John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 25:5

"As the heat in a dry place wilt thou bring down the noise of strangers; as the heat by the shade of a cloud, the song of the terrible ones shall be brought low." — Isaiah 25:5 (ASV)

As the heat in a dry place. If the Lord did not aid when violent men rush upon us, our life would be in imminent danger; for we see how great the rage of wicked men is, and if the Lord overturns walls, what can a feeble man do against Him? These things, therefore, are added to magnify the grace of God, so that we may consider what would become of us if the Lord did not render assistance.

Yet there are two ways in which commentators explain this passage. Some understand it to mean that wicked men will be consumed by God’s indignation, in the same manner as the violence of the heat burns up fields that are inherently barren. Others render it in the ablative case, As if by heat, and their interpretation is: “Though wicked men, relying on their power, are so violent, yet the Lord will prostrate them in a moment, as if they were overpowered by heat in a dry place.” But I consider the meaning to be different, for, after having shown how great the rage of wicked men against believers is, he adds:

You will bring them down, O Lord. Alluding to the metaphor of the deluge, which he had formerly used, he says, “You will quench their heat, which would otherwise consume us, just as rain, or a shower, falling from heaven, quenches the heat that scorched the thirsty fields.” And thus the passage flows naturally, for the other interpretation is forced and, as they say, does violence to the letter.

The noise of the strong ones will He lay low. This clause is subjected to various strained interpretations. Some think that זמיר (zĕmīr) means seed; others that it means a root; as if he had said, that God will not only destroy wicked men, but will utterly root them out. This meaning would be probable if it were not opposed by the metaphor of the heat. In my opinion, therefore, it is more correctly interpreted by others to mean “singing and shouting,” or “cutting off,” although even those interpreters do not fully succeed in grasping the Prophet’s meaning. He therefore confirms the preceding statement: that the violence of wicked men, or the shouting which they haughtily and daringly set up, will soon be laid low, as the heat of the sun is overpowered by the falling rain, which is meant by the shadow of a cloud.