NOTES for Isa 13:12

Can anyone say how a person can be measured by cost at all, more expensive or cheaper? So what does the Lord want to say, and why does He attach a little price tag to us at all? It seems to us that whoever understands this text in just that way is not entirely right. These words mean something quite different: the dearest thing in the world, pure gold, would not be enough to buy a person, which means that he cannot be bought at all. Besides, "pure gold" serves as a symbol of unmixed purity. And what is mixed into us? Let us turn to the Psalter and build a kind of dialogue between the Lord and man. "I will make mortals more precious than pure gold," says the Lord. "And I love Your commandments more than gold, yes, than pure gold," says man (Ps. 119:127). The commandments of the Lord are pure as gold. For "The judgments of the Lord are truth, all of them righteous; they are more to be desired than gold, even much fine gold, sweeter than honey and the drops of the honeycomb; and Your servant is warned by them, and in keeping them there is great reward" (Ps. 18:10-12). And this is truly joyful.