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Isaiah 10 Bible study: The rod of my anger

The Assyrian lifts his staff against Zion "as Egypt did" (10:24), and two verses later a rod is lifted over the sea "like he did against Egypt" (10:26): in Hebrew the same words, turned. To the Assyrian's boast the chapter answers, "Should an ax brag against him who chops with it?" (10:15), and it says the remnant will "lean on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth" (10:20).

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“It will come to pass in that day that the remnant of Israel, and those who have escaped from the house of Jacob will no more again lean on him who struck them, but shall lean on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.”
Isaiah 10:20 · World English Bible

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“Isaiah 10 compares the Assyrian's striking of the people in Zion to what Egypt did.”

Is that in Isaiah 10, or not? Make your call.

What's really going on

The refrain's last time

In the text

The chapter opens with one more woe: "Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, and to the writers who write oppressive decrees" (10:1) (tap Woe). They write them "to deprive the needy of justice, and to rob the poor among my people of their rights, that widows may be their plunder, and that they may make the fatherless their prey!" (10:2). Three questions follow: "What will you do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help? Where will you leave your wealth?" (10:3). Then the refrain: "For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still" (10:4) (tap stretched out). The line closed 5:25 first, where the WEB has "his hand is still stretched out" (Isaiah 5:25), then 9:12, 9:17 and 9:21, and this is its last time. Here is what almost everyone misses: to deprive in 10:2 is a form of the same Hebrew verb as stretched out in 10:4, natah. And chapter 9 had just said, "neither will he have compassion on their fatherless and widows" (Isaiah 9:17); in Hebrew fatherless and widows are the same two words in 10:2, and the chapter on Isaiah 9 sets the two verses side by side. The woe speaks of those who wrote decrees against the poor "among my people" (10:2). These notes say only what the chapter says of them, and apply the woe to no lawmaker or government today.

Honest questions

Questions people ask about Isaiah 10

That was a taste

The rest of Isaiah 10 is waiting in Favor

  • Watch the rod
  • Should an ax brag?
  • A remnant will return
  • "Isaiah cries concerning Israel"
  • The march to Nob
  • 14 questions as you read
  • 12 more Hebrew words
  • A short check at the end
  • Your notes, saved as you go
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The Hebrew word behind it

שְׁאָרshe'arsay she-AR

Brown-Driver-Briggs: "rest, residue, remnant". Strong's: "a remainder", and "from 7604", the verb the WEB gives as left in "Only Noah was left" (Genesis 7:23). The chapter has she'ar five times in four verses: "The remnant of the trees of his forest shall be few" (10:19), "the remnant of Israel" (10:20), "A remnant will return, even the remnant of Jacob" (10:21), and "only a remnant of them will return" (10:22). The Hebrew Bible has it 26 times, and 12 of them are in Isaiah. The next chapter has it twice, in "the remnant that is left of his people" (Isaiah 11:11, 11:16).

For your group

Isaiah 10 Bible study questions

  1. 1"Should an ax brag against him who chops with it?" (10:15). Where are you most tempted to take the credit for something God has done through you?
  2. 2"shall lean on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth" (10:20). What does leaning on God "in truth" look like on an ordinary day for you?
  3. 3"don’t be afraid of the Assyrian" (10:24), "For yet a very little while" (10:25). What helps you not to be afraid when a hard time seems long?

Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Isaiah 10 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.

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Questions

What is Favor?

Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home