Chapter 27
27:1 In that day the Lord with his hard, and great, and strong sword shall visit leviathan the bar serpent, and leviathan the crooked serpent, and shall slay the whale that is in the sea.
27:2 In that day the vineyard of pure wine shall sing to him.
27:3 I am the Lord that keep it, I will suddenly give it drink: lest any hurt come to it, I keep it night and day.
27:4 There is no indignation in me: who shall give to me a thorn and a brier in battle: shall I march against it, shall I set it on fire together?
27:5 Or rather shall I take hold of my strength, shall it make peace with me, shall it make peace with me?
27:6 When they shall rush in unto Jacob, Israel shall blossom and bud, and they shall fill the face of the world with seed.
27:7 Has he struck him according to the stroke of him that struck him? Or is he slain, as he killed them that were slain by him?
27:8 In measure against measure, when it shall be cast off, you shall judge it. He has meditated with his severe spirit in the day of heat.
27:9 Therefore upon this shall the iniquity of the house of Jacob be forgiven: and this is all the fruit, that the sin thereof should be taken away, when he shall have made all the stones of the altar, as burnt stones broken in pieces, the groves and temples shall not stand.
27:10 For the strong city shall be desolate, the beautiful city shall be forsaken, and shall be left as a wilderness: there the calf shall feed, and there shall he lie down, and shall consume its branches.
27:11 Its harvest shall be destroyed with drought, women shall come and teach it: for it is not a wise people, therefore he that made it, shall not have mercy on it: and he that formed it, shall not spare it.
27:12 And it shall come to pass, that in that day the Lord will strike from the channel of the river even to the torrent of Egypt, and you shall be gathered together one by one, O you children of Israel.
27:13 And it shall come to pass, that in that day a noise shall be made with a great trumpet, and they that were lost, shall come from the land of the Assyrians, and they that were outcasts in the land of Egypt, and they shall adore the Lord in the holy mount in Jerusalem.
620 . In that day . In this part he recalls divine and paternal correction,
and first, by foreign scourges,
second, by their own scourges: in that day (Isa 27:2); hence it said in Wisdom 11:11: for you didst admonish and try them as a father .
Concerning the first, he sets out the scourge of Babylon: with his sword , namely, vengeance; Leviathan , namely, Nabuchodonosor, because of the addition to his kingdom that he subjugated to himself; the serpent , because of his poisonous tyranny; bar , because of the correction of the people by God, above: woe to the Assyrian, he is the rod of my anger (Isa 10:5); crooked , because of their infidelity: behold, he will drink up a river, and not wonder (Job 40:18); the whale : I sit in the heart of the sea (Ezek 28:2).
621 . In that day . Here correction by their own scourges is set out.
Hence he first describes the chastisement;
second, the consolation: and it shall come to pass, that in that day (Isa 27:13).
Concerning the first, he does two things:
first, he foretells the chastisement;
second, the manner is examined: there is no indignation in me (Isa 27:4).
Concerning the first, he does three things.
First, he foretells the song of sorrow: the vineyard , formerly, in the prophets and patriarchs, of pure wine, above: for the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel (Isa 5:7).
Second, he sets out the intention of the one who punishes: I am the Lord that keep it , below: you have drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath (Isa 51:17).
Third, he sets out the benefit, for which they were ungrateful: lest any hurt come to it, I keep it night and day : your word, O Lord, which heals all things (Wis 16:12).
622 . There is no indignation in me . Here he examines the manner of punishment,
and first, the deliberation of the judge is set out;
second, the execution of the result of deliberation: for the strong city shall be desolate (Isa 27:10).
Concerning the first, he does three things.
First, he sets out severe judgment, setting out the wrath of rage: there is no indignation in me , as if to say: indeed, I am justly indignant, for they are ungrateful for my benefits, below: full of the indignation of the Lord (Isa 51:20); and out of wrath he determines a severe punishment: who shall give to me a thorn and a brier , as to the preceding difficulties that arose together among them, above: briers and thorns shall come up over it (Isa 5:6); in battle , as to the attack of the enemy: I myself will fight against you (Jer 21:5–6); shall I set it on fire , as to the destruction of homes and cities: my indignation goes forth like a fire (Jer 21:12).
623 . Second, he sets out the moderation of the sentence: or rather shall I take hold of my strength? As if to say: I will restrain my wrath ; by way of contrast: the Lord will not turn away the wrath of his indignation (Jer 30:24). And he sets out the fruit of the moderation of the sentence as to the good, which all will bear in relation to God: shall it make peace with me , as if to say: will he make peace with me by good works? Below: the work of justice shall be peace (Isa 32:17). In relation to himself, Israel shall blossom , in faith, or in good intention, and bud , in completion of the work, below: Jerusalem shall flourish like the lily (Isa 35:1); and in relation to his neighbor: they shall fill the face of the world with seed , who shall rush in , namely, the Apostles, above: the law shall come forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem (Isa 2:3); their sound has gone forth into all the earth: and their words unto the ends of the world (Ps 18:5[19:4]).
624 . And he sets out the supplementing of the punishment as to the ungrateful: has he struck him according to the stroke of him that struck him? Here he reproaches the benefit of the moderated punishment: he has not dealt with us according to our sins (Ps 102[103]:10). In measure : here he threatens judgment adequate to their sin; when it shall be cast off , from the worship of God through faithlessness, not believing in Christ: according to the measure of the sin shall the measure also of the stripes be (Deut 25:2); he has meditated : here he shows the support of the sentence, with his severe spirit , because it cannot be placated, above: cease therefore from the man, whose breath is in his nostrils (Isa 2:22).
625 . Third, he explains the motive for moderating the punishment, so that he would not destroy them entirely at that time, namely, because Christ and the Apostles were to descend from that people, and through their preaching the worship of idols was to be abandoned; and this is what is meant by, when he shall have made all the stones of the altar, as burnt stones broken in pieces , above: man shall bow down himself to his Maker, and his eyes shall look to the Holy One of Israel (Isa 17:7).
626 . The strong city , namely, Jerusalem: how doth the city sit solitary that was full of people? (Lam 1:1); as to the power of the enemy: there the calf , the army of the enemy, shall feed , as though resting without fear; branches , metaphorically, that is, ears of wheat, which signify princes, above: wild beasts shall rest there (Isa 13:21); or literally, it may be a sign of desolation: they saw the chambers joining to the temple thrown down (1 Macc 4:38). And the destruction of men: its harvest shall be destroyed with drought ; this is a metaphor: that is, as ears of wheat are crushed in the drought of summer; women shall come and teach it , by whom the people were thrown greatly into sin, above: as for my people, their oppressors have stripped them, and women have ruled over them (Isa 3:12); or because the women themselves taught them, as Deborah (Judg 4), and Holda (2 Kgs 22:14).
627 . Second, he sets out the fairness of the punishment in relation to their guilt: for it is not a wise people , above: therefore is my people led away captive, because they had not knowledge (Isa 5:13).
628 . Third, the magnitude of the destruction, both as to universality of place: and it shall come to pass, that in that day the Lord will strike from the channel of the river even to the torrent of Egypt , that is, from one end to the other, above: from the sole of the foot unto the top of the head, there is no soundness therein (Isa 1:6); and as to the small number of men who will remain: and you shall be gathered together one by one : you shall remain few in number (Deut 28:62).
629 . And it shall come to pass . Here he sets out the consolation, through return to their land. A great trumpet , the precept of the king, above: he shall set up a sign unto the nations, and shall assemble the fugitives of Israel (Isa 11:12).
630 . Note on the words, the Lord with his sword shall visit (Isa 27:1), that the vengeance of God is called a sword that is:
first, hard because of the harshness of punishment;
second, great, because of the universality of those who are punished: a great sword was given to him (Rev 6:4);
third, strong, because of the power of the one who punishes: flee from the face of the sword (Job 19:29);
fourth, sharp, because it is piercing, even to the soul: the word of God is living and effectual and more piercing than any two edged sword (Heb 4:12);
fifth, shining, because of its evident fairness: you shall perish by the sword, it shall devour you like the bruchus (Nah 3:15).
631 . Also on the word, Leviathan (Isa 27:1), note that the devil is called Leviathan, because he adds,
first, to human wickedness: add you iniquity upon their iniquity (Ps 68:28[69:27]);
second, to his own power: all these will I give you, if falling down you will adore me (Matt 4:9);
third, to divine justice: my iniquity is greater than that I may deserve pardon (Gen 4:13);
fourth, to divine mercy: whereas she was sad, he comforted her with sweet words (Gen 34:3).
632 . Note also on the word, serpent (Isa 27:1), that the devil is called a serpent,
first, because of his ability to renew himself: Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light (2 Cor 11:14);
second, because of his manner of going about: I have gone round about the earth, and walked through it (Job 1:7);
third, because of his poisonous bite: in the end, it will bite like a snake (Prov 23:32);
fourth, because of his manner of enveloping: he sets up his tail like a cedar, the sinews of his testicles are wrapped together (Job 40:12).