a mirror in which they could behold God's wrath and righteous chastisement.

And yet this prediction, though it was accompanied by clear proofs, must undoubtedly have appeared to be incredible; for at that time they enjoyed repose, and the slightest truce of any kind easily laid them asleep. He says, therefore, that this calamity will come to them from distant nations, from whom nothing of this kind was expected; and he sounds an alarm as if the enemy were already at hand. It is not for the sake of soothing their fear that he uses those words, from afar, and from the end of the earth; but, on the contrary, he speaks in this manner for the express purpose of informing them that they ought not to judge of the anger of God from what meets the eye, for we are wont to judge of dangers from the outward appearance of things. Now, if the enemies are not so near, or if other circumstances hinder them from giving us immediate annoyance, we give ourselves no concern. Thus the people were lulled into a profound sleep, as if there were no danger to be dreaded. But Isaiah says that this will not hinder the Lord from erecting a banner, and instantly commissioning the Assyrians to slaughter them. The expression is metaphorical; for when a banner is displayed it is customary for soldiers, at the bidding of their general, to advance in hostile array and rush into the battle.

He will hiss to it. Though a change of number frequently occurs in Scripture, yet it is on solid grounds that the Prophet, by changing the number, makes many nations to be but one nation. The meaning is, that when it shall please God to assemble various nations, and form them into one. body, it will not be a confused multitude, but will resemble a body which has a visible head that rules and guides. He chose to employ the word hiss rather than a word of weightier import, such as sound a trumpet, or anything of that sort; in order to show that God does not need to sound a trumpet in order to call the enemies to battle, and that he has no

1 Sibilabit ad eam. In the version prefixed to the Commentary on this chapter, our Author has likewise observed here the singular number, sibilabit genti, he will hiss to the nation. Bishop Stock, following Bishop Lowth, renders pTM”, (věshākår lo,) he will hiss to every one of them.—Ed.

VOL. I.

לו

N

difficulty in inflicting punishment when the time for taking vengeance is fully at hand, for by a mere nod he can accomplish the whole.1

And lo, it will come speedy and swift. This confirms still more what I have already observed, that we ought not to judge of the anger of the Lord from the present appearance of things; for although everything appears to give assurances of peace, yet suddenly war will break out from a quarter. from which we do not expect it. Even though we think that we are defended on all sides by friends, yet God will stir up enemies from the farthest corners of the earth, who will break through every obstruction, and overtake us with ease, as if the way were plain and smooth. This ought to be carefully observed, that we may not suffer ourselves to be blinded by vain presumption and foolish confidence.

We ought also to observe that wars are not kindled accidentally, or by an arrangement of men, but by the command of God, as if he assembled the soldiers by the sound of a trumpet. Whether, therefore, we are afflicted by battle, or by famine, or by pestilence, let us know that all this comes from the hand of God, for all things obey him and follow his direction. And yet it was not the intention of the Chaldeans to obey God, for they were hurried on by their eagerness to obtain wealth and power, while he has quite another object in view but God employs their agency for executing his judgments. Hence arises a remarkable and illustrious display of the power of God, which is not limited by the will. of men, or dependent on their decisions, but leads them, though contrary to their wish, or without their knowledge, to obey him. And yet it is no excuse for the ungodly that they are drawn contrary to the disposition of their mind,

1 "The metaphor is taken from the practice of those that keep bees, who draw them out of their hives into the fields, and lead them back again, avgiruar, by a hiss or a whistle;" Cyril on the place and to the same purpose Theodoret, ibid. In chap. vii. 18, the metaphor is more apparent, by being carried further, where the hostile armies are expressed by the fly and the bee:

"Jehovah shall hist the fly,

That is in the utmost parts of Egypt;
And the bee, that is in the land of Assyria."
On which place see Deut. i. 44; Ps. cxviii. 12.-Lowth.

and do not willingly serve God, for they aim at nothing else than fraud, cruelty, and violence; and by their cruelty God punishes the transgressions and crimes of his people.

27. None shall be weary, nor stumble among them. The meaning is, that everything will be prepared and arranged in such a manner that there shall be no delay or obstruction to their march; as if a prince, having recruited the ranks of his soldiers, immediately gave orders that the roads should be cleared, provisions obtained, and everything necessary provided. He therefore shows that they will be fleet and swift, and that there will be nothing to hinder their rapid march.

None shall slumber nor sleep. He expresses their vast activity by saying that they will not be drowsy. In these words, they shall not slumber nor sleep, the natural order is inverted. He ought rather to have said, They shall not sleep nor slumber; for it is a smaller matter to slumber than to sleep. But that phrase ought to be explained in this manner: They shall not slumber nor even sleep; that is, they will be so far from sleeping, that they will not even slumber. You have an instance of this in these words: Lo, he that keepeth Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. (Ps. cxxi. 4.) It is a Hebrew phrase, with which neither the Greek nor the Latin idiom agrees.

28. Their arrows will be sharp. He means that they will be provided with necessary weapons. The custom alluded to is that which existed among the Assyrians and other eastern nations, who frequently made use of bows and arrows in battle, as Englishmen of the present day enter into the battlefield with a loaded quiver. Under this class he includes every kind of weapons of war. But as the way was long, and the journey difficult, the Jew might think that many things

1 More than three hundred years have elapsed since CALVIN wrote these words, and Englishmen of the present day do not carry bows and arrows into the field of battle. On the whole subject of war the opinions of Englishmen are undergoing an important revolution. Many of them entertain a confident hope that ere long the bullet as well as the arrow, the cannon as well as the bow, will be laid aside; that the revolting spectacle of human beings drawn up in companies, for the purpose of wholesale murder, will disappear from the earth; and that men will beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.—Ed.

would occur to interrupt the march of the enemy. He therefore says, that the hoofs of the horses will be like flint; by which he means that they will suffer no molestation, and will at length arrive in Judea without weariness. For a similar reason he compares their wheels to a whirlwind. The ancients were wont to employ chariots in going to war, and therefore he mentions not only horses, but wheels. All these circumstances must be understood to relate to the haste and rapidity with which they would proceed; or, in other words, that no length of journey would prevent the Lord from carrying forward the enemies without delay for the destruction of the Jews.

29. His roaring shall be like that of a lion. This denotes. fierceness and cruelty, for he compares the Chaldeans to lions, which, we know, are frightful to behold, and savage by nature; as if he had said that they would not be men who were moved by any feeling of compassion or tenderness, but rather that they would be savage beasts. He adds, that they will likewise possess great strength, so that none will venture to approach for rescuing their prey. He means that the Jews will have no defence for warding off their attacks, because the dread of their cruelty will keep all at a distance from them. It was God who employed their agency in punishing the Jews, and therefore it was necessary that they should be armed with formidable power, that this wing Ard people might at length acknowledge that they had to us dot with men but with God, into whose hands it is a fearful thing to fall. (Heb. x. 31.)

30. He shall roar against him. The Prophet adds this, that the Jews may understand that the fierce attack of the Chaldeans is not accidental, but that they have been appointed by God and are guided by his hand. By the roaring of the sea he means an attack so violent that it will look like a deluge, by which the whole of Judea will suffer shipwreck. He likewise cuts off all hope by foretelling that the punishment will have no alleviation and no end. "The Jews," he says, "will do what is usually done in a season of perplexity, will cast their eyes up and down to discover the means of 1 And in that day they shall roar against them.-Eng. Ver.

escape; but in whatever direction they look, whether to heaven or to earth, they will find no relief whatever; for on all sides distresses and calamities will overwhelm them." This mode of expression has come to be frequently employed even by the common people, when misery and ruin appear on all sides, and no escape or relief can be found. This must unavoidably happen when the Lord pursues us, so that his uplifted arm meets our eyes on every side, and, wherever we turn, we behold his creatures armed against us to execute his judgments; for we may sometimes escape the hand of men, but how can we escape the hand of God?

CHAPTER VI.