John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 52:5

"Now therefore, what do I here, saith Jehovah, seeing that my people is taken away for nought? they that rule over them do howl, saith Jehovah, and my name continually all the day is blasphemed." — Isaiah 52:5 (ASV)

What have I here? He elaborates on and confirms what I have already said: that it is not reasonable that He should silently permit His people to be oppressed any longer. By these words He, in some measure, reproves His own delay, as if He had said, “Shall I not stretch out my hand? Shall I not avenge my people? If Pharaoh did not hinder me, though he was a lawful master, shall the violence of robbers hinder me?” He next enumerates the reasons that should move Him to bring back the people.

That my people should be carried away for nought. An implied contrast must be understood with the participle “carried away”; for the Egyptians did not “carry away” Jacob by force. He went down to Egypt of his own accord when he was pressed by famine, yet he was delivered from there. How much more shall he be rescued out of the hand of those who tore him from his native country and carried him by violence into captivity?

That they should cause them to howl. To express the baseness of this conduct more forcibly, He says that they are constrained to howl without ceasing. Some translate the verb as neuter, but I think that it is intended to express the strength of their hatred. Therefore, I consider it to be an active verb, expressing the violence that the Babylonians exercised towards the Jews, for they not only ruled unjustly over them but also treated them harshly.

To “howl” is more than to sigh or weep, for there is reason to believe that the pain that sends forth loud and strong cries is exceedingly severe. The metaphor is taken from wild beasts and denotes extreme despair.

The third and principal reason why the Lord will deliver His people is that his name is continually exposed to the reproach and blasphemy of wicked men. For the sake of His own honor, the Lord preserves the Church and defends the pure worship of His name. Because wicked men seize on the Church’s calamitous state as a reason for blasphemy and insolently mock God, He says with good reason that by delivering His people, He will plead His own cause. I do not relate the various interpretations here, nor do I pause to refute them, for it will be enough for me to have briefly explained the Prophet’s real meaning.