Isaiah 10

Chapter context

What is happening in Isaiah 10?

holinessjudgmentremnantmessiah

Isaiah 10 belongs to the early movement of the book, especially the section often described as oracles of judgment and holiness. Isaiah is one of Scripture’s grandest prophetic books, moving from holy judgment to consolation, servant imagery, and new-creation hope. Read this chapter with the wider themes of holiness, judgment, and remnant in view so the individual verses keep their proper weight.

¹ Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed; ² To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless! ³ And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory? ⁴ 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. ⁵ O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. ⁶ I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. ⁷ Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few. ⁸ For he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings? ⁹ Is not Calno as Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad? is not Samaria as Damascus? ¹⁰ As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria; ¹¹ Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols? ¹² Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks. ¹³ For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man: ¹⁴ And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped. ¹⁵ Shall 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. ¹⁶ Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire. ¹⁷ And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day; ¹⁸ And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body: and they shall be as when a standard-bearer fainteth. ¹⁹ And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a child may write them. ²⁰ And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. ²¹ The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God. ²² For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness. ²³ For the Lord GOD of hosts shall make a consumption, even determined, in the midst of all the land. ²⁴ Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt. ²⁵ For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction. ²⁶ And the LORD of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and as his rod was upon the sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt. ²⁷ And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing. ²⁸ He is come to Aiath, he is passed to Migron; at Michmash he hath laid up his carriages: ²⁹ They are gone over the passage: they have taken up their lodging at Geba; Ramah is afraid; Gibeah of Saul is fled. ³⁰ Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim: cause it to be heard unto Laish, O poor Anathoth. ³¹ Madmenah is removed; the inhabitants of Gebim gather themselves to flee. ³² As yet shall he remain at Nob that day: he shall shake his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. ³³ Behold, 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. ³⁴ And he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.

Study helps

Glossary

Bow Tribe v. 4: The bow was in use in early times both in war and in the chase ( Gen. 21:20 ; 27:3 ; 48:22 ). The tribe of Benjamin were famous for the use of the bow ( 1 Chr. 8:40 ; 12:2 ; 2 Chr. 14:8 ; 17:17 ); so also were the Elamites.
Assyria Place v. 5-7, 12, 16-18, 24, 28, 33: Biblical region. Modern identification: Nineveh.
Arpad Place v. 9: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Tell Rifat.
Calneh Place v. 9: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Tell Tayinat.
Carchemish Place v. 9: Fortress of Chemosh, a city on the west bank of the Euphrates. Modern identification: Jerabis.
Damascus Place v. 9: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Damascus.
Hamath Place v. 9: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Hama.
Samaria Place v. 9-11: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Samaria.
Jerusalem Place v. 10-12, 32: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Jerusalem.
Mount Zion Place v. 12: Biblical hill. Modern identification: Mount Zion.
Egypt Place v. 24, 26: The land of the Nile and the pyramids, the oldest kingdom of which we have any record, holds a place of great significance in Scripture. Modern identification: Ain Shams.
Zion Place v. 24, 32: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Jerusalem.
Midian Place v. 26: Biblical region. Modern identification: Al Bad.
Rimmon Place v. 27: Biblical natural area. Modern identification: El Jai Cave.
Aiath Place v. 28: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Et Tell.
Michmash Place v. 28: Something hidden, a town of Benjamin ( Ezra 2:27 ), east of Bethel and south of Migron, on the road to Jerusalem ( Isa. 10:28 ). Modern identification: Mukhmas.
Migron Place v. 28: Precipice or landslip, a place between Aiath and Michmash ( Isa. 10:28 ). The town of the same name mentioned in 1 Sam. 14:2 was to the south of this.
Geba Place v. 29: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Jaba.
Gibeah Place v. 29: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Tel el Ful.
Ramah Place v. 29: ( Matt. 2:18 ), the Greek form of Ramah. (1. ) A city first mentioned in Josh. 18:25 , near Gibeah of Benjamin. It was fortified by Baasha, king of Israel ( 1 Kings 15:17-22 ; 2 Chr. 16:1-6 ). Modern identification: Al Ram.
Saul Person v. 29: Asked for. (1. ) A king of Edom ( Gen. 36:37 , 38); called Shaul in 1 Chr. 1:48 .
Anathoth Place v. 30: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Ras el Kharruba.
Gallim Place v. 30: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Khirbet Kakul.
Laishah Place v. 30: A lion. (1. ) A city of the Sidonians, in the extreme north of Palestine ( Judg. 18:7 , 14); called also Leshem ( Josh. 19:47 ) and Dan ( Judg. 18:7 , 29; Jer. 8:16 ). Modern identification: Isawiya.
Gebim Place v. 31: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Ras el Kharruba.
Madmenah Place v. 31: Ibid., a town in Benjamin, not far from Jerusalem, towards the north ( Isa. 10:31 ). The same Hebrew word occurs in Isa. 25:10 , where it is rendered. Modern identification: Shufat.
Nob Place v. 32: High place, a city of the priests, first mentioned in the history of David’s wanderings ( 1 Sam. 21:1 ). Here the tabernacle was then standing, and here Ahimelech the priest resided. (See AHIMELECH. ) From Isa. Modern identification: Ras el Mesharif.
Lebanon Place v. 34: Biblical region. Modern identification: Jezzine.