Commentary on Isaiah Volume 1 John Calvin (continued)
JOHN CALVIN
manner, were he not restrained by compassion towards his Church; for we would be as thorns and briers, and would be like wicked men, if the Lord did not separate us from them, that we might not perish along with them. If the phrase( ,במלחמהbămmilhāmāh,) in battle, which we have translated "in a hostile manner," be connected with the question, "Who shall set me?" it will not ill agree with the meaning. 463
5. Will she take hold of my strength?( אוō,) is frequently a disjunctive conjunction, 464 and therefore this passage is explained as if the particle had been twice used, "Either let her take hold of my strength, or let her make peace with me;" that is, "If she do not enter into favor with me, she will feel my strength to her great loss." Others explain it somewhat differently, "Who shall take hold of my strength?" that is, "Who shall restrain me?"
But I pass by this interpretation, because I consider it to be too far-fetched. I return to that which is more generally received.
It is supposed that God threatens the Jews in order to try all the ways and methods by which they may be brought back to the right path; for God is laid under a necessity to urge us in various ways, because we are accustomed to abuse his forbearance and goodness. On this account he frequently threatens to punish us for our ingratitude, as Isaiah appears to do in this passage, "If they do not choose to avail themselves of my kindness, and repent, that they may return to favor with me, they shall feel my strength, 465 which I have hitherto restrained." Yet another meaning equally appropriate might perhaps be drawn from it, as if God exhorted his people to acknowledge his power, which leads them to seek reconciliation; for whence comes that brutish indifference which makes us view without alarm the wrath of God, but because we do not think of his power with due reverence?
But I prefer to view it as a question, as in other passages also it frequently has this meaning. 466 "Will he take hold of my strength, so as to enter into peace with me?" As if a father, anxious and perplexed about his son, were to groan and complain, "Will not this scoundrel 467 allow himself to receive benefit? for I know not how I ought to treat him; he cannot endure severity, and he abuses my goodness. What shall I do? I will banish him till he repent, and then he will feel how great is that fatherly power by which I have hitherto preserved him. Since he does not permit me to exercise forbearance, he must be treated with the utmost rigour of the law. Will he not then perceive how great my power is, that he may come into a state of favor with me?" We shall understand this better, if we consider that the source of all our distresses
463That is, instead of making it the beginning of the following sentence, "in battle (or, in a hostile manner) I will pass through them," it might be read as the conclusion of the question, "Who shall engage me with briers and thorns in battle?" And this concluding suggestion accords with our English version. — Ed
464"Of the various senses ascribed to ,( אוō,) such as unless, oh that if, etc., the only one justified by usage is the disjunctive sense of or.'' --- Alexander
465"Ils sentiront la pesanteur de ma main;" — "They shall feel the weight of my hand." 466That is, our Author is of opinion that( אוō) frequently has the same force as the Latin interrogative particle
An. --- Ed
467"Ce vaut-neant-ci;" — "This good-for-nothing."