John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 10:1

"Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and to the writers that write perverseness;" — Isaiah 10:1 (ASV)

Woe to them that decree. He now attacks the people more closely, as he did in the first and second chapters, to make them feel that they are justly afflicted; for people never acknowledge that they are justly punished until they have been clearly convicted and compelled. Although they were sufficiently convicted by former proofs, he still found it necessary to address specific details, so that through them their hypocrisy might be exposed.

For people are so brazen-faced that they think any excuse shields them, and they openly accuse God. When they had become so shameless, it was impossible for him to rebuke them too sharply or to carry his accusations beyond proper limits, in order to shut their mouths, whether they willed it or not.

עמל (gnamal) and און (aven) are often joined together in Scripture, as in Psalm 7:14. און signifies vanity and iniquity, but the latter meaning agrees better with this passage. עמל, (gnamal), on the other hand, denotes vexation, and often the very cause of the vexation—that is, the oppression inflicted by the stronger on the weaker when they abuse their authority and power. Having formerly shown that the wickedness originated from the governors themselves (Isaiah 1:10, 23), he places them in the first rank, so that they may undergo the punishment of the crimes which they had caused. This should be carefully observed, for those who are elevated to the highest rank imagine that they are exempted from the ordinary lot of other people, and that they are not bound to give an account to God; and therefore he threatens that they will have this privilege: they will be the first to be punished.

Some think that two classes are described here and draw a distinction between חקקים, (chokekim), those who decree, and מכתבים, (mechattebim), those who write. But I do not approve of this, for he generally attacks, without distinction, princes and magistrates who oppressed the people by unjust and tyrannical decrees, in such a manner that their actions approached absolute robbery; and therefore he includes every class of magistrates and governors.