Isaiah 10:4
in Isaiah 10Nothing will remain but to crouch among the captives or fall among the slain. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They shall only bow down under the prisoners, and shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
KJV
Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
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This verse in Isaiah 10
Commentary
10 notes on this verseWithout me - That is, without my aid: they shall be taken captive even by the captives, and shall be subdued even by the vanquished. “The י yod in בלתי bilti is a pronoun, as in Hos 13:4.” - Kimchi on the place. One MS. has לבלתי lebilti. As the people had hitherto lived without God in worship and obedience; so they should now be without his help, and should perish in their transgressions.
This site's exposition
Woe to those who enact
on Isaiah 10:1-4
The woe turns to Judah's courts, those who "enact unjust statutes," making "widows their prey and orphans their plunder" under color of law. The judges are asked what they will do "on the day of reckoning when devastation comes from afar," a courtroom question turned on themselves.
This site's exposition
crouch among the captives
The first Hebrew word, bilti, is hard, and Barnes listed a great variety of readings. Clarke, following Kimchi, read it as the LORD saying the people fall among the captives and the slain with no help from Him. The refrain of His upraised hand closes its fourth stanza.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"Do not be bent down under a chain and fall among the slain. His rage is not turned away, but his hand is still stretched out." And finally, just as he had often said against Samaria in the previous episodes: In all these things his anger is not turned away, but still his hand is stretched out, even against Judah, because there is no end to their evil (or malice); even in the enemy territory of the Lord, the sword pursues them.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Second, he expresses the manner of punishment, and first, the punishment of captivity: that you be not bowed down under, above: and the loftiness of men shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be humbled (Isa 2:17); second, of killing: and fall …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
); if those of Judah, they then show what was the particular design with which God brought the Assyrian army upon them--to punish their magistrates for mal-administration, which they could not legally be called to account for.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Now the correction of the kingdom of Judah by Sennacherib king of Assyria is foretold in this chapter; and this prediction was fulfilled in the fourteenth year of Hezekiah, when that potent prince, encouraged by the successes of his predecessor against the ten tribes, came up against all the fenced cities of Judah and took them, and laid siege to Jerusalem ( 2 Kings xviii.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Isa 10:9, 11 show that Samaria was destroyed before this prophecy. It was written when Assyria proposed (a design which it soon after tried to carry out under Sennacherib) to destroy Judah and Jerusalem, as it had destroyed Samaria. This is the first part of Isaiah's prophecies under Hezekiah.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Without me - בלתי biltı̂y. There has been a great variety of interpretation affixed to this expression. The sense in which our translators understood it was, evidently, that they should be forsaken of God; and that, as the effect of this, they should bow down under the condition of captives, or among the slain. The Vulgate and the Septuagint, however. and many interpreters understand the word bore as a simple negative. ‘Where will you flee for refuge? Where will you deposit your wealth so as not to bow down under a chain?’ Vulgate, Ne incurvemini sub vinculo. Septuagint, Τοῦ μὴ ἐμπεσεῖν εἰς ἀπαγωνήν tou mē empesein eis apagōnēn - ‘Not to fall into captivity.’ The Hebrew will bear either mode of construction. Vitringa and Lowth understand it as our translators have done, as meaning that God would forsake them, and that without him, that is, deprived of his aid, they would be destroyed. They shall bow down - They shall be subdued, as armies are that are taken captive. Under the prisoners - That is, under the “condition” of prisoners; or as prisoner. Some understand it to mean, that they should bear down “in the place of prisoners;” that is, in prison, But it evidently means, simply, that they should be captives. They shall fall under the slain - They shall be slain. Gesenius renders it, “‘Among the prisoners, and “among” the slain.’” The Chaldee reads it, ‘You shall be east into chains out of your own land, and beyond your own cities you shall be cast out slain.’ Vitringa supposes that the prophet, in this verse, refers to the custom, among the ancients, of placing prisoners in war under a yoke of wood to indicate their captivity. That such a custom obtained, there can be no doubt; but it is not probable that Isaiah refers to it here. The simple idea is, that many of them should be taken captive, and many of them slain. […]
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בִּלְתִּ֤י | bilti | except | H1115 → | 112 times |
| כָרַע֙ | khara' | anyone kneeled down | H3766 → | 36 times |
| תַּ֣חַת | tachat | under | H8478 → | 505 times |
| אַסִּ֔יר | ʾasir | prisoner[s] | H616 → | 5 times |
| וְתַ֥חַת | vetachat | and under | H8478 → | 505 times |
| הֲרוּגִ֖ים | harugim | [the] slain [people] | H2026 → | 167 times |
| יִפֹּ֑לוּ | yipolu | they will fall | H5307 → | 435 times |
| בְּכָל־ | bekhol | for all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| זֹאת֙ | zot | this | H2063 → | 603 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| שָׁ֣ב | shav | it has turned back | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| אַפּ֔וֹ | ʾapo | anger his | H639 → | 276 times |
| וְע֖וֹד | veod | and still | H5750 → | 490 times |
| יָד֥וֹ | yado | hand his | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| נְטוּיָֽה׃ ס | netuyah | [is] stretched out | H5186 → | 214 times |
בִּלְתִּ֤יexcept
biltiH1115 →112 times
כָרַע֙anyone kneeled down
khara'H3766 →36 times
תַּ֣חַתunder
tachatH8478 →505 times
אַסִּ֔ירprisoner[s]
ʾasirH616 →5 times
וְתַ֥חַתand under
vetachatH8478 →505 times
הֲרוּגִ֖ים[the] slain [people]
harugimH2026 →167 times
יִפֹּ֑לוּthey will fall
yipoluH5307 →435 times
בְּכָל־for all
bekholH3605 →5413 times
זֹאת֙this
zotH2063 →603 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
שָׁ֣בit has turned back
shavH7725 →1056 times
אַפּ֔וֹanger his
ʾapoH639 →276 times
וְע֖וֹדand still
veodH5750 →490 times
יָד֥וֹhand his
yadoH3027 →1618 times
נְטוּיָֽה׃ ס[is] stretched out
netuyahH5186 →214 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Deuteronomy 32:30How could one man pursue a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the LORD had given them up?
it leads to
- Leviticus 26:8
Five of you will pursue a hundred, and a hundred of you will pursue ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.
- Isaiah 30:17
A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee, until you are left alone like a pole on a mountaintop, like a banner on a…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Joshua 23:10
One of you can put a thousand to flight, because the LORD your God fights for you, just as He promised.
- Leviticus 26:8
Through
Isaiah 5:25Therefore the anger of the LORD burns against His people; His hand is raised against them to strike them down. The mountains quake, and the corpses lay like refuse in the streets. Despite all…
it leads to
- Isaiah 9:21
Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh; together they turn against Judah. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 9:17
Therefore the Lord takes no pleasure in their young men; He has no compassion on their fatherless and widows. For every one of them is godless and wicked, and every mouth speaks folly. Despite…
- 2 Kings 9:37
And Jezebel’s body will lie like dung in the field on the plot of ground at Jezreel, so that no one can say: This is Jezebel.’”
- Isaiah 9:21
Through
Isaiah 66:16For by fire and by His sword, the LORD will execute judgment on all flesh, and many will be slain by the LORD.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 38:21–22
And I will summon a sword against Gog on all My mountains, declares the Lord GOD, and every man’s sword will be against his brother.
- Ezekiel 38:21–22
Through
Isaiah 9:12Aram from the east and Philistia from the west have devoured Israel with open mouths. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.
it leads to
- Isaiah 5:25
Therefore the anger of the LORD burns against His people; His hand is raised against them to strike them down. The mountains quake, and the corpses lay like refuse in the streets. Despite all…
- Isaiah 5:25
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Isaiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.