John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 64:6

"For we are all become as one that is unclean, and all our righteousnesses are as a polluted garment: and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away." — Isaiah 64:6 (ASV)

We have all been as the unclean. The believers go on in their complaint, for they deplore their condition because God appears to pay no attention to them. Hebrew writers are not agreed as to the meaning of the words בגד עדים (beged gniddim). Yet it is certain that it denotes something vile and worthless, and which, because of its filthiness, is revolting to people.

But here two things ought to be observed:

1. Believers confess their guilt and are justly punished for it.

2. Nevertheless, they complain of the severity of the punishments they endure—not to blame God, but to move Him to compassion, just as a culprit, when he endeavors to mitigate a judge's severity, presents his own distresses and calamities.

Some commentators torture this passage by alleging that the Prophet, when he speaks of the pollutions of sins, describes all Jews without exception, though there still remained some of them who were sincere worshippers of God. But there are no good grounds for this, for the Prophet does not speak of individuals but of the whole body, which, being trodden underfoot by everyone and subjected to the utmost indignity, he compares to a filthy garment.

There are some who frequently quote this passage to prove that our works are so far from having any merit that they are rotten and loathsome in the sight of God. But this appears to me to be at variance with the Prophet’s meaning. He does not speak of the whole human race, but describes the complaint of those who, having been led into captivity, experienced the wrath of the Lord against them and therefore acknowledged that they and their righteousnesses were like a filthy garment.

And the Prophet’s exhortation unfolds in two parts:

1. First, he exhorts them to confess their sin, so that they may acknowledge their guilt.

2. Next, he exhorts them to nevertheless ask for pardon from God; the way to obtain this pardon is that while we complain that we are wretched and distressed, we simultaneously acknowledge that we are justly punished for our sins.

And we all fade as a leaf. This is a very beautiful comparison, which shows that people utterly fade and decay when they feel that God is angry with them, as is admirably described in Psalm 90:6; Psalms 103:16. Justly, therefore, are we compared to leaves, for our iniquities, like the wind, carry us away.