The Last of the Afflictions Associated with the Assyrian Conquest
1. Woe to 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 you do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will you flee for help? and where will you 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.Verses 1-4: The final woe no sustaining faith--no God: 10:1-4 This is the last of the series of descriptions of the conditions which add to the "dimness of anguish" wrought by the Assyrians. Here Israel is reminded of their own personal responsibility of abandoning God as a refuge which leaves their despair only deeper They have not lived the life of those privileged to know God. They have lived selfishly, oppressed the orphan and widow, followed unholy practices but worst of all they have no God and are absolutely alone in the day of terrible visitation that is imminent and which will utterly devastate their prosperous land of beauty and abundance. See 7:21,22 and the notes there for the description of overflowing abundance which required little investment for the fruitfulness of the region to make life a joy physically. There was nothing but hopelessness left when they lost the good land because they had no spiritual values to turn to and the devastation was therefore more overwhelming.
Isaiah says: It is God who Uses the Assyrians as the Instrument of Punishment He is bringing on His People
5. Ah, Assyria is the rod of my anger, and the staff in their hand is my indignation. 6 I will send him against a hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath. I gave him charge to take spoil, and to take prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.Verse 5: "Ah": This word can be an expression of exclamation or it can be translated "Woe," as a warning as it is in 20 of the 22 times Isaiah uses the word.
7 But he does not plan to do this, neither did he think this in his heart; because it is in his heart to destroy and cut off many nations. 8 For he said, 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 has found the kingdoms of the idols, whose statues were more than those of Jerusalem or Samaria; 11 Shall I not do to Jerusalem and her idols as I have done to Samaria and her idols?
Verses 8 - 11: It is valuable to see the differences that exist between the translation of the Masoretic text and the LXX. These verses mark well the loose and free use of thought that characterizes the LXX which often translates the gist of a sentence and not the exact word for word ideas. Sometimes the free exchanges do some damage to the integrity of the text as they may do here in the changes that are made in names and the extent of the Assyrian Empire that is suggested by the LXX translators. If the Masoretic text read as the LXX then there might be anachronistic ideas in the prophesy that might preclude Isaiah from being the author, because this is late, (285 B.C.) during the reign of the Greeks and the LXX looks back at the accomplishments that are boasted about by the Assyrians before the assault on Jerusalem. The LXX translators give us a good history lesson from their perspective and add to our knowledge of the expansion of the Assyrian Empire but the translation is not faithful to the original text here. The LXX beginning with verse 8 reads:
"And if they may say to him, 'You are not the only rulers,' 9. then he shall reply, 'Did I not take the regions beyond Babylonia and Calno where a fort was built? And I took Arabia and Damascus and Samaria. 10. Even as I have taken these by my hand I will also take their rulers. You bewailed [ta glupta Gr. the destruction?] in Jerusalem and in Samaria. 11. Even as I have done to Samaria and her handmade (gods) so I will do also to Jerusalem and her idols'."
If the LXX writers are correct in their commentary-like translation of this section, it would place Assyrian suzereignity beyond the Iranian Plateau, already on the way toward India, and the Arabian Peninsula under their control, with their intent to extend their sway beyond Samaria which according to this section had already fallen when the siege of Jerusalem was threatened and imminent. The point emphasized here is the freedom of expression and addition of elements not in the Hebrew Text inherent in the LXX.
Future Destruction of Assyria and the Return of Israel
12 So, when the Lord has performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem then I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.Verse 12: When the Assyrians complete their divine mission: The meaning here is "the whole work" that God has designed for using the Assyrians as his instrument for punishing Israel and Judah. When the Assyrians have completed their assigned task of scattering Israel and punishing Judah then God will turn his attention to the punishment of Assyria, which as the following text shows, will be similar in destructiveness to that suffered by the Kingdom of Israel. They will suffer extinction as a national state.
13 For he said, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the boundaries of peoples, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man:
Verse13: I have removed the boundaries of peoples: Here Isaiah has Assyria boasting of its actions which are historically verifiable. Whether or not the Assyrians invented the method of pacifying their conquests by forced resettling of the nations they conquered or not they were masters at the method. They passed on this behaviour to the Babylonians who also resettled conquered peoples to keep them from reorganizing and rebelling. It was Cyrus the Persian who took power circa 536 B.C. who reversed the process by returning conquered nations to their former lands.
14 And my hand has found the riches of the nations as a nest: and just as one who gathers eggs that are left, I have gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved a wing, or opened their mouth, or peeped. 15 Should the axe boast itself against him that hews with it? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that moves it? as if a rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if a staff should lift itself up, as if it were not wood.
Verse 15: Should the axe boast: Assyria is reminded that it is Immanuel who is in charge and that He YHWH has invited the Assyrians to merely be his instrument.
16
Therefore
shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among his fat ones
leanness; and
in place of his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning
of a fire.
17 And the light of Israel shall be the fire, and his Holy One
shall be
the 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 faints.
19 And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a
child may
number them.
Verse 17: Burning fire: The LXX translation is
consistent
with the previously given pictures of fire being sanctifying
enthusiasm
to be brought by the Messiah. See notes
under
4:4 and 6:12 - 13) The LXX
rendering
of this verse is: "And the light of Israel shall be for a fire
and he shall
sanctify them in burning fire and in that day he shall devour
(them) as
if (they were) briars and thorns."
Verse 20: And it shall happen in that day: The "day"
spoken
of here is not the Messianic "day" of chapter 11:11 where that
return is
called the "second time." Here in this "day" is the description
of the
first "return," so called in verses 21, 22 following. This return
would
not be accomplished until after the captivity of Judah had
happened and
then the nation was restored. As mentioned above Mt Ephraim would
never
be regained but the land of Zebulun and Naphtali were to be
repeopled again
by descendants of the same peoples who were deported from there
by the
Assyrians. The day spoken of here is in "the day" that includes
the absent
nation of Assyria. There will be no Assyria when the tribes are
brought
back from captivity according to Isaiah.
21 The remnant shall return to the mighty God, even the
remnant of Jacob, 22 For though your people Israel be as the sand
of the
sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the completion decreed
shall overflow
with righteousness.
Verse 22: A remnant shall return: Remember 7:2,3 that
this is
the name of Isaiah's son. Shearyashuv. When the Apostle Paul
referred to
this passage he did not apply it to the "second return," that is,
to the
remnant of the Jews who became Christians and to the call of the
Gentiles
into the continuing Zion or Israel, the church of Christ. Rather
he applied
it correctly to the return of the tribes of Israel, all 12, to
the second
commonwealth after 536 B.C. which resulted in the "day" of the
Messiah
at the close of the period of the second commonwealth. Paul
pointed out
that just as Isaiah said the scattered tribes of Jacob had among
them a
"remnant" of those who believe in God who returned to the nation
after
the Babylonian captivity, so also "now," that is, in the time of
Paul,
there is also a remnant "according to the election of grace." He
applied
the verse here and this return to the gospel ingathering only by
extension
as a similar return to the remnant that became the second
commonwealth. See
This return, spoken of in verse 22 above, of this remnant refers
to the
return of the "lost tribes" to Israel or Zion in the second
commonwealth
which was then contained in the restored nation of Judah after
536 B.C.
to 70 A.D. (The "second return" which includes the call of the
Gentiles
is mentioned in 11:11-- see note there.)
23 For the Lord GOD of hosts shall make an already
determined
full end, in the midst of all the land.
Verse 23: A Determined Full End: Isaiah predicts this
over
and over again in these pages. that is, that the Assyrians will
overthrow
the nation of Israel but that this is not the end of God's
dealing with
them. It is on this account that Isaiah encourages faith in the
ultimate
plan of God which is to include the destruction and disappearance
of the
Assyrian Empire after which the remnant of the faithful of the
nation of
Israel will be restored, but as explained in other places, not to
statehood.
24. Therefore thus says the Lord GOD
of hosts, O my people who dwell in Zion, be not afraid of the
Assyrian:
he shall strike you with a rod, and shall lift up his staff
against you,
after the manner of Egypt
Verse 24: My people who dwell in Zion: Zion here does
not
refer to southwest Jerusalem but to the person who looks for the
perfected
condition that God will bring his people to under the Messiah. It
is this
faith in the future triumph of Zion that produces the assurance
that the
true believer has. The ultimate victory of God and his purpose
for the
nation of Israel which would come but was not yet fulfilled
strengthens
the "dweller in Zion." He knew that the Assyrian's temporary
victory over
the nation of Israel would not inhibit the final outcome and
reward of
those who look for "Zion." Because of these promises the believer
was assured
that Israel was not finished and would be used again by God to
fulfill
his purpose. Assyria would fall and never rise again. Not so
Israel, her
fall and dispersion was for the purpose of purging her from the
idolatry
of her neighbors as described in verse 20. Other phrases in
Isaiah which
describe the same condition as those who dwell in Zion, are:
inhabitant
of Zion, daughter of Zion, people who dwell in Zion, who dwells
in mount
Zion, every foundation of Mount Zion, he that is left in Zion.
25 But yet a very little while, and the indignation
shall end,
and my anger shall end in their destruction.
Verse 25: A very little while: The Assyrian Empire
reached
very great heights and it would tax the unbeliever beyond his
patience
(see Isaiah 22:15ff) to wait for God's "very little while." The
Assyrian
Empire soon after Isaiah would encompass the whole of the Near
East. Egypt
itself would be subject to the Assyrians in a few more decades.
Their expansion
would proceed unabated while they basked in the luxury of
receiving tribute
from all the rest of the nations. The end would come on them
while they
lived in the midst of luxury and it would come suddenly from
rebelling
provinces. About 112 years after the fall of Samaria and the
deportation
of the remaining tribes in Mount Ephraim the Babylonians allied
with the
Medes and Scythians overthrew Nineveh, Khorsabad and all the
other great
cities of Assyria and they disappeared as a national state just
as Israel
had and just as Isaiah prophesied would happen to them. God's
"little while"
is a little longer than ours, but not that much longer, and when
the time
is up the things promised are completed as in this section with
"an already
determined full end." This "already determined full end" includes
not only
the final destruction of Assyria, never to rise again, but unlike
Assyria,,
Israel is to be returned from captivity to the land. This
happened after
the Babylonian captivity of the Jews when remnants from all the
tribes
were added to the restored nation of Judah.
26 And the LORD of hosts shall stir up a
scourge for him like
the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and like his rod was
upon
the sea when he lifted it up in the way from Egypt.
Verse 26: The Assyrian's "day of Midian:" The same
figure of
the extermination of the Midianites and of complete destruction
and route
of their armies by Gideon is used here to describe the overthrow
of Assyria.
This was used in 9:4 to describe Assyria's overthrow of Israel.
The similarities
between the extinction of Israel as a nation and the future
extinction
of Assyria who will suffer the same fate as Israel is continued
here and
below. In the same way that Israel was punished and fell so will
Assyria
fall, is Isaiah's prediction. See 9:4 where the same figure of
"Midian"
is used to describe the complete overthrow of Israel by Assyria.
Verse 26: Rock of Oreb: "And they took two princes
of
the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb upon the rock
Oreb, and
Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian, and
brought
the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side
Jordan." Ju.
7:25
27 And it shall happen in that day, that his burden
shall
be taken away from off your shoulder, and his yoke from off your
neck,
and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.
Verse 27: "because of the anointing:" Hebrew is:
mip-pney
shemen, Verses 28 - 34.: Aiath etc. Almost all
the villages mentioned Verse 28: Deposited his equipment: Sennacherib had
completed
the taking of most of the cities of southwest Judah. The great
city of
Lachish had been besieged, captured and burned after which
Sennacherib
went on to Libnah. There his messengers whom he had sent to
terrorize Hezekiah
and the inhabitants of Jerusalem had returned to find him also
engaged.
At this time according to Isa. 37:7,8 a rumor reached the
Assyrians that
the king of the Ethiopians had set out on a campaign to fight the
Assyrian
army. This hastened the decision of Sennacherib to raise the
assault on
Jerusalem. The easiest route, that would be easiest to defend,
was to regroup
and march to Samaria and approach Jerusalem from the north, from
Samaria,
which was for several years already in Assyrian hands. Thus this
chapter
describes the march on Jerusalem from the north through the
central highlands.
Herodotus gives other details of Sennacherib's activities which
are condensed
in the scripture. See notes under 30:4 and the introduction to
chapter
36 where Josephus's more extensive detailed account is mentioned
as well.
29 They have come over the pass: Geba has become their
lodging
place; Ramah is afraid; Gibeah of Saul has fled. 30 Lift up your
voice,
O daughter of Gallim: cause it to be heard to Laish, O poor
Anathoth.
Verse 30: Daughter of Gallim "Daughter of Captivities"
Laish is the old name for Dan and Anathoth is very close and just
north
of Jerusalem, a city where the priests lived and commuted to
temple service.
Thus the announcement is to send these lamentable words from just
north
of Jerusalem to Dan, the northern most city. The one addressed is
"Daughter
of Gallim." The unpointed Hebrew form [galiym, 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.
Verse 32: Nob: The location is on Mount Scopus
which in
today's larger Jerusalem would be inside the city limits. It was
very close
and overlooked the city, perhaps only three miles from the
Temple. Sennacherib's
armies would have been well in view and would have struck terror
in the
hearts of the inhabitants. The whole scene is described in detail
historically
in Isaiah chapters 36, 37 which took place in the fourteenth year
of Hezekiah.
Samaria had fallen in the sixth year of his reign.
Verse 32: Shake his Hand: Jerusalem was threatened by
Sennacherib
but not taken.
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.
Verse 33: Lop with terror: This is a reference to
the plague
that God brought on the Assyrian armies when 185,000 died in one
night.
It terrorized the remnant of Sennacherib's armies as well as
himself and
caused his hasty retreat to Nineveh where he retired from
military life.
He shook his hand against Jerusalem but did not assault the city.
His death
at the hands of his sons was about 20 years later. See
Isaiah
37:36 and
2 Kings 19:35. And for details about the siege see the
introduction to
chapter 36. See also introduction to chapter 18 for a similar poetic description of "lopping the boughs."
The Future Return of Israel to Faith in God
20. And it shall happen in that day, that the remnant of
Israel,
and the delivered of the house of Jacob, shall no longer rely
upon him
that injured them; but shall lean upon the LORD, the Holy One of
Israel,
in truth.
Lit. "from
or because of the presence of the oil." Oil of anointing is
implied and
the Aramaic Targum, portions of which date from the fourth
century B.C.,
paraphrases "Messiah" for this construction indicating that Jews
who lived
during the time of the second commonwealth thought this verse
corresponds
with the rest of what Isaiah said concerning the passing away
completely
of the Assyrian yoke (as well as the Babylonian yoke) before the
Messiah's
appearance. This same thought of the contrast between Assyria and
Messiah's
kingdom is recorded at length by Isaiah in all of chapters 7-12.
Thus what
is said here is that Assyria will have its own "day of Midian"
mentioned
in the preceding verse, and its power will disappear. This is
then reassured,
as in many other places, by the news that there is more for this
nation
yet to come in the age of "the anointing." Afterward, God will
bring a
glorious anointed age to a restored Israel through his Messiah,
-- after
the destruction of Assyrian and Babylonian Empires.
But Before Assyria is Thus Judged Israel and the Towns North
of Jerusalem
Will Fall and Jerusalem Itself Will be Under Siege
28 He is come to Aiath, he is passed to Migron; at Michmash
he has
deposited his equipment:
]
is the same as the participle of the word "captivities." It is
translated
"with the first captives" in Amos 6:7 [berosh goliym 
]
This simile for the whole nation (Judah and Israel) is in the
context of
the captivity, seen as actually under way but in a vision of the
future.
Isaiah's description here, although prophetically uttered before
it happened,
is of it actually going on with events in progress rather than
the usual
warnings that it would come. Here "Gallim" plural of "Galah"
should have
its meaning translated rather than refer it as a name to an
unknown location.
"Galah" means captive or captivity and "gallim" captives or
captivities.
Thus "Daughter of Gallim" is "Daughter of Captivities" It refers
to all
those going into captivity including the towns mentioned, but
noticeably
excludes Jerusalem which was besieged but not captured at this
time.