John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 59:4

"None sueth in righteousness, and none pleadeth in truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity." — Isaiah 59:4 (ASV)

There is none that cries for justice. He means that there is no concern among them for what is right or proper. No one opposes the acts of injustice committed by the strong against the weak, and this leads to growing licentiousness because all overlook it, and no one cares about defending justice. It is not enough that we abstain from violence if we do not, as far as we are able, prevent it from being committed by others. Indeed, whoever permits what he is able to prevent, in a sense, commands it, so that silence is a kind of consent.

None that contends for truth. This clause has the same meaning as the previous one. Some take נשפט (nishpat) in a passive sense and suppose the Prophet means, “None is rightly judged, for everything is full of corruption, and yet no one makes any opposition.” But the active meaning is more appropriate, for these two statements are closely connected: “None cries for justice” and “None defends truth or uprightness.” The interpretation given by some, “No man judges himself truly,” is rather harsh.

However, because this verb in Niphal is understood in many passages to mean “to contend,” the whole passage seemed to flow more freely this way: that “none comes forward to protect what is right, to openly and loudly defend justice, and to plead against the wicked.” Yet it might be thought preferable to view the words “cry for justice” as referring to miserable people who are unjustly harassed, as if he had said that they are silent because they would gain nothing by crying out. But this interpretation would also be harsh.

If God condemns so severely those who pay no attention to the righteous causes of people and do not aid those who are in difficulties, what will become of us if no zeal for defending the glory of God prompts us to rebuke iniquities? If we overlook the mockeries by which wicked men mock God’s sacred doctrine and profane His name; if we pay no attention to their efforts to destroy the Church of God, will not our silence be justly condemned as treachery? In short, Isaiah says that good order decays because of our fault if we do not, as far as we can, resist the wicked.

They trust in vain things. He next points out that this signifies extreme confusion when no one stands up to defend justice. When he says that they “trust in vain things,” he means that they accumulate perverse reliances, through which they bring insensibility upon themselves. This is the extreme limit of iniquity, when, by seeking flatteries from every direction, they willingly harden themselves to despise God. By such allurements Satan entices the reprobate until he completely enchants them, so that, shaking off all fear of God, they not only despise sound counsel but also become arrogant and fearless mockers.

Therefore, since recklessness drives us headlong when we place false hopes against God's judgment, the Prophet rightly portrays this confidence, under which cunning men take shelter, as a mark of desperate malice. This is because the disease is clearly incurable when openly wicked men do not hesitate to flatter themselves and, relying on their obstinate wickedness, think they are free to do whatever they please.

They talk idly. He adds that their conversation plainly reveals the nature of their dispositions and morals, as the proverb says, “The tongue is the image of the mind.” However, this clause can be explained in two ways: either that they speak nothing sincerely, but through constant practice their tongues are trained to deceive, or that their wickedness erupts into open boasting. Personally, I prefer the latter of these explanations.

They conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity. These are elegant metaphors by which he compares wicked men to women who carry a child in the womb and later give birth to it. Thus he says that the wicked, while they inwardly devise their crimes, can be described as pregnant until they give birth at the proper time—that is, when they have found the occasions and opportunities. “They conceive,” he says, “purposes of mischief, that afterwards they may unjustly harass unsuspecting people.” It is as if he had said that they prepare for their crimes through long meditation and are always ready for any mischief, because they continually search everywhere for indirect ways to harm those who are causing them no trouble.