Isaiah
Chapter 10
Misfortune
Woe to those who enact unjust laws and issue oppressive decrees!
Woe to those who rob the poor of their rights and deprive the helpless of justice! They prey on widows and plunder the orphans.
What will you do on the day of punishment? Where will you flee for help when disaster suddenly comes? Where will you save your wealth?
You can do nothing but cringe among the captives and exiles or fall beneath the slain. Yet for all this, the Lord’s anger does not subside, his hand is poised to strike.
Assyria, God’s Instrument
Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger, the staff of my fury!
Against a godless nation, I send him, against a people who provoke my wrath, I dispatch him, to plunder and pillage, to tread them down like mud in the streets.
But the mind of his king is far from this, his heart harbors other thoughts; what he wants is to destroy, to make an end of all nations.
For he says: “Are not my commanders like kings?
Was it not the same for Calno as for Carchemish, or Hamath like Arpad, and for Samaria, as for Damascus?
Just as my hands have seized idolatrous kingdoms, whose graven images excelled those of Samaria and Jerusalem,
just as I have dealt with Samaria and her idols, shall I not do to Jerusalem and her idols?”
When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, he will punish the king of Assyria for his willful pride and arrogant insolence.
For the king says: “By my own strength, I have done this and by my own wisdom, for I am clever. I have moved the frontiers of people, I have plundered treasures, I have brought inhabitants down to the dust, I have toppled kings from their thrones.
As one reaches into a nest, so my hands have reached into nations’ wealth. As one gathers deserted eggs, so have I gathered the earth’s riches. No one flapped a wing or opened its mouth to chirp a protest.”
Does the ax claim more credit than the man who wields it? Does the saw magnify itself more than the one who uses it? This would be like a rod wielding the man who lifts it up; will those not made of wood be controlled by the cudgel?
This is why the Lord Sabaoth is ready to send a wasting sickness upon the king’s sturdy warriors. Beneath his plenty, a flame will burn like a consuming fire.
The Remnant of Israel
The Light of Israel will be a fire and his Holy One a flame— to burn and devour his thorns and briers all in a single day.
The splendor of his forest and fruitful land comes undone and raves, body and soul disappear and pass away.
The remnant of the trees in his forest will be so few, so easy to count, that a child could make a list of them. A Remnant Will Return
On that day, the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the people of Jacob will no longer rely upon the tyrant who struck them down but will truly rely upon the Holy One of Israel.
A-remnant-will-return —a remnant of Jacob— to the mighty God.
Yes, Israel! Though your people are as the sand of the sea, only a remnant will return; their end has been ordered, and justice shall be entirely done.
For the Lord, the God of hosts, is about to carry out the destruction decreed in the whole land.
Oracle of Liberation
Thus says the Lord, the Lord Sabaoth, “O my people, who dwell in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrians who strike you with the rod and lift their staff against you as the Egyptians did.
Soon, my anger toward you will fade and focus on their destruction.
The Lord Sabaoth will strike them with a scourge, just as he did with the Midianites at the rock of Oreb and in Egypt when he raised his rod over the sea.
On that day, their burden will be lifted from your shoulders, their yoke removed from your neck, and the yoke will be destroyed.
Assyrian Advance and Defeat
They have gone up from Rimmon and have come to Aiath; they have passed through Migron and stored supplies at Michmash.
They have crossed over the pass and now camp at Geba for the night. Ramah is in terror; Gibeah of Saul has fled.
Lift up your voice, O daughter of Gallim, let it be heard at Laishah and answered at Anathoth.
Madmenah is in flight; the people of Gebim flee for their lives.
This day the invaders will halt at Nob; they will shake their fists at the mount of the Daughter of Zion, at the hill of Jerusalem.
Messianic Peace
Suddenly, the Lord, the Lord Sabaoth lops off the boughs with terrifying violence. The tall trees are hewn down, the lofty ones are brought low.
With an ax he cuts down the thickets; and Lebanon, the majestic, falls.
Commentaries
Misfortune.
The entire section 10:1-34 discusses the Assyrian threat to Jerusalem. The influence of evil rulers mainly affects those they are supposed to protect: the poor, widows, and orphans. God “stretches out his arm” through the Assyrians to punish these foolish leaders (4).
Assyria, God’s Instrument.
Even without realizing it, the powerful of the time become instruments of God’s punishment (cf. Is 13:5; 5:26; 7:18; 8:7). Carchemish, Hamath, and Arpad are Syrian cities that were conquered and destroyed by the Assyrians. Damascus was captured in 732 B.C., and Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom, fell in 722. What happened to these cities serves as a warning to Jerusalem. Ironically, the Lord uses the pride and strength of a pagan king to punish his people, who have abandoned him to worship their idols (11).
The Remnant of Israel.
God’s love and passion for people are depicted through the metaphor of fire (cf. Dt 4:24-30), which, in “one day,” will destroy the Assyrian camp besieging Jerusalem (17). This oracle offers hope for a specific time, “that day” (20), when God will intervene on behalf of a “small remnant,” just as he has done throughout Israel’s history. The reference to the sand of the sea echoes the promise God made to Abraham (Gn 22:17).
Oracle of Liberation – Assyrian Advance and Defeat.
The rod and staff in the hands of Assyria symbolize the slavery the people endured in Egypt. However, these will turn against the oppressor (Is 30:31-32), just as happened with Egypt. The cities mentioned in verses 28-32 were conquered by the Assyrian army during its march from the north toward Jerusalem. Although the Assyrian king Sennacherib laid siege to the city in 701 B.C., he miraculously failed to capture it. A plague among his troops forced him to lift the siege and withdraw to Nineveh (cf. Is 37:36-37).
Messianic Peace.
The pruning of the strongest and tallest trees representing the kings of Israel contrasts with the shoot of Jesse that will emerge: the Messiah will come from that “remnant of Israel.” The words “stump,” “shoot,” and ‘branch’ associated with the tree of Jesse indicate the Davidic origin of the Messiah. The wisdom of this king-Messiah is directly related to God’s creative “breath” (Gn 2:7). David had also been filled with the Spirit at the moment of his coronation (1 Sm 16:13). This leader will ensure justice for the poor and oppressed with the power of the Spirit (cf. Is 61:1ff; Luke 4:18). The weapons of this messianic king will be his Word and the “breath” of his mouth (Ps 33:6), with which he will defeat his enemies and restore creation (Ps 72). The temple on the holy mountain is reminiscent of the Garden of Eden. The messianic king will restore paradisiacal peace and fill the earth with the knowledge of the Lord “as the waters cover the sea” (9).