John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 24:2

"And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the creditor, so with the debtor; as with the taker of interest, so with the giver of interest to him." — Isaiah 24:2 (ASV)

And it shall be. By these words he means the utmost desolation, in which there will no longer be any distinction of ranks or any appearance of a commonwealth. For as long as there is a tolerably regular form of government, some distinction continues to be maintained between “the people” and “the priests.” By a figure of speech, in which a part is taken for the whole, (συνεκδοχικῶς), he mentions one department instead of the whole class, as is frequently done in the Scriptures. Though we might take כחנים, (kōchănīm), to mean those who hold any high rank (for Hebrew writers frequently give this name to princes, and especially to those who are of royal blood), I have no reluctance to view it as an instance of the figure of speech I have mentioned.

Since Isaiah considers this confusion among the curses of God, and declares that when the distinction of ranks is set aside, it is a terrible display of God’s vengeance, we should conclude, on the other hand, how much God is pleased with regular government and the good order of society. We should also conclude how great a privilege it is to have it preserved among us. For when it is taken away, human life then differs little from that of cattle and beasts of prey.

Therefore, we should not only acknowledge God’s dreadful vengeance but also attribute it to our own sins whenever He breaks down order and takes away instruction and courts of law. For when these fall, civilization itself falls along with them. It should also be considered that when the Lord executes His judgments, He spares no rank, not even the most sacred.

What was this order of priests, which the Lord had so splendidly adorned, had determined to consecrate to Himself, and of which the people also boasted as if it had been unchangeable and eternal? Yet even the rank of priesthood is involved in God’s judgment.

This is because there is no respect of persons with God. On the contrary, the more highly any have been favored and the higher the rank to which they have been exalted, the more severely He will punish them if they show themselves to be ungrateful and abuse His benefits.

As the servant, so his master; as the buyer, so the seller. This statement has the same import as what was said before. For these ranks are clearly lawful and are not usually set aside, unless when the Lord determines to chastise His people with dreadful vengeance, as we have already said.

In a well-ordered society, the distinction between master and servant must be observed. Likewise, no public government can be lasting without commercial transactions.

Therefore, when the distinction between rich and poor has been taken away, every scheme for humans to earn a livelihood is destroyed. The Prophet’s meaning is that all civil government will be broken up, because in such calamities, those who were the wealthiest are reduced to the lowest poverty.

In short, he describes the most appalling desolation, which will be followed by unaccustomed change.