Isaiah 10:8
in Isaiah 10“Are not all my commanders kings?” he says.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For he saith, Are not my princes all of them kings?
KJV
For he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings?
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This verse in Isaiah 10
Commentary
7 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Are not all my commanders kings?
on Isaiah 10:8-11
The Assyrian boasts that Calno, Hamath and Samaria are no different from Carchemish, Arpad and Damascus. He reasons from the idols of Samaria to Jerusalem's, as though the Lord were one more conquered god. Gill notes that the cities trace the line of Assyrian conquest, each already fallen.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 5 and following) Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger, and the staff in their hands is my fury. I will send him against a deceitful nation, and I will command him against the people of my wrath, to take the spoil and seize the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. But he does not understand this, and his heart does not take it to heart, but his purpose is to destroy and cut off nations. For my princes are not also kings? Is not Charcamis like Chalanno, and Arphad like Emath?
The Medieval Church1 voice
For he shall say. Here his motive is set out; and first, he argues, second, he concludes: so shall I do to Jerusalem and her images (Isa 10:11). Concerning the first, he first argues the servitude of kings: are not my princes as so many …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
): " My princes are altogether kings. Those that are now my princes are such as have been kings." Or he means that he had raised his throng to such a degree that his servants, and those that were in command under him, were as great, and lived in as much pomp, as the kings of other countries.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
For he saith, are not my princes altogether kings?
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Vauntings of the Assyrians. Illustrated by the self-laudatory inscriptions of Assyria deciphered by HINCKS. princes . . . kings--Eastern satraps and governors of provinces often had the title and diadem of kings. Hence the title, "King of kings," implying the greatness of Him who was over them (Eze 26:7;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
For he saith - This verse, and the subsequent verses to Isa 10:11, contain the vaunting of the king of Assyria, and the descriptions of his own confidence of success. Are not my princes altogether kings? - This is a confident boast of his “own” might and power. His own dominion was so great that even his princes were endowed with the ordinary power and “regalia” of kings.
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֖י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יֹאמַ֑ר | yomar | he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| הֲלֹ֥א | halo' | ¿ not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| שָׂרַ֛י | sarai | [are] commanders my | H8269 → | 421 times |
| יַחְדָּ֖ו | yachdav | alike | H3162 → | 141 times |
| מְלָכִֽים׃ | melakhim | kings | H4428 → | 2525 times |
כִּ֖יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
יֹאמַ֑רhe said
yomarH559 →5305 times
הֲלֹ֥א¿ not
halo'H3808 →5168 times
שָׂרַ֛י[are] commanders my
saraiH8269 →421 times
יַחְדָּ֖וalike
yachdavH3162 →141 times
מְלָכִֽים׃kings
melakhimH4428 →2525 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
Ezekiel 26:7For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I will bring against Tyre from the north Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses and chariots, with cavalry and a great company…
it leads to
- Ezra 7:12
Artaxerxes, king of kings. To Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven: Greetings.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Daniel 2:37
You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given sovereignty, power, strength, and glory.
- Ezekiel 23:24
They will come against you with a host of peoples, with weapons, chariots, and wagons. They will array themselves against you on every side with buckler and shield and helmet. I will delegate judgment…
- Nahum 2:3–4
The shields of his mighty men are red; the valiant warriors are dressed in scarlet. The fittings of the chariots flash like fire on the day they are prepared, and the spears of cypress…
- Jeremiah 52:32
And he spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and set his throne above the thrones of the other kings who were with him in Babylon.
- Ezra 7:12
Through
2 Kings 19:10“Give this message to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God, in whom you trust, deceive you by saying that Jerusalem will not be delivered into the hand of the king of…
it leads to
- 2 Kings 18:5
Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. No king of Judah was like him, either before him or after him.
- 2 Kings 18:5
Through
Daniel 2:37You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given sovereignty, power, strength, and glory.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 26:7
For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I will bring against Tyre from the north Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses and chariots, with cavalry and a great company…
- Jeremiah 27:6–7
So now I have placed all these lands under the authority of My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I have even made the beasts of the field subject to him.
- Ezekiel 26:7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Isaiah
This page draws on 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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.