Isaiah 10
10
Perversion of Justice
1#This is another hoy-oracle; cf. note on 5:8–24. It may originally have been part of the collection at 5:8–24. Ah! Those who enact unjust statutes,
who write oppressive decrees,#Jer 8:8.
2Depriving the needy of judgment,
robbing my people’s poor of justice,
Making widows their plunder,
and orphans their prey!#Is 1:23; 3:14–15.
3What will you do on the day of punishment,
when the storm comes from afar?
To whom will you flee for help?
Where will you leave your wealth,
4Lest it sink beneath the captive
or fall beneath the slain?
For all this, his wrath is not turned back,
his hand is still outstretched!#For all this…outstretched!: this refrain appears to be out of place here; cf. 9:11, 16, 20.
Judgment on Assyria
5#These verses contain a series of oracles directed against Assyria. Verses 5–15 portray Assyria as simply the rod God uses to punish Israel, though Assyria does not realize this. The original conclusion to this unit may be the judgment found in vv. 24–27a, which continues the imagery and motifs found in vv. 5–15. Verses 16–23, because of the quite different imagery and motifs, may originally have been an insertion directed against Aram and Israel at the time of the Syro-Ephraimite War. Ah! Assyria, the rod of my wrath,
the staff I wield in anger.#Jer 51:20–23.
6Against an impious nation#Impious nation: Judah. It was God’s intention to use Assyria merely to punish, not to destroy, the nation. I send him,
and against a people under my wrath I order him
To seize plunder, carry off loot,
and to trample them like the mud of the street.
7But this is not what he intends,
nor does he have this in mind;
Rather, it is in his heart to destroy,
to make an end of not a few nations.
8For he says, “Are not my commanders all kings?”
9#The cities mentioned were all cities captured, some more than once, by the Assyrians in the eighth century B.C. Verse 9 suggests a certain historical order in the fall of these cities, and v. 10 suggests that all of them had fallen before Samaria (cf. Am 6:2). That implies that one should think primarily of events during the reign of Tiglath-pileser III (745–727). “Is not Calno like Carchemish,
Or Hamath like Arpad,
or Samaria like Damascus?
10Just as my hand reached out to idolatrous kingdoms
that had more images than Jerusalem and Samaria—
11Just as I treated Samaria and her idols,
shall I not do to Jerusalem and her graven images?”
12But when the Lord has brought to an end all his work on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
I will punish the utterance
of the king of Assyria’s proud heart,
and the boastfulness of his haughty eyes.
13For he says:
“By my own power I have done it,
and by my wisdom, for I am shrewd.
I have moved the boundaries of peoples,
their treasures I have pillaged,
and, like a mighty one, I have brought down the enthroned.
14My hand has seized, like a nest,
the wealth of nations.
As one takes eggs left alone,
so I took in all the earth;
No one fluttered a wing,
or opened a mouth, or chirped!”
15Will the ax boast against the one who hews with it?
Will the saw exalt itself above the one who wields it?
As if a rod could sway the one who lifts it,
or a staff could lift the one who is not wood!
16Therefore the Lord, the Lord of hosts,
will send leanness among his fat ones,#His fat ones: the strong men of the enemy army.
And under his glory there will be a kindling
like the kindling of fire.#Is 17:4.
17The Light of Israel will become a fire,
the Holy One, a flame,
That burns and consumes its briers
and its thorns in a single day.#Is 9:17–18; 30:27–33; 31:9; 33:14.
18And the glory of its forests and orchards
will be consumed, soul and body,
and it will be like a sick man who wastes away.
19And the remnant of the trees in his forest
will be so few,
that any child can record them.
20On that day
The remnant of Israel,
the survivors of the house of Jacob,
will no more lean upon the one who struck them;
But they will lean upon the Lord,
the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
21A remnant will return,#A remnant will return: in Hebrew, shear-jashub, an allusion to the name of Isaiah’s son, Shear-jashub; cf. 7:3. the remnant of Jacob,
to the mighty God.
22Though your people, O Israel,
were like the sand of the sea,#Hos 2:1; Rom 9:27–28.
Only a remnant of them will return;
their destruction is decreed,
as overflowing justice demands.#Is 28:16–18.
23For the Lord, the God of hosts, is about to carry out the destruction decreed in the midst of the whole land.#Is 28:22.
24#This verse with its reference to Assyria’s rod may introduce the original conclusion to vv. 5–15. Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts: My people, who dwell in Zion, do not fear the Assyrian, though he strikes you with a rod, and raises his staff against you as did the Egyptians. 25For just a brief moment more, and my wrath shall be over, and my anger shall be set for their destruction. 26Then the Lord of hosts will raise against them a scourge such as struck Midian at the rock of Oreb;#Is 9:3; Jgs 7:25. and he will raise his staff over the sea as he did in Egypt.#Ex 14:16. 27On that day,
His burden shall be taken from your shoulder,
and his yoke shattered from your neck.#Is 9:3.
The March of an Enemy Army#10:27b–32] A poetic description of the march of an enemy army from the north, advancing south to the very gates of Jerusalem, where the enemy waves his hand in a gesture of derision against the city. Though Sennacherib’s troops took a different route, advancing down the coast and then approaching Jerusalem from the southeast, the arrogant attitude toward God’s chosen city was the same. Aiath: the Ai of Jos 7:22–8:29. Migron: modern Makrun north of Michmash. The ravine: the deep valley between Michmash and Geba (cf. 1 Sm 14:1–5). Ramah…Gibeah…Bath-Gallim…Laishah…Anathoth…Madmenah…Gebim: cities north of Jerusalem threatened by the sudden appearance of this enemy army. Nob: probably to be identified with the present Mount Scopus from where one has a clear view of Jerusalem.
He has come up from Rimmon,
28he has reached Aiath, passed through Migron,
at Michmash he has stored his supplies.
29He has crossed the ravine,
at Geba he has camped for the night.
Ramah trembles,
Gibeah of Saul has fled.
30Cry and shriek, Bath-Gallim!
Hearken, Laishah! Answer her, Anathoth!
31Madmenah is in flight,
the inhabitants of Gebim seek refuge.
32Even today he will halt at Nob,
he will shake his fist at the mount of daughter Zion,
the hill of Jerusalem!
33#Just when the enemy is about to capture Jerusalem, God intervenes and destroys the hostile army. Cf. 29:1–8; 31:4–9. Now the Lord, the Lord of hosts,
is about to lop off the boughs with terrible violence;
The tall of stature shall be felled,
and the lofty ones shall be brought low;
34He shall hack down the forest thickets with an ax,
and Lebanon in its splendor shall fall.
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
Isaiah 10
10
1Woe#Is 5:8; 28:1; 29:1,15; 30:1; 31:1; 33:1; 45:9 to those enacting crooked statutes
and writing oppressive laws
2to keep the poor from getting a fair trial
and to deprive the needy among my people of justice,#Ps 35:10; Pr 22:22; Ec 5:8; Is 61:8; Jr 21:12; Ezk 18:12; 22:29
so that widows can be their spoil
and they can plunder the fatherless.#Ex 22:22; Dt 24:17; 27:19; Ps 68:5; 94:6; Is 1:17,23; Jr 22:3; Ezk 22:7; Zch 7:10; Mal 3:5
3What will you do on the day of punishment
when devastation comes from far away?
Who will you run to for help?
Where will you leave your wealth?
4There will be nothing to do
except crouch among the prisoners
or fall among the slain.
In all this, his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is still raised to strike.#Is 5:25; 9:12,17,21
Assyria, the Instrument of Wrath
5Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger —
the staff in their hands is my wrath.
6I will send him against a godless nation;
I will command him to go
against a people destined for my rage,
to take spoils, to plunder,#2Kg 21:14; Jr 49:32; Ezk 7:21; 26:12; 29:19
and to trample them down like clay#2Sm 22:43; Ps 18:42; Ezk 26:11; Mc 7:10 in the streets.
7But this is not what he intends;
this is not what he plans.
It is his intent to destroy
and to cut off many nations.
8For he says,
“Aren’t all my commanders kings?
9Isn’t Calno like Carchemish?
Isn’t Hamath like Arpad?
Isn’t Samaria#Ac 1:8 like Damascus?#10:9 Cities conquered by Assyria
10As my hand seized the kingdoms of worthless images,
kingdoms whose idols exceeded those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11and as I did to Samaria and its worthless images
will I not also do to Jerusalem and its idols?” #2Kg 21:11; 23:24; 2Ch 15:8; 24:18
Judgment on Assyria
12But when the Lord finishes all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say, “I#10:12 LXX reads Jerusalem, he will punish the king of Assyria for his arrogant acts and the proud look in his eyes.”#Jr 50:31 13For he said:
I have done this by my own strength
and wisdom, for I am clever.
I abolished the borders of nations
and plundered their treasures;#Jr 15:13; 17:3; 20:5
like a mighty warrior, I subjugated the inhabitants.#10:13 Or I brought down their kings#2Sm 22:48
14My hand has reached out, as if into a nest,
to seize the wealth of the nations.
Like one gathering abandoned eggs,
I gathered the whole earth.
No wing fluttered;
no beak opened or chirped.
15Does an ax exalt itself
above the one who chops with it?
Does a saw magnify itself
above the one who saws with it?
It would be like a rod waving the ones who lift#10:15 Some Hb mss; other Hb mss, Syr, Vg read the one who lifts it!
It would be like a staff lifting the one who isn’t wood!
16Therefore the Lord God of Armies
will inflict an emaciating disease
on the well-fed of Assyria,
and he will kindle a burning fire
under its glory.
17Israel’s Light will become a fire,
and its Holy One, a flame.#Is 4:5; 5:24; 47:14
In one day it will burn and consume Assyria’s thorns and thistles.#Gn 3:18; Is 5:6; 7:23–25; 9:18; 27:4; Hs 10:8
18He will completely destroy
the glory of its forests and orchards
as a sickness consumes a person.
19The remaining trees of its forest
will be so few in number
that a child could count them.
The Remnant Will Return
20On that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no longer depend on the one who struck them, but they will faithfully depend on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.#Is 1:4
21The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob,
to the Mighty God.
22Israel, even if your people were as numerous
as the sand of the sea,
only a remnant of them will return.#2Kg 19:30,31; Ezr 9:8,15; Is 11:11,16; 28:5; 37:31,32; 46:3; Jr 23:3; 31:7; Rm 9:27–28
Destruction has been decreed;
justice overflows.
23For throughout the land
the Lord God of Armies
is carrying out a destruction that was decreed.
24Therefore, the Lord God of Armies says this: “My people who dwell in Zion, do not fear Assyria, though they strike you with a rod and raise their staff over you as the Egyptians did. 25In just a little while my wrath will be spent and my anger will turn to their destruction.” 26And the Lord of Armies will brandish a whip against him as he did when he struck Midian at the rock of Oreb;#Jdg 7:25 and he will raise his staff over the sea as he did in Egypt.
God Will Judge Assyria
27On that day
his burden will fall from your shoulders,
and his yoke from your neck.
The yoke will be broken because your neck will be too large.#10:27 Lit because of fatness; Hb obscure#Gn 27:40; Dt 28:48; Jr 28:10; 30:8; Lm 1:14
28Assyria has come to Aiath
and has gone through Migron,
storing their equipment at Michmash.
29They crossed over at the ford, saying,
“We will spend the night at Geba.”
The people of Ramah are trembling;
those at Gibeah of Saul have fled.
30Cry aloud, daughter of Gallim!
Listen, Laishah!
Anathoth is miserable.
31Madmenah has fled.
The inhabitants of Gebim have sought refuge.
32Today the Assyrians will stand at Nob,
shaking their fists at the mountain of Daughter Zion,
the hill of Jerusalem.
33Look, the Lord God of Armies
will chop off the branches with terrifying power,
and the tall trees will be cut down,
the high trees felled.
34He is clearing the thickets of the forest with an ax,
and Lebanon with its majesty will fall.
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