Isaiah 10:27
“Comfort for Zion Against Assyria”Isaiah 10:24–27
Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain
Bible text: King James Version with Strong's numbers · Public domain
Bible text: Berean Standard Bible · Public domain
Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain
Bible text: World English Bible, Messianic edition · Public domain
Bible text: Geneva Bible (1599) · Public domain
Bible text: Young's Literal Translation · Public domain
- וְהָיָהve·ha·Yahand it will beH1961Conj-w ¦ V-Qal-ConsecPerf-3msVerb Qal Consecutive Perfect 3rd Singular Masculineוְandהָיָהit will be
- בַּיּוֹםbai·Yomin the dayH3117Prep-b ¦ N-msNoun Singular Masculine Absoluteבַּin theיּוֹםday
- הַהוּאha·Hu'[the] thatH1931Art ¦ Pro-3msPronoun Personal 3rd Singular Masculineהַ[the]הוּאthat
- יָסוּרya·Surit will be removedH5493V-Qal-Imperf-3msVerb Qal Imperfect 3rd Singular Masculine
- סֻבֳּלוֹsu·bo·Loits burdenH5448N-msc ¦ 3msNoun Singular Masculine Construct with suffixסֻבֳּלburdenוֹits
- מֵעַלme·'Alfrom onH5921Prep-m ¦ PrepPrepositionמֵfromעַלon
- שִׁכְמֶךָshikh·Me·khayour shoulderH7926N-msc ¦ 2msNoun Singular Masculine Construct with suffixשִׁכְמֶshoulderךָyour
- וְעֻלּוֹve·'u·Loand its yokeH5923Conj-w ¦ N-msc ¦ 3msNoun Singular Masculine Construct with suffixוְandעֻלּyokeוֹits
- מֵעַלme·'Alfrom onH5921Prep-m ¦ PrepPrepositionמֵfromעַלon
- צַוָּארֶךָtza·va·Re·khayour neckH6677N-msc ¦ 2msNoun Singular Masculine Construct with suffixצַוָּארֶneckךָyour
- וְחֻבַּלve·chu·Baland it will be brokenH2254Conj-w ¦ V-Pual-ConsecPerf-3msVerb Pual Consecutive Perfect 3rd Singular Masculineוְandחֻבַּלit will be broken
- עֹל'ol[the] yokeH5923N-msNoun Singular Masculine Absolute
- מִפְּנֵיmi·pe·nei[from] because ofH6440Prep-m ¦ N-mpcNoun Plural Masculine Constructמִ[from]פְּנֵיbecause of
- שָׁמֶןSha·menfatnessH8081N-msNoun Singular Masculine Absolute
English is a literal word-by-word gloss of the Hebrew, not the KJV's wording. Why?
This is the original text the KJV's translators worked from — each Hebrew word with its own literal English meaning in this verse, prepared by scholars at Tyndale House, Cambridge. The KJV translates whole sentences, not word by word, so its wording differs: one Hebrew word can become several English words, and the KJV may choose “the LORD” where the gloss reads “Yahweh”. Both are faithful — they answer different questions. For the KJV's own rendering, switch to the KJV text.
Words in [ ] are added by the English.
Details
See on the biblical-era map
Study this verse
Public-domain commentary
Matthew Henry
From his Commentary on the Whole Bible. Henry wrote on whole passages, and this entry covers Isaiah 10:24–34. He set out his notes in a three-level outline, kept here as he numbered it.
The prophet, in his preaching, distinguishes between the precious and the vile; for God in his providence, even in the same providence, does so. He speaks terror, in Sennacherib's invasion, to the hypocrites, who were the people of God's wrath, Isaiah 10:6. But here he speaks comfort to the sincere, who were the people of God's love. The judgment was sent for the sake of the former; the deliverance was wrought for the sake of the latter. Here we have,
I.An exhortation to God's people not to be frightened at this threatening calamity, nor to be put into any confusion or consternation by it.
Let the sinners in Zion be afraid (Isaiah 33:14): but O my people, that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian, Isaiah 10:24. Note, It is against the mind and will of God that his people, whatever may happen, should give way to that fear which has torment and amazement. Those that dwell in Zion, where God dwells and where his people attend him, and are employed in his service, that are under the protection of the bulwarks that are round about Zion (Psalm 48:13), need not be afraid of any enemy. Let their souls dwell at ease in God.
II.Considerations offered for the silencing of their fear.
1.The Assyrian shall do nothing against them but what God has appointed and determined. They are here told before hand what he shall do, that it may be no surprise to them: "He shall smite thee by the divine permission, but it shall be only with a rod to correct thee, not with a sword to wound and kill; nay, he shall but lift up his staff against thee, threaten thee, and frighten thee, and shake the rod at thee, after the manner of Egypt, as the Egyptians shook their staff against your fathers at the Red Sea, when they said, We will pursue, we will overtake (Exodus 15:9), but could not reach to do them any hurt." Note, We should not be frightened at those enemies that can do no more than frighten us.
2.The storm shall soon blow over (Isaiah 10:25): Yet a very little while - a little, little while (so the word is), and the indignation shall cease, even my anger, which is the staff in their hand (Isaiah 10:5), so that when that ceases they are disarmed and disabled to do any further mischief. Note, God's anger against his people is but for a moment (Psalm 30:5), and when that ceases, and is turned away from us, we need not fear the fury of any man, for it is impotent passion.
3.The enemy that threatens them shall himself be reckoned with. God's anger against his people shall cease in the destruction of their enemies; when he turns away his wrath from Israel he shall turn it against the Assyrian; and the rod with which he corrected his people shall not only be laid aside, but thrown into the fire. He lifted up his staff against Zion, but God shall stir up a scourge for him (Isaiah 10:26); he is a terror to God's people, but God will be a terror to him. The destroying angel shall be this scourge, which he can neither flee from nor contend with. The prophet, for the encouragement of God's people, quotes precedents, and puts them in mind of what God had done formerly against the enemies of his church, who were very strong and formidable, but were brought to ruin. The destruction of the Assyrian shall be,
(1.)According to the slaughter of Midian (which was effected by an invisible power, but effected suddenly, and it was a total rout); and as, at the rock of Oreb, one of the princes of Midian, after the battle, was slain, so shall Sennacherib be in the temple of his god Nisroch, after the defeat of his forces, when he thinks the bitterness of death is past. Compare with this Psalm 83:11, Make their nobles like Oreb and like Zeeb; and see how God's promises and his people's prayers agree.
(2.)As his rod was upon the sea, the Red Sea, as Moses' rod was upon that, to divide it first for the escape of Israel and then to close it again for the destruction of their pursuers, so shall his rod now be lifted up, after the manner of Egypt, for the deliverance of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Assyrian. Note, It is good to observe a resemblance between God's latter and former appearances for his people, and against his and their enemies.
4.They shall be wholly delivered from the power of the Assyrian, and from the fear of it, Isaiah 10:27. "They shall not only be eased of the Assyrian army, which is now quartered upon them and which is a grievous yoke and burden to them, but they shall no more pay that tribute to the king of Assyria which before this invasion he exacted from them (2 Kings 18:14), shall be no longer at his service, nor lie at his mercy, as they have done; nor shall he ever again put the country under contribution." Some think it looks further, to the deliverance of the Jews out of their captivity in Babylon; and further yet, to the redemption of believers from the tyranny of sin and Satan. The yoke shall not only be taken away, but it shall be destroyed. The enemy shall no more recover his strength, to do the mischief he has done; and this because of the anointing, for their sakes who were partakers of the anointing.
(1.)For Hezekiah's sake, who was the anointed of the Lord, who had been an active reformer, and was dear to God.
(2.)For David's sake. This is particularly given as the reason why God would defend Jerusalem from Sennacherib (Isaiah 37:35), For my own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
(3.)For his people Israel's sake, the good people among them that had received the unction of divine grace.
(4.)For the sake of the Messiah, the Anointed of God, whom God had an eye to in all the deliverances of the Old Testament church, and hath still an eye to in all the favours he shows to his people. It is for his sake that the yoke is broken, and that we are made free indeed.
III.A description both of the terror of the enemy and the terror with which many were struck by it, and the folly of both exposed, Isaiah 10:28, to the end. Here observe,
1.How formidable the Assyrians were and how daring and threatening they affected to appear. Here is a particular description of the march of Sennacherib, what course he steered, what swift advances he made: He has come to Aiath, etc. "This and the other place he has made himself master of, and has met with no opposition." At Michmash he has laid up his carriages, as if he had no further occasion for his heavy artillery, so easily was every place he came to reduced; or the store-cities of Judah, which were fortified for that purpose, had now become his magazines. Some remarkable pass, and an important one, he had taken: They have gone over the passage.
2.How cowardly the men of Judah were, the degenerate seed of that lion's whelp. They were afraid; they fled upon the first alarm, and did not offer to make any head against the enemy. Their apostasy from God had dispirited them, so that one chased a thousand of them. Instead of a valiant shout, to animate one another, nothing was heard by lamentation, to discourage and weaken one another. And poor Anathoth, a priests' city, that should have been a pattern of courage, shrieks louder than any, Isaiah 10:30. With respect to those that gathered themselves together, it was not to fight, but to flee by consent, Isaiah 10:31. This is designed either,
(1.)To show how fast the news of the enemy's progress flew through the kingdom: He has come to Aiath, says one; nay, says another, He has passed to Migron, etc. And yet, perhaps, it was not altogether so bad as common fame represented it. But we must watch against the fear, not only of evil things, but of evil tidings, which often make things worse than really they are, Psalm 112:7. Or,
(2.)To show what imminent danger Jerusalem was in, when its enemies made so many bold advances towards it and its friends could not make one bold stand to defend it. Note, The more daring the church's enemies are, and the more dastardly those are that should appear for her, the more will God be exalted in his own strength, when, notwithstanding this, he works deliverance for her.
3.How impotent his attempt upon Jerusalem shall be: he shall remain at Nob, whence he may see Mount Zion, and there he shall shake his hand against it, Isaiah 10:32. He shall threaten it, and that shall be all; it shall be safe, and shall set him at defiance. The daughter of Jerusalem, to be even with him, shall shake her head at him, Isaiah 37:22.
4.How fatal it would prove, in the issue, to himself. When he shakes his hand at Jerusalem, and is about to lay hands on it, then is God's time to appear against him; for Zion is the place of which God has said, This is my rest for ever; therefore those who threaten it affront God himself. Then the Lord shall lop the bough with terror and cut down the thickets of the forest, Isaiah 10:33, Isaiah 10:34.
(1.)The pride of the enemy shall be humbled, the boughs that are lifted up on high shall be lopped off, the high and stately trees shall be hewn down; that is, the haughty shall be humbled. Those that lift up themselves in competition with God or opposition to him shall be abased.
(2.)The power of the enemy shall be broken: The thickets of the forest he shall cut down. When the Assyrian soldiers were under their arms, and their spears erect, they looked like a forest, like Lebanon; but, when in one night they all became as dead corpses, the pikes were laid on the ground, and Lebanon was of a sudden cut down by a mighty one, by the destroying angel, who in a little time slew so many thousands of them: and, if this shall be the exit of that proud invader, let not God's people be afraid of him. Who art thou, that thou shouldst be afraid of a man that shall die?
Historical interpretation
Two Centuries of Reception
3 surviving comments on this verse. Each one is dated, so this reads as a timeline rather than a list.
Select a marker to jump to its quote. Markers stagger vertically where authors wrote within a few decades of each other.
(v. 24 seqq.) Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: Do not fear, my people who dwell in Zion, from Assyria, who shall strike you with a rod and lift up his staff against you, as the Egyptians did. For yet a little while and my indignation will be fulfilled and my anger will be directed towards their wickedness. And the Lord of hosts will raise a whip against them, as he did against Midian at the rock of Oreb, and his staff against the sea, and he will lift it up in the manner of the Egyptians. And it shall come to pass in that day: his burden shall be taken away from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing oil. Regarding the stone, which in Hebrew is interpreted as Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion put the Hebrew word Sur Oreb. Regarding this, the LXX interpreted as the place of tribulation, about which we will say in its proper place. It seems difficult to you, O inhabitant of Zion, that while all the surrounding nations are subjugated by the Assyrians, you alone would be liberated from their hands. Listen to what I say: do not be afraid, my people, because you will be captured by Assyria when it conquers. For in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah's reign (2 Kings 18), Sennacherib, the Assyrian king, will come to attack all the fortified cities of Judah and capture them. He will send his commander-in-chief, Rabshakeh, to terrify the besieged people of Jerusalem. However, you should know that he will not strike you with a sword, but with a rod. He will march against King Tirhakah of Ethiopia, the Egyptians, and the Red Sea by way of Egypt. He will only raise his staff against you, and he will not be able to strike you. For a little while longer, I will return from Egypt with an infinite multitude of army and wishing to besiege you, I will immediately strike with my indignation, and I will raise that whip, which once I used against the Midianites under Gideon (Judges 7), who was also called Jerubbaal. When Oreb and Zebah, the leaders of the Midianites, were killed on a very hard rock, that is, flint, which is called Sur in Hebrew, so that from the rock and from the king who was killed on it, the place received the name Rock of Oreb. So he shall lift up his rod over the Red Sea, going against the Ethiopians, and he shall lift it up again on his return to you by the way of Egypt; but as soon as he comes from Egypt, the burden shall be taken away from your shoulders and the yoke of his rule shall be removed, and you shall cease to serve. This yoke, that is, the power of the Assyrians, will decay in the presence of oil, that is, the mercy of God. We can also understand what he said: 'He shall strike you with a rod and shall lift up his staff over you on the way to Egypt.' And again: 'He shall lift up his rod over the sea and he shall lift it up on the way to Egypt.' This can also be understood as why he struck many from the tribe of Judah and captured cities around the kingdom of Jerusalem, because they had put their trust not in God, but in the Egyptians. Then Rabsaces taunts them, saying: Behold thou trustest upon the reed upon Egypt; upon which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it. (IV Kings 18:21) So is Pharao king of Egypt to all that trust in him. The history also of the Madianites is written in the book of Judges (Judges 7), which we read also in the psalm: Make their princes like Oreb, and Zeb, and Zebbee, and Salmana (Psalm 82:11-12). Therefore those who believe that it signifies the time when in the book of Numbers (Chap. 25) the Midianites killed by Israel are referred to from the desert of Sur to the mountain of God, Horeb, with which time they were not on Mount Horeb, but in the desert of Shittim. According to the anagoge, it is commanded to the people dwelling in the Church not to fear their adversaries, who are always ready for battle, and have overturned many souls with their disputes. For this reason, they can receive only a little power against the people of God, and not strike with a sword, but with a rod, that is, not to kill, but to threaten, because they have walked in the way of Egypt and have not trusted in the Lord. But when they have returned to God and have left the path of Egypt, then the scourge of God is to be raised up by judgment against the adversaries. For Midian is interpreted as meaning 'by judgment,' so that with the breath of his mouth and the oil of mercy the yoke of the enemies may decay.
It is possible that the Holy Spirit himself was denoted by the name of oil, concerning which it is said through the prophet: “and the yoke will rot at the presence of the oil.” The yoke rotted at the presence of oil because when we are anointed with the grace of the Holy Spirit, we are liberated from the bondage of our slavery. Then, with the prideful tyranny of the evil spirit broken, the yoke with which the necks of our freedom was oppressed is destroyed. Again, it is written about the oil: “My beloved had a vineyard on a hill called the son of oil.” The son of oil represents the faithful people, whose faith in God is generated by the interior anointing of the Holy Spirit.Although it has been burdened in the past with many tribulations, therefore, let the holy church call to mind the gifts of the Spirit and the marvelous prophecies which it now possesses, and let it lament its silence, saying, “The rock poured out for me streams with oil.”
It was said by Moses, “They drew honey from the rock, and oil from the hardest rock.” … But because according to Paul, “the rock was Christ,” they drew honey from the rock who saw the deeds and miracles of our Redeemer; and they drew oil from the hard rock because they were found worthy to be anointed with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit after his resurrection.… The gift of the holy anointing flowed out of him through the breathing forth of the Spirit. Of this oil the prophet said, “The yoke will be destroyed from before the oil.”
Continue studying Isaiah 10:27 across the web’s major study libraries — every link below opens this exact verse, chapter, or book on the destination site.
Read & Compare
BibleGatewayThis verse in more than 200 translations and 70 languages.
Bible.comThe YouVersion reader — hundreds of translations, reading plans, and highlights.
ESV.orgCrossway's official English Standard Version reader.
NET BibleThe NET translation with 60,000+ translators' notes on every rendering decision.
STEP BibleTyndale House's free study tool — original text, vocabulary, and scholarly resources.
BibliaLogos Bible Software's free web reader.
USCCBThe New American Bible (Revised Edition) with the U.S. bishops' study notes.
Commentaries
BibleHub CommentariesDozens of classic commentaries on this verse, gathered on one page.
StudyLightMore than 100 commentary sets — the largest collection on the web.
BibleRefPlain-English commentary on what this verse means, verse by verse.
Enduring WordDavid Guzik's free commentary on this chapter, widely used by Bible teachers.
Bible Study ToolsVerse commentary alongside Greek and Hebrew study aids.
Original Language & Research
- BibleHub InterlinearThe verse word by word — original language, transliteration, and English.
- BibleHub LexiconEvery word's original-language definition and Strong's entry.
Blue Letter BibleDeep-study tools — Strong's numbers, concordance, and word studies.
SefariaThe Hebrew text with Rashi and centuries of Jewish commentary.
Sermons, Hymns & Audio
TrulyRandomVerse is not affiliated with these sites and doesn’t control their content. They’re linked because they’re genuinely useful.
Written with AI assistance. Always check it against Scripture.
This verse
In that day the Assyrian burden and yoke will be lifted from Judah, and the yoke destroyed because of the anointing, God’s consecrated power that we see fully in Christ.
“And it shall come to pass in that day,”
“That day” is the time God has appointed for his decisive act, here an act of salvation.
“that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder,”
The Assyrian çôbel, the load of tribute and subjugation, is removed (çûwr) from the shoulder that carried it.
“and his yoke from off thy neck,”
The ʻôl, the bar that joins draft animals at the neck, is a picture of bondage, and it comes off.
“and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.”
The yoke is destroyed (châbal) by God’s consecrated power. Shemen is oil, the oil of anointing that set apart priests, kings and prophets, and it points to the Messiah (Isaiah 61:1).
Passage studyIsaiah 10:24–27
The LORD Will Break the Assyrian Yoke
Summary
Assyria was the great terror of Isaiah’s day, and in these four verses the Lord GOD of hosts speaks straight to his people in Zion: “be not afraid of the Assyrian”. The Assyrian will strike them with a rod, as Egypt once did, yet only for a very little while. Then God’s indignation against Judah will end and his anger will turn to Assyria’s destruction. He will strike the oppressor as he struck Midian at the rock of Oreb and Pharaoh at the sea. In that day the burden will be lifted from Judah’s shoulder and the yoke from its neck, and the yoke will be destroyed “because of the anointing”, a promise whose fullest meaning we find in Christ, the Anointed One.
Why Zion need not fear the Assyrian
Throughout Isaiah 10 God speaks about Assyria. He calls it “the rod of mine anger” (Isaiah 10:5), the instrument he uses to discipline his rebellious people, and then he promises to punish its proud heart for going beyond what he sent it to do (Isaiah 10:12). Verse 24 opens with “Therefore” and turns to Judah with comfort.
The danger was real. In the 8th century BC the Neo-Assyrian Empire, under kings such as Tiglath-Pileser III, Shalmaneser V and Sennacherib, was the great power of the day, feared for its brutal campaigns, its mass deportations and the heavy tribute it laid on conquered nations. The northern kingdom of Israel fell to Assyria in 722 BC, and Judah and its capital Jerusalem faced invasion. Judah had also strayed into idolatry and leaned on alliances with Egypt and other powers when it should have trusted the LORD. In Hezekiah’s day Sennacherib’s army came against Jerusalem itself, as 2 Kings 18–19 and Isaiah 36–37 record.
Into that fear God speaks with his full title, “the Lord GOD of hosts”. The word hosts means armies, both the armies of heaven and the armies of earth, so the one who speaks commands every power there is, Assyria’s included. Then he calls them “O my people that dwellest in Zion”. The address is tender and personal. They are still his covenant people, for all their unfaithfulness, and Zion is the place where he has made his dwelling.
“Be not afraid” uses the verb yârêʼ, to fear, which can also mean to revere. The fear Judah felt toward Assyria belonged to God alone, the fear of awe, worship and obedience. So the command moves their fear from the empire to the LORD, who is far greater. A psalm says the same thing: God is our refuge and strength, and so we will not fear though the earth be removed (Psalm 46:1–3).
God tells them plainly what will happen: “he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee”. The word for rod, shêbeṭ, means a stick, rod, staff, club or sceptre, and it can also mean a tribe. Here it is a rod for striking, the kind used to punish. The second line, “shall lift up his staff against thee”, says the same thing again in other words. Judah will truly suffer, and still the rod is in God’s hand. He has set its purpose, and he controls how hard and how long it falls.
What does “after the manner of Egypt” mean?
The word for manner, derek, means a road or way, a course of life, a way of acting or a custom. “After the manner of Egypt” means in the way Egypt once dealt with Israel. Israel’s story as a nation began in bondage under Pharaoh, so the comparison is a warning that Assyria’s oppression will be hard. It carries a promise as well, because the Egyptian bondage ended when God brought his people through the sea and destroyed Pharaoh’s army (Exodus 14). If Assyria oppresses in the manner of Egypt, Judah can expect God to deliver in the manner of the Exodus, and verse 26 says exactly that.
On the shore of that sea Moses told the people, “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD” (Exodus 14:13). God’s word to Zion carries the same assurance.
Why does God let his own people be struck?
God uses nations and hard circumstances to discipline his people, to call them back to faithfulness and repentance and to teach them to rely on him. The rod and staff of this verse show that purpose. Because he rules over the suffering itself, he sets the limits of how far it goes and how long it lasts, always with their restoration in view. Hebrews says that the Lord disciplines those he loves as a father disciplines his sons, for their good, so that they share his holiness (Hebrews 12:5–11). And the nation he uses is still accountable for its own pride and cruelty (Isaiah 10:12).
How long will the LORD’s anger last?
“For yet a very little while” gives Judah a time limit. The Hebrew joins two words, mizʻâr and mᵉʻaṭ, that both speak of something small or brief, and together they stress how short the time will be. The hardship has a set span that God has fixed.
“The indignation” is zaʻam, which Strong’s explains as strictly froth at the mouth, and so fury, used especially of God’s displeasure with sin. It is the righteous wrath God was bringing on Judah through Assyria. “Shall cease” is kâlâh, to end, cease or be finished. God’s purpose in the discipline will be done, and the indignation will come to its end.
“Mine anger” is ʼaph, a word that literally means the nose or nostril. Because of the hard breathing that comes with strong feeling, it came to mean anger. Here it is God’s own anger, and it turns “in their destruction”, toward the Assyrians. The word tablîyth means destruction or consumption. The nation God used as his rod will itself be judged for its pride and cruelty. “The LORD is known by the judgment which he executeth” (Psalm 9:16), and “Pride goeth before destruction” (Proverbs 16:18).
So the verse sets two ends side by side. God’s discipline of his people has a limit and leads to their restoration. His anger against the proud oppressor ends in its ruin. In both, he is just in punishing sin and faithful in delivering his people.
Is God’s anger always short?
Isaiah is speaking here of two different things. For his covenant people the indignation is brief and purposeful, and it leads to restoration. For the unrepentant oppressor the anger ends in destruction, and that is final. Scripture teaches that God’s wrath is revealed against all ungodliness (Romans 1:18), and persistent, unrepentant rebellion leads to eternal separation from him. For everyone who turns to him in repentance and faith, his anger lasts only a moment and he is rich in mercy: “his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life” (Psalm 30:5).
How was it “a very little while” when Assyria troubled Judah for decades?
To the people living through it, the Assyrian threat was long and wearing. Measured against God’s eternal plan and the everlasting salvation he would bring, it was a very little while. God rules over time, and the suffering of his people, though real, has an end he has fixed. Peter reminds us that “one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Peter 3:8).
How will the LORD strike Assyria?
“The LORD of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him.” The title again names God as commander of every army, and he himself will rouse the punishment. The scourge, shôwṭ, is a lash or whip, an instrument of severe punishment. “For him” means for the Assyrian. The one who struck Judah with a rod will be struck with God’s whip.
God then gives two pictures from Israel’s own history so that Judah can know what this will look like.
Midian at the rock of Oreb
The first is “the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb”, from Gideon’s day (Judges 7–8). Midian’s army was vast, and God gave Israel the victory through a small, unlikely force, so that the salvation was plainly his own work. The rock of Oreb was the place where the Midianite prince Oreb was killed, and it marked the end of Midian’s oppression. Assyria’s fall will be like that: complete, and brought about by God.
The rod over the sea
The second picture is the Exodus: “as his rod was upon the sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt.” The rod here is maṭṭeh, a word that can mean a branch, a walking staff, or a tribe. It points to the staff Moses stretched over the Red Sea, the instrument through which God divided the waters and then brought them back on Pharaoh’s army (Exodus 14). God will act against Assyria with the same power and the same decisive end.
The English word “rod” stands in verse 24 and here, translating two different Hebrew words, shêbeṭ and maṭṭeh. “After the manner of Egypt” is the same phrase in both verses, with derek in each. In the KJV the two verses mirror each other. In verse 24 the Assyrian lifts up his staff against Zion after the manner of Egypt, and in verse 26 the LORD lifts up his rod against the Assyrian after the manner of Egypt. The oppressor’s own pattern is turned back on him.
The verses that follow describe Assyria’s march toward Jerusalem and its sudden fall (Isaiah 10:28–34). The LORD is “slow to anger, and great in power” (Nahum 1:3), and no empire can stand once he acts. His past deliverances are his pledge for the future.
What breaks the yoke?
“And it shall come to pass in that day” points ahead to a time God has appointed. “That day” is a common phrase in the prophets for a moment when God steps in decisively, for judgment or for salvation, and here it is salvation.
Burden and yoke were familiar pictures of subjugation: crushing tribute and taxes, forced labour and the loss of national freedom under Assyria. “His burden”, çôbel, is the load the oppressor laid on Judah’s shoulder, the place where heavy loads are carried. It will be “taken away”, çûwr, removed altogether. The yoke, ʻôl, is the wooden bar or frame that joins draft animals at the neck, and Scripture uses it for oppression and bondage. It will come off Judah’s neck.
Then the verse names the yoke again and goes further: “the yoke shall be destroyed”. The verb châbal can mean to bind or wind tightly, and also to destroy or spoil, and here the yoke is destroyed so that it can hold no one again. The prophets return to this picture of God breaking his people’s yoke (Isaiah 58:6, Jeremiah 30:8, Nahum 1:13).
What is “the anointing”?
The yoke is destroyed “because of the anointing”. The Hebrew word is shemen, oil or ointment, often perfumed oil, and figuratively richness or fatness. In the Old Testament, anointing with oil set priests, kings and prophets apart for their work and pictured God’s Spirit equipping them for it. So the anointing here is God’s consecrated power and presence, or the work of his specially chosen and empowered agent. Judah’s freedom will come from God’s own power, with no credit to its own strength, armies or politics.
The phrase also points ahead to the Messiah, the Anointed One. Isaiah has just promised the child whose government and peace will have no end (Isaiah 9:6–7), and after Assyria falls he goes on to the Branch from Jesse and the song of salvation (Isaiah 11–12). Later in the book the anointed one says, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me” (Isaiah 61:1).
Christ, the Anointed One who breaks every yoke
The deliverance from Assyria points to a greater one in Jesus Christ. The rod of judgment that Assyria carried fell at last on Christ himself, who was smitten and bore our griefs, wounded for our transgressions (Isaiah 53:4–6). He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29), and because he bore God’s wrath, those who are justified by his blood are saved from wrath through him (Romans 5:9). For everyone in Christ, God’s indignation has ceased.
The scourge that God stirs up against oppressors finds its fulfilment in Christ’s victory over sin, death and the devil. On the cross he forgave our sins and spoiled principalities and powers, triumphing over them (Colossians 2:13–15). He took on flesh so that through death he might destroy the one who had the power of death and set free those held in bondage by the fear of it (Hebrews 2:14–15). Raised from the dead, he dies no more, and death has no more dominion over him (Romans 6:9–10). The Red Sea deliverance and the defeat of Midian are shadows of that greater exodus.
Christ means the Anointed One, and God gave him the Spirit without measure (John 3:34). In the synagogue at Nazareth he read the words of Isaiah 61 as his own mission, to preach deliverance to the captives and set the bruised at liberty (Luke 4:18–19). The yoke of sin, death and the law’s condemnation, which no one could lift, he broke by his death and resurrection, and the law of the Spirit of life in him has made us free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2). Then he gives a yoke of his own to the weary: “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28–30).
He tells his disciples that in the world they will have tribulation and that he has overcome the world (John 16:33). He will return as the Faithful and True judge (Revelation 19:11), the King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:16), when the kingdoms of this world become his kingdom (Revelation 11:15). Then God will wipe away every tear, and there will be no more death, sorrow, crying or pain (Revelation 21:4).
What the LORD gives his people here
These verses give a frightened people a word from the God who commands every army and still calls them “my people”. He tells them the truth about the coming blow and, in the same breath, the truth about its limit. Their suffering has a purpose, a measure and an end, and the power that frightened them is a rod in his hand.
He also gives them their own history as a pledge. The God who broke Midian and opened the sea is the same God who speaks to Zion, so his past deliverances tell his people what he will do again. And he names the power that breaks the yoke as his own anointing, which we now know by name in Jesus, the Anointed One. Whatever lies on your shoulder, these verses rest your freedom on the strength of the LORD of hosts.
Isaiah 10:24
“Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts,”
God speaks with his fullest title, the sovereign who commands all the armies of heaven and earth, so the comfort that follows is certain.
“O my people that dwellest in Zion,”
A tender, personal address to those in Jerusalem. “My people” holds to the covenant despite their unfaithfulness, and Zion is the place of God’s dwelling.
“be not afraid of the Assyrian:”
The verb yârêʼ means to fear and also to revere. The fear owed to God alone was being given to Assyria.
“he shall smite thee with a rod,”
God admits the suffering will be real. The shêbeṭ is a rod used for punishing, and here it is a rod of discipline in God’s hand (Isaiah 10:5).
“and shall lift up his staff against thee,”
The same thought again in other words, a threatening raised staff that God still holds within bounds.
“after the manner of Egypt.”
Derek is a way or manner. Assyria will oppress as Egypt did, and the Egyptian bondage ended in God’s great deliverance.
Isaiah 10:25
“For yet a very little while,”
Mizʻâr and mᵉʻaṭ together stress how brief the hardship will be. Its length is fixed by God.
“and the indignation shall cease,”
God’s zaʻam, his fury against sin, worked out through Assyria, will come to its end (kâlâh), its purpose done.
“and mine anger in their destruction.”
God’s ʼaph turns from Judah to the Assyrians and ends in their tablîyth, their destruction, for their pride and cruelty.
Isaiah 10:26
“And the LORD of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him”
God himself rouses a shôwṭ, a whip, against Assyria, the one who had struck Judah with a rod.
“according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb:”
Gideon’s victory, where God saved through a few against many, and the Midianite prince Oreb was killed at the rock (Judges 7–8).
“and as his rod was upon the sea,”
The maṭṭeh stretched over the Red Sea, God’s instrument for dividing the waters and overthrowing Pharaoh’s army.
“so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt.”
The phrase of verse 24 comes back with its meaning reversed. Now God acts against the oppressor as he acted against Egypt.
Isaiah 10:27 This verse
“And it shall come to pass in that day,”
“That day” is the time God has appointed for his decisive act, here an act of salvation.
“that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder,”
The Assyrian çôbel, the load of tribute and subjugation, is removed (çûwr) from the shoulder that carried it.
“and his yoke from off thy neck,”
The ʻôl, the bar that joins draft animals at the neck, is a picture of bondage, and it comes off.
“and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.”
The yoke is destroyed (châbal) by God’s consecrated power. Shemen is oil, the oil of anointing that set apart priests, kings and prophets, and it points to the Messiah (Isaiah 61:1).
Last revised