John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 60:9

"Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, for the name of Jehovah thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee." — Isaiah 60:9 (ASV)

Surely the islands shall wait for me. After employing every praise he could find for praising that wonderful benefit of restoration, Isaiah introduces God himself as speaking, so that the discourse carries greater weight. Some suppose this “waiting” denotes desire, as if he had said that this happens because nations beyond the seas will, as it were, hunger for him, because they will feel that they lack life and salvation.

Others view it as simply denoting hope. But it sometimes also means “to observe,” the sense in which David uses it: Wicked men wait for my soul; that is, “they lay snares for my life” (Psalms 56:6). In that sense, it may be understood in this passage. “They will wait for,” that is, “they will observe my will,” as servants are accustomed to comply with the will of their masters.

Therefore, do not wonder that so many will flow into the Church; for “the islands,” which currently sometimes despise and sometimes fight against me, will be so attentive to me as to carry out whatever I command. And indeed, from the remainder of the verse, it is clear that he now speaks of that kind of obedience.

And the ships of Tarshish. If it is thought preferable, the particle כ (caph), as, may be supplied here in this manner: “As the ships of Tarshish previously traded with Judea, and brought what was necessary for building the temple and for human use, so they will again renew their traffic, and that navigation which had been broken off will bring them back to their former course.” By “Tarshish” (that is, Cilicia), he means, συνεκδοχικῶς (by a figure of speech in which a part is taken for the whole), all the naval commerce and all the traffic they conducted with foreign nations. It may also be supposed simply to mean, “The ships of Tarshish, which now proudly despise my Church, will be subjected to my authority, and will bring sons to her from distant countries.”

Their silver and gold with them. He again repeats what he had previously said: that the Gentiles will yield obedience to God in such a way as to offer themselves and all that they have. The Popish doctors, as I remarked earlier, display consummate impudence in abusing these proofs for defending that tyrannical and theatrical display by which Roman antichrist and his attendants wish to attain fame and distinction. Abounding in luxury, adorning themselves with gold and jewels, and indeed with the attire of a harlot, they are not ashamed of representing the Holy Spirit as the author of this wickedness, so that whenever gold and silver are mentioned in Scripture, they apply it to their luxury. In this respect, they certainly are very like the Jews, who rise to ecstatic delight at the mention of gold and silver, and hope to wallow in them when Messiah comes. Thus the Papists think of nothing else than gold and silver, and their understandings are so much dazzled by that empty display that they cannot raise them to heaven. But such stupidity does not need a lengthy refutation.

To the name of Jehovah thy God. The general meaning is that God intends to elevate his Church to the highest honor and to adorn her with necessary ornaments. And so that believers may not have their minds disturbed by any doubt of so illustrious a promise, or ascribe anything to their own merits, God himself promises that he will be the author of this event, for he will glorify thee. Besides, the Prophet declares that the riches of the Gentiles, which he appeared to represent earlier as the prey of the Church or the prize of victory, will be a sacred offering to God; and thus he states more clearly what I have said, that there is nothing which we ought to desire more earnestly than that the whole world should bow to the authority of God.