Nazarene Commentary 2000©
21st Century Paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures©
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21st Century Version of the Christian Scriptures©
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THE PROPHET ISAIAH
CHAPTER TEN:
ASSYRIA JUDGED AND A REMNANT RETURNS
Isaiah 10:1-4 –THe Unjust Receive Justice
IS10:1 Woe! to them who compose wicked regulations,
and to those writers
who continually write about harmfulness.
| 416 | Compose wicked regulations: Or, LXX: write wickedness; RHM: ordain iniquitous decrees; JPS: those who write out evil writs; NJB: enact unjust decrees; KJV: decree unrighteous decrees. [Leviticus 19:15; Deuteronomy 1:17] It is the nature of religion that it continues to make more and more regulations to more and more control its adherents. The original 600 laws of Moses became 100,000 under the Second Moses. In modern times Christian sects have become notorious for piling rules upon rules. See Jesus at Matthew 23:4. |
| 417 | Writers: Or, RHM: busy writers who make a business of; LXX: they write they do write. |
| 418 | Write about harmfulness: Or, LXX: write wickedness; RHM: writing mischief; JPS: compose iniquitous documents; NJB: compose oppressive legislation; KJV: grievousness. Even Christian sects hire writers to compose ever more rules, regulations and policies. |
IS10:2 [These] ignore justice to the poor
and they rob the oppressed people of their equity.
Their widows become their spoils of war,
and the orphan their prey.
| 419 | Ignore justice to the poor: Or, KJV: turn aside the needy; NJB: deny justice to the weak; JPS: subvert the cause of the poor; RHM:
turning aside from judgment the poor; LXX: perverting the cause of the poor. “Pure religion” is characterizing by “keeping the poor in mind.” [Galatians 2:10; James 1:27] Compare James 2:6. To this day, even among Christian sects, the
rich and privileged are given preferential treatment over the poor and needy. [James 2:1-9] |
| 420 | Rob the oppressed
people of their equity: Or, LXX: violently wresting the judgment of the needy ones; RHM: robbing of justice the oppressed; JPS: rob of their rights the needy; NJB: to cheat the humblest of my people of fair judgment; KJV: right of the poor. Note the use
of the Greek HARPZONTES in the LXX and compare it with Philippians 2:6 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16. Like Israel’s ruling class, the clergy of Christendom have acted in a similar manner. |
| 421 | Widows become their spoils of war: Or, KJV: their prey. Note Isaiah 1:23. [Deuteronomy 27:19] |
IS10:3 What, though, will all
of you do on
the day of your inspection
[Luke 19:44], and during the desolation
that approaches from far away? To whom will you flee for help? And, where will you depart from your glory?
| 422 | The day of your inspection: Or, LXX: day of visitation; JPS: day of punishment. A possible echo by the Nazarene at Luke 19:44 where
the Greek is TON [the] KAIRON [season] TES [of] EPISCOPES [inspection], while the Greek LXX is TE [the] HEMERA [day] TES [of] EPISCOPES [inspection]. [Hosea 9:7] See other versions under “day of visitation.” |
| 423 | Desolation: Or, disaster, calamity, devastation, affliction. |
| 424 | Depart from your glory: Or, LXX: leave; RHM: footnote: honour; JPS: how will you save your carcasses [footnote: meaning uncertain]; NJB: where will you leave your riches. [Psalm 49:17] |
IS10:4 Under whom will you collapse as prisoners?
Yes, they will lie down beneath the slain!
Despite all of this His wrath has not abated, though His hand still reaches out.| 425 | Under whom will you collapse as prisoners: Or, NJB:
to avoid squatting among the captives; JPS: collapsing under fellow prisoners; RHM: without me one hath bowed under a prisoner; LXX: that you may not fall into captivity. |
| 426 | They will lie down beneath the slain: Or, LXX: fall into captivity; RHM: under the slain do they fall; JPS: falling beneath the slain. That is, under bodies piled high by conflict. Such has been the lot of the Jews throughout
history. |
Isaiah 10:5-11 – Assyria – Rod of YHWH’s Wrath
IS10:5 “Woe! for the rod of My wrath
is Assyria. Yes, My displeasure is the staff
in his hand.
| 427 | Rod of My wrath: Or, anger. |
| 428 | My displeasure is the staff: Or, LXX: wrath and anger are in their hands; JPS: fury; NJB: the club in their hands is my fury; KJV: indignation. Jehovah is using the Assyrian world power to discipline His own people. He
will later use the Babylonian, and then the Roman. |
IS10:6 I will send him against an irreverent
nation. Yes, I will order him against those people
with whom I am angry. [He] will take prisoner the spoils of war, grabbing prey, and causing them to be trampled like a muddy road.
| 429 | Irreverent: Or, KJV: hypocritical; NJB: godless; JPS: ungodly; RHM: irreligious [footnote: profane, godless]; LXX: sinful. See “irreverent”
in Nazarene Commentary 2000© at Romans 1:18; 4:5; 5:6; 1 Timothy 1:9; 4:7; 6:20; 2 Timothy 3:2; Titus 2:12; 1 Peter 4:18; 2 Peter 3:5, 12; Jude 1:4, 15. |
| 430 | Those people: That is, apostate Israel. |
| 431 | Trampled like a muddy road:
Or, LXX: to trample the cities and to make them dust; RHM: trodden down as the mire of the lanes; JPS: a thing trampled; NJB: like mud in the streets. See similar language at Daniel 12:7 and Luke 21:24. Note the curse of Moses at Deuteronomy 28:63 and the fulfillment at 2 Kings 17:23. |
IS10:7 However, the way [the Assyrian] feels is not what he does – and though his heart may not be that way – there is nothing but annihilation in his heart, to behead many nations.
IS10:8 For he keeps saying, ‘Are not my generals the equal of kings?
IS10:9 Is not Calno the equal of Carchemish? Is not Hamath the equal of Arpad? Is not Samaria the equal of Damascus?
IS10:10 Exactly as my hand reached into idolatrous kingdoms
– whose idols were more excellent
than those in Jerusalem and Samaria
–
| 432 | Idolatrous kingdoms: Or, KJV: kingdoms of the idols; NJB: kingdoms of the false gods; JPS: insignificant kingdoms. |
| 433 | Idols were more excellent: Or, RHM: whose images did excel; JPS: whose images exceed; NJB: there were more images than. |
| 434 | Jerusalem and Samaria: That is the two capitols of Israel and Judah. |
IS10:11 will
I not do just as I did to Samaria and her idols, so also to Jerusalem and her carved images?’ | 435 | Her carved images: Or, NJB: her statues; KJV: her idols. |
Isaiah 10:12-14 – YHWH Makes an Accounting
IS10:12 “But when YeHoWaH has fulfilled all His purpose
– finishing all His work upon Mount Zion and Jerusalem – I will conclude an accounting
with the arrogant fruitage
of the king of Assyria,
and upon the conceit of his lofty eyes.
| 436 | Fulfilled all His purpose: Or, LXX: it shall come to pass; JPS: carried out all of his purpose; NJB: completed all his work. |
| 437 | Accounting: Or, NJB: punish; LXX: visit upon. [Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance #6485] |
| 438 | Arrogant fruitage: Or, LXX: proud heart [footnote: great mind]; RHM: the fruit of the greatness of heart; JPS: majestic pride; NJB: boastful heart. |
| 439 | King of Assyria: That is, Sennacherib. Note Isaiah 36:1; 37:17. [2 Kings 18:13, 19, 35; 19:16, 20, 36] |
| 440 | Conceit of his lofty eyes: Or, KJV: glory of his high looks; NJB: insolence of his haughty looks; JPS: overbearing arrogance; RHM: vainglory of his uplifted eyes; LXX: boastful haughtiness of his eyes. |
IS10:13 For he kept saying. ‘It is by my own powerful hand that I have been so successful, and by my own wisdom – for I surely am a person of understanding
– that I changed the boundaries of peoples. Yes, I plundered their treasures, and as someone great I brought low whole populations.
| 441 | I surely am a person of understanding: Or, LXX: wisdom of my understanding; RHM: I have discernment; JPS: for I am clever; NJB: how
intelligent I have been; KJV: for I am prudent. |
IS10:14 My own hand discovered the wealth of peoples like a bird’s nest, and just like someone gathering abandoned eggs I have gathered
all the earth. There was not a single person flapping a wing,
or opening a mouth, or chirping like a bird.’” | 442 | Flapping a wing: Or, NJB: fluttered. |
| 443 | Chirping like a bird: Or, JPS:
peep. |
Isaiah 10:15-19 – The Judgment on the Assyrian Axe
IS10:15 Will the axe brag to the lumberman?
Or, will the saw magnify itself to the carpenter? As though a rod could move the one wielding it?
As though a staff could move the one holding it?
| 444 | Will the axe brag to the lumberman: Or, LXX: glorify itself; RHM: boast itself; JPS: does an ax boast over him who hews with it; NJB: axe claim more credit than the man who wields it. |
| 445 | Move the one wielding it: That is, the tail wagging the dog. |
IS10:16 So shall the Sovereign Lord YeHoWaH of [angelic] armies send among [the Assyrian’s] stout
a wasting disease,
and instead of his glory a fire will flame like a conflagration.
| 447 |
A wasting disease: Or, RHM: leanness; JPS: wasting away. [Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance #7332] |
IS10:17 Just so the Light of Israel will become a fire, and [Israel’s]
Holy One a flame. It will burn and consume thorns and cactus in one day.
IS10:18 And the [Assyrian’s] glorious forest and garden-land – both soul and body
– will come to an end. It will waste away from a consumptive illness.
| 448 | Soul and body: The Hebrew for “soul” is NEPHESH [Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance #5315]. For more details
see Where Are the Dead? The Greek LXX is PYSKHES HEOS SARKON [soul and flesh]. |
| 449 | Waste away from a consumptive
illness: Or, NJB: consumptive wasting away. See the fulfillment at 2 Chronicles 32:21. “One night a multitude of field mice swarmed over the Assyrian camp and devoured their quivers and their bows and the handles of their shields.” [Herodotus
(II, 141)] Josephus: “When Senacheirimos returned to Jerusalem from his war with Egypt, he found there the force under Rapsakes in danger from a plague, for God had visited a pestilential sickness upon his army, and on the first night of the siege one
hundred and eighty-five thousand men had perished with their commanders and officers.” [Jewish Antiquities, X, 21 (i, 5)] |
IS10:19 What trees remain will be so few in number
that a little boy can count them!
Isaiah 10:20-23 – A Remnant Returns!
IS10:20 Now it will certainly occur in that day that the remnant of Israel – those survivors of the house of Jacob – will not lean anymore on the one who struck them. Instead, they will surely lean
upon YeHoWaH, the Holy One of Israel.
IS10:21 Only a small remnant will return – the remnant of Jacob – to the Mighty God.
IS10:22 For even though Your people, O Israel, will be as the sand of the sea, only a small remnant will return.
[Romans 9:27] A complete end is proclaimed, bringing in a flood of justice.
| 450 | A small remnant will return: Paul quotes this at Romans 9:27 and applies it to the small Jewish remnant that accepted Christ. [Romans
11:5] Some would make a fuller application of Isaiah where the Assyrian becomes the Roman in 66-73 AD. Others would make an even further application to the end-time Saints [Revelation 12:17] where Assyria becomes the wild beast. [Revelation chapter 13] |
| 451 | Bringing in a flood of justice: Or, NJB: a destruction… will make justice overflow; JPS: retribution comes like a flood; LXX: he
will finish his work and cut it short. |
IS10:23 For a complete end has been decided by the Sovereign Lord YeHoWaH of [angelic] armies, to be executed throughout
the whole land [of Israel]. | 452 |
Executed throughout the whole land [of Israel]: Or, LXX: make a short work in all the world. |
Isaiah 10:24-27 – Assyrian Yoke Removed
IS10:24 As a result the Sovereign Lord YeHoWaH of [angelic] armies says: “Have no fear, O My people dwelling in Zion, because of Assyria. He used to strike you with his rod, and when he raised his staff against you it was just like that of Egypt.
| 453 | Like that of Egypt: See Exodus 14:3, 9. Tyrants never change. |
IS10:25 For
yet a little while longer My displeasure will stop. Yes, even My anger over their destruction.
IS10:26 YeHoWaH of [angelic] armies will surely brandish over [the Assyrian] a scourging whip, just like the striking of Midian at the rock of Oreb.
Just like when His staff was over the [Red] sea, He will raise [Israel] up just as in the case of Egypt.
| 454 | Midian at the rock of Oreb: See Judges 7:25; 8:21; Psalm 83:11. |
IS10:27 And
so it will certainly occur in that day that [the Assyrian’s] burden will be removed from your back, and his yoke from your neck. Yes, the [Assyrian] yoke will be broken because of a healthy neck. | 455 | A healthy neck: Or, RHM: fatness [footnote: Israel under the figure
of an animal whose fat neck bursts the yoke.”]. There are different views, some think this alludes to anointing oil. |
Isaiah 10:28-32 – The Onsalught of the Assyrian
IS10:28 [The Assyrian] has come against
Aiath, has passed through Migron. At Michmash he dropped His baggage.
| 456 | The Assyrian has come against: A prophetic description of the course of Sennacherib’s armies. |
IS10:29 They have crossed over the pass. Geba is a place to rest. Ramah is stroke with horror. Saul’s Gibeah has fled.
IS10:30 Scream in a high-pitched voice, O daughter of Gallim. Listen, O Laishah. Start crying, O Anathoth.
IS10:31 Madmenah has fled. The inhabitants of Gebim have escaped to safety.
IS10:32 While it is still day-light in Nob [the Assyrian] halts and waves his troops forward toward the mountain of the daughters of Zion, the Jerusalem mount.
Isaiah 10:33, 34 – Forest Falls
IS10:33 Behold, the Sovereign Lord YeHoWaH of [angelic] armies will chop off the tops of trees
with a crash. And then those who are exalted will be brought low.
| 457 | Trees: Likely referring to the arrogance of Assyria. [2 Chronicles 32:21; Isaiah 37:36] |
IS10:34 Then the forest down-fall will be crushed by iron, and the majestic [trees] of Lebanon
will fall.| 458 | Lebanon: That is Syria. |
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Nazarene Commentary 2000©
Mark Heber Miller
©2000 All Rights Reserved
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