John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 46:6

"Such as lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, they hire a goldsmith, and he maketh it a god; they fall down, yea, they worship." — Isaiah 46:6 (ASV)

Lavishing gold out of bags. The Prophet had formerly said this, and he now repeats it, in order to fix this doctrine more and more deeply in the hearts of men; for superstition has struck its roots so deeply in their hearts that it cannot be torn out unless the Lord entirely changes our nature.

Whatever we have heard about this madness quickly passes out of our minds; for we always carry within us some seed of superstition, and there is nothing to which we are more prone than to fall into it. He says, therefore, that one person supplies the materials for manufacturing idols and another gives them a shape; and that in this way it may be said that there are two fathers of such gods: that is, the rich man who lavishes the gold or silver, and the workman who adds the shape and makes the idol.

Thus he openly exposes the madness of those who seek a deity in their purses and in the hands of their workmen. For what explains such a sudden change, that they bow down before the metal as soon as it has assumed a different shape—a shape, too, that has been determined by their own will or caprice? For it is exactly the kind of god they have been pleased to manufacture at their own expense.

They even adore. The particle אף (aph), even, heightens the description of this madness; for there might perhaps be some room for repentance if someone who had been overtaken by a sudden mistake adored some false god, but these men obstinately persevere in their error. This word therefore draws attention more strongly to that obstinacy and shows that they are altogether blinded. Excessively foolish, as I have said, is this stupidity when men adore a god they have made with their own hands.