John Calvin on Isaiah 6:13

13. Till there shall be in it a tenth But yet in it shall be a tenth. — Eng. Ver. There is some obscurity in the words; but let us first ascertain the meaning, and then we shall easily find out what is the signification of the words. There are two ways of explaining this passage. Some explain עשיריה (asiriyah) to mean decimation; others make it to mean a tenth part, and consider it to be a collective noun. Undoubtedly, the Hebrew word עשירית, (asirith,) and not עשיריה, (asiriyah,) denotes a tenth part, though the difference between them is not great. Those who render it decimation think that a truce is promised to the people, because from the reign of Uzziah to the destruction of Jerusalem there would be ten kings; and undoubtedly that is the number of kings, reckoning from Uzziah to Zedekiah. His prophetical doctrine would derive no small support from the circumstance, that he could tell the number of kings who should reign even after his death, and that he described not only the fact itself, but likewise the time, and the day.

Yet I know not if another meaning be not somewhat more appropriate; for the Prophet appears to hold out to the people this consolation, that they will retain some hidden vigor, and will be capable of sprouting out, though they may appear for a time to be entirely dead; just as, when the winter is past, the trees renew their foliage. But as the former exposition carries sufficient probability, I shall therefore explain the whole verse according to the opinion of those who think that mention is here made of ten kings, so as to mean that, when the ten kings shall have completed their reign, the people will be carried into captivity, and then, as by a conflagration, the whole land will be consumed.

At the same time, the reader ought to be aware that whether עשיריה (asiriyah) be rendered a tenth part, or decimation, it may with the utmost propriety be viewed as referring to the people; and then the meaning will be, Till the people be diminished to a tenth part. He had formerly spoken of a remnant, and a very small remnant, (Isaiah 1:9,) and afterwards he will speak of it again, (Isaiah 10:22;) for it was a very small number that remained. It might therefore be naturally viewed as meaning, that out of a thousand there would be left a hundred; out of a hundred, ten; and out of ten, one.

And shall return. That is, a change will take place for the better: the Jews will return from captivity to their native country, and the land will assume a new aspect. But this may be thought to be somewhat at variance with what follows; for the Prophet immediately adds, It shall be destruction. How cold comfort will it yield to the people to be restored, if shortly afterwards they shall be again destroyed! Some commentators solve this difficulty, by supposing that Isaiah spoke about the final destruction of the people. But in my opinion he rather means that the destruction will not be complete, but such as happens to trees, when their leaves fall off in the winter, and nothing appears but dead timber; but when spring returns, they bud forth anew: and so also will this people.

לבער (lebaer) means to burn, Bishop Lowth’s rendering is, And though there be a tenth part remaining in it, even this shall undergo repeated destruction; which accords with Calvin’s view, that the substance of the tree will be left. Bishop Stock renders it for pasture: But yet in it shall be left a tenth, and it shall recover, and serve for pasture. He reasons thus: “The verb בער may either signify to eat grass, or to eat it down. The question is, in which sense it is to be understood here? whether the land is again to yield food to its inhabitants, or to be laid bare and waste? That the former is the true meaning I think very evident, as well from the tendency of the ensuing simile of the oak, which is of the consolatory kind, as because it is the almost constant practice of Isaiah to subjoin to denunciations of divine vengeance a prediction of final reconcilement and happiness.” Jarchi, as interpreted by Breithaupt, renders the word, et erunt in combustionem (sive depastionem,) and they shall be for destruction, (or for pasture;) leaving it doubtful which of the above renderings ought to be preferred. — Ed and therefore it means here that they will be consumed by a conflagration: but we ought to read it in connection with the metaphor which immediately follows; for Isaiah does not barely mean that it will be consumed, but that it will be consumed like the teil-tree, that is, with the hope of immediate recovery. When Jerome rendered it for exhibition, I know not on what he supposed that opinion to be founded, if it were not that he made a free translation, looking rather to the meaning than to the etymology of the word; for when trees blossom or put forth leaves, their life is again brought forth and displayed; and this meaning will be very appropriate.

As a teil-tree and an oak. It appears that Isaiah did not select at random those two kinds of trees; for one of them puts forth its leaves, and likewise sheds them, sooner than the other. So it happened to the tribe of Judah; for first the ten tribes, with the half tribe of Benjamin, were carried into captivity; and thus they who were the first to blossom were likewise the first to decay. This tribe was the latest of all in decaying, not without high expectation of blossoming again; for here the hope of deliverance is held out, and this was different from the captivity of the Israelites. There appears, therefore, to be some appropriateness in this metaphor of the trees; but I would not choose to press it very far.

When they cast their leaves. By the phrase, casting of leaves, must be understood that throwing of them down which takes place when trees are stripped of their leaves as of their garment; for trees, in that state of nakedness, appear to be dry and withered; though there remains in them a hidden vigor, through which they are at length quickened by the returning mildness of the season.

So in it shall be substance. This is the application of the metaphor, which is exceedingly forcible; for when we see the spiritual grace of God in the very order of nature, we are strongly confirmed. As Paul holds out a likeness of the resurrection in the sowing of corn, which is a daily occurrence, (1 Corinthians 15:36,) so in like manner Isaiah in this passage describes the restoration of the Church, by taking a metaphor from trees, which wither at the end of autumn, but again blossom at the return of spring, and put forth new leaves; which could not happen, did they not retain some vigor during the winter, though to outward appearance they are dead. He foretells that a similar event will happen to this people; so that, although during their hard and oppressive captivity they resemble dry timber, and it may be thought that they can never be delivered, still there will always be preserved in them some vigor, by which they shall be supported amidst those calamities, and shall at length come forth and blossom.

This doctrine, we have said, is not peculiar to a single age, and therefore it ought to be carefully observed; for it frequently happens that the Church, amidst the numerous afflictions which she endures, appears to have no strength, and is supposed to be utterly ruined. Whenever this takes place, let us fully believe that, notwithstanding these appearances, there is still some concealed energy, which, though it be not immediately manifest to our eyes, will at length yield its fruit. That energy lies hidden in the word of the Lord, by which alone the Church is sustained.

The holy seed. He shows what is that substance, that it consists of a small number of the godly, whom he calls the holy seed; for he means the elect, who would be preserved by the free mercy of God, and thus would survive that captivity. That banishment might be regarded as a cleansing of the Church, by which the Lord took away the ungodly; and when they had been cut off, he collected a people, small in number, but truly consecrated to himself. Some commentators consider this phrase to refer to Christ; but the interpretation appears to be too far-fetched, and it will be more consistent to extend it to all the godly; for the holy seed is the substance of the Church.

CHAPTER 7

Isaiah Chapter 7:1-25

1. And it came to pass, in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it.

1. Accidit in diebus Achaz filii Iotham, filii Usiae regis Iuda, ut ascenderet Rezin rex Syriae, et Pecah filius Romeliae rex Israel, contra Ierusalem, ad oppugnandum eam; sed non potuit expugnare.

2. And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim: and his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind.

2. Nuntiatum est autem domui David, dicendo, Sociata est Syria cum Ephraim; et commotum est cor ejus, sicuti cum ligna sylvae moventur a vento.

3. Then said the Lord unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou and Shear-jashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, in the highway of the fuller’s field;

3. Tunc dixit Iehova ad Isaiam, Egredere in occursum Achaz, tu et Sear-jasub filius tuus ad finem aquaeductus piscinae superioris, ad viam agri fullonis.

4. And say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be faint-hearted for the two tails of these smoking firebands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.

4. Et dices ad eum, Contine et quiesce; non formides, neque mollescat cor tuum propter duas caudas istorum titionum fumigantium, in furore irae Rezin, et Syri, et filii Romeliae.

5. Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against thee, saying,

5. Eo quod consilium contra te iniit Syrus malignum cum Ephraim et filio Romeliae, dicendo:

6. Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeal:

6. Ascendamus contra Iudam, et excitemus eum, et aperiamus eum nobis; constituamusque in medio ejus Regem, filium Tabeal.

7. Thus saith the Lord God, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass.

7. Sic dixit Dominus Iehova, Non consistet, et non erit.

8. For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people.

8. Quoniam caput Syriae, Damascus; et caput Damasci, Rezin. Et quidem adhuc sexaginta quinque anni, et frangetur Ephraim, ut non sit populus.

9. And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.

9. Interea caput Ephriam, Samaria; et caput Samariae, filius Romeliae. Si non creditis, profecto neque stabitis.

10. Moreover, the Lord spake again unto Ahaz, saying,

10. Et adjecit Iehova loqui ad Achaz, dicendo;

11. Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.

11. Pete tibi signum a Iehova Deo tuo, petendo in profundo, vel sursum in excelso.

12. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord.

12. Et ait Achaz, Non petam; et non tentabo Iehovam.

13. And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?

13. Et dixit, Audite nunc domus David; An parum est vobis, hominibus molestos esse, nisi Deo quoque meo sitis molesti?

14. Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

14. Propterea dabit vobis Dominus ipse signum: Ecce virgo concipiet, et pariet filium; et vocabit nomen ejus Immanuel.

15. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.

15. Butyrum et mel comedet, donec sciat reprobare malum, et eligere bonum.

16. For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.

16. Et quidem antequam sciat puer rejicere malum et eligere bonum, relinquetur terra quam odisti, a duobus Regibus suis.

17. The Lord shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father’s house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria.

17. Adducet Iehova super te, et super populum tuum, et super domum patris tui, dies qui non venerunt a die defectionis Ephraim a Iuda: nempe, Regem Assur.

18. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.

18. Erit in die illa: sibilabit Iehova muscae, quae est in extremitate fluminum AEgypti, et api quae est in terra Assur.

19. And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes.

19. Venientque, et quiescent omnes in vallibus desertis, et in cavernis petrarum, et in omnibus spinetis, et in omnibus dumetis.

20. In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet: and it shall also consume the beard.

20. In die illa radet Dominus novacula conducta, per hos qui trans fluvium sunt, per Regem Assur, caput et pilos pedum; quin et barbam tollet.

21. And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow and two sheep;

21. Fietque in die illa, ut homo nutriat vaccam armenti et duas oves.

22. And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give, that he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land.

22. Et eveniet, ut propter copiam lactis quam proferent, comedet butyrum. Butyrum certe et mel comedet quisquis residuus fuerit in medio terrae.

23. And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall even be for briers and thorns.

23. Erit etiam in die illa, ut quocunque in loco fuerint mille vites, prostent mille argenteis propter spinas et vepres.

24. With arrows and with bows shall men come thither; because all the land shall become briers and thorns.

24. Cum sagittis et arcu venient illuc; quoniam spinae et vepres erunt per universam terram.

25. And on all hills that shall be digged with the mattock, there shall not come thither the fear of briers and thorns: but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattle.

25. Porro quod ad omnes montes qui sarculo fodiuntur, non veniet illuc timor spinarum et veprium; sed expositi erunt bobus, et conculcabuntur a pecoribus.