John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 52:3

"For thus saith Jehovah, Ye were sold for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money." — Isaiah 52:3 (ASV)

For thus says Jehovah. This verse has been poorly explained by many commentators, who have chosen here to enter into philosophical subtleties, for they have imagined many things inconsistent with the Prophet’s meaning. It agrees with what he had previously stated:

To which of my creditors have I sold you? (Isaiah 1:1).

For here, in the same manner, he says, You have been sold for nothing; as if he had said that he has received no price and is under no obligation to a creditor who could claim them as having been purchased by him.

This greatly confirms the promise, because the Jews might doubt the liberty promised to them, since they had long been held in possession by the Babylonians, the most powerful of all nations. The Lord meets this doubt, declaring: “I did not sell or hand you over to them; for you were sold for nothing; and therefore I can justly claim you as my property and sell you. So do not consider how great your difficulties are when I promise you liberty, and do not reason about this matter with human arguments; for the Babylonians have no right to detain you and cannot prevent you from being set at liberty.”

Therefore you shall be redeemed without money. Lastly, as he had previously said that he is not like a spendthrift who is compelled to sell his children or offer them in payment, so in this passage he declares that “for nothing he sold” and gave them up to their enemies.

This was for no other reason than because they had provoked him by their sins. Therefore, there will be no greater difficulty in delivering them than there was in giving them up to their enemies.

Some explain it more ingeniously, saying that Christ has redeemed us by free grace. This doctrine must indeed be maintained, but it does not agree with the Prophet’s meaning. The Prophet intended to correct the distrust of the Jews, so that they might have no doubt about being set at liberty.

Let it suffice to know that when God is pleased to deliver his people, it will not be necessary to make a financial bargain with the Babylonians. In spite of their opposition, he will have no difficulty in driving them out of their unjust possession.