Isaiah 6:13
in Isaiah 6And though a tenth remains in the land, it will be burned again. As the terebinth and oak leave stumps when felled, so the holy seed will be a stump in the land.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And if there be yet a tenth in it, it also shall in turn be eaten up: as a terebinth, and as an oak, whose stock remaineth, when they are felled; so the holy seed is the stock thereof.
KJV
But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.
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This verse in Isaiah 6
Commentary
9 notes on this verse231. Third, as to repeated persecution: and first, he places their small number: and there shall be still a tithing therein, that is, barely a tenth will be left by Titus in the land of Judea, or in the whole world, because of the Jews …
This site's exposition
And though a tenth remains
The chapter refuses to end on desolation, for even "though a tenth remains in the land, it will be burned again," and still something survives. A felled tree leaves a living stump. Chapter 11 takes up the same image, a shoot growing from the stump of Jesse.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 11-13.) And I said, how long, Lord? And he answered, until the cities are desolate and without inhabitant, and the houses are without people, and the land is left empty. And the Lord will remove men far away, and what was abandoned in the midst of the land will be multiplied. And even in it there will be a tenth, and it will be turned again to destruction, like a terebinth tree, and like an oak tree that sheds its leaves, the holy seed will be the stump that remains in it.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
God will turn them, and they shall be turned. (2.) That they shall be eaten, that is, shall be accepted of God as the tithe was, which was meat in God's house, Mal. iii. The saving of this remnant shall be meat to the faith and hope of those that wish well to God's kingdom.
When - Who when their leaves are cast in winter, have a substance within themselves, a vital principle, which preserves life in the root of the tree, and in due time sends it forth into all the branches.
But yet in it shall be a tenth,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
But yet ... - The main idea in this verse is plain, though there is much difficulty in the explanation of the particular phrases. The leading thought is, that the land should not be “utterly” and finally abandoned. There would be the remains of life - as in an oak or terebinth tree when the tree has fallen; compare the notes at Isa 11:1. A tenth - That is, a tenth of the inhabitants, or a very small part. Amidst the general desolation, a small part should be preserved.
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)
According to Isaiah, not all Israel, but the elect remnant alone, is destined to salvation. God shows unchangeable severity towards sin, but covenant faithfulness in preserving a remnant, and to it Isaiah bequeaths the prophetic legacy of the second part of his book (the fortieth through sixty-sixth chapters).
A tenth - This passage, though somewhat obscure, and variously explained by various interpreters, has, I think, been made so clear by the accomplishment of the prophecy, that there remains little room to doubt of the sense of it. When Nebuchadnezzar had carried away the greater and better part of the people into captivity, there was yet a tenth remaining in the land, the poorer sort left to be vinedressers and husbandmen, under Gedaliah, 2Ki 25:12, 2Ki 25:22, and the dispersed Jews gathered themselves together, and returned to him, Jer 40:12; yet even these, fleeing into Egypt after the death of Gedaliah, contrary to the warning of God given by the prophet Jeremiah, miserably perished there. Again, in the subsequent and more remarkable completion of the prophecy in the destruction of Jerusalem, and the dissolution of the commonwealth by the Romans, when the Jews, after the loss of above a million of men, had increased from the scanty residue that was left of them, and had become very numerous again in their country; Hadrian, provoked by their rebellious behavior, slew above half a million more of them, and a second time almost extirpated the nation. Yet after these signal and almost universal destructions of that nation, and after so many other repeated exterminations and massacres of them in different times and on various occasions since, we yet see, with astonishment, that the stock still remains, from which God, according to his promise frequently given by his prophets, will cause his people to shoot forth again, and to flourish. - L. A tenth, עשיריה asiriyah. The meaning, says Kimchi, of this word is, there shall yet be in the land ten kings from the time of declaring this prophecy. […]
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
And when there is yet a tenth [And when they are diminished to one out of ten (Rashi ms.)] even upon this remnant will I return My hand as a purge after a purge, and it will be purged until only completely righteous men will remain, who will repent wholeheartedly.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
and the deserted places be many For the land will be abandoned by them, and this is the explanation of the language: Deserted places will increase in the midst of the land.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְע֥וֹד | veod | and still | H5750 → | 490 times |
| בָּהּ֙ | bah | [will be] in it | ||
| עֲשִׂ֣רִיָּ֔ה | ʾasiriyah | a tenth [part] | H6224 → | |
| וְשָׁ֖בָה | veshavah | and it will return | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| וְהָיְתָ֣ה | vehayetah | and it will become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לְבָעֵ֑ר | levaer | <into> burning | H1197 → | 94 times |
| כָּאֵלָ֣ה | kaelah | like <the> terebinth | H424 → | |
| וְכָאַלּ֗וֹן | vekhaalon | and like <the> oak | H437 → | 8 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֤ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בְּשַׁלֶּ֙כֶת֙ | beshalekhet | in [the] felling | H7995 → | |
| מַצֶּ֣בֶת | matzevet | a stump | H4678 → | |
| בָּ֔ם | bam | [is] in them | ||
| זֶ֥רַע | zera' | [will be] offspring of | H2233 → | 229 times |
| קֹ֖דֶשׁ | kodesh | holiness | H6944 → | 469 times |
| מַצַּבְתָּֽהּ׃ פ | matzavtah | stump its | H4678 → |
וְע֥וֹדand still
veodH5750 →490 times
בָּהּ֙[will be] in it
bah
עֲשִׂ֣רִיָּ֔הa tenth [part]
ʾasiriyahH6224 →
וְשָׁ֖בָהand it will return
veshavahH7725 →1056 times
וְהָיְתָ֣הand it will become
vehayetahH1961 →3559 times
לְבָעֵ֑ר<into> burning
levaerH1197 →94 times
כָּאֵלָ֣הlike <the> terebinth
kaelahH424 →
וְכָאַלּ֗וֹןand like <the> oak
vekhaalonH437 →8 times
אֲשֶׁ֤רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
בְּשַׁלֶּ֙כֶת֙in [the] felling
beshalekhetH7995 →
מַצֶּ֣בֶתa stump
matzevetH4678 →
בָּ֔ם[is] in them
bam
זֶ֥רַע[will be] offspring of
zera'H2233 →229 times
קֹ֖דֶשׁholiness
kodeshH6944 →469 times
מַצַּבְתָּֽהּ׃ פstump its
matzavtahH4678 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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
Genesis 22:18And through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
it leads to
- Acts 3:25
And you are sons of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers when He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all the families of the earth will be blessed.’
- Genesis 12:3
I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”
- Galatians 3:16
The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say, “and to seeds,” meaning many, but “and to your seed,” meaning One, who is Christ.
- Genesis 26:4–5
I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed,
- Genesis 18:18
Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and through him all the nations of the earth will be blessed.
- Acts 3:25
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies14
About Isaiah

This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.
