Commentary on Isaiah Volume 1 John Calvin
JOHN CALVIN
our repentance; for although he spares and bears with us for a time, our sin is not therefore blotted out, nor have we any reason to promise that we shall make a truce with him. Let us not then abuse his patience, but let us be more eager to obtain pardon.
2. But I will bring Ariel into distress. I think that( וvau) should here be taken for a disjunctive conjunction: "And yet I will execute my judgments and take vengeance, though, by delaying them for a time, it may seem as if I had forgiven." He next threatens that he will give them grief and mourning, instead of the joy of the festivals.( אניהănīāh) is viewed by some as an adjective, 522 but improperly; for it is used in the same manner by Jeremiah. 523 (Lamentations 2:5.) He declares that the Lord will reduce that city to straits, that the Jews might know that they had to contend with God, and not with men, and that, though the war was carried on by the Assyrians, still they might perceive that God was their leader.
And it shall be to me as Ariel. This clause would not apply to the Temple alone; for he means that everything shall be made bloody by the slaughter which shall take place at Jerusalem; 524 and therefore he compares it to an "Altar," on which victims of all kinds are slain, in the same manner as wicked men destined for slaughter are frequently compared to a sacrifice. In short, by alluding here to the word "Altar," he says, that the whole city shall be "as Ariel," because it shall overflow with the blood of the slain. Hence it is evident that the outward profession of worship, ceremonies, and the outward demonstrations of the favor of God, are of no avail, unless we sincerely obey him. By an ironical expression he tells hypocrites, (who with an impure heart present sacrifices of beasts to God, as if they were the offerings fitted to appease his anger,) that their labor is fruitless, and that, since they had profaned the Temple and the Altar, it was impossible to offer a proper sacrifice to God without slaying victims throughout the whole city, as if he had said, "There will be carnage in every part." He makes use of the word "Sacrifice" figuratively, to denote the violent slaughter of those who refused to offer themselves willingly to God.
3. And I will camp against thee round about. By the word( כדורkāddūr) 525 he alludes to the roundness of a ball; and the expression corresponds to one commonly used, ("Je l'environneray,") "I shall surround it." Thus he shews that all means of escape will be cut off.
And will lay siege against thee. This alludes to another method of in- 522Symmachus, on whom Montfaucon bestows the exaggerated commendation of having adhered closely to the Hebrew text, wherever it differed from the Septuagint, renders the clause, , which has been closely followed by Jerome's version, "Et erit tristis ac moerens;" — "And she shall be sad and sorrowful." — Ed
523In both cases there are two synonyms,( ואניה תאניהthăănīāh văănīāh,) which are derived from the same root. This peculiarity is imitated by the version of Symmachus quoted above, κατώδυνος καὶὀδυνωμένη, and by that of Vitringa, (``mœstitia et mœror,'') who remarks: ``It is somewhat unusual to bring together words of the same termination and derived from the same root, but in this instance it produces an agreeable echo, which convinces me that it must have been frequently employed in poetical writings.'' --- Ed
524"Que les ennemis feront en Jerusalem;" — "Which the enemies shall make in Jerusalem." 525"Like a circle of tents. ,( נדורkăddūr,) like a Dowar; so the Arabs call a circular village of tents, such as they still live in.'' --- Stock