John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 2:7

"And their land is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land also is full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots." — Isaiah 2:7 (ASV)

Their land is filled with silver and gold. We must attend to the order which the Prophet observes here, for he now enumerates the reasons why the Lord rejected his people. In the previous verse, he began with divinations and the customs of strangers; he now addresses silver and gold; and afterwards he will speak of horses and chariots. There can be no doubt that, having first condemned idolatry, he rebukes them, secondly, for covetousness, and thirdly, for sinful trust, when people depart from God and devise for themselves futile sources of confidence. It was not something to be condemned in itself that this nation had an abundance of gold and silver; but because they burned with insatiable covetousness and trusted to horses and chariots, he justly rebukes them.

The Hebrew particle ו (vau) is viewed by some here as indicating a contrast, supposing the meaning to be, and yet their land is filled with silver and gold. This would show the people's ingratitude to be even greater. Although they enjoyed an abundance of all good things, they resorted—as if their situation had been desperate—to magical arts and to idols. This behavior is much less excusable than if they had fled to them during their adversity, because even though they were fed to the full with an abundance of good things, they still shook off the yoke of God. In this way, he would emphasize the criminality of a nation that fled to idols freely and of its own accord, even though it was luxuriating in abundance. But I do not accept this interpretation, for I think it is too far-fetched. On the contrary, he includes in one continuous enumeration the vices with which that nation was guilty: covetousness, sinful confidence, and idolatry. Accordingly, although the opinion of those who explain it as a contrast is a true opinion, it does not harmonize with this passage.

And there is no end of their treasures. Isaiah proceeds to illustrate more clearly and forcibly what he has previously said. For, although it is not in itself sinful or blameworthy for a person to possess gold or silver (provided that he makes proper use of it), he rightly denounces that wicked desire and mad eagerness to accumulate money, which is most detestable. He says that there is no end, because their eagerness is insatiable and goes beyond the bounds of nature. The same opinion must be formed about horses and chariots, for false confidence is here rebuked. To prevent this evil, the Lord had forbidden kings to amass a great multitude of horses or chariots, lest, trusting to them, they should cause the people to return to Egypt (Deuteronomy 17:16). Since, therefore, it is difficult for people to have resources of this kind in abundance without also being lifted up with pride, it was the will of God that his people should not have them at all, or at least should be satisfied with a moderate share.