Isaiah 10)
1 Woe to them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that ordain (or register; legalize iniquities) grievousness which they have written;
2 To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of My People (Heb. ‘ani [wretched ?]. See Prov. 6:11), that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!
3 And what will you all do in the day of visitation, and in the storm which shall come from far? to whom will you all flee for help? and where will you all secure (or put in safe keeping. Heb. ‘azab, a Homonym with 2 meanings. See Ex. 23:5) your glory?
4 Without Me captives will be enough to make you bow down, and mortally wounded ones [will be enough] to make you fall.
For (see 9:12) all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still.
M˛ O 5,6. Assyrian invasion. Mission.
P e 7-11. Assyrian intention.
f 12-15. Yahaveh's punishment of Assyria.
P e 16-19. Assyrian work.
f 20-27. Yahaveh's deliverance of Israel.
O 28-32. Assyrian invasion. March.
5 O Assyrian (not woe to the Assyrian. That Woe comes later [cp. 17:12 and 33:1], after the latest woes on Ephraim and Judah. This is a Divine summons. The monuments tell us that this was Sargon, the father of Sennacherib), the rod of My anger, and the staff in their hand is My indignation.
6 I will send him against an hypocritical nation (= impious, profane, godless, or irreligious. Cp. 9:17 and 33:14, the only other occ. in Isaiah), and against the People of My wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
7 However he will not mean (the blindness of the instrument emphasizes the truth of the prophecy), neither does his heart so intend; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few.
8 For he will say, “Are not my princes all of them kings?
9 Is not Calno as Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad? is not Samaria as Damascus?
10 According as my hand has found the kingdoms of the nothings, and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria;
11 Shall I not, according as I have done to Samaria and her effigies, so do to Jerusalem and her effigies?”
12 And it shall come to pass, that when the Lord has performed His whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.
13 For he says, “By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds of the peoples (see Deut. 32:8), and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man:
14 And my hand has found [means to reach] as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathers eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.” (see 8:19)
15 Shall the axe boast itself against him that hews therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shakes it? as if the rod should brandish them that lift it up, or as if the staff should raise him that lifts it up.
16 Therefore shall Adon (with article see Divine names in O.T.), the Lord of hosts, send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory He shall be like a burning like the burning of a fire.
17 And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day (so it was [2 Kings 19:35]);
18 And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body: and they shall be as when a standard-bearer faints.
19 And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a lad may reckon them.
20 And it shall come to pass in that day (passing on to the final fulfillment in the Day of the Lord, i.e. the Millennium), that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob (see 2:5), shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel (see 1:4), in truth.
21 The remnant shall return (Heb. Shear-jashub. See 7:3. So they did. Cp. 2 Chron. 30:1-13, esp. v.6), even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty GOD (cp. 9:6. Deut. 10:17).
22 For though Your People Israel (quoted in Rom. 9:27:28) be as the sand of the sea (see Gen.22:17; 32:12, &c.), yet a remnant of them shall return: the full end (or finish. See Deut. 28:65) decreed shall overflow in righteousness.
23 For the Lord GOD of hosts shall make a consummation, even decreed, in the midst of all the land.”
24 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD of hosts, “O My people that dwell in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite you [indeed] with a club, and shall lift up his staff against you, after the manner of Egypt.
25 For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and My anger [shall cease] in their destruction.
26 And the Lord of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him like the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb (cp. 9:4, and Judg. 7:25): and as His rod was upon the sea, so shall He lift it up after the manner of Egypt.
27 And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off your shoulder, and his yoke from off your neck, and the yoke will rot before the face [at the sight] of the oil (i.e. in Gideon's lamps; and of the Anointed One, Messiah).
28 He is come to Ai (this is a prophetic description of Sennacherib's advance against Judah), he is passed to Migron (not yet identified. Probably near Gibeah [1 Sam. 14:2]. Sennacherib mentions it as Amgarron. See 2 King 18:5,13); at Michmash (Now Mukmas, 7 miles north of Jerusalem [1 Sam. 13:2-23; 14:5,31. Ezra 2:27. Neh. 7:31; 11:31) he has laid up (in anticipation of a speedy conquest of Jerusalem) his baggage:
29 They are gone over the ravine (i.e Wady Suweinit. Cp. 1 Sam.13:23): they have taken up their lodging at Geba (now Jeb'a, near michmash); Ramah is afraid (now er Ram, 5 miles north of Jerusalem); Gibeah of Saul is fled (now Tell el Ful, between Jerusalem and Emmaus, 2 1/2 miles north of Jerusalem).
30 Lift up your voice, O daughter of Gallim (not identified. Probably Bietfăla’, near Bethlahem): cause it to be heard to Laish (not Laish of the tribe of Dan), O poor Anathoth (now ’Anăta. 3 miles north-east of Jerusalem).
31 Madmenah is removed (not identified. A town of Benjamin, near Jerusalem. See 25:10); the inhabitants of Gebim gather themselves to flee (not identified. North of Jerusalem).
32 As yet shall he remain at Nob that day (a city of the priests, in sight of Jerusalem, from whence Sennacharib shook his hand against the city. Nob only a half day's journey from Jerusalem): he shall shake his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.
631-630 B.C.
D˛ Q 10:33,34. Prophecy of Yahaveh's deliverance.
R S 11:1-5. The Deliverer. "The Offspring".
T 11:6-9. His new Dispensation. (Moral).
R S 11:10. The Deliverer. "The Root".
T 11:11-16. His new Dispensation. (Political).
Q 12:1-6. Praise for Yahaveh's deliverance.
33 Behold, the Lord (Yahaveh), the Lord of hosts (Yahaveh Sabaioth), shall lop the bough with terror: and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled.
34 And He shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron (These are Sennacharib's own figures of himself. See 2 Kings 19:23. Cp. 29:17. Ezek. 31:3-8. Note the contrast in 11:1.), and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.