Commentary on Isaiah Volume 2 John Calvin (continued)
JOHN CALVIN
15. Ego, ego locutus sum, utique vocavi eum, adduxi eum; ideo prospere habebit in via sua.
16. Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me.
16. Accedite ad me, audite hoc. Non ab initio in abscondito locutus sum. Ex quo res facta est, ibi fui. Et nunc Dominus Iehova misit me, et Spiritus ejus.
17. Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.
17. Sic dixit Iehova redemptor tuus, Sanctus Israelis. Ego Iehova Deus tuus, docens to utiliter; dirigens to per viam qua incedis.
18. O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea:
18. O si attendisses ad mandata mea! Tunc fuisset uti fluvius pax tua, et justitia tua ut fluctus maris.
19. Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me.
19. Fuisset ut arena semen tuum, et filii uteri ut lapilli ejus. Non succideretur, neque aboleretur nomen ejus a conspectu meo.
20. Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, The LORD hath redeemed his servant Jacob.
20. Exite e Babel, fugite a Chaldaeis. Voce exultationis annuntiate hoc, divulgate, efferte usque ad extremum terrae. Dicite, Redemit Iehova servum suum Iacob.
21. And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out.
21. Itaque non sitierunt eum per solitudines duxit eos; aquam fecit illis fluere e petra, scidit petram, et fluxerunt aquae.
22. There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked. 22. Non est pax, dixit Iehova impiis.
1. Hear this, O house of Jacob. He now addresses his discourse to the Jews; whom also he had chiefly in his eye, in the whole of the preceding chapter; for he was not sent to the Babylonians, but addresses them in such a manner as to wish that the Jews, to whom he had been especially appointed, should hear him. Accordingly, he foretold the destruction of the Babylonians, that the Jews might calmly wait for deliverance, and at the same time might not be terrified by the greatness and power of their
COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH
enemies, 234 and that, relying on these promises, they might stand unmoved against all temptations. But because the Jews were obstinate, and did not believe those promises, and because Isaiah foresaw how great would be their hard-heartedness and obstinacy during their captivity, for that reason he reproves them with greater severity. Ezekiel shews still more clearly how inveterate was their unbelief, when they murmured against God, and cast away all confidence, and cared no more about the promises of God than about empty fables. It was not without reason, therefore, that Isaiah made use of such vehement language, in order to shew that they offered the highest insult to God by refusing to rely on his grace.
Who are called by the name of Israel. He addresses "Israel," but that which was actually spurious, and which at that time had nothing more than the name of "Israel;" for he does not employ this honorable name for the sake of mentioning them in a respectful manner, but rather in order to put to shame their false boasting, because they had no riglit to glory in this empty title, from the truth of which they were widely estranged. Why did God honor Jacob with this name, but because he proved himself to be courageous and invincible in adversity? This appeared from that wrestling in which he contended with God; for when the Lord tries by various afflictions, he enters, as it were, into debate with us. (Genesis 32:25.) How, then, did this name apply to his posterity, if they were cast down and threw away all hope in adversity?
Who have come out from the.waters of Judah. He next reproaches them with being descended from the holy fathers, and yet being utterly unlike them. By "the waters of Judah," he means metaphorically the source and fountain from which the Jews proceeded; for I do not approve of the childish attempt of the Jewish writers to explain the metaphor, which is borrowed in a highly natural manner from waters which flow from a distant place.
Who swear by the name of Jehovah. Having censured them for being the degenerate and wicked children of holy fathers, he adds that they falsely pretend to the worship of God, and to a semblance of piety from which they are widely distant. Now, as "swearing" is a kind of worship of God, he here puts one department for the whole class, by a figure of speech, in which a part is taken for the whole. As idolaters offer an insult to God, when they swear by their idols, in like manner do the sincere worshippers of God render honor to God, by employing his name in oaths; for they acknowledge that they have one God, in whose name they glory. But here he attacks hypocrites who, with open mouth, loudly boasted of the name of God, and frequently mentioned his name, and yet in their hearts were greatly opposed to him. On this account he says, not in truth nor in righteousness, he employs the word "righteousness," to denote integrity and sincerity of heart, without which nothing can be acceptable to God; or rather "righteousness" and "truth" are
234That is, his nature is eternal, he depends on none, he is the beginning and end of all things, as in Isaiah 41 4; 44:6." — Rosenmuller.