Commentary on Isaiah Volume 1 John Calvin
COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH
I have said, ye are gods; but you shall die like men, and fall like one of the common people. (Psalm 82:6, 7.)
The bodies of princes, like those of the common people, must at length become corrupted and be devoured by worms, even though costly and splendid sepulchres be built for them.
11. Thy pomp is laid down in the grave. He mentions royal pomp, that this change may be more attentively considered by comparing the latter with the former; and he shows that that pomp could not prevent him from being reduced to the same level with other men. Under the term musical instruments, he includes all the luxuries and enjoyments in which kings are wont to indulge; because not only does the sweetness of music cause them to forget death, but the mad sound of them drives away all sadness, and in some respects stupifies the minds of men.
The worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. In this second clause, the dead say jestingly, "Thou hast obtained a bed worthy of thee; for the worms serve thee for tapestry or a soft couch, and the worm serves for a splendid coverlet." In a word, there is here exhibited to us a lively painting of the foolish confidence of men, who, intoxicated with their present enjoyments and prosperity, flatter themselves. This doctrine ought to be carefully pondered; for though men be well aware of their condition, and have death before their eyes, yet overrun by ambition, and soothed by pleasures, and even fascinated by empty show, they forget themselves.
12. How art thou fallen from heaven! Isaiah proceeds with the discourse which he had formerly begun as personating the dead, and concludes that the tyrant differs in no respect from other men, though his object was to lead men to believe that he was some god. He employs an elegant metaphor, by comparing him to Lucifer, and calls him the Son of the Dawn; 223 and that on account of his splendor and brightness with which he shone above others. The exposition of this passage, which some have given, as if it referred to Satan, has arisen from ignorance; for the context plainly shows that these statements must be understood in reference to the king of the Babylonians. But when passages of Scripture are taken up at random, and no attention is paid to the context, we need not wonder that mistakes of this kind frequently arise. Yet it was an instance of very gross ignorance, to imagine that Lucifer was the king of devils, and that the Prophet gave him this name. But as these inventions have no probability whatever, let us pass by them as useless fables.
Casting the lot upon the nations, or weakening the nations. 224 Translators have mistaken the meaning of this clause, by rendering the participleהולש (holesh) passively, Thou art become weak, for its signification is active. But as the verb from which it is derived signifies to cast a lot, and as the preposition
( ,עלgnal,) upon, is here added, it is best to take it in this meaning, that, as
223Which didst weaken the nations. — Eng. Ver. 224For the origin and application of this "proverb," see Com. on the Gospel according to John, vol. 1 p. 223, note 1: — Ed