John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 19:14

"Jehovah hath mingled a spirit of perverseness in the midst of her; and they have caused Egypt to go astray in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit." — Isaiah 19:14 (ASV)

The Lord has mingled a spirit of perverseness. Because it was an unexpected and incredible thing that the leaders of a wise and prudent nation would destroy their country by their stupidity, the Prophet therefore ascribes this to the judgment of God, so that the Jews might not shut their eyes to such a striking and remarkable example, just as irreligious people usually attribute God's judgments to chance when anything new or unexpected has happened. The expression is metaphorical: it is as if one were to mix wine in a cup, suggesting that the Lord thus intoxicates the wise people of this world so that they are stunned and amazed, and can neither think nor act correctly.

The consequence is that they deceive Egypt because, first, they were themselves deceived. That the Egyptians allow themselves to be imposed upon, and cannot guard against this deception, is the judgment of the Lord.

And yet Isaiah does not represent God as the Author of this folly in such a way that the Egyptians could impute blame to Him. Instead, we should view the matter in this light: “People have in themselves no understanding or judgment, for from where does wisdom come but from the Spirit of God, who is the only fountain of light, understanding, and truth? Now, if the Lord withholds His Spirit from us, what right do we have to dispute with Him? He is under no obligation to us, and all that He bestows is actually a free gift.” Yet when He strikes the minds of people with a spirit of giddiness, He always does it for good reasons, though these reasons are sometimes concealed from us.

But very frequently He punishes with blindness those wicked people who have risen up against Him, as happened to those Egyptians who, puffed up with a conviction of their own wisdom, swelled with pride and despised all other people. It is therefore unnecessary to dispute here about predestination, for the Lord punishes them for open vice. Accordingly, when God blinds people or gives them over to a reprobate mind (Romans 1:28), He cannot be accused of cruelty, for it is the just punishment of their wickedness and licentiousness. He who acts justly in punishing transgressions cannot be called the Author of sin.

Let us now consider the manner of punishing. God delivers them up to Satan to be punished, for it is Satan, strictly speaking, who mingles the spirit of giddiness and perverseness. But since Satan does nothing except by God’s command, it is therefore said that God does what Satan does. The common statement that this is done by God’s permission is an excessively frivolous evasion, for the Prophet has expressed more than this: namely, that this punishment was inflicted by God, because He is a righteous judge.

God therefore acts through Satan, as a judge acts through an executioner, and inflicts righteous punishment on those who have offended Him. Thus, in the book of Kings, we read that Satan presented himself before God and asked leave to deceive Ahab’s prophets. Having obtained it, he then obeyed God’s command, for he could have done nothing by himself. It is unnecessary to produce a multitude of quotations in a matter so obvious.

And they have misled Egypt in all her work. When the Prophet adds that her counselors deceived her, he points out a second judgment of God. For it might have happened that the princes were deprived of understanding and resembled drunkards, and yet the common people continued to possess some judgment. But here he says that the impostors also obtained the power of leading astray, so as to deceive the people. This is a twofold vengeance of God, both on those who lead astray and on those who are led astray by them.

As a drunken man staggers in his vomit. By vomit He means shameful drunkenness. This is added (πρὸς αὔξησιν), by way of amplification, to show that they were not ordinary drunkards who still have some understanding left, but that they resembled swine.