Isaiah 10:6-14

10:6 I sent him ¹  against a godless ²  nation,

I ordered him to attack the people with whom I was angry, ³ 

to take plunder and to carry away loot,

to trample them down ⁴  like dirt in the streets.

10:7 But he does not agree with this,

his mind does not reason this way, ⁵ 

for his goal is to destroy,

and to eliminate many nations. ⁶ 

10:8 Indeed, ⁷  he says:

“Are not my officials all kings?

10:9 Is not Calneh like Carchemish?

Hamath like Arpad?

Samaria like Damascus? ⁸ 

10:10 I overpowered kingdoms ruled by idols, ⁹ 

whose carved images were more impressive than Jerusalem’s ¹⁰  or Samaria’s.

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

so I will do to Jerusalem and its idols.” ¹¹ 

10:12 But when ¹²  the sovereign master ¹³  finishes judging ¹⁴  Mount Zion and Jerusalem, then I ¹⁵  will punish the king of Assyria for what he has proudly planned and for the arrogant attitude he displays. ¹⁶  10:13 For he says:

“By my strong hand I have accomplished this,

by my strategy that I devised.

I invaded the territory of nations, ¹⁷ 

and looted their storehouses.

Like a mighty conqueror, ¹⁸  I brought down rulers. ¹⁹ 

10:14 My hand discovered the wealth of the nations, as if it were in a nest,

as one gathers up abandoned eggs,

I gathered up the whole earth.

There was no wing flapping,

or open mouth chirping.” ²⁰ 

Isaiah 17:3

17:3 Fortified cities will disappear from Ephraim,

and Damascus will lose its kingdom. ²¹ 

The survivors in Syria

will end up like the splendor of the Israelites,”

says the Lord who commands armies.

Isaiah 17:2

17:2 The cities of Aroer are abandoned. ²² 

They will be used for herds,

which will lie down there in peace. ²³ 

Isaiah 15:1

The Lord Will Judge Moab

15:1 Here is a message about Moab:

Indeed, in a night it is devastated,

Ar of Moab is destroyed!

Indeed, in a night it is devastated,

Kir of Moab is destroyed!

Isaiah 16:9

16:9 So I weep along with Jazer ²⁴ 

over the vines of Sibmah.

I will saturate you ²⁵  with my tears, Heshbon and Elealeh,

for the conquering invaders shout triumphantly

over your fruit and crops. ²⁶ 

Isaiah 17:3

17:3 Fortified cities will disappear from Ephraim,

and Damascus will lose its kingdom. ²⁷ 

The survivors in Syria

will end up like the splendor of the Israelites,”

says the Lord who commands armies.

Isaiah 17:5-6

17:5 It will be as when one gathers the grain harvest,

and his hand gleans the ear of grain.

It will be like one gathering the ears of grain

in the Valley of Rephaim.

17:6 There will be some left behind,

like when an olive tree is beaten –

two or three ripe olives remain toward the very top,

four or five on its fruitful branches,”

says the Lord God of Israel.

[10:6]  ¹ sn Throughout this section singular forms are used to refer to Assyria; perhaps the king of Assyria is in view (see v. 12).

[10:6]  ² tn Or “defiled”; cf. ASV “profane”; NAB “impious”; NCV “separated from God.”

[10:6]  ³ tn Heb “and against the people of my anger I ordered him.”

[10:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “to make it [i.e., the people] a trampled place.”

[10:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “but he, not so does he intend, and his heart, not so does it think.”

[10:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “for to destroy [is] in his heart, and to cut off nations, not a few.”

[10:8]  ⁷ tn Or “For” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[10:9]  ⁸ 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.

[10:10]  ⁹ 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”).

[10:10]  ¹⁰ 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.

[10:11]  ¹¹ 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?”

[10:12]  ¹² tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[10:12]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in vv. 16, 23, 24, 33 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[10:12]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “his work on/against.” Cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV “on”; NIV “against.”

[10:12]  ¹⁵ tn The Lord is speaking here, as in vv. 5-6a.

[10:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “I will visit [judgment] on the fruit of the greatness of the heart of the king of Assyria, and on the glory of the height of his eyes.” The proud Assyrian king is likened to a large, beautiful fruit tree.

[10:13]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “removed the borders of nations”; cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV “boundaries.”

[10:13]  ¹⁸ tc The consonantal text (Kethib) has כְּאַבִּיר (kÿ’abir, “like a strong one”); the marginal reading (Qere) is כַּבִיר (kavir, “mighty one”).

[10:13]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and I brought down, like a strong one, ones sitting [or “living”].” The participle יוֹשְׁבִים (yoshÿvim, “ones sitting”) could refer to the inhabitants of the nations, but the translation assumes that it refers to those who sit on thrones, i.e., rulers. See BDB 442 s.v. יָשַׁב and HALOT 444 s.v. ישׁב.

[10:14]  ²⁰ sn The Assyrians’ conquests were relatively unopposed, like robbing a bird’s nest of its eggs when the mother bird is absent.

[17:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “and kingship from Damascus”; cf. NASB “And sovereignty from Damascus.”

[17:2]  ²² tn Three cities are known by this name in the OT: (1) an Aroer located near the Arnon, (2) an Aroer in Ammon, and (3) an Aroer of Judah. (See BDB 792-93 s.v. עֲרֹעֵר, and HALOT 883 s.v. II עֲרוֹעֵר.) There is no mention of an Aroer in Syrian territory. For this reason some want to emend the text here to עֲזֻבוֹת עָרַיהָ עֲדֵי עַד (’azuvot ’arayha ’adey ’ad, “her cities are permanently abandoned”). However, Aroer near the Arnon was taken by Israel and later conquered by the Syrians. (See Josh 12:2; 13:9, 16; Judg 11:26; 2 Kgs 10:33). This oracle pertains to Israel as well as Syria (note v. 3), so it is possible that this is a reference to Israelite and/or Syrian losses in Transjordan.

[17:2]  ²³ tn Heb “and they lie down and there is no one scaring [them].”

[16:9]  ²⁴ tn Heb “So I weep with the weeping of Jazer.” Once more the speaker (the Lord? – see v. 10b) plays the role of a mourner (see 15:5).

[16:9]  ²⁵ tc The form אֲרַיָּוֶךְ (’arayyavekh) should be emended to אֲרַוָּיֶךְ (’aravvayekh; the vav [ו] and yod [י] have been accidentally transposed) from רָוָה (ravah, “be saturated”).

[16:9]  ²⁶ tn Heb “for over your fruit and over your harvest shouting has fallen.” The translation assumes that the shouting is that of the conqueror (Jer 51:14). Another possibility is that the shouting is that of the harvesters (see v. 10b, as well as Jer 25:30), in which case one might translate, “for the joyful shouting over the fruit and crops has fallen silent.”

[17:3]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and kingship from Damascus”; cf. NASB “And sovereignty from Damascus.”