JOHN CALVIN

61
They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one [tree] in the
midst, eating swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together,
saith the LORD. (Isaiah 66:17)
He now describes those enemies of whom he said, that God’s anger would be kindled against
them; for it might have been doubtful whether he spoke of foreign and avowed enemies, or
directed his discourse to the despisers of God, although they had been mixed with those who
were elect and holy; and therefore he plainly addresses the false and degenerate Jews. Nor have
I any doubt that, in the first place, he rebukes hypocrites, and, in the second place, when he says,
“Who eat swine’s flesh,” he describes men of immoral lives, that is, those who were openly
wicked and grossly licentious. Hypocrites sanctified themselves, that is, assumed false disguises
of holiness, and deceived many under this pretense.
He that killeth an ox [is as if] he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, [as if] he cut off a
dog’s neck; he that offereth an oblation, [as if he offered] swine’s blood; he that burneth
incense, [as if] he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul
delighteth in their abominations. (Isaiah 66:3)
Isaiah, in this passage, treats of the same subject of which he had formerly treated in the first
and fifty-eighth chapters, and does not absolutely condemn sacrifices, but rather the blemishes
and corruptions of them, because the Jews thought that God was satisfied with a deceitful and
empty appearance, and at the same time cared not about the true fear of God and a pure
conscience. He does not speak, therefore, of the thing itself, but censures men who abused
sacrifices; because this was as much as to offer to God the shell of an empty nut. In a word, no
sacrifices are acceptable to God but those which proceed from a pure heart and an upright will.
Yet it is probable that the Prophet alludes to the sacrifices of the Gentiles, which were shocking