Woe falls first on those who decree unrighteous decrees and rob the widow and fatherless, then on Assyria itself: "the rod of mine anger," sent against a profane nation but intending in its heart to destroy. The Assyrian king boasts through his list of conquered cities that Jerusalem will fare as Samaria did, so Jehovah asks whether the axe boasts against him who hews with it, and promises a wasting leanness that burns Assyria's forest until a child can count the remaining trees. A remnant of Jacob ("a remnant shall return," the phrase behind Shear-jashub's name), will lean on Jehovah rather than its smiter. Zion is told not to fear; the burden departs as at Midian and the Red Sea. The chapter closes with Assyria's march itinerary from Aiath through Michmash and Nob, where Jehovah lops the boughs and fells the lofty.

Drawn from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary, John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and John Calvin, Commentaries.

Context

Prophecy · Isaiah — Isaiah overview

A. 1–4 Woe to Those Who Frame Unrighteous Decrees
B. 5–19 Assyria, the Rod of My Anger, Boasts Against the Hand
C. 20–27 A Remnant Shall Return and Lean on the Holy One
D. 28–34 The Marching Route, and the Forest Felled by Iron

Top cross-references8 chapters ▾

Isaiah 377 verses
- Isaiah 37:6And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say unto your master, Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
- Isaiah 37:10Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.
- Isaiah 37:22This is the word which the Lord hath spoken concerning him; The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.
- Isaiah 37:24By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord, and hast said, By the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the height of his border, and the forest of his Carmel.
- Isaiah 37:26Hast thou not heard long ago, how I have done it; and of ancient times, that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste defenced cities into ruinous heaps.
- Isaiah 37:31And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:
- Read Isaiah 37: 1 more there →
2 Kings 195 verses
- 2 Kings 19:10Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
- 2 Kings 19:12Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed; as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Thelasar?
- 2 Kings 19:17Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands,
- 2 Kings 19:23By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders, and into the forest of his Carmel.
- 2 Kings 19:35And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
- Read 2 Kings 19 →
Isaiah 103 verses
- Isaiah 10:5O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.
- Isaiah 10:15Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood.
- Isaiah 10:33Behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, shall lop the bough with terror: and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled.
- Read Isaiah 10 →
Isaiah 93 verses
- Isaiah 9:4For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian.
- Isaiah 9:6For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
- Isaiah 9:17Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
- Read Isaiah 9 →

4 more chapters this one speaks with

1 Samuel 133 verses
- 1 Samuel 13:2Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel; whereof two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in mount Beth–el, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin: and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent.
- 1 Samuel 13:5And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the sea shore in multitude: and they came up, and pitched in Michmash, eastward from Beth–aven.
- 1 Samuel 13:23And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the passage of Michmash.
- Read 1 Samuel 13 →
Isaiah 52 verses
- Isaiah 5:23Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!
- Isaiah 5:25Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills did tremble, and their carcases were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
- Read Isaiah 5 →
Job 312 verses
- Job 31:14What then shall I do when God riseth up? and when he visiteth, what shall I answer him?
- Job 31:25If I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because mine hand had gotten much;
- Read Job 31 →
2 Kings 182 verses
- 2 Kings 18:24How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?
- 2 Kings 18:33Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
- Read 2 Kings 18 →

Cross-references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible.info.