Isaiah 10
DOYLYVer. 1. — of Jesse.] By mentioning Jesse, who was not a king but a private person, Isaiah seems to hint at the obscure and weak condition in which Christ should appear; his birth too was fixed to be, not at Zion, which was the place and seat of government in Judah, but at Bethlehem, a town where the family of David lived while they were private persons. Dean Allis. The peaceable kingdom of the Branch out of the root of Jesse. Before CHRIST about 713.
Isaiah 10:4
- Without me they shall bow down under &c.] That is, Without my aid they shall be taken captive even by the captives, and subdued by the vanquished. Bp. Lowth. See the note on chap. ix. 11; others render simply, “among the prisoners, &c.”
Isaiah 10:5
- O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger.] Come hither then, O thou Assyrian, come and execute my just judgment upon my people; for thou art the rod of mine anger; and the weapons, which are in thy hand, whereby thou fightest against Judah, are wielded by mine indignation. Bp. Hall. Concerning the change in this verse from the second to the third person, see Bp. Lowth’s note on Deut. xxxii. 5.
Isaiah 10:9
- Is not Calno as Carchemish? &c.] Have not I been equally successful against all these places? “Calno” lay upon the Euphrates; as did “Carchemish,” 2 Chron. xxxv. 20. “Hamath” upon the confines of the Jewish territory towards Syria, Amos vi. 14; where it is spelt Hemath. W. Lowth. That Hamath and Arpad were cities of Syria, should appear from Jer. xlix. 23. Vitringa. Hamath was the capital of a part of Syria, bearing the Before CHRIST about 718. a Chap. 5. 25. & 9. 12.
Isaiah 10:12
- — when the Lord hath performed his whole work] When the wicked, whom God makes instrumental in carrying on his designs, have served the purposes of Divine Providence, they are justly punished, for their pride and ambition, their cruelty and tyranny to their neighbours; the wickedness of those acts being altogether their own; and the good ends served being beside the intention of the agents, ver. 7, and ascribable only to God. W. Lowth, Bp. Newton. See notes on ver. 7, of this chapter, and on chap. xviii. 6.
Isaiah 10:14
- — opened the mouth, or peeped.] See note on chap. viii. 19.
Isaiah 10:15
- Shall the ox boast itself &c.] Is not the Assyrian as my axe, to hew down Judah, my saw to divide it, my rod to scourge it, my staff to beat it? and shall this axe, this saw, this rod, this staff magnify itself against the hand that uneth and wieldeth it? as if the instrument could do ought without or against the arm that moves it. Bp. Hall. — as if it were no wood.] Rather render, (as the margin does in part,) “against that which is not wood;” or, to keep still closer to the expression of the original, “against the no-wood.” The Hebrews have a peculiar
Isaiah 10:16
- — under his glory he shall kindle a burning] This expression denotes the stroke by which Sennacherib’s army was to be destroyed. W. Lowth. See note at
Isaiah 10:20
- And it shall come to pass in that day, that &c.] That is, A day shall come when, &c. Bp. Wilson. See note on chap. iv. 2. — shall no more again stay upon him that smote them;] As Ahaz did upon the king of Assyria, (2 Kings xvi. 7, compared with 2 Chron. xxviii. 20,) who afterward proved the worst enemy the Jews had. W. Lowth. To purchase his powerful ally’s forbearance, as he had before bought his assistance, Ahaz was forced to strip himself and his people of all the wealth he could possibly raise. Bp. Lowth. 23. — the Lord God of hosts shall make a consumption, even determined, &c.] Such a consumption, determined in the counsels of God, with the preservation of a small remnant, will apply to several periods of the history of the people of God: to the subversion of the kingdom of Israel, with the destruction of a great number of Judah; (see note on chap. viii. 6;) to the Babylonish captivity; to the oppression of Antiochus Epiphanes: but the prophecy Before CHRIST about 713. the soul and even to the flesh. number. d Rom. 9. 27. amongst. c Chap. 28. 27. f Chap. 28. 27. Israel is comforted with promise of deliverance. Before CHRIST about 713. Or, but he shall lift up his staff for thee. Exod. 14. h Judges 7. 25. ch. 9. 4. remove.
Isaiah 10:24
24, 26. — after the manner of Egypt.] As Sennacherib invested Jerusalem upon his return from his Egyptian expedition, and imitated Pharaoh and the Egyptians in threatening the people of God, so does God promise here to act over again the part He had formerly taken, and to overthrow Sennacherib in as signal a manner as He had done Pharaoh and his host in the Red sea. So both the attack and the deliverance are to be “in the way,” or, “after the manner, of Egypt.” Bp. Lowth. The twenty-sixth verse may be thus paraphrased: The Assyrian is my rod to thee; but I will have a scourge for him, that shall plague him: as the Midianites were destroyed by Gideon at the rock of Oreb; (see Judges vii. 25;) and as I plagued the Egyptians, whom I overthrew and destroyed at the Red sea. Bp. Hall.
Isaiah 10:27
- — because of the anointing.] For the sake of God’s chosen people, who are called “his anointed,” Ps. cv. 15, and especially for the sake of Christ, or the Anointed emphatically so called, who was to descend from the tribe of Judah. Dr. Wells, W. Lowth. See note on chap. xlv. 1.
Isaiah 10:28
- He is come to Aiath, &c.] Here follows a description of the march of Sennacherib’s army, and of the terrour and confusion spreading through the several places in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, from Ai northward to Nob westward of it; expressed with great brevity, but finely diversified. Bp. Lowth.
Isaiah 10:32
- As yet shall he remain at Nob] Hence probably