My Notes
Authors
John Calvin - Commentaries
**The ancient and honorable, he is the head. What he had spoken allegorically about the head and the tail he explains more plainly and without a figure. He says that the heads are the princes and nobles who had the charge of public affairs, and sat at the helm of the commonwealth. To these he adds the false prophets, and says that they are meant by the tail. But he explains only the first part of the verse, and says nothing about the branch and reed. The reason why he omitted them is easily explained. It is, because he intended to press hardest on those who were more heinous transgressors, and who led others to commit sin, in consequence of the influence which they obtained from their high rank. He gives to the prophets the name of the tail, not because they were mean and contemptible, as some think; but he intended to denote the lowest parts of the whole body. By the head he means magistrates and judges, and by the tail he means _false _prophets, because they deceive and impose upon men by falsehoods and hypocrisy, as if he had compared the one to lions or bears, and the other to foxes.
This passage warns us that we ought not to slumber in our sins, because wickedness and profligacy abound in all ranks, and no class of men is sound or uninfected; for the more that vices abound, so much the more will the wrath of God be kindled against the highest and the lowest. We ought, especially in the present day, amidst that pestilence of every kind of evils, to fear lest, when the wrath of God hath begun to burn, it may consume everything, high and low.
16._ For the rulers of this people are seducers._ 152152 For the leaders of this people (margin, _they that call them _blessed) cause them to err. — Eng. Ver. Some render it, they who make thee blessed, or, they who call thee blessed; as if he had said that nothing was more hurtful or destructive to a nation than flatteries, which gave encouragement to unbounded licentiousness. But I shall follow the reading which I approved on a former occasion, when the same word occurred. 153153 See the author’s explanation of this phrase at page 140. — Ed. (Isaiah 3:12 .) He means that the rulers and magistrates, whose duty it was to restrain the people within the limits of decent behavior, allowed all to indulge freely in crimes and wickedness. On this account they ought justly to be reckoned seducers and corrupters, for corruption flows from them to the whole body of the people, as from the head to the members. Magistrates and pastors are appointed in order to restrain the waywardness of the people, to enjoin what is good and right, and especially to defend the honor of God. If they neglect these duties they ought to be reckoned impostors and not rulers, for they give rise to miserable confusion. Now, when every one does what he pleases, and the reins of government are nowhere to be found, can there be anything but the most terrible result? When the common people are thus punished on account of their faults, no lighter vengeance awaits the rulers, because they have neglected the duty entrusted to them, and have occasioned so many evils.
And they who are governed are destroyed. By this clause he means that wicked princes, and those who rule according to their own caprice, are destructive; and in like manner teachers who rather deceive and impose on men than point out the way of salvation, because through their fault the people are ruined. But at the same time he shows that this affords no excuse to any one for seeking to make bad rulers a cloak for their own transgressions, as is commonly done, for if the blind lead the blind, as Christ says, both will fall into the ditch. It is certain that none are ruined by wicked and treacherous leaders, but those who of their own accord wish to be led astray.
17._ Therefore the LORD will not delight in their young men._ Isaiah describes more clearly how dreadful will be that vengeance of God against all ranks; for so far will more flagrant transgressors be from escaping, that neither boys nor youths, nor widows, will be exempted, who are usually spared even amidst dreadful slaughter; which was usually done even among heathens at the sacking of towns, as we learn from history. But here the Lord threatens that he will pay no regard either to sex or to age. Yet the following view will not be unsuitable. “Although the carnage will rob many women of their husbands, and will deprive many children of their parents, still God will not shrink from punishing women by making them widows, and children by making them orphans.” But as it does not greatly affect the general meaning, I do not dwell upon it. Again, that they may not accuse God of cruelty, he at the same time shows that there are good reasons why he is so severe, because they are all wicked, and therefore that they deserve to be cast headlong to ruin without any distinction.
For all are hypocrites and evil-doers. As to this word, I was unwilling to depart from the opinion commonly entertained, though חנף (chaneph) means an ungodly, deceitful, or treacherous and wicked man. He appears to point out the source of all the evils, that there was no true fear of God among them. By this he does not mean any slight dissimulation, but inward contempt seated in the heart, by which consciences are stupified, so that no instructions produce any effect on them; as if he had said that they were deeply sunk in their depravity. But as wickedness, when it has taken possession of the mind, drags the hands and feet, and the rest of the members of the body along with it, so the Prophet adds, that they are all evil-doers
And every mouth speaketh villany. 154154 _ And every mouth speaketh folly_ (margin, or, villany). — Eng. Ver. Thirdly, he adds that they have proceeded to such a pitch of open wickedness, that they boast of their crimes without shame. The Hebrew word נבלה (niblah), which is translated folly, has frequently a more extensive meaning; for it denotes baseness, villany, and madness. (Genesis 34:7 ; Joshua 7:15 ; Judges 19:24 .) Here, in my opinion, the Prophet means that they are so entirely abandoned to wicked courses, that we need not seek any other proof of it than from their tongues.
His anger will not be turned away. He again repeats this statement, which ought to be frequently repeated; for it is not enough to have been once informed how dreadful are the judgments of the Lord against the wicked; so easily and quickly will there steal upon us that forgetfulness of them which banishes uneasiness, as well as fear, about the future. Besides, we are led astray and blinded by that deception, for we think that the infliction of a single punishment has exhausted the power of God. There can be nothing better, therefore, than to hold by this principle, that whenever God chastises us he threatens something more dreadful, if we do not quickly repent. (Leviticus 26:18 , 21, 24, 28.)
But his hand is stretched out still. since the Prophet repeats this warning, let us unceasingly call to our remembrance, that the indignation of God is not yet appeased, though we may think that he has already punished us severely for our sins. What then ought we to conclude, when he has given us but a light chastisement? At the present day, for instance, we have endured some punishment; but what is it as compared with those dreadfully severe calamities which that nation had suffered, when Isaiah foretold that new chastisements were still awaiting them? What then will become of us? The Lord will undoubtedly continue to perform what belongs to him, and will always be like himself. If this dread do not arouse us, our insensibility is evidently beyond endurance. I have translated the verb שב (shab) in the future sense, will not be turned away, to make the meaning more clear; for though he speaks as if it had been a past transaction, still he threatens a continuance of punishments against the rebellious.