John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 13:11

"And I will punish the world for [their] evil, and the wicked for their iniquity: and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible." — Isaiah 13:11 (ASV)

And I will visit upon the world wickedness. Here the Prophet does not speak of the whole world; but as Babylon was the seat of the most powerful of all monarchies, he gives to it on that account the name of the world, and he does so emphatically (ἐμφατικῶς), for Babylon was a kind of world, because it appeared to occupy nearly the whole earth.

And yet He means that there is nothing in this world so lofty that God cannot easily seize it with one of His fingers. At the same time, He gives warning that God will punish the cruelty which was exercised by the Chaldeans.

Yet we should also learn that the wickedness and crimes of Babylon are brought forward to inform us that the Lord will not be cruel in punishing her so severely, because He inflicts the punishment that those people deserved on account of their transgressions and crimes.

Every basis for slander is therefore removed, so that we may not think that God delights in the afflictions of human beings. For when He thus deals with people according to what they deserve, the mouths of all must be stopped (Romans 3:19), since the severity of the afflictions does not proceed from God but finds its cause in people themselves.

And will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease. We must keep in mind what I have already noted: the Prophet offers considerable comfort to the godly by assuring them that God, though He spares the inhabitants of Babylon for a time, will eventually punish them for their injustice and cruelty.

He expresses this still more clearly by highlighting a particular vice, namely, pride, as a consequence of which they loosed the reins and gave unbounded freedom to their lawless desires to oppress the wretched. For this reason also, He reproves their tyranny. But we should also draw from it a profitable doctrine: that it is impossible for us to escape punishment from the Lord if we are puffed up with vain confidence and flatter ourselves.

The Prophet here includes every kind of pride, whether people think that they are something, or admire their riches and despise others in comparison with themselves. God cannot endure any arrogancy or suffer it to pass unpunished. Therefore, since among the great variety of other crimes with which Babylon abounded this was the greatest and most remarkable, it was chiefly by their pride that the wrath of God was kindled.

And will lay low the loftiness of tyrants. Arrogance was joined, as it usually is, to violence and cruelty; therefore, He adds the loftiness of tyrants.

For when people despise others, this is followed by acts of violence, injustice, and oppression. Indeed, it is impossible for people to refrain from harming others if they do not lay aside all conceit and high estimation of themselves.

Let us willingly, therefore, humble ourselves to true humility, if we do not wish to be cast down and laid low to our destruction.