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5. Coming from a distant country. He repeats and confirms more fully what I stated a little before, that the operations of war do not spring up at random from the earth; for though everything disorderly is vomited out by the passions of men, yet God rules on high; and therefore Isaiah justly ascribes sovereignty to God. Next, he adds, that armed men are nothing else than the weapons of his indignation. He says that they will come from a distant country, to overturn the monarchy of Babylon, because we are not afraid of dangers unless when they are close at hand. Babylon was so strongly fortified, and was surrounded by so many kingdoms and provinces which were subject to it, that it seemed as if there were no way by which an enemy could approach. In short, as if she had been situated in the clouds, she dreaded no danger.

From the end of heaven. There being no trouble all around that threatened them, he gives warning that the calamity will come from a distance. Though everything appears to be calm and peaceful, and though we are not at variance with our neighbors, God can bring enemies from the end of heaven. There is no reason, therefore, why we should promise to ourselves a lasting and prosperous condition, though we are not threatened with any immediate danger. If this prediction had reached the inhabitants of Babylon, they would undoubtedly have laughed at it as a fable. Even if we should suppose that they paid some respect to the Prophet, yet, having so strong a conviction of their safety, they would have despised those threatenings as idle and groundless. An example may be easily found. When we preach at the present day about the Turk, all think that it is a fable, because they think that he is still at a great distance from us. But we see how quickly he overtook those who were at a greater distance and more powerful. So great is the insensibility of men that they cannot be aroused, unless they are chastised and made to feel the blows. Let the inhabitants of Babylon, therefore, be a warning to us, to dread, before it is too late, the threatenings which the prophets utter, that the same thing may not happen to us as happens to those wicked men, who, relying on their prosperous condition, are so terrified when the hand of God attacks and strikes them, that they can no longer stand, but sink down bewildered.

To destroy the whole land. When he puts the whole land for Babylon, he looks to the extent of the kingdom; that they may not think that the great number of provinces, by which they were surrounded on all sides, could ward off the attacks of enemies. But at the same time he intimates that it will be no slight calamity affecting a single spot, but will be like a deluge overwhelming a large portion of the world.

Jehovah and the vessels of his anger. ¹⁹⁹¹⁹⁹    {Bogus footnote} The Persians and Medes are called vessels of anger in a different sense from that in which Paul gives that appellation to all the reprobate; for, by contrasting the vessels of wrath with the vessels of mercy, (Romans 9:22,23,) he shows that the undeserved goodness of God shines in the elect, but that the reprobate are monuments of severe judgment. But Isaiah means that the Medes and Persians may be regarded as darts in the hand of God, that by means of them he may execute his vengeance.

6. Howl ye. He continues the same argument, and bids the inhabitants of Babylon howl. Not that he directs instruction to them, as if he hoped that it would be of any advantage, but, in foretelling what shall be their condition, he emphatically employs this form of direct address.

For the day of the Lord is at hand. He calls it the day of the Lord, according to the usual custom of Scripture, because when the Lord delays his judgment, he appears to cease from the discharge of his office, like judges when they do not ascend the judgment-seat. This mode of expression deserves notice, for we would gladly subject God to our disposal, that he might immediately pass sentence against the wicked. But he has his own appointed time, and knows the seasons when it is proper both to punish the bad and to assist the good.

It shall come as destruction from the Strong One. ²⁰⁰²⁰⁰    {Bogus footnote} He threatens that the severity of judgment will be such that the inhabitants of Babylon will have good reason not only to cry but to howl; because God displays his power to waste and destroy them. שדד (shadad) signifies to lay waste and plunder. From this verb is derived שדי, (Shaddai,) one of the names of God, which some render Almighty. There is therefore an elegant allusion to the derivation of the word; as if he had said, that the inhabitants of Babylon shall learn by their own destruction how appropriately God is called שדי, (Shaddai,) that is, strong and powerful to destroy. ²⁰¹²⁰¹    {Bogus footnote}

7. Therefore all hands shall be weakened. He shows that the power of the Lord to destroy the inhabitants of Babylon will be so great, that they shall have no means of withstanding his anger. Though they stood high in wealth and in power, yet their hearts would be so faint, and their hands so weak, that they would have neither disposition nor ability to resist. And thus he indirectly ridicules the cruelty which boiled in the hearts of the Babylonians; for it is in the power of God to soften hearts, and to crush, loosen, or enfeeble hands or arms, so that suddenly all their courage shall fall down, and all their strength shall vanish away. When the heart quakes, what will be the use of fortifications, or armies, or wealth, or bulwarks? What avails a well-stocked workshop without a workman? We see this every day exemplified in those to whom in other respects the Lord had communicated large resources. Hence we see how vain is that confidence which we place in outward resources; for they would be of no use to us, if the Lord should strike our hearts with any alarm.

8. Pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them. The word צירים (tzirim) being ambiguous, the Greek translators render it ambassadors. But the comparison of a woman that travaileth, which is added immediately afterwards, sufficiently proves that it denotes pangs; for here, as if by a single word, he explains what he had previously said, that their hearts shall be melted and their hands shall be weakened; because, he says, they shall be struck with terror and dismay. Whence comes this terror? From God. This kind of terror, for which there was no apparent cause, the ancients called a panic; ²⁰²²⁰²    {Bogus footnote} for they gave the name panes to apparitions and objects of this sort, by which men were terrified, even when there was no outward object that ought to have excited the terror. It was not without reason that they did so; but still they erred through gross ignorance, because they did not understand that it proceeded from God.

As a woman that travaileth. So far as relates to the inhabitants of Babylon, there was, indeed, just ground of fear, when they saw that they were attacked by valiant and warlike nations; but yet the Prophet threatens that, though they were able to resist, still they would be like men who were half dead, because through the secret operation of God they fainted and fell down. To the same purpose is what he adds, Every one shall be amazed at his neighbor; as when men are agitated and stare around them in every direction; and not only so, but when no hope of safety is to be seen, they are like men who have lost their senses, and abandon themselves to indolence.

Faces of flames their faces. ²⁰³²⁰³    {Bogus footnote} This clause, in which he attributes to them faces of flames, expresses still more strongly the violence of the terror. Some think that it denotes shame, as if he had said in a single word, They shall blush; but this is too feeble. Isaiah intended to express something greater and more dreadful; for when we are in agony the face glows, and the pressure of grief makes us burn. And, indeed, it would be treating the matter too lightly, when the calamity was so severe, to interpret these words as denoting shame; for he describes a calamity so distressing, that, on account of its severity, flames burst forth from the countenance, which usually happens when men are agonized by intense grief.

The comparison of a travailing woman denotes not only the intensity of the grief, but likewise the suddenness with which it seized them. As the calamity would be severe and violent, so Isaiah threatens that it will be sudden, and not without good reason; for the inhabitants of Babylon, protected by such strong defences, would never have thought that it was possible for any annoyance to reach or distress them.