Isaiahchapter 10
34 verses · BSBIsaiah book hub →
Speaks with:Isaiah 37×72 Kings 19×6Isaiah 10×4Isaiah 9×41 Samuel 13×3Isaiah 5×2
Summary
Chapter summary
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.
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
The outline
A.Woe to Those Who Frame Unrighteous Decreesvv. 1 to 4
Read vv. 1 to 4 →B.Assyria, the Rod of My Anger, Boasts Against the Handvv. 5 to 19
Read vv. 5 to 19 →C.A Remnant Shall Return and Lean on the Holy Onevv. 20 to 27
Read vv. 20 to 27 →D.The Marching Route, and the Forest Felled by Ironvv. 28 to 34
Read vv. 28 to 34 →
The world behind this chapter
Isaiah 10The history
The roll call of conquered cities in the Assyrian king's boast is accurate and in order. Carchemish fell in 717 BC, Calno around 738, Arpad in 740, Hamath in 720, Damascus in 732, Samaria in 722. An Assyrian monarch really did talk like this: his inscriptions list cities the way a hunter lists trophies, and he credited his god with handing them over. Isaiah quotes the style exactly and then punctures it — does an axe brag against the man swinging it?
Assyria's method was deportation. Whole populations were marched out and replaced with settlers from elsewhere, which broke a people's memory of itself within a generation. That is what had just happened to the northern kingdom, and it is why the promise of a returning remnant carries such weight in this chapter.
The march route in the closing verses is a map anyone in Jerusalem could follow. Aiath, Migron, Michmash — where the baggage train is parked — then the pass, Geba for the night camp, and panic running through Ramah, Gibeah, Gallim, Anathoth, and Nob. From Nob, the last stop, an invader stands within sight of Jerusalem and shakes his fist at the hill. These are villages a few miles apart on the ridge north of the city.
The felling image at the end works on the same forest as the boast. Assyria had bragged about cutting down the tall cedars; now the LORD of hosts lops the boughs, and the high ones are hewn down, and Lebanon falls by a mighty one.
What it meant to them
This chapter answered the question every Judean was asking: if Assyria is unstoppable, where is God? The answer is that Assyria is the rod in his hand — sent against a godless nation, and held responsible for the cruelty it enjoys along the way.
For the remnant, the practical word was a promise with a deadline. Do not be afraid of the Assyrian, because in a very little while the anger will be finished — and the yoke will come off the neck the way a fattened neck bursts a collar.
Sources cited
- K. A. Kitchen, On the Reliability of the Old Testament
- Walton, Matthews & Chavalas, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament
The text of this chapter
This page carries no textual note on Isaiah 10. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →
Connections from this chapter
v. 21 · The same word
El Gibbor ('Mighty God') as a title of the promised child recurs two chapters later of YHWH himself - same lemma-pair, one book.
Isaiah 9:6→For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
text Isa 9:6 / Isa 10:21; STEPBible TAHOT lemma match
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.