John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 33:18

"Thy heart shall muse on the terror: Where is he that counted, where is he that weighed [the tribute]? where is he that counted the towers?" — Isaiah 33:18 (ASV)

Your heart shall meditate terror. Believers are again informed what calamities are at hand, so that, by being suddenly overtaken with such heavy afflictions, they do not sink under them. יהגה (yehgeh) is translated by some in the past tense, “meditated,” and by others in the future, “shall meditate,” because such an exchange of tenses is customary in the Hebrew language. For my own part, believing that he warns the people of approaching distresses, instead of relating those which had been formerly endured, I willingly retain the future tense, which is also the tense employed by the Prophet, “shall meditate.”

Where is the scribe? He relates in a dramatic and lively manner (μιμητικῶς) the speeches of those who, overcome by terror, break out into these exclamations: Where is the scribe? Where is the weigher? thus expressing the powerful impression made on their minds. If anyone supposes that the line of thought is suddenly broken off because the Prophet, having in the former verse spoken of “the king’s beauty,” now brings forward terrors, I have no doubt that he magnifies the kindness of God by means of comparison, so that believers, when they have been delivered, may set a higher value on the condition to which they have attained.

Men are forgetful and ungenerous in judging God’s favors and, after having been once set free, do not consider what the depth of their misery was. Such persons need to be reminded of those wretched and disastrous times, during which they endured great sufferings, so that they may more fully appreciate the greatness of the favor which God has bestowed on them.

We should also observe another reason why it was advantageous that the people should be forewarned of that terror. The reason was that, after hearing of the king's magnificence, they might not promise themselves exemption from all uneasiness but might be prepared to undergo any kind of troubles and distresses, and that, even while they were subject to tribute and placed under siege, they might know that the kingdom of Judah was the object of God’s care and would be rescued from the hands of tyrants.

It is a very wretched condition that the Prophet describes: that a free people should be oppressed by such cruel tyranny as to have all their property valued, and an inventory taken of their houses, possessions, families, and servants.

Many people formerly unaccustomed to such slavery know by experience in our times how grievous it is. In these situations, their property is valued to the very last farthing, and a valuation is made not only of their undoubted incomes but also of their expected gains. Not only their money and possessions but even their names are placed on record. Meanwhile, new methods of taxation are contrived—not only on food but on the smallest articles—so that tyrants seize a large portion of those things that are indispensably necessary to the wretched populace; and yet, those calamities do not restrain men from insolence, licentiousness, and rebellion.

What then will happen when they are free and at full liberty? Will they not, forgetful of all their distresses and unmindful of God’s kindness, abandon themselves more freely than before to every kind of indulgence and licentiousness? It is not without good reason, therefore, that the Prophet places that wretched condition before the eyes of the people, so that they may not, when delivered from it, give way to their unlawful passions, but may acknowledge their deliverer and love him with all their heart.

Some have falsely imagined that Paul (1 Corinthians 1:20) quotes this passage, because that would spoil the Prophet’s meaning and distort his words for a different purpose. They have been led into this mistake by the mere use of the word “scribe,” which in that context denotes a Teacher. Isaiah gives the name “the scribe” to the person who took account of people, families, lands, and houses—in short, who kept the registers of the taxes. By “the weigher,” he means the person who received the taxes, because he “weighed” the money that was paid. That office is discharged today by those who are called treasurers.

Where is he who singles out the principal houses? He now adds a very troublesome and exceedingly disliked class of men, “the describers of the towers” (that is, of the more remarkable buildings), because they visit and examine each person’s house to know who are wealthier than others, so that they may demand a larger sum of money.

Such men, like hunting hounds, are commonly employed by tyrants to scent out money, for the sake of imposing some unusual tax in addition to the ordinary taxes. The arrival of such people must have been exceedingly annoying to the populace, because they never cease until they have sucked all the blood and marrow.

If anyone prefers to view this term as denoting the servants of the king himself, whose business it was to destroy the houses adjoining the walls of the city, let him enjoy his opinion. For my own part, I think it probable that the Prophet speaks of the receivers of taxes, whom conquerors appoint over vanquished nations to maintain their authority.