Commentary on Isaiah Volume 1 John Calvin (continued)
COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH
with him continually, and must resist the violent attacks which he makes upon us; but, in order that we may not be discouraged, we must keep our eye on that day when his strong arm shall be broken.
On leviathan the piercing serpent, and on leviathan the crooked serpent. The epithets applied to "leviathan" describe, on the one hand, his tricks and wiles, and, on the other hand, his open violence; but at the same time intimate that he is endued with invincible power. Since( בריחbārīăch) signifies a crowbar, that word denotes metaphorically the power of piercing, either on account of venomous bites or on account of open violence. The second name,( ,עקלתוןgnăkāllāthōn,) is derived from the verb( ,עקלgnākăl,) to bend; and hence it comes to be applied to crooked and tortuous foldings.
2. Sing to the vineyard of redness. 459 He now shews that all this will promote the salvation of the Church; for the Lord attends to the interests of his people, whom he has taken under his guardianship and protection. In order, therefore, that the Church may be restored, Satan and all his kingdom shall be utterly destroyed. The object of all the vengeance which God takes on his enemies is to shew that he takes care of the Church; and although in this passage the Prophet does not name the Church, he shews plainly enough that he addresses her in this congratulation.
This figure conveys the meaning even more strongly than if he had spoken expressly of the people of Israel; for since the whole excellence of a vineyard depends partly on the soil in which it is planted, and partly on diligent cultivation, if the Church of God is a vineyard, we infer that its excellence is owing to nothing else than the undeserved favor of God and the uninterrupted continuance of his kindness. The same metaphor expresses also God's astonishing love towards the Church, of which we spoke largely under the fifth chapter. 460
He calls it a vineyard of redness, that is, very excellent; for in Scripture, if we compare various passages, "red wine" denotes excellence. He says that this song may at that time be sung in the Church, and foretells that, though it would in the mean time be reduced to fearful ruin, and would lie desolate and waste, yet that afterwards it will be restored in such a manner as to yield fruit plentifully, and that this will furnish abundant materials for singing.
3. I Jehovah keep it. Here the Lord asserts his care and diligence in dressing and guarding the vine, as if he had said, that he left nothing undone that belonged to the duty of a provident and industrious householder. Not only does he testify what he will do, when the time for gladness and congratulation shall arrive, but he relates the blessings which the Jews had already received, that their hope for the future may be increased. Yet we must supply an implied contrast with the intermediate period, during which God appeared to have laid aside all care of it, so that at that time it differed little from a wilderness. This then is the reason why the Lord's vineyard was
459"Chantez à la vigne rouge;" — "Sing to the red vineyard." 460Ft449 See Commentary on Isaiah, vol. 1 p. 162