Commentary on Isaiah Volume 2 John Calvin
JOHN CALVIN
16. Hic in excelsis habitabit; propugnacula petrarum asylum ejus; huic panis dabitur, et aquae ejus certae (erunt.)
17. Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.
17. Regem in decore suo videbunt oculi tui; videbunt terram procul remotam.
18. Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?
18. Cor tuum meditabitur terrorem. Ubi scriba? Ubi appensor? Ubi qui annotat domos insigniores?
19. Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.
19. Popalum trucem non videbis, populum abstrusi labii, ut non intelligas; linguae balbae, ut non capins.
20. Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken.
20. Aspice Sionem civitatem solennitatum (vel, conventuum) nostrarum; oculi tui videbunt Ierusalem, habitaculum tranquillum, tentorium quod non transferetur; cujus paxilli non amovebuntur in seculum, et cujus funes cuncti non rumpentur.
21. But there the glorious LORD will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby.
21. Adeo (vel, quia si) illic fortis nobis Iehova locus fluminum, rivorum spatiis amplorum, per quem non transibit navis remigum, et per quem navis magnifica non pertransibit.
22. For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us.
22. Quia Iehova judex noster, Iehova legislator noster, Iehova rex noster; idem servabit nos.
23. Thy tacklings are loosed; they could not well strengthen their mast, they could not spread the sail: then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the prey.
23. Laxati sunt funes tui, ut non solidaverint malum suum, neque expanderint velum; tunc divisa est praeda spolii multi, claudi quoque dirlpuerunt praedam.
24. And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.
24. Nec dicet habitator, AEgrotus sum; populus habitans in ea solutus est ab iniquitate.
1. Wo to thee that spoilest. If these words shall be expounded as relat-
COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH
ing to the Babylonians, the strain will flow easily enough; for, after having promised freedom to the prisoners, (Isaiah 32:15,) he now appropriately taunts the conquerors. Besides, they needed to be peculiarly confirmed, that they might give credit to a prediction which appeared to be incredible; for they could not think it probable that such vast power would be destroyed and overthrown, and that, the wretched prisoners who were now in a state of despair would speedily be permitted to return to their native country. Amidst such distresses, therefore, they might have fainted and given up all hope of safety, if the Prophet had not met them with these exhortations. Accordingly, he anticipates those doubts which might have tormented their minds and tempted them to despair, after having been carried away by the Babylonians, and reduced to slavery; for they saw none of those things which are here promised, but everything entirely opposite.
Yet, as it is almost universally agreed that this is the beginning of a new discourse, and that it is addressed to Sennacherib and his army, I am not unwilling to believe that the Prophet pronounces against the Assyrians, who unjustly oppressed all their neighbors, a threatening which was intended to alleviate the distresses and anxieties of the people. He therefore means that there will be a wonderful revolution of affairs, which will overthrow the flourishing condition of Nineveh, though it appears to be invincible; for the Babylonians will come in a hostile manner to punish them for that cruelty which they exercised on other nations.
In order to impart greater energy to this discourse, he addresses the Assyrians themselves, *"Wo to thee that plunderest;* you may now ravage with impunity; no one has power to resist you; but there will one day be those who in their turn shall plunder you, as you have plundered others." He speaks to them in the singular number, but in a collective sense, which is very customary. Others read it as a question, "Shalt thou not be spoiled? Dost thou think that thou wilt never be punished for that violence? There will one day be those who will render to thee the like." But we may follow the ordinary exposition, according to which the Prophet exhibits in a striking light the injustice of enemies, who were so eager for plunder that they spared nobody, not even the innocent who had never injured them; for that is a demonstration of the utmost cruelty. I am therefore the more disposed to adopt this exposition, according to which he describes in this first clause what the Assyrians are, shews them to be base and cruel robbers, and gives a strong exhibition of their cruelty in harassing and pillaging harmless and inoffensive persons; so that, when the Jews beheld such unrestrained injustice, they might consider that God is just, and that such proceedings will not always pass unpunished.
When thou shalt have ceased to plunder. This is the second clause of the sentence, by which the Prophet declares that the Assyrians now plunder, because God has given loose reins to them, but that he will one day check them, so that they will have no power to do injury. If we were to understand