Isaiah 10:7-11

10:7 But he does not agree with this,

his mind does not reason this way,

for his goal is to destroy,

and to eliminate many nations.

10:8 Indeed, he says:

“Are not my officials all kings?

10:9 Is not Calneh like Carchemish?

Hamath like Arpad?

Samaria like Damascus?

10:10 I overpowered kingdoms ruled by idols,

whose carved images were more impressive than Jerusalem’s or Samaria’s.

10:11 As I have done to Samaria and its idols,

so I will do to Jerusalem and its idols.”

Isaiah 37:24-25

37:24 Through your messengers you taunted the sovereign master,

‘With my many chariots I climbed up

the high mountains,

the slopes of Lebanon.

I cut down its tall cedars

and its best evergreens.

I invaded its most remote regions,

its thickest woods.

37:25 I dug wells

and drank water. 10 

With the soles of my feet I dried up

all the rivers of Egypt.’

Micah 2:13

2:13 The one who can break through barriers will lead them out 11 

they will break out, pass through the gate, and leave. 12 

Their king will advance 13  before them,

The Lord himself will lead them. 14 


tn Heb “but he, not so does he intend, and his heart, not so does it think.”

tn Heb “for to destroy [is] in his heart, and to cut off nations, not a few.”

tn Or “For” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).

sn Calneh … Carchemish … Hamath … Arpad … Samaria … Damascus. The city states listed here were conquered by the Assyrians between 740-717 b.c. The point of the rhetorical questions is that no one can stand before Assyria’s might. On the geographical, rather than chronological arrangement of the cities, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:264, n. 4.

tn Heb “Just as my hand found the kingdoms of the idol[s].” The comparison is expanded in v. 11a (note “as”) and completed in v. 11b (note “so”).

map For the location of Jerusalem see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

tn The statement is constructed as a rhetorical question in the Hebrew text: “Is it not [true that] just as I have done to Samaria and its idols, so I will do to Jerusalem and its idols?”

tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

tn Heb “the height of its extremity”; ASV “its farthest height.”

10 tc The Hebrew text has simply, “I dug and drank water.” But the parallel text in 2 Kgs 19:24 has “foreign waters.” זָרִים (zarim, “foreign”) may have accidentally dropped out of the Isaianic text by homoioteleuton (cf. NCV, NIV, NLT). Note that the preceding word, מַיִם (mayim, “water) also ends in mem (ם). The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has “foreign waters” for this line. However, in several other passages the 1QIsaa scroll harmonizes with 2 Kgs 19 against the MT (Isa 36:5; 37:9, 20). Since the addition of “foreign” to this text in Isaiah by a later scribe would be more likely than its deletion, the MT reading should be accepted.

11 tn Heb “the one who breaks through goes up before them.” The verb form is understood as a perfect of certitude, emphasizing the certainty of this coming event.

12 tn The three verb forms (a perfect and two preterites with vav [ו] consecutive) indicate certitude.

13 tn The verb form (a preterite with vav [ו] consecutive) indicates certitude.

14 tn Heb “the Lord [will be] at their head.”