid
   themselves be of good cheer, and resolve that they will not wear themselves
   out by such thoughts. “Let these prophets and ministers cry, and bawl, and
   hold out terrors and threatenings; we will wait without any concern for what
   they tell us, and in the meantime we will enjoy our mirth.” In this way the
   Prophet relates the speeches of the ungodly, by which they expressed
   ridicule and contempt of the word. Not only do they say, Let his work come,
   but, Let him hasten, Let him make speed; for when he delays, they conclude
   that everything which God does not execute as soon as he has spoken it is
   idle talk. Thus Peter represents the ungodly as saying,

   “Since the world was created, the course of nature has been uniform; and,
   therefore, after so many ages, it is idle to
   expect a day of judgment.” (2 Peter 3:4.)

   In the meantime, they purposely, as it were, provoke God to exert his power
   immediately, if he has any.

   Let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come. To work is
   added counsel, as if they had said, “Why does God deliberate so long, or say
   what he intends to do? Let him rather show that what he has decreed is
   accomplished.” It is a great aggravation of their crime, that they wickedly
   dared to set aside the doctrine which was well known to them. They were more
   wicked than the heathen Gentiles in this respect, that they despised the
   doctrine by which he had adopted them to be his peculiar people.

   That we may see it. These are proofs of infidelity; for ungodly men will not
   acknowledge God, unless they have immediate evidence of his presence, and
   they refuse to believe his words. Now, if the Holy Spirit, by means of this
   mark, holds up ungodly men to detestation, we ought to testify our faith and
   piety by the opposite sign, that is, by relying on the word of God, though
   the effect does not immediately appear; for it is the peculiar excellence of
   faith to hold us dependent on the mouth of God. True, we next derive
   confirmation from works, but we must not begin at them; for this is the
   distinction between the elect and the reprobate, that the elect simply rely
   on the word, but do not disregard works, while ungodly men scorn and disdain
   the word, though God speak a hundred times; and yet they continually and
   eagerly call upon him for works. And when the judgment of God is declared,
   they say, “Where is it?” They cannot endure the mention of it, unless it be
   immediately made known by action. When men are so immoderate, it follows
   that they have no faith, but rather obstinate rebelliousness, Which more and
   more withdraws and estranges man from God.

   20. Wo to them that call evil good. Though some limit this statement to
   judges, yet if it be carefully examined, we shall easily learn from the
   whole context that it is general; for, having a little before reproved those
   who cannot listen to any warnings, he now proceeds with the same reproof. It
   is evident that men of this sort have always some excuse to plead, and some
   way of imposing on themselves; and, therefore, there is no end to their
   reproachful language, when their crimes are brought to light. But here he
   particularly reproves the insolence of those who endeavor to overthrow all
   distinction between good and evil

   The preposition ל (lamed), prefixed to the words good and evil, is
   equivalent to Of; and therefore the meaning is, They who say of evil, It is
   good, and of good, It is evil; that is, they who by vain hypocrisy conceal,
   excuse, and disguise wicked actions, as if they would change the nature of
   everything by their sophistical arguments, but who, on the contrary deface
   good actions by their calumnies. These things are almost always joined
   together, for every one in whom the fear of God dwells is restrained both by
   conscience and by modesty from venturing to apologize for his sins, or to
   condemn what is good and right; but they who have not this fear do not
   hesitate with the same impudence to commend what is bad and to condemn what
   is good; which is a proof of desperate wickedness.

   This statement may be applied to various cases; for if a wo is here
   pronounced even on private individuals, when they say of evil that it is
   good, and of good that it is evil, how much more on those who have been
   raised to any elevated rank, and discharge a public office, whose duty it is
   to defend what is right and honorable! But he addresses a general reproof to
   all who flatter themselves in what is evil, and who, through the hatred
   which they bear to virtue, condemn what is done aright; and not only so, but
   who, by the subterfuges which they employ for the sake of concealing their
   own enormities, harden themselves in wickedness. Such persons, the Prophet
   tells us, act as if they would change light into darkness, and sweet into
   bitter; by which he means that their folly is monstrous, for it would tend
   to confound and destroy all the principles of nature.

   21. Wo to them that are wise in their own eyes! Here he proceeds to rebuke
   those on whom no instruction can produce a good effect, and who do not allow
   any wise counsels or godly warnings to gain admission. In short, he
   pronounces a curse on obstinate scorners, who set up either the lusts of the
   flesh or a preposterous confidence in their wisdom, in opposition to God’s
   instruction and warnings. And not only does he rebuke those who are puffed
   up with a false conviction of their wisdom, and are ashamed to learn from
   others, but he likewise pronounces a general condemnation on all who,
   through prejudices in their own favor, refuse to hear God speaking, and to
   listen to his holy warnings.

   This fault has been too common in all ages, and we see it in very many
   persons at the present day, who, though they would shrink from openly
   rejecting the doctrine of godliness, are yet so far from being truly
   obedient and teachable, that they haughtily reject everything that does not
   please them. They acknowledge that they need some bridle, but, on the other
   hand, are so much blinded by their presumption, that, when God points out
   the way, they immediately rebel; and not only so, but break out into violent
   indignation at the censure passed on their proceedings. Nay, where is the
   man who renounces his own judgment, and is ready to learn only from the
   mouth of God? But nothing is more destructive than this deceitful show of
   wisdom; for the beginning of piety is willingness to be taught, when we have
   renounced our own judgment and follow wherever God calls.

   Nor is this false belief condemned solely on the ground of its rendering men
   disobedient to God, and thus being the cause of their ruin, but also on the
   ground of being in itself what God cannot endure. We must become fools if we
   desire to be God’s disciples. But it is also certain that mad rebellion
   reigns wherever there is not found that modesty and humility which leads a
   man willingly to yield subjection, In their own eyes means what we say in
   French, a leur semblant, that is, in their own conceit

   22. Wo to them that are mighty to drink wine! Isaiah now censures another
   vice, namely, drunkenness and excess in eating, of which he had spoken
   before; so that probably this chapter is collected from various sermons, and
   the leading topics only are briefly touched; for when the Prophet saw no
   repentance, he was forced to repeat and frequently inculcate the same
   instructions. He therefore returns to the same reproofs which he had
   previously noticed; for he again discourses about drunkenness, luxury,
   covetousness, and other corruptions. Hence we ought to conclude, that when
   warnings produce no good effect, we ought to employ greater earnestness in
   addressing the obstinate and disobedient, and that we must not be afraid of
   giving offense by our eagerness, but must frequently repeat the reproofs,
   until they either yield or manifest incurable malice.

   By calling them strong or powerful to drink, he wittily accuses them of
   wasting their strength in bacchanalian warfare. It is disgraceful and
   beastly ambition, when a man of vigorous health makes a display of his
   strength by drinking largely. Employing a figure of speech (synecdoche)
   which is frequent in the Prophets, and indeed in the whole of Scripture, he
   takes a part for the whole; as if he had said, “Wo to gluttony; Wo to
   intemperance.” But he purposely mentioned that which was disgraceful in the
   highest degree, in order to render that vice generally hated and abhorred;
   for, as we have said, nothing is more base or disgraceful than for a man to
   make trial of his strength in swallowing food or in guzzling wine, and thus
   struggling with himself so as to cram down as much as his belly can hold.
   Such men keep by no rule of life, and do not know why God gives them
   nourishment; for we eat and drink to support the body, and not to destroy
   it. We live that we may yield worship and obedience to God, and that we may
   render assistance to our neighbors. When men act so as not to maintain their
   strength, but to destroy it by trying how much food and wine they can bear,
   most certainly they are worse than beasts.

   23. Who justify the wicked for a reward. He censures a corruption which at
   that time abounded in judgment-seats, and points out the reason why there is
   no room for justice in these places, namely, that they are under the
   influence of gifts. For covetousness blindeth the eyes of the wise, and
   perverteth all regard to what is good and just, even among those who would
   otherwise be disposed to follow what is right. (Exodus 23:8; Deuteronomy
   16:19.)

   It may be objected that there are other methods, and that it is not by gifts
   only that judgments are perverted; for favor, hatred, friendship, and other
   sinful passions, often blind the understanding. This is undoubtedly true;
   but the Prophet had in his eye what happens for the most part, (epi to
   polu,) and at the same time did not intend to spare those vices which he did
   not express by name. Following this example, godly teachers ought to be wise
   and careful in observing and correcting the vices which most extensively
   abound among the people, and most of all to oppose everything which appears
   to be sanctioned by wicked custom.

   Now this corruption which is mentioned is that which most frequently of all
   is to be found in judgment-seats; and, therefore, it ought to be most
   carefully avoided by those judges who wish to form an upright judgment. Nor
   ought we to listen to what is affirmed by many, that gifts are not bestowed
   on them for that purpose, or that, after having accepted them, they are as
   free as ever to give a just decision; for where gifts are allowed, the
   regard to what is just and right must be corrupted, and it is impossible for
   your mind not to be favourably disposed towards him from whom you received
   them. In short, we should hear the Lord, who declares that the understanding
   of the wisest man is corrupted, and the disposition of the most upright man
   is perverted, unless we choose to be thought wiser than God.

   24. Therefore as the flame of fire devoureth the stubble. Lest it should be
   thought that he has so frequently cried out without good reason, he again
   shows what grievous and dreadful punishment awaits the nation, and threatens
   utter destruction to the stubborn, because they did not permit themselves to
   be brought back to the right path, but obstinately resisted instruction. He
   employs metaphors exceedingly well adapted to express his meaning, and
   better fitted to affect their hearts than if he had spoken plainly and
   without a figure. He begins with a comparison, but immediately slides into a
   metaphor, attributing a root and branch to the nation as to a tree. Under
   those two words he includes all the strength, either hidden or visible, that
   belongs to the nation, and says that the whole will be destroyed; for when
   the root, which alone gives strength and nourishment to the tree, becomes
   rotten, it is all over with the tree; and in like manner he threatens that
   it is all over with the nation, and that its whole strength is wasted and
   consumed.

   Because they have rejected the law of Jehovah of hosts. He does not now
   enumerate, as formerly, the particular kinds of crime by which they had
   provoked the wrath of God, but assigns a general cause, namely, contempt of
   the law of God; for this, as all men know, is the source of everything bad.
   And it is no small aggravation of their crime that, when the will of God had
   been made known to them in his law, it was not through ignorance or mistake,
   but through inveterate malice, that they shook of the yoke of God, and
   abandoned themselves to every kind of licentiousness; which was nothing else
   than to reject so kind a Father, and to give themselves up to be the slaves
   of the devil. Besides, he accuses them of open revolt; as if he had said
   that it was not in one or a few instances that they were rebellious, but
   that they might be regarded as treacherous apostates, and had altogether
   forsaken God.

   And loathed the word of the Holy One of Israel. He complains that they not
   only despised the word of God, but — what is far more shocking — turned away
   from it, or threw it away in wicked disdain. But if contempt for the law of
   God is the source, head, and accumulation of all that is evil, there is
   nothing against which we ought more carefully to guard than that Satan
   should take away our reverence for it; and if there are any faults to which
   we are liable, we ought, at least, to allow a remedy to be applied to them,
   if we do not choose, by wickedly rejecting it, to draw down upon ourselves
   everlasting destruction.

   25. Therefore is the anger of the LORD kindled. In this verse the Prophet
   relates the former punishments which the Jews had already endured, and shows
   that they are not near an end; but that, on the contrary, heavier judgments
   await them, if they do not return to the right path. I readily acknowledge
   that the past tense is frequently employed instead of the future, but the
   meaning which I have stated will best agree with the context; for there are
   two things quite distinct from each other, which he lays down, on account of
   the resolute obstinacy of the people. First, how God perceives their crimes.
   Secondly, since there are no signs of repentance, he has other scourges
   within his reach for chastising the people. Thirdly, he describes what those
   scourges are, and forewarns them that the Assyrians will come at the bidding
   of the Lord, as soon as he shall express it by merely hissing to them,
   (verse. 26.)

   Such is the connection of what the Prophet states; and hence it ought to be
   observed that the great body of men, as soon as they have escaped any
   calamity, forget their chastisements, and no longer regard them as the
   judgments of God; and that, though experience be the instructor of fools,
   still they grow hardened by strokes. This insensibility Isaiah sharply
   rebukes; as if he had said, “Have you so quickly forgotten the calamities
   under which you lately groaned? Whence came the distressful casting out of
   dead bodies, but because God had raised his arm against you? And if God has
   discharged the office of a judge, why do not those recent chastisements
   induce you to fear him, and to refrain from drawing down a succession of
   chastisements by new crimes?”

   Accordingly, he repeats the term על-כן, (gnal ken,) therefore; as if he had
   said that those distresses are not accidental, but are manifest tokens of
   God’s vengeance; and so he expressly says that God was angry with his
   people; for if the Jews had not fallen from their own rank, their condition
   would have been happier than that of any other nation. When God’s chosen
   people, therefore, are treated by him with so much sharpness and severity,
   it is beyond all doubt that he has been provoked by heinous crimes. At the
   same time he refutes the false boasting by which the Jews were wont to vaunt
   and exalt themselves, as if they ought to be exempt from chastisements on
   the ground of their being God’s peculiar people.

   And the mountains trembled. By this comparison the dreadful nature of those
   punishments to which they were insensible is described in such a manner as
   to prove more clearly the stupidity of the people. They were more stupid
   than inanimate objects, if they did not perceive the wrath of God, and the
   dreadful vengeance which had been inflicted on the kingdom of Israel.

   For all these things. He threatens heavier chastisements in future, as we
   have already said; for although wicked men acknowledge that the Lord has
   punished them, still they think that they have no right to expect anything
   more than one or two chastisements. As if therefore nothing worse could
   befall them, and as if God’s power to punish them had been exhausted, they
   wrap themselves up in blind indifference. This is the reason why he exclaims
   that the wrath of God is not yet appeased, and that, although it has
   inflicted on them many calamities, still it has within its stores many
   weapons from which they have reason to dread innumerable wounds.

   The copulative ו (vau) may be taken as a disjunctive, so as to mean, but, on
   the contrary, his hand is stretched out still. He refers to what he had
   formerly said, that the hand of God is stretched out. He tells them that it
   is not yet drawn back, and that it may yet pursue them, and inflict plagues
   of the same kind, or even of greater severity. We ought diligently to
   meditate on these statements, in order to shake off that drowsiness to which
   the greater part of men are frequently liable, even after having received
   chastisements.

   26. And he will lift up an ensign to the nations. In this and the following
   verses he describes the nature of the punishment which the Lord would
   inflict on his people; namely, that they were about to suffer from the
   Assyrians a similar, or even a heavier calamity, than that which their
   brethren the Israelites had lately endured. Many distresses had indeed been
   suffered by themselves from the Assyrians, though the kingdom of Judah was
   not yet overturned. Besides, what had befallen the kingdom of Israel might
   be viewed as a mirror in which they could behold God’s wrath and righteous
   chastisement.

   And yet this prediction, though it was accompanied by clear proofs, must
   undoubtedly have appeared to be incredible; for at that time they enjoyed
   repose, and the slightest truce of any kind easily laid them asleep. He
   says, therefore, that this calamity will come to them from distant nations,
   from whom nothing of this kind was expected; and he sounds an alarm as if
   the enemy were already at hand. It is not for the sake of soothing their
   fear that he uses those words, from afar, and from the end of the earth;
   but, on the contrary, he speaks in this manner for the express purpose of
   informing them that they ought not to judge of the anger of God from what
   meets the eye, for we are wont to judge of dangers from the outward
   appearance of things. Now, if the enemies are not so near, or if other
   circumstances hinder them from giving us immediate annoyance, we give
   ourselves no concern. Thus the people were lulled into a profound sleep, as
   if there were no danger to be dreaded. But Isaiah says that this will not
   hinder the Lord from erecting a banner, and instantly commissioning the
   Assyrians to slaughter them. The expression is metaphorical; for when a
   banner is displayed it is customary for soldiers, at the bidding of their
   general, to advance in hostile array and rush into the battle.

   He will hiss to it. [88] Though a change of number frequently occurs in
   Scripture, yet it is on solid grounds that the Prophet, by changing the
   number, makes many nations to be but one nation. The meaning is, that when
   it shall please God to assemble various nations, and form them into one
   body, it will not be a confused multitude, but will resemble a body which
   has a visible head that rules and guides. He chose to employ the word hiss
   rather than a word of weightier import, such as sound a trumpet, or anything
   of that sort; in order to show that God does not need to sound a trumpet in
   order to call the enemies to battle, and that he has no difficulty in
   inflicting punishment when the time for taking vengeance is fully at hand,
   for by a mere nod he can accomplish the whole. [89]

   And lo, it will come speedy and swift. This confirms still more what I have
   already observed, that we ought not to judge of the anger of the Lord from
   the present appearance of things; for although everything appears to give
   assurances of peace, yet suddenly war will break out from a quarter from
   which we do not expect it. Even though we think that we are defended on all
   sides by friends, yet God will stir up enemies from the farthest corners of
   the earth, who will break through every obstruction, and overtake us with
   ease, as if the way were plain and smooth. This ought to be carefully
   observed, that we may not suffer ourselves to be blinded by vain presumption
   and foolish confidence.

   We ought also to observe that wars are not kindled accidentally, or by an
   arrangement of men, but by the command of God, as if he assembled the
   soldiers by the sound of a trumpet. Whether, therefore, we are afflicted by
   battle, or by famine, or by pestilence, let us know that all this comes from
   the hand of God, for all things obey him and follow his direction. And yet
   it was not the intention of the Chaldeans to obey God, for they were hurried
   on by their eagerness to obtain wealth and power, while he has quite another
   object in view: but God employs their agency for executing his judgments.
   Hence arises a remarkable and illustrious display of the power of God, which
   is not limited by the will of men, or dependent on their decisions, but
   leads them, though contrary to their wish, or without their knowledge, to
   obey him. And yet it is no excuse for the ungodly that they are drawn
   contrary to the disposition of their mind, and do not willingly serve God,
   for they aim at nothing else than fraud, cruelty, and violence; and by their
   cruelty God punishes the transgressions and crimes of his people.

   27. None shall be weary, nor stumble among them. The meaning is, that
   everything will be prepared and arranged in such a manner that there shall
   be no delay or obstruction to their march; as if a prince, having recruited
   the ranks of his soldiers, immediately gave orders that the roads should be
   cleared, provisions obtained, and everything necessary provided. He
   therefore shows that they will be fleet and swift, and that there will be
   nothing to hinder their rapid march.

   None shall slumber nor sleep. He expresses their vast activity by saying
   that they will not be drowsy. In these words, they shall not slumber nor
   sleep, the natural order is inverted, He ought rather to have said, They
   shall not sleep nor slumber; for it is a smaller matter to slumber than to
   sleep. But that phrase ought to be explained in this manner: They shall not
   slumber nor even sleep; that is, they will be so far from sleeping, that
   they will not even slumber. You have an instance of this in these words:

   Lo, he that keepeth Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
   (Psalm 121:4.)

   It is a Hebrew phrase, with which neither the Greek nor the Latin idiom
   agrees.

   28. Their arrows will be sharp. He means that they will be provided with
   necessary weapons. The custom alluded to is that which existed among the
   Assyrians and other eastern nations, who frequently made use of bows and
   arrows in battle, as Englishmen of the present day enter into the
   battlefield with a loaded quiver. [90] Under this class he includes every
   kind of weapons of war. But as the way was long, and the journey difficult,
   the Jew might think that many things would occur to interrupt the march of
   the enemy. He therefore says, that the hoofs of the horses will be like
   flint; by which he means that they will suffer no molestation, and will at
   length arrive in Judea without weariness. For a similar reason he compares
   their wheels to a whirlwind. The ancients were wont to employ chariots in
   going to war, and therefore he mentions not only horses, but wheels. All
   these circumstances must be understood to relate to the haste and rapidity
   with which they would proceed; or, in other words, that no length of journey
   would prevent the Lord from carrying forward the enemies without delay for
   the destruction of the Jews.

   29. His roaring shall be like that of a lion. This denotes fierceness and
   cruelty, for he compares the Chaldeans to lions, which, we know, are
   frightful to behold, and savage by nature; as if he had said that they would
   not be men who were moved by any feeling of compassion or tenderness, but
   rather that they would be savage beasts. He adds, that they will likewise
   possess great strength, so that none will venture to approach for rescuing
   their prey. He means that the Jews will have no defense for warding off
   their attacks, because the dread of their cruelty will keep all at a
   distance from them. It was God who employed their agency in punishing the
   Jews, and therefore it was necessary that they should be armed with
   formidable power, that this wayward people might at length acknowledge that
   they had to do not with men but with

   God, into whose hands it is a fearful thing to fall.
   (Hebrews 10:31.)

   30. He shall roar against him. [91] The Prophet adds this, that the Jews may
   understand that the fierce attack of the Chaldeans is not accidental, but
   that they have been appointed by God and are guided by his hand. By the
   roaring of the sea he means an attack so violent that it will look like a
   deluge, by which the whole of Judea will suffer shipwreck. He likewise cuts
   off all hope by foretelling that the punishment will have no alleviation and
   no end. “The Jews,” he says, “will do what is usually done in a season of
   perplexity, will cast their eyes up and down to discover the means of
   escape; but in whatever direction they look, whether to heaven or to earth,
   they will find no relief whatever; for on all sides distresses and
   calamities will overwhelm them.” This mode of expression has come to be
   frequently employed even by the common people, when misery and ruin appear
   on all sides, and no escape or relief can be found. This must unavoidably
   happen when the Lord pursues us, so that his uplifted arm meets our eyes on
   every side, and, wherever we turn, we behold his creatures armed against us
   to execute his judgments; for we may sometimes escape the hand of men, but
   how can we escape the hand of God?
     _________________________________________________________________

   [75] Denique apertos Bacchus amat colles: Aquilonem et frigora taxi. Virg,
   Georg. II. 112.

   [76] In a very fruitful hill. — Eng. Ver.

   [77] And he looked that it should bring forth grapes. — Eng. Ver.

   [78] In our Author’s quotation the 2d and 6^th verses are inaccurately
   blended. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he will take away. (John
   15:2.) If a man abide not in me, he shall be cast out, and wither as a
   branch; and men shall gather it, and cast it into the fire, and it shall be
   burned. (John 15:6.) We follow the Author’s version. — Ed.

   [79] In the original text the reference reads: (Rom. xi. 25.) which I assume
   was a typographical error. — fj.

   [80] The following is a striking instance: To whom I sware in my wrath, If
   they shall enter into my rest; that is, they shall not enter into my rest.
   (Psalm 95:11.), — Ed.

   [81] The classical reader may be reminded of a fine instance of aposiōpēsis,
   by which the effect of a speech is prodigiously heightened:
   Quos ego — sed motos praestat componere fluctus. — Virg. AEn. 1:135.

   [82] Unus Pellaeo juveni non sufficit orbis:
   AEstuat infelix angusto limite mundi,
   Ut Gyari clausus scopulis parvaque Seripho:
   Quum tamen a figulis munitam intraverit urbem,
   Sarcophago contentus erit. Mors sola fatetur,
   Quantula sint hominum corpuscula.
   Juven. Sat. 10:168-173.

   [83] A medimnus, or Greek bushel, is reckoned to contain six Roman bushels,
   a Roman bushel (modius) being about an English peck. — Ed.

   [84] “For the actual size of these measures,” says Dr. Kitto, “we must refer
   to Josephus, of whom Theodoret (in Exod. 29.) says: pisteuteon de en toutois
   tō Iōsēpō akribōs tou ethnous ta metra epistamenō, — ‘follow in these things
   Josephus, who well understood the measures of the nation.’ (Comp. Antiq.
   8:3, 8.) To the homer or cor Josephus ascribes (Antic. 15:9, 2) twelve Attic
   medimni, where the reading should be metretae. Bath and Ephah are the same.
   Josephus (Antiq. 8:2, 9) determines each at seventy-two xestae, and makes
   them equal to an Attic metretes. The Attic metretes, which corresponded with
   the Hebrew bath and ephah, contains 739,800 Parisian grains of rain-water,
   which would fill a space of about 1985 Parisian cubic inches.” — Cyclopaedia
   of Biblical Literature, Art. Weights and Measures

   [85] And their honourable men are famished. — Eng. Ver.

   [86] Therefore hell hath enlarged herself. — Eng. Ver.

   [87] See [10]p. 116 of this volume.

   [88] Sibilabit ad eam. In the [11]version prefixed to the Commentary on this
   chapter, our Author has likewise observed here the singular number,
   sibilabit genti, he will hiss to the nation. Bishop Stock, following Bishop
   Lowth, renders ושקר לו, (veshakar lo,) he will hiss to every one of them.
   — Ed

   [89] “The metaphor is taken from the practice of those that keep bees, who
   draw them out of their hives into the fields, and lead them back again,
   surismasi, by a hiss or a whistle;” Cyril on the place: and to the same
   purpose Theodoret, ibid. In Isaiah 7:18, the metaphor is more apparent by
   being carried further, where the hostile armies are expressed by the fly and
   the bee: — “Jehovah shall hist the fly,
   That is in the utmost parts of Egypt;
   And the bee, that is in the land of Assyria.” On which place see Deuteronomy
   1:44; Psalm 118:12. — Lowth.

   [90] More than three hundred years have elapsed since Calvin wrote these
   words, and Englishmen of the present day do not carry bows and arrows into
   the field of battle. On the whole subject of war the opinions of Englishmen
   are underdoing an important revolution. Many of them entertain a confident
   hope that ere long the bullet as well as the arrow, the cannon as well as
   the bow, will be laid aside; that the revolting spectacle of human beings
   drawn up in companies, for the purpose of wholesale murder, will disappear
   from the earth; and that men will beat their swords into plough-shares, and
   their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against
   nation, neither shall they learn war any more. — Ed.

   [91] And in that day they shall roar against them. — Eng. Ver.
     _________________________________________________________________
     _________________________________________________________________

   CHAPTER 6.
     _________________________________________________________________

   Isaiah Chapter 6:1-13

   1. In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a
   throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.

   1. Anno mortis regis Usiae, vidi Dominum sedentem super solium excelsum et
   elevatum, cujus extrema replebant templum.

   2. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he
   covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did
   fly.

   2. Et seraphim stabant super ipsum: erant singulis sex alae; duabus
   operiebant faciem suam; duabus tegebant pedes suos; et duabus volabant.

   3. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of
   hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

   3. Et clamabant alter alteri, dicentes, Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus, Iehova
   exercituum; plena est omnis terra gloriae ejus.

   4. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the
   house was filled with smoke.

   4. Et commota sunt superliminaria postium a voce clamantis; et domus impleta
   est fumo.

   5. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean
   lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes
   have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.

   5. Tunc dixi, Vae mihi, quia excisus sum (vel in silentium redactus); cum
   homo sim pollutis labiis, et in medio populi habitem polluta labia habentis;
   et tamen regem Iehovam exercituum viderunt oculi mei.

   6. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand,
   which he had taken with the tongs from off the alter:

   6. Volavit autem ad me unus ex seraphim; habens in manu sua carbonem
   ardentem, forcipe correptum ab altari.

   7. And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips;
   and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

   7. Et applicans super os meum, dixit, Ecce, tetigit hoc labia tua, et
   expiabitur peccatum tuum.

   8. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who
   will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

   8. Postea audivi vocem Domini dicentis, Quem mittam? et quis ibit nobis? Tum
   dixi, Ecce ego, mitte me.

   9. And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand
   not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.

   9. Tum dixit, Vade, et dic populo isti; audiendo audite, et ne intelligatis;
   videndo videto, et nesciatis;

   10. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut
   their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and
   understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.

   10. Obstina cor populi hujus, et aures ejus aggrava, et oculos ejus obline;
   ne forte videat oculis suis, et auribus suis audiat, et cor ejus intelligat,
   et ubi conversus fuerit, sit illi sanatio.

   11. Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted
   without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly
   desolate,

   11. Et dixi, Usque quo, Domine? et ait, Dum fuerint vastatae civitates
   absque habitatore, et domus vacuatae fuerint hominibus, et terra redacta
   fuerit in solitudinem;

   12. And the Lord have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking
   in the midst of the land.

   12. Donec procul amoverit Deus homines, sitque multa vastitas in medio
   terrae;

   13. But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten:
   as a teil-tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast
   their leaves, so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.

   13. Donec in ea decima, et revertetur; et erit in excidium sicut tilia et
   quercus, quibus in projectione est subsistentia; ita in hac erit
   subsistentia, semen sanctum.


   1. In the year that king Uzziah died. This is usually the beginning of the
   sixth chapter; but some think that it is the beginning of the book itself,
   and that in collecting the prophecies of Isaiah an error was committed. The
   reason which they assign is, that the Prophet here declines the office of a
   teacher, which he would not have refused if he had hitherto discharged it;
   that he appears to be a mere novice as yet unacquainted with his calling;
   and besides, that he declares that he has now seen the Lord, and that he has
   not seen him, before. But such arguments I consider, as I have already
   noticed, to be too feeble and unsatisfactory; and I reply that it ought not
   to be thought strange that he was so completely overpowered by this
   extraordinary vision as to forget that he was a prophet. For there was no
   feeling in him which was not overpowered by the presence of God, so that,
   like one who had lost his senses, he willingly plunged himself in darkness,
   or rather, like one who despaired of life, he of his own accord chose to
   die. And it is necessary that the godly should be affected in this manner,
   when the Lord gives them tokens of his presence, that they may be brought
   low and utterly confounded. Besides, in the person of his servant God
   intended to strike his rebellious people with alarm; and therefore we need
   not wonder if he offers an apology for himself under the overwhelming
   influence of fear, and likewise because he had not felt the weight of his
   office, as he now felt it, after having beheld an illustrious display of the
   majesty of God.

   But why was not this vision exhibited to him at the beginning? I answer, it
   was necessary in regard to the time, that he might be more and more
   confirmed in the discharge of his office. We have an instance of this in the
   Apostles themselves; for at first they were sent out with an injunction not
   to pass beyond the limits of Judea, (Matthew 10:5;) but after that Christ
   had risen, he again set them apart in a new and solemn manner, breathed on
   them, bidding them receive the Holy Ghost, (John 20:21,22;) and not only so,
   but sending his Spirit from heaven in the forms of tongues of fire, invested
   them with extraordinary power. (Acts 2:3.) Thus, on account of the various
   changes of times and of kings, it was necessary that Isaiah should be
   encouraged and again attested by a new vision; that he might be excited to
   perseverance, and might afterwards proceed with greater cheerfulness in his
   course; and also that the Jews might perceive his ministry to be supported
   by heavenly authority.

   This appears to me to be a sufficient reason why this vision was not
   exhibited to him at the very beginning, but after that he had for some time
   discharged the office of a teacher. That this was not the beginning of the
   prophecy is evident enough from the consideration that the preface, which we
   have already examined, is much better adapted for the commencement, and more
   appropriate than what is contained in this chapter; and every approach
   having been shut up by the hard-hearted obstinacy of the people, it was
   proper that he should burst forth in this vehement manner. Besides, it is
   probable that he had long performed the office of a teacher under King
   Uzziah, who, I think, was dead before this prediction was published. In
   short, the Prophet means that it was not till he had commenced his course
   that God appeared to him.

   Some think that death here means leprosy, which undoubtedly was a civil
   death, when the king was compelled to withdraw from the society of men, and
   to lay down the reins of government, (2 Kings 15:5;) but I choose rather to
   take death in its literal sense. So then, I think that Isaiah uttered the
   former predictions during the reign of Uzziah, even after he had been struck
   with leprosy; and that when he had died, and Jotham had succeeded him, this
   vision was presented to Isaiah. We know what various commotions are produced
   by a change of kings, so that we need not wonder that Isaiah had his calling
   again sealed. But the prophecy itself, which follows, will sufficiently show
   that he had been a public teacher for some time before he saw the Lord; for
   it relates that the blinding of the people, whose obstinacy he had
   experienced to such an extent that he might have been induced to cease from
   his undertaking, for he saw that he was doing no good. The Lord, therefore,
   confirms him by this vision, that the opposition may not prevent him from
   boldly discharging his office, and performing what he undertook at the
   commandment of God.

   I saw the Lord It is asked, How could Isaiah see God who is a Spirit, (John
   4:24,) and, therefore, cannot be seen with bodily eyes? Nay, more, since the
   understandings of men cannot rise to his boundless height, how can he be
   seen in a visible shape? But we ought to be aware that, when God exhibited
   himself to the view of the Fathers, he never appeared such as he actually
   is, but such as the capacity of men could receive. Though men may be said to
   creep on the ground, or at least dwell far below the heavens, there is no
   absurdity in supposing that God comes down to them in such a manner as to
   cause some kind of mirror to reflect the rays of his glory. There was,
   therefore, exhibited to Isaiah such a form as enabled him, according to his
   capacity, to perceive the inconceivable majesty of God; and thus he
   attributes to God a throne, a robe, and a bodily appearance.

   Hence we learn a profitable doctrine, that whenever God grants any token of
   his presence, he is undoubtedly present with us, for he does not amuse us by
   unmeaning shapes, as men wickedly disfigure him by their contrivances.
   since, therefore, that exhibition was no deceitful representation of the
   presence of God, Isaiah justly declares that he saw him. In like manner,
   when it is said that John

   saw the Holy Spirit in the shape of a dove, (John 1:32)

   the name of the Holy Spirit is applied to the outward sign, because in the
   representation there was no deception; and yet he did not see the essence of
   the Spirit, but had a clear and undoubted proof, so that he could not doubt
   that the Spirit of God rested on Christ.

   Secondly, it is asked, Who was that Lord? John tells us that it was Christ,
   (John 12:41,) and justly, for God never revealed himself to the Fathers but
   in his eternal Word and only begotten Son. Yet it is wrong, I think, to
   limit this, as some do, to the person of Christ; for it is indefinitely, on
   the contrary, that the Prophet calls him God. Nor do their views derive any
   support from the word אדוני, (adonai,) which seems particularly to apply to
   Christ; for it is often applied to God in an absolute and unrestricted
   manner. In this passage, therefore, God is mentioned indefinitely, and yet
   it is correctly said that Isaiah saw the glory of Christ, for at that very
   time he was the image of the invisible God. (Colossians 1:15.)

   Sitting upon a throne. He could not have given a better description of God,
   in regard to place, than in the person of a Judge, that his majesty might
   strike greater terror into the Jews; for we shall afterwards see the
   dreadful judgment which the Lord pronounced from his judgment-seat. But lest
   we should suppose that the Prophet contrived the manner in which he would
   paint God, we ought to know that he faithfully describes the very form in
   which God was represented and exhibited to him. It may be questioned whether
   the Prophet was conducted into the temple, or saw this vision while he was
   asleep. Though many things are frequently adduced on both sides, which are
   fitted to leave the matter in doubt, yet it may be conjectured with some
   probability, that even if he had not been within the temple, this vision
   might have been presented to him, either in his own house or on a field, in
   the same manner as to other prophets.

   And his remotest parts filled the temple. [92] Almost all the commentators
   understand by this the fringes of his robe, though it may be understood to
   refer to the extremities of the judgment-seat, giving us to understand that
   its dimensions were so vast as to extend to every part of the temple. He
   intends to ascribe to God a venerable aspect, and far beyond any human form.
   There is great weight in the circumstance that he appeared in the temple;
   for he had promised that he would meet with his people there, and the people
   expected his answers from that place, as Solomon had expressly stated at the
   dedication of it. (1 Kings 8:30.) In order, therefore, that the people might
   understand that those things came from God, on whom they called every day,
   and on whom they relied with a vain confidence which puffed them up, this
   vision was exhibited to the Prophet in the temple. To the certainty of what
   was said it contributed not a little, that he openly proclaimed that the
   discourse was not pronounced to him by any mortal man, but was a heavenly
   oracle, uttered by that God whose name they were accustomed disdainfully to
   hold out as a pretense, whenever they wished to make any extravagant claims;
   for otherwise this prophecy would have been harsh and repulsive, and needed
   great confirmation. It was also not uncommon with the Prophets to say that
   the Lord spake to them from his temple, or from his sanctuary

   2. And the seraphim stood upon it. Having declared that God appeared to him
   full of majesty and of glory, he adds, that God was attended by angels, whom
   the Prophet calls seraphim on account of their fervor. Though the etymology
   of this word is well known, yet various reasons are adduced. Some think that
   they are called seraphim because they burn with the love of God; others,
   because they are swift like fire; others, because they are bright. However
   that may be, this description holds out to us, as in sunbeams, the
   brightness of God’s infinite majesty, that we may learn by it to behold and
   adore his wonderful and overwhelming glory.

   Many think that there were two seraphim, as there were two cherubim that
   encompassed the ark of the testimony. This opinion I willingly adopt, though
   I do not venture to make any assertion where Scripture is silent. As it is
   customary with the sacred writers to accommodate their descriptions of God
   to those outward signs which were commonly used and familiarly known among
   the godly, it is possible that the Prophet saw a representation of this
   kind. While I hold this to be a probable conjecture, I leave room for other
   interpretations which some may be disposed to prefer; for Daniel saw not two
   angels only, but thousands of thousands of angels. (Daniel 7:10.)

   Each one had six wings. This representation is instructive; for those wings
   thus arranged contained some mystery which it was the will of the Lord
   should not remain wholly unknown. The two wings with which the angels fly
   mean nothing else than their ready and cheerful performance of the
   commandments of God. On this point the resemblance is so clear and manifest,
   that it will be at once admitted by all who do not take delight in
   controversy. The two wings with which they cover their face show plainly
   enough that even angels cannot endure God’s brightness, and that they are
   dazzled by it in the same manner as when we attempt to gaze upon the
   radiance of the sun. And if angels are overwhelmed by the majesty of God,
   how great will be the rashness of men if they venture to intrude so far! Let
   us, therefore, learn that our inquiries concerning God ought never to go
   beyond what is proper and lawful, that our knowledge may soberly and
   modestly taste what is far above our capacity. And yet the angels do not
   cover their face in such a manner as not to be favored with beholding God in
   some degree; for their flight is not at random. In like manner we too ought
   to look at God, but only so far as our capacity shall enable us.

   As to the remaining two wings, which were placed lower, the difficulty is
   somewhat greater. Some think that the angels covered their feet, that they
   might not touch the earth, and contract any defilement from it, as human
   beings like ourselves are wont to do; for in walking we gather filth and
   dust, and accordingly, so long as we dwell on earth, we are always tainted
   by some kind of contagion. This reminds believers that they will have no
   intercourse with angels till they raise themselves high, and are no longer
   fastened to the earth.

   Such is the interpretation given by some expositors. But I rather agree with
   those who think that the use of those wings was opposite to that of the
   upper wings; for, as by the upper wings they cover their face, that they may
   not be overpowered by God’s brightness, so they have also lower wings to
   conceal them from our view. Now, if it be true that we cannot behold the
   small and feeble rays of the Divine brightness without being altogether
   overpowered, how could we gaze upon that unspeakably bright and glorious
   majesty which lays prostrate all our faculties? Let men learn, therefore,
   that they are far distant from a perfect knowledge of God, since they cannot
   even reach to the angels. The latter appears to me to be the more correct
   exposition, but I do not disapprove of the former.

   3. And they cried one to another. It was necessary that all these things
   should be presented to the Prophet in vision, in order to produce a stronger
   impression on the people, and on Isaiah himself; for the vision was not less
   necessary to him than to the whole nation, because sharp and painful
   struggles awaited him, and he could not have boldly announced those events
   if he had not been previously confirmed. The people also, being warned by
   this vision how great and how dreadful was the majesty of God, by whom this
   condemnation was pronounced, had good reason for being alarmed. He who now
   came forth to public view is God, at the sight of whom the very angels
   tremble, whose praises they continually and loudly utter, and whom, in a
   word, they serve and obey; but men, whom he had been pleased to adopt as his
   children, obstinately and rebelliously opposed him.

   Now, when we are informed that the angels are employed in uttering the glory
   of God, let us know that their example is set before us for imitation; for
   the most holy service that we can render to him is, to be employed in
   praising his name. When he associates us with angels, it is in order that,
   while we sojourn on earth, we may resemble and be joined to the inhabitants
   of heaven. That the harmony between us and the angels may be in every
   respect complete, we must take care not only that the praises of God may be
   sounded by our tongues, but likewise that all the actions of our life may
   correspond to our professions; and this will only be done if the chief aim
   of our actions be the glory of God.

   Holy, holy, holy, is Jehovah of hosts. The ancients quoted this passage when
   they wished to prove that there are three persons in one essence of the
   Godhead. I do not disagree with their opinion; but if I had to contend with
   heretics, I would rather choose to employ stronger proofs; for they become
   more obstinate, and assume an air of triumph, when inconclusive arguments
   are brought against them; and they might easily and readily maintain that,
   in this passage, as in other parts of Scripture, the number “three” denotes
   perfection. Although, therefore, I have no doubt that the angels here
   describe One God in Three Persons, (and, indeed, it is impossible to praise
   God without also uttering the praises of the Father, of the Son, and of the
   Spirit,) yet I think that it would be better to employ more conclusive
   passages, lest, in proving an article of our faith, we should expose
   ourselves to the scorn of heretics. And, indeed, this repetition rather
   points out unwearied perseverance, as if the Prophet had said, that the
   angels never cease from their melody in singing the praises of God, as the
   holiness of God supplies us with inexhaustible reasons for them.

   The whole earth is full of his glory. Literally it is, the fullness of the
   whole earth, which might be understood to refer to the fruits, and animals,
   and manifold riches with which God has enriched the earth, and might convey
   this meaning, that in the ornaments and great variety of furniture of the
   world the glory of God shines, because they are so many proofs of a
   father’s love. But the more simple and natural interpretation is, that the
   glory of God fills the whole world, or is spread through every region of the
   earth. There is also, I think, an implied contrast, by which he puts down
   the foolish boasting of the Jews, who thought that the glory of God was
   nowhere to be seen but among themselves, and wished to have it shut up
   within their own temple. But Isaiah shows that it is so far from being
   confined to so narrow limits, that it fills the whole earth. And to this
   agrees the prophecy which immediately follows, (verse 10,) about the
   blinding of the Jews, which opened up for the Gentiles admission into the
   Church of God; for they occupied that place which the Jews had forsaken and
   left empty.

   4. And the lintels of the posts were moved. This noise was an indication
   that it was not a human voice which the Prophet had heard; for no mortal man
   has a voice so powerful as to be capable of making the lintels and posts
   shake. Now, the Lord intended not only to establish the authority of his
   voice over the Prophet, but to confirm it to posterity in all ages, that it
   might never be forgotten. Let us, therefore, know that this noise confirms
   at this day the voice of God, that we may tremble whenever he speaks; for if
   inanimate and dumb creatures are moved, what ought we to do, who feel,
   smell, taste, and understand, for no other purpose than that we may obey his
   word in a holy and reverent manner?

   And the house was filled with smoke. This was the common and ordinary sign
   which the Lord employed with his ancient people; for we read that, whenever
   Moses entered into the tabernacle, smoke was wont to be diffused through it
   in such a manner that the people could not see either Moses or the
   tabernacle. (Exodus 33:9.) The smoke, therefore, which Isaiah describes was
   not an unusual occurrence; but in the ordinary way God intended to
   demonstrate that he would display his power in executing judgment on the
   people.

   But it may be asked, Why did God manifest his presence by this sign rather
   than by any other? This question may be answered in two ways. First, it was
   always the will of God to repress the insolence of men, in pushing their
   inquiries about his majesty beyond what is proper; for on this point almost
   all men are too rash and daring. They wish to rise above the clouds, and to
   penetrate into the secrets of God, while they do not see what lies at their
   feet. Hence arises a labyrinth of errors, and when the minds of men have
   been entangled in it, they adopt false and pretended modes of worship; for
   when men allow themselves to adopt any false notions about God, there is
   nothing which they will not venture to attempt against him. It was not
   without good reason, therefore, that he made use of smoke, in order to
   remind men of their weakness; and yet he did not intend that they should be
   blind or stupid, that is, that they should have the stupidity and error
   which the papists disguise under the name of simplicity; but he forbids us
   to inquire or search beyond what he has revealed to us in his word; for, as
   Augustine says, “that is a learned ignorance.” Whenever, therefore, smoke of
   this kind is mentioned, let us know that it lays a restraint upon us from
   indulging curiosity in our researches into the purpose of God.

   Secondly, this smoke ought to strike terror, as David, when describing an
   angry and terrible God, says that clouds and darkness are round about him.
   (Psalm 97:2.) This also agrees well with the present passage; for he
   pronounces a dreadful judgment, namely, the blinding of the Jews. Others
   think that it indicated the burning by which he consumed the temple; but the
   view which I have given is more probable.

   5. Wo to me! for I am undone. The Prophet now relates how powerfully he was
   affected by that vision; namely that he was so terrified by seeing God; that
   he expected immediate destruction. He assigns the reason for believing that
   it is all over with him; because, says he, I am a man of unclean lips

   I wonder why Jerome renders it, because I was silent; seeing that there is
   no ambiguity in the expression. דמה (damah) does indeed signify to be
   silent, but here the undoubted mark of a passive verb is added. This passage
   may likewise be rendered, Wo to me! for I have been reduced to silence. In
   the Scriptures silence is often taken for death and those who have been
   buried are said to have been reduced to silence. But as the meaning is the
   same, I will not dispute much about the translation.

   The Prophet therefore means, that he was so terrified as to resemble a dead
   man. And certainly we need not wonder at this; for the whole man, so far as
   relates to the flesh, must be reduced to nothing, that it may be renewed
   according to God. Whence comes it that men live, that is, imagine that they
   live, and are swelled with vain confidence in their wisdom or strength, but
   because they know not God? Accordingly, until God reveal himself to us, we
   do not think that we are men, or rather, we think that we are gods; but when
   we have seen God, we then begin to feel and know what we are. Hence springs
   true humility, which consists in this, that a man makes no claims for
   himself, and depends wholly on God; and therefore on this point the present
   and similar passages ought to be carefully studied.

   It was customary with the godly fathers, whenever they saw God, to break out
   into these words:

   I am gone; I am utterly undone. (Judges 13:22.)

   Our life, therefore, until our minds earnestly draw near to God, is a vain
   delusion; we walk in darkness, and can with difficulty distinguish truth
   from falsehood; but when we come into the light it is easy to perceive the
   difference. So when God draws near to us, he brings light with him, that we
   may perceive our worthlessness, which we could not formerly see, while we
   entertained a false opinion of ourselves.

   And yet mine eyes have seen the king, Jehovah of hosts. [93] But does the
   sight of God bring death to men? For it appears strange that the sight of
   God or approach to him should take away life, of which he is the source and
   giver. I reply that this is an accidental result; for it takes place through
   our fault, and not on account of the nature of God. Death is within us; but
   we do not perceive it, unless when it is compared with the life of God. This
   is unquestionably what the Prophet means; for he does not merely say that he
   is dead, but assigns the reason, because he has unclean lips.

   But why does he confine the pollution to the lips? Was he pure in
   understanding, or in the other parts of the body? I answer: the Prophet
   mentions that which he regarded as the most valuable, his tongue, which was
   consecrated to God; for God had appointed him to be a Prophet. Even though
   he was in other respects a sinner, yet because the office which he held was
   holy, this part of his body was sacred; and as it does not correspond to the
   divine holiness, he confesses that, even in that part which in itself is
   more holy, he is polluted. Such appears to me to be the true and natural
   meaning of this passage, in the explanation of which commentators have
   hitherto been unsuccessful.

   And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. This is added by way
   of explanation; for he includes himself as an individual in the number of
   the common people, tainted with that pollution which extends to the whole
   body, and forgets the purity which he had received from God, because it
   cannot dwell in his presence. Hence it is evident that they are mistaken who
   imagine that the Prophet spoke under erroneous views; as the common people
   are wont to contrive a variety of false notions concerning God. For, as I
   have said, the presence of God and approach to him is the destruction of our
   flesh; because it shows that we are nothing in ourselves. When he who is
   conscious of his wretchedness sees God, what can he expect but destruction?
   For God is our judge, to whom, we know, nothing is concealed or unknown, in
   whose sight our purity is impure. And if this happened to the Prophet, what
   ought we to think of ourselves? For what are we in comparison of him? Even
   if the LORD hath begun to cleanse us, yet we ought to acknowledge our
   pollution, the remains of which always continue in our flesh. Hence also we
   ought to draw a universal doctrine, that the lips of all men are impure and
   polluted, till the Lord has cleansed them; from which it also follows, that
   human doctrines have an uncleanness which betrays them, and that there is
   nothing pure but what has come from God.

   6. Then flew one of the seraphim to me. The Prophet shows what kind of
   relief was brought to him, when he was so terrified as to think that he was
   a dead man; and this confirms what we have already said, that purity of lips
   comes from God alone; for men can produce nothing of themselves but what is
   filthy and abominable. If it be objected that it is absurd to say that the
   Lord now cleansed him, as if his tongue had formerly been impure and
   profane, though it had been the instrument employed by the Holy Spirit, I
   have already replied sufficiently to that objection. The Lord had already
   cleansed him, but according to his degree. The cleansing which is now added
   is greater; for it has its enlargements and additions, which no man can
   obtain all at once.

   We must not conclude, therefore, that Isaiah’s lips were impure, because
   they are now cleansed; but we ought to inquire why it is done. It was
   because the Lord intended to enlarge and extend his favor towards him, and
   to raise him to higher dignity, that he might have greater influence over
   the people; and this was rendered necessary by the character of the times,
   and the change which had taken place in the state.

   The fire was taken from the altar, to intimate that it was divine or
   heavenly; for the law forbade any strange fire to be brought to it,
   (Leviticus 10:1,) because in sacred things every human mixture is absolute
   profanation. By this figure, therefore, Isaiah was taught that all purity
   flows from God alone.

   7. And applying it to my mouth. [94] We see how God condescends to meet the
   weakness of human sense. He puts the tongs into the hand of a seraph, that
   by means of it he may take a coal from the altar and apply it to the
   Prophet’s mouth. This was, no doubt, done in vision; but by the aid of the
   outward sign God assisted the Prophet’s understanding. There is no reason to
   believe that the coal possessed any virtue, as superstitious persons imagine
   that in the magical arts there is some hidden power. Nothing of this sort is
   to be found here; for it is God alone who can cleanse our pollution, in
   whatever part it exists.

   Here the angel administered the cleansing, but was not the author of it; so
   that we must not ascribe to another what belongs to God alone. This is
   expressly stated by the angel himself, who claims nothing as his own, but
   bringing forward the sacred pledge which he had received from God, laid it
   as a sacrament on the lips of the Prophet; not that he could not be cleansed
   without the coal, but because the visible sign was useful for the
   confirmation and proof of the fact. And such is the use of sacraments, to
   strengthen us in proportion to our ignorance; for we are not angels, that
   can behold the mysteries of God without any assistance, and therefore he
   raises us to himself by gradual advances.

   Lo, this hath touched thy lips. He shows that the confirmation which was
   obtained by the sign was not without effect, but that the blessing signified
   by it was at the same time bestowed, so that Isaiah knew that he had not
   been deceived. Hence we may infer, that in the sacraments the reality is
   given to us along with the sign; for when the Lord holds out a sacrament, he
   does not feed our eyes with an empty and unmeaning figure, but joins the
   truth with it, so as to testify that by means of them he acts upon us
   efficaciously. And this ought to be the more carefully observed, because
   there are few persons in the present day who understand the true use of
   sacraments, and because many godly and learned men are engaged in frequent
   disputes respecting them.

   First of all, we ought to believe that the truth must never be separated
   from the signs, though it ought to be distinguished from them. We perceive
   and feel a sign, such as the bread which is put into our hands by the
   minister in the Lord’s Supper; and because we ought to seek Christ in
   heaven, our thoughts ought to be carried thither. By the hand of the
   minister he presents to us his body, that it may be actually enjoyed by the
   godly, who rise by faith to fellowship with him. He bestows it, therefore,
   on the godly, who raise their thoughts to him by faith; for he cannot
   deceive.

   Unbelievers indeed receive the sign; but because they linger in the world,
   and do not arrive at Christ’s heavenly kingdom, they have no experience of
   the truth; for he who has not faith cannot raise his thoughts to God, and
   therefore cannot partake of Christ. Faith alone opens for us the gate of the
   kingdom of God; and therefore, whoever wishes to eat the flesh of Christ
   must be carried by faith to heaven beyond human conception. In short, it is
   the Spirit of God alone who can make us partakers of that fellowship. And
   yet it does not follow that the unbelief of men takes anything away from the
   truth of the sacrament, since God always presents to us a spiritual matter,
   but wicked men treat it with scorn; just as the grace of God is offered by
   the gospel, but all do not receive it, though they actually hear it, and are
   compelled to yield assent to the truth.

   Besides, we learn from this passage that the sacraments are never separated
   from the word. The angel does not here act the part of a dumb man, but,
   after having given the sign, immediately adds the doctrine, in order to show
   what was intended by it; for it would have been no sacrament, if doctrine
   had not been added, from which Isaiah could learn for what purpose the coal
   was applied to his mouth. Let us therefore learn that the chief part of the
   sacraments consists in the word, and that without it they are absolute
   corruptions, such as we see every day in popery, in which the sacraments are
   turned into stage-plays. The amount of the whole is, that there is nothing
   to prevent Isaiah, who has been perfectly cleansed, and is free from all
   pollution, from appearing as God’s representative.

   8. Afterwards I heard the voice of the Lord. The Prophet now begins to
   discourse about the design of this vision, why God appeared to him with such
   glorious majesty, in order to ordain him anew as a prophet. It was because
   he was called to deliver an incredible message about blinding the Jews. On
   this revolting occasion, therefore, he is more fully assured of his calling,
   that he may lay aside fear and obey the command of God; for nothing gives
   greater confidence to pious minds than to know that they obey God. He had
   also another proof, namely, that the Lord had cleansed him; and this was
   sufficient to lead him to undertake any task, however difficult.

   Whom shall I send? The Prophet represents the Lord as speaking, as if he
   could not find a man qualified for such a message. Some think that this is
   intended to reprove the ignorance of the priests and prophets; because,
   though they are very numerous, still not one of them was qualified to teach.
   This reason carries some probability, but I would rather view it as
   referring to the certainty of Isaiah’s calling, as implying that it was not
   at random, but from choice, that the Lord appointed him. There is here,
   therefore, a weighty deliberation whom the Lord will be pleased to send; not
   that he hesitates, but such modes of expression are used on our account,
   just as these words, I will go down and see. (Genesis 18:21.) For God, to
   whom all things are known, has no need to make any inquiry; but, lest men
   should think that he acts with precipitation, he thus accommodates himself
   to the ordinary modes of speaking among men. In like manner, when he asks
   whom he shall send, the meaning is, that he needs not an ordinary person,
   but a teacher of uncommon excellence on a subject of the greatest
   importance. Hence we infer that the authority of Isaiah was confirmed, so
   that he was reckoned to be not only a prophet, but eminent among the
   prophets.

   Who will go for us? I am rather favorable to the opinion that this passage
   points to Three Persons in the Godhead, just as we elsewhere read,

   Let us create man in our likeness. (Genesis 1:26.)

   For God talks with himself, and in the plural number; and unquestionably he
   now holds a consultation with his eternal Wisdom and his eternal Power, that
   is, with the Son and the Holy Spirit.

   Here am I. So ready a reply shows how great is that cheerfulness which
   springs from faith; for he who but lately lay like a dead man dreads no
   difficulty. Hence we see that the amazement of which we have formerly spoken
   did not spring from rebellion, in wishing to flee from God, or to refuse the
   charge which had been laid upon him; but because he needed new grace, that
   he might know that he would be able to endure the burden. On this account it
   ought to be observed, that we cannot undertake anything in a proper manner
   without the evidence of our calling; otherwise we shall pause and hesitate
   at every step.

   Besides, it is a powerful aid to our confidence, when we know that we are
   not destitute of the necessary gifts, but that God has bestowed them on us,
   in order that we may be better enabled to discharge our office. Now, this
   remarkable instance of obedience ought to produce such an effect on our
   minds that we shall readily and cheerfully undertake any task which he may
   be pleased to enjoin, and shall never refuse any task, however difficult we
   may imagine it to be. When the Prophet says, Here am I, the meaning is, that
   he is ready to obey the commands of God; for this mode of expression is
   frequently employed in Scripture to denote obedience.

   9. Then he said, Go, and tell that people. [95] This shows still more
   clearly how necessary the vision was, that Isaiah might not all at once fail
   in his course. It was a grievous stumblingblock, that he must endure such
   obstinacy and rebellion in the people of God, and that not only for a year
   or two, but for more than sixty years. On this account he needed to be
   fortified, that he might be like a brazen wall against such stubbornness.
   The Lord, therefore, merely forewarns Isaiah that he will have to do with
   obstinate men, on whom he will produce little effect; but that so unusual an
   occurrence must not lead him to take offense, and lose courage, or yield to
   the rebellion of men; that, on the contrary, he must proceed with unshaken
   firmness, and rise superior to temptations of this nature. For God gives him
   due warning beforehand as to the result; as if he had said, “You will indeed
   teach without any good effect; but do not regret your teaching, for I enjoin
   it upon you; and do not refrain from teaching, because it yields no
   advantage; only obey me, and leave to my disposal all the consequences of
   your labors. I give you all this information in good time, that the event
   may not terrify you, as if it had been strange and unexpected.” Besides, he
   is commanded openly to reprove their blind obstinacy, as if he purposely
   taunted them.

   “My labors will do no good; but it matters not to me: it is enough that what
   I do obtains the approbation of God, to whom my preaching will be a sweet
   smell, though it bring death to you.”
   (2 Corinthians 2:15,16.)

   10. Harden the heart of this people. [96] Here the former statement is more
   fully expressed; for God informs Isaiah beforehand, not only that his labor
   in teaching will be fruitless, but that by his instruction he will also
   blind the people, so as to be the occasion of producing greater
   insensibility and stubbornness, and to end in their destruction. He declares
   that the people, bereft of reason and understanding, will perish, and there
   will be no means of obtaining relief; and yet he at the same time affirms
   that the labors of the Prophet, though they bring death and ruin on the
   Jews, will be to him an acceptable sacrifice.

   This is a truly remarkable declaration; not only because Isaiah here
   foretold what was afterwards fulfilled under the reign of Christ, but also
   because it contains a most useful doctrine, which will be of perpetual use
   in the Church of God; for all who shall labor faithfully in the ministry of
   the word will be laid under the necessity of meeting with the same result.
   We too have experienced it more than we could have wished; but it has been
   shared by all the servants of Christ, and therefore we ought to endure it
   with greater patience, though it is a very grievous stumbling-block to those
   who serve God with a pure conscience. Not only does it give great offense,
   but Satan powerfully excites his followers to raise a dislike of instruction
   on the pretense of its being not merely useless, but even injurious; that it
   renders men more obstinate, and leads to their destruction. At the present
   day, those who have no other reproach to bring against the doctrine of the
   gospel maintain that the only effect produced by the preaching of it has
   been, that the world has become worse.

   But whatever may be the result, still God assures us that our ministrations
   are acceptable to him, because we obey his command; and although our labor
   appear to be fruitless, and men rush forward to their destruction, and
   become more rebellious, we must go forward; for we do nothing at our own
   suggestion, and ought to be satisfied with having the approbation of God. We
   ought, indeed, to be deeply grieved when success does not attend our
   exertions; and we ought to pray to God to give efficacy to his word. A part
   of the blame we ought even to lay on ourselves, when the fruits are so
   scanty; and yet we must not abandon our office, or throw away our weapons.
   The truth must always be heard from our lips, even though there be no ears
   to receive it, and though the world have neither sight nor feeling; for it
   is enough for us that we labor faithfully for the glory of God, and that our
   services are acceptable to him; and the sound of our voice is not
   ineffectual, when it renders the world without excuse.

   Hence arises a most excellent and altogether invaluable consolation to godly
   teachers, for supporting their minds against those grievous offenses which
   daily spring from the obstinacy of men, that, instead of being retarded by
   it, they may persevere in their duty with unshaken firmness. As it is also a
   general offense, that the lively word of God, at the hearing of which the
   whole world ought to tremble, strikes their ears to no purpose, and without
   any advantage, let weak men learn to fortify themselves by this declaration.
   We wonder how it is possible that the greater part of men can furiously
   oppose God; and hence also arises a doubt if it be the heavenly truth of God
   which is rejected without bringing punishment; for it can hardly be believed
   that God addresses men for the purpose of exciting their scorn. That our
   faith may not fail, we ought to employ this support, that the office of
   teaching was enjoined on Isaiah, on the condition that, in scattering the
   seed of life, it should yield nothing but death; and that this is not merely
   a narrative of what once happened, but a prediction of the future kingdom of
   Christ, as we shall find to be stated shortly afterwards.

   We ought also to attend to this circumstance, that Isaiah was not sent to
   men indiscriminately, but to the Jews. Accordingly, the demonstrative
   particle הנה, (hinneh,) behold, is emphatic, and implies that the people
   whom the Lord had peculiarly chosen for himself do not hear the word, and
   shut their eyes amidst the clearest light. Let us not wonder, therefore, if
   we appear to be like persons talking to the deaf, when we address those who
   boast of the name of God. It is undoubtedly a harsh saying, that God sends a
   prophet to close the ears, stop up the eyes, and harden the heart of the
   people; because it appears as if these things were inconsistent with the
   nature of God, and therefore contradicted his word. But we ought not to
   think it strange if God punishes the wickedness of men by blinding them in
   the highest degree. Yet the Prophet shows, a little before, that the blame
   of this blindness lies with the people; for when he bids them hear, he bears
   witness that the doctrine is fitted for instructing the people, if they
   choose to submit to it; that light is given to guide them, if they will but
   open their eyes. The whole blame of the evil is laid on the people for
   rejecting the amazing kindness of God; and hence is obtained a more complete
   solution of that difficulty to which we formerly adverted.

   At first sight it seems unreasonable that the Prophets should be represented
   as making men’s hearts more hardened. They carry in their mouth the word of
   God, by which, as by a lamp, the steps of men ought to be guided; for this
   encomium, we know, has been pronounced on it by David. (Psalm 119:105.) It
   is not the duty of the Prophets, therefore, to blind the eyes, but rather to
   open them. Again, it is called perfect wisdom, (Psalm 19:9;) how then does
   it stupify men and take away their reason? Those hearts which formerly were
   of brass or iron ought to be softened by it; how then is it possible that it
   can harden them, as I have already observed? Such blinding and hardening
   influence does not arise out of the nature of the word, but is accidental,
   and must be ascribed exclusively to the depravity of man. As dim-sighted
   people cannot blame the sun for dazzling their eyes with its brightness; and
   those whose hearing is weak cannot complain of a clear and loud voice which
   the defect of their ears hinders them from hearing; and, lastly, a man of
   weak intellect cannot find fault with the difficulty of a subject which he
   is unable to understand; so ungodly men have no right to blame the word for
   making them worse after having heard it. The whole blame lies on themselves
   in altogether refusing it admission; and we need not wonder if that which
   ought to have led them to salvation become the cause of their destruction.
   It is right that the treachery and unbelief of men should be punished by
   meeting death where they might have received life, darkness where they might
   have had light; and, in short, evils as numerous as the blessings of
   salvation which they might have obtained. This ought to be carefully
   observed; for nothing is more customary with men than to abuse the gifts of
   God, and then not only to maintain that they are innocent, but even to be
   proud of appearing in borrowed feathers. But they are doubly wicked when
   they not only do not apply to their proper use, but wickedly corrupt and
   profane, those gifts which God had bestowed on them.

   John quotes this passage as a clear demonstration of the stubbornness of the
   Jews. He does not indeed absolutely give the very words, but he states the
   meaning clearly enough.

   Therefore, says he, they could not believe, because Isaiah said, He hath
   blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart.
   (John 12:39,40 [97] )

   True, this prediction was not the cause of their unbelief, but the Lord
   foretold it, because he foresaw that they would be such as they are here
   described. The Evangelist applies to the Gospel what had already taken place
   under the law, and at the same time shows that the Jews were deprived of
   reason and understanding, because they were rebels against God. Yet if you
   inquire into the first cause, we must come to the predestination of God. But
   as that purpose is hidden from us, we must not too eagerly search into it;
   for the everlasting scheme of the divine purpose is beyond our reach, but we
   ought to consider the cause which lies plainly before our eyes, namely, the
   rebellion by which they rendered themselves unworthy of blessings so
   numerous and so great.

   Paul, too, shows from this passage, on more than one occasion, (Acts 28:27;
   Romans 11:8,) that the whole blame of blindness rests with themselves. They
   have shut their ears, says he, and closed their eyes. What Isaiah here
   ascribes to doctrine, Paul traces to the wicked disposition of the nation,
   which was the cause of their own blindness; and accordingly, I have stated
   that this was an accidental and not a natural result of the doctrine. In
   that passage Paul introduces the Spirit as speaking, (Acts 28:25;) but John
   says that Isaiah spake thus of Christ, when he had beheld his glory. (John
   12:41.) From this it is evident, as we formerly said, that Christ was that
   God who filled the whole earth with his majesty. Now, Christ is not separate
   from his Spirit, and therefore Paul had good reason for applying this
   passage to the Holy Spirit; for although God exhibited to the Prophet the
   lively image of himself in Christ, still it is certain that whatever he
   communicated was wholly breathed into him by the power of the Holy Spirit.
   Now, however ungodly men may bark against us with their reproaches, that our
   doctrine ought to bear the blame, because the world is made worse by the
   preaching of it, they gain nothing at all, and take nothing away from the
   authority of the doctrine; for they must at the same time condemn God
   himself and the whole of his doctrine. But their calumnies will not hinder
   his justice from being displayed, or hinder him from vindicating itself, and
   at the same time vindicating us.

   And when they shall be converted [98] Here he expressly declares that he did
   not send the Prophet because he intended to save the people; but, on the
   contrary, because he intended to destroy them. But the word of God brings
   salvation; at least some benefit must arise from the preaching of it, that
   it may do good to some, though many are deprived of the advantage by their
   own unbelief. I answer, the subject treated of is the whole body, which had
   already been condemned and devoted to destruction; for there were always
   some whom the Lord exempted from the general ruin; to them the word brought
   salvation, and on them it actually produced its proper effect; but the great
   body of the people were cut off and perished through obstinate unbelief and
   rebellion. So, then, we perceive that the word of God is never so
   destructive that there are not a few who perceive that it brings salvation
   to them, and feel that it does so in reality.

   They shall be healed. We ought also to observe from the order and connection
   of the words, that the first step of healing is repentance. But in the first
   place, we must understand what he means by the word healing; for he uses it
   in reference to the chastisements which had been inflicted on the people on
   account of their sins. Now, the cause of all the evils which we endure is
   our rebellion against God. When we repent, he is reconciled to us, and the
   rods with which he chastised us are no longer employed. This is our healing.
   And this order ought to be carefully observed, from which it is evident what
   object the Lord has in view in inviting us to himself, and what is the
   design of the heavenly doctrine, namely, that we may be converted

   This is another part of the Gospel, Repent ye. (Matthew 3:2.) Then, offering
   reconciliation he holds out remedies for all diseases, not only of the body
   but of the soul. And such being the eminent advantage derived from the word
   of God, if we are not reconciled to God as soon as his word sounds in our
   ears, we have no right to lay the blame on any other, for it rests wholly
   with ourselves. Indeed, the Prophet here speaks of it as unnatural and
   monstrous, that, by the doctrine of the word, the native tendency of which
   is to heal and soften, men should become insolent and obstinate and
   altogether incurable. It is undoubtedly true, that when we are drawn
   inwardly, (John 6:44,) it is an extraordinary gift of God, and that the arm
   of God is not revealed to all, (Isaiah 53:1;) but by this dreadful
   punishment of obstinate malice, Isaiah intended to teach, that we ought
   earnestly to beware of despising when God calls.

   11. And I said, How long, O LORD? Although the Prophets are severe in
   denouncing the wrath of God against men, yet they do not lay aside human
   feelings. It is therefore necessary that they sustain a twofold character;
   for they must proclaim the judgment of God with high and unshaken courage,
   so that they would rather choose that the world should be destroyed and
   utterly ruined than that any part of His glory should be taken away. And yet
   they are not devoid of feeling, so as to be unmoved by compassion for their
   brethren, whose destruction their office lays them under the necessity of
   foretelling. These two feelings, though they appear to be inconsistent, are
   in full harmony, as appears from the instance of Jeremiah, who at first
   complains of the hard task assigned him of proclaiming destruction to the
   people, but afterwards revives his courage, and proceeds boldly in
   discharging the duties of his office (Jeremiah 1:6, 17.) Such was also the
   state of Isaiah’s mind; for, being desirous to obey God, he earnestly
   proclaimed His judgments; and yet he had some regard to the people, which
   led him to entreat, that if this blindness must come upon them, it might not
   be permanent. There can be no doubt, that when he thus prayed to God, he was
   moved with compassion, and desired that so dreadful a punishment should be
   mitigated.

   Natural affections, (storgai phusikai,) therefore, ought not to prevent us
   from performing what is our duty. For instance, there is the natural
   affection of a husband to a wife, and of a father to a son; but it ought to
   be checked and restrained, so that we may chiefly consider what is suitable
   to our calling, and what the Lord commands. This ought to be carefully
   observed; for when we wish to give loose reins to ourselves, we commonly
   plead this excuse, that we are willing and ready to do what God requires,
   but are overpowered by natural affection. But those feelings ought to be
   restrained in such a manner as not to obstruct our calling; just as they did
   not hinder the Prophet from proceeding in the discharge of his duty; for to
   such an extent ought we to acknowledge the authority of the Lord over us,
   that when he orders and commands, we should forget ourselves and all that
   belongs to us.

   But although the godly anxiety of Isaiah about the salvation of the people
   is here expressed, still the severity of the punishment is likewise stated,
   that wicked men may not, as they are wont to do, indulge the hope of some
   mitigation. Nor can it be doubted that the Prophet was led by a secret
   impulse from God to ask this, that the stern and dreadful reply which
   immediately follows might be more fully brought out; from which it is
   evident what kind of destruction awaits unbelievers, that they will receive
   no light or moderate punishment, but will be utterly destroyed and cut off.

   Until the houses be without man, and the land become a desolation. This is
   an additional aggravation; for it is possible that countries might be
   wasted, and yet that one city might remain; that even cities might be
   stormed and laid desolate, and yet very many houses be left. But here the
   slaughter, he tells us, will be so great, that not only the cities, but even
   the very houses will be thrown down, and the whole land will be reduced to
   frightful and lamentable desolation; though even amidst the heaviest
   calamities some remnant is still left. Though Isaiah said this but once, yet
   let us understand that it is also spoken to us; for this punishment has been
   pronounced against all who obstinately disobey God, or who with a stiff neck
   struggle against his yoke. The more violent their opposition, the more
   resolutely will the Lord pursue them till they are utterly destroyed.

   12. Till the Lord have removed men far away. These words contain nothing
   new, but merely an explanation of the former verse, and a description by
   other words of the ruin that shall overtake Judea; namely, that God will
   send the inhabitants far away. He asserts that those who shall survive the
   war will not be exempted from punishment, for they will be led into
   captivity. And next he adds a general clause about the desolation of the
   land; as if he had said that it would be desolate and bereft of inhabitants,
   because some would flee away, others would be driven into banishment, and
   others would perish by the sword. Such is the reward prepared for obstinate
   and rebellious persons, who add crime to crime, till the indignation of God
   rise to such a height that it cannot be appeased.

   13. Till there shall be in it a tenth [99] There is some obscurity in the
   words; but let us first ascertain the meaning, and then we shall easily find
   out what is the signification of the words. There are two ways of explaining
   this passage. Some explain עשיריה (asiriyah) to mean decimation; others make
   it to mean a tenth part, and consider it to be a collective noun.
   Undoubtedly, the Hebrew word עשירית, (asirith,) and not עשיריה, (asiriyah,)
   denotes a tenth part, though the difference between them is not great. Those
   who render it decimation think that a truce is promised to the people,
   because from the reign of Uzziah to the destruction of Jerusalem there would
   be ten kings; and undoubtedly that is the number of kings, reckoning from
   Uzziah to Zedekiah. His prophetical doctrine would derive no small support
   from the circumstance, that he could tell the number of kings who should
   reign even after his death, and that he described not only the fact itself,
   but likewise the time, and the day.

   Yet I know not if another meaning be not somewhat more appropriate; for the
   Prophet appears to hold out to the people this consolation, that they will
   retain some hidden vigor, and will be capable of sprouting out, though they
   may appear for a time to be entirely dead; just as, when the winter is past,
   the trees renew their foliage. But as the former exposition carries
   sufficient probability, I shall therefore explain the whole verse according
   to the opinion of those who think that mention is here made of ten kings, so
   as to mean that, when the ten kings shall have completed their reign, the
   people will be carried into captivity, and then, as by a conflagration, the
   whole land will be consumed.

   At the same time, the reader ought to be aware that whether עשיריה
   (asiriyah) be rendered a tenth part, or decimation, it may with the utmost
   propriety be viewed as referring to the people; and then the meaning will
   be, Till the people be diminished to a tenth part. He had formerly spoken of
   a remnant, and a very small remnant, (Isaiah 1:9,) and afterwards he will
   speak of it again, (Isaiah 10:22;) for it was a very small number that
   remained. It might therefore be naturally viewed as meaning, that out of a
   thousand there would be left a hundred; out of a hundred, ten; and out of
   ten, one.

   And shall return. That is, a change will take place for the better: the Jews
   will return from captivity to their native country, and the land will assume
   a new aspect. But this may be thought to be somewhat at variance with what
   follows; for the Prophet immediately adds, It shall be destruction. How cold
   comfort will it yield to the people to be restored, if shortly afterwards
   they shall be again destroyed! Some commentators solve this difficulty, by
   supposing that Isaiah spoke about the final destruction of the people. But
   in my opinion he rather means that the destruction will not be complete, but
   such as happens to trees, when their leaves fall off in the winter, and
   nothing appears but dead timber; but when spring returns, they bud forth
   anew: and so also will this people.

   לבער (lebaer) means to burn, [100] and therefore it means here that they
   will be consumed by a conflagration: but we ought to read it in connection
   with the metaphor which immediately follows; for Isaiah does not barely mean
   that it will be consumed, but that it will be consumed like the teil-tree,
   that is, with the hope of immediate recovery. When Jerome rendered it for
   exhibition, I know not on what he supposed that opinion to be founded, if it
   were not that he made a free translation, looking rather to the meaning than
   to the etymology of the word; for when trees blossom or put forth leaves,
   their life is again brought forth and displayed; and this meaning will be
   very appropriate.

   As a teil-tree and an oak. It appears that Isaiah did not select at random
   those two kinds of trees; for one of them puts forth its leaves, and
   likewise sheds them, sooner than the other. So it happened to the tribe of
   Judah; for first the ten tribes, with the half tribe of Benjamin, were
   carried into captivity; and thus they who were the first to blossom were
   likewise the first to decay. This tribe was the latest of all in decaying,
   not without high expectation of blossoming again; for here the hope of
   deliverance is held out, and this was different from the captivity of the
   Israelites. There appears, therefore, to be some appropriateness in this
   metaphor of the trees; but I would not choose to press it very far.

   When they cast their leaves. By the phrase, casting of leaves, must be
   understood that throwing of them down which takes place when trees are
   stripped of their leaves as of their garment; for trees, in that state of
   nakedness, appear to be dry and withered; though there remains in them a
   hidden vigor, through which they are at length quickened by the returning
   mildness of the season.

   So in it shall be substance. This is the application of the metaphor, which
   is exceedingly forcible; for when we see the spiritual grace of God in the
   very order of nature, we are strongly confirmed. As Paul holds out a
   likeness of the resurrection in the sowing of corn, which is a daily
   occurrence, (1 Corinthians 15:36,) so in like manner Isaiah in this passage
   describes the restoration of the Church, by taking a metaphor from trees,
   which wither at the end of autumn, but again blossom at the return of
   spring, and put forth new leaves; which could not happen, did they not
   retain some vigor during the winter, though to outward appearance they are
   dead. He foretells that a similar event will happen to this people; so that,
   although during their hard and oppressive captivity they resemble dry
   timber, and it may be thought that they can never be delivered, still there
   will always be preserved in them some vigor, by which they shall be
   supported amidst those calamities, and shall at length come forth and
   blossom.

   This doctrine, we have said, is not peculiar to a single age, and therefore
   it ought to be carefully observed; for it frequently happens that the
   Church, amidst the numerous afflictions which she endures, appears to have
   no strength, and is supposed to be utterly ruined. Whenever this takes
   place, let us fully believe that, notwithstanding these appearances, there
   is still some concealed energy, which, though it be not immediately manifest
   to our eyes, will at length yield its fruit. That energy lies hidden in the
   word of the Lord, by which alone the Church is sustained.

   The holy seed. He shows what is that substance, that it consists of a small
   number of the godly, whom he calls the holy seed; for he means the elect,
   who would be preserved by the free mercy of God, and thus would survive that
   captivity. That banishment might be regarded as a cleansing of the Church,
   by which the Lord took away the ungodly; and when they had been cut off, he
   collected a people, small in number, but truly consecrated to himself. Some
   commentators consider this phrase to refer to Christ; but the interpretation
   appears to be too far-fetched, and it will be more consistent to extend it
   to all the godly; for the holy seed is the substance of the Church.
     _________________________________________________________________

   [92] And his train filled the temple. [Or, the skirts thereof.] — Eng. Ver.
   And the train of his robe filled the temple. — Lowth.
   And his flowing train filled the temple. — Stock. That author adds in a
   note: “I add the epithet flowing, to distinguish the train of a robe from
   what the English word equally imports, a train of attendants; and שול is
   from של to loosen, to flow loosely.” — Ed

   [93] For mine eyes have seen the king, the LORD of hosts. — Eng. Ver.

   [94] And he laid it upon (marg., caused it to touch) my mouth. — Eng. Ver.

   [95] And he said, Go, and tell this people. — Eng. Ver.

   [96] Make the heart of this people fat. — Eng. Ver.

   [97] In the original text the reference reads: (John. xii. 39.) I added the
   next verse to include the quoted text. — fj.

   [98] And convert. — Eng. Ver.

   [99] But yet in it shall be a tenth. — Eng. Ver.

   [100] Bishop Lowth’s rendering is, And though there be a tenth part
   remaining in it, even this shall undergo repeated destruction; which accords
   with Calvin’s view, that the substance of the tree will be left. Bishop
   Stock renders it for pasture: But yet in it shall be left a tenth, and it
   shall recover, and serve for pasture. He reasons thus: “The verb בער may
   either signify to eat grass, or to eat it down. The question is, in which
   sense it is to be understood here? whether the land is again to yield food
   to its inhabitants, or to be laid bare and waste? That the former is the
   true meaning I think very evident, as well from the tendency of the ensuing
   simile of the oak, which is of the consolatory kind, as because it is the
   almost constant practice of Isaiah to subjoin to denunciations of divine
   vengeance a prediction of final reconcilement and happiness.” Jarchi, as
   interpreted by Breithaupt, renders the word, et erunt in combustionem (sive
   depastionem,) and they shall be for destruction, (or for pasture;) leaving
   it doubtful which of the above renderings ought to be preferred. — Ed
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     _________________________________________________________________

   CHAPTER 7
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   Isaiah Chapter 7:1-25

   1. And it came to pass, in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of
   Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of
   Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but
   could not prevail against it.

   1. Accidit in diebus Achaz filii Iotham, filii Usiae regis Iuda, ut
   ascenderet Rezin rex Syriae, et Pecah filius Romeliae rex Israel, contra
   Ierusalem, ad oppugnandum eam; sed non potuit expugnare.

   2. And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria is confederate with
   Ephraim: and his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees
   of the wood are moved with the wind.

   2. Nuntiatum est autem domui David, dicendo, Sociata est Syria cum Ephraim;
   et commotum est cor ejus, sicuti cum ligna sylvae moventur a vento.

   3. Then said the Lord unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou and
   Shear-jashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, in the
   highway of the fuller’s field;

   3. Tunc dixit Iehova ad Isaiam, Egredere in occursum Achaz, tu et Sear-jasub
   filius tuus ad finem aquaeductus piscinae superioris, ad viam agri fullonis.

   4. And say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be
   faint-hearted for the two tails of these smoking firebands, for the fierce
   anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.

   4. Et dices ad eum, Contine et quiesce; non formides, neque mollescat cor
   tuum propter duas caudas istorum titionum fumigantium, in furore irae Rezin,
   et Syri, et filii Romeliae.

   5. Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel
   against thee, saying,

   5. Eo quod consilium contra te iniit Syrus malignum cum Ephraim et filio
   Romeliae, dicendo:

   6. Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach therein
   for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeal:

   6. Ascendamus contra Iudam, et excitemus eum, et aperiamus eum nobis;
   constituamusque in medio ejus Regem, filium Tabeal.

   7. Thus saith the Lord God, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to
   pass.

   7. Sic dixit Dominus Iehova, Non consistet, et non erit.

   8. For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and
   within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a
   people.

   8. Quoniam caput Syriae, Damascus; et caput Damasci, Rezin. Et quidem adhuc
   sexaginta quinque anni, et frangetur Ephraim, ut non sit populus.

   9. And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is
   Remaliah’s son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.

   9. Interea caput Ephriam, Samaria; et caput Samariae, filius Romeliae. Si
   non creditis, profecto neque stabitis.

   10. Moreover, the Lord spake again unto Ahaz, saying,

   10. Et adjecit Iehova loqui ad Achaz, dicendo;

   11. Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in
   the height above.

   11. Pete tibi signum a Iehova Deo tuo, petendo in profundo, vel sursum in
   excelso.

   12. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord.

   12. Et ait Achaz, Non petam; et non tentabo Iehovam.

   13. And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you
   to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?

   13. Et dixit, Audite nunc domus David; An parum est vobis, hominibus
   molestos esse, nisi Deo quoque meo sitis molesti?

   14. Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall
   conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

   14. Propterea dabit vobis Dominus ipse signum: Ecce virgo concipiet, et
   pariet filium; et vocabit nomen ejus Immanuel.

   15. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the